Napoleon Bonaparte might be one of the most written-about men in history, but he wasn’t all battlefield bravado and imperial ambition. Behind the busts and paintings was a man who made some strange choices, suffered ridiculous setbacks, and left behind a trail of bizarre stories you won’t find in most textbooks.
I had great fun digging into the archives here in France to find some of the lesser-known facts about the great man. If you’re a fan, you may know them; if not, hopefully you’ll enjoy what I discovered, and maybe chuckle at some of his misfortunes.
Table of Contents
And before you say anything, yes, I’m aware Napoleon isn’t from the Middle Ages, but as I live in France, I sometimes like to include some French history that doesn’t always fall within those parameters.
10 Facts About Napoleon
No. 1 His Soldiers Were Poisoned by Dinner
When you think of deadly hazards on a Napoleonic battlefield, poison leaves probably don’t top the list. But during the brutal French campaign in Haiti, then called Saint-Domingue, one of the more bizarre and tragic chapters of Napoleon’s military efforts unfolded. It wasn’t gunfire or guerrilla ambushes that took out a group of his men. It was dinner.
In 1802, Napoleon sent thousands of troops to the Caribbean to reassert control over the colony and crush a slave revolt led by Toussaint Louverture. The campaign was already cursed. The soldiers were ill-prepared for the tropical climate, falling fast to yellow fever, dehydration, and exhaustion. Then came the poisonous stew.
Accounts say that a group of soldiers, hungry and likely disoriented, gathered what they believed were bay leaves to add flavor to their rations. What they had actually picked were oleander leaves, a highly toxic plant that grows abundantly in the region.
It didn’t take long after the first bite for the symptoms to appear: vomiting, stomach cramps, dizziness, and in some cases, hallucinations and death. Oleander contains compounds that disrupt the heart’s function. Ingesting it, even a small amount, can be fatal.
It’s not known exactly how many died, but several men reportedly collapsed right there in the camp. Others suffered long bouts of illness with little access to proper medical care. In the chaos of war, their deaths were just more names on the ever-growing list of casualties. But the oleander incident remains a darkly absurd reminder that nature, like war, doesn’t play fair.
No. 2 He Was Once Attacked by a Horde of Bunnies
It sounds like a bad joke, but it really happened. One of Europe’s most feared military minds once found himself on the losing side of a rabbit hunt. After signing the Treaties of Tilsit in 1807, Napoleon had a rare moment to relax. To celebrate, one of his senior staff officers organized a hunt. It was meant to be a morale boost. The plan was simple. Gather the officers, line up the guns, release the rabbits, and enjoy the show.
But instead of tracking wild hares through the brush, Napoleon and his men were met with something else entirely. The hunt organizers had reportedly sourced several hundred rabbits. Only they hadn’t gone out and trapped wild ones. They bought them from local farmers. These were domestic rabbits. They had never been hunted. They were used to being fed.
When the cages were opened, the rabbits didn’t run. They swarmed. Dozens, then hundreds of rabbits hopped straight toward Napoleon and his officers. Instead of scattering in fear, the animals ran at full speed, leaping at boots, clawing at trousers, and even jumping into open carriages. Eyewitnesses said it looked like a tide rolling across the field.
The imperial guards tried to swat them away, but the rabbits kept coming. There are accounts of men retreating behind carts and scrambling for cover. Napoleon reportedly fled to his carriage as the furry wave pressed in around him. It was one of the few times in his career that he staged a retreat without firing a shot.
No. 3 He Wrote a Romance Novel
Before he was Emperor of the French, Napoleon Bonaparte was a twenty-something artillery officer with big ideas and too much time on his hands. At some point between military drills and revolutionary politics, he wrote a romance novel.
The short manuscript is called Clisson et Eugénie. It tells the story of a young soldier named Clisson who falls in love with a woman named Eugénie. They share a brief, passionate relationship before he’s sent off to war. While he’s away, she betrays him with another man. Heartbroken and disillusioned, Clisson rides into battle seeking death and gets exactly what he’s looking for.
