Exhibit outlines Napoleon's plan to flee to the US

It's a little-known fact about Napoleon Bonaparte: the former French emperor considered immigrating to the United States after his defeat at Waterloo.

That bid for a fresh start in the New World came together in June 1815 in the wake of Napoleon's loss at Waterloo to the British-Prussian forces and his subsequent abdication. But it came to naught within three weeks when the triumphant allies vetoed it.

While still at the Elysee Palace in Paris, he had gone so far as to request two warships to take him and his entourage across the Atlantic to the US.