N A P O L E O N

A N D

H I S M A R S H A L S .

B Y J . T . H E A D L E Y .

I N T W O V O L U M E S .

VO L . I .

E L E V E N T H E D I T I O N .

N E W -Y O R K‘

B A K E R A N D S C R I B N E R ,

36 P ark R ow and 145 N assau S treet.

Entered, according to A ct of Congress, in the year 1846 . by

BAKER A N D SCRIBNER!n the Clerk’s O ffice of the District Court for the S uumem Uie ict ofN ew York.

GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT,

W H O S O NO BLY SUSTA INED TH E HONO UR O F O UR ARM S .

DUR IN G THE LAST WAR ,

AN D AT CHIPPEWA AND L UN DY ’

S'

L A N E ,

O N M AN Y A FIERCE -FO UGHT BATTLE-FIELD ,

EXH IBITED TH E ! UALITIE S OF A GREA T CO M M ANDER , A N D TH E

HERO ISM A N D DEVO TIO N OF A PATR IOT

T H E S E V O L U BI E S

AR E RESPECTFULLY INSCRIB E D , B Y

T H E A UTHO R .

L I S T O F P L A T E S .

FA CIN G

I . N APO LEO N A s A GENERAL

II. NAPO LE O N A s E M PERO R

III. MARSHAL DAVOUST 1 14

IV. MARSHAL LAN NES

V MARSHAL MACDO NALD

VI . MARSHAL S O ULT

C O PWT E DWT S .

L

N A P O L E O N B O N A P A R T E .

A Defence of him against E nglish historians—A nalysis of his

character—Causes of his success—H is death

H .

M A R S H A L B E R T H I E R .

DUKE O F N EUFCH A TEL . P R I N CE O F W AGR AMThe talents a R evolution develops— Creation of the M arshals

Ber thier’s character and history—Soliloquy O f Napoleon

Berthier’s death

H L

M A R S H A L A A U G E R E A U .

DUKE O F C A S TIGL I ON E .

early life and charac ter—H is campaigns in I taly—Battle of

Castiglione—B attle

'

of A rcolau Revolution of the 18thFruetido r—Charge at E ylau —H is tr aitorous conduct and disgrace

IV

M A R S H A L D A V O U S T .

DUKE O F A U E R S TA DT . P R I N CE O F ECKM UH L .

H I S character—Battle of A uerstadt—Cavalry action at E ckmuhl—R etreat from R ussia

V .

M A R S H A L S T . C Y R

H is life—Character—P r ofession of a painter—Combat a t Biberach—Battle of P olotsk—Battle O f Dresden

w C O N T E N T S .

VL

M A R S H A L L A N N E S .

DUKE O F M ON TEB EL L O .

P rinciple on which Bonapar te Chose his officers—P assage of

Lodi—Battle of M ontebello—Battle of M arengo—Siege of

Saragossa—Battle of A spern , and death of Lannes

VH .

M A R S H A L M O N C E YDUKE O F C O R N E GL I A N O .

early life—O perations in Spain—The presentation by Napoleon of his son to him and the National Guard—H is nobleefforts in b ehalf ofNey R eception of Napoleon’

s bodywhenbrought from St. Helena

VIII .

M A R S H A L IM A C D O N A L D .

DUKE O F TA R EN TUM .

early life—! uarrel with Napoleon—H is passage of the

Splugen—Charge at W agram—Defence at Leipsic—H ischaracter

IX.

M A R S H A I . M O R T I E R .

DUKE O F TR E vrso .

early life—Character—Battle of Dirnstein—BurningM oscow—Blowing up of the Kremlin—H is braveryKrasnoi

X .

M A R S H A L S O U L T .

DUKE O F DA L M A T I A .

early career—Campaigns with M assena—H is characterBattle of A usterlitz—H is first campaign in Spain—Deathof S ir John M oore—Storming of O porto—R etreat fromP ortugal—Battle of A lbuera -Second campaign in SpainSiege of S t Sebastiani— Soult’e last struggle for the E mpma

P R E F A C E .

O f the ten sketches contained in this volume,embracing Napoleon and nine of his Marshals,

two have appeared before . Their reception , as

originally published in the American Review, (with

one or two others,to be inserted in a second

volume,) determined the completion of the series .

My chief des ign in the fol lowing work has been

to group together and il lustrate the dis tinguishedmen Bonapar te gathered around him

,and with

whom he O btained and held the vas t power hewielded . The mighty genius of Napoleon has soovershadowed all these beneath him that they havenot received their due praise

”,nor their proper place

in history. Their merits have been considered

mere reflections of his and to one intel lec t and one

arm is at tributed the vas t results they accomplished.

But with weak men Napoleon never could have

unsettled Europe,and founded and maintained his

Empire . The Marshals who led his armies and

governed his conquered provinces, were men of

native strength and genius ; and as they stand

grouped around their migh ty chief, they form a

C ircle of military leaders,the like Of whom the

world has never at one time beheld . To show what

these men were— unfold their true characters and

ii P R E F A C E

il lustrate their great qualities,i t was necessary to

describe the battles in which they were engaged .

A man is i llus trated by his works —if an author,

by his books— if a poli tician , by his civi l acts andspeeches— if a ruler

,by his administration of public

affai rs,and if a mili tary man

,by his campa igns

and battles . To mention merely the actions in whicha mili tary man has been engaged

,and the victories

he won,without describing the manner in which

they were conducted,and the genius which gained

them,is l ike illus trat ing an author by giving a lis t

of his works,or a ruler by naming over the

measures he suggested or carried out .

In different circumstances the same talen t devel

Opes itself difierently, and the in tellect of France

during Bonaparte ’ s career found its proper sphere

on the battle-field . The Revolution broke down allthe ancient barriers of privi lege

,and left an Open

field to intellect and genius ; but tha t field,jus t

then,was a mili tary one. Crowds rushed upon i t ;

the s trong to win renown,and the weak to sink.

The Marshals of France were the first fruits of

that freedom . I t was not animal courage,nor mere

brute force,tha t measured itsel f again s t the intellect

of the world,and came off victorious . Our Op inions

respecting these men have been as erroneous andunjust as they well could be

,for they ha ve been

regarded merely as ambitious warriors,storming over

battle-fields for glory . We forge t that they were stern

P R E F A C E . ifi

republicans— adopting the cause Of the people in the

darkest hour ofFrance,and knew well fo r what they

were fighting . True,they were no t religious men ,

nor the bes t representa tion of patriots m their moralCharacter. But we do no t hesi tate to honour thoserough and severe characters who fought so bravely

for freedom in our own revolutionary struggle . Ournaval commanders in the las t war were not patterns

of moral men,but they were O f heroes and patriots .

Ethan Allen is honoured none the less as a patriotbecause he was an infidel

,while the Charge of

French infidel i ty destroys all our sympathy for

French republicans . The protracted struggle which

those men carried on so triumphantly,they knew

perfectly well to be tha t of l iberty against despotism

—equal rights against privileges . They knew alsothey were waging a defensive war

,and on every

great battle -field on which they met their fees, they

felt that Fr ance was the mighty s take at issue . In

stead of being reckless men , wad ing through blood

to power,there are but. few juster strugles than

those in which they won their laurels ; and yet

Americans,who never weary of hanging wreaths

around the tombs of their successful military leaders ,look with an unsympathizing eye on those brave

men who fought for the same rights,and to resist

the same aggressions .

I have endeavoured also in this work to correct,

as far as possible,the erroneous impressions that

I V P R E F ’A C E .

prevail respecting Napoleon , and the wars he carr ied

on ; and to clear his character from the'

a spersions

of English historians, and the slanders of his ene

mies .

Another design has been to group together some

of the most striking events of tha t dramatic period

when Napoleon was marching his victorious arm iesover Europe . Many of the battle-fields I have

described I have vis ited in person,and hence been

able to recal l the scenes enacted upon them more

vividly than I o therwise could have done .

I am aware that some may Objec t to books of this

kind,as fostermg the spiri t of war, by stimulating the

love of glory . But in the firs t place,if history is to

be ab jured whenever i t treats Of battles, i t wil l bereduced to a very small compass

,and our revolutionary

strugglewill pass into u tter forgetfulness . I know Ofno war

,of ancient or modern times

,more calculated

to s timulate the heart of youth to warlike deeds thanthe h is tory of the two struggles through which we havepassed. Besides

,the same Objection would repudiate

most of the Old Testamen t, and make the heroeswhich the pen of inspiration delineated with such

graphic power,curses of their race . The truth is

,

war wag ed for p r incip le, is the same as that carried on by the direc t command O f heaven

,and the

woe and suffering that at tend i t,presen t no more

obj ection to i t,than the unmeasured suffering oc

casioned by sickness and death throughout the

P R E F A C E .

world, reflect on the justiceO

o

’

r m ercy of God . Wars

may be prosecuted in a better spirit than those inwhich the Marshals of France were first engaged ;

yet they were\not only waged against tyranny, as

was our own revolutionary war ; but, unlike the

latter,could not be helped— for they were purely de

fensive .In the second place

,we need not fear the effect

of stimulating too much the love of glo ry in thisage of dollars and cents . I t is amusing to heareven sensible men discoursing

,in laudatory terms

,

of the reign of commerce,as bringing about a uni

versal peace,when the only danger of war among the

great Civ il ized nations of the‘

earth,i s found in the

rivalry and jealousy of this very spiri t of commerceand trade. England deluges India in blood for the

sake of commerce, ,while our las t war grew Out ofher

invasions of the rights of commerce . Colonial pos

sessions are sought and Obtained for this very purpose ;and i t is only a few years since we were on the vergeof a war with Great Bri tain

,for a narrow strip of

terri tory,which was valuable to her only as a chan

nel of communication with her provinces,which she

holds fo r their commercial importance . And evennow the country is alarmed with the prospect of acoll is ion for a wild and desolate tract on the PacificOcean

,which England w ishes to retain solely as a

channel of tr ade. Men of peace are s training everynerve to destroy the love of glory in our youth , white

vi P R E F A C E

every war among civilized nations , probably for the

next century,will be waged to secure the privileges

of commerce. Cup idity, not love of glory or personal

ambition,is to be the source of future coll isions .

T he g rasp ingspiri t is to be dreaded most , and for

one I should prefer much , a li t tle more of the Chi

valrie sentiment blended in with our thirs t for gold .

To me there i s cause for alarm ra ther than con

gratulation m the intensity with which the human

m ind is directed in the peaceful channel s of wealth .

The earth is al ive,and shaking from zone to zone

,

under the fierce action of the human mind , as i ts trives after gain—and the moment an Obstacle isthrown in its way, i t s tarts up in a blaze Of indigna

tion . The lovers of peace,in chasing before them

the ‘ chivalric and heroic spiri t which lay at the

bottom of ancien t wars,are pursuing an enemy that

left the field long ago,leaving its place occupied by

a more querulous,excitable

,and dangerous spiri t .

In the third place,the s truggles and triumphs of

genius should be recorded,even though they took

place on a field which,i n our day

,may not be deemed

by some the most praiseworthy.

To those who have read my “ Alps and theRhine

,

” and some articles publ ished by me in the

American Review, there wil l seem an utter contradiction in my views there expressed

,respectingNapo

leon , and those found in this work . In reply,I can

only say that my former impressions were Ob tained,

P R E F A C E . vfi

just as I doubt no t those Of the m ajority ofAmericanreaders are— from English his tory and English li tera ture . I had no doubt of their correctness

,and de

signed,in writing of Napoleon

,to give him a char

acter corresponding to them . But in reading his torysolely to understand more ful ly his character and

career,I have been forced by the mos t incontrovertible

facts,to change my Opinions entirely

,and I can only

regret that I should have given currency to impres

s ion s so unjus t to a great man,and so false t o hi story .

Who would esteem a man that should draw hisconclusion s respecting our revolutionary struggle

,

from English his torians ; and yet he would be more

con eet fina l he rvho fO nn s l fis oph fions of the

French Revolution and after wars, from the same

source .

In the fol lowing volumes will be found much that

will s trike the reader as needless repetition ; but wheni t is remembered tha t the separa te characters described

,m oved frequently amid the same scenes, and

even exhibited some Of their nobles t quali ties at the

same battles,i t will be seen that frequent references

to the same event , accompanied perhaps by a similarremark , is necessary to prevent confusion in dates .One is compelled in such a work to go backward andforward constantly in history

,and hence often pass

over the same points .

The description of the Pass of the Splugen by

Macdonald , and the part ial description of the bat tle

Vl ll P R E F A C E .

O fWaterloo, in my“ Alps and the Rhine, written

before the presen t work was planned, are necessari ly

repeated here when speaking of those events .

I need no t add that I pretend to no originali ty inthis work

,excep t in the way I have arranged and

grouped facts al ready given to the world . I have

used,without any hesitation

,any author tha t could

help me,and to save the trouble of constant references

through the book,I here add the li st Of those works

to which I have been most indebted

Thiers’ French Revolut ion,Thiers ’ Consulate and

Empire,Napier

’s Peninsular War

,Jom ini

’s Works

,

Napoleon ’s Bulletins,M emoires of B ourienne

,C aulin

court,Las Casas

,Voice from St . Helena

,Dumas

,

Segur,Al ison

,Memoirs of Ney and Murat

,Pele t

,

S tu t tenheim,St. Cyr

,Camp and Court Of Napoleon

,

Rapp,Southey

, &e.

, 660 .

The pl ates accompanying these volumes have beenselec ted wi th great care , and from the most au then t icsources .

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0 H I S S L A N D E R E R S .

surrounded him,of the genius tha t mastered them ,

of the temptations to which he was exposed , and thenecessity that frequently compelled him to courses

tha t warred with his wishes .English historians make no scruple O f belying him ;and while some of our American writers , by placingon him the guil t of those desola ting wars that loadedEurope with the dead

,have done him gross injustice ;

they have also committed an unpardonable errorin hi story . That Engl ish historians should a ttemp tto cover their most successful enemy with unmeri tedguilt

,especially when it is necessary to do so

,in

order to screen their own nation against the accusations which France lays at her door

,i s to be ex

pected . Stil l Scott has done himself more injury inhis Life of Napoleon than he has the great man heslandered ; and Mr . Mitchell , who has lately writtenthree volumes to convince men that Napoleon was afool

,has succeeded only in proving himself one. Mr .

Alison i s almost the only one who has at all comprehended his t rue character bu t

,while he is

forced to bear noble testimony to his genius,he is

afraid of offending the prej udices and vanity of hiscountrymen

,and so a ttempts

,as an offset to his

praise,to prove him desti tute Of conscience

,and ca

pahle of great meannesses . To do this,he not only

falsifies his tory,but drags forth

,wi th the most ludi

crous gravity,all the petulent Speeches he ever made

in sudden ebull itions of pas sion,or i n the firs t chagrin

of disappo intment. The unj ust and passionate re

marks a man Of Napoleon’s temperament,however

noble his Character,wil l always make in moments

of irri tat ion , are arrayed agains t h is greates t actswi th studied exaggeration

,and decla red sufficient

'

to

N A P O L E O N R O N A P A R T E . 1

neutralize them all . This is l ike going into a man ’sbed- chamber to report his unguarded speeches , -

or

make a peevish remark to a servant in a moment ofirri tabili ty

,oflset the noblest acts of his life .

Napoleon Bonaparte,whether we think of his

amazing genius— his unparalleled power of embracing vast combinations

,while he los t sight

'

of none O f

the details necessary to insure success— his rapidityof thought

,and equally sudden execut ion— his tire

less energy— his ceaseless activity— his abili ty todirect the movements of half a million of soldiers indifferen t parts Of the world

,and a t the same time

reform the l aws— restore the finances— and adminis

ter the government of his country — O r whether wetrace his dazzling career from the time he was a poorproud charity boy at the Mili tary School of Brienne

,

to the hour when he sat down on the mos t brilliantthrone of Europe

,he is the same wonderful man

the same grand theme for human contemplation .

But before en tering on his character,i t i s neces

sary that whatever unjus t prejudices we entertainshould be removed

,and our errors in his tory cor

rec ted . The firs t great barrier in the way of rendering him j ustice

,is the conviction everywhere

entertained , that he alone , or chiefly,is chargeable

wi th those desolating wars that covered the Continent with slain armies . H is mounting ambi tion isplaced a t the foundation of them all

,and no great

ness of mind can of course compensate for the guiltof such wholesale murder .I t is impossible for one who has not travelled

amid the monarchies of Europe,and witnessed

their nervous fear of republican principles,and

their fixed determ ination at whatever sacrifice of

12 T H E F R E N C H R E P U B L I C .

j ustice,human rights

,and human life, to maintain

their O ppressive forms of government , to apprec iate a tal l the position of France at the time of the rev0 4

lution. The balance of poli tical power had beenthe great objec t of anxiety

,and all the watchfulness

directed against the encroachment of one state onanother ; and no one can imagine the utter consternation with which Europe saw a m ighty republic suddenly rise in her midst . The balance of power wasforgotten in the anxiety for sel f preservation . Thesound of the falling thione of the Bourbons rolledl ike a . sudden earthquake unde r the iron and century-bound frame-work O f despotism

,t i ll every thing

heaved and rocked on its ancient foundations . O ur

Declaration of Independence,the everlas ting and im

mutable principles of human rights,were uttered in

the ears of the astonished world,and unless that

voice could be hushed,that alarming movemen t

checked , every monarchy of Europe would soon havea revolution O f i ts own to struggle with . That therevolu tion of France was justifiable

,if a revolu tion

i s ever so,no one acquainted with the history of

that time can for a moment doubt . The”

violencethat marked its progress shows only

,as Macauley

says , the greater need of i t. At all events,France

confused , chaotic, bleeding, and affrighted , s toodup and declared herself, in the face Of the world, arepublic. She made no encroachments onother states ,sought no war

,for she needed all her strength and

energy, to save herself from internal foes . But thepower of Europe determined to crush her at oncebefore she had acquired strength and consis

teney. First, Austria and Prussia took up arm s ,with the avowed purpose of aiding Lou is . After

N A P O L E O N R O N A P A R T E . 13

his death, Holland , Spain , and England came intothe al liance

,and moved down on that bewildered

republic . Here was the Commencemen t and originof all the after wars that devastated Europe . Not

on France , but on the allied powers , rests the guiltof setting in motion that terrible train Of evils whichthey would fain transfer to other shoulders . I t wasa war of principle and a war of aggress ion . I t was

despotism invading l iberty— Oppress ion summoninghuman rights to lay down i ts arms

,and because i t

would not,banding the world together to crush the

epublic that nourished them . Bonaparte was ye t a

boy when this infamous war was strewing the banks

of the Rhine with sla in armies .After s truggling bravely for years for self-defence,France at length found her saviour in the young Corsican . ! uell ing the revol t O f the sections in Paris ,he was appointed to the command of the army OfItaly. He found i t badly provisioned

,worse paid

,

ragged and murmuring,yet

,by his energy, skill ,

and,more than all

,by his example

,restored order

and confidence ; and, though numbering les s thanforty thousand men

,replenished

,as i t wasted away

,

by s lender reinforcements, he with i t a ttac ked and cutto pieces several armies

,the most magnificent

Austri a could furnish,finishing one of the mom bri l

liant campaigns the world has ever witnessed,amid

the tumul tuous j oy of the French . The next yearhe subjugated Lombardy

,and forced the Austrian

plenipotentiary,by his daring threats

,to sign the

treaty of Campo Farmio,which was mos t favoura

ble to the French Republic. In the bloody battlesof M illessimo

,Montenotte

,Lodi

,Arcola

,and Castig

l ione,and Rivoli

,he certainly acted as became a

2

14 H I S D E S I R E S .

general fighting under the orders of his governmen t,carrying on a defensive war with a boldnes s, sk il l ,and success

,consider ing the superiority of the force

Opposed to him,deserving of the highest prai se .

Returning to Paris in triumph , hailed . everywhere

as the saviour O fFrance , he notwi thstanding becametired of his inactive l ife

,and still more weary of the

miserable Directory to whose folly he was compelledto submit

,and proposed the expedition to Egypt .

This furnishes another charge agains t Bonaparte ,and this war is denofinced as aggressive and cruel,growing out of a mad ambi tion . That i t was un

ju s t,no one can deny ; but ins tead of being a th ing

worthy of censure by the cabinets of Europe, i t wa ss imply carrying out their own systems Of policy . Hisdes igns on the East

,were jus t such as England had

for years been prosecuting . The East was always toBonaparte the scene Of great enterprises

,and Egypt

furnished a basis to his Operations,and at the same

time,would serve as a check to English encroach

ment in the Indies .While Russia

,Austria

,and Prussia

,were stripping

Poland ; and England was extending her conquests inthe Indies— cumbering its burning plains with tens Ofthou sands of i ts own children

,and carrying ou t the

m os t iniquitous system of Oppress ion towards Ireland ever tolerated by a civilized people— it does seemludicrous to hear her historians com pl imenting theDeity on his even-handed justice

,in finally arresting

the cruel ambition ofBonaparte and Of France .While the expedition to Egypt was experiencingthe viciss itudes that characterized i t

,Austria

,see

ing that France had go t the Lion’s share in Italyj oined with Naples

,and again commenced hostili

N A P O L E O N R O N A P A R T E . 15

t1es . The French were driven back across theAppenines

,and al l the advantages gained there

over Austria,were being lost

,when Bonapar te re

turned in has te from Egypt— over threw the imbecile Directory— was procla imed Firs t Consul— andimmediately set about the res toration of France .The consolidation of the government— the restora

tion of the disordered finances— the pacifica tion of

La Vendée— the formation and adopt ion Of a constitution

,engrossed his mind

,and he most ardently

desired peace . He,therefore

,the moment he was

elected Firs t Consul,wrote with his own hands

,

two letters ; one to the King of England , and theo ther to the Emperor of Germany ; hoping by thisfrank and friendly course to appease the twogovernments

,and bring about a general peace . He

had acquired sufficient glory as a military leader,

and he now wished to resusci tate France,and be

come great as a civi l ruler . In h is letter to England

,he uses the following language “ Must the

war,Sire

,which for the las t eight years has de

vasta ted the four quarters Of the world , be eternal ?

Are there no means of coming to an unders tanding ?H ow can two of the most enl ightened nations OfEurope

,s tronger already and more powerful than

thei r safety or their independence requires , sacrificeto ideas O f vain-glory

,the well being Of commerce

,

internal prosperi ty,and the peace of families ? H ow

is i t they do not feel peace to be the first of necessities a s the firs t of glories ?” Similar noble , frank ,and manly sentiments

,he addressed to the Em peror

Of Germany . There were no accusations in theseletters

,no recriminations

,and no demands . They

asked simply for , nego tia tions to commence, for the

sp ir it of peace to be exhibi ted , leaving i t to after

16 D E S I R E S P E A C E .

efl'

or ts to settle the terms . Austria wa s incl ined tolis ten to thi s appeal from the First Consul

,and re

pl ied cour teously‘ to hi s letter . But she was trammeled by her alliance wi th England , and refused toen ter into negotiations in which the Bri tish Empirewas not represented . Pi t t on the contrary

,return

ed an insul ting letter to the French minis te r— heapedevery accusat ion on Bonaparte— recapi tulated individual acts O f violence

,and laid them at the door

O f the French Republic,and charged i t with de

s igning to overthrow both religion and monarchythroughout the continent . He declared that theEngl ish government must see some fruits O f re

pentanes and amendment,before it could trus t the

proflers O f peace ; and that the restorat ion of the

Bourbon throne,was the only guarantee she should

deem sufficient of the good behaviour O f the Frenchgovernment . Bonaparte

,in reply

,fixed the firs t

aggressive acts clearly on the enemies O fFrance,and

then asked what was the use O f these irri tating remi ~

niscences— if the war was to be eternal,becau se one

o r the o ther party had been the aggressor ; and thenadverting to the prO posal that the Bourbons shouldb e restored

,asked

,

“What would be thought O f

France,i f in her proposi t ions she ins is ted on the re

stora tion of the dethroned Stuarts,before she would

make peace 22” This home- thrust disconcerted theEnglish Minister ; and in reply he frankly acknowledged that his government did not wage war for there-establishment of the Bourbon throne

,but for the

security of all governments,and that she would listen

to no terms of peace unti l this securi ty was Obtained .

This settled the question . England would have nopeace while France continued to be a republ ic . B O

naparte had foreseen all this , and finding he could

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18 P E A C E O F A M I E N S .

But this universal and was ting war begun atlength to be tiresome to all parties , and after muchnegotia tion and delay

,a general peace was concluded

a t Amiens,and the world was at res t . Universal joy

was Spread through France and England,and the

transports of the people knew no bounds .

Peace,which Bonapar te needed and wished for

,

being restored,he applied his vast energies to the

development of the resources of F rance,and to the

building of stupendous public works . Commerce wasrevived— the laws administered with energy— orderrestored and the bless ings O f peace were fa st healingup the wounds Of war . Men were amazed at theuntiring energy

,and the amazing plans Of Bonaparte .

H is genius gave a new birth to the nation— developednew elements of strength , and imparted an impulse toher growth that threatened to outs trip the greatnessof England . His ambit ion was to Obtain colonialpossessions

,l ike those of England ; and if allowed

to direct h is vast energies in that direction,there was

no doubt France would soon r ival the British Empirein i ts provinces . England was a t first fearful of theinfluence Of the French Republic

,but now a new

cause of alarm seized her . I t was evident that France

was fast tending towards a monarchy . Bonapartehad been made F irs t Consu l for life

,with the power

to appoin t his successor ; and i t required no seer topredict that his gigantic mind and dictatorial spiri t

,

would not long brook any check from inferior authority . From the very superiori ty of his intel lect

,he

must merge every th ing into his maj estic plans,and

gradually acquire more and more control,t il l the

placing of a crown on his head would be only thesymbol of that supreme power which had long before

passed into his hands . England,therefore

,had n o

N A P O L E O N B O N A P A R T E . 1 9

longer to fear the influence of a R epublic , ,and hence

fight for the security of government in general . Shehad

,however

,another cause Of anxie ty— the too

rapid growth ofher ancient rival . She became alarmed at the s trides wi th which France advanced underthe guiding genius of Napoleon

,and refused to carry

out the terms Of the solemn treaty she had herselfsigned . In that treaty i t was expressly stipula tedthat England should evacuate Egypt and Malta ;while France

,on her part

,was to evacuate Naples

,

TarentO,and the Roman States . His part Of the

treaty,Napoleon had fulfi lled within two months after

i ts completion ; but ten months had now elap sed, andthe English were stil l in A lexandria and Malta . B u t

Napoleon,anxious to preserve peace

,did no t see fi t to

urge matters,and made no complain t til l i t was sud

denly announced that the English government hadproclaimed her determination not to fulfil the s tipu

lations she had herself made . The only pretext Offered for this violation of a solemn contract

,was her

suspicions that France had des igns on these pl aces .The truth was

,England— with her accus tomed

jealousy of other nations acquiring colonial possessions

,and remembering what a s truggle it had just

cos t her to wrest Egypt and Malta from France— re

so lved , though in violation of her own treaty , not togive them up . Talleyrand was perfectly amazed a tthis decision Of the Bri tish ministry

,while Napoleon

was thrown into a transpor t Of rage . His , keenpenetration d iscerned at a glance the policy Of England

,and the dreadful conflict that mus t ensue . H e

saw tha t she was resolved to res is t the advancementof France

,and to band

7while she could

,the powers

of Europe agains t her . He knew that if she would

remain at peace,he could by force of arms, and

O P E R FI D Y O F E N G L A N D .

d iplomatic skill,compel Russia

,Austria

,Pruss1a and

Spain,to let him alone to carry ou t his plans for the

aggrandizement of France . But wi th Engl and constantly counteracting him ,

and throwing fire-brands

in the cabinets of the continent,he would be engaged

in perpetual conflic ts and wranglings . It had,there

fore,come to this : England must be chastised into

quietness and respec t for trea ties,or there was to be

continual war til l France should yield to the strengthof superior numbers . England knew tha t in a pro

tracted war France must fall ; for her very vic torieswould in the end mel t away her a rmies

,before the

endless thousands all Europe could pour upon her ;and this she determined to accomplish . But war at

this time was the last thing Napoleon wished— it in

terfered with his plans,and cut short his vast pro

jec ts . Besides he had won al l the military renownhe wished in fighting with the ro tten monarchiesthat surrounded him

,and his genius sought a wider

field in which to display itself. I t was,therefore

,with

the greatest reluctance he would enterta in the ideaO f a rupture . He sent for Lord Whitworth

,the Eng

lish minister at Paris,and had a long personal con

versat ion with him . He recapi tulated the constantand unprovoked aggress ions of his government onFrance , ever since the revolu tion— spoke of his

,

ardent wish to l ive on terms of ami ty said

he,“Mal ta mus t be evacuated : for al though it is O f

no great value in a maritime point of V iew,i t i s of im v

mense importance as connected with a sacred treatyand with the honour ofFrance ;

” “ For,

” he continued ,

“ what would the world say , i f we should allowa solemn treaty to be violated ?” He a sked the nationto act frankly and honestly towards him

,and he

N A P O L E O N R O N A P A R T E . 2 ]

would act equally so towards i t. If you doubt my

s incerity ,” said he

,look at the power and renown to

which I have a ttained . D O you suppose I wish tohazard i t al l i n a desperate conflict "

i” The English

government then endeavoured to negot iate wi th him

to let i t retain Malta .

“ The trea ty of Amiens ,” hereplied

,

“ and no thing but the treaty Placedin this d ilemma

,England wa s compelled to do two

things a t once ; first,violate a treaty Of her own

making ; and second , to take upon her self in doingit,the responsibil i ty of convuls ing Europe

,and bring

ing back all the horror s of the war tha t had justclosed . Napoleon was right

,and England was

wrong,totally wrong ; and if the violation Of a solemn

treaty is a jus t cause for war,then i s he jus tifiable.

From the Objects Of peace which had fi lled his mind,

Bonaparte immediately strung his vas t energies forthe fearful encounter tha t was approaching . Hostilities commenced

,and Napoleon resolved at once to

invade E ngland,and strike a deadly blow at the head

of his perfidious enemy , or perish in the attempt . Hecollected an enormous floti lla at Boulogne ; and theFrench coast

,that looks toward s the English isle

,

was alive with armies and boats,and rung with the

ar tizan’s hammer

,and the roar of cannon . Nothing

but unforeseen circums tances prevented his carryingout this project

,which would have shaken the British

throne to i ts foundations .

England drew Russia first into this new alli ance,

the bas is Of which was,first

,to reduce France to her

limits before the Revolution ; and second , to securethe peace and stability of the European s tates . Lookfor a moment at this perfidious pol icy— this mockeryof virtue—this philanthrop ic sund

22 P O L I C Y O F E N G L A N D A N D R U S S I A .

ered so far from France,was in peaceable possess ion

of a ll her terri tory— had not a righ t to maintain , nora wrong to redress . England , on the other hand , hadno province to wres t back from the enemy— no violated treaty to defend— no encroachment to resis t .Their removal from the theatre Of war rendered themsecure ; and whose peace and stabili ty were they to

main tain’

.Z They anticipated no danger to them

selves . Italy preferred the French domination to theAustrian

,for it gave greater liberty and prosperity .

Austria did not ask to be propped up, for she hadhad enough Of tho se alliances which made her ownplains the field of combat ; and i t was with thegreates t difliculty she could be brough t into theconfederacy

,and not til l her possess ion s in Italy

,

which she had ceded to France,was Offered as a

bribe for her co- operation . Pruss ia resolutely refusedto enter the alliance

,and at length s ided wi th France .

Russ ia,Au stria

,England

,and Sweden

,finally C O ~

alesced,and convulsed Europe

,and deluged it in

blood,to furnish security to those who had not a sked

their in terference . From this moment,Napoleon saw

that either Russ ia or England mu st be humbled,or

there could be no peace to Europe,no securi ty t o

France . This accounts for his projected descent onEngland

,and after desperate invas ion Of Russia .

In the Opening of the campaign of 1805 that fo llowed so gloriou s to the French arm s

,the real de

sires Of Napoleon are made apparent . Mack hadsurrendered Ulm

,and with i t thirty thou sand

soldiers , and a s the captive army defiled beforeBonaparte , he addressed them in the following re

markable language “ Gentlemen,war has i ts

chances . Often victorious,you mus t expect some

N A P O L E O N B O N A P A R T E 3

times to be vanquished . Your master wagesagains t me an unjus t war . I say it candidly, 1

know not for wha t I am fighting . I know not

what he desires Of me . He has wished to remindme tha t I was a soldier . I trust he wi ll find tha t Ihave not forgotten my original avocation . I will

,

however,give one piece of advice to my brother

,

the Emperor of Germany . L et him hasten to .m ake

peace . This is the moment to remember that thereare limits to al l empires

,however powerful . I want

nothing on the Continent . I t is ships , colonies tha t

I des ir e.

” This is the language Of him who is calledthe desolator of Europe

,in the momen t of victory.

I t was true,he did not know for what he was fight

ing ; he was forced in to it . It was equally true,

that he wished for nothing on the Continent . H e

emulated England in her course of greatness,and he

was perfectly willing the despots of Europe shouldsit in quietness on th eir crazy thrones . For the

slain left on the plains of Italy,as Massena swep t

the enemy from its borders— for the tens of thousands strewn on the bloody field of Austerlitzwho is chargeable ? Not Napoleon— not France .Here is a third sangu inary war waged

,filling Eu

!

rope with consternation and the clangour of arms—her hospitals with wounded

,and her villages with

mourning,and her val leys and hills with her slain

chi ldren— and the gui lt of the whole is charged overto Napoleon ’s ambi tion

,while he never went into a

war more reluctantly,o r with justice more clearly on

his side . Mr . Al ison,who certainly will no t be ao

cused of favouring too much the French view of thematter

,nor too eager to load England with crime

,i s

nevertheless compelled to hold the fol lowing remark

24 C A U S E S O F W A R .

able language respecting this war “ In coolly re

viewing the c ircum stances under which this contes twas renewed, i t is imp ossible to deny that the Britishgovernment manifes ted a feverish anxiety to come toa rupture , and that , so far -as the two countr ies were

concerned , they were the agg r essor s .

” And yet atthe opening Of the campaign Of Austerli tz, he indulges in a long homily on the ambition of Napoleonhis thirs t of glory

,and the love Of conquest which

had seized the French nation . And these are theworks we place in our l ibraries as histor ies .

I do not design to follow ou t the subsequent treaties to show who were the aggressors . Russia andEngland determined never to depar t from the basisof thei r al liance till they had effected the over throwOf N apoleon ; while he saw that the humiliation ofone or the other of these great powers was indispensable to the preservation of his possess ions and histhrone . Conquests alone conld produce peace ; andthe war became one of extermination on the one side

,

and O f vengeance and fierce retaliation on the other.Napoleon felt that he was to be treated without mercy

or faith,unless he surrendered France into the hands

of the despots O f Europe,to be disposed Of as they

should think necessary for thei r own securi ty,and

the stabil ity of the feudal sys tem,on which their

thrones were based . That after th is he should wagewar with a desperation and violence that made E urope tremble

,is not to be wondered at . But up to

the peace of Tilsit,he and France are free from the

guil t of the carnage that m ade the plains of Europeone vast Golgotha .

Some time after this assertion was written down,I

had occasion to refer to Napier ’s Peninsular War fo r

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26 T H E G U I L T Y P A R T Y .

confl ic ts that accompanied i t ; the campaign Of

E ylau and the battles of Pultusk, Golymin , Heilsberg

,c rowned by the dreadful slaughter O f Eylau ;

the campaigns O f Friedland and Tils i t , and the mul

titudes they left on the plains of Europe . Al l theseterrible campaigns, with their immense slaughter ,does an English his torian declare to be the resul t ofa defens ive war on the part O f France— not merelya defence of terri tory

,but of hum an r ig hts ag ainst

tyr anny. Let republ icans ponder th is before theyadept the sentiments of prejudiced his torian s

,and

condemn as a monster the m an who was to il ing overbattle fields t o save his coun try l

from banded op

pressors .

That Bonaparte loved dominion, no one ever doubted but that i t led him to battle constantly the alliedContinental powers

,is untrue . O n the contrary

,Mr .

Napier declares tha t he was not only defendingFrance agains t aggress ion

,but democracy against

aristocracy— equal rights against privileged O ppres

$1011 .

Nothing can be more ludicrous than the assertionthat Napoleon sought to conquer Europe

,and fell in

carrying out his insane proj ect . In youth , as allyoung soldiers are , he was desirous Of military glory .

His profess ion was that O f arm s,and he bent all hi s

young energies to the task of excelling in it,and suc

ceeded . B ut when he became Emperor Of France,

he s tood on the summit of military renown,and

needed and sought no more fame as a warrior. H e

was then amb itions to excel as a monarch. He designed to fol low in the steps of England

,and finally

outstrip her in her mighty progress,by extending

commerce , and establishing colonies . The secret of

N A P O L E O N B O N A P A R T E . 27

the whole Oppos it ion he received from her after theRepublic had ceased to exis t

,sprung from her know

ledge O f his policy . The Eas t was regarded by him asthe appropriate theatre for his ambi tion ; but theEas t,England determined no body should plunder of i tsenormou s weal th but herself

,and so she banded

Europe together to ov erthrow him . The encroachments of France in the S outh of Europe during at ime Of peace are the only pretext Offered by theEnglish government fo r her interference and aggrossion . I t was not that her terri tory was invaded , herrights assailed

,or treaties with her vib ra ted . I t was

simply a philanthropic motive,if we may believe her

statements,that caused her to whelm Europe in blood .

The encroachments of France could not be a llowedthe extens ion of her empire must be arrested ; andyet

,s ince she violated the treaty Of Amiens—broke

up a universal peace— and brought on universal war—she has solely

,for the sake of self-agg r andiz e

m ent,added m ore to her ter r itory in the M ysore, than

Fr ance ever d id to her s, p ut a ll her conques ts tog e

ther . Now let France insis t that England shal l giveup these possession s ; and form an alliance w i th Russia

,Austria

,and Prussia

,the bas is ofwhich shall be

,

war w i th England,ti l l she shall retire to her original

boundaries before her aggression s in the Eas t commenced ; and the conflict in which England would beplunged

,and the slaughters that would follow

,would

be charged on her as jus tly as those which followedthe rupture of the peace Of Amiens

,can be laid a t

the door of France . There i s this difference, how

ever . France gained her possess ions in resi s ting aggressive power , and had them secured to her bytreaty

,while her domination was preferred to tha t

28 H I S B O Y H O O D .

which the conquered provinces must fal l under shouldshe abandon them . But England commenced an nuprovoked war on a peaceful people, and reduced themto slavery from no nobler motive than the love Ofgold . I t is t ime tha t’ Americans

,who have suffered

so much from the imperious pol icy of England,and

seen so much on our own shores,O f her grasping spirit

after colonial possessions,should look on her conduc t

subsequent to the French Revolution,through other

medium than her own li terature .

I have no t designed,i n this defence of Napoleon

,

and ofFrance,to prove tha t the former always acted

justly,or from the most worthy motives ; or that the

Republic never did wrong ; but to revea l the principles which lay at the bot tom of that protracted warwhich commenced with the Revolution

,and ended

only with the overthrow of Napoleon . I t was first awar of despoti sm and monarchy agains t republicanism

,and then a war Of suspicion and j ealousy and

rivalry .

Having thus cleared Napoleon O f the crime of desolating Europe with his victor ious armies

,i t will not

be so difficult to look with justice on his Characterand life .

His boyish actions while a poor scholar a t Brienne,

have been adduced as pre—shadowings Of his futurecareer . But the truth is

,with more talent than his

playmates— with more pride and passion— I findnothing in him differen t from o ther boys Of his age .

His sol itary walks,and gorgeous dreams

,and bri l

liant hopes,a t this early period

,belong to every boy

of ardent temperament,and a lively imagination . In

ordinary times,these golden v isions would have faded

away wi th years and experience ; and Napoleon B O

N A P O L E O N B O N A P A R T E . 29

naparte would have figured in the world’s historyonly as a powerful writer

,or a brilliant orator.

The field which the Revolution left open to adven

turers,enabled him to realize his extravagan t hopes .

His ambition was a necessary result of his mili taryeducation

,while the means so unexpectedly furnished

for gratifying it,fed i t with a consuming flame . His

abrupt laconic style of speaking corresponded wellwith his impetuous temper , and evinced at an earlyage

,the iron- l ike nature with which he was endowed .

His career fair ly commenced with his quell ing therevolt of the sections . True

,hi s conduct at the s iege

O f Toulon had caused him to be spoken Of favourablyas an under officer

,but it was with unfeigned sur

prise that the Abbe Sieyes,R ewbel

,L etourneur , R O

ger Ducos,and General Moulins

,saw him introduced

to them by Barras,as the commander he had chosen

for the troops tha t were to defend the convention .

Said General Moul ins to him,You are aware that

i t is only by the powerful recommendation of citi’zenBarras

,that we c onfide to you so important a post ?”

I have not asked for i t,

” dri ly replied the youngLieu tenant

,

“ and if I accept i t,i t will be becau se

,

after a Close examination,I am confident of success .

I am diflerent from other men ; I never undertakeanything I cannot carry through .

” This sally causedthe members of the Convention to bite their lips

,for

the implied sarcasm stung each in his turn .

“ Butdo you know,

” said R ewbel,

“ that this may be a veryserious affair— that the sections “ Very well

,

fiercely interrupted the young Bonaparte , “ I wi llmake a serious affair of i t

,and the sections shal l be

come tranquil .” He had seen . L ouis XVI . put onthe red cap , and show himselffrom the palace of the

3s

30 II I S V I E W S O F T H E R E V O L U T I O N .

Tuilleries to the mob,and unable to res train hi s ih

dignation a t the sight,exclaimed to his companion

B ourienne,“What madnes s ! he should have blown

four or five hundred Of them into the air, and the res t

would have taken to thei r heels .” Deprived of his

command, he had wandered around Paris during theterrible scenes of the revolution , learning every daylessons which he would yet have occasion to improve .He had gone so far as to dicta te a long and written

proposal to Monsieur,for the defence of the to ttering

thrOne,Offering himself a s commander of the troops,

to be organized for the quell ing Of the insurgents . T O

the proposal Of this unknown individual,no reply

was deigned ; and the author Of i t soon after saw theroyal head roll on the scaffold ; and retired to h is beds ick from the exci tement and horror Of the spectacle .But the exper ience furnished by these scenes

,rendered

him a fi t leader to the troops Of the Convention ; andwhen on the mighty populace

,and the headlong ad

vanCe of the National Guard,his artillery loaded to

the muzzle with grape- shot,thundered ; he announced

the manner in which he would t rea t W ith a mob .

After this,Barras became his patron

,and introduced

him to Josephine,and persuaded him to marry her

,

by Offering as a dowry the command Of the army ofI taly .

I t was no t without misgivings tha t such Generalsas Massena

,Rampon

,A ugereau , and others, saw a

young man of slender frame,but twenty- seven years

Old,assume the command of the army. But h is in

dependent manner,firm tone

,and above all

,the sud

den activity he infused into every depar tment by hisexample, soon gave . them to understand that i t wasno ordinary leader whose orders they were to obey .

N A P O L E O N B O N A P A R T E . 31

From this bril liant campaign , he went up by rapid

strides to First Consul , and finally Emperor of

FranceOne great secret of his success

,i s to be found in

the union O f two striking qual it ies of mind , whichare usually opposed to each other . He possessed animagination as ardent

,and a mind as impe tuous , as

the. most rash and chivalric warrior ; and yet a judgment as cool and correct as the ables t tactician: Hismind moved with the rapidity of l ightning

,and yet

with the precis ion and s teadiness Of naked reason .

He rushed to his final decision as if he overleaped al lthe intermediate space

,and yet he embraced the entire

ground,and every detai l i n his passage . In short

,

he could decide quick and correctly too . He did no tpossess these antagonis t qualities in a moderate degree

,but he was at the same t ime

,the most rapid and

the mos t correc t of men,in the formation of his

plans . He united two remarkable natures in his single person . I t usually happens that the man of sagecounsel and far- reaching mind

,who embraces every

detail and weighs every probability is slow in coming to a decis ion . O n the other hand a mind Of rapid decis ion and sudden execution , commonly lacksthe power Of combination

,and seeing but one thing

at a time,finds i tself involved in plans i t can nei

ther thwart nor break through . It was the unionof these two qualities that gave Bonaparte such immense power over his adversaries . His plans weremore skilfully and deeply laid than theirs

,and ye t

perfected before theirs were begun . He broke up thecounsels Of o ther men

,b y the execution O f his own.

Thi s power of thinking quick,and Of thinking righ t

,

is the rarest exhibited in history. I t gives the posses

32 C H A R A C T E R A s A C O M M A N D E R .

sor of i t all the advantage that thought ever has overimpulse

,and all the advantage , too , that impulse

frequently has ever thought by the suddenness and

unexpectedness of its movements .His power of combination was unrivalled . The

most extensive plans,involving the most compl icated

movements,were laid down with the clearness of a

m ap , in his mind ; while the certainty and precis ion ,with which they were all brought to bear on one

great point,took the ables t Generals in Europe by

surprise . His mind seemed vas t enough for themanagement Of the globe

,and not so much encir cled

every thing,as conta ined every thing . I t was hard

to tel l whether he exhibited more skill in conductinga campaign

,or in managing a single battle . With a

power ofgeneral ization seldom equalled,his perceptive.

faculties,that let no detail escape him

,were equally

rare .As a Mili tary leader

,he has no superior in ancien t

or modern times . He marched his victorious t roopssuccess ively into almost every capital of Europe .Meeting and overwhelming in turn the armies of

Prussia,Austria

,Russ ia

,and England

,lie

,for a long

time,waged a successful war agains t them all com

bined ; and exhausted a t last by his very victories ,rather than by their c onquests,he fell before superiornumbers

,which in a pro tracted contest , must always

prevail . His first campaign in Italy,and the cam

paign O f Austerlitz,are

,perhaps

,the most glorious he

ever conducted . The firs t astonished the world,and

fixed his fortune . In les s than a year,he overthrew

four of the finest armies O f Europe . With fifty-five

thousand men , he had beaten more than two hundredthousand Austrians— taken prisoners nearly double

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34 H I S C O U R A G E .

and at Wagram,where he rode on his whi te steed

,

backwards and forward,for a whole hour

,before

his shivering lines,to keep them steady in the dreadful

fire that thinned their ranks,and swept the ground

they s tood upon -he evinced the heroic couragetha t he possessed

,and which was a part of his very

nature . This,with his stirring eloquence

,early gave

him great command over his soldiers . They lovedhim to the last

,and stood by the republican General

,

and the proud Emperor,with equal affection . Bona

parte was eloquence itself. His proclamations to hissoldiers evince not only his knowledge Of the humanheart

,bu t his power to move i t at his wi ll . Whether

causing one O f the articles in Sieyes ’ constitution tobe rejected

,by his wi thering sarcasm ; or rous ing his

soldiers to the lofties t pitch Of enthusiasm,by his irre

sistible appeals ; or carrying away those conversingwith him

,by his brilliant thoughts and forcible elocu

tion,he exhibits the highes t capacities of an orator.

His appeals to the courage of his soldiers,and his

distributions Of honours,w i th so much pomp and

display,perfectly bewildered and dazzled them

,so

that in bat tle it seemed to be their only thought howthey should exhibit the greates t daring

,and perform

the most desperate deeds . Thu s,soon after the bat

tle O f Castiglione,and jus t before the battle of Rivol i

,

he made an example O f the 39 th and 85 th regimentsof Vaubois Divis ion

,for having given way to a panic

,

and nearly lost him the battle . Arranging these tworegiments in a circl e

,he addressed them in the fol

lowing language — “ Soldiers,I am displeased with

you—you have shown neither discipline,nor valour

,

nor firmness . You have allowed yourselves to bechased from posit ions

,where a handful of brave

N A P O L E O N B O N A P A R T E . 35

men would have stopped an army . Soldiers of the

39th and 85 th , you are no longer French soldiers .Chief of the S taff

,let i t be written on their s tandards ,

They ar e no long er of the a rmy of I ta ly.

’

Nothing could exceed the stunning effec t withwhich these words fell on those brave men . Theyforgot their discipline

,and the order of their ranks

,and

bu rs ting into grief,filled the air wi th thei r cries

,— and

rushing from their ranks,crowded

,with most beseech

ing looks and v o ices around their General,and begged

to be saved from such a disgrace,saying

,

“ Lead us

once more into battle,and see if we a re not O f the

a rmy O f Italy .

” Bonaparte wishing only to implantfeelings O f honour in his t roops

,appeared to re

lent,and address ing them some kind words

,promised

to wai t to see how they should behave . In a fewdays he did see the brave fellows go into battle

,and

rush on death as i f gOY‘

ng to a banquet, and provethem selves

,even in his estima tion

,worthy to be in

the army of I taly . It was by such reproaches for ungallant behaviour

,and by rewards for bravery

,that

he ins tilled a love O f glory tha t made them irresis ti

ble in combat . Thus we see the Old Guard,dwindled

to a mere handful in the fearful retreat from Russ ia,

close round him as they m arched pas t a battery,and

ain idl the storm of lead that played on thei r exhau s tedf

ranks,sing the favourite air

,

“Where can a father heso well

,as in the bosom of his family .

” So,also

,

jus t before the battle Of Austerlitz,in his address to

the soldiers,he promised them he would keep out Of

danger if they behaved bravely, and burs t throughthe enemy ’s ranks ; but if they did not , he shouldhimself rush into the thickest of the fight. Therecould no t be a s tronger evidence of love and confi

36 C A U S E S O F H I S S U C C E S S .

dence between soldier and General,than was evinced

by this speech,made on the commencement of one of

the greates t battles of his life .Another cause of his wonderful success was hisuntiring activi ty of both mind and body. N O vic torylulled him into a moment’s repose— no luxuries tempted him to ease— and no successes bounded his im i

petuous desires . Labouring with an intensi ty andrapidi ty tha t accompl ished the work of days in hours

,

he nevertheless seemed crowded to the very limit ofhuman capaci ty by the vast plans and endless pro

jects that asked and received his at tention . In thecabinet he astonished every one by his s trikingthoughts and indefatigable industry. The form s andceremonies of cour t could keep his mind

,hardly for

an hour,from the labour which he seemed to covet .

