Le film décrit le soulèvement raté de soldats prussiens menés par Ferdinand von Schill contre l'armée d'occupation napoléonienne et se focalise essentiellement sur les officiers de Ferdinand von Schill qui furent exécutés à Wesel.
1815, après la bataille de Waterloo. Un barbier se vante de ce qu'il ferait à Napoléon s'il lui arrivait de le croiser. Mais il ne se doute pas que son client est justement Napoléon...
Le film décrit le soulèvement raté de soldats prussiens menés par Ferdinand von Schill contre l'armée d'occupation napoléonienne et se focalise essentiellement sur les officiers de Ferdinand von Schill qui furent exécutés à Wesel.
In Strasbourg in 1800, fervent Bonapartist and obsessive duellist Lieutenant Gabriel Feraud (Harvey Keitel) of the French 7th Hussars, nearly kills the nephew of the city's mayor in a sword duel. Under pressure from the mayor, Brigadier-General Treillard (Robert Stephens) sends a member of his staff, Lieutenant Armand d'Hubert (Keith Carradine) of the 3rd Hussars, to put Feraud under house arrest. As the arrest takes place in the house of Madame de Lionne (Jenny Runacre), a prominent local lady, Feraud takes it as a personal insult from d'Hubert. Matters are made worse when Feraud asks d'Hubert if he would "let them spit on Napoleon" and d'Hubert doesn't immediately reply. Upon reaching his quarters, Feraud challenges d'Hubert to a duel. The duel is inconclusive; d'Hubert slashes Feraud's forearm but is unable to finish him off, because he is attacked by Feraud's housemaid. As a result of his part in the duel, d'Hubert is dismissed from the General's staff and returned to active duty with his unit.
In 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte (Holm), after six years in exile on the isle of St. Helena, has a plan to escape. Switching places with lowly French deckhand Eugene Lenormand (Holm again), Napoleon will make his way to Paris, at which time Eugene will announce the switch, allowing Napoleon to reclaim his throne.
With Napoleon defeated and exiled, the reluctant Duke of Wellington (George Arliss) is persuaded by Lord Castelreagh (Gerald Lawrence) to represent Great Britain's interests at the Congress of Vienna, where the victorious allies will decide the future of Europe. While there, his friend the Duchess of Richmond (Norma Varden) introduces the married man to the pretty Lady Frances Webster (Lesley Wareing), an ardent admirer, at her ball. During the course of the evening, however, Wellington receives an urgent message: Napoleon has escaped and has landed in France.
Installé dans les bayous de La Nouvelle-Orléans, le pirate français Jean Laffite contrôle le commerce de toute la région tout en tentant de rester neutre dans le conflit qui oppose Américains et Britanniques. Les circonstances vont l'obliger à prendre parti et à s'engager au côté du général américain Andrew Jackson...