20150712

A Horde of Rabbits Once Defeated Napoleon


Napoleon Bonaparte, the 19th century French military leader who seized power in France, conquered much of Europe and crowned himself emperor, was once attacked and defeated by a horde rabbits while hunting.

According to a 1901 report in Liverpool Herald, Napoleon’s embarrassing defeat started when he was invited to Baron Thiebault’s mansion one afternoon to hunt some rabbits for sport. The hunt began when Thiebault unleashed hundreds of rabbits for the party to track down.

All those rabbits, which should have scattering themselves to escape being shot, suddenly faced about, and in an instant the whole bunch flung itself upon Napoleon.

The hunters quickly pulled out whips to fend off the onslaught of attacking rabbits, which proved fruitless.

The intrepid rabbits turned to the Emperor’s flank, attacked him frantically in the rear, refused to let go, piled themselves up between his legs till they made him stagger, and forced the conqueror of conquerors, fairly exhausted, to retreat and leave them in possession of the field.

The phenomena occurred because the rabbits, which were bought by one of the household’s staff members, weren’t the normal ones used for hunting. 

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