He allowed himself usually but four or five hours ’

rest,and during his campaigns

,exhibited the same

almost miraculous act ivi ty of mind . He would dietate to one set of secretaries al l day

,and after he had

tired them out,call for a second

,and keep them on

the stretch al l night,snatching but a brief

, reposeduring the whole time . His common practice was torise at two in the morning

,and dictate to his score;

taries for two hours,then devote two hours more

to thought alone,when he would take a warm bath

and dress for the day. But in a pressure O f bus inessthis d ivision of labour and res t was scattered to theW inds, and he would work al l night . With his nightgown wrapped around him

,and a silk handkerchief

t ied about his head,he would walk backwards and

forwards in his apartment from dark till daylight,dic

tating to C aulincour t,or Duroc

,or D ’

A lbe his chiefsecretary, in his impetuous manner, which required

N A P O L E O N B O N A P A R T E . 37

the highest exertion to keep pace with whi le R us

tan,his fai thful Mameluke

,which he brought from

Egypt,was up also, bringing him ,

from time to time,a strong cup of coffee to refresh him . Sometimes a tmidnight

,when all was s till

,this res tless sp iri t would

cal l out,

“ Call D ’A lbe : let every one arise and

then commence working,allowing h imself no in ter

m iss ion or repose t il l sunrise . He has been knownto dictate to three secretaries at the same time

,so

rapid were the m ovements of his mind,and yet so

perfectly under his control . He never deferred business for an hour

,but did on the spot what then claim

ed his attention . Nothing but the most iron-l ike constitution could have withstood these tremendouss tra ins upon it . And

,as if Nature had determined

that nothing should be wanting to the full development Of ‘

thiS wonderful man,as well a s no resources

wi thheld from his gigantic plans,she had endowed him

with a power of endurance seldom equalled . I t wasnot til l after the most intense and protracted mentaland physical effort combined

,that he gave intima

tions of being sen s ible to fatigue . In his firs t campaign in I taly , though Slender and apparently weak ,he rode five horses to death in a few days

,and for six

days and nights,never took O ff his boots

,or retired to

his couch . He toiled over the burning sands ofEgypt, and through the snow drifts of Russia, withequal impunity— spurring his panting steed throughthe scorching sun-beams of Africa

,and forcing his

way on foot,with a bi rchen stick in his hand

,over

the icy,

path,as he fled from Moscow with the same

firm presence . He would S leep in the palace O f theTuileries

,or on the shore of the swollen Danube ,

with nought bu t his cloak about him,while the

4

38 H I S S E L F - R E L I A N C E .

groans of the dying loaded the midnigh t a ir ; withequal soundness . He was often on horseback cigh

i

teen hours a day,and yet wrought up to the in tense s t

mental exci tement al l the while . Marching til l midnight he would array his troops by moonligh t ; andfighting all day, be hailed victor a t night ; and then

,

without rest,travel al l the following nigh t and day

,

and the next morning figh t another battle,and be a

second t ime victorious . He is often spoken of as amere child of fortune ; bu t whoever in this world willpossess such powers of mind

,and use them with such

skill and industry,and has a frame that will s tand -it

,

will always be a child’

of fortune . He allowednothing to escape his ubiquitous Sp irit ; and whethertwo o r five campaigns were going on in differen tkingdoms at the same time

,they were equally under

h is control,and their resul t calculated with wonder

ful precis ion .

Another s triking characteristic of Napoleon,and

which cont ributed much to his success,was self- con

fidence. He fell back on himself in every emergency,

with a faith that was sublime . Where othe r men

sought counsel,he communed with himself alone ;

and where Kings and Emperors called anxiously onthe statesmen and Chieftains around their thrones forhelp , he summoned to his aid his own mighty genius .This did no t resul t from vanity and concei t

,but from

the consciousness of power. He no t only took themeasure and capabil ities of every man that ap

proached him ,but he ! mew he saw beyond their

farthes t vision,and hence cou ld not bu t rely on him

self, instead of others .This self-confidence

,which in other men would

have been downright madness , in him was wisdom .

N A P O L E O N B O N A P A R T E . 39

I t was the firs t striking trait in his character he exhibited . A t the siege of Toulon

,a mere boy

,he

curled his lip at the science of the Oldest Generals inthe army

,and Offered his own plan for the reduc

tion of the town,with an assurance that astonished

them . In quelling the revol t of the sections,thi s

sublime self- rel iance u t terly confounded the heads Ofthe Convention . If i t had ended here

,i t might have

been called the rashness and ardour of youth,crowned

w ith unexpected success . But throughou t his aftercareer ; in those long protracted efforts , in which intellec t and genius always t riumph ; we ever find himstanding alone

,calling none but himself to his a id .

Inexperienced and young,he took command of the

weak and ill-condit ioned army of Italy,and instead

of seeking the advice of his government and hisGenerals

,so that he might be screened in case of de

feat,where defeat seemed inevi table ; he seemed to

exult tha t he was at las t alone,and almos t to forge t

the danger that surrounded him,in his joy at having

a free and open field for his daring spirit . His fameand after fortune

,all rested on his success and con

duct in this outset of his career ; yet he voluntarilyplaced himself in a position where the result

,how

ever disastrou s it might be,would“ be chargeable on

him alone . He flung the military tactics of Europeto the winds

,and with his l ittl e band around him

,

spurned both the science and the numbers arrayedagainst him .

With the same easy confidence he vaul ted to thethrone of France

,and fel t an empire res t on his

shoulders,apparently unconscious O f the weight . He

looked on the revolutionary agitation , the prostration

and confusion of his kingdom , without alarm ; and his

40 H I S T R E A T M E N T O F K I N G S ”

eagle glance pierced at once the length and breadth ,and depth , and height, of the chaos that surroundedhim . Yet

,so natural does he seem in this position ,

that instead of trembling for his safety ; we find our

selves inspired by the same confidence that sustainedhim

,and expecting great and glorious resul ts . He

seems equal to any thing,and acts as if he h imself

was conscious he was a match for the world . Stern ,decided

,plain

,he speaks to the King of England , the

Emperor of Russia,of Austria

,and to al l Europe in

the language of a superior,rather than of an equal.

Angry,ye t alarmed at the haughty tone of this ple

beian King,the crowned heads of Europe gathered

hastily together,to consul t what they should do .

With the same quiet confidence which he saw the

mob advancing on his ba tteries in the garden of theTuileries

,he beheld their banded armies move down

on his throne . This single man— th is plebeian,s tood

up am id,the monarchies of Europe

,and bending his

imperial frown on the faithless Kings that surroundedhim , smote their royal foreheads with blow afterblow, t il l the world stood aghas t a t his presumptionand audacity. Their scorn of his plebeian blood gaveway to consternation

,as they saw him dictating

terms to them in”

their own Capitals ; whil e the freedom with which he pu t his haughty foo t on theirsacred majesties

,fi lled the bosoms of their cour tiers

w i th horror. He wheeled his cannon around theirthrones, with a coolness and inflexibili ty O f purposethat made “ the dignity which doth hedge a king

,

”a

most pitiful thing to behold . He swept,with his

fierce chariot, through their ancient dynas ties , crushing them ou t as if they had been bubbles in his path ;then proudly pausing

,let them gather up their crowns

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42 m s I M P E'

I‘

U O S I T Y .

that iron will be seen,when every thing else shook

about him,is indeed a marvel . The energy of a sin

gle soul,poised on i ts own grea t centre

,gathering

around it,as by sympathy

,the mighties t spirits of the

age, and crushing under it Obs tacles that before seemed insurmountable, has had no such exhibi tions sincethe time of Caesar .B ut with al l Napoleon ’s cool j udgment

,and self

confidence,there was not a Marshal in the army of so

impetuous and impatient a temper,a s he . He settled

every plan in his own mind,with the precision O f a

mathematical problem ; and if any unforeseen Obstacleinterposed

,threatening to change the resu l t

,he be

came perfectly furious wi th excitemen t,acting and

talking as if he thought i t to be a viola tion of reasonand jus tice . He planned with so much skill

,and

calculated results with so much precision,that if he

did not succeed,he fel t there must be blame

,shame

ful neglec t,somewhere . From his youth up he never

could brook contradict ion,and drove with such head

long speed towards the Obj ect he was after,that he

frequently secured i t through the surprise and cons ternation occas ioned by the despera tion that markedhis progress . In the cabine t and in the field

,he ex

hibited the same res tless fever of mind,and seemed

really to suffer from the s trong restraints his despo ticjudgment placed over hi s actions . I t was imposs ibl efor him to keep stil l ; and the mos t headlong speed in

travelling, did no t seem rapid enough for his eagerspiri t. Bad rider as he was

,he delighted in spurring

over fences and chasms,where his boldes t riders had

gone down ; but even when sweeping over a field on

a tearing gallop , he could no t be quiet, but constantly jerked the reins , which he always held in his righ t

N A P O L E O N B O N A P A R T E . 43

hand . When delayed in wri ting despatches , behindthe time appoin ted for his departure for the army , themoment he had finished

,— the cry “

to horse ,” acted

like an electric shock on his attendants,and in a

moment every man was at the top of his speed , andthe next moment the entire sui te were driving l ike a

whirlwind along the road . In this way he would go

all day without stopping ; and if despatches met him

on the way,he would read them as he rode

,— throw

ing envelopes and un importan t le tters,one after

ano ther,from the carriage window

,with a rapidity

that showed how quickly he devoured the contentsOf each . He usually Opened these despatches him

self,but if his secretary did it for him

,he would sit

and work at the window sash with his fingers ,— so

necessary was some outlet to the fierce action of hismind . He would drive through the army at the samefurious rate ; and when the outriders cal led ou t

“ roomfor the Emperor l” every one fel t he could not be tooquick in obeying ; and before the u tter confusion of

clearing the way had passed , the cortege was seenflying l ike a cloud across the plain , beyond hearing,and almost ou t of sight . But through the Guards healways moved with becoming pomp and solemni ty

,

salu ting the Offi cers a s he passed .

Maps were his invariable companions in a cam

paign ,and he always had one spread out at night in

his apartment,o r a tent which was always p i tched

amid the squares of the Old Guards,— surrounded with

candles,so that he might rise a t any moment and

consult i t ; and when on the road or in the field hewanted one

,so impatient was he known to be tha t

the two Officers who carried them rode down everything between them and his horseor carriage . .O n such

41 H I S R I D E T O P A R I S .

occas ions he would frequently order the map he desiredto be unrolled on the ground, and s tre tching himsel ffull length upon it

,i n a momen t be los t to every thing

but the campaign before him . A remarkable instanceof his impatience and impetuos ity i s exh ibited in themanner he received Marie Louise on her way to meethim . As she drove up to the po st town, where he ex

pec ted her, he jumped in to the carriage all wet withrain as he was

,and embraced this daugh ter of the

Cesars with the famil iari ty O f an old relative and ordering the postillions to drive at ful l gallop to Com

peigire, ins is ted on having the conjugal r ites beforemarriage

,and obtained them . But perhaps there is

not a more s triking instance of the impetuosity O fhisfeelings than his mad ride to Paris

,when i t was en

veloped by the allied armies . Being himself deceivedby the enemy

,they had go t ful l three days’ s tar t of

him towards the capital,with a force that bore down

every thing in their passage . It was then Napoleons trained every nerve to reach the city before its ca

pitula tion. He urged his exhausted army to the topof i ts speed

,and on the 29th of March

,the day be

fore he left it,he marched with the Imperial Guard

for ty m iles . Wearied out,the brave cu irassiers

could no longer keep pace with his haste,and he se t

ou t alone for Paris . Despatching courier after courier to announce his approach

,he drove on with fu

rions speed ; but as the d isas trous news was broughthim that the enemy were struggling on the heights ofMontmartre

,his impatience knew no bounds . H e

abandoned his carriage as being too sl ow thoughi t came and went with frightful veloci ty on the astonished peasantry

,and changing i t for a l igh t Ca

leche , he sprung into it , and ordered the postillions to

N A P O L E O N B O N A P A R T E . 45

W hip the horses to the top of their speed He dashedaway as if life and death hung on every s tep . Faster

,faster he cried to the postillions

,though the whip

fell incessantly on the flanks of the panting st eeds .“ Faster

,faster

,

” he cried,as houses and fields swept

pas t him like a vis ion .

~ His throne,his crown

,his

empire,shook in the balance

,and the flying chariot

seemed to creep over the lengthened way . Nothingcould satisfy him

,and the cry of “ fas ter

,faster

,

” s tillrung in the ears of the astonished posti l lions

,though

the carriage wheels were already on fire from theirrapid evolutions . Vain speed Paris had fallen .

This impetuosi ty O f temper and hatred of res traintmade him frequently overbearing and unjust to

,b is

Officers,when they had failed in executing his plans .

In the firs t transpo rt of passion,he would hear no de

fence and no apology ; but after reflec tion made himmore reasonable and just

,and a generous act would

repay a sudden wrong. It was this trai t of characterwhich grew stronger, as he drew towards the close ofhis caree r

,that made many around him declare tha t

he hated the truth . I t was not the tru thwhich aroused him

,but the declaration that his plan s would be or

had been baffled . He was so confident that he usually knew more than al l around him,

that he in timebecame so sel f-opinionated which he could not brookadvice which clashed wi th his views . With weightand velocity both

,his mind had terrible momentum ,

and even in a wrong way often conquered by i ts irrel

sistible power .Napoleon was a great statesman as well as militaryleader. His conversations in his exile evince themost profound knowledge of poli tical science, whilethe order he brought out of chaos, and indeed the

46 H I S P R A C T I C A L P O W E R .

glorious resurrection he gave to France , show tha t hewas not great in theory alone . He was equal to Cesar as a warrior, to Bacon in poli tical sagacity , andabove all other kings m genius .Perhaps Napoleon exhibits nowhere in his l ife

,his

amazing grasp of thought and power of accomplishment

,more than in the year and a half after his ar

rival from Egypt . Hearing that the Republ ic wasevery where defeated

,and I taly wres ted from i ts

grasp,he immediately set sail for France

,and escap

ing the English fleet in a mos t miraculous manner ;protected by “ his s tar

,

” reached France in October .By November hehad overthrown the inefficient Directory

,and been proclaimed Firs t Consul with al l the

attributes,but none O f the titles of king . He imme

dia tely commenced negotiation s with the al lied powers

,while at the same time he brought his vas t ener

gies to bear on the internal s tate Of France . Credi twas to be restored

,money rai sed

,the army supplied

,

war in Vendee suppressed , and a cons ti tut ion given toFrance . By his superhuman exertions and all- pervading g

0renius,he accomplished all this , and by next

spring was ready to Offer Europe peace o r war . O r

der sprung from Chaos at his touch— the to tterin og go

vernm ent s topped rocking on i ts base the moment hismighty hand fel l upon it— wealth flowed from thelap of pover ty

,and vas t resources were drawn from

apparent nothingness . France,ri s ing from her prone

pos i tion,s tood ready to give ba ttle to the world . Eu

rope . chose war. The gigantic mind that hadwrought such prodigies in seven months in France

,

now turned its concentra ted strength and wrath on

the enemy . Ma ssena he sen t to Genoa to furnish anexample of heroism to lates t posteri ty —Moreau h e

N A P O L E O N B O N A P A R T E . 47

despa tched to Swabia to render the Black Forest immortal by the victories O f Engen

,M oeskirch and

Biberach , and send the Aus trians in cons ternation totheir capital

,while he himself

,amid the confusion and

wonderment of Europe at his complicated movements

,precipitated his enthus iastic troops down the

Alps,and by one bold and successful s troke wrested

Italy from the enemy , and forced the astonished and

discom fited sovereigns of Europe to an armistice ofsix months . Unexhaus ted by his unparalelled efforts ,no sooner was the truce proclaimed than he plungedwith the same suddenness yet profound fore thoughtwith which he rushed into bat tle

,into the distracted

pol itics of Europe . By a skilful stroke O f policy inOffering Malta to Russia , at the moment i t was

'

certain to fal l into the hands of England

,he embroiled

these two countries i n a quarrel,while by promising

Hanover to Pru ssia,he bribed her to rej ect the coal i

tion with England,and consent to an alliance with

himself. At the same time he planned theleague of theneutral powers agains t England

,— armed Denmark

and Sweden,and closed all the ports of the Continen t

agains t her,and prepared succours for Egypt . While

his deep sagacity was thus'

bafliing the cabinet ofEngland involving her in a general war with Europe

,and press ing to her lips the chalice she had jus t

forced him to drink,he apparently devo ted his entire

energies to the internal state of France,and the

building of public works . He created the bank O f

France—put the credit of government on a firm basisbegan the Codes

,spanned the Alps with roads— sufh

cient monuments in themselves Of his genius— and

restored the complete supremacy of the laws throughout the kingdom . Al l this he accomplished in six

48 H I S A M B I T I O N .

months,and at the close of the armistice was ready

for war . The glorious campaign O f Hohenlinden followed , and Aus tria , frigh tened for her throne , negotiated the peace O f Luneville, giving the world time torecover its amazement and gaze more s teadily on thismighty sphere that had shot so suddenly across the

orbi ts of kings .That Napoleon in all this was ambitious noone doubts

,but his ambition was indissolubly con

nec ted with the wel fare and glory of France . Power was the ruling star in his heaven

,but he

sought it in order to make France powerful . Hisenergies developed hers

,and the victories he won

were for her safety and defence. He is accused O f

having aimed at supreme power,and nothing short

of i t would have satisfied him . A second Alexander,

he waded through seas of blood,and s trode ~ over

mountains of corpses,solely to

'

accomplish th is object,

and his fall was the fall of one who aimed at Universal Empire. Mr. Alison takes up this piece ofnonsense

,and gives us pages of the merest cant

about the danger of ambit ion and love of power,and

the Providence that arrests it—declaring,in so many

words,that Napoleon sought the subjugation of Eu

rope . If this were tru e he might have spared thetribute he pays to Napoleon’ s genius

,for i t would

prove him the sublimest fool that ever held a sceptre.To assert that he ever dreamed of being able to subjugate England , Russia, Prussia , Austria , and thenorthern powers of Europe

,and combine them in one

vast empire, of which he would be the head , is tooridiculous to receive a serious refutation . That heever expected to make England a dependant provinceon France, there is not an intell igen t man in the Bri

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50 m s W A N T o r R E P U B L I C A N I S M .

French borders,and sent i t wi th its earthquake throes

the length and breadth of the Continent .

I have thus spoken Of Bonapar te comparatively , andnot as an individual judged by the law of right . Iwished to place him bes ide the monarchs and governments that surrounded him

,and see where the ba

lance of virtue lay . He wa s ambitious— so was P it t ;while the ambition Of the former was far less selfish

,

heartless and cruel than that Of the latter . One insisted on the treaty of Amiens

,by which the world

was bound to peace the other broke i t,and involved

E urope in war solely for selfish ends . _ Napoleon hasbeen blamed for robbing France of her republicanform Of government

,and reins tating monarchy ; and

men are prone to compare him with Washington,and

wonder why he could not have imitated his example ,and

,content with the peace and prosperity of his

country,returned to the rank of ci tizen

,and left a

name unspotted by blood and violence . In the firs tplace

,the thing was absolutely impossible. A pure

Republic France could not have been wi th the population the Revolu tion left upon her bosom . As ignorant O f liberty and undisciplined

,as the South Ame

rican states and Mexico,she would have been rocked

like them with endless revol utions,until European

powers had overcome her,and replaced a Bourbon on

the throne . And if her population had been preparedfor comple te freedom

,the monarchs of Europe would

not have al lowed her to es tablish a R epublic in peace .Imagine the United States in the mids t Of the R evolution , surrounded by despotic thrones— Canada— the

W es t—Mexico,and Florida— all so many old monar

chies, thoroughly alarmed by the sudden appearanceof a frce state in their midst

,and in their affright

N A P O L E O N B O N A P A R T E . 51

banding themselves together to crush the 111 iant re

public,and you will have some conception Of the si

tua tion of France during the Revolution . LetWashington have commanded our forces

,and in re

sis ting this war of aggression have wre sted from oneof the powers dominions to which i t had no claim,

as France took I taly from Aus tria . Suppose thi s des

potic feudal al liance was kep t up, and no permanentpeace . would be made til l Washington was overthrown ; his career and ours would have been verydifferent . O ur plains wduld have al l been battle fieldsuntil we had b roken up the infamous coali tion

,or been

ourselves overborne . In such a posit ion were B Onapar te and France placed , and such a war was waged ti ll they fell . Placing ourselves in a s imilar pos itron

,we shall not find i t difficult to determine where

the chief guil t lay,or be wanting in charity to Napo

leon,for the recklessness with which he carried on a

war against powers so dest itute Of fai th and of virtue,

and whose aggress ive policy had well nigh crushedthe hopes of freedom on the Continent . B ut hadthese circumstances not existed

,he never would have

been a Washington,for he possessed f ew of his mo

ral qualities . Washington appears in grander proportion s as a moral than as an intel lectual man

,

while Bonaparte was a moral dwarf ; and I do no twel l see how he could be otherwise . Dedicated fromchildhood to the profession of arms

,all his thoughts

and associations were of a mil itary character . Withou t moral or rel ig ious ins truction

,he was thrown

while a youth’

into the vortex of the revolution ; and

in the tr iumph of infideli ty,and the overthrow of al l

religion,and the utter chaos of principles and senti

ments ; it was not to be expected he would lay the

52 H I S M O R A L C H A R A C T E R .

foundation of a religious character . He emerged fromth i s into the life of the camp and the bat tle-field

,and

hence became morally what most men would be insimilar circumstances . Besides

,his very nature was

despotic . He could not brook restraint,and

,con

scious ofknowing more than those around him,he

cons tantly sought for power that he might carry outthose s tupendous plans which otherwise would havebeen interrupted . I have no doubt tha t Napoleon ’shighest ambi tion was to reign as a jus t and equitablemonarch amid the thrones of Europe

,expending his

vast energies elsewhere ; and that much of his violence and recklessness arose from the consciousnessthat he was to expect no fai th or honesty

,or j ustice

,

or truth,from the perfidious nations that had bound

themselves together to crush him . One thing is certain

,had he been less a monarch , France could not

have withstood as long as she did,the uni ted strength

Of Europe .

Bonapar te i s charged with being cruel,but it i s un

j ust . H e was capable of great generosity,and exhi

bited pity in circumstances no t to be expected from a.

man trained on -the battle-field . Hearing once O f a

poor English sailor,who

,having escaped from confine

ment , had constructed a frail boat of cork and branches of trees, with which he designed to pu t to sea, inthe hopes of meeting an English vessel

,and thus

reaching England ; he sent for him ,and on learning

from his lips that this bold undertaking was to getback to his aged mother

,he immediately despatched

him with a flag of truce on board an E nglish ship,

wi th a sum of money for his aged parent,saying that

she must be an uncommon mother to have so affec

tionate a son . The gu ide who conducted him'

O ver

N A P O L E ON B O N A P A R T E . 53

the San Bernard , and who,i gnorant of the m igh ty

man that bestrode the miserable animal by his side,

gave him a full account of his l ife and plans—of his

betrothment and inability to marry fo r want Of apiece of land

,-was not forgotten by him afterwards .

The land was bought and presented to the youngman by order of Napoleon . Repeated acts of kind

ness to poor wounded soldiers,was one of the chords

Of iron which bound them to him . The awful spectacle which a battle-field presents after the carnage

is done,frequently moved him deeply

,and he wept

like a child over his dying friend Lannes . His sym ~

pathics,i t is true

,never interfered with his plans.

What his judgment approved,his hear t never coun

termanded ; and What he thought necessary to bedone

,he did

,reckless of the suffering it occasioned .

He was inflexible as law itself in the course he haddecided upon as the most expedient . The murder O fthe Duke of Enghien is perhaps the greatest blo t onhis character

,but he was goaded into this by the

madness,and folly

,and villany of the race to which

this unfor tunate prince belonged . In the midst of hisvast preparations for a descent upon England

,he was

informed of a plot to assassinate him,and place a

Bourbon on the throne . The two ends of this conspiracy were Paris and London , between which therewas an unbroken line of communication across thechannel . The secret route was discovered

,and se

veral of the conspirators arres ted . The Bourbons inEngland were at the bottom of i t

,and English gold

paid the expense . P ichegrue had arrived in Paris,W 1th the infamous Georges

,who had so nearly succeed

ed in taking the l ife of the First Consul by the explos ion of the infernal machine . Moreau had been

5*

54 H I S W R A T H A G A I N S T T H E B O U R B O N S .

sounded,and was found ready to aid in the assassi

nation O f his former general , but would not l isten tothe proposal Of re- establishing the Bourbon dynasty .

H is envy had made him the enemy of Napoleon,and

he wished to occupy his place . This jar between theconspi rators caused delay and uncertainty , which enabled Napoleon to ferret i t out . Georges himself, aftermuch trouble

,was taken

,and he

,with other inferior

conspirators,confessed the plot

,and acknowledged

that the prince ” was expected from England tohead the conspiracy . Napoleon despatched soldiersto the sea coas t to arrest whoever migh t land a t thepoint designated by the conspirators . They watchedby the shore for days ; and though a smal l vessel kepthovering near

,as i f wai ting for signals to land

,i t was

suspicious al l was not right,and finally moved off al

together . Moreau was tried,found guil ty

,and exiled

—the mildest punishment he could possibly expect .P ichegru was thrown into prison , but the Prince ,”

whom Napoleon was feverishly anxious to get holdof

,was not to be found . This whole plot

,interrup t

ing as i t did his vas t plans,and exciting the feelings

of the people to a state bordering on revolution,

filled him wi th uncontrol lable rage . He fel t thathe was not regarded as a respec table enemy ; for evenprinces Of the blood

,and nobles

,were endeavouring

to assass inate him like a common ruflian . With hisusual watchfulness he began to inqui re about the exiled princes ; and being told that one was at Ettenheim , near Strasbourg , he immediately despatched a

spy to watch his movements,for he had not the least

doubt that every Bourbon was in the conspiracy .

This spy reported that General D oumourier, em

other old bu t exiled general,was with the prince .

N A P O L E O N B O N A P A R T E . 55

This mi stake decided Napoleon to arres t him , sacreda s his person ought to have been 0 11 neu tral terri tory .

W hether he afterwards became convinced of theyoung Duke ’s innocence or not

,matters very lit tle a s

to his guilt . He wished to des troy some Bourbonprince

,and he had determined to execute the first

one that fell into his hands . To be waylaid and Shotlike a dog by Bourbon princes

,enraged him S O

, thatthe voice of jus tice could not be heard . Seated on

his proud eminence,bending his vast energies to the

rnos t tN Upendous jflans that ever fiHed a. lnunan

mind,he was reminded that royal blood regarded him

a s only a fi t victim for the assas s in ’ s knife ; and hedetermined to teach kings that he would deal by themOpenly a s they had done by him secretly . Some ideaOf his feelings may be got from the language he fre

quently indulged in when speaking of the princesand nobles that were engaged in this conspiracy.

Said he,

“ These Bourbons fancy tha t they may shedmy blood like some wild animal

,and yet my blood

is quite as precious as theirs . I will repay them thealarm with which they seek to inspire me ; I pardonMoreau the weakness and errors to which he is urged by stupid jealousy

,but I will pitilessly shoot the

ve ry firs t of those princes who shall fal l into myhands ; I wil l teach them with what sort of a manthey have to He classed the Bourbonstogether , —knew them to be inspired with the samefeelings towards him

,and whether bound by contract

o r not , sympathis ing with each other in this conspiracy . In a Spirit of fierce retal iation and rage

,and

to s top forever the plo tting of these royal assassins,

he determined to make a terrible example of one,and

Thiers’Consulate and E mpire.

56 H I S M O R A L C H A R A C T E R .

the young Duke d ’E nghien fel l . The news O f hisdeath filled the courts of Europe with horror

,and

was one‘

of the causes of the genera l all iance agains tNapoleon that followed . This high-handed act ofinjustice cannot be condemned too emphatically

,but

i t was no t the cold-blood ed ac t of a cruel man . Itwas a crime committed in passion

,by a Spiri t inflamed

with the consciousness of having been outraged bythose from whom better things were to be expected .

England lifted up her hands in p ious horror at theact

,yet had not one word to say about the p remedi

ta ted murder of Napoleon by the Bourbons . If he,instead of one of thei r number

,had fallen

,we should

have heard no such ou tcry,from the crowned heads

of Europe. He had only made a Bourbon drink thecup they had prepared for his l ips . The horror ofthe crime consis ted not in its inj ustice, but that hehad dared to lay his hands on the sacred head of royal ty . And yet this act

,as unjust and wicked as i t is

conceded to have been,was no more S O than that' of

England,in banishing Napoleon

,when he had thrown

himself on her generosi ty,to a lonely and barren isle

,

where she could safely vent her augus t spleen in thosepetty annoyances She should have disdained to inflic t ;or that of the allies

,in allowing Marshal Ney tO

be shot , in direct violation O f a treaty they had themselves made .

The sum O f the m a ttef is,Napoleon ’s moral char

acter was indiflerent enough ; yet as a friend of humanl iberty , and eager to promote the advancemen t O f therace , by opening the field to talent and genius

,how

ever low their birth,he was infinitely superior to al l

the sovereigns who endeavoured to crush him . Heloved not only France as a nation

,and sought her

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58 R E T U R N FR O M E L B A .

as they came leaping like deer from every hil l , cry ingVive l

’ E‘

mp cr eur Thronging around him,they

followed him with Shouts to the very gates ofisthc town .

The commandant refused h im admittance , yet thesoldiers within s tretched thei r arms through thewicket s

,and shook hand s with his fol lowers withou t.

A t. length a confused murmur arose over the wal lsand Napoleon did not know but i t was the gatheringfor a fierce assaul t on his l i ttle band . The tumul tgrew w ilder every moment ; S ix thousand inhabitantsfrom one of the fauxburgs had risen en rizassc

,and

w ith t imbers and beams came pouring agains t thegates . They tremble before the res ist less shocks“reel and fall wi th a crash to the ground

,and the ex

cited multitude s tream for th . Rushing ou Napoleon,

they drag him_from his horse

,kiss h is hands and

garments,and bear him with deafening shouts

,on

their shoulders,into the town . He nex t advances 011

Lyons , the gates of which are also closed agains t him ,

and bayonets gleam along the walls . Trusting to

the power of affection,rather than to arms

,he gallops

boldly up to the ci ty . The soldiers within,instead

O f firing on him,breaking over al l discipline burs t

open the gates,and rush in frantic joy around him

,

Shouting Vice Z’E mp er eur .

” He is not compelledto plant his cannon agains t a s ingle town : powerreturns to him not through terror, but through love .He is not received with the cringing of sla ves

,but

with the open arms Of friends,and thus his course

towards the Capi tol becomes one triumphal march .

The power of the Bourbons disappears before thereturn ing tide O f affection

,like towers of sand before

the waves ; and without fi ring a gun , Napoleon againS its down on his recovered throne

,amid the acclama

N A P O L E O N B O N A P A R T E .

ti ons of the people . Who ever saw a tyrant and anOppressor received thus "

.z Where is the m onarch in

Europe,that dare fl ing himsel f in such faith on the

affections of his subjects ? Where was ever the Bourbon that could Show such a title to the throne he occupied

? Ah ! the people do no t thus receive themanwho forges fetters for their limbs ; and Napoleon atthis day

,holds a firmer place in the affections of the

i nhab itants o f France,than any monarch that ever

fil led its throne .

The two greatest errors o f Napoleon,were

"

theconques t O f Spain

,and the invasion of Ru ssia . The

former was no t only an impol itic act,but one of great

injus tice and cruel ty . In order to s trike Engl ishcommerce

,he was willing to invade an independen t

kingdom,and finally seize i ts throne and cover i ts

plains with the Sla in of i t s own subj ects . The invasion ofRussia might have terminated differen tly

,and

been recorded by historians,as the crowning monu

ment of his genius,but for the burning of Moscow by

the inhabitants ; an event certa inly not to be anticipa ted . He lost the flower O f his army there

,and

instead of striking the heart of his enemy,he pierced

his own .

I t is useless,however

,to speak of the mistakes that

Napoleon made,and Show how he should have acted

here,and planned there

,to have succeeded ; or a t

tempt to trace the separate steps,in the la tter part of

his career,to his downfall

,and pretend to S ay how

they might have been avoided . After taking into thecalculation all the chances and change s that did orwould come— all the losses that might have beenprevented

,and all the successes that might have

been gained,and pointing ou t great errors here and

Gt) I N V A S I O N O F F R A N C E .

there in his movements, i t is plain tha t no th ing lessthan a miracle could have saved the to ttering throneO f the Empire . After the disas ter of Leipsic, and thelosses sustained by diflererrt divis ions , ,O f the army in

that campaign,and the mortali ty which thinned SO

dreadfully the French armies on the Rhine , Francefelt herself exhausted and weak . In this depressedstate

,the civi lized world was preparing i ts las t united

onset upon her. From the Bal tic to the Bosphorusfrom the Archangel to the Med iterranean , Europehad banded itself against Napo leon . Denmark andSweden s truck hands with Austria

,and Russia, and

P russia,and England ; while, to crown all , the Princes

O f the confederat ion of the Rhine,put their S ignature

to the league,and one m illion and twenty

-eight

thousand men s tood up in battle array on the plainsO f Europe

,to overthrow thi s m ighty spiri t tha t had

Shaken so terribly their thrones .France

,which had before been drained to meet the

losses O f the Russian campaign,cou ld not

,with her

u tmos t efforts,raise more than a third of the number

of this immense host .Her provinces were invaded

,and this res istless

array were pointing their bayonets towards Pari s.In this dreadful emergency

,though none saw better

than he,the awful abyss that was opening before

him , Napoleon evinced no discouragement and nohes itation . Assembling the conscripts from everyquarter of France

,and hurrying them on to head

quarters , he at length , after presenting his fair hairedboy to the National Guards , as their future sover eign, amid tears and exclamations of enthusiasm

,

and embracing his wife for the las t time,set out for

the army. H is energy , his wisdom and incessant

N A P O L E O N B O N A P A R T E . 61

act ivity, soon changed the face of aflairs. He hads truggled against as great odds in his firs t Italiancampaign ; and ifnothing else could be done, he at leastcould fal l with honour on the so il of his country.

Never did his genius Shine forth with greater Splendour than in the almost superhuman exertions he putforth in this his las t great s truggle for his emp ire .No danger could daunt him— no reverses subdue him—no toil exhaus t him— and '

no difficul ties shake hisiron will . In the dead of win ter

,struggling with

new and untried troops,he fought an army ou tnum

bering his own two to one—beat them back a t everypoin t

,and sent dismay into the hearts of the a ll ied

sovereigns,as they again saw the Shadow O f his

mighty spirit over their thrones . He was everywherecheering and steadying his men

,and on one occasion

worked a cannon himself as he did when a youth inthe artillery ; and though the ball s whistled aroundhim till the soldiers besought him to retire

,he ex

claimed,

“ Courage ! the bulle t that is to kill me,i s

not ye t east .” At length the whole all ied army wasforced to retreat

,and Offered peace if he would con

sent to have h is empire dismembered,and France

restored to its l imits before the revolution . This heindignantly refused ; preferring rather to bury himself amid the ruins of his emp ire . B ut with his com

para tively handful of raw recruits , what could hedo against the world in arms ? His rapid v ictoriesbegan to grow less decis ive ; the glory with whichhe had anew covered the army

,waxed dim ; and his

s tar that had once more blazed forth in i ts ancien tspl endour in the heavens, was seen sinking to thehori zon .

6

62 A T T E M P T A T S U I C I D E .

The allies entered the cap ital , and Napoleon was

compelled to abdicate . On the day after the signatureOf the treaty

,by which he was d ivested of power

,and

sent an exile from the country he had saved— desertedby all his soldiers , his marshals , his army

— even byhis wife and family

,he said to Caulincour t at nigh t

,

after a long and sad revery,My resolu tion is taken ;

we must end : I feel i t . ” At midnight the fallen em

peror was in convulsions ; he had swallowed poison .

A S his fai thful Caulincourt came in , he Opened hiseyes

,and said

,

“ C aulincour t,I am about to die . I

recommend to you my wife and son ;—defend my

memory . I could no longer endure li fe . The deser

t ion Of my old companions in arms had broken myhear t. ” Violen t vomiting

,however

,gave him relief ;

and his life was saved .

His farewel l to his faithful Old Guard,before he

departed from Fontainbleau for Elba, was noble andtouching . He passed into their mids t as he had beenwont to do when he pi tched his tent for the nigh t intheir protec ting squares

,and addressed them in words

of great tenderness . “For twenty years ,” said he

,

“ I have ever found you in the path of honour andof glo ry . Adieu

,my children ; I would I were able

to press you al l to my heart,—but I will a t least press

your eagle.” With overpowering emotion,he clasp

ed the General in his arms,and kissed the eagle.

Again bidding his o ld companions adieu,he drove

away, while cries and Sobs of sorrow burs t fromthose brave hearts that had turned for him the tideof so many battles . They besought the privilege offol lowing him in his fallen fortunes ; bu t were refusedtheir prayer.

But Elba could no t long held that daring, res tless

N A P O L E O N B O N A P A R T E . 63

sp iri t . The next yeari

he again unrol led h iss tandard in the capital Of France

,and the army

opened its arms to receive him . After an exhibitionof his wonted energy and genius during the hundreddays ’ preparation

,he at length staked all on the field

of Waterloo . There the s tar of his des tiny againrose over the horizon

,and s truggled with its ancien t

strength to mount the heavens O f fame . The battlecloud rolled over it ; and when i t again was sweptaway

,that star had gone down— sunk in blood and

carnage,to rise no more forever .

Volumes have been wri tten 011 this campaign andlas t battle ; but every impartial mind mus t come tothe same conclusion

,— tha t Napoleon ’s plan s neve r

promised more complete success than at this las teffort . Wellington was entrapped ; and with thesame eo-Operation on both S ides

,he was lost beyond

,

“

redemption . Had Blucher stayed away as Grouchyfi"

did,o r had Grouchy come up as did Blucher

,victory

would once more have soared with the French eagles .It is vain to talk of Grouchy ’s having obeyed orders .! t was plainly his duty

,and his only duty

,to detain

Bluche r,o r follow him .

Bonaparte has also been blamed for risking all onthe las t desperate charge of the Old Guard ; but hewell knew that nothing but a decided victory couldsave him . He wanted the moral effect of one ; andwithout i t he was los t —and he wisely risked all tow in i t . He is also blamed

,both in poetry and prose

,

for no t throwing away his l ife when the battle waslost . If personal daring and personal exposure hadbeen cal led for in the disorder

,and success could

have been possible , by fl inging himself into the veryjaws of death, he would not have hesitated a mo

64 H I S D E A T H .

ment.But the route was utter ; and though he did

wish to die,and would have done so but for his

friends,— had he succeeded in his purpo se , i t would

have been simply an act of suicide , for which hi senemies would have been devoutly thankful .

His last hope was gone , and he threw himself into

the hands of England,expecting generous

,but re

ceiving the bases t treatment . She banished him toan inhospi table rock in the mids t of the ocean ; andhaving caged the l ion

,performed the honourable task

ofwatching at the door of the pri son, while her para

sites kept a faithful record of the complaints and irri

tations of the nob le sufferer,whose misfor tunes they

had not the magnanimity to respect . But not al l this

could dim the Splendour Of that genius who se greatwork was done . The thoughts tha t here emanated

from him,and the maxims he laid down

,both in po

litical and military l ife,Show that he could have

wri tten one of the most extraordinary books of hisage

,as easily as he had become one Of its greates t

mi l i tary leaders and rulers .But at length that wonderful mind was to be

quenched in the night Of the grave and Nature,as i f

determined to assert the greatness of her work to thela st , trumpeted him out of the world with one Of herfiercest s torms . Amid the roar of the blast

,and the

Shock Of the bil lows,as they broke where a wave

had not struck for twen ty years— and amid the darkness

,and gloom

,and uproar of one of the m ost tem

pestuous nights that ever rocked tha t lonely is le, Na

poleon's troubled spiri t was passing to that unseen

world , where the sound Of battle never comes , andthe tread of armies i s never heard . Yet even in thissolemn hour ; his delirious soul , caugh t perhaps , by

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66 T H E FI N A L V E R D I C T .

murmurs of Oppressed man— study well the changeshe introduced

,without which human progress mus t

have ceased— see the grea t public works he establlished— the ins ti tu tions he founded— the laws he proclaimed

,and the civil liberty he restored— and then

,

remembering that the bloody wars that offset all

these,were waged by him in sel f-defence

,and were

equal rights struggling agains t exclus iv e despoti sm ;— he will regret that he has adopted the slanders O fhis foemen, and the falsehoods O f monarchis ts .

a nd the s hell liberty he restored—and

rm stin t he has adopted the

MARSHAL BERTHIER.

The Talents 9. R evolution developes—Creation of the M arshals

Berthier’s Character and History—Soliloquy of Napoleon—B er

thier’s Death.

NOTHING is more unfortunate for a great man,than

to be born beside a greater,and walk

,during l ife- time

in his Shadow . I t is equally unfortunate to be greatonly in one department that is s til l better fil led b yanother. Had Shakspere not l ived

,Massinger might

have s tood at the Head of English dramatis ts ; andhad A lfieri kept silent

,a host of writers

,now almos t

unknown,would have occupied the Ital ian stage .

Had it not been for Caesar,Brutus might have ruled

the world ; and were i t no t for Bonaparte, many aFrench

’

general would occupy a separate place in thathistory of which they are now only transient figures .Great men

,like birds

,seem to come in flocks ; and ye t

but one s tands as the representative of his age . Thepeak which firs t catches the sunlight i s crownedmonarch O f the hills

,and the rest

,however lofty

,are

but his bodyguard . Much injustice has been doneto Bonaparte’s generals by not allowing for the influence of this principle . There i s scarcely a his torianthat wil l concede to such men as Lannes , Davous t,Murat

,and Ney

,any dominant quali ty

,except bra

very. Under the guiding intellect O f Napoleon , they

68 R E V O L U T I O N D E V E L O P E S G E N I U S .

fought nobly ; but when left to their own resource s.m iserably failed . Yet the S imple truth is : beingcompelled

,by their relative pos ition , to le t another

plan for them,they could do lit tle else than execute

orders.A mind dependent i s cramped and confined ,

and can exhibi t its power only by the force and vigour

with which i t executes rather thanform s plans .

But if it be a misfortune for a g r ea t man to l iveand move in the shadow of a s till greater, i t i s directlythe reverse wi th a weak man . The Shadow of the

geni'

us in which he walks, mantles his stupidi ty, andby the dim glory i t cas ts over him

,magnifies his

proportions . Such was the position of Boswell toJohnson

,and this i s the secret of Berthier’ s fame .

Being selected by Napoleon as the chief O f his staff,

and his most intimate companion ; he has linked himself indissolubly wi th immortality.

The times in which Bonaparte l ived,were wel l

calculated to produce such men as he gathered aroundhim . A revolution

,by its upturnings

,brings to the

surface materials,of the exis tence of which

,no man

ever dreamed before . Circumstances make men,who

then usually return the compliment,and make on

cum stances . In ordinary times,as a general rule

,

the soul s ofmen exhibit what force and fire they maycontain, in these channels where birth has placedthem . This is more especially true in al l monarchical and aris tocratical governments . The iron framework they stretch over the human race

,effectually

presses down every throb that would o therwise sendan undulat ion over the mass . No head can lift i tselfexcep t in the legitimate way

,while very sma ll heads

that happen to h it the aperture aris tocracy has kindly left open , may reach a high elevation . Revolution

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0 C R E A T I O N O F T H E M A R S H A L S .

spring from the middle and lower classes . A l l reformers also s tart there

,and they always must , for not

only is their sigh t clearer and their judgmen t morejust

,but thei r earnes t language is adapted to the

thoughts and sympathies of the many. Those m en

also who rise to power through themselves alone, fee l1 t is by themselves alone they mus t stand ; hence theimpelling motiv e is not so much greatness to be won ,as the choice between it and their original nothingness . Bonaparte was aware of this

,and of al l his

generals who have gone down to immortali ty withhim

,how few were taken from the upper cla sses .

A ugereau was the son of a grocer,Bernadotte of an

attorney,and both commenced thei r career as private

soldiers . Bessieres,St . Cyr

,Jourdanfand the fiery

Junot,all entered the army as priva tes . Kleber was

an architec t ; the impetuous Lannes the son of a poormechanic ; Lefevre , Loison , and the bold ScotchmanMacdonald

,were al l O f humble parentage . The vic

torious Massena was an orphan sai lor boy,and the

reckless,chivalr ic Murat

,the son Of a coun try land

lord . Victor,Suchet

,O udinot

,and the stem and

s teady Soult,were each and al l Of humble origin

,and

commenced their ascent from the lowes t step Of Fame’sladder . And las t of all

,N EY

,the “ braves t O f the

brave,

” was the son of a poor tradesman of SarreLouis .Immediately on the assumption of supreme power

,

Napoleon created eighteen Marshals,leaving two v a

cancies to be fil led afterwards . Four Of these werehonorary appoin tments

,given to those who had dis

tinguished themselves in previous battles, and werenow reposmg on their laurels as members of theS enate . The o ther fourteen were conferred on Gen

M A R S H A L E E R T H I E R 7 1

erals des tined for act ive service , but in reward oftheir former deeds . The firs t four were Kel lerman

,

Lefevre,P eriguin, and S erruier . The fourteen active

Marshals were Jourdan,Berthier

,Massena

,Lannes

,

Ney,A ugereau ,

Brune,Murat

,Bessieres

,Moncey

,

Mo rtier,Soul t

,Davoust

,and Bernadotte . Klebe r

and Desaix,were dead

,both killed on the same day

,

one in Egypt,and the other at Marengo

,or they

would have been firs t on this immortal l is t .Al l these had been active Generals

,and had dis

tingu ished themselves by great deeds, and won theirrenown by hard fighting

,except Berthier . Their

honours were the reward Of prodigies of valour,and

exhibition s of heroism seldom surpassed . Berthieralone Obtained hi s appointment for his services in thestaff

,and partly

,I am incl ined to believe

,for his per

sonal a ttachment to Napoleon . Without any meri tas a mi litary leader

,he still deserves a place among

the distinguished Marshals of the Emp ire,for his in

timate relationship with Napoleon .

Alexander Berthier was born a t Versailles,on the

20th of November , 1 753. His father wasc oast surveyor to Louis XVI . , and acquired great repu tation forhis skill in this department . Young Berthier naturallybecame proficient in mathematical s tudies— was acapital surveyor and excelled in drawing . Thoughfi lling the S ituation in his father ’s Office with a fai thfulness and abi lity tha t promised complete success inhis profession

,he nevertheless preferred the army . By

his father’s connection with government,he was ena

bled to Obtain a commission at the outse t in the dra

goons , and as L ieutenant in Rochambeau’s staff

,came

to the United States ; and served during the war of theAmerican Revo lution . I know O f no act of his

,dur

. 7" H I S E A R L Y C A R E E R .

H

ing this time,worthy of note . He had none of the

daring and intrepidity so necessary to form a goodcommander . A t the time of the French Revolution ,he was oflicer in the National Guards, and stood firmto the royal cause till

.

the Guards themselves wentover

,when he himself became a fiery republican .

He was Chief of the Staff in the firs t campaigns O f

the Republic,on the Rhine and Northern Frontier

,

and though faithful and eflicien t in the d ischarge O fhis duties

,received no p romotion . Not having sufh

cient energy and force to distinguish himself by anybri l l iant exploi t

,he Obtained merely the reputation

of being a fai thful Officer . In the firs t campaign inItaly

,he was quarter-m as ter to Kellerman but when

Bonaparte took command of the army,he made him

Chief of his Staff,and promoted him to the rank of

Major-General .From that time on

,for eighteen years

,he scarce

ever left the S ide of Bonaparte . We find him withhim on the sands of Egypt

,and amid the snows of

Russia ; by the P O , the Rhine , the Danube , and theNiemen , and admitted to an intimacy tha t few wereal lowed to enjoy. It seems natural for a s trong

,

powerful m ind to at tach itself to a weak one ; for itsdesire i s no t S O much for sympathy and support

,as

for the privi lege of relaxing and unbending itself,

wi thout impairing its dignity,or expos ing its weak

nesses . Berthier seemed to place no res traint on him .

H e had such a thorough contemp t for hi s intellect,

and knew in what awe and reverence he held him,

that his presence relieved his Sol i tude wi thout destroying i t. I t is true

,Berthier’s topographical knowledge

,

and his Skil l in drawing maps and charts,and in ex

plaining them , made him indispensable to Bonaparte,

M A R S H A L B E R T H I E R . 73

who relied so much on these things in proj ect ing hi scampaigns . Especial ly as the channel throughwhich al l hi s orders passed

,he became more necessary

to him,than any other Single officer in the army .

Yet,Berthier was admitted into privacies to which

none of these relations gave him a claim . When i twas necessary for Bonaparte to be in the open air fora long time

,early in the morning

,or late a t evening ;

a huge fire was always buil t by the Chasseurs,to

which he allowed no one to approach,unless to feed

i t with fuel,except Berthier. Backwards and for

wards,with his hands behind his back

,he would

walk— his grave and thoughtful face ben t on theground— until the signals were made of which he wasin expectation

,when he wou ld throw off his reserve

,

and call out to Berthier,To horse .”

Bonaparte’s travelling carri age,a curiosi ty in itself

,

was arranged as much for Berthier,as for himself.

Notwiths tanding the d rawers for his despatches,and

his portable l ibrary,he had a part of i t parti tioned

off for the latter . True,he did nO t give him half, nor

allow him the dorm euse,on which he himself could

recline and refresh himself. But Berthier was contenteven with the privilege allowed him

,though i t fur

nished him anything but repose,for Bonaparte made

use of the time,in which his cortege was sweeping

like a whirlwind along the road,to examine . des

patches,and the reports of the positions

,650 . As he

read he dictated his directions,which Berthier jotted

down,and

,at the next stepping place , filled out , with

a precision,tha t satisfied even his rigorous master .

Methodical in all he did— doing nothing in confusionthe rapid hints thrown out by Napoleon

,assumed a

symmetry and order under his pen, that requ ired on7

7 4 H I S M I N D M E C H A N I C A L .

explanation,and scarce ever needed an al tera t ion . In

this department he was almos t as t ire less a s Napoleon himself. He would write al l night, with a clear

ness of comprehension , and an accuracy of detail ,t hat was perfectly surprising. Apparently withoutthe mental grasp and vigour necessary to comprehendthe gigantic plans he fi lled out with such admirableprecis ion ; he nevertheles s mapped them down a s ifthey had been his own . A hint from Napoleon wassuflicient for him ; for S O accus tomed had he becometo the ac tion O f his mind, that he could almos t antic ipate hi s orders . He had lived

,and moved

,and

breathed so long in ~ the atmosphere of that in tellec t,

that he became a perfec t reflector to i t . He knew the

meaning of every look and gesture of the Emperor,

and a s ingle glance would arrest him,as if i t had the

power to blast . A t the battle of Eylau,when A u

gereau’s shattered ranks came flying pas t him

,pur

sued by the enemy,Napoleon suddenly found himself

,

with only his staff about him ,in presence of a column

of four thousand Russians . His capture seemed inevitable

,for he was on foot

,and almost breas t to

breast with the column . Ber thier immediately,in

great trepidation,called out for the horses . Napoleon

gave him a S ingl e look,which pinned him as silent

in his place,as if he had been turned into stone. In

stead of mounting his horse,he ordered a battalion

Of his guard to charge . The audacious column paused,

and before i t could recover I ts surprise,six bat tal ions

of the O ld Guard,and M ura t

’s Cavalry

,were upon

it,1 rending i t to pieces . So perfectly mechanical washis mind

,that it was impossible to confuse h im by

the rapid accumulation of business on his hands . H e

was among papers,what Bonapar te was on a battle

M A R S H A L B E R T H I E R . 75

field— always himself ; clear-headed and correct,bringing order out of confus ion

,in a manner that de

l ighted his exacting master . Bonaparte appreciatedthis quality in his Major-General

,and ta sked it to

the utmost . He once said that this wa s the greatmerit Of Berthier

,and of “ inestimable importance ”

to h1m . N0 other could possibly have replaced him .

