49 files changed, 43064 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6833f05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+* text=auto
+*.txt text
+*.md text
diff --git a/34400-8.txt b/34400-8.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..56f770d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-8.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,13513 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Napoleon's Marshals, by R. P. Dunn-Pattison
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Napoleon's Marshals
+
+Author: R. P. Dunn-Pattison
+
+Release Date: November 23, 2010 [EBook #34400]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NAPOLEON'S MARSHALS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Moti Ben-Ari and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+NAPOLEON'S MARSHALS
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: MARSHAL NEY COVERING THE RETREAT
+FROM THE PAINTING BY YVON AT VERSAILLES]
+
+
+
+
+NAPOLEON'S
+MARSHALS
+
+BY
+
+R. P. DUNN-PATTISON, M.A.
+
+LATE LIEUTENANT ARGYLL AND SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERS, AND
+SOMETIME LECTURER AT MAGDALEN COLLEGE, OXFORD
+
+WITH TWENTY ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+METHUEN & CO.
+36 ESSEX STREET W.C.
+LONDON
+
+
+
+
+First Published in 1909
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                          PAGE
+
+INTRODUCTION                                                ix
+
+SYNOPSIS OF THE MARSHALS                                 xviii
+
+      I. LOUIS ALEXANDRE BERTHIER, MARSHAL, PRINCE OF
+           WAGRAM, SOVEREIGN PRINCE OF NEUCHÂTEL AND
+           VALANGIN                                          1
+
+     II. JOACHIM MURAT, MARSHAL, KING OF NAPLES             23
+
+    III. ANDRÉ MASSÉNA, MARSHAL, DUKE OF RIVOLI, PRINCE
+           OF ESSLING                                       49
+
+     IV. JEAN BAPTISTE JULES BERNADOTTE, MARSHAL, PRINCE
+           OF PONTE CORVO, KING OF SWEDEN                   72
+
+      V. JEAN DE DIEU NICOLAS SOULT, MARSHAL, DUKE OF
+           DALMATIA                                         93
+
+     VI. JEAN LANNES, MARSHAL, DUKE OF MONTEBELLO          117
+
+    VII. MICHEL NEY, MARSHAL, DUKE OF ELCHINGEN, PRINCE
+           OF MOSKOWA                                      141
+
+   VIII. LOUIS NICOLAS DAVOUT, MARSHAL, DUKE OF AUERSTÄDT,
+           PRINCE OF ECKMÜHL                               162
+
+     IX. JACQUES ÉTIENNE JOSEPH ALEXANDRE MACDONALD,
+           MARSHAL, DUKE OF TARENTUM                       183
+
+      X. AUGUSTE FRÉDÉRIC LOUIS VIESSE DE MARMONT,
+           MARSHAL, DUKE OF RAGUSA                         200
+
+     XI. LOUIS GABRIEL SUCHET, MARSHAL, DUKE OF ALBUFERA   219
+
+    XII. LAURENT GOUVION ST. CYR, MARSHAL                  231
+
+   XIII. BON ADRIEN JEANNOT DE MONCEY, MARSHAL, DUKE
+           OF CONEGLIANO                                   245
+
+    XIV. JEAN BAPTISTE JOURDAN, MARSHAL                    251
+
+     XV. CHARLES PIERRE FRANÇOIS AUGEREAU, MARSHAL, DUKE
+           OF CASTIGLIONE                                  259
+
+    XVI. GUILLAUME MARIE ANNE BRUNE, MARSHAL               268
+
+   XVII. ADOLPHE ÉDOUARD CASIMIR JOSEPH MORTIER, MARSHAL,
+           DUKE OF TREVISO                                 278
+
+  XVIII. JEAN BAPTISTE BESSIÈRES, MARSHAL, DUKE OF ISTRIA  286
+
+    XIX. CLAUDE VICTOR PERRIN, MARSHAL, DUKE OF BELLUNO    296
+
+     XX. EMMANUEL DE GROUCHY, MARSHAL                      305
+
+    XXI. FRANÇOIS CHRISTOPHE KELLERMANN, MARSHAL, DUKE
+           OF VALMY                                        316
+
+   XXII. FRANÇOIS JOSEPH LEFÈBVRE, MARSHAL, DUKE OF
+           DANTZIG                                         322
+
+  XXIII. NICOLAS CHARLES OUDINOT, MARSHAL, DUKE OF
+           REGGIO                                          333
+
+   XXIV. DOMINIQUE CATHERINE DE PÉRIGNON, MARSHAL          344
+
+    XXV. JEAN MATHIEU PHILIBERT SERURIER, MARSHAL          349
+
+   XXVI. PRINCE JOSEPH PONIATOWSKI, MARSHAL                354
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+MARSHAL NEY COVERING THE RETREAT                        _Frontispiece_
+    (From the painting by Yvon at Versailles. Photo Neurdein)
+
+                                                           FACING PAGE
+
+ALEXANDRE BERTHIER, PRINCE OF WAGRAM                                 4
+    (From an engraving after the painting by Pajou _fils_)
+
+JOACHIM MURAT, AFTERWARDS KING OF NAPLES                            24
+    (From the painting by Gérard at Versailles. Photo Neurdein)
+
+ANDRÉ MASSÉNA, PRINCE OF ESSLING                                    51
+
+JEAN BAPTISTE BERNADOTTE, KING OF SWEDEN                            74
+    (From an engraving after the painting by Hilaire le Dru)
+
+JEAN DE DIEU SOULT, DUKE OF DALMATIA                                96
+    (From a lithograph by Delpech after the painting by Rouillard)
+
+JEAN LANNES, DUKE OF MONTEBELLO                                    120
+    (From an engraving by Amédée Maulet)
+
+MICHEL NEY, PRINCE OF MOSKOWA                                      142
+    (From an engraving after the painting by F. Gérard)
+
+LOUIS NICOLAS DAVOUT, PRINCE OF ECKMÜHL                            167
+    (From an engraving after the painting by Gautherot)
+
+JACQUES ÉTIENNE MACDONALD, DUKE OF TARENTUM                        184
+    (From a lithograph by Delpech)
+
+AUGUSTE DE MARMONT, DUKE OF RAGUSA                                 202
+    (From an engraving after the painting by Muneret)
+
+LOUIS GABRIEL SUCHET, DUKE OF ALBUFERA                             220
+     (From an engraving by Pollet)
+
+GOUVION ST. CYR, COUNT                                             233
+    (From an engraving after the painting by J. Guerin)
+
+JEAN BAPTISTE JOURDAN                                              252
+    (After a drawing by Ambroise Tardieu)
+
+CHARLES PIERRE AUGEREAU, DUKE OF CASTIGLIONE                       260
+    (From an engraving by Ruotte)
+
+BRUNE                                                              268
+    (From an engraving after the painting by F. J. Harriet)
+
+ADOLPHE ÉDOUARD MORTIER, DUKE OF TREVISO                           280
+    (From an engraving after the painting by Larivière)
+
+EMMANUEL DE GROUCHY, MARQUIS                                        306
+    (From an engraving after the painting by Rouillard)
+
+FRANÇOIS CHRISTOPHE KELLERMANN, DUKE OF VALMY                      318
+    (From an engraving after the painting by Ansiaux)
+
+NICOLAS CHARLES OUDINOT, DUKE OF REGGIO                            332
+    (From an engraving after the painting by Robert le Fevre)
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+It is a melancholy but instructive fact to remember that, in the opinion
+of him whom nature had adorned with the greatest intellect that the
+world has yet seen, selfishness and self-interest lie at the root of all
+human action. "For," as Napoleon said, "in ambition is to be found the
+chief motive force of humanity, and a man puts forth his best powers in
+proportion to his hopes of advancement." It was on this cynical
+hypothesis therefore, with a complete disregard of those higher
+aspirations of self-sacrifice and self-control which raise man above the
+mere brute, that the Corsican adventurer waded through seas of blood to
+the throne of France, and then attempted, by the destruction of a
+million human beings, to bind on his brow the imperial crown of Western
+Europe. In spite of loud-sounding phrases and constitutional
+sleight-of-hand, none knew better than Napoleon that by the sword alone
+he had won his empire and by the sword alone he could keep it. Keen
+student of history, it was not in vain that again and again he had read
+and re-read the works of Cæsar, and pondered on the achievements of
+Charlemagne and the career of Cromwell. The problem he had to solve was,
+how to conceal from his lieutenants that his dynasty rested purely on
+their swords, to bind their honours so closely to his own fortune that
+they should ever be loyal; so to distribute his favours that his
+servants should never become so great as to threaten his own position.
+It was with this object in view that at the time he seized for himself
+the imperial crown he re-established the old rôle of Marshal of France,
+frankly confessing to Roederer that his reason for showering rewards on
+his lieutenants was to assure to himself his own dignity, since they
+could not object to it when they found themselves the recipients of such
+lofty titles. But, with the cunning of the serpent, while he gave with
+one hand he took away with the other. He fixed the number of Marshals at
+sixteen on the active list and added four others for those too old for
+active service. Hence he had it in his power to reward twenty hungry
+aspirants, while he robbed the individuals of their glory, since each
+Marshal shared his dignity with nineteen others. Plainly also he told
+them that, lofty though their rank might appear to others, to him they
+were still mere servants, created by him and dependent for their
+position on him alone. "Recollect," he said, "that you are soldiers only
+when with the army. The title of Marshal is merely a civil distinction
+which gives you the honourable rank at my court which is your due, but
+it carries with it no authority. On the battlefield you are generals, at
+court you are nobles, belonging to the State by the civil position I
+created for you when I bestowed your titles on you." It was on May 19,
+1804, that the _Gazette_ appeared with the first creation of Marshals.
+There were fourteen on the active list and four honorary Marshals in the
+Senate. Two bâtons were withheld as a reward for future service. The
+original fourteen were Berthier, Murat, Moncey, Jourdan, Masséna,
+Augereau, Bernadotte, Soult, Brune, Lannes, Mortier, Ney, Davout and
+Bessières; while on the retired list were Kellermann, Lefèbvre,
+Pérignon, and Serurier. The list caused much surprise and
+dissatisfaction. On the one hand there were those like Masséna who
+received their congratulations with a grunt and "Yes, one of fourteen."
+On the other hand were those like Macdonald, Marmont, Victor, and many
+another, who thought they ought to have been included. An examination of
+the names soon explains how the choice was made. Except Jourdan, who was
+too great a soldier to be passed over, all those who could not forget
+their Republican principles were excluded. Masséna received his bâton as
+the greatest soldier of France. Berthier, Murat, and Lannes had won
+theirs by their talents, as much as by their personal devotion. Soult,
+Ney, Davout, and Mortier were Napoleon's choice from among the coming
+men, who in the camps of the Army of the Ocean were fast justifying
+their selection. Bessières was included because he would never win it at
+any later date, but his doglike devotion made him a priceless
+subordinate. Augereau and Bernadotte received their bâtons to keep them
+quiet. The names of Moncey, Brune, Kellermann, Pérignon, and Serurier
+were intimately connected with glorious feats of the republican armies,
+and so, though only fortunate mediocrities, they were included in the
+first creation, while Lefèbvre, the republican of republicans, now under
+the glamour of Napoleon's power, was placed on the list as a
+stalking-horse of the extreme members of his party. At the time of the
+first creation, of the great soldiers of the Republic, Moreau was
+branded as a traitor; Hoche, Marceau, Kléber, Desaix, and Pichegru were
+dead; Carnot, the organiser of victory, was a voluntary exile; while
+staunch blades like Leclerc, Richepanse, Lecourbe, Macdonald, Victor,
+St. Cyr, and Suchet were all more or less in disgrace. By the end of the
+Empire, death and the necessity of rewarding merit added to the list of
+Marshals until in all twenty-six bâtons were granted by the Emperor. In
+1808 Victor was restored to favour and received his bâton. After Wagram,
+Macdonald, Oudinot, and Marmont received the prize, while the Spanish
+War brought it to Suchet, and the Russian campaign to St. Cyr. In 1813
+the Polish prince, Poniatowski, was sent his truncheon on the field of
+Leipzig, while last of all, in 1815, Grouchy was promoted to one of the
+vacancies caused by the refusal of many of the Marshals to cast off
+their allegiance to the Bourbons.
+
+It was a popular saying in the Napoleonic army that every private
+soldier carried in his knapsack a Marshal's bâton, and the early history
+of many of these Marshals bears out this saying. But while the
+Revolution carried away all the barriers and opened the highest ranks to
+talent, be it never so humble in its origin, the history of the Marshals
+proves that heaven-born soldiers are scarce, and that the art of war,
+save in the case of one out of a million, can only be acquired by years
+of patient work in a subordinate position. Of the generals of the
+revolutionary armies only four, Moreau, Mortier, Suchet, and Brune, had
+no previous military training, and of these four, Moreau and Suchet
+alone had claim to greatness. The rough unlettered generals of the early
+years of the war soon proved that they could never rise above the
+science of the drill-sergeant. Once discipline and organisation were
+restored there was no room for a general like the gallant Macard, who,
+when about to charge, used to call out, "Look here, I am going to dress
+like a beast," and thereon divest himself of everything save his leather
+breeches and boots, and then, like some great hairy baboon, with strange
+oaths and yells lead his horsemen against the enemy. A higher type was
+required than this Macard, who could not understand that because an
+officer could sketch mountains he could not necessarily measure a man
+for a pair of boots.
+
+Of the twenty-six Marshals, nine had held commissions ranging from
+lieutenant-general to lieutenant in the old royal army, one was a Polish
+Prince, an ex-Austrian officer, while one had passed the artillery
+college but had refused to accept a commission; eleven had commenced
+life as privates in the old service, and of these, nine had risen to the
+rank of sergeant; and four had had no previous military training. It
+must also be remembered that the standard of the non-commissioned rank
+in the royal army just before the Revolution was extremely high. The
+reforms of St. Germain and the popularity of the American War had
+enticed into the ranks a high class of recruits, with the result that
+the authorities were able to impose tests, and no private could rise to
+the rank of corporal, or from corporal to sergeant, without passing an
+examination. Further, since the officers of the ancient régime left the
+entire organisation, discipline, and control in the hands of the
+non-commissioned officers, and seldom, if ever, visited their companies
+either in barracks or on the parade ground, the non-commissioned
+officers, in everything save actual title, were really extremely
+well-trained officers. It was this class which really saved France when
+the old officers emigrated and the incapable politicians in Paris did
+their best to ruin the army. Hence it was that, without prejudice to the
+service, a sergeant might one day be found quietly obeying the orders of
+his company officer, and the next day with the rank of lieutenant-colonel
+commanding his battalion.
+
+The art of war can only be truly learned in the field, and the officers
+of the French army had such an experience as had never fallen to the lot
+of any other nation since the days of the Thirty Years' War. With
+continuous fighting winter and summer, on every frontier, military
+knowledge was easily gained by those who had the ability to acquire it,
+and the young generals of brigade, with but three years' service in
+commissioned rank, had gone through experiences which seldom fall to the
+lot of officers with thirty years' service. The cycle of war seemed
+unending. From the day on which, in 1792, France hurled her declaration
+of war on Austria, till the surrender of Paris, in 1814, with the
+exception of the year of peace gained at Amiens, war was continuous. It
+began with a light-hearted invasion of France by Austria and Prussia in
+September, 1792, which ended in the cannonade of Valmy, when Dumouriez
+and Kellermann, with the remnant of the old royal army, showed such a
+bold front that the Allies, who had never expected to fight, lost heart
+and ran home. The Austro-Prussian invasion sealed the King's
+death-warrant, and France, in the hands of republican enthusiasts, went
+forth with a rabble of old soldiers and volunteers to preach the
+doctrine of the Equality of Man and the Brotherhood of Nations. But the
+sovereigns of Europe determined to fight for their crowns, and the
+licence of the French soldiers and the selfishness of these prophets of
+the new doctrine of Equality soon disgusted the people of the Rhine
+valley; so the revolutionary mob armies were driven into France, and for
+two years she was busy on every frontier striving to drive the enemy
+from her soil. It was during these years that the new French army arose.
+The volunteers were brigaded with the old regular battalions, the ranks
+were kept full by calling out all fit to bear arms, and the incompetent
+and unfortunate were weeded out by the guillotine. By 1795 France had
+freed her own soil and had forged a weapon whereby she could retaliate
+on the Powers who had attempted to annex her territory in the hour of
+her degradation. The Rhine now became her eastern frontier. But
+Austria, whose Archduke was Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, would not
+give up the provinces seized from her; so from 1795 to 1797, on the
+headwaters of the Danube and in Italy, the representative of the Feudal
+Ages fought the new democracy. It was the appearance of the great
+military talent of Bonaparte which decided the day. On the Danube the
+Austrians had found that under the excellent leading of the Archduke
+Charles they were fit to defeat the best French troops under capable
+generals like Jourdan and Moreau. But the military genius of Bonaparte
+overbore all resistance, and when peace came, practically all Italy had
+been added to the dominion of France. Unfortunately for the peace of
+Europe, the rulers of France had tasted blood. They found in the
+captured provinces a means of making war without feeling the effects,
+for the rich pillage of Italy paid the war expenses. But, grateful as
+the Directors were to Bonaparte for thus opening to them a means of
+enriching themselves at the expense of Europe, they rightly saw in him a
+menace to their own power, and gladly allowed him to depart on the
+mission to Egypt. From Egypt Bonaparte returned, seized the reins of
+government, and saved France from the imbecility of her rulers, and, by
+the battle of Marengo, assured to her all she had lost in his absence.
+Unfortunately for France the restless ambition of her new ruler was not
+satisfied with re-establishing the Empire of the West and reviving the
+glories of Charlemagne, but hankered after a vast oversea dominion, to
+include America and India. Hence it was that he found in Great Britain
+an implacable enemy ever stirring up against him European coalitions. To
+cover his failure to wrest the dominion of the sea from its mistress,
+Napoleon turned his wrath on Austria, and soon she lay cowed at his feet
+after the catastrophe at Ulm and the battle of Austerlitz. Austria's
+fall was due to the lethargy and hesitation of the courts of Berlin and
+St. Petersburg. But once Austria was disposed of, Prussia and Russia met
+their punishment for having given her secret or open aid. The storm fell
+first on Prussia. At one fell swoop on the field of Jena, the famed
+military monarchy of the great Frederick fell in pieces like a potter's
+vessel. From Prussia the invincible French legions penetrated into
+Poland, and after Eylau and Friedland the forces of Prussia and Russia
+could no longer face the enemy in the field. The Czar, dazzled by
+Napoleon's greatness, threw over his ally Prussia and at Tilsit made
+friends with the great conqueror. In June, 1807, it seemed as if Europe
+lay at Napoleon's feet, but already in Portugal the seeds of his ruin
+had been sown. The Portuguese monarch, the ally of Great Britain, fled
+at the mere approach of a single Marshal of the Emperor. The apparent
+lethargy of the inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula and the
+unpopularity of the Spanish Bourbons tempted Napoleon to establish his
+brother on the throne of Spain. It was a fatal error, for though the
+Spanish people might despise their King, they were intensely proud of
+their nationality. For the first time in his experience the Corsican had
+to meet the forces of a nation and not of a government. The chance
+defeat of a French army at Baylen was the signal for a general rising
+throughout the Peninsula, and not only throughout the Peninsula, but for
+the commencement of a national movement against the French in Austria
+and Germany. England gladly seized the opportunity of injuring her enemy
+and sent aid to the people of Spain. Austria tried another fall with her
+conqueror, but was defeated at Wagram. Wagram ought to have taught the
+Emperor that his troops were no longer invincible as of old, but, blind
+to this lesson, he still attempted to lord it over Europe and treated
+with contumely his only friend, the Czar. Consequently, in 1812, while
+still engaged in attempting to conquer Spain, he found himself forced to
+fight Russia. The result was appalling; out of half a million troops who
+entered Russia, a bare seventy thousand returned. Prussia and Austria at
+once made a bid to recover their independence. Napoleon, blinded by
+rage, refused to listen to reason, and in October, 1813, was defeated by
+the Allies at Leipzig. Even then he might have saved his throne, but he
+still refused to listen to the Allies, who in 1814 invaded France, and,
+after a campaign in which the Emperor showed an almost superhuman
+ability, at last by sheer weight of numbers they captured Paris. Thereon
+the French troops refused to fight any longer for the Emperor. Such is a
+brief outline of what is called the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars,
+the finest school the world has yet seen for an apprenticeship in the
+trade of arms.
+
+
+
+
+SYNOPSIS OF THE MARSHALS
+
+
+Name.           |Born.    |Marshal. |Titles.            |Died.           |Age.
+----------------+---------+---------+-------------------+----------------+
+Berthier,       |Nov. 20, |May 19,  |Prince of Neuchatel|Accident,       |62
+  Louis         |  1753   |  1804   |  and Valangin,    |  June 1, 1815  |
+  Alexandre     |         |         |  Mar. 15, 1806;   |                |
+                |         |         |Prince of Wagram,  |                |
+                |         |         |   Dec. 31, 1809   |                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Murat, Joachim  |Mar. 25, |    "    |Prince,            |Shot at Pizzo,  |48
+                |  1767   |         |  Feb. 1, 1805;    |  Oct. 13, 1815 |
+                |         |         |Grand Duke of Berg,|                |
+                |         |         |  Mar. 15, 1806;   |                |
+                |         |         |King of Naples,    |                |
+                |         |         |  Aug. 1, 1808     |                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Moncey,         |July 31, |    "    |Duke of Conegliano,|Natural cause,  |88
+  Bon Adrien    |  1754   |         |  July 2, 1808     |  April 20, 1842|
+  Jeannot de    |         |         |                   |                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Jourdan,        |April 29,|    "    |Count, Mar. 1, 1808|Natural cause,  |71
+  Jean Baptiste |  1762   |         |                   |  Nov. 1833     |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Masséna, André  |May 6,   |    "    |Duke of Rivoli,    |Natural cause,  |61
+                |  1756   |         |  April 24, 1808;  |  April 4, 1817 |
+                |         |         |Prince of Essling, |                |
+                |         |         |  Jan. 31, 1810    |                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Augereau,       |Oct. 21, |    "    |Duke of            |Natural cause,  |59
+  Charles Pierre|  1757   |         |  Castiglione,     |  June 12, 1816 |
+  François      |         |         |  April 26, 1808   |                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Bernadotte,     |Jan. 26, |    "    |Prince of          |Natural cause,  |81
+  Jean Baptiste |  1763   |         |  Ponte Corvo,     |  Mar. 8, 1844  |
+  Jules         |         |         |  June 5, 1806;    |                |
+                |         |         |Crown Prince       |                |
+                |         |         |  of Sweden,       |                |
+                |         |         |  Aug. 21, 1810;   |                |
+                |         |         |King, Feb. 18, 1818|                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Soult, Jean de  |Mar. 29, |    "    |Duke of Dalmatia,  |Natural cause,  |82
+  Dieu Nicolas  |  1769   |         |  June 29, 1808    |  Nov. 26, 1851 |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Brune, Guillaume|May 13,  |    "    |Count, Mar. 1, 1808|Murdered        |52
+  Marie Anne    |  1763   |         |                   |at Avignon,     |
+                |         |         |                   |  Aug. 2, 1815  |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Lannes, Jean    |April 11,|    "    |Duke of Montebello,|Died of wounds  |40
+                |  1769   |         |  June 15, 1808    |at Vienna,      |
+                |         |         |                   |  May 31, 1809  |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Mortier, Adolphe|Feb. 13, |    "    |Duke of Treviso,   |Killed by       |67
+  Édouard       |  1768   |         |  July 2, 1808     |infernal machine|
+  Casimir Joseph|         |         |                   |at Paris,       |
+                |         |         |                   |  July 28, 1835 |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Ney, Michel     |Jan. 10, |    "    |Duke of Elchingen, |Shot at Paris,  |46
+                |  1769   |         |  May 5, 1808;     |  Dec. 7, 1815  |
+                |         |         |Prince of Moskowa, |                |
+                |         |         |  Mar. 25, 1813    |                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Davout,         |May 10,  |    "    |Duke of Auerstädt, |Natural cause,  |53
+  Louis Nicolas |  1770   |         |  July 2, 1808;    |  June 1, 1823  |
+                |         |         |Prince of Eckmühl, |                |
+                |         |         |   Nov. 28, 1809   |                |
+
+Bessières,      |Aug. 6,  |   "     |Duke of Istria,    |Killed          |45
+  Jean Baptiste |  1768   |         |  May 28, 1809     |at Lützen,      |
+                |         |         |                   |  May 1, 1813   |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Kellermann,     |May 28,  |   "     |Count,             |Natural cause,  |85
+  François      | 1735    |         |  Mar. 1, 1808;    |  Sept. 13, 1820|
+  Christophe    |         |         |Duke of Valmy,     |                |
+                |         |         |  May 2, 1808      |                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Lefèbvre,       |Oct. 15, |   "     |Count,             |Natural cause,  |65
+  François      |  1755   |         |  Mar. 1, 1808;    |  Sept. 14, 1820|
+  Joseph        |         |         |Duke of Dantzig,   |                |
+                |         |         |  Sept. 10, 1808   |                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Pérignon,       |May 31,  |   "     |Count,             |Natural cause,  |64
+  Dominique     |  1754   |         |  Sept. 6, 1811    |  Dec. 25, 1818 |
+  Catherine de  |         |         |                   |                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Serurier,       |Dec. 8,  |   "     |Count,             |Natural cause,  |77
+  Jean Mathieu  |  1742   |         |  Mar. 1, 1808     |  Dec. 21, 1819 |
+  Philibert     |         |         |                   |                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Victor,         |Dec. 7,  |July 13, |Duke of Belluno,   |Natural cause,  |77
+  Victor Claude |  1764   |  1807   |  Sept. 10, 1808   |  Mar. 1, 1841  |
+  Perrin        |         |         |                   |                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Macdonald,      |Nov. 17, |July 12, |Duke of Tarentum,  |Natural cause,  |75
+  Jacques       |  1765   |   1809  |  Dec. 9, 1809     |  Sept. 7, 1840 |
+  Étienne Joseph|         |         |                   |                |
+  Alexandre     |         |         |                   |                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Oudinot,        |April 25,|   "     |Count,             |Natural cause,  |80
+  Nicolas       |  1767   |         |  July 2, 1808;    |  Sept. 13, 1847|
+  Charles       |         |         |Duke of Reggio,    |                |
+                |         |         |  April 14, 1810   |                |
+Marmont, Auguste|         |         |                   |                |
+  Frédéric Louis|July 20, |   "     |Duke of Ragusa,    |Natural cause,  |78
+  Viesse de     |  1774   |         |  June 28, 1808    |  July 23, 1852 |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Suchet,         |Mar. 2,  |July  8, |Count,             |Natural cause,  |56
+  Louis Gabriel |  1770   |  1811   |  June 24, 1808;   |  Jan. 3, 1826  |
+                |         |         |Duke of Albufera,  |                |
+                |         |         |  Jan. 3, 1813     |                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Gouvion St. Cyr,|April 13,|Aug 27,  |Count, May 3, 1808 |Natural cause,  |66
+  Laurent       |  1764   |  1812   |                   |  Mar. 17, 1830 |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Poniatowski,    |May 7,   |Oct. 17, |        --         |Drowned         |51
+  Joseph, Prince|  1762   |  1813   |                   |in Elster,      |
+                |         |         |                   |  Oct. 19, 1813 |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Grouchy,        |Oct. 23, |April 17,|Count,             |Natural cause,  |81
+  Emmanuel de   |  1766   |  1815   |  Jan. 28, 1809    |  May 29, 1847  |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+----------------+---------+---------+-------------------+----------------+--
+
+
+
+
+NAPOLEON'S MARSHALS
+
+I
+
+LOUIS ALEXANDRE BERTHIER, MARSHAL, PRINCE OF WAGRAM, SOVEREIGN PRINCE OF
+NEUCHÂTEL AND VALANGIN
+
+
+To be content ever to play an inferior part, to see all honour and
+renown fall to the share of another, yet loyally to efface self and work
+for the glory of a friend, denotes a sterling character and an
+inflexibility of purpose with which few can claim to be endowed. Nobody
+doubts that, if it had not been for Napoleon, Berthier, good business
+man as he was, could never have risen to the fame he attained; still it
+is often forgotten that without this admirable servant it is more than
+doubtful if the great Emperor could have achieved all his most splendid
+success. Berthier, controlled by a master mind, was an instrument beyond
+price. Versed in the management of an army almost from his cradle, he
+had the gift of drafting orders so clear, so lucid, that no one could
+possibly mistake their meaning. His memory was prodigious, and his
+physical endurance such that he appeared never to require rest. But
+above all he alone seemed to be able to divine the thoughts of his great
+master before they were spoken, and this wonderful intuition taught him
+how, from a few disjointed utterances, to unravel Napoleon's most daring
+conceptions and work out the details in ordered perfection. Napoleon
+called his faithful Achates a gosling whom he had transformed into an
+eagle, but history proclaims that long before the name of Bonaparte was
+known beyond the gate of the military academy at Brienne, Berthier had
+established a record as a staff officer of the highest promise; while,
+before the young Corsican first met him in Italy, the future
+major-general of the Grand Army had evolved that perfect system of
+organisation which enabled the conqueror of Italy to control every
+movement and vibration in the army, to be informed of events as soon as
+they happened, and to be absolutely sure of the despatch and performance
+of his orders.
+
+Alexandre Berthier had seen twenty-three years' service in the old royal
+army before the Revolution broke out in 1789. Born on November 20, 1753,
+at the age of thirteen he received his commission in the engineers owing
+to his father's services in preparing a map of royal hunting forests.
+But the boy soon forsook his father's old regiment, for he knew well
+that the highest commands in the army seldom if ever fell to the
+scientific corps. When in 1780 the French Government decided to send out
+an expeditionary corps to assist the revolted colonies in their struggle
+with Great Britain, Berthier, after serving in the infantry and cavalry,
+was employed as a staff captain with the army of Normandy. Eager to see
+active service, he at once applied to be attached to the expedition, and
+offered, if there was no room for an extra captain, to resign his rank
+and serve as sub-lieutenant. Thanks to powerful family influence and to
+his record of service his desire was gratified, and in January, 1781, he
+found himself with the French troops in America employed on the staff of
+General Count de Rochambeau. Returning from America in 1783 with a
+well-earned reputation for bravery and ability, Captain Berthier was one
+of the officers sent to Prussia under the Marquis de Custine to study
+the military organisation of the great Frederick. Continuously employed
+on the staff, he had the advantage of serving as brigade major at the
+great camp of instruction held at Saint Omer in 1788, and in that year
+received as a reward for his services the cross of Saint Louis. The year
+1789 saw him gazetted lieutenant-colonel, and chief of the staff to
+Baron de Besenval, commanding the troops round Paris.
+
+When, after the capture of the Bastille, Lafayette undertook the work of
+organising the National Guard, he at once bethought him of his old
+comrade of American days, and appointed Berthier assistant
+quartermaster-general. Berthier found the post well suited to him;
+inspired by the liberal ideas which he had gained in America, he threw
+himself heart and soul into the work. Soon his talent as an organiser
+became widely recognised; many prominent officers applied to have him
+attached to their command, and, after holding several staff
+appointments, he was entrusted in 1791 with the organisation and
+instruction of the thirty battalions of volunteers cantonned between the
+Somme and Meuse. When war broke out in 1792 he was despatched as
+major-general and chief of the staff to his old friend Rochambeau, and
+when the Count resigned his command Berthier was specially retained by
+Rochambeau's successor, Luckner. But the Revolution, while giving him
+his chance, nearly brought about his fall. His intimate connection with
+the nobles of the old royal army, his courage in protecting the King's
+aunts, and his family connections caused him to become "suspect." It was
+in vain that the leaders at the front complained of the absolute
+disorder in their forces, of the necessity of more trained staff
+officers and of their desire for the services of the brilliant soldier
+who had gained his experience in war time in America and in peace time
+in Prussia. In vain Custine wrote to the Minister of War, "In the name
+of the Republic send Berthier to me to help me in my difficulties," in
+vain the Commissioners with the army reported that "Berthier has gained
+the esteem and confidence of all good patriots." Vain also was the
+valour and ability he showed in the campaign against the Royalists in
+La Vendée. Bouchotte, the incapable, the friend of the brutish,
+blockheaded Hébert, the insulter of the Queen, the destroyer of the
+army, decreed that his loyalty to the Republic was not sincere, and by a
+stroke of the pen dismissed him; thus during the whole of the year 1793
+the French army was deprived of the service of an officer who, owing to
+his powers of organisation, was worth fifty thousand of the butcher
+generals.
+
+In 1795, with the fall of the Jacobins, Berthier was restored to his
+rank and sent as chief of the staff to Kellermann, commanding the Army
+of the Alps, and before the end of the year the staff work of
+Kellermann's army became the pattern for all the armies of the Republic.
+When in March, 1796, Bonaparte was appointed commander of the Army of
+Italy, he at once requisitioned Berthier as the chief of the staff, and
+from that day till April, 1814, Berthier seldom if ever left the future
+Emperor's side, serving him with a patience and cheerfulness which
+neither ill-will nor neglect seemed to disturb. Though over forty-two
+years of age and sixteen years older than his new chief, the chief of
+the staff was still in the prime of his manhood. Short, thick-set and
+athletic, his frame proclaimed his immense physical strength, while his
+strong alert face under a mass of thick curly hair foretold at a glance
+his mental capacity.
+
+A keen sportsman, in peace he spent all his leisure in the chase. Hard
+exercise and feats of physical endurance were his delight. Fatigue he
+never knew, and on one occasion he was said to have spent thirteen days
+and nights in the saddle. To strangers and officials he was silent and
+stern, but his aloofness of manner hid a warm heart and a natural
+sincerity, and many a poor officer or returned émigré received secret
+help from his purse. Though naturally of a strong character, his
+affection and respect for his great commander became the dominating note
+in his career; in fact, it might almost be said that, in later years,
+his personality became merged to such an extent in that of Napoleon that
+he was unable to see the actions of the Emperor in their proper
+perspective. From their first meeting Bonaparte correctly guessed the
+impression he had made on his new staff officer, and aimed at increasing
+his influence over him. Meanwhile he was delighted with him, he wrote to
+the Directory, "Berthier has talents, activity, courage, character--all
+in his favour." Berthier on his side was well satisfied; as he said to a
+friend who asked him how he could serve a man with such a temper,
+"Remember that one day it will be a fine thing to be second to
+Bonaparte." So the two worked admirably together.
+
+[Illustration: ALEXANDRE BERTHIER, PRINCE OF WAGRAM
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY PAJOU FILS]
+
+Bonaparte kept in his own hands the movement of troops, the direction of
+skirmishes and battles, commissariat, discipline, and all communications
+from the Government. Berthier had a free hand in the organisation and
+maintenance of the general staff, the headquarter staff, and the
+transmission of orders, subject to inspection by Bonaparte; he also had
+to throw into written form all verbal orders, and he alone was
+responsible for their promulgation and execution. It was his ability to
+work out in detail and to reduce into clear, lucid orders the slightest
+hint of his commander which, as Napoleon said later, "was the great
+merit of Berthier, and was of inestimable importance to me. No other
+could possibly have replaced him." Thanks to Berthier's admirable
+system, Bonaparte was kept in touch with every part of his command. One
+of the first principles laid down in the staff regulations was, "That it
+was vital to the good of the service that the correspondence of the army
+should be exceedingly swift and regular, that nothing should be
+neglected which might contribute to this end." To ensure regularity of
+communication, divisional commanders and officers detached in command of
+small columns were ordered to report at least twice a day to
+headquarters. With each division, in addition to the divisional staff,
+there were officers detached from the headquarters staff. All important
+despatches had to be sent in duplicate; in times of great danger
+commanding officers had to send as many as eight different orderly
+officers each with a copy of despatches.
+
+But it was not only as an organiser and transmitter of orders that
+Berthier proved his usefulness to his chief. At Lodi he showed his
+personal courage and bravery among the band of heroes who forced the
+bridge, and Bonaparte paid him a fine tribute when he wrote in his
+despatches, "If I were bound to mention all the soldiers who
+distinguished themselves on that wonderful day, I should be obliged to
+mention all the carabiniers and grenadiers of the advance guard, and
+nearly all the officers of the staff; but I must not forget the
+courageous Berthier, who on that day played the part of gunner, trooper,
+and grenadier." At Rivoli, in addition to his staff duties, Berthier
+commanded the centre of the army, and fought with a stubbornness beyond
+all praise. By the end of the campaign of 1796 he had proved that he was
+as great a chief of the staff as Bonaparte was a great commander.
+Doubtless it is true that before the commencement of a campaign an army
+possesses in itself the causes of its future victory or defeat, and the
+Army of Italy, with its masses of enthusiastic veterans and the
+directing genius of Bonaparte, was bound to defeat the Austrians with
+their listless men and incompetent old generals; but, without the zeal,
+activity, and devotion which Berthier transfused through the whole of
+the general staff, success could not have been so sudden or so complete.
+
+After Leoben the conqueror of Italy employed his trusty friend on
+numerous diplomatic missions in connection with the annexation of Corfu
+and the government of the Cisalpine republic. Meanwhile he was in close
+communication with him in regard to the proposed descent on England and
+the possible expedition to the East. To Berthier, if to any one,
+Bonaparte entrusted his secret designs, for he knew that he could do so
+in safety. Accordingly, in 1798, finding an invasion of England
+impossible at the moment, he persuaded the Directory to send Berthier to
+Italy as commander-in-chief, his object being to place him in a position
+to gather funds for the Egyptian expedition. From Italy Berthier sent
+his former commander the most minute description of everything of
+importance, but he found the task difficult and uncongenial, and prayed
+him "to recall me promptly. I much prefer being your aide-de-camp to
+being commander-in-chief here." Still he carried out his orders and
+marched on Rome, to place the eight million francs' worth of diamonds
+wrung from the Pope to the credit of the army. From Rome he returned
+with coffers well filled for the Egyptian expedition, but leaving behind
+him an army half-mutinous for want of pay; his blind devotion to
+Bonaparte hid this incongruity from his eyes.
+
+As in Italy in 1795 so in Egypt, Berthier was Bonaparte's right-hand
+man, methodical, indefatigable, and trustworthy. But even his iron frame
+could scarcely withstand the strain of three years' continuous active
+service, the incessant office work day and night, and the trials of an
+unaccustomed climate. After the battle of the Pyramids he fell sick, and
+before the Syrian expedition, applied to return to France. Unkind
+friends hinted that he longed for his mistress, Madame Visconti, but
+Bonaparte, knowing that it was not this but sheer overstrain which had
+caused his breakdown in health, gave him the desired leave and made all
+arrangements for his journey home. However, at the moment of departure
+Berthier's love for his chief overcame his longing for rest, and, in
+spite of ill-health, he withdrew his resignation and set out with the
+army for Syria. As ever, he found plenty of work, for even in the face
+of the ill-success of the expedition, Bonaparte determined to administer
+Egypt as if the French occupation was to be for ever permanent; and
+Berthier, in addition to his ordinary work, was ordered to edit a
+carefully executed map from the complete survey which was being made of
+the country.
+
+It was to Berthier that Bonaparte first divulged his intention of
+leaving Egypt and returning to France, and his determination to upset
+the Directory. Liberal by nature, but essentially a man of method and a
+disciplinarian, the chief of the staff was quite in accord with his
+commander's ideas on the regeneration of France, and loyally supported
+him during the _coup d'état_ of the 18th Brumaire. Thereafter the First
+Consul appointed his friend Minister of War, a position that gave full
+scope to his talents. All the administrative services had at once to be
+reorganised, the frontier fortresses garrisoned and placed in a state of
+defence, and the army covering the frontiers supplied with food, pay,
+equipment, and reinforcements, while the formation of the secret Army of
+Reserve was a task which alone would have occupied all the attention of
+an ordinary man; in fact, the safety of France hung on this army.
+Consequently, since, by the constitution, the First Consul was unable
+himself to take command in the field, in April, 1800, he transferred
+Berthier from the War Office to the head of this most important force.
+It is not generally known that the idea of the passage of the Alps by
+the St. Bernard Pass actually originated with Berthier, and had first
+been projected by him as early as 1795. So it was at the execution of
+what was really his own idea that for two months Berthier slaved. At
+times even his stout heart quailed, as when he wrote to the First
+Consul, "It is my duty to complain of the position of this army on which
+you have justly spent so much interest, and which is paralysed because
+it can only rely on its bayonets, on account of the lack of ammunition
+and means to transport the artillery." Incessant work and toil were at
+last rewarded; but when the Army of the Reserve debouched on the
+Austrian lines of communication, the First Consul appeared in person,
+and, though nominally in command, Berthier once again resumed his
+position of chief of the staff. Without a murmur he allowed Bonaparte to
+reap all the glory of Marengo, for he knew that without the First
+Consul, however excellent his own dispositions were, they would have
+been lacking in the driving power which alone teaches men how to seize
+on victory. After Marengo, Berthier was despatched as Ambassador
+Extraordinary to Madrid, "to exhort Spain by every possible means to
+declare war on Portugal, the ally of England." The result of this
+mission was eminently successful; a special treaty was drawn up and
+Spain sold Louisiana to France. By October the ambassador was once again
+back in Paris at his old post of Minister of War--a post which he held
+continuously during peace and war till August, 1807. The position was no
+light one, for even during the short years of peace it involved the
+supervision of the expedition to San Domingo, the defence of Italy, the
+reorganisation of the army, and the re-armament of the artillery, in
+addition to the ordinary routine of official work. Moreover, the
+foundations of the Consulate being based on the army, it was essential
+that the army should be efficient and content, and consequently the
+French soldier of that day was not, as in other countries, neglected in
+peace time. The officers in command of the troops were constantly
+reminded by the War Minister that "the French soldier is a citizen
+placed under military law"--not an outcast or serf, whose well-being and
+comfort concern no one.
+
+On the establishment of the Empire Berthier, like many another, received
+the reward for his faithfulness to Napoleon. Honours were showered upon
+him. The first to receive the Marshal's bâton, he was in succession
+created senator by right as a dignitary of the Empire, grand officer of
+the palace and grand huntsman to the crown, while at the coronation he
+carried the imperial globe. But though the Emperor thus honoured, and
+treated him as his most trustworthy confidant, the cares of state to
+some extent withdrew Napoleon from close intimacy with his old
+companion. At the same time the Marshal was insensibly separated from
+his former comrades-in-arms by his high rank and employment, which,
+while it tended to make him more the servant than the friend of the
+Emperor, also caused him to be regarded as a superior to be obeyed by
+those who were formerly his equals. At all times a strict
+disciplinarian, and one who never passed over a breach of orders, the
+Marshal, as voicing the commands of the Emperor, gradually began to
+assume a stern attitude to all subordinates, and spared neither princes
+or marshals, when he considered that the good of the service required
+that they should be reprimanded and shown their duty. So strong was the
+sense of subordination in the army and the desire to stand well with
+Napoleon, that even the fiery Murat paid attention to orders and
+reprimands signed by Berthier in the name of the Emperor.
+
+Meanwhile the work of the War Minister increased day by day. The
+organisation and supervision of the Army of the Ocean added considerably
+to his work, which was much interfered with by visits of inspection in
+company with the Emperor, or far-distant expeditions to the frontiers
+and to Italy for the coronation at Milan.
+
+On August 3rd, 1805, the Emperor created the Marshal major-general and
+chief of the staff to the Army of the Ocean, and himself assumed command
+of the Army and held a grand review of one hundred thousand men.
+Everybody thought that the moment for the invasion of England had
+arrived. Berthier, and perhaps Talleyrand, alone knew that Austria, not
+England, was the immediate quarry, and all through August the
+major-general was busy working out the routes for the concentration of
+the various corps in the valley of the Danube; whilst at the same time
+as War Minister he was responsible for the supervision of all the troops
+left in France and in garrison in Italy, Belgium, Holland, and Hanover.
+Consequently he had to divide his staff into two sections, one of which
+he took with him into the field, the other remaining in Paris under an
+assistant who was capable of managing the ordinary routine, but who had
+to forward all difficult problems to the War Minister in the field. Even
+during the drive to the frontier there was no abatement of the strain;
+during the journey the Emperor would give orders which had to be
+expanded and written out in the short stoppages for food and rest. By
+day the major-general travelled in the Emperor's carriage; at night he
+always slept under the same roof with him, to be ready at any moment, in
+full uniform, to receive his commands and expand and dictate them to his
+clerks. Everyone knew when the major-general was worried, for he had a
+habit of biting his nails when making a decision or trying to solve a
+problem, but otherwise he never showed any sign of feeling, and whether
+tired or troubled by the Emperor's occasional outbursts of temper, he
+went on with his work with the methodical precision of an automaton. To
+belong to the general staff when Berthier was major-general was no bed
+of roses, no place for gilded youth, for with Napoleon commanding and
+Berthier directing, if there was often fighting there was plenty of
+writing; if there was galloping on horseback by day, to make up for it
+by night there were hours of steady copying of orders and no chance of
+laying down the pen until all business was finished. Thanks to this
+excellent staff work, Napoleon's ambitious plans were faithfully
+accomplished, the Austrians were completely taken in by the
+demonstration in the Black Forest, the French columns stepped astride of
+their communications on the Danube, and Mack was forced to surrender at
+Ulm. But Ulm was only the commencement of the campaign, and even after
+Austerlitz Napoleon pursued the enemy with grim resolution. This was one
+of the secrets of his success, for, as Berthier wrote to Soult, "The
+Emperor's opinion is that in war nothing is really achieved as long as
+there remains something to achieve; a victory is not complete as long as
+greater success can still be gained."
+
+After the treaty of Pressburg, on December 27, 1805, Napoleon quitted
+the army and returned to Paris, leaving the major-general in command of
+the Grand Army with orders to evacuate the conquered territory when the
+terms of the treaty had been carried out by the Austrians; but the
+Emperor retained the real control, and every day a courier had to be
+despatched to Paris with a detailed account of every event, and every
+day a courier arrived from Paris bearing fresh orders and instructions.
+For Napoleon refused to allow the slightest deviation from his orders:
+"Keep strictly to the orders I give you," he wrote; "execute punctually
+your instructions. I alone know what I want done." Meanwhile the
+major-general was still War Minister and had to supervise all the more
+important business of the War Office; while he also found time to edit
+an official history of the campaign of 1805, and to superintend the
+execution of a map of most of the Austrian possessions. The work was
+immense, but Berthier never flagged, and the Emperor showed his
+appreciation of his zeal when on March 30th, 1806, he conferred on him
+the principality of Neuchâtel with the title of Prince and Duke, to hold
+in full possession and suzerainty for himself, his heirs and successors,
+with one stipulation, that he should marry. He added that the Prince's
+passion for Madame Visconti had lasted too long, that it was not
+becoming to a dignitary of the Empire, and that he was now fifty years
+old and ought to think of providing an heir to his honours. The Prince
+Marshal never had time to visit personally his principality, but he sent
+one of his intimate friends, General Dutaillis, to provide for the
+welfare of his new subjects, and to the best of his ability he saw that
+they were well governed, while a battalion of picked troops from
+Neuchâtel was added to the Imperial Guard. But, orders or no orders,
+the Prince could never break himself free from the trammels of his
+mistress, and Napoleon gave him but little leisure in which to find a
+congenial partner, so that it was not till after Tilsit, in the brief
+pause before the Peninsular War, that Berthier at last took a wife. His
+chosen Princess was Elizabeth, the daughter of William, Duke of Bavaria,
+brother of the King. She was married with all due solemnity in March,
+1808, and though the exigencies of war gave her but little opportunity
+of seeing much of her husband, affection existed between them, as also
+between Berthier and his father-in-law, the Duke of Bavaria. All cause
+of difficulty was smoothed over by the fact that in time the Princess
+herself conceived an affection for Madame Visconti.
+
+By September, 1806, the Grand Army had evacuated Austria, and the Prince
+Marshal was hoping to return to Paris when suddenly he was informed by
+the Emperor of the probability of a campaign against Prussia. On the
+23rd definite orders arrived indicating the points of assembly; by the
+next day detailed letters of instructions for every corps had been
+worked out and despatched by the headquarters staff. Napoleon himself
+arrived at Würzburg on October 2nd, and found his army concentrated, but
+deficient of supplies. At first his anger burst out against the chief of
+the staff, but a moment's reflection proved to him that there was not
+sufficient transport in Germany to mass both men and supplies in the
+time he had given, and he entirely exonerated Berthier, who by hard work
+contrived in three days to collect sufficient supplies to allow of the
+opening of the thirty days' campaign which commenced with Jena and ended
+by carrying the French troops across the Vistula. The fresh campaign in
+the spring of 1807 was attended by an additional difficulty, there
+existed no maps of the district, and the topographical department of the
+staff was worked off its legs in supplying this deficiency. Meanwhile,
+during the halt after Pultusk, the major-general was busy re-clothing
+and re-equipping the army and hurrying up reinforcements; while in
+addition to the work of the War Office he had to supervise the French
+forces in Italy and Naples. After Tilsit, as after Pressburg, Napoleon
+hurried back to France and left the Prince of Neuchâtel to arrange for
+the withdrawal of the Grand Army, and it was not till July 27th that
+Berthier at last returned to Paris.
+
+The Prince came back more than ever dazzled by the genius of the
+Emperor; not even Eylau had taught him that there were limits to his
+idol's powers. But with more than eight hundred thousand men on a war
+footing, with divisions and army corps scattered from the Atlantic to
+the Niemen, from Lübeck to Brindisi, it was impossible for one man to be
+at once chief of the staff and Minister of War. Accordingly, on August
+9th the Emperor made General Clarke Minister of War, and, to show that
+this was no slight on his old friend, on the same day he created the
+Prince of Neuchâtel Vice-constable of France. For the next three months
+Berthier was able to enjoy his honours at his home at Grosbois, or in
+his honorary capacity at Fontainebleau, but in November the Emperor
+carried him off with him to Italy on a tour of inspection. During the
+whole of this holiday in Italy the Prince was busy elaborating the
+details of the coming campaign in Spain, and it was the Spanish trouble
+which cut short his honeymoon, for on April 2nd he had to start with the
+Emperor for Bayonne. From the outset the Prince warned the Emperor that
+the question of supplies lay at the root of all difficulties in Spain;
+but Napoleon clung to his idea that war should support war, and Berthier
+knew that it was hopeless to attempt to remove a fixed idea from his
+head, and, still believing in his omnipotence, he thought all would be
+well. Meanwhile, as the summer went on, it was not only Spain that
+occupied the Prince's attention, for the conquest of Denmark had to be
+arranged, and the passes in Silesia and Bohemia carefully mapped, in
+view of hostilities with Prussia or Austria. Early in August Berthier
+was at Saint Cloud making arrangements to reinforce Davout in Silesia,
+owing to the growing hostility of Austria, when, on the 16th, arrived
+the news that Joseph had had to evacuate all the country west of the
+Ebro. But Napoleon and Berthier could not go to his help until after the
+imperial meeting at Erfurt in September. However, on reaching Spain, the
+magic of the Emperor's personality soon restored the vigour and prestige
+of the French arms. Still the Prince Marshal could not hide from himself
+that all was not as it used to be; Napoleon's temper was more uncertain,
+and the Marshals, smarting under reprimands, were not pulling together.
+When the Emperor returned to France, after having missed "the
+opportunity of giving the English a good lesson," he left Berthier
+behind for a fortnight "to be sure that King Joseph had a proper
+understanding of everything." But trouble was bound to come, for the
+Emperor himself was breaking his own canon of the importance of "the
+unity of command" by nominally leaving Joseph in control of all the
+troops in Spain, but at the same time making the Marshals responsible to
+himself through the major-general.
+
+In 1809 Napoleon made another grave mistake. He had calculated that
+Austria could make no forward movement before April 15th, and
+accordingly he sent Berthier early in March to take temporary command of
+the Grand Army, with instructions to order Davout to concentrate at
+Ratisbon and Masséna at Augsburg. His idea was that there would be ample
+time later to order a concentration on either wing or on the centre. But
+the Austrians were ready quite a fortnight before he had calculated. The
+major-general kept him well informed of every movement of the enemy, and
+pointed out the dangerous isolation of Davout. Still the Emperor did not
+believe the Austrian preparations were so forward; and a despatch from
+Paris, written on April 10th, which arrived at headquarters at
+Donauwörth on the 11th, ordered the major-general to retain Davout at
+Ratisbon and move his own headquarters there, "and that in spite of
+anything that may happen." Unfortunately, a semaphore despatch sent a
+few hours later, when Napoleon had really grasped the situation, went
+astray and never reached Berthier. The Prince of Neuchâtel understood as
+clearly as any one the dangerous position of Davout; the Duke of Eckmühl
+himself thought that the major-general was trying to spoil his career by
+laying him open to certain defeat; depression spread through all the
+French corps. But after years of blind devotion to his great chief
+Berthier could not steel himself to break distinct orders, emphasised as
+they were by the expression "in spite of whatever may happen," and a
+great catastrophe was only just averted by the arrival of Napoleon, who
+at once ordered Davout to withdraw and Masséna to advance. Berthier
+himself was visited by the full fury of the Emperor's anger. But the
+cloud soon passed, for Berthier was as indispensable as ever, and more
+so when, after the failure at Aspern-Essling, immense efforts had to be
+made to hurry up troops from every available source. At the end of the
+campaign the Emperor justly rewarded his lieutenant by creating him
+Prince of Wagram.
+
+Once again Napoleon left Berthier to arrange for the withdrawal of the
+army, and it was not till December 1st that the Prince of Wagram
+regained Paris and took up the threads of the Peninsular campaign. His
+stay there was short, for by the end of February he was back again in
+Vienna, this time not as major-general of a victorious army, but as
+Ambassador Extraordinary to claim the hand of the Archduchess Marie
+Louise for his master, the Emperor Napoleon, and to escort her to her
+new home. For the next two years the Prince remained at home at Grosbois
+or on duty at Fontainebleau, but in spite of great domestic happiness he
+was much worried by the terrible Spanish war. No one saw more clearly
+that every effort ought to be made to crush the English, but he was
+powerless to persuade the Emperor, and he had to endure to the full all
+the difficulties arising from breaking the "unity of command." No one
+understood better what hopeless difficulties would arise when Napoleon
+ordered him to write, "The King will command the army.... The Guard does
+not form part of the army." To add to these troubles, it became more and
+more evident that Germany was riddled with secret societies and that war
+with Russia was inevitable. So it was with a sigh of relief that in
+January, 1812, he received the order to turn his attention from Spain
+and resume his functions as major-general of the Grand Army. Not that he
+desired further active service; like many another of the Emperor's
+soldiers, he mistrusted the distant expedition to Russia, and feared for
+the honour and safety of France. Already in his sixtieth year, there was
+little he could gain personally from war. As he said to Napoleon, "What
+is the good of having given me an income of sixty thousand pounds a year
+in order to inflict on me the tortures of Tantalus? I shall die here
+with all this work. The simplest private is happier than I." The
+Emperor, knowing the attitude of many of his Marshals, and himself
+feeling the strain of this immense enterprise, was unusually irritable.
+Consequently relations at headquarters were often strained, and the
+Marshals were angry at the severe reprimands to which they were
+subjected. The controlling leaders being out of gear the machine did not
+run smoothly: there was nothing but friction and tension. The Marshals
+were inclined to attribute their disgrace to the ill-will of Berthier
+and not to the temper of Napoleon. Particularly was this the case with
+Davout, who since 1809 had suspected that Berthier desired to ruin his
+reputation. Accordingly the Prince of Eckmühl set down the succession of
+reprimands which were hurled at his head to the machinations of the
+major-general, and not, as was the case, to Napoleon's jealousy of him,
+because people had prophesied he would become King of Poland. This
+misunderstanding was most unfortunate, for it prevented Berthier from
+effecting a reconciliation between Davout and the Emperor. Hence
+Napoleon was driven more and more to trust to the advice of the rash,
+unstable King of Naples. The major-general's lot through the campaign
+was most miserable. Working day and night to supervise the organisation
+of the huge force of six hundred thousand men; mistrusted by his former
+comrades; blamed for every mishap by the Emperor, whatever the fault
+might be, he had to put up with the bitterest insults, and while working
+as no other man could work, to endure such taunts as, "Not only are you
+no good, but you are in the way." Everything that went wrong "was the
+fault of the general staff, which is so organised that it foresees
+nothing," whether it was the shortcomings of the contractors or the
+burning of their own magazines by the Russians. But what most moved
+Napoleon's anger against the chief of the staff was that Berthier, with
+"the parade states" before him, emphasising the enormous wastage of the
+army, constantly harped on the danger of pressing on to Moscow. So
+strained became the relations between them, that for the last part of
+the advance they no longer met at meals. But during the hours of the
+retreat the old friendship was resumed. Berthier bore no malice, and
+showed his bravery by himself opposing the enemy with musket and
+bayonet; and on one occasion, with Bessières, Murat, and Rapp, he saved
+the Emperor from a sotnia of Cossacks.
+
+When Napoleon quitted the army at Vilna he left the major-general behind
+to help the King of Naples to withdraw the remnant of the Grand Army.
+Marching on foot through the deep snow, with fingers and nose
+frostbitten, the sturdy old veteran of sixty endured the fatigue as well
+as the hardiest young men in their prime; and in addition to the
+physical fatigue of marching, had to carry out all the administrative
+work, and bear the moral responsibility for what remained of the army;
+for the King of Naples, thinking of nothing but how to save his own
+crown, when difficulties increased, followed the example of Napoleon and
+deserted his post. Thereon the major-general took on himself to nominate
+Prince Eugène as Murat's successor. But in the end his health gave way,
+and the Emperor himself wrote to Prince Eugène telling him to send the
+old warrior home.
+
+Berthier reached Paris on February 9th, much broken down in health; but
+his wonderful physique soon enabled him to regain his strength, and by
+the end of March he was once again hard at work helping the Emperor to
+extemporise an army. With his complete knowledge of this force, no one
+was more astonished than Berthier at the successes of Lützen and
+Bautzen, and no one more insistent in his advice to the Emperor to
+accept the terms of the Allies during the armistice; but he advised in
+vain. Then followed the terrible catastrophe of Leipzig, due undoubtedly
+to Berthier's dread of acting without the express orders of the Emperor.
+The engineer officer charged with preparing the line of retreat reported
+that the one bridge across the Elster was not sufficient. The
+major-general, knowing that the Emperor desired to hide any signs of
+retreat from the Allies, replied that he must await the Emperor's
+orders, so, when, after three days' fighting, the retreat could no
+longer be postponed, a catastrophe was inevitable.
+
+Yet, in spite of everything, the Emperor refused to acknowledge himself
+beaten, and by the commencement of 1814 was once again ready to take the
+field, though by now the Allies had invaded France. Loyal as ever,
+Berthier worked his hardest; but he once again incurred the Emperor's
+anger by entreating him to accept the terms offered him at Châtillon.
+Still, when the end came and Napoleon abdicated, Berthier remained at
+his side, and it was only when the Emperor had released his Marshals
+from their allegiance that on April 11th he sent in his adhesion to the
+new government. When all save Macdonald had deserted the fallen Emperor,
+Berthier stayed on at Fontainebleau, directing the withdrawal of the
+remnants of the army, and making arrangements for the guard which was to
+accompany Napoleon to Elba. But though he remained with him until the
+day before he started for Elba, Berthier refused to share his exile, and
+at the time Napoleon was magnanimous enough to see that, owing to his
+age and the care of his children, he could not expect such a sacrifice.
+
+So far, the Prince had done all that honour and affection could demand
+of him. But, unfortunately for his fame, instead of withdrawing into
+private life, he listened to the prayers of his wife, who keenly felt
+the loss of her title of "Serene Princess." It was at her desire that he
+continued to frequent the Bourbon court and actually accepted the
+captaincy of one of the new companies of royal guards. This and the fact
+that, as senior of the Marshals, Berthier had led his fellow Marshals to
+meet the King at Compiègne, caused the Prince of Wagram to be regarded
+as a traitor by Napoleon and the Imperialists. Moreover, the Prince
+Marshal now saw in Napoleon the disturber of the peace of Europe, so
+when the Emperor suddenly returned from Elba he withdrew from France,
+and retired to Bamberg, in his father-in-law's dominions.
+
+It is commonly supposed that Berthier committed suicide, but the medical
+evidence shows that his fall was probably the result of giddiness
+arising from dyspepsia. It was on June 1st that the accident happened.
+He was watching a division of Russian troops passing through the town,
+and was much distressed by the sight, and heard to murmur, "My poor
+country!" Ever interested in soldiers, he got on a chair on the balcony
+before the nursery windows to get a better view of the troops, and while
+doing so lost his balance and fell to the ground.
+
+For the moment the tragic death of the Marshal was the talk of Europe,
+but only for the moment, for the fate of the world was hanging on the
+issues of the great battle which was imminent in Belgium. If the Prince
+of Wagram had been there, it is more than conceivable that the scales
+would have fallen other than they did; for it was the indifferent staff
+work of Soult and the bad drafting of orders which lost the French the
+campaign. Of this, Napoleon was so firmly convinced that he never could
+efface it from his memory; again and again he was heard saying, "If
+Berthier had been here I should never have met this misfortune." The
+Emperor, in spite of the fact that in 1814 he had told Macdonald that
+Berthier could never return, was convinced that he would, and had told
+Rapp that he was certain he would come back to him. It was this failure
+to return which so embittered the fallen Emperor against the Prince of
+Wagram, and led to those cruel strictures on his character to which he
+gave vent at St. Helena. Moreover, Napoleon, so great in many things,
+was so jealous of his own glory that he could be mean beyond words. Even
+in the early years when he heard people praising Berthier's work in
+1796, he told his secretary, Bourrienne, "As for Berthier, since you
+have been with me, you see what he is--he is a blockhead." At St.
+Helena, forgetting his old opinions, "Berthier has his talents,
+activity, courage, character--all in his favour." Forgetting that he
+himself had taught Berthier to be imperious, he derided his rather
+pompous manner, saying, "Nothing is so imperious as weakness which feels
+itself supported by strength. Look at women." Berthier, with his
+admirably lucid mind, great physique, methodical powers and ambition,
+would have made his name in any profession. He undoubtedly chose to be
+second to Napoleon; he served him with a fidelity that Napoleon himself
+could not understand, and he won his great commander's love and esteem
+in spite of the selfishness of the Corsican's nature. "I really cannot
+understand," said Napoleon to Talleyrand, "how a relation that has the
+appearance of friendship has established itself between Berthier and
+me. I do not indulge in useless sentiments, and Berthier is so
+uninteresting that I do not know why I should care about him at all, and
+yet when I think of it I really have some liking for him." "It is
+because he believes in you," said the former bishop and reader of men's
+souls. It was this belief in Napoleon which in time obsessed the Prince
+of Wagram's mind, which killed his own initiative and was responsible
+for his blunders in 1809 and at Leipzig, and turned him into a machine
+which merely echoed the Emperor's commands. "Monsieur le Maréchal, the
+Emperor orders." "Monsieur, it is not me, it is the Emperor you ought to
+thank." These hackneyed phrases typified more than anything else the
+bounds of the career which the Marshal had deliberately marked out for
+himself. In Berthier's eyes it was no reproach, but a testimony to his
+own principles, "that he never gave an order, never wrote a despatch,
+which did not in some way emanate from Napoleon." It was this which,
+with some appearance of truth, pointing to his notable failures, allowed
+Napoleon to say of him at St. Helena, "His character was undecided, not
+strong enough for a commander-in-chief, but he possessed all the
+qualities of a good chief of the staff: a complete mastery of the map,
+great skill in reconnaissance, minute care in the despatch of orders,
+magnificent aptitude for presenting with the greatest simplicity the
+most complicated situation of an army."
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+JOACHIM MURAT, MARSHAL, KING OF NAPLES
+
+
+Stable-boy, seminarist, Marshal, King, Murat holds the unchallenged
+position of Prince of Gascons: petulant, persevering, ambitious and
+vain, he surpasses D'Artagnan himself in his overwhelming conceit. The
+third son of an innkeeper of La Bastide Fortunière in upper Quercy,
+Joachim Murat was born on March 25, 1767. From his earliest childhood
+Joachim was a horse-lover and a frequenter of the stables; but his
+parents had higher aims for their bright, smiling, intelligent darling,
+and destined him for the priesthood. The young seminarist was highly
+thought of by the preceptors at the College of Saint Michel at Cahors
+and the Lazarist Fathers at Toulouse; but neither priest nor mother had
+truly grasped his dashing character, and one February morning in 1787
+Joachim slipped quietly out of the seminary doors and enlisted in the
+Chasseurs of the Ardennes, who were at the moment billeted in Toulouse.
+Two years later this promising recruit, having fallen foul of the
+military authorities, had to leave the service under a cloud. A post as
+draper's assistant was a poor exchange for the young soldier, who found
+the cavalry service of the royal army scarcely dashing enough, but the
+Revolution gave an outlet which Murat was quick to seize. For three
+years the future King harangued village audiences of Quercy on the
+iniquities of caste and the equality of all men; so that when, in
+February, 1792, the Assembly called for volunteers for the "Garde
+Constitutionnelle" of Louis XVI., what better choice could the national
+guard of Montfaucon make than in nominating Joachim Murat, the handsome
+ex-sergeant of the Chasseurs of the Ardennes?
+
+In Paris, Joachim soon found that the royal road to success lay in
+denouncing loudly all superior officers of lack of patriotism. Soon
+there was no more brazen-voiced accuser than Murat. In the course of a
+year he worked his way out of the "Garde Constitutionnelle," and by
+April, 1793, he had attained the rank of captain in the 12th Chasseurs.
+Meanwhile, he had been selected as aide-de-camp by General d'Ure de
+Molans. Having seen no service, he owed his appointment largely to his
+conceit and good looks. Blue-eyed, with an aquiline nose and smiling
+lips; with long chestnut curls falling over his well-poised head;
+endowed with great physical strength, shown in his strong, supple arms
+and in the long flat-thighed legs of a horseman, he appeared the most
+perfect type of the dare-devil, dashing cavalry soldier. The moderate
+republican general, d'Ure de Molans, was useful to him for a time, but
+the young Gascon saw that the days of the extremist were close at hand;
+accordingly, he allied himself with an adventurer called Landrieux, who
+was raising a body of cut-throats whose object was plunder, not
+fighting. The Convention, which had licensed Landrieux to raise this
+corps of patriotic defenders of the country, accepted his nomination of
+Murat as acting lieutenant-colonel. But they soon fell out, for Murat
+had the audacity to try and make these patriots fight instead of merely
+seeking plunder. The consequence of this quarrel was that, early in
+1794, he found himself accused as a ci-devant noble. Imprisoned at
+Amiens, and brought before the Committee of Public Safety, in a fit of
+republican enthusiasm he changed his name to Marat. But this did not
+save him, and he owed his life to a deputation from his native Quercy,
+which proved both his humble birth and his high republicanism.
+
+[Illustration: JOACHIM MURAT, AFTERWARDS KING OF NAPLES
+FROM THE PAINTING BY GÉRARD AT VERSAILLES]
+
+The 13th Vendémiaire was the turning-point in Murat's life, for on that
+day, for the first time, he came in contact with his future chief, the
+young General Bonaparte, and gained his attention by the masterly way he
+saved the guns at Sablons from the hands of the Royalists. The future
+Emperor ever knew when to reward merit, and on being appointed to
+command the army in Italy he at once selected him as his aide-de-camp.
+So far he had seen little or no war service. But the campaign of 1796
+proved that Bonaparte's judgment was sound, for by the end of the year
+there was no longer any necessity for Murat to blow his own trumpet. In
+the short campaign against the Sardinians he showed his talent as a
+cavalry leader by his judgment in charges at Dego and Mondovi. He had no
+cause to grumble that he was not appreciated, for his general selected
+him to take to Paris the news of this victorious campaign and of the
+triumphant negotiations of Cherasco. He returned from Paris in May as
+brigadier-general, in time to take part in the crossing of the Mincio
+and to rob Kilmaine of some of his honours. The commander-in-chief still
+kept him attached to the headquarter staff, and constantly employed him
+on special service. His enterprises were numerous and varied--one week
+at Genoa on a special diplomatic mission, a week or two later leading a
+forlorn attack on the great fortress of Mantua, then commanding the
+right wing of the army covering the siege, he showed himself ever
+resourceful and daring. But during the autumn of 1796 he fell under the
+heavy displeasure of his chief, for at Milan and Montebello Josephine
+had shown too great favour to the young cavalry general. Murat
+accordingly had no scruples in intriguing with Barras against his chief.
+But his glorious conduct at Rivoli once again brought him back to
+favour, and Bonaparte entrusted him with an infantry brigade in the
+advance on Vienna, and later with a delicate independent mission in the
+Valtelline. But Murat, unlike Lannes, Marmont, and Duroc, was not yet
+indispensable to Bonaparte, and accordingly was left with the Army of
+Italy when the general returned in triumph to Paris. It was mainly owing
+to Masséna's enthusiastic report of his service in the Roman campaign,
+at the close of 1797, that he was selected as one of the supernumerary
+officers in the Egyptian expedition.
+
+So far, Murat had not yet been able to distinguish himself above his
+comrades-in-arms. Masséna, Augereau, Serurier, and Laharpe left him far
+in the rear, but Egypt was to give him the chance of proving his worth,
+and showing that he was not only a dashing officer, but a cavalry
+commander of the first rank. He led the cavalry of the advance guard in
+the march up the Nile, and was present at the battle of the Pyramids and
+the taking of Cairo. But so far the campaign, instead of bringing him
+fresh honours, nearly brought him disgrace; for he joined the party of
+grumblers, and was one of those who were addressed in the famous
+reprimand, "I know some generals are mutinous and preach revolt ... let
+them take care. I am as high above a general as above a drummer, and, if
+necessary, I will as soon have the one shot as the other."
+
+On July 27, 1798, Murat was appointed governor of the province of
+Kalioub, which lies north of Cairo; to keep order among his turbulent
+subjects his whole force consisted of a battalion of infantry,
+twenty-five cavalrymen, and a three-pounder gun. His governorship was
+only part of the work Bonaparte required of him, for he was constantly
+away organising and leading light columns by land or river, harrying the
+Arabs and disbanded Mamelukes, sweeping the country, collecting vast
+depôts of corn and cattle, remounting the cavalry--proving himself a
+past master in irregular warfare. So well did he do his work that the
+commander-in-chief selected him to command the whole of the cavalry in
+the Syrian expeditionary force. Thanks to his handling of his horsemen,
+the march through Palestine occasioned the French but little loss.
+During the siege of Acre he commanded the covering force, and pushed
+reconnaissances far and wide. So feared was his name that the whole
+Turkish army fled before him on the banks of the Jordan, and left their
+camp and immense booty in the hands of the French. But though he had
+thus destroyed the relieving force, Acre, victualled by the English
+fleet, still held out, and Bonaparte had to retreat to Egypt.
+
+It was at Aboukir that Murat consolidated his reputation as a great
+commander. The Turkish general had neglected to rest the right flank of
+his first line on the sea, and Murat, seizing his opportunity, fell on
+the unguarded flank with the full weight of his cavalry, and rolled the
+unfortunate Turks into the water. Thereafter, by the aid of a battery of
+artillery, the centre of the second line of the Turkish army was broken,
+and the French horse dashing into the gap, once again made short work of
+the enemy, and their leader captured with his own hands the Turkish
+commander. Bonaparte, in his despatch, did full justice to his
+subordinate. "The victory is mainly due to General Murat. I ask you to
+make him general of division: his brigade of cavalry has achieved the
+impossible." Murat himself was much distressed at being wounded in the
+face, as he feared it might destroy his good looks; however, he soon had
+the satisfaction of writing to his father: "The doctors tell me I shall
+not be in the least disfigured, so tell all the young ladies that even
+if Murat has lost some of his good looks, they won't find that he has
+lost any of his bravery in the war of love."
+
+His grumbles forgiven, Murat left Egypt among the chosen band of
+followers of whose fidelity Napoleon was assured; his special mission
+was to gain over the cavalry to the side of his chief. He it was who,
+with Leclerc, on the 18th Brumaire, forced his way into the Orangerie at
+the head of the grenadiers and hurled out the deputies. The First
+Consul rewarded him amply, appointing him inspector of the Consular
+Guard, and, later still, in preference to his rival, Lannes, gave him in
+marriage his sister Caroline. Murat had met Caroline Bonaparte at
+Montebello during the Italian campaign of 1796, and had at once been
+struck by her beauty. Like many another cavalier, he had a flame in
+every country, or rather, in every town which he visited. But by 1799
+the gay Gascon saw that it was time to finish sowing his wild oats,
+since destiny was offering him a chance which falls to the lot of few
+mortals. It was by now clear that the First Consul's star was in the
+ascendant. Already his family were reaping the fruits of his success.
+Ambition, pride and love were the cords of the net which drew the
+willing Murat to Caroline. As brother-in-law to the First Consul,
+Joachim felt secure against his bitter rival, Lannes. To add point to
+this success, he knew that the victor of Montebello was straining every
+nerve to gain this very prize. Moreover, Fortune herself favoured his
+suit. Bonaparte had offered the hand of Caroline to the great General
+Moreau, but the future victor of Hohenlinden refused to join himself to
+the Corsican triumph. To cover his confusion the First Consul was glad
+to give his sister's hand to one of his most gallant officers,
+especially as by so doing he once and for all removed the haunting fear
+of an intrigue between him and Josephine. Accordingly, on January 25,
+1800, Murat and Caroline were pronounced man and wife in the temple of
+the canton of Plailly, by the president of the canton. Though Caroline
+only brought with her a dot of forty thousand francs, she stood for what
+was better still, immense possibilities.
+
+Murat's honeymoon was cut short by the Marengo campaign. In April he
+started, as lieutenant-general in command of the cavalry, to join the
+Army of the Reserve at Dijon. Once the corps of Lannes had, by the
+capture of Ivrea, secured the opening into Italy, the cavalry were able
+to take up their rôle, and with irresistible weight they swept down the
+plains of Lombardy, forced the river crossings, and on June 2nd entered
+Milan. Thence the First Consul despatched his horsemen to seize
+Piacenza, the important bridge across the Po, the key of the Austrian
+lines of communication. Murat, with a few troops, crossed the river in
+some twenty small rowing-boats, and, dashing forward, captured the
+bridge head on the southern bank, and thus secured not only the peaceful
+crossing of his force, but the capture of the town and the immense
+Austrian depôts. At Marengo the cavalry acted in separate brigades, and
+the decisive stroke of the battle fell to the lot of the younger
+Kellermann, whose brilliant charge decided the day in favour of the
+French. The despatches only mentioned that "General Murat's clothes were
+riddled by bullets."
+
+So far Murat had always held subordinate commands; his great ambition
+was to become the commander-in-chief of an independent army. His wife,
+Caroline, and his sister-in-law, Josephine, were constant in their
+endeavours to gain this distinction for him from the First Consul. But
+it was not till the end of 1800 that they succeeded; and then only
+partially, for in December the lieutenant-general was appointed
+commander of a corps of observation, whose headquarters were at Milan,
+and whose duty was to overawe Tuscany and the Papal States. His campaign
+in central Italy is more noticeable for his endeavours to shake himself
+free from the control of General Brune, the commander-in-chief of the
+Army of Italy, than for any very brilliant manoeuvres. Tuscany and the
+Papal States were easily conquered, and the King of Naples was only too
+glad to buy peace at Foligno. Italy lay at the feet of the French
+general, but what was most gratifying of all, after his successful
+negotiation with the King of Naples, the First Consul tacitly accepted
+the title which his brother-in-law had assumed of commander-in-chief of
+the Army of Naples. Murat had the satisfaction of having under his
+orders Lieutenant-General Soult, three generals of division and four
+generals of brigade. For the moment his Gascon vanity was satiated,
+while his Gascon greed was appeased by substantial bribes from all the
+conquered countries of the Peninsula. The "commander-in-chief" was
+joined at Florence in May, 1801, by his wife, Caroline, and his young
+son, Achille, born in January, whom he found "charming, already
+possessed of two teeth." In the capital of Tuscany Murat gravely
+delivered to the inhabitants a historical lecture on their science,
+their civilisation, and the splendour of their state under the Medici.
+He spent the summer in visiting the watering-places of Italy. In August
+the First Consul raised him to the command of the troops of the
+Cisalpine Republic, and he retained this post for the next two years,
+and had his headquarters in Milan, making occasional expeditions to
+Paris and Rome, and on the whole content with his position, save for
+occasional quarrels with Melzi, the president of the Italian Republic.
+Their jurisdictions overlapped and the Gascon would play second fiddle
+to no one save to his great brother-in-law.
+
+In January, 1804, the First Consul recalled Murat to Paris, nominating
+him commandant of the troops of the first military division and of the
+National Guard, and Governor of the city. Bonaparte's object was not so
+much to please his brother-in-law as to strengthen himself. He was
+concentrating his own family, clan, and all his most faithful followers
+in readiness for the great event, the proclamation of the Empire. Men
+like Lannes, whose views were republican, were discreetly kept out of
+the way on foreign missions; but Murat, as Bonaparte knew, was a pliant
+tool. As early as 1802 he had hotly favoured the Concordat, and had had
+his marriage recelebrated by Cardinal Consalvi; and both Caroline and
+Joachim infinitely preferred being members of the imperial family of
+the Emperor of the French to being merely relations of the successful
+general and First Consul of the French Republic. They were willing also
+to obey the future Emperor's commands, and to aid him socially by
+entertaining on a lavish scale, and their residence in Paris, the Hotel
+Thélusson, became the centre of gorgeous entertainments. While Murat
+strutted about in sky-blue overalls, covered with gold spangles,
+invented new uniforms, and bought expensive aigrettes for his busby, his
+wife showed her rococo taste by furnishing her drawing-room in red satin
+and gold, and her bedroom in rose-coloured satin and old point lace.
+They had their reward. Five days after the proclamation of the Empire,
+after a furious scene, Napoleon conceded the title of Imperial Highness
+to his sister with the bitter words: "To listen to you, people would
+think that I had robbed you of the heritage of the late King, our
+father." Meanwhile the Governor of Paris had received his Marshal's
+bâton, and in the following February was created senator, prince, and
+Grand Admiral of France.
+
+The rupture of the peace of Amiens did not affect the life of the
+Governor of Paris; for two years he enjoyed this office, with all its
+opportunities of ostentation and display. But in August, 1805, the
+approaching war with Austria caused the Emperor to summon his most
+brilliant cavalry leader to his side. In that month he despatched him,
+travelling incognito as Colonel Beaumont, to survey the military roads
+into Germany, and especially to study the converging roads round
+Würzburg, and the suitability of that town as an advance depôt for an
+army operating on the Danube. From Würzburg Murat travelled hurriedly
+through Nuremberg, Ratisbon, and Passau, as far as the river Inn,
+returning viâ Munich, Ulm, the Black Forest, and Strassburg. Immediately
+on his return the Emperor appointed him "Lieutenant of the Empire, and
+commandant in his absence" of all the troops cantonned along the Rhine,
+and of such corps of the Grand Army as reached that river before
+himself. When war actually broke out Murat's duty was to mask, with his
+cavalry in the Black Forest, the turning movement of the other corps of
+the Grand Army which were striking at the Austrian rear. Once the
+turning movement was completed the Prince was entrusted with the command
+of the left wing of the army, which included his own cavalry division
+and the corps of Lannes and Ney. Excellent as he was as cavalry
+commander in the field, Murat had no head for great combinations.
+Instead of profiting by the advice of those able soldiers, Lannes and
+Ney, he spent his time quarrelling with them. He accordingly kept his
+troops on the wrong side of the Danube, with the result that in spite of
+Ney's brilliant action at Elchingen, two divisions of the Austrians
+under the Archduke Ferdinand escaped from Ulm. Prince Murat, however,
+retrieved his error by his brilliant pursuit of the escaped Austrians,
+and by hard riding and fighting captured quite half of the Archduke's
+command.
+
+Impetuosity, perseverance, and dash are undoubtedly useful traits in the
+character of a cavalry commander, and of these he had his fair share.
+But his jealousy and vanity often led him astray. During the advance
+down the Danube, in his desire to gain the credit of capturing Vienna,
+he lost touch completely with the Russians and Austrians, who had
+retreated across the Danube at Krems, and he involved the Emperor in a
+dangerous position by leaving the unbeaten Russians on the flank of his
+line of communications. But the Prince quickly made amends for his
+rashness. The ruse by which he and Lannes captured the bridge below
+Vienna was discreditable no doubt from the point of view of morality. It
+was a direct lie to tell the Austrian commander that an armistice had
+been arranged and the bridge ceded to the French. But the fact remains
+that Murat saved the Emperor and the French army from the difficult and
+costly operation of crossing the broad Danube in the face of the
+Allies. A few days later the Prince's vanity postponed for some time the
+culminating blow, for although he had so successfully bluffed the enemy,
+he could not realise that they could deceive him, and believing their
+tales of an armistice, he allowed the Allies to escape from Napoleon's
+clutches at Hollabrünn. At Austerlitz the Prince Marshal covered himself
+with glory. In command of the left wing, ably backed by Lannes, he threw
+the whole weight of his cavalry on the Russians, demonstrating to the
+full the efficacy of a well-timed succession of charges on broken
+infantry, and giving a masterly lesson in the art of re-forming
+disorganised horsemen, by the use he made of the solid ranks of Lannes'
+infantry, from behind which he issued again and again in restored order,
+to fall on the shaken ranks of the enemy. At Austerlitz he was at his
+best. His old quarrel with Lannes was for the moment forgotten; his
+lieutenants, Nansouty, d'Hautpoul, and Sébastiani, were too far below
+him to cause him any jealousy. The action on the left was mainly one of
+cavalry, in which quickness of eye and decision were everything, where a
+fault could be retrieved by charging in person at the head of the staff,
+or by a few fierce words to a regiment slightly demoralised. Rapidity of
+action and a self-confidence which on the battlefield never felt itself
+beaten were the cause of Murat's success.
+
+It was the fixed policy of Napoleon to secure the Rhine valley, so that
+never again would it be possible for the Austrians to threaten France.
+To gain this end he originated the Confederation of the Rhine, grouping
+all the small Rhineland states in a confederation of which he himself
+was the Protector, and binding the rulers of the individual states to
+his dynasty, either by marriage or by rewards. As part of this scheme
+the Emperor allotted to Murat and Caroline the duchies of Cleves and
+Berg, welding them into one province under the title of the Grand Duchy
+of Berg. Thus the Gascon innkeeper's son became in 1806 Joachim, Prince
+and Grand Admiral of France, and Grand Duke of Berg. He gained this
+honour not as Murat, the brilliant cavalry general, but as Prince
+Joachim, the brother-in-law of the Emperor Napoleon. The Grand Duke and
+the Grand Duchess did not, however, reside long in their capital,
+Düsseldorf; they infinitely preferred Paris. In their eyes Berg was but
+a stepping-stone to higher things, a source of profit and a pretext for
+exalting themselves at the expense of their neighbours. The Grand Duke
+entrusted the interior management of the Duchy to his old friend Agar,
+who had served him well in Italy, and who later became Count of Mosburg.
+Any prosperity which the Grand Duke enjoyed was entirely due to the
+financial ability of Agar. Murat, however, kept foreign affairs in his
+own hands. As Foreign Minister, by simply taking what he wanted, he
+added considerably to the extent of his duchy. But, like all Napoleon's
+satellites, he constantly found his position humiliating, for in spite
+of his tears and prayers, he had continually to see his duchy sacrificed
+to France. It was no use to complain that Napoleon had taken away the
+fortress of Wesel, which had been handed over to the Grand Duchy by
+special treaty by the King of Prussia, for, as Queen Hortense wisely
+asked him, "Who had really made that treaty? Who had given him the
+duchy, the fortress, and everything?"
+
+In September, 1806, Murat's second and last visit to Düsseldorf was
+brought to an abrupt close by the opening of the Prussian campaign. On
+the eve of the battle of Jena his cavalry covered forty miles and
+arrived in time to give the enemy the coup-de-grâce on the following
+day, driving them in flight into Weimar. Then followed the famous
+pursuit across Prussia, in which Murat captured first-class fortresses
+with cavalry regiments, and divisions of infantry with squadrons of
+horse, and ended by seizing Blücher and the whole of the Prussian
+artillery on the shore of the Baltic at Lübeck. But though his cavalry
+had thus wiped the Prussian army out of existence, the war dragged on,
+for, as in 1805, the Russians had entered the field. In November the
+Emperor despatched his brother-in-law to command the French corps which
+were massing round Warsaw. The Grand Duke read into this order the idea
+that he was destined to become the King of a revived Poland; accordingly
+he made a triumphant entry into Warsaw in a fantastic uniform, red
+leather boots, tunic of cloth of gold, sword-belt glittering with
+diamonds, and a huge busby of rich fur bedecked with costly plumes. The
+Poles greeted him with enthusiasm, and Murat hastened to write to the
+Emperor that "the Poles desired to become a nation under a foreign King,
+given them by your Majesty." While the Grand Duke dreamed of his Polish
+crown, the climate defeated the French troops, and when the Emperor
+arrived at the front the Prince had to lay aside his royal aspirations.
+But in spite of his disappointment he was still too much of a Frenchman
+and a soldier to allow his personal resentment to overcome his duty to
+his Emperor, and he continued to hope that by his daring and success he
+might still win his Polish crown. At Eylau he showed his customary
+bravery and his magnificent talent as a cavalry leader, when he saved
+the shattered corps of Augereau by a successful charge of over twelve
+thousand sabres. At the battle of Heilsberg the celebrated light
+cavalryman, Lasalle, saved his life, but a few minutes later the Grand
+Duke was able to cry quits by himself rescuing Lasalle from the midst of
+a Russian charge. Unfortunately for Murat, the prospective alliance with
+Russia once and for all compelled Napoleon to lay aside all thought of
+reviving the kingdom of Poland, and when the would-be King arrived with
+a Polish guard of honour and his fantastic uniform, he was met by the
+biting words of the Emperor: "Go and put on your proper uniform; you
+look like a clown."
+
+After Tilsit the disappointed Grand Duke returned to Paris, where his
+equally ambitious wife had been intriguing with Josephine, Talleyrand
+and Fouché to get her husband nominated Napoleon's successor, in case
+the accidents of the campaign should remove the Emperor. But Napoleon
+had no intention of dying without issue. Thanks to his brother-in-law's
+generosity, Murat was able to neglect his half-million subjects in Berg
+and spend his revenues right royally in Paris. But early in 1808 his
+ambition was once again inflamed by the hope of a crown--not a revived
+kingship in Poland, but the ancient sceptre of Spain. Napoleon had
+decided that the Pyrenees should no longer exist, and that Portugal and
+Spain should become French provinces ruled by puppets of his own. Junot
+already held Portugal; it seemed as if it needed but a vigorous movement
+to oust the Bourbons from Madrid. Family quarrels had already caused a
+revolution in Spain. Charles had fled the kingdom, leaving the throne to
+his son Ferdinand. Both had appealed to Napoleon; consequently there was
+a decent pretext for sending a French army into Spain. On February 25th
+Murat was despatched at a few hours' notice, with orders to take over
+the supreme command of all the French corps which were concentrating in
+Spain, to seize the fortresses of Pampeluna and St. Sebastian, and to
+advance with all speed on Madrid, but he was given no clue as to what
+the Emperor's ulterior object might be. He was ordered, however, to keep
+the Emperor daily informed of the state of public opinion in Spain.
+Prince Joachim very soon perceived that King Charles was rejected by
+everybody, that the Prime Minister, the Prince of Peace, was extremely
+unpopular, and that Ferdinand was weak and irresolute: it seemed as if
+he would follow the example of the King of Portugal, and would flee to
+the colonies when the French army approached his capital. The only
+disquieting feature of the situation was the constant annihilation of
+small parties of French soldiers and the brutal murder of all
+stragglers. On March 23rd the French army entered Madrid. All was
+tranquil. Meanwhile the ex-King Charles had retired to Bayonne, and, by
+the orders of the Emperor, the Prince of Peace was sent there also,
+whereupon King Ferdinand, fearing that Napoleon might take his father's
+part, hurried off to France. At Bayonne both the claimants to the
+Spanish throne surrendered their rights to the Emperor, while at Madrid,
+Murat, hoping against hope, played the royal part and kept the
+inhabitants quiet with bull-fights and magnificent fêtes. So far the
+Spaniards, though restless, were waiting to see whether the French were
+friends, as they protested, or in reality stealthy foes. The crisis came
+on May 2nd, when the French troops were compelled to evacuate Madrid on
+account of the fury of the populace at the attempted abduction of the
+little Prince, Don Francisco. Murat showed to the full his indomitable
+courage, fighting fiercely, not only for his Emperor, but for the crown
+which he thought was his. Bitter indeed were his feelings when he
+received a letter dated that fatal day, May 2nd, informing him that
+Joseph was to be King of Spain, and that he might choose either Portugal
+or Naples as his kingdom. In floods of tears he accepted Naples, but so
+cruel was the blow that his health gave way, and instead of hurrying off
+to his new kingdom he had to spend the summer drinking the waters at
+Barèges; his sensitive Gascon feelings had completely broken down under
+the disappointment, and, for the time being, he was physically and
+morally a wreck.
+
+Murat was in no hurry to commence his reign, and his subjects showed no
+great anxiety to see their new ruler. But when King Joachim Napoleon, to
+give him his new title, arrived at Naples he was received with
+unexpected warmth. The new monarch, with his striking personality and
+good looks, at once captivated the hearts of his fickle Southern
+subjects. Joseph had been prudent and cold, Joachim was ostentatious and
+fiery. The Neapolitans had never really cared for their Bourbon
+sovereigns. Some of the noblesse had from interest clung to the old
+dynasty, but the greater part of the nobility cared little who ruled
+them so long as their privileges were not interfered with. Among the
+middle class there was a strong party which had accepted the doctrines
+of the French Revolution. The lower class were idle and lazy, and
+willing to serve any sovereign who appealed to them by ostentation. The
+people who really held the key of the hearts of the mass of the
+population were the clergy. Joseph, with his liberal ideas, had
+attempted to free the people from clerical thraldom. Joachim, however,
+with his Southern instincts, refused to deny himself the use of such a
+powerful lever, and quickly ingratiated himself with his new subjects.
+From the moment that he arrived at Naples the new King determined, if
+not to rule Naples for the Neapolitans, at least, by pretending to do
+so, to rule Naples for himself and not for Napoleon. It is not,
+therefore, surprising that before the close of the year 1808 friction
+arose, which was further increased by the intrigues of Talleyrand and
+Fouché. These ministers, firmly convinced that Napoleon would never
+return from the Spanish war, had decided that in the event of his death
+they would declare Murat his successor rather than establish a regency
+for the young son of Louis Napoleon, the King of Holland.
+
+In pursuance of the plan of winning his subjects' affections Joachim had
+at once called to his aid Agar, who had so successfully managed the
+finances of the Grand Duchy of Berg. The difficulties of finance in
+Naples were very great, and with Agar the King had to associate the
+subtle Corsican, Salicetti, who had so powerfully contributed to the
+rise of Napoleon. Taxation in Naples was heavy, for the Neapolitans had
+to find the money for the war with their old dynasty, which was
+threatening them from Sicily, aided by the English fleet. To secure the
+kingdom against the Sicilians and English, a large Neapolitan army of
+thirty thousand troops had to be maintained along with an auxiliary
+force of ten thousand French. Moreover, the Neapolitans had to pay for
+having a King like Joachim and a Queen Consort like Caroline. The royal
+household alone required 1,395,000 ducats per annum. To meet this heavy
+expense the ministers had to devise all sorts of expedients to raise
+money. Regular taxation, monopolies, mortgages, and loans barely
+sufficed to provide for the budget. Still the King managed to retain his
+popularity, and in his own way attempted to ameliorate the lot of his
+subjects. He introduced the Code Napoleon. He founded a military
+college, an artillery and engineer college, a naval college, a civil
+engineer college and a polytechnic school. He also instituted primary
+schools in every commune, and started an École Normale for the training
+of teachers. He expanded the staff of the University and established an
+Observatory and Botanical Garden at Naples. He attempted to conciliate
+the Neapolitan noblesse by gradually dismissing his French ministers and
+officers and appointing Neapolitan nobles in their place. At the same
+time he abolished feudal dues and customs. He also attempted to develop
+industries by giving them protection. Above all, by the strict measures
+of his minister Manhes he established peace in the interior by breaking
+down the organised system of the freebooters and robbers. As time went
+on he found that the clergy and monks were too heavy a burden for his
+kingdom to bear, and, at the expense of his popularity, he had to cut
+down the numbers of the dioceses and parishes and abolish the religious
+orders.
+
+From the first the new King grasped the fact that his kingdom would
+always be heavily taxed, and his throne insecure as long as the
+Bourbons, backed by the English, held Sicily. His plan of campaign,
+therefore, was to drive his enemy out of the smaller islands, and
+thereafter to demand the aid of French troops and make a determined
+effort against Sicily. In October, 1808, by a well-planned expedition,
+he captured the island of Capri, and caused the English commander, Sir
+Hudson Lowe, to capitulate. It was not till the autumn of 1810, however,
+that he was ready for the great expedition. Relying on the traditional
+hatred of the people of Messina for the Bourbons, he collected a strong
+force on the Straits, and waited till the moment when, after a gale, the
+English fleet had not yet arrived from the roads of Messina. On the
+evening of September 17th he sent away his advance guard of two thousand
+men in eighty small boats. Cavaignac, the commander of this force,
+secured the important villages of Santo Stefano and Santo Paolo. But at
+the critical moment the commander of the French division, acting
+according to the Emperor's orders, refused to allow his troops to cross.
+Before fresh arrangements could be made the English fleet reappeared on
+the scene, and Cavaignac and his force were thus sacrificed for no
+purpose. Joachim, as time showed, never forgave the Emperor for the
+failure of his cherished plan.
+
+By the commencement of 1812, the coming Russian campaign overshadowed
+all other questions. Murat, who had earnestly begged to be allowed to
+share the Austrian campaign of 1809, was delighted to serve in person.
+But as King of Naples he refused to send a division of ten thousand men
+to reinforce the Grand Army, "as a Frenchman and a soldier he declared
+himself to the core a subject of the Emperor, but as King of Naples he
+aspired to perfect independence." It was this double attitude which,
+from the moment Murat became King, clouded the relations between him and
+Napoleon. But nevertheless, once he rejoined the Emperor at Dantzig, he
+laid aside all his royal aspirations and became the faithful dashing
+leader of cavalry.
+
+During the advance on Moscow the cavalry suffered terribly from the
+difficulties of constant reconnaissances and want of supplies, but in
+spite of this Murat urged the Emperor not to halt at Smolensk, but to
+push on, as he believed the Russians were becoming demoralised. Scarce a
+day passed without some engagement in which the King of Naples showed
+his audacity and his talent as a leader. Notwithstanding, Napoleon,
+angry at the constant escape of the Russians, declared that if Murat had
+only pursued Bagration in Lithuania he would not have escaped. This
+reproach spurred on the King of Naples to even greater deeds of bravery,
+and so well was his figure known to the enemy that the Cossacks
+constantly greeted him with cries of "Hurrah, hurrah, Murat!" At the
+battle of Moskowa he and Ney completely overthrew the Russians, and if
+Napoleon had flung the Guard into the action, the Russian army would
+have been annihilated. In spite of the losses during the campaign, when
+the French evacuated Moscow Murat had still ten thousand mounted troops,
+but by the time the army had reached the Beresina there remained only
+eighteen hundred troopers with horses. When the Emperor deserted the
+Grand Army, he left the King of Naples in command, with orders to rally
+the army at Vilna. But Murat saw that it was impossible to re-form the
+army there, and accordingly ordered a retirement across the Niemen, a
+line which he soon found it was impossible to hold. On January 10, 1813,
+came the news that the Prussians had actually gone over to the enemy. It
+seemed as if Napoleon was lost, and Murat thereupon at once deserted the
+army, and set out in all haste for Italy, thinking only of how to save
+his crown.
+
+The King arrived in Naples bent on maintaining his crown and on allowing
+no interference from the Emperor. But in spite of this he could not
+decide on any definite line of action. He was afraid the English and
+Russians would invade his country, but on the other hand his old
+affection for Napoleon, and a sort of sneaking belief in his ultimate
+success, prevented him from listening to the insidious advice of the
+Austrian envoy, whom the far-seeing Metternich had at once sent to
+Naples. If Napoleon had not in his despatch glorified Prince Eugène's
+conduct to the disparagement of the King of Naples, if he had only
+vouchsafed some reply to the King's persistent letters of inquiry
+whether he still trusted his old comrade and lieutenant, Murat would
+have thrown himself heart and soul into the mêlée on the side of his old
+friend. But in April Napoleon quitted Paris for the army in Germany
+without sending one line in reply to these imploring letters. Meanwhile
+on April 23rd came a letter from Colonel Coffin suggesting the
+possibility of effecting an entente between the English and Neapolitan
+Governments, or at any rate a commercial convention. Thereupon Murat
+sent officers to enter into negotiations with Lord William Bentinck, who
+represented the English Government in Sicily. All through the summer the
+negotiations were continued, but Murat, in spite of the guarantee of the
+throne of Naples which the English offered, could not break entirely
+with his Emperor and benefactor. Still Napoleon, in his blindness,
+instead of attempting to conciliate his brother-in-law, allowed articles
+to his disparagement to appear in the _Moniteur_. Nevertheless Murat at
+bottom was Napoleon's man. Elated by the Emperor's success at Lützen and
+Bautzen, although he refused to allow the Neapolitan troops to join the
+Army of Italy under Prince Eugène, he hurried off in August to join the
+French army at Dresden. There a reconciliation took place between the
+brothers-in-law. But after the defeat at Leipzig King Joachim asked and
+obtained leave to return to his own dominions.
+
+His presence was needed at home, for in Italy also the war had gone
+against the French. Prince Eugène had had to fall back on the line of
+the Adda, and the defection of the Tyrol had opened to the Allies the
+passes into the Peninsula. Murat, in his hurry, had to leave his coach
+snowed up in the Simplon Pass and proceed on horseback to Milan, where
+he halted but a few hours to write a despatch to the Emperor, which
+practically foretold his desertion. He declared that if he, instead of
+Eugène, was entrusted with the defence of Italy, he would at once march
+north from Naples with forty thousand men. He had indeed never forgotten
+the slight put upon him by the article in the _Moniteur_, after the
+Russian campaign, and he was ready to sacrifice even his kingdom if only
+he could revenge himself on his enemy, Eugène. As Napoleon would not
+grant him this request, he determined to humiliate Eugène, and, at the
+same time, to save his crown by negotiating with the enemy. On reaching
+Naples, he found that his wife, who hitherto had been an unbending
+partisan of the French, had entirely changed her politics and was now
+pledged to an Austrian alliance. The King was ever unstable, vanity
+always governed his conduct: the Queen was always determined, governed
+solely by a cold, calculating ambition. Negotiations were at once opened
+with the Austrians. The King protested "that he desired nothing in the
+world so much as to make common cause with the allied Powers." He
+promised that he would join them with thirty thousand troops, on
+condition that he was guaranteed the throne of Naples, and that he
+should have the Roman States in exchange for Sicily. Meanwhile he
+addressed an order of the day to his army, stating that the Neapolitan
+troops should only be employed in Italy. This of course did not commit
+him either to Napoleon or the Austrian alliance. Meanwhile the Emperor
+had despatched Fouché to try to bind his brother-in-law to France, but
+that distinguished double-dealer merely advised the Neapolitan King to
+move northwards to the valley of the Po with all his troops, and there
+to wait and see whether it would be best to help the French, or to enter
+France with the Allies, and perhaps the Tuileries as Emperor.
+
+Joachim Napoleon quietly occupied Rome and pushed forward his troops
+towards the Po, using the French magazines and depôts, but still
+negotiating with the Austrians, and, at the same time, holding out
+hopes to the purely Italian party. For the national party of the
+Risorgimento were striving hard to seize this opportunity to unite Italy
+and drive out the foreigner, and no one seemed more capable of carrying
+out their policy than the popular King of Naples. The Austrians
+flattered the hopes of "young Italy" by declaring in their proclamation
+that they had only entered Italy to free her from the yoke of the
+stranger, and to aid the King of Naples by creating an independent
+kingdom of Italy. Still Murat hesitated on the brink. As late as the
+27th of December he wrote to the Emperor proposing that Italy should be
+formed into two kingdoms, that he should govern all the peninsula south
+of the Po, and that the rest of the country should be left to Eugène.
+Three days later the Austrian envoy arrived with the proposals of the
+Allies. But he could not yet make up his mind, and, moreover, the
+English had not yet guaranteed him Naples. In January, however, these
+guarantees were given, and against his will he had to sign a treaty.
+Scarcely was the writing dry when he began to negotiate with Prince
+Eugène. He used every artifice to prevent a collision between the French
+and Neapolitan troops. When the campaign opened his troops abandoned
+their position at the first shot, while he himself took good care not to
+reach the front until the news of Napoleon's abdication arrived.
+
+But Murat's conduct had alienated everybody. The French loathed him for
+his duplicity; the Allies suspected him of treachery, and the party of
+the Risorgimento looked on him as the cause of their subjection to the
+foreigner; for the Austrian victory had not brought Italy unity and
+independence, but had merely established the fetters of the old régime.
+During the remainder of 1814 the lot of the King of Naples was most
+unenviable. The restored Bourbons of France and Spain regarded him as
+the despoiler of the Bourbon house of Sicily. Russia had been no party
+to the guarantee of his kingdom. England desired nothing so much as his
+expulsion. Austria alone upheld him, for she had been the chief party to
+the treaty; but Metternich was waiting for him to make some slip which
+might serve as a pretext for tearing up that treaty. Even the Pope
+refused the bribe which the King offered him when he proposed to restore
+the Marches in return for receiving the papal investiture. In despair
+Murat once again entered into negotiations with the Italian party. A
+general rising was planned in Lombardy, but failed, as the Austrians
+received news of the proposed cession of Milan. With cruel cunning they
+spread the report that the King of Naples had sold the secret.
+Henceforward Murat had no further hope. Foreigners, Italians, priests,
+carbonari and freemasons, all had turned against him.
+
+Such was the situation when on March 8, 1815, the King heard that
+Napoleon had left Elba. As usual he dealt double. He at once sent a
+message to England that he would be faithful, while at the same time he
+sent agents to Sicily to try to stir up a revolt against the Bourbons.
+As soon as the news of Napoleon's reception in France arrived, he set
+out at the head of forty thousand troops, thinking that all Italy would
+rise for him. But the Italians mistrusted the fickle King; the Austrian
+troops were already mobilised, and accordingly, early in May, the
+Neapolitan army fled homewards before its enemies. King Joachim's
+popularity was gone. A grant of a constitution roused no enthusiasm
+among the people. City after city opened its gates to the enemy.
+Resistance was hopeless, so on the night of May 19th the King of Naples,
+with a few hundred thousand francs and his diamonds, accompanied by a
+handful of personal friends, fled by sea to Cannes. But the Emperor
+refused to receive the turncoat, though at St. Helena he bitterly
+repented this action, lamenting "that at Waterloo Murat might have given
+us the victory. For what did we need? To break three or four English
+squares. Murat was just the man for the job." After Waterloo the poor
+King fled before the White Terror, and for some time lay hid in
+Corsica. There he was given a safe conduct by the Allies and permission
+to settle in Austria. But the deposed monarch could not overcome his
+vanity. He still believed himself indispensable to Naples. Some four
+hundred Corsicans promised to follow him thither. The filibustering
+expedition set out in three small ships on the 28th of September. A
+storm arose and scattered the armada, but in spite of this, on October
+7th, the ex-King decided to land at Pizzo. Dressed in full uniform, amid
+cries of "Long live our King Joachim," the unfortunate man landed with
+twenty-six followers. He was at once arrested, and on October 13th tried
+by court martial, condemned to death, and executed a few hours later.
+
+Joachim Murat met his death like a soldier. As he wrote to his wife, his
+only regret was that he died far off, without seeing his children. Death
+was what he courted when landing at Pizzo, for he must have known how
+impossible it was for him to conquer a kingdom with twenty-six men.
+Still, he preferred to die in the attempt to regain his crown rather
+than to spend an ignoble old age, a pensioner on the bounty of his
+enemies. Murat died as he had lived, brave but vain, with his last words
+calling out, "Soldiers, do your duty: fire at my heart, but spare my
+face."
+
+The King of Naples owed his elevation entirely to his fortunate marriage
+with the Emperor's sister; otherwise it is certain he would never have
+reached such exalted rank, for Napoleon really did not like him or trust
+him, and had a true knowledge of his ability. "He was a Paladin," said
+the Emperor at St. Helena, "in the field, but in the Cabinet destitute
+of either decision or judgment. He loved, I may rather say, adored me;
+he was my right arm; but without me he was nothing. In battle he was
+perhaps the bravest man in the world; left to himself, he was an
+imbecile without judgment." Murat was a cavalry leader pure and simple.
+His love of horses, his intuitive knowledge of exactly how much he
+could ask from his horsemen, his reckless bravery, his fine
+swordsmanship, his dashing manners, captivated the French cavalry and
+enabled him to "achieve the impossible." Contrary to accepted opinion
+Napoleon believed "that cavalry, if led by equally brave and resolute
+men, must always break infantry." Consequently we find that at
+Austerlitz, Jena, and Eylau, the decisive stroke of the day was in each
+case given by immense bodies of some twenty thousand men under the
+command of Murat, whose genius lay in his ability to manoeuvre these
+huge bodies of cavalry on the field of battle, and in the tenacity with
+which he clung to and pursued a beaten enemy. But this was the sum total
+of his military ability. He had no conception of the use of the other
+arms of the service, and never gained even the most elementary knowledge
+of strategy. When trusted with anything like the command of a mixed body
+of troops he proved an utter failure. Before Ulm he nearly ruined
+Napoleon's combination by failing to get in contact with the enemy. In
+the later half of the campaign of 1806 he hopelessly failed to make any
+headway against the Russians east of the Vistula. In the retreat across
+the Niemen he proved himself absolutely incapable of reorganising a
+beaten force. As a king, Murat was full of good intentions towards his
+people, but his extravagance, his vanity, his indecision cost him his
+crown. As a man he was generous and extraordinarily brave. In the
+Russian campaign he used to challenge the Cossacks to single combat, and
+when he had beaten them he sent them away with some medal or souvenir of
+himself. He was a good husband, and lived at peace and amity with his
+wife, and was exceedingly fond of his children. His faults were
+numerous; he was by nature intensely jealous, especially of those who
+came between him and Napoleon, and he stooped to anything whereby he
+might injure his rivals, Lannes and Prince Eugène. His hot Southern
+blood led him into numerous quarrels. Although extremely arrogant, at
+bottom he was a moral coward, and before the Emperor's reproaches he
+scarcely dared to open his mouth. But his great fault, through which he
+gained and lost his crown, was his vanity. Vanity, working on ambition
+and an unstable character, is the key to all his career. His blatant
+Jacobinism, his intrigue with Josephine, his overtures to the Directors,
+his underhand treatment of his fellow Marshals, his discontent with his
+Grand Duchy, his subtle dealings in Spain, his system of government in
+Naples, his opposition to Napoleon's schemes, his dissimulation and
+desertion, his almost theatrical bravery, and his very death were due to
+nothing save extravagant vanity.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+ANDRÉ MASSÉNA, MARSHAL, DUKE OF RIVOLI, PRINCE OF ESSLING
+
+
+André Masséna, "the wiliest of Italians," was born at Nice on May 6,
+1758, where his father and mother carried on a considerable business as
+tanners and soap manufacturers. On his father's death, when André was
+still but a small boy, his mother at once married again. Thereon André
+and two of his sisters were adopted by their uncle Augustine, who
+proposed to give his nephew a place in his business. But André's
+restless, fiery nature could not brook the idea of a perpetual
+monotonous existence in the tanyard and soap factory, so at the age of
+thirteen he ran away from home and shipped as a cabin boy; as such he
+made several voyages in the Mediterranean, and on one occasion crossed
+the Atlantic to Cayenne. But, in spite of his love of adventure, the
+life of a sailor soon began to pall, and on August 18, 1775, at the age
+of seventeen, he enlisted in the Royal Italian regiment in the French
+service. There he came under the influence of his uncle Marcel, who was
+sergeant-major of the regiment; thanks to his advice and care he made
+rapid strides in his profession, and received a fair education in the
+regimental school. In later years the Marshal used to say that no step
+cost him so much trouble or gave him such pleasure as his promotion to
+corporal; be that as it may, promotion came rapidly, and with less than
+two years' service he became sergeant on April 15, 1777. For fourteen
+years Masséna served in the Royal Italians, but at last he retired in
+disgust. Under the regulations a commission was unattainable for those
+who were not of noble birth, and the officers of the regiment had taken
+a strong dislike to the sergeant, whom the colonel constantly held up as
+an example, telling them, "Your ignorance of drill is shameful; your
+inferiors, Masséna, for example, can manoeuvre the battalion far
+better than any of you." On his retirement Masséna lived at Nice. To
+occupy his time and earn a living he joined his cousin Bavastro, and
+carried on a large smuggling business both by sea and land; he thus
+gained that intimate knowledge of the defiles and passes of the Maritime
+Alps which stood him in such good stead in the numerous campaigns of the
+revolutionary wars, while the necessity for keeping a watch on the
+preventive men and thus concealing his own movements developed to a
+great extent his activity, resource, and daring. So successful were his
+operations that he soon found himself in the position to demand the hand
+of Mademoiselle Lamarre, daughter of a surgeon, possessed of a
+considerable dowry. When the revolutionary wars broke out the Massénas
+were established at Antibes, where they did a fair trade in olive oil
+and dried fruits; but a respectable humdrum existence could not satisfy
+the restless nature of the ex-sergeant, and in 1791 he applied for a
+sub-lieutenancy in the gendarmerie, and it is to be presumed that, on
+the principle of setting a thief to catch a thief, he would have made an
+excellent policeman. It was at this moment that the invasion of France
+by the monarchs of Europe caused all patriotic Frenchmen to obey the
+summons to arms. Masséna gladly left his shop to serve as adjutant of
+the volunteers of the Var. His military knowledge, his erect and proud
+bearing, his keen incisive speech, and absolute self-confidence in all
+difficulties soon dominated his comrades, and it was as
+lieutenant-colonel commanding the second battalion that he marched to
+the frontier to meet the enemy. Lean and spare, below middle height,
+with a highly expressive Italian face, a good mouth, an aquiline nose,
+and black sparkling eyes, from the very first Masséna inspired
+confidence in all who met him; but it was not till he was seen in action
+that the greatness of his qualities could best be appreciated. As
+Napoleon said of him at St. Helena, "Masséna was at his best and most
+brilliant in the middle of the fire and disorder of battle; the roar of
+the cannon used to clear his ideas, give him insight, penetration, and
+gaiety.... In the middle of the dead and dying, among the hail of
+bullets which swept down all around him, Masséna was always himself
+giving his orders and making his dispositions with the greatest calmness
+and good judgment. There you see the true nobility of blood." In the
+saddle from morning till night, absolutely insensible to fatigue, ready
+at any moment to take the responsibility of his actions, he returned
+from the first campaign in the Riviera as major-general. During the
+siege of Toulon he commanded the "Camp de milles fourches," which
+included the company of artillery commanded by Bonaparte, and
+distinguished himself by taking the forts of Lartigues and St.
+Catharine, thus earning his step as lieutenant-general while his future
+commander was still a major in the artillery. In the campaign of 1794 it
+was Masséna who conceived and carried out the turning movement which
+drove the Sardinians from the Col de Tenda, while Bonaparte's share in
+the action merely consisted of commanding the artillery. As the trusted
+counsellor of Dumerbion, Kellermann, and Schérer, for the next two
+years, the lieutenant-general was the inspirer of the successive
+commanders of the Army of Italy. He it was who, amid the snow and
+storms, planned and carried out the combinations which gained for
+Schérer the great winter victory at Loano, and thus first taught the
+French the secret, which the English had grasped on the sea and
+Napoleon was to perfect on land, of breaking the enemy's centre and
+falling on one wing with overwhelming force. The campaign of 1796 for
+the time being altered the current of Masséna's military life. Before
+the young Corsican's eagle gaze even the impetuous Italian quailed, and
+from being the brain of the officer commanding the army he had to revert
+to the position of the right arm and faithful interpreter of orders. Two
+things, however, compensated Masséna for the change of rôle, for
+Bonaparte gave his subordinate fighting and glory with a lavish hand,
+and above all winked at, nay, rather encouraged, the amassing of booty;
+and wealth more even than glory was the desire of Masséna's soul.
+
+[Illustration: ANDRÉ MASSÉNA, PRINCE OF ESSLING]
+
+At the very commencement of the campaign Masséna committed a fault which
+almost ruined his career. After defeating the enemy's advance guard near
+Cairo, hearing by chance that the Austrian officers had left an
+excellent dinner in a neighbouring inn, he and some of his staff left
+his division on the top of a high hill and set off to enjoy the good
+things prepared for the enemy. At daybreak the enemy attempted a
+surprise on the French position on the hill, and the troops, without
+their general and staff, were in great danger. Fortunately, Masséna had
+time to make his way through the Austrian skirmishers and resume his
+command. He was greeted by hoots and jeers, but with absolute
+imperturbability he reorganised his forces and checked the enemy. But
+one battalion was isolated on a spur, from which there seemed no way of
+escape save under a scorching flank fire. Masséna made his way alone to
+this detached post, scrambling up the steep slope on his hands and
+knees, and, when he at last reached the troops, remembering his old
+smuggling expedients, he showed them how to glissade down the steep part
+of the hill, and brought them all safely back without a single casualty.
+This escapade came to Bonaparte's ears, and it was only Masséna's great
+share in the victory of Montenotte which saved him from a court-martial.
+
+Bonaparte, at the commencement of the campaign, had ended a letter of
+instructions to his lieutenant with the words "Watchfulness and bluff,
+that is the card," and well Masséna learned his lesson. Montenotte, the
+bridge of Lodi, the long struggle at Castiglione, the two fights at
+Rivoli and the marshes of Arcola proved beyond doubt that of all the
+young conqueror of Italy's lieutenants, none had the insight, activity,
+and endurance of Masséna. But empty flattery did not satisfy him, for as
+early as Lonato, greedy for renown, he considered his success had not
+been fully recognised. In bitter anger he wrote to Bonaparte: "I
+complain of your reports of Lonato and Roveredo, in which you do not
+render me the justice that I merit. This forgetfulness tears my heart
+and throws discouragement on my soul. I will recall the fact under
+compulsion that the victory of Saintes Georges was due to my
+dispositions, to my activity, to my sangfroid, and to my prevision."
+This frank republican letter greatly displeased Bonaparte, who, since
+Lodi, had cherished visions of a crown, and to realise this desire had
+begun to issue his praise and rewards irrespective of merit, and to
+appeal to the private soldier while visiting his displeasure on the
+officers. But Masséna's brilliant conduct at the second battle of
+Rivoli, for the moment, blotted out all rancour, for it was Masséna who
+had saved the day, who had rushed up to the commander of the shaken
+regiment, bitterly upbraiding him and his officers, showering blows on
+them with the flat of his sword, and had then galloped off and brought
+up two tried regiments of his own invincible division and driven back
+the assailants; from that moment Bonaparte confirmed him in the title of
+"the spoilt child of victory." In 1797 Bonaparte gave his lieutenant a
+more substantial reward when he chose him to carry the despatches to
+Paris which reported the preliminary treaty of Leoben; thus it was as
+the right-hand man of the most distinguished general in Europe that the
+Italian saw for the first time the capital of his adopted country.
+
+In choosing Masséna to carry to Paris the tidings of peace, it was not
+only his prestige and renown which influenced Bonaparte. For Paris was
+in a state of half suppressed excitement, and signs were only too
+evident that the Directory was unstable; accordingly the wily Corsican,
+while despatching secret agents to advance his cause, was careful to
+send as the bearer of the good news a man who was well known to care for
+no political rewards, and who would be sure to turn a deaf ear to the
+insidious schemes of those who were plotting to restore the monarchy, or
+to set up a dictatorship, and were searching for a sovereign or a Cæsar
+as their political views suggested. It was for these reasons and because
+he was tired of Masséna's greed and avarice that Bonaparte refused to
+admit him among those chosen to accompany him to Egypt. Masséna saw
+clearly all the secret intrigue of the capital, and found little
+pleasure in his newly gained dignity of a seat among the Ancients, for
+he was extremely afraid of a royalist restoration, in which case he
+feared "our honourable wounds will become the titles for our
+proscription."
+
+Tired of Paris, in 1798, he was glad to accept the command of the French
+corps occupying Rome when its former commander, Berthier, was called
+away to join the Egyptian expedition. On his arrival at Rome, to take
+over his new command, he found himself face to face with a mutiny. The
+troops were in rags and badly fed, their pay was months in arrear, and
+meanwhile the civil servants of the Directory were amassing fortunes at
+the expense of the Pope, the Cardinals, and the Princes of Rome.
+Discontent was so widespread that the new general at once ordered all
+troops, save some three thousand, to leave the capital. Unfortunately
+Masséna's record was not such as to inspire confidence in the purity of
+his intentions. Instead of obeying, the officers and men held a mass
+meeting to draft their remonstrance to the Directory. In this document
+they accused, first of all, the agents who had disgraced the name of
+France, and ended by saying, "The final cause of all the discontent is
+the arrival of General Masséna. The soldiers have not forgotten the
+extortions and robberies he has committed wherever he has been invested
+with the command. The Venetian territory, and above all Padua, is a
+district teeming with proofs of his immorality." In the face of such
+public feeling Masséna found nothing for it but to demand a successor
+and throw up his command.
+
+But with Bonaparte in Egypt and a ring of enemies threatening France
+from all sides, the Directors, whose hands were as soiled as Masséna's,
+could ill spare the "spoilt child of victory." Accordingly, early in
+1799 the general found himself invested with the important command of
+the Army of Switzerland. This was a task worthy of his genius and he
+eagerly accepted the post, but refused to abide by the stipulations the
+Directors desired to enforce on him, as, according to their plan, the
+Army of Switzerland was to form part of the Army of the Rhine commanded
+by Joubert. Masséna had obeyed Bonaparte, but he had no intention of
+playing second fiddle to any other commander, and, after some stormy
+interviews and letters, he at last had his way. As the year advanced it
+became more and more evident that on the Army of Switzerland would fall
+the full brunt of the attack of the coalition, for Joubert was defeated
+by the Archduke Charles at Stockach and thrown back on the Rhine,
+Schérer was defeated in Italy at Magnano, and by June the Russians and
+Austrians had begun to close in on Switzerland. It was clear that, if
+the French army were driven out of Switzerland, both the Rhine and the
+Maritime Alps would be turned, and the enemy would be in a strong
+position from which to invade France. On Masséna, therefore, hung all
+the hopes of the Directory. Fortunately for France, the general was
+admirably versed in mountain warfare. Well aware of the difficulty of
+keeping up communication between the different parts of his line of
+defence, Masséna skilfully withdrew his outposts, as the enemy pressed
+on, with the intention of concentrating his troops round Zurich, thereby
+covering all the possible lines of advance. But early in the summer his
+difficulties were further increased by the rising of the Swiss
+peasantry; luckily, however, the Archduke Charles advanced most
+cautiously, while the Aulic Council at Vienna, unable to grasp the vital
+point of the problem, stupidly sent its reserve army to Italy to
+reinforce the Russians under Suvaroff. By June 5th the Archduke had
+driven in all the outlying French columns, and was in a position to
+attack the lines of Zurich with his entire force. Thanks, however, to
+Masséna's courage and presence of mind, the attack was driven off, but
+so overwhelming were the numbers of the enemy that during the night the
+French army evacuated Zurich, though only to fall back on a strong
+position on Mount Albis, a rocky ridge at the north end of the lake,
+covered on one flank by the lake and on the other by the river Aar. The
+two armies for the time being lay opposite to each other, too exhausted
+after the struggle to recommence operations. The Archduke Charles
+awaited the arrival from Italy of Suvaroff, who was to debouch on the
+French right by the St. Gothard Pass. But fortune, or rather the Aulic
+Council at Vienna, once again intervened and saved France. The Archduke
+Charles was ordered to leave fifty-five thousand Russians under
+Korsakoff before Zurich and to march northwards and across the Rhine.
+Protests were useless; the Court of Vienna merely ordered the Archduke
+to "perform the immediate execution of its will without further
+objections." But even yet disaster threatened the French, for Suvaroff
+was commencing his advance by the St. Gothard. But Masséna at once
+grasped the opportunity fortune had placed in his power by opposing him
+to a commander like Korsakoff, who was so impressed by his own pride
+that he considered a Russian company equal to an Austrian battalion. On
+September 26th, by a masterly series of manoeuvres, the main French
+force surprised Korsakoff and drove him in rout out of Zurich. Suvaroff
+arrived just in time to find Masséna in victorious array thrust in
+between himself and his countrymen, and was forced to save himself by a
+hurried retreat through the most difficult passes of the Alps.
+
+The campaign of Zurich will always be studied as a masterpiece in
+defensive warfare. The skilful use the French general made of the
+mountain passes, the methods he employed to check the Archduke's advance
+on Zurich, the care with which he kept up communications between his
+different columns, the skilful choice of the positions of Zurich and
+Mount Albis, his return to the initiative on every opportunity, and his
+masterly interposition between Korsakoff and Suvaroff, alone entitle him
+to a high place among the great commanders of history, and Masséna was
+rightly thanked by the legislature and hailed as the saviour of the
+country.
+
+Six weeks after the victory of Zurich came the 18th Brumaire, and
+Napoleon's accession to the consulate. Masséna, a staunch republican,
+was conscious of the defects of the Directory, but could not give his
+hearty consent to the coup d'état, for he feared for the liberty of his
+country. Still, he said, if France desired to entrust her independence
+and glory to one man she could choose none better than Bonaparte. The
+latter, on his side, was anxious to retain Masséna's affections, and at
+once offered him the command of the Army of Italy. But the conqueror of
+Zurich foresaw that everything was to be sacrificed to the glory of the
+First Consul, and it was only after great persuasion, profuse promises,
+and appeals to his patriotism that he undertook the command, with the
+stipulation that "I will not take command of an army condemned to rest
+on the defensive. My former services and successes do not permit me to
+change the rôle that I have heretofore played in the wars of the
+Republic." The First Consul replied by giving Masséna carte blanche to
+requisition whatever he wanted, and promised him that the Army of Italy
+should be his first care. But when Masséna arrived at Genoa he
+discovered, as he had suspected, that Bonaparte's promises were only
+made to be broken; for he found the troops entrusted to his care the
+mere shadow of an army, the hospitals full, bands of soldiers, even
+whole battalions, quitting their posts and trying to escape into France,
+and the officers and generals absolutely unable to contend with the mass
+of misery and want. In spite of his able lieutenants, Soult and Suchet,
+he could make no head against the Austrians in the field, and after some
+gallant engagements was driven back into Genoa, where, for two months,
+he held out against famine and the assaults of the enemy. While the
+wretched inhabitants starved, the troops were fed on "a miserable ration
+of a quarter of a pound of horse-flesh and a quarter of a pound of what
+was called bread--a horrible compound of damaged flour, sawdust, starch,
+hair-powder, oatmeal, linseed, rancid nuts, and other nasty substances,
+to which a little solidity was given by the admixture of a small portion
+of cocoa. Each loaf, moreover, was held together by little bits of wood,
+without which it would have fallen to powder." A revolt, threatened by
+the inhabitants, was checked by Masséna's order that an assemblage of
+over five persons should be fired on, and the approaches to the
+principal streets were commanded by guns. Still he refused to surrender,
+as every day he expected to hear the cannon of the First Consul's army
+thundering on the Austrian rear. One day the hopes of all were aroused
+by a distant roar in the mountains, only to be dashed by finding it to
+be thunder. It was simply the ascendancy of Masséna's personality which
+prolonged the agony and upheld his authority, and in bitter earnestness
+the soldiers used to say, "He will make us eat his boots before he will
+surrender." At last the accumulated horrors shook even his firm spirit,
+and on June 4th a capitulation was agreed on. The terms were most
+favourable to the French; but, as Lord Keith, the English admiral, said,
+"General, your defence has been so heroic that we can refuse you
+nothing." However, the sufferings of Genoa were not in vain, for Masséna
+had played his part and held the main Austrian force in check for ten
+days longer than had been demanded of him; thus the First Consul had
+time to fall on the enemies' line of communication, and it may be truly
+said that without the siege of Genoa there could have been no Marengo.
+Masséna had once again demonstrated the importance of the individual in
+war; as Bonaparte wrote to him during the siege, "In such a situation as
+you are, a man like you is worth twenty thousand men." In spite of this,
+at St. Helena, the Emperor, ever jealous of his own glory, affected to
+despise Masséna's generalship and endurance at Genoa, and blamed him for
+not taking the offensive in the field, forgetting the state of his army
+and the paucity of his troops. But at the moment he showed his
+appreciation of his services by giving him the command of the army when
+he himself retired to Paris after the victory of Marengo. Unfortunately
+Masséna's avarice and greed were unable to withstand the temptations of
+the position, and the First Consul had very soon to recall him from
+Italy and mark his displeasure by placing him on half-pay.
+
+For two years the disgraced general brooded over his wrongs in
+retirement, and showed his attitude of mind by voting against the
+Consulate for life and the establishment of the Empire. The gift of a
+Marshal's bâton did little to reconcile him to the Emperor, for, as he
+scoffingly replied to Thiebault's congratulations, "Oh, there are
+fourteen of us." So uncertain was the Emperor of his Marshal's
+disposition that, on the outbreak of the war with Austria, Masséna alone
+of all the greater Marshals held no command. But with the prospect of
+heavy fighting in Italy the Emperor could not afford to entrust the
+Italian divisions to a blunderer, and he once again posted Masséna to
+his old command. The Austrians had occupied the strong position of
+Caldiero, near the marshes of Arcola, and the French in vain attempted
+to force them from it, but the success of the Emperor on the Danube at
+last compelled the Archduke John to fall back on Austria. The Marshal at
+once commenced a spirited pursuit, and ultimately joined hands with the
+Grand Army, south of the Danube.
+
+After the treaty of Pressburg Napoleon despatched Masséna to conquer
+Naples, which he had given as a kingdom to his brother Joseph. With
+fifty thousand men the Marshal swept through Italy. In vain the gallant
+Queen Caroline armed the lazzaroni; Capua opened its gates, Gaeta fell
+after twelve days' bombardment, and Joseph entered Naples in triumph.
+Calabria alone offered a stern resistance, and this resistance the
+French brought upon themselves by their cruelty to the peasantry, whom
+they treated as brigands. Unfortunately his success in Naples was once
+again tarnished by his greed, for the Marshal, by selling licences to
+merchants and conniving at their escape from the custom-house dues,
+amassed, within a few months of his entering Naples, a sum of three
+million francs. Napoleon heard of this from his spies, and, writing to
+him, demanded a loan of a million francs. The Duke of Rivoli replied
+that he was the poorest of the Marshals, and had a numerous family to
+maintain and was heavily in debt, so he regretted that he could send him
+nothing. Unfortunately, the Emperor knew where he banked in Leghorn, and
+as he refused to disgorge a third of his illicit profits, the Emperor
+sent the inspector of the French Treasury and a police commissary to the
+bank, and demanded that the three millions, which lay at his account
+there, should be handed over. The seizure was made in legal form; the
+banker, who lost nothing, was bound to comply with it. Masséna, on
+hearing of this misfortune, was so furious that he fell ill, but he did
+not dare to remonstrate, knowing that he was in the wrong, but he never
+forgave the Emperor: his titles and a pension never consoled him for
+what he lost at Leghorn, and, in spite of his cautious habits, he was
+sometimes heard to say, "I was fighting in his service and he was cruel
+enough to take away my little savings which I had invested at Leghorn."
+
+From what he called a military promenade in Italy the Marshal was
+summoned early in 1807 to the Grand Army in Poland, and was present in
+command of one of the army corps at Pultusk, Ostralenka, and Friedland.
+In 1808 he received his title of Duke of Rivoli and a pension of three
+hundred thousand francs per annum, but in spite of this he absented
+himself from the court. When Joseph was given the crown of Spain he
+requested his brother to send Masséna to aid him in his new sphere, but
+the Emperor, full of mistrust, refused, while the Marshal himself had no
+great desire to serve in Spain. When it was clear that Austria was going
+to seize the occasion of the Spanish War once again to fight France,
+Napoleon hastened to send the veteran Duke of Rivoli to the army on the
+Danube. At Abensberg and Eckmühl, for the first time since 1797, he
+fought under the eye of Napoleon himself. "Activité, activité, vitesse,"
+wrote the Emperor, and well his lieutenant carried out his orders.
+Following up the Five Days' Fighting, Masséna led the advance guard to
+Vienna, and commanded the left wing at Aspern-Essling. Standing in the
+churchyard at Aspern, with the boughs swept down by grapeshot crashing
+round him, he was in his element; never had his tenacity, his resource,
+and skill been seen to such advantage. But in spite of his skill and the
+courage of his troops, at the end of the first day's fighting his
+shattered forces were driven out of the heap of smoking ruins which
+marked all that remained of Aspern. On the morning of the second day he
+had regained half of the village when news came that the bridge was
+broken, and that he was to hold off the Austrians while communication
+with the Isle of Lobau was being established. The enemy, invigorated by
+the news of the success of their plan for breaking the bridges, strained
+every nerve to annihilate the French force on the left bank of the
+river, but Masséna, Lannes, and Napoleon worked marvels with their
+exhausted troops. The Duke of Rivoli seemed ubiquitous: at one moment on
+horseback and at another on foot with drawn sword, wherever the enemy
+pressed he was there animating his troops, directing their fire,
+hurrying up supports; thus, thanks to his exertions, the Austrians were
+held off, the cavalry and the artillery safely crossed the bridge, and
+the veteran Marshal at midnight brought the last of the rear-guard
+safely to the Isle of Lobau, where, exhausted by fatigue, the troops
+fell asleep in their ranks.
+
+The death of Lannes threw Napoleon back on the Duke of Rivoli, who for
+the time became his confidant and right-hand man. It was Masséna who
+commanded at Lobau and made all the arrangements for the crossing before
+Wagram. The Emperor and his lieutenant were indefatigable in the care
+with which they made their preparations. On one occasion, wishing to
+inspect the Austrian position, dressed in sergeants' greatcoats,
+attended by a single aide-de-camp in the kit of a private, they went
+alone up the north bank of the island and took their coats off as if
+they wanted to bathe. The Austrian sentinels, seeing, as they thought,
+two French soldiers enjoying a wash, took no notice of them, and thus
+the Emperor and the Marshal were able to determine the exact spot for
+launching the bridges. On another occasion, while they were riding round
+the island, the Marshal's horse put its foot into a hole and fell, and
+injured the rider's leg so that he could not mount again. This
+unfortunate accident happened a few days before the battle of Wagram, so
+the Duke of Rivoli went into battle lying in a light calèche, drawn by
+four white horses, with his doctor beside him changing the compresses
+on his injured leg every two hours. During the battle Masséna's corps
+formed the left of the line. While Davout was carrying out his great
+turning movement, it was the Duke of Rivoli who had to endure the full
+fury of the Austrians' attack. In the pursuit after the battle he
+pressed the enemy with his wonted activity. At the last encounter at
+Znaim he had a narrow escape, for hardly had he got out of his carriage
+when a cannon-ball struck it, and a moment later another shot killed one
+of the horses.
+
+After the treaty of Vienna the Marshal, newly created Prince of Essling,
+retired to rest at his country house at Rueil, but the Emperor could not
+spare him long. In April, 1810, within eight months, he was once again
+hurried off on active service, this time to Spain, where Soult had been
+driven out of Portugal by Sir Arthur Wellesley, and Jourdan and Joseph
+defeated at Talavera. The Emperor promised the Prince of Essling ninety
+thousand troops for the invasion of Portugal, and placed under his
+command Junot and Ney. The Marshal did his best to refuse the post; he
+knew the difficult character of Ney and the jealousy of Junot, and he
+pointed out that it would be better to reorganise the army of Portugal
+under generals appointed by himself. Berthier replied that "the orders
+of the Emperor were positive, and left no point in dispute. When the
+Emperor delegated his authority obedience became a duty; however great
+might be the pride of the Dukes of Elchingen and Abrantès, they had
+enough justice to understand that their swords were not in the same line
+as the sword of the conqueror of Zurich." Still, the Prince foresaw the
+future, and appealed to the Emperor himself, but the Emperor was
+obdurate. "You are out of humour to-day, my dear Masséna. You see
+everything black, yourself and your surroundings. To listen to you one
+would think you were half dead. Your age? A good reason! How much older
+are you now than at Essling? Your health? Does not imagination play a
+great part in your weakness? Are you worse than at Wagram? It is
+rheumatism that is troubling you. The climate of Portugal is as warm and
+healthy as Italy, and will put you on your legs.... Set out then with
+confidence. Be prudent and firm, and the obstacles you fear will fade
+away; you have surmounted many worse." Unfortunately for the Marshal,
+his forebodings were truer than the Emperor's optimism. On arriving at
+Salamanca his troubles began. Delays were inevitable before he could
+bring into order his unruly team. Junot and Ney were openly
+contemptuous, Regnier hung back, and was three weeks late in his
+arrangements. Meanwhile, all that Masséna saw of the enemy, whom the
+Emperor had in past years stigmatised as the "slow and clumsy English,"
+confirmed him in his opinion that the campaign was going to prove the
+most arduous he had ever undertaken.
+
+In spite of everything, operations opened brilliantly for the French.
+Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida fell without the English commander making any
+apparent effort to relieve them. On September 16th the invasion of
+Portugal commenced. But losses, disease, and garrison duty had already
+reduced his troops to some seventy thousand men, and the French found
+"an enemy behind every stone"; while, as the Prince of Essling wrote,
+"We are marching across a desert; women, children, and old men have all
+fled; in fact, no guide is to be found anywhere." Still the English fell
+back before him, and he was under the impression that they were going to
+evacuate Portugal without a blow, although he grasped the fact that it
+was the immense superiority of the French cavalry which had prevented
+the "sepoy general" making any effort to relieve the fortresses. But on
+September 26th Masséna found that the English had stayed their retreat,
+and were waiting to fight him on the rocky ridge of Busaco.
+Unfortunately for his reputation, he made no reconnaissance of the
+position, and, trusting entirely to the reports of Ney, Regnier, and
+Junot, who asserted the position was much less formidable than it
+looked, sustained a heavy reverse. After the battle his lieutenants
+urged him to abandon the invasion of Portugal; but the veteran refused
+such timorous advice, and, rousing himself, soon showed the energy which
+had made his name so famous at Zurich and Rivoli. Turning the position,
+the French swept down on Portugal, while the English hurriedly fell back
+before them. What caused Masséna most anxiety was the ominous desertion
+of the countryside. He was well aware of the bitter hatred of the
+Portuguese, and knew that his soldiers tortured and hung the wretched
+inhabitants to force them to reveal hidden stores of provisions, but it
+was not until October 10th, when the French had arrived within a few
+miles of the lines of Torres Vedras, that he learned of the vast
+entrenched camp which the English commander had so secretly prepared for
+his army and the inhabitants of Portugal. Masséna was furious, and
+covered with accusations the Portuguese officers on his staff. "Que
+diable," he cried, "Wellington n'a pas construit des montagnes." But
+there had been no treachery, only so well had the secret been kept that
+hardly even an officer in the English army knew of the existence of the
+work, and as Wellington wrote to the minister at Lisbon on October 6th,
+"I believe that you and the Government do not know where the lines are."
+For six weeks the indomitable Marshal lay in front of the position,
+hoping to tempt the English to attack his army, now reduced to sixty
+thousand men. But Wellington, who had planned this victorious reply to
+the axiom that war ought to feed war, grimly sat behind his lines, while
+the English army, well fed from the sea, watched the French writhe in
+the toils of hunger. Masséna was now roused, and as his opponent wrote,
+"It is certainly astonishing that the enemy have been able to remain in
+this country so long.... It is an extraordinary instance of what a
+French army can do." At last even Masséna had to confess himself beaten
+and fall back on Santarem. The winter passed in a fruitless endeavour on
+the part of the Emperor and the Marshal to force Soult, d'Erlon, and
+Regnier to co-operate for an advance on Lisbon by the left bank of the
+Tagus. Meanwhile, in spite of every effort, the French army dwindled
+owing to disease, desertion, and unending fatigue. So dangerous was the
+country that a despatch could not be sent along the lines of
+communication without an escort of three hundred men. The whole
+countryside had been so swept bare of provisions that a Portuguese spy
+wrote to Wellington saying, "Heaven forgive me if I wrong them in
+believing they have eaten my cat."
+
+By March, 1811, it became clear that the French could no longer maintain
+themselves at Santarem; but so skilful were Masséna's dispositions that
+it was three days before Wellington realised that at last the enemy had
+commenced their retreat. Never had the genius of the Marshal stood
+higher than in this difficult retirement from Portugal. With his army
+decimated by hunger and disease, with the victorious enemy always
+hanging on his heels, with his subordinates in open revolt, and a
+Marshal of France refusing to obey orders in the face of the enemy, he
+lost not a single gun, baggage-wagon or invalid. Still, the morale of
+his army was greatly shaken; as he himself wrote, "It is sufficient for
+the enemy to show the heads of a few columns in order to intimidate the
+officers and make them loudly declare that the whole of Wellington's
+army is in sight." When the Marshal at last placed his wearied troops
+behind the fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida, he found his
+difficulties by no means at an end. The Emperor, who "judged men only by
+results," wrote him a letter full of thinly-veiled criticism of his
+operations, while he found that the country round the fortresses was
+now included in the command of the northern army under Bessières.
+Accordingly he had to apply to that Marshal for leave to revictual and
+equip his troops. Meanwhile Wellington proceeded to besiege Almeida.
+
+By the end of April, after a vigorous correspondence with Bessières,
+Masséna had at last reorganised his army and was once again ready to
+take the field against the English. Reinforced by fifteen hundred
+cavalry of the Guard under Bessières, at Fuentes d'Onoro he surprised
+the English forces covering the siege of Almeida; after a careful
+reconnaissance at dawn on May 5th he attacked and defeated the English
+right, and had it not been for the action of Bessières, who spoiled his
+combination by refusing to allow the Guard to charge save by his orders,
+the English would have been totally defeated. Masséna wished at all
+hazards to continue the fight on the morrow, but his principal officers
+were strongly opposed to it. Overborne by their counsels, after lying in
+front of the position for three days he withdrew to Ciudad Rodrigo. It
+was through no fault of his that he was beaten at Fuentes d'Onoro;
+Wellington himself confessed how closely he had been pressed when he
+wrote: "Lord Liverpool was quite right not to move thanks for the battle
+of Fuentes, though it was the most difficult I was ever concerned in and
+against the greatest odds. We had nearly three to one against us
+engaged: above four to one of cavalry: and moreover our cavalry had not
+a gallop in them, while some of that of the enemy were quite fresh and
+in excellent order. If Bony had been there we should have been beaten."
+
+Soon after the battle Masséna was superseded by Marmont, and retired to
+Paris. The meeting with the Emperor was stormy. "Well, Prince of
+Essling," said Napoleon, "are you no longer Masséna?" Explanations
+followed, and the Emperor at last promised that once again he should
+have an opportunity of regaining his glory in Spain. But Fate willed
+otherwise. After Salamanca, when Marmont was recalled, Masséna set out
+again for Spain, only to fall ill at Bayonne and to return home and try
+to restore his shattered health at Nice. In 1813 and 1814 he commanded
+the eighth military district, composed of the Rhône Valley, but he was
+getting too old to take strenuous measures and was glad to make
+submission to the Bourbons.
+
+Very cruelly the new Government placed an affront on the Marshal by
+refusing to create him a peer of France under the plea that he was an
+Italian and a foreigner, but in spite of this the Prince remained
+faithful during the first part of the Hundred Days, and only went over
+to Napoleon when he found that the capital and army had recognised the
+Emperor. At Paris the Emperor greeted him with "Well, Masséna, did you
+wish to serve as lieutenant to the Duke of Angoulême and fight me ...
+would you have hurled me back into the sea if I had given you time to
+assemble your forces?" The old warrior replied: "Yes, Sire, inasmuch as
+I believed that you were not recalled by the majority of Frenchmen."
+Ill-health prevented the Marshal from actively serving the Emperor. But
+during the interval between Napoleon's abdication and the second
+restoration it fell to the Marshal's lot to keep order in Paris as
+Governor and Commander of the National Guard. The new Government, to
+punish him for the aid he had given to the Emperor, nominated him one of
+the judges of Marshal Ney. This was the last occasion the Prince of
+Essling appeared in public. Suspected as a traitor by the authorities,
+weighed down by the horror of Ney's death and the assassination of his
+old friend Brune, and racked by disease, after a lingering painful
+illness the conqueror of Zurich breathed his last at the age of
+fifty-nine on April 4, 1817. Even then the ultra royalists could not
+conceal their hatred of him. The War Minister, Clarke, Duke of Feltre,
+his old comrade, now turned furious legitimist, had hitherto withheld
+the Marshal's new bâton, and it was only the threat of Masséna's
+son-in-law, Reille, to place on the coffin the bâton the Marshal had
+received from the Emperor which at last forced the Government to send
+the emblem.
+
+Great soldier as he was, Masséna's escutcheon was stained by many a
+blot. His avarice was disgusting beyond words, and with avarice went a
+tendency to underhand dealing, harshness, and malice. During the Wagram
+campaign the Marshal's coachman and footman drove him day by day in a
+carriage through all the heat of the fighting. The Emperor complimented
+these brave men and said that of all the hundred and thirty thousand men
+engaged they were the bravest. Masséna, after this, felt bound to give
+them some reward, and said to one of his staff that he was going to give
+them each four hundred francs. The staff officer replied that a pension
+of four hundred francs would save them from want in their old age. The
+Marshal, in a fury, turned on his aide-de-camp, exclaiming, "Wretch, do
+you want to ruin me? What, an annuity of four hundred francs! No, no,
+no, four hundred francs once and for all"; adding to his staff, "I would
+sooner see you all shot and get a bullet through my arm than bind myself
+to give an annuity of four hundred francs to any one." The Marshal never
+forgave the aide-de-camp who had thus urged him to spend his money. His
+harshness was also well known, and the excesses of the French troops in
+Switzerland, Naples, and Portugal were greatly owing to his callousness;
+in the campaign in Portugal he actually allowed detachments of soldiers
+to set out with the express intention of capturing all girls between
+twelve and twenty for the use of his men. But while oblivious to the
+sufferings of others, as a father he was affectionate and indulgent. As
+he said after Wagram of his son Prosper, "That young scamp has given me
+more trouble than a whole army corps;" so careful was he of his safety
+that he refused during the second day of the battle to allow him to
+take his turn among the other aides-de-camp; but the young Masséna was
+too spirited to endure this, and Napoleon, hearing of the occurrence,
+severely reprimanded the Marshal. Staunch republican by profession,
+blustering and outspoken at times, he was at bottom a true Italian, and
+knew well how to use the delicate art of flattery. Writing in 1805 to
+the Minister of War, he thus ends a despatch: "I made my first campaign
+with His Majesty, and it was under his orders that I learned what I know
+of the trade of arms. We were together in the Army of Italy." Again,
+when at Fontainebleau he had the misfortune to lose an eye when out
+pheasant shooting, he attacked Berthier as the culprit, although he knew
+full well that the Emperor was the only person who had fired a shot.
+
+But in spite of all this meanness and his many defects, he must always
+be remembered as one of the great soldiers of France, a name at all
+times to conjure with. Both Napoleon and Wellington have paid their
+tribute to his talents. At St. Helena the fallen Emperor said that of
+all his generals the Prince of Essling "was the first," and the Duke,
+speaking to Lord Ros of the French commanders, said, "Masséna gave me
+more trouble than any of them, because when I expected to find him weak,
+he generally contrived somehow that I should find him strong." The
+Marshal was a born soldier. War was with him an inspiration; being all
+but illiterate, he never studied it theoretically, but, as one of his
+detractors admits, "He was a born general: his courage and tenacity did
+the rest. In the best days of his military career he saw accurately,
+decided promptly, and never let himself be cast down by reverses." It
+was owing to this obstinacy combined with clear vision that his great
+successes were gained, and the dogged determination he showed at Zurich,
+Loano, Rivoli and Genoa was no whit impaired by success or by old age,
+as he proved at Essling, Wagram, and before the lines of Torres Vedras.
+Like his great commander, none knew better than the Prince of Essling
+that fortune must be wooed, and, as Napoleon wrote to him, "It is not to
+you, my dear general, that I need to recommend the employment of
+audacity." In spite of his ill success in his last campaign, to the end
+the Prince of Essling worthily upheld his title of "The spoilt child of
+victory."
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+JEAN BAPTISTE JULES BERNADOTTE, MARSHAL, PRINCE OF PONTE CORVO, KING OF
+SWEDEN
+
+
+Gascony has ever been the mother of ambitious men, and many a ruler has
+she supplied to France. But in 1789 few Gascons even would have believed
+that ere twenty years had passed one Gascon would be sitting on the
+Bourbon throne of Naples and a second would be Crown Prince of Sweden,
+the adopted son of the House of Vasa.
+
+Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, the son of a petty lawyer, was born at Pau on
+January 26, 1763. At the age of seventeen he enlisted in the Royal
+Marine regiment and passed the next nine years of his life in garrison
+towns in Corsica, Dauphiné and Provence. His first notable exploit
+occurred in 1788, when, as sergeant, he commanded a section of the
+Marines whose duty it was to maintain order at Grenoble during the
+troubles which preceded the outbreak of the Revolution. The story goes
+that Bernadotte was responsible for the first shedding of blood. One
+day, when the mob was threatening to get out of hand, a woman rushed out
+of the crowd and caught the sergeant a cuff on the face, whereon the
+fiery Gascon ordered his men to open fire. In a moment the answer came
+in a shower of bricks. Blood had been shed, and from that moment the
+people of France declared war to the death on the old régime. Impetuous,
+generous, warm-hearted and ambitious, for the next three years Jean
+Baptiste pursued a policy which is typical of his whole career. Ready
+when at white heat of passion to take the most extreme measures, even to
+fire on the crowd, in calmer moments full of enthusiasm for the Rights
+of Man and the well-being of his fellows; spending long hours haranguing
+his comrades on the iniquity of kingship and the necessity of taking up
+arms against all of noble birth, yet standing firm by his colonel,
+because in former days he had done him a kindness, and saving his
+officers from the mutineers who were threatening to hang them; watching
+every opportunity to push his own fortunes, Bernadotte pursued his way
+towards success. Promotion came rapidly: colonel in 1792, the next year
+general of brigade, and a few months later general of division, he owed
+his advancement to the way in which he handled his men. Naturally great
+neither as tactician or as strategist, he could carry out the orders of
+others and above all impart his fiery nature to his troops; his success
+on the battlefield was due to his personal magnetism, whereby he
+inspired others with his own self-confidence. But with all this
+self-confidence there was blended in his character a curious strain of
+hesitation. Again and again during his career he let "I dare not" wait
+upon "I would." Gascon to the backbone, full of craft and wile, with an
+eye ever on the future, at times he allowed his restless imagination to
+conjure up dangers instead of forcing it to show him the means to gain
+his end. When offered the post of general of brigade, and again when
+appointed general of division, he refused the step because he had
+divined that Jacobin would persecute Girondist, that ultra-Jacobin would
+overthrow Jacobin, and that a reaction would sweep away the
+Revolutionists, and he feared that the generals of the army might share
+the fate of those who appointed them. After his magnificent attack at
+Fleurus, he was at last compelled to accept promotion by Kléber, who
+rode up to him and cried out, "You must accept the grade of general of
+brigade here on the field of battle, where you have so truly earned it.
+If you refuse you are no friend of mine." Thereon Bernadotte accepted
+the post, considering that he could, if necessary, prove that he had not
+received it as a political favour. The years 1794-6 saw Bernadotte on
+continuous active service with the Army of the Sambre and Meuse, now in
+the Rhine valley, now in the valley of the Danube. Every engagement from
+Fleurus to Altenkirchen added more and more to his reputation with the
+authorities and to his hold on the affection of his men. "He is the God
+of armies," cried his soldiers, as they followed him into the fire-swept
+zone. His courage, personality and physical beauty captivated all who
+approached him. Tall, erect, with masses of coal black hair, the great
+hooked nose of a falcon, and dark flashing eyes indicating Moorish blood
+in his veins, he could crush the soul out of an incipient revolt with a
+torrent of cutting words, and in a moment turn the mutineers into the
+most loyal and devoted of soldiers. During the long revolutionary wars
+he always kept before him the necessity of preparing for peace, and
+found time to educate himself in history and political science. It was
+with the reputation of being one of the best divisional officers of the
+Army of the Sambre and Meuse, and a political power of no small
+importance, that, at the end of 1796, Bernadotte was transferred with
+his division to the Army of Italy, commanded by Bonaparte. From their
+very first meeting friction arose. They were like Cæsar and Pompey, "the
+one would have no superior, the other would endure no equal." Bonaparte
+already foresaw the day when France should lie at his feet; he
+instinctively divined in Bernadotte a possible rival. Bernadotte,
+accustomed to the adulation of all with whom he came in contact, felt
+the loss of it in his new command, where soldiers and officers alike
+could think and speak of nobody save the conqueror of Italy. Yet neither
+could afford to break with the other, neither could as yet foretell
+what the future would bring forth, so amid an occasional flourish of
+compliments, a secret and vindictive war was waged between the two. As
+commander-in-chief, Bonaparte, for the time being, held the whip hand
+and could show his dislike by severe reprimands. "Wherever your division
+goes, there is nothing but complaints of its want of discipline."
+Bernadotte, on his side, anxious to win renown, would appeal to the
+"esprit" of his soldiers of the Sambre and Meuse, and would spoil
+Bonaparte's careful combinations by attempting a frontal attack before
+the turning movement was effected by the Italian divisions. By the end
+of the campaign it was clear to everybody that there was no love lost
+between the two. After Leoben Bonaparte was for the moment the supreme
+figure in France. As plenipotentiary at Leoben and commander-in-chief of
+"the Army of England" he could impose his will on the Directory.
+Bernadotte, in disgust at seeing the success of his rival, for some time
+seriously considered withdrawing from public life, or at any rate from
+France, where his reputation was thus overshadowed. Among various posts,
+the Directory offered him the command of the Army of Italy, but he
+refused them all, till at last he consented to accept that of ambassador
+at Vienna. Vienna was for the time being the pole round which the whole
+of European politics revolved, and accordingly there was great
+possibility there of achieving diplomatic renown. But scarcely had the
+new ambassador arrived at his destination when he heard of Bonaparte's
+projected expedition to Egypt. He at once determined to return to
+France. He felt that his return ought to be marked by something which
+might appeal to the populace. Accordingly he adopted a device at once
+simple and effective.
+
+[Illustration: JEAN BAPTISTE BERNADOTTE, KING OF SWEDEN
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY HILAIRE LE DRU]
+
+Jacobin at heart when his interest did not clash with his principles, he
+had from his arrival at Vienna determined to show the princes and
+dignitaries of an effete civilisation that Frenchmen were proud of their
+Revolution and believed in nothing but the equality of all men; he
+refused to conform to court regulations and turned his house into a club
+for the German revolutionists. His attitude was of course resented, and
+there was considerable feeling in Vienna against the French Embassy. It
+only required, therefore, a little more bravado and a display of the
+tricolour on the balcony of the Embassy to induce the mob to attack the
+house. Immediately this occurred Bernadotte lodged a complaint, threw up
+his appointment, and withdrew to France as a protest against this
+"scoundrelly" attack on the honour of his country and the doctrine of
+the equality of men.
+
+On his arrival at Paris he found the Directory shaken to its foundation.
+Sièyes, the inveterate constitution-monger, who saw the necessity of "a
+man with a head and a sword," greeted him joyfully; the banishment of
+Pichegru, the death of Hoche, the disgrace of Moreau, and the absence of
+Bonaparte had left Bernadotte for the moment the most important of the
+political soldiers of the Revolution. Acting on Sièyes's advice,
+Bernadotte refused all posts offered him either in the army or in the
+Government and awaited developments. Meanwhile he became very intimate
+with Joseph Bonaparte, who introduced him to his sister-in-law, Désiré
+Clary. The Clarys were merchants of Marseilles, and Désiré had for some
+time been engaged to Napoleon Bonaparte, who had jilted her on meeting
+Josephine. Désiré, very bitter at this treatment, accepted Bernadotte,
+as she said in later life, "because I was told that he was a man who
+could hold his own against Napoleon." This marriage was a master-stroke
+of policy; it at once gave Bernadotte the support of the Bonaparte
+family, for Bonaparte in his way was still fond of Désiré, and at the
+same time it gave Bernadotte a partner who at bottom hated Napoleon with
+a rancour equal to his own. After the disasters in Italy and on the
+Danube, on July 2, 1799, Bernadotte, thinking the time was come,
+accepted the post of Minister of War. He speedily put in the field a
+new army of one hundred thousand men, and by his admirable measures for
+the instruction of conscripts and for the collection of war material he
+was in no small way responsible, not only for Masséna's victory of
+Zurich, but, as Napoleon himself confessed, for the triumph of Marengo.
+
+His term of office, however, was short, for his colleagues intrigued
+against him. Sièyes desired a man who would overthrow the Directory and
+establish a dictatorship: Barras was coquetting with the Bourbons.
+Bernadotte himself talked loudly of the safety of the Republic, but had
+not the courage to jump with Sièyes or to crouch with Barras. Oppressed
+by doubt, his imagination paralysed his action, and his personality,
+which only blazed when in movement, became dull. Still trusting his
+reputation and thinking that he was indispensable to the Directory, he
+tendered his resignation, hoping thus to check the intrigues of Sièyes
+and Barras. To his surprise it was at once accepted, and he found
+himself a mere nonentity.
+
+On September 14th Bernadotte resigned, on October 9th Napoleon landed at
+Fréjus. During the Revolution of the 18th Brumaire Bernadotte remained
+in the background. Desiring the safety of France by the reorganisation
+of the Directory, hating the idea of a dictatorship, jealous of the
+success of his rival, he refused to join the stream of generals which
+hurried to the feet of the conqueror of Italy and Egypt. Bonaparte, who
+could read his soul like a book, attempted to draw his rival into his
+net, but, as ever, the Gascon could not make up his mind. At first he
+was inclined to join in the conspiracy, but at last he refused, and told
+Bonaparte that, if the Directory commanded him, he would take up arms
+against those who plotted against the Republic. Still, even on the
+eventful day he hesitated, and appeared in the morning among the other
+conspirators at Bonaparte's house, but not in uniform, thinking thus to
+serve both parties.
+
+During the years which succeeded the establishment of the Consulate,
+Bernadotte waged an unending subterranean war against Napoleon. Scarcely
+a year passed in which his name was not connected with some conspiracy
+to overthrow the First Consul. Of these Napoleon was well advised, but
+Bernadotte was too cunning to allow himself to be compromised
+absolutely. However much he might sympathise with the conspirators and
+lend them what aid he could, he always refused to sign his name to any
+document. Accordingly, although on one occasion a bundle of seditious
+proclamations was found in the boot of his aide-de-camp's carriage, the
+charge could not be brought home. On another occasion, when it was
+proved that he had advanced twelve thousand francs to the conspirator
+Cerrachi, he could prove that it was the price he had paid the artist
+for a bust. In spite of the fact that no definite proof could be brought
+against him, the First Consul could easily, if he chose, have produced
+fraudulent witnesses or have had him disposed of by a court-martial, as
+he got rid of the Duc d'Enghien. Napoleon waited his time. He was afraid
+of a Jacobin outbreak if he made a direct attack against him. Further,
+Bernadotte had a zealous friend and ally in Joseph Bonaparte. So when
+pressed to take stern measures against his enemy, Napoleon always
+refused to do so, partly from policy, partly because of his former love
+for Désiré, and partly from the horror of a scandal in his family, which
+might weaken his position when he seized the imperial throne.
+Accordingly he attempted in every way to conciliate his rebellious
+subject, and at the same time to place him in positions where he could
+do no political harm. Together with Brune and Marmont, he made him a
+Senator. He offered him the command of the Army of Italy, and, when
+Bernadotte refused and demanded employment at home, he posted him to the
+command of the division in Brittany, with headquarters at Rennes. But
+the First Consul found that Rennes, far off as it was, was too close to
+Paris; accordingly he tried to tempt his Jacobin general by important
+posts abroad. He proposed in succession the embassy at Constantinople,
+the captain-generalcy at Guadaloupe, and the governorship of Louisiana,
+but Bernadotte refused to leave France. At last, early in 1803 Napoleon
+nominated him minister to the United States. Three times the squadron of
+frigates got ready to accompany the new minister, but each time the
+minister postponed his departure. Meanwhile war broke out with England,
+and Bernadotte was retained in France as general on the unattached list,
+owing to the efforts of Joseph.
+
+On the establishment of the Empire Napoleon included Bernadotte's name
+among the number of the Marshals, partly to please his brother Joseph
+and to maintain the prestige of his family and partly, as in the case of
+Augereau, Masséna and Jourdan, to win over the staunch republicans and
+Jacobins to the imperial régime. For the moment the Emperor achieved his
+object. The ex-Jacobin, proud of his new title and luxuriating in his
+lately acquired estate of Grosbois, was actually grateful; but still,
+Gascon-like, he wanted more and complained he had not enough to maintain
+his proper state. Napoleon, hearing of this from Fouché, exclaimed:
+"Take from the public treasury enough to put this right. I want
+Bernadotte to be content. He is just beginning to say he is full of
+attachment for my person; this may attach him more." But a few days
+later the Marshal revealed his true feelings when, talking of Napoleon
+to Lucien, he said, "There will be no more glory save in his presence
+and by his side and through his means, and unfortunately all for him."
+
+Though the Emperor had promoted him to honour, it was no part of his
+scheme to allow to remain in Paris a man who, as Talleyrand said, "was
+capable of securing four cut-throats and making away with Napoleon
+himself if necessary, a furious beast, a grenadier capable of all and
+everything, a man to be kept at a distance at all cost." Accordingly the
+Marshal very soon found himself sent to replace Mortier in command of
+the "Army of Hanover."
+
+For fifteen months Bernadotte administered Hanover, and the subtle
+courtesy he showed to friend and foe alike made him as usual the adored
+of all with whom he came in contact. But whatever he did, the Emperor
+still suspected him, and gave the cue to all, that Bernadotte was not to
+be trusted and was no soldier. Napoleon always took care that Bernadotte
+should never have under his command French soldiers. His troops in 1805
+were Bavarians; in 1807, Poles; in 1808, a mixture of Dutch and
+Spaniards; and in 1809, of Poles and Saxons. Berthier, working out the
+Emperor's ideas, and himself also hating Bernadotte, took care that in
+the allotment of duties the disagreeable and unimportant tasks should
+fall to the Marshal. In spite of the inferiority of his troops,
+Bernadotte as usual distinguished himself in the hour of battle. At
+Austerlitz, at the critical moment, he saw that unless the centre was
+heavily supported Napoleon's plan of trapping the Russians must fail, so
+without waiting orders he detached a division towards the northern
+slopes of the plateau, and thus materially assisted in winning the day.
+But though quickwitted and alert on the battlefield, he never shone in
+strategy. In the movements which led up to a battle he was always slow
+and inclined to hesitate, and his detractors seized on this fault to
+declare, with Napoleon's connivance, that he was a traitor to the
+Emperor and to France. An incident of the campaign of 1806 gave the
+Marshal's enemies an excellent opening for showing their dislike.
+Napoleon, thinking he had cornered the whole Prussian army at Jena on
+the night of October 13th, sent orders to Bernadotte to fall back from
+Naumburg and get across the Prussian line of retreat. In pursuance of
+these orders the Marshal left Naumburg at dawn on the morning of the
+14th and marched in the direction of Apolda, which he reached, in spite
+of the badness of the roads, by 4 p.m., and thereby captured about a
+thousand prisoners. But Napoleon had been mistaken in his calculations;
+the main Prussian force was not at Jena, but at Auerstädt, where it was
+most pluckily engaged and beaten by Davout, who at once sent to ask aid
+of Bernadotte; but the Marshal, according to Napoleon's definite orders,
+pursued his way to Apolda. The Emperor, to vent his dislike against
+Bernadotte and to cover up his own mistake, asserted that he had sent
+him orders to go to Davout's assistance, but a careful examination of
+the French despatches proves that no such document existed; in fact, the
+official despatches completely exonerate Bernadotte. Before the campaign
+was finished, Napoleon had to give the Marshal the praise he merited,
+when, aided by Soult and Murat, he at last forced Blücher to surrender
+with twenty-five thousand men and all the Prussian artillery at Lübeck.
+At Eylau Bernadotte's ill luck once again pursued him, for the staff
+officers sent to order him to march to the field of battle were taken by
+the enemy. This misfortune gave another opportunity to his detractors,
+and again the Emperor lent his authority to their false accusations.
+While secretly countenancing every attack on the Marshal, the Emperor,
+for family reasons, was loth to come to an open breach. On June 5, 1806,
+he had created him Prince of Ponte Corvo, a small principality in Italy
+wedged in between the kingdom of Naples and the Papal States; his reason
+for so doing he explained in a letter to his brother Joseph, the King of
+Naples. "When I gave the title of duke and prince to Bernadotte, it was
+in consideration of you, for I have in my armies many generals who have
+served me better and on whose attachment I can count more. But I thought
+it proper that the brother-in-law of the Queen of Naples should hold a
+distinguished position in your country." It was for this reason also
+that, after the treaty of Tilsit, the Emperor presented the Prince with
+vast domains in Poland and Hanover.
+
+During the interval between the peace of Tilsit and the outbreak of the
+war with Austria in 1809, the Prince of Ponte Corvo returned to his duty
+of administering Hanover. Pursuing his former policy of ingratiating
+himself with everybody, he renewed his old friendships with all classes,
+and gained the goodwill of his neighbours in Denmark and Swedish
+Pomerania, showing a suavity which was in marked contrast to rigid
+disciplinarians of the school of Davout. Such conduct, however, did not
+gain the approval of the Emperor, whose policy was, by enforcing the
+continental system, to squeeze to death the Hanseatic towns, which were
+England's best customers.
+
+The Marshal was so keenly aware of the displeasure of the Emperor and
+the hatred of many of his advisers, especially of Berthier, the chief of
+the staff, that he actually asked to be placed on half pay at the
+commencement of the campaign of 1809, but the Emperor refused his
+request. He had determined to end the unceasing struggle between himself
+and Bernadotte. The battle of Wagram gave him his opportunity. On the
+first day of the battle, the Marshal had severely criticised, in the
+hearing of some of his officers, the methods the Emperor had adopted for
+crossing the Danube and attacking the Archduke Charles, boasting that if
+he had been in command he would by a scientific manoeuvre have
+compelled the Archduke to lay down his arms almost without a blow. Some
+enemy told the Emperor of this boast. On the next day Bernadotte's corps
+was broken by the Austrian cavalry and only saved from absolute
+annihilation by the personal exertion of the Marshal and his staff, who,
+by main force, stopped and re-formed the crowd of fugitives. The Emperor
+arrived on the scene at the moment the Marshal had just succeeded in
+staying the rout, and sarcastically inquired, "Is that the scientific
+manoeuvre by which you were going to make the Archduke lay down his
+arms?" and before the Marshal could make reply continued, "I remove you,
+sir, from the command of the army corps which you handle so badly.
+Withdraw at once and leave the Grand Army within twenty-four hours; a
+bungler like you is no good to me." Such treatment was more than the
+Marshal's fiery temperament could stand, and accordingly, contrary to
+all military regulations and etiquette, he issued a bulletin without the
+authority of the Emperor praising the Saxon troops, and thus magnifying
+his own importance. The Emperor was furious, and sent a private
+memorandum to the rest of the Marshals declaring that, "independently of
+His Majesty having commanded his army in person, it is for him alone to
+award the degree of glory each has merited. His Majesty owes the success
+of his arms to the French troops and to no foreigners.... To Marshal
+Macdonald and his troops is due the success which the Prince of Ponte
+Corvo takes to himself." It seemed as if Bernadotte's career was
+finished.
+
+The Emperor found he had no longer any reason to fear him, and for the
+moment determined to crush him completely. So when he heard that Clarke
+had despatched the Prince to organise the resistance to the English at
+Flushing, he at once superseded him by Bessières. But the prospect of an
+alliance by marriage with either Russia or Austria once again caused the
+Emperor to reflect on the necessity of avoiding scandal and discord in
+his own family; accordingly he determined to try and propitiate the
+Marshal by sending him as his envoy to Rome. To a born intriguer like
+Bernadotte, Rome seemed to spell absolute exile, and accordingly, in the
+lowest of spirits, he set about to find excuse to delay his journey,
+little thinking that fortune had turned and was at last about to raise
+him to those heights of which he had so long dreamed. Long before, in
+1804, at the time of the establishment of the Empire, he had secretly
+visited the famous fortune-teller, Mademoiselle Lenormand, who had told
+him that he also should be a king and reign, but his kingdom would be
+across the sea. His boundless ambition, stimulated by Southern
+superstition, had fed itself on this prophecy, even when the breach with
+Napoleon seemed to close the door to all hope.
+
+In May, 1809, a revolution in Sweden had deposed the incapable Gustavus
+IV. and set up as King his uncle Charles, Duke of Sudermania. The new
+King, Charles XIII., was old and childless. Accordingly the question of
+the succession filled all men's minds. With Russia pressing in on the
+east and Denmark hostile on the west, it was important to find some one
+round whom all might rally, by preference a soldier. It was of course
+obvious that France, the traditional ally of Sweden, dominated Europe.
+Accordingly the Swedes determined to seek their Crown Prince from the
+hands of Napoleon. Now, of all the Marshals, Bernadotte had had most to
+do with the Swedes. At Hamburg he had had constant questions to settle
+with the Pomeranians. At the time of Blücher's surrender at Lübeck he
+had treated with great courtesy certain Swedish prisoners. It seemed
+therefore to the Swedish King's advisers that the Prince of Ponte Corvo,
+the brother-in-law of King Joseph, the hero of Austerlitz, was the most
+suitable candidate they could find. Napoleon, however, was furious when
+he heard that a deputation had arrived to offer the position of Crown
+Prince of Sweden to Bernadotte. Too diplomatic to refuse to allow the
+offer to be made, he set to work at once secretly to undermine the
+Marshal's popularity in Sweden, and while pretending to leave the
+decision to Bernadotte himself, assured his friends that the Marshal
+would never dare to accept the responsibility. But Napoleon had
+miscalculated. Some kind friend informed the Marshal of what the Emperor
+had said, and, as Bernadotte himself admitted, it was the taunt, "He
+will never dare," which decided him to accept the Swedish offer. Before
+the Crown Prince elect quitted France the Emperor attempted to place on
+him the condition that he should never bear arms against him; but
+Bernadotte, foreseeing the future, refused to give any such promise,
+and at last the Emperor gave in with the angry words, "Go; our destinies
+will soon be accomplished!"
+
+The Crown Prince took with him to Sweden his eldest son, who had
+curiously, by the whim of his godfather, Napoleon, been named Oscar. But
+his wife, Désiré, could not tear herself away from Paris, where she had
+collected a coterie of artists and writers; her salon was greatly
+frequented by restless intriguers like Talleyrand and Fouché. Woman of
+pleasure as she was, the gaiety of Paris was the breath of her nostrils.
+Accordingly the Crown Princess remained behind, as it were the hostage
+for the Prince's good behaviour, but in reality a spy and secret
+purveyor of news hostile to Napoleon.
+
+On landing in Sweden the Crown Prince took all by storm. His good looks,
+his affability, his great prestige and his apparent love for his new
+country created an enthusiasm almost beyond belief. But while everything
+seemed so favourable the crafty Gascon from the first foresaw the
+dangers which beset his path. Napoleon hated him. Russia looked on him
+with distrust and desired to absorb Sweden. England and the other Powers
+mistrusted him as the tool of the Emperor. Accordingly, the moment he
+landed at Gothenburg the Prince clearly defined the line he intended to
+pursue, exclaiming, "I refuse to be either the prefect or the
+custom-house officer of Napoleon." This decision meant a complete
+reversal of Swedish foreign policy and a breach with France. Fortunately
+for Bernadotte the old King, Charles XIII., was only too glad to leave
+everything to his adopted son. Since it was impossible to make a
+complete volte face in a moment, the Crown Prince was content to allow
+the Swedes to taste to the full the misery of trying to enforce the
+continental system. For he knew what disastrous effect a war with
+England would have on Swedish trade, and he foresaw that his subjects
+would soon be glad to accept any policy whereby their sea-borne commerce
+might be saved. While the Swedes were learning the folly of fighting
+the mistress of the sea, the Crown Prince had time to make his plans, so
+that when the moment arrived he might step forward as the saviour of the
+country. It was quite clear that a breach with France must mean the loss
+of Pomerania and all hope of regaining the lost provinces on the
+southern shores of the Baltic. But Bernadotte determined to find in
+Norway a _quid pro quo_ for Pomerania. To force Russia, the hereditary
+foe of Sweden, to make her hereditary ally, Denmark, grant Norway to
+Sweden, would be a master-stroke of diplomacy, while an alliance with
+Russia would guarantee the Swedish frontiers and would bring peace with
+England, because Russia was on the point of breaking with the
+continental system. The Swedes would thus gain Norway and recover their
+sea-borne trade, while the Crown Prince would be acknowledged as the
+legitimate heir of the royal house of Vasa and no longer regarded as an
+interloper, a mere puppet of Napoleon.
+
+Success crowned the efforts of the elated Gascon. The Czar, with the
+prospect of a French invasion at his door, was delighted beyond measure
+to find in Sweden an ally instead of a foe. In August, 1812, he invited
+the Crown Prince to Russia and the treaty of Åbö was signed, whereby
+Russia promised to lend her aid to Sweden to gain Norway as the price of
+her help against France; a little later a treaty was concluded between
+England and Sweden. The Crown Prince returned from Åbö full of relief;
+not only was he now received into the inner circle of legitimate
+sovereigns, but the Czar had actually volunteered that if Napoleon fell
+"I would see with pleasure the destinies of France in your hands."
+Alexander had kindled a flame which never died as long as Bernadotte
+lived. The remainder of his life might be summed up as an effort to gain
+the crown of France, followed by a period of vain regrets at the failure
+of his hopes.
+
+On returning to Stockholm the Crown Prince found himself surrounded by
+a crowd of cosmopolitan admirers, the most important of whom was Madame
+de Staël, who regarded him as the one man who could restore France to
+prosperity. His flatterers likened him to Henry IV. and harped on the
+fact that he also came from Béarn. But in France men cursed the
+traitorous Frenchman who was going to turn his sword against his
+country, and his name was expunged from the list of the Marshals and
+from the rolls of the Senate, while the Emperor bitterly regretted that
+he had not sent him to learn Swedish at Vincennes, the great military
+prison. When, in accordance with his treaty obligations, early in 1813
+the Crown Prince of Sweden landed at Stralsund to take part in the war
+against Napoleon, his position was a difficult one. The one object of
+the Allies was to overthrow Napoleon, the one object of the Crown Prince
+was to become King of France on Napoleon's fall. The Allies therefore
+had to beat the French troops, but the Crown Prince would ruin his hopes
+if French soldiers were beaten by the troops under his command. It was
+clear that Napoleon could only be overcome by the closest co-operation
+of all the Allies. Accordingly the Czar and the King of Prussia summoned
+the Crown Prince to a conference at Trachenberg in Silesia and did their
+best to gratify his pride. The plan of campaign was then arranged, and
+the Prince returned to command the allied forces in Northern Germany. At
+St. Helena the Emperor declared that it was Bernadotte who showed the
+Allies how to win by avoiding all conflict with himself and defeating
+the Marshals in detail. With great bitterness he added, "He gave our
+enemies the key to our policy, the tactics of our armies, and showed
+them the way to the sacred soil of France." Be this as it may, his
+conduct during the campaign justified the suspicion with which he was
+regarded by friend and foe. Only three times did the Prince's army come
+in contact with the forces of the Emperor. At Grosbeeren and Dennewitz,
+where his divisional officers fought and won, the Prince kept
+discreetly in the rear. At Leipzig he held back so long that the French
+army very nearly escaped. It was the taunt of his chief of the staff,
+"Do you know that the soldiers say you are afraid and do not dare to
+advance?" which at last forced him into battle. But while thus he
+offended his allies, he gained no respect from his former countrymen. He
+had always believed that his presence alone was sufficient to bring over
+the French troops to his side, but his first attempt ought to have
+shattered this delusion. At Stettin, during the armistice, he entered
+the fortress and tried to seduce the governor, an ex-Jacobin and
+erstwhile friend. As he left the town a cannon was fired and a ball
+whistled past his ear. He at once sent a flag of truce to demand an
+explanation for this breach of the etiquette of war, whereon his friend
+the ex-Jacobin replied, "It was simply a police affair. We gave the
+signal that a deserter was escaping and the mainguard fired." In spite
+of this warning and many other indications, Bernadotte failed to
+understand how completely he had lost his influence in France, and while
+the Allies were advancing on Paris his secret agents were busy,
+especially in Southern France, trying to win the people to his cause.
+Keeping well in the rear of the invading armies, he entirely neglected
+his military duties and passed his time listening to the reports of
+worthless spies. The result of his intrigues was that he quite lost
+touch with the trend of events at the front, and when Paris fell,
+instead of being on the spot, he was far away. The Czar, long disgusted
+with his delays, no longer pressed his suit, and finding an apparent
+desire for a Bourbon restoration, accepted the return of that house. So
+when the Crown Prince came to Paris he found nothing for it but to make
+his best bow to the Bourbons and slink away home to gain what comfort he
+could in the conquest of Norway. Thus once again was Sièyes' saying
+proved correct: "He is a blackbird who thinks himself an eagle."
+
+On his return home his Swedish subjects gave their Crown Prince a very
+warm welcome. They knew of none of his intrigues or tergiversations,
+they only saw in him the victorious conqueror of Napoleon, who, by his
+successful campaigns, was bringing peace and prosperity to Sweden, by
+his diplomacy had acquired Norway, and by his clever huckstering had
+gained twenty million francs for ceding to France the isle of
+Guadaloupe, of which Sweden had never taken possession, and another
+twelve millions for parting with the lost Pomeranian provinces. But in
+spite of his popularity at home the Crown Prince had much to make him
+anxious abroad. At the Congress of Vienna a strong party backed the
+claims of the deposed Gustavus IV., and it was only the generous aid of
+the Czar which defeated this conspiracy. Further, the attitude of the
+Powers clearly showed him how precarious was the position of an intruder
+among the hereditary rulers of Europe. Consequently, when Napoleon
+returned from Elba the Prince exclaimed: "The cause of the Bourbons is
+for ever lost," and for a moment thought of throwing in his lot with the
+Emperor. But the sudden defeat of Murat came as a warning, and he
+hastened to offer the aid of twenty-six thousand troops to the Allies.
+Though outwardly in accord with them, the Crown Prince secretly hoped
+for the victory of Napoleon; to his intimates he proclaimed that
+"Napoleon was the first captain of all ages, the greatest human being
+who had ever lived, superior to Hannibal, to Cæsar, and even to Moses."
+Whereat the Crown Princess, who had at last rejoined her husband in
+Sweden, replied: "You ought to exclude Moses, who was the envoy of God,
+whereas Napoleon is the envoy of the Devil."
+
+The news of Waterloo once again drove the Prince's ideas into their old
+current. Surely France must now recognise that he alone could save her;
+but the second restoration dashed his hopes to the ground. Yet hope
+springs eternal in the human breast, and Bernadotte, year by year,
+watched the trend of French politics with an anxious eye. Even as late
+as the Revolution of 1830 he still thought it was possible that France
+might call him to be her ruler, and he never lost the chance of doing
+the Bourbons an ill-turn. In spite of these intrigues, save for an
+appeal lodged in 1818 against the high-handed conduct of the Quadruple
+Alliance in interfering between Sweden and Denmark, Bernadotte's
+European career really ended with the fall of Napoleon. As Charles XIV.
+he ascended the Swedish throne on February 18, 1818, on the death of his
+adoptive father. As King he pursued the same policy as Crown Prince,
+alliance with Russia. His internal policy was based on the principle of
+maintaining his dynasty at all costs. With this object, in Sweden he
+ruled more or less as a benevolent despot, consulting his States General
+as little as possible, paying the greatest attention to commerce and
+industry, and opening up the mines and waterways of the country. In
+Norway, however, where the Storthing had long enjoyed great powers, he
+ruled as a liberal constitutional monarch, and with such good fortune
+did he and his successors pursue their policy that of all the diplomatic
+expedients arranged at the Congress of Vienna, the cession of Norway to
+Sweden stood the test of time the longest, and it was not till 1906 that
+the principle of nationality was at last enforced in Scandinavia.
+
+Though Charles XIV. made no attempt to interfere in European politics,
+the princes of Europe could never shake off their dislike of him,
+standing as he did as the one survival of Napoleon's system. When the
+time came for his son Oscar to seek a bride, the Swedish proposals were
+met with scorn in Denmark and Prussia, and even in Mecklenburg-Anhalt
+and Hesse-Cassel. As the Austrian envoy at the Swedish court whispered
+to his English colleague, "All Europe would see the fall of these people
+here without regret." Consequently the Swedish King was driven to seek a
+bride for his son from Napoleon's family, and eventually the young
+Prince married the daughter of Eugène Beauharnais, the old ex-Viceroy of
+Italy, Napoleon's stepson.
+
+Charles XIV., a man of regrets, spent the remainder of his life buried
+in the memories of the past. He seldom got up till late in the day,
+dictating his letters and receiving his ministers in bed. When he was
+dressed, he spent some hours going over his private affairs and revising
+his investments, for he feared to the end that he might be deprived of
+his crown. In the evening he entertained the foreign representatives and
+held his courts, after which he passed the small hours of the night with
+his particular cronies fighting and re-fighting his battles, and proving
+how he alone could have saved Europe from the misery of the Napoleonic
+wars. He died on March 3rd, 1844, at the age of eighty, having given his
+subjects the precious boon of twenty-five years of peace.
+
+In spite of his brilliant career, Bernadotte must ever remain one of the
+most pathetic figures in history. He stands convicted as a mere
+opportunist, a man who never once possessed his soul in peace and who
+was incapable of understanding his own destiny. So much was this the
+case that in his latter days the old Jacobin, now a crowned King, really
+believed he was speaking the truth when he said that along with
+Lafayette he was the only public man, save the Count of Artois, who had
+never changed since 1789. He saw no inconsistency between the
+declaration of his youth, "that royalty was a monster which must be
+mutilated in its own interest," and his speech as an old man to the
+French ambassador, "If I were King of France with an army of two or
+three hundred thousand men I would put my tongue out at your Chamber of
+Deputies." He was Gascon to the backbone, and his tongue too often
+betrayed his most secret and his most transient thoughts. For the moment
+he would believe and declare that "Napoleon was not beaten by mere men
+... he was greater than all of us ... the greatest captain who has
+appeared since Julius Cæsar.... If, like Henry IV., he had had a Sully
+he would have governed empires." Then, thinking of himself as Sully, he
+would gravely add, "Bonaparte was the greatest soldier of our age, but I
+surpassed him in powers of organisation, of observation and
+calculation." Yet with it all he had many of the qualities which go to
+make a man great. His personal magnetism was irresistible, he had
+consummate tact, a keen eye for intrigue, a clear vision to pierce the
+mazes of political tangles, and considerable strength of purpose backed
+by an intensely fiery nature. Frank and generous, he inclined naturally
+to a liberal policy, but his innate selfishness too often conquered his
+generous principles. It was this conflict between his liberal ideas and
+his personal interest which caused that fatal hesitation which again and
+again threatened to spoil his career and which made him so immensely
+inferior to Napoleon. To gain his crown he willingly threw over his
+religion and became a Lutheran; to keep his crown he was ready to
+sacrifice his honour. As a Swedish monarch he thought more of the
+interests of his dynasty than of the interests of his subjects, but he
+was far too wily to show this in action. Posing as a patriot King and
+boasting of his love for his adopted country, he ever remained at heart
+a Frenchman.
+
+When in 1840 the remains of the great Emperor were transferred to Paris,
+he mournfully exclaimed to his representative: "Tell them that I who was
+once a Marshal of France am now only a King of Sweden."
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+JEAN DE DIEU NICOLAS SOULT, MARSHAL, DUKE OF DALMATIA
+
+
+Of all the Marshals of Napoleon, perhaps none is better known to
+Englishmen than Jean de Dieu Soult. His long service in the Peninsula,
+ending with the stern fighting in the Pyrenees and the valley of the
+Garonne, and the prominent part he took in French politics during the
+years of the Orleanist monarchy, made his name a household word in
+England. The son of a small notary of St. Amand, a little-known town in
+the department of the Tarn, Soult was possessed of all the fervour of
+the South and the cunning and tenacity of a Gascon. Born on March 29,
+1769, he early distinguished himself by his precocity and his quickness
+of perception. Although handicapped by a club-foot he determined to be a
+soldier, and at the age of sixteen he enlisted in the Royal Infantry
+regiment. His intelligence marked him out for the rank of sergeant, and
+in 1791 he was sent as sub-lieutenant and drill instructor to a
+battalion of volunteers of the Haut Rhin. In spite of his lameness and
+his slight frame, the young sub-lieutenant was possessed of a physique
+capable of withstanding the greatest fatigue and hardship, and spurred
+on by ambition, he never shirked a task which might add to his
+reputation. Consequently, he was soon chosen captain by his comrades,
+and once war broke out he speedily rose. At the battle of
+Kaiserslautern, the storm of the lines of Weissenburg and the siege of
+Fort Louis, he forced himself to the front by his gallantry and his
+rapid coup d'oeil. But it was the battle of Fleurus which once and for
+all established his reputation. Soult was by then colonel and chief of
+the staff to General Lefèbvre. The gallant Marceau's battalions were
+hurled back in rout by the enemy, and their chief in agony rushed up to
+Lefèbvre crying out for four battalions of the reserve that he might
+regain the ground he had lost. "Give them to me," he exclaimed, "or I
+will blow out my brains." Soult quietly observed that he would thereby
+only the more endanger his troops. Marceau, indignant at being rebuked
+by a young staff officer, roughly asked, "And who are you?" "Whoever I
+am," replied Soult, "I am calm, which you are not: do not kill yourself,
+but lead your men to the charge and you shall have the four battalions
+as soon as we can spare them." Scarcely had he uttered these words than
+the Austrians fell with fury on Lefèbvre's division. For hours the issue
+hung in the balance, and at last even the stubborn Lefèbvre began to
+think of retreat. But Soult, calmly casting a rapid glance over the
+field, called out, "If I am not mistaken from what I judge of the
+enemy's second line, the Austrians are preparing to retreat." A few
+moments later came the order to advance from Jourdan, the
+commander-in-chief, and thanks to Soult's soundness of judgment, the
+divisions of Marceau and Lefèbvre were charging the enemy instead of
+fighting a rear-guard action to cover a rout. After the battle, the
+generous Marceau sought out Soult. "Colonel," said he, "forgive the
+past: you have this day given me a lesson I shall never forget. It is
+you in fact who have gained the battle." Soult had not long to wait for
+his reward, for in 1794 he was promoted general of brigade.
+
+During the campaign of 1795 Soult was entrusted with a light column of
+three battalions of infantry and six squadrons of cavalry, and was
+constantly employed as an advance or rear guard. On one occasion, while
+covering the retreat at Herborn, his small force was surrounded by four
+thousand Austrian cavalry. Summoned to surrender, he indignantly
+refused, and forming his infantry in two columns with the cavalry in the
+interval between them, during five hours he beat off repeated charges of
+the enemies' horse and fought his way back to the main body without
+losing a single gun or a single colour. Ten days later he added to this
+triumph by inflicting the loss of two thousand men on the enemy in the
+mountain combat at Ratte Eig, when both sides struggled to gain the
+heights knee-deep in snow. During the campaigns of 1796 and 1797, Soult
+increased his reputation amid the marches and counter-marches and
+battles in the valleys of the Rhine and the Danube. But it was in
+Switzerland that he laid most firmly the foundation of his future
+success, for there he gained the friendship and goodwill of Masséna, and
+it was the conqueror of Zurich who first called Bonaparte's attention to
+the sterling qualities of the future Duke of Dalmatia, telling the First
+Consul that "for judgment and courage Soult had scarcely a superior." In
+1800 Masséna took his trusty subordinate with him to Italy as
+lieutenant-general of the centre of the army. During the fierce struggle
+which ended in the Austrians driving the French into Genoa, the
+lieutenant-general was seen at his best, exposing his person in a way he
+seldom did later, and showing that strategic insight and power of
+organisation for which he was so celebrated. On one occasion, when
+cornered by Bellegarde, he was summoned to surrender. The Austrian
+parlementaire pointed out that it was hopeless to continue the struggle
+as he had neither provisions nor ammunition. To this Soult replied:
+"With bayonets and men who know how to use them, one lacks nothing," and
+in spite of every effort of the enemy, with the "white arm" alone he cut
+his way into Genoa. During the siege he was Masséna's right hand, ever
+ready with shrewd advice, the soul of every sortie, till unluckily he
+was wounded at the combat of Monte Cretto, and captured by the
+Austrians, whose prisoner he remained till after Marengo.
+
+[Illustration: JEAN DE DIEU SOULT, DUKE OF DALMATIA
+FROM A LITHOGRAPH BY DELPECH AFTER THE PAINTING BY ROUILLARD]
+
+On the establishment of the Consulate, Soult, whose politics rested
+solely on personal ambition and not on principle, at once divined the
+aims of Bonaparte. Thanks to Masséna's warm introduction and his own
+reputation, he found himself cordially received by the First Consul.
+Honours were showered upon him. He was one of the four trusted
+commandants of the Consular Guard, and when Napoleon began to organise
+his forces for the struggle with England, he entrusted Soult with the
+command of the important army corps at Boulogne. The First Consul could
+have made no better selection. Under his rough exterior Soult hid great
+powers of business, a keen perspicacity, and much tact. Quick-witted,
+with a subtle, restless spirit, he had great strength of character, and
+his ambition spurred him on to a diligence which knew neither mental nor
+physical fatigue. But in spite of his cold air and self-restraint, he
+loved the pleasures of the table, and was passionately fond of women,
+while his wife exercised a complete domination over him, and before her
+he quailed like a child. In war he had the keen imagination and quick
+penetration of a great strategist. His special forte was the planning of
+vigorous enterprises. But he preferred to direct rather than to lead.
+Though his courage was undoubted, as he grew older he was chary of
+risking his person, and had not the dashing qualities of Lannes and Ney.
+As an administrator he was the equal of Davout. Once entrusted with the
+command of the army corps at Boulogne, the young general of thirty-five
+laid aside all thoughts of personal pleasure and ease and set himself to
+manufacture a fighting machine which should be the most perfect of its
+time. Never was such attention shown to details of administration and
+instruction, and the discipline of the corps at Boulogne was the
+severest that French troops had ever undergone. As might be expected,
+there were many grumbles, and soon rumours and complaints reached the
+First Consul, who himself remonstrated with his lieutenant, telling him
+that the troops would sink under such treatment; but he was greeted with
+the reply, "Such as cannot withstand the fatigue which I myself undergo
+will remain at the depôts: but those who do stand it will be fit to
+undertake the conquest of the world." Soult was right in his estimate,
+for in spite of the demands he made on their endurance, he had won their
+love and admiration; the weak and the grumblers fell out, and when war
+was declared his corps marched to the front, a body of picked men with
+absolute confidence in their leader. In spite of the fact that he had
+never held an independent command, there was no surprise when he was
+included among the number of the Marshals, for his brilliant record, his
+selection as commandant of the Guard, his success at Boulogne, and the
+favour which the First Consul had long shown to him, had marked him out
+as one of the coming men. The campaign of 1805 bore witness to the
+justness of the Emperor's choice. It has often been said, and indeed
+Wellington himself lent credit to the dictum, that Soult was primarily a
+strategist and no tactician, but at Austerlitz he showed that calm
+capacity to read the signs of the conflict, and that knowledge of when
+and where to strike, which had first brought him to the front in the
+days of Fleurus. Entrusted with the command of the centre, in spite of
+the entreaties of his subordinates and even the commands of the Emperor,
+he refused to open his attack until he saw that the Russian left was
+hopelessly compromised. Thanks to his clearness of foresight, when once
+he launched his attack he not only put the issue out of doubt, but
+completely overwhelmed the Russians. Their left was surrounded and
+annihilated while the centre and right were driven from the field in
+complete rout. At the moment when the Marshal was directing the movement
+which wrested from the enemy the key of the position, Napoleon and his
+staff arrived on the scene. The Marshal explained his manoeuvre and
+asked the Emperor for orders. "Carry on, carry on, my dear Marshal,"
+said the Emperor; "you know quite as well as I do how to finish the
+affair." Then, stretching out his arms to embrace him, he cried out, "My
+dear Marshal, you are the finest tactician in Europe." After the treaty
+of Pressburg Soult's corps remained as part of the army of occupation in
+the valley of the Danube, and in 1806 formed one of the corps of the
+Grand Army during the Prussian War. At Jena he had the satisfaction of
+playing an important part in the battle, for when Ney's rash advance had
+compromised the situation, it was he who checked the victorious rush of
+the enemy. But later the Marshal had bitter cause to repent these
+triumphs won over his rival. Already the enemy of Berthier, and
+consequently often misrepresented to the Emperor, Soult now incurred the
+bitter hatred of Ney; and what the enmity of Berthier and Ney meant he
+found to his cost during the Peninsular War. Immediately after Jena the
+Marshal was detached in pursuit of the Prussians, and on the day
+following defeated Marshal Kalkreuth at Greussen and proceeded to
+blockade Magdeburg. From Magdeburg he hurried off to join in the pursuit
+of Blücher, and aided by Bernadotte he cornered the crafty old Prussian
+at Lübeck. But brilliant as his performance was, he did not gain the
+credit he deserved, for on the day of the action Murat arrived and took
+over the command, arrogating to himself all the honours of the
+surrender. The Marshal was justly indignant, but, bitterly as he
+resented the injustice, he was too politic to storm at the Emperor like
+Marshal Lannes. In the terrible campaign in Poland the Marshal added to
+his laurels. At Eylau, when Augereau had been routed, Davout checked,
+and Ney and Bernadotte not yet arrived on the field, it was he who
+warned the Emperor against showing any signs of retreat. "Beware of
+doing so, Sire," he exclaimed; "let us remain the last on the field and
+we shall have the honour of the day: from what I have seen I expect the
+enemy will retreat in the night." The advice was sound, and the Marshal,
+during the night following the battle, had the pleasure of being the
+first to perceive that the enemy was retreating, and it was his
+aide-de-camp who carried the news to headquarters. Well it was for the
+Emperor that he accepted Soult's advice, for the terrible carnage in the
+snow had taken the heart out of the troops, and a retreat would have
+soon degenerated into a rout. So shaken was the French morale, that
+when, on the next day, the Emperor rode down the lines, instead of being
+greeted with cries of "Long live the Emperor," he was received with
+murmurs of "Peace and France," and even "Peace and Bread." During the
+final advance Soult had his share of the hard fighting at Heilsberg, but
+he escaped from the horrors of Friedland, as he had been detached to
+occupy Königsberg. After the peace of Tilsit, the Marshal's corps was
+cantonned round Stettin, and it was there that in 1808 he received the
+title of Duke of Dalmatia. The selection of this name caused the Duke
+much annoyance, for instead of receiving a title which should recall one
+of his great exploits, as had Ney, Davout, Lannes, Kellermann, and
+Masséna, his designation was chosen from a country with which he had not
+the smallest connection, and thus he found himself on a par with
+Bessières, Maret and Caulaincourt. What he hankered after was the title
+of Duke of Austerlitz, but the Emperor refused to share the glories of
+that day. In spite of the huge dotation he received, the Marshal added
+this supposed slight to the many grudges he bore his master.
+
+From Stettin the Duke of Dalmatia was summoned in September, 1808, to
+attend the Conference at Erfurt, and from there he was hurriedly
+despatched to Spain. The Emperor was much displeased with many of his
+corps commanders, and so on the arrival of the Duke he ordered him to
+take over from Marshal Bessières the command of the second corps. Soult
+was delighted at the prospect of service. Full of zeal, he set out for
+his new command, and pushing on in spite of all obstacles, he arrived at
+his headquarters alone on a jaded post-horse twenty-four hours before
+his aides-de-camp. A few days later he dashed to pieces the semblance of
+a Spanish army at Gamoral and occupied Burgos, where he was unable to
+prevent his new command from sacking the town and inflicting every
+possible horror on the inhabitants. From Burgos the Emperor despatched
+him to the north-west, and thus it was that the cavalry of Sir John
+Moore's army surprised Soult's outpost at Sahagun. The Emperor could
+scarcely believe that an English army had actually dared to advance
+against his troops, but he at once ordered Soult to co-operate with the
+divisions he led in person from Madrid, and when he found that the
+English were bound to escape, he handed over the command to the Marshal.
+The French suffered almost as much as the English in the terrible
+pursuit, and it was the tried soldiers of both armies who at last met
+face to face at Corunna. After the battle Soult wrote to the Emperor
+that without fresh reinforcements he could effect nothing against the
+English, but when later he found that the enemy had evacuated Corunna,
+he claimed that he had won a victory. With a generosity that must be
+placed to his credit, he took great care of the grave of his adversary,
+Sir John Moore, and erected a monument with the inscription, "Hic
+cecidit Johannes Moore dux exercitus Britannici in pugna Januarii xvi.
+1809, contra Gallos a duce Dalmatiæ ductos."
+
+Before leaving for France the Emperor had drawn up a cut and dried plan
+for the systematic conquest of the whole Peninsula. The pivot of the
+whole scheme rested on the supposed ability of Soult to overrun Portugal
+and drive the British out of Lisbon by February 16, 1809. Unfortunately,
+Napoleon left one factor out of his calculations, and that the most
+important, namely, the feelings of the Spanish and Portuguese
+populations. The Duke of Dalmatia very soon perceived the Emperor's
+mistake, but, anxious not to be accused of shirking his task and of
+allowing himself to be stopped by what were termed bands of ill-armed
+peasants, he started on his expedition to conquer the kingdom of
+Portugal with but three thousand rounds for his guns and five hundred
+thousand cartridges for his infantry, carried on the backs of mules, for
+owing to the state of the roads in the north-west corner of the
+Peninsula wheel traffic was impossible. In spite of the difficulties of
+transport and the murmurs of many of his officers, the indefatigable
+Marshal hurled all obstacles aside and with sixteen thousand troops
+forced his way into Oporto on March 29th, six weeks behind his scheduled
+time. But there he had to call a halt, for he had not the men nor the
+material for a further advance on Lisbon. The situation was by no means
+reassuring. To reach Oporto he had been obliged to cut himself adrift
+from his base, and he had no tidings of what was happening in the rest
+of the Peninsula. During April he set himself to conciliate the people
+of Portugal and at the same time to try and get into touch with the
+other French corps in Spain. The Marshal's attempt at conciliation was
+on the whole successful, but his kindness resulted in an unsuspected
+turn in the situation. A movement was started among a certain section of
+the Portuguese nobility and officials to offer the crown of Portugal to
+the Marshal. The Duke of Dalmatia, greedy and ambitious but ever
+cautious, was of opinion that though the Emperor might disapprove of the
+idea, he would accept a fait accompli. Accordingly he secretly
+sanctioned the movement, and allowed placards to appear in Oporto
+stating that "the Prince Regent, by his departure to Brazil, had
+formally resigned the crown, and that the only salvation of Portugal
+would be that the Duke of Dalmatia, the most distinguished of the pupils
+of the great Napoleon, should ascend the vacant throne." Further, he
+actually, on April 19th, ordered his chief of the staff to send a
+circular to commanding officers inviting their co-operation in his
+seizure of the crown, stating that by so doing they would in no way be
+disloyal to the Emperor. Luckily for the Marshal, the arrival of Sir
+Arthur Wellesley and the English army, before the plot could succeed,
+once and for all blew aside this cloudy attempt at kingship. For the
+Emperor, on hearing of the affair, although he pardoned the Marshal,
+saying, "I remember nothing but Austerlitz," still wrote in the same
+despatch "that it would have been a crime, clear lèse majesté, an attack
+on the imperial dignity," and added that it was no wonder that the army
+grew discontented, since the Marshal was working, not for France, but
+for himself, and that disobedience to the Marshal's orders was quite
+justified. For once, then, the Marshal, usually so clever and cautious,
+had allowed ambition to run away with prudence. Meanwhile the military
+situation grew day by day more disquieting. In the French army there was
+a section of the officers ready to declare against the Empire whenever a
+chance occurred, and one of them, Argenton by name, actually entered
+into a treasonable negotiation with Sir Arthur Wellesley. It was thanks
+to the discovery of this plot that the Marshal first got information of
+his enemies' projected advance.
+
+With thirty thousand English marching against him and Spanish and
+Portuguese forces across the main line of retreat, it was impossible to
+expect to hold Oporto, and accordingly the Marshal began preparations
+for withdrawal. But having secured, as he thought, all the boats on the
+Douro, he concluded that he could only be attacked by a force ferried
+across at the river mouth by the boats of the English fleet.
+Consequently he kept no watch up stream. So complete was the surprise
+that an hour after the enemy had effected a landing above the town the
+Marshal, who had been up all night, was still in bed; his staff were
+quietly breakfasting when an officer galloped up with the news of the
+crossing. Soult could do nothing else but give the order to retreat by
+whatever means possible, and it was fortunate for the French that the
+pursuit was not pushed harder. But once he had grasped the situation he
+made amends for his previous neglect of supervision and showed himself
+the Soult of Austerlitz and Eylau. Sacrificing his baggage, his guns,
+and his military chest, guided by a Spanish pedlar, he made a most
+astounding march through the rugged region of Tras os Montes. Crossing
+lofty passes, forcing gorges in the teeth of hostile bands of peasantry
+and guerillas, by hard fighting and magnificent marching he brought his
+troops to safety. The campaign of Oporto did not add to the Marshal's
+reputation; his political ambition was the cause of all the disaster,
+for it prevented him from supervising his subordinates' operations. It
+was his fault that there was no proper road for retreat and that he was
+surprised by the English army. Still, though he had committed great
+faults, he had shown a surprising ability in extricating himself from
+their consequences.
+
+When Soult reached Lugo, in Spain, he found his rival Ney, from whom he
+begged stores and equipments, and with whom he was bound to confer on
+the general situation. Ney at first magnanimously granted the Marshal's
+requests. But unfortunately the men of Ney's corps greeted the armed
+rabble which followed Soult's standards with jeers and execrations, and
+the quarrel spread from the men to the officers and at last to the
+Marshals; so fierce were Ney's taunts that Soult actually drew his sword
+and a duel was with difficulty averted. Thereafter Soult, while
+promising to co-operate with Ney in the pacification of Galicia,
+actually did nothing and seriously compromised his rival, whereon Ney
+refused to obey any orders given by the Duke of Dalmatia. Such was the
+situation when a summons from Madrid called the two Marshals to the
+succour of Joseph, who was threatened by the combined armies of Cuesta
+and Sir Arthur Wellesley in the valley of the Tagus. The Marshals
+arrived in time to save Madrid, but not in time to surround the Allies,
+who escaped south across the Tagus, and the one chance of success the
+Spanish offered them was lost, since Soult, eager for personal
+aggrandisement, attacked Albuquerque before Marshal Victor had time to
+arrive on the scene of action. The consequence of this was far-reaching,
+for Victor, like Ney, refused in future to work in conjunction with
+Soult. Moreover, when a council was held to decide on the next
+operations, and Soult, wisely, no doubt, insisted that at Lisbon lay the
+key to the situation, all the other Marshals voted against his scheme,
+as each one determined that he would not be made subordinate to the Duke
+of Dalmatia. Soult accordingly had to content himself with occupying the
+valley of the Tagus, while the other Marshals returned to the districts
+which had been allotted to them before the allied advance on Madrid.
+
+While contemplating this unsatisfactory situation the Duke of Dalmatia
+was rejoiced to receive a despatch from the Emperor appointing him
+major-general of the forces in Spain in place of Jourdan and entrusting
+him with the invasion of Andalusia. Before setting out for the South,
+Soult had the satisfaction of completely routing the Spaniards at Ocaña.
+It was early in 1810 that he entered Andalusia and seized Seville,
+Granada, and Malaga. The Marshal found himself in the congenial position
+of absolute ruler of the richest provinces of Spain. But though the
+important towns fell easily, and with them the accumulated riches of
+centuries, the people remained sullenly hostile, and bands of armed
+peasantry hung ever on the rear and flanks of the French columns, and
+stragglers and despatch-riders were found by the roadside with their
+throats cut. To meet this situation, at the Emperor's orders Soult
+issued a proclamation setting forth that whereas Joseph Bonaparte was
+King of Spain and no Spanish Government existed, all Spaniards taken in
+arms were rebels against his Catholic Majesty and would be immediately
+shot. The Cortes from Cadiz replied by at once issuing a
+counter-proclamation stating that for every Spaniard executed and for
+every house burned three Frenchmen should be hung. Still, in spite of
+this war of reprisals, the French gradually tightened their grip on
+Southern Spain, and soon Cadiz remained the only important fortress
+still in the hands of the enemy. The Marshal found it was impossible to
+take this important position by storm, and contented himself with
+masking it by a strong corps under Marshal Victor. Meanwhile he was
+busily engaged in organising the new government of Andalusia, and so
+successful were his efforts that neither the Spanish Government at Cadiz
+or the constant incursions of Spanish and British armies were able to
+shake his hold on that province. But wise and successful as were his
+methods, the glory of his rule was darkened by his harshness and greed.
+The churches and convents were ruthlessly despoiled of their treasures,
+and many a fine Murillo and Velasquez was despatched to Paris to
+decorate his salons.
+
+In the eyes of the Duke of Dalmatia, Andalusia was a vast reservoir of
+wealth which might be used as a base from which a well-equipped force
+could threaten Lisbon, the real focus of all the opposition to the
+French domination of the Peninsula. It was in pursuance of this plan
+that he conciliated the municipal authorities, strengthened the police,
+and built up huge reserve magazines by a system of imposts so carefully
+arranged that they should not unduly press on the Spanish population.
+But unfortunately for the Duke's schemes they ran counter to those of
+King Joseph. For the Marshal determined to use the wealth of his rich
+provinces for the special object of an attack on the British power at
+Lisbon, but Joseph desired that the revenue thus acquired should be sent
+to assist him to maintain his kingly state. Soult, strong in his
+position as major-general and backed by the Emperor's approval, refused
+to listen to the demands of the King, and there began a struggle which
+did more than anything else to bring about the fall of the Napoleonic
+kingdom of Spain. In spite of the fact that the Marshal gradually wore
+down the guerillas, actually raised and trained large bodies of Spanish
+troops, built up vast magazines and arsenals at Seville, exploited the
+lead mines at Linares and the copper mines of the Rio Tinto, established
+foundries for military accessories, and fitted out privateers, the
+jealousy of Joseph brought the Marshal's great schemes to nought.
+
+The continual and vexatious demands of the King acted in a most
+unfortunate way on Soult's character, for this stupid opposition so
+irritated his hard and egotistical nature that he saw in every scheme
+not planned by himself a desire to belittle his glory. Unfortunately for
+his own reputation and the success of the French arms, he allowed this
+feeling to obscure his judgment, and he refused to give more than a
+half-hearted co-operation to any measures not actually suggested by
+himself. Thus it was that, in spite of the commands of the Emperor and
+the entreaties of Joseph, he refused to make any attempt to co-operate
+with Masséna in his advance on Portugal until it was too late. Then,
+when he actually did advance, he showed all his old energy and skill,
+for in fifty days he mastered four fortresses and invested a fifth, he
+captured twenty thousand prisoners and killed or dispersed ten thousand
+men; but he disregarded the main objective, the expulsion of the English
+from Lisbon, and contented himself with the siege of Badajoz, and thus,
+while winning a fortress, he lost a kingdom. From want of his
+co-operation Masséna was forced to retreat, and the grip of the English
+on the Peninsula was more firmly established than ever.
+
+Badajoz was soon to prove itself a place of ill omen for Soult, for a
+few months later, when an Anglo-Portuguese army under Beresford laid
+siege to it, he was forced to come to its rescue. It was in the attempt
+to relieve this fortress that the terrible battle of Albuera was fought.
+At the commencement of the fight the Marshal, by a masterly manoeuvre,
+threw himself across the allied right flank and seized the hill that
+dominated the position, and it looked as if the allied lines were bound
+to be crumpled up. But a brigade of English infantry stood firm amid the
+rout, and with measured volleys checked the victorious advance of the
+elated French. Soult, by every effort of voice and gesture, attempted to
+force his veterans to face the foe, but in vain. "Nothing could conquer
+that astounding infantry. No sudden burst of undisciplined valour, no
+nervous enthusiasm weakened the stability of their order: their flashing
+eyes were bent on the dark columns in their front, their measured tread
+shook the ground, their dreadful volleys swept away the head of every
+formation, their deafening shouts overpowered the discordant cries that
+broke from all parts of the tumultuous crowd as slowly, and with a
+horrid carnage, it was pushed by the incessant vigour of the attack to
+the farthest edge of the hill. In vain did the French reserve mix with
+the struggling multitude to sustain the fight: their efforts only
+increased the immediate confusion, and the mighty mass, breaking off
+like a loosened cliff, went headlong down the steep. The rain flowed
+after in a stream discoloured by blood: and eighteen hundred unwounded
+men, the remnant of six thousand unconquerable British soldiers, stood
+triumphant on the fatal hill." Thus Napier describes the battle of
+Albuera. So nearly a magnificent victory for the French: turned by
+British valour into a defeat. But it was not only the valour of the
+enemy which cost Soult his success, it was his own errors. The
+commencement of the attack was a magnificent conception, but the Marshal
+failed to understand the tactics of his enemy, and it was his blind
+attempt to crush the line with heavy columns which allowed the English
+musket fire to annihilate his dense masses. After the cessation of the
+combat he committed another great fault. Though his attack had been
+beaten back, it was known that the Allies had suffered much more
+severely than the French, and on the strength of this he claimed a
+"signal victory"! But instead of holding his ground he withdrew a day
+later, whereas if he had shown a confident front Beresford would have
+been bound to retire, and Badajoz would have been relieved. After the
+battle of Albuera, Soult was reinforced by the Army of Portugal under
+Marmont; but discord soon broke out between the two Marshals, the Duke
+of Dalmatia maintaining that the way to attack Lisbon was from his own
+base in the south, and the Duke of Ragusa advocating the northern route.
+After lying together for some time the two armies separated, and Soult
+moved south to complete his operations against Cadiz and Gibraltar. It
+was while the Marshal was thus engaged, early in 1812, that the Duke of
+Wellington suddenly captured Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, and was thus
+able, after defeating Marmont at Salamanca, to march in the summer on
+Madrid. Soult replied to Joseph's summons to come to his help by telling
+him that his best policy was to join him in Andalusia and make a
+counter-stroke at Lisbon. But the King refused to listen to this wise
+advice, so the Marshal was obliged to give up all his achievements and
+go to Joseph's help. Meanwhile the King wrote complaining to the
+Emperor, but Napoleon replied that Soult was the "only military head" in
+Spain, and could not be moved. But after more bickering, early in 1813,
+Joseph wrote to say that if the Marshal remained in Spain he himself
+must leave the country, and the Emperor, anxious to regain his military
+prestige, so weakened by the Russian campaign, was glad to summon the
+Duke of Dalmatia to the Grand Army. But Soult's gloomy prophecy was soon
+fulfilled that "the loss of Andalusia and the raising of the siege of
+Cadiz are events that will be felt throughout the whole of Europe." The
+Marshal's service at the head of the Imperial Guard was terminated by
+the news of the fatal battle of Vittoria; for the Emperor immediately
+hurried him back to try to prevent the English from forcing the barrier
+of the Pyrenees.
+
+The Duke of Dalmatia gladly accepted the mission, in spite of the
+repugnance of the Duchess, who hated Spain, where, as she said, "nothing
+is got but blows." So hearty was her dislike of the country that she
+actually went to the Emperor saying her husband was too shattered in
+health for the task. But she met with a stern rebuff: "Madam," said
+Napoleon, "recollect I am not your husband; if I were, you should
+conduct yourself very differently."
+
+The campaign of the Pyrenees bore ample testimony to the wisdom of the
+confidence the Emperor had placed in the power of his lieutenant. With
+marvellous sagacity Soult reorganised the scattered relics of the French
+armies, and within ten days of his arrival at headquarters he was ready
+to assume the offensive, and actually all but surprised the Duke of
+Wellington at Sorauren. But great as were his strategical powers and his
+methods of organisation, he was no match for Wellington on the field of
+battle, and step by step he was forced back into France. Round Bayonne
+he showed his complete mastery of the art of war by the admirable way he
+used his command of the inner lines always to oppose the enemy's attack
+by superior force. Then, when retreat was inevitable, instead of falling
+back towards Paris, he withdrew south, thus forcing his adversary to
+divide up his army; for the English had to detach a strong division to
+cover their communications at Bordeaux. During the retreat, again and
+again Soult turned at bay, at Orthez and many another good position;
+but Wellington ever outmanoeuvred him on the field, and even turned
+him out of the seemingly impregnable position of Toulouse. Never was a
+retreat more admirably carried out. Every opportunity afforded by the
+ground, every advantage of position was seized on, to use to the full
+the French dash in the attack. No more admirable illustration can be
+found of the truth that the essence of defence lies in a vigorous local
+offence. Wellington himself bore testimony to Soult's virtues,
+maintaining that of the Marshals he was second only to Masséna.
+
+With the Restoration the Marshal at once accepted the change of
+government and gave his adhesion to the Bourbons. His general reputation
+and the high place he held in the opinion of Wellington and others
+caused the King in the December of 1814 to appoint him Minister of War.
+Such was his position when news arrived of Napoleon's landing at Fréjus.
+The Duke of Dalmatia did all in his power to organise resistance to the
+Emperor's advance, but he had many enemies, and the King, listening to
+their advice, replaced him as minister by Clarke, Duke of Feltre. Soult
+then retired to his country estate at Villeneuve-l'Étang, near Saint
+Cloud. On his arrival at Paris, the Emperor at once sent for him, but at
+first he refused to go to court. Ultimately, finding the Emperor's cause
+in the ascendant, he cast aside hesitation and threw in his lot with
+him. It has been said that the Duke betrayed the Bourbons and was privy
+to the Emperor's return, but this is a calumny. Napoleon at St. Helena
+said, "Soult did not betray Louis, nor was he privy to my return. For
+some days he thought that I was mad, and that I must certainly be lost.
+Notwithstanding this, appearances were so against him, and without
+intending it, his acts turned out to be so favourable to my project,
+that, were I on his jury and deprived of what I know, I should have
+condemned him for having betrayed Louis. But he really was not privy to
+it." The Emperor joyfully accepted the Marshal's adherence and made him
+one of his new peers, and when war was imminent, on the advice of
+Davout, he created him major-general and chief of the staff. This
+selection was unfortunate; good strategist and organiser, he was not the
+man the Emperor required. Berthier, who had not half his military
+ability, had made an excellent chief of the staff, because he had the
+rare quality of effacing his own ideas and acting simply as the recorder
+and expander of those of Napoleon. But Soult was accustomed to think for
+himself, and his mind was unable to attune itself to the mind of the
+Emperor. Further, from long experience, Berthier was accustomed to fill
+up gaps in the Emperor's orders in the way he intended, but Soult had
+never so far worked in close co-operation with Napoleon, and after years
+of independent command was more accustomed to give orders to his own
+chief of the staff than to work out minutiæ for another. Consequently,
+all through the Waterloo campaign the staff work was badly done. Orders
+were faultily drafted, mistakes were made in their despatch, and the
+Emperor was constantly bewailing the loss of "that brute Berthier." A
+typical example of the friction which arose between the Emperor and his
+new major-general occurred when, at Waterloo, Napoleon asked Soult if he
+had sent to Grouchy intelligence of the approach of the Prussians; the
+Marshal replied, "Yes, I have sent an officer." "One officer!" cried
+Napoleon; "ah! if only my poor Berthier had been here, he would have
+sent six." To add to these troubles, Soult was unfortunately hated by
+the officers of the army, who regarded him with grave suspicion. But
+though the Marshal must bear his share in the disaster of Waterloo, it
+is only fair to add that the morning of the battle he, and he alone,
+warned the Emperor of the magnitude of the coming struggle, and
+entreated him to recall at least a portion of Grouchy's command. The
+Emperor roughly rejected his advice with the words, "You think that
+because Wellington defeated you he must be a great general. I tell you
+that he is a bad general, that the English are bad troops, and that this
+will be the affair of a déjeuner." The Marshal, with the memory of many
+a battle with these "poor troops" from Oporto to Toulouse, could only
+sorrowfully say, "I hope so."
+
+On the second Restoration the Duke of Dalmatia found himself included
+among the proscribed, and for three years he retired to the Duchy of
+Berg, the home of his wife, during which time he occupied himself in the
+composition of his Memoirs. But in May, 1819, he was recalled to France,
+and soon found means of ingratiating himself with the Bourbons. In
+January, 1820, his Marshal's bâton and his other honours were restored
+to him, and he entered the field of politics. With his vast income,
+acquired from the spoils of nearly every country in Europe, he
+maintained his high rank in lordly fashion. A visitor who in 1822 went
+to see his famous collection of pictures thus describes him: "We were
+received by the Marshal, a middle-sized though somewhat corpulent
+personage of from fifty to sixty years of age, whose dark curling hair
+rendered somewhat conspicuous the bald patch in the middle of his head,
+while his sunburnt complexion accorded well with his dark intelligent
+eye. His plain stock, plain dark coat and loose blue trousers, which,
+capacious as they were, could not hide his bow-legged form, obviously
+suggested the soldier rather than the courtier, the Marshal rather than
+the Duke; though if I had encountered such a figure in London I should
+rather have guessed him an honest East or West Indian captain." The
+Marshal knew well how to win favour with the new Government, and when
+the reactionaries attempted to restore the ancient position of the
+Church, no one was more regular in his attendance at Church festivals
+and processions than the Duke of Dalmatia, who always appeared with an
+enormous breviary carried before him, though people were unkind enough
+to say that it would be more to the purpose if he restored some of the
+vast plunder of the churches and monasteries of Spain.
