Trump's Napoleon Moment

Blood goes a long way toward eliciting support

In 1795, a Brigadier General Napoleon arrived at a defining moment in his career. Actually, he was an ex-Brigadier General, having been fired by the Committee on Public Safety, but who is trifling with details? At any rate, a mob besieged the Convention of Republicans who were governing France at the time. In fact, bolstered by royalist troops, some 7,000 men stood ready to attack the smaller Republican forces, which numbered around 1,200. However, just as Iron Man in “The Avengers” tells Loki, “We have a Hulk,” the Republicans had a Bonaparte. He arrived with two important items: a commission of free reign to do as he saw fit from the Convention, and 40 cannons loaded with grapeshot. First, the fire from Napoleon’s cannons stopped the Royal onslaught, then a charge by Joachim Murat’s chasseurs ended the fight.