28. Napoleon’s Bizarre Retreat From Hungry Bunnies
With thousands of rabbits bounding towards them rather than fleeing for their lives, Napoleon’s party laughed at first. The laughter stopped and concern grew, however, as the onslaught continued. The bunnies swarmed Bonaparte’s legs and climbed up his jacket. He tried shooing them with his riding crop, while those around him tried chasing them away with sticks. There were just too many of them, however, and Napoleon fled to his carriage. According to historian David Chandler: “with a finer understanding of Napoleonic strategy than most of his generals, the rabbit horde divided into two wings and poured around the flanks of the party and headed for the imperial coach“.
Some jumped into the carriage with Le Empereur, who ordered his coachmen to whip the horses into a hasty retreat. Europe’s hegemon had been beaten by bunnies. It turned out that the bizarre debacle had been Berthier’s fault. Instead of capturing wild hares, he had bought tame rabbits from nearby farms, who were accustomed to people. When released from their cages, they did not fear Napoleon’s hunting party as potential predators. Instead, they bounded towards them in the expectation that the Emperor of the French and his companions would feed them their dinner.