+
+With the fall of the Bourbon dynasty in 1830 the subtle old soldier at
+once gave his adherence to the Orleanists, and was appointed Minister of
+War; and it was thanks to his energy and wisdom that the numerous
+revolts which threatened the early days of the new régime were stamped
+out. Soult, like Wellington, hated the idea of civil war, but knew that
+strong measures were the best means to prevent bloodshed, so when, as at
+Lyons, it was essential to strike, he took good care to have the
+necessary force at hand. A year later, when the Commune threatened to
+raise its head in Paris, he overawed the mob by the sudden mobilisation
+of eighty thousand troops. The weakness of the Government and the
+courage and decision the Marshal showed during the émeute caused Louis
+Philippe on October 18, 1832, to entrust him with the headship of the
+administration. The Marshal proved how often a strong soldier may be a
+weak politician, and in 1834 he resigned office. But during his term of
+office he did not forget the needs of the army, as his measures for
+recruiting, military pensions, and the training of officers prove. When,
+again, in 1839 Paris was seething with discontent, the King sent for the
+Marshal, and under his iron hand order was easily re-established. But
+the old soldier was no orator, and was listened to more from respect for
+his character than the cogency of his arguments, and when the crisis was
+passed he was soon glad to resign his appointment; and though always
+taking an active part, and ever ready to give his advice to his
+sovereign, he never again held office. In 1838 the Duke of Dalmatia
+visited London as representative of France at the Coronation of Queen
+Victoria, and once again met his old opponent, the Duke of Wellington.
+Lady Salisbury thus describes their meeting: "The Duke and Soult met in
+the music-room at the Queen's concert for the first time for many years,
+and shook hands. Soult's appearance is different from what I expected:
+he is a gentlemanlike old man with rather a benevolent cast of
+countenance, such as I should have expected in William Penn or
+Washington: tall and rather stooping, the top of the head bald.... The
+Duke, though the lines on his face are deeper, has a fresher colour and
+a brighter eye."
+
+The Duke of Dalmatia clung to the Orleanist dynasty till the end, and
+attended the last council held by Louis Philippe. He had a special
+liking for the Citizen Monarch, who reciprocated this affection, and had
+in 1847 re-established for the veteran the title of Marshal General of
+France, a designation held previously only by Turenne, Villars, and
+Saxe. With the fall of the dynasty he appeared no more in public, and at
+last, on November 26, 1857, he died at his château at St. Amand in his
+eighty-second year.
+
+"Soult is able but too ambitious." Thus Napoleon appreciated the Duke of
+Dalmatia when discussing the characters of his Marshals. But Soult was
+possessed of a crafty caution which seldom if ever allowed his ambition
+to hinder the success his ability deserved. Cold and calculating by
+nature, he knew exactly where to draw the line. The attempt to seize the
+throne of Portugal was the only occasion on which he seemed to throw
+caution to the winds, and those who knew him best were so astounded at
+his lack of circumspection that they could scarcely believe that he
+himself approved of the proclamations which appeared in Oporto. The
+hard, crafty nature of the Marshal was responsible for his many enemies
+among the officers of the army. His own staff never loved him, much as
+they marvelled at his indefatigable industry and his suppleness of mind,
+which permitted him to turn with ease from the highest political and
+strategic problems to the drudgery of administrative details, and bring
+to bear on all questions the cold, hard light of lucid reasoning. He
+could attract men to him by sheer admiration of his ability, but he
+could make no real friends, for those who came in contact with him soon
+discovered that he only thought of what he could make out of them, and
+then that he would drop them without the slightest regret. Sprung from
+the lower ranks of society, the Marshal had all the cunning and avarice
+of the typical bourgeois, and though he had the capacity to overcome his
+want of education, he had not the power to eradicate these inherent
+strains of character. Though not so rapacious as Masséna, the Duke of
+Dalmatia never withheld his hand when plunder offered itself and his
+home in Paris was decorated with magnificent objects of art filched from
+nearly every country in Europe. But though he allowed himself the luxury
+of taking what seized his fancy, he sternly repressed marauding on the
+part of his officers and men. Hence it was that, like Suchet, he was
+able to subdue the provinces committed to his charge and win the respect
+and obedience of the Spaniards. His methodical mind hated the idea of
+disorder; administration came to him as Nature's gift. Under his rule
+Andalusia gained a prosperity she had never before known. But we must
+remember that his success in this province was due not only to his great
+gift of administration, but also to his ambition, for it was the driving
+power of self-interest which supplied the energy which oiled the wheels
+of his system; for the Marshal hoped with the resources of Andalusia to
+supply the material and means to drive the English from Lisbon without
+the co-operation of King Joseph or the other French commanders. In
+striking contrast to the aversion with which he was regarded by his own
+fellow-countrymen was the feeling of admiration with which he was viewed
+by his foes, and notably by his English adversaries in the Peninsula.
+They only saw the results of his great versatility and resource, and his
+acts of courtesy to those who fell into his power; while the discipline
+he maintained among his troops stood in striking contrast to the conduct
+of many of the other French commanders. Moreover, the Marshal was too
+politic to be cruel, and it was easy to guess that his proclamation
+against the Spaniards was really the work of the Emperor. That this was
+the case was borne out by the following letter written by Berthier at
+Napoleon's dictation: "Let the Duke of Dalmatia know that I learn with
+indignation that some of the prisoners taken at Ocaña have been released
+and their arms restored to them. When I witness such behaviour I ask,
+'Is this treason or imbecility?' Is it then only French blood that is to
+flow in Spain without regret and without vengeance?" As a soldier the
+Marshal stands high among his compeers. In spite of his defeats at
+Oporto, Albuera, and Toulouse, throughout his career he clearly showed
+that he had the essential quality of a great commander, the ability to
+see and the capacity to perform what was possible with the material at
+hand. His strategic insight was great, he had a magnificent eye for
+country and the power of calmly surveying a field of battle, but, as
+Wellington pointed out, he had one great fault, for though "he knew how
+to bring his troops to the field, he did not know so well how to use
+them when he had brought them up." Thus it was that at Sorauren, after
+he had surprised Wellington and upset the whole of the English strategic
+plans, he was unable to win the battle which was necessary to reap the
+harvest of his labours. But the passage of the Pyrenees, the operations
+round Bayonne, and the retreat on Toulouse, will always be studied as
+examples of the most perfect military operations of their type. They
+show to the full the secret of the Marshal's success as a soldier, the
+blending of ardour with method and dash with caution. As a politician
+the Duke of Dalmatia met with little success; his methods were those of
+a dictator rather than those of a statesman. When the hour of action was
+passed he invariably showed weakness. But whatever were his faults, it
+must be laid to his credit that throughout the reign of Louis Philippe
+he lent all the weight of his great name and reputation to the
+maintenance of order at home and peace abroad.
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+JEAN LANNES, MARSHAL, DUKE OF MONTEBELLO
+
+
+Jean Lannes, the future Duke of Montebello, was born on April 10, 1769,
+the year which saw the birth of many famous soldiers, Napoleon,
+Wellington, Ney, and Soult. He was the fourth son of a peasant
+proprietor of Lectourne, a little town on the slopes of the Pyrenees.
+His family had long been settled in the commune of Omet, in the
+department of the Gironde. The first to rise to any sort of distinction
+was Jean's eldest brother, who showed at an early age such ability that
+the episcopal authorities of Lectourne educated him, and in due time he
+became a priest. It was to his brother, the abbé, that the young Jean
+owed such elements of learning as he possessed. But the pressure of need
+compelled his father to indenture him at an early age to a dyer in
+Lectourne. The young apprentice was of middle height, very well built,
+amazingly active, and able to bear the utmost fatigue. His face was
+pleasant and expressive, his eyes small and keen. Behind those eyes lay
+a brain of extraordinary activity, which was controlled by a boundless
+ambition. Enthusiastic and passionate, Lannes' spirit could brook but
+little control. Action was the zest of his life. Administration and
+control came to him not as Nature's gifts, but as the result of his
+great common sense, which guided his ambition along the paths which led
+to success. A nature which could not endure the dullness of the dyer's
+trade in Lectourne could, however, compel the young soldier during the
+severest campaigns to give up part of his night's rest to study and to
+the expansion of his knowledge beyond the elements of reading, writing,
+and arithmetic, all the learning his brother, the abbé, had had time to
+impart to him. Even in the later years of his life the successful
+Marshal strove by midnight toil to educate himself up to the position
+his military talents had won for him.
+
+Jean Lannes had already had a taste of the soldier's life before the
+outbreak of the revolutionary wars. But his uncontrollable temper had
+brought this short military experience to an abrupt end, and he had been
+compelled to return to his work at Lectourne after being wounded in a
+duel. His employer had greeted his return with the words, "There is not
+the price of a drink to be made in the trade. Return to the army; you
+may perhaps become captain." But Jean Lannes did not need such advice to
+drive him to the path of glory. In June, 1792, the Government of France
+called for volunteers to resist the coming invasion of the Duke of
+Brunswick's army. Lannes enlisted in the second battalion of the
+volunteers of Gers, and was at once elected sub-lieutenant by his
+fellow-citizens. This promotion he owed partly to his former military
+experience, partly to his personal magnetism, and partly to his extreme
+political opinions.
+
+When Spain declared war on France the two battalions of Gers were sent
+to form part of the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees. There Lannes gained
+his first practical military experience. Both armies were extremely
+ill-led, ill-disciplined, and ill-equipped. Consequently there was a
+great deal of desultory hand-to-hand fighting, in which the young
+sub-lieutenant distinguished himself by his courage and talent. He
+enjoyed himself hugely fighting all day and dancing all night, when he
+could spare the time from his books. When military knowledge was almost
+entirely absent in the army, promotion came quickly to those who
+distinguished themselves by courage and zeal. On September 25, 1793,
+Lannes was promoted lieutenant. A month later, on October 21st, he was
+made captain of the grenadier company. Two months later, on Christmas
+Day, at the express desire of his chief, General Davout, he was given
+command of his battalion, and appointed colonel on the staff and acting
+adjutant-general. This distinction he gained for his brilliant conduct
+at Villelongue. Summoned from his bed in hospital to command the advance
+guard of five hundred men, he moved towards the main redoubt of the
+Spanish lines, and, refusing to be bluffed by the proposal of an
+armistice, captured the redoubt by a dashing charge. After the action he
+once again retired to hospital. His next exploit was the delicate
+mission entrusted to him by General Dugommier of releasing a great
+number of French émigrés who had been captured in battle, and who
+otherwise would have fallen victims to the popular fury. While devoting
+himself to his military duties he yet found time to fall in love. When
+in hospital at Perpignan, at the end of 1793, he had met Mademoiselle
+Méric, the daughter of a wealthy banker of that town; the friendship
+very soon developed into an ardent passion, and on March 19, 1795, the
+young couple were united, and the marriage seemed very advantageous for
+the young soldier of fortune, who was barely twenty-five.
+
+After the treaty of Basle the battalions of Gers were brigaded with the
+old 53rd (regiment d'Alsace), and formed part of the troops which
+Schérer took to reinforce the Army of Italy in the summer of 1795.
+Accordingly, Lannes had the good fortune to take part in the battle of
+Loano, and once again greatly distinguished himself and was specially
+mentioned in despatches.
+
+But during the winter of 1795-6 his successful career nearly came to an
+untimely end, for on the reorganisation of the army, along with many
+other officers, he was placed on half pay. Fortunately, at the moment
+he was retiring dejected to France, Bonaparte assumed command of the
+Army of Italy. The new general felt he could ill spare a capable officer
+like Lannes, and consequently he retained him provisionally. The young
+colonel immediately justified his action. At the critical moment of the
+Austrian counter-attack at Dego, Lannes cleared the village by a brisk
+bayonet charge. Thereon Bonaparte gave him command of two battalions of
+grenadiers and one of carbineers, which formed part of his permanent
+advance guard under General Dallemagne. From this time onward Lannes had
+found his proper rôle. As nature had intended Marshal Ney for the
+command of a rear guard, and Murat for the command of cavalry, so she
+had equipped Lannes with those qualities which are specially required by
+the commander of an advance guard. Wiry and strong, he never knew what
+it was to be tired, and, never sparing himself, he never spared his men;
+his kind and cheery disposition and his personal magnetism carried all
+before him. His fiery enthusiasm swept aside all difficulties; his
+inventive genius ever showed him the way to surmount all obstacles. When
+danger was most pressing Lannes was there, the first to head the charge,
+the first to rally the discomfited. Never had Fortune a more zealous
+wooer. At Lodi he was the first man on the bridge. Later, at the head of
+three hundred men, he re-established order in Lombardy; at one time
+especially attached to the headquarter staff, at another hurried off to
+suppress some outbreak in the rear, at another repelling a determined
+sortie from Mantua, more and more, day by day, he made himself
+indispensable to his young chief. At the battle of Bassano, of the five
+flags wrested from the enemy Lannes captured two with his own hands.
+Wounded slightly at Bassano and more seriously at Governolo, he yet
+managed to creep out of hospital in time to take his place beside
+Bonaparte at Arcola. Early in the battle he received two flesh wounds,
+and had to retire to have them dressed. Scarcely were they bandaged
+when the news arrived that Augereau's division had received a severe
+check. Oblivious of his wounds, he leapt on his horse and arrived at the
+head of his columns in time to see Augereau and Bonaparte, flag in hand,
+vainly attempting to rally their soldiers, only to be swept off the
+embankment into the marsh. But Lannes headed his grenadiers, and
+charging home on the Austrians, swept them back to the bridge-head,
+receiving in the charge yet another wound.
+
+[Illustration: JEAN LANNES, DUKE OF MONTEBELLO
+FROM AN ENGRAVING BY AMÉDÉE MAULET]
+
+During the early months of 1797 he commanded a column at Bologna, and
+was present at the capitulation of Mantua. Thereafter he commanded the
+advance guard of Victor's army which invaded the Papal States. In front
+of Ancona he met with a characteristic adventure. Making a
+reconnaissance with two or three officers and half a dozen troopers, he
+suddenly found himself in the presence of three hundred of the enemy's
+cavalry. Their commander at once ordered his men to draw their swords
+preparatory to a charge. Whereon Lannes rode up to him and told him to
+order his men to return their swords, dismount, and lead their horses
+back to their headquarters. The officer obeyed. By sheer force of
+character Lannes thus dominated the situation and saved the lives of
+himself and his escort. After the preliminaries of peace at Leoben,
+Bonaparte employed him on several confidential missions, in which his
+impetuosity led him at times into difficulties, and the
+commander-in-chief was forced to write to the French Minister at Genoa,
+"I have heard the reply that Lannes made to you. He is hot-headed, but a
+good fellow, and brave. I must write to him to tell him to be more civil
+to a minister of the Republic."
+
+Africa has often proved the grave of great military reputations.
+Napoleon himself only escaped the usual doom by deserting his army and
+suddenly appearing as a _deus ex machina_ in the stormy field of
+politics at Paris. But though so fatal to those in supreme command,
+Africa has sometimes been the school from which the young officers have
+returned with enhanced reputations. It was from the companions who had
+stood the test of the fiery trial in Egypt and Syria that Bonaparte
+later selected his most trusted Marshals.
+
+On May 19, 1798, Lannes sailed for Egypt in the _Orient_ as an
+unattached general of brigade on the headquarter staff. For his
+successful action at the head of one of the assaulting columns in Malta
+he was appointed to the command of a brigade in Kléber's division. He
+took part in the capture of Alexandria, the march on Cairo, and the
+battles of Chebrass and the Pyramids; but it was not so much his success
+in these engagements which enhanced his worth in Bonaparte's eyes, as
+the fact that Lannes alone of all the general officers in Egypt did not
+share in the grumbling and depression which threatened to cripple the
+army after its arrival at Cairo. Soldiers and officers alike had but one
+desire--to return home. Lannes secretly informed Bonaparte of the plans
+of those who led the discontent, and, in the words of Murat, "sold the
+cocoanut." Thus he gained the future Emperor as his life-long friend and
+Murat as his life-long enemy. When in February, 1799, Bonaparte started
+for Syria, he took with him Lannes in command of Menou's division.
+
+When Bonaparte found that his military reputation was likely to suffer
+by a more prolonged stay in Egypt, and above all that France was now
+ready to accept the rule of a dictator, he deserted his army in Egypt,
+leaving Kléber, whom he hated, in command; he took with him his most
+trustworthy officers, Lannes, Murat, Marmont, Andréossy, and Berthier,
+ordering Desaix to follow. The return to France, so longed for by most,
+was less agreeable to Lannes: while in hospital after the battle of
+Aboukir he had heard that his wife had given birth to a son whose father
+he could not be. Consequently one of his first acts on his return was to
+divorce her. But Bonaparte gave him little time to bewail his
+misfortune, for he relied on him, with Berthier, Murat, and Marmont, to
+debauch the army and bring it over to his side. Berthier's business was
+to win over the general staff, Murat the cavalry, Marmont the artillery,
+and Lannes the infantry. Shortly after the coup d'état General Lannes
+was appointed commandant and inspector of the Consular Guard in
+preference to Murat. But this was a hollow victory over his rival, for
+when, after the Marengo campaign, these life-long enemies met in open
+rivalry for the hand of Caroline Bonaparte, the First Consul's sister,
+Murat, aided by Josephine, became the accepted suitor, and Lannes had to
+submit to see his hated rival in quick succession the brother-in-law of
+Napoleon, a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, the crowned King of Naples,
+and, most bitter of all, the confidential friend of his idol.
+
+It was in the Marengo campaign that the general had his first
+opportunity of distinguishing himself as an independent commander, and
+winning the renown which the victory of Montebello inseparably connects
+with his name. When Bonaparte made his famous march into Italy with the
+Army of the Reserve, he appointed Lannes to command the advance guard.
+The whole success of the operations depended on the rapidity with which
+they were carried out, for the First Consul, in his endeavour to get
+astride the Austrian line of communication, was exposing his flank to
+the enemy, and the French army, if beaten, had no other line of retreat
+save the terrible defiles of the Alps. Accordingly, Napoleon's selection
+of Lannes to command the advance guard is the highest possible testimony
+to his military ability. The battle of Montebello was Lannes's first
+independent engagement. In it he showed his genius for war. If he had
+allowed the Austrians to reoccupy Stradella he would have ruined the
+whole of Napoleon's scheme of operations, but, though his force was only
+a third of the enemy's, he remembered the advantage that comes to the
+assailant; instead of waiting in an entrenched position, he attacked,
+and by his indomitable courage and tenacity, and his tactical ability,
+he kept the enemy pinned to his entrenchments until the arrival of fresh
+troops under Victor enabled him to pulverise his foe. The battle was one
+of the finest of the campaign. "The bones," said Lannes, "cracked in my
+division like glass in a hailstorm."
+
+At Marengo Lannes had to reverse his usual rôle and fight a rear-guard
+action, for during the early part of the engagement the French were
+outnumbered by thirty thousand men against eighteen thousand, and yet
+the general was able to report: "I carried out my retirement by
+successive echelons under a devastating fire of artillery, amid
+successive charges of cavalry. I had not a single gun to cover my
+retreat, and yet it was carried out in perfect order." The soldier who
+in the hour of success was full of impetuosity and élan, in the hour of
+retreat was able to inspire his troops with stubborn courage and
+unfailing self-confidence, which did much to secure the victory.
+
+After Marengo came a period of peace. Lannes, as commander of the
+Consular Guard, had his headquarters in Paris, and, owing to his
+official position, was constantly in touch with Bonaparte. But,
+necessary as he was in war time, his companionship during peace was not
+altogether congenial to the First Consul, and as time went on it became
+almost distasteful. Although happily married to Mademoiselle Louise
+Antoinette Guéheneuc, the daughter of a senator, he felt himself
+aggrieved that Bonaparte had not supported his suit with Caroline, and
+was extremely jealous of many of the First Consul's friends. The
+constant bickering between Lannes and Murat never ceased. Moreover
+Lannes, as an out-and-out republican, treated the First Consul in a
+frank spirit of camaraderie, relying on his services at Arcola and
+Montebello. This Bonaparte not unnaturally resented. The increased
+ceremonial of the court and the prospect of the Concordat were abhorrent
+to the stern republicans, but necessary to establish the divinity which
+should at least seem to surround a throne. Relations became so strained
+that Bonaparte was soon glad to seize on any excuse to dismiss Lannes
+from his post. Murat and his tool Bessières provided him with a
+plausible reason. Lannes, by nature happy-go-lucky and no financier,
+wishing no doubt to please the First Consul, spent his money freely in
+lavish entertainment at his Paris house, and equipped the guard in most
+gorgeous uniforms. To meet these expenses he overdrew his account with
+the military authorities by more than three hundred thousand francs.
+Murat, hearing of this from Bessières, brought it to the First Consul's
+notice. Bonaparte at once summoned Lannes, rated him soundly, and
+commanded him immediately to refund the money. Murat was delighted; he
+thought that his enemy was certain to be disgraced. In his difficulty
+Lannes turned to his old friend and former chief, Augereau, who at once
+lent him the money and refused to take any security. But although he was
+thus able to refund the money, Bonaparte dismissed him from the command
+of the Guard. Still, remembering his war service and thinking that he
+might be useful again later, he did not disgrace him utterly, but at the
+end of 1801 sent him as ambassador to Portugal.
+
+Lannes's diplomatic career was at first not very successful. English
+influence was all-powerful at Lisbon and the new envoy had not the
+talent to counteract it. In the autumn of 1802, thinking himself
+slighted by the Portuguese authorities, without consulting Talleyrand,
+he suddenly withdrew from Lisbon and returned to France. But at Orleans
+he received an angry message from Bonaparte forbidding him to return to
+Paris. The First Consul meanwhile addressed peremptory messages to the
+court of Lisbon about the supposed insult offered to his ambassador.
+Thereon the Portuguese Foreign Minister apologised and Lannes returned.
+Angry as Bonaparte was at the moment, he confessed later that Lannes'
+soldierly impetuosity had served the cause of France better than the
+skilfulness of a consummate diplomat. For from this time onwards French
+influence began to increase at Lisbon, Lannes was courted by the
+minister, and the Prince Regent himself stood godfather to his son. The
+story goes that after the ceremony the Prince Regent took the ambassador
+into a salon of the palace where the diamonds from Brazil were stored,
+and then gave him a handful, saying, "That is for my godson," then a
+second handful for the mother, and a third for himself. Whatever the
+truth of the story, the fact remains that Lannes returned to France a
+rich man, able not only to repay his loan to Augereau but to indulge in
+fresh extravagance.
+
+From Lisbon the ambassador was summoned to attend the coronation of the
+Emperor and to take his place among the Marshals. But he was not yet
+received back into full favour by the Emperor, and had to return to his
+embassy at Lisbon. It was not till March 22, 1805, that he was recalled
+to France to command the right wing of the Army of the Ocean, which,
+when war broke out between Austria and France, became the Grand Army.
+The fifth corps under Lannes reached the Rhine at Kehl on September
+25th. Napoleon's scheme of operations was, by making vigorous
+demonstrations in the direction of the Black Forest, to persuade the
+Austrians that he was advancing in force in that direction, while all
+the time his wings were sweeping round the Austrian rear and cutting
+their line of communication on the Danube, in the direction of Ratisbon.
+The task of deceiving the Austrians was performed to perfection by Murat
+with the reserve cavalry and Lannes's corps. Immediately after Mack's
+surrender at Ulm, the Emperor detached Lannes and Murat in pursuit of
+the Archduke Ferdinand, who had successfully broken through the ring of
+French troops. Lannes's infantry tramped sturdily behind Murat's
+cavalry, and fighting proceeded day and night. The soldiers marched
+thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen hours a day, and captured in five days
+fifteen thousand men with eleven colours, one hundred and twenty-eight
+guns, and six hundred limbers and provision wagons.
+
+During the rapid advance down the Danube on Vienna, the fifth corps
+continued in close support of Murat's cavalry. Vienna capitulated and
+the Marshals pressed on to seize the bridge before the city. The defence
+of the bridge had been entrusted to General Auersperg, with seven
+thousand men. The bridge was commanded by a battery of artillery, and
+the engineers were preparing to blow it up when Murat, Lannes, and
+Bertrand arrived. The three general officers quietly walked down to the
+bridge and shouted out to the Austrian picquets that an armistice had
+been arranged. Thereon the commander of the picquet proceeded to
+withdraw his men and sent word to Auersperg. Meanwhile the three
+officers strolled unconcernedly across, while a considerable way behind
+them a strong body of Lannes's infantry followed. When the French
+generals reached the Austrian end they found a sergeant of engineers
+actually proceeding to fire the fuse. Lannes caught him by the arm and
+snatched the match from his hand, telling him that it was a crime to
+blow up the bridge, and that he would be disgraced if he did such a
+thing. Then the two Marshals ran up to the officers commanding the
+artillery, who, growing restive at the continual advance of the French
+infantry, were preparing to open fire. Meanwhile Auersperg himself
+arrived, and the Marshals told him the same tale, affirming that the
+French were to occupy the bridge-head. Uncertain, like his subordinates,
+and but half convinced, he allowed himself to be bluffed, and thus
+Napoleon secured without dispute the crossing of the Danube. The
+boldness and audacity of the scheme so successfully carried out by Murat
+and Lannes, difficult as it is to condone from a moral point of view,
+brings out with great clearness the audacity, sangfroid, and
+resourcefulness of both these Marshals.
+
+The successful crossing of the Danube was soon followed by the decisive
+battle of Austerlitz. The battle was brought on by Napoleon impressing
+the Allies with the idea that it was possible to slip past the French
+left flank and surround him, much as he had surrounded Mack at Ulm. For
+this purpose the right under Davout was drawn back and concealed by
+skilful use of the ground. The centre under Soult and the left under
+Lannes were to hold their ground until the Russian left was absolutely
+compromised, when Soult was to push forward, and, seizing the commanding
+hill of Pratzen, to cut the Russian force in two, while Lannes and Murat
+were to fall with all their weight on the isolated Russian right. For
+once Murat and Lannes laid aside their jealousy and worked hand in hand,
+and the success of the French left was due to the perfect combination of
+infantry and cavalry. Of the Russian right, seven thousand five hundred
+were made prisoners, and two colours and twenty-seven pieces of
+artillery were captured. But hardly had the battle ceased when
+bickerings broke out again, and Lannes, thinking Napoleon did not
+appreciate him, sent in his resignation, which the Emperor, much to his
+surprise, accepted.
+
+The Marshal spent the greater part of the year 1806 in retirement at his
+native town of Lectourne, where he was joyfully received by his
+erstwhile neighbours and friends. He was always popular with his
+fellow-citizens, not only because of his republican ideas and his
+unaffected simplicity, but because he never forgot those who at any time
+had befriended him--a man who had once lent him a thousand francs was
+presented with a beautiful house and garden; the old soldier who had
+carried him out of the trenches at St. Jean d'Acre was established as a
+local postmaster, and received a small property and an annuity, and the
+Marshal never passed the house without going in, taking a meal with
+him, and making presents to the wife and children. On one occasion
+Lannes was attending a big official reception at Auch. On his way, he
+passed a peasant whom he recognised as one of the playfellows of his
+boyhood; strongly moved, the Marshal, when he arrived at the prefecture,
+asked the prefect if he might invite one of his friends to the luncheon.
+The prefect was charmed, but much surprised when an aide-de-camp
+returned with the peasant, whom Lannes embraced, placed by his side, and
+soon set at ease.
+
+But war once again caused the Emperor to summon his fiery lieutenant.
+Lannes took command of the fifth corps on October 5, 1806, and five days
+later had the satisfaction of beating a strong Prussian force at
+Saalfeld. From Saalfeld the Marshal pushed on towards Jena, near which
+town, early on October 13th, his scouts came in contact with a large
+Prussian force under Hohenlohe. His small force was in considerable
+danger, but Napoleon at once hurried up all possible reinforcements. The
+Prussians held an apparently impregnable position on the Landgrafenberg,
+a precipitous hill which commanded the town. But during the night a
+local pastor pointed out to the French a track, which led up to the
+summit, which the Prussians had neglected to occupy. Working all night,
+the French sappers made a road up which guns could be hauled by hand,
+and on the morning of the 14th the corps of Lannes, Augereau, and the
+Guard were safely drawn up on the plateau of the Landgrafenberg, while
+Ney and Soult continued the line to the north. A heavy mist overhung the
+field of battle, and Hohenlohe was confident that he was only opposed by
+the fifth corps, and his surprise was immense when the fog lifted and he
+found himself confronted by the French army. The battle commenced by
+Lannes seizing the village of Vierzehn Heiligen. While the Prussians
+were fully occupied in attempting to hold this village, Napoleon threw
+his flanks round them, and the battle ended in the annihilation of
+Hohenlohe's army. In the evening Napoleon learned that on the same day
+Davout had completely defeated the main Prussian army at Auerstädt.
+Thereon he sent forward his various corps to seize all the important
+fortresses of Prussia, and detailed Lannes to support Murat in pursuit
+of the Prussian troops under Hohenlohe and Blücher, which retreated in
+the direction of the Oder. If the battle of Jena had been followed by
+peace, as had happened after Austerlitz in the previous year, it is more
+than probable that once again Lannes would have thrown up his command,
+for when the bulletin appeared, the part that his corps had taken was
+almost entirely neglected. The Marshal's letter to his wife showed that
+he was vexed beyond words with his treatment by Napoleon, and he started
+out in the worst of tempers to support Murat. But he was too keen a
+soldier to let his personal grievances interfere with his active work,
+and, although he gave vent to his spleen in the usual recriminations, he
+performed his work to admiration. So hard did he push his infantry,
+marching sixty miles in forty-eight hours, that he was never more than
+five miles behind the light cavalry, and it was owing to his effective
+support that, on October 28th, Murat was able to surround Hohenlohe and
+force him to surrender at Prinzlow. But, in spite of this, Murat in his
+despatch never mentioned the name of Lannes. It took all Napoleon's tact
+to smooth the Marshal's ruffled temper, and it was only the prospect of
+further action which ultimately prevented him from throwing up his
+command in high dudgeon.
+
+By the beginning of November the theatre of war was virtually
+transferred from Prussia to Poland. As after Ulm, so after Jena, the
+Russians appeared on the scene too late to give effective aid to their
+allies, but in sufficient time to prevent the war from ending. Napoleon,
+who always had an intense esteem for the Marshal's common sense and
+military ability, asked him at this time to furnish a confidential
+report on the possibilities of Poland as a theatre of war, and the
+Marshal, with his keen insight into character, replied, "I am convinced
+that if you attempt to make the Poles rise on our behalf, within a
+fortnight they will be more against us than for us."
+
+The French troops crossed the Vistula at Warsaw, and encountered "the
+fifth element, mud." Led by Murat, unable to make headway in mud up to
+their knees, baffled by the Fabian tactics of the Russians, and lacking
+the mighty brain of their Emperor, the Marshals fought without
+co-operation, each for his own glory. Lannes was as bad as the rest,
+showing in his refusal to give due praise to his brother generals for
+their help at Pultusk the same petty spirit of which he had complained
+in Murat. During the long winter weeks spent in cantonments along the
+Vistula, the Marshal was ill with fever, in hospital at Warsaw, and was
+not able to return to the head of his corps in time for the bloody
+battle of Eylau. During May he commanded the covering force at the siege
+of Dantzig, and was summoned thence to take part in the last phase of
+the campaign. The Russian General, Bennigsen, allowed himself to be
+outgeneralled by Napoleon, and the French were soon nearer Königsberg
+than the Russians. Bennigsen made desperate efforts to retrieve his
+mistake, and on June 13th actually managed to throw himself across the
+Alle at Friedland, just at the moment that Lannes arrived on the scene.
+The Marshal at once saw his opportunity. The Russians were drawn up with
+the Alle at their backs, so that retreat was impossible, and only
+victory could save them. The Marshal's design, therefore, was to hold
+the enemy till the main French army arrived. Bennigsen made the most
+determined efforts to throw him off, attempting to crush him by superior
+weight of horsemen and artillery. But the Marshal held on to him grimly,
+and by magnificent handling of Oudinot's grenadiers, the Saxon horse,
+and Grouchy's dragoons, he maintained his position in spite of all the
+Russian efforts during the night of June 13th. On the morning of the
+14th, with ten thousand troops opposed to forty thousand, he fought for
+four hours without giving ground, skilfully availing himself of every
+bit of wood and cover, till at last reinforcements arrived. When the
+main French columns were deployed, Lannes, with the remnant of his
+indomitable corps, had a brief period of rest. But during the last phase
+of the battle the enemy made a desperate effort to break out of the trap
+through his shattered corps, and once again the Marshal led his troops
+with invincible élan, and drove the Russians right into the death-trap
+of Friedland.
+
+Tilsit followed, and Napoleon showered honours on his trusty
+lieutenants. On June 30, 1807, he gave to Lannes the principality of
+Sievers in the department of Kalish, and on March 19, 1808, he conferred
+on him a greater honour when he created him Duke of Montebello in memory
+of his famous victory.
+
+The Duke of Montebello spent his days of peace for the most part at
+Lectourne. He was summoned thence in October, 1808, to accompany the
+Emperor to Erfurt, and there the Czar Alexander made a special hero of
+his old adversary of Austerlitz, Pultusk, and Friedland, and presented
+him with the grand cordon of the Order of St. Andrew.
+
+The period between Tilsit and Erfurt gave Lannes the last peaceful days
+that he ever spent, for from Erfurt he was hurried off again to war,
+this time to Spain. As usual when there was hard fighting in prospect,
+Napoleon knew that he could ill afford to do without his most trusty and
+able lieutenant. But Lannes had but little enthusiasm for the Spanish
+War. His reputation stood so high that there was little chance of
+enhancing it, and by now the fire-eating republican soldier was settling
+down into a quiet country gentleman, who preferred the domestic circle
+and the pleasure of playing the grand seigneur before an audience of
+friends to the stir of the camp and the pomp of the court. But he was
+too well drilled in soldierly instincts to refuse to serve when
+summoned by his chief, and accordingly, much against his will, he set
+out on what he expected to be a short inglorious campaign of a couple of
+months against a disorganised provincial militia.
+
+Lannes accompanied the Emperor on his journey to Spain, attached to the
+headquarter staff without any definite command, for the Emperor knew
+that all was not well with the armies there, but he could not, until he
+had himself looked into the question, decide where he could use to the
+best advantage the great administrative and tactical ability of the Duke
+of Montebello. During the hurried crossing of the mountains of Tolosa
+the Marshal had the misfortune to be thrown from his horse. So severe
+were the injuries he received that it seemed impossible to take him
+beyond Vittoria, but Larrey, the Emperor's surgeon, ordered him to be
+wrapped in the bloody skin of a newly killed sheep; so successful was
+the prescription that the Marshal was soon able to follow the Emperor
+and rejoin headquarters. On his arrival the Emperor sent him to take
+over Moncey's corps of thirty-five thousand men, with orders to attack
+Castaños's forty-nine thousand at Tudela, while Ney, with twelve
+thousand, worked round the Spanish rear. On the morning of November 28th
+Lannes attacked the Spaniards at Tudela and won an easy victory, for the
+Aragonese, under Palafox, thought only of Saragossa, and the Valencians
+and Andalusians, under Castaños, of their line of retreat to the south.
+Lannes, seeing the exaggerated length of the Spanish position, at once
+divined the reason, and drove home an overwhelming attack against their
+weak centre. Successful as the battle was, it had not the far-reaching
+effects Napoleon had desired, for, owing to the mountainous nature of
+the ground, Ney was unable to get across the Spanish line of retreat;
+however, the enemy lost four thousand men at Tudela and, what was more
+important, all their artillery.
+
+The battle of Tudela opened the road to Madrid. But when Napoleon
+arrived there, instead of driving the remnants of the Spanish armies
+before him and sweeping down to Seville, he found that there was a
+pressing danger in the north. To give the scattered Spaniards a chance
+of rallying, Sir John Moore was making a bold advance on Madrid, and was
+close to Salamanca. Napoleon at once ordered Lannes to hand over his
+corps to Moncey and to join headquarters. The corps of Ney and a part of
+Victor's corps were sent off to oppose the English, and on December 28th
+Napoleon and the Duke of Montebello set out to overtake them. The
+weather was awful, and the passage of the mountain passes in face of the
+blizzards of snow tried the endurance of the troops to the uttermost.
+Lannes, in spite of the fact that he had not entirely recovered from his
+fall, joined Napoleon in setting an example to the troops. At the head
+of the column marched the Emperor with one arm linked to Lannes and the
+other to Duroc. When completely worn out by the unaccustomed efforts and
+by the weight of their riding-boots, the Emperor and Lannes at times
+took a brief rest on the limber of a gun carriage, and then got down and
+marched again.
+
+When Napoleon handed over the pursuit to Soult, he despatched the Duke
+of Montebello to take command of the corps of Junot and Moncey at
+Saragossa. On his arrival, on January 22, 1809, the Marshal found that
+the garrison of Saragossa was in much better heart than the besiegers,
+for on the west the third corps, owing to illness and fatigue, numbered
+barely thirteen thousand, and Gazan's division across the Ebro, before
+the eastern suburb, was scarcely seven thousand strong, while the total
+strength of the garrison was almost sixty thousand. Consequently Junot
+and Gazan were seriously contemplating raising the siege. Lannes's first
+duty was to restore the morale of the troops; to reprimand the general
+officers, who had been slack in their duty; to set an example to them by
+his fiery diligence, which refused to let him go to bed once during the
+whole of the first week he was before Saragossa; to restore the courage
+of the troops by daily exposing his life in the trenches, and, when
+necessary, reconnoitring in person with the utmost sangfroid right up to
+the Spanish positions; supervising hospitals, reorganising commissariat,
+planning with the engineer officers new methods of sap--in a word, to be
+everywhere and to do everything. Nothing can more clearly illustrate
+Napoleon's dictum, "A la guerre les hommes ne sont rien, c'est un homme
+qui est tout." Within five days of Lannes's taking over command the
+whole complexion of the situation had altered. The French were making
+the most resolute assaults with irresistible élan, carrying out the most
+difficult street-fighting with the greatest zest, sapping, mining, and
+blowing up convents and fortified posts, fighting above ground and below
+ground, suffering the most terrible losses, yet ever eager to fight
+again. By February 11th, thanks to the new morale of the troops, and to
+the fact that dysentery and enteric were playing havoc in the garrison,
+Lannes had captured house by house the western half of the town, and had
+arrived at the Corso. But once again murmurings broke out among the
+French troops, who had by now lost a fourth of their numbers, and at the
+same time a strong force of Spaniards under Palafox's brothers
+threatened to overwhelm Suchet, who was covering the siege. Lannes
+proved superior to all difficulties; by his fiery speeches and tact he
+reanimated both officers and men, pointing out to them the triumph they
+had already won in penning in fifty thousand Spaniards with a mere
+handful. Then, hurrying off with reinforcements for Suchet, he dug the
+covering force into an entrenched position on the heights of Villa
+Mayor, and four days later was back at Saragossa in time to superintend
+the attack across the Corso. On February 18th the French captured the
+suburb on the left bank of the river, and thus placed the inner town
+between two fires.
+
+Disease and the success of their enemies had taken all the heart out of
+the Spanish defence, and on February 20th Palafox surrendered. Between
+December 21st and February 21st the Spanish losses had been fifty-four
+thousand dead from wounds and disease, and Saragossa itself was but a
+heap of crumbling ruins. Lannes did all in his power to alleviate the
+sufferings of the unfortunate inhabitants, yet in spite of all his
+efforts another ten thousand died within the next month. Unfortunately
+also for his reputation the Marshal, acting on distinct orders from
+Napoleon, treated his military prisoners with extreme severity and
+executed two of the most prominent. The great strain of the siege told
+heavily on the health of the Marshal, who had never completely recovered
+from his accident near Tolosa; accordingly, after refitting the corps
+under his command, he handed them over to Mortier and Junot, and at the
+end of March set out for Lectourne. But his stay there was short, for
+Napoleon, with the Spanish and Austrian wars on his hands, could not
+afford to do without his assistance.
+
+By April 25th Lannes found himself once again at the post of danger, but
+this time on the Danube, at the battle of Abensberg. As he himself said,
+the first rumour of war always made him shiver, but as soon as he had
+taken the first step forward he had no thought but for his profession.
+But, much as he would have liked to dally at Lectourne, and much as he
+grumbled at Napoleon's overweening ambition once at the front he was the
+dashing soldier of the first Italian campaign. He arrived in time to
+take his share in the five days' fighting at Abensberg, Landshut,
+Eckmühl, and Ratisbon. At Ratisbon he had an opportunity of showing that
+time had had no effect on his spirit; after two storming parties had
+been swept away, he called for volunteers for a third attempt: none
+stepped forward, and he himself rushed to seize a ladder. His staff held
+him back; but the lesson was not in vain: volunteers crowded to seize
+the scaling ladders, led by two of the Marshal's aides-de-camp, and
+soon the walls of Ratisbon were crowned with French soldiers and the
+town was won.
+
+Napoleon himself accompanied Lannes on the march to Vienna, and the
+Marshal was perfectly happy. Murat was absent, and there was no evil
+influence to cloud his friendship with his great chief. Once again
+Vienna succumbed without a shot, but this time the Austrians took care
+that there was no bridge over which Napoleon might cross the Danube.
+Accordingly, the Emperor determined to bridge the river below Vienna,
+making use of the Isle of Lobau, which lay two-thirds of the way across.
+The bridge from the south bank to Lobau was built under the personal
+supervision of the Emperor and Lannes, and on one occasion when they
+were reconnoitring in person they both fell into the river, and the
+Marshal, who was out of his depth, was pulled out by the Emperor
+himself.
+
+By May 20th the French army was concentrated in Lobau, and on May 21st a
+crossing was effected by several bridges, and assured by Masséna
+occupying the village of Aspern and Lannes that of Essling. By the
+morning of the 22nd the mass of the French army had reached the north
+bank of the river. Napoleon, who perceived that the Austrian line was
+too extended to be strong, gave the command of the centre to Lannes with
+orders to sally forth from between the villages of Aspern and Essling
+and break the enemy's centre. In spite of a devastating artillery fire,
+the Marshal carried out his orders to perfection, making skilful use of
+his infantry and cavalry. He had actually forced back the Austrians when
+he was recalled by Napoleon, who had just heard that the enemy had
+succeeded in breaking the bridge by sending huge masses of timber down
+the swollen river. Lannes retreated slowly on Essling, his troops
+suffering severely from the re-formed Austrian batteries. While thus
+holding the foe in check the Marshal was struck on the knee by a cannon
+ball which ricocheted off the ground just in front of him. He was
+removed to the rear, and the doctors decided that it was necessary to
+amputate the right leg. The Marshal bore the operation well. He was
+moved to Vienna, and sent for the celebrated mechanician, Mesler, to
+make him a false leg, but unfortunately the hot weather affected the
+wound and mortification set in. The Emperor, in spite of his anxieties,
+came daily to visit him, and the dying hero had the last consolation of
+seeing how much he was valued by his august master and friend. The end
+came soon. On May 30th the Duke of Montebello died, and Napoleon, on
+hearing the news, with tears in his eyes cried out, "What a loss for
+France and for me!"
+
+The death of Lannes removed the first of Napoleon's chosen Paladins,
+and, in the opinion of the Emperor himself, perhaps the greatest soldier
+of them all. At St. Helena the fallen Emperor thus appraised his old
+comrade: "Lannes was a man of extraordinary bravery. Calm under fire, he
+possessed a sure and penetrating coup d'oeil; he had great experience
+in war. As a general he was infinitely superior to Moreau and Soult."
+But high as this eulogy is, the fact remains that Lannes was lucky in
+the time of his death: Fortune had not yet set her face against
+Napoleon's arms, and he was spared the terrors of the Russian retreat,
+the terrible fighting at Leipzig, and the gloom and misery of the winter
+campaign in France. That Lannes would have emerged superior to these
+trials his previous career affords strong reason to presume. Yet,
+brilliant as were his actions at Montebello, Saalfeld, Pultusk, and
+Tudela, masterly as were his operations at the siege of Saragossa, they
+only prove the Marshal's command of the technique of tactics. As Davout
+has pointed out, the Duke of Montebello had never an opportunity of
+showing his ability in the field of grand tactics or in the higher
+conceptions of strategy; he was a past master in the art of
+manoeuvring twenty-five thousand infantry, but he had never the
+opportunity of devising and carrying out a complete campaign, involving
+the handling of hundreds of thousands of men and the successful solution
+of problems both military and political. "The Roland of the French Army"
+had by nature many qualities which go to form a great soldier. His
+bravery was undoubted; before Ney he was called "the Bravest of the
+Brave." He had personal qualities which inspired his troops with his own
+courage and élan. He had the military eye, and a mind of extraordinary
+activity, which worked best when under the pressure of necessity and
+danger. He was physically strong and able to endure fatigue, and he had
+great capacity for taking pains. But his temper was often at fault,
+causing him to burst into fits of uncontrollable rage, while from
+jealousy he was apt to sulk and refuse to co-operate with his fellows.
+If an officer failed to grasp his meaning he would storm at him, and
+attempt himself to carry out the task. But on one occasion he heard the
+Emperor cry out, "That devil Lannes possesses all the qualities of a
+great commander, but he will never be one, because he cannot master his
+temper, and is constantly bickering with his subalterns, the greatest
+fault that a commander can make." From that day forward Lannes made the
+resolution to command his temper, and, in spite of his nature, his
+self-control became extraordinary. But though he conquered this
+weakness, he never overcame his jealousy of his fellow Marshals and
+generals. Again and again he threw up his command because he thought he
+was slighted or that others were preferred to him. At times he broke out
+into violent tirades against the Emperor himself, and on one occasion,
+in his jealousy, told him that Murat, his brother-in-law, was "a
+mountebank, a tight-rope dancer." Napoleon remonstrated with him,
+exclaiming, "It is I alone who give you both glory and success." Lannes,
+livid with anger, retaliated, "Yes, yes; because you have marched up to
+your ankles in gore on this bloody field, you think yourself a great
+man; and your emplumed brother-in-law crows on his own dunghill....
+Twelve thousand corpses lying on the plain to keep the field for your
+honour ... and yet to deny me--to me, Lannes--my due share in the
+honours of the day!" On the day before his death he could not resist
+humiliating his hated enemy, Bessières, whom Napoleon had put under his
+command, and he actually insulted him on the field of battle by sending
+a junior aide-de-camp to tell the Marshal "to charge home," implying
+that he was shirking his duty.
+
+As a man, Lannes was warm-hearted and beloved by his family, his staff,
+and his men. Rough diamond as he was, he was truly one of nature's
+gentlemen. He never forgot a friend, though he seldom if ever forgave an
+enemy. His sympathies were essentially democratic; himself one of the
+people, he believed thoroughly in republican ideas. Outspoken to a
+fault, he would flare out against Napoleon himself, but one kind word
+from his great chief would cause him to forget all his bitterness. His
+impetuosity and his republican ideals of equality were, naturally,
+extremely offensive on occasions to the Emperor and the new nobility,
+and Lannes, in spite of all his efforts, was too genuine to conceal his
+hatred of all flunkeyism. It was this Gascon self-confidence, blended
+with singular amiability of character, which, while it offended the
+court, attached to the Marshal his soldiers and the provincial society
+of Lectourne, where even to this day the name of the Duke of Montebello
+is held in the most affectionate esteem and regard.
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+MICHEL NEY, MARSHAL, DUKE OF ELCHINGEN, PRINCE OF MOSKOWA
+
+
+"Go on, Ney; I am satisfied with you; you will make your way." So spoke
+a captain of hussars to a young recruit who had attracted his attention.
+The captain little thought that the zealous stripling would one day
+become a Marshal of France, the Prince of Moskowa, and famed throughout
+Europe as the "Bravest of the Brave." Still, the youth had presentiments
+of future greatness. Born on January 10, 1769, the son of a poor cooper,
+of Sarrelouis, more German than French, Michel Ney, at the age of
+fifteen, was possessed with the idea that he was destined for
+distinction. His father and mother tried to persuade him to become a
+miner, but nothing would please the high-spirited boy save the life of a
+soldier. Accordingly on February 1, 1787, he tramped off to Metz and
+enlisted as a private in the regiment known as the Colonel General's
+Hussars. Physically strong, unusually active, by nature a horseman, he
+soon attracted the attention of his comrades by his skill in ménage and
+his command of the sabre, and was chosen to represent his regiment in a
+duel against the fencing master of another regiment of the garrison.
+Unfortunately for Ney, the authorities got wind of the affair in time to
+prevent any decision being arrived at, and the young soldier was
+punished for breaking regulations by a term of imprisonment; but no
+sooner was he released than he again challenged his opponent. This time
+there was no interference, and Ney so severely wounded his adversary
+that he was unable to continue his profession. Though he thus early in
+his career distinguished himself by his bravery, tenacity, and disregard
+of rules, it must not for a moment be thought that he was a mere
+swashbuckler. With the determination to rise firmly before his eyes, he
+set about, from the day he enlisted, to learn thoroughly the rudiments
+of his profession, and to acquire a knowledge of French and the faculty
+of reading and writing; thus he was able to pass the necessary tests,
+and quickly gained the rank of sergeant. Ney was fortunate in that he
+had not to spend long years as a non-commissioned officer with no
+obvious future before him. The Revolution gave him the opportunity so
+long desired by Masséna and others, and it was as lieutenant that he
+started on active service with Dumouriez's army in 1793. Once on active
+service it was not long before his great qualities made themselves
+recognised. Though absolutely uncultivated, save for the smattering of
+reading and writing which he had picked up in the regimental school, and
+to outward appearances rather heavy and stupid, in the midst of danger
+he showed an energy, a quickness of intuition, and a clearness of
+understanding which hurled aside the most formidable obstacles. Physical
+fear he never knew; as he said, when asked if he ever felt afraid, "No,
+I never had time." In his earliest engagements at Neerwinden and in the
+north of France, he foreshadowed his future career by the extraordinary
+bravery and resource he showed in handling his squadron of cavalry
+during the retreat, on one occasion, with some twenty hussars,
+completely routing three hundred of the enemy's horse. This achievement
+attracted the attention of General Kléber, who sent for Captain Ney and
+entrusted him with the formation of a body of franc-tireurs of all arms.
+The franc-tireurs were really recognised brigands. They received no pay
+or arms and lived entirely on plunder, but were extremely useful for
+scouting and reconnaissance, and collected a great deal of information
+under a dashing officer. From this congenial work Ney was summoned in
+1796 to command the cavalry of General Coland's division in the Army of
+the Sambre and Meuse. There he distinguished himself by capturing
+Würzburg and two thousand of the enemy with a squadron of one hundred
+hussars. After this exploit General Kléber refused to listen to his
+remonstrances and insisted on his accepting his promotion as general of
+brigade. At the commencement of the campaign of 1797 Ney had the
+misfortune to be taken prisoner at Giessen. While covering the retreat
+with his cavalry, he saw a horse artillery gun deserted by its men.
+Galloping back by himself, he attempted to save the piece, but the
+enemy's horse swept down and captured him. His captivity was not long:
+his exchange was soon effected, and he returned to France in time to
+join in the agitation against the party of the Clicheans, the only
+occasion he actively interfered in politics.
+
+[ILLUSTRATION: MICHEL NEY, PRINCE OF MOSKOWA
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY F. GÉRARD]
+
+On the re-opening of the war in 1799 Ney was sent to command the cavalry
+of the Army of the Rhine. The campaign was notable for an exploit which
+admirably illustrates the secret of his success as a soldier. The town
+of Mannheim, held by a large Austrian garrison, was the key of Southern
+Germany. The French army was separated from this fortress by the broad
+Rhine. The enemy was confident that any attempt on the fortress must be
+preceded by the passage of the river by the whole French army. But Ney,
+hearing that the enemy's troops were cantonned in the villages
+surrounding the town, saw that if a small French force could be smuggled
+across by night, it might be possible to seize the town by a
+coup-de-main. The most important thing to ascertain was the exact
+position of the cantonments of the troops outside the fortress and of
+the various guards and sentinels inside the town. So important did he
+consider this information that he determined to cross the river himself
+and reconnoitre the position in person. Accordingly, general of division
+as he was, he disguised himself as a Prussian, and trusting to his early
+knowledge of German, he crossed the river secretly, and carefully noted
+all the enemy's preparations, running the risk of being found out and
+shot as a spy. The following evening, with a weak detachment, he again
+crossed the river, attacked the enemy's guards with the bayonet, drove
+back a sortie of the garrison, and entered the town pell-mell with the
+flying enemy; and under cover of the darkness, which hid the paucity of
+his troops, he bluffed the enemy into surrender. The year 1800 brought
+him further glory under Masséna and Moreau, and he became known
+throughout the armies of France as the "Indefatigable."
+
+After the Treaty of Lunéville, the First Consul summoned Ney to Paris,
+and won his affection by the warmth with which he received him. On his
+departure Bonaparte presented him with a sword. "Receive this weapon,"
+he said, "as a souvenir of the friendship and esteem I have towards you.
+It belonged to a pasha who met his death bravely on the field of
+Aboukir." The sword became Ney's most treasured possession: he was never
+tired of handling it, and he never let it go out of his sight; but he
+little thought what ill luck it would bring him later, for it was this
+famous sword which, in 1815, revealed to the police his hiding-place,
+and thus indirectly led him to death. The relations between Ney and the
+First Consul soon became closer. The general married a great friend of
+Hortense Beauharnais, Mademoiselle Auguie, the daughter of Marie
+Antoinette's lady in waiting. Sure of his devotion and perceiving the
+sternness with which he obeyed orders, in 1802 the First Consul
+entrusted him with the subjugation of Switzerland. The Swiss army fled
+before him, and a deputation, charged to make their submission to
+France, arrived in his camp with the keys of the principal towns. The
+general met them, listened courteously to their words of submission,
+then with a wave of the hand refused the keys. With that insight which
+later led him to warn Napoleon against attempting to trample on the
+people of Spain and Russia, he replied to the deputation, "It is not the
+keys I demand: my cannon can force your gates; bring me hearts full of
+submission, worthy of the friendship of France." Soon afterwards, with
+Soult and Davout, Ney was honoured with the command of one of the corps
+in the army which the First Consul was assembling for the invasion of
+England. In selecting him for this important post Napoleon showed that
+power of discrimination which contributed so greatly to his success.
+For, save in the raid into Switzerland, Ney had not yet been called upon
+to deal with complicated questions of administration and finance. His
+reputation rested purely on his extraordinary dash and bravery in the
+face of the enemy and his power of using to the full the élan which lies
+latent in all French armies. For when not in touch with the enemy he was
+notoriously indolent. He never made any attempt to learn the abstract
+science of war, and until stirred by danger his character seemed to
+slumber. Others judged him as the Emperor did at St. Helena when he
+said, "He was the bravest of men; there terminated all his faculties."
+But, in spite of this limitation in his character, Napoleon employed him
+again and again in positions of responsibility, for he knew that Ney's
+word once passed was never broken, that his devotion to France and to
+its ruler was steadfast, that in spite of his peevishness and his fierce
+outbursts of temper and bitter tirades, when it came to deeds there
+would be no wavering. Consequently the First Consul availed himself
+gladly of his great reputation for bravery, considering that hero
+worship did more to turn the young recruits into soldiers than the
+greatest organising and administrative talents. Moreover, Napoleon kept
+an eye on the composition of the staff of his Marshals and generals, and
+he knew that Ney had in Jomini, the chief of his staff, a man of
+admirable talent and sagacity, who would turn in their proper direction
+the sledge-hammer blows of the "Bravest of the Brave."
+
+With the creation of the Empire Ney was included among the Paladins of
+the new Charlemagne and received his Marshal's bâton, the Grand Cross of
+the Legion of Honour, and the Order of the Christ of Portugal. But the
+new Marshal cared little for the life of a courtier, much as he prized
+his military distinctions. Banquets and feasting offered little
+attraction to the hero, and he despised riches and rank. "Gentlemen,"
+said he one day to his aides-de-camp, who were boasting of their
+families and rich appointments, "Gentlemen, I am more fortunate than
+you: I got nothing from my family, and I esteemed myself rich at Metz
+when I had two loaves of bread on the table." Accordingly, no young
+subaltern thirsting for glory was happier that Marshal Ney when, in
+August, 1805, the order came to march on Austria. The campaign, so
+suddenly commenced, brought the Marshal the hard fighting and the glory
+he loved so well. In the operations round Ulm, he surpassed himself by
+the tenacity with which he stuck to the enemy, and, thanks to the skill
+of Jomini, his errors only added to his fame, and the combat of
+Elchingen became immortal when Napoleon selected this name as a title
+for the Marshal when he created him Duke. During the fighting which
+penned the Austrians into Ulm two sides of the Marshal's character were
+clearly seen--his extraordinary bravery and his jealousy. The Emperor,
+anxious for the complete success of his plans, despatched an officer to
+command Ney to avoid incurring a repulse and to await reinforcements.
+The aide-de-camp found him in the faubourg of the town amongst the
+skirmishers. He delivered his message, whereupon the Marshal replied,
+"Tell the Emperor that I share the glory with no one; I have already
+provided for a flank attack." In September, 1806, Ney was ordered to
+march to Würzburg to join the Grand Army for the war against Prussia.
+The campaign gave him just those opportunities which he knew so well
+how to seize, and before the end of the war the Emperor had changed his
+sobriquet from the "Indefatigable" to the "Bravest of the Brave." But
+glorious as his conduct was, his rash impetuosity more than once
+seriously compromised Napoleon's plans. At Jena his rashness and his
+jealousy of his fellow Marshals caused him to advance before the other
+corps had taken up their positions. His isolated attack was defeated by
+the Prussians, and it took the united efforts of Lannes and Soult to
+rally his shattered battalions and snatch victory from the enemy. But
+his personal bravery at Jena, his brilliant pursuit of the enemy, the
+audacity with which he bluffed fourteen thousand Prussians to surrender
+at Erfurt, and his capture of twenty-three thousand prisoners and eight
+hundred cannon at the great fortress of Magdeburg made ample amends for
+his errors.
+
+But glorious as was his success, his impetuosity soon brought him into
+further disgrace. Detached from the main army on the Lower Vistula in
+the spring of 1807, he advanced against a mixed force of Prussians and
+Russians before Napoleon had completed all his plans. The Emperor was
+furious, and Berthier was ordered to write that, "The Emperor has, in
+forming his plans, no need of advice or of any one acting on his own
+responsibility: no one knows his thoughts; it is our duty to obey." But
+to obey orders when in contact with the enemy was just what the fiery
+soldier was unable to do, and the Emperor, recognising this full well,
+ordered his chief of the staff to write that "His Majesty believes that
+the position of the enemy is due to the rash manoeuvre made by Marshal
+Ney." When the main advance commenced the Marshal was summoned to rejoin
+the Grand Army. He did not arrive in time to take any prominent share in
+the bloody battle of Eylau; in spite of every exertion, his corps only
+reached the field of battle as darkness set in. The sight of the awful
+carnage affected even the warworn Marshal, and made him exclaim, "What
+a massacre!" and, as he added, "without any issue." Friedland was a
+battle after Ney's own heart. He arrived on the field at the moment
+Napoleon was opening his grand attack, and with his corps he was ordered
+to assault the enemy's left. Hurling division after division, by
+hand-to-hand fighting he drove the enemy back from their lines, and
+flung them into the trap of Friedland, there to fall by hundreds under
+the fierce fire of the French massed batteries. It was his sangfroid
+which was responsible for the devotion with which the soldiers rushed
+against the enemy. At the beginning of the action some of the younger
+grenadiers kept bobbing their heads under the hail of bullets which
+almost darkened the air. "Comrades," called out the Marshal, who was on
+horseback, "the enemy are firing in the air; here am I higher than the
+top of your busbies, and they don't hurt me."
+
+After the peace of Tilsit, Ney, soon Duke of Elchingen, had a year's
+repose from war, but in 1808 he was one of those summoned to retrieve
+the errors arising from Napoleon's mistaken calculation of the Spanish
+problem. The selection was an unfortunate one. Accustomed to the
+ordinary warfare of Central Europe, at his best in the mêlée of battle,
+in Spain, where organised resistance was seldom met, where the foe
+vanished at the first contact, the Marshal showed a hesitation and
+vacillation strangely in contrast with his dashing conduct on the
+battlefield. Fine soldier as he was, he lacked the essentials of the
+successful general--imagination and moral courage. He was unable to
+discern in his mind's eye what lay on the other side of a hill, and the
+blank which this lack of imagination caused in his mind affected his
+nerves, and made him irresolute and irritable. Moreover, in Spain, the
+success of the Emperor's plans depended on the loyal co-operation of
+Marshal with Marshal. But unfortunately Ney, obsessed by jealousy, was
+most difficult to work with; as Napoleon himself said, "No one knew what
+it was to deal with two men like Ney and Soult." From the very outset
+of his career in Spain he showed a lack of strategic insight and a want
+of rapidity of movement. Thus it was that he was unable to assist Lannes
+in the operations which the Emperor had planned for the annihilation of
+the Spaniards at Tudela. His heart was not in the work, and he made no
+attempt to hide this from Napoleon. When the Emperor before leaving
+Spain reviewed his troops, and told him that "Romana would be accounted
+for in a fortnight; the English are beaten and will make no more effort;
+that all will be quiet here in three months," the Duke of Elchingen
+boldly told him, "The men of this country are obstinate, and the women
+and children fight; I see no end to the war." It was with gloomy
+forebodings, therefore, that he saw the Emperor ride off to France. But
+what increased his dislike of the whole situation was that his
+operations were made subservient to those of Soult, his old enemy and
+rival. The hatred which existed between the two was of long standing,
+and had burned fiercely ever since the days of Jena, when Soult had been
+mainly instrumental in retrieving the disaster threatened by Ney's
+impetuosity. It came to a head when, after the Duke of Dalmatia's
+expulsion from Portugal, the armies of the two Marshals met at Lugo.
+Soult's corps arrived without cannon or baggage, a mere armed rabble,
+and Ney's men jeered at the disorganised battalions. The Marshals
+themselves took sides with their men. Matters were not improved when
+Joseph sent orders that Ney was to consider himself under Soult, and,
+though Napoleon himself confirmed the decision, it brought no peace
+between the rival commanders. All through the Talavera campaign there
+was perpetual discord, and it was Ney's hesitation, arising from
+vacillation or jealousy, which prevented Soult from cutting off the
+English retreat across the Tagus.
+
+After the battle of Wagram, Masséna was despatched to Spain to command
+the Army of Portugal. The Duke of Elchingen showed to his new chief the
+same spirit of disobedience and hatred of control. At times slack and
+supine in his arrangements, as in the preparations for the siege of
+Ciudad Rodrigo and in his want of energy after the siege of Almeida, at
+other times upsetting his superiors' plans by his reckless impetuosity,
+he was a subordinate whom no one cared to command. Still, when it came
+to actual contact with the foe, no officer was able to extract so much
+from his men, and his defeat of Crawford's division on the Coa and his
+dash at Busaco were quite up to his great reputation. Before the lines
+of Torres Vedras his ill-humour broke out again. He bitterly opposed the
+idea of an assault, and he grumbled at being kept before the position.
+In fact, nothing that his chief could order was right. It was to a great
+extent owing to the conduct of the Duke of Elchingen that Masséna was at
+last compelled to retreat. As he wrote to Berthier, "I have done all I
+could to keep the army out of Spain as long as possible ... but I have
+been continually opposed, I make bold to say, by the commanders of the
+corps d'armée, who have roused such a spirit amongst officers and men
+that it would be dangerous to hold our present position any longer."
+When, however, the retreat was at last ordered, Ney showed to the full
+his immense tactical ability. Although the army was greatly demoralised
+during the retreat through Portugal, he never lost a single gun or
+baggage wagon. As Napier wrote, "Day after day Ney--the indomitable
+Ney--offered battle with the rear guard, and a stream of fire ran along
+the wasted valleys of Portugal, from the Tagus to the Mondego, from the
+Mondego to the Coa." As often as Wellington with his forty thousand men
+overtook the Marshal with his ten thousand, he was baffled by the
+tactical cleverness with which his adversary compelled him to deploy his
+whole force, only to find before him a vanishing rear guard. But while
+displaying such brilliant ability, the Duke of Elchingen would take no
+orders from his superior, and when Masséna told him to cover Almeida
+and Ciudad Rodrigo, he flatly refused and marched off in the opposite
+direction. Thereon the Prince of Essling was compelled to remove him
+from his command, and wrote to Berthier, "I have been reduced to an
+extremity which I have earnestly endeavoured to avoid. The Marshal, the
+Duke of Elchingen, has arrived at the climax of disobedience. I have
+given the sixth corps to Count Loison, senior general of division. It is
+grievous for an old soldier who has commanded armies for so many years
+to arrive at such a pass ... with one of his comrades. The Duke of
+Elchingen since my arrival has not ceased to thwart me in my military
+operations.... His character is well known, I will say no more." Thus
+Ney returned to France in disgrace with his comrades, and hated by his
+enemies owing to the licence he allowed his soldiers.
+
+The Emperor, however, much as he insisted on blind obedience to his own
+orders, soon forgave the Duke of Elchingen, and heaped his wrath on the
+unfortunate Masséna, whom he held responsible for the failure of the
+campaign in Portugal. Accordingly, when in 1812 he planned his Russian
+campaign, he entrusted Ney with the command of the third corps. Under
+the personal eye of Napoleon, the Duke of Elchingen was a different man
+to the Ney of Spain. At Smolensk he showed his old brilliancy, and after
+the battle he opposed the further advance into Russia, maintaining that
+so far the Russians had never been beaten but only dislodged, that the
+peasants were hostile, and once again reminding the Emperor of his
+failure in Spain. It was with great disapprobation that he heard
+Napoleon accept Caulaincourt's advice, and determine to advance to
+Moscow. "Pray heaven," he said, "that the blarney of the ambassador
+general may not be more injurious to the army than the most bloody
+battle." Gloomy as were his forebodings, they had no effect on his
+conduct when he met the enemy, and he won for himself the title of
+Prince of Moskowa in the hard-fought battle outside the walls of Moscow.
+But it is the retreat that has made his name so glorious. After the
+first few days he was entrusted with command of the rear guard, and as
+demoralisation set in he alone was able to keep the soldiers to their
+duty. At Krasnoi his feeble corps of six thousand men was surrounded by
+thirty thousand Russians. The main body was beyond recall. When summoned
+to lay down his arms, he replied, "A Marshal of France never
+surrenders," and closing his shattered columns, he charged the enemy's
+batteries and drove them from the field. For three days he struggled on
+surrounded by the foe. On one occasion when the enemy suddenly appeared
+in force where least expected, his men fell back in dismay, but the
+Marshal with admirable presence of mind ordered the charge to be beaten,
+shouting out, "Comrades, now is the moment: forward! they are ours." At
+last, with but fifteen hundred men left, he regained the main body near
+Orcha. When Napoleon heard of their arrival, he rushed to meet the
+Marshal, exclaiming, "I have three hundred million francs in my coffers
+at the Tuileries; I would willingly have given them to save Marshal
+Ney." He embraced the Duke, saying "he had no regret for the troops
+which were lost, because they had preserved his dear cousin the Duke of
+Elchingen." At the crossing of the Beresina, Ney once again covered
+himself with glory, and through the remainder of the terrible retreat he
+commanded the rear guard, and was the last man to cross the Niemen at
+Kovno and reach German soil. General Dumas, one of the officers of the
+general staff, relates how he was resting in an inn at Gumbinnen, when
+one evening a man entered clad in a long brown cloak, wearing a long
+beard, his face blackened with powder, his whiskers half burned by fire,
+but his eyes sparkling with brilliant lustre. "Well, here I am at last,"
+he said. "What, General Dumas, do you not know me?" "No; who are you?"
+"I am the rear guard of the Grand Army--Marshal Ney. I have fired the
+last musket on the bridge of Kovno: I have thrown into the Niemen the
+last of our arms, and I have walked hither, as you see, across the
+forests."
+
+The campaign of 1813 saw the Duke of Elchingen once again at the
+Emperor's side. At Lützen, his corps of conscripts fought nobly: five
+times the gallant Ney led them to the attack; five times they responded
+to the call of their leader. As he himself said, "I doubt if I could
+have done the same thing with the old grenadiers of the Guard.... The
+docility and perhaps inexperience of those brave boys served me better
+than the tried courage of veterans. The French infantry can never be too
+young." But at Bautzen he showed another phase of his character.
+Entrusted with sixty thousand men with orders to make a vast turning
+movement, his timidity spoiled the Emperor's careful plans. So
+hesitating and uncertain were his dispositions that the Allies had ample
+time to meet his attack and quietly withdrew without being compromised,
+leaving not a cannon or a prisoner in the hands of the French. Well
+might the Emperor cry out, "What, after such a butchery no results? no
+prisoners?" But in spite of Ney's lack of strategic skill and his
+well-known vacillation when confronted with problems he did not
+understand, Napoleon was forced to employ him on an independent command.
+After Oudinot was beaten at Grosbeeren, he despatched him to take
+command of the army opposed to the mixed force of the Allies under
+Bernadotte, which was threatening his communications from the direction
+of Berlin. But Ney was no more successful than Oudinot. His dispositions
+were even worse than those of the Duke of Reggio, and at Dennewitz,
+night alone saved his force from absolute annihilation, while he had to
+confess to nine hundred killed and wounded and fifteen thousand taken
+prisoners. He but wrote the truth in his despatch to the Emperor, "I
+have been totally beaten, and still do not know whether my army has
+reassembled." At Leipzig also he was responsible for the want of success
+during the first day of the battle, and spent the time in useless
+marching and counter-marching; in this case, however, the faulty orders
+he received were largely responsible for his errors. But all through the
+campaign he felt the want of the clear counsel of the born strategist
+Jomini, his former chief of the staff, who had gone over to the Allies.
+
+During the winter campaign in 1814 in France no one fought more fiercely
+and stubbornly than the Duke of Elchingen. When the end came and Paris
+had surrendered, he was one of those who at Fontainebleau refused to
+march on Paris, in spite of the cries of the Guard "To Paris!" Angered
+by the tenacity with which the Marshals protested against the folly of
+such a march, the Emperor at last exclaimed, "The army will obey me."
+"No," replied Ney, "it will obey its commanders." Macdonald, who had
+just arrived with his weary troops, backed him up, exclaiming, "We have
+had enough of war without kindling a civil war." Thereon Napoleon was
+induced to sign a proclamation offering to abdicate; and Caulaincourt,
+Macdonald, and Ney set out for Paris to try and get terms from the Czar.
+Once in the capital the Marshal seemed to despair of his commission.
+Feeble and irresolute, he was easily gained over by Talleyrand, and at
+once made his formal adhesion to the provisional government. When the
+commissioners returned to the Emperor, he saw but too clearly that his
+day was done. "Oh," he exclaimed, "you want repose; have it then; alas!
+you know not how many disappointments and dangers await you on your beds
+of down."
+
+The Emperor's prophecy was but too true. Though honours were showered
+upon him, the peace which followed the restoration of the Bourbons
+brought but little satisfaction and enjoyment to the Duke of Elchingen.
+Accustomed to the bustle and hurry of a soldier's life, he was too old
+to acquire the tastes of a life of tranquillity. Books brought him no
+satisfaction, since he could scarcely read; society frightened him, and
+his plain manners and blunt speech shocked the salons of Paris and
+grated on the nerves of the courtiers. By nature ascetic, he hated
+dissipation. Moreover, his family life was by no means happy. His wife,
+ambitious, fond of luxury and pleasure, was unable to share his pursuits
+and tastes, and worried her husband with childish complaints of loss of
+prestige at the new court. Consequently the blunt old soldier was only
+too glad to leave her at his hotel in Paris, and bury himself in his
+estate in the country, where field sports offered him a recreation he
+could appreciate, and his old comrades and country neighbours afforded
+him a society at least congenial.
+
+From this peaceful life at Coudreaux the Marshal was suddenly summoned
+on March 6, 1815, to Paris. On arriving there he was met by his lawyer,
+who informed him of Napoleon's descent on Fréjus. "It is a great
+misfortune," he said; "what is the Government doing? Who are they going
+to send against that man?" Then he hurried off to the Minister of War to
+receive his instructions. He was ordered to Besançon to take command of
+the troops there, and to help oppose Napoleon's advance on Paris. Before
+starting for his headquarters he went to pay his respects to the King,
+and expressed his indignation at the Emperor's action, promising "to
+bring him back in an iron cage." On arriving at his command he found
+everything in confusion, and the soldiers ready at any moment to declare
+for the Emperor. Ney had but one thought, and that to save the King. In
+reply to a friend who told him that the soldiers could not fight the
+Emperor, he replied, "They shall fight; I will begin the action myself,
+and run my sword to the hilt in the breast of the first who hesitates to
+follow my example." But when he arrived, on the evening of the 13th, at
+Lons la Saulnier he was met by the news that on all sides the troops
+were deserting, and that the Duke of Orleans and Monsieur had been
+compelled to withdraw from Lyons. That same evening emissaries arrived
+from Napoleon alleging that all the Marshals had promised to go over,
+and that the Congress of Vienna had approved of the overthrow of the
+Bourbons, assuring the Marshal that the Emperor would receive him as on
+the day after the battle of Moskowa. While but half convinced by these
+specious arguments and a prey to doubt, news arrived that his vanguard
+at Bourg had deserted, and that the inhabitants of Châlons-sur-Saône had
+seized his artillery. In his agony he exclaimed to the emissaries, "It
+is impossible for me to stop the water of the ocean with my own hand."
+On the morrow he called the generals of division to give him counsel;
+one of them was Bourmont, a double-dyed traitor who deserted Napoleon on
+the eve of Waterloo; the other was the stern old republican warrior
+Lecourbe. They could give him but little advice, so at last the fatal
+decision was made, and Ney called his troops together and read the
+proclamation drawn up by Napoleon.
+
+Scarcely had he done so than he began to perceive the enormity of his
+action. Meanwhile he wrote an impassioned letter to Napoleon urging him
+to seek no more wars of conquest. It might suit the Emperor's policy to
+cause the Marshal to desert those to whom he had sworn allegiance, but
+he mistrusted men who broke their word, and though he received Ney with
+outward cordiality, he saw but little of the "black beast," as he called
+him, during the Hundred Days, for the Duke of Elchingen, full of remorse
+and shame, hid himself at Coudreaux. It was not till the end of May that
+Napoleon summoned him to Paris, and greeted him with the words, "I
+thought you had become an émigré." "I ought to have done it long ago,"
+replied the Marshal; "now it is too late." Still the Emperor kept him
+without employment till on June 11th he sent him to inspect the troops
+around Lille, and from there summoned him to join the army before
+Charleroi on the afternoon of June 15th. Immediately on his arrival he
+was put in command of the left wing of the army, composed of Reille and
+d'Erlon's corps, and received verbal orders to push northwards and
+occupy Quatre Bras. The Marshal's task was not an enviable one. He had
+to improvise a staff and make himself acquainted with his subordinates
+and at the same time try and elucidate the contradictory orders of his
+old enemy Soult, now chief of the staff to the Emperor. Accordingly,
+when on the evening of the 15th his advance guard found Quatre Bras held
+by the enemy, he decided to make no attack that night. But on the
+morning of the 16th he made a still greater error. For not only did he
+neglect to make a reconnaissance, which would have showed him that he
+was opposed by a mere handful of troops, but, slothful as ever, he
+omitted to give orders for the proper concentration of his divisions,
+which were strung out along sixteen miles of road. A day begun thus
+badly was bound to bring difficulties. But these difficulties were
+enormously increased in the afternoon. After three despatches ordering
+him to carry Quatre Bras with all his force, he received a fourth
+written by Soult at Napoleon's order telling him to move to the right to
+support Grouchy in his attack on the Prussians, ending with the words,
+"The fate of France is in your hands, therefore do not hesitate to move
+according to the Emperor's commands." To add further to his
+difficulties, d'Erlon's corps was detached from his command without his
+knowledge. In this distracted condition, the Marshal lost all control
+over himself, calling out, "Ah, those English balls! I wish they were
+all in my belly!" Thus it was, mad with rage, that he rode up to
+Kellermann, calling out, "We must make a supreme effort. Take your
+cavalry and fling yourself upon the English centre. Crush them--ride
+them down!" But it was too late. Wellington himself with thirty thousand
+men now held Quatre Bras. The Marshal had himself to thank for his want
+of success, for if he had been less slothful in the morning, the battle
+would have been won before the contradictory orders could have had any
+effect on his plans. On the morning of the 17th the dispirited Prince of
+Moskowa took no steps to find out what his enemy was doing, although he
+received orders from the Emperor at ten o'clock to occupy Quatre Bras if
+there was only a rear guard there. Accordingly the English had ample
+time to retreat. When Napoleon hurried up in pursuit at 2 p.m. he
+greeted his lieutenant with the bitter reproach, "You have ruined
+France!" But though the Emperor recognised that he was no longer the Ney
+of former days, he still retained him in his command. At Waterloo the
+Marshal showed his old dash on the battlefield. The left wing was hurled
+against the Allies with a vehemence that recalled the Prince of
+Moskowa's conduct in the Russian campaign. But, impetuous as ever,
+finding he could not crush the stubborn foe with his infantry, he rushed
+back and prematurely ordered up 5,000 of the cavalry of the Guard. "He
+has compromised us again," growled his old enemy Soult, "as he did at
+Jena." "It is too early by an hour," exclaimed the Emperor, "but we must
+support him now that he has done it." The mistake was fatal to
+Napoleon's plans. In vain the French cavalry charged the English
+squares, still unshaken by artillery and infantry fire. Meanwhile the
+Prussians appeared on the allied left. The Emperor staked his last card,
+and ordered the Guard to make one last effort to crush the English
+infantry. Sword in hand the gallant Prince of Moskowa led the
+magnificent veterans to the attack. But the fire of the English lines
+swept them down by hundreds. A shout arose, "La garde recule." Ney, the
+indomitable, in vain seeking death, was swept away by the mass, his
+clothing in rags, foaming at the mouth, his broken sword in his hand,
+rushing from corps to corps, trying to rally the runaways with taunts of
+"Cowards, have you forgotten how to die?" At one moment he passed
+d'Erlon as they were swept along in the rush, and screamed out to him,
+"If you and I come out of this alive, d'Erlon, we shall be hanged." Well
+it had been for him if he could have found the death he so eagerly
+sought. Five horses were shot under him, his clothes were riddled with
+bullets, but he was reserved for a sinister fate.
+
+The Marshal returned to Paris and witnessed the capitulation and second
+abdication. Thereafter he had thoughts of withdrawing to Switzerland or
+to America. But unfortunately he considered himself safe under the terms
+of the capitulation, and, anxious to clear his name for the sake of his
+children, he remained hidden at the château of Bessonis, near Aurillac,
+waiting to see what the attitude of the Government would be. There he
+was discovered by a zealous police official, who caught sight of the
+Egyptian sabre Napoleon had presented to him in 1801. He was at once
+arrested and taken to Paris. The military court appointed to try him
+declared itself unable to try a peer of France. Accordingly the House of
+Peers was ordered to proceed with his trial, and found him guilty by a
+majority of one hundred and sixty-nine to nineteen. The Marshal's
+lawyers tried to get him off by the subterfuge that he was no longer a
+Frenchman, since his native town, Sarrelouis, had been taken from
+France. But Ney would hear of no such excuse. "I am a Frenchman," he
+cried, "and will die a Frenchman." Early on the following day, December
+7, 1815, the sentence was read to the prisoner. The officer entrusted
+with this melancholy duty commenced to read his titles, Prince of
+Moskowa, Duke of Elchingen, &c. But the Marshal cut him short: "Why
+cannot you simply say 'Michel Ney, once a French soldier and soon to be
+a heap of dust'?" At eight o'clock in the morning the Marshal, with a
+firm step, was conveyed to the place of execution. To the officer who
+prepared to bandage his eyes he said, "Are you ignorant that for
+twenty-five years I have been accustomed to face both ball and bullet?"
+Then, taking off his hat, he said, "I declare before God and man that I
+have never betrayed my country. May my death render her happy. Vive la
+France!" Then, turning to the soldiers, he gave the word, "Soldiers,
+fire!"
+
+Thus, in his forty-seventh year, the Prince of Moskowa, a peasant's son,
+but now immortal as the "Bravest of the Brave," expiated his error. Pity
+it was that he had not the courage of his gallant subordinate at Lons la
+Saulnier, who had broken his sword in pieces with the words, "It is
+easier for a man of honour to break iron than to infringe his word."
+Looking backward, and calmly reading the evidence of the trial, it is
+clear that Ney set out in March, 1815, with every intention to remain
+faithful to the King. But his moral courage failed him; and the glamour
+of his old life, and the contact with the iron will of the great
+Corsican, broke down his principles. To some the punishment meted out to
+him seemed hard; but when the Emperor heard of his execution he said
+that he only got his deserts. "No one should break his word. I despise
+traitors. Ney has dishonoured himself." And the Duke of Wellington
+refused to plead for the Marshal, for he said "it was absolutely
+necessary to make an example." But the clearest proof of the justice of
+the penalty was the fact that from the fatal day at Lons la Saulnier the
+Marshal was never himself again, and he who, during those terrible days
+in Russia, had been able to sleep like a little child, never could sleep
+in peace.
+
+Among the Marshals of Napoleon, Ney, with his title of the "Bravest of
+the Brave," and his magnificent record of hard fighting, will always
+appeal to those who love romance. But, great fighter as he was, he was
+not a great general. At times, at St. Helena, Napoleon, remembering his
+mistakes at Quatre Bras and Waterloo, used to say that he ought not to
+have made him a Marshal, for he only had the courage and honesty of a
+hussar, forgetting his words in Russia, "I have three hundred millions
+francs in my coffers at the Tuileries; I would willingly have given them
+to save Marshal Ney." But, cruel as it may seem, perhaps the Emperor
+expressed his real opinion of him when he said, "He was precious on the
+battlefield, but too immoral and too stupid to succeed." In action he
+was always master of himself, but as Jomini, his old chief of the staff,
+wrote of him, "Ney's best qualities, his heroic valour, his rapid coup
+d'oeil, and his energy, diminished in the same proportion that the
+extent of his command increased his responsibility. Admirable on the
+battlefield, he displayed less assurance not only in council, but
+whenever he was not actually face to face with the enemy." In a word, he
+lacked that marked intellectual capacity which is the chief
+characteristic of great soldiers like Hannibal, Cæsar, Napoleon, and
+Wellington.
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+LOUIS NICOLAS DAVOUT, MARSHAL, DUKE OF AUERSTÄDT, PRINCE OF ECKMÜHL
+
+
+There was an old saying in Burgundy that "when a Davout comes into the
+world, another sword has leaped from the scabbard"; but so finely
+tempered a weapon as Louis Nicolas had never before been produced by the
+warrior nobles of Annoux, though the line stretched back in unbroken
+descent to the days of the first Crusades. Born at Auxerre on May 18,
+1770, the future Marshal was destined for the service, and at the age of
+fifteen entered the Royal Military School at Paris. In the fatal year
+1789 he received his commission in the Royal Champagne regiment of
+cavalry stationed at Hesdin, but his period of service with the royal
+army was short. From his boyhood, young Davout was one of those whom it
+was impossible to drive, who, while they submit to no authority, are as
+clay in the hands of the master mind who can gain their affections. His
+turbulent spirit had early become captivated by the specious
+revolutionary logic of a brilliant young lawyer, Turreau, who, a few
+years later, became his stepfather. Full of burning zeal for his new
+political tenets, chafing under the dull routine of garrison life,
+despising his mediocre companions, the young sub-lieutenant soon found
+himself in trouble, and was dismissed from the service for the part he
+took in aiding the revolutionaries in their attempts to seduce the
+privates and non-commissioned officers from their allegiance to their
+sovereign. His return to civil life was but brief, for, when in 1791 the
+Prussian invasion summoned the country to arms, Louis Nicolas enlisted
+in the Volunteers of the Yonne, and owing to his former military
+training was at once elected lieutenant-colonel.
+
+The Volunteers of the Yonne formed part of the corps opposed to the
+Austrians in the Low Countries, and owing to the stern discipline of
+their lieutenant-colonel, became distinguished as the most reliable of
+all the volunteers raised in 1791. Davout adopted the same plan which
+proved so effective among the Scotch regiments during the eighteenth
+century: keeping in close communication with the local authorities of
+the Yonne, and rewarding or punishing his men by posting their names
+with their records in the various cantons from which they were drawn.
+After fighting bravely under Dumouriez, it fell to the lot of the
+battalion to attempt to capture that general, when, after the battle of
+Neerwinden, he tried to betray his army to the Austrians. Soon after
+this the lieutenant-colonel had to throw up his command when the
+Convention decreed that no ci-devant noble could hold a commission; but
+Davout's record was so strongly republican that his friend Turreau had
+little difficulty in getting him reinstated in his rank, and sent to
+command a brigade of cavalry in the Army of the Moselle. Except for two
+years during which he was at home on parole, after the capture of
+Mannheim, the general was on active service in the Rhine valley till the
+peace of Campo Formio in 1797. During these years he steadily added to
+his reputation as a stern commander and a stubborn fighter, and as such
+attracted the attention of Desaix, who introduced him early in 1798 to
+Bonaparte. The future Emperor saw at a glance that this small, stout,
+bald-headed young man had qualities which few others possessed.
+Accordingly he took him with him to Egypt. Like all who met the young
+Napoleon, Davout fell entirely beneath his spell. In spite of the fact
+that he was not included among the few friends whom Bonaparte selected
+to return with him in 1800, his enthusiasm for the First Consul
+increased day by day. Returning to France with Desaix, just before the
+Marengo campaign, he at once hastened to Paris to congratulate the new
+head of the Government. Davout's republicanism had received many shocks.
+Like all other honourable men, he had hated and loathed the Terror.
+Moreover, he had seen on service how little the preachers of the
+equality of man carried out their doctrine in practice. As early as 1794
+we find him writing to a friend: "Ought we to be exposed to the tyranny
+of any chance revolutionary committee or club?... Why are not all
+Frenchmen witnesses of fraternity and of the republican virtues which
+reign in our camps; we have no brigands here, but have we not plenty at
+home?" Bonaparte knew well that Davout was not only his enthusiastic
+personal follower, but also thoroughly approved of the coup d'état of
+the 18th Brumaire, and in his desire for peace and stability at home
+would warmly back him up in his scheme of founding a tyranny under the
+guise of an Imperial Republic. Accordingly the First Consul published a
+most flattering account of him in the official _Moniteur_, and gave him
+command of the cavalry of the Army of Italy, under General Brune. In
+June, 1801, after the treaty of Lüneville, in pursuance of his plan of
+congregating his friends at headquarters, he recalled him to Paris as
+inspector-general of cavalry.
+
+It was while thus employed that Davout met his wife, Aimée Leclerc.
+Aimée, a sister of that Leclerc who married Pauline Bonaparte, had been
+educated at Madame Campan's school in Paris, along with the young
+Beauharnais and Bonapartes, and was the bosom friend of Caroline and
+Hortense. From many points of view the marriage was extremely
+appropriate; for although the Davouts belonged to the old nobility, and
+Aimée's father was only a corn merchant of Poitou, he had prospered in
+his business, and had been able to give his daughter an excellent
+education. The marriage brought Davout into close connection with the
+First Consul's family, and was successful from a worldly and a domestic
+point of view. The future Marshal was deeply attached to his wife, and
+spent every moment with her which he could snatch from his military
+duties. When absent on service scarcely a day passed on which he did not
+write to her, and his happiness was completely bound up in her welfare
+and that of his large family. The year following their marriage the
+Davouts bought the beautiful estate of Savigny-sur-Orge for the sum of
+seven hundred thousand francs. This was a great strain on their rather
+limited resources, and for some years they had to practise strict
+economy.
+
+In September, 1803, the general was summoned to Bruges to command a
+corps of the Army of the Ocean, which later became the third corps of
+the Grand Army. There, in close communication with his great chief, he
+began to show those traits which made him respected as the most
+relentless and careful administrator of all the Marshals of France. His
+energy was indefatigable; everything had to undergo his personal
+scrutiny, be it the best means of securing the embarkation of a company
+in one of the new barges or the careful inspection of the boots of a
+battalion: for Davout, like Wellington, knew that a soldier's marching
+powers depended on two things, his feet and his stomach, and every man
+in the third corps had to have two pairs of good boots in his valise and
+one on his feet. Secrecy also, in his eyes, was of prime importance; he
+was quick to give a lesson to all spies, or would-be spies, in Belgium,
+and it was with stern exultation in his duty that he wrote to the First
+Consul, "Your orders for the trial of the spy (Bülow) will be carried
+out, and within a week he will be executed." Day by day, as he gained
+experience, the indefatigable soldier drew on him the approbation of
+the First Consul, and it was with no sense of favouritism that Napoleon,
+when he became Emperor, nominated him among his newly-created Marshals,
+although in the eyes of the army at large he had not yet done enough to
+justify this choice.
+
+The campaign of 1805 gave the Marshal his first opportunity of handling
+large bodies of troops of all arms in the field, and, though it did not
+bring him into such conspicuous notice as Murat, Lannes, Soult and Ney,
+it justified Napoleon in his selection of him as worthy of the Marshal's
+bâton. In the operations round Ulm, Davout proved himself an excellent
+subordinate, whose corps was ever ready, at full strength, in the field,
+and at the hour at which it had been ordered, while the Marshal's stern
+checking of marauding was a new feature in French military discipline,
+and one which no other Marshal could successfully carry out without
+starving his troops. But it was Austerlitz which taught the students of
+war the true capabilities of this rising officer. There the Emperor,
+relying on his stubborn, methodical character, entrusted him with a duty
+which eminently suited his genius: he chose his corps as the screen to
+cover the trap which he set for the Russian left, and all day long it
+had to fight a stern rear-guard action against overwhelming odds, until
+it had tempted the enemy into dissipating his forces, and so weakening
+his centre that his left and right were defeated in detail. After
+Austerlitz, Davout was entrusted with the pursuit of the left wing of
+the Allies. Flushed with victory, the third corps pushed the
+disorganised enemy in hopeless rout, and it seemed as if the
+annihilation of the Russians was certain. Meanwhile, unknown to the
+Marshal, the Emperor had accepted the Czar's demands for an armistice.
+Davout first heard of the cessation of hostilities from the enemy, but,
+remembering Murat's mistake, he refused to halt his troops. "You want to
+deceive me," he said to the flag of truce; "you want to make a fool of
+me.... I am going to crush you, and that is the only order I have
+received." So the third corps pushed on, and it was only the production
+of a despatch in the handwriting of the Czar himself that caused the
+victor at last to stay his hand.
+
+[Illustration: LOUIS NICOLAS DAVOUT, PRINCE OF ECKMÜHL
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY GAUTHEROT]
+
+Though Davout emerged from the Austrian campaign with the reputation in
+the army of having at last earned his Marshal's bâton, to the general
+public he still appeared as "a little smooth-pated, unpretending man,
+who was never tired of waltzing," but the campaign of 1806 made him
+nearly the best known of all the Marshals. Auerstädt was a masterpiece
+of minor tactics. Napoleon, thinking that he had before him at Jena the
+whole of the Prussian army, summoned to his aid Bernadotte, and thus
+left Davout with a force of twenty-three thousand men isolated on his
+right wing, with orders to push forward and try to get astride of the
+enemy's line of retreat.
+
+It was in pursuance of this order that early in the morning of October
+14, 1806, the Marshal, at the head of the advance guard of his corps,
+crossed the river Saale at Kösen and proceeded to seize the defile
+beyond the bridge through which ran the road to Naumberg. True to his
+motto of never leaving to another anything which he could possibly do
+himself, he had personally, on the previous evening, carefully
+reconnoitred the line of advance, and knew the importance of the village
+of Hassenhausen at the further end of the defile. Hardly had his advance
+guard seized this position and the heights commanding the road, when
+through the fog they saw approaching the masses of the enemy's cavalry;
+the fiery Prussian commander, Blücher, at once hastened to the attack,
+and again and again led his horsemen to the charge. Meanwhile Brunswick
+counter-ordered the retreat of the infantry and artillery. Soon the
+whole of the Prussian army, forty-five thousand strong, was engaged in
+the attempt to crush the small French force. But the Marshal was in his
+element, carefully husbanding his resources only to hurl them into the
+fray at the critical moment; feinting at his enemy's flanks; utilising
+every feature of the ground to prolong his resistance; galloping from
+square to square, his uniform black from powder, his cocked hat carried
+off by a bullet, encouraging his troops with short, sharp words, crying
+out, "The great Frederick believed that God gave the victory to the big
+battalions, but he lied; it is the obstinate people that win, and that's
+you and your general." From six in the morning the battle raged, but
+towards mid-day the Prussians, finding that they could make no
+impression on the enemy, began to slacken their attack. Davout seized
+the psychological moment to order his whole line to advance. Thereon the
+King of Prussia commanded his forces to retire, leaving a strong rear
+guard under Kalkreuth to prevent the French pursuit. But the French were
+in no condition to carry on an active pursuit, for out of twenty-three
+thousand men engaged they had lost almost eight thousand killed or
+wounded. It is quite true that man for man the French soldier in 1806
+was superior in intelligence and patriotism to the Prussian, that the
+French staff was infinitely superior to the Prussian staff, and that
+there was no comparison between the morale of the two armies; but that
+alone does not explain how an army half the size of the enemy, caught as
+it was in the act of deploying from a defile, not only was not beaten
+absolutely, but actually defeated the superior force. The secret of the
+French success at Auerstädt lay in the character of their general. It
+was Davout's careful reconnaissance, his quickness to perceive in
+Hassenhausen the key of the position, his careful crowning of the
+heights covering the defile, the masterly way in which, while massing
+his men in the open to resist Blücher's fierce charges, he at the same
+time contrived so to expand his line as to threaten the flanks of his
+vastly superior foe, his indomitable courage in throwing his last
+reserve into the firing line, and his audacious counter-attack the
+moment he saw the Prussians wavering, which saved his force from what
+at the time looked like annihilation, and by sheer downright courage
+and self-confidence turned defeat into victory.
+
+Pleased as the Emperor was at his lieutenant's victory, and much as he
+admired the way in which his subordinate had copied his own methods,
+showing that inflexibility of purpose, absolute disregard of the opinion
+of others, and unswerving belief in his own capacity which he knew were
+the factors of his own success, it did not suit his policy that a
+subordinate should attract the admiration of the army at large.
+Accordingly in his bulletins he glossed over the part played by Davout
+and belittled his success, but in his private letters he warmly praised
+the Marshal's courage and ability. Further, to reward him for lack of
+official praise, he gave the third corps the place of honour at the
+grand march past held at Berlin, when the inhabitants of the capital of
+Frederick the Great saw for the first time, with mingled hatred and
+surprise, "the lively, impudent, mean-looking little fellows" who had
+thrashed their own magnificent troops. On the following day the Emperor
+inspected the third corps, and thanked the officers and men for the
+great services they had rendered him, and paid a tribute to "the brave
+men I have lost, whom I regret as it were my own children, but who died
+on the field of honour." Pleased as the Marshal was with this somewhat
+tardy acknowledgment of his achievement, he was in no way inflated with
+pride; as General Ségur says of him: "Those who knew him best say that
+there was a sort of flavour of a bygone age in his inflexibility; stern
+towards himself and towards others, and above all in that stoical
+simplicity, high above all vanity, with which he ever strode forward,
+with shoulders square, and full intent to the accomplishment of his
+duty." But though success brought no pride in its train, it brought its
+burdens: the jealousy of the other Marshals was barely concealed, and as
+Davout wrote to his wife, "I am more than ever in need of the Emperor's
+goodwill ... few of my colleagues pardon me the good fortune the third
+corps had in beating the King of Prussia."
+
+A winter spent in Poland amid these jealousies and far from his family
+was only endurable because of his attachment to the service and person
+of the Emperor. Immediately on entering the country which he was to
+govern for the next two years, the Marshal summed up the situation at a
+glance, and told the Emperor that the nobility would throw cold water on
+all schemes unless the French guaranteed them their independence.
+
+With the spring of 1807 came the last phase of the war. At Heilsberg,
+Davout fought well, and two days later took his part in the great battle
+of Eylau, the most bloody of all Napoleon's battles. Bennigsen, the
+Russian commander, had turned at bay on his pursuers. On the morning of
+February 8th the French corps came hurrying up from all sides at the
+Emperor's commands. It was not, however, till mid-day that the third
+corps arrived on the scene of the action. Heavy snow blizzards obscured
+the scene, but the struggle raged fiercely on all sides, the Russians
+fighting like bulls, as the French said. The Emperor, on Davout's
+arrival, placed his corps on the right and ordered him to advance, but
+the enemy's cavalry and artillery effectually barred his way. All day
+long the contest lasted, men fighting hand to hand in a confused mêlée.
+All day long Davout, with obstinate courage, clung to the village which
+he seized in the morning, whence he threatened the Russian line of
+retreat. When night came he still held his position; at last the
+Emperor, fearing a renewal of the fight on the next day, gave orders at
+eight o'clock for the third corps to fall back on Eylau. But the
+Marshal, hearing of the commencement of the Russian retreat, disobeyed
+the Emperor, and thus, by his bold front, in conjunction with Soult, he
+was mainly instrumental in causing the enemy to leave the field. If
+Davout had been less obstinate, the French would have had to fight
+another battle on the following day, but thanks to him they were spared
+this fate, and the twenty-five thousand dead and wounded Frenchmen had
+not spent their blood in vain. The third corps escaped the horrors of
+Friedland, as it had been detached to intercept the enemy's line of
+retreat in the direction of Königsberg, and Tilsit saw the end of
+Davout's second campaign against the Russians.
+
+But peace did not bring the opportunity of returning to his beloved
+France and the joys of home life; the Emperor in peace, as in war, could
+not spare the great administrative capacity, the stern discipline, and
+the rigid probity of the Marshal. "It is quite fair that I should give
+him enormous presents," said the Emperor, "for he takes no perquisites."
+So Davout found himself established nominally as commander of the army
+of occupation, and really as special adviser to the Government of the
+newly constituted Grand Duchy of Warsaw. It was a situation that
+required infinite tact, patience, and a stern will. The Poles longed for
+a restored kingdom of Poland. The Emperor could not grant this without
+offending his new friend the Czar, who, with the Emperor of Austria,
+looked with suspicion on the experiment of creating a Grand Duchy. So on
+one side the Marshal had to try to inspire confidence in the Poles by
+pretending that the Grand Duchy was merely a temporary experiment in the
+larger policy of restoring the kingdom, while on the other hand he had
+to assure the Austrians and Russians that nothing was further from the
+Emperor's thoughts than creating a power at Warsaw dangerous to them.
+Meanwhile there was plenty of occupation in getting provisions for his
+troops in a land always poor and but lately devastated by war, and in
+attempting to maintain order in a country full of adventurers where
+police were unknown. It was useless to attempt to get assistance from
+the Government, for there was no organisation, no division of duties
+among the different ministers, and nobody knew what his own particular
+business was. The situation was well summed up in a caricature which
+showed the ministers nicely dressed in their various uniforms but
+without heads. It was well for the new Government that they had at their
+side such a stern, disinterested adviser as Davout, ready to take the
+initiative and accept the responsibility of any act which he thought
+good for the community. Under his supervision the ministers' spheres of
+action were duly arranged: the state was saved from bankruptcy by
+importing bullion from Prussia and deporting the adventurers who were
+filling their own coffers by draining the money from the country. The
+monks who preached against the Government and fanned popular discontent
+were three times given twenty-four hours' notice to put their houses in
+order, and then quietly escorted across the frontier. A strong Polish
+force was raised, armed and equipped by Prince Poniatowski under the
+Marshal's supervision. As a reward for his labours the Emperor granted
+Davout three hundred thousand francs to buy a town house in Paris, and
+followed this up, in May, 1808, by creating him Duke of Auerstädt. But
+what pleased the Marshal more than all was that the Emperor allowed the
+Duchess to join him at Warsaw. This was a politic move, for the Emperor,
+knowing well the secret intention of Austria, could not afford to
+withdraw the warden of the marches from his outpost at Warsaw; but by
+sending the Duchess of Auerstädt to Poland he kept his faithful
+lieutenant content. However, the Duchess's visit to Poland was not a
+long one. By September, 1808, it became certain that Austria was making
+immense efforts to recover her possessions, and accordingly Napoleon
+very wisely began to concentrate his troops in Central Europe, and the
+Duke of Auerstädt's corps was recalled to Silesia in October, and was
+incorporated with the French troops in Prussia under the designation of
+the Army of the Rhine.
+
+During the winter the Marshal was fully occupied in forcing Prussia to
+drain to the last dregs her cup of humiliation: extorting from her the
+immense ransom Napoleon had laid on her, and crushing her attempts at
+regeneration by hounding out of the country the patriotic Stein and his
+band of fellow-workers. From his cantonments round Berlin Davout was
+summoned in 1809 to take part in another struggle with Austria. The
+campaign opened disastrously for the French. The Archduke Charles
+commenced operations earlier than Napoleon had calculated, and
+accordingly the Grand Army found itself under the feeble command of the
+chief of the staff. Berthier, in blind obedience to the Emperor, who had
+misread the situation, was compelled to neglect the first principles of
+war and to attempt to block all possible lines of advance instead of
+concentrating in a strategic position. In consequence of this, the Duke
+of Auerstädt, in spite of his official protests, found himself at
+Ratisbon, isolated from the rest of the army, with no support within
+forty miles. From this dangerous position he was saved by the arrival of
+the Emperor at headquarters, who, recognising his own mistakes,
+immediately ordered a concentration on Abensberg. The retreat, or rather
+the flank march, in the face of eighty thousand Austrians under the
+Archduke Charles, was successfully carried out, thanks to the stubborn
+fighting of the troops and the lucky intervention of a tremendous
+thunderstorm, which forced the enemy to give up their attack at the
+critical moment when the French were crossing a difficult defile. Two
+days later the Emperor once again tested Davout's stubborn qualities,
+entrusting him with the duty of containing the main Austrian force while
+he disposed of the rest of the enemy. The result was the three days'
+fighting at Eckmühl; during the first two, Davout, unaided, held his own
+till on the third the Emperor arrived with supports and gave the
+Austrians the coup-de-grâce, but rewarded the Marshal for his tenacity
+by bestowing on him the title of Prince of Eckmühl.
+
+Though his corps was not actually engaged at the battle of
+Aspern-Essling the Marshal had a large share in preventing a complete
+catastrophe. As soon as he heard of the breaking of the bridge he set
+about to organise a flotilla of boats, and it was thanks to the supplies
+of ammunition thus ferried across that the French troops on the north
+bank were able to hold their own and cover the retreat to the Isle of
+Lobau. While both sides were concentrating every available man for the
+great battle of Wagram, Davout was entrusted with the task of watching
+the Archduke John, whose army at Pressburg was the rallying point for
+the Hungarians. The moment the French preparations were complete, the
+Marshal, leaving a strong screen in front of the Archduke, swiftly fell
+back on the Isle of Lobau, and by thus hoodwinking the Archduke gave the
+Emperor an advantage of fifty thousand troops over the enemy. The Prince
+of Eckmühl's duty at the battle of Wagram was to turn the left flank of
+the enemy and, while interposing his corps between the two Archdukes, at
+the same time to threaten the enemy's rear and give an opportunity to
+the French centre to drive home a successful attack. It was a most
+difficult and dangerous operation, for at any moment the Archduke John
+might appear on the exposed right flank. Whilst Davout was marching and
+fighting to achieve his purpose, the main battle went against the
+French. The left and centre were thrown back, and it seemed as if the
+Austrians were bound to capture the bridge at Enzerdorff. Amid cries of
+"All is lost!" the French reserve artillery and baggage trains fled in
+confusion. But relief came at the critical moment, for the Prince of
+Eckmühl, hurling his steel-clad cuirassiers on the unbroken Austrian
+foot, losing nearly all his generals in the desperate hand-to-hand
+fighting on the slopes of the Neusiedel, at last gained the top of the
+plateau and forced the enemy to throw back his left flank and weaken his
+centre. The moment the Emperor saw the guns appear on the summit of the
+Neusiedel, he launched Macdonald's corps against the Austrian centre and
+sent his aide-de-camp to Masséna to tell him "to commence the attack ...
+the battle is gained." But Davout was unable to pursue his advantage
+over the enemy's left, for at the moment he gained the top of the
+plateau news arrived that Prince John's advance guard was in touch with
+his scouts; accordingly he halted and drew up in battle formation, ready
+at any moment to face the Hungarian troops should they attempt to attack
+his rear. Fortunately for the French the Archduke John forgot that an
+enemy is never so weak as after a successful attack, and instead of
+hurling his fresh troops on the weakened and disorganised French, he
+halted, and withdrew after dark towards Pressburg. When, during the
+pursuit of the battle, the Archduke Charles sent in a flag of truce
+offering to discuss terms, the Emperor called a council of war. There
+was a certain amount of difference of opinion, but Davout was for
+continuing the fight, pointing out that "once master of the road from
+Brünn, in two hours it would be possible to concentrate thirty thousand
+men across the Archduke's line of retreat." The Marshal's arguments
+seemed about to prevail when news arrived that Bruyère, commanding the
+cavalry, was seriously wounded. Thereon the Emperor changed his mind,
+crying out, "Look at it: death hovers over all my generals. Who knows
+but that within two hours I shall not hear that you are taken off? No;
+enough blood has been spilled; I accept the suspension of hostilities."
+
+After the evacuation of the conquered territories the Marshal was
+appointed to command the Army of Germany. His duties were to enforce the
+continental system and to keep a stern eye on Prussia. The marriage with
+Marie Louise for the time being relieved tension in Central Europe, and
+accordingly in 1810 Davout was able to enjoy long periods of leave. He
+was present as colonel-general of the Guard at the imperial wedding, and
+at the interment of Lannes's remains in the Panthéon, and he did his
+turn of duty as general in attendance on the imperial household. His
+letters to his wife throw an interesting light on the imperial ménage.
+The officers in attendance were supplied with good, comfortable rooms
+and food, but had to find their own linen, plates, wax candles,
+firewood, and kitchen utensils; in a postscript he adds, "Not only must
+you send me all the above, but add towels, sheets, pillow-cases, &c.;
+until these arrive I have to sleep on the bare mattress."
+
+In 1811 the growing hostility of Russia required the attendance of the
+Prince of Eckmühl at the headquarters of his command. Napoleon knew well
+that nobody would be quicker to discern any secret movement hostile to
+his interests than the man who in 1808 had done so much to check the
+regeneration of Prussia by enforcing his orders, playing on the Prussian
+King's fears and exposing the cleverness of the proposals of the
+patriotic Stein. The Marshal reached his headquarters at Hamburg early
+in February, and soon found his hands full. It was no longer a question
+of so disposing the corps committed to his care that he might cripple
+the English, "who since the time of Cromwell have played the game of
+ruining our commerce," but of preparing a mixed force of French, Poles,
+and Saxons, amounting to one hundred and forty thousand, for the
+contingencies of a war with Russia, or for the absolute annihilation of
+Prussia. To no other of his Marshals did the Emperor entrust the command
+of one hundred and forty thousand troops, and consequently the old
+enmities and jealousies broke out with renewed force. It was whispered
+that the Marshal's income from his investments, pay, and perquisites was
+over two million francs a year; that nobody in the imperial family had
+anything like as much, and people said it was better to be a Davout than
+a Prince Royal. The Prince disregarded all the annoying scandal his wife
+sent him from Paris, and quietly busied himself with preparing transport
+and equipping magazines for the coming war, diversified by an occasional
+thundering declaration informing the King of Prussia that his secret
+schemes were well known to the French authorities. But the subterranean
+jealousies bore their fruit. Nobody had a good word to say for Davout,
+and there was nobody to take his part. Most disastrously for the Grand
+Army the misunderstanding which existed between Berthier and Davout
+prevented their co-operation; and thus during the Russian campaign the
+rash empty-headed Murat had greater weight with Napoleon than Davout,
+the cautious yet tenacious old fighter. Accordingly at the battle of
+Moskowa, when Napoleon had his last chance of annihilating the Russians,
+he refused to listen to the Marshal, who pleaded to be allowed to turn
+the Russian left during the night. "No," said the Emperor, "it is too
+big a movement; it will take me too much off my objective and make me
+lose time." Davout, sure of the wisdom of this advice, once again
+renewed his arguments, but the Emperor rudely interrupted him with "You
+are always for turning the enemy; it is too dangerous a movement." So
+the battle of Moskowa was a disastrous victory, opening as it did the
+gates of Moscow without the annihilation of the Russian armed forces in
+the field. But it was greatly due to the Marshal that it was a victory
+at all, for the Russians fought with the greatest stubbornness; nearly
+all the French generals were wounded or killed, and at one moment a
+panic seized the troops. Then it was that the Prince of Eckmühl himself
+rallied the broken battalions and led them to the charge. In spite of a
+wound in the pit of his stomach, with bare head and uniform encrusted
+with mud and blood, he forced his weary soldiers against the foe and, as
+at Auerstädt, by sheer indomitable courage, compelled his troops to beat
+the enemy. His corps bore its share in the horrors of the retreat from
+Moscow, forming for some time the rear guard.
+
+When Napoleon deserted the relics of the Grand Army at Vilma the
+Marshal's difficulties naturally increased, for his enemy Murat was now
+in command, and, as he wrote to his wife earlier in the campaign, "I am
+worth ten times as much when the Emperor is present, for he alone can
+put order into this great complicated machine." But the King of Naples
+did not long retain his command: he had not Davout's confidence in
+Napoleon and was disgusted with the ill-success of the campaign and
+afraid of losing his crown. The Marshal, ever loyal to the Emperor,
+would listen to none of the Gascon's diatribes, and told him plainly,
+"You are only King by the grace of Napoleon and by the blood of brave
+Frenchmen. You can only remain King by Napoleon's aid, and by remaining
+united to France. It is black ingratitude which blinds you." So Murat
+went off to Italy to plan treason, and Davout returned to Germany to
+place his life and reputation at the Emperor's service.
+
+It fell to the Marshal's lot in 1813 to hold Northern Germany as part of
+the plan of campaign whereby the advance of the Allies was to be
+checked. The Emperor had determined to make an example of the town of
+Hamburg, to teach other German cities the fate to be expected by those
+who deserted him. His orders were that all those who had taken any share
+in the desertion were to be arrested and their goods sequestrated, and
+that a contribution of fifty million francs was to be paid by the towns
+of Lübeck and Hamburg. The Marshal carried out his orders. Hamburg
+writhed impotent at his feet and the "heavy arm of justice fell on the
+canaille." Only in the case of the contribution did he make any
+deviation from the Emperor's wishes, as it was inexpedient to drive all
+the wealthy people out of the state. In pursuance of the Emperor's
+plans, by the winter of 1813 Davout had made Hamburg impregnable. He had
+laid in huge supplies, and built a bridge of wood two leagues long
+joining Haarburg and Hamburg. With a garrison of thirty thousand men,
+danger threatened from within rather than from without, for Napoleon's
+bitter punishment of Hamburg, ending as it did with the seizure of eight
+million marks from the funds of the city bank, had made the name of
+France stink in the nostrils of the inhabitants. The Marshal was
+determined to hold the town to the last. In December, when provisions
+began to fail, the poor were banished from the city; those who refused
+to go were threatened with fifty blows of the cane. "At the end of
+December people without distinction of sex or age were dragged from
+their beds and conveyed out of the town." During the siege the Russian
+commander, Bennigsen, attempted by means of spies and proclamations to
+raise a rebellion in the fortress, but Davout's grip was too firm to be
+shaken, and a few executions cooled the ardour of the spies. It was not
+till April 15th that the Marshal was informed by a flag of truce of the
+fall of the Empire; not certain of the truth of the news, he refused to
+give up his command. At last, on April 28th, official news arrived from
+Paris, and on the following day the fifteen thousand men who remained of
+the original garrison of thirty thousand swore allegiance to the
+Bourbons and mounted the white cockade.
+
+On May 11th General Gerard arrived to relieve Davout of his command. On
+his arrival in France the Prince of Eckmühl found himself charged with
+having fired on the white flag after being informed of Napoleon's
+abdication, of appropriating the funds of the Bank of Hamburg, and of
+committing arbitrary acts which caused the French name to become odious.
+His reply was first that until he had received official information of
+the fall of the Empire it was his duty to take measures to prevent
+Hamburg being surprised; that the appropriation of the funds of the bank
+was the only means of finding money to hold Hamburg; that he was not
+responsible for the continental system, and as a soldier he had only
+obeyed commands; that as a matter of fact he had contrived to have the
+heavy contribution lightened, and lastly, that during the siege he had
+only had two spies shot and one French soldier executed for purloining
+hospital stores. But in spite of his defence and the prayers of his
+fellow Marshals Louis refused to allow Davout to take the oath of
+allegiance, and accordingly when, in 1815, Napoleon returned from Elba,
+the Prince of Eckmühl alone of all the Marshals could hasten to the
+Emperor without a stain on his honour.
+
+Immediately on his return the Emperor made a great call on the
+faithfulness of his friend, and told him he had chosen him as Minister
+of War. The Marshal begged for service in the field, but the Emperor was
+firm; Davout alone had held to him and all others had the Bourbon taint.
+Still the Marshal refused, pleading his brusque manners and well-known
+harshness; but at last the Emperor appealed to his pity, pointing out
+that all Europe was against him, and asking him if he also was going to
+abandon his sovereign. Thereon the Marshal accepted the post. It was no
+light burden that he had undertaken, prince of martinets though he was,
+to regenerate an army scattered to the winds. Everything was
+lacking--men, horses, guns, transports, stores, and ammunition. Yet he
+worked wonders, and by the beginning of June the Emperor had a field
+army of one hundred and twenty thousand men, with another quarter of a
+million troops in formation in France. On the return of the Emperor to
+Paris after the disaster at Waterloo the Marshal in vain besought him to
+dissolve the assemblies and proclaim a dictatorship, but Napoleon's
+spirit was broken and the favourable moment passed by. Meanwhile, the
+Emperor remained in idleness at Malmaison, and by the 28th of June the
+Prussians arrived near Paris with the intention of capturing him; but
+the Prince of Eckmühl warded off the danger by barricading or burning
+the bridges across the Seine and manoeuvring sixty thousand troops in
+front of Blücher. Thanks to this Napoleon escaped to Rochfort, and owed
+his safety to Davout, for Blücher had sworn to catch him, dead or alive.
+
+On the evacuation of Paris the Marshal withdrew westwards with the
+remnant of the imperial army, now called the Army of the Loire. But as
+soon as Louis had once again ascended the throne he relieved Davout,
+making Gouvion St. Cyr Minister of War and Macdonald commander of the
+Army of the Loire. The Marshal spent some months in exile, but was
+allowed to return to France in 1816. However the mutual distrust between
+him and the Bourbons could not be overcome, and, although he took the
+oath of allegiance and received the cross of St. Louis, he never
+attempted to return to public life, and died of an attack of pleurisy on
+June 1, 1823.
+
+The causes of the success of the Prince of Eckmühl are easy to
+ascertain: acute perception, doggedness of purpose, and a devotion which
+never faltered or failed, are gifts which are bound to bring success
+when added to an exceptional run of good fortune. Among the Marshals
+there were many, no doubt, who had as quick a perception and as vivid an
+imagination as Davout, but there was no one who had his massive
+doggedness and determination, and Bessières alone perhaps surpassed him
+in personal devotion to the Emperor. Much as we may see to blame in his
+untiring hounding down of the patriot Stein in Prussia, in his cruel
+exactions in Hamburg, and in the remorseless way he treated spies and
+deserters, we must remember that he did it all from motives of
+patriotism. Moreover, we cannot fail to admire a man who made it a
+principle, when he had received rigorous orders, to accept all the odium
+arising from their performance because he considered that, since the
+sovereign is permanent and the officials are changeable, it is important
+that officials should brave the temporary odium of measures which are
+but temporary. In his opinion the phrase, "If the King only knew," was a
+precious illusion which was one of the foundation-stones of all
+government: thus it was that in carrying out severe orders the Marshal
+never attempted to shield himself behind the name of the Emperor.
+
+It was therefore from a spirit of patriotism, as the servant of the
+French Emperor, that Davout pressed relentlessly on those who tried to
+shake off the yoke of France. Stern as his nature was, he did not
+disguise from himself that his policy bore hardly on the conquered, for
+when Napoleon asked him, "How would you behave if I made you King of
+Poland?" he replied, "When a man has the honour to be a Frenchman, he
+must always be a Frenchman," but he added, "From the day on which I
+accepted the crown of Poland I would become entirely and solely a Pole,
+and I would act in complete contradiction to your Majesty if the
+interests of the people whose chief I was demanded that I should do so."
+As a soldier and an administrator, though he is rightly called the
+prince of martinets, yet nothing was more abhorrent to his eyes than red
+tape. Efficiency was everything, and efficiency he considered was only
+to be gained by personal inspection of detail considered in relation to
+existing conditions, and not by blind obedience to hard and fast rules.
+It was this habit of mind and readiness for all contingencies which won
+for him his titles of Duke of Auerstädt and Prince of Eckmühl, and made
+him the right-hand man of the great Emperor, who confessed that, "If I
+am always prepared, it is because before entering on an undertaking, I
+have meditated for long and foreseen what may occur. It is not genius
+which reveals to me suddenly and secretly what I should do in
+circumstances unforeseen by others: it is thought and meditation."
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+JACQUES ÉTIENNE JOSEPH ALEXANDRE MACDONALD, MARSHAL, DUKE OF TARENTUM
+
+
+Jacques Étienne Joseph Alexandre Macdonald, Duke of Tarentum, was the
+son of a Uist crofter, Macachaim. The Macachaims of Uist were a far-off
+sept of the Macdonalds of Clanranald. The future Marshal's father was
+educated at the Scots College in Paris, and was for some time a tutor in
+Clanranald's household. Owing to his knowledge of French he was
+entrusted with the duty of helping Flora Macdonald to arrange the escape
+of Prince Charles. He accompanied the Prince to France, and obtained a
+commission in Ogilvie's regiment of foot. In 1768 Vall Macachaim, or
+Neil Macdonald, as he was called in France, retired on a pension of
+thirty pounds a year. On this pittance he brought up his family at
+Sancerre. The future Marshal was born at Sedan on November 17, 1765. He
+was educated for the army at a military academy in Paris, kept by a
+Scotchman, Paulet, but, owing to bad mathematics, he was unable to enter
+the Artillery and Engineering School. This failure came as a bitter blow
+to the keen young soldier, who, after reading Homer, already imagined
+himself an Achilles. But in 1784 his chance came; the Dutch, threatened
+by the Emperor Joseph II., had to improvise an army, and Macdonald
+accepted a pair of colours in a regiment raised by a Frenchman, the
+Count de Maillebois. A few months later the regiment was disbanded, as
+the Dutch bought the peace they could not gain by arms. The young
+officer, thus thrown on his own resources, was glad to accept a
+cadetship in Dillon's Irish regiment in the French King's service, and
+at the moment the Revolution broke out he was a sub-lieutenant in that
+corps. Owing to emigration and the fortune of war, promotion came
+quickly. Macdonald also was lucky in having a friend in General
+Beurnonville, on whose staff he served till he was transferred to that
+of Dumouriez, the commander-in-chief. As a reward for his services at
+Jemmappes and elsewhere he was made lieutenant-colonel, and early in
+1793 his friend Beurnonville, who had become War Minister, gave him his
+colonelcy and the command of the Picardy regiment, one of the four
+senior corps of the old French infantry. The young colonel of
+twenty-eight could not expect to be always so favoured by fortune.
+Dumouriez's failure at Neerwinden and subsequent desertion to the Allies
+cast a cloud of suspicion on his protégé at a moment when to be
+suspected was to be condemned. Luckily, some of the Commissioners from
+the Convention could recognise merit, but Macdonald spent many anxious
+months amid denunciations and accusations from those who grudged him his
+colonelcy. To his intense surprise he was at last summoned before the
+dread Commissioners and told that, for his zeal, he was to be promoted
+general of brigade. Overcome by this unexpected turn of fortune, he
+wished to refuse the honour, and pleaded his youth and inexperience, and
+was promptly given the choice of accepting or becoming a "suspect" and
+being arrested. Safe for the moment, Macdonald threw himself heart and
+soul into his new duties, but still denunciations and accusations were
+hurled against him. Fresh Commissioners came from the Assembly, and it
+was only their fortunate recall to Paris that saved the general from
+arrest. Then came the decree banishing all "ci-devant" nobles.
+Macdonald, fearing after this order that if he met with the slightest
+check he would be greeted with cries of treachery, demanded written
+orders from the new Commissioners confirming him in his employment.
+These were refused, as also his resignation, with the curt reply, "If
+you leave the army we will have you arrested and brought to trial." In
+this dilemma he found a friend in the representative Isore, who, struck
+by his ability and industry, took up his cause, and from that moment
+Macdonald had nothing to fear from the revolutionary tribunal.
+
+[Illustration: JACQUES ÉTIENNE MACDONALD, DUKE OF TARENTUM
+FROM A LITHOGRAPH BY DELPECH]
+
+In November, 1794, he was quite unexpectedly gazetted general of
+division in the army of Pichegru, and took part in the winter campaign
+against Holland, where he proved his capacity by seizing the occasion of
+a hard frost to cross the Vaal on the ice and surprise the
+Anglo-Hanoverian force at Nimeguen. A few days later, during the general
+advance, he captured Naarden, the masterpiece of the great engineer
+Cohorn. Proud of his success, he hastened to inform the
+commander-in-chief, Pichegru, and was greeted by a laugh, and, "Bah! I
+pay no attention now to anything less than the surrender of provinces."
+The blasé commander-in-chief a week or two later himself performed the
+exploit of capturing the ice-bound Dutch fleet with a cavalry brigade
+and a battery of horse artillery.
+
+After serving on the Rhine in 1796 Macdonald was transferred in 1798 to
+the Army of Italy, and sent to Rome to relieve Gouvion St. Cyr. When war
+broke out between France and Naples, the troops in Southern Italy were
+formed into the Army of Naples under Championnet. The commander-in-chief
+overrated the fighting qualities of the Neapolitan troops and thought it
+prudent to evacuate Rome. Macdonald was entrusted with this duty, and
+was further required to cover the concentration of Championnet's army.
+The hard-headed Scotchman had, however, gauged to a nicety the morale of
+the Neapolitan army, and, although he had but five thousand troops
+against forty thousand Neapolitans, under the celebrated Austrian
+general Mack, he engaged the enemy at Cività Castellana, defeated them,
+followed them up, drove them out of Rome and over the frontier, and
+practically annihilated the whole force. Unfortunately he wrote a
+comical account of the operations to his chief, who, having no sense of
+humour, felt that his evacuation of Rome had, to say the least of it,
+been hurried and undignified. Championnet therefore greeted his
+victorious lieutenant with the words, "You want to make me pass for a
+damned fool," and no explanations could appease his rage. So bitter
+became the quarrel that Macdonald had to resign his command.
+
+By February, 1799, Championnet had fallen into disgrace with the
+Directory, and Macdonald was gazetted in his place commander-in-chief.
+When he arrived in Naples and took up his command the situation seemed
+quiet. But the far-seeing soldier read the signs of the times. The élite
+of the French army was locked up in Egypt. Austria and Russia were bent
+on extinguishing France and her revolutionary ideas. Accordingly the
+general at once set about quietly concentrating his troops to meet an
+invasion of Northern Italy by the Allies. With his keen military insight
+he desired to evacuate all Southern Italy, retaining only such
+fortresses as could be well supplied. But the principle of keeping
+everything gained the day. Still, on the news of Schérer's defeat at
+Magnano by the impetuous Suvaroff, the Army of Naples was ready at once
+to start for the north, and set off to try and pick up communication
+with General Moreau, who was re-forming the Army of Italy at Genoa. The
+idea was that a concentrated movement should be made against the Allies
+through the Apennines. Unfortunately there existed a bitter rivalry
+between the Army of Italy and the Army of Naples. Consequently on June
+17th Macdonald found himself with twenty-five thousand men near
+Piacenza, in the presence of the enemy, with no support save two
+divisions of the Army of Italy, which had come in from Bologna, and
+whose commanders were jealous of his orders. Still there was always the
+hope that Moreau might after all be coming to his assistance, and
+accordingly he determined to stand and fight. In the action of June
+17th, owing to the lack of co-operation from one of the attached
+divisions, the general was ridden over by a division of the enemy's
+cavalry. Carried about in a litter, he directed all movements during the
+18th, and held the enemy at bay along the mountain torrent of the
+Trebbia. On the 19th he determined to take the initiative, but, owing to
+the collapse of the attached division which formed his centre, he had to
+fall back on his old position, which he held throughout the whole day.
+During the three days' fighting on the Trebbia the French had lost a
+third of their men and nearly all their officers. Still, early on the
+morning of the 20th the retreat was effected in good order, save that
+one of the attached divisions under Victor started so late that it was
+overtaken by the enemy and abandoned all its guns. But Macdonald at once
+returned to its aid and saved the artillery, for, as he sarcastically
+wrote to Victor, "he found neither friends nor foes." Both sides had run
+away.
+
+The battle of the Trebbia brought into notice the sterling qualities of
+the French commander, and when he was recalled to Paris he found that
+military opinion was on his side and that Bonaparte himself highly
+approved of his conduct. "Thenceforward the opinion of my amphitryon was
+settled in my favour!" Macdonald's next employment was in command of the
+Army of the Grisons, whose duty was to cover Moreau's right rear in his
+advance down the Danube, and to keep up communication with the Army of
+Italy in the valley of the Po. It was in the performance of this duty
+that the Army of the Grisons crossed the Splügen Pass in winter in spite
+of glaciers and avalanches, a feat immeasurably superior to Bonaparte's
+task in crossing the much easier Great St. Bernard Pass, after the
+snows had melted. Unfortunately for Macdonald, Bonaparte believed him to
+belong to Moreau's faction. After Hohenlinden the future Emperor, who
+was afraid that Moreau's glory would outshine his own, placed all that
+general's friends on the black book. Further, owing to his
+outspokenness, Talleyrand had conceived a hatred of the hero of the
+Splügen. Accordingly, he found himself in deep disgrace. First he was
+exiled as ambassador at Copenhagen, then his enemies tried to get him
+sent to Russia in the same capacity, but he refused to go, and for the
+next few years lived the life of a quiet country gentleman on his estate
+of Courcelles le Roi. Like most of the generals, Macdonald was by now
+comparatively well off, for the French Government, on the conquest of a
+country, had allowed its generals to take what works of art they chose,
+after the Commissioners had selected the best for the national
+collection at the Louvre. The general's share as commander-in-chief at
+Naples had been valued by experts at thirty-four thousand pounds.
+Unfortunately, however, this booty and many masterpieces which he had
+bought himself were all lost in the hurried march north that ended in
+the battle of the Trebbia.
+
+It was not till 1809 that Macdonald was summoned from his retreat. In
+that year the Emperor needed every soldier of ability, with the Spanish
+ulcer eating at his vitals and the war with Austria on his hands.
+Accordingly, at a day's notice, he was ordered to hurry off to Italy to
+help Napoleon's stepson, Prince Eugène, who was opposed by an Austrian
+army under the Archduke John.
+
+On arriving in Italy the old soldier found that Prince Eugène,
+unaccustomed to an independent command, had opened the gate of Italy to
+the Austrians by his impetuous action at Sacile. The French troops were
+in complete disorganisation, and the slightest activity on the part of
+the Austrians would have turned the retreat into a rout. Prince Eugène,
+who was without a spark of jealousy, and in reality a man of
+considerable character, greeted his mentor with delight. Macdonald at
+once pointed out that it was unnecessary to retire as far as Mantua,
+because the Archduke would not venture to penetrate far into Italy until
+a decision had been arrived at between the main armies on the Danube.
+Under his careful supervision, order and discipline were restored among
+the French troops on the line of the Adige. The news of the French
+success at Eckmühl and Ratisbon automatically cleared the Austrians out
+of Northern Italy. During the pursuit the general had to impose on
+himself the severest self-control, because, though Prince Eugène
+invariably accepted his advice, the disaster at Sacile had for the time
+broken his nerve, and, again and again, he spoiled his mentor's best
+combinations by ordering a halt whenever the enemy appeared to be going
+to offer any resistance. It was hard indeed to accept subsequent
+apologies with a courteous smile, when it was success alone that would
+win back the Emperor's favour. But at last patience had its reward:
+while the viceroy himself pursued the main force of the enemy, he
+detached his lieutenant with a strong corps to take Trieste and to pick
+up communication with Marmont, who was bringing up the army of Dalmatia.
+Macdonald was given carte blanche. Trieste and Görz were taken; the
+junction with Marmont was speedily effected, and the combined forces
+hurried on towards Vienna. The great entrenched camp at Laybach blocked
+the way. Macdonald had not the necessary heavy artillery with which to
+capture it. He determined therefore to make a threatening demonstration
+by day and slip past it by night. But at ten o'clock in the evening a
+flag of truce arrived offering a capitulation. "You are doing wisely,"
+said the imperturbable Scotchman; "I was just going to sound the
+attack."
+
+At Gratz he overtook Prince Eugène's army at the moment that the ill
+news of the battle of Aspern-Essling arrived. Then came the summons to
+hurry to the assistance of the Emperor. After marching sixty leagues in
+three days the Army of Italy arrived at nine o'clock at night on July
+4th at the imperial headquarters at Ebersdorf. During that night it
+crossed the Danube, under cover of the terrific thunderstorm which hid
+the French advance from the Austrians. On the afternoon of July 5th it
+fell to the lot of Macdonald to attempt to seize the plateau which
+formed the Austrian centre. As the general well knew, the Emperor had
+been mistaken in thinking that the enemy were evacuating their position;
+still, he had to obey orders, and night alone saved his cruelly shaken
+battalions. Next day was fought the terrible battle of Wagram. At the
+critical moment of the fight, when the Emperor heard that Masséna, on
+his left wing, was being driven in on the bridge-head, amid the
+confusion and rout he ordered Macdonald to attempt by a bold
+counter-stroke to break the enemy's centre. The Austrians were advancing
+in masses, with nothing in front of them, and the bridge, the only line
+of retreat, was threatened. To meet this situation Macdonald deployed
+four battalions in line, at the double; behind them he formed up the
+rest of his corps in two solid columns, and closed the rear of this
+immense rectangle of troops by Nansouty's cavalry. Covered by the fire
+of a massed battery of a hundred guns, he discharged this huge body of
+thirty thousand troops against the Austrians, and in spite of vast
+losses from the enemy's artillery, by sheer weight of human beings he
+completely checked the Austrian advance and broke their centre. If the
+cavalry of the Guard had only charged home the enemy would have been
+driven off the field in complete rout. Still unsupported, the column
+continued its victorious career, taking six thousand prisoners and ten
+guns, the only trophies of the day. Next morning the hero of Wagram,
+lame from the effect of a kick from his horse, was summoned before the
+Emperor.
+
+Napoleon embraced him with the words, "Let us be friends." "Till death,"
+replied his staunch lieutenant. Then came his reward. "You have behaved
+valiantly," continued the Emperor, "and have rendered me the greatest
+services, as, indeed, throughout the entire campaign. On the battlefield
+of your glory, where I owe you so large a share of yesterday's success,
+I make you a Marshal of France. You have long deserved it."
+
+After the ratification of peace, the Emperor created his new Marshal
+Duke of Tarentum, granted him a present of sixty thousand francs, and
+presented him with the Grand Cordon of the Legion of Honour. Having at
+last regained the Emperor's favour, the Marshal had never again to
+complain of lack of employment. From Wagram he was sent to watch the
+army of the Archduke John; thereafter he was appointed
+commander-in-chief of the Army of Italy. In 1810 he was despatched to
+Spain to take command in Catalonia. Like his fellow Marshals, Macdonald
+hated the Spanish war, which was a war of posts, and devoid of glory.
+But he showed his versatility by capturing, without artillery, the
+stronghold of Figueras.
+
+It was while suffering from a bad attack of gout after this success that
+he was summoned from Spain to Tilsit, to command the corps comprised of
+Prussian troops which was to join the Grand Army in its advance into
+Russia. As he graphically put it, "I had left my armchair in the
+fortress of Figueras, I left one crutch in Paris and the other in
+Berlin." The Duke of Tarentum's duty was to guard the tête-du-pont at
+Dunaberg, near the mouth of the Dwina; consequently he was spared a
+great many of the horrors of the terrible retreat. Still, he had his
+full share of troubles, for the Prussians deserted him and went over to
+the enemy. So confident was he of the loyalty of his subordinates that
+this desertion took him quite unawares, and, in spite of warnings, he
+waited for the divisions to rejoin him, declaring that, "My life, my
+career, shall never be stained with the reproach that I have committed
+the cowardly action of deserting troops committed to my care."
+Fortunately his eyes were opened by letters which he intercepted. With a
+handful of troops he escaped to Dantzig. On returning to Paris Macdonald
+was greeted with a cold reception by the Emperor, who thought that the
+desertion of the Prussians was due to his negligence. But the Marshal's
+character was soon cleared and a reconciliation followed. In the
+campaign of 1813 it fell to the lot of the Duke of Tarentum to watch the
+Prussian army under Blücher in Silesia while the Emperor operated
+against the Austrians round Dresden. Whilst thus employed he was
+defeated on August 26th at the Katzbach. The Prussians had established
+themselves on the heights at Jauer. Macdonald attempted, by a combined
+frontal attack and a turning movement, to dislodge them. Unfortunately
+the rain came down in torrents, the French artillery became embedded in
+the mud, the infantry could not fire, the cavalry could not charge, and
+a hurried retreat alone saved the Army from absolute annihilation, for,
+as Macdonald wrote in his despatch, "The generals cannot prevent the men
+from seeking shelter, as their muskets are useless to them."
+
+The repulse at the Katzbach did not weaken the Emperor's esteem for the
+Marshal, and a few days later he sent to inquire his views of the
+general situation. With absolute courage he told the truth. The
+situation was hopeless; the only wise course was to evacuate all
+garrisons in Germany and retire on the Saale. Unfortunately, such a
+retirement would have meant the loss of Napoleon's throne.
+
+On the third day of the battle of Leipzig, in the midst of the action,
+Macdonald was deserted by all the Hessian troops under his command, and,
+at the same time, Marshal Augereau, who was supposed to cover his right,
+withdrew from the combat. Accordingly, the Marshal retired with the
+remnants of his corps to the Elster, only to find the bridge blown up.
+Dragged along by the crowd of fugitives, he determined not to fall alive
+into the hands of the enemy, but either to drown or shoot himself. More
+fortunate, however, than Prince Poniatowski, he managed to cross the
+river on his horse. Once safely across, he was greeted by cries from the
+other bank, "Monsieur le Maréchal, save your soldiers, save your
+children!" But there was nothing to be done; no advice could he give
+them save to surrender.
+
+The Duke of Tarentum was mainly instrumental in saving the remnants of
+the army which had managed to cross the Elster. Going straight to the
+Emperor, he laid the situation before him, ruthlessly tore aside the
+tissue of lies with which the staff were trying to cajole him, and, by
+his force of will, compelled Napoleon, who for the time was quite
+unnerved and mazed, to hurry on the retreat to the Rhine. It was
+entirely owing to the Marshal that the Bavarians were brushed aside at
+Hanau, and that some few remnants of the great army regained France.
+
+In the famous campaign of 1814 Macdonald fought fiercely to drive the
+enemy out of France. His corps was one of those which the Emperor
+summoned to Arcis sur Aube. There again he had to tell Napoleon the
+truth and convince him that the enemy were not retreating, but were in
+full advance on Paris. When the Emperor tried to retrieve his mistake by
+following in the rear, the Marshal was in favour of the bolder course of
+advancing into Alsace and Lorraine, and of raising the nation in arms,
+and thus starving out the Allies by cutting off their supplies and
+reinforcements; and no doubt he was right, for the Czar himself said
+that the Allies lost more than three thousand troops in the Vosges
+without seeing a single French soldier.
+
+When Napoleon reached Fontainebleau he found that he had shot his bolt.
+So tired were his officers and men of continual fighting that, when
+ordered to charge, a general officer in front of his men had called out,
+"Damn it, let us have peace!" Consequently when Macdonald and the other
+Marshals and generals were informed that the Allies would no longer
+treat with Napoleon, they determined to make him abdicate. The Emperor,
+on summoning his council, found that they no longer feared him, and
+refused to listen to his arguments. Hoping to save the throne for his
+son, he despatched Caulaincourt, Ney, Marmont, and Macdonald to the
+Czar, offering to abdicate. The best terms the Commissioners could get
+from the Czar were that Napoleon must give up all hope of seeing his son
+succeed him, but that he should retain his imperial title and should be
+allowed to rule the island of Elba. The Czar magnanimously added, "If he
+will not accept this sovereignty, and if he can find no shelter
+elsewhere, tell him, I say, to come to my dominions. There he shall be
+received as a sovereign: he can trust the word of Alexander."
+
+Ney and Marmont did not accompany the other Commissioners with their
+sorrowful terms; like rats they left the sinking ship. But Macdonald was
+of a strain which had stood the test of the '45, and his proud Scotch
+blood boiled up when the insidious Talleyrand suggested that he should
+desert his master, telling him that he had now fulfilled all his
+engagements and was free. "No, I am not," was the stern reply, "and
+nobody knows better than you that, as long as a treaty has not been
+ratified, it may be annulled. After that formality is ended, I shall
+know what to do." The stricken Emperor met his two faithful
+Commissioners, his face haggard, his complexion yellow and sickly, but
+for once at least he felt gratitude. "I have loaded with favours," he
+said, "many others who have now deserted and abandoned me. You, who owe
+me nothing, have remained faithful. I appreciate your loyalty too late,
+and I sincerely regret that I am now in a position in which I can only
+prove my gratitude by words."
+
+After Napoleon started for Elba, Macdonald never saw him again. Like all
+his fellow Marshals, except Davout, he swore allegiance to Louis XVIII.,
+looking on him as the only hope of France, but, unlike the most of them,
+he served him loyally, though, as he truly said, "The Government behaved
+like a sick man who is utterly indifferent to all around him." As a
+soldier and a liberal he could not disguise his repugnance for many of
+its measures. As secretary to the Chamber of Peers, he fought tooth and
+nail against the Government's first measure, a Bill attempting to
+restrict the liberties of the peers. The King summoned the Marshal and
+rebuked him for both speaking and voting against the Government, adding,
+"When I take the trouble to draw up a Bill, I have good reasons for
+wishing it to pass." But the old soldier, who had never feared to speak
+the truth to Napoleon himself, was not to be overawed by the attempted
+sternness of the feeble Bourbon. He pointed out that if all Bills
+presented by the King were bound to pass, "registration would serve
+equally well, since to you belongs the initiative," adding with quiet
+sarcasm, "and we must remain as mute as the late Corps Legislatif." The
+Chancellor stopped him as he left the King's presence, telling him he
+should show more reserve and pick his words. "Sir Chancellor," said the
+Marshal, "I have never learned to twist myself, and I pity the King if
+what he ought to know is concealed from him. For my part, I shall always
+speak to him honestly and serve him in the same manner."
+
+When neglect of the army, the partiality shown to favourites, and the
+general spirit of discontent throughout France tempted Napoleon once
+again to seize the reins of government, Macdonald was commanding the
+twenty-first military division at Bourges. As he says, "The news of the
+Emperor's return took away my breath, and I at once foresaw the
+misfortunes that have since settled upon France." Placing his duty to
+his country and his plighted faith before the longings of his heart, he
+remained faithful to the Bourbons. It was the Marshal who at Lyons
+vainly endeavoured to aid the Count of Artois to organise resistance to
+Napoleon's advance. It was he who showed the King the vanity of Ney's
+boast that he would bring back the Emperor in an iron cage, who
+impressed on him Napoleon's activity, and who persuaded him to retire
+northwards to Lille and there attempt to rally his friends to his aid.
+Ministers and King were only too thankful to leave all arrangements to
+this cautious, indefatigable soldier, who supervised everything. Through
+every town the monarch passed he found the same feeling of apathy, the
+same tendency among the troops to cry "Vive l'Empereur," the same lack
+of enterprise among the officials. Typical of the situation was the
+sub-prefect of Bethune, who stood at the door of the royal carriage, one
+leg half-naked, his feet in slippers, his coat under his arm, his
+waistcoat unbuttoned, his hat on his head, one hand struggling with his
+sword, the other trying to fasten his necktie. The Marshal, ever mindful
+of Napoleon's activity, had to hurry the poor King, and Louis'
+portmanteau, with his six clean shirts and his old pair of slippers, got
+lost on the road. This loss, more than anything else, brought home to
+the monarch his pitiable condition. "They have taken my shirts," said he
+to Macdonald. "I had not too many in the first place; but what I regret
+still more is the loss of my slippers. Some day, my dear Marshal, you
+will appreciate the value of slippers that have taken the shape of your
+feet." With Napoleon at Paris, Lille seemed to offer but little
+security, and accordingly the King determined to seek safety in Belgium.
+The Marshal escorted him to the frontier and saw him put in charge of
+the Belgian troops. Then, promising to be faithful to his oath, he took
+an affectionate farewell of the old monarch with the words, "Farewell,
+sir; au revoir, in three months!"
+
+Macdonald returned to Paris and lived quietly in his own house,
+refusing to have any intercourse with Napoleon or his ministers. Within
+three months came the news of Waterloo. Thereafter, against his will,
+but in accordance with orders, he joined Fouché, who had established a
+provisional government. Fouché, who knew the importance of outward
+signs, sent him off to try and persuade the returning monarch to win
+over the army by mounting the tricolour instead of the white cockade.
+But the King was obstinate; the Marshal quoted Henry IV.'s famous
+saying, "Paris is worth a mass." The King countered with, "Yes; but it
+was not a very Catholic one." But though the King would not listen to
+his advice he called on him to show his devotion. The imperial army had
+to be disbanded--a most unpopular and thankless task, requiring both
+tact and firmness. At his sovereign's earnest request, Macdonald
+undertook the duty, but with two stipulations: first, that he should
+have complete freedom of action; secondly, that he should be in no way
+an instrument for inflicting punishment on individuals. Immediately on
+taking up his appointment at Bourges, the Marshal summoned all the
+generals and officers to his presence, and informed them that, under
+Fouché's supervision, a list of proscribed had been drawn up. His advice
+was that all on this list should fly at once. That same evening police
+officials arrived in the camp to arrest the proscribed; playing on the
+fears of the mouchards, he locked them up all night, alleging that it
+was to save them from the infuriated soldiery. Thus all the proscribed
+escaped; but neither Fouché nor the Duc de Berri cared to bring the old
+soldier to task for this action. So the Marshal was left to work in his
+own way, and by October 21, 1815, thanks to his firmness and tact, "the
+bold and unhappy army, which had for so long been triumphant," was
+quietly dissolved without the slightest attempt at challenging the royal
+decision.
+
+The Marshal did not mix much in politics. The King, at the second
+Restoration, created him arch-chancellor of the Legion of Honour. This
+post gave him considerable occupation, as it entailed the supervision of
+the schools for the children of those who had received the Cross, and he
+was for long happily employed in looking after the welfare of the
+descendants of his late comrades-in-arms. In November, 1830, the plea of
+the gout came opportunely at the moment of the commencement of the July
+monarchy, and the Marshal resigned the arch-chancellorship and returned
+to his estate of Courcelles, where he lived in retirement till his
+death, on September 25, 1840, at the age of seventy-five.
+
+It was a maxim of Napoleon that success covers everything, that it is
+only failure which cannot be forgiven. Against the Duke of Tarentum's
+name stood the defeats of Trebbia and the Katzbach. But in spite of
+this, Napoleon never treated him as he treated Dupont and the other
+unfortunate generals. For Macdonald possessed qualities which were too
+important to be overlooked. With all the fiery enthusiasm of the Gael,
+he possessed to an unusual degree the caution of the Lowland Scot.
+Possessed of great reasoning powers and of the gift of seeing clearly
+both sides of a question, he had the necessary force of character to
+make up his mind which course to pursue, and to persevere in it to the
+logical issue. In the crossing of the Vaal, in the fighting round Rome,
+in the campaign with Prince Eugène in Italy, before and after Leipzig,
+and in his final campaign in France, he proved the correctness of his
+judgment and his capacity to work out his carefully prepared
+combinations. His defeat at the Trebbia was due to the treachery of the
+general commanding one of the attached divisions; the rout at the
+Katzbach was primarily due to climatic conditions and to the want of
+cohesion among the recently drafted recruits which formed the bulk of
+his army. On the stricken field of Wagram, and in the running fight at
+Hanau, his inflexible will and the quickness with which he grasped the
+vital points of the problem saved the Emperor and his army.
+
+The only black spot in his otherwise glorious career is the battle of
+Leipzig. Long must the cry of "Monsieur le Maréchal, save your soldiers,
+save your children!" have rung in his ear. For once he had forgotten his
+proud boast that he never deserted troops entrusted to his command. Like
+the Emperor and his fellow Marshals and most of the generals, for the
+moment he lost his nerve; but he could still, though humbly, boast that
+he was the first to remember his duties and to try and save the remnant
+of the troops who had crossed the Elster.
+
+Duty and truth were his watchwords. Once only he failed in his duty;
+never did he shirk telling the truth. It was this fearless utterance of
+the truth more than any connection with Moreau which was the cause of
+his long years of disgrace; it was this fearlessness, strange to say,
+which, in the end, conquered the Emperor, and which so charmed King
+Louis that he nicknamed him "His Outspokenness."
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+AUGUSTE FRÉDÉRIC LOUIS VIESSE DE MARMONT, MARSHAL, DUKE OF RAGUSA
+
+
+Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse De Marmont, the youngest of Napoleon's
+Marshals, was born at Châtillon-sur-Seine on July 25, 1774. The family
+of Viesse belonged to the smaller nobility, who from the days of
+Richelieu had supplied the officers of the line for the old royal army.
+Marmont's father had destined him from the cradle for the military
+career, and had devoted his life to training him, both in body and mind,
+for the profession of arms. His hours of patience and self-denial were
+not thrown away, for, thanks to his early Spartan training, the Duke of
+Ragusa seldom knew fatigue or sickness, and owing to this physical
+strength was able, without neglecting his professional duties, to spend
+hours on scientific and literary work. In 1792 young Marmont, at the age
+of eighteen, passed the entrance examination for the Artillery School at
+Châlons, and started his military career with his father's oft-repeated
+words ringing in his ears, "Merit without success is infinitely better
+than success without merit, but determination and merit always command
+success." The young artillery cadet had both determination and capacity
+and his early career foreshadowed his future success. Aristocratic to
+the bone, Marmont detested the excesses of the Revolution; but politics,
+during his early years, had little effect on his thoughts, which were
+solely fixed on military glory. The exigencies of the revolutionary wars
+cut short his student days at Châlons, and before the end of 1792 he was
+gazetted to the first artillery regiment. In February, 1793, he saw his
+first active service with the Army of the Alps, under General
+Kellermann. Owing to the dearth of trained officers, though only newly
+gazetted, he performed all the duties of a senior colonel, laying out
+entrenched camps and commanding the artillery of the division to which
+he was attached. It was with this promising record already behind him
+that he attracted Bonaparte's attention at the siege of Toulon by his
+admirable handling of the guns under his command, and by his inventive
+powers, which overcame all obstacles. From that day the Corsican
+destined him for his service, and during the campaign in the Maritime
+Alps used him as an unofficial aide-de-camp. So devoted did Marmont
+become to the future Emperor, that when Bonaparte was arrested at the
+time of Robespierre's fall, he and Junot formed a plan of rescuing their
+idol by killing the sentries and carrying him off by sea.
+
+When Bonaparte returned to Paris Marmont accompanied him, and was
+offered the post of superintendent of the gun factory at Moulins. He
+contemptuously refused this position, telling the inspector of ordnance
+that he would not mind such a post in peace time, but that he was going
+to see as much active service as he could while the war lasted, so at
+his own request he was posted to the army of Pichegru, which was
+besieging Maintz.
+
+A temporary suspension of hostilities on the Rhine gave him the
+opportunity of once again joining his chosen leader, and early in 1796
+he started for Italy on Bonaparte's staff. Lodi was one of the great
+days of his life. Early in the action he captured one of the enemy's
+batteries, but a moment later he was thrown from his horse and ridden
+over by the whole of the cavalry, without, however, receiving a single
+scratch. Scarcely had he mounted when he was despatched along the river,
+under fire of the whole Austrian force on the other bank, to carry
+orders to the commander of the cavalry, who was engaged in fording the
+river higher up. Of his escort of five, two were killed, while his horse
+was severely wounded, yet he managed to return in time to take his place
+among the band of heroes who forced the long bridge in the face of a
+storm of bullets and grape. Castiglione added to his laurels, for it was
+his handling of the artillery that enabled Augereau to win his great
+victory. The Marshal, in his Memoirs, asserts that this short campaign
+was the severest strain he ever underwent. "I never at any other time
+endured such fatigue as during the eight days of that campaign. Always
+on horseback, on reconnaissance, or fighting, I was, I believe, five
+days without sleep, save for a few stolen minutes. After the final
+battle the general-in-chief gave me leave to rest and I took full
+advantage of it. I ate, I lay down, and I slept twenty-four hours at a
+stretch, and, thanks to youth, hardiness, a good constitution, and the
+restorative powers of sleep, I was as fresh again as at the beginning of
+the campaign."
+
+Though Castiglione thus brought him fresh honours, it nearly caused an
+estrangement between him and his chief. For Bonaparte, ever with an eye
+to the future, desiring to gain as many friends as possible, chose one
+of Berthier's staff officers to take the news of the victory to Paris.
+This was a bitter blow to his ambitious aide-de-camp, whose pride was
+further piqued because his hero, forgetting that he had not to deal with
+one of the ordinary adventurers who formed so large a number of the
+officers of the Army of Italy, with great want of tact, had offered him
+opportunities of adding to his wealth by perquisites and commissions
+abhorrent to the eyes of a descendant of an honourable family. But the
+exigencies of war and the thirst for glory left little time for
+brooding, and Bonaparte, recognising with whom he had to deal, took the
+opportunity of the successful fighting which penned Würmser into Mantua
+to send Marmont with despatches to Paris. As his reward the Minister of
+War promoted him colonel and commandant of the second regiment of horse
+artillery. A curious state of affairs arose from this appointment, for
+promotion in the artillery ran quite independent of ordinary army rank.
+Accordingly, the army list ran as follows: Bonaparte, lieutenant-colonel
+of a battalion of artillery, seconded as general-in-chief of the Army of
+Italy. Marmont, colonel of the second regiment horse artillery, seconded
+as aide-de-camp to Lieutenant-Colonel Bonaparte, the commander-in-chief
+of the Army of Italy.
+
+[Illustration: AUGUSTE DE MARMONT, DUKE OF RAGUSA
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY MUNERET]
+
+Marmont hurried back to Italy in time to join Bonaparte's staff an hour
+before the battle of Arcola. The Austrians were making their last effort
+to relieve the fortress of Mantua, and it seemed as if they would be
+successful, as Alvinzi had concentrated forty thousand troops against
+twenty-six thousand. The French attempted a surprise, but were
+discovered, and for three days the fate of the campaign hung on the
+stubborn fight in the marshes of Arcola. It was Marmont who helped to
+extricate Bonaparte when he was flung off the embankment into the ditch,
+a service which Bonaparte never forgot. Diplomatic missions to Venice
+and the Vatican slightly turned the young soldier's head, and his chief
+had soon to give him a severe reprimand for loitering among Josephine's
+beauties at Milan instead of hastening back to headquarters. But to a
+man of Marmont's character one word of warning was enough; his head
+governed his heart; glory was his loadstar. Ambitious though he was, he
+was essentially a man of honour and fine feelings, and refused the hand
+of Pauline Bonaparte for the simple reason that he did not truly love
+her.
+
+A year later he made a love match with Mademoiselle Perrégaux, but
+differences of temperament and the long separation which his military
+career imposed caused the marriage to turn out unhappily, and this lack
+of domestic felicity spoiled the Marshal's life and nearly embittered
+his whole character, turning him for the time into a self-centred man
+with an eye solely to his own glory and a sharp tongue which did not
+spare even his own friends. Yet in his early days Marmont was a bright
+and cheerful companion and no one enjoyed more a practical joke, getting
+up sham duels between cowards or sending bogus instructions to officious
+commanders. But fond as he was of amusement, even during his early
+career he could find delight in the society of men of science and
+learning like Monge and Berthollet.
+
+After the peace of Campo Formio he accompanied his chief to Paris, where
+an incident occurred which illustrates well the character of the two
+men. The Minister of War wanted detailed information regarding the
+English preparations against invasion, and Bonaparte offered to send his
+aide-de-camp as a spy. Marmont indignantly refused to go in such a
+capacity, and a permanent estrangement nearly took place. Their
+standards had nothing in common; in the one honour could conquer
+ambition, in the other ambition knew no rules of honour.
+
+However, their lust for glory brought them together again, and Marmont
+sailed with the Egyptian expedition. He was despatched north to command
+Alexandria after the battle of the Pyramids, where his guns had played
+so important a part in shattering the Mamelukes. Later he was entrusted
+with the control of the whole of the Mediterranean littoral. His task
+was a difficult one, but a most useful training for a young commander.
+With a tiny garrison he had to hold the important town of Alexandria and
+to keep in order a large province; to organise small columns to repress
+local risings; to make his own arrangements for raising money to pay his
+troops, and consequently to reorganise the fiscal system of the
+country; to reconstruct canals and to improvise flotillas of barges to
+supply Alexandria with provisions; to keep in touch with the remnant of
+the French fleet and thus to try to establish communications with
+Europe. He was responsible for resisting any attempt at invasion by the
+Turks or the English, and it was mainly owing to his measures that when
+the former landed at Aboukir they were destroyed before they could march
+inland. While his comrades were gaining military glory in Syria, he was
+fighting the plague at Alexandria, learning that patient attention to
+detail and careful supervision of the health of his troops were as
+important attributes of a commander as dash and courage in the field.
+
+Marmont quitted Egypt with joy; he had learned many useful lessons, but,
+like the rest of the army, he hated the country and the half Oriental
+life, and above all, as he said, "seeing a campaign and not taking part
+in it was a horrible punishment." On returning to Paris his time was
+fully occupied in winning over the artillery to Bonaparte. He had no
+false ideas on the subject, for, as he said to Junot before the Egyptian
+expedition, "You will see, my friend, that on his return Bonaparte will
+seize the crown." As his reward the First Consul gave him the choice of
+the command of the artillery of the Guard or a seat as Councillor of
+State. Jealous of Lannes, and flattered by the title, he chose the
+councillorship, in which capacity he was employed on the War Committee
+and entrusted with the reorganisation of the artillery. His first
+business was to provide a proper train to ensure the quick and easy
+mobilisation of the artillery. After the Marengo campaign he took in
+hand the reform of the matériel. Too many different types of guns
+existed. Marmont reorganised both the field and the fortress artillery,
+replacing the seven old types of guns by three--namely, six-pounders,
+twelve-pounders and twenty-four pounders; he also reduced the different
+types of wheels for gun carriages, limbers and wagons from twenty-four
+to eight, thus greatly simplifying the provision of ammunition and the
+work of repair in the field.
+
+The Marengo campaign added to his prestige as an artillery officer. It
+was owing to his ingenuity that the guns were unmounted and pulled by
+hand in cradles up the steep side of the mountain and thus safely taken
+over the St. Bernard Pass. It was his ingenious brain which suggested
+the paving of the road with straw, whereby the much-needed artillery was
+forwarded to Lannes by night, without any casualties, right under the
+batteries of the fortress of Bard. It was owing to his foresight that
+the reserve battery of guns, captured from the enemy, saved the day at
+Marengo by containing the Austrians while Desaix's fresh troops were
+being deployed, and it was the tremendous effect of his massed battery
+which gave Kellermann the opportunity for his celebrated charge. The
+First Consul marked his approval by promoting Marmont a general of
+division, and thus at the age of twenty-six the young artillery officer
+had nearly reached the head of his profession. After Marengo he
+continued his work of reorganisation, but before the end of the year he
+was once again in Italy, this time as a divisional commander under
+Brune, who, being no great strategist, was glad to avail himself of the
+brains of the First Consul's favourite: it was thanks to Marmont's plans
+that the French army successfully crossed the Mincio in the face of the
+enemy and, forced on him the armistice of Treviso. When Moreau's victory
+of Hohenlinden induced Austria to make peace, the general was sent to
+reorganise the Italian artillery on the same principles he had laid down
+for the French. He established an immense foundry and arsenal at Pavia,
+and the excellence of his plans was clearly proved in many a later
+campaign. From Italy he was recalled to Paris in September, 1802, as
+inspector-general of artillery. He threw himself heart and soul into his
+new duties, but found time to increase his scientific knowledge and to
+keep himself up to date with everything in the political and scientific
+world. He keenly supported Fulton's invention of the steamboat, and
+pressed it on the First Consul, and to the day of his death he was
+convinced that, if the Emperor had adopted the invention, the invasion
+of England would have been successful.
+
+The year 1804 brought him the delight of his first important command. In
+February he was appointed chief of the corps of the Army of the Ocean
+which was stationed in Holland. He entered on his task with his usual
+fervour. His first step was to make friends with all the Dutch
+officials, and thus to secure the smooth working of his commissariat and
+supply departments; then he turned to the actual training of his troops.
+For this purpose he obtained permission to hold a big camp of
+instruction, where all the divisions of his corps were massed. So
+successful was this experiment that it became an annual institution. But
+amid all the pleasure of this congenial work came the bitter moment when
+he found the name of so mediocre a soldier as Bessières included in the
+list of the new Marshals and his own omitted. It was a sore blow, and
+his appointment as colonel-general of the horse chasseurs and Grand
+Eagle of the Legion of Honour did little to mitigate it. The Emperor,
+careful as ever to stimulate devotion, later explained to him that a
+dashing officer like himself would have plenty of opportunities of
+gaining distinction, while this was Bessières's only chance. But in
+spite of this the neglect rankled, and from that day he was no longer
+the blindly devoted follower of Napoleon.
+
+On the outbreak of the Austrian War Marmont's corps became the second
+corps of the Grand Army. In the operations ending in Ulm the second
+corps formed part of the left wing. After the capitulation it was
+detached to cover the French communications from an attack from the
+direction of Styria. In the summer of the following year Marmont was
+despatched as commander-in-chief to Dalmatia, where he spent the next
+five years of his life. Dalmatia had been ceded to France by the treaty
+of Pressburg. In Napoleon's eyes the importance of the province lay in
+the harbour of Cattaro, which he regarded as an outlet to the Balkan
+Peninsula. His intention was to get possession of Montenegro, to come to
+an understanding with Ali Pacha of Janina and the Sultan, and oppose the
+policy of Russia. But the Russians and Montenegrins had seized Cattaro,
+and were threatening to besiege Ragusa. It was to meet this situation
+that the Emperor in July, 1806, hastily sent his former favourite to
+Dalmatia. The new commander-in-chief found himself, as in Egypt, faced
+with the difficulty of supply. Half the army was in hospital from want
+of proper nourishment and commonsense sanitation. Having, by his care of
+his men, refilled his battalions, he advanced boldly on the enemy, and
+drove them out of their positions. This punishment kept the Montenegrins
+quiet for the future, and the Russians fell back on Cattaro. From there
+he was unable to drive them owing to the guns of their fleet, and it was
+not till the treaty of Tilsit that the French got possession of the
+coveted port. The French commander's chief difficulty in administering
+his province was that which is felt in all uncivilised countries, the
+difficulty of holding down a hostile population where roads do not
+exist. Otherwise his just but stern rule admirably suited the townsmen
+of the little cities on the coast, while order was kept among the hill
+tribes by making their headmen responsible for their behaviour, and by
+aiding them in attacking the Turks, who had seized certain tracts of
+territory and maltreated the inhabitants. But it was not gratitude which
+kept the hill-men quiet, so much as the miles of new roads on which the
+French commander employed his army when not engaged on expeditions
+against restless marauders. During his years in the Dalmatian provinces
+Marmont constructed more than two hundred miles of roads, with the
+result that his small force was able with ease to hold down the long
+narrow mountainous province by the speed with which he could mobilise
+his punitive expeditions. Moreover, owing to the increased means of
+traffic the peasants were able to find a market for their goods, and the
+prosperity of the country increased beyond belief. With prosperity came
+contentment: manufactures were established, and the mines and the other
+natural resources of the country were exploited to advantage. As the
+Emperor of Austria said to Metternich in 1817, when visiting the
+province, "It is a great pity that Marshal Marmont was not two or three
+years longer in Dalmatia."
+
+The years spent at Ragusa were probably the happiest of Marmont's life.
+His successful work was recognised in 1808, when the Emperor created him
+Duke of Ragusa. Each day was full of interest. He was head of the civil
+administration and of the judicial and fiscal departments. As
+commander-in-chief he was responsible for the health, welfare, and
+discipline of the troops, and for the military works which were being
+erected to protect the province from Austrian aggression. He had his
+special hobby--the roads. Yet in spite of all this business he found
+time to put himself in the hands of a tutor and to work ten hours a day
+at history, chemistry, and anatomy. To aid him in his studies he
+collected a travelling library of six hundred volumes which accompanied
+him in all his later campaigns.
+
+The Austrian campaign of 1809 called him from these congenial labours to
+the even more congenial operations of war. The duty of the Army of
+Dalmatia was to attempt to cut off the Archduke John on his retirement
+from Italy; but the Duke of Ragusa had not sufficient troops to carry
+out this operation successfully, although he effected a junction with
+the Army of Italy. After a succession of small engagements the united
+armies found themselves on the Danube in time to take part in the battle
+of Wagram. In reserve during the greater part of the battle, Marmont's
+corps was entrusted with the pursuit of the enemy. Unfortunately, either
+from lack of appreciation of the situation or from jealousy, their
+commander refused to allow Davout to co-operate with him, and
+consequently, although he overtook the Austrians, he was not strong
+enough to hold them till other divisions of the army came up. However,
+at the end of the operations Napoleon created him Marshal. But the Duke
+of Ragusa's joy at receiving this gift was tempered by the way it was
+given. For the Emperor, angry doubtless at the escape of the Austrians,
+told him, "I have given you your nomination and I have great pleasure in
+bestowing on you this proof of my affection, but I am afraid I have
+incurred the reproach of listening rather to my affection than to your
+right to this distinction. You have plenty of intelligence, but there
+are needed for war qualities in which you are still lacking, and which
+you must work to acquire. Between ourselves, you have not yet done
+enough to justify entirely my choice. At the same time, I am confident
+that I shall have reason to congratulate myself on having nominated you,
+and that you will justify me in the eyes of the army." Unkind critics of
+the three new Marshals created after Wagram said that Napoleon, having
+lost Lannes, wanted to get the small change for him, but it is only fair
+to remember that though Macdonald, Marmont, and Oudinot were all
+inferior to Lannes, they were quite as good soldiers as some of the
+original Marshals.
+
+After peace was declared the new Marshal returned to Dalmatia and took
+up the threads of his old life. He had won the respect of the
+inhabitants and the fear of their foes, the Turks, and save for an
+occasional expedition against the brigands or friction with the fiscal
+officials, his time passed peaceably and pleasantly. But in 1811 he was
+recalled to Paris to receive orders before starting on a new sphere of
+duty. Masséna, "the spoiled child of victory," had met his match at
+Torres Vedras, and Napoleon, blaming the man instead of the system, had
+determined to try a fresh leader for the army opposing Sir Arthur
+Wellesley. The Emperor did not hide from himself the fact that in
+selecting Marmont he was making an experiment, for he told St. Cyr that
+he had sent Marmont to Spain because he had plenty of talent, but that
+he had not yet tested to the full his force of character, and he added,
+"I shall soon be able to judge of that, for now he is left to his own
+resources." The new commander of the Army of Portugal set out with the
+full confidence that the task was not beyond his powers, and with the
+promise of the viceroyalty of one of the five provinces into which Spain
+was to be divided. He arrived at the front two days after the battle of
+Fuentes d'Onoro, and found a very different state of affairs from what
+he had expected. The country was a howling waste covered with fierce
+guerillas. The French army, so long accustomed to success, was
+absolutely demoralised by repeated disappointments and defeats. It was
+necessary to take stringent measures to restore the morale of the troops
+before he could call on them to face once more "the infantry whose fire
+was the most murderous of all the armies of Europe."
+
+Accordingly he withdrew from the Portuguese frontier, put his army into
+cantonments round Salamanca, and set to work on the difficult task of
+collecting supplies from a country which was already swept bare.
+Meanwhile he split up his army into six divisions, established direct
+communications between himself and the divisional officers, and, to get
+rid of the grumblers, gave leave to all officers, who so desired, to
+return to France. At the same time he distributed his weak battalions
+among the other corps so that each battalion had a complement of seven
+hundred muskets. He also broke up the weak squadrons and batteries and
+brought up the remainder to service strength. Scarcely was this
+reorganisation completed when Soult, who had been defeated at Albuera,
+called on Marmont to aid him in saving Badajoz. In spite of his personal
+dislike for the Duke of Dalmatia, the Marshal hurried to his aid and for
+the time the important fortress was saved. During the rest of the summer
+the Army of Portugal lay in the valley of the Tagus, holding the bridge
+of Almaraz, and thus ready at any moment to go to the relief of Badajoz
+or Ciudad Rodrigo, the two keys of Portugal. When, in the autumn,
+Wellington threatened Ciudad Rodrigo, the Marshal, calling to his aid
+Dorsenne, who commanded in Northern Spain, at the successful engagement
+of El Bodin drove back the advance guard of the Anglo-Portuguese and
+threw a large quantity of provisions into the fortress.
+
+The year 1812 was a disastrous one for the French arms all over Europe.
+The Emperor attempted to direct the Spanish War from Paris. In his
+desire to secure all Southern Spain, he stripped Marmont's army to
+reinforce Suchet in his conquest of Valencia. Accordingly in January the
+Marshal was powerless to stop Wellington's dash at Ciudad Rodrigo, and
+was unable later to make a sufficient demonstration in Portugal to
+relieve the pressure on Badajoz; so both the fortresses fell, and the
+Duke of Ragusa was blamed for the Emperor's mistake. He was thereafter
+called upon to try to stem the victorious advance of the English into
+Spain. Short of men, of horses, and of supplies, he did wonders. Thanks
+to his strenuous efforts, supplies were massed at Salamanca, good food
+and careful nursing emptied the hospitals and filled the ranks, and the
+cavalry was supplied with remounts by dismounting the "field officers"
+of the infantry. The month of July saw an interesting duel round
+Salamanca between Marmont and Wellington. The two armies were very
+nearly equal in numbers, the French having forty-seven thousand men and
+the English forty-four thousand. The French had the advantage of a broad
+base with lines of retreat either on Burgos or Madrid. The English had
+to cover their single line of communication, which ran through Ciudad
+Rodrigo. The French had the further advantage that their infantry
+marched better than the English. Owing to these causes their commander
+was so far able to outgeneral his adversary that by July 22nd he was
+actually threatening the English line of retreat. But a tactical mistake
+threw away all these strategic advantages. In his eagerness he allowed
+his leading division to get too extended, forgetting that he was
+performing the dangerous operation of a flank march. Wellington waited
+till he saw his opportunity and then threw himself on the weak French
+centre and cut the French army in half, thus proving his famous dictum
+that the great general is not he who makes fewest mistakes, but he who
+can best take advantage of the mistakes of his enemy. Marmont saw his
+error as soon as the English attack began, but a wound from a cannon
+ball disabled him at the very commencement of the action. This injury to
+his arm was so serious that he had to throw up his command and return to
+France, and for the whole of the next year he had to wear his arm in a
+sling.
+
+Napoleon, furious with the Marshal for his ill-success, most unjustly
+blamed him for not waiting for reinforcements: these actually arrived
+two days after the battle. Joseph, however, had told him distinctly that
+he was not going to send him any help, and if it had not been for his
+tactical blunders, Marmont would undoubtedly have caused Wellington to
+fall back on Portugal. But in 1812 the exigencies of war demanded that
+France should send forth every soldier, and accordingly in March the
+Duke of Ragusa was gazetted to the command of the sixth corps, which was
+forming in the valley of the Maine. On taking up this command he found
+that his corps was mainly composed of sailors drafted from the useless
+ships, and of recruits, while his artillery had no horses and his
+cavalry did not exist. With these raw troops he had to undergo some
+difficult experiences at Lützen and Bautzen, but, as the campaign
+progressed, he moulded them into shape, and his divisions did good
+service in the fighting in Silesia and round Dresden. At the rout after
+the battle of Leipzig, Marmont, like most of the higher officers of the
+army, thought more of his personal safety than of his honour, and
+allowed himself to be escorted from the field by his staff officers.
+
+But in the campaign of 1814 he made amends for all his former blunders,
+and his fighting record stands high indeed. At Saint-Dizier, La
+Rothière, Arcis-sur-Aube, Nogent, Sézanne, and Champaubert, he held his
+own or defeated the enemy with inferior numbers in every case. Once only
+at Laon did he allow himself to be surprised. When the end came it was
+Marmont who, at Joseph's command, had to hand over Paris to the Allies.
+Thereafter he was faced with a terrible problem. His army was sick of
+fighting, officers and men demanded peace. He had to decide whether his
+duty to Napoleon was the same as his duty to France. Unfortunately he
+acted hurriedly, and, without informing the Emperor, entered into
+negotiations with the enemy. The result was far-reaching, for his
+conduct showed Alexander that the army was sick of war and would no
+longer fight for Napoleon. It thus cut away the ground of the
+Commissioners who were trying, by trading on the prestige of the Emperor
+and the fear of his name, to persuade the Czar to accept Napoleon's
+abdication on behalf of his son, the King of Rome. The Marshal's enemies
+put down his action to ill-will against the Emperor for withholding for
+so long the marshalate and for his treatment after Salamanca. But
+Marmont asserted that it was patriotism which dictated his action, and
+further maintained that Napoleon himself ought to have approved of his
+action, quoting a conversation held in 1813. "If the enemy invaded
+France," said the Emperor, "and seized the heights of Montmartre, you
+would naturally believe that the safety of your country would command
+you to leave me, and if you did so you would be a good Frenchman, a
+brave man, a conscientious man, but not a man of honour."
+
+The defection of the Duke of Ragusa came as a bitter blow to Napoleon.
+"That Marmont should do such a thing," cried the fallen Emperor, "a man
+with whom I have shared my bread, whom I drew out of obscurity!
+Ungrateful villain, he will be more unhappy than I." The prophecy was
+true. The Duke of Ragusa stuck to the Bourbons and refused to join
+Napoleon during the Hundred Days, going to Ghent as chief of the
+military household of the exiled King. He returned with Louis to Paris,
+and was made major-general of the Royal Guard and a peer of France, in
+which capacity he sat as one of the judges who condemned Ney to death.
+But men looked askance at him, and from 1817 he lived in retirement,
+occupying his leisure in experimental farming, with great injury to his
+purse, for his elaborate scheme of housing his sheep in three-storied
+barns and clothing them in coats made of skin was most unprofitable.
+Retirement was a bitter blow to the keen soldier, but the Bourbon
+monarchs clearly understood that the deserter of Napoleon and the judge
+of Marshal Ney could never be popular with the army.
+
+Still, when in July, 1830, discontent was seething, Charles X.
+remembered his sterling qualities and summoned him to Paris as governor
+of the city. It was an unfortunate nomination, for the Marshal's
+unpopularity weakened the bonds of discipline, whilst his eagerness to
+show his loyalty caused him to adopt such measures as the King ordered,
+irrespective of their military worth. In vain he warned the King that
+this was not a revolt but a revolution; the counsels of Polignac were
+all powerful. The Marshal's political suggestions were unheeded and his
+military plans overridden. The mass of the troops of the line, kept for
+long hours without food in the streets, mutinied and went over to the
+populace, while those who remained loyal, and the royal guards, instead
+of being concentrated and protected by batteries of artillery, were
+frittered away in useless expeditions into outlying parts of the city.
+After two days' fighting the royalists had to evacuate the city. Thus it
+fell to the lot of the Marshal once more to hand over Paris to the foes
+of those to whom his allegiance was due.
+
+The Duke of Ragusa accompanied Charles to Cherbourg and quitted France
+in August, 1830, never to return. The remainder of his life was spent in
+foreign countries. He made Vienna his headquarters, and from there took
+journeys to Russia, Turkey, Egypt, and Italy. Deeply interested in
+science and history, he devoted his leisure to writing his Memoirs, to
+works on military science, philanthropy, and travel. Thus occupied,
+though an exile from his country, he lived a busy, active, and on the
+whole useful life till death overtook him at Vienna in 1852.
+
+Marshal Marmont has been called one of Napoleon's failures, but this
+criticism is one-sided and unjust. True it is that his name is
+intimately connected with the failure in Spain and with the fall of the
+Empire, but to judge his career by these two instances and to neglect
+his other work, is to generalise from an insufficient and casual basis.
+The Duke of Ragusa owed his marshalate, like many others, to his
+intimacy with Napoleon, but unlike several of the Marshals he really
+earned his bâton. His great powers of organisation, so unstintedly given
+to the re-armament of France and Italy, and his work of regeneration in
+Dalmatia, together with his military operations in Styria, Spain, and
+during the campaign of 1814, mark him out as a soldier of great
+capabilities. Organisation was his strong point, but he also possessed
+great physical bravery and many of the qualities of a commander. His
+love for his profession was great, and not only had he graduated under
+Napoleon's eye, but much of his time was spent in studying his calling
+from a scientific and historical point of view. As a strategist he
+probably stood as high as any of his fellow Marshals, and his operations
+in Dalmatia, Spain, and France deserve the careful study of all students
+of military history. But he failed as a tactician. Salamanca and Laon
+prove not only that he made mistakes and had not the faculty of
+retrieving his errors, but above all he lacked the capacity of seizing
+on the mistakes of his enemy. In 1811 at El Bodin he had Wellington at
+his mercy, but he hesitated to strike, for he could not believe his
+great opponent could make the glaring error of leaving his divisions
+unsupported. Again and again during his career he showed that lack of
+resolution which was responsible for his last catastrophe in Paris,
+where he allowed his own judgment to be overruled by King Charles's
+personal desires. In a word, he had the gift of a great
+quartermaster-general rather than of a commander-in-chief. As a man the
+Marshal's character is an interesting study. In youth the thirst for
+personal glory and ambition were the dominant traits, and what stability
+he had he drew from his proud sense of honour, which refused to allow
+him to take plunder or bribes. But responsibility developed many latent
+qualities. The desire to keep his troops efficient led him to pay
+especial care to their physical well-being, and from doing this as a
+duty he learned to do it as a labour of love. As time went on, desire
+for personal glory became merged in keen delight in the glory of France,
+and hence grew up a patriotism which rightly or wrongly led to the
+scenes of 1814 and 1830. Misfortune also had its share in the enlarging
+of his character. His unhappy marriage, his bitterness at the
+withholding of the marshalate, his unpopularity after 1814, led him to
+remember his father's warning that success is not everything, and turned
+his attention to the development of those scientific and literary
+abilities to which he had always shown strong leanings. Hence, though
+the blight of his marriage and his unpopularity, arising from his
+desertion of Napoleon, embittered him and caused his Memoirs to teem
+with cutting descriptions of his contemporaries and former friends, his
+old age, though spent in exile, was soothed by congenial work which
+proved "that to the eye of a general he united the accomplishments of a
+scholar and the heart of a philanthropist."
+
+
+
+
+XI
+
+LOUIS GABRIEL SUCHET, MARSHAL, DUKE OF ALBUFERA
+
+
+Louis Gabriel Suchet, the son of a silk manufacturer, was born at Lyons
+on March 2, 1770. His father had acquired a certain eminence by his
+discoveries in his profession, and had occupied a prominent place in the
+municipality of Lyons. Louis Gabriel, who received a sound education at
+the College of Isle Barbe, early showed that he inherited his father's
+gifts of organisation and research. In 1792 he entered a corps of
+volunteer cavalry. His education and ability soon brought him to the
+front, and after two years' service he became lieutenant-colonel of the
+eighteenth demi-brigade, in which capacity he took part in the siege of
+Toulon. There he had the double good fortune to make prisoner General
+O'Hara, the English governor of the fortress, and to gain the friendship
+of Bonaparte. Suchet and his brother accompanied the future Emperor on
+many a pleasant picnic, and the three were well known among a certain
+class of Marseilles society. But this was but a passing phase, and soon
+the thirst for glory called the young soldier to sterner things. The
+campaigns of 1794-5 in the Maritime Alps, the battle of Loano, and the
+fierce fights in 1796 at Lodi, Rivoli, Arcola, and Castiglione proved
+Colonel Suchet's undaunted courage and ability as a regimental
+commander. In 1797, for his brilliant conduct at Neumarkt, in Styria,
+Bonaparte gazetted him general of brigade. In his new capacity Suchet
+proved that he could not only carry out orders but act in
+semi-independence as a column commander, and as a reward for his success
+in Switzerland under General Brune he had the honour of carrying
+twenty-three captured stands of colours to the Directory. At Brune's
+request he was sent back to Switzerland to act as chief of his staff.
+Suchet had to a great extent those qualities which go to make an ideal
+staff officer. He had a cheery smile and word for everybody, and his
+tall upright figure and genial face inspired confidence in officers and
+men alike; as a regimental commander and a general of brigade he had a
+sound knowledge of the working of small and large corps, and his early
+experience as a cavalry officer and his intimate acquaintance with the
+officers of the artillery stood him in good stead. He had a natural
+aptitude for drafting orders, and his tact and energy commended him to
+all with whom he served, but above all he had the secret of inspiring
+those around him with his own vehemence and enthusiasm. Brune, Joubert,
+Masséna, and Moreau all proved his worth, and Moreau only expressed the
+opinion of the others when he said to a friend, "Your general is one of
+the best staff officers in all the armies of France." As general of
+division Suchet acted as chief of the staff to Joubert in Italy in 1799.
+Later in the year he commanded one of the divisions of the Army of the
+Alps under Masséna, and fought against the celebrated Suvaroff. But when
+Joubert was hurriedly despatched to Italy he at once demanded to have
+Suchet as chief of the staff. On Joubert's death at the battle of Novi,
+Suchet served Masséna in a similar capacity; the latter was so delighted
+with him that he wanted to carry him off to the Army of the Rhine. But
+in that disastrous year men of ability could not be spared, and
+Bernadotte, as Minister of War, retained him in Italy to aid the new
+commander-in-chief "with his clear insight as the public weal demands."
+When Masséna took command of the Army of Italy in March, he detached
+Suchet to cover France on the line of the Var, while he, with the rest
+of the army, threw himself into Genoa. The commander-in-chief had
+absolute confidence in his lieutenant; he had tried him again and again
+in the Swiss campaign, and when Suchet had by a marvellous march escaped
+the tangles of the Russians, his only comment had been "I was quite sure
+he would bring me back his brigade." The young general acted once again
+up to his reputation, and evinced those resources in difficulty, and
+that resolution in adversity, which so marked his career. With a mere
+handful of troops, by his energy and tactical ability he stemmed the
+flood of the Austrian invasion on the Var, and when Napoleon debouched
+through the St. Bernard Pass on the enemy's rear, by a masterly return
+to the initiative he drove the Austrians before him, and by capturing
+seven thousand prisoners he materially lightened the First Consul's
+difficulties in the Marengo campaign. Carnot, the War Minister, wrote to
+him in eulogistic terms: "The whole Republic had its eyes fixed on the
+new Thermopylæ. Your bravery was as great and more successful than that
+of the Spartans." But in spite of this feat of arms and the unselfish
+way he disengaged Dupont from his difficulties at the crossing of the
+Mincio, in the campaign which followed Marengo, Suchet found himself
+neglected and passed over when the Emperor distributed his new honours
+and rewards. In spite of his former friendship and the remembrance of
+many a pleasant day spent together in earlier years, Napoleon could not
+forgive his stern unbending republicanism. He knew his force of
+character too well to think he could influence his opinions by mere
+honours, and he determined to see if he could conquer him by neglect.
+After holding the office of inspector-general of infantry, Suchet found
+himself in 1803 sent to the camp of Boulogne as a mere divisional
+commander in Soult's army corps. In the same capacity he loyally served
+under Lannes in the Austrian campaign of 1805, and distinguished himself
+at Ulm and Austerlitz, where his division had the good fortune to break
+the Russian centre. In the following year at Saalfeld and Jena he added
+to his reputation, and the Emperor did him the honour of bivouacking in
+the middle of his division on the eve of the battle of Jena. Pultusk and
+Eylau bore witness to his bravery and address on the battlefield, and
+Napoleon began to relent. For his share of the victory of Austerlitz the
+Emperor had created him Grand Eagle of the Legion of Honour and
+presented him with twenty thousand francs; in August, 1807, he gave him
+the temporary command of the fifth corps; a few months later he gazetted
+him Chevalier of the Iron Crown, and in March, 1808, made him a Count of
+the Empire. In 1807 Suchet married one of the Clarys, a relative of
+Joseph Bonaparte's wife, and thus to a certain extent bound himself to
+the Napoleonic dynasty. Still it was only as a divisional commander of
+the fifth corps under Lannes that in 1808 he entered Spain, the scene of
+his glory. But when the war brought to light the poor quality of many of
+the Marshals, and the approaching conflict with Austria caused him to
+withdraw his best lieutenants to the Danube, Napoleon bethought him of
+his new relative and former comrade. After the siege of Saragossa he
+gave him the command of the third corps, now known as the Army of
+Aragon. Suchet's hour of probation had at last arrived. He had so far
+shown himself an excellent interpreter of the ideas of others, a man of
+energy and resource in carrying out orders; it remained to be seen
+whether he could rise to the height of thinking and acting for himself
+in the plain of higher strategy.
+
+[Illustration: LOUIS GABRIEL SUCHET, DUKE OF ALBUFERA
+FROM AN ENGRAVING BY POLLET]
+
+The situation the new general was called on to meet might have depressed
+a weaker man. The third corps or Army of Aragon had been severely shaken
+by the long, stubborn siege of Saragossa. Many of its best officers and
+men were dead or invalided to France; the ranks were full of raw
+recruits who had not yet felt the bit of discipline. There were no
+magazines, the men's pay was months in arrear, the morale of the troops
+was bad; but the General was told that he must expect no reinforcements
+and that his army must live off the province of Aragon. To increase his
+difficulties further he was informed that, while lending an obedient ear
+to all commands from Madrid, he was really to obey orders which came
+from the major-general in Paris. Meanwhile, all around him Aragon and
+even Saragossa were seething with discontent, and Spanish forces, elated
+by partial success, were springing up on all sides. It was thus situated
+that Suchet had his first experience of commanding in war, and of
+showing that success depends on achieving the object desired with the
+means at hand. Luckily for his reputation he fulfilled Napoleon's dictum
+that "a general should above all be cool-headed in order to estimate
+things at their value: he must not be moved by good or bad news. The
+sensations which he daily receives must be so classed in his mind that
+each should occupy its appropriate place." Accordingly he at once
+grasped the vital points of the problem, and strove to restore the
+morale of the troops so that he might be in a position to meet and
+overcome the organised forces which were moving against him. His first
+step was to hold a review of his new command, and then he proceeded to
+visit his troops in their quarters and to get into personal touch with
+the officers and men by watching them at their company and battalion
+drills, encouraging them and supervising the interior economy of the
+various regiments and brigades. His reputation and his personal
+magnetism soon began to effect a complete change in his army. But
+unfortunately the enemy, fighting in their own country, where every
+inhabitant was a spy on their side, knew as well as the general himself
+the exact state of the French morale, the position of every unit, and
+the strength of each company and squadron. So accurate was their
+information that on one occasion, when a battalion was despatched on a
+reconnaissance to occupy a small town, and the officer commanding
+demanded a thousand rations for his men and a hundred for his horse, the
+Alcalde at once replied, "I know that I must furnish rations for your
+troops, but I will only supply seven hundred and eighty for the men and
+sixty for the horses," as he knew beforehand the exact number of men and
+horses in the column.
+
+The Spanish General Blake, with this wonderful intelligence organisation
+at his command, called together his troops, and took the initiative
+against the new French commander by advancing towards Saragossa. Suchet,
+recognising the importance of utilising to the full the élan which the
+French soldier always derives from the sense of attacking, advanced to
+meet him near Alcaniz, but Blake easily beat off the French attack. So
+demoralised was the Army of Aragon that on the following night, when a
+drummer cried out that he saw the Spanish cavalry advancing, an entire
+infantry regiment threw down their arms before this phantom charge. The
+offender was brought at once before a drumhead court martial and shot,
+but with troops in such a condition the French commander very wisely
+slowly fell back the next day towards Saragossa. The situation was
+extremely critical: a hurried retreat would have roused all Aragon to
+the attack; fortunately the morale of the Spanish troops was also none
+too good, and Blake waited for reinforcements before advancing.
+Meanwhile Suchet spent every hour reorganising his army, visiting with
+speedy punishment all slackness, encouraging where possible by praise,
+everywhere showing a cheerfulness and confidence he was far from
+feeling. Every day the troops were drilled or attended musketry
+practice; the ordinary routine of peace was carried out in every detail,
+and the civil and military life of Saragossa showed no signs of the
+greatness of this crisis. Meanwhile care and attention soon showed their
+effect, and when three weeks later the enemy appeared at Maria before
+Saragossa, Suchet had under his command a force full of zealous desire
+to wipe out its late disgrace and absolutely confident in its general.
+Fortunately the Spanish commander, by attempting a wide encircling
+movement, weakened his numerical superiority, and Suchet, as usual
+assuming the offensive, broke the Spanish centre with his cavalry,
+hurled his infantry into the gap, and amid a terrific thunder-shower
+drove the Spanish from the field. The battle before Saragossa saved
+Aragon for the French, but it did not satisfy their commander, who knew
+that "to move swiftly, strike vigorously, and secure all the fruits of
+victory is the secret of successful war"; accordingly with his now
+elated troops he pursued the enemy and attacked them at Belchite. The
+Spanish morale was completely broken; a chance shot at the commencement
+of the engagement blew up an ammunition wagon, and thereon the whole
+army turned and bolted; for the rest of the war, no regular resistance
+existed in Aragon.
+
+The battles of Saragossa and Belchite marked the commencement of a fresh
+stage in the conquest of Eastern Spain. From this time onwards Aragon
+became the base from which was organised the conquest of Catalonia and
+Valencia. It was in pursuance of this scheme that Suchet's next task was
+the organisation of the civil government of the ancient kingdom of
+Aragon. Fortunately for the commander-in-chief the old local patriotism
+burnt strong in the hearts of the Aragonese; jealous of the Castilians,
+they placed their love of Aragon far above their love of Spain. Suchet,
+an ardent student of human nature, was quick to appreciate how to turn
+to his use this provincialism. Loud in his praises of their stubborn
+resistance to the French arms, he approached the nobles and former civil
+servants and prayed them to lend him their help in restoring the former
+glories of the ancient kingdom of Aragon. Meanwhile the people of the
+towns and villages were propitiated by a stern justice and a new fiscal
+system, which, while it drew more from their pockets, was less
+aggravating and inquisitorial than the former method, which exacted a
+tax on the sale and purchase of every individual article. Meanwhile the
+needs of the French army created a market for both agricultural produce
+and for manufactured articles, and hence both the urban and rural
+populations, while paying heavier taxes, made greater profits than
+formerly. Such was the ability with which Aragon was administered that a
+province, which even in its most prosperous days had never contributed
+more than four million francs to the Spanish treasury, was able to
+produce an income of eight million francs for the pay of the troops
+alone, without counting the cost of military operations, and at the same
+time to maintain its own civil servants, while works of public utility
+were commenced in Saragossa and elsewhere.
+
+But it was not only from the point of finance that Suchet proved to the
+full the maxim that the art of war is nothing but the art of feeding
+your troops: his military operations were no whit less remarkable than
+his success as a civil administrator. Immediately after Belchite he
+swept all the guerillas out of Aragon, and by a carefully thought out
+plan of garrisons gave the country that peace and certainty which is
+requisite for commerce and agriculture alike. He then proceeded to wrest
+from the enemy the important fortresses of Lerida and Mequinenza, which
+command the approaches to Catalonia. Suchet's conquest of Aragon,
+Catalonia, and Valencia was marked by a succession of brilliant sieges.
+Lerida, Mequinenza, Tortosa, the fort of San Felipe, the Col of
+Balanquer, Tarragona, Sagunto, and Valencia all fell before his
+conquering arm, for Spain had to be won piece by piece. Each forward
+step was marked by a siege, a battle to defeat the relieving force, the
+fall of the fortress, and its careful restoration as a base for the next
+advance. It was not owing to any weakness or want of precaution on the
+part of the enemy that Suchet thus captured all the noted fortresses of
+central Spain: in every case the Spaniards fought with grim
+determination, and the regular Spanish armies, aided by swarms of
+guerillas, made desperate efforts to relieve their beleaguered
+countrymen. But the French success was due to the qualities of their
+general. With a patience equal to that of Marlborough, with a power of
+supervision over detail like that of his great chief, Suchet knew
+exactly how to pick his staff and how far to trust his subordinates.
+Above all, he had absolute self-control. In the blackest hour he never
+gave way, under the most extreme provocation he never lost his temper;
+hence his own troops idolised him, while his perfect justice impressed
+itself on the enemy. Though the Spanish priests were teaching the
+catechism in every village that it was one's duty to love all men except
+the French, that it was not only lawful but one's sacred duty to kill
+all Frenchmen, though a letter was captured in which a guerilla chief
+ordered his subordinates to make every effort to capture Madame Suchet
+and to cut her throat, especially because she was pregnant, the
+commander-in-chief kept his men in absolute control, and punished with
+the greatest severity every outrage committed by his troops.
+
+The battle and siege of Valencia in 1811 were the crowning success of
+his career, and brought as their reward the long-coveted Marshal's bâton
+and the title of Duke of Albufera: to support his title the Emperor
+granted him half a million francs, a greater sum than he gave to any
+other of his Paladins. The year 1812 saw the Marshal busily engaged in
+reorganising the province of Valencia on the lines he had found so
+successful in Aragon. But his work there had never time to take root.
+The necessities of the Russian campaign had forced Napoleon to recall
+from Spain many of his best troops, while the successful advance of
+Wellington on Madrid showed how unstable was the French rule. It was the
+province of Valencia alone which supplied the money and provisions for
+the armies which reconquered the Spanish capital for King Joseph. In
+1813 the victorious advance of Wellington and the battle of Vittoria
+compelled Suchet to evacuate Valencia. The fall of Pampeluna caused him
+to evacuate Aragon. Deprived of all his trustworthy troops, he still, by
+his bold counter-attacks, delayed the advance of the English and
+Spaniards under Bentinck, but by the time Napoleon abdicated he had been
+compelled with his handful of men to fall back on French territory.
+
+Under the Restoration the Marshal was retained in command of the tenth
+division, but on Napoleon's return from Elba he once again rejoined his
+old leader, whom he had not seen since 1808. The Emperor greeted him
+most cordially. "Marshal Suchet," he said, "you have grown greatly in
+reputation since last we met. You are welcome; you bring with you glory
+and all the glamour that heroes give to their contemporaries on earth."
+The Marshal was at once sent off to his old home of Lyons to organise
+there out of nothing an army which was to cover the Alps. Men there were
+in plenty, but the arsenals were empty; still, the Marshal with ten
+thousand troops beat the Piedmontese on June 15th and a few days
+afterwards defeated the Austrians. But the occupation of Geneva by the
+Allies forced him to evacuate Savoy and fall back on Lyons, where he was
+greeted with the news of Waterloo. Under the second Restoration the
+Marshal never appeared in public life, and died at the château of Saint
+Joseph at Marseilles on January 3, 1826.
+
+Talking to O'Meara at St. Helena, Napoleon said, "Of the generals of
+France I give the preference to Suchet. Before his time Masséna was the
+first." At another time he said of him, "It is a pity that mortals
+cannot improvise men like him. If I had had two Marshals like Suchet I
+should not only have conquered Spain, but have kept it." While making
+due allowance for the probability that the Emperor was influenced in
+this speech by the fact that Suchet alone relieved the gloom of the
+unsuccessful war in Spain, it is yet abundantly clear that the Marshal
+was a commander of no mean ability, for though he did not show the
+precocity of a Marmont, yet, as Napoleon himself said, "Suchet was a man
+whose mind and character increased wonderfully."
+
+As a commander-in-chief, though acting in a small sphere and never
+having more than fifty thousand troops under his command, he showed that
+he possessed determination, insight, and great powers of organisation.
+From the first he saw that the one and only way to wear down the Spanish
+resistance was to capture the fortresses. Hence his operations were
+twofold--the conduct of sieges and the protection of his convoys from
+the guerillas. He justified his reasoning; by 1812 he had captured no
+less than seventy-seven thousand officers and men and fourteen hundred
+guns and had pacified Aragon, Valencia, and part of Catalonia. Another
+great secret of his success lay in the fact that he knew how to profit
+by victory; the battle of Belchite followed on that of Maria; no sooner
+was Lerida captured than plans were made to take Mequinenza, and before
+that fortress was captured the siege train for Tortosa was got ready.
+Profiting by the depression of the enemy after the fall of Tortosa, he
+despatched columns to capture San Felipe and the Col of Balanquer.
+Thanks to his former training as chief of the staff, the Marshal was
+able with his own hand to draw up all the smallest regulations for siege
+operations, and for the government of Aragon and Valencia. The gift of
+drafting clear and concise orders and the intuition with which he chose
+his staff and column commanders explain to a great extent the reason why
+his operations in Catalonia, Aragon, and Valencia were so little
+hampered by the constant guerilla warfare which paralysed the other
+French commanders in Spain. The indefatigable energy with which he made
+himself personally acquainted with every officer under his command, and
+his knowledge of, sympathy with, and care for his soldiers, always made
+him popular; while the burning enthusiasm which he knew how to infuse
+into French, German, and Italian alike so stimulated his troops that he
+could demand almost any sacrifice from them. Thus it was that he himself
+created the morale which enabled him again and again to conquer against
+overwhelming odds.
+
+As a man, moderation and justice lay at the root of his character, and
+they account largely for his success as a statesman. He had the
+difficult task of administering Aragon and Valencia for the benefit of
+the army under his command; yet he was remembered not with hate, but
+with affection, by the people of those countries. When any one inquired
+what was the character of the French general, the Spaniards would reply,
+"He is a just man." The same moderation which caused him to save
+Tarragona and Valencia from the fury of his troops taught him to devote
+himself to the welfare of his temporary subjects, and caused his
+hospital arrangements to receive the gratuitous praise of the Spanish
+and English commanders. At Saragossa his name was given to one of the
+principal streets, and on his death the inhabitants of the town paid for
+masses for his soul, while the King of Spain was only voicing the
+feelings of the people when he wrote to the Marshal's widow that
+everything he had heard in Spain proved how deservedly the Duke of
+Albufera had gained the affections of the people of Valencia and
+Aragon.
+
+
+
+
+XII
+
+LAURENT GOUVION ST. CYR, MARSHAL
+
+
+Laurent Gouvion St. Cyr, the son of a small landowner of Toul, was born
+in that town on April 13, 1764. His father, who was a Gouvion, had
+married a St. Cyr, but the marriage had turned out an unfortunate one,
+and soon after the birth of the young Laurent a separation was agreed
+on. Consequently, from an early age, the boy lacked a mother's care. His
+father, many of whose relations were in the artillery, desired his son
+to enter the army, and with that object in view sent him to the
+Artillery College at Toul. But at the age of eighteen the future Marshal
+decided to abandon the career of arms for that of art, preferring the
+freedom of an artist's life to the dull routine of garrison service.
+Taking the bit between his teeth early in 1782, he set off for Rome,
+which he made his headquarters for the following two years, with
+occasional trips as far as Sicily. The year 1789 found Laurent Gouvion
+established in Paris with a great knowledge of art and some considerable
+skill in technique. Steeped in classic lore, contemptuous of dull
+authority and full of youthful enthusiasm, he hailed with joy the
+outbreak of the Revolution. But by the end of 1792 the young painter was
+too keen a student of men and matters not to perceive "the danger which
+menaced the Republic," and, like all other thinking men, "was lost in
+astonishment, not to say at the imprudence, but the folly of the
+Convention, which instead of seeking to diminish the number of its
+enemies, seemed resolved to augment them by successive insults, not
+merely against all kings, but against every existing government." In
+spite of this, when Europe threatened France, Laurent Gouvion was one of
+the first to enlist in the volunteers. His personality and former
+training at once made themselves felt; within a month of enlisting he
+was elected captain, in which grade he joined the Army of the Rhine
+under General Custine. On reaching the front the volunteer captain soon
+found scope for his pencil. In an army thoroughly disorganised a good
+draughtsman with an eye for country was no despicable asset. Gouvion was
+attached to the topographical department of the staff. He added his
+mother's name--St. Cyr--to his surname because of the constant confusion
+arising owing to the number of Gouvions employed with the army. After a
+year's hard work on the staff, during which he acquired a thorough grasp
+of the art of manoeuvring according to the terrain, and a good working
+knowledge of the machinery of an army, St. Cyr was promoted on June 5,
+1794, general of brigade, and six days later general of division. His
+promotion was not unmerited, for it was his complete mastery of mountain
+warfare which had contributed more than anything else to the success of
+the division of the Army of the Rhine to which he had been attached. The
+soldiers had long recognised the fact, and when they heard the guns
+booming through the defiles of the Vosges they used to call one to the
+other, "There is St. Cyr playing chess." Like Bernadotte, at first he
+refused this rapid promotion; he feared it might lead to the scaffold,
+for death was then the reward of failure, and besides this, the Gouvions
+were classed among the ci-devant nobles. As a commander the new general
+speedily proved that, much as he admired liberty in the abstract, he
+would have nothing but obedience from his men. Tall of stature, more
+like a professor than a soldier, through all his career wearing the
+plain blue overcoat, without uniform or epaulettes, which were affected
+by the generals of the Army of the Rhine, St. Cyr soon became one of the
+best known generals of Republican France. As one of his most bitter
+enemies wrote of him, "It was impossible to find a calmer man; the
+greatest dangers, disappointments, successes, defeats, were alike unable
+to move him. In the presence of every sort of contingency he was like
+ice. It may be easily understood, of what advantage such a character,
+backed by a taste for study and meditation, was to a general officer."
+In the army of the Rhine Desaix and St. Cyr were regarded as the persons
+whose examples should be followed. The austerity of their manner of
+life, their sincere patriotism and laborious perseverance, left an
+indelible mark on all with whom they came in contact. But though they
+had much in common they were really very dissimilar, for Desaix was
+intoxicated with the love of glory, full of burning enthusiasm,
+sympathetic to an extraordinary degree, exceedingly susceptible to the
+influence of the moment, while St. Cyr loved duty as the rule of his
+life, modelled his action by the strict laws of calculation, was
+absolutely impervious to outside influence, and never knew what it was
+to doubt his own powers. But with all his great gifts he had many
+faults; he was exceedingly jealous, and without knowing it he allowed
+his own interests to affect his calculations, consequently very early in
+his career his fellow-generals hated to have to work in co-operation
+with him, and he got the name of being a "bad bed-fellow." Further,
+excellent as he was as a strategist and tactician, the details of
+administration bored him. He never held a review, never visited
+hospitals, and left the threads of administration in the hands of his
+subordinates; consequently, much as his troops trusted him in the field,
+they disliked him in quarters, because, while his discipline was most
+severe, he did nothing to provide for their needs or amusements.
+
+[Illustration: GOUVION ST. CYR, COUNT
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY J. GUERIN]
+
+From 1795 to the peace of Campo Formio St. Cyr shared the fortunes and
+vicissitudes of the Army of the Rhine, serving as a subordinate under
+Hoche, Jourdan, and Moreau. The battle of Biberach, in 1796, was his
+personal triumph. With one single corps he defeated three-fourths of the
+whole of the enemy's army and drove it in rout with a loss of five
+thousand prisoners. But in spite of this victory and numerous mentions
+in despatches, on being introduced to the Director Rewbell, after the
+treaty of Campo Formio, he was actually asked, "In which army have you
+served?" An explanation was necessary, whereupon the Director, finding
+that the general understood and spoke Italian, sent him off at once to
+take command of the Army of Rome. On March 26, 1798, he arrived there
+and commenced his first independent command. His task was a difficult
+one. The officers of the army had risen in revolt against Masséna, who
+had made no attempt to pay them or their troops, but had spent his time
+in amassing a fortune for himself. The new general had orders to arrest
+certain officers and restore discipline. It was a task admirably suited
+to his talents, and within four days of his arrival the disaffected were
+arrested and the mutiny quelled. His next duty, according to the command
+of the Directory, was to remove the Pope from Rome; by a queer
+coincidence the officer entrusted to escort his Holiness to Tuscany was
+a certain Colonel Calvin. So far St. Cyr, much against his wish, had
+carried out the orders of the Directory, but his next action was
+spontaneous and dictated by his own idea of justice. It was the hour of
+spoliation: a committee appointed by the Directory was busy in
+transporting to France all the masterpieces of Italian art, and the
+newly-appointed Consuls of the Roman Republic were likewise fully
+engaged in acts of vandalism. When the general heard that the
+magnificent oblation of diamonds belonging to the Doria family had been
+purloined from the Church of St. Agnes to grace the necks of the wives
+of the bastard Consuls, he at once ordered the ostensoir to be returned
+to its owners. The Consuls appealed to the Directory; so after a command
+of four short months St. Cyr was recalled, only to be sent at once to
+resume his old position as a divisional commander in the Army of the
+Rhine.
+
+From there in June, 1799, he was hurriedly despatched to Italy to aid
+Moreau, who was attempting to stem the victorious advance of the
+Austrians and Russians. He arrived in time to take part in the
+hard-fought fight of Novi, and to help to organise a stubborn resistance
+on the slopes of the Apennines. Before the battle of Novi he actually
+had a glimpse of the redoubtable Suvaroff himself. The Russian general,
+who trusted his own eyes more than the reports of his scouts, one day
+rode right up to the line of French vedettes clad in his usual fighting
+kit, a shirt and pair of breeches, and after a hurried reconnaissance
+returned to his camp and gave his celebrated order: "God wishes, the
+Emperor orders, Suvaroff commands, that to-morrow the enemy be
+conquered." Novi added lustre to St. Cyr's reputation; it was his
+strenuous resistance on the right flank and his admirable handling of
+the rear guard which prevented the victorious Allies from hurling the
+beaten French through the passes into the sea. But Novi was an easy task
+compared to what was to follow. The passes of the Apennines had to be
+held and Genoa covered with a handful of men dispirited by defeat and
+half mutinous from want of necessary food. It was a rabble, not an army;
+there was no commissariat, no pay chest, no store of clothing. Meanwhile
+Genoa lay smouldering in rebellion at his rear. The task suited the man;
+by a series of clever feints and manoeuvres in the valley of the
+Bormida, he outwitted the enemy and gradually restored the morale of his
+troops, and was able to hurry back to Genoa with three battalions at the
+psychological moment when mutiny and rebellion were showing their head.
+With absolute calmness he told the civic authorities to prepare
+quarters for eight thousand troops, of which the few with him were the
+advance guard. The authorities, staggered by his sudden appearance,
+never doubted the arrival of this fabulous force, and subsequently St.
+Cyr was able to occupy all the strongholds in the town with the handful
+of troops he had with him, and then at his leisure to arrest the
+ringleaders of the rebellion. Meanwhile, the judicious establishment of
+free soup kitchens in the streets alleviated the necessities of the mob.
+Scarcely was Genoa pacified when the general was confronted by a much
+more serious event. Famine had driven the soldiers to mutiny, and even
+the very outposts withdrew from contact with the enemy, and announced
+their intention of returning to France. It was only by raising a forced
+loan from the Ligurian Government, and delivering a most touching appeal
+to their patriotism, that he was able to persuade the mutineers to
+return to their duty, telling them that if they left the colours, he
+intended, "with the generals, officers, and non-commissioned officers to
+hold the positions occupied by the army." Further to encourage them he
+began a series of small engagements, which restored their morale and led
+up to the battle of Albano, where he inflicted so severe a defeat on the
+Austrians that Genoa was for a considerable time relieved from all
+danger. The First Consul, on hearing of the victory of Albano, at once
+sent St. Cyr a sword of honour, a Damascus blade in a richly engraved
+sheath, with the pommel encrusted with diamonds, which had originally
+been intended for the Sultan.
+
+But though thus rewarded by receiving the first sword of honour ever
+given by the First Consul, he was never a _persona grata_ with Napoleon.
+Accordingly at the beginning of 1800 he was withdrawn from the Army of
+Italy and sent as lieutenant to Moreau, who was to operate in the valley
+of the Danube while Bonaparte reserved the theatre of Italy for
+himself. It was most unfortunate for St. Cyr that he was supposed to
+belong to the Moreau faction, for day by day the struggle between that
+general and the First Consul became more bitter. Moreau took no trouble
+to conceal his dislike of Bonaparte, and on hearing a rumour that the
+First Consul intended to take command of the Army of the Rhine and
+install him as second in command, he lost his temper and told his staff
+at dinner "that he did not want a little tin Louis XIV. with his army,
+and that if the First Consul came he would go." Meanwhile great friction
+arose between the general and his new commander-in-chief. St. Cyr, proud
+of his late achievements, severely criticised the plans and organisation
+of his chief, who was extremely indignant at the idea that anybody
+should doubt his ability to manage an army of one hundred and thirty
+thousand men, and at the same time to command in person the reserve
+corps of twenty-five thousand; so Moreau belittled St. Cyr's
+achievements. St. Cyr at D'Engen, Mosskirch, and Biberach showed his
+accustomed skill as a tactician, but failed to keep in touch with the
+columns on his right and left, and increased his reputation as a jealous
+fighter. The second battle of Biberach was a masterpiece of audacity,
+and to his dying day the general, when recalling his success, always
+maintained, "On that day I was a man." During the operations round Ulm
+relations became still more strained, and St. Cyr was glad to seize the
+excuse of a wound to demand his return to France. The First Consul took
+the line which he always pursued with those whom he disliked but feared.
+He rewarded St. Cyr by making him a Councillor of State, and at the same
+time he got him out of the way by sending him on a diplomatic mission to
+Spain. The general remained at Madrid till August, 1802, and then after
+a short period of leave at Paris he was despatched in 1803 to command
+the army at Faenza which was to occupy the kingdom of Naples after the
+rupture of the treaty of Amiens. During the two years spent in command
+of the army of occupation he had many opportunities of showing his
+patience and diplomatic skill. The court of Naples had to be treated
+with all honour but watched with the greatest care, every effort had to
+be made to maintain outwardly an appearance of great cordiality, while
+Napoleon's demands had to be insisted on to the letter. The situation
+was further complicated by the continued interference of Murat, who
+commanded the Army of Italy, and who desired to have the Army of Naples
+under his control. The strictest discipline had to be maintained among
+the troops to prevent the Neapolitans having any handle to use against
+the army of occupation. So successfully did St. Cyr keep his troops in
+hand that the Neapolitan minister wrote in his next despatch to the
+Queen, "Madame, we can make nothing of that point; these men are not
+soldiers, they are monks." In spite of many an anxious moment these two
+years in Naples were pleasant years for the general, who delighted in
+the congenial society of the many men of letters who were attached to
+his army, for, as Paul Louis Corné wrote of him, "He is a man of merit,
+a learned man, perhaps the most learned of men in the gentle art of
+massacre, a pleasant man in private life, a great friend of mine." But
+there was one great disappointment connected with this Neapolitan
+command, for in 1804 St. Cyr found his name excluded from the list of
+Marshals, and the empty title of colonel-general of the cuirassiers and
+the Grand Cordon of the Legion of Honour in no way made amends for this
+disappointment.
+
+The outbreak of the war with Austria in the autumn of 1805 caused
+Napoleon to withdraw the army of occupation from Naples, and St. Cyr
+hastened north in time to help Masséna drive the Austrians out of Styria
+and Carinthia. He greatly distinguished himself at Castel Franco, where
+with a smaller force he captured the whole of a column of the enemy
+under the Prince de Rohan. A month later he was sent back in haste with
+thirty thousand men to reinvade Naples, which Napoleon had given as a
+kingdom to his brother Joseph, but on hearing that he was to act as a
+subordinate to Masséna he threw up his command and withdrew to Paris.
+This independent conduct increased Napoleon's dislike for him, and he
+was peremptorily ordered to return to Naples, where he remained till
+August, 1806.
+
+It was not till two years later that the Emperor once again employed St.
+Cyr on active service. But the task he then called upon him to perform
+was one that would make any general, who was anxious about his
+reputation, hesitate to undertake. For Napoleon sent him with a motley
+force of some forty-eight thousand Swiss, Italians, and Germans to
+restore French prestige in the mountainous country of Catalonia, and
+ended his orders with the words, "Preserve Barcelona for me; if it is
+lost I cannot retake it with eighty thousand men." In Barcelona lay the
+French general, Duhesme, who had been hustled into that town by the
+Spanish regulars and guerillas after the news of the great French
+disaster at Baylen. It was absolutely vital to the French to relieve
+Duhesme before lack of provisions caused him to surrender, but before
+any advance could be made it was necessary to seize the fortress of
+Rosas, which lay on the flank of the road from France to Barcelona; this
+post St. Cyr successfully took by assault under the very guns of Lord
+Dundonald's fleet. But still the problem of relieving Barcelona was a
+difficult one. There were two alternative lines of advance: the first
+and easier lay along the coast, but was exposed to the guns of the
+English fleet; the other road was a mere track through the mountains,
+and was accordingly extremely difficult owing to the excellent
+opportunities it gave to the guerillas. But St. Cyr, keeping his
+seventeen thousand men well in hand and taking every precaution against
+ambushes, successfully broke through the lines of regulars and
+guerillas, relieved Barcelona, and pushed on down the coast towards
+Tarragona. His further advance was stopped by the rapid reorganisation
+of the Spanish armies in Catalonia, and it became clear that until
+Gerona, which commanded the mountain road to France, was taken, the
+French forces in the south would always be in danger of having their
+communications cut. Accordingly the Emperor ordered him to return to
+assist General Verdier to capture this important town. Gerona had at one
+time been a fortress, but it was now simply covered with a feeble
+rampart. But the courage of the townspeople and their patriotism was
+fired by the example of Saragossa, and their spirit was animated by
+their governor, Alvarez, whose order, "Whoever speaks of capitulation or
+defeat shall be instantly put to death," was received with shouts of
+delight. Owing to quarrels between St. Cyr and Verdier, to the
+stubbornness of the defence, and above all to the constant success of
+the Spanish General Blake in throwing provisions into the town, the
+siege, which commenced by sap and assault, gradually drifted into a mere
+blockade, and lasted for six and a half months. At last the Emperor,
+angry at the constant bickering between the commanders and at the
+protracted siege, superseded St. Cyr by Marshal Augereau. However, it
+did not suit that Marshal to take over his command until there seemed a
+reasonable prospect of success, and accordingly he waited at Perpignan
+for news of the approaching end of the siege. At last St. Cyr in disgust
+threw up his command without waiting for the arrival of Augereau. The
+Emperor marked this act of insubordination by sending him under arrest
+to his country estate and depriving him of all his appointments.
+Accordingly one of the few French generals who never sustained a defeat
+in Spain passed the next two years of his life in disgrace without
+employment, while day by day the French arms were suffering reverses in
+the Peninsula.
+
+It was not till 1812 that the Emperor recalled St. Cyr to active
+employment and gazetted him to the command of the sixth corps, which,
+together with the second corps under the command of Marshal Oudinot, was
+employed on the line of the Dwina to cover the communications of the
+forces advancing on Moscow. The campaign in Russia showed the general at
+his best and at his worst. In the operations round Polotsk his great
+tactical ability enabled him with the small forces under his command to
+foil again and again the efforts of the Russian commander, Wittgenstein,
+but owing to his want of supervision before the winter arrived the sixth
+corps, which entered Russia twenty-five thousand strong, had been
+reduced to two thousand six hundred bayonets. It was not till his corps
+had almost disappeared that he bestirred himself and compelled his
+subordinates to look after the well-being and provisions of their men.
+Moreover, when placed under the command of Marshal Oudinot, while
+carrying out to the letter all orders transmitted to him, he invariably
+refused to aid him with his advice, and even during the first battle of
+Polotsk, when asked his opinion, he merely bowed and said, "My Lord
+Marshal!" as though he would say, "As they have made you a Marshal, you
+must know more about the matter than a mere general like me; get out of
+it as best you can." But as soon as a wound caused Oudinot to retire
+from the field he at once seized the reins of command, and so great was
+the influence and confidence that he inspired that in a few hours the
+army which Oudinot had left scattered and depressed with its back to a
+river, was advancing victoriously and sweeping all before it. But, good
+soldier as he was when left in supreme command, he unfortunately would
+not act in co-operation with others, and when at the end of October
+Victor, with twenty-five thousand troops, arrived to reinforce him, he
+seized the opportunity of a wound to throw up his command and return to
+France. As one of his critics says, "All that St. Cyr needed to be a
+consummate commander was a smaller share of egotism, and the knowledge
+to attach men and officers to him by attending to their wants." Still,
+Napoleon recognised his services against Wittgenstein by at last making
+him a Marshal.
+
+An attack of typhus and a burst blood-vessel deprived the Emperor of his
+new Marshal's assistance until after the armistice of Dresden. This was
+the first occasion on which the two had actually come into close
+contact, and Napoleon quickly saw that "thrawn" and jealous as St. Cyr
+undoubtedly was, his clearness of brain made his advice of the highest
+importance, while St. Cyr speedily fell under the charm of the great
+Emperor. Accordingly all through the campaign Napoleon constantly came
+to him for advice, which was never withheld. Remembering also his great
+reputation as a master of mountain warfare, the Emperor entrusted him
+with the duty of holding the highland passes leading by Pirna on to
+Dresden, while he himself hurried off to Silesia. In the great battle
+round Dresden the Marshal's twenty thousand raw recruits played their
+part nobly. Napoleon, to cover his own mistakes, laid the blame of
+Vandamme's disaster on St. Cyr and Marmont, but in his private letter to
+the Marshal he placed the blame on Vandamme, as he wrote, "That unhappy
+Vandamme, who seems to have killed himself, had not a sentinel on the
+mountain nor a reserve anywhere." When the Emperor fell back on Leipzig
+he entrusted the defence of Dresden to St. Cyr, leaving him twenty-two
+thousand troops and provisions for eight days. After a siege of a month
+the Marshal was compelled for lack of powder to surrender with the
+honours of war, but the Allies, after the evacuation of the town,
+refused to carry out the terms of the surrender, and retained him and
+his troops as prisoners of war; consequently he took no part in the
+campaign of 1814. During the Hundred Days he remained quietly at his
+country estate, but on the second Restoration he was called upon to
+undertake the duties of Minister of War, to disband the old army and to
+organise the new forces of France; his tenure of office was short, as he
+refused to serve a ministry which proposed to cede French territory to
+the enemy. In May, 1817, on the accession of a Liberal ministry, he once
+again took office, and during this period he laid the foundation of the
+General Staff of the Army, but in November, 1819, he resigned, and lived
+in retirement till he died at Hyères on March 17, 1830.