The services he performed,were amply rewarded

by making him Marshal of the Empire,grand hunts

man,Prince of Neufchatel

,and Prince Of Wagram .

Yet,such a low opinion did Napoleon have of this

Prince’s and Marshal ’s character,that he once said

,

Nature has evidently designated many for a subordinate Si tuation ; and among them is Berthier . AsChief of the Staff

,he had no superior ; bu t he was

not fi t to command five hundred men .

” From thisintimate rela tionship with Napoleon

,however

,and

all the orders coming through his hands,many began

to think that he was the light Of Napoleon ’s genius .Napoleon and Berthier were coupled so cons tan tlyin men’s months

,tha t they began to be joined in

praise by those who knew neither personally,and

there might,to this day

,have been a great difference

of opinion respecting his merit,if he had never a t

tempted any t hing more than to Obey orders .Stil l Berthier Showed at times abili ty

,which

brought on him the commendations Of the Commander-in-Chief. At Lodi

,Arcola

,and indeed

throughout the first campaign of the young Bonaparte,

he behaved wi th S O much bravery , and brought suchaid to the army

,tha t he was mos t honourably men

tioned in the reports to the Directory .

On Bonaparte’s return to Paris,after his victorious

campaign in Italy,Berthier was left in command Of

76 M A R C H I N T O R O M E .

the army.Not long after, in an emeute in Rome , the

French Legation was assai led,and the young Gene

ral D uphetkilled

,which brought an order from the

Directory to Berthier to march on the city . Arrivedat the gates of the home of the Czes ars, the soldierswere transported with enthusiasm ; and they, with therepublican citizens

,conducted Berthier through the

Porta di Popolo,in triumph to the Capi tol

,as the vic

torious generals of Old were wont to be borne . The

intoxicated multitude, thinking the days of ancien tglory

,when Rome was a republic , had returned ; sung

the following memorable hymn as they carried him

towards the Capi tol .

R omain leve les yeux lafut le CapitoleCe pont est le pont da Coclés

Ces chardons sont converts des cendres de Scevole.Lucrece dort: sous ces cypres

L aBrutus immola 15. raceI ci s

’engloutit Curtius

E t Cesar a cette autre placeFut poignardé par Cassius.

R ome, 19. liberté t’appeleR omp tes fers, ose t’affranchir

Un R omain dor t libre pour elle,

P our elle un R omain dort M ourir

Te Deum was chanted in St . Peter’s by fourteencardinals

,and the Old Roman form of government

proclaimed in the ancient Forum .

But he was no sooner ins tal led in his place,than

he began to practise such extortion and pillage,that

even his own O fi O ers broke out in Open complaintsagainst him and he had to leave the army

,and set

out for Paris .He was one of those selected by Bonaparte to accompany him to Egypt . Berthier could not bear

‘t o

leave his beloved General’s” side ; bu t, though fortya

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78 M A R R I A G E O F B E R T H I E R .

no t forget the services of Berthier, but gave to hlmthe Portfolio of War. He bes towed on him also

,at

different times,large sums of money , which might as

well have been thrown in the Se ine, as to al l goodthey did this imbecile spendthrift . On one occasion

,

he presented him wi th a magnificen t diamond worthnearly twenty thousand dollars

,saying

,Take this ;

we frequently play high : lay i t up agains t a timeof need .

” In a few hours i t was sparkling on thehead Of his lady-love .

This mad pass ion , outl iving separation , change,and al l the excitements of the camp and battle-field

,

was doomed to a mos t b it ter disappointment. A t theurgent request of Napoleon

,he finally married a

princess of Bavaria . But scarcely was the marriageconsummated

,when

,as if on purpose to complete his

despair,the husband Of Madame Visconti died . This

was too much for Berthier . Cursing his miserablefate

,he hastened to Napoleon

,overcome with grief

,

exclaiming,

“ What a miserable man I am ! had Ibeen only a l it tle more constant

,Madame Visconti

would have been my wife .”

I remarked before that Berthier might possiblyhave passed for a good general

,had he not gra tui

tously revealed his own weakness to the eyes of Europe . .A t the Opening Of the campaigns of Aliensberg

,Landshut

,and E chmuhl

,Napoleon despatched

him to the head quarters of the army , with definitedirections— the sum of which was

,to concentrate all

the forces around Ratisbon,unless the enemy made

an attack before the 15th,in which case he was to

concentrate t hem on the Lech,around Donauwerth .

Ber thier seized with some wonderful idea Of his own,

instead of carrying out the Emperor’s orders to the

M A R S H A L B E R T H I E R . 79

very letter, as he had ever before done , acted directlycontrary to them . Ins tead of concentrating the army

,

he scattered it. The Austrians were advancing,and

the notion ins tantly seized him O f executing a prodi

gious feat, and Of s tepping the enemy at all points .Massena and Davous t

,commanding the two prinn

c 1pal corps of the army, he separated a hundred milesfrom each other

,while at the same time he placed

Lefebvre,Wrede

,and O udinot in S O absurd a posi tion

,

that these experienced genera ls were utterly amazed .

Davous t became perfectly furious at the folly Of Berthier— told him he wa s dooming the army to utterdes truction

,while Massena urged his s trong remon

strance agains t this suicidal measure . A s he wasacting under Napoleon ’s orders

,however

,they were

compelled to Obey him,though some of the Marshals

declared that he was a traitor,and had been bribed

to deliver up the army . Nothing bu t the slowness ofthe Archduke ’s advance saved them . His army of ahundred and twenty thousand men could

,at this

j uncture , have crushed them almos t a t a blow,if i t

had possessed one quarter the activity Napoleon soonafter evinced . While affairs were in this deplorablestate

,and Berth ier was in an agony at his own folly

,

and utterly at less what to do,Napoleon arrived a t

head-quarters . He was perfectly amazed at the perilous posit ion in which his army was placed .

His has ty interrogations of every one around him,

soon placed the condition of the two armies clearlybefore him : and his thoughts and action s, rapid aslightning

,quickly Showed th at another Spirit was at

the head of affairs . Officers were despatched hitherand th ither on the fleetes t horses —Berthier’s orderswere al l countermanded . and the concentration of the

80 H I S I N A B I L I T Y T o C O M M A N D .

army was effected barely In time to save i t . Immedi

ately on his arrival at Donauwerth , he despa tched anote to Berthier

,saying , “ e a t you have done ap

pears so strange , that if I was not aware of yourfriendship

,I Should think you were betraying me .

Davous t is at this moment more comple tely at theArchduke ’s disposal

,than my own ” Davoust was

also perfectly aware Of this , but thought only O f ful

fill ing his orders likea brave man . In speaking Of thisafterward

,Napoleon said— “ You cannot imagine in

what a condit ion I found the army on my arrival,and

to what dreadful reverses i t was exposed if we had todeal with an enterpris ing enemy . I shall take carethat I am not surprised again in such a manner .”

The chief of the s tafl was never after suspected of being anything more than a mere instrumen t in thehands of the Emperor.The change that passed over the French army wasinstantaneous

,and the power of intellect and genius

working with lightning-like rapidity,was never more

c learly seen than in the different aspect Napoleon puton affairs in a single day . Under his all-pervading

,

all- embracing Spiri t,order rose ou t of confus ion

,and

strength ont ofweakness . Had an Austrian Generalcommit ted such a blunder in his presence, as Berthierdid in the face of the Archduke Charles

,he would

have u tter ly annihilated him .

I t i s useless to fol low Berth ier through the longcampaigns

,in which he never quitted the Emperor ’s

side,as he only now and then appears above the sur

face,and then merely as a good chief of the s taff

,and

a valuable aid in the cabinet with his topographicalknowledge . He was with him in his last efforts tosave Paris and his throne . He

,with Caulincourt

,

M A R S H A L B E R T H I E R . 81

was by'

his s ide in that gloomy nigh t when , in hishaste to get to his capital

,he could not wai t for his

carriage,but walked on foot

'

for a mile,chafing like a

fettered l ion . They were the only auditors of thatterrible sol iloquy that broke from his lips as he strodeon through the darkness . Jus t before

,when news

wa s brought that Paris had capitulated,the expres

sion of his face as he turned to Caulincour t and exclaimed D o you hear tha t was enough to freezeone with horror ; but now his sufferings melted thehear t with pity . Paris was i lluminated by the innu ~

merable watch-fires that covered the heights,and

around it the allied troops were shouting in unboundedexul tation Over the glorious victory

'

that compensated them for al l their former losses while but fifteenmiles distant on foot

,walked i ts king and emperor

through the deep midnight— his mighty spirit wrungwith such agony that the sweat s tood in large dropson his forehead

,and his lips worked in the most pain

ful excitement . Neither Ber thier nor C aulincour tdared to interrupt the rapid soli loquy of the fallenEmperor

,as he muttered in fierce accents “ I burned

the pavement— my horses were swift as the wind , buts til l I fel t oppressed with an intolerable weight something extraordinary was passing within me . I askedthem to hold out only twenty- four hours . Miserablewretches that they are ! Marmont

,too

,who

"

hadsworn that he would be hewn in pieces

,rather than

surrender And Joseph ran O ff too— my very brotherTo surrender the capital to the enemy— what po ltroons ! They had my orders ; they knew that, on

the 2d of Apri l, I would be here at the head of seventy thousand men ! My brave scholars , my Na‘

tional Guard, who had promised to defend my son

82 N A P O L E O N ’ S S O L IL O ! U'Y .

al l men with a heart in their bosoms , would havejoined to combat at my side ! And so they havecapitulated

,betrayed their brother

,their coun try

,their

sovereign— degraded France in the s ight of EuropeEntered into a capita l of eigh t hundred thousandsouls

,without firing a shot I t is too dreadful That

comes of trus ting cowards and fools . When I amnot there

,they do nothing but heap blunder on blun ~

”

der . What has been done with the ar til lery "

.l They

Should have had two hundred pieces,and ammunition

for a month . Every one has los t his head ; and yetJoseph imagines that he can lead an army

,and Clarke

is vain enough to th ink himself a minis ter ; but I begin to think Savary is righ t

,and tha t he is a t raitor

then suddenly rousing h imself,as if from a troubled

dream,and as if unable to bel ieve S O great a di sas ter

,

he turned fiercely 0 11 C aulincour t and Berthier andexclaimed

,

“ Set O fi,Caulincour t fly to the all ied l ines ;

penetrate to head quarters ; you have full powers ;FL Y FLY I t was with difficulty that Berthierand Caulincour t could persuade him that the capitulation had been concluded . Yielding at length to theirreversible stroke of fa te

,he turned back

,j oined his

carriages,and hastened to Fontainbleau

,where he

arrrved a li ttle after sunrise .That was a gloomy day for him ; and while he was

pondering on his perilou s posi tion,endeavouring to

pierce the night Of misfor tune that now enveloped him,

Pari s was Shaking to the acclamations of the m ul titude

,as the allied armies defiled through the streets .

Caulincour t had been sen t O ff to make terms with thevictors , but nothing would do but Napoleon

’ s abdication—and he was forced to resign . Then commenced

Vide Caulincourt and A lison.

M A R S H A L B E R T H I E R . 83

the shameful desertion Of his followers , whrch brokehis great heart

,and drove him in his anguish to a t

tempt the des truction O f his l ife . Among these feebleand false-hearted men

,was Berthier . Napoleon was

a crownless , throneless man , without an army— with

out favour,or the gifts they bring— and Berthier had

no longer any motive for attaching himself to him ,

except that of honour and noble afi'

ecti'

on— both Ofwhich he was entirely dest itute Of. Afraid to turntrai tor before his benefactor’s face

,he a sked permis

sion to go to Paris on business,promis ing to return

the next day . When he had left,Napoleon turned

to the Duke of Bassano,and said He wil l not re

turn .

” “ What !” repl ied the Duke,

“ can B erthiertake such a fa rewell 7” He will not return

,

” calmlyreplied Napoleon .

“ He was born a courtier . In afew days you will see my Vice Constable begging anappointment from the Bourbons . It m or tifies me tosee men I have raised so high in the eyes O f Europe

,

Sink so low . What have they done wi th that halo ofglory

,through which men have been won t to contem

plate themr

l” He was right ; Berthier returned nomore . Too mean to enter tain or even a ct a nobleSentiment— and yet w i th suflicient conscience to feelthe glaring ingratitude and baseness Of his treachery

,

and fearing to confront theman who had elevated himto honour

,and heaped countless benefits on his head ;

he Shrunk away like a th ief,to kiss the foot of a

Bourbon . A few days after,he presented himself at

the head of the Marshals before Louis XVIII .,saying

-“ France having groaned for the las t twenty-fiveyears under the weight of the misfortunes which oppressed her

,had looked forward to the happy day

which now S hines Upon her .

” This infamous false

84 H I S D E A T H .

hood,crowning his base treason, ingrat itude , and

blasphemy ; was uttered wi th in one week after he hadsworn to Bonapar te he would never desert him, whatever adversity might befall him . When the Bourbonking made his public entry into Paris , Berthier wasseen riding in front of the carriage in all the pomp O fhis new Situation . But even the common peoplecould no t witness the disgrace this companion andprivate friend of Napoleon pu t on human nature

,in

s ilence. As he rode along,reproachful voices me t his

ear,saying

,

“ GO to the island of Elba,Berthier ! go

to Elba There was his place . Honour,gratitude

,

afl'

ection,manhood— all called him there

,but called

in vain,A seat in the Chamber of Peers

,and a com

mand in the king ’s body guard,were the price he

received for covering himself with infamy in the Sigh tof the world .

But his baseness was doomed to receive anotherreward

,for the next year Napoleon was again in

France . As Louis wi thdrew to Ghen t,Berthier

wished to accompany him ; but the king had suflicient penetration to see that one who had deserted hisgreatest friend and benefactor in the hour of advers ity

,

would not be Slow to betray him and hence intimatedtha t he could dispense with his company. Trustedby no one

,he retired to Bomberg

,in his father-in- law ’ s

dominions . Here,on the 19th of May

,18 15

,he was

seen leaning out of the window of his hotel,as the

allies were defiling past , in their retreat from France .A moment after

,his mangled body was l ifted from

the pavement, where it lay crushed and lifeless a t thevery feet of the Russian soldiers . Some say he wasthrown out by the soldiers themselves ; others, thathe leaped purposely from the window to destroy him

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MARSHAL AUGE R E AU .

H is early Life and Character—H is Campaigns in I taly—Battle of

Castiglione—Battle of A rcola—Revolution of the 18thFructidorCharge at E ylau—H is Traitorous Conduct and Disgr ace.

THERE is very l i ttle pleasure in contemplating acharacter like that Of A ugereau , especial ly when onei s led

,from his rank and ti tles

,to expect great qua

lities . A ugereau had S imple bravery, nothing more ,to render him worthy of a place amid the Marshalsof the Empire . He was not even a s econd-rate manin anything

,but courage ; and there he had no su

perior. A S a fierce fighter— one whose charge wasl ike a thunderbol t

,and whose tenaci ty in the mids t

of carnage and ruin,nothing seemed able to shake

he was worthy to command beside Massena,Ney

,

Lannes,Davous t

,and Murat— but there the equali ty

ended . He owed his Marshal ’s baton not S O muchto his Generalship

,as to his having served in Bona

parte’s first campaign s in I taly,and helped

,by his

bravery, to lay the foundation- stone of the youngCorsican’s fame . Napoleon

,in the height of his

power, did not forget the young Chiefs , with whom hewon his first laurels

,and to whose unsurpassed valour

he owed the wondrous success of his first campaigns .It was with such men as Murat

,Massena

,Lannes

,

Vic tor , and A ugereau , that he conquered four armies,

M A R S H A L A U G E R E A U . 87

each large as his own . With al l his genius,he could

have accomplished so much with no other men . Inthose rapid and forced marches— those res istless 011Sets, and in that tireles s activity , without which hewas ruined— these men were equal to his wishes andhis wants . Massena and A ugereau were among thefirs t of these fiery leaders

,and astonished Europe by

the brill iancy of their exploits . Bonaparte,in his

letter to the Directory,calls him the brave A u

gereau .

” At Lodi,Cas tiglione

,and Arcola

,he won

his Ducal ti tle,and his Marshal’s s taff.

Born,November 14 th

,1757

,i n the Fauxbourg St.

M arceau , Of Paris , the son of a grocer,Pierre

Francois-Charles A ugereau always retained themarks O f his origin . L iving in a democratic quar terof the city

,and spra ng from a democratic stock, he

wa s as thorough a Jacobin as ever outraged humani ty .

Of an adventurous,ardent Spiri t

,he left Paris when

a mere youth,and entered the army of the King of

Naples as a common soldier . Finding no thing to do,

and apparently nothing to gain in the service ; he lefti t in mingled disappoin tment and disgust . Poor andwithout friend s

,he taught fencing in Naples

,a s a

means of support,and remained there t il l he was

thirty-five years of age . B u t the al l-powerful Revolu tIO n

,which dragged into its vortex every stem and

fierce spirit France possessed,soon hurried him into

Scenes more congenial to his tastes . Being compelledto leave Naples, in 1792, by the edict Of the King,which forced all Frenchmen of Revoluti onary principles out Of the kingdom ; he returned to Pari s, andehlisted as a volunteer in the army of the Pyrenees .Here he had a clear field for his daring

,and soon

won himself a‘

reputation that secured his rap id pro

88 N A P O L E O N .

motion.When he entered the army as a volunteer, he

was thirty-five years of age— a t thirty-eight he foundhimself Brigadier-General

,and in two years more

General of Divis ion . Foremost in the place Of danger— res istless in the onset he had acquired a reputation for daring, that made him a fit companion forNapoleon in his I talian campaigns . Though so muchOlder than the Commander-in ~ Chief

,he soon learned

to bow to his superior genius ; and followed him wi tha courage and fideli ty that did not go unrewarded .

I have often imagined the fi rs t interview betweenthe young Bonaparte

,and the veteran Generals of

the army of I taly. There were Rampon,Massena

,

and A ugereau , crowned with laurels they had wonon many a hard-fought field . Here was a youngman

,sent to them as thei r Commander-in-Chief

,only

twenty-seven years of age . Pale,thin

,with a s toop in

his shoulders,his personal appearance indicated any

thing but the warrior. And what else had he to recommend him ’

.

l He had directed some artil lery successfully agains t Toulon , and quelled a mob in Paris,and that was all . He had no rank in civi l mattersindeed

,had scarcely been heard O f— and now

,a mere

stripling,without experience

,never having conducted

an army in his l ife ; he appears before the two scarredGenerals , Massena and A ugereau ,

both nearly fortyyears of age

,as their Commander-in-Chief. When

called to pay their first visi t to him,on his arrival

,

they were u tterly amazed at the folly of the Directory .

The war promised to be a mere farce. Young B onaparte , whose qu ick eye detected the impress ion hehad made on them

,soon

,by the firmness of his man

ner, and his vigour of thought, modified their feelings .At the Council of War

,called to discuss the proper

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90 H I S E N E R G Y A N D E N D U R A N C E .

t rifled the soldiers ; took the old Generals by surprise ,and A ugereau and Massena turned to each other wi thS ignificant looks ; and Rampon , after he had gone ou t,remarked

,

“ Here is a man that wil l yet cu t out workfor government . ”

Such feel ings and bold projects , suited wel l theimpetuous and daring A ugereau, and Bonaparte couldnot have had a better General in the kind of war hewas to wage . W here it was to be marching al l night ,and fighting all day , for days in success ion— and one

mus t be equal to three,by the rapidi ty of his move

m ents , and the force of h is onse ts— A ugereau wasjus t the man . There was lit tl e room for the exhibit ion Of military tac tics

,on the part of the sev eral

Commanders . The whole theatre of war was underthe immediate inspection of Bonaparte . He plannedand directed every thing

,without going through even

the form of calling a Council of W ar . His oflicers

had Simply to Obey orders— and to a man,l ike Auge

reau,who could never reason

,but was great i n

action— this was the very field for him to win fame in .

There was lit tle room for mis takes,except on the

field of battle,and he made few there . Tell him to

storm such a battery— cross such a river,i n the midst

of a murderous fire,or force such a wing Of the army

,

and he would do i t,if i t was to be done . His soldiers

loved him with devotion,and would follow him into

any danger . His activi ty and rapidity of motion,

together wi th his tireless energy, also rendered him apowerful ally to Bonaparte . In campaigns wheresuch veloci ty of movement wa s necessary

,in order

to compensate for numbers,that the army seemed eu

dowed with wings,flying from poin t to point

,to the

ut ter astonishment of the enemy ; and an endurance

M A R S H A L A U GE R E A U 1

was‘

demanded tha t could cope with that of Bonaparte

,who seemed made of iron ; A ugereau was at

home . Thus,in the first battle of Montenotte

,we

find him fighting beside the young Cors ican,and at the

close of the battle,left in command

,with instructions

to renew the attack in the night . But not yet fullyunderstanding the spiri t that headed the army

,heneg

lec ted to obey the order,and hence lost a grea t ad

vantage . A few days after,he assailed the Pied

montese,at Millesimo

,and won that bloody battle .

With such fury did he charge them,and so terrible

was the Shock,that every pass leading into Piedmont

was forced ; and in the hurry and tumult of the overthrow

,their General wa s driven

,for self-preservation

,

with ten thousand men,into an old and impregnable

castle . Around this s tructure,A ugereau formed his

columns,and marched boldly up

,to carry i t by as

sault . Then commenced one of those s truggles ofknightly days . The assailants rained down stonesand rocks

,and miss iles of every description

,which

bore away whole companies at a time . Amid thecries and Shouts of the assailants

,and the falling of

s tones,the combat raged

,till night closed the scene.

In the morning,Provera

,the Piedmontese comman

der,was compelled to surrender .

P iedmon t was humbled , and entered into a treatywith Bonaparte . In the two engagements a t Ca stiglione

,he fought one alone

,and one with Bonaparte ;

and earned the ti tle of Duke of Castiglione,which the

Emperor afterwards bestowed on him . Bonaparteadvanced with Massena on Lonato

,and sent Auge

reau to drive the Austrians from the heights of Castiglione. The latter had driven General Valet te fromthem the day before ; and A ugereau was sent to

92 B A T T L E O F C A S T I G L I O N E .

retake them . Valette, though he fought with an O h

S tinacy tha t would have honoured an Austrian , hadnot resisted with the courage that must animate thearmy of I taly , i f i t would no t be lost . It was nocommon firmness that could resis t the successiveShocks to which it was exposed . Whileone was com

pelled to fight two,and as he beat them

,ever fight

other two— a courage and tenacity were needed tha tno ordinary assault could overcome . Bonaparte

,in

his fierce rides to and fro to different par ts of thearmy, had killed five horses in a few days . He himself had planned the campaigns~ fought a t the headof the columns—marched al l night, and bat tled all nextday— bivouacked with the common soldier

,and ate

his coarse bread—passed Sleepless nights and anxiousdays— and to have an importan t post yielded becauseassailed by superior force

,was an example

,which

,

if fol lowed,would insure h is overthrow— and he

m ade an example O f Valette to the whole army. Hebroke him in presence of his own troops and al l theofficers ; thus s tamping him with everlasting disgrace . He wished to impress on his Oflicers andmen

,that he expected desperate deeds Of them , and

nothing else would satisfy him . N O sooner was thisdone, than he sent A ugereau to retake the los t heights .B urning with rage at the disgraceValet te had broughton the French arms

,he departed with exultation on

his dangerous mission . Never would he be broke inthe presence of his soldiers for want O f courage . B o

napa rte might break his sword above his grave— butnever fix the stain of cowardice on his name . H e

reached Castiglione as Bonaparte arrived a t Lonato.

Burning with impatience he formed his men intocolumns , and rushed to the assaul t . Then commenced

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94 S E C O N D B A T T L E O F C A S'

I‘

I G L I O N E .

reau s brow cleared up ; and , a s he looked off fromthe spot of victory , he saw Bonaparte hastening tohis relief

.The hear t Of this veteran swelled with

pride as he received the commendations O f the youngcommander ~ in- chief. Bonaparte never forget thisbattle ; and y ears after, when a captive on the isle OfSt

.Helena

,he said

,

“ Ah ! tha t was the m ost br illiant

day of A ug er eau’s life.

”

BATTLE O F CASTIGLIONE .

A few days after the second battle of Castiglionewas fought

,and I taly again put up as the mighty

stake. The two armies stood perpendicu lar to arange of hills that crossed the plain on Bonaparte ’sleft . O n

'

these heights the left wing of the Frenchand the right of the Austrians res ted , while the twoarmies stretched in parallel lines'out into the plain .

Al l night long had Bonaparte been riding among histroops to arrange them for the coming confl ict

,and

when dayligh t firs t broke over the eastern hi lls,he

saw S erruerier’s div ision approaching the field of

battle . The action then commenced on the heightswhere Massena commanded . The two armies , inactive on the plain below

,turned their eyes upon the

hillside where volumes Of smoke were rising in the

morning air ; and the incessant roll O fmusketry amidstrains ofmartial m usic

,told where their companions

were s truggling in the encounter of death . A ugereau

commanded the centre in the plain , ~and as he watchedthe firing along the heights

,his impatien t spiri t could

scarcely brook the inaction to which he was doom ed .

At length he received the welcome orders to charge .

The onset wa s tremendous,and though the Austrians

—being superior in numbers by one- third— res is ted

M A R S H A L A U G E R E A U .

bravely, they were a t length forced to yield to theShock . The whole lIne along theheights and throughthe plain bent backward in the struggle

,and finally

turned in full re treat. The v ic tory was in the hands

of the French,but the soldiers were too weary to

urge the pursui t. The sun was stooping to the western horizon when the combat was done

,and the ex

hans ted army slep t on the field of battle . For daysthey had marched and combatted without cessation

,

and human endurance could go no further. Even Bona

parte was worn out,for his Slender frame had been

tasked to the utmos t,and his thin features looked hag

gard andwan . He had galloped from d ivision to division over the country

,superintending every movemen t

and d i recting every advance ; for he would trust nobody with his orders

,since the sl ightes t mistake would

ru in him . Nothing but lofty genius,combined wi th

ceaseless energy and the most t ireless activity,could

have saved his army . I t is said,that during these

S ix days he never took O fi his boots,or even lay down .

A week of such mental and physical exci tement,with

ou t one moment’ s interval of repose,was enough to

Shatter the most iron constitutlon and i t is no wonder he i s found writing to the Directory that hiss trength is gone

,and al l is gone but his courage.

With th irty thousand men he had,in these Six days

,

defeated S ix ty thousand—k il led and taken prisonerstwo- thirds the number Of his own army

,and aston

ished the world by his achievements .

The next day A ugereau was pressing after the flying enemy

,and entered Verona in triumph . A few

weeks after he and Massena fought their way intoBassano together through the fire of the enemy

,leav

ing the ground withou t, covered with the dead . Be~

96 F I E L D O F B A S S A N O .

napar te arrived at night on the field Of battle , and as

he was spurring his horse through the corpses thats trewed the ground , a dog leaped out from under thecloak of his dead master , and barked furiously at him .

He would now lick his unconscious master, then stopto bark at Napoleon

,and again return to his caresses .

The S ilence of the mournful scene broken S O abruptlyby this fai thful dog— the s trength of his attachmentoutliving that of all other friends

,and Showing itself

here on the field of the dead— and the picture of thataffectionate creature l avishing its unheeded caresseson the hand that should feed it no more— producedan impression on his hear t that he never forgot

,and

affected!him more than that O f any other battle scene

of his life . B ut perhaps A ugereau never appearedto greater advantage

,than a t the

BATTLE OF ARCOLA .

Bonaparte,wearied by con tinual fighting—ex

hansted by h1s v ery victories— was with his army offifteen thousand men at Verona

,when a fresh Aus

trian army of m ore than thir ty thousand suddenlyappeared before the town . His posi tion was desperate , and hi s ruin apparently inevi table . The soldiers

murmured, saying,“ After des troying two armies

,we

are expected to destroy also those from the Rhine .”

Complaints and discouragements were on every S ide ;but in this cri s is

,Napoleon

,without consulting any

o ne, took one of those sudden resolutions that seem

the resul t of inspiration . In the rear of the Austrianswas a large marsh

,crossed by two long causeways

,

and on these he determmed to place his army . Crossing the A drge twice during the night, the morningsaw his army I I I two divisions

,— one under Massena

,

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98 B A T T L E O F A R C O L A .

bul lets.A t this critical juncture , Bonaparte , who deem

ed the possess ion ofArcola of vital importance , cameup on a furiou s gallop . Springing from his horse , hehastened to the soldiers lying along the dyke , anda sking them if they were the conquerors of Lodi

,

seized a s tandard , as A ugereau had done , and exclaiming

,Follow your General 1” advanced through

a perfect hur r icane of grape- shot to the centre of the

bridge,and planted i t there . The brave grenadiers

pressed with level bayonets close after their intrepidleader ; but , unable to endure the tempest of fire

and of lead which the hotly-worked ba ttery hu rled i ntheir faces

,they seized Bonaparte in their arms

,and

trampling over the dead and dying, came rushingback through the smoke of battle . But the Austrianspressed close after the disordered column

,and drove

it into the marsh in the rear,where Bonapar te was left

up to his arms in water . But the next moment,finding

their beloved chief was gone,the soldiers cried

.out

,

over the roar of battle,Forward

,to save your Gen

eral !” Pau s ing in their fl igh t,they wheeled and

charged the advancing enemy,and driving them back

over the morass,bore of in tr iumph the helpless Na

poleon . In this deadly encounter of the heads of

columns , and successive advances and repulses , theday wore away

,and the shades of a November nigh t

parted the combatants . The Au strians occupiedArcola , while the French re ti red to Ronco , or sunkto rest in the middle of the causeways they

'

had held

with such firmness during the day. The smoke ofthe guns spread itsel f like a mist over the marsh

,amid

which the dead and the dying lay together . In themorning the strife again commenced on this s trangefield of battle—two causeway s in the midst of a

M A R S H A L A U G E R E A U . 99

marsh . The Aus t rian s advanced in two columnsalong them , t ill they reached the centre , when theFrench charged with the bayonet

,and routed them

with prodigious slaughter— hurl ing them in theshock by crowds

,from the dyke

,into the marsh .

The second day passed as the firs t,and when night

returned,the roar of artillery ceased

,and Bona

parte slep t again on the field of bat tle . The thirdmorning broke over this dreadful scene

,and the

d iminished,wearied armies

,roused themselves for a

las t grea t effort . Massena charging on the run,

cleared his dyke , while the left hand one, after a desperate encounter

,wa s also swep

'

t of the enemy,and

Arcola evacuated . B onaparte now thinking theenemy suffi ciently disheartened and reduced , to allowhim to hazard an engagemen t in the open field

,de

ployed his army in to the plain across the A lpon,where the two armies d rew up in order of battle .Before the si gnal for the onset

,he resorted to a s tra

tagam,in order to give force to his attack . He sen t

twenty-five trumpeters through a marsh of reedsthat reached to the left wing of the Aus trians , withorders to sound the charge the moment the combatbecame general . He then ordered Massena and A u

gereau to advance . With an intrepid step they

m oved to'

the attack,but were met wi th a firm re

sis tance,when all at once the Austrians heard a loud

blas t of trumpets on their flank,as if a whole division

of cavalry'

was ru shing to the charge . Terrorstricken at the sudden appearance of this new foe

,

they gave way and fled . A t the same time theFrench garrison of L egnagno , in the rear, issuingforth

,by order of Napoleon

,and Opening their fire

upon the retiring ranks,completed the disorder

,and

100 P R E S E N T A T I O N O F C O L O U R S .

the bloody battle of Arcola was won . A ngeI eau andMassena were the two heroes of th is hard-fought

field .

This was in November— the next January thebattle ofR ivol i took place , and while Napoleon andMassena were struggling on the heights, A ugereauwas pressing the rear guard of the Aus trians , whohad come between him and the blockading force of

Mantua . He had taken 1500prisoners, and fourteen .

cannon,and was stil l straining every effort to arres t

the danger that was threatening the t roops aroundthe town

,when Bonapar te arrived from the field of

victory with reinforcements and Mantua fell .

In these as tounding victories , A ugereau appears asone of the chief actors . W hen all the o ther Generalswere wounded

,he and Massena s tood

,the two pillars

of Napoleon’s fortune . To carry out successfullyhis system of tactics— requiring such grea t activi ty,firmness

,and heroism— A ugereau was all he could

wish . Beloved by his soldiers,he could hurl them

into any danger,and hold them firm agains t the

most overwhelming numbers .

After the fall of Mantua he was sent to Paris topresen t to the Directory sixty s tands of colours

,the

fruits of the recen t victories H is heroi c conduct hadpaved the way for a cordial reception ; and the D irectory had already honoured him

,by presenting to

him and Bonaparte the colours each had carried a t

Arcola,a t the head of his grenadiers

,and planted on

the centre of the bridge in the mids t of the fire .

The presentation of the colours was a magnificentsight . They were carried by sixty old V eterans

,who

bore them along with the pride and martial bearingof youthful heroes . A ugereau placed his father and

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102 R E V O L U T I O N o r I S T H F R U C T I D O R .

were alarmed,by seeing twelve thou sand soldiers ,with

A ugereau at their head, marching towards the palaceof the Tuileries . There was no commotion , no apparen t cause for this extraordinary mili tary display ;yet all night long was heard the steady tramp of sol

diers,and the heavy rumbling o f artillery

,over the

pavements . A t length a sol itary cannon,the S i gnal

gun , sent i ts roar over the breathless c ity, calling tomind the nights when the loud peal of the tocsin

,

and the beat of the alarm drum,roused up the mul

titude to scenes of violence and blood . Immediately

the troops approached the gates of the palace of theTuileries

,and ordered them to be Opened . The

guards refused,and there was preparation for resis

tance,when A ugereau appeared with his staff.

Ramel,the commandan t

,notwith standing the de

fection among hi s t roops,sti l l showed a disposi tion

to resis t,when A ugereau thus addressed him :

“ Com

mandan t Ramel,do you recognise me Chief Of the

1 7 th Mil itary Division ? ” “ Yes,

” replied Ramel .Well

,then

,as your superior officer

,I command you

to place yourself under arres t. ” He immediatelyobeyed . A t S ix o ’clock in the morning

,the Depu ties

were prisoners,and the revolution effected .

For the management of this affair,which A ugereau

a ttributed to his own cleverness,he expected and

sought a seat in the Directory. He expostulated andthreatened

,but the Directors had used him all they

wished,and they would no t cal l him to s i t among

them . He had no other re source left,but to get a

majority of the vote of the Councils in his favour.Failing in this also , he became turbulent

,and violen t ;

and finally , as a las t resort, the Directory , te get ridof him, appointed h im to the command of the army

M A R S H A L A U G E R E A U . 103

of Germany,a post left vacant by the death of Gen

eral Hoche . Enacting the fool here,in his s tyle of

l iving,and the ou tward pretens ions he exhibi ted ;

he finally alarmed the Directory,by the Jacobinical

principles he was disseminating in the army,and the

discontent he spread among the inhabitants ; andwas depr ived of his command

,under the pretext

Of sending him to Perpignan,to collec t an army that

was dest ined for Portugal . This appointment wa s amere farce

,and A ugereau was to al l in tents dis

graced . In 1799,he was elected

,by the department

of the Upper Garonne,as a member Of the Council

Of Five Hundred .

When Bonaparte returned from Italy, A ugereauwithdrew from him

,and during the revolution of the

18 th of Brumaire,by which the Directory wa s over

thrown,and the power of France passed into the

hands of the Firs t Consul ; he stood ready to takeadvantage of any favourable movement to place himself a t the head of the troops

,and overwhelm the

hero of Egypt and his friends . As things began togrow dark around Napoleon

,in tha t most critical day

of his l ife,he determined to go to the two Councils

with his s taff. He met A ugereau'

on the way . Thelatter said to him

,sarcas tical ly

,

“ There,you have

got yourself into a pretty plight .” “ I t was worse a tArcola

,

” was the brief reply of Bonaparte .The establishment of the Consular government

,

and the subsequent bril liant campaign Of Marengo,

wrought a wonderful change in A ugereau’s republican

princ iples , and he wa s glad to pay court to Napoleon ;and , for hi s timely conversion , w as restored to favour.In 1805

,

’6, in Aus tria and Pru ssia, he exhibi ted his

O ld valour . A t Jena,especially

,he showed himself

104 C H A R G E A T E Y L A U .

worthy to combat beside his former comrades in Italy.

Afterward sa t Golymin , L echocqzin, and Landsberg,though fifty years of age , he evinced the impetuosi tyand firmness of his early days . His political ambit ion had been given to the winds , as he once morefound himself on the field where glory was to be won .

The next year,at the battle of Eylau , he com

menced the ac tion, and exhibited there one of those

heroic deeds which belong to the age of chivalry,

rather than to our more practical times .

CHARGE A T EYLAU.

The night previou s to the battle,he had lain tossing

on his uneasy couch— burned with fever,and tortured

by rheumatic pains,that deprived him almos t of

consciousness . But at daylight,the thunder of can

non shook the field on which he lay. The tremend

ous batteries on both Sides,had commenced their fire

,

making the earth tremble under their explos ions as if avolcano had suddenly Opened on the pla in . A ugereau

lay and li stened for a while to the stern music his soulhad so often beat time to— then hastily springing fromhis feverish bed

,called for his horse . His attendants,

amazed at this sudden energy,s tood stupified at the

s trange order ; but the fierce glance of the chieftaintold them tha t he was not to be disobeyed . His battle steed was brought

,and the s ick and s taggering

war rior wi th difficulty vaulted to the saddle . Feeling his s trength giving way

,and that he was unable

to keep his seat,he ordered his servants to bring

straps and bind him on. They obeyed,and strapped

him firmly in his place,when

,plunging his spurs into

his steed , he flew,in a headlong gallop

,to the head

of his corps . H is sudden appearance among his sol

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106 R O U T o r H I S C O L U M N .

both sides by infantry and cavalry . In the midst

of the uproar of nearly a thousand cannon , A ugereaucould not hear ei ther the tread of the infantry

,or the

t ramp of the caval ry , and was wholly unaware of

their approach . The Russians had marked the courseof the columns before the snow squal l wrapped themfrom Sight

,and now advanced on both sides to crush

them to pieces . Without warning or preparation , theFrench soldiers suddenly saw the long lances of theCossacks emerge from the thick s torm

,in a serried

l ine,in their very faces ; and in the twinkling of an

eye, those wild horsemen were trampling throughtheir ranks . Before this terrible tide of cavalry andinfantry the column s sunk a s i f engulphed in theearth . The hurried commands and shouts of Augereau

,were never heard

,or heard in vain . Stil l

bound to his s teed,he spurred among the disordered

troops — striving by his voice and gestures,and more

than all,by his daring example

,to restore the battle .

But wounded and bleeding,he only galloped over

a field O f fugitives flying in every direction , while theCossacks and Russian cavalry

,sabered them down

wi thout mercy . Of the s ixteen thousand , onlyfifteenhundr edfound their r anks ag a in . Trampling downthe dead and the dying

,the victorious enemy burs t

with loud hurrah s into Eylau,and even in to the pre

sence of Napoleon himself,and nearly made him

prisoner . I t was to arres t th is sudden disorder,that

M ura t,.with his fourteen thousand cavalry

,backed

by the Imperial Guard , was ordered to charge .

The wounded A ugereau was left without a corpsto command , and sent back to Paris , in order to recover his health— the

‘au thor of the “ Camp and Cour t

of Napoleon ” says in disgrace to gratify a fit of

M A R S H A L A U G E R E A U . 107

spleen .

” Says that au thor,

“ Enraged at the indecisive resul t of the day

,Napoleon wreaked hi s spleen

on the Marshal,and sent him home

'in disgrace .”

Whatever might be the disgrace,the cause here as

s igned is a gratuitous falsehood . In Napoleon’ s bul

letin home giving an account of the battle of Eylau-he speaks of A ugereau three times ; —firs t , to describe the sudden snow squall that blinded his army,cau s ing i t to lose its direction

,and grope about for

half an hour in uncertainty ; second , to m ake mention Of his wound ; and finally

,to say

,

“ the woundof Marshal A ugereau was a very unfavourable acciden t

,a s i t left his corps

,in the very heat of the bat

tle,without a leader to direct i t .” In a bulle tin dated

nineteen days after,A ugereau i s again men tioned in

the following terms “ A la battaille d ’

E ylau le

Maréchal A ugereau , couver t de rheum atismes,etait

malade et avait a peine connoisance ; mais le cannonreveille les braves : il vole au galop a la tete de s6nco rps

,apres s ’etre fait at taches sur son cheval . 11 a

as constantement expose au plus grand feu,et a

meme ete legerement blesse. L ’E mpereur vient del’

autoriser a rentrer en France pour ’

y soigner se

This is an unique mode of venting one’sspleen on a m an .

Two years after he was appointed to supersede StCyr in Spain ; then besieging Gerona . Taken sickin his route

,i t was some time before he a ssumed tht

A t the battle of E ylau , M arshal A ugereau , cover ed with rheuma

tism , lay sick , and almost W ithout consciousness ; but the sound‘

ol

c annon awakens the brave. H e flew on a gallop to the head of hitc orps , after having caused himself to be bound to his horse. H e

has been constantly exposed to the severest fire, and has been lightlywounded . The E mperor grants him permission to return to Franceto attend to his health.

108 H I S C O N D U C T A T L Y O N S .

command of the army, and he even delayed i t afterhe was recovered . He saw that the service was to bea harassing one ; requiring grea t efforts , withou tyielding much glory . At length , however, he tookthe command of the siege, and humanely offered an

armis tice of a month, provided the inhabi tants wouldsurrender at the termination of i t

,Should no army

come to their rel ief. They refusing this proposal,he

pressed the siege, and reduced the town . His wholemanagement

,however

,in the Peninsul a ; his foolish

proclamations,and useless cruelties

,and failures

show the l it tle real s trength of character he possessed .

He was soon recalled . While Napoleon was engagedin the Russian expedi tion

,A ugereau remained s ta

tioned at Berlin . A lthough an admirable leader of adivision

,and brave. in the hour of battle ; Napoleon

found him unfi t to direct an army , or to be entrus tedwith weighty matters in a great campaign . Thetruth is

,A ugereau

’s rank as Marshal enti tled him to

a command he was not able to fill— a good general

,he made a bad marshal . Nevertheless in the

last s truggle to save the tottering emp ire of France,

he fought with his accus tomed valour . Especial ly atL eipzic he appears in hi s former strength and daring .

Hastening by forced marches to the c ity,scattering

the enemy from his path as he came,he arrived in

time to strike once more for Napoleon and his throne .The next year the Emperor entrusted him wi th thedefence of Lyons

,with the order to ho ld i t to the las t

extremity . Arriving a t the ci ty,he found there only

seven hundred regular troops,and a thousand N a

tional Guards,while twenty thousand Austrians were

marching towards it . Knowing he could no t defendthe city with this feeble force

,he hastened to Valence

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1 10 I N T E R V I E W W I T H N A P O L E O N .

seemed to rouse himsel f for a moment , and obeyingNapoleon’ s orders

,marched on Geneva , and defeated

the Austrians before the town . Compelled , however ,to retire

,he retreated towards Lyons, and at L imonet

fought his las t battle . I t was brave and worthy ofhis character ; but though he left nearly three thousand of the enemy dead on the field

,while he los t but

two thousand,he was compel led to retire;and ey aen

ate Lyons,retreating towards Valence.

At‘

the latte r place,a procl amation was issued by

the inhab itants on Napoleon ’s abdication,loading the

fallen Emperor with the mos t Opprobrious epithets,

and extoll ing Louis XVIII . as the idol of h is country.

To this atrocious proclamation A ugereau’s signature

was affixed . On his way to Elba,Napoleon met A u

gereau unexpectedly near Valence , and an interviewtook place

,which from the different versions given of i t

furnishes a curious i llus tration of the historical contradictions connected wi th this period .

Says the “ Cour t and Camp of Napoleon,

‘Soonafter this the ‘Fructidor General ’ and the ex-emperormet at a shor t distance from Valence

,as the latter

was on his way to Elba . I have thy proclam ation,

”

said Napoleon , “ thou hast betrayed me .” “Sire

,

”re

p lied the Marshal,

“ i t i s you who have betrayedFrance and the army

,by sacrificing both to a frantic

Spirit of ambition .

” Thou has t chosen thyself anew master, said Napoleon—

“ I have no accounftorender thee on tha t score

,

” repl ied the GeneralThou has t no courage

,

” replied Bonapar te—J ‘ T isthou hast none ,

” responded the General,and turned

his back wi thou t any respect on his late master. ”

This precious bit of dialogue is detailed with so muchminuteness , that onewould incl ine to believe i t

,even

M A R S H A L A U G E R E A U . 1 11

against counter statements , were it not for the falsehood it bears on i ts own face. The whole scene isunnatural ; and to wind up with a charge of cow

ardice on the part of each,is supremely ridicu

lous . For two men who had fought side by sideat Lodi

,Arcola

,and Castigl ione

,and stormed together

over so many battle-fields,to accuse each other Of

cowardice at that l ate hour,would be a child’ s play

tha t A ugereau migh t stoop to— but Napoleon never.Here is another account of this interview by Mr.

A l ison “ A t noon on the following day,he acciden

tally met A ugereau on the road , near Valence, bothal ighted from their carriages

,and ig nor ant of the

a tr ocious proclamation,in which that Marshal had

so recently announced hi s convers ion to the Bourbons

,the Emperor embraced him

,and they walked

together on the road for a quarter of an hour in themos t am icable m anner . I t was observed , however,that A ugereau kept his helmet on his head as hewalked along . A few minutes after

,the Emperor

entered Valence,and beheld the proclamation pla

carded on the walls .

” I t need not be remarked,tha t

the lat ter i s themos t rel iable account of the two .

A great many of the incidents of Napoleon ’s l ife,

which have been gathered up by English wri ters,are

as fabulous as the first account of this in terview be

tween him and A ugereau .

Loui s XVIII . rewarded him by making himPeer of France

,and bestowing on him the Cros s of

St . Louis,and the command of the 14 th Division -in

Normandy .

On Napoleon’s landing from Elba,A ugereau was

s truck with astonishment to find himself proclaimed bythe Emperor as a trai tor. H e

,however

,made no reply,

112 H I S D E A T H .

hoping by a seasonable convers ion , to extricate himself from the difficul ties that surrounded him . R e

publican as he was , he never all owed his principles

to interfere with his self- interes t, nor his conscience

with his safety. No Sooner had Napoleon enteredParis in triumph

,than A ugereau i s sued a proclama

tion to his soldiers , urging them once more to“march

under the victorious wings of those immortal eagles,

which had so often conducted them to glory.

” Napolcou

,who had never respec ted him

,and after his

infamous proclamation at Valence,thoroughly de

spised him ,paid no attention to this delicate compli

ment of his flexible Marshal . Knowing him toothoroughly to trus t him

,and disdaining to molest

h im,he let the betrayer of two masters pass into

S ilent neglect . Poor A ugereau, robbed of all h isplumes

,ret ired to his country esta te

,where he re

mained ti l l the second restoration,when he again sen t

in his protesta tions of devo tion to the king. But thereis a limi t

,even to a Bourbon’s vanity ; and Louis ,

turning a deaf ear to his solici ta tions and flattery,

he again retired to his es tate,where he died in June

,

1816,of a dropsy in the chest .

A ugereau was essentially a mean man , though a

brave one. He was a weak-headed,avaricious

,self

ish , boas tin g soldier ; yet possess ing courage thatwould no t have disgraced the days of chivalry . Hissoldiers loved him

,for he

,

kep t s tric t order and discipline among them

,and exposed himself like the

meanest of their number in the hour of danger.Without sufficient grasp of thought to form a planrequiring any depth of combina tion

,or even intellect

enough to comprehend one already furnished to hishand ; he nevertheles s surveyed a field of bat tle wi th

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MARSHAL DAVOUST .

H I S Character—Battle of A ucrstadt—Cavalry A ction at E chmuhl-m

R etreat from R ussia .

IT i s hard to form a correc t opinion of sum a m an

as Davous t . The Obloquy that i s thrown upon him,

e specially by English historian s,has a tendency to

des troy our sympathy for him at the outset , and distorts the medium through which we ever after contemplate him . Pos i tive in all his acts

,and naturally

of a s tern and fierce temperament,he di d things in a

way,and with a direc tness

,and an ab ru tpness , that

indicated a harsh and unfeeling nature . But if wejudge of men by their action s

,and not also by the

motives which prompted them,we shall be compelled

to regard the Duke of Wellington a s one of the mos tcruel of men . His whole pol itical course in England— his s teady oppos i tion to al l reform— hi s harshtreatment of the peti tions of the poor and helpless

,

and heartless indifference to the cries of famishingthou sands , argue the mos t callou s and unpityingnature . But his actions— though causing so muchsuffering

,and awakening so much indignation

,that

even his house was mobbed by his own countrymen,

and his gray hairs narrowly escaped being trampledin the dus t by an indignant populace— have allsprung from his education as a mili tary man . Every

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M A R'

S H A L D A V O U S T . 1 15

thing must bend to the established order of things,

and the sufferin g of individuals is not to be takeninto the account . The same is true of Davoust.Trained from his youth to the profession of armsaccus tomed

,even in his boyhood

,to scenes of revo

lutionary violence— with all his moral feel ings educated amid the uproar Of battle

,or the corruptions of a

camp— the life of the warrior was to him the truelife of man . Success

,victory

,were the only object s

he contemplated ; making up his mind beforehand ,that suffering and death would attend the meansemployed . Hence his fearful ferocity in battle— theheadlong fury with which he tore through the ranksof the enemy

,and the unscrupulous manner in which

he made war suppor t war. These were the naturalresults of

.

his firm resolu tion to conquer,and of his

mili tary creed,that “ to the victors belong the - spoils .”

