Napoleon was 5'7″ — average height for his time — and the "short Napoleon" myth was British propaganda

Napoleon Bonaparte was recorded as 5 pieds 2 pouces by French measurement — which translates to about 5 feet 7 inches (170cm) in English measurement, a perfectly average height for a French man of the 18th century. The confusion arose because French and English inches differed. British caricaturist James Gillray drew Napoleon as a tiny, furious man in 1803, and the British press ran with the image as wartime propaganda. French soldiers were also given the nickname "les petits" (the little ones) — which was an affectionate term, not a comment on height.