+
+During his hours of leisure the Marshal wrote his Memoirs, which he
+intended to aid the future historian of the French wars. These Memoirs
+show how clear and cutting his judgments were, both of men and matters,
+and his criticisms throw many useful lights on Napoleon's character and
+his methods of warfare, while they also to a great extent reveal his own
+character. No one who reads them can doubt that St. Cyr was a great
+strategist, while his powers as a tactician are proved by his
+never-failing success on the field of battle. But in spite of these
+talents the Marshal's actual record as a soldier is spoiled by his
+defects of character. A great believer in living by rule, he had two
+maxims which he ever clung to. First, that in war acts of kindness are
+too often harmful; second, the old adage of Machiavelli, "That a victory
+destroys the effect of the worst operation, and that the man who knows
+how to give battle can be pardoned every fault that he may have before
+committed in his military career." It is to these two maxims that we
+must attribute the want of supervision he showed over his troops and his
+absolute lack of cordiality towards his fellow Marshals and generals,
+which gave him the nickname of the "Bad bed-fellow." For that he did not
+lack the talents of an organiser is shown by the way, when roused, he
+provided for his troops in Russia, and also by the success of his
+efforts when Minister of War. But of all his gifts undoubtedly the most
+useful was his absolute coolness: no matter how badly the fight went, no
+matter if he were run away with in his carriage and carried straight
+through a brigade of the enemy's horse, he never was ruffled, never lost
+his clear grip on the situation. His bitter enemy, Macdonald, well
+summed up his character in answer to Louis XVIII.'s questions as to
+whether he was lazy. "I am not aware of it," said the Duke of Tarentum.
+"He is a man of great military capacity, firm, honest, but jealous of
+other peoples' merit. In the army he is regarded as what is called a
+'bad bed-fellow.' In the coldest manner possible he allowed his
+neighbours to be beaten, without attempting to assist them, and then
+criticised them afterwards. But this opinion, not uncommon among
+soldiers, is perhaps exaggerated, and he is admitted to have calmness
+and great capabilities."
+
+
+
+
+XIII
+
+BON ADRIEN JEANNOT DE MONCEY, MARSHAL, DUKE OF CONEGLIANO
+
+
+The glamour of war appeals strongly to most men, to some it calls with
+irresistible demand. Such an one was the Duke of Conegliano. Born on
+July 31, 1754, at Palise, a little village of Besançon, the son of a
+well-to-do lawyer, Bon Adrien Jeannot loathed scholarship and loved
+adventure. When but fifteen years old the future Marshal ran away from
+school and enlisted in the Conti regiment of infantry. After six months'
+service he reluctantly agreed to the purchase of his discharge by his
+father; but very soon ran away again to enlist in the regiment of
+Champagne. He served with this regiment till 1773, when, finding that
+his hopes of gaining a commission were disappointed, he once again
+bought himself out. A few months, however, spent in the study of the law
+only served to increase his hatred of a sedentary life and to kindle
+once more his old ambition, and he again enlisted as a private, this
+time in the gendarmerie. But now fortune was more kind, and after four
+years' service he achieved his desire and was gazetted, in 1779, as
+sub-lieutenant in the dragoons of Nassau Siegen. It was not, however,
+till April, 1791, that he gained his captaincy, which had cost him
+twenty-three years' hard service; but now promotion came rapidly, and in
+three years' time he rose to the rank of general of division.
+
+In 1793 Moncey's regiment of dragoons formed part of the Army of the
+Western Pyrenees. In the first engagement with the enemy he had the good
+fortune to distinguish himself. The Spanish commander-in-chief,
+Bonaventura Casa, led a charge of horse against the ill-disciplined
+recruits and volunteers who formed the mass of the French army covering
+St. Jean Pied de Porte. The miserable French infantry broke, with cries
+of "We are betrayed!" and it was Moncey who, rallying a few brave men,
+stopped the charge of the enemy's horse. Energetic, clear-witted, and
+self-confident, he soon became a man of mark. In February, 1794, he was
+promoted general of brigade, and six months later general of division,
+in which capacity, in August of that year, he was mainly instrumental in
+forcing the lines of Fontarabia; on the proposition of Barrère he was, a
+few days later, appointed by the Convention commander-in-chief of the
+Army of the Western Pyrenees. In October he fully justified his
+selection by forcing the famous pass of Roncesvalles, so intimately
+connected with the names of Charlemagne and the Black Prince. This
+action, which made good a footing in Spain, was extremely brilliant; the
+position, strong by nature, had been made almost impregnable by months
+of hard labour. Moreover, the French troops were badly handicapped by
+the difficulty of getting food; but, by now, they were very different
+from the ill-trained levies of 1793. The turning column, which had four
+days' hard mountain climbing and fighting on three biscuits per man,
+found nothing to eat, when the pass was forced, save a little flour, for
+the Spanish had burnt their magazines. In spite of this there was no
+grumbling, and the men, as their general reported, pressed on with cries
+of "Vive la République!" Moncey, like Napoleon, knew how to use the
+great driving force of hunger. He thoroughly deserved the thanks which
+he received from the Convention, and he fully earned them again when,
+early in 1795, he drove the Spanish army in flight across the Ebro, for
+it was his magnificent forward movement which forced Spain to accede to
+the treaty of Basle.
+
+From Spain the general was transferred to the Army of the Côtes de
+Brest. A year later he was posted to the command of the eleventh
+military division at Bayonne, and he was still there when, in October,
+1799, Bonaparte returned from Egypt and overthrew the Directory. No
+politician, it mattered little to Moncey who governed France, as long as
+the honour of the country was maintained and he saw active service.
+Accordingly he gladly accepted from the new government the position of
+lieutenant to Moreau, the commander-in-chief of the Army of the Rhine.
+But he did not serve long under his new chief, being detached in May at
+the head of sixteen thousand to cross the Alps by the St. Gothard Pass,
+as part of the great stroke aimed at the Austrian lines of communication
+in Italy. His corps formed a flank guard to the main Army of the
+Reserve, which crossed the St. Bernard under Napoleon himself. In the
+operations which succeeded the battle of Marengo the First Consul made
+full use of Moncey's great experience in mountain warfare, and sent him
+to the Valtelline to join hands with Macdonald, who was crossing the
+Alps by the Splügen Pass. Thereafter his division formed the left wing
+of the French army under Brune. After a brilliant series of skirmishes
+in the mountains, Moncey drove the flying enemy into Trent, but he was
+robbed of complete victory by the Austrian general, Laudon, who sent a
+message to say that Brune and Bellegarde had made an armistice.
+Unfortunately for the French their general, the soul of honour,
+suspected no deceit, and thus the Austrians were saved from annihilation
+or absolute surrender.
+
+After the peace of Lunéville General Moncey was appointed
+Inspector-General of gendarmerie, and on Napoleon's elevation to the
+throne was created, in 1804, Marshal, Grand Officer of the Legion of
+Honour, and in 1808 Duke of Conegliano. Moncey invariably spoke his
+mind, and for this reason was no favourite with the Emperor; further, in
+comparison with his fellow Marshals, he was an old man, so from 1800 to
+1808 he was not employed on active service. But on the invasion of
+Spain, Napoleon determined to make use of the Duke of Conegliano's
+knowledge of that country, and ordered him to proceed there with the
+Army of Observation of the Ocean, which he was then commanding at
+Boulogne. This army became the third corps of the newly formed Army of
+Spain. It was composed almost entirely of recruits, and when Murat
+marched into Madrid at the head of the third corps, the poor physique of
+these "weak and weedy privates" had a very bad effect on the situation,
+for the Spaniards thought they could easily defeat such troops. From
+Madrid the Marshal was sent to capture Valencia, which had broken out
+into revolt against the French. Though old, the Duke of Conegliano was
+still active and vigorous. After a month's continuous fighting across
+mountain passes and rivers he reached Valencia; but he found the town in
+a state of defence. As Napoleon said on hearing of his check, "A city of
+eighty thousand inhabitants, barricaded streets, and artillery
+entrenched at the gates cannot be taken by the collar." Accordingly
+there was nothing for it but to retreat, and this the Marshal did in
+such a masterly manner that the failure of his expedition produced but
+little bad effect on the French cause. When, after Baylen, Joseph held
+his council of war at Madrid, Moncey alone stood out for the bold course
+of cutting communication with France and concentrating around the
+capital; but he was overruled, and the French fell back on the line of
+the Ebro.
+
+As soon as Napoleon arrived in Spain he vented his anger
+indiscriminately on all those Marshals who had served under Joseph, but
+his greatest displeasure fell on Moncey, for the Duke of Conegliano did
+not believe that Spain could be gained by hanging all those who
+resisted, and had actually received the thanks of the Junta of Oviedo,
+who considered him "a just and honourable man," and published a
+manifesto saying, "We know this illustrious general detests the conduct
+of his companions." Accordingly, in the eyes of the Emperor he had been
+guilty of bungling and slackness, if not of something worse, and he was
+therefore subjected to the cruel affront of being placed under the
+orders of Lannes, a junior Marshal. Though much annoyed, as a soldier he
+could only obey, and the Emperor's decision was to some extent
+justified, as Lannes won the battle of Tudela with the same troops which
+Moncey had not dared to lead against the enemy. Three months later the
+Marshal was once again superseded by Lannes, and this time recalled and
+sent to France. The ostensible reason for this was, that in the
+Emperor's opinion he had not pressed the siege of Saragossa. With a
+desire to avoid bloodshed he had tried to induce the Spaniards to
+capitulate by entering into negotiations, instead of pushing on his
+siege batteries. But his real offence was that he had not concealed his
+dislike of the seizure of Spain.
+
+In 1812 his disgrace was deepened, for he expressed with equal frankness
+his hatred of the Russian campaign. Though never again employed at the
+front, the Emperor made use of him in 1809 in Holland, and in 1812 and
+1813 he led the Army of Reserve; while in 1814 he was appointed
+major-general of the National Guard of Paris and made responsible for
+the defence of the capital. In the last dark days before the city
+capitulated Moncey, with six thousand citizen soldiers, fought bravely
+outside the Clichy gate.
+
+On the Restoration the Marshal became a Minister of State and a member
+of the new Chamber of Peers, and was confirmed in his old appointment of
+inspector of gendarmerie. But on the return of Napoleon he forgot the
+wrongs the Emperor had done him; he thought only of the glory Napoleon
+had once won for France; so he swore allegiance to the imperial
+government and was created a peer. But, on account of his age, the
+Emperor gave him no military command. To punish him for his desertion,
+Louis XVIII., on the second Restoration, appointed him president of the
+council of war for the trial of Ney. But the Duke of Conegliano wrote to
+the King boldly refusing to have anything to do with the trial of the
+hero of Moskowa. So angry was the King at his courageous act that he
+stripped the veteran of his marshalate and the title of duke, and sent
+him to prison for three months in the castle of Ham, the same prison
+which was later to receive the future Napoleon III. But time brought
+forgiveness. In 1819 the Marshal was restored to his honours, and in
+1823 was actually once again employed on active service. It must have
+brought strange memories of the past to the veteran, who had been
+thought too old to fight at Waterloo, again to see service in Spain,
+where he had won his laurels in 1794 and had found naught but disgrace
+in 1808. So, in his seventieth year, he made his last campaign, not in
+command of a republican or imperial army, but as a corps commander in
+the royal army under the Duc d'Angoulême. This time, however, there was
+but little call on his courage and ability, for the campaign brought no
+fighting and was merely a military promenade. On the fall of the Bourbon
+dynasty the Marshal took no active part in affairs, but as Governor of
+the Invalides in December, 1833, he had the honour to receive the
+remains of Napoleon when they were translated to France; and on his
+death nine years later, in 1842, at his special request, he was buried
+in the "aisle of the brave," close to the tomb of the great Emperor.
+
+
+
+
+XIV
+
+JEAN BAPTISTE JOURDAN, MARSHAL
+
+
+Among the recruits who enlisted in the Auxerrois regiment in 1778 was
+the son of the local doctor of Limoges, Jean Baptiste Jourdan. But
+sixteen years old, having been born on April 29, 1762, Jean Baptiste was
+attracted to the service by the desire to see America and to aid in the
+good cause against "perfide Albion." Returning to France in 1784, with
+all hopes of gaining a commission dashed to the ground by Ségur's
+ordinance, which excluded from commissioned rank all but those of noble
+birth, Jourdan took his discharge. The ex-sergeant married a marchande
+de modes, and set up a small drapery shop, but so humble was this
+venture that the future Marshal had to carry his stock in a valise on
+his back, and trudge from fair to fair to peddle his wares. As he went
+from village to village he retold his adventures and fired his listeners
+with the account of the glorious freedom of the New World, comparing it
+with the miserable restrictions which had driven from the army himself
+and many another fine soldier. When in the autumn of 1791 there came the
+call for volunteers, Jean Baptiste gladly left his counter and enlisted
+in the battalion of the Upper Vienne. His experience and ability soon
+marked him out for command, and he was chosen by his comrades as
+lieutenant-colonel. The opportunity he had long dreamed of had at last
+arrived, and he made the most of it. Methodical and industrious, with
+the lessons of handling and equipping irregulars which he had had in
+America, he made his battalion a pattern for the others, and was
+complimented by Lafayette on the admirable condition of his command.
+Serving under Dumouriez in the invasion of Belgium, he was present at
+Jemappes, and there proved that, in addition to powers of organisation,
+he possessed the capacity for leading in the field. Promotion came
+speedily when the guillotine cleared the way in the higher ranks by
+removing the incompetent and unfortunate.
+
+By May, 1793, he had gained the grade of general of brigade; two months
+later he became general of division. His first opportunity of
+distinguishing himself in high command came six weeks later, when he was
+entrusted by Houchard with the command of the advance guard in the
+operations which ended in driving the English from the siege of Dunkirk.
+So well did he execute his orders at the battle of Handschötten that
+Carnot selected him to succeed his commander when Houchard was hurried
+off to the guillotine for failing to reap the full fruits of victory.
+Jourdan was fortunate in that Carnot, "the organiser of victory," was
+responsible for the welfare of the French arms, and not the despicable
+Bouchotte. Carnot had grasped the fact that, if you are to defeat your
+enemy, you must bring superior moral and physical force against him at
+the decisive spot. Thanks therefore to him, Jourdan was able to mass
+superior weight, and at Maubeuge hurl himself on the scattered forces of
+the enemy, who were covering the siege of Valenciennes. But the victory
+of Maubeuge nearly cost him his head, as that of Handschötten had done
+for his predecessor. The Committee of Public Safety, with that
+incompetent rashness which those who know least of war most readily
+believe to be military wisdom, ordered him to pursue the enemy and
+conquer Belgium. It was in vain that he pointed out the strength of the
+Allies, his want of transport and stores, and the difficulty of
+undertaking a winter campaign with raw troops: reason was of no avail;
+his resignation was wrathfully accepted, and he was ordered to Paris to
+give an account of his actions. Face to face with the Committee, the
+General renewed his arguments, explained how the old battalions of
+regulars had dwindled down to some two hundred muskets apiece; how the
+new levies possessed neither arms nor clothing; how some battalions were
+armed with pikes, some merely with cudgels; and finished by offering, as
+a proof of his zeal for the Republic, to go to La Vendée and fight
+against the rebels. The truth of his statement and his obvious
+disinterestedness won the day, and, though for the moment he was refused
+a new command, his life was saved. Moreover, the Committee of Safety
+profited by his advice, and during the winter the Army of the North was
+reclothed and equipped. Thanks partly to his suggestion, the battalions
+of the line were brigaded with the volunteers, and this reorganisation
+produced the magnificent regiments which Napoleon found to hand when he
+commenced his career in Italy.
+
+[Illustration: JEAN BAPTISTE JOURDAN
+AFTER A DRAWING BY AMBROISE TARDIEU]
+
+Jourdan's time of inactivity was but short. He had proved his worth in
+the field, and France needed every capable soldier. Moreover, he had
+made open testimony of his republicanism in the Jacobin Club, swearing
+before the Tribune that "the sword which he wore should only be
+unsheathed to oppose tyrants and defend the rights of the people." So,
+in March, 1794, he was sent to take command of a new army which Carnot
+had been raising during the winter. By June this new force of one
+hundred thousand, known to history as the famous Army of the Sambre and
+Meuse, had established itself on the Meuse and taken Charleroi. Coburg,
+the commander-in-chief of the Allies, anxious about his communications,
+hurried to oppose this successful advance, and on June 25th was fought
+the battle of Fleurus, which caused the Allies to evacuate France, ended
+the Reign of Terror, and was the starting-point for the long period of
+offensive warfare which was at last brought to an end twenty-one years
+later on the field of Waterloo. At Fleurus Jourdan proved his ability as
+a tactician, and the victory was due to the moral courage with which he
+threw his last reserve into the fray. Backed by the Army of the North
+under Pichegru, he then swept over Belgium, and by the autumn the
+republican armies had crossed the Rhine.
+
+During the next year Jourdan was engaged in the Rhine valley. But in
+1796 he was ordered to advance through the Black Forest on Ratisbon, and
+there join another French army under Moreau, which was moving down the
+right bank of the Danube. Against this defective strategy he protested
+in vain, and, as he had expected, was driven back by the able measures
+of the Austrian general, the Archduke Charles. After this misfortune he
+was placed on the unemployed list, and, for some time, had to find an
+outlet for his energies in the field of politics. Entering the Council
+of Five Hundred as the representative of the Upper Vienne, he was warmly
+received by the republican party, and voted against the proposed
+re-establishment of the Catholic religion, and supported the coup d'état
+of the 18th Fructidor, by which the royalist councillors were driven
+into exile. Full of fiery zeal for the Republic, a rhetorical speaker
+ready to appeal to the gallery, swearing on his sabre the oath of
+fidelity, he nevertheless had a cool head for business, and it was at
+his suggestion that in September, 1798, the celebrated law was passed
+whereby conscription became the sole method of recruiting for the army.
+Jourdan introduced the law with a flourish of trumpets, assuring the
+Council that "in agreeing to it they had decreed the power of the
+Republic to be imperishable," while as a matter of fact they were
+forging the weapon which was to place their country at the mercy of the
+first adventurer who had the courage and capacity to make himself
+dictator. In 1799 foreign danger once again caused him to be entrusted
+with a military command, and once again he was opposed by his old
+adversary, the Archduke Charles, and driven back in retreat across the
+Rhine. Thereon the Directory superseded him by Masséna, and he returned
+to the Council of Five Hundred, and in September proposed his memorable
+resolution, "that the country is in danger." "Italy under the yoke, the
+barbarians of the north at our very barriers, Holland invaded, the fleet
+treacherously given up, Helvetia ravaged, bands of royalists indulging
+in every excess, the republicans proscribed under the name of Terrorists
+and Jacobins." Such were the outlines of his picture. "One more reverse
+on our frontier," he added, "and the alarm bell of royalty will ring
+over the whole surface of France." But France had had enough of the
+Terror, and knew that she could evolve her safety by other means than
+that of the guillotine. Six weeks later Bonaparte returned from Egypt.
+
+From the advent of the Consulate a blight fell over Jourdan's career.
+Napoleon could never forgive him for the obstinacy with which he had
+opposed him on the 18th Brumaire. True, in 1800 he appointed him
+Governor of Piedmont, and in 1804 created him Marshal. He could not
+withhold the bâton from the general who had in 1794 driven the enemy
+from the sacred soil of France, who, more often than any other general,
+had commanded in chief the armies of the Republic, and who, in spite of
+numerous defeats, had established a reputation as one of the most
+brilliant of the generals of republican France. But though he gave him
+his bâton Napoleon thought but little of his military ability, and
+called him "a poor general"; for in his eyes success, and success alone,
+was the test of merit, and he could see nothing in a general who, from
+his capacity for emerging with credit from defeat, was surnamed "The
+Anvil." But it was not this which caused Napoleon to snub the gallant
+Marshal: it was his ardent republicanism and well-known Jacobin
+sentiments which made him so hateful to the Emperor. But though Napoleon
+treated him shamefully, and did all he could to cast him into ill
+repute, the Marshal showed he had a soul above mere personal ambitions,
+and served France faithfully. At St. Helena the fallen Emperor
+confessed: "I certainly used that man very ill: he is a true patriot,
+and that is the answer to many things urged against him." From 1805 to
+1815 Jourdan's life was full of mortification. When the war broke out
+against Austria in 1805 he was in command of the army in Italy, but was
+at once superseded, under the plea that his health was bad, and that he
+did not know the theatre of war like Masséna. However cleverly the pill
+was gilded, the Marshal knew that it was the Emperor's distrust which
+had lost him the command. But, though Napoleon disliked him, Joseph was
+his friend, and in 1806 the new King of Naples applied to be allowed to
+take him with him to Italy as his major-general and chief of the staff.
+When in 1808 Joseph exchanged the crown of Naples for that of Spain the
+Marshal accompanied him, and when, in 1809, Napoleon hurriedly left
+Spain to return to Paris, he appointed him chief of the staff to King
+Joseph. The major-general's task was a difficult one. He had no
+executive authority: his duty was simply to give advice to the King, and
+to transmit such orders as he received; but unfortunately neither Joseph
+nor he had the power to enforce orders once given, for although certain
+French corps had been placed at the disposal of the King, and were
+supposed to obey his orders, their commanders had still to communicate
+with Berthier and to receive through him the decrees of the Emperor.
+Hence there was a dual authority, and, to make matters worse, Napoleon
+did not attempt to veil his contempt of Joseph's military ability. At
+the same time he cast aspersions on Jourdan's skill, and showed his open
+dislike to the Marshal by omitting his name from the list of French
+Marshals in the "Almanack," under the pretence that he had been
+transferred to the Spanish establishment and was no longer a Frenchman.
+Consequently the other Marshals paid but little attention to the King or
+the major-general. At the battle of Talavera Jourdan's advice was
+utterly disregarded and his orders entirely neglected, and still he had
+to bear the blame, and endure the whole of Napoleon's wrath. In despair,
+broken down in health, he applied to be relieved of his duties, and
+returned home to private life. But in 1812, when the Emperor was
+summoning his vast army for the invasion of Russia, being short of
+officers, he sent the Marshal back to his old post in Spain. The task
+had been a hard one in 1809, it was harder still in 1812. The flower of
+the French troops were now withdrawn for the Russian campaign. The
+authority of the King was more feeble than ever, and years of warfare
+had transformed the English army into a perfect fighting machine. The
+Spaniards were now past masters in guerilla warfare, while the
+iniquitous scheme of making war support war had subverted discipline and
+broken the morale of the French army. With admirable lucidity the
+Marshal drew up a memoir showing the state of affairs in Spain, and
+pointing out what was at fault; but memoirs written for Joseph could not
+alter evils which flowed directly from Napoleon's having broken the
+golden canon of the "unity of command." With three practically
+independent commanders-in-chief who refused to acknowledge the
+controlling authority of the King, who were too jealous of each other to
+work with mutual accord, disaster was bound to follow. The temporary
+co-operation of all three drove the English back on Portugal at the end
+of 1812. But in 1813 the disaster in Russia had caused the Emperor to
+make further heavy drafts on the force in Spain. Jourdan could only
+advise a steady retirement towards France. The culminating blow at
+Vittoria was no fault of his. Struck down by a fever the day before the
+action, he was unable to give his advice at the critical moment. So
+Joseph had to fight Vittoria without the assistance of the chief of his
+staff, and with subordinates who not only despised, but disobeyed him in
+the presence of the enemy. It was no wonder that defeat easily turned
+into rout. The whole of the French baggage was captured, and in the
+flight the Marshal had the misfortune to lose his bâton, which was
+picked up by the 87th Regiment and sent to England.
+
+After 1813 Jourdan's career came to a close. Napoleon heaped reproaches
+on him, and refused him further employment, entirely oblivious of the
+fact that it was he himself who was responsible for the Spanish
+disaster, and that the Marshal had done all that was possible. On the
+Emperor's abdication the old Jacobin took the oath of allegiance to King
+Louis, and remained true to his allegiance during the Hundred Days. Time
+had chastened and mellowed his fiery republicanism, and seeing that a
+Republic was impossible, he preferred the chance of constitutional
+liberty under a monarchy to the tyranny of the Empire. In 1817, as a
+reward for his services, he was created a peer of France. But though he
+accepted the Restoration in preference to the Empire, all his sympathies
+were liberal, and no one had a greater dislike for the reactionary
+policy of Charles X. In 1830 he gladly accepted the new liberal
+constitution of Louis Philippe, the old Philip Égalité of the days of
+Jemappes. The new monarch appointed his former comrade governor of the
+Hospital of the Invalides, and there, among his old fellow-soldiers of
+the revolutionary wars, the Marshal breathed his last on November 23,
+1833, in his seventy-second year.
+
+
+
+
+XV
+
+CHARLES PIERRE FRANÇOIS AUGEREAU, MARSHAL, DUKE OF CASTIGLIONE
+
+
+The future Duke of Castiglione was born in Paris on November 11, 1757.
+His father was a mason by trade and his mother, a native of Munich, kept
+a furniture shop in the Faubourg Saint Marceau. From his earliest youth
+Pierre François, handsome and long-limbed, hot-blooded and vain,
+thirsted after adventure. At the age of seventeen, on his mother's
+death, he enlisted in the carabineers. A keen soldier and a fine
+horseman, he soon became sergeant, and within a few years gained the
+name of being one of the best blades in the army; but in upholding this
+reputation Sergeant Augereau constantly fell into disgrace with the
+authorities. Though a blusterer by nature and full of bravado, the
+sergeant was certainly no coward. On one occasion a noted professional
+duellist thought that he could intimidate him. Accordingly, he swaggered
+into a café, where Augereau was talking to some friends, and plunged
+himself down on the table at which the sergeant was sitting, and,
+lolling back till he almost leant against him, began to boast how, on
+the previous day, he had accounted for two sergeants of the Garde
+Française. This was sufficient insult to cause a challenge, but Augereau
+preferred to let the challenge come from his adversary, and,
+accordingly, undoing the leather belt of his would-be opponent, he
+quietly poured the whole of a cup of scalding coffee down the inside of
+his breeches. Having thus taken the upper hand of the quarrel, he so
+completely mastered the spirit of the bully that he had little
+difficulty in disposing of him in the duel which followed. An
+unfortunate incident cut short his career in the carabineers. One day a
+young officer, losing his temper with him on parade, threatened to
+strike him with his whip. Thereon, Augereau in fury snatched the whip
+from the officer, who at once drew his sword and attacked him. Augereau
+at first confined himself to parrying, but at last, being wounded, he
+thrust out and killed his opponent. The colonel, well aware that it was
+not the sergeant's fault, arranged for his escape across the frontier.
+After wandering about Constantinople and the Levant, Augereau passed
+some years as sergeant in the Russian army, and served under Suvaroff at
+the taking of Ismailia, but, getting tired of service in the East, he
+deserted and escaped to Prussia. There he enlisted, and, owing to his
+height and proficiency in drill, was transferred to the guards. His
+captain held out hopes of a commission, but these were dashed, for when
+he was brought to the King's notice Frederick asked who he was. "A
+Frenchman, sire," was the reply. "So much the worse," answered the King;
+"so much the worse. If he had been a Swiss, or a German, we might have
+done something for him." Augereau, on hearing this, determined to quit
+the Prussian service. Desertion was the only way of escape, but the
+Prussians, by offering heavy rewards for recapture, had made desertion
+almost impossible. Luckily, he was not the only guardsman dissatisfied
+with the Prussian service, and he had little difficulty in getting
+together about sixty of the boldest of the regiment, and, seizing a
+favourable opportunity, he marched off his squad with their arms and
+ammunition, and, beating off all attacks from the peasants and
+detachments of soldiers who tried to stop them, he safely convoyed his
+comrades across the frontier to Saxony. After this escapade Augereau
+settled down as a dancing and fencing master at Dresden, but on the
+amnesty, at the birth of the Dauphin, he returned to France and regained
+his rank in his old regiment. His adventurous life and his natural
+aspirations soon made him tire of always holding a subordinate position,
+and in 1788 he applied to be sent, as one of the French instructors, to
+help in the reorganisation of the Neapolitan army. There he soon gained
+a commission. In 1791 he fell in love with the daughter of a Greek
+merchant, and, as her father refused to listen to him, he quietly
+married her and carried her off by ship to Lisbon. In Portugal his
+freedom of speech, and approval of the changes which were happening in
+France, caused the authorities to hand him over to the Inquisition, from
+whence he was rescued by a French skipper and conveyed, with his wife,
+to Havre.
+
+[Illustration: CHARLES PIERRE AUGEREAU, DUKE OF CASTIGLIONE
+FROM AN ENGRAVING BY RUOTTE]
+
+Augereau returned to France ready to absorb the most republican
+doctrines. His banishment, after killing the officer, had always seemed
+unfair; his long subordination and the harshness of military discipline
+had rankled in his soul; physically, he knew himself superior to most
+men, and by his wits he had found himself able to hold his own and make
+his way in nearly every country in Europe; so far birth had seemed to be
+the only barrier which cut him off from success. But now caste was
+hurled aside, and France was calling for talent; good soldiers were
+scarce: Augereau saw his opportunity, and used it to the full. A few
+months spent fighting in La Vendée taught him that renown was not to be
+gained in civil war, and, accordingly, he got himself transferred to the
+Army of the Pyrenees, where he rose in six months from simple captain to
+general of division. From the Pyrenees he was transferred with his
+division to Italy, and covered himself with glory at Loano, Millesimo,
+and Lodi. But it was his conduct at Castiglione which once and for all
+made his reputation; though it is not true, as he boasted in 1814 after
+deserting the Emperor, that it was only his invincible firmness which
+caused Bonaparte to fight instead of retreat; for Bonaparte was
+concentrating to fight, and his abandonment of the siege of Mantua,
+against which Augereau so wildly protested, was but part of the
+preparation for victory. Though he would not listen to Augereau's
+strategic advice, he had enough confidence in him to leave the first
+attack on Castiglione entirely in his hands. According to the Marshal's
+Memoirs, Bonaparte was afraid of attacking. "I wash my hands of it and
+go away," he said. "And who will command if you go?" asked Augereau.
+"You," retorted Bonaparte. And well he did his work, for not only did he
+defeat the fifteen thousand Austrians at Castiglione, but he restored
+the fallen confidence of his soldiers and refreshed the morale of the
+whole army. Napoleon never forgot this service, and when detractors saw
+fit to cast their venom at Augereau, he answered, "Let us not forget
+that he saved us at Castiglione." From Castiglione onwards the soldiers
+of Augereau's division would do anything for their commander. It was not
+only that they respected his tactical gifts, and had complete confidence
+in him in the hour of battle, but they loved him for his care of them.
+In time of peace a stern disciplinarian, with a touch of the drill
+sergeant, he was ever ready to hear their complaints, and never spared
+himself in looking after their welfare, while in war time he was always
+thinking of their food and clothing; but, above all, he gave them booty.
+Adventurer as he was by nature and training, he loved the spoils of war
+himself, and, while the "baggage wagon of Augereau" was the by-word in
+the army, he saw to it that his men had their wagons also well loaded
+with plunder. His courage was a thing to conjure with; at Lodi he had
+been one of the numerous generals who rushed the bridge; but at Arcola,
+alone, flag in hand, he stood on the bridge and hurled taunts and
+encouragements at his struggling troops, and for three continuous days
+exposed himself, the guiding spirit of every assault and forlorn hope.
+While adding to his reputation as a stern and courageous fighter, a
+clever tactician, and a born leader of men, Augereau's opinion of
+himself increased by leaps and bounds. He was in no way surprised when,
+after Leoben, Bonaparte entrusted him with a delicate secret mission to
+Paris. In his own opinion no better agent could have been found in the
+rôle of a stern, unbending republican and fiery Jacobin. Bonaparte told
+him he would represent the feeling of the Army of Italy, and help to
+bring to nothing the wiles of the royalists. So the general arrived at
+Paris full of his mission and of his own importance, to the delight of
+his father--the old mason--who saw him ride into the city covered with
+gold lace to present sixty stands of captured colours to the Directory.
+Once in Paris, the fighting general's threats against the Clicheans were
+turned into deeds. Though he protested that "Paris has nothing to fear
+from me: I am a Paris boy myself," on September 4, 1797, he quietly drew
+a cordon of troops round the Tuileries, where the Councils sat, and
+arrested and banished all whose political opinions opposed his own.
+Relying on the promises of Barras, he now thought that he would become a
+Director, in place of either Carnot or Barthélemy, who had been deposed.
+But he soon found, to his sorrow, that he was not the great politician
+he had believed himself to be, but merely the dupe of Bonaparte and
+others, who had allowed him to clear the ground for them and to incur
+the consequent odium. His immediate reward was the command of the Army
+of the Rhine. Full of bitterness, he arrived at his new headquarters
+"covered with gold embroidery, even down to his short boots," and
+thought to debauch his soldiers and get himself accepted as dictator by
+telling how, in the Army of Italy, everybody had a pocketful of gold.
+But the Directory, though unable to curb a Bonaparte, had no fears of
+the "Fructidor General," and very soon deprived him of his command, and
+sent him to an unimportant post at Perpignan, on the Spanish frontier.
+
+For two years Augereau remained at Perpignan, where he had time to
+understand the causes of his failure. Though completely dominated by
+Bonaparte while in his presence, he had not the guileless heart of a
+Lefèbvre, and he began to perceive how the wily Corsican had used him
+and betrayed him. Accordingly, when Bonaparte returned from Egypt he
+read his design of becoming Dictator, and, true to his Jacobin
+principles, at first resolved to fight him to the death; when, however,
+he found generals, officers, and men going over to Bonaparte, he
+hastened off to make his submission, saying reproachfully, "When you
+were about to do something for our country, how could you forget your
+own little Augereau?" But though he made his submission, again and again
+his Jacobin principles made themselves felt. Forced to accompany
+Bonaparte to the first mass held in Paris after the Concordat, Augereau
+attempted to slip out of the carriage during the procession to Nôtre
+Dame, and was ignominiously ordered back by one of the First Consul's
+aides-de-camp; but he revenged himself by laughing and talking so loudly
+during the service that the priest could hardly be heard. But Napoleon
+knew his man and his price: a Marshal's bâton and a princely income did
+much to control his Jacobin proclivities. As early as 1801, Augereau
+invested part of his savings on the beautiful estate of La Houssaye,
+where, when not actively employed, he spent his time dispensing lavish
+hospitality, and delighting his friends and military household with
+magnificent entertainments, himself the life and soul of the whole
+party, enjoying all the fun and the practical jokes as much as the
+youngest subaltern. However he gained his money, he spent it freely and
+ungrudgingly. When the First Consul tried to put Lannes in an awkward
+position by ordering him at once to replace the deficit of three hundred
+thousand francs, caused by the magnificent uniforms he had ordered for
+the Guard, Augereau, as soon as he heard of it, hurried to his
+solicitors and told them to pay that sum to General Lannes's account.
+When Bernadotte, whom he scarcely knew, asked him to lend him two
+hundred thousand francs to complete the purchase of an estate, he at
+once assented; and when Madame Bernadotte asked him what interest he
+would require, he replied, "Madame, bankers and moneylenders, no doubt
+quite rightly, draw profit from the money they lend, but when a Marshal
+is fortunate enough to oblige a comrade, the pleasure of doing him a
+service is enough for him."
+
+In the scheme for the invasion of England the Marshal's corps, which was
+stationed round Brest, was destined for the seizure of Ireland, so when
+the Grand Army was turned against Austria his divisions were the last to
+arrive on the theatre of operations, and were directed to the Tyrol,
+where they forced General Jellachich and most of his army to surrender.
+In the following year the Marshal greatly distinguished himself at Jena
+and Pultusk; but at Eylau, though not owing to his own fault, he
+suffered a reverse. The Emperor had placed him in the centre of the
+first line and ordered him to advance against the Russian centre. The
+fog and snow were so thick that the French could not see the foe until
+they came within two hundred yards of them; the enemy suddenly opened
+fire on them with massed batteries; in a moment Augereau's staunch
+divisions were cut to bits by the hail of grape, and, owing to the smoke
+and snow, they could not see their foes; they tried to hold their ground
+and reply to the fire, but at last they wavered and broke. The Marshal,
+so ill with fever that he had to be tied to his horse, did his utmost to
+stop the rout, but in vain; at last, wounded and sick at heart, he had
+to return and report his failure. The Emperor, wishing to cover his own
+mistake, laid all the blame for the ill-success of the day on Augereau,
+and breaking up the remnants of his corps among the other Marshals, he
+sent him home. Afraid, however, of arousing his enmity, and mindful of
+his past services, next year he created him Duke of Castiglione; but he
+never entrusted him again with an important command in the field. In
+1809 the Marshal was sent to Spain to supersede St. Cyr at the siege of
+Gerona. He had lost his lust for fighting, and was soon recalled for not
+showing sufficient energy. In 1812 he commanded part of the reserve of
+the Grand Army in Prussia. In 1813 he was in command of a corps of
+recruits in Germany, and was present at Leipzig, but all through the
+campaign he grumbled against his troops. When reproached for slackness,
+and told that he was not the Augereau of Castiglione, he turned on
+Napoleon, crying out, "Ah, give me back the old soldiers of Italy and I
+will show you that I am!" Still, he had no heart for the war, and after
+the catastrophe at Leipzig he broke out into open revolt, cursing the
+Emperor and telling Macdonald that "the idiot does not know what he is
+about ... the coward, he abandoned us and was prepared to sacrifice us
+all, but do not imagine that I was fool enough to let myself be killed
+or taken prisoner for the sake of a suburb of Leipzig." In spite of
+this, in 1814 Napoleon was so hard pressed that he was forced to employ
+him. He sent him to Lyons with orders to prevent the Allies from
+debouching from Switzerland, and, if possible, to fall on the line of
+communication of Schwartzenberg's army, which was threatening Paris; and
+he implored him "to remember his former victories and to forget that he
+was on the wrong side of fifty." But old age and luxury had snapped the
+once famous spirit of the Duke of Castiglione, and his operations round
+Lyons were contemptible. As Napoleon said at St. Helena, "For a long
+time Augereau had no longer been a soldier; his courage, his early
+virtues, had raised him high above the crowd, but honour, dignity, and
+fortune had forced him back into the ruck." Accordingly, as soon as he
+heard of the capitulation of Paris he hoisted the white cockade, and
+issued a proclamation saying, "Soldiers, you are absolved from your
+oaths; you are so by the nation, in which the sovereignty resides; you
+are still more so, were it necessary, by the abdication of a man who,
+after having sacrificed millions to his cruel ambition, has not known
+how to die as a soldier." Soon after this he met his former Emperor and
+benefactor on his way to exile at Elba, and a bitter conversation
+ensued, in which, in reply to the Emperor's recriminations, the Marshal
+asked, "Of what do you complain: has not your insatiable ambition
+brought us to this?"
+
+Yet when the Emperor returned to Paris Augereau threw up his command in
+Normandy and hastened to proffer his allegiance. But Napoleon would have
+none of it, and refused him place or preferment. After Waterloo the
+Bourbons also showed him the cold shoulder; so the Marshal retired to
+his country seat of La Houssaye, where he died on June 11, 1816, of
+dropsy on the chest. Born and bred a Paris boy, he had lived as such,
+and of such were his virtues and his vices. Physically brave, yet
+morally a coward; vain, blustering, yet kind-hearted; full of boisterous
+spirits, greedy, yet generous; liberal by nature, hating control, yet a
+severe disciplinarian; a firm believer in the virtue of principles, yet
+ever ready to sacrifice his principles at the altar of opportunity,
+Augereau, in spite of his many faults, knew how to win and keep the love
+of his soldiers and his friends. A leader of men rather than a tactician
+or strategist, he played on the enthusiasm of his soldiers by example
+rather than precept. Unfortunately for his reputation, his moral courage
+failed him at the end of his career, and he added to the imputation of
+inconstancy the crime of ingratitude.
+
+
+
+
+XVI
+
+GUILLAUME MARIE ANNE BRUNE, MARSHAL
+
+
+Guillaume Marie Anne Brune, poet and warrior, was born on May 13, 1763,
+at Brives-la-Gaillard. His father, who belonged to a legal family,
+destined his son to follow in his footsteps, and after giving him a good
+education, sent him to finish his study of law at the College of France
+at Paris. But the boy's taste did not lie among the dull technicalities
+of law. Artistic and emotional by temperament, he early threw himself
+heart and soul into literature. At the age of eighteen he published his
+first work, half prose, half verse, in which he described a holiday in
+Poitou and Angoumois. But his father viewed with suspicion his son's
+literary aspirations, and the breach between them widened when Guillaume
+married a young burnisher of metal, Angélique Nicole Pierre, the
+orphaned daughter of a miller from Arpajon, who had captivated him by
+her beauty and then nursed him through a dangerous illness. The young
+couple were thrown entirely on their own resources, and Angélique had to
+continue her burnishing, while to ensure the publication of his works
+Brune took to the trade of printer. But in spite of poverty and hard
+work the marriage was a happy one, for Angélique's beauty, and purity of
+mind and character were the necessary complement to her husband's
+artistic desires. While engaged in his literary work Brune met the
+celebrated Mirabeau, who introduced him to his friends, Camille
+Desmoulins and Danton. Generous by nature, and smarting under the social
+disgrace which followed his marriage, the poet, turned printer, threw
+himself heart and soul into the philosophy of the day: when the
+Revolution broke out he hailed the new era with delight, but, like many
+another visionary, he failed to see the cruel necessities which the
+Revolution was bringing in its train. Following the example of his
+friend Camille Desmoulins, on September 15, 1789, he started a
+newspaper, the _Magazin Historique ou Journal Général_, and followed up
+this speculation by editing, in collaboration with Gauthier, the
+_Journal de la Cour_; but owing to the violent politics of Gauthier,
+Brune broke his connection with the paper in August, 1790. As the
+Revolution grew in violence and blind disorder, and hate took the place
+of his dream of platonic justice, eager to escape from cruelty and lust,
+the printer hastened to console himself among those who were hurrying to
+the frontier to fight the enemy as the only means of getting away from
+the chaos at home. In August, 1791, he enlisted in the volunteers of the
+Seine and Oise, and within a few weeks his activity, zeal, and talent
+for administration caused his comrades to elect him adjutant-major.
+Early in 1792 he joined the staff of the army as assistant
+adjutant-general, and, owing to the influence of Danton and his
+political friends, was recalled from Thionville to Paris in September,
+1792, as commissary general, to direct and organise the newly raised
+battalions of volunteers. But when he arrived in Paris on September 5th,
+and found the streets swimming in blood and Danton gloating over his
+work, disgusted with Paris and its savage population, he at once applied
+for active service, and was back at the camp of Meaux in time to take
+part in Dumouriez's campaign of Valmy. Though he recoiled from their
+methods, his friendship with Danton and Camille Desmoulins stood him in
+good stead; as adjutant-general he served at Neerwinden, and after that
+battle was one of the five general officers chosen to rally the
+scattered troops of the Army of the North. In July he was ordered to
+Calvados to assist in crushing the Girondists. After his success in
+Normandy his friends offered him a post in the ministry at Paris, but
+"he loved liberty fair and free, as she existed in the army, but not as
+she was adored in Paris, to the sound of the tocsin and the beat of the
+générale, and fierce songs of death trolled out by cannibals."
+Accordingly he returned to the Army of the North in time to fight under
+Houchard at Handschötten. But he had to pay the penalty for his
+friendship with the Terrorists, for just as he was setting out full of
+delight to fight the English at Dunkirk, owing to the exigencies of
+political strife he was hurriedly recalled to give the Girondists their
+coup-de-grâce at Bordeaux.
+
+[Illustration: BRUNE
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY F. J. HARRIET]
+
+Brune returned to the capital in 1794 in time to witness the fall of his
+patron, Danton; but fortunately for him Barras took him under his
+protection, and in October, thanks to his influence, he became
+commandant of Paris. For a whole year the General held this post, and on
+October 5th commanded the second column while Bonaparte with the first
+column ended the reaction of the Terror with a few rounds of grape shot.
+Still under the patronage of Barras, Brune spent the year 1796 in
+pacifying the Midi, and his work there has been admirably portrayed in
+Alexandre Dumas' "Les Compagnons de Jéhu," where he figures as General
+Rolland. From this vexatious and wearisome struggle against hostile
+countrymen he was summoned to Italy at the beginning of 1797, and was
+present with Masséna's division at the battle of Rivoli. Under Masséna,
+he fought through the campaign which ended at Leoben, and attracted the
+notice of Bonaparte by his courage and goodwill: in reward for his
+services he was created general of division. From Italy the general,
+with his division, was sent in October to join the Army of England;
+while marching north it was suggested that he should take the post of
+ambassador at Berlin; but when the troops heard of this offer they
+asked the adjutant-general to write to their commander, saying, "Listen
+general: your division charges me to tell you not to give up fighting;
+the division will bring you honour, and that is much better than an
+embassy." However, there was to be no question of an embassy, for on
+February 7, 1798, the Directors sent him to take over the command of the
+French troops whose duty it was to annex Switzerland to France. This was
+the general's first independent command; and though the campaign added
+to his military reputation, unfortunately it left a stain on his honour.
+The war was entered on merely with the desire of capturing the Swiss
+treasury at Berne, and thus providing funds for Bonaparte's Egyptian
+expedition. Brune had learned his lesson in Italy, so the campaign was
+short, in spite of the difficulty of the country and the patriotism of
+the Swiss. Writing to Bonaparte, the general explained the cause of his
+success: "From the moment I found myself in a situation to act, I
+assembled all my strength to strike like lightning: for Switzerland is a
+vast barrack, and I had everything to fear from a war of posts. I
+avoided it by negotiations which I knew were not sincere on the part of
+the Bernese, and since then I have followed out the plan which I traced
+to you. I think always I am still under your command." The crushing of
+the Swiss peasantry and the capture of Berne were followed by the hour
+of spoliation; no less than one million seven hundred thousand pounds
+were wrung from the wretched Swiss. Brune himself kept his own hands
+clean and was, as he wrote, "constantly paring the nails of rascals and
+taking the public treasure from them"; but the fact that he was
+officially responsible for the spoliation and that his own share of the
+plunder was thirty-two thousand pounds caused his name to be loathed
+throughout the length and breadth of Switzerland, and "to rob like a
+Brune" became a proverb, which was eagerly seized on by his detractors.
+
+The Directors, pleased with his operations in Switzerland, despatched
+Brune, on March 31, 1798, to take command of the Army of Italy. His task
+was a difficult one, for at Rome and Mantua the starving troops had
+mutinied, while the contractors and agents of the Directors were
+amassing huge fortunes. To complicate the situation the general was
+encumbered by a civil Commission, whose duty it was to supervise the
+governments of the Cisalpine Republic. Trouvé, the moving spirit of the
+Commission, had but one idea, to curb the growing democratic spirit of
+the Piedmontese. The commander-in-chief, whose love of freedom had not
+yet been blunted, violently opposed Trouvé, and at last forced his views
+on the Directory, and Trouvé was replaced by Fouché. But it was too
+late; the mischief had been done. The Piedmontese would no longer bear
+the French control: "This then," they cried, "is the faith, the
+fraternity, and the friendship you have brought us from France!" In
+spite of Brune's efforts to restore confidence they had lost all faith
+in French honour, and on December 6th his successor found himself forced
+to expel, at the point of the bayonet, all senators opposed to the
+French interest.
+
+Leaving Italy in November, Brune found himself sent at the beginning of
+1799 to Holland, where danger was threatening: it was evident that
+England was going to make an effort to regain for the Prince of Orange
+his lost possessions. In spite of this knowledge, as late as August the
+French commander could only concentrate ten thousand men under General
+Daendals to oppose an equal force of English under Abercromby when they
+landed on the open beach at Groete Keten. Though as strong as the enemy,
+General Daendals made the most feeble attempt to oppose the landing. Day
+by day English and Russian reinforcements poured into Holland, till at
+last they numbered forty-eight thousand. But the Duke of York, the
+English commander-in-chief, had a hopeless task. With no means of
+transport, no staff, and an army composed of hastily enrolled militia
+recruits and insubordinate drunken Russians, his only chance of success
+lay in a general rising of the Dutch; for early in September the French
+forces were numerically as strong as his own. Abercromby's opinion was
+that defeat would mean utter disaster: "Were we to sustain a severe
+check I much doubt if the discipline of the troops would be sufficient
+to prevent a total dissolution of the army": while the English opinion
+of the Russians was that they were better at plundering than at
+fighting. As a militiaman wrote, "The Russians is people as has not the
+fear of God before their eyes, for I saw some of them with cheeses and
+bitter and all badly wounded, and in particklar one man had an eit day
+clock on his back, and fiting all the time which made me to conclude and
+say all his vanity and vexation of spirit." In spite of this the English
+had some considerable tactical success, and drove the French back
+towards Amsterdam; but lack of provisions compelled them at the
+beginning of October to fall back on their entrenched position on the
+Zype. Fortunately Brune, who had been much impressed by the fighting
+powers of the enemy, did not understand how difficult it would have been
+for them to re-embark their forces if he pressed an attack. He allowed
+some of his staff officers to throw out hints of an armistice and
+convention, which were eagerly accepted, for on October 20th the English
+had only three days' provision of bread. With Masséna's victory at
+Zurich and the embarkation of the Allies after the convention of
+Alkmaar, the ring of foes which had so gravely threatened France was
+snapped asunder, and Brune, although he had shown but little resource or
+initiative during the fighting in Holland, and had failed to diagnose
+the extremity of the enemy, was hailed, along with Masséna, as the
+saviour of the country, and his tactical defeats were celebrated as the
+victory of Bergen.
+
+From Holland the conqueror of the English was despatched, early in 1800,
+by the First Consul to quell the rising in La Vendée, where his former
+experience of guerilla warfare in Switzerland stood him in good stead,
+and he soon brought the rebels to their knees. During the Marengo
+campaign he commanded the real Army of Reserve at Dijon, but in August,
+when Bonaparte found it necessary to replace Masséna, he despatched
+Brune to take command of the Army of Italy. Unfortunately the future
+Marshal's genius was more suited to the details of administration and
+the direction of small columns than to the command of large forces in
+the field. Though at the head of a hundred thousand men, and supported
+admirably by Murat, Marmont, Macdonald, Suchet and Dupont, he failed
+conspicuously as a commander-in-chief. His movements at the crossing of
+the Mincio were hesitating and slow, and he neglected to seize the
+opportunity which Dupont's successful movements presented to him. At
+Treviso, as in Holland, he showed only too clearly his limitations: he
+held the enemy in the hollow of his hand, but, failing to see his
+advantage, he once again signed an armistice which permitted the foe to
+escape out of his net.
+
+On his return to France the First Consul regarded him with suspicion.
+His well-known republican opinions did not harmonise with Bonaparte's
+schemes of self-aggrandisement. The First Consul had a very poor
+estimate of his military ability, but the people at large still hailed
+him as the saviour of Holland and France. Bonaparte treated him like all
+those whom he suspected but whom he could not afford to despise, and
+under the pretext of a diplomatic appointment he practically banished
+him to Constantinople. Diplomacy was not Brune's forte, and after
+eighteen months' residence in Turkey he was obliged to quit the Porte,
+which had fallen entirely under Russian influence.
+
+The general was still abroad when the Emperor created his Marshals: his
+appointment of Brune, like his appointment of Lefèbvre, was part of his
+scheme for binding the republican interest to his dynasty, for his
+opinion of the Marshal's talent was such that he scarcely ever employed
+him in the field. From 1805 to 1807 Brune was occupied in drilling the
+troops left at Boulogne. In May, 1807, he was appointed to command the
+reserve corps of the Grand Army, and when in July the King of Sweden
+declared war on Napoleon, he was entrusted with the operations round
+Stralsund, and captured that fortress and the island of Rügen. During
+this short campaign the Marshal had an interview with Gustavus of
+Sweden, and tried to point out to him the folly of fighting against
+France. A garbled account of this interview, full of unjust
+insinuations, came to Napoleon's ears. In anger the Emperor sent for
+Brune and taxed him with the false accusations. The Marshal, furious
+that his good faith should be suspected, refused any explanation and
+merely contented himself with repeating: "It is a lie." The Emperor,
+equally furious at his obstinacy, deprived him of his command. The
+result of this quarrel was that for the next five years Brune lived at
+home in disgrace. On the Restoration he made his submission to Louis
+XVIII., and received the cross of St. Louis. But in 1815, on the return
+from Elba, he answered the Emperor's summons, for Napoleon could no
+longer afford the luxury of quarrelling with generous Frenchmen who were
+willing to serve him. Remembering the Marshal's talent for
+administration and a war of posts, he offered him the command of the
+Midi. Brune hesitated; Napoleon had treated him disgracefully, but in
+his generosity he was ready to overlook all that; still, he knew well
+that the Empire was not the Republic: yet he preferred Napoleon's régime
+to that of the Bourbons, and at last he accepted, but set out for his
+new duties depressed and not at all himself. The difficulties he had to
+contend with were enormous; the Austrians and Sardinians were massing on
+the frontiers, the allied fleet commanded the Mediterranean, while
+Provence was covered by bands of brigands who called themselves
+royalists. Marseilles, the fickle, which had given France and the
+Republic the "Marseillaise," was now red-hot Legitimist. So the news of
+Waterloo and of Napoleon's abdication came as a relief to the harassed
+Marshal, who was only too glad on July 22nd to hand over Toulon to the
+English. Thereon, in obedience to the command of the King, he set out
+for Paris.
+
+Well aware of the disorder in the Midi, the Marshal asked Lord Exmouth,
+the commander of the British squadron, to take him by sea to Italy, so
+that he might escape the danger which he knew threatened him from the
+hatred of the royalists. Unfortunately for the fame of England, Lord
+Exmouth refused in the rudest terms, calling him "the prince of scamps"
+and a "blackguard." Accordingly he set off by land, receiving a promise
+of protection from the royalist commander, but no escort. With his two
+aides-de-camp he reached Avignon in safety, but there he was set on by
+the mob, chased into a hotel and shot in cold blood, and his body thrown
+into the Rhône; a fisherman by night rescued the corpse, and for many
+years the body of the Marshal reposed in the humble grave where the
+kindhearted fisherman had placed it. Meanwhile the Government sanctioned
+the story that he had committed suicide. But at last the persistence of
+his widow compelled an inquiry, when the truth was revealed, and it was
+proved without doubt that the murder had been connived at by the
+authorities. The inquiry further revealed that the real cause of the
+Marshal's death was not so much the measures he had taken to stamp out
+the bands of royalists during his command in the Midi, as his old
+connection with Camille Desmoulins and Danton. In spite of the fact
+that he was not in Paris during the September massacres, and that he was
+constantly employed with the army, rumour said that it was Brune who had
+carried round Paris the head of the Princess Lamballe on a pike, and the
+cunning revival of this story by the leaders of the White Terror had
+roused the mob to commit the outrage. The story was absurd. The archives
+of the War Office proved beyond doubt that he was not in Paris at the
+time of the execution of the Princess. Strange to say, the Marshal
+himself years before seems to have foretold his own death when, writing
+about the Terrorists, he composed the following lines:--
+
+"Against one, two hundred rise,
+Assail and smite him till he dies.
+Yet blood, they say, we spare to spill,
+And patriots we account them still.
+Urged by martial ardour on,
+In the wave their victim thrown,
+Return their frantic joy to fill;
+Yet these men are patriots still."
+
+Though his faithful wife had forced the authorities to remove the stain
+of suicide from the Marshal's fair fame, it was not till 1839, the year
+after her death, that at last a fitting monument was raised at
+Brives-la-Gaillard to the memory of the Marshal, who, whatever his
+failings as a commander might be, had lived a staunch friend, a true
+patriot, a courageous soldier; and had twice received the grateful
+thanks of the Government, and had twice been acclaimed as the saviour of
+his country.
+
+
+
+
+XVII
+
+ADOLPHE ÉDOUARD CASIMIR JOSEPH MORTIER, MARSHAL, DUKE OF TREVISO
+
+
+Édouard Mortier was born near Cambrai on February 13, 1768. His father,
+a prosperous farmer, gave the future Marshal a fair education. Becoming
+a man of some importance on the outbreak of the Revolution, he was able
+in 1791 to secure for his son a commission in the volunteer cavalry of
+the north. Extremely tall, heavily built, slow of speech, "with a stupid
+sentinel look," the yeoman captain of 1791 gave the casual observer but
+little sign of promise. But in spite of those rather weary looking eyes,
+young Mortier was possessed of a burning enthusiasm and a dauntless
+courage. From his first engagement at Quiévrain, in April, 1792, where
+he had a horse killed under him, to the day he and Marmont surrendered
+Paris in 1814, every skirmish or engagement in which he took part bore
+testimony to his extraordinary bodily strength and bravery. Nature
+having also endowed him with a kindly temperament, it was not to be
+wondered at that his men swore by him, and were ready to follow him
+anywhere. But in spite of many gallant actions and numerous mentions in
+despatches, promotion came but slowly; for Mortier spent the first six
+years of his service with the armies of the Sambre and Meuse and of the
+Rhine, and had to compete against such men as Soult, Ney, St. Cyr,
+Kléber, and Desaix, who were on a higher mental plane. Still, he was
+recognised as one who was bound to rise, and was one of those whom
+Kléber singled out for commendation when he wrote to the Directory
+saying, "With such chiefs a general can neglect to count the number of
+his enemies"; and well he might, for on the day after he wrote his
+report, Mortier, with a single battalion and four squadrons of cavalry,
+having been ordered to try and drive two thousand of the enemy out of a
+strong position on the Wisent, attacked them with such vivacity that, to
+the surprise of everybody, in an hour he drove them in flight.
+
+After the campaign in 1798 Jourdan sent up his name for the command of a
+brigade; but he preferred the colonelcy of the twenty-first regiment of
+cavalry. However, a few months later, on February 22nd, he was promoted
+general of brigade. It was in this capacity that he served under Masséna
+in the celebrated campaign in Switzerland. At the second battle of
+Zurich he did yeoman service; by a vigorous demonstration he held the
+enemy near the town while Masséna completed his turning movement; he
+further distinguished himself by his vigour and resource during the
+pursuit of the Russians; thus he won his promotion to general of
+division on September 25, 1799. When Bonaparte became First Consul,
+Mortier found no cause for dissatisfaction with the change of
+Government; no politician, he was ready to accept any strong government.
+Fortunately for him his dogged character and his fighting record
+attracted the First Consul's attention. Bonaparte saw in him a man
+without guile, a soldier who would accept any order from his chief, and
+execute it instantly without questioning. Still, it was a great piece of
+fortune for the general of division, who had hitherto held no
+independent command in the field, that he lay with his troops near the
+Vaal, at the time that the First Consul determined to punish England for
+her suspicion of him by seizing Hanover. With twenty thousand men
+General Mortier issued from Holland, fell suddenly on the Hanoverian
+troops at Borstel on the Weser, and forced Count Walmoden to sign a
+convention whereby the Hanoverian army was to retire behind the Elbe and
+not to bear arms against the French as long as the war continued. The
+English Government refused to ratify it, so Mortier at once called on
+Walmoden to resume hostilities; but so unequal was the contest, that the
+Hanoverian general was forced to accept a modified form of the former
+convention. Thereon Mortier hurriedly occupied Hamburg and Bremen, and
+closed the Elbe to English commerce. But brilliant as his operations had
+been in the field, as military governor of the ceded provinces he
+established a reputation for great rapacity, which followed him
+throughout his career.
+
+Napoleon, however, winked at his general's peculations so long as they
+did not affect his treasury, and he showed his approbation of his
+successful campaign by making him one of the four commandants of the
+Guard, and including him, in 1804, among the first creation of Marshals.
+Next year Mortier marched to Germany in command of a division of the
+Guards. When after Ulm the army was reorganised for the advance on
+Vienna, a new corps, composed of the division of Dupont and Gazan, was
+entrusted to the Marshal. The duty he was to perform was difficult; he
+was to cross the Danube at Linz and, unsupported save by a flotilla of
+boats, hang on the Russian rear, while the rest of the army marched on
+Vienna by the right bank of the river. The Emperor impressed on him the
+necessity for caution, and warned him that he must throw out a ring of
+vedettes and keep somewhat behind Lannes's corps, which was marching in
+advance of him on the other side of the river. Unfortunately the
+Marshal, in his eagerness to inflict loss on the Russians, whom he
+believed to be flying in complete rout, neglected all warnings and
+pushed recklessly forward. At Dürrenstein (near the castle where Richard
+Coeur de Lion was imprisoned by the Archduke of Austria) he fell into
+a trap. The enemy allowed him to pass the defile of Dürrenstein with
+Gazan's division, knowing that Dupont was many miles in the rear, and
+then closed in on him on front and rear. With but seven thousand men,
+surrounded by thirty thousand Russians, it seemed that the Marshal was
+lost. But he kept his head, and at once turned about to try and break
+back and join Dupont, who he knew would hurry to his support. Firing at
+point-blank range, struggling bayonet against bayonet, the small French
+force worked its way towards the defile. Darkness fell, but still the
+fight continued, and at last Dupont's guns were heard at the other side
+of the gorge. But by then two-thirds of Gazan's division had fallen,
+three eagles were taken, and Mortier himself, conspicuous by his
+towering height, owed his safety to his skill with his sabre. His
+officers had begged him to escape across the river by boat, lest a
+Marshal of France should become a prisoner in the hands of the despised
+Russians; this he indignantly refused. "No," he said, "reserve this
+resource for the wounded. One who has the honour to command such brave
+soldiers should esteem himself happy to share their lot and perish with
+them. We have still two guns and some boxes of grape; let us close our
+ranks and make a last effort." But still the Russians pressed the
+devoted column, and now all the ammunition was expended and the
+survivors were preparing to sell their lives dearly, when Dupont's men
+at last hurled the enemy aside, and amid cries of "France! France! you
+have saved us!" the undaunted remnant of Gazan's division threw
+themselves into the arms of their comrades. On the morrow the sorely
+battered corps was recalled across the Danube, but the Emperor could not
+lay all the blame on Mortier, for it was his own mistake in strategy in
+dividing his army by the broad Danube which had really caused the
+disaster.
+
+[Illustration: ADOLPHE ÉDOUARD MORTIER, DUKE OF TREVISO
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY LARIVIÈRE]
+
+In 1806 the Marshal acted independently on the left of the Grand Army,
+and after occupying Cassel and Hamburg, where his cruel exactions
+greatly increased his reputation for rapacity, he was entrusted with the
+operations against the Swedes. In 1807, however, he was called up to
+reinforce the Grand Army in time to take part in the decisive battle at
+Friedland. In July, 1808, Napoleon rewarded him by creating him Duke of
+Treviso. A month later he despatched him to Spain in command of the
+fifth corps, which was composed of veterans of the Austrian and Prussian
+campaigns, very different from the recruits of the third corps and other
+corps in Spain. But in spite of this magnificent material the Marshal
+did not distinguish himself. The severe reverse he had received at
+Dürrenstein seemed to have killed his dash. His physical bravery
+remained the same as ever, but his moral courage had deteriorated, and
+in Spain his manoeuvres were always halting and timid. At Saragossa he
+did not press the siege with the vehemence Lannes showed when he
+superseded him; but at the battle of Ocaña he showed that during a
+combat his nerve was as good as ever. The first lines of the French,
+broken by the fire of the Spanish battery, had begun to waver; the
+Marshal was slightly wounded, but at the critical moment he rode up to
+Girard's division, which was in reserve, and leading it through the
+intervals of the first line, he caught the victorious enemy at a
+disadvantage, and completely turned the fortunes of the day. The
+remainder of the Duke of Treviso's service in the Peninsula was spent
+under the command of Marshal Soult, either in front of Cadiz or as a
+covering force to the troops occupied in that siege. From Spain he was
+recalled in 1812 to command the Young Guard in the Russian campaign.
+When the French evacuated Moscow the Marshal, at the Emperor's commands,
+had the invidious duty of blowing up the Kremlin. During his retreat he
+showed himself worthy of his post of commander of the Young Guard, and
+in 1813, in the same capacity, he fought throughout the campaign, taking
+his share in the battles of Lützen, Bautzen, Dresden, Leipzig, and
+Hanau. After Dresden he incurred, along with St. Cyr, the wrath of the
+Emperor for not having aided Vandamme. But the fact remains that the
+blame of the disaster at Külm rests entirely on Napoleon and Vandamme.
+No orders were sent to Mortier or St. Cyr till after the disaster had
+occurred, and Vandamme had not taken the most elementary precautions
+against surprise. In 1814 the Marshal fought gallantly at Montmirail and
+Troyes, but, like Victor and Ney, he showed but little ingenuity. When
+Napoleon made his last dash eastward, he left Mortier and Marmont to
+hold off the Prussians from Paris. The Duke of Treviso, though far
+senior to the Duke of Ragusa, bowed to his superior genius, and in the
+operations ending in the surrender of Paris he carried out his junior's
+ideas with great generosity and without the least show of jealousy.
+
+Like the rest of the Marshals, the Duke of Treviso made his submission
+to the new Government. On the return of Napoleon he for a time kept true
+to his oath to the Bourbons. When the Duke of Orleans, who shared with
+him the command of the north, on leaving Lille, wrote to him, "I am too
+good a Frenchman to sacrifice the interests of France, because now
+misfortune compels me to quit it. I go to hide myself in retirement and
+oblivion. It only remains for me to release you from all the orders
+which I have given you, and to recommend you to do what your excellent
+judgment and patriotism may suggest as best for the interests of
+France," the Marshal, in spite of his decoration of St. Louis and his
+seat as a peer of France, once again returned to his old allegiance. The
+Emperor greeted him warmly and created him one of his new peers, and in
+June sent him to the frontier in command of the Young Guard; but an
+attack of sciatica forcing him to bed, he escaped the disaster of
+Waterloo. On the second restoration he lost for the time his honours and
+dignities, but refused to re-purchase them at the price of sitting as
+judge on Marshal Ney; however, in 1819 he was reinstated in all of them.
+
+It was not till the accession of the July monarchy that the Duke of
+Treviso once again played a prominent part. In 1831 his old friend, the
+Duke of Orleans, now become King, made him Grand Chancellor of the
+Legion of Honour, and in November, 1834, called on him to accept the
+onerous task of head of the Government and Minister of War. To help his
+friend and sovereign the Duke accepted the responsibility, but soon
+found that he was unequal to the task. A frank and loyal soldier, of
+unimpeachable honour, integrity, and character, he could shine in the
+field, but not in the forum. His fine, lofty figure, commanding air,
+military bearing, and frankness were of no avail in the Chamber of
+Peers, where what was wanted was a subtle spirit which could discern and
+influence the drift of parties, a clear, facile tongue, and an apparent
+acquaintance with any subject which might come up for discussion. These
+were the very qualities in which the Marshal was most lacking.
+Slow-witted by nature, with a limited vocabulary and a bad delivery, he
+soon found himself unfitted for the post, and resigned in February,
+1835. But unfortunately for him he still retained his position as Grand
+Chancellor, and in this capacity he attended Louis Philippe on his way
+to the ill-fated review of July 29th. As the procession arrived at the
+boulevard of the Temple, the Marshal complained of the heat; his staff
+tried to persuade the old soldier to go home, but he refused, saying,
+"My place is by the King, in the midst of the Marshals, my comrades in
+arms." Scarcely had he spoken when Fieschi hurled the fatal bomb, which
+missed the King and the princes, but killed the Marshal and many another
+soldier.
+
+The Duke of Treviso, while doing his duty by his sovereign, met his
+death like a soldier, though not on the field of battle. As with Davout,
+the key to his character was his dogged determination; but though he
+resembled the Prince of Eckmühl on the battlefield, he had not his
+powers of organisation, nor his clear insight into matters of policy and
+strategy. But he had other qualities which Davout lacked. He was
+kind-hearted, and beloved by his men. His simplicity and faithfulness
+appealed to Napoleon, and to all who came in contact with him, and it
+was for this reason that the Emperor entrusted him with the Young Guard.
+What distinguished him from many of the other Marshals was his lack of
+jealousy, and the generous way in which he co-operated with his comrades
+in arms. When the funeral procession passed down the Rue Royale on its
+way to the Church of the Invalides, with four Marshals on horseback
+holding the corners of the pall, men felt, and felt rightly, that France
+had suffered a loss, for one was gone who, peasant-born, had in his high
+position known how to retain the simple virtues of a peasant, whose one
+vice was the peasant vice of avarice, and who, with this exception, had
+never allowed place or power to interfere with what he thought was his
+duty.
+
+
+
+
+XVIII
+
+JEAN BAPTISTE BESSIÈRES, MARSHAL, DUKE OF ISTRIA
+
+
+Fidelity and conscientiousness are great assets in life's race, and to
+these Jean Baptiste Bessières added great presence of mind and
+considerable dash. It is not therefore surprising that, in an age when
+disinterestedness and reliability were notably absent among public men,
+his force of character pushed him above the ordinary adventurers, and
+caused him to become one of Napoleon's most trusted lieutenants. The
+Marshal was born at Prayssac in 1768. His father, a surgeon, brought up
+his son in his own profession. But the outbreak of the Revolution opened
+a wider field to the audacious young Gascon. Early in 1792 Jean Baptiste
+quitted Cahors and the medical profession, and started off to Paris as
+one of the newly-enrolled "garde constitutionnelle." His fidelity and
+courage were soon put to the test. He aided the royal family in the
+flight to Varennes, and consequently had to seek safety in retirement.
+But the life of a soldier was as the breath of his nostrils, and three
+months later he managed to enlist in the 22nd Chasseurs, a corps which
+formed part of the Army of the Pyrenees. There his courage and ability
+made him conspicuous. Within three months of enlisting he was promoted
+sub-lieutenant. The year 1793 proved a disastrous one for France. Defeat
+followed defeat. But Jean Baptiste never despaired, and when success
+ultimately smiled on the French arms, he had established a reputation as
+a daring and capable squadron commander. Still, like many another of the
+successful soldiers of the age, Bessières owed his quick promotion to
+his early friendship with the great Corsican. It was Murat who called
+Napoleon's attention to the future commander of the Imperial Guard, and
+Bonaparte, with his eagle eye, at once appreciated his qualities. When
+the young chief formed his special bodyguard, called the Guides, he
+placed him at their head. The new corps was composed of the choicest
+troops, and formed the nucleus of the Imperial Guard. Henceforward
+Bessières became his chief's confidant and inseparable friend. It was
+the rare fidelity that he displayed to his master and his constant
+attention to detail, his intuitive knowledge of his commander's
+requirements, and his energy in carrying out his plans, rather than
+great military genius, which accounted for the Emperor's life-long
+appreciation of the commander of his Guides.
+
+At Lonato and Castiglione Bessières proved the correctness of the young
+Corsican's judgment. At Roveredo he broke through the centre of the
+Austrian infantry, and, with six others, captured two of the enemy's
+guns. At the first battle of Rivoli, in accordance with his general's
+commands, he laid an ambuscade in the marsh on the Austrian left, which
+proved the decisive factor in the battle. In the following year he again
+distinguished himself at the second battle of Rivoli and at the siege of
+Mantua. As a reward for his services Bonaparte sent him to Paris with
+the official despatches and the stands of colours won from the enemy,
+and at the end of the campaign promoted him full colonel, and as a
+further mark of his confidence appointed him tutor and instructor to his
+stepson, Eugène. Bessières accompanied Bonaparte to the East, and served
+by his side in Egypt and Syria.
+
+The commander of the Guides was among the chosen body of friends who
+accompanied Bonaparte on his secret return to France, and in Paris he
+helped Murat, Lannes, and Marmont to win over the army, and took a
+prominent part in the coup d'état of the 18th Brumaire. Immediately
+after becoming First Consul Napoleon created the consular Guard,
+composed of four battalions of infantry and two regiments of cavalry. He
+placed at the head of the infantry Lannes, and at the head of the
+cavalry Bessières. With the cavalry of the Guard Bessières took part in
+the famous march across the Alps and in the drawn battle of Marengo.
+Faithful as he had proved himself in war, he showed his fidelity in
+peace by exposing the plot of the artist, Caracchi, and thus by ties of
+gratitude bound himself closer to the First Consul. Tall, good-looking,
+with a graceful figure and a charming smile, the commandant of the Guard
+captivated everybody by his intelligence and his distinguished bearing,
+which had a piquant flavour by reason of his adherence to the queue and
+powder of a bygone age.
+
+Rejecting the brilliant match proposed by the First Consul, he chose as
+his bride Mademoiselle Lapezrière, a young lady of a royalist family.
+The couple were married by a nonjuring priest, and, far from incurring
+displeasure, were greatly complimented, for Bonaparte already desired
+the Concordat with the Pope, and saw in the bride a useful supporter of
+his scheme. Madame Bessières was a great social success: a favourite of
+Napoleon and a close friend and confidant of Josephine; everywhere she
+was welcomed for her beauty, her force of character, and the charm of
+her manner.
+
+During the year of peace and the preparation for the invasion of
+England, Bessières accompanied the First Consul on all his numerous
+expeditions. To his credit be it said, he protested loudly against the
+ill-judged execution of the Duc d'Enghien. When the First Consul became
+Emperor he enrolled his friend among his new Marshals, not for his
+military genius, but as a reward for his fidelity, for none knew better
+than Napoleon how lacking the new Marshal was in many of the requisites
+of a great commander.
+
+In 1805 the cavalry of the Guard formed part of the Grand Army, and
+their commander, by his able backing of Murat, had his share in helping
+to win the battle of Austerlitz. During the interval between the
+Austrian and the Prussian campaigns the Marshal was busily occupied in
+Paris in reorganising and expanding the Guard, and, as usual, was in
+close touch with the Emperor. In the Prussian campaign Bessières had his
+first taste of an independent command, and gained great credit for his
+masterly manoeuvring in Poland, where with a weak force he kept the
+enemy in complete ignorance of the movements of the French, and covered
+the conjunction of the various corps of the army.
+
+After the peace of Tilsit he was entrusted with the delicate mission of
+negotiating a marriage between Princess Charlotte of Würtemburg and
+Prince Jerome, the new King of Westphalia. Hardly had he returned to
+Paris when he was hurried off again on active service, this time to
+Spain. It was just a week before the disaster of Baylen that Marshal
+Bessières was confronted with a most serious problem. The Spanish levies
+from Old Castile, under Cuesta, had effected a junction with the levies
+of Galicia, under Blake, and were threatening to overwhelm the weak
+force of ten thousand men with which the Marshal was attempting to put
+down the guerilla warfare in the northern provinces. Bessières had not
+been the great Emperor's confidant for nothing, and he at once saw that,
+unless he took the initiative, his force was doomed, for the enemy were
+in overwhelming strength, and every day added to their numbers. He knew
+well how ill-disciplined their forces were, and he determined to try the
+effect of a surprise. Everything fell out as he wished. On July 14th he
+found the Spanish armies in position outside Medina del Rio Seco, some
+few miles east of Valladolid. The Spaniards, not knowing whether the
+French were advancing from the direction of Valladolid or Burgos, had
+placed the army of Blake on the Valladolid road, and that of Cuesta on
+the Burgos road. Accordingly the Marshal was able to surprise and defeat
+Blake, and then to turn and inflict a similar defeat on Cuesta. So far
+his dispositions had been excellent, but, as General Foy said, "He could
+organise victory, but he could not profit by it," for he was paralysed
+by the extent of the guerilla warfare with which he was faced, and after
+a short but bloody pursuit he called off his troops. Still, he had
+accomplished much; for the time he had dispersed all organised
+resistance in the northern provinces, and had opened the road to Madrid
+for King Joseph.
+
+But Baylen and Vimeiro proved that the war in the Iberian Peninsula was
+still only in its first stage. Joseph had hastily to evacuate Madrid,
+and, in spite of having twelve thousand French troops under his command,
+Bessières could effect nothing. The Spanish armies of Cuesta and Blake
+once again took shape; and, like the other French generals, the Marshal
+had to fall back on the line of the Ebro. Such was the situation in
+October when the Emperor himself appeared on the scene. The situation
+changed like magic at the touch of a master hand. The French troops,
+strung out in a great semicircle on the Ebro, were quickly concentrated.
+Blake and Cuesta were each defeated by an overwhelming combination of
+the different French armies. Meanwhile, the Emperor, recognising the
+limitations of his faithful friend, superseded him by Soult, but gave
+him the command of the Guard and of the reserve cavalry, under his own
+immediate supervision, and took him back to France when he gave up the
+pursuit of the English.
+
+Napoleon desired to take the Guard with him on the Austrian campaign,
+and, as several regiments were still in Spain, others had to be
+enrolled to take their places. These regiments were entirely organised
+by Bessières, and formed the nucleus of what was later called the Young
+Guard. The Marshal's duty during the Austrian campaign of 1809 was the
+same as in Spain: the command of the Guard and of the reserve cavalry.
+During the famous Five Days' Fighting he proved again that no troops in
+Europe could resist the charges of the heavy cavalry of the Guard, and
+that he himself had almost as great a command of the technique of
+cavalry tactics as his famous friend and instructor, the King of Naples.
+At Aspern and Essling the cavalry of the Guard and the reserve cavalry
+covered themselves with glory by their dashing charges. Again and again,
+with cries of "Vive l'Empereur," the glittering masses of cuirassiers
+attempted to break down the stern handful of indomitable Hungarians who
+guarded the Austrian batteries. When the bridges were broken, and the
+retreat to the island of Lobau was the only hope for the army,
+Bessières, with the remains of cavalry, so severely punished the enemy
+that the retirement was effected in safety. At Wagram, when all seemed
+lost, Napoleon called on his old comrade to sacrifice himself with his
+cavalry. As the cuirassiers of the Guard trotted past to debouch on
+their heroic mission, the Emperor, waving his sword, cried out, "No
+sabring. Give point, give point!" The needed time was gained, and the
+gallant Marshal was wounded. But at the end of the day, when the
+troopers, after their great effort, could no longer face the unbroken
+lines of slowly retreating Austrians, Napoleon, chagrined at his
+failure, met his cavalry and their commander with reproach: "Was ever
+anything seen like this? neither prisoners nor guns! This day will be
+attended with no result."
+
+The Emperor's ill-humour was only temporary. When his most trusted
+lieutenants were grumbling and longing for peace in which to enjoy the
+spoil they had collected in war, when Bernadotte and Fouché were openly
+intriguing against him, Napoleon could ill afford to disregard his most
+faithful friend. Accordingly, immediately after Wagram he despatched the
+newly created Duke of Istria to Belgium to take over the command of the
+French troops who were opposing the ill-fated English expedition to the
+isle of Walcheren. When the Marshal returned from Belgium to Paris he
+found that the Emperor had made all arrangements for the divorce of
+Josephine and for his second marriage. Bessières was placed in a very
+awkward position. Prince Eugène was his greatest friend. Josephine had
+always been most kind to him and the Duchess, but he could not help them
+in any way, and, to make matters worse, the Emperor insisted on coming
+and staying with him at his country house at Grignon.
+
+Meanwhile the war in Spain was spoiling many great reputations.
+Reinforcements were urgently required, so the Emperor decided to give
+his Young Guard their baptism of fire in Spain. Accordingly, at the
+commencement of 1811 he despatched them with Bessières, their commander,
+to operate on the northern lines of communication. The ill-success of
+the French was palpably due to two causes. There was no
+commander-in-chief on the spot--the Emperor was in Paris--and there was
+no other Marshal whom all the others would obey. Secondly, there was a
+great want of concentration; as Bessières wrote to Berthier: "All the
+world is aware of the vicious system of our operations, everyone sees
+that we are too much scattered. We occupy too wide an extent of country:
+we exhaust our resources without profit and without necessity: we cling
+to dreams. We should concentrate our forces; retain certain points
+d'appui for the protection of our magazines and hospitals, and regard
+two-thirds of Spain as a vast battlefield, which a single victory may
+either secure or wrest from us." Unfortunately the Marshal was human,
+like his comrades, and instead of loyally backing up Masséna, he came to
+an open rupture with him on the question of supplies, and by his
+inaction at Fuentes d'Onoro he caused the French to lose that battle.
+Though he made good his excuses before Napoleon, and secured the
+disgrace of the Prince of Essling, in the opinion of the Duke of
+Wellington it was Bessières's refusal to lend Masséna assistance which
+was entirely responsible for the French defeat. Moreover, sound as were
+his views on the method of conducting war, he had not the personality to
+impress them on others or the application to put them into practice, and
+his whole time was occupied in attempting to make head against the
+guerilla warfare. His methods were rough and barbarous, and reacted
+against the French, for he avenged the ill deeds of the guerillas on
+their families and women folk, and visited with military execution any
+village which failed to meet his onerous requisitions. So the Spaniards
+retaliated with revenge, the weapon of the weak, that "wild kind of
+justice." The Marshal's blunders were cut short by his recall to Paris
+at the beginning of 1812 to reorganise the Guard prior to the Russian
+campaign.
+
+The Duke of Istria accompanied the Emperor to the front. His individual
+share was restricted by the fact that the King of Naples was with the
+army. But during the retreat he led the van and did yeoman service in
+restoring order among the disheartened troops.
+
+Early in 1813 he was recalled from Ebling to reorganise the Guard and
+the reserve cavalry. The task tried to the utmost the Marshal's great
+administrative capacity, for not only was there the question of men and
+equipment, but above all he was confronted with the difficulty of
+providing remounts. In spite of all his efforts it was impossible to
+find anything like enough horses for the cavalry, for the guns had to be
+supplied first.
+
+The Marshal's share in the campaign was short. At Lützen, on the eve of
+the first engagement, he was greatly depressed and possessed by a
+presentiment of death, which proved only too true, for scarcely had the
+battle opened when he was struck by a bullet which inflicted a mortal
+wound.
+
+The Duke of Istria has always been among the more unknown of the
+Marshals. The reason for this is clear. As commander of the cavalry of
+the Guard and organiser of the Young Guard, his greatest work was done
+in the office at Paris, disciplining, organising, equipping, and
+supervising the instruction of these picked troops. His greatest talents
+were those of administration. As a cavalry leader in the field he was
+overshadowed by the brilliant and more striking King of Naples. Still,
+as a subordinate he possessed some sterling qualities, as is proved by
+his actions during the Great Five Days, and by the fierce fight at
+Aspern-Essling. As an independent commander he was a failure. Again and
+again his moral courage seemed to desert him at the critical moment. In
+Spain, at Medina del Rio Seco, at Burgos, and at Fuentes d'Onoro, he
+could not brace himself to take the responsibility of throwing his whole
+weight into the action. Like many another general, he was sound, but he
+was unable to rise to the height of those great commanders who
+intuitively know when to stake their all. Consequently, although he
+undoubtedly possessed the true military eye, as is shown by the
+wonderful way he covered the junction of the French corps along the
+Vistula, and by his clearly written despatch on the errors of the war in
+Spain, his military reputation always suffered when he had not his great
+chief close at hand to stiffen his determination. Napoleon knew full
+well his weakness, and the reproaches he hurled at him at Wagram were
+not altogether without ground. Still, the Emperor was aware that
+Bessières's advice was always valuable, because of his clearness of
+vision and his absolute lack of all bias and prejudice; and while he
+made allowances for his lack of moral courage, he always listened to him
+attentively. The army believed that it was his frantic appeal, "Sire,
+you are seven hundred leagues from Paris," which deterred the Emperor at
+Moskowa from throwing the Guard into the action, and thus permitted the
+Russians to escape absolute annihilation. As a man the Marshal was loved
+and respected by all for his absolute disinterestedness and
+straightforwardness. He was adored by his troops, while he possessed the
+qualities which enabled him to succeed in the difficult task of
+establishing an iron discipline in the Guard. It was due to him that, in
+the Imperial Guard, there was none of that lawlessness which made the
+Pretorians of Rome a danger to the Empire. When not unnerved by
+responsibility the Marshal was tenderhearted to an extreme. At Moscow he
+was foremost in saving the wretched inhabitants from the flames; during
+the horror of the retreat he dashed back alone to a deserted camp on
+hearing the cries of an infant. But when frightened he could be cruelty
+itself, as is shown in his terrible decrees against the Spanish
+guerillas. Yet even in Spain his justice was appreciated, and in many a
+village in Castile, on the news of his death, masses were sung for his
+soul. Though he lacked the highest moral courage, his physical bravery
+was proven on many a stricken field from Valladolid to Warsaw. At St.
+Helena the great Emperor gave his friend a noble epitaph--"He lived like
+Bayard, he died like Turenne."
+
+
+
+
+XIX
+
+CLAUDE VICTOR PERRIN, MARSHAL, DUKE OF BELLUNO
+
+
+Not specially dowered by fortune with talents for war, but possessed of
+a resolute character, a high sense of honour, great courage, and that
+intrepidity which Napoleon maintained was so absolutely essential for
+high command, the Duke of Belluno is a striking instance of how large a
+factor is character in the struggle of life which ends in the survival
+of the fittest. Born on December 7, 1764, at La Marche, among the
+mountains of the Vosges, Victor Perrin enlisted as a private, at the age
+of seventeen, in the artillery regiment of Grenoble. The artillery was
+the finest arm of the old royal army, for there, and there alone, merit,
+not favour, was the key to promotion. Accordingly the future Marshal
+served his apprenticeship to arms under officers who knew their service
+and loved it. Ten years spent in the ranks under those who maintained
+strict discipline and were themselves punctilious in matters of duty,
+who exercised careful supervision over their men and matériel, and made
+a serious study of their profession, the art of war--these years with
+their example were not thrown away on the young soldier. When, in 1791,
+the upheaval of the Revolution threatened to subvert the service, Claude
+Victor, now a sergeant, in disgust at the licence prevailing among the
+troops, applied for his discharge. Seven months of civil life proved
+enough for the sturdy ex-sergeant, and in October he enrolled himself
+in the volunteers of the Drôme, where in nine months he forced himself
+by strength of character to the command of his battalion, for, as
+Napoleon aptly said, "the times of revolution are the occasions for
+those soldiers who have insight and courage." After six months' drill
+under the hand of the ex-artilleryman, the volunteers of the Drôme were
+able to hold their own on the parade ground with the best regiments of
+the line. Well might their commander be proud of his battalion. In the
+fighting on the Var, Victor's volunteers greatly distinguished
+themselves, but it was at Toulon that they first showed their real
+worth. It was well for the colonel that he had brought his troops to a
+high pitch of morale, for, on starting to attack Mount Faron, General
+Dugommier summoned him aside. "We must take the redoubt," he said,
+"or----" and he passed his hand in a suggestive way across his throat.
+In this attack, alone of all the corps engaged, the men of the Drôme
+stood their ground when the English made their counter-attack; amid
+cries of "Sauve qui peut!" they alone replied steadily to the murderous
+fire of the enemy, and as quietly as on parade they covered the rout and
+slowly withdrew in good order. Three weeks later came the opportunity of
+Victor's life in the assault on the "Little Gibraltar," the seizure of
+which position forced the English to evacuate Toulon. The attack was
+planned by Bonaparte, and Victor had the good fortune to be chosen as
+one of the leaders; he was already the firm friend of the Corsican
+captain of artillery, and he now won his boundless admiration by his
+reckless bravery and his capacity for making his troops follow him. The
+two wounds which he received in the charge which carried the palisades
+were a cheap price to pay for the rank and glory which he was later to
+gain as a reward for the way in which he flung his shattered column
+against the second line of defence. His immediate recompense was the
+post of general of brigade in the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees.
+
+From the Spanish campaign Victor returned, in 1795, to Italy with an
+enhanced reputation and some knowledge of mountain warfare which was to
+stand him in good stead later. When, in 1796, Bonaparte took command of
+the Army of Italy, he found Victor still general of brigade, but reputed
+one of the bravest men in that army of heroes. The campaign of 1796
+brought him still more to the front. Dego, Mondovi, Peschiera, San
+Marco, Cerea, and the fights round Mantua proved his courage and
+capacity to exact the most from his troops, but it was his manoeuvring
+on January 16, 1797, at Saint Georges, outside Mantua, which proved his
+real ability, for there, with but two French regiments, he forced the
+whole division of General Provera, seven thousand strong, to lay down
+its arms. Bonaparte chose the conqueror of Provera to lead the French
+army to invade the Papal States. This was Victor's first independent
+command, but, owing to the poor condition of the Papal troops, it was no
+severe test of his ability; still, it gained for him his step as general
+of division, and confirmed his chief's high opinion of him.
+
+During the year following the peace of Campo Formio, General Victor held
+several posts in France, but was back again in Italy in 1799, to take
+part in the disastrous campaign against the Austrians and Russians.
+Detached by General Moreau to aid Macdonald on the Trebbia, he, for the
+first time, showed that jealousy which was such a blemish in his
+character, and during the retreat he paid so little attention to orders
+that he was almost overwhelmed by the enemy. Not from cowardice, but
+from his desire to escape Macdonald's control, he abandoned his guns,
+and withdrew into the mountains to try to join Moreau; but Macdonald
+saved the guns, and sarcastically wrote to his insubordinate lieutenant
+that he had secured the guns but found neither friend nor foe.
+
+Victor was serving under Masséna when Bonaparte returned from Egypt.
+Stern Republican, sprung from the ranks, he hated the idea of a
+dictatorship, and did not hide from superiors or inferiors his dislike
+of the coup d'état of the 18th Brumaire. Indeed, so subversive of
+discipline became his attitude and his speeches to his soldiers, that
+Masséna was forced to remove him from his command and report him to the
+First Consul. In retirement and disgrace at Monaco, he saw with dismay
+the armies of the Allies surging up to the French frontier. Putting
+aside all personal animosity, he wrote to his former friend and
+commander, with no complaints, or prayers to be reinstated, but giving a
+clear exposition of the state of affairs in Italy, and of the means
+necessary to restore the prestige of the French arms, and actually
+proposing the plan, which the First Consul had already conceived, of
+crossing the Alps and falling on the communications of the enemy.
+Bonaparte was greatly struck with this letter. Perhaps also he called to
+mind his former friendship, in the days when the old ex-artillery
+sergeant used to walk round his batteries at Toulon, and doubtless he
+remembered his stubborn courage and tenacity in the fights round Mantua;
+at any rate, he summoned him to Paris, received him with marks of
+affection, and sent him off at once to command a division of the Army of
+Reserve. But though he forgave him outwardly, Bonaparte was too shrewd a
+judge of men not to see that his old comrade was always dangerous when
+not employed. While busy drilling and supervising his troops the general
+had no time to think about politics and the theories of government. So,
+as First Consul and Emperor, Napoleon saw to it that the ex-artilleryman
+had plenty of employment. During the Marengo campaign the general gained
+fresh honours. Luckily it was his old friend, Lannes, with whom he had
+to co-operate; and Lannes willingly acknowledged his loyal aid at
+Montebello, for on the day he received his dukedom he embraced Victor,
+saying, "My friend, it is to you I owe my title!" At Marengo he again
+had to work with Lannes, and it was due to their admirable co-operation
+and stubbornness that the retreat did not become a rout, and that Desaix
+had time to return to the field, and allow the First Consul to fight
+another battle and turn a defeat into a victory.
+
+But though Napoleon gave him his due share of the glory of Marengo, and
+mentioned him first in despatches and presented him with a sword of
+honour, he yet remembered his former hostility, and, while constantly
+employing him, took care to keep him as much as possible out of France.
+So for two years after Marengo General Victor held the post of
+commander-in-chief in the Army of Holland. Then in 1802 he was appointed
+Captain-General of Louisiana. But fortune here defeated the First
+Consul's intentions, and the expedition to America never sailed. Victor
+was sent back to his post in Holland, and kept there till February,
+1805, when he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary at the Danish
+court.
+
+During these years it was clear to everybody that he was in disgrace,
+and it was due to the boldness of his friend, Marshal Lannes, that he
+was recalled to active service and once again given a chance of
+distinguishing himself. In September, 1806, owing to the promotion of
+his chief staff officer, Lannes had to find a new chief of the staff for
+his corps, and he applied to the Emperor to be allowed to appoint
+General Victor. Napoleon hesitated for a moment, then, mindful of the
+number of troops under arms, and the necessity of employing really
+efficient officers on the staff, he acquiesced in the Marshal's choice,
+saying, "He is a really sound man and one in whom I have complete
+confidence, and I will give him proof of this when the occasion
+arrives." Jena and Pultusk added to the general's distinguished record,
+and the Emperor began to treat him once again with favour, and in
+January, 1807, entrusted him with the new tenth corps of the Grand Army.
+Soon after he had taken over his new command he had the bad luck to be
+captured by a patrol of the enemy while driving with a single
+aide-de-camp near Stettin. Luckily for him he had by now completely won
+back the goodwill of the Emperor. Napoleon at once set about to effect
+his exchange, and in a few days he was back again with his corps. At the
+beginning of June, when Bernadotte fell ill, the Emperor summoned him to
+the front to take command of the first corps, and it was in this
+capacity that he was present at the battle of Friedland, and in that
+terrible struggle he won his bâton. Rewards now came speedily, for after
+Tilsit he was entrusted with the government of Prussia, and in 1808
+created Duke of Belluno.
+
+From Prussia the Marshal was summoned, in the autumn of 1808, to take
+command of the first corps of the Army of Spain, and for the next three
+years he saw continuous service in the Peninsula. During the first few
+months of his career there fortune smiled upon him. At Espinosa he dealt
+General Blake a smashing blow; later he led the van of the army under
+Napoleon in the march on Madrid, and forced the enemy's entrenched
+position in the pass of the Somosierra by a charge of his Polish
+lancers. From Madrid he was despatched to the south to keep the enemy at
+some distance from the capital, and at Ulces and Medellin he proved that
+the Spanish generals were no match for him and his seasoned troops. But
+unfortunately he smirched the fame of these victories by the licence he
+permitted his soldiers: at Ulces he allowed the town to be sacked, and
+executed sixty-nine of the most prominent of the citizens, including
+some monks, while he ordered all prisoners who were unable to march to
+be shot. At Medellin the French bayoneted the Spanish wounded. Further,
+like many another commander, he did not scruple to make the most of his
+successes in his reports, and the Spaniards assert that he eked out his
+trophies by taking down the old battle-flags of the knights of Santiago
+from the church of Ulces. After Medellin his successes ended. Placed
+under the command of Joseph and Jourdan, whom he despised; in great
+straits to feed his army in a country which was really a wilderness;
+worried by constant contradictory orders, it was in no pleasant mood
+that he at last found himself under the personal command of King Joseph
+at Talavera. Anxious to maintain his independence and to show off his
+military skill, he attempted by himself to surprise the English wing of
+the allied army. Consequently he committed King Joseph and Jourdan to an
+action which they did not wish to fight, and by refusing to co-operate
+with the other corps commanders he brought defeat upon the French army,
+for, as Napoleon wrote to Joseph, "As long as you attack good troops,
+like the English, in good positions, without reconnoitring them, you
+will lead your men to death 'en pure perte.'"
+
+After Talavera Victor's independent career came to an end; he was placed
+under the orders of Marshal Soult and sent to besiege Cadiz, before
+which place he lay till he was summoned to take part in the Russian
+campaign. But before leaving Cadiz he fought one more action against the
+British when General Graham seized the opportunity of Soult's absence to
+attempt to break up the siege; and he had once again to acknowledge
+defeat, when at Barossa the little column of four thousand British
+turned at bay and boldly attacked and defeated nine thousand chosen
+French infantry under the Marshal himself.
+
+In Russia the Duke of Belluno was saved some of the greatest hardships,
+for his corps was on the line of communication, and it was not till the
+day before the battle of the Beresina that he actually joined the
+retreating army, in time to earn further glory by covering the passage
+of the river, though at the cost of more than half his corps. During
+1813 he fought at Dresden and at Leipzig, and at the commencement of
+1814 was entrusted with the defence of the Vosges; but he soon had to
+fall back on the Marne. At Saint Dizier and Brienne he bore himself
+bravely, but at Montereau he fell into disgrace; he neglected to hold
+the bridge on the Seine, and thus completely spoiled Napoleon's
+combination. The Emperor was furious, and deprived him of the command of
+his corps and told him to leave the army. But the Marshal refused to go.
+"I will shoulder my musket," said he; "Victor has not forgotten his old
+occupation. I will take my place in the Guard." At such devotion the
+Emperor relented. "Well, Victor," he said, stretching out his hand,
+"remain with us. I cannot restore to you your corps, which I have
+bestowed on Girard; but I give you two divisions of the Guard." However,
+the Marshal did not long occupy his new position, for he was severely
+wounded at Craonne and forced to go home.
+
+On Napoleon's abdication the Duke of Belluno swore allegiance to the
+Bourbons and kept it, for, on the return of Napoleon from Elba, he
+withdrew to Ghent with Louis XVIII. On the second Restoration he was
+created a peer of France and nominated one of the four major-generals of
+the Royal Guard. Though never an imperialist, and at heart a republican,
+it was Napoleon's treatment of him at Montereau which recalled the old
+grievance of his disgrace in 1800 and turned him into a royalist. The
+Marshal earned the undying hatred of many of his old comrades by the
+severity he displayed when "charged with examining the conduct of
+officers of all grades who had served under the usurpation." But, though
+steadfast in his adherence to the monarchy, the Duke of Belluno still
+clung to his liberal ideals, and it was for this reason that in 1821
+Villèle invited him to join the Cabinet as Minister for War. It was a
+strange position for the ex-sergeant of artillery, but he filled it
+admirably, and brought considerable strength to the Ministry, in that as
+a soldier of fortune, a self-made man, he conciliated the Liberals, and
+as a resolute character, a firm royalist, and a man of intrepidity and
+honour, he had the confidence and esteem of the Conservative party. It
+was during his term of office that a French army once again invaded
+Spain, and thanks in no small degree to his knowledge of the country
+and to his business capacity that it suffered no reverse. When the
+Bourbon dynasty fell in July, 1830, the Duke of Belluno took the oath of
+allegiance to the new Government, but never again entered public life,
+and on March 1, 1841, he died in Paris at the age of seventy-seven.
+
+
+
+
+XX
+
+EMMANUEL DE GROUCHY, MARSHAL
+
+
+When the Revolution broke out in 1789 the young Count Emmanuel de
+Grouchy was serving as lieutenant-colonel in the Scotch company of the
+Gardes du Corps. Born on October 23, 1766, the only son of the Marquis
+de Grouchy, the representative of an old Norman family which could trace
+its descent from before the days of William the Conqueror, Emmanuel de
+Grouchy had entered the army at the age of fourteen. After a year's
+service in the marine artillery he had been transferred to a cavalry
+regiment of the line, and on his twentieth birthday had been selected
+for the Gardes du Corps. A keen student of military history and devoted
+to his profession, the young Count had read widely and thought much.
+Impressionable and enthusiastic, a philosophical liberal by nature, he
+eagerly absorbed the teaching of the Encyclopedists. As events
+developed, he found that his position in the Gardes du Corps was
+antagonistic to his principles, and, at his own request, at the end of
+1791 he was transferred to the twelfth regiment of chasseurs as
+lieutenant-colonel commanding. After a few months' service with this
+regiment he was promoted brigadier-general, and served successively
+under General Montesquieu with the Army of the Midi, and under
+Kellermann with the Army of the Alps. At the commencement of 1793, while
+on leave in Normandy, he was hurriedly despatched to the west to take
+part in the civil war in La Vendée. No longer Comte de Grouchy but plain
+Citizen-general Grouchy, for the next three years he saw almost
+continuous service in the civil war, with the exception of a few months
+when, like all ci-devant nobles, he was dismissed the service by the
+decree of the incompetent Bouchotte. But Clanclaux, who commanded the
+Army of La Vendée, had found in him a most useful subordinate and a
+sound adviser; and accordingly, at his instance, the ci-devant noble was
+restored to his rank, and sent back as chief of the staff to the Army of
+the West, and in April, 1795, promoted general of division.
+Clear-headed, firmly convinced of the soundness of his opinions, without
+being bigoted or revengeful, Grouchy saw that the cruel methods of many
+of the generals did more to continue the war than the political tenets
+of the Vendéens and Chouans, and he used his influence with Clanclaux,
+and later with Hoche, to restrain useless reprisals and crush the
+rebellion by overwhelming the armed forces of the rebels, not by
+insulting women and shooting prisoners. The problem to be solved was a
+difficult one, as he pointed out in a memoir written for Clanclaux. "It
+is the population of the entire country which is on your hands, a
+population which suddenly rushes together to fight, if it is strong
+enough to crush you; which hurls itself against your flanks and rear,
+and then as suddenly disappears, when not strong enough to resist you."
+His solution of the difficulty was to wear down resistance by light
+mobile columns, and to starve the enemy out by devastating the country.
+In September, 1795, on Clanclaux's retirement, the Commissioners
+attached to the Army of the West wished to invest Grouchy with the
+command, but the general refused the post; for, clear counsellor and
+good adviser as he was, he lacked self-confidence, and knew that he was
+not fit for the position. It was this horror of undertaking
+responsibility which dragged him down during all his career, and which,
+on the two occasions when fortune gave him his chance to rise, made him
+choose the safe but inglorious road of humdrum mediocrity. In 1796 came
+his first chance: after a brief period of service with the Army of the
+North in Holland he was once again at his old work under Hoche in the
+west, when the Directory determined to try to retaliate for the English
+participation in the Chouan revolt by raising a hornet's nest in
+Ireland. At the end of December a force of fifteen thousand men under
+Hoche, with Grouchy as second in command, set sail for Ireland.
+Unfortunately the expedition met with bad weather, the ship on which
+Hoche sailed got separated from the rest of the fleet, and, when Grouchy
+arrived at the rendezvous in Bantry Bay, he found the greater part of
+the expedition, but no general-in-chief. In spite of this he rightly
+determined to effect a landing, but had not the necessary force of
+character to ensure his orders being carried out, and after six days'
+procrastination Admiral Bouvet, pleading heavy weather, refused to allow
+his ships to remain off the coast, and the expedition returned to
+France. If Grouchy had been able to get his orders obeyed, all would
+have been well, for on the very day after his squadron left Bantry Bay,
+Hoche himself arrived at the rendezvous. As Grouchy said, if he had only
+flung that ---- Admiral Bouvet into the sea all would have been right.
+Where Grouchy hesitated and failed a Napoleon would have acted and
+conquered.
+
+[Illustration: EMMANUEL DE GROUCHY, MARQUIS
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY ROUILLARD]
+
+Hoche died, and Grouchy, who under his influence had disapproved of the
+policy of France towards the Italian States, at once accepted employment
+in Italy. He soon had to rue his decision, for he found himself
+entrusted with the task of using underhand means to drive the King of
+Sardinia from his country. Still, he obeyed his orders to the letter.
+During negotiations he secretly introduced French troops into the
+citadel at Turin and then seized the fortresses of Novara, Alessandria,
+and Chiasso. Meanwhile he terrified the unfortunate monarch by
+announcing the arrival of imaginary columns of troops, suborned the
+King's Council, and so worked on the feelings of the bewildered
+sovereign that he escaped by night from his palace and fled across the
+sea. But though their King had deserted them, the Piedmontese did not
+tamely submit, and for the next few months the general was busy tracking
+out and capturing the numerous members of the secret societies who were
+avenging their country by cutting the throats of Frenchmen. While
+striking with a heavy hand at these conspirators, Grouchy was
+level-headed enough to understand that the proper method of tackling the
+problem was to remove the grievance. In his opinion it was not the
+people so much as the Church which was opposed to the French, and
+accordingly he did his best to get Joubert to issue a proclamation that
+there should be no interference with religion. Still, the situation must
+have been galling to a man of culture and a theoretical liberal, for,
+while forcing democratic institutions on an unwilling people, he had at
+the same time to strip their capital of all objects of art; and while
+issuing proclamations for the freedom of religion he had to arrange for
+the passage of the Pope on his way to captivity. In May, 1799, the
+general was recalled from his governorship of Turin, for the Austrians
+and Russians were invading Lombardy and Joubert was concentrating his
+forces. The campaign, as far as Grouchy was concerned, was short, for
+while attempting to stem the flight of the left wing after the battle of
+Novi he was ridden over and captured by the Allies. Four sabre cuts, one
+bullet wound, and several bayonet thrusts kept him in hospital for some
+time; when he was well enough to be moved he was sent to Grätz, and it
+was not till a year later--in June, 1800--that his exchange was
+effected. But he soon had his revenge on the Austrians, for in the
+autumn he was despatched to join the army under Moreau, which was
+operating on the Danube, and arrived at headquarters in time to take
+part in the battle of Hohenlinden. In the face of a blinding snowstorm
+Grouchy's division drove back the main column of the enemy, and after
+hours of murderous hand-to-hand fighting in the forest, he shared with
+Ney the honour of the last charge which drove the enemy in hopeless
+rout.
+
+It was on his return from Hohenlinden that the ex-Count met Bonaparte.
+The First Consul, who aimed at conciliating the old nobility, made much
+of him, employed him on a confidential mission to Italy, and nominated
+him inspector-general of cavalry. This post admirably suited Grouchy,
+who was a horseman by nature and a cavalry soldier by instinct. Later,
+on the formation of the Army of the Ocean, he was appointed to the
+command of an infantry division in Marmont's corps in Holland, and it
+was with Marmont that he made the campaign of 1805. In October, 1806, he
+was summoned from Italy to a more important command. The Grand Army was
+advancing on Prussia, and Napoleon had need of capable leaders to
+command his vast masses of cavalry. Grouchy was entrusted with the
+second division of dragoons of the cavalry corps under Murat and played
+a prominent part in the battle of Prinzlow and the pursuit to Lübeck. At
+Eylau he had a narrow escape: his charger was killed in the middle of
+the mêlée and he was only saved by the devotion of his aide-de-camp;
+though much shaken, he was able to resume command of his division, and
+distinguished himself by his fierce charges in the blinding snow. At
+Friedland a chance occurred for which his capacity proved fully equal.
+Murat was absent at Königsberg trying to get across the enemy's rear,
+and Grouchy was in command of all the reserve cavalry at the moment the
+advance guard interrupted the Russian retreat. It was his admirable
+handling of the cavalry under Lannes's directions which held the
+Russians in check for sixteen hours, until Napoleon was able to
+concentrate his divisions and give the Russians the coup-de-grâce. The
+Emperor showed his gratitude by presenting the general with the Grand
+Cross of Baden, investing him with the Cordon of the Legion of Honour,
+and granting him the domain of Nowawies, in the department of Posen.
+
+The following year, 1808, saw Grouchy, now a Count of the Empire, with
+Murat in Spain, acting as governor of Madrid. But when, in the autumn,
+Joseph evacuated all the western provinces, Grouchy, whose health had
+been much shaken by the Polish campaign, was granted leave of absence
+and took care not to be sent back, for he had seen enough of the Spanish
+to foresee the terrible difficulties of guerilla warfare; moreover, the
+annexation of the country was contrary to his ideas of political
+justice. When the war with Austria was imminent Napoleon sent him to
+Italy to command the cavalry of the viceroy's army. With Prince Eugène
+he fought through Styria and Carinthia and distinguished himself greatly
+at the battle of Raab. At Wagram his cavalry was attached to Davout's
+corps, and his fierce charges, which helped to break the Austrian left,
+brought him again under the notice of the Emperor, who showed his
+appreciation by appointing him colonel-general of chasseurs.
+
+In 1812 the Count was summoned once again to the field, to command the
+third corps of reserve cavalry with the Grand Army in Russia. At Moskowa
+his cuirassiers, sabre in hand, drove the Russians out of the great
+redoubt, but Grouchy himself was seriously wounded. During the retreat
+from Moscow he commanded one of the "Sacred Bands" of officers who
+personally guarded the Emperor, but his health, never good, completely
+broke down under the strain and he was allowed to return straight home
+from Vilna. A year elapsed before he had sufficiently recovered to take
+the field, and it was not till the beginning of 1814 that he was fit for
+service. During the campaign in France, first under Victor and later
+with Marmont, he commanded the remnant of the reserve cavalry; but on
+March 7th at Craonne he was once again so badly wounded that he had to
+throw up his command.
+
+During the Restoration Grouchy remained at his home; his relations with
+the Bourbons were not cordial, and he bitterly resented the loss of his
+title of colonel-general of chasseurs. Accordingly, when Napoleon
+returned from Elba and France seemed to welcome him with open arms, in
+spite of having accepted the Cross of St. Louis, he had no scruple in
+answering the Emperor's summons. He was entrusted with the operations
+against the Duc d'Angoulême round Lyons, but disliked the task, for he
+remembered the fate of the Duc d'Enghien, and in spite of Napoleon's
+protests that he only desired to capture the Duke in order to make the
+Austrians send back the Empress, Grouchy determined that, if possible,
+while doing everything to defeat the royalists, he would not capture
+d'Angoulême. Unfortunately, the Duke refused the opportunity to escape
+which was offered him, and Grouchy had to make him a prisoner. However,
+Napoleon, anxious to stand well with the Powers of Europe, at once
+ordered him to be set free. At the same time he sent Grouchy to command
+the Army of the Alps, giving him his Marshal's bâton. The new Marshal
+was delighted with his promotion; he had now served for twenty years as
+general of division, and although only forty-nine, had practically given
+up all hope of promotion. But scarcely had he reached his new command
+when he was recalled to Paris.
+
+With Murat in disgrace and Bessières dead, the Emperor had no great
+cavalry leader on whom he could rely, and, remembering the new Marshal's
+exploits at Friedland and Wagram, and his staunchness in 1814, he
+determined to entrust him with the command of the reserve cavalry.
+Unfortunately for Napoleon and Grouchy, the exigencies of the campaign
+forced the Emperor to divide his army; so, while entrusting Ney with a
+part of his troops, with orders to pursue the English, and keeping the
+Guard and reserves under his immediate control, he gave Grouchy the
+command of two corps of infantry and one of cavalry; in all, some
+thirty-three thousand men. The appointment was an unfortunate one, for
+the Marshal, though in many respects a good cavalry leader, had never
+before had the command of a large body of mixed troops, and even his
+cavalry successes had been obtained when under the orders of a superior:
+at Friedland he was under Lannes; at Wagram under Davout; at Moskowa
+under Eugène; and in 1814 under either Victor or Marmont. But what was
+most unfortunate about the selection was that Grouchy had not enough
+personal authority to enforce his orders on his corps commanders, and
+the fiery Vandamme not only despised but hated him because he had
+received the bâton which he hoped was to have been his, while Girard was
+a personal enemy. At Ligny, where Napoleon himself supervised the
+attack, all went well, but from the moment fighting ceased difficulties
+began. Immediately after the battle the Emperor entrusted the Marshal
+with the pursuit of the Prussians, but Pajol, who commanded his light
+cavalry, carried out his reconnaissance in a perfunctory manner, and
+reported that the Prussians had retreated towards Namur. Grouchy
+received this news at 4 a.m. on June 17th, but he did not dare to
+disturb the Emperor's rest, and it was 8 a.m. before he could see him
+and demand detailed orders. Napoleon, trusting to Pajol's report,
+thought that the Prussians were absolutely demoralised and were leaving
+the theatre of war, and so he kept the Marshal talking about Paris and
+politics till 11 a.m. Consequently it was 11.30 before he received exact
+orders, penned by Bertrand, which told him to proceed to Gembloux,
+keeping his forces concentrated; to reconnoitre the different roads
+leading to Namur and Maestricht, and to inform the Emperor of the
+Prussians' intentions, adding, "It is important to know what Blücher and
+Wellington mean to do, and whether they prefer to unite their armies in
+order to cover Brussels and Liège, by trying their fortunes in another
+battle." Bad staff directions and heavy rains retarded the advance, and
+it took six hours for the troops to cover the nine miles to Gembloux,
+where at eight in the evening Grouchy heard that part of the Prussians
+had fallen back on Wavre, which meant that they might still unite with
+the English to cover Brussels. He at once reported this to the Emperor,
+adding that Blücher had retired on Liège and the artillery on Namur.
+But, in spite of the fact that on the evening of the seventeenth
+Napoleon knew that this was a mistake, and that the Prussians were
+actually massed round Wavre, it was not till 10 a.m. on the morning of
+Waterloo that he sent to the Marshal informing him of the Prussians'
+concentration, and telling him that "he must therefore move thither
+(_i.e._, to Wavre) in order to approach us, and to push before him any
+Prussians who may have stopped at Wavre." This was the exact course
+which Grouchy had determined to pursue. It is therefore quite clear that
+neither the Emperor nor the Marshal had dreamed that Blücher would
+attempt to give any assistance to the English in their position at
+Waterloo. At 11 a.m., when his columns were just approaching Wavre, the
+Marshal heard the commencement of the cannonade at Waterloo. Girard
+entreated him to march to the sound of the cannon, but Grouchy had what
+he considered distinct orders to pursue the Prussians; he was now in
+touch with them, and with a force of thirty-three thousand men he did
+not dare to make a flank march in the face of what, he was becoming
+convinced, was the whole Prussian army. At 5 p.m. he received Napoleon's
+despatch, hastily written at 1 p.m., ordering him to turn westward and
+crush the Prussian corps which was marching on the Emperor's right rear,
+but by then his main force was heavily engaged at Wavre, and even if he
+had been able to despatch part of his force it could not have arrived at
+Mont St. Jean till long after the end of the battle.
+
+On the morning of the nineteenth the Marshal was preparing to pursue
+Thielmann's corps, which, on the previous evening, he had driven from
+Wavre, when he heard of the catastrophe at Waterloo. He immediately
+stopped the pursuit, and, by rapid marching, reached Namur before the
+Allies could cut him off, and, by a skilful retreat, brought back his
+thirty-three thousand men to Paris before the enemy arrived at the
+gates. But instead of the thanks he had expected he found himself
+saddled with the blame of the loss of Waterloo. The disaster, however,
+clearly rested on the Emperor, whose orders were vague, and who had not
+realised the extraordinary moral courage of Blücher and the stubbornness
+of the Prussians, and if Napoleon did not foresee this he could not
+blame Grouchy for being equally blind. The Marshal did all that a
+mediocre man could do. He carefully carried out the orders given him,
+trusting, no doubt, too much to the letter, too little to the spirit.
+But long years spent in a subordinate position under a military
+hierarchy like that of the Empire were bound to stifle all initiative,
+and it was not to be supposed that the man who, twenty years earlier,
+had failed to rise to the occasion in Ireland would, after at last
+gaining his Marshal's bâton, risk his reputation by marching, like
+Desaix at Marengo, to the sound of the guns, across the front of an
+enemy vastly superior to himself, through a difficult country partially
+waterlogged and intercepted by deep broad streams, contrary to what
+seemed his definite orders.
+
+The Marshal's career really ended on the abdication of the Emperor,
+though he was appointed by the Provisional Government to the command of
+the remains of the Army of the North, and in this capacity proclaimed
+the Emperor's son as Napoleon II. On gaining Paris he found himself
+subordinate to Davout, an old enemy. Accordingly he threw up his command
+and retired into private life. After his conduct during the Hundred Days
+he could expect no mercy from the returned Bourbons, and was glad to
+escape abroad. Included in the general pardon, he returned to France in
+1818, but his marshalate was annulled, and he never regained his bâton,
+though on the accession of Charles X. he was actually received at court.
+But though the King might forgive, his favourites and ministers could
+not forget, and in December, 1824, he was included among the fifty
+generals of Napoleon who were placed on the retired list, an action
+which General Foy shrewdly remarked was "a cannon-shot charged at
+Waterloo, fired ten years after the battle, and pointed direct at its
+mark." Like many another of the Marshals, the veteran retained his
+health and faculties for many years, and defended his character and
+actions and criticised his enemies with the same clear logic which had
+so powerfully contributed to his early advancement; for the ex-Marshal
+wielded the pen as easily as the sword. It was not till 1847 that death
+carried off the sturdy old warrior at the age of eighty-one.
+
+
+
+
+XXI
+
+FRANÇOIS CHRISTOPHE KELLERMANN, MARSHAL, DUKE OF VALMY
+
+
+When old institutions suddenly collapse with a crash; when all is
+confusion and chaos, and the lines of reconstruction are as yet veiled
+in uncertainty; when people suspect their old rulers and are shy of
+those who would set themselves up as their new directors, there comes an
+interval before genius and wile can organise their forces, when
+character, and character alone can shepherd the people scattered like
+sheep on the mountains. Such was the case in France in September, 1792.
+The old constitution had foundered, sweeping away in its ruin the order
+and discipline of the royal army. The officers had either fled or been
+deposed by their men, and such few as remained were held "suspect." The
+new officers, chosen by their fellows, had but little authority. The
+staff of the army was changed weekly to suit the whim of some civil or
+military self-seeker, at a time when France was at war with the great
+military powers of Europe. It was little wonder, therefore, that the
+Prussians and Austrians looked forward to the campaign of 1792 as a
+military promenade. They knew better even than the War Minister at Paris
+how debauched were the regular troops of France, how unreliable and
+contemptible were the few thousand old men and boys who rejoiced in the
+name of volunteers, and they never for a moment believed that the
+French generals would be able to force their men to stand and fight. But
+they had calculated wrongly. They had not learned that in war a man is
+everything; they had not grasped how deeply the spirit of discipline had
+been engrained in the old royal army. Fortunately for France she had two
+men of character to fall back upon; and aided by their example, on
+September 20th the regulars of France stood firm before the famous
+Prussian army. The two men were Dumouriez and Kellermann. Dumouriez had
+brains and character, Kellermann character and stolid imperturbability.
+
+Descended from an old Saxon family long domiciled in Alsace, François
+Christophe Kellermann was born at Strasburg on May 28, 1735. Entering
+the French army at the age of fifteen, he fought his way up step by step
+by sheer hard work and merit. Winning the Cross of St. Louis for
+distinguished cavalry work in the Seven Years' War, he was sent in 1766
+on a mission to Poland and Russia, on the strength of which he was lent
+by the French Government to help the Confederates of Bar to organise
+their irregular cavalry. Returning to France, he slowly gained
+promotion, and in 1788 became major-general and was promoted
+lieutenant-general in March, 1792, mainly owing to his warm adoption of
+the revolutionary principles. Kellermann had not the gifts of a great
+commander, but he had what is sometimes better, the confidence of his
+men. He was notorious for his hatred of the old régime and had a high
+reputation as a cavalry commander: added to this, the firm belief he had
+in himself served to inspire confidence in others. Independent by
+nature, ambitious, cantankerous, jealous and conceited, Kellermann had
+not found his life in the army any too pleasant. Save in war time merit
+gained little reward; promotion came neither from the east nor the west,
+but from court favouritism. It thus happened that the rough Alsatian had
+always found himself subordinate to men who were really his inferiors,
+but who despised his want of culture and his provincial accent; for
+Kellermann knew no grammar, spoke through his nose and spelt as he
+spoke, even writing "debuté" for "deputé." It was thanks to the
+friendship of Servan, the War Minister, that on August 25th he was
+summoned from the small column he had been commanding on the Lauter to
+succeed Luckner in command of the Army of the Centre. When he arrived at
+his new headquarters at Metz he found a woeful state of affairs. The
+Prussians and Austrians were sweeping everything before them, and at
+Metz he found a fortress without stores and an army without discipline.
+Luckily he had the advantage of Berthier, a staff officer of the highest
+order, Napoleon's future chief of the staff. The soldiers welcomed
+Kellermann, "this brave general whose patriotism equals his talents,"
+and whose civism was praised throughout all Alsace. Organisation was his
+first work, and his former experience of irregular warfare in Poland
+stood him in good stead. He immediately sent home the battalions of the
+volunteers of 1792, who were arriving without arms and in rags. He
+retained a few picked men from each battalion, to be used as light
+troops and pioneers. After weeding out undesirables and drafting
+reinforcements into his most reliable regiments, in three weeks he
+evolved a force of twenty thousand men capable of taking the field.
+While thus engaged he was ordered to join Dumouriez, who had been
+holding the Prussians in check at the defiles of the Argonne. On the
+evening of September 19th Kellermann effected his junction with
+Dumouriez near St. Menehould, and was attacked early next morning by the
+enemy under the Duke of Brunswick. The morning was wet and foggy, and
+the Prussians surprised the French and cut them off from the road to
+Paris. But instead of driving home their attack they thought to frighten
+them by a mere cannonade. Luckily the artillery was the least
+demoralised part of the French army, and under the able command of
+d'Abbéville, it not only replied to the Prussian guns, but played with
+great effect on the infantry, when at last Brunswick ordered an attack.
+Kellermann meanwhile sat on his horse in front of his infantry, and by
+his example and sangfroid managed to keep them in the ranks, though they
+were really so unsteady that when an ammunition wagon blew up, three
+regiments of infantry and the whole of the ammunition column fled in
+disorder from the field. But Kellermann galloped up in time to prevent
+the panic spreading. Meanwhile Dumouriez had hastened up reinforcements
+to secure Kellermann's flanks, and the Duke of Brunswick, seeing the
+French standing firm, and not being sure of his own men, refused to
+allow the attack to be pressed home. Such was the cannonade of Valmy;
+the Prussians had thirty-four thousand men engaged, and lost one hundred
+and eighty-four men; the French had thirty-six thousand engaged out of a
+total of fifty-two thousand, and lost three hundred, and the greater
+proportion of this loss was due to Kellermann's bad tactics in massing
+his infantry close behind his guns.
+
+[Illustration: FRANÇOIS CHRISTOPHE KELLERMANN, DUKE OF VALMY
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY ANSIAUX]
+
+Still, Valmy was one of the most important battles in the world's
+history, for it taught Europe that France still existed as a political
+unit, and it allowed her to effect her regeneration in her own way.
+Neither Kellermann nor Dumouriez at first understood what they had done.
+Dumouriez drew off his army to a better position to await events. But
+Valmy had restored the morale of the French and broken that of the
+Prussians, whom disease and bad weather further affected, and soon
+Brunswick was glad to negotiate and retreat to the Rhine. Kellermann's
+share in the great event is easily determined. He had most unwillingly
+joined Dumouriez, he had allowed himself to be surprised in the morning,
+and his tactics were so bad that his men suffered heavier loss than was
+necessary; but though it was Dumouriez who made good the tactical
+mistake and covered Kellermann's flanks, and d'Abbéville whose
+artillery caused the infantry attack to miscarry, it was Kellermann's
+reputation and example which kept the really demoralised infantry in
+line, and prevented them from running in terror from the field. It was
+the sight of the old Alsatian quietly getting on a fresh horse when his
+former one was killed, caring nothing though one of his coat-tails was
+carried off by a round shot, which breathed new life and courage into
+the masses of waiting men, and taught them to cry out, "Vive la nation!
+Vive la France! Vive notre général!" So, though men might smile when
+they heard the old boaster talking of "My victory," yet in their hearts
+they knew he had done much to save France.
+
+While the Prussians retreated Kellermann was entrusted by Dumouriez with
+the pursuit; on his return to Paris his boasting habits brought him into
+trouble. The Terrorists, hearing him constantly talking of "My men," "My
+army," were afraid he was getting too powerful and he very nearly came
+to the scaffold. Restored to favour, he was employed with the Army of
+the Alps and the Army of Italy in 1794 and 1795, where he gained some
+success, although his plans were constantly interfered with by the
+Committee of Public Safety. In 1796 the Army of the Alps was made
+subordinate to the Army of Italy under Bonaparte, and the Directory
+wanted to associate Kellermann with Bonaparte, but the future conqueror
+of Italy would brook no equal, especially a cantankerous boaster. So he
+wrote to Carnot, "If you join Kellermann and me in command in Italy, you
+will undo everything. General Kellermann has more experience than I, and
+knows how to make war better than I do; but both together we shall make
+it badly. I will not willingly serve with a man who considers himself
+the first general in Europe." When, however, Bonaparte came to power he
+did not forget the old Alsatian: in 1800 he made him one of his
+Senators, and in 1804 he created him a Marshal, though not in the active
+list. But exigencies of warfare demanded that France should use all her
+talents, and in every campaign the Emperor entrusted the old warrior
+with the command of the Army of the Reserve. Sometimes on the Rhine,
+sometimes on the Elbe, sometimes in Spain, the old soldier taught the
+recruits of the Grand Army how to keep themselves and their muskets
+clean; and, in spite of age and infirmities, showed those talents of
+organisation which he had learned in Poland and earlier still in the
+Seven Years' War. In 1808, when creating his new nobility, the Emperor
+cleverly conciliated the republican party by creating the Marshal Duke
+of Valmy, and presenting him with a splendid domain at Johannisberg, in
+Germany. But when the end came in 1814, the Duke of Valmy, like the
+other Marshals, quietly accepted the Restoration, and the veteran
+republican, now in his eightieth year, was created a peer of France and
+accepted the command of the third military division. During the Hundred
+Days he held no command, and on the Restoration he retired into private
+life, and died at Paris on September 23, 1820. His body was buried in
+Paris, but his heart, according to his directions, was taken to Valmy
+and interred beside the remains of those who had fallen there, and a
+simple monument was placed over the spot with the following lines,
+written by the Marshal himself: "Here lie the soldiers who gloriously
+died, and who saved France, on September 20, 1792. Marshal Kellermann,
+the Duke of Valmy, the soldier who had the honour to command them on
+that memorable day, twenty-eight years later, making his last request,
+desired that his heart should be placed among them."
+
+
+
+
+XXII
+
+FRANÇOIS JOSEPH LEFÈBVRE, MARSHAL, DUKE OF DANTZIG
+
+
+François Joseph Lefèbvre, Marshal and peer of France, is best known to
+the ordinary reader as the husband of that Duchess of Dantzig who has
+been so unjustly caricatured in Monsieur Sardou's celebrated play as
+Madame Sans Gêne. Accordingly, the record of this hard-fighting soldier
+of the Empire has been cruelly buried in ridicule. The son of an old
+private soldier of the hussars of Berchény, who became in later life the
+wachtmeister of the little Alsatian town of Rouffach, François Joseph
+was born October 26, 1755. After his father's death he was entrusted, at
+the age of eight, to the care of his uncle, the Abbé Jean Christophe
+Lefèbvre. The abbé destined his nephew for the Church, but nature had
+dowered him for the camp, and after a severe tussle with the good abbé,
+Jean François set out with a light heart, a light purse, a few sentences
+of Latin, a rough Alsatian accent, and a fine physique to seek his
+fortune in the celebrated Garde Française at Paris. The year 1789 found
+him with sixteen years' service, one of the best of the senior sergeants
+of the regiment, married since 1783 to Catherine Hübscher, also from
+Alsace, by profession a washerwoman, by nature a philanthropist.
+Washing, soldiering, and philanthropy being on the whole unremunerative
+occupations, the Lefèbvres had to supplement their income, and Madame
+went out charring, while the sergeant taught Alsatian, which he called
+German, and occupied his spare moments in instructing his wife in
+reading and writing. But the Revolution suddenly changed their outlook.
+On September 1, 1789, Lefèbvre was granted a commission as lieutenant in
+the newly enrolled National Guard as a recompense for the devotion shown
+to the officers when the Guards mutinied. Within the next two years he
+further showed his devotion to the lawful authorities, and was twice
+wounded while defending the royal family. But in spite of personal
+attachment to the Bourbons, the Prussian invasion turned him into a
+republican, and the Republic, as idealised by the warm-hearted warriors
+of the armies of the Sambre and Meuse and of the Rhine, became the idol
+of his heart. From the siege of Thionville, in 1792, till he was
+invalided in 1799, Lefèbvre was on continuous active service. His
+extraordinary bravery, his knowledge of his profession, and his absolute
+devotion to his duty brought him quick promotion, for he became captain
+in June, 1792, lieutenant-colonel in September, 1793, brigadier two
+months later, and general of division on January 18, 1794. The stern
+battle of Fleurus in June, 1794, proved that the general of division was
+worthy of his rank, for it was his counter-attack in the evening which
+decided the fate of the day. The early years of the republican wars were
+times when personal bravery, audacity, and devotion worked marvels on
+the highly strung, enthusiastic republican troops, and Lefèbvre had
+these necessary qualifications, while his Alsatian accent and
+kindheartedness won the devotion of his men. He was highly appreciated
+by his commander-in-chief, Jourdan, who, in his official report, stated
+"that the general added to the greatest bravery all the necessary
+knowledge of a good advance guard commander, maintaining in his troops
+the strictest discipline, working unceasingly to provide them with
+necessaries, and always manifesting the principles of a good
+republican." Unswerving devotion to duty--"I am a soldier, I must
+obey"--was the guiding principle of his career, and accordingly each
+commander he served under had nothing but praise for the thoroughness
+with which he did his work, from the enforcement of petty regulations to
+the covering of a defeated force. But in spite of this the ex-sergeant
+knew his worth and did not fear to claim his due. When Hoche, in his
+general order after the battle of Neuweid, stated that "the army had
+taken seven standards of colours," Lefèbvre naïvely wrote to him, "It
+must be fourteen altogether, for I myself captured seven." But Hoche had
+both humour and tact, and made ample amends by replying, "There were
+only seven stands of colours as there is only one Lefèbvre."
+
+By 1799 seven years' continuous fighting had begun to tell on a physique
+even as strong as Lefèbvre's, and the general applied for lighter work
+as commander of the Directory Guard, and later, for sick leave; but the
+commencement of the campaign against the Archduke Charles, in the valley
+of the Danube, once again stimulated his indefatigable appetite for
+active service. Though suffering from scurvy and general overstrain, he
+took his share in the hard fighting at Feldkirche and Ostrach, but a
+severe wound received in the latter combat at last compelled him to
+leave the field and go into hospital.
+
+On his return to France he was entrusted by the Directory with the
+command of the 17th military district, with Paris as its headquarters.
+The task was a difficult one, as the numerous coups d'état had shaken
+both public morality and military discipline. Among other
+unpleasantnesses the commander of Paris found himself on one occasion
+forced to place a general officer in the Abbaye, the civil prison, for
+flatly refusing to obey orders. But, difficult as his task was, the
+situation became much more complicated by the sudden return of Bonaparte
+from Egypt. Bonaparte arrived in Paris with the fixed determination to
+assume the reins of government. It was clear to so staunch a republican
+as Lefèbvre that all was not well with the Republic under the Directory,
+and it seemed as if Bonaparte, shimmering in the glamour of Italy and
+Egypt, was the sole person capable of conciliating all parties and of
+bringing the state of chronic revolution to an end. Directly he met the
+famous Corsican the simple soldier fell an easy victim to his
+personality; while Bonaparte was quick to perceive what a great
+political asset it would be if Lefèbvre, the republican of the
+republicans, the embodiment of the republican virtues, could be bound a
+satellite in his train. On the morning of the 18th Brumaire, the
+commander of the Paris Division was the first to arrive of all the
+generals whom the plotter had summoned to his house; he was puzzled to
+find that troops were moving without his orders, and he entered in
+considerable anger. Bonaparte at once explained the situation. The
+country was in danger, foes were knocking at the door, and meanwhile the
+Republic lay the prey of a pack of lawyers who were exploiting it for
+their own benefit without thought of patriotism. "Now then, Lefèbvre,"
+said he, "you, one of the pillars of the Republic, are you going to let
+it perish in the hands of these lawyers? Join me in helping to save our
+beloved Republic. Look, here is the sword I carried in my hand at the
+battle of the Pyramids. I give it to you as a token of my esteem and of
+my confidence." Lefèbvre could not resist this appeal; his warm and
+generous nature responded to the artful touch; grasping the treasured
+sword with tears in his eyes, he swore he was ready "to throw the
+lawyers in the river." With a sigh of relief Bonaparte put his arm
+through Lefèbvre's and led him into his study, and for the next fourteen
+years he remained, as he thought, the confidential right-hand man of the
+great-hearted patriot, but in reality the tool, dupe, and stalking-horse
+of a wily adventurer.
+
+The general accompanied Napoleon to the Tuileries and listened to the
+carefully chosen words: "Citizens Representatives, the Republic is
+perishing; you know it well, and your decree can save it. A thousand
+misfortunes on all who desire trouble and disorder. I will oust them,
+aided by all the friends of liberty.... I will support liberty, aided by
+General Lefèbvre and General Berthier, and my comrades in arms who share
+my feelings.... We wish a Republic founded on liberty, on equality, on
+the sound principles of national representation. We swear this: I swear
+this; I swear in my own name and in the name of my comrades in arms."
+Later in the day, during the struggle at the Orangerie, it was Lefèbvre
+who saved Lucien Bonaparte and cleared the hall with the aid of some
+grenadiers.
+
+From the 18th Brumaire Napoleon, as First Consul, and later as Emperor,
+held in Lefèbvre a trump card whereby he could defeat any attempted
+hostile combination of the republicans. Hence it was that, at the time
+of the proclamation of the Empire, he included him in his list of
+Marshals, to prove as it were that the Empire was merely another form of
+the Republic. Later still, for the same reason, when he was making his
+hierarchy stronger, he created him one of his new Dukes.
+
+The immediate reward for Lefèbvre's support during the coup d'état was a
+mission to the west to extinguish the civil war in La Vendée. The
+general was lucky in surprising a considerable force of rebels at
+Alençon, and soon fulfilled his work, and received the further reward of
+a seat as Senator, which brought in an income of 35,000 francs a year.
+When the list of Marshals was published he was bracketed with
+Kellermann, Pérignon, and Serurier as "Marshals whose sphere of duty
+would lie in the Senate." As such, at the coronation of the Emperor in
+Notre Dame he held the sword of Charlemagne, while Kellermann carried
+the crown. Strong in his trust of him, Napoleon had, in 1803, created
+him Prætor of the Senate. But fortune did not destine that he should
+long enjoy his honours in peace. Thanks to his magnificent physique a
+few years of rest entirely restored his health. The wound, which in 1799
+had threatened to incapacitate him permanently, had completely healed,
+and in 1806 he once again found himself on active service. The Emperor
+knew well that the Marshal was a sergeant-major rather than a
+strategist, and accordingly placed him at the head of the Guard, where
+his powers of discipline could be utilised to the full without calling
+on him to solve any difficult problems. At Jena the Guard had plenty of
+hard fighting such as their commander loved. A few days later the
+Marshal proved that the Guard could march as well as fight, when, at
+nine o'clock on the evening of October 24th, the regiments marched into
+Potsdam after covering forty-two miles since the morning.
+
+Early in 1807 the Emperor entrusted the Marshal with the siege of
+Dantzig, a strong fortress near the mouth of the Vistula,
+well-garrisoned by a Prussian force of fourteen thousand under Marshal
+Kalkreuth. Lefèbvre, conscious of his lack of engineering skill, was
+afraid of undertaking the task, but the Emperor promised to send him
+everything necessary, and to guide him himself to the camp of
+Finkenstein, and ultimately said goodbye to him with the words, "Take
+courage, you also must have something to speak about in the Senate when
+we return to France." The siege lasted fifty-one days, during which the
+Marshal took scarcely a moment's rest: ever in the trenches, heading
+every possible charge, calling out to the soldiers, "Come on, children,
+it's our turn to-day," or "Come on, comrades, I am also going to have a
+turn at fighting." Such treatment worked wonders with the fiery French,
+but the sluggish men of Baden, who formed a considerable part of his
+force, were not accustomed to be so hustled, and the Marshal's camp
+manners grated on the Prince of Baden, who considered "that the
+Marshal's staff was mostly composed of men of little culture, and that
+his son held the first place among those who had no manners." The
+Emperor had to write to his fiery lieutenant, "You treat our allies
+without any tact; they are not accustomed to fire, but that will come.
+Do you think that our men are as good now as in 1792--that we can be as
+keen to-day after fifteen years' war? Pay what compliments you can to
+the Prince of Baden ... you cannot throw down walls with the chests of
+your grenadiers ... let your engineers do their work and be patient....
+Your glory is to take Dantzig; when you have done that you will be
+content with me." It was hard for the Marshal to show patience, for he
+knew but one way to do a thing, and that was to go straight at it as
+hard as he could. As one of the privates said, "The Marshal is a brave
+man, only he takes us for horses." With Lannes and Mortier sent to
+reinforce him, it was still more difficult to show patience. But the end
+came, and on the fifty-first day of the siege Marshal Kalkreuth
+surrendered, and the two other Marshals had the generosity to allow
+Lefèbvre to enjoy alone all the honours of the conquest.
+
+In the next year the Emperor had determined to strengthen his throne by
+the creation of a new nobility. It was important to see how Republican
+France would greet this scheme, and accordingly Napoleon determined to
+include Lefèbvre among his new Dukes. One day the Emperor sent an
+orderly officer with orders to say to the Marshal, "Monsieur le Duc, the
+Emperor wishes you to breakfast with him, and asks you to come in a
+quarter of an hour." The Marshal did not hear the title and merely said
+he would attend. When he entered the breakfast-room the Emperor went up
+to him, shook hands with him, and said, "Good-morning, Monsieur le Duc;
+sit by me." The Marshal, hearing the title, thought he was joking. The
+Emperor, to further mystify him, said, "Do you like chocolate, Monsieur
+le Duc?" "Yes, sire," replied the Marshal, still mystified. Thereon the
+Emperor went to a drawer and took out a packet labelled chocolate; but
+when the Marshal opened the box he found it contained one hundred
+thousand écus in bank notes. While in the army the new Duke was warmly
+congratulated on his honours, at Paris the smart ladies and Talleyrand
+did their best to annoy the Duchess. Numerous were the cruel tales they
+spread of her lack of breeding and of her Amazon ways; how, when the
+horses bolted with her carriage, she seized the coachman by the scruff
+of his neck and by main force pulled him off the seat and herself
+stopped the runaways. But, quite unmoved, the Duchess pursued her
+course, visiting the sick, giving away large sums to charities, lending
+a helping hand to any friend in difficulties, and as usual prefacing her
+remarks by "When I used to do the washing."
+
+When, in the autumn of 1808, Napoleon realised how serious was the
+Spanish rising, he despatched his Guard to the Peninsula under the Duke
+of Dantzig. But the war brought few honours to any one, and the Marshal
+proved once again that he could neither act independently nor assist in
+combinations with patience. He nearly spoiled Napoleon's whole plan of
+campaign by a premature move against Blake, prior to the battle of
+Espinosa. From Spain the Guard was hurriedly recalled on the outbreak of
+the Austrian campaign of 1809. The Marshal, in command of the Bavarian
+allies, did yeoman service under Napoleon's eye during the great Five
+Days' Fighting. He was present also at Wagram, and immediately after
+that battle was despatched to put down the rising in the Tyrol. During
+the Russian campaign he once again commanded the Guard, taking part in
+all the hard fighting of the advance and also in the horrors of the
+retreat. Though in his fifty-eighth year the tough old soldier marched
+on foot every mile of the way from Moscow to the Vistula, and shared the
+privations of his men, watching over his beloved Emperor, his little
+"tondu de caporal," with the care of a woman, himself mounting guard
+over him at night and surrounding him with picked men of the Guard. To
+add to the trials of that dreadful campaign the Duke lost at Vilna his
+eldest son, a most promising young soldier who had already reached the
+rank of general. This blow and the strain of the retreat were too much
+for him, and he was unable to assist the Emperor in the campaign of
+1813. But when the Allies invaded the sacred soil of France the old
+warrior put on harness again and fought at Montmirail, Arcis-sur-Aube
+and Champaubert, where he had his horse killed under him. At Montereau
+he fought with such fury that "the foam came out from his mouth."
+
+While the Marshal was spending his life-blood in the field, the Duchess
+in Paris was fighting the intrigues of the royalist ladies. When an
+insinuation was made that the Duke might be won over from the Emperor,
+the Duchess despatched a friend to the army commanding him "to return to
+the army and tell my husband that if he were capable of such infamy I
+should take him by the hair of his head and drag him to the Emperor's
+feet. Meanwhile, inform him of the intrigues going on here." On April
+4th the end came. The Marshals refused to fight any longer, and, after
+Napoleon's abdication, Lefèbvre, with the others, went to Paris to treat
+with Alexander. The Emperor was gone, but France remained, and it was
+thanks to Kellermann and Lefèbvre that Alsace was not wrested from her,
+for they so strongly impressed Alexander by their arguments that he
+decided to oppose the Prussians, who desired to strip France of her
+eastern provinces.
+
+The Marshal swore allegiance to the Bourbons and duly received the Cross
+of St. Louis and his nomination as peer of France. With the year's peace
+came time for reflection, and he began to see that "son petit bonhomme
+de Sire," as he called Napoleon, had merely used him as a political pawn
+in his endeavour to bind the republicans to the wheel of the imperial
+chariot. Accordingly, when the Emperor returned from Elba he was not
+among those who rushed to meet him. Still, although he had no personal
+interview with the Emperor during the Hundred Days, he so far
+compromised himself as to accept a seat in the Senate. For this conduct
+he was under a cloud for the first years of the second Restoration, but
+in 1819 he was pardoned and restored to his rank and office.
+
+From 1814 to the day of his death the Duke of Dantzig spent the greater
+part of his time at his estate at Combault, in the department of the
+Seine and Marne, dispensing that hospitality which he and his wife loved
+to shower on all who had met with misfortune, and many a poor soldier
+and half-pay officer owed his life and what prosperity he had to the
+generous charity of the Duke and Duchess of Dantzig. His death on
+September 14, 1820, two days after that of his old friend Kellermann,
+was due to dropsy, arising from rheumatic gout brought on by the strain
+of the Russian campaign.
+
+The greatness of the Duke of Dantzig lay not so much in his soldierly
+capacity as in his personal character. His military renown rested
+largely on his ability to carry out, without hesitation and jealousy,
+the commands of others. By his personality he was able to maintain the
+strictest discipline and exact the last ounce from his troops without
+raising a murmur. His men loved him, for they knew that he shared all
+their hardships and that his fingers were soiled with no perquisites or
+secret booty. It was no empty boast when he wrote to the Directory
+asking "bread for himself and rewards for his officers." Though raised
+to ducal rank he never lost his sense of proportion, and delighted to
+give his memories of "when I was sergeant" to his friends and to the
+officers of his staff. Still, he was intensely proud of his success,
+which he had won by years of hard work, and he knew how to put in their
+place those whose fame rested solely on the deeds of their ancestors,
+telling a young boaster, "Don't be so proud of your ancestors; I am an
+ancestor myself." Though he ever looked an "old Alsatian camp boy," even
+in his gorgeous ducal robes; though his manners were rough and he would
+not hesitate to refuse a lift to a lady to a review, with the words, "Go
+to blazes; we did not come here to take your wife out driving"--he was
+the true example of the best type of republican soldier, fiery, full of
+theatrical zeal, absolutely unselfish, and animated solely by love of
+France.
+
+
+
+
+XXIII
+
+NICOLAS CHARLES OUDINOT, MARSHAL, DUKE OF REGGIO
+
+
+Nicolas Charles Oudinot, the son of a brewer of Bar-le-Duc, was born on
+April 23, 1767. From his earliest days he showed that spirit of bravado
+which later distinguished him among the many brave men who attained the
+dignity of Marshal. Though kind-hearted and affectionate, his fiery
+character led him into much disobedience, and his turbulent nature
+caused many a sorrowful hour to his parents. Still it was with sore
+hearts that, despite their entreaties, they saw him march gaily off in
+1784 to enlist in the regiment of Médoc. But two years later he returned
+home, tired of garrison duty, and, greatly to his parents' delight,
+entered the trade. When, in 1789, the good people of Bar-le-Duc began to
+organise a company of the National Guard, young Oudinot was chosen as
+captain, and for the next two years threw himself heart and soul into
+politics, to the neglect of the brewery. But much as he approved of the
+spirit of the Revolution, he was no advocate of mob rule, and he used
+his company of citizen soldiers to put down all disturbances in the
+town. Later still, in 1794, when invalided home from the front, he used
+a short and sharp method with an enthusiastic supporter of the Terror;
+in his anger he seized a large dish of haricot and effectually stopped
+the praises of Hébert by hurling it in the Jacobin's face. In
+September, 1791, the call to arms summoned the fire-eating captain of
+the National Guard to sterner scenes. He at once entered the volunteers,
+and it was as a lieutenant-colonel of the third battalion of the Meuse
+that he set out on active service which was to last almost continuously
+for twenty-two years, and from which he was to emerge with the proud
+rank of Marshal, the title of Duke, and the honourable scars of no less
+than thirty-four wounds.
+
+[Illustration: NICOLAS CHARLES OUDINOT, DUKE OF REGGIO
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY ROBERT LE FEVRE]
+
+His campaigning began auspiciously with the action at Bitche, when, with
+his battalion of volunteers, he captured seven hundred Prussians and a
+standard. The hard fighting in the Rhine valley in 1793 added greatly to
+his reputation; but it was at Morlantier in June, 1794, that his gallant
+action made his name resound throughout the French armies. The division
+of General Ambert was attacked on both flanks. Oudinot with the second
+regiment of the line formed the advance guard, but, not perceiving the
+plight of the main body, he continued to advance. The enemy surrounded
+him with six regiments of cavalry. Forming square, he repulsed every
+assault, and ultimately fought his way back to camp with but slight
+loss, and recaptured eight French standards which the enemy had seized
+when they surprised Ambert's division. Ten days later he was promoted
+general of brigade. But, in spite of his glorious exploit, the officers
+of the regiment of Picardy, the senior regiment of the old royal army,
+were disgusted at being commanded by a young brigadier, as yet but
+twenty-seven years old, and sprung from the ranks. Calling the
+disaffected officers together, the general thus addressed them:
+"Gentlemen, is it because I do not bear an historic name that you wish
+to throw me over for your old titled chiefs, or is it because you think
+I am too young to hold command? Wait till the next engagement and then
+judge. If then you think that I cannot stand fire I promise to hand over
+the command to one more worthy." After the next engagement there were no
+more murmurs against the general, and officers and men were ready to
+follow him to the death. While Oudinot thus won the love and respect of
+his command, he requited them with equal love. But his way of showing it
+was characteristic of the man. As he used to say in later years, "Ah,
+how I loved them; I know full well I loved them! I led them all to
+death." For in his eyes a glorious death on the field of battle was what
+the true soldier desired above all things. In August, 1794, a fall from
+his horse which broke his leg placed him in hospital for some months,
+and he could not return to the front till September, 1795. He arrived in
+time to take part in the capture of Mannheim, but a month later, at
+Neckerau, he was ridden down by a charge of the enemy's cavalry,
+receiving five sabre cuts and being taken prisoner. After three months'
+captivity at Ulm he was exchanged. The campaigns of 1796 and 1797 on the
+Danube added to the number of his wounds. In 1799 he served under
+Masséna in Switzerland, and gained his step as general of division. His
+new commander formed so high an opinion of his capacity that he
+appointed him chief of his staff, and took him with him when transferred
+to the Army of Italy. It was a new rôle for the fiery Oudinot, but he
+played it well, and Masséna gave him but his due when he wrote to the
+Directory, "I owe the greatest praise to General Oudinot, my chief of
+the staff, whose fiery nature, though restrained to endure the laborious
+work of the office, breaks out again, ever ready to hand, on the field
+of battle; he has assisted me in all my movements, and has seconded me
+to perfection." During the disastrous campaign in Italy in 1800 he
+earned the further thanks of his chief. He it was who broke the blockade
+at Genoa, and penetrating through the English cruisers, successfully
+carried the orders to Suchet on the Var, and returned to the beleaguered
+city to share the privations of the army. By now his name was well known
+to friend and foe alike, and his chivalrous nature was admired, even by
+his enemies. But an episode occurred during the siege which, for some
+time, caused his name to be execrated by the Austrians. The French had
+captured three thousand prisoners during the sorties round Genoa. At the
+command of Masséna, Oudinot wrote to General Ott to explain that, owing
+to famine, it was impossible to give them nourishment, and asking him to
+make arrangements for feeding them. Ott replied that the siege would end
+before they could starve. With their own soldiers dying of hunger at
+their posts, the French could spare but little food for the miserable
+prisoners, and when the town capitulated there was hardly one left
+alive. But the burden of this calamity falls on General Ott and Masséna,
+and not on Oudinot, who could only carry out the orders he received.
+
+After the surrender, Oudinot went home on sick leave, but was back in
+Italy in time to take part in the last phase of the war under General
+Brune. On December 26th, at Monzembano, he had an opportunity of showing
+his dashing courage. An Austrian battery, suddenly coming into action,
+threw the French into disorder. Oudinot dashed forward, collected a few
+troopers, galloped across the bridge straight at the Austrian guns, and
+captured one of them with his own hands. A few days later he was sent
+home to Paris with a copy of the armistice signed on January 16, 1801.
+Arriving in Paris, the general was received with great warmth by the
+First Consul, who gave him a sword of honour and the cannon which he had
+captured at Monzembano.
+
+During the years of peace which followed the treaty of Lunéville,
+General Oudinot fell entirely under the influence of Napoleon. His
+frank, chivalrous nature was captivated by the bold personality of the
+Corsican, so great in war, so attractive in peace. The First Consul
+rewarded his affection by giving him the posts of inspector-general of
+infantry and cavalry. While not engaged in these duties, or in
+attendance at the court of Paris, the general spent his leisure hours at
+his home at Bar-le-Duc. There he was the idol of the populace; his bust
+adorned the hôtel de ville, and his fellow-citizens were never tired of
+singing his praise and repeating the stories of his marvellous
+adventures and daring escapades. But no one who first saw him could
+believe that this was Oudinot, the hero of all these marvellous tales.
+There was nothing of the swashbuckler about this aristocratic-looking
+man, spare, of medium height, whose pale, intellectual face, set off by
+a pair of brown moustaches, revealed a rather gentle, gracious
+expression, over which flashed occasionally a fugitive smile. It was
+only those piercing, flashing eyes which revealed his real character.
+Still, it was easy to understand how, with his heroic exploits, he had
+fascinated both friend and foe, and gained for himself the title of the
+young Bayard. By his first wife the general had two sons and two
+daughters. The daughters married early, Generals Pajol and Lorencz, but
+it was his sons who were his pride. He had sent for his eldest boy, at
+the age of eight, to accompany him on the Zurich campaign, and the lad
+had at that age to perform all the duties of a subaltern officer. During
+the year of peace both boys were constantly with their father, who spent
+his time superintending their military studies and building for himself
+a house at Bar-le-Duc. From this patriarchal life he was recalled, in
+1804, to take command of the chosen division of picked grenadiers which
+had been organised at Arras by Junot. The division, so well known to
+history as "Oudinot's Grenadiers," or the "Infernal Column," was
+composed of selected men from every regiment, and next to the Guard, was
+the finest division in the imperial army. In the campaign of 1805 the
+division formed part of Lannes' corps, and covered itself with
+distinction at Ulm, and again at Austerlitz, where Oudinot was present,
+though not in command. He had been wounded at Hollabrünn, and sent to
+hospital, and his division entrusted to Duroc, the Grand Marshal of the
+palace. But when he heard of the approaching engagement, the fire-eating
+soldier could not be held back, and on the eve of the battle he arrived
+in camp. Duroc chivalrously offered to give up command, but Oudinot, who
+was satisfied as long as he saw fighting, would not hear of this. "My
+dear Marshal," he said, "remain at the head of my brave grenadiers; we
+will fight side by side." After the treaty of Pressburg he was sent to
+Switzerland, to take possession of Neuchâtel, which had been ceded to
+France by Prussia, to form a fief for Marshal Berthier. The Neuchâtelois
+were furious at being treated as mere pawns in the game, and trouble was
+expected. Fortunately Oudinot possessed great commonsense. He saw that a
+timely concession might bind the proud Swiss to their new lord. The
+people of Neuchâtel depended almost entirely on their trade with
+England, and he wrung from Napoleon the promise that this trade should
+not be interfered with. So grateful were the Swiss that they passed a
+law making Oudinot a citizen of Neuchâtel. The general returned from his
+diplomatic triumph in time to command his grenadiers in the Prussian
+campaign of 1806, and gained fresh laurels at Jena, Ostralenka, Dantzig
+and Friedland. At Dantzig, with his own hand, he killed a Russian
+sergeant who had caught a French cavalry colonel in an ambush. At
+Friedland he was with Lannes when the Marshal surprised the Russian
+rear, and held them pinned against the town until Napoleon could draw in
+his troops and overwhelm them. From six in the evening till twelve next
+day the grenadiers fought with stubborn tenacity. At last the Emperor
+arrived on the field. Oudinot, with his coat hanging in ribbons from
+musket shots, his horse covered with blood, dashed up to the Emperor,
+"Hasten, Sire," he cried; "my grenadiers are all but spent; but give me
+some reinforcements and I will hurl all the Russians into the river."
+Napoleon replied, "General, you have surpassed yourself: you seem to be
+everywhere; but you need not worry yourself any more. It is my part to
+finish this affair."
+
+After Friedland came the peace of Tilsit, but even peace has its
+dangers. Soult, Mortier and the grave Davout were at times carried away
+by Oudinot's extravagant spirits, and used to amuse themselves after
+dinner by extinguishing the candles on the table with pistol shots.
+During the day the general spent his time in his favourite pursuit of
+riding. His horses were always thoroughbreds, and nothing stopped him
+once he had decided to take any particular line. So one day, while
+attempting to jump the ditch of a fort, instead of going round by the
+gate, his horse fell with him, and he broke his leg and had to be sent
+home. His officers and comrades gave him a farewell dinner. At dessert a
+pâté appeared, from which, when opened by General Rapp, a swarm of birds
+fluttered out, with collars of tricolour ribbon, with the inscription
+"To the glory of General Oudinot."
+
+On returning home the Emperor, in addition to presenting him with the
+pipe of Frederick the Great, had granted him the title of count and a
+donation of a million francs. With part of this sum Oudinot bought the
+beautiful estate of Jeand Heurs. In 1808 he was selected as governor of
+Erfurt during the meeting of the Czar and Napoleon, and had the honour
+of being presented to Alexander by the Emperor, who said, "Sire, I
+present you the Bayard of the French army; like the 'preux chevalier,'
+he is without fear and without reproach." The year 1809 brought sterner
+interludes, and Oudinot was present in command of his grenadiers during
+the Five Days' Fighting, and at Aspern-Essling. On the death of Lannes
+he was promoted to the command of the second corps, and in that capacity
+played his part at Wagram. During the early part of the battle it took
+all his self-restraint to stand still while Davout was turning the
+Austrian left, but when he saw the French on the Neusiedel he could no
+longer control his impatience, and without waiting orders he hurled his
+corps against the enemy's centre, receiving in the attack two slight
+wounds. The next day the Emperor sent for him. "Do you know what you did
+yesterday?" "Sire, I hope I did not do my duty too badly." "That is just
+what you did--you ought to be shot." But the Emperor overlooked his
+impetuosity, and a week later rewarded him for his service by presenting
+him with his bâton, and a month later created him Duke of Reggio.
+
+The Duke was fortunate in not being selected for duty in Spain. His next
+service was in 1812, when he commanded a corps on the lines of
+communication in Russia. This was his first independent command, and it
+proved that, though a good subordinate, a dashing soldier and a capable
+diplomatist, he did not possess the qualifications of a great general.
+At Polotsk the day went against the French, but when a wound caused the
+Marshal to hand over his command to St. Cyr, that able officer easily
+stemmed the Russian advance and turned defeat into victory. The Marshal,
+however, made up in zeal what he lacked in ability; a few weeks later,
+hearing that St. Cyr was wounded, he hastened back to the front. It was
+owing to his gallant attack on the Russians that the Emperor was able to
+bridge the Beresina. But, while driving off the enemy who were
+attempting to stem the crossing, he was again wounded. Thanks to the
+devotion of his staff, he was safely escorted back to France and escaped
+the last horrors of the retreat. In 1813 the Duke fought at Bautzen, and
+after the armistice of Dresden was despatched to drive back the mixed
+force of Swedes and Prussians who were threatening the French left under
+Bernadotte. The action of Grosbeeren proved once again that the Duke of
+Reggio had no talent for independent command, and the Emperor superseded
+him by Marshal Ney, whom he loyally served. Emerging unscathed from the
+slaughter at Leipzig, he fought with his accustomed fury all through
+the campaign of 1814 without adding to his reputation as a soldier. On
+Napoleon's abdication the Duke swore allegiance to the Bourbons, who
+received him with warmth, as in the early years of the revolutionary
+wars he had shown great humanity to the captured émigrés. Louis XVIII.
+nominated him colonel-general of the royal corps of grenadiers, and gave
+him command of the third military division, with headquarters at Metz.
+It was there that the Marshal first heard of the Emperor's return from
+Elba. He at once set out to try and intercept his advance on Paris, but
+his troops refused to act against their former leader. Thereon Oudinot
+threw up his command and returned to Jeand Heurs. On his arrival at
+Paris, the Emperor told his Minister of War, Davout, to summon the Duke
+of Reggio to court, thinking that, like many another, he would forget
+his oath to the Bourbons. But the Duke was of different stuff; he had
+sworn allegiance to Louis XVIII. at Napoleon's command, but he could not
+break his oath. On his arrival the Emperor greeted him with the
+question, "Well, Duke of Reggio, what have the Bourbons done for you
+more than I have done, that you attempted to intercept my return?" The
+Marshal replied that he had plighted his oath. The Emperor told him to
+break it and take service with him, recalling past favours. The Marshal
+was much affected, but firm. "I will serve nobody since I cannot serve
+you," he said, "but trust me enough not to spy on me with your police:
+save me that degradation. I could not endure it." So the interview
+ended, and the Marshal returned to Jeand Heurs.
+
+On the second Restoration Oudinot became a great favourite of the
+Bourbons. The King made him a peer of France, presented him with the
+order of St. Louis, created him one of the four major-generals of the
+Royal Guard and commandant-in-chief of the National Guard. When the heir
+to the throne, the Duke of Berri, married a Neapolitan princess, the
+second wife of the Marshal became her chief lady, and the Oudinots,
+husband and wife, served the royal family with the greatest fidelity.
+The Marshal once again saw service when, in 1823, he commanded the first
+corps of the army which invaded Spain. It was through no fault of his
+that Charles X. lost his throne, for he was patriotic enough to tell him
+how unfortunate was the disbanding of the National Guard and his other
+ill-advised actions.
+
+After the fall of the Bourbon dynasty in 1830, the Duke of Reggio never
+again entered public life, although in 1839 Louis Philippe created him
+Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honour, and in 1842 governor of the
+Invalides. It was in this honoured position that the Duke breathed his
+last on September 13, 1847, in his eighty-first year.
+
+The Duke of Reggio was fortunate in his career; he never saw service in
+Spain, and he seldom held independent command, for which his fiery
+temper and impetuosity unfitted him. It was his gallantry and
+intrepidity which won for him his bâton. In a subordinate position he
+could usually control himself enough to obey orders, in a subordinate
+position also he could do good staff work, and his quick impetuous brain
+teemed with ideas which were useful to his superiors. But by himself he
+was lost. Napoleon well knew his shortcomings. In 1805 the Emperor was
+holding a review; Oudinot's horse was restive and refused to march past,
+whereon he drew his sword and stabbed it in the neck. That evening at
+dinner the Emperor asked, "Is that the way you manage your horse?"
+"Sire," replied Oudinot, "when I cannot get obedience that is my
+method." But it was seldom that his impetuosity resulted in cruelty, and
+the wounded at Friedland and in many another action had cause to bless
+him. The hero of Friedland, the saviour of the émigrés, and the
+administrator of Neuchâtel was loved not only in the French army, but
+also among the enemy. At Erfurt there was a poor Saxon gardener who
+delighted to cultivate a rose which he called Oudinot; when asked the
+reason he replied, "The general has made me love the war which has
+ruined me." The Duke of Reggio turned his face steadily against
+plundering, and would reprimand any officer who recklessly rode over a
+field of wheat.
+
+Old age did not change his character. Happy in his family relations,
+adored by his young wife, he was universally beloved, and it was with
+great grief that, on September 13, 1847, Royalist, Orleanist,
+Imperialist, and Republican learned that he whom the soldiers called
+"The Marshal of the Thirty-Four Wounds" had passed away.
+
+
+
+
+XXIV
+
+DOMINIQUE CATHERINE DE PÉRIGNON, MARSHAL
+
+
+Among the few men of moderate opinion who were chosen in 1791 to
+represent their country in the Legislative Assembly was Dominique
+Catherine de Pérignon. The scion of a good family of Grenade, in the
+Upper Garonne, neither an ultra-royalist nor ultra-republican, he was a
+man of action rather than a talker. One year spent among the
+self-seekers of Paris was sufficient to prove to him that his rôle did
+not lie among the twisting paths of partisan statesmanship, and gladly,
+in 1792, he heard the summons to arms and left the forum for the camp.
+Now thirty-eight years old, having been born on May 31, 1754, this was
+not his first experience of soldiering; he had held a commission for
+some years in the old royal army and had served on the staff. He was,
+for this reason, at once elected lieutenant-colonel of the volunteer
+legion of the Pyrenees. His bravery and his former military training
+soon caused him to rise among the mass of ignorant and untrained
+volunteers who formed the Army of the Pyrenees. Luckily for France, she
+was opposed on her western frontier by an army which knew as little of
+war as her own, led by officers of equal ignorance, without the stimulus
+of burning enthusiasm and the dread power of the guillotine; had it been
+otherwise, Perpignan and the fortresses covering Provence would soon
+have been in the hands of the enemy. With all Europe threatening the
+eastern frontier and civil war at home, the Government could spare but
+few troops, and these the least trained, for the defence of the west.
+Accordingly, in the opening fights of the campaign ill-conceived plans
+and panics too frequently caused the defeat of the French, and it was
+often only the personal example of individuals which saved the army from
+absolute annihilation. From the first engagement Pérignon made his mark
+by his coolness and courage. The French attack on the Spanish position
+at Serre had been brought to a halt by the fierce fire of the enemy,
+and, as the line wavered, a timely charge of the Spanish horse threw it
+into confusion. Pérignon, commanding the first line, rushed up and
+seized the musket and cartridges of a wounded soldier, and collecting a
+few undaunted privates, quietly opened fire on the Spanish cavalry, and
+by his example shamed the runaways into returning to the attack. For
+this he was created general of brigade on July 28, 1793. By September
+the enemy had opened their trenches round Perpignan, and Pérignon was
+entrusted with a night sortie. On approaching the Spanish line a
+fusillade of musketry swept down five hundred of his little force, and
+his men at once halted and opened fire; but Pérignon believed in the
+bayonet. With stinging reproaches he again got his men to advance, and
+sweeping over the enemy's entrenchments, he drove them in rout and
+captured their camp. He thus won his promotion as lieutenant-general.
+
+In November of 1794 Dugommier, the French commander-in-chief, fell
+mortally wounded at the battle of Montagne-Noire, and Pérignon was at
+once appointed his successor. Though no great strategist or tactician,
+he was an able leader of men, and had the faculty of enforcing obedience
+to his orders. Trusting entirely to the bayonet, he forced the fortified
+lines of Escola, making his troops advance and charge over the
+entrenchments with shouldered arms, without firing a shot. The
+fortresses of Figueras and Rosas alone barred the advance of the French
+into Catalonia. So demoralised were the enemy that Figueras, with all
+its immense stores, nine thousand troops and two hundred pieces of
+artillery, capitulated to a mere summons. But Rosas stood firm, covered
+on the land side by the fort of Le Bouton on the top of a precipice, and
+on the sea side swept by the guns of the Spanish squadron anchored in
+the roads. The fort of Le Bouton was called "l'imprenable." But Pérignon
+was not frightened by names; although greatly hampered by the civil
+Commissioners with the army, and held by them as "suspect," he
+determined to capture Le Bouton and Rosas. Le Bouton was dominated by a
+perpendicular rock two thousand feet high. It was certain that if
+batteries could be established on this precipice Le Bouton could be
+taken. But the artillerymen believed that it was impossible to construct
+a road to haul guns up to this height. "Very well, then, it is the
+impossible that I am going to do," replied the obstinate little general,
+and after immense toil a zigzag road was constructed and the guns hauled
+by hand to the summit; after a severe bombardment Le Bouton was carried
+by an assault. But still Rosas held out; the weather was very severe and
+the snow came above the soldiers' thighs, and the engineers declared
+that it was impossible to construct siege works unless a certain
+outlying redoubt was first taken. "Very well," said the general; "make
+your preparations. To-morrow I will take it at the head of my
+grenadiers." So at five o'clock the next morning, February 1, 1795, the
+grenadiers, with their general at their head, marched out of camp and,
+under a murderous fire, by eight o'clock captured the outlying redoubt,
+so after a siege of sixty-one days Rosas was captured. It was the
+personality of their general which had taught the French soldiers to
+surmount all difficulties. Absolutely fearless himself, full of grim
+determination, he taught his soldiers how to acquire these virtues by
+example, not by precept: ever exposing himself to danger, showing
+absolute callousness, until his men were shamed into following his
+example. On one occasion during the siege a shell fell at his feet with
+the match still fizzling; he was at the moment directing some troops who
+were exposed to the fire. The men called out to him to get out of the
+way of the explosion, and throw himself flat, but he paid no attention
+to the bomb and quietly went on giving his orders, for he knew how his
+example would steady his troops; meanwhile someone dashed up and
+extinguished the match before the bomb could explode.
+
+The peace of Basle prevented Pérignon from gaining any further success
+in Spain, and the Directors, out of compliment, appointed him ambassador
+to the court of Madrid, where his good sense and moderation did much to
+strengthen the peace between the two countries. In 1799 he was sent to
+command a division of the Army of Italy, and commanded the left wing at
+the battle of Novi. While attempting to cover the rout he was ridden
+over by the enemy's horse, and taken prisoner with eight honourable
+sabre wounds on his arms and chest. When the Russian surgeon was going
+to attend to his wounds, thinking more of others than of himself, he
+said to him, "Do not worry about me; look first after those brave men
+there, who are in a worse plight than I." After a few months his
+exchange was effected and he returned to France, severely shaken in
+health and not fit for further active service, to find Bonaparte First
+Consul. Though not one of his own followers, Bonaparte recognised the
+services he had rendered to his country, and arranged for his entry into
+the Senate, and in 1802 appointed him Commissioner Extraordinary to
+arrange the negotiation with Spain, a delicate compliment to Pérignon,
+who had made his name on Spanish soil. Further to recall his Spanish
+victories, in 1804 the Emperor created him honorary Marshal, not on the
+active list, and later gave him the title of Count. But though Napoleon
+did not think that the Marshal was physically fit to command again in
+the field, he entrusted him in 1801 with the government of Parma and
+Piacenza, and in 1808 sent him to Naples to command the French troops
+stationed in the kingdom of his brother-in-law, Murat. The task was a
+difficult one, for Murat was no easy person to get on with, and Southern
+Italy, from the days of Hannibal, has been a hard place in which to
+maintain military virtues. But the Marshal, with his sound commonsense,
+gave satisfaction both to Napoleon and to King Joachim, and at the same
+time kept a tight hand over his troops; when, however, in 1814, Murat
+deserted the Emperor, the old Marshal withdrew in sorrow to France, to
+find Paris in the hands of the enemy. Like the other Marshals he
+accepted the Restoration and was created a peer of France. Being himself
+of noble birth, and an ex-officer of the old royal army, Louis XVIII.
+appointed him to investigate the claims, and verify the services of the
+officers of the old army who had returned to France at the Restoration.
+When, in 1815, Napoleon returned from Elba, the Marshal, who was at his
+country house near Toulouse, made every effort to organise resistance
+against him in the Midi. During the Hundred Days he remained quietly at
+his home, and on the second Restoration was rewarded with the command of
+the first military division, and created Marquis and Commander of the
+Order of St. Louis. But he did not long enjoy his new honours, for he
+died in Paris on December 25, 1818, aged sixty-four.
+
+
+
+
+XXV
+
+JEAN MATHIEU PHILIBERT SERURIER, MARSHAL
+
+
+After thirty-four years' service to be still a captain, with no probable
+chance of promotion: such was the lot of Serurier when the Revolution
+broke out in 1789. Born on December 8, 1742, he had received his first
+commission in the militia at the age of thirteen, and from there had
+been transferred to the line. His war service was not inconsiderable,
+including three campaigns in Hanover, one in Portugal, and one in Italy;
+he had been wounded as far back as the action of Wartburg in 1760, but
+there was no court influence to bring him his majority. With the
+Revolution, however, fortune quickly changed. The years of steady
+attention to duty, of patient devotion to, and loving care of his men,
+brought their reward, and when promotion became the gift of the soldiers
+and not of the courtiers, the stern old disciplinarian found himself at
+the head of his regiment. In the hand-to-hand struggles which
+distinguished the early campaigns in the Alps, he soon acquired a
+reputation for bravery and the clever handling of his men. By June,
+1795, he had risen to be general of division, in which capacity he
+distinguished himself on July 7th by the way he led his division at the
+fight for the Col de Tenda, and for the modesty with which he attributed
+all his success to his soldiers. A month later he saved the whole army
+at the Col de Pierre Étroite. When under the cover of driving rain and
+mist the enemy surprised the French line of picquets at midnight and had
+all but seized the position, it was Serurier who, collecting three
+hundred and fifty men, hurled himself against the enemy's column of
+fifteen hundred bayonets, and by sheer hand-to-hand fighting held them
+in check for six hours, and at last repulsed them with the loss of a
+considerable number of prisoners.
+
+With the halo of this action still surrounding him, in March, 1796, he
+first came into direct connection with Bonaparte. The new
+commander-in-chief quickly took measure of his tall, stern subordinate.
+While recognising to the full his bravery, the excellent discipline he
+knew how to maintain, and the high regard in which he was held by his
+division, he saw that the iron of years of subordination had entered
+into the old soldier's soul, and that, while he could be relied on to
+obey orders implicitly, he never could be trusted with an independent
+command. Still, what Bonaparte most required from his subordinates was
+immediate obedience and speedy performance of orders, and consequently
+Serurier played no insignificant part in the glorious campaign of 1796.
+At Mondovi he showed his stubbornness, when the Sardinian general turned
+at bay, and, as Bonaparte wrote to the Directory, the victory was due
+entirely to Serurier. When the Austrians were driven into Mantua,
+Bonaparte entrusted him with the siege. The Austrian forces in the
+fortress numbered some fourteen thousand; Serurier had but ten thousand
+to carry on the siege, although the usual estimate is that a besieging
+force should be three times as strong as the besieged; but by his clever
+use of the marshes and bridges he was able to hold the enemy and open
+his trenches and siege batteries. It was no fault of his that, on the
+advance of Würmser, he had to abandon his guns and hasten to
+Castiglione, for Bonaparte had given him no warning of the sudden
+advance of the Austrian relieving force. After Castiglione he returned
+to his task round Mantua and gallantly repulsed all sorties. When the
+end came he had the honour of superintending the surrender, and of
+receiving the parole from the gallant old Marshal Würmser and the
+Austrian officers. In the advance on Vienna his division distinguished
+itself in the terrible march to Asola; but, as Bonaparte said, "the wind
+and the rain were always the crown of victory for the Army of Italy." At
+Gradisca Serurier captured two thousand five hundred prisoners, eight
+stands of colours, and ten pieces of artillery, and again crowned
+himself with glory at the Col de Tarvis. In June Bonaparte sent the old
+warrior to Paris to present twenty-two captured stands to the Directory,
+and in his despatches, after enumerating his triumphs from Mondovi to
+Gradisca, he finished by saying, "General Serurier is extremely severe
+on himself, and at times on others. A stern enforcer of discipline,
+order, and the most necessary virtues for the maintenance of society, he
+disdains intrigues and intriguers"; he then proceeded to demand for him
+the command of the troops of the Cisalpine Republic. But the Directors
+had other designs, and sent back the general to command the captured
+province of Venice.
+
+In 1799, when the Austrians and Russians invaded Northern Italy,
+Serurier commanded a division of the army of occupation. During the
+operations which ended in the enemy forcing the Adda, his division got
+isolated from the main body. The old soldier, whose boast was that he
+never turned his back on an enemy, forgetful of strategy, and thinking
+only of honour, instead of attempting to escape and rejoin the rest of
+the army, took possession of an extremely strong position at Verderio,
+and soon found himself surrounded; after a gallant fight against an
+enemy three times his number, he was compelled to surrender with seven
+thousand men. The celebrated Suvaroff, the Russian commander, treated
+him with great kindness and invited him to dine. After his exchange on
+parole had been arranged, the Russian general asked him where he was
+going. "To Paris." "So much the better," replied Suvaroff; "I shall
+count on seeing you there soon." "I have myself always hoped to see you
+there," replied Serurier with considerable wit and dignity.
+
+The general was still a prisoner on parole when Bonaparte returned from
+Egypt, and at once gladly placed himself at his disposal, and aided him
+during the coup d'état of Brumaire. It was because of this service, and
+of the strong affection which the old warrior bore him, that Bonaparte
+piled honours upon him, for Serurier had undoubtedly done less than
+anybody, save perhaps Bessières, to deserve his bâton. Still, Napoleon
+knew his devotion, his blind obedience to orders, and his absolute
+integrity. In December, 1799, he called him to the Senate. In April,
+1804, he made him governor of the Invalides, and a month later presented
+him with his Marshal's bâton, and created him Grand Eagle of the Legion
+of Honour and Grand Cross of the Iron Crown. But he never employed him
+in the field, though once for a short time during the Walcheren
+Expedition he placed him in command of the National Guard of Paris.
+
+The old Marshal found a congenial occupation in looking after the
+veterans at the Invalides, while, as Vice-President of the Senate, he
+faithfully served the interests of his beloved Emperor. When in 1814 he
+heard that Paris was going to surrender, rather than that the trophies
+of his master's glory should fall into the hands of the enemy, on the
+night of March 30th he collected the eighteen hundred captured standards
+which adorned Nôtre Dame, and the military trophies from the chapel of
+the Invalides, and burned them, and he actually hurled into the fire the
+sword of the Great Frederick which had been seized in 1806 at Potsdam.
+Yet in spite of his devotion to the Emperor, a few days later he took
+part in the proceedings in the Senate, and voted for his deposition.
+Under the Restoration he was made a peer of France, but on Napoleon's
+return he hastened to greet him. But the Emperor could not forgive his
+desertion, and, thinking he would not benefit by his services, he
+refused them. When the Bourbons returned a second time the Marshal was
+stripped of his titles and, what caused him more grief, of his command
+of the Invalides. After parting from the veterans, whose welfare he had
+so long superintended, the old warrior withdrew into private life, and
+died at Paris on December 21, 1819, at the age of seventy-seven.
+
+
+
+
+XXVI
+
+PRINCE JOSEPH PONIATOWSKI, MARSHAL
+
+
+Joseph Poniatowski, the nephew of King Stanislaus (the erstwhile lover
+of Catherine the Second of Russia), was born in 1762, before his uncle
+had been raised to the kingly rank. Like all Poles of noble birth, war
+and war alone could offer him a profession he was able or cared to
+pursue, and accordingly at an early age he served his apprenticeship in
+arms under the banner of Austria. Returning to his native country in
+1789 with the experience of several campaigns against the Turks, he was
+entrusted by his uncle with the organisation of the Polish army. For the
+cast-off lover of the great Catherine was about to make one last effort
+to save his country from the greedy hands of Prussia, Russia and
+Austria. The great kingdom of Poland had fallen on evil days; she had no
+fortresses, no navy, no roads, no arsenals, no revenue, and no real
+standing army; while the King was elected by a Diet of nobles who
+thought more of foreign gold than of patriotism; the single vote of one
+member of this Diet could bring all business to a standstill. King
+Stanislaus' reforms were wise, but they came too late. The kingship was
+to become hereditary, the "liberum veto," whereby business was paralysed
+was abolished, and a standing army was to be raised. But it suited none
+of her great neighbours to see Poland organising herself into a modern
+State, and before Prince Joseph had had time to raise and thoroughly
+drill his new model army, Prussia and Russia determined once and for all
+to wipe the kingdom off the map of Europe. In 1792 Prince Joseph found
+himself at the head of his new levies opposed by the trained troops of
+those countries. To add to his difficulties, the orders he received from
+his uncle were contradictory and irresolute, for King Stanislaus, though
+patriot at heart, had not the moral courage for so great an emergency.
+The new Polish troops gained some minor successes, but before the
+immense array of enemies the King's heart failed him, and he signed the
+Convention of Targowitz, which foreshadowed the dismemberment of his
+country. Prince Joseph, like many another of his brave comrades, unable
+to stomach such cowardice, threw up his commission and withdrew into
+exile. In 1794 Poland suddenly flew to arms at the command of the
+great-hearted Kosciuszko, and Prince Joseph, keen soldier and patriot,
+gladly placed himself under the orders of his former subordinate, and
+covered himself with glory at the siege of Warsaw. Again, however, the
+Polish resistance was broken down by force of numbers, and the Prince,
+turning a deaf ear to the blandishments of Emperor and Czarina alike,
+withdrew from public life and settled down to manage his estates near
+Warsaw. For eleven long years Poland lay dismembered, but the national
+spirit still smouldered, and broke into clear flame when, in 1806, the
+victorious French drove the battered remains of the Prussian armies
+across the Vistula. But Poland was a mere pawn in the game, to be used
+as a means of threatening or conciliating Russia, and in spite of the
+high hopes of the Poles the treaty of Tilsit, instead of reviving the
+ancient kingdom, merely established a Grand Duchy of Warsaw. The Emperor
+left Davout to watch over the weaning of the State, and appointed Prince
+Joseph to organise the national forces which were to supplement the
+French army of occupation. No better choice could have been made, for
+the Prince had the necessary tact to manage the imperious Davout, while
+his chivalrous nature, his well-known patriotism and his experience and
+ability, enabled him once more to accustom the Polish troops to the bit
+of discipline. When, in 1809, the great European conflagration forced
+Napoleon to leave the Grand Duchy to its fate, Prince Joseph was able to
+keep the Austrians in check, and actually to penetrate into Galicia
+before the battle of Wagram brought the war to an end.
+
+Poniatowski's campaign against Austria, glorious as it was for the
+Poles, was in reality the forerunner of disaster. During the campaign
+the Polish troops were supported by a Russian division. To Poniatowski,
+the Russians, the despoilers of his country, were more hateful than the
+enemy, and he so distrusted them that, at the risk of having to fight
+them, he refused to allow them to occupy any of the captured fortresses;
+this suspicion was increased by the capture of a secret despatch from
+the Russian commander to the Austrian Archduke, congratulating him on
+the victory of Razyn, and expressing a wish that his standards might
+soon be joined to the Austrian eagles. The Prince at once sent the
+intercepted despatch to Napoleon, who summed up the situation with the
+words, "I see that after all I must make war on Alexander." So when the
+Grand Army assembled for the invasion of Russia, Prince Poniatowski with
+his Poles rejoiced at the call to arms, and brought thirty-six thousand
+well disciplined and well equipped troops to the rendezvous, while
+sixty-five thousand were left to garrison the fortresses: the years of
+peace had been spent by him in busy labour as Minister of War, providing
+for the necessities of the army, establishing engineering and artillery
+colleges, equipping hospitals and perfecting organisation and
+discipline. Smolensk, Moskowa, and many a skirmish proved that the
+labour of organisation had not sapped Prince Joseph's dash and courage,
+and the horrors of the retreat brought out to the full his chivalrous
+bravery and determination. Though wounded during the retreat, he was
+ready the following year to help the French in Central Europe. On the
+morning of the first day of the battle of Leipzig, Napoleon, to fire the
+Poles, sent their Prince his bâton as Marshal. While esteeming the
+honour, Prince Joseph showed no undue elation, for, much as he admired
+the French, and grateful as he felt, he was at heart a Pole, and, as he
+said to a comrade, "I am proud to be the leader of the Poles. When one
+has a unique title superior to that of Marshal, the title of
+Generalissimo of the Poles, nothing else matters. Besides, I am going to
+die, and I prefer to die as a Polish general and not as a Marshal of
+France." But the Marshal did not allow his gloomy forebodings to
+interfere with his duty, and so fiercely did he face the enemy that
+after three days' fighting his corps had dwindled from seven thousand to
+a bare two thousand men. On the morning of the fatal 19th of October the
+Emperor sent for him and entrusted him with the defence of the southern
+suburb of Leipzig. "Sire," said the Prince, "I have but few followers
+left." "What then?" rejoined the Emperor; "you will defend it with what
+you have." "Ah, Sire," replied the Prince Marshal, "we are all ready to
+die for your Majesty." Thus spoke the Pole, but many a Frenchman thought
+otherwise and hurried from the stricken field. With their hated enemies,
+the Austrians, Russians and Prussians surrounding them, the small band
+of devoted Poles fought to the last. When the bridge was blown up and
+ordered retreat was impossible, the Prince, drawing his sword, called
+out to those around him, "Gentlemen, we must die with honour." Severely
+wounded, with a handful of followers, he fought his way through a column
+of the enemy and reached the bank of the Elster. Faint from loss of
+blood, he urged his horse into the stream, and by great exertions
+reached the other side; but the beast, worn out by the long days of
+battle, was unable to clamber up the steep, slippery bank, and the
+Prince Marshal was so faint that he could no longer guide his steed; so
+horse and rider dropped back into the stream and were seen no more
+alive. Two days later his body was recovered, and buried with all the
+honours due to his rank, in the presence of the allied sovereigns, his
+former enemies. Thus passed away Prince Joseph Poniatowski, whose
+chivalrous courage had won for him the title of the Polish Bayard, whose
+life had been spent for the welfare of his country, whose high military
+reputation was sullied by no inglorious act, and who at the last chose
+death rather than surrender.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+A
+
+Abbaye, 324
+
+Abensberg, 61, 136, 173
+
+Abercromby, 272, 273
+
+Aboukir, 122, 144
+
+Achille Murat, 30
+
+Acre, 27
+
+Adda, 42, 351
+
+Adige, 189
+
+Africa, 121
+
+Agar, Count of Mosburg, 34, 38
+
+Albano, 236
+
+Albion, 251
+
+Albuera, 107, 116
+
+Alessandria, 307
+
+Alexander, Czar, xviii, xix, 86, 87, 88, 89, 132, 154, 166, 167, 171,
+  193, 194, 214, 331, 339, 356
+
+Alexandria, 121, 204, 205
+
+Ali Pacha, 208
+
+Alle, 131
+
+Almarez, 212
+
+Almeida, 64, 66, 67, 150, 151
+
+Alkmaar, 273
+
+Alps, 8, 57, 123, 201, 219, 228, 247, 288, 349
+
+Alsace, 193, 317, 318, 330
+
+Altenkirchen, 74
+
+Alvarez, 240
+
+Alvintzi, 203
+
+Ambert, 334
+
+America, xv, xvii, 3, 159, 251, 252, 300
+
+Amiens, 24, 31
+
+Amsterdam, 273
+
+Andalusia, 104, 105, 109, 115, 133
+
+Andréossy, 122
+
+Angoumois, 268
+
+Antibes, 50
+
+Annoux, 162
+
+Apolda, 80, 81
+
+Appenines, 235
+
+Arabs, 26
+
+Arcis-sur-Aube, 193, 214, 330
+
+Arcola, 53, 60, 120, 124, 203, 219, 262
+
+Argenton, 102
+
+Argonne, 318
+
+Army of the Alps, 4, 201, 220, 305, 311, 320
+  of Arragon, 222, 223
+  of the Centre, 318
+  of the Côte de Brest, 247
+  of Dalmatia, 209
+  of England, 75, 270
+  of the Eastern Pyrenees, 118, 297, 344
+  of Germany, 187
+  Grand, 13, 14, 17, 18, 32, 41, 61, 83, 98, 109, 126, 146, 147, 152,
+    165, 173, 177, 191, 207, 265, 266, 275, 281, 282, 289, 300, 309,
+    310, 321, 356
+  of the Grisons, 187
+  of Hanover, 80
+  of Holland, 300
+
+Army of Italy, 4, 6, 25, 26, 29, 51, 57, 58, 70, 74, 75, 78, 119, 120,
+    164, 185, 186, 190, 191, 202, 203, 209, 221, 236, 238, 263, 272,
+    274, 298, 320, 336, 347, 351
+  of La Vendée, 306
+  of the Loire, 180, 181
+  of the Midi, 305
+  of the Moselle, 163
+  of Naples, 39, 85, 186, 238
+  of Normandy, 2
+  of the North, 253, 254, 270, 307
+  of the Ocean, 10, 126, 165, 207, 309
+  of Portugal, 108, 149, 211
+  of the Pyrenees, 261, 286
+  of the Reserve, 8, 28, 123, 247, 249, 274, 299, 321
+  of the Rhine, 55, 143, 172, 232, 233, 237, 247, 263, 278, 323
+  of Rome, 234
+  of the Sambre and Meuse, 74, 75, 143, 253, 278, 323
+  of Spain, 248, 300
+  of Switzerland, 55
+  of the West, 306
+  of the Western Pyrenees, 246
+
+Arpajon, 268
+
+Arragon, 133, 223, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230
+
+Arras, 337
+
+Artois, Count of, 91, 196
+
+Asola, 351
+
+Aspern, 16, 61, 137, 173, 190, 290, 294, 339
+
+Auch, 129
+
+Auersperg, 127
+
+Auerstädt, 81, 167, 168, 177
+
+Auerstädt, Duchess of, 169, 172, 177
+
+Augsburg, 15
+
+Augereau (Life, 259-267), xii, xiii, 26, 35, 79, 93, 121, 125, 126, 129,
+  202, 240
+
+Auguie, 144, 155
+
+Aulic Council, 56
+
+Aurillac, 159
+
+Austerlitz, xviii, 38, 47, 80, 97, 166, 222, 289
+
+Auxerre, 162
+
+Avignon, 276
+
+
+B
+
+Badajoz, 106, 107, 108, 211
+
+Baden, Prince of, 327, 328
+
+Bagration, 41
+
+Balanquer, Col of, 226, 229
+
+Baltic, 35
+
+Bantry Bay, 307
+
+Bar, 317
+
+Barcelona, 239, 290
+
+Bard, 206
+
+Barèges, 37
+
+Bar-le-Duc, 333, 337
+
+Barossa, 302
+
+Barras, 25, 77, 270
+
+Barthélemy, 263
+
+Bassano, 120
+
+Bastille, 3
+
+Bavarians, 80, 193, 329
+
+Bautzen, 19, 42, 153, 213, 283, 340
+
+Bavastros, 50
+
+Bayard, 295, 337, 339, 358
+
+Baylen, xviii, 248
+
+Bayonne, 14, 37, 68, 109, 116, 247
+
+Béarn, 87
+
+Beaumont, 31
+
+Belchite, 225, 226, 229
+
+Belgium, 12, 165, 196, 252, 254, 292
+
+Bellegarde, 95, 247
+
+Bennigsen, 131, 179
+
+Bentinck, 42
+
+Berchény, 322
+
+Beresford, 107, 108
+
+Beresina, 41, 152, 302, 340
+
+Berg 33, 36, 38, 48
+
+Bergen, 273
+
+Berlin, xviii, 169, 173, 191
+
+Bernadotte (Life, 72-92), x, xi, 98, 99, 153, 167, 220, 232, 265, 291,
+  300, 340
+
+Berne, 270
+
+Berri, Duc de, 197, 341
+
+Berthier (Life, 1-22), xii, xiii, 54, 63, 70, 82, 98, 111, 116, 122,
+  123, 147, 150, 177, 202, 292, 318, 326
+
+Berthollet, 204
+
+Bertrand, 127, 312
+
+Besançon, 155, 245
+
+Besenval, 3
+
+Bessières (Life, 286-295), xii, 18, 67, 83, 99, 100, 125, 207, 311, 352
+
+Bessonis, 159
+
+Bethune, 196
+
+Beurnonville, 184
+
+Biberach, 234, 237
+
+Bitche, 334
+
+Black Forest, 11, 31, 32, 126, 254
+
+Black Prince, 246
+
+Blake, 223, 240, 289, 290, 301, 329
+
+Blücher, 34, 81, 84, 98, 130, 167, 168, 180, 192, 312
+
+Bohemia, 14
+
+Bologna, 121, 187
+
+Bonaventura Casa, 246
+
+Bordeaux, 109, 270
+
+Bormida, 235
+
+Bouchotte, 252, 306
+
+Boulogne, 96, 97, 221, 248, 275
+
+Bourbons, xiv, 36, 37, 39, 40, 44, 45, 68, 72, 77, 88, 90, 110, 113,
+  154, 157, 178, 215, 250, 267, 275, 283, 303, 304, 311, 315, 323, 330,
+  341, 342, 353
+
+Bourges, 195, 197
+
+Bourmont, 156
+
+Bouvet, 307
+
+Bremen, 280
+
+Brest, 265
+
+Brienne, 2, 302
+
+Brittany, 78
+
+Brives-la-Gaillard, 268, 277
+
+Bruges, 165
+
+Brumaire, 8, 27, 57, 77, 255, 288, 298, 325, 326, 352
+
+Brune, Madame, 268, 277
+
+Brunswick, Duke of, 118, 167, 318, 319
+
+Brussels, 313
+
+Bruyère, 175
+
+Bülow, 165
+
+Burgos, 100, 212, 290
+
+Burgundy, 162
+
+Busaco, 64, 150
+
+
+C
+
+Cadiz, 105, 108, 109, 282, 302
+
+Cæsar, xi, 74, 89, 91, 161
+
+Cahors, 23, 286
+
+Cairo (Egypt), 26, 122
+
+Cairo (Italy), 52
+
+Calabria, 60
+
+Caldiero, 60
+
+Calvados, 270
+
+Calvin, 234
+
+Cambrai, 278
+
+Campan, 164
+
+Camp de milles fourches, 51
+
+Cannes, 45
+
+Capri, 40
+
+Capua, 60
+
+Carinthia, 238, 310
+
+Carnot, 221, 252, 253, 263, 320
+
+Caroline Bonaparte, 28, 29, 30, 33, 39, 43, 123, 124
+
+Caroline, Bourbon Queen of Naples, 60, 238
+
+Cassel, 281
+
+Castaños, 133
+
+Castel Franco, 238
+
+Castiglione, 53, 202, 219, 261, 262, 266, 287, 350
+
+Castile, 289, 295
+
+Castilians, 225
+
+Catalonia, 191, 225, 226, 229, 239, 240
+
+Catherine II., Czarina, 354, 355
+
+Cattaro, 207
+
+Caulaincourt, 99, 151, 154, 194
+
+Cavaignac, 40
+
+Cayenne, 49
+
+Cerea, 298
+
+Cerrachi, 78, 288
+
+Châlons, 156, 200, 201
+
+Champaubert, 214, 330
+
+Championnet, 185, 186
+
+Chancellor, 195
+
+Charlemagne, xi, xvii, 146, 246, 326
+
+Charleroi, 157, 253
+
+Charles, Archduke, xvii, 55, 56, 57, 82, 173, 174, 254, 255, 324, 356
+
+Charles IV. of Spain, 36, 37
+
+Charles X. of France, 215, 216, 217,
+258, 315
+
+Charles XIII. of Sweden, 84, 85
+
+Charles XIV. of Sweden, _cf_. Bernadotte
+
+Charlotte of Würtemburg, 289
+
+Charles Stewart, 183
+
+Châtillon, 19, 200
+
+Chebrass, 122
+
+Cherasco, 25
+
+Cherbourg, 216
+
+Chiasso, 307
+
+Chouans, 306, 307
+
+Cisalpine Republic, 6, 30, 351
+
+Ciudad Rodrigo, 64, 66, 108, 150, 151, 212, 213
+
+Cività Castellana, 186
+
+Clanclaux, 306
+
+Clanranald, 183
+
+Clarke, Duke of Feltre, 14, 68, 83, 110
+
+Clary, 76
+
+Clary, Madame Suchet, 222, 227, 230
+
+Cleves, 33
+
+Clicheans, 143, 263
+
+Clichy Gate, 249
+
+Coa, 150
+
+Coburg, 253
+
+Code Napoleon, 39
+
+Coffin, 42
+
+Col de Tarvis, 351
+
+Col de Tende, 51, 349
+
+Col de Pierre Étroite, 349
+
+Coland, 143
+
+College of France, 268
+
+College of Isle Barbe, 219
+
+Combault, 331
+
+Committee of Public Safety, 24, 252, 253
+
+Commissioners, 3, 184, 185
+
+Commune, 113
+
+Concordat, 30, 124, 264, 288
+
+Confederation of the Rhine, 33
+
+Congress of Vienna, 89, 90, 156
+
+Consalvi, 30
+
+Constantinople, 79, 260, 274
+
+Consuls of Rome, 234, 235
+
+Convention, 232, 236
+
+Copenhagen, 188
+
+Corfu, 6
+
+Corné, Paul Louis, 238
+
+Corps Legislatif, 195
+
+Corunna, 104
+
+Corsica, 46, 72
+
+Corso, 135
+
+Cortes, 105
+
+Coudreaux, 155
+
+Council of Five Hundred, 254, 255
+
+Courcelles, 198
+
+Craonne, 303, 311
+
+Crawford, 150
+
+Cromwell, xi, 176
+
+Cross of St. Louis, 3, 275, 283, 311, 317, 330
+
+Cuesta, 104, 289, 290
+
+Custine, 2, 232
+
+
+D
+
+d'Abbéville, 319
+
+Daendals, 272
+
+Dallemagne, 120
+
+Dalmatia, 208, 210, 216
+
+Dalmatia, Duchess of, 109
+
+d'Angoulême, Duc, 68, 311
+
+Danton, 269, 270, 277
+
+Dantzig, 40, 131, 192, 302, 327, 328, 338
+
+Dantzig, Duchess of, 302, 329, 330, 331
+
+Danube, xvii, 10, 31, 32, 33, 60, 61, 74, 76, 82, 95, 98, 126, 127, 128,
+  136, 137, 222, 236, 280, 281, 308, 324, 355
+
+D'Artagnan, 23
+
+Dauphiné, 72
+
+Davout (Life, 162-182), xii, xiii, 15, 16, 17, 18, 81, 96, 98, 99, 111,
+  119, 128, 130, 133, 145, 195, 210, 284, 285, 310, 312, 314, 339, 341,
+  355, 356
+
+Dego, 25, 120, 298
+
+D'Engen, 237
+
+d'Enghien, 78, 288, 311
+
+Denmark, 14, 82, 84, 90, 300
+
+Dennewitz, 87, 153
+
+d'Erlon, 66, 157, 159
+
+Desaix, xiii, 122, 163, 164, 233, 278, 300, 314
+
+Désiré Clary, 76, 78, 85
+
+Desmoulins, Camille, 269, 276
+
+d'Hautpoul, 33
+
+Diet (Polish), 354
+
+Dijon, 28, 274
+
+Directory, xvii, 7, 48, 55, 57, 75, 76, 77, 220, 234, 235, 255, 263,
+  264, 270, 272, 279, 306, 320, 324, 325, 331
+
+Donauwörth, 15
+
+Don Francisco, 37
+
+Doria, 234
+
+Dorsenne, 212
+
+Douro, 108
+
+Dresden, 42, 214, 242, 261, 283, 340
+
+Drôme, 297
+
+Dugommier, 119, 297, 345
+
+Duhesme, 239
+
+Dumas, Alexandre, 270
+
+Dumas, General, 152
+
+Dumerbion, 51
+
+Dumouriez, xvi, 142, 163, 184, 252, 317, 318, 319, 320
+
+Dunaberg, 191
+
+Dundonald, 239
+
+Dunkirk, 252, 270
+
+Dupont, 198, 274, 280, 281
+
+Duroc, 26, 134, 337, 338
+
+Dürrenstein, 280, 281
+
+Düsseldorf, 34
+
+Dutaillis, 12
+
+Dutch, 80, 183, 184, 185, 207, 272
+
+Dwina, 191, 241
+
+
+E
+
+Ebersdorf, 190
+
+Ebling, 293
+
+Ebro, 134, 246, 248, 290
+
+Eckmühl, 60, 136, 169, 173
+
+Egypt, xvii, 7, 8, 26, 27, 54, 75, 77, 122, 163, 186, 204, 205, 208,
+  247, 255, 264, 271, 287, 298, 324, 325
+
+Elba, 20, 45, 89, 180, 194, 195, 228, 267, 303, 331, 341, 348
+
+Elbe, 280, 321
+
+El Bodin, 212, 217
+
+Elchingen, 32
+
+Elizabeth of Bavaria, 13, 20
+
+Elster, 19, 193, 199, 357
+
+Empress of Austria, 171, 209
+
+Encyclopedists, 305
+
+Enzerdorf, 174
+
+Ercola, 345
+
+Erfurt, 100, 132, 147, 342
+
+Espinosa, 301, 329
+
+Essling, 16, 61, 64, 70, 137, 173, 190, 290, 294, 339
+
+Eugène, Prince, 19, 42, 43, 44, 47, 90, 188, 189, 198, 287, 310, 312
+
+Exmouth, Lord, 276
+
+Eylau, xviii, 14, 35, 47, 81, 95, 131, 147, 170, 222, 265, 309
+
+
+F
+
+Faenza, 237
+
+Faubourg St. Marceau, 259
+
+Feldkirche, 324
+
+Ferdinand, Archduke, 32, 126
+
+Ferdinand VII., King of Spain, 36, 37
+
+Fieschi, 284
+
+Figueras, 191, 346
+
+Finkenstein, 327
+
+Five Days' Fighting, 291, 294, 329, 339
+
+Fleurus, 73, 74, 94, 253, 323
+
+Florence, 30
+
+Flushing, 83
+
+Fontainebleau, 16, 20, 70, 154, 193
+
+Fort Louis, 94
+
+Fouché, 36, 38,43, 79, 85, 197, 272, 291
+
+Foy, 290, 315
+
+Frederic the Great, xviii, 168, 169, 332, 342
+
+Fréjus, 77, 110, 155
+
+Friedland, xviii, 61, 99, 131, 132, 148, 282, 309, 311, 312, 338,
+  339, 342
+
+Fructidor General, 263
+
+Fuentes d'Onoro, 67, 211, 293
+
+Fulton, 207
+
+
+G
+
+Gaeta, 60
+
+Galicia, 104, 289
+
+Gamoral, 100
+
+Garde Constitutionelle, 24, 286
+
+Garde du Corps, 305
+
+Gardes Françaises, 259, 322
+
+Garonne, 93, 344
+
+Gascony, 72
+
+Gauthier, 269
+
+Gazan, 134, 280, 281
+
+Gembloux, 312, 313
+
+Gendarmerie, 245, 247
+
+Generalissimo, 357
+
+Geneva, 228
+
+Genoa, 25, 58, 70, 95, 121, 181, 221, 235, 236, 335, 336
+
+Gerard, 179
+
+Germany, xviii, 13, 17, 31, 42, 87 145, 177, 192, 280, 321
+
+Gerona, 240, 266
+
+Gers, 118, 119
+
+Ghent, 215
+
+Gibraltar, 108
+
+Girard, 282, 303, 312, 313
+
+Gironde, 117, 118
+
+Girondists, 270
+
+Görz, 189
+
+Gouvion, 231, 232
+
+Governolo, 120
+
+Gradisca, 351
+
+Graham, 302
+
+Granada, 104
+
+Grätz, 308
+
+Gratz, 189, 308
+
+Grenade, 344
+
+Grenoble, 72
+
+Greussen, 98
+
+Grignon, 292
+
+Groete Keten, 272
+
+Grosbeeren, 87, 153, 340
+
+Grosbois, 14, 16, 79
+
+Grouchy (Life, 305-315), xiv, 111, 131, 157
+
+Guadaloupe, 79, 89
+
+Guard, Consular, 28, 96, 97, 123, 124, 125, 288
+
+Guard, Imperial, 12, 17, 41, 67, 109, 129, 153, 154, 158, 178, 190, 280,
+  287, 289, 290, 291, 293, 294, 295, 311
+
+Guard, National, 3, 30, 68, 249, 323, 333, 334, 341, 342, 352
+
+Guard, Royal, 215, 303, 341
+
+Guard, Young, 282, 283, 285, 290, 292, 294
+
+Guides, 287
+
+Guéheneuc, 124
+
+Gumbinnen, 152
+
+Gustavus IV., 84, 89, 275
+
+
+H
+
+Hamburg, 84, 178, 179, 181, 280, 281
+
+Hanau, 193, 199, 283
+
+Handschötten, 252, 270
+
+Hannibal, 89, 161
+
+Hanover, 11, 80, 81, 82, 279, 280, 349
+
+Hanseatic Towns, 82
+
+Hassanhausen, 167, 168
+
+Haut Rhin, 93
+
+Havre, 261
+
+Hébert, 4, 333
+
+Heilsberg, 35, 99, 170
+
+Henry IV., 87, 92, 197
+
+Herborn, 95
+
+Hesdin, 162
+
+Hesse-Cassel, 90
+
+Hoche, 76, 234, 307, 324
+
+Hohenlinden, 28, 188, 206, 309
+
+Hohenlohe, 129, 130
+
+Hollabrünn, 33, 337
+
+Holland, 11, 185, 249, 255, 272, 273, 274, 300, 306, 309
+
+Holy Roman Empire, xvii, 123
+
+Hortense, Queen of Holland, 34, 164
+
+Houchard, 252, 270
+
+Hundred Days, 65, 215, 242, 258, 314, 321, 331, 348
+
+Hungarians, 175, 291
+
+Hyères, 243
+
+
+I
+
+India, xvii
+
+Infernal Column, 337
+
+Inn, 31
+
+Invalides, 250, 258, 285, 352, 353
+
+Ireland, 265
+
+Iron Crown, 352
+
+Ismailia, 260
+
+Italian Republic, 30
+
+Ivrea, 28
+
+
+J
+
+Jacobin, 4, 48, 73, 75, 79, 253, 255, 263, 264, 333
+
+Janina, 208
+
+Jauer, 192
+
+Jeand Heurs, 339, 341
+
+Jemappes, 184, 252
+
+Jena, 13, 34, 47, 80, 81, 98, 130, 147, 149, 167, 222, 265, 300, 328
+
+Jerome Bonaparte, 289
+
+Johannisberg, 321
+
+John, Archduke, 174, 175, 188, 191, 209
+
+Jomini, 145, 146, 154, 161
+
+Joseph Bonaparte, 15, 38, 60, 61, 63, 76, 78, 79, 81, 84, 104, 105, 106,
+  108, 114, 149, 213, 222, 227, 239, 248, 256, 257, 258, 290, 301, 302,
+  310
+
+Josephine, Empress, 25, 36, 48, 76, 288, 292
+
+Joubert, 55, 220, 308
+
+Jourdan (Life, 251-258), xii, xiii, xvii, 63, 79, 94, 104, 234, 279,
+  301, 302, 323
+
+July Monarchy, 198
+
+Junot, 63, 64, 65, 134, 136, 201, 205, 337
+
+Junta of Oviedo, 248
+
+
+K
+
+Kaiserslautern, 93
+
+Kalioub, 26
+
+Kalish, 132
+
+Kalkreuth, 98, 168, 327, 328
+
+Katzbach, 192, 198
+
+Kehl, 126
+
+Keith, Lord, 59
+
+Kellermann (Life, 316-321), xii, xiii, 4, 51, 99, 201, 305, 326, 330, 331
+
+Kellermann (younger), 29, 157
+
+Kilmaine, 25
+
+King of Rome, 214
+
+Kléber, xiii, 73, 142, 143, 278, 279
+
+Königsberg, 99, 131, 171, 309
+
+Korsakoff, 56, 57
+
+Kosciuszko, 355
+
+Kösen, 167
+
+Kovno, 152, 153
+
+Krasnoi, 152
+
+Kremlin, 282
+
+Krems, 32
+
+Külm, 283
+
+
+L
+
+La Bastide Fortunière, 23
+
+La Harpe, 26
+
+La Houssaye, 264, 267
+
+La Marche, 296
+
+La Vendée, 4, 253, 261, 274, 306, 326
+
+Lafayette, 90, 252
+
+Lamarre, 50
+
+Lamballe, 277
+
+Landgrafenberg, 129
+
+Landrieux, 24
+
+Landshut, 136
+
+Lannes (Life, 117-140), xii, xiii, 26, 28, 30, 32, 33, 47, 62, 96, 98,
+  99, 147, 149, 166, 175, 205, 210, 222, 248, 264, 265, 280, 288, 299,
+  300, 309, 312, 328, 337
+
+Laon, 214, 217
+
+Lapezrière, 288
+
+Larrey, 133
+
+Lartigues, 51
+
+Lasalle, 35
+
+Laudon, 247
+
+Lauter, 318
+
+Laybach, 189
+
+Le Bouton, 346
+
+Leclerc, xiii, 27
+
+Leclerc, Aimée, 164
+
+Lecourbe, xiii, 156
+
+Lectourne, 117, 118, 128, 136, 139
+
+Lefèbvre (Life, 322-332), xii, 94, 264, 275
+
+Leghorn, 60, 61
+
+Legion of Honour, 146, 191, 198, 207, 221, 228, 247, 284, 309, 342, 352
+
+Legislative Assembly, 344
+
+Leipzig, xiv, xix, 19, 22, 42, 88, 138, 154, 192, 198, 199, 214, 266,
+  283, 302, 340, 347
+
+Lenormand, 83
+
+Leoben, 6, 53, 75, 121, 262, 270
+
+Lerida, 226, 229
+
+Levant, 260
+
+Liège, 313
+
+Ligny, 312
+
+Lille, 156, 196
+
+Limoges, 251
+
+Linares, 106
+
+Linz, 280
+
+Lisbon, 65, 66, 101, 104, 105, 106, 108, 115, 125, 126, 261
+
+Lithuania, 41
+
+Little Gibraltar, 297
+
+Liverpool, Lord, 67
+
+Loano, 51, 70, 119, 219, 261
+
+Lobau, 62, 138, 174, 290
+
+Lodi, 6, 53, 120, 201, 261, 262
+
+Loison, 151
+
+Lombardy, 45, 120, 308
+
+Lonato, 53, 287
+
+London, 113
+
+Lons la Saulnier, 155, 160
+
+Lorencz, 337
+
+Lorraine, 193
+
+Louis XIV., 237
+
+Louis XVIII., 20, 110, 160, 179, 180, 195, 196, 199, 243, 250, 258, 276,
+  341, 348
+
+Louis Napoleon, 38
+
+Louis Philippe, 113, 114, 116, 258, 284
+
+Louisiana, 7, 79, 300
+
+Louvre, 188
+
+Lowe, Sir Hudson, 40
+
+Lübeck, 35, 81, 84, 98, 128, 309
+
+Lucien Bonaparte, 79
+
+Luckner, 3, 318
+
+Lugo, 103, 149
+
+Lützen, 19, 42, 153, 213, 283, 293
+
+Lyons, 113, 156, 196, 219, 228, 266, 311
+
+
+M
+
+Macachaim, 183
+
+Macard, xiv
+
+Macdonald, Flora, 183
+
+Macdonald, Marshal (Life, 183-199), xiii, xiv, 20, 21, 83, 154, 174,
+  181, 209, 243, 247, 266, 274, 298
+
+Macdonald, Neil, 183
+
+Machiavelli, 243
+
+Mack, 11, 126, 128, 186
+
+Madame Sans Gêne, 322
+
+Madrid, 9, 36, 37, 100, 104, 108, 133, 134, 212, 227, 237, 248, 290, 301
+
+Maestricht, 312
+
+Magdeburg, 98, 147
+
+Magnano, 55, 186
+
+Maillebois, 184
+
+Maine, 213
+
+Maintz, 201
+
+Malaga, 104
+
+Malmaison, 180
+
+Malta, 122
+
+Mamelukes, 26, 204
+
+Manhes, 39
+
+Mannheim, 143, 163, 335
+
+Mantua, 25, 120, 189, 203, 262, 272, 287, 298, 299, 350, 351
+
+Marat, 24
+
+Marceau, xiii, 94
+
+Marengo, xvii, 9, 29, 59, 77, 96, 123, 124, 205, 221, 247, 274, 288,
+  299, 300, 314
+
+Maret, 99
+
+Maria, 225, 229
+
+Marie Louise, 16, 175
+
+Marlborough, 227
+
+Marmont (Life, 200-218), xiii, xiv, 26, 67, 68, 78, 108, 122, 123, 189,
+  194, 229, 274, 278, 288, 309, 310
+
+Marne, 302
+
+Marseillaise, 276
+
+Marseilles, 76, 219, 276
+
+Masséna (Life, 49-71), xii, xiii, 15, 16, 79, 95, 96, 106, 107, 110,
+  115, 137, 142, 144, 149, 150, 151, 174, 190, 210, 220, 221, 234, 238,
+  239, 255, 256, 270, 273, 274, 279, 292, 293, 298, 299, 335, 336
+
+Masséna, Prosper, 69
+
+Maubeuge, 252
+
+Meaux, 269
+
+Mecklenberg-Anhalt, 90
+
+Medici, 30
+
+Medine del Rio Seco, 289
+
+Médoc, 233
+
+Melzi, 30
+
+Menou, 122
+
+Mequinenza, 262, 229
+
+Méric, 119
+
+Mesler, 138
+
+Messina, 40
+
+Metternich, 42, 45, 209
+
+Metz, 141, 146, 318, 341
+
+Meuse, 334
+
+Midi, 275
+
+Milan, 10
+
+Millesimo, 261
+
+Mincio, 25, 206, 221, 274
+
+Mirabeau, 268
+
+Molans, Ure de, 24
+
+Monaco, 299
+
+Moncey (Life, 245-250), 133, 134
+
+Mondego, 150
+
+Mondovi, 25, 298, 350, 351
+
+Monge, 204
+
+Moniteur, 42, 43, 164
+
+Mont St. Jean, 313
+
+Montebello, 25, 28, 123, 138, 299
+
+Monte Cretto, 95
+
+Montenegro, 208
+
+Montenotte, 53
+
+Montesquieu, 305
+
+Montfaucon, 24
+
+Montmartre, 214
+
+Montmirail, 283, 330
+
+Monzembano, 336
+
+Moore, Sir John, 100, 134
+
+Moreau, xiii, xiv, xvii, 28, 76, 138, 144, 186, 187, 199, 206, 220, 234,
+  235, 236, 237, 247, 298, 308
+
+Morlantier, 334
+
+Mortier (Life, 278-285), xii, xiii, xiv, 80, 136, 328, 329
+
+Moscow, 18, 40, 41, 151, 241, 282, 295, 310, 329
+
+Moses, 89
+
+Moskowa, 41, 156, 177, 294, 312, 356
+
+Mosskirch, 237
+
+Moulins, 201
+
+Mount Albis, 56, 57
+
+Mount Faron, 297
+
+Munich, 31, 259
+
+Murat (Life, 22-48), xii, xiii, 10, 18, 19, 89, 93, 120, 122, 123, 124,
+  125, 126, 127, 130, 131, 139, 166, 177, 178, 233, 274, 287, 288, 289,
+  290, 293, 294, 309, 310, 311, 348
+
+Murillo, 105
+
+
+N
+
+Naarden, 185
+
+Namur, 312, 313, 314
+
+Nansouty, 33, 190
+
+Napier, 107, 150
+
+Naples, 37, 38, 39, 42, 43, 60, 69, 72, 185, 186, 188, 237, 238, 239,
+  318
+
+Naples, King of, 29
+
+Napoleon II., 314
+
+Nassau-Siegen, 245
+
+Naumberg, 80, 167
+
+Neckerau, 335
+
+Neerwinden, 142, 163, 184, 269
+
+Neuchâtel, 12, 338, 342
+
+Neumarkt, 220
+
+Neusiedel, 174, 340
+
+Neuweid, 324
+
+Ney (Life, 141-161), xii, xiii, 32, 63, 64, 65, 68, 96, 98, 99, 103,
+  104, 117, 120, 129, 166, 194, 196, 215, 250, 283, 284, 309, 311, 340
+
+Nice, 50, 68
+
+Nicole Pierre, 268
+
+Niemen, 41, 47, 152, 153
+
+Nile, 26
+
+Normandy, 270, 305
+
+Norway, 86, 88, 89, 90
+
+Nôtre Dame, 264, 326, 352
+
+Novara, 307
+
+Novi, 220, 235, 308, 347
+
+Nowawies, 310
+
+Nugent, 214
+
+Nuremburg, 31
+
+
+O
+
+Ocaña, 116
+
+Oder, 130
+
+O'Hara, 219
+
+Ogilvie, 183
+
+O'Meara, 228
+
+Omet, 117
+
+Oporto, 101, 102, 103, 112, 114, 116
+
+Orcha, 152
+
+Orangerie, 27
+
+Order of St. Louis, 341, 348
+
+Orient, 122
+
+Orleanist, 113, 114
+
+Orleans, 125, 283, 284
+
+Orleans, Duke of, 156
+
+Orthes, 109
+
+Oscar, 85, 90
+
+Ostrach, 324
+
+Ostralenka, 61, 338
+
+Ott, 336
+
+Oudinot (Life, 333-343), xiv, 131, 153, 210, 240, 241
+
+
+P
+
+Padua, 55
+
+Pajol, 312, 337
+
+Palafox, 133, 135, 136
+
+Palestine, 27
+
+Papal States, 29, 121, 298
+
+Pampeluna, 36, 228
+
+Panthéon, 175
+
+Parma, 348
+
+Passau, 31
+
+Pau, 72
+
+Paulet, 183
+
+Pauline Bonaparte, 164, 203
+
+Pavia, 206
+
+Penn, William, 114
+
+Pérignon, de (Life, 344-348), xii, xiii, 326
+
+Perpignan, 119, 240, 264, 344
+
+Perrégaux, 203
+
+Peschiera, 298
+
+Piacenza, 29, 186, 348
+
+Picardy, 184, 334
+
+Pichegru, xiii, 76, 185, 201
+
+Piedmont, 255, 277, 308
+
+Piedmontese, 228
+
+Pirna, 242
+
+Pizzo, 46
+
+Plailly, 28
+
+Po, 29, 43, 44, 187
+
+Poitou, 268
+
+Poland, 35, 36, 61, 81, 98, 130, 170, 182, 289, 317, 318, 321, 354, 355
+
+Polignac, 215
+
+Polotsk, 241, 330
+
+Pomerania, 82, 86, 89
+
+Poniatowski (Life, 354-358), xiv, 172, 193
+
+Pope, 7, 45, 54, 234, 288
+
+Porte, 274
+
+Portugal, King of, 36
+
+Posen, 310
+
+Potsdam, 327, 352
+
+Praetorians, 294
+
+Pratzen, 128
+
+Prayssac, 286
+
+Pressburg, 12, 14, 175
+
+Prince of Orange, 272
+
+Prince of Peace, 36
+
+Prince Regent of Portugal, 126
+
+Prinzlow, 130, 309
+
+Provence, 72, 276, 344
+
+Provera, 298
+
+Provisional Government, 314
+
+Prussia, King of, 34, 87, 168, 176, 214
+
+Pultusk, 13, 61, 130, 138, 222, 265, 300
+
+Pyramids, 7, 26, 122, 204, 315
+
+Pyrenees, 36, 93, 109, 116, 344
+
+
+Q
+
+Quadruple Alliance, 90
+
+Quatre Bras, 157, 158, 160
+
+Quercy, 23
+
+Quiévrain, 278
+
+
+R
+
+Ragusa, 209
+
+Rapp, 18, 339
+
+Ratisbon, 15, 31, 136, 173, 189, 254
+
+Ratte Eig, 95
+
+Razyn, 356
+
+Regnier, 64, 65, 66
+
+Reille, 69, 157
+
+Rennes, 78
+
+Risorgimento, 44
+
+Restoration, 228, 242, 249, 258, 303, 311, 321, 331, 341, 352
+
+Revolution, French, 3, 38, 53, 72, 75, 142, 184, 200, 231, 269, 286,
+  296, 305, 323, 333, 349
+
+Rewbell, 234
+
+Rhine, xvi, xvii, 33, 55, 56, 74, 95, 126, 185, 201, 254, 255, 319, 321,
+  334
+
+Rhône, 68
+
+Richard Coeur de Lion, 280
+
+Richelieu, 200
+
+Richepanse, xiii
+
+Rights of Man, 73
+
+Rio Tinto, 106
+
+Rivoli, 6, 25, 65, 70, 219, 270, 287
+
+Robespierre, 2
+
+Rochambeau, 2
+
+Rochfort, 180
+
+Roederer, xii
+
+Rohan, 238
+
+Roland, 139
+
+Rolland, 270
+
+Rome, 6, 30, 43, 54, 83, 185, 186, 198, 231, 272, 294
+
+Romana, 149
+
+Roman Republic, 234
+
+Roncesvalles, 246
+
+Ros, Lord, 70
+
+Rosas, 239, 346
+
+Roveredo, 53
+
+Royal Champagne Regiment, 162
+
+Royal Italian Regiment, 49, 50
+
+Royal Military School, 162
+
+Royal Marine Regiment, 73
+
+Rouffach, 322
+
+Rue Royal, 285
+
+Rueil, 63
+
+
+S
+
+Saale, 167, 192
+
+Saalfeld, 129, 138, 221
+
+Sablous, 25
+
+Sacile, 188, 189
+
+Sacred Bands, 310
+
+Sagunto, 226
+
+Sahagun, 100
+
+Saint Cloud, 15, 110
+
+Saint Michel, College of, 23
+
+Saintes Georges, 53, 298
+
+Salamanca, 64, 108, 134, 211, 212, 214, 217
+
+Salicetti, 38
+
+Salisbury, Lady, 113
+
+Sancerre, 183
+
+San Domingo, 9
+
+San Felipe, 226
+
+San Marco, 298
+
+Santarem, 66
+
+Santiago, 301
+
+Santo Paolo, 40
+
+Santo Stefano, 40
+
+Saragossa, 134, 135, 138, 222, 223, 224, 226, 240, 348
+
+Sardinia, 276
+
+Sardinia, King of, 307, 308
+
+Sardinians, 25, 51, 350
+
+Sardou, 322
+
+Sarrelouis, 141, 159
+
+Savigny-sur-Orge, 165
+
+Savoy, 228
+
+Saxe, Marshal, 114
+
+Saxons, 80, 83, 131, 176, 342
+
+Saxony, 280
+
+Schérer, 51, 119, 186
+
+Schwartzenberg, 266
+
+Scots College, 183
+
+Sébastiani, 33
+
+Sedan, 183
+
+Ségur, 169, 251
+
+Seine, 180, 303
+
+Serre, 345
+
+Serurier (Life, 349-353), xii, xiii, 26, 326
+
+Servan, 318
+
+Seven Years' War, 317, 321
+
+Seville, 104, 106, 134
+
+Sézanne, 214
+
+Sicily, 38, 39, 42, 43
+
+Sievers, 132
+
+Sièyes, 76, 77, 88
+
+Silesia, 14, 15, 87, 172, 192, 214
+
+Simplon Pass, 42
+
+Smolensk, 41, 151, 356
+
+Somosierra, 301
+
+Sorauren, 109
+
+Soult (Life, 93-116), xii, xiii, 11, 21, 30, 58, 63, 66, 117, 128, 129,
+  138, 145, 147, 149, 157, 166, 211, 212, 221, 276, 282, 290, 302, 339
+
+Spartans, 221
+
+Splügen Pass, 187, 247
+
+St. Andrew, Order of, 132
+
+St. Agnes, 234
+
+St. Amand, 93, 114
+
+St. Bernard Pass, 8, 187, 206, 221, 247
+
+St. Catherine's Fort, 51
+
+St. Cyr (Life, 231-244), xiii, 181, 185, 211, 266, 278, 340
+
+St. Dizier, 214, 302
+
+St. Germain, xv
+
+St. Gothard Pass, 56
+
+St. Helena, Napoleon's conversations at, 21, 22, 45, 51, 59, 70, 110,
+  138, 145, 160, 228, 256, 266, 294
+
+St. Jean d'Acre, 128
+
+St. Jean Pied de Porte, 246
+
+St. Joseph, Château, 228
+
+St. Menehould, 318
+
+St. Omer, 3
+
+St. Petersburg, xviii
+
+St. Sebastian, 36
+
+Staël, 87
+
+Stanislaus, 354, 355
+
+Stein, 173, 176, 181
+
+Stettin, 88, 100, 301
+
+Stockach, 55
+
+Stockholm, 86
+
+Storthing, 90
+
+Stradella, 123
+
+Stralsund, 275
+
+Strassburg, 31, 317
+
+Styria, 207, 216, 220, 238, 310
+
+Suchet (Life, 219-230), xiv, 58, 115, 135, 212, 274, 335
+
+Sully, 92
+
+Sultan, 208
+
+Suvaroff, 56, 57, 188, 235, 266, 351, 352
+
+Sweden, 72, 84, 85, 89, 90, 92, 275
+
+Switzerland, 55, 56, 69, 144, 159, 220, 266, 270, 271, 272, 274, 279,
+  335, 338
+
+Syria, 7, 26, 122, 287
+
+
+T
+
+Tagus, 66, 104, 149, 150, 212
+
+Talavera, 63, 149, 257, 302
+
+Talleyrand, 10, 21, 22, 36, 38, 79, 85, 125, 154, 188, 194, 329
+
+Tarragona, 226, 230, 239
+
+Targowitz, 355
+
+Temple, The, 284
+
+Terror, The, 164, 253, 255, 333
+
+Thermopylæ, 221
+
+Thielmann, 314
+
+Thionville, 269, 323
+
+Thirty Years' War, 111
+
+Tolosa, 133, 136
+
+Tondu de caporal, 329
+
+Torres Vedras, 65, 71, 150, 211
+
+Tortosa, 226, 229
+
+Toul, 231
+
+Toulon, 51, 201, 219, 276, 297
+
+Toulouse, 23, 110, 112, 116
+
+Trachenberg, 87
+
+Tras os Montes, 103
+
+Treaty of Åbö, 81
+  Amiens, 237
+  Basle, 119, 247, 347
+  Campo Formio, 163, 234, 298
+  Foligno, 29
+  Lunéville, 144, 164, 247, 236
+  Pressburg, 12, 60, 98, 208, 338
+  Tilsit, xviii, 13, 14, 35, 81, 148, 171, 289, 301, 339, 355
+  Vienna, 63
+
+Trebbia, 187, 188, 198
+
+Trent, 247
+
+Treviso, 206, 274
+
+Trieste, 189
+
+Trouvé, 272
+
+Troyes, 283
+
+Tudela, 133, 138, 149
+
+Tuileries, 43, 152, 161, 263, 325
+
+Turenne, 114, 295
+
+Turin, 307, 308
+
+Turks, 29, 205, 208, 210, 274, 354
+
+Turreau, 162, 163
+
+Tuscany, 29, 30, 234
+
+Tyrol, 42, 265, 329
+
+
+U
+
+Uist, 183
+
+Ulces, 301
+
+Ulm, xviii, 11, 31, 47, 126, 128, 130, 146, 166, 207, 222, 237, 300,
+  334, 337
+
+United States, 79
+
+Upper Vienne, 251, 253
+
+
+V
+
+Vaal, 185, 198, 279
+
+Valentia, 133, 212, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 248
+
+Valladolid, 290, 294
+
+Valmy, xvi, 269, 319, 321
+
+Valtelline, 25, 247
+
+Vandamme, 242, 283, 312
+
+Var, 50, 221, 297, 335
+
+Varennes, 286
+
+Vasa, 72
+
+Vatican, 203
+
+Velasquez, 105
+
+Vendémiaire, 25
+
+Vendeen, 306
+
+Venice, 54, 203, 351
+
+Verderio, 290
+
+Verdier, 240
+
+Victor (Life, 296-304), xiii, xiv, 104, 105, 121, 124, 134, 187, 241,
+  283, 310
+
+Victoria, Queen, 113
+
+Vienna, 16, 25, 32, 56, 61, 70, 127, 137, 138, 189, 216, 280, 351
+
+Vierzehn Heiligen, 129
+
+Villa Mayor, 135
+
+Villars, Marshal, 114
+
+Villèle, 303
+
+Villelongue, 119
+
+Villeneuve l'Étang, 110
+
+Vilna, 18, 41, 177, 310, 330
+
+Vimiero, 290
+
+Vincennes, 87
+
+Visconti, Madame, 7, 12, 13
+
+Vistula, 13, 47, 130, 147, 294, 327, 329, 355
+
+Vittoria, 109, 133, 228, 257, 258
+
+Vosges, 193, 232, 296, 302
+
+
+W
+
+Wagram, xiv, xviii, 62, 64, 69, 70, 82, 149, 174, 190, 191, 199, 210,
+  291, 292, 294, 310, 311, 312, 339, 356
+
+Walcheren, 292, 352
+
+Walmoden, 280
+
+Warsaw, 35, 131, 171, 355
+
+Warsaw, Grand Duchy of, 171, 355, 356
+
+Wartburg, 349
+
+Washington, 114
+
+Waterloo, 45, 89, 111, 156, 158, 160, 180, 197, 228, 250, 254, 267, 283,
+  313, 314, 315
+
+Wavre, 313, 314
+
+Weissenburg, 94
+
+Wellington, 63, 65, 66, 67, 96, 97, 102, 104, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113,
+  117, 150, 157, 160, 161, 165, 211, 212, 213, 217, 227, 228, 293, 312
+
+Wesel, 34
+
+White Terror, 277
+
+William, Duke of Bavaria, 13
+
+William the Conqueror, 305
+
+Wisent, 279
+
+Wittgenstein, 241
+
+Würmser, 203, 350, 351
+
+Würzburg, 13, 31, 143, 146
+
+
+Y
+
+Yonne, 163
+
+York, Duke of, 272
+
+
+Z
+
+Znaim, 63
+
+Zurich, 56, 57, 63, 65, 68, 70, 77, 273, 279, 337
+
+Zype, 273
+
+
+
+
+The Gresham Press,
+
+UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED,
+
+WOKING AND LONDON.