He did nothing byhalves , nor had he anything of the“suaviter in modo

,

” which glosses over so manyrough deeds

,and conveys the impress ion they were

done from necessi ty,rather than desire .

LOUIS-NICHOLAS DAVOUST was born a t Annaux,in

Burgundy,l0th of May

,1770, one year after Bona

parte . His family could lay claim to the title ofNoble

,though

,l ike many Ital ian Cava lier s , who are

too poor to own a horse ; it was dest itute of lands orhouses. Young Davoust being destined for the army

,

was sen t to the military school of Brienne,where

was also the charity boy,Bonaparte . A t the age of

fifteen . he obtained a commiss ion but his fiery,im

petuous nature , soon involved him in difficul ty wi thhis superior ofl‘icers

,and it was taken from him . In

the revolution he became a fierce republican,and

after the death of Louis,was appo in ted over a bat

1 16 H i s E A R L Y L I F E .

tal ion of volunteers,and was sent to j oin Doumourier

,

then commanding the army of the Republic , on the

Rhine.When Doumourier— disgusted with the ih

creasing horrors of the revolut ion— endeavoured towin the army over

,to march against the Terrorists ,

the young Davous t u sed his u tmos t endeavours tosteady the shaking fidelity of the troops . D oumourier

was finally compelled to flee to the Austrians,a l

most alone ; and Davoust, for his efforts and faithfulness

,was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-Gen

eral,and during five years

,fough t bravely on the

banks of the Rhine and Mosel le . When Bonapartereturned from I taly

,where he had covered himself

and the army with glory,Davoust sought to unite

h is fortunes with those of the young Corsican . Hewas consequently j oined to the expedition to Egypt

,

and under the walls of S amanhou t and Aboukir,

fought with a bravery,that Showed he was worthy

of the place he had sought . He was not includedwith those selected by Bonaparte to accompany himto France

,and did not return ti ll the latter was pro

claimed First Consul .Attaching himself stil l more closely to one whose

fortunes were ris in g so rapidly,he was placed a t the

head of the grenadiers of the Consular Guard,andsoon after

,through the influence of Bonaparte

,ob

tained the hand of the S is ter of General Le Clerc— a

lady Of captivating manners,and rare beauty .

The road to fame was now fairly open to theyoung soldier

,and he pursued it wi th a boldness and

energy that deserved success . In 1804 he was madeMarshal O f the Empire

,and the next year found h im

a t the head of a corps of the Grand Army . AroundUlm, at Austerl itz , chief of all a t A uerstadt, he per

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1 18 H I S C H A R A C T E R .

and Swedes combined . He held ou t long after Na

poleon’s abdication , resolutely refusing to surrend er

the place,until General Gerard arrived on the part

of Loui s XVIII . He then gave in his adhesion tothe Bourbons

,but was among the firs t to declare for

the Emperor,on his return from Elba . After the

overthrow at Waterloo , he took command of thatportion of the army which stil l remained faithful toNapoleon

,and retreated to Orleans

,and did not give

in his adhes ion to the Bourbons,unti l the Russians

were marching agains t him.

This brief outline of D avoust’s career

,embraces

the whole active life of Napoleon , and was filled upwi th the most s tirring scenes

,and marked by changes

that amazed and shook the world . The role that heplayed in this m ighty Napoleonic drama

,shows him

to have been an extraordinary man,and furnishes

another evidence of the penetration that characterisedBonaparte in the selection of his Generals .

The three striking characteris t ics of Davoust weregreat personal intrep idi ty and daring— perfect selfpossess ion and coolness in the hour ofperi l

,and almos t

invinc ible tenaci ty. With all these rare gifts,he was

also a great General . In the skil l with which hechose hi s ground

,arranged his army

,and determined

on the point and moment of attack , he had few sud

periors in E urO pe. Rash in an on set,he wa s per

fec tly cool in repel ling one. This combinati on of twosuch opposite qual i ties

,so prominen t in Napoleon

,

seemed to be characteris tic of most of h is Generals,

and was one great cause of their success .His personal daring became proverbial in the

army , and whenever he was seen to direct a blow,i t

was known that i t would be the fiercest,heaviest one

M A R S H A L D A V O U S T . 1 19

that could be given . His susceptibil ity of in tense ex

c itement,carried him in the hour of battle

,above the

thought of danger or death .

BATTLE OF A UE R S TA DT.

One of the most successful battles he ever fought,was that of A uerstadt

,where he earned his ti tle of

Duke . The year before,a t Austerlitz

,he had ex

hib ited that coolness in sudden peril, and that uncon ~

querable tenaci ty, which made him so strong an al lyon a battle field . The night before the battle of Jena ,Napoleon slept on the heights of L andgrafenberg,

whither he had led his army with incredible toi l, andat four in the morning— it was an October morningrode along the l ines and addressed his soldiers in tha ts tirring eloquence

,which he knew S O well how to

use . The dense fog that curta ined in the dark andchilly morning

,l ifted

,and rent before the fierce ac

clama tions that answered him,and wi th the fi rst

dawn his columns were upon the enemy . W henthe unclouded sun

,at n ine o ’clock

,broke through ,

and scattered the fog,i t shone down on a wild bat tle

field , on which were heard the incessant thunder ofartil lery

,and rat tle Of musketry ; in terrupted , now

and then,by the heavy Shocks of cavalry

,and the

Shouts ofmaddened men . Napoleon was again victorious

, and at six o’clock in the evening

,rode over

the cumbered ground,while the setting sun shone on

a difl'

erent scene from that which i ts ris ing beamshad gilded. But no t a t Jena was the great battle Ofthe 14th of October fough t

,nor was Napoleon the

hero of the day . Less than thirty miles distantwithin hearing of his cannon could he have pausedto listen—Davoust was winning the victory for him

,

120 B A T T L E O F A U E R S T A D T .

by prodigies of valour , to which the hard-fought bati

lle of Jena was an easy affair. Napoleon imaginedhe had the King Of Pruss ia , with his whole army , onthe heights of L andgrafenberg

— and they werebehindthem

,two days previous . With ninety thousand

men,he supposed he was marchn on over a hundred

thousand,instead of on forty thousand

,as the resul t

proved . After several hours of hard fighting, thePrussians , i t is true, were reinforced by twenty thousand

,under Ruchel

,making S ixty thousand agains t

ninety thousand,with Napoleon a t their head

,and

M ura t’s splendid cavalry in reserve . At A uerstadt

,

matters were reversed . The King of Prussia,with

nearly two- thirds of his army,had marched thi ther

,

and wi th Sixty thousand men,threatened to crush

Davous t,with only thirty thousand . Napoleon

,

ignorant of this,sent a despatch to him

,which he

received at six o ’clock in the morning,to march ra

pidly on Apolda, in the rear of the army he was aboutto engage and defeat . If Bernadotte was with him

,

they were to march together ; but as the former hadreceived his orders before

,and this seemed a permis

sion rather than an order,he refused to accede to Da

voust’s reques t to j oin thei r armies . He took his own

route , and but for the hero ism and unconquerablefirmness of the latter

,thi s act would have cos t him

his head .

Davoust, with his thirty thousand troops , of whicho nly four thousand were cavalry

,pushed forward

,

not expecting to mee t the enemy till towards evening.

But a shor t dis tance in front of him,on the plateau of

A uerstad t, that spread away from the s teep ascen t up

which his army, fresh from their bivouacs , was toilinglay the King of Pruss ia, with fifty thousand infan

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122 B A T T L E O F A U E R S T A D T .

s teady ranks . Finding , from the incessant roll ofmusketry

,tha t Blucher was meeting with an obs ti

nate res is tance,the King Of Prussi a sen t forward

three divis ions to sus tain him . These , with Blucher’s

hussars,now came Sweeping down on Gadin’ s sin

gle divi sion,threatening to cru sh i t with a S ingle

blow . One divis ion agains t three,supported by

twenty-five hundred cavalry , was fearful odds ; but

Gudin knew his defeat would ruin the army , nowpacked in the d efile below, and making desperateefforts to reach the plateau ; presen ted a firm front tothe enemy

,and proved

,by his heroic resistance

,

worthy to be under the il lus trious Chief that comm anded him . Hitherto the combat had been carriedon amid the thick fog

,that s tubbornly clung to the

heights,involving every thing in obscuri ty

,and only

now and then,l ifted

,l ike the folds of a curtain

,as

the artillery and musketry exploded in i ts bosom .

A t this dreadful cris is,however

,i t suddenly rolled

over the mountain,and parting in fragments

,rode

away on the morning breeze,while the unclouded

sun flashed down on the immen se Prussian hos t,drawn up in battle array . I t was at this same hou rthe fog parted on the plains of Jena , and revealed tothe astonished Pruss ian their overwhelming enemyrushing to the charge . There the sun shone onninety thou sand Frenchmen

,moving down

,wi th

resistless power,on forty thousand Prussians ; bu t

her e on sixty thousand Pruss ians,enveloping thirty

thousand Frenchmen . Nothing could be more start~

l ing , than the sudden revelation which that morningsun made to Davoust— he expected to find only a

few detachments before him,and lo ! there stood a.

mighty army with the imposing front of battle. A s

M A R S H A L D A V O U S T . 23

-his eye fel l on the gl it tering ranks of infantry,and

flashing helmets O f the superb cavalry,i t embraced

at once the full peri l of his pos ition . I t was enoughto daunt the boldes t heart

,bu t fear and Davoust were

utter s trangers . He was not to reach Apolda that day,that was certain

,and fortunate he might consider

himself if he”

reached it al l in any other way than asa prisoner of war. The struggle before him was to beagains t desperate odds

,one agains t two

,while ten

thousand cavalry s tood in battle array— their form idab l e masses alone sufficient

,apparently

,to Sweep his

army from the field . Of Gudin ’e brave divis ion,of

seven thousand men ; which had fought, one agains tthree

,to maintain the plateau ti ll his arrival

,half

had already fallen . The tremendous on sets Of cavalryand infantry together on him could not be muchlonger withs tood ; but a t thi s j uncture the other divi sions of the army appeared on the field

,and wi th

rapid step,and in admirable order

,moved into the l ine

of battle . The two armies were now fairly engaged .

The mis t had rol led away,as if hasting in affright

from the scene of carnage,and under the unclouded

sun there was no longer any room for deception . Dav ous t was fairly taken by surprise

,and had on his

hand an army doub le of his own,while a retreat

without a rout was impossi ble . With that coolnessand sel f-possession which rendered him S O remarkable in the midst of the conflic t

,he gave al l his

orders,and performed his evolut ions

,and conducted

the charges ; thus inspiring , by hi s v ery voice andbear ing

,the soldiers with confidence a nd courage.

He rode through the lines ; his brow knit with hisstern resolve

,and with the weight that lay on his

brave heart,and hi s clear

,s tern voice

,expressing by

124 C H A R G E O F P R I N C E W I L L I A M .

i ts very calmness the intensi ty of the exci tement thatmas tered him . The next m omen t the plain fairlyrocked and trembled under the headlong charge of theP russian cavalry

,as they came pouring on the French

infantry.The shock was terrific ; but that Splendid

body of horse recoiled from the blow,as if i t had

fallen agains t the face of a rock instead of living men .

The French threw themselves into squares,and the

front rank kneeling,fringed with their gl i ttering

bayonets the entire formations,while the ranks behind

poured an incessant volley on the charging squadrons .These would recoil

,turn

,and charge again

,with un

paralleled,bu t vain bravery . Prince Will iam

,who

led them on,disdaining to abandon the contest

,again

and again hurried them forward with an impetuosityand s trength

,that threatened to bear down every thing

before them . Sometimes a square would bend andwaver a moment

,l ike a line of fire when i t meets the

blast,but the next momen t would spring to i ts place

again,presenting the same girdle of steel in front

,and

the same line of fire behind . Goaded to desperation and madness by the resistance he met with

,and

confident still of the power Of his cavalry to breakthe infantry

,hé rall ied his diminished troops for

the las t time,and led them to the charge . These

brav e men rode s teadily forward through the stormof grapeshot and bullets that swept their path

,t il l

they came to the very muzzles of the guns ; but nota square broke

,not a battalion yielded . Furious

with disappointment,they then rode round the

squares,firing thei r pistols in the soldiers’ faces

,and

spurring their s teeds in wherever a man fell . But allthis time a most murderous fire wasted them ; forawhile they swept in rap id circles round each square

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120 B A T T L E O F A U E R S T A D T .

had given place to the smoke of cannon and musketry

that curtained in the armies ; and the wholeplateau was one blaze of l igh t s treaming throughclouds of dust

,with which the fierce cavalry had

fil led the air . Old Sonnenberg quivered on his baseunder the shock

,and its rugged sideswere s treaked with

wreaths of smoke that seemed rent by violence fromthe tortured war-cloud below . Amid this wi ld s tormDavoustmoved unscathed— his uniform riddled withballs— and his guard incessantly falling around him .

At length a Shot s truck hi s chapeau,and bore i t from

his head among his followers . Prince kVilliam wasdown— the Duke of Brunswick had been borne mortally wounded from the fight

,while scores of his own

brave officers lay stretched on the field of their fame— yet still Davous t towered unhurt amid his ranks .At length Morand wa s ordered to carry the heightsof Sonnenberg

,and plant the artillery there

,S O as to

sweep the plateau below. This br ave General puthimself at the head of his columns

,and wi th a firm

s tep,began to ascend the slope . The King of Prus

sia,perceiving at a glance how disastrous to him the

conquest of this position would be,charged in person

at the head of his troops . For a moment the battlewavered ; bu t the next moment the heroic Morandwas seen to move upward

,and in a few minutes his

artil lery opened on the plain,carrying death and havoc

through the Pruss ian ranks .The plateau was won

,and Davoust master of the

field . But not satisfied with his success,he deter

m ined to complete the victory by carrying the heightsof Eckartsberg , which protected the retreat of theenemy . The trumpets immediately sounded thecharge , and the wearied Gudin pressed forward . B ut

M A R S H A L D A ‘

V O U S T . 127

the King had already ral lied hi s shattered troops behind a reserve of fifteen thousand men

,which had

not yet been engaged . There,too

,in security the

iron-souled Blucher ral lied the remnants of his splendid cavalry. I t was in thi s crisis Davous t Showedhimself the great commander

,and fixed forever his

m il i tary fame . This reserve,only a third les s than

his entire force,would hav e wrung the v ictory

from almos t any other hand than his . I do notbelieve there were three Generals in the French army

,

that would no t have been defeated at this pointthere was n0 t one in the allied armies . Here was anarmy O f some twenty-four thousand men

,wearied

wi th a morning ’s march,and a half-day’ s severe

fighting,dragging its bleeding columns up to a peri l

ou s assault ; while fifteen thousand fresh troops,sus

tained by the now reformed cavalry and infantry,fel l

wi th the energy of despair upon i t. Blucher s toodeyeing the ranks

,ready

,the moment a column

shook,to dash on it w ith his cavalry . The day so

nobly battled for and won,seemed at las t about to

be lost . Wearied tr00ps against fresh ones- a div ision agains t a corps— such was the relative s trengthof the armies . But Davous t gathered his energies fora las t effort

,and poured his wear ied but resolute troops

in such s trength and terror on the enemy,that they

swept down every thing in their passage— chargedthe artillerymen at their pieces

,and wrenched their

guns from their grasp— turned the cavalry in affrigh tover the field

,and carried the heights with Shouts Of

victory that were echoed back from O ld Sonnenberg,a s

Morand,driving back the enemy that had just attacked

him in his position,came driving down the S lope

,

scat tering l ike a whirlwind every thing before him .

128 T H E P U R S U I T .

The Prussians were utterly defeated, and the tiredDavoust paused amid the wreck of his army

,and

surveyed the bloody field that Should stand as aneverlas ting monument of his deeds .That was a gloomy night for the Prussian king.

Fleeing from the disastrous field,with his disheartened

troops ; he was soon crossed in his track , by the fugitiy es from the equal ly disastrous plains Of Jena .

The wreck of Jena came driving on the wreck of

A uerstadt,and the news of one overthrow was added

to tha t of another,sending indescribable confusion

and terror through the already broken ranks . Wholedivisions disbanded a t once . The artillery-men lefttheir guns— the infantry their ammunition and baggage wagons— all order was lost

,and nothing but a

cloud of fugitives,of all that magnificent army that

moved in such pomp to bat tle,was seen driving

through the darkness . The King himself well nighcaptured

,struggled no longer for his army

,but for his

life .

Such was the battle of A uerstadt,fought on the

same day with that of Jena . For his heroic conduct

,Davous t was created Duke of A uerstad t

,

and to honour him still more,Napoleon appointed

him to enter firs t the Prussian capital— thus Showingto the whole army his right to the precedence . Notsatisfied with having done this

,and also with men

tioning him in terms of unqualified praise in his bul letin home ; he two weeks after, in reviewing his corps ,on the road to Frankfort

,extolled the valour of the

soldiers ; and calling the Officers in a ci rcle aroundhim, addressed them in terms of respect and admiration , and expressed his sympathy for the losses theyhad sustained . Davoust s tepped forward and replied

,

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130 C H A R G E A T E Y L A U .

bravery . B tit i t was a t the bloody combat of‘

E ylau ;

he performed the greatest service for Napo leon , for hesaved him from utter defeat . Twice, that day , wasNapoleon rescued from ruin— first

,in the morning

,

by M urat’s Splendid charge of cavalry on the Ru ss ian

centre,after the destruction of A ugereau

’s corps

,and .

the repulse of Soult ; and last , by the vic tory Davoustwon over the left wing of the army

,just before night

closed over the scene of slaughter . The French leftand centre had been driven back— the Ru ssians werefar in advance of their posi tion in the morning

,and

they only waited the approach of L es tocq on theright

,to complete the v ic tory . But the hero ic corps

tha t had won the battle Of A uerstad t,was there .

Davous t had struggled S ince morning with invinciblebravery ; and Friant and Morand , who had coveredthemselves with glory at A uers tad t

,here enacted over

again their great deeds . The vic tory swung to andfro

,from Side to Side

,ti ll a t length the two lines ap

proached within pis tol Shot of each other , when theRuss ians gave way . The artil lery-men were bayonetted at thei r gun s

,and though reinforced and par

tially successful In turn,the mighty columns of

Davoust poured over that part of the field l ike a resistless torrent . Huge column s of smoke ris ing fromburning Serpallen

,which he had set on fire in hi s

passage,came riding the gale that swept along the

Russ ian lines— heralded by the triumphant shouts ofhis conquering legions as they thundered over the field—and carried dismay to the astonished Russians . Theleft wing was forced back til l i t stood at righ t angleswith the centre ; when the reserve was brought up ,and the vic torious Davous t

,who had so suddenly

brightened the threatening Sky of Napoleon,was ar

M A R S H A L D A V O U S T . 131

res ted in his career . A t th is crit ical moment,L es tocq

arrived on the field . He had but one hour beforedark

,in which to recover these heavy losses . In

stantly forming his men into three columns , he ad

vanced on the neares t hamlet , Kuschnitten, which

St. H iliare h ad jus t carried,and where he had estab

lished himself,threatening seriously the Russian

lines . Under a tremendous Cannonade,L es to cq

stormed and retook it ; and immediately forming hismen into line

,advanced on A nklappen, where Da

vous t,with the other divis ion s of his corps

,lay

,r igh t

in rear of the Russian centre,and which formed the

limi t of his onward movemen t . He had fought foreight dreadful hours , and at las t wrung victory almostfrom defea t i tself ; and now Wearied and exhausted ,could poorly withs tand the assault of these fresh troops .He roused himself

,however

,for the las t time

,and

that l ittle hamlet,and the wood adjoining

,became

the theatre of a most deadly combat . I t was fightingover again the Prussian reserve at A uerstad t

,save

that now he was exhausted by eight,instead of four

hours’ fighting . Still he put forth almos t superhumanefforts to keep the advantage he had gai ned . Herushed into the thickest of the fight in person

,cheered

and rallied on his wearied troops for the twentiethtime

,call ing on them by their former renown to

brave res i stance . “ Here,

” said he,

“ i s the spot wherethe brave Should find a glorious death , the cowardwil l perish in the deserts of Siberia .

” The bravefel lows needed no fiery words to s timulate their courage . They joyfully followed their leaders to thecharge

,bu t in vain . Napoleon

,in the distance

,

through the dim twilight, saw this little hamlet en

veloped in a blaze of l ight as the army rushed upon

132 C A V A L R Y A C T I O N .

I t,and for a whole hour watched his brave Marshal ,

wrapped in the fire of the enemy, struggl ing to win

for him the victory. With grief he saw him at length

forced out of the blazing ruins , and slowly retire withhis bleeding army

,over the field . And now the

nigh t drew her curtain round the scene—darknessfell on the mighty hosts— the flash of musketry grew

less and less frequent— the sullen cannon ceased theirroar

,and the bloody battle of Eylau was over . A t

m idnight the Russians began to re treat, and Bonaparte remained master of the field— thanks to the

brave and fiery-hearted Davoust .

CAVALRY ACTION AT ECKMUHL .The battle of Eckmuhl

,where he earned the titl e

of Prince,was distin guished by one of the fierces t

caval ry actions on record ; and as described by Stut

tenheim,Pelet

,and others

,must have been a magnifi

cent spectacle .Lannes

,who had recently arrived from Spain

,took

command of two of his divisions,and with two such

leaders,that renowned corps could not well fai l of

victory. Coming from Landshut,where he had been

victorious the day before,Davous t and his brave

troops ascended the slope whose summit looked downon the vil lages of Eckmuhl and L aichling. I t was aspring noon

,and that green valley lay smiling before

them,as if fresh from the hand of its Creator. Em

bosomed in trees,and gardens

,and winding streams

,

i t seemed too sacred to be trampled by the hoof ofwar . But though no clangour of trumpets broke itsrepose , and the trees shook their green

‘

top s in the

passing breeze , and the meadows spread away likecarpets from the banks of the streams

,and here and

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134 C A V A L R Y A C T I O N .

on. After witness ing charge after charge , leavingthe Vi ctory in the hands of nei ther party, the Austriancuirass iers put themselves in motion . The trumpetssounded th e charge— thousands of helmets rose andfel l a t the blas t— the plain shook wi th the muffledtread of the advancing host , and the nex t momentthey burs t with the sound of thunder on the Frenchhussars— scattering them like pebbles from their fee t ;and sweeping in one broad

,resistless wave over the

field,bore down with their terrible front on the

French infantry. But there was a counter blas t oftrumpets

,and before the startling echoes had died

away,Napo l eon’s resis tless cuirassiers emerged into

v iew. Spurring their steeds into a trot,and then

into a headlong ga110p,with their plumes and ban

ners floating back in the breeze,swept forward to the

shock . The spectacle was sublime,and each army

held its breath in awe as these warl ike hosts wen trushing on each other. Their dark masses

,looked

l ike tvvo thunder-clouds riding opposi te hurricanes,

and meeting in mid-heaven . The clouds of dus trolling around their horses ’ feet— the long lines of

flashing helmets above— and the forest of shakingsabres over all

,gave them a most terrible aspect as

they swept onward . The shock in the centre shookthe field ; and the two armies ceased their firing to wi tness the issue . The cannonier leaned on his gun

,and

the soldier stooped over his musket,absorbed in the

spectacle ; while in the firs t rude meet ing horsesand riders

,by scores and hundreds

,rolled on the

plain . Then commenced one of those fierce hand-to!

hand fights so seldom w i tnessed between cavalry.

In the firs t heavy shock one body or the other givesway , and a few minutes decide which is the success

M A R S H A L D A V O U S T . 135

ful charge . But here i t wa s like two waves of equalstrength

,and volume

,and veloc ity

,meeting in full

career,a nd cresting and foaming over each other as

they s truggle for the mas tery . The sudden s ilencethat fel l over the field as the two armies ceased firing,added to the terror of the scene . The S ight was new

,

even to those veteran tr00ps . They were accustomedto the tumul t and uproar of battle

,where the thunder

of cannon and rat tle of musketry, and shock of cavalry, are mingled in wild confus ion . B u t here therewas nothing heard bu t the clear ringing of s teel

,save

when the trumpets gave their blas t .I t was not the noise of a battle-field

,but tha t of ten

thousand anvils ringing under the fierce s trokes of thehammer . The sun went down on the s truggle

,and his

farewel l rays glanced over swaying helmets andcountless sabres crossing each other l ike lightning inthe ai r . Twilight deepened over the field

,and then it

was one broad gleam of light above the s trugglinghosts

,as the fire flew beneath their rapid strokes .

The stars came ou t upon the sky , bu t their rays weredimmed by the dazzling sparks as sword crossedsword or glanced from steel armour— and at lengththe quie t moon came sail ing in beauty up the heavensand shed her reproving light on the strife . Butnothing could arrest the enraged combatants . Fighting in the ligh t of thei r own flashing s teel

,they saw

neither moon nor stars .A t length the ringing strokes grew fainter and

fainter, and that dark mass canopied with fire of

its own making,seemed to waver to and fro in

the gloom ; and then the heavy tramp of rushing steedswas heard . The Aus trians after leaving two-thirdsof their entire number stretched on the plain, broke

136 m s A L L E G E D C R U E L T Y .

and fled,and horses and riders lay piled together in

heaps on the rent and trodden plain .

The next d ay the vic torious army wa s a t the gates

of Ratisbon .

The three following years Davoust spent in Poland,as commander-in-chief of the forces

,and governor of

the country. His conduc t here , and after the cam

paign ofRussia,at Hamburgh

,has given rise to se

vere accusations agains t h im . I t has been charac

terized as “

ruthless and oppressive . ” The Abbé dcP rad t declared that he fi lled all Poland with dreadand brought much disgrace on the French name .To acquire such a reputation from an al ly l ike P oland

,goes far to prove that his character as a General

was sullied by h is conduct as a governor . But thecharacter an enemy m ay give of their conqueror , es

pecially if he is forced to levy heavy contribut ions ,and create distress among the inhabitants in order to

support his army must be taken with many grainsof allowance. Thus

,the ti tle of the Hamburgh

Rob espierre,

” which the citizens ofHamburgh gavehim

,while he held the city against the combined at

tacks of the allies,may or may not be just . Their as

sertion is of no consequence,one way or the other . If

many poor families were turned out to starve,and the

hospitals seized for his own sick and wounded,and

women were forced to work at the fortifica tions,and

ru inous contributions were levied; and much dis tressproduced, as is asserted ; they do not prove the ep i thetgiven him to be merited . The whole quest ion turnson the fact whether these things were necessary forthe defence of the place, and the salvation of the army .

The famine and pesti lence and death which a bes ieged army usual ly brings on the inhabitants , would ,

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138 V A L E N T I N A .

mortal divis ion,with which he commenced the bat tle

ofA uerstadt , was here , while heading a charge, struckby a cannon ball

,and borne dead from the field . The

next morning this division showed the marks of thefierce encounter they had sustained . As Napoleonrode past i t, he saw nothing but skeletons of regiments left in i t. The wear ied soldiers

,black with the

smoke of battle,stood looking on their bent bayonets

,

twis ted in the fierce shock of the day before ; whilethe field around them exhibited a perfect wreck of

overthrown trees,shattered wagons

,dead horses

,and

mangled men . He was so deeply impressed with thescene

,that he remarked

,

“ with such m en you could

conquer thewor ld .

”

Davoust opened the “ battle of the giants” at Borodino. As he moved over the field with his densemasses towards the flame of the batteries

,his horse

mortally wounded,fell under him

,and he himself

received a blow,which

,for awhile

,rendered him

unable to command his troops . Recovering,how

ever,he rushed in the thickes t of the fight ; just a s

Ney hurled his corps on the centre . These two il

lus trions chiefs united thei r armies and fought s ideby side

,in that desperate

,unparalleled struggle for

the heights of S em onowskie.

Prev ious to this,Davous t and Murat had a quar

rel,which well nigh ended in a fight. Commanding

the advance guard together,they could not agree on

the measures to be adopted . The headlong rashnessof Murat

,seemed downright madness to the m ethod i

cal mind of Davoust,and the latter became insubor

dimate under the command of the former . Thu s inapproaching W iasm a

,the cavalry of the two armies

became engaged,and Murat

,wishing to Support his

M A R S H A L u A v o u s r . 139

own wi th the infantry,put himself at the head ofone

of D avoust’s divis ions

,and was about to make a

charge,when the lat ter stepped forth and forbade

his men to march— declaring that the movement wasrash and perilous . Murat appealed to the gallantryof the soldiers

,and endeavoured to lead them on

,but

the authority of Davoust prevailed . After the batt lewas over

,the p r eux chevalier ” shut himself up in

his tent and gave way to a violent fit of rage,de

claring that Davous t had insulted him ,and he would

wipe ou t the affront with his sword . He was juststar ting to go and attack him

,when Bell iard prevented

him by pointing ou t the consequence to his friendsand the army . He was persuaded to pocket the insult

,though in the effort to do it

,tears started to his

eyes,and the fearless warrior wept that he could no t

avenge himself.But through al l this campaign Davoust was a hos tin himself. When the retreat from Moscow com

menced he was appo inted to command the rear guard,

which post he held t ill his corps was almost annihilated

,and then hejoined the Emperor.In the battle ofKrasnoi

,which Napoleon fought in

order to save Davoust,whom the Russ ians threaten

ed to cut off the Marshal was so hard pressed,that

h e los t his baton and a great part of his corps . Napoleon was at Krasnoi

,and Davoust s truggl ing up

from Smolensko,enveloped in the enemy . Hearing

of his Marshal’ s peril,he drew his sword

,saying

,

“ Ihave long enough acted the Emperor ; now is the moment to become the General again

,

” and marched onfoot towards Smolensko . He soon descried Davoustcoming up

,but i t was a sight enough to appal the

stoutes t heart—H e was moving slowly forward per

140 R E T R E A T F R O M R U s s r A .

fectly enveloped in Cossacks that formed a densemoving mass

,ofwhich he and his devo ted followers

were the centre . Added to this, the French Marshali n his great efforts tO join Napoleon , was marchings traight on a superior force of the Russians . Hesaved but the Skeleton of his c orps .But

,though no longer commanding the rear guard ,

he s til l kept hal ting resolu tely in every defile,and

giv ing battl e to the enemy— disputing wi th his aocustomed bravery , every spo t of ground on which a

defence could be made. I t was there he showed theadvantage O f tha t s tern m il i tary discipl ine

,which

had so Often brought on him the charge of cruel ty .

He and Ney alone,of al l the Marshals

,were able to

preserve order among their troops . Through thedreary wilderness

,plunging

,

on amid the untroddensnow

,withou t provision or fuel

,stumbling over

the fallen ranks O f their comrades,and pressed

by a victorious enemy ; the French soldiers gaveway to despair

,and flung away their arms and

lay down to die . Amid these trying c ircumstances,

Davoust exhibited his great qual ities . Giving wayto no discouragement—disheartened by no reverses

,

he moved amid the wreck around him,like one

above the strokes Of misfortune . TO arrest this disorder among his t roops

,he caused every soldier that

flung away his arms to be s tripped by his companions and insulted ; and thus made despair fightdespair . He arrived a t Orcha

,with only four thou

sand , O ut of the seventy thousand,with which he

started . He had lost every thing belonging to himself— endured cold

,hunger

,and fatigue

,without a

murmur, and entered Orcha with the fragments ofhis army, on foot , pale , haggard , and wasted wi th fa

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142 m s n E A T H .

he Obtained permission to reside in Paris, and threeyears after

,1819

,he was given a sea t in the chamber

Of Peers . H e l ived bu t four years after this,and

died in June,1823

,of a pulmonary affection . H is

son succeeded to his wealth , and his peerage.

MARSHAL ST. CYR .

H is Life—Character—P rofession O f a P ainter—Combat at BiberachBattle O f P olotsk—Battle O f Dresden .

LOUIS GOUVION S T. CYR,was a different man from

many Of the other m arshals . His character wasmore firm and complete— settled on a broader basi s .and capable of greater development . Though heseems not to have run his career with the same uninter rupted success as the others, and he is sometimescalled unfortunate ; yet the cause is to be found inhimself. Less impulsive and more methodical thanthose daring spiri ts which cast light around themighty genius they followed— his devotion less warmand his admiration less enthus iastic— his complaintsand recriminations meant more in the ears of Bonaparte than those of such men as Murat

,and Junot

,

and Lannes . The penetrating mind of the Emperor,

which fathomed at a glanceevery character that cameunder his Observation

,saw less to love and more to

fear in St . Cyr,than in them . The anger O f the latter

was not a sudden spark that kindled and went out ;and when once es tranged he was no t easily wonover . Even his hatred was not impulsive , but rooteditself in his judgment and thoughts rather than in hispassing feelings . Power was not likely to be conferred on a man whose stern independence diminished

144 H i s E A R L Y L I F E .

the value of the gift. Sti ll he had no cause to cornplain O f fortune , nor of the neglect Of N apoleon , if we

except the long delay of his marshal ’s baton .

He was born at Toul,Of humble parentage, in

April,1764 . His parents designed him for a painter,

and in his youth he went to R ome to s tudy the greatmasters

,before entering on his career . There his

mind became filled with those wonderful creations ofart

,and his youthful ambi tion pointed to a field as un

l ike the one he was to tread as i t well could be . Inordinary times he migh t have been a respectablepainter

,perhaps a disting uished one. But his life

was to be one Of ac tion rather than Of imaginationhi s hand was to wield a sword instead Of a pencil ,and to enact grea t scene s on a battle-field rather thantrace them on canvass . The breaking out Of theRevolution summoned him

,with thousands Of others

,

to a field ofgreat exploi ts,and overturn ing all at once

hi s schemes as an artis t,sent him forth into the wo rld

a soldier of fortune . He enlisted as a private in a

company Of volunteers and marched to the Rhine,

where the Republic was making its firs t struggle forexistence . He rose rapidly from one grade to anothertill, at the age of th irty-one, he found himself generalof divis ion . Hi s promotion was no t owing so muchto his personal bravery and deeds of daring

,as to his

knowledge of mil itary tactics .

In 1798 he combatted under Massena in Italy ;and after that commander was compelled to withdraw from Rome

,on account O f the insurrection O fhis

troops, was appointed in his place and by his reputation as a just man and his wi se management

,re

stored subordination and discipl ine . When Bona

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146 m s ! U A R R E L W I T H M O R E A U .

Cyr O f treachery, and of keeping back on purposeto allow the army to be cut to pieces . But the truthis,the latter

,offended at Morean ’s procedure, ceased

to concern himself about his movements and confinedhimself to his own corps . He would not st ir withoutorders

,and seemed determined to make Moreau feel

the necessi ty Of changing his conduct by acting thepart O f a mere machine ; moving or s topping as he was

bidden , and doing nothing more . Such independentdilatoriness would have cos t him his place at onceunder Bonaparte. His ta rdiness during the battle OfM aeskirch, saved the Austrians from a total rout .His excuse for not coming up was that he had re

ceived no orders , though Moreau ins isted he had sen tthem . It made no difference

,however ; he was in

hearing Of the heavy cannonading in front,and

knew that a tremendous struggle was going on,and

the fate of the army,perhaps

,sealing. Had Desaix

acted thus at Marengo,Bonaparte would have lost

Italy . Not only did he have no orders to march on

Marengo,but counter ones to proceed to Novi— yet no

sooner did he hear the distan t roll Of cannon towardsthe former place than he put his army in motion

,and

marching i t at the top Of i ts Speed, arrived jus t int ime to turn a ruinous defeat into a victory .

The next day , however, St . Cyr would have wipedout the remembrance Of this negl igence

,by crushing

the Austrian army to pieces,had Moreau no t been

ful l Of suspicions and averse to everyth ing bu t themost mathematical regularity. The Austrians

,in

their retreat, were crowded on the shores O f the

Danube , m a sort Of half circle, made by the bend O fthe river ; S O that there was no room to mane uvre

,

whi le consternation was visible in their ranks . St .

M A R S H A L S T . C Y R . 147

Cyr,though cool and steady

,saw at once that by a

firm and impetuous charge,he could rol l the whole nu

wieldy mass into the river, and waited anxiously theOrder to advance . In the mean time he brought forward some Of his guns

,and trained them on the close

packed troops Of the enemy . Finding,however

,that

his cannonading failed to draw the attention O f

Moreau to the spot,he sent an officer to h im request

ing permiss ion to charge . But the former refused,

either from too great prudence,or

,as i t is more proba

ble,from want Of confidence in the good faith Of his

general . The opportunity slipped by,and the Aus

trians made good their passage over the Danube .

COMBAT A T BIBERACH .

A few days after, however, St . Cyr performed oneOf those . brillian t ac tions which s tamp the man of

genius . The Austrians had retreated,and Moreau

did no t expect to overtake them for another day . Inthe mean time

,St . Cyr had received orders to push on

beyond Biberach,a li ttle town which lay on the line

Of the enemy ’s retreat . But to his surprise on coming!Up to thi s village , he found that the Austrians had recrossed the Danube and marched back to Biberachto defend it o n account Of the magazines it'contained .

The entrance to i t by the road St. Cyr was marching,

was through a narrow defile which opened right infront O f the village . The Austrian general thinkingit would be unsafe to put the defile in his rear

,left

ten thousand men to guard it while he posted his armybehind the town on an eminence forming an excel len tpos ition . As St . Cyr came up he saw at once the advantage it gave the enemy. But

,thinking the rou t O f

the ten thousand guarding the pass would shake the

148 C O M B A T A T B I B E R A C H .

courage of the whole army in rear, he wished to orderan attack immediately

,and would have done so hadhis

whole corps O f twenty-five thousand men been w ithhim . But his best division under Ney, had been sentto Observe the Danube, and though orders were immediately despatched to hasten him up

,he could no

where be found . A t this lucky moment,however

,he

heard the firing O f R ichenpanse’s division , which had

come up by a cross road . Thus strengthened,he no

longer hesitated,and withou t waiting for the whole

to form in order,he hurled h is own battal ions on the

enemy . The order to charge was given,and his

brave troops advanced at double quick time to theonset. Overthrown and routed

,the enemy swep t

in a confused m ass through the defil e and throughthe village

,hurrying onwards to the heights on which

the army was posted . Following close on their heels,

St. Cyr entered Biberach in hot pursuit .Here

,however

,he arrested and re- formed h is men

,

and began to reconnoitre the enemy’ s posi tion . Theriver Riess— crossed by a single bridge— and a marsh

,

lay between the village and those heights on whichnearly sixty thousand men were drawn up in order ofbattle . I t was a bold attempt to attack with a li ttleover twenty thousand men sixty thousand occupyingso formidable a pos i tion ; and for a moment he hesitated in his course . Pushing forward his men

,how

ever , he crossed the Riess, and the marsh , and drewUp in front Of the enemy. At thi s moment he sawthe Austrians he had routed at the defile approach thearmy on the heights . The ranks Opened to let thempass to the rear, and in this movement his clear andpractised eye saw evidences of alarm and irresolutionwhich convinced him at once that the firmness of the

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150 C O M B A T A R O U N D U L M .

his consent. A man never storms through mathe ~maties

,and to Moreau

,war was a mathematical sci

ence.A short time after

,however, one of h is grand

manoeuvres came very near des troying h is left wing.

Pretending he was about to march on Munich , he extended his line over the Space Of six ty miles , leavingS t . Suzanne wi th men alone on the left

bank Of the Danube . If the Aus trian General hadpossessed any genius

,or even common sense

,he

would have crushed this d ivison at a blow,by fall

ing with his entire force upon i t . A S i t was,howev

er,he sent a large body Of cavalry to assail i t, which

enveloped it like a cloud,threatened to sweep it from

the field . In the meantime,masses O fAustrian infan

try came pouring out Of Ulm to second the attack,

until these fifteen thousand brave French were com

pelled to resis t the onset O f twen ty- four thousandAustrian infantry

,and twelve thousand cavalry,

Retreating in squares,they m owed down their assail

ants with their rolling fire,s teadily pursuing their

way over the field . Hour after hour,did the comba t

rage,and though the ground was‘

strewed with the dead,

not a square broke,not a battal ion fled . St . Cyr

,

posted on the other side Of the river,at some distance

from the scene— where the Iller joins the Danubehearing the cannonading

,hastened forward to the Spot.

I t wa s not Moreau in danger,but St . Suzanne

,and

he wai ted for no orders . Coming up Opposite thefield O f battle

,he found all the bridges broken down

,

and immediately planting his ar til lery S O as to covera ford , across which he was beginning to pour his intrepid columns ; he opened a fierce fire on the enemy .

Hearing this cannonading,and fearing fo r their re

M A R S H A L S T . C Y R . 151

trea t,the Aus trians immediately began to retire

towards Ulm .

After this engagement,from the movements Of M O

reau,the whole army expected an assault on the ci ty

,

but after various manoeuvres,this cautious leader

established his army and determined to remain inactive till he heard from Bonaparte

,who was descehd

ing into Italy. The Generals complained— S t. CyrOpenly remonstrated

,and had many fierce alterca

tions with him . The unequal dis tribution Of provis ions

,was another cause Of dissens ion

,and bi tter

recrimination s . General Gren ier,arriving at this

time,S t. Cyr wished to resign his command to him ,

but Moreau,refus ing hi s consen t

,he retired altogether

from the army under the plea O f i ll health .

In October of the same year, he i s seen fightingbravely in Italy . The next year he was called bvBonaparte to the Council Of State

,and the year fol

lowing,

took the place O f Lucien Bonaparteas Ambassador to the Court Of Madrid . He wassoon after appointed to the command of the Neapolitan army

,where he remained inactive till l 805

,when

he was made Colonel General. O f the Cuirass iers,and

received the Grand Eagle Of the Legion Of Honour.In the following campaigns O f Prussia and Poland

,he

distinguished himself,and in 1807

,was appointed

Governor O f Warsaw . After the peace O f Tilsi t,he

was sent into Spain,where he won but few laurels ;

and indulging in unjust,unmanly complaints

,was

finally superseded by A ugereau . Two years O f disgrace and exile followed . But in 1812

,in the Rus

sran campaign,he appears again

,and exhibits the

same great qualities Of a commander,and fighting

152 H I S C H AR A C T E R .

bravely at Polotsk, receives the long withheld thoughlong deserved Marshal’s baton .

The next year,he commanded at Dresden

,when

i t was assailed by the allies ; and after their repulse,held possession of i t til l the disasters that overtookthe French army

,left him once m ore at the mercy O f

theallies , and he was compel led to capi tulate . H e

returned to France after th e restoration,and was

given,by Louis

,a seat in the Chamber Of Peers .

On the landing O f Napoleon from Elba,he retired

into the country and remained there inac t ive,til l the

second overthrow of the empire at Waterloo . Onthe king’s return he was honoured with the order O fSt . Louis and presented with the portfol io Of the warministry. In the autumn Of the same year

,however,

he retired because he could not give his consent tothe treaty of Paris . But two years after he wasmade Minister Of the Marine, from whence he passedto the W ar Office . While in this department he succeeded in getting a law passed by which no manwas to receive a commission in the army till he hadserved two years as a soldier. This thoroughly

democratic measure,sprung from his experience o f

the superior efficiency of these officers who had arisenfrom the ranks

,and also

,perhaps

,from a desire to

pay a compliment to his own career. In 1819,being

strongly opposed to the proposed change in the lawO f elections

,he resigned his Office

,and never after

appeared i n public l ife .The great characteris tics O f St . Cyr

,were clear

S ightedness on the field of bat tle ; perfect method inall his plans

,and a cold

,deep spiri t . However

,he

might fail in a great campaign— on the field where anengagement was to take p lace, he was regarded one

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154 H I S C H A R A C T E R .

certainty in h is Operations on which one could depend

,and he himself placed the most implici t confi

dence in his Own judgment . He had all the qual itiesOf a great commander

,and bu t for his unsocial dis

position,and cold repulsive nature , would doubtless,

early have attained to the highest honours of the Empire . Napoleon rewarded the brave , but lavished his

choices t favour on the brave that loved him . Nevergoverned by attachment himsel f

,how could St . Cyr

expect others to be swayed by it in their treatment ofhim . Nevertheless

,Napoleon always treated him

with jus tice,and frequently rewarded him with

places of trus t . The neglect to make him marshalwhen

,on assuming the imperial crown

,he made out

that immorta l l ist,was apparently undeserved ; and

gave rise,perhapsjustly to some charges O ffavouritism .

St . Cyr was an obstinate man in the prosecutionof his own plans

,and equally so in his oppos i tion to

those which differed from them ; and though ready tocondemn others

,when thwarted or condemned him

self,he flew into a pa ssion

,and his head became filled

with all forms Of suspicion . Thus,when he and

Moreau could no t agree,and he found there was a

clique around the commander-in- chief,arrayed against

him— ins tead Of performing his duty bravely,and win

ning back tha t confidence which o thers had unj ustlydeprived him O f —he first became remiss and inactive

,

then fierce and condemnatory,and finally threw up

his command . He ought to have known that wasno way either to screen himself from unjus t charges

,

or win his way to power . He did no t seem to knowthe meaning O f the device

,

“ I bide my time .” Thusalso in Spain , when placed over the army des tined toact in Ca talonia

,he became peevi sh

,complaining

3

M A R S H A L S T . C Y R . 55

and foolish . It was true,the army wa s not an

effective one ; but on the other hand,the enemy

he had to contend with was not a dangerous

one. Besides,i t was the greatest compliment Na

poleon could pay him ,to appoint him over a poor

army from which he expected vic tory . The Em

peror knew i t was badly conditioned, but he couldnot help i t

,and the only remedy of the evil

,in hi s

power,was to place an able and skilful commander

over it. A poor general would have insured its ruin .

Yet St . Cyr,ins tead Of winning confidence and re

nown,by executing great things with small means

,

began to grumble . Ney,when conducting the re

treat from Russ ia,created means where an ordinary

man would have declared i t impossible ; and out Ofhis very defeats and disasters

,wove for himself the

brightes t wreath that hangs on hi s tomb. But St.Cyr not only complained, though successful in all hisengagements—winning every battle - but accu sed Na

poleon Of placing him there on purpose to ruin him ,

because he had belonged to the armyof the Rhine,

under Moreau ; and this splenetic and ridiculous sta tement Of his, has been taken up and incorporated inEnglish histories

,as an evidence Of the Emperor ’s

meannessfit How such an accusation could havereceived a sober thought

,is passing strange .

Napoleon,at the head O f the French empire

,nour

ished such a hostility to Moreau , for winning the

This silly accusation has found its way into one O f our school

books , Camp and Court O f Napoleon, which contains many er rors,

in fac t—as , for instance, it states that M onceywas at the battle O f

M arengo , when he was on the Tessino , and knew nothing O f the

engagement till it was over . I t says , also , that he was in the Russian expedition, when he was not , M r . A lison reiterates the same

nonsense .

156 H I S C H A R A C T E R .

battle of Hohenlinden,which he, as Firs t Consul,

sent him there on purpose to gain , and on whosesuccess depended his own— that years after he transferred i t to one O f M oreau

’s Generals, by placing him

over a poor army in Spain , at a time he was strainingevery nerve to subdue the kingdom. The S implestatement Of the charge

,and the circumstances

connected with it,Shows i t to be the absurdest thing

that ever entered a diseased brain . Besides,Napoleon

did not take this round about way to disgrace thosewho were displeasing to him . St . Cyr ought to haveseen this after he was superseded by A ugereau ; andnot have incorporated such a Si lly charge into hiswork.

O fl°

ended and proud,he left his command to hurry

A ugereau to assume his place, thus evincing Openlyhis contempt for the rebuke the Emperor had givenhim for his folly . Two years of disgrace and exile

,

showed that Napoleon knew a shorter way to ru inthe Generals that offended him .

The truth is,St. Cyr was placed where he

'

wascompelled to pu t forth great efforts wi thout winn ing much renown . It was hard work withoutcorresponding reward , but he Should have waitedpatiently for the latter on some more for tunate field ;remembering that a good General i s known by hissacrifices as much as by his vic tories . Once resigning his command in anger

,and once disgraced for

the same reason,argues very poorly for the am iabili ty

O f the man .

Previous to this , in 1807, he fought bravely in thecampaign O f Prussia and Poland

,and especially at

Heilsberg, though there was no opportunity Offeredfor great actions, as he commanded only a divis ion

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158 B A T T L E O F P O L O T S R .

company OfRuss ian horse was carried,and the brigade

sent to support i t being overthrown and borne backover the cannon that dared not Open lest they Shouldsweep down their own troops ; Spread disorder in theirflight . The cannoniers were sabred a t their pieces ,and the French horse

,overwhelmed in the general

confusion,also fled

,overturn ing the commander-in

chief and his staff,and sending terror and dismay

through the rank s . St. Cyr was compelled to flee 011foot

,and finally threw him sel f into a ravine to pre

vent being t ram pled under the hoofs of the charginghorse .

‘

The French cuirass iers,however

,soon put

an end to this sudden irruption,and drove the daring

dragoons in to the woods . The vic tory was complete,

and a thousand prisoners remained in the hands OfSt . Cyr

,and the Marshal ’s baton was given him as a

reward for his bravery .

Here he remained for two months,while W ittgen

s tein kept a t a respectful distance . In the mean timeMoscow had blazed over the army Of the Empire

,and

the disheartened and diminished hos t,was abou t to

turn i ts back on the smouldering capi tal and flee fromthe fury Of a northern winter . Wittgen stein

,who

had not been idle,though he dared not to attack St.

Cyr, had , by constant reinforcements , more thandoubled his army . The French commander

,on the

o ther hand, had carried on a parti zan warfare for twomonths ; which , together with sickness and suffering,had reduced his army one half— S O tha t in the middleOf October he had but seventeen thousand men

,while

the Russian army amounted to fifty- two thousand .

TO add to the peri l Of his position,another Russ ian

army , under S teingell, was rapidly moving down tohem him in ; while Napoleon . three hundred mi les in

M A R S H A L S T . C Y R . 159

the rear,was sealing hi s fate by tarrying around

M oscow. Macdonald was the only person fromwhom he could hO pe for succour, and he sent press ingrequests to him for reinforcements . But that bravecommander had already discovered s igns O f defectionin his Prussian allies

,and dared not weaken his force .

St. Cyr,therefore

,was left to meet his fate alone .

As if on purpose to insure his ruin , he was withoutintrenchments

,not having received orders from the

Emperor to erect them . Secure of his prey,the Rus

s ian General,on the 18th October

,bore down with

his overwhelming force on the French lines .The bat tle a t once became furious . St . Cyr was

one of the first struck. Smit ten by a musket ball,he

could nei ther ride his horse nor keep his feet— stil l hewould not retire . Every thing depended on his presence and

‘

personal supervision ; for the struggleagains t such fearful odds was to be a stern one. Pale

grudfeeble

,ye t self- col lec ted and clear minded as

ever,he was borne about by his Officers

,amid the

s torm Of battle,cheering on his men

,again and

again to the desperate charge . Seven times did theRuss ian thousands sweep like a res is tless flood overthe partial redoubts

,and seven times did St . Cyr

,

steadily hurl them back,t ill nigh t closed the scene

,

and fourteen thousand men slep t on the field'

O f victory they had wrung from the grasp of fifty thousand.

