On February 26, 1815, deposed French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from his exile on the island of Elba in order to return to France. Napoleon had previously been exiled to Elba following his defeat in the War of the Sixth Coalition and was replaced as leader of France by Louis XVIII and the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty. After leaving Elba on February 26, Napoleon arrived in southern France on March 1 and quickly set about growing his army and marching towards Paris. As he traveled to the capital, his army soon swelled in size as regiment after regiment joined the former emperor's side in opposition to the restored monarchy. By March 20, Napoleon marched into Paris as Louis XVIII fled, beginning the Hundred Days.

At the same time as Napoleon marched on Paris, the other powers of Europe began to mobilize their own armies to prevent the return of Napoleon and to reinstate the French monarchy once more. Hundreds of thousands of troops were mobilized by the armies Britain, Prussia, Austria, Russia, and others in order to prevent the rise of Napoleonic France once more. By June 18, the fate of Napoleon's France was sealed with his disastrous defeat at the hands of the British and Prussian armies. On June 22, Napoleon abdicated his throne. On July 7, Coalition forces marched into Paris, restoring the Bourbon dynasty and Louis XVIII to the throne the following day. Napoleon himself would surrender to the British the very next week and would be sent into exile on the island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic. On May 5, 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte passed away at the age of 51 while still in exile.