Napoleon II was born on this day in 1811. He was the son of the famous French monarch for whom he was named. After his father was exiled for the second time, his loyalists declared the four-year-old Napoléon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte to be the Emperor of the French—a claim that materially meant nothing as he never ruled the country. Those loyalists were finally ousted on July 7, 1815. The countries that had defeated France were now in charge of its fate.
This was a supreme bummer for the young Bonaparte, who grew up in Austria under the named Franz. He was, like his father, passionate about military affairs and began his career as a cadet in the Austrian army at 12 years old. He was a smart, charming, tall, and driven young man full of potential. By 1831 he was in command of a battalion. His upward rise was cut short: He caught pneumonia the next year and died from tuberculosis July 22, with no children to serve as putative heirs.
You can read more about the young would-be-emperor at the Military Review, a publication of the U.S. Army.