”

When the morning dawned,the Russ ian General

seemed in no hurry tO renew the attack . St . Cyrarose . from his feverish couch

,where

,the pain from

his wound,and his intense anxiety ha d kept him

toss ing the long night ; and was borne again to thefield of battle . He perceived a t once that the hesitation of the enemy did not arise from fear O f a re

160 B A T T L E O F P O L O T S K

pu lse,but from some expected manoeuvre , which

was to be the signal Of assaul t ; and so he stoodin suspense

,hour after hour

,firmly awaiting the

approach ofthe dense masses that darkened the woodsbefore him

,till

,a t ten O ’clock

,an aid-de-camp was

seen. spurring at a furious gallop over the bridge,the hoofs of his horse s triking fire on the pavementsas he dashed through the village towards the commander-in- chief. S teingell, with thirteen thousandRussians had come

,and was rapidly marching along

the other side Of the river to assail him in rear . Hemmed in between these two armies

,St . Cyr must in

evitably be crushed . Imagine,for a moment

,his

desperate condit ion . Polotsk s tands on the left sideof the Dwina

,as you ascend it

,with only one bridge

crossing the river to the righ t bank . Behind thiswooden town

,St . Cyr had drawn up his forces

,in or

der Of battle,with the formidable masses Of the Rus

sian army in front,threatening every moment to over

whelm him . In the meantime,word was brought tha t

thirteen thousand fresh troops were approaching thebridge on the o ther s ide

,cutt ing off all hopes Of re

treat . Here were two armies,numbering together

more than S ixty thousand men,drawing every mo

ment, nearer together, to crush between them fourteen thousand French soldiers

,commanded by a

wounded General . But St . Cyr,forgetting his wound

,

summoned all his energies to meet the crisi s that wasapproaching . H e gave hi s orders in that quiet

,de

term ined tone,which indicates the settled purpose Of

a s tem and powerful mind . Unseen byWittgenstein,

he despatched three regiments across the river tocheck the progress O f S teingell, while he, with hisweakened forces

,should withstand the s hock Of the

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162 B A T T L E O F P o L O T s x .

horizon,sending its flashing beams over the bat

tle array on the shores Of the Dwina , never beforeseemed so s low in i ts motions . St . Cyr afterwards declared that he never, in his l ife, was S O agitated as inthe three hours of su spense he then endured . The

Shock and the overthrow can be borne by a braveheart ; but i n a state O fu tter uncertainty , to s tand andwatch the d ial ’s face

,on whose slow-moving shadow

res ts everything,is too much for the calmes t heart .

At length,when within a half-hour ’ s march Of

the bridge,S teingell halted . Had he kept on a few

minutes longer,the head Of his columns wou ld have

appeared in sight,which would have been the sig

nal of a general a ttack . Nothing could be more fa

vourable to St . Cyr than this unexpected halt ; anda dense fog soon after spreading over the river

,wrap

ping the three armies in its folds,hastened on the night

,

and relieved his anxious heart. The artil lery wasimmediately sent over the bridge

,and his divisions

were press ing noiselessly a s p oss ible after i t , whenLegrand foolishly set fire to his camp

,so as no t to let

i t fall i n to the hands Of the enemy. The o ther d ivisions fol lowed his example

,and in a moment the whole

l ine was in a blaze . This rash act immediately re

vealed to the enemy the whole movements . I ts batteries Opened at once— the roused columns came hurrying onward , while blazmg bombs , hiss ing throughthe fog in every direction

,fel l on the town which blazed

up in the darkness,making a red and lurid l igh t

,by

which the two armies fought— the one for existence,

the other for victory . Amid the burning dwellingsthe wounded marshal stood

,and contes ted every inch

Of ground with the energy of despair ; and Slowlyretiring over the blazing timbers , by the l ight of

M A R S H A L S T . C Y R . 163

the conflagration , brought O ff his army in perfectorder

,though bleeding a t every step . It was three

O’clock in the morning before the Russians got possession O f the town . In the meantime

,St. Cyr had

gained the farther bank,and destroyed the bridge in

the face of the enemy,and stood. ready for S teingell,

who had soundly slept amid al l the uproar and strife of

that wi ld night . The lat ter seemed under the influenceOf some unaccountable spell

,and could nO t have acted

worse,had he been bribed by the French . In the

morning,when he arou sed himself for battle

,St. Cyr

was upon him,and after relieving him Of one- Sixth Of

his army,drove him into the wood several mil es from

the place of action . Ten thousand Russians had fallenin these three days Of glory to St . Cyr .This brave marshal

,though wounded

,was com

pelled , on account Of dissensions among the generals ,to keep the command ofhis troops

,and commence his

retreat .“ Reversing Napoleon ’s mode Of retreat from

Moscow,he

,with ten thousand men

,kep t nearly fifty

thousand at bay ; S O that they did not make morethan three marches in eight days . After elevendays of toil

,and combat

,and suffering

,in which he

,

though wounded,had exhibited a skill

,courage

,and

tenaci ty , seldom surpassed , he at length effected a.

junction with Victor,who had marched from Smo

lensko to meet h im .

After the terminat ion O f that disastrous campaign,

he is seen next year at Dresden,s truggl ing to up

hold the tottering throne Of Napoleon . With twentythousand men he was Operating round the ci ty

,and

fearing that the allies would make a demonstrationupon it, wrote to that effect to Napoleon , who was

combating Blucher in Si lesia . But the latter did no t

164 B A T T L E O F D R E S D E N .

agree w i th him ,and kept pushing his proj ects in the

quarter where he then was , when the astounding intelligence was brought him ,

that the all ied forces were

marching on D resden . St . Cyr saw a t once his danger ; and prepared, as well as his means permi tted , tomeet i t . But after some fierce fighting with W ittgen

s tein’ s advanced guard— his O ld fee of Polotsk , inRussia— he retired within the redoubts O f Dresden ,and pat iently waited the resul t.

BATTLE OF DRESDEN .

A hundred and twenty thousand soldiers , W 1th

more than five hundred p ieces O f cannon,covered the

heights that overlooked his entrenchments . I t wasthe latter part O fAugus t

,and every thing was sm iling

in summer vegetat ion,when this m igh ty host pitched

their tents on the green hills that encircled the city.

On the evening O f their approach,St . Cyr wrote to

Napoleon the following letter : “D resden,23d . Aug.

1813 ; ten a t night. A t five this afternoon the enemyapproached D resden

,after having driven in our cav

a lry . We expec ted an attack this evening ; but probably it will take place to-morrow. Your Maj esty

knows better than I do,what time i t requires for

heavy arti llery to beat down enclosure wall s andpalisades . ” The next night at midnigh t he despatched another let ter to him

,announcing an immedi

ate at tack,and closing up with

,

“We are determinedto do al l in our power but I can answer for nothingmore with such young soldiers . ” Immediately on

the reception O f the fi rst letter,Napoleon surrendered

his command to Macdonald,and turned his face

t owards Dresden . Murat was despatched i n hotha ste, to announce h is arrival and re-as sure the be

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166 A P P E A R A N C E O F T H E A R M 1 E S .

though they had marched a hundred and twentymiles in four days

,pressed cheerfully forward ; for

already the distant sound Of heavy cannonading wasborne by on the morning breeze . A t eigh t in the morning

,Napoleon and the advanced guard

,reached an

el evation that overlooked the whole plain in whichthe city lay embosomed and 10 , what a sublime yetterrific s ight met their gaze . The whole valley wasfilled with marching columns, preparing for an as

sault while the beam s Of the m orning sun were sentback from countless helmets and bayonets thatmoved and shook in thei r l ight . Here and therevolumes of Smoke told where the batteries were firing

,

while the heavy cannonading rolled,l ike thunder

over the hills . There,we

,was the French army

,

twenty thousand s trong,packed behind the redoubts

,

yet appearing like a S ingle regiment in the mids t Ofthe hos t that enveloped them . Courier after courier

,

riding as for l ife,kep t dashing into the presence Of

the Emperor,bidding him make ha s te i f he would

save the city . A few hours would settle its fate .Napoleon

,leaving his guards to follow on

,drove

away in a furious gallO p , while a cloud Of dustalong the road

,alone told where his carriage was

whirled onward . A S he approached the gates,the

Russian batteries swept the road wi th such a deadlyfire

,that he was compelled to leave his carriage and

crawl along on hi s hands and knees over the ground,

while the cannon balls whistled in an incessantshower above him .

Suddenly and unannounced,as if he had fal len

from the clouds,he appeared at the Royal Palace

,

where the King Of Saxony,was deliberat ing on the

terms O f capitulation . Waiting for no rest, he took a

l

M A R S H A L S T . C Y R . 167

Single page S O as not to attract the enemy ’s fire,and

went forth to visi t the outer works . S O near had theenemy approached

,tha t the youth by his side was

struck down by a spent musket ball . Having finished his inspection

,and settled his plans he returned to

the Palace,and hurried O ff couriers

,to the different

portions of the army,that were advancing by forced

marches towards the city . First,the indomitable

guards and the brave cuirassiers,eager for the onset

,

came pouring in furious haste over the bridge . Theover—joyed inhabitants stood by the s treets

,and Offered

them food and drink ; but though weary , hungry andthirs ty

,the brave fel lows refused to take either

,and

hurried onward towards the storm that was ready toburst on their companions . A t ten O’clock

,the troops

commenced entering the ci ty— infantry,cavalry and

artil lery pouring forward with impetuous Speed— tillthere appeared to be no end to the rushing thousands .Thus

,without cessation

,did the steady columns arrive

all day long,and were s till hurrying in

,when at four

O ’clock,the attack commenced . The batteries

,tha t

covered the heights around the city,opened their ter

rible fire,and in a moment Dresden became the tar

get O f three hundred cannon,all trained upon her

devoted buildings . Then commenced one Of war’swildest scenes . St. Cyr replied with his artil lery

,

and thunder answered thunder,as if the ho t Augus t

afternoon,was ending in a real storm Of heaven .

Balls fel l in an incessant shower in the ci ty,while

the blazing bombs traversing the sky , hung for a moment like messengers of death over the s treets

,and

then dropped with an explosion,that shook the

ground,among the frightened inhabitants . Amid the

shrieks of the wounded,and the stern language of

108 T H E A T T A C K .

command,was heard the heavy rumbling O f the ar

tillery and ammunition wagons through the streets,

and in the in tervals,the s teady tramp, tramp of the

marching columns,sti ll hastening in to the work of

death— while over all,as if to drown all ; l ike succes

sive thunder claps where the ligh tning falls nearest ,spoke the fierce batteries that were exploding on eachothe r . But the confusion and death

,and terror that

reigned through the ci ty,as the burn ing buildings

shot their"

flames heavenward,were no t yet comple te .

The inhab itants had fled to their cellars,to escape

the bal ls and shells that came crashing every mo

ment through their dwell ings ; and am id'

the hurryand bustle Of the arriving armies

,and their hasty tread

along the s treets,and the rol l of drums

,and rattling

of armour and clango r“

of trumpets,and thunder O f

artillery,the signal was given for the assault —three

cannon shots fr om the heig hts of R aechnitz . Thenext moment

,S ix massive columns with fifty can

non at their head,began to move down the slopes

pressing straigh t for the city. The muflled sound Oftheir heavy measured tread

,was heard within the

walls,as i n dead silence and awful majes ty

,they

moved steadily forward upon the batteries .It was a sight to s trike terror into the hear t of theboldes t, but St . Cyr marked their advance wi th thec almness O f a fearless soul

,and firmly awai ted the

onset that even Napoleon trembled to behold . N Os ooner did they come within the range O f artil lerythan the ominous si lence was broken by its deafeningroar. In a moment

,the heigh ts about the city were

in a blaze ; the fifty cannon at the head Of these columnsbelched forth fire and smoke ; and amid the charginginfantry , the burs ting O f shells , the rolling fire of inus

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T H E T W O A R M I E S A T N I G H T .

to end i t wi th a fight Of their own . In the midst O f

the deepening gloom,the allies

,now for the firs t time

aware that the Emperor was in the city , drew Off theirtroops for the nigh t. The rain came down as if theclouds were fall ing

,drenching the l iving and the

dead armies ; yet Napoleon , heedless Of the storm , andknowing what great resul ts rested upon the next day

’s

action,was seen hurrying on foot through th e streets

to the bridge,over which he expected the corps O f

Marmont and Victor to arrive . With anxious hearthe s tood and listened,t il l the heavy tread O f their advancing columns through the darkness , relieved hissuspense ; and then , as they began to pour over thebridge

,he hastened back

,and traversing the c ity

,

passed out a t the other side,and visited the entire

lines tha t were now formed withou t the wall s . Thebivouac fires shed a lurid light over the field

,and he

came at every s tep upon heaps Of corpses,while

groans and lamentations issued from the gloom inevery direction ; for thousands Of wounded , uncoveredand unburied

,lay exposed to the storm

,dragging

ou t the weary night in pain . Early in the morning,

Napoleon was on horseback,and rode ou t to the

a rmy . Taking his place beside a huge fire that wasblazing and crackling in the centre of the squares ofthe Old Guard

,he issued his orders for the day . Vic

tor was on the righ t ; the resis tless Ney on the left,over the Young Guard

,while S t . Cyr and Marmont

were in the centre . which Napoleon commanded inperson .

The rain s till fel l in torrents,and the thick m is t

shrouded the field as if to shut out the ghastly Spectacle its bosom exhibi ted . The cannonading soon commenced

, but with l ittle effec t, as the mist concealed

M A R S H A L S T . C Y R . 171

the armies from each other . A.

hundred and sixtythousand Of the all ies

,s tre tched in a huge semicircle

along the heights,while Napoleon

,with a hundred

and thirty thousand in the plain below,was waiting

the favouable moment in which to commence theattack . A t length the battle opened on the right

,

where a fierce firing was heard as Victor pressed firmly against an A ustrian battery . Suddenly

,Napoleon

heard a Shock like a fall ing mountain . While Victorwa s engaging the enemy in front

,Murat

,unperceived

in the thick mist,had stolen around to the rear

,and

without a note of warning,burs t wi th twelve thou

sand caval ry on the enemy . He rode st raight throughtheir broken lines

,trampling under foot the dead and

dying . Ney was,equally successful on the left

,

and as the mis t l ifted,i t showed the allied wings

both driven back . The day wore away in bloodcarts

,loaded with the wounded

,moved in a cons tan t

s tream into the ci ty ; but the French were victo riousat al l points ; and when night again closed over thescene

,the allied armies had decided to re treat .

I t wa s in this battle Moreau fell . He had . jus treturned from the United States

,a t the urgent sol ici

tatien Of the Emperor Alexander,to take up arms

against his country .

This was his firs t battle,and Napoleon kil led him .

About noon on the la s t day Of the fight,he noticed

a group ofpersons on an eminence,a half a mile dis

tant . Suppos ing they were watching his manoeuvres,

he called a Captain of Artillery,who commanded a

battery O f eighteen or twenty pieces,and pointing to

them , said Thr ow a doz en bullets into tha t g r oup ,at one fire, p erhap s there a re som e little Gener a ls init .” He obeyed

,and i t was immediately seen to be

172 D E A T H M O R E A U .

agitated . One O f the balls had s truck Morean ’ s leg,just below the knee

,and

,cutt ing i t O ff

,passed through

his horse,carrying away the o ther leg also . The

next day,a peasant picked up one Of the boots

,wi th

the leg in,which the surgeon had left on the field

,

and brought it to the King Of Saxony,saying it be

longed to a superior O fiicer . The boot,on exam i

nation,was found to be neither O f English o r French

manufacture,and they were stil l in doubt . The same

day,the advance guards

,while in pursui t Of the

enemy,came upon a little spaniel that wa s roaming

over the field,moaning pi teous ly for its master

,

Around i ts neck was a collar,on which was wri tten

,

I belong to Gener a l M oreau .

”

Both legs O f the unfortunate General had to be emputated , which he bore with stoical firmness

,calmly

smoking a C igar during the painful Operation . It isa littl e s ingular

,that by thi s same bat tery and same

captain,another French traitor who occupied a high

rank in the Russian army,General St . Pries t

,was

afterwards killed under similar circumstances . Napoleon gave the order in that case as in thisThe death O f Moreau cast a gloom over the kinglygroup that assembled to hold a counci l of war

,and

on the 28 th,the morning after the batt le

,the allied

army was in full re treat,and the blood- s tained field

was left in the hands Of the French .

But what a field i t was ! For two days a thousandcannon had swept it

,and three hundred thousand

men had struggled upon it in the midst O f their fire .The grassy plain was trodden into mire

,on which

nearly twenty thousand men mangled,torn

,and

bleeding , had been strewn . Many had been carriedinto the ci ty during the night ; but some stark and

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174 D I S T R E S S O F T H E A R M Y .

before the city to Observe i t. Against these, St . Cyr advanced

,and rou ted them

,and thus Opened the country

about to the foragers . But when Leipsic fell the all iesagain directed their attention to the place

,and St . Cyr

saw their v ictorious armies once more hem him in .

Insuflicient supplies had already weakened his men.

so that he had the mere shadow O f an army,while

the mul titudes Of the s ick and wounded added to theburdens tha t oppressed him . The maimed andwounded which he had been ordered to send by boatsto Torgau

,could not be got O ff. Only three thousand

were sent,though multitudes

,hearing they were to

leave their fet id hospitals,crawled ou t to the banks of

the r iver,and when they found all the boa ts were filled

and they were to be left behind,refused to return to

the ci ty and lay down in rows along the Shore .Was ted with sickness and wounds

,these ranks of

Spectres lay all night in the cold to be ready for thenext boa t that should appear . In the meantime thefamine and suffering increased in the ci ty . St . Cyrcould not hear a word from Napoleon

,and was left

without orders to save his army as he could . But thesoldiers were depressed and spiritless— the Germanauxil iaries deserted him

,and the ammuni tion be

coming exhausted he was driven tO desperation . Inthis hopeless condition he resolved to sally for th andcu t his way through the fifty thousand that environedhim

,and joining the garrison at Torgau andWitten

berg,fight his way back to the Rhine .

Carrying out this bold determination, he sall ied forthwith his fifteen thousand men . Vain and last effortHis weary, half- famished soldiers , s taggered back fromthe shock , and were compelled to flee into the c ity .

Al l hope was gone . The bread-sheps were closed,

M A R S H A L S T . C Y R . 175

and the mills S ilent,though the miserable crowds

pressed around them,threatening and beseeching by

turns . Famine stalked through the streets , followedby pes tilence, and woe , and death . The meat wasexhausted

,and the starving soldiers fell on their

horses,and devoured them . Thirty were slain every

day ; and at length, around the putrid carcasses in thes treets

,poor wretches were seen quarreling for the

loathsome food,— even the tendons were chewed to as

suage the pangs of hunger . Two hundred bodieswere carried every day from the hO Sp italS to thechurch-yard

,where they accumulated so fast that

none were found to bury them ; and they were“ laid

naked in ghas tly. rows along the place Of sepulture .

The dead tumbled from the overloaded car ts- and overthe corpses that thus s trewed the streets

,the wheels

passed,crushing the bones with

'

a sound that madeeven the drivers shudder. Some were hurried awaybefore they were dead

,and shrieked out as they fell

on the hard pavement . Multitudes were thrown intothe river

,some of whom

,revived by the cold water,

were seen flinging about their arms and legs in a vains truggle for l ife . Silent terror

,and faintness

,and

despair,fil led every heart . Amid this accumulation

Of woe,St . Cyr moved with his wonted calmness ,

though the paleness on his cheek told how this suf

fering around him wrung his heart . He endured andsuffered al l as became his brave Spiri t ; and then finding there wa s no hope , (for he no longer had m en

that could fight ,) he consented to capitulate . He O ffered to surrender the city on condition he should beallowed to return with his soldiers to France

,no t to

fight again til l regularly exchanged . The terms wereagreed to, and he marched out O f the city ; but so

176'

C A P I T U L A T I O N O F T H E C I T Y .

wan and worn we re the soldiers, that he himselfsaid

,that probably not more than one-fourth would

ever reach the Rhine . He was spared the trial Ofconducting this ghost Of an army back to France .The allies

,with the fai thlessness of barbarians

,

had no sooner go t him in their power,than they

marched him and his army into Bohemia as prisoners Of war. Had Napoleon perjured himself in th ismanner

,the world would have rung with the villan

Ous deed . The brave St . Cyr firmly pro tes ted agains tthis violation O f the laws Of civil ized nations , andhurled scorn and contempt on the sovereigns whothus stamped themselves with infamy in sight O f

the world,threatening them with future vengeance for

the deed . It was al l in vain,for he had fallen into

the hands of victors who were moved neither by sentimen ts of honour nor sympathy fo r the brave .The course Of St . Cyr

,on the abdication ofNapoleon

,

and his return and final overthrow,has been already

Spoken O f. He died in March , 1830, and sleeps in thecemetery of Pere- l a-Chaise . A noble monumen tcrowns his grave

,and he rests in peace amid the he

roes by whose side he fought ;

St . Cyr was a humane man , and abstained fromthose excesses which s tained the repu tation O f S O manyO f the military leaders of his time . He was possessed Of great talents

,and deserved al l the honours

he received . His “ Journal des Operations de l’A rm ée de Ca talogue, en 1808—9 , sur le commandmentda General Gouvion St . Cyr,

” is an able work,though

tinged with acrimony agains t Napoleon which is asunjust as his conduct was foolish .

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178 H I S E A R L Y L I F E .

flic ting energies , and force them to act in harmony onone great plan

,or they will only waste themselves on

each other . Bonaparte was such a control l ing mind,

and he cared not how one- sided the spirits were hegathered about him

,i f they only had force : he was

after p ower , acting in whatever direct ion . A combination O fmen

,each Of whom could do one thing well

,

mus t do all things well . Acting on this principle,he

never allowed a man Of any s triking quality to escapehim. Whether i t was the cool and intrepid Ney

, o r

the chivalric Murat— the rock-fas t Macdonald,or the

tempes tuous Junot— the bold and careful Soult,or the

impetuous Lannes,i t mattered not . He needed them

all,and he thus concentrated around him the greates t

elements Of strength that man can wield . I t i s fearful to see the Spiri ts Napoleon moulded into his plansand the combined energy he let loose on the armiesof Europe . Knowing the moral power of great ands triking quali ties

,he would have no leader without

them . In this he showed his consummate knowledgeOf human nature

,especial ly Of Frenchmen . E nthu

sia sm,and the reliance on one they never trusted in

vain in battle,wil l carry an army farther than the

severes t discipline . A company Of conscripts wouldfollow Ney as far as a body of veteran s a commonleader . S O would a column charge with Lannes atthei r head

,when with a les s daring and resolute man

they would break and fly . Moral power is great asphysical

,even where every thing depends on hard

blows. Mind and will give to the body all i ts force-S O do they also to an army . The truth Of this waswitnessed and proved in our s truggle with the parentcountry .

Jean Lannes was born in Lectoure,a small town

M A R S H A L L A N N E S . 179

in Normandy,in April

,1769 . His father was a

humble mechanic,and designing his son for a simi

lar occupation,he bound him ou t

,at an early age

,as

an apprentice . In ordinary t imes young Lanneswould probably have remained in the humble s tationin which his birth had placed him

,and become in

time,perhaps

,a passable shoemaker or carpenter.

But the call which the Revolution sent forth for themilitary talent of France

,could not be res isted

,and

young Lannes ran away from his master , and enlisted as a common soldier in the army . Soon after

,he

was sent with the army that operated on the Pyrenean frontier . Here he soon exhibi ted the two

s triking traits Of his character— tra its which emiuently fitted him for the scenes in which his l ife wasto pass— viz .

,reckless daring and unconquerable reso

lu tion . These qualities Shining ou t in.the heat O f

battle and in the mos t desperate straits,soon won for

him the regard Of his Officers,and he was made chief

Of brigade . In this rank he fought under Lefebvre,

but soon after,for some cause known only to the Con

vention,which ye t scarcely knew the cause of any

thing it did,he was deprived O f his commission

,and

returned to Paris . Amid the conflicting elementsthat surrounded the young soldier in the Frenchcapital

,he soon found work to do . An ardent repub

lican,his bold politics and bolder manner could not

long escape the notice O f government,and he was

sent to the army in Italy. As chief of a battal ion a tMilesimo

,he conducted himself so gallantly

,and

fought with such desperate impetuos i ty , that hearrested Napoleon ’ s attention in the hottest O f the

engagement , and he made him Colonel on the spot .Crossing the Po

,soon after

,under the enemy’s fire

,

180 B R I D G E O E L O D I .

he was the fir st to reach the Opposi te bank andfinally crowned his bril liant exploits a t Lodi

,where

he was made general Of brigade,and soon after of

division .

After the success ive victories O f Montenotte,Mile

simO and Dego , Napoleon resolved to push on to

Milan . In his progress he was forced to cross theAdda

,at Lodi . Twelve thousand Austri an infantry,

and four thousand cavalry,with a battery of thirty

cannon,stood at the farther ex tremi ty of the bridge

he was to cross,to dispute its passage . On the fir s t

of May,he arrived a t Lodi with his army. The

Austrian cannon and musketry began immediately topl ay on the bridge

,S O that i t seemed imposs ible to

reconnoitre the ground . But Napol eon,shel tering hi s

men behind the houses of the town,sallied out into

the midst O f the deadly s torm , and immedia tely arranged his plan . Forming a column Of seven thou;sand picked men

,he placed himself at their head and

ru shed on the bridge ; but the cannon balls and grapeSho t and the bullets of the infantry swept every inchO f the narrow defile

,and rattled like an incessan t

shower O f hail-stones against its s tony S ides . S O in

cessant and furious was the discharge,tha t a cloud

of smoke lay like a dense fog round it—yet in to itsvery bosom moved the intrepid column . The suddenvolley that smote their breasts made those bold menreel, and stagger back as ifsmitten by a bolt from heaven . For a moment the column wavered and balanced on the pass- for a thousand had already fallen

,

and i t was marching straight into a volcano of firebut the next moment

,seeing themselves supported by

the tiralleurs that were fording the stream beneaththe arches , the soldiers shouted , Vive la R epub

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182 H i s C H A‘ R A C T E R .

During al l this bloody s truggle,Lannes never left

him but advancing when he advanced,charging

l ike fi re by his s ide,and covering his person wi th his

own body from the bullets tha t mowed everythingdown around them— he received three wounds

,which

wel l nigh relieved him O f hi s l ife . He was sufferingfrom a wound when he entered the battle

,but i t did

not preven t him from doing deeds Of incredible daring. Nothing shows the personal . expo su re and personal daring Of the generals

,who

,one after ano ther

,

rose to be marshals and dukes,more than the fre

queney wi th which they were wounded in their earliercareer. Here

,after three pitched battles

,Murat

,Ney

,

Macdonald,Berthier

,and Lannes

,were all wounded .

One cannot fol low him through al l his after career,

bu t mus t selec t ou t those particulars i n which heexhibited h is mos t striking quali ties . Lannes wasfrank

,even to bluntness

,and S O impatient Of res tra int

that he sometimes became insubordinate,but was

always brave , and fi rm as a rock in the hour ofbattle . Indeed

,his very impat ience Of control

,and

frequent ou tburs ts of passion,when crossed in his

purpose,made him rise in exci tement and increase in

daring,the greater the Obstacles that Opposed him .

Always heading his columns in the desperate onset,

and exposing h is person where death reaped downthe brave fastes t

,he so fastened himself in the affec

tion s of his soldiers,that they would follow him into

any extremity. By the Openness of his character andbri lliancy Of his exploits

,he fixed himself deeply also

in the heart Of Napoleon,who always wished him by

his side,and leaned on him in battle as he did on

Ney . But the impetuosity Of his character demandedconstan t action

,and he grew irritable and unmanly

M A R S H A L L A N N E S . 183

when compelled to suffer wi thout res istance . Hecould encounter any Obs tacle agains t which he wasallowed to dash

,and wou ld enter any danger where

he could swing the arm O f defiance ; but he had noneof the martyr- spiri t in him . P inion him , and hewould become frantic under suffering . He neededself-control and the discipline of calm and collectedthought . Trained in the camp

,and educated in the

roar Of battle,he was all action and exci tement . Y et

his exci tement made him s teady . In the mids t Offalling thousands and the

'

shock O f armies,his rriind

worked with s ingular clearness and power . I t neededthe roa r O f cannon and the tumul t Of a battle-field

,to

balance the inward excitement which drove him on.

Hence,in hi s earl ier career

,he could not be trusted

alone with an army,and Bonaparte knew it . But

he learned the duties O f a great leader fast,and Na

polcou says himself O f him,

“ I found him a dwarf,

I lost him a giant .”

In the campaign Of Egypt,he appears the same

great General,and fought at Aboukir and Acre as

he had done before a t Lodi and Arcola . A t Acre,he

near ly los t his life,and was carried from the field Of

bat tle severely wounded. But in the march fromAl exandria to Cairo

,across the desert

,he exhibited

that impatience and irritabi li ty before mentioned .

In the m ids t of a boundless plain of sand,without

water,parched by the sun

,and surrounded by troops

of Bedouin s ; the army gave way to despair, andMurat and Lannes among the rest. Wherever therewas a battery to be stormed

,o r an army O f eighty

thousand men to be annihilated,none spurred more

joyously into the battle than they. But to bear up

against the soli tude and silence O f the desert— agains t

184 H I S B E H A V I O U R I N E G Y P T .

h unger and thirst,and a burn ing sun— foes that could

not be routed or even a ssai led,required more self!

control than either possessed . They became dispiri tedand despera te

,and dashed thei r plumed hats to the

ground and trampled them in the sand ; and it is said ,even conspired to return to A lexandria with the army .

Ney and Macdonald never would have acted thus .Selec ted by Bonaparte

,as one of the eight O flicers

to return wi th ' him toFrance,he played an importan t

part in tha t conspiracy by which the government OfFrance was over thrown

,and the commander-in-chief

O f the army became the Firs t Consul of the Empire .

Bonaparte,having resolved to overth row the imbe

cile Directory,and take the power into his own hands

,

assembled around him the most determined spiri ts thearmy could furni sh . On the morning tha t he mountedhis steed and rode towards the Tuileries— resolved tostake everything on one bold move

,and pass the

power of France into his own hands— seven men,as

yet only partially known to fame, were assembled inthe palace

,sworn to his interests

,and bound to his

destiny . Those seven names afterward made Europetremble . They were Moreau

,Murat

,Marmont

,Mac

donald,Berthier

,Lefebvre

,and Lannes . Only one

was wanting— the in trepid Ney . Napoleon felt theloss Of him

,and when about to present himself before

the bar of the Ancients,said

,

“ I would g ive, a t this

moment,two hundred m illions to haveN ey bymy side.

”

Being employed a while in France,Lannes after

wards j oined the army destined to I taly,and Shared

largely in the glory O f tha t brill ian t campaign . He

accompanied Napoleon over the St . Bernard ; or rather, he went over five days before him . The van

guard, composed of six regiments , was placed under

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186 B A T T L E O F M O N T E B E L O .

ly be a more s triking ins tance of valour than the bee

haviour’

of Lannes on this occasion . There was noconcealment of the danger— no chance Of sudden sur

prise— and no waiting the effect Of some other movemen t on which his own would depend . I t was to bedownright hard fighting

,and he knew it ; fighting , too ,

agains t hopeless Odds for the firs t few hours . But allthe heroic in him was aroused

,and hi s chivalric bear

ing before hi s army inspired them with the highestardour . Especial ly after the battle was fairly set

,and

i t was necessary to m ake one man equal to three , heseemed endowed with the spiri t Of ten men . He waseverywhere present

,new heading a column in a charge

-now rallymg a shattered divis ion— and now fighting desperately

,hand to hand

,with the enemy . With

out wai ting the attack O f the Austrians,he formed his

troops en echelon,and advanced to the charge . Two

battal ions marched s traigh t on the murderous art illery

,which

,s tationed in the road

,swept it a s the

cannon did the bridge of Lodi . The third battalionendeavoured tO carry the heights

,while W a trin

,with

the remainder,marched ful l on the centre . The battl e

a t once became terrific . Before the furious on se t O fthe French

,the Austrians were driven back

, and

seemed abou t to break and fly,when a reserve O f the

Imperialists came up, and S ix fresh regiments werehurled on thei r exhaus ted ranks . The heights of Revetta had been carried

,but the fresh onse t was too

heavy for the victorious troops,and they wer e driven

in confus ion down the hill . The centre,

s taggeredback before the superior numbers and the heavy fireOf the ar tillery ; but still Lannes rall ied them to another and ano ther effort . Under one Of the mos t destructive fires to which a division was perhaps ever

M A R S H A L L A N N E S . 187

exposed,he supported his men by almost superhuman

efforts . Standing himself where the Shot ploughed upthe ground in furrows about him

,he no t only coolly

surveyed the danger,but by his commands and pre

sence held his men for a long time in the very face O fdeath . But it was impossible for any column

,unless

all composed of such men as Lannes,long to with

s tand such a fire ; and they were on the point O f turning and fleeing

,when one Of the divisions of Victor ’s

corps arrived on the field and rushed with a Shout intothe combat . T his restored for a time the fight . -TheAus trians were again repulsed

,when

,bringing up a

fresh reserve,the French were forced to retire . N ow

advancing and now retreating,the two armies wavered

to and fro,like mis t when it firs t meets the rising blas t.

As divis ion after division Of Vic tor’s corps came up,

the French rall ied ; til l at length , when they had allarrived

,and the two armies stood twelve to eighteen

thousand— the whole French force and the wholeAustrian reserve in the field— the comba t becamedreadful . Though pressed by such superior numbers

,

and wasted by such commanding and hotly-workedbat teries

,Lannes refused to yield one inch Of the en

sanguined field . It is said that his appearance in thisbattle was absolutely terrific . Besmeared with powderand blood and smoke

,he rode from division to division

,

inspiring cou rage and daring in the exhausted ranksrallying again and again the wasted columns to thecharge , and holding them by his personal daring andreckless exposure Of his life

,hour after hour

,to the

murderous fire . General R ivaud,bat tling for the

heights,and the brave W a trin

,charging like fire on

the centre— cheered a t every repulse by the calm,

stern voice O f Lannes— fought as Frenchmen had not

188 T H E E I E L D O F B A T T L E .

fought before during the war . The moral powerwhich one man may wield

,was never more visible

than on this occasion . Lannes stood the rock Of tha tbattle-field

,around which his men clung with a te

nacity that nothing could shake . Had he fal len , infive minutes that battle would have been a rout . O n

his li fe hung victory,and yet i t seemed not worth a

hope,in the s teady fire through which he constantly

gal loped . From eleven in the morning till eight atn ight

,for nine long hours

,did he press with an army

,

firs t O f S ix,then Of twelve thousand

,on one of eigh

teen thousand,without intermission or relief. I t was

one succession Of onsets and repulses,ti ll darkness

began to gather over the scene . One fourth Of hisarmy had sunk on the field where they fough t . Atlength Rivand

,having carried the heights

,came down

like an avalanche on the centre,while W a trin led his

Intrepid column for the las t time on the artillery.

Both were carried,and the Austrians were compelled

to retreat . Bonapar te arrived just in time to see thebattle wonfii He rode up to Lannes , surrounded bythe remnants of his guard

,and found him drenched

with blood— his sword dripping in his exhausted hand—his face blackened with powder and smoke— and hisuniform looking more as if i t had been dragged underthe wheels of the arti llery during the day

,than worn

by a living man . But a smile of exulta tion passedover his features

,as he saw his commander gazing

w i th pride and affection upon him ; while the soldier'

s,

weary and exhaus ted as they were,could not restrain

their j oy a t the vic tory they had won .

A lison , with his accustomed correctness , says , A t length thear r ival of Napoleon , with the division O f Gardanne, decided the vic

tory .

” This reminds us O f his account O f the taking of the P residentby the E ndymion .

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190 B A T T L E O F M A R P N G O .

Of some half a dozen houses,and Alessandria

,where

crosses the plain between the li ttle hamle t of Marengo ,the Austrians lay encamped . Coming ou t from the

city in the morning,and cross ing the Bormida under

a severe fire Of the French,they deployed into the

open field,and marched s traigh t O 11 Victor

,posted

jus t before Marengo . He had stationed himself hehind a deep and muddy stream— resembling

,indeed

,

i n its banks and channel,a narrow canal rather than

a rivulet— and sus tained the shock O f the enemy withveteran firmness

,for two hours ; but overpowered by

superior numbers,he wa s fas t losing his s trength

,

when Lannes came up and res tored the combat.There

,d ivided only by this narrow ditch— across

which the front ranks could almos t touch bayonetsdid the tiralleurs stand for two hours

,and fire into

each other’ s bosoms,while the cannon

,brought to

within pistol shot,opened horrible gaps in the dense

ranks at every discharge,which were immediately

fil led with fresh victims . It did not seem possible,as

I s tood beside this narrow stream,over which I could

almos t leap,that two armies had s tood and fired into

each o ther ’s faces,hour after hour

,across i t.

But I do not des ign to go into the particulars ofthis battle . Austrian numbers

,and the two hundred

Aus trian cannon,were too much for Victor and Lan

nes both toge ther. The l ittle stream of Fontanonewas carried

,and these two heroe s were compelled to

fal l back on the second line . This,after adesperate

resistance,was also forced back . Victor ’s corps

,ex

hansted by four hours ’ fighting,

finally gave way,

and broke and fled towards Lannes ’ division,which

alone was left to stay the reversed tide Of battle .Seeing that al l now rested on him

,he put forth one

o f those prodigiou s effor ts,for which hewas remark

M A R S H A L L A N N E S . 191

a ble in the hour Of extreme danger . Forming hismen into squares

,he began slowly to re trea t . The

Austrian army moved en m asse upon him,while

eighty pieces O f cannon sent an incessant Shower O fround and grape sho t through his dense ranks

,mow

ing them down at every discharge l ike grass . Stil lhe held the brave squares firm . Against the chargeOf cavalry

,the onse t Of infantry

,and the thunder of

eighty cannon,he opposed the same adamantine

front . When pressed too hard by the infan try,he

would s tep and charge bayonet— then commenceagain his slow and heroic re treat . ‘ Thus he fough tfor two hours— retreating only two miles in the

whole time— leaving entire ranks Of men on almos tevery foot of ground he traversed . But between

.

thes teady onse t Of the Hungarian infantry

,which halted

every ten rods and poured a deadly volley 011 hissteady squares

,and the headlong charge Of the Im

perial cavalry,sweeping in a fierce gallop around

them,and the awful havoc of those eighty cannon

,

incessantly playing on the retreating m aSses —no human endurance could longer withs tand the trial .Square after square broke and fled

,and the field was

covered with fugitives crying, Tout es tp erdu , sauve

qui p eut.” Still Lannes

,unconquered to s the las t

,

kept those immediately about him unshaken amidthe storm and devastation . Scorning to fly, unableto stand

,he allowed his men to mel t away before the

destruct ive fire Of the enemy ; while the blowing upof his own caissons

,which he could not bring away

,

added tenfold terror to the thunder of cannon thatShook the field . He

,and the Consular Guard also in

square,moved like “ l iving citadels over the plain

,

and fur nished a wall of iron beh ind which Bonaparte

192 A R R I V A L O P D E S A t x .

was yet to rally his scat tered army , and turn a defeatinto a vic tory.

From early in the morning til l three O ’clock in theafternoon

,the battle had raged with ceaseless fury

,

and now the head Of D esaix’s column

,w i th banners

flying and trumpets sounding,was seen advancing

wi th rapid step over the plain . Immediately at thecommencement O f the battle

,Bonaparte despatched

his aids -de—camp with urgent has te for Desaix . B ut

as the report of the first cannon fired on Maren

go,rose da l l

’

and heavy on the morning air,the hero

Of Egypt s tood and l is tened ; and as he heard thedistan t and heavy cannonading

,l ike the rol l O f far- O ff

thunder,come booming over the plain

,he suspected

the Enemy he wa s after a t Novi , was on the plainsOf Marengo, and despatched Savary in haste to the

former place to see. Find ing his S US picions true , heimmediately put his army in motion

,and was miles

on his way,when the dus t of fierce riders in the d is

tance told him he was wanted. Sending forward hisaids-de-camp

‘

on the fleetest horses to announce hisapproach

,he urged his exci ted army to the top of its

Speed . A t length,as he approached the field

,and saw

the French army in a broken mass,rol ling back

,he

could restrain his impatience no longer,and dash ing

away from the head Of his column,spurred his steed

over the plain,and burs t in a fierce gal lop into the

presence Of Napoleon . A short council of the generalswas immediately held

,when most advised a retreat .

“What think you O f i t "i” said Napoleon to Desaix .

Pulling ou t his watch,he replied

,

“The battle is los t,

but i t i s only three O ’clock ; there is time tO'

gain an

o ther . ” Deligh ted with an answer'

c orresponding sowell with his own feelings

,he ordered him to advance,

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194 T H E V I C T O R Y .

’

crowds that sought a passage ; and horses , and riders,and arti llery

,and infantry

,were rolled together in to

the Bormida,that grew purple with the S lain . Melas

,

the Austrian general,who at three O ’clock

,supposing

the battle won,had retired to his ten t

,now rall ied the

remnants O f his few hours before victorious,but now

over thrown army,on the further Shores Of the river .

Twelve thousand had disappeared from his ranksS ince the morning sun shone upon them

,flushed with

hope and confident of victory . The combat had lasted for twelve hours

,and now the sun went down on

the field of blood . Over the heaps of the slain,and

acros s the trampled field,Savary

,the aid-de-camp

and friend of Desaix,was seen wandering in search

Of the fallen ch ief. He soon discovered him by hislong and flowing hair

, (he had al ready been s trippednaked by those after the Spo ils

,) and carefully covering his body wi th the mantle Of a hussar

,had him

brought to the head-quarters Of the army . Desaixsaved Bonaparte from a ruinous defeat at Marengo

,

and saved him,too

,by not waiting for orders

,bu t

m oving immediately towards where the cannonadingtold him the fate Of the army and Italy was seal ing .

Had Grouchy ac ted thus,or had Desaix been in his

place a t Waterloo,the fate of tha t battle and the

world would have been different:Lannes wrought wonders on this day

,and was se

lected by Napoleon , in considerat ion Of His service,to presen t to government the colours taken from theenemy . This cal ls t o mind a scene which took placein Paris just before Bonaparte set ou t on this expedit ion . The news ofWashington’s death had just beenreceived , and Bonaparte thus announced it to his army :“Washington is dead ! That grea t man fought

M A R S H A L L A N N E S . 195

against tyranny ; he consummated the independenceof his country. His memory will be ever dear to theFrench people , as to al l freemen Of both worlds, andmost of all to French soldiers , who , l ike him and theso ldiers O fAmerica

,are fighting for equal ity and free

dom .

” Ten days ’ mourning were appointed,and a

solemn ceremony performed in the Church of the Invalides . Under the solemn dome Bonaparte assem ~

bled all the authorities Of France,and the Officers Of

the army,and there

,i n their presence

,Lannes pre

sented to the Government ninety-six colours,taken in

Egypt . Berthier,then Minister Of War

,S itting be

tween two soldiers,both a hundred years Old

,Shaded

by a thousand standards,the fruits Of Bonaparte’s

victories ; received them from the hand ofLannes ,whopronounced a warlike speech

,as he presented them .

The young Republic O f France went into mourningfor the Father Of the American Republ ic

,and this

was the funeral ceremony .

Soon after this,La nnes was sent as an ambassador

to Portugal,and feel ing too much

,the power Bona

parte and France wielded,t reated with that independ

ent nation,as if its king and ministers had been sub

ordinates in the army . He was better at the head Ofa column than in the cabinet

,and got no honour to

himself from his Office as ambassador . This verybluntness and coarseness

,which rendered him fit only

for the camp and the battle field,and which indeed

was the cause Of his receiving this appointment,were

sufficient reasons for his not having it . Being com~

mander Of the Consular Guard,he adminis tered its

ches t and disbursed the money intrus ted to him withsuch prodigali ty and recklessness

,that there was a

general complaint . It was done with the ful l know

196 ! U A R R E L W I T H N A P O L E O N .

ledge and authori ty Of Napoleon,yet he reproved him

for i t when the exci tement became too great to beany longer disregarded . This exasperated Lannes S Omuch tha t he indulged in the most abrup t languagetowards the Firs t Consul

,and resolved to replace the

money that had been expended . But from all his victories

,he had l i ttle left

,and A ugereau was compelled

to loan him the sum he needed,saying : There, take

this money ; go to tha t ungrateful fel low for whomwe have sp il t our blood ; give him back what i s dueto the ches t

,and le t neither of us be any longer nu

der Obligations tO him .

” But Napoleon could not affordto lose two Of his bes t generals

,and thinking it was bet

ter to keep such turbulent spirits apart,sen t A ugereau

to the army and Lannes as ambassador to Portugal .Recal led to the army

,he fought at Austerl itz

,Jena

,

Eylau,and Friedland with his accustomed v alour .

In the campaign of Eylau,at the battle Of Pultusk

,

he advanced with his corps Of men in the midstOf driving snow-squalls

,and knee-deep in mud

,Up to

the very muzzles Of a hundred and twenty cannon .

In 1808,he was sent to join the army in Spain . In

cross ing the mountains near Mondragon he came verynear los ing his l ife . His horse s tumbled and in theefl

”

or t to rally fell back on him,crushing hi s body

dreadfully by his weight . He who had s tormed overS O many battle-fields

,and been hurled again and

aga i n from his seat am id trampling squadrons as hishorse sunk under him

,and yet escaped death

,was

here on a quie t march well nigh deprived of his life .The surgeon

,—who had seen a Similar operation

performed by the Indians in Newfoundland,—o rdered

a sheep to be Skinned immedia tely,and the warm pelt

sewed around the wounded M arshal ’s body . H is ex

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98 S I E'

G E O F S A R A G O S S A .

Unyielding to the last,the brave S aragossans

fought on ; and , amid the pealing Of the tocsin, rushed up to the verymouths Of the cannon , and perishedby hundreds and thousands in the s treets Of the ci ty.

Every house was a fortress,and around its walls

were separate bat tle-field s,where deeds of frantic "

1“

valour were done . Day after day did these s inglehanded figh ts continue

,while famine and pestilence

walked the ci ty at noonday,and slew faster than the

Sword s Of the enemy . The dead lay piled up inevery

'

s treet,and on the thick heaps Of the slain the

living mounted and fough t with the energy O f despair for thei r homes and their . l iberty . In the midstOf th is incessant firing by nigh t and by day

,and

hand- to-hand fights on t he bodies of the slain,ever

and anon a mine would explode,blowing the living

and dead,friend and fee

,together in the air. An

awful silence would succeed for a moment,and then

over the groan s Of the dying would ring again therallying cry Of the brave inhabitants . The streetsran torren ts Of blood

,and the s tench of putrified

bodies loaded the air . Thus fo r three weeks did thefight and butchery go on within the c ity walls

,ti ll

the soldiers grew dispirited,and ready to give up the

hope Of spoils if they could escape the ruin that encompassed them . Yet thei rs was a comfortable lotto that Of the besieged . Shut up in the cellarswith the dead— pinched with famine

,while the

pesti lence rioted without m ercy and without resistance— they heard around them the incessant burs tingO f bombs

,and thunder Of artillery

,and explos ions of

mines,and crash O f falling houses

,till the ci ty shook

night and day,as if within the grasp of an earth

quake . Thousands fel l daily,and the town was a

mass of ruins . Yet unconquered,and appa rently un

M A R S H A L L A N N E S . 99

ca uerable,the inhabitants s truggled on . Out O f‘

the dens they had made for themselves amid the !

ruins,and from the cellars where there were more

dead than living,men wou ld crawl to fight

,who

looked more like Spectres than warriors . Womenwould m an the gun s,and , m‘usket in hand

,advance

fearles sly to the charge ; and hundreds thus fell,

fighting for their homes and their firesides . Amidthis scene of devastat1on -agains t this prolonged anda lmost hopeless struggle of weeks— again st the pestilence that had appeared in his own army

,and was

mowing down hls Own troops— and above all,agains t

the increased mu rmurs and now Open clamors of thesoldiers

,declaring that the siege must be abandoned

ti ll reinforcements could come up— Lannes remainedun shaken and untiring . The incessant rear andcrash around him— the fetid air— the exhaus ting toil

,

the carnage and the pes tilence,could not change his

iron w i ll . He had decreed that Saragossa,which

had heretofore baffled every attempt to take it,should

fall . At l ength,by a vigorous

'

a ttempt,he took the

convent of S t . Lazan,in

‘

the suburbs of the town,

and planted his art illery there,which soon levelled

the ci ty around i t with the ground . T O finish thiswork of des truction by one grand blow

,he caused six

mines to be run under the main s treet of the city,each of which was charged with three thousandpounds Of powder . But before the time appointed fortheir explos ion

,arrived

,the town capitulated . The

his torians O f this S iege describe the appearance of thecity and its inhabitants after the surrender as inconceiv ably horrible . With only a s ingle wall betweenthem and the enemy ’ s trenches

,they had endured a

S iege O f nearly two months by men,and con

200 A P P E A R A N C E O R T H E B E S I E G E D .

tinned to resi st after famme and pestilence began toslay faster than the enemy . Thirty thousand cannonballs and sixty thousand bombs had fallen in the city

,

and fifty-four thousand of the inhabitants had perished . Six thousand only had fallen in combat

,

while forty-eigh t thousand had been the prey Of thepestilence . After the town had capitulated

,but

twelve thousand were found able to bear arms,and

they looked more l ike spectres issuing from the tombsthan living warriors .

