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# The Notion of Napoleon's Small Stature Is an English Forgery
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/mnenie-o-malenkom-roste-napoleona-angliiskaia-falshivka/
- Published: 2024-11-06T12:55:06.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T05:32:12.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Monarchies, Observations, People

The notion of Napoleon's small stature is an English forgery. With the average Frenchman of the time standing at about 164 cm, Napoleon, at 168 cm, was appreciably taller not only than most ordinary men but also than his own soldiers: a recruit could enter the French army at a height of 154 cm, and men from 144 cm could be enrolled in the reserve.

A French infantry battalion consisted chiefly of riflemen, together with the elite companies of grenadiers and voltigeurs, whose men stood at around 160 cm. The line grenadiers, however, had to be no shorter than 173 cm. The minimum height for the Guard's mounted chasseurs was 170 cm, and for the Guard's grenadiers 176 cm.

Napoleon, who was so often surrounded by precisely these grenadiers, whose height with the bearskin came in the end to about 2 m, merely seemed small beside such giants.

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_14081@06-11-2024_15-55-06.jpg)