Was Napoleon really short? Probably not, by the standards of his day

Napoleon was probably of average height or slightly taller for a Frenchman of his time. Most estimates put him at about five foot five or five foot six in English measures, which is around 1.67 metres. By modern standards that reads as on the small side, but it was not unusual in the early 1800s. The image of a tiny emperor is largely a legend. [1] [2] [3]

Several sources recorded his height as five feet two inches, but in the old French system. The French inch, the pouce, was longer than the English inch, about 2.7 cm against 2.54 cm. Converted, five foot two in French units comes to roughly five foot six in English ones. Three French sources, his valet Constant, General Gourgaud and the physician Antommarchi, gave just over five pieds two pouces. Thierry Lentz of the Fondation Napoléon gives five foot two inches and three lines, equal to 1.686 metres. [3] [4] [2]

Some doubt remains about the autopsy figure. It was taken in a British-controlled place and signed by British doctors, and it is not certain whether it used British or French units. Taking all measurements together, people generally settle on five foot five to seven in English units, though ThoughtCo notes some uncertainty. Napoleon's doctor Corvisart also called him short in 1802 while giving the French-unit figure, so the impression of shortness may have existed early, or people may have assumed Frenchmen were taller than they were. [5]

Lentz says the average Frenchman was about 1.60 metres, and infantry conscripts were between 1.65 and 1.69 metres, which puts Napoleon in the average range. Historian Michael Broers, quoted in the Washington Post, says he was slightly taller than average for the era, though his brothers and many of his marshals were taller than he was. Relative height mattered to how he looked: he was often seen beside Old Guard grenadiers, who were required to be large, and Lentz notes they were never under 1.76 metres and wore tall hats. [2] [1] [4]

His nickname, le petit caporal, was meant affectionately by his soldiers and was not a comment on his stature, according to Britannica. National Geographic suggests the mockery, especially by British cartoonists such as Gillray, came from anxiety about his ambitions: shrinking him symbolically made a threatening opponent seem smaller. National Geographic also reports that historians disagree on exactly how short he was, and that contemporaries described him variously as slight, impressive, short and average. One ambassador, Hyde de Neuville, recalled thinking him short until Napoleon's gaze made him seem taller. [6] [4]