Napoleon was probably around 1.68–1.69 m tall — about 5 ft 6½ in in modern units. That was not unusually short for a French man of his era and may have been around average or somewhat above it depending on the comparison sample.

Why, then, “the little corporal” stereotype?

Several stories became entangled:

• French and British units called a foot and inch were not identical, so converting a recorded French height naively can shrink him.
• Napoleon was often surrounded by unusually tall Imperial Guard soldiers.
• British caricaturists, especially James Gillray, repeatedly depicted him as tiny; political satire became visual memory.
• “Le Petit Caporal” was an affectionate military nickname and did not straightforwardly mean he was physically tiny.

Big idea: Historical myths can survive because a memorable image beats a boring measurement — especially when measurement systems themselves create confusion.

One caution: exact average male height in early-19th-century France is reconstructed from imperfect historical samples, so “Napoleon was exactly X cm above average” is less secure than the broader conclusion that he was not extraordinarily short.