Saragoss a was taken ; but what a capture ! AsLannes rode through the streets a t the head O f

his victorious army,he looked only on a heap

Of ruins,while six thousand bodies s ti ll lay nu

buried in his path . Sixteen thousand lay sick,

while on the l iving,famine had written more dreadful

characters than death had traced on the fallen . In

fants lay on the breasts O f their dead mothers,striving

in vain to draw l ife from the bosoms that never wouldthrob again . A ttenuated forms

,wi th haggard faces

and sunken eyes and Cheeks,wandered around among

the dead to search for their friends— corpses bloatedw i th famine lay stretched across the threshold Oftheir dwellings

,and strong- l imbed men went s tagger

ing over the pavements, weak from want O f food , or

s truck with the pestilence . W oe was in every s treet,and the silence in the dwellings was more eloquentthan the loudest cries and groans . Death , and

famine,and the pestilence

,had been there in every

variety of form and suffering . But the divine formOf L iber ty had been there too, walking amid thosemountains O f corpses and ruins of homes , sheddingher light through the subterranean apartments of th ewretched

,and with her cheering voice animating the

thrice- conquered, yet stil l unconquered , to another

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202 A C C U S A T I O N S A G A I N S T H I M .

thrown into the river,so that when their bodies were

thrown ashore in the morning, they would strike terror into o thers . He i s also accused of violating tne

terms of capitulation , by sending the sick Palafox ,the commander-ih -chief

,a close prisoner to France ,

when he had promised to let him retire wherever he

~ chose . These are Mr . Al ison’s al legations ; but as

iM adame d ’A b rantes is the only authority he gives,they are al l to be doubted

,at leas t in the way they

are stated,while some Of them carry their falsehood

in their very inconsistency ; and one hardly knowswhich tO wonder at mos t

,the Short-sighted pique Of

Madame Junot, (al ias d

’A b rantes

,) which could originate them

,or the creduli ty or national prejudice of

Mr . Al ison,which could endorse them .

Juno t had been unsuccessful in conducting theS iege

,and had been superseded in the command by

Lannes,who had won the admiration Of Europe by

his success . That Juno t’s wife should feel this,was

natural ; and that her envy Should cause her to believeany story that migh t meet her ear

,tending to dis

parage her husband’s ‘ rival

,was woman-l ike . B e

s ides,Junot received less of the Spoils than he would

have done,had he been commander ih chief. This also

warped the fair historian ’ s judgment— especially theloss of the j ewels of our Lady O f the Pillar

,which

she declares Lannes appropriated to himself. A ll thiswas natural in her

,but hour Mr . Al ison could sup

pose any one would bel ieve that Lannes wreaked hisentire

'

vengeance against the city of Saragossa andits brave inhabi tants

,by spearing two harmless

priests on the banks of the E b rO,i s passing strange .

He mus t find some o ther reason for the act beforeany one will believe 1t . B ut the accusation tha t he

M A R S H A I L A N N E S . 203

drowned a few monks to frigh ten the res t,1s stil l

more laughable . One would think that Lannes considered himself in danger from monkish conspiracies,to resort to this desperate method Of inspiring terror .If this story was to be believed a t all

,one would ln

cline to think that he did i t for mere amusement , towhile away the tedious hours , in a deserted , ruined ,famine-struck

,and pes tilence- struck city . TO inspire a

sepulchre and hospital with terror,by drowning a few

monks,was certa inly a very original idea O f his .

In the s torming OfRatisbon,Lannes exhib ited one

of those impuls ive deeds which characterized h im.

Seeing a house leaning against the ramparts,he im

mediate ly ordered the arti llery against i t,which soon

broke down the walls,and left them a sort Of step

ping- stones to the tops of the walls of the c i ty . Butsuch a des tructive fire was kept up by the Austr ianson the space between the French and it

,that they

could not be induced to cross i t. At length Lannesseized a scal ing- ladder

,and rushing into and

through the tempest Of balls that swep t every foot ofthe ground

,planted i t firmly against the ruined house

,

and summoned his men to follow . Rushing throughthe fire

,they rallied around him

,sealed the walls

,and

poured into the city,and Opened the gates to the army

B u t now we come to the close ofLannes ’ career . Hehad passed through three hundred combats

,and proved

himself a hero in fifty- three pi tched battles . Sometimes the storm swept over him

,leaving him unscath

ed ; sometimes, desperately wounded, he was bornefrom the field of his fame

,but always ral lied again

to lead his hos t to vic tory . But his last‘

battle-fieldwas at hand

,and one Of the s tronges t pillars of ‘ Na

poleon’s throne was to fall amid clouds and darkness.

B A T T L E (W A S P E R N

BATTLE O F ASPERN .

In the summer of 1809 after Vienna had fallen intohis hands

,Napoleon determined to pass the Danube

and give the Archduke Charles bat tle, on the fartherShore . The Danube, near Vienna , flows in a widestream

,embracing many islands in i ts slow and ma

jestic movement over the plain . Bonaparte resolvedto pass i t at two points at the same time

,a t Nussdorf

,

about a mi le above Vienna ; and against the i sland Of Lobau

,farther down the river. Lannes

took charge O f the upper pass, and Massena of

the lower— the two heroes of the coming battleO f Aspern . Lannes

,fail ing in his attempt

,the

whole army was concentrated at Lobau . On the

evening O f the 19th O f May,Bonaparte surprised the

Austrians on the island,and taking possess ion O f it

and the other islands around i t,had nothing to do

but throw bridges from Lobau to the northern bankof the Danube

,in order to march his army over to

the extended plains OfM archfield,that stretched away

from the bank to the heights O f B isomberg, wherelay the Archduke with a hundred thousand men .

Through unwearied efforts,Bonapar te was able to

assemble on the farther shore,on the morning of the

21 st,forty thousand soldiers . The Archduke saw

,

from the height he o c cupied,every movement O f the

French army ; which seemed, by i ts rashness and

folly,to be rushing into the very j aws O f des truction .

I t was a cloudless summer morning,and as the

glorious sun came flashing over the hill- tops,a forest O f

gl ittering bayonets sen t back its beams . The grass andthe flowers looked up smil ingly to the blue heavens

,

unconscious O f the carnage that was to end the day.

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206 B A T T L E O F A S P E R N .

ing death and havoc amid the F rench rank s . A s

nigh t drew on,the conflict became indescribably aw

ful . Burs ting shel ls,explosions Of artil lery, and

volleys of musketry,were mingled with Shouts Of

victory and cries Of terror ; while over all , as if todrown all

,was heard at in terval s the braying Of

trumpet s and s trains of martia l music . The v i llages

in which Massena and Lannes maintained theirground with such unconquerable fi rmne ss

,took fire

,

and burned with a red flame over the nightly battle-r

field,adding ten- fold horror to the work of death .

But I do no t intend to describe the firs t day ’s battle,

as I shall refer to i t again when speaking Of Massenaand Bessieres

,who fough t with a desperation and nu

conquerable firmness that astonished even Napoleon .

At eleven O’clock at nigh t the uproar Of battleceased

,and through the sl owly re tiring cloud of war

that rol led away towards theD anube,the s tars came

ou t one by one,t o look on the dead and the dying .

Groans and cries loaded the midnight blast,while

the sleeping host l ay almos t i n each other’ s embrace .Bonaparte

,wrapped in his mil i tary cloak

,lay s tretch

ed beside the Danube,not half a mile from the ene

my ’ s cannon . The sentinel s could almost Shakehands across the narrow space that separated them ;and thus the living and the dead slept together 011 thehard-fought field

,while the si len t cannon

,loaded

wi th death,were pointing over the Slumbering hosts .

Lulled by the Danube,that rol led i ts turbulent flood

by his side , and canopied by the stars , Napoleon

rested his exhausted frame while he revolved thedisas trous events of the day

,and pondered how he

might redeem his error . Massena had lost m ost ofAspern ; but Lannes st il l held Essl ing, and had held

M A R S H A L L A N N E S . 07

It during one Of the mo s t sanguinary struggles of tha tfiercely fought battle.

Early in the morning,as soon as the light broke

over the eastern hills,the two armies were again on

their feet,and the cannon opened anew on the walls

Of l iving men . The French troops were dispirited,

for the previous day had been one Of defeat ; whilethe Austrians were full Of hope . But the res t of Lannes ’ corps had crossed the Danube during the nightwhile Davous t

,with nearly thirty thousand more

was marching with flying colours over the bridge.The Archduke had also received reinforcements

,so

tha t two armies Of about a hundred thousand each,

stood ready to contes t the field on the second day.

At the commencement of the onset , Lannes wasdriven for the firs t t ime from Es sling ; but St . B i liarecoming up to h is aid , he rall ied hi s defeated troopsand led them back to the charge

,re- took the place

,

and held it,though artill ery , infantry and cavalry

thundered upon it with shocks tha t threatened to

sweep the village itself from the plain .

At length,Bonaparte

,tired Of acting on the defeu

S ive,began to prepare for his great and decis ive

movem ent on the centre . Massena was to hold Aspern

,Davous t to march on Essling

,while Lannes

the brave Lannes,who had fought with such courage

,

and almost superhuman energy , for two days— wasordered with O udino t . to force the centre and cut theAus trian arm y in two . Bonaparte called him to hisside

,and from his station behind the lines which

overlooked the field,po inted out to him the course he

w ished him to take . Lannes spurred to his post,and

when al l wa s ready,Napoleon came riding along the

lines to animate the soldiers in the decisive onset thatwas abou t to be made . The shouts O f Vive l

’E m

208 C H A R G E A T A S P E R N .

p er eur !” with which they rece ived him

,were heard

above the roa r Of battle,and fell with an ominous

sound upon the Austrian lines . Apprised by the

shouts where the Emperor was pass ing,they imme

dia tely turned their cannon in tha t direction , hoping bya chance Shot to s trike him down . General Mou thierwas killed by his S ide

,bu t he passed unhurt through

the fire . In a few minutes,Lannes’ terrible columns

were on the march,and moved with rapid s tep over

the field . Two hundred cannon were placed in front,

and advanced like a rapidly moving wall of fire overthe cumbered ground . Behind was the cavalry— thei rres is tible horsemen that had swept S O many bat tlefields for Napoleon

,and before the on se t ofwhich the

best infantry of Europe had gone down .

The Imperial Guard formed the reserve . Thusarrayed and sustained

,those steady columns entered

the close fire Of the Aus trian batteries and the deadlyvolleys of the infantry . Lannes knew that the fateOf the battle was placed in his hands

,and tha t the

eye Of Napoleon was fixed with the deepest anxietyupon him . He felt the weigh t O f Europe on hisshoulders

,and determined to sus tain i t . In front

,

clearing a path fo r his strong legions,went the artil

lery,rending the serried l ines as though they had

been threads Of gossamer. Around the threatenedpoint the whole in teres t Of the battle gathered

,and

the most wasting and destructive fire opened on Lannes

’ s teady ranks . But nothing could resis t the

weight and terror of their Shock . Through andthrough the Austrian l ines they went, wi th thes trength Of the inroll ing tide of the sea . Into the wildbattle-gorge thus made by their advance the cavalry

plunged at headlong gallop, shaking their sabres

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210 T H E R E T R E A T .

armour rat tling as they came— they burst into themids t O f the enemy and charged the now steady battalions with appall ing fury . Round and round thefirm square s they rode

,spurring their s teeds agains t

the very points of the bayonets,but in vain . N o t a

square broke,not a battalion fled ; and , charged in

turn by the Au stri an cavalry,they were compel led

to fal l back on their own infant ry . Stil l Lannes stoodam id the wreck and carnage o f the battle-field aroundhim . Unable to deploy so as to re turn the terrific firethat was ted him

,and disdaining to fly

,he let his

ranks m elt away beside him . Being in squares , the

Aus trians could fire to advantage,while Lannes could

only return i t from the edge s O f his column . Seeingtha t he dare not deploy hismen

,theArchduke advanced

the cannon to within five rods Of them,and there

played on the dense masses . Every discharge openedhuge gaps

,and men seemed like mis t

,before the de

struct ives torm . S till that shivering column stood asif rooted to the ground

,while Lannes surveyed with

a flashing eye the disas trous field from which he sawthere was no rel ief. Amid thi s des truct ion

,and in

this crisi s,the ammunition began to fail

,and his

own cannon were less hotly worked . Jus t then,

too,the new s began to fly over the field

,that the

bridges over the Danube had been carried away bythe heavy boats tha t had been floated down againstthem . Sti ll Lannes disdained tO fly

,and seemed

to resolve to perish in his footsteps . The brave Marshal knew he could not win the battle ; but he knewalso

,he could die on the Spot where he struggl ed for

an Empi re . Bonaparte,as he looked over the disor

dered field from his pos i tion,saw at once

.“tha t the

battl e was lost . Sti ll . in this dreadful cr i sis he showed

M A R S H A L L A N N E S . 211

no agitation or exci tement . Calm and collected,as if

on'

a mere review,be surveyed the ruin about him

,

and,by his firm bearing

,steadied the soldiers and

Oflicers amid whom he moved . Seeing that 110 timewas to be los t if he would save the remnant O f hisarmy— for the bridges were fast yielding to the swollen stream— he ordered a general retreat . Lannesand his army then began to retire over the field .

In a moment the retreat became general,and the

whole army rolled heavily towards the bridge thatcrossed to the island of Lobau . As they concentratedon the shore

,i t became one mighty mass

,where not

a shot could fal l amiss .The Archduke wishing to turn this retrea t into a

total rout,immediately advanced wi th hi s whole

army upon them . His ent ire ar tillery was broughtup and arranged in a semi-circle around this dense

mass,crowding on to the bridges

,and poured their

concentrated s torm into a perfect mountain O f flesh .

I t seemed as if nothing cOuld prevent an u tter over~

throw ; but Lannes , cool and resolu te as his Emperor,rallied his bes t men in the rear

,and covered the re

treating and bleeding army. With Massena by hiss ide

,now steadying his troops by his words and ac :

tions,now charging like fire on the advancing l ines

,

these two heroes saved the army from burial in theDanube .Lannes never appeared to better advantage thanon this occasion . H is impetuosity was tempered bythe most serious and thoughtful actions , and heseemed to feel the importance Of the great m i ssionwub which he had been entrusted . At length

,dis

mounting from his horse to escape the tempes t O fcannon balls which swep t down every thing over the

212 H I S D E A T H

soldiers ’ heads,he was struck by a Shot as he touched

the ground,

“

which carried away the whole of the

r ight leg,and the foo t and ankle Of the left . Placed

on a litter,he was immediately carried over the

bridge into the island,where Bonapar te was superin

tending some batteries with which to pro tec t thepassage . Seeing a lit ter approach him ,

Napoleonturned

,and

,lo

,there l ay the bleeding and dying

Lannes . The fainting Marshal seized him by thehand

,and in a tremulous voice exclaimed

,

“Farewel lS ire . Live for the world

,but bestow a passing

thought on one O f your bes t friends,who in two hours

wil l be no more .”

The roar of battle was forgo tten,and reckless alike

of his defeat and the peril Of his army,Of all

,save

the dying friend by his side, Napoleon knel t over therude couch and wept like a child . The lip that hadseemed made O f iron during the day

,now quivered

with emotion,and the eye that had never blenched

in the wi ldes t Of the battle,now flowed with tears .

The voice Of affect ion spoke louder than the thunderO f artillery

,and the marble-hearted monarch wept .

And wel l he might . For there before him,mangled

and torn,lay the friend O f his youth

,and the com

panion O f his early career— he who charged by hisside at Lodi and Arcola— saved his army a t Montebello

,and Italy a t Marengo— who opened Ratisbon

to his victorious army— nay,the right hand Of his

power— broken and fallen forever . “ Lannes,

”saId

he,in his overpowering emo tion

,

“ do you no t knowme ’

! i t is th e Emperor,i t i s Bonaparte

,your friend ;

you wil l ye t l ive .” “ I would that I might,

” replied

the dying hero,for you and my country , but in an

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214 H I S C H A R A C T E R .

m arried poverty,and from the lower ranks of life

,

partook of his generosi ty and kindness .The eldes t son of Lannes , the present Duke ofMontebello

,m arried, not many years ago, in Paris, a

daughter of Charles Jenkinson,an Engl ish gen tle

man.

MARSHAL MONCEY.

H is E arly Life—O perations in Spain—The P resentation by Napoleon of his S on to him and the National Guard—H is noble efforts inbehal f of Ney—R eception of Napoleon’

s body When brought fromS t . H elena.

THERE can be no greater contras t than that betweenMoncey and most of Napoleon’s other Marshals . The

moral qualities in him predominated over themental,

and while he did every thing right,he did nothing

brilliant . Notwiths tanding the injustice of it,the

world will insist on judging every man by the samestandard

,without regard to the natural temperament or

mental constitution . For the quiet,upright and

chari table l ife a man naturally of a mild spiri t andequable feelings leads

,he receives al l the praise of

one who has combatted his fierce propensities,and by

a long process of self-discipline,chas tened his spirit

and corrected his actions . The world seem s to forgethe is acting ou t his natural tendencies

,and to be rash

,

posi tive,and encroaching

,would require a painful

effort . Being without force of wil l and the concentra tion of purpose which loves action , and seeks greataccomplishments

,he is not at home in the violence of

pol itical revolutions or the fierce tumul t of battle . In

following the peaceful and even path he treads , he isconsulting his own tastes and inclina tions , yet menpoint to him as a model . He may be a good man

,

and worthy of all admiration ; yet were the world

216 H I S C H A R A C T E R .

fill ed with such,i t would s tagnate . Such men never

m ake reformers—conceive and execute vast plans , orpush the race onward towards i ts final goal.

Nei ther will men average character. They willno t al low for the peculiar nature with which one i s eu

dowed,nor let h is good and bad qualities balance each

other . A man of s trong and vivid imagination,and

impetuous spirit,may not only exhibit more principle

,

show more self-control,and acquire greater virtue in

disciplin ing himself to the point from which errorsare still committed

,than he who is withou t spo t or

blame,—bu t his acti ons if m ingled up would take a

higher level . One error “ covers a multitude ” of

v ir tues in this world .

Moncey and Murat were as different as light anddarkness— neither one could have been the other by

any possible training. The career of the former wasl ike a stream flowing through val leys— steady andequable— that of the latter l ike a rushing wave— now

breaking in grandeur on the shore,and now retiring

ou t of sight into the deep . The former cultivates oursentiments

,the la tter kindles our imagination and

awakens our emotions . Murat was a chivalrici

knight— Moncey an honest man . One went downlike a gallan t ship at sea— the other slowly wastedaway in the peaceful port where he sought shel terand repose . But

,if Moncey was not a bril liant man

,

he exhibi ted in the early part of his career the qual ities of a good general

,and received the reward of his

bravery and suchess in being made Duke of Corne

gliano and Marshal of the Empire .Rose-Adrien de Moncey was born at B ezancon

,in

July , 1754 . His father was lawyer of the town pardament, and designed to fi t his son for his own peace

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218 H I S C A R E E R I N’

S P A I N .

represen tative Garrau,after enumerating the ex traor

dinary victories that had been gained , closed w i thsaying, “ The soldiers of this army are no t menthey are either demons or gods .” The whole state o fFrench affairs was changed in that quar ter

,and as it

was attributed chiefly to the energy and skil l ofMoncey

,he was nominated commander-in- chief. Hearing

of his nomination,he wrote to the Convent ion no t to

ratify i t,as he did not deem himself qual ified for the

s tation . But the Convention paid no heed to his remon s trance

,and he was proclaimed “ Commander-in

chief of the army in Spain .

” He soon showed gtha t

the government had not misplaced i ts confidence ; fin:pursuing his success

,he beat the Spaniards at L ecfimJ

berry and Villa Nova,— passed the Deva

,overcame the

enemy atVilla Real and Mont Dragon — took Bilbo a,

rou ted the enemy at Vi ttori a,and overrun all Biscay.

The court at Madrid,alarmed at the rapid advance

of the republican general,offered terms of peace

,which

were accepted,and the victorious Moncey left the field

of his fame,and returned to France . In 1796

,he was

sent to command the army on the side of Brest . Having used al l his endeavour to heal the divis ions inVendee

,he was appointed at the end of the year to

command the firs t mili tary division at Bayonne . Herehe remained idle

,while the French army was filling

the world with its deeds,along the Nile and around

the Pyramids ; and winning laurels in the Alps and bythe Rhine .When Bonaparte was appointed First Consul

,Mon

cey,then a t Paris

,received the command of the fif

teenth military d ivision at Lyons . Soon after, whenthe former commenced operations in Italy

,the latter

was despatched thithe r wi th fifteen thousand men .

M A R S H A L M O N C E Y . 219

While the former was descending from the heights

of St. Bernard,the la tter was leading his army ot

fifteen thousand men over the'

pass of St . Gothard .

His his torians have made him present at the battle ofMarengo

,but on the day of that great vic tory to the

French,he was guarding the Tessino

,awai ting orders

from Bonaparte.In 1801

,he was made chief inspector of the g ens

d’

armer ie,and three years after rece ived his Marshal ’s

baton . Grand officer of the Legion of Honour,Pre

siden t of the Electoral Col lege of his own department,

and Duke ofCornegliano , fol lowed in rapid success ion .

In 1808,when Napoleon invaded Spain

,Moncey

was sent in to Valencia at the head of ten thousandmen

,to watch the country between the Lower Ebro

and Carthagena,and if he thought it advisable

,to

attack Valencia i tself. Hearing at Cuenca that anarmy of thirty thousand men was gathering to attackhim

,and tha t the insurrection in the province was

rapidly increasing,he resolved to march on the city

of Valencia . He immediately,according to hi s in

struc tions,sent a despatch to General Chabran

,whom

he supposed to be at Tortosa,to march also towards

the ci ty,and effect a junction with his army there on

the 27 th or 28 th of the month . In the mean time,he

moved forward with his small army towards the place.Forcing the river Cabriel

,he continued his march

wi thout serious interruption and took up his posi tionat O tr iel. But hearing that the patriots to the numberof twelve thousand were intrenching themselves at

Cabrillas on his left,he turned aside to at tack them .

As he came up to them,his experienced eye saw im

mediately the advantageous posi tion they had taken .

Their centre was behind a deep , narrow defile, l ined

220 S E C O N D C A M P A I G N I N S P A I N .

with precipi tous rocks,on which were gathered multi~

tudes ofarmed peasantry,while the two wings s tretch

ed along the side O f a steep and rocky mountain.

Opening his arti l lery on the cen tre,and keeping his

cavalry hovering about the defi le,in order to d raw off

the attention of the enemy,he despatched General

H arispe to turn their flank . The plan was successful

,and the enemy was rou ted a t all points . Continu

ing his march he arrived before Valencia on the 27 th,

but no General Chab ran was there, nor could he getany tidings of him . He

,however

,disposed his forces

to the best advan tage,Opened his arti llery

,and sum

m oned the ci ty to surrender . But a walled town,

fil led with eighty thousand inhabi tants,and surround

ed by trenches flooded by water,so tha t no approach

could be made excep t through the gates,was not

l ikely to yield to an army of ten thousand men wi thout a struggle . Moncey then undertook to carry itby assault— a foolish attempt

,unless as i s reported

,a

smuggler had promised to betray the place .

The assaul t was unsuccessful— the people were inarms ; and a friar traversing the s treets , with a crossin one hand and a sword in the o ther

,roused them

by his fiery words to the highest pitch of enthusiasm .

In themeantime,no intelligence having been received of

Chabran , and the ammunition being nearly expended ,and a thousand wounded men encumbering his troopshe concluded to raise the siege

,and fel l back to

! uarte . Hearing at this place that the Spanish General was on the march for Almanza to intercept thecommunication of the French army

,he resolved to

advance and a ttack him before he could leave thekingdom of Murcia

,from which he was hastening.

In carrying out this p lan . Moncey,though now fifty

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222 R E C E I V E S N A P O L E O N ’ S S O N .

him great credi t,and says : Marshal Moncey

,whose

whole force was at firs t only eigh t thousand French,

and never exceeded ten thousand men,continued

marching and fighting,without cessat ion

,for a month

,

during which period he forced two of the s tronges tmountain passes in the world— crossed several largeand difficult r ivers— carried the war into the verystreets of Valencia

,and being disappointed of assis

tance from Ca talonia,extrica ted his division from a

difficult Si tuation,after having defeated his opponents

in five actions,killed and wounded a number of

them,equal in amount tothe whole of his own force

,

and made a circui t of three hundred mile s,through a

hosti le and populous country,without having sus

tained any serious l oss ; wi thout any deser tion fromthe Spanish battali ons incorporated wi th his own

,

and what was ofmore importance,having those bat

talions much increased by desertions from the enemy.

”

In ano ther place he says,

“ Moncey,though an old

man,was vigorous

,active

,and decided .

”

Recalled to Paris by Napoleon,he was sen t into

Flanders to repel the Engli sh,who were threatening

a descent upon Antwerp . The failure of tha t expedition leaving him without active employment

,he

was appointed to the command of the army of reservein the North . When Napoleon projected his fata lRuss ian campaign

,Moncey

,then an old man

,threw

in his s trenuous remonstrance against i t . After i tsdisas trous termina tion

,he did but . little til l the allies

invaded France . When Napoleon,in that

—

crisis ofhis l ife

,roused himself to meet the storm tha t was

darkening over hi s throne . he saw ,with his far- reach

ing glance,that the enemy might approach to Paris ;

a nd among his las t dispos i tions was the reorganiza

M A R S H A L M O ‘N C E Y . 223

tion of the National Guard over which he placed theveteran Moncey .

On the Monday previous to his setting out for

the army , t o make his l as t stand for his Empire ;he assembled the officers of the National Guardin the Palace of the Tuilleries

,and there

,in solemn

pomp,committed his son to their charge . The E m

p ress advanced first into the apartment,followed by

Madame Montesquieu carrying the infant king— al

ready proclaimed King O fRome . The innocent child,

but three years old,was dressed in the uniform of

the National Guard and hi s blue eyes sparkled withdelight at the gay ornaments that now

,for the first

time adorned hi s ves tments,while his golden locks

clustered in ringlets abou t his neck . Taking him bythe hand

,Napoleon stepped into the mids t of the

circle of ofiicers,and thus addressed them : Gentle

men,I am now to set ou t for the army

,and I entrust

to you that which I hold deares t in the world— mywife and son. Let there be no pol itical dissens ions ;let the respect for proper ty, regard for order, andabove al l

,the love of France

,fil l every bosom . I do

not conceal from you that in the struggle that i s tocome

,the enemy may approach on Paris

,but a few

days will end the affair . Before they arrive I willbe on their flanks and rear

,and annihilate those who

dare viol ate our country.

” After he had closed hisaddress

,a silence

,like that of the grave

,succeeded

,

and he took the child in his arms and presented himto the aged Moncey . The Old man

,who had stood

so many battle shocks unmoved,was now unnerved :

and the quiver ing lip and swimming eye told of thedeep emotions that mastered him

,as he received the

sacred trust . “ This,

”said Napoleon

,is your future

sovereign .

" He then presented the child to tliffiother

!

224 N O B L E E F F O R T T O S A V E N E Y .

Offi cers,and

,as with sad and serious countenance he

walked uncovered through their rank s,sudden shouts

of en thusiasm filled the apartment ; and amid the cries

of “ Vine Z’E mp er eur ,

” and “ Vine le r oi de R ome,

”

tears burs t from eyes unaccu stomed to weep .

On Tuesday morning,at three O ’clock

,Napoleon

left h is palace for the army,never to see his wife and

son again .

A t length the allied armies were approaching toParis ; and soon the heights around the city werecov ered with thei r victorious legions . But previousto this the Empress and her son

,by order of Napo

leon,had left Paris . Stil l the National Guard com

bated bravely , and Marshal Moncey, firm and s teadfas t to the end

,struggled on after al l hope was gone

,

and remonstrated against submiss ion until Marmont ’s defec tion ruined every thing .

He then re

signed his command to the Duke of Montmorency,

and,faithful to the las t

,retired with a few troops to

Fontainbleau,to Napoleon . After the abdication of

the Emperor,he gave in his adhes ion to the new

government,and was confirmed in his Oflice of In

spector General Of the Horse of the King’s household,

and in the June following,made Chevalier of Sain t

Louis,and two days after

,Peer of France .

When the news of Napoleon’s landing reachedParis

,he addressed the Gens d ’A rm es

,reminding

them of the oath they had taken , to be fai thful to theKing. He himself never swerved from his new al le

giance ; and after the second overthrow of Napoleona t Waterloo

,was appointed

,as the oldest of the Mar

shals,to preside at the trial of Ney . But the firm

and upright old sold ier not only refused to sit in the

Council ofWar , but drew up an a b le and bold remon

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226 H I S I M P R I S O N M E N T .

parents ? Reflect,Sire ; i t is , perhaps , the last time

that truth shall come near your throne .“ I t i s very dangerous

,very impolitic to push the

brave to despair . Ah,i f the unhappy Ney had ac

complished at. Waterloo what he had so Often donebefore

,perhaps he would no t have been drawn before

a m il i tary commiss ion . Perhaps those who to-daydemand his death would have implored hi s protection .

at it it Nobly said,brave Moncey

,in

thi s trying hour of France,when each was seeking to

preserve his own head or fortune . This s ingle ac t

should make him immo rtal . Braving the hatred of

the king and the vengeance of the al lies,he on whose

l ife was no stain,here interposed himself between an

Old companion in arms and death . His place,his

fortune,and his l iberty he regarded light a s ‘

air whenput in the balance with his honour and with jus tice .

To any but a Bourbon ’ s heart,thi s appeal would not

have been in vain,and that unhappy race would

have been sav ed another stain on i ts character,and

England a dishonour which she never can wipe fromher history .

This bold refusal of the Oldes t Marshal to be pres ident of the council of war to try Ney

,accompanied

w i th such a noble appeal to the king,and deep con

demna tion O f the allies,awakened

,as was to be ex

pec ted , the deepes t indignation . The only reply to it,

was a royal order,depriving him of his rank as Mar

shal,and condemning him

,withou t trial

,to three

months ’ imprisonment . This order was countersigncd by Marshal St . Cyr

,to h is everlasting disgrace.

He had better died on the field of his fame,or been

shot l ike Ney,by kingly murderers

,than pu t his sig

na ture to such a paper . If al l the Marshals had eu

M A R S H A L M O N C E Y . 227

tered their solemn protest again st the act , as Monceydid

,i t i s doubtfu l whether Ney would have been

slain .

The disgrace and imprisonment of the O ld Marshal,

without even the farce of atrial,was in perfect keep

ing with the despotic inj ust ice that had beforehandresolved on Ney’s death . B ut what a pitiful exhibition of kingly violence was this Shut ting up an old

man over s ixty years of age,whose head had whiten

ed in the storm of bat tle,and on whose name was no

s tain or even reproach,for daring in the nobleness of

his nature,to refuse to condemn an old companion in

arms,by whose S ide he had fought so long and

bravely for France and for freedom .

When power depar ted from Napoleon,mo st of his

Marshals in their eagerness to save thei r hard-earnedhonours

,and rank

,and fortune

,showed themselves

wanting in some of the nobles t quali ties of man .

But,Moncey

,unm oved by all his reverses

,s till kept his

honour bright and his integri ty unshaken ; and thenight that he laid hi s grey hai rs on his prisoner ’s pi llow

,witnessed a nobler deed than the day that looked

on his mos t victorious bat tle-field .

Louis XVIII was not long in perceiving the badpol icy of this petty tyranny ; and when the threemonths’ imprisonment was ended

,he reinstated him

in his rank,and in 1820 named him commandan t of

the 9th mil itary division , and soon after Chevalier ofthe order of Saint Esprit .In the inglorious Spanish war of 1823

,Moncey ,

then nearly seventy years of age , was appointed overthe fourth corps . He marched into Spain, fought

several battles , and finally sat down in regular siege

before Barcelona . The cap i tulation of this ci ty, after

228 G O V E R N O R O F T H E v A L i n E S .

some severe fighting,ended the war ; and Moncey re

turned to France,and received the grand cross of

Sain t L ouis,and a seat in the Chamber of Peers .

In the la te Revolution of 1830,Moncey took no

par t. He had long foreseen the storm which CharlesX

,by determin ing to keep up the Bourbon reputation

for folly,was gathering over his head

,and saw with

out regret the over throw of his throne . His age andsorrow for the dea th of his only son

,who in leaping a

ditch in a hun ting excursion,accidental ly discharged

his gun and killed himself, had driven him frompublic life . But when the Bourbon throne wentdown again , b e replaced with joy his old cockade of

After the death of Marshal Jourdan,in 1834

,he

was appointed Governor of the Inval ides . Nothingcould be more touching than the sight of this oldveteran

,now eigh ty years of age

,among the muti la

ted and decrep id soldiers of Napoleon . Sustained bytwo servants

,he would drag himself from hall to ball

amid the bless ings of those old warriors,many of

whom had seen him in the pride of manly strengthand courage

,lead his columns into battle . Nearly

two hundred oflicers and more than three thousandmen

,the wreck of the grand army

,were assembled

here,and the oldest Marshal of the Empire placed a t

their head . How striking the contrast which Moncey and those few thousand men in thei r faded regi

mentals,presen ted to the magnificen t army which

Napoleon led so often to victory. From the Pyramids,

from Lodi,Arc ol a

,Marengo

,Austerli tz

,Jena

,W a

gram,and Borodino

,where the eye res ts on mighty

armies,moving to battle and to v ictory amid the nu

rolling of s tandards and peal ing of trumpets ; the

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230 NAPOLEON BR OUGHT BACK FROM S T . HELENA .

hewas an honest m an .

” He was not wanting in

intellectual qualities,bu t they predominated too much

over his impulsive ones,to render him capable of

those great and chivalrous actions which characterized so many ofNapoleon ’s generals . Tho se suddeninspirations which s o often v isi t genius in the hour ofdanger or excitement

,he was an utter stranger to.

He did all things well,and preserved through a long

career the respect and confidence of the Emperor ; fo r

though he never flattered him in power,he never betray

ed him inmisfortune . His natural character was better

suited to the mili tary tactics of Well ington than Na

poleon ; who— decided , impetuous , and rapid himselfw ished to have around him men of s imilar charac terand temperamen t .The closing up of M oncey

’s l ife presents

,perhap s ,

the most affecting s cene in i t . When the remains of

Napoleon,a few years ago

,were brought from St.

Helena,Moncey

,though nearly ninety years of age ,

was s til l governor of the Hotel des Invalides , and

hence was appointed to receive them in the name of

those disabled veterans . Al l France was agi tated a sthe time drew near when the vessel was expectedthat bo re back the dead Emperor to her shores . Theinsul ted hero had already slept too long amid his foes ,and when the vessel that was wafting him home

swept down on the coast of France,the excitement

could scarcely have been grea ter,had he been lan ding

w i th sword in hand .

On the day Of solemn procession in Pari s,the whole

ci ty was abroad,and Napoleon in the height of his

power never received more dis tingui shed honour,

than when dead he was borne through the capi tal ofhis former emp ire . A s the procession passed through

M A R S H A L M O N C E Y . 231

the streets,the bea t of the muffled drum

,and the pro

longed and mournful blas t of the trumpet as it roseand fell through the solemn requiem and all the signsof a nation’s woe

,fil led every hear t with the pro

foundes t grief.There

,beside the coffin

,walked the remnants of the

O ld Guard,once the pride and strength of the Em

peror , and the terror of Europe and there , too , washis O ld war—horse

,covered with the drapery ofmourn

ing,on whose back he had galloped through the ba t

tle ; and over al l drooped the banner ofFrance , heavywith crape- all— all mourning in silence for themighty dead .

The church that was to receive the body wascrowded in every par t of it

,waiting its arrival

,when

the multitude was seen to part in front,and an O ld

man bowed with years,his wh ite locks fall ing over a

whiter v isage,and seemingly ready himself to be laid

in the tomb,was borne through the throng in a large

arm-chair,and placed at the left Of the main altar

,

beside the throne . Covered with decorations and

honours,that contrasted s trangely with his wi thered

form,and almos t lifeless features

,he sa t and l is tened

to the heavy dirge that came sweeping through thechurch

,as if memory was trying in vain to recal l

the past . Tha t wa s M ar sha l !Moncey, now nearlyninety years of age

,brought hither to welcome his Old

commander back to his few remaining soldiers . A sthe funeral train slowly entered the court

,the thunder

of cannon shook the solid edifice,blending in their

roar with the s trains of martial music . They , foo .

Seemed con scious beings , and s triving with their Oldenvoices to awaken the chieftain for whom they had

swept so many battle-fields. Bu t drum and trumpet

232 R E C E P T I O N o r N A P O L E O N ’ S B O D Y .

to ne,and the sound of cannon

,fell alike on the dull

ear of the mighty s leeper . His battles were allo ver,

and his fierce spiri t gone to a land where the loudt r umpet of war i s never heard .

A S the coflin a pproached,the Old inval id soldiers

drew up on each Side of the way, in thei r Old uniform ,

to receive it. The spectacle moved the stoutest heart.The las t time these brave men had seen their emperorwas on the field ofbattle

,and now

,after long years

,his

coffin approached their mids t . The roar ofcannon,and

the strains ofmarti al music brough t back the days ofglory

,and as their eyes met the palL that covered the

form of their beloved chief,they fel l on their knees in

tears and sobs,and reached forth their hands in pas

siona te sorrow . Overwhelmed with grief,and with

the emotions tha t memory had so suddenly wakened,

this was the only welcome they could give him . Onswept the train till i t en tered the church ; and a s thecoffin passed through the door

,heralded by the Prince

de Joinville wi th his drawn sword in his hand,the im

mense throng involuntarily rose,and a murmur more

expressive than words,filled the house . The king de

scended from his throne to meet it,and the aged Mon

cey,who had hitherto sat immovable and dumb

,the

mere “ phantom of a soldier,

” suddenly s truggled tor ise . The soul awakened from its torpor

,and the

dying veteran knew that Napoleon was before him .

But his strength failed him— with a feeble effort hesunk back in his chair

,while a flash of emotion Shot

over his wan and wasted visage l ike a sunbeam,and

h is eye kindled a moment in recollection . I t was astriking spectacle —that silent coffin and that old Marshal together. Nothing could be more appropriateei ther

,than this recept ion of Napol eon ’s body . The

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V I I I .

MARSHAL MACDONALD .

H is ear ly Life—Battle of Trebbia— ! uarrel with Napoleon—H isP assage of the Splugen—Charge at W agram—Defence at Leipsic—H is Char acter .

IT i s as tonishing to see what resolute and i ron men

Bonaparte gathered around him . Every thing thatcame near him seemed to run in hi s mould

,o r rather

,

perhaps,he would confide in no one who did not par

take more or less of his charac ter . Some as muchunl ike him as men cou ld well be

,and worthy of no

regard,he had around him

,because he could use them

,

but to none such did he trus t hi s armies or commi tthe fate of a battle . Those whom he trusted withhis fa te and fortunes

,he knew by stern experience to

be men that never flinched in the hour of peril,and

w ere earth -fas t rock s amid the tumult of a battlefield . He tr ied every man before he committed thesuccess Of hi s grea t plans to him . R ank and fortunebought no places of trust from him . He promotedh is officers on the field of the slain

,and gave them

t itles amid the dead tha t cumbered the ground on

which they had proved themselves heroes by greatdeeds . When Bonaparte rode over one of his bloody

,

yet victoriou s bat tle-fields,as was ever his cu stom

after the conflict,he saw from the spots on which the

dead lay piled in largest heaps,where the heat and

crisis of the battle had been . From his observatory

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M A R S H A L M A C D O N A L D . 235

he had watched the whole progress of the s trife,and

when he rode over the plain i t was no t difficult to tel lwhat column had fought braves t

,or what leader had

proved himself worthies t of confidence ; and on theSpot where they earned their reward he g ave i t, andmade the place where they struggled braves t andsuffered most

,the birth-place of their renown . This

custom of his furnished th e greatest of all incitementsto desperate valour in battle . Every oflicer knew thatthe glass of his emperor swept the field where hefought

,and the quick eye that glanced like lightning

over every object'

was constantly on him,and as his

deeds were,so would his honours be . This strung

the energies of every ambitious man— and Bonapartewould have none others to lead his battalions- totheir u tmos t tension . What wonder is it

,then

,that

grea t deeds were wrought,and Europe stood awe

struck before enem ies that seemed never to dream of

defeat ".l

Macdonald was one of those s tern men Bonaparteloved to have in his army . He knew what Macdo

nald attempted to do he would never rel inquish til lhe him self fel l

,or his men fled . There was as much

iron and steel in this bold S cotchman,as in Bona

parte himself. He had al l his tenaci ty and inV1n01bility without his genius .

Macdonald was the son of a Scotchman,of the

family of Clanronald,who fought under the standard

of Prince Charles Edward,on the fatal field of

,Cul

loden ; and after i ts disastrous issue , fled to France,

‘

and settled in Sancerre . There the subject of thissketch wa s -born

,in November

,1 765

,and received

the name ofEtienne Jacques Joseph Alexandre Macdonald . He belonged to the army before the revolu

236 H i s E A R L Y H I S T O R Y .

tion,and during i ts progress took the republican S ide:

He was an aid-de-camp in the firs t Republican armythat advanced onthe Rhine at the declarat ion ofwar,and distinguished himself throughout that mi serablyconducted campaign . At the battle of Jemeppe, hefought with such bravery that he was promoted tothe rank of Colonel . Engaged in almost every battlein the L ow Countries

,he was appointed to lead the

van of the army at the North ; and in the wintercampaign of 1794

,performed one of those deeds of

daring for which he was afterwards so distinguished .

The batteries of N imeguen swept the river Waal , sotha t i t was deemed impossible to cross i t with anyconsiderable force

,yet Macdonald led his column

over the smooth ice and through the s torm of leadthat devoured his ranks

,and routed the enemy . For

this gal lant deed he was made general of brigade .In 1796

,at Cologne and Dusseldorf

,he commanded

the army,and soon after was sent by the Convention

into I taly .

After the conquest of the Papal s tates,in1798

,he

was made governor of Rome . In his new capacity,

he exhibited other talents than those of a militaryleader . He could scarcely have been placed in a

more trying posit ion than the / one he occupied asgovernor of the Ete rnal City . The two factions— oneof which acted with the revolution

,and the other

against it— kept the population in a perpetual ferment.Insurrec tions and popular outbreaks occurred almostevery day

,while the indignity that had been offered

the Pope , and the indiscriminate pi llage of the Vatican

,palaces

,and churches

,exasperated the upper

classes beyond control,and it required a strong arm

to m aintain French authority in the city. Macdo

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238 B A T T L E O F T R E B B I A .

into southern Italy. The invincible Suwarrow,vvho

had never yet turned his back on a human foe,began

to sweep down through the peninsula . Macdonaldcould not contend with the superior force now

brough t agains t him,and comm enced a masterly re

treat toward Tuscany,which tested his skil l as a

general more than any other act of his life .Still advancing north

,he came upon Suwarrow at

the river Trebbia,and there for three days endured

the Shock of the entire Ru ssian army . After the firstday ’s battle

,the two armies bivouacked on Opposite

sides Of the river,to wai t for the morning light to

renew the combat .A t 6 o ’clock the Russians advanced to the at tack .

M acdonald,finding that he must fight

,though anxious

to delay til l Moreau could come up,poured his bat

talions across the river,but after a most desperate

struggle,was compel led to retire again over the Treb

bia . The quiet s tream swept with a gentle murmurbetween the foemen

,while the watch-fires of both

camps were reflected from its placid bosom . Al l wass til l as the moonligh t sleeping there

,when three

French battalions,mistaking their orders

,advanced

into the river,and began to fire on the Russian out

posts . Both armies taken by surprise,supposing a

grand attack was to be made,rushed to arms . In a

mom ent al l was hurry and confusion . The artilleryon ei ther bank opened their fire— the cavalry plunged

headlong into the water— the infantry followed afterand there

,in inextricable confusion

,the two armies

,

up to their middle in water , fought by moonlight,while the closely advanced cannon played on the darkmasses of friend and foe with dreadful eflec t.This useless slaughter a t length being stopped, the

M A R S H A L M A C D O N A L D . 239

two weary hosts again lay down to rest on the Shore,

so near,that each could almos t hear the breath

ing of the other . Early in the morning they preparedfor the third and las t day ’s bat tle

,and at ten o ’clock

Macdonald advanced to the attack . His men,up to

their arm-pits in water,steadily crossed the river in

the face of a murderous fire . The battle was fiercelycontested

,but the French were final ly driven again

over the Trebbia with great loss,and next day were

compelled to retreat .The battle of Trebbia was one of the fiercest tha t

had yet been fought,and though Macdonald was

blamed for his tactics,he there evinced that indomi

table courage and tenacity which afterwards so distinguished him . A s i t wa s

,had Suwarrow received

no reinforcements,or had Macdonald been aided to

the same ex ten t,the issue of i t would doubtless have

been different . Nearly thirty thousand men had fallenduring these three terrible days . The

‘

courage,the

tenacity and firmness of the troops on bo th sideswere worthy of tha t field on which nineteen hundredyears before

,the Romans and Car thagenians had

battled for I taly .

In the revolution of the 18th Brumaire,which over

threw the Directory and made Bonaparte Firs t Consul

,Macdonald was by his s ide

,and with Murat

,

Lefebre,Marmont

,Lannes and others

,passed the

power of France over into his hands .For the service he rendered on this occas ion

,Na

poleon appointed him to the command Of the army inthe Grisons . A le tter from him to General Regnier

,

then with the army in Egypt,shows his exalted

views of Napoleon . In an extract,he says “ Since

you left . we have been compelled to lament over the

240 ! U A R R E L W I T H N A P O L E O N .

capriciousness of fortune,and have been defeated

everywhere,owing to the impotence of the old tyran

nical Directory . At las t Bonaparte appeared— up se tthe audacious government

,and seizing the reins

,now

directs with a s teady hand the car of the r evolutionto that goal all good men have long waited to see i treach . Undismayed by the burden laid upon him

,

this wonderful man reforms the armies— calls back theproscribed citizens- flings open the prison in whichinnocence has pined— abolishes the old revolutionarylaws— res tores public confidence— protects industryrevives commerce

,and making the republic trium

phant by his arms,places it in that high rank as

signed it by Heaven .

”

In 1802 he was sen t as ambassador to Copenhagen,

where he remained a year , On his return he wasappointed Grand O flicer of the Legion ofHonour. Butsoon after he incurred the displeasure of Bonaparteby his severe condemnation of the trial and sentenceof Moreau . Macdonald had fought bes ide the heroof Hohenlinden— they had planned and counselledtogether

,and he felt keenly the disgrace inflicted on

his Old companion in arms . Fearless in court as hewas in battle

,he never condescended to flatter

,nor

refrained from expressing hi s indignation againstmeanness and injustice . His words

,whichwere utter

ed without disguise,and couched in the plain

,blunt

terms O f a soldier,were repeated to Napoleon

,who

afterwards treated him with marked coolness . Too

proud to go where he was not rece ived as became

his rank,and equally disdaining to make any efforts

to produce a reconcili ation when he had told what heconsidered the simple truth

,be kept away from court

a l together.

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242 H I S I N J U S T I C E A N D I N T E G R I T Y .

Gratz,where be exhibi ted the n ob ler qualities of

justice and mercy. The bold denouncer of what he

deemed inj us tice in hi s Emperor was not l ikely to commit it himself. By the severe discipline he maintainedam ong the troops— preventing them from violating thehomes and property of the inhab itants— and by theequi ty and moderation with which he administered thegovernment entrusted to him

,he so gained the love

and respect of the people,that on his departure they

made him a present Of francs,or nearly

and a cos tl y box Of jewels,as a wedding

gift for one Of his daughters . But he nobly refu sedthem both

,replying

,

“ Gentlemen,i f you consider

yourselves under any obligation to me,repay i t by

taking care of the three hundred sick soldiers I amcompelled to leave with you.

”

Not long after he wa s made Duke of Tarentum,

and in 1810,wa s appointed to command the army of

A ugereau in Catalonia , who had been recalled . Acting in conjunction w i th Suchet he carried on for a

while a species of guerilla warfare for which he wasby nature li ttl e fi tted . In 1812

,he commanded the

tenth corps of th e Grand Army in i ts victorious marchinto Russia

,and was one of the surviving few

,who .

after performing prodigies ofvalour,and patiently en

during unheard O f sufferings in that calamitous retreat ; s truggled so nobly at Bautzen , and Lutzen , andLeipsic

,to sustain the tot tering throne of Napoleon .

He never faltered In his attachment ; nor refused hisaid t ill Bonaparte’ s abdica tion and exile to Elba .

H e was strongly opposed to his mad attempts to re

lieve Paris,which ended in his immediate overthrow.

He declared to Berthier that the Emperor should ret ire to Lens and there fall back on A ugereau ,

and

M A R S H A L M A C D O N A L D . 243

choosing ou t a field where he could make the bests tand

,give the enemy battle . “ Then

,

” he said,

“ if Providence has decreed our final hour,we shall

a t leas t diewith honour . ” Unwavering in his attachment to the last—when the allies had determined on

the Emperor ’ s abdication,he used every effort to ob.

tain the most favourable terms for him and his family.

This generous conduct,so unlike what Bonapar te

might have expected from onewhom he had treated sounjustly

,affected him deeply . He saw him alone at

Fontainbleau,and in their private interview previous

to his departure for Elba,acknowledged his indebted

ness to him,expressed his high regard for his cha

rec ter,and regret ted that he had not. appreciated

his great worth sooner . At par ting he wished to givehim some memorial of his esteem; and handing hima beautiful Turkish sabre

,presented by Ibrahim Bey

when in Egypt,said “ I t is only the present of a sol

dier to hi s comrade .When the Bourbons re-ascended the throne

,

'

M ac

donald was made a Peer of France,and never after

broke hi s oath Of allegiance . Unlike Murat,and

Ney,and Soult

,and others of Napoleon ’s generals ;

he considered his solemn oath sacred , and thoughwhen sent to repel the invader

,his soldiers deserted

him a t the first cry of “ Vive l’E mpereur ,” he did

no t follow thei r example , but making his escapehas tened to Paris to defend Louis . After the finaloverthrow ofNapoleon at Waterloo

,he was promoted

from one post of honour to another, ti l l he was madeGovernor of the 2l st Military Div ision , and Maj orGeneral of the Royal Guard . He visited soon after

Scotland,and hunting up his poor relatives

,bestowed

presents upon them ,and finally

,on the overthrow

244 P A S S A G E O F T H E S P L U G E N .

and abdication of Charles X .,gave his al legiance to

Louis Phil lippe .This brief outline Of his his tory gives us space tospeak more fully of the three great acts of his life .When commanding the army in the Grison s

,Mac

donald was ordered by Napoleon to pass the Splugenwith 1118 forces in order to form the left wing of hisarmy in Italy . This was in the Cam paign of Italy

,

after Bonaparte’s re turn from Egypt . Though nobraver or bolder man than Macdonald ever l ived

,he

felt that the execution of the Firs t Consul ’s commands was well nigh imposs ible

,and sen t General

Dumas to represent to h im the hopelessness of suchan undertaking. Bonaparte heard him through

,and

then wi th his usual recklessness of difliculties re

plied,

“ I wil l make no change in my dispositions .Return quickly and tell Macdonald that an army canalways pass in every season where two men canplace thei r feet . ” Like an obedien t officer he immediately set about preparations for the herculean task

before him .

P A S S A G E O F T H E S P L U G E N .

