On June 18, 1815, with 30,000 of his men off on a wild goose chase after the Prussians, Napoleon faced Wellington at Waterloo. The battle raged for hours, and Napoleon seemed on the verge of victory. "I've got them," he shouted. "They're ours." Then the Prussians showed up to relieve Wellington, while the 30,000 French reinforcements never arrived. By nightfall Napoleon had gone down to defeat. A broken man, he raced back to Paris in tears. His return to power, the Hundred Days, was over.

Napolean Bonaparte Battle of Waterloo and British Duke of Wellington

The Battle of Waterloo is one of the most studied battles in history, and there are numerous theories as to why Napoleon Bonaparte lost. For one thing, the duke of Wellington was a remarkable strategist who possessed much courage, good sense, and willpower. For another, he had excellent field positions and more troops than Napoleon. But even he called Waterloo "a damned nice thing," which is the British way of saying that it was a close call.

Napoleon's soldiers fleeing Waterloo

Napoleon left his throne for the last time on June 22, 1815. He decided to sail for America and start a new life, but he was intercepted by the British. This time they wanted to make sure that he would be out of the way for good.

In October 1815 Napoleon disembarked from a British ship at St. Helena, a speck of an island in the middle of the South Atlantic, thousands of miles from the nearest continent. He spent the rest of his life there, alone except for a few devoted followers. Josephine had died in 1814. Maria Louise Walewska had taken to her heels during the first abdication crisis. She returned to Austria with Napoleon's beloved son and heir, Francios-Charles-Joseph, who had a short and unhappy life. Back at home she quickly forgot Napoleon and started an affair with an Austrian count.

Mary Louise Walewska - Mary Louise Bonaparte

When Napoleon learned that he was to be stripped of his title and exiled to St. Helena, he had protested, "I appeal to history!" On St. Helena he devoted himself to laying the groundwork for that appeal. He dictated his memoirs and spent long hours justifying his every action. As always, he was his own best propagandist.
- Essay on Leadership
by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.