Napoleon at the Berezina

Gen. Claude Malet's Coup

by Robert Markham

One of the events during the Berezina retreat, which occupied Napoleon's mind, was Malet's attempted coup in Paris. As he marched through Russia, Napoleon felt a growing urgency to return to Paris where events such as the Malet coup attempt were boding ill for Napoleon in the future.

General Malet was something of a mystery. In 1790, he made his first note of prominence when he became a captain in the National Guard. In 1793, as a former noble, Malet was forced to resign.

He re-emerged in the Army of the Alps in 1799, after an abortive attempt to join the Council of 500 (once again his noble background proved a stumbling block). In October 1799, Malet was promoted to general de brigade. He served in Italy and Naples, but eventually his republicanism would get him arrested in 1807. Eventually, he was permitted to move to a private mental institution.

There, on October 22, after donning his general's uniform, Malet escaped from the asylum and began to put his plan into action for the return of a republican government to France. Malet went to the Paris garrison, brandishing papers that purportedly brought news of Napoleon's death in Russia. He claimed to have been given authority to call out the garrison and keep order in a peaceful transition of power to the new government.

Malet seemed so firm and believable in approach that several colonels called out their troops. With these troops, Malet proceeded to begin phase two of his mad plan. He began to round up and arrest key individuals in Paris, including the minister of the police. As the night wore on, Malet's dream of a provisional republican government seemed to be nearing the obtainable when he hit a stumbling block.

When he approached the Military Governor of Paris, the governor demanded to see the papers that gave Malet his authority. Malet proceeded to shoot and kill the governor. His action lifted the veil that Malet's act so far had cast over the eyes of the others going along with his mad plan.

Malet was seized and together with 14 others quickly tried and put to death seven days later. Thus ended Malet's coup. While it had been a mad enterprise from the beginning, it nevertheless showed the inherent weakness of Napoleon's government when the Emperor was not present.

Napoleon at the Berezina 1812

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