Synonym a Day

Napoleon III ruled France as emperor during the American Civil War. . . . Yet the specter of another Napoleon, the first, haunted Civil War battlefields. Bonaparte died at St. Helena about 40 years before the war, but his figure bestrode the 19th century. In art and legend, he incarnated martial glory. In military theory, he was celebrated as the model genius of the times. (Tom O’Brien, “Napoleon’s Shadow over American Warriors,” Washington Times, 9/9/2000.)