Napoleon's greatest foe

拿破仑生平最难缠的死敌 尽管流行历史常将击败拿破仑·波拿巴的功劳归于威灵顿公爵、纳尔逊勋爵或俄国将领，但拿破仑本人却将英国海军指挥官西德尼·史密斯爵士视为粉碎其宏伟野心的人。从在土伦焚毁法国舰队、逃出巴黎监狱，到在阿卡围城战中打破拿破仑的东方征服梦，史密斯凭借过人胆识、区域外交和非传统战术多次挫败波拿巴。尽管遭遇英国白厅官僚的嫉妒以及与纳尔逊等人的摩擦，史密斯始终是拿破仑难以摆脱的肉中刺；他不仅影响了迈达之战的英军战术学说，还在滑铁卢战役中负责监督伤员救治。最终，史密斯在军事战略、两栖作战乃至后来的战俘人道救援等多领域的卓越生涯，为他赢得了作为拿破仑命中宿敌的独特地位。 尽管现代历史常将击溃拿破仑的功劳归于威灵顿和纳尔逊等人物，但拿破仑本人却认为英国海军军官西德尼·史密斯爵士是对其破坏最大的对手，并在回忆录中感叹史密斯让他“错失了命运”。 (0:00) 史密斯在海上截获了法军攻城重炮，并与奥斯曼指挥官杰扎尔帕夏并肩坚守阿卡要塞长达三个月，有效遏制了拿破仑效仿亚历山大大帝向东进军的步伐。 (20:24) 英国最高指挥部拒绝承认史密斯通过谈判达成的《阿里什协定》，导致英军在阿布基尔发起惨烈的两栖突击，为换取史密斯此前已争得的相同条款，造成了估计2万名不必要的伤亡。 (37:10) 史密斯在意大利发动的创新性沿海突袭——包括将船只冲滩以构建即时岸防堡垒，并与当地游击队协同作战——成为阿瑟·韦尔斯利在半岛战争前的主要战术研究范例。 (43:22)

[15:35] Lindybeige: The more you learn about Napoleon, the more difficult it is to believe that he could have been any worse. [7:11] Sir Sidney Smith: One has to admit that fortune's wheel makes strange revolutions, but before it can be truly called a revolution the turn of the wheel must be complete. [39:00] Sir Sidney Smith: Believe me, General, you must adopt a more modest line of thought, and the man who tells you that Asia is not a theater created for your glory will not in fact be your enemy.

[0:00] of all the people who did the world good [0:02] by combating Napoleon Bonaparte and [0:04] thwarting his ambitions who do you think [0:06] did the most good well you could say [0:09] what it's got to be surely the iron Duke [0:11] could you go Ellington right cause he [0:12] defeated them at Waterloo Wow maybe not [0:14] Oh some of you might say I'll do it'll [0:16] be a Russian general who threw him back [0:17] from Moscow and the other retreat from [0:19] Moscow and the destruction of the Grand [0:20] Army is it that no possibly not aren't [0:24] you mad aren't you of course it's Nelson [0:25] isn't he because if Nelson hadn't [0:27] smashed and Napoleon's for the combined [0:29] Spanish and French fleets at Trafalgar [0:31] and then Napoleon would have had so many [0:33] more options around the Mediterranean [0:35] around the rest well yes it's Nelson of [0:37] course you know the column in in London [0:38] and everything well all of those people [0:42] are candidates but in the opinion of [0:44] Napoleon himself it was someone that you [0:48] perhaps haven't even heard of Sydney [0:50] Smith later sir Sydney Smith all right [0:53] he was born William Smith but never mind [0:54] eat he used his middle name Sydney Smith [0:57] and I believe this man deserves more [0:59] recognition and so I'm making this video [1:01] which has been sponsored by audible more [1:03] of them later now I won't go into all [1:06] the details of his birth they were quite [1:08] mundane essentially he joined the Navy [1:10] quite early and got a lot of experience [1:12] early on fighting in the American [1:15] Revolutionary War also known as that the [1:17] war of independence and he distinguished [1:19] himself in action with his conspicuous [1:21] bravery such that he came to the [1:23] attention of his commanders who promoted [1:24] him to leftenant and that was quite [1:27] remarkable because naval regulations [1:29] stipulated that you had to be at least [1:30] 19 to be a leftenant whereas he was 16 [1:34] yeah [1:35] very young and within a couple of years [1:36] of that he had the command of his own [1:38] ship so he was rising up the ranks it [1:40] seems through merit though he was [1:42] reasonably well-connected it seems [1:43] largely through merit very very quickly [1:45] but then well do you know peace broke [1:48] out and there was nothing for a young [1:50] naval officer to do at that moment and [1:51] he was he was put on half pay and given [1:54] some time off so he went travelling and [1:56] already he was thinking about getting [1:57] into diplomacy and intelligence knew he [2:00] travelled quite widely to places like [2:01] Spain and he ended up in in Turkey in [2:05] Istanbul not Constantinople it's now [2:08] Istanbul not Constantinople why did [2:10] Constantinople get the works well that's [2:11] new bodies with this but [2:13] his brother worked for the Embassy in [2:16] Istanbul and so that was one connection [2:19] and so he was building up connections [2:21] within that world of diplomacy and and [2:23] foreign affairs and making connections [2:25] in places it's significantly like Turkey [2:29] now one of the things he did was in 1790 [2:33] get employed by King Gustav the third of [2:36] Sweden who needed a naval advisor and he [2:39] appointed him despite that he was only [2:41] 26 years old at the time he appointed [2:43] him as chief naval advisor to the [2:46] Swedish and gave him command of a [2:49] squadron quite a large and significant [2:50] squadron of the Swedish Navy and he [2:53] fought at the Battle of Spence couldn't [2:55] and won a staggering victory against the [2:59] Russians who were the enemy at that time [3:00] and the Russians lost 64 ships to the [3:04] Swedish four ships and so pleased was [3:08] King Gustav that he knighted Sydney and [3:11] the city became Sir Sydney Smith [3:13] although that he was of course not a [3:15] British Knight at this point he was a [3:16] Swedish Knight and many of his fellow [3:18] officers teased him for many years after [3:21] that as the Swedish knight now one [3:25] unfortunate knack that Sydney had was [3:27] making enemies but it seems that he made [3:29] enemies not of people who actually met [3:32] him and knew him but of people who [3:33] didn't people high up and elsewhere did [3:37] not like him for lots of reasons he had [3:39] too much initiative and acted you know [3:41] without what consulting them and and [3:44] that they wanted to be feel what it [3:46] revealed they were in control not this [3:47] this guy who's there in the field with [3:49] lots of initiative doing stuff even if [3:51] it's good we are supposed to order these [3:53] things drat it he also gained the enmity [3:56] of a lot of British officers in the [3:59] Royal Navy for that victory at Spence [4:01] good because a lot of British officers [4:04] had been serving with the Russian Navy [4:06] and got killed in that battle well I [4:09] suppose that's the risk you take with [4:11] foreign adventures anyway he was in [4:14] Constantinople when war broke out with [4:16] the French yes again now in [4:20] post-revolutionary France there were an [4:22] awful lot of people who really didn't [4:23] like this revolutionary France thing at [4:26] all and [4:26] they might not have been the greatest [4:28] fan of all the various Louise that had [4:30] had been king for so long into the past [4:32] they preferred it to the reign of terror [4:36] which was taking place in France at the [4:38] time under people like ropes beer so [4:40] there were loads of revolts against the [4:43] revolution and these people who were [4:46] often referred to as Royalists even if [4:48] they weren't strictly speaking riders [4:49] and several cities including to law [4:51] rebelled against the reign of terror so [4:54] he heard oh there's a war on [4:56] great I'm a naval officer well sort of [4:58] I'm not actually a serving naval officer [5:00] at the moment I'm on half pay and have [5:01] been been put out to pasture for a bit [5:04] but I know what the hell I'll recruit a [5:06] load of guys and get myself too too long [5:07] we can sort out the paperwork later I [5:09] want to do my bit so he arrived there [5:11] and made himself available to Lord [5:13] Admiral hood or Admiral lord hood who [5:15] was commanding the defense of the city [5:17] with an international force including [5:19] quite a few Spanish but of course also [5:22] lots and lots of French and they were [5:24] holding out against the besieging [5:26] Republican forces now in command there [5:29] was one Colonel an artillery colonel [5:32] whose name was Napoleon Bonaparte and [5:36] this was the first time that sir Sidney [5:39] and Napoleon Bonaparte actually were [5:43] pitted against each other and from that [5:46] moment on Napoleon who was a very [5:49] superstitious man got this idea that [5:52] somehow the Sidney was like his his [5:54] nemesis and everything every time he [5:57] came across this guy's name it seemed to [5:59] fill