The Napoleon commemorative plaque

NAPOLEON’S PASSAGE TO SISTERON:
On Saint Helena, Napoleon liked to remind his entourage of the significant episodes of his return from the island of Elba and he did not hide how much he had felt great anxiety during the first 5 days of this epic. These worries were amply justified, but where everything really risked failing was in front of the Citadel of Sisteron: the site, the fortifications, a population and a royalist mayor... The possibilities of resistance at this place could easily overcome the audacious expedition. On the evening of March 4, 1815, upon his arrival in Malijai, Napoleon had sent Cambronne and a hundred horsemen on the road to the Alps, with the mission of reaching Sisteron by forced march, the city had to be invested at all costs. It was only on the morning of the 5th at 2 o'clock, that the Emperor regained his "serenity" when a horseman returning from Sisteron announced to him that the city was subdued, and all resistance stifled. Around 10 a.m., Sisteron offered itself defenselessly to the Emperor: "Soldiers, we are saved, we are in Paris!" He entered the town and stayed at the Hôtel du Bras d'Or, on Rue Saunerie (memorial plaque). After eating, the population began to gather and became nervous, and Napoleon then decided to quickly leave Sisteron, just a few hours after entering it.