Napoleon wrote it around 1795, shortly after a real breakup with a woman named Désirée Clary. She had been engaged to him before marrying another man. At the time, Napoleon had just returned from the disastrous Vendée campaign. He was out of favor politically, in a personal slump, and had not yet met Joséphine.
Parts of it are dramatic to the point of parody. But it gives a rare look into the inner world of a man often remembered only for military ambition. In the story, Clisson is idealistic, emotional, and deeply wounded by love. He speaks in long-winded letters, goes on about fate and betrayal, and ultimately throws himself at death rather than live with the heartbreak. Sound familiar?
It sat unpublished for years, scattered across various archives in fragments until scholars eventually pieced it back together in the 20th century.
No. 4 He Was a Fan of the Metric System
The metric system was introduced in France during the French Revolution as a way to replace the messy patchwork of weights and measures used across the country. But it wasn’t exactly popular. People hated the change. Bakers, farmers, and traders were used to their old units and weren’t keen on learning a new system just because Paris said so. Napoleon, ever the pragmatist, saw the value in it. A standard system meant clearer trade, simpler taxation, and fewer excuses from provincial officials.
He enforced it in French schools, used it in administration, and took it across Europe with his army. Ironically, while France eventually eased up and allowed some old measures back in, many of the countries Napoleon invaded stuck with the metric system permanently.
It was one of the few things he exported that actually lasted.
No. 5 He Had a Fear of Cats
It wasn’t just a dislike. Multiple reports from people in his inner circle suggest he had a genuine phobia. Whenever a cat entered a room, he tensed up. Some said he froze. Others claimed he turned pale or quietly stepped back, hoping no one noticed.
The fear has a name, ailurophobia, and it wasn’t unique to him. Alexander the Great supposedly had it, too. But for someone who could face down enemy cannons without blinking, it’s strange to think that a house cat could rattle him. It could have been that he was just superstitious, but we’ll never know.
No. 6 He Didn’t Speak French Natively
Napoleon Bonaparte was born on the island of Corsica in 1769, just months after France seized it from the Republic of Genoa. His first language wasn’t French; it was Corsican, a dialect close to Italian. At home, his family spoke Corsican and Italian. French was something taught in school, not spoken around the dinner table.
When Napoleon was sent to mainland France for military training, he stood out immediately. He was poor, provincial, and didn’t speak the language well. His accent was thick. He mispronounced common words. Other students mocked him for it. Some teachers even dismissed him as unintelligent because of the way he spoke.
He never fully lost the accent. Even at the height of his power, Parisians could hear the Corsican in his voice. In private, he continued writing letters and notes in Italian. He once said that the only language he could speak properly was his mother tongue.
No. 7 His Hat Was a Strategic Choice
Most military officers at the time wore their bicorne hats front to back, with the points sticking out behind and in front of the head. Napoleon didn’t. He turned his sideways so the wide ends stretched across his shoulders. For him, it was an easy way to be seen.
In the middle of a chaotic battlefield, it helped soldiers pick him out quickly. When visibility was low and communication was poor, knowing where your leader was mattered. That sideways silhouette cut through the smoke and movement. His troops could spot him instantly.
He also understood the power of repetition. Artists painted him the same way. Engravers and sculptors followed suit. Over time, the wide-brim hat became part of his identity. It was practical, yes, but it also fed the image of a man who stood apart from everyone else.
No. 8 He Once Escaped Elba Dressed as a British Ship’s Mate
In 1814, Napoleon was exiled to the island of Elba after abdicating the throne. It was a small island off the coast of Italy, and the Allies allowed him to rule it as a kind of puppet prince, complete with a palace, a few hundred guards, and the illusion of dignity.
But Napoleon was never going to settle for exile.