TH E presen t pass over this mountain is a very difa

ferent thing from the one which Macdonald and his

fifteen thousand men traversed . There is now a car

riage way across cut in S ixteen zig- zags along thebreast of the mountain . But the road ~ he was com

pelled to go was a'

mere bridle path,going through

the gorge Of the Ca rdinel. To understand some ofthe difficulties that beset him and his army, imaginea gloomy defile leading up to the heigh t of six thou

sand five hundred feet above the level of the sea,

while the raging of an Alpine s torm and the rapid

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246 F I R S T D A Y ’ S A S C E N T .

hind them came the workmen clearing away thesnow

,and behind them sti ll

,the mounted dragoons

,

wi th the most powerful horses of the army,to beat

down the track . The firs t company had advanced,in

this manner,nearly half way to the summit

,and

were approaching the hospice, when a low moaningwas heard among the hi lls , like the voice of the seaoefore a storm . The gu ides unders tood too well i ts

meaning, and gazed on each o ther in alarm . Theominous sound grew louder every moment, til l suddenly the fierce Alpine blas t swept in a cloud of snowover the breas t of the mountain, and howled like anunchained demon through the gorge below. In an

ins tant al l was confu sion,and blindness

,and uncer

tainty . The very heavens were blotted out,and the

frightened column stood and l istened to the ravingtempes t

,that threatened to li ft the rock- rooted pines

that shrieked above them from thei r places,and bring

down the very Alps themselves . But suddenlyanother stil l more alarming sound was heard amidthe storm an avalanche ! an avalanche !” shriekedthe guides

,and the next moment an awful white form

came leaping down the mountain,and striking the

column that was s truggling along the path , passedstraigh t through i t into the gulf below

,carrying thirty

dragoon s and their horses along with i t in i ts wildplunge . The black forms of s teeds

,and thei r riders

,

were seen,for onemoment

,suspended in mid—heavens

,

and in the next,disappeared among the ice and crags

below . The head of the column immediately pushedon and reached the hospice in safety

,while the rear

,

separated from it by the avalanche,and struck dumb

by this sudden apparition crossing their path withsuch lightning like veloci ty, and bearing to such a

M A R S H A L M A C D O N A L D . 47

fearful death thei r brave comrades , refused to pfoceed ,and turned back to the village Of Splugen .

For three days the s torm raged amid the mountains

,fi ll ing the heaven s with snow

,and hurl ing

avalanches into the path,till i t became so fil led up

that the guides declared i t wou ld take fifteen days toOpen it again

,as to make i t a t al l passable . But fif

teen days Macdonald could not spare . Independentof the urgency of his commands

,there was no way

to provis ion his army in these savage soli tudes,and

he must proceed . He ordered four\of the s trongest

oxen that could be found to be led in advance by thebe s t guides . Forty peasants followed behind

,clear

ing away and beating down the snow,and two com

panies of sappers came after to give s till greater cons istency to the track ; while on their heels marchedthe remnant of the company of the dragoons

,part of

which had been borne away by the avalanche , threedays before . The pos t of danger was given them attheir own reques t . They presented a strange S igh tamid those Alpine soli tudes . Those oxen with theirhorn s jus t peering above the snow , toiled S lowly on

,

pushing their unwieldy bodies through the drifts,

while the soldiers up to their arm-pits struggled behind . Not a drum or bugle note cheered the sol itudeor awoke the echoes of those s i lent peaks . Thefootfall gave back no sound in the soft snow

,. and

the words of command seemed smothered in the veryatmosphere. Silently

,noiselessly the vast but dis

ordered line stretched i tself upward,with naught

to break the deep stil lness of the wintry noon,-save

the fierce pantings of the horses and animals,as with

reeking Sides they strained up the ascent .This day and the nex t being clear and frosty, .

-the

248 T H I R D D A Y ’ S A S C E N T .

separate columns passed in safety,with the exception

of those who sunk in their foots teps overcome by thecold . The successful efforts of the columns

,these

two days,induced Macdonald to m arch all of the

remaining troops over the next day ; and so ordering the whole army to advance

,commenced on the

5 th of December the passage . But fresh snow hadfallen the night previous , fi lling up the entire track

,

so that i t had all to be made over again . The guides,

expec ting a wind and avalanches after this fresh fal lof snow refused to go , til l they were compelled to byMacdonald . Breas t deep the army waded up thedifficult and desolate path , making in six hours but sixmiles

,or one m ile an hour . They had not advanced

far,however

,when they came upon a huge block of

ice,and a newly fallen avalanche

,that entirely filled

up the way . The gu ides halted before these newobs tacles and refused to proceed

,and the head of the

column wheeled about and began its march down the

mountain . Macdonald immediate ly hastened forw ard ; and placing himself at the head of his men ,walked on foot

,with a long pole in h is hand

,to sound

the treacherous mass he was treading upon,while he

revived the drooping spi rits of the soldiers with words

O f encouragement “ Soldiers,

” said he,

“ your destinies call you into Italy advance and conquer firs tthe mountain and the snow— then the plains and thearm ies .” Ashamed to see their Genera l hazarding hislife at every s tep where they had refused to go

,they

returned cheerfully to their toil . But before theycould effect the passagethe voice of the hurricane wasagain heard on its march

,and the next moment a

cloud of driving snow obliterated every thing from

v iew . The path was fi lled up,and all traces of it

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250 F A L L O F A V A L A N C H E S .

w i th snow,imparted infini te terror to these mysteri

ous messengers Of death,as they came down the

mountain decl ivity . A low,rumbling sound would

be heard amid the pauses of the s torm ; and as thenext shriek of the blas t swept by

,a rushing as of a

counterblast smote the ear ; and before the though thad time to change

,a rol ling

,leaping

,broken mass

Of snow burst through the thick atmosphere,and the

next moment rushed with the sound of thunder,far

,

far below,bearing away a whole company Of soldiers

to i ts deep,dark resting place . One drummer carried

over the precipice,fel l unhurt to the bottom of the

gul f,and crawling out from the mass of the snow

which had broken his fall,began to bea t his drum for

relief. Deep down,amid the crushed forms of ava

lanches,the poor fellow s tood

,and for a whole houf

beat the rapid strains which had so often summonedhi s companions to arms . The m uflled sound cameringing up the face of the precipice, the mos t touchingappeal tha t could be made to a soldier ’s heart . But nohand cou ld reach him there

,and the rapid blows

grew fainter and fain ter,ti ll they ceased altogether

,

and the poor drummer lay down to die . He hadbeaten his las t revei l le

,and his companions passed

Jm ournfully on

,leaving the A lpine s torm to S ing his

dirge .

On the evening of the 6 th of December,the greater

part of the army had passed the mountains,and the

van had pushed on as far a s Lake Como . From the

26 th of November to the 6 th of December,or nearly

two weeks,had Macdonald been engaged in this per

ilous pass . Nearly two hundred men had perished inthe under taking

,and as many more mules and horses .

And never can one in imagination see tha t long strag

M A R S H A L M A C D O N A L D . 251

gling l ine,winding i tself l ike a huge anaconda over

the lofty snow-peak of the Splugen,with the indom

itable Macdonald feel ing h is way in front covered withsnow

,while ever and anon huge avalanches sweep

by him,and the blinding storm covers his men and

the path from his Sight,and hear -his s tern

,calm ,

clear voice,direc ting the way —without feelings of

supreme wonder . There is nothing like i t in modernhis tory

,unless i t be S uwarrow

’s passage of the G larus

in them idst of a superior enemy . Bonaparte’s passage over the St . Bernard— so world- renowned— wasmere child’s play compared to i t . That pa ss wasmade in pleasant weather

,wi th nothing but the rug

gedness of the ascent to obstruct the progress . S u

warrow,on the contrary

,led his mighty army over

the P ragel, breast-deep in snow ,w i th the enemy on

every side ofhim,mowing down his ranks without re

sistance. Macdonald had no enemy to contend wi th bu t

nature— but it was nature alive and wild . The pathby which he conducted his army over the Splugen wasnearly as bad in summer

,as the St . Bernard the time

Napoleon crossed i t . But in midwinter to m ake a path,

and lead"

an army of fifteen thousand men throughhurricanes and avalanches

,where the foo t of the cha

mois scarce dared to tread,was an undertaking from

,which even Bonaparte himself would have shrunk .

And Napoleon never u ttered a greater untruth,than

when he said,

“ The passage of the Splugen presentedwi thou t doubt

,some difficult ies

,but winter is by no .

means the season of the year in which such Operations are conducted with mos t difficul ty ; the snow isthen firm

,the wea ther settled

,and there is nothing

to fear from the avalanches,which consti tute the true

and only danger to be apprehended in the Alps .”

252 B A T T L E O N M O U N T T O N A L .

Bonaparte would have u s suppose that no avalanchesfalli n December, and that the passage of the Splugenin the mids t of hurricanes of snow

,was executed in

“ se ttled weather .” What then must we think of hispassage of the St . Bernard

,in summer time

,withou t

a foe to moles t him,or an avalanche to frighten him .

B ut M acdenald’s difliculties did not end with thepassage of the Splugen . To fulfil the orders of Na

poleon, to penetrate into the valley of the Adige, hehad no sooner arrived a t L ake Como , than he beganthe ascent of the Col A priga , which also was no soonerachieved

,than the bl eak peak of Mount Tonal arose

before him . A m ere sheep-path led over this s teepmountain

,and the army was compelled to -t oi l up it in

s ingle file through the deep snow . And when he arrived a t the Summit

,which was a small flat

,abou t

fifty rods across,he found the Austrians there

,pre

pared to dispute the passage with him . This narrowflat lay between two enormous glaciers

,that no human

foot could scale, and across i t the enemy had buil t

three entrenchments forming a triple l ine,and composed

chiefly of huge blocks of ice,cut into regular shapes ,

and fitted to each other . Behind these walls of ice,

the Austrians lay waiting the approach of the ex v

hansted French . The grenadiers clambering up thesl ippery path

,formed in column and advanced with

firm step on the strong entrenchments . A shee t offire ran along their sides

,s trewing the rocks wi th the

dead . Pressing on,however

,they carried the exter

nal palisades , but the fire here becoming so destructivethey were compelled to retreat

,and brop ght word to

Macdonald that the entrenchments Could not be forced .

Eight days after,however

,he ordered a fresh column

under Vandamme,to attempt to carry them by assaul t .

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254 B A T T L E O F W A G R A M .

ment of these three s tands lowest in the scale, i t‘

Is

not diflicult to determine .

B A T T L E O F W A G R A M .

But i t i s at Wagram that we are to look for Macdonald ’s greates t deed . One never thinks of that terrihe ba t tle

,without feelings Of the profoundest wonder

at his desperate charge,that then and there saved

Napoleon and the Empire . The bat tle O f Aspernhad proved disas trous to the French . The utmostefforts of Napoleon could no t wring victory from thehands of the Austrians . Massena had s tood under atree while the boughs were crashing with cannonballs over head

,and fought as never even he fought

before . The brave Lannes had been mangled by acannot shot

,and died while the victorious guns of the

enemy were still playing on his heroic,but flying

column and the fragments of the magnificent army,

that had in the morning moved from the banks of the

Danube in all the confidence of v ic tory,a t nigh tfall

were crowded and packed in the li ttle isl and of L O

bau . Rejec ting the counsel O f his Officers,Bonaparte

resolved to make a stand here,and wai t for reinforce

ments to come up . N O where does his exhaus tlessgenius show itsel f more than in this critical period ofhis l ife . He revived the drooping spiri ts ofhis soldiersby presents from his own hands , and visited in person the S ick in the hospi tals ; while the most giganticplans at the same time

,strung his vas t energies to

their utmos t ten sion .

From the latter part of May to the firs t of July,he

had remained Cooped up in this l ittle island , but notinac tive . He had done every thing that could bedone on the sp ot, whil e orders had been sen t to the

M A R S H A L M A C D O N A L D . 255

different armies to hasten to h is rel ief and never wasthere such an exhibition Of the skill and promptitudewith which orders had been issued and carried ou t.A t two o ’c lock in the afternoon

,the different armies

from all quarters first began to come in,and before

the next nigh t they had all arrived . First with mu

sic and s treaming banners appeared the columns ofBernadotte

,hastening from the banks of the Elbe

,

carrying joy to the desponding hearts of Napoleon’s

army . They had hardly reached the field before thestirring notes of the bugle

,and the rol l of drums in

another quarter,announced the approach of Van

damme from the provinces on the Rhine . Wredecam e next from the banks of the Lech

,with his

s trong Bavarians,while the m orning sun shone on

Macdonald ’s victorious troops,rushing down from

Illyria and the Alpine summits,to save Bonaparte

and the Empire . As the bold Scotchman reined hissteed up bes ide Napo leon , and pointed back to hisadvancing columns

,he l ittle thought that two days

after the fate O f Europe wa s to turn on his singlewill . Scarcely were his troops arranged in theirappointed place

,before the brave Marmont appeared

wi th gl ittering bayonets and waving plumes,from

the borders of Dalmatia . Like an exhaustless stream,

the magnificent armies kept pouring into tha t li ttleis le while

,to crown the whole

,Eugene came up with

his veterans from the plains of Hungary. In twodays they had all assembled

,and on the evening of

the 4 th of July,Napoleon glanced with exultant eye

over a hundred and eighty thou sand warriors,crowd

ed and packed into the small space of two miles anda half in breadth

,and a mile and a half in length .

Congratula tions were exchanged by soldiers who last

256 P A S S A G E O F T H E D A N U B E .

saw each other on some glOrious battle-field , and universal joy and hOpe spread through the dense ranksthat almos t touched each other.Bridges had been cons tructed to fl ing across the

channe l and,during that evening

,were brought out

from their places of concealment,and dragged to the

bank . In ten m inutes one was across, and fastenedat both ends . In a li t tl e longer time two others werethrown over

,and made firm to the Opposi te shore.

Bonapar te was there,walking backwards and for

wards in the mud,cheering on the men ,

‘

and accele

rating the work,which was driven wj th such wonder

ful rapidity,that by three O ’clock in the morning , six

bridges were finished and fil led with the marchingcolumns . He had constructed two bridges lowerdown the river

,a s if he intended to cross there in

order to distract the enemy from the rea l point of

danger . On these the Au s trians kept up an incessantfire of artil lery

,which was answered by the French

from the is land wi th a hundred cannon,l ighting up

the darkness of the night with thei r incessant blaze :

The village of E rzerdo rf was set on fire,and burned

with terrific fierceness— for a tempes t arose as if i nharmony with the scene

,and blew the flames into

ten- fold fury.

’

Dark clouds Swept the midnight heavens

,as if gathering for a contes t among themselves

the artillery of heaven was heard above the roarof cannon

,and the brigh t l ightning that ever and

anon rent the gloom,blen t in with the incessan t

flashes below— while blazing bombs,t ravers ing the

sky in every direc tion , wove their fiery net-workover the heavens

,making the night wild and awful

as the las t day of t ime . In the mids t of this scene ofterror , Napoleon remained unmoved, heedless alike of

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258 S E C O N D D A Y’s B A T T L E .

l ike the spokes of a wheel . The Austrians,on the

contrary,s tood in a vas t semi-circle

,as i f abou t to

enclose and swal low up their enemy . Macdonald’sdivision was among the first brought into the engagement

,and bravely held its ground during the day.

When night closed the scene of strife,the Austrians

had gained on the French . They nevertheless soundeda retreat

,whi le the exhausted army of Napoleon lay

down on the field Of blood,to Sleep .

Early in the morning,the Austrians taking advan

tage of their success the day before,commenced the

at tack,and the thunder of thei r guns at day-light

brought Napoleon into his saddle . The field wasagain alive with charging squadron s

,and covered

with the smoke of battle . From day- light ti ll nearlynoon had the conflict raged without a moment’s cessation . Every where

,excep t agains t the Austrians ’

left,the French were defeated . From the steeples

O fVienna,the multi tude gazed on the progress of the

doubtful fight,t ill they heard the cheers of thei r coun

trym en above the roar of cannon,driving the flying

enemy before them,when they shouted in joy

,and

believed the victory gained . But Napoleon gallopedUp , and restoring order in the disordered lines, orderedDavoust to make a circui t

,and ascending the plateau

ofWagram,carry Neusiedel . While waiting the re

sul t of this movement,on the success of which de

pended al l his future Operations,the French lines

under Napoleon’s immediate charge were exposed toa most scourging fire from the enemy’s artillery

,which

tore them into fragments . Unable to advance,and

too dis tant to return the fire,they were compelled to

stand,as idle spectators

,and see the cannon-shot

p lough through them . Whole ba ttalions,driven

M A R S H A L M A C D O N A L D . 259

frantic by this inaction in the midst of such fearfu lcarnage

,broke and fled . But every thing depended on

the infantry holding firmly their pos i tion ti ll the effectO f D avoust

’s assaul t was seen . Yet

,nothing but Na

poleon’s heroic bravery kept them steady. Mounted

on his milk-white charger,Euphrates

,given him by

the king of Persia,he slowly rode backward and for

ward before the lines,while the cannon balls whistled

and rattled like hail- s tones about him—casting everand anon an anxious look towards the spo t whereDavous t was expected to appear with his fifty thousand brave followers . For a whole hour he thus rodein front of his men

,and though they expected every

moment to see him shattered by a cannon ball,he

moved unscathed amid the storm . A t length Davoustwas seen charging like fire over the pla teau ofW a

gram,and finally appear with his cannon on the

farther S ide of Neusiedel . In a moment the plateauwas covered with smoke as he opened his artil lery onthe expo sed ranks of the enemy . A smile lighted upNapoleon’s countenance

,and the brow that had been

knit l ike iron during the deadly strife of the twohours before

,as word was cons tantly brough t him

of his successive losses,and the steady progress of the

Austrians— cleared up,and he ordered Macdonald

,

wi th eigh t battal ions,to march straight on the enemy ’s

centre,and pierce it .

CHARGE OF MACDONALD .

This formed the crisis of the battle,and no sooner

did the Archduke see the movement of this terr iblecolumn of eight battalions

,composed Of s ix teen thou

sand men,upon his centre ; than he knew that the

hour of Europe’s destiny and of his own army had

260 M A C D O N A L D’

s C H A R G E .

arrived . He immediately doubled the l ines at thethreatened point

,

‘

and brought up the reserve cavalry,

while two hundred cannon were wheeled around thespo t on which such destinies hung : and opened asteady fire on the approaching column . Macdonaldimmediately ordered a hundred cannon to precedehim

,and answer the Austrian batteries

,that swept

every inch of ground l ike a storm of sleet. The cannoniers mounted their horses

,and star ting on a rapid

tro tw ith their hundred pieces,approached to within

a half cannon shot,and then opened on the enemy’ s

ranks . The column marched up to this battery,and

with it,at its head

,belching forth fire like some huge

monste r,s teadily advanced . The Austrians fel l back

,

and closed in on each other,knowing that the final

struggle had come . A t thi s crisis of the battle,nothing

could exceed the sublimity and terror of the scene .The . whole interest of the armies was concentratedhere

,where the incessan t and rapid roll of cannon to ld

how desperate was the conflict . Stil l Macdonaldslowly advanced

,though his numbers were diminish

ing,and the fierce battery at his head was gradually

becoming s ilen t . Enveloped in the fire of i ts antagonist

,the guns had one by one been dismounted

,and at

the distance O f a mile and a half from the spot wherehe started on his awful mission

,Macdonald fou nd

himself wi thout a protec ting battery,and the centre

s ti ll unbroken . Marching over the wreck of his guns,

and pushing the naked head of his column into theopen field

,and into the devouring crO ss fire of the

Austrian artillery,he continued to advance . The

carnage then became terrible . At every discharge,

the head of that column disappeared,as if it sank into

the earth,while the outer ranks

,on either side

,melted

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262 R O U T O F T H E E N E M Y .

fate as they go . But human strength has its limits,and human effor t the spot where i t ceases forever.

No living man could have carried that column towhere it stands but the iron-hearted leader at i ts head .

But now he halts and ca sts his eye over h is l i ttlesurviving band that stands all alone In the mids t ofthe enemy . He looks back on his path

,and as far

as the eye can reach,he sees the course of his heroes

by the black swath of dead men that stretches like ahuge serpent over the plain . Out of the sixteen thousand m en with which he s tar ted but fifteen hundred

ar e left bes idehim . Ten out of every eleven havefa llen

,and here at length the tired hero pauses

,and sur

veys with a s tern and anxious eye his few remainingfollowers . The heart of Napoleon s tops beating a tthe sight

,and wel l i t may

,for his throne is where

Macdonald s tands . He bears the Empire on his single brave heart— he is the EMP IRE . Shall he turn a tl ast

,and sound the retreat

’

.l The fate Of nations

wavers to and fro, for, l ike a speck in the distance

,Macdonald is seen s ti l l t o pause

,while the

cannon are piling the dead in heaps around him .

W ill he turn andfly is the secret and agonizing

question Napoleon puts to himself. N O ! he i s worthy of the mighty trus t committed to him . The Empire s tands or falls with him

,but shal l stand while

he stands . Looking away to where his Emperor si ts,

he sees the dark masses of the Old Guard in motion,

and the shining helmets of the brave cuirassiers

sweeping to his rel ief. “ Forward,

” breaks from hisiron l ips . The rol l of drums and the pealing oftrumpets answer the volley tha t smites that exhausted column , and the next moment i t i s seen piercing

M A R S H A L M A C D O N A L D . 263

theAustrian centre . The day i s won —the Empi resaved— and the whole Austrian army is in full retreat .Such was the battle of Wagram

,and such the

charge of Macdonald . I know of no thing equal to i t ,except Ney’s charge at Waterloo

,and that was no t

equal,because i t failed .

On riding over the victorious field,Bonaparte came

where Macdonald s tood amid his troops . As his eyefel l on the calm and collected hero , he s topped , andholding ou t his hand said

, S hake hands,M acdo

na ld— no m or eha tred between us—wem us t hencefor thbe fr iends

,and a s a p ledg e of my s incer ity, I will

send your m ar sha l’s staj

‘

,whichyou have so g loriously

earned .

” The frankness and kindness of Napoleoneffected what al l his neglec t and coldness had failedto do— subdued him . Grasping his hand

,and with

a voice choked with emotion,which the wi ldes t up

roar of battle could never agi tate,he replied

,

“ A h !

sire,with us it is hencefor thfor life and dea th.

” Noble man kindness could overcome him in a moment .It is no wonder that Bonaparte fel t at las t that hehad no t known Macdonald’s true worth .

The las t great confl ic t in which he was engagedwas the disastrous battle of Leipsic . For two dayshe fought l ike a l ion ; and when all hope was abandoned

,he was appointed by Napoleon to form

,with

L annistau and P oniatowski , the rear guard of theretreating army while i t passed over the only remain‘

ing bridge of L indenau across the E lsler . Here he

stood and kept the al lies a t bay,though they swarmed

in countles s multitudes into the city,making it fairly

reel under their wild hurrahs,as they drove before

them the scattered remnants of the rear of the Frencharmy. Carriages

,and baggage-waggons

,and char

264 D E F E N C E A T L E I P S I C .

lots,and artil lery came thundering by

,and Macdo

nald hurried them over the bridge,s ti l l maintaining

his pos t agains t the headlong attacks of the victoriousarmy . Slowly the confused and bleeding massstreamed over the crowded bridge

,protected from the

pursuing enemy by the steady resis tance of Macdo

nald . The all ies were s truck with astonishment a tthis firm Opposition in the mids t of defeat . Half thedisasters of that bat tle

,so fatal to Napoleon

,would

have been saved but for the rashness of a single corporal . Bonaparte had ordered a mine to be con

structed under this bridge,which was to be fired the

moment the French army had passed . The corporalto whom this duty had been entrusted

,hearing the

shouts of the allies as they rolled like the sea intoLeips ic

,and seeing the tiralleurs amid the gardens on

the side near the r iver,thought the army had all

passed,and fired the train . The bridge was lifted

in to the air wi th a sound of thunder,and fell in frag

ments into the river . I t is s aid,the shriek of the

French soldiers forming the rear guard,when they

saw their only communication with the army cut off,

was mos t appal ling. They broke their ranks andrushed to the bank of the river

,stretching out their

arms towards the opposi te shore,where were the re

treating columns of thei r comrades . Thousands,in

desperation,plunged into the s tream

,most of whom

peri shed,while the whole remaining fifteen thousand

weremade prisoners . But amid the melée that succeeded the blowing up of the bridge

,were seen two

officers spurring their horses through the dense multitude tha t obstructed their way. A t length

,after .

m ostdesperateefforts , they reached the banks . As theygalloped up to the shore on their panting and blood

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266 H I S C H A R A C T E R

exci tement,but in the steady march into the very

face of des truction,and the firm res istance in the

mid s t of carnage,you need the cool

,resolute man .

This tra i t in Macdonald ’s character was evinced inhis conduct when sent to repel the invasion of Napoleon

,who wa s drawing al l hearts after him in his

return ftom exile . He repaired to Lyons with hisarmy

,bu t finding tha t his troops had caught the

wild-fire enthusiasm that was carrying everything

before i t,he addressed them on thei r duty . It was

to no pu rpose,however

,for no sooner did they see

the advanced guard of Napoleon’s small company,

and hear the shout of Vive l’E mp ereur ,

” withwhich they ren t the air

,than they rushed forward

,

shouting “ Vive l’E mpereur” in return

,and clasped

their old comrades t o their bosoms . Ney,under

similar circumstances,was als o borne away by the

enthusiasm of the moment . and fl inging his hat in tothe air

,j oined in the wild cry that shook Europe l ike

an earthquake,and summoned a con tinent to arms

again,and made kings tremble for thei r thrones .

But Macdonald was not a being of such rapid impulses . Hi s actions were the resul t of reflectionrather than of feeling. True to hi s recen t oath

,he

turned from his treacherous troops and fled,and nar

rowly escaped being taken prisoner by them .

He was a conscientious soldier— kind in peacesparing of his men in battle

,unless sacrifice was im

periously demanded , and then spill ing blood l ike water. Generous and Open-hearted

,he spoke his senti

ments freely,and abhorred injus tice and meanness .

Dazzled , as all the world was by the splendid talentsand brillian t achievements of Bonaparte

,he followed

M A R S H A L M A C D O N A L D . 267

him with a constancy and devotion that evince agenerous and noble heart .To a watchfulness that never slept

,and a spiri t that

never tired,he added exertion that overcame the most

insurmountable difliculties,and baffled the plans of

all his enemies . He seemed to be unconscious of

fatigue,and never for a moment indulged in that

lassi tude which is so epidemic in an army,and so

often ensures i ts destruction . One canno t put hisfinger on the spot in the man’s life where he acted asif he fel t discouraged or ready to abandon everythingin despair . He seemed to lack enthus iasm

,but had

in its place a dogged resolution that was stil l moreresistless . He quietly saw what was to be done

,and

then commenced doing it in the bes t possible manner,

withou t the thought of fail ing in his des igns . Hewas conscious of the mighty force of will

,and knew

by experience how difliculties v anish by pushingagains t them .

The Duke ofTarentum,as Macdonald was called

in France , had no sons . He had three daughters ,two of whom married nobles

,and the third a rich

banken

MARSHAL MORTIER .

H is E arly Life—Character—Battle of Dirnstein—Burning of M O S

cow—Blowing up of the Kremlin—H is Bravery at Krasnoi.

EDWARD ADOLPHE CA S IM E R JOSEPH MORTIER, wasborn for a soldier ; and though inferior as a comm an

der to Soul t,Ney

,Massena

,St. Cyr

,and Suchet

,he

nevertheless,played an important par t in the great

Napoleonic drama,and always exhibited the qual ities

of a good general .

He was born in Cambray,in 1768

,and his father

being a rich farmer,was able to give him a good edu

cation . Having adopted the republ ican side in theRevolution

,he obtained for his son

,when twenty

three years of age, a commiss ion in a regiment ofcavalry . Here

,by his knowledge and good beha

viour,he was soon promoted to the rank of adjutant

general . On the Rhine,under P ichegru and Moreau ,

and in Switzerland under Massena,he fough t bravely

in his place,and was finally promoted to general of a

division .

At the rupture of the peace of Amiens,he was or

dered to march into Hanover with men .

With scarcely any opposition,he occupied the coun

try and acted as humanely and uprightly as his ordersallowed him ; and on the assumption of the imperial

crown by Napoleon,was made Marsha l of the E rn

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270 H I S A P P E A R A N C E A N D C H A R A C T E R .

throw . Louis XVIII,on his res toration

,denied him

a sea t in the Chamber of Peers ; bu t in 1816 he waselec ted member of the Chamber of Deputies , andgovernor of the fifteenth military l 18 1011

,and three

years after res tored to the Peerage .

After the Revolution of 1830,he gave in his adhe

sion to Louis Phill ippe,and retained his rank .

Mort ier was a noble-hearted man,of great valour,

tempered with prudence,and of incorruptible integ

ri ty . Napoleon loved some of his generals for theirchivalric devotion to him

,while he had no great ad

m ira tion for their characters— others he tolerated because they were useful ; while some few received bothhis respect and affection . Mortier was one of these .Napoleon loved the frank

,unos tentatio

'

us and heroicchieftain

,whom he had proved in so many trying cir

cumstances .

Mortie r was no t an impulsive man,though capable

of being strongly aroused . His exci tement steadiedhim

,and in the moment of extreme peril he was as

calm as if in perfect safety . He would m anceuvre hismen under the murderous fire of a h undred can

non as composedly as in a peaceful review . Having determined what he ought to do

,he seemed

to give himself no concern about the results to himself.

. Tall and wel l formed , his splendid and commanding figu re moved amid the chaos of a battle-fieldl ike some ancien t hero

,while his calm and powerful

voice would res tore confidence in the very moment ofdespair . He never murmured like Bernadotte and

St . Cyr , at th e trying circumstances in which the Em ~

peror placed him . If a sacrifice was to be made,and

he was selec ted as the victim,he made no comp lain t ;

M A R S H A L M O R T I E R . 271

and where his duty as a commander placed him,

there he s tood and fought,— apparently caring li t

tle whether he fel l or was saved in the struggle .

He was les s ambitious and vain than many of theother marshals

,and was governed by higher principles

of action . His selfishness was not cons tantly interfering with his duty, and he always appears calmand self- sus tained amid the tumultuous events inwhich his

.

l ife was passed . Be tter educated thanmany of the other generals

,his mind and feel ings

were better disciplined,so that the warrior never tri

umphed over the man . His very chival ry,sprung not

so much from the exc itement of the moment as fromhi s high sense of honour

,which was a par t of his

nature .

BATTLE OF DIR N STE IN .

But in the campaign of Austerl itz,at the battle of

Dirms tein,he appears in his most ch ivalr ic and de

term ined character .

After the capi tulation ofU lm,Napoleon continued

his progres s along the Danube,wai ting the momen t

to strike a mortal blow at the enemy . The Austrians

,hearing of the surrender of Mack

,began to

re treat towards Vienna,pressed by the v ictorious

French . Napoleon was moving down the righ t bankof the Danube

,while Mortier

,at the head of twen ty

thousand men,was to keep nearly paral lel on the left

shore . Murat,with the advanced guard

,wa s press

ing with his accustomed audaci ty,towards Vienna .

In the mean time,the Russian allies

,finding they

could not save the capital,crossed over the Danube

to the left shore,to escape the pursui t of Napoleon

,

and eflect a junction with reinforcements tha t were

272 C O M B A T O F D I R N S T E I N .

coming up . Mortier was aware of th is,and pressed

eagerly forward to intercep t their march towardsMoravia .

As you pass from Dirmstein to Stein , the only roadw inds by the Danube

,and between it and a range

sf rocky hills,forming a deep and narrow defile .

Mortier was at the former place,has tening the march

of hi s columns ; and eager to advance , pushed forward with only thesingle division of Gazan, leavingorders for the army to follow close in the rear . P assingthrough this defile

,he approached Stein at daybreak

,

and found the rear guard of the Russian army postedon heights in front of the town

,sustained by power

ful batteries,which swep t the road along which he

was marching. Notwithstanding his inferiori ty of.numbers

,and the murderous fire he should be forced

to encoun ter,he resolved immediately to attack the

enemy ’s pos i tion .

As the broad daylight of a November morningspread over the Danube

,he opened his fire on them

,

and rushed to the assault . In a short time,the ao

tion became desperate,and the grenadiers on both

sides could a lmost touch each o ther in the close eucounter . The Russian troops came pouring back tosu stain the rear-guard

,while the French advanced

with rapid step along the road to aid their compauions . With headlong courage on the one side

,and

steady firmness on the other, the s truggl e grew hotterevery moment. Neither would yield

,and Mortier;

stood hour after hour,amid the wasting storm ; ti ll

a t length he began to grow anxious for the issue ,and a t eleven o ’clock

,to hurry up his troops

,gal

loped back to Dirmstein . Spurring furiously alongthe defi le

,he came up to Dupont's division—a li ttle

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C O M B A T I N T H E D E F I L E .

nothing but dense battalions of the enemy in orderof battl e. Without shrinking

,however

,the steady

column moved wi th fixed bayonets into the l ivingmass . A deadly fire received them

,and the carnage

a t once becamedreadful . With the cannon thundering on their rear

,and burying their fiery loads in thei r

ranks— swept in front by incessant discharges ofmusketry

— trampled under foot by the cavalry,and cru shed

between two armies,the escape of that brave division

seemed utterly hopeless . Indeed,the work of anni

hilation had begun with frightful rapidity . Mortier,

after the most desperate fighting,had pierced but a

lit tle way into the pass,and hope grew fainter every

moment,as he surveyed his thinned andwasting ranks

,

when the thunder of cannon a t the farther extremityshot a thril l of j oy through his heart . NO cannon sho tbefore ever carried such hope to his bosom

,for he

knew that Dupont was charging along tha t defile tohis rescue . The Russians immediately faced thisnew foe also

,and then commenced the complicated

strife of four armies fighting in the form of one longprotracted column— Mort ier hemmed in between twoRussian armies

,and D oc toroff between two French

ones . But Mortier was naturally the first to go downin thi s unequal s trife . Combating al l the morningagains t overwhelming numbers

,and s truggling all

the afternoon in a deep ravine,crushed be tween two

armies,his noble division had sunk away till nothing

bu t the mutilated fragments remained ; and now ,as

twilight deepened over the Danube,i ts la s t hour

seemed striking. But perceiving that the fire of Da

pont approached s teadily nearer,he cheered on his men

to another,and s til l another effort . Under the ligh tof the s tars

,that now and then twinkled through the

PI

M A R S H A L M O R T I E R . 270

volumes of smoke that curtained in the armies,and

by the blaze of the artillery, the work of death went

on—while an old castle,in which Richard Caeur de

Lion once lay imprisoned,s tood on the hills above

,

and looked sternly down on the s trife . All along thatgorge was one incessant thunder-peal of arti llery, towhich the blaze of musketry was as the lightning’ sflash . Amid the carnage that wasted around him

,

Mortier towered l ike a pi llar of fire before his men,as

they closed s ternly behind him . Nearly three—fourthsof his whole division had fallen in th is Thermopylae

,

and nothing bu t i ts skeleton wa s left s tanding,l ook

ing as if a hurricane had pass ed through it . Stil l hewould no t yield, but rousing his men by his wordsand example

,cleared a terrible path through the

enemy with his sword . With his majes tic form risingabove the throng that tossed like a wreck on a strongcurrent about him

,he was vis ible to al l his men .

S ometimes he would be seen completely enveloped bythe R ussian grenadiers

,while his dripping sabre swept

in rapid circles round his head,drinking the l ife of

some poor wretch with every blow ,as he moved

steadily on in the lane he made for himself. Parrying sword cut and bayonet thrus t

,he trod a

'

mid thischaos and death as if above the power of fate . Withfriends and foes fall ing like autumn leaves aroundhim

,he still remained untouched ; and it was owing

to his amazing strength alone,and the skill and power

with which hewielded his sabre,that he escaped death .

His strokes fell like lightning on every s ide,and under

them the s tronges t grenadier bent like a smitten reed .

Struck with admiration at his gallan try,and thinking

all was los t, his Officers besought him to Step into abark they sawmoored to the shore and escape . “No

,

”

276 T H E D E FI L E I S F O R C E D .

said he,in the spiri t of true heroism

,

“ keep that forthe wounded . He who has the honour to commandsuch brave soldiers

,should th ink himself happy

to die with them . We have stil l two guns left,and a

few boxes of grape- shot— we are almost through .

C lose up the r anks for a las t efior t.” And they did

close Up , and m ove intrepidly into the fire. But thelast ofthe ammunition was soon gone

,and then nothing

was left but the bayonet . But just then a cheer bu'

r’

stOn their ears over the roar of‘ battle— the Cheer of approaching deliverance, and they answered i t. Thatshout was like life to the dead

,and that torn and

mangled remnant of a column closed up for a finalcharge . The Russians flew up a s ide valley beforethe onset ; and wi th the shout,

“ France,France

,

you have saved us !” that weary but heroic band

rushed into the arms of their deliverers . A loudhurrah rent the air

,and the bloody conflic t was done .

Nearly six thousand men lay piled in ghastly heapsalong the road, while broken muske ts and twistedbayonets

,sca ttered here and there

,showed how close

and fierce the struggle had been .

The deep and solemn silence that succeeded thisuproar

,was broken only by the groans of the wounded

,

Or the sullen murmur of the Danube,that rol led i ts

bright waters along as,

calmly as if no deadly strifehad stained its banks with blood . The smoke of

battle,which had rolled so fiercely over the scene

,

now hung above the river, or lay along the hil l s idesl ike thin vapour, calm and tranquil ; while naturebreathed long and peacefully.

Mortier had been ou t-generalled,but not conquered ;

and his bearing on this occasion stamped him as a truehero . The decision to cu t his way through the enemy

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278 E N T R A N C E T o M O S C O W .

fully on that goal of his wishes . Murat went forward and entered the gates with his splendid cav

alry ; but as he passed through the streets , he wasstruck by the soli tude that surrounded him . Nothingwas heard but the heavy tramp of his squadrons as

he passed along,for a deserted and abandoned city

w as the meager prize for which such unparalleledefforts had been made . As night drew its curtainover the splendid capital

,Napoleon entered the gates

and immediately appointed Mortier governor. In hisdirect ions he commanded him to abs tain from all pi llage . “ For th is

,

” ‘ said be,

“,you shall be answera

ble with your l ife . Defend Moscow again st all,

whether friend or foe.The bright moon rose over the migh ty ci ty, tippingwith silver the domes of more than two hundredchurches , and pouring a flood of light over a thousandpalaces

,and the dwell ings of three hundred thousand

inhabitants . The weary army sunk to res t ; butthere was no sleep for Mortier’ s eyes . Not the gorgeons and variegated palaces and thei r rich ornam ents— nor the parks and gardens , and Oriental magnificence that every where surrounded him

,kept him

wakeful,but the ominous foreboding tha t some dire

calami ty was hanging over the s ilen t capital . Whenhe entered it

,scarcely a l iving soul met his gaze

as he looked down the long s treets ; and whenhe broke open the buildings he found pa rlou rs andbed-rooms and chambers all furnished and in order

,

but no occupants . This sudden abandonment of

their homes betokened some secret purpose yet to befulfil led . The midnigh t moon was sail ing over thecity

,when the cry o f fire l” reached the ears of M or ~

tier ; and the firs t light ov er Napoleon ’s fall ing em

M A R S H A L M O R T I E R . 279

pire was . kindled,and that most wondrous scene of

modern time,commenced

,

TH E BURNING O F MOSCOW.

Mortier,as governor of the city

,immediately issued

his orders and was putting forth every exertion,when

a t dayl ight Napoleon hastened to him . Affecting todisbel ieve the reports that the inhabitants were fir ingtheir own ci ty

,he put more rigid commands on Mor

tier,to keep the soldiers from the work of des truction .

The Marshal s imply pointed to some iron coveredhouses tha thadnot yet been opened

,from every crevice

ofwhich smoke was issuing l ike s team from the Sidesof a pent-up volcano . Sad and thoughtful

,Napoleon

turned towards the Kremlin,the ancient palace of the

Czars,whose huge structure rose high above the sur

rounding edifices .In the morning

,Mortier by great exertions

,was en

abled to subdue the fire . But the next night,Sept .

15th,at midnight

,the sen tinels on watch upon the

lofty Kremlin saw below them the flames burs tingthrough the houses and palaces

,and the cry of “ fire !

fire passed through the city . The dread scene hadnow fairly opened . Fiery balloons were seen dropping from the air and lighting upon the houses— dullexplos ions were heard on every side from the shut updwellings

,and the next moment a bright light burst

forth,and the flames were raging through the apart

ments . A ll wa s uproar and confusion . The serenea ir and moonlight of the nigh t before had given wayto driving clouds

,and a wild tempes t that swept wi th

the roar of the sea over the city. Flames arose on

every side,blazing and crackling in the storm

,while

clouds of smoke and sparks in an incessant showerwen t driving towards the Kremlin . The clouds

280 B U R N I NG O F M O S C O W .

themselves seemed turned into fire,rolling in wrath

over devoted Moscow. Mortier,crushed with the re

spons ibil ity thus thrown upon his shoulders , movedwith his Young Guard amid this desolation

,blowing

up the housesand facing the tempes t and the flam es

s truggling nobly to arres t the confiagra tion .

He hastened from place to place amid the bla zingruins

,his face blackened wi th the smoke and his hair

and eye-brows s inged with the fierce heat . At lengththe day dawned

,a day of tempes t and of flame ; and

M ortie r,who had s tra ined every nerve for thir ty- six

hours,entered a palace and dropped down from“

fatigue . The manly form and stalwart arm that hadso often carried death into the ranks of the enemy

,at

length gave way,and the gloomy Marshal lay and

panted in utter exhaus tion . But the night of tempes ts had been succeeded by a day of tempests ; andwhen night again enveloped the c i ty

,i t was one b road

flame,wavering to and fro in the blas t . The wind

had increased to a perfect hurricar'

e,and shifted from

quarter to quarter as if on purpose to swell the sea offire and extinguish the las t hope . The fire was ap

proaching the Kremlin , and already the roar of theflames and the crash of falling hou ses , and the crackling of burning timbers were borne to the ears of thestartled Emperor . He arose and walked to and fro

,

stopping convulsively and gazing on the terrificscene. Murat

,Eugene

,and Berthier rushed into his

presence,and on their knees besought him to flee

but he still clung to that haughty palace,as if it were

his Empire .But a t length the shout

,

“ The Kremlin is onfire !” washeard above the roar of the conflagra tion ,

and Napoleon reluctantly consented to leave . He de

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282 B U R N I N G O F M O S C O W .

ed a spec tacle the like of which was never seen before,

and which b aflles all description . The streets weres tree ts of fire— the heavens a canopy of fire

,and the

entire body of the city a mass of fire,fed by a hur

ricane that whii'led the blazing fragments in a constant s tream through the ai r. Incessant explos ionsfrom the blowing up of stores of oi l

,and tar

,and

spiri ts,shook the very foundations of the city

,and

sent vast volumes of smoke roll ing furiously towardsthe sky. Huge sheets of canvass on fire came floating like messengers of death through the flames— thetowers and domes of the churches and palaces

,glow

ed with a red heat over the wild sea below,then to t

ter ing a moment on their bases were hurled by thetempest into the common ruin . Thousands of wretches

,before unseen

,were driven by the heat from the

cellars and hovels,and streamed in an incessant

throng through the streets . Children were seen carrying their parents— the s trong , the weak ;

“

while thousands more were staggering under the loads of plunder they had snatched from the flames . This

,too

,

would frequently take fire in the falling shower,and

the miserable creatures would be compelled to dropit and flee for their lives . Oh

,i t was a scene of woe and

fear inconceivable , and indescribable. A mighty andclose packed ci ty of houses

,and churches and palaces

,

wrapped from limi t to limit in flames which are fed bya fierce hurricane

,i s a sight this world wil l seldom see.

But this was al l within the city. To Napoleonwi thou t

,the spectaclewas sti ll more sublime and ter

rific . When the flame s had overcome all obstacles,

and had wrapped every thing in their red mantle,that

great citylooked l ike a sea of rolling fire,swept by a

tempest that drove it into vast bil lows . Huge domes and

M A R S H A I M O R T I E R . 283

towers,throwing off spa rks like blazing fire-brands ,

now towered above these waves and now disappearedin their maddening flow

,as they rushed and broke

high over thei r tops,scattering their spray of fire

agains t the clouds . The heavens themselves,seem

ed to have caught the conflagra t lon ,and the angry

masses that swept them,rolled over a bosom of fire .

Columns of flame would rise and sink along the sur

face of this sea,and huge volumes of black smoke

suddenly shoot into the air as if volcanoes were working below. The black form of the Kremlin alone

,

towered above the chaos,now wrapped in flame and

smoke,and again emerging into view— standing

amid this scene of desolation and terror,like virtue

in the mids t of a burning world,enveloped but un

scathed by the devouring elements . Napoleon stoodand gazed on this scene in silent awe . Though nearly three mi les distant, the windows and walls of hisapartment were so hot that he could scarcely bear hishand agains t them. Said he

,years afterward ° “ I t

was the sp ectacle of a sea and billows of fire, a shy

and clouds offlam e,m ounta ins of r ed r olling flame

,

like immense waves of the sea,a lterna tely bur sting

for th and eleva ting them selves to skies of fire, and

then sin/cing into the ocean offlam e below. O h it

was the m ost g r and , the m ost sublim e,and the m ost

ter r ific s ight thewor ld ever beheld .

”

When the conflagration subsided,Mortier found

himself governor of a city of ashes . Nine- tenths ofMo scow had sunk in the flames

,and the gorgeous

capital,with its oriental m agnificence

— its palaces,

and towers,and gardens

,was a heap of smoking

ruins,amid which wandered half-naked

,s ta rving

wretches,l ike spectres around the place of the dead.

284 A‘P P E A R A N C E O F T H E C A M P .

Napoleon re turned to the Kremlin , but the spectaclethe camps of the soldiers presented as he passedthrough them

,was one hi s eye had never rested on

beforefi‘ The soldiers had here and there throwntogether a few boards to shelter them from the weather

,and sprinkled over the soft

,wet ground with

straw to keep off the dampness,and “ there

,reclining

under s ilken canopies,or si tting in elegant chairs ,

with Cashmere shawl s and the co stliest furs,and all

the apparel of the noble and wealthy strewed aroundthem

,they fed their camp-fires with mahogany furni

ture and ornamental work,which had a few days be

fore decorated the palaces of the noble .” The halfstarved wretches were eating from silver plates

,though

their only food was a miserable black cake and halfboiled horse-flesh. In the interval be tween them andthe ci ty

,were crowds ofdisbanded so ldiers

,s taggering

under the weight of plunder,and among them many

Russians,men and women

,seeking the camp-fires of

their enemies . In the city i t was still worse,and an in

suflerable stench arose from the smoking mass . A l ldisc ipline was lost

,and the disbanded army swarmed

through the s treets for plunder. This they gatheredinto the open places, and bartered away with theirfriends . Thu s the poor creatures loaded themselveswith gold and s ilver

,and costly apparel

,l i t tle think

inghow valueless the snow-drifts ofRuss ia would soonm ake them . When Napoleon was again es tablishedin the Kremlin

,he put a stop to th is disorder

,and

ordered the p lundering to be carried on according torule.A t length

,the reluctant Napoleon turned his back

on the towers ofMoscow , confessing to the world, tha tVide Segur .

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286 B L O W I N G U P O P T H E K R E M L I N .

tered barrels of i t thro,ugh the differen t apartments

above . Over this volcano of his own creation hes tood and fough t for four days

,when the slightes t

ignition from one of the enemy ’s guns would haveburied him and his soldiers in onewild grave together.A t length

,after he had kindled a slow fire-work

,

whose combu stion could be nicely calculated,he led

his weary troops out of that ancient structure . Butwhile i e marched with rapid steps from the scene ofdanger

,several Cossacks and Russ ians

,finding the

imperial palace deserted,rushed into i t after plunder

The next, moment,the massive pile wavered to and

fro like a column O f sand,and seeming to rise from

the earth,fell with a crash that was heard thirty

m iles d is tant . The earth shook under Mortier as i fan earthquake was on the march. Huge s tonesfragments of wal l— thirty thou sand stand of arms

,

and mangled bodies and limbs were hurled in one

fierce shower heav enward together,and then sunk

over the ruined city . The second act in the great

tragedy was now ended,and the last was about to

commence .On hi s arrival at the army he was again placed

over the Young Guard . At the battle of Krasnoi,

which Napoleon fought to save Davoust,and which

was described in the chapter on that Marshal , M or

t ier was the principal actor . When Bonaparte withhis six thousand Imperial Guard marched into thecentre of fifty thousand Russians

,protec ted by power

ful batteries,Mortier

,with five thousand of the

Young Guard— all that was left of that splendid body—was jus t in advance of him . He and General R oguet commenced the attack . The Russians

,abl e by

their overwhelming numbers to crush that handful

M A R S H A L M O R T I E R . 287

of French at once,hesitated to advance

,and began

to cannonade them . Mortier stood with his nobleGuard in the midst of th is iron storm

,will ing victims

to save Davoust . Having no artillery of his own toanswer the murderous batteries of the Russians , andthey being beyond the reach of musketry

,he had no

thing to do but to remain inactive , and let the cannonplough through his ranks . For three mortal hourshe stood and saw the horrible gaps which every discharge made . Yet not a battalion broke ; and tha tYoung Guard there proved themselves worthy to fightbes ide the Old Guard of the Empire . In those threehours two thousand of his l it tle band had fal len

,and

then he wa s directed to retrea t. Steadily and in perfeet order

,though the enemy were rapidly hemming

them in,did that heroic Guard retire before t hose

fifty thousand Russians . Mortier gave orders forthem to retreat slowly , and General Laborde , repeating his orders

,exclaimed

,

“ D o you hear,soldier s ?

the M a rsha l order s ordinary tim e. O rdina ry time,

soldier s and amid that incessant tempest of grapeshot and balls

,i t was “

ordinary tim e” with them .

The brave fellows never hastened their steps by a

single movement,but marched as calmly out of that

storm as if going to their bivouacks.

At Lutzen and Dresden he fought worthy of hisformer glory

,and at the disastrous battle of Leipsic

,

commanded the Old Guard . He battled for Francetil l the last moment

,and when the allied forces in

vaded his country,and were marching towards Paris

,

he and Marmont alone were left to arres t them .

N apoleon,thinking to draw the enemy after him

,had

hung on thei r rear till they were out of his reach,and

on the march for the French capital .

