“Vive L’Empereur!” Single Cheering French Imperial Guard

This is toy soldier 36221 “Vive L’Empereur!” Single Cheering French Imperial Guard.

After Napoleon escaped his island prison of Elba, 6 April 1814, he marched on Paris to reclaim 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.