in with a degree of foreboding even [6:02] other people called Smith that he [6:03] encountered made him stop and darken and [6:08] sometimes go silent well this was as I [6:11] say the first time they cross paths so [6:14] Sydney was supposed to be had lots of [6:17] support from various Spanish troops but [6:18] he didn't get that so instead he's [6:21] sallied out just himself and a few naval [6:23] personnel to you know set fire to the [6:27] French fleet a bit which he did and he [6:30] destroyed half the French fleet by fire [6:33] and would you believe it later he got [6:35] criticized for not destroying all the [6:37] fleet which I think it's a bit much [6:38] frankly I mean if he destroyed half the [6:40] rent flee [6:40] that's you know that's a good night's [6:41] work isn't it I would have thought so [6:43] anyway this officer doing his operations [6:49] so much harm really stuck with Napoleon [6:52] in his mind and he wrote vivid [6:56] descriptions of the burning fleet and [6:57] his feelings at the time so that was the [7:01] first time the two of them the two of [7:03] them crossed swords if you like so [7:06] Napoleon found out who was that officer [7:09] and he found out that was a Sydney Smith [7:11] this is significant because a few years [7:14] later in 1796 so Sydney was doing [7:18] something that he was something of a [7:20] specialist in he was doing a an inland [7:23] waterway operation he didn't actually do [7:25] much fighting in the open sea almost [7:27] there all the operations that Sydney got [7:28] involved with were within sight of land [7:30] or even in rivers and so forth anyway he [7:32] was trying to capture a French ship in [7:35] la Jara and it was all going very well [7:37] he'd got in there with just a few small [7:39] rowing boats and unfortunately luck was [7:43] against him the weather turned the wind [7:45] the wind changed direction just at the [7:47] wrong moment and he ended up getting [7:48] captured now in those days what you did [7:51] when you got captured was you wrote to [7:53] the commander and said terribly sorry [7:56] you know what with you know trying to [7:57] fight a war against you and everything [7:58] but you know you're all trying to do the [8:00] same to us you've got prisoners we've [8:03] got prisoners let's just exchange [8:05] prisoners here are my details and can [8:08] you please make the arrangements and [8:09] this was the standard thing and it [8:11] normally happened unfortunately the man [8:13] into whose hands the letter was put was [8:17] called Napoleon Bonaparte and he looked [8:20] and he saw the name [8:22] it's a Sydney Smith and thought oh yes [8:27] fate has delivered this man into my [8:29] hands and he had him thrown into prison [8:33] in the temple prison in Paris and he [8:37] repeatedly tried to get him tried with [8:39] arson would you believe the his idea was [8:43] that because he wasn't technically a [8:44] serving officer at the time that makes [8:46] him a noncombatant and so by the rules [8:48] of war maybe even arson and anyway [8:51] nobody actually did prosecutor Sydney [8:53] for [8:54] and I suspect it's because they looked [8:55] at the situation and thought one would [8:57] never get this charge to stick there [8:58] you're being ridiculous Napoleon who do [9:00] you think you are Emperor Oh ordering [9:02] order is around [9:03] honestly Napoleon so that didn't happen [9:07] but he was that is Italy in that prison [9:10] for two years and while he was in that [9:13] prison he wrote a letter to Napoleon he [9:16] wrote it on the shutters to his cell [9:19] and I want to read you a bit of the [9:20] letter that he wrote now from this book [9:23] called beware of heroes [9:25] beware of heroes by Peter Shanklin which [9:27] is one of the books that I've read about [9:29] Sidney one has to admit that fortunes [9:34] wheel makes strange revolutions but [9:36] before it can be truly called a [9:39] revolution the turn of the wheel must be [9:40] complete today you are as high as you [9:43] can be but I do not envy you your [9:46] happiness because I have a still greater [9:48] happiness and that is to be as low in [9:50] fortunes wheel as I can go so that as [9:53] soon as the capricious lady who turns [9:55] the wheel does so again I shall rise for [9:58] the same reason that you shall fall I do [10:03] not write this to distress you but to [10:04] bring you the same consolation that I [10:06] have when you reach the point where I am [10:08] you will occupy this same prison why not [10:11] you as well as I I did not expect to be [10:13] shut up here any more than you do now [10:14] but of course I don't have to convince [10:16] you that you will come here because to [10:18] read these lines you must be here [10:21] I assume you will have this room because [10:23] the jailor here is a good man he will [10:24] give you the best room just as he did [10:27] for me [10:27] well that is what he wrote then and then [10:33] he escaped he escaped because he had [10:37] help and he had the help of pro royalist [10:41] or anti Republican friends in Paris who [10:45] at some risks to themselves helped him [10:47] escape so he escaped and joined the Navy [10:50] again and carried on with his work now [10:53] he was as I say very involved with [10:57] diplomacy and matters around the world [10:59] and he looked at the situation and he [11:02] advised the Foreign Office of his [11:05] military assessment and his assessment - [11:07] of Napoleon [11:08] character he said this is Napoleon guys [11:09] coming to power is tremendously [11:11] ambitious and I predict that he's going [11:13] to invade Egypt now at this point the [11:18] Royal Navy didn't have bases around the [11:21] Mediterranean the Royal Navy had [11:23] actually largely pulled out of the [11:24] Mediterranean so that left it as a River [11:27] playground further that the French fleet [11:29] and Napoleon was stupendously ambitious [11:36] he wanted to be another Alexander he [11:39] also in his own words wanted to make the [11:41] English tremble he saw the English as [11:44] the ultimate enemy but how could he do [11:46] this well he could emulate Alexander by [11:49] taking an army roughly the size of [11:51] Alexander's and replicating his feats he [11:53] could land in Egypt conquer Egypt and [11:56] then go anti-clockwise around conquering [11:59] Lebanon and Palestine and so forth up to [12:02] Istanbul take out the that the Ottoman [12:05] Turks and then go through Vienna [12:07] conquering that and then return to [12:09] France and then my goodness he would [12:10] have complete control of the eastern [12:12] Mediterranean and all the trade with the [12:14] the Near East and the Middle East and [12:15] that even the trade routes to the Far [12:17] East he'd have controlled the [12:18] Dardanelles he would be in such a strong [12:20] position and at the time there was no [12:23] one to stop him doing this there were in [12:25] fact no organized armies in a position [12:28] to stop any French invasion anywhere [12:30] between the Mediterranean and India it [12:35] is even possible that he was harboring [12:38] some ambitions to do what Alexander [12:40] didn't take India as well because could [12:42] you imagine if he'd taken India and held [12:43] it something that Alexander didn't [12:45] manage to do well he would have gone one [12:46] up on Alexander as I say Napoleon was a [12:49] very weirdly ambitious man anyway so [12:53] Sidney was right and the the British [12:57] when they realized that this was a [12:59] feasible plan put together a task force [13:02] and went to Egypt and arrived to the big [13:06] army in a big fleet and said right the [13:08] French are coming we think you really [13:10] ought to do something about it we're [13:11] here to help and they were sent packing [13:12] the local rulers said don't be [13:15] ridiculous these did the Mamluks and [13:18] don't be ridiculous [13:20] did you be off on your way [13:22] in fact the local ruler actually forbade [13:24] them from taking on supplies which is [13:26] very odd thing to do one because he [13:28] didn't actually have the authority