Page:Great Men and Famous Women Volume 2.djvu/90

 262 SOLDIERS AND SAILORS NAPOLEON BONAPARTE By Colonel Clayton, R.A. (l 769-1821) N APOLEON Bonaparte, the second son of Charles Bonaparte and his wife, Letizia de Ramolino, was born at Ajaccio, in Corsica, on August 15, 1769. In 1779 he entered the Royal Military School of Brienne le Chateau; there he remained till the autumn of 1 784, when he was transferred to the Military School of Paris, according to the usual routine. An official report on him by the Inspector of Military Schools in this year speaks highly of his conduct, and notifies his great pro- ficiency in mathematics and fair knowl- edge of history and geography, but says he is not well up in ornamental studies or in Latin, and, curiously enough, adds that he will make an excellent sailor. Napoleon lost his father in 1785, and the same year he was commissioned as second-lieutenant of artillery, in which capacity he served at Valence and other garrisons. He spent his periods of leave in Corsica, and appears to have wished to play the leading part in the his- tory of his native island, showing the first signs of his ambitious and energetic character. During the critical times following the first French Revolution, he at first joined the moderate party of Paoli ; but, trying for military power, though by untiring activity and reckless audacity he succeeded in being elected lieuten- ant-colonel of the National Volunteers of Ajaccio, he failed in an attempt to seize that town and was obliged to return to France. The French Government soon made an endeavor to crush Paoli and do away with Corsican privileges, and the islanders rallied round the patriot. Napoleon now turned against him and attempted to seize the citadel of Ajaccio for the French ; but failing again, with all his relatives he fled a second time to France. From this time onward Napoleon looked to France for his career. The nar- row horizon of his native island was no longer wide enough for him, but from its bracing mountain air and from the quick blood of his race he drew a magnetic force, which imparted to his decisions and actions a rapidity and energy that car- ried all before them, while at the same time a power of calm calculation, of in- dustry, and of self-control enabled him to employ his genius to the best advan-