Vive L’Empereur! Cheering French Imperial Guard

After Napoleon escaped his island prison of Elba, 26 February 1815, he marched on Paris to resume this throne. When royalist troops were deployed to stop Napoleon’s advance, he strode out in front of them, threw open his coat and declared “If any of you will shoot his Emperor, here I am.” The men cheered and joined the cause. Marshal Ney, now one of Louis XVIII’s commanders, had said that Napoleon ought to be brought to Paris in an iron cage, but, on 14 March, Ney joined Bonaparte with 6,000 men. On his march, Napoleon promised constitutional reform and direct elections to an assembly – the gathered crowds roared their approval. Louis XVIII fled the capital and Napoleon entered Paris. 

56/58mm hand painted die-cast figure from W. Britain.