to do [13:29] that there was no war on the British [13:30] could have just bought supplies and and [13:32] after being just fair trade but also [13:34] Nelson and his task force was in a [13:37] perfectly good position to just take [13:39] everything they wanted by force anyway [13:40] but neatly they said all right on your [13:42] own head be it and they sailed away [13:45] again which was perhaps a bit of a shame [13:46] because the French then turned up and [13:48] get conquered Cairo and Alexandria oops [13:51] so then back Came Nelson with the fleet [13:54] and we have the Battle of the Nile in [13:56] which Nelson pretty comprehensively beat [13:58] the French and destroyed half of its [14:00] fleet in the in the mouth of the Nile [14:03] itself so huzzah for Nelson well done [14:06] and Nelson was expecting great rewards [14:10] but actually he didn't get all the [14:13] rewards of diplomatic positioning that [14:16] he was expecting because this chap [14:17] Sinise Smith much - Nelson's annoyance [14:20] was was given a role which he saw as [14:23] wrong because Sydney Smith was sort of a [14:26] diplomat and and sort of a soldier and [14:31] and sort of a Navy man at the same time [14:34] because he was he was doing this this [14:35] terrible wreck way this land and by sea [14:37] he was landing parties of people using [14:39] his own initiative here and there hang [14:40] on that's army work hang on no no stick [14:42] to the Navy and what are you doing all [14:44] this diplomacy the thing is that he knew [14:45] a lot of people in the area I don't [14:47] actually haven't been able to find out [14:49] what languages he spoke but presumably I [14:51] get the strong impression that he was a [14:53] bit of a linguist so he probably had [14:54] some Turkish and maybe some Arabic and [14:57] so he to some degree he was able to talk [14:59] the locals so he had connections in the [15:02] area and contact circles within the [15:04] diplomatic service as well but this [15:06] rankled with Nelson and Nelson did not [15:08] like this Sydney Smith guy even though I [15:10] didn't actually know him personally [15:11] and one of the things he didn't like [15:13] about Sydney was that Sydney was this [15:15] young come up through the ranks really [15:17] quickly guy who kept using his own [15:19] initiative rather than following the [15:20] orders given him by his senior [15:21] commanders which is a bit rich because [15:23] that's exactly what Nelson did but when [15:27] he was younger but now Nelson was in [15:29] charge and he didn't want any young [15:31] Nelson types like him you know did [15:33] fiying him drat it [15:35] anyway the French however still had a [15:40] big land army but that land army was now [15:44] stranded largely the the brick the Royal [15:47] Navy was powerful enough to stop him [15:48] leaving and his fleet was now half [15:52] smashed in but what he could do was [15:55] carry on with his plan which is to [15:56] conquer his way anti-clockwise around [15:59] the Mediterranean and he attacked [16:02] various places that Alexander attacked [16:04] partly I think because Alexander [16:05] attacked them and he wanted to emulate [16:06] Alexander and the slaughter was [16:10] horrendous it was extraordinarily brutal [16:13] rule and when he took princess Jaffa [16:16] used to be called Joppa but by this [16:18] period was called Jaffa even after the [16:22] garrison had surrendered to him and he [16:24] had agreed terms he had them all [16:27] massacred about four thousand garrison [16:29] it just taken down to the beach and had [16:31] them all bayonetted and he wasn't too [16:35] squeamish to to watch it being done [16:36] Napoleon was an absolutely horrendous [16:41] person it's it's the more you you learn [16:44] about Napoleon the more difficulties to [16:47] believe that he could have been any [16:49] worse now of course there have been a [16:51] lot of monsters in history and there are [16:53] people like Chairman Mao and Stalin and [16:55] so forth who have killed considerably [16:57] more people than the Napoleon managed to [16:59] kill although don't forget that in in in [17:03] the the mid 20th century when Mao and [17:05] Stalin were doing their stuff there were [17:06] far more people in the world to kill and [17:08] they had railways and and aircraft and [17:11] poison gas and radio and all these [17:12] modern inventions which made being [17:14] utterly horrendous to large numbers of [17:16] people so much more efficient I suspect [17:19] that in in terms of a tropic atrocities [17:21] per capita Napoleon might might actually [17:24] be top dog here he killed over 2 million [17:28] of his own countrymen and goodness knows [17:30] how many million of other people around [17:32] the world so the amount of death that he [17:35] brought to the world was quite an [17:37] unnecessary death was quite [17:39] extraordinary but he was also an [17:41] appalling person in so many other ways [17:43] some of which I'm probably unlikely to [17:45] do mention in this where I start he had [17:47] all these people bayonetted and [17:49] the men that he was commanding some of [17:51] them were utterly appalled some of his [17:53] is his officers of course his officers [17:56] were literate and they've left records [17:58] were absolutely disgusted with this [18:01] massacring of people who had accepted a [18:04] surrender when after he'd accepted their [18:06] surrender and some of them even became [18:10] suicidal they were so disgusted that [18:12] what they'd done following his orders [18:14] and it was shortly after that actually [18:16] the plague actual proper play not just [18:18] some disease or other but plague broke [18:20] out in the French camp as there was some [18:22] sort of biblical retribution for the the [18:24] atrocity [18:25] but anyway he went round burning and [18:27] murdering and lying his way around the [18:30] Mediterranean yeah he was an astonishing [18:33] liar I'm a really bad liar I mean a bad [18:35] liar in the sense that he told absolute [18:37] whoppers but also a bad liar in that he [18:40] told lies that were obviously going to [18:42] be discovered people were obviously [18:43] going to see through these lies there [18:44] and he was at least in this part of his [18:47] career not believed by the locals he [18:49] told all the local Christians they [18:51] Coptic Christians and so forth that he [18:54] was there on a crusade against the [18:55] Muslims and he would protect them [18:56] against the Muslims and he was telling [18:58] all the Muslims that he himself Napoleon [19:00] was a Muslim there to protect him from [19:02] the nasty Christians and perhaps to [19:04] exterminate these these verminous [19:05] Christians and he was telling all the [19:07] various different versions of the [19:10] Muslims that he was this particular type [19:12] of Muslim and was against that sort of [19:13] Muslim or he was against this particular [19:14] tribal would protect them against the [19:16] others and it was an incredibly [19:18] ineffective piece of a propaganda [19:21] campaign because also Sydney Smith had [19:24] to do was take Napoleon's propaganda [19:28] leaflets that he'd been distributing [19:29] about the place and used the same [19:31] leaflets because all you had to do was [19:34] take the leaflets that were a Dementor [19:36] for those people and show them to those [19:38] people and have some of yours find you [19:40] and show you those oh and you might be [19:41] just in these ones and everyone just saw [19:44] that he was just lying to everyone and [19:46] could not be trusted but he still was [19:48] big powerful commander in command of a [19:50] big powerful army and therefore to be [19:52] feared so there was a definite danger [19:54] that if he won then the low people would [19:56] join him because you know you've got to [19:58] join the victor haven't you otherwise [19:59] the victor turns on you and this guy [20:01] we'll definitely turn on you and kill [20:03] everybody [20:05] anyway mr. Sidney took the initiative he [20:09] saw that the busying himself round in [20:13] Alexander in places like that