Napoleon Bonaparte was down but not out. He had lost the bulk of his army in campaigns to the east, and his defeat at the Battle of Leipzig was the proverbial nail in the coffin: after that it was a straight line to Paris for the European powers allied against him. France was occupied, and Napoleon himself was exiled to a small island off the coast, off the northwestern Italian coast. Not that he had any intention of remaining there.

On this day. March 20, in 1815, after a stealth landing back on French soil and forcing the abdication of the French crown, Napoleon re-took control of France, beginning what would be his Hundred Days Rule.

Napoleon took advantage of the occupiers’ distraction. While they were squabbling over territorial rights and concessions, he landed in Golfe-Juan with 600 men. Still a popular leader, he was well received and rounded up the local militias and many of his former soldiers. He defeated several of the allied armies that came after him, but was himself finally cornered and defeated at the Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon was exiled — this time for good — to the more remote island of St. Helena.