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes
+
+Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
+
+Hyphens added:
+  ill[-]will (pages 4, 214)
+  coup[-]de[-]grace (pages 34, 309)
+  master[-]stroke (page 76)
+  rear[-]guard (page 94)
+  counter[-]stroke (page 108)
+  far[-]seeing (page 186)
+  re[-]armament (page 216)
+  bed[-]fellow (page 233)
+  kind[-]hearted (page 287)
+
+Diacritics added:
+  Jacques Étienne (page xix)
+  Rhône (page 68)
+  ménage (page 141)
+  Panthéon (page 175)
+  Lunéville (page 184)
+  AUGUSTE FRÉDÉRIC (page 200)
+  Pierre Étroite (page 349)
+  Castaños (page 361)
+  Donnauwörth (page 363)
+  Ocaña  (page 369)
+
+Diacritics removed:
+  Luckner (page 318)
+  Desaix (page 363)
+
+Page viii: "EMANUEL DE GROUCHY" changed to "EMMANUEL DE GROUCHY".
+
+Page xix: The full name of Marshall Victor appears in different sources
+as Claude-Victor Perrin and Claude Victor-Perrin. His entry in this
+table is strange but has not been changed.
+
+Page 118: "dulness" changed to "dullness" (dullness of the dyer's
+trade).
+
+Page 157: "D'Erlon's" changed to "d'Erlon's" (d'Erlon's corps).
+
+Page 157: "Quartre" changed to "Quatre" (thirty thousand men now held
+Quatre Bras).
+
+Page 162: "from" added (was dismissed from the service).
+
+Page 300: "Lousiania" changed to "Louisiana" (Captain-General of
+Louisiana).
+
+Page 311: "was" changed to "were" (were not cordial).
+
+Page 360: Reference to non-existent page "387" for "Austerlitz" removed.
+
+Page 368: Reference to non-existent page "xxiii" for "Moncey" removed.
+
+Page 372: "Vendémaire" changed to "Vendémiaire".
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Napoleon's Marshals, by R. P. Dunn-Pattison
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NAPOLEON'S MARSHALS ***
+
+***** This file should be named 34400-8.txt or 34400-8.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/4/0/34400/
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Moti Ben-Ari and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/34400-8.zip b/34400-8.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..637c441
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-8.zip
diff --git a/34400-h.zip b/34400-h.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b961607
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h.zip
diff --git a/34400-h/34400-h.htm b/34400-h/34400-h.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0804249
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/34400-h.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,16022 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
+    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
+<!-- $Id: header.txt 236 2009-12-07 18:57:00Z vlsimpson $ -->
+
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Napoleon's Marshals, by R. P. Dunn-Pattison.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css">
+
+body {
+    margin-left: 10%;
+    margin-right: 10%;
+}
+
+    h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {
+    text-align: center; /* all headings centered */
+    clear: both;
+}
+
+p {
+    margin-top: .75em;
+    text-align: justify;
+    margin-bottom: .75em;
+}
+
+hr {
+    width: 33%;
+    margin-top: 2em;
+    margin-bottom: 2em;
+    margin-left: auto;
+    margin-right: auto;
+    clear: both;
+}
+
+table {
+    margin-left: auto;
+    margin-right: auto;
+}
+
+.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */
+    /*  visibility: hidden;  */
+    position: absolute;
+    left: 92%;
+    font-size: smaller;
+    text-align: right;
+} /* page numbers */
+
+.center   {text-align: center;}
+
+.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
+
+.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
+
+.caption  {font-weight: bold;}
+
+/* Images */
+.figcenter   {
+    margin: auto;
+    text-align: center;
+}
+
+.poem {
+    margin-left:20%;
+    margin-right:10%;
+    text-align: left;
+}
+
+.tnote {
+  border: dashed 1px;
+  margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;
+  padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em;
+  padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em;
+}
+
+    </style>
+  </head>
+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Napoleon's Marshals, by R. P. Dunn-Pattison
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Napoleon's Marshals
+
+Author: R. P. Dunn-Pattison
+
+Release Date: November 23, 2010 [EBook #34400]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NAPOLEON'S MARSHALS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Moti Ben-Ari and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<h1>NAPOLEON'S MARSHALS</h1>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[i]</a></span>
+<br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[ii]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<a href="images/frontpiece-hi.jpg"><img src="images/frontpiece.jpg" width="600" height="454" alt="MARSHAL NEY COVERING THE RETREAT
+FROM THE PAINTING BY YVON AT VERSAILLES" title="" id="frontpiece"/></a>
+<span class="caption">MARSHAL NEY COVERING THE RETREAT<br />
+FROM THE PAINTING BY YVON AT VERSAILLES</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[iii]</a></span></p>
+<h1>NAPOLEON'S MARSHALS</h1>
+
+<div class='center'>
+BY
+<br />
+<h2>R. P. DUNN-PATTISON, M.A.</h2>
+<br />
+LATE LIEUTENANT ARGYLL AND SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERS, AND<br />
+SOMETIME LECTURER AT MAGDALEN COLLEGE, OXFORD<br />
+<br />
+WITH TWENTY ILLUSTRATIONS<br />
+<br />
+METHUEN &amp; CO.<br />
+36 ESSEX STREET W.C.<br />
+LONDON<br />
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[iv]</a></span></p>
+<div class='center'>
+First Published in 1909
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="">
+<tr><td align="right" colspan="3">PAGE</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left" colspan="2">INTRODUCTION</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_ix">ix</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left" colspan="2">SYNOPSIS OF THE MARSHALS</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">I.</td><td align="left">LOUIS ALEXANDRE BERTHIER, MARSHAL, PRINCE OF</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">WAGRAM, SOVEREIGN PRINCE OF NEUCHÂTEL AND</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">VALANGIN</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">II.</td><td align="left">JOACHIM MURAT, MARSHAL, KING OF NAPLES</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_23">23</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">III.</td><td align="left">ANDRÉ MASSÉNA, MARSHAL, DUKE OF RIVOLI, PRINCE</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">OF ESSLING</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_49">49</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">IV.</td><td align="left">JEAN BAPTISTE JULES BERNADOTTE, MARSHAL, PRINCE</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">OF PONTE CORVO, KING OF SWEDEN</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_72">72</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">V.</td><td align="left">JEAN DE DIEU NICOLAS SOULT, MARSHAL, DUKE OF</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">DALMATIA</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_93">93</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">VI.</td><td align="left">JEAN LANNES, MARSHAL, DUKE OF MONTEBELLO</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">VII.</td><td align="left">MICHEL NEY, MARSHAL, DUKE OF ELCHINGEN, PRINCE</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">OF MOSKOWA</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">VIII.</td><td align="left">LOUIS NICOLAS DAVOUT, MARSHAL, DUKE OF AUERSTÄDT,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">PRINCE OF ECKMÜHL</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_162">162</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">IX.</td><td align="left">JACQUES ÉTIENNE JOSEPH ALEXANDRE MACDONALD,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">MARSHAL, DUKE OF TARENTUM</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_183">183</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">X.</td><td align="left">AUGUSTE FRÉDÉRIC LOUIS VIESSE DE MARMONT,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">MARSHAL, DUKE OF RAGUSA</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_200">200</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">XI.</td><td align="left">LOUIS GABRIEL SUCHET, MARSHAL, DUKE OF ALBUFERA</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_219">219</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">XII.</td><td align="left">LAURENT GOUVION ST. CYR, MARSHAL</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_231">231</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">XIII.</td><td align="left">BON ADRIEN JEANNOT DE MONCEY, MARSHAL, DUKE</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">OF CONEGLIANO</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_245">245</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">XIV.</td><td align="left">JEAN BAPTISTE JOURDAN, MARSHAL</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_251">251</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">XV.</td><td align="left">CHARLES PIERRE FRANÇOIS AUGEREAU, MARSHAL, DUKE</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">OF CASTIGLIONE</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_259">259</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">XVI.</td><td align="left">GUILLAUME MARIE ANNE BRUNE, MARSHAL</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_268">268</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">XVII.</td><td align="left">ADOLPHE ÉDOUARD CASIMIR JOSEPH MORTIER, MARSHAL,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">DUKE OF TREVISO</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_278">278</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">XVIII.</td><td align="left">JEAN BAPTISTE BESSIÈRES, MARSHAL, DUKE OF ISTRIA</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_286">286</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">XIX.</td><td align="left">CLAUDE VICTOR PERRIN, MARSHAL, DUKE OF BELLUNO</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_296">296</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">XX.</td><td align="left">EMMANUEL DE GROUCHY, MARSHAL</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_305">305</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">XXI.</td><td align="left">FRANÇOIS CHRISTOPHE KELLERMANN, MARSHAL, DUKE</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">OF VALMY</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_316">316</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">XXII.</td><td align="left">FRANÇOIS JOSEPH LEFÈBVRE, MARSHAL, DUKE OF</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">DANTZIG</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_322">322</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">XXIII.</td><td align="left">NICOLAS CHARLES OUDINOT, MARSHAL, DUKE OF</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">REGGIO</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_333">333</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">XXIV.</td><td align="left">DOMINIQUE CATHERINE DE PÉRIGNON, MARSHAL</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_344">344</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">XXV.</td><td align="left">JEAN MATHIEU PHILIBERT SERURIER, MARSHAL</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_349">349</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">XXVI.</td><td align="left">PRINCE JOSEPH PONIATOWSKI, MARSHAL</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_354">354</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS" id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS"></a>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="">
+<tr><td align="left">MARSHAL NEY COVERING THE RETREAT</td><td align="right"><a href="#frontpiece"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">(From the painting by Yvon at Versailles. Photo Neurdein)</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">FACING PAGE</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">ALEXANDRE BERTHIER, PRINCE OF WAGRAM</td><td align="right"><a href="#fp004">4</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">(From an engraving after the painting by Pajou <i>fils</i>)</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">JOACHIM MURAT, AFTERWARDS KING OF NAPLES</td><td align="right"><a href="#fp024">24</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">(From the painting by Gérard at Versailles. Photo Neurdein)</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">ANDRÉ MASSÉNA, PRINCE OF ESSLING</td><td align="right"><a href="#fp051">51</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">JEAN BAPTISTE BERNADOTTE, KING OF SWEDEN</td><td align="right"><a href="#fp074">74</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">(From an engraving after the painting by Hilaire le Dru)</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">JEAN DE DIEU SOULT, DUKE OF DALMATIA</td><td align="right"><a href="#fp096">96</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">(From a lithograph by Delpech after the painting by Rouillard)</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">JEAN LANNES, DUKE OF MONTEBELLO</td><td align="right"><a href="#fp120">120</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">(From an engraving by Amédée Maulet)</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">MICHEL NEY, PRINCE OF MOSKOWA</td><td align="right"><a href="#fp142">142</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">(From an engraving after the painting by F. Gérard)</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">LOUIS NICOLAS DAVOUT, PRINCE OF ECKMÜHL</td><td align="right"><a href="#fp167">167</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">(From an engraving after the painting by Gautherot)</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">JACQUES ÉTIENNE MACDONALD, DUKE OF TARENTUM</td><td align="right"><a href="#fp184">184</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">(From a lithograph by Delpech)</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">AUGUSTE DE MARMONT, DUKE OF RAGUSA</td><td align="right"><a href="#fp202">202</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">(From an engraving after the painting by Muneret)</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">LOUIS GABRIEL SUCHET, DUKE OF ALBUFERA</td><td align="right"><a href="#fp220">220</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">(From an engraving by Pollet)</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">GOUVION ST. CYR, COUNT</td><td align="right"><a href="#fp233">233</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">(From an engraving after the painting by J. Guerin)</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">JEAN BAPTISTE JOURDAN</td><td align="right"><a href="#fp252">252</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">(After a drawing by Ambroise Tardieu)</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">CHARLES PIERRE AUGEREAU, DUKE OF CASTIGLIONE</td><td align="right"><a href="#fp260">260</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">(From an engraving by Ruotte)</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">BRUNE</td><td align="right"><a href="#fp268">268</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">(From an engraving after the painting by F. J. Harriet)</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">ADOLPHE ÉDOUARD MORTIER, DUKE OF TREVISO</td><td align="right"><a href="#fp280">280</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">(From an engraving after the painting by Larivière)</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">EMMANUEL DE GROUCHY, MARQUIS</td><td align="right"><a href="#fp306">306</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">(From an engraving after the painting by Rouillard)</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">FRANÇOIS CHRISTOPHE KELLERMANN, DUKE OF VALMY</td><td align="right"><a href="#fp318">318</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">(From an engraving after the painting by Ansiaux)</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">NICOLAS CHARLES OUDINOT, DUKE OF REGGIO</td><td align="right"><a href="#fp332">332</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">(From an engraving after the painting by Robert le Fevre)</span></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[ix]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION"></a>INTRODUCTION</h2>
+
+
+<p>It is a melancholy but instructive fact to remember
+that, in the opinion of him whom nature had
+adorned with the greatest intellect that the world
+has yet seen, selfishness and self-interest lie at the root of
+all human action. "For," as Napoleon said, "in ambition
+is to be found the chief motive force of humanity, and a
+man puts forth his best powers in proportion to his hopes
+of advancement." It was on this cynical hypothesis therefore,
+with a complete disregard of those higher aspirations
+of self-sacrifice and self-control which raise man above the
+mere brute, that the Corsican adventurer waded through
+seas of blood to the throne of France, and then attempted,
+by the destruction of a million human beings, to bind on
+his brow the imperial crown of Western Europe. In spite
+of loud-sounding phrases and constitutional sleight-of-hand,
+none knew better than Napoleon that by the sword alone
+he had won his empire and by the sword alone he could
+keep it. Keen student of history, it was not in vain that
+again and again he had read and re-read the works of
+Cæsar, and pondered on the achievements of Charlemagne
+and the career of Cromwell. The problem he had to solve
+was, how to conceal from his lieutenants that his dynasty
+rested purely on their swords, to bind their honours so
+closely to his own fortune that they should ever be loyal;
+so to distribute his favours that his servants should<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[x]</a></span>
+never become so great as to threaten his own position. It
+was with this object in view that at the time he seized for
+himself the imperial crown he re-established the old rôle
+of Marshal of France, frankly confessing to Roederer that
+his reason for showering rewards on his lieutenants was to
+assure to himself his own dignity, since they could not
+object to it when they found themselves the recipients of
+such lofty titles. But, with the cunning of the serpent,
+while he gave with one hand he took away with the
+other. He fixed the number of Marshals at sixteen on the
+active list and added four others for those too old for active
+service. Hence he had it in his power to reward twenty
+hungry aspirants, while he robbed the individuals of their
+glory, since each Marshal shared his dignity with nineteen
+others. Plainly also he told them that, lofty though their
+rank might appear to others, to him they were still mere
+servants, created by him and dependent for their position
+on him alone. "Recollect," he said, "that you are soldiers
+only when with the army. The title of Marshal is merely
+a civil distinction which gives you the honourable rank at
+my court which is your due, but it carries with it no
+authority. On the battlefield you are generals, at court you
+are nobles, belonging to the State by the civil position I
+created for you when I bestowed your titles on you." It
+was on May 19, 1804, that the <i>Gazette</i> appeared with the first
+creation of Marshals. There were fourteen on the active
+list and four honorary Marshals in the Senate. Two bâtons
+were withheld as a reward for future service. The original
+fourteen were Berthier, Murat, Moncey, Jourdan, Masséna,
+Augereau, Bernadotte, Soult, Brune, Lannes, Mortier, Ney,
+Davout and Bessières; while on the retired list were
+Kellermann, Lefèbvre, Pérignon, and Serurier. The list
+caused much surprise and dissatisfaction. On the one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[xi]</a></span>
+hand there were those like Masséna who received their
+congratulations with a grunt and "Yes, one of fourteen."
+On the other hand were those like Macdonald, Marmont,
+Victor, and many another, who thought they ought to have
+been included. An examination of the names soon explains
+how the choice was made. Except Jourdan, who was too
+great a soldier to be passed over, all those who could not
+forget their Republican principles were excluded. Masséna
+received his bâton as the greatest soldier of France.
+Berthier, Murat, and Lannes had won theirs by their talents,
+as much as by their personal devotion. Soult, Ney,
+Davout, and Mortier were Napoleon's choice from among
+the coming men, who in the camps of the Army of the
+Ocean were fast justifying their selection. Bessières was
+included because he would never win it at any later date,
+but his doglike devotion made him a priceless subordinate.
+Augereau and Bernadotte received their bâtons to keep
+them quiet. The names of Moncey, Brune, Kellermann,
+Pérignon, and Serurier were intimately connected with
+glorious feats of the republican armies, and so, though only
+fortunate mediocrities, they were included in the first
+creation, while Lefèbvre, the republican of republicans,
+now under the glamour of Napoleon's power, was placed
+on the list as a stalking-horse of the extreme members of
+his party. At the time of the first creation, of the great
+soldiers of the Republic, Moreau was branded as a traitor;
+Hoche, Marceau, Kléber, Desaix, and Pichegru were dead;
+Carnot, the organiser of victory, was a voluntary exile;
+while staunch blades like Leclerc, Richepanse, Lecourbe,
+Macdonald, Victor, St. Cyr, and Suchet were all more or
+less in disgrace. By the end of the Empire, death and the
+necessity of rewarding merit added to the list of Marshals
+until in all twenty-six bâtons were granted by the Emperor.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[xii]</a></span>
+In 1808 Victor was restored to favour and received his
+bâton. After Wagram, Macdonald, Oudinot, and Marmont
+received the prize, while the Spanish War brought it to
+Suchet, and the Russian campaign to St. Cyr. In 1813 the
+Polish prince, Poniatowski, was sent his truncheon on the
+field of Leipzig, while last of all, in 1815, Grouchy was
+promoted to one of the vacancies caused by the refusal of
+many of the Marshals to cast off their allegiance to the
+Bourbons.</p>
+
+<p>It was a popular saying in the Napoleonic army that
+every private soldier carried in his knapsack a Marshal's
+bâton, and the early history of many of these Marshals
+bears out this saying. But while the Revolution carried
+away all the barriers and opened the highest ranks to talent,
+be it never so humble in its origin, the history of the
+Marshals proves that heaven-born soldiers are scarce, and
+that the art of war, save in the case of one out of a million,
+can only be acquired by years of patient work in a subordinate
+position. Of the generals of the revolutionary
+armies only four, Moreau, Mortier, Suchet, and Brune, had
+no previous military training, and of these four, Moreau and
+Suchet alone had claim to greatness. The rough unlettered
+generals of the early years of the war soon proved that they
+could never rise above the science of the drill-sergeant.
+Once discipline and organisation were restored there was
+no room for a general like the gallant Macard, who, when
+about to charge, used to call out, "Look here, I am going
+to dress like a beast," and thereon divest himself of everything
+save his leather breeches and boots, and then,
+like some great hairy baboon, with strange oaths and
+yells lead his horsemen against the enemy. A higher
+type was required than this Macard, who could not understand
+that because an officer could sketch mountains<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[xiii]</a></span>
+he could not necessarily measure a man for a pair of
+boots.</p>
+
+<p>Of the twenty-six Marshals, nine had held commissions
+ranging from lieutenant-general to lieutenant in the old
+royal army, one was a Polish Prince, an ex-Austrian officer,
+while one had passed the artillery college but had refused
+to accept a commission; eleven had commenced life as
+privates in the old service, and of these, nine had risen to
+the rank of sergeant; and four had had no previous military
+training. It must also be remembered that the standard of
+the non-commissioned rank in the royal army just before
+the Revolution was extremely high. The reforms of St.
+Germain and the popularity of the American War had
+enticed into the ranks a high class of recruits, with the
+result that the authorities were able to impose tests, and no
+private could rise to the rank of corporal, or from corporal
+to sergeant, without passing an examination. Further, since
+the officers of the ancient régime left the entire organisation,
+discipline, and control in the hands of the non-commissioned
+officers, and seldom, if ever, visited their companies either
+in barracks or on the parade ground, the non-commissioned
+officers, in everything save actual title, were really
+extremely well-trained officers. It was this class which
+really saved France when the old officers emigrated and the
+incapable politicians in Paris did their best to ruin the army.
+Hence it was that, without prejudice to the service, a sergeant
+might one day be found quietly obeying the orders of his
+company officer, and the next day with the rank of lieutenant-colonel
+commanding his battalion.</p>
+
+<p>The art of war can only be truly learned in the field, and
+the officers of the French army had such an experience as
+had never fallen to the lot of any other nation since the
+days of the Thirty Years' War. With continuous fighting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[xiv]</a></span>
+winter and summer, on every frontier, military knowledge
+was easily gained by those who had the ability to acquire
+it, and the young generals of brigade, with but three years'
+service in commissioned rank, had gone through experiences
+which seldom fall to the lot of officers with thirty years'
+service. The cycle of war seemed unending. From the
+day on which, in 1792, France hurled her declaration of
+war on Austria, till the surrender of Paris, in 1814, with the
+exception of the year of peace gained at Amiens, war was
+continuous. It began with a light-hearted invasion of
+France by Austria and Prussia in September, 1792, which
+ended in the cannonade of Valmy, when Dumouriez and
+Kellermann, with the remnant of the old royal army,
+showed such a bold front that the Allies, who had never
+expected to fight, lost heart and ran home. The Austro-Prussian
+invasion sealed the King's death-warrant, and
+France, in the hands of republican enthusiasts, went forth
+with a rabble of old soldiers and volunteers to preach the
+doctrine of the Equality of Man and the Brotherhood of
+Nations. But the sovereigns of Europe determined to fight
+for their crowns, and the licence of the French soldiers and
+the selfishness of these prophets of the new doctrine of
+Equality soon disgusted the people of the Rhine valley;
+so the revolutionary mob armies were driven into France,
+and for two years she was busy on every frontier striving to
+drive the enemy from her soil. It was during these years
+that the new French army arose. The volunteers were
+brigaded with the old regular battalions, the ranks were
+kept full by calling out all fit to bear arms, and the incompetent
+and unfortunate were weeded out by the guillotine.
+By 1795 France had freed her own soil and had forged a
+weapon whereby she could retaliate on the Powers who had
+attempted to annex her territory in the hour of her degradation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[xv]</a></span>
+The Rhine now became her eastern frontier. But
+Austria, whose Archduke was Emperor of the Holy Roman
+Empire, would not give up the provinces seized from her;
+so from 1795 to 1797, on the headwaters of the Danube and
+in Italy, the representative of the Feudal Ages fought the
+new democracy. It was the appearance of the great military
+talent of Bonaparte which decided the day. On the Danube
+the Austrians had found that under the excellent leading of
+the Archduke Charles they were fit to defeat the best
+French troops under capable generals like Jourdan and
+Moreau. But the military genius of Bonaparte overbore
+all resistance, and when peace came, practically all Italy
+had been added to the dominion of France. Unfortunately
+for the peace of Europe, the rulers of France had tasted
+blood. They found in the captured provinces a means of
+making war without feeling the effects, for the rich pillage
+of Italy paid the war expenses. But, grateful as the Directors
+were to Bonaparte for thus opening to them a means of
+enriching themselves at the expense of Europe, they rightly
+saw in him a menace to their own power, and gladly allowed
+him to depart on the mission to Egypt. From Egypt
+Bonaparte returned, seized the reins of government, and
+saved France from the imbecility of her rulers, and, by the
+battle of Marengo, assured to her all she had lost in his
+absence. Unfortunately for France the restless ambition of
+her new ruler was not satisfied with re-establishing the
+Empire of the West and reviving the glories of Charlemagne,
+but hankered after a vast oversea dominion, to
+include America and India. Hence it was that he found in
+Great Britain an implacable enemy ever stirring up against
+him European coalitions. To cover his failure to wrest the
+dominion of the sea from its mistress, Napoleon turned his
+wrath on Austria, and soon she lay cowed at his feet after<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">[xvi]</a></span>
+the catastrophe at Ulm and the battle of Austerlitz. Austria's
+fall was due to the lethargy and hesitation of the courts of
+Berlin and St. Petersburg. But once Austria was disposed
+of, Prussia and Russia met their punishment for having
+given her secret or open aid. The storm fell first on Prussia.
+At one fell swoop on the field of Jena, the famed military
+monarchy of the great Frederick fell in pieces like a potter's
+vessel. From Prussia the invincible French legions penetrated
+into Poland, and after Eylau and Friedland the forces
+of Prussia and Russia could no longer face the enemy in
+the field. The Czar, dazzled by Napoleon's greatness, threw
+over his ally Prussia and at Tilsit made friends with the
+great conqueror. In June, 1807, it seemed as if Europe lay
+at Napoleon's feet, but already in Portugal the seeds of
+his ruin had been sown. The Portuguese monarch, the
+ally of Great Britain, fled at the mere approach of a single
+Marshal of the Emperor. The apparent lethargy of the
+inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula and the unpopularity
+of the Spanish Bourbons tempted Napoleon to establish
+his brother on the throne of Spain. It was a fatal error, for
+though the Spanish people might despise their King, they
+were intensely proud of their nationality. For the first time
+in his experience the Corsican had to meet the forces of a
+nation and not of a government. The chance defeat of a
+French army at Baylen was the signal for a general rising
+throughout the Peninsula, and not only throughout the
+Peninsula, but for the commencement of a national movement
+against the French in Austria and Germany. England
+gladly seized the opportunity of injuring her enemy and
+sent aid to the people of Spain. Austria tried another
+fall with her conqueror, but was defeated at Wagram.
+Wagram ought to have taught the Emperor that his
+troops were no longer invincible as of old, but, blind to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvii" id="Page_xvii">[xvii]</a></span>
+this lesson, he still attempted to lord it over Europe and
+treated with contumely his only friend, the Czar. Consequently,
+in 1812, while still engaged in attempting to
+conquer Spain, he found himself forced to fight Russia.
+The result was appalling; out of half a million troops who
+entered Russia, a bare seventy thousand returned. Prussia
+and Austria at once made a bid to recover their independence.
+Napoleon, blinded by rage, refused to listen to
+reason, and in October, 1813, was defeated by the Allies
+at Leipzig. Even then he might have saved his throne, but
+he still refused to listen to the Allies, who in 1814 invaded
+France, and, after a campaign in which the Emperor showed
+an almost superhuman ability, at last by sheer weight of
+numbers they captured Paris. Thereon the French troops
+refused to fight any longer for the Emperor. Such is a
+brief outline of what is called the Revolutionary and
+Napoleonic Wars, the finest school the world has yet seen
+for an apprenticeship in the trade of arms.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xviii" id="Page_xviii">[xviii]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="SYNOPSIS_OF_THE_MARSHALS" id="SYNOPSIS_OF_THE_MARSHALS"></a>SYNOPSIS OF THE MARSHALS</h2>
+
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="">
+<tr><td align="left">Name.</td><td align="left">Born.</td><td align="left">Marshal.</td><td align="left">Titles.</td><td align="left">Died.</td><td align="right">Age.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Berthier,</td><td align="left">Nov. 20,</td><td align="left">May 19,</td><td align="left">Prince of Neuchatel</td><td align="left">Accident,</td><td align="right">62</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Louis</span></td><td align="left">1753</td><td align="left">1804</td><td align="left">and Valangin,</td><td align="left">June 1, 1815</td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Alexandre</span></td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Prince of Wagram,</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Dec. 31, 1809</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">Murat, Joachim</td><td align="left">Mar. 25,</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Prince,</td><td align="left">Shot at Pizzo,</td><td align="right">48</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left">1767</td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Feb. 1, 1805;</td><td align="left">Oct. 13, 1815</td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Grand Duke of Berg,</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Mar. 15, 1806;</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">King of Naples,</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Aug. 1, 1808</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">Moncey,</td><td align="left">July 31,</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Duke of Conegliano,</td><td align="left">Natural cause,</td><td align="right">88</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bon Adrien</span></td><td align="left">1754</td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">July 2, 1808</td><td align="left">April 20, 1842</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jeannot de</span></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">Jourdan,</td><td align="left">April 29,</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Count, Mar. 1, 1808</td><td align="left">Natural cause,</td><td align="right">71</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jean Baptiste</span></td><td align="left">1762</td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Nov. 1833</td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">Masséna, André</td><td align="left">May 6,</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Duke of Rivoli,</td><td align="left">Natural cause,</td><td align="right">61</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left">1756</td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">April 24, 1808;</td><td align="left">April 4, 1817</td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Prince of Essling,</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Jan. 31, 1810</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">Augereau,</td><td align="left">Oct. 21,</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Duke of</td><td align="left">Natural cause,</td><td align="right">59</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Charles Pierre</span></td><td align="left">1757</td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Castiglione,</td><td align="left">June 12, 1816</td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">François</span></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">April 26, 1808</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">Bernadotte,</td><td align="left">Jan. 26,</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Prince of</td><td align="left">Natural cause,</td><td align="right">81</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jean Baptiste</span></td><td align="left">1763</td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Ponte Corvo,</td><td align="left">Mar. 8, 1844</td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jules</span></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">June 5, 1806;</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Crown Prince</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">of Sweden,</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Aug. 21, 1810;</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">King, Feb. 18, 1818</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">Soult, Jean de</td><td align="left">Mar. 29,</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Duke of Dalmatia,</td><td align="left">Natural cause,</td><td align="right">82</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dieu Nicolas</span></td><td align="left">1769</td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">June 29, 1808</td><td align="left">Nov. 26, 1851</td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">Brune, Guillaume</td><td align="left">May 13,</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Count, Mar. 1, 1808</td><td align="left">Murdered</td><td align="right">52</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Marie Anne</span></td><td align="left">1763</td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">at Avignon,</td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Aug. 2, 1815</td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">Lannes, Jean</td><td align="left">April 11,</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Duke of Montebello,</td><td align="left">Died of wounds</td><td align="right">40</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left">1769</td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">June 15, 1808</td><td align="left">at Vienna,</td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">May 31, 1809</td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">Mortier, Adolphe</td><td align="left">Feb. 13,</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Duke of Treviso,</td><td align="left">Killed by</td><td align="right">67</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Édouard</span></td><td align="left">1768</td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">July 2, 1808</td><td align="left">infernal machine</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Casimir Joseph</span></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">at Paris,</td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">July 28, 1835</td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">Ney, Michel</td><td align="left">Jan. 10,</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Duke of Elchingen,</td><td align="left">Shot at Paris,</td><td align="right">46</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left">1769</td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">May 5, 1808;</td><td align="left">Dec. 7, 1815</td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Prince of Moskowa,</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Mar. 25, 1813</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">Davout,</td><td align="left">May 10,</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Duke of Auerstädt,</td><td align="left">Natural cause,</td><td align="right">53</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Louis Nicolas</span></td><td align="left">1770</td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">July 2, 1808;</td><td align="left">June 1, 1823</td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Prince of Eckmühl,</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Nov. 28, 1809</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="6"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xix" id="Page_xix">[xix]</a></span></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">Bessières,</td><td align="left">Aug. 6,</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Duke of Istria,</td><td align="left">Killed</td><td align="right">45</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jean Baptiste</span></td><td align="left">1768</td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">May 28, 1809</td><td align="left">at Lützen,</td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">May 1, 1813</td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">Kellermann,</td><td align="left">May 28,</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Count,</td><td align="left">Natural cause,</td><td align="right">85</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">François</span></td><td align="left">1735</td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Mar. 1, 1808;</td><td align="left">Sept. 13, 1820</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Christophe</span></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Duke of Valmy,</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">May 2, 1808</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">Lefèbvre,</td><td align="left">Oct. 15,</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Count,</td><td align="left">Natural cause,</td><td align="right">65</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">François</span></td><td align="left">1755</td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Mar. 1, 1808;</td><td align="left">Sept. 14, 1820</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Joseph</span></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Duke of Dantzig,</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Sept. 10, 1808</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">Pérignon,</td><td align="left">May 31,</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Count,</td><td align="left">Natural cause,</td><td align="right">64</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dominique</span></td><td align="left">1754</td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Sept. 6, 1811</td><td align="left">Dec. 25, 1818</td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Catherine de</span></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">Serurier,</td><td align="left">Dec. 8,</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Count,</td><td align="left">Natural cause,</td><td align="right">77</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jean Mathieu</span></td><td align="left">1742</td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Mar. 1, 1808</td><td align="left">Dec. 21, 1819</td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Philibert</span></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">Victor,</td><td align="left">Dec. 7,</td><td align="left">July 13,</td><td align="left">Duke of Belluno,</td><td align="left">Natural cause,</td><td align="right">77</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Victor Claude</span></td><td align="left">1764</td><td align="left">1807</td><td align="left">Sept. 10, 1808</td><td align="left">Mar. 1, 1841</td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Perrin</span></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">Macdonald,</td><td align="left">Nov. 17,</td><td align="left">July 12,</td><td align="left">Duke of Tarentum,</td><td align="left">Natural cause,</td><td align="right">75</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jacques</span></td><td align="left">1765</td><td align="left">1809</td><td align="left">Dec. 9, 1809</td><td align="left">Sept. 7, 1840</td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Étienne Joseph</span></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Alexandre</span></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">Oudinot,</td><td align="left">April 25,</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Count,</td><td align="left">Natural cause,</td><td align="right">80</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nicolas</span></td><td align="left">1767</td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">July 2, 1808;</td><td align="left">Sept. 13, 1847</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Charles</span></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Duke of Reggio,</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">April 14, 1810</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">Marmont, Auguste</td><td align="left">July 20,</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Duke of Ragusa,</td><td align="left">Natural cause,</td><td align="right">78</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Frédéric Louis</span></td><td align="left">1774</td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">June 28, 1808</td><td align="left">July 23, 1852</td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Viesse de</span></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">April 14, 1810</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">Suchet,</td><td align="left">Mar. 2,</td><td align="left">July 8,</td><td align="left">Count,</td><td align="left">Natural cause,</td><td align="right">56</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Louis Gabriel</span></td><td align="left">1770</td><td align="left">1811</td><td align="left">June 24, 1808;</td><td align="left">Jan. 3, 1826</td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Duke of Albufera,</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Jan. 3, 1813</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">Gouvion St. Cyr,</td><td align="left">April 13,</td><td align="left">Aug 27,</td><td align="left">Count, May 3, 1808</td><td align="left">Natural cause,</td><td align="right">66</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Laurent</span></td><td align="left">1764</td><td align="left">1812</td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Mar. 17, 1830</td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">Poniatowski,</td><td align="left">May 7,</td><td align="left">Oct. 17,</td><td align="center">&mdash;</td><td align="left">Drowned</td><td align="right">51</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Joseph, Prince</span></td><td align="left">1762</td><td align="left">1813</td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">in Elster,</td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">Oct. 19, 1813</td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">Grouchy,</td><td align="left">Oct. 23,</td><td align="left">April 17,</td><td align="left">Count,</td><td align="left">Natural cause,</td><td align="right">81</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Emmanuel de</span></td><td align="left">1766</td><td align="left">1815</td><td align="left">Jan. 28, 1809</td><td align="left">May 29, 1847</td><td align="right"></td></tr>
+
+</table></div>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xx" id="Page_xx">[xx]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p>
+<h1><a name="NAPOLEONS_MARSHALS" id="NAPOLEONS_MARSHALS"></a>NAPOLEON'S MARSHALS</h1>
+
+
+
+<h2><a name="I" id="I"></a>I<br /><br />
+LOUIS ALEXANDRE BERTHIER, MARSHAL,<br />
+PRINCE OF WAGRAM, SOVEREIGN PRINCE<br />
+OF NEUCHÂTEL AND VALANGIN
+</h2>
+
+<p>To be content ever to play an inferior part, to see all
+honour and renown fall to the share of another,
+yet loyally to efface self and work for the glory of
+a friend, denotes a sterling character and an inflexibility of
+purpose with which few can claim to be endowed. Nobody
+doubts that, if it had not been for Napoleon, Berthier, good
+business man as he was, could never have risen to the fame
+he attained; still it is often forgotten that without this
+admirable servant it is more than doubtful if the great
+Emperor could have achieved all his most splendid success.
+Berthier, controlled by a master mind, was an instrument
+beyond price. Versed in the management of an army
+almost from his cradle, he had the gift of drafting orders
+so clear, so lucid, that no one could possibly mistake their
+meaning. His memory was prodigious, and his physical
+endurance such that he appeared never to require rest. But
+above all he alone seemed to be able to divine the thoughts
+of his great master before they were spoken, and this wonderful
+intuition taught him how, from a few disjointed utterances,
+to unravel Napoleon's most daring conceptions and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span>
+work out the details in ordered perfection. Napoleon called
+his faithful Achates a gosling whom he had transformed
+into an eagle, but history proclaims that long before the
+name of Bonaparte was known beyond the gate of the
+military academy at Brienne, Berthier had established a
+record as a staff officer of the highest promise; while,
+before the young Corsican first met him in Italy, the future
+major-general of the Grand Army had evolved that perfect
+system of organisation which enabled the conqueror of
+Italy to control every movement and vibration in the army,
+to be informed of events as soon as they happened, and to
+be absolutely sure of the despatch and performance of his
+orders.</p>
+
+<p>Alexandre Berthier had seen twenty-three years' service in
+the old royal army before the Revolution broke out in 1789.
+Born on November 20, 1753, at the age of thirteen he
+received his commission in the engineers owing to his
+father's services in preparing a map of royal hunting forests.
+But the boy soon forsook his father's old regiment, for he
+knew well that the highest commands in the army seldom if
+ever fell to the scientific corps. When in 1780 the French
+Government decided to send out an expeditionary corps to
+assist the revolted colonies in their struggle with Great
+Britain, Berthier, after serving in the infantry and cavalry,
+was employed as a staff captain with the army of Normandy.
+Eager to see active service, he at once applied to be attached
+to the expedition, and offered, if there was no room for an
+extra captain, to resign his rank and serve as sub-lieutenant.
+Thanks to powerful family influence and to his record of
+service his desire was gratified, and in January, 1781, he
+found himself with the French troops in America employed
+on the staff of General Count de Rochambeau. Returning
+from America in 1783 with a well-earned reputation for
+bravery and ability, Captain Berthier was one of the officers
+sent to Prussia under the Marquis de Custine to study the
+military organisation of the great Frederick. Continuously<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span>
+employed on the staff, he had the advantage of serving as
+brigade major at the great camp of instruction held at Saint
+Omer in 1788, and in that year received as a reward for his
+services the cross of Saint Louis. The year 1789 saw him
+gazetted lieutenant-colonel, and chief of the staff to Baron
+de Besenval, commanding the troops round Paris.</p>
+
+<p>When, after the capture of the Bastille, Lafayette undertook
+the work of organising the National Guard, he at once
+bethought him of his old comrade of American days,
+and appointed Berthier assistant quartermaster-general.
+Berthier found the post well suited to him; inspired by the
+liberal ideas which he had gained in America, he threw himself
+heart and soul into the work. Soon his talent as an
+organiser became widely recognised; many prominent
+officers applied to have him attached to their command, and,
+after holding several staff appointments, he was entrusted in
+1791 with the organisation and instruction of the thirty battalions
+of volunteers cantonned between the Somme and
+Meuse. When war broke out in 1792 he was despatched as
+major-general and chief of the staff to his old friend Rochambeau,
+and when the Count resigned his command Berthier
+was specially retained by Rochambeau's successor, Luckner.
+But the Revolution, while giving him his chance, nearly
+brought about his fall. His intimate connection with the
+nobles of the old royal army, his courage in protecting the
+King's aunts, and his family connections caused him to
+become "suspect." It was in vain that the leaders at the
+front complained of the absolute disorder in their forces, of
+the necessity of more trained staff officers and of their desire
+for the services of the brilliant soldier who had gained his experience
+in war time in America and in peace time in Prussia.
+In vain Custine wrote to the Minister of War, "In the name
+of the Republic send Berthier to me to help me in my difficulties,"
+in vain the Commissioners with the army reported
+that "Berthier has gained the esteem and confidence of all
+good patriots." Vain also was the valour and ability he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span>
+showed in the campaign against the Royalists in La Vendée.
+Bouchotte, the incapable, the friend of the brutish, blockheaded
+Hébert, the insulter of the Queen, the destroyer of
+the army, decreed that his loyalty to the Republic was not
+sincere, and by a stroke of the pen dismissed him; thus
+during the whole of the year 1793 the French army was
+deprived of the service of an officer who, owing to his powers
+of organisation, was worth fifty thousand of the butcher
+generals.</p>
+
+<p>In 1795, with the fall of the Jacobins, Berthier was
+restored to his rank and sent as chief of the staff to
+Kellermann, commanding the Army of the Alps, and before
+the end of the year the staff work of Kellermann's army
+became the pattern for all the armies of the Republic.
+When in March, 1796, Bonaparte was appointed commander
+of the Army of Italy, he at once requisitioned
+Berthier as the chief of the staff, and from that day till
+April, 1814, Berthier seldom if ever left the future Emperor's
+side, serving him with a patience and cheerfulness which
+neither ill-will nor neglect seemed to disturb. Though over
+forty-two years of age and sixteen years older than his new
+chief, the chief of the staff was still in the prime of his
+manhood. Short, thick-set and athletic, his frame proclaimed
+his immense physical strength, while his strong alert face
+under a mass of thick curly hair foretold at a glance his
+mental capacity.</p>
+
+<p>A keen sportsman, in peace he spent all his leisure in the
+chase. Hard exercise and feats of physical endurance were
+his delight. Fatigue he never knew, and on one occasion
+he was said to have spent thirteen days and nights in the
+saddle. To strangers and officials he was silent and stern,
+but his aloofness of manner hid a warm heart and a natural
+sincerity, and many a poor officer or returned émigré
+received secret help from his purse. Though naturally of
+a strong character, his affection and respect for his great
+commander became the dominating note in his career; in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span>
+fact, it might almost be said that, in later years, his personality
+became merged to such an extent in that of Napoleon
+that he was unable to see the actions of the Emperor in
+their proper perspective. From their first meeting Bonaparte
+correctly guessed the impression he had made on his
+new staff officer, and aimed at increasing his influence over
+him. Meanwhile he was delighted with him, he wrote
+to the Directory, "Berthier has talents, activity, courage,
+character&mdash;all in his favour." Berthier on his side was well
+satisfied; as he said to a friend who asked him how he could
+serve a man with such a temper, "Remember that one day
+it will be a fine thing to be second to Bonaparte." So the
+two worked admirably together.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<a href="images/fp004-hi.jpg"><img src="images/fp004.jpg" width="454" height="600" alt="ALEXANDRE BERTHIER, PRINCE OF WAGRAM
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY PAJOU FILS" title="" id="fp004"/></a><br />
+<span class="caption">ALEXANDRE BERTHIER, PRINCE OF WAGRAM<br />
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY PAJOU FILS</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Bonaparte kept in his own hands the movement of
+troops, the direction of skirmishes and battles, commissariat,
+discipline, and all communications from the Government.
+Berthier had a free hand in the organisation and
+maintenance of the general staff, the headquarter staff,
+and the transmission of orders, subject to inspection by
+Bonaparte; he also had to throw into written form all
+verbal orders, and he alone was responsible for their
+promulgation and execution. It was his ability to work
+out in detail and to reduce into clear, lucid orders the
+slightest hint of his commander which, as Napoleon said
+later, "was the great merit of Berthier, and was of inestimable
+importance to me. No other could possibly have
+replaced him." Thanks to Berthier's admirable system,
+Bonaparte was kept in touch with every part of his command.
+One of the first principles laid down in the staff
+regulations was, "That it was vital to the good of the
+service that the correspondence of the army should be
+exceedingly swift and regular, that nothing should be
+neglected which might contribute to this end." To ensure
+regularity of communication, divisional commanders and
+officers detached in command of small columns were ordered
+to report at least twice a day to headquarters. With each<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span>
+division, in addition to the divisional staff, there were
+officers detached from the headquarters staff. All important
+despatches had to be sent in duplicate; in times of great
+danger commanding officers had to send as many as eight
+different orderly officers each with a copy of despatches.</p>
+
+<p>But it was not only as an organiser and transmitter of
+orders that Berthier proved his usefulness to his chief. At
+Lodi he showed his personal courage and bravery among
+the band of heroes who forced the bridge, and Bonaparte
+paid him a fine tribute when he wrote in his despatches,
+"If I were bound to mention all the soldiers who distinguished
+themselves on that wonderful day, I should be
+obliged to mention all the carabiniers and grenadiers of the
+advance guard, and nearly all the officers of the staff; but
+I must not forget the courageous Berthier, who on that day
+played the part of gunner, trooper, and grenadier." At
+Rivoli, in addition to his staff duties, Berthier commanded
+the centre of the army, and fought with a stubbornness
+beyond all praise. By the end of the campaign of 1796 he
+had proved that he was as great a chief of the staff as
+Bonaparte was a great commander. Doubtless it is true
+that before the commencement of a campaign an army
+possesses in itself the causes of its future victory or defeat,
+and the Army of Italy, with its masses of enthusiastic
+veterans and the directing genius of Bonaparte, was bound
+to defeat the Austrians with their listless men and incompetent
+old generals; but, without the zeal, activity, and
+devotion which Berthier transfused through the whole of
+the general staff, success could not have been so sudden
+or so complete.</p>
+
+<p>After Leoben the conqueror of Italy employed his trusty
+friend on numerous diplomatic missions in connection
+with the annexation of Corfu and the government of the
+Cisalpine republic. Meanwhile he was in close communication
+with him in regard to the proposed descent
+on England and the possible expedition to the East. To<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>
+Berthier, if to any one, Bonaparte entrusted his secret
+designs, for he knew that he could do so in safety. Accordingly,
+in 1798, finding an invasion of England impossible
+at the moment, he persuaded the Directory to send
+Berthier to Italy as commander-in-chief, his object being
+to place him in a position to gather funds for the Egyptian
+expedition. From Italy Berthier sent his former commander
+the most minute description of everything of
+importance, but he found the task difficult and uncongenial,
+and prayed him "to recall me promptly. I much prefer
+being your aide-de-camp to being commander-in-chief
+here." Still he carried out his orders and marched on
+Rome, to place the eight million francs' worth of diamonds
+wrung from the Pope to the credit of the army. From
+Rome he returned with coffers well filled for the Egyptian
+expedition, but leaving behind him an army half-mutinous
+for want of pay; his blind devotion to Bonaparte hid this
+incongruity from his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>As in Italy in 1795 so in Egypt, Berthier was Bonaparte's
+right-hand man, methodical, indefatigable, and trustworthy.
+But even his iron frame could scarcely withstand the strain
+of three years' continuous active service, the incessant
+office work day and night, and the trials of an unaccustomed
+climate. After the battle of the Pyramids he
+fell sick, and before the Syrian expedition, applied to return
+to France. Unkind friends hinted that he longed for his
+mistress, Madame Visconti, but Bonaparte, knowing that it
+was not this but sheer overstrain which had caused his
+breakdown in health, gave him the desired leave and made
+all arrangements for his journey home. However, at the
+moment of departure Berthier's love for his chief overcame
+his longing for rest, and, in spite of ill-health, he withdrew
+his resignation and set out with the army for Syria. As
+ever, he found plenty of work, for even in the face of the
+ill-success of the expedition, Bonaparte determined to
+administer Egypt as if the French occupation was to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span>
+for ever permanent; and Berthier, in addition to his
+ordinary work, was ordered to edit a carefully executed
+map from the complete survey which was being made of
+the country.</p>
+
+<p>It was to Berthier that Bonaparte first divulged his intention
+of leaving Egypt and returning to France, and his
+determination to upset the Directory. Liberal by nature,
+but essentially a man of method and a disciplinarian, the
+chief of the staff was quite in accord with his commander's
+ideas on the regeneration of France, and loyally supported
+him during the <i>coup d'état</i> of the 18th Brumaire. Thereafter
+the First Consul appointed his friend Minister of War,
+a position that gave full scope to his talents. All the
+administrative services had at once to be reorganised, the
+frontier fortresses garrisoned and placed in a state of
+defence, and the army covering the frontiers supplied with
+food, pay, equipment, and reinforcements, while the formation
+of the secret Army of Reserve was a task which alone
+would have occupied all the attention of an ordinary man;
+in fact, the safety of France hung on this army. Consequently,
+since, by the constitution, the First Consul was
+unable himself to take command in the field, in April, 1800,
+he transferred Berthier from the War Office to the head of
+this most important force. It is not generally known that
+the idea of the passage of the Alps by the St. Bernard
+Pass actually originated with Berthier, and had first been
+projected by him as early as 1795. So it was at the execution
+of what was really his own idea that for two
+months Berthier slaved. At times even his stout heart
+quailed, as when he wrote to the First Consul, "It is my
+duty to complain of the position of this army on which you
+have justly spent so much interest, and which is paralysed
+because it can only rely on its bayonets, on account of the
+lack of ammunition and means to transport the artillery."
+Incessant work and toil were at last rewarded; but when the
+Army of the Reserve debouched on the Austrian lines of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>
+communication, the First Consul appeared in person, and,
+though nominally in command, Berthier once again resumed
+his position of chief of the staff. Without a murmur
+he allowed Bonaparte to reap all the glory of Marengo, for
+he knew that without the First Consul, however excellent
+his own dispositions were, they would have been lacking in
+the driving power which alone teaches men how to seize
+on victory. After Marengo, Berthier was despatched as
+Ambassador Extraordinary to Madrid, "to exhort Spain by
+every possible means to declare war on Portugal, the ally
+of England." The result of this mission was eminently
+successful; a special treaty was drawn up and Spain sold
+Louisiana to France. By October the ambassador was
+once again back in Paris at his old post of Minister of War&mdash;a
+post which he held continuously during peace and war
+till August, 1807. The position was no light one, for even
+during the short years of peace it involved the supervision
+of the expedition to San Domingo, the defence of Italy, the
+reorganisation of the army, and the re-armament of the
+artillery, in addition to the ordinary routine of official work.
+Moreover, the foundations of the Consulate being based on
+the army, it was essential that the army should be efficient
+and content, and consequently the French soldier of that
+day was not, as in other countries, neglected in peace time.
+The officers in command of the troops were constantly
+reminded by the War Minister that "the French soldier is
+a citizen placed under military law"&mdash;not an outcast or
+serf, whose well-being and comfort concern no one.</p>
+
+<p>On the establishment of the Empire Berthier, like
+many another, received the reward for his faithfulness to
+Napoleon. Honours were showered upon him. The
+first to receive the Marshal's bâton, he was in succession
+created senator by right as a dignitary of the Empire, grand
+officer of the palace and grand huntsman to the crown,
+while at the coronation he carried the imperial globe. But
+though the Emperor thus honoured, and treated him as his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span>
+most trustworthy confidant, the cares of state to some
+extent withdrew Napoleon from close intimacy with his old
+companion. At the same time the Marshal was insensibly
+separated from his former comrades-in-arms by his high
+rank and employment, which, while it tended to make him
+more the servant than the friend of the Emperor, also
+caused him to be regarded as a superior to be obeyed by
+those who were formerly his equals. At all times a strict
+disciplinarian, and one who never passed over a breach of
+orders, the Marshal, as voicing the commands of the
+Emperor, gradually began to assume a stern attitude to
+all subordinates, and spared neither princes or marshals,
+when he considered that the good of the service required
+that they should be reprimanded and shown their duty.
+So strong was the sense of subordination in the army and
+the desire to stand well with Napoleon, that even the fiery
+Murat paid attention to orders and reprimands signed by
+Berthier in the name of the Emperor.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the work of the War Minister increased day by
+day. The organisation and supervision of the Army of the
+Ocean added considerably to his work, which was much
+interfered with by visits of inspection in company with the
+Emperor, or far-distant expeditions to the frontiers and
+to Italy for the coronation at Milan.</p>
+
+<p>On August 3rd, 1805, the Emperor created the Marshal
+major-general and chief of the staff to the Army of the
+Ocean, and himself assumed command of the Army and
+held a grand review of one hundred thousand men. Everybody
+thought that the moment for the invasion of England
+had arrived. Berthier, and perhaps Talleyrand, alone knew
+that Austria, not England, was the immediate quarry, and
+all through August the major-general was busy working
+out the routes for the concentration of the various corps in
+the valley of the Danube; whilst at the same time as War
+Minister he was responsible for the supervision of all the
+troops left in France and in garrison in Italy, Belgium,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>
+Holland, and Hanover. Consequently he had to divide his
+staff into two sections, one of which he took with him into
+the field, the other remaining in Paris under an assistant
+who was capable of managing the ordinary routine, but
+who had to forward all difficult problems to the War
+Minister in the field. Even during the drive to the frontier
+there was no abatement of the strain; during the journey
+the Emperor would give orders which had to be expanded
+and written out in the short stoppages for food and rest.
+By day the major-general travelled in the Emperor's
+carriage; at night he always slept under the same roof
+with him, to be ready at any moment, in full uniform, to
+receive his commands and expand and dictate them to his
+clerks. Everyone knew when the major-general was
+worried, for he had a habit of biting his nails when making
+a decision or trying to solve a problem, but otherwise he
+never showed any sign of feeling, and whether tired or
+troubled by the Emperor's occasional outbursts of temper,
+he went on with his work with the methodical precision
+of an automaton. To belong to the general staff when
+Berthier was major-general was no bed of roses, no place
+for gilded youth, for with Napoleon commanding and
+Berthier directing, if there was often fighting there was
+plenty of writing; if there was galloping on horseback by
+day, to make up for it by night there were hours of steady
+copying of orders and no chance of laying down the pen
+until all business was finished. Thanks to this excellent
+staff work, Napoleon's ambitious plans were faithfully
+accomplished, the Austrians were completely taken in by
+the demonstration in the Black Forest, the French columns
+stepped astride of their communications on the Danube,
+and Mack was forced to surrender at Ulm. But Ulm
+was only the commencement of the campaign, and even
+after Austerlitz Napoleon pursued the enemy with grim
+resolution. This was one of the secrets of his success, for,
+as Berthier wrote to Soult, "The Emperor's opinion is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>
+that in war nothing is really achieved as long as there
+remains something to achieve; a victory is not complete as
+long as greater success can still be gained."</p>
+
+<p>After the treaty of Pressburg, on December 27, 1805,
+Napoleon quitted the army and returned to Paris, leaving
+the major-general in command of the Grand Army with
+orders to evacuate the conquered territory when the terms
+of the treaty had been carried out by the Austrians; but the
+Emperor retained the real control, and every day a courier
+had to be despatched to Paris with a detailed account of
+every event, and every day a courier arrived from Paris
+bearing fresh orders and instructions. For Napoleon
+refused to allow the slightest deviation from his orders:
+"Keep strictly to the orders I give you," he wrote; "execute
+punctually your instructions. I alone know what I want
+done." Meanwhile the major-general was still War Minister
+and had to supervise all the more important business of the
+War Office; while he also found time to edit an official
+history of the campaign of 1805, and to superintend the
+execution of a map of most of the Austrian possessions.
+The work was immense, but Berthier never flagged, and
+the Emperor showed his appreciation of his zeal when
+on March 30th, 1806, he conferred on him the principality of
+Neuchâtel with the title of Prince and Duke, to hold in
+full possession and suzerainty for himself, his heirs and
+successors, with one stipulation, that he should marry.
+He added that the Prince's passion for Madame Visconti
+had lasted too long, that it was not becoming to a dignitary
+of the Empire, and that he was now fifty years old and
+ought to think of providing an heir to his honours. The
+Prince Marshal never had time to visit personally his
+principality, but he sent one of his intimate friends, General
+Dutaillis, to provide for the welfare of his new subjects,
+and to the best of his ability he saw that they were well
+governed, while a battalion of picked troops from Neuchâtel
+was added to the Imperial Guard. But, orders or no orders,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>
+the Prince could never break himself free from the trammels
+of his mistress, and Napoleon gave him but little leisure in
+which to find a congenial partner, so that it was not till
+after Tilsit, in the brief pause before the Peninsular War,
+that Berthier at last took a wife. His chosen Princess was
+Elizabeth, the daughter of William, Duke of Bavaria,
+brother of the King. She was married with all due
+solemnity in March, 1808, and though the exigencies of
+war gave her but little opportunity of seeing much of her
+husband, affection existed between them, as also between
+Berthier and his father-in-law, the Duke of Bavaria. All
+cause of difficulty was smoothed over by the fact that in
+time the Princess herself conceived an affection for Madame
+Visconti.</p>
+
+<p>By September, 1806, the Grand Army had evacuated
+Austria, and the Prince Marshal was hoping to return to
+Paris when suddenly he was informed by the Emperor of
+the probability of a campaign against Prussia. On the 23rd
+definite orders arrived indicating the points of assembly;
+by the next day detailed letters of instructions for every
+corps had been worked out and despatched by the headquarters
+staff. Napoleon himself arrived at Würzburg on
+October 2nd, and found his army concentrated, but
+deficient of supplies. At first his anger burst out against
+the chief of the staff, but a moment's reflection proved to
+him that there was not sufficient transport in Germany to
+mass both men and supplies in the time he had given, and
+he entirely exonerated Berthier, who by hard work contrived
+in three days to collect sufficient supplies to allow
+of the opening of the thirty days' campaign which
+commenced with Jena and ended by carrying the French
+troops across the Vistula. The fresh campaign in the
+spring of 1807 was attended by an additional difficulty,
+there existed no maps of the district, and the topographical
+department of the staff was worked off its legs in supplying
+this deficiency. Meanwhile, during the halt after Pultusk,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>
+the major-general was busy re-clothing and re-equipping
+the army and hurrying up reinforcements; while in
+addition to the work of the War Office he had to supervise
+the French forces in Italy and Naples. After Tilsit, as after
+Pressburg, Napoleon hurried back to France and left the
+Prince of Neuchâtel to arrange for the withdrawal of the
+Grand Army, and it was not till July 27th that Berthier at
+last returned to Paris.</p>
+
+<p>The Prince came back more than ever dazzled by the
+genius of the Emperor; not even Eylau had taught him
+that there were limits to his idol's powers. But with more
+than eight hundred thousand men on a war footing, with
+divisions and army corps scattered from the Atlantic to the
+Niemen, from Lübeck to Brindisi, it was impossible for one
+man to be at once chief of the staff and Minister of War.
+Accordingly, on August 9th the Emperor made General
+Clarke Minister of War, and, to show that this was no slight
+on his old friend, on the same day he created the Prince of
+Neuchâtel Vice-constable of France. For the next three
+months Berthier was able to enjoy his honours at his home
+at Grosbois, or in his honorary capacity at Fontainebleau,
+but in November the Emperor carried him off with him to
+Italy on a tour of inspection. During the whole of this
+holiday in Italy the Prince was busy elaborating the details
+of the coming campaign in Spain, and it was the Spanish
+trouble which cut short his honeymoon, for on April 2nd
+he had to start with the Emperor for Bayonne. From the
+outset the Prince warned the Emperor that the question of
+supplies lay at the root of all difficulties in Spain; but
+Napoleon clung to his idea that war should support war,
+and Berthier knew that it was hopeless to attempt to remove
+a fixed idea from his head, and, still believing in his omnipotence,
+he thought all would be well. Meanwhile, as the
+summer went on, it was not only Spain that occupied the
+Prince's attention, for the conquest of Denmark had to be
+arranged, and the passes in Silesia and Bohemia carefully<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>
+mapped, in view of hostilities with Prussia or Austria. Early
+in August Berthier was at Saint Cloud making arrangements
+to reinforce Davout in Silesia, owing to the growing
+hostility of Austria, when, on the 16th, arrived the news
+that Joseph had had to evacuate all the country west of the
+Ebro. But Napoleon and Berthier could not go to his help
+until after the imperial meeting at Erfurt in September.
+However, on reaching Spain, the magic of the Emperor's
+personality soon restored the vigour and prestige of the
+French arms. Still the Prince Marshal could not hide from
+himself that all was not as it used to be; Napoleon's temper
+was more uncertain, and the Marshals, smarting under
+reprimands, were not pulling together. When the Emperor
+returned to France, after having missed "the opportunity
+of giving the English a good lesson," he left Berthier
+behind for a fortnight "to be sure that King Joseph had a
+proper understanding of everything." But trouble was
+bound to come, for the Emperor himself was breaking his
+own canon of the importance of "the unity of command"
+by nominally leaving Joseph in control of all the troops in
+Spain, but at the same time making the Marshals responsible
+to himself through the major-general.</p>
+
+<p>In 1809 Napoleon made another grave mistake. He had
+calculated that Austria could make no forward movement
+before April 15th, and accordingly he sent Berthier early in
+March to take temporary command of the Grand Army,
+with instructions to order Davout to concentrate at Ratisbon
+and Masséna at Augsburg. His idea was that there would
+be ample time later to order a concentration on either wing
+or on the centre. But the Austrians were ready quite a
+fortnight before he had calculated. The major-general kept
+him well informed of every movement of the enemy, and
+pointed out the dangerous isolation of Davout. Still the
+Emperor did not believe the Austrian preparations were so
+forward; and a despatch from Paris, written on April 10th,
+which arrived at headquarters at Donauwörth on the 11th,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>
+ordered the major-general to retain Davout at Ratisbon and
+move his own headquarters there, "and that in spite of
+anything that may happen." Unfortunately, a semaphore
+despatch sent a few hours later, when Napoleon had really
+grasped the situation, went astray and never reached
+Berthier. The Prince of Neuchâtel understood as clearly
+as any one the dangerous position of Davout; the Duke
+of Eckmühl himself thought that the major-general was
+trying to spoil his career by laying him open to certain
+defeat; depression spread through all the French corps.
+But after years of blind devotion to his great chief Berthier
+could not steel himself to break distinct orders, emphasised
+as they were by the expression "in spite of whatever may
+happen," and a great catastrophe was only just averted by
+the arrival of Napoleon, who at once ordered Davout to
+withdraw and Masséna to advance. Berthier himself was
+visited by the full fury of the Emperor's anger. But the
+cloud soon passed, for Berthier was as indispensable as
+ever, and more so when, after the failure at Aspern-Essling,
+immense efforts had to be made to hurry up troops from
+every available source. At the end of the campaign the
+Emperor justly rewarded his lieutenant by creating him
+Prince of Wagram.</p>
+
+<p>Once again Napoleon left Berthier to arrange for the
+withdrawal of the army, and it was not till December 1st
+that the Prince of Wagram regained Paris and took up the
+threads of the Peninsular campaign. His stay there was
+short, for by the end of February he was back again in
+Vienna, this time not as major-general of a victorious army,
+but as Ambassador Extraordinary to claim the hand of the
+Archduchess Marie Louise for his master, the Emperor
+Napoleon, and to escort her to her new home. For the
+next two years the Prince remained at home at Grosbois or
+on duty at Fontainebleau, but in spite of great domestic
+happiness he was much worried by the terrible Spanish
+war. No one saw more clearly that every effort ought to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>
+be made to crush the English, but he was powerless to
+persuade the Emperor, and he had to endure to the full
+all the difficulties arising from breaking the "unity of
+command." No one understood better what hopeless
+difficulties would arise when Napoleon ordered him to
+write, "The King will command the army.... The
+Guard does not form part of the army." To add to these
+troubles, it became more and more evident that Germany
+was riddled with secret societies and that war with Russia
+was inevitable. So it was with a sigh of relief that in
+January, 1812, he received the order to turn his attention
+from Spain and resume his functions as major-general of
+the Grand Army. Not that he desired further active
+service; like many another of the Emperor's soldiers, he
+mistrusted the distant expedition to Russia, and feared for
+the honour and safety of France. Already in his sixtieth
+year, there was little he could gain personally from war.
+As he said to Napoleon, "What is the good of having given
+me an income of sixty thousand pounds a year in order to
+inflict on me the tortures of Tantalus? I shall die here
+with all this work. The simplest private is happier than I."
+The Emperor, knowing the attitude of many of his Marshals,
+and himself feeling the strain of this immense enterprise,
+was unusually irritable. Consequently relations at headquarters
+were often strained, and the Marshals were angry
+at the severe reprimands to which they were subjected. The
+controlling leaders being out of gear the machine did not
+run smoothly: there was nothing but friction and tension.
+The Marshals were inclined to attribute their disgrace to
+the ill-will of Berthier and not to the temper of Napoleon.
+Particularly was this the case with Davout, who since 1809
+had suspected that Berthier desired to ruin his reputation.
+Accordingly the Prince of Eckmühl set down the succession
+of reprimands which were hurled at his head to the
+machinations of the major-general, and not, as was the case,
+to Napoleon's jealousy of him, because people had prophesied<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>
+he would become King of Poland. This misunderstanding
+was most unfortunate, for it prevented Berthier from effecting
+a reconciliation between Davout and the Emperor. Hence
+Napoleon was driven more and more to trust to the advice
+of the rash, unstable King of Naples. The major-general's
+lot through the campaign was most miserable. Working
+day and night to supervise the organisation of the huge
+force of six hundred thousand men; mistrusted by his
+former comrades; blamed for every mishap by the Emperor,
+whatever the fault might be, he had to put up with
+the bitterest insults, and while working as no other man
+could work, to endure such taunts as, "Not only are you no
+good, but you are in the way." Everything that went wrong
+"was the fault of the general staff, which is so organised
+that it foresees nothing," whether it was the shortcomings
+of the contractors or the burning of their own magazines
+by the Russians. But what most moved Napoleon's anger
+against the chief of the staff was that Berthier, with "the
+parade states" before him, emphasising the enormous
+wastage of the army, constantly harped on the danger of
+pressing on to Moscow. So strained became the relations
+between them, that for the last part of the advance they
+no longer met at meals. But during the hours of the
+retreat the old friendship was resumed. Berthier bore no
+malice, and showed his bravery by himself opposing the
+enemy with musket and bayonet; and on one occasion,
+with Bessières, Murat, and Rapp, he saved the Emperor
+from a sotnia of Cossacks.</p>
+
+<p>When Napoleon quitted the army at Vilna he left the
+major-general behind to help the King of Naples to withdraw
+the remnant of the Grand Army. Marching on foot
+through the deep snow, with fingers and nose frostbitten, the
+sturdy old veteran of sixty endured the fatigue as well as the
+hardiest young men in their prime; and in addition to the
+physical fatigue of marching, had to carry out all the
+administrative work, and bear the moral responsibility for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>
+what remained of the army; for the King of Naples, thinking
+of nothing but how to save his own crown, when difficulties
+increased, followed the example of Napoleon and
+deserted his post. Thereon the major-general took on himself
+to nominate Prince Eugène as Murat's successor. But
+in the end his health gave way, and the Emperor himself
+wrote to Prince Eugène telling him to send the old warrior
+home.</p>
+
+<p>Berthier reached Paris on February 9th, much broken
+down in health; but his wonderful physique soon enabled
+him to regain his strength, and by the end of March he
+was once again hard at work helping the Emperor to
+extemporise an army. With his complete knowledge of this
+force, no one was more astonished than Berthier at the
+successes of Lützen and Bautzen, and no one more insistent
+in his advice to the Emperor to accept the terms of the
+Allies during the armistice; but he advised in vain. Then
+followed the terrible catastrophe of Leipzig, due undoubtedly
+to Berthier's dread of acting without the express orders of
+the Emperor. The engineer officer charged with preparing
+the line of retreat reported that the one bridge across the
+Elster was not sufficient. The major-general, knowing that
+the Emperor desired to hide any signs of retreat from the
+Allies, replied that he must await the Emperor's orders, so,
+when, after three days' fighting, the retreat could no longer
+be postponed, a catastrophe was inevitable.</p>
+
+<p>Yet, in spite of everything, the Emperor refused to
+acknowledge himself beaten, and by the commencement of
+1814 was once again ready to take the field, though by now
+the Allies had invaded France. Loyal as ever, Berthier
+worked his hardest; but he once again incurred the
+Emperor's anger by entreating him to accept the terms
+offered him at Châtillon. Still, when the end came and
+Napoleon abdicated, Berthier remained at his side, and it
+was only when the Emperor had released his Marshals from
+their allegiance that on April 11th he sent in his adhesion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>
+to the new government. When all save Macdonald had
+deserted the fallen Emperor, Berthier stayed on at Fontainebleau,
+directing the withdrawal of the remnants of the army,
+and making arrangements for the guard which was to
+accompany Napoleon to Elba. But though he remained
+with him until the day before he started for Elba, Berthier
+refused to share his exile, and at the time Napoleon was
+magnanimous enough to see that, owing to his age and the
+care of his children, he could not expect such a sacrifice.</p>
+
+<p>So far, the Prince had done all that honour and affection
+could demand of him. But, unfortunately for his fame,
+instead of withdrawing into private life, he listened to the
+prayers of his wife, who keenly felt the loss of her title of
+"Serene Princess." It was at her desire that he continued
+to frequent the Bourbon court and actually accepted the
+captaincy of one of the new companies of royal guards.
+This and the fact that, as senior of the Marshals, Berthier
+had led his fellow Marshals to meet the King at Compiègne,
+caused the Prince of Wagram to be regarded as a traitor
+by Napoleon and the Imperialists. Moreover, the Prince
+Marshal now saw in Napoleon the disturber of the peace of
+Europe, so when the Emperor suddenly returned from
+Elba he withdrew from France, and retired to Bamberg, in
+his father-in-law's dominions.</p>
+
+<p>It is commonly supposed that Berthier committed suicide,
+but the medical evidence shows that his fall was probably
+the result of giddiness arising from dyspepsia. It was on
+June 1st that the accident happened. He was watching a
+division of Russian troops passing through the town, and
+was much distressed by the sight, and heard to murmur,
+"My poor country!" Ever interested in soldiers, he got on
+a chair on the balcony before the nursery windows to get a
+better view of the troops, and while doing so lost his balance
+and fell to the ground.</p>
+
+<p>For the moment the tragic death of the Marshal was the
+talk of Europe, but only for the moment, for the fate of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>
+world was hanging on the issues of the great battle which
+was imminent in Belgium. If the Prince of Wagram had
+been there, it is more than conceivable that the scales would
+have fallen other than they did; for it was the indifferent
+staff work of Soult and the bad drafting of orders which
+lost the French the campaign. Of this, Napoleon was so
+firmly convinced that he never could efface it from his
+memory; again and again he was heard saying, "If
+Berthier had been here I should never have met this misfortune."
+The Emperor, in spite of the fact that in 1814 he
+had told Macdonald that Berthier could never return, was
+convinced that he would, and had told Rapp that he was
+certain he would come back to him. It was this failure to
+return which so embittered the fallen Emperor against the
+Prince of Wagram, and led to those cruel strictures on his
+character to which he gave vent at St. Helena. Moreover,
+Napoleon, so great in many things, was so jealous of his
+own glory that he could be mean beyond words. Even in
+the early years when he heard people praising Berthier's
+work in 1796, he told his secretary, Bourrienne, "As for
+Berthier, since you have been with me, you see what he is&mdash;he
+is a blockhead." At St. Helena, forgetting his old
+opinions, "Berthier has his talents, activity, courage,
+character&mdash;all in his favour." Forgetting that he himself
+had taught Berthier to be imperious, he derided his rather
+pompous manner, saying, "Nothing is so imperious as
+weakness which feels itself supported by strength. Look at
+women." Berthier, with his admirably lucid mind, great
+physique, methodical powers and ambition, would have
+made his name in any profession. He undoubtedly chose
+to be second to Napoleon; he served him with a fidelity
+that Napoleon himself could not understand, and he won
+his great commander's love and esteem in spite of the
+selfishness of the Corsican's nature. "I really cannot
+understand," said Napoleon to Talleyrand, "how a relation
+that has the appearance of friendship has established itself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>
+between Berthier and me. I do not indulge in useless
+sentiments, and Berthier is so uninteresting that I do not
+know why I should care about him at all, and yet when I
+think of it I really have some liking for him." "It is
+because he believes in you," said the former bishop and
+reader of men's souls. It was this belief in Napoleon which
+in time obsessed the Prince of Wagram's mind, which killed
+his own initiative and was responsible for his blunders in
+1809 and at Leipzig, and turned him into a machine which
+merely echoed the Emperor's commands. "Monsieur le
+Maréchal, the Emperor orders." "Monsieur, it is not me,
+it is the Emperor you ought to thank." These hackneyed
+phrases typified more than anything else the bounds of the
+career which the Marshal had deliberately marked out for
+himself. In Berthier's eyes it was no reproach, but a testimony
+to his own principles, "that he never gave an order,
+never wrote a despatch, which did not in some way emanate
+from Napoleon." It was this which, with some appearance
+of truth, pointing to his notable failures, allowed Napoleon
+to say of him at St. Helena, "His character was undecided,
+not strong enough for a commander-in-chief, but he
+possessed all the qualities of a good chief of the staff: a
+complete mastery of the map, great skill in reconnaissance,
+minute care in the despatch of orders, magnificent aptitude
+for presenting with the greatest simplicity the most complicated
+situation of an army."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="II" id="II"></a>II<br /><br />
+JOACHIM MURAT, MARSHAL, KING OF NAPLES</h2>
+
+
+<p>Stable-boy, seminarist, Marshal, King, Murat
+holds the unchallenged position of Prince of
+Gascons: petulant, persevering, ambitious and
+vain, he surpasses D'Artagnan himself in his overwhelming
+conceit. The third son of an innkeeper of La Bastide
+Fortunière in upper Quercy, Joachim Murat was born on
+March 25, 1767. From his earliest childhood Joachim was
+a horse-lover and a frequenter of the stables; but his
+parents had higher aims for their bright, smiling, intelligent
+darling, and destined him for the priesthood. The
+young seminarist was highly thought of by the preceptors
+at the College of Saint Michel at Cahors and the Lazarist
+Fathers at Toulouse; but neither priest nor mother had
+truly grasped his dashing character, and one February
+morning in 1787 Joachim slipped quietly out of the seminary
+doors and enlisted in the Chasseurs of the Ardennes,
+who were at the moment billeted in Toulouse. Two years
+later this promising recruit, having fallen foul of the military
+authorities, had to leave the service under a cloud. A post
+as draper's assistant was a poor exchange for the young
+soldier, who found the cavalry service of the royal army
+scarcely dashing enough, but the Revolution gave an outlet
+which Murat was quick to seize. For three years the future
+King harangued village audiences of Quercy on the iniquities
+of caste and the equality of all men; so that when, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>
+February, 1792, the Assembly called for volunteers for the
+"Garde Constitutionnelle" of Louis XVI., what better choice
+could the national guard of Montfaucon make than in nominating
+Joachim Murat, the handsome ex-sergeant of the
+Chasseurs of the Ardennes?</p>
+
+<p>In Paris, Joachim soon found that the royal road to
+success lay in denouncing loudly all superior officers of
+lack of patriotism. Soon there was no more brazen-voiced
+accuser than Murat. In the course of a year he worked his
+way out of the "Garde Constitutionnelle," and by April,
+1793, he had attained the rank of captain in the 12th
+Chasseurs. Meanwhile, he had been selected as aide-de-camp
+by General d'Ure de Molans. Having seen no
+service, he owed his appointment largely to his conceit
+and good looks. Blue-eyed, with an aquiline nose and
+smiling lips; with long chestnut curls falling over his well-poised
+head; endowed with great physical strength, shown
+in his strong, supple arms and in the long flat-thighed legs
+of a horseman, he appeared the most perfect type of the
+dare-devil, dashing cavalry soldier. The moderate republican
+general, d'Ure de Molans, was useful to him for a time, but
+the young Gascon saw that the days of the extremist were
+close at hand; accordingly, he allied himself with an adventurer
+called Landrieux, who was raising a body of
+cut-throats whose object was plunder, not fighting. The
+Convention, which had licensed Landrieux to raise this
+corps of patriotic defenders of the country, accepted his
+nomination of Murat as acting lieutenant-colonel. But
+they soon fell out, for Murat had the audacity to try and
+make these patriots fight instead of merely seeking plunder.
+The consequence of this quarrel was that, early in 1794, he
+found himself accused as a ci-devant noble. Imprisoned
+at Amiens, and brought before the Committee of Public
+Safety, in a fit of republican enthusiasm he changed his
+name to Marat. But this did not save him, and he
+owed his life to a deputation from his native Quercy,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span>
+which proved both his humble birth and his high republicanism.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<a href="images/fp024-hi.jpg"><img src="images/fp024.jpg" width="415" height="600" alt="JOACHIM MURAT, AFTERWARDS KING OF NAPLES
+FROM THE PAINTING BY GÉRARD AT VERSAILLES" title="" id="fp024"/></a><br />
+<span class="caption">JOACHIM MURAT, AFTERWARDS KING OF NAPLES<br />
+FROM THE PAINTING BY GÉRARD AT VERSAILLES</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>The 13th Vendémiaire was the turning-point in Murat's
+life, for on that day, for the first time, he came in contact
+with his future chief, the young General Bonaparte, and
+gained his attention by the masterly way he saved the guns
+at Sablons from the hands of the Royalists. The future
+Emperor ever knew when to reward merit, and on being
+appointed to command the army in Italy he at once selected
+him as his aide-de-camp. So far he had seen little or no
+war service. But the campaign of 1796 proved that Bonaparte's
+judgment was sound, for by the end of the year
+there was no longer any necessity for Murat to blow his
+own trumpet. In the short campaign against the Sardinians
+he showed his talent as a cavalry leader by his judgment
+in charges at Dego and Mondovi. He had no cause to
+grumble that he was not appreciated, for his general selected
+him to take to Paris the news of this victorious campaign
+and of the triumphant negotiations of Cherasco. He returned
+from Paris in May as brigadier-general, in time to
+take part in the crossing of the Mincio and to rob Kilmaine
+of some of his honours. The commander-in-chief still kept
+him attached to the headquarter staff, and constantly employed
+him on special service. His enterprises were
+numerous and varied&mdash;one week at Genoa on a special
+diplomatic mission, a week or two later leading a forlorn
+attack on the great fortress of Mantua, then commanding
+the right wing of the army covering the siege, he showed
+himself ever resourceful and daring. But during the
+autumn of 1796 he fell under the heavy displeasure of
+his chief, for at Milan and Montebello Josephine had
+shown too great favour to the young cavalry general.
+Murat accordingly had no scruples in intriguing with
+Barras against his chief. But his glorious conduct at
+Rivoli once again brought him back to favour, and Bonaparte
+entrusted him with an infantry brigade in the advance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>
+on Vienna, and later with a delicate independent mission
+in the Valtelline. But Murat, unlike Lannes, Marmont,
+and Duroc, was not yet indispensable to Bonaparte, and
+accordingly was left with the Army of Italy when the general
+returned in triumph to Paris. It was mainly owing to
+Masséna's enthusiastic report of his service in the Roman
+campaign, at the close of 1797, that he was selected as one
+of the supernumerary officers in the Egyptian expedition.</p>
+
+<p>So far, Murat had not yet been able to distinguish
+himself above his comrades-in-arms. Masséna, Augereau,
+Serurier, and Laharpe left him far in the rear, but Egypt
+was to give him the chance of proving his worth, and
+showing that he was not only a dashing officer, but a
+cavalry commander of the first rank. He led the cavalry
+of the advance guard in the march up the Nile, and was
+present at the battle of the Pyramids and the taking of
+Cairo. But so far the campaign, instead of bringing him
+fresh honours, nearly brought him disgrace; for he joined
+the party of grumblers, and was one of those who were
+addressed in the famous reprimand, "I know some generals
+are mutinous and preach revolt ... let them take care. I
+am as high above a general as above a drummer, and, if
+necessary, I will as soon have the one shot as the other."</p>
+
+<p>On July 27, 1798, Murat was appointed governor of the
+province of Kalioub, which lies north of Cairo; to keep
+order among his turbulent subjects his whole force consisted
+of a battalion of infantry, twenty-five cavalrymen,
+and a three-pounder gun. His governorship was only part
+of the work Bonaparte required of him, for he was constantly
+away organising and leading light columns by land
+or river, harrying the Arabs and disbanded Mamelukes,
+sweeping the country, collecting vast depôts of corn and
+cattle, remounting the cavalry&mdash;proving himself a past
+master in irregular warfare. So well did he do his work
+that the commander-in-chief selected him to command the
+whole of the cavalry in the Syrian expeditionary force.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>
+Thanks to his handling of his horsemen, the march through
+Palestine occasioned the French but little loss. During
+the siege of Acre he commanded the covering force, and
+pushed reconnaissances far and wide. So feared was his
+name that the whole Turkish army fled before him on the
+banks of the Jordan, and left their camp and immense
+booty in the hands of the French. But though he had
+thus destroyed the relieving force, Acre, victualled by the
+English fleet, still held out, and Bonaparte had to retreat to
+Egypt.</p>
+
+<p>It was at Aboukir that Murat consolidated his reputation
+as a great commander. The Turkish general had neglected
+to rest the right flank of his first line on the sea, and Murat,
+seizing his opportunity, fell on the unguarded flank with
+the full weight of his cavalry, and rolled the unfortunate
+Turks into the water. Thereafter, by the aid of a battery
+of artillery, the centre of the second line of the Turkish
+army was broken, and the French horse dashing into the
+gap, once again made short work of the enemy, and their
+leader captured with his own hands the Turkish commander.
+Bonaparte, in his despatch, did full justice to
+his subordinate. "The victory is mainly due to General
+Murat. I ask you to make him general of division: his
+brigade of cavalry has achieved the impossible." Murat
+himself was much distressed at being wounded in the
+face, as he feared it might destroy his good looks; however,
+he soon had the satisfaction of writing to his father:
+"The doctors tell me I shall not be in the least disfigured,
+so tell all the young ladies that even if Murat has lost some
+of his good looks, they won't find that he has lost any of
+his bravery in the war of love."</p>
+
+<p>His grumbles forgiven, Murat left Egypt among the chosen
+band of followers of whose fidelity Napoleon was assured;
+his special mission was to gain over the cavalry to the side of
+his chief. He it was who, with Leclerc, on the 18th Brumaire,
+forced his way into the Orangerie at the head of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>
+grenadiers and hurled out the deputies. The First Consul
+rewarded him amply, appointing him inspector of the
+Consular Guard, and, later still, in preference to his rival,
+Lannes, gave him in marriage his sister Caroline. Murat
+had met Caroline Bonaparte at Montebello during the
+Italian campaign of 1796, and had at once been struck
+by her beauty. Like many another cavalier, he had a
+flame in every country, or rather, in every town which
+he visited. But by 1799 the gay Gascon saw that it was
+time to finish sowing his wild oats, since destiny was
+offering him a chance which falls to the lot of few
+mortals. It was by now clear that the First Consul's
+star was in the ascendant. Already his family were reaping
+the fruits of his success. Ambition, pride and love were
+the cords of the net which drew the willing Murat to
+Caroline. As brother-in-law to the First Consul, Joachim
+felt secure against his bitter rival, Lannes. To add point
+to this success, he knew that the victor of Montebello
+was straining every nerve to gain this very prize. Moreover,
+Fortune herself favoured his suit. Bonaparte had offered
+the hand of Caroline to the great General Moreau, but
+the future victor of Hohenlinden refused to join himself
+to the Corsican triumph. To cover his confusion the
+First Consul was glad to give his sister's hand to one
+of his most gallant officers, especially as by so doing
+he once and for all removed the haunting fear of an
+intrigue between him and Josephine. Accordingly, on
+January 25, 1800, Murat and Caroline were pronounced
+man and wife in the temple of the canton of Plailly, by
+the president of the canton. Though Caroline only
+brought with her a dot of forty thousand francs, she stood
+for what was better still, immense possibilities.</p>
+
+<p>Murat's honeymoon was cut short by the Marengo
+campaign. In April he started, as lieutenant-general in
+command of the cavalry, to join the Army of the Reserve
+at Dijon. Once the corps of Lannes had, by the capture<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>
+of Ivrea, secured the opening into Italy, the cavalry
+were able to take up their rôle, and with irresistible weight
+they swept down the plains of Lombardy, forced the river
+crossings, and on June 2nd entered Milan. Thence the
+First Consul despatched his horsemen to seize Piacenza, the
+important bridge across the Po, the key of the Austrian
+lines of communication. Murat, with a few troops, crossed
+the river in some twenty small rowing-boats, and, dashing
+forward, captured the bridge head on the southern bank,
+and thus secured not only the peaceful crossing of his
+force, but the capture of the town and the immense
+Austrian depôts. At Marengo the cavalry acted in separate
+brigades, and the decisive stroke of the battle fell to the
+lot of the younger Kellermann, whose brilliant charge
+decided the day in favour of the French. The despatches
+only mentioned that "General Murat's clothes were riddled
+by bullets."</p>
+
+<p>So far Murat had always held subordinate commands;
+his great ambition was to become the commander-in-chief
+of an independent army. His wife, Caroline, and his
+sister-in-law, Josephine, were constant in their endeavours
+to gain this distinction for him from the First Consul. But
+it was not till the end of 1800 that they succeeded; and
+then only partially, for in December the lieutenant-general
+was appointed commander of a corps of observation, whose
+headquarters were at Milan, and whose duty was to
+overawe Tuscany and the Papal States. His campaign
+in central Italy is more noticeable for his endeavours to
+shake himself free from the control of General Brune, the
+commander-in-chief of the Army of Italy, than for any very
+brilliant man&oelig;uvres. Tuscany and the Papal States were
+easily conquered, and the King of Naples was only too glad
+to buy peace at Foligno. Italy lay at the feet of the French
+general, but what was most gratifying of all, after his
+successful negotiation with the King of Naples, the First
+Consul tacitly accepted the title which his brother-in-law<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>
+had assumed of commander-in-chief of the Army of Naples.
+Murat had the satisfaction of having under his orders
+Lieutenant-General Soult, three generals of division and four
+generals of brigade. For the moment his Gascon vanity
+was satiated, while his Gascon greed was appeased by
+substantial bribes from all the conquered countries of the
+Peninsula. The "commander-in-chief" was joined at Florence
+in May, 1801, by his wife, Caroline, and his young son,
+Achille, born in January, whom he found "charming,
+already possessed of two teeth." In the capital of Tuscany
+Murat gravely delivered to the inhabitants a historical
+lecture on their science, their civilisation, and the splendour
+of their state under the Medici. He spent the summer
+in visiting the watering-places of Italy. In August the
+First Consul raised him to the command of the troops of
+the Cisalpine Republic, and he retained this post for the
+next two years, and had his headquarters in Milan, making
+occasional expeditions to Paris and Rome, and on the
+whole content with his position, save for occasional
+quarrels with Melzi, the president of the Italian Republic.
+Their jurisdictions overlapped and the Gascon would play
+second fiddle to no one save to his great brother-in-law.</p>
+
+<p>In January, 1804, the First Consul recalled Murat to Paris,
+nominating him commandant of the troops of the first
+military division and of the National Guard, and Governor
+of the city. Bonaparte's object was not so much to
+please his brother-in-law as to strengthen himself. He
+was concentrating his own family, clan, and all his most
+faithful followers in readiness for the great event, the
+proclamation of the Empire. Men like Lannes, whose
+views were republican, were discreetly kept out of the way
+on foreign missions; but Murat, as Bonaparte knew, was a
+pliant tool. As early as 1802 he had hotly favoured the
+Concordat, and had had his marriage recelebrated by
+Cardinal Consalvi; and both Caroline and Joachim infinitely
+preferred being members of the imperial family<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>
+of the Emperor of the French to being merely relations
+of the successful general and First Consul of the French
+Republic. They were willing also to obey the future
+Emperor's commands, and to aid him socially by entertaining
+on a lavish scale, and their residence in Paris,
+the Hotel Thélusson, became the centre of gorgeous
+entertainments. While Murat strutted about in sky-blue
+overalls, covered with gold spangles, invented new uniforms,
+and bought expensive aigrettes for his busby, his
+wife showed her rococo taste by furnishing her drawing-room
+in red satin and gold, and her bedroom in
+rose-coloured satin and old point lace. They had their
+reward. Five days after the proclamation of the Empire,
+after a furious scene, Napoleon conceded the title of
+Imperial Highness to his sister with the bitter words:
+"To listen to you, people would think that I had robbed
+you of the heritage of the late King, our father."
+Meanwhile the Governor of Paris had received his
+Marshal's bâton, and in the following February was
+created senator, prince, and Grand Admiral of France.</p>
+
+<p>The rupture of the peace of Amiens did not affect
+the life of the Governor of Paris; for two years he enjoyed
+this office, with all its opportunities of ostentation and
+display. But in August, 1805, the approaching war with
+Austria caused the Emperor to summon his most brilliant
+cavalry leader to his side. In that month he despatched
+him, travelling incognito as Colonel Beaumont, to survey
+the military roads into Germany, and especially to study
+the converging roads round Würzburg, and the suitability
+of that town as an advance depôt for an army operating
+on the Danube. From Würzburg Murat travelled hurriedly
+through Nuremberg, Ratisbon, and Passau, as far as the
+river Inn, returning viâ Munich, Ulm, the Black Forest,
+and Strassburg. Immediately on his return the Emperor
+appointed him "Lieutenant of the Empire, and commandant
+in his absence" of all the troops cantonned along the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>
+Rhine, and of such corps of the Grand Army as reached
+that river before himself. When war actually broke out
+Murat's duty was to mask, with his cavalry in the Black
+Forest, the turning movement of the other corps of the
+Grand Army which were striking at the Austrian rear.
+Once the turning movement was completed the Prince
+was entrusted with the command of the left wing of
+the army, which included his own cavalry division and
+the corps of Lannes and Ney. Excellent as he was as
+cavalry commander in the field, Murat had no head for
+great combinations. Instead of profiting by the advice
+of those able soldiers, Lannes and Ney, he spent his time
+quarrelling with them. He accordingly kept his troops
+on the wrong side of the Danube, with the result that
+in spite of Ney's brilliant action at Elchingen, two divisions
+of the Austrians under the Archduke Ferdinand escaped
+from Ulm. Prince Murat, however, retrieved his error
+by his brilliant pursuit of the escaped Austrians, and by
+hard riding and fighting captured quite half of the Archduke's
+command.</p>
+
+<p>Impetuosity, perseverance, and dash are undoubtedly
+useful traits in the character of a cavalry commander, and
+of these he had his fair share. But his jealousy and vanity
+often led him astray. During the advance down the Danube,
+in his desire to gain the credit of capturing Vienna, he lost
+touch completely with the Russians and Austrians, who had
+retreated across the Danube at Krems, and he involved the
+Emperor in a dangerous position by leaving the unbeaten
+Russians on the flank of his line of communications. But
+the Prince quickly made amends for his rashness. The ruse
+by which he and Lannes captured the bridge below Vienna
+was discreditable no doubt from the point of view of
+morality. It was a direct lie to tell the Austrian commander
+that an armistice had been arranged and the bridge ceded
+to the French. But the fact remains that Murat saved the
+Emperor and the French army from the difficult and costly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>
+operation of crossing the broad Danube in the face of the
+Allies. A few days later the Prince's vanity postponed for
+some time the culminating blow, for although he had so
+successfully bluffed the enemy, he could not realise that
+they could deceive him, and believing their tales of an
+armistice, he allowed the Allies to escape from Napoleon's
+clutches at Hollabrünn. At Austerlitz the Prince Marshal
+covered himself with glory. In command of the left wing,
+ably backed by Lannes, he threw the whole weight of his
+cavalry on the Russians, demonstrating to the full the
+efficacy of a well-timed succession of charges on broken
+infantry, and giving a masterly lesson in the art of re-forming
+disorganised horsemen, by the use he made of the
+solid ranks of Lannes' infantry, from behind which he
+issued again and again in restored order, to fall on the
+shaken ranks of the enemy. At Austerlitz he was at his
+best. His old quarrel with Lannes was for the moment
+forgotten; his lieutenants, Nansouty, d'Hautpoul, and
+Sébastiani, were too far below him to cause him any
+jealousy. The action on the left was mainly one of
+cavalry, in which quickness of eye and decision were everything,
+where a fault could be retrieved by charging in
+person at the head of the staff, or by a few fierce words
+to a regiment slightly demoralised. Rapidity of action and
+a self-confidence which on the battlefield never felt itself
+beaten were the cause of Murat's success.</p>
+
+<p>It was the fixed policy of Napoleon to secure the Rhine
+valley, so that never again would it be possible for the
+Austrians to threaten France. To gain this end he originated
+the Confederation of the Rhine, grouping all the small Rhineland
+states in a confederation of which he himself was the
+Protector, and binding the rulers of the individual states to
+his dynasty, either by marriage or by rewards. As part of
+this scheme the Emperor allotted to Murat and Caroline the
+duchies of Cleves and Berg, welding them into one province
+under the title of the Grand Duchy of Berg. Thus the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>
+Gascon innkeeper's son became in 1806 Joachim, Prince
+and Grand Admiral of France, and Grand Duke of Berg.
+He gained this honour not as Murat, the brilliant cavalry
+general, but as Prince Joachim, the brother-in-law of the
+Emperor Napoleon. The Grand Duke and the Grand
+Duchess did not, however, reside long in their capital,
+Düsseldorf; they infinitely preferred Paris. In their eyes
+Berg was but a stepping-stone to higher things, a source
+of profit and a pretext for exalting themselves at the
+expense of their neighbours. The Grand Duke entrusted
+the interior management of the Duchy to his old friend
+Agar, who had served him well in Italy, and who later
+became Count of Mosburg. Any prosperity which the
+Grand Duke enjoyed was entirely due to the financial
+ability of Agar. Murat, however, kept foreign affairs in his
+own hands. As Foreign Minister, by simply taking what
+he wanted, he added considerably to the extent of his
+duchy. But, like all Napoleon's satellites, he constantly
+found his position humiliating, for in spite of his tears and
+prayers, he had continually to see his duchy sacrificed to
+France. It was no use to complain that Napoleon had
+taken away the fortress of Wesel, which had been handed
+over to the Grand Duchy by special treaty by the King of
+Prussia, for, as Queen Hortense wisely asked him, "Who
+had really made that treaty? Who had given him the
+duchy, the fortress, and everything?"</p>
+
+<p>In September, 1806, Murat's second and last visit to
+Düsseldorf was brought to an abrupt close by the opening
+of the Prussian campaign. On the eve of the battle of Jena
+his cavalry covered forty miles and arrived in time to give
+the enemy the coup-de-grâce on the following day, driving
+them in flight into Weimar. Then followed the famous
+pursuit across Prussia, in which Murat captured first-class
+fortresses with cavalry regiments, and divisions of infantry
+with squadrons of horse, and ended by seizing Blücher and
+the whole of the Prussian artillery on the shore of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>
+Baltic at Lübeck. But though his cavalry had thus wiped
+the Prussian army out of existence, the war dragged on,
+for, as in 1805, the Russians had entered the field. In
+November the Emperor despatched his brother-in-law to
+command the French corps which were massing round
+Warsaw. The Grand Duke read into this order the idea
+that he was destined to become the King of a revived
+Poland; accordingly he made a triumphant entry into
+Warsaw in a fantastic uniform, red leather boots, tunic of
+cloth of gold, sword-belt glittering with diamonds, and
+a huge busby of rich fur bedecked with costly plumes.
+The Poles greeted him with enthusiasm, and Murat
+hastened to write to the Emperor that "the Poles desired
+to become a nation under a foreign King, given them by
+your Majesty." While the Grand Duke dreamed of his
+Polish crown, the climate defeated the French troops, and
+when the Emperor arrived at the front the Prince had to
+lay aside his royal aspirations. But in spite of his disappointment
+he was still too much of a Frenchman and
+a soldier to allow his personal resentment to overcome his
+duty to his Emperor, and he continued to hope that by his
+daring and success he might still win his Polish crown. At
+Eylau he showed his customary bravery and his magnificent
+talent as a cavalry leader, when he saved the shattered corps
+of Augereau by a successful charge of over twelve thousand
+sabres. At the battle of Heilsberg the celebrated light
+cavalryman, Lasalle, saved his life, but a few minutes later
+the Grand Duke was able to cry quits by himself rescuing
+Lasalle from the midst of a Russian charge. Unfortunately
+for Murat, the prospective alliance with Russia once and for
+all compelled Napoleon to lay aside all thought of reviving
+the kingdom of Poland, and when the would-be King
+arrived with a Polish guard of honour and his fantastic
+uniform, he was met by the biting words of the Emperor:
+"Go and put on your proper uniform; you look like a clown."</p>
+
+<p>After Tilsit the disappointed Grand Duke returned to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>
+Paris, where his equally ambitious wife had been intriguing
+with Josephine, Talleyrand and Fouché to get her husband
+nominated Napoleon's successor, in case the accidents of
+the campaign should remove the Emperor. But Napoleon
+had no intention of dying without issue. Thanks to his
+brother-in-law's generosity, Murat was able to neglect his
+half-million subjects in Berg and spend his revenues right
+royally in Paris. But early in 1808 his ambition was once
+again inflamed by the hope of a crown&mdash;not a revived kingship
+in Poland, but the ancient sceptre of Spain. Napoleon
+had decided that the Pyrenees should no longer exist, and
+that Portugal and Spain should become French provinces
+ruled by puppets of his own. Junot already held Portugal;
+it seemed as if it needed but a vigorous movement to oust
+the Bourbons from Madrid. Family quarrels had already
+caused a revolution in Spain. Charles had fled the kingdom,
+leaving the throne to his son Ferdinand. Both had
+appealed to Napoleon; consequently there was a decent
+pretext for sending a French army into Spain. On February
+25th Murat was despatched at a few hours' notice, with
+orders to take over the supreme command of all the French
+corps which were concentrating in Spain, to seize the
+fortresses of Pampeluna and St. Sebastian, and to advance
+with all speed on Madrid, but he was given no clue as to
+what the Emperor's ulterior object might be. He was
+ordered, however, to keep the Emperor daily informed of
+the state of public opinion in Spain. Prince Joachim very
+soon perceived that King Charles was rejected by everybody,
+that the Prime Minister, the Prince of Peace, was
+extremely unpopular, and that Ferdinand was weak and
+irresolute: it seemed as if he would follow the example of
+the King of Portugal, and would flee to the colonies when
+the French army approached his capital. The only disquieting
+feature of the situation was the constant annihilation
+of small parties of French soldiers and the brutal
+murder of all stragglers. On March 23rd the French army<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>
+entered Madrid. All was tranquil. Meanwhile the ex-King
+Charles had retired to Bayonne, and, by the orders of the
+Emperor, the Prince of Peace was sent there also, whereupon
+King Ferdinand, fearing that Napoleon might take
+his father's part, hurried off to France. At Bayonne both
+the claimants to the Spanish throne surrendered their rights
+to the Emperor, while at Madrid, Murat, hoping against
+hope, played the royal part and kept the inhabitants quiet
+with bull-fights and magnificent fêtes. So far the Spaniards,
+though restless, were waiting to see whether the French
+were friends, as they protested, or in reality stealthy foes.
+The crisis came on May 2nd, when the French troops were
+compelled to evacuate Madrid on account of the fury of
+the populace at the attempted abduction of the little Prince,
+Don Francisco. Murat showed to the full his indomitable
+courage, fighting fiercely, not only for his Emperor, but
+for the crown which he thought was his. Bitter indeed
+were his feelings when he received a letter dated that fatal
+day, May 2nd, informing him that Joseph was to be King
+of Spain, and that he might choose either Portugal or
+Naples as his kingdom. In floods of tears he accepted
+Naples, but so cruel was the blow that his health gave way,
+and instead of hurrying off to his new kingdom he had to
+spend the summer drinking the waters at Barèges; his
+sensitive Gascon feelings had completely broken down
+under the disappointment, and, for the time being, he was
+physically and morally a wreck.</p>
+
+<p>Murat was in no hurry to commence his reign, and his
+subjects showed no great anxiety to see their new ruler.
+But when King Joachim Napoleon, to give him his new
+title, arrived at Naples he was received with unexpected
+warmth. The new monarch, with his striking personality
+and good looks, at once captivated the hearts of his fickle
+Southern subjects. Joseph had been prudent and cold,
+Joachim was ostentatious and fiery. The Neapolitans had
+never really cared for their Bourbon sovereigns. Some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>
+of the noblesse had from interest clung to the old dynasty,
+but the greater part of the nobility cared little who ruled
+them so long as their privileges were not interfered with.
+Among the middle class there was a strong party which
+had accepted the doctrines of the French Revolution. The
+lower class were idle and lazy, and willing to serve any
+sovereign who appealed to them by ostentation. The
+people who really held the key of the hearts of the mass
+of the population were the clergy. Joseph, with his liberal
+ideas, had attempted to free the people from clerical
+thraldom. Joachim, however, with his Southern instincts,
+refused to deny himself the use of such a powerful lever,
+and quickly ingratiated himself with his new subjects.
+From the moment that he arrived at Naples the new King
+determined, if not to rule Naples for the Neapolitans, at
+least, by pretending to do so, to rule Naples for himself and
+not for Napoleon. It is not, therefore, surprising that
+before the close of the year 1808 friction arose, which
+was further increased by the intrigues of Talleyrand and
+Fouché. These ministers, firmly convinced that Napoleon
+would never return from the Spanish war, had decided that
+in the event of his death they would declare Murat his
+successor rather than establish a regency for the young son
+of Louis Napoleon, the King of Holland.</p>
+
+<p>In pursuance of the plan of winning his subjects'
+affections Joachim had at once called to his aid Agar,
+who had so successfully managed the finances of the Grand
+Duchy of Berg. The difficulties of finance in Naples were
+very great, and with Agar the King had to associate the
+subtle Corsican, Salicetti, who had so powerfully contributed
+to the rise of Napoleon. Taxation in Naples
+was heavy, for the Neapolitans had to find the money for
+the war with their old dynasty, which was threatening them
+from Sicily, aided by the English fleet. To secure the
+kingdom against the Sicilians and English, a large
+Neapolitan army of thirty thousand troops had to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>
+maintained along with an auxiliary force of ten thousand
+French. Moreover, the Neapolitans had to pay for having
+a King like Joachim and a Queen Consort like Caroline.
+The royal household alone required 1,395,000 ducats per
+annum. To meet this heavy expense the ministers had
+to devise all sorts of expedients to raise money. Regular
+taxation, monopolies, mortgages, and loans barely sufficed
+to provide for the budget. Still the King managed to retain
+his popularity, and in his own way attempted to ameliorate
+the lot of his subjects. He introduced the Code Napoleon.
+He founded a military college, an artillery and engineer
+college, a naval college, a civil engineer college and a
+polytechnic school. He also instituted primary schools
+in every commune, and started an École Normale for
+the training of teachers. He expanded the staff of the
+University and established an Observatory and Botanical
+Garden at Naples. He attempted to conciliate the Neapolitan
+noblesse by gradually dismissing his French ministers
+and officers and appointing Neapolitan nobles in their place.
+At the same time he abolished feudal dues and customs.
+He also attempted to develop industries by giving them
+protection. Above all, by the strict measures of his
+minister Manhes he established peace in the interior by
+breaking down the organised system of the freebooters
+and robbers. As time went on he found that the clergy
+and monks were too heavy a burden for his kingdom
+to bear, and, at the expense of his popularity, he had to cut
+down the numbers of the dioceses and parishes and abolish
+the religious orders.</p>
+
+<p>From the first the new King grasped the fact that his
+kingdom would always be heavily taxed, and his throne
+insecure as long as the Bourbons, backed by the English,
+held Sicily. His plan of campaign, therefore, was to drive
+his enemy out of the smaller islands, and thereafter to
+demand the aid of French troops and make a determined
+effort against Sicily. In October, 1808, by a well-planned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>
+expedition, he captured the island of Capri, and caused the
+English commander, Sir Hudson Lowe, to capitulate. It
+was not till the autumn of 1810, however, that he was ready
+for the great expedition. Relying on the traditional hatred
+of the people of Messina for the Bourbons, he collected
+a strong force on the Straits, and waited till the moment
+when, after a gale, the English fleet had not yet arrived from
+the roads of Messina. On the evening of September 17th
+he sent away his advance guard of two thousand men in
+eighty small boats. Cavaignac, the commander of this
+force, secured the important villages of Santo Stefano and
+Santo Paolo. But at the critical moment the commander
+of the French division, acting according to the Emperor's
+orders, refused to allow his troops to cross. Before fresh
+arrangements could be made the English fleet reappeared
+on the scene, and Cavaignac and his force were thus
+sacrificed for no purpose. Joachim, as time showed, never
+forgave the Emperor for the failure of his cherished
+plan.</p>
+
+<p>By the commencement of 1812, the coming Russian
+campaign overshadowed all other questions. Murat, who
+had earnestly begged to be allowed to share the Austrian
+campaign of 1809, was delighted to serve in person. But
+as King of Naples he refused to send a division of ten
+thousand men to reinforce the Grand Army, "as a Frenchman
+and a soldier he declared himself to the core a subject
+of the Emperor, but as King of Naples he aspired to
+perfect independence." It was this double attitude which,
+from the moment Murat became King, clouded the relations
+between him and Napoleon. But nevertheless, once
+he rejoined the Emperor at Dantzig, he laid aside all
+his royal aspirations and became the faithful dashing leader
+of cavalry.</p>
+
+<p>During the advance on Moscow the cavalry suffered
+terribly from the difficulties of constant reconnaissances and
+want of supplies, but in spite of this Murat urged the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span>
+Emperor not to halt at Smolensk, but to push on, as he
+believed the Russians were becoming demoralised. Scarce
+a day passed without some engagement in which the King
+of Naples showed his audacity and his talent as a leader.
+Notwithstanding, Napoleon, angry at the constant escape
+of the Russians, declared that if Murat had only pursued
+Bagration in Lithuania he would not have escaped. This
+reproach spurred on the King of Naples to even greater
+deeds of bravery, and so well was his figure known to the
+enemy that the Cossacks constantly greeted him with cries
+of "Hurrah, hurrah, Murat!" At the battle of Moskowa
+he and Ney completely overthrew the Russians, and if
+Napoleon had flung the Guard into the action, the Russian
+army would have been annihilated. In spite of the losses
+during the campaign, when the French evacuated Moscow
+Murat had still ten thousand mounted troops, but by
+the time the army had reached the Beresina there remained
+only eighteen hundred troopers with horses. When the
+Emperor deserted the Grand Army, he left the King of
+Naples in command, with orders to rally the army at Vilna.
+But Murat saw that it was impossible to re-form the army
+there, and accordingly ordered a retirement across the
+Niemen, a line which he soon found it was impossible to
+hold. On January 10, 1813, came the news that the
+Prussians had actually gone over to the enemy. It seemed
+as if Napoleon was lost, and Murat thereupon at once
+deserted the army, and set out in all haste for Italy,
+thinking only of how to save his crown.</p>
+
+<p>The King arrived in Naples bent on maintaining his
+crown and on allowing no interference from the Emperor.
+But in spite of this he could not decide on any definite line
+of action. He was afraid the English and Russians would
+invade his country, but on the other hand his old affection
+for Napoleon, and a sort of sneaking belief in his ultimate
+success, prevented him from listening to the insidious
+advice of the Austrian envoy, whom the far-seeing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>
+Metternich had at once sent to Naples. If Napoleon had
+not in his despatch glorified Prince Eugène's conduct to
+the disparagement of the King of Naples, if he had only
+vouchsafed some reply to the King's persistent letters of
+inquiry whether he still trusted his old comrade and
+lieutenant, Murat would have thrown himself heart and soul
+into the mêlée on the side of his old friend. But in April
+Napoleon quitted Paris for the army in Germany without
+sending one line in reply to these imploring letters. Meanwhile
+on April 23rd came a letter from Colonel Coffin
+suggesting the possibility of effecting an entente between the
+English and Neapolitan Governments, or at any rate a commercial
+convention. Thereupon Murat sent officers to
+enter into negotiations with Lord William Bentinck, who
+represented the English Government in Sicily. All through
+the summer the negotiations were continued, but Murat, in
+spite of the guarantee of the throne of Naples which the
+English offered, could not break entirely with his Emperor
+and benefactor. Still Napoleon, in his blindness, instead of
+attempting to conciliate his brother-in-law, allowed articles to
+his disparagement to appear in the <i>Moniteur</i>. Nevertheless
+Murat at bottom was Napoleon's man. Elated by the
+Emperor's success at Lützen and Bautzen, although he
+refused to allow the Neapolitan troops to join the Army
+of Italy under Prince Eugène, he hurried off in August to
+join the French army at Dresden. There a reconciliation
+took place between the brothers-in-law. But after the defeat
+at Leipzig King Joachim asked and obtained leave to
+return to his own dominions.</p>
+
+<p>His presence was needed at home, for in Italy also the
+war had gone against the French. Prince Eugène had had
+to fall back on the line of the Adda, and the defection of the
+Tyrol had opened to the Allies the passes into the Peninsula.
+Murat, in his hurry, had to leave his coach snowed up in the
+Simplon Pass and proceed on horseback to Milan, where
+he halted but a few hours to write a despatch to the Emperor,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>
+which practically foretold his desertion. He declared
+that if he, instead of Eugène, was entrusted with the defence
+of Italy, he would at once march north from Naples with
+forty thousand men. He had indeed never forgotten the
+slight put upon him by the article in the <i>Moniteur</i>, after the
+Russian campaign, and he was ready to sacrifice even his
+kingdom if only he could revenge himself on his enemy,
+Eugène. As Napoleon would not grant him this request,
+he determined to humiliate Eugène, and, at the same time,
+to save his crown by negotiating with the enemy. On
+reaching Naples, he found that his wife, who hitherto had
+been an unbending partisan of the French, had entirely
+changed her politics and was now pledged to an Austrian
+alliance. The King was ever unstable, vanity always
+governed his conduct: the Queen was always determined,
+governed solely by a cold, calculating ambition. Negotiations
+were at once opened with the Austrians. The King
+protested "that he desired nothing in the world so much
+as to make common cause with the allied Powers." He
+promised that he would join them with thirty thousand
+troops, on condition that he was guaranteed the throne of
+Naples, and that he should have the Roman States in exchange
+for Sicily. Meanwhile he addressed an order of the
+day to his army, stating that the Neapolitan troops should
+only be employed in Italy. This of course did not commit
+him either to Napoleon or the Austrian alliance. Meanwhile
+the Emperor had despatched Fouché to try to bind
+his brother-in-law to France, but that distinguished double-dealer
+merely advised the Neapolitan King to move northwards
+to the valley of the Po with all his troops, and there
+to wait and see whether it would be best to help the French,
+or to enter France with the Allies, and perhaps the Tuileries
+as Emperor.</p>
+
+<p>Joachim Napoleon quietly occupied Rome and pushed
+forward his troops towards the Po, using the French magazines
+and depôts, but still negotiating with the Austrians,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>
+and, at the same time, holding out hopes to the purely
+Italian party. For the national party of the Risorgimento
+were striving hard to seize this opportunity to unite Italy
+and drive out the foreigner, and no one seemed more
+capable of carrying out their policy than the popular King of
+Naples. The Austrians flattered the hopes of "young Italy"
+by declaring in their proclamation that they had only
+entered Italy to free her from the yoke of the stranger, and
+to aid the King of Naples by creating an independent kingdom
+of Italy. Still Murat hesitated on the brink. As late
+as the 27th of December he wrote to the Emperor proposing
+that Italy should be formed into two kingdoms, that he
+should govern all the peninsula south of the Po, and that
+the rest of the country should be left to Eugène. Three
+days later the Austrian envoy arrived with the proposals of
+the Allies. But he could not yet make up his mind, and,
+moreover, the English had not yet guaranteed him Naples.
+In January, however, these guarantees were given, and
+against his will he had to sign a treaty. Scarcely was the
+writing dry when he began to negotiate with Prince Eugène.
+He used every artifice to prevent a collision between the
+French and Neapolitan troops. When the campaign opened
+his troops abandoned their position at the first shot, while
+he himself took good care not to reach the front until the
+news of Napoleon's abdication arrived.</p>
+
+<p>But Murat's conduct had alienated everybody. The
+French loathed him for his duplicity; the Allies suspected
+him of treachery, and the party of the Risorgimento looked
+on him as the cause of their subjection to the foreigner;
+for the Austrian victory had not brought Italy unity and
+independence, but had merely established the fetters of the
+old régime. During the remainder of 1814 the lot of the
+King of Naples was most unenviable. The restored Bourbons
+of France and Spain regarded him as the despoiler of
+the Bourbon house of Sicily. Russia had been no party to
+the guarantee of his kingdom. England desired nothing so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>
+much as his expulsion. Austria alone upheld him, for she
+had been the chief party to the treaty; but Metternich was
+waiting for him to make some slip which might serve as a
+pretext for tearing up that treaty. Even the Pope refused
+the bribe which the King offered him when he proposed
+to restore the Marches in return for receiving the papal
+investiture. In despair Murat once again entered into
+negotiations with the Italian party. A general rising was
+planned in Lombardy, but failed, as the Austrians received
+news of the proposed cession of Milan. With cruel cunning
+they spread the report that the King of Naples had sold
+the secret. Henceforward Murat had no further hope.
+Foreigners, Italians, priests, carbonari and freemasons, all
+had turned against him.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the situation when on March 8, 1815, the
+King heard that Napoleon had left Elba. As usual he dealt
+double. He at once sent a message to England that he
+would be faithful, while at the same time he sent agents to
+Sicily to try to stir up a revolt against the Bourbons. As
+soon as the news of Napoleon's reception in France arrived,
+he set out at the head of forty thousand troops, thinking
+that all Italy would rise for him. But the Italians mistrusted
+the fickle King; the Austrian troops were already
+mobilised, and accordingly, early in May, the Neapolitan
+army fled homewards before its enemies. King Joachim's
+popularity was gone. A grant of a constitution roused no
+enthusiasm among the people. City after city opened its
+gates to the enemy. Resistance was hopeless, so on the night
+of May 19th the King of Naples, with a few hundred thousand
+francs and his diamonds, accompanied by a handful of
+personal friends, fled by sea to Cannes. But the Emperor
+refused to receive the turncoat, though at St. Helena he
+bitterly repented this action, lamenting "that at Waterloo
+Murat might have given us the victory. For what did we
+need? To break three or four English squares. Murat was
+just the man for the job." After Waterloo the poor King<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>
+fled before the White Terror, and for some time lay hid in
+Corsica. There he was given a safe conduct by the Allies
+and permission to settle in Austria. But the deposed
+monarch could not overcome his vanity. He still believed
+himself indispensable to Naples. Some four hundred Corsicans
+promised to follow him thither. The filibustering
+expedition set out in three small ships on the 28th of September.
+A storm arose and scattered the armada, but in
+spite of this, on October 7th, the ex-King decided to land at
+Pizzo. Dressed in full uniform, amid cries of "Long live
+our King Joachim," the unfortunate man landed with
+twenty-six followers. He was at once arrested, and on
+October 13th tried by court martial, condemned to death,
+and executed a few hours later.</p>
+
+<p>Joachim Murat met his death like a soldier. As he wrote
+to his wife, his only regret was that he died far off, without
+seeing his children. Death was what he courted when
+landing at Pizzo, for he must have known how impossible it
+was for him to conquer a kingdom with twenty-six men.
+Still, he preferred to die in the attempt to regain his crown
+rather than to spend an ignoble old age, a pensioner on the
+bounty of his enemies. Murat died as he had lived, brave
+but vain, with his last words calling out, "Soldiers, do your
+duty: fire at my heart, but spare my face."</p>
+
+<p>The King of Naples owed his elevation entirely to his
+fortunate marriage with the Emperor's sister; otherwise it
+is certain he would never have reached such exalted rank,
+for Napoleon really did not like him or trust him, and had
+a true knowledge of his ability. "He was a Paladin," said
+the Emperor at St. Helena, "in the field, but in the
+Cabinet destitute of either decision or judgment. He loved,
+I may rather say, adored me; he was my right arm; but
+without me he was nothing. In battle he was perhaps the
+bravest man in the world; left to himself, he was an imbecile
+without judgment." Murat was a cavalry leader pure and
+simple. His love of horses, his intuitive knowledge of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>
+exactly how much he could ask from his horsemen, his
+reckless bravery, his fine swordsmanship, his dashing
+manners, captivated the French cavalry and enabled him
+to "achieve the impossible." Contrary to accepted opinion
+Napoleon believed "that cavalry, if led by equally brave and
+resolute men, must always break infantry." Consequently
+we find that at Austerlitz, Jena, and Eylau, the decisive
+stroke of the day was in each case given by immense bodies
+of some twenty thousand men under the command of
+Murat, whose genius lay in his ability to man&oelig;uvre these
+huge bodies of cavalry on the field of battle, and in the
+tenacity with which he clung to and pursued a beaten
+enemy. But this was the sum total of his military ability.
+He had no conception of the use of the other arms
+of the service, and never gained even the most elementary
+knowledge of strategy. When trusted with anything like
+the command of a mixed body of troops he proved an utter
+failure. Before Ulm he nearly ruined Napoleon's combination
+by failing to get in contact with the enemy. In the
+later half of the campaign of 1806 he hopelessly failed to
+make any headway against the Russians east of the Vistula.
+In the retreat across the Niemen he proved himself absolutely
+incapable of reorganising a beaten force. As a king,
+Murat was full of good intentions towards his people, but
+his extravagance, his vanity, his indecision cost him his
+crown. As a man he was generous and extraordinarily
+brave. In the Russian campaign he used to challenge
+the Cossacks to single combat, and when he had beaten
+them he sent them away with some medal or souvenir of
+himself. He was a good husband, and lived at peace and
+amity with his wife, and was exceedingly fond of his
+children. His faults were numerous; he was by nature
+intensely jealous, especially of those who came between
+him and Napoleon, and he stooped to anything whereby he
+might injure his rivals, Lannes and Prince Eugène. His
+hot Southern blood led him into numerous quarrels.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>
+Although extremely arrogant, at bottom he was a moral
+coward, and before the Emperor's reproaches he scarcely
+dared to open his mouth. But his great fault, through
+which he gained and lost his crown, was his vanity.
+Vanity, working on ambition and an unstable character,
+is the key to all his career. His blatant Jacobinism, his
+intrigue with Josephine, his overtures to the Directors,
+his underhand treatment of his fellow Marshals, his discontent
+with his Grand Duchy, his subtle dealings in
+Spain, his system of government in Naples, his opposition
+to Napoleon's schemes, his dissimulation and desertion,
+his almost theatrical bravery, and his very death were due
+to nothing save extravagant vanity.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="III" id="III"></a>III<br /><br />
+ANDRÉ MASSÉNA, MARSHAL, DUKE OF RIVOLI,<br />
+PRINCE OF ESSLING</h2>
+
+
+<p>André Masséna, "the wiliest of Italians," was
+born at Nice on May 6, 1758, where his father
+and mother carried on a considerable business as
+tanners and soap manufacturers. On his father's death,
+when André was still but a small boy, his mother at once
+married again. Thereon André and two of his sisters were
+adopted by their uncle Augustine, who proposed to give his
+nephew a place in his business. But André's restless,
+fiery nature could not brook the idea of a perpetual
+monotonous existence in the tanyard and soap factory,
+so at the age of thirteen he ran away from home and
+shipped as a cabin boy; as such he made several voyages
+in the Mediterranean, and on one occasion crossed the
+Atlantic to Cayenne. But, in spite of his love of adventure,
+the life of a sailor soon began to pall, and on
+August 18, 1775, at the age of seventeen, he enlisted in
+the Royal Italian regiment in the French service. There
+he came under the influence of his uncle Marcel, who
+was sergeant-major of the regiment; thanks to his advice
+and care he made rapid strides in his profession, and
+received a fair education in the regimental school. In
+later years the Marshal used to say that no step cost him
+so much trouble or gave him such pleasure as his promotion
+to corporal; be that as it may, promotion came<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>
+rapidly, and with less than two years' service he became
+sergeant on April 15, 1777. For fourteen years Masséna
+served in the Royal Italians, but at last he retired in
+disgust. Under the regulations a commission was unattainable
+for those who were not of noble birth, and
+the officers of the regiment had taken a strong dislike
+to the sergeant, whom the colonel constantly held up as
+an example, telling them, "Your ignorance of drill is
+shameful; your inferiors, Masséna, for example, can
+man&oelig;uvre the battalion far better than any of you."
+On his retirement Masséna lived at Nice. To occupy
+his time and earn a living he joined his cousin Bavastro,
+and carried on a large smuggling business both by sea
+and land; he thus gained that intimate knowledge of the
+defiles and passes of the Maritime Alps which stood him
+in such good stead in the numerous campaigns of the
+revolutionary wars, while the necessity for keeping a watch
+on the preventive men and thus concealing his own movements
+developed to a great extent his activity, resource,
+and daring. So successful were his operations that he soon
+found himself in the position to demand the hand of
+Mademoiselle Lamarre, daughter of a surgeon, possessed
+of a considerable dowry. When the revolutionary wars
+broke out the Massénas were established at Antibes, where
+they did a fair trade in olive oil and dried fruits; but a
+respectable humdrum existence could not satisfy the restless
+nature of the ex-sergeant, and in 1791 he applied for a sub-lieutenancy
+in the gendarmerie, and it is to be presumed
+that, on the principle of setting a thief to catch a thief,
+he would have made an excellent policeman. It was at
+this moment that the invasion of France by the monarchs
+of Europe caused all patriotic Frenchmen to obey the
+summons to arms. Masséna gladly left his shop to serve
+as adjutant of the volunteers of the Var. His military
+knowledge, his erect and proud bearing, his keen incisive
+speech, and absolute self-confidence in all difficulties soon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>
+dominated his comrades, and it was as lieutenant-colonel
+commanding the second battalion that he marched to the
+frontier to meet the enemy. Lean and spare, below middle
+height, with a highly expressive Italian face, a good mouth,
+an aquiline nose, and black sparkling eyes, from the very
+first Masséna inspired confidence in all who met him; but
+it was not till he was seen in action that the greatness
+of his qualities could best be appreciated. As Napoleon
+said of him at St. Helena, "Masséna was at his best
+and most brilliant in the middle of the fire and disorder
+of battle; the roar of the cannon used to clear his ideas,
+give him insight, penetration, and gaiety.... In the
+middle of the dead and dying, among the hail of bullets
+which swept down all around him, Masséna was always
+himself giving his orders and making his dispositions with
+the greatest calmness and good judgment. There you see
+the true nobility of blood." In the saddle from morning
+till night, absolutely insensible to fatigue, ready at any
+moment to take the responsibility of his actions, he returned
+from the first campaign in the Riviera as major-general.
+During the siege of Toulon he commanded the "Camp
+de milles fourches," which included the company of artillery
+commanded by Bonaparte, and distinguished himself by
+taking the forts of Lartigues and St. Catharine, thus earning
+his step as lieutenant-general while his future commander
+was still a major in the artillery. In the campaign of 1794
+it was Masséna who conceived and carried out the turning
+movement which drove the Sardinians from the Col de
+Tenda, while Bonaparte's share in the action merely consisted
+of commanding the artillery. As the trusted counsellor
+of Dumerbion, Kellermann, and Schérer, for the next
+two years, the lieutenant-general was the inspirer of the
+successive commanders of the Army of Italy. He it was
+who, amid the snow and storms, planned and carried out
+the combinations which gained for Schérer the great winter
+victory at Loano, and thus first taught the French the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>
+secret, which the English had grasped on the sea and
+Napoleon was to perfect on land, of breaking the enemy's
+centre and falling on one wing with overwhelming force.
+The campaign of 1796 for the time being altered the current
+of Masséna's military life. Before the young Corsican's
+eagle gaze even the impetuous Italian quailed, and from
+being the brain of the officer commanding the army he
+had to revert to the position of the right arm and faithful
+interpreter of orders. Two things, however, compensated
+Masséna for the change of rôle, for Bonaparte gave his
+subordinate fighting and glory with a lavish hand, and
+above all winked at, nay, rather encouraged, the amassing
+of booty; and wealth more even than glory was the desire
+of Masséna's soul.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 429px;">
+<a href="images/fp051-hi.jpg"><img src="images/fp051.jpg" width="429" height="600" alt="ANDRÉ MASSÉNA, PRINCE OF ESSLING" title="" id="fp051"/></a>
+<span class="caption">ANDRÉ MASSÉNA, PRINCE OF ESSLING</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>At the very commencement of the campaign Masséna
+committed a fault which almost ruined his career. After
+defeating the enemy's advance guard near Cairo, hearing by
+chance that the Austrian officers had left an excellent dinner
+in a neighbouring inn, he and some of his staff left his
+division on the top of a high hill and set off to enjoy the
+good things prepared for the enemy. At daybreak the
+enemy attempted a surprise on the French position on
+the hill, and the troops, without their general and staff,
+were in great danger. Fortunately, Masséna had time to
+make his way through the Austrian skirmishers and resume
+his command. He was greeted by hoots and jeers, but
+with absolute imperturbability he reorganised his forces
+and checked the enemy. But one battalion was isolated on
+a spur, from which there seemed no way of escape save
+under a scorching flank fire. Masséna made his way alone
+to this detached post, scrambling up the steep slope on his
+hands and knees, and, when he at last reached the troops,
+remembering his old smuggling expedients, he showed
+them how to glissade down the steep part of the hill, and
+brought them all safely back without a single casualty.
+This escapade came to Bonaparte's ears, and it was only<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span>
+Masséna's great share in the victory of Montenotte which
+saved him from a court-martial.</p>
+
+<p>Bonaparte, at the commencement of the campaign, had
+ended a letter of instructions to his lieutenant with the
+words "Watchfulness and bluff, that is the card," and well
+Masséna learned his lesson. Montenotte, the bridge of
+Lodi, the long struggle at Castiglione, the two fights at
+Rivoli and the marshes of Arcola proved beyond doubt that
+of all the young conqueror of Italy's lieutenants, none had
+the insight, activity, and endurance of Masséna. But empty
+flattery did not satisfy him, for as early as Lonato, greedy
+for renown, he considered his success had not been fully
+recognised. In bitter anger he wrote to Bonaparte: "I
+complain of your reports of Lonato and Roveredo, in which
+you do not render me the justice that I merit. This forgetfulness
+tears my heart and throws discouragement on my
+soul. I will recall the fact under compulsion that the
+victory of Saintes Georges was due to my dispositions, to
+my activity, to my sangfroid, and to my prevision." This
+frank republican letter greatly displeased Bonaparte, who,
+since Lodi, had cherished visions of a crown, and to realise
+this desire had begun to issue his praise and rewards
+irrespective of merit, and to appeal to the private soldier
+while visiting his displeasure on the officers. But Masséna's
+brilliant conduct at the second battle of Rivoli, for the
+moment, blotted out all rancour, for it was Masséna who
+had saved the day, who had rushed up to the commander
+of the shaken regiment, bitterly upbraiding him and his
+officers, showering blows on them with the flat of his
+sword, and had then galloped off and brought up two tried
+regiments of his own invincible division and driven back
+the assailants; from that moment Bonaparte confirmed him
+in the title of "the spoilt child of victory." In 1797
+Bonaparte gave his lieutenant a more substantial reward
+when he chose him to carry the despatches to Paris which
+reported the preliminary treaty of Leoben; thus it was as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>
+the right-hand man of the most distinguished general in
+Europe that the Italian saw for the first time the capital of
+his adopted country.</p>
+
+<p>In choosing Masséna to carry to Paris the tidings of
+peace, it was not only his prestige and renown which
+influenced Bonaparte. For Paris was in a state of half
+suppressed excitement, and signs were only too evident that
+the Directory was unstable; accordingly the wily Corsican,
+while despatching secret agents to advance his cause, was
+careful to send as the bearer of the good news a man who
+was well known to care for no political rewards, and who
+would be sure to turn a deaf ear to the insidious schemes of
+those who were plotting to restore the monarchy, or to set
+up a dictatorship, and were searching for a sovereign or a
+Cæsar as their political views suggested. It was for these
+reasons and because he was tired of Masséna's greed and
+avarice that Bonaparte refused to admit him among those
+chosen to accompany him to Egypt. Masséna saw clearly
+all the secret intrigue of the capital, and found little
+pleasure in his newly gained dignity of a seat among the
+Ancients, for he was extremely afraid of a royalist restoration,
+in which case he feared "our honourable wounds
+will become the titles for our proscription."</p>
+
+<p>Tired of Paris, in 1798, he was glad to accept the command
+of the French corps occupying Rome when its
+former commander, Berthier, was called away to join the
+Egyptian expedition. On his arrival at Rome, to take over
+his new command, he found himself face to face with a
+mutiny. The troops were in rags and badly fed, their pay
+was months in arrear, and meanwhile the civil servants of the
+Directory were amassing fortunes at the expense of the Pope,
+the Cardinals, and the Princes of Rome. Discontent was so
+widespread that the new general at once ordered all troops,
+save some three thousand, to leave the capital. Unfortunately
+Masséna's record was not such as to inspire confidence
+in the purity of his intentions. Instead of obeying,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>
+the officers and men held a mass meeting to draft their
+remonstrance to the Directory. In this document they
+accused, first of all, the agents who had disgraced the name
+of France, and ended by saying, "The final cause of all the
+discontent is the arrival of General Masséna. The soldiers
+have not forgotten the extortions and robberies he has
+committed wherever he has been invested with the command.
+The Venetian territory, and above all Padua, is a
+district teeming with proofs of his immorality." In the
+face of such public feeling Masséna found nothing for it
+but to demand a successor and throw up his command.</p>
+
+<p>But with Bonaparte in Egypt and a ring of enemies
+threatening France from all sides, the Directors, whose
+hands were as soiled as Masséna's, could ill spare the
+"spoilt child of victory." Accordingly, early in 1799 the
+general found himself invested with the important command
+of the Army of Switzerland. This was a task worthy of his
+genius and he eagerly accepted the post, but refused to
+abide by the stipulations the Directors desired to enforce
+on him, as, according to their plan, the Army of Switzerland
+was to form part of the Army of the Rhine commanded by
+Joubert. Masséna had obeyed Bonaparte, but he had no
+intention of playing second fiddle to any other commander,
+and, after some stormy interviews and letters, he at last had
+his way. As the year advanced it became more and more
+evident that on the Army of Switzerland would fall the full
+brunt of the attack of the coalition, for Joubert was defeated
+by the Archduke Charles at Stockach and thrown back on
+the Rhine, Schérer was defeated in Italy at Magnano, and
+by June the Russians and Austrians had begun to close in
+on Switzerland. It was clear that, if the French army were
+driven out of Switzerland, both the Rhine and the Maritime
+Alps would be turned, and the enemy would be in a strong
+position from which to invade France. On Masséna, therefore,
+hung all the hopes of the Directory. Fortunately for
+France, the general was admirably versed in mountain warfare.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>
+Well aware of the difficulty of keeping up communication
+between the different parts of his line of
+defence, Masséna skilfully withdrew his outposts, as the
+enemy pressed on, with the intention of concentrating his
+troops round Zurich, thereby covering all the possible lines
+of advance. But early in the summer his difficulties were
+further increased by the rising of the Swiss peasantry;
+luckily, however, the Archduke Charles advanced most
+cautiously, while the Aulic Council at Vienna, unable to
+grasp the vital point of the problem, stupidly sent its reserve
+army to Italy to reinforce the Russians under Suvaroff. By
+June 5th the Archduke had driven in all the outlying
+French columns, and was in a position to attack the lines
+of Zurich with his entire force. Thanks, however, to
+Masséna's courage and presence of mind, the attack was
+driven off, but so overwhelming were the numbers of the
+enemy that during the night the French army evacuated
+Zurich, though only to fall back on a strong position on
+Mount Albis, a rocky ridge at the north end of the lake,
+covered on one flank by the lake and on the other by the
+river Aar. The two armies for the time being lay opposite
+to each other, too exhausted after the struggle to recommence
+operations. The Archduke Charles awaited the
+arrival from Italy of Suvaroff, who was to debouch on the
+French right by the St. Gothard Pass. But fortune, or
+rather the Aulic Council at Vienna, once again intervened
+and saved France. The Archduke Charles was ordered to
+leave fifty-five thousand Russians under Korsakoff before
+Zurich and to march northwards and across the Rhine.
+Protests were useless; the Court of Vienna merely ordered
+the Archduke to "perform the immediate execution of its
+will without further objections." But even yet disaster
+threatened the French, for Suvaroff was commencing his
+advance by the St. Gothard. But Masséna at once
+grasped the opportunity fortune had placed in his power
+by opposing him to a commander like Korsakoff, who was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>
+so impressed by his own pride that he considered a Russian
+company equal to an Austrian battalion. On September
+26th, by a masterly series of man&oelig;uvres, the main French
+force surprised Korsakoff and drove him in rout out of
+Zurich. Suvaroff arrived just in time to find Masséna in
+victorious array thrust in between himself and his countrymen,
+and was forced to save himself by a hurried retreat
+through the most difficult passes of the Alps.</p>
+
+<p>The campaign of Zurich will always be studied as a
+masterpiece in defensive warfare. The skilful use the
+French general made of the mountain passes, the methods
+he employed to check the Archduke's advance on Zurich,
+the care with which he kept up communications between
+his different columns, the skilful choice of the positions of
+Zurich and Mount Albis, his return to the initiative on
+every opportunity, and his masterly interposition between
+Korsakoff and Suvaroff, alone entitle him to a high place
+among the great commanders of history, and Masséna was
+rightly thanked by the legislature and hailed as the saviour
+of the country.</p>
+
+<p>Six weeks after the victory of Zurich came the 18th
+Brumaire, and Napoleon's accession to the consulate.
+Masséna, a staunch republican, was conscious of the defects
+of the Directory, but could not give his hearty consent to
+the coup d'état, for he feared for the liberty of his country.
+Still, he said, if France desired to entrust her independence
+and glory to one man she could choose none better than
+Bonaparte. The latter, on his side, was anxious to retain
+Masséna's affections, and at once offered him the command
+of the Army of Italy. But the conqueror of Zurich foresaw
+that everything was to be sacrificed to the glory of the First
+Consul, and it was only after great persuasion, profuse
+promises, and appeals to his patriotism that he undertook
+the command, with the stipulation that "I will not take
+command of an army condemned to rest on the defensive.
+My former services and successes do not permit me to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>
+change the rôle that I have heretofore played in the wars
+of the Republic." The First Consul replied by giving
+Masséna carte blanche to requisition whatever he wanted,
+and promised him that the Army of Italy should be his first
+care. But when Masséna arrived at Genoa he discovered,
+as he had suspected, that Bonaparte's promises were only
+made to be broken; for he found the troops entrusted to
+his care the mere shadow of an army, the hospitals full,
+bands of soldiers, even whole battalions, quitting their posts
+and trying to escape into France, and the officers and
+generals absolutely unable to contend with the mass of
+misery and want. In spite of his able lieutenants, Soult
+and Suchet, he could make no head against the Austrians
+in the field, and after some gallant engagements was driven
+back into Genoa, where, for two months, he held out against
+famine and the assaults of the enemy. While the wretched
+inhabitants starved, the troops were fed on "a miserable
+ration of a quarter of a pound of horse-flesh and a quarter
+of a pound of what was called bread&mdash;a horrible compound
+of damaged flour, sawdust, starch, hair-powder, oatmeal,
+linseed, rancid nuts, and other nasty substances, to which
+a little solidity was given by the admixture of a small
+portion of cocoa. Each loaf, moreover, was held together
+by little bits of wood, without which it would have fallen to
+powder." A revolt, threatened by the inhabitants, was
+checked by Masséna's order that an assemblage of over
+five persons should be fired on, and the approaches to the
+principal streets were commanded by guns. Still he
+refused to surrender, as every day he expected to hear
+the cannon of the First Consul's army thundering on the
+Austrian rear. One day the hopes of all were aroused by a
+distant roar in the mountains, only to be dashed by finding
+it to be thunder. It was simply the ascendancy of Masséna's
+personality which prolonged the agony and upheld his
+authority, and in bitter earnestness the soldiers used to say,
+"He will make us eat his boots before he will surrender."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>
+At last the accumulated horrors shook even his firm spirit,
+and on June 4th a capitulation was agreed on. The terms
+were most favourable to the French; but, as Lord Keith,
+the English admiral, said, "General, your defence has been
+so heroic that we can refuse you nothing." However, the
+sufferings of Genoa were not in vain, for Masséna had
+played his part and held the main Austrian force in check
+for ten days longer than had been demanded of him; thus
+the First Consul had time to fall on the enemies' line of
+communication, and it may be truly said that without the
+siege of Genoa there could have been no Marengo.
+Masséna had once again demonstrated the importance of
+the individual in war; as Bonaparte wrote to him during the
+siege, "In such a situation as you are, a man like you
+is worth twenty thousand men." In spite of this, at St.
+Helena, the Emperor, ever jealous of his own glory, affected
+to despise Masséna's generalship and endurance at Genoa,
+and blamed him for not taking the offensive in the field,
+forgetting the state of his army and the paucity of his
+troops. But at the moment he showed his appreciation
+of his services by giving him the command of the army
+when he himself retired to Paris after the victory of
+Marengo. Unfortunately Masséna's avarice and greed were
+unable to withstand the temptations of the position, and the
+First Consul had very soon to recall him from Italy and
+mark his displeasure by placing him on half-pay.</p>
+
+<p>For two years the disgraced general brooded over his
+wrongs in retirement, and showed his attitude of mind
+by voting against the Consulate for life and the establishment
+of the Empire. The gift of a Marshal's bâton did
+little to reconcile him to the Emperor, for, as he scoffingly
+replied to Thiebault's congratulations, "Oh, there are fourteen
+of us." So uncertain was the Emperor of his Marshal's
+disposition that, on the outbreak of the war with Austria,
+Masséna alone of all the greater Marshals held no command.
+But with the prospect of heavy fighting in Italy the Emperor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>
+could not afford to entrust the Italian divisions to a
+blunderer, and he once again posted Masséna to his old
+command. The Austrians had occupied the strong position
+of Caldiero, near the marshes of Arcola, and the French in
+vain attempted to force them from it, but the success of the
+Emperor on the Danube at last compelled the Archduke
+John to fall back on Austria. The Marshal at once commenced
+a spirited pursuit, and ultimately joined hands with
+the Grand Army, south of the Danube.</p>
+
+<p>After the treaty of Pressburg Napoleon despatched
+Masséna to conquer Naples, which he had given as a
+kingdom to his brother Joseph. With fifty thousand men
+the Marshal swept through Italy. In vain the gallant Queen
+Caroline armed the lazzaroni; Capua opened its gates,
+Gaeta fell after twelve days' bombardment, and Joseph
+entered Naples in triumph. Calabria alone offered a stern
+resistance, and this resistance the French brought upon
+themselves by their cruelty to the peasantry, whom they
+treated as brigands. Unfortunately his success in Naples
+was once again tarnished by his greed, for the Marshal,
+by selling licences to merchants and conniving at their
+escape from the custom-house dues, amassed, within a few
+months of his entering Naples, a sum of three million
+francs. Napoleon heard of this from his spies, and, writing
+to him, demanded a loan of a million francs. The Duke of
+Rivoli replied that he was the poorest of the Marshals, and
+had a numerous family to maintain and was heavily in debt,
+so he regretted that he could send him nothing. Unfortunately,
+the Emperor knew where he banked in Leghorn,
+and as he refused to disgorge a third of his illicit profits, the
+Emperor sent the inspector of the French Treasury and
+a police commissary to the bank, and demanded that the
+three millions, which lay at his account there, should be
+handed over. The seizure was made in legal form; the
+banker, who lost nothing, was bound to comply with it.
+Masséna, on hearing of this misfortune, was so furious that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>
+he fell ill, but he did not dare to remonstrate, knowing that
+he was in the wrong, but he never forgave the Emperor:
+his titles and a pension never consoled him for what he lost
+at Leghorn, and, in spite of his cautious habits, he was
+sometimes heard to say, "I was fighting in his service and
+he was cruel enough to take away my little savings which I
+had invested at Leghorn."</p>
+
+<p>From what he called a military promenade in Italy the
+Marshal was summoned early in 1807 to the Grand Army in
+Poland, and was present in command of one of the army
+corps at Pultusk, Ostralenka, and Friedland. In 1808 he
+received his title of Duke of Rivoli and a pension of three
+hundred thousand francs per annum, but in spite of this he
+absented himself from the court. When Joseph was given
+the crown of Spain he requested his brother to send
+Masséna to aid him in his new sphere, but the Emperor,
+full of mistrust, refused, while the Marshal himself had no
+great desire to serve in Spain. When it was clear that
+Austria was going to seize the occasion of the Spanish War
+once again to fight France, Napoleon hastened to send the
+veteran Duke of Rivoli to the army on the Danube. At
+Abensberg and Eckmühl, for the first time since 1797, he
+fought under the eye of Napoleon himself. "Activité,
+activité, vitesse," wrote the Emperor, and well his lieutenant
+carried out his orders. Following up the Five Days'
+Fighting, Masséna led the advance guard to Vienna, and
+commanded the left wing at Aspern-Essling. Standing
+in the churchyard at Aspern, with the boughs swept down
+by grapeshot crashing round him, he was in his element;
+never had his tenacity, his resource, and skill been seen to
+such advantage. But in spite of his skill and the courage
+of his troops, at the end of the first day's fighting his
+shattered forces were driven out of the heap of smoking
+ruins which marked all that remained of Aspern. On the
+morning of the second day he had regained half of the
+village when news came that the bridge was broken, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>
+that he was to hold off the Austrians while communication
+with the Isle of Lobau was being established. The enemy,
+invigorated by the news of the success of their plan for
+breaking the bridges, strained every nerve to annihilate the
+French force on the left bank of the river, but Masséna,
+Lannes, and Napoleon worked marvels with their exhausted
+troops. The Duke of Rivoli seemed ubiquitous: at one
+moment on horseback and at another on foot with drawn
+sword, wherever the enemy pressed he was there animating
+his troops, directing their fire, hurrying up supports; thus,
+thanks to his exertions, the Austrians were held off, the
+cavalry and the artillery safely crossed the bridge, and the
+veteran Marshal at midnight brought the last of the rear-guard
+safely to the Isle of Lobau, where, exhausted by
+fatigue, the troops fell asleep in their ranks.</p>
+
+<p>The death of Lannes threw Napoleon back on the Duke
+of Rivoli, who for the time became his confidant and right-hand
+man. It was Masséna who commanded at Lobau
+and made all the arrangements for the crossing before
+Wagram. The Emperor and his lieutenant were indefatigable
+in the care with which they made their preparations.
+On one occasion, wishing to inspect the
+Austrian position, dressed in sergeants' greatcoats, attended
+by a single aide-de-camp in the kit of a private,
+they went alone up the north bank of the island and took
+their coats off as if they wanted to bathe. The Austrian
+sentinels, seeing, as they thought, two French soldiers
+enjoying a wash, took no notice of them, and thus the
+Emperor and the Marshal were able to determine the
+exact spot for launching the bridges. On another occasion,
+while they were riding round the island, the Marshal's
+horse put its foot into a hole and fell, and injured the
+rider's leg so that he could not mount again. This unfortunate
+accident happened a few days before the battle of
+Wagram, so the Duke of Rivoli went into battle lying in a
+light calèche, drawn by four white horses, with his doctor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>
+beside him changing the compresses on his injured leg
+every two hours. During the battle Masséna's corps
+formed the left of the line. While Davout was carrying
+out his great turning movement, it was the Duke of Rivoli
+who had to endure the full fury of the Austrians' attack.
+In the pursuit after the battle he pressed the enemy with
+his wonted activity. At the last encounter at Znaim he
+had a narrow escape, for hardly had he got out of his
+carriage when a cannon-ball struck it, and a moment later
+another shot killed one of the horses.</p>
+
+<p>After the treaty of Vienna the Marshal, newly created
+Prince of Essling, retired to rest at his country house at
+Rueil, but the Emperor could not spare him long. In
+April, 1810, within eight months, he was once again
+hurried off on active service, this time to Spain, where
+Soult had been driven out of Portugal by Sir Arthur
+Wellesley, and Jourdan and Joseph defeated at Talavera.
+The Emperor promised the Prince of Essling ninety
+thousand troops for the invasion of Portugal, and placed
+under his command Junot and Ney. The Marshal did his
+best to refuse the post; he knew the difficult character of
+Ney and the jealousy of Junot, and he pointed out that it
+would be better to reorganise the army of Portugal under
+generals appointed by himself. Berthier replied that "the
+orders of the Emperor were positive, and left no point
+in dispute. When the Emperor delegated his authority
+obedience became a duty; however great might be the
+pride of the Dukes of Elchingen and Abrantès, they had
+enough justice to understand that their swords were not
+in the same line as the sword of the conqueror of Zurich."
+Still, the Prince foresaw the future, and appealed to the
+Emperor himself, but the Emperor was obdurate. "You
+are out of humour to-day, my dear Masséna. You see
+everything black, yourself and your surroundings. To
+listen to you one would think you were half dead. Your
+age? A good reason! How much older are you now<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>
+than at Essling? Your health? Does not imagination
+play a great part in your weakness? Are you worse
+than at Wagram? It is rheumatism that is troubling
+you. The climate of Portugal is as warm and healthy as
+Italy, and will put you on your legs.... Set out then with
+confidence. Be prudent and firm, and the obstacles you
+fear will fade away; you have surmounted many worse."
+Unfortunately for the Marshal, his forebodings were truer
+than the Emperor's optimism. On arriving at Salamanca
+his troubles began. Delays were inevitable before he could
+bring into order his unruly team. Junot and Ney were
+openly contemptuous, Regnier hung back, and was three
+weeks late in his arrangements. Meanwhile, all that
+Masséna saw of the enemy, whom the Emperor had in
+past years stigmatised as the "slow and clumsy English,"
+confirmed him in his opinion that the campaign was going
+to prove the most arduous he had ever undertaken.</p>
+
+<p>In spite of everything, operations opened brilliantly for
+the French. Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida fell without the
+English commander making any apparent effort to relieve
+them. On September 16th the invasion of Portugal commenced.
+But losses, disease, and garrison duty had
+already reduced his troops to some seventy thousand
+men, and the French found "an enemy behind every
+stone"; while, as the Prince of Essling wrote, "We are
+marching across a desert; women, children, and old men
+have all fled; in fact, no guide is to be found anywhere."
+Still the English fell back before him, and he was under the
+impression that they were going to evacuate Portugal without
+a blow, although he grasped the fact that it was the
+immense superiority of the French cavalry which had prevented
+the "sepoy general" making any effort to relieve
+the fortresses. But on September 26th Masséna found
+that the English had stayed their retreat, and were waiting
+to fight him on the rocky ridge of Busaco. Unfortunately
+for his reputation, he made no reconnaissance of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>
+the position, and, trusting entirely to the reports of Ney,
+Regnier, and Junot, who asserted the position was much
+less formidable than it looked, sustained a heavy reverse.
+After the battle his lieutenants urged him to abandon the
+invasion of Portugal; but the veteran refused such
+timorous advice, and, rousing himself, soon showed the
+energy which had made his name so famous at Zurich
+and Rivoli. Turning the position, the French swept
+down on Portugal, while the English hurriedly fell back
+before them. What caused Masséna most anxiety was
+the ominous desertion of the countryside. He was well
+aware of the bitter hatred of the Portuguese, and knew
+that his soldiers tortured and hung the wretched inhabitants
+to force them to reveal hidden stores of provisions,
+but it was not until October 10th, when the French had
+arrived within a few miles of the lines of Torres Vedras,
+that he learned of the vast entrenched camp which the
+English commander had so secretly prepared for his army
+and the inhabitants of Portugal. Masséna was furious, and
+covered with accusations the Portuguese officers on his
+staff. "Que diable," he cried, "Wellington n'a pas construit
+des montagnes." But there had been no treachery,
+only so well had the secret been kept that hardly even an
+officer in the English army knew of the existence of the
+work, and as Wellington wrote to the minister at Lisbon
+on October 6th, "I believe that you and the Government do
+not know where the lines are." For six weeks the indomitable
+Marshal lay in front of the position, hoping
+to tempt the English to attack his army, now reduced to
+sixty thousand men. But Wellington, who had planned
+this victorious reply to the axiom that war ought to feed
+war, grimly sat behind his lines, while the English army,
+well fed from the sea, watched the French writhe in the
+toils of hunger. Masséna was now roused, and as his
+opponent wrote, "It is certainly astonishing that the
+enemy have been able to remain in this country so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>
+long.... It is an extraordinary instance of what a
+French army can do." At last even Masséna had to
+confess himself beaten and fall back on Santarem. The
+winter passed in a fruitless endeavour on the part of the
+Emperor and the Marshal to force Soult, d'Erlon, and
+Regnier to co-operate for an advance on Lisbon by the
+left bank of the Tagus. Meanwhile, in spite of every
+effort, the French army dwindled owing to disease, desertion,
+and unending fatigue. So dangerous was the country
+that a despatch could not be sent along the lines of communication
+without an escort of three hundred men. The
+whole countryside had been so swept bare of provisions
+that a Portuguese spy wrote to Wellington saying, "Heaven
+forgive me if I wrong them in believing they have eaten
+my cat."</p>
+
+<p>By March, 1811, it became clear that the French could
+no longer maintain themselves at Santarem; but so skilful
+were Masséna's dispositions that it was three days before
+Wellington realised that at last the enemy had commenced
+their retreat. Never had the genius of the Marshal stood
+higher than in this difficult retirement from Portugal.
+With his army decimated by hunger and disease, with
+the victorious enemy always hanging on his heels, with
+his subordinates in open revolt, and a Marshal of France
+refusing to obey orders in the face of the enemy, he lost
+not a single gun, baggage-wagon or invalid. Still, the
+morale of his army was greatly shaken; as he himself
+wrote, "It is sufficient for the enemy to show the heads
+of a few columns in order to intimidate the officers and
+make them loudly declare that the whole of Wellington's
+army is in sight." When the Marshal at last placed his
+wearied troops behind the fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo
+and Almeida, he found his difficulties by no means at
+an end. The Emperor, who "judged men only by results,"
+wrote him a letter full of thinly-veiled criticism of his
+operations, while he found that the country round the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span>
+fortresses was now included in the command of the
+northern army under Bessières. Accordingly he had to
+apply to that Marshal for leave to revictual and equip
+his troops. Meanwhile Wellington proceeded to besiege
+Almeida.</p>
+
+<p>By the end of April, after a vigorous correspondence
+with Bessières, Masséna had at last reorganised his army
+and was once again ready to take the field against the
+English. Reinforced by fifteen hundred cavalry of the
+Guard under Bessières, at Fuentes d'Onoro he surprised
+the English forces covering the siege of Almeida; after
+a careful reconnaissance at dawn on May 5th he attacked
+and defeated the English right, and had it not been for
+the action of Bessières, who spoiled his combination by
+refusing to allow the Guard to charge save by his orders,
+the English would have been totally defeated. Masséna
+wished at all hazards to continue the fight on the morrow,
+but his principal officers were strongly opposed to it.
+Overborne by their counsels, after lying in front of the
+position for three days he withdrew to Ciudad Rodrigo.
+It was through no fault of his that he was beaten at
+Fuentes d'Onoro; Wellington himself confessed how
+closely he had been pressed when he wrote: "Lord Liverpool
+was quite right not to move thanks for the battle
+of Fuentes, though it was the most difficult I was ever
+concerned in and against the greatest odds. We had
+nearly three to one against us engaged: above four to
+one of cavalry: and moreover our cavalry had not a
+gallop in them, while some of that of the enemy were
+quite fresh and in excellent order. If Bony had been
+there we should have been beaten."</p>
+
+<p>Soon after the battle Masséna was superseded by
+Marmont, and retired to Paris. The meeting with the
+Emperor was stormy. "Well, Prince of Essling," said
+Napoleon, "are you no longer Masséna?" Explanations
+followed, and the Emperor at last promised that once<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span>
+again he should have an opportunity of regaining his
+glory in Spain. But Fate willed otherwise. After Salamanca,
+when Marmont was recalled, Masséna set out
+again for Spain, only to fall ill at Bayonne and to
+return home and try to restore his shattered health at
+Nice. In 1813 and 1814 he commanded the eighth military
+district, composed of the Rhône Valley, but he was getting
+too old to take strenuous measures and was glad to make
+submission to the Bourbons.</p>
+
+<p>Very cruelly the new Government placed an affront
+on the Marshal by refusing to create him a peer of
+France under the plea that he was an Italian and a
+foreigner, but in spite of this the Prince remained faithful
+during the first part of the Hundred Days, and only went
+over to Napoleon when he found that the capital and
+army had recognised the Emperor. At Paris the Emperor
+greeted him with "Well, Masséna, did you wish to serve
+as lieutenant to the Duke of Angoulême and fight me ...
+would you have hurled me back into the sea if I had given
+you time to assemble your forces?" The old warrior
+replied: "Yes, Sire, inasmuch as I believed that you were
+not recalled by the majority of Frenchmen." Ill-health
+prevented the Marshal from actively serving the Emperor.
+But during the interval between Napoleon's abdication and
+the second restoration it fell to the Marshal's lot to keep
+order in Paris as Governor and Commander of the National
+Guard. The new Government, to punish him for the aid he
+had given to the Emperor, nominated him one of the judges
+of Marshal Ney. This was the last occasion the Prince of
+Essling appeared in public. Suspected as a traitor by the
+authorities, weighed down by the horror of Ney's death
+and the assassination of his old friend Brune, and racked
+by disease, after a lingering painful illness the conqueror of
+Zurich breathed his last at the age of fifty-nine on April 4,
+1817. Even then the ultra royalists could not conceal their
+hatred of him. The War Minister, Clarke, Duke of Feltre,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>
+his old comrade, now turned furious legitimist, had hitherto
+withheld the Marshal's new bâton, and it was only the threat
+of Masséna's son-in-law, Reille, to place on the coffin the
+bâton the Marshal had received from the Emperor which
+at last forced the Government to send the emblem.</p>
+
+<p>Great soldier as he was, Masséna's escutcheon was
+stained by many a blot. His avarice was disgusting
+beyond words, and with avarice went a tendency to
+underhand dealing, harshness, and malice. During the
+Wagram campaign the Marshal's coachman and footman
+drove him day by day in a carriage through all the heat
+of the fighting. The Emperor complimented these brave
+men and said that of all the hundred and thirty thousand
+men engaged they were the bravest. Masséna, after this,
+felt bound to give them some reward, and said to one of
+his staff that he was going to give them each four hundred
+francs. The staff officer replied that a pension of four
+hundred francs would save them from want in their old
+age. The Marshal, in a fury, turned on his aide-de-camp,
+exclaiming, "Wretch, do you want to ruin me? What, an
+annuity of four hundred francs! No, no, no, four hundred
+francs once and for all"; adding to his staff, "I would
+sooner see you all shot and get a bullet through my arm
+than bind myself to give an annuity of four hundred francs
+to any one." The Marshal never forgave the aide-de-camp
+who had thus urged him to spend his money. His harshness
+was also well known, and the excesses of the French
+troops in Switzerland, Naples, and Portugal were greatly
+owing to his callousness; in the campaign in Portugal he
+actually allowed detachments of soldiers to set out with the
+express intention of capturing all girls between twelve and
+twenty for the use of his men. But while oblivious to the
+sufferings of others, as a father he was affectionate and
+indulgent. As he said after Wagram of his son Prosper,
+"That young scamp has given me more trouble than a whole
+army corps;" so careful was he of his safety that he refused<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>
+during the second day of the battle to allow him to take his
+turn among the other aides-de-camp; but the young
+Masséna was too spirited to endure this, and Napoleon,
+hearing of the occurrence, severely reprimanded the
+Marshal. Staunch republican by profession, blustering
+and outspoken at times, he was at bottom a true Italian,
+and knew well how to use the delicate art of flattery.
+Writing in 1805 to the Minister of War, he thus ends a
+despatch: "I made my first campaign with His Majesty,
+and it was under his orders that I learned what I know of
+the trade of arms. We were together in the Army of Italy."
+Again, when at Fontainebleau he had the misfortune to
+lose an eye when out pheasant shooting, he attacked Berthier
+as the culprit, although he knew full well that the Emperor
+was the only person who had fired a shot.</p>
+
+<p>But in spite of all this meanness and his many defects, he
+must always be remembered as one of the great soldiers
+of France, a name at all times to conjure with. Both
+Napoleon and Wellington have paid their tribute to his
+talents. At St. Helena the fallen Emperor said that of all
+his generals the Prince of Essling "was the first," and the
+Duke, speaking to Lord Ros of the French commanders,
+said, "Masséna gave me more trouble than any of them,
+because when I expected to find him weak, he generally
+contrived somehow that I should find him strong." The
+Marshal was a born soldier. War was with him an inspiration;
+being all but illiterate, he never studied it theoretically,
+but, as one of his detractors admits, "He was a
+born general: his courage and tenacity did the rest. In
+the best days of his military career he saw accurately,
+decided promptly, and never let himself be cast down by
+reverses." It was owing to this obstinacy combined with
+clear vision that his great successes were gained, and the
+dogged determination he showed at Zurich, Loano, Rivoli
+and Genoa was no whit impaired by success or by old
+age, as he proved at Essling, Wagram, and before the lines<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span>
+of Torres Vedras. Like his great commander, none knew
+better than the Prince of Essling that fortune must be
+wooed, and, as Napoleon wrote to him, "It is not to you,
+my dear general, that I need to recommend the employment
+of audacity." In spite of his ill success in his last
+campaign, to the end the Prince of Essling worthily
+upheld his title of "The spoilt child of victory."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="IV" id="IV"></a>IV<br /><br />
+JEAN BAPTISTE JULES BERNADOTTE, MARSHAL,<br />
+PRINCE OF PONTE CORVO, KING OF SWEDEN</h2>
+
+
+<p>Gascony has ever been the mother of ambitious
+men, and many a ruler has she supplied to
+France. But in 1789 few Gascons even would
+have believed that ere twenty years had passed one Gascon
+would be sitting on the Bourbon throne of Naples and
+a second would be Crown Prince of Sweden, the adopted
+son of the House of Vasa.</p>
+
+<p>Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, the son of a petty lawyer, was
+born at Pau on January 26, 1763. At the age of seventeen
+he enlisted in the Royal Marine regiment and passed the
+next nine years of his life in garrison towns in Corsica,
+Dauphiné and Provence. His first notable exploit occurred
+in 1788, when, as sergeant, he commanded a section of the
+Marines whose duty it was to maintain order at Grenoble
+during the troubles which preceded the outbreak of the
+Revolution. The story goes that Bernadotte was responsible
+for the first shedding of blood. One day, when the
+mob was threatening to get out of hand, a woman rushed
+out of the crowd and caught the sergeant a cuff on the
+face, whereon the fiery Gascon ordered his men to open
+fire. In a moment the answer came in a shower of
+bricks. Blood had been shed, and from that moment
+the people of France declared war to the death on the
+old régime. Impetuous, generous, warm-hearted and ambitious,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>
+for the next three years Jean Baptiste pursued a
+policy which is typical of his whole career. Ready when
+at white heat of passion to take the most extreme measures,
+even to fire on the crowd, in calmer moments full of
+enthusiasm for the Rights of Man and the well-being of
+his fellows; spending long hours haranguing his comrades
+on the iniquity of kingship and the necessity of taking up
+arms against all of noble birth, yet standing firm by his
+colonel, because in former days he had done him a kindness,
+and saving his officers from the mutineers who were
+threatening to hang them; watching every opportunity to
+push his own fortunes, Bernadotte pursued his way towards
+success. Promotion came rapidly: colonel in 1792, the
+next year general of brigade, and a few months later
+general of division, he owed his advancement to the way
+in which he handled his men. Naturally great neither as
+tactician or as strategist, he could carry out the orders
+of others and above all impart his fiery nature to his
+troops; his success on the battlefield was due to his
+personal magnetism, whereby he inspired others with his
+own self-confidence. But with all this self-confidence there
+was blended in his character a curious strain of hesitation.
+Again and again during his career he let "I dare not"
+wait upon "I would." Gascon to the backbone, full of
+craft and wile, with an eye ever on the future, at times
+he allowed his restless imagination to conjure up dangers
+instead of forcing it to show him the means to gain his end.
+When offered the post of general of brigade, and again
+when appointed general of division, he refused the step
+because he had divined that Jacobin would persecute Girondist,
+that ultra-Jacobin would overthrow Jacobin, and
+that a reaction would sweep away the Revolutionists, and
+he feared that the generals of the army might share the fate
+of those who appointed them. After his magnificent attack
+at Fleurus, he was at last compelled to accept promotion by
+Kléber, who rode up to him and cried out, "You must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>
+accept the grade of general of brigade here on the field
+of battle, where you have so truly earned it. If you refuse
+you are no friend of mine." Thereon Bernadotte accepted
+the post, considering that he could, if necessary, prove that
+he had not received it as a political favour. The years
+1794-6 saw Bernadotte on continuous active service with
+the Army of the Sambre and Meuse, now in the Rhine
+valley, now in the valley of the Danube. Every engagement
+from Fleurus to Altenkirchen added more and more
+to his reputation with the authorities and to his hold on
+the affection of his men. "He is the God of armies," cried
+his soldiers, as they followed him into the fire-swept zone.
+His courage, personality and physical beauty captivated all
+who approached him. Tall, erect, with masses of coal black
+hair, the great hooked nose of a falcon, and dark flashing
+eyes indicating Moorish blood in his veins, he could crush
+the soul out of an incipient revolt with a torrent of cutting
+words, and in a moment turn the mutineers into the most
+loyal and devoted of soldiers. During the long revolutionary
+wars he always kept before him the necessity of
+preparing for peace, and found time to educate himself in
+history and political science. It was with the reputation of
+being one of the best divisional officers of the Army of
+the Sambre and Meuse, and a political power of no small
+importance, that, at the end of 1796, Bernadotte was transferred
+with his division to the Army of Italy, commanded by
+Bonaparte. From their very first meeting friction arose.
+They were like Cæsar and Pompey, "the one would have
+no superior, the other would endure no equal." Bonaparte
+already foresaw the day when France should lie at his
+feet; he instinctively divined in Bernadotte a possible rival.
+Bernadotte, accustomed to the adulation of all with whom
+he came in contact, felt the loss of it in his new command,
+where soldiers and officers alike could think and
+speak of nobody save the conqueror of Italy. Yet neither
+could afford to break with the other, neither could as yet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>
+foretell what the future would bring forth, so amid an occasional
+flourish of compliments, a secret and vindictive
+war was waged between the two. As commander-in-chief,
+Bonaparte, for the time being, held the whip hand and
+could show his dislike by severe reprimands. "Wherever
+your division goes, there is nothing but complaints of its
+want of discipline." Bernadotte, on his side, anxious to win
+renown, would appeal to the "esprit" of his soldiers of the
+Sambre and Meuse, and would spoil Bonaparte's careful
+combinations by attempting a frontal attack before the
+turning movement was effected by the Italian divisions.
+By the end of the campaign it was clear to everybody
+that there was no love lost between the two. After Leoben
+Bonaparte was for the moment the supreme figure in
+France. As plenipotentiary at Leoben and commander-in-chief
+of "the Army of England" he could impose his will
+on the Directory. Bernadotte, in disgust at seeing the success
+of his rival, for some time seriously considered withdrawing
+from public life, or at any rate from France, where
+his reputation was thus overshadowed. Among various
+posts, the Directory offered him the command of the Army
+of Italy, but he refused them all, till at last he consented to
+accept that of ambassador at Vienna. Vienna was for the
+time being the pole round which the whole of European
+politics revolved, and accordingly there was great possibility
+there of achieving diplomatic renown. But scarcely had
+the new ambassador arrived at his destination when he
+heard of Bonaparte's projected expedition to Egypt. He
+at once determined to return to France. He felt that his
+return ought to be marked by something which might
+appeal to the populace. Accordingly he adopted a device
+at once simple and effective.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<a href="images/fp074-hi.jpg"><img src="images/fp074.jpg" width="382" height="600" alt="JEAN BAPTISTE BERNADOTTE, KING OF SWEDEN
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY HILAIRE LE DRU" title="" id="fp074"/></a><br />
+<span class="caption">JEAN BAPTISTE BERNADOTTE, KING OF SWEDEN<br />
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY HILAIRE LE DRU</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Jacobin at heart when his interest did not clash with his
+principles, he had from his arrival at Vienna determined
+to show the princes and dignitaries of an effete civilisation
+that Frenchmen were proud of their Revolution and believed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>
+in nothing but the equality of all men; he refused to conform
+to court regulations and turned his house into a club
+for the German revolutionists. His attitude was of course
+resented, and there was considerable feeling in Vienna
+against the French Embassy. It only required, therefore,
+a little more bravado and a display of the tricolour on the
+balcony of the Embassy to induce the mob to attack the
+house. Immediately this occurred Bernadotte lodged a
+complaint, threw up his appointment, and withdrew to
+France as a protest against this "scoundrelly" attack on
+the honour of his country and the doctrine of the equality
+of men.</p>
+
+<p>On his arrival at Paris he found the Directory shaken to
+its foundation. Sièyes, the inveterate constitution-monger,
+who saw the necessity of "a man with a head and a
+sword," greeted him joyfully; the banishment of Pichegru,
+the death of Hoche, the disgrace of Moreau, and the absence
+of Bonaparte had left Bernadotte for the moment the most
+important of the political soldiers of the Revolution. Acting
+on Sièyes's advice, Bernadotte refused all posts offered him
+either in the army or in the Government and awaited developments.
+Meanwhile he became very intimate with
+Joseph Bonaparte, who introduced him to his sister-in-law,
+Désiré Clary. The Clarys were merchants of Marseilles,
+and Désiré had for some time been engaged to Napoleon
+Bonaparte, who had jilted her on meeting Josephine.
+Désiré, very bitter at this treatment, accepted Bernadotte,
+as she said in later life, "because I was told that he was
+a man who could hold his own against Napoleon." This
+marriage was a master-stroke of policy; it at once gave
+Bernadotte the support of the Bonaparte family, for Bonaparte
+in his way was still fond of Désiré, and at the same
+time it gave Bernadotte a partner who at bottom hated
+Napoleon with a rancour equal to his own. After the
+disasters in Italy and on the Danube, on July 2, 1799,
+Bernadotte, thinking the time was come, accepted the post<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>
+of Minister of War. He speedily put in the field a new
+army of one hundred thousand men, and by his admirable
+measures for the instruction of conscripts and for the
+collection of war material he was in no small way responsible,
+not only for Masséna's victory of Zurich, but, as
+Napoleon himself confessed, for the triumph of Marengo.</p>
+
+<p>His term of office, however, was short, for his colleagues
+intrigued against him. Sièyes desired a man who would
+overthrow the Directory and establish a dictatorship:
+Barras was coquetting with the Bourbons. Bernadotte
+himself talked loudly of the safety of the Republic, but
+had not the courage to jump with Sièyes or to crouch with
+Barras. Oppressed by doubt, his imagination paralysed his
+action, and his personality, which only blazed when in
+movement, became dull. Still trusting his reputation and
+thinking that he was indispensable to the Directory, he
+tendered his resignation, hoping thus to check the intrigues
+of Sièyes and Barras. To his surprise it was at once
+accepted, and he found himself a mere nonentity.</p>
+
+<p>On September 14th Bernadotte resigned, on October 9th
+Napoleon landed at Fréjus. During the Revolution of the
+18th Brumaire Bernadotte remained in the background.
+Desiring the safety of France by the reorganisation of
+the Directory, hating the idea of a dictatorship, jealous
+of the success of his rival, he refused to join the stream
+of generals which hurried to the feet of the conqueror
+of Italy and Egypt. Bonaparte, who could read his soul
+like a book, attempted to draw his rival into his net,
+but, as ever, the Gascon could not make up his mind.
+At first he was inclined to join in the conspiracy, but at last
+he refused, and told Bonaparte that, if the Directory commanded
+him, he would take up arms against those who
+plotted against the Republic. Still, even on the eventful
+day he hesitated, and appeared in the morning among the
+other conspirators at Bonaparte's house, but not in uniform,
+thinking thus to serve both parties.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>During the years which succeeded the establishment of
+the Consulate, Bernadotte waged an unending subterranean
+war against Napoleon. Scarcely a year passed in which his
+name was not connected with some conspiracy to overthrow
+the First Consul. Of these Napoleon was well advised, but
+Bernadotte was too cunning to allow himself to be compromised
+absolutely. However much he might sympathise
+with the conspirators and lend them what aid he could, he
+always refused to sign his name to any document. Accordingly,
+although on one occasion a bundle of seditious
+proclamations was found in the boot of his aide-de-camp's
+carriage, the charge could not be brought home. On
+another occasion, when it was proved that he had advanced
+twelve thousand francs to the conspirator Cerrachi, he
+could prove that it was the price he had paid the artist for
+a bust. In spite of the fact that no definite proof could be
+brought against him, the First Consul could easily, if he
+chose, have produced fraudulent witnesses or have had
+him disposed of by a court-martial, as he got rid of the
+Duc d'Enghien. Napoleon waited his time. He was afraid
+of a Jacobin outbreak if he made a direct attack against
+him. Further, Bernadotte had a zealous friend and ally in
+Joseph Bonaparte. So when pressed to take stern measures
+against his enemy, Napoleon always refused to do so, partly
+from policy, partly because of his former love for Désiré,
+and partly from the horror of a scandal in his family, which
+might weaken his position when he seized the imperial
+throne. Accordingly he attempted in every way to conciliate
+his rebellious subject, and at the same time to place
+him in positions where he could do no political harm.
+Together with Brune and Marmont, he made him a
+Senator. He offered him the command of the Army of
+Italy, and, when Bernadotte refused and demanded employment
+at home, he posted him to the command of the
+division in Brittany, with headquarters at Rennes. But the
+First Consul found that Rennes, far off as it was, was too<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>
+close to Paris; accordingly he tried to tempt his Jacobin
+general by important posts abroad. He proposed in succession
+the embassy at Constantinople, the captain-generalcy
+at Guadaloupe, and the governorship of Louisiana, but
+Bernadotte refused to leave France. At last, early in 1803
+Napoleon nominated him minister to the United States.
+Three times the squadron of frigates got ready to accompany
+the new minister, but each time the minister postponed
+his departure. Meanwhile war broke out with
+England, and Bernadotte was retained in France as
+general on the unattached list, owing to the efforts of
+Joseph.</p>
+
+<p>On the establishment of the Empire Napoleon included
+Bernadotte's name among the number of the Marshals,
+partly to please his brother Joseph and to maintain the
+prestige of his family and partly, as in the case of Augereau,
+Masséna and Jourdan, to win over the staunch republicans
+and Jacobins to the imperial régime. For the moment the
+Emperor achieved his object. The ex-Jacobin, proud of
+his new title and luxuriating in his lately acquired estate
+of Grosbois, was actually grateful; but still, Gascon-like,
+he wanted more and complained he had not enough to
+maintain his proper state. Napoleon, hearing of this from
+Fouché, exclaimed: "Take from the public treasury
+enough to put this right. I want Bernadotte to be content.
+He is just beginning to say he is full of attachment for my
+person; this may attach him more." But a few days later
+the Marshal revealed his true feelings when, talking of
+Napoleon to Lucien, he said, "There will be no more glory
+save in his presence and by his side and through his means,
+and unfortunately all for him."</p>
+
+<p>Though the Emperor had promoted him to honour, it
+was no part of his scheme to allow to remain in Paris a
+man who, as Talleyrand said, "was capable of securing
+four cut-throats and making away with Napoleon himself
+if necessary, a furious beast, a grenadier capable of all and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>
+everything, a man to be kept at a distance at all cost."
+Accordingly the Marshal very soon found himself sent to
+replace Mortier in command of the "Army of Hanover."</p>
+
+<p>For fifteen months Bernadotte administered Hanover,
+and the subtle courtesy he showed to friend and foe alike
+made him as usual the adored of all with whom he came in
+contact. But whatever he did, the Emperor still suspected
+him, and gave the cue to all, that Bernadotte was not to be
+trusted and was no soldier. Napoleon always took care that
+Bernadotte should never have under his command French
+soldiers. His troops in 1805 were Bavarians; in 1807, Poles;
+in 1808, a mixture of Dutch and Spaniards; and in 1809, of
+Poles and Saxons. Berthier, working out the Emperor's
+ideas, and himself also hating Bernadotte, took care that in
+the allotment of duties the disagreeable and unimportant
+tasks should fall to the Marshal. In spite of the inferiority
+of his troops, Bernadotte as usual distinguished himself in
+the hour of battle. At Austerlitz, at the critical moment, he
+saw that unless the centre was heavily supported Napoleon's
+plan of trapping the Russians must fail, so without waiting
+orders he detached a division towards the northern slopes
+of the plateau, and thus materially assisted in winning the
+day. But though quickwitted and alert on the battlefield,
+he never shone in strategy. In the movements which led
+up to a battle he was always slow and inclined to hesitate,
+and his detractors seized on this fault to declare, with
+Napoleon's connivance, that he was a traitor to the
+Emperor and to France. An incident of the campaign of
+1806 gave the Marshal's enemies an excellent opening for
+showing their dislike. Napoleon, thinking he had cornered
+the whole Prussian army at Jena on the night of
+October 13th, sent orders to Bernadotte to fall back from
+Naumburg and get across the Prussian line of retreat. In
+pursuance of these orders the Marshal left Naumburg at
+dawn on the morning of the 14th and marched in the
+direction of Apolda, which he reached, in spite of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>
+badness of the roads, by 4 p.m., and thereby captured
+about a thousand prisoners. But Napoleon had been mistaken
+in his calculations; the main Prussian force was not
+at Jena, but at Auerstädt, where it was most pluckily
+engaged and beaten by Davout, who at once sent to ask
+aid of Bernadotte; but the Marshal, according to Napoleon's
+definite orders, pursued his way to Apolda. The
+Emperor, to vent his dislike against Bernadotte and to
+cover up his own mistake, asserted that he had sent him
+orders to go to Davout's assistance, but a careful examination
+of the French despatches proves that no such document
+existed; in fact, the official despatches completely exonerate
+Bernadotte. Before the campaign was finished, Napoleon
+had to give the Marshal the praise he merited, when, aided
+by Soult and Murat, he at last forced Blücher to surrender
+with twenty-five thousand men and all the Prussian artillery
+at Lübeck. At Eylau Bernadotte's ill luck once again pursued
+him, for the staff officers sent to order him to march to the
+field of battle were taken by the enemy. This misfortune
+gave another opportunity to his detractors, and again the
+Emperor lent his authority to their false accusations. While
+secretly countenancing every attack on the Marshal, the
+Emperor, for family reasons, was loth to come to an open
+breach. On June 5, 1806, he had created him Prince of
+Ponte Corvo, a small principality in Italy wedged in
+between the kingdom of Naples and the Papal States; his
+reason for so doing he explained in a letter to his brother
+Joseph, the King of Naples. "When I gave the title of
+duke and prince to Bernadotte, it was in consideration
+of you, for I have in my armies many generals who have
+served me better and on whose attachment I can count
+more. But I thought it proper that the brother-in-law of
+the Queen of Naples should hold a distinguished position
+in your country." It was for this reason also that, after the
+treaty of Tilsit, the Emperor presented the Prince with vast
+domains in Poland and Hanover.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>During the interval between the peace of Tilsit and the
+outbreak of the war with Austria in 1809, the Prince of
+Ponte Corvo returned to his duty of administering Hanover.
+Pursuing his former policy of ingratiating himself with
+everybody, he renewed his old friendships with all classes,
+and gained the goodwill of his neighbours in Denmark and
+Swedish Pomerania, showing a suavity which was in marked
+contrast to rigid disciplinarians of the school of Davout.
+Such conduct, however, did not gain the approval of the
+Emperor, whose policy was, by enforcing the continental
+system, to squeeze to death the Hanseatic towns, which were
+England's best customers.</p>
+
+<p>The Marshal was so keenly aware of the displeasure of
+the Emperor and the hatred of many of his advisers,
+especially of Berthier, the chief of the staff, that he actually
+asked to be placed on half pay at the commencement of the
+campaign of 1809, but the Emperor refused his request.
+He had determined to end the unceasing struggle between
+himself and Bernadotte. The battle of Wagram gave him
+his opportunity. On the first day of the battle, the Marshal
+had severely criticised, in the hearing of some of his officers,
+the methods the Emperor had adopted for crossing the
+Danube and attacking the Archduke Charles, boasting that
+if he had been in command he would by a scientific
+man&oelig;uvre have compelled the Archduke to lay down his
+arms almost without a blow. Some enemy told the
+Emperor of this boast. On the next day Bernadotte's
+corps was broken by the Austrian cavalry and only saved
+from absolute annihilation by the personal exertion of the
+Marshal and his staff, who, by main force, stopped and
+re-formed the crowd of fugitives. The Emperor arrived on
+the scene at the moment the Marshal had just succeeded in
+staying the rout, and sarcastically inquired, "Is that the
+scientific man&oelig;uvre by which you were going to make the
+Archduke lay down his arms?" and before the Marshal
+could make reply continued, "I remove you, sir, from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>
+command of the army corps which you handle so badly.
+Withdraw at once and leave the Grand Army within twenty-four
+hours; a bungler like you is no good to me." Such
+treatment was more than the Marshal's fiery temperament
+could stand, and accordingly, contrary to all military regulations
+and etiquette, he issued a bulletin without the authority
+of the Emperor praising the Saxon troops, and thus magnifying
+his own importance. The Emperor was furious, and
+sent a private memorandum to the rest of the Marshals
+declaring that, "independently of His Majesty having commanded
+his army in person, it is for him alone to award
+the degree of glory each has merited. His Majesty owes
+the success of his arms to the French troops and to no
+foreigners.... To Marshal Macdonald and his troops is
+due the success which the Prince of Ponte Corvo takes
+to himself." It seemed as if Bernadotte's career was
+finished.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor found he had no longer any reason to fear
+him, and for the moment determined to crush him completely.
+So when he heard that Clarke had despatched the
+Prince to organise the resistance to the English at Flushing,
+he at once superseded him by Bessières. But the prospect
+of an alliance by marriage with either Russia or Austria
+once again caused the Emperor to reflect on the necessity
+of avoiding scandal and discord in his own family; accordingly
+he determined to try and propitiate the Marshal by
+sending him as his envoy to Rome. To a born intriguer like
+Bernadotte, Rome seemed to spell absolute exile, and accordingly,
+in the lowest of spirits, he set about to find excuse
+to delay his journey, little thinking that fortune had turned
+and was at last about to raise him to those heights of which
+he had so long dreamed. Long before, in 1804, at the time
+of the establishment of the Empire, he had secretly visited
+the famous fortune-teller, Mademoiselle Lenormand, who
+had told him that he also should be a king and reign, but
+his kingdom would be across the sea. His boundless ambition,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>
+stimulated by Southern superstition, had fed itself on
+this prophecy, even when the breach with Napoleon seemed
+to close the door to all hope.</p>
+
+<p>In May, 1809, a revolution in Sweden had deposed the
+incapable Gustavus IV. and set up as King his uncle Charles,
+Duke of Sudermania. The new King, Charles XIII., was
+old and childless. Accordingly the question of the succession
+filled all men's minds. With Russia pressing in on the
+east and Denmark hostile on the west, it was important to
+find some one round whom all might rally, by preference
+a soldier. It was of course obvious that France, the traditional
+ally of Sweden, dominated Europe. Accordingly the
+Swedes determined to seek their Crown Prince from the
+hands of Napoleon. Now, of all the Marshals, Bernadotte
+had had most to do with the Swedes. At Hamburg he had
+had constant questions to settle with the Pomeranians. At
+the time of Blücher's surrender at Lübeck he had treated
+with great courtesy certain Swedish prisoners. It seemed
+therefore to the Swedish King's advisers that the Prince of
+Ponte Corvo, the brother-in-law of King Joseph, the hero
+of Austerlitz, was the most suitable candidate they could
+find. Napoleon, however, was furious when he heard that
+a deputation had arrived to offer the position of Crown
+Prince of Sweden to Bernadotte. Too diplomatic to refuse
+to allow the offer to be made, he set to work at once secretly
+to undermine the Marshal's popularity in Sweden, and
+while pretending to leave the decision to Bernadotte himself,
+assured his friends that the Marshal would never dare
+to accept the responsibility. But Napoleon had miscalculated.
+Some kind friend informed the Marshal of what the
+Emperor had said, and, as Bernadotte himself admitted, it
+was the taunt, "He will never dare," which decided him to
+accept the Swedish offer. Before the Crown Prince elect
+quitted France the Emperor attempted to place on him the
+condition that he should never bear arms against him; but
+Bernadotte, foreseeing the future, refused to give any such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span>
+promise, and at last the Emperor gave in with the angry
+words, "Go; our destinies will soon be accomplished!"</p>
+
+<p>The Crown Prince took with him to Sweden his eldest
+son, who had curiously, by the whim of his godfather,
+Napoleon, been named Oscar. But his wife, Désiré,
+could not tear herself away from Paris, where she had
+collected a coterie of artists and writers; her salon was
+greatly frequented by restless intriguers like Talleyrand
+and Fouché. Woman of pleasure as she was, the gaiety
+of Paris was the breath of her nostrils. Accordingly the
+Crown Princess remained behind, as it were the hostage for
+the Prince's good behaviour, but in reality a spy and secret
+purveyor of news hostile to Napoleon.</p>
+
+<p>On landing in Sweden the Crown Prince took all by
+storm. His good looks, his affability, his great prestige and
+his apparent love for his new country created an enthusiasm
+almost beyond belief. But while everything seemed so
+favourable the crafty Gascon from the first foresaw the
+dangers which beset his path. Napoleon hated him.
+Russia looked on him with distrust and desired to absorb
+Sweden. England and the other Powers mistrusted him
+as the tool of the Emperor. Accordingly, the moment he
+landed at Gothenburg the Prince clearly defined the line
+he intended to pursue, exclaiming, "I refuse to be either
+the prefect or the custom-house officer of Napoleon."
+This decision meant a complete reversal of Swedish
+foreign policy and a breach with France. Fortunately
+for Bernadotte the old King, Charles XIII., was only too
+glad to leave everything to his adopted son. Since it was
+impossible to make a complete volte face in a moment, the
+Crown Prince was content to allow the Swedes to taste to
+the full the misery of trying to enforce the continental
+system. For he knew what disastrous effect a war with
+England would have on Swedish trade, and he foresaw
+that his subjects would soon be glad to accept any policy
+whereby their sea-borne commerce might be saved. While<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>
+the Swedes were learning the folly of fighting the mistress
+of the sea, the Crown Prince had time to make his plans, so
+that when the moment arrived he might step forward as the
+saviour of the country. It was quite clear that a breach
+with France must mean the loss of Pomerania and all hope
+of regaining the lost provinces on the southern shores of the
+Baltic. But Bernadotte determined to find in Norway a
+<i>quid pro quo</i> for Pomerania. To force Russia, the hereditary
+foe of Sweden, to make her hereditary ally, Denmark, grant
+Norway to Sweden, would be a master-stroke of diplomacy,
+while an alliance with Russia would guarantee the Swedish
+frontiers and would bring peace with England, because
+Russia was on the point of breaking with the continental
+system. The Swedes would thus gain Norway and recover
+their sea-borne trade, while the Crown Prince would be
+acknowledged as the legitimate heir of the royal house of
+Vasa and no longer regarded as an interloper, a mere puppet
+of Napoleon.</p>
+
+<p>Success crowned the efforts of the elated Gascon. The
+Czar, with the prospect of a French invasion at his door,
+was delighted beyond measure to find in Sweden an ally
+instead of a foe. In August, 1812, he invited the Crown
+Prince to Russia and the treaty of Åbö was signed, whereby
+Russia promised to lend her aid to Sweden to gain Norway
+as the price of her help against France; a little later a treaty
+was concluded between England and Sweden. The Crown
+Prince returned from Åbö full of relief; not only was he
+now received into the inner circle of legitimate sovereigns,
+but the Czar had actually volunteered that if Napoleon fell
+"I would see with pleasure the destinies of France in your
+hands." Alexander had kindled a flame which never died
+as long as Bernadotte lived. The remainder of his life
+might be summed up as an effort to gain the crown of
+France, followed by a period of vain regrets at the failure of
+his hopes.</p>
+
+<p>On returning to Stockholm the Crown Prince found<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>
+himself surrounded by a crowd of cosmopolitan admirers,
+the most important of whom was Madame de Staël, who
+regarded him as the one man who could restore France to
+prosperity. His flatterers likened him to Henry IV. and
+harped on the fact that he also came from Béarn. But in
+France men cursed the traitorous Frenchman who was
+going to turn his sword against his country, and his name
+was expunged from the list of the Marshals and from the
+rolls of the Senate, while the Emperor bitterly regretted that
+he had not sent him to learn Swedish at Vincennes, the
+great military prison. When, in accordance with his
+treaty obligations, early in 1813 the Crown Prince of
+Sweden landed at Stralsund to take part in the war
+against Napoleon, his position was a difficult one. The
+one object of the Allies was to overthrow Napoleon, the
+one object of the Crown Prince was to become King of
+France on Napoleon's fall. The Allies therefore had to beat
+the French troops, but the Crown Prince would ruin his
+hopes if French soldiers were beaten by the troops under
+his command. It was clear that Napoleon could only be
+overcome by the closest co-operation of all the Allies.
+Accordingly the Czar and the King of Prussia summoned
+the Crown Prince to a conference at Trachenberg in
+Silesia and did their best to gratify his pride. The plan
+of campaign was then arranged, and the Prince returned to
+command the allied forces in Northern Germany. At St.
+Helena the Emperor declared that it was Bernadotte who
+showed the Allies how to win by avoiding all conflict with
+himself and defeating the Marshals in detail. With great
+bitterness he added, "He gave our enemies the key to our
+policy, the tactics of our armies, and showed them the way
+to the sacred soil of France." Be this as it may, his conduct
+during the campaign justified the suspicion with which he
+was regarded by friend and foe. Only three times did the
+Prince's army come in contact with the forces of the
+Emperor. At Grosbeeren and Dennewitz, where his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>
+divisional officers fought and won, the Prince kept discreetly
+in the rear. At Leipzig he held back so long that
+the French army very nearly escaped. It was the taunt of
+his chief of the staff, "Do you know that the soldiers say
+you are afraid and do not dare to advance?" which at last
+forced him into battle. But while thus he offended his
+allies, he gained no respect from his former countrymen.
+He had always believed that his presence alone was sufficient
+to bring over the French troops to his side, but his
+first attempt ought to have shattered this delusion. At
+Stettin, during the armistice, he entered the fortress and
+tried to seduce the governor, an ex-Jacobin and erstwhile
+friend. As he left the town a cannon was fired and a ball
+whistled past his ear. He at once sent a flag of truce to
+demand an explanation for this breach of the etiquette
+of war, whereon his friend the ex-Jacobin replied, "It was
+simply a police affair. We gave the signal that a deserter
+was escaping and the mainguard fired." In spite of this
+warning and many other indications, Bernadotte failed to
+understand how completely he had lost his influence in
+France, and while the Allies were advancing on Paris his
+secret agents were busy, especially in Southern France,
+trying to win the people to his cause. Keeping well in
+the rear of the invading armies, he entirely neglected his
+military duties and passed his time listening to the reports
+of worthless spies. The result of his intrigues was that he
+quite lost touch with the trend of events at the front, and
+when Paris fell, instead of being on the spot, he was far
+away. The Czar, long disgusted with his delays, no longer
+pressed his suit, and finding an apparent desire for a Bourbon
+restoration, accepted the return of that house. So when the
+Crown Prince came to Paris he found nothing for it but to
+make his best bow to the Bourbons and slink away home to
+gain what comfort he could in the conquest of Norway.
+Thus once again was Sièyes' saying proved correct: "He is
+a blackbird who thinks himself an eagle."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>On his return home his Swedish subjects gave their
+Crown Prince a very warm welcome. They knew of none
+of his intrigues or tergiversations, they only saw in him the
+victorious conqueror of Napoleon, who, by his successful
+campaigns, was bringing peace and prosperity to Sweden,
+by his diplomacy had acquired Norway, and by his clever
+huckstering had gained twenty million francs for ceding to
+France the isle of Guadaloupe, of which Sweden had never
+taken possession, and another twelve millions for parting
+with the lost Pomeranian provinces. But in spite of his
+popularity at home the Crown Prince had much to make
+him anxious abroad. At the Congress of Vienna a strong
+party backed the claims of the deposed Gustavus IV., and it
+was only the generous aid of the Czar which defeated this
+conspiracy. Further, the attitude of the Powers clearly
+showed him how precarious was the position of an intruder
+among the hereditary rulers of Europe. Consequently,
+when Napoleon returned from Elba the Prince exclaimed:
+"The cause of the Bourbons is for ever lost," and for a
+moment thought of throwing in his lot with the Emperor.
+But the sudden defeat of Murat came as a warning, and he
+hastened to offer the aid of twenty-six thousand troops to
+the Allies. Though outwardly in accord with them, the
+Crown Prince secretly hoped for the victory of Napoleon;
+to his intimates he proclaimed that "Napoleon was the first
+captain of all ages, the greatest human being who had ever
+lived, superior to Hannibal, to Cæsar, and even to Moses."
+Whereat the Crown Princess, who had at last rejoined her
+husband in Sweden, replied: "You ought to exclude Moses,
+who was the envoy of God, whereas Napoleon is the envoy
+of the Devil."</p>
+
+<p>The news of Waterloo once again drove the Prince's ideas
+into their old current. Surely France must now recognise
+that he alone could save her; but the second restoration
+dashed his hopes to the ground. Yet hope springs eternal
+in the human breast, and Bernadotte, year by year, watched<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>
+the trend of French politics with an anxious eye. Even as
+late as the Revolution of 1830 he still thought it was possible
+that France might call him to be her ruler, and he never
+lost the chance of doing the Bourbons an ill-turn. In spite
+of these intrigues, save for an appeal lodged in 1818 against
+the high-handed conduct of the Quadruple Alliance in interfering
+between Sweden and Denmark, Bernadotte's European
+career really ended with the fall of Napoleon. As
+Charles XIV. he ascended the Swedish throne on February
+18, 1818, on the death of his adoptive father. As King
+he pursued the same policy as Crown Prince, alliance with
+Russia. His internal policy was based on the principle of
+maintaining his dynasty at all costs. With this object, in
+Sweden he ruled more or less as a benevolent despot, consulting
+his States General as little as possible, paying the
+greatest attention to commerce and industry, and opening
+up the mines and waterways of the country. In Norway,
+however, where the Storthing had long enjoyed great
+powers, he ruled as a liberal constitutional monarch, and
+with such good fortune did he and his successors pursue
+their policy that of all the diplomatic expedients arranged at
+the Congress of Vienna, the cession of Norway to Sweden
+stood the test of time the longest, and it was not till 1906
+that the principle of nationality was at last enforced in
+Scandinavia.</p>
+
+<p>Though Charles XIV. made no attempt to interfere in
+European politics, the princes of Europe could never shake
+off their dislike of him, standing as he did as the one survival
+of Napoleon's system. When the time came for his
+son Oscar to seek a bride, the Swedish proposals were met
+with scorn in Denmark and Prussia, and even in Mecklenburg-Anhalt
+and Hesse-Cassel. As the Austrian envoy at
+the Swedish court whispered to his English colleague, "All
+Europe would see the fall of these people here without
+regret." Consequently the Swedish King was driven to seek
+a bride for his son from Napoleon's family, and eventually<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>
+the young Prince married the daughter of Eugène Beauharnais,
+the old ex-Viceroy of Italy, Napoleon's stepson.</p>
+
+<p>Charles XIV., a man of regrets, spent the remainder of his
+life buried in the memories of the past. He seldom got up
+till late in the day, dictating his letters and receiving his
+ministers in bed. When he was dressed, he spent some hours
+going over his private affairs and revising his investments,
+for he feared to the end that he might be deprived of his
+crown. In the evening he entertained the foreign representatives
+and held his courts, after which he passed the
+small hours of the night with his particular cronies fighting
+and re-fighting his battles, and proving how he alone could
+have saved Europe from the misery of the Napoleonic wars.
+He died on March 3rd, 1844, at the age of eighty, having
+given his subjects the precious boon of twenty-five years
+of peace.</p>
+
+<p>In spite of his brilliant career, Bernadotte must ever
+remain one of the most pathetic figures in history. He
+stands convicted as a mere opportunist, a man who never
+once possessed his soul in peace and who was incapable of
+understanding his own destiny. So much was this the case
+that in his latter days the old Jacobin, now a crowned King,
+really believed he was speaking the truth when he said that
+along with Lafayette he was the only public man, save the
+Count of Artois, who had never changed since 1789. He saw
+no inconsistency between the declaration of his youth, "that
+royalty was a monster which must be mutilated in its own
+interest," and his speech as an old man to the French
+ambassador, "If I were King of France with an army of two
+or three hundred thousand men I would put my tongue out
+at your Chamber of Deputies." He was Gascon to the
+backbone, and his tongue too often betrayed his most secret
+and his most transient thoughts. For the moment he would
+believe and declare that "Napoleon was not beaten by mere
+men ... he was greater than all of us ... the greatest
+captain who has appeared since Julius Cæsar.... If, like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>
+Henry IV., he had had a Sully he would have governed
+empires." Then, thinking of himself as Sully, he would
+gravely add, "Bonaparte was the greatest soldier of our age,
+but I surpassed him in powers of organisation, of observation
+and calculation." Yet with it all he had many of the
+qualities which go to make a man great. His personal
+magnetism was irresistible, he had consummate tact, a keen
+eye for intrigue, a clear vision to pierce the mazes of political
+tangles, and considerable strength of purpose backed by an
+intensely fiery nature. Frank and generous, he inclined
+naturally to a liberal policy, but his innate selfishness too
+often conquered his generous principles. It was this conflict
+between his liberal ideas and his personal interest which
+caused that fatal hesitation which again and again threatened
+to spoil his career and which made him so immensely
+inferior to Napoleon. To gain his crown he willingly threw
+over his religion and became a Lutheran; to keep his crown
+he was ready to sacrifice his honour. As a Swedish monarch
+he thought more of the interests of his dynasty than of the
+interests of his subjects, but he was far too wily to show
+this in action. Posing as a patriot King and boasting of his
+love for his adopted country, he ever remained at heart a
+Frenchman.</p>
+
+<p>When in 1840 the remains of the great Emperor were
+transferred to Paris, he mournfully exclaimed to his representative:
+"Tell them that I who was once a Marshal of
+France am now only a King of Sweden."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="V" id="V"></a>V<br /><br />
+JEAN DE DIEU NICOLAS SOULT, MARSHAL,<br />
+DUKE OF DALMATIA</h2>
+
+
+<p>Of all the Marshals of Napoleon, perhaps none is
+better known to Englishmen than Jean de Dieu
+Soult. His long service in the Peninsula, ending
+with the stern fighting in the Pyrenees and the valley of
+the Garonne, and the prominent part he took in French
+politics during the years of the Orleanist monarchy, made
+his name a household word in England. The son of a
+small notary of St. Amand, a little-known town in the
+department of the Tarn, Soult was possessed of all the
+fervour of the South and the cunning and tenacity of a
+Gascon. Born on March 29, 1769, he early distinguished
+himself by his precocity and his quickness of perception.
+Although handicapped by a club-foot he determined to be
+a soldier, and at the age of sixteen he enlisted in the Royal
+Infantry regiment. His intelligence marked him out for the
+rank of sergeant, and in 1791 he was sent as sub-lieutenant
+and drill instructor to a battalion of volunteers of the Haut
+Rhin. In spite of his lameness and his slight frame, the young
+sub-lieutenant was possessed of a physique capable of withstanding
+the greatest fatigue and hardship, and spurred on
+by ambition, he never shirked a task which might add to his
+reputation. Consequently, he was soon chosen captain by
+his comrades, and once war broke out he speedily rose. At
+the battle of Kaiserslautern, the storm of the lines of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span>
+Weissenburg and the siege of Fort Louis, he forced himself
+to the front by his gallantry and his rapid coup d'&oelig;il. But it
+was the battle of Fleurus which once and for all established
+his reputation. Soult was by then colonel and chief of the
+staff to General Lefèbvre. The gallant Marceau's battalions
+were hurled back in rout by the enemy, and their chief in
+agony rushed up to Lefèbvre crying out for four battalions
+of the reserve that he might regain the ground he had lost.
+"Give them to me," he exclaimed, "or I will blow out my
+brains." Soult quietly observed that he would thereby only
+the more endanger his troops. Marceau, indignant at being
+rebuked by a young staff officer, roughly asked, "And who
+are you?" "Whoever I am," replied Soult, "I am calm,
+which you are not: do not kill yourself, but lead your men
+to the charge and you shall have the four battalions as soon
+as we can spare them." Scarcely had he uttered these words
+than the Austrians fell with fury on Lefèbvre's division.
+For hours the issue hung in the balance, and at last even
+the stubborn Lefèbvre began to think of retreat. But Soult,
+calmly casting a rapid glance over the field, called out, "If I
+am not mistaken from what I judge of the enemy's second
+line, the Austrians are preparing to retreat." A few moments
+later came the order to advance from Jourdan, the commander-in-chief,
+and thanks to Soult's soundness of judgment,
+the divisions of Marceau and Lefèbvre were charging
+the enemy instead of fighting a rear-guard action to cover a
+rout. After the battle, the generous Marceau sought out
+Soult. "Colonel," said he, "forgive the past: you have
+this day given me a lesson I shall never forget. It is you in
+fact who have gained the battle." Soult had not long to
+wait for his reward, for in 1794 he was promoted general of
+brigade.</p>
+
+<p>During the campaign of 1795 Soult was entrusted with a
+light column of three battalions of infantry and six squadrons
+of cavalry, and was constantly employed as an
+advance or rear guard. On one occasion, while covering<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>
+the retreat at Herborn, his small force was surrounded by
+four thousand Austrian cavalry. Summoned to surrender,
+he indignantly refused, and forming his infantry in two
+columns with the cavalry in the interval between them,
+during five hours he beat off repeated charges of the
+enemies' horse and fought his way back to the main body
+without losing a single gun or a single colour. Ten days
+later he added to this triumph by inflicting the loss of two
+thousand men on the enemy in the mountain combat at
+Ratte Eig, when both sides struggled to gain the heights
+knee-deep in snow. During the campaigns of 1796 and
+1797, Soult increased his reputation amid the marches and
+counter-marches and battles in the valleys of the Rhine and
+the Danube. But it was in Switzerland that he laid most
+firmly the foundation of his future success, for there he
+gained the friendship and goodwill of Masséna, and it was
+the conqueror of Zurich who first called Bonaparte's attention
+to the sterling qualities of the future Duke of Dalmatia,
+telling the First Consul that "for judgment and courage
+Soult had scarcely a superior." In 1800 Masséna took his
+trusty subordinate with him to Italy as lieutenant-general of
+the centre of the army. During the fierce struggle which
+ended in the Austrians driving the French into Genoa, the
+lieutenant-general was seen at his best, exposing his person
+in a way he seldom did later, and showing that strategic
+insight and power of organisation for which he was so
+celebrated. On one occasion, when cornered by Bellegarde,
+he was summoned to surrender. The Austrian parlementaire
+pointed out that it was hopeless to continue the struggle as
+he had neither provisions nor ammunition. To this Soult
+replied: "With bayonets and men who know how to use
+them, one lacks nothing," and in spite of every effort of the
+enemy, with the "white arm" alone he cut his way into
+Genoa. During the siege he was Masséna's right hand, ever
+ready with shrewd advice, the soul of every sortie, till
+unluckily he was wounded at the combat of Monte Cretto,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span>
+and captured by the Austrians, whose prisoner he remained
+till after Marengo.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 680px;">
+<a href="images/fp096-hi.jpg"><img src="images/fp096.jpg" width="445" height="551" alt="JEAN DE DIEU SOULT, DUKE OF DALMATIA
+FROM A LITHOGRAPH BY DELPECH AFTER THE PAINTING BY ROUILLARD" title="" id="fp096"/></a><br />
+<span class="caption">JEAN DE DIEU SOULT, DUKE OF DALMATIA<br />
+FROM A LITHOGRAPH BY DELPECH AFTER THE PAINTING BY ROUILLARD</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>On the establishment of the Consulate, Soult, whose
+politics rested solely on personal ambition and not on
+principle, at once divined the aims of Bonaparte. Thanks
+to Masséna's warm introduction and his own reputation,
+he found himself cordially received by the First Consul.
+Honours were showered upon him. He was one
+of the four trusted commandants of the Consular Guard,
+and when Napoleon began to organise his forces for
+the struggle with England, he entrusted Soult with the
+command of the important army corps at Boulogne.
+The First Consul could have made no better selection.
+Under his rough exterior Soult hid great powers of
+business, a keen perspicacity, and much tact. Quick-witted,
+with a subtle, restless spirit, he had great strength
+of character, and his ambition spurred him on to a
+diligence which knew neither mental nor physical fatigue.
+But in spite of his cold air and self-restraint, he loved
+the pleasures of the table, and was passionately fond of
+women, while his wife exercised a complete domination
+over him, and before her he quailed like a child. In
+war he had the keen imagination and quick penetration
+of a great strategist. His special forte was the planning
+of vigorous enterprises. But he preferred to direct
+rather than to lead. Though his courage was undoubted,
+as he grew older he was chary of risking his person,
+and had not the dashing qualities of Lannes and Ney.
+As an administrator he was the equal of Davout. Once
+entrusted with the command of the army corps at
+Boulogne, the young general of thirty-five laid aside all
+thoughts of personal pleasure and ease and set himself
+to manufacture a fighting machine which should be the
+most perfect of its time. Never was such attention shown
+to details of administration and instruction, and the discipline
+of the corps at Boulogne was the severest that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span>
+French troops had ever undergone. As might be expected,
+there were many grumbles, and soon rumours
+and complaints reached the First Consul, who himself
+remonstrated with his lieutenant, telling him that the
+troops would sink under such treatment; but he was
+greeted with the reply, "Such as cannot withstand the
+fatigue which I myself undergo will remain at the depôts:
+but those who do stand it will be fit to undertake the
+conquest of the world." Soult was right in his estimate,
+for in spite of the demands he made on their endurance,
+he had won their love and admiration; the weak and
+the grumblers fell out, and when war was declared his
+corps marched to the front, a body of picked men with
+absolute confidence in their leader. In spite of the fact
+that he had never held an independent command, there
+was no surprise when he was included among the number
+of the Marshals, for his brilliant record, his selection
+as commandant of the Guard, his success at Boulogne,
+and the favour which the First Consul had long shown
+to him, had marked him out as one of the coming men.
+The campaign of 1805 bore witness to the justness of
+the Emperor's choice. It has often been said, and indeed
+Wellington himself lent credit to the dictum, that
+Soult was primarily a strategist and no tactician, but
+at Austerlitz he showed that calm capacity to read the
+signs of the conflict, and that knowledge of when and
+where to strike, which had first brought him to the front
+in the days of Fleurus. Entrusted with the command of
+the centre, in spite of the entreaties of his subordinates
+and even the commands of the Emperor, he refused to
+open his attack until he saw that the Russian left was
+hopelessly compromised. Thanks to his clearness of foresight,
+when once he launched his attack he not only
+put the issue out of doubt, but completely overwhelmed
+the Russians. Their left was surrounded and annihilated
+while the centre and right were driven from the field<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>
+in complete rout. At the moment when the Marshal was
+directing the movement which wrested from the enemy
+the key of the position, Napoleon and his staff arrived
+on the scene. The Marshal explained his man&oelig;uvre
+and asked the Emperor for orders. "Carry on, carry
+on, my dear Marshal," said the Emperor; "you know
+quite as well as I do how to finish the affair." Then,
+stretching out his arms to embrace him, he cried out,
+"My dear Marshal, you are the finest tactician in Europe."
