Napoleon’s suicide attempt
There is a book by historian Thierry Lentz entitled "Les vingt jours de Fontainebleau", referring to the three weeks Napoleon spent at this castle between the fall of Paris and his departure for Elba. This period also includes his suicide attempt, and since @northernmariette was interested in this topic, here's a short summary.
Thierry Lentz's narrative for the most part does not follow Caulaincourt's memoirs, which he consults for the time before and after, but the notes of Louis Etienne Saint-Denis, aka "Mameluk Ali", who, although not a direct witness himself, drew his knowledge from the valet Hubert, a friend of his who was on duty that night. While until the middle of the nineteenth century there were apparently grave doubts, today at least no one denies that Napoleon's suicide attempt really took place. In any case, there are enough testimonies that point to immense agitation on that night from 12 to 13 April 1814.
Chronological context: On the afternoon of 12 April, after delivering Napoleon's unconditional abdication to Tsar Alexander as Napoleon's plenipotentiaries and negotiating the Treaty of Fontainebleau with the Tsar and the interim government, Macdonald and Caulaincourt had returned to Fontainebleau. Ney, the third member of their negotiating team in fact, had already left them and joined the Allies. During the negotiations, Napoleon had once again tried to withdraw his abdication, a move that a deeply unnerved Caulaincourt simply chose to ignore.
Nevertheless, the two remaining negotiators are received warmly by Napoleon upon their return. Among Napoleon's remaining entourage, the mood is almost relieved to see the agony finally come to an end. Macdonald and Caulaincourt report and are asked to attend supper at 9 o'clock in the evening, but they eat alone because Napoleon feigns indisposition, retires to his room and eats something there. When he returns, he dismisses Macdonald for the evening with orders to be back tomorrow at nine. Caulaincourt stays a little longer before he too is dismissed to bed with the remark that Napoleon will send for him later tonight.
Up to this point we have followed Caulaincourt, now we switch to Saint-Denis:
At about four o'clock in the morning Napoleon calls the valet Hubert and asks for his dressing gown. Hubert enters, puts the lamp on the side table, brings Napoleon his dressing gown, a pair of footed trousers, and puts the slippers on him. Then he is instructed to rekindle the fire. Napoleon declares that he wants to write to the Empress. Hubert descends the stairs to the writing cabinet to fetch ink, paper and quills, and then retreats back to the antechamber. He leaves the door slightly ajar and can watch Napoleon start to write several times, only to crumple up the papers each time and throw them into the fire.
Napoleon did indeed write to Marie Louise that night, although Hubert seems to have missed the fact that Napoleon actually completed one of his draft letters. According to the editors of the "Correspondance Générale", Tom 15, however, the letter was never delivered to Marie Louise. It reads:
No. 38658 - To Marie-Louise. Fontainebleau, 13 April 1814, 3 a.m.
My dear Louise, I have received your letter. I approve of your going to Rambouillet where your father will join you. It is the only consolation you can receive in our misfortunes. For eight days I have been waiting for the moment with eagerness. Your father has been misguided and bad for us, but he will be a good father for you and your son. Caulaincourt has arrived. Yesterday I sent you a copy of the arrangements he signed, which ensured your son's fate. Goodbye, my sweet Louise. You are what I love most in the world. My misfortunes affect me only by the harm they do to you. All your life you will love the most tender of husbands. Give a kiss to your son. Farewell, my Louise. All yours.
[I can’t help but notice the most secure sign that he really may have wanted to kill himself: He calls little Napoleon Marie Louise’s son no less than three times. Usually, it’s always »my son«.]
Back to events according to valet Hubert:
On the dresser are usually glasses, a sugar bowl and a carafe of water, but Hubert happens to know that the sugar bowl is missing this evening as the servant who should have filled it has left it with him in the antechamber. Nevertheless, he hears Napoleon pouring liquid into a glass and then stirring it with a spoon. He wonders what Napoleon is dissolving in water, since he has no sugar, but then assumes that Napoleon must have taken sugar from his travel nécessaire.
[While I am struck by the fact that it was apparently customary to sweeten normal water with sugar? Ah, these ascetic, hardened military men!]
After a moment of silence, Napoleon approaches the door and tells Hubert to call Messrs Caulaincourt, Maret, Bertrand and Fain. As soon as the gentlemen arrive, Napoleon tells them that he cannot and will not bear the dishonour of France and has therefore just poisoned himself. Whereupon, of course, there is immediate commotion, people run around the castle looking for Yvan or anyone else who might have an antidote at hand, they give Napoleon emetics, watch him vomit and oversee him as he writhes in convulsions on his bed, complaining that this dying thing is really a difficult business. He falls asleep briefly, they carry him to the window for fresh air, and when the immediate danger seems over, they leave him under Constant's care and go to bed. The next morning Napoleon is already well enough to go for a walk in the garden with the gentlemen.
To what extent the suicide attempt was really meant seriously, says the author, can hardly be decided from today's perspective.