288 B A T T L E O F M O N T M I R A I L .

But prev ious to his separat ion from Napoleon , Mortler combated bravely by his side in those s tupen

dous efforts he put forth to save his Empire . A t thebattle of Montmirail he fought bes ide Ney with thegreatest heroism . A t the commencement of the act ion he was not On the field

,but amid the roar of arti l

lery and the shock s of the bayone t he came up,bring

ing with h im the Old Guard,the cuira ssiers

,and the

Guards of Honour . Napoleon immediately ordered agrand attack on the centre

,and while victory stood

balancing in the conflict,he brought up the cui

rassiers and Guards of Honour . As they rodei n their splendid array past him

,he said

,

“Braveyoung men ! there is the enemy ! will you le t themmarch on Paris 22” W e will no t

,

” was the readyresponse

,and shaking their gli ttering sabres over their

heads,they burs t with a loud hurrah on the enemy

,

scattering them like a whirlwind from their path .

At the bloody battle of Craon,he fought on foot a t

th e head of his columns ; and amid one of the mostwasting fir es of arti llery

,troops were perhaps ever ex

posed to,s teadied his men by his example

,and was

seen,again and again

,with his tall , commanding form

risin g above his soldiers,to move straight in to the blaze

of the enemy ’s batteries . When the smoke clearedaway

,there he still s tood amid his ren t and shat tered

ranks,sending his calm voice over the tumult

,and

animating, for the third time, his t roops by his coura

geous words and stil l more courageous actions .But when Marmont and Mortier

,who had held

the posit ions at Rheims and Soissons,as Napoleon

had directed,found themselves cut O ff from a ll com

munica tion with the Emperor by the interpositi on ofthe Russi an army

,their case became desperate .

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290 A T O U C H I N G I N C I D E N T .

brought to bear with fatal effect,made a lane

through one square,into which they dashed and

sabred i t to pieces . The Emperor Alexander,

ad

mi ring their valour,wished to save them

,and ordered

them to surrender . General P ac thod refused,and

,

cheering his men by his ac ti ons and words,roused

them to the highest p itch of enthus iasm and thoughthe cannon balls crushed through them with frightful havoc

,they moved unshaken amid the storm

,

rent and torn into fragments— then weeping in indignation tha t they had fired their las t cartridge of em

munition , charged bayonet . At length,when half of

the whole division had fallen,and the enemy ’ s cavalry

was riding through their broken ranks with irresistible fury

,General P acthod delivered up his sword .

A mos t touching incident occurred‘

during th isengagement . In themids t of the fight

,Lord Lo ndon

derry saw a young and beautiful lady , the wife of aFrench ofiicer

,dragged from a caleche by three

wretches who were making offwith their prey. Gallop

ing up to her rescue , he snatched her from theirhands and del ivered her to his orderly

,to be taken to

his own quarters who l ifting her to the horse behindhim

,started off

,but was scarcely out of sight

when a band of Cossacks rushed upon him andpiercing h im through with a lance

,bore ofl

'

the lady.

She was never heard of more . Every exertion wasmade to discover her fate

,but i t was never known .

Whether a prey to lawless violence,she was released

from her sufferings by death,or whether she dragged

out her existence a helpless captive,no one can te ll .

After this defeat,Mortier and Marm ont could no

longer keep the field,and fell back on Paris . There

they made the las t s tand for thei r country , and

M A R S H A L M O R T I E R . 291

fought till valour and resi stance were no longer ofavail

,and then delivered up their swords to the

enemy. But though together in thei r retreat,and

equally brave in their las t defence,they were not

alike in their surrender of the city . Mortier ’s honouris free from the s tain that dims the lustre of Marmont ’s fame .Sickness

,as before s tated

,prevented Mortier from

striking a las t blow for Napoleon at Waterloo . I f hehad commanded the Y oung Guard on that day

,and

M urat the cavalry,the fate of the battle and the

world might have been changed .

He was retained in the confidence of Louis Phillippe ; until at length he , who had passed through somany battles unscathed

,fel l a victim to an assassin .

On the 28th of July,1835

,as Louis Phillippe was

going to a review of the National Guard,Mortier on

horseback close behind,was kil led by the explos ion

of Fieschi’s infernal machine . A li ttle delay had allowed the king to pass the spot of danger, but whenthe smoke lifted

,Mortier was seen fal ling from his

horse,dead . He was the most dis tinguished vic tim

in that attemp t to assassinate the King .

MARSHAL SOULT .

H is early career—Cam paigns with M assena—H is Character—Battleof A usterlitz—H is first campaign .in Spain—Death of S ir John

M oore—S torming of O por to—R etreat from P ortugal—Batt le of

A lbuera -Second campaign in Spain— Siege of St. Sebas tianiSoult’e las t struggle for the E mp ire.

N o American has visi ted the Chamber of Peers,

within the las t few years,withou t being s truck with

the appearance of Marshal Soult . The o ld warrior,

with his grave and severe look,comes limping in to

the hal l,almos t the sole representa tive of that band

of heroes to whom Napoleon committed his Empire,

and whose names are indissolubly linked with histhrough all coming time . He is now about seventysevén years of age

,though erect as a soldier. His

head is bald on the.top

,and the thin hair that re

mains is whi tened by the fros ts of age . He is,per

haps,a l it tle over the middle height

,rather square

built,and evidently once possessed great muscular

power . Hi s eye is dark,and now and then exhibi ts

something of its ancien t fire,while his brown v isage

looks as if he had just returned from a long campaign,

rather than lived a t his ease in Paris . He i s extremelybow-legged

,which is evidently increased by the wound

that makes him limp,and though he wears ample

pantaloons to conceal the defect,nothing but petti

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294 H I S E A R L v C A R E E R .

L ieutenant,Adjutan t

,Major

,Captain

,Chief of Bat

talion,and Colonel— learning the ar t of war under

Luckner,Hoche

,Lefebvre

,and Jourdan .

A t the battle of Fleurus,in 1 794

,he was chief

of the s taff under Lefebvre,and there exhibited that

admirable coolness and pene tration,in the hour of

danger,which afterwards made him so con spicuous

as a mil itary leader . General Marceau commandedthe right of the army

,and his division Ardennes

was hurled back by a charge of the enemy and throwninto disorder . Marceau

,in despai r

,hurried to Soult

,

and asked for four battalions to help him restore thecomba t . But the latter saw that he could not grant hisreques t

,without endangering L efebvre’s division

,and

refused . Marceau,in the agony and confusion of the

moment,threatened to Shoot himself if he was not

a ided . Soul t told him to be calm and s teady .

“ Rallyyour men to the charge

,said he

,

“ and the four batt al ions shall come as soon as pos sible . ” The wordswere scarcely out of his m on th

,before Prince Coburg

was on him l ike a rolling torren t,and Soult was in a

moment in the thickes t of the fight . After the bat tl ewas over

,Marceau sought him out

,and generously

begged his pardon for his rudeness,and praised him

for hi s valour .Promoted to General of Brigade this year

,he fought

bravely at the battles of Altenkirchen,Lahn

,and

Friedberg. Being detached one day with three battalions and a hundred and fifty cavalry

,to cover the

left of the army stationed at H erb an,he suddenly

found himself,in the course of his march

,surrounded

by four thousand cavalry . His destruction seemedinevitable ; b u t immediately forming his men intosquares

,he coolly met - the shock

,while a devouring

M A R S H A L s o u L T . 95

fire,rolling round the steady ranks , emptied the

enemy’s saddles with frightful rapidity . But theAustrian commander

,thinking this li t tle band must go

down before his fierce squadrons,rall ied hi s men at

a distance,and again ordered the charge. The trum

pets sounded , and these four thousand riders movedto the onset . Advancing first on a plunging trot

,they

at length broke into a fierce gallop,and with an

petuosity and strength that made the ground thunderand smoke in their passage

,burst with a loud shout

upon the ranks . The smoke covered both for a moment

,and when it lifted

,the shattered squadrons

were recoiling over the field . Again and again didthat splendid body of cavalry re-form and rush to thecharge

,and as often retire before the steady valour

that Opposed it . Thus for five hours did Soul t standamid his li tt le band

,animating them by his voice and

example,t ill five success ive shocks had been repulsed

,

and then continued hi s march,without having left a

single man in the hands of the enemy .

After the peace of Campo Formio,Soul t rested for

a while ; but in 1798 , while Bonaparte was in Egypt,he is found again in the field of battle . At the vil lageof Ostrach

,with only men

,composing the ad

vanced guard of the army,he was attacked by

Austrians under the Archduke Charles . Under themurderous fire of such superior numbers, hi s com

paratively feeble band began to shake . One battalionbent backward

,and was on the point of flying , when

Soult seized a s tandard,and rushing to its head

,called

on the soldiers to follow him,and boldly charged into

the very midst of the enemy,and thus saved his army

from a rout .The nex t month he was made Genera l of D ivision

,

296 H I S B R A V E R Y A T G E N O A .

and passed through the campaign of Switzerlandunder Massena . While the latte r was winning thebattle of Z urich

,Soul t

,stationed between Lake Z u

fich and Wallenstadt,to preven t the junction of the

Aus trians and Russians,was equally successful . The

enemy was encamped on the farther side of the Linth,

in a secure pos ition ; but Soult organized a companyof a hundred and fifty swimm ers

,who

,with their

sabres in their teeth,and holding their mu skets in

one hand over their heads,boldly dashed into the

river at midnigh t,and swam to the opposi te shore .

They here made a s tand til l some grenadiers could begot over

,and then attacked the camp of the enemy

,

putting i t to rout,slaying and taking four thousand

men . While these brilliant victories by Massena andSoult were sending a few rays of light across the gloomtha t hung over the French armies

,Bonaparte re turned

from Egypt . Massena was immediately appointed toGenoa ; and in assuming the command, he requestedthat Soul t might be attached to him . He had seenhis Skil l and bravery in Switzerland

,and he needed

him in the desperate undertaking which was nowbefore him . Elevated to the rank of lieutenant-general

,he passed the Alps ; and after fighting bravely

,

was driven with Massena into Genoa . Here , by hisfierce onsets

,which perfectly stunned the enemy , and

by his brill iant victories , fighting heroical ly and vic

toriously agains t the mo s t overwhelming numbers , heshowed that Massena was no t deceiv ed in the spiri the had sought to aid him in this campaign . The las t

effort that wa s made , before the French were com

pletely Shut Up in the city , was the assaul t on Moun tCreto

,conducted by Soult . I t was a desperate un

dertaking at the best, and in the m id s t of the bloody

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298 H i s D I S C I P L I N E .

fierce uproar approached the city,till the cannon ‘

seemed to be playing almos t on i ts verywalls -a smileof joy passed over hi s countenance . The next moment a crowd of fugi tives burs t through the gates,and the cry of A l l i s lost

,

” told the wounded chieftain that Italy was won .

Being soon after exchanged for some Austrian officer

,he was presented to Napoleon who had hereto

fore known li ttle of him,except by report . He asked

Massena if he was deserving of the high reputationhe had gained . The hero of Genoa replied

,

“ for

judgment and courage he has few equals . He had

fough t beside him in three desperate sor ties from thec ity

,and had seen him charge with a coolness and

intrepidity against overwhelming odds that won hisadmiration and esteem .

In consequence of this high encomium,Soul t was

appointed chief commander in Piedmont,to quell the

brigands , called B a r bets,and soon after wa s made

Colonel General of the Consular Guard,and given the

command of the camp of St . Omei'.When Napoleon meditated h is grand descent onEngland

,Soult was placed over the army between

Boulogneand Calais . Knowing wel l what kind ofan enemy England was , and the charac ter of hertroops

,he commenced a course of discipline to which

French soldiers had never before been subject . Witha frame of iron and a wil l tha t ma tched it

,he concen

t rated all his energies to the task before him . Fromdaylight till dark he was seen moving about

,now on

horseback inspecting his troops,and drilling them to

the l imit of human endurance,and now passing

through the entrenchments and directing their pro

gress . The constant exercise he demanded of the

M A R S H A L S O U L T . 299

soldiers , caused them to complain to Bonaparte ; andthe latter finally expostulated with him

,saying that

he feared the men would sink under i t . Soul t replied,

Those who cannot endure what I myself do,will

remain at home ; while those who bear i t, wil l be fi tto under take the conques t of the world .

” He couldno t have returned a reply more grateful to Napoleonand when the latter became Emperor of France

,he

made him Marshal of the Empire .He commanded the right wing at Austerli tz ; and

at Jena,assai led the centre of the enemy wi th despe

rate energy. At Eylau,he

,with A ugereau ,

was firs tengaged ; and , although enveloped in the middle ofthe field by a snow storm that blotted out every th ingfrom view

,while two hundred cannon incessantly

played on his s taggering column,he was enabled to

fall back in good order . At Heilsberg he fought withunrivalled courage ; and after the battle of Friedland ,marched into Konigsberg

,after having forced the

enemy from the city .

Soon after he was sent into Spain to repair thedisasters of King Joseph

,whom no experience or

instructions could make a great military leader . Dr

dered to invade Portugal,he carried Oporto by assault

with great slaughter ; but wa s compelled finally toretreat before the superior force of ‘ Wellesley . Toput an end to the rivalry among the various generalsin Spain

,Napoleon at length appointed him Major

General of the French army there ; thus showingthe high Opinion he had of his mili tary abilities . Thev ic tory of Ocana soon after justified the confidenceplaced in him .

~

For several years he carried on this unhappy warin S pain n -now pursuing

, ,and now retreating —unti l

300 R E - A P P O I N T M E N T T o S P A I N .

a fter the disastrous issue of the Russ ian campaign ,when he was balled by Napoleon

,in (181 to support

his fal ling empire in the north . After the battles ofL u tzen '

and Bautzen,news reached Napoleon of his

losses in the peninsula,and the defeat of his armies

at the battle of Vittoria . He immediately lookedaround among his generals to see who could bestrepair the foll ies of his royal brother ; and Soul t wasagain selected . B u t the wife of the obedient Marshaldid no t wish to re turn to a country where there wassuch obs tinate figh ting with so few laurels

,and used

all her persua s ion,not only with her husband

,but

with the Emperor,to have him remain . Napoleon

repulsed her rudely ; and Soult hastened , as fast ashorses could carry him

,to Paris . Stopping there

on ly a few hours,be pressed on to Spain . Scarcely

had he arrived at head quarters before the army wasin motion ; and though he did all tha t human energycould do

,he was finally beaten at every point . He ,

however,fought the las t battle— fi red the las t cannon

for Napoleon ; and at length , on the news of theabdicat ion

,transferred h is command to the Duke

of Angouleme,and returned to Paris . Confirmed in

his rank s and titles by Louis XVIII . he was ap

pointed to the thir teenth mili tary d ivis ion . He wassoon after named Minis te r ofWar ; and in urging thesequestration of the proper ty of the Bonaparte family ,and in bringing General E xcelm ans before a Council ofWar

,he showed a grea t deal of gratuitous zeal

for his new maste r.When Napoleon returned from Elba

,Soult publish

ed his famous order of the day,in which the Emperor

was s tigmatized as anadventurer and usurper . Louis,however

,suspected him

,and took from him his ap

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302 H I S C H A R A C T E R .

than mos t of the dis tinguished French MarshalsHe had none of that high chivalric feeling which so

frequently bore them triuphantly over the battlefield but he had in its place

,a clear

,sound judgment,

and a fearless heart . It requ ired no thunder of cannonto clear his ideas— his thoughts were always clear

,

and his hand ev er ready to s trike . He depended on

the conclus ions of reason rather than on the in spirationof genius for victory . He calcula ted the chances beforehand

,and when his purpose was taken

,i t was

no ordinary obs tacle or danger that cou ld shake it .Such men as Murat

,and Lannes

,and A ugereau ,

re

l ied v ery much on the enthusi asm of thei r soldiers,

and the power which in ten se excitement always imparts . Soult

,on the contrary

,on the d iscipline of

his troops,and the firm ness and s teadiness i t g ive s

,

ei ther in assaul t o r . retrea t ; and hence , when leftal one

,could be depended on as an able and efficient

General . Though impetuous a s a storm in the earlypart of his l ife

,i t was the impetuosi ty of youth

,

ra ther than of character ; and one familiar wi th hiscareer

,ever thinks Of him as the s tern and steady

Soult . He was more of an Englishman than Frenchman ih his natural character, and succeeded bet terthan most of the other French Generals when O p

posed to English troops . But though methodical andprac tical in al l his plan s

,he knew the value of a head

long charge,and could make it . Stil l

,he does not

seem to rise with the danger that surrounds him,but

rather meets it with the firmness of one who has settled beforehand that i t shall not overcome him . Inthe tumul t and terror of a mighty battle

,he mov es

befo re us no t so much as the genius of the storm itself,as like one who has made up his Amind to take its

M A R S H A L S O U L T . 3

peltings with composure . He stands where the tideof battle flows , l ike a rock over which the surge beatsin vain ; and his calm,

s tern voice,arres ts the panic

that has begun,and turns the shaking ranks in to

walls of iron before the foe .He did not pos sess that versatil ity of genius whichenabled Bonaparte so frequently to turn his very defeats in to victory— he depended rather on the s trengthand terror of the blow he had planned— and if tha tfailed

,i t became him to pause before he gave another.

Like the lion,he measured his leap before he took it

,

and if he fell short,measured i t over again . But

with al l this coolness and forethought,his blbw was

sometimes sudden and deadly as a falling thunderbol t . A more prompt and decisive man in action

,

was not to be found in the army. As cool amid thefalling ranks and fire of three hundred cannon as ona parade

,his onset was nevertheless a most terrible

thing to meet . He carried such an iron will withhim into the bat tle

,and disputed every inch of ground

with such tenacity of purpose , that the courage of theboldes t gave way before him . Though he performedperhaps fewer p er sona l heroic deeds than manyothers

,he also committed fewer faul ts . After seeing

him a few times in battle,one unconsciously gets

such an Opinion of his invincibil i ty, tha t he never seesh is columns moving to the assault

,w ithou t expec ting

sudden victory, or one of the most terrific s trugglesto which brave men are ever exposed . We do notexpect the pomp and Splendour of one of Murat ’e

'

charges of cavalry,nor the majes ty of Ney ’s mighty

columns,a s he hurls ' them on the foe ; but the firm

step,and stern purpose

,and res is tles s onset of one

who lets his naked deeds repor t his power . Soul t’e

304 C H A R G E D W I T H R A P A C I T Y .

eye measured a battle-field with the correc tness ofNapoleon’ s

,and hi s judgment wa s as good upon a

drawn battle as Upon a victory . Not having thosefluctuations of feel ing to which more excitable temperam ents are subjec t

,a defeat produced no discour

agem ent,and hence a victory gave the enemy no

moral power over him . I t was singular to see inwhat a matter-of- fac t way he took a beat ing

,and how

li t tle his confidence in himsel f was des troyed by thegreate s t disas ter s . A man that is no t humbled orrendered fearful by defeat

,can never be conquered

til l he is slain .

Soul t possessed a strong mind and great charac

ter,and in his mili tary life the warrior s inks before

the m an of intel lect and even Briti sh pride condescend s to render him homage as an abl e and grea tcomm ander .He has been charged with rapacity while in Spain

,

and his plunders commented freely on by his enem ies

,but the charge has never been clearly made out .

Still,there is no doubt he did not let the weal th the

chances of war flung into his hands,slip through his

fingers ; and he managed , amid all his tergiversations,and flour all the changes he passed through , to ao

quire large estates,which now enable him to sup

port his rank with splendour.Soult was not cruel in his disposition

,and exhibits

none of the ferocity of the warrior in hi s career. Abold

,skilful

,and inflexible man in the field

,he ranks

among the firs t of Napoleon ’ s Marshals .

Napoleon,who

,after the battle of Marengo

,had

a sked Massena if Soult really deserved his high reputation

,and on being answered in the affirmative

,had

a ttached him to his person— gave him command of

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306 I L L U M I N A T I O N O F T H E S O L D I E R S .

their heads,making an illumination as splendid as i t

was unexpected . A l l along through the valley thoseblazing torches lighted the path of the as tonished Na

poleon— thefir s t anniver sa ry of his cor o na tion . Sud

denly the enthusias ti c shout of Vive l’E mpereur , burst

around him . The cry was caught by the next andthe next battalion a s he advanced

,and prolonged by

those he had left,til l the shou t of that immense hos t

fil led all the val ley,and rose like the roar of the sea

over the heights,miles away— falling

,with an om i

nou s sound,on the camp of the enemy . I t was a

scene that baffl es description . Those myriad torches,

blazing and swinging to and fro in the darkness— a

broad mass offlame los ing i tself in the distance—andthe shout of that army

,rolling in such deafening ac

cents after Napoleon,formed together a far more im

posing ceremony than hi s coronation in the Capital .Next morning

,at four o ’clock

,Napoleon was on

horseback bes ide his tent . The moon had jus t gonedown— the s tars shone pale and tremulous in the sky

,

and all was silent and t rnquil around him . Not asound broke from the immense host that Slumberedbelow

,over which the motionless fog lay like a white

covering— or i t might be a shroud in anticipation of

the thousands that ere nigh t would there lie s tark andstiff in their last sleep . But amid this deep hushhis quick ear caught a low continuous sound beyond the heights of Pratzen

,l ike the heavy tread

of marching columns and rumbling of arti llery car

riages over the ground . The deep murmur passedsteadily from right to left

,showing that the all ies

were gathering their force agains t his right w ing .

At length the sun rose slowly above the horizon,ting

ing with gold the heights of Pratzen,on which were

M A R S H A L S O U L T 307

seen moving dense masses of infantry,and poured its

glorious light over the sea of mis t that slept in thevalleys below . It was the S un of A uster litz .

” Thehour

,the scene— the immense results at stake

, and

the sudden bursting of that blazing fire ball on hisvis ion

,made a profound impression on Napoleon

,

which he never forgot .

The allies,inten t on ou tflanking the French , were

weakening their centre by drawing off the troops tothe left . The Marshals who s tood around the Em

peror saw the fault of the enemy,and eagerly asked

permiss ion to take advantage of i t . But he turning toSoult

,whose troops were massed in the bot tom of the

valley near the heights , covered by the fog, asked himhow long i t would take to reach the summi t of Pra tzen .

“Less than twenty minutes,

” replied the Marshal .“ Wait a li ttle

,then

,said Napoleon

,

“ when theenemy is making a false movement , i t is necessary tobe careful not to interrupt him .

” It was now eighto ’clock in the morning

,and soon after he gave the

impatiently expected signal,and Murat

,Lannes

,Ber

nadot te,and Sou l t

,who had stood around him

,part

ed like lightning from his side,and swept in a head

long gal lop to thei r respective corps . Napoleon rodetowards the centre

,and as he passed through the

troops,said

,Soldiers ! the enemy has imprudent

ly exposed himself to your strokes . Finish the cam

p a ig n by a clap of thunder Vive l’E mp ereur ,

”

an swered him in one long, protracted Shout .In the meantime

,Soult emerged

,with his s trong bat

tal ions,from the covering mist

,and clothed in the rich

sunl ight,ascended. with an intrepid s tep, the slopes of

Pratzen. I t was a magnificent sight , and Napoleonwatched with intense anxiety the advance of that

308 S T O R M S T H E H E I G H T S O F P R A T Z E N .

splendid array . W ith banners fluttering in the morning sunlight

,and drums and trumpets rending the air

,

the mass ive columns streamed upward and onward .

In a moment the top of Pratzen wa s covered withsmoke

,from whose bosom issued thunder and light

n ing,a s if a v olcano was there hur ling its fiery frag

ments in the ai r. Covered from s ight,those two hos ts

—mixed in mortal combat— s truggled for the mastery , while the cur tain of smoke

,that folded them in

,

waved to and fro,and rent before the heavy artil lery

,

and closed again,and rolled in rapid circle s round

the h il l,tel ling to the armies below what wild work

the stern Soult was making with the foe . A t lengththe fire and smoke

,which Pratzen had belched forth

for two hours,grew less— the sulphurous cloud l ifted

in the mid-day sun, and 10, there waved the French

s tandards , while a victorious shout went peal ing overthe armies struggling in the valley .

Soult,having pierced the enemy’s centre

,next de

scended like an avalanche on their left wing. Bess iereswas ch arging like fire , below with the Imperia l Guard ,and the whole field shock with the Shock of cavalryand thunder of cannon while the entire valley wasfilled with roll ing smoke , in which were moving darkmasses of infantry . There was Murat

,with his head

long valour,andLannes , Davoust and A ugereau ,

s trewing the fields with the dead . A t length

,help being sent

to Soult - the left of the enemy was borne away,and the

allied army routed . Fleeing before the victorious Marshal

,B uxhowden bravely a ttempted to cover the re

treat,and forming hismen into close column

,strove gal

lantly to direc t the reversed tide of battle . But piereed through and trodden under foot

,seven thousand

fell before the v ictorious French , while the remainder

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310 P U R S U E S S I R J O H N M O O R E .

any time for the Duke of Wellington . His very firstmovements convinced Napoleon of his superior abil

i ty . Arriving together a t Bayonne,the Emperor im

m edia tely planned the campaign,and issued his or

ders . ~ Soult was to supersede'

B essiereS in the com

mand of the second corp s -ih the path of which Na

poleon ,with his Imperial Guard

,was to follow .

‘

In

a few hours after he rece ived his orders,S oult

’s army

was in motion . In fifty hours he travelled fromBayonne to Burgos— took the latter town

,gained the

battle of Gamonal ; and s til l on the po s t horse he hadmounted a t Briviesca

,where he took command of the

army— pushed on his columns in every direc tion andin a few days laid prost rate the whole north of Spain .

Following up his successes,he marched agains t Sir

John Moore,and forcing him back

,step by s tep

,for a

fortnight,across ri vers

,and through mountains covered

wi th snow,final ly drove him into Corunna . There

the English commander fortified himself,to await the

transports that had been ordered round to receive hisarmy . Soult opened hi s cannon on the place

,and

with his weary troops pressed h is assaults vigorous ly,

in the hope of forcing the English army to surrenderbefore the arrival of the expected vessels . B ut

,Sir

JohnMoore resolved to combat to the last,and prepared

for a final battle . In the mean time,to prevent an

immen se magazine of powder of four thousand barrelsfrom falling into the hands of the French

,he ordered

i t to be blown up . A smal ler quanti ty in a storehouse near i t was first fired

“

. The explosion of thisfirs t was like the d ischarge ofa thousand cannon at

once ; but when the great magazine took fire andthose four thousand barrels exploded at once

,the

town rocked to and fro as if an earthquake was l ift

M A R S H A L S O U L T . 31 1

ing its foundations . Rocks were uproo ted by theshock

,the ships in the harbour rose and fel l on the

sudden billows that swept under them ; whi le a soundl ike the crash of nature i tself, startled the two arm iesas i t rolled away before the blast.A t length the transports arrived, and the embarkation commenced ; while Soul t advanced to the attack .

The battle soon became general,and Sir John Moore

,

while watching the progres s of the fight,was struck

by a cannon ball on the breast,and hurled from his

horse . Rallying his energies,he sa t up on the ground

,

and without a movement o r expression of pain,again

fixed his eye on the confl ict . Seeing tha t his menwere gaining ground

,he allowed himself to be car

ried to the rear . At the firs t glance i t was plain thatthe ghas tly wound was mortal . “ The Shoulder wasShattered to pieces

,the arm was hanging by a piece

of the skin,the ribs over the heart were broken

,and

bared of the flesh,and the muscles of the breast torn

into long strips,which were interlaced by their recoi l

from the dragging of the Shot . A S the soldiers placedhim in a blanket

,his sword got entangled

,and the

hilt entered the wound ; Captain Hardinge , a staffoflicer

,who was near

,attempted to take i t off

,but the

dying man S topped him saying,

‘I t is well as it is . I

h ad ra ther it should g o out of the field with m e.

Thus was the hero borne from the field of battle. H e

died before night,and was buried in the citadel o f

CorunnaL—the thunder of S oult’s guns being the

m ournful salute fired above his grave . Actuated bya noble feeling

,the . brave Marshal erected a menu

ment to h im on the spot where he fell .The great abili ty which Soult exh ibited in thispursu it

,caused Napoleon to rely on him chiefly In

312 S T O R M I N G o r O P O R T O .

those operat ions removed from his personal observat ion

,and he was ordered to invade Portugal . In the

mi dst of the rainy season,he set out from Corunna,

and against the mos t overwhelming obs tacles,steadily

and firmly pursued his way,unti l at length he ar

rived a t Oporto , and sat down before the c ity .

STORMING O F OPORTO .

A summons to surrender being disregarded , he

w ai ted for the morning to carry the place by assault .

But,at midnight a terrific thunder-storm arose ; the

clouds in dark and angry masses swep t the heavens ;the wind blew with frightfu l fury

,and the alarmed

inhabitants mistaking the roar of the blast for thetread of the advancing a rmies

,set al l thei r bells

ringing,while two hundred cannon suddenly opened

into the storm,and one fierce fire of musketry swept

the whole circuit of the entrenchments . The loudand rapid ringing of so many bells in the midst of themidnight storm— the thunder of cannon replying tothe thunders of heaven

,as clap after clap broke over

the city— the fierce lightning ou tshining the flash of

musketry—the roar of the wind and the confused criesof the inhabitants

,as they rushed by thousands

through the streets,combined to render i t a scene of

indescribable sublimi ty and terror. The FrenchS tood to their arms

,wondering what this strange tip

roar meant.But at length the morning broke serene and clear

,

and the waving of standards in the air,the beat of

drums,and the loud stra ins of the trumpets

,told the

inhabi tants that Soult was finally leading his strongbattal ions to the assaul t . After an obstinate struggle, the entrenchments were carried at al l po ints.

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314 H I S R E T R E A T .

breath O f l ife still rema ined . Fierce cries of revengenow blent wi th the shouts of victory . The officers los t all control

,though they mingled with the

soldiers , and by their voice and efforts , s trove to staythe carnage and violence . Their effor ts were in vain

,

and even the authority of Soult was,for a while

,no

more than threads of gossamer,before the maddened

pass ions of the soldiers . Ten thousand Portuguese fel lin this s ingle assault

,and the streets of Oporto ran

blood . Only five hundred Frenchmen were s lain .

This sanguinary affair being over,Sou lt immedi

ately established order,and by his vigorous measures

,

great kindness,and humanity

,so won the es teem of

the Portuguese,that addresses came pouring in upon

him from all quarters,and offers were made him of

the throne ofPortugal .But this brill iant opening of his campaign was destined soon to meet wi th sad reverses . A large Engl ish forc e

,unknown to him

,had assembled in his

vicini ty,and were rapidly marching against him . I II

the meantime,treason in his own camp began to Show

i tself. Many of the French officers had resolved todeliver the army into the hands of the English . Thisconspiracy extending more or less through the differen t armies in the peninsula

,was set on foot to

overthrow Napoleon . I t was a l ong time before Soul tcould fathom these secret machinations . His own

forces— their posit ion and des tination,were all known

to the English ; while he was left in u tter uncertaintyof their s trength and plans . But at length his eyeswere opened

,and he saw at once the appall ing dan

gers which surrounded him . I t was then he exhibi ted the immense energy and strength of character hepossessed . An abyss had O pened under his feet . buthe stood and looked into its impenetrable depths wi th

M A R S H A L S O U L T . 315

out a shudder. N o t knowing whom to trus t— almostenveloped by a superior enemy

,he never theless took

his decision with the calmness of a great mind . Com

pelled to fall back , he escaped as by a miracle thegrasp of the enemy

,and once more entered Oporto .

Compel led to abandon the city,he continued to fall

back,resting his hope on Loison

,whom he had or

dered to hold Amarante . But that general haddeparted

,leaving his commander-ih -chief to destruc

tion . Soult heard of this new calamity a t midnight,jus t after he had crossed the Souza river . The newsspread through the dismayed army, and insubordination broke forth

,and voices were heard calling for a

capitulation . But Soult rose calmly above the s torm ,

and learning from a Spanish pedlar that there was aby—path across the mountains

,instantly resolved to

lead his troops over it . The treacherous and discontented were alike paralyzed by his firmness

,and saw

withou t'

a movement of res is tance all the artillery andbaggage destroyed and with their muskets on theirShoulders started over the mountains

,and finally

effected a junction with the retreating Loison . Nothing can be more sublime than the bearing of Soultin this retreat . Superior to treason— to complaintsand danger

,he moved at the head of his distracted

army with a firmness and constancy that awed rebellion

,and crushed all opposition .

Instead of retreating on the high road,which must

have ensured his destruction,he commanded that al l

the artillery of L oison’s corps also should be destroyed

in presence of the army . Knowing when to sacrifice,

and doing it with an inflexibili ty of purpose tha tquelled resistance

,he bent his great energies on the

salvation of his army . Taking again to the moun

3 16 B R A V E R Y O F M A J O R D U L O N G .

tains,he gained a day’s march on his pursuers . R e~

organizing his ill-conditioned army , he took commandof the rear-guard himself ; and thu s kept his stern eyeon the enemy

,while the mutinous and traitorous were

held before him,and in reach of his certain stroke .

Thus retreating,the despoiled

,starving army at length

approached the r iver Cavado,when word was brought

the Marshal,that the peasantry were destroying the

only bridge across i t. Should they succeed,the las t

hour of his army had s truck ; for there it mu st hal t,and by morning the English guns would be thundering on his rear, while he had no t a Single cannon toanswer them . The abyss Opened wider beneath him

,

but over his marble features passed no shadow of

fear . Calling Major Dulong to him— the bravest manin his ranks— he told him the enemy were destroyingthe bridge across the river ahead

,and he had chosen

him out of the whole army to save i t . He orderedhim to pick ou t a hundred grenadiers

,and twenty-five

horsemen,and surprise the guard

,and secure the

passage .

“ If you succeed,

” said he,

“ send me word ;but if youfa il, send none— your Silence wil l be sufficient . ” One would be glad to know what the las tdesperate resolution of that iron-willed commander

was,should si lence follow the bold undertaking of the

brave Dulong .

He departed ; while Soul t wai ted with the intensestanxiety the resul t . The rain fel l in torrents— the windw en t howling fiercely by

,and midnigh t blackness

wrapped the drenched and staggering army,as they

s tood barefoot and unsheltered in the s torm . Aftera long and painful suspense

,a messenger arrived .

“ The bridge is won,

” fel l on S oult ’s ear like hO pe onthe dying. A flash of joy passed over his inflexible

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318 H i s M I L I T A R Y T A L E N T S .

spira tors , and uncertain whom to trus t among his

officers,do bet ter

,or Show that any leader has acted

more worthily,in s imilar ci rcumstances , before ex

cep tionsare taken .

I t would be uninteresting to follow Soul t through

al l his after operations in Spain . Napoleon had gone,

and between the quarrel ling of the rival chiefs,and

the imbecili ty of Joseph,affairs were no t managed

with the greates t wisdom . Soul t was crippled in allhis movements— hi s sound policy neglected

,and his

bes t combination s thwarted by Joseph . The disas

trous ba ttle of Talavera was fought in direct opposition to his advice ; nevertheless , he soon after hail thepleasure of cha sing Sir Arthur Wellesl ey out of Spain .

Hi s Operations in Andalusia and E stram adura,and

the firmness with which he resis ted the avarice of

Joseph,all exhibi ted his well-balanced character. In

Andalu sia he firmly held his ground,although hedged

in with hosti le armies,and surrounded by an insur

gen t population,while a wide territory had to be

covered with his troops . His vas t and skilful combi

nation s , during this period, Show the powerful intellec t he brought to the task before him . King Josephcould not comprehend the operation s of such am ind as S oult ’s

,and cons tantly impeded his success .

When,without ruin to the army

,the s tubborn Marshal

might yield to his commands,he did ; bu t where the

King’s projec ts would plunge him into irredeemableerrors

,he openly and firmly withs tood him . The anger

and threats of Joseph were al ike in vain ; the inflexibleold soldier professed his wil lingness to o bey

,but de

c lared he would not,with his eyes open

,commit a

great mil itary blunder . King Joseph would despatchloud and vehement complaints to Napoleon

,but the

M A R S H A L S O U L T . 319

Emperor knew too well the abil ity of Soul t to heedthem . Had the latter been on the Spanish throne

,

instead of Joseph,the country would have been long

before subdued,and French power es tablished .

But it would be impossible,without going into the

entire complicated hi story of the Peninsular war,to

give any correct idea of the prodigious efforts he putforth— of his skilful combinations

,or of the military

genius he exhibited,in his successful career . Yet

,

arduous as was the duty assigned him,he drove

Wellington ou t of the country ; and though fettered bythe foolish orders ofa foolish king

,maintained French

power in Spain til l he was recalled to s teady Napoleon ’s rocking throne in Germany . Cautious inattack

,yet terrible in his onset

,and endless in his

resources when beaten,no General could have ac

compl ished more than he,and he adopted the only

method that could at all be successful in the kind ofwar he was compelled to wage .

The bloodies t ba ttle during the Peninsular war,

was fought by Sou l t,and lost in the very moment of

victory . In May,181 1

,he rapidly concentra ted his

forces,and moving from Sevil le

,advanced on Beres

ford occupying the heights before Albuera .

BATTLE O F ALBUERA .

Soult had twenty-one thousand men under him,

while the Spani sh and English armies together numbered over thirty thousand . The French Marshal ,however

,relying on the steadiness and bravery of his

troops,and no t reckoning the Spaniards a t more than

half their numerical s trength,resolved to give battle .

The allies were stationed along a ridge,three miles

in extent . The action commenced by an attack ofFrench cavalry

,but soon S oult’s massive columns

320 B A T T L E O F A L B U E R A .

began to move over the field and ascend,with a firm

step , the oppos ing height s . The arti llery opened onthe heads of those columns with terrible precision

,

but their batteries replied with such rapidi ty,that they

seemed moving v olcanoes travers ing the field ofdeath .

Am id the charges of infantry,the shocks of cavalry

,

and the carnage of the batteries, ‘ they continued to

press on,while thei r advancing fire spread like an

ascending conflagra tion up the hill . Every thingwen t down in their passage. Over infantry

,artillery

,

and cavalry they passed on to the summit of theheights . Beresford

,in th is crisis of the battle

,ordered

up the Bri tish divisions from the centre . These,too

,

were overborne and trampled under foot— the heightswon— the battle

,to al l appearance

,gained

,and Beres

ford wa s preparing to re treat .Suddenly an Engl ish Officer

,Colonel Hardinge

,took

the responsibili ty of ordering up a divis ion not yet engaged

,and Abercromby with his reserve brigade . . A d

vancing with a firm and intrepid s tep,in face of the

vic torious enemy,they arrested thedisorder, a nd began

to pour a des tructive fire on the dense masses of Soult .His columns had penetrated so far into the very heartof the army

,that not only their front

,but their entire

flanks were exposed to a most severe fire . Thus didMacdonald press into the Au s trian lines

,and taking

the cross fire of the enemy ’s batteries,see his mighty

columns dis solve beside him . Soult endeavoured todeploy his men

,so as to return a more effectual fire .

B u t the discharges of the enemy were so rapid andclose

,that every effort was in vain . The steady

ranks mel ted away before the storm,bu t s til l refused

t o y ield . Soult saw the crisis this sudden check hadbrought upon him

,and strained every nerve to save

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322 D E F E A T o r S O U L T .

nant of sir-

thousand unconquerable B r itish soldiers

stood tr iump han t on the hil

The fight was done,and fifteen thousand men lay

p i led in mangled heaps al ong that hill and in the valley. The rain came down in torrents

,and night set

in,dark and gloomy

,over the scene of confl ict . B ut

from the dreadful field,groans and cries arose through

the long night,as the wounded wri thed in their pain .

The pitiless storm,and the moaning wind

,and the

murky nig ht,and heart-breaking cries of the suffer

ing and the dying,combined to render i t a scene of

unmingled terror . Soult took five hundred prisonersand several stand of colours

,whi le the Briti sh had

only the bloody field for thei r frO phy . The next day,

however,Soul t s til l hung like a thunder cloud on the

army of the English . But they,having rece ived re

inforcements ; on the third day he deemed i t pruden'

to retire . Marmont,however

,j oining him soon after

he again took the offensive,and drove the E nglisl

before him,and over the Spanish borders .

I t i s impossible to fol low the Marshal through hischequered career. For fi ve years he struggled manfully against the most harrassing obstacles

,and final

ly when Spain was delivered from the enemy, he has

tened,as before remarked

,to Napoleon

,to help him

s tem the torrent that was threatening to bear him away.

With hi s departure,vic tory also departed

,and soon

the disa s trous bat tle of Vi ttoria th rew Spain againinto the hands of the English .

The appoin tmen t by Napoleon of Soult to retrievethese losses

,showed what his opinion was of the Mar

shal,as a military leader. Not the complaints and

false represe ntations of hi s own brother,nor the re

por ts of rival generals . could bl ind his penetra ting

M A R S H A L S O U L T . 323

eye to the great abili ty of the Duke of Dalmatia .

N o higher eulogy could be passed on him than thiss ingle appointment .

The frontiers of France were threatened throughthe passes of the Pyrenees . and these Soult was ordered to defend to the la s t ex tremity. He found at Bayonne but the fragments of the armies that had battledin Spain

,but with his accustomed energy

,he set abou t

thei r organization,and wi th such untiring persever

ance did he work,that in a fortnight he was ready

to take the field . Bearing down on Wellington,he

poured his s trong columns like a res istless torrentthrough the pass of the Roncesvalles . The gorgesand precipices of the Pyrenees rung to the pea l of

musketry,the roll of the drum

,and the roar of can

non,and S oult

’s conquering troops broke

,with the

shout of victors into Spain .

I t was his design to succour St . Sebastiani,which ,

with a smal l garri son,had wi thstood a long siege,

and been most heroical ly defended . But the energywhich he had imparted to his army was only momentary . The soldiers were exhausted and worn

down,and could not be held to the contes t l ike fresh

troops,and Soult was compelled to retire before supe

rior force . The sudden abyss that had opened underWellington

,clo sed again

,and having repulsed his

able antagonis t,he sat down anew before St . Sebas

tiani. Soul t had given his word to thi s brave garrison that if they would hold out a short time longer , hewould march to ’

their relief,and he now set about ful

fi ll ing his promise,hopeless as the task was

,and

moved to within eight miles of the place with hisarmy . B ut the besiegers , in the meantime, had notbeen idle . The siege was pressed vigorously

,and a

324 S T O R M I N G o r s r . S E B A S T I A N I .

hundred and eighteen guns were d ragged before thedoomed town . Before Soult broke so rash and sudden through the Pyrenees

,Wellington had made an

ineffectual assaul t on the place,and though the fo rti

fica tions had been weakened and many of the housesburned

,withdrawing his forces to meet the French

Marshal,the garrison had a breathing spell

,and made

good use of their time to repai r thei r defences .

TERR IBLE ASSAULT O F S T . SEBASTIANI .W ell ington a t length placed in battery s ixty

cannon,some of them s ixty- three pounders,

and began to play on the walls . The thunder ofthese heavy guns shook the hi lls around

,and was

echoed in sullen shocks on the ear of the distantSoult . For four days did this fierce volcano belchfor th i ts s tream of fire agains t St. Sebast iani

,carrying

terror and dismay to the hearts of the inhabita nts .Nothing could wi thstand such batteries

,and the iron

storm smote agains t the wall s t ill a frightful gap appea red , furnishing foo thold for the assaulting com

panies .

St . Sebastiani s tands by the sea,with the river

U remea flowing clo se under i ts walls,which in low

tide can be forded . On the farther s ide of this riverwere the Bri tish troops

,and on the 31st of

at half-pas t ten,the forlorn hO pe took

-i ts stthe trenches

,waiting for t he ebbing tide to a

them to cros s . As thi s devoted band s tood in silwatching the slow set tl ing of the waters

,they 0

see the wall they were to mount lined with shelfire-barrels ; ready to explode a t a touch ,bayonet-points gleamed beyond

,showing into

destruction they were to move Sol

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326 T H E T o w iv r s C A R R I E D

down,while the few who passed met the bayonet

point,and fell a t the feet of the heroic defenders .

After two hours of th is m ‘

urderous strife,the breach

wa s left empty o f all bu t the dead,and the shou t of

the French was heard in the pause of the s torm . Inthis crisi s

,the English soldiers were ordered to l ie down

a t the foot of the ram parts,while forty- seven cannon

were brought to bear on the high curtain wi thin,from

whence the fire swept the breach . The batteriesopened

,and the balls flying only two fee t over the

soldiers’ heads,crushed with res istless power through

the enemy ’ s works . A t this moment,an accident

completed what the besiegers had begun,and over

whelmed the defenders . A shell,bursting amid the

hand grenades,shells

,train s of fire-barrels

,and all

kinds of explos ive m aterials which the garrison hadlaid along the ramparts for a las t defence— the wholetook fire . A shee t of flame ran along the wal ls

,and

then the mouth of a volcano seemed to open,followed

by an explosion that shook the ci ty to i ts foundations,

sending fierce columns of smoke and broken fragments in to the ai r

,and strewing the bodies of three

hundred French sold iers amid the ruins . As thesmoke lifted

,the assailants rushed with a deafening

shou t forward,and though firm ly

'

met by the bayonet

,thei r increas ing numbers overwhelmed every

obs tacle , and they poured into the town . Soult,eight

miles d istant,had just been defeated in at tempting to

march to the relief of the garrison,and from the heights

of B idissoa,heard that terrific explosion

’

tha t followed the cannonading

,and saw the fiercely ascending

columns of smoke that told that S t . Sebastiani waswon.

A t this moment, when the shouts of the conquer

M A R S H A L S O U L T . 27

ors,maddened by every passion that makes man a

mons ter and a fiend,were paralyzing the hearts of

the inhabi tants with fear,the long gathering thunder

s torm burst on the town . Sudden darkness wrappedevery thing

,through which the lightning incessantly

stream ed,fol lowed by crash after crash of thunder

,

ti ll the very heavens seemed ready to fall . Amidthis stern language of the skies

,and war of the ele

ments,and roar of the conflagra tion that fanned by the

tempes t,wrapped the dwellings

,scenes were trans

piring,over which his tory must draw a veil . R a

pine,revenge

,drunkenness

,lus t

,and murder

,burst

forth withou t res train t,making a wilder hel l than

man ever dreamed of before . The inhabitants fledfrom their burning houses

,and crowded into a quar

ter where the flames had not yet come . As men,

women and children,s tood thus packed together

,the

brutal soldiery reeled and staggered around them,

firing into the shrieking mass , and plunging theirbayonets into the old and young alike . Lust

,too

,was

abroad,and the cries of violated wo

'

men,mingled in

with the oa ths and blasphemies and shouts of thesold iers . Wives were ravished in presence of theirhusbands

,mothers in presence of their daughters

,and

one girl of seventeen was violated on the corpse ofher mother. For three days did the rapine

,and m ur

der,and cruelty continue

,and scenes were enacted

which may no t be described,and before which

,even

fiends would blush . Such is war,and such i ts hor

rors .

The Governor retreated to the citadel,and bravely

defended himself with a handful of men for severaldays

,stil l hoping the arrival of Soult . But that Mar

shal had his hands full to keep Wel lington a t bay.

328 H I S L A S T B R A V E S T R U G G L E .

A t length,compelled to retreat

,he yielded the ground

s tep by step,fighting his way as he went . He de

l ivered the bloody battles of B idissoa,and Neville

,dis

puted the passage of the Nive,and fought a t St .

Pierre,worthy of a better result . He showed a depth

of combination,an energy of character

,and a tenaci ty

of pur pose,seldom equal led by any General . Had

his shock in battl e been equal to Ney’s,he would

have been i rresis tible . As i t was,with half the force

brought against him,he baffled every eflb r t of the

enemy to overwhelm him,and being driven

‘into

France,disputed every inch of - his native soil w ith

a heroism and patrio tism that have rendered himimmortal . Now enforcing discipline

,now encourag

ing hi s troops in the onset,and now on foot a t the

head of the charging columns,peril ling his life l ike

the meanes t soldier ; he strained every nerve to resistthe advance of his overpowering adversary . He hadarrived at Bayonne

,and taken command of the dis

organized and humble army in July . He had reorganized it

,broken like a thunderbolt into Spain

,

fought seven pitched battles,lost thirty thousand

men,and in December is again seen at Bayonne

,

showing a firm fron t to the enemy. For five monthshe had struggled agains t the most overwhelming ob

stacles— fought with troops tha t would have ruinedthe cause of a less s tern General— s truck blows thateven agains t the odds they were directed

,well nigh

gave him the victory ; and amid the complaints ofthe sold iers and the desertion of his German troops

,

never once gave way to discouragement . Self- sustained and resolute , his iron wil l would bend beforeno reverses

,and in tha t las t s truggle for Napoleon in

Spain and France, and his masterly re treat, he has

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330 D E L I V E R S U P H I S S W O R D .

full information of the terms of the abdication , refused to make any change in his

i

opera tions, excep t togrant an armistice till farther reports could be re

ceived . Even if Napoleon had abdicated,he did not

know that the Bourbons would be reins tated,or that

the army should not retain i ts present hostile a tti tude.In thi s uncertain state of affairs

,the two leaders

again prepared for battle ; but the useless wa ste ofblood wa s spared by orders from the Minister of

War ; and Soul t del ivered up his command to the .

Duke ofAngouleme . As before remarked,he s truck

the last blow,and fired the last c annon shot , for Na

poleon and the Empire .

His conduc t at Waterloo has caused many remarks,

and subjected him to some heavy accusa tions . Butthe most tha t can be made of it is

,that he did not

ac t with hi s accustomed vigour . A t Wa terloo hewa s not the hero of Austerlitz .

Soul t has committed m any errors ; and i t could notwell be otherwise . A l ife passed in such an agitatedpoli tical sea as his has been

,must now and then ex

b ibit some contradic tions and inconsistencies: Butthese mino r faul ts are buried beneath his noble deeds ;and hi s blood so freely shed o n so many battle-fields forFrance— the great ta lents he has placed at the serviceof his country—and the glory with which he has ccvered her armies

,will render h im dear

‘

to her longafter hi s eventful l ife has closed .

The Duke of Dalma tia i s now seventy-seven yearsof age ; and though he has resigned his office ofMinis ter ofWar, he is s till President of the Council , andtakes an active par t in the poli tica l affairs of France.Nothing shows more plainly the ridiculous self

concei t of English historians in drawing a paral

M A R S H A L S O U L T . 331

lel between Wellington and Bonaparte,merely be

cause the former won the battle of Waterloo,or

rather,was Commander-in Chief when i t was won

than this long s truggle be tween him and Soult in Spain .

The French Marshal Showed himself a match for himat any time ; nay , beat him oftener and longer than hewas beaten . The advantage

,if any

,was on the s ide

of the French Marshal ; for while he possessed equalcoolness and prudence

,he carried greater force in his

onsets . Yet who would think of drawing a parallelbetween Soult and Napoleon

,with the leas t intention

ofmaking them equal . Wellington was no ordinarygeneral ; and he receives al l the meri t he deserves ,when put bes ide Soul t a s an equal . P i tted againsteach other for years

,they were so nearly balanced

,

that there seems li ttle to choose between them ; butto place either beside Napoleon as his equal

,excites

a smile in any one but an Englishman .

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