wasn't [20:14] what was needed he put together a force [20:16] and on his own initiative he went to [20:18] place called acre and there he aided the [20:22] local commander the the local Muslim [20:24] commander who was the man who at the [20:27] time was holding out against the French [20:30] and in fact had himself taken the [20:31] initiative he had for instance put [20:33] troops into into Jaffa and other places [20:35] this guy was the Pasha [20:38] Jezza who was also known as it [20:40] translates to slasher he was 60 years [20:43] old and was a big ferocious man who [20:46] showed nobody respect [20:49] apart from interestingly so Cindy Smith [20:51] whom he showed a lot of respect [20:53] straightaway and that immediately made [20:55] Sydney Smith very very respected by all [20:57] the people that he was dealing with in [20:59] that areas that made things a lot easier [21:01] so slasher Jezza had seen that okay this [21:07] is a guy I can do business with and he's [21:08] useful and he was very useful so Sydney [21:12] Smith for instance just happened to [21:15] capture all the French guns the her on [21:17] the on their way to the siege and he [21:19] then denied the use of the coast road by [21:21] bombarding it from the sea to the the [21:23] marching French army and he then landed [21:26] a load of troops naval troops mainly and [21:30] guns and installed them in acre and did [21:33] an awful lot to repair the defences [21:36] which are in a very very poor state and [21:39] for all this work he was given various [21:42] rewards oh he was he was also given one [21:47] one award that had previously been given [21:49] to one Saint Richard whether we know as [21:53] Richard the Lionheart yes who of course [21:55] had taken acre when he was batting [22:00] around the the Middle East the Near East [22:01] anyway so he installed himself in Acre [22:05] which was smack in the path of the [22:07] advancing the pollyana Carmy and was [22:09] commanded by the guy that Napoleon had [22:11] to defeat if he could show everyone in [22:13] the region that that [22:14] he was now in control and we are told [22:17] that the hillsides filled with people [22:19] watching the siege partly out of [22:21] fascination presumably but also because [22:24] they needed to know which of these two [22:25] sides was going to be the winner which [22:26] side that we can do I have to side with [22:28] in order to preserve our own lives now [22:31] the siege lasted about three months and [22:33] was absolutely epic and I cannot [22:35] possibly give you all the details but [22:36] there was a huge amount of ebb and flow [22:37] an awful lot of times it really looked [22:41] as though the French were going to take [22:42] this this tiny miserable little town but [22:45] they kept being flung back again and [22:47] again even after they made breaches and [22:49] the defenses breaches in the walls which [22:51] so Sydney had been quickly plugging up [22:54] they still couldn't take the town and [22:58] Napoleon's frustration grew and grew and [23:01] grew now he had a general clay bear [23:05] jean-baptiste clairebear under him and [23:09] Joe Matisse was quite a different man [23:12] from Napoleon in lots of ways and this [23:14] is him and isn't that hair great yeah [23:17] I asked proper wild hey I hope one day [23:19] when I go gray I'll be I don't think I [23:21] will though I think my hair will be too [23:22] thin by then but you know if I could I [23:23] would anyway this man was a problem for [23:28] for for Napoleon he was competent he was [23:33] an ardent Republican having a proper [23:35] Republican an actual French Republic not [23:36] this Napoleonic version of a republic in [23:39] other words something a bit more like a [23:42] monarchy and his troops were really [23:45] respect with him and even loved him and [23:47] were gang loyal to him so he had to keep [23:50] clay bear down and clay bear also was [23:52] one of the just about the only person in [23:53] fact as far as I can tell [23:54] who dared speak up in staff meetings [23:57] against these stupid ideas that Napoleon [23:59] kept coming up with and he he also dared [24:02] even mock him and one point they made a [24:04] breach in the walls he said yeah yeah [24:06] absurd spectacular but he said this I [24:07] think a cat could get through that or [24:10] when he shortly after he turned up he [24:12] hadn't look at the trenches that [24:12] Napoleon had had dug he said you call [24:14] these trenches it's alright for you but [24:16] they only come up to my waist and I dare [24:19] say that probably rankled with mr. [24:20] Bonaparte a little bit anyway clay bear [24:25] was it seems honorable [24:28] and straightforward and someone that's a [24:30] Sydney could do business with but [24:31] Napoleon just wasn't and the the [24:35] pettiness the spite the nastiness the [24:37] utter callousness of the lives of others [24:41] showed itself when Napoleon was [24:44] absolutely adamant that he haven't lost [24:48] it was a victory despite the fact that [24:50] it was quite definitely a loss he'd not [24:52] achieved his aim had been thrown back [24:54] and had lost a huge number of men and [24:55] guns and so forth in fact he ended up [24:57] losing almost all these guns these were [24:58] the guns one of Napoleon's Maxim's sorry [25:01] whatever sorry like one of his Maxim's [25:03] was you never abandon your guns you can [25:05] abandon your your your food you can [25:08] abandon your allies you can abandon [25:10] loads of things that you can abandon but [25:12] you never abandon your guns and he was [25:14] forced in the retreat to abandon guns [25:17] guns that had famously crossed the outs [25:19] with him had been with him for so many [25:21] of his early campaigns he had to abandon [25:24] them on in the retreat when he went past [25:26] Jaffa on the way back the bodies that [25:28] had just been left there apparently they [25:30] the stink was just indescribable anyway [25:34] so he's going up and down the desert [25:36] losing men to first and loads to wounds [25:40] now I was gonna say it's very it was [25:43] very Petty spiteful in order to show [25:46] that he hadn't lost he had to not agree [25:50] for the evacuation of the wounded sir [25:52] Sydney wrote to him and and offered [25:55] evacuation of the wounded as as a good [25:59] soldier would but if Napoleon had to do [26:02] a deal with the enemy in order to get [26:04] his wounded out then that would mean [26:06] that he must have lost but so he wasn't [26:08] going to admit that so tough to save his [26:12] face he didn't he didn't strike a deal [26:15] now in fact as it turned out a lot of [26:17] the wounded were evacuated and had been [26:19] told a lie one of many alive by Napoleon [26:23] which was that sir Sidney sent home [26:25] prisoners in plague ships and it seemed [26:28] a lot of his men did actually believe [26:30] this and so when they found out that [26:32] they weren't going to be sent home in [26:33] the plague ship they were almost [26:34] pathetically grateful anyway another [26:38] petty thing he did was burn every [26:40] village destroy and burn all [26:42] crops that he came across during his [26:45] campaign as well just this scorched [26:49] earth policy just the level of spite but [26:52] possibly the most one of the most [26:53] spiteful things he did was when he [26:55] finally decided right I'm gonna give up [26:58] on this siege and leave he ordered all [27:00] the remaining ammunition they had to be [27:02] fired not not at the defense's but just [27:05] into into the civilian part of the town [27:08] it's just an act of spite [27:12] what what military purpose did that [27:14] serve if anything all it did was turn [27:16] more people even more against him it was [27:18] it wasn't just spiteful it was really [27:20] stupid but there you go [27:22] this was Napoleon one of the worst human [27:24] beings ever to have disgraced the face [27:26] of the earth so Napoleon then gave up is [27:33] that why I can't now carry on with this [27:35] campaign I'm not going to make it to [27:36] Istanbul the Turks have now mobilized [27:38] against me so he left he killed away [27:43] himself back to France slipped away by [27:48] sea and got back to France leaving [27:50] claire-bear [27:51] absolutely in the doo-doo he left clay [27:55] bare with no guns no food no money or [27:58] any other means to pay his troops and no [28:01] fleet Napoleon took all the ships so [28:04] clay bear was completely stranded but [28:09] fortunately he was an honorable man who [28:11] could do a deal with Sydney and so [28:15] Sydney arranged a meeting that played [28:18] court a place called El Arish [28:20] and there struck a deal and his deal was [28:23] this he would organize it such that the [28:27] 18,000 troops under clay bear would be [28:30] taken back to France safely by the [28:33] British Navy they would own nothing save [28:37] the the ground they were standing on [28:38] when they were actually in Egypt but [28:42] they will be taken back to France and [28:44] that's it a peace and the Turks were [28:48] quite happy with that the topes the [28:50] Turks were cock-a-hoop they were they [28:52] were so happy in fact with the way that [28:55] the [28:55] got rid of the French that one of the [28:58] many little consequences of this is that [29:00] a chap called Elgin got the permission [29:04] to remove he did actually have to pay [29:06] quite a lot of money for them as well [29:07] but he's got permission to remove some [29:09] statues from a temple on a hill in [29:12] Athens these are now known as the Elgin [29:14] marbles you can see them in the British [29:15] Museum and if anyone tells you that they [29:17] were stolen or they weren't they were [29:19] paid for and they had permission and at [29:22] the time Athens was a city that was in a [29:25] country called Turkey so you dealt with [29:28] the Turks anyway so sorry little aside [29:31] snippet of history there a side effect [29:34] of what was going on so why would secede [29:37] nee want particularly clay bear and [29:39] eighteen thousand a high a largely [29:41] intact French army to go back to France [29:44] well he saw clay there as a good bulwark [29:47] against bulwark against Napoleon because [29:51] he saw clay bare as an honorable ardent [29:54] genuine Republican and someone who was [29:56] not at all a friend of Napoleon's and [29:59] someone who likes a Sydney saw [30:01] Napoleon's ambitions were really [30:04] dangerous to the point of deranged so if [30:08] clay bear had gone back to to France and [30:13] arrived this very very popular commander [30:16] with an army loyal to him because this [30:19] army saw how he had looked after them [30:21] whereas Napoleon had definitely not [30:23] looked after them he would have then [30:26] perhaps have been a very good counter to [30:28] Napoleon's rise into power within France [30:33] but it didn't happen and I'll tell you [30:35] what actually happened after I tell you [30:38] about my sponsors now audible and just [30:40] in case you don't know is an enormous [30:42] website which has loads of audio books [30:44] on it now it's the New Year well sorta [30:48] well it's January it's close to the new [30:49] year and you may be thinking of you [30:51] resolution the new year the new you yes [30:54] so what you could do is you get yourself [30:57] into an improving book with its books [30:58] this is well known are improving things [31:00] so what pertinent to the Napoleonic Wars [31:03] and improving miss could you could you [31:05] be listening to well how about a bit of [31:07] Tolstoy yeah how about [31:09] yeah the big one war and peace and if [31:12] you want you know bang for your buck as [31:14] the Americans put it well [31:16] war and peace is 61 hours long when it's [31:19] read out if you go for the unabridged [31:21] version they do have an abridged version [31:22] but you know you want the full thing so [31:25] if you've got a one hour commute to work [31:27] that's that's two hours a day you can [31:29] there you go you can have war and peace [31:30] ticked off as one of those things which [31:33] one of these days you'll get around to [31:34] reading possibly well this is one way of [31:35] doing it so in one way to improve [31:37] yourself is to get a bit of Tolstoy in [31:39] you other of course you didn't have to [31:40] choose this book you can choose from the [31:42] unrivaled large collection that they [31:44] have now there's a new thing you can do [31:47] if you're an American viewer you can [31:49] text using your you're clever telephones [31:51] 500 500 I think or 500 - 500 not [31:56] entirely sure how to say it I don't [31:57] really know what this is but I think [31:58] it's 500 500 and you text [32:00] lyndie base that's Li and dyb e IgE yes [32:05] ie before I I know it doesn't obey the [32:07] usual rule it's like the word there or [32:09] weird it's just different so what is [32:11] that again good okay and then it'll take [32:22] you to the free offer one month's free [32:24] membership of the site and one free [32:25] download which if it's if it's Tolstoy [32:28] is 61 hours of listening though a lot of [32:31] other books are shorter but then again [32:33] you know you're getting one thing for [32:35] free regardless what it got so you may [32:36] as well go for one of the more expensive [32:37] ones don't you think well I would anyway [32:41] so otherwise you can go to www.hsn thing [32:49] one free book free membership for a [32:52] month so there you go audible now back [32:55] to Sydney and what was going on yes so [33:00] this treaty which had been signed agreed [33:02] by the Turks and the the French alike [33:06] and the man Luke's everyone was happy [33:08] man Luke's were the people who were [33:10] running Egypt but they were actually [33:12] subservient at least in nominally to the [33:15] Sultan of the Ottoman Empire anyway [33:18] got it got countermanded Lord Keith who [33:22] was running a show he [33:23] the chief at the time and he was in [33:28] agreement with Nelson said you can't [33:30] have Sidney just carrying on like this [33:33] and making decisions like this and [33:34] dealing with the enemy like this and you [33:36] know once given him permission to do any [33:38] of this so it was countermanded the deal [33:41] was off [33:42] and so Sidney now of course when you [33:45] agree to surrender to to someone and you [33:48] agree that you agree kindly to be [33:51] transported away by him under his [33:53] protection you are asked to do things [33:55] like vacate the fortresses that you're [33:57] occupying and so forth it's you know [33:59] it's only right and fair but that was [34:02] the deal and Sidney when he knew that [34:04] the deal was off he sent word to play [34:07] there saying I think a better reoccupy [34:09] those force because I'm afraid I can't [34:11] give you the protection that I I thought [34:13] I was going to be able to give you I'm [34:15] sorry now you could say that that was a [34:16] very honorable thing he did or you could [34:17] say he was being treacherous to his own [34:19] nation I'm inclined towards the former [34:22] of those two though I do see that [34:23] there's an argument for the latter [34:25] anyway so then that meant that it all [34:30] had to be done again but this time by [34:32] force [34:33] so Sidney was sent to southern Turkey to [34:37] rehearse an unusual thing an opposed [34:39] landing and there's a character who [34:44] turns up at this point of the story he's [34:45] actually pretty irrelevant of the story [34:46] but he's just an extraordinary character [34:47] I think a medal just throw him in the [34:50] local ruler where they were rehearsing [34:52] that the opposed landings or instantly [34:55] yes sir Sidney designed a landing craft [34:56] of the purpose when he this this [35:00] nut-brown grizzled guy with a big beard [35:02] and sways in the big you know cloth [35:05] garments of of the locals when he saw [35:08] some Highlanders into Sidney's forces he [35:10] addressed them in Gaelic it turned out [35:14] that his name was Campbell and he was [35:16] from Argyll sure and that he'd go into a [35:18] bit of trouble in Argyll sure so [35:20] decidedly better skip