Napoleon Bonaparte
...eally came up against snobbery. His fellow students mocked his Corsican accent and his unfashionable clothes. Napoleon read all the time and was outstanding in history, mathematics, and science. He was planning on joining the navy. But in 1785, examinations for the navy were canceled. Since Napoleon was about to graduate, he decided to join the artillery. At age 16 he was commissioned as a second lieutenant, ranking 42nd out of 58 students. After completing school, Napoleon was sent to a regiment in Valence. He stayed for six months then took a leave of absence to help his family. After 22 months he returned, and impressed the commanding officers with his brilliant, detailed plans. It was during this time that the French Revolution was starting. Napoleon was overjoyed to hear of the abolition of laws that kept petty nobles confined to the ranks. This meant he could rise as high as he wanted in the French army. When the king was beheaded in January 1793, his followers were horrified. In Toulon, royalist supporters called in the British to help them fight the revolutionary government. When Napoleon was on his way to Italy he stopped in Toulon to see a friend. The officer in charge of the French artillery had been wounded and Napoleon was offered the command. He took over the situation and modified the attack. He pushed the British out of their strongest position and was promoted to major. By the end of this siege he had gone from captain to general. After Napoleon’s success in Toulon he was assigned to France’s Army of Italy as inspector of the coast. He met a girl named Desiree Clary and the two became engaged. Her parents did not approve of the marriage, but the two remained engaged in case they changed their minds. When Napoleon traveled to Nice he came under the attention of Maximilien Robespierre. Robespierre served as chairman of the Committee of Public Safety, basically becoming a dictator. It was under Robespierre that Napoleon was first promoted in government, by virtue of his service in defense of th...