Napoleon From The Tuileries to St. Helena

Following the abortive campaign in Egypt, Napoleon collected a number of men from the Mamelukes to serve in his household and a further number in his Imperial Guard. They held positions of great esteem and closeness to the Emperor’s person, and as time went on the title of Mameluke denoted the position in the household, rather than the origin of the person. The man known as Ali the Mameluke was actually a Frenchman born at Versailles, son of a member of the Bourbon household staff. He was attach