down to written go [35:22] at venturing and you ended up fighting [35:23] against the Russians for the Turks [35:25] and he got his nose cut off and had a [35:28] silver one made to replace it which he [35:30] had painted flesh-colored dick dick dick [35:32] I don't know a bit weird one of those [35:35] characters who you saw him in the film [35:36] now Carbone ass radicular sometimes [35:40] history is stranger than fiction [35:42] anyway he rehearsed for the opposed [35:45] landings there and when they reckoned [35:47] they'd got it got it sorted it went [35:51] ahead and it was a successful opposed [35:53] landing but a very costly one fighting [35:56] the French of these circumstances was [35:57] very difficult [35:58] opposed landings are always difficult [36:00] the British suffered 600 casualties in [36:02] the first half an hour of fighting but [36:05] they did manage to get inland as a [36:07] Sydney himself was in the thick of it he [36:09] actually fought so hard that he his [36:12] sword broke and he was in command of [36:14] getting the naval forces are shown what [36:17] they were doing and getting the guns are [36:18] sore and during the battle itself [36:19] actually the use of those naval guns on [36:21] shore so it is perhaps a little unfair [36:24] that he wasn't mentioned in any of the [36:26] write-ups of the how the battle went [36:28] written up by the the British Army [36:30] officers at the time which seems little [36:33] as I say a little unfair anyway one [36:36] interesting thing that happened during [36:37] this battle was when the French heavy [36:39] cavalry smashed into the British line [36:42] what what was meant to happen in those [36:45] days is when the heavy cavalry smashed [36:46] through a line of infantry that line [36:48] infantry is meant to flee in panic and [36:50] scatter and no longer be an effective [36:51] fighting force that's it you you sweep [36:53] away a line of infantry with your [36:54] cavalry only what happened at this point [36:57] was that the French cavalry charged out [36:59] then the British shot at them and then [37:02] they went slashed through the line and [37:03] the British then turned round and [37:05] carried on shooting which you're not [37:07] supposed to do better that's better [37:09] scatter you going wrong there but anyway [37:10] so the British defeat the French again [37:14] and force them to sign a surrender and [37:18] would you believe it the terms of the [37:22] surrender were the same as at the [37:25] conference of El Arish so if they had [37:29] just let so Sydney just do what he had [37:33] had done then 20,000 lives would have [37:37] been saved 20,000 men died in that [37:40] campaign who would have been otherwise [37:42] alive and other nasty things happened [37:45] for instance leave the Turks centel sent [37:48] over a force which [37:50] massacred a load of Coptic Christians to [37:53] Sydney himself rushed when he found out [37:55] where they were going in the Rosetta [37:57] mouth of the the Nile to save the copy [38:00] with you he was there too late and the [38:01] deed had been done you see those Coptic [38:03] Christians made the mistake of [38:04] worshipping the same imaginary friends [38:06] in a very slightly different matter [38:08] manner so obviously obviously they had [38:11] to die anyway so now instead of a a [38:19] unified large army of 18,000 French [38:22] under a commander going back to France [38:25] and possibly acting as a bulwark against [38:27] as a counter to Napoleon instead a [38:29] half-size shattered remnant of an army [38:33] without its leader went back to France [38:36] because clay bear was assassinated we [38:38] are told by an Arab student but an awful [38:41] lot of people will have wanted clay bear [38:43] dead so who paid the student it's a [38:46] little bit suspicious but anyway clay [38:48] bear unfortunately was dead [38:50] his body was shipped back to France but [38:52] Napoleon didn't allow it to land because [38:54] Napoleon was a git and so that that camp [39:00] that campaign King came to a close and [39:04] again our man found himself at a bit of [39:08] a loose end he went back to Britain for [39:10] a bit where he found that he was [39:12] ridiculously old fashioned his clothes [39:14] was so old-fashioned he looked [39:17] positively French that time out-of-date [39:19] he was you know floral Wescott's and [39:21] tail coats and Gratz were in now and oh [39:23] my goodness man I have to get you some [39:25] decent clothes you can't go out like [39:27] that [39:27] all the people think he was [39:29] unfortunately broke you see the Foreign [39:33] Office had disavowed what he'd done in [39:35] finding the the con at the conference of [39:37] El Arish [39:39] and so it was felt that he couldn't be [39:41] paid so he didn't get any money for any [39:44] of the things he'd done he had just [39:46] thought it Napoleon's entire campaign in [39:50] the east with his amazing defense of [39:52] acre and he was broke but people knew [39:56] about what he had done and a lot of [39:58] supportive members of the general public [40:00] with whom he was tremendously popular [40:02] because he was a great [40:04] they saw that he was he was all right [40:05] and a number of other things happened in [40:09] his life he got married he became the MP [40:11] for Rochester for a bit and oh I just [40:17] remembered I I was going to read from [40:19] this book a letter that he wrote to [40:21] Napoleon I don't and it's somewhat out [40:23] of sequence now unfortunately but it's [40:25] it's a it's a good letter so this was [40:29] after Napoleon's defeat at acre and [40:33] Napoleon hasn't actually left the area [40:34] yes so it's quite easy to get a letter [40:36] to him and of course everyone knew in [40:39] Napoleon's staff that a letter from Sir [40:42] Sidney had arrived and it said general I [40:47] have known for some days that you've [40:49] been planning to raise the siege I have [40:52] no cause to love you to say the least of [40:55] it should never had said so but [40:56] circumstances have led me to wish that [40:58] you should reflect on the instability of [41:01] human affairs would you ever have [41:03] thought that a poor prisoner in the [41:05] cells of the temple that an unfortunate [41:07] man on whose behalf you refused to [41:09] interest yourself for a moment when you [41:11] were in a position to do him a signal [41:13] service for at that time you were [41:14] all-powerful would you ever have thought [41:17] I say that that same man would become [41:20] your opponent and force you in the sands [41:22] of Syria to raise the siege of a [41:24] miserable little town these are events [41:27] you must admit that surpass all human [41:29] calculations believe me general [41:31] you must adopt a more modest line of [41:33] thought and the man who tells you that [41:35] Asia is not a theater creative for your [41:37] glory will not in fact be your enemy [41:40] this letter is a small revenge that I [41:42] now allow myself anyway sorry that came [41:50] a little bit out of water so he's [41:51] becoming people rotters got married yes [41:53] on various other things and and he now [41:56] looks around for other avenues and again [41:59] he visit visits places like Spain and [42:01] Portugal and does more looking at [42:03] diplomacy and so forth and he gets [42:05] interested in a campaign in but first in [42:09] Sicily and then he widens it to to Italy [42:12] now he didn't actually have orders to do [42:13] all the stuff that he did in Italy [42:15] because he was one of these people who [42:17] thought that if you want to defend this [42:18] place rather than just cluster around [42:21] that awake for the attack of the [42:22] attacker to mass at his leisure and then [42:24] at a time of his choosing attack at a [42:26] point of his choosing much better to [42:28] defend this place by attacking the enemy [42:30] in lots of other places where the enemy [42:32] is so with the Royal Navy so rather than [42:34] wait for the canonic forces Indian in [42:37] Italy to to amass an attack at Sicily [42:39] that's let's go up and down