My favourite story about Napoleon is the start of Napoleon's Hundred Days, following his escape from his initial exile:<p>> <i>The 5th Regiment was sent to intercept him and made contact just south of Grenoble on 7 March 1815. Napoleon approached the regiment alone, dismounted his horse and, when he was within gunshot range, shouted, "Here I am. Kill your Emperor, if you wish."[131]
The soldiers responded with, "Vive L'Empereur!" and marched with Napoleon to Paris; Louis XVIII fled.</i><p>As the name of the period suggests, this state of affairs only lasted for 100 days before he was defeated at Waterloo and surrendered. Still pretty badass though.