+After the treaty of Pressburg Soult's corps remained as
+part of the army of occupation in the valley of the
+Danube, and in 1806 formed one of the corps of the
+Grand Army during the Prussian War. At Jena he had
+the satisfaction of playing an important part in the battle,
+for when Ney's rash advance had compromised the situation,
+it was he who checked the victorious rush of the
+enemy. But later the Marshal had bitter cause to repent
+these triumphs won over his rival. Already the enemy
+of Berthier, and consequently often misrepresented to the
+Emperor, Soult now incurred the bitter hatred of Ney;
+and what the enmity of Berthier and Ney meant he
+found to his cost during the Peninsular War. Immediately
+after Jena the Marshal was detached in pursuit of the
+Prussians, and on the day following defeated Marshal
+Kalkreuth at Greussen and proceeded to blockade Magdeburg.
+From Magdeburg he hurried off to join in the
+pursuit of Blücher, and aided by Bernadotte he cornered
+the crafty old Prussian at Lübeck. But brilliant as his
+performance was, he did not gain the credit he deserved,
+for on the day of the action Murat arrived and took
+over the command, arrogating to himself all the honours
+of the surrender. The Marshal was justly indignant, but,
+bitterly as he resented the injustice, he was too politic
+to storm at the Emperor like Marshal Lannes. In the
+terrible campaign in Poland the Marshal added to his
+laurels. At Eylau, when Augereau had been routed, Davout<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span>
+checked, and Ney and Bernadotte not yet arrived on
+the field, it was he who warned the Emperor against
+showing any signs of retreat. "Beware of doing so,
+Sire," he exclaimed; "let us remain the last on the field
+and we shall have the honour of the day: from what
+I have seen I expect the enemy will retreat in the night."
+The advice was sound, and the Marshal, during the night
+following the battle, had the pleasure of being the first
+to perceive that the enemy was retreating, and it
+was his aide-de-camp who carried the news to headquarters.
+Well it was for the Emperor that he accepted
+Soult's advice, for the terrible carnage in the snow had
+taken the heart out of the troops, and a retreat would
+have soon degenerated into a rout. So shaken was the
+French morale, that when, on the next day, the Emperor
+rode down the lines, instead of being greeted with cries
+of "Long live the Emperor," he was received with murmurs
+of "Peace and France," and even "Peace and
+Bread." During the final advance Soult had his share
+of the hard fighting at Heilsberg, but he escaped from
+the horrors of Friedland, as he had been detached to
+occupy Königsberg. After the peace of Tilsit, the Marshal's
+corps was cantonned round Stettin, and it was
+there that in 1808 he received the title of Duke of Dalmatia.
+The selection of this name caused the Duke much annoyance,
+for instead of receiving a title which should recall
+one of his great exploits, as had Ney, Davout, Lannes,
+Kellermann, and Masséna, his designation was chosen
+from a country with which he had not the smallest
+connection, and thus he found himself on a par with
+Bessières, Maret and Caulaincourt. What he hankered
+after was the title of Duke of Austerlitz, but the Emperor
+refused to share the glories of that day. In spite of
+the huge dotation he received, the Marshal added this
+supposed slight to the many grudges he bore his
+master.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>From Stettin the Duke of Dalmatia was summoned in
+September, 1808, to attend the Conference at Erfurt,
+and from there he was hurriedly despatched to Spain.
+The Emperor was much displeased with many of his
+corps commanders, and so on the arrival of the Duke
+he ordered him to take over from Marshal Bessières the
+command of the second corps. Soult was delighted at
+the prospect of service. Full of zeal, he set out for his
+new command, and pushing on in spite of all obstacles,
+he arrived at his headquarters alone on a jaded post-horse
+twenty-four hours before his aides-de-camp. A
+few days later he dashed to pieces the semblance of a
+Spanish army at Gamoral and occupied Burgos, where
+he was unable to prevent his new command from sacking
+the town and inflicting every possible horror on the
+inhabitants. From Burgos the Emperor despatched him
+to the north-west, and thus it was that the cavalry of
+Sir John Moore's army surprised Soult's outpost at Sahagun.
+The Emperor could scarcely believe that an English
+army had actually dared to advance against his troops,
+but he at once ordered Soult to co-operate with the
+divisions he led in person from Madrid, and when he
+found that the English were bound to escape, he handed
+over the command to the Marshal. The French suffered
+almost as much as the English in the terrible pursuit,
+and it was the tried soldiers of both armies who
+at last met face to face at Corunna. After the battle
+Soult wrote to the Emperor that without fresh reinforcements
+he could effect nothing against the English, but
+when later he found that the enemy had evacuated
+Corunna, he claimed that he had won a victory. With
+a generosity that must be placed to his credit, he took
+great care of the grave of his adversary, Sir John Moore,
+and erected a monument with the inscription, "Hic
+cecidit Johannes Moore dux exercitus Britannici in pugna
+Januarii xvi. 1809, contra Gallos a duce Dalmatiæ ductos."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Before leaving for France the Emperor had drawn up a
+cut and dried plan for the systematic conquest of the whole
+Peninsula. The pivot of the whole scheme rested on the
+supposed ability of Soult to overrun Portugal and drive
+the British out of Lisbon by February 16, 1809. Unfortunately,
+Napoleon left one factor out of his calculations,
+and that the most important, namely, the feelings of
+the Spanish and Portuguese populations. The Duke of
+Dalmatia very soon perceived the Emperor's mistake, but,
+anxious not to be accused of shirking his task and of allowing
+himself to be stopped by what were termed bands of ill-armed
+peasants, he started on his expedition to conquer the
+kingdom of Portugal with but three thousand rounds for
+his guns and five hundred thousand cartridges for his
+infantry, carried on the backs of mules, for owing to the
+state of the roads in the north-west corner of the Peninsula
+wheel traffic was impossible. In spite of the difficulties of
+transport and the murmurs of many of his officers, the
+indefatigable Marshal hurled all obstacles aside and with
+sixteen thousand troops forced his way into Oporto on
+March 29th, six weeks behind his scheduled time. But
+there he had to call a halt, for he had not the men nor the
+material for a further advance on Lisbon. The situation
+was by no means reassuring. To reach Oporto he had been
+obliged to cut himself adrift from his base, and he had no
+tidings of what was happening in the rest of the Peninsula.
+During April he set himself to conciliate the people of
+Portugal and at the same time to try and get into touch
+with the other French corps in Spain. The Marshal's
+attempt at conciliation was on the whole successful, but
+his kindness resulted in an unsuspected turn in the situation.
+A movement was started among a certain section of
+the Portuguese nobility and officials to offer the crown of
+Portugal to the Marshal. The Duke of Dalmatia, greedy
+and ambitious but ever cautious, was of opinion that
+though the Emperor might disapprove of the idea, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span>
+would accept a fait accompli. Accordingly he secretly
+sanctioned the movement, and allowed placards to appear
+in Oporto stating that "the Prince Regent, by his departure
+to Brazil, had formally resigned the crown, and that the
+only salvation of Portugal would be that the Duke of
+Dalmatia, the most distinguished of the pupils of the great
+Napoleon, should ascend the vacant throne." Further, he
+actually, on April 19th, ordered his chief of the staff to send
+a circular to commanding officers inviting their co-operation
+in his seizure of the crown, stating that by so doing they
+would in no way be disloyal to the Emperor. Luckily for
+the Marshal, the arrival of Sir Arthur Wellesley and the
+English army, before the plot could succeed, once and for
+all blew aside this cloudy attempt at kingship. For the
+Emperor, on hearing of the affair, although he pardoned
+the Marshal, saying, "I remember nothing but Austerlitz,"
+still wrote in the same despatch "that it would have been a
+crime, clear lèse majesté, an attack on the imperial dignity,"
+and added that it was no wonder that the army grew discontented,
+since the Marshal was working, not for France,
+but for himself, and that disobedience to the Marshal's
+orders was quite justified. For once, then, the Marshal,
+usually so clever and cautious, had allowed ambition to
+run away with prudence. Meanwhile the military situation
+grew day by day more disquieting. In the French army
+there was a section of the officers ready to declare against
+the Empire whenever a chance occurred, and one of them,
+Argenton by name, actually entered into a treasonable
+negotiation with Sir Arthur Wellesley. It was thanks to
+the discovery of this plot that the Marshal first got information
+of his enemies' projected advance.</p>
+
+<p>With thirty thousand English marching against him and
+Spanish and Portuguese forces across the main line of
+retreat, it was impossible to expect to hold Oporto, and
+accordingly the Marshal began preparations for withdrawal.
+But having secured, as he thought, all the boats on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>
+Douro, he concluded that he could only be attacked by a
+force ferried across at the river mouth by the boats of the
+English fleet. Consequently he kept no watch up stream.
+So complete was the surprise that an hour after the enemy
+had effected a landing above the town the Marshal, who
+had been up all night, was still in bed; his staff were
+quietly breakfasting when an officer galloped up with the
+news of the crossing. Soult could do nothing else but give
+the order to retreat by whatever means possible, and it was
+fortunate for the French that the pursuit was not pushed
+harder. But once he had grasped the situation he made
+amends for his previous neglect of supervision and showed
+himself the Soult of Austerlitz and Eylau. Sacrificing his
+baggage, his guns, and his military chest, guided by a
+Spanish pedlar, he made a most astounding march through
+the rugged region of Tras os Montes. Crossing lofty passes,
+forcing gorges in the teeth of hostile bands of peasantry
+and guerillas, by hard fighting and magnificent marching
+he brought his troops to safety. The campaign of Oporto
+did not add to the Marshal's reputation; his political
+ambition was the cause of all the disaster, for it prevented
+him from supervising his subordinates' operations. It was
+his fault that there was no proper road for retreat and that
+he was surprised by the English army. Still, though he had
+committed great faults, he had shown a surprising ability in
+extricating himself from their consequences.</p>
+
+<p>When Soult reached Lugo, in Spain, he found his rival
+Ney, from whom he begged stores and equipments, and
+with whom he was bound to confer on the general situation.
+Ney at first magnanimously granted the Marshal's requests.
+But unfortunately the men of Ney's corps greeted the armed
+rabble which followed Soult's standards with jeers and
+execrations, and the quarrel spread from the men to the
+officers and at last to the Marshals; so fierce were Ney's
+taunts that Soult actually drew his sword and a duel was
+with difficulty averted. Thereafter Soult, while promising<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>
+to co-operate with Ney in the pacification of Galicia,
+actually did nothing and seriously compromised his rival,
+whereon Ney refused to obey any orders given by the Duke
+of Dalmatia. Such was the situation when a summons
+from Madrid called the two Marshals to the succour of
+Joseph, who was threatened by the combined armies of
+Cuesta and Sir Arthur Wellesley in the valley of the Tagus.
+The Marshals arrived in time to save Madrid, but not in
+time to surround the Allies, who escaped south across the
+Tagus, and the one chance of success the Spanish offered
+them was lost, since Soult, eager for personal aggrandisement,
+attacked Albuquerque before Marshal Victor had
+time to arrive on the scene of action. The consequence of
+this was far-reaching, for Victor, like Ney, refused in future
+to work in conjunction with Soult. Moreover, when a
+council was held to decide on the next operations, and
+Soult, wisely, no doubt, insisted that at Lisbon lay the key
+to the situation, all the other Marshals voted against his
+scheme, as each one determined that he would not be made
+subordinate to the Duke of Dalmatia. Soult accordingly
+had to content himself with occupying the valley of the
+Tagus, while the other Marshals returned to the districts
+which had been allotted to them before the allied advance
+on Madrid.</p>
+
+<p>While contemplating this unsatisfactory situation the
+Duke of Dalmatia was rejoiced to receive a despatch from
+the Emperor appointing him major-general of the forces in
+Spain in place of Jourdan and entrusting him with the
+invasion of Andalusia. Before setting out for the South,
+Soult had the satisfaction of completely routing the
+Spaniards at Ocaña. It was early in 1810 that he entered
+Andalusia and seized Seville, Granada, and Malaga. The
+Marshal found himself in the congenial position of absolute
+ruler of the richest provinces of Spain. But though the
+important towns fell easily, and with them the accumulated
+riches of centuries, the people remained sullenly hostile, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span>
+bands of armed peasantry hung ever on the rear and flanks
+of the French columns, and stragglers and despatch-riders
+were found by the roadside with their throats cut. To meet
+this situation, at the Emperor's orders Soult issued a proclamation
+setting forth that whereas Joseph Bonaparte was
+King of Spain and no Spanish Government existed, all
+Spaniards taken in arms were rebels against his Catholic
+Majesty and would be immediately shot. The Cortes from
+Cadiz replied by at once issuing a counter-proclamation
+stating that for every Spaniard executed and for every house
+burned three Frenchmen should be hung. Still, in spite
+of this war of reprisals, the French gradually tightened their
+grip on Southern Spain, and soon Cadiz remained the only
+important fortress still in the hands of the enemy. The
+Marshal found it was impossible to take this important
+position by storm, and contented himself with masking it
+by a strong corps under Marshal Victor. Meanwhile he
+was busily engaged in organising the new government of
+Andalusia, and so successful were his efforts that neither
+the Spanish Government at Cadiz or the constant incursions
+of Spanish and British armies were able to shake his hold
+on that province. But wise and successful as were his
+methods, the glory of his rule was darkened by his harshness
+and greed. The churches and convents were ruthlessly
+despoiled of their treasures, and many a fine Murillo
+and Velasquez was despatched to Paris to decorate his
+salons.</p>
+
+<p>In the eyes of the Duke of Dalmatia, Andalusia was a vast
+reservoir of wealth which might be used as a base from
+which a well-equipped force could threaten Lisbon, the real
+focus of all the opposition to the French domination of the
+Peninsula. It was in pursuance of this plan that he conciliated
+the municipal authorities, strengthened the police,
+and built up huge reserve magazines by a system of imposts
+so carefully arranged that they should not unduly press on
+the Spanish population. But unfortunately for the Duke's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>
+schemes they ran counter to those of King Joseph. For
+the Marshal determined to use the wealth of his rich provinces
+for the special object of an attack on the British
+power at Lisbon, but Joseph desired that the revenue thus
+acquired should be sent to assist him to maintain his kingly
+state. Soult, strong in his position as major-general and
+backed by the Emperor's approval, refused to listen to the
+demands of the King, and there began a struggle which did
+more than anything else to bring about the fall of the
+Napoleonic kingdom of Spain. In spite of the fact that
+the Marshal gradually wore down the guerillas, actually
+raised and trained large bodies of Spanish troops, built up
+vast magazines and arsenals at Seville, exploited the lead
+mines at Linares and the copper mines of the Rio Tinto,
+established foundries for military accessories, and fitted out
+privateers, the jealousy of Joseph brought the Marshal's
+great schemes to nought.</p>
+
+<p>The continual and vexatious demands of the King acted
+in a most unfortunate way on Soult's character, for this
+stupid opposition so irritated his hard and egotistical nature
+that he saw in every scheme not planned by himself a
+desire to belittle his glory. Unfortunately for his own
+reputation and the success of the French arms, he allowed
+this feeling to obscure his judgment, and he refused to
+give more than a half-hearted co-operation to any measures
+not actually suggested by himself. Thus it was that, in
+spite of the commands of the Emperor and the entreaties
+of Joseph, he refused to make any attempt to co-operate
+with Masséna in his advance on Portugal until it was too
+late. Then, when he actually did advance, he showed all
+his old energy and skill, for in fifty days he mastered four
+fortresses and invested a fifth, he captured twenty thousand
+prisoners and killed or dispersed ten thousand men; but
+he disregarded the main objective, the expulsion of the
+English from Lisbon, and contented himself with the siege
+of Badajoz, and thus, while winning a fortress, he lost a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span>
+kingdom. From want of his co-operation Masséna was
+forced to retreat, and the grip of the English on the
+Peninsula was more firmly established than ever.</p>
+
+<p>Badajoz was soon to prove itself a place of ill omen for
+Soult, for a few months later, when an Anglo-Portuguese
+army under Beresford laid siege to it, he was forced to
+come to its rescue. It was in the attempt to relieve this
+fortress that the terrible battle of Albuera was fought.
+At the commencement of the fight the Marshal, by a
+masterly man&oelig;uvre, threw himself across the allied right
+flank and seized the hill that dominated the position, and
+it looked as if the allied lines were bound to be crumpled
+up. But a brigade of English infantry stood firm amid
+the rout, and with measured volleys checked the victorious
+advance of the elated French. Soult, by every effort of
+voice and gesture, attempted to force his veterans to face
+the foe, but in vain. "Nothing could conquer that astounding
+infantry. No sudden burst of undisciplined
+valour, no nervous enthusiasm weakened the stability of
+their order: their flashing eyes were bent on the dark
+columns in their front, their measured tread shook the
+ground, their dreadful volleys swept away the head of every
+formation, their deafening shouts overpowered the discordant
+cries that broke from all parts of the tumultuous crowd
+as slowly, and with a horrid carnage, it was pushed by the
+incessant vigour of the attack to the farthest edge of the hill.
+In vain did the French reserve mix with the struggling
+multitude to sustain the fight: their efforts only increased
+the immediate confusion, and the mighty mass, breaking
+off like a loosened cliff, went headlong down the steep.
+The rain flowed after in a stream discoloured by blood:
+and eighteen hundred unwounded men, the remnant of
+six thousand unconquerable British soldiers, stood
+triumphant on the fatal hill." Thus Napier describes the
+battle of Albuera. So nearly a magnificent victory for the
+French: turned by British valour into a defeat. But it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span>
+was not only the valour of the enemy which cost Soult his
+success, it was his own errors. The commencement of the
+attack was a magnificent conception, but the Marshal failed
+to understand the tactics of his enemy, and it was his blind
+attempt to crush the line with heavy columns which allowed
+the English musket fire to annihilate his dense masses.
+After the cessation of the combat he committed another
+great fault. Though his attack had been beaten back, it
+was known that the Allies had suffered much more severely
+than the French, and on the strength of this he claimed a
+"signal victory"! But instead of holding his ground he
+withdrew a day later, whereas if he had shown a confident
+front Beresford would have been bound to retire, and
+Badajoz would have been relieved. After the battle of
+Albuera, Soult was reinforced by the Army of Portugal
+under Marmont; but discord soon broke out between the
+two Marshals, the Duke of Dalmatia maintaining that
+the way to attack Lisbon was from his own base in the
+south, and the Duke of Ragusa advocating the northern
+route. After lying together for some time the two armies
+separated, and Soult moved south to complete his operations
+against Cadiz and Gibraltar. It was while the Marshal was
+thus engaged, early in 1812, that the Duke of Wellington
+suddenly captured Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, and was
+thus able, after defeating Marmont at Salamanca, to
+march in the summer on Madrid. Soult replied to
+Joseph's summons to come to his help by telling him that
+his best policy was to join him in Andalusia and make a
+counter-stroke at Lisbon. But the King refused to listen to
+this wise advice, so the Marshal was obliged to give up all
+his achievements and go to Joseph's help. Meanwhile the
+King wrote complaining to the Emperor, but Napoleon
+replied that Soult was the "only military head" in Spain, and
+could not be moved. But after more bickering, early in
+1813, Joseph wrote to say that if the Marshal remained in
+Spain he himself must leave the country, and the Emperor,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span>
+anxious to regain his military prestige, so weakened by the
+Russian campaign, was glad to summon the Duke of
+Dalmatia to the Grand Army. But Soult's gloomy prophecy
+was soon fulfilled that "the loss of Andalusia and
+the raising of the siege of Cadiz are events that will be felt
+throughout the whole of Europe." The Marshal's service
+at the head of the Imperial Guard was terminated by
+the news of the fatal battle of Vittoria; for the Emperor
+immediately hurried him back to try to prevent the
+English from forcing the barrier of the Pyrenees.</p>
+
+<p>The Duke of Dalmatia gladly accepted the mission, in
+spite of the repugnance of the Duchess, who hated Spain,
+where, as she said, "nothing is got but blows." So hearty
+was her dislike of the country that she actually went to the
+Emperor saying her husband was too shattered in health
+for the task. But she met with a stern rebuff: "Madam,"
+said Napoleon, "recollect I am not your husband; if I
+were, you should conduct yourself very differently."</p>
+
+<p>The campaign of the Pyrenees bore ample testimony to
+the wisdom of the confidence the Emperor had placed in
+the power of his lieutenant. With marvellous sagacity Soult
+reorganised the scattered relics of the French armies, and
+within ten days of his arrival at headquarters he was ready
+to assume the offensive, and actually all but surprised the
+Duke of Wellington at Sorauren. But great as were his
+strategical powers and his methods of organisation, he was
+no match for Wellington on the field of battle, and step by
+step he was forced back into France. Round Bayonne he
+showed his complete mastery of the art of war by the admirable
+way he used his command of the inner lines always to
+oppose the enemy's attack by superior force. Then, when
+retreat was inevitable, instead of falling back towards Paris,
+he withdrew south, thus forcing his adversary to divide up
+his army; for the English had to detach a strong division
+to cover their communications at Bordeaux. During the
+retreat, again and again Soult turned at bay, at Orthez and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span>
+many another good position; but Wellington ever outman&oelig;uvred
+him on the field, and even turned him out of
+the seemingly impregnable position of Toulouse. Never
+was a retreat more admirably carried out. Every opportunity
+afforded by the ground, every advantage of position
+was seized on, to use to the full the French dash in the
+attack. No more admirable illustration can be found of
+the truth that the essence of defence lies in a vigorous
+local offence. Wellington himself bore testimony to Soult's
+virtues, maintaining that of the Marshals he was second
+only to Masséna.</p>
+
+<p>With the Restoration the Marshal at once accepted the
+change of government and gave his adhesion to the
+Bourbons. His general reputation and the high place he
+held in the opinion of Wellington and others caused the
+King in the December of 1814 to appoint him Minister of
+War. Such was his position when news arrived of
+Napoleon's landing at Fréjus. The Duke of Dalmatia did
+all in his power to organise resistance to the Emperor's
+advance, but he had many enemies, and the King, listening
+to their advice, replaced him as minister by Clarke, Duke of
+Feltre. Soult then retired to his country estate at Villeneuve-l'Étang,
+near Saint Cloud. On his arrival at Paris,
+the Emperor at once sent for him, but at first he refused to
+go to court. Ultimately, finding the Emperor's cause in
+the ascendant, he cast aside hesitation and threw in his
+lot with him. It has been said that the Duke betrayed
+the Bourbons and was privy to the Emperor's return, but
+this is a calumny. Napoleon at St. Helena said, "Soult
+did not betray Louis, nor was he privy to my return. For
+some days he thought that I was mad, and that I must
+certainly be lost. Notwithstanding this, appearances were
+so against him, and without intending it, his acts turned
+out to be so favourable to my project, that, were I on his
+jury and deprived of what I know, I should have condemned
+him for having betrayed Louis. But he really<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span>
+was not privy to it." The Emperor joyfully accepted the
+Marshal's adherence and made him one of his new peers,
+and when war was imminent, on the advice of Davout, he
+created him major-general and chief of the staff. This
+selection was unfortunate; good strategist and organiser,
+he was not the man the Emperor required. Berthier, who
+had not half his military ability, had made an excellent
+chief of the staff, because he had the rare quality of effacing
+his own ideas and acting simply as the recorder and
+expander of those of Napoleon. But Soult was accustomed
+to think for himself, and his mind was unable to attune
+itself to the mind of the Emperor. Further, from long
+experience, Berthier was accustomed to fill up gaps in the
+Emperor's orders in the way he intended, but Soult had
+never so far worked in close co-operation with Napoleon,
+and after years of independent command was more accustomed
+to give orders to his own chief of the staff than to
+work out minutiæ for another. Consequently, all through
+the Waterloo campaign the staff work was badly done.
+Orders were faultily drafted, mistakes were made in their
+despatch, and the Emperor was constantly bewailing the
+loss of "that brute Berthier." A typical example of the
+friction which arose between the Emperor and his new
+major-general occurred when, at Waterloo, Napoleon asked
+Soult if he had sent to Grouchy intelligence of the approach
+of the Prussians; the Marshal replied, "Yes, I have sent an
+officer." "One officer!" cried Napoleon; "ah! if only my
+poor Berthier had been here, he would have sent six." To
+add to these troubles, Soult was unfortunately hated by the
+officers of the army, who regarded him with grave suspicion.
+But though the Marshal must bear his share in the disaster
+of Waterloo, it is only fair to add that the morning of the
+battle he, and he alone, warned the Emperor of the magnitude
+of the coming struggle, and entreated him to recall at
+least a portion of Grouchy's command. The Emperor
+roughly rejected his advice with the words, "You think<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span>
+that because Wellington defeated you he must be a
+great general. I tell you that he is a bad general, that the
+English are bad troops, and that this will be the affair of a
+déjeuner." The Marshal, with the memory of many a
+battle with these "poor troops" from Oporto to Toulouse,
+could only sorrowfully say, "I hope so."</p>
+
+<p>On the second Restoration the Duke of Dalmatia found
+himself included among the proscribed, and for three years
+he retired to the Duchy of Berg, the home of his wife,
+during which time he occupied himself in the composition
+of his Memoirs. But in May, 1819, he was recalled to
+France, and soon found means of ingratiating himself with
+the Bourbons. In January, 1820, his Marshal's bâton and
+his other honours were restored to him, and he entered the
+field of politics. With his vast income, acquired from the
+spoils of nearly every country in Europe, he maintained his
+high rank in lordly fashion. A visitor who in 1822 went to
+see his famous collection of pictures thus describes him:
+"We were received by the Marshal, a middle-sized though
+somewhat corpulent personage of from fifty to sixty years
+of age, whose dark curling hair rendered somewhat conspicuous
+the bald patch in the middle of his head, while
+his sunburnt complexion accorded well with his dark
+intelligent eye. His plain stock, plain dark coat and loose
+blue trousers, which, capacious as they were, could not hide
+his bow-legged form, obviously suggested the soldier rather
+than the courtier, the Marshal rather than the Duke; though
+if I had encountered such a figure in London I should rather
+have guessed him an honest East or West Indian captain."
+The Marshal knew well how to win favour with the new
+Government, and when the reactionaries attempted to
+restore the ancient position of the Church, no one was more
+regular in his attendance at Church festivals and processions
+than the Duke of Dalmatia, who always appeared with an
+enormous breviary carried before him, though people were
+unkind enough to say that it would be more to the purpose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>
+if he restored some of the vast plunder of the churches and
+monasteries of Spain.</p>
+
+<p>With the fall of the Bourbon dynasty in 1830 the subtle
+old soldier at once gave his adherence to the Orleanists, and
+was appointed Minister of War; and it was thanks to his
+energy and wisdom that the numerous revolts which
+threatened the early days of the new régime were stamped
+out. Soult, like Wellington, hated the idea of civil war, but
+knew that strong measures were the best means to prevent
+bloodshed, so when, as at Lyons, it was essential to strike,
+he took good care to have the necessary force at hand. A
+year later, when the Commune threatened to raise its head
+in Paris, he overawed the mob by the sudden mobilisation
+of eighty thousand troops. The weakness of the Government
+and the courage and decision the Marshal showed
+during the émeute caused Louis Philippe on October 18,
+1832, to entrust him with the headship of the administration.
+The Marshal proved how often a strong soldier may
+be a weak politician, and in 1834 he resigned office. But
+during his term of office he did not forget the needs of the
+army, as his measures for recruiting, military pensions, and
+the training of officers prove. When, again, in 1839 Paris
+was seething with discontent, the King sent for the Marshal,
+and under his iron hand order was easily re-established.
+But the old soldier was no orator, and was listened to more
+from respect for his character than the cogency of his
+arguments, and when the crisis was passed he was soon
+glad to resign his appointment; and though always taking
+an active part, and ever ready to give his advice to his
+sovereign, he never again held office. In 1838 the Duke of
+Dalmatia visited London as representative of France at the
+Coronation of Queen Victoria, and once again met his old
+opponent, the Duke of Wellington. Lady Salisbury thus
+describes their meeting: "The Duke and Soult met in the
+music-room at the Queen's concert for the first time for
+many years, and shook hands. Soult's appearance is different<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>
+from what I expected: he is a gentlemanlike old man
+with rather a benevolent cast of countenance, such as I
+should have expected in William Penn or Washington: tall
+and rather stooping, the top of the head bald.... The
+Duke, though the lines on his face are deeper, has a fresher
+colour and a brighter eye."</p>
+
+<p>The Duke of Dalmatia clung to the Orleanist dynasty
+till the end, and attended the last council held by Louis
+Philippe. He had a special liking for the Citizen Monarch,
+who reciprocated this affection, and had in 1847 re-established
+for the veteran the title of Marshal General of France,
+a designation held previously only by Turenne, Villars, and
+Saxe. With the fall of the dynasty he appeared no more in
+public, and at last, on November 26, 1857, he died at his
+château at St. Amand in his eighty-second year.</p>
+
+<p>"Soult is able but too ambitious." Thus Napoleon
+appreciated the Duke of Dalmatia when discussing the
+characters of his Marshals. But Soult was possessed of a
+crafty caution which seldom if ever allowed his ambition to
+hinder the success his ability deserved. Cold and calculating
+by nature, he knew exactly where to draw the line.
+The attempt to seize the throne of Portugal was the only
+occasion on which he seemed to throw caution to the
+winds, and those who knew him best were so astounded at
+his lack of circumspection that they could scarcely believe
+that he himself approved of the proclamations which
+appeared in Oporto. The hard, crafty nature of the
+Marshal was responsible for his many enemies among the
+officers of the army. His own staff never loved him, much
+as they marvelled at his indefatigable industry and his
+suppleness of mind, which permitted him to turn with ease
+from the highest political and strategic problems to the
+drudgery of administrative details, and bring to bear on all
+questions the cold, hard light of lucid reasoning. He could
+attract men to him by sheer admiration of his ability, but
+he could make no real friends, for those who came in contact<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>
+with him soon discovered that he only thought of what
+he could make out of them, and then that he would drop
+them without the slightest regret. Sprung from the lower
+ranks of society, the Marshal had all the cunning and
+avarice of the typical bourgeois, and though he had the
+capacity to overcome his want of education, he had not the
+power to eradicate these inherent strains of character.
+Though not so rapacious as Masséna, the Duke of Dalmatia
+never withheld his hand when plunder offered itself
+and his home in Paris was decorated with magnificent
+objects of art filched from nearly every country in Europe.
+But though he allowed himself the luxury of taking what
+seized his fancy, he sternly repressed marauding on the
+part of his officers and men. Hence it was that, like
+Suchet, he was able to subdue the provinces committed to
+his charge and win the respect and obedience of the
+Spaniards. His methodical mind hated the idea of disorder;
+administration came to him as Nature's gift. Under
+his rule Andalusia gained a prosperity she had never before
+known. But we must remember that his success in this
+province was due not only to his great gift of administration,
+but also to his ambition, for it was the driving power
+of self-interest which supplied the energy which oiled the
+wheels of his system; for the Marshal hoped with the
+resources of Andalusia to supply the material and means to
+drive the English from Lisbon without the co-operation of
+King Joseph or the other French commanders. In striking
+contrast to the aversion with which he was regarded by his
+own fellow-countrymen was the feeling of admiration with
+which he was viewed by his foes, and notably by his
+English adversaries in the Peninsula. They only saw the
+results of his great versatility and resource, and his acts of
+courtesy to those who fell into his power; while the discipline
+he maintained among his troops stood in striking
+contrast to the conduct of many of the other French commanders.
+Moreover, the Marshal was too politic to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span>
+cruel, and it was easy to guess that his proclamation
+against the Spaniards was really the work of the Emperor.
+That this was the case was borne out by the following letter
+written by Berthier at Napoleon's dictation: "Let the Duke
+of Dalmatia know that I learn with indignation that some
+of the prisoners taken at Ocaña have been released and
+their arms restored to them. When I witness such
+behaviour I ask, 'Is this treason or imbecility?' Is it
+then only French blood that is to flow in Spain without
+regret and without vengeance?" As a soldier the Marshal
+stands high among his compeers. In spite of his defeats at
+Oporto, Albuera, and Toulouse, throughout his career he
+clearly showed that he had the essential quality of a great
+commander, the ability to see and the capacity to perform
+what was possible with the material at hand. His strategic
+insight was great, he had a magnificent eye for country and
+the power of calmly surveying a field of battle, but, as
+Wellington pointed out, he had one great fault, for though
+"he knew how to bring his troops to the field, he did not
+know so well how to use them when he had brought them
+up." Thus it was that at Sorauren, after he had surprised
+Wellington and upset the whole of the English strategic
+plans, he was unable to win the battle which was necessary
+to reap the harvest of his labours. But the passage of the
+Pyrenees, the operations round Bayonne, and the retreat on
+Toulouse, will always be studied as examples of the most
+perfect military operations of their type. They show to the
+full the secret of the Marshal's success as a soldier, the
+blending of ardour with method and dash with caution.
+As a politician the Duke of Dalmatia met with little success;
+his methods were those of a dictator rather than those of a
+statesman. When the hour of action was passed he invariably
+showed weakness. But whatever were his faults,
+it must be laid to his credit that throughout the reign of
+Louis Philippe he lent all the weight of his great name and
+reputation to the maintenance of order at home and peace
+abroad.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="VI" id="VI"></a>VI<br /><br />
+JEAN LANNES, MARSHAL, DUKE OF
+MONTEBELLO</h2>
+
+
+<p>Jean Lannes, the future Duke of Montebello, was
+born on April 10, 1769, the year which saw the birth
+of many famous soldiers, Napoleon, Wellington, Ney,
+and Soult. He was the fourth son of a peasant proprietor
+of Lectourne, a little town on the slopes of the
+Pyrenees. His family had long been settled in the commune
+of Omet, in the department of the Gironde. The first
+to rise to any sort of distinction was Jean's eldest brother,
+who showed at an early age such ability that the episcopal
+authorities of Lectourne educated him, and in due time he
+became a priest. It was to his brother, the abbé, that the
+young Jean owed such elements of learning as he possessed.
+But the pressure of need compelled his father to indenture
+him at an early age to a dyer in Lectourne. The young
+apprentice was of middle height, very well built, amazingly
+active, and able to bear the utmost fatigue. His face was
+pleasant and expressive, his eyes small and keen. Behind
+those eyes lay a brain of extraordinary activity, which was
+controlled by a boundless ambition. Enthusiastic and
+passionate, Lannes' spirit could brook but little control.
+Action was the zest of his life. Administration and control
+came to him not as Nature's gifts, but as the result of his
+great common sense, which guided his ambition along the
+paths which led to success. A nature which could not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span>
+endure the dullness of the dyer's trade in Lectourne could,
+however, compel the young soldier during the severest
+campaigns to give up part of his night's rest to study and
+to the expansion of his knowledge beyond the elements of
+reading, writing, and arithmetic, all the learning his brother,
+the abbé, had had time to impart to him. Even in the
+later years of his life the successful Marshal strove by
+midnight toil to educate himself up to the position his
+military talents had won for him.</p>
+
+<p>Jean Lannes had already had a taste of the soldier's life
+before the outbreak of the revolutionary wars. But his
+uncontrollable temper had brought this short military experience
+to an abrupt end, and he had been compelled to
+return to his work at Lectourne after being wounded in a
+duel. His employer had greeted his return with the words,
+"There is not the price of a drink to be made in the trade.
+Return to the army; you may perhaps become captain."
+But Jean Lannes did not need such advice to drive him to
+the path of glory. In June, 1792, the Government of France
+called for volunteers to resist the coming invasion of the
+Duke of Brunswick's army. Lannes enlisted in the second
+battalion of the volunteers of Gers, and was at once elected
+sub-lieutenant by his fellow-citizens. This promotion he
+owed partly to his former military experience, partly to his
+personal magnetism, and partly to his extreme political
+opinions.</p>
+
+<p>When Spain declared war on France the two battalions
+of Gers were sent to form part of the Army of the Eastern
+Pyrenees. There Lannes gained his first practical military
+experience. Both armies were extremely ill-led, ill-disciplined,
+and ill-equipped. Consequently there was a great deal
+of desultory hand-to-hand fighting, in which the young sub-lieutenant
+distinguished himself by his courage and talent.
+He enjoyed himself hugely fighting all day and dancing all
+night, when he could spare the time from his books. When
+military knowledge was almost entirely absent in the army,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span>
+promotion came quickly to those who distinguished themselves
+by courage and zeal. On September 25, 1793, Lannes
+was promoted lieutenant. A month later, on October 21st,
+he was made captain of the grenadier company. Two
+months later, on Christmas Day, at the express desire of
+his chief, General Davout, he was given command of his
+battalion, and appointed colonel on the staff and acting
+adjutant-general. This distinction he gained for his brilliant
+conduct at Villelongue. Summoned from his bed in
+hospital to command the advance guard of five hundred men,
+he moved towards the main redoubt of the Spanish lines,
+and, refusing to be bluffed by the proposal of an armistice,
+captured the redoubt by a dashing charge. After the action
+he once again retired to hospital. His next exploit was the
+delicate mission entrusted to him by General Dugommier
+of releasing a great number of French émigrés who had
+been captured in battle, and who otherwise would have
+fallen victims to the popular fury. While devoting himself
+to his military duties he yet found time to fall in love.
+When in hospital at Perpignan, at the end of 1793, he
+had met Mademoiselle Méric, the daughter of a wealthy
+banker of that town; the friendship very soon developed
+into an ardent passion, and on March 19, 1795, the young
+couple were united, and the marriage seemed very advantageous
+for the young soldier of fortune, who was barely
+twenty-five.</p>
+
+<p>After the treaty of Basle the battalions of Gers were
+brigaded with the old 53rd (regiment d'Alsace), and formed
+part of the troops which Schérer took to reinforce the Army
+of Italy in the summer of 1795. Accordingly, Lannes had
+the good fortune to take part in the battle of Loano, and
+once again greatly distinguished himself and was specially
+mentioned in despatches.</p>
+
+<p>But during the winter of 1795-6 his successful career
+nearly came to an untimely end, for on the reorganisation
+of the army, along with many other officers, he was placed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>
+on half pay. Fortunately, at the moment he was retiring
+dejected to France, Bonaparte assumed command of the
+Army of Italy. The new general felt he could ill spare a
+capable officer like Lannes, and consequently he retained
+him provisionally. The young colonel immediately justified
+his action. At the critical moment of the Austrian counter-attack
+at Dego, Lannes cleared the village by a brisk
+bayonet charge. Thereon Bonaparte gave him command
+of two battalions of grenadiers and one of carbineers,
+which formed part of his permanent advance guard under
+General Dallemagne. From this time onward Lannes had
+found his proper rôle. As nature had intended Marshal Ney
+for the command of a rear guard, and Murat for the command
+of cavalry, so she had equipped Lannes with those
+qualities which are specially required by the commander of
+an advance guard. Wiry and strong, he never knew what it
+was to be tired, and, never sparing himself, he never spared
+his men; his kind and cheery disposition and his personal
+magnetism carried all before him. His fiery enthusiasm
+swept aside all difficulties; his inventive genius ever showed
+him the way to surmount all obstacles. When danger was
+most pressing Lannes was there, the first to head the charge,
+the first to rally the discomfited. Never had Fortune a
+more zealous wooer. At Lodi he was the first man on the
+bridge. Later, at the head of three hundred men, he re-established
+order in Lombardy; at one time especially
+attached to the headquarter staff, at another hurried off to
+suppress some outbreak in the rear, at another repelling a
+determined sortie from Mantua, more and more, day by
+day, he made himself indispensable to his young chief.
+At the battle of Bassano, of the five flags wrested from
+the enemy Lannes captured two with his own hands.
+Wounded slightly at Bassano and more seriously at
+Governolo, he yet managed to creep out of hospital in time
+to take his place beside Bonaparte at Arcola. Early in the
+battle he received two flesh wounds, and had to retire to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>
+have them dressed. Scarcely were they bandaged when
+the news arrived that Augereau's division had received
+a severe check. Oblivious of his wounds, he leapt on his
+horse and arrived at the head of his columns in time to see
+Augereau and Bonaparte, flag in hand, vainly attempting to
+rally their soldiers, only to be swept off the embankment into
+the marsh. But Lannes headed his grenadiers, and charging
+home on the Austrians, swept them back to the bridge-head,
+receiving in the charge yet another wound.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 502px;">
+<a href="images/fp120-hi.jpg"><img src="images/fp120.jpg" width="502" height="600" alt="JEAN LANNES, DUKE OF MONTEBELLO
+FROM AN ENGRAVING BY AMÉDÉE MAULET" title="" id="fp120"/></a><br />
+<span class="caption">JEAN LANNES, DUKE OF MONTEBELLO<br />
+FROM AN ENGRAVING BY AMÉDÉE MAULET</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>During the early months of 1797 he commanded a column
+at Bologna, and was present at the capitulation of Mantua.
+Thereafter he commanded the advance guard of Victor's
+army which invaded the Papal States. In front of Ancona
+he met with a characteristic adventure. Making a reconnaissance
+with two or three officers and half a dozen
+troopers, he suddenly found himself in the presence of three
+hundred of the enemy's cavalry. Their commander at once
+ordered his men to draw their swords preparatory to a charge.
+Whereon Lannes rode up to him and told him to order his
+men to return their swords, dismount, and lead their horses
+back to their headquarters. The officer obeyed. By sheer
+force of character Lannes thus dominated the situation and
+saved the lives of himself and his escort. After the preliminaries
+of peace at Leoben, Bonaparte employed him on
+several confidential missions, in which his impetuosity led
+him at times into difficulties, and the commander-in-chief
+was forced to write to the French Minister at Genoa, "I have
+heard the reply that Lannes made to you. He is hot-headed,
+but a good fellow, and brave. I must write to him to tell
+him to be more civil to a minister of the Republic."</p>
+
+<p>Africa has often proved the grave of great military reputations.
+Napoleon himself only escaped the usual doom by
+deserting his army and suddenly appearing as a <i>deus ex
+machina</i> in the stormy field of politics at Paris. But though
+so fatal to those in supreme command, Africa has sometimes
+been the school from which the young officers have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>
+returned with enhanced reputations. It was from the companions
+who had stood the test of the fiery trial in Egypt
+and Syria that Bonaparte later selected his most trusted
+Marshals.</p>
+
+<p>On May 19, 1798, Lannes sailed for Egypt in the <i>Orient</i> as
+an unattached general of brigade on the headquarter staff.
+For his successful action at the head of one of the assaulting
+columns in Malta he was appointed to the command of a
+brigade in Kléber's division. He took part in the capture of
+Alexandria, the march on Cairo, and the battles of Chebrass
+and the Pyramids; but it was not so much his success in
+these engagements which enhanced his worth in Bonaparte's
+eyes, as the fact that Lannes alone of all the general officers
+in Egypt did not share in the grumbling and depression
+which threatened to cripple the army after its arrival at
+Cairo. Soldiers and officers alike had but one desire&mdash;to
+return home. Lannes secretly informed Bonaparte of the
+plans of those who led the discontent, and, in the words
+of Murat, "sold the cocoanut." Thus he gained the future
+Emperor as his life-long friend and Murat as his life-long
+enemy. When in February, 1799, Bonaparte started
+for Syria, he took with him Lannes in command of Menou's
+division.</p>
+
+<p>When Bonaparte found that his military reputation was
+likely to suffer by a more prolonged stay in Egypt, and
+above all that France was now ready to accept the rule of a
+dictator, he deserted his army in Egypt, leaving Kléber,
+whom he hated, in command; he took with him his
+most trustworthy officers, Lannes, Murat, Marmont, Andréossy,
+and Berthier, ordering Desaix to follow. The return
+to France, so longed for by most, was less agreeable to
+Lannes: while in hospital after the battle of Aboukir he
+had heard that his wife had given birth to a son whose
+father he could not be. Consequently one of his first
+acts on his return was to divorce her. But Bonaparte gave
+him little time to bewail his misfortune, for he relied on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span>
+him, with Berthier, Murat, and Marmont, to debauch the
+army and bring it over to his side. Berthier's business was
+to win over the general staff, Murat the cavalry, Marmont
+the artillery, and Lannes the infantry. Shortly after the
+coup d'état General Lannes was appointed commandant and
+inspector of the Consular Guard in preference to Murat.
+But this was a hollow victory over his rival, for when, after
+the Marengo campaign, these life-long enemies met in open
+rivalry for the hand of Caroline Bonaparte, the First
+Consul's sister, Murat, aided by Josephine, became the
+accepted suitor, and Lannes had to submit to see his hated
+rival in quick succession the brother-in-law of Napoleon, a
+Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, the crowned King of
+Naples, and, most bitter of all, the confidential friend of
+his idol.</p>
+
+<p>It was in the Marengo campaign that the general had his
+first opportunity of distinguishing himself as an independent
+commander, and winning the renown which the
+victory of Montebello inseparably connects with his name.
+When Bonaparte made his famous march into Italy with
+the Army of the Reserve, he appointed Lannes to command
+the advance guard. The whole success of the operations
+depended on the rapidity with which they were carried out,
+for the First Consul, in his endeavour to get astride the
+Austrian line of communication, was exposing his flank to
+the enemy, and the French army, if beaten, had no other
+line of retreat save the terrible defiles of the Alps. Accordingly,
+Napoleon's selection of Lannes to command the
+advance guard is the highest possible testimony to his
+military ability. The battle of Montebello was Lannes's first
+independent engagement. In it he showed his genius for
+war. If he had allowed the Austrians to reoccupy Stradella
+he would have ruined the whole of Napoleon's scheme
+of operations, but, though his force was only a third of the
+enemy's, he remembered the advantage that comes to the
+assailant; instead of waiting in an entrenched position, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>
+attacked, and by his indomitable courage and tenacity, and
+his tactical ability, he kept the enemy pinned to his
+entrenchments until the arrival of fresh troops under Victor
+enabled him to pulverise his foe. The battle was one
+of the finest of the campaign. "The bones," said Lannes,
+"cracked in my division like glass in a hailstorm."</p>
+
+<p>At Marengo Lannes had to reverse his usual rôle and fight
+a rear-guard action, for during the early part of the engagement
+the French were outnumbered by thirty thousand
+men against eighteen thousand, and yet the general was
+able to report: "I carried out my retirement by successive
+echelons under a devastating fire of artillery, amid successive
+charges of cavalry. I had not a single gun to cover
+my retreat, and yet it was carried out in perfect order."
+The soldier who in the hour of success was full of
+impetuosity and élan, in the hour of retreat was able
+to inspire his troops with stubborn courage and unfailing
+self-confidence, which did much to secure the victory.</p>
+
+<p>After Marengo came a period of peace. Lannes, as
+commander of the Consular Guard, had his headquarters
+in Paris, and, owing to his official position, was constantly
+in touch with Bonaparte. But, necessary as he was in war
+time, his companionship during peace was not altogether
+congenial to the First Consul, and as time went on it
+became almost distasteful. Although happily married to
+Mademoiselle Louise Antoinette Guéheneuc, the daughter
+of a senator, he felt himself aggrieved that Bonaparte
+had not supported his suit with Caroline, and was
+extremely jealous of many of the First Consul's friends.
+The constant bickering between Lannes and Murat never
+ceased. Moreover Lannes, as an out-and-out republican,
+treated the First Consul in a frank spirit of camaraderie,
+relying on his services at Arcola and Montebello. This
+Bonaparte not unnaturally resented. The increased ceremonial
+of the court and the prospect of the Concordat
+were abhorrent to the stern republicans, but necessary to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>
+establish the divinity which should at least seem to
+surround a throne. Relations became so strained that
+Bonaparte was soon glad to seize on any excuse to dismiss
+Lannes from his post. Murat and his tool Bessières
+provided him with a plausible reason. Lannes, by nature
+happy-go-lucky and no financier, wishing no doubt to
+please the First Consul, spent his money freely in lavish
+entertainment at his Paris house, and equipped the guard
+in most gorgeous uniforms. To meet these expenses he
+overdrew his account with the military authorities by more
+than three hundred thousand francs. Murat, hearing of
+this from Bessières, brought it to the First Consul's notice.
+Bonaparte at once summoned Lannes, rated him soundly,
+and commanded him immediately to refund the money.
+Murat was delighted; he thought that his enemy was
+certain to be disgraced. In his difficulty Lannes turned to
+his old friend and former chief, Augereau, who at once
+lent him the money and refused to take any security. But
+although he was thus able to refund the money, Bonaparte
+dismissed him from the command of the Guard. Still,
+remembering his war service and thinking that he might be
+useful again later, he did not disgrace him utterly, but at the
+end of 1801 sent him as ambassador to Portugal.</p>
+
+<p>Lannes's diplomatic career was at first not very successful.
+English influence was all-powerful at Lisbon and the new
+envoy had not the talent to counteract it. In the autumn
+of 1802, thinking himself slighted by the Portuguese
+authorities, without consulting Talleyrand, he suddenly
+withdrew from Lisbon and returned to France. But
+at Orleans he received an angry message from Bonaparte
+forbidding him to return to Paris. The First Consul meanwhile
+addressed peremptory messages to the court of
+Lisbon about the supposed insult offered to his ambassador.
+Thereon the Portuguese Foreign Minister apologised and
+Lannes returned. Angry as Bonaparte was at the moment,
+he confessed later that Lannes' soldierly impetuosity had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>
+served the cause of France better than the skilfulness of a
+consummate diplomat. For from this time onwards French
+influence began to increase at Lisbon, Lannes was courted
+by the minister, and the Prince Regent himself stood godfather
+to his son. The story goes that after the ceremony
+the Prince Regent took the ambassador into a salon of the
+palace where the diamonds from Brazil were stored, and
+then gave him a handful, saying, "That is for my godson,"
+then a second handful for the mother, and a third for himself.
+Whatever the truth of the story, the fact remains
+that Lannes returned to France a rich man, able not
+only to repay his loan to Augereau but to indulge in
+fresh extravagance.</p>
+
+<p>From Lisbon the ambassador was summoned to attend
+the coronation of the Emperor and to take his place among
+the Marshals. But he was not yet received back into
+full favour by the Emperor, and had to return to his
+embassy at Lisbon. It was not till March 22, 1805, that
+he was recalled to France to command the right wing
+of the Army of the Ocean, which, when war broke out
+between Austria and France, became the Grand Army.
+The fifth corps under Lannes reached the Rhine at Kehl on
+September 25th. Napoleon's scheme of operations was, by
+making vigorous demonstrations in the direction of the
+Black Forest, to persuade the Austrians that he was
+advancing in force in that direction, while all the time his
+wings were sweeping round the Austrian rear and cutting
+their line of communication on the Danube, in the
+direction of Ratisbon. The task of deceiving the Austrians
+was performed to perfection by Murat with the reserve
+cavalry and Lannes's corps. Immediately after Mack's
+surrender at Ulm, the Emperor detached Lannes and
+Murat in pursuit of the Archduke Ferdinand, who had
+successfully broken through the ring of French troops.
+Lannes's infantry tramped sturdily behind Murat's cavalry,
+and fighting proceeded day and night. The soldiers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>
+marched thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen hours a day, and
+captured in five days fifteen thousand men with eleven
+colours, one hundred and twenty-eight guns, and six
+hundred limbers and provision wagons.</p>
+
+<p>During the rapid advance down the Danube on Vienna,
+the fifth corps continued in close support of Murat's
+cavalry. Vienna capitulated and the Marshals pressed on
+to seize the bridge before the city. The defence of the
+bridge had been entrusted to General Auersperg, with seven
+thousand men. The bridge was commanded by a battery
+of artillery, and the engineers were preparing to blow it up
+when Murat, Lannes, and Bertrand arrived. The three
+general officers quietly walked down to the bridge and
+shouted out to the Austrian picquets that an armistice
+had been arranged. Thereon the commander of the
+picquet proceeded to withdraw his men and sent word
+to Auersperg. Meanwhile the three officers strolled
+unconcernedly across, while a considerable way behind
+them a strong body of Lannes's infantry followed.
+When the French generals reached the Austrian end
+they found a sergeant of engineers actually proceeding
+to fire the fuse. Lannes caught him by the arm and
+snatched the match from his hand, telling him that it
+was a crime to blow up the bridge, and that he
+would be disgraced if he did such a thing. Then the two
+Marshals ran up to the officers commanding the artillery,
+who, growing restive at the continual advance of the
+French infantry, were preparing to open fire. Meanwhile
+Auersperg himself arrived, and the Marshals told him the same
+tale, affirming that the French were to occupy the bridge-head.
+Uncertain, like his subordinates, and but half convinced,
+he allowed himself to be bluffed, and thus Napoleon
+secured without dispute the crossing of the Danube. The
+boldness and audacity of the scheme so successfully carried
+out by Murat and Lannes, difficult as it is to condone from
+a moral point of view, brings out with great clearness<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span>
+the audacity, sangfroid, and resourcefulness of both these
+Marshals.</p>
+
+<p>The successful crossing of the Danube was soon followed
+by the decisive battle of Austerlitz. The battle was brought
+on by Napoleon impressing the Allies with the idea that it
+was possible to slip past the French left flank and surround
+him, much as he had surrounded Mack at Ulm. For this
+purpose the right under Davout was drawn back and concealed
+by skilful use of the ground. The centre under
+Soult and the left under Lannes were to hold their ground
+until the Russian left was absolutely compromised, when
+Soult was to push forward, and, seizing the commanding
+hill of Pratzen, to cut the Russian force in two, while
+Lannes and Murat were to fall with all their weight on the
+isolated Russian right. For once Murat and Lannes laid
+aside their jealousy and worked hand in hand, and the
+success of the French left was due to the perfect combination
+of infantry and cavalry. Of the Russian right, seven thousand
+five hundred were made prisoners, and two colours
+and twenty-seven pieces of artillery were captured. But
+hardly had the battle ceased when bickerings broke out
+again, and Lannes, thinking Napoleon did not appreciate
+him, sent in his resignation, which the Emperor, much to
+his surprise, accepted.</p>
+
+<p>The Marshal spent the greater part of the year 1806
+in retirement at his native town of Lectourne, where he was
+joyfully received by his erstwhile neighbours and friends.
+He was always popular with his fellow-citizens, not only
+because of his republican ideas and his unaffected simplicity,
+but because he never forgot those who at any time had
+befriended him&mdash;a man who had once lent him a thousand
+francs was presented with a beautiful house and garden;
+the old soldier who had carried him out of the trenches at
+St. Jean d'Acre was established as a local postmaster, and
+received a small property and an annuity, and the Marshal
+never passed the house without going in, taking a meal with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>
+him, and making presents to the wife and children. On one
+occasion Lannes was attending a big official reception at
+Auch. On his way, he passed a peasant whom he recognised
+as one of the playfellows of his boyhood; strongly
+moved, the Marshal, when he arrived at the prefecture,
+asked the prefect if he might invite one of his friends to the
+luncheon. The prefect was charmed, but much surprised
+when an aide-de-camp returned with the peasant, whom
+Lannes embraced, placed by his side, and soon set at ease.</p>
+
+<p>But war once again caused the Emperor to summon
+his fiery lieutenant. Lannes took command of the fifth
+corps on October 5, 1806, and five days later had the
+satisfaction of beating a strong Prussian force at Saalfeld.
+From Saalfeld the Marshal pushed on towards Jena, near
+which town, early on October 13th, his scouts came in
+contact with a large Prussian force under Hohenlohe. His
+small force was in considerable danger, but Napoleon at
+once hurried up all possible reinforcements. The Prussians
+held an apparently impregnable position on the Landgrafenberg,
+a precipitous hill which commanded the town. But
+during the night a local pastor pointed out to the French a
+track, which led up to the summit, which the Prussians
+had neglected to occupy. Working all night, the French
+sappers made a road up which guns could be hauled by
+hand, and on the morning of the 14th the corps of Lannes,
+Augereau, and the Guard were safely drawn up on the plateau
+of the Landgrafenberg, while Ney and Soult continued
+the line to the north. A heavy mist overhung the field of
+battle, and Hohenlohe was confident that he was only
+opposed by the fifth corps, and his surprise was immense
+when the fog lifted and he found himself confronted by the
+French army. The battle commenced by Lannes seizing
+the village of Vierzehn Heiligen. While the Prussians were
+fully occupied in attempting to hold this village, Napoleon
+threw his flanks round them, and the battle ended in
+the annihilation of Hohenlohe's army. In the evening<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>
+Napoleon learned that on the same day Davout had completely
+defeated the main Prussian army at Auerstädt.
+Thereon he sent forward his various corps to seize all the
+important fortresses of Prussia, and detailed Lannes to
+support Murat in pursuit of the Prussian troops under
+Hohenlohe and Blücher, which retreated in the direction of
+the Oder. If the battle of Jena had been followed by
+peace, as had happened after Austerlitz in the previous year,
+it is more than probable that once again Lannes would have
+thrown up his command, for when the bulletin appeared,
+the part that his corps had taken was almost entirely
+neglected. The Marshal's letter to his wife showed that he
+was vexed beyond words with his treatment by Napoleon,
+and he started out in the worst of tempers to support
+Murat. But he was too keen a soldier to let his personal
+grievances interfere with his active work, and, although he
+gave vent to his spleen in the usual recriminations, he
+performed his work to admiration. So hard did he push his
+infantry, marching sixty miles in forty-eight hours, that he
+was never more than five miles behind the light cavalry, and
+it was owing to his effective support that, on October 28th,
+Murat was able to surround Hohenlohe and force him to
+surrender at Prinzlow. But, in spite of this, Murat in
+his despatch never mentioned the name of Lannes. It
+took all Napoleon's tact to smooth the Marshal's ruffled
+temper, and it was only the prospect of further action
+which ultimately prevented him from throwing up his
+command in high dudgeon.</p>
+
+<p>By the beginning of November the theatre of war was
+virtually transferred from Prussia to Poland. As after
+Ulm, so after Jena, the Russians appeared on the scene too
+late to give effective aid to their allies, but in sufficient time
+to prevent the war from ending. Napoleon, who always
+had an intense esteem for the Marshal's common sense and
+military ability, asked him at this time to furnish a
+confidential report on the possibilities of Poland as a theatre<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span>
+of war, and the Marshal, with his keen insight into character,
+replied, "I am convinced that if you attempt to make
+the Poles rise on our behalf, within a fortnight they will be
+more against us than for us."</p>
+
+<p>The French troops crossed the Vistula at Warsaw, and
+encountered "the fifth element, mud." Led by Murat,
+unable to make headway in mud up to their knees, baffled
+by the Fabian tactics of the Russians, and lacking the
+mighty brain of their Emperor, the Marshals fought without
+co-operation, each for his own glory. Lannes was as bad
+as the rest, showing in his refusal to give due praise to his
+brother generals for their help at Pultusk the same petty
+spirit of which he had complained in Murat. During the
+long winter weeks spent in cantonments along the Vistula,
+the Marshal was ill with fever, in hospital at Warsaw, and
+was not able to return to the head of his corps in time for
+the bloody battle of Eylau. During May he commanded
+the covering force at the siege of Dantzig, and was summoned
+thence to take part in the last phase of the campaign.
+The Russian General, Bennigsen, allowed himself to be
+outgeneralled by Napoleon, and the French were soon
+nearer Königsberg than the Russians. Bennigsen made
+desperate efforts to retrieve his mistake, and on June
+13th actually managed to throw himself across the Alle at
+Friedland, just at the moment that Lannes arrived on
+the scene. The Marshal at once saw his opportunity.
+The Russians were drawn up with the Alle at their backs,
+so that retreat was impossible, and only victory could save
+them. The Marshal's design, therefore, was to hold the
+enemy till the main French army arrived. Bennigsen made
+the most determined efforts to throw him off, attempting
+to crush him by superior weight of horsemen and artillery.
+But the Marshal held on to him grimly, and by magnificent
+handling of Oudinot's grenadiers, the Saxon horse, and
+Grouchy's dragoons, he maintained his position in spite of
+all the Russian efforts during the night of June 13th. On<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span>
+the morning of the 14th, with ten thousand troops opposed
+to forty thousand, he fought for four hours without giving
+ground, skilfully availing himself of every bit of wood and
+cover, till at last reinforcements arrived. When the main
+French columns were deployed, Lannes, with the remnant
+of his indomitable corps, had a brief period of rest. But
+during the last phase of the battle the enemy made a
+desperate effort to break out of the trap through his
+shattered corps, and once again the Marshal led his troops
+with invincible élan, and drove the Russians right into the
+death-trap of Friedland.</p>
+
+<p>Tilsit followed, and Napoleon showered honours on his
+trusty lieutenants. On June 30, 1807, he gave to Lannes
+the principality of Sievers in the department of Kalish, and
+on March 19, 1808, he conferred on him a greater honour
+when he created him Duke of Montebello in memory of his
+famous victory.</p>
+
+<p>The Duke of Montebello spent his days of peace for the
+most part at Lectourne. He was summoned thence in
+October, 1808, to accompany the Emperor to Erfurt, and
+there the Czar Alexander made a special hero of his old
+adversary of Austerlitz, Pultusk, and Friedland, and presented
+him with the grand cordon of the Order of St. Andrew.</p>
+
+<p>The period between Tilsit and Erfurt gave Lannes the
+last peaceful days that he ever spent, for from Erfurt he was
+hurried off again to war, this time to Spain. As usual when
+there was hard fighting in prospect, Napoleon knew that he
+could ill afford to do without his most trusty and able
+lieutenant. But Lannes had but little enthusiasm for the
+Spanish War. His reputation stood so high that there was
+little chance of enhancing it, and by now the fire-eating
+republican soldier was settling down into a quiet country
+gentleman, who preferred the domestic circle and the
+pleasure of playing the grand seigneur before an audience
+of friends to the stir of the camp and the pomp of the court.
+But he was too well drilled in soldierly instincts to refuse to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span>
+serve when summoned by his chief, and accordingly, much
+against his will, he set out on what he expected to be a
+short inglorious campaign of a couple of months against
+a disorganised provincial militia.</p>
+
+<p>Lannes accompanied the Emperor on his journey to
+Spain, attached to the headquarter staff without any definite
+command, for the Emperor knew that all was not well with
+the armies there, but he could not, until he had himself
+looked into the question, decide where he could use to
+the best advantage the great administrative and tactical
+ability of the Duke of Montebello. During the hurried
+crossing of the mountains of Tolosa the Marshal had the
+misfortune to be thrown from his horse. So severe were
+the injuries he received that it seemed impossible to take
+him beyond Vittoria, but Larrey, the Emperor's surgeon,
+ordered him to be wrapped in the bloody skin of a newly
+killed sheep; so successful was the prescription that the
+Marshal was soon able to follow the Emperor and rejoin
+headquarters. On his arrival the Emperor sent him to take
+over Moncey's corps of thirty-five thousand men, with orders
+to attack Castaños's forty-nine thousand at Tudela, while
+Ney, with twelve thousand, worked round the Spanish rear.
+On the morning of November 28th Lannes attacked the
+Spaniards at Tudela and won an easy victory, for the
+Aragonese, under Palafox, thought only of Saragossa, and
+the Valencians and Andalusians, under Castaños, of their
+line of retreat to the south. Lannes, seeing the exaggerated
+length of the Spanish position, at once divined the reason,
+and drove home an overwhelming attack against their weak
+centre. Successful as the battle was, it had not the far-reaching
+effects Napoleon had desired, for, owing to the
+mountainous nature of the ground, Ney was unable to get
+across the Spanish line of retreat; however, the enemy lost
+four thousand men at Tudela and, what was more important,
+all their artillery.</p>
+
+<p>The battle of Tudela opened the road to Madrid. But<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>
+when Napoleon arrived there, instead of driving the remnants
+of the Spanish armies before him and sweeping down
+to Seville, he found that there was a pressing danger in
+the north. To give the scattered Spaniards a chance of
+rallying, Sir John Moore was making a bold advance on
+Madrid, and was close to Salamanca. Napoleon at once
+ordered Lannes to hand over his corps to Moncey and to
+join headquarters. The corps of Ney and a part of Victor's
+corps were sent off to oppose the English, and on December
+28th Napoleon and the Duke of Montebello set out to overtake
+them. The weather was awful, and the passage of the
+mountain passes in face of the blizzards of snow tried the
+endurance of the troops to the uttermost. Lannes, in spite
+of the fact that he had not entirely recovered from his fall,
+joined Napoleon in setting an example to the troops. At
+the head of the column marched the Emperor with one arm
+linked to Lannes and the other to Duroc. When completely
+worn out by the unaccustomed efforts and by the weight
+of their riding-boots, the Emperor and Lannes at times took
+a brief rest on the limber of a gun carriage, and then got
+down and marched again.</p>
+
+<p>When Napoleon handed over the pursuit to Soult, he
+despatched the Duke of Montebello to take command of the
+corps of Junot and Moncey at Saragossa. On his arrival, on
+January 22, 1809, the Marshal found that the garrison of
+Saragossa was in much better heart than the besiegers, for
+on the west the third corps, owing to illness and fatigue,
+numbered barely thirteen thousand, and Gazan's division
+across the Ebro, before the eastern suburb, was scarcely
+seven thousand strong, while the total strength of the
+garrison was almost sixty thousand. Consequently Junot
+and Gazan were seriously contemplating raising the siege.
+Lannes's first duty was to restore the morale of the troops;
+to reprimand the general officers, who had been slack in
+their duty; to set an example to them by his fiery diligence,
+which refused to let him go to bed once during the whole<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span>
+of the first week he was before Saragossa; to restore the
+courage of the troops by daily exposing his life in the
+trenches, and, when necessary, reconnoitring in person
+with the utmost sangfroid right up to the Spanish
+positions; supervising hospitals, reorganising commissariat,
+planning with the engineer officers new methods of sap&mdash;in a
+word, to be everywhere and to do everything. Nothing can
+more clearly illustrate Napoleon's dictum, "A la guerre les
+hommes ne sont rien, c'est un homme qui est tout."
+Within five days of Lannes's taking over command the
+whole complexion of the situation had altered. The French
+were making the most resolute assaults with irresistible
+élan, carrying out the most difficult street-fighting with the
+greatest zest, sapping, mining, and blowing up convents and
+fortified posts, fighting above ground and below ground,
+suffering the most terrible losses, yet ever eager to fight
+again. By February 11th, thanks to the new morale of the
+troops, and to the fact that dysentery and enteric were
+playing havoc in the garrison, Lannes had captured house
+by house the western half of the town, and had arrived at
+the Corso. But once again murmurings broke out among
+the French troops, who had by now lost a fourth of their
+numbers, and at the same time a strong force of Spaniards
+under Palafox's brothers threatened to overwhelm Suchet,
+who was covering the siege. Lannes proved superior to all
+difficulties; by his fiery speeches and tact he reanimated
+both officers and men, pointing out to them the triumph
+they had already won in penning in fifty thousand Spaniards
+with a mere handful. Then, hurrying off with reinforcements
+for Suchet, he dug the covering force into an
+entrenched position on the heights of Villa Mayor, and
+four days later was back at Saragossa in time to superintend
+the attack across the Corso. On February 18th
+the French captured the suburb on the left bank of
+the river, and thus placed the inner town between two
+fires.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Disease and the success of their enemies had taken all the
+heart out of the Spanish defence, and on February 20th
+Palafox surrendered. Between December 21st and February
+21st the Spanish losses had been fifty-four thousand dead
+from wounds and disease, and Saragossa itself was but a
+heap of crumbling ruins. Lannes did all in his power to
+alleviate the sufferings of the unfortunate inhabitants, yet in
+spite of all his efforts another ten thousand died within the
+next month. Unfortunately also for his reputation the
+Marshal, acting on distinct orders from Napoleon, treated
+his military prisoners with extreme severity and executed
+two of the most prominent. The great strain of the siege
+told heavily on the health of the Marshal, who had never
+completely recovered from his accident near Tolosa;
+accordingly, after refitting the corps under his command, he
+handed them over to Mortier and Junot, and at the end of
+March set out for Lectourne. But his stay there was short,
+for Napoleon, with the Spanish and Austrian wars on his
+hands, could not afford to do without his assistance.</p>
+
+<p>By April 25th Lannes found himself once again at the
+post of danger, but this time on the Danube, at the battle of
+Abensberg. As he himself said, the first rumour of war
+always made him shiver, but as soon as he had taken the
+first step forward he had no thought but for his profession.
+But, much as he would have liked to dally at Lectourne, and
+much as he grumbled at Napoleon's overweening ambition
+once at the front he was the dashing soldier of the first
+Italian campaign. He arrived in time to take his share
+in the five days' fighting at Abensberg, Landshut, Eckmühl,
+and Ratisbon. At Ratisbon he had an opportunity of
+showing that time had had no effect on his spirit; after two
+storming parties had been swept away, he called for
+volunteers for a third attempt: none stepped forward,
+and he himself rushed to seize a ladder. His staff held him
+back; but the lesson was not in vain: volunteers crowded to
+seize the scaling ladders, led by two of the Marshal's aides-de-camp,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span>
+and soon the walls of Ratisbon were crowned
+with French soldiers and the town was won.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon himself accompanied Lannes on the march
+to Vienna, and the Marshal was perfectly happy. Murat
+was absent, and there was no evil influence to cloud his
+friendship with his great chief. Once again Vienna succumbed
+without a shot, but this time the Austrians took
+care that there was no bridge over which Napoleon might
+cross the Danube. Accordingly, the Emperor determined
+to bridge the river below Vienna, making use of the Isle of
+Lobau, which lay two-thirds of the way across. The bridge
+from the south bank to Lobau was built under the personal
+supervision of the Emperor and Lannes, and on one
+occasion when they were reconnoitring in person they both
+fell into the river, and the Marshal, who was out of his
+depth, was pulled out by the Emperor himself.</p>
+
+<p>By May 20th the French army was concentrated in
+Lobau, and on May 21st a crossing was effected by several
+bridges, and assured by Masséna occupying the village
+of Aspern and Lannes that of Essling. By the morning of
+the 22nd the mass of the French army had reached the
+north bank of the river. Napoleon, who perceived that
+the Austrian line was too extended to be strong, gave the
+command of the centre to Lannes with orders to sally
+forth from between the villages of Aspern and Essling and
+break the enemy's centre. In spite of a devastating
+artillery fire, the Marshal carried out his orders to
+perfection, making skilful use of his infantry and cavalry.
+He had actually forced back the Austrians when he was
+recalled by Napoleon, who had just heard that the enemy
+had succeeded in breaking the bridge by sending huge masses
+of timber down the swollen river. Lannes retreated
+slowly on Essling, his troops suffering severely from the
+re-formed Austrian batteries. While thus holding the foe in
+check the Marshal was struck on the knee by a cannon
+ball which ricocheted off the ground just in front of him.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span>
+He was removed to the rear, and the doctors decided that it
+was necessary to amputate the right leg. The Marshal bore
+the operation well. He was moved to Vienna, and sent for
+the celebrated mechanician, Mesler, to make him a false leg,
+but unfortunately the hot weather affected the wound
+and mortification set in. The Emperor, in spite of his
+anxieties, came daily to visit him, and the dying hero had
+the last consolation of seeing how much he was valued by
+his august master and friend. The end came soon. On
+May 30th the Duke of Montebello died, and Napoleon,
+on hearing the news, with tears in his eyes cried out,
+"What a loss for France and for me!"</p>
+
+<p>The death of Lannes removed the first of Napoleon's
+chosen Paladins, and, in the opinion of the Emperor
+himself, perhaps the greatest soldier of them all. At
+St. Helena the fallen Emperor thus appraised his old
+comrade: "Lannes was a man of extraordinary bravery.
+Calm under fire, he possessed a sure and penetrating
+coup d'&oelig;il; he had great experience in war. As a general
+he was infinitely superior to Moreau and Soult." But
+high as this eulogy is, the fact remains that Lannes was
+lucky in the time of his death: Fortune had not yet set
+her face against Napoleon's arms, and he was spared the
+terrors of the Russian retreat, the terrible fighting at
+Leipzig, and the gloom and misery of the winter campaign
+in France. That Lannes would have emerged
+superior to these trials his previous career affords strong
+reason to presume. Yet, brilliant as were his actions at
+Montebello, Saalfeld, Pultusk, and Tudela, masterly as
+were his operations at the siege of Saragossa, they only
+prove the Marshal's command of the technique of tactics.
+As Davout has pointed out, the Duke of Montebello had
+never an opportunity of showing his ability in the field
+of grand tactics or in the higher conceptions of strategy;
+he was a past master in the art of man&oelig;uvring twenty-five
+thousand infantry, but he had never the opportunity of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span>
+devising and carrying out a complete campaign, involving
+the handling of hundreds of thousands of men and the
+successful solution of problems both military and political.
+"The Roland of the French Army" had by nature many
+qualities which go to form a great soldier. His bravery
+was undoubted; before Ney he was called "the Bravest
+of the Brave." He had personal qualities which inspired
+his troops with his own courage and élan. He had the
+military eye, and a mind of extraordinary activity, which
+worked best when under the pressure of necessity and
+danger. He was physically strong and able to endure
+fatigue, and he had great capacity for taking pains. But
+his temper was often at fault, causing him to burst into fits
+of uncontrollable rage, while from jealousy he was apt
+to sulk and refuse to co-operate with his fellows. If an
+officer failed to grasp his meaning he would storm at him,
+and attempt himself to carry out the task. But on one
+occasion he heard the Emperor cry out, "That devil
+Lannes possesses all the qualities of a great commander,
+but he will never be one, because he cannot master his
+temper, and is constantly bickering with his subalterns, the
+greatest fault that a commander can make." From that
+day forward Lannes made the resolution to command
+his temper, and, in spite of his nature, his self-control
+became extraordinary. But though he conquered this
+weakness, he never overcame his jealousy of his fellow
+Marshals and generals. Again and again he threw up his
+command because he thought he was slighted or that others
+were preferred to him. At times he broke out into violent
+tirades against the Emperor himself, and on one occasion,
+in his jealousy, told him that Murat, his brother-in-law, was
+"a mountebank, a tight-rope dancer." Napoleon remonstrated
+with him, exclaiming, "It is I alone who give you both
+glory and success." Lannes, livid with anger, retaliated,
+"Yes, yes; because you have marched up to your ankles in
+gore on this bloody field, you think yourself a great man;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>
+and your emplumed brother-in-law crows on his own
+dunghill.... Twelve thousand corpses lying on the plain
+to keep the field for your honour ... and yet to deny me&mdash;to
+me, Lannes&mdash;my due share in the honours of the day!"
+On the day before his death he could not resist humiliating
+his hated enemy, Bessières, whom Napoleon had put
+under his command, and he actually insulted him on
+the field of battle by sending a junior aide-de-camp to
+tell the Marshal "to charge home," implying that he was
+shirking his duty.</p>
+
+<p>As a man, Lannes was warm-hearted and beloved by his
+family, his staff, and his men. Rough diamond as he was, he
+was truly one of nature's gentlemen. He never forgot a
+friend, though he seldom if ever forgave an enemy. His
+sympathies were essentially democratic; himself one of the
+people, he believed thoroughly in republican ideas. Outspoken
+to a fault, he would flare out against Napoleon
+himself, but one kind word from his great chief would cause
+him to forget all his bitterness. His impetuosity and his
+republican ideals of equality were, naturally, extremely
+offensive on occasions to the Emperor and the new nobility,
+and Lannes, in spite of all his efforts, was too genuine to
+conceal his hatred of all flunkeyism. It was this Gascon
+self-confidence, blended with singular amiability of character,
+which, while it offended the court, attached to the
+Marshal his soldiers and the provincial society of Lectourne,
+where even to this day the name of the Duke of Montebello
+is held in the most affectionate esteem and regard.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="VII" id="VII"></a>VII<br /><br />
+MICHEL NEY, MARSHAL, DUKE OF ELCHINGEN,<br />
+PRINCE OF MOSKOWA</h2>
+
+
+<p>"Go on, Ney; I am satisfied with you; you will
+make your way." So spoke a captain of hussars
+to a young recruit who had attracted his attention.
+The captain little thought that the zealous stripling would
+one day become a Marshal of France, the Prince of
+Moskowa, and famed throughout Europe as the "Bravest of
+the Brave." Still, the youth had presentiments of future
+greatness. Born on January 10, 1769, the son of a poor
+cooper, of Sarrelouis, more German than French, Michel
+Ney, at the age of fifteen, was possessed with the idea
+that he was destined for distinction. His father and
+mother tried to persuade him to become a miner, but
+nothing would please the high-spirited boy save the life of a
+soldier. Accordingly on February 1, 1787, he tramped off
+to Metz and enlisted as a private in the regiment known as
+the Colonel General's Hussars. Physically strong, unusually
+active, by nature a horseman, he soon attracted the attention
+of his comrades by his skill in ménage and his command of
+the sabre, and was chosen to represent his regiment in a
+duel against the fencing master of another regiment of the
+garrison. Unfortunately for Ney, the authorities got wind
+of the affair in time to prevent any decision being arrived at,
+and the young soldier was punished for breaking regulations
+by a term of imprisonment; but no sooner was he released<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span>
+than he again challenged his opponent. This time there
+was no interference, and Ney so severely wounded his
+adversary that he was unable to continue his profession.
+Though he thus early in his career distinguished himself by
+his bravery, tenacity, and disregard of rules, it must not for
+a moment be thought that he was a mere swashbuckler.
+With the determination to rise firmly before his eyes, he set
+about, from the day he enlisted, to learn thoroughly the
+rudiments of his profession, and to acquire a knowledge of
+French and the faculty of reading and writing; thus he was
+able to pass the necessary tests, and quickly gained the
+rank of sergeant. Ney was fortunate in that he had not to
+spend long years as a non-commissioned officer with no
+obvious future before him. The Revolution gave him the
+opportunity so long desired by Masséna and others, and it
+was as lieutenant that he started on active service with
+Dumouriez's army in 1793. Once on active service it was
+not long before his great qualities made themselves recognised.
+Though absolutely uncultivated, save for the smattering
+of reading and writing which he had picked up in the
+regimental school, and to outward appearances rather heavy
+and stupid, in the midst of danger he showed an energy, a
+quickness of intuition, and a clearness of understanding
+which hurled aside the most formidable obstacles. Physical
+fear he never knew; as he said, when asked if he ever felt
+afraid, "No, I never had time." In his earliest engagements
+at Neerwinden and in the north of France, he foreshadowed
+his future career by the extraordinary bravery and resource
+he showed in handling his squadron of cavalry during the
+retreat, on one occasion, with some twenty hussars, completely
+routing three hundred of the enemy's horse. This
+achievement attracted the attention of General Kléber, who
+sent for Captain Ney and entrusted him with the formation
+of a body of franc-tireurs of all arms. The franc-tireurs were
+really recognised brigands. They received no pay or arms
+and lived entirely on plunder, but were extremely useful for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span>
+scouting and reconnaissance, and collected a great deal of
+information under a dashing officer. From this congenial
+work Ney was summoned in 1796 to command the cavalry
+of General Coland's division in the Army of the Sambre
+and Meuse. There he distinguished himself by capturing
+Würzburg and two thousand of the enemy with a squadron
+of one hundred hussars. After this exploit General Kléber
+refused to listen to his remonstrances and insisted on his
+accepting his promotion as general of brigade. At the
+commencement of the campaign of 1797 Ney had the misfortune
+to be taken prisoner at Giessen. While covering
+the retreat with his cavalry, he saw a horse artillery gun
+deserted by its men. Galloping back by himself, he
+attempted to save the piece, but the enemy's horse swept
+down and captured him. His captivity was not long: his
+exchange was soon effected, and he returned to France in
+time to join in the agitation against the party of the
+Clicheans, the only occasion he actively interfered in
+politics.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<a href="images/fp142-hi.jpg"><img src="images/fp142.jpg" width="492" height="600" alt="MICHEL NEY, PRINCE OF MOSKOWA
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY F. GÉRARD" title="" id="fp142"/></a><br />
+<span class="caption">MICHEL NEY, PRINCE OF MOSKOWA<br />
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY F. GÉRARD</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>On the re-opening of the war in 1799 Ney was sent to
+command the cavalry of the Army of the Rhine. The
+campaign was notable for an exploit which admirably
+illustrates the secret of his success as a soldier. The town
+of Mannheim, held by a large Austrian garrison, was the
+key of Southern Germany. The French army was separated
+from this fortress by the broad Rhine. The enemy was
+confident that any attempt on the fortress must be preceded
+by the passage of the river by the whole French army.
+But Ney, hearing that the enemy's troops were cantonned
+in the villages surrounding the town, saw that if a small
+French force could be smuggled across by night, it might be
+possible to seize the town by a coup-de-main. The most
+important thing to ascertain was the exact position of the
+cantonments of the troops outside the fortress and of the
+various guards and sentinels inside the town. So important
+did he consider this information that he determined to cross<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>
+the river himself and reconnoitre the position in person.
+Accordingly, general of division as he was, he disguised himself
+as a Prussian, and trusting to his early knowledge of
+German, he crossed the river secretly, and carefully noted all
+the enemy's preparations, running the risk of being found out
+and shot as a spy. The following evening, with a weak
+detachment, he again crossed the river, attacked the enemy's
+guards with the bayonet, drove back a sortie of the garrison,
+and entered the town pell-mell with the flying enemy; and
+under cover of the darkness, which hid the paucity of his
+troops, he bluffed the enemy into surrender. The year 1800
+brought him further glory under Masséna and Moreau, and
+he became known throughout the armies of France as the
+"Indefatigable."</p>
+
+<p>After the Treaty of Lunéville, the First Consul summoned
+Ney to Paris, and won his affection by the warmth with
+which he received him. On his departure Bonaparte
+presented him with a sword. "Receive this weapon," he
+said, "as a souvenir of the friendship and esteem I have
+towards you. It belonged to a pasha who met his death
+bravely on the field of Aboukir." The sword became Ney's
+most treasured possession: he was never tired of handling
+it, and he never let it go out of his sight; but he little thought
+what ill luck it would bring him later, for it was this famous
+sword which, in 1815, revealed to the police his hiding-place,
+and thus indirectly led him to death. The relations between
+Ney and the First Consul soon became closer. The
+general married a great friend of Hortense Beauharnais,
+Mademoiselle Auguie, the daughter of Marie Antoinette's
+lady in waiting. Sure of his devotion and perceiving the
+sternness with which he obeyed orders, in 1802 the First
+Consul entrusted him with the subjugation of Switzerland.
+The Swiss army fled before him, and a deputation, charged
+to make their submission to France, arrived in his camp
+with the keys of the principal towns. The general met
+them, listened courteously to their words of submission,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span>
+then with a wave of the hand refused the keys. With that
+insight which later led him to warn Napoleon against
+attempting to trample on the people of Spain and Russia, he
+replied to the deputation, "It is not the keys I demand: my
+cannon can force your gates; bring me hearts full of submission,
+worthy of the friendship of France." Soon afterwards,
+with Soult and Davout, Ney was honoured with the
+command of one of the corps in the army which the First
+Consul was assembling for the invasion of England. In
+selecting him for this important post Napoleon showed that
+power of discrimination which contributed so greatly to his
+success. For, save in the raid into Switzerland, Ney had
+not yet been called upon to deal with complicated questions
+of administration and finance. His reputation rested purely
+on his extraordinary dash and bravery in the face of the
+enemy and his power of using to the full the élan which lies
+latent in all French armies. For when not in touch with
+the enemy he was notoriously indolent. He never made any
+attempt to learn the abstract science of war, and until stirred
+by danger his character seemed to slumber. Others judged
+him as the Emperor did at St. Helena when he said, "He
+was the bravest of men; there terminated all his faculties."
+But, in spite of this limitation in his character, Napoleon
+employed him again and again in positions of responsibility,
+for he knew that Ney's word once passed was never broken,
+that his devotion to France and to its ruler was steadfast, that
+in spite of his peevishness and his fierce outbursts of temper
+and bitter tirades, when it came to deeds there would be no
+wavering. Consequently the First Consul availed himself
+gladly of his great reputation for bravery, considering that
+hero worship did more to turn the young recruits into
+soldiers than the greatest organising and administrative
+talents. Moreover, Napoleon kept an eye on the composition
+of the staff of his Marshals and generals, and he knew that
+Ney had in Jomini, the chief of his staff, a man of admirable
+talent and sagacity, who would turn in their proper<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span>
+direction the sledge-hammer blows of the "Bravest of the
+Brave."</p>
+
+<p>With the creation of the Empire Ney was included among
+the Paladins of the new Charlemagne and received his
+Marshal's bâton, the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour,
+and the Order of the Christ of Portugal. But the new
+Marshal cared little for the life of a courtier, much as he
+prized his military distinctions. Banquets and feasting
+offered little attraction to the hero, and he despised riches
+and rank. "Gentlemen," said he one day to his aides-de-camp,
+who were boasting of their families and rich appointments,
+"Gentlemen, I am more fortunate than you: I got
+nothing from my family, and I esteemed myself rich at
+Metz when I had two loaves of bread on the table."
+Accordingly, no young subaltern thirsting for glory was
+happier that Marshal Ney when, in August, 1805, the order
+came to march on Austria. The campaign, so suddenly
+commenced, brought the Marshal the hard fighting and the
+glory he loved so well. In the operations round Ulm, he
+surpassed himself by the tenacity with which he stuck to the
+enemy, and, thanks to the skill of Jomini, his errors only
+added to his fame, and the combat of Elchingen became
+immortal when Napoleon selected this name as a title for
+the Marshal when he created him Duke. During the fighting
+which penned the Austrians into Ulm two sides of the
+Marshal's character were clearly seen&mdash;his extraordinary
+bravery and his jealousy. The Emperor, anxious for the
+complete success of his plans, despatched an officer to
+command Ney to avoid incurring a repulse and to await
+reinforcements. The aide-de-camp found him in the faubourg
+of the town amongst the skirmishers. He delivered his
+message, whereupon the Marshal replied, "Tell the Emperor
+that I share the glory with no one; I have already provided
+for a flank attack." In September, 1806, Ney was ordered
+to march to Würzburg to join the Grand Army for the war
+against Prussia. The campaign gave him just those opportunities<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span>
+which he knew so well how to seize, and before the
+end of the war the Emperor had changed his sobriquet from
+the "Indefatigable" to the "Bravest of the Brave." But
+glorious as his conduct was, his rash impetuosity more than
+once seriously compromised Napoleon's plans. At Jena
+his rashness and his jealousy of his fellow Marshals caused
+him to advance before the other corps had taken up their
+positions. His isolated attack was defeated by the Prussians,
+and it took the united efforts of Lannes and Soult to rally
+his shattered battalions and snatch victory from the
+enemy. But his personal bravery at Jena, his brilliant
+pursuit of the enemy, the audacity with which he bluffed
+fourteen thousand Prussians to surrender at Erfurt, and his
+capture of twenty-three thousand prisoners and eight
+hundred cannon at the great fortress of Magdeburg made
+ample amends for his errors.</p>
+
+<p>But glorious as was his success, his impetuosity soon
+brought him into further disgrace. Detached from the
+main army on the Lower Vistula in the spring of 1807,
+he advanced against a mixed force of Prussians and
+Russians before Napoleon had completed all his plans. The
+Emperor was furious, and Berthier was ordered to write
+that, "The Emperor has, in forming his plans, no need of
+advice or of any one acting on his own responsibility:
+no one knows his thoughts; it is our duty to obey." But to
+obey orders when in contact with the enemy was just what
+the fiery soldier was unable to do, and the Emperor,
+recognising this full well, ordered his chief of the staff to
+write that "His Majesty believes that the position of the
+enemy is due to the rash man&oelig;uvre made by Marshal Ney."
+When the main advance commenced the Marshal was summoned
+to rejoin the Grand Army. He did not arrive in
+time to take any prominent share in the bloody battle of
+Eylau; in spite of every exertion, his corps only reached
+the field of battle as darkness set in. The sight of the awful
+carnage affected even the warworn Marshal, and made him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span>
+exclaim, "What a massacre!" and, as he added, "without
+any issue." Friedland was a battle after Ney's own heart.
+He arrived on the field at the moment Napoleon was opening
+his grand attack, and with his corps he was ordered to
+assault the enemy's left. Hurling division after division,
+by hand-to-hand fighting he drove the enemy back from
+their lines, and flung them into the trap of Friedland, there
+to fall by hundreds under the fierce fire of the French
+massed batteries. It was his sangfroid which was responsible
+for the devotion with which the soldiers rushed
+against the enemy. At the beginning of the action some of
+the younger grenadiers kept bobbing their heads under the
+hail of bullets which almost darkened the air. "Comrades,"
+called out the Marshal, who was on horseback, "the enemy
+are firing in the air; here am I higher than the top of your
+busbies, and they don't hurt me."</p>
+
+<p>After the peace of Tilsit, Ney, soon Duke of Elchingen,
+had a year's repose from war, but in 1808 he was one of
+those summoned to retrieve the errors arising from
+Napoleon's mistaken calculation of the Spanish problem.
+The selection was an unfortunate one. Accustomed to the
+ordinary warfare of Central Europe, at his best in the mêlée
+of battle, in Spain, where organised resistance was seldom
+met, where the foe vanished at the first contact, the Marshal
+showed a hesitation and vacillation strangely in contrast
+with his dashing conduct on the battlefield. Fine soldier
+as he was, he lacked the essentials of the successful general&mdash;imagination
+and moral courage. He was unable to
+discern in his mind's eye what lay on the other side of
+a hill, and the blank which this lack of imagination caused
+in his mind affected his nerves, and made him irresolute
+and irritable. Moreover, in Spain, the success of the
+Emperor's plans depended on the loyal co-operation of
+Marshal with Marshal. But unfortunately Ney, obsessed
+by jealousy, was most difficult to work with; as Napoleon
+himself said, "No one knew what it was to deal with two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span>
+men like Ney and Soult." From the very outset of his
+career in Spain he showed a lack of strategic insight and
+a want of rapidity of movement. Thus it was that he
+was unable to assist Lannes in the operations which the
+Emperor had planned for the annihilation of the Spaniards
+at Tudela. His heart was not in the work, and he made no
+attempt to hide this from Napoleon. When the Emperor
+before leaving Spain reviewed his troops, and told him that
+"Romana would be accounted for in a fortnight; the
+English are beaten and will make no more effort; that all
+will be quiet here in three months," the Duke of Elchingen
+boldly told him, "The men of this country are obstinate,
+and the women and children fight; I see no end to the
+war." It was with gloomy forebodings, therefore, that he
+saw the Emperor ride off to France. But what increased
+his dislike of the whole situation was that his operations
+were made subservient to those of Soult, his old enemy and
+rival. The hatred which existed between the two was of
+long standing, and had burned fiercely ever since the days
+of Jena, when Soult had been mainly instrumental in
+retrieving the disaster threatened by Ney's impetuosity.
+It came to a head when, after the Duke of Dalmatia's
+expulsion from Portugal, the armies of the two Marshals
+met at Lugo. Soult's corps arrived without cannon or
+baggage, a mere armed rabble, and Ney's men jeered at
+the disorganised battalions. The Marshals themselves took
+sides with their men. Matters were not improved when
+Joseph sent orders that Ney was to consider himself under
+Soult, and, though Napoleon himself confirmed the decision,
+it brought no peace between the rival commanders. All
+through the Talavera campaign there was perpetual discord,
+and it was Ney's hesitation, arising from vacillation or
+jealousy, which prevented Soult from cutting off the English
+retreat across the Tagus.</p>
+
+<p>After the battle of Wagram, Masséna was despatched to
+Spain to command the Army of Portugal. The Duke of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span>
+Elchingen showed to his new chief the same spirit of disobedience
+and hatred of control. At times slack and supine
+in his arrangements, as in the preparations for the siege of
+Ciudad Rodrigo and in his want of energy after the siege
+of Almeida, at other times upsetting his superiors' plans by
+his reckless impetuosity, he was a subordinate whom no one
+cared to command. Still, when it came to actual contact
+with the foe, no officer was able to extract so much from
+his men, and his defeat of Crawford's division on the Coa
+and his dash at Busaco were quite up to his great reputation.
+Before the lines of Torres Vedras his ill-humour broke out
+again. He bitterly opposed the idea of an assault, and he
+grumbled at being kept before the position. In fact, nothing
+that his chief could order was right. It was to a great
+extent owing to the conduct of the Duke of Elchingen that
+Masséna was at last compelled to retreat. As he wrote to
+Berthier, "I have done all I could to keep the army out
+of Spain as long as possible ... but I have been continually
+opposed, I make bold to say, by the commanders
+of the corps d'armée, who have roused such a spirit amongst
+officers and men that it would be dangerous to hold our
+present position any longer." When, however, the retreat
+was at last ordered, Ney showed to the full his immense
+tactical ability. Although the army was greatly demoralised
+during the retreat through Portugal, he never lost a single
+gun or baggage wagon. As Napier wrote, "Day after day
+Ney&mdash;the indomitable Ney&mdash;offered battle with the rear
+guard, and a stream of fire ran along the wasted valleys
+of Portugal, from the Tagus to the Mondego, from the
+Mondego to the Coa." As often as Wellington with his
+forty thousand men overtook the Marshal with his ten
+thousand, he was baffled by the tactical cleverness with
+which his adversary compelled him to deploy his whole
+force, only to find before him a vanishing rear guard. But
+while displaying such brilliant ability, the Duke of
+Elchingen would take no orders from his superior, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span>
+when Masséna told him to cover Almeida and Ciudad
+Rodrigo, he flatly refused and marched off in the opposite
+direction. Thereon the Prince of Essling was compelled
+to remove him from his command, and wrote to Berthier,
+"I have been reduced to an extremity which I have
+earnestly endeavoured to avoid. The Marshal, the Duke
+of Elchingen, has arrived at the climax of disobedience. I
+have given the sixth corps to Count Loison, senior general
+of division. It is grievous for an old soldier who has commanded
+armies for so many years to arrive at such a pass
+... with one of his comrades. The Duke of Elchingen
+since my arrival has not ceased to thwart me in my military
+operations.... His character is well known, I will say no
+more." Thus Ney returned to France in disgrace with his
+comrades, and hated by his enemies owing to the licence he
+allowed his soldiers.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor, however, much as he insisted on blind
+obedience to his own orders, soon forgave the Duke of
+Elchingen, and heaped his wrath on the unfortunate
+Masséna, whom he held responsible for the failure of the
+campaign in Portugal. Accordingly, when in 1812 he
+planned his Russian campaign, he entrusted Ney with
+the command of the third corps. Under the personal eye
+of Napoleon, the Duke of Elchingen was a different man to
+the Ney of Spain. At Smolensk he showed his old brilliancy,
+and after the battle he opposed the further advance into
+Russia, maintaining that so far the Russians had never been
+beaten but only dislodged, that the peasants were hostile,
+and once again reminding the Emperor of his failure in
+Spain. It was with great disapprobation that he heard
+Napoleon accept Caulaincourt's advice, and determine to
+advance to Moscow. "Pray heaven," he said, "that the
+blarney of the ambassador general may not be more
+injurious to the army than the most bloody battle."
+Gloomy as were his forebodings, they had no effect on
+his conduct when he met the enemy, and he won for himself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span>
+the title of Prince of Moskowa in the hard-fought battle
+outside the walls of Moscow. But it is the retreat that has
+made his name so glorious. After the first few days he was
+entrusted with command of the rear guard, and as demoralisation
+set in he alone was able to keep the soldiers to their
+duty. At Krasnoi his feeble corps of six thousand men was
+surrounded by thirty thousand Russians. The main body
+was beyond recall. When summoned to lay down his arms,
+he replied, "A Marshal of France never surrenders," and
+closing his shattered columns, he charged the enemy's
+batteries and drove them from the field. For three days
+he struggled on surrounded by the foe. On one occasion
+when the enemy suddenly appeared in force where least
+expected, his men fell back in dismay, but the Marshal with
+admirable presence of mind ordered the charge to be beaten,
+shouting out, "Comrades, now is the moment: forward!
+they are ours." At last, with but fifteen hundred men left,
+he regained the main body near Orcha. When Napoleon
+heard of their arrival, he rushed to meet the Marshal,
+exclaiming, "I have three hundred million francs in my
+coffers at the Tuileries; I would willingly have given them
+to save Marshal Ney." He embraced the Duke, saying
+"he had no regret for the troops which were lost, because
+they had preserved his dear cousin the Duke of Elchingen."
+At the crossing of the Beresina, Ney once again covered
+himself with glory, and through the remainder of the
+terrible retreat he commanded the rear guard, and was the
+last man to cross the Niemen at Kovno and reach German
+soil. General Dumas, one of the officers of the general
+staff, relates how he was resting in an inn at Gumbinnen,
+when one evening a man entered clad in a long brown
+cloak, wearing a long beard, his face blackened with
+powder, his whiskers half burned by fire, but his eyes
+sparkling with brilliant lustre. "Well, here I am at last,"
+he said. "What, General Dumas, do you not know me?"
+"No; who are you?" "I am the rear guard of the Grand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span>
+Army&mdash;Marshal Ney. I have fired the last musket on the
+bridge of Kovno: I have thrown into the Niemen the last
+of our arms, and I have walked hither, as you see, across the
+forests."</p>
+
+<p>The campaign of 1813 saw the Duke of Elchingen once
+again at the Emperor's side. At Lützen, his corps of
+conscripts fought nobly: five times the gallant Ney led
+them to the attack; five times they responded to the call
+of their leader. As he himself said, "I doubt if I could
+have done the same thing with the old grenadiers of the
+Guard.... The docility and perhaps inexperience of those
+brave boys served me better than the tried courage of
+veterans. The French infantry can never be too young."
+But at Bautzen he showed another phase of his character.
+Entrusted with sixty thousand men with orders to make
+a vast turning movement, his timidity spoiled the Emperor's
+careful plans. So hesitating and uncertain were his dispositions
+that the Allies had ample time to meet his attack and
+quietly withdrew without being compromised, leaving not
+a cannon or a prisoner in the hands of the French. Well
+might the Emperor cry out, "What, after such a butchery
+no results? no prisoners?" But in spite of Ney's lack
+of strategic skill and his well-known vacillation when
+confronted with problems he did not understand, Napoleon
+was forced to employ him on an independent command.
+After Oudinot was beaten at Grosbeeren, he despatched
+him to take command of the army opposed to the mixed
+force of the Allies under Bernadotte, which was threatening
+his communications from the direction of Berlin. But
+Ney was no more successful than Oudinot. His dispositions
+were even worse than those of the Duke of Reggio,
+and at Dennewitz, night alone saved his force from absolute
+annihilation, while he had to confess to nine hundred killed
+and wounded and fifteen thousand taken prisoners. He
+but wrote the truth in his despatch to the Emperor, "I
+have been totally beaten, and still do not know whether my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span>
+army has reassembled." At Leipzig also he was responsible
+for the want of success during the first day of the
+battle, and spent the time in useless marching and counter-marching;
+in this case, however, the faulty orders he
+received were largely responsible for his errors. But all
+through the campaign he felt the want of the clear counsel
+of the born strategist Jomini, his former chief of the staff,
+who had gone over to the Allies.</p>
+
+<p>During the winter campaign in 1814 in France no one
+fought more fiercely and stubbornly than the Duke of
+Elchingen. When the end came and Paris had surrendered,
+he was one of those who at Fontainebleau refused
+to march on Paris, in spite of the cries of the Guard "To
+Paris!" Angered by the tenacity with which the Marshals
+protested against the folly of such a march, the Emperor at
+last exclaimed, "The army will obey me." "No," replied
+Ney, "it will obey its commanders." Macdonald, who had
+just arrived with his weary troops, backed him up, exclaiming,
+"We have had enough of war without kindling a civil
+war." Thereon Napoleon was induced to sign a proclamation
+offering to abdicate; and Caulaincourt, Macdonald,
+and Ney set out for Paris to try and get terms from the Czar.
+Once in the capital the Marshal seemed to despair of his
+commission. Feeble and irresolute, he was easily gained
+over by Talleyrand, and at once made his formal adhesion
+to the provisional government. When the commissioners
+returned to the Emperor, he saw but too clearly that his
+day was done. "Oh," he exclaimed, "you want repose;
+have it then; alas! you know not how many disappointments
+and dangers await you on your beds of down."</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor's prophecy was but too true. Though
+honours were showered upon him, the peace which
+followed the restoration of the Bourbons brought but
+little satisfaction and enjoyment to the Duke of Elchingen.
+Accustomed to the bustle and hurry of a soldier's life, he
+was too old to acquire the tastes of a life of tranquillity.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span>
+Books brought him no satisfaction, since he could scarcely
+read; society frightened him, and his plain manners and
+blunt speech shocked the salons of Paris and grated on
+the nerves of the courtiers. By nature ascetic, he hated
+dissipation. Moreover, his family life was by no means
+happy. His wife, ambitious, fond of luxury and pleasure,
+was unable to share his pursuits and tastes, and worried
+her husband with childish complaints of loss of prestige at
+the new court. Consequently the blunt old soldier was
+only too glad to leave her at his hotel in Paris, and
+bury himself in his estate in the country, where field sports
+offered him a recreation he could appreciate, and his old
+comrades and country neighbours afforded him a society
+at least congenial.</p>
+
+<p>From this peaceful life at Coudreaux the Marshal was
+suddenly summoned on March 6, 1815, to Paris. On
+arriving there he was met by his lawyer, who informed
+him of Napoleon's descent on Fréjus. "It is a great
+misfortune," he said; "what is the Government doing?
+Who are they going to send against that man?" Then
+he hurried off to the Minister of War to receive his instructions.
+He was ordered to Besançon to take command of
+the troops there, and to help oppose Napoleon's advance
+on Paris. Before starting for his headquarters he went to
+pay his respects to the King, and expressed his indignation
+at the Emperor's action, promising "to bring him back in
+an iron cage." On arriving at his command he found
+everything in confusion, and the soldiers ready at any
+moment to declare for the Emperor. Ney had but one
+thought, and that to save the King. In reply to a friend
+who told him that the soldiers could not fight the Emperor,
+he replied, "They shall fight; I will begin the action myself,
+and run my sword to the hilt in the breast of the first who
+hesitates to follow my example." But when he arrived, on
+the evening of the 13th, at Lons la Saulnier he was met by
+the news that on all sides the troops were deserting, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span>
+that the Duke of Orleans and Monsieur had been compelled
+to withdraw from Lyons. That same evening emissaries
+arrived from Napoleon alleging that all the Marshals had
+promised to go over, and that the Congress of Vienna had
+approved of the overthrow of the Bourbons, assuring the
+Marshal that the Emperor would receive him as on the
+day after the battle of Moskowa. While but half convinced
+by these specious arguments and a prey to doubt,
+news arrived that his vanguard at Bourg had deserted, and
+that the inhabitants of Châlons-sur-Saône had seized his
+artillery. In his agony he exclaimed to the emissaries,
+"It is impossible for me to stop the water of the ocean
+with my own hand." On the morrow he called the
+generals of division to give him counsel; one of them was
+Bourmont, a double-dyed traitor who deserted Napoleon on
+the eve of Waterloo; the other was the stern old republican
+warrior Lecourbe. They could give him but little
+advice, so at last the fatal decision was made, and Ney
+called his troops together and read the proclamation
+drawn up by Napoleon.</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had he done so than he began to perceive the
+enormity of his action. Meanwhile he wrote an impassioned
+letter to Napoleon urging him to seek no more wars
+of conquest. It might suit the Emperor's policy to cause
+the Marshal to desert those to whom he had sworn allegiance,
+but he mistrusted men who broke their word, and
+though he received Ney with outward cordiality, he saw
+but little of the "black beast," as he called him, during the
+Hundred Days, for the Duke of Elchingen, full of remorse
+and shame, hid himself at Coudreaux. It was not till the
+end of May that Napoleon summoned him to Paris, and
+greeted him with the words, "I thought you had become
+an émigré." "I ought to have done it long ago," replied
+the Marshal; "now it is too late." Still the Emperor
+kept him without employment till on June 11th he sent
+him to inspect the troops around Lille, and from there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span>
+summoned him to join the army before Charleroi on the
+afternoon of June 15th. Immediately on his arrival he
+was put in command of the left wing of the army, composed
+of Reille and d'Erlon's corps, and received verbal
+orders to push northwards and occupy Quatre Bras. The
+Marshal's task was not an enviable one. He had to improvise
+a staff and make himself acquainted with his subordinates
+and at the same time try and elucidate the contradictory
+orders of his old enemy Soult, now chief of the staff
+to the Emperor. Accordingly, when on the evening of the
+15th his advance guard found Quatre Bras held by the
+enemy, he decided to make no attack that night. But on
+the morning of the 16th he made a still greater error.
+For not only did he neglect to make a reconnaissance,
+which would have showed him that he was opposed by
+a mere handful of troops, but, slothful as ever, he omitted to
+give orders for the proper concentration of his divisions,
+which were strung out along sixteen miles of road. A
+day begun thus badly was bound to bring difficulties.
+But these difficulties were enormously increased in the
+afternoon. After three despatches ordering him to carry
+Quatre Bras with all his force, he received a fourth written
+by Soult at Napoleon's order telling him to move to the
+right to support Grouchy in his attack on the Prussians,
+ending with the words, "The fate of France is in your
+hands, therefore do not hesitate to move according to
+the Emperor's commands." To add further to his difficulties,
+d'Erlon's corps was detached from his command
+without his knowledge. In this distracted condition, the
+Marshal lost all control over himself, calling out, "Ah,
+those English balls! I wish they were all in my belly!"
+Thus it was, mad with rage, that he rode up to Kellermann,
+calling out, "We must make a supreme effort. Take your
+cavalry and fling yourself upon the English centre. Crush
+them&mdash;ride them down!" But it was too late. Wellington
+himself with thirty thousand men now held Quatre Bras.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span>
+The Marshal had himself to thank for his want of success,
+for if he had been less slothful in the morning, the battle
+would have been won before the contradictory orders could
+have had any effect on his plans. On the morning of
+the 17th the dispirited Prince of Moskowa took no steps
+to find out what his enemy was doing, although he received
+orders from the Emperor at ten o'clock to occupy Quatre
+Bras if there was only a rear guard there. Accordingly
+the English had ample time to retreat. When Napoleon
+hurried up in pursuit at 2 p.m. he greeted his lieutenant
+with the bitter reproach, "You have ruined France!" But
+though the Emperor recognised that he was no longer the
+Ney of former days, he still retained him in his command.
+At Waterloo the Marshal showed his old dash on the
+battlefield. The left wing was hurled against the Allies
+with a vehemence that recalled the Prince of Moskowa's
+conduct in the Russian campaign. But, impetuous as ever,
+finding he could not crush the stubborn foe with his
+infantry, he rushed back and prematurely ordered up 5,000
+of the cavalry of the Guard. "He has compromised us
+again," growled his old enemy Soult, "as he did at Jena."
+"It is too early by an hour," exclaimed the Emperor, "but we
+must support him now that he has done it." The mistake
+was fatal to Napoleon's plans. In vain the French cavalry
+charged the English squares, still unshaken by artillery
+and infantry fire. Meanwhile the Prussians appeared on
+the allied left. The Emperor staked his last card, and
+ordered the Guard to make one last effort to crush the
+English infantry. Sword in hand the gallant Prince of
+Moskowa led the magnificent veterans to the attack. But
+the fire of the English lines swept them down by hundreds.
+A shout arose, "La garde recule." Ney, the indomitable,
+in vain seeking death, was swept away by the mass, his
+clothing in rags, foaming at the mouth, his broken sword
+in his hand, rushing from corps to corps, trying to rally
+the runaways with taunts of "Cowards, have you forgotten<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span>
+how to die?" At one moment he passed d'Erlon as they
+were swept along in the rush, and screamed out to him,
+"If you and I come out of this alive, d'Erlon, we shall
+be hanged." Well it had been for him if he could have
+found the death he so eagerly sought. Five horses were
+shot under him, his clothes were riddled with bullets, but
+he was reserved for a sinister fate.</p>
+
+<p>The Marshal returned to Paris and witnessed the capitulation
+and second abdication. Thereafter he had thoughts
+of withdrawing to Switzerland or to America. But unfortunately
+he considered himself safe under the terms of the
+capitulation, and, anxious to clear his name for the sake of
+his children, he remained hidden at the château of Bessonis,
+near Aurillac, waiting to see what the attitude of the Government
+would be. There he was discovered by a zealous
+police official, who caught sight of the Egyptian sabre
+Napoleon had presented to him in 1801. He was at once
+arrested and taken to Paris. The military court appointed
+to try him declared itself unable to try a peer of France.
+Accordingly the House of Peers was ordered to proceed
+with his trial, and found him guilty by a majority of one
+hundred and sixty-nine to nineteen. The Marshal's lawyers
+tried to get him off by the subterfuge that he was no longer
+a Frenchman, since his native town, Sarrelouis, had been
+taken from France. But Ney would hear of no such
+excuse. "I am a Frenchman," he cried, "and will die a
+Frenchman." Early on the following day, December 7,
+1815, the sentence was read to the prisoner. The officer
+entrusted with this melancholy duty commenced to read
+his titles, Prince of Moskowa, Duke of Elchingen, &amp;c. But
+the Marshal cut him short: "Why cannot you simply say
+'Michel Ney, once a French soldier and soon to be a heap
+of dust'?" At eight o'clock in the morning the Marshal,
+with a firm step, was conveyed to the place of execution.
+To the officer who prepared to bandage his eyes he said,
+"Are you ignorant that for twenty-five years I have been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span>
+accustomed to face both ball and bullet?" Then, taking
+off his hat, he said, "I declare before God and man that
+I have never betrayed my country. May my death render
+her happy. Vive la France!" Then, turning to the
+soldiers, he gave the word, "Soldiers, fire!"</p>
+
+<p>Thus, in his forty-seventh year, the Prince of Moskowa,
+a peasant's son, but now immortal as the "Bravest of the
+Brave," expiated his error. Pity it was that he had not the
+courage of his gallant subordinate at Lons la Saulnier, who
+had broken his sword in pieces with the words, "It is easier
+for a man of honour to break iron than to infringe his
+word." Looking backward, and calmly reading the evidence
+of the trial, it is clear that Ney set out in March, 1815, with
+every intention to remain faithful to the King. But his
+moral courage failed him; and the glamour of his old life,
+and the contact with the iron will of the great Corsican,
+broke down his principles. To some the punishment
+meted out to him seemed hard; but when the Emperor
+heard of his execution he said that he only got his deserts.
+"No one should break his word. I despise traitors. Ney
+has dishonoured himself." And the Duke of Wellington
+refused to plead for the Marshal, for he said "it was absolutely
+necessary to make an example." But the clearest
+proof of the justice of the penalty was the fact that from
+the fatal day at Lons la Saulnier the Marshal was never
+himself again, and he who, during those terrible days in
+Russia, had been able to sleep like a little child, never
+could sleep in peace.</p>
+
+<p>Among the Marshals of Napoleon, Ney, with his title
+of the "Bravest of the Brave," and his magnificent record
+of hard fighting, will always appeal to those who love
+romance. But, great fighter as he was, he was not a great
+general. At times, at St. Helena, Napoleon, remembering
+his mistakes at Quatre Bras and Waterloo, used to say that
+he ought not to have made him a Marshal, for he only had
+the courage and honesty of a hussar, forgetting his words<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span>
+in Russia, "I have three hundred millions francs in my
+coffers at the Tuileries; I would willingly have given
+them to save Marshal Ney." But, cruel as it may seem,
+perhaps the Emperor expressed his real opinion of him
+when he said, "He was precious on the battlefield, but
+too immoral and too stupid to succeed." In action he
+was always master of himself, but as Jomini, his old
+chief of the staff, wrote of him, "Ney's best qualities,
+his heroic valour, his rapid coup d'&oelig;il, and his energy,
+diminished in the same proportion that the extent of his
+command increased his responsibility. Admirable on the
+battlefield, he displayed less assurance not only in council,
+but whenever he was not actually face to face with the
+enemy." In a word, he lacked that marked intellectual
+capacity which is the chief characteristic of great soldiers
+like Hannibal, Cæsar, Napoleon, and Wellington.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="VIII" id="VIII"></a>VIII<br /><br />
+LOUIS NICOLAS DAVOUT, MARSHAL,<br />
+DUKE OF AUERSTÄDT, PRINCE OF ECKMÜHL</h2>
+
+
+<p>There was an old saying in Burgundy that "when
+a Davout comes into the world, another sword has
+leaped from the scabbard"; but so finely tempered
+a weapon as Louis Nicolas had never before been produced
+by the warrior nobles of Annoux, though the line stretched
+back in unbroken descent to the days of the first Crusades.
+Born at Auxerre on May 18, 1770, the future Marshal
+was destined for the service, and at the age of fifteen
+entered the Royal Military School at Paris. In the
+fatal year 1789 he received his commission in the Royal
+Champagne regiment of cavalry stationed at Hesdin, but
+his period of service with the royal army was short. From
+his boyhood, young Davout was one of those whom it was
+impossible to drive, who, while they submit to no authority,
+are as clay in the hands of the master mind who can gain
+their affections. His turbulent spirit had early become
+captivated by the specious revolutionary logic of a brilliant
+young lawyer, Turreau, who, a few years later, became his
+stepfather. Full of burning zeal for his new political tenets,
+chafing under the dull routine of garrison life, despising
+his mediocre companions, the young sub-lieutenant
+soon found himself in trouble, and was dismissed from the
+service for the part he took in aiding the revolutionaries
+in their attempts to seduce the privates and non-commissioned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span>
+officers from their allegiance to their sovereign.
+His return to civil life was but brief, for, when in 1791
+the Prussian invasion summoned the country to arms,
+Louis Nicolas enlisted in the Volunteers of the Yonne, and
+owing to his former military training was at once elected
+lieutenant-colonel.</p>
+
+<p>The Volunteers of the Yonne formed part of the corps
+opposed to the Austrians in the Low Countries, and owing
+to the stern discipline of their lieutenant-colonel, became
+distinguished as the most reliable of all the volunteers
+raised in 1791. Davout adopted the same plan which
+proved so effective among the Scotch regiments during
+the eighteenth century: keeping in close communication
+with the local authorities of the Yonne, and rewarding
+or punishing his men by posting their names with their
+records in the various cantons from which they were drawn.
+After fighting bravely under Dumouriez, it fell to the lot
+of the battalion to attempt to capture that general, when,
+after the battle of Neerwinden, he tried to betray his army
+to the Austrians. Soon after this the lieutenant-colonel
+had to throw up his command when the Convention
+decreed that no ci-devant noble could hold a commission;
+but Davout's record was so strongly republican that his
+friend Turreau had little difficulty in getting him reinstated
+in his rank, and sent to command a brigade of cavalry in
+the Army of the Moselle. Except for two years during
+which he was at home on parole, after the capture of
+Mannheim, the general was on active service in the Rhine
+valley till the peace of Campo Formio in 1797. During
+these years he steadily added to his reputation as a stern
+commander and a stubborn fighter, and as such attracted
+the attention of Desaix, who introduced him early in
+1798 to Bonaparte. The future Emperor saw at a glance
+that this small, stout, bald-headed young man had qualities
+which few others possessed. Accordingly he took him with
+him to Egypt. Like all who met the young Napoleon,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span>
+Davout fell entirely beneath his spell. In spite of the fact
+that he was not included among the few friends whom
+Bonaparte selected to return with him in 1800, his enthusiasm
+for the First Consul increased day by day. Returning
+to France with Desaix, just before the Marengo
+campaign, he at once hastened to Paris to congratulate the
+new head of the Government. Davout's republicanism had
+received many shocks. Like all other honourable men, he
+had hated and loathed the Terror. Moreover, he had seen
+on service how little the preachers of the equality of man
+carried out their doctrine in practice. As early as 1794 we
+find him writing to a friend: "Ought we to be exposed to
+the tyranny of any chance revolutionary committee or
+club?... Why are not all Frenchmen witnesses of
+fraternity and of the republican virtues which reign in
+our camps; we have no brigands here, but have we not
+plenty at home?" Bonaparte knew well that Davout was
+not only his enthusiastic personal follower, but also
+thoroughly approved of the coup d'état of the 18th Brumaire,
+and in his desire for peace and stability at home
+would warmly back him up in his scheme of founding a
+tyranny under the guise of an Imperial Republic. Accordingly
+the First Consul published a most flattering account
+of him in the official <i>Moniteur</i>, and gave him command
+of the cavalry of the Army of Italy, under General Brune.
+In June, 1801, after the treaty of Lüneville, in pursuance of
+his plan of congregating his friends at headquarters, he
+recalled him to Paris as inspector-general of cavalry.</p>
+
+<p>It was while thus employed that Davout met his wife,
+Aimée Leclerc. Aimée, a sister of that Leclerc who
+married Pauline Bonaparte, had been educated at Madame
+Campan's school in Paris, along with the young Beauharnais
+and Bonapartes, and was the bosom friend of
+Caroline and Hortense. From many points of view the
+marriage was extremely appropriate; for although the
+Davouts belonged to the old nobility, and Aimée's father<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span>
+was only a corn merchant of Poitou, he had prospered
+in his business, and had been able to give his daughter
+an excellent education. The marriage brought Davout
+into close connection with the First Consul's family, and
+was successful from a worldly and a domestic point of
+view. The future Marshal was deeply attached to his wife,
+and spent every moment with her which he could snatch
+from his military duties. When absent on service scarcely
+a day passed on which he did not write to her, and his
+happiness was completely bound up in her welfare and that
+of his large family. The year following their marriage the
+Davouts bought the beautiful estate of Savigny-sur-Orge
+for the sum of seven hundred thousand francs. This was
+a great strain on their rather limited resources, and for
+some years they had to practise strict economy.</p>
+
+<p>In September, 1803, the general was summoned to
+Bruges to command a corps of the Army of the Ocean,
+which later became the third corps of the Grand Army.
+There, in close communication with his great chief, he
+began to show those traits which made him respected as
+the most relentless and careful administrator of all the
+Marshals of France. His energy was indefatigable; everything
+had to undergo his personal scrutiny, be it the best
+means of securing the embarkation of a company in one of
+the new barges or the careful inspection of the boots of
+a battalion: for Davout, like Wellington, knew that a
+soldier's marching powers depended on two things, his feet
+and his stomach, and every man in the third corps had
+to have two pairs of good boots in his valise and one on
+his feet. Secrecy also, in his eyes, was of prime importance;
+he was quick to give a lesson to all spies, or would-be
+spies, in Belgium, and it was with stern exultation in
+his duty that he wrote to the First Consul, "Your orders
+for the trial of the spy (Bülow) will be carried out, and
+within a week he will be executed." Day by day, as he
+gained experience, the indefatigable soldier drew on him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span>
+the approbation of the First Consul, and it was with no
+sense of favouritism that Napoleon, when he became Emperor,
+nominated him among his newly-created Marshals,
+although in the eyes of the army at large he had not yet
+done enough to justify this choice.</p>
+
+<p>The campaign of 1805 gave the Marshal his first opportunity
+of handling large bodies of troops of all arms in the
+field, and, though it did not bring him into such conspicuous
+notice as Murat, Lannes, Soult and Ney, it justified
+Napoleon in his selection of him as worthy of the Marshal's
+bâton. In the operations round Ulm, Davout proved himself
+an excellent subordinate, whose corps was ever ready,
+at full strength, in the field, and at the hour at which it
+had been ordered, while the Marshal's stern checking of
+marauding was a new feature in French military discipline,
+and one which no other Marshal could successfully carry
+out without starving his troops. But it was Austerlitz
+which taught the students of war the true capabilities of
+this rising officer. There the Emperor, relying on his
+stubborn, methodical character, entrusted him with a duty
+which eminently suited his genius: he chose his corps as
+the screen to cover the trap which he set for the Russian
+left, and all day long it had to fight a stern rear-guard action
+against overwhelming odds, until it had tempted the enemy
+into dissipating his forces, and so weakening his centre
+that his left and right were defeated in detail. After Austerlitz,
+Davout was entrusted with the pursuit of the left
+wing of the Allies. Flushed with victory, the third corps
+pushed the disorganised enemy in hopeless rout, and it
+seemed as if the annihilation of the Russians was certain.
+Meanwhile, unknown to the Marshal, the Emperor had
+accepted the Czar's demands for an armistice. Davout first
+heard of the cessation of hostilities from the enemy, but,
+remembering Murat's mistake, he refused to halt his troops.
+"You want to deceive me," he said to the flag of truce;
+"you want to make a fool of me.... I am going to crush<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span>
+you, and that is the only order I have received." So the
+third corps pushed on, and it was only the production of a
+despatch in the handwriting of the Czar himself that caused
+the victor at last to stay his hand.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<a href="images/fp167-hi.jpg"><img src="images/fp167.jpg" width="384" height="600" alt="LOUIS NICOLAS DAVOUT, PRINCE OF ECKMÜHL
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY GAUTHEROT" title="" id="fp167"/></a><br />
+<span class="caption">LOUIS NICOLAS DAVOUT, PRINCE OF ECKMÜHL<br />
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY GAUTHEROT</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Though Davout emerged from the Austrian campaign
+with the reputation in the army of having at last earned his
+Marshal's bâton, to the general public he still appeared as
+"a little smooth-pated, unpretending man, who was never
+tired of waltzing," but the campaign of 1806 made him
+nearly the best known of all the Marshals. Auerstädt was a
+masterpiece of minor tactics. Napoleon, thinking that he
+had before him at Jena the whole of the Prussian army,
+summoned to his aid Bernadotte, and thus left Davout with
+a force of twenty-three thousand men isolated on his right
+wing, with orders to push forward and try to get astride of
+the enemy's line of retreat.</p>
+
+<p>It was in pursuance of this order that early in the morning
+of October 14, 1806, the Marshal, at the head of the
+advance guard of his corps, crossed the river Saale at Kösen
+and proceeded to seize the defile beyond the bridge through
+which ran the road to Naumberg. True to his motto of
+never leaving to another anything which he could possibly
+do himself, he had personally, on the previous evening,
+carefully reconnoitred the line of advance, and knew the
+importance of the village of Hassenhausen at the further
+end of the defile. Hardly had his advance guard seized
+this position and the heights commanding the road, when
+through the fog they saw approaching the masses of the
+enemy's cavalry; the fiery Prussian commander, Blücher,
+at once hastened to the attack, and again and again led his
+horsemen to the charge. Meanwhile Brunswick counter-ordered
+the retreat of the infantry and artillery. Soon the
+whole of the Prussian army, forty-five thousand strong, was
+engaged in the attempt to crush the small French force.
+But the Marshal was in his element, carefully husbanding
+his resources only to hurl them into the fray at the critical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span>
+moment; feinting at his enemy's flanks; utilising every
+feature of the ground to prolong his resistance; galloping
+from square to square, his uniform black from powder, his
+cocked hat carried off by a bullet, encouraging his troops
+with short, sharp words, crying out, "The great Frederick
+believed that God gave the victory to the big battalions, but
+he lied; it is the obstinate people that win, and that's you
+and your general." From six in the morning the battle
+raged, but towards mid-day the Prussians, finding that they
+could make no impression on the enemy, began to slacken
+their attack. Davout seized the psychological moment to
+order his whole line to advance. Thereon the King of
+Prussia commanded his forces to retire, leaving a strong rear
+guard under Kalkreuth to prevent the French pursuit. But
+the French were in no condition to carry on an active pursuit,
+for out of twenty-three thousand men engaged they had
+lost almost eight thousand killed or wounded. It is quite
+true that man for man the French soldier in 1806 was
+superior in intelligence and patriotism to the Prussian,
+that the French staff was infinitely superior to the Prussian
+staff, and that there was no comparison between the morale
+of the two armies; but that alone does not explain how an
+army half the size of the enemy, caught as it was in the act
+of deploying from a defile, not only was not beaten absolutely,
+but actually defeated the superior force. The secret
+of the French success at Auerstädt lay in the character of
+their general. It was Davout's careful reconnaissance, his
+quickness to perceive in Hassenhausen the key of the
+position, his careful crowning of the heights covering the
+defile, the masterly way in which, while massing his men in
+the open to resist Blücher's fierce charges, he at the same
+time contrived so to expand his line as to threaten the
+flanks of his vastly superior foe, his indomitable courage
+in throwing his last reserve into the firing line, and
+his audacious counter-attack the moment he saw the
+Prussians wavering, which saved his force from what at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span>
+the time looked like annihilation, and by sheer downright
+courage and self-confidence turned defeat into victory.</p>
+
+<p>Pleased as the Emperor was at his lieutenant's victory,
+and much as he admired the way in which his subordinate
+had copied his own methods, showing that inflexibility of
+purpose, absolute disregard of the opinion of others, and
+unswerving belief in his own capacity which he knew were
+the factors of his own success, it did not suit his policy that
+a subordinate should attract the admiration of the army at
+large. Accordingly in his bulletins he glossed over the
+part played by Davout and belittled his success, but in his
+private letters he warmly praised the Marshal's courage and
+ability. Further, to reward him for lack of official praise,
+he gave the third corps the place of honour at the grand
+march past held at Berlin, when the inhabitants of the
+capital of Frederick the Great saw for the first time,
+with mingled hatred and surprise, "the lively, impudent,
+mean-looking little fellows" who had thrashed their
+own magnificent troops. On the following day the Emperor
+inspected the third corps, and thanked the officers
+and men for the great services they had rendered him, and
+paid a tribute to "the brave men I have lost, whom I regret
+as it were my own children, but who died on the field of
+honour." Pleased as the Marshal was with this somewhat
+tardy acknowledgment of his achievement, he was in no
+way inflated with pride; as General Ségur says of him:
+"Those who knew him best say that there was a sort of
+flavour of a bygone age in his inflexibility; stern towards
+himself and towards others, and above all in that stoical
+simplicity, high above all vanity, with which he ever strode
+forward, with shoulders square, and full intent to the accomplishment
+of his duty." But though success brought
+no pride in its train, it brought its burdens: the jealousy of
+the other Marshals was barely concealed, and as Davout
+wrote to his wife, "I am more than ever in need of the
+Emperor's goodwill ... few of my colleagues pardon me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span>
+the good fortune the third corps had in beating the King of
+Prussia."</p>
+
+<p>A winter spent in Poland amid these jealousies and far
+from his family was only endurable because of his attachment
+to the service and person of the Emperor. Immediately
+on entering the country which he was to govern for
+the next two years, the Marshal summed up the situation
+at a glance, and told the Emperor that the nobility would
+throw cold water on all schemes unless the French
+guaranteed them their independence.</p>
+
+<p>With the spring of 1807 came the last phase of the war.
+At Heilsberg, Davout fought well, and two days later took
+his part in the great battle of Eylau, the most bloody of all
+Napoleon's battles. Bennigsen, the Russian commander,
+had turned at bay on his pursuers. On the morning of
+February 8th the French corps came hurrying up from all
+sides at the Emperor's commands. It was not, however,
+till mid-day that the third corps arrived on the scene of the
+action. Heavy snow blizzards obscured the scene, but the
+struggle raged fiercely on all sides, the Russians fighting
+like bulls, as the French said. The Emperor, on Davout's
+arrival, placed his corps on the right and ordered him to
+advance, but the enemy's cavalry and artillery effectually
+barred his way. All day long the contest lasted, men fighting
+hand to hand in a confused mêlée. All day long Davout,
+with obstinate courage, clung to the village which he seized
+in the morning, whence he threatened the Russian line of
+retreat. When night came he still held his position; at
+last the Emperor, fearing a renewal of the fight on the next
+day, gave orders at eight o'clock for the third corps to fall
+back on Eylau. But the Marshal, hearing of the commencement
+of the Russian retreat, disobeyed the Emperor, and
+thus, by his bold front, in conjunction with Soult, he was
+mainly instrumental in causing the enemy to leave the field.
+If Davout had been less obstinate, the French would have
+had to fight another battle on the following day, but thanks<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span>
+to him they were spared this fate, and the twenty-five thousand
+dead and wounded Frenchmen had not spent their
+blood in vain. The third corps escaped the horrors of
+Friedland, as it had been detached to intercept the enemy's
+line of retreat in the direction of Königsberg, and Tilsit saw
+the end of Davout's second campaign against the Russians.</p>
+
+<p>But peace did not bring the opportunity of returning to
+his beloved France and the joys of home life; the Emperor
+in peace, as in war, could not spare the great administrative
+capacity, the stern discipline, and the rigid probity of the
+Marshal. "It is quite fair that I should give him enormous
+presents," said the Emperor, "for he takes no perquisites."
+So Davout found himself established nominally as commander
+of the army of occupation, and really as special
+adviser to the Government of the newly constituted Grand
+Duchy of Warsaw. It was a situation that required infinite
+tact, patience, and a stern will. The Poles longed for a
+restored kingdom of Poland. The Emperor could not
+grant this without offending his new friend the Czar, who,
+with the Emperor of Austria, looked with suspicion on the
+experiment of creating a Grand Duchy. So on one side the
+Marshal had to try to inspire confidence in the Poles by
+pretending that the Grand Duchy was merely a temporary
+experiment in the larger policy of restoring the kingdom,
+while on the other hand he had to assure the Austrians and
+Russians that nothing was further from the Emperor's
+thoughts than creating a power at Warsaw dangerous to
+them. Meanwhile there was plenty of occupation in getting
+provisions for his troops in a land always poor and
+but lately devastated by war, and in attempting to maintain
+order in a country full of adventurers where police were
+unknown. It was useless to attempt to get assistance from
+the Government, for there was no organisation, no division
+of duties among the different ministers, and nobody knew
+what his own particular business was. The situation was
+well summed up in a caricature which showed the ministers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span>
+nicely dressed in their various uniforms but without heads.
+It was well for the new Government that they had at their
+side such a stern, disinterested adviser as Davout, ready to
+take the initiative and accept the responsibility of any act
+which he thought good for the community. Under his
+supervision the ministers' spheres of action were duly
+arranged: the state was saved from bankruptcy by importing
+bullion from Prussia and deporting the adventurers
+who were filling their own coffers by draining the money
+from the country. The monks who preached against the
+Government and fanned popular discontent were three times
+given twenty-four hours' notice to put their houses in order,
+and then quietly escorted across the frontier. A strong
+Polish force was raised, armed and equipped by Prince
+Poniatowski under the Marshal's supervision. As a reward
+for his labours the Emperor granted Davout three hundred
+thousand francs to buy a town house in Paris, and followed
+this up, in May, 1808, by creating him Duke of Auerstädt.
+But what pleased the Marshal more than all was that the
+Emperor allowed the Duchess to join him at Warsaw. This
+was a politic move, for the Emperor, knowing well the secret
+intention of Austria, could not afford to withdraw the
+warden of the marches from his outpost at Warsaw; but by
+sending the Duchess of Auerstädt to Poland he kept his
+faithful lieutenant content. However, the Duchess's visit to
+Poland was not a long one. By September, 1808, it became
+certain that Austria was making immense efforts to recover
+her possessions, and accordingly Napoleon very wisely
+began to concentrate his troops in Central Europe, and the
+Duke of Auerstädt's corps was recalled to Silesia in October,
+and was incorporated with the French troops in Prussia
+under the designation of the Army of the Rhine.</p>
+
+<p>During the winter the Marshal was fully occupied in
+forcing Prussia to drain to the last dregs her cup of humiliation:
+extorting from her the immense ransom Napoleon
+had laid on her, and crushing her attempts at regeneration<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span>
+by hounding out of the country the patriotic Stein and his
+band of fellow-workers. From his cantonments round Berlin
+Davout was summoned in 1809 to take part in another
+struggle with Austria. The campaign opened disastrously
+for the French. The Archduke Charles commenced
+operations earlier than Napoleon had calculated, and
+accordingly the Grand Army found itself under the feeble
+command of the chief of the staff. Berthier, in blind
+obedience to the Emperor, who had misread the situation,
+was compelled to neglect the first principles of war and to
+attempt to block all possible lines of advance instead of
+concentrating in a strategic position. In consequence of
+this, the Duke of Auerstädt, in spite of his official protests,
+found himself at Ratisbon, isolated from the rest of the army,
+with no support within forty miles. From this dangerous
+position he was saved by the arrival of the Emperor at
+headquarters, who, recognising his own mistakes, immediately
+ordered a concentration on Abensberg. The retreat,
+or rather the flank march, in the face of eighty thousand
+Austrians under the Archduke Charles, was successfully
+carried out, thanks to the stubborn fighting of the troops
+and the lucky intervention of a tremendous thunderstorm,
+which forced the enemy to give up their attack at the critical
+moment when the French were crossing a difficult defile.
+Two days later the Emperor once again tested Davout's
+stubborn qualities, entrusting him with the duty of containing
+the main Austrian force while he disposed of the rest of
+the enemy. The result was the three days' fighting at
+Eckmühl; during the first two, Davout, unaided, held his
+own till on the third the Emperor arrived with supports
+and gave the Austrians the coup-de-grâce, but rewarded
+the Marshal for his tenacity by bestowing on him the title
+of Prince of Eckmühl.</p>
+
+<p>Though his corps was not actually engaged at the battle
+of Aspern-Essling the Marshal had a large share in preventing
+a complete catastrophe. As soon as he heard of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span>
+breaking of the bridge he set about to organise a flotilla of
+boats, and it was thanks to the supplies of ammunition thus
+ferried across that the French troops on the north bank
+were able to hold their own and cover the retreat to the Isle
+of Lobau. While both sides were concentrating every
+available man for the great battle of Wagram, Davout was
+entrusted with the task of watching the Archduke John,
+whose army at Pressburg was the rallying point for the
+Hungarians. The moment the French preparations were
+complete, the Marshal, leaving a strong screen in front of
+the Archduke, swiftly fell back on the Isle of Lobau, and by
+thus hoodwinking the Archduke gave the Emperor an
+advantage of fifty thousand troops over the enemy. The
+Prince of Eckmühl's duty at the battle of Wagram was to
+turn the left flank of the enemy and, while interposing his
+corps between the two Archdukes, at the same time to
+threaten the enemy's rear and give an opportunity to the
+French centre to drive home a successful attack. It was a
+most difficult and dangerous operation, for at any moment
+the Archduke John might appear on the exposed right flank.
+Whilst Davout was marching and fighting to achieve his
+purpose, the main battle went against the French. The left
+and centre were thrown back, and it seemed as if the
+Austrians were bound to capture the bridge at Enzerdorff.
+Amid cries of "All is lost!" the French reserve artillery and
+baggage trains fled in confusion. But relief came at the
+critical moment, for the Prince of Eckmühl, hurling his
+steel-clad cuirassiers on the unbroken Austrian foot, losing
+nearly all his generals in the desperate hand-to-hand fighting
+on the slopes of the Neusiedel, at last gained the top of
+the plateau and forced the enemy to throw back his left
+flank and weaken his centre. The moment the Emperor
+saw the guns appear on the summit of the Neusiedel, he
+launched Macdonald's corps against the Austrian centre and
+sent his aide-de-camp to Masséna to tell him "to commence
+the attack ... the battle is gained." But Davout was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span>
+unable to pursue his advantage over the enemy's left, for at
+the moment he gained the top of the plateau news arrived
+that Prince John's advance guard was in touch with his
+scouts; accordingly he halted and drew up in battle formation,
+ready at any moment to face the Hungarian troops
+should they attempt to attack his rear. Fortunately for the
+French the Archduke John forgot that an enemy is never so
+weak as after a successful attack, and instead of hurling his
+fresh troops on the weakened and disorganised French, he
+halted, and withdrew after dark towards Pressburg. When,
+during the pursuit of the battle, the Archduke Charles sent
+in a flag of truce offering to discuss terms, the Emperor
+called a council of war. There was a certain amount of
+difference of opinion, but Davout was for continuing the
+fight, pointing out that "once master of the road from
+Brünn, in two hours it would be possible to concentrate
+thirty thousand men across the Archduke's line of retreat."
+The Marshal's arguments seemed about to prevail when
+news arrived that Bruyère, commanding the cavalry, was
+seriously wounded. Thereon the Emperor changed his
+mind, crying out, "Look at it: death hovers over all my
+generals. Who knows but that within two hours I shall not
+hear that you are taken off? No; enough blood has been
+spilled; I accept the suspension of hostilities."</p>
+
+<p>After the evacuation of the conquered territories the
+Marshal was appointed to command the Army of Germany.
+His duties were to enforce the continental system and to
+keep a stern eye on Prussia. The marriage with Marie
+Louise for the time being relieved tension in Central Europe,
+and accordingly in 1810 Davout was able to enjoy long
+periods of leave. He was present as colonel-general of the
+Guard at the imperial wedding, and at the interment of
+Lannes's remains in the Panthéon, and he did his turn of
+duty as general in attendance on the imperial household.
+His letters to his wife throw an interesting light on the
+imperial ménage. The officers in attendance were supplied<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span>
+with good, comfortable rooms and food, but had to find
+their own linen, plates, wax candles, firewood, and kitchen
+utensils; in a postscript he adds, "Not only must you send
+me all the above, but add towels, sheets, pillow-cases, &amp;c.;
+until these arrive I have to sleep on the bare mattress."</p>
+
+<p>In 1811 the growing hostility of Russia required the
+attendance of the Prince of Eckmühl at the headquarters
+of his command. Napoleon knew well that nobody would
+be quicker to discern any secret movement hostile to his
+interests than the man who in 1808 had done so much to
+check the regeneration of Prussia by enforcing his orders,
+playing on the Prussian King's fears and exposing the cleverness
+of the proposals of the patriotic Stein. The Marshal
+reached his headquarters at Hamburg early in February,
+and soon found his hands full. It was no longer a question
+of so disposing the corps committed to his care that he
+might cripple the English, "who since the time of Cromwell
+have played the game of ruining our commerce," but of
+preparing a mixed force of French, Poles, and Saxons,
+amounting to one hundred and forty thousand, for the contingencies
+of a war with Russia, or for the absolute annihilation
+of Prussia. To no other of his Marshals did the
+Emperor entrust the command of one hundred and forty
+thousand troops, and consequently the old enmities and
+jealousies broke out with renewed force. It was whispered
+that the Marshal's income from his investments, pay, and
+perquisites was over two million francs a year; that nobody
+in the imperial family had anything like as much, and people
+said it was better to be a Davout than a Prince Royal. The
+Prince disregarded all the annoying scandal his wife sent
+him from Paris, and quietly busied himself with preparing
+transport and equipping magazines for the coming war,
+diversified by an occasional thundering declaration informing
+the King of Prussia that his secret schemes were well
+known to the French authorities. But the subterranean
+jealousies bore their fruit. Nobody had a good word to say<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span>
+for Davout, and there was nobody to take his part. Most
+disastrously for the Grand Army the misunderstanding
+which existed between Berthier and Davout prevented their
+co-operation; and thus during the Russian campaign the
+rash empty-headed Murat had greater weight with Napoleon
+than Davout, the cautious yet tenacious old fighter. Accordingly
+at the battle of Moskowa, when Napoleon had his
+last chance of annihilating the Russians, he refused to listen
+to the Marshal, who pleaded to be allowed to turn the
+Russian left during the night. "No," said the Emperor,
+"it is too big a movement; it will take me too much off my
+objective and make me lose time." Davout, sure of the
+wisdom of this advice, once again renewed his arguments,
+but the Emperor rudely interrupted him with "You are
+always for turning the enemy; it is too dangerous a movement."
+So the battle of Moskowa was a disastrous victory,
+opening as it did the gates of Moscow without the annihilation
+of the Russian armed forces in the field. But it was
+greatly due to the Marshal that it was a victory at all, for the
+Russians fought with the greatest stubbornness; nearly all
+the French generals were wounded or killed, and at one
+moment a panic seized the troops. Then it was that the
+Prince of Eckmühl himself rallied the broken battalions and
+led them to the charge. In spite of a wound in the pit of his
+stomach, with bare head and uniform encrusted with mud
+and blood, he forced his weary soldiers against the foe and,
+as at Auerstädt, by sheer indomitable courage, compelled
+his troops to beat the enemy. His corps bore its share in
+the horrors of the retreat from Moscow, forming for some
+time the rear guard.</p>
+
+<p>When Napoleon deserted the relics of the Grand Army
+at Vilma the Marshal's difficulties naturally increased, for
+his enemy Murat was now in command, and, as he wrote to
+his wife earlier in the campaign, "I am worth ten times as
+much when the Emperor is present, for he alone can put
+order into this great complicated machine." But the King<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span>
+of Naples did not long retain his command: he had not
+Davout's confidence in Napoleon and was disgusted with
+the ill-success of the campaign and afraid of losing his
+crown. The Marshal, ever loyal to the Emperor, would
+listen to none of the Gascon's diatribes, and told him
+plainly, "You are only King by the grace of Napoleon and
+by the blood of brave Frenchmen. You can only remain
+King by Napoleon's aid, and by remaining united to France.
+It is black ingratitude which blinds you." So Murat went
+off to Italy to plan treason, and Davout returned to
+Germany to place his life and reputation at the Emperor's
+service.</p>
+
+<p>It fell to the Marshal's lot in 1813 to hold Northern
+Germany as part of the plan of campaign whereby the
+advance of the Allies was to be checked. The Emperor
+had determined to make an example of the town of
+Hamburg, to teach other German cities the fate to be
+expected by those who deserted him. His orders were
+that all those who had taken any share in the desertion
+were to be arrested and their goods sequestrated, and that
+a contribution of fifty million francs was to be paid by the
+towns of Lübeck and Hamburg. The Marshal carried out
+his orders. Hamburg writhed impotent at his feet and the
+"heavy arm of justice fell on the canaille." Only in the
+case of the contribution did he make any deviation from
+the Emperor's wishes, as it was inexpedient to drive all the
+wealthy people out of the state. In pursuance of the
+Emperor's plans, by the winter of 1813 Davout had made
+Hamburg impregnable. He had laid in huge supplies, and
+built a bridge of wood two leagues long joining Haarburg
+and Hamburg. With a garrison of thirty thousand men,
+danger threatened from within rather than from without,
+for Napoleon's bitter punishment of Hamburg, ending as
+it did with the seizure of eight million marks from the
+funds of the city bank, had made the name of France stink
+in the nostrils of the inhabitants. The Marshal was determined<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span>
+to hold the town to the last. In December, when
+provisions began to fail, the poor were banished from the
+city; those who refused to go were threatened with fifty
+blows of the cane. "At the end of December people without
+distinction of sex or age were dragged from their beds
+and conveyed out of the town." During the siege the
+Russian commander, Bennigsen, attempted by means of
+spies and proclamations to raise a rebellion in the fortress,
+but Davout's grip was too firm to be shaken, and a few
+executions cooled the ardour of the spies. It was not till
+April 15th that the Marshal was informed by a flag of truce
+of the fall of the Empire; not certain of the truth of the
+news, he refused to give up his command. At last, on
+April 28th, official news arrived from Paris, and on the
+following day the fifteen thousand men who remained of
+the original garrison of thirty thousand swore allegiance
+to the Bourbons and mounted the white cockade.</p>
+
+<p>On May 11th General Gerard arrived to relieve Davout
+of his command. On his arrival in France the Prince of
+Eckmühl found himself charged with having fired on the
+white flag after being informed of Napoleon's abdication,
+of appropriating the funds of the Bank of Hamburg, and
+of committing arbitrary acts which caused the French name
+to become odious. His reply was first that until he had
+received official information of the fall of the Empire it
+was his duty to take measures to prevent Hamburg being
+surprised; that the appropriation of the funds of the bank
+was the only means of finding money to hold Hamburg;
+that he was not responsible for the continental system, and
+as a soldier he had only obeyed commands; that as a matter
+of fact he had contrived to have the heavy contribution
+lightened, and lastly, that during the siege he had only had
+two spies shot and one French soldier executed for purloining
+hospital stores. But in spite of his defence and the
+prayers of his fellow Marshals Louis refused to allow
+Davout to take the oath of allegiance, and accordingly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span>
+when, in 1815, Napoleon returned from Elba, the Prince of
+Eckmühl alone of all the Marshals could hasten to the
+Emperor without a stain on his honour.</p>
+
+<p>Immediately on his return the Emperor made a great call
+on the faithfulness of his friend, and told him he had chosen
+him as Minister of War. The Marshal begged for service
+in the field, but the Emperor was firm; Davout alone had
+held to him and all others had the Bourbon taint. Still the
+Marshal refused, pleading his brusque manners and well-known
+harshness; but at last the Emperor appealed to his
+pity, pointing out that all Europe was against him, and
+asking him if he also was going to abandon his sovereign.
+Thereon the Marshal accepted the post. It was no light
+burden that he had undertaken, prince of martinets though
+he was, to regenerate an army scattered to the winds.
+Everything was lacking&mdash;men, horses, guns, transports,
+stores, and ammunition. Yet he worked wonders, and
+by the beginning of June the Emperor had a field army
+of one hundred and twenty thousand men, with another
+quarter of a million troops in formation in France. On
+the return of the Emperor to Paris after the disaster at
+Waterloo the Marshal in vain besought him to dissolve
+the assemblies and proclaim a dictatorship, but Napoleon's
+spirit was broken and the favourable moment passed by.
+Meanwhile, the Emperor remained in idleness at Malmaison,
+and by the 28th of June the Prussians arrived near Paris
+with the intention of capturing him; but the Prince of
+Eckmühl warded off the danger by barricading or burning
+the bridges across the Seine and man&oelig;uvring sixty thousand
+troops in front of Blücher. Thanks to this Napoleon
+escaped to Rochfort, and owed his safety to Davout, for
+Blücher had sworn to catch him, dead or alive.</p>
+
+<p>On the evacuation of Paris the Marshal withdrew westwards
+with the remnant of the imperial army, now called
+the Army of the Loire. But as soon as Louis had once
+again ascended the throne he relieved Davout, making<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span>
+Gouvion St. Cyr Minister of War and Macdonald commander
+of the Army of the Loire. The Marshal spent some
+months in exile, but was allowed to return to France in 1816.
+However the mutual distrust between him and the Bourbons
+could not be overcome, and, although he took the oath of
+allegiance and received the cross of St. Louis, he never
+attempted to return to public life, and died of an attack of
+pleurisy on June 1, 1823.</p>
+
+<p>The causes of the success of the Prince of Eckmühl are
+easy to ascertain: acute perception, doggedness of purpose,
+and a devotion which never faltered or failed, are gifts which
+are bound to bring success when added to an exceptional run
+of good fortune. Among the Marshals there were many, no
+doubt, who had as quick a perception and as vivid an imagination
+as Davout, but there was no one who had his massive
+doggedness and determination, and Bessières alone perhaps
+surpassed him in personal devotion to the Emperor. Much as
+we may see to blame in his untiring hounding down of the
+patriot Stein in Prussia, in his cruel exactions in Hamburg,
+and in the remorseless way he treated spies and deserters, we
+must remember that he did it all from motives of patriotism.
+Moreover, we cannot fail to admire a man who made it a
+principle, when he had received rigorous orders, to accept
+all the odium arising from their performance because he
+considered that, since the sovereign is permanent and the
+officials are changeable, it is important that officials should
+brave the temporary odium of measures which are but
+temporary. In his opinion the phrase, "If the King only
+knew," was a precious illusion which was one of the foundation-stones
+of all government: thus it was that in carrying
+out severe orders the Marshal never attempted to shield
+himself behind the name of the Emperor.</p>
+
+<p>It was therefore from a spirit of patriotism, as the servant
+of the French Emperor, that Davout pressed relentlessly on
+those who tried to shake off the yoke of France. Stern as
+his nature was, he did not disguise from himself that his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span>
+policy bore hardly on the conquered, for when Napoleon
+asked him, "How would you behave if I made you King
+of Poland?" he replied, "When a man has the honour to
+be a Frenchman, he must always be a Frenchman," but he
+added, "From the day on which I accepted the crown of
+Poland I would become entirely and solely a Pole, and I
+would act in complete contradiction to your Majesty if the
+interests of the people whose chief I was demanded that I
+should do so." As a soldier and an administrator, though
+he is rightly called the prince of martinets, yet nothing was
+more abhorrent to his eyes than red tape. Efficiency was
+everything, and efficiency he considered was only to be
+gained by personal inspection of detail considered in
+relation to existing conditions, and not by blind obedience
+to hard and fast rules. It was this habit of mind and
+readiness for all contingencies which won for him his titles
+of Duke of Auerstädt and Prince of Eckmühl, and made
+him the right-hand man of the great Emperor, who
+confessed that, "If I am always prepared, it is because
+before entering on an undertaking, I have meditated for
+long and foreseen what may occur. It is not genius which
+reveals to me suddenly and secretly what I should do in
+circumstances unforeseen by others: it is thought and
+meditation."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="IX" id="IX"></a>IX<br /><br />
+JACQUES ÉTIENNE JOSEPH ALEXANDRE
+MACDONALD, MARSHAL, DUKE OF TARENTUM</h2>
+
+
+<p>Jacques Étienne Joseph Alexandre
+Macdonald, Duke of Tarentum, was the son of
+a Uist crofter, Macachaim. The Macachaims of Uist
+were a far-off sept of the Macdonalds of Clanranald.
+The future Marshal's father was educated at the Scots
+College in Paris, and was for some time a tutor in Clanranald's
+household. Owing to his knowledge of French he
+was entrusted with the duty of helping Flora Macdonald to
+arrange the escape of Prince Charles. He accompanied
+the Prince to France, and obtained a commission in
+Ogilvie's regiment of foot. In 1768 Vall Macachaim, or
+Neil Macdonald, as he was called in France, retired on a
+pension of thirty pounds a year. On this pittance he
+brought up his family at Sancerre. The future Marshal
+was born at Sedan on November 17, 1765. He was
+educated for the army at a military academy in Paris,
+kept by a Scotchman, Paulet, but, owing to bad mathematics,
+he was unable to enter the Artillery and Engineering
+School. This failure came as a bitter blow to the keen
+young soldier, who, after reading Homer, already imagined
+himself an Achilles. But in 1784 his chance came; the
+Dutch, threatened by the Emperor Joseph II., had to
+improvise an army, and Macdonald accepted a pair of
+colours in a regiment raised by a Frenchman, the Count<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span>
+de Maillebois. A few months later the regiment was
+disbanded, as the Dutch bought the peace they could not
+gain by arms. The young officer, thus thrown on his own
+resources, was glad to accept a cadetship in Dillon's Irish
+regiment in the French King's service, and at the moment
+the Revolution broke out he was a sub-lieutenant in that
+corps. Owing to emigration and the fortune of war,
+promotion came quickly. Macdonald also was lucky in
+having a friend in General Beurnonville, on whose staff he
+served till he was transferred to that of Dumouriez, the
+commander-in-chief. As a reward for his services at
+Jemmappes and elsewhere he was made lieutenant-colonel,
+and early in 1793 his friend Beurnonville, who had become
+War Minister, gave him his colonelcy and the command of
+the Picardy regiment, one of the four senior corps of the
+old French infantry. The young colonel of twenty-eight
+could not expect to be always so favoured by fortune.
+Dumouriez's failure at Neerwinden and subsequent desertion
+to the Allies cast a cloud of suspicion on his protégé at a
+moment when to be suspected was to be condemned.
+Luckily, some of the Commissioners from the Convention
+could recognise merit, but Macdonald spent many anxious
+months amid denunciations and accusations from those
+who grudged him his colonelcy. To his intense surprise
+he was at last summoned before the dread Commissioners
+and told that, for his zeal, he was to be promoted general
+of brigade. Overcome by this unexpected turn of fortune,
+he wished to refuse the honour, and pleaded his youth and
+inexperience, and was promptly given the choice of
+accepting or becoming a "suspect" and being arrested.
+Safe for the moment, Macdonald threw himself heart and
+soul into his new duties, but still denunciations and
+accusations were hurled against him. Fresh Commissioners
+came from the Assembly, and it was only their fortunate
+recall to Paris that saved the general from arrest. Then
+came the decree banishing all "ci-devant" nobles. Macdonald,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span>
+fearing after this order that if he met with the
+slightest check he would be greeted with cries of treachery,
+demanded written orders from the new Commissioners
+confirming him in his employment. These were refused,
+as also his resignation, with the curt reply, "If you leave
+the army we will have you arrested and brought to trial."
+In this dilemma he found a friend in the representative
+Isore, who, struck by his ability and industry, took up his
+cause, and from that moment Macdonald had nothing to
+fear from the revolutionary tribunal.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 514px;">
+<a href="images/fp184-hi.jpg"><img src="images/fp184.jpg" width="514" height="600" alt="JACQUES ÉTIENNE MACDONALD, DUKE OF TARENTUM
+FROM A LITHOGRAPH BY DELPECH" title="" id="fp184"/></a><br />
+<span class="caption">JACQUES ÉTIENNE MACDONALD, DUKE OF TARENTUM<br />
+FROM A LITHOGRAPH BY DELPECH</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>In November, 1794, he was quite unexpectedly gazetted
+general of division in the army of Pichegru, and took part
+in the winter campaign against Holland, where he proved his
+capacity by seizing the occasion of a hard frost to cross the
+Vaal on the ice and surprise the Anglo-Hanoverian force at
+Nimeguen. A few days later, during the general advance,
+he captured Naarden, the masterpiece of the great engineer
+Cohorn. Proud of his success, he hastened to inform the
+commander-in-chief, Pichegru, and was greeted by a laugh,
+and, "Bah! I pay no attention now to anything less than
+the surrender of provinces." The blasé commander-in-chief a
+week or two later himself performed the exploit of capturing
+the ice-bound Dutch fleet with a cavalry brigade and a
+battery of horse artillery.</p>
+
+<p>After serving on the Rhine in 1796 Macdonald was
+transferred in 1798 to the Army of Italy, and sent to Rome
+to relieve Gouvion St. Cyr. When war broke out between
+France and Naples, the troops in Southern Italy were
+formed into the Army of Naples under Championnet. The
+commander-in-chief overrated the fighting qualities of
+the Neapolitan troops and thought it prudent to evacuate
+Rome. Macdonald was entrusted with this duty, and was
+further required to cover the concentration of Championnet's
+army. The hard-headed Scotchman had, however, gauged
+to a nicety the morale of the Neapolitan army, and, although
+he had but five thousand troops against forty thousand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span>
+Neapolitans, under the celebrated Austrian general Mack,
+he engaged the enemy at Cività Castellana, defeated them,
+followed them up, drove them out of Rome and over the
+frontier, and practically annihilated the whole force.
+Unfortunately he wrote a comical account of the operations
+to his chief, who, having no sense of humour, felt
+that his evacuation of Rome had, to say the least of it, been
+hurried and undignified. Championnet therefore greeted
+his victorious lieutenant with the words, "You want to
+make me pass for a damned fool," and no explanations
+could appease his rage. So bitter became the quarrel that
+Macdonald had to resign his command.</p>
+
+<p>By February, 1799, Championnet had fallen into disgrace
+with the Directory, and Macdonald was gazetted in his
+place commander-in-chief. When he arrived in Naples
+and took up his command the situation seemed quiet. But
+the far-seeing soldier read the signs of the times. The élite
+of the French army was locked up in Egypt. Austria
+and Russia were bent on extinguishing France and her
+revolutionary ideas. Accordingly the general at once set
+about quietly concentrating his troops to meet an invasion
+of Northern Italy by the Allies. With his keen military
+insight he desired to evacuate all Southern Italy, retaining
+only such fortresses as could be well supplied. But the
+principle of keeping everything gained the day. Still, on
+the news of Schérer's defeat at Magnano by the impetuous
+Suvaroff, the Army of Naples was ready at once to start for
+the north, and set off to try and pick up communication
+with General Moreau, who was re-forming the Army of Italy
+at Genoa. The idea was that a concentrated movement
+should be made against the Allies through the Apennines.
+Unfortunately there existed a bitter rivalry between the
+Army of Italy and the Army of Naples. Consequently
+on June 17th Macdonald found himself with twenty-five
+thousand men near Piacenza, in the presence of the enemy,
+with no support save two divisions of the Army of Italy,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span>
+which had come in from Bologna, and whose commanders
+were jealous of his orders. Still there was always the hope
+that Moreau might after all be coming to his assistance, and
+accordingly he determined to stand and fight. In the
+action of June 17th, owing to the lack of co-operation from
+one of the attached divisions, the general was ridden over
+by a division of the enemy's cavalry. Carried about in
+a litter, he directed all movements during the 18th, and
+held the enemy at bay along the mountain torrent of
+the Trebbia. On the 19th he determined to take the
+initiative, but, owing to the collapse of the attached division
+which formed his centre, he had to fall back on his old
+position, which he held throughout the whole day. During
+the three days' fighting on the Trebbia the French had lost
+a third of their men and nearly all their officers. Still,
+early on the morning of the 20th the retreat was effected in
+good order, save that one of the attached divisions under
+Victor started so late that it was overtaken by the enemy
+and abandoned all its guns. But Macdonald at once
+returned to its aid and saved the artillery, for, as he
+sarcastically wrote to Victor, "he found neither friends
+nor foes." Both sides had run away.</p>
+
+<p>The battle of the Trebbia brought into notice the
+sterling qualities of the French commander, and when
+he was recalled to Paris he found that military opinion
+was on his side and that Bonaparte himself highly approved
+of his conduct. "Thenceforward the opinion of my
+amphitryon was settled in my favour!" Macdonald's
+next employment was in command of the Army of the
+Grisons, whose duty was to cover Moreau's right rear in
+his advance down the Danube, and to keep up communication
+with the Army of Italy in the valley of the Po. It
+was in the performance of this duty that the Army of the
+Grisons crossed the Splügen Pass in winter in spite of
+glaciers and avalanches, a feat immeasurably superior to
+Bonaparte's task in crossing the much easier Great St.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span>
+Bernard Pass, after the snows had melted. Unfortunately
+for Macdonald, Bonaparte believed him to
+belong to Moreau's faction. After Hohenlinden the future
+Emperor, who was afraid that Moreau's glory would
+outshine his own, placed all that general's friends on the
+black book. Further, owing to his outspokenness, Talleyrand
+had conceived a hatred of the hero of the Splügen.
+Accordingly, he found himself in deep disgrace. First he
+was exiled as ambassador at Copenhagen, then his enemies
+tried to get him sent to Russia in the same capacity, but he
+refused to go, and for the next few years lived the life
+of a quiet country gentleman on his estate of Courcelles
+le Roi. Like most of the generals, Macdonald was by
+now comparatively well off, for the French Government,
+on the conquest of a country, had allowed its generals
+to take what works of art they chose, after the Commissioners
+had selected the best for the national collection
+at the Louvre. The general's share as commander-in-chief
+at Naples had been valued by experts at thirty-four
+thousand pounds. Unfortunately, however, this booty and
+many masterpieces which he had bought himself were
+all lost in the hurried march north that ended in the
+battle of the Trebbia.</p>
+
+<p>It was not till 1809 that Macdonald was summoned
+from his retreat. In that year the Emperor needed every
+soldier of ability, with the Spanish ulcer eating at his
+vitals and the war with Austria on his hands. Accordingly,
+at a day's notice, he was ordered to hurry off to Italy
+to help Napoleon's stepson, Prince Eugène, who was
+opposed by an Austrian army under the Archduke John.</p>
+
+<p>On arriving in Italy the old soldier found that Prince
+Eugène, unaccustomed to an independent command, had
+opened the gate of Italy to the Austrians by his impetuous
+action at Sacile. The French troops were in complete
+disorganisation, and the slightest activity on the part of
+the Austrians would have turned the retreat into a rout.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span>
+Prince Eugène, who was without a spark of jealousy, and
+in reality a man of considerable character, greeted his
+mentor with delight. Macdonald at once pointed out
+that it was unnecessary to retire as far as Mantua, because
+the Archduke would not venture to penetrate far into Italy
+until a decision had been arrived at between the main
+armies on the Danube. Under his careful supervision,
+order and discipline were restored among the French
+troops on the line of the Adige. The news of the French
+success at Eckmühl and Ratisbon automatically cleared the
+Austrians out of Northern Italy. During the pursuit the
+general had to impose on himself the severest self-control,
+because, though Prince Eugène invariably accepted his
+advice, the disaster at Sacile had for the time broken his
+nerve, and, again and again, he spoiled his mentor's best
+combinations by ordering a halt whenever the enemy
+appeared to be going to offer any resistance. It was hard
+indeed to accept subsequent apologies with a courteous
+smile, when it was success alone that would win back
+the Emperor's favour. But at last patience had its reward:
+while the viceroy himself pursued the main force of the
+enemy, he detached his lieutenant with a strong corps
+to take Trieste and to pick up communication with
+Marmont, who was bringing up the army of Dalmatia.
+Macdonald was given carte blanche. Trieste and Görz were
+taken; the junction with Marmont was speedily effected,
+and the combined forces hurried on towards Vienna. The
+great entrenched camp at Laybach blocked the way.
+Macdonald had not the necessary heavy artillery with which
+to capture it. He determined therefore to make a threatening
+demonstration by day and slip past it by night. But at
+ten o'clock in the evening a flag of truce arrived offering a
+capitulation. "You are doing wisely," said the imperturbable
+Scotchman; "I was just going to sound the
+attack."</p>
+
+<p>At Gratz he overtook Prince Eugène's army at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span>
+moment that the ill news of the battle of Aspern-Essling
+arrived. Then came the summons to hurry to the
+assistance of the Emperor. After marching sixty leagues
+in three days the Army of Italy arrived at nine o'clock
+at night on July 4th at the imperial headquarters at
+Ebersdorf. During that night it crossed the Danube,
+under cover of the terrific thunderstorm which hid the
+French advance from the Austrians. On the afternoon
+of July 5th it fell to the lot of Macdonald to attempt to
+seize the plateau which formed the Austrian centre. As the
+general well knew, the Emperor had been mistaken in
+thinking that the enemy were evacuating their position;
+still, he had to obey orders, and night alone saved his
+cruelly shaken battalions. Next day was fought the terrible
+battle of Wagram. At the critical moment of the fight,
+when the Emperor heard that Masséna, on his left wing,
+was being driven in on the bridge-head, amid the
+confusion and rout he ordered Macdonald to attempt by
+a bold counter-stroke to break the enemy's centre. The
+Austrians were advancing in masses, with nothing in front
+of them, and the bridge, the only line of retreat, was
+threatened. To meet this situation Macdonald deployed
+four battalions in line, at the double; behind them he
+formed up the rest of his corps in two solid columns, and
+closed the rear of this immense rectangle of troops by
+Nansouty's cavalry. Covered by the fire of a massed
+battery of a hundred guns, he discharged this huge body of
+thirty thousand troops against the Austrians, and in spite of
+vast losses from the enemy's artillery, by sheer weight
+of human beings he completely checked the Austrian
+advance and broke their centre. If the cavalry of the
+Guard had only charged home the enemy would have been
+driven off the field in complete rout. Still unsupported,
+the column continued its victorious career, taking six
+thousand prisoners and ten guns, the only trophies of
+the day. Next morning the hero of Wagram, lame from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span>
+the effect of a kick from his horse, was summoned before
+the Emperor.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon embraced him with the words, "Let us be
+friends." "Till death," replied his staunch lieutenant.
+Then came his reward. "You have behaved valiantly,"
+continued the Emperor, "and have rendered me the
+greatest services, as, indeed, throughout the entire campaign.
+On the battlefield of your glory, where I owe you so large
+a share of yesterday's success, I make you a Marshal of
+France. You have long deserved it."</p>
+
+<p>After the ratification of peace, the Emperor created his
+new Marshal Duke of Tarentum, granted him a present of
+sixty thousand francs, and presented him with the Grand
+Cordon of the Legion of Honour. Having at last regained
+the Emperor's favour, the Marshal had never again to
+complain of lack of employment. From Wagram he was
+sent to watch the army of the Archduke John; thereafter
+he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Army of Italy.
+In 1810 he was despatched to Spain to take command in
+Catalonia. Like his fellow Marshals, Macdonald hated the
+Spanish war, which was a war of posts, and devoid of
+glory. But he showed his versatility by capturing, without
+artillery, the stronghold of Figueras.</p>
+
+<p>It was while suffering from a bad attack of gout after this
+success that he was summoned from Spain to Tilsit, to
+command the corps comprised of Prussian troops which
+was to join the Grand Army in its advance into Russia. As
+he graphically put it, "I had left my armchair in the fortress
+of Figueras, I left one crutch in Paris and the other in
+Berlin." The Duke of Tarentum's duty was to guard the
+tête-du-pont at Dunaberg, near the mouth of the Dwina;
+consequently he was spared a great many of the horrors of
+the terrible retreat. Still, he had his full share of troubles,
+for the Prussians deserted him and went over to the enemy.
+So confident was he of the loyalty of his subordinates that
+this desertion took him quite unawares, and, in spite of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span>
+warnings, he waited for the divisions to rejoin him, declaring
+that, "My life, my career, shall never be stained with
+the reproach that I have committed the cowardly action of
+deserting troops committed to my care." Fortunately his
+eyes were opened by letters which he intercepted. With a
+handful of troops he escaped to Dantzig. On returning to
+Paris Macdonald was greeted with a cold reception by the
+Emperor, who thought that the desertion of the Prussians
+was due to his negligence. But the Marshal's character was
+soon cleared and a reconciliation followed. In the campaign
+of 1813 it fell to the lot of the Duke of Tarentum
+to watch the Prussian army under Blücher in Silesia while
+the Emperor operated against the Austrians round Dresden.
+Whilst thus employed he was defeated on August 26th at
+the Katzbach. The Prussians had established themselves
+on the heights at Jauer. Macdonald attempted, by a combined
+frontal attack and a turning movement, to dislodge
+them. Unfortunately the rain came down in torrents, the
+French artillery became embedded in the mud, the infantry
+could not fire, the cavalry could not charge, and a hurried
+retreat alone saved the Army from absolute annihilation, for,
+as Macdonald wrote in his despatch, "The generals cannot
+prevent the men from seeking shelter, as their muskets are
+useless to them."</p>
+
+<p>The repulse at the Katzbach did not weaken the
+Emperor's esteem for the Marshal, and a few days later
+he sent to inquire his views of the general situation. With
+absolute courage he told the truth. The situation was
+hopeless; the only wise course was to evacuate all garrisons
+in Germany and retire on the Saale. Unfortunately, such
+a retirement would have meant the loss of Napoleon's
+throne.</p>
+
+<p>On the third day of the battle of Leipzig, in the midst
+of the action, Macdonald was deserted by all the Hessian
+troops under his command, and, at the same time, Marshal
+Augereau, who was supposed to cover his right, withdrew<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span>
+from the combat. Accordingly, the Marshal retired with
+the remnants of his corps to the Elster, only to find the
+bridge blown up. Dragged along by the crowd of fugitives,
+he determined not to fall alive into the hands of the enemy,
+but either to drown or shoot himself. More fortunate,
+however, than Prince Poniatowski, he managed to cross the
+river on his horse. Once safely across, he was greeted by
+cries from the other bank, "Monsieur le Maréchal, save your
+soldiers, save your children!" But there was nothing to be
+done; no advice could he give them save to surrender.</p>
+
+<p>The Duke of Tarentum was mainly instrumental in saving
+the remnants of the army which had managed to cross the
+Elster. Going straight to the Emperor, he laid the situation
+before him, ruthlessly tore aside the tissue of lies with
+which the staff were trying to cajole him, and, by his force
+of will, compelled Napoleon, who for the time was quite
+unnerved and mazed, to hurry on the retreat to the Rhine.
+It was entirely owing to the Marshal that the Bavarians
+were brushed aside at Hanau, and that some few remnants
+of the great army regained France.</p>
+
+<p>In the famous campaign of 1814 Macdonald fought
+fiercely to drive the enemy out of France. His corps was
+one of those which the Emperor summoned to Arcis sur
+Aube. There again he had to tell Napoleon the truth and
+convince him that the enemy were not retreating, but were
+in full advance on Paris. When the Emperor tried to
+retrieve his mistake by following in the rear, the Marshal
+was in favour of the bolder course of advancing into Alsace
+and Lorraine, and of raising the nation in arms, and thus
+starving out the Allies by cutting off their supplies and
+reinforcements; and no doubt he was right, for the Czar
+himself said that the Allies lost more than three thousand
+troops in the Vosges without seeing a single French
+soldier.</p>
+
+<p>When Napoleon reached Fontainebleau he found that he
+had shot his bolt. So tired were his officers and men<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span>
+of continual fighting that, when ordered to charge, a
+general officer in front of his men had called out, "Damn
+it, let us have peace!" Consequently when Macdonald and
+the other Marshals and generals were informed that the
+Allies would no longer treat with Napoleon, they determined
+to make him abdicate. The Emperor, on summoning
+his council, found that they no longer feared him, and
+refused to listen to his arguments. Hoping to save the
+throne for his son, he despatched Caulaincourt, Ney,
+Marmont, and Macdonald to the Czar, offering to abdicate.
+The best terms the Commissioners could get from the Czar
+were that Napoleon must give up all hope of seeing his son
+succeed him, but that he should retain his imperial title and
+should be allowed to rule the island of Elba. The Czar
+magnanimously added, "If he will not accept this sovereignty,
+and if he can find no shelter elsewhere, tell him, I
+say, to come to my dominions. There he shall be received
+as a sovereign: he can trust the word of Alexander."</p>
+
+<p>Ney and Marmont did not accompany the other Commissioners
+with their sorrowful terms; like rats they left
+the sinking ship. But Macdonald was of a strain which
+had stood the test of the '45, and his proud Scotch blood
+boiled up when the insidious Talleyrand suggested that he
+should desert his master, telling him that he had now
+fulfilled all his engagements and was free. "No, I am not,"
+was the stern reply, "and nobody knows better than you
+that, as long as a treaty has not been ratified, it may be
+annulled. After that formality is ended, I shall know what
+to do." The stricken Emperor met his two faithful Commissioners,
+his face haggard, his complexion yellow and
+sickly, but for once at least he felt gratitude. "I have
+loaded with favours," he said, "many others who have now
+deserted and abandoned me. You, who owe me nothing,
+have remained faithful. I appreciate your loyalty too late,
+and I sincerely regret that I am now in a position in which
+I can only prove my gratitude by words."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>After Napoleon started for Elba, Macdonald never saw
+him again. Like all his fellow Marshals, except Davout,
+he swore allegiance to Louis XVIII., looking on him as the
+only hope of France, but, unlike the most of them, he served
+him loyally, though, as he truly said, "The Government
+behaved like a sick man who is utterly indifferent to all
+around him." As a soldier and a liberal he could not
+disguise his repugnance for many of its measures. As
+secretary to the Chamber of Peers, he fought tooth and nail
+against the Government's first measure, a Bill attempting to
+restrict the liberties of the peers. The King summoned the
+Marshal and rebuked him for both speaking and voting
+against the Government, adding, "When I take the trouble
+to draw up a Bill, I have good reasons for wishing it to
+pass." But the old soldier, who had never feared to speak
+the truth to Napoleon himself, was not to be overawed by
+the attempted sternness of the feeble Bourbon. He pointed
+out that if all Bills presented by the King were bound to
+pass, "registration would serve equally well, since to you
+belongs the initiative," adding with quiet sarcasm, "and we
+must remain as mute as the late Corps Legislatif." The
+Chancellor stopped him as he left the King's presence,
+telling him he should show more reserve and pick his
+words. "Sir Chancellor," said the Marshal, "I have never
+learned to twist myself, and I pity the King if what he ought
+to know is concealed from him. For my part, I shall
+always speak to him honestly and serve him in the same
+manner."</p>
+
+<p>When neglect of the army, the partiality shown to favourites,
+and the general spirit of discontent throughout France
+tempted Napoleon once again to seize the reins of government,
+Macdonald was commanding the twenty-first military
+division at Bourges. As he says, "The news of the
+Emperor's return took away my breath, and I at once
+foresaw the misfortunes that have since settled upon
+France." Placing his duty to his country and his plighted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span>
+faith before the longings of his heart, he remained faithful
+to the Bourbons. It was the Marshal who at Lyons vainly
+endeavoured to aid the Count of Artois to organise resistance
+to Napoleon's advance. It was he who showed the
+King the vanity of Ney's boast that he would bring back
+the Emperor in an iron cage, who impressed on him
+Napoleon's activity, and who persuaded him to retire northwards
+to Lille and there attempt to rally his friends to his
+aid. Ministers and King were only too thankful to leave
+all arrangements to this cautious, indefatigable soldier, who
+supervised everything. Through every town the monarch
+passed he found the same feeling of apathy, the same
+tendency among the troops to cry "Vive l'Empereur," the
+same lack of enterprise among the officials. Typical of the
+situation was the sub-prefect of Bethune, who stood at the
+door of the royal carriage, one leg half-naked, his feet in
+slippers, his coat under his arm, his waistcoat unbuttoned,
+his hat on his head, one hand struggling with his sword,
+the other trying to fasten his necktie. The Marshal, ever
+mindful of Napoleon's activity, had to hurry the poor King,
+and Louis' portmanteau, with his six clean shirts and his
+old pair of slippers, got lost on the road. This loss, more
+than anything else, brought home to the monarch his
+pitiable condition. "They have taken my shirts," said he
+to Macdonald. "I had not too many in the first place; but
+what I regret still more is the loss of my slippers. Some day,
+my dear Marshal, you will appreciate the value of slippers
+that have taken the shape of your feet." With Napoleon at
+Paris, Lille seemed to offer but little security, and accordingly
+the King determined to seek safety in Belgium.
+The Marshal escorted him to the frontier and saw him
+put in charge of the Belgian troops. Then, promising to
+be faithful to his oath, he took an affectionate farewell of
+the old monarch with the words, "Farewell, sir; au revoir,
+in three months!"</p>
+
+<p>Macdonald returned to Paris and lived quietly in his own<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span>
+house, refusing to have any intercourse with Napoleon or
+his ministers. Within three months came the news of
+Waterloo. Thereafter, against his will, but in accordance
+with orders, he joined Fouché, who had established a
+provisional government. Fouché, who knew the importance
+of outward signs, sent him off to try and persuade the
+returning monarch to win over the army by mounting the
+tricolour instead of the white cockade. But the King was
+obstinate; the Marshal quoted Henry IV.'s famous saying,
+"Paris is worth a mass." The King countered with, "Yes;
+but it was not a very Catholic one." But though the King
+would not listen to his advice he called on him to show his
+devotion. The imperial army had to be disbanded&mdash;a most
+unpopular and thankless task, requiring both tact and firmness.
+At his sovereign's earnest request, Macdonald undertook
+the duty, but with two stipulations: first, that he
+should have complete freedom of action; secondly, that
+he should be in no way an instrument for inflicting punishment
+on individuals. Immediately on taking up his appointment
+at Bourges, the Marshal summoned all the
+generals and officers to his presence, and informed them
+that, under Fouché's supervision, a list of proscribed had
+been drawn up. His advice was that all on this list should
+fly at once. That same evening police officials arrived in
+the camp to arrest the proscribed; playing on the fears
+of the mouchards, he locked them up all night, alleging
+that it was to save them from the infuriated soldiery. Thus
+all the proscribed escaped; but neither Fouché nor the
+Duc de Berri cared to bring the old soldier to task for
+this action. So the Marshal was left to work in his own
+way, and by October 21, 1815, thanks to his firmness and
+tact, "the bold and unhappy army, which had for so long
+been triumphant," was quietly dissolved without the slightest
+attempt at challenging the royal decision.</p>
+
+<p>The Marshal did not mix much in politics. The King, at
+the second Restoration, created him arch-chancellor of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span>
+Legion of Honour. This post gave him considerable occupation,
+as it entailed the supervision of the schools for the
+children of those who had received the Cross, and he was
+for long happily employed in looking after the welfare of
+the descendants of his late comrades-in-arms. In November,
+1830, the plea of the gout came opportunely at the moment
+of the commencement of the July monarchy, and the
+Marshal resigned the arch-chancellorship and returned to
+his estate of Courcelles, where he lived in retirement till
+his death, on September 25, 1840, at the age of seventy-five.</p>
+
+<p>It was a maxim of Napoleon that success covers everything,
+that it is only failure which cannot be forgiven.
+Against the Duke of Tarentum's name stood the defeats
+of Trebbia and the Katzbach. But in spite of this,
+Napoleon never treated him as he treated Dupont and
+the other unfortunate generals. For Macdonald possessed
+qualities which were too important to be overlooked. With
+all the fiery enthusiasm of the Gael, he possessed to an unusual
+degree the caution of the Lowland Scot. Possessed
+of great reasoning powers and of the gift of seeing clearly
+both sides of a question, he had the necessary force of
+character to make up his mind which course to pursue,
+and to persevere in it to the logical issue. In the crossing
+of the Vaal, in the fighting round Rome, in the campaign
+with Prince Eugène in Italy, before and after Leipzig, and
+in his final campaign in France, he proved the correctness
+of his judgment and his capacity to work out his carefully
+prepared combinations. His defeat at the Trebbia was due
+to the treachery of the general commanding one of the
+attached divisions; the rout at the Katzbach was primarily
+due to climatic conditions and to the want of cohesion
+among the recently drafted recruits which formed the bulk
+of his army. On the stricken field of Wagram, and in the
+running fight at Hanau, his inflexible will and the quickness
+with which he grasped the vital points of the problem saved
+the Emperor and his army.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The only black spot in his otherwise glorious career is
+the battle of Leipzig. Long must the cry of "Monsieur le
+Maréchal, save your soldiers, save your children!" have rung
+in his ear. For once he had forgotten his proud boast that
+he never deserted troops entrusted to his command. Like
+the Emperor and his fellow Marshals and most of the
+generals, for the moment he lost his nerve; but he could
+still, though humbly, boast that he was the first to remember
+his duties and to try and save the remnant of
+the troops who had crossed the Elster.</p>
+
+<p>Duty and truth were his watchwords. Once only he
+failed in his duty; never did he shirk telling the truth.
+It was this fearless utterance of the truth more than any
+connection with Moreau which was the cause of his long
+years of disgrace; it was this fearlessness, strange to say,
+which, in the end, conquered the Emperor, and which so
+charmed King Louis that he nicknamed him "His Outspokenness."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="X" id="X"></a>X<br /><br />
+AUGUSTE FRÉDÉRIC LOUIS VIESSE DE MARMONT,
+MARSHAL, DUKE OF RAGUSA</h2>
+
+
+<p>Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse De
+Marmont, the youngest of Napoleon's Marshals,
+was born at Châtillon-sur-Seine on July 25, 1774.
+The family of Viesse belonged to the smaller nobility, who
+from the days of Richelieu had supplied the officers of the
+line for the old royal army. Marmont's father had destined
+him from the cradle for the military career, and had
+devoted his life to training him, both in body and mind,
+for the profession of arms. His hours of patience and
+self-denial were not thrown away, for, thanks to his early
+Spartan training, the Duke of Ragusa seldom knew fatigue
+or sickness, and owing to this physical strength was
+able, without neglecting his professional duties, to spend
+hours on scientific and literary work. In 1792 young
+Marmont, at the age of eighteen, passed the entrance
+examination for the Artillery School at Châlons, and
+started his military career with his father's oft-repeated
+words ringing in his ears, "Merit without success is
+infinitely better than success without merit, but determination
+and merit always command success." The young
+artillery cadet had both determination and capacity
+and his early career foreshadowed his future success.
+Aristocratic to the bone, Marmont detested the excesses
+of the Revolution; but politics, during his early years, had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span>
+little effect on his thoughts, which were solely fixed on
+military glory. The exigencies of the revolutionary wars
+cut short his student days at Châlons, and before the end
+of 1792 he was gazetted to the first artillery regiment. In
+February, 1793, he saw his first active service with the
+Army of the Alps, under General Kellermann. Owing to
+the dearth of trained officers, though only newly gazetted,
+he performed all the duties of a senior colonel, laying out
+entrenched camps and commanding the artillery of the
+division to which he was attached. It was with this
+promising record already behind him that he attracted
+Bonaparte's attention at the siege of Toulon by his admirable
+handling of the guns under his command, and by his inventive
+powers, which overcame all obstacles. From that
+day the Corsican destined him for his service, and during
+the campaign in the Maritime Alps used him as an unofficial
+aide-de-camp. So devoted did Marmont become
+to the future Emperor, that when Bonaparte was arrested at
+the time of Robespierre's fall, he and Junot formed a plan
+of rescuing their idol by killing the sentries and carrying
+him off by sea.</p>
+
+<p>When Bonaparte returned to Paris Marmont accompanied
+him, and was offered the post of superintendent
+of the gun factory at Moulins. He contemptuously refused
+this position, telling the inspector of ordnance that he
+would not mind such a post in peace time, but that he was
+going to see as much active service as he could while the
+war lasted, so at his own request he was posted to the
+army of Pichegru, which was besieging Maintz.</p>
+
+<p>A temporary suspension of hostilities on the Rhine gave
+him the opportunity of once again joining his chosen
+leader, and early in 1796 he started for Italy on Bonaparte's
+staff. Lodi was one of the great days of his life. Early in
+the action he captured one of the enemy's batteries, but a
+moment later he was thrown from his horse and ridden
+over by the whole of the cavalry, without, however, receiving<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span>
+a single scratch. Scarcely had he mounted when he was
+despatched along the river, under fire of the whole Austrian
+force on the other bank, to carry orders to the commander
+of the cavalry, who was engaged in fording the river higher
+up. Of his escort of five, two were killed, while his horse
+was severely wounded, yet he managed to return in time to
+take his place among the band of heroes who forced the
+long bridge in the face of a storm of bullets and grape.
+Castiglione added to his laurels, for it was his handling of
+the artillery that enabled Augereau to win his great victory.
+The Marshal, in his Memoirs, asserts that this short
+campaign was the severest strain he ever underwent. "I
+never at any other time endured such fatigue as during
+the eight days of that campaign. Always on horseback,
+on reconnaissance, or fighting, I was, I believe, five days
+without sleep, save for a few stolen minutes. After the
+final battle the general-in-chief gave me leave to rest and I
+took full advantage of it. I ate, I lay down, and I slept
+twenty-four hours at a stretch, and, thanks to youth, hardiness,
+a good constitution, and the restorative powers of
+sleep, I was as fresh again as at the beginning of the
+campaign."</p>
+
+<p>Though Castiglione thus brought him fresh honours, it
+nearly caused an estrangement between him and his chief.
+For Bonaparte, ever with an eye to the future, desiring to
+gain as many friends as possible, chose one of Berthier's
+staff officers to take the news of the victory to Paris. This
+was a bitter blow to his ambitious aide-de-camp, whose
+pride was further piqued because his hero, forgetting that
+he had not to deal with one of the ordinary adventurers
+who formed so large a number of the officers of the Army
+of Italy, with great want of tact, had offered him opportunities
+of adding to his wealth by perquisites and commissions
+abhorrent to the eyes of a descendant of an honourable
+family. But the exigencies of war and the thirst for glory
+left little time for brooding, and Bonaparte, recognising<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span>
+with whom he had to deal, took the opportunity of the
+successful fighting which penned Würmser into Mantua to
+send Marmont with despatches to Paris. As his reward the
+Minister of War promoted him colonel and commandant
+of the second regiment of horse artillery. A curious state
+of affairs arose from this appointment, for promotion in the
+artillery ran quite independent of ordinary army rank.
+Accordingly, the army list ran as follows: Bonaparte, lieutenant-colonel
+of a battalion of artillery, seconded as general-in-chief
+of the Army of Italy. Marmont, colonel of the
+second regiment horse artillery, seconded as aide-de-camp
+to Lieutenant-Colonel Bonaparte, the commander-in-chief
+of the Army of Italy.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<a href="images/fp202-hi.jpg"><img src="images/fp202.jpg" width="425" height="600" alt="AUGUSTE DE MARMONT, DUKE OF RAGUSA
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY MUNERET" title="" id="fp202"/></a><br />
+<span class="caption">AUGUSTE DE MARMONT, DUKE OF RAGUSA<br />
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY MUNERET</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Marmont hurried back to Italy in time to join Bonaparte's
+staff an hour before the battle of Arcola. The Austrians
+were making their last effort to relieve the fortress of
+Mantua, and it seemed as if they would be successful, as
+Alvinzi had concentrated forty thousand troops against
+twenty-six thousand. The French attempted a surprise,
+but were discovered, and for three days the fate of the
+campaign hung on the stubborn fight in the marshes of
+Arcola. It was Marmont who helped to extricate Bonaparte
+when he was flung off the embankment into the
+ditch, a service which Bonaparte never forgot. Diplomatic
+missions to Venice and the Vatican slightly turned the
+young soldier's head, and his chief had soon to give him
+a severe reprimand for loitering among Josephine's beauties
+at Milan instead of hastening back to headquarters. But
+to a man of Marmont's character one word of warning
+was enough; his head governed his heart; glory was his
+loadstar. Ambitious though he was, he was essentially a
+man of honour and fine feelings, and refused the hand of
+Pauline Bonaparte for the simple reason that he did not
+truly love her.</p>
+
+<p>A year later he made a love match with Mademoiselle
+Perrégaux, but differences of temperament and the long<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span>
+separation which his military career imposed caused the
+marriage to turn out unhappily, and this lack of domestic
+felicity spoiled the Marshal's life and nearly embittered
+his whole character, turning him for the time into a self-centred
+man with an eye solely to his own glory and a
+sharp tongue which did not spare even his own friends.
+Yet in his early days Marmont was a bright and cheerful
+companion and no one enjoyed more a practical joke,
+getting up sham duels between cowards or sending bogus
+instructions to officious commanders. But fond as he was
+of amusement, even during his early career he could find
+delight in the society of men of science and learning
+like Monge and Berthollet.</p>
+
+<p>After the peace of Campo Formio he accompanied
+his chief to Paris, where an incident occurred which
+illustrates well the character of the two men. The
+Minister of War wanted detailed information regarding
+the English preparations against invasion, and Bonaparte
+offered to send his aide-de-camp as a spy. Marmont
+indignantly refused to go in such a capacity, and a permanent
+estrangement nearly took place. Their standards
+had nothing in common; in the one honour could conquer
+ambition, in the other ambition knew no rules of honour.</p>
+
+<p>However, their lust for glory brought them together
+again, and Marmont sailed with the Egyptian expedition.
+He was despatched north to command Alexandria after
+the battle of the Pyramids, where his guns had played so
+important a part in shattering the Mamelukes. Later he
+was entrusted with the control of the whole of the
+Mediterranean littoral. His task was a difficult one, but
+a most useful training for a young commander. With
+a tiny garrison he had to hold the important town of
+Alexandria and to keep in order a large province; to
+organise small columns to repress local risings; to make
+his own arrangements for raising money to pay his troops,
+and consequently to reorganise the fiscal system of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span>
+country; to reconstruct canals and to improvise flotillas
+of barges to supply Alexandria with provisions; to keep
+in touch with the remnant of the French fleet and thus
+to try to establish communications with Europe. He
+was responsible for resisting any attempt at invasion by
+the Turks or the English, and it was mainly owing to
+his measures that when the former landed at Aboukir
+they were destroyed before they could march inland.
+While his comrades were gaining military glory in Syria,
+he was fighting the plague at Alexandria, learning that
+patient attention to detail and careful supervision of the
+health of his troops were as important attributes of a
+commander as dash and courage in the field.</p>
+
+<p>Marmont quitted Egypt with joy; he had learned
+many useful lessons, but, like the rest of the army, he
+hated the country and the half Oriental life, and above
+all, as he said, "seeing a campaign and not taking part
+in it was a horrible punishment." On returning to Paris
+his time was fully occupied in winning over the artillery
+to Bonaparte. He had no false ideas on the subject, for,
+as he said to Junot before the Egyptian expedition, "You
+will see, my friend, that on his return Bonaparte will seize
+the crown." As his reward the First Consul gave him the
+choice of the command of the artillery of the Guard or a
+seat as Councillor of State. Jealous of Lannes, and flattered
+by the title, he chose the councillorship, in which capacity
+he was employed on the War Committee and entrusted with
+the reorganisation of the artillery. His first business was to
+provide a proper train to ensure the quick and easy mobilisation
+of the artillery. After the Marengo campaign he
+took in hand the reform of the matériel. Too many
+different types of guns existed. Marmont reorganised both
+the field and the fortress artillery, replacing the seven old
+types of guns by three&mdash;namely, six-pounders, twelve-pounders
+and twenty-four pounders; he also reduced the
+different types of wheels for gun carriages, limbers and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span>
+wagons from twenty-four to eight, thus greatly simplifying
+the provision of ammunition and the work of repair in
+the field.</p>
+
+<p>The Marengo campaign added to his prestige as an
+artillery officer. It was owing to his ingenuity that the
+guns were unmounted and pulled by hand in cradles up
+the steep side of the mountain and thus safely taken over
+the St. Bernard Pass. It was his ingenious brain which
+suggested the paving of the road with straw, whereby the
+much-needed artillery was forwarded to Lannes by night,
+without any casualties, right under the batteries of the
+fortress of Bard. It was owing to his foresight that the
+reserve battery of guns, captured from the enemy, saved
+the day at Marengo by containing the Austrians while
+Desaix's fresh troops were being deployed, and it was
+the tremendous effect of his massed battery which gave
+Kellermann the opportunity for his celebrated charge.
+The First Consul marked his approval by promoting
+Marmont a general of division, and thus at the age of
+twenty-six the young artillery officer had nearly reached
+the head of his profession. After Marengo he continued
+his work of reorganisation, but before the end of the year
+he was once again in Italy, this time as a divisional commander
+under Brune, who, being no great strategist, was
+glad to avail himself of the brains of the First Consul's
+favourite: it was thanks to Marmont's plans that the
+French army successfully crossed the Mincio in the face
+of the enemy and, forced on him the armistice of Treviso.
+When Moreau's victory of Hohenlinden induced Austria
+to make peace, the general was sent to reorganise the
+Italian artillery on the same principles he had laid down
+for the French. He established an immense foundry and
+arsenal at Pavia, and the excellence of his plans was clearly
+proved in many a later campaign. From Italy he was
+recalled to Paris in September, 1802, as inspector-general
+of artillery. He threw himself heart and soul into his new<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span>
+duties, but found time to increase his scientific knowledge
+and to keep himself up to date with everything in the
+political and scientific world. He keenly supported Fulton's
+invention of the steamboat, and pressed it on the First
+Consul, and to the day of his death he was convinced that,
+if the Emperor had adopted the invention, the invasion of
+England would have been successful.</p>
+
+<p>The year 1804 brought him the delight of his first
+important command. In February he was appointed
+chief of the corps of the Army of the Ocean which was
+stationed in Holland. He entered on his task with his
+usual fervour. His first step was to make friends with all
+the Dutch officials, and thus to secure the smooth working
+of his commissariat and supply departments; then he turned
+to the actual training of his troops. For this purpose he
+obtained permission to hold a big camp of instruction, where
+all the divisions of his corps were massed. So successful
+was this experiment that it became an annual institution.
+But amid all the pleasure of this congenial work came the
+bitter moment when he found the name of so mediocre a
+soldier as Bessières included in the list of the new Marshals
+and his own omitted. It was a sore blow, and his appointment
+as colonel-general of the horse chasseurs and Grand
+Eagle of the Legion of Honour did little to mitigate it.
+The Emperor, careful as ever to stimulate devotion, later
+explained to him that a dashing officer like himself would
+have plenty of opportunities of gaining distinction, while
+this was Bessières's only chance. But in spite of this the
+neglect rankled, and from that day he was no longer the
+blindly devoted follower of Napoleon.</p>
+
+<p>On the outbreak of the Austrian War Marmont's corps
+became the second corps of the Grand Army. In the
+operations ending in Ulm the second corps formed part
+of the left wing. After the capitulation it was detached
+to cover the French communications from an attack from
+the direction of Styria. In the summer of the following<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span>
+year Marmont was despatched as commander-in-chief to
+Dalmatia, where he spent the next five years of his life.
+Dalmatia had been ceded to France by the treaty of Pressburg.
+In Napoleon's eyes the importance of the province
+lay in the harbour of Cattaro, which he regarded as an
+outlet to the Balkan Peninsula. His intention was to
+get possession of Montenegro, to come to an understanding
+with Ali Pacha of Janina and the Sultan, and oppose
+the policy of Russia. But the Russians and Montenegrins
+had seized Cattaro, and were threatening to besiege Ragusa.
+It was to meet this situation that the Emperor in July, 1806,
+hastily sent his former favourite to Dalmatia. The new
+commander-in-chief found himself, as in Egypt, faced
+with the difficulty of supply. Half the army was in hospital
+from want of proper nourishment and commonsense
+sanitation. Having, by his care of his men, refilled his
+battalions, he advanced boldly on the enemy, and drove
+them out of their positions. This punishment kept the
+Montenegrins quiet for the future, and the Russians fell
+back on Cattaro. From there he was unable to drive
+them owing to the guns of their fleet, and it was not till
+the treaty of Tilsit that the French got possession of the
+coveted port. The French commander's chief difficulty in
+administering his province was that which is felt in all
+uncivilised countries, the difficulty of holding down a
+hostile population where roads do not exist. Otherwise
+his just but stern rule admirably suited the townsmen of
+the little cities on the coast, while order was kept among
+the hill tribes by making their headmen responsible for
+their behaviour, and by aiding them in attacking the Turks,
+who had seized certain tracts of territory and maltreated the
+inhabitants. But it was not gratitude which kept the hill-men
+quiet, so much as the miles of new roads on which
+the French commander employed his army when not
+engaged on expeditions against restless marauders. During
+his years in the Dalmatian provinces Marmont constructed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span>
+more than two hundred miles of roads, with the result that
+his small force was able with ease to hold down the long
+narrow mountainous province by the speed with which he
+could mobilise his punitive expeditions. Moreover, owing
+to the increased means of traffic the peasants were able to
+find a market for their goods, and the prosperity of the
+country increased beyond belief. With prosperity came
+contentment: manufactures were established, and the
+mines and the other natural resources of the country
+were exploited to advantage. As the Emperor of Austria
+said to Metternich in 1817, when visiting the province, "It
+is a great pity that Marshal Marmont was not two or three
+years longer in Dalmatia."</p>
+
+<p>The years spent at Ragusa were probably the happiest
+of Marmont's life. His successful work was recognised in
+1808, when the Emperor created him Duke of Ragusa.
+Each day was full of interest. He was head of the civil
+administration and of the judicial and fiscal departments.
+As commander-in-chief he was responsible for the health,
+welfare, and discipline of the troops, and for the military
+works which were being erected to protect the province
+from Austrian aggression. He had his special hobby&mdash;the
+roads. Yet in spite of all this business he found time to
+put himself in the hands of a tutor and to work ten hours
+a day at history, chemistry, and anatomy. To aid him in
+his studies he collected a travelling library of six hundred
+volumes which accompanied him in all his later campaigns.</p>
+
+<p>The Austrian campaign of 1809 called him from these
+congenial labours to the even more congenial operations of
+war. The duty of the Army of Dalmatia was to attempt to
+cut off the Archduke John on his retirement from Italy;
+but the Duke of Ragusa had not sufficient troops to carry
+out this operation successfully, although he effected a
+junction with the Army of Italy. After a succession of
+small engagements the united armies found themselves
+on the Danube in time to take part in the battle of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span>
+Wagram. In reserve during the greater part of the battle,
+Marmont's corps was entrusted with the pursuit of the
+enemy. Unfortunately, either from lack of appreciation
+of the situation or from jealousy, their commander refused
+to allow Davout to co-operate with him, and consequently,
+although he overtook the Austrians, he was not
+strong enough to hold them till other divisions of the army
+came up. However, at the end of the operations Napoleon
+created him Marshal. But the Duke of Ragusa's joy at
+receiving this gift was tempered by the way it was given.
+For the Emperor, angry doubtless at the escape of the
+Austrians, told him, "I have given you your nomination
+and I have great pleasure in bestowing on you this proof
+of my affection, but I am afraid I have incurred the
+reproach of listening rather to my affection than to your
+right to this distinction. You have plenty of intelligence,
+but there are needed for war qualities in which you are
+still lacking, and which you must work to acquire. Between
+ourselves, you have not yet done enough to justify
+entirely my choice. At the same time, I am confident
+that I shall have reason to congratulate myself on having
+nominated you, and that you will justify me in the eyes of
+the army." Unkind critics of the three new Marshals
+created after Wagram said that Napoleon, having lost
+Lannes, wanted to get the small change for him, but it
+is only fair to remember that though Macdonald, Marmont,
+and Oudinot were all inferior to Lannes, they were quite
+as good soldiers as some of the original Marshals.</p>
+
+<p>After peace was declared the new Marshal returned to
+Dalmatia and took up the threads of his old life. He had
+won the respect of the inhabitants and the fear of their
+foes, the Turks, and save for an occasional expedition
+against the brigands or friction with the fiscal officials,
+his time passed peaceably and pleasantly. But in 1811 he
+was recalled to Paris to receive orders before starting on a
+new sphere of duty. Masséna, "the spoiled child of victory,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span>
+had met his match at Torres Vedras, and Napoleon,
+blaming the man instead of the system, had determined
+to try a fresh leader for the army opposing Sir Arthur
+Wellesley. The Emperor did not hide from himself the
+fact that in selecting Marmont he was making an experiment,
+for he told St. Cyr that he had sent Marmont to
+Spain because he had plenty of talent, but that he had not
+yet tested to the full his force of character, and he added,
+"I shall soon be able to judge of that, for now he is left to
+his own resources." The new commander of the Army of
+Portugal set out with the full confidence that the task was
+not beyond his powers, and with the promise of the viceroyalty
+of one of the five provinces into which Spain was to
+be divided. He arrived at the front two days after the battle
+of Fuentes d'Onoro, and found a very different state of affairs
+from what he had expected. The country was a howling
+waste covered with fierce guerillas. The French army, so
+long accustomed to success, was absolutely demoralised by
+repeated disappointments and defeats. It was necessary
+to take stringent measures to restore the morale of the
+troops before he could call on them to face once more
+"the infantry whose fire was the most murderous of all
+the armies of Europe."</p>
+
+<p>Accordingly he withdrew from the Portuguese frontier,
+put his army into cantonments round Salamanca, and set
+to work on the difficult task of collecting supplies from a
+country which was already swept bare. Meanwhile he split up
+his army into six divisions, established direct communications
+between himself and the divisional officers, and, to
+get rid of the grumblers, gave leave to all officers, who
+so desired, to return to France. At the same time he
+distributed his weak battalions among the other corps so
+that each battalion had a complement of seven hundred
+muskets. He also broke up the weak squadrons and
+batteries and brought up the remainder to service strength.
+Scarcely was this reorganisation completed when Soult,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span>
+who had been defeated at Albuera, called on Marmont to
+aid him in saving Badajoz. In spite of his personal dislike
+for the Duke of Dalmatia, the Marshal hurried to his aid
+and for the time the important fortress was saved. During
+the rest of the summer the Army of Portugal lay in the
+valley of the Tagus, holding the bridge of Almaraz, and
+thus ready at any moment to go to the relief of Badajoz
+or Ciudad Rodrigo, the two keys of Portugal. When, in
+the autumn, Wellington threatened Ciudad Rodrigo, the
+Marshal, calling to his aid Dorsenne, who commanded in
+Northern Spain, at the successful engagement of El Bodin
+drove back the advance guard of the Anglo-Portuguese and
+threw a large quantity of provisions into the fortress.</p>
+
+<p>The year 1812 was a disastrous one for the French arms
+all over Europe. The Emperor attempted to direct the
+Spanish War from Paris. In his desire to secure all Southern
+Spain, he stripped Marmont's army to reinforce Suchet in
+his conquest of Valencia. Accordingly in January the
+Marshal was powerless to stop Wellington's dash at Ciudad
+Rodrigo, and was unable later to make a sufficient demonstration
+in Portugal to relieve the pressure on Badajoz; so
+both the fortresses fell, and the Duke of Ragusa was blamed
+for the Emperor's mistake. He was thereafter called upon
+to try to stem the victorious advance of the English into
+Spain. Short of men, of horses, and of supplies, he did
+wonders. Thanks to his strenuous efforts, supplies were
+massed at Salamanca, good food and careful nursing
+emptied the hospitals and filled the ranks, and the cavalry
+was supplied with remounts by dismounting the "field
+officers" of the infantry. The month of July saw an
+interesting duel round Salamanca between Marmont and
+Wellington. The two armies were very nearly equal in
+numbers, the French having forty-seven thousand men and
+the English forty-four thousand. The French had the
+advantage of a broad base with lines of retreat either on
+Burgos or Madrid. The English had to cover their single<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span>
+line of communication, which ran through Ciudad Rodrigo.
+The French had the further advantage that their infantry
+marched better than the English. Owing to these
+causes their commander was so far able to outgeneral his
+adversary that by July 22nd he was actually threatening
+the English line of retreat. But a tactical mistake threw
+away all these strategic advantages. In his eagerness he
+allowed his leading division to get too extended, forgetting
+that he was performing the dangerous operation of a flank
+march. Wellington waited till he saw his opportunity
+and then threw himself on the weak French centre and cut
+the French army in half, thus proving his famous dictum
+that the great general is not he who makes fewest mistakes,
+but he who can best take advantage of the mistakes of his
+enemy. Marmont saw his error as soon as the English
+attack began, but a wound from a cannon ball disabled him
+at the very commencement of the action. This injury to
+his arm was so serious that he had to throw up his command
+and return to France, and for the whole of the next year
+he had to wear his arm in a sling.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon, furious with the Marshal for his ill-success,
+most unjustly blamed him for not waiting for reinforcements:
+these actually arrived two days after the battle.
+Joseph, however, had told him distinctly that he was not
+going to send him any help, and if it had not been for his
+tactical blunders, Marmont would undoubtedly have caused
+Wellington to fall back on Portugal. But in 1812 the
+exigencies of war demanded that France should send forth
+every soldier, and accordingly in March the Duke of
+Ragusa was gazetted to the command of the sixth corps,
+which was forming in the valley of the Maine. On taking
+up this command he found that his corps was mainly
+composed of sailors drafted from the useless ships, and of
+recruits, while his artillery had no horses and his cavalry did
+not exist. With these raw troops he had to undergo some
+difficult experiences at Lützen and Bautzen, but, as the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span>
+campaign progressed, he moulded them into shape, and his
+divisions did good service in the fighting in Silesia and
+round Dresden. At the rout after the battle of Leipzig,
+Marmont, like most of the higher officers of the army,
+thought more of his personal safety than of his honour,
+and allowed himself to be escorted from the field by his
+staff officers.</p>
+
+<p>But in the campaign of 1814 he made amends for all his
+former blunders, and his fighting record stands high indeed.
+At Saint-Dizier, La Rothière, Arcis-sur-Aube, Nogent,
+Sézanne, and Champaubert, he held his own or defeated
+the enemy with inferior numbers in every case. Once
+only at Laon did he allow himself to be surprised. When
+the end came it was Marmont who, at Joseph's command,
+had to hand over Paris to the Allies. Thereafter he was
+faced with a terrible problem. His army was sick of
+fighting, officers and men demanded peace. He had to
+decide whether his duty to Napoleon was the same as his
+duty to France. Unfortunately he acted hurriedly, and,
+without informing the Emperor, entered into negotiations
+with the enemy. The result was far-reaching, for his
+conduct showed Alexander that the army was sick of war
+and would no longer fight for Napoleon. It thus cut away
+the ground of the Commissioners who were trying, by
+trading on the prestige of the Emperor and the fear of
+his name, to persuade the Czar to accept Napoleon's
+abdication on behalf of his son, the King of Rome. The
+Marshal's enemies put down his action to ill-will against the
+Emperor for withholding for so long the marshalate and
+for his treatment after Salamanca. But Marmont asserted
+that it was patriotism which dictated his action, and further
+maintained that Napoleon himself ought to have approved
+of his action, quoting a conversation held in 1813. "If
+the enemy invaded France," said the Emperor, "and seized
+the heights of Montmartre, you would naturally believe that
+the safety of your country would command you to leave<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span>
+me, and if you did so you would be a good Frenchman,
+a brave man, a conscientious man, but not a man of
+honour."</p>
+
+<p>The defection of the Duke of Ragusa came as a bitter
+blow to Napoleon. "That Marmont should do such a
+thing," cried the fallen Emperor, "a man with whom I have
+shared my bread, whom I drew out of obscurity! Ungrateful
+villain, he will be more unhappy than I." The
+prophecy was true. The Duke of Ragusa stuck to the
+Bourbons and refused to join Napoleon during the Hundred
+Days, going to Ghent as chief of the military
+household of the exiled King. He returned with Louis to
+Paris, and was made major-general of the Royal Guard
+and a peer of France, in which capacity he sat as one
+of the judges who condemned Ney to death. But men
+looked askance at him, and from 1817 he lived in retirement,
+occupying his leisure in experimental farming, with great
+injury to his purse, for his elaborate scheme of housing his
+sheep in three-storied barns and clothing them in coats made
+of skin was most unprofitable. Retirement was a bitter
+blow to the keen soldier, but the Bourbon monarchs
+clearly understood that the deserter of Napoleon and the
+judge of Marshal Ney could never be popular with the
+army.</p>
+
+<p>Still, when in July, 1830, discontent was seething, Charles
+X. remembered his sterling qualities and summoned him
+to Paris as governor of the city. It was an unfortunate
+nomination, for the Marshal's unpopularity weakened the
+bonds of discipline, whilst his eagerness to show his
+loyalty caused him to adopt such measures as the King
+ordered, irrespective of their military worth. In vain he
+warned the King that this was not a revolt but a revolution;
+the counsels of Polignac were all powerful. The
+Marshal's political suggestions were unheeded and his
+military plans overridden. The mass of the troops of the
+line, kept for long hours without food in the streets,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span>
+mutinied and went over to the populace, while those who
+remained loyal, and the royal guards, instead of being concentrated
+and protected by batteries of artillery, were
+frittered away in useless expeditions into outlying parts of
+the city. After two days' fighting the royalists had to
+evacuate the city. Thus it fell to the lot of the Marshal
+once more to hand over Paris to the foes of those to whom
+his allegiance was due.</p>
+
+<p>The Duke of Ragusa accompanied Charles to Cherbourg
+and quitted France in August, 1830, never to return. The
+remainder of his life was spent in foreign countries. He
+made Vienna his headquarters, and from there took journeys
+to Russia, Turkey, Egypt, and Italy. Deeply interested in
+science and history, he devoted his leisure to writing his
+Memoirs, to works on military science, philanthropy, and
+travel. Thus occupied, though an exile from his country,
+he lived a busy, active, and on the whole useful life till
+death overtook him at Vienna in 1852.</p>
+
+<p>Marshal Marmont has been called one of Napoleon's
+failures, but this criticism is one-sided and unjust. True it
+is that his name is intimately connected with the failure in
+Spain and with the fall of the Empire, but to judge his
+career by these two instances and to neglect his other work,
+is to generalise from an insufficient and casual basis. The
+Duke of Ragusa owed his marshalate, like many others, to
+his intimacy with Napoleon, but unlike several of the
+Marshals he really earned his bâton. His great powers of
+organisation, so unstintedly given to the re-armament of
+France and Italy, and his work of regeneration in Dalmatia,
+together with his military operations in Styria, Spain, and
+during the campaign of 1814, mark him out as a soldier of
+great capabilities. Organisation was his strong point, but
+he also possessed great physical bravery and many of
+the qualities of a commander. His love for his profession
+was great, and not only had he graduated under Napoleon's
+eye, but much of his time was spent in studying his calling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span>
+from a scientific and historical point of view. As a strategist
+he probably stood as high as any of his fellow Marshals,
+and his operations in Dalmatia, Spain, and France deserve
+the careful study of all students of military history. But
+he failed as a tactician. Salamanca and Laon prove not only
+that he made mistakes and had not the faculty of retrieving
+his errors, but above all he lacked the capacity of seizing on
+the mistakes of his enemy. In 1811 at El Bodin he had
+Wellington at his mercy, but he hesitated to strike, for he
+could not believe his great opponent could make the glaring
+error of leaving his divisions unsupported. Again and
+again during his career he showed that lack of resolution
+which was responsible for his last catastrophe in Paris,
+where he allowed his own judgment to be overruled by
+King Charles's personal desires. In a word, he had the gift
+of a great quartermaster-general rather than of a commander-in-chief.
+As a man the Marshal's character is an
+interesting study. In youth the thirst for personal glory
+and ambition were the dominant traits, and what stability
+he had he drew from his proud sense of honour, which
+refused to allow him to take plunder or bribes. But
+responsibility developed many latent qualities. The desire
+to keep his troops efficient led him to pay especial care to
+their physical well-being, and from doing this as a duty he
+learned to do it as a labour of love. As time went on,
+desire for personal glory became merged in keen delight in
+the glory of France, and hence grew up a patriotism which
+rightly or wrongly led to the scenes of 1814 and 1830.
+Misfortune also had its share in the enlarging of his
+character. His unhappy marriage, his bitterness at the
+withholding of the marshalate, his unpopularity after 1814,
+led him to remember his father's warning that success is
+not everything, and turned his attention to the development
+of those scientific and literary abilities to which he had
+always shown strong leanings. Hence, though the blight
+of his marriage and his unpopularity, arising from his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span>
+desertion of Napoleon, embittered him and caused his
+Memoirs to teem with cutting descriptions of his contemporaries
+and former friends, his old age, though spent in
+exile, was soothed by congenial work which proved "that
+to the eye of a general he united the accomplishments of a
+scholar and the heart of a philanthropist."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XI" id="XI"></a>XI<br /><br />
+LOUIS GABRIEL SUCHET, MARSHAL, DUKE
+OF ALBUFERA</h2>
+
+
+<p>Louis Gabriel Suchet, the son of a silk
+manufacturer, was born at Lyons on March 2,
+1770. His father had acquired a certain eminence
+by his discoveries in his profession, and had occupied a
+prominent place in the municipality of Lyons. Louis
+Gabriel, who received a sound education at the College of
+Isle Barbe, early showed that he inherited his father's gifts
+of organisation and research. In 1792 he entered a corps
+of volunteer cavalry. His education and ability soon
+brought him to the front, and after two years' service he
+became lieutenant-colonel of the eighteenth demi-brigade,
+in which capacity he took part in the siege of Toulon.
+There he had the double good fortune to make prisoner
+General O'Hara, the English governor of the fortress, and
+to gain the friendship of Bonaparte. Suchet and his
+brother accompanied the future Emperor on many a
+pleasant picnic, and the three were well known among a
+certain class of Marseilles society. But this was but
+a passing phase, and soon the thirst for glory called the
+young soldier to sterner things. The campaigns of 1794-5
+in the Maritime Alps, the battle of Loano, and the fierce
+fights in 1796 at Lodi, Rivoli, Arcola, and Castiglione
+proved Colonel Suchet's undaunted courage and ability
+as a regimental commander. In 1797, for his brilliant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span>
+conduct at Neumarkt, in Styria, Bonaparte gazetted him
+general of brigade. In his new capacity Suchet proved
+that he could not only carry out orders but act in semi-independence
+as a column commander, and as a reward for
+his success in Switzerland under General Brune he had the
+honour of carrying twenty-three captured stands of colours
+to the Directory. At Brune's request he was sent back to
+Switzerland to act as chief of his staff. Suchet had to a
+great extent those qualities which go to make an ideal staff
+officer. He had a cheery smile and word for everybody,
+and his tall upright figure and genial face inspired confidence
+in officers and men alike; as a regimental commander
+and a general of brigade he had a sound knowledge
+of the working of small and large corps, and his early
+experience as a cavalry officer and his intimate acquaintance
+with the officers of the artillery stood him in good stead.
+He had a natural aptitude for drafting orders, and his tact
+and energy commended him to all with whom he served,
+but above all he had the secret of inspiring those around
+him with his own vehemence and enthusiasm. Brune,
+Joubert, Masséna, and Moreau all proved his worth, and
+Moreau only expressed the opinion of the others when he
+said to a friend, "Your general is one of the best staff
+officers in all the armies of France." As general of
+division Suchet acted as chief of the staff to Joubert in
+Italy in 1799. Later in the year he commanded one of the
+divisions of the Army of the Alps under Masséna, and fought
+against the celebrated Suvaroff. But when Joubert was
+hurriedly despatched to Italy he at once demanded to have
+Suchet as chief of the staff. On Joubert's death at the
+battle of Novi, Suchet served Masséna in a similar capacity;
+the latter was so delighted with him that he wanted to carry
+him off to the Army of the Rhine. But in that disastrous
+year men of ability could not be spared, and Bernadotte, as
+Minister of War, retained him in Italy to aid the new
+commander-in-chief "with his clear insight as the public<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span>
+weal demands." When Masséna took command of the Army
+of Italy in March, he detached Suchet to cover France on the
+line of the Var, while he, with the rest of the army, threw
+himself into Genoa. The commander-in-chief had absolute
+confidence in his lieutenant; he had tried him again and
+again in the Swiss campaign, and when Suchet had by a
+marvellous march escaped the tangles of the Russians, his
+only comment had been "I was quite sure he would bring
+me back his brigade." The young general acted once again
+up to his reputation, and evinced those resources in difficulty,
+and that resolution in adversity, which so marked his
+career. With a mere handful of troops, by his energy and
+tactical ability he stemmed the flood of the Austrian invasion
+on the Var, and when Napoleon debouched through
+the St. Bernard Pass on the enemy's rear, by a masterly
+return to the initiative he drove the Austrians before him,
+and by capturing seven thousand prisoners he materially
+lightened the First Consul's difficulties in the Marengo
+campaign. Carnot, the War Minister, wrote to him in
+eulogistic terms: "The whole Republic had its eyes fixed
+on the new Thermopylæ. Your bravery was as great and
+more successful than that of the Spartans." But in spite of
+this feat of arms and the unselfish way he disengaged
+Dupont from his difficulties at the crossing of the Mincio,
+in the campaign which followed Marengo, Suchet found
+himself neglected and passed over when the Emperor distributed
+his new honours and rewards. In spite of his
+former friendship and the remembrance of many a pleasant
+day spent together in earlier years, Napoleon could not
+forgive his stern unbending republicanism. He knew his
+force of character too well to think he could influence his
+opinions by mere honours, and he determined to see if he
+could conquer him by neglect. After holding the office of
+inspector-general of infantry, Suchet found himself in 1803
+sent to the camp of Boulogne as a mere divisional commander
+in Soult's army corps. In the same capacity he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span>
+loyally served under Lannes in the Austrian campaign of
+1805, and distinguished himself at Ulm and Austerlitz,
+where his division had the good fortune to break the Russian
+centre. In the following year at Saalfeld and Jena he added
+to his reputation, and the Emperor did him the honour of
+bivouacking in the middle of his division on the eve of the
+battle of Jena. Pultusk and Eylau bore witness to his
+bravery and address on the battlefield, and Napoleon began
+to relent. For his share of the victory of Austerlitz the
+Emperor had created him Grand Eagle of the Legion of
+Honour and presented him with twenty thousand francs;
+in August, 1807, he gave him the temporary command of
+the fifth corps; a few months later he gazetted him Chevalier
+of the Iron Crown, and in March, 1808, made him a
+Count of the Empire. In 1807 Suchet married one of the
+Clarys, a relative of Joseph Bonaparte's wife, and thus to
+a certain extent bound himself to the Napoleonic dynasty.