around Italy [42:42] and just generally cause havoc creating [42:44] little forts and so there's quite a few [42:46] times he would create a fort [42:50] sometimes sacrificing one of the ships [42:52] of the fleet so he would turn up and [42:53] then just beat your ship take all the [42:56] guns off it and use the wood for the [42:57] ship and so the ship was very quickly [42:58] turned into a fort you want a fort very [43:00] quickly send up the ship and turn the [43:02] ship into a fort bingo [43:03] oK you've got one ship fewer in your in [43:06] your fleet but hey a fort which could [43:08] then can be used as a base for later [43:11] operations and he used this in isles off [43:14] small islands off france number times [43:16] anyway sorry no the sidetrack Napoleon [43:20] oh yeah that's right and he fought at [43:22] the Battle of Maeda is quite significant [43:24] so there was the Battle of Maeda which [43:25] was 1806 and this seems to be quite a [43:29] significant battle he himself became [43:32] leader of the masse he became leader of [43:35] partisans in the area he seemed to be [43:37] very good at winning over locals and [43:39] turning them against the French and at [43:42] the Battle of Maeda which was a decisive [43:44] victory for the British [43:46] he used parties and forces in the rear [43:48] of the French he used naval vessels off [43:52] the coast that were aiding in the battle [43:54] as it was going on so again this was [43:56] landed by Sita Rama equator operation [43:59] and I don't know quite how involved he [44:03] was in the tactics of the battle itself [44:05] with regard to letting a say look the [44:07] infantry involved but it does seem to [44:10] have been very significant for one [44:12] reason being that one Arthur Wellesley [44:14] did a very detailed study of this battle [44:17] to see how do we beat the French [44:18] particularly on land and he was very [44:20] impressed by a number of things he's [44:22] very impressed by the cooperation of [44:24] naval forces on land and ships at sea [44:26] cooperating with the army on land and [44:28] how effective they were he also learned [44:30] awful lot about how partisans could be [44:32] used in a situation such as this and he [44:36] also according to most historians until [44:38] recently looked at how the French [44:41] attacked in column and the British [44:43] defended in line and how the line [44:44] British line against the French column [44:47] tactic was very very effective and he [44:49] concluded that unless the French changed [44:51] their tactics well he'd be able to beat [44:54] them now more modern revisionist [44:57] historians have said that there's a [44:58] problem of that as far as we can tell [45:00] the French really did not use column [45:02] very much in this battle they were [45:03] deployed almost entirely in lines so [45:06] maybe that's a detail which is not quite [45:08] right but even so this Arthur Wellesley [45:10] chap went on to do terribly well for [45:12] himself and you may know him by a title [45:15] he got later the first Duke of [45:17] Wellington and of course although these [45:20] tactics became his his bread and butter [45:23] in the Peninsular war which was coming [45:25] later France decided with spec one to [45:29] Poland in conjunction with the Spanish [45:33] decided they were get a partition [45:34] portugal between them and Portugal [45:36] didn't like that idea and Portugal and [45:38] Britain were allies and so Britain got [45:40] involved in the Peninsular war and so [45:42] sitting he was actually been involved [45:43] with that he went to Lisbon and so forth [45:44] but I don't want to dwell on that part [45:45] of the story other than perhaps to [45:47] mention at this point that an awful lot [45:49] of partisans fought very effectively [45:51] against the French in Spain and the get [45:58] Napoleon seized all his a lot more [46:01] seized all his allies major forts okay [46:04] yeah let's do a deal to partition this [46:06] other the country between us yeah send [46:08] over a an army to help you with that [46:09] although I seem to have seized all your [46:11] thoughts my a lion though I think I'll [46:12] actually install my brother as king of [46:15] Spain and act anyway he was just a get [46:18] beyond imagining however however bad you [46:21] think the polio was see I really have [46:22] very little very little in common with [46:24] people who think that Napoleon was a [46:25] great man he was great man in that he [46:27] achieved a staggering amount of harm and [46:30] if that's a way to measure greatness [46:32] then oh okay yeah a great man but what [46:36] good did he actually do the world [46:38] oh I introduced the metric system for [46:39] one he didn't introduce the metric [46:41] system but he admittedly it was [46:44] introduced [46:45] you know while he was in charge but he [46:46] himself actually hated the metric system [46:47] and to its the metric system how is that [46:51] good no he was responsible for [46:53] staggering amounts of completely [46:55] unnecessary death he was a duplicitous [46:58] and incredibly touchy incredibly he [47:03] couldn't bear to lose face at all for [47:08] instance when mr. Sablan I'll go back to [47:10] it when he marched back into Egypt he [47:15] did so in triumph oh yes as though he'd [47:18] won a great victory he in fact lost half [47:20] his army and most of his guns and his [47:23] ambitions in the in the East had been [47:25] thwarted but in fact he marched back as [47:27] if in victory and everyone had to wear [47:31] Garland's no apart from one unit there [47:33] to persuade had behaved very [47:37] unimpressive Lee during an attack on the [47:40] breach at one point he forced that unit [47:42] to to walk back dressed as women yeah [47:45] yes that's great man management isn't it [47:47] I said to get your troops to love you [47:49] and when he arrived in Egypt there were [47:53] there were Egyptian 'he's there who had [47:55] to celebrate his arrival and shower him [47:58] from with gifts on pain of death [48:01] yeah oh but he didn't allow Kleber after [48:05] his victories any - just to celebrate [48:08] them at all just in case his troops you [48:10] know started to you know look it up look [48:11] up to him a bit better god I was such a [48:14] kid he was such a get it's extraordinary [48:17] anyway so Napoleon Allies the Russians [48:24] in 1807 he is of course going to attack [48:26] them by then that standard he made very [48:28] peaceful over to use to both the [48:29] Ottomans and the Mamluks of of Egypt [48:31] before attacking them he just thought [48:33] well how can I increase the chances of [48:35] surprise I know I'll be really nice to [48:36] then attack them but I'm just such a [48:38] genius or is it a kid it's a kid and he [48:42] saw his partition Spain and eventually [48:46] there was the Continental System that he [48:48] he brought in to another side trying [48:51] very quick he essentially continental [48:53] system involved telling - or saying to [48:55] everyone in Europe you can't trade with [48:57] the British all these ports [48:58] you can't allow the British to trade in [49:00] any of them so back to the British haha [49:02] that'll bring them to their knees this [49:03] nation of shopkeepers but didn't [49:07] actually work because the Royal Navy was [49:08] very powerful and really frustratingly [49:10] for Napoleon the Royal Navy was just not [49:13] afraid of him [49:14] you see Napoleon had had cultivated this [49:18] myth of invincibility which seemed to [49:20] really work on his land-based European [49:23] neighbors you know they were terrified [49:25] of him but he just couldn't get this [49:27] blasted Royal Navy to be frightened of [49:30] him which is you know quite [49:31] understandable on there are Mavis Park [49:32] given that the raw may be very [49:33] consistently beat him easily anyway [49:36] they're all maybe and then just [49:37] blockaded all the ports and said okay [49:39] fair enough you're not the trade with [49:40] Britain or each other so what do we do [49:43] about that then and in 1811 the Czar [49:45] should