Mark twain quotes napoleon as saying, "tete d'armee" (head of the army) in order to:

Mark Twain quoted Napoleon in a Buffalo Express article dated 11 September 1899. Before he died, the great French emperor said: "Tête d'Armée" (army chief) and it is here that Twain uses this metaphor to reflect on the "last words" of famous people like Giovanna D'arco, Napoleone or Daniel Webster. In practice, the author says that every famous person should never leave his last words to chance, (the author says he does not trust the intellectual spirit) but that he should write to them and consider the judgment of his friends. At that moment a man is too mentally and physically tired to be trustworthy so it is always better to prevent rather than settling his own existence feeling absurd.