Less than a year into his stay, he began plotting his return. He knew he couldn’t come back openly. The French monarchy had been restored, and Europe was still on edge. So he used the one skill that had served him well for decades: misdirection.
On the night of February 26, 1815, he slipped away from Elba with about a thousand loyal men. To avoid drawing attention, he disguised himself and boarded a small ship called the Inconstant. Some accounts suggest he dressed as a British naval officer or ship’s mate to deflect suspicion from patrol ships in the area.
The risk was massive. If he’d been caught, he likely would’ve been executed. But luck was on his side. The weather held, the patrols missed him, and he landed in southern France near Golfe-Juan on March 1.
What happened next became legend. As he marched north, soldiers sent to arrest him switched sides. He walked straight through hostile territory, gaining support at every stop. By the time he reached Paris, he had an army behind him.
The whole escape, from Elba to the capital, took just twenty days. No bloodshed. No battle. However, it didn’t last. The Hundred Days ended in disaster at Waterloo. But for those three weeks, the entire map of Europe was rewritten by one well-timed escape and a bit of borrowed clothing.
No. 9 He Brought the Rosetta Stone to Europe
When he invaded Egypt in 1798, he brought more than 30,000 troops and around 160 scholars, engineers, artists, and scientists. His goal wasn’t just to defeat the Ottomans, he wanted to study, collect, and document everything. He called it a civilizing mission. Others saw it as looting dressed up in academic robes.
The most famous discovery came a year later. In 1799, near the town of Rosetta, French soldiers repairing a fort stumbled on a slab of stone covered in strange writing. It had three scripts on it: Greek, Demotic, and hieroglyphics. The scholars quickly realized this was a key to unlocking ancient Egyptian writing.
Napoleon had already left Egypt by then, but the discovery happened because of the infrastructure and research network he’d put in place. The scholars he brought along copied and studied the stone immediately. They knew it was important, even if they didn’t yet know how important.
The stone didn’t stay with France for long. When the British defeated the French in Egypt, they seized many of the artifacts, including the Rosetta Stone. It was taken to London in 1802 and has been in the British Museum ever since. The French weren’t happy about it, but they kept the copies and published the inscriptions. Those transcripts helped crack the code of Egyptian hieroglyphs decades later.
Napoleon didn’t get the credit, but without his campaign and the team of researchers he dragged across the desert, the Rosetta Stone might still be buried under rubble.
No. 10 He Left Behind 13 Siblings… Kinda
Napoleon Bonaparte officially had seven surviving siblings. But by the time he was done redrawing the map of Europe, it felt like he had thirteen, or more.
Once in power, Napoleon didn’t trust the old royal families. He believed blood loyalty was more dependable than political alliances. So he started placing his brothers and sisters, and even in-laws, on thrones across Europe like chess pieces.
His brother Joseph was made King of Naples, then King of Spain. Louis became King of Holland. Jérôme ruled Westphalia, a kingdom Napoleon invented from pieces of Germany. Caroline, his ambitious sister, became Queen of Naples through marriage. Elisa was put in charge of parts of northern Italy. Even his stepdaughter Hortense, married into the plan, becoming Queen of Holland alongside Louis.
Some of them were capable. Most weren’t. Joseph struggled to control Spain and was hated by the locals. Louis tried to act independently and was eventually pushed out. Jérôme blew through money and played king without understanding politics. Napoleon had to constantly manage their failures, stepping in to clean up the mess while still fighting wars on multiple fronts.
To outsiders, it looked like he was building a dynasty. To his enemies, it looked like cronyism. Either way, it didn’t last. After his fall, most of the puppet kingdoms collapsed, and the Bonapartes were driven out.
Kylie Lang is a nationally syndicated travel journalist with bylines on the Associated Press Wire & more, a medieval history writer, and the founder and lead author of Tales of the Middle Ages (talesofthemiddleages.com). She holds a BA (Honours) in History from the University of Kent and is a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers.