just thought how this is [49:46] ridiculous and he actually lifted lifted [49:49] the embargo and started trading with the [49:52] British again and that's possibly the [49:54] real reason that prompted Napoleon to [49:58] invade Russia I mean beyond just wild [50:00] over ambition anyway so we all know that [50:03] that didn't go too well 1812 overture' [50:05] and everything the march back of the [50:08] Grand Army there the destruction of the [50:10] French army vast vast vast numbers of [50:13] people on both sides dying but the girls [50:15] Napoleon was alright and he came back [50:17] and well yeah the zoom Ford because this [50:21] the too many sidelines this story's [50:23] getting too big so that's zoom forward [50:24] to his imprisonment in Elba so in in [50:28] Elba he turned up to be taken to exile [50:34] on the island of Elba and he at the [50:38] cheek of it the incredible cheek of it [50:40] he demanded that he be escorted by [50:42] British and transported in a British [50:44] ship because he feared for his own [50:47] safety yes a lot of other people in [50:49] France wanted him dead at this point in [50:51] fact a lot of people in the world wanted [50:53] him dead which was entirely [50:54] understandable even his own brother [50:56] Lucien really regretted having helped [50:58] him into power and he then demanded that [51:03] he be taken there by the British thank [51:05] you very much and when he showed up to [51:07] be escorted to that the barges couldn't [51:09] take him out of the ship I stepped out [51:11] of the carriage [51:11] and try to look as hot he's good I asked [51:16] to speak to the captain of the guard and [51:18] who was the captain the guard it was one [51:19] left-handed Smith this was so Sydney [51:22] Smith's nephew and history records that [51:26] at that point his face darkened and he [51:29] went silent and stayed silent for the [51:31] rest of the voyage anyway so it was when [51:35] Napoleon himself wrote his memoirs that [51:37] he said that it was secede Nesmith who [51:41] made him miss his destiny but of course [51:46] we all know that they had the final nail [51:48] in the coffin was Waterloo so incredibly [51:50] incredibly he was able to come back to [51:54] power yet again largely by lying again [51:58] well due to reasons that he came back to [52:02] power well one was that the incredible [52:04] greed of the army see when Napoleon was [52:07] in charge of things in France he made [52:11] the army really important really [52:13] well-funded really powerful Gil gave it [52:15] loads of privileges and then he [52:18] destroyed it a bit in campaigns in [52:20] Russia and so forth and then the king [52:23] came back yet another Louis and the army [52:29] lost its power so when he turned up and [52:31] went oh I'll give you all your prep [52:33] power and privilege back really get off [52:35] him Prince back yay [52:37] vive l'empereur they put incredible [52:40] isn't it I mean he went Emperor he would [52:42] Emperor he did not King you look at the [52:44] portraits done of him at the time when [52:46] he crowned himself Emperor and you can [52:47] see all the trappings of royalty these [52:49] staggering flagrant hypocrisy of the man [52:51] anyway [52:53] he also lied to the population [52:56] he said that France was in danger and he [52:59] was the man he was the man who could [53:01] save France okay put your faith in me [53:03] give me a massive army this was a [53:06] complete lie that the Allies had in fact [53:09] already signed an alliance treaty [53:12] guaranteeing the borders of France no [53:14] one was there no one was fighting to [53:16] conquer France or even a bit of France [53:18] the borders were guaranteed they [53:20] declared war not on France but [53:21] personally on the Polian [53:23] but Napoleon used another lie to [53:25] convince everyone that he was their [53:27] Savior and that they didn't he was [53:29] saving them no no he was trying to get [53:31] them to save his skin but hey ho he was [53:34] a liar and he fought the Battle of [53:36] Waterloo and during the battle sir [53:38] Sidney was not far away and heard the [53:40] sound of guns so bang war what this [53:42] right takes a few guys together and went [53:45] toward the sound of the guns and arrived [53:47] at the battle about halfway through he [53:50] wasn't given the command ministry [53:52] command in the battle but instead he was [53:54] given the task of dealing with the [53:55] wounded of both sides and as part of his [54:00] experience about he then designed a new [54:03] improved ambulance a six wheeled thing [54:05] with a very smooth ride suspension so [54:07] that the wounded wouldn't be jostled so [54:10] much as they were moved at speed across [54:11] a battlefield because he wasn't [54:14] impressed with the design of ambulances [54:15] it was being used anyway he was then [54:19] tasked with getting various places he [54:22] got an me on to surrender and are asked [54:24] to surrender and he then organized the [54:27] safe passage of the king into Paris [54:31] because they had to get the king into [54:33] Paris without any bloodshed so he got [54:35] these various cities to surrender and [54:37] was able to organise this and for that [54:38] for that he was given a knighthood a [54:43] British knighthood and so now no one was [54:45] mocking him for being there the swedish [54:47] knight anymore so now he was a british [54:51] night and I realized as I get to this [54:53] stage in the in this rambling story that [54:56] I've missed out quite a lot of other [54:58] remarkable things about him he not only [55:02] did he do a lot of useful work in Italy [55:05] but he did a lot of diplomatic work for [55:08] loads of people including the King [55:09] Gustav who got outed because he was Pro [55:11] he was anti Napoleon Mike and he tried [55:16] to do more diplomatic work but tended to [55:19] get cut out because he and people saw [55:21] him as a little bit jumped up they [55:22] wanted to be in control not this other [55:24] guy yeah he had connections and so forth [55:25] and people liked him but you know [55:27] connections and people liking him yeah [55:28] I'm in charge so he wasn't tremendously [55:30] successful but he did mount some [55:33] campaign [55:34] one of which being he was going to [55:35] anti-slavery who's gonna be one of his [55:37] big things and he was going to put [55:39] together a force to take on the Barbary [55:41] pirates of North Africa who had for [55:44] centuries have been capturing people [55:46] from Mediterranean Shipping and raids on [55:49] coasts that went as far as Ireland and [55:50] Cornwall a whole villages of people [55:53] captured and sold into slavery by the [55:55] Barbary pirates he was going to take [55:56] them on and it is said by some [55:59] historians that he invented something he [56:01] invented the charity dinner now it [56:03] strikes me as unlikely that he exactly [56:05] it was the first person ever to do [56:07] anything like that but certainly for his [56:09] day it was a novel thing so perhaps in [56:12] there in the way we know it today the [56:14] modern charity dinner was invented you [56:16] sell tickets and get loads of people to [56:18] spend a very large amount of money on [56:20] these expensive tickets and the make [56:21] speeches turning each other just how [56:23] wonderful they are to raise money to [56:25] take on the Barbary pirates but then it [56:28] was actually Napoleon coming to back [56:29] into power again and interrupted things [56:31] and there I missed that out but I got it [56:33] in so so Sydney Smith the wheel of [56:37] fortune for Napoleon turned and it seems [56:40] that this man not maybe we're not [56:43] Wellington not maybe not Blucher not [56:44] maybe not Nelson not maybe any of those [56:45] those in the other Russian guys whose [56:48] names unfortunately I failed to learn [56:50] for this this video yes maybe wasn't any [56:52] of those like you might mean of course [56:54] you know but in Napoleon's rather [56:57] suspicious mind [56:59] it was so Sydney Smith [57:04] [Music] [57:09] the man [57:11] [Music]