Napoleon Bonaparte, the 19th century French military leader who seized power in France, straight up conquered much of Europe and crowned himself emperor, was once attacked and defeated by a horde rabbits while hunting.

According to a 1901 report in Liverpool Herald, Napoleon’s embarrassing defeat started when he was invited to Baron Thiebault’s mansion one afternoon to hunt some rabbits for sport. The hunt began when Thiebault unleashed hundreds of rabbits for the party to track down.

In his memoirs, Thiebault recalled the event saying:

All those rabbits, which should have tried in vain, even by scattering themselves, to escape the shot, which the august hand destined for them, suddenly collected, first in knots, then in a body; instead of having recourse to a useless flight, they all faced about, and in an instant the whole phalanx flung itself upon Napoleon.

The hunters quickly pulled out whips to fend off the onslaught of attacking rabbits, which proved fruitless because, according to Thiebault:

The intrepid rabbits turned to the Emperor’s flank, attacked him frantically in the rear, refused to quit their hold, piled themselves up between his legs till they made him stagger, and forced the conqueror of conquerors, fairly exhausted, to retreat and leave them in possession of the field.

Thiebault explains that the phenomena occurred because the rabbits, which were bought by one of the household’s staff members, weren’t the normal ones used for hunting. Instead, the rabbits were farmed and used to being fed ample amounts of cabbage every day. So, when released, the rabbits mistook Napoleon for a farmer who was about to feed them.

It must’ve been the cutest defeat anyone ever did see.

Rabbit image: Matt Reinbold