+Still it was only as a divisional commander of the fifth
+corps under Lannes that in 1808 he entered Spain, the
+scene of his glory. But when the war brought to light the
+poor quality of many of the Marshals, and the approaching
+conflict with Austria caused him to withdraw his best
+lieutenants to the Danube, Napoleon bethought him of his
+new relative and former comrade. After the siege of Saragossa
+he gave him the command of the third corps, now
+known as the Army of Aragon. Suchet's hour of probation
+had at last arrived. He had so far shown himself an excellent
+interpreter of the ideas of others, a man of energy and
+resource in carrying out orders; it remained to be seen
+whether he could rise to the height of thinking and acting
+for himself in the plain of higher strategy.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 533px;">
+<a href="images/fp220-hi.jpg"><img src="images/fp220.jpg" width="533" height="600" alt="LOUIS GABRIEL SUCHET, DUKE OF ALBUFERA
+FROM AN ENGRAVING BY POLLET" title="" id="fp220"/></a><br />
+<span class="caption">LOUIS GABRIEL SUCHET, DUKE OF ALBUFERA<br />
+FROM AN ENGRAVING BY POLLET</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>The situation the new general was called on to meet
+might have depressed a weaker man. The third corps or
+Army of Aragon had been severely shaken by the long,
+stubborn siege of Saragossa. Many of its best officers and
+men were dead or invalided to France; the ranks were full<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span>
+of raw recruits who had not yet felt the bit of discipline.
+There were no magazines, the men's pay was months in
+arrear, the morale of the troops was bad; but the General
+was told that he must expect no reinforcements and that his
+army must live off the province of Aragon. To increase his
+difficulties further he was informed that, while lending an
+obedient ear to all commands from Madrid, he was really to
+obey orders which came from the major-general in Paris.
+Meanwhile, all around him Aragon and even Saragossa
+were seething with discontent, and Spanish forces, elated
+by partial success, were springing up on all sides. It was
+thus situated that Suchet had his first experience of commanding
+in war, and of showing that success depends on
+achieving the object desired with the means at hand.
+Luckily for his reputation he fulfilled Napoleon's dictum
+that "a general should above all be cool-headed in order to
+estimate things at their value: he must not be moved by
+good or bad news. The sensations which he daily receives
+must be so classed in his mind that each should occupy its
+appropriate place." Accordingly he at once grasped the
+vital points of the problem, and strove to restore the morale
+of the troops so that he might be in a position to meet and
+overcome the organised forces which were moving against
+him. His first step was to hold a review of his new command,
+and then he proceeded to visit his troops in their
+quarters and to get into personal touch with the officers and
+men by watching them at their company and battalion
+drills, encouraging them and supervising the interior
+economy of the various regiments and brigades. His reputation
+and his personal magnetism soon began to effect a
+complete change in his army. But unfortunately the
+enemy, fighting in their own country, where every inhabitant
+was a spy on their side, knew as well as the general himself
+the exact state of the French morale, the position of every
+unit, and the strength of each company and squadron. So
+accurate was their information that on one occasion, when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span>
+a battalion was despatched on a reconnaissance to occupy a
+small town, and the officer commanding demanded a thousand
+rations for his men and a hundred for his horse, the
+Alcalde at once replied, "I know that I must furnish rations
+for your troops, but I will only supply seven hundred and
+eighty for the men and sixty for the horses," as he knew
+beforehand the exact number of men and horses in the
+column.</p>
+
+<p>The Spanish General Blake, with this wonderful intelligence
+organisation at his command, called together his
+troops, and took the initiative against the new French
+commander by advancing towards Saragossa. Suchet,
+recognising the importance of utilising to the full the élan
+which the French soldier always derives from the sense of
+attacking, advanced to meet him near Alcaniz, but Blake
+easily beat off the French attack. So demoralised was the
+Army of Aragon that on the following night, when a
+drummer cried out that he saw the Spanish cavalry advancing,
+an entire infantry regiment threw down their arms
+before this phantom charge. The offender was brought at
+once before a drumhead court martial and shot, but with
+troops in such a condition the French commander very
+wisely slowly fell back the next day towards Saragossa.
+The situation was extremely critical: a hurried retreat would
+have roused all Aragon to the attack; fortunately the morale
+of the Spanish troops was also none too good, and Blake
+waited for reinforcements before advancing. Meanwhile
+Suchet spent every hour reorganising his army, visiting with
+speedy punishment all slackness, encouraging where possible
+by praise, everywhere showing a cheerfulness and confidence
+he was far from feeling. Every day the troops were drilled
+or attended musketry practice; the ordinary routine of
+peace was carried out in every detail, and the civil and
+military life of Saragossa showed no signs of the greatness
+of this crisis. Meanwhile care and attention soon showed
+their effect, and when three weeks later the enemy appeared<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span>
+at Maria before Saragossa, Suchet had under his command
+a force full of zealous desire to wipe out its late disgrace
+and absolutely confident in its general. Fortunately the
+Spanish commander, by attempting a wide encircling movement,
+weakened his numerical superiority, and Suchet, as
+usual assuming the offensive, broke the Spanish centre with
+his cavalry, hurled his infantry into the gap, and amid a
+terrific thunder-shower drove the Spanish from the field.
+The battle before Saragossa saved Aragon for the French,
+but it did not satisfy their commander, who knew that "to
+move swiftly, strike vigorously, and secure all the fruits of
+victory is the secret of successful war"; accordingly with
+his now elated troops he pursued the enemy and attacked
+them at Belchite. The Spanish morale was completely
+broken; a chance shot at the commencement of the engagement
+blew up an ammunition wagon, and thereon the
+whole army turned and bolted; for the rest of the war, no
+regular resistance existed in Aragon.</p>
+
+<p>The battles of Saragossa and Belchite marked the commencement
+of a fresh stage in the conquest of Eastern
+Spain. From this time onwards Aragon became the base
+from which was organised the conquest of Catalonia and
+Valencia. It was in pursuance of this scheme that Suchet's
+next task was the organisation of the civil government
+of the ancient kingdom of Aragon. Fortunately for the
+commander-in-chief the old local patriotism burnt strong
+in the hearts of the Aragonese; jealous of the Castilians,
+they placed their love of Aragon far above their love of
+Spain. Suchet, an ardent student of human nature, was
+quick to appreciate how to turn to his use this provincialism.
+Loud in his praises of their stubborn resistance to the
+French arms, he approached the nobles and former civil
+servants and prayed them to lend him their help in restoring
+the former glories of the ancient kingdom of Aragon.
+Meanwhile the people of the towns and villages were propitiated
+by a stern justice and a new fiscal system, which,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span>
+while it drew more from their pockets, was less aggravating
+and inquisitorial than the former method, which exacted a
+tax on the sale and purchase of every individual article.
+Meanwhile the needs of the French army created a market
+for both agricultural produce and for manufactured articles,
+and hence both the urban and rural populations, while
+paying heavier taxes, made greater profits than formerly.
+Such was the ability with which Aragon was administered
+that a province, which even in its most prosperous days had
+never contributed more than four million francs to the
+Spanish treasury, was able to produce an income of eight
+million francs for the pay of the troops alone, without
+counting the cost of military operations, and at the same
+time to maintain its own civil servants, while works of
+public utility were commenced in Saragossa and elsewhere.</p>
+
+<p>But it was not only from the point of finance that Suchet
+proved to the full the maxim that the art of war is nothing
+but the art of feeding your troops: his military operations
+were no whit less remarkable than his success as a
+civil administrator. Immediately after Belchite he swept
+all the guerillas out of Aragon, and by a carefully thought
+out plan of garrisons gave the country that peace and
+certainty which is requisite for commerce and agriculture
+alike. He then proceeded to wrest from the enemy the
+important fortresses of Lerida and Mequinenza, which
+command the approaches to Catalonia. Suchet's conquest
+of Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia was marked by a
+succession of brilliant sieges. Lerida, Mequinenza, Tortosa,
+the fort of San Felipe, the Col of Balanquer, Tarragona,
+Sagunto, and Valencia all fell before his conquering arm,
+for Spain had to be won piece by piece. Each forward
+step was marked by a siege, a battle to defeat the relieving
+force, the fall of the fortress, and its careful restoration as a
+base for the next advance. It was not owing to any weakness
+or want of precaution on the part of the enemy that
+Suchet thus captured all the noted fortresses of central<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span>
+Spain: in every case the Spaniards fought with grim
+determination, and the regular Spanish armies, aided by
+swarms of guerillas, made desperate efforts to relieve their
+beleaguered countrymen. But the French success was due
+to the qualities of their general. With a patience equal to
+that of Marlborough, with a power of supervision over detail
+like that of his great chief, Suchet knew exactly how to
+pick his staff and how far to trust his subordinates. Above
+all, he had absolute self-control. In the blackest hour he
+never gave way, under the most extreme provocation he
+never lost his temper; hence his own troops idolised him,
+while his perfect justice impressed itself on the enemy.
+Though the Spanish priests were teaching the catechism in
+every village that it was one's duty to love all men except
+the French, that it was not only lawful but one's sacred
+duty to kill all Frenchmen, though a letter was captured in
+which a guerilla chief ordered his subordinates to make
+every effort to capture Madame Suchet and to cut her
+throat, especially because she was pregnant, the commander-in-chief
+kept his men in absolute control, and punished with
+the greatest severity every outrage committed by his troops.</p>
+
+<p>The battle and siege of Valencia in 1811 were the crowning
+success of his career, and brought as their reward the
+long-coveted Marshal's bâton and the title of Duke of
+Albufera: to support his title the Emperor granted him
+half a million francs, a greater sum than he gave to any
+other of his Paladins. The year 1812 saw the Marshal
+busily engaged in reorganising the province of Valencia on
+the lines he had found so successful in Aragon. But his
+work there had never time to take root. The necessities of
+the Russian campaign had forced Napoleon to recall from
+Spain many of his best troops, while the successful advance
+of Wellington on Madrid showed how unstable was the
+French rule. It was the province of Valencia alone which
+supplied the money and provisions for the armies which
+reconquered the Spanish capital for King Joseph. In 1813<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span>
+the victorious advance of Wellington and the battle of
+Vittoria compelled Suchet to evacuate Valencia. The fall
+of Pampeluna caused him to evacuate Aragon. Deprived
+of all his trustworthy troops, he still, by his bold counter-attacks,
+delayed the advance of the English and Spaniards
+under Bentinck, but by the time Napoleon abdicated he
+had been compelled with his handful of men to fall back
+on French territory.</p>
+
+<p>Under the Restoration the Marshal was retained in command
+of the tenth division, but on Napoleon's return from
+Elba he once again rejoined his old leader, whom he had
+not seen since 1808. The Emperor greeted him most
+cordially. "Marshal Suchet," he said, "you have grown
+greatly in reputation since last we met. You are welcome;
+you bring with you glory and all the glamour that heroes
+give to their contemporaries on earth." The Marshal was
+at once sent off to his old home of Lyons to organise there
+out of nothing an army which was to cover the Alps. Men
+there were in plenty, but the arsenals were empty; still, the
+Marshal with ten thousand troops beat the Piedmontese on
+June 15th and a few days afterwards defeated the Austrians.
+But the occupation of Geneva by the Allies forced him to
+evacuate Savoy and fall back on Lyons, where he was
+greeted with the news of Waterloo. Under the second
+Restoration the Marshal never appeared in public life, and
+died at the château of Saint Joseph at Marseilles on
+January 3, 1826.</p>
+
+<p>Talking to O'Meara at St. Helena, Napoleon said, "Of
+the generals of France I give the preference to Suchet.
+Before his time Masséna was the first." At another time he
+said of him, "It is a pity that mortals cannot improvise men
+like him. If I had had two Marshals like Suchet I should
+not only have conquered Spain, but have kept it." While
+making due allowance for the probability that the Emperor
+was influenced in this speech by the fact that Suchet alone
+relieved the gloom of the unsuccessful war in Spain, it is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span>
+yet abundantly clear that the Marshal was a commander of
+no mean ability, for though he did not show the precocity
+of a Marmont, yet, as Napoleon himself said, "Suchet was
+a man whose mind and character increased wonderfully."</p>
+
+<p>As a commander-in-chief, though acting in a small sphere
+and never having more than fifty thousand troops under
+his command, he showed that he possessed determination,
+insight, and great powers of organisation. From the first
+he saw that the one and only way to wear down the Spanish
+resistance was to capture the fortresses. Hence his operations
+were twofold&mdash;the conduct of sieges and the protection
+of his convoys from the guerillas. He justified his reasoning;
+by 1812 he had captured no less than seventy-seven
+thousand officers and men and fourteen hundred guns
+and had pacified Aragon, Valencia, and part of Catalonia.
+Another great secret of his success lay in the fact that he
+knew how to profit by victory; the battle of Belchite
+followed on that of Maria; no sooner was Lerida captured
+than plans were made to take Mequinenza, and before that
+fortress was captured the siege train for Tortosa was got
+ready. Profiting by the depression of the enemy after the
+fall of Tortosa, he despatched columns to capture San
+Felipe and the Col of Balanquer. Thanks to his former
+training as chief of the staff, the Marshal was able with his
+own hand to draw up all the smallest regulations for siege
+operations, and for the government of Aragon and Valencia.
+The gift of drafting clear and concise orders and the intuition
+with which he chose his staff and column commanders
+explain to a great extent the reason why his operations in
+Catalonia, Aragon, and Valencia were so little hampered by
+the constant guerilla warfare which paralysed the other
+French commanders in Spain. The indefatigable energy
+with which he made himself personally acquainted with
+every officer under his command, and his knowledge of,
+sympathy with, and care for his soldiers, always made him
+popular; while the burning enthusiasm which he knew<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span>
+how to infuse into French, German, and Italian alike so
+stimulated his troops that he could demand almost any
+sacrifice from them. Thus it was that he himself created
+the morale which enabled him again and again to conquer
+against overwhelming odds.</p>
+
+<p>As a man, moderation and justice lay at the root of his
+character, and they account largely for his success as a
+statesman. He had the difficult task of administering
+Aragon and Valencia for the benefit of the army under
+his command; yet he was remembered not with hate, but
+with affection, by the people of those countries. When any
+one inquired what was the character of the French general,
+the Spaniards would reply, "He is a just man." The same
+moderation which caused him to save Tarragona and
+Valencia from the fury of his troops taught him to devote
+himself to the welfare of his temporary subjects, and caused
+his hospital arrangements to receive the gratuitous praise of
+the Spanish and English commanders. At Saragossa his
+name was given to one of the principal streets, and on
+his death the inhabitants of the town paid for masses for
+his soul, while the King of Spain was only voicing the
+feelings of the people when he wrote to the Marshal's
+widow that everything he had heard in Spain proved how
+deservedly the Duke of Albufera had gained the affections
+of the people of Valencia and Aragon.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XII" id="XII"></a>XII<br /><br />
+LAURENT GOUVION ST. CYR, MARSHAL</h2>
+
+
+<p>Laurent Gouvion St. Cyr, the son of a
+small landowner of Toul, was born in that town
+on April 13, 1764. His father, who was a
+Gouvion, had married a St. Cyr, but the marriage had
+turned out an unfortunate one, and soon after the birth
+of the young Laurent a separation was agreed on. Consequently,
+from an early age, the boy lacked a mother's
+care. His father, many of whose relations were in the
+artillery, desired his son to enter the army, and with that
+object in view sent him to the Artillery College at Toul.
+But at the age of eighteen the future Marshal decided to
+abandon the career of arms for that of art, preferring the
+freedom of an artist's life to the dull routine of garrison
+service. Taking the bit between his teeth early in 1782, he
+set off for Rome, which he made his headquarters for the
+following two years, with occasional trips as far as Sicily.
+The year 1789 found Laurent Gouvion established in
+Paris with a great knowledge of art and some considerable
+skill in technique. Steeped in classic lore, contemptuous
+of dull authority and full of youthful enthusiasm, he
+hailed with joy the outbreak of the Revolution. But by
+the end of 1792 the young painter was too keen a student
+of men and matters not to perceive "the danger which
+menaced the Republic," and, like all other thinking men,
+"was lost in astonishment, not to say at the imprudence,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span>
+but the folly of the Convention, which instead of seeking to
+diminish the number of its enemies, seemed resolved to
+augment them by successive insults, not merely against
+all kings, but against every existing government." In spite
+of this, when Europe threatened France, Laurent Gouvion
+was one of the first to enlist in the volunteers. His personality
+and former training at once made themselves felt;
+within a month of enlisting he was elected captain, in
+which grade he joined the Army of the Rhine under General
+Custine. On reaching the front the volunteer captain soon
+found scope for his pencil. In an army thoroughly disorganised
+a good draughtsman with an eye for country was
+no despicable asset. Gouvion was attached to the topographical
+department of the staff. He added his mother's
+name&mdash;St. Cyr&mdash;to his surname because of the constant
+confusion arising owing to the number of Gouvions employed
+with the army. After a year's hard work on the
+staff, during which he acquired a thorough grasp of the
+art of man&oelig;uvring according to the terrain, and a good
+working knowledge of the machinery of an army, St. Cyr
+was promoted on June 5, 1794, general of brigade, and six
+days later general of division. His promotion was not
+unmerited, for it was his complete mastery of mountain
+warfare which had contributed more than anything else
+to the success of the division of the Army of the Rhine
+to which he had been attached. The soldiers had long
+recognised the fact, and when they heard the guns booming
+through the defiles of the Vosges they used to call one to
+the other, "There is St. Cyr playing chess." Like Bernadotte,
+at first he refused this rapid promotion; he feared
+it might lead to the scaffold, for death was then the reward
+of failure, and besides this, the Gouvions were classed
+among the ci-devant nobles. As a commander the new
+general speedily proved that, much as he admired liberty
+in the abstract, he would have nothing but obedience from
+his men. Tall of stature, more like a professor than a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span>
+soldier, through all his career wearing the plain blue overcoat,
+without uniform or epaulettes, which were affected by
+the generals of the Army of the Rhine, St. Cyr soon became
+one of the best known generals of Republican France. As
+one of his most bitter enemies wrote of him, "It was
+impossible to find a calmer man; the greatest dangers,
+disappointments, successes, defeats, were alike unable to
+move him. In the presence of every sort of contingency
+he was like ice. It may be easily understood, of what
+advantage such a character, backed by a taste for study
+and meditation, was to a general officer." In the army
+of the Rhine Desaix and St. Cyr were regarded as the
+persons whose examples should be followed. The austerity
+of their manner of life, their sincere patriotism and laborious
+perseverance, left an indelible mark on all with whom they
+came in contact. But though they had much in common
+they were really very dissimilar, for Desaix was intoxicated
+with the love of glory, full of burning enthusiasm, sympathetic
+to an extraordinary degree, exceedingly susceptible
+to the influence of the moment, while St. Cyr loved duty
+as the rule of his life, modelled his action by the strict laws
+of calculation, was absolutely impervious to outside influence,
+and never knew what it was to doubt his own powers.
+But with all his great gifts he had many faults; he was
+exceedingly jealous, and without knowing it he allowed his
+own interests to affect his calculations, consequently very
+early in his career his fellow-generals hated to have to work
+in co-operation with him, and he got the name of being a
+"bad bed-fellow." Further, excellent as he was as a strategist
+and tactician, the details of administration bored him.
+He never held a review, never visited hospitals, and left the
+threads of administration in the hands of his subordinates;
+consequently, much as his troops trusted him in the field,
+they disliked him in quarters, because, while his discipline
+was most severe, he did nothing to provide for their needs
+or amusements.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 525px;">
+<a href="images/fp233-hi.jpg"><img src="images/fp233.jpg" width="525" height="600" alt="GOUVION ST. CYR, COUNT
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY J. GUERIN" title="" id="fp233"/></a><br />
+<span class="caption">GOUVION ST. CYR, COUNT<br />
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY J. GUERIN</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>From 1795 to the peace of Campo Formio St. Cyr
+shared the fortunes and vicissitudes of the Army of the
+Rhine, serving as a subordinate under Hoche, Jourdan,
+and Moreau. The battle of Biberach, in 1796, was his
+personal triumph. With one single corps he defeated
+three-fourths of the whole of the enemy's army and drove
+it in rout with a loss of five thousand prisoners. But in
+spite of this victory and numerous mentions in despatches,
+on being introduced to the Director Rewbell, after the
+treaty of Campo Formio, he was actually asked, "In which
+army have you served?" An explanation was necessary,
+whereupon the Director, finding that the general understood
+and spoke Italian, sent him off at once to take
+command of the Army of Rome. On March 26, 1798, he
+arrived there and commenced his first independent command.
+His task was a difficult one. The officers of the
+army had risen in revolt against Masséna, who had made
+no attempt to pay them or their troops, but had spent his
+time in amassing a fortune for himself. The new general
+had orders to arrest certain officers and restore discipline.
+It was a task admirably suited to his talents, and within
+four days of his arrival the disaffected were arrested and the
+mutiny quelled. His next duty, according to the command
+of the Directory, was to remove the Pope from
+Rome; by a queer coincidence the officer entrusted to
+escort his Holiness to Tuscany was a certain Colonel
+Calvin. So far St. Cyr, much against his wish, had carried
+out the orders of the Directory, but his next action was
+spontaneous and dictated by his own idea of justice. It
+was the hour of spoliation: a committee appointed by the
+Directory was busy in transporting to France all the
+masterpieces of Italian art, and the newly-appointed
+Consuls of the Roman Republic were likewise fully engaged
+in acts of vandalism. When the general heard that the
+magnificent oblation of diamonds belonging to the Doria
+family had been purloined from the Church of St. Agnes to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span>
+grace the necks of the wives of the bastard Consuls, he at
+once ordered the ostensoir to be returned to its owners.
+The Consuls appealed to the Directory; so after a command
+of four short months St. Cyr was recalled, only to be
+sent at once to resume his old position as a divisional
+commander in the Army of the Rhine.</p>
+
+<p>From there in June, 1799, he was hurriedly despatched
+to Italy to aid Moreau, who was attempting to stem the
+victorious advance of the Austrians and Russians. He
+arrived in time to take part in the hard-fought fight of
+Novi, and to help to organise a stubborn resistance on the
+slopes of the Apennines. Before the battle of Novi he
+actually had a glimpse of the redoubtable Suvaroff himself.
+The Russian general, who trusted his own eyes more than
+the reports of his scouts, one day rode right up to the line
+of French vedettes clad in his usual fighting kit, a shirt
+and pair of breeches, and after a hurried reconnaissance
+returned to his camp and gave his celebrated order: "God
+wishes, the Emperor orders, Suvaroff commands, that to-morrow
+the enemy be conquered." Novi added lustre to
+St. Cyr's reputation; it was his strenuous resistance on the
+right flank and his admirable handling of the rear guard
+which prevented the victorious Allies from hurling the
+beaten French through the passes into the sea. But Novi
+was an easy task compared to what was to follow. The
+passes of the Apennines had to be held and Genoa covered
+with a handful of men dispirited by defeat and half
+mutinous from want of necessary food. It was a rabble,
+not an army; there was no commissariat, no pay chest,
+no store of clothing. Meanwhile Genoa lay smouldering in
+rebellion at his rear. The task suited the man; by a series
+of clever feints and man&oelig;uvres in the valley of the
+Bormida, he outwitted the enemy and gradually restored
+the morale of his troops, and was able to hurry back to
+Genoa with three battalions at the psychological moment
+when mutiny and rebellion were showing their head. With<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span>
+absolute calmness he told the civic authorities to prepare
+quarters for eight thousand troops, of which the few with
+him were the advance guard. The authorities, staggered
+by his sudden appearance, never doubted the arrival of
+this fabulous force, and subsequently St. Cyr was able
+to occupy all the strongholds in the town with the
+handful of troops he had with him, and then at his
+leisure to arrest the ringleaders of the rebellion. Meanwhile,
+the judicious establishment of free soup kitchens in
+the streets alleviated the necessities of the mob. Scarcely
+was Genoa pacified when the general was confronted by a
+much more serious event. Famine had driven the soldiers
+to mutiny, and even the very outposts withdrew from
+contact with the enemy, and announced their intention of
+returning to France. It was only by raising a forced loan
+from the Ligurian Government, and delivering a most
+touching appeal to their patriotism, that he was able to
+persuade the mutineers to return to their duty, telling
+them that if they left the colours, he intended, "with the
+generals, officers, and non-commissioned officers to hold
+the positions occupied by the army." Further to encourage
+them he began a series of small engagements, which restored
+their morale and led up to the battle of Albano,
+where he inflicted so severe a defeat on the Austrians that
+Genoa was for a considerable time relieved from all danger.
+The First Consul, on hearing of the victory of Albano, at
+once sent St. Cyr a sword of honour, a Damascus blade in
+a richly engraved sheath, with the pommel encrusted with
+diamonds, which had originally been intended for the
+Sultan.</p>
+
+<p>But though thus rewarded by receiving the first sword of
+honour ever given by the First Consul, he was never a
+<i>persona grata</i> with Napoleon. Accordingly at the beginning
+of 1800 he was withdrawn from the Army of Italy and sent
+as lieutenant to Moreau, who was to operate in the valley of
+the Danube while Bonaparte reserved the theatre of Italy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span>
+for himself. It was most unfortunate for St. Cyr that he
+was supposed to belong to the Moreau faction, for day by
+day the struggle between that general and the First Consul
+became more bitter. Moreau took no trouble to conceal
+his dislike of Bonaparte, and on hearing a rumour that the
+First Consul intended to take command of the Army of the
+Rhine and install him as second in command, he lost his
+temper and told his staff at dinner "that he did not want a
+little tin Louis XIV. with his army, and that if the First
+Consul came he would go." Meanwhile great friction arose
+between the general and his new commander-in-chief. St.
+Cyr, proud of his late achievements, severely criticised the
+plans and organisation of his chief, who was extremely
+indignant at the idea that anybody should doubt his ability
+to manage an army of one hundred and thirty thousand
+men, and at the same time to command in person the reserve
+corps of twenty-five thousand; so Moreau belittled St.
+Cyr's achievements. St. Cyr at D'Engen, Mosskirch, and
+Biberach showed his accustomed skill as a tactician, but
+failed to keep in touch with the columns on his right and
+left, and increased his reputation as a jealous fighter. The
+second battle of Biberach was a masterpiece of audacity,
+and to his dying day the general, when recalling his success,
+always maintained, "On that day I was a man." During
+the operations round Ulm relations became still more
+strained, and St. Cyr was glad to seize the excuse of a wound
+to demand his return to France. The First Consul took the
+line which he always pursued with those whom he disliked
+but feared. He rewarded St. Cyr by making him a Councillor
+of State, and at the same time he got him out of the
+way by sending him on a diplomatic mission to Spain. The
+general remained at Madrid till August, 1802, and then after
+a short period of leave at Paris he was despatched in 1803 to
+command the army at Faenza which was to occupy the
+kingdom of Naples after the rupture of the treaty of Amiens.
+During the two years spent in command of the army of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span>
+occupation he had many opportunities of showing his
+patience and diplomatic skill. The court of Naples had to
+be treated with all honour but watched with the greatest
+care, every effort had to be made to maintain outwardly an
+appearance of great cordiality, while Napoleon's demands
+had to be insisted on to the letter. The situation was
+further complicated by the continued interference of Murat,
+who commanded the Army of Italy, and who desired to
+have the Army of Naples under his control. The strictest
+discipline had to be maintained among the troops to prevent
+the Neapolitans having any handle to use against the army
+of occupation. So successfully did St. Cyr keep his troops
+in hand that the Neapolitan minister wrote in his next
+despatch to the Queen, "Madame, we can make nothing of
+that point; these men are not soldiers, they are monks." In
+spite of many an anxious moment these two years in Naples
+were pleasant years for the general, who delighted in the
+congenial society of the many men of letters who were
+attached to his army, for, as Paul Louis Corné wrote of him,
+"He is a man of merit, a learned man, perhaps the most
+learned of men in the gentle art of massacre, a pleasant
+man in private life, a great friend of mine." But there was
+one great disappointment connected with this Neapolitan
+command, for in 1804 St. Cyr found his name excluded
+from the list of Marshals, and the empty title of colonel-general
+of the cuirassiers and the Grand Cordon of the
+Legion of Honour in no way made amends for this
+disappointment.</p>
+
+<p>The outbreak of the war with Austria in the autumn of
+1805 caused Napoleon to withdraw the army of occupation
+from Naples, and St. Cyr hastened north in time to help
+Masséna drive the Austrians out of Styria and Carinthia.
+He greatly distinguished himself at Castel Franco, where
+with a smaller force he captured the whole of a column of
+the enemy under the Prince de Rohan. A month later he
+was sent back in haste with thirty thousand men to reinvade<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span>
+Naples, which Napoleon had given as a kingdom to his
+brother Joseph, but on hearing that he was to act as a
+subordinate to Masséna he threw up his command and
+withdrew to Paris. This independent conduct increased
+Napoleon's dislike for him, and he was peremptorily ordered
+to return to Naples, where he remained till August, 1806.</p>
+
+<p>It was not till two years later that the Emperor once again
+employed St. Cyr on active service. But the task he then
+called upon him to perform was one that would make any
+general, who was anxious about his reputation, hesitate to
+undertake. For Napoleon sent him with a motley force of
+some forty-eight thousand Swiss, Italians, and Germans to
+restore French prestige in the mountainous country of
+Catalonia, and ended his orders with the words, "Preserve
+Barcelona for me; if it is lost I cannot retake it with eighty
+thousand men." In Barcelona lay the French general,
+Duhesme, who had been hustled into that town by the
+Spanish regulars and guerillas after the news of the great
+French disaster at Baylen. It was absolutely vital to the
+French to relieve Duhesme before lack of provisions caused
+him to surrender, but before any advance could be made it
+was necessary to seize the fortress of Rosas, which lay on
+the flank of the road from France to Barcelona; this post
+St. Cyr successfully took by assault under the very guns of
+Lord Dundonald's fleet. But still the problem of relieving
+Barcelona was a difficult one. There were two alternative
+lines of advance: the first and easier lay along the coast, but
+was exposed to the guns of the English fleet; the other
+road was a mere track through the mountains, and was
+accordingly extremely difficult owing to the excellent opportunities
+it gave to the guerillas. But St. Cyr, keeping his
+seventeen thousand men well in hand and taking every
+precaution against ambushes, successfully broke through the
+lines of regulars and guerillas, relieved Barcelona, and
+pushed on down the coast towards Tarragona. His further
+advance was stopped by the rapid reorganisation of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span>
+Spanish armies in Catalonia, and it became clear that until
+Gerona, which commanded the mountain road to France,
+was taken, the French forces in the south would always be
+in danger of having their communications cut. Accordingly
+the Emperor ordered him to return to assist General Verdier
+to capture this important town. Gerona had at one time
+been a fortress, but it was now simply covered with a feeble
+rampart. But the courage of the townspeople and their
+patriotism was fired by the example of Saragossa, and their
+spirit was animated by their governor, Alvarez, whose order,
+"Whoever speaks of capitulation or defeat shall be instantly
+put to death," was received with shouts of delight. Owing
+to quarrels between St. Cyr and Verdier, to the stubbornness
+of the defence, and above all to the constant success
+of the Spanish General Blake in throwing provisions into
+the town, the siege, which commenced by sap and assault,
+gradually drifted into a mere blockade, and lasted for six
+and a half months. At last the Emperor, angry at the
+constant bickering between the commanders and at the protracted
+siege, superseded St. Cyr by Marshal Augereau. However,
+it did not suit that Marshal to take over his command
+until there seemed a reasonable prospect of success, and
+accordingly he waited at Perpignan for news of the approaching
+end of the siege. At last St. Cyr in disgust threw
+up his command without waiting for the arrival of Augereau.
+The Emperor marked this act of insubordination by sending
+him under arrest to his country estate and depriving
+him of all his appointments. Accordingly one of the few
+French generals who never sustained a defeat in Spain
+passed the next two years of his life in disgrace without
+employment, while day by day the French arms were
+suffering reverses in the Peninsula.</p>
+
+<p>It was not till 1812 that the Emperor recalled St. Cyr to
+active employment and gazetted him to the command of the
+sixth corps, which, together with the second corps under the
+command of Marshal Oudinot, was employed on the line<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span>
+of the Dwina to cover the communications of the forces
+advancing on Moscow. The campaign in Russia showed
+the general at his best and at his worst. In the operations
+round Polotsk his great tactical ability enabled him with the
+small forces under his command to foil again and again the
+efforts of the Russian commander, Wittgenstein, but owing
+to his want of supervision before the winter arrived the
+sixth corps, which entered Russia twenty-five thousand
+strong, had been reduced to two thousand six hundred
+bayonets. It was not till his corps had almost disappeared
+that he bestirred himself and compelled his subordinates to
+look after the well-being and provisions of their men. Moreover,
+when placed under the command of Marshal Oudinot,
+while carrying out to the letter all orders transmitted to
+him, he invariably refused to aid him with his advice, and
+even during the first battle of Polotsk, when asked his
+opinion, he merely bowed and said, "My Lord Marshal!"
+as though he would say, "As they have made you a Marshal,
+you must know more about the matter than a mere general
+like me; get out of it as best you can." But as soon as a
+wound caused Oudinot to retire from the field he at once
+seized the reins of command, and so great was the influence
+and confidence that he inspired that in a few hours the
+army which Oudinot had left scattered and depressed with
+its back to a river, was advancing victoriously and sweeping
+all before it. But, good soldier as he was when left in
+supreme command, he unfortunately would not act in
+co-operation with others, and when at the end of October
+Victor, with twenty-five thousand troops, arrived to reinforce
+him, he seized the opportunity of a wound to throw up his
+command and return to France. As one of his critics says,
+"All that St. Cyr needed to be a consummate commander
+was a smaller share of egotism, and the knowledge to attach
+men and officers to him by attending to their wants." Still,
+Napoleon recognised his services against Wittgenstein by at
+last making him a Marshal.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>An attack of typhus and a burst blood-vessel deprived the
+Emperor of his new Marshal's assistance until after the
+armistice of Dresden. This was the first occasion on which
+the two had actually come into close contact, and Napoleon
+quickly saw that "thrawn" and jealous as St. Cyr undoubtedly
+was, his clearness of brain made his advice of the
+highest importance, while St. Cyr speedily fell under the
+charm of the great Emperor. Accordingly all through the
+campaign Napoleon constantly came to him for advice, which
+was never withheld. Remembering also his great reputation
+as a master of mountain warfare, the Emperor entrusted him
+with the duty of holding the highland passes leading by
+Pirna on to Dresden, while he himself hurried off to Silesia.
+In the great battle round Dresden the Marshal's twenty
+thousand raw recruits played their part nobly. Napoleon,
+to cover his own mistakes, laid the blame of Vandamme's
+disaster on St. Cyr and Marmont, but in his private letter to
+the Marshal he placed the blame on Vandamme, as he
+wrote, "That unhappy Vandamme, who seems to have
+killed himself, had not a sentinel on the mountain nor a
+reserve anywhere." When the Emperor fell back on
+Leipzig he entrusted the defence of Dresden to St. Cyr,
+leaving him twenty-two thousand troops and provisions for
+eight days. After a siege of a month the Marshal was compelled
+for lack of powder to surrender with the honours of
+war, but the Allies, after the evacuation of the town, refused
+to carry out the terms of the surrender, and retained him
+and his troops as prisoners of war; consequently he took
+no part in the campaign of 1814. During the Hundred Days
+he remained quietly at his country estate, but on the second
+Restoration he was called upon to undertake the duties of
+Minister of War, to disband the old army and to organise
+the new forces of France; his tenure of office was short, as
+he refused to serve a ministry which proposed to cede French
+territory to the enemy. In May, 1817, on the accession of
+a Liberal ministry, he once again took office, and during this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span>
+period he laid the foundation of the General Staff of the
+Army, but in November, 1819, he resigned, and lived in
+retirement till he died at Hyères on March 17, 1830.</p>
+
+<p>During his hours of leisure the Marshal wrote his Memoirs,
+which he intended to aid the future historian of the French
+wars. These Memoirs show how clear and cutting his
+judgments were, both of men and matters, and his criticisms
+throw many useful lights on Napoleon's character and his
+methods of warfare, while they also to a great extent reveal
+his own character. No one who reads them can doubt that
+St. Cyr was a great strategist, while his powers as a tactician
+are proved by his never-failing success on the field of battle.
+But in spite of these talents the Marshal's actual record as
+a soldier is spoiled by his defects of character. A great
+believer in living by rule, he had two maxims which he ever
+clung to. First, that in war acts of kindness are too often
+harmful; second, the old adage of Machiavelli, "That a victory
+destroys the effect of the worst operation, and that the man
+who knows how to give battle can be pardoned every fault
+that he may have before committed in his military career."
+It is to these two maxims that we must attribute the want of
+supervision he showed over his troops and his absolute lack
+of cordiality towards his fellow Marshals and generals, which
+gave him the nickname of the "Bad bed-fellow." For that
+he did not lack the talents of an organiser is shown by the
+way, when roused, he provided for his troops in Russia, and
+also by the success of his efforts when Minister of War.
+But of all his gifts undoubtedly the most useful was his
+absolute coolness: no matter how badly the fight went, no
+matter if he were run away with in his carriage and carried
+straight through a brigade of the enemy's horse, he never
+was ruffled, never lost his clear grip on the situation. His
+bitter enemy, Macdonald, well summed up his character in
+answer to Louis XVIII.'s questions as to whether he was
+lazy. "I am not aware of it," said the Duke of Tarentum.
+"He is a man of great military capacity, firm, honest, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span>
+jealous of other peoples' merit. In the army he is regarded
+as what is called a 'bad bed-fellow.' In the coldest manner
+possible he allowed his neighbours to be beaten, without
+attempting to assist them, and then criticised them afterwards.
+But this opinion, not uncommon among soldiers, is perhaps
+exaggerated, and he is admitted to have calmness and great
+capabilities."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XIII" id="XIII"></a>XIII<br /><br />
+BON ADRIEN JEANNOT DE MONCEY, MARSHAL,<br />
+DUKE OF CONEGLIANO</h2>
+
+
+<p>The glamour of war appeals strongly to most men, to
+some it calls with irresistible demand. Such an
+one was the Duke of Conegliano. Born on July
+31, 1754, at Palise, a little village of Besançon, the son of a
+well-to-do lawyer, Bon Adrien Jeannot loathed scholarship
+and loved adventure. When but fifteen years old the future
+Marshal ran away from school and enlisted in the Conti
+regiment of infantry. After six months' service he reluctantly
+agreed to the purchase of his discharge by his father;
+but very soon ran away again to enlist in the regiment of
+Champagne. He served with this regiment till 1773, when,
+finding that his hopes of gaining a commission were disappointed,
+he once again bought himself out. A few
+months, however, spent in the study of the law only served
+to increase his hatred of a sedentary life and to kindle once
+more his old ambition, and he again enlisted as a private, this
+time in the gendarmerie. But now fortune was more kind,
+and after four years' service he achieved his desire and was
+gazetted, in 1779, as sub-lieutenant in the dragoons of
+Nassau Siegen. It was not, however, till April, 1791, that
+he gained his captaincy, which had cost him twenty-three
+years' hard service; but now promotion came rapidly, and
+in three years' time he rose to the rank of general of
+division.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In 1793 Moncey's regiment of dragoons formed part of
+the Army of the Western Pyrenees. In the first engagement
+with the enemy he had the good fortune to distinguish himself.
+The Spanish commander-in-chief, Bonaventura Casa,
+led a charge of horse against the ill-disciplined recruits and
+volunteers who formed the mass of the French army covering
+St. Jean Pied de Porte. The miserable French infantry
+broke, with cries of "We are betrayed!" and it was Moncey
+who, rallying a few brave men, stopped the charge of the
+enemy's horse. Energetic, clear-witted, and self-confident,
+he soon became a man of mark. In February, 1794, he was
+promoted general of brigade, and six months later general
+of division, in which capacity, in August of that year, he
+was mainly instrumental in forcing the lines of Fontarabia;
+on the proposition of Barrère he was, a few days later,
+appointed by the Convention commander-in-chief of the
+Army of the Western Pyrenees. In October he fully justified
+his selection by forcing the famous pass of Roncesvalles, so
+intimately connected with the names of Charlemagne and
+the Black Prince. This action, which made good a footing
+in Spain, was extremely brilliant; the position, strong by
+nature, had been made almost impregnable by months of
+hard labour. Moreover, the French troops were badly
+handicapped by the difficulty of getting food; but, by now,
+they were very different from the ill-trained levies of 1793.
+The turning column, which had four days' hard mountain
+climbing and fighting on three biscuits per man, found
+nothing to eat, when the pass was forced, save a little flour,
+for the Spanish had burnt their magazines. In spite of this
+there was no grumbling, and the men, as their general
+reported, pressed on with cries of "Vive la République!"
+Moncey, like Napoleon, knew how to use the great driving
+force of hunger. He thoroughly deserved the thanks which
+he received from the Convention, and he fully earned them
+again when, early in 1795, he drove the Spanish army in
+flight across the Ebro, for it was his magnificent forward<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span>
+movement which forced Spain to accede to the treaty of
+Basle.</p>
+
+<p>From Spain the general was transferred to the Army of the
+Côtes de Brest. A year later he was posted to the command
+of the eleventh military division at Bayonne, and he
+was still there when, in October, 1799, Bonaparte returned
+from Egypt and overthrew the Directory. No politician,
+it mattered little to Moncey who governed France, as long
+as the honour of the country was maintained and he saw
+active service. Accordingly he gladly accepted from the
+new government the position of lieutenant to Moreau, the
+commander-in-chief of the Army of the Rhine. But he did
+not serve long under his new chief, being detached in May
+at the head of sixteen thousand to cross the Alps by the St.
+Gothard Pass, as part of the great stroke aimed at the
+Austrian lines of communication in Italy. His corps formed
+a flank guard to the main Army of the Reserve, which crossed
+the St. Bernard under Napoleon himself. In the operations
+which succeeded the battle of Marengo the First Consul
+made full use of Moncey's great experience in mountain
+warfare, and sent him to the Valtelline to join hands with
+Macdonald, who was crossing the Alps by the Splügen Pass.
+Thereafter his division formed the left wing of the French
+army under Brune. After a brilliant series of skirmishes in
+the mountains, Moncey drove the flying enemy into Trent,
+but he was robbed of complete victory by the Austrian
+general, Laudon, who sent a message to say that Brune and
+Bellegarde had made an armistice. Unfortunately for the
+French their general, the soul of honour, suspected no
+deceit, and thus the Austrians were saved from annihilation
+or absolute surrender.</p>
+
+<p>After the peace of Lunéville General Moncey was
+appointed Inspector-General of gendarmerie, and on
+Napoleon's elevation to the throne was created, in 1804,
+Marshal, Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour, and in
+1808 Duke of Conegliano. Moncey invariably spoke his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span>
+mind, and for this reason was no favourite with the
+Emperor; further, in comparison with his fellow Marshals,
+he was an old man, so from 1800 to 1808 he was not
+employed on active service. But on the invasion of
+Spain, Napoleon determined to make use of the Duke of
+Conegliano's knowledge of that country, and ordered him to
+proceed there with the Army of Observation of the Ocean,
+which he was then commanding at Boulogne. This army
+became the third corps of the newly formed Army of Spain.
+It was composed almost entirely of recruits, and when
+Murat marched into Madrid at the head of the third corps,
+the poor physique of these "weak and weedy privates" had
+a very bad effect on the situation, for the Spaniards thought
+they could easily defeat such troops. From Madrid the
+Marshal was sent to capture Valencia, which had broken
+out into revolt against the French. Though old, the Duke
+of Conegliano was still active and vigorous. After a month's
+continuous fighting across mountain passes and rivers he
+reached Valencia; but he found the town in a state of
+defence. As Napoleon said on hearing of his check, "A
+city of eighty thousand inhabitants, barricaded streets, and
+artillery entrenched at the gates cannot be taken by the
+collar." Accordingly there was nothing for it but to retreat,
+and this the Marshal did in such a masterly manner that the
+failure of his expedition produced but little bad effect on the
+French cause. When, after Baylen, Joseph held his council
+of war at Madrid, Moncey alone stood out for the bold
+course of cutting communication with France and concentrating
+around the capital; but he was overruled, and
+the French fell back on the line of the Ebro.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as Napoleon arrived in Spain he vented his anger
+indiscriminately on all those Marshals who had served
+under Joseph, but his greatest displeasure fell on Moncey,
+for the Duke of Conegliano did not believe that Spain could
+be gained by hanging all those who resisted, and had
+actually received the thanks of the Junta of Oviedo, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span>
+considered him "a just and honourable man," and published
+a manifesto saying, "We know this illustrious general
+detests the conduct of his companions." Accordingly, in
+the eyes of the Emperor he had been guilty of bungling
+and slackness, if not of something worse, and he was therefore
+subjected to the cruel affront of being placed under the
+orders of Lannes, a junior Marshal. Though much annoyed,
+as a soldier he could only obey, and the Emperor's decision
+was to some extent justified, as Lannes won the battle of
+Tudela with the same troops which Moncey had not dared
+to lead against the enemy. Three months later the Marshal
+was once again superseded by Lannes, and this time recalled
+and sent to France. The ostensible reason for this was, that
+in the Emperor's opinion he had not pressed the siege of
+Saragossa. With a desire to avoid bloodshed he had tried
+to induce the Spaniards to capitulate by entering into
+negotiations, instead of pushing on his siege batteries. But
+his real offence was that he had not concealed his dislike of
+the seizure of Spain.</p>
+
+<p>In 1812 his disgrace was deepened, for he expressed
+with equal frankness his hatred of the Russian campaign.
+Though never again employed at the front, the Emperor
+made use of him in 1809 in Holland, and in 1812 and 1813
+he led the Army of Reserve; while in 1814 he was appointed
+major-general of the National Guard of Paris and
+made responsible for the defence of the capital. In the last
+dark days before the city capitulated Moncey, with six
+thousand citizen soldiers, fought bravely outside the Clichy
+gate.</p>
+
+<p>On the Restoration the Marshal became a Minister of
+State and a member of the new Chamber of Peers, and
+was confirmed in his old appointment of inspector of
+gendarmerie. But on the return of Napoleon he forgot
+the wrongs the Emperor had done him; he thought only of
+the glory Napoleon had once won for France; so he swore
+allegiance to the imperial government and was created a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span>
+peer. But, on account of his age, the Emperor gave him
+no military command. To punish him for his desertion,
+Louis XVIII., on the second Restoration, appointed him
+president of the council of war for the trial of Ney. But
+the Duke of Conegliano wrote to the King boldly refusing
+to have anything to do with the trial of the hero of Moskowa.
+So angry was the King at his courageous act that he stripped
+the veteran of his marshalate and the title of duke, and sent
+him to prison for three months in the castle of Ham, the
+same prison which was later to receive the future Napoleon
+III. But time brought forgiveness. In 1819 the Marshal
+was restored to his honours, and in 1823 was actually once
+again employed on active service. It must have brought
+strange memories of the past to the veteran, who had been
+thought too old to fight at Waterloo, again to see service in
+Spain, where he had won his laurels in 1794 and had found
+naught but disgrace in 1808. So, in his seventieth year, he
+made his last campaign, not in command of a republican or
+imperial army, but as a corps commander in the royal army
+under the Duc d'Angoulême. This time, however, there
+was but little call on his courage and ability, for the
+campaign brought no fighting and was merely a military
+promenade. On the fall of the Bourbon dynasty the
+Marshal took no active part in affairs, but as Governor
+of the Invalides in December, 1833, he had the honour to
+receive the remains of Napoleon when they were translated
+to France; and on his death nine years later, in 1842, at his
+special request, he was buried in the "aisle of the brave,"
+close to the tomb of the great Emperor.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XIV" id="XIV"></a>XIV<br /><br />
+JEAN BAPTISTE JOURDAN, MARSHAL</h2>
+
+
+<p>Among the recruits who enlisted in the Auxerrois
+regiment in 1778 was the son of the local doctor
+of Limoges, Jean Baptiste Jourdan. But sixteen
+years old, having been born on April 29, 1762, Jean
+Baptiste was attracted to the service by the desire to see
+America and to aid in the good cause against "perfide
+Albion." Returning to France in 1784, with all hopes of
+gaining a commission dashed to the ground by Ségur's
+ordinance, which excluded from commissioned rank all but
+those of noble birth, Jourdan took his discharge. The ex-sergeant
+married a marchande de modes, and set up a small
+drapery shop, but so humble was this venture that the future
+Marshal had to carry his stock in a valise on his back, and
+trudge from fair to fair to peddle his wares. As he went
+from village to village he retold his adventures and fired his
+listeners with the account of the glorious freedom of the
+New World, comparing it with the miserable restrictions
+which had driven from the army himself and many another
+fine soldier. When in the autumn of 1791 there came the
+call for volunteers, Jean Baptiste gladly left his counter and
+enlisted in the battalion of the Upper Vienne. His experience
+and ability soon marked him out for command,
+and he was chosen by his comrades as lieutenant-colonel.
+The opportunity he had long dreamed of had at last arrived,
+and he made the most of it. Methodical and industrious,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span>
+with the lessons of handling and equipping irregulars
+which he had had in America, he made his battalion a
+pattern for the others, and was complimented by Lafayette
+on the admirable condition of his command. Serving under
+Dumouriez in the invasion of Belgium, he was present at
+Jemappes, and there proved that, in addition to powers of
+organisation, he possessed the capacity for leading in the
+field. Promotion came speedily when the guillotine cleared
+the way in the higher ranks by removing the incompetent
+and unfortunate.</p>
+
+<p>By May, 1793, he had gained the grade of general of
+brigade; two months later he became general of division.
+His first opportunity of distinguishing himself in high
+command came six weeks later, when he was entrusted by
+Houchard with the command of the advance guard in the
+operations which ended in driving the English from the
+siege of Dunkirk. So well did he execute his orders at
+the battle of Handschötten that Carnot selected him to
+succeed his commander when Houchard was hurried off to
+the guillotine for failing to reap the full fruits of victory.
+Jourdan was fortunate in that Carnot, "the organiser of
+victory," was responsible for the welfare of the French arms,
+and not the despicable Bouchotte. Carnot had grasped the
+fact that, if you are to defeat your enemy, you must bring
+superior moral and physical force against him at the decisive
+spot. Thanks therefore to him, Jourdan was able to mass
+superior weight, and at Maubeuge hurl himself on the
+scattered forces of the enemy, who were covering the siege
+of Valenciennes. But the victory of Maubeuge nearly cost
+him his head, as that of Handschötten had done for his
+predecessor. The Committee of Public Safety, with that
+incompetent rashness which those who know least of war
+most readily believe to be military wisdom, ordered him to
+pursue the enemy and conquer Belgium. It was in vain
+that he pointed out the strength of the Allies, his want of
+transport and stores, and the difficulty of undertaking a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span>
+winter campaign with raw troops: reason was of no avail;
+his resignation was wrathfully accepted, and he was ordered
+to Paris to give an account of his actions. Face to face
+with the Committee, the General renewed his arguments,
+explained how the old battalions of regulars had dwindled
+down to some two hundred muskets apiece; how the new
+levies possessed neither arms nor clothing; how some
+battalions were armed with pikes, some merely with
+cudgels; and finished by offering, as a proof of his zeal
+for the Republic, to go to La Vendée and fight against
+the rebels. The truth of his statement and his obvious
+disinterestedness won the day, and, though for the moment
+he was refused a new command, his life was saved. Moreover,
+the Committee of Safety profited by his advice, and
+during the winter the Army of the North was reclothed and
+equipped. Thanks partly to his suggestion, the battalions
+of the line were brigaded with the volunteers, and this
+reorganisation produced the magnificent regiments which
+Napoleon found to hand when he commenced his career
+in Italy.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 466px;">
+<a href="images/fp252-hi.jpg"><img src="images/fp252.jpg" width="466" height="600" alt="JEAN BAPTISTE JOURDAN
+AFTER A DRAWING BY AMBROISE TARDIEU" title="" id="fp252"/></a><br />
+<span class="caption">JEAN BAPTISTE JOURDAN<br />
+AFTER A DRAWING BY AMBROISE TARDIEU</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Jourdan's time of inactivity was but short. He had
+proved his worth in the field, and France needed every
+capable soldier. Moreover, he had made open testimony of
+his republicanism in the Jacobin Club, swearing before the
+Tribune that "the sword which he wore should only be
+unsheathed to oppose tyrants and defend the rights of the
+people." So, in March, 1794, he was sent to take command
+of a new army which Carnot had been raising during
+the winter. By June this new force of one hundred
+thousand, known to history as the famous Army of the
+Sambre and Meuse, had established itself on the Meuse and
+taken Charleroi. Coburg, the commander-in-chief of the
+Allies, anxious about his communications, hurried to oppose
+this successful advance, and on June 25th was fought the
+battle of Fleurus, which caused the Allies to evacuate
+France, ended the Reign of Terror, and was the starting-point<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span>
+for the long period of offensive warfare which was at
+last brought to an end twenty-one years later on the field
+of Waterloo. At Fleurus Jourdan proved his ability as a
+tactician, and the victory was due to the moral courage with
+which he threw his last reserve into the fray. Backed by
+the Army of the North under Pichegru, he then swept over
+Belgium, and by the autumn the republican armies had
+crossed the Rhine.</p>
+
+<p>During the next year Jourdan was engaged in the
+Rhine valley. But in 1796 he was ordered to advance
+through the Black Forest on Ratisbon, and there join
+another French army under Moreau, which was moving
+down the right bank of the Danube. Against this defective
+strategy he protested in vain, and, as he had
+expected, was driven back by the able measures of the
+Austrian general, the Archduke Charles. After this misfortune
+he was placed on the unemployed list, and, for
+some time, had to find an outlet for his energies in the field
+of politics. Entering the Council of Five Hundred as the
+representative of the Upper Vienne, he was warmly
+received by the republican party, and voted against the
+proposed re-establishment of the Catholic religion, and
+supported the coup d'état of the 18th Fructidor, by which
+the royalist councillors were driven into exile. Full of fiery
+zeal for the Republic, a rhetorical speaker ready to appeal
+to the gallery, swearing on his sabre the oath of fidelity, he
+nevertheless had a cool head for business, and it was at his
+suggestion that in September, 1798, the celebrated law was
+passed whereby conscription became the sole method of
+recruiting for the army. Jourdan introduced the law with
+a flourish of trumpets, assuring the Council that "in agreeing
+to it they had decreed the power of the Republic to be
+imperishable," while as a matter of fact they were forging
+the weapon which was to place their country at the mercy
+of the first adventurer who had the courage and capacity to
+make himself dictator. In 1799 foreign danger once again<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span>
+caused him to be entrusted with a military command, and
+once again he was opposed by his old adversary, the Archduke
+Charles, and driven back in retreat across the Rhine.
+Thereon the Directory superseded him by Masséna, and he
+returned to the Council of Five Hundred, and in September
+proposed his memorable resolution, "that the country is in
+danger." "Italy under the yoke, the barbarians of the north
+at our very barriers, Holland invaded, the fleet treacherously
+given up, Helvetia ravaged, bands of royalists indulging
+in every excess, the republicans proscribed under the
+name of Terrorists and Jacobins." Such were the outlines
+of his picture. "One more reverse on our frontier," he
+added, "and the alarm bell of royalty will ring over the
+whole surface of France." But France had had enough of
+the Terror, and knew that she could evolve her safety by
+other means than that of the guillotine. Six weeks later
+Bonaparte returned from Egypt.</p>
+
+<p>From the advent of the Consulate a blight fell over
+Jourdan's career. Napoleon could never forgive him for
+the obstinacy with which he had opposed him on the
+18th Brumaire. True, in 1800 he appointed him Governor
+of Piedmont, and in 1804 created him Marshal. He could
+not withhold the bâton from the general who had in 1794
+driven the enemy from the sacred soil of France, who,
+more often than any other general, had commanded in
+chief the armies of the Republic, and who, in spite of
+numerous defeats, had established a reputation as one
+of the most brilliant of the generals of republican France.
+But though he gave him his bâton Napoleon thought but
+little of his military ability, and called him "a poor
+general"; for in his eyes success, and success alone, was
+the test of merit, and he could see nothing in a general
+who, from his capacity for emerging with credit from
+defeat, was surnamed "The Anvil." But it was not this
+which caused Napoleon to snub the gallant Marshal: it
+was his ardent republicanism and well-known Jacobin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span>
+sentiments which made him so hateful to the Emperor.
+But though Napoleon treated him shamefully, and did
+all he could to cast him into ill repute, the Marshal
+showed he had a soul above mere personal ambitions, and
+served France faithfully. At St. Helena the fallen Emperor
+confessed: "I certainly used that man very ill: he is a true
+patriot, and that is the answer to many things urged against
+him." From 1805 to 1815 Jourdan's life was full of mortification.
+When the war broke out against Austria in 1805
+he was in command of the army in Italy, but was at once
+superseded, under the plea that his health was bad, and
+that he did not know the theatre of war like Masséna.
+However cleverly the pill was gilded, the Marshal knew
+that it was the Emperor's distrust which had lost him
+the command. But, though Napoleon disliked him, Joseph
+was his friend, and in 1806 the new King of Naples applied
+to be allowed to take him with him to Italy as his major-general
+and chief of the staff. When in 1808 Joseph
+exchanged the crown of Naples for that of Spain the
+Marshal accompanied him, and when, in 1809, Napoleon
+hurriedly left Spain to return to Paris, he appointed him
+chief of the staff to King Joseph. The major-general's task
+was a difficult one. He had no executive authority: his
+duty was simply to give advice to the King, and to transmit
+such orders as he received; but unfortunately neither
+Joseph nor he had the power to enforce orders once given,
+for although certain French corps had been placed at the
+disposal of the King, and were supposed to obey his orders,
+their commanders had still to communicate with Berthier
+and to receive through him the decrees of the Emperor.
+Hence there was a dual authority, and, to make matters
+worse, Napoleon did not attempt to veil his contempt of
+Joseph's military ability. At the same time he cast aspersions
+on Jourdan's skill, and showed his open dislike to the
+Marshal by omitting his name from the list of French
+Marshals in the "Almanack," under the pretence that he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span>
+had been transferred to the Spanish establishment and
+was no longer a Frenchman. Consequently the other
+Marshals paid but little attention to the King or the
+major-general. At the battle of Talavera Jourdan's advice
+was utterly disregarded and his orders entirely neglected,
+and still he had to bear the blame, and endure the whole
+of Napoleon's wrath. In despair, broken down in health,
+he applied to be relieved of his duties, and returned home
+to private life. But in 1812, when the Emperor was
+summoning his vast army for the invasion of Russia,
+being short of officers, he sent the Marshal back to his
+old post in Spain. The task had been a hard one in 1809,
+it was harder still in 1812. The flower of the French
+troops were now withdrawn for the Russian campaign.
+The authority of the King was more feeble than ever,
+and years of warfare had transformed the English army
+into a perfect fighting machine. The Spaniards were now
+past masters in guerilla warfare, while the iniquitous scheme
+of making war support war had subverted discipline and
+broken the morale of the French army. With admirable
+lucidity the Marshal drew up a memoir showing the state
+of affairs in Spain, and pointing out what was at fault; but
+memoirs written for Joseph could not alter evils which
+flowed directly from Napoleon's having broken the
+golden canon of the "unity of command." With three
+practically independent commanders-in-chief who refused
+to acknowledge the controlling authority of the King, who
+were too jealous of each other to work with mutual accord,
+disaster was bound to follow. The temporary co-operation
+of all three drove the English back on Portugal at the end
+of 1812. But in 1813 the disaster in Russia had caused
+the Emperor to make further heavy drafts on the force
+in Spain. Jourdan could only advise a steady retirement
+towards France. The culminating blow at Vittoria was no
+fault of his. Struck down by a fever the day before the
+action, he was unable to give his advice at the critical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span>
+moment. So Joseph had to fight Vittoria without the
+assistance of the chief of his staff, and with subordinates
+who not only despised, but disobeyed him in the presence
+of the enemy. It was no wonder that defeat easily turned
+into rout. The whole of the French baggage was captured,
+and in the flight the Marshal had the misfortune to lose his
+bâton, which was picked up by the 87th Regiment and sent
+to England.</p>
+
+<p>After 1813 Jourdan's career came to a close. Napoleon
+heaped reproaches on him, and refused him further employment,
+entirely oblivious of the fact that it was he himself
+who was responsible for the Spanish disaster, and that the
+Marshal had done all that was possible. On the Emperor's
+abdication the old Jacobin took the oath of allegiance to
+King Louis, and remained true to his allegiance during the
+Hundred Days. Time had chastened and mellowed his
+fiery republicanism, and seeing that a Republic was impossible,
+he preferred the chance of constitutional liberty
+under a monarchy to the tyranny of the Empire. In 1817,
+as a reward for his services, he was created a peer of France.
+But though he accepted the Restoration in preference to
+the Empire, all his sympathies were liberal, and no one
+had a greater dislike for the reactionary policy of Charles X.
+In 1830 he gladly accepted the new liberal constitution of
+Louis Philippe, the old Philip Égalité of the days of
+Jemappes. The new monarch appointed his former
+comrade governor of the Hospital of the Invalides, and
+there, among his old fellow-soldiers of the revolutionary
+wars, the Marshal breathed his last on November 23, 1833,
+in his seventy-second year.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XV" id="XV"></a>XV<br /><br />
+CHARLES PIERRE FRANÇOIS AUGEREAU,<br />
+MARSHAL, DUKE OF CASTIGLIONE</h2>
+
+
+<p>The future Duke of Castiglione was born in Paris
+on November 11, 1757. His father was a mason
+by trade and his mother, a native of Munich, kept
+a furniture shop in the Faubourg Saint Marceau. From his
+earliest youth Pierre François, handsome and long-limbed,
+hot-blooded and vain, thirsted after adventure. At the age
+of seventeen, on his mother's death, he enlisted in the
+carabineers. A keen soldier and a fine horseman, he soon
+became sergeant, and within a few years gained the name
+of being one of the best blades in the army; but in upholding
+this reputation Sergeant Augereau constantly fell
+into disgrace with the authorities. Though a blusterer by
+nature and full of bravado, the sergeant was certainly no
+coward. On one occasion a noted professional duellist
+thought that he could intimidate him. Accordingly, he
+swaggered into a café, where Augereau was talking to
+some friends, and plunged himself down on the table at
+which the sergeant was sitting, and, lolling back till he
+almost leant against him, began to boast how, on the
+previous day, he had accounted for two sergeants of the
+Garde Française. This was sufficient insult to cause a
+challenge, but Augereau preferred to let the challenge come
+from his adversary, and, accordingly, undoing the leather
+belt of his would-be opponent, he quietly poured the whole<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span>
+of a cup of scalding coffee down the inside of his breeches.
+Having thus taken the upper hand of the quarrel, he so
+completely mastered the spirit of the bully that he had
+little difficulty in disposing of him in the duel which followed.
+An unfortunate incident cut short his career in the
+carabineers. One day a young officer, losing his temper
+with him on parade, threatened to strike him with his whip.
+Thereon, Augereau in fury snatched the whip from the
+officer, who at once drew his sword and attacked him.
+Augereau at first confined himself to parrying, but at last,
+being wounded, he thrust out and killed his opponent. The
+colonel, well aware that it was not the sergeant's fault,
+arranged for his escape across the frontier. After wandering
+about Constantinople and the Levant, Augereau passed
+some years as sergeant in the Russian army, and served
+under Suvaroff at the taking of Ismailia, but, getting tired
+of service in the East, he deserted and escaped to Prussia.
+There he enlisted, and, owing to his height and proficiency
+in drill, was transferred to the guards. His captain held
+out hopes of a commission, but these were dashed, for
+when he was brought to the King's notice Frederick asked
+who he was. "A Frenchman, sire," was the reply. "So
+much the worse," answered the King; "so much the worse.
+If he had been a Swiss, or a German, we might have done
+something for him." Augereau, on hearing this, determined
+to quit the Prussian service. Desertion was the only way
+of escape, but the Prussians, by offering heavy rewards for
+recapture, had made desertion almost impossible. Luckily,
+he was not the only guardsman dissatisfied with the Prussian
+service, and he had little difficulty in getting together about
+sixty of the boldest of the regiment, and, seizing a favourable
+opportunity, he marched off his squad with their arms
+and ammunition, and, beating off all attacks from the
+peasants and detachments of soldiers who tried to stop
+them, he safely convoyed his comrades across the frontier
+to Saxony. After this escapade Augereau settled down as a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span>
+dancing and fencing master at Dresden, but on the amnesty,
+at the birth of the Dauphin, he returned to France and
+regained his rank in his old regiment. His adventurous
+life and his natural aspirations soon made him tire of
+always holding a subordinate position, and in 1788 he
+applied to be sent, as one of the French instructors, to
+help in the reorganisation of the Neapolitan army. There
+he soon gained a commission. In 1791 he fell in love
+with the daughter of a Greek merchant, and, as her father
+refused to listen to him, he quietly married her and carried
+her off by ship to Lisbon. In Portugal his freedom of
+speech, and approval of the changes which were happening
+in France, caused the authorities to hand him over to the
+Inquisition, from whence he was rescued by a French
+skipper and conveyed, with his wife, to Havre.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<a href="images/fp260-hi.jpg"><img src="images/fp260.jpg" width="449" height="600" alt="CHARLES PIERRE AUGEREAU, DUKE OF CASTIGLIONE
+FROM AN ENGRAVING BY RUOTTE" title="" id="fp260"/></a><br />
+<span class="caption">CHARLES PIERRE AUGEREAU, DUKE OF CASTIGLIONE<br />
+FROM AN ENGRAVING BY RUOTTE</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Augereau returned to France ready to absorb the most
+republican doctrines. His banishment, after killing the
+officer, had always seemed unfair; his long subordination
+and the harshness of military discipline had rankled in his
+soul; physically, he knew himself superior to most men,
+and by his wits he had found himself able to hold his own
+and make his way in nearly every country in Europe; so
+far birth had seemed to be the only barrier which cut
+him off from success. But now caste was hurled aside, and
+France was calling for talent; good soldiers were scarce:
+Augereau saw his opportunity, and used it to the full. A
+few months spent fighting in La Vendée taught him that
+renown was not to be gained in civil war, and, accordingly,
+he got himself transferred to the Army of the Pyrenees,
+where he rose in six months from simple captain to general
+of division. From the Pyrenees he was transferred with
+his division to Italy, and covered himself with glory at
+Loano, Millesimo, and Lodi. But it was his conduct at
+Castiglione which once and for all made his reputation;
+though it is not true, as he boasted in 1814 after deserting
+the Emperor, that it was only his invincible firmness which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span>
+caused Bonaparte to fight instead of retreat; for Bonaparte
+was concentrating to fight, and his abandonment of the
+siege of Mantua, against which Augereau so wildly protested,
+was but part of the preparation for victory. Though
+he would not listen to Augereau's strategic advice, he had
+enough confidence in him to leave the first attack on
+Castiglione entirely in his hands. According to the Marshal's
+Memoirs, Bonaparte was afraid of attacking. "I
+wash my hands of it and go away," he said. "And who
+will command if you go?" asked Augereau. "You," retorted
+Bonaparte. And well he did his work, for not only
+did he defeat the fifteen thousand Austrians at Castiglione,
+but he restored the fallen confidence of his soldiers and
+refreshed the morale of the whole army. Napoleon
+never forgot this service, and when detractors saw fit to
+cast their venom at Augereau, he answered, "Let us not
+forget that he saved us at Castiglione." From Castiglione
+onwards the soldiers of Augereau's division would do anything
+for their commander. It was not only that they
+respected his tactical gifts, and had complete confidence
+in him in the hour of battle, but they loved him for his
+care of them. In time of peace a stern disciplinarian, with
+a touch of the drill sergeant, he was ever ready to hear
+their complaints, and never spared himself in looking after
+their welfare, while in war time he was always thinking of
+their food and clothing; but, above all, he gave them
+booty. Adventurer as he was by nature and training, he
+loved the spoils of war himself, and, while the "baggage
+wagon of Augereau" was the by-word in the army, he
+saw to it that his men had their wagons also well loaded
+with plunder. His courage was a thing to conjure with; at
+Lodi he had been one of the numerous generals who rushed
+the bridge; but at Arcola, alone, flag in hand, he stood on
+the bridge and hurled taunts and encouragements at his
+struggling troops, and for three continuous days exposed
+himself, the guiding spirit of every assault and forlorn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span>
+hope. While adding to his reputation as a stern and
+courageous fighter, a clever tactician, and a born leader
+of men, Augereau's opinion of himself increased by leaps
+and bounds. He was in no way surprised when, after
+Leoben, Bonaparte entrusted him with a delicate secret
+mission to Paris. In his own opinion no better agent
+could have been found in the rôle of a stern, unbending
+republican and fiery Jacobin. Bonaparte told him he
+would represent the feeling of the Army of Italy, and help
+to bring to nothing the wiles of the royalists. So the
+general arrived at Paris full of his mission and of his own
+importance, to the delight of his father&mdash;the old mason&mdash;who
+saw him ride into the city covered with gold lace to
+present sixty stands of captured colours to the Directory.
+Once in Paris, the fighting general's threats against the
+Clicheans were turned into deeds. Though he protested
+that "Paris has nothing to fear from me: I am a Paris boy
+myself," on September 4, 1797, he quietly drew a cordon of
+troops round the Tuileries, where the Councils sat, and
+arrested and banished all whose political opinions opposed
+his own. Relying on the promises of Barras, he now
+thought that he would become a Director, in place of either
+Carnot or Barthélemy, who had been deposed. But he
+soon found, to his sorrow, that he was not the great
+politician he had believed himself to be, but merely the
+dupe of Bonaparte and others, who had allowed him to
+clear the ground for them and to incur the consequent
+odium. His immediate reward was the command of the
+Army of the Rhine. Full of bitterness, he arrived at his
+new headquarters "covered with gold embroidery, even
+down to his short boots," and thought to debauch his
+soldiers and get himself accepted as dictator by telling
+how, in the Army of Italy, everybody had a pocketful
+of gold. But the Directory, though unable to curb a
+Bonaparte, had no fears of the "Fructidor General," and
+very soon deprived him of his command, and sent him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span>
+to an unimportant post at Perpignan, on the Spanish
+frontier.</p>
+
+<p>For two years Augereau remained at Perpignan, where he
+had time to understand the causes of his failure. Though
+completely dominated by Bonaparte while in his presence,
+he had not the guileless heart of a Lefèbvre, and he began
+to perceive how the wily Corsican had used him and
+betrayed him. Accordingly, when Bonaparte returned from
+Egypt he read his design of becoming Dictator, and, true to
+his Jacobin principles, at first resolved to fight him to the
+death; when, however, he found generals, officers, and men
+going over to Bonaparte, he hastened off to make his submission,
+saying reproachfully, "When you were about to
+do something for our country, how could you forget your
+own little Augereau?" But though he made his submission,
+again and again his Jacobin principles made themselves
+felt. Forced to accompany Bonaparte to the first
+mass held in Paris after the Concordat, Augereau attempted
+to slip out of the carriage during the procession to Nôtre
+Dame, and was ignominiously ordered back by one of the
+First Consul's aides-de-camp; but he revenged himself by
+laughing and talking so loudly during the service that the
+priest could hardly be heard. But Napoleon knew his man
+and his price: a Marshal's bâton and a princely income did
+much to control his Jacobin proclivities. As early as 1801,
+Augereau invested part of his savings on the beautiful estate
+of La Houssaye, where, when not actively employed, he
+spent his time dispensing lavish hospitality, and delighting
+his friends and military household with magnificent entertainments,
+himself the life and soul of the whole party,
+enjoying all the fun and the practical jokes as much as the
+youngest subaltern. However he gained his money, he spent
+it freely and ungrudgingly. When the First Consul tried to
+put Lannes in an awkward position by ordering him at
+once to replace the deficit of three hundred thousand francs,
+caused by the magnificent uniforms he had ordered for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span>
+Guard, Augereau, as soon as he heard of it, hurried to his
+solicitors and told them to pay that sum to General Lannes's
+account. When Bernadotte, whom he scarcely knew,
+asked him to lend him two hundred thousand francs to
+complete the purchase of an estate, he at once assented;
+and when Madame Bernadotte asked him what interest he
+would require, he replied, "Madame, bankers and moneylenders,
+no doubt quite rightly, draw profit from the money
+they lend, but when a Marshal is fortunate enough to oblige
+a comrade, the pleasure of doing him a service is enough
+for him."</p>
+
+<p>In the scheme for the invasion of England the Marshal's
+corps, which was stationed round Brest, was destined for
+the seizure of Ireland, so when the Grand Army was turned
+against Austria his divisions were the last to arrive on the
+theatre of operations, and were directed to the Tyrol,
+where they forced General Jellachich and most of his army
+to surrender. In the following year the Marshal greatly
+distinguished himself at Jena and Pultusk; but at Eylau,
+though not owing to his own fault, he suffered a reverse.
+The Emperor had placed him in the centre of the first line
+and ordered him to advance against the Russian centre.
+The fog and snow were so thick that the French could not
+see the foe until they came within two hundred yards of
+them; the enemy suddenly opened fire on them with
+massed batteries; in a moment Augereau's staunch divisions
+were cut to bits by the hail of grape, and, owing to
+the smoke and snow, they could not see their foes; they
+tried to hold their ground and reply to the fire, but at last
+they wavered and broke. The Marshal, so ill with fever
+that he had to be tied to his horse, did his utmost to stop
+the rout, but in vain; at last, wounded and sick at heart, he
+had to return and report his failure. The Emperor, wishing
+to cover his own mistake, laid all the blame for the ill-success
+of the day on Augereau, and breaking up the
+remnants of his corps among the other Marshals, he sent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span>
+him home. Afraid, however, of arousing his enmity, and
+mindful of his past services, next year he created him Duke
+of Castiglione; but he never entrusted him again with an
+important command in the field. In 1809 the Marshal was
+sent to Spain to supersede St. Cyr at the siege of Gerona.
+He had lost his lust for fighting, and was soon recalled for
+not showing sufficient energy. In 1812 he commanded
+part of the reserve of the Grand Army in Prussia. In 1813
+he was in command of a corps of recruits in Germany, and
+was present at Leipzig, but all through the campaign he
+grumbled against his troops. When reproached for slackness,
+and told that he was not the Augereau of Castiglione,
+he turned on Napoleon, crying out, "Ah, give me back the
+old soldiers of Italy and I will show you that I am!" Still,
+he had no heart for the war, and after the catastrophe at
+Leipzig he broke out into open revolt, cursing the Emperor
+and telling Macdonald that "the idiot does not know what
+he is about ... the coward, he abandoned us and was prepared
+to sacrifice us all, but do not imagine that I was fool
+enough to let myself be killed or taken prisoner for the sake
+of a suburb of Leipzig." In spite of this, in 1814 Napoleon
+was so hard pressed that he was forced to employ him.
+He sent him to Lyons with orders to prevent the Allies from
+debouching from Switzerland, and, if possible, to fall on the
+line of communication of Schwartzenberg's army, which
+was threatening Paris; and he implored him "to remember
+his former victories and to forget that he was on the wrong
+side of fifty." But old age and luxury had snapped the once
+famous spirit of the Duke of Castiglione, and his operations
+round Lyons were contemptible. As Napoleon said at St.
+Helena, "For a long time Augereau had no longer been a
+soldier; his courage, his early virtues, had raised him high
+above the crowd, but honour, dignity, and fortune had
+forced him back into the ruck." Accordingly, as soon as
+he heard of the capitulation of Paris he hoisted the white
+cockade, and issued a proclamation saying, "Soldiers, you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span>
+are absolved from your oaths; you are so by the nation, in
+which the sovereignty resides; you are still more so, were
+it necessary, by the abdication of a man who, after having
+sacrificed millions to his cruel ambition, has not known
+how to die as a soldier." Soon after this he met his former
+Emperor and benefactor on his way to exile at Elba, and
+a bitter conversation ensued, in which, in reply to the
+Emperor's recriminations, the Marshal asked, "Of what do
+you complain: has not your insatiable ambition brought us
+to this?"</p>
+
+<p>Yet when the Emperor returned to Paris Augereau threw
+up his command in Normandy and hastened to proffer his
+allegiance. But Napoleon would have none of it, and
+refused him place or preferment. After Waterloo the
+Bourbons also showed him the cold shoulder; so the
+Marshal retired to his country seat of La Houssaye, where
+he died on June 11, 1816, of dropsy on the chest. Born
+and bred a Paris boy, he had lived as such, and of such were
+his virtues and his vices. Physically brave, yet morally a
+coward; vain, blustering, yet kind-hearted; full of boisterous
+spirits, greedy, yet generous; liberal by nature, hating
+control, yet a severe disciplinarian; a firm believer in the
+virtue of principles, yet ever ready to sacrifice his principles
+at the altar of opportunity, Augereau, in spite of his many
+faults, knew how to win and keep the love of his soldiers
+and his friends. A leader of men rather than a tactician or
+strategist, he played on the enthusiasm of his soldiers by
+example rather than precept. Unfortunately for his reputation,
+his moral courage failed him at the end of his career,
+and he added to the imputation of inconstancy the crime of
+ingratitude.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XVI" id="XVI"></a>XVI<br /><br />
+GUILLAUME MARIE ANNE BRUNE, MARSHAL</h2>
+
+
+<p>Guillaume Marie Anne Brune, poet and
+warrior, was born on May 13, 1763, at Brives-la-Gaillard.
+His father, who belonged to a legal
+family, destined his son to follow in his footsteps, and
+after giving him a good education, sent him to finish his
+study of law at the College of France at Paris. But the
+boy's taste did not lie among the dull technicalities of law.
+Artistic and emotional by temperament, he early threw
+himself heart and soul into literature. At the age of
+eighteen he published his first work, half prose, half verse,
+in which he described a holiday in Poitou and Angoumois.
+But his father viewed with suspicion his son's literary aspirations,
+and the breach between them widened when
+Guillaume married a young burnisher of metal, Angélique
+Nicole Pierre, the orphaned daughter of a miller from
+Arpajon, who had captivated him by her beauty and then
+nursed him through a dangerous illness. The young couple
+were thrown entirely on their own resources, and Angélique
+had to continue her burnishing, while to ensure the publication
+of his works Brune took to the trade of printer.
+But in spite of poverty and hard work the marriage was a
+happy one, for Angélique's beauty, and purity of mind
+and character were the necessary complement to her
+husband's artistic desires. While engaged in his literary
+work Brune met the celebrated Mirabeau, who introduced<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span>
+him to his friends, Camille Desmoulins and Danton.
+Generous by nature, and smarting under the social disgrace
+which followed his marriage, the poet, turned printer, threw
+himself heart and soul into the philosophy of the day:
+when the Revolution broke out he hailed the new era with
+delight, but, like many another visionary, he failed to see
+the cruel necessities which the Revolution was bringing in
+its train. Following the example of his friend Camille
+Desmoulins, on September 15, 1789, he started a newspaper,
+the <i>Magazin Historique ou Journal Général</i>, and followed up
+this speculation by editing, in collaboration with Gauthier,
+the <i>Journal de la Cour</i>; but owing to the violent politics of
+Gauthier, Brune broke his connection with the paper in
+August, 1790. As the Revolution grew in violence and
+blind disorder, and hate took the place of his dream of
+platonic justice, eager to escape from cruelty and lust, the
+printer hastened to console himself among those who were
+hurrying to the frontier to fight the enemy as the only
+means of getting away from the chaos at home. In August,
+1791, he enlisted in the volunteers of the Seine and Oise,
+and within a few weeks his activity, zeal, and talent for
+administration caused his comrades to elect him adjutant-major.
+Early in 1792 he joined the staff of the army as
+assistant adjutant-general, and, owing to the influence of
+Danton and his political friends, was recalled from Thionville
+to Paris in September, 1792, as commissary general, to
+direct and organise the newly raised battalions of volunteers.
+But when he arrived in Paris on September 5th, and
+found the streets swimming in blood and Danton gloating
+over his work, disgusted with Paris and its savage population,
+he at once applied for active service, and was back at
+the camp of Meaux in time to take part in Dumouriez's
+campaign of Valmy. Though he recoiled from their
+methods, his friendship with Danton and Camille Desmoulins
+stood him in good stead; as adjutant-general he served at
+Neerwinden, and after that battle was one of the five general<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span>
+officers chosen to rally the scattered troops of the Army of
+the North. In July he was ordered to Calvados to assist in
+crushing the Girondists. After his success in Normandy
+his friends offered him a post in the ministry at Paris, but
+"he loved liberty fair and free, as she existed in the army,
+but not as she was adored in Paris, to the sound of the
+tocsin and the beat of the générale, and fierce songs of
+death trolled out by cannibals." Accordingly he returned
+to the Army of the North in time to fight under Houchard
+at Handschötten. But he had to pay the penalty for his
+friendship with the Terrorists, for just as he was setting out
+full of delight to fight the English at Dunkirk, owing to
+the exigencies of political strife he was hurriedly recalled
+to give the Girondists their coup-de-grâce at Bordeaux.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<a href="images/fp268-hi.jpg"><img src="images/fp268.jpg" width="458" height="600" alt="BRUNE
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY F. J. HARRIET" title="" id="fp268"/></a><br />
+<span class="caption">BRUNE<br />
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY F. J. HARRIET</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Brune returned to the capital in 1794 in time to witness
+the fall of his patron, Danton; but fortunately for him
+Barras took him under his protection, and in October,
+thanks to his influence, he became commandant of Paris.
+For a whole year the General held this post, and on
+October 5th commanded the second column while Bonaparte
+with the first column ended the reaction of the
+Terror with a few rounds of grape shot. Still under the
+patronage of Barras, Brune spent the year 1796 in pacifying
+the Midi, and his work there has been admirably portrayed
+in Alexandre Dumas' "Les Compagnons de Jéhu," where
+he figures as General Rolland. From this vexatious and
+wearisome struggle against hostile countrymen he was
+summoned to Italy at the beginning of 1797, and was
+present with Masséna's division at the battle of Rivoli.
+Under Masséna, he fought through the campaign which
+ended at Leoben, and attracted the notice of Bonaparte by
+his courage and goodwill: in reward for his services he
+was created general of division. From Italy the general,
+with his division, was sent in October to join the Army of
+England; while marching north it was suggested that he
+should take the post of ambassador at Berlin; but when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span>
+the troops heard of this offer they asked the adjutant-general
+to write to their commander, saying, "Listen
+general: your division charges me to tell you not to give
+up fighting; the division will bring you honour, and that is
+much better than an embassy." However, there was to be
+no question of an embassy, for on February 7, 1798, the
+Directors sent him to take over the command of the French
+troops whose duty it was to annex Switzerland to France.
+This was the general's first independent command; and
+though the campaign added to his military reputation,
+unfortunately it left a stain on his honour. The war was
+entered on merely with the desire of capturing the Swiss
+treasury at Berne, and thus providing funds for Bonaparte's
+Egyptian expedition. Brune had learned his lesson in Italy,
+so the campaign was short, in spite of the difficulty of the
+country and the patriotism of the Swiss. Writing to Bonaparte,
+the general explained the cause of his success:
+"From the moment I found myself in a situation to act, I
+assembled all my strength to strike like lightning: for
+Switzerland is a vast barrack, and I had everything to fear
+from a war of posts. I avoided it by negotiations which I
+knew were not sincere on the part of the Bernese, and
+since then I have followed out the plan which I traced to
+you. I think always I am still under your command."
+The crushing of the Swiss peasantry and the capture of
+Berne were followed by the hour of spoliation; no less
+than one million seven hundred thousand pounds were
+wrung from the wretched Swiss. Brune himself kept his
+own hands clean and was, as he wrote, "constantly paring
+the nails of rascals and taking the public treasure from
+them"; but the fact that he was officially responsible for
+the spoliation and that his own share of the plunder was
+thirty-two thousand pounds caused his name to be loathed
+throughout the length and breadth of Switzerland, and "to
+rob like a Brune" became a proverb, which was eagerly
+seized on by his detractors.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The Directors, pleased with his operations in Switzerland,
+despatched Brune, on March 31, 1798, to take command of
+the Army of Italy. His task was a difficult one, for at
+Rome and Mantua the starving troops had mutinied, while
+the contractors and agents of the Directors were amassing
+huge fortunes. To complicate the situation the general
+was encumbered by a civil Commission, whose duty it was
+to supervise the governments of the Cisalpine Republic.
+Trouvé, the moving spirit of the Commission, had but one
+idea, to curb the growing democratic spirit of the Piedmontese.
+The commander-in-chief, whose love of freedom
+had not yet been blunted, violently opposed Trouvé, and at
+last forced his views on the Directory, and Trouvé was
+replaced by Fouché. But it was too late; the mischief had
+been done. The Piedmontese would no longer bear the
+French control: "This then," they cried, "is the faith, the
+fraternity, and the friendship you have brought us from
+France!" In spite of Brune's efforts to restore confidence
+they had lost all faith in French honour, and on December
+6th his successor found himself forced to expel, at the point
+of the bayonet, all senators opposed to the French interest.</p>
+
+<p>Leaving Italy in November, Brune found himself sent
+at the beginning of 1799 to Holland, where danger was
+threatening: it was evident that England was going to
+make an effort to regain for the Prince of Orange his
+lost possessions. In spite of this knowledge, as late as
+August the French commander could only concentrate
+ten thousand men under General Daendals to oppose an
+equal force of English under Abercromby when they
+landed on the open beach at Groete Keten. Though as
+strong as the enemy, General Daendals made the most
+feeble attempt to oppose the landing. Day by day
+English and Russian reinforcements poured into Holland,
+till at last they numbered forty-eight thousand. But the
+Duke of York, the English commander-in-chief, had a
+hopeless task. With no means of transport, no staff, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span>
+an army composed of hastily enrolled militia recruits
+and insubordinate drunken Russians, his only chance of
+success lay in a general rising of the Dutch; for early
+in September the French forces were numerically as
+strong as his own. Abercromby's opinion was that
+defeat would mean utter disaster: "Were we to sustain
+a severe check I much doubt if the discipline of the
+troops would be sufficient to prevent a total dissolution
+of the army": while the English opinion of the Russians
+was that they were better at plundering than at fighting.
+As a militiaman wrote, "The Russians is people as has
+not the fear of God before their eyes, for I saw some of
+them with cheeses and bitter and all badly wounded,
+and in particklar one man had an eit day clock on his
+back, and fiting all the time which made me to conclude
+and say all his vanity and vexation of spirit." In spite
+of this the English had some considerable tactical success,
+and drove the French back towards Amsterdam; but
+lack of provisions compelled them at the beginning of
+October to fall back on their entrenched position on the
+Zype. Fortunately Brune, who had been much impressed
+by the fighting powers of the enemy, did not understand
+how difficult it would have been for them to re-embark
+their forces if he pressed an attack. He allowed some
+of his staff officers to throw out hints of an armistice
+and convention, which were eagerly accepted, for on
+October 20th the English had only three days' provision
+of bread. With Masséna's victory at Zurich and
+the embarkation of the Allies after the convention of
+Alkmaar, the ring of foes which had so gravely threatened
+France was snapped asunder, and Brune, although he
+had shown but little resource or initiative during the
+fighting in Holland, and had failed to diagnose the
+extremity of the enemy, was hailed, along with Masséna,
+as the saviour of the country, and his tactical defeats
+were celebrated as the victory of Bergen.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>From Holland the conqueror of the English was despatched,
+early in 1800, by the First Consul to quell
+the rising in La Vendée, where his former experience of
+guerilla warfare in Switzerland stood him in good stead,
+and he soon brought the rebels to their knees. During
+the Marengo campaign he commanded the real Army
+of Reserve at Dijon, but in August, when Bonaparte
+found it necessary to replace Masséna, he despatched
+Brune to take command of the Army of Italy. Unfortunately
+the future Marshal's genius was more suited to
+the details of administration and the direction of small
+columns than to the command of large forces in the
+field. Though at the head of a hundred thousand men,
+and supported admirably by Murat, Marmont, Macdonald,
+Suchet and Dupont, he failed conspicuously as a commander-in-chief.
+His movements at the crossing of the
+Mincio were hesitating and slow, and he neglected to
+seize the opportunity which Dupont's successful movements
+presented to him. At Treviso, as in Holland, he
+showed only too clearly his limitations: he held the
+enemy in the hollow of his hand, but, failing to see his
+advantage, he once again signed an armistice which
+permitted the foe to escape out of his net.</p>
+
+<p>On his return to France the First Consul regarded
+him with suspicion. His well-known republican opinions
+did not harmonise with Bonaparte's schemes of self-aggrandisement.
+The First Consul had a very poor
+estimate of his military ability, but the people at large
+still hailed him as the saviour of Holland and France.
+Bonaparte treated him like all those whom he suspected
+but whom he could not afford to despise, and under the
+pretext of a diplomatic appointment he practically banished
+him to Constantinople. Diplomacy was not Brune's forte,
+and after eighteen months' residence in Turkey he was
+obliged to quit the Porte, which had fallen entirely under
+Russian influence.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The general was still abroad when the Emperor created
+his Marshals: his appointment of Brune, like his appointment
+of Lefèbvre, was part of his scheme for binding
+the republican interest to his dynasty, for his opinion of
+the Marshal's talent was such that he scarcely ever
+employed him in the field. From 1805 to 1807 Brune
+was occupied in drilling the troops left at Boulogne. In
+May, 1807, he was appointed to command the reserve
+corps of the Grand Army, and when in July the King
+of Sweden declared war on Napoleon, he was entrusted
+with the operations round Stralsund, and captured that
+fortress and the island of Rügen. During this short
+campaign the Marshal had an interview with Gustavus
+of Sweden, and tried to point out to him the folly of
+fighting against France. A garbled account of this
+interview, full of unjust insinuations, came to Napoleon's
+ears. In anger the Emperor sent for Brune and taxed
+him with the false accusations. The Marshal, furious
+that his good faith should be suspected, refused any
+explanation and merely contented himself with repeating:
+"It is a lie." The Emperor, equally furious at his
+obstinacy, deprived him of his command. The result of
+this quarrel was that for the next five years Brune lived
+at home in disgrace. On the Restoration he made his
+submission to Louis XVIII., and received the cross of
+St. Louis. But in 1815, on the return from Elba, he
+answered the Emperor's summons, for Napoleon could
+no longer afford the luxury of quarrelling with generous
+Frenchmen who were willing to serve him. Remembering
+the Marshal's talent for administration and a war of posts,
+he offered him the command of the Midi. Brune hesitated;
+Napoleon had treated him disgracefully, but in
+his generosity he was ready to overlook all that; still,
+he knew well that the Empire was not the Republic:
+yet he preferred Napoleon's régime to that of the Bourbons,
+and at last he accepted, but set out for his new duties<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span>
+depressed and not at all himself. The difficulties he had
+to contend with were enormous; the Austrians and
+Sardinians were massing on the frontiers, the allied
+fleet commanded the Mediterranean, while Provence was
+covered by bands of brigands who called themselves
+royalists. Marseilles, the fickle, which had given France
+and the Republic the "Marseillaise," was now red-hot
+Legitimist. So the news of Waterloo and of Napoleon's
+abdication came as a relief to the harassed Marshal, who
+was only too glad on July 22nd to hand over Toulon
+to the English. Thereon, in obedience to the command
+of the King, he set out for Paris.</p>
+
+<p>Well aware of the disorder in the Midi, the Marshal asked
+Lord Exmouth, the commander of the British squadron, to
+take him by sea to Italy, so that he might escape the danger
+which he knew threatened him from the hatred of the
+royalists. Unfortunately for the fame of England, Lord
+Exmouth refused in the rudest terms, calling him "the
+prince of scamps" and a "blackguard." Accordingly he
+set off by land, receiving a promise of protection from the
+royalist commander, but no escort. With his two aides-de-camp
+he reached Avignon in safety, but there he
+was set on by the mob, chased into a hotel and shot in
+cold blood, and his body thrown into the Rhône; a
+fisherman by night rescued the corpse, and for many
+years the body of the Marshal reposed in the humble grave
+where the kindhearted fisherman had placed it. Meanwhile
+the Government sanctioned the story that he had committed
+suicide. But at last the persistence of his widow
+compelled an inquiry, when the truth was revealed, and
+it was proved without doubt that the murder had been
+connived at by the authorities. The inquiry further
+revealed that the real cause of the Marshal's death was
+not so much the measures he had taken to stamp out
+the bands of royalists during his command in the Midi,
+as his old connection with Camille Desmoulins and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span>
+Danton. In spite of the fact that he was not in Paris
+during the September massacres, and that he was constantly
+employed with the army, rumour said that it was Brune
+who had carried round Paris the head of the Princess
+Lamballe on a pike, and the cunning revival of this story
+by the leaders of the White Terror had roused the mob
+to commit the outrage. The story was absurd. The
+archives of the War Office proved beyond doubt that he
+was not in Paris at the time of the execution of the
+Princess. Strange to say, the Marshal himself years before
+seems to have foretold his own death when, writing about
+the Terrorists, he composed the following lines:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class='poem'>
+"Against one, two hundred rise,<br />
+Assail and smite him till he dies.<br />
+Yet blood, they say, we spare to spill,<br />
+And patriots we account them still.<br />
+Urged by martial ardour on,<br />
+In the wave their victim thrown,<br />
+Return their frantic joy to fill;<br />
+Yet these men are patriots still."
+</div>
+
+<p>Though his faithful wife had forced the authorities to
+remove the stain of suicide from the Marshal's fair fame,
+it was not till 1839, the year after her death, that at last
+a fitting monument was raised at Brives-la-Gaillard to the
+memory of the Marshal, who, whatever his failings as
+a commander might be, had lived a staunch friend, a true
+patriot, a courageous soldier; and had twice received
+the grateful thanks of the Government, and had twice been
+acclaimed as the saviour of his country.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XVII" id="XVII"></a>XVII<br /><br />
+ADOLPHE ÉDOUARD CASIMIR JOSEPH MORTIER,
+MARSHAL, DUKE OF TREVISO</h2>
+
+
+<p>Édouard Mortier was born near Cambrai on
+February 13, 1768. His father, a prosperous
+farmer, gave the future Marshal a fair education.
+Becoming a man of some importance on the outbreak of
+the Revolution, he was able in 1791 to secure for his son
+a commission in the volunteer cavalry of the north.
+Extremely tall, heavily built, slow of speech, "with a stupid
+sentinel look," the yeoman captain of 1791 gave the casual
+observer but little sign of promise. But in spite of those
+rather weary looking eyes, young Mortier was possessed of
+a burning enthusiasm and a dauntless courage. From his
+first engagement at Quiévrain, in April, 1792, where he had
+a horse killed under him, to the day he and Marmont
+surrendered Paris in 1814, every skirmish or engagement in
+which he took part bore testimony to his extraordinary
+bodily strength and bravery. Nature having also endowed
+him with a kindly temperament, it was not to be wondered
+at that his men swore by him, and were ready to follow him
+anywhere. But in spite of many gallant actions and
+numerous mentions in despatches, promotion came but
+slowly; for Mortier spent the first six years of his service
+with the armies of the Sambre and Meuse and of the
+Rhine, and had to compete against such men as Soult, Ney,
+St. Cyr, Kléber, and Desaix, who were on a higher mental<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span>
+plane. Still, he was recognised as one who was bound to
+rise, and was one of those whom Kléber singled out for
+commendation when he wrote to the Directory saying,
+"With such chiefs a general can neglect to count the
+number of his enemies"; and well he might, for on the
+day after he wrote his report, Mortier, with a single battalion
+and four squadrons of cavalry, having been ordered to try
+and drive two thousand of the enemy out of a strong
+position on the Wisent, attacked them with such vivacity
+that, to the surprise of everybody, in an hour he drove them
+in flight.</p>
+
+<p>After the campaign in 1798 Jourdan sent up his name for
+the command of a brigade; but he preferred the colonelcy
+of the twenty-first regiment of cavalry. However, a few
+months later, on February 22nd, he was promoted general
+of brigade. It was in this capacity that he served under
+Masséna in the celebrated campaign in Switzerland. At
+the second battle of Zurich he did yeoman service; by a
+vigorous demonstration he held the enemy near the town
+while Masséna completed his turning movement; he further
+distinguished himself by his vigour and resource during the
+pursuit of the Russians; thus he won his promotion to
+general of division on September 25, 1799. When Bonaparte
+became First Consul, Mortier found no cause for
+dissatisfaction with the change of Government; no politician,
+he was ready to accept any strong government.
+Fortunately for him his dogged character and his fighting
+record attracted the First Consul's attention. Bonaparte
+saw in him a man without guile, a soldier who would accept
+any order from his chief, and execute it instantly without
+questioning. Still, it was a great piece of fortune for the
+general of division, who had hitherto held no independent
+command in the field, that he lay with his troops near the
+Vaal, at the time that the First Consul determined to punish
+England for her suspicion of him by seizing Hanover.
+With twenty thousand men General Mortier issued from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span>
+Holland, fell suddenly on the Hanoverian troops at Borstel
+on the Weser, and forced Count Walmoden to sign a convention
+whereby the Hanoverian army was to retire behind
+the Elbe and not to bear arms against the French as long
+as the war continued. The English Government refused to
+ratify it, so Mortier at once called on Walmoden to resume
+hostilities; but so unequal was the contest, that the
+Hanoverian general was forced to accept a modified form
+of the former convention. Thereon Mortier hurriedly
+occupied Hamburg and Bremen, and closed the Elbe to
+English commerce. But brilliant as his operations had
+been in the field, as military governor of the ceded provinces
+he established a reputation for great rapacity, which
+followed him throughout his career.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon, however, winked at his general's peculations
+so long as they did not affect his treasury, and he showed
+his approbation of his successful campaign by making him
+one of the four commandants of the Guard, and including
+him, in 1804, among the first creation of Marshals. Next
+year Mortier marched to Germany in command of a division
+of the Guards. When after Ulm the army was reorganised
+for the advance on Vienna, a new corps, composed of the
+division of Dupont and Gazan, was entrusted to the
+Marshal. The duty he was to perform was difficult;
+he was to cross the Danube at Linz and, unsupported save
+by a flotilla of boats, hang on the Russian rear, while the
+rest of the army marched on Vienna by the right bank of
+the river. The Emperor impressed on him the necessity
+for caution, and warned him that he must throw out a ring
+of vedettes and keep somewhat behind Lannes's corps, which
+was marching in advance of him on the other side of the
+river. Unfortunately the Marshal, in his eagerness to inflict
+loss on the Russians, whom he believed to be flying in
+complete rout, neglected all warnings and pushed recklessly
+forward. At Dürrenstein (near the castle where Richard
+C&oelig;ur de Lion was imprisoned by the Archduke of Austria)<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span>
+he fell into a trap. The enemy allowed him to pass the
+defile of Dürrenstein with Gazan's division, knowing that
+Dupont was many miles in the rear, and then closed in
+on him on front and rear. With but seven thousand men,
+surrounded by thirty thousand Russians, it seemed that the
+Marshal was lost. But he kept his head, and at once
+turned about to try and break back and join Dupont, who
+he knew would hurry to his support. Firing at point-blank
+range, struggling bayonet against bayonet, the small French
+force worked its way towards the defile. Darkness fell,
+but still the fight continued, and at last Dupont's guns were
+heard at the other side of the gorge. But by then two-thirds
+of Gazan's division had fallen, three eagles were
+taken, and Mortier himself, conspicuous by his towering
+height, owed his safety to his skill with his sabre. His
+officers had begged him to escape across the river by boat,
+lest a Marshal of France should become a prisoner in the
+hands of the despised Russians; this he indignantly
+refused. "No," he said, "reserve this resource for the
+wounded. One who has the honour to command such
+brave soldiers should esteem himself happy to share their
+lot and perish with them. We have still two guns and
+some boxes of grape; let us close our ranks and make a
+last effort." But still the Russians pressed the devoted
+column, and now all the ammunition was expended and
+the survivors were preparing to sell their lives dearly, when
+Dupont's men at last hurled the enemy aside, and amid
+cries of "France! France! you have saved us!" the
+undaunted remnant of Gazan's division threw themselves
+into the arms of their comrades. On the morrow the
+sorely battered corps was recalled across the Danube, but
+the Emperor could not lay all the blame on Mortier, for it
+was his own mistake in strategy in dividing his army by the
+broad Danube which had really caused the disaster.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<a href="images/fp280-hi.jpg"><img src="images/fp280.jpg" width="384" height="600" alt="ADOLPHE ÉDOUARD MORTIER, DUKE OF TREVISO
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY LARIVIÈRE" title="" id="fp280"/></a><br />
+<span class="caption">ADOLPHE ÉDOUARD MORTIER, DUKE OF TREVISO<br />
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY LARIVIÈRE</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>In 1806 the Marshal acted independently on the left of
+the Grand Army, and after occupying Cassel and Hamburg,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span>
+where his cruel exactions greatly increased his reputation
+for rapacity, he was entrusted with the operations against
+the Swedes. In 1807, however, he was called up to reinforce
+the Grand Army in time to take part in the decisive
+battle at Friedland. In July, 1808, Napoleon rewarded him
+by creating him Duke of Treviso. A month later he
+despatched him to Spain in command of the fifth corps,
+which was composed of veterans of the Austrian and
+Prussian campaigns, very different from the recruits of the
+third corps and other corps in Spain. But in spite of this
+magnificent material the Marshal did not distinguish himself.
+The severe reverse he had received at Dürrenstein
+seemed to have killed his dash. His physical bravery
+remained the same as ever, but his moral courage had
+deteriorated, and in Spain his man&oelig;uvres were always
+halting and timid. At Saragossa he did not press the
+siege with the vehemence Lannes showed when he
+superseded him; but at the battle of Ocaña he showed
+that during a combat his nerve was as good as ever.
+The first lines of the French, broken by the fire of the
+Spanish battery, had begun to waver; the Marshal was
+slightly wounded, but at the critical moment he rode up
+to Girard's division, which was in reserve, and leading it
+through the intervals of the first line, he caught the victorious
+enemy at a disadvantage, and completely turned the fortunes
+of the day. The remainder of the Duke of Treviso's service
+in the Peninsula was spent under the command of Marshal
+Soult, either in front of Cadiz or as a covering force to the
+troops occupied in that siege. From Spain he was recalled
+in 1812 to command the Young Guard in the Russian campaign.
+When the French evacuated Moscow the Marshal,
+at the Emperor's commands, had the invidious duty of
+blowing up the Kremlin. During his retreat he showed
+himself worthy of his post of commander of the Young
+Guard, and in 1813, in the same capacity, he fought
+throughout the campaign, taking his share in the battles<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span>
+of Lützen, Bautzen, Dresden, Leipzig, and Hanau. After
+Dresden he incurred, along with St. Cyr, the wrath of the
+Emperor for not having aided Vandamme. But the fact
+remains that the blame of the disaster at Külm rests entirely
+on Napoleon and Vandamme. No orders were sent to
+Mortier or St. Cyr till after the disaster had occurred, and
+Vandamme had not taken the most elementary precautions
+against surprise. In 1814 the Marshal fought gallantly at
+Montmirail and Troyes, but, like Victor and Ney, he showed
+but little ingenuity. When Napoleon made his last dash
+eastward, he left Mortier and Marmont to hold off the
+Prussians from Paris. The Duke of Treviso, though far
+senior to the Duke of Ragusa, bowed to his superior genius,
+and in the operations ending in the surrender of Paris he
+carried out his junior's ideas with great generosity and
+without the least show of jealousy.</p>
+
+<p>Like the rest of the Marshals, the Duke of Treviso made
+his submission to the new Government. On the return of
+Napoleon he for a time kept true to his oath to the
+Bourbons. When the Duke of Orleans, who shared with
+him the command of the north, on leaving Lille, wrote
+to him, "I am too good a Frenchman to sacrifice the
+interests of France, because now misfortune compels me to
+quit it. I go to hide myself in retirement and oblivion. It
+only remains for me to release you from all the orders which
+I have given you, and to recommend you to do what your
+excellent judgment and patriotism may suggest as best for
+the interests of France," the Marshal, in spite of his
+decoration of St. Louis and his seat as a peer of France,
+once again returned to his old allegiance. The Emperor
+greeted him warmly and created him one of his new peers,
+and in June sent him to the frontier in command of the
+Young Guard; but an attack of sciatica forcing him to bed,
+he escaped the disaster of Waterloo. On the second
+restoration he lost for the time his honours and dignities,
+but refused to re-purchase them at the price of sitting as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span>
+judge on Marshal Ney; however, in 1819 he was reinstated
+in all of them.</p>
+
+<p>It was not till the accession of the July monarchy that
+the Duke of Treviso once again played a prominent part.
+In 1831 his old friend, the Duke of Orleans, now become
+King, made him Grand Chancellor of the Legion of
+Honour, and in November, 1834, called on him to accept
+the onerous task of head of the Government and Minister
+of War. To help his friend and sovereign the Duke
+accepted the responsibility, but soon found that he was
+unequal to the task. A frank and loyal soldier, of
+unimpeachable honour, integrity, and character, he could
+shine in the field, but not in the forum. His fine, lofty
+figure, commanding air, military bearing, and frankness
+were of no avail in the Chamber of Peers, where what
+was wanted was a subtle spirit which could discern and
+influence the drift of parties, a clear, facile tongue, and an
+apparent acquaintance with any subject which might come
+up for discussion. These were the very qualities in which
+the Marshal was most lacking. Slow-witted by nature,
+with a limited vocabulary and a bad delivery, he soon
+found himself unfitted for the post, and resigned in
+February, 1835. But unfortunately for him he still
+retained his position as Grand Chancellor, and in this
+capacity he attended Louis Philippe on his way to the
+ill-fated review of July 29th. As the procession arrived
+at the boulevard of the Temple, the Marshal complained
+of the heat; his staff tried to persuade the old soldier to go
+home, but he refused, saying, "My place is by the King, in
+the midst of the Marshals, my comrades in arms." Scarcely
+had he spoken when Fieschi hurled the fatal bomb, which
+missed the King and the princes, but killed the Marshal and
+many another soldier.</p>
+
+<p>The Duke of Treviso, while doing his duty by his
+sovereign, met his death like a soldier, though not on the
+field of battle. As with Davout, the key to his character<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span>
+was his dogged determination; but though he resembled
+the Prince of Eckmühl on the battlefield, he had not his
+powers of organisation, nor his clear insight into matters
+of policy and strategy. But he had other qualities which
+Davout lacked. He was kind-hearted, and beloved by his
+men. His simplicity and faithfulness appealed to Napoleon,
+and to all who came in contact with him, and it was for
+this reason that the Emperor entrusted him with the Young
+Guard. What distinguished him from many of the other
+Marshals was his lack of jealousy, and the generous way in
+which he co-operated with his comrades in arms. When
+the funeral procession passed down the Rue Royale on its
+way to the Church of the Invalides, with four Marshals on
+horseback holding the corners of the pall, men felt, and
+felt rightly, that France had suffered a loss, for one was
+gone who, peasant-born, had in his high position known
+how to retain the simple virtues of a peasant, whose one
+vice was the peasant vice of avarice, and who, with this
+exception, had never allowed place or power to interfere
+with what he thought was his duty.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XVIII" id="XVIII"></a>XVIII<br /><br />
+JEAN BAPTISTE BESSIÈRES, MARSHAL, DUKE
+OF ISTRIA</h2>
+
+
+<p>Fidelity and conscientiousness are great assets in
+life's race, and to these Jean Baptiste Bessières
+added great presence of mind and considerable
+dash. It is not therefore surprising that, in an age when
+disinterestedness and reliability were notably absent among
+public men, his force of character pushed him above the
+ordinary adventurers, and caused him to become one of
+Napoleon's most trusted lieutenants. The Marshal was
+born at Prayssac in 1768. His father, a surgeon, brought
+up his son in his own profession. But the outbreak of the
+Revolution opened a wider field to the audacious young
+Gascon. Early in 1792 Jean Baptiste quitted Cahors and
+the medical profession, and started off to Paris as one of
+the newly-enrolled "garde constitutionnelle." His fidelity
+and courage were soon put to the test. He aided the royal
+family in the flight to Varennes, and consequently had to
+seek safety in retirement. But the life of a soldier was as
+the breath of his nostrils, and three months later he
+managed to enlist in the 22nd Chasseurs, a corps which
+formed part of the Army of the Pyrenees. There his
+courage and ability made him conspicuous. Within
+three months of enlisting he was promoted sub-lieutenant.
+The year 1793 proved a disastrous one for France. Defeat
+followed defeat. But Jean Baptiste never despaired, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span>
+when success ultimately smiled on the French arms, he had
+established a reputation as a daring and capable squadron
+commander. Still, like many another of the successful soldiers
+of the age, Bessières owed his quick promotion to his
+early friendship with the great Corsican. It was Murat who
+called Napoleon's attention to the future commander of the
+Imperial Guard, and Bonaparte, with his eagle eye, at once
+appreciated his qualities. When the young chief formed
+his special bodyguard, called the Guides, he placed him at
+their head. The new corps was composed of the choicest
+troops, and formed the nucleus of the Imperial Guard.
+Henceforward Bessières became his chief's confidant and
+inseparable friend. It was the rare fidelity that he displayed
+to his master and his constant attention to detail, his intuitive
+knowledge of his commander's requirements, and his
+energy in carrying out his plans, rather than great military
+genius, which accounted for the Emperor's life-long appreciation
+of the commander of his Guides.</p>
+
+<p>At Lonato and Castiglione Bessières proved the correctness
+of the young Corsican's judgment. At Roveredo he
+broke through the centre of the Austrian infantry, and, with
+six others, captured two of the enemy's guns. At the first
+battle of Rivoli, in accordance with his general's commands,
+he laid an ambuscade in the marsh on the Austrian left,
+which proved the decisive factor in the battle. In the
+following year he again distinguished himself at the second
+battle of Rivoli and at the siege of Mantua. As a reward
+for his services Bonaparte sent him to Paris with the
+official despatches and the stands of colours won from the
+enemy, and at the end of the campaign promoted him full
+colonel, and as a further mark of his confidence appointed
+him tutor and instructor to his stepson, Eugène. Bessières
+accompanied Bonaparte to the East, and served by his side
+in Egypt and Syria.</p>
+
+<p>The commander of the Guides was among the chosen
+body of friends who accompanied Bonaparte on his secret<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span>
+return to France, and in Paris he helped Murat, Lannes,
+and Marmont to win over the army, and took a prominent
+part in the coup d'état of the 18th Brumaire. Immediately
+after becoming First Consul Napoleon created the consular
+Guard, composed of four battalions of infantry and two
+regiments of cavalry. He placed at the head of the
+infantry Lannes, and at the head of the cavalry Bessières.
+With the cavalry of the Guard Bessières took part in the
+famous march across the Alps and in the drawn battle of
+Marengo. Faithful as he had proved himself in war, he
+showed his fidelity in peace by exposing the plot of the
+artist, Caracchi, and thus by ties of gratitude bound himself
+closer to the First Consul. Tall, good-looking, with a
+graceful figure and a charming smile, the commandant of
+the Guard captivated everybody by his intelligence and his
+distinguished bearing, which had a piquant flavour by
+reason of his adherence to the queue and powder of a
+bygone age.</p>
+
+<p>Rejecting the brilliant match proposed by the First
+Consul, he chose as his bride Mademoiselle Lapezrière, a
+young lady of a royalist family. The couple were married
+by a nonjuring priest, and, far from incurring displeasure,
+were greatly complimented, for Bonaparte already desired
+the Concordat with the Pope, and saw in the bride a useful
+supporter of his scheme. Madame Bessières was a great
+social success: a favourite of Napoleon and a close friend
+and confidant of Josephine; everywhere she was welcomed
+for her beauty, her force of character, and the charm of her
+manner.</p>
+
+<p>During the year of peace and the preparation for the
+invasion of England, Bessières accompanied the First
+Consul on all his numerous expeditions. To his credit be
+it said, he protested loudly against the ill-judged execution
+of the Duc d'Enghien. When the First Consul became
+Emperor he enrolled his friend among his new Marshals,
+not for his military genius, but as a reward for his fidelity,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span>
+for none knew better than Napoleon how lacking the new
+Marshal was in many of the requisites of a great commander.</p>
+
+<p>In 1805 the cavalry of the Guard formed part of the
+Grand Army, and their commander, by his able backing of
+Murat, had his share in helping to win the battle of Austerlitz.
+During the interval between the Austrian and the
+Prussian campaigns the Marshal was busily occupied in
+Paris in reorganising and expanding the Guard, and, as
+usual, was in close touch with the Emperor. In the Prussian
+campaign Bessières had his first taste of an independent
+command, and gained great credit for his masterly
+man&oelig;uvring in Poland, where with a weak force he kept
+the enemy in complete ignorance of the movements of the
+French, and covered the conjunction of the various corps
+of the army.</p>
+
+<p>After the peace of Tilsit he was entrusted with the delicate
+mission of negotiating a marriage between Princess
+Charlotte of Würtemburg and Prince Jerome, the new King
+of Westphalia. Hardly had he returned to Paris when he
+was hurried off again on active service, this time to Spain.
+It was just a week before the disaster of Baylen that
+Marshal Bessières was confronted with a most serious
+problem. The Spanish levies from Old Castile, under
+Cuesta, had effected a junction with the levies of Galicia,
+under Blake, and were threatening to overwhelm the weak
+force of ten thousand men with which the Marshal was
+attempting to put down the guerilla warfare in the northern
+provinces. Bessières had not been the great Emperor's
+confidant for nothing, and he at once saw that, unless he
+took the initiative, his force was doomed, for the enemy
+were in overwhelming strength, and every day added to
+their numbers. He knew well how ill-disciplined their
+forces were, and he determined to try the effect of a surprise.
+Everything fell out as he wished. On July 14th he
+found the Spanish armies in position outside Medina del<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span>
+Rio Seco, some few miles east of Valladolid. The
+Spaniards, not knowing whether the French were advancing
+from the direction of Valladolid or Burgos, had placed
+the army of Blake on the Valladolid road, and that of
+Cuesta on the Burgos road. Accordingly the Marshal was
+able to surprise and defeat Blake, and then to turn and
+inflict a similar defeat on Cuesta. So far his dispositions
+had been excellent, but, as General Foy said, "He could
+organise victory, but he could not profit by it," for he was
+paralysed by the extent of the guerilla warfare with which
+he was faced, and after a short but bloody pursuit he called
+off his troops. Still, he had accomplished much; for the
+time he had dispersed all organised resistance in the
+northern provinces, and had opened the road to Madrid
+for King Joseph.</p>
+
+<p>But Baylen and Vimeiro proved that the war in the
+Iberian Peninsula was still only in its first stage. Joseph
+had hastily to evacuate Madrid, and, in spite of having
+twelve thousand French troops under his command,
+Bessières could effect nothing. The Spanish armies of
+Cuesta and Blake once again took shape; and, like the
+other French generals, the Marshal had to fall back on the
+line of the Ebro. Such was the situation in October when
+the Emperor himself appeared on the scene. The situation
+changed like magic at the touch of a master hand. The
+French troops, strung out in a great semicircle on the Ebro,
+were quickly concentrated. Blake and Cuesta were each
+defeated by an overwhelming combination of the different
+French armies. Meanwhile, the Emperor, recognising
+the limitations of his faithful friend, superseded him by
+Soult, but gave him the command of the Guard and of the
+reserve cavalry, under his own immediate supervision, and
+took him back to France when he gave up the pursuit of
+the English.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon desired to take the Guard with him on the
+Austrian campaign, and, as several regiments were still in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span>
+Spain, others had to be enrolled to take their places. These
+regiments were entirely organised by Bessières, and formed
+the nucleus of what was later called the Young Guard.
+The Marshal's duty during the Austrian campaign of 1809
+was the same as in Spain: the command of the Guard and of
+the reserve cavalry. During the famous Five Days' Fighting
+he proved again that no troops in Europe could resist the
+charges of the heavy cavalry of the Guard, and that he
+himself had almost as great a command of the technique of
+cavalry tactics as his famous friend and instructor, the King
+of Naples. At Aspern and Essling the cavalry of the Guard
+and the reserve cavalry covered themselves with glory by
+their dashing charges. Again and again, with cries of
+"Vive l'Empereur," the glittering masses of cuirassiers
+attempted to break down the stern handful of indomitable
+Hungarians who guarded the Austrian batteries. When
+the bridges were broken, and the retreat to the island of
+Lobau was the only hope for the army, Bessières, with the
+remains of cavalry, so severely punished the enemy that
+the retirement was effected in safety. At Wagram, when
+all seemed lost, Napoleon called on his old comrade to
+sacrifice himself with his cavalry. As the cuirassiers of the
+Guard trotted past to debouch on their heroic mission, the
+Emperor, waving his sword, cried out, "No sabring. Give
+point, give point!" The needed time was gained, and the
+gallant Marshal was wounded. But at the end of the day,
+when the troopers, after their great effort, could no longer
+face the unbroken lines of slowly retreating Austrians,
+Napoleon, chagrined at his failure, met his cavalry and
+their commander with reproach: "Was ever anything seen
+like this? neither prisoners nor guns! This day will be
+attended with no result."</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor's ill-humour was only temporary. When
+his most trusted lieutenants were grumbling and longing
+for peace in which to enjoy the spoil they had collected in
+war, when Bernadotte and Fouché were openly intriguing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span>
+against him, Napoleon could ill afford to disregard his most
+faithful friend. Accordingly, immediately after Wagram he
+despatched the newly created Duke of Istria to Belgium to
+take over the command of the French troops who were
+opposing the ill-fated English expedition to the isle of
+Walcheren. When the Marshal returned from Belgium to
+Paris he found that the Emperor had made all arrangements
+for the divorce of Josephine and for his second marriage.
+Bessières was placed in a very awkward position. Prince
+Eugène was his greatest friend. Josephine had always been
+most kind to him and the Duchess, but he could not help
+them in any way, and, to make matters worse, the Emperor
+insisted on coming and staying with him at his country
+house at Grignon.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the war in Spain was spoiling many great
+reputations. Reinforcements were urgently required, so
+the Emperor decided to give his Young Guard their baptism
+of fire in Spain. Accordingly, at the commencement of
+1811 he despatched them with Bessières, their commander,
+to operate on the northern lines of communication. The
+ill-success of the French was palpably due to two causes.
+There was no commander-in-chief on the spot&mdash;the Emperor
+was in Paris&mdash;and there was no other Marshal whom all the
+others would obey. Secondly, there was a great want of
+concentration; as Bessières wrote to Berthier: "All the
+world is aware of the vicious system of our operations,
+everyone sees that we are too much scattered. We occupy
+too wide an extent of country: we exhaust our resources
+without profit and without necessity: we cling to dreams.
+We should concentrate our forces; retain certain points
+d'appui for the protection of our magazines and hospitals,
+and regard two-thirds of Spain as a vast battlefield, which a
+single victory may either secure or wrest from us." Unfortunately
+the Marshal was human, like his comrades, and
+instead of loyally backing up Masséna, he came to an open
+rupture with him on the question of supplies, and by his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span>
+inaction at Fuentes d'Onoro he caused the French to lose
+that battle. Though he made good his excuses before
+Napoleon, and secured the disgrace of the Prince of Essling,
+in the opinion of the Duke of Wellington it was Bessières's
+refusal to lend Masséna assistance which was entirely
+responsible for the French defeat. Moreover, sound as were
+his views on the method of conducting war, he had not the
+personality to impress them on others or the application to
+put them into practice, and his whole time was occupied
+in attempting to make head against the guerilla warfare.
+His methods were rough and barbarous, and reacted against
+the French, for he avenged the ill deeds of the guerillas on
+their families and women folk, and visited with military
+execution any village which failed to meet his onerous
+requisitions. So the Spaniards retaliated with revenge, the
+weapon of the weak, that "wild kind of justice." The
+Marshal's blunders were cut short by his recall to Paris at
+the beginning of 1812 to reorganise the Guard prior to the
+Russian campaign.</p>
+
+<p>The Duke of Istria accompanied the Emperor to the front.
+His individual share was restricted by the fact that the
+King of Naples was with the army. But during the retreat
+he led the van and did yeoman service in restoring order
+among the disheartened troops.</p>
+
+<p>Early in 1813 he was recalled from Ebling to reorganise
+the Guard and the reserve cavalry. The task tried to the
+utmost the Marshal's great administrative capacity, for not
+only was there the question of men and equipment, but
+above all he was confronted with the difficulty of providing
+remounts. In spite of all his efforts it was impossible to
+find anything like enough horses for the cavalry, for the
+guns had to be supplied first.</p>
+
+<p>The Marshal's share in the campaign was short. At
+Lützen, on the eve of the first engagement, he was greatly
+depressed and possessed by a presentiment of death, which
+proved only too true, for scarcely had the battle opened<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span>
+when he was struck by a bullet which inflicted a mortal
+wound.</p>
+
+<p>The Duke of Istria has always been among the more
+unknown of the Marshals. The reason for this is clear.
+As commander of the cavalry of the Guard and organiser
+of the Young Guard, his greatest work was done in the
+office at Paris, disciplining, organising, equipping, and
+supervising the instruction of these picked troops. His
+greatest talents were those of administration. As a cavalry
+leader in the field he was overshadowed by the brilliant and
+more striking King of Naples. Still, as a subordinate he
+possessed some sterling qualities, as is proved by his actions
+during the Great Five Days, and by the fierce fight at
+Aspern-Essling. As an independent commander he was a
+failure. Again and again his moral courage seemed to
+desert him at the critical moment. In Spain, at Medina del
+Rio Seco, at Burgos, and at Fuentes d'Onoro, he could not
+brace himself to take the responsibility of throwing his
+whole weight into the action. Like many another general,
+he was sound, but he was unable to rise to the height of
+those great commanders who intuitively know when to
+stake their all. Consequently, although he undoubtedly
+possessed the true military eye, as is shown by the wonderful
+way he covered the junction of the French corps along
+the Vistula, and by his clearly written despatch on the errors
+of the war in Spain, his military reputation always suffered
+when he had not his great chief close at hand to stiffen his
+determination. Napoleon knew full well his weakness, and
+the reproaches he hurled at him at Wagram were not altogether
+without ground. Still, the Emperor was aware that
+Bessières's advice was always valuable, because of his clearness
+of vision and his absolute lack of all bias and prejudice;
+and while he made allowances for his lack of moral courage,
+he always listened to him attentively. The army believed
+that it was his frantic appeal, "Sire, you are seven hundred
+leagues from Paris," which deterred the Emperor at Moskowa<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span>
+from throwing the Guard into the action, and thus
+permitted the Russians to escape absolute annihilation. As
+a man the Marshal was loved and respected by all for his
+absolute disinterestedness and straightforwardness. He was
+adored by his troops, while he possessed the qualities which
+enabled him to succeed in the difficult task of establishing
+an iron discipline in the Guard. It was due to him that, in
+the Imperial Guard, there was none of that lawlessness which
+made the Pretorians of Rome a danger to the Empire.
+When not unnerved by responsibility the Marshal was
+tenderhearted to an extreme. At Moscow he was foremost
+in saving the wretched inhabitants from the flames; during
+the horror of the retreat he dashed back alone to a deserted
+camp on hearing the cries of an infant. But when
+frightened he could be cruelty itself, as is shown in his
+terrible decrees against the Spanish guerillas. Yet even in
+Spain his justice was appreciated, and in many a village in
+Castile, on the news of his death, masses were sung for his
+soul. Though he lacked the highest moral courage, his
+physical bravery was proven on many a stricken field from
+Valladolid to Warsaw. At St. Helena the great Emperor
+gave his friend a noble epitaph&mdash;"He lived like Bayard, he
+died like Turenne."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XIX" id="XIX"></a>XIX<br /><br />
+CLAUDE VICTOR PERRIN, MARSHAL, DUKE OF
+BELLUNO</h2>
+
+
+<p>Not specially dowered by fortune with talents for
+war, but possessed of a resolute character, a high
+sense of honour, great courage, and that intrepidity
+which Napoleon maintained was so absolutely essential
+for high command, the Duke of Belluno is a striking
+instance of how large a factor is character in the struggle
+of life which ends in the survival of the fittest. Born on
+December 7, 1764, at La Marche, among the mountains of
+the Vosges, Victor Perrin enlisted as a private, at the age
+of seventeen, in the artillery regiment of Grenoble. The
+artillery was the finest arm of the old royal army, for there,
+and there alone, merit, not favour, was the key to promotion.
+Accordingly the future Marshal served his apprenticeship to
+arms under officers who knew their service and loved it.
+Ten years spent in the ranks under those who maintained
+strict discipline and were themselves punctilious in matters
+of duty, who exercised careful supervision over their men
+and matériel, and made a serious study of their profession,
+the art of war&mdash;these years with their example were not
+thrown away on the young soldier. When, in 1791, the
+upheaval of the Revolution threatened to subvert the service,
+Claude Victor, now a sergeant, in disgust at the licence prevailing
+among the troops, applied for his discharge. Seven
+months of civil life proved enough for the sturdy ex-sergeant,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span>
+and in October he enrolled himself in the volunteers of the
+Drôme, where in nine months he forced himself by strength
+of character to the command of his battalion, for, as Napoleon
+aptly said, "the times of revolution are the occasions for
+those soldiers who have insight and courage." After six
+months' drill under the hand of the ex-artilleryman, the
+volunteers of the Drôme were able to hold their own on
+the parade ground with the best regiments of the line.
+Well might their commander be proud of his battalion.
+In the fighting on the Var, Victor's volunteers greatly distinguished
+themselves, but it was at Toulon that they first
+showed their real worth. It was well for the colonel that
+he had brought his troops to a high pitch of morale, for, on
+starting to attack Mount Faron, General Dugommier summoned
+him aside. "We must take the redoubt," he said,
+"or&mdash;&mdash;" and he passed his hand in a suggestive way across
+his throat. In this attack, alone of all the corps engaged,
+the men of the Drôme stood their ground when the English
+made their counter-attack; amid cries of "Sauve qui peut!"
+they alone replied steadily to the murderous fire of the enemy,
+and as quietly as on parade they covered the rout and
+slowly withdrew in good order. Three weeks later came
+the opportunity of Victor's life in the assault on the "Little
+Gibraltar," the seizure of which position forced the English
+to evacuate Toulon. The attack was planned by Bonaparte,
+and Victor had the good fortune to be chosen as one of the
+leaders; he was already the firm friend of the Corsican
+captain of artillery, and he now won his boundless admiration
+by his reckless bravery and his capacity for making his
+troops follow him. The two wounds which he received in
+the charge which carried the palisades were a cheap price to
+pay for the rank and glory which he was later to gain as a
+reward for the way in which he flung his shattered column
+against the second line of defence. His immediate recompense
+was the post of general of brigade in the Army of the
+Eastern Pyrenees.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>From the Spanish campaign Victor returned, in 1795, to
+Italy with an enhanced reputation and some knowledge of
+mountain warfare which was to stand him in good stead
+later. When, in 1796, Bonaparte took command of the
+Army of Italy, he found Victor still general of brigade, but
+reputed one of the bravest men in that army of heroes.
+The campaign of 1796 brought him still more to the front.
+Dego, Mondovi, Peschiera, San Marco, Cerea, and the fights
+round Mantua proved his courage and capacity to exact
+the most from his troops, but it was his man&oelig;uvring on
+January 16, 1797, at Saint Georges, outside Mantua, which
+proved his real ability, for there, with but two French
+regiments, he forced the whole division of General Provera,
+seven thousand strong, to lay down its arms. Bonaparte
+chose the conqueror of Provera to lead the French army
+to invade the Papal States. This was Victor's first independent
+command, but, owing to the poor condition of the
+Papal troops, it was no severe test of his ability; still, it
+gained for him his step as general of division, and confirmed
+his chief's high opinion of him.</p>
+
+<p>During the year following the peace of Campo Formio,
+General Victor held several posts in France, but was back
+again in Italy in 1799, to take part in the disastrous campaign
+against the Austrians and Russians. Detached by
+General Moreau to aid Macdonald on the Trebbia, he, for the
+first time, showed that jealousy which was such a blemish
+in his character, and during the retreat he paid so little
+attention to orders that he was almost overwhelmed by the
+enemy. Not from cowardice, but from his desire to escape
+Macdonald's control, he abandoned his guns, and withdrew
+into the mountains to try to join Moreau; but Macdonald
+saved the guns, and sarcastically wrote to his insubordinate
+lieutenant that he had secured the guns but found neither
+friend nor foe.</p>
+
+<p>Victor was serving under Masséna when Bonaparte
+returned from Egypt. Stern Republican, sprung from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span>
+ranks, he hated the idea of a dictatorship, and did not hide
+from superiors or inferiors his dislike of the coup d'état of
+the 18th Brumaire. Indeed, so subversive of discipline
+became his attitude and his speeches to his soldiers, that
+Masséna was forced to remove him from his command and
+report him to the First Consul. In retirement and disgrace
+at Monaco, he saw with dismay the armies of the Allies
+surging up to the French frontier. Putting aside all
+personal animosity, he wrote to his former friend and
+commander, with no complaints, or prayers to be reinstated,
+but giving a clear exposition of the state of affairs in
+Italy, and of the means necessary to restore the prestige of
+the French arms, and actually proposing the plan, which the
+First Consul had already conceived, of crossing the Alps
+and falling on the communications of the enemy. Bonaparte
+was greatly struck with this letter. Perhaps also he
+called to mind his former friendship, in the days when the
+old ex-artillery sergeant used to walk round his batteries at
+Toulon, and doubtless he remembered his stubborn courage
+and tenacity in the fights round Mantua; at any rate, he
+summoned him to Paris, received him with marks of
+affection, and sent him off at once to command a division
+of the Army of Reserve. But though he forgave him outwardly,
+Bonaparte was too shrewd a judge of men not to
+see that his old comrade was always dangerous when not
+employed. While busy drilling and supervising his troops
+the general had no time to think about politics and the
+theories of government. So, as First Consul and Emperor,
+Napoleon saw to it that the ex-artilleryman had plenty of
+employment. During the Marengo campaign the general
+gained fresh honours. Luckily it was his old friend,
+Lannes, with whom he had to co-operate; and Lannes
+willingly acknowledged his loyal aid at Montebello, for on
+the day he received his dukedom he embraced Victor,
+saying, "My friend, it is to you I owe my title!" At
+Marengo he again had to work with Lannes, and it was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span>
+due to their admirable co-operation and stubbornness that
+the retreat did not become a rout, and that Desaix had
+time to return to the field, and allow the First Consul to
+fight another battle and turn a defeat into a victory.</p>
+
+<p>But though Napoleon gave him his due share of the
+glory of Marengo, and mentioned him first in despatches
+and presented him with a sword of honour, he yet
+remembered his former hostility, and, while constantly
+employing him, took care to keep him as much as possible
+out of France. So for two years after Marengo General
+Victor held the post of commander-in-chief in the Army of
+Holland. Then in 1802 he was appointed Captain-General
+of Louisiana. But fortune here defeated the First Consul's
+intentions, and the expedition to America never sailed.
+Victor was sent back to his post in Holland, and kept there
+till February, 1805, when he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary
+at the Danish court.</p>
+
+<p>During these years it was clear to everybody that he was
+in disgrace, and it was due to the boldness of his friend,
+Marshal Lannes, that he was recalled to active service and
+once again given a chance of distinguishing himself. In
+September, 1806, owing to the promotion of his chief staff
+officer, Lannes had to find a new chief of the staff for his
+corps, and he applied to the Emperor to be allowed
+to appoint General Victor. Napoleon hesitated for a
+moment, then, mindful of the number of troops under arms,
+and the necessity of employing really efficient officers on
+the staff, he acquiesced in the Marshal's choice, saying, "He
+is a really sound man and one in whom I have complete
+confidence, and I will give him proof of this when the
+occasion arrives." Jena and Pultusk added to the general's
+distinguished record, and the Emperor began to treat him
+once again with favour, and in January, 1807, entrusted him
+with the new tenth corps of the Grand Army. Soon after
+he had taken over his new command he had the bad luck
+to be captured by a patrol of the enemy while driving with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span>
+a single aide-de-camp near Stettin. Luckily for him he had
+by now completely won back the goodwill of the Emperor.
+Napoleon at once set about to effect his exchange, and in
+a few days he was back again with his corps. At the
+beginning of June, when Bernadotte fell ill, the Emperor
+summoned him to the front to take command of the first
+corps, and it was in this capacity that he was present at the
+battle of Friedland, and in that terrible struggle he won his
+bâton. Rewards now came speedily, for after Tilsit he was
+entrusted with the government of Prussia, and in 1808
+created Duke of Belluno.</p>
+
+<p>From Prussia the Marshal was summoned, in the autumn
+of 1808, to take command of the first corps of the Army of
+Spain, and for the next three years he saw continuous
+service in the Peninsula. During the first few months of
+his career there fortune smiled upon him. At Espinosa he
+dealt General Blake a smashing blow; later he led the van
+of the army under Napoleon in the march on Madrid, and
+forced the enemy's entrenched position in the pass of the
+Somosierra by a charge of his Polish lancers. From
+Madrid he was despatched to the south to keep the enemy
+at some distance from the capital, and at Ulces and Medellin
+he proved that the Spanish generals were no match for him
+and his seasoned troops. But unfortunately he smirched
+the fame of these victories by the licence he permitted his
+soldiers: at Ulces he allowed the town to be sacked, and
+executed sixty-nine of the most prominent of the citizens,
+including some monks, while he ordered all prisoners who
+were unable to march to be shot. At Medellin the French
+bayoneted the Spanish wounded. Further, like many
+another commander, he did not scruple to make the most
+of his successes in his reports, and the Spaniards assert that
+he eked out his trophies by taking down the old battle-flags
+of the knights of Santiago from the church of Ulces. After
+Medellin his successes ended. Placed under the command
+of Joseph and Jourdan, whom he despised; in great straits to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span>
+feed his army in a country which was really a wilderness;
+worried by constant contradictory orders, it was in no
+pleasant mood that he at last found himself under the
+personal command of King Joseph at Talavera. Anxious
+to maintain his independence and to show off his military
+skill, he attempted by himself to surprise the English wing
+of the allied army. Consequently he committed King
+Joseph and Jourdan to an action which they did not wish
+to fight, and by refusing to co-operate with the other corps
+commanders he brought defeat upon the French army,
+for, as Napoleon wrote to Joseph, "As long as you attack
+good troops, like the English, in good positions, without
+reconnoitring them, you will lead your men to death 'en
+pure perte.'"</p>
+
+<p>After Talavera Victor's independent career came to an
+end; he was placed under the orders of Marshal Soult and
+sent to besiege Cadiz, before which place he lay till he was
+summoned to take part in the Russian campaign. But
+before leaving Cadiz he fought one more action against the
+British when General Graham seized the opportunity of
+Soult's absence to attempt to break up the siege; and he
+had once again to acknowledge defeat, when at Barossa the
+little column of four thousand British turned at bay and
+boldly attacked and defeated nine thousand chosen French
+infantry under the Marshal himself.</p>
+
+<p>In Russia the Duke of Belluno was saved some of the
+greatest hardships, for his corps was on the line of
+communication, and it was not till the day before the
+battle of the Beresina that he actually joined the retreating
+army, in time to earn further glory by covering the passage
+of the river, though at the cost of more than half his corps.
+During 1813 he fought at Dresden and at Leipzig, and at
+the commencement of 1814 was entrusted with the defence
+of the Vosges; but he soon had to fall back on the Marne.
+At Saint Dizier and Brienne he bore himself bravely, but at
+Montereau he fell into disgrace; he neglected to hold the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span>
+bridge on the Seine, and thus completely spoiled Napoleon's
+combination. The Emperor was furious, and deprived him
+of the command of his corps and told him to leave the
+army. But the Marshal refused to go. "I will shoulder
+my musket," said he; "Victor has not forgotten his old
+occupation. I will take my place in the Guard." At such
+devotion the Emperor relented. "Well, Victor," he said,
+stretching out his hand, "remain with us. I cannot restore
+to you your corps, which I have bestowed on Girard; but
+I give you two divisions of the Guard." However, the
+Marshal did not long occupy his new position, for he was
+severely wounded at Craonne and forced to go home.</p>
+
+<p>On Napoleon's abdication the Duke of Belluno swore
+allegiance to the Bourbons and kept it, for, on the
+return of Napoleon from Elba, he withdrew to Ghent with
+Louis XVIII. On the second Restoration he was created
+a peer of France and nominated one of the four major-generals
+of the Royal Guard. Though never an imperialist,
+and at heart a republican, it was Napoleon's treatment of
+him at Montereau which recalled the old grievance of his
+disgrace in 1800 and turned him into a royalist. The
+Marshal earned the undying hatred of many of his old
+comrades by the severity he displayed when "charged with
+examining the conduct of officers of all grades who had
+served under the usurpation." But, though steadfast in his
+adherence to the monarchy, the Duke of Belluno still clung
+to his liberal ideals, and it was for this reason that in 1821
+Villèle invited him to join the Cabinet as Minister for War.
+It was a strange position for the ex-sergeant of artillery, but
+he filled it admirably, and brought considerable strength to
+the Ministry, in that as a soldier of fortune, a self-made
+man, he conciliated the Liberals, and as a resolute character,
+a firm royalist, and a man of intrepidity and
+honour, he had the confidence and esteem of the Conservative
+party. It was during his term of office that a French
+army once again invaded Spain, and thanks in no small<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span>
+degree to his knowledge of the country and to his business
+capacity that it suffered no reverse. When the Bourbon
+dynasty fell in July, 1830, the Duke of Belluno took the
+oath of allegiance to the new Government, but never again
+entered public life, and on March 1, 1841, he died in Paris
+at the age of seventy-seven.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XX" id="XX"></a>XX<br /><br />
+EMMANUEL DE GROUCHY, MARSHAL</h2>
+
+
+<p>When the Revolution broke out in 1789 the
+young Count Emmanuel de Grouchy was
+serving as lieutenant-colonel in the Scotch
+company of the Gardes du Corps. Born on October 23,
+1766, the only son of the Marquis de Grouchy, the representative
+of an old Norman family which could trace its
+descent from before the days of William the Conqueror,
+Emmanuel de Grouchy had entered the army at the age of
+fourteen. After a year's service in the marine artillery he
+had been transferred to a cavalry regiment of the line, and
+on his twentieth birthday had been selected for the Gardes
+du Corps. A keen student of military history and devoted
+to his profession, the young Count had read widely and
+thought much. Impressionable and enthusiastic, a philosophical
+liberal by nature, he eagerly absorbed the
+teaching of the Encyclopedists. As events developed, he
+found that his position in the Gardes du Corps was
+antagonistic to his principles, and, at his own request,
+at the end of 1791 he was transferred to the twelfth
+regiment of chasseurs as lieutenant-colonel commanding.
+After a few months' service with this regiment he was
+promoted brigadier-general, and served successively under
+General Montesquieu with the Army of the Midi, and under
+Kellermann with the Army of the Alps. At the commencement
+of 1793, while on leave in Normandy, he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span>
+hurriedly despatched to the west to take part in the civil
+war in La Vendée. No longer Comte de Grouchy but
+plain Citizen-general Grouchy, for the next three years he
+saw almost continuous service in the civil war, with the
+exception of a few months when, like all ci-devant nobles,
+he was dismissed the service by the decree of the incompetent
+Bouchotte. But Clanclaux, who commanded the
+Army of La Vendée, had found in him a most useful
+subordinate and a sound adviser; and accordingly, at his
+instance, the ci-devant noble was restored to his rank, and
+sent back as chief of the staff to the Army of the West,
+and in April, 1795, promoted general of division. Clear-headed,
+firmly convinced of the soundness of his opinions,
+without being bigoted or revengeful, Grouchy saw that the
+cruel methods of many of the generals did more to continue
+the war than the political tenets of the Vendéens and
+Chouans, and he used his influence with Clanclaux, and
+later with Hoche, to restrain useless reprisals and crush the
+rebellion by overwhelming the armed forces of the rebels,
+not by insulting women and shooting prisoners. The
+problem to be solved was a difficult one, as he pointed out
+in a memoir written for Clanclaux. "It is the population
+of the entire country which is on your hands, a population
+which suddenly rushes together to fight, if it is strong
+enough to crush you; which hurls itself against your
+flanks and rear, and then as suddenly disappears, when
+not strong enough to resist you." His solution of the difficulty
+was to wear down resistance by light mobile columns,
+and to starve the enemy out by devastating the country.
+In September, 1795, on Clanclaux's retirement, the Commissioners
+attached to the Army of the West wished to
+invest Grouchy with the command, but the general refused
+the post; for, clear counsellor and good adviser as he was,
+he lacked self-confidence, and knew that he was not fit for
+the position. It was this horror of undertaking responsibility
+which dragged him down during all his career, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span>
+which, on the two occasions when fortune gave him his
+chance to rise, made him choose the safe but inglorious
+road of humdrum mediocrity. In 1796 came his first
+chance: after a brief period of service with the Army of the
+North in Holland he was once again at his old work under
+Hoche in the west, when the Directory determined to try
+to retaliate for the English participation in the Chouan
+revolt by raising a hornet's nest in Ireland. At the end
+of December a force of fifteen thousand men under Hoche,
+with Grouchy as second in command, set sail for Ireland.
+Unfortunately the expedition met with bad weather, the
+ship on which Hoche sailed got separated from the rest of
+the fleet, and, when Grouchy arrived at the rendezvous
+in Bantry Bay, he found the greater part of the expedition,
+but no general-in-chief. In spite of this he rightly determined
+to effect a landing, but had not the necessary force
+of character to ensure his orders being carried out, and
+after six days' procrastination Admiral Bouvet, pleading
+heavy weather, refused to allow his ships to remain off the
+coast, and the expedition returned to France. If Grouchy
+had been able to get his orders obeyed, all would have been
+well, for on the very day after his squadron left Bantry
+Bay, Hoche himself arrived at the rendezvous. As
+Grouchy said, if he had only flung that &mdash;&mdash; Admiral
+Bouvet into the sea all would have been right. Where
+Grouchy hesitated and failed a Napoleon would have
+acted and conquered.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<a href="images/fp306-hi.jpg"><img src="images/fp306.jpg" width="396" height="600" alt="EMMANUEL DE GROUCHY, MARQUIS
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY ROUILLARD" title="" id="fp306"/></a><br />
+<span class="caption">EMMANUEL DE GROUCHY, MARQUIS<br />
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY ROUILLARD</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Hoche died, and Grouchy, who under his influence had
+disapproved of the policy of France towards the Italian
+States, at once accepted employment in Italy. He soon
+had to rue his decision, for he found himself entrusted with
+the task of using underhand means to drive the King of
+Sardinia from his country. Still, he obeyed his orders to
+the letter. During negotiations he secretly introduced
+French troops into the citadel at Turin and then seized the
+fortresses of Novara, Alessandria, and Chiasso. Meanwhile<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span>
+he terrified the unfortunate monarch by announcing the
+arrival of imaginary columns of troops, suborned the King's
+Council, and so worked on the feelings of the bewildered
+sovereign that he escaped by night from his palace and
+fled across the sea. But though their King had deserted
+them, the Piedmontese did not tamely submit, and for the
+next few months the general was busy tracking out and
+capturing the numerous members of the secret societies
+who were avenging their country by cutting the throats of
+Frenchmen. While striking with a heavy hand at these
+conspirators, Grouchy was level-headed enough to understand
+that the proper method of tackling the problem was
+to remove the grievance. In his opinion it was not the
+people so much as the Church which was opposed to the
+French, and accordingly he did his best to get Joubert to
+issue a proclamation that there should be no interference
+with religion. Still, the situation must have been galling to
+a man of culture and a theoretical liberal, for, while forcing
+democratic institutions on an unwilling people, he had at
+the same time to strip their capital of all objects of art;
+and while issuing proclamations for the freedom of religion
+he had to arrange for the passage of the Pope on his way to
+captivity. In May, 1799, the general was recalled from his
+governorship of Turin, for the Austrians and Russians were
+invading Lombardy and Joubert was concentrating his
+forces. The campaign, as far as Grouchy was concerned,
+was short, for while attempting to stem the flight of the left
+wing after the battle of Novi he was ridden over and
+captured by the Allies. Four sabre cuts, one bullet wound,
+and several bayonet thrusts kept him in hospital for some
+time; when he was well enough to be moved he was sent
+to Grätz, and it was not till a year later&mdash;in June, 1800&mdash;that
+his exchange was effected. But he soon had his
+revenge on the Austrians, for in the autumn he was
+despatched to join the army under Moreau, which was
+operating on the Danube, and arrived at headquarters in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span>
+time to take part in the battle of Hohenlinden. In the face
+of a blinding snowstorm Grouchy's division drove back the
+main column of the enemy, and after hours of murderous
+hand-to-hand fighting in the forest, he shared with Ney
+the honour of the last charge which drove the enemy in
+hopeless rout.</p>
+
+<p>It was on his return from Hohenlinden that the ex-Count
+met Bonaparte. The First Consul, who aimed at conciliating
+the old nobility, made much of him, employed him on
+a confidential mission to Italy, and nominated him inspector-general
+of cavalry. This post admirably suited Grouchy,
+who was a horseman by nature and a cavalry soldier by
+instinct. Later, on the formation of the Army of the Ocean,
+he was appointed to the command of an infantry division
+in Marmont's corps in Holland, and it was with Marmont
+that he made the campaign of 1805. In October, 1806, he
+was summoned from Italy to a more important command.
+The Grand Army was advancing on Prussia, and Napoleon
+had need of capable leaders to command his vast masses of
+cavalry. Grouchy was entrusted with the second division
+of dragoons of the cavalry corps under Murat and played a
+prominent part in the battle of Prinzlow and the pursuit to
+Lübeck. At Eylau he had a narrow escape: his charger
+was killed in the middle of the mêlée and he was only saved
+by the devotion of his aide-de-camp; though much shaken,
+he was able to resume command of his division, and distinguished
+himself by his fierce charges in the blinding
+snow. At Friedland a chance occurred for which his
+capacity proved fully equal. Murat was absent at Königsberg
+trying to get across the enemy's rear, and Grouchy
+was in command of all the reserve cavalry at the moment
+the advance guard interrupted the Russian retreat. It was
+his admirable handling of the cavalry under Lannes's directions
+which held the Russians in check for sixteen hours,
+until Napoleon was able to concentrate his divisions and
+give the Russians the coup-de-grâce. The Emperor showed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span>
+his gratitude by presenting the general with the Grand
+Cross of Baden, investing him with the Cordon of the
+Legion of Honour, and granting him the domain of
+Nowawies, in the department of Posen.</p>
+
+<p>The following year, 1808, saw Grouchy, now a Count of
+the Empire, with Murat in Spain, acting as governor of
+Madrid. But when, in the autumn, Joseph evacuated all
+the western provinces, Grouchy, whose health had been
+much shaken by the Polish campaign, was granted leave
+of absence and took care not to be sent back, for he
+had seen enough of the Spanish to foresee the terrible
+difficulties of guerilla warfare; moreover, the annexation
+of the country was contrary to his ideas of political justice.
+When the war with Austria was imminent Napoleon sent
+him to Italy to command the cavalry of the viceroy's army.
+With Prince Eugène he fought through Styria and Carinthia
+and distinguished himself greatly at the battle of Raab.
+At Wagram his cavalry was attached to Davout's corps, and
+his fierce charges, which helped to break the Austrian left,
+brought him again under the notice of the Emperor, who
+showed his appreciation by appointing him colonel-general
+of chasseurs.</p>
+
+<p>In 1812 the Count was summoned once again to the
+field, to command the third corps of reserve cavalry with
+the Grand Army in Russia. At Moskowa his cuirassiers,
+sabre in hand, drove the Russians out of the great redoubt,
+but Grouchy himself was seriously wounded. During the
+retreat from Moscow he commanded one of the "Sacred
+Bands" of officers who personally guarded the Emperor,
+but his health, never good, completely broke down under
+the strain and he was allowed to return straight home from
+Vilna. A year elapsed before he had sufficiently recovered
+to take the field, and it was not till the beginning of 1814
+that he was fit for service. During the campaign in France,
+first under Victor and later with Marmont, he commanded
+the remnant of the reserve cavalry; but on March 7th at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span>
+Craonne he was once again so badly wounded that he had
+to throw up his command.</p>
+
+<p>During the Restoration Grouchy remained at his home;
+his relations with the Bourbons were not cordial, and he
+bitterly resented the loss of his title of colonel-general of
+chasseurs. Accordingly, when Napoleon returned from
+Elba and France seemed to welcome him with open arms,
+in spite of having accepted the Cross of St. Louis, he
+had no scruple in answering the Emperor's summons. He
+was entrusted with the operations against the Duc d'Angoulême
+round Lyons, but disliked the task, for he remembered
+the fate of the Duc d'Enghien, and in spite of Napoleon's
+protests that he only desired to capture the Duke in order
+to make the Austrians send back the Empress, Grouchy
+determined that, if possible, while doing everything to
+defeat the royalists, he would not capture d'Angoulême.
+Unfortunately, the Duke refused the opportunity to escape
+which was offered him, and Grouchy had to make him a
+prisoner. However, Napoleon, anxious to stand well with
+the Powers of Europe, at once ordered him to be set free.
+At the same time he sent Grouchy to command the Army of
+the Alps, giving him his Marshal's bâton. The new Marshal
+was delighted with his promotion; he had now served for
+twenty years as general of division, and although only forty-nine,
+had practically given up all hope of promotion. But
+scarcely had he reached his new command when he was
+recalled to Paris.</p>
+
+<p>With Murat in disgrace and Bessières dead, the Emperor
+had no great cavalry leader on whom he could rely, and,
+remembering the new Marshal's exploits at Friedland and
+Wagram, and his staunchness in 1814, he determined to
+entrust him with the command of the reserve cavalry.
+Unfortunately for Napoleon and Grouchy, the exigencies of
+the campaign forced the Emperor to divide his army; so,
+while entrusting Ney with a part of his troops, with orders
+to pursue the English, and keeping the Guard and reserves<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span>
+under his immediate control, he gave Grouchy the command
+of two corps of infantry and one of cavalry; in all, some
+thirty-three thousand men. The appointment was an
+unfortunate one, for the Marshal, though in many respects
+a good cavalry leader, had never before had the command
+of a large body of mixed troops, and even his cavalry
+successes had been obtained when under the orders of a
+superior: at Friedland he was under Lannes; at Wagram
+under Davout; at Moskowa under Eugène; and in 1814
+under either Victor or Marmont. But what was most
+unfortunate about the selection was that Grouchy had not
+enough personal authority to enforce his orders on his
+corps commanders, and the fiery Vandamme not only
+despised but hated him because he had received the bâton
+which he hoped was to have been his, while Girard was a
+personal enemy. At Ligny, where Napoleon himself
+supervised the attack, all went well, but from the moment
+fighting ceased difficulties began. Immediately after the
+battle the Emperor entrusted the Marshal with the pursuit
+of the Prussians, but Pajol, who commanded his light
+cavalry, carried out his reconnaissance in a perfunctory
+manner, and reported that the Prussians had retreated
+towards Namur. Grouchy received this news at 4 a.m. on
+June 17th, but he did not dare to disturb the Emperor's
+rest, and it was 8 a.m. before he could see him and demand
+detailed orders. Napoleon, trusting to Pajol's report,
+thought that the Prussians were absolutely demoralised
+and were leaving the theatre of war, and so he kept the
+Marshal talking about Paris and politics till 11 a.m. Consequently
+it was 11.30 before he received exact orders,
+penned by Bertrand, which told him to proceed to
+Gembloux, keeping his forces concentrated; to reconnoitre
+the different roads leading to Namur and Maestricht, and
+to inform the Emperor of the Prussians' intentions, adding,
+"It is important to know what Blücher and Wellington
+mean to do, and whether they prefer to unite their armies<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span>
+in order to cover Brussels and Liège, by trying their
+fortunes in another battle." Bad staff directions and heavy
+rains retarded the advance, and it took six hours for the
+troops to cover the nine miles to Gembloux, where at eight
+in the evening Grouchy heard that part of the Prussians
+had fallen back on Wavre, which meant that they might
+still unite with the English to cover Brussels. He at once
+reported this to the Emperor, adding that Blücher had
+retired on Liège and the artillery on Namur. But, in spite
+of the fact that on the evening of the seventeenth Napoleon
+knew that this was a mistake, and that the Prussians were
+actually massed round Wavre, it was not till 10 a.m. on the
+morning of Waterloo that he sent to the Marshal informing
+him of the Prussians' concentration, and telling him that
+"he must therefore move thither (<i>i.e.</i>, to Wavre) in order
+to approach us, and to push before him any Prussians who
+may have stopped at Wavre." This was the exact course
+which Grouchy had determined to pursue. It is therefore
+quite clear that neither the Emperor nor the Marshal had
+dreamed that Blücher would attempt to give any assistance to
+the English in their position at Waterloo. At 11 a.m., when
+his columns were just approaching Wavre, the Marshal heard
+the commencement of the cannonade at Waterloo. Girard
+entreated him to march to the sound of the cannon, but
+Grouchy had what he considered distinct orders to pursue the
+Prussians; he was now in touch with them, and with a
+force of thirty-three thousand men he did not dare to make
+a flank march in the face of what, he was becoming convinced,
+was the whole Prussian army. At 5 p.m. he received
+Napoleon's despatch, hastily written at 1 p.m., ordering him
+to turn westward and crush the Prussian corps which was
+marching on the Emperor's right rear, but by then his main
+force was heavily engaged at Wavre, and even if he had
+been able to despatch part of his force it could not have
+arrived at Mont St. Jean till long after the end of the
+battle.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>On the morning of the nineteenth the Marshal was preparing
+to pursue Thielmann's corps, which, on the previous
+evening, he had driven from Wavre, when he heard of the
+catastrophe at Waterloo. He immediately stopped the
+pursuit, and, by rapid marching, reached Namur before
+the Allies could cut him off, and, by a skilful retreat,
+brought back his thirty-three thousand men to Paris
+before the enemy arrived at the gates. But instead of
+the thanks he had expected he found himself saddled with
+the blame of the loss of Waterloo. The disaster, however,
+clearly rested on the Emperor, whose orders were vague,
+and who had not realised the extraordinary moral courage
+of Blücher and the stubbornness of the Prussians, and if
+Napoleon did not foresee this he could not blame Grouchy
+for being equally blind. The Marshal did all that a
+mediocre man could do. He carefully carried out the
+orders given him, trusting, no doubt, too much to the
+letter, too little to the spirit. But long years spent in a
+subordinate position under a military hierarchy like that
+of the Empire were bound to stifle all initiative, and it
+was not to be supposed that the man who, twenty years
+earlier, had failed to rise to the occasion in Ireland would,
+after at last gaining his Marshal's bâton, risk his reputation
+by marching, like Desaix at Marengo, to the sound of the
+guns, across the front of an enemy vastly superior to
+himself, through a difficult country partially waterlogged
+and intercepted by deep broad streams, contrary to what
+seemed his definite orders.</p>
+
+<p>The Marshal's career really ended on the abdication of
+the Emperor, though he was appointed by the Provisional
+Government to the command of the remains of the Army
+of the North, and in this capacity proclaimed the Emperor's
+son as Napoleon II. On gaining Paris he found himself
+subordinate to Davout, an old enemy. Accordingly he
+threw up his command and retired into private life. After
+his conduct during the Hundred Days he could expect no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span>
+mercy from the returned Bourbons, and was glad to escape
+abroad. Included in the general pardon, he returned to
+France in 1818, but his marshalate was annulled, and he
+never regained his bâton, though on the accession of Charles
+X. he was actually received at court. But though the King
+might forgive, his favourites and ministers could not forget,
+and in December, 1824, he was included among the fifty
+generals of Napoleon who were placed on the retired list,
+an action which General Foy shrewdly remarked was "a
+cannon-shot charged at Waterloo, fired ten years after the
+battle, and pointed direct at its mark." Like many another
+of the Marshals, the veteran retained his health and faculties
+for many years, and defended his character and actions
+and criticised his enemies with the same clear logic which
+had so powerfully contributed to his early advancement;
+for the ex-Marshal wielded the pen as easily as the sword.
+It was not till 1847 that death carried off the sturdy old
+warrior at the age of eighty-one.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XXI" id="XXI"></a>XXI<br /><br />
+FRANÇOIS CHRISTOPHE KELLERMANN,<br />
+MARSHAL, DUKE OF VALMY</h2>
+
+
+<p>When old institutions suddenly collapse with a
+crash; when all is confusion and chaos, and
+the lines of reconstruction are as yet veiled in
+uncertainty; when people suspect their old rulers and are
+shy of those who would set themselves up as their new
+directors, there comes an interval before genius and wile
+can organise their forces, when character, and character
+alone can shepherd the people scattered like sheep on the
+mountains. Such was the case in France in September,
+1792. The old constitution had foundered, sweeping away
+in its ruin the order and discipline of the royal army. The
+officers had either fled or been deposed by their men, and
+such few as remained were held "suspect." The new
+officers, chosen by their fellows, had but little authority.
+The staff of the army was changed weekly to suit the
+whim of some civil or military self-seeker, at a time when
+France was at war with the great military powers of
+Europe. It was little wonder, therefore, that the Prussians
+and Austrians looked forward to the campaign of 1792 as a
+military promenade. They knew better even than the War
+Minister at Paris how debauched were the regular troops of
+France, how unreliable and contemptible were the few
+thousand old men and boys who rejoiced in the name
+of volunteers, and they never for a moment believed that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span>
+the French generals would be able to force their men to
+stand and fight. But they had calculated wrongly. They
+had not learned that in war a man is everything; they
+had not grasped how deeply the spirit of discipline had
+been engrained in the old royal army. Fortunately for
+France she had two men of character to fall back upon;
+and aided by their example, on September 20th the regulars
+of France stood firm before the famous Prussian army. The
+two men were Dumouriez and Kellermann. Dumouriez
+had brains and character, Kellermann character and stolid
+imperturbability.</p>
+
+<p>Descended from an old Saxon family long domiciled
+in Alsace, François Christophe Kellermann was born at
+Strasburg on May 28, 1735. Entering the French army
+at the age of fifteen, he fought his way up step by step
+by sheer hard work and merit. Winning the Cross of
+St. Louis for distinguished cavalry work in the Seven
+Years' War, he was sent in 1766 on a mission to Poland
+and Russia, on the strength of which he was lent by the
+French Government to help the Confederates of Bar to
+organise their irregular cavalry. Returning to France, he
+slowly gained promotion, and in 1788 became major-general
+and was promoted lieutenant-general in March,
+1792, mainly owing to his warm adoption of the revolutionary
+principles. Kellermann had not the gifts of a
+great commander, but he had what is sometimes better,
+the confidence of his men. He was notorious for his
+hatred of the old régime and had a high reputation as
+a cavalry commander: added to this, the firm belief he
+had in himself served to inspire confidence in others.
+Independent by nature, ambitious, cantankerous, jealous
+and conceited, Kellermann had not found his life in the
+army any too pleasant. Save in war time merit gained little
+reward; promotion came neither from the east nor the
+west, but from court favouritism. It thus happened that
+the rough Alsatian had always found himself subordinate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span>
+to men who were really his inferiors, but who despised
+his want of culture and his provincial accent; for Kellermann
+knew no grammar, spoke through his nose and spelt
+as he spoke, even writing "debuté" for "deputé." It was
+thanks to the friendship of Servan, the War Minister, that
+on August 25th he was summoned from the small column
+he had been commanding on the Lauter to succeed Luckner
+in command of the Army of the Centre. When he arrived
+at his new headquarters at Metz he found a woeful state of
+affairs. The Prussians and Austrians were sweeping everything
+before them, and at Metz he found a fortress without
+stores and an army without discipline. Luckily he had the
+advantage of Berthier, a staff officer of the highest order,
+Napoleon's future chief of the staff. The soldiers welcomed
+Kellermann, "this brave general whose patriotism
+equals his talents," and whose civism was praised throughout
+all Alsace. Organisation was his first work, and his
+former experience of irregular warfare in Poland stood him
+in good stead. He immediately sent home the battalions of
+the volunteers of 1792, who were arriving without arms and
+in rags. He retained a few picked men from each battalion,
+to be used as light troops and pioneers. After weeding out
+undesirables and drafting reinforcements into his most
+reliable regiments, in three weeks he evolved a force of
+twenty thousand men capable of taking the field. While
+thus engaged he was ordered to join Dumouriez, who
+had been holding the Prussians in check at the defiles of
+the Argonne. On the evening of September 19th Kellermann
+effected his junction with Dumouriez near St. Menehould,
+and was attacked early next morning by the enemy
+under the Duke of Brunswick. The morning was wet and
+foggy, and the Prussians surprised the French and cut them
+off from the road to Paris. But instead of driving home
+their attack they thought to frighten them by a mere
+cannonade. Luckily the artillery was the least demoralised
+part of the French army, and under the able command of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[319]</a></span>
+d'Abbéville, it not only replied to the Prussian guns, but
+played with great effect on the infantry, when at last
+Brunswick ordered an attack. Kellermann meanwhile sat
+on his horse in front of his infantry, and by his example
+and sangfroid managed to keep them in the ranks, though
+they were really so unsteady that when an ammunition
+wagon blew up, three regiments of infantry and the whole
+of the ammunition column fled in disorder from the field.
+But Kellermann galloped up in time to prevent the panic
+spreading. Meanwhile Dumouriez had hastened up reinforcements
+to secure Kellermann's flanks, and the Duke of
+Brunswick, seeing the French standing firm, and not being
+sure of his own men, refused to allow the attack to be
+pressed home. Such was the cannonade of Valmy; the
+Prussians had thirty-four thousand men engaged, and lost
+one hundred and eighty-four men; the French had thirty-six
+thousand engaged out of a total of fifty-two thousand,
+and lost three hundred, and the greater proportion of this
+loss was due to Kellermann's bad tactics in massing his
+infantry close behind his guns.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<a href="images/fp318-hi.jpg"><img src="images/fp318.jpg" width="404" height="600" alt="FRANÇOIS CHRISTOPHE KELLERMANN, DUKE OF VALMY
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY ANSIAUX" title="" id="fp318"/></a><br />
+<span class="caption">FRANÇOIS CHRISTOPHE KELLERMANN, DUKE OF VALMY<br />
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY ANSIAUX</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Still, Valmy was one of the most important battles in the
+world's history, for it taught Europe that France still existed
+as a political unit, and it allowed her to effect her regeneration
+in her own way. Neither Kellermann nor Dumouriez
+at first understood what they had done. Dumouriez drew
+off his army to a better position to await events. But
+Valmy had restored the morale of the French and broken
+that of the Prussians, whom disease and bad weather further
+affected, and soon Brunswick was glad to negotiate and
+retreat to the Rhine. Kellermann's share in the great event
+is easily determined. He had most unwillingly joined
+Dumouriez, he had allowed himself to be surprised in
+the morning, and his tactics were so bad that his men
+suffered heavier loss than was necessary; but though it
+was Dumouriez who made good the tactical mistake and
+covered Kellermann's flanks, and d'Abbéville whose artillery<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[320]</a></span>
+caused the infantry attack to miscarry, it was Kellermann's
+reputation and example which kept the really demoralised
+infantry in line, and prevented them from running in terror
+from the field. It was the sight of the old Alsatian quietly
+getting on a fresh horse when his former one was killed,
+caring nothing though one of his coat-tails was carried off
+by a round shot, which breathed new life and courage into
+the masses of waiting men, and taught them to cry out,
+"Vive la nation! Vive la France! Vive notre général!" So,
+though men might smile when they heard the old boaster
+talking of "My victory," yet in their hearts they knew he
+had done much to save France.</p>
+
+<p>While the Prussians retreated Kellermann was entrusted
+by Dumouriez with the pursuit; on his return to Paris his
+boasting habits brought him into trouble. The Terrorists,
+hearing him constantly talking of "My men," "My army,"
+were afraid he was getting too powerful and he very nearly
+came to the scaffold. Restored to favour, he was employed
+with the Army of the Alps and the Army of Italy in 1794
+and 1795, where he gained some success, although his plans
+were constantly interfered with by the Committee of Public
+Safety. In 1796 the Army of the Alps was made subordinate
+to the Army of Italy under Bonaparte, and the
+Directory wanted to associate Kellermann with Bonaparte,
+but the future conqueror of Italy would brook no equal,
+especially a cantankerous boaster. So he wrote to Carnot,
+"If you join Kellermann and me in command in Italy, you
+will undo everything. General Kellermann has more experience
+than I, and knows how to make war better than I do;
+but both together we shall make it badly. I will not willingly
+serve with a man who considers himself the first
+general in Europe." When, however, Bonaparte came to
+power he did not forget the old Alsatian: in 1800 he made
+him one of his Senators, and in 1804 he created him a
+Marshal, though not in the active list. But exigencies of
+warfare demanded that France should use all her talents,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[321]</a></span>
+and in every campaign the Emperor entrusted the old warrior
+with the command of the Army of the Reserve. Sometimes
+on the Rhine, sometimes on the Elbe, sometimes in Spain,
+the old soldier taught the recruits of the Grand Army how
+to keep themselves and their muskets clean; and, in spite of
+age and infirmities, showed those talents of organisation
+which he had learned in Poland and earlier still in the
+Seven Years' War. In 1808, when creating his new nobility,
+the Emperor cleverly conciliated the republican party by
+creating the Marshal Duke of Valmy, and presenting him
+with a splendid domain at Johannisberg, in Germany. But
+when the end came in 1814, the Duke of Valmy, like the
+other Marshals, quietly accepted the Restoration, and the
+veteran republican, now in his eightieth year, was created
+a peer of France and accepted the command of the third
+military division. During the Hundred Days he held no
+command, and on the Restoration he retired into private
+life, and died at Paris on September 23, 1820. His body
+was buried in Paris, but his heart, according to his directions,
+was taken to Valmy and interred beside the remains of those
+who had fallen there, and a simple monument was placed
+over the spot with the following lines, written by the
+Marshal himself: "Here lie the soldiers who gloriously
+died, and who saved France, on September 20, 1792.
+Marshal Kellermann, the Duke of Valmy, the soldier who
+had the honour to command them on that memorable day,
+twenty-eight years later, making his last request, desired that
+his heart should be placed among them."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[322]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XXII" id="XXII"></a>XXII<br /><br />
+FRANÇOIS JOSEPH LEFÈBVRE, MARSHAL,<br />
+DUKE OF DANTZIG</h2>
+
+
+<p>François Joseph Lefèbvre, Marshal and
+peer of France, is best known to the ordinary
+reader as the husband of that Duchess of Dantzig
+who has been so unjustly caricatured in Monsieur Sardou's
+celebrated play as Madame Sans Gêne. Accordingly, the
+record of this hard-fighting soldier of the Empire has been
+cruelly buried in ridicule. The son of an old private
+soldier of the hussars of Berchény, who became in later life
+the wachtmeister of the little Alsatian town of Rouffach,
+François Joseph was born October 26, 1755. After his
+father's death he was entrusted, at the age of eight, to the
+care of his uncle, the Abbé Jean Christophe Lefèbvre.
+The abbé destined his nephew for the Church, but nature
+had dowered him for the camp, and after a severe tussle
+with the good abbé, Jean François set out with a light heart,
+a light purse, a few sentences of Latin, a rough Alsatian
+accent, and a fine physique to seek his fortune in the celebrated
+Garde Française at Paris. The year 1789 found him
+with sixteen years' service, one of the best of the senior
+sergeants of the regiment, married since 1783 to Catherine
+Hübscher, also from Alsace, by profession a washerwoman,
+by nature a philanthropist. Washing, soldiering, and
+philanthropy being on the whole unremunerative occupations,
+the Lefèbvres had to supplement their income, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[323]</a></span>
+Madame went out charring, while the sergeant taught
+Alsatian, which he called German, and occupied his spare
+moments in instructing his wife in reading and writing.
+But the Revolution suddenly changed their outlook. On
+September 1, 1789, Lefèbvre was granted a commission
+as lieutenant in the newly enrolled National Guard as a
+recompense for the devotion shown to the officers when the
+Guards mutinied. Within the next two years he further
+showed his devotion to the lawful authorities, and was
+twice wounded while defending the royal family. But
+in spite of personal attachment to the Bourbons, the
+Prussian invasion turned him into a republican, and the
+Republic, as idealised by the warm-hearted warriors of
+the armies of the Sambre and Meuse and of the Rhine,
+became the idol of his heart. From the siege of Thionville,
+in 1792, till he was invalided in 1799, Lefèbvre was on
+continuous active service. His extraordinary bravery, his
+knowledge of his profession, and his absolute devotion to
+his duty brought him quick promotion, for he became
+captain in June, 1792, lieutenant-colonel in September, 1793,
+brigadier two months later, and general of division on
+January 18, 1794. The stern battle of Fleurus in June,
+1794, proved that the general of division was worthy of his
+rank, for it was his counter-attack in the evening which
+decided the fate of the day. The early years of the
+republican wars were times when personal bravery,
+audacity, and devotion worked marvels on the highly strung,
+enthusiastic republican troops, and Lefèbvre had these
+necessary qualifications, while his Alsatian accent and
+kindheartedness won the devotion of his men. He was
+highly appreciated by his commander-in-chief, Jourdan,
+who, in his official report, stated "that the general added
+to the greatest bravery all the necessary knowledge of a
+good advance guard commander, maintaining in his troops
+the strictest discipline, working unceasingly to provide
+them with necessaries, and always manifesting the principles<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[324]</a></span>
+of a good republican." Unswerving devotion to duty&mdash;"I
+am a soldier, I must obey"&mdash;was the guiding principle
+of his career, and accordingly each commander he served
+under had nothing but praise for the thoroughness with
+which he did his work, from the enforcement of petty
+regulations to the covering of a defeated force. But in
+spite of this the ex-sergeant knew his worth and did not
+fear to claim his due. When Hoche, in his general order
+after the battle of Neuweid, stated that "the army had
+taken seven standards of colours," Lefèbvre naïvely wrote to
+him, "It must be fourteen altogether, for I myself captured
+seven." But Hoche had both humour and tact, and made
+ample amends by replying, "There were only seven stands
+of colours as there is only one Lefèbvre."</p>
+
+<p>By 1799 seven years' continuous fighting had begun
+to tell on a physique even as strong as Lefèbvre's, and
+the general applied for lighter work as commander of the
+Directory Guard, and later, for sick leave; but the commencement
+of the campaign against the Archduke Charles,
+in the valley of the Danube, once again stimulated his
+indefatigable appetite for active service. Though suffering
+from scurvy and general overstrain, he took his share in the
+hard fighting at Feldkirche and Ostrach, but a severe
+wound received in the latter combat at last compelled him
+to leave the field and go into hospital.</p>
+
+<p>On his return to France he was entrusted by the
+Directory with the command of the 17th military district,
+with Paris as its headquarters. The task was a difficult one,
+as the numerous coups d'état had shaken both public
+morality and military discipline. Among other unpleasantnesses
+the commander of Paris found himself on one occasion
+forced to place a general officer in the Abbaye, the civil
+prison, for flatly refusing to obey orders. But, difficult
+as his task was, the situation became much more complicated
+by the sudden return of Bonaparte from Egypt.
+Bonaparte arrived in Paris with the fixed determination<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[325]</a></span>
+to assume the reins of government. It was clear to so
+staunch a republican as Lefèbvre that all was not well
+with the Republic under the Directory, and it seemed as if
+Bonaparte, shimmering in the glamour of Italy and Egypt,
+was the sole person capable of conciliating all parties and
+of bringing the state of chronic revolution to an end.
+Directly he met the famous Corsican the simple soldier fell
+an easy victim to his personality; while Bonaparte was
+quick to perceive what a great political asset it would be
+if Lefèbvre, the republican of the republicans, the embodiment
+of the republican virtues, could be bound a satellite
+in his train. On the morning of the 18th Brumaire, the
+commander of the Paris Division was the first to arrive
+of all the generals whom the plotter had summoned to his
+house; he was puzzled to find that troops were moving
+without his orders, and he entered in considerable anger.
+Bonaparte at once explained the situation. The country
+was in danger, foes were knocking at the door, and meanwhile
+the Republic lay the prey of a pack of lawyers who
+were exploiting it for their own benefit without thought of
+patriotism. "Now then, Lefèbvre," said he, "you, one
+of the pillars of the Republic, are you going to let it perish
+in the hands of these lawyers? Join me in helping to save
+our beloved Republic. Look, here is the sword I carried
+in my hand at the battle of the Pyramids. I give it to you
+as a token of my esteem and of my confidence." Lefèbvre
+could not resist this appeal; his warm and generous
+nature responded to the artful touch; grasping the treasured
+sword with tears in his eyes, he swore he was ready "to
+throw the lawyers in the river." With a sigh of relief
+Bonaparte put his arm through Lefèbvre's and led him
+into his study, and for the next fourteen years he remained,
+as he thought, the confidential right-hand man of the great-hearted
+patriot, but in reality the tool, dupe, and stalking-horse
+of a wily adventurer.</p>
+
+<p>The general accompanied Napoleon to the Tuileries and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[326]</a></span>
+listened to the carefully chosen words: "Citizens Representatives,
+the Republic is perishing; you know it well,
+and your decree can save it. A thousand misfortunes
+on all who desire trouble and disorder. I will oust them,
+aided by all the friends of liberty.... I will support
+liberty, aided by General Lefèbvre and General Berthier,
+and my comrades in arms who share my feelings.... We
+wish a Republic founded on liberty, on equality, on the
+sound principles of national representation. We swear
+this: I swear this; I swear in my own name and in the name
+of my comrades in arms." Later in the day, during the
+struggle at the Orangerie, it was Lefèbvre who saved Lucien
+Bonaparte and cleared the hall with the aid of some
+grenadiers.</p>
+
+<p>From the 18th Brumaire Napoleon, as First Consul, and
+later as Emperor, held in Lefèbvre a trump card whereby
+he could defeat any attempted hostile combination of
+the republicans. Hence it was that, at the time of the
+proclamation of the Empire, he included him in his list
+of Marshals, to prove as it were that the Empire was merely
+another form of the Republic. Later still, for the same
+reason, when he was making his hierarchy stronger, he
+created him one of his new Dukes.</p>
+
+<p>The immediate reward for Lefèbvre's support during
+the coup d'état was a mission to the west to extinguish
+the civil war in La Vendée. The general was lucky in
+surprising a considerable force of rebels at Alençon, and
+soon fulfilled his work, and received the further reward
+of a seat as Senator, which brought in an income of 35,000
+francs a year. When the list of Marshals was published
+he was bracketed with Kellermann, Pérignon, and Serurier
+as "Marshals whose sphere of duty would lie in the
+Senate." As such, at the coronation of the Emperor in
+Notre Dame he held the sword of Charlemagne, while
+Kellermann carried the crown. Strong in his trust of
+him, Napoleon had, in 1803, created him Prætor of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[327]</a></span>
+Senate. But fortune did not destine that he should
+long enjoy his honours in peace. Thanks to his magnificent
+physique a few years of rest entirely restored his
+health. The wound, which in 1799 had threatened to
+incapacitate him permanently, had completely healed,
+and in 1806 he once again found himself on active
+service. The Emperor knew well that the Marshal was
+a sergeant-major rather than a strategist, and accordingly
+placed him at the head of the Guard, where his powers
+of discipline could be utilised to the full without calling
+on him to solve any difficult problems. At Jena the
+Guard had plenty of hard fighting such as their commander
+loved. A few days later the Marshal proved that
+the Guard could march as well as fight, when, at nine
+o'clock on the evening of October 24th, the regiments
+marched into Potsdam after covering forty-two miles
+since the morning.</p>
+
+<p>Early in 1807 the Emperor entrusted the Marshal with
+the siege of Dantzig, a strong fortress near the mouth of the
+Vistula, well-garrisoned by a Prussian force of fourteen
+thousand under Marshal Kalkreuth. Lefèbvre, conscious of
+his lack of engineering skill, was afraid of undertaking the
+task, but the Emperor promised to send him everything
+necessary, and to guide him himself to the camp of Finkenstein,
+and ultimately said goodbye to him with the words,
+"Take courage, you also must have something to speak
+about in the Senate when we return to France." The siege
+lasted fifty-one days, during which the Marshal took scarcely
+a moment's rest: ever in the trenches, heading every
+possible charge, calling out to the soldiers, "Come on,
+children, it's our turn to-day," or "Come on, comrades, I
+am also going to have a turn at fighting." Such treatment
+worked wonders with the fiery French, but the sluggish men
+of Baden, who formed a considerable part of his force, were
+not accustomed to be so hustled, and the Marshal's camp
+manners grated on the Prince of Baden, who considered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[328]</a></span>
+"that the Marshal's staff was mostly composed of men of
+little culture, and that his son held the first place among
+those who had no manners." The Emperor had to write to
+his fiery lieutenant, "You treat our allies without any tact;
+they are not accustomed to fire, but that will come. Do
+you think that our men are as good now as in 1792&mdash;that we
+can be as keen to-day after fifteen years' war? Pay what
+compliments you can to the Prince of Baden ... you
+cannot throw down walls with the chests of your grenadiers ... let
+your engineers do their work and be patient....
+Your glory is to take Dantzig; when you have done that you
+will be content with me." It was hard for the Marshal to
+show patience, for he knew but one way to do a thing, and
+that was to go straight at it as hard as he could. As one of
+the privates said, "The Marshal is a brave man, only he
+takes us for horses." With Lannes and Mortier sent to
+reinforce him, it was still more difficult to show patience.
+But the end came, and on the fifty-first day of the siege
+Marshal Kalkreuth surrendered, and the two other Marshals
+had the generosity to allow Lefèbvre to enjoy alone all the
+honours of the conquest.</p>
+
+<p>In the next year the Emperor had determined to strengthen
+his throne by the creation of a new nobility. It was important
+to see how Republican France would greet this
+scheme, and accordingly Napoleon determined to include
+Lefèbvre among his new Dukes. One day the Emperor
+sent an orderly officer with orders to say to the Marshal,
+"Monsieur le Duc, the Emperor wishes you to breakfast
+with him, and asks you to come in a quarter of an hour."
+The Marshal did not hear the title and merely said he would
+attend. When he entered the breakfast-room the Emperor
+went up to him, shook hands with him, and said, "Good-morning,
+Monsieur le Duc; sit by me." The Marshal,
+hearing the title, thought he was joking. The Emperor,
+to further mystify him, said, "Do you like chocolate,
+Monsieur le Duc?" "Yes, sire," replied the Marshal, still<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[329]</a></span>
+mystified. Thereon the Emperor went to a drawer and
+took out a packet labelled chocolate; but when the Marshal
+opened the box he found it contained one hundred thousand
+écus in bank notes. While in the army the new Duke was
+warmly congratulated on his honours, at Paris the smart
+ladies and Talleyrand did their best to annoy the Duchess.
+Numerous were the cruel tales they spread of her lack of
+breeding and of her Amazon ways; how, when the horses
+bolted with her carriage, she seized the coachman by the
+scruff of his neck and by main force pulled him off the seat
+and herself stopped the runaways. But, quite unmoved,
+the Duchess pursued her course, visiting the sick, giving
+away large sums to charities, lending a helping hand to any
+friend in difficulties, and as usual prefacing her remarks by
+"When I used to do the washing."</p>
+
+<p>When, in the autumn of 1808, Napoleon realised how
+serious was the Spanish rising, he despatched his Guard to
+the Peninsula under the Duke of Dantzig. But the war
+brought few honours to any one, and the Marshal proved
+once again that he could neither act independently nor
+assist in combinations with patience. He nearly spoiled
+Napoleon's whole plan of campaign by a premature move
+against Blake, prior to the battle of Espinosa. From Spain
+the Guard was hurriedly recalled on the outbreak of the
+Austrian campaign of 1809. The Marshal, in command of
+the Bavarian allies, did yeoman service under Napoleon's
+eye during the great Five Days' Fighting. He was present
+also at Wagram, and immediately after that battle was despatched
+to put down the rising in the Tyrol. During the
+Russian campaign he once again commanded the Guard,
+taking part in all the hard fighting of the advance and also
+in the horrors of the retreat. Though in his fifty-eighth
+year the tough old soldier marched on foot every mile of the
+way from Moscow to the Vistula, and shared the privations
+of his men, watching over his beloved Emperor, his little
+"tondu de caporal," with the care of a woman, himself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[330]</a></span>
+mounting guard over him at night and surrounding him
+with picked men of the Guard. To add to the trials of that
+dreadful campaign the Duke lost at Vilna his eldest son,
+a most promising young soldier who had already reached
+the rank of general. This blow and the strain of the retreat
+were too much for him, and he was unable to assist the
+Emperor in the campaign of 1813. But when the Allies
+invaded the sacred soil of France the old warrior put on
+harness again and fought at Montmirail, Arcis-sur-Aube and
+Champaubert, where he had his horse killed under him. At
+Montereau he fought with such fury that "the foam came
+out from his mouth."</p>
+
+<p>While the Marshal was spending his life-blood in the
+field, the Duchess in Paris was fighting the intrigues of
+the royalist ladies. When an insinuation was made that the
+Duke might be won over from the Emperor, the Duchess
+despatched a friend to the army commanding him "to
+return to the army and tell my husband that if he were
+capable of such infamy I should take him by the hair of
+his head and drag him to the Emperor's feet. Meanwhile,
+inform him of the intrigues going on here." On April 4th
+the end came. The Marshals refused to fight any longer,
+and, after Napoleon's abdication, Lefèbvre, with the others,
+went to Paris to treat with Alexander. The Emperor was
+gone, but France remained, and it was thanks to Kellermann
+and Lefèbvre that Alsace was not wrested from her, for they
+so strongly impressed Alexander by their arguments that
+he decided to oppose the Prussians, who desired to strip
+France of her eastern provinces.</p>
+
+<p>The Marshal swore allegiance to the Bourbons and duly
+received the Cross of St. Louis and his nomination as peer
+of France. With the year's peace came time for reflection,
+and he began to see that "son petit bonhomme de Sire," as
+he called Napoleon, had merely used him as a political
+pawn in his endeavour to bind the republicans to the
+wheel of the imperial chariot. Accordingly, when the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[331]</a></span>
+Emperor returned from Elba he was not among those who
+rushed to meet him. Still, although he had no personal
+interview with the Emperor during the Hundred Days, he
+so far compromised himself as to accept a seat in the Senate.
+For this conduct he was under a cloud for the first years of
+the second Restoration, but in 1819 he was pardoned and
+restored to his rank and office.</p>
+
+<p>From 1814 to the day of his death the Duke of Dantzig
+spent the greater part of his time at his estate at Combault,
+in the department of the Seine and Marne, dispensing that
+hospitality which he and his wife loved to shower on all
+who had met with misfortune, and many a poor soldier and
+half-pay officer owed his life and what prosperity he had to
+the generous charity of the Duke and Duchess of Dantzig.
+His death on September 14, 1820, two days after that of
+his old friend Kellermann, was due to dropsy, arising from
+rheumatic gout brought on by the strain of the Russian
+campaign.</p>
+
+<p>The greatness of the Duke of Dantzig lay not so much in
+his soldierly capacity as in his personal character. His
+military renown rested largely on his ability to carry out,
+without hesitation and jealousy, the commands of others.
+By his personality he was able to maintain the strictest
+discipline and exact the last ounce from his troops without
+raising a murmur. His men loved him, for they knew that
+he shared all their hardships and that his fingers were soiled
+with no perquisites or secret booty. It was no empty boast
+when he wrote to the Directory asking "bread for himself
+and rewards for his officers." Though raised to ducal rank
+he never lost his sense of proportion, and delighted to give
+his memories of "when I was sergeant" to his friends and to
+the officers of his staff. Still, he was intensely proud of his
+success, which he had won by years of hard work, and he
+knew how to put in their place those whose fame rested
+solely on the deeds of their ancestors, telling a young
+boaster, "Don't be so proud of your ancestors; I am an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[332]</a></span>
+ancestor myself." Though he ever looked an "old Alsatian
+camp boy," even in his gorgeous ducal robes; though his
+manners were rough and he would not hesitate to refuse
+a lift to a lady to a review, with the words, "Go to blazes;
+we did not come here to take your wife out driving"&mdash;he
+was the true example of the best type of republican soldier,
+fiery, full of theatrical zeal, absolutely unselfish, and animated
+solely by love of France.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[333]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XXIII" id="XXIII"></a>XXIII<br /><br />
+NICOLAS CHARLES OUDINOT, MARSHAL,
+DUKE OF REGGIO</h2>
+
+
+<p>Nicolas Charles Oudinot, the son of a
+brewer of Bar-le-Duc, was born on April 23,
+1767. From his earliest days he showed that
+spirit of bravado which later distinguished him among the
+many brave men who attained the dignity of Marshal.
+Though kind-hearted and affectionate, his fiery character
+led him into much disobedience, and his turbulent nature
+caused many a sorrowful hour to his parents. Still it was
+with sore hearts that, despite their entreaties, they saw him
+march gaily off in 1784 to enlist in the regiment of Médoc.
+But two years later he returned home, tired of garrison
+duty, and, greatly to his parents' delight, entered the trade.
+When, in 1789, the good people of Bar-le-Duc began to
+organise a company of the National Guard, young Oudinot
+was chosen as captain, and for the next two years threw
+himself heart and soul into politics, to the neglect of the
+brewery. But much as he approved of the spirit of the
+Revolution, he was no advocate of mob rule, and he used
+his company of citizen soldiers to put down all disturbances
+in the town. Later still, in 1794, when invalided home from
+the front, he used a short and sharp method with an enthusiastic
+supporter of the Terror; in his anger he seized
+a large dish of haricot and effectually stopped the praises of
+Hébert by hurling it in the Jacobin's face. In September,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[334]</a></span>
+1791, the call to arms summoned the fire-eating captain of
+the National Guard to sterner scenes. He at once entered
+the volunteers, and it was as a lieutenant-colonel of the
+third battalion of the Meuse that he set out on active service
+which was to last almost continuously for twenty-two years,
+and from which he was to emerge with the proud rank of
+Marshal, the title of Duke, and the honourable scars of
+no less than thirty-four wounds.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<a href="images/fp332-hi.jpg"><img src="images/fp332.jpg" width="423" height="600" alt="NICOLAS CHARLES OUDINOT, DUKE OF REGGIO
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY ROBERT LE FEVRE" title="" id="fp332"/></a><br />
+<span class="caption">NICOLAS CHARLES OUDINOT, DUKE OF REGGIO<br />
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY ROBERT LE FEVRE</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>His campaigning began auspiciously with the action at
+Bitche, when, with his battalion of volunteers, he captured
+seven hundred Prussians and a standard. The hard fighting
+in the Rhine valley in 1793 added greatly to his reputation;
+but it was at Morlantier in June, 1794, that his gallant action
+made his name resound throughout the French armies.
+The division of General Ambert was attacked on both
+flanks. Oudinot with the second regiment of the line
+formed the advance guard, but, not perceiving the plight
+of the main body, he continued to advance. The enemy
+surrounded him with six regiments of cavalry. Forming
+square, he repulsed every assault, and ultimately fought his
+way back to camp with but slight loss, and recaptured eight
+French standards which the enemy had seized when they
+surprised Ambert's division. Ten days later he was promoted
+general of brigade. But, in spite of his glorious
+exploit, the officers of the regiment of Picardy, the senior
+regiment of the old royal army, were disgusted at being
+commanded by a young brigadier, as yet but twenty-seven
+years old, and sprung from the ranks. Calling the disaffected
+officers together, the general thus addressed them:
+"Gentlemen, is it because I do not bear an historic name
+that you wish to throw me over for your old titled chiefs,
+or is it because you think I am too young to hold command?
+Wait till the next engagement and then judge. If
+then you think that I cannot stand fire I promise to hand
+over the command to one more worthy." After the next
+engagement there were no more murmurs against the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[335]</a></span>
+general, and officers and men were ready to follow him
+to the death. While Oudinot thus won the love and
+respect of his command, he requited them with equal
+love. But his way of showing it was characteristic of
+the man. As he used to say in later years, "Ah, how I
+loved them; I know full well I loved them! I led them
+all to death." For in his eyes a glorious death on the
+field of battle was what the true soldier desired above all
+things. In August, 1794, a fall from his horse which broke
+his leg placed him in hospital for some months, and he
+could not return to the front till September, 1795. He
+arrived in time to take part in the capture of Mannheim,
+but a month later, at Neckerau, he was ridden down by
+a charge of the enemy's cavalry, receiving five sabre cuts
+and being taken prisoner. After three months' captivity at
+Ulm he was exchanged. The campaigns of 1796 and 1797
+on the Danube added to the number of his wounds. In
+1799 he served under Masséna in Switzerland, and gained
+his step as general of division. His new commander
+formed so high an opinion of his capacity that he appointed
+him chief of his staff, and took him with him when
+transferred to the Army of Italy. It was a new rôle for
+the fiery Oudinot, but he played it well, and Masséna gave
+him but his due when he wrote to the Directory, "I owe
+the greatest praise to General Oudinot, my chief of the
+staff, whose fiery nature, though restrained to endure the
+laborious work of the office, breaks out again, ever ready
+to hand, on the field of battle; he has assisted me in all
+my movements, and has seconded me to perfection."
+During the disastrous campaign in Italy in 1800 he
+earned the further thanks of his chief. He it was who
+broke the blockade at Genoa, and penetrating through the
+English cruisers, successfully carried the orders to Suchet
+on the Var, and returned to the beleaguered city to share
+the privations of the army. By now his name was well
+known to friend and foe alike, and his chivalrous nature<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[336]</a></span>
+was admired, even by his enemies. But an episode occurred
+during the siege which, for some time, caused his name to
+be execrated by the Austrians. The French had captured
+three thousand prisoners during the sorties round Genoa.
+At the command of Masséna, Oudinot wrote to General Ott
+to explain that, owing to famine, it was impossible to give
+them nourishment, and asking him to make arrangements
+for feeding them. Ott replied that the siege would end
+before they could starve. With their own soldiers dying of
+hunger at their posts, the French could spare but little food
+for the miserable prisoners, and when the town capitulated
+there was hardly one left alive. But the burden of this
+calamity falls on General Ott and Masséna, and not on
+Oudinot, who could only carry out the orders he
+received.</p>
+
+<p>After the surrender, Oudinot went home on sick
+leave, but was back in Italy in time to take part in
+the last phase of the war under General Brune. On
+December 26th, at Monzembano, he had an opportunity
+of showing his dashing courage. An Austrian battery,
+suddenly coming into action, threw the French into disorder.
+Oudinot dashed forward, collected a few troopers,
+galloped across the bridge straight at the Austrian guns,
+and captured one of them with his own hands. A few days
+later he was sent home to Paris with a copy of the
+armistice signed on January 16, 1801. Arriving in Paris,
+the general was received with great warmth by the First
+Consul, who gave him a sword of honour and the cannon
+which he had captured at Monzembano.</p>
+
+<p>During the years of peace which followed the treaty of
+Lunéville, General Oudinot fell entirely under the influence
+of Napoleon. His frank, chivalrous nature was captivated
+by the bold personality of the Corsican, so great in war, so
+attractive in peace. The First Consul rewarded his affection
+by giving him the posts of inspector-general of infantry
+and cavalry. While not engaged in these duties, or in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[337]</a></span>
+attendance at the court of Paris, the general spent his
+leisure hours at his home at Bar-le-Duc. There he was
+the idol of the populace; his bust adorned the hôtel de
+ville, and his fellow-citizens were never tired of singing
+his praise and repeating the stories of his marvellous
+adventures and daring escapades. But no one who first
+saw him could believe that this was Oudinot, the hero
+of all these marvellous tales. There was nothing of the
+swashbuckler about this aristocratic-looking man, spare, of
+medium height, whose pale, intellectual face, set off by a
+pair of brown moustaches, revealed a rather gentle, gracious
+expression, over which flashed occasionally a fugitive smile.
+It was only those piercing, flashing eyes which revealed his
+real character. Still, it was easy to understand how, with
+his heroic exploits, he had fascinated both friend and foe,
+and gained for himself the title of the young Bayard. By
+his first wife the general had two sons and two daughters.
+The daughters married early, Generals Pajol and Lorencz,
+but it was his sons who were his pride. He had sent for
+his eldest boy, at the age of eight, to accompany him on the
+Zurich campaign, and the lad had at that age to perform all
+the duties of a subaltern officer. During the year of peace
+both boys were constantly with their father, who spent his
+time superintending their military studies and building for
+himself a house at Bar-le-Duc. From this patriarchal life
+he was recalled, in 1804, to take command of the chosen
+division of picked grenadiers which had been organised at
+Arras by Junot. The division, so well known to history as
+"Oudinot's Grenadiers," or the "Infernal Column," was
+composed of selected men from every regiment, and next to
+the Guard, was the finest division in the imperial army. In
+the campaign of 1805 the division formed part of Lannes'
+corps, and covered itself with distinction at Ulm, and again
+at Austerlitz, where Oudinot was present, though not in
+command. He had been wounded at Hollabrünn, and sent
+to hospital, and his division entrusted to Duroc, the Grand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[338]</a></span>
+Marshal of the palace. But when he heard of the approaching
+engagement, the fire-eating soldier could not be held
+back, and on the eve of the battle he arrived in camp.
+Duroc chivalrously offered to give up command, but
+Oudinot, who was satisfied as long as he saw fighting,
+would not hear of this. "My dear Marshal," he said,
+"remain at the head of my brave grenadiers; we will
+fight side by side." After the treaty of Pressburg he was
+sent to Switzerland, to take possession of Neuchâtel, which
+had been ceded to France by Prussia, to form a fief for
+Marshal Berthier. The Neuchâtelois were furious at being
+treated as mere pawns in the game, and trouble was expected.
+Fortunately Oudinot possessed great commonsense.
+He saw that a timely concession might bind the
+proud Swiss to their new lord. The people of Neuchâtel
+depended almost entirely on their trade with England,
+and he wrung from Napoleon the promise that this trade
+should not be interfered with. So grateful were the Swiss
+that they passed a law making Oudinot a citizen of
+Neuchâtel. The general returned from his diplomatic
+triumph in time to command his grenadiers in the
+Prussian campaign of 1806, and gained fresh laurels at
+Jena, Ostralenka, Dantzig and Friedland. At Dantzig,
+with his own hand, he killed a Russian sergeant who
+had caught a French cavalry colonel in an ambush. At
+Friedland he was with Lannes when the Marshal surprised
+the Russian rear, and held them pinned against
+the town until Napoleon could draw in his troops and
+overwhelm them. From six in the evening till twelve next
+day the grenadiers fought with stubborn tenacity. At last
+the Emperor arrived on the field. Oudinot, with his coat
+hanging in ribbons from musket shots, his horse covered
+with blood, dashed up to the Emperor, "Hasten, Sire,"
+he cried; "my grenadiers are all but spent; but give me
+some reinforcements and I will hurl all the Russians into
+the river." Napoleon replied, "General, you have surpassed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[339]</a></span>
+yourself: you seem to be everywhere; but you need
+not worry yourself any more. It is my part to finish
+this affair."</p>
+
+<p>After Friedland came the peace of Tilsit, but even peace
+has its dangers. Soult, Mortier and the grave Davout were
+at times carried away by Oudinot's extravagant spirits, and
+used to amuse themselves after dinner by extinguishing
+the candles on the table with pistol shots. During the day
+the general spent his time in his favourite pursuit of riding.
+His horses were always thoroughbreds, and nothing stopped
+him once he had decided to take any particular line. So
+one day, while attempting to jump the ditch of a fort,
+instead of going round by the gate, his horse fell with him,
+and he broke his leg and had to be sent home. His officers
+and comrades gave him a farewell dinner. At dessert a
+pâté appeared, from which, when opened by General Rapp,
+a swarm of birds fluttered out, with collars of tricolour
+ribbon, with the inscription "To the glory of General
+Oudinot."</p>
+
+<p>On returning home the Emperor, in addition to presenting
+him with the pipe of Frederick the Great, had granted
+him the title of count and a donation of a million francs.
+With part of this sum Oudinot bought the beautiful estate
+of Jeand Heurs. In 1808 he was selected as governor of
+Erfurt during the meeting of the Czar and Napoleon, and
+had the honour of being presented to Alexander by the
+Emperor, who said, "Sire, I present you the Bayard of the
+French army; like the 'preux chevalier,' he is without fear
+and without reproach." The year 1809 brought sterner interludes,
+and Oudinot was present in command of his grenadiers
+during the Five Days' Fighting, and at Aspern-Essling. On
+the death of Lannes he was promoted to the command of
+the second corps, and in that capacity played his part at
+Wagram. During the early part of the battle it took all
+his self-restraint to stand still while Davout was turning
+the Austrian left, but when he saw the French on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[340]</a></span>
+Neusiedel he could no longer control his impatience, and
+without waiting orders he hurled his corps against the
+enemy's centre, receiving in the attack two slight wounds.
+The next day the Emperor sent for him. "Do you know
+what you did yesterday?" "Sire, I hope I did not do my
+duty too badly." "That is just what you did&mdash;you ought
+to be shot." But the Emperor overlooked his impetuosity,
+and a week later rewarded him for his service by presenting
+him with his bâton, and a month later created him Duke of
+Reggio.</p>
+
+<p>The Duke was fortunate in not being selected for duty in
+Spain. His next service was in 1812, when he commanded a
+corps on the lines of communication in Russia. This was his
+first independent command, and it proved that, though a good
+subordinate, a dashing soldier and a capable diplomatist, he
+did not possess the qualifications of a great general. At
+Polotsk the day went against the French, but when a wound
+caused the Marshal to hand over his command to St. Cyr,
+that able officer easily stemmed the Russian advance and
+turned defeat into victory. The Marshal, however, made up
+in zeal what he lacked in ability; a few weeks later, hearing
+that St. Cyr was wounded, he hastened back to the front.
+It was owing to his gallant attack on the Russians that the
+Emperor was able to bridge the Beresina. But, while
+driving off the enemy who were attempting to stem the
+crossing, he was again wounded. Thanks to the devotion
+of his staff, he was safely escorted back to France and
+escaped the last horrors of the retreat. In 1813 the Duke
+fought at Bautzen, and after the armistice of Dresden was
+despatched to drive back the mixed force of Swedes and
+Prussians who were threatening the French left under
+Bernadotte. The action of Grosbeeren proved once again
+that the Duke of Reggio had no talent for independent
+command, and the Emperor superseded him by Marshal
+Ney, whom he loyally served. Emerging unscathed from
+the slaughter at Leipzig, he fought with his accustomed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[341]</a></span>
+fury all through the campaign of 1814 without adding to
+his reputation as a soldier. On Napoleon's abdication
+the Duke swore allegiance to the Bourbons, who received
+him with warmth, as in the early years of the revolutionary
+wars he had shown great humanity to the captured
+émigrés. Louis XVIII. nominated him colonel-general of
+the royal corps of grenadiers, and gave him command of
+the third military division, with headquarters at Metz. It
+was there that the Marshal first heard of the Emperor's
+return from Elba. He at once set out to try and intercept
+his advance on Paris, but his troops refused to act against
+their former leader. Thereon Oudinot threw up his command
+and returned to Jeand Heurs. On his arrival at
+Paris, the Emperor told his Minister of War, Davout, to
+summon the Duke of Reggio to court, thinking that, like
+many another, he would forget his oath to the Bourbons.
+But the Duke was of different stuff; he had sworn allegiance
+to Louis XVIII. at Napoleon's command, but he could not
+break his oath. On his arrival the Emperor greeted him
+with the question, "Well, Duke of Reggio, what have the
+Bourbons done for you more than I have done, that you
+attempted to intercept my return?" The Marshal replied
+that he had plighted his oath. The Emperor told him to
+break it and take service with him, recalling past favours.
+The Marshal was much affected, but firm. "I will serve
+nobody since I cannot serve you," he said, "but trust me
+enough not to spy on me with your police: save me that
+degradation. I could not endure it." So the interview
+ended, and the Marshal returned to Jeand Heurs.</p>
+
+<p>On the second Restoration Oudinot became a great
+favourite of the Bourbons. The King made him a peer
+of France, presented him with the order of St. Louis,
+created him one of the four major-generals of the Royal
+Guard and commandant-in-chief of the National Guard.
+When the heir to the throne, the Duke of Berri, married a
+Neapolitan princess, the second wife of the Marshal became<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[342]</a></span>
+her chief lady, and the Oudinots, husband and wife, served
+the royal family with the greatest fidelity. The Marshal
+once again saw service when, in 1823, he commanded the
+first corps of the army which invaded Spain. It was
+through no fault of his that Charles X. lost his throne, for
+he was patriotic enough to tell him how unfortunate was
+the disbanding of the National Guard and his other ill-advised
+actions.</p>
+
+<p>After the fall of the Bourbon dynasty in 1830, the Duke
+of Reggio never again entered public life, although in 1839
+Louis Philippe created him Grand Chancellor of the Legion
+of Honour, and in 1842 governor of the Invalides. It was
+in this honoured position that the Duke breathed his last on
+September 13, 1847, in his eighty-first year.</p>
+
+<p>The Duke of Reggio was fortunate in his career; he never
+saw service in Spain, and he seldom held independent
+command, for which his fiery temper and impetuosity
+unfitted him. It was his gallantry and intrepidity which
+won for him his bâton. In a subordinate position he could
+usually control himself enough to obey orders, in a subordinate
+position also he could do good staff work, and his
+quick impetuous brain teemed with ideas which were useful
+to his superiors. But by himself he was lost. Napoleon
+well knew his shortcomings. In 1805 the Emperor was
+holding a review; Oudinot's horse was restive and refused
+to march past, whereon he drew his sword and stabbed it in
+the neck. That evening at dinner the Emperor asked, "Is
+that the way you manage your horse?" "Sire," replied
+Oudinot, "when I cannot get obedience that is my method."
+But it was seldom that his impetuosity resulted in cruelty,
+and the wounded at Friedland and in many another action
+had cause to bless him. The hero of Friedland, the
+saviour of the émigrés, and the administrator of Neuchâtel
+was loved not only in the French army, but also among
+the enemy. At Erfurt there was a poor Saxon gardener
+who delighted to cultivate a rose which he called Oudinot;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[343]</a></span>
+when asked the reason he replied, "The general has made
+me love the war which has ruined me." The Duke of
+Reggio turned his face steadily against plundering, and
+would reprimand any officer who recklessly rode over a
+field of wheat.</p>
+
+<p>Old age did not change his character. Happy in his
+family relations, adored by his young wife, he was universally
+beloved, and it was with great grief that, on September
+13, 1847, Royalist, Orleanist, Imperialist, and Republican
+learned that he whom the soldiers called "The Marshal of
+the Thirty-Four Wounds" had passed away.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[344]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XXIV" id="XXIV"></a>XXIV<br /><br />
+DOMINIQUE CATHERINE DE PÉRIGNON,
+MARSHAL</h2>
+
+
+<p>Among the few men of moderate opinion who were
+chosen in 1791 to represent their country in the
+Legislative Assembly was Dominique Catherine de
+Pérignon. The scion of a good family of Grenade, in the
+Upper Garonne, neither an ultra-royalist nor ultra-republican,
+he was a man of action rather than a talker. One year spent
+among the self-seekers of Paris was sufficient to prove to
+him that his rôle did not lie among the twisting paths of
+partisan statesmanship, and gladly, in 1792, he heard the
+summons to arms and left the forum for the camp. Now
+thirty-eight years old, having been born on May 31, 1754,
+this was not his first experience of soldiering; he had held a
+commission for some years in the old royal army and had
+served on the staff. He was, for this reason, at once elected
+lieutenant-colonel of the volunteer legion of the Pyrenees.
+His bravery and his former military training soon caused
+him to rise among the mass of ignorant and untrained
+volunteers who formed the Army of the Pyrenees. Luckily
+for France, she was opposed on her western frontier by an
+army which knew as little of war as her own, led by officers
+of equal ignorance, without the stimulus of burning
+enthusiasm and the dread power of the guillotine; had
+it been otherwise, Perpignan and the fortresses covering
+Provence would soon have been in the hands of the enemy.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[345]</a></span>
+With all Europe threatening the eastern frontier and civil
+war at home, the Government could spare but few troops,
+and these the least trained, for the defence of the west.
+Accordingly, in the opening fights of the campaign ill-conceived
+plans and panics too frequently caused the defeat
+of the French, and it was often only the personal example
+of individuals which saved the army from absolute
+annihilation. From the first engagement Pérignon made
+his mark by his coolness and courage. The French attack
+on the Spanish position at Serre had been brought to a halt
+by the fierce fire of the enemy, and, as the line wavered, a
+timely charge of the Spanish horse threw it into confusion.
+Pérignon, commanding the first line, rushed up and seized
+the musket and cartridges of a wounded soldier, and
+collecting a few undaunted privates, quietly opened fire
+on the Spanish cavalry, and by his example shamed the
+runaways into returning to the attack. For this he was
+created general of brigade on July 28, 1793. By September
+the enemy had opened their trenches round Perpignan, and
+Pérignon was entrusted with a night sortie. On approaching
+the Spanish line a fusillade of musketry swept down five
+hundred of his little force, and his men at once halted and
+opened fire; but Pérignon believed in the bayonet. With
+stinging reproaches he again got his men to advance, and
+sweeping over the enemy's entrenchments, he drove them
+in rout and captured their camp. He thus won his promotion
+as lieutenant-general.</p>
+
+<p>In November of 1794 Dugommier, the French commander-in-chief,
+fell mortally wounded at the battle of
+Montagne-Noire, and Pérignon was at once appointed his
+successor. Though no great strategist or tactician, he
+was an able leader of men, and had the faculty of enforcing
+obedience to his orders. Trusting entirely to the
+bayonet, he forced the fortified lines of Escola, making his
+troops advance and charge over the entrenchments with
+shouldered arms, without firing a shot. The fortresses of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[346]</a></span>
+Figueras and Rosas alone barred the advance of the French
+into Catalonia. So demoralised were the enemy that
+Figueras, with all its immense stores, nine thousand troops
+and two hundred pieces of artillery, capitulated to a mere
+summons. But Rosas stood firm, covered on the land side
+by the fort of Le Bouton on the top of a precipice, and on
+the sea side swept by the guns of the Spanish squadron
+anchored in the roads. The fort of Le Bouton was called
+"l'imprenable." But Pérignon was not frightened by names;
+although greatly hampered by the civil Commissioners
+with the army, and held by them as "suspect," he determined
+to capture Le Bouton and Rosas. Le Bouton was
+dominated by a perpendicular rock two thousand feet high.
+It was certain that if batteries could be established on this
+precipice Le Bouton could be taken. But the artillerymen
+believed that it was impossible to construct a road to haul
+guns up to this height. "Very well, then, it is the impossible
+that I am going to do," replied the obstinate little general,
+and after immense toil a zigzag road was constructed and the
+guns hauled by hand to the summit; after a severe bombardment
+Le Bouton was carried by an assault. But still
+Rosas held out; the weather was very severe and the snow
+came above the soldiers' thighs, and the engineers declared
+that it was impossible to construct siege works unless a
+certain outlying redoubt was first taken. "Very well," said
+the general; "make your preparations. To-morrow I will
+take it at the head of my grenadiers." So at five o'clock the
+next morning, February 1, 1795, the grenadiers, with their
+general at their head, marched out of camp and, under a
+murderous fire, by eight o'clock captured the outlying
+redoubt, so after a siege of sixty-one days Rosas was
+captured. It was the personality of their general which had
+taught the French soldiers to surmount all difficulties.
+Absolutely fearless himself, full of grim determination, he
+taught his soldiers how to acquire these virtues by example,
+not by precept: ever exposing himself to danger, showing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[347]</a></span>
+absolute callousness, until his men were shamed into following
+his example. On one occasion during the siege a shell fell
+at his feet with the match still fizzling; he was at the moment
+directing some troops who were exposed to the fire. The
+men called out to him to get out of the way of the explosion,
+and throw himself flat, but he paid no attention to the bomb
+and quietly went on giving his orders, for he knew how his
+example would steady his troops; meanwhile someone
+dashed up and extinguished the match before the bomb
+could explode.</p>
+
+<p>The peace of Basle prevented Pérignon from gaining any
+further success in Spain, and the Directors, out of compliment,
+appointed him ambassador to the court of Madrid,
+where his good sense and moderation did much to strengthen
+the peace between the two countries. In 1799 he was sent
+to command a division of the Army of Italy, and commanded
+the left wing at the battle of Novi. While attempting to
+cover the rout he was ridden over by the enemy's horse,
+and taken prisoner with eight honourable sabre wounds on
+his arms and chest. When the Russian surgeon was going
+to attend to his wounds, thinking more of others than of
+himself, he said to him, "Do not worry about me; look
+first after those brave men there, who are in a worse plight
+than I." After a few months his exchange was effected and
+he returned to France, severely shaken in health and not fit
+for further active service, to find Bonaparte First Consul.
+Though not one of his own followers, Bonaparte recognised
+the services he had rendered to his country, and arranged
+for his entry into the Senate, and in 1802 appointed him
+Commissioner Extraordinary to arrange the negotiation with
+Spain, a delicate compliment to Pérignon, who had made
+his name on Spanish soil. Further to recall his Spanish
+victories, in 1804 the Emperor created him honorary
+Marshal, not on the active list, and later gave him the title
+of Count. But though Napoleon did not think that the
+Marshal was physically fit to command again in the field,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[348]</a></span>
+he entrusted him in 1801 with the government of Parma and
+Piacenza, and in 1808 sent him to Naples to command the
+French troops stationed in the kingdom of his brother-in-law,
+Murat. The task was a difficult one, for Murat was no easy
+person to get on with, and Southern Italy, from the days of
+Hannibal, has been a hard place in which to maintain
+military virtues. But the Marshal, with his sound commonsense,
+gave satisfaction both to Napoleon and to King
+Joachim, and at the same time kept a tight hand over his
+troops; when, however, in 1814, Murat deserted the
+Emperor, the old Marshal withdrew in sorrow to France,
+to find Paris in the hands of the enemy. Like the other
+Marshals he accepted the Restoration and was created a
+peer of France. Being himself of noble birth, and an
+ex-officer of the old royal army, Louis XVIII. appointed
+him to investigate the claims, and verify the services of the
+officers of the old army who had returned to France at the
+Restoration. When, in 1815, Napoleon returned from Elba,
+the Marshal, who was at his country house near Toulouse,
+made every effort to organise resistance against him in the
+Midi. During the Hundred Days he remained quietly at his
+home, and on the second Restoration was rewarded with
+the command of the first military division, and created
+Marquis and Commander of the Order of St. Louis. But
+he did not long enjoy his new honours, for he died in
+Paris on December 25, 1818, aged sixty-four.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[349]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XXV" id="XXV"></a>XXV<br /><br />
+JEAN MATHIEU PHILIBERT SERURIER,
+MARSHAL</h2>
+
+
+<p>After thirty-four years' service to be still a captain,
+with no probable chance of promotion: such was
+the lot of Serurier when the Revolution broke out
+in 1789. Born on December 8, 1742, he had received his
+first commission in the militia at the age of thirteen, and
+from there had been transferred to the line. His war
+service was not inconsiderable, including three campaigns
+in Hanover, one in Portugal, and one in Italy; he had
+been wounded as far back as the action of Wartburg in
+1760, but there was no court influence to bring him his
+majority. With the Revolution, however, fortune quickly
+changed. The years of steady attention to duty, of patient
+devotion to, and loving care of his men, brought their
+reward, and when promotion became the gift of the soldiers
+and not of the courtiers, the stern old disciplinarian found
+himself at the head of his regiment. In the hand-to-hand
+struggles which distinguished the early campaigns in the
+Alps, he soon acquired a reputation for bravery and the
+clever handling of his men. By June, 1795, he had risen
+to be general of division, in which capacity he distinguished
+himself on July 7th by the way he led his division at the
+fight for the Col de Tenda, and for the modesty with which
+he attributed all his success to his soldiers. A month later
+he saved the whole army at the Col de Pierre Étroite.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[350]</a></span>
+When under the cover of driving rain and mist the enemy
+surprised the French line of picquets at midnight and had
+all but seized the position, it was Serurier who, collecting
+three hundred and fifty men, hurled himself against the
+enemy's column of fifteen hundred bayonets, and by sheer
+hand-to-hand fighting held them in check for six hours, and
+at last repulsed them with the loss of a considerable number
+of prisoners.</p>
+
+<p>With the halo of this action still surrounding him, in
+March, 1796, he first came into direct connection with
+Bonaparte. The new commander-in-chief quickly took
+measure of his tall, stern subordinate. While recognising
+to the full his bravery, the excellent discipline he knew how
+to maintain, and the high regard in which he was held by
+his division, he saw that the iron of years of subordination
+had entered into the old soldier's soul, and that, while he
+could be relied on to obey orders implicitly, he never could
+be trusted with an independent command. Still, what
+Bonaparte most required from his subordinates was
+immediate obedience and speedy performance of orders,
+and consequently Serurier played no insignificant part in
+the glorious campaign of 1796. At Mondovi he showed his
+stubbornness, when the Sardinian general turned at bay,
+and, as Bonaparte wrote to the Directory, the victory was
+due entirely to Serurier. When the Austrians were driven
+into Mantua, Bonaparte entrusted him with the siege. The
+Austrian forces in the fortress numbered some fourteen
+thousand; Serurier had but ten thousand to carry on the
+siege, although the usual estimate is that a besieging force
+should be three times as strong as the besieged; but by his
+clever use of the marshes and bridges he was able to hold
+the enemy and open his trenches and siege batteries. It
+was no fault of his that, on the advance of Würmser, he
+had to abandon his guns and hasten to Castiglione, for
+Bonaparte had given him no warning of the sudden
+advance of the Austrian relieving force. After Castiglione<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[351]</a></span>
+he returned to his task round Mantua and gallantly repulsed
+all sorties. When the end came he had the honour of
+superintending the surrender, and of receiving the parole
+from the gallant old Marshal Würmser and the Austrian
+officers. In the advance on Vienna his division distinguished
+itself in the terrible march to Asola; but, as Bonaparte
+said, "the wind and the rain were always the crown
+of victory for the Army of Italy." At Gradisca Serurier
+captured two thousand five hundred prisoners, eight stands
+of colours, and ten pieces of artillery, and again crowned
+himself with glory at the Col de Tarvis. In June Bonaparte
+sent the old warrior to Paris to present twenty-two captured
+stands to the Directory, and in his despatches, after enumerating
+his triumphs from Mondovi to Gradisca, he finished
+by saying, "General Serurier is extremely severe on himself,
+and at times on others. A stern enforcer of discipline,
+order, and the most necessary virtues for the maintenance
+of society, he disdains intrigues and intriguers"; he then
+proceeded to demand for him the command of the troops
+of the Cisalpine Republic. But the Directors had other
+designs, and sent back the general to command the captured
+province of Venice.</p>
+
+<p>In 1799, when the Austrians and Russians invaded
+Northern Italy, Serurier commanded a division of the army
+of occupation. During the operations which ended in
+the enemy forcing the Adda, his division got isolated
+from the main body. The old soldier, whose boast was
+that he never turned his back on an enemy, forgetful
+of strategy, and thinking only of honour, instead of
+attempting to escape and rejoin the rest of the army,
+took possession of an extremely strong position at Verderio,
+and soon found himself surrounded; after a
+gallant fight against an enemy three times his number, he
+was compelled to surrender with seven thousand men.
