After the Battle of Leipzig in October 1814, the Allied powers exiled Napoleon to Elba, an island just off the coast of Italy. It does seem strange that they supposed that Napoleon would settle down as the ruler of a tiny island, after all his conquests throughout Europe. However, Napoleon had been watching and waiting while he kept himself informed about the disagreements between the Allied powers and the disaffection in France with Louis XVIII.
On 1 March, Napoleon left the island of Elba with about a thousand men and landed near Cannes with the intention to
stake his claim to rule France
resume his conquest of Europe
liberate France from the Allies
He baffled attempts to waylay him by a swift advance through the foothills of the Alps and appeared at Grenoble on 4 March. His proclamations stirred his old troops. "Soldiers, your general, called to the throne by the choice of the people, and raised on your shields, has come back to you. Come and join him! I am sprung from the Revolution. I am come to save the people from the slavery into which priests and nobles would plunge them."
Louis XVIII sent General Ney to capture Napoleon: Ney promised to "bring him back in an iron cage". However, when Ney met Napoleon and sent the troops to to arrest him he stepped forward and, opening the familiar grey overcoat, exclaimed: "Let him among you who wants to kill his Emperor, fire!" The soldiers broke into cheers, surged round him, and rummaged in their knapsacks for the tricolor cockades long hidden there. When Ney came into contact with his old master, memories were too much for him and he went over to him with all his men.
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