+The celebrated Suvaroff, the Russian commander, treated
+him with great kindness and invited him to dine. After his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[352]</a></span>
+exchange on parole had been arranged, the Russian general
+asked him where he was going. "To Paris." "So much
+the better," replied Suvaroff; "I shall count on seeing you
+there soon." "I have myself always hoped to see you
+there," replied Serurier with considerable wit and dignity.</p>
+
+<p>The general was still a prisoner on parole when Bonaparte
+returned from Egypt, and at once gladly placed himself
+at his disposal, and aided him during the coup d'état of
+Brumaire. It was because of this service, and of the strong
+affection which the old warrior bore him, that Bonaparte
+piled honours upon him, for Serurier had undoubtedly
+done less than anybody, save perhaps Bessières, to deserve
+his bâton. Still, Napoleon knew his devotion, his blind
+obedience to orders, and his absolute integrity. In December,
+1799, he called him to the Senate. In April, 1804, he
+made him governor of the Invalides, and a month later
+presented him with his Marshal's bâton, and created him
+Grand Eagle of the Legion of Honour and Grand Cross
+of the Iron Crown. But he never employed him in the
+field, though once for a short time during the Walcheren
+Expedition he placed him in command of the National
+Guard of Paris.</p>
+
+<p>The old Marshal found a congenial occupation in looking
+after the veterans at the Invalides, while, as Vice-President
+of the Senate, he faithfully served the interests of his beloved
+Emperor. When in 1814 he heard that Paris was
+going to surrender, rather than that the trophies of his
+master's glory should fall into the hands of the enemy, on
+the night of March 30th he collected the eighteen hundred
+captured standards which adorned Nôtre Dame, and the
+military trophies from the chapel of the Invalides, and
+burned them, and he actually hurled into the fire the sword
+of the Great Frederick which had been seized in 1806 at
+Potsdam. Yet in spite of his devotion to the Emperor,
+a few days later he took part in the proceedings in the
+Senate, and voted for his deposition. Under the Restoration<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[353]</a></span>
+he was made a peer of France, but on Napoleon's
+return he hastened to greet him. But the Emperor could
+not forgive his desertion, and, thinking he would not benefit
+by his services, he refused them. When the Bourbons
+returned a second time the Marshal was stripped of his
+titles and, what caused him more grief, of his command of
+the Invalides. After parting from the veterans, whose welfare
+he had so long superintended, the old warrior withdrew
+into private life, and died at Paris on December 21, 1819, at
+the age of seventy-seven.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[354]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="XXVI" id="XXVI"></a>XXVI<br /><br />
+PRINCE JOSEPH PONIATOWSKI, MARSHAL</h2>
+
+
+<p>Joseph Poniatowski, the nephew of King
+Stanislaus (the erstwhile lover of Catherine the
+Second of Russia), was born in 1762, before his
+uncle had been raised to the kingly rank. Like all
+Poles of noble birth, war and war alone could offer him a
+profession he was able or cared to pursue, and accordingly
+at an early age he served his apprenticeship in arms under
+the banner of Austria. Returning to his native country in
+1789 with the experience of several campaigns against
+the Turks, he was entrusted by his uncle with the
+organisation of the Polish army. For the cast-off lover
+of the great Catherine was about to make one last effort
+to save his country from the greedy hands of Prussia,
+Russia and Austria. The great kingdom of Poland had
+fallen on evil days; she had no fortresses, no navy, no
+roads, no arsenals, no revenue, and no real standing
+army; while the King was elected by a Diet of nobles
+who thought more of foreign gold than of patriotism;
+the single vote of one member of this Diet could bring
+all business to a standstill. King Stanislaus' reforms
+were wise, but they came too late. The kingship was
+to become hereditary, the "liberum veto," whereby business
+was paralysed was abolished, and a standing army
+was to be raised. But it suited none of her great
+neighbours to see Poland organising herself into a modern<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[355]</a></span>
+State, and before Prince Joseph had had time to raise
+and thoroughly drill his new model army, Prussia and
+Russia determined once and for all to wipe the kingdom
+off the map of Europe. In 1792 Prince Joseph found
+himself at the head of his new levies opposed by the
+trained troops of those countries. To add to his difficulties,
+the orders he received from his uncle were contradictory
+and irresolute, for King Stanislaus, though patriot at
+heart, had not the moral courage for so great an
+emergency. The new Polish troops gained some minor
+successes, but before the immense array of enemies the
+King's heart failed him, and he signed the Convention
+of Targowitz, which foreshadowed the dismemberment
+of his country. Prince Joseph, like many another of his
+brave comrades, unable to stomach such cowardice,
+threw up his commission and withdrew into exile. In 1794
+Poland suddenly flew to arms at the command of the
+great-hearted Kosciuszko, and Prince Joseph, keen soldier
+and patriot, gladly placed himself under the orders of
+his former subordinate, and covered himself with glory
+at the siege of Warsaw. Again, however, the Polish
+resistance was broken down by force of numbers, and
+the Prince, turning a deaf ear to the blandishments of
+Emperor and Czarina alike, withdrew from public life
+and settled down to manage his estates near Warsaw.
+For eleven long years Poland lay dismembered, but the
+national spirit still smouldered, and broke into clear flame
+when, in 1806, the victorious French drove the battered
+remains of the Prussian armies across the Vistula. But
+Poland was a mere pawn in the game, to be used as
+a means of threatening or conciliating Russia, and in
+spite of the high hopes of the Poles the treaty of Tilsit,
+instead of reviving the ancient kingdom, merely established
+a Grand Duchy of Warsaw. The Emperor left Davout
+to watch over the weaning of the State, and appointed
+Prince Joseph to organise the national forces which were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[356]</a></span>
+to supplement the French army of occupation. No better
+choice could have been made, for the Prince had the
+necessary tact to manage the imperious Davout, while
+his chivalrous nature, his well-known patriotism and his
+experience and ability, enabled him once more to accustom
+the Polish troops to the bit of discipline. When, in 1809,
+the great European conflagration forced Napoleon to leave
+the Grand Duchy to its fate, Prince Joseph was able to
+keep the Austrians in check, and actually to penetrate
+into Galicia before the battle of Wagram brought the
+war to an end.</p>
+
+<p>Poniatowski's campaign against Austria, glorious as it
+was for the Poles, was in reality the forerunner of disaster.
+During the campaign the Polish troops were supported
+by a Russian division. To Poniatowski, the Russians, the
+despoilers of his country, were more hateful than the
+enemy, and he so distrusted them that, at the risk of
+having to fight them, he refused to allow them to
+occupy any of the captured fortresses; this suspicion
+was increased by the capture of a secret despatch from
+the Russian commander to the Austrian Archduke, congratulating
+him on the victory of Razyn, and expressing
+a wish that his standards might soon be joined to the
+Austrian eagles. The Prince at once sent the intercepted
+despatch to Napoleon, who summed up the situation with
+the words, "I see that after all I must make war on
+Alexander." So when the Grand Army assembled for
+the invasion of Russia, Prince Poniatowski with his Poles
+rejoiced at the call to arms, and brought thirty-six thousand
+well disciplined and well equipped troops to the rendezvous,
+while sixty-five thousand were left to garrison
+the fortresses: the years of peace had been spent by him
+in busy labour as Minister of War, providing for the
+necessities of the army, establishing engineering and artillery
+colleges, equipping hospitals and perfecting organisation
+and discipline. Smolensk, Moskowa, and many a skirmish<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[357]</a></span>
+proved that the labour of organisation had not sapped
+Prince Joseph's dash and courage, and the horrors of the
+retreat brought out to the full his chivalrous bravery
+and determination. Though wounded during the retreat,
+he was ready the following year to help the French in
+Central Europe. On the morning of the first day of the
+battle of Leipzig, Napoleon, to fire the Poles, sent their
+Prince his bâton as Marshal. While esteeming the honour,
+Prince Joseph showed no undue elation, for, much as he
+admired the French, and grateful as he felt, he was at
+heart a Pole, and, as he said to a comrade, "I am proud
+to be the leader of the Poles. When one has a unique
+title superior to that of Marshal, the title of Generalissimo
+of the Poles, nothing else matters. Besides, I am going
+to die, and I prefer to die as a Polish general and not
+as a Marshal of France." But the Marshal did not allow
+his gloomy forebodings to interfere with his duty, and so
+fiercely did he face the enemy that after three days'
+fighting his corps had dwindled from seven thousand to
+a bare two thousand men. On the morning of the fatal
+19th of October the Emperor sent for him and entrusted
+him with the defence of the southern suburb of Leipzig.
+"Sire," said the Prince, "I have but few followers left."
+"What then?" rejoined the Emperor; "you will defend
+it with what you have." "Ah, Sire," replied the Prince
+Marshal, "we are all ready to die for your Majesty." Thus
+spoke the Pole, but many a Frenchman thought otherwise
+and hurried from the stricken field. With their hated
+enemies, the Austrians, Russians and Prussians surrounding
+them, the small band of devoted Poles fought to the
+last. When the bridge was blown up and ordered retreat
+was impossible, the Prince, drawing his sword, called out
+to those around him, "Gentlemen, we must die with
+honour." Severely wounded, with a handful of followers,
+he fought his way through a column of the enemy and
+reached the bank of the Elster. Faint from loss of blood,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[358]</a></span>
+he urged his horse into the stream, and by great exertions
+reached the other side; but the beast, worn out by the
+long days of battle, was unable to clamber up the steep,
+slippery bank, and the Prince Marshal was so faint that
+he could no longer guide his steed; so horse and rider
+dropped back into the stream and were seen no more
+alive. Two days later his body was recovered, and buried
+with all the honours due to his rank, in the presence
+of the allied sovereigns, his former enemies. Thus passed
+away Prince Joseph Poniatowski, whose chivalrous courage
+had won for him the title of the Polish Bayard, whose life
+had been spent for the welfare of his country, whose high
+military reputation was sullied by no inglorious act, and
+who at the last chose death rather than surrender.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[359]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a>INDEX</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+A<br />
+<br />
+Abbaye, <a href="#Page_324">324</a><br />
+<br />
+Abensberg, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a><br />
+<br />
+Abercromby, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a><br />
+<br />
+Aboukir, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a><br />
+<br />
+Achille Murat, <a href="#Page_30">30</a><br />
+<br />
+Acre, <a href="#Page_27">27</a><br />
+<br />
+Adda, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a><br />
+<br />
+Adige, <a href="#Page_189">189</a><br />
+<br />
+Africa, <a href="#Page_121">121</a><br />
+<br />
+Agar, Count of Mosburg, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a><br />
+<br />
+Albano, <a href="#Page_236">236</a><br />
+<br />
+Albion, <a href="#Page_251">251</a><br />
+<br />
+Albuera, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a><br />
+<br />
+Alessandria, <a href="#Page_307">307</a><br />
+<br />
+Alexander, Czar, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a><br />
+<br />
+Alexandria, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a><br />
+<br />
+Ali Pacha, <a href="#Page_208">208</a><br />
+<br />
+Alle, <a href="#Page_131">131</a><br />
+<br />
+Almarez, <a href="#Page_212">212</a><br />
+<br />
+Almeida, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a><br />
+<br />
+Alkmaar, <a href="#Page_273">273</a><br />
+<br />
+Alps, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a><br />
+<br />
+Alsace, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a><br />
+<br />
+Altenkirchen, <a href="#Page_74">74</a><br />
+<br />
+Alvarez, <a href="#Page_240">240</a><br />
+<br />
+Alvintzi, <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br />
+<br />
+Ambert, <a href="#Page_334">334</a><br />
+<br />
+America, <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a>, xvii, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a><br />
+<br />
+Amiens, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a><br />
+<br />
+Amsterdam, <a href="#Page_273">273</a><br />
+<br />
+Andalusia, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a><br />
+<br />
+Andréossy, <a href="#Page_122">122</a><br />
+<br />
+Angoumois, <a href="#Page_268">268</a><br />
+<br />
+Antibes, <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br />
+<br />
+Annoux, <a href="#Page_162">162</a><br />
+<br />
+Apolda, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a><br />
+<br />
+Appenines, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br />
+<br />
+Arabs, <a href="#Page_26">26</a><br />
+<br />
+Arcis-sur-Aube, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a><br />
+<br />
+Arcola, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a><br />
+<br />
+Argenton, <a href="#Page_102">102</a><br />
+<br />
+Argonne, <a href="#Page_318">318</a><br />
+<br />
+Army of the Alps, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of Arragon, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of the Centre, <a href="#Page_318">318</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of the Côte de Brest, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of Dalmatia, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of England, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of the Eastern Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of Germany, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Grand, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of the Grisons, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of Hanover, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of Holland, <a href="#Page_300">300</a></span><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[360]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>
+Army of Italy, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of La Vendée, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of the Loire, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of the Midi, <a href="#Page_305">305</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of the Moselle, <a href="#Page_163">163</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of Naples, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of Normandy, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of the North, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of the Ocean, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of Portugal, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of the Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of the Reserve, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of the Rhine, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of Rome, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of the Sambre and Meuse, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of Spain, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of Switzerland, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of the West, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of the Western Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Arpajon, <a href="#Page_268">268</a><br />
+<br />
+Arragon, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a><br />
+<br />
+Arras, <a href="#Page_337">337</a><br />
+<br />
+Artois, Count of, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a><br />
+<br />
+Asola, <a href="#Page_351">351</a><br />
+<br />
+Aspern, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a><br />
+<br />
+Auch, <a href="#Page_129">129</a><br />
+<br />
+Auersperg, <a href="#Page_127">127</a><br />
+<br />
+Auerstädt, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a><br />
+<br />
+Auerstädt, Duchess of, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a><br />
+<br />
+Augsburg, <a href="#Page_15">15</a><br />
+<br />
+Augereau (Life, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>-<a href="#Page_267">267</a>), <a href="#Page_xii">xii</a>, xiii, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a><br />
+<br />
+Auguie, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a><br />
+<br />
+Aulic Council, <a href="#Page_56">56</a><br />
+<br />
+Aurillac, <a href="#Page_159">159</a><br />
+<br />
+Austerlitz, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>
+<br />
+Auxerre, <a href="#Page_162">162</a><br />
+<br />
+Avignon, <a href="#Page_276">276</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+B<br />
+<br />
+Badajoz, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a><br />
+<br />
+Baden, Prince of, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a><br />
+<br />
+Bagration, <a href="#Page_41">41</a><br />
+<br />
+Balanquer, Col of, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a><br />
+<br />
+Baltic, <a href="#Page_35">35</a><br />
+<br />
+Bantry Bay, <a href="#Page_307">307</a><br />
+<br />
+Bar, <a href="#Page_317">317</a><br />
+<br />
+Barcelona, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a><br />
+<br />
+Bard, <a href="#Page_206">206</a><br />
+<br />
+Barèges, <a href="#Page_37">37</a><br />
+<br />
+Bar-le-Duc, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a><br />
+<br />
+Barossa, <a href="#Page_302">302</a><br />
+<br />
+Barras, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a><br />
+<br />
+Barthélemy, <a href="#Page_263">263</a><br />
+<br />
+Bassano, <a href="#Page_120">120</a><br />
+<br />
+Bastille, <a href="#Page_3">3</a><br />
+<br />
+Bavarians, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a><br />
+<br />
+Bautzen, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a><br />
+<br />
+Bavastros, <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br />
+<br />
+Bayard, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a><br />
+<br />
+Baylen, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a><br />
+<br />
+Bayonne, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a><br />
+<br />
+Béarn, <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br />
+<br />
+Beaumont, <a href="#Page_31">31</a><br />
+<br />
+Belchite, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a><br />
+<br />
+Belgium, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a><br />
+<br />
+Bellegarde, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a><br />
+<br />
+Bennigsen, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a><br />
+<br />
+Bentinck, <a href="#Page_42">42</a><br />
+<br />
+Berchény, <a href="#Page_322">322</a><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[361]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>
+Beresford, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a><br />
+<br />
+Beresina, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a><br />
+<br />
+Berg 33, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a><br />
+<br />
+Bergen, <a href="#Page_273">273</a><br />
+<br />
+Berlin, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a><br />
+<br />
+Bernadotte (Life, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>-<a href="#Page_92">92</a>), <a href="#Page_x">x</a>, <a href="#Page_xi">xi</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a><br />
+<br />
+Berne, <a href="#Page_270">270</a><br />
+<br />
+Berri, Duc de, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a><br />
+<br />
+Berthier (Life, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>-<a href="#Page_22">22</a>), <a href="#Page_xii">xii</a>, <a href="#Page_xiii">xiii</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a><br />
+<br />
+Berthollet, <a href="#Page_204">204</a><br />
+<br />
+Bertrand, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a><br />
+<br />
+Besançon, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a><br />
+<br />
+Besenval, <a href="#Page_3">3</a><br />
+<br />
+Bessières (Life, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>-<a href="#Page_295">295</a>), <a href="#Page_xii">xii</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a><br />
+<br />
+Bessonis, <a href="#Page_159">159</a><br />
+<br />
+Bethune, <a href="#Page_196">196</a><br />
+<br />
+Beurnonville, <a href="#Page_184">184</a><br />
+<br />
+Biberach, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a><br />
+<br />
+Bitche, <a href="#Page_334">334</a><br />
+<br />
+Black Forest, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a><br />
+<br />
+Black Prince, <a href="#Page_246">246</a><br />
+<br />
+Blake, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a><br />
+<br />
+Blücher, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a><br />
+<br />
+Bohemia, <a href="#Page_14">14</a><br />
+<br />
+Bologna, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a><br />
+<br />
+Bonaventura Casa, <a href="#Page_246">246</a><br />
+<br />
+Bordeaux, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a><br />
+<br />
+Bormida, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br />
+<br />
+Bouchotte, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a><br />
+<br />
+Boulogne, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a><br />
+<br />
+Bourbons, <a href="#Page_xiv">xiv</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a><br />
+<br />
+Bourges, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a><br />
+<br />
+Bourmont, <a href="#Page_156">156</a><br />
+<br />
+Bouvet, <a href="#Page_307">307</a><br />
+<br />
+Bremen, <a href="#Page_280">280</a><br />
+<br />
+Brest, <a href="#Page_265">265</a><br />
+<br />
+Brienne, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a><br />
+<br />
+Brittany, <a href="#Page_78">78</a><br />
+<br />
+Brives-la-Gaillard, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a><br />
+<br />
+Bruges, <a href="#Page_165">165</a><br />
+<br />
+Brumaire, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a><br />
+<br />
+Brune, Madame, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a><br />
+<br />
+Brunswick, Duke of, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a><br />
+<br />
+Brussels, <a href="#Page_313">313</a><br />
+<br />
+Bruyère, <a href="#Page_175">175</a><br />
+<br />
+Bülow, <a href="#Page_165">165</a><br />
+<br />
+Burgos, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a><br />
+<br />
+Burgundy, <a href="#Page_162">162</a><br />
+<br />
+Busaco, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+C<br />
+<br />
+Cadiz, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a><br />
+<br />
+Cæsar, <a href="#Page_xi">xi</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a><br />
+<br />
+Cahors, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a><br />
+<br />
+Cairo (Egypt), <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a><br />
+<br />
+Cairo (Italy), <a href="#Page_52">52</a><br />
+<br />
+Calabria, <a href="#Page_60">60</a><br />
+<br />
+Caldiero, <a href="#Page_60">60</a><br />
+<br />
+Calvados, <a href="#Page_270">270</a><br />
+<br />
+Calvin, <a href="#Page_234">234</a><br />
+<br />
+Cambrai, <a href="#Page_278">278</a><br />
+<br />
+Campan, <a href="#Page_164">164</a><br />
+<br />
+Camp de milles fourches, <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br />
+<br />
+Cannes, <a href="#Page_45">45</a><br />
+<br />
+Capri, <a href="#Page_40">40</a><br />
+<br />
+Capua, <a href="#Page_60">60</a><br />
+<br />
+Carinthia, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a><br />
+<br />
+Carnot, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a><br />
+<br />
+Caroline Bonaparte, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a><br />
+<br />
+Caroline, Bourbon Queen of Naples, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a><br />
+<br />
+Cassel, <a href="#Page_281">281</a><br />
+<br />
+Castaños, <a href="#Page_133">133</a><br />
+<br />
+Castel Franco, <a href="#Page_238">238</a><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[362]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>
+Castiglione, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a><br />
+<br />
+Castile, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a><br />
+<br />
+Castilians, <a href="#Page_225">225</a><br />
+<br />
+Catalonia, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a><br />
+<br />
+Catherine II., Czarina, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a><br />
+<br />
+Cattaro, <a href="#Page_207">207</a><br />
+<br />
+Caulaincourt, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a><br />
+<br />
+Cavaignac, <a href="#Page_40">40</a><br />
+<br />
+Cayenne, <a href="#Page_49">49</a><br />
+<br />
+Cerea, <a href="#Page_298">298</a><br />
+<br />
+Cerrachi, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a><br />
+<br />
+Châlons, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a><br />
+<br />
+Champaubert, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a><br />
+<br />
+Championnet, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a><br />
+<br />
+Chancellor, <a href="#Page_195">195</a><br />
+<br />
+Charlemagne, <a href="#Page_xi">xi</a>, <a href="#Page_xvii">xvii</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a><br />
+<br />
+Charleroi, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a><br />
+<br />
+Charles, Archduke, <a href="#Page_xvii">xvii</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a><br />
+<br />
+Charles IV. of Spain, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a><br />
+<br />
+Charles X. of France, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>,<br />
+258, <a href="#Page_315">315</a><br />
+<br />
+Charles XIII. of Sweden, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a><br />
+<br />
+Charles XIV. of Sweden, <i>cf</i>. Bernadotte<br />
+<br />
+Charlotte of Würtemburg, <a href="#Page_289">289</a><br />
+<br />
+Charles Stewart, <a href="#Page_183">183</a><br />
+<br />
+Châtillon, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a><br />
+<br />
+Chebrass, <a href="#Page_122">122</a><br />
+<br />
+Cherasco, <a href="#Page_25">25</a><br />
+<br />
+Cherbourg, <a href="#Page_216">216</a><br />
+<br />
+Chiasso, <a href="#Page_307">307</a><br />
+<br />
+Chouans, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a><br />
+<br />
+Cisalpine Republic, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a><br />
+<br />
+Ciudad Rodrigo, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a><br />
+<br />
+Cività Castellana, <a href="#Page_186">186</a><br />
+<br />
+Clanclaux, <a href="#Page_306">306</a><br />
+<br />
+Clanranald, <a href="#Page_183">183</a><br />
+<br />
+Clarke, Duke of Feltre, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a><br />
+<br />
+Clary, <a href="#Page_76">76</a><br />
+<br />
+Clary, Madame Suchet, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a><br />
+<br />
+Cleves, <a href="#Page_33">33</a><br />
+<br />
+Clicheans, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a><br />
+<br />
+Clichy Gate, <a href="#Page_249">249</a><br />
+<br />
+Coa, <a href="#Page_150">150</a><br />
+<br />
+Coburg, <a href="#Page_253">253</a><br />
+<br />
+Code Napoleon, <a href="#Page_39">39</a><br />
+<br />
+Coffin, <a href="#Page_42">42</a><br />
+<br />
+Col de Tarvis, <a href="#Page_351">351</a><br />
+<br />
+Col de Tende, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a><br />
+<br />
+Col de Pierre Étroite, <a href="#Page_349">349</a><br />
+<br />
+Coland, <a href="#Page_143">143</a><br />
+<br />
+College of France, <a href="#Page_268">268</a><br />
+<br />
+College of Isle Barbe, <a href="#Page_219">219</a><br />
+<br />
+Combault, <a href="#Page_331">331</a><br />
+<br />
+Committee of Public Safety, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a><br />
+<br />
+Commissioners, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a><br />
+<br />
+Commune, <a href="#Page_113">113</a><br />
+<br />
+Concordat, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a><br />
+<br />
+Confederation of the Rhine, <a href="#Page_33">33</a><br />
+<br />
+Congress of Vienna, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a><br />
+<br />
+Consalvi, <a href="#Page_30">30</a><br />
+<br />
+Constantinople, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a><br />
+<br />
+Consuls of Rome, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br />
+<br />
+Convention, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a><br />
+<br />
+Copenhagen, <a href="#Page_188">188</a><br />
+<br />
+Corfu, <a href="#Page_6">6</a><br />
+<br />
+Corné, Paul Louis, <a href="#Page_238">238</a><br />
+<br />
+Corps Legislatif, <a href="#Page_195">195</a><br />
+<br />
+Corunna, <a href="#Page_104">104</a><br />
+<br />
+Corsica, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a><br />
+<br />
+Corso, <a href="#Page_135">135</a><br />
+<br />
+Cortes, <a href="#Page_105">105</a><br />
+<br />
+Coudreaux, <a href="#Page_155">155</a><br />
+<br />
+Council of Five Hundred, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a><br />
+<br />
+Courcelles, <a href="#Page_198">198</a><br />
+<br />
+Craonne, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a><br />
+<br />
+Crawford, <a href="#Page_150">150</a><br />
+<br />
+Cromwell, <a href="#Page_xi">xi</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a><br />
+<br />
+Cross of St. Louis, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[363]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>
+Cuesta, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a><br />
+<br />
+Custine, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+D<br />
+<br />
+d'Abbéville, <a href="#Page_319">319</a><br />
+<br />
+Daendals, <a href="#Page_272">272</a><br />
+<br />
+Dallemagne, <a href="#Page_120">120</a><br />
+<br />
+Dalmatia, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a><br />
+<br />
+Dalmatia, Duchess of, <a href="#Page_109">109</a><br />
+<br />
+d'Angoulême, Duc, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a><br />
+<br />
+Danton, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a><br />
+<br />
+Dantzig, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a><br />
+<br />
+Dantzig, Duchess of, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a><br />
+<br />
+Danube, <a href="#Page_xvii">xvii</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a><br />
+<br />
+D'Artagnan, <a href="#Page_23">23</a><br />
+<br />
+Dauphiné, <a href="#Page_72">72</a><br />
+<br />
+Davout (Life, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>-<a href="#Page_182">182</a>), <a href="#Page_xii">xii</a>, <a href="#Page_xiii">xiii</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a><br />
+<br />
+Dego, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a><br />
+<br />
+D'Engen, <a href="#Page_237">237</a><br />
+<br />
+d'Enghien, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a><br />
+<br />
+Denmark, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a><br />
+<br />
+Dennewitz, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a><br />
+<br />
+d'Erlon, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a><br />
+<br />
+Desaix, <a href="#Page_xiii">xiii</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a><br />
+<br />
+Désiré Clary, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a><br />
+<br />
+Desmoulins, Camille, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a><br />
+<br />
+d'Hautpoul, <a href="#Page_33">33</a><br />
+<br />
+Diet (Polish), <a href="#Page_354">354</a><br />
+<br />
+Dijon, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a><br />
+<br />
+Directory, <a href="#Page_xvii">xvii</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a><br />
+<br />
+Donauwörth, <a href="#Page_15">15</a><br />
+<br />
+Don Francisco, <a href="#Page_37">37</a><br />
+<br />
+Doria, <a href="#Page_234">234</a><br />
+<br />
+Dorsenne, <a href="#Page_212">212</a><br />
+<br />
+Douro, <a href="#Page_108">108</a><br />
+<br />
+Dresden, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a><br />
+<br />
+Drôme, <a href="#Page_297">297</a><br />
+<br />
+Dugommier, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a><br />
+<br />
+Duhesme, <a href="#Page_239">239</a><br />
+<br />
+Dumas, Alexandre, <a href="#Page_270">270</a><br />
+<br />
+Dumas, General, <a href="#Page_152">152</a><br />
+<br />
+Dumerbion, <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br />
+<br />
+Dumouriez, <a href="#Page_xvi">xvi</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a><br />
+<br />
+Dunaberg, <a href="#Page_191">191</a><br />
+<br />
+Dundonald, <a href="#Page_239">239</a><br />
+<br />
+Dunkirk, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a><br />
+<br />
+Dupont, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a><br />
+<br />
+Duroc, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a><br />
+<br />
+Dürrenstein, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a><br />
+<br />
+Düsseldorf, <a href="#Page_34">34</a><br />
+<br />
+Dutaillis, <a href="#Page_12">12</a><br />
+<br />
+Dutch, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a><br />
+<br />
+Dwina, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+E<br />
+<br />
+Ebersdorf, <a href="#Page_190">190</a><br />
+<br />
+Ebling, <a href="#Page_293">293</a><br />
+<br />
+Ebro, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a><br />
+<br />
+Eckmühl, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a><br />
+<br />
+Egypt, <a href="#Page_xvii">xvii</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a><br />
+<br />
+Elba, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a><br />
+<br />
+Elbe, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a><br />
+<br />
+El Bodin, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a><br />
+<br />
+Elchingen, <a href="#Page_32">32</a><br />
+<br />
+Elizabeth of Bavaria, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a><br />
+<br />
+Elster, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a><br />
+<br />
+Empress of Austria, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[364]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>
+Encyclopedists, <a href="#Page_305">305</a><br />
+<br />
+Enzerdorf, <a href="#Page_174">174</a><br />
+<br />
+Ercola, <a href="#Page_345">345</a><br />
+<br />
+Erfurt, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a><br />
+<br />
+Espinosa, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a><br />
+<br />
+Essling, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a><br />
+<br />
+Eugène, Prince, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a><br />
+<br />
+Exmouth, Lord, <a href="#Page_276">276</a><br />
+<br />
+Eylau, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+F<br />
+<br />
+Faenza, <a href="#Page_237">237</a><br />
+<br />
+Faubourg St. Marceau, <a href="#Page_259">259</a><br />
+<br />
+Feldkirche, <a href="#Page_324">324</a><br />
+<br />
+Ferdinand, Archduke, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a><br />
+<br />
+Ferdinand VII., King of Spain, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a><br />
+<br />
+Fieschi, <a href="#Page_284">284</a><br />
+<br />
+Figueras, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a><br />
+<br />
+Finkenstein, <a href="#Page_327">327</a><br />
+<br />
+Five Days' Fighting, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a><br />
+<br />
+Fleurus, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a><br />
+<br />
+Florence, <a href="#Page_30">30</a><br />
+<br />
+Flushing, <a href="#Page_83">83</a><br />
+<br />
+Fontainebleau, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a><br />
+<br />
+Fort Louis, <a href="#Page_94">94</a><br />
+<br />
+Fouché, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>,43, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a><br />
+<br />
+Foy, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a><br />
+<br />
+Frederic the Great, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a><br />
+<br />
+Fréjus, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a><br />
+<br />
+Friedland, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a><br />
+<br />
+Fructidor General, <a href="#Page_263">263</a><br />
+<br />
+Fuentes d'Onoro, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a><br />
+<br />
+Fulton, <a href="#Page_207">207</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+G<br />
+<br />
+Gaeta, <a href="#Page_60">60</a><br />
+<br />
+Galicia, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a><br />
+<br />
+Gamoral, <a href="#Page_100">100</a><br />
+<br />
+Garde Constitutionelle, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a><br />
+<br />
+Garde du Corps, <a href="#Page_305">305</a><br />
+<br />
+Gardes Françaises, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a><br />
+<br />
+Garonne, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a><br />
+<br />
+Gascony, <a href="#Page_72">72</a><br />
+<br />
+Gauthier, <a href="#Page_269">269</a><br />
+<br />
+Gazan, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a><br />
+<br />
+Gembloux, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a><br />
+<br />
+Gendarmerie, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a><br />
+<br />
+Generalissimo, <a href="#Page_357">357</a><br />
+<br />
+Geneva, <a href="#Page_228">228</a><br />
+<br />
+Genoa, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a><br />
+<br />
+Gerard, <a href="#Page_179">179</a><br />
+<br />
+Germany, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a> 145, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a><br />
+<br />
+Gerona, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a><br />
+<br />
+Gers, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a><br />
+<br />
+Ghent, <a href="#Page_215">215</a><br />
+<br />
+Gibraltar, <a href="#Page_108">108</a><br />
+<br />
+Girard, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a><br />
+<br />
+Gironde, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a><br />
+<br />
+Girondists, <a href="#Page_270">270</a><br />
+<br />
+Görz, <a href="#Page_189">189</a><br />
+<br />
+Gouvion, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a><br />
+<br />
+Governolo, <a href="#Page_120">120</a><br />
+<br />
+Gradisca, <a href="#Page_351">351</a><br />
+<br />
+Graham, <a href="#Page_302">302</a><br />
+<br />
+Granada, <a href="#Page_104">104</a><br />
+<br />
+Grätz, <a href="#Page_308">308</a><br />
+<br />
+Gratz, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a><br />
+<br />
+Grenade, <a href="#Page_344">344</a><br />
+<br />
+Grenoble, <a href="#Page_72">72</a><br />
+<br />
+Greussen, <a href="#Page_98">98</a><br />
+<br />
+Grignon, <a href="#Page_292">292</a><br />
+<br />
+Groete Keten, <a href="#Page_272">272</a><br />
+<br />
+Grosbeeren, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a><br />
+<br />
+Grosbois, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a><br />
+<br />
+Grouchy (Life, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>-<a href="#Page_315">315</a>), <a href="#Page_xiv">xiv</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[365]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>
+Guadaloupe, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br />
+<br />
+Guard, Consular, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a><br />
+<br />
+Guard, Imperial, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a><br />
+<br />
+Guard, National, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a><br />
+<br />
+Guard, Royal, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a><br />
+<br />
+Guard, Young, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a><br />
+<br />
+Guides, <a href="#Page_287">287</a><br />
+<br />
+Guéheneuc, <a href="#Page_124">124</a><br />
+<br />
+Gumbinnen, <a href="#Page_152">152</a><br />
+<br />
+Gustavus IV., <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+H<br />
+<br />
+Hamburg, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a><br />
+<br />
+Hanau, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a><br />
+<br />
+Handschötten, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a><br />
+<br />
+Hannibal, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a><br />
+<br />
+Hanover, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a><br />
+<br />
+Hanseatic Towns, <a href="#Page_82">82</a><br />
+<br />
+Hassanhausen, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a><br />
+<br />
+Haut Rhin, <a href="#Page_93">93</a><br />
+<br />
+Havre, <a href="#Page_261">261</a><br />
+<br />
+Hébert, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a><br />
+<br />
+Heilsberg, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a><br />
+<br />
+Henry IV., <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a><br />
+<br />
+Herborn, <a href="#Page_95">95</a><br />
+<br />
+Hesdin, <a href="#Page_162">162</a><br />
+<br />
+Hesse-Cassel, <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br />
+<br />
+Hoche, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a><br />
+<br />
+Hohenlinden, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a><br />
+<br />
+Hohenlohe, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a><br />
+<br />
+Hollabrünn, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a><br />
+<br />
+Holland, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a><br />
+<br />
+Holy Roman Empire, <a href="#Page_xvii">xvii</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a><br />
+<br />
+Hortense, Queen of Holland, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a><br />
+<br />
+Houchard, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a><br />
+<br />
+Hundred Days, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a><br />
+<br />
+Hungarians, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a><br />
+<br />
+Hyères, <a href="#Page_243">243</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+I<br />
+<br />
+India, <a href="#Page_xvii">xvii</a><br />
+<br />
+Infernal Column, <a href="#Page_337">337</a><br />
+<br />
+Inn, <a href="#Page_31">31</a><br />
+<br />
+Invalides, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a><br />
+<br />
+Ireland, <a href="#Page_265">265</a><br />
+<br />
+Iron Crown, <a href="#Page_352">352</a><br />
+<br />
+Ismailia, <a href="#Page_260">260</a><br />
+<br />
+Italian Republic, <a href="#Page_30">30</a><br />
+<br />
+Ivrea, <a href="#Page_28">28</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+J<br />
+<br />
+Jacobin, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a><br />
+<br />
+Janina, <a href="#Page_208">208</a><br />
+<br />
+Jauer, <a href="#Page_192">192</a><br />
+<br />
+Jeand Heurs, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a><br />
+<br />
+Jemappes, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a><br />
+<br />
+Jena, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a><br />
+<br />
+Jerome Bonaparte, <a href="#Page_289">289</a><br />
+<br />
+Johannisberg, <a href="#Page_321">321</a><br />
+<br />
+John, Archduke, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a><br />
+<br />
+Jomini, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a><br />
+<br />
+Joseph Bonaparte, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a><br />
+<br />
+Josephine, Empress, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a><br />
+<br />
+Joubert, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a><br />
+<br />
+Jourdan (Life, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>-<a href="#Page_258">258</a>), <a href="#Page_xii">xii</a>, <a href="#Page_xiii">xiii</a>, <a href="#Page_xvii">xvii</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a><br />
+<br />
+July Monarchy, <a href="#Page_198">198</a><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[366]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>
+Junot, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a><br />
+<br />
+Junta of Oviedo, <a href="#Page_248">248</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+K<br />
+<br />
+Kaiserslautern, <a href="#Page_93">93</a><br />
+<br />
+Kalioub, <a href="#Page_26">26</a><br />
+<br />
+Kalish, <a href="#Page_132">132</a><br />
+<br />
+Kalkreuth, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a><br />
+<br />
+Katzbach, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a><br />
+<br />
+Kehl, <a href="#Page_126">126</a><br />
+<br />
+Keith, Lord, <a href="#Page_59">59</a><br />
+<br />
+Kellermann (Life, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>-<a href="#Page_321">321</a>), <a href="#Page_xii">xii</a>, <a href="#Page_xiii">xiii</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a><br />
+<br />
+Kellermann (younger), <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a><br />
+<br />
+Kilmaine, <a href="#Page_25">25</a><br />
+<br />
+King of Rome, <a href="#Page_214">214</a><br />
+<br />
+Kléber, <a href="#Page_xiii">xiii</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a><br />
+<br />
+Königsberg, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a><br />
+<br />
+Korsakoff, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a><br />
+<br />
+Kosciuszko, <a href="#Page_355">355</a><br />
+<br />
+Kösen, <a href="#Page_167">167</a><br />
+<br />
+Kovno, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a><br />
+<br />
+Krasnoi, <a href="#Page_152">152</a><br />
+<br />
+Kremlin, <a href="#Page_282">282</a><br />
+<br />
+Krems, <a href="#Page_32">32</a><br />
+<br />
+Külm, <a href="#Page_283">283</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+L<br />
+<br />
+La Bastide Fortunière, <a href="#Page_23">23</a><br />
+<br />
+La Harpe, <a href="#Page_26">26</a><br />
+<br />
+La Houssaye, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a><br />
+<br />
+La Marche, <a href="#Page_296">296</a><br />
+<br />
+La Vendée, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a><br />
+<br />
+Lafayette, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a><br />
+<br />
+Lamarre, <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br />
+<br />
+Lamballe, <a href="#Page_277">277</a><br />
+<br />
+Landgrafenberg, <a href="#Page_129">129</a><br />
+<br />
+Landrieux, <a href="#Page_24">24</a><br />
+<br />
+Landshut, <a href="#Page_136">136</a><br />
+<br />
+Lannes (Life, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>-<a href="#Page_140">140</a>), <a href="#Page_xii">xii</a>, <a href="#Page_xiii">xiii</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a><br />
+<br />
+Laon, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a><br />
+<br />
+Lapezrière, <a href="#Page_288">288</a><br />
+<br />
+Larrey, <a href="#Page_133">133</a><br />
+<br />
+Lartigues, <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br />
+<br />
+Lasalle, <a href="#Page_35">35</a><br />
+<br />
+Laudon, <a href="#Page_247">247</a><br />
+<br />
+Lauter, <a href="#Page_318">318</a><br />
+<br />
+Laybach, <a href="#Page_189">189</a><br />
+<br />
+Le Bouton, <a href="#Page_346">346</a><br />
+<br />
+Leclerc, <a href="#Page_xiii">xiii</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a><br />
+<br />
+Leclerc, Aimée, <a href="#Page_164">164</a><br />
+<br />
+Lecourbe, <a href="#Page_xiii">xiii</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a><br />
+<br />
+Lectourne, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a><br />
+<br />
+Lefèbvre (Life, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>-<a href="#Page_332">332</a>), <a href="#Page_xii">xii</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a><br />
+<br />
+Leghorn, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a><br />
+<br />
+Legion of Honour, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a><br />
+<br />
+Legislative Assembly, <a href="#Page_344">344</a><br />
+<br />
+Leipzig, <a href="#Page_xiv">xiv</a>, <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a><br />
+<br />
+Lenormand, <a href="#Page_83">83</a><br />
+<br />
+Leoben, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a><br />
+<br />
+Lerida, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a><br />
+<br />
+Levant, <a href="#Page_260">260</a><br />
+<br />
+Liège, <a href="#Page_313">313</a><br />
+<br />
+Ligny, <a href="#Page_312">312</a><br />
+<br />
+Lille, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a><br />
+<br />
+Limoges, <a href="#Page_251">251</a><br />
+<br />
+Linares, <a href="#Page_106">106</a><br />
+<br />
+Linz, <a href="#Page_280">280</a><br />
+<br />
+Lisbon, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a><br />
+<br />
+Lithuania, <a href="#Page_41">41</a><br />
+<br />
+Little Gibraltar, <a href="#Page_297">297</a><br />
+<br />
+Liverpool, Lord, <a href="#Page_67">67</a><br />
+<br />
+Loano, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[367]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>
+Lobau, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a><br />
+<br />
+Lodi, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a><br />
+<br />
+Loison, <a href="#Page_151">151</a><br />
+<br />
+Lombardy, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a><br />
+<br />
+Lonato, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a><br />
+<br />
+London, <a href="#Page_113">113</a><br />
+<br />
+Lons la Saulnier, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a><br />
+<br />
+Lorencz, <a href="#Page_337">337</a><br />
+<br />
+Lorraine, <a href="#Page_193">193</a><br />
+<br />
+Louis XIV., <a href="#Page_237">237</a><br />
+<br />
+Louis XVIII., <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a><br />
+<br />
+Louis Napoleon, <a href="#Page_38">38</a><br />
+<br />
+Louis Philippe, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a><br />
+<br />
+Louisiana, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a><br />
+<br />
+Louvre, <a href="#Page_188">188</a><br />
+<br />
+Lowe, Sir Hudson, <a href="#Page_40">40</a><br />
+<br />
+Lübeck, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a><br />
+<br />
+Lucien Bonaparte, <a href="#Page_79">79</a><br />
+<br />
+Luckner, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a><br />
+<br />
+Lugo, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a><br />
+<br />
+Lützen, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a><br />
+<br />
+Lyons, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+M<br />
+<br />
+Macachaim, <a href="#Page_183">183</a><br />
+<br />
+Macard, <a href="#Page_xiv">xiv</a><br />
+<br />
+Macdonald, Flora, <a href="#Page_183">183</a><br />
+<br />
+Macdonald, Marshal (Life, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>-<a href="#Page_199">199</a>), <a href="#Page_xiii">xiii</a>, <a href="#Page_xiv">xiv</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a><br />
+<br />
+Macdonald, Neil, <a href="#Page_183">183</a><br />
+<br />
+Machiavelli, <a href="#Page_243">243</a><br />
+<br />
+Mack, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a><br />
+<br />
+Madame Sans Gêne, <a href="#Page_322">322</a><br />
+<br />
+Madrid, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a><br />
+<br />
+Maestricht, <a href="#Page_312">312</a><br />
+<br />
+Magdeburg, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a><br />
+<br />
+Magnano, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a><br />
+<br />
+Maillebois, <a href="#Page_184">184</a><br />
+<br />
+Maine, <a href="#Page_213">213</a><br />
+<br />
+Maintz, <a href="#Page_201">201</a><br />
+<br />
+Malaga, <a href="#Page_104">104</a><br />
+<br />
+Malmaison, <a href="#Page_180">180</a><br />
+<br />
+Malta, <a href="#Page_122">122</a><br />
+<br />
+Mamelukes, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a><br />
+<br />
+Manhes, <a href="#Page_39">39</a><br />
+<br />
+Mannheim, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a><br />
+<br />
+Mantua, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a><br />
+<br />
+Marat, <a href="#Page_24">24</a><br />
+<br />
+Marceau, <a href="#Page_xiii">xiii</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a><br />
+<br />
+Marengo, <a href="#Page_xvii">xvii</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a><br />
+<br />
+Maret, <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br />
+<br />
+Maria, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a><br />
+<br />
+Marie Louise, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a><br />
+<br />
+Marlborough, <a href="#Page_227">227</a><br />
+<br />
+Marmont (Life, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>-<a href="#Page_218">218</a>), <a href="#Page_xiii">xiii</a>, <a href="#Page_xiv">xiv</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a><br />
+<br />
+Marne, <a href="#Page_302">302</a><br />
+<br />
+Marseillaise, <a href="#Page_276">276</a><br />
+<br />
+Marseilles, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a><br />
+<br />
+Masséna (Life, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>-<a href="#Page_71">71</a>), <a href="#Page_xii">xii</a>, <a href="#Page_xiii">xiii</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a><br />
+<br />
+Masséna, Prosper, <a href="#Page_69">69</a><br />
+<br />
+Maubeuge, <a href="#Page_252">252</a><br />
+<br />
+Meaux, <a href="#Page_269">269</a><br />
+<br />
+Mecklenberg-Anhalt, <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br />
+<br />
+Medici, <a href="#Page_30">30</a><br />
+<br />
+Medine del Rio Seco, <a href="#Page_289">289</a><br />
+<br />
+Médoc, <a href="#Page_233">233</a><br />
+<br />
+Melzi, <a href="#Page_30">30</a><br />
+<br />
+Menou, <a href="#Page_122">122</a><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[368]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>
+Mequinenza, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a><br />
+<br />
+Méric, <a href="#Page_119">119</a><br />
+<br />
+Mesler, <a href="#Page_138">138</a><br />
+<br />
+Messina, <a href="#Page_40">40</a><br />
+<br />
+Metternich, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a><br />
+<br />
+Metz, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a><br />
+<br />
+Meuse, <a href="#Page_334">334</a><br />
+<br />
+Midi, <a href="#Page_275">275</a><br />
+<br />
+Milan, <a href="#Page_10">10</a><br />
+<br />
+Millesimo, <a href="#Page_261">261</a><br />
+<br />
+Mincio, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a><br />
+<br />
+Mirabeau, <a href="#Page_268">268</a><br />
+<br />
+Molans, Ure de, <a href="#Page_24">24</a><br />
+<br />
+Monaco, <a href="#Page_299">299</a><br />
+<br />
+Moncey (Life, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>-<a href="#Page_250">250</a>), <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a><br />
+<br />
+Mondego, <a href="#Page_150">150</a><br />
+<br />
+Mondovi, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a><br />
+<br />
+Monge, <a href="#Page_204">204</a><br />
+<br />
+Moniteur, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a><br />
+<br />
+Mont St. Jean, <a href="#Page_313">313</a><br />
+<br />
+Montebello, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a><br />
+<br />
+Monte Cretto, <a href="#Page_95">95</a><br />
+<br />
+Montenegro, <a href="#Page_208">208</a><br />
+<br />
+Montenotte, <a href="#Page_53">53</a><br />
+<br />
+Montesquieu, <a href="#Page_305">305</a><br />
+<br />
+Montfaucon, <a href="#Page_24">24</a><br />
+<br />
+Montmartre, <a href="#Page_214">214</a><br />
+<br />
+Montmirail, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a><br />
+<br />
+Monzembano, <a href="#Page_336">336</a><br />
+<br />
+Moore, Sir John, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a><br />
+<br />
+Moreau, <a href="#Page_xiii">xiii</a>, <a href="#Page_xiv">xiv</a>, <a href="#Page_xvii">xvii</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a><br />
+<br />
+Morlantier, <a href="#Page_334">334</a><br />
+<br />
+Mortier (Life, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>-<a href="#Page_285">285</a>), <a href="#Page_xii">xii</a>, <a href="#Page_xiii">xiii</a>, <a href="#Page_xiv">xiv</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a><br />
+<br />
+Moscow, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a><br />
+<br />
+Moses, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br />
+<br />
+Moskowa, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a><br />
+<br />
+Mosskirch, <a href="#Page_237">237</a><br />
+<br />
+Moulins, <a href="#Page_201">201</a><br />
+<br />
+Mount Albis, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a><br />
+<br />
+Mount Faron, <a href="#Page_297">297</a><br />
+<br />
+Munich, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a><br />
+<br />
+Murat (Life, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>-<a href="#Page_48">48</a>), <a href="#Page_xii">xii</a>, <a href="#Page_xiii">xiii</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a><br />
+<br />
+Murillo, <a href="#Page_105">105</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+N<br />
+<br />
+Naarden, <a href="#Page_185">185</a><br />
+<br />
+Namur, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a><br />
+<br />
+Nansouty, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a><br />
+<br />
+Napier, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a><br />
+<br />
+Naples, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a><br />
+<br />
+Naples, King of, <a href="#Page_29">29</a><br />
+<br />
+Napoleon II., <a href="#Page_314">314</a><br />
+<br />
+Nassau-Siegen, <a href="#Page_245">245</a><br />
+<br />
+Naumberg, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a><br />
+<br />
+Neckerau, <a href="#Page_335">335</a><br />
+<br />
+Neerwinden, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a><br />
+<br />
+Neuchâtel, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a><br />
+<br />
+Neumarkt, <a href="#Page_220">220</a><br />
+<br />
+Neusiedel, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a><br />
+<br />
+Neuweid, <a href="#Page_324">324</a><br />
+<br />
+Ney (Life, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>-<a href="#Page_161">161</a>), <a href="#Page_xii">xii</a>, <a href="#Page_xiii">xiii</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a><br />
+<br />
+Nice, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a><br />
+<br />
+Nicole Pierre, <a href="#Page_268">268</a><br />
+<br />
+Niemen, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a><br />
+<br />
+Nile, <a href="#Page_26">26</a><br />
+<br />
+Normandy, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a><br />
+<br />
+Norway, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br />
+<br />
+Nôtre Dame, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a><br />
+<br />
+Novara, <a href="#Page_307">307</a><br />
+<br />
+Novi, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[369]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>
+Nowawies, <a href="#Page_310">310</a><br />
+<br />
+Nugent, <a href="#Page_214">214</a><br />
+<br />
+Nuremburg, <a href="#Page_31">31</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+O<br />
+<br />
+Ocaña, <a href="#Page_116">116</a><br />
+<br />
+Oder, <a href="#Page_130">130</a><br />
+<br />
+O'Hara, <a href="#Page_219">219</a><br />
+<br />
+Ogilvie, <a href="#Page_183">183</a><br />
+<br />
+O'Meara, <a href="#Page_228">228</a><br />
+<br />
+Omet, <a href="#Page_117">117</a><br />
+<br />
+Oporto, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a><br />
+<br />
+Orcha, <a href="#Page_152">152</a><br />
+<br />
+Orangerie, <a href="#Page_27">27</a><br />
+<br />
+Order of St. Louis, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a><br />
+<br />
+Orient, <a href="#Page_122">122</a><br />
+<br />
+Orleanist, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a><br />
+<br />
+Orleans, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a><br />
+<br />
+Orleans, Duke of, <a href="#Page_156">156</a><br />
+<br />
+Orthes, <a href="#Page_109">109</a><br />
+<br />
+Oscar, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br />
+<br />
+Ostrach, <a href="#Page_324">324</a><br />
+<br />
+Ostralenka, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a><br />
+<br />
+Ott, <a href="#Page_336">336</a><br />
+<br />
+Oudinot (Life, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>-<a href="#Page_343">343</a>), <a href="#Page_xiv">xiv</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+P<br />
+<br />
+Padua, <a href="#Page_55">55</a><br />
+<br />
+Pajol, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a><br />
+<br />
+Palafox, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a><br />
+<br />
+Palestine, <a href="#Page_27">27</a><br />
+<br />
+Papal States, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a><br />
+<br />
+Pampeluna, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a><br />
+<br />
+Panthéon, <a href="#Page_175">175</a><br />
+<br />
+Parma, <a href="#Page_348">348</a><br />
+<br />
+Passau, <a href="#Page_31">31</a><br />
+<br />
+Pau, <a href="#Page_72">72</a><br />
+<br />
+Paulet, <a href="#Page_183">183</a><br />
+<br />
+Pauline Bonaparte, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br />
+<br />
+Pavia, <a href="#Page_206">206</a><br />
+<br />
+Penn, William, <a href="#Page_114">114</a><br />
+<br />
+Pérignon, de (Life, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>-<a href="#Page_348">348</a>), <a href="#Page_xii">xii</a>, <a href="#Page_xiii">xiii</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a><br />
+<br />
+Perpignan, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a><br />
+<br />
+Perrégaux, <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br />
+<br />
+Peschiera, <a href="#Page_298">298</a><br />
+<br />
+Piacenza, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a><br />
+<br />
+Picardy, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a><br />
+<br />
+Pichegru, <a href="#Page_xiii">xiii</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a><br />
+<br />
+Piedmont, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a><br />
+<br />
+Piedmontese, <a href="#Page_228">228</a><br />
+<br />
+Pirna, <a href="#Page_242">242</a><br />
+<br />
+Pizzo, <a href="#Page_46">46</a><br />
+<br />
+Plailly, <a href="#Page_28">28</a><br />
+<br />
+Po, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a><br />
+<br />
+Poitou, <a href="#Page_268">268</a><br />
+<br />
+Poland, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a><br />
+<br />
+Polignac, <a href="#Page_215">215</a><br />
+<br />
+Polotsk, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a><br />
+<br />
+Pomerania, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br />
+<br />
+Poniatowski (Life, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>-<a href="#Page_358">358</a>), <a href="#Page_xiv">xiv</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a><br />
+<br />
+Pope, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a><br />
+<br />
+Porte, <a href="#Page_274">274</a><br />
+<br />
+Portugal, King of, <a href="#Page_36">36</a><br />
+<br />
+Posen, <a href="#Page_310">310</a><br />
+<br />
+Potsdam, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a><br />
+<br />
+Praetorians, <a href="#Page_294">294</a><br />
+<br />
+Pratzen, <a href="#Page_128">128</a><br />
+<br />
+Prayssac, <a href="#Page_286">286</a><br />
+<br />
+Pressburg, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a><br />
+<br />
+Prince of Orange, <a href="#Page_272">272</a><br />
+<br />
+Prince of Peace, <a href="#Page_36">36</a><br />
+<br />
+Prince Regent of Portugal, <a href="#Page_126">126</a><br />
+<br />
+Prinzlow, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a><br />
+<br />
+Provence, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a><br />
+<br />
+Provera, <a href="#Page_298">298</a><br />
+<br />
+Provisional Government, <a href="#Page_314">314</a><br />
+<br />
+Prussia, King of, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a><br />
+<br />
+Pultusk, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a><br />
+<br />
+Pyramids, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a><br />
+<br />
+Pyrenees, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[370]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<p>
+Q<br />
+<br />
+Quadruple Alliance, <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br />
+<br />
+Quatre Bras, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a><br />
+<br />
+Quercy, <a href="#Page_23">23</a><br />
+<br />
+Quiévrain, <a href="#Page_278">278</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+R<br />
+<br />
+Ragusa, <a href="#Page_209">209</a><br />
+<br />
+Rapp, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a><br />
+<br />
+Ratisbon, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a><br />
+<br />
+Ratte Eig, <a href="#Page_95">95</a><br />
+<br />
+Razyn, <a href="#Page_356">356</a><br />
+<br />
+Regnier, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a><br />
+<br />
+Reille, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a><br />
+<br />
+Rennes, <a href="#Page_78">78</a><br />
+<br />
+Risorgimento, <a href="#Page_44">44</a><br />
+<br />
+Restoration, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a><br />
+<br />
+Revolution, French, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a><br />
+<br />
+Rewbell, <a href="#Page_234">234</a><br />
+<br />
+Rhine, <a href="#Page_xvi">xvi</a>, <a href="#Page_xvii">xvii</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a><br />
+<br />
+Rhône, <a href="#Page_68">68</a><br />
+<br />
+Richard C&oelig;ur de Lion, <a href="#Page_280">280</a><br />
+<br />
+Richelieu, <a href="#Page_200">200</a><br />
+<br />
+Richepanse, <a href="#Page_xiii">xiii</a><br />
+<br />
+Rights of Man, <a href="#Page_73">73</a><br />
+<br />
+Rio Tinto, <a href="#Page_106">106</a><br />
+<br />
+Rivoli, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a><br />
+<br />
+Robespierre, <a href="#Page_2">2</a><br />
+<br />
+Rochambeau, <a href="#Page_2">2</a><br />
+<br />
+Rochfort, <a href="#Page_180">180</a><br />
+<br />
+Roederer, <a href="#Page_xii">xii</a><br />
+<br />
+Rohan, <a href="#Page_238">238</a><br />
+<br />
+Roland, <a href="#Page_139">139</a><br />
+<br />
+Rolland, <a href="#Page_270">270</a><br />
+<br />
+Rome, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a><br />
+<br />
+Romana, <a href="#Page_149">149</a><br />
+<br />
+Roman Republic, <a href="#Page_234">234</a><br />
+<br />
+Roncesvalles, <a href="#Page_246">246</a><br />
+<br />
+Ros, Lord, <a href="#Page_70">70</a><br />
+<br />
+Rosas, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a><br />
+<br />
+Roveredo, <a href="#Page_53">53</a><br />
+<br />
+Royal Champagne Regiment, <a href="#Page_162">162</a><br />
+<br />
+Royal Italian Regiment, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br />
+<br />
+Royal Military School, <a href="#Page_162">162</a><br />
+<br />
+Royal Marine Regiment, <a href="#Page_73">73</a><br />
+<br />
+Rouffach, <a href="#Page_322">322</a><br />
+<br />
+Rue Royal, <a href="#Page_285">285</a><br />
+<br />
+Rueil, <a href="#Page_63">63</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+S<br />
+<br />
+Saale, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a><br />
+<br />
+Saalfeld, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br />
+<br />
+Sablous, <a href="#Page_25">25</a><br />
+<br />
+Sacile, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a><br />
+<br />
+Sacred Bands, <a href="#Page_310">310</a><br />
+<br />
+Sagunto, <a href="#Page_226">226</a><br />
+<br />
+Sahagun, <a href="#Page_100">100</a><br />
+<br />
+Saint Cloud, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a><br />
+<br />
+Saint Michel, College of, <a href="#Page_23">23</a><br />
+<br />
+Saintes Georges, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a><br />
+<br />
+Salamanca, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a><br />
+<br />
+Salicetti, <a href="#Page_38">38</a><br />
+<br />
+Salisbury, Lady, <a href="#Page_113">113</a><br />
+<br />
+Sancerre, <a href="#Page_183">183</a><br />
+<br />
+San Domingo, <a href="#Page_9">9</a><br />
+<br />
+San Felipe, <a href="#Page_226">226</a><br />
+<br />
+San Marco, <a href="#Page_298">298</a><br />
+<br />
+Santarem, <a href="#Page_66">66</a><br />
+<br />
+Santiago, <a href="#Page_301">301</a><br />
+<br />
+Santo Paolo, <a href="#Page_40">40</a><br />
+<br />
+Santo Stefano, <a href="#Page_40">40</a><br />
+<br />
+Saragossa, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a><br />
+<br />
+Sardinia, <a href="#Page_276">276</a><br />
+<br />
+Sardinia, King of, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a><br />
+<br />
+Sardinians, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a><br />
+<br />
+Sardou, <a href="#Page_322">322</a><br />
+<br />
+Sarrelouis, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a><br />
+<br />
+Savigny-sur-Orge, <a href="#Page_165">165</a><br />
+<br />
+Savoy, <a href="#Page_228">228</a><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[371]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>
+Saxe, Marshal, <a href="#Page_114">114</a><br />
+<br />
+Saxons, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a><br />
+<br />
+Saxony, <a href="#Page_280">280</a><br />
+<br />
+Schérer, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a><br />
+<br />
+Schwartzenberg, <a href="#Page_266">266</a><br />
+<br />
+Scots College, <a href="#Page_183">183</a><br />
+<br />
+Sébastiani, <a href="#Page_33">33</a><br />
+<br />
+Sedan, <a href="#Page_183">183</a><br />
+<br />
+Ségur, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a><br />
+<br />
+Seine, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a><br />
+<br />
+Serre, <a href="#Page_345">345</a><br />
+<br />
+Serurier (Life, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>-<a href="#Page_353">353</a>), <a href="#Page_xii">xii</a>, <a href="#Page_xiii">xiii</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a><br />
+<br />
+Servan, <a href="#Page_318">318</a><br />
+<br />
+Seven Years' War, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a><br />
+<br />
+Seville, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a><br />
+<br />
+Sézanne, <a href="#Page_214">214</a><br />
+<br />
+Sicily, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a><br />
+<br />
+Sievers, <a href="#Page_132">132</a><br />
+<br />
+Sièyes, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a><br />
+<br />
+Silesia, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a><br />
+<br />
+Simplon Pass, <a href="#Page_42">42</a><br />
+<br />
+Smolensk, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a><br />
+<br />
+Somosierra, <a href="#Page_301">301</a><br />
+<br />
+Sorauren, <a href="#Page_109">109</a><br />
+<br />
+Soult (Life, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>-<a href="#Page_116">116</a>), <a href="#Page_xii">xii</a>, <a href="#Page_xiii">xiii</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a><br />
+<br />
+Spartans, <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br />
+<br />
+Splügen Pass, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a><br />
+<br />
+St. Andrew, Order of, <a href="#Page_132">132</a><br />
+<br />
+St. Agnes, <a href="#Page_234">234</a><br />
+<br />
+St. Amand, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a><br />
+<br />
+St. Bernard Pass, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a><br />
+<br />
+St. Catherine's Fort, <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br />
+<br />
+St. Cyr (Life, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>-<a href="#Page_244">244</a>), <a href="#Page_xiii">xiii</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a><br />
+<br />
+St. Dizier, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a><br />
+<br />
+St. Germain, <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a><br />
+<br />
+St. Gothard Pass, <a href="#Page_56">56</a><br />
+<br />
+St. Helena, Napoleon's conversations at, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a><br />
+<br />
+St. Jean d'Acre, <a href="#Page_128">128</a><br />
+<br />
+St. Jean Pied de Porte, <a href="#Page_246">246</a><br />
+<br />
+St. Joseph, Château, <a href="#Page_228">228</a><br />
+<br />
+St. Menehould, <a href="#Page_318">318</a><br />
+<br />
+St. Omer, <a href="#Page_3">3</a><br />
+<br />
+St. Petersburg, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a><br />
+<br />
+St. Sebastian, <a href="#Page_36">36</a><br />
+<br />
+Staël, <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br />
+<br />
+Stanislaus, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a><br />
+<br />
+Stein, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a><br />
+<br />
+Stettin, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a><br />
+<br />
+Stockach, <a href="#Page_55">55</a><br />
+<br />
+Stockholm, <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+<br />
+Storthing, <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br />
+<br />
+Stradella, <a href="#Page_123">123</a><br />
+<br />
+Stralsund, <a href="#Page_275">275</a><br />
+<br />
+Strassburg, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a><br />
+<br />
+Styria, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a><br />
+<br />
+Suchet (Life, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>-<a href="#Page_230">230</a>), <a href="#Page_xiv">xiv</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a><br />
+<br />
+Sully, <a href="#Page_92">92</a><br />
+<br />
+Sultan, <a href="#Page_208">208</a><br />
+<br />
+Suvaroff, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a><br />
+<br />
+Sweden, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a><br />
+<br />
+Switzerland, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a><br />
+<br />
+Syria, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+T<br />
+<br />
+Tagus, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a><br />
+<br />
+Talavera, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a><br />
+<br />
+Talleyrand, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a><br />
+<br />
+Tarragona, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a><br />
+<br />
+Targowitz, <a href="#Page_355">355</a><br />
+<br />
+Temple, The, <a href="#Page_284">284</a><br />
+<br />
+Terror, The, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a><br />
+<br />
+Thermopylæ, <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br />
+<br />
+Thielmann, <a href="#Page_314">314</a><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[372]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>
+Thionville, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a><br />
+<br />
+Thirty Years' War, <a href="#Page_111">111</a><br />
+<br />
+Tolosa, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a><br />
+<br />
+Tondu de caporal, <a href="#Page_329">329</a><br />
+<br />
+Torres Vedras, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a><br />
+<br />
+Tortosa, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a><br />
+<br />
+Toul, <a href="#Page_231">231</a><br />
+<br />
+Toulon, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a><br />
+<br />
+Toulouse, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a><br />
+<br />
+Trachenberg, <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br />
+<br />
+Tras os Montes, <a href="#Page_103">103</a><br />
+<br />
+Treaty of Åbö, <a href="#Page_81">81</a><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Amiens, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Basle, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Campo Formio, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Foligno, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lunéville, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Pressburg, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tilsit, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Vienna, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Trebbia, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a><br />
+<br />
+Trent, <a href="#Page_247">247</a><br />
+<br />
+Treviso, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a><br />
+<br />
+Trieste, <a href="#Page_189">189</a><br />
+<br />
+Trouvé, <a href="#Page_272">272</a><br />
+<br />
+Troyes, <a href="#Page_283">283</a><br />
+<br />
+Tudela, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a><br />
+<br />
+Tuileries, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a><br />
+<br />
+Turenne, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a><br />
+<br />
+Turin, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a><br />
+<br />
+Turks, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_354">354</a><br />
+<br />
+Turreau, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a><br />
+<br />
+Tuscany, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a><br />
+<br />
+Tyrol, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+U<br />
+<br />
+Uist, <a href="#Page_183">183</a><br />
+<br />
+Ulces, <a href="#Page_301">301</a><br />
+<br />
+Ulm, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a><br />
+<br />
+United States, <a href="#Page_79">79</a><br />
+<br />
+Upper Vienne, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+V<br />
+<br />
+Vaal, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a><br />
+<br />
+Valentia, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a><br />
+<br />
+Valladolid, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a><br />
+<br />
+Valmy, <a href="#Page_xvi">xvi</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a><br />
+<br />
+Valtelline, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a><br />
+<br />
+Vandamme, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a><br />
+<br />
+Var, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a><br />
+<br />
+Varennes, <a href="#Page_286">286</a><br />
+<br />
+Vasa, <a href="#Page_72">72</a><br />
+<br />
+Vatican, <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br />
+<br />
+Velasquez, <a href="#Page_105">105</a><br />
+<br />
+Vendémiaire, <a href="#Page_25">25</a><br />
+<br />
+Vendeen, <a href="#Page_306">306</a><br />
+<br />
+Venice, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a><br />
+<br />
+Verderio, <a href="#Page_290">290</a><br />
+<br />
+Verdier, <a href="#Page_240">240</a><br />
+<br />
+Victor (Life, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>-<a href="#Page_304">304</a>), <a href="#Page_xiii">xiii</a>, <a href="#Page_xiv">xiv</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a><br />
+<br />
+Victoria, Queen, <a href="#Page_113">113</a><br />
+<br />
+Vienna, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a><br />
+<br />
+Vierzehn Heiligen, <a href="#Page_129">129</a><br />
+<br />
+Villa Mayor, <a href="#Page_135">135</a><br />
+<br />
+Villars, Marshal, <a href="#Page_114">114</a><br />
+<br />
+Villèle, <a href="#Page_303">303</a><br />
+<br />
+Villelongue, <a href="#Page_119">119</a><br />
+<br />
+Villeneuve l'Étang, <a href="#Page_110">110</a><br />
+<br />
+Vilna, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a><br />
+<br />
+Vimiero, <a href="#Page_290">290</a><br />
+<br />
+Vincennes, <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br />
+<br />
+Visconti, Madame, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a><br />
+<br />
+Vistula, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a><br />
+<br />
+Vittoria, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a><br />
+<br />
+Vosges, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[373]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<p>
+W<br />
+<br />
+Wagram, <a href="#Page_xiv">xiv</a>, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a><br />
+<br />
+Walcheren, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a><br />
+<br />
+Walmoden, <a href="#Page_280">280</a><br />
+<br />
+Warsaw, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a><br />
+<br />
+Warsaw, Grand Duchy of, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a><br />
+<br />
+Wartburg, <a href="#Page_349">349</a><br />
+<br />
+Washington, <a href="#Page_114">114</a><br />
+<br />
+Waterloo, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a><br />
+<br />
+Wavre, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a><br />
+<br />
+Weissenburg, <a href="#Page_94">94</a><br />
+<br />
+Wellington, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a><br />
+<br />
+Wesel, <a href="#Page_34">34</a><br />
+<br />
+White Terror, <a href="#Page_277">277</a><br />
+<br />
+William, Duke of Bavaria, <a href="#Page_13">13</a><br />
+<br />
+William the Conqueror, <a href="#Page_305">305</a><br />
+<br />
+Wisent, <a href="#Page_279">279</a><br />
+<br />
+Wittgenstein, <a href="#Page_241">241</a><br />
+<br />
+Würmser, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a><br />
+<br />
+Würzburg, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Y<br />
+<br />
+Yonne, <a href="#Page_163">163</a><br />
+<br />
+York, Duke of, <a href="#Page_272">272</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Z<br />
+<br />
+Znaim, <a href="#Page_63">63</a><br />
+<br />
+Zurich, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a><br />
+<br />
+Zype, <a href="#Page_273">273</a><br />
+</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[374]</a></span></p>
+<div class='center'>
+The Gresham Press,<br />
+UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED,<br />
+WOKING AND LONDON.
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div class='tnote'><h3>Transcriber's Notes:</h3>
+<p>Obvious punctuation errors repaired.</p>
+
+<p>High-resolution images of the photos can be accessed by clicking on them.</p>
+
+<p>
+Hyphens added:<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ill[-]will (pages 4, 214)</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">coup[-]de[-]grace (pages 34, 309)</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">master[-]stroke (page 76)</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">rear[-]guard (page 94)</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">counter[-]stroke (page 108)</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">far[-]seeing (page 186)</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">re[-]armament (page 216)</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">bed[-]fellow (page 233)</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">kind[-]hearted (page 287)</span><br />
+<br />
+Diacritics added:<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jacques Étienne (page xix)</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Rhône (page 68)</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ménage (page 141)</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Panthéon (page 175)</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lunéville (page 184)</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">AUGUSTE FRÉDÉRIC (page 200)</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Pierre Étroite (page 349)</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Castaños (page 361)</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Donnauwörth (page 363)</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ocaña&nbsp; (page 369)</span><br />
+<br />
+Diacritics removed:<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Luckner (page 318)</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Desaix (page 363)</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Page viii: "EMANUEL DE GROUCHY" changed to "EMMANUEL DE GROUCHY".</p>
+
+<p>Page xix: The full name of Marshall Victor appears in different sources
+as Claude-Victor Perrin and Claude Victor-Perrin. His entry in this
+table is strange but has not been changed.</p>
+
+<p>Page 118: "dulness" changed to "dullness" (dullness of the dyer's
+trade).</p>
+
+<p>Page 157: "D'Erlon's" changed to "d'Erlon's" (d'Erlon's corps).</p>
+
+<p>Page 157: "Quartre" changed to "Quatre" (thirty thousand men now held
+Quatre Bras).</p>
+
+<p>Page 162: "from" added (was dismissed from the service).</p>
+
+<p>Page 300: "Lousiania" changed to "Louisiana" (Captain-General of
+Louisiana).</p>
+
+<p>Page 311: "was" changed to "were" (were not cordial).</p>
+
+<p>Page 360: Reference to non-existent page "387" for "Austerlitz" removed.</p>
+
+<p>Page 368: Reference to non-existent page "xxiii" for "Moncey" removed.</p>
+
+<p>Page 372: "Vendémaire" changed to "Vendémiaire".</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Napoleon's Marshals, by R. P. Dunn-Pattison
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NAPOLEON'S MARSHALS ***
+
+***** This file should be named 34400-h.htm or 34400-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/4/0/34400/
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Moti Ben-Ari and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+
+</pre>
+
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp004-hi.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp004-hi.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4c35a0e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp004-hi.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp004.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp004.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6672586
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp004.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp024-hi.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp024-hi.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..86f544c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp024-hi.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp024.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp024.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1e56f02
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp024.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp051-hi.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp051-hi.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b59f9a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp051-hi.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp051.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp051.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..20ebcf6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp051.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp074-hi.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp074-hi.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a90bc48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp074-hi.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp074.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp074.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c82f63b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp074.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp096-hi.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp096-hi.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1f60750
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp096-hi.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp096.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp096.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5d1d8f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp096.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp120-hi.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp120-hi.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..185a65a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp120-hi.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp120.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp120.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2ae763c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp120.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp142-hi.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp142-hi.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e60cd69
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp142-hi.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp142.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp142.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2213b40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp142.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp167-hi.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp167-hi.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e7b648e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp167-hi.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp167.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp167.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bb0460f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp167.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp184-hi.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp184-hi.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b677e60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp184-hi.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp184.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp184.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bc7c1b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp184.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp202-hi.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp202-hi.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..de6adfc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp202-hi.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp202.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp202.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b4264b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp202.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp220-hi.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp220-hi.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..30f37a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp220-hi.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp220.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp220.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..505ebff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp220.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp233-hi.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp233-hi.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e91c8f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp233-hi.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp233.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp233.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ef21db5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp233.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp252-hi.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp252-hi.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..816871c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp252-hi.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp252.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp252.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..87e4fae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp252.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp260-hi.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp260-hi.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9f986fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp260-hi.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp260.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp260.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..36ee638
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp260.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp268-hi.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp268-hi.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..399cda0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp268-hi.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp268.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp268.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..02b126d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp268.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp280-hi.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp280-hi.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b1a3101
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp280-hi.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp280.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp280.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1e37199
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp280.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp306-hi.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp306-hi.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..693e5c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp306-hi.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp306.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp306.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..061ec6b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp306.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp318-hi.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp318-hi.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1a7db4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp318-hi.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp318.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp318.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..94f382c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp318.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp332-hi.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp332-hi.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3a48d29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp332-hi.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/fp332.jpg b/34400-h/images/fp332.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..86eb3a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/fp332.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/frontpiece-hi.jpg b/34400-h/images/frontpiece-hi.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7bd6bfe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/frontpiece-hi.jpg
diff --git a/34400-h/images/frontpiece.jpg b/34400-h/images/frontpiece.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7740ae2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400-h/images/frontpiece.jpg
diff --git a/34400.txt b/34400.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1f00683
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,13513 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Napoleon's Marshals, by R. P. Dunn-Pattison
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Napoleon's Marshals
+
+Author: R. P. Dunn-Pattison
+
+Release Date: November 23, 2010 [EBook #34400]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NAPOLEON'S MARSHALS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Moti Ben-Ari and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+NAPOLEON'S MARSHALS
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: MARSHAL NEY COVERING THE RETREAT
+FROM THE PAINTING BY YVON AT VERSAILLES]
+
+
+
+
+NAPOLEON'S
+MARSHALS
+
+BY
+
+R. P. DUNN-PATTISON, M.A.
+
+LATE LIEUTENANT ARGYLL AND SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERS, AND
+SOMETIME LECTURER AT MAGDALEN COLLEGE, OXFORD
+
+WITH TWENTY ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+METHUEN & CO.
+36 ESSEX STREET W.C.
+LONDON
+
+
+
+
+First Published in 1909
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                          PAGE
+
+INTRODUCTION                                                ix
+
+SYNOPSIS OF THE MARSHALS                                 xviii
+
+      I. LOUIS ALEXANDRE BERTHIER, MARSHAL, PRINCE OF
+           WAGRAM, SOVEREIGN PRINCE OF NEUCHATEL AND
+           VALANGIN                                          1
+
+     II. JOACHIM MURAT, MARSHAL, KING OF NAPLES             23
+
+    III. ANDRE MASSENA, MARSHAL, DUKE OF RIVOLI, PRINCE
+           OF ESSLING                                       49
+
+     IV. JEAN BAPTISTE JULES BERNADOTTE, MARSHAL, PRINCE
+           OF PONTE CORVO, KING OF SWEDEN                   72
+
+      V. JEAN DE DIEU NICOLAS SOULT, MARSHAL, DUKE OF
+           DALMATIA                                         93
+
+     VI. JEAN LANNES, MARSHAL, DUKE OF MONTEBELLO          117
+
+    VII. MICHEL NEY, MARSHAL, DUKE OF ELCHINGEN, PRINCE
+           OF MOSKOWA                                      141
+
+   VIII. LOUIS NICOLAS DAVOUT, MARSHAL, DUKE OF AUERSTAeDT,
+           PRINCE OF ECKMUeHL                               162
+
+     IX. JACQUES ETIENNE JOSEPH ALEXANDRE MACDONALD,
+           MARSHAL, DUKE OF TARENTUM                       183
+
+      X. AUGUSTE FREDERIC LOUIS VIESSE DE MARMONT,
+           MARSHAL, DUKE OF RAGUSA                         200
+
+     XI. LOUIS GABRIEL SUCHET, MARSHAL, DUKE OF ALBUFERA   219
+
+    XII. LAURENT GOUVION ST. CYR, MARSHAL                  231
+
+   XIII. BON ADRIEN JEANNOT DE MONCEY, MARSHAL, DUKE
+           OF CONEGLIANO                                   245
+
+    XIV. JEAN BAPTISTE JOURDAN, MARSHAL                    251
+
+     XV. CHARLES PIERRE FRANCOIS AUGEREAU, MARSHAL, DUKE
+           OF CASTIGLIONE                                  259
+
+    XVI. GUILLAUME MARIE ANNE BRUNE, MARSHAL               268
+
+   XVII. ADOLPHE EDOUARD CASIMIR JOSEPH MORTIER, MARSHAL,
+           DUKE OF TREVISO                                 278
+
+  XVIII. JEAN BAPTISTE BESSIERES, MARSHAL, DUKE OF ISTRIA  286
+
+    XIX. CLAUDE VICTOR PERRIN, MARSHAL, DUKE OF BELLUNO    296
+
+     XX. EMMANUEL DE GROUCHY, MARSHAL                      305
+
+    XXI. FRANCOIS CHRISTOPHE KELLERMANN, MARSHAL, DUKE
+           OF VALMY                                        316
+
+   XXII. FRANCOIS JOSEPH LEFEBVRE, MARSHAL, DUKE OF
+           DANTZIG                                         322
+
+  XXIII. NICOLAS CHARLES OUDINOT, MARSHAL, DUKE OF
+           REGGIO                                          333
+
+   XXIV. DOMINIQUE CATHERINE DE PERIGNON, MARSHAL          344
+
+    XXV. JEAN MATHIEU PHILIBERT SERURIER, MARSHAL          349
+
+   XXVI. PRINCE JOSEPH PONIATOWSKI, MARSHAL                354
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+MARSHAL NEY COVERING THE RETREAT                        _Frontispiece_
+    (From the painting by Yvon at Versailles. Photo Neurdein)
+
+                                                           FACING PAGE
+
+ALEXANDRE BERTHIER, PRINCE OF WAGRAM                                 4
+    (From an engraving after the painting by Pajou _fils_)
+
+JOACHIM MURAT, AFTERWARDS KING OF NAPLES                            24
+    (From the painting by Gerard at Versailles. Photo Neurdein)
+
+ANDRE MASSENA, PRINCE OF ESSLING                                    51
+
+JEAN BAPTISTE BERNADOTTE, KING OF SWEDEN                            74
+    (From an engraving after the painting by Hilaire le Dru)
+
+JEAN DE DIEU SOULT, DUKE OF DALMATIA                                96
+    (From a lithograph by Delpech after the painting by Rouillard)
+
+JEAN LANNES, DUKE OF MONTEBELLO                                    120
+    (From an engraving by Amedee Maulet)
+
+MICHEL NEY, PRINCE OF MOSKOWA                                      142
+    (From an engraving after the painting by F. Gerard)
+
+LOUIS NICOLAS DAVOUT, PRINCE OF ECKMUeHL                            167
+    (From an engraving after the painting by Gautherot)
+
+JACQUES ETIENNE MACDONALD, DUKE OF TARENTUM                        184
+    (From a lithograph by Delpech)
+
+AUGUSTE DE MARMONT, DUKE OF RAGUSA                                 202
+    (From an engraving after the painting by Muneret)
+
+LOUIS GABRIEL SUCHET, DUKE OF ALBUFERA                             220
+     (From an engraving by Pollet)
+
+GOUVION ST. CYR, COUNT                                             233
+    (From an engraving after the painting by J. Guerin)
+
+JEAN BAPTISTE JOURDAN                                              252
+    (After a drawing by Ambroise Tardieu)
+
+CHARLES PIERRE AUGEREAU, DUKE OF CASTIGLIONE                       260
+    (From an engraving by Ruotte)
+
+BRUNE                                                              268
+    (From an engraving after the painting by F. J. Harriet)
+
+ADOLPHE EDOUARD MORTIER, DUKE OF TREVISO                           280
+    (From an engraving after the painting by Lariviere)
+
+EMMANUEL DE GROUCHY, MARQUIS                                        306
+    (From an engraving after the painting by Rouillard)
+
+FRANCOIS CHRISTOPHE KELLERMANN, DUKE OF VALMY                      318
+    (From an engraving after the painting by Ansiaux)
+
+NICOLAS CHARLES OUDINOT, DUKE OF REGGIO                            332
+    (From an engraving after the painting by Robert le Fevre)
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+It is a melancholy but instructive fact to remember that, in the opinion
+of him whom nature had adorned with the greatest intellect that the
+world has yet seen, selfishness and self-interest lie at the root of all
+human action. "For," as Napoleon said, "in ambition is to be found the
+chief motive force of humanity, and a man puts forth his best powers in
+proportion to his hopes of advancement." It was on this cynical
+hypothesis therefore, with a complete disregard of those higher
+aspirations of self-sacrifice and self-control which raise man above the
+mere brute, that the Corsican adventurer waded through seas of blood to
+the throne of France, and then attempted, by the destruction of a
+million human beings, to bind on his brow the imperial crown of Western
+Europe. In spite of loud-sounding phrases and constitutional
+sleight-of-hand, none knew better than Napoleon that by the sword alone
+he had won his empire and by the sword alone he could keep it. Keen
+student of history, it was not in vain that again and again he had read
+and re-read the works of Caesar, and pondered on the achievements of
+Charlemagne and the career of Cromwell. The problem he had to solve was,
+how to conceal from his lieutenants that his dynasty rested purely on
+their swords, to bind their honours so closely to his own fortune that
+they should ever be loyal; so to distribute his favours that his
+servants should never become so great as to threaten his own position.
+It was with this object in view that at the time he seized for himself
+the imperial crown he re-established the old role of Marshal of France,
+frankly confessing to Roederer that his reason for showering rewards on
+his lieutenants was to assure to himself his own dignity, since they
+could not object to it when they found themselves the recipients of such
+lofty titles. But, with the cunning of the serpent, while he gave with
+one hand he took away with the other. He fixed the number of Marshals at
+sixteen on the active list and added four others for those too old for
+active service. Hence he had it in his power to reward twenty hungry
+aspirants, while he robbed the individuals of their glory, since each
+Marshal shared his dignity with nineteen others. Plainly also he told
+them that, lofty though their rank might appear to others, to him they
+were still mere servants, created by him and dependent for their
+position on him alone. "Recollect," he said, "that you are soldiers only
+when with the army. The title of Marshal is merely a civil distinction
+which gives you the honourable rank at my court which is your due, but
+it carries with it no authority. On the battlefield you are generals, at
+court you are nobles, belonging to the State by the civil position I
+created for you when I bestowed your titles on you." It was on May 19,
+1804, that the _Gazette_ appeared with the first creation of Marshals.
+There were fourteen on the active list and four honorary Marshals in the
+Senate. Two batons were withheld as a reward for future service. The
+original fourteen were Berthier, Murat, Moncey, Jourdan, Massena,
+Augereau, Bernadotte, Soult, Brune, Lannes, Mortier, Ney, Davout and
+Bessieres; while on the retired list were Kellermann, Lefebvre,
+Perignon, and Serurier. The list caused much surprise and
+dissatisfaction. On the one hand there were those like Massena who
+received their congratulations with a grunt and "Yes, one of fourteen."
+On the other hand were those like Macdonald, Marmont, Victor, and many
+another, who thought they ought to have been included. An examination of
+the names soon explains how the choice was made. Except Jourdan, who was
+too great a soldier to be passed over, all those who could not forget
+their Republican principles were excluded. Massena received his baton as
+the greatest soldier of France. Berthier, Murat, and Lannes had won
+theirs by their talents, as much as by their personal devotion. Soult,
+Ney, Davout, and Mortier were Napoleon's choice from among the coming
+men, who in the camps of the Army of the Ocean were fast justifying
+their selection. Bessieres was included because he would never win it at
+any later date, but his doglike devotion made him a priceless
+subordinate. Augereau and Bernadotte received their batons to keep them
+quiet. The names of Moncey, Brune, Kellermann, Perignon, and Serurier
+were intimately connected with glorious feats of the republican armies,
+and so, though only fortunate mediocrities, they were included in the
+first creation, while Lefebvre, the republican of republicans, now under
+the glamour of Napoleon's power, was placed on the list as a
+stalking-horse of the extreme members of his party. At the time of the
+first creation, of the great soldiers of the Republic, Moreau was
+branded as a traitor; Hoche, Marceau, Kleber, Desaix, and Pichegru were
+dead; Carnot, the organiser of victory, was a voluntary exile; while
+staunch blades like Leclerc, Richepanse, Lecourbe, Macdonald, Victor,
+St. Cyr, and Suchet were all more or less in disgrace. By the end of the
+Empire, death and the necessity of rewarding merit added to the list of
+Marshals until in all twenty-six batons were granted by the Emperor. In
+1808 Victor was restored to favour and received his baton. After Wagram,
+Macdonald, Oudinot, and Marmont received the prize, while the Spanish
+War brought it to Suchet, and the Russian campaign to St. Cyr. In 1813
+the Polish prince, Poniatowski, was sent his truncheon on the field of
+Leipzig, while last of all, in 1815, Grouchy was promoted to one of the
+vacancies caused by the refusal of many of the Marshals to cast off
+their allegiance to the Bourbons.
+
+It was a popular saying in the Napoleonic army that every private
+soldier carried in his knapsack a Marshal's baton, and the early history
+of many of these Marshals bears out this saying. But while the
+Revolution carried away all the barriers and opened the highest ranks to
+talent, be it never so humble in its origin, the history of the Marshals
+proves that heaven-born soldiers are scarce, and that the art of war,
+save in the case of one out of a million, can only be acquired by years
+of patient work in a subordinate position. Of the generals of the
+revolutionary armies only four, Moreau, Mortier, Suchet, and Brune, had
+no previous military training, and of these four, Moreau and Suchet
+alone had claim to greatness. The rough unlettered generals of the early
+years of the war soon proved that they could never rise above the
+science of the drill-sergeant. Once discipline and organisation were
+restored there was no room for a general like the gallant Macard, who,
+when about to charge, used to call out, "Look here, I am going to dress
+like a beast," and thereon divest himself of everything save his leather
+breeches and boots, and then, like some great hairy baboon, with strange
+oaths and yells lead his horsemen against the enemy. A higher type was
+required than this Macard, who could not understand that because an
+officer could sketch mountains he could not necessarily measure a man
+for a pair of boots.
+
+Of the twenty-six Marshals, nine had held commissions ranging from
+lieutenant-general to lieutenant in the old royal army, one was a Polish
+Prince, an ex-Austrian officer, while one had passed the artillery
+college but had refused to accept a commission; eleven had commenced
+life as privates in the old service, and of these, nine had risen to the
+rank of sergeant; and four had had no previous military training. It
+must also be remembered that the standard of the non-commissioned rank
+in the royal army just before the Revolution was extremely high. The
+reforms of St. Germain and the popularity of the American War had
+enticed into the ranks a high class of recruits, with the result that
+the authorities were able to impose tests, and no private could rise to
+the rank of corporal, or from corporal to sergeant, without passing an
+examination. Further, since the officers of the ancient regime left the
+entire organisation, discipline, and control in the hands of the
+non-commissioned officers, and seldom, if ever, visited their companies
+either in barracks or on the parade ground, the non-commissioned
+officers, in everything save actual title, were really extremely
+well-trained officers. It was this class which really saved France when
+the old officers emigrated and the incapable politicians in Paris did
+their best to ruin the army. Hence it was that, without prejudice to the
+service, a sergeant might one day be found quietly obeying the orders of
+his company officer, and the next day with the rank of lieutenant-colonel
+commanding his battalion.
+
+The art of war can only be truly learned in the field, and the officers
+of the French army had such an experience as had never fallen to the lot
+of any other nation since the days of the Thirty Years' War. With
+continuous fighting winter and summer, on every frontier, military
+knowledge was easily gained by those who had the ability to acquire it,
+and the young generals of brigade, with but three years' service in
+commissioned rank, had gone through experiences which seldom fall to the
+lot of officers with thirty years' service. The cycle of war seemed
+unending. From the day on which, in 1792, France hurled her declaration
+of war on Austria, till the surrender of Paris, in 1814, with the
+exception of the year of peace gained at Amiens, war was continuous. It
+began with a light-hearted invasion of France by Austria and Prussia in
+September, 1792, which ended in the cannonade of Valmy, when Dumouriez
+and Kellermann, with the remnant of the old royal army, showed such a
+bold front that the Allies, who had never expected to fight, lost heart
+and ran home. The Austro-Prussian invasion sealed the King's
+death-warrant, and France, in the hands of republican enthusiasts, went
+forth with a rabble of old soldiers and volunteers to preach the
+doctrine of the Equality of Man and the Brotherhood of Nations. But the
+sovereigns of Europe determined to fight for their crowns, and the
+licence of the French soldiers and the selfishness of these prophets of
+the new doctrine of Equality soon disgusted the people of the Rhine
+valley; so the revolutionary mob armies were driven into France, and for
+two years she was busy on every frontier striving to drive the enemy
+from her soil. It was during these years that the new French army arose.
+The volunteers were brigaded with the old regular battalions, the ranks
+were kept full by calling out all fit to bear arms, and the incompetent
+and unfortunate were weeded out by the guillotine. By 1795 France had
+freed her own soil and had forged a weapon whereby she could retaliate
+on the Powers who had attempted to annex her territory in the hour of
+her degradation. The Rhine now became her eastern frontier. But
+Austria, whose Archduke was Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, would not
+give up the provinces seized from her; so from 1795 to 1797, on the
+headwaters of the Danube and in Italy, the representative of the Feudal
+Ages fought the new democracy. It was the appearance of the great
+military talent of Bonaparte which decided the day. On the Danube the
+Austrians had found that under the excellent leading of the Archduke
+Charles they were fit to defeat the best French troops under capable
+generals like Jourdan and Moreau. But the military genius of Bonaparte
+overbore all resistance, and when peace came, practically all Italy had
+been added to the dominion of France. Unfortunately for the peace of
+Europe, the rulers of France had tasted blood. They found in the
+captured provinces a means of making war without feeling the effects,
+for the rich pillage of Italy paid the war expenses. But, grateful as
+the Directors were to Bonaparte for thus opening to them a means of
+enriching themselves at the expense of Europe, they rightly saw in him a
+menace to their own power, and gladly allowed him to depart on the
+mission to Egypt. From Egypt Bonaparte returned, seized the reins of
+government, and saved France from the imbecility of her rulers, and, by
+the battle of Marengo, assured to her all she had lost in his absence.
+Unfortunately for France the restless ambition of her new ruler was not
+satisfied with re-establishing the Empire of the West and reviving the
+glories of Charlemagne, but hankered after a vast oversea dominion, to
+include America and India. Hence it was that he found in Great Britain
+an implacable enemy ever stirring up against him European coalitions. To
+cover his failure to wrest the dominion of the sea from its mistress,
+Napoleon turned his wrath on Austria, and soon she lay cowed at his feet
+after the catastrophe at Ulm and the battle of Austerlitz. Austria's
+fall was due to the lethargy and hesitation of the courts of Berlin and
+St. Petersburg. But once Austria was disposed of, Prussia and Russia met
+their punishment for having given her secret or open aid. The storm fell
+first on Prussia. At one fell swoop on the field of Jena, the famed
+military monarchy of the great Frederick fell in pieces like a potter's
+vessel. From Prussia the invincible French legions penetrated into
+Poland, and after Eylau and Friedland the forces of Prussia and Russia
+could no longer face the enemy in the field. The Czar, dazzled by
+Napoleon's greatness, threw over his ally Prussia and at Tilsit made
+friends with the great conqueror. In June, 1807, it seemed as if Europe
+lay at Napoleon's feet, but already in Portugal the seeds of his ruin
+had been sown. The Portuguese monarch, the ally of Great Britain, fled
+at the mere approach of a single Marshal of the Emperor. The apparent
+lethargy of the inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula and the
+unpopularity of the Spanish Bourbons tempted Napoleon to establish his
+brother on the throne of Spain. It was a fatal error, for though the
+Spanish people might despise their King, they were intensely proud of
+their nationality. For the first time in his experience the Corsican had
+to meet the forces of a nation and not of a government. The chance
+defeat of a French army at Baylen was the signal for a general rising
+throughout the Peninsula, and not only throughout the Peninsula, but for
+the commencement of a national movement against the French in Austria
+and Germany. England gladly seized the opportunity of injuring her enemy
+and sent aid to the people of Spain. Austria tried another fall with her
+conqueror, but was defeated at Wagram. Wagram ought to have taught the
+Emperor that his troops were no longer invincible as of old, but, blind
+to this lesson, he still attempted to lord it over Europe and treated
+with contumely his only friend, the Czar. Consequently, in 1812, while
+still engaged in attempting to conquer Spain, he found himself forced to
+fight Russia. The result was appalling; out of half a million troops who
+entered Russia, a bare seventy thousand returned. Prussia and Austria at
+once made a bid to recover their independence. Napoleon, blinded by
+rage, refused to listen to reason, and in October, 1813, was defeated by
+the Allies at Leipzig. Even then he might have saved his throne, but he
+still refused to listen to the Allies, who in 1814 invaded France, and,
+after a campaign in which the Emperor showed an almost superhuman
+ability, at last by sheer weight of numbers they captured Paris. Thereon
+the French troops refused to fight any longer for the Emperor. Such is a
+brief outline of what is called the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars,
+the finest school the world has yet seen for an apprenticeship in the
+trade of arms.
+
+
+
+
+SYNOPSIS OF THE MARSHALS
+
+
+Name.           |Born.    |Marshal. |Titles.            |Died.           |Age.
+----------------+---------+---------+-------------------+----------------+
+Berthier,       |Nov. 20, |May 19,  |Prince of Neuchatel|Accident,       |62
+  Louis         |  1753   |  1804   |  and Valangin,    |  June 1, 1815  |
+  Alexandre     |         |         |  Mar. 15, 1806;   |                |
+                |         |         |Prince of Wagram,  |                |
+                |         |         |   Dec. 31, 1809   |                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Murat, Joachim  |Mar. 25, |    "    |Prince,            |Shot at Pizzo,  |48
+                |  1767   |         |  Feb. 1, 1805;    |  Oct. 13, 1815 |
+                |         |         |Grand Duke of Berg,|                |
+                |         |         |  Mar. 15, 1806;   |                |
+                |         |         |King of Naples,    |                |
+                |         |         |  Aug. 1, 1808     |                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Moncey,         |July 31, |    "    |Duke of Conegliano,|Natural cause,  |88
+  Bon Adrien    |  1754   |         |  July 2, 1808     |  April 20, 1842|
+  Jeannot de    |         |         |                   |                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Jourdan,        |April 29,|    "    |Count, Mar. 1, 1808|Natural cause,  |71
+  Jean Baptiste |  1762   |         |                   |  Nov. 1833     |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Massena, Andre  |May 6,   |    "    |Duke of Rivoli,    |Natural cause,  |61
+                |  1756   |         |  April 24, 1808;  |  April 4, 1817 |
+                |         |         |Prince of Essling, |                |
+                |         |         |  Jan. 31, 1810    |                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Augereau,       |Oct. 21, |    "    |Duke of            |Natural cause,  |59
+  Charles Pierre|  1757   |         |  Castiglione,     |  June 12, 1816 |
+  Francois      |         |         |  April 26, 1808   |                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Bernadotte,     |Jan. 26, |    "    |Prince of          |Natural cause,  |81
+  Jean Baptiste |  1763   |         |  Ponte Corvo,     |  Mar. 8, 1844  |
+  Jules         |         |         |  June 5, 1806;    |                |
+                |         |         |Crown Prince       |                |
+                |         |         |  of Sweden,       |                |
+                |         |         |  Aug. 21, 1810;   |                |
+                |         |         |King, Feb. 18, 1818|                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Soult, Jean de  |Mar. 29, |    "    |Duke of Dalmatia,  |Natural cause,  |82
+  Dieu Nicolas  |  1769   |         |  June 29, 1808    |  Nov. 26, 1851 |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Brune, Guillaume|May 13,  |    "    |Count, Mar. 1, 1808|Murdered        |52
+  Marie Anne    |  1763   |         |                   |at Avignon,     |
+                |         |         |                   |  Aug. 2, 1815  |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Lannes, Jean    |April 11,|    "    |Duke of Montebello,|Died of wounds  |40
+                |  1769   |         |  June 15, 1808    |at Vienna,      |
+                |         |         |                   |  May 31, 1809  |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Mortier, Adolphe|Feb. 13, |    "    |Duke of Treviso,   |Killed by       |67
+  Edouard       |  1768   |         |  July 2, 1808     |infernal machine|
+  Casimir Joseph|         |         |                   |at Paris,       |
+                |         |         |                   |  July 28, 1835 |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Ney, Michel     |Jan. 10, |    "    |Duke of Elchingen, |Shot at Paris,  |46
+                |  1769   |         |  May 5, 1808;     |  Dec. 7, 1815  |
+                |         |         |Prince of Moskowa, |                |
+                |         |         |  Mar. 25, 1813    |                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Davout,         |May 10,  |    "    |Duke of Auerstaedt, |Natural cause,  |53
+  Louis Nicolas |  1770   |         |  July 2, 1808;    |  June 1, 1823  |
+                |         |         |Prince of Eckmuehl, |                |
+                |         |         |   Nov. 28, 1809   |                |
+
+Bessieres,      |Aug. 6,  |   "     |Duke of Istria,    |Killed          |45
+  Jean Baptiste |  1768   |         |  May 28, 1809     |at Luetzen,      |
+                |         |         |                   |  May 1, 1813   |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Kellermann,     |May 28,  |   "     |Count,             |Natural cause,  |85
+  Francois      | 1735    |         |  Mar. 1, 1808;    |  Sept. 13, 1820|
+  Christophe    |         |         |Duke of Valmy,     |                |
+                |         |         |  May 2, 1808      |                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Lefebvre,       |Oct. 15, |   "     |Count,             |Natural cause,  |65
+  Francois      |  1755   |         |  Mar. 1, 1808;    |  Sept. 14, 1820|
+  Joseph        |         |         |Duke of Dantzig,   |                |
+                |         |         |  Sept. 10, 1808   |                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Perignon,       |May 31,  |   "     |Count,             |Natural cause,  |64
+  Dominique     |  1754   |         |  Sept. 6, 1811    |  Dec. 25, 1818 |
+  Catherine de  |         |         |                   |                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Serurier,       |Dec. 8,  |   "     |Count,             |Natural cause,  |77
+  Jean Mathieu  |  1742   |         |  Mar. 1, 1808     |  Dec. 21, 1819 |
+  Philibert     |         |         |                   |                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Victor,         |Dec. 7,  |July 13, |Duke of Belluno,   |Natural cause,  |77
+  Victor Claude |  1764   |  1807   |  Sept. 10, 1808   |  Mar. 1, 1841  |
+  Perrin        |         |         |                   |                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Macdonald,      |Nov. 17, |July 12, |Duke of Tarentum,  |Natural cause,  |75
+  Jacques       |  1765   |   1809  |  Dec. 9, 1809     |  Sept. 7, 1840 |
+  Etienne Joseph|         |         |                   |                |
+  Alexandre     |         |         |                   |                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Oudinot,        |April 25,|   "     |Count,             |Natural cause,  |80
+  Nicolas       |  1767   |         |  July 2, 1808;    |  Sept. 13, 1847|
+  Charles       |         |         |Duke of Reggio,    |                |
+                |         |         |  April 14, 1810   |                |
+Marmont, Auguste|         |         |                   |                |
+  Frederic Louis|July 20, |   "     |Duke of Ragusa,    |Natural cause,  |78
+  Viesse de     |  1774   |         |  June 28, 1808    |  July 23, 1852 |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Suchet,         |Mar. 2,  |July  8, |Count,             |Natural cause,  |56
+  Louis Gabriel |  1770   |  1811   |  June 24, 1808;   |  Jan. 3, 1826  |
+                |         |         |Duke of Albufera,  |                |
+                |         |         |  Jan. 3, 1813     |                |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Gouvion St. Cyr,|April 13,|Aug 27,  |Count, May 3, 1808 |Natural cause,  |66
+  Laurent       |  1764   |  1812   |                   |  Mar. 17, 1830 |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Poniatowski,    |May 7,   |Oct. 17, |        --         |Drowned         |51
+  Joseph, Prince|  1762   |  1813   |                   |in Elster,      |
+                |         |         |                   |  Oct. 19, 1813 |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+Grouchy,        |Oct. 23, |April 17,|Count,             |Natural cause,  |81
+  Emmanuel de   |  1766   |  1815   |  Jan. 28, 1809    |  May 29, 1847  |
+                |         |         |                   |                |
+----------------+---------+---------+-------------------+----------------+--
+
+
+
+
+NAPOLEON'S MARSHALS
+
+I
+
+LOUIS ALEXANDRE BERTHIER, MARSHAL, PRINCE OF WAGRAM, SOVEREIGN PRINCE OF
+NEUCHATEL AND VALANGIN
+
+
+To be content ever to play an inferior part, to see all honour and
+renown fall to the share of another, yet loyally to efface self and work
+for the glory of a friend, denotes a sterling character and an
+inflexibility of purpose with which few can claim to be endowed. Nobody
+doubts that, if it had not been for Napoleon, Berthier, good business
+man as he was, could never have risen to the fame he attained; still it
+is often forgotten that without this admirable servant it is more than
+doubtful if the great Emperor could have achieved all his most splendid
+success. Berthier, controlled by a master mind, was an instrument beyond
+price. Versed in the management of an army almost from his cradle, he
+had the gift of drafting orders so clear, so lucid, that no one could
+possibly mistake their meaning. His memory was prodigious, and his
+physical endurance such that he appeared never to require rest. But
+above all he alone seemed to be able to divine the thoughts of his great
+master before they were spoken, and this wonderful intuition taught him
+how, from a few disjointed utterances, to unravel Napoleon's most daring
+conceptions and work out the details in ordered perfection. Napoleon
+called his faithful Achates a gosling whom he had transformed into an
+eagle, but history proclaims that long before the name of Bonaparte was
+known beyond the gate of the military academy at Brienne, Berthier had
+established a record as a staff officer of the highest promise; while,
+before the young Corsican first met him in Italy, the future
+major-general of the Grand Army had evolved that perfect system of
+organisation which enabled the conqueror of Italy to control every
+movement and vibration in the army, to be informed of events as soon as
+they happened, and to be absolutely sure of the despatch and performance
+of his orders.
+
+Alexandre Berthier had seen twenty-three years' service in the old royal
+army before the Revolution broke out in 1789. Born on November 20, 1753,
+at the age of thirteen he received his commission in the engineers owing
+to his father's services in preparing a map of royal hunting forests.
+But the boy soon forsook his father's old regiment, for he knew well
+that the highest commands in the army seldom if ever fell to the
+scientific corps. When in 1780 the French Government decided to send out
+an expeditionary corps to assist the revolted colonies in their struggle
+with Great Britain, Berthier, after serving in the infantry and cavalry,
+was employed as a staff captain with the army of Normandy. Eager to see
+active service, he at once applied to be attached to the expedition, and
+offered, if there was no room for an extra captain, to resign his rank
+and serve as sub-lieutenant. Thanks to powerful family influence and to
+his record of service his desire was gratified, and in January, 1781, he
+found himself with the French troops in America employed on the staff of
+General Count de Rochambeau. Returning from America in 1783 with a
+well-earned reputation for bravery and ability, Captain Berthier was one
+of the officers sent to Prussia under the Marquis de Custine to study
+the military organisation of the great Frederick. Continuously employed
+on the staff, he had the advantage of serving as brigade major at the
+great camp of instruction held at Saint Omer in 1788, and in that year
+received as a reward for his services the cross of Saint Louis. The year
+1789 saw him gazetted lieutenant-colonel, and chief of the staff to
+Baron de Besenval, commanding the troops round Paris.
+
+When, after the capture of the Bastille, Lafayette undertook the work of
+organising the National Guard, he at once bethought him of his old
+comrade of American days, and appointed Berthier assistant
+quartermaster-general. Berthier found the post well suited to him;
+inspired by the liberal ideas which he had gained in America, he threw
+himself heart and soul into the work. Soon his talent as an organiser
+became widely recognised; many prominent officers applied to have him
+attached to their command, and, after holding several staff
+appointments, he was entrusted in 1791 with the organisation and
+instruction of the thirty battalions of volunteers cantonned between the
+Somme and Meuse. When war broke out in 1792 he was despatched as
+major-general and chief of the staff to his old friend Rochambeau, and
+when the Count resigned his command Berthier was specially retained by
+Rochambeau's successor, Luckner. But the Revolution, while giving him
+his chance, nearly brought about his fall. His intimate connection with
+the nobles of the old royal army, his courage in protecting the King's
+aunts, and his family connections caused him to become "suspect." It was
+in vain that the leaders at the front complained of the absolute
+disorder in their forces, of the necessity of more trained staff
+officers and of their desire for the services of the brilliant soldier
+who had gained his experience in war time in America and in peace time
+in Prussia. In vain Custine wrote to the Minister of War, "In the name
+of the Republic send Berthier to me to help me in my difficulties," in
+vain the Commissioners with the army reported that "Berthier has gained
+the esteem and confidence of all good patriots." Vain also was the
+valour and ability he showed in the campaign against the Royalists in
+La Vendee. Bouchotte, the incapable, the friend of the brutish,
+blockheaded Hebert, the insulter of the Queen, the destroyer of the
+army, decreed that his loyalty to the Republic was not sincere, and by a
+stroke of the pen dismissed him; thus during the whole of the year 1793
+the French army was deprived of the service of an officer who, owing to
+his powers of organisation, was worth fifty thousand of the butcher
+generals.
+
+In 1795, with the fall of the Jacobins, Berthier was restored to his
+rank and sent as chief of the staff to Kellermann, commanding the Army
+of the Alps, and before the end of the year the staff work of
+Kellermann's army became the pattern for all the armies of the Republic.
+When in March, 1796, Bonaparte was appointed commander of the Army of
+Italy, he at once requisitioned Berthier as the chief of the staff, and
+from that day till April, 1814, Berthier seldom if ever left the future
+Emperor's side, serving him with a patience and cheerfulness which
+neither ill-will nor neglect seemed to disturb. Though over forty-two
+years of age and sixteen years older than his new chief, the chief of
+the staff was still in the prime of his manhood. Short, thick-set and
+athletic, his frame proclaimed his immense physical strength, while his
+strong alert face under a mass of thick curly hair foretold at a glance
+his mental capacity.
+
+A keen sportsman, in peace he spent all his leisure in the chase. Hard
+exercise and feats of physical endurance were his delight. Fatigue he
+never knew, and on one occasion he was said to have spent thirteen days
+and nights in the saddle. To strangers and officials he was silent and
+stern, but his aloofness of manner hid a warm heart and a natural
+sincerity, and many a poor officer or returned emigre received secret
+help from his purse. Though naturally of a strong character, his
+affection and respect for his great commander became the dominating note
+in his career; in fact, it might almost be said that, in later years,
+his personality became merged to such an extent in that of Napoleon that
+he was unable to see the actions of the Emperor in their proper
+perspective. From their first meeting Bonaparte correctly guessed the
+impression he had made on his new staff officer, and aimed at increasing
+his influence over him. Meanwhile he was delighted with him, he wrote to
+the Directory, "Berthier has talents, activity, courage, character--all
+in his favour." Berthier on his side was well satisfied; as he said to a
+friend who asked him how he could serve a man with such a temper,
+"Remember that one day it will be a fine thing to be second to
+Bonaparte." So the two worked admirably together.
+
+[Illustration: ALEXANDRE BERTHIER, PRINCE OF WAGRAM
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY PAJOU FILS]
+
+Bonaparte kept in his own hands the movement of troops, the direction of
+skirmishes and battles, commissariat, discipline, and all communications
+from the Government. Berthier had a free hand in the organisation and
+maintenance of the general staff, the headquarter staff, and the
+transmission of orders, subject to inspection by Bonaparte; he also had
+to throw into written form all verbal orders, and he alone was
+responsible for their promulgation and execution. It was his ability to
+work out in detail and to reduce into clear, lucid orders the slightest
+hint of his commander which, as Napoleon said later, "was the great
+merit of Berthier, and was of inestimable importance to me. No other
+could possibly have replaced him." Thanks to Berthier's admirable
+system, Bonaparte was kept in touch with every part of his command. One
+of the first principles laid down in the staff regulations was, "That it
+was vital to the good of the service that the correspondence of the army
+should be exceedingly swift and regular, that nothing should be
+neglected which might contribute to this end." To ensure regularity of
+communication, divisional commanders and officers detached in command of
+small columns were ordered to report at least twice a day to
+headquarters. With each division, in addition to the divisional staff,
+there were officers detached from the headquarters staff. All important
+despatches had to be sent in duplicate; in times of great danger
+commanding officers had to send as many as eight different orderly
+officers each with a copy of despatches.
+
+But it was not only as an organiser and transmitter of orders that
+Berthier proved his usefulness to his chief. At Lodi he showed his
+personal courage and bravery among the band of heroes who forced the
+bridge, and Bonaparte paid him a fine tribute when he wrote in his
+despatches, "If I were bound to mention all the soldiers who
+distinguished themselves on that wonderful day, I should be obliged to
+mention all the carabiniers and grenadiers of the advance guard, and
+nearly all the officers of the staff; but I must not forget the
+courageous Berthier, who on that day played the part of gunner, trooper,
+and grenadier." At Rivoli, in addition to his staff duties, Berthier
+commanded the centre of the army, and fought with a stubbornness beyond
+all praise. By the end of the campaign of 1796 he had proved that he was
+as great a chief of the staff as Bonaparte was a great commander.
+Doubtless it is true that before the commencement of a campaign an army
+possesses in itself the causes of its future victory or defeat, and the
+Army of Italy, with its masses of enthusiastic veterans and the
+directing genius of Bonaparte, was bound to defeat the Austrians with
+their listless men and incompetent old generals; but, without the zeal,
+activity, and devotion which Berthier transfused through the whole of
+the general staff, success could not have been so sudden or so complete.
+
+After Leoben the conqueror of Italy employed his trusty friend on
+numerous diplomatic missions in connection with the annexation of Corfu
+and the government of the Cisalpine republic. Meanwhile he was in close
+communication with him in regard to the proposed descent on England and
+the possible expedition to the East. To Berthier, if to any one,
+Bonaparte entrusted his secret designs, for he knew that he could do so
+in safety. Accordingly, in 1798, finding an invasion of England
+impossible at the moment, he persuaded the Directory to send Berthier to
+Italy as commander-in-chief, his object being to place him in a position
+to gather funds for the Egyptian expedition. From Italy Berthier sent
+his former commander the most minute description of everything of
+importance, but he found the task difficult and uncongenial, and prayed
+him "to recall me promptly. I much prefer being your aide-de-camp to
+being commander-in-chief here." Still he carried out his orders and
+marched on Rome, to place the eight million francs' worth of diamonds
+wrung from the Pope to the credit of the army. From Rome he returned
+with coffers well filled for the Egyptian expedition, but leaving behind
+him an army half-mutinous for want of pay; his blind devotion to
+Bonaparte hid this incongruity from his eyes.
+
+As in Italy in 1795 so in Egypt, Berthier was Bonaparte's right-hand
+man, methodical, indefatigable, and trustworthy. But even his iron frame
+could scarcely withstand the strain of three years' continuous active
+service, the incessant office work day and night, and the trials of an
+unaccustomed climate. After the battle of the Pyramids he fell sick, and
+before the Syrian expedition, applied to return to France. Unkind
+friends hinted that he longed for his mistress, Madame Visconti, but
+Bonaparte, knowing that it was not this but sheer overstrain which had
+caused his breakdown in health, gave him the desired leave and made all
+arrangements for his journey home. However, at the moment of departure
+Berthier's love for his chief overcame his longing for rest, and, in
+spite of ill-health, he withdrew his resignation and set out with the
+army for Syria. As ever, he found plenty of work, for even in the face
+of the ill-success of the expedition, Bonaparte determined to administer
+Egypt as if the French occupation was to be for ever permanent; and
+Berthier, in addition to his ordinary work, was ordered to edit a
+carefully executed map from the complete survey which was being made of
+the country.
+
+It was to Berthier that Bonaparte first divulged his intention of
+leaving Egypt and returning to France, and his determination to upset
+the Directory. Liberal by nature, but essentially a man of method and a
+disciplinarian, the chief of the staff was quite in accord with his
+commander's ideas on the regeneration of France, and loyally supported
+him during the _coup d'etat_ of the 18th Brumaire. Thereafter the First
+Consul appointed his friend Minister of War, a position that gave full
+scope to his talents. All the administrative services had at once to be
+reorganised, the frontier fortresses garrisoned and placed in a state of
+defence, and the army covering the frontiers supplied with food, pay,
+equipment, and reinforcements, while the formation of the secret Army of
+Reserve was a task which alone would have occupied all the attention of
+an ordinary man; in fact, the safety of France hung on this army.
+Consequently, since, by the constitution, the First Consul was unable
+himself to take command in the field, in April, 1800, he transferred
+Berthier from the War Office to the head of this most important force.
+It is not generally known that the idea of the passage of the Alps by
+the St. Bernard Pass actually originated with Berthier, and had first
+been projected by him as early as 1795. So it was at the execution of
+what was really his own idea that for two months Berthier slaved. At
+times even his stout heart quailed, as when he wrote to the First
+Consul, "It is my duty to complain of the position of this army on which
+you have justly spent so much interest, and which is paralysed because
+it can only rely on its bayonets, on account of the lack of ammunition
+and means to transport the artillery." Incessant work and toil were at
+last rewarded; but when the Army of the Reserve debouched on the
+Austrian lines of communication, the First Consul appeared in person,
+and, though nominally in command, Berthier once again resumed his
+position of chief of the staff. Without a murmur he allowed Bonaparte to
+reap all the glory of Marengo, for he knew that without the First
+Consul, however excellent his own dispositions were, they would have
+been lacking in the driving power which alone teaches men how to seize
+on victory. After Marengo, Berthier was despatched as Ambassador
+Extraordinary to Madrid, "to exhort Spain by every possible means to
+declare war on Portugal, the ally of England." The result of this
+mission was eminently successful; a special treaty was drawn up and
+Spain sold Louisiana to France. By October the ambassador was once again
+back in Paris at his old post of Minister of War--a post which he held
+continuously during peace and war till August, 1807. The position was no
+light one, for even during the short years of peace it involved the
+supervision of the expedition to San Domingo, the defence of Italy, the
+reorganisation of the army, and the re-armament of the artillery, in
+addition to the ordinary routine of official work. Moreover, the
+foundations of the Consulate being based on the army, it was essential
+that the army should be efficient and content, and consequently the
+French soldier of that day was not, as in other countries, neglected in
+peace time. The officers in command of the troops were constantly
+reminded by the War Minister that "the French soldier is a citizen
+placed under military law"--not an outcast or serf, whose well-being and
+comfort concern no one.
+
+On the establishment of the Empire Berthier, like many another, received
+the reward for his faithfulness to Napoleon. Honours were showered upon
+him. The first to receive the Marshal's baton, he was in succession
+created senator by right as a dignitary of the Empire, grand officer of
+the palace and grand huntsman to the crown, while at the coronation he
+carried the imperial globe. But though the Emperor thus honoured, and
+treated him as his most trustworthy confidant, the cares of state to
+some extent withdrew Napoleon from close intimacy with his old
+companion. At the same time the Marshal was insensibly separated from
+his former comrades-in-arms by his high rank and employment, which,
+while it tended to make him more the servant than the friend of the
+Emperor, also caused him to be regarded as a superior to be obeyed by
+those who were formerly his equals. At all times a strict
+disciplinarian, and one who never passed over a breach of orders, the
+Marshal, as voicing the commands of the Emperor, gradually began to
+assume a stern attitude to all subordinates, and spared neither princes
+or marshals, when he considered that the good of the service required
+that they should be reprimanded and shown their duty. So strong was the
+sense of subordination in the army and the desire to stand well with
+Napoleon, that even the fiery Murat paid attention to orders and
+reprimands signed by Berthier in the name of the Emperor.
+
+Meanwhile the work of the War Minister increased day by day. The
+organisation and supervision of the Army of the Ocean added considerably
+to his work, which was much interfered with by visits of inspection in
+company with the Emperor, or far-distant expeditions to the frontiers
+and to Italy for the coronation at Milan.
+
+On August 3rd, 1805, the Emperor created the Marshal major-general and
+chief of the staff to the Army of the Ocean, and himself assumed command
+of the Army and held a grand review of one hundred thousand men.
+Everybody thought that the moment for the invasion of England had
+arrived. Berthier, and perhaps Talleyrand, alone knew that Austria, not
+England, was the immediate quarry, and all through August the
+major-general was busy working out the routes for the concentration of
+the various corps in the valley of the Danube; whilst at the same time
+as War Minister he was responsible for the supervision of all the troops
+left in France and in garrison in Italy, Belgium, Holland, and Hanover.
+Consequently he had to divide his staff into two sections, one of which
+he took with him into the field, the other remaining in Paris under an
+assistant who was capable of managing the ordinary routine, but who had
+to forward all difficult problems to the War Minister in the field. Even
+during the drive to the frontier there was no abatement of the strain;
+during the journey the Emperor would give orders which had to be
+expanded and written out in the short stoppages for food and rest. By
+day the major-general travelled in the Emperor's carriage; at night he
+always slept under the same roof with him, to be ready at any moment, in
+full uniform, to receive his commands and expand and dictate them to his
+clerks. Everyone knew when the major-general was worried, for he had a
+habit of biting his nails when making a decision or trying to solve a
+problem, but otherwise he never showed any sign of feeling, and whether
+tired or troubled by the Emperor's occasional outbursts of temper, he
+went on with his work with the methodical precision of an automaton. To
+belong to the general staff when Berthier was major-general was no bed
+of roses, no place for gilded youth, for with Napoleon commanding and
+Berthier directing, if there was often fighting there was plenty of
+writing; if there was galloping on horseback by day, to make up for it
+by night there were hours of steady copying of orders and no chance of
+laying down the pen until all business was finished. Thanks to this
+excellent staff work, Napoleon's ambitious plans were faithfully
+accomplished, the Austrians were completely taken in by the
+demonstration in the Black Forest, the French columns stepped astride of
+their communications on the Danube, and Mack was forced to surrender at
+Ulm. But Ulm was only the commencement of the campaign, and even after
+Austerlitz Napoleon pursued the enemy with grim resolution. This was one
+of the secrets of his success, for, as Berthier wrote to Soult, "The
+Emperor's opinion is that in war nothing is really achieved as long as
+there remains something to achieve; a victory is not complete as long as
+greater success can still be gained."
+
+After the treaty of Pressburg, on December 27, 1805, Napoleon quitted
+the army and returned to Paris, leaving the major-general in command of
+the Grand Army with orders to evacuate the conquered territory when the
+terms of the treaty had been carried out by the Austrians; but the
+Emperor retained the real control, and every day a courier had to be
+despatched to Paris with a detailed account of every event, and every
+day a courier arrived from Paris bearing fresh orders and instructions.
+For Napoleon refused to allow the slightest deviation from his orders:
+"Keep strictly to the orders I give you," he wrote; "execute punctually
+your instructions. I alone know what I want done." Meanwhile the
+major-general was still War Minister and had to supervise all the more
+important business of the War Office; while he also found time to edit
+an official history of the campaign of 1805, and to superintend the
+execution of a map of most of the Austrian possessions. The work was
+immense, but Berthier never flagged, and the Emperor showed his
+appreciation of his zeal when on March 30th, 1806, he conferred on him
+the principality of Neuchatel with the title of Prince and Duke, to hold
+in full possession and suzerainty for himself, his heirs and successors,
+with one stipulation, that he should marry. He added that the Prince's
+passion for Madame Visconti had lasted too long, that it was not
+becoming to a dignitary of the Empire, and that he was now fifty years
+old and ought to think of providing an heir to his honours. The Prince
+Marshal never had time to visit personally his principality, but he sent
+one of his intimate friends, General Dutaillis, to provide for the
+welfare of his new subjects, and to the best of his ability he saw that
+they were well governed, while a battalion of picked troops from
+Neuchatel was added to the Imperial Guard. But, orders or no orders,
+the Prince could never break himself free from the trammels of his
+mistress, and Napoleon gave him but little leisure in which to find a
+congenial partner, so that it was not till after Tilsit, in the brief
+pause before the Peninsular War, that Berthier at last took a wife. His
+chosen Princess was Elizabeth, the daughter of William, Duke of Bavaria,
+brother of the King. She was married with all due solemnity in March,
+1808, and though the exigencies of war gave her but little opportunity
+of seeing much of her husband, affection existed between them, as also
+between Berthier and his father-in-law, the Duke of Bavaria. All cause
+of difficulty was smoothed over by the fact that in time the Princess
+herself conceived an affection for Madame Visconti.
+
+By September, 1806, the Grand Army had evacuated Austria, and the Prince
+Marshal was hoping to return to Paris when suddenly he was informed by
+the Emperor of the probability of a campaign against Prussia. On the
+23rd definite orders arrived indicating the points of assembly; by the
+next day detailed letters of instructions for every corps had been
+worked out and despatched by the headquarters staff. Napoleon himself
+arrived at Wuerzburg on October 2nd, and found his army concentrated, but
+deficient of supplies. At first his anger burst out against the chief of
+the staff, but a moment's reflection proved to him that there was not
+sufficient transport in Germany to mass both men and supplies in the
+time he had given, and he entirely exonerated Berthier, who by hard work
+contrived in three days to collect sufficient supplies to allow of the
+opening of the thirty days' campaign which commenced with Jena and ended
+by carrying the French troops across the Vistula. The fresh campaign in
+the spring of 1807 was attended by an additional difficulty, there
+existed no maps of the district, and the topographical department of the
+staff was worked off its legs in supplying this deficiency. Meanwhile,
+during the halt after Pultusk, the major-general was busy re-clothing
+and re-equipping the army and hurrying up reinforcements; while in
+addition to the work of the War Office he had to supervise the French
+forces in Italy and Naples. After Tilsit, as after Pressburg, Napoleon
+hurried back to France and left the Prince of Neuchatel to arrange for
+the withdrawal of the Grand Army, and it was not till July 27th that
+Berthier at last returned to Paris.
+
+The Prince came back more than ever dazzled by the genius of the
+Emperor; not even Eylau had taught him that there were limits to his
+idol's powers. But with more than eight hundred thousand men on a war
+footing, with divisions and army corps scattered from the Atlantic to
+the Niemen, from Luebeck to Brindisi, it was impossible for one man to be
+at once chief of the staff and Minister of War. Accordingly, on August
+9th the Emperor made General Clarke Minister of War, and, to show that
+this was no slight on his old friend, on the same day he created the
+Prince of Neuchatel Vice-constable of France. For the next three months
+Berthier was able to enjoy his honours at his home at Grosbois, or in
+his honorary capacity at Fontainebleau, but in November the Emperor
+carried him off with him to Italy on a tour of inspection. During the
+whole of this holiday in Italy the Prince was busy elaborating the
+details of the coming campaign in Spain, and it was the Spanish trouble
+which cut short his honeymoon, for on April 2nd he had to start with the
+Emperor for Bayonne. From the outset the Prince warned the Emperor that
+the question of supplies lay at the root of all difficulties in Spain;
+but Napoleon clung to his idea that war should support war, and Berthier
+knew that it was hopeless to attempt to remove a fixed idea from his
+head, and, still believing in his omnipotence, he thought all would be
+well. Meanwhile, as the summer went on, it was not only Spain that
+occupied the Prince's attention, for the conquest of Denmark had to be
+arranged, and the passes in Silesia and Bohemia carefully mapped, in
+view of hostilities with Prussia or Austria. Early in August Berthier
+was at Saint Cloud making arrangements to reinforce Davout in Silesia,
+owing to the growing hostility of Austria, when, on the 16th, arrived
+the news that Joseph had had to evacuate all the country west of the
+Ebro. But Napoleon and Berthier could not go to his help until after the
+imperial meeting at Erfurt in September. However, on reaching Spain, the
+magic of the Emperor's personality soon restored the vigour and prestige
+of the French arms. Still the Prince Marshal could not hide from himself
+that all was not as it used to be; Napoleon's temper was more uncertain,
+and the Marshals, smarting under reprimands, were not pulling together.
+When the Emperor returned to France, after having missed "the
+opportunity of giving the English a good lesson," he left Berthier
+behind for a fortnight "to be sure that King Joseph had a proper
+understanding of everything." But trouble was bound to come, for the
+Emperor himself was breaking his own canon of the importance of "the
+unity of command" by nominally leaving Joseph in control of all the
+troops in Spain, but at the same time making the Marshals responsible to
+himself through the major-general.
+
+In 1809 Napoleon made another grave mistake. He had calculated that
+Austria could make no forward movement before April 15th, and
+accordingly he sent Berthier early in March to take temporary command of
+the Grand Army, with instructions to order Davout to concentrate at
+Ratisbon and Massena at Augsburg. His idea was that there would be ample
+time later to order a concentration on either wing or on the centre. But
+the Austrians were ready quite a fortnight before he had calculated. The
+major-general kept him well informed of every movement of the enemy, and
+pointed out the dangerous isolation of Davout. Still the Emperor did not
+believe the Austrian preparations were so forward; and a despatch from
+Paris, written on April 10th, which arrived at headquarters at
+Donauwoerth on the 11th, ordered the major-general to retain Davout at
+Ratisbon and move his own headquarters there, "and that in spite of
+anything that may happen." Unfortunately, a semaphore despatch sent a
+few hours later, when Napoleon had really grasped the situation, went
+astray and never reached Berthier. The Prince of Neuchatel understood as
+clearly as any one the dangerous position of Davout; the Duke of Eckmuehl
+himself thought that the major-general was trying to spoil his career by
+laying him open to certain defeat; depression spread through all the
+French corps. But after years of blind devotion to his great chief
+Berthier could not steel himself to break distinct orders, emphasised as
+they were by the expression "in spite of whatever may happen," and a
+great catastrophe was only just averted by the arrival of Napoleon, who
+at once ordered Davout to withdraw and Massena to advance. Berthier
+himself was visited by the full fury of the Emperor's anger. But the
+cloud soon passed, for Berthier was as indispensable as ever, and more
+so when, after the failure at Aspern-Essling, immense efforts had to be
+made to hurry up troops from every available source. At the end of the
+campaign the Emperor justly rewarded his lieutenant by creating him
+Prince of Wagram.
+
+Once again Napoleon left Berthier to arrange for the withdrawal of the
+army, and it was not till December 1st that the Prince of Wagram
+regained Paris and took up the threads of the Peninsular campaign. His
+stay there was short, for by the end of February he was back again in
+Vienna, this time not as major-general of a victorious army, but as
+Ambassador Extraordinary to claim the hand of the Archduchess Marie
+Louise for his master, the Emperor Napoleon, and to escort her to her
+new home. For the next two years the Prince remained at home at Grosbois
+or on duty at Fontainebleau, but in spite of great domestic happiness he
+was much worried by the terrible Spanish war. No one saw more clearly
+that every effort ought to be made to crush the English, but he was
+powerless to persuade the Emperor, and he had to endure to the full all
+the difficulties arising from breaking the "unity of command." No one
+understood better what hopeless difficulties would arise when Napoleon
+ordered him to write, "The King will command the army.... The Guard does
+not form part of the army." To add to these troubles, it became more and
+more evident that Germany was riddled with secret societies and that war
+with Russia was inevitable. So it was with a sigh of relief that in
+January, 1812, he received the order to turn his attention from Spain
+and resume his functions as major-general of the Grand Army. Not that he
+desired further active service; like many another of the Emperor's
+soldiers, he mistrusted the distant expedition to Russia, and feared for
+the honour and safety of France. Already in his sixtieth year, there was
+little he could gain personally from war. As he said to Napoleon, "What
+is the good of having given me an income of sixty thousand pounds a year
+in order to inflict on me the tortures of Tantalus? I shall die here
+with all this work. The simplest private is happier than I." The
+Emperor, knowing the attitude of many of his Marshals, and himself
+feeling the strain of this immense enterprise, was unusually irritable.
+Consequently relations at headquarters were often strained, and the
+Marshals were angry at the severe reprimands to which they were
+subjected. The controlling leaders being out of gear the machine did not
+run smoothly: there was nothing but friction and tension. The Marshals
+were inclined to attribute their disgrace to the ill-will of Berthier
+and not to the temper of Napoleon. Particularly was this the case with
+Davout, who since 1809 had suspected that Berthier desired to ruin his
+reputation. Accordingly the Prince of Eckmuehl set down the succession of
+reprimands which were hurled at his head to the machinations of the
+major-general, and not, as was the case, to Napoleon's jealousy of him,
+because people had prophesied he would become King of Poland. This
+misunderstanding was most unfortunate, for it prevented Berthier from
+effecting a reconciliation between Davout and the Emperor. Hence
+Napoleon was driven more and more to trust to the advice of the rash,
+unstable King of Naples. The major-general's lot through the campaign
+was most miserable. Working day and night to supervise the organisation
+of the huge force of six hundred thousand men; mistrusted by his former
+comrades; blamed for every mishap by the Emperor, whatever the fault
+might be, he had to put up with the bitterest insults, and while working
+as no other man could work, to endure such taunts as, "Not only are you
+no good, but you are in the way." Everything that went wrong "was the
+fault of the general staff, which is so organised that it foresees
+nothing," whether it was the shortcomings of the contractors or the
+burning of their own magazines by the Russians. But what most moved
+Napoleon's anger against the chief of the staff was that Berthier, with
+"the parade states" before him, emphasising the enormous wastage of the
+army, constantly harped on the danger of pressing on to Moscow. So
+strained became the relations between them, that for the last part of
+the advance they no longer met at meals. But during the hours of the
+retreat the old friendship was resumed. Berthier bore no malice, and
+showed his bravery by himself opposing the enemy with musket and
+bayonet; and on one occasion, with Bessieres, Murat, and Rapp, he saved
+the Emperor from a sotnia of Cossacks.
+
+When Napoleon quitted the army at Vilna he left the major-general behind
+to help the King of Naples to withdraw the remnant of the Grand Army.
+Marching on foot through the deep snow, with fingers and nose
+frostbitten, the sturdy old veteran of sixty endured the fatigue as well
+as the hardiest young men in their prime; and in addition to the
+physical fatigue of marching, had to carry out all the administrative
+work, and bear the moral responsibility for what remained of the army;
+for the King of Naples, thinking of nothing but how to save his own
+crown, when difficulties increased, followed the example of Napoleon and
+deserted his post. Thereon the major-general took on himself to nominate
+Prince Eugene as Murat's successor. But in the end his health gave way,
+and the Emperor himself wrote to Prince Eugene telling him to send the
+old warrior home.
+
+Berthier reached Paris on February 9th, much broken down in health; but
+his wonderful physique soon enabled him to regain his strength, and by
+the end of March he was once again hard at work helping the Emperor to
+extemporise an army. With his complete knowledge of this force, no one
+was more astonished than Berthier at the successes of Luetzen and
+Bautzen, and no one more insistent in his advice to the Emperor to
+accept the terms of the Allies during the armistice; but he advised in
+vain. Then followed the terrible catastrophe of Leipzig, due undoubtedly
+to Berthier's dread of acting without the express orders of the Emperor.
+The engineer officer charged with preparing the line of retreat reported
+that the one bridge across the Elster was not sufficient. The
+major-general, knowing that the Emperor desired to hide any signs of
+retreat from the Allies, replied that he must await the Emperor's
+orders, so, when, after three days' fighting, the retreat could no
+longer be postponed, a catastrophe was inevitable.
+
+Yet, in spite of everything, the Emperor refused to acknowledge himself
+beaten, and by the commencement of 1814 was once again ready to take the
+field, though by now the Allies had invaded France. Loyal as ever,
+Berthier worked his hardest; but he once again incurred the Emperor's
+anger by entreating him to accept the terms offered him at Chatillon.
+Still, when the end came and Napoleon abdicated, Berthier remained at
+his side, and it was only when the Emperor had released his Marshals
+from their allegiance that on April 11th he sent in his adhesion to the
+new government. When all save Macdonald had deserted the fallen Emperor,
+Berthier stayed on at Fontainebleau, directing the withdrawal of the
+remnants of the army, and making arrangements for the guard which was to
+accompany Napoleon to Elba. But though he remained with him until the
+day before he started for Elba, Berthier refused to share his exile, and
+at the time Napoleon was magnanimous enough to see that, owing to his
+age and the care of his children, he could not expect such a sacrifice.
+
+So far, the Prince had done all that honour and affection could demand
+of him. But, unfortunately for his fame, instead of withdrawing into
+private life, he listened to the prayers of his wife, who keenly felt
+the loss of her title of "Serene Princess." It was at her desire that he
+continued to frequent the Bourbon court and actually accepted the
+captaincy of one of the new companies of royal guards. This and the fact
+that, as senior of the Marshals, Berthier had led his fellow Marshals to
+meet the King at Compiegne, caused the Prince of Wagram to be regarded
+as a traitor by Napoleon and the Imperialists. Moreover, the Prince
+Marshal now saw in Napoleon the disturber of the peace of Europe, so
+when the Emperor suddenly returned from Elba he withdrew from France,
+and retired to Bamberg, in his father-in-law's dominions.
+
+It is commonly supposed that Berthier committed suicide, but the medical
+evidence shows that his fall was probably the result of giddiness
+arising from dyspepsia. It was on June 1st that the accident happened.
+He was watching a division of Russian troops passing through the town,
+and was much distressed by the sight, and heard to murmur, "My poor
+country!" Ever interested in soldiers, he got on a chair on the balcony
+before the nursery windows to get a better view of the troops, and while
+doing so lost his balance and fell to the ground.
+
+For the moment the tragic death of the Marshal was the talk of Europe,
+but only for the moment, for the fate of the world was hanging on the
+issues of the great battle which was imminent in Belgium. If the Prince
+of Wagram had been there, it is more than conceivable that the scales
+would have fallen other than they did; for it was the indifferent staff
+work of Soult and the bad drafting of orders which lost the French the
+campaign. Of this, Napoleon was so firmly convinced that he never could
+efface it from his memory; again and again he was heard saying, "If
+Berthier had been here I should never have met this misfortune." The
+Emperor, in spite of the fact that in 1814 he had told Macdonald that
+Berthier could never return, was convinced that he would, and had told
+Rapp that he was certain he would come back to him. It was this failure
+to return which so embittered the fallen Emperor against the Prince of
+Wagram, and led to those cruel strictures on his character to which he
+gave vent at St. Helena. Moreover, Napoleon, so great in many things,
+was so jealous of his own glory that he could be mean beyond words. Even
+in the early years when he heard people praising Berthier's work in
+1796, he told his secretary, Bourrienne, "As for Berthier, since you
+have been with me, you see what he is--he is a blockhead." At St.
+Helena, forgetting his old opinions, "Berthier has his talents,
+activity, courage, character--all in his favour." Forgetting that he
+himself had taught Berthier to be imperious, he derided his rather
+pompous manner, saying, "Nothing is so imperious as weakness which feels
+itself supported by strength. Look at women." Berthier, with his
+admirably lucid mind, great physique, methodical powers and ambition,
+would have made his name in any profession. He undoubtedly chose to be
+second to Napoleon; he served him with a fidelity that Napoleon himself
+could not understand, and he won his great commander's love and esteem
+in spite of the selfishness of the Corsican's nature. "I really cannot
+understand," said Napoleon to Talleyrand, "how a relation that has the
+appearance of friendship has established itself between Berthier and
+me. I do not indulge in useless sentiments, and Berthier is so
+uninteresting that I do not know why I should care about him at all, and
+yet when I think of it I really have some liking for him." "It is
+because he believes in you," said the former bishop and reader of men's
+souls. It was this belief in Napoleon which in time obsessed the Prince
+of Wagram's mind, which killed his own initiative and was responsible
+for his blunders in 1809 and at Leipzig, and turned him into a machine
+which merely echoed the Emperor's commands. "Monsieur le Marechal, the
+Emperor orders." "Monsieur, it is not me, it is the Emperor you ought to
+thank." These hackneyed phrases typified more than anything else the
+bounds of the career which the Marshal had deliberately marked out for
+himself. In Berthier's eyes it was no reproach, but a testimony to his
+own principles, "that he never gave an order, never wrote a despatch,
+which did not in some way emanate from Napoleon." It was this which,
+with some appearance of truth, pointing to his notable failures, allowed
+Napoleon to say of him at St. Helena, "His character was undecided, not
+strong enough for a commander-in-chief, but he possessed all the
+qualities of a good chief of the staff: a complete mastery of the map,
+great skill in reconnaissance, minute care in the despatch of orders,
+magnificent aptitude for presenting with the greatest simplicity the
+most complicated situation of an army."
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+JOACHIM MURAT, MARSHAL, KING OF NAPLES
+
+
+Stable-boy, seminarist, Marshal, King, Murat holds the unchallenged
+position of Prince of Gascons: petulant, persevering, ambitious and
+vain, he surpasses D'Artagnan himself in his overwhelming conceit. The
+third son of an innkeeper of La Bastide Fortuniere in upper Quercy,
+Joachim Murat was born on March 25, 1767. From his earliest childhood
+Joachim was a horse-lover and a frequenter of the stables; but his
+parents had higher aims for their bright, smiling, intelligent darling,
+and destined him for the priesthood. The young seminarist was highly
+thought of by the preceptors at the College of Saint Michel at Cahors
+and the Lazarist Fathers at Toulouse; but neither priest nor mother had
+truly grasped his dashing character, and one February morning in 1787
+Joachim slipped quietly out of the seminary doors and enlisted in the
+Chasseurs of the Ardennes, who were at the moment billeted in Toulouse.
+Two years later this promising recruit, having fallen foul of the
+military authorities, had to leave the service under a cloud. A post as
+draper's assistant was a poor exchange for the young soldier, who found
+the cavalry service of the royal army scarcely dashing enough, but the
+Revolution gave an outlet which Murat was quick to seize. For three
+years the future King harangued village audiences of Quercy on the
+iniquities of caste and the equality of all men; so that when, in
+February, 1792, the Assembly called for volunteers for the "Garde
+Constitutionnelle" of Louis XVI., what better choice could the national
+guard of Montfaucon make than in nominating Joachim Murat, the handsome
+ex-sergeant of the Chasseurs of the Ardennes?
+
+In Paris, Joachim soon found that the royal road to success lay in
+denouncing loudly all superior officers of lack of patriotism. Soon
+there was no more brazen-voiced accuser than Murat. In the course of a
+year he worked his way out of the "Garde Constitutionnelle," and by
+April, 1793, he had attained the rank of captain in the 12th Chasseurs.
+Meanwhile, he had been selected as aide-de-camp by General d'Ure de
+Molans. Having seen no service, he owed his appointment largely to his
+conceit and good looks. Blue-eyed, with an aquiline nose and smiling
+lips; with long chestnut curls falling over his well-poised head;
+endowed with great physical strength, shown in his strong, supple arms
+and in the long flat-thighed legs of a horseman, he appeared the most
+perfect type of the dare-devil, dashing cavalry soldier. The moderate
+republican general, d'Ure de Molans, was useful to him for a time, but
+the young Gascon saw that the days of the extremist were close at hand;
+accordingly, he allied himself with an adventurer called Landrieux, who
+was raising a body of cut-throats whose object was plunder, not
+fighting. The Convention, which had licensed Landrieux to raise this
+corps of patriotic defenders of the country, accepted his nomination of
+Murat as acting lieutenant-colonel. But they soon fell out, for Murat
+had the audacity to try and make these patriots fight instead of merely
+seeking plunder. The consequence of this quarrel was that, early in
+1794, he found himself accused as a ci-devant noble. Imprisoned at
+Amiens, and brought before the Committee of Public Safety, in a fit of
+republican enthusiasm he changed his name to Marat. But this did not
+save him, and he owed his life to a deputation from his native Quercy,
+which proved both his humble birth and his high republicanism.
+
+[Illustration: JOACHIM MURAT, AFTERWARDS KING OF NAPLES
+FROM THE PAINTING BY GERARD AT VERSAILLES]
+
+The 13th Vendemiaire was the turning-point in Murat's life, for on that
+day, for the first time, he came in contact with his future chief, the
+young General Bonaparte, and gained his attention by the masterly way he
+saved the guns at Sablons from the hands of the Royalists. The future
+Emperor ever knew when to reward merit, and on being appointed to
+command the army in Italy he at once selected him as his aide-de-camp.
+So far he had seen little or no war service. But the campaign of 1796
+proved that Bonaparte's judgment was sound, for by the end of the year
+there was no longer any necessity for Murat to blow his own trumpet. In
+the short campaign against the Sardinians he showed his talent as a
+cavalry leader by his judgment in charges at Dego and Mondovi. He had no
+cause to grumble that he was not appreciated, for his general selected
+him to take to Paris the news of this victorious campaign and of the
+triumphant negotiations of Cherasco. He returned from Paris in May as
+brigadier-general, in time to take part in the crossing of the Mincio
+and to rob Kilmaine of some of his honours. The commander-in-chief still
+kept him attached to the headquarter staff, and constantly employed him
+on special service. His enterprises were numerous and varied--one week
+at Genoa on a special diplomatic mission, a week or two later leading a
+forlorn attack on the great fortress of Mantua, then commanding the
+right wing of the army covering the siege, he showed himself ever
+resourceful and daring. But during the autumn of 1796 he fell under the
+heavy displeasure of his chief, for at Milan and Montebello Josephine
+had shown too great favour to the young cavalry general. Murat
+accordingly had no scruples in intriguing with Barras against his chief.
+But his glorious conduct at Rivoli once again brought him back to
+favour, and Bonaparte entrusted him with an infantry brigade in the
+advance on Vienna, and later with a delicate independent mission in the
+Valtelline. But Murat, unlike Lannes, Marmont, and Duroc, was not yet
+indispensable to Bonaparte, and accordingly was left with the Army of
+Italy when the general returned in triumph to Paris. It was mainly owing
+to Massena's enthusiastic report of his service in the Roman campaign,
+at the close of 1797, that he was selected as one of the supernumerary
+officers in the Egyptian expedition.
+
+So far, Murat had not yet been able to distinguish himself above his
+comrades-in-arms. Massena, Augereau, Serurier, and Laharpe left him far
+in the rear, but Egypt was to give him the chance of proving his worth,
+and showing that he was not only a dashing officer, but a cavalry
+commander of the first rank. He led the cavalry of the advance guard in
+the march up the Nile, and was present at the battle of the Pyramids and
+the taking of Cairo. But so far the campaign, instead of bringing him
+fresh honours, nearly brought him disgrace; for he joined the party of
+grumblers, and was one of those who were addressed in the famous
+reprimand, "I know some generals are mutinous and preach revolt ... let
+them take care. I am as high above a general as above a drummer, and, if
+necessary, I will as soon have the one shot as the other."
+
+On July 27, 1798, Murat was appointed governor of the province of
+Kalioub, which lies north of Cairo; to keep order among his turbulent
+subjects his whole force consisted of a battalion of infantry,
+twenty-five cavalrymen, and a three-pounder gun. His governorship was
+only part of the work Bonaparte required of him, for he was constantly
+away organising and leading light columns by land or river, harrying the
+Arabs and disbanded Mamelukes, sweeping the country, collecting vast
+depots of corn and cattle, remounting the cavalry--proving himself a
+past master in irregular warfare. So well did he do his work that the
+commander-in-chief selected him to command the whole of the cavalry in
+the Syrian expeditionary force. Thanks to his handling of his horsemen,
+the march through Palestine occasioned the French but little loss.
+During the siege of Acre he commanded the covering force, and pushed
+reconnaissances far and wide. So feared was his name that the whole
+Turkish army fled before him on the banks of the Jordan, and left their
+camp and immense booty in the hands of the French. But though he had
+thus destroyed the relieving force, Acre, victualled by the English
+fleet, still held out, and Bonaparte had to retreat to Egypt.
+
+It was at Aboukir that Murat consolidated his reputation as a great
+commander. The Turkish general had neglected to rest the right flank of
+his first line on the sea, and Murat, seizing his opportunity, fell on
+the unguarded flank with the full weight of his cavalry, and rolled the
+unfortunate Turks into the water. Thereafter, by the aid of a battery of
+artillery, the centre of the second line of the Turkish army was broken,
+and the French horse dashing into the gap, once again made short work of
+the enemy, and their leader captured with his own hands the Turkish
+commander. Bonaparte, in his despatch, did full justice to his
+subordinate. "The victory is mainly due to General Murat. I ask you to
+make him general of division: his brigade of cavalry has achieved the
+impossible." Murat himself was much distressed at being wounded in the
+face, as he feared it might destroy his good looks; however, he soon had
+the satisfaction of writing to his father: "The doctors tell me I shall
+not be in the least disfigured, so tell all the young ladies that even
+if Murat has lost some of his good looks, they won't find that he has
+lost any of his bravery in the war of love."
+
+His grumbles forgiven, Murat left Egypt among the chosen band of
+followers of whose fidelity Napoleon was assured; his special mission
+was to gain over the cavalry to the side of his chief. He it was who,
+with Leclerc, on the 18th Brumaire, forced his way into the Orangerie at
+the head of the grenadiers and hurled out the deputies. The First
+Consul rewarded him amply, appointing him inspector of the Consular
+Guard, and, later still, in preference to his rival, Lannes, gave him in
+marriage his sister Caroline. Murat had met Caroline Bonaparte at
+Montebello during the Italian campaign of 1796, and had at once been
+struck by her beauty. Like many another cavalier, he had a flame in
+every country, or rather, in every town which he visited. But by 1799
+the gay Gascon saw that it was time to finish sowing his wild oats,
+since destiny was offering him a chance which falls to the lot of few
+mortals. It was by now clear that the First Consul's star was in the
+ascendant. Already his family were reaping the fruits of his success.
+Ambition, pride and love were the cords of the net which drew the
+willing Murat to Caroline. As brother-in-law to the First Consul,
+Joachim felt secure against his bitter rival, Lannes. To add point to
+this success, he knew that the victor of Montebello was straining every
+nerve to gain this very prize. Moreover, Fortune herself favoured his
+suit. Bonaparte had offered the hand of Caroline to the great General
+Moreau, but the future victor of Hohenlinden refused to join himself to
+the Corsican triumph. To cover his confusion the First Consul was glad
+to give his sister's hand to one of his most gallant officers,
+especially as by so doing he once and for all removed the haunting fear
+of an intrigue between him and Josephine. Accordingly, on January 25,
+1800, Murat and Caroline were pronounced man and wife in the temple of
+the canton of Plailly, by the president of the canton. Though Caroline
+only brought with her a dot of forty thousand francs, she stood for what
+was better still, immense possibilities.
+
+Murat's honeymoon was cut short by the Marengo campaign. In April he
+started, as lieutenant-general in command of the cavalry, to join the
+Army of the Reserve at Dijon. Once the corps of Lannes had, by the
+capture of Ivrea, secured the opening into Italy, the cavalry were able
+to take up their role, and with irresistible weight they swept down the
+plains of Lombardy, forced the river crossings, and on June 2nd entered
+Milan. Thence the First Consul despatched his horsemen to seize
+Piacenza, the important bridge across the Po, the key of the Austrian
+lines of communication. Murat, with a few troops, crossed the river in
+some twenty small rowing-boats, and, dashing forward, captured the
+bridge head on the southern bank, and thus secured not only the peaceful
+crossing of his force, but the capture of the town and the immense
+Austrian depots. At Marengo the cavalry acted in separate brigades, and
+the decisive stroke of the battle fell to the lot of the younger
+Kellermann, whose brilliant charge decided the day in favour of the
+French. The despatches only mentioned that "General Murat's clothes were
+riddled by bullets."
+
+So far Murat had always held subordinate commands; his great ambition
+was to become the commander-in-chief of an independent army. His wife,
+Caroline, and his sister-in-law, Josephine, were constant in their
+endeavours to gain this distinction for him from the First Consul. But
+it was not till the end of 1800 that they succeeded; and then only
+partially, for in December the lieutenant-general was appointed
+commander of a corps of observation, whose headquarters were at Milan,
+and whose duty was to overawe Tuscany and the Papal States. His campaign
+in central Italy is more noticeable for his endeavours to shake himself
+free from the control of General Brune, the commander-in-chief of the
+Army of Italy, than for any very brilliant manoeuvres. Tuscany and the
+Papal States were easily conquered, and the King of Naples was only too
+glad to buy peace at Foligno. Italy lay at the feet of the French
+general, but what was most gratifying of all, after his successful
+negotiation with the King of Naples, the First Consul tacitly accepted
+the title which his brother-in-law had assumed of commander-in-chief of
+the Army of Naples. Murat had the satisfaction of having under his
+orders Lieutenant-General Soult, three generals of division and four
+generals of brigade. For the moment his Gascon vanity was satiated,
+while his Gascon greed was appeased by substantial bribes from all the
+conquered countries of the Peninsula. The "commander-in-chief" was
+joined at Florence in May, 1801, by his wife, Caroline, and his young
+son, Achille, born in January, whom he found "charming, already
+possessed of two teeth." In the capital of Tuscany Murat gravely
+delivered to the inhabitants a historical lecture on their science,
+their civilisation, and the splendour of their state under the Medici.
+He spent the summer in visiting the watering-places of Italy. In August
+the First Consul raised him to the command of the troops of the
+Cisalpine Republic, and he retained this post for the next two years,
+and had his headquarters in Milan, making occasional expeditions to
+Paris and Rome, and on the whole content with his position, save for
+occasional quarrels with Melzi, the president of the Italian Republic.
+Their jurisdictions overlapped and the Gascon would play second fiddle
+to no one save to his great brother-in-law.
+
+In January, 1804, the First Consul recalled Murat to Paris, nominating
+him commandant of the troops of the first military division and of the
+National Guard, and Governor of the city. Bonaparte's object was not so
+much to please his brother-in-law as to strengthen himself. He was
+concentrating his own family, clan, and all his most faithful followers
+in readiness for the great event, the proclamation of the Empire. Men
+like Lannes, whose views were republican, were discreetly kept out of
+the way on foreign missions; but Murat, as Bonaparte knew, was a pliant
+tool. As early as 1802 he had hotly favoured the Concordat, and had had
+his marriage recelebrated by Cardinal Consalvi; and both Caroline and
+Joachim infinitely preferred being members of the imperial family of
+the Emperor of the French to being merely relations of the successful
+general and First Consul of the French Republic. They were willing also
+to obey the future Emperor's commands, and to aid him socially by
+entertaining on a lavish scale, and their residence in Paris, the Hotel
+Thelusson, became the centre of gorgeous entertainments. While Murat
+strutted about in sky-blue overalls, covered with gold spangles,
+invented new uniforms, and bought expensive aigrettes for his busby, his
+wife showed her rococo taste by furnishing her drawing-room in red satin
+and gold, and her bedroom in rose-coloured satin and old point lace.
+They had their reward. Five days after the proclamation of the Empire,
+after a furious scene, Napoleon conceded the title of Imperial Highness
+to his sister with the bitter words: "To listen to you, people would
+think that I had robbed you of the heritage of the late King, our
+father." Meanwhile the Governor of Paris had received his Marshal's
+baton, and in the following February was created senator, prince, and
+Grand Admiral of France.
+
+The rupture of the peace of Amiens did not affect the life of the
+Governor of Paris; for two years he enjoyed this office, with all its
+opportunities of ostentation and display. But in August, 1805, the
+approaching war with Austria caused the Emperor to summon his most
+brilliant cavalry leader to his side. In that month he despatched him,
+travelling incognito as Colonel Beaumont, to survey the military roads
+into Germany, and especially to study the converging roads round
+Wuerzburg, and the suitability of that town as an advance depot for an
+army operating on the Danube. From Wuerzburg Murat travelled hurriedly
+through Nuremberg, Ratisbon, and Passau, as far as the river Inn,
+returning via Munich, Ulm, the Black Forest, and Strassburg. Immediately
+on his return the Emperor appointed him "Lieutenant of the Empire, and
+commandant in his absence" of all the troops cantonned along the Rhine,
+and of such corps of the Grand Army as reached that river before
+himself. When war actually broke out Murat's duty was to mask, with his
+cavalry in the Black Forest, the turning movement of the other corps of
+the Grand Army which were striking at the Austrian rear. Once the
+turning movement was completed the Prince was entrusted with the command
+of the left wing of the army, which included his own cavalry division
+and the corps of Lannes and Ney. Excellent as he was as cavalry
+commander in the field, Murat had no head for great combinations.
+Instead of profiting by the advice of those able soldiers, Lannes and
+Ney, he spent his time quarrelling with them. He accordingly kept his
+troops on the wrong side of the Danube, with the result that in spite of
+Ney's brilliant action at Elchingen, two divisions of the Austrians
+under the Archduke Ferdinand escaped from Ulm. Prince Murat, however,
+retrieved his error by his brilliant pursuit of the escaped Austrians,
+and by hard riding and fighting captured quite half of the Archduke's
+command.
+
+Impetuosity, perseverance, and dash are undoubtedly useful traits in the
+character of a cavalry commander, and of these he had his fair share.
+But his jealousy and vanity often led him astray. During the advance
+down the Danube, in his desire to gain the credit of capturing Vienna,
+he lost touch completely with the Russians and Austrians, who had
+retreated across the Danube at Krems, and he involved the Emperor in a
+dangerous position by leaving the unbeaten Russians on the flank of his
+line of communications. But the Prince quickly made amends for his
+rashness. The ruse by which he and Lannes captured the bridge below
+Vienna was discreditable no doubt from the point of view of morality. It
+was a direct lie to tell the Austrian commander that an armistice had
+been arranged and the bridge ceded to the French. But the fact remains
+that Murat saved the Emperor and the French army from the difficult and
+costly operation of crossing the broad Danube in the face of the
+Allies. A few days later the Prince's vanity postponed for some time the
+culminating blow, for although he had so successfully bluffed the enemy,
+he could not realise that they could deceive him, and believing their
+tales of an armistice, he allowed the Allies to escape from Napoleon's
+clutches at Hollabruenn. At Austerlitz the Prince Marshal covered himself
+with glory. In command of the left wing, ably backed by Lannes, he threw
+the whole weight of his cavalry on the Russians, demonstrating to the
+full the efficacy of a well-timed succession of charges on broken
+infantry, and giving a masterly lesson in the art of re-forming
+disorganised horsemen, by the use he made of the solid ranks of Lannes'
+infantry, from behind which he issued again and again in restored order,
+to fall on the shaken ranks of the enemy. At Austerlitz he was at his
+best. His old quarrel with Lannes was for the moment forgotten; his
+lieutenants, Nansouty, d'Hautpoul, and Sebastiani, were too far below
+him to cause him any jealousy. The action on the left was mainly one of
+cavalry, in which quickness of eye and decision were everything, where a
+fault could be retrieved by charging in person at the head of the staff,
+or by a few fierce words to a regiment slightly demoralised. Rapidity of
+action and a self-confidence which on the battlefield never felt itself
+beaten were the cause of Murat's success.
+
+It was the fixed policy of Napoleon to secure the Rhine valley, so that
+never again would it be possible for the Austrians to threaten France.
+To gain this end he originated the Confederation of the Rhine, grouping
+all the small Rhineland states in a confederation of which he himself
+was the Protector, and binding the rulers of the individual states to
+his dynasty, either by marriage or by rewards. As part of this scheme
+the Emperor allotted to Murat and Caroline the duchies of Cleves and
+Berg, welding them into one province under the title of the Grand Duchy
+of Berg. Thus the Gascon innkeeper's son became in 1806 Joachim, Prince
+and Grand Admiral of France, and Grand Duke of Berg. He gained this
+honour not as Murat, the brilliant cavalry general, but as Prince
+Joachim, the brother-in-law of the Emperor Napoleon. The Grand Duke and
+the Grand Duchess did not, however, reside long in their capital,
+Duesseldorf; they infinitely preferred Paris. In their eyes Berg was but
+a stepping-stone to higher things, a source of profit and a pretext for
+exalting themselves at the expense of their neighbours. The Grand Duke
+entrusted the interior management of the Duchy to his old friend Agar,
+who had served him well in Italy, and who later became Count of Mosburg.
+Any prosperity which the Grand Duke enjoyed was entirely due to the
+financial ability of Agar. Murat, however, kept foreign affairs in his
+own hands. As Foreign Minister, by simply taking what he wanted, he
+added considerably to the extent of his duchy. But, like all Napoleon's
+satellites, he constantly found his position humiliating, for in spite
+of his tears and prayers, he had continually to see his duchy sacrificed
+to France. It was no use to complain that Napoleon had taken away the
+fortress of Wesel, which had been handed over to the Grand Duchy by
+special treaty by the King of Prussia, for, as Queen Hortense wisely
+asked him, "Who had really made that treaty? Who had given him the
+duchy, the fortress, and everything?"
+
+In September, 1806, Murat's second and last visit to Duesseldorf was
+brought to an abrupt close by the opening of the Prussian campaign. On
+the eve of the battle of Jena his cavalry covered forty miles and
+arrived in time to give the enemy the coup-de-grace on the following
+day, driving them in flight into Weimar. Then followed the famous
+pursuit across Prussia, in which Murat captured first-class fortresses
+with cavalry regiments, and divisions of infantry with squadrons of
+horse, and ended by seizing Bluecher and the whole of the Prussian
+artillery on the shore of the Baltic at Luebeck. But though his cavalry
+had thus wiped the Prussian army out of existence, the war dragged on,
+for, as in 1805, the Russians had entered the field. In November the
+Emperor despatched his brother-in-law to command the French corps which
+were massing round Warsaw. The Grand Duke read into this order the idea
+that he was destined to become the King of a revived Poland; accordingly
+he made a triumphant entry into Warsaw in a fantastic uniform, red
+leather boots, tunic of cloth of gold, sword-belt glittering with
+diamonds, and a huge busby of rich fur bedecked with costly plumes. The
+Poles greeted him with enthusiasm, and Murat hastened to write to the
+Emperor that "the Poles desired to become a nation under a foreign King,
+given them by your Majesty." While the Grand Duke dreamed of his Polish
+crown, the climate defeated the French troops, and when the Emperor
+arrived at the front the Prince had to lay aside his royal aspirations.
+But in spite of his disappointment he was still too much of a Frenchman
+and a soldier to allow his personal resentment to overcome his duty to
+his Emperor, and he continued to hope that by his daring and success he
+might still win his Polish crown. At Eylau he showed his customary
+bravery and his magnificent talent as a cavalry leader, when he saved
+the shattered corps of Augereau by a successful charge of over twelve
+thousand sabres. At the battle of Heilsberg the celebrated light
+cavalryman, Lasalle, saved his life, but a few minutes later the Grand
+Duke was able to cry quits by himself rescuing Lasalle from the midst of
+a Russian charge. Unfortunately for Murat, the prospective alliance with
+Russia once and for all compelled Napoleon to lay aside all thought of
+reviving the kingdom of Poland, and when the would-be King arrived with
+a Polish guard of honour and his fantastic uniform, he was met by the
+biting words of the Emperor: "Go and put on your proper uniform; you
+look like a clown."
+
+After Tilsit the disappointed Grand Duke returned to Paris, where his
+equally ambitious wife had been intriguing with Josephine, Talleyrand
+and Fouche to get her husband nominated Napoleon's successor, in case
+the accidents of the campaign should remove the Emperor. But Napoleon
+had no intention of dying without issue. Thanks to his brother-in-law's
+generosity, Murat was able to neglect his half-million subjects in Berg
+and spend his revenues right royally in Paris. But early in 1808 his
+ambition was once again inflamed by the hope of a crown--not a revived
+kingship in Poland, but the ancient sceptre of Spain. Napoleon had
+decided that the Pyrenees should no longer exist, and that Portugal and
+Spain should become French provinces ruled by puppets of his own. Junot
+already held Portugal; it seemed as if it needed but a vigorous movement
+to oust the Bourbons from Madrid. Family quarrels had already caused a
+revolution in Spain. Charles had fled the kingdom, leaving the throne to
+his son Ferdinand. Both had appealed to Napoleon; consequently there was
+a decent pretext for sending a French army into Spain. On February 25th
+Murat was despatched at a few hours' notice, with orders to take over
+the supreme command of all the French corps which were concentrating in
+Spain, to seize the fortresses of Pampeluna and St. Sebastian, and to
+advance with all speed on Madrid, but he was given no clue as to what
+the Emperor's ulterior object might be. He was ordered, however, to keep
+the Emperor daily informed of the state of public opinion in Spain.
+Prince Joachim very soon perceived that King Charles was rejected by
+everybody, that the Prime Minister, the Prince of Peace, was extremely
+unpopular, and that Ferdinand was weak and irresolute: it seemed as if
+he would follow the example of the King of Portugal, and would flee to
+the colonies when the French army approached his capital. The only
+disquieting feature of the situation was the constant annihilation of
+small parties of French soldiers and the brutal murder of all
+stragglers. On March 23rd the French army entered Madrid. All was
+tranquil. Meanwhile the ex-King Charles had retired to Bayonne, and, by
+the orders of the Emperor, the Prince of Peace was sent there also,
+whereupon King Ferdinand, fearing that Napoleon might take his father's
+part, hurried off to France. At Bayonne both the claimants to the
+Spanish throne surrendered their rights to the Emperor, while at Madrid,
+Murat, hoping against hope, played the royal part and kept the
+inhabitants quiet with bull-fights and magnificent fetes. So far the
+Spaniards, though restless, were waiting to see whether the French were
+friends, as they protested, or in reality stealthy foes. The crisis came
+on May 2nd, when the French troops were compelled to evacuate Madrid on
+account of the fury of the populace at the attempted abduction of the
+little Prince, Don Francisco. Murat showed to the full his indomitable
+courage, fighting fiercely, not only for his Emperor, but for the crown
+which he thought was his. Bitter indeed were his feelings when he
+received a letter dated that fatal day, May 2nd, informing him that
+Joseph was to be King of Spain, and that he might choose either Portugal
+or Naples as his kingdom. In floods of tears he accepted Naples, but so
+cruel was the blow that his health gave way, and instead of hurrying off
+to his new kingdom he had to spend the summer drinking the waters at
+Bareges; his sensitive Gascon feelings had completely broken down under
+the disappointment, and, for the time being, he was physically and
+morally a wreck.
+
+Murat was in no hurry to commence his reign, and his subjects showed no
+great anxiety to see their new ruler. But when King Joachim Napoleon, to
+give him his new title, arrived at Naples he was received with
+unexpected warmth. The new monarch, with his striking personality and
+good looks, at once captivated the hearts of his fickle Southern
+subjects. Joseph had been prudent and cold, Joachim was ostentatious and
+fiery. The Neapolitans had never really cared for their Bourbon
+sovereigns. Some of the noblesse had from interest clung to the old
+dynasty, but the greater part of the nobility cared little who ruled
+them so long as their privileges were not interfered with. Among the
+middle class there was a strong party which had accepted the doctrines
+of the French Revolution. The lower class were idle and lazy, and
+willing to serve any sovereign who appealed to them by ostentation. The
+people who really held the key of the hearts of the mass of the
+population were the clergy. Joseph, with his liberal ideas, had
+attempted to free the people from clerical thraldom. Joachim, however,
+with his Southern instincts, refused to deny himself the use of such a
+powerful lever, and quickly ingratiated himself with his new subjects.
+From the moment that he arrived at Naples the new King determined, if
+not to rule Naples for the Neapolitans, at least, by pretending to do
+so, to rule Naples for himself and not for Napoleon. It is not,
+therefore, surprising that before the close of the year 1808 friction
+arose, which was further increased by the intrigues of Talleyrand and
+Fouche. These ministers, firmly convinced that Napoleon would never
+return from the Spanish war, had decided that in the event of his death
+they would declare Murat his successor rather than establish a regency
+for the young son of Louis Napoleon, the King of Holland.
+
+In pursuance of the plan of winning his subjects' affections Joachim had
+at once called to his aid Agar, who had so successfully managed the
+finances of the Grand Duchy of Berg. The difficulties of finance in
+Naples were very great, and with Agar the King had to associate the
+subtle Corsican, Salicetti, who had so powerfully contributed to the
+rise of Napoleon. Taxation in Naples was heavy, for the Neapolitans had
+to find the money for the war with their old dynasty, which was
+threatening them from Sicily, aided by the English fleet. To secure the
+kingdom against the Sicilians and English, a large Neapolitan army of
+thirty thousand troops had to be maintained along with an auxiliary
+force of ten thousand French. Moreover, the Neapolitans had to pay for
+having a King like Joachim and a Queen Consort like Caroline. The royal
+household alone required 1,395,000 ducats per annum. To meet this heavy
+expense the ministers had to devise all sorts of expedients to raise
+money. Regular taxation, monopolies, mortgages, and loans barely
+sufficed to provide for the budget. Still the King managed to retain his
+popularity, and in his own way attempted to ameliorate the lot of his
+subjects. He introduced the Code Napoleon. He founded a military
+college, an artillery and engineer college, a naval college, a civil
+engineer college and a polytechnic school. He also instituted primary
+schools in every commune, and started an Ecole Normale for the training
+of teachers. He expanded the staff of the University and established an
+Observatory and Botanical Garden at Naples. He attempted to conciliate
+the Neapolitan noblesse by gradually dismissing his French ministers and
+officers and appointing Neapolitan nobles in their place. At the same
+time he abolished feudal dues and customs. He also attempted to develop
+industries by giving them protection. Above all, by the strict measures
+of his minister Manhes he established peace in the interior by breaking
+down the organised system of the freebooters and robbers. As time went
+on he found that the clergy and monks were too heavy a burden for his
+kingdom to bear, and, at the expense of his popularity, he had to cut
+down the numbers of the dioceses and parishes and abolish the religious
+orders.
+
+From the first the new King grasped the fact that his kingdom would
+always be heavily taxed, and his throne insecure as long as the
+Bourbons, backed by the English, held Sicily. His plan of campaign,
+therefore, was to drive his enemy out of the smaller islands, and
+thereafter to demand the aid of French troops and make a determined
+effort against Sicily. In October, 1808, by a well-planned expedition,
+he captured the island of Capri, and caused the English commander, Sir
+Hudson Lowe, to capitulate. It was not till the autumn of 1810, however,
+that he was ready for the great expedition. Relying on the traditional
+hatred of the people of Messina for the Bourbons, he collected a strong
+force on the Straits, and waited till the moment when, after a gale, the
+English fleet had not yet arrived from the roads of Messina. On the
+evening of September 17th he sent away his advance guard of two thousand
+men in eighty small boats. Cavaignac, the commander of this force,
+secured the important villages of Santo Stefano and Santo Paolo. But at
+the critical moment the commander of the French division, acting
+according to the Emperor's orders, refused to allow his troops to cross.
+Before fresh arrangements could be made the English fleet reappeared on
+the scene, and Cavaignac and his force were thus sacrificed for no
+purpose. Joachim, as time showed, never forgave the Emperor for the
+failure of his cherished plan.
+
+By the commencement of 1812, the coming Russian campaign overshadowed
+all other questions. Murat, who had earnestly begged to be allowed to
+share the Austrian campaign of 1809, was delighted to serve in person.
+But as King of Naples he refused to send a division of ten thousand men
+to reinforce the Grand Army, "as a Frenchman and a soldier he declared
+himself to the core a subject of the Emperor, but as King of Naples he
+aspired to perfect independence." It was this double attitude which,
+from the moment Murat became King, clouded the relations between him and
+Napoleon. But nevertheless, once he rejoined the Emperor at Dantzig, he
+laid aside all his royal aspirations and became the faithful dashing
+leader of cavalry.
+
+During the advance on Moscow the cavalry suffered terribly from the
+difficulties of constant reconnaissances and want of supplies, but in
+spite of this Murat urged the Emperor not to halt at Smolensk, but to
+push on, as he believed the Russians were becoming demoralised. Scarce a
+day passed without some engagement in which the King of Naples showed
+his audacity and his talent as a leader. Notwithstanding, Napoleon,
+angry at the constant escape of the Russians, declared that if Murat had
+only pursued Bagration in Lithuania he would not have escaped. This
+reproach spurred on the King of Naples to even greater deeds of bravery,
+and so well was his figure known to the enemy that the Cossacks
+constantly greeted him with cries of "Hurrah, hurrah, Murat!" At the
+battle of Moskowa he and Ney completely overthrew the Russians, and if
+Napoleon had flung the Guard into the action, the Russian army would
+have been annihilated. In spite of the losses during the campaign, when
+the French evacuated Moscow Murat had still ten thousand mounted troops,
+but by the time the army had reached the Beresina there remained only
+eighteen hundred troopers with horses. When the Emperor deserted the
+Grand Army, he left the King of Naples in command, with orders to rally
+the army at Vilna. But Murat saw that it was impossible to re-form the
+army there, and accordingly ordered a retirement across the Niemen, a
+line which he soon found it was impossible to hold. On January 10, 1813,
+came the news that the Prussians had actually gone over to the enemy. It
+seemed as if Napoleon was lost, and Murat thereupon at once deserted the
+army, and set out in all haste for Italy, thinking only of how to save
+his crown.
+
+The King arrived in Naples bent on maintaining his crown and on allowing
+no interference from the Emperor. But in spite of this he could not
+decide on any definite line of action. He was afraid the English and
+Russians would invade his country, but on the other hand his old
+affection for Napoleon, and a sort of sneaking belief in his ultimate
+success, prevented him from listening to the insidious advice of the
+Austrian envoy, whom the far-seeing Metternich had at once sent to
+Naples. If Napoleon had not in his despatch glorified Prince Eugene's
+conduct to the disparagement of the King of Naples, if he had only
+vouchsafed some reply to the King's persistent letters of inquiry
+whether he still trusted his old comrade and lieutenant, Murat would
+have thrown himself heart and soul into the melee on the side of his old
+friend. But in April Napoleon quitted Paris for the army in Germany
+without sending one line in reply to these imploring letters. Meanwhile
+on April 23rd came a letter from Colonel Coffin suggesting the
+possibility of effecting an entente between the English and Neapolitan
+Governments, or at any rate a commercial convention. Thereupon Murat
+sent officers to enter into negotiations with Lord William Bentinck, who
+represented the English Government in Sicily. All through the summer the
+negotiations were continued, but Murat, in spite of the guarantee of the
+throne of Naples which the English offered, could not break entirely
+with his Emperor and benefactor. Still Napoleon, in his blindness,
+instead of attempting to conciliate his brother-in-law, allowed articles
+to his disparagement to appear in the _Moniteur_. Nevertheless Murat at
+bottom was Napoleon's man. Elated by the Emperor's success at Luetzen and
+Bautzen, although he refused to allow the Neapolitan troops to join the
+Army of Italy under Prince Eugene, he hurried off in August to join the
+French army at Dresden. There a reconciliation took place between the
+brothers-in-law. But after the defeat at Leipzig King Joachim asked and
+obtained leave to return to his own dominions.
+
+His presence was needed at home, for in Italy also the war had gone
+against the French. Prince Eugene had had to fall back on the line of
+the Adda, and the defection of the Tyrol had opened to the Allies the
+passes into the Peninsula. Murat, in his hurry, had to leave his coach
+snowed up in the Simplon Pass and proceed on horseback to Milan, where
+he halted but a few hours to write a despatch to the Emperor, which
+practically foretold his desertion. He declared that if he, instead of
+Eugene, was entrusted with the defence of Italy, he would at once march
+north from Naples with forty thousand men. He had indeed never forgotten
+the slight put upon him by the article in the _Moniteur_, after the
+Russian campaign, and he was ready to sacrifice even his kingdom if only
+he could revenge himself on his enemy, Eugene. As Napoleon would not
+grant him this request, he determined to humiliate Eugene, and, at the
+same time, to save his crown by negotiating with the enemy. On reaching
+Naples, he found that his wife, who hitherto had been an unbending
+partisan of the French, had entirely changed her politics and was now
+pledged to an Austrian alliance. The King was ever unstable, vanity
+always governed his conduct: the Queen was always determined, governed
+solely by a cold, calculating ambition. Negotiations were at once opened
+with the Austrians. The King protested "that he desired nothing in the
+world so much as to make common cause with the allied Powers." He
+promised that he would join them with thirty thousand troops, on
+condition that he was guaranteed the throne of Naples, and that he
+should have the Roman States in exchange for Sicily. Meanwhile he
+addressed an order of the day to his army, stating that the Neapolitan
+troops should only be employed in Italy. This of course did not commit
+him either to Napoleon or the Austrian alliance. Meanwhile the Emperor
+had despatched Fouche to try to bind his brother-in-law to France, but
+that distinguished double-dealer merely advised the Neapolitan King to
+move northwards to the valley of the Po with all his troops, and there
+to wait and see whether it would be best to help the French, or to enter
+France with the Allies, and perhaps the Tuileries as Emperor.
+
+Joachim Napoleon quietly occupied Rome and pushed forward his troops
+towards the Po, using the French magazines and depots, but still
+negotiating with the Austrians, and, at the same time, holding out
+hopes to the purely Italian party. For the national party of the
+Risorgimento were striving hard to seize this opportunity to unite Italy
+and drive out the foreigner, and no one seemed more capable of carrying
+out their policy than the popular King of Naples. The Austrians
+flattered the hopes of "young Italy" by declaring in their proclamation
+that they had only entered Italy to free her from the yoke of the
+stranger, and to aid the King of Naples by creating an independent
+kingdom of Italy. Still Murat hesitated on the brink. As late as the
+27th of December he wrote to the Emperor proposing that Italy should be
+formed into two kingdoms, that he should govern all the peninsula south
+of the Po, and that the rest of the country should be left to Eugene.
+Three days later the Austrian envoy arrived with the proposals of the
+Allies. But he could not yet make up his mind, and, moreover, the
+English had not yet guaranteed him Naples. In January, however, these
+guarantees were given, and against his will he had to sign a treaty.
+Scarcely was the writing dry when he began to negotiate with Prince
+Eugene. He used every artifice to prevent a collision between the French
+and Neapolitan troops. When the campaign opened his troops abandoned
+their position at the first shot, while he himself took good care not to
+reach the front until the news of Napoleon's abdication arrived.
+
+But Murat's conduct had alienated everybody. The French loathed him for
+his duplicity; the Allies suspected him of treachery, and the party of
+the Risorgimento looked on him as the cause of their subjection to the
+foreigner; for the Austrian victory had not brought Italy unity and
+independence, but had merely established the fetters of the old regime.
+During the remainder of 1814 the lot of the King of Naples was most
+unenviable. The restored Bourbons of France and Spain regarded him as
+the despoiler of the Bourbon house of Sicily. Russia had been no party
+to the guarantee of his kingdom. England desired nothing so much as his
+expulsion. Austria alone upheld him, for she had been the chief party to
+the treaty; but Metternich was waiting for him to make some slip which
+might serve as a pretext for tearing up that treaty. Even the Pope
+refused the bribe which the King offered him when he proposed to restore
+the Marches in return for receiving the papal investiture. In despair
+Murat once again entered into negotiations with the Italian party. A
+general rising was planned in Lombardy, but failed, as the Austrians
+received news of the proposed cession of Milan. With cruel cunning they
+spread the report that the King of Naples had sold the secret.
+Henceforward Murat had no further hope. Foreigners, Italians, priests,
+carbonari and freemasons, all had turned against him.
+
+Such was the situation when on March 8, 1815, the King heard that
+Napoleon had left Elba. As usual he dealt double. He at once sent a
+message to England that he would be faithful, while at the same time he
+sent agents to Sicily to try to stir up a revolt against the Bourbons.
+As soon as the news of Napoleon's reception in France arrived, he set
+out at the head of forty thousand troops, thinking that all Italy would
+rise for him. But the Italians mistrusted the fickle King; the Austrian
+troops were already mobilised, and accordingly, early in May, the
+Neapolitan army fled homewards before its enemies. King Joachim's
+popularity was gone. A grant of a constitution roused no enthusiasm
+among the people. City after city opened its gates to the enemy.
+Resistance was hopeless, so on the night of May 19th the King of Naples,
+with a few hundred thousand francs and his diamonds, accompanied by a
+handful of personal friends, fled by sea to Cannes. But the Emperor
+refused to receive the turncoat, though at St. Helena he bitterly
+repented this action, lamenting "that at Waterloo Murat might have given
+us the victory. For what did we need? To break three or four English
+squares. Murat was just the man for the job." After Waterloo the poor
+King fled before the White Terror, and for some time lay hid in
+Corsica. There he was given a safe conduct by the Allies and permission
+to settle in Austria. But the deposed monarch could not overcome his
+vanity. He still believed himself indispensable to Naples. Some four
+hundred Corsicans promised to follow him thither. The filibustering
+expedition set out in three small ships on the 28th of September. A
+storm arose and scattered the armada, but in spite of this, on October
+7th, the ex-King decided to land at Pizzo. Dressed in full uniform, amid
+cries of "Long live our King Joachim," the unfortunate man landed with
+twenty-six followers. He was at once arrested, and on October 13th tried
+by court martial, condemned to death, and executed a few hours later.
+
+Joachim Murat met his death like a soldier. As he wrote to his wife, his
+only regret was that he died far off, without seeing his children. Death
+was what he courted when landing at Pizzo, for he must have known how
+impossible it was for him to conquer a kingdom with twenty-six men.
+Still, he preferred to die in the attempt to regain his crown rather
+than to spend an ignoble old age, a pensioner on the bounty of his
+enemies. Murat died as he had lived, brave but vain, with his last words
+calling out, "Soldiers, do your duty: fire at my heart, but spare my
+face."
+
+The King of Naples owed his elevation entirely to his fortunate marriage
+with the Emperor's sister; otherwise it is certain he would never have
+reached such exalted rank, for Napoleon really did not like him or trust
+him, and had a true knowledge of his ability. "He was a Paladin," said
+the Emperor at St. Helena, "in the field, but in the Cabinet destitute
+of either decision or judgment. He loved, I may rather say, adored me;
+he was my right arm; but without me he was nothing. In battle he was
+perhaps the bravest man in the world; left to himself, he was an
+imbecile without judgment." Murat was a cavalry leader pure and simple.
+His love of horses, his intuitive knowledge of exactly how much he
+could ask from his horsemen, his reckless bravery, his fine
+swordsmanship, his dashing manners, captivated the French cavalry and
+enabled him to "achieve the impossible." Contrary to accepted opinion
+Napoleon believed "that cavalry, if led by equally brave and resolute
+men, must always break infantry." Consequently we find that at
+Austerlitz, Jena, and Eylau, the decisive stroke of the day was in each
+case given by immense bodies of some twenty thousand men under the
+command of Murat, whose genius lay in his ability to manoeuvre these
+huge bodies of cavalry on the field of battle, and in the tenacity with
+which he clung to and pursued a beaten enemy. But this was the sum total
+of his military ability. He had no conception of the use of the other
+arms of the service, and never gained even the most elementary knowledge
+of strategy. When trusted with anything like the command of a mixed body
+of troops he proved an utter failure. Before Ulm he nearly ruined
+Napoleon's combination by failing to get in contact with the enemy. In
+the later half of the campaign of 1806 he hopelessly failed to make any
+headway against the Russians east of the Vistula. In the retreat across
+the Niemen he proved himself absolutely incapable of reorganising a
+beaten force. As a king, Murat was full of good intentions towards his
+people, but his extravagance, his vanity, his indecision cost him his
+crown. As a man he was generous and extraordinarily brave. In the
+Russian campaign he used to challenge the Cossacks to single combat, and
+when he had beaten them he sent them away with some medal or souvenir of
+himself. He was a good husband, and lived at peace and amity with his
+wife, and was exceedingly fond of his children. His faults were
+numerous; he was by nature intensely jealous, especially of those who
+came between him and Napoleon, and he stooped to anything whereby he
+might injure his rivals, Lannes and Prince Eugene. His hot Southern
+blood led him into numerous quarrels. Although extremely arrogant, at
+bottom he was a moral coward, and before the Emperor's reproaches he
+scarcely dared to open his mouth. But his great fault, through which he
+gained and lost his crown, was his vanity. Vanity, working on ambition
+and an unstable character, is the key to all his career. His blatant
+Jacobinism, his intrigue with Josephine, his overtures to the Directors,
+his underhand treatment of his fellow Marshals, his discontent with his
+Grand Duchy, his subtle dealings in Spain, his system of government in
+Naples, his opposition to Napoleon's schemes, his dissimulation and
+desertion, his almost theatrical bravery, and his very death were due to
+nothing save extravagant vanity.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+ANDRE MASSENA, MARSHAL, DUKE OF RIVOLI, PRINCE OF ESSLING
+
+
+Andre Massena, "the wiliest of Italians," was born at Nice on May 6,
+1758, where his father and mother carried on a considerable business as
+tanners and soap manufacturers. On his father's death, when Andre was
+still but a small boy, his mother at once married again. Thereon Andre
+and two of his sisters were adopted by their uncle Augustine, who
+proposed to give his nephew a place in his business. But Andre's
+restless, fiery nature could not brook the idea of a perpetual
+monotonous existence in the tanyard and soap factory, so at the age of
+thirteen he ran away from home and shipped as a cabin boy; as such he
+made several voyages in the Mediterranean, and on one occasion crossed
+the Atlantic to Cayenne. But, in spite of his love of adventure, the
+life of a sailor soon began to pall, and on August 18, 1775, at the age
+of seventeen, he enlisted in the Royal Italian regiment in the French
+service. There he came under the influence of his uncle Marcel, who was
+sergeant-major of the regiment; thanks to his advice and care he made
+rapid strides in his profession, and received a fair education in the
+regimental school. In later years the Marshal used to say that no step
+cost him so much trouble or gave him such pleasure as his promotion to
+corporal; be that as it may, promotion came rapidly, and with less than
+two years' service he became sergeant on April 15, 1777. For fourteen
+years Massena served in the Royal Italians, but at last he retired in
+disgust. Under the regulations a commission was unattainable for those
+who were not of noble birth, and the officers of the regiment had taken
+a strong dislike to the sergeant, whom the colonel constantly held up as
+an example, telling them, "Your ignorance of drill is shameful; your
+inferiors, Massena, for example, can manoeuvre the battalion far
+better than any of you." On his retirement Massena lived at Nice. To
+occupy his time and earn a living he joined his cousin Bavastro, and
+carried on a large smuggling business both by sea and land; he thus
+gained that intimate knowledge of the defiles and passes of the Maritime
+Alps which stood him in such good stead in the numerous campaigns of the
+revolutionary wars, while the necessity for keeping a watch on the
+preventive men and thus concealing his own movements developed to a
+great extent his activity, resource, and daring. So successful were his
+operations that he soon found himself in the position to demand the hand
+of Mademoiselle Lamarre, daughter of a surgeon, possessed of a
+considerable dowry. When the revolutionary wars broke out the Massenas
+were established at Antibes, where they did a fair trade in olive oil
+and dried fruits; but a respectable humdrum existence could not satisfy
+the restless nature of the ex-sergeant, and in 1791 he applied for a
+sub-lieutenancy in the gendarmerie, and it is to be presumed that, on
+the principle of setting a thief to catch a thief, he would have made an
+excellent policeman. It was at this moment that the invasion of France
+by the monarchs of Europe caused all patriotic Frenchmen to obey the
+summons to arms. Massena gladly left his shop to serve as adjutant of
+the volunteers of the Var. His military knowledge, his erect and proud
+bearing, his keen incisive speech, and absolute self-confidence in all
+difficulties soon dominated his comrades, and it was as
+lieutenant-colonel commanding the second battalion that he marched to
+the frontier to meet the enemy. Lean and spare, below middle height,
+with a highly expressive Italian face, a good mouth, an aquiline nose,
+and black sparkling eyes, from the very first Massena inspired
+confidence in all who met him; but it was not till he was seen in action
+that the greatness of his qualities could best be appreciated. As
+Napoleon said of him at St. Helena, "Massena was at his best and most
+brilliant in the middle of the fire and disorder of battle; the roar of
+the cannon used to clear his ideas, give him insight, penetration, and
+gaiety.... In the middle of the dead and dying, among the hail of
+bullets which swept down all around him, Massena was always himself
+giving his orders and making his dispositions with the greatest calmness
+and good judgment. There you see the true nobility of blood." In the
+saddle from morning till night, absolutely insensible to fatigue, ready
+at any moment to take the responsibility of his actions, he returned
+from the first campaign in the Riviera as major-general. During the
+siege of Toulon he commanded the "Camp de milles fourches," which
+included the company of artillery commanded by Bonaparte, and
+distinguished himself by taking the forts of Lartigues and St.
+Catharine, thus earning his step as lieutenant-general while his future
+commander was still a major in the artillery. In the campaign of 1794 it
+was Massena who conceived and carried out the turning movement which
+drove the Sardinians from the Col de Tenda, while Bonaparte's share in
+the action merely consisted of commanding the artillery. As the trusted
+counsellor of Dumerbion, Kellermann, and Scherer, for the next two
+years, the lieutenant-general was the inspirer of the successive
+commanders of the Army of Italy. He it was who, amid the snow and
+storms, planned and carried out the combinations which gained for
+Scherer the great winter victory at Loano, and thus first taught the
+French the secret, which the English had grasped on the sea and
+Napoleon was to perfect on land, of breaking the enemy's centre and
+falling on one wing with overwhelming force. The campaign of 1796 for
+the time being altered the current of Massena's military life. Before
+the young Corsican's eagle gaze even the impetuous Italian quailed, and
+from being the brain of the officer commanding the army he had to revert
+to the position of the right arm and faithful interpreter of orders. Two
+things, however, compensated Massena for the change of role, for
+Bonaparte gave his subordinate fighting and glory with a lavish hand,
+and above all winked at, nay, rather encouraged, the amassing of booty;
+and wealth more even than glory was the desire of Massena's soul.
+
+[Illustration: ANDRE MASSENA, PRINCE OF ESSLING]
+
+At the very commencement of the campaign Massena committed a fault which
+almost ruined his career. After defeating the enemy's advance guard near
+Cairo, hearing by chance that the Austrian officers had left an
+excellent dinner in a neighbouring inn, he and some of his staff left
+his division on the top of a high hill and set off to enjoy the good
+things prepared for the enemy. At daybreak the enemy attempted a
+surprise on the French position on the hill, and the troops, without
+their general and staff, were in great danger. Fortunately, Massena had
+time to make his way through the Austrian skirmishers and resume his
+command. He was greeted by hoots and jeers, but with absolute
+imperturbability he reorganised his forces and checked the enemy. But
+one battalion was isolated on a spur, from which there seemed no way of
+escape save under a scorching flank fire. Massena made his way alone to
+this detached post, scrambling up the steep slope on his hands and
+knees, and, when he at last reached the troops, remembering his old
+smuggling expedients, he showed them how to glissade down the steep part
+of the hill, and brought them all safely back without a single casualty.
+This escapade came to Bonaparte's ears, and it was only Massena's great
+share in the victory of Montenotte which saved him from a court-martial.
+
+Bonaparte, at the commencement of the campaign, had ended a letter of
+instructions to his lieutenant with the words "Watchfulness and bluff,
+that is the card," and well Massena learned his lesson. Montenotte, the
+bridge of Lodi, the long struggle at Castiglione, the two fights at
+Rivoli and the marshes of Arcola proved beyond doubt that of all the
+young conqueror of Italy's lieutenants, none had the insight, activity,
+and endurance of Massena. But empty flattery did not satisfy him, for as
+early as Lonato, greedy for renown, he considered his success had not
+been fully recognised. In bitter anger he wrote to Bonaparte: "I
+complain of your reports of Lonato and Roveredo, in which you do not
+render me the justice that I merit. This forgetfulness tears my heart
+and throws discouragement on my soul. I will recall the fact under
+compulsion that the victory of Saintes Georges was due to my
+dispositions, to my activity, to my sangfroid, and to my prevision."
+This frank republican letter greatly displeased Bonaparte, who, since
+Lodi, had cherished visions of a crown, and to realise this desire had
+begun to issue his praise and rewards irrespective of merit, and to
+appeal to the private soldier while visiting his displeasure on the
+officers. But Massena's brilliant conduct at the second battle of
+Rivoli, for the moment, blotted out all rancour, for it was Massena who
+had saved the day, who had rushed up to the commander of the shaken
+regiment, bitterly upbraiding him and his officers, showering blows on
+them with the flat of his sword, and had then galloped off and brought
+up two tried regiments of his own invincible division and driven back
+the assailants; from that moment Bonaparte confirmed him in the title of
+"the spoilt child of victory." In 1797 Bonaparte gave his lieutenant a
+more substantial reward when he chose him to carry the despatches to
+Paris which reported the preliminary treaty of Leoben; thus it was as
+the right-hand man of the most distinguished general in Europe that the
+Italian saw for the first time the capital of his adopted country.
+
+In choosing Massena to carry to Paris the tidings of peace, it was not
+only his prestige and renown which influenced Bonaparte. For Paris was
+in a state of half suppressed excitement, and signs were only too
+evident that the Directory was unstable; accordingly the wily Corsican,
+while despatching secret agents to advance his cause, was careful to
+send as the bearer of the good news a man who was well known to care for
+no political rewards, and who would be sure to turn a deaf ear to the
+insidious schemes of those who were plotting to restore the monarchy, or
+to set up a dictatorship, and were searching for a sovereign or a Caesar
+as their political views suggested. It was for these reasons and because
+he was tired of Massena's greed and avarice that Bonaparte refused to
+admit him among those chosen to accompany him to Egypt. Massena saw
+clearly all the secret intrigue of the capital, and found little
+pleasure in his newly gained dignity of a seat among the Ancients, for
+he was extremely afraid of a royalist restoration, in which case he
+feared "our honourable wounds will become the titles for our
+proscription."
+
+Tired of Paris, in 1798, he was glad to accept the command of the French
+corps occupying Rome when its former commander, Berthier, was called
+away to join the Egyptian expedition. On his arrival at Rome, to take
+over his new command, he found himself face to face with a mutiny. The
+troops were in rags and badly fed, their pay was months in arrear, and
+meanwhile the civil servants of the Directory were amassing fortunes at
+the expense of the Pope, the Cardinals, and the Princes of Rome.
+Discontent was so widespread that the new general at once ordered all
+troops, save some three thousand, to leave the capital. Unfortunately
+Massena's record was not such as to inspire confidence in the purity of
+his intentions. Instead of obeying, the officers and men held a mass
+meeting to draft their remonstrance to the Directory. In this document
+they accused, first of all, the agents who had disgraced the name of
+France, and ended by saying, "The final cause of all the discontent is
+the arrival of General Massena. The soldiers have not forgotten the
+extortions and robberies he has committed wherever he has been invested
+with the command. The Venetian territory, and above all Padua, is a
+district teeming with proofs of his immorality." In the face of such
+public feeling Massena found nothing for it but to demand a successor
+and throw up his command.
+
+But with Bonaparte in Egypt and a ring of enemies threatening France
+from all sides, the Directors, whose hands were as soiled as Massena's,
+could ill spare the "spoilt child of victory." Accordingly, early in
+1799 the general found himself invested with the important command of
+the Army of Switzerland. This was a task worthy of his genius and he
+eagerly accepted the post, but refused to abide by the stipulations the
+Directors desired to enforce on him, as, according to their plan, the
+Army of Switzerland was to form part of the Army of the Rhine commanded
+by Joubert. Massena had obeyed Bonaparte, but he had no intention of
+playing second fiddle to any other commander, and, after some stormy
+interviews and letters, he at last had his way. As the year advanced it
+became more and more evident that on the Army of Switzerland would fall
+the full brunt of the attack of the coalition, for Joubert was defeated
+by the Archduke Charles at Stockach and thrown back on the Rhine,
+Scherer was defeated in Italy at Magnano, and by June the Russians and
+Austrians had begun to close in on Switzerland. It was clear that, if
+the French army were driven out of Switzerland, both the Rhine and the
+Maritime Alps would be turned, and the enemy would be in a strong
+position from which to invade France. On Massena, therefore, hung all
+the hopes of the Directory. Fortunately for France, the general was
+admirably versed in mountain warfare. Well aware of the difficulty of
+keeping up communication between the different parts of his line of
+defence, Massena skilfully withdrew his outposts, as the enemy pressed
+on, with the intention of concentrating his troops round Zurich, thereby
+covering all the possible lines of advance. But early in the summer his
+difficulties were further increased by the rising of the Swiss
+peasantry; luckily, however, the Archduke Charles advanced most
+cautiously, while the Aulic Council at Vienna, unable to grasp the vital
+point of the problem, stupidly sent its reserve army to Italy to
+reinforce the Russians under Suvaroff. By June 5th the Archduke had
+driven in all the outlying French columns, and was in a position to
+attack the lines of Zurich with his entire force. Thanks, however, to
+Massena's courage and presence of mind, the attack was driven off, but
+so overwhelming were the numbers of the enemy that during the night the
+French army evacuated Zurich, though only to fall back on a strong
+position on Mount Albis, a rocky ridge at the north end of the lake,
+covered on one flank by the lake and on the other by the river Aar. The
+two armies for the time being lay opposite to each other, too exhausted
+after the struggle to recommence operations. The Archduke Charles
+awaited the arrival from Italy of Suvaroff, who was to debouch on the
+French right by the St. Gothard Pass. But fortune, or rather the Aulic
+Council at Vienna, once again intervened and saved France. The Archduke
+Charles was ordered to leave fifty-five thousand Russians under
+Korsakoff before Zurich and to march northwards and across the Rhine.
+Protests were useless; the Court of Vienna merely ordered the Archduke
+to "perform the immediate execution of its will without further
+objections." But even yet disaster threatened the French, for Suvaroff
+was commencing his advance by the St. Gothard. But Massena at once
+grasped the opportunity fortune had placed in his power by opposing him
+to a commander like Korsakoff, who was so impressed by his own pride
+that he considered a Russian company equal to an Austrian battalion. On
+September 26th, by a masterly series of manoeuvres, the main French
+force surprised Korsakoff and drove him in rout out of Zurich. Suvaroff
+arrived just in time to find Massena in victorious array thrust in
+between himself and his countrymen, and was forced to save himself by a
+hurried retreat through the most difficult passes of the Alps.
+
+The campaign of Zurich will always be studied as a masterpiece in
+defensive warfare. The skilful use the French general made of the
+mountain passes, the methods he employed to check the Archduke's advance
+on Zurich, the care with which he kept up communications between his
+different columns, the skilful choice of the positions of Zurich and
+Mount Albis, his return to the initiative on every opportunity, and his
+masterly interposition between Korsakoff and Suvaroff, alone entitle him
+to a high place among the great commanders of history, and Massena was
+rightly thanked by the legislature and hailed as the saviour of the
+country.
+
+Six weeks after the victory of Zurich came the 18th Brumaire, and
+Napoleon's accession to the consulate. Massena, a staunch republican,
+was conscious of the defects of the Directory, but could not give his
+hearty consent to the coup d'etat, for he feared for the liberty of his
+country. Still, he said, if France desired to entrust her independence
+and glory to one man she could choose none better than Bonaparte. The
+latter, on his side, was anxious to retain Massena's affections, and at
+once offered him the command of the Army of Italy. But the conqueror of
+Zurich foresaw that everything was to be sacrificed to the glory of the
+First Consul, and it was only after great persuasion, profuse promises,
+and appeals to his patriotism that he undertook the command, with the
+stipulation that "I will not take command of an army condemned to rest
+on the defensive. My former services and successes do not permit me to
+change the role that I have heretofore played in the wars of the
+Republic." The First Consul replied by giving Massena carte blanche to
+requisition whatever he wanted, and promised him that the Army of Italy
+should be his first care. But when Massena arrived at Genoa he
+discovered, as he had suspected, that Bonaparte's promises were only
+made to be broken; for he found the troops entrusted to his care the
+mere shadow of an army, the hospitals full, bands of soldiers, even
+whole battalions, quitting their posts and trying to escape into France,
+and the officers and generals absolutely unable to contend with the mass
+of misery and want. In spite of his able lieutenants, Soult and Suchet,
+he could make no head against the Austrians in the field, and after some
+gallant engagements was driven back into Genoa, where, for two months,
+he held out against famine and the assaults of the enemy. While the
+wretched inhabitants starved, the troops were fed on "a miserable ration
+of a quarter of a pound of horse-flesh and a quarter of a pound of what
+was called bread--a horrible compound of damaged flour, sawdust, starch,
+hair-powder, oatmeal, linseed, rancid nuts, and other nasty substances,
+to which a little solidity was given by the admixture of a small portion
+of cocoa. Each loaf, moreover, was held together by little bits of wood,
+without which it would have fallen to powder." A revolt, threatened by
+the inhabitants, was checked by Massena's order that an assemblage of
+over five persons should be fired on, and the approaches to the
+principal streets were commanded by guns. Still he refused to surrender,
+as every day he expected to hear the cannon of the First Consul's army
+thundering on the Austrian rear. One day the hopes of all were aroused
+by a distant roar in the mountains, only to be dashed by finding it to
+be thunder. It was simply the ascendancy of Massena's personality which
+prolonged the agony and upheld his authority, and in bitter earnestness
+the soldiers used to say, "He will make us eat his boots before he will
+surrender." At last the accumulated horrors shook even his firm spirit,
+and on June 4th a capitulation was agreed on. The terms were most
+favourable to the French; but, as Lord Keith, the English admiral, said,
+"General, your defence has been so heroic that we can refuse you
+nothing." However, the sufferings of Genoa were not in vain, for Massena
+had played his part and held the main Austrian force in check for ten
+days longer than had been demanded of him; thus the First Consul had
+time to fall on the enemies' line of communication, and it may be truly
+said that without the siege of Genoa there could have been no Marengo.
+Massena had once again demonstrated the importance of the individual in
+war; as Bonaparte wrote to him during the siege, "In such a situation as
+you are, a man like you is worth twenty thousand men." In spite of this,
+at St. Helena, the Emperor, ever jealous of his own glory, affected to
+despise Massena's generalship and endurance at Genoa, and blamed him for
+not taking the offensive in the field, forgetting the state of his army
+and the paucity of his troops. But at the moment he showed his
+appreciation of his services by giving him the command of the army when
+he himself retired to Paris after the victory of Marengo. Unfortunately
+Massena's avarice and greed were unable to withstand the temptations of
+the position, and the First Consul had very soon to recall him from
+Italy and mark his displeasure by placing him on half-pay.
+
+For two years the disgraced general brooded over his wrongs in
+retirement, and showed his attitude of mind by voting against the
+Consulate for life and the establishment of the Empire. The gift of a
+Marshal's baton did little to reconcile him to the Emperor, for, as he
+scoffingly replied to Thiebault's congratulations, "Oh, there are
+fourteen of us." So uncertain was the Emperor of his Marshal's
+disposition that, on the outbreak of the war with Austria, Massena alone
+of all the greater Marshals held no command. But with the prospect of
+heavy fighting in Italy the Emperor could not afford to entrust the
+Italian divisions to a blunderer, and he once again posted Massena to
+his old command. The Austrians had occupied the strong position of
+Caldiero, near the marshes of Arcola, and the French in vain attempted
+to force them from it, but the success of the Emperor on the Danube at
+last compelled the Archduke John to fall back on Austria. The Marshal at
+once commenced a spirited pursuit, and ultimately joined hands with the
+Grand Army, south of the Danube.
+
+After the treaty of Pressburg Napoleon despatched Massena to conquer
+Naples, which he had given as a kingdom to his brother Joseph. With
+fifty thousand men the Marshal swept through Italy. In vain the gallant
+Queen Caroline armed the lazzaroni; Capua opened its gates, Gaeta fell
+after twelve days' bombardment, and Joseph entered Naples in triumph.
+Calabria alone offered a stern resistance, and this resistance the
+French brought upon themselves by their cruelty to the peasantry, whom
+they treated as brigands. Unfortunately his success in Naples was once
+again tarnished by his greed, for the Marshal, by selling licences to
+merchants and conniving at their escape from the custom-house dues,
+amassed, within a few months of his entering Naples, a sum of three
+million francs. Napoleon heard of this from his spies, and, writing to
+him, demanded a loan of a million francs. The Duke of Rivoli replied
+that he was the poorest of the Marshals, and had a numerous family to
+maintain and was heavily in debt, so he regretted that he could send him
+nothing. Unfortunately, the Emperor knew where he banked in Leghorn, and
+as he refused to disgorge a third of his illicit profits, the Emperor
+sent the inspector of the French Treasury and a police commissary to the
+bank, and demanded that the three millions, which lay at his account
+there, should be handed over. The seizure was made in legal form; the
+banker, who lost nothing, was bound to comply with it. Massena, on
+hearing of this misfortune, was so furious that he fell ill, but he did
+not dare to remonstrate, knowing that he was in the wrong, but he never
+forgave the Emperor: his titles and a pension never consoled him for
+what he lost at Leghorn, and, in spite of his cautious habits, he was
+sometimes heard to say, "I was fighting in his service and he was cruel
+enough to take away my little savings which I had invested at Leghorn."
+
+From what he called a military promenade in Italy the Marshal was
+summoned early in 1807 to the Grand Army in Poland, and was present in
+command of one of the army corps at Pultusk, Ostralenka, and Friedland.
+In 1808 he received his title of Duke of Rivoli and a pension of three
+hundred thousand francs per annum, but in spite of this he absented
+himself from the court. When Joseph was given the crown of Spain he
+requested his brother to send Massena to aid him in his new sphere, but
+the Emperor, full of mistrust, refused, while the Marshal himself had no
+great desire to serve in Spain. When it was clear that Austria was going
+to seize the occasion of the Spanish War once again to fight France,
+Napoleon hastened to send the veteran Duke of Rivoli to the army on the
+Danube. At Abensberg and Eckmuehl, for the first time since 1797, he
+fought under the eye of Napoleon himself. "Activite, activite, vitesse,"
+wrote the Emperor, and well his lieutenant carried out his orders.
+Following up the Five Days' Fighting, Massena led the advance guard to
+Vienna, and commanded the left wing at Aspern-Essling. Standing in the
+churchyard at Aspern, with the boughs swept down by grapeshot crashing
+round him, he was in his element; never had his tenacity, his resource,
+and skill been seen to such advantage. But in spite of his skill and the
+courage of his troops, at the end of the first day's fighting his
+shattered forces were driven out of the heap of smoking ruins which
+marked all that remained of Aspern. On the morning of the second day he
+had regained half of the village when news came that the bridge was
+broken, and that he was to hold off the Austrians while communication
+with the Isle of Lobau was being established. The enemy, invigorated by
+the news of the success of their plan for breaking the bridges, strained
+every nerve to annihilate the French force on the left bank of the
+river, but Massena, Lannes, and Napoleon worked marvels with their
+exhausted troops. The Duke of Rivoli seemed ubiquitous: at one moment on
+horseback and at another on foot with drawn sword, wherever the enemy
+pressed he was there animating his troops, directing their fire,
+hurrying up supports; thus, thanks to his exertions, the Austrians were
+held off, the cavalry and the artillery safely crossed the bridge, and
+the veteran Marshal at midnight brought the last of the rear-guard
+safely to the Isle of Lobau, where, exhausted by fatigue, the troops
+fell asleep in their ranks.
+
+The death of Lannes threw Napoleon back on the Duke of Rivoli, who for
+the time became his confidant and right-hand man. It was Massena who
+commanded at Lobau and made all the arrangements for the crossing before
+Wagram. The Emperor and his lieutenant were indefatigable in the care
+with which they made their preparations. On one occasion, wishing to
+inspect the Austrian position, dressed in sergeants' greatcoats,
+attended by a single aide-de-camp in the kit of a private, they went
+alone up the north bank of the island and took their coats off as if
+they wanted to bathe. The Austrian sentinels, seeing, as they thought,
+two French soldiers enjoying a wash, took no notice of them, and thus
+the Emperor and the Marshal were able to determine the exact spot for
+launching the bridges. On another occasion, while they were riding round
+the island, the Marshal's horse put its foot into a hole and fell, and
+injured the rider's leg so that he could not mount again. This
+unfortunate accident happened a few days before the battle of Wagram, so
+the Duke of Rivoli went into battle lying in a light caleche, drawn by
+four white horses, with his doctor beside him changing the compresses
+on his injured leg every two hours. During the battle Massena's corps
+formed the left of the line. While Davout was carrying out his great
+turning movement, it was the Duke of Rivoli who had to endure the full
+fury of the Austrians' attack. In the pursuit after the battle he
+pressed the enemy with his wonted activity. At the last encounter at
+Znaim he had a narrow escape, for hardly had he got out of his carriage
+when a cannon-ball struck it, and a moment later another shot killed one
+of the horses.
+
+After the treaty of Vienna the Marshal, newly created Prince of Essling,
+retired to rest at his country house at Rueil, but the Emperor could not
+spare him long. In April, 1810, within eight months, he was once again
+hurried off on active service, this time to Spain, where Soult had been
+driven out of Portugal by Sir Arthur Wellesley, and Jourdan and Joseph
+defeated at Talavera. The Emperor promised the Prince of Essling ninety
+thousand troops for the invasion of Portugal, and placed under his
+command Junot and Ney. The Marshal did his best to refuse the post; he
+knew the difficult character of Ney and the jealousy of Junot, and he
+pointed out that it would be better to reorganise the army of Portugal
+under generals appointed by himself. Berthier replied that "the orders
+of the Emperor were positive, and left no point in dispute. When the
+Emperor delegated his authority obedience became a duty; however great
+might be the pride of the Dukes of Elchingen and Abrantes, they had
+enough justice to understand that their swords were not in the same line
+as the sword of the conqueror of Zurich." Still, the Prince foresaw the
+future, and appealed to the Emperor himself, but the Emperor was
+obdurate. "You are out of humour to-day, my dear Massena. You see
+everything black, yourself and your surroundings. To listen to you one
+would think you were half dead. Your age? A good reason! How much older
+are you now than at Essling? Your health? Does not imagination play a
+great part in your weakness? Are you worse than at Wagram? It is
+rheumatism that is troubling you. The climate of Portugal is as warm and
+healthy as Italy, and will put you on your legs.... Set out then with
+confidence. Be prudent and firm, and the obstacles you fear will fade
+away; you have surmounted many worse." Unfortunately for the Marshal,
+his forebodings were truer than the Emperor's optimism. On arriving at
+Salamanca his troubles began. Delays were inevitable before he could
+bring into order his unruly team. Junot and Ney were openly
+contemptuous, Regnier hung back, and was three weeks late in his
+arrangements. Meanwhile, all that Massena saw of the enemy, whom the
+Emperor had in past years stigmatised as the "slow and clumsy English,"
+confirmed him in his opinion that the campaign was going to prove the
+most arduous he had ever undertaken.
+
+In spite of everything, operations opened brilliantly for the French.
+Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida fell without the English commander making any
+apparent effort to relieve them. On September 16th the invasion of
+Portugal commenced. But losses, disease, and garrison duty had already
+reduced his troops to some seventy thousand men, and the French found
+"an enemy behind every stone"; while, as the Prince of Essling wrote,
+"We are marching across a desert; women, children, and old men have all
+fled; in fact, no guide is to be found anywhere." Still the English fell
+back before him, and he was under the impression that they were going to
+evacuate Portugal without a blow, although he grasped the fact that it
+was the immense superiority of the French cavalry which had prevented
+the "sepoy general" making any effort to relieve the fortresses. But on
+September 26th Massena found that the English had stayed their retreat,
+and were waiting to fight him on the rocky ridge of Busaco.
+Unfortunately for his reputation, he made no reconnaissance of the
+position, and, trusting entirely to the reports of Ney, Regnier, and
+Junot, who asserted the position was much less formidable than it
+looked, sustained a heavy reverse. After the battle his lieutenants
+urged him to abandon the invasion of Portugal; but the veteran refused
+such timorous advice, and, rousing himself, soon showed the energy which
+had made his name so famous at Zurich and Rivoli. Turning the position,
+the French swept down on Portugal, while the English hurriedly fell back
+before them. What caused Massena most anxiety was the ominous desertion
+of the countryside. He was well aware of the bitter hatred of the
+Portuguese, and knew that his soldiers tortured and hung the wretched
+inhabitants to force them to reveal hidden stores of provisions, but it
+was not until October 10th, when the French had arrived within a few
+miles of the lines of Torres Vedras, that he learned of the vast
+entrenched camp which the English commander had so secretly prepared for
+his army and the inhabitants of Portugal. Massena was furious, and
+covered with accusations the Portuguese officers on his staff. "Que
+diable," he cried, "Wellington n'a pas construit des montagnes." But
+there had been no treachery, only so well had the secret been kept that
+hardly even an officer in the English army knew of the existence of the
+work, and as Wellington wrote to the minister at Lisbon on October 6th,
+"I believe that you and the Government do not know where the lines are."
+For six weeks the indomitable Marshal lay in front of the position,
+hoping to tempt the English to attack his army, now reduced to sixty
+thousand men. But Wellington, who had planned this victorious reply to
+the axiom that war ought to feed war, grimly sat behind his lines, while
+the English army, well fed from the sea, watched the French writhe in
+the toils of hunger. Massena was now roused, and as his opponent wrote,
+"It is certainly astonishing that the enemy have been able to remain in
+this country so long.... It is an extraordinary instance of what a
+French army can do." At last even Massena had to confess himself beaten
+and fall back on Santarem. The winter passed in a fruitless endeavour on
+the part of the Emperor and the Marshal to force Soult, d'Erlon, and
+Regnier to co-operate for an advance on Lisbon by the left bank of the
+Tagus. Meanwhile, in spite of every effort, the French army dwindled
+owing to disease, desertion, and unending fatigue. So dangerous was the
+country that a despatch could not be sent along the lines of
+communication without an escort of three hundred men. The whole
+countryside had been so swept bare of provisions that a Portuguese spy
+wrote to Wellington saying, "Heaven forgive me if I wrong them in
+believing they have eaten my cat."
+
+By March, 1811, it became clear that the French could no longer maintain
+themselves at Santarem; but so skilful were Massena's dispositions that
+it was three days before Wellington realised that at last the enemy had
+commenced their retreat. Never had the genius of the Marshal stood
+higher than in this difficult retirement from Portugal. With his army
+decimated by hunger and disease, with the victorious enemy always
+hanging on his heels, with his subordinates in open revolt, and a
+Marshal of France refusing to obey orders in the face of the enemy, he
+lost not a single gun, baggage-wagon or invalid. Still, the morale of
+his army was greatly shaken; as he himself wrote, "It is sufficient for
+the enemy to show the heads of a few columns in order to intimidate the
+officers and make them loudly declare that the whole of Wellington's
+army is in sight." When the Marshal at last placed his wearied troops
+behind the fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida, he found his
+difficulties by no means at an end. The Emperor, who "judged men only by
+results," wrote him a letter full of thinly-veiled criticism of his
+operations, while he found that the country round the fortresses was
+now included in the command of the northern army under Bessieres.
+Accordingly he had to apply to that Marshal for leave to revictual and
+equip his troops. Meanwhile Wellington proceeded to besiege Almeida.
+
+By the end of April, after a vigorous correspondence with Bessieres,
+Massena had at last reorganised his army and was once again ready to
+take the field against the English. Reinforced by fifteen hundred
+cavalry of the Guard under Bessieres, at Fuentes d'Onoro he surprised
+the English forces covering the siege of Almeida; after a careful
+reconnaissance at dawn on May 5th he attacked and defeated the English
+right, and had it not been for the action of Bessieres, who spoiled his
+combination by refusing to allow the Guard to charge save by his orders,
+the English would have been totally defeated. Massena wished at all
+hazards to continue the fight on the morrow, but his principal officers
+were strongly opposed to it. Overborne by their counsels, after lying in
+front of the position for three days he withdrew to Ciudad Rodrigo. It
+was through no fault of his that he was beaten at Fuentes d'Onoro;
+Wellington himself confessed how closely he had been pressed when he
+wrote: "Lord Liverpool was quite right not to move thanks for the battle
+of Fuentes, though it was the most difficult I was ever concerned in and
+against the greatest odds. We had nearly three to one against us
+engaged: above four to one of cavalry: and moreover our cavalry had not
+a gallop in them, while some of that of the enemy were quite fresh and
+in excellent order. If Bony had been there we should have been beaten."
+
+Soon after the battle Massena was superseded by Marmont, and retired to
+Paris. The meeting with the Emperor was stormy. "Well, Prince of
+Essling," said Napoleon, "are you no longer Massena?" Explanations
+followed, and the Emperor at last promised that once again he should
+have an opportunity of regaining his glory in Spain. But Fate willed
+otherwise. After Salamanca, when Marmont was recalled, Massena set out
+again for Spain, only to fall ill at Bayonne and to return home and try
+to restore his shattered health at Nice. In 1813 and 1814 he commanded
+the eighth military district, composed of the Rhone Valley, but he was
+getting too old to take strenuous measures and was glad to make
+submission to the Bourbons.
+
+Very cruelly the new Government placed an affront on the Marshal by
+refusing to create him a peer of France under the plea that he was an
+Italian and a foreigner, but in spite of this the Prince remained
+faithful during the first part of the Hundred Days, and only went over
+to Napoleon when he found that the capital and army had recognised the
+Emperor. At Paris the Emperor greeted him with "Well, Massena, did you
+wish to serve as lieutenant to the Duke of Angouleme and fight me ...
+would you have hurled me back into the sea if I had given you time to
+assemble your forces?" The old warrior replied: "Yes, Sire, inasmuch as
+I believed that you were not recalled by the majority of Frenchmen."
+Ill-health prevented the Marshal from actively serving the Emperor. But
+during the interval between Napoleon's abdication and the second
+restoration it fell to the Marshal's lot to keep order in Paris as
+Governor and Commander of the National Guard. The new Government, to
+punish him for the aid he had given to the Emperor, nominated him one of
+the judges of Marshal Ney. This was the last occasion the Prince of
+Essling appeared in public. Suspected as a traitor by the authorities,
+weighed down by the horror of Ney's death and the assassination of his
+old friend Brune, and racked by disease, after a lingering painful
+illness the conqueror of Zurich breathed his last at the age of
+fifty-nine on April 4, 1817. Even then the ultra royalists could not
+conceal their hatred of him. The War Minister, Clarke, Duke of Feltre,
+his old comrade, now turned furious legitimist, had hitherto withheld
+the Marshal's new baton, and it was only the threat of Massena's
+son-in-law, Reille, to place on the coffin the baton the Marshal had
+received from the Emperor which at last forced the Government to send
+the emblem.
+
+Great soldier as he was, Massena's escutcheon was stained by many a
+blot. His avarice was disgusting beyond words, and with avarice went a
+tendency to underhand dealing, harshness, and malice. During the Wagram
+campaign the Marshal's coachman and footman drove him day by day in a
+carriage through all the heat of the fighting. The Emperor complimented
+these brave men and said that of all the hundred and thirty thousand men
+engaged they were the bravest. Massena, after this, felt bound to give
+them some reward, and said to one of his staff that he was going to give
+them each four hundred francs. The staff officer replied that a pension
+of four hundred francs would save them from want in their old age. The
+Marshal, in a fury, turned on his aide-de-camp, exclaiming, "Wretch, do
+you want to ruin me? What, an annuity of four hundred francs! No, no,
+no, four hundred francs once and for all"; adding to his staff, "I would
+sooner see you all shot and get a bullet through my arm than bind myself
+to give an annuity of four hundred francs to any one." The Marshal never
+forgave the aide-de-camp who had thus urged him to spend his money. His
+harshness was also well known, and the excesses of the French troops in
+Switzerland, Naples, and Portugal were greatly owing to his callousness;
+in the campaign in Portugal he actually allowed detachments of soldiers
+to set out with the express intention of capturing all girls between
+twelve and twenty for the use of his men. But while oblivious to the
+sufferings of others, as a father he was affectionate and indulgent. As
+he said after Wagram of his son Prosper, "That young scamp has given me
+more trouble than a whole army corps;" so careful was he of his safety
+that he refused during the second day of the battle to allow him to
+take his turn among the other aides-de-camp; but the young Massena was
+too spirited to endure this, and Napoleon, hearing of the occurrence,
+severely reprimanded the Marshal. Staunch republican by profession,
+blustering and outspoken at times, he was at bottom a true Italian, and
+knew well how to use the delicate art of flattery. Writing in 1805 to
+the Minister of War, he thus ends a despatch: "I made my first campaign
+with His Majesty, and it was under his orders that I learned what I know
+of the trade of arms. We were together in the Army of Italy." Again,
+when at Fontainebleau he had the misfortune to lose an eye when out
+pheasant shooting, he attacked Berthier as the culprit, although he knew
+full well that the Emperor was the only person who had fired a shot.
+
+But in spite of all this meanness and his many defects, he must always
+be remembered as one of the great soldiers of France, a name at all
+times to conjure with. Both Napoleon and Wellington have paid their
+tribute to his talents. At St. Helena the fallen Emperor said that of
+all his generals the Prince of Essling "was the first," and the Duke,
+speaking to Lord Ros of the French commanders, said, "Massena gave me
+more trouble than any of them, because when I expected to find him weak,
+he generally contrived somehow that I should find him strong." The
+Marshal was a born soldier. War was with him an inspiration; being all
+but illiterate, he never studied it theoretically, but, as one of his
+detractors admits, "He was a born general: his courage and tenacity did
+the rest. In the best days of his military career he saw accurately,
+decided promptly, and never let himself be cast down by reverses." It
+was owing to this obstinacy combined with clear vision that his great
+successes were gained, and the dogged determination he showed at Zurich,
+Loano, Rivoli and Genoa was no whit impaired by success or by old age,
+as he proved at Essling, Wagram, and before the lines of Torres Vedras.
+Like his great commander, none knew better than the Prince of Essling
+that fortune must be wooed, and, as Napoleon wrote to him, "It is not to
+you, my dear general, that I need to recommend the employment of
+audacity." In spite of his ill success in his last campaign, to the end
+the Prince of Essling worthily upheld his title of "The spoilt child of
+victory."
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+JEAN BAPTISTE JULES BERNADOTTE, MARSHAL, PRINCE OF PONTE CORVO, KING OF
+SWEDEN
+
+
+Gascony has ever been the mother of ambitious men, and many a ruler has
+she supplied to France. But in 1789 few Gascons even would have believed
+that ere twenty years had passed one Gascon would be sitting on the
+Bourbon throne of Naples and a second would be Crown Prince of Sweden,
+the adopted son of the House of Vasa.
+
+Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, the son of a petty lawyer, was born at Pau on
+January 26, 1763. At the age of seventeen he enlisted in the Royal
+Marine regiment and passed the next nine years of his life in garrison
+towns in Corsica, Dauphine and Provence. His first notable exploit
+occurred in 1788, when, as sergeant, he commanded a section of the
+Marines whose duty it was to maintain order at Grenoble during the
+troubles which preceded the outbreak of the Revolution. The story goes
+that Bernadotte was responsible for the first shedding of blood. One
+day, when the mob was threatening to get out of hand, a woman rushed out
+of the crowd and caught the sergeant a cuff on the face, whereon the
+fiery Gascon ordered his men to open fire. In a moment the answer came
+in a shower of bricks. Blood had been shed, and from that moment the
+people of France declared war to the death on the old regime. Impetuous,
+generous, warm-hearted and ambitious, for the next three years Jean
+Baptiste pursued a policy which is typical of his whole career. Ready
+when at white heat of passion to take the most extreme measures, even to
+fire on the crowd, in calmer moments full of enthusiasm for the Rights
+of Man and the well-being of his fellows; spending long hours haranguing
+his comrades on the iniquity of kingship and the necessity of taking up
+arms against all of noble birth, yet standing firm by his colonel,
+because in former days he had done him a kindness, and saving his
+officers from the mutineers who were threatening to hang them; watching
+every opportunity to push his own fortunes, Bernadotte pursued his way
+towards success. Promotion came rapidly: colonel in 1792, the next year
+general of brigade, and a few months later general of division, he owed
+his advancement to the way in which he handled his men. Naturally great
+neither as tactician or as strategist, he could carry out the orders of
+others and above all impart his fiery nature to his troops; his success
+on the battlefield was due to his personal magnetism, whereby he
+inspired others with his own self-confidence. But with all this
+self-confidence there was blended in his character a curious strain of
+hesitation. Again and again during his career he let "I dare not" wait
+upon "I would." Gascon to the backbone, full of craft and wile, with an
+eye ever on the future, at times he allowed his restless imagination to
+conjure up dangers instead of forcing it to show him the means to gain
+his end. When offered the post of general of brigade, and again when
+appointed general of division, he refused the step because he had
+divined that Jacobin would persecute Girondist, that ultra-Jacobin would
+overthrow Jacobin, and that a reaction would sweep away the
+Revolutionists, and he feared that the generals of the army might share
+the fate of those who appointed them. After his magnificent attack at
+Fleurus, he was at last compelled to accept promotion by Kleber, who
+rode up to him and cried out, "You must accept the grade of general of
+brigade here on the field of battle, where you have so truly earned it.
+If you refuse you are no friend of mine." Thereon Bernadotte accepted
+the post, considering that he could, if necessary, prove that he had not
+received it as a political favour. The years 1794-6 saw Bernadotte on
+continuous active service with the Army of the Sambre and Meuse, now in
+the Rhine valley, now in the valley of the Danube. Every engagement from
+Fleurus to Altenkirchen added more and more to his reputation with the
+authorities and to his hold on the affection of his men. "He is the God
+of armies," cried his soldiers, as they followed him into the fire-swept
+zone. His courage, personality and physical beauty captivated all who
+approached him. Tall, erect, with masses of coal black hair, the great
+hooked nose of a falcon, and dark flashing eyes indicating Moorish blood
+in his veins, he could crush the soul out of an incipient revolt with a
+torrent of cutting words, and in a moment turn the mutineers into the
+most loyal and devoted of soldiers. During the long revolutionary wars
+he always kept before him the necessity of preparing for peace, and
+found time to educate himself in history and political science. It was
+with the reputation of being one of the best divisional officers of the
+Army of the Sambre and Meuse, and a political power of no small
+importance, that, at the end of 1796, Bernadotte was transferred with
+his division to the Army of Italy, commanded by Bonaparte. From their
+very first meeting friction arose. They were like Caesar and Pompey, "the
+one would have no superior, the other would endure no equal." Bonaparte
+already foresaw the day when France should lie at his feet; he
+instinctively divined in Bernadotte a possible rival. Bernadotte,
+accustomed to the adulation of all with whom he came in contact, felt
+the loss of it in his new command, where soldiers and officers alike
+could think and speak of nobody save the conqueror of Italy. Yet neither
+could afford to break with the other, neither could as yet foretell
+what the future would bring forth, so amid an occasional flourish of
+compliments, a secret and vindictive war was waged between the two. As
+commander-in-chief, Bonaparte, for the time being, held the whip hand
+and could show his dislike by severe reprimands. "Wherever your division
+goes, there is nothing but complaints of its want of discipline."
+Bernadotte, on his side, anxious to win renown, would appeal to the
+"esprit" of his soldiers of the Sambre and Meuse, and would spoil
+Bonaparte's careful combinations by attempting a frontal attack before
+the turning movement was effected by the Italian divisions. By the end
+of the campaign it was clear to everybody that there was no love lost
+between the two. After Leoben Bonaparte was for the moment the supreme
+figure in France. As plenipotentiary at Leoben and commander-in-chief of
+"the Army of England" he could impose his will on the Directory.
+Bernadotte, in disgust at seeing the success of his rival, for some time
+seriously considered withdrawing from public life, or at any rate from
+France, where his reputation was thus overshadowed. Among various posts,
+the Directory offered him the command of the Army of Italy, but he
+refused them all, till at last he consented to accept that of ambassador
+at Vienna. Vienna was for the time being the pole round which the whole
+of European politics revolved, and accordingly there was great
+possibility there of achieving diplomatic renown. But scarcely had the
+new ambassador arrived at his destination when he heard of Bonaparte's
+projected expedition to Egypt. He at once determined to return to
+France. He felt that his return ought to be marked by something which
+might appeal to the populace. Accordingly he adopted a device at once
+simple and effective.
+
+[Illustration: JEAN BAPTISTE BERNADOTTE, KING OF SWEDEN
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY HILAIRE LE DRU]
+
+Jacobin at heart when his interest did not clash with his principles, he
+had from his arrival at Vienna determined to show the princes and
+dignitaries of an effete civilisation that Frenchmen were proud of their
+Revolution and believed in nothing but the equality of all men; he
+refused to conform to court regulations and turned his house into a club
+for the German revolutionists. His attitude was of course resented, and
+there was considerable feeling in Vienna against the French Embassy. It
+only required, therefore, a little more bravado and a display of the
+tricolour on the balcony of the Embassy to induce the mob to attack the
+house. Immediately this occurred Bernadotte lodged a complaint, threw up
+his appointment, and withdrew to France as a protest against this
+"scoundrelly" attack on the honour of his country and the doctrine of
+the equality of men.
+
+On his arrival at Paris he found the Directory shaken to its foundation.
+Sieyes, the inveterate constitution-monger, who saw the necessity of "a
+man with a head and a sword," greeted him joyfully; the banishment of
+Pichegru, the death of Hoche, the disgrace of Moreau, and the absence of
+Bonaparte had left Bernadotte for the moment the most important of the
+political soldiers of the Revolution. Acting on Sieyes's advice,
+Bernadotte refused all posts offered him either in the army or in the
+Government and awaited developments. Meanwhile he became very intimate
+with Joseph Bonaparte, who introduced him to his sister-in-law, Desire
+Clary. The Clarys were merchants of Marseilles, and Desire had for some
+time been engaged to Napoleon Bonaparte, who had jilted her on meeting
+Josephine. Desire, very bitter at this treatment, accepted Bernadotte,
+as she said in later life, "because I was told that he was a man who
+could hold his own against Napoleon." This marriage was a master-stroke
+of policy; it at once gave Bernadotte the support of the Bonaparte
+family, for Bonaparte in his way was still fond of Desire, and at the
+same time it gave Bernadotte a partner who at bottom hated Napoleon with
+a rancour equal to his own. After the disasters in Italy and on the
+Danube, on July 2, 1799, Bernadotte, thinking the time was come,
+accepted the post of Minister of War. He speedily put in the field a
+new army of one hundred thousand men, and by his admirable measures for
+the instruction of conscripts and for the collection of war material he
+was in no small way responsible, not only for Massena's victory of
+Zurich, but, as Napoleon himself confessed, for the triumph of Marengo.
+
+His term of office, however, was short, for his colleagues intrigued
+against him. Sieyes desired a man who would overthrow the Directory and
+establish a dictatorship: Barras was coquetting with the Bourbons.
+Bernadotte himself talked loudly of the safety of the Republic, but had
+not the courage to jump with Sieyes or to crouch with Barras. Oppressed
+by doubt, his imagination paralysed his action, and his personality,
+which only blazed when in movement, became dull. Still trusting his
+reputation and thinking that he was indispensable to the Directory, he
+tendered his resignation, hoping thus to check the intrigues of Sieyes
+and Barras. To his surprise it was at once accepted, and he found
+himself a mere nonentity.
+
+On September 14th Bernadotte resigned, on October 9th Napoleon landed at
+Frejus. During the Revolution of the 18th Brumaire Bernadotte remained
+in the background. Desiring the safety of France by the reorganisation
+of the Directory, hating the idea of a dictatorship, jealous of the
+success of his rival, he refused to join the stream of generals which
+hurried to the feet of the conqueror of Italy and Egypt. Bonaparte, who
+could read his soul like a book, attempted to draw his rival into his
+net, but, as ever, the Gascon could not make up his mind. At first he
+was inclined to join in the conspiracy, but at last he refused, and told
+Bonaparte that, if the Directory commanded him, he would take up arms
+against those who plotted against the Republic. Still, even on the
+eventful day he hesitated, and appeared in the morning among the other
+conspirators at Bonaparte's house, but not in uniform, thinking thus to
+serve both parties.
+
+During the years which succeeded the establishment of the Consulate,
+Bernadotte waged an unending subterranean war against Napoleon. Scarcely
+a year passed in which his name was not connected with some conspiracy
+to overthrow the First Consul. Of these Napoleon was well advised, but
+Bernadotte was too cunning to allow himself to be compromised
+absolutely. However much he might sympathise with the conspirators and
+lend them what aid he could, he always refused to sign his name to any
+document. Accordingly, although on one occasion a bundle of seditious
+proclamations was found in the boot of his aide-de-camp's carriage, the
+charge could not be brought home. On another occasion, when it was
+proved that he had advanced twelve thousand francs to the conspirator
+Cerrachi, he could prove that it was the price he had paid the artist
+for a bust. In spite of the fact that no definite proof could be brought
+against him, the First Consul could easily, if he chose, have produced
+fraudulent witnesses or have had him disposed of by a court-martial, as
+he got rid of the Duc d'Enghien. Napoleon waited his time. He was afraid
+of a Jacobin outbreak if he made a direct attack against him. Further,
+Bernadotte had a zealous friend and ally in Joseph Bonaparte. So when
+pressed to take stern measures against his enemy, Napoleon always
+refused to do so, partly from policy, partly because of his former love
+for Desire, and partly from the horror of a scandal in his family, which
+might weaken his position when he seized the imperial throne.
+Accordingly he attempted in every way to conciliate his rebellious
+subject, and at the same time to place him in positions where he could
+do no political harm. Together with Brune and Marmont, he made him a
+Senator. He offered him the command of the Army of Italy, and, when
+Bernadotte refused and demanded employment at home, he posted him to the
+command of the division in Brittany, with headquarters at Rennes. But
+the First Consul found that Rennes, far off as it was, was too close to
+Paris; accordingly he tried to tempt his Jacobin general by important
+posts abroad. He proposed in succession the embassy at Constantinople,
+the captain-generalcy at Guadaloupe, and the governorship of Louisiana,
+but Bernadotte refused to leave France. At last, early in 1803 Napoleon
+nominated him minister to the United States. Three times the squadron of
+frigates got ready to accompany the new minister, but each time the
+minister postponed his departure. Meanwhile war broke out with England,
+and Bernadotte was retained in France as general on the unattached list,
+owing to the efforts of Joseph.
+
+On the establishment of the Empire Napoleon included Bernadotte's name
+among the number of the Marshals, partly to please his brother Joseph
+and to maintain the prestige of his family and partly, as in the case of
+Augereau, Massena and Jourdan, to win over the staunch republicans and
+Jacobins to the imperial regime. For the moment the Emperor achieved his
+object. The ex-Jacobin, proud of his new title and luxuriating in his
+lately acquired estate of Grosbois, was actually grateful; but still,
+Gascon-like, he wanted more and complained he had not enough to maintain
+his proper state. Napoleon, hearing of this from Fouche, exclaimed:
+"Take from the public treasury enough to put this right. I want
+Bernadotte to be content. He is just beginning to say he is full of
+attachment for my person; this may attach him more." But a few days
+later the Marshal revealed his true feelings when, talking of Napoleon
+to Lucien, he said, "There will be no more glory save in his presence
+and by his side and through his means, and unfortunately all for him."
+
+Though the Emperor had promoted him to honour, it was no part of his
+scheme to allow to remain in Paris a man who, as Talleyrand said, "was
+capable of securing four cut-throats and making away with Napoleon
+himself if necessary, a furious beast, a grenadier capable of all and
+everything, a man to be kept at a distance at all cost." Accordingly the
+Marshal very soon found himself sent to replace Mortier in command of
+the "Army of Hanover."
+
+For fifteen months Bernadotte administered Hanover, and the subtle
+courtesy he showed to friend and foe alike made him as usual the adored
+of all with whom he came in contact. But whatever he did, the Emperor
+still suspected him, and gave the cue to all, that Bernadotte was not to
+be trusted and was no soldier. Napoleon always took care that Bernadotte
+should never have under his command French soldiers. His troops in 1805
+were Bavarians; in 1807, Poles; in 1808, a mixture of Dutch and
+Spaniards; and in 1809, of Poles and Saxons. Berthier, working out the
+Emperor's ideas, and himself also hating Bernadotte, took care that in
+the allotment of duties the disagreeable and unimportant tasks should
+fall to the Marshal. In spite of the inferiority of his troops,
+Bernadotte as usual distinguished himself in the hour of battle. At
+Austerlitz, at the critical moment, he saw that unless the centre was
+heavily supported Napoleon's plan of trapping the Russians must fail, so
+without waiting orders he detached a division towards the northern
+slopes of the plateau, and thus materially assisted in winning the day.
+But though quickwitted and alert on the battlefield, he never shone in
+strategy. In the movements which led up to a battle he was always slow
+and inclined to hesitate, and his detractors seized on this fault to
+declare, with Napoleon's connivance, that he was a traitor to the
+Emperor and to France. An incident of the campaign of 1806 gave the
+Marshal's enemies an excellent opening for showing their dislike.
+Napoleon, thinking he had cornered the whole Prussian army at Jena on
+the night of October 13th, sent orders to Bernadotte to fall back from
+Naumburg and get across the Prussian line of retreat. In pursuance of
+these orders the Marshal left Naumburg at dawn on the morning of the
+14th and marched in the direction of Apolda, which he reached, in spite
+of the badness of the roads, by 4 p.m., and thereby captured about a
+thousand prisoners. But Napoleon had been mistaken in his calculations;
+the main Prussian force was not at Jena, but at Auerstaedt, where it was
+most pluckily engaged and beaten by Davout, who at once sent to ask aid
+of Bernadotte; but the Marshal, according to Napoleon's definite orders,
+pursued his way to Apolda. The Emperor, to vent his dislike against
+Bernadotte and to cover up his own mistake, asserted that he had sent
+him orders to go to Davout's assistance, but a careful examination of
+the French despatches proves that no such document existed; in fact, the
+official despatches completely exonerate Bernadotte. Before the campaign
+was finished, Napoleon had to give the Marshal the praise he merited,
+when, aided by Soult and Murat, he at last forced Bluecher to surrender
+with twenty-five thousand men and all the Prussian artillery at Luebeck.
+At Eylau Bernadotte's ill luck once again pursued him, for the staff
+officers sent to order him to march to the field of battle were taken by
+the enemy. This misfortune gave another opportunity to his detractors,
+and again the Emperor lent his authority to their false accusations.
+While secretly countenancing every attack on the Marshal, the Emperor,
+for family reasons, was loth to come to an open breach. On June 5, 1806,
+he had created him Prince of Ponte Corvo, a small principality in Italy
+wedged in between the kingdom of Naples and the Papal States; his reason
+for so doing he explained in a letter to his brother Joseph, the King of
+Naples. "When I gave the title of duke and prince to Bernadotte, it was
+in consideration of you, for I have in my armies many generals who have
+served me better and on whose attachment I can count more. But I thought
+it proper that the brother-in-law of the Queen of Naples should hold a
+distinguished position in your country." It was for this reason also
+that, after the treaty of Tilsit, the Emperor presented the Prince with
+vast domains in Poland and Hanover.
+
+During the interval between the peace of Tilsit and the outbreak of the
+war with Austria in 1809, the Prince of Ponte Corvo returned to his duty
+of administering Hanover. Pursuing his former policy of ingratiating
+himself with everybody, he renewed his old friendships with all classes,
+and gained the goodwill of his neighbours in Denmark and Swedish
+Pomerania, showing a suavity which was in marked contrast to rigid
+disciplinarians of the school of Davout. Such conduct, however, did not
+gain the approval of the Emperor, whose policy was, by enforcing the
+continental system, to squeeze to death the Hanseatic towns, which were
+England's best customers.
+
+The Marshal was so keenly aware of the displeasure of the Emperor and
+the hatred of many of his advisers, especially of Berthier, the chief of
+the staff, that he actually asked to be placed on half pay at the
+commencement of the campaign of 1809, but the Emperor refused his
+request. He had determined to end the unceasing struggle between himself
+and Bernadotte. The battle of Wagram gave him his opportunity. On the
+first day of the battle, the Marshal had severely criticised, in the
+hearing of some of his officers, the methods the Emperor had adopted for
+crossing the Danube and attacking the Archduke Charles, boasting that if
+he had been in command he would by a scientific manoeuvre have
+compelled the Archduke to lay down his arms almost without a blow. Some
+enemy told the Emperor of this boast. On the next day Bernadotte's corps
+was broken by the Austrian cavalry and only saved from absolute
+annihilation by the personal exertion of the Marshal and his staff, who,
+by main force, stopped and re-formed the crowd of fugitives. The Emperor
+arrived on the scene at the moment the Marshal had just succeeded in
+staying the rout, and sarcastically inquired, "Is that the scientific
+manoeuvre by which you were going to make the Archduke lay down his
+arms?" and before the Marshal could make reply continued, "I remove you,
+sir, from the command of the army corps which you handle so badly.
+Withdraw at once and leave the Grand Army within twenty-four hours; a
+bungler like you is no good to me." Such treatment was more than the
+Marshal's fiery temperament could stand, and accordingly, contrary to
+all military regulations and etiquette, he issued a bulletin without the
+authority of the Emperor praising the Saxon troops, and thus magnifying
+his own importance. The Emperor was furious, and sent a private
+memorandum to the rest of the Marshals declaring that, "independently of
+His Majesty having commanded his army in person, it is for him alone to
+award the degree of glory each has merited. His Majesty owes the success
+of his arms to the French troops and to no foreigners.... To Marshal
+Macdonald and his troops is due the success which the Prince of Ponte
+Corvo takes to himself." It seemed as if Bernadotte's career was
+finished.
+
+The Emperor found he had no longer any reason to fear him, and for the
+moment determined to crush him completely. So when he heard that Clarke
+had despatched the Prince to organise the resistance to the English at
+Flushing, he at once superseded him by Bessieres. But the prospect of an
+alliance by marriage with either Russia or Austria once again caused the
+Emperor to reflect on the necessity of avoiding scandal and discord in
+his own family; accordingly he determined to try and propitiate the
+Marshal by sending him as his envoy to Rome. To a born intriguer like
+Bernadotte, Rome seemed to spell absolute exile, and accordingly, in the
+lowest of spirits, he set about to find excuse to delay his journey,
+little thinking that fortune had turned and was at last about to raise
+him to those heights of which he had so long dreamed. Long before, in
+1804, at the time of the establishment of the Empire, he had secretly
+visited the famous fortune-teller, Mademoiselle Lenormand, who had told
+him that he also should be a king and reign, but his kingdom would be
+across the sea. His boundless ambition, stimulated by Southern
+superstition, had fed itself on this prophecy, even when the breach with
+Napoleon seemed to close the door to all hope.
+
+In May, 1809, a revolution in Sweden had deposed the incapable Gustavus
+IV. and set up as King his uncle Charles, Duke of Sudermania. The new
+King, Charles XIII., was old and childless. Accordingly the question of
+the succession filled all men's minds. With Russia pressing in on the
+east and Denmark hostile on the west, it was important to find some one
+round whom all might rally, by preference a soldier. It was of course
+obvious that France, the traditional ally of Sweden, dominated Europe.
+Accordingly the Swedes determined to seek their Crown Prince from the
+hands of Napoleon. Now, of all the Marshals, Bernadotte had had most to
+do with the Swedes. At Hamburg he had had constant questions to settle
+with the Pomeranians. At the time of Bluecher's surrender at Luebeck he
+had treated with great courtesy certain Swedish prisoners. It seemed
+therefore to the Swedish King's advisers that the Prince of Ponte Corvo,
+the brother-in-law of King Joseph, the hero of Austerlitz, was the most
+suitable candidate they could find. Napoleon, however, was furious when
+he heard that a deputation had arrived to offer the position of Crown
+Prince of Sweden to Bernadotte. Too diplomatic to refuse to allow the
+offer to be made, he set to work at once secretly to undermine the
+Marshal's popularity in Sweden, and while pretending to leave the
+decision to Bernadotte himself, assured his friends that the Marshal
+would never dare to accept the responsibility. But Napoleon had
+miscalculated. Some kind friend informed the Marshal of what the Emperor
+had said, and, as Bernadotte himself admitted, it was the taunt, "He
+will never dare," which decided him to accept the Swedish offer. Before
+the Crown Prince elect quitted France the Emperor attempted to place on
+him the condition that he should never bear arms against him; but
+Bernadotte, foreseeing the future, refused to give any such promise,
+and at last the Emperor gave in with the angry words, "Go; our destinies
+will soon be accomplished!"
+
+The Crown Prince took with him to Sweden his eldest son, who had
+curiously, by the whim of his godfather, Napoleon, been named Oscar. But
+his wife, Desire, could not tear herself away from Paris, where she had
+collected a coterie of artists and writers; her salon was greatly
+frequented by restless intriguers like Talleyrand and Fouche. Woman of
+pleasure as she was, the gaiety of Paris was the breath of her nostrils.
+Accordingly the Crown Princess remained behind, as it were the hostage
+for the Prince's good behaviour, but in reality a spy and secret
+purveyor of news hostile to Napoleon.
+
+On landing in Sweden the Crown Prince took all by storm. His good looks,
+his affability, his great prestige and his apparent love for his new
+country created an enthusiasm almost beyond belief. But while everything
+seemed so favourable the crafty Gascon from the first foresaw the
+dangers which beset his path. Napoleon hated him. Russia looked on him
+with distrust and desired to absorb Sweden. England and the other Powers
+mistrusted him as the tool of the Emperor. Accordingly, the moment he
+landed at Gothenburg the Prince clearly defined the line he intended to
+pursue, exclaiming, "I refuse to be either the prefect or the
+custom-house officer of Napoleon." This decision meant a complete
+reversal of Swedish foreign policy and a breach with France. Fortunately
+for Bernadotte the old King, Charles XIII., was only too glad to leave
+everything to his adopted son. Since it was impossible to make a
+complete volte face in a moment, the Crown Prince was content to allow
+the Swedes to taste to the full the misery of trying to enforce the
+continental system. For he knew what disastrous effect a war with
+England would have on Swedish trade, and he foresaw that his subjects
+would soon be glad to accept any policy whereby their sea-borne commerce
+might be saved. While the Swedes were learning the folly of fighting
+the mistress of the sea, the Crown Prince had time to make his plans, so
+that when the moment arrived he might step forward as the saviour of the
+country. It was quite clear that a breach with France must mean the loss
+of Pomerania and all hope of regaining the lost provinces on the
+southern shores of the Baltic. But Bernadotte determined to find in
+Norway a _quid pro quo_ for Pomerania. To force Russia, the hereditary
+foe of Sweden, to make her hereditary ally, Denmark, grant Norway to
+Sweden, would be a master-stroke of diplomacy, while an alliance with
+Russia would guarantee the Swedish frontiers and would bring peace with
+England, because Russia was on the point of breaking with the
+continental system. The Swedes would thus gain Norway and recover their
+sea-borne trade, while the Crown Prince would be acknowledged as the
+legitimate heir of the royal house of Vasa and no longer regarded as an
+interloper, a mere puppet of Napoleon.
+
+Success crowned the efforts of the elated Gascon. The Czar, with the
+prospect of a French invasion at his door, was delighted beyond measure
+to find in Sweden an ally instead of a foe. In August, 1812, he invited
+the Crown Prince to Russia and the treaty of Aboe was signed, whereby
+Russia promised to lend her aid to Sweden to gain Norway as the price of
+her help against France; a little later a treaty was concluded between
+England and Sweden. The Crown Prince returned from Aboe full of relief;
+not only was he now received into the inner circle of legitimate
+sovereigns, but the Czar had actually volunteered that if Napoleon fell
+"I would see with pleasure the destinies of France in your hands."
+Alexander had kindled a flame which never died as long as Bernadotte
+lived. The remainder of his life might be summed up as an effort to gain
+the crown of France, followed by a period of vain regrets at the failure
+of his hopes.
+
+On returning to Stockholm the Crown Prince found himself surrounded by
+a crowd of cosmopolitan admirers, the most important of whom was Madame
+de Stael, who regarded him as the one man who could restore France to
+prosperity. His flatterers likened him to Henry IV. and harped on the
+fact that he also came from Bearn. But in France men cursed the
+traitorous Frenchman who was going to turn his sword against his
+country, and his name was expunged from the list of the Marshals and
+from the rolls of the Senate, while the Emperor bitterly regretted that
+he had not sent him to learn Swedish at Vincennes, the great military
+prison. When, in accordance with his treaty obligations, early in 1813
+the Crown Prince of Sweden landed at Stralsund to take part in the war
+against Napoleon, his position was a difficult one. The one object of
+the Allies was to overthrow Napoleon, the one object of the Crown Prince
+was to become King of France on Napoleon's fall. The Allies therefore
+had to beat the French troops, but the Crown Prince would ruin his hopes
+if French soldiers were beaten by the troops under his command. It was
+clear that Napoleon could only be overcome by the closest co-operation
+of all the Allies. Accordingly the Czar and the King of Prussia summoned
+the Crown Prince to a conference at Trachenberg in Silesia and did their
+best to gratify his pride. The plan of campaign was then arranged, and
+the Prince returned to command the allied forces in Northern Germany. At
+St. Helena the Emperor declared that it was Bernadotte who showed the
+Allies how to win by avoiding all conflict with himself and defeating
+the Marshals in detail. With great bitterness he added, "He gave our
+enemies the key to our policy, the tactics of our armies, and showed
+them the way to the sacred soil of France." Be this as it may, his
+conduct during the campaign justified the suspicion with which he was
+regarded by friend and foe. Only three times did the Prince's army come
+in contact with the forces of the Emperor. At Grosbeeren and Dennewitz,
+where his divisional officers fought and won, the Prince kept
+discreetly in the rear. At Leipzig he held back so long that the French
+army very nearly escaped. It was the taunt of his chief of the staff,
+"Do you know that the soldiers say you are afraid and do not dare to
+advance?" which at last forced him into battle. But while thus he
+offended his allies, he gained no respect from his former countrymen. He
+had always believed that his presence alone was sufficient to bring over
+the French troops to his side, but his first attempt ought to have
+shattered this delusion. At Stettin, during the armistice, he entered
+the fortress and tried to seduce the governor, an ex-Jacobin and
+erstwhile friend. As he left the town a cannon was fired and a ball
+whistled past his ear. He at once sent a flag of truce to demand an
+explanation for this breach of the etiquette of war, whereon his friend
+the ex-Jacobin replied, "It was simply a police affair. We gave the
+signal that a deserter was escaping and the mainguard fired." In spite
+of this warning and many other indications, Bernadotte failed to
+understand how completely he had lost his influence in France, and while
+the Allies were advancing on Paris his secret agents were busy,
+especially in Southern France, trying to win the people to his cause.
+Keeping well in the rear of the invading armies, he entirely neglected
+his military duties and passed his time listening to the reports of
+worthless spies. The result of his intrigues was that he quite lost
+touch with the trend of events at the front, and when Paris fell,
+instead of being on the spot, he was far away. The Czar, long disgusted
+with his delays, no longer pressed his suit, and finding an apparent
+desire for a Bourbon restoration, accepted the return of that house. So
+when the Crown Prince came to Paris he found nothing for it but to make
+his best bow to the Bourbons and slink away home to gain what comfort he
+could in the conquest of Norway. Thus once again was Sieyes' saying
+proved correct: "He is a blackbird who thinks himself an eagle."
+
+On his return home his Swedish subjects gave their Crown Prince a very
+warm welcome. They knew of none of his intrigues or tergiversations,
+they only saw in him the victorious conqueror of Napoleon, who, by his
+successful campaigns, was bringing peace and prosperity to Sweden, by
+his diplomacy had acquired Norway, and by his clever huckstering had
+gained twenty million francs for ceding to France the isle of
+Guadaloupe, of which Sweden had never taken possession, and another
+twelve millions for parting with the lost Pomeranian provinces. But in
+spite of his popularity at home the Crown Prince had much to make him
+anxious abroad. At the Congress of Vienna a strong party backed the
+claims of the deposed Gustavus IV., and it was only the generous aid of
+the Czar which defeated this conspiracy. Further, the attitude of the
+Powers clearly showed him how precarious was the position of an intruder
+among the hereditary rulers of Europe. Consequently, when Napoleon
+returned from Elba the Prince exclaimed: "The cause of the Bourbons is
+for ever lost," and for a moment thought of throwing in his lot with the
+Emperor. But the sudden defeat of Murat came as a warning, and he
+hastened to offer the aid of twenty-six thousand troops to the Allies.
+Though outwardly in accord with them, the Crown Prince secretly hoped
+for the victory of Napoleon; to his intimates he proclaimed that
+"Napoleon was the first captain of all ages, the greatest human being
+who had ever lived, superior to Hannibal, to Caesar, and even to Moses."
+Whereat the Crown Princess, who had at last rejoined her husband in
+Sweden, replied: "You ought to exclude Moses, who was the envoy of God,
+whereas Napoleon is the envoy of the Devil."
+
+The news of Waterloo once again drove the Prince's ideas into their old
+current. Surely France must now recognise that he alone could save her;
+but the second restoration dashed his hopes to the ground. Yet hope
+springs eternal in the human breast, and Bernadotte, year by year,
+watched the trend of French politics with an anxious eye. Even as late
+as the Revolution of 1830 he still thought it was possible that France
+might call him to be her ruler, and he never lost the chance of doing
+the Bourbons an ill-turn. In spite of these intrigues, save for an
+appeal lodged in 1818 against the high-handed conduct of the Quadruple
+Alliance in interfering between Sweden and Denmark, Bernadotte's
+European career really ended with the fall of Napoleon. As Charles XIV.
+he ascended the Swedish throne on February 18, 1818, on the death of his
+adoptive father. As King he pursued the same policy as Crown Prince,
+alliance with Russia. His internal policy was based on the principle of
+maintaining his dynasty at all costs. With this object, in Sweden he
+ruled more or less as a benevolent despot, consulting his States General
+as little as possible, paying the greatest attention to commerce and
+industry, and opening up the mines and waterways of the country. In
+Norway, however, where the Storthing had long enjoyed great powers, he
+ruled as a liberal constitutional monarch, and with such good fortune
+did he and his successors pursue their policy that of all the diplomatic
+expedients arranged at the Congress of Vienna, the cession of Norway to
+Sweden stood the test of time the longest, and it was not till 1906 that
+the principle of nationality was at last enforced in Scandinavia.
+
+Though Charles XIV. made no attempt to interfere in European politics,
+the princes of Europe could never shake off their dislike of him,
+standing as he did as the one survival of Napoleon's system. When the
+time came for his son Oscar to seek a bride, the Swedish proposals were
+met with scorn in Denmark and Prussia, and even in Mecklenburg-Anhalt
+and Hesse-Cassel. As the Austrian envoy at the Swedish court whispered
+to his English colleague, "All Europe would see the fall of these people
+here without regret." Consequently the Swedish King was driven to seek a
+bride for his son from Napoleon's family, and eventually the young
+Prince married the daughter of Eugene Beauharnais, the old ex-Viceroy of
+Italy, Napoleon's stepson.
+
+Charles XIV., a man of regrets, spent the remainder of his life buried
+in the memories of the past. He seldom got up till late in the day,
+dictating his letters and receiving his ministers in bed. When he was
+dressed, he spent some hours going over his private affairs and revising
+his investments, for he feared to the end that he might be deprived of
+his crown. In the evening he entertained the foreign representatives and
+held his courts, after which he passed the small hours of the night with
+his particular cronies fighting and re-fighting his battles, and proving
+how he alone could have saved Europe from the misery of the Napoleonic
+wars. He died on March 3rd, 1844, at the age of eighty, having given his
+subjects the precious boon of twenty-five years of peace.
+
+In spite of his brilliant career, Bernadotte must ever remain one of the
+most pathetic figures in history. He stands convicted as a mere
+opportunist, a man who never once possessed his soul in peace and who
+was incapable of understanding his own destiny. So much was this the
+case that in his latter days the old Jacobin, now a crowned King, really
+believed he was speaking the truth when he said that along with
+Lafayette he was the only public man, save the Count of Artois, who had
+never changed since 1789. He saw no inconsistency between the
+declaration of his youth, "that royalty was a monster which must be
+mutilated in its own interest," and his speech as an old man to the
+French ambassador, "If I were King of France with an army of two or
+three hundred thousand men I would put my tongue out at your Chamber of
+Deputies." He was Gascon to the backbone, and his tongue too often
+betrayed his most secret and his most transient thoughts. For the moment
+he would believe and declare that "Napoleon was not beaten by mere men
+... he was greater than all of us ... the greatest captain who has
+appeared since Julius Caesar.... If, like Henry IV., he had had a Sully
+he would have governed empires." Then, thinking of himself as Sully, he
+would gravely add, "Bonaparte was the greatest soldier of our age, but I
+surpassed him in powers of organisation, of observation and
+calculation." Yet with it all he had many of the qualities which go to
+make a man great. His personal magnetism was irresistible, he had
+consummate tact, a keen eye for intrigue, a clear vision to pierce the
+mazes of political tangles, and considerable strength of purpose backed
+by an intensely fiery nature. Frank and generous, he inclined naturally
+to a liberal policy, but his innate selfishness too often conquered his
+generous principles. It was this conflict between his liberal ideas and
+his personal interest which caused that fatal hesitation which again and
+again threatened to spoil his career and which made him so immensely
+inferior to Napoleon. To gain his crown he willingly threw over his
+religion and became a Lutheran; to keep his crown he was ready to
+sacrifice his honour. As a Swedish monarch he thought more of the
+interests of his dynasty than of the interests of his subjects, but he
+was far too wily to show this in action. Posing as a patriot King and
+boasting of his love for his adopted country, he ever remained at heart
+a Frenchman.
+
+When in 1840 the remains of the great Emperor were transferred to Paris,
+he mournfully exclaimed to his representative: "Tell them that I who was
+once a Marshal of France am now only a King of Sweden."
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+JEAN DE DIEU NICOLAS SOULT, MARSHAL, DUKE OF DALMATIA
+
+
+Of all the Marshals of Napoleon, perhaps none is better known to
+Englishmen than Jean de Dieu Soult. His long service in the Peninsula,
+ending with the stern fighting in the Pyrenees and the valley of the
+Garonne, and the prominent part he took in French politics during the
+years of the Orleanist monarchy, made his name a household word in
+England. The son of a small notary of St. Amand, a little-known town in
+the department of the Tarn, Soult was possessed of all the fervour of
+the South and the cunning and tenacity of a Gascon. Born on March 29,
+1769, he early distinguished himself by his precocity and his quickness
+of perception. Although handicapped by a club-foot he determined to be a
+soldier, and at the age of sixteen he enlisted in the Royal Infantry
+regiment. His intelligence marked him out for the rank of sergeant, and
+in 1791 he was sent as sub-lieutenant and drill instructor to a
+battalion of volunteers of the Haut Rhin. In spite of his lameness and
+his slight frame, the young sub-lieutenant was possessed of a physique
+capable of withstanding the greatest fatigue and hardship, and spurred
+on by ambition, he never shirked a task which might add to his
+reputation. Consequently, he was soon chosen captain by his comrades,
+and once war broke out he speedily rose. At the battle of
+Kaiserslautern, the storm of the lines of Weissenburg and the siege of
+Fort Louis, he forced himself to the front by his gallantry and his
+rapid coup d'oeil. But it was the battle of Fleurus which once and for
+all established his reputation. Soult was by then colonel and chief of
+the staff to General Lefebvre. The gallant Marceau's battalions were
+hurled back in rout by the enemy, and their chief in agony rushed up to
+Lefebvre crying out for four battalions of the reserve that he might
+regain the ground he had lost. "Give them to me," he exclaimed, "or I
+will blow out my brains." Soult quietly observed that he would thereby
+only the more endanger his troops. Marceau, indignant at being rebuked
+by a young staff officer, roughly asked, "And who are you?" "Whoever I
+am," replied Soult, "I am calm, which you are not: do not kill yourself,
+but lead your men to the charge and you shall have the four battalions
+as soon as we can spare them." Scarcely had he uttered these words than
+the Austrians fell with fury on Lefebvre's division. For hours the issue
+hung in the balance, and at last even the stubborn Lefebvre began to
+think of retreat. But Soult, calmly casting a rapid glance over the
+field, called out, "If I am not mistaken from what I judge of the
+enemy's second line, the Austrians are preparing to retreat." A few
+moments later came the order to advance from Jourdan, the
+commander-in-chief, and thanks to Soult's soundness of judgment, the
+divisions of Marceau and Lefebvre were charging the enemy instead of
+fighting a rear-guard action to cover a rout. After the battle, the
+generous Marceau sought out Soult. "Colonel," said he, "forgive the
+past: you have this day given me a lesson I shall never forget. It is
+you in fact who have gained the battle." Soult had not long to wait for
+his reward, for in 1794 he was promoted general of brigade.
+
+During the campaign of 1795 Soult was entrusted with a light column of
+three battalions of infantry and six squadrons of cavalry, and was
+constantly employed as an advance or rear guard. On one occasion, while
+covering the retreat at Herborn, his small force was surrounded by four
+thousand Austrian cavalry. Summoned to surrender, he indignantly
+refused, and forming his infantry in two columns with the cavalry in the
+interval between them, during five hours he beat off repeated charges of
+the enemies' horse and fought his way back to the main body without
+losing a single gun or a single colour. Ten days later he added to this
+triumph by inflicting the loss of two thousand men on the enemy in the
+mountain combat at Ratte Eig, when both sides struggled to gain the
+heights knee-deep in snow. During the campaigns of 1796 and 1797, Soult
+increased his reputation amid the marches and counter-marches and
+battles in the valleys of the Rhine and the Danube. But it was in
+Switzerland that he laid most firmly the foundation of his future
+success, for there he gained the friendship and goodwill of Massena, and
+it was the conqueror of Zurich who first called Bonaparte's attention to
+the sterling qualities of the future Duke of Dalmatia, telling the First
+Consul that "for judgment and courage Soult had scarcely a superior." In
+1800 Massena took his trusty subordinate with him to Italy as
+lieutenant-general of the centre of the army. During the fierce struggle
+which ended in the Austrians driving the French into Genoa, the
+lieutenant-general was seen at his best, exposing his person in a way he
+seldom did later, and showing that strategic insight and power of
+organisation for which he was so celebrated. On one occasion, when
+cornered by Bellegarde, he was summoned to surrender. The Austrian
+parlementaire pointed out that it was hopeless to continue the struggle
+as he had neither provisions nor ammunition. To this Soult replied:
+"With bayonets and men who know how to use them, one lacks nothing," and
+in spite of every effort of the enemy, with the "white arm" alone he cut
+his way into Genoa. During the siege he was Massena's right hand, ever
+ready with shrewd advice, the soul of every sortie, till unluckily he
+was wounded at the combat of Monte Cretto, and captured by the
+Austrians, whose prisoner he remained till after Marengo.
+
+[Illustration: JEAN DE DIEU SOULT, DUKE OF DALMATIA
+FROM A LITHOGRAPH BY DELPECH AFTER THE PAINTING BY ROUILLARD]
+
+On the establishment of the Consulate, Soult, whose politics rested
+solely on personal ambition and not on principle, at once divined the
+aims of Bonaparte. Thanks to Massena's warm introduction and his own
+reputation, he found himself cordially received by the First Consul.
+Honours were showered upon him. He was one of the four trusted
+commandants of the Consular Guard, and when Napoleon began to organise
+his forces for the struggle with England, he entrusted Soult with the
+command of the important army corps at Boulogne. The First Consul could
+have made no better selection. Under his rough exterior Soult hid great
+powers of business, a keen perspicacity, and much tact. Quick-witted,
+with a subtle, restless spirit, he had great strength of character, and
+his ambition spurred him on to a diligence which knew neither mental nor
+physical fatigue. But in spite of his cold air and self-restraint, he
+loved the pleasures of the table, and was passionately fond of women,
+while his wife exercised a complete domination over him, and before her
+he quailed like a child. In war he had the keen imagination and quick
+penetration of a great strategist. His special forte was the planning of
+vigorous enterprises. But he preferred to direct rather than to lead.
+Though his courage was undoubted, as he grew older he was chary of
+risking his person, and had not the dashing qualities of Lannes and Ney.
+As an administrator he was the equal of Davout. Once entrusted with the
+command of the army corps at Boulogne, the young general of thirty-five
+laid aside all thoughts of personal pleasure and ease and set himself to
+manufacture a fighting machine which should be the most perfect of its
+time. Never was such attention shown to details of administration and
+instruction, and the discipline of the corps at Boulogne was the
+severest that French troops had ever undergone. As might be expected,
+there were many grumbles, and soon rumours and complaints reached the
+First Consul, who himself remonstrated with his lieutenant, telling him
+that the troops would sink under such treatment; but he was greeted with
+the reply, "Such as cannot withstand the fatigue which I myself undergo
+will remain at the depots: but those who do stand it will be fit to
+undertake the conquest of the world." Soult was right in his estimate,
+for in spite of the demands he made on their endurance, he had won their
+love and admiration; the weak and the grumblers fell out, and when war
+was declared his corps marched to the front, a body of picked men with
+absolute confidence in their leader. In spite of the fact that he had
+never held an independent command, there was no surprise when he was
+included among the number of the Marshals, for his brilliant record, his
+selection as commandant of the Guard, his success at Boulogne, and the
+favour which the First Consul had long shown to him, had marked him out
+as one of the coming men. The campaign of 1805 bore witness to the
+justness of the Emperor's choice. It has often been said, and indeed
+Wellington himself lent credit to the dictum, that Soult was primarily a
+strategist and no tactician, but at Austerlitz he showed that calm
+capacity to read the signs of the conflict, and that knowledge of when
+and where to strike, which had first brought him to the front in the
+days of Fleurus. Entrusted with the command of the centre, in spite of
+the entreaties of his subordinates and even the commands of the Emperor,
+he refused to open his attack until he saw that the Russian left was
+hopelessly compromised. Thanks to his clearness of foresight, when once
+he launched his attack he not only put the issue out of doubt, but
+completely overwhelmed the Russians. Their left was surrounded and
+annihilated while the centre and right were driven from the field in
+complete rout. At the moment when the Marshal was directing the movement
+which wrested from the enemy the key of the position, Napoleon and his
+staff arrived on the scene. The Marshal explained his manoeuvre and
+asked the Emperor for orders. "Carry on, carry on, my dear Marshal,"
+said the Emperor; "you know quite as well as I do how to finish the
+affair." Then, stretching out his arms to embrace him, he cried out, "My
+dear Marshal, you are the finest tactician in Europe." After the treaty
+of Pressburg Soult's corps remained as part of the army of occupation in
+the valley of the Danube, and in 1806 formed one of the corps of the
+Grand Army during the Prussian War. At Jena he had the satisfaction of
+playing an important part in the battle, for when Ney's rash advance had
+compromised the situation, it was he who checked the victorious rush of
+the enemy. But later the Marshal had bitter cause to repent these
+triumphs won over his rival. Already the enemy of Berthier, and
+consequently often misrepresented to the Emperor, Soult now incurred the
+bitter hatred of Ney; and what the enmity of Berthier and Ney meant he
+found to his cost during the Peninsular War. Immediately after Jena the
+Marshal was detached in pursuit of the Prussians, and on the day
+following defeated Marshal Kalkreuth at Greussen and proceeded to
+blockade Magdeburg. From Magdeburg he hurried off to join in the pursuit
+of Bluecher, and aided by Bernadotte he cornered the crafty old Prussian
+at Luebeck. But brilliant as his performance was, he did not gain the
+credit he deserved, for on the day of the action Murat arrived and took
+over the command, arrogating to himself all the honours of the
+surrender. The Marshal was justly indignant, but, bitterly as he
+resented the injustice, he was too politic to storm at the Emperor like
+Marshal Lannes. In the terrible campaign in Poland the Marshal added to
+his laurels. At Eylau, when Augereau had been routed, Davout checked,
+and Ney and Bernadotte not yet arrived on the field, it was he who
+warned the Emperor against showing any signs of retreat. "Beware of
+doing so, Sire," he exclaimed; "let us remain the last on the field and
+we shall have the honour of the day: from what I have seen I expect the
+enemy will retreat in the night." The advice was sound, and the Marshal,
+during the night following the battle, had the pleasure of being the
+first to perceive that the enemy was retreating, and it was his
+aide-de-camp who carried the news to headquarters. Well it was for the
+Emperor that he accepted Soult's advice, for the terrible carnage in the
+snow had taken the heart out of the troops, and a retreat would have
+soon degenerated into a rout. So shaken was the French morale, that
+when, on the next day, the Emperor rode down the lines, instead of being
+greeted with cries of "Long live the Emperor," he was received with
+murmurs of "Peace and France," and even "Peace and Bread." During the
+final advance Soult had his share of the hard fighting at Heilsberg, but
+he escaped from the horrors of Friedland, as he had been detached to
+occupy Koenigsberg. After the peace of Tilsit, the Marshal's corps was
+cantonned round Stettin, and it was there that in 1808 he received the
+title of Duke of Dalmatia. The selection of this name caused the Duke
+much annoyance, for instead of receiving a title which should recall one
+of his great exploits, as had Ney, Davout, Lannes, Kellermann, and
+Massena, his designation was chosen from a country with which he had not
+the smallest connection, and thus he found himself on a par with
+Bessieres, Maret and Caulaincourt. What he hankered after was the title
+of Duke of Austerlitz, but the Emperor refused to share the glories of
+that day. In spite of the huge dotation he received, the Marshal added
+this supposed slight to the many grudges he bore his master.
+
+From Stettin the Duke of Dalmatia was summoned in September, 1808, to
+attend the Conference at Erfurt, and from there he was hurriedly
+despatched to Spain. The Emperor was much displeased with many of his
+corps commanders, and so on the arrival of the Duke he ordered him to
+take over from Marshal Bessieres the command of the second corps. Soult
+was delighted at the prospect of service. Full of zeal, he set out for
+his new command, and pushing on in spite of all obstacles, he arrived at
+his headquarters alone on a jaded post-horse twenty-four hours before
+his aides-de-camp. A few days later he dashed to pieces the semblance of
+a Spanish army at Gamoral and occupied Burgos, where he was unable to
+prevent his new command from sacking the town and inflicting every
+possible horror on the inhabitants. From Burgos the Emperor despatched
+him to the north-west, and thus it was that the cavalry of Sir John
+Moore's army surprised Soult's outpost at Sahagun. The Emperor could
+scarcely believe that an English army had actually dared to advance
+against his troops, but he at once ordered Soult to co-operate with the
+divisions he led in person from Madrid, and when he found that the
+English were bound to escape, he handed over the command to the Marshal.
+The French suffered almost as much as the English in the terrible
+pursuit, and it was the tried soldiers of both armies who at last met
+face to face at Corunna. After the battle Soult wrote to the Emperor
+that without fresh reinforcements he could effect nothing against the
+English, but when later he found that the enemy had evacuated Corunna,
+he claimed that he had won a victory. With a generosity that must be
+placed to his credit, he took great care of the grave of his adversary,
+Sir John Moore, and erected a monument with the inscription, "Hic
+cecidit Johannes Moore dux exercitus Britannici in pugna Januarii xvi.
+1809, contra Gallos a duce Dalmatiae ductos."
+
+Before leaving for France the Emperor had drawn up a cut and dried plan
+for the systematic conquest of the whole Peninsula. The pivot of the
+whole scheme rested on the supposed ability of Soult to overrun Portugal
+and drive the British out of Lisbon by February 16, 1809. Unfortunately,
+Napoleon left one factor out of his calculations, and that the most
+important, namely, the feelings of the Spanish and Portuguese
+populations. The Duke of Dalmatia very soon perceived the Emperor's
+mistake, but, anxious not to be accused of shirking his task and of
+allowing himself to be stopped by what were termed bands of ill-armed
+peasants, he started on his expedition to conquer the kingdom of
+Portugal with but three thousand rounds for his guns and five hundred
+thousand cartridges for his infantry, carried on the backs of mules, for
+owing to the state of the roads in the north-west corner of the
+Peninsula wheel traffic was impossible. In spite of the difficulties of
+transport and the murmurs of many of his officers, the indefatigable
+Marshal hurled all obstacles aside and with sixteen thousand troops
+forced his way into Oporto on March 29th, six weeks behind his scheduled
+time. But there he had to call a halt, for he had not the men nor the
+material for a further advance on Lisbon. The situation was by no means
+reassuring. To reach Oporto he had been obliged to cut himself adrift
+from his base, and he had no tidings of what was happening in the rest
+of the Peninsula. During April he set himself to conciliate the people
+of Portugal and at the same time to try and get into touch with the
+other French corps in Spain. The Marshal's attempt at conciliation was
+on the whole successful, but his kindness resulted in an unsuspected
+turn in the situation. A movement was started among a certain section of
+the Portuguese nobility and officials to offer the crown of Portugal to
+the Marshal. The Duke of Dalmatia, greedy and ambitious but ever
+cautious, was of opinion that though the Emperor might disapprove of the
+idea, he would accept a fait accompli. Accordingly he secretly
+sanctioned the movement, and allowed placards to appear in Oporto
+stating that "the Prince Regent, by his departure to Brazil, had
+formally resigned the crown, and that the only salvation of Portugal
+would be that the Duke of Dalmatia, the most distinguished of the pupils
+of the great Napoleon, should ascend the vacant throne." Further, he
+actually, on April 19th, ordered his chief of the staff to send a
+circular to commanding officers inviting their co-operation in his
+seizure of the crown, stating that by so doing they would in no way be
+disloyal to the Emperor. Luckily for the Marshal, the arrival of Sir
+Arthur Wellesley and the English army, before the plot could succeed,
+once and for all blew aside this cloudy attempt at kingship. For the
+Emperor, on hearing of the affair, although he pardoned the Marshal,
+saying, "I remember nothing but Austerlitz," still wrote in the same
+despatch "that it would have been a crime, clear lese majeste, an attack
+on the imperial dignity," and added that it was no wonder that the army
+grew discontented, since the Marshal was working, not for France, but
+for himself, and that disobedience to the Marshal's orders was quite
+justified. For once, then, the Marshal, usually so clever and cautious,
+had allowed ambition to run away with prudence. Meanwhile the military
+situation grew day by day more disquieting. In the French army there was
+a section of the officers ready to declare against the Empire whenever a
+chance occurred, and one of them, Argenton by name, actually entered
+into a treasonable negotiation with Sir Arthur Wellesley. It was thanks
+to the discovery of this plot that the Marshal first got information of
+his enemies' projected advance.
+
+With thirty thousand English marching against him and Spanish and
+Portuguese forces across the main line of retreat, it was impossible to
+expect to hold Oporto, and accordingly the Marshal began preparations
+for withdrawal. But having secured, as he thought, all the boats on the
+Douro, he concluded that he could only be attacked by a force ferried
+across at the river mouth by the boats of the English fleet.
+Consequently he kept no watch up stream. So complete was the surprise
+that an hour after the enemy had effected a landing above the town the
+Marshal, who had been up all night, was still in bed; his staff were
+quietly breakfasting when an officer galloped up with the news of the
+crossing. Soult could do nothing else but give the order to retreat by
+whatever means possible, and it was fortunate for the French that the
+pursuit was not pushed harder. But once he had grasped the situation he
+made amends for his previous neglect of supervision and showed himself
+the Soult of Austerlitz and Eylau. Sacrificing his baggage, his guns,
+and his military chest, guided by a Spanish pedlar, he made a most
+astounding march through the rugged region of Tras os Montes. Crossing
+lofty passes, forcing gorges in the teeth of hostile bands of peasantry
+and guerillas, by hard fighting and magnificent marching he brought his
+troops to safety. The campaign of Oporto did not add to the Marshal's
+reputation; his political ambition was the cause of all the disaster,
+for it prevented him from supervising his subordinates' operations. It
+was his fault that there was no proper road for retreat and that he was
+surprised by the English army. Still, though he had committed great
+faults, he had shown a surprising ability in extricating himself from
+their consequences.
+
+When Soult reached Lugo, in Spain, he found his rival Ney, from whom he
+begged stores and equipments, and with whom he was bound to confer on
+the general situation. Ney at first magnanimously granted the Marshal's
+requests. But unfortunately the men of Ney's corps greeted the armed
+rabble which followed Soult's standards with jeers and execrations, and
+the quarrel spread from the men to the officers and at last to the
+Marshals; so fierce were Ney's taunts that Soult actually drew his sword
+and a duel was with difficulty averted. Thereafter Soult, while
+promising to co-operate with Ney in the pacification of Galicia,
+actually did nothing and seriously compromised his rival, whereon Ney
+refused to obey any orders given by the Duke of Dalmatia. Such was the
+situation when a summons from Madrid called the two Marshals to the
+succour of Joseph, who was threatened by the combined armies of Cuesta
+and Sir Arthur Wellesley in the valley of the Tagus. The Marshals
+arrived in time to save Madrid, but not in time to surround the Allies,
+who escaped south across the Tagus, and the one chance of success the
+Spanish offered them was lost, since Soult, eager for personal
+aggrandisement, attacked Albuquerque before Marshal Victor had time to
+arrive on the scene of action. The consequence of this was far-reaching,
+for Victor, like Ney, refused in future to work in conjunction with
+Soult. Moreover, when a council was held to decide on the next
+operations, and Soult, wisely, no doubt, insisted that at Lisbon lay the
+key to the situation, all the other Marshals voted against his scheme,
+as each one determined that he would not be made subordinate to the Duke
+of Dalmatia. Soult accordingly had to content himself with occupying the
+valley of the Tagus, while the other Marshals returned to the districts
+which had been allotted to them before the allied advance on Madrid.
+
+While contemplating this unsatisfactory situation the Duke of Dalmatia
+was rejoiced to receive a despatch from the Emperor appointing him
+major-general of the forces in Spain in place of Jourdan and entrusting
+him with the invasion of Andalusia. Before setting out for the South,
+Soult had the satisfaction of completely routing the Spaniards at Ocana.
+It was early in 1810 that he entered Andalusia and seized Seville,
+Granada, and Malaga. The Marshal found himself in the congenial position
+of absolute ruler of the richest provinces of Spain. But though the
+important towns fell easily, and with them the accumulated riches of
+centuries, the people remained sullenly hostile, and bands of armed
+peasantry hung ever on the rear and flanks of the French columns, and
+stragglers and despatch-riders were found by the roadside with their
+throats cut. To meet this situation, at the Emperor's orders Soult
+issued a proclamation setting forth that whereas Joseph Bonaparte was
+King of Spain and no Spanish Government existed, all Spaniards taken in
+arms were rebels against his Catholic Majesty and would be immediately
+shot. The Cortes from Cadiz replied by at once issuing a
+counter-proclamation stating that for every Spaniard executed and for
+every house burned three Frenchmen should be hung. Still, in spite of
+this war of reprisals, the French gradually tightened their grip on
+Southern Spain, and soon Cadiz remained the only important fortress
+still in the hands of the enemy. The Marshal found it was impossible to
+take this important position by storm, and contented himself with
+masking it by a strong corps under Marshal Victor. Meanwhile he was
+busily engaged in organising the new government of Andalusia, and so
+successful were his efforts that neither the Spanish Government at Cadiz
+or the constant incursions of Spanish and British armies were able to
+shake his hold on that province. But wise and successful as were his
+methods, the glory of his rule was darkened by his harshness and greed.
+The churches and convents were ruthlessly despoiled of their treasures,
+and many a fine Murillo and Velasquez was despatched to Paris to
+decorate his salons.
+
+In the eyes of the Duke of Dalmatia, Andalusia was a vast reservoir of
+wealth which might be used as a base from which a well-equipped force
+could threaten Lisbon, the real focus of all the opposition to the
+French domination of the Peninsula. It was in pursuance of this plan
+that he conciliated the municipal authorities, strengthened the police,
+and built up huge reserve magazines by a system of imposts so carefully
+arranged that they should not unduly press on the Spanish population.
+But unfortunately for the Duke's schemes they ran counter to those of
+King Joseph. For the Marshal determined to use the wealth of his rich
+provinces for the special object of an attack on the British power at
+Lisbon, but Joseph desired that the revenue thus acquired should be sent
+to assist him to maintain his kingly state. Soult, strong in his
+position as major-general and backed by the Emperor's approval, refused
+to listen to the demands of the King, and there began a struggle which
+did more than anything else to bring about the fall of the Napoleonic
+kingdom of Spain. In spite of the fact that the Marshal gradually wore
+down the guerillas, actually raised and trained large bodies of Spanish
+troops, built up vast magazines and arsenals at Seville, exploited the
+lead mines at Linares and the copper mines of the Rio Tinto, established
+foundries for military accessories, and fitted out privateers, the
+jealousy of Joseph brought the Marshal's great schemes to nought.
+
+The continual and vexatious demands of the King acted in a most
+unfortunate way on Soult's character, for this stupid opposition so
+irritated his hard and egotistical nature that he saw in every scheme
+not planned by himself a desire to belittle his glory. Unfortunately for
+his own reputation and the success of the French arms, he allowed this
+feeling to obscure his judgment, and he refused to give more than a
+half-hearted co-operation to any measures not actually suggested by
+himself. Thus it was that, in spite of the commands of the Emperor and
+the entreaties of Joseph, he refused to make any attempt to co-operate
+with Massena in his advance on Portugal until it was too late. Then,
+when he actually did advance, he showed all his old energy and skill,
+for in fifty days he mastered four fortresses and invested a fifth, he
+captured twenty thousand prisoners and killed or dispersed ten thousand
+men; but he disregarded the main objective, the expulsion of the English
+from Lisbon, and contented himself with the siege of Badajoz, and thus,
+while winning a fortress, he lost a kingdom. From want of his
+co-operation Massena was forced to retreat, and the grip of the English
+on the Peninsula was more firmly established than ever.
+
+Badajoz was soon to prove itself a place of ill omen for Soult, for a
+few months later, when an Anglo-Portuguese army under Beresford laid
+siege to it, he was forced to come to its rescue. It was in the attempt
+to relieve this fortress that the terrible battle of Albuera was fought.
+At the commencement of the fight the Marshal, by a masterly manoeuvre,
+threw himself across the allied right flank and seized the hill that
+dominated the position, and it looked as if the allied lines were bound
+to be crumpled up. But a brigade of English infantry stood firm amid the
+rout, and with measured volleys checked the victorious advance of the
+elated French. Soult, by every effort of voice and gesture, attempted to
+force his veterans to face the foe, but in vain. "Nothing could conquer
+that astounding infantry. No sudden burst of undisciplined valour, no
+nervous enthusiasm weakened the stability of their order: their flashing
+eyes were bent on the dark columns in their front, their measured tread
+shook the ground, their dreadful volleys swept away the head of every
+formation, their deafening shouts overpowered the discordant cries that
+broke from all parts of the tumultuous crowd as slowly, and with a
+horrid carnage, it was pushed by the incessant vigour of the attack to
+the farthest edge of the hill. In vain did the French reserve mix with
+the struggling multitude to sustain the fight: their efforts only
+increased the immediate confusion, and the mighty mass, breaking off
+like a loosened cliff, went headlong down the steep. The rain flowed
+after in a stream discoloured by blood: and eighteen hundred unwounded
+men, the remnant of six thousand unconquerable British soldiers, stood
+triumphant on the fatal hill." Thus Napier describes the battle of
+Albuera. So nearly a magnificent victory for the French: turned by
+British valour into a defeat. But it was not only the valour of the
+enemy which cost Soult his success, it was his own errors. The
+commencement of the attack was a magnificent conception, but the Marshal
+failed to understand the tactics of his enemy, and it was his blind
+attempt to crush the line with heavy columns which allowed the English
+musket fire to annihilate his dense masses. After the cessation of the
+combat he committed another great fault. Though his attack had been
+beaten back, it was known that the Allies had suffered much more
+severely than the French, and on the strength of this he claimed a
+"signal victory"! But instead of holding his ground he withdrew a day
+later, whereas if he had shown a confident front Beresford would have
+been bound to retire, and Badajoz would have been relieved. After the
+battle of Albuera, Soult was reinforced by the Army of Portugal under
+Marmont; but discord soon broke out between the two Marshals, the Duke
+of Dalmatia maintaining that the way to attack Lisbon was from his own
+base in the south, and the Duke of Ragusa advocating the northern route.
+After lying together for some time the two armies separated, and Soult
+moved south to complete his operations against Cadiz and Gibraltar. It
+was while the Marshal was thus engaged, early in 1812, that the Duke of
+Wellington suddenly captured Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, and was thus
+able, after defeating Marmont at Salamanca, to march in the summer on
+Madrid. Soult replied to Joseph's summons to come to his help by telling
+him that his best policy was to join him in Andalusia and make a
+counter-stroke at Lisbon. But the King refused to listen to this wise
+advice, so the Marshal was obliged to give up all his achievements and
+go to Joseph's help. Meanwhile the King wrote complaining to the
+Emperor, but Napoleon replied that Soult was the "only military head" in
+Spain, and could not be moved. But after more bickering, early in 1813,
+Joseph wrote to say that if the Marshal remained in Spain he himself
+must leave the country, and the Emperor, anxious to regain his military
+prestige, so weakened by the Russian campaign, was glad to summon the
+Duke of Dalmatia to the Grand Army. But Soult's gloomy prophecy was soon
+fulfilled that "the loss of Andalusia and the raising of the siege of
+Cadiz are events that will be felt throughout the whole of Europe." The
+Marshal's service at the head of the Imperial Guard was terminated by
+the news of the fatal battle of Vittoria; for the Emperor immediately
+hurried him back to try to prevent the English from forcing the barrier
+of the Pyrenees.
+
+The Duke of Dalmatia gladly accepted the mission, in spite of the
+repugnance of the Duchess, who hated Spain, where, as she said, "nothing
+is got but blows." So hearty was her dislike of the country that she
+actually went to the Emperor saying her husband was too shattered in
+health for the task. But she met with a stern rebuff: "Madam," said
+Napoleon, "recollect I am not your husband; if I were, you should
+conduct yourself very differently."
+
+The campaign of the Pyrenees bore ample testimony to the wisdom of the
+confidence the Emperor had placed in the power of his lieutenant. With
+marvellous sagacity Soult reorganised the scattered relics of the French
+armies, and within ten days of his arrival at headquarters he was ready
+to assume the offensive, and actually all but surprised the Duke of
+Wellington at Sorauren. But great as were his strategical powers and his
+methods of organisation, he was no match for Wellington on the field of
+battle, and step by step he was forced back into France. Round Bayonne
+he showed his complete mastery of the art of war by the admirable way he
+used his command of the inner lines always to oppose the enemy's attack
+by superior force. Then, when retreat was inevitable, instead of falling
+back towards Paris, he withdrew south, thus forcing his adversary to
+divide up his army; for the English had to detach a strong division to
+cover their communications at Bordeaux. During the retreat, again and
+again Soult turned at bay, at Orthez and many another good position;
+but Wellington ever outmanoeuvred him on the field, and even turned
+him out of the seemingly impregnable position of Toulouse. Never was a
+retreat more admirably carried out. Every opportunity afforded by the
+ground, every advantage of position was seized on, to use to the full
+the French dash in the attack. No more admirable illustration can be
+found of the truth that the essence of defence lies in a vigorous local
+offence. Wellington himself bore testimony to Soult's virtues,
+maintaining that of the Marshals he was second only to Massena.
+
+With the Restoration the Marshal at once accepted the change of
+government and gave his adhesion to the Bourbons. His general reputation
+and the high place he held in the opinion of Wellington and others
+caused the King in the December of 1814 to appoint him Minister of War.
+Such was his position when news arrived of Napoleon's landing at Frejus.
+The Duke of Dalmatia did all in his power to organise resistance to the
+Emperor's advance, but he had many enemies, and the King, listening to
+their advice, replaced him as minister by Clarke, Duke of Feltre. Soult
+then retired to his country estate at Villeneuve-l'Etang, near Saint
+Cloud. On his arrival at Paris, the Emperor at once sent for him, but at
+first he refused to go to court. Ultimately, finding the Emperor's cause
+in the ascendant, he cast aside hesitation and threw in his lot with
+him. It has been said that the Duke betrayed the Bourbons and was privy
+to the Emperor's return, but this is a calumny. Napoleon at St. Helena
+said, "Soult did not betray Louis, nor was he privy to my return. For
+some days he thought that I was mad, and that I must certainly be lost.
+Notwithstanding this, appearances were so against him, and without
+intending it, his acts turned out to be so favourable to my project,
+that, were I on his jury and deprived of what I know, I should have
+condemned him for having betrayed Louis. But he really was not privy to
+it." The Emperor joyfully accepted the Marshal's adherence and made him
+one of his new peers, and when war was imminent, on the advice of
+Davout, he created him major-general and chief of the staff. This
+selection was unfortunate; good strategist and organiser, he was not the
+man the Emperor required. Berthier, who had not half his military
+ability, had made an excellent chief of the staff, because he had the
+rare quality of effacing his own ideas and acting simply as the recorder
+and expander of those of Napoleon. But Soult was accustomed to think for
+himself, and his mind was unable to attune itself to the mind of the
+Emperor. Further, from long experience, Berthier was accustomed to fill
+up gaps in the Emperor's orders in the way he intended, but Soult had
+never so far worked in close co-operation with Napoleon, and after years
+of independent command was more accustomed to give orders to his own
+chief of the staff than to work out minutiae for another. Consequently,
+all through the Waterloo campaign the staff work was badly done. Orders
+were faultily drafted, mistakes were made in their despatch, and the
+Emperor was constantly bewailing the loss of "that brute Berthier." A
+typical example of the friction which arose between the Emperor and his
+new major-general occurred when, at Waterloo, Napoleon asked Soult if he
+had sent to Grouchy intelligence of the approach of the Prussians; the
+Marshal replied, "Yes, I have sent an officer." "One officer!" cried
+Napoleon; "ah! if only my poor Berthier had been here, he would have
+sent six." To add to these troubles, Soult was unfortunately hated by
+the officers of the army, who regarded him with grave suspicion. But
+though the Marshal must bear his share in the disaster of Waterloo, it
+is only fair to add that the morning of the battle he, and he alone,
+warned the Emperor of the magnitude of the coming struggle, and
+entreated him to recall at least a portion of Grouchy's command. The
+Emperor roughly rejected his advice with the words, "You think that
+because Wellington defeated you he must be a great general. I tell you
+that he is a bad general, that the English are bad troops, and that this
+will be the affair of a dejeuner." The Marshal, with the memory of many
+a battle with these "poor troops" from Oporto to Toulouse, could only
+sorrowfully say, "I hope so."
+
+On the second Restoration the Duke of Dalmatia found himself included
+among the proscribed, and for three years he retired to the Duchy of
+Berg, the home of his wife, during which time he occupied himself in the
+composition of his Memoirs. But in May, 1819, he was recalled to France,
+and soon found means of ingratiating himself with the Bourbons. In
+January, 1820, his Marshal's baton and his other honours were restored
+to him, and he entered the field of politics. With his vast income,
+acquired from the spoils of nearly every country in Europe, he
+maintained his high rank in lordly fashion. A visitor who in 1822 went
+to see his famous collection of pictures thus describes him: "We were
+received by the Marshal, a middle-sized though somewhat corpulent
+personage of from fifty to sixty years of age, whose dark curling hair
+rendered somewhat conspicuous the bald patch in the middle of his head,
+while his sunburnt complexion accorded well with his dark intelligent
+eye. His plain stock, plain dark coat and loose blue trousers, which,
+capacious as they were, could not hide his bow-legged form, obviously
+suggested the soldier rather than the courtier, the Marshal rather than
+the Duke; though if I had encountered such a figure in London I should
+rather have guessed him an honest East or West Indian captain." The
+Marshal knew well how to win favour with the new Government, and when
+the reactionaries attempted to restore the ancient position of the
+Church, no one was more regular in his attendance at Church festivals
+and processions than the Duke of Dalmatia, who always appeared with an
+enormous breviary carried before him, though people were unkind enough
+to say that it would be more to the purpose if he restored some of the
+vast plunder of the churches and monasteries of Spain.
+
+With the fall of the Bourbon dynasty in 1830 the subtle old soldier at
+once gave his adherence to the Orleanists, and was appointed Minister of
+War; and it was thanks to his energy and wisdom that the numerous
+revolts which threatened the early days of the new regime were stamped
+out. Soult, like Wellington, hated the idea of civil war, but knew that
+strong measures were the best means to prevent bloodshed, so when, as at
+Lyons, it was essential to strike, he took good care to have the
+necessary force at hand. A year later, when the Commune threatened to
+raise its head in Paris, he overawed the mob by the sudden mobilisation
+of eighty thousand troops. The weakness of the Government and the
+courage and decision the Marshal showed during the emeute caused Louis
+Philippe on October 18, 1832, to entrust him with the headship of the
+administration. The Marshal proved how often a strong soldier may be a
+weak politician, and in 1834 he resigned office. But during his term of
+office he did not forget the needs of the army, as his measures for
+recruiting, military pensions, and the training of officers prove. When,
+again, in 1839 Paris was seething with discontent, the King sent for the
+Marshal, and under his iron hand order was easily re-established. But
+the old soldier was no orator, and was listened to more from respect for
+his character than the cogency of his arguments, and when the crisis was
+passed he was soon glad to resign his appointment; and though always
+taking an active part, and ever ready to give his advice to his
+sovereign, he never again held office. In 1838 the Duke of Dalmatia
+visited London as representative of France at the Coronation of Queen
+Victoria, and once again met his old opponent, the Duke of Wellington.
+Lady Salisbury thus describes their meeting: "The Duke and Soult met in
+the music-room at the Queen's concert for the first time for many years,
+and shook hands. Soult's appearance is different from what I expected:
+he is a gentlemanlike old man with rather a benevolent cast of
+countenance, such as I should have expected in William Penn or
+Washington: tall and rather stooping, the top of the head bald.... The
+Duke, though the lines on his face are deeper, has a fresher colour and
+a brighter eye."
+
+The Duke of Dalmatia clung to the Orleanist dynasty till the end, and
+attended the last council held by Louis Philippe. He had a special
+liking for the Citizen Monarch, who reciprocated this affection, and had
+in 1847 re-established for the veteran the title of Marshal General of
+France, a designation held previously only by Turenne, Villars, and
+Saxe. With the fall of the dynasty he appeared no more in public, and at
+last, on November 26, 1857, he died at his chateau at St. Amand in his
+eighty-second year.
+
+"Soult is able but too ambitious." Thus Napoleon appreciated the Duke of
+Dalmatia when discussing the characters of his Marshals. But Soult was
+possessed of a crafty caution which seldom if ever allowed his ambition
+to hinder the success his ability deserved. Cold and calculating by
+nature, he knew exactly where to draw the line. The attempt to seize the
+throne of Portugal was the only occasion on which he seemed to throw
+caution to the winds, and those who knew him best were so astounded at
+his lack of circumspection that they could scarcely believe that he
+himself approved of the proclamations which appeared in Oporto. The
+hard, crafty nature of the Marshal was responsible for his many enemies
+among the officers of the army. His own staff never loved him, much as
+they marvelled at his indefatigable industry and his suppleness of mind,
+which permitted him to turn with ease from the highest political and
+strategic problems to the drudgery of administrative details, and bring
+to bear on all questions the cold, hard light of lucid reasoning. He
+could attract men to him by sheer admiration of his ability, but he
+could make no real friends, for those who came in contact with him soon
+discovered that he only thought of what he could make out of them, and
+then that he would drop them without the slightest regret. Sprung from
+the lower ranks of society, the Marshal had all the cunning and avarice
+of the typical bourgeois, and though he had the capacity to overcome his
+want of education, he had not the power to eradicate these inherent
+strains of character. Though not so rapacious as Massena, the Duke of
+Dalmatia never withheld his hand when plunder offered itself and his
+home in Paris was decorated with magnificent objects of art filched from
+nearly every country in Europe. But though he allowed himself the luxury
+of taking what seized his fancy, he sternly repressed marauding on the
+part of his officers and men. Hence it was that, like Suchet, he was
+able to subdue the provinces committed to his charge and win the respect
+and obedience of the Spaniards. His methodical mind hated the idea of
+disorder; administration came to him as Nature's gift. Under his rule
+Andalusia gained a prosperity she had never before known. But we must
+remember that his success in this province was due not only to his great
+gift of administration, but also to his ambition, for it was the driving
+power of self-interest which supplied the energy which oiled the wheels
+of his system; for the Marshal hoped with the resources of Andalusia to
+supply the material and means to drive the English from Lisbon without
+the co-operation of King Joseph or the other French commanders. In
+striking contrast to the aversion with which he was regarded by his own
+fellow-countrymen was the feeling of admiration with which he was viewed
+by his foes, and notably by his English adversaries in the Peninsula.
+They only saw the results of his great versatility and resource, and his
+acts of courtesy to those who fell into his power; while the discipline
+he maintained among his troops stood in striking contrast to the conduct
+of many of the other French commanders. Moreover, the Marshal was too
+politic to be cruel, and it was easy to guess that his proclamation
+against the Spaniards was really the work of the Emperor. That this was
+the case was borne out by the following letter written by Berthier at
+Napoleon's dictation: "Let the Duke of Dalmatia know that I learn with
+indignation that some of the prisoners taken at Ocana have been released
+and their arms restored to them. When I witness such behaviour I ask,
+'Is this treason or imbecility?' Is it then only French blood that is to
+flow in Spain without regret and without vengeance?" As a soldier the
+Marshal stands high among his compeers. In spite of his defeats at
+Oporto, Albuera, and Toulouse, throughout his career he clearly showed
+that he had the essential quality of a great commander, the ability to
+see and the capacity to perform what was possible with the material at
+hand. His strategic insight was great, he had a magnificent eye for
+country and the power of calmly surveying a field of battle, but, as
+Wellington pointed out, he had one great fault, for though "he knew how
+to bring his troops to the field, he did not know so well how to use
+them when he had brought them up." Thus it was that at Sorauren, after
+he had surprised Wellington and upset the whole of the English strategic
+plans, he was unable to win the battle which was necessary to reap the
+harvest of his labours. But the passage of the Pyrenees, the operations
+round Bayonne, and the retreat on Toulouse, will always be studied as
+examples of the most perfect military operations of their type. They
+show to the full the secret of the Marshal's success as a soldier, the
+blending of ardour with method and dash with caution. As a politician
+the Duke of Dalmatia met with little success; his methods were those of
+a dictator rather than those of a statesman. When the hour of action was
+passed he invariably showed weakness. But whatever were his faults, it
+must be laid to his credit that throughout the reign of Louis Philippe
+he lent all the weight of his great name and reputation to the
+maintenance of order at home and peace abroad.
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+JEAN LANNES, MARSHAL, DUKE OF MONTEBELLO
+
+
+Jean Lannes, the future Duke of Montebello, was born on April 10, 1769,
+the year which saw the birth of many famous soldiers, Napoleon,
+Wellington, Ney, and Soult. He was the fourth son of a peasant
+proprietor of Lectourne, a little town on the slopes of the Pyrenees.
+His family had long been settled in the commune of Omet, in the
+department of the Gironde. The first to rise to any sort of distinction
+was Jean's eldest brother, who showed at an early age such ability that
+the episcopal authorities of Lectourne educated him, and in due time he
+became a priest. It was to his brother, the abbe, that the young Jean
+owed such elements of learning as he possessed. But the pressure of need
+compelled his father to indenture him at an early age to a dyer in
+Lectourne. The young apprentice was of middle height, very well built,
+amazingly active, and able to bear the utmost fatigue. His face was
+pleasant and expressive, his eyes small and keen. Behind those eyes lay
+a brain of extraordinary activity, which was controlled by a boundless
+ambition. Enthusiastic and passionate, Lannes' spirit could brook but
+little control. Action was the zest of his life. Administration and
+control came to him not as Nature's gifts, but as the result of his
+great common sense, which guided his ambition along the paths which led
+to success. A nature which could not endure the dullness of the dyer's
+trade in Lectourne could, however, compel the young soldier during the
+severest campaigns to give up part of his night's rest to study and to
+the expansion of his knowledge beyond the elements of reading, writing,
+and arithmetic, all the learning his brother, the abbe, had had time to
+impart to him. Even in the later years of his life the successful
+Marshal strove by midnight toil to educate himself up to the position
+his military talents had won for him.
+
+Jean Lannes had already had a taste of the soldier's life before the
+outbreak of the revolutionary wars. But his uncontrollable temper had
+brought this short military experience to an abrupt end, and he had been
+compelled to return to his work at Lectourne after being wounded in a
+duel. His employer had greeted his return with the words, "There is not
+the price of a drink to be made in the trade. Return to the army; you
+may perhaps become captain." But Jean Lannes did not need such advice to
+drive him to the path of glory. In June, 1792, the Government of France
+called for volunteers to resist the coming invasion of the Duke of
+Brunswick's army. Lannes enlisted in the second battalion of the
+volunteers of Gers, and was at once elected sub-lieutenant by his
+fellow-citizens. This promotion he owed partly to his former military
+experience, partly to his personal magnetism, and partly to his extreme
+political opinions.
+
+When Spain declared war on France the two battalions of Gers were sent
+to form part of the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees. There Lannes gained
+his first practical military experience. Both armies were extremely
+ill-led, ill-disciplined, and ill-equipped. Consequently there was a
+great deal of desultory hand-to-hand fighting, in which the young
+sub-lieutenant distinguished himself by his courage and talent. He
+enjoyed himself hugely fighting all day and dancing all night, when he
+could spare the time from his books. When military knowledge was almost
+entirely absent in the army, promotion came quickly to those who
+distinguished themselves by courage and zeal. On September 25, 1793,
+Lannes was promoted lieutenant. A month later, on October 21st, he was
+made captain of the grenadier company. Two months later, on Christmas
+Day, at the express desire of his chief, General Davout, he was given
+command of his battalion, and appointed colonel on the staff and acting
+adjutant-general. This distinction he gained for his brilliant conduct
+at Villelongue. Summoned from his bed in hospital to command the advance
+guard of five hundred men, he moved towards the main redoubt of the
+Spanish lines, and, refusing to be bluffed by the proposal of an
+armistice, captured the redoubt by a dashing charge. After the action he
+once again retired to hospital. His next exploit was the delicate
+mission entrusted to him by General Dugommier of releasing a great
+number of French emigres who had been captured in battle, and who
+otherwise would have fallen victims to the popular fury. While devoting
+himself to his military duties he yet found time to fall in love. When
+in hospital at Perpignan, at the end of 1793, he had met Mademoiselle
+Meric, the daughter of a wealthy banker of that town; the friendship
+very soon developed into an ardent passion, and on March 19, 1795, the
+young couple were united, and the marriage seemed very advantageous for
+the young soldier of fortune, who was barely twenty-five.
+
+After the treaty of Basle the battalions of Gers were brigaded with the
+old 53rd (regiment d'Alsace), and formed part of the troops which
+Scherer took to reinforce the Army of Italy in the summer of 1795.
+Accordingly, Lannes had the good fortune to take part in the battle of
+Loano, and once again greatly distinguished himself and was specially
+mentioned in despatches.
+
+But during the winter of 1795-6 his successful career nearly came to an
+untimely end, for on the reorganisation of the army, along with many
+other officers, he was placed on half pay. Fortunately, at the moment
+he was retiring dejected to France, Bonaparte assumed command of the
+Army of Italy. The new general felt he could ill spare a capable officer
+like Lannes, and consequently he retained him provisionally. The young
+colonel immediately justified his action. At the critical moment of the
+Austrian counter-attack at Dego, Lannes cleared the village by a brisk
+bayonet charge. Thereon Bonaparte gave him command of two battalions of
+grenadiers and one of carbineers, which formed part of his permanent
+advance guard under General Dallemagne. From this time onward Lannes had
+found his proper role. As nature had intended Marshal Ney for the
+command of a rear guard, and Murat for the command of cavalry, so she
+had equipped Lannes with those qualities which are specially required by
+the commander of an advance guard. Wiry and strong, he never knew what
+it was to be tired, and, never sparing himself, he never spared his men;
+his kind and cheery disposition and his personal magnetism carried all
+before him. His fiery enthusiasm swept aside all difficulties; his
+inventive genius ever showed him the way to surmount all obstacles. When
+danger was most pressing Lannes was there, the first to head the charge,
+the first to rally the discomfited. Never had Fortune a more zealous
+wooer. At Lodi he was the first man on the bridge. Later, at the head of
+three hundred men, he re-established order in Lombardy; at one time
+especially attached to the headquarter staff, at another hurried off to
+suppress some outbreak in the rear, at another repelling a determined
+sortie from Mantua, more and more, day by day, he made himself
+indispensable to his young chief. At the battle of Bassano, of the five
+flags wrested from the enemy Lannes captured two with his own hands.
+Wounded slightly at Bassano and more seriously at Governolo, he yet
+managed to creep out of hospital in time to take his place beside
+Bonaparte at Arcola. Early in the battle he received two flesh wounds,
+and had to retire to have them dressed. Scarcely were they bandaged
+when the news arrived that Augereau's division had received a severe
+check. Oblivious of his wounds, he leapt on his horse and arrived at the
+head of his columns in time to see Augereau and Bonaparte, flag in hand,
+vainly attempting to rally their soldiers, only to be swept off the
+embankment into the marsh. But Lannes headed his grenadiers, and
+charging home on the Austrians, swept them back to the bridge-head,
+receiving in the charge yet another wound.
+
+[Illustration: JEAN LANNES, DUKE OF MONTEBELLO
+FROM AN ENGRAVING BY AMEDEE MAULET]
+
+During the early months of 1797 he commanded a column at Bologna, and
+was present at the capitulation of Mantua. Thereafter he commanded the
+advance guard of Victor's army which invaded the Papal States. In front
+of Ancona he met with a characteristic adventure. Making a
+reconnaissance with two or three officers and half a dozen troopers, he
+suddenly found himself in the presence of three hundred of the enemy's
+cavalry. Their commander at once ordered his men to draw their swords
+preparatory to a charge. Whereon Lannes rode up to him and told him to
+order his men to return their swords, dismount, and lead their horses
+back to their headquarters. The officer obeyed. By sheer force of
+character Lannes thus dominated the situation and saved the lives of
+himself and his escort. After the preliminaries of peace at Leoben,
+Bonaparte employed him on several confidential missions, in which his
+impetuosity led him at times into difficulties, and the
+commander-in-chief was forced to write to the French Minister at Genoa,
+"I have heard the reply that Lannes made to you. He is hot-headed, but a
+good fellow, and brave. I must write to him to tell him to be more civil
+to a minister of the Republic."
+
+Africa has often proved the grave of great military reputations.
+Napoleon himself only escaped the usual doom by deserting his army and
+suddenly appearing as a _deus ex machina_ in the stormy field of
+politics at Paris. But though so fatal to those in supreme command,
+Africa has sometimes been the school from which the young officers have
+returned with enhanced reputations. It was from the companions who had
+stood the test of the fiery trial in Egypt and Syria that Bonaparte
+later selected his most trusted Marshals.
+
+On May 19, 1798, Lannes sailed for Egypt in the _Orient_ as an
+unattached general of brigade on the headquarter staff. For his
+successful action at the head of one of the assaulting columns in Malta
+he was appointed to the command of a brigade in Kleber's division. He
+took part in the capture of Alexandria, the march on Cairo, and the
+battles of Chebrass and the Pyramids; but it was not so much his success
+in these engagements which enhanced his worth in Bonaparte's eyes, as
+the fact that Lannes alone of all the general officers in Egypt did not
+share in the grumbling and depression which threatened to cripple the
+army after its arrival at Cairo. Soldiers and officers alike had but one
+desire--to return home. Lannes secretly informed Bonaparte of the plans
+of those who led the discontent, and, in the words of Murat, "sold the
+cocoanut." Thus he gained the future Emperor as his life-long friend and
+Murat as his life-long enemy. When in February, 1799, Bonaparte started
+for Syria, he took with him Lannes in command of Menou's division.
+
+When Bonaparte found that his military reputation was likely to suffer
+by a more prolonged stay in Egypt, and above all that France was now
+ready to accept the rule of a dictator, he deserted his army in Egypt,
+leaving Kleber, whom he hated, in command; he took with him his most
+trustworthy officers, Lannes, Murat, Marmont, Andreossy, and Berthier,
+ordering Desaix to follow. The return to France, so longed for by most,
+was less agreeable to Lannes: while in hospital after the battle of
+Aboukir he had heard that his wife had given birth to a son whose father
+he could not be. Consequently one of his first acts on his return was to
+divorce her. But Bonaparte gave him little time to bewail his
+misfortune, for he relied on him, with Berthier, Murat, and Marmont, to
+debauch the army and bring it over to his side. Berthier's business was
+to win over the general staff, Murat the cavalry, Marmont the artillery,
+and Lannes the infantry. Shortly after the coup d'etat General Lannes
+was appointed commandant and inspector of the Consular Guard in
+preference to Murat. But this was a hollow victory over his rival, for
+when, after the Marengo campaign, these life-long enemies met in open
+rivalry for the hand of Caroline Bonaparte, the First Consul's sister,
+Murat, aided by Josephine, became the accepted suitor, and Lannes had to
+submit to see his hated rival in quick succession the brother-in-law of
+Napoleon, a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, the crowned King of Naples,
+and, most bitter of all, the confidential friend of his idol.
+
+It was in the Marengo campaign that the general had his first
+opportunity of distinguishing himself as an independent commander, and
+winning the renown which the victory of Montebello inseparably connects
+with his name. When Bonaparte made his famous march into Italy with the
+Army of the Reserve, he appointed Lannes to command the advance guard.
+The whole success of the operations depended on the rapidity with which
+they were carried out, for the First Consul, in his endeavour to get
+astride the Austrian line of communication, was exposing his flank to
+the enemy, and the French army, if beaten, had no other line of retreat
+save the terrible defiles of the Alps. Accordingly, Napoleon's selection
+of Lannes to command the advance guard is the highest possible testimony
+to his military ability. The battle of Montebello was Lannes's first
+independent engagement. In it he showed his genius for war. If he had
+allowed the Austrians to reoccupy Stradella he would have ruined the
+whole of Napoleon's scheme of operations, but, though his force was only
+a third of the enemy's, he remembered the advantage that comes to the
+assailant; instead of waiting in an entrenched position, he attacked,
+and by his indomitable courage and tenacity, and his tactical ability,
+he kept the enemy pinned to his entrenchments until the arrival of fresh
+troops under Victor enabled him to pulverise his foe. The battle was one
+of the finest of the campaign. "The bones," said Lannes, "cracked in my
+division like glass in a hailstorm."
+
+At Marengo Lannes had to reverse his usual role and fight a rear-guard
+action, for during the early part of the engagement the French were
+outnumbered by thirty thousand men against eighteen thousand, and yet
+the general was able to report: "I carried out my retirement by
+successive echelons under a devastating fire of artillery, amid
+successive charges of cavalry. I had not a single gun to cover my
+retreat, and yet it was carried out in perfect order." The soldier who
+in the hour of success was full of impetuosity and elan, in the hour of
+retreat was able to inspire his troops with stubborn courage and
+unfailing self-confidence, which did much to secure the victory.
+
+After Marengo came a period of peace. Lannes, as commander of the
+Consular Guard, had his headquarters in Paris, and, owing to his
+official position, was constantly in touch with Bonaparte. But,
+necessary as he was in war time, his companionship during peace was not
+altogether congenial to the First Consul, and as time went on it became
+almost distasteful. Although happily married to Mademoiselle Louise
+Antoinette Gueheneuc, the daughter of a senator, he felt himself
+aggrieved that Bonaparte had not supported his suit with Caroline, and
+was extremely jealous of many of the First Consul's friends. The
+constant bickering between Lannes and Murat never ceased. Moreover
+Lannes, as an out-and-out republican, treated the First Consul in a
+frank spirit of camaraderie, relying on his services at Arcola and
+Montebello. This Bonaparte not unnaturally resented. The increased
+ceremonial of the court and the prospect of the Concordat were abhorrent
+to the stern republicans, but necessary to establish the divinity which
+should at least seem to surround a throne. Relations became so strained
+that Bonaparte was soon glad to seize on any excuse to dismiss Lannes
+from his post. Murat and his tool Bessieres provided him with a
+plausible reason. Lannes, by nature happy-go-lucky and no financier,
+wishing no doubt to please the First Consul, spent his money freely in
+lavish entertainment at his Paris house, and equipped the guard in most
+gorgeous uniforms. To meet these expenses he overdrew his account with
+the military authorities by more than three hundred thousand francs.
+Murat, hearing of this from Bessieres, brought it to the First Consul's
+notice. Bonaparte at once summoned Lannes, rated him soundly, and
+commanded him immediately to refund the money. Murat was delighted; he
+thought that his enemy was certain to be disgraced. In his difficulty
+Lannes turned to his old friend and former chief, Augereau, who at once
+lent him the money and refused to take any security. But although he was
+thus able to refund the money, Bonaparte dismissed him from the command
+of the Guard. Still, remembering his war service and thinking that he
+might be useful again later, he did not disgrace him utterly, but at the
+end of 1801 sent him as ambassador to Portugal.
+
+Lannes's diplomatic career was at first not very successful. English
+influence was all-powerful at Lisbon and the new envoy had not the
+talent to counteract it. In the autumn of 1802, thinking himself
+slighted by the Portuguese authorities, without consulting Talleyrand,
+he suddenly withdrew from Lisbon and returned to France. But at Orleans
+he received an angry message from Bonaparte forbidding him to return to
+Paris. The First Consul meanwhile addressed peremptory messages to the
+court of Lisbon about the supposed insult offered to his ambassador.
+Thereon the Portuguese Foreign Minister apologised and Lannes returned.
+Angry as Bonaparte was at the moment, he confessed later that Lannes'
+soldierly impetuosity had served the cause of France better than the
+skilfulness of a consummate diplomat. For from this time onwards French
+influence began to increase at Lisbon, Lannes was courted by the
+minister, and the Prince Regent himself stood godfather to his son. The
+story goes that after the ceremony the Prince Regent took the ambassador
+into a salon of the palace where the diamonds from Brazil were stored,
+and then gave him a handful, saying, "That is for my godson," then a
+second handful for the mother, and a third for himself. Whatever the
+truth of the story, the fact remains that Lannes returned to France a
+rich man, able not only to repay his loan to Augereau but to indulge in
+fresh extravagance.
+
+From Lisbon the ambassador was summoned to attend the coronation of the
+Emperor and to take his place among the Marshals. But he was not yet
+received back into full favour by the Emperor, and had to return to his
+embassy at Lisbon. It was not till March 22, 1805, that he was recalled
+to France to command the right wing of the Army of the Ocean, which,
+when war broke out between Austria and France, became the Grand Army.
+The fifth corps under Lannes reached the Rhine at Kehl on September
+25th. Napoleon's scheme of operations was, by making vigorous
+demonstrations in the direction of the Black Forest, to persuade the
+Austrians that he was advancing in force in that direction, while all
+the time his wings were sweeping round the Austrian rear and cutting
+their line of communication on the Danube, in the direction of Ratisbon.
+The task of deceiving the Austrians was performed to perfection by Murat
+with the reserve cavalry and Lannes's corps. Immediately after Mack's
+surrender at Ulm, the Emperor detached Lannes and Murat in pursuit of
+the Archduke Ferdinand, who had successfully broken through the ring of
+French troops. Lannes's infantry tramped sturdily behind Murat's
+cavalry, and fighting proceeded day and night. The soldiers marched
+thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen hours a day, and captured in five days
+fifteen thousand men with eleven colours, one hundred and twenty-eight
+guns, and six hundred limbers and provision wagons.
+
+During the rapid advance down the Danube on Vienna, the fifth corps
+continued in close support of Murat's cavalry. Vienna capitulated and
+the Marshals pressed on to seize the bridge before the city. The defence
+of the bridge had been entrusted to General Auersperg, with seven
+thousand men. The bridge was commanded by a battery of artillery, and
+the engineers were preparing to blow it up when Murat, Lannes, and
+Bertrand arrived. The three general officers quietly walked down to the
+bridge and shouted out to the Austrian picquets that an armistice had
+been arranged. Thereon the commander of the picquet proceeded to
+withdraw his men and sent word to Auersperg. Meanwhile the three
+officers strolled unconcernedly across, while a considerable way behind
+them a strong body of Lannes's infantry followed. When the French
+generals reached the Austrian end they found a sergeant of engineers
+actually proceeding to fire the fuse. Lannes caught him by the arm and
+snatched the match from his hand, telling him that it was a crime to
+blow up the bridge, and that he would be disgraced if he did such a
+thing. Then the two Marshals ran up to the officers commanding the
+artillery, who, growing restive at the continual advance of the French
+infantry, were preparing to open fire. Meanwhile Auersperg himself
+arrived, and the Marshals told him the same tale, affirming that the
+French were to occupy the bridge-head. Uncertain, like his subordinates,
+and but half convinced, he allowed himself to be bluffed, and thus
+Napoleon secured without dispute the crossing of the Danube. The
+boldness and audacity of the scheme so successfully carried out by Murat
+and Lannes, difficult as it is to condone from a moral point of view,
+brings out with great clearness the audacity, sangfroid, and
+resourcefulness of both these Marshals.
+
+The successful crossing of the Danube was soon followed by the decisive
+battle of Austerlitz. The battle was brought on by Napoleon impressing
+the Allies with the idea that it was possible to slip past the French
+left flank and surround him, much as he had surrounded Mack at Ulm. For
+this purpose the right under Davout was drawn back and concealed by
+skilful use of the ground. The centre under Soult and the left under
+Lannes were to hold their ground until the Russian left was absolutely
+compromised, when Soult was to push forward, and, seizing the commanding
+hill of Pratzen, to cut the Russian force in two, while Lannes and Murat
+were to fall with all their weight on the isolated Russian right. For
+once Murat and Lannes laid aside their jealousy and worked hand in hand,
+and the success of the French left was due to the perfect combination of
+infantry and cavalry. Of the Russian right, seven thousand five hundred
+were made prisoners, and two colours and twenty-seven pieces of
+artillery were captured. But hardly had the battle ceased when
+bickerings broke out again, and Lannes, thinking Napoleon did not
+appreciate him, sent in his resignation, which the Emperor, much to his
+surprise, accepted.
+
+The Marshal spent the greater part of the year 1806 in retirement at his
+native town of Lectourne, where he was joyfully received by his
+erstwhile neighbours and friends. He was always popular with his
+fellow-citizens, not only because of his republican ideas and his
+unaffected simplicity, but because he never forgot those who at any time
+had befriended him--a man who had once lent him a thousand francs was
+presented with a beautiful house and garden; the old soldier who had
+carried him out of the trenches at St. Jean d'Acre was established as a
+local postmaster, and received a small property and an annuity, and the
+Marshal never passed the house without going in, taking a meal with
+him, and making presents to the wife and children. On one occasion
+Lannes was attending a big official reception at Auch. On his way, he
+passed a peasant whom he recognised as one of the playfellows of his
+boyhood; strongly moved, the Marshal, when he arrived at the prefecture,
+asked the prefect if he might invite one of his friends to the luncheon.
+The prefect was charmed, but much surprised when an aide-de-camp
+returned with the peasant, whom Lannes embraced, placed by his side, and
+soon set at ease.
+
+But war once again caused the Emperor to summon his fiery lieutenant.
+Lannes took command of the fifth corps on October 5, 1806, and five days
+later had the satisfaction of beating a strong Prussian force at
+Saalfeld. From Saalfeld the Marshal pushed on towards Jena, near which
+town, early on October 13th, his scouts came in contact with a large
+Prussian force under Hohenlohe. His small force was in considerable
+danger, but Napoleon at once hurried up all possible reinforcements. The
+Prussians held an apparently impregnable position on the Landgrafenberg,
+a precipitous hill which commanded the town. But during the night a
+local pastor pointed out to the French a track, which led up to the
+summit, which the Prussians had neglected to occupy. Working all night,
+the French sappers made a road up which guns could be hauled by hand,
+and on the morning of the 14th the corps of Lannes, Augereau, and the
+Guard were safely drawn up on the plateau of the Landgrafenberg, while
+Ney and Soult continued the line to the north. A heavy mist overhung the
+field of battle, and Hohenlohe was confident that he was only opposed by
+the fifth corps, and his surprise was immense when the fog lifted and he
+found himself confronted by the French army. The battle commenced by
+Lannes seizing the village of Vierzehn Heiligen. While the Prussians
+were fully occupied in attempting to hold this village, Napoleon threw
+his flanks round them, and the battle ended in the annihilation of
+Hohenlohe's army. In the evening Napoleon learned that on the same day
+Davout had completely defeated the main Prussian army at Auerstaedt.
+Thereon he sent forward his various corps to seize all the important
+fortresses of Prussia, and detailed Lannes to support Murat in pursuit
+of the Prussian troops under Hohenlohe and Bluecher, which retreated in
+the direction of the Oder. If the battle of Jena had been followed by
+peace, as had happened after Austerlitz in the previous year, it is more
+than probable that once again Lannes would have thrown up his command,
+for when the bulletin appeared, the part that his corps had taken was
+almost entirely neglected. The Marshal's letter to his wife showed that
+he was vexed beyond words with his treatment by Napoleon, and he started
+out in the worst of tempers to support Murat. But he was too keen a
+soldier to let his personal grievances interfere with his active work,
+and, although he gave vent to his spleen in the usual recriminations, he
+performed his work to admiration. So hard did he push his infantry,
+marching sixty miles in forty-eight hours, that he was never more than
+five miles behind the light cavalry, and it was owing to his effective
+support that, on October 28th, Murat was able to surround Hohenlohe and
+force him to surrender at Prinzlow. But, in spite of this, Murat in his
+despatch never mentioned the name of Lannes. It took all Napoleon's tact
+to smooth the Marshal's ruffled temper, and it was only the prospect of
+further action which ultimately prevented him from throwing up his
+command in high dudgeon.
+
+By the beginning of November the theatre of war was virtually
+transferred from Prussia to Poland. As after Ulm, so after Jena, the
+Russians appeared on the scene too late to give effective aid to their
+allies, but in sufficient time to prevent the war from ending. Napoleon,
+who always had an intense esteem for the Marshal's common sense and
+military ability, asked him at this time to furnish a confidential
+report on the possibilities of Poland as a theatre of war, and the
+Marshal, with his keen insight into character, replied, "I am convinced
+that if you attempt to make the Poles rise on our behalf, within a
+fortnight they will be more against us than for us."
+
+The French troops crossed the Vistula at Warsaw, and encountered "the
+fifth element, mud." Led by Murat, unable to make headway in mud up to
+their knees, baffled by the Fabian tactics of the Russians, and lacking
+the mighty brain of their Emperor, the Marshals fought without
+co-operation, each for his own glory. Lannes was as bad as the rest,
+showing in his refusal to give due praise to his brother generals for
+their help at Pultusk the same petty spirit of which he had complained
+in Murat. During the long winter weeks spent in cantonments along the
+Vistula, the Marshal was ill with fever, in hospital at Warsaw, and was
+not able to return to the head of his corps in time for the bloody
+battle of Eylau. During May he commanded the covering force at the siege
+of Dantzig, and was summoned thence to take part in the last phase of
+the campaign. The Russian General, Bennigsen, allowed himself to be
+outgeneralled by Napoleon, and the French were soon nearer Koenigsberg
+than the Russians. Bennigsen made desperate efforts to retrieve his
+mistake, and on June 13th actually managed to throw himself across the
+Alle at Friedland, just at the moment that Lannes arrived on the scene.
+The Marshal at once saw his opportunity. The Russians were drawn up with
+the Alle at their backs, so that retreat was impossible, and only
+victory could save them. The Marshal's design, therefore, was to hold
+the enemy till the main French army arrived. Bennigsen made the most
+determined efforts to throw him off, attempting to crush him by superior
+weight of horsemen and artillery. But the Marshal held on to him grimly,
+and by magnificent handling of Oudinot's grenadiers, the Saxon horse,
+and Grouchy's dragoons, he maintained his position in spite of all the
+Russian efforts during the night of June 13th. On the morning of the
+14th, with ten thousand troops opposed to forty thousand, he fought for
+four hours without giving ground, skilfully availing himself of every
+bit of wood and cover, till at last reinforcements arrived. When the
+main French columns were deployed, Lannes, with the remnant of his
+indomitable corps, had a brief period of rest. But during the last phase
+of the battle the enemy made a desperate effort to break out of the trap
+through his shattered corps, and once again the Marshal led his troops
+with invincible elan, and drove the Russians right into the death-trap
+of Friedland.
+
+Tilsit followed, and Napoleon showered honours on his trusty
+lieutenants. On June 30, 1807, he gave to Lannes the principality of
+Sievers in the department of Kalish, and on March 19, 1808, he conferred
+on him a greater honour when he created him Duke of Montebello in memory
+of his famous victory.
+
+The Duke of Montebello spent his days of peace for the most part at
+Lectourne. He was summoned thence in October, 1808, to accompany the
+Emperor to Erfurt, and there the Czar Alexander made a special hero of
+his old adversary of Austerlitz, Pultusk, and Friedland, and presented
+him with the grand cordon of the Order of St. Andrew.
+
+The period between Tilsit and Erfurt gave Lannes the last peaceful days
+that he ever spent, for from Erfurt he was hurried off again to war,
+this time to Spain. As usual when there was hard fighting in prospect,
+Napoleon knew that he could ill afford to do without his most trusty and
+able lieutenant. But Lannes had but little enthusiasm for the Spanish
+War. His reputation stood so high that there was little chance of
+enhancing it, and by now the fire-eating republican soldier was settling
+down into a quiet country gentleman, who preferred the domestic circle
+and the pleasure of playing the grand seigneur before an audience of
+friends to the stir of the camp and the pomp of the court. But he was
+too well drilled in soldierly instincts to refuse to serve when
+summoned by his chief, and accordingly, much against his will, he set
+out on what he expected to be a short inglorious campaign of a couple of
+months against a disorganised provincial militia.
+
+Lannes accompanied the Emperor on his journey to Spain, attached to the
+headquarter staff without any definite command, for the Emperor knew
+that all was not well with the armies there, but he could not, until he
+had himself looked into the question, decide where he could use to the
+best advantage the great administrative and tactical ability of the Duke
+of Montebello. During the hurried crossing of the mountains of Tolosa
+the Marshal had the misfortune to be thrown from his horse. So severe
+were the injuries he received that it seemed impossible to take him
+beyond Vittoria, but Larrey, the Emperor's surgeon, ordered him to be
+wrapped in the bloody skin of a newly killed sheep; so successful was
+the prescription that the Marshal was soon able to follow the Emperor
+and rejoin headquarters. On his arrival the Emperor sent him to take
+over Moncey's corps of thirty-five thousand men, with orders to attack
+Castanos's forty-nine thousand at Tudela, while Ney, with twelve
+thousand, worked round the Spanish rear. On the morning of November 28th
+Lannes attacked the Spaniards at Tudela and won an easy victory, for the
+Aragonese, under Palafox, thought only of Saragossa, and the Valencians
+and Andalusians, under Castanos, of their line of retreat to the south.
+Lannes, seeing the exaggerated length of the Spanish position, at once
+divined the reason, and drove home an overwhelming attack against their
+weak centre. Successful as the battle was, it had not the far-reaching
+effects Napoleon had desired, for, owing to the mountainous nature of
+the ground, Ney was unable to get across the Spanish line of retreat;
+however, the enemy lost four thousand men at Tudela and, what was more
+important, all their artillery.
+
+The battle of Tudela opened the road to Madrid. But when Napoleon
+arrived there, instead of driving the remnants of the Spanish armies
+before him and sweeping down to Seville, he found that there was a
+pressing danger in the north. To give the scattered Spaniards a chance
+of rallying, Sir John Moore was making a bold advance on Madrid, and was
+close to Salamanca. Napoleon at once ordered Lannes to hand over his
+corps to Moncey and to join headquarters. The corps of Ney and a part of
+Victor's corps were sent off to oppose the English, and on December 28th
+Napoleon and the Duke of Montebello set out to overtake them. The
+weather was awful, and the passage of the mountain passes in face of the
+blizzards of snow tried the endurance of the troops to the uttermost.
+Lannes, in spite of the fact that he had not entirely recovered from his
+fall, joined Napoleon in setting an example to the troops. At the head
+of the column marched the Emperor with one arm linked to Lannes and the
+other to Duroc. When completely worn out by the unaccustomed efforts and
+by the weight of their riding-boots, the Emperor and Lannes at times
+took a brief rest on the limber of a gun carriage, and then got down and
+marched again.
+
+When Napoleon handed over the pursuit to Soult, he despatched the Duke
+of Montebello to take command of the corps of Junot and Moncey at
+Saragossa. On his arrival, on January 22, 1809, the Marshal found that
+the garrison of Saragossa was in much better heart than the besiegers,
+for on the west the third corps, owing to illness and fatigue, numbered
+barely thirteen thousand, and Gazan's division across the Ebro, before
+the eastern suburb, was scarcely seven thousand strong, while the total
+strength of the garrison was almost sixty thousand. Consequently Junot
+and Gazan were seriously contemplating raising the siege. Lannes's first
+duty was to restore the morale of the troops; to reprimand the general
+officers, who had been slack in their duty; to set an example to them by
+his fiery diligence, which refused to let him go to bed once during the
+whole of the first week he was before Saragossa; to restore the courage
+of the troops by daily exposing his life in the trenches, and, when
+necessary, reconnoitring in person with the utmost sangfroid right up to
+the Spanish positions; supervising hospitals, reorganising commissariat,
+planning with the engineer officers new methods of sap--in a word, to be
+everywhere and to do everything. Nothing can more clearly illustrate
+Napoleon's dictum, "A la guerre les hommes ne sont rien, c'est un homme
+qui est tout." Within five days of Lannes's taking over command the
+whole complexion of the situation had altered. The French were making
+the most resolute assaults with irresistible elan, carrying out the most
+difficult street-fighting with the greatest zest, sapping, mining, and
+blowing up convents and fortified posts, fighting above ground and below
+ground, suffering the most terrible losses, yet ever eager to fight
+again. By February 11th, thanks to the new morale of the troops, and to
+the fact that dysentery and enteric were playing havoc in the garrison,
+Lannes had captured house by house the western half of the town, and had
+arrived at the Corso. But once again murmurings broke out among the
+French troops, who had by now lost a fourth of their numbers, and at the
+same time a strong force of Spaniards under Palafox's brothers
+threatened to overwhelm Suchet, who was covering the siege. Lannes
+proved superior to all difficulties; by his fiery speeches and tact he
+reanimated both officers and men, pointing out to them the triumph they
+had already won in penning in fifty thousand Spaniards with a mere
+handful. Then, hurrying off with reinforcements for Suchet, he dug the
+covering force into an entrenched position on the heights of Villa
+Mayor, and four days later was back at Saragossa in time to superintend
+the attack across the Corso. On February 18th the French captured the
+suburb on the left bank of the river, and thus placed the inner town
+between two fires.
+
+Disease and the success of their enemies had taken all the heart out of
+the Spanish defence, and on February 20th Palafox surrendered. Between
+December 21st and February 21st the Spanish losses had been fifty-four
+thousand dead from wounds and disease, and Saragossa itself was but a
+heap of crumbling ruins. Lannes did all in his power to alleviate the
+sufferings of the unfortunate inhabitants, yet in spite of all his
+efforts another ten thousand died within the next month. Unfortunately
+also for his reputation the Marshal, acting on distinct orders from
+Napoleon, treated his military prisoners with extreme severity and
+executed two of the most prominent. The great strain of the siege told
+heavily on the health of the Marshal, who had never completely recovered
+from his accident near Tolosa; accordingly, after refitting the corps
+under his command, he handed them over to Mortier and Junot, and at the
+end of March set out for Lectourne. But his stay there was short, for
+Napoleon, with the Spanish and Austrian wars on his hands, could not
+afford to do without his assistance.
+
+By April 25th Lannes found himself once again at the post of danger, but
+this time on the Danube, at the battle of Abensberg. As he himself said,
+the first rumour of war always made him shiver, but as soon as he had
+taken the first step forward he had no thought but for his profession.
+But, much as he would have liked to dally at Lectourne, and much as he
+grumbled at Napoleon's overweening ambition once at the front he was the
+dashing soldier of the first Italian campaign. He arrived in time to
+take his share in the five days' fighting at Abensberg, Landshut,
+Eckmuehl, and Ratisbon. At Ratisbon he had an opportunity of showing that
+time had had no effect on his spirit; after two storming parties had
+been swept away, he called for volunteers for a third attempt: none
+stepped forward, and he himself rushed to seize a ladder. His staff held
+him back; but the lesson was not in vain: volunteers crowded to seize
+the scaling ladders, led by two of the Marshal's aides-de-camp, and
+soon the walls of Ratisbon were crowned with French soldiers and the
+town was won.
+
+Napoleon himself accompanied Lannes on the march to Vienna, and the
+Marshal was perfectly happy. Murat was absent, and there was no evil
+influence to cloud his friendship with his great chief. Once again
+Vienna succumbed without a shot, but this time the Austrians took care
+that there was no bridge over which Napoleon might cross the Danube.
+Accordingly, the Emperor determined to bridge the river below Vienna,
+making use of the Isle of Lobau, which lay two-thirds of the way across.
+The bridge from the south bank to Lobau was built under the personal
+supervision of the Emperor and Lannes, and on one occasion when they
+were reconnoitring in person they both fell into the river, and the
+Marshal, who was out of his depth, was pulled out by the Emperor
+himself.
+
+By May 20th the French army was concentrated in Lobau, and on May 21st a
+crossing was effected by several bridges, and assured by Massena
+occupying the village of Aspern and Lannes that of Essling. By the
+morning of the 22nd the mass of the French army had reached the north
+bank of the river. Napoleon, who perceived that the Austrian line was
+too extended to be strong, gave the command of the centre to Lannes with
+orders to sally forth from between the villages of Aspern and Essling
+and break the enemy's centre. In spite of a devastating artillery fire,
+the Marshal carried out his orders to perfection, making skilful use of
+his infantry and cavalry. He had actually forced back the Austrians when
+he was recalled by Napoleon, who had just heard that the enemy had
+succeeded in breaking the bridge by sending huge masses of timber down
+the swollen river. Lannes retreated slowly on Essling, his troops
+suffering severely from the re-formed Austrian batteries. While thus
+holding the foe in check the Marshal was struck on the knee by a cannon
+ball which ricocheted off the ground just in front of him. He was
+removed to the rear, and the doctors decided that it was necessary to
+amputate the right leg. The Marshal bore the operation well. He was
+moved to Vienna, and sent for the celebrated mechanician, Mesler, to
+make him a false leg, but unfortunately the hot weather affected the
+wound and mortification set in. The Emperor, in spite of his anxieties,
+came daily to visit him, and the dying hero had the last consolation of
+seeing how much he was valued by his august master and friend. The end
+came soon. On May 30th the Duke of Montebello died, and Napoleon, on
+hearing the news, with tears in his eyes cried out, "What a loss for
+France and for me!"
+
+The death of Lannes removed the first of Napoleon's chosen Paladins,
+and, in the opinion of the Emperor himself, perhaps the greatest soldier
+of them all. At St. Helena the fallen Emperor thus appraised his old
+comrade: "Lannes was a man of extraordinary bravery. Calm under fire, he
+possessed a sure and penetrating coup d'oeil; he had great experience
+in war. As a general he was infinitely superior to Moreau and Soult."
+But high as this eulogy is, the fact remains that Lannes was lucky in
+the time of his death: Fortune had not yet set her face against
+Napoleon's arms, and he was spared the terrors of the Russian retreat,
+the terrible fighting at Leipzig, and the gloom and misery of the winter
+campaign in France. That Lannes would have emerged superior to these
+trials his previous career affords strong reason to presume. Yet,
+brilliant as were his actions at Montebello, Saalfeld, Pultusk, and
+Tudela, masterly as were his operations at the siege of Saragossa, they
+only prove the Marshal's command of the technique of tactics. As Davout
+has pointed out, the Duke of Montebello had never an opportunity of
+showing his ability in the field of grand tactics or in the higher
+conceptions of strategy; he was a past master in the art of
+manoeuvring twenty-five thousand infantry, but he had never the
+opportunity of devising and carrying out a complete campaign, involving
+the handling of hundreds of thousands of men and the successful solution
+of problems both military and political. "The Roland of the French Army"
+had by nature many qualities which go to form a great soldier. His
+bravery was undoubted; before Ney he was called "the Bravest of the
+Brave." He had personal qualities which inspired his troops with his own
+courage and elan. He had the military eye, and a mind of extraordinary
+activity, which worked best when under the pressure of necessity and
+danger. He was physically strong and able to endure fatigue, and he had
+great capacity for taking pains. But his temper was often at fault,
+causing him to burst into fits of uncontrollable rage, while from
+jealousy he was apt to sulk and refuse to co-operate with his fellows.
+If an officer failed to grasp his meaning he would storm at him, and
+attempt himself to carry out the task. But on one occasion he heard the
+Emperor cry out, "That devil Lannes possesses all the qualities of a
+great commander, but he will never be one, because he cannot master his
+temper, and is constantly bickering with his subalterns, the greatest
+fault that a commander can make." From that day forward Lannes made the
+resolution to command his temper, and, in spite of his nature, his
+self-control became extraordinary. But though he conquered this
+weakness, he never overcame his jealousy of his fellow Marshals and
+generals. Again and again he threw up his command because he thought he
+was slighted or that others were preferred to him. At times he broke out
+into violent tirades against the Emperor himself, and on one occasion,
+in his jealousy, told him that Murat, his brother-in-law, was "a
+mountebank, a tight-rope dancer." Napoleon remonstrated with him,
+exclaiming, "It is I alone who give you both glory and success." Lannes,
+livid with anger, retaliated, "Yes, yes; because you have marched up to
+your ankles in gore on this bloody field, you think yourself a great
+man; and your emplumed brother-in-law crows on his own dunghill....
+Twelve thousand corpses lying on the plain to keep the field for your
+honour ... and yet to deny me--to me, Lannes--my due share in the
+honours of the day!" On the day before his death he could not resist
+humiliating his hated enemy, Bessieres, whom Napoleon had put under his
+command, and he actually insulted him on the field of battle by sending
+a junior aide-de-camp to tell the Marshal "to charge home," implying
+that he was shirking his duty.
+
+As a man, Lannes was warm-hearted and beloved by his family, his staff,
+and his men. Rough diamond as he was, he was truly one of nature's
+gentlemen. He never forgot a friend, though he seldom if ever forgave an
+enemy. His sympathies were essentially democratic; himself one of the
+people, he believed thoroughly in republican ideas. Outspoken to a
+fault, he would flare out against Napoleon himself, but one kind word
+from his great chief would cause him to forget all his bitterness. His
+impetuosity and his republican ideals of equality were, naturally,
+extremely offensive on occasions to the Emperor and the new nobility,
+and Lannes, in spite of all his efforts, was too genuine to conceal his
+hatred of all flunkeyism. It was this Gascon self-confidence, blended
+with singular amiability of character, which, while it offended the
+court, attached to the Marshal his soldiers and the provincial society
+of Lectourne, where even to this day the name of the Duke of Montebello
+is held in the most affectionate esteem and regard.
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+MICHEL NEY, MARSHAL, DUKE OF ELCHINGEN, PRINCE OF MOSKOWA
+
+
+"Go on, Ney; I am satisfied with you; you will make your way." So spoke
+a captain of hussars to a young recruit who had attracted his attention.
+The captain little thought that the zealous stripling would one day
+become a Marshal of France, the Prince of Moskowa, and famed throughout
+Europe as the "Bravest of the Brave." Still, the youth had presentiments
+of future greatness. Born on January 10, 1769, the son of a poor cooper,
+of Sarrelouis, more German than French, Michel Ney, at the age of
+fifteen, was possessed with the idea that he was destined for
+distinction. His father and mother tried to persuade him to become a
+miner, but nothing would please the high-spirited boy save the life of a
+soldier. Accordingly on February 1, 1787, he tramped off to Metz and
+enlisted as a private in the regiment known as the Colonel General's
+Hussars. Physically strong, unusually active, by nature a horseman, he
+soon attracted the attention of his comrades by his skill in menage and
+his command of the sabre, and was chosen to represent his regiment in a
+duel against the fencing master of another regiment of the garrison.
+Unfortunately for Ney, the authorities got wind of the affair in time to
+prevent any decision being arrived at, and the young soldier was
+punished for breaking regulations by a term of imprisonment; but no
+sooner was he released than he again challenged his opponent. This time
+there was no interference, and Ney so severely wounded his adversary
+that he was unable to continue his profession. Though he thus early in
+his career distinguished himself by his bravery, tenacity, and disregard
+of rules, it must not for a moment be thought that he was a mere
+swashbuckler. With the determination to rise firmly before his eyes, he
+set about, from the day he enlisted, to learn thoroughly the rudiments
+of his profession, and to acquire a knowledge of French and the faculty
+of reading and writing; thus he was able to pass the necessary tests,
+and quickly gained the rank of sergeant. Ney was fortunate in that he
+had not to spend long years as a non-commissioned officer with no
+obvious future before him. The Revolution gave him the opportunity so
+long desired by Massena and others, and it was as lieutenant that he
+started on active service with Dumouriez's army in 1793. Once on active
+service it was not long before his great qualities made themselves
+recognised. Though absolutely uncultivated, save for the smattering of
+reading and writing which he had picked up in the regimental school, and
+to outward appearances rather heavy and stupid, in the midst of danger
+he showed an energy, a quickness of intuition, and a clearness of
+understanding which hurled aside the most formidable obstacles. Physical
+fear he never knew; as he said, when asked if he ever felt afraid, "No,
+I never had time." In his earliest engagements at Neerwinden and in the
+north of France, he foreshadowed his future career by the extraordinary
+bravery and resource he showed in handling his squadron of cavalry
+during the retreat, on one occasion, with some twenty hussars,
+completely routing three hundred of the enemy's horse. This achievement
+attracted the attention of General Kleber, who sent for Captain Ney and
+entrusted him with the formation of a body of franc-tireurs of all arms.
+The franc-tireurs were really recognised brigands. They received no pay
+or arms and lived entirely on plunder, but were extremely useful for
+scouting and reconnaissance, and collected a great deal of information
+under a dashing officer. From this congenial work Ney was summoned in
+1796 to command the cavalry of General Coland's division in the Army of
+the Sambre and Meuse. There he distinguished himself by capturing
+Wuerzburg and two thousand of the enemy with a squadron of one hundred
+hussars. After this exploit General Kleber refused to listen to his
+remonstrances and insisted on his accepting his promotion as general of
+brigade. At the commencement of the campaign of 1797 Ney had the
+misfortune to be taken prisoner at Giessen. While covering the retreat
+with his cavalry, he saw a horse artillery gun deserted by its men.
+Galloping back by himself, he attempted to save the piece, but the
+enemy's horse swept down and captured him. His captivity was not long:
+his exchange was soon effected, and he returned to France in time to
+join in the agitation against the party of the Clicheans, the only
+occasion he actively interfered in politics.
+
+[ILLUSTRATION: MICHEL NEY, PRINCE OF MOSKOWA
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY F. GERARD]
+
+On the re-opening of the war in 1799 Ney was sent to command the cavalry
+of the Army of the Rhine. The campaign was notable for an exploit which
+admirably illustrates the secret of his success as a soldier. The town
+of Mannheim, held by a large Austrian garrison, was the key of Southern
+Germany. The French army was separated from this fortress by the broad
+Rhine. The enemy was confident that any attempt on the fortress must be
+preceded by the passage of the river by the whole French army. But Ney,
+hearing that the enemy's troops were cantonned in the villages
+surrounding the town, saw that if a small French force could be smuggled
+across by night, it might be possible to seize the town by a
+coup-de-main. The most important thing to ascertain was the exact
+position of the cantonments of the troops outside the fortress and of
+the various guards and sentinels inside the town. So important did he
+consider this information that he determined to cross the river himself
+and reconnoitre the position in person. Accordingly, general of division
+as he was, he disguised himself as a Prussian, and trusting to his early
+knowledge of German, he crossed the river secretly, and carefully noted
+all the enemy's preparations, running the risk of being found out and
+shot as a spy. The following evening, with a weak detachment, he again
+crossed the river, attacked the enemy's guards with the bayonet, drove
+back a sortie of the garrison, and entered the town pell-mell with the
+flying enemy; and under cover of the darkness, which hid the paucity of
+his troops, he bluffed the enemy into surrender. The year 1800 brought
+him further glory under Massena and Moreau, and he became known
+throughout the armies of France as the "Indefatigable."
+
+After the Treaty of Luneville, the First Consul summoned Ney to Paris,
+and won his affection by the warmth with which he received him. On his
+departure Bonaparte presented him with a sword. "Receive this weapon,"
+he said, "as a souvenir of the friendship and esteem I have towards you.
+It belonged to a pasha who met his death bravely on the field of
+Aboukir." The sword became Ney's most treasured possession: he was never
+tired of handling it, and he never let it go out of his sight; but he
+little thought what ill luck it would bring him later, for it was this
+famous sword which, in 1815, revealed to the police his hiding-place,
+and thus indirectly led him to death. The relations between Ney and the
+First Consul soon became closer. The general married a great friend of
+Hortense Beauharnais, Mademoiselle Auguie, the daughter of Marie
+Antoinette's lady in waiting. Sure of his devotion and perceiving the
+sternness with which he obeyed orders, in 1802 the First Consul
+entrusted him with the subjugation of Switzerland. The Swiss army fled
+before him, and a deputation, charged to make their submission to
+France, arrived in his camp with the keys of the principal towns. The
+general met them, listened courteously to their words of submission,
+then with a wave of the hand refused the keys. With that insight which
+later led him to warn Napoleon against attempting to trample on the
+people of Spain and Russia, he replied to the deputation, "It is not the
+keys I demand: my cannon can force your gates; bring me hearts full of
+submission, worthy of the friendship of France." Soon afterwards, with
+Soult and Davout, Ney was honoured with the command of one of the corps
+in the army which the First Consul was assembling for the invasion of
+England. In selecting him for this important post Napoleon showed that
+power of discrimination which contributed so greatly to his success.
+For, save in the raid into Switzerland, Ney had not yet been called upon
+to deal with complicated questions of administration and finance. His
+reputation rested purely on his extraordinary dash and bravery in the
+face of the enemy and his power of using to the full the elan which lies
+latent in all French armies. For when not in touch with the enemy he was
+notoriously indolent. He never made any attempt to learn the abstract
+science of war, and until stirred by danger his character seemed to
+slumber. Others judged him as the Emperor did at St. Helena when he
+said, "He was the bravest of men; there terminated all his faculties."
+But, in spite of this limitation in his character, Napoleon employed him
+again and again in positions of responsibility, for he knew that Ney's
+word once passed was never broken, that his devotion to France and to
+its ruler was steadfast, that in spite of his peevishness and his fierce
+outbursts of temper and bitter tirades, when it came to deeds there
+would be no wavering. Consequently the First Consul availed himself
+gladly of his great reputation for bravery, considering that hero
+worship did more to turn the young recruits into soldiers than the
+greatest organising and administrative talents. Moreover, Napoleon kept
+an eye on the composition of the staff of his Marshals and generals, and
+he knew that Ney had in Jomini, the chief of his staff, a man of
+admirable talent and sagacity, who would turn in their proper direction
+the sledge-hammer blows of the "Bravest of the Brave."
+
+With the creation of the Empire Ney was included among the Paladins of
+the new Charlemagne and received his Marshal's baton, the Grand Cross of
+the Legion of Honour, and the Order of the Christ of Portugal. But the
+new Marshal cared little for the life of a courtier, much as he prized
+his military distinctions. Banquets and feasting offered little
+attraction to the hero, and he despised riches and rank. "Gentlemen,"
+said he one day to his aides-de-camp, who were boasting of their
+families and rich appointments, "Gentlemen, I am more fortunate than
+you: I got nothing from my family, and I esteemed myself rich at Metz
+when I had two loaves of bread on the table." Accordingly, no young
+subaltern thirsting for glory was happier that Marshal Ney when, in
+August, 1805, the order came to march on Austria. The campaign, so
+suddenly commenced, brought the Marshal the hard fighting and the glory
+he loved so well. In the operations round Ulm, he surpassed himself by
+the tenacity with which he stuck to the enemy, and, thanks to the skill
+of Jomini, his errors only added to his fame, and the combat of
+Elchingen became immortal when Napoleon selected this name as a title
+for the Marshal when he created him Duke. During the fighting which
+penned the Austrians into Ulm two sides of the Marshal's character were
+clearly seen--his extraordinary bravery and his jealousy. The Emperor,
+anxious for the complete success of his plans, despatched an officer to
+command Ney to avoid incurring a repulse and to await reinforcements.
+The aide-de-camp found him in the faubourg of the town amongst the
+skirmishers. He delivered his message, whereupon the Marshal replied,
+"Tell the Emperor that I share the glory with no one; I have already
+provided for a flank attack." In September, 1806, Ney was ordered to
+march to Wuerzburg to join the Grand Army for the war against Prussia.
+The campaign gave him just those opportunities which he knew so well
+how to seize, and before the end of the war the Emperor had changed his
+sobriquet from the "Indefatigable" to the "Bravest of the Brave." But
+glorious as his conduct was, his rash impetuosity more than once
+seriously compromised Napoleon's plans. At Jena his rashness and his
+jealousy of his fellow Marshals caused him to advance before the other
+corps had taken up their positions. His isolated attack was defeated by
+the Prussians, and it took the united efforts of Lannes and Soult to
+rally his shattered battalions and snatch victory from the enemy. But
+his personal bravery at Jena, his brilliant pursuit of the enemy, the
+audacity with which he bluffed fourteen thousand Prussians to surrender
+at Erfurt, and his capture of twenty-three thousand prisoners and eight
+hundred cannon at the great fortress of Magdeburg made ample amends for
+his errors.
+
+But glorious as was his success, his impetuosity soon brought him into
+further disgrace. Detached from the main army on the Lower Vistula in
+the spring of 1807, he advanced against a mixed force of Prussians and
+Russians before Napoleon had completed all his plans. The Emperor was
+furious, and Berthier was ordered to write that, "The Emperor has, in
+forming his plans, no need of advice or of any one acting on his own
+responsibility: no one knows his thoughts; it is our duty to obey." But
+to obey orders when in contact with the enemy was just what the fiery
+soldier was unable to do, and the Emperor, recognising this full well,
+ordered his chief of the staff to write that "His Majesty believes that
+the position of the enemy is due to the rash manoeuvre made by Marshal
+Ney." When the main advance commenced the Marshal was summoned to rejoin
+the Grand Army. He did not arrive in time to take any prominent share in
+the bloody battle of Eylau; in spite of every exertion, his corps only
+reached the field of battle as darkness set in. The sight of the awful
+carnage affected even the warworn Marshal, and made him exclaim, "What
+a massacre!" and, as he added, "without any issue." Friedland was a
+battle after Ney's own heart. He arrived on the field at the moment
+Napoleon was opening his grand attack, and with his corps he was ordered
+to assault the enemy's left. Hurling division after division, by
+hand-to-hand fighting he drove the enemy back from their lines, and
+flung them into the trap of Friedland, there to fall by hundreds under
+the fierce fire of the French massed batteries. It was his sangfroid
+which was responsible for the devotion with which the soldiers rushed
+against the enemy. At the beginning of the action some of the younger
+grenadiers kept bobbing their heads under the hail of bullets which
+almost darkened the air. "Comrades," called out the Marshal, who was on
+horseback, "the enemy are firing in the air; here am I higher than the
+top of your busbies, and they don't hurt me."
+
+After the peace of Tilsit, Ney, soon Duke of Elchingen, had a year's
+repose from war, but in 1808 he was one of those summoned to retrieve
+the errors arising from Napoleon's mistaken calculation of the Spanish
+problem. The selection was an unfortunate one. Accustomed to the
+ordinary warfare of Central Europe, at his best in the melee of battle,
+in Spain, where organised resistance was seldom met, where the foe
+vanished at the first contact, the Marshal showed a hesitation and
+vacillation strangely in contrast with his dashing conduct on the
+battlefield. Fine soldier as he was, he lacked the essentials of the
+successful general--imagination and moral courage. He was unable to
+discern in his mind's eye what lay on the other side of a hill, and the
+blank which this lack of imagination caused in his mind affected his
+nerves, and made him irresolute and irritable. Moreover, in Spain, the
+success of the Emperor's plans depended on the loyal co-operation of
+Marshal with Marshal. But unfortunately Ney, obsessed by jealousy, was
+most difficult to work with; as Napoleon himself said, "No one knew what
+it was to deal with two men like Ney and Soult." From the very outset
+of his career in Spain he showed a lack of strategic insight and a want
+of rapidity of movement. Thus it was that he was unable to assist Lannes
+in the operations which the Emperor had planned for the annihilation of
+the Spaniards at Tudela. His heart was not in the work, and he made no
+attempt to hide this from Napoleon. When the Emperor before leaving
+Spain reviewed his troops, and told him that "Romana would be accounted
+for in a fortnight; the English are beaten and will make no more effort;
+that all will be quiet here in three months," the Duke of Elchingen
+boldly told him, "The men of this country are obstinate, and the women
+and children fight; I see no end to the war." It was with gloomy
+forebodings, therefore, that he saw the Emperor ride off to France. But
+what increased his dislike of the whole situation was that his
+operations were made subservient to those of Soult, his old enemy and
+rival. The hatred which existed between the two was of long standing,
+and had burned fiercely ever since the days of Jena, when Soult had been
+mainly instrumental in retrieving the disaster threatened by Ney's
+impetuosity. It came to a head when, after the Duke of Dalmatia's
+expulsion from Portugal, the armies of the two Marshals met at Lugo.
+Soult's corps arrived without cannon or baggage, a mere armed rabble,
+and Ney's men jeered at the disorganised battalions. The Marshals
+themselves took sides with their men. Matters were not improved when
+Joseph sent orders that Ney was to consider himself under Soult, and,
+though Napoleon himself confirmed the decision, it brought no peace
+between the rival commanders. All through the Talavera campaign there
+was perpetual discord, and it was Ney's hesitation, arising from
+vacillation or jealousy, which prevented Soult from cutting off the
+English retreat across the Tagus.
+
+After the battle of Wagram, Massena was despatched to Spain to command
+the Army of Portugal. The Duke of Elchingen showed to his new chief the
+same spirit of disobedience and hatred of control. At times slack and
+supine in his arrangements, as in the preparations for the siege of
+Ciudad Rodrigo and in his want of energy after the siege of Almeida, at
+other times upsetting his superiors' plans by his reckless impetuosity,
+he was a subordinate whom no one cared to command. Still, when it came
+to actual contact with the foe, no officer was able to extract so much
+from his men, and his defeat of Crawford's division on the Coa and his
+dash at Busaco were quite up to his great reputation. Before the lines
+of Torres Vedras his ill-humour broke out again. He bitterly opposed the
+idea of an assault, and he grumbled at being kept before the position.
+In fact, nothing that his chief could order was right. It was to a great
+extent owing to the conduct of the Duke of Elchingen that Massena was at
+last compelled to retreat. As he wrote to Berthier, "I have done all I
+could to keep the army out of Spain as long as possible ... but I have
+been continually opposed, I make bold to say, by the commanders of the
+corps d'armee, who have roused such a spirit amongst officers and men
+that it would be dangerous to hold our present position any longer."
+When, however, the retreat was at last ordered, Ney showed to the full
+his immense tactical ability. Although the army was greatly demoralised
+during the retreat through Portugal, he never lost a single gun or
+baggage wagon. As Napier wrote, "Day after day Ney--the indomitable
+Ney--offered battle with the rear guard, and a stream of fire ran along
+the wasted valleys of Portugal, from the Tagus to the Mondego, from the
+Mondego to the Coa." As often as Wellington with his forty thousand men
+overtook the Marshal with his ten thousand, he was baffled by the
+tactical cleverness with which his adversary compelled him to deploy his
+whole force, only to find before him a vanishing rear guard. But while
+displaying such brilliant ability, the Duke of Elchingen would take no
+orders from his superior, and when Massena told him to cover Almeida
+and Ciudad Rodrigo, he flatly refused and marched off in the opposite
+direction. Thereon the Prince of Essling was compelled to remove him
+from his command, and wrote to Berthier, "I have been reduced to an
+extremity which I have earnestly endeavoured to avoid. The Marshal, the
+Duke of Elchingen, has arrived at the climax of disobedience. I have
+given the sixth corps to Count Loison, senior general of division. It is
+grievous for an old soldier who has commanded armies for so many years
+to arrive at such a pass ... with one of his comrades. The Duke of
+Elchingen since my arrival has not ceased to thwart me in my military
+operations.... His character is well known, I will say no more." Thus
+Ney returned to France in disgrace with his comrades, and hated by his
+enemies owing to the licence he allowed his soldiers.
+
+The Emperor, however, much as he insisted on blind obedience to his own
+orders, soon forgave the Duke of Elchingen, and heaped his wrath on the
+unfortunate Massena, whom he held responsible for the failure of the
+campaign in Portugal. Accordingly, when in 1812 he planned his Russian
+campaign, he entrusted Ney with the command of the third corps. Under
+the personal eye of Napoleon, the Duke of Elchingen was a different man
+to the Ney of Spain. At Smolensk he showed his old brilliancy, and after
+the battle he opposed the further advance into Russia, maintaining that
+so far the Russians had never been beaten but only dislodged, that the
+peasants were hostile, and once again reminding the Emperor of his
+failure in Spain. It was with great disapprobation that he heard
+Napoleon accept Caulaincourt's advice, and determine to advance to
+Moscow. "Pray heaven," he said, "that the blarney of the ambassador
+general may not be more injurious to the army than the most bloody
+battle." Gloomy as were his forebodings, they had no effect on his
+conduct when he met the enemy, and he won for himself the title of
+Prince of Moskowa in the hard-fought battle outside the walls of Moscow.
+But it is the retreat that has made his name so glorious. After the
+first few days he was entrusted with command of the rear guard, and as
+demoralisation set in he alone was able to keep the soldiers to their
+duty. At Krasnoi his feeble corps of six thousand men was surrounded by
+thirty thousand Russians. The main body was beyond recall. When summoned
+to lay down his arms, he replied, "A Marshal of France never
+surrenders," and closing his shattered columns, he charged the enemy's
+batteries and drove them from the field. For three days he struggled on
+surrounded by the foe. On one occasion when the enemy suddenly appeared
+in force where least expected, his men fell back in dismay, but the
+Marshal with admirable presence of mind ordered the charge to be beaten,
+shouting out, "Comrades, now is the moment: forward! they are ours." At
+last, with but fifteen hundred men left, he regained the main body near
+Orcha. When Napoleon heard of their arrival, he rushed to meet the
+Marshal, exclaiming, "I have three hundred million francs in my coffers
+at the Tuileries; I would willingly have given them to save Marshal
+Ney." He embraced the Duke, saying "he had no regret for the troops
+which were lost, because they had preserved his dear cousin the Duke of
+Elchingen." At the crossing of the Beresina, Ney once again covered
+himself with glory, and through the remainder of the terrible retreat he
+commanded the rear guard, and was the last man to cross the Niemen at
+Kovno and reach German soil. General Dumas, one of the officers of the
+general staff, relates how he was resting in an inn at Gumbinnen, when
+one evening a man entered clad in a long brown cloak, wearing a long
+beard, his face blackened with powder, his whiskers half burned by fire,
+but his eyes sparkling with brilliant lustre. "Well, here I am at last,"
+he said. "What, General Dumas, do you not know me?" "No; who are you?"
+"I am the rear guard of the Grand Army--Marshal Ney. I have fired the
+last musket on the bridge of Kovno: I have thrown into the Niemen the
+last of our arms, and I have walked hither, as you see, across the
+forests."
+
+The campaign of 1813 saw the Duke of Elchingen once again at the
+Emperor's side. At Luetzen, his corps of conscripts fought nobly: five
+times the gallant Ney led them to the attack; five times they responded
+to the call of their leader. As he himself said, "I doubt if I could
+have done the same thing with the old grenadiers of the Guard.... The
+docility and perhaps inexperience of those brave boys served me better
+than the tried courage of veterans. The French infantry can never be too
+young." But at Bautzen he showed another phase of his character.
+Entrusted with sixty thousand men with orders to make a vast turning
+movement, his timidity spoiled the Emperor's careful plans. So
+hesitating and uncertain were his dispositions that the Allies had ample
+time to meet his attack and quietly withdrew without being compromised,
+leaving not a cannon or a prisoner in the hands of the French. Well
+might the Emperor cry out, "What, after such a butchery no results? no
+prisoners?" But in spite of Ney's lack of strategic skill and his
+well-known vacillation when confronted with problems he did not
+understand, Napoleon was forced to employ him on an independent command.
+After Oudinot was beaten at Grosbeeren, he despatched him to take
+command of the army opposed to the mixed force of the Allies under
+Bernadotte, which was threatening his communications from the direction
+of Berlin. But Ney was no more successful than Oudinot. His dispositions
+were even worse than those of the Duke of Reggio, and at Dennewitz,
+night alone saved his force from absolute annihilation, while he had to
+confess to nine hundred killed and wounded and fifteen thousand taken
+prisoners. He but wrote the truth in his despatch to the Emperor, "I
+have been totally beaten, and still do not know whether my army has
+reassembled." At Leipzig also he was responsible for the want of success
+during the first day of the battle, and spent the time in useless
+marching and counter-marching; in this case, however, the faulty orders
+he received were largely responsible for his errors. But all through the
+campaign he felt the want of the clear counsel of the born strategist
+Jomini, his former chief of the staff, who had gone over to the Allies.
+
+During the winter campaign in 1814 in France no one fought more fiercely
+and stubbornly than the Duke of Elchingen. When the end came and Paris
+had surrendered, he was one of those who at Fontainebleau refused to
+march on Paris, in spite of the cries of the Guard "To Paris!" Angered
+by the tenacity with which the Marshals protested against the folly of
+such a march, the Emperor at last exclaimed, "The army will obey me."
+"No," replied Ney, "it will obey its commanders." Macdonald, who had
+just arrived with his weary troops, backed him up, exclaiming, "We have
+had enough of war without kindling a civil war." Thereon Napoleon was
+induced to sign a proclamation offering to abdicate; and Caulaincourt,
+Macdonald, and Ney set out for Paris to try and get terms from the Czar.
+Once in the capital the Marshal seemed to despair of his commission.
+Feeble and irresolute, he was easily gained over by Talleyrand, and at
+once made his formal adhesion to the provisional government. When the
+commissioners returned to the Emperor, he saw but too clearly that his
+day was done. "Oh," he exclaimed, "you want repose; have it then; alas!
+you know not how many disappointments and dangers await you on your beds
+of down."
+
+The Emperor's prophecy was but too true. Though honours were showered
+upon him, the peace which followed the restoration of the Bourbons
+brought but little satisfaction and enjoyment to the Duke of Elchingen.
+Accustomed to the bustle and hurry of a soldier's life, he was too old
+to acquire the tastes of a life of tranquillity. Books brought him no
+satisfaction, since he could scarcely read; society frightened him, and
+his plain manners and blunt speech shocked the salons of Paris and
+grated on the nerves of the courtiers. By nature ascetic, he hated
+dissipation. Moreover, his family life was by no means happy. His wife,
+ambitious, fond of luxury and pleasure, was unable to share his pursuits
+and tastes, and worried her husband with childish complaints of loss of
+prestige at the new court. Consequently the blunt old soldier was only
+too glad to leave her at his hotel in Paris, and bury himself in his
+estate in the country, where field sports offered him a recreation he
+could appreciate, and his old comrades and country neighbours afforded
+him a society at least congenial.
+
+From this peaceful life at Coudreaux the Marshal was suddenly summoned
+on March 6, 1815, to Paris. On arriving there he was met by his lawyer,
+who informed him of Napoleon's descent on Frejus. "It is a great
+misfortune," he said; "what is the Government doing? Who are they going
+to send against that man?" Then he hurried off to the Minister of War to
+receive his instructions. He was ordered to Besancon to take command of
+the troops there, and to help oppose Napoleon's advance on Paris. Before
+starting for his headquarters he went to pay his respects to the King,
+and expressed his indignation at the Emperor's action, promising "to
+bring him back in an iron cage." On arriving at his command he found
+everything in confusion, and the soldiers ready at any moment to declare
+for the Emperor. Ney had but one thought, and that to save the King. In
+reply to a friend who told him that the soldiers could not fight the
+Emperor, he replied, "They shall fight; I will begin the action myself,
+and run my sword to the hilt in the breast of the first who hesitates to
+follow my example." But when he arrived, on the evening of the 13th, at
+Lons la Saulnier he was met by the news that on all sides the troops
+were deserting, and that the Duke of Orleans and Monsieur had been
+compelled to withdraw from Lyons. That same evening emissaries arrived
+from Napoleon alleging that all the Marshals had promised to go over,
+and that the Congress of Vienna had approved of the overthrow of the
+Bourbons, assuring the Marshal that the Emperor would receive him as on
+the day after the battle of Moskowa. While but half convinced by these
+specious arguments and a prey to doubt, news arrived that his vanguard
+at Bourg had deserted, and that the inhabitants of Chalons-sur-Saone had
+seized his artillery. In his agony he exclaimed to the emissaries, "It
+is impossible for me to stop the water of the ocean with my own hand."
+On the morrow he called the generals of division to give him counsel;
+one of them was Bourmont, a double-dyed traitor who deserted Napoleon on
+the eve of Waterloo; the other was the stern old republican warrior
+Lecourbe. They could give him but little advice, so at last the fatal
+decision was made, and Ney called his troops together and read the
+proclamation drawn up by Napoleon.
+
+Scarcely had he done so than he began to perceive the enormity of his
+action. Meanwhile he wrote an impassioned letter to Napoleon urging him
+to seek no more wars of conquest. It might suit the Emperor's policy to
+cause the Marshal to desert those to whom he had sworn allegiance, but
+he mistrusted men who broke their word, and though he received Ney with
+outward cordiality, he saw but little of the "black beast," as he called
+him, during the Hundred Days, for the Duke of Elchingen, full of remorse
+and shame, hid himself at Coudreaux. It was not till the end of May that
+Napoleon summoned him to Paris, and greeted him with the words, "I
+thought you had become an emigre." "I ought to have done it long ago,"
+replied the Marshal; "now it is too late." Still the Emperor kept him
+without employment till on June 11th he sent him to inspect the troops
+around Lille, and from there summoned him to join the army before
+Charleroi on the afternoon of June 15th. Immediately on his arrival he
+was put in command of the left wing of the army, composed of Reille and
+d'Erlon's corps, and received verbal orders to push northwards and
+occupy Quatre Bras. The Marshal's task was not an enviable one. He had
+to improvise a staff and make himself acquainted with his subordinates
+and at the same time try and elucidate the contradictory orders of his
+old enemy Soult, now chief of the staff to the Emperor. Accordingly,
+when on the evening of the 15th his advance guard found Quatre Bras held
+by the enemy, he decided to make no attack that night. But on the
+morning of the 16th he made a still greater error. For not only did he
+neglect to make a reconnaissance, which would have showed him that he
+was opposed by a mere handful of troops, but, slothful as ever, he
+omitted to give orders for the proper concentration of his divisions,
+which were strung out along sixteen miles of road. A day begun thus
+badly was bound to bring difficulties. But these difficulties were
+enormously increased in the afternoon. After three despatches ordering
+him to carry Quatre Bras with all his force, he received a fourth
+written by Soult at Napoleon's order telling him to move to the right to
+support Grouchy in his attack on the Prussians, ending with the words,
+"The fate of France is in your hands, therefore do not hesitate to move
+according to the Emperor's commands." To add further to his
+difficulties, d'Erlon's corps was detached from his command without his
+knowledge. In this distracted condition, the Marshal lost all control
+over himself, calling out, "Ah, those English balls! I wish they were
+all in my belly!" Thus it was, mad with rage, that he rode up to
+Kellermann, calling out, "We must make a supreme effort. Take your
+cavalry and fling yourself upon the English centre. Crush them--ride
+them down!" But it was too late. Wellington himself with thirty thousand
+men now held Quatre Bras. The Marshal had himself to thank for his want
+of success, for if he had been less slothful in the morning, the battle
+would have been won before the contradictory orders could have had any
+effect on his plans. On the morning of the 17th the dispirited Prince of
+Moskowa took no steps to find out what his enemy was doing, although he
+received orders from the Emperor at ten o'clock to occupy Quatre Bras if
+there was only a rear guard there. Accordingly the English had ample
+time to retreat. When Napoleon hurried up in pursuit at 2 p.m. he
+greeted his lieutenant with the bitter reproach, "You have ruined
+France!" But though the Emperor recognised that he was no longer the Ney
+of former days, he still retained him in his command. At Waterloo the
+Marshal showed his old dash on the battlefield. The left wing was hurled
+against the Allies with a vehemence that recalled the Prince of
+Moskowa's conduct in the Russian campaign. But, impetuous as ever,
+finding he could not crush the stubborn foe with his infantry, he rushed
+back and prematurely ordered up 5,000 of the cavalry of the Guard. "He
+has compromised us again," growled his old enemy Soult, "as he did at
+Jena." "It is too early by an hour," exclaimed the Emperor, "but we must
+support him now that he has done it." The mistake was fatal to
+Napoleon's plans. In vain the French cavalry charged the English
+squares, still unshaken by artillery and infantry fire. Meanwhile the
+Prussians appeared on the allied left. The Emperor staked his last card,
+and ordered the Guard to make one last effort to crush the English
+infantry. Sword in hand the gallant Prince of Moskowa led the
+magnificent veterans to the attack. But the fire of the English lines
+swept them down by hundreds. A shout arose, "La garde recule." Ney, the
+indomitable, in vain seeking death, was swept away by the mass, his
+clothing in rags, foaming at the mouth, his broken sword in his hand,
+rushing from corps to corps, trying to rally the runaways with taunts of
+"Cowards, have you forgotten how to die?" At one moment he passed
+d'Erlon as they were swept along in the rush, and screamed out to him,
+"If you and I come out of this alive, d'Erlon, we shall be hanged." Well
+it had been for him if he could have found the death he so eagerly
+sought. Five horses were shot under him, his clothes were riddled with
+bullets, but he was reserved for a sinister fate.
+
+The Marshal returned to Paris and witnessed the capitulation and second
+abdication. Thereafter he had thoughts of withdrawing to Switzerland or
+to America. But unfortunately he considered himself safe under the terms
+of the capitulation, and, anxious to clear his name for the sake of his
+children, he remained hidden at the chateau of Bessonis, near Aurillac,
+waiting to see what the attitude of the Government would be. There he
+was discovered by a zealous police official, who caught sight of the
+Egyptian sabre Napoleon had presented to him in 1801. He was at once
+arrested and taken to Paris. The military court appointed to try him
+declared itself unable to try a peer of France. Accordingly the House of
+Peers was ordered to proceed with his trial, and found him guilty by a
+majority of one hundred and sixty-nine to nineteen. The Marshal's
+lawyers tried to get him off by the subterfuge that he was no longer a
+Frenchman, since his native town, Sarrelouis, had been taken from
+France. But Ney would hear of no such excuse. "I am a Frenchman," he
+cried, "and will die a Frenchman." Early on the following day, December
+7, 1815, the sentence was read to the prisoner. The officer entrusted
+with this melancholy duty commenced to read his titles, Prince of
+Moskowa, Duke of Elchingen, &c. But the Marshal cut him short: "Why
+cannot you simply say 'Michel Ney, once a French soldier and soon to be
+a heap of dust'?" At eight o'clock in the morning the Marshal, with a
+firm step, was conveyed to the place of execution. To the officer who
+prepared to bandage his eyes he said, "Are you ignorant that for
+twenty-five years I have been accustomed to face both ball and bullet?"
+Then, taking off his hat, he said, "I declare before God and man that I
+have never betrayed my country. May my death render her happy. Vive la
+France!" Then, turning to the soldiers, he gave the word, "Soldiers,
+fire!"
+
+Thus, in his forty-seventh year, the Prince of Moskowa, a peasant's son,
+but now immortal as the "Bravest of the Brave," expiated his error. Pity
+it was that he had not the courage of his gallant subordinate at Lons la
+Saulnier, who had broken his sword in pieces with the words, "It is
+easier for a man of honour to break iron than to infringe his word."
+Looking backward, and calmly reading the evidence of the trial, it is
+clear that Ney set out in March, 1815, with every intention to remain
+faithful to the King. But his moral courage failed him; and the glamour
+of his old life, and the contact with the iron will of the great
+Corsican, broke down his principles. To some the punishment meted out to
+him seemed hard; but when the Emperor heard of his execution he said
+that he only got his deserts. "No one should break his word. I despise
+traitors. Ney has dishonoured himself." And the Duke of Wellington
+refused to plead for the Marshal, for he said "it was absolutely
+necessary to make an example." But the clearest proof of the justice of
+the penalty was the fact that from the fatal day at Lons la Saulnier the
+Marshal was never himself again, and he who, during those terrible days
+in Russia, had been able to sleep like a little child, never could sleep
+in peace.
+
+Among the Marshals of Napoleon, Ney, with his title of the "Bravest of
+the Brave," and his magnificent record of hard fighting, will always
+appeal to those who love romance. But, great fighter as he was, he was
+not a great general. At times, at St. Helena, Napoleon, remembering his
+mistakes at Quatre Bras and Waterloo, used to say that he ought not to
+have made him a Marshal, for he only had the courage and honesty of a
+hussar, forgetting his words in Russia, "I have three hundred millions
+francs in my coffers at the Tuileries; I would willingly have given them
+to save Marshal Ney." But, cruel as it may seem, perhaps the Emperor
+expressed his real opinion of him when he said, "He was precious on the
+battlefield, but too immoral and too stupid to succeed." In action he
+was always master of himself, but as Jomini, his old chief of the staff,
+wrote of him, "Ney's best qualities, his heroic valour, his rapid coup
+d'oeil, and his energy, diminished in the same proportion that the
+extent of his command increased his responsibility. Admirable on the
+battlefield, he displayed less assurance not only in council, but
+whenever he was not actually face to face with the enemy." In a word, he
+lacked that marked intellectual capacity which is the chief
+characteristic of great soldiers like Hannibal, Caesar, Napoleon, and
+Wellington.
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+LOUIS NICOLAS DAVOUT, MARSHAL, DUKE OF AUERSTAeDT, PRINCE OF ECKMUeHL
+
+
+There was an old saying in Burgundy that "when a Davout comes into the
+world, another sword has leaped from the scabbard"; but so finely
+tempered a weapon as Louis Nicolas had never before been produced by the
+warrior nobles of Annoux, though the line stretched back in unbroken
+descent to the days of the first Crusades. Born at Auxerre on May 18,
+1770, the future Marshal was destined for the service, and at the age of
+fifteen entered the Royal Military School at Paris. In the fatal year
+1789 he received his commission in the Royal Champagne regiment of
+cavalry stationed at Hesdin, but his period of service with the royal
+army was short. From his boyhood, young Davout was one of those whom it
+was impossible to drive, who, while they submit to no authority, are as
+clay in the hands of the master mind who can gain their affections. His
+turbulent spirit had early become captivated by the specious
+revolutionary logic of a brilliant young lawyer, Turreau, who, a few
+years later, became his stepfather. Full of burning zeal for his new
+political tenets, chafing under the dull routine of garrison life,
+despising his mediocre companions, the young sub-lieutenant soon found
+himself in trouble, and was dismissed from the service for the part he
+took in aiding the revolutionaries in their attempts to seduce the
+privates and non-commissioned officers from their allegiance to their
+sovereign. His return to civil life was but brief, for, when in 1791 the
+Prussian invasion summoned the country to arms, Louis Nicolas enlisted
+in the Volunteers of the Yonne, and owing to his former military
+training was at once elected lieutenant-colonel.
+
+The Volunteers of the Yonne formed part of the corps opposed to the
+Austrians in the Low Countries, and owing to the stern discipline of
+their lieutenant-colonel, became distinguished as the most reliable of
+all the volunteers raised in 1791. Davout adopted the same plan which
+proved so effective among the Scotch regiments during the eighteenth
+century: keeping in close communication with the local authorities of
+the Yonne, and rewarding or punishing his men by posting their names
+with their records in the various cantons from which they were drawn.
+After fighting bravely under Dumouriez, it fell to the lot of the
+battalion to attempt to capture that general, when, after the battle of
+Neerwinden, he tried to betray his army to the Austrians. Soon after
+this the lieutenant-colonel had to throw up his command when the
+Convention decreed that no ci-devant noble could hold a commission; but
+Davout's record was so strongly republican that his friend Turreau had
+little difficulty in getting him reinstated in his rank, and sent to
+command a brigade of cavalry in the Army of the Moselle. Except for two
+years during which he was at home on parole, after the capture of
+Mannheim, the general was on active service in the Rhine valley till the
+peace of Campo Formio in 1797. During these years he steadily added to
+his reputation as a stern commander and a stubborn fighter, and as such
+attracted the attention of Desaix, who introduced him early in 1798 to
+Bonaparte. The future Emperor saw at a glance that this small, stout,
+bald-headed young man had qualities which few others possessed.
+Accordingly he took him with him to Egypt. Like all who met the young
+Napoleon, Davout fell entirely beneath his spell. In spite of the fact
+that he was not included among the few friends whom Bonaparte selected
+to return with him in 1800, his enthusiasm for the First Consul
+increased day by day. Returning to France with Desaix, just before the
+Marengo campaign, he at once hastened to Paris to congratulate the new
+head of the Government. Davout's republicanism had received many shocks.
+Like all other honourable men, he had hated and loathed the Terror.
+Moreover, he had seen on service how little the preachers of the
+equality of man carried out their doctrine in practice. As early as 1794
+we find him writing to a friend: "Ought we to be exposed to the tyranny
+of any chance revolutionary committee or club?... Why are not all
+Frenchmen witnesses of fraternity and of the republican virtues which
+reign in our camps; we have no brigands here, but have we not plenty at
+home?" Bonaparte knew well that Davout was not only his enthusiastic
+personal follower, but also thoroughly approved of the coup d'etat of
+the 18th Brumaire, and in his desire for peace and stability at home
+would warmly back him up in his scheme of founding a tyranny under the
+guise of an Imperial Republic. Accordingly the First Consul published a
+most flattering account of him in the official _Moniteur_, and gave him
+command of the cavalry of the Army of Italy, under General Brune. In
+June, 1801, after the treaty of Lueneville, in pursuance of his plan of
+congregating his friends at headquarters, he recalled him to Paris as
+inspector-general of cavalry.
+
+It was while thus employed that Davout met his wife, Aimee Leclerc.
+Aimee, a sister of that Leclerc who married Pauline Bonaparte, had been
+educated at Madame Campan's school in Paris, along with the young
+Beauharnais and Bonapartes, and was the bosom friend of Caroline and
+Hortense. From many points of view the marriage was extremely
+appropriate; for although the Davouts belonged to the old nobility, and
+Aimee's father was only a corn merchant of Poitou, he had prospered in
+his business, and had been able to give his daughter an excellent
+education. The marriage brought Davout into close connection with the
+First Consul's family, and was successful from a worldly and a domestic
+point of view. The future Marshal was deeply attached to his wife, and
+spent every moment with her which he could snatch from his military
+duties. When absent on service scarcely a day passed on which he did not
+write to her, and his happiness was completely bound up in her welfare
+and that of his large family. The year following their marriage the
+Davouts bought the beautiful estate of Savigny-sur-Orge for the sum of
+seven hundred thousand francs. This was a great strain on their rather
+limited resources, and for some years they had to practise strict
+economy.
+
+In September, 1803, the general was summoned to Bruges to command a
+corps of the Army of the Ocean, which later became the third corps of
+the Grand Army. There, in close communication with his great chief, he
+began to show those traits which made him respected as the most
+relentless and careful administrator of all the Marshals of France. His
+energy was indefatigable; everything had to undergo his personal
+scrutiny, be it the best means of securing the embarkation of a company
+in one of the new barges or the careful inspection of the boots of a
+battalion: for Davout, like Wellington, knew that a soldier's marching
+powers depended on two things, his feet and his stomach, and every man
+in the third corps had to have two pairs of good boots in his valise and
+one on his feet. Secrecy also, in his eyes, was of prime importance; he
+was quick to give a lesson to all spies, or would-be spies, in Belgium,
+and it was with stern exultation in his duty that he wrote to the First
+Consul, "Your orders for the trial of the spy (Buelow) will be carried
+out, and within a week he will be executed." Day by day, as he gained
+experience, the indefatigable soldier drew on him the approbation of
+the First Consul, and it was with no sense of favouritism that Napoleon,
+when he became Emperor, nominated him among his newly-created Marshals,
+although in the eyes of the army at large he had not yet done enough to
+justify this choice.
+
+The campaign of 1805 gave the Marshal his first opportunity of handling
+large bodies of troops of all arms in the field, and, though it did not
+bring him into such conspicuous notice as Murat, Lannes, Soult and Ney,
+it justified Napoleon in his selection of him as worthy of the Marshal's
+baton. In the operations round Ulm, Davout proved himself an excellent
+subordinate, whose corps was ever ready, at full strength, in the field,
+and at the hour at which it had been ordered, while the Marshal's stern
+checking of marauding was a new feature in French military discipline,
+and one which no other Marshal could successfully carry out without
+starving his troops. But it was Austerlitz which taught the students of
+war the true capabilities of this rising officer. There the Emperor,
+relying on his stubborn, methodical character, entrusted him with a duty
+which eminently suited his genius: he chose his corps as the screen to
+cover the trap which he set for the Russian left, and all day long it
+had to fight a stern rear-guard action against overwhelming odds, until
+it had tempted the enemy into dissipating his forces, and so weakening
+his centre that his left and right were defeated in detail. After
+Austerlitz, Davout was entrusted with the pursuit of the left wing of
+the Allies. Flushed with victory, the third corps pushed the
+disorganised enemy in hopeless rout, and it seemed as if the
+annihilation of the Russians was certain. Meanwhile, unknown to the
+Marshal, the Emperor had accepted the Czar's demands for an armistice.
+Davout first heard of the cessation of hostilities from the enemy, but,
+remembering Murat's mistake, he refused to halt his troops. "You want to
+deceive me," he said to the flag of truce; "you want to make a fool of
+me.... I am going to crush you, and that is the only order I have
+received." So the third corps pushed on, and it was only the production
+of a despatch in the handwriting of the Czar himself that caused the
+victor at last to stay his hand.
+
+[Illustration: LOUIS NICOLAS DAVOUT, PRINCE OF ECKMUeHL
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY GAUTHEROT]
+
+Though Davout emerged from the Austrian campaign with the reputation in
+the army of having at last earned his Marshal's baton, to the general
+public he still appeared as "a little smooth-pated, unpretending man,
+who was never tired of waltzing," but the campaign of 1806 made him
+nearly the best known of all the Marshals. Auerstaedt was a masterpiece
+of minor tactics. Napoleon, thinking that he had before him at Jena the
+whole of the Prussian army, summoned to his aid Bernadotte, and thus
+left Davout with a force of twenty-three thousand men isolated on his
+right wing, with orders to push forward and try to get astride of the
+enemy's line of retreat.
+
+It was in pursuance of this order that early in the morning of October
+14, 1806, the Marshal, at the head of the advance guard of his corps,
+crossed the river Saale at Koesen and proceeded to seize the defile
+beyond the bridge through which ran the road to Naumberg. True to his
+motto of never leaving to another anything which he could possibly do
+himself, he had personally, on the previous evening, carefully
+reconnoitred the line of advance, and knew the importance of the village
+of Hassenhausen at the further end of the defile. Hardly had his advance
+guard seized this position and the heights commanding the road, when
+through the fog they saw approaching the masses of the enemy's cavalry;
+the fiery Prussian commander, Bluecher, at once hastened to the attack,
+and again and again led his horsemen to the charge. Meanwhile Brunswick
+counter-ordered the retreat of the infantry and artillery. Soon the
+whole of the Prussian army, forty-five thousand strong, was engaged in
+the attempt to crush the small French force. But the Marshal was in his
+element, carefully husbanding his resources only to hurl them into the
+fray at the critical moment; feinting at his enemy's flanks; utilising
+every feature of the ground to prolong his resistance; galloping from
+square to square, his uniform black from powder, his cocked hat carried
+off by a bullet, encouraging his troops with short, sharp words, crying
+out, "The great Frederick believed that God gave the victory to the big
+battalions, but he lied; it is the obstinate people that win, and that's
+you and your general." From six in the morning the battle raged, but
+towards mid-day the Prussians, finding that they could make no
+impression on the enemy, began to slacken their attack. Davout seized
+the psychological moment to order his whole line to advance. Thereon the
+King of Prussia commanded his forces to retire, leaving a strong rear
+guard under Kalkreuth to prevent the French pursuit. But the French were
+in no condition to carry on an active pursuit, for out of twenty-three
+thousand men engaged they had lost almost eight thousand killed or
+wounded. It is quite true that man for man the French soldier in 1806
+was superior in intelligence and patriotism to the Prussian, that the
+French staff was infinitely superior to the Prussian staff, and that
+there was no comparison between the morale of the two armies; but that
+alone does not explain how an army half the size of the enemy, caught as
+it was in the act of deploying from a defile, not only was not beaten
+absolutely, but actually defeated the superior force. The secret of the
+French success at Auerstaedt lay in the character of their general. It
+was Davout's careful reconnaissance, his quickness to perceive in
+Hassenhausen the key of the position, his careful crowning of the
+heights covering the defile, the masterly way in which, while massing
+his men in the open to resist Bluecher's fierce charges, he at the same
+time contrived so to expand his line as to threaten the flanks of his
+vastly superior foe, his indomitable courage in throwing his last
+reserve into the firing line, and his audacious counter-attack the
+moment he saw the Prussians wavering, which saved his force from what
+at the time looked like annihilation, and by sheer downright courage
+and self-confidence turned defeat into victory.
+
+Pleased as the Emperor was at his lieutenant's victory, and much as he
+admired the way in which his subordinate had copied his own methods,
+showing that inflexibility of purpose, absolute disregard of the opinion
+of others, and unswerving belief in his own capacity which he knew were
+the factors of his own success, it did not suit his policy that a
+subordinate should attract the admiration of the army at large.
+Accordingly in his bulletins he glossed over the part played by Davout
+and belittled his success, but in his private letters he warmly praised
+the Marshal's courage and ability. Further, to reward him for lack of
+official praise, he gave the third corps the place of honour at the
+grand march past held at Berlin, when the inhabitants of the capital of
+Frederick the Great saw for the first time, with mingled hatred and
+surprise, "the lively, impudent, mean-looking little fellows" who had
+thrashed their own magnificent troops. On the following day the Emperor
+inspected the third corps, and thanked the officers and men for the
+great services they had rendered him, and paid a tribute to "the brave
+men I have lost, whom I regret as it were my own children, but who died
+on the field of honour." Pleased as the Marshal was with this somewhat
+tardy acknowledgment of his achievement, he was in no way inflated with
+pride; as General Segur says of him: "Those who knew him best say that
+there was a sort of flavour of a bygone age in his inflexibility; stern
+towards himself and towards others, and above all in that stoical
+simplicity, high above all vanity, with which he ever strode forward,
+with shoulders square, and full intent to the accomplishment of his
+duty." But though success brought no pride in its train, it brought its
+burdens: the jealousy of the other Marshals was barely concealed, and as
+Davout wrote to his wife, "I am more than ever in need of the Emperor's
+goodwill ... few of my colleagues pardon me the good fortune the third
+corps had in beating the King of Prussia."
+
+A winter spent in Poland amid these jealousies and far from his family
+was only endurable because of his attachment to the service and person
+of the Emperor. Immediately on entering the country which he was to
+govern for the next two years, the Marshal summed up the situation at a
+glance, and told the Emperor that the nobility would throw cold water on
+all schemes unless the French guaranteed them their independence.
+
+With the spring of 1807 came the last phase of the war. At Heilsberg,
+Davout fought well, and two days later took his part in the great battle
+of Eylau, the most bloody of all Napoleon's battles. Bennigsen, the
+Russian commander, had turned at bay on his pursuers. On the morning of
+February 8th the French corps came hurrying up from all sides at the
+Emperor's commands. It was not, however, till mid-day that the third
+corps arrived on the scene of the action. Heavy snow blizzards obscured
+the scene, but the struggle raged fiercely on all sides, the Russians
+fighting like bulls, as the French said. The Emperor, on Davout's
+arrival, placed his corps on the right and ordered him to advance, but
+the enemy's cavalry and artillery effectually barred his way. All day
+long the contest lasted, men fighting hand to hand in a confused melee.
+All day long Davout, with obstinate courage, clung to the village which
+he seized in the morning, whence he threatened the Russian line of
+retreat. When night came he still held his position; at last the
+Emperor, fearing a renewal of the fight on the next day, gave orders at
+eight o'clock for the third corps to fall back on Eylau. But the
+Marshal, hearing of the commencement of the Russian retreat, disobeyed
+the Emperor, and thus, by his bold front, in conjunction with Soult, he
+was mainly instrumental in causing the enemy to leave the field. If
+Davout had been less obstinate, the French would have had to fight
+another battle on the following day, but thanks to him they were spared
+this fate, and the twenty-five thousand dead and wounded Frenchmen had
+not spent their blood in vain. The third corps escaped the horrors of
+Friedland, as it had been detached to intercept the enemy's line of
+retreat in the direction of Koenigsberg, and Tilsit saw the end of
+Davout's second campaign against the Russians.
+
+But peace did not bring the opportunity of returning to his beloved
+France and the joys of home life; the Emperor in peace, as in war, could
+not spare the great administrative capacity, the stern discipline, and
+the rigid probity of the Marshal. "It is quite fair that I should give
+him enormous presents," said the Emperor, "for he takes no perquisites."
+So Davout found himself established nominally as commander of the army
+of occupation, and really as special adviser to the Government of the
+newly constituted Grand Duchy of Warsaw. It was a situation that
+required infinite tact, patience, and a stern will. The Poles longed for
+a restored kingdom of Poland. The Emperor could not grant this without
+offending his new friend the Czar, who, with the Emperor of Austria,
+looked with suspicion on the experiment of creating a Grand Duchy. So on
+one side the Marshal had to try to inspire confidence in the Poles by
+pretending that the Grand Duchy was merely a temporary experiment in the
+larger policy of restoring the kingdom, while on the other hand he had
+to assure the Austrians and Russians that nothing was further from the
+Emperor's thoughts than creating a power at Warsaw dangerous to them.
+Meanwhile there was plenty of occupation in getting provisions for his
+troops in a land always poor and but lately devastated by war, and in
+attempting to maintain order in a country full of adventurers where
+police were unknown. It was useless to attempt to get assistance from
+the Government, for there was no organisation, no division of duties
+among the different ministers, and nobody knew what his own particular
+business was. The situation was well summed up in a caricature which
+showed the ministers nicely dressed in their various uniforms but
+without heads. It was well for the new Government that they had at their
+side such a stern, disinterested adviser as Davout, ready to take the
+initiative and accept the responsibility of any act which he thought
+good for the community. Under his supervision the ministers' spheres of
+action were duly arranged: the state was saved from bankruptcy by
+importing bullion from Prussia and deporting the adventurers who were
+filling their own coffers by draining the money from the country. The
+monks who preached against the Government and fanned popular discontent
+were three times given twenty-four hours' notice to put their houses in
+order, and then quietly escorted across the frontier. A strong Polish
+force was raised, armed and equipped by Prince Poniatowski under the
+Marshal's supervision. As a reward for his labours the Emperor granted
+Davout three hundred thousand francs to buy a town house in Paris, and
+followed this up, in May, 1808, by creating him Duke of Auerstaedt. But
+what pleased the Marshal more than all was that the Emperor allowed the
+Duchess to join him at Warsaw. This was a politic move, for the Emperor,
+knowing well the secret intention of Austria, could not afford to
+withdraw the warden of the marches from his outpost at Warsaw; but by
+sending the Duchess of Auerstaedt to Poland he kept his faithful
+lieutenant content. However, the Duchess's visit to Poland was not a
+long one. By September, 1808, it became certain that Austria was making
+immense efforts to recover her possessions, and accordingly Napoleon
+very wisely began to concentrate his troops in Central Europe, and the
+Duke of Auerstaedt's corps was recalled to Silesia in October, and was
+incorporated with the French troops in Prussia under the designation of
+the Army of the Rhine.
+
+During the winter the Marshal was fully occupied in forcing Prussia to
+drain to the last dregs her cup of humiliation: extorting from her the
+immense ransom Napoleon had laid on her, and crushing her attempts at
+regeneration by hounding out of the country the patriotic Stein and his
+band of fellow-workers. From his cantonments round Berlin Davout was
+summoned in 1809 to take part in another struggle with Austria. The
+campaign opened disastrously for the French. The Archduke Charles
+commenced operations earlier than Napoleon had calculated, and
+accordingly the Grand Army found itself under the feeble command of the
+chief of the staff. Berthier, in blind obedience to the Emperor, who had
+misread the situation, was compelled to neglect the first principles of
+war and to attempt to block all possible lines of advance instead of
+concentrating in a strategic position. In consequence of this, the Duke
+of Auerstaedt, in spite of his official protests, found himself at
+Ratisbon, isolated from the rest of the army, with no support within
+forty miles. From this dangerous position he was saved by the arrival of
+the Emperor at headquarters, who, recognising his own mistakes,
+immediately ordered a concentration on Abensberg. The retreat, or rather
+the flank march, in the face of eighty thousand Austrians under the
+Archduke Charles, was successfully carried out, thanks to the stubborn
+fighting of the troops and the lucky intervention of a tremendous
+thunderstorm, which forced the enemy to give up their attack at the
+critical moment when the French were crossing a difficult defile. Two
+days later the Emperor once again tested Davout's stubborn qualities,
+entrusting him with the duty of containing the main Austrian force while
+he disposed of the rest of the enemy. The result was the three days'
+fighting at Eckmuehl; during the first two, Davout, unaided, held his own
+till on the third the Emperor arrived with supports and gave the
+Austrians the coup-de-grace, but rewarded the Marshal for his tenacity
+by bestowing on him the title of Prince of Eckmuehl.
+
+Though his corps was not actually engaged at the battle of
+Aspern-Essling the Marshal had a large share in preventing a complete
+catastrophe. As soon as he heard of the breaking of the bridge he set
+about to organise a flotilla of boats, and it was thanks to the supplies
+of ammunition thus ferried across that the French troops on the north
+bank were able to hold their own and cover the retreat to the Isle of
+Lobau. While both sides were concentrating every available man for the
+great battle of Wagram, Davout was entrusted with the task of watching
+the Archduke John, whose army at Pressburg was the rallying point for
+the Hungarians. The moment the French preparations were complete, the
+Marshal, leaving a strong screen in front of the Archduke, swiftly fell
+back on the Isle of Lobau, and by thus hoodwinking the Archduke gave the
+Emperor an advantage of fifty thousand troops over the enemy. The Prince
+of Eckmuehl's duty at the battle of Wagram was to turn the left flank of
+the enemy and, while interposing his corps between the two Archdukes, at
+the same time to threaten the enemy's rear and give an opportunity to
+the French centre to drive home a successful attack. It was a most
+difficult and dangerous operation, for at any moment the Archduke John
+might appear on the exposed right flank. Whilst Davout was marching and
+fighting to achieve his purpose, the main battle went against the
+French. The left and centre were thrown back, and it seemed as if the
+Austrians were bound to capture the bridge at Enzerdorff. Amid cries of
+"All is lost!" the French reserve artillery and baggage trains fled in
+confusion. But relief came at the critical moment, for the Prince of
+Eckmuehl, hurling his steel-clad cuirassiers on the unbroken Austrian
+foot, losing nearly all his generals in the desperate hand-to-hand
+fighting on the slopes of the Neusiedel, at last gained the top of the
+plateau and forced the enemy to throw back his left flank and weaken his
+centre. The moment the Emperor saw the guns appear on the summit of the
+Neusiedel, he launched Macdonald's corps against the Austrian centre and
+sent his aide-de-camp to Massena to tell him "to commence the attack ...
+the battle is gained." But Davout was unable to pursue his advantage
+over the enemy's left, for at the moment he gained the top of the
+plateau news arrived that Prince John's advance guard was in touch with
+his scouts; accordingly he halted and drew up in battle formation, ready
+at any moment to face the Hungarian troops should they attempt to attack
+his rear. Fortunately for the French the Archduke John forgot that an
+enemy is never so weak as after a successful attack, and instead of
+hurling his fresh troops on the weakened and disorganised French, he
+halted, and withdrew after dark towards Pressburg. When, during the
+pursuit of the battle, the Archduke Charles sent in a flag of truce
+offering to discuss terms, the Emperor called a council of war. There
+was a certain amount of difference of opinion, but Davout was for
+continuing the fight, pointing out that "once master of the road from
+Bruenn, in two hours it would be possible to concentrate thirty thousand
+men across the Archduke's line of retreat." The Marshal's arguments
+seemed about to prevail when news arrived that Bruyere, commanding the
+cavalry, was seriously wounded. Thereon the Emperor changed his mind,
+crying out, "Look at it: death hovers over all my generals. Who knows
+but that within two hours I shall not hear that you are taken off? No;
+enough blood has been spilled; I accept the suspension of hostilities."
+
+After the evacuation of the conquered territories the Marshal was
+appointed to command the Army of Germany. His duties were to enforce the
+continental system and to keep a stern eye on Prussia. The marriage with
+Marie Louise for the time being relieved tension in Central Europe, and
+accordingly in 1810 Davout was able to enjoy long periods of leave. He
+was present as colonel-general of the Guard at the imperial wedding, and
+at the interment of Lannes's remains in the Pantheon, and he did his
+turn of duty as general in attendance on the imperial household. His
+letters to his wife throw an interesting light on the imperial menage.
+The officers in attendance were supplied with good, comfortable rooms
+and food, but had to find their own linen, plates, wax candles,
+firewood, and kitchen utensils; in a postscript he adds, "Not only must
+you send me all the above, but add towels, sheets, pillow-cases, &c.;
+until these arrive I have to sleep on the bare mattress."
+
+In 1811 the growing hostility of Russia required the attendance of the
+Prince of Eckmuehl at the headquarters of his command. Napoleon knew well
+that nobody would be quicker to discern any secret movement hostile to
+his interests than the man who in 1808 had done so much to check the
+regeneration of Prussia by enforcing his orders, playing on the Prussian
+King's fears and exposing the cleverness of the proposals of the
+patriotic Stein. The Marshal reached his headquarters at Hamburg early
+in February, and soon found his hands full. It was no longer a question
+of so disposing the corps committed to his care that he might cripple
+the English, "who since the time of Cromwell have played the game of
+ruining our commerce," but of preparing a mixed force of French, Poles,
+and Saxons, amounting to one hundred and forty thousand, for the
+contingencies of a war with Russia, or for the absolute annihilation of
+Prussia. To no other of his Marshals did the Emperor entrust the command
+of one hundred and forty thousand troops, and consequently the old
+enmities and jealousies broke out with renewed force. It was whispered
+that the Marshal's income from his investments, pay, and perquisites was
+over two million francs a year; that nobody in the imperial family had
+anything like as much, and people said it was better to be a Davout than
+a Prince Royal. The Prince disregarded all the annoying scandal his wife
+sent him from Paris, and quietly busied himself with preparing transport
+and equipping magazines for the coming war, diversified by an occasional
+thundering declaration informing the King of Prussia that his secret
+schemes were well known to the French authorities. But the subterranean
+jealousies bore their fruit. Nobody had a good word to say for Davout,
+and there was nobody to take his part. Most disastrously for the Grand
+Army the misunderstanding which existed between Berthier and Davout
+prevented their co-operation; and thus during the Russian campaign the
+rash empty-headed Murat had greater weight with Napoleon than Davout,
+the cautious yet tenacious old fighter. Accordingly at the battle of
+Moskowa, when Napoleon had his last chance of annihilating the Russians,
+he refused to listen to the Marshal, who pleaded to be allowed to turn
+the Russian left during the night. "No," said the Emperor, "it is too
+big a movement; it will take me too much off my objective and make me
+lose time." Davout, sure of the wisdom of this advice, once again
+renewed his arguments, but the Emperor rudely interrupted him with "You
+are always for turning the enemy; it is too dangerous a movement." So
+the battle of Moskowa was a disastrous victory, opening as it did the
+gates of Moscow without the annihilation of the Russian armed forces in
+the field. But it was greatly due to the Marshal that it was a victory
+at all, for the Russians fought with the greatest stubbornness; nearly
+all the French generals were wounded or killed, and at one moment a
+panic seized the troops. Then it was that the Prince of Eckmuehl himself
+rallied the broken battalions and led them to the charge. In spite of a
+wound in the pit of his stomach, with bare head and uniform encrusted
+with mud and blood, he forced his weary soldiers against the foe and, as
+at Auerstaedt, by sheer indomitable courage, compelled his troops to beat
+the enemy. His corps bore its share in the horrors of the retreat from
+Moscow, forming for some time the rear guard.
+
+When Napoleon deserted the relics of the Grand Army at Vilma the
+Marshal's difficulties naturally increased, for his enemy Murat was now
+in command, and, as he wrote to his wife earlier in the campaign, "I am
+worth ten times as much when the Emperor is present, for he alone can
+put order into this great complicated machine." But the King of Naples
+did not long retain his command: he had not Davout's confidence in
+Napoleon and was disgusted with the ill-success of the campaign and
+afraid of losing his crown. The Marshal, ever loyal to the Emperor,
+would listen to none of the Gascon's diatribes, and told him plainly,
+"You are only King by the grace of Napoleon and by the blood of brave
+Frenchmen. You can only remain King by Napoleon's aid, and by remaining
+united to France. It is black ingratitude which blinds you." So Murat
+went off to Italy to plan treason, and Davout returned to Germany to
+place his life and reputation at the Emperor's service.
+
+It fell to the Marshal's lot in 1813 to hold Northern Germany as part of
+the plan of campaign whereby the advance of the Allies was to be
+checked. The Emperor had determined to make an example of the town of
+Hamburg, to teach other German cities the fate to be expected by those
+who deserted him. His orders were that all those who had taken any share
+in the desertion were to be arrested and their goods sequestrated, and
+that a contribution of fifty million francs was to be paid by the towns
+of Luebeck and Hamburg. The Marshal carried out his orders. Hamburg
+writhed impotent at his feet and the "heavy arm of justice fell on the
+canaille." Only in the case of the contribution did he make any
+deviation from the Emperor's wishes, as it was inexpedient to drive all
+the wealthy people out of the state. In pursuance of the Emperor's
+plans, by the winter of 1813 Davout had made Hamburg impregnable. He had
+laid in huge supplies, and built a bridge of wood two leagues long
+joining Haarburg and Hamburg. With a garrison of thirty thousand men,
+danger threatened from within rather than from without, for Napoleon's
+bitter punishment of Hamburg, ending as it did with the seizure of eight
+million marks from the funds of the city bank, had made the name of
+France stink in the nostrils of the inhabitants. The Marshal was
+determined to hold the town to the last. In December, when provisions
+began to fail, the poor were banished from the city; those who refused
+to go were threatened with fifty blows of the cane. "At the end of
+December people without distinction of sex or age were dragged from
+their beds and conveyed out of the town." During the siege the Russian
+commander, Bennigsen, attempted by means of spies and proclamations to
+raise a rebellion in the fortress, but Davout's grip was too firm to be
+shaken, and a few executions cooled the ardour of the spies. It was not
+till April 15th that the Marshal was informed by a flag of truce of the
+fall of the Empire; not certain of the truth of the news, he refused to
+give up his command. At last, on April 28th, official news arrived from
+Paris, and on the following day the fifteen thousand men who remained of
+the original garrison of thirty thousand swore allegiance to the
+Bourbons and mounted the white cockade.
+
+On May 11th General Gerard arrived to relieve Davout of his command. On
+his arrival in France the Prince of Eckmuehl found himself charged with
+having fired on the white flag after being informed of Napoleon's
+abdication, of appropriating the funds of the Bank of Hamburg, and of
+committing arbitrary acts which caused the French name to become odious.
+His reply was first that until he had received official information of
+the fall of the Empire it was his duty to take measures to prevent
+Hamburg being surprised; that the appropriation of the funds of the bank
+was the only means of finding money to hold Hamburg; that he was not
+responsible for the continental system, and as a soldier he had only
+obeyed commands; that as a matter of fact he had contrived to have the
+heavy contribution lightened, and lastly, that during the siege he had
+only had two spies shot and one French soldier executed for purloining
+hospital stores. But in spite of his defence and the prayers of his
+fellow Marshals Louis refused to allow Davout to take the oath of
+allegiance, and accordingly when, in 1815, Napoleon returned from Elba,
+the Prince of Eckmuehl alone of all the Marshals could hasten to the
+Emperor without a stain on his honour.
+
+Immediately on his return the Emperor made a great call on the
+faithfulness of his friend, and told him he had chosen him as Minister
+of War. The Marshal begged for service in the field, but the Emperor was
+firm; Davout alone had held to him and all others had the Bourbon taint.
+Still the Marshal refused, pleading his brusque manners and well-known
+harshness; but at last the Emperor appealed to his pity, pointing out
+that all Europe was against him, and asking him if he also was going to
+abandon his sovereign. Thereon the Marshal accepted the post. It was no
+light burden that he had undertaken, prince of martinets though he was,
+to regenerate an army scattered to the winds. Everything was
+lacking--men, horses, guns, transports, stores, and ammunition. Yet he
+worked wonders, and by the beginning of June the Emperor had a field
+army of one hundred and twenty thousand men, with another quarter of a
+million troops in formation in France. On the return of the Emperor to
+Paris after the disaster at Waterloo the Marshal in vain besought him to
+dissolve the assemblies and proclaim a dictatorship, but Napoleon's
+spirit was broken and the favourable moment passed by. Meanwhile, the
+Emperor remained in idleness at Malmaison, and by the 28th of June the
+Prussians arrived near Paris with the intention of capturing him; but
+the Prince of Eckmuehl warded off the danger by barricading or burning
+the bridges across the Seine and manoeuvring sixty thousand troops in
+front of Bluecher. Thanks to this Napoleon escaped to Rochfort, and owed
+his safety to Davout, for Bluecher had sworn to catch him, dead or alive.
+
+On the evacuation of Paris the Marshal withdrew westwards with the
+remnant of the imperial army, now called the Army of the Loire. But as
+soon as Louis had once again ascended the throne he relieved Davout,
+making Gouvion St. Cyr Minister of War and Macdonald commander of the
+Army of the Loire. The Marshal spent some months in exile, but was
+allowed to return to France in 1816. However the mutual distrust between
+him and the Bourbons could not be overcome, and, although he took the
+oath of allegiance and received the cross of St. Louis, he never
+attempted to return to public life, and died of an attack of pleurisy on
+June 1, 1823.
+
+The causes of the success of the Prince of Eckmuehl are easy to
+ascertain: acute perception, doggedness of purpose, and a devotion which
+never faltered or failed, are gifts which are bound to bring success
+when added to an exceptional run of good fortune. Among the Marshals
+there were many, no doubt, who had as quick a perception and as vivid an
+imagination as Davout, but there was no one who had his massive
+doggedness and determination, and Bessieres alone perhaps surpassed him
+in personal devotion to the Emperor. Much as we may see to blame in his
+untiring hounding down of the patriot Stein in Prussia, in his cruel
+exactions in Hamburg, and in the remorseless way he treated spies and
+deserters, we must remember that he did it all from motives of
+patriotism. Moreover, we cannot fail to admire a man who made it a
+principle, when he had received rigorous orders, to accept all the odium
+arising from their performance because he considered that, since the
+sovereign is permanent and the officials are changeable, it is important
+that officials should brave the temporary odium of measures which are
+but temporary. In his opinion the phrase, "If the King only knew," was a
+precious illusion which was one of the foundation-stones of all
+government: thus it was that in carrying out severe orders the Marshal
+never attempted to shield himself behind the name of the Emperor.
+
+It was therefore from a spirit of patriotism, as the servant of the
+French Emperor, that Davout pressed relentlessly on those who tried to
+shake off the yoke of France. Stern as his nature was, he did not
+disguise from himself that his policy bore hardly on the conquered, for
+when Napoleon asked him, "How would you behave if I made you King of
+Poland?" he replied, "When a man has the honour to be a Frenchman, he
+must always be a Frenchman," but he added, "From the day on which I
+accepted the crown of Poland I would become entirely and solely a Pole,
+and I would act in complete contradiction to your Majesty if the
+interests of the people whose chief I was demanded that I should do so."
+As a soldier and an administrator, though he is rightly called the
+prince of martinets, yet nothing was more abhorrent to his eyes than red
+tape. Efficiency was everything, and efficiency he considered was only
+to be gained by personal inspection of detail considered in relation to
+existing conditions, and not by blind obedience to hard and fast rules.
+It was this habit of mind and readiness for all contingencies which won
+for him his titles of Duke of Auerstaedt and Prince of Eckmuehl, and made
+him the right-hand man of the great Emperor, who confessed that, "If I
+am always prepared, it is because before entering on an undertaking, I
+have meditated for long and foreseen what may occur. It is not genius
+which reveals to me suddenly and secretly what I should do in
+circumstances unforeseen by others: it is thought and meditation."
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+JACQUES ETIENNE JOSEPH ALEXANDRE MACDONALD, MARSHAL, DUKE OF TARENTUM
+
+
+Jacques Etienne Joseph Alexandre Macdonald, Duke of Tarentum, was the
+son of a Uist crofter, Macachaim. The Macachaims of Uist were a far-off
+sept of the Macdonalds of Clanranald. The future Marshal's father was
+educated at the Scots College in Paris, and was for some time a tutor in
+Clanranald's household. Owing to his knowledge of French he was
+entrusted with the duty of helping Flora Macdonald to arrange the escape
+of Prince Charles. He accompanied the Prince to France, and obtained a
+commission in Ogilvie's regiment of foot. In 1768 Vall Macachaim, or
+Neil Macdonald, as he was called in France, retired on a pension of
+thirty pounds a year. On this pittance he brought up his family at
+Sancerre. The future Marshal was born at Sedan on November 17, 1765. He
+was educated for the army at a military academy in Paris, kept by a
+Scotchman, Paulet, but, owing to bad mathematics, he was unable to enter
+the Artillery and Engineering School. This failure came as a bitter blow
+to the keen young soldier, who, after reading Homer, already imagined
+himself an Achilles. But in 1784 his chance came; the Dutch, threatened
+by the Emperor Joseph II., had to improvise an army, and Macdonald
+accepted a pair of colours in a regiment raised by a Frenchman, the
+Count de Maillebois. A few months later the regiment was disbanded, as
+the Dutch bought the peace they could not gain by arms. The young
+officer, thus thrown on his own resources, was glad to accept a
+cadetship in Dillon's Irish regiment in the French King's service, and
+at the moment the Revolution broke out he was a sub-lieutenant in that
+corps. Owing to emigration and the fortune of war, promotion came
+quickly. Macdonald also was lucky in having a friend in General
+Beurnonville, on whose staff he served till he was transferred to that
+of Dumouriez, the commander-in-chief. As a reward for his services at
+Jemmappes and elsewhere he was made lieutenant-colonel, and early in
+1793 his friend Beurnonville, who had become War Minister, gave him his
+colonelcy and the command of the Picardy regiment, one of the four
+senior corps of the old French infantry. The young colonel of
+twenty-eight could not expect to be always so favoured by fortune.
+Dumouriez's failure at Neerwinden and subsequent desertion to the Allies
+cast a cloud of suspicion on his protege at a moment when to be
+suspected was to be condemned. Luckily, some of the Commissioners from
+the Convention could recognise merit, but Macdonald spent many anxious
+months amid denunciations and accusations from those who grudged him his
+colonelcy. To his intense surprise he was at last summoned before the
+dread Commissioners and told that, for his zeal, he was to be promoted
+general of brigade. Overcome by this unexpected turn of fortune, he
+wished to refuse the honour, and pleaded his youth and inexperience, and
+was promptly given the choice of accepting or becoming a "suspect" and
+being arrested. Safe for the moment, Macdonald threw himself heart and
+soul into his new duties, but still denunciations and accusations were
+hurled against him. Fresh Commissioners came from the Assembly, and it
+was only their fortunate recall to Paris that saved the general from
+arrest. Then came the decree banishing all "ci-devant" nobles.
+Macdonald, fearing after this order that if he met with the slightest
+check he would be greeted with cries of treachery, demanded written
+orders from the new Commissioners confirming him in his employment.
+These were refused, as also his resignation, with the curt reply, "If
+you leave the army we will have you arrested and brought to trial." In
+this dilemma he found a friend in the representative Isore, who, struck
+by his ability and industry, took up his cause, and from that moment
+Macdonald had nothing to fear from the revolutionary tribunal.
+
+[Illustration: JACQUES ETIENNE MACDONALD, DUKE OF TARENTUM
+FROM A LITHOGRAPH BY DELPECH]
+
+In November, 1794, he was quite unexpectedly gazetted general of
+division in the army of Pichegru, and took part in the winter campaign
+against Holland, where he proved his capacity by seizing the occasion of
+a hard frost to cross the Vaal on the ice and surprise the
+Anglo-Hanoverian force at Nimeguen. A few days later, during the general
+advance, he captured Naarden, the masterpiece of the great engineer
+Cohorn. Proud of his success, he hastened to inform the
+commander-in-chief, Pichegru, and was greeted by a laugh, and, "Bah! I
+pay no attention now to anything less than the surrender of provinces."
+The blase commander-in-chief a week or two later himself performed the
+exploit of capturing the ice-bound Dutch fleet with a cavalry brigade
+and a battery of horse artillery.
+
+After serving on the Rhine in 1796 Macdonald was transferred in 1798 to
+the Army of Italy, and sent to Rome to relieve Gouvion St. Cyr. When war
+broke out between France and Naples, the troops in Southern Italy were
+formed into the Army of Naples under Championnet. The commander-in-chief
+overrated the fighting qualities of the Neapolitan troops and thought it
+prudent to evacuate Rome. Macdonald was entrusted with this duty, and
+was further required to cover the concentration of Championnet's army.
+The hard-headed Scotchman had, however, gauged to a nicety the morale of
+the Neapolitan army, and, although he had but five thousand troops
+against forty thousand Neapolitans, under the celebrated Austrian
+general Mack, he engaged the enemy at Civita Castellana, defeated them,
+followed them up, drove them out of Rome and over the frontier, and
+practically annihilated the whole force. Unfortunately he wrote a
+comical account of the operations to his chief, who, having no sense of
+humour, felt that his evacuation of Rome had, to say the least of it,
+been hurried and undignified. Championnet therefore greeted his
+victorious lieutenant with the words, "You want to make me pass for a
+damned fool," and no explanations could appease his rage. So bitter
+became the quarrel that Macdonald had to resign his command.
+
+By February, 1799, Championnet had fallen into disgrace with the
+Directory, and Macdonald was gazetted in his place commander-in-chief.
+When he arrived in Naples and took up his command the situation seemed
+quiet. But the far-seeing soldier read the signs of the times. The elite
+of the French army was locked up in Egypt. Austria and Russia were bent
+on extinguishing France and her revolutionary ideas. Accordingly the
+general at once set about quietly concentrating his troops to meet an
+invasion of Northern Italy by the Allies. With his keen military insight
+he desired to evacuate all Southern Italy, retaining only such
+fortresses as could be well supplied. But the principle of keeping
+everything gained the day. Still, on the news of Scherer's defeat at
+Magnano by the impetuous Suvaroff, the Army of Naples was ready at once
+to start for the north, and set off to try and pick up communication
+with General Moreau, who was re-forming the Army of Italy at Genoa. The
+idea was that a concentrated movement should be made against the Allies
+through the Apennines. Unfortunately there existed a bitter rivalry
+between the Army of Italy and the Army of Naples. Consequently on June
+17th Macdonald found himself with twenty-five thousand men near
+Piacenza, in the presence of the enemy, with no support save two
+divisions of the Army of Italy, which had come in from Bologna, and
+whose commanders were jealous of his orders. Still there was always the
+hope that Moreau might after all be coming to his assistance, and
+accordingly he determined to stand and fight. In the action of June
+17th, owing to the lack of co-operation from one of the attached
+divisions, the general was ridden over by a division of the enemy's
+cavalry. Carried about in a litter, he directed all movements during the
+18th, and held the enemy at bay along the mountain torrent of the
+Trebbia. On the 19th he determined to take the initiative, but, owing to
+the collapse of the attached division which formed his centre, he had to
+fall back on his old position, which he held throughout the whole day.
+During the three days' fighting on the Trebbia the French had lost a
+third of their men and nearly all their officers. Still, early on the
+morning of the 20th the retreat was effected in good order, save that
+one of the attached divisions under Victor started so late that it was
+overtaken by the enemy and abandoned all its guns. But Macdonald at once
+returned to its aid and saved the artillery, for, as he sarcastically
+wrote to Victor, "he found neither friends nor foes." Both sides had run
+away.
+
+The battle of the Trebbia brought into notice the sterling qualities of
+the French commander, and when he was recalled to Paris he found that
+military opinion was on his side and that Bonaparte himself highly
+approved of his conduct. "Thenceforward the opinion of my amphitryon was
+settled in my favour!" Macdonald's next employment was in command of the
+Army of the Grisons, whose duty was to cover Moreau's right rear in his
+advance down the Danube, and to keep up communication with the Army of
+Italy in the valley of the Po. It was in the performance of this duty
+that the Army of the Grisons crossed the Spluegen Pass in winter in spite
+of glaciers and avalanches, a feat immeasurably superior to Bonaparte's
+task in crossing the much easier Great St. Bernard Pass, after the
+snows had melted. Unfortunately for Macdonald, Bonaparte believed him to
+belong to Moreau's faction. After Hohenlinden the future Emperor, who
+was afraid that Moreau's glory would outshine his own, placed all that
+general's friends on the black book. Further, owing to his
+outspokenness, Talleyrand had conceived a hatred of the hero of the
+Spluegen. Accordingly, he found himself in deep disgrace. First he was
+exiled as ambassador at Copenhagen, then his enemies tried to get him
+sent to Russia in the same capacity, but he refused to go, and for the
+next few years lived the life of a quiet country gentleman on his estate
+of Courcelles le Roi. Like most of the generals, Macdonald was by now
+comparatively well off, for the French Government, on the conquest of a
+country, had allowed its generals to take what works of art they chose,
+after the Commissioners had selected the best for the national
+collection at the Louvre. The general's share as commander-in-chief at
+Naples had been valued by experts at thirty-four thousand pounds.
+Unfortunately, however, this booty and many masterpieces which he had
+bought himself were all lost in the hurried march north that ended in
+the battle of the Trebbia.
+
+It was not till 1809 that Macdonald was summoned from his retreat. In
+that year the Emperor needed every soldier of ability, with the Spanish
+ulcer eating at his vitals and the war with Austria on his hands.
+Accordingly, at a day's notice, he was ordered to hurry off to Italy to
+help Napoleon's stepson, Prince Eugene, who was opposed by an Austrian
+army under the Archduke John.
+
+On arriving in Italy the old soldier found that Prince Eugene,
+unaccustomed to an independent command, had opened the gate of Italy to
+the Austrians by his impetuous action at Sacile. The French troops were
+in complete disorganisation, and the slightest activity on the part of
+the Austrians would have turned the retreat into a rout. Prince Eugene,
+who was without a spark of jealousy, and in reality a man of
+considerable character, greeted his mentor with delight. Macdonald at
+once pointed out that it was unnecessary to retire as far as Mantua,
+because the Archduke would not venture to penetrate far into Italy until
+a decision had been arrived at between the main armies on the Danube.
+Under his careful supervision, order and discipline were restored among
+the French troops on the line of the Adige. The news of the French
+success at Eckmuehl and Ratisbon automatically cleared the Austrians out
+of Northern Italy. During the pursuit the general had to impose on
+himself the severest self-control, because, though Prince Eugene
+invariably accepted his advice, the disaster at Sacile had for the time
+broken his nerve, and, again and again, he spoiled his mentor's best
+combinations by ordering a halt whenever the enemy appeared to be going
+to offer any resistance. It was hard indeed to accept subsequent
+apologies with a courteous smile, when it was success alone that would
+win back the Emperor's favour. But at last patience had its reward:
+while the viceroy himself pursued the main force of the enemy, he
+detached his lieutenant with a strong corps to take Trieste and to pick
+up communication with Marmont, who was bringing up the army of Dalmatia.
+Macdonald was given carte blanche. Trieste and Goerz were taken; the
+junction with Marmont was speedily effected, and the combined forces
+hurried on towards Vienna. The great entrenched camp at Laybach blocked
+the way. Macdonald had not the necessary heavy artillery with which to
+capture it. He determined therefore to make a threatening demonstration
+by day and slip past it by night. But at ten o'clock in the evening a
+flag of truce arrived offering a capitulation. "You are doing wisely,"
+said the imperturbable Scotchman; "I was just going to sound the
+attack."
+
+At Gratz he overtook Prince Eugene's army at the moment that the ill
+news of the battle of Aspern-Essling arrived. Then came the summons to
+hurry to the assistance of the Emperor. After marching sixty leagues in
+three days the Army of Italy arrived at nine o'clock at night on July
+4th at the imperial headquarters at Ebersdorf. During that night it
+crossed the Danube, under cover of the terrific thunderstorm which hid
+the French advance from the Austrians. On the afternoon of July 5th it
+fell to the lot of Macdonald to attempt to seize the plateau which
+formed the Austrian centre. As the general well knew, the Emperor had
+been mistaken in thinking that the enemy were evacuating their position;
+still, he had to obey orders, and night alone saved his cruelly shaken
+battalions. Next day was fought the terrible battle of Wagram. At the
+critical moment of the fight, when the Emperor heard that Massena, on
+his left wing, was being driven in on the bridge-head, amid the
+confusion and rout he ordered Macdonald to attempt by a bold
+counter-stroke to break the enemy's centre. The Austrians were advancing
+in masses, with nothing in front of them, and the bridge, the only line
+of retreat, was threatened. To meet this situation Macdonald deployed
+four battalions in line, at the double; behind them he formed up the
+rest of his corps in two solid columns, and closed the rear of this
+immense rectangle of troops by Nansouty's cavalry. Covered by the fire
+of a massed battery of a hundred guns, he discharged this huge body of
+thirty thousand troops against the Austrians, and in spite of vast
+losses from the enemy's artillery, by sheer weight of human beings he
+completely checked the Austrian advance and broke their centre. If the
+cavalry of the Guard had only charged home the enemy would have been
+driven off the field in complete rout. Still unsupported, the column
+continued its victorious career, taking six thousand prisoners and ten
+guns, the only trophies of the day. Next morning the hero of Wagram,
+lame from the effect of a kick from his horse, was summoned before the
+Emperor.
+
+Napoleon embraced him with the words, "Let us be friends." "Till death,"
+replied his staunch lieutenant. Then came his reward. "You have behaved
+valiantly," continued the Emperor, "and have rendered me the greatest
+services, as, indeed, throughout the entire campaign. On the battlefield
+of your glory, where I owe you so large a share of yesterday's success,
+I make you a Marshal of France. You have long deserved it."
+
+After the ratification of peace, the Emperor created his new Marshal
+Duke of Tarentum, granted him a present of sixty thousand francs, and
+presented him with the Grand Cordon of the Legion of Honour. Having at
+last regained the Emperor's favour, the Marshal had never again to
+complain of lack of employment. From Wagram he was sent to watch the
+army of the Archduke John; thereafter he was appointed
+commander-in-chief of the Army of Italy. In 1810 he was despatched to
+Spain to take command in Catalonia. Like his fellow Marshals, Macdonald
+hated the Spanish war, which was a war of posts, and devoid of glory.
+But he showed his versatility by capturing, without artillery, the
+stronghold of Figueras.
+
+It was while suffering from a bad attack of gout after this success that
+he was summoned from Spain to Tilsit, to command the corps comprised of
+Prussian troops which was to join the Grand Army in its advance into
+Russia. As he graphically put it, "I had left my armchair in the
+fortress of Figueras, I left one crutch in Paris and the other in
+Berlin." The Duke of Tarentum's duty was to guard the tete-du-pont at
+Dunaberg, near the mouth of the Dwina; consequently he was spared a
+great many of the horrors of the terrible retreat. Still, he had his
+full share of troubles, for the Prussians deserted him and went over to
+the enemy. So confident was he of the loyalty of his subordinates that
+this desertion took him quite unawares, and, in spite of warnings, he
+waited for the divisions to rejoin him, declaring that, "My life, my
+career, shall never be stained with the reproach that I have committed
+the cowardly action of deserting troops committed to my care."
+Fortunately his eyes were opened by letters which he intercepted. With a
+handful of troops he escaped to Dantzig. On returning to Paris Macdonald
+was greeted with a cold reception by the Emperor, who thought that the
+desertion of the Prussians was due to his negligence. But the Marshal's
+character was soon cleared and a reconciliation followed. In the
+campaign of 1813 it fell to the lot of the Duke of Tarentum to watch the
+Prussian army under Bluecher in Silesia while the Emperor operated
+against the Austrians round Dresden. Whilst thus employed he was
+defeated on August 26th at the Katzbach. The Prussians had established
+themselves on the heights at Jauer. Macdonald attempted, by a combined
+frontal attack and a turning movement, to dislodge them. Unfortunately
+the rain came down in torrents, the French artillery became embedded in
+the mud, the infantry could not fire, the cavalry could not charge, and
+a hurried retreat alone saved the Army from absolute annihilation, for,
+as Macdonald wrote in his despatch, "The generals cannot prevent the men
+from seeking shelter, as their muskets are useless to them."
+
+The repulse at the Katzbach did not weaken the Emperor's esteem for the
+Marshal, and a few days later he sent to inquire his views of the
+general situation. With absolute courage he told the truth. The
+situation was hopeless; the only wise course was to evacuate all
+garrisons in Germany and retire on the Saale. Unfortunately, such a
+retirement would have meant the loss of Napoleon's throne.
+
+On the third day of the battle of Leipzig, in the midst of the action,
+Macdonald was deserted by all the Hessian troops under his command, and,
+at the same time, Marshal Augereau, who was supposed to cover his right,
+withdrew from the combat. Accordingly, the Marshal retired with the
+remnants of his corps to the Elster, only to find the bridge blown up.
+Dragged along by the crowd of fugitives, he determined not to fall alive
+into the hands of the enemy, but either to drown or shoot himself. More
+fortunate, however, than Prince Poniatowski, he managed to cross the
+river on his horse. Once safely across, he was greeted by cries from the
+other bank, "Monsieur le Marechal, save your soldiers, save your
+children!" But there was nothing to be done; no advice could he give
+them save to surrender.
+
+The Duke of Tarentum was mainly instrumental in saving the remnants of
+the army which had managed to cross the Elster. Going straight to the
+Emperor, he laid the situation before him, ruthlessly tore aside the
+tissue of lies with which the staff were trying to cajole him, and, by
+his force of will, compelled Napoleon, who for the time was quite
+unnerved and mazed, to hurry on the retreat to the Rhine. It was
+entirely owing to the Marshal that the Bavarians were brushed aside at
+Hanau, and that some few remnants of the great army regained France.
+
+In the famous campaign of 1814 Macdonald fought fiercely to drive the
+enemy out of France. His corps was one of those which the Emperor
+summoned to Arcis sur Aube. There again he had to tell Napoleon the
+truth and convince him that the enemy were not retreating, but were in
+full advance on Paris. When the Emperor tried to retrieve his mistake by
+following in the rear, the Marshal was in favour of the bolder course of
+advancing into Alsace and Lorraine, and of raising the nation in arms,
+and thus starving out the Allies by cutting off their supplies and
+reinforcements; and no doubt he was right, for the Czar himself said
+that the Allies lost more than three thousand troops in the Vosges
+without seeing a single French soldier.
+
+When Napoleon reached Fontainebleau he found that he had shot his bolt.
+So tired were his officers and men of continual fighting that, when
+ordered to charge, a general officer in front of his men had called out,
+"Damn it, let us have peace!" Consequently when Macdonald and the other
+Marshals and generals were informed that the Allies would no longer
+treat with Napoleon, they determined to make him abdicate. The Emperor,
+on summoning his council, found that they no longer feared him, and
+refused to listen to his arguments. Hoping to save the throne for his
+son, he despatched Caulaincourt, Ney, Marmont, and Macdonald to the
+Czar, offering to abdicate. The best terms the Commissioners could get
+from the Czar were that Napoleon must give up all hope of seeing his son
+succeed him, but that he should retain his imperial title and should be
+allowed to rule the island of Elba. The Czar magnanimously added, "If he
+will not accept this sovereignty, and if he can find no shelter
+elsewhere, tell him, I say, to come to my dominions. There he shall be
+received as a sovereign: he can trust the word of Alexander."
+
+Ney and Marmont did not accompany the other Commissioners with their
+sorrowful terms; like rats they left the sinking ship. But Macdonald was
+of a strain which had stood the test of the '45, and his proud Scotch
+blood boiled up when the insidious Talleyrand suggested that he should
+desert his master, telling him that he had now fulfilled all his
+engagements and was free. "No, I am not," was the stern reply, "and
+nobody knows better than you that, as long as a treaty has not been
+ratified, it may be annulled. After that formality is ended, I shall
+know what to do." The stricken Emperor met his two faithful
+Commissioners, his face haggard, his complexion yellow and sickly, but
+for once at least he felt gratitude. "I have loaded with favours," he
+said, "many others who have now deserted and abandoned me. You, who owe
+me nothing, have remained faithful. I appreciate your loyalty too late,
+and I sincerely regret that I am now in a position in which I can only
+prove my gratitude by words."
+
+After Napoleon started for Elba, Macdonald never saw him again. Like all
+his fellow Marshals, except Davout, he swore allegiance to Louis XVIII.,
+looking on him as the only hope of France, but, unlike the most of them,
+he served him loyally, though, as he truly said, "The Government behaved
+like a sick man who is utterly indifferent to all around him." As a
+soldier and a liberal he could not disguise his repugnance for many of
+its measures. As secretary to the Chamber of Peers, he fought tooth and
+nail against the Government's first measure, a Bill attempting to
+restrict the liberties of the peers. The King summoned the Marshal and
+rebuked him for both speaking and voting against the Government, adding,
+"When I take the trouble to draw up a Bill, I have good reasons for
+wishing it to pass." But the old soldier, who had never feared to speak
+the truth to Napoleon himself, was not to be overawed by the attempted
+sternness of the feeble Bourbon. He pointed out that if all Bills
+presented by the King were bound to pass, "registration would serve
+equally well, since to you belongs the initiative," adding with quiet
+sarcasm, "and we must remain as mute as the late Corps Legislatif." The
+Chancellor stopped him as he left the King's presence, telling him he
+should show more reserve and pick his words. "Sir Chancellor," said the
+Marshal, "I have never learned to twist myself, and I pity the King if
+what he ought to know is concealed from him. For my part, I shall always
+speak to him honestly and serve him in the same manner."
+
+When neglect of the army, the partiality shown to favourites, and the
+general spirit of discontent throughout France tempted Napoleon once
+again to seize the reins of government, Macdonald was commanding the
+twenty-first military division at Bourges. As he says, "The news of the
+Emperor's return took away my breath, and I at once foresaw the
+misfortunes that have since settled upon France." Placing his duty to
+his country and his plighted faith before the longings of his heart, he
+remained faithful to the Bourbons. It was the Marshal who at Lyons
+vainly endeavoured to aid the Count of Artois to organise resistance to
+Napoleon's advance. It was he who showed the King the vanity of Ney's
+boast that he would bring back the Emperor in an iron cage, who
+impressed on him Napoleon's activity, and who persuaded him to retire
+northwards to Lille and there attempt to rally his friends to his aid.
+Ministers and King were only too thankful to leave all arrangements to
+this cautious, indefatigable soldier, who supervised everything. Through
+every town the monarch passed he found the same feeling of apathy, the
+same tendency among the troops to cry "Vive l'Empereur," the same lack
+of enterprise among the officials. Typical of the situation was the
+sub-prefect of Bethune, who stood at the door of the royal carriage, one
+leg half-naked, his feet in slippers, his coat under his arm, his
+waistcoat unbuttoned, his hat on his head, one hand struggling with his
+sword, the other trying to fasten his necktie. The Marshal, ever mindful
+of Napoleon's activity, had to hurry the poor King, and Louis'
+portmanteau, with his six clean shirts and his old pair of slippers, got
+lost on the road. This loss, more than anything else, brought home to
+the monarch his pitiable condition. "They have taken my shirts," said he
+to Macdonald. "I had not too many in the first place; but what I regret
+still more is the loss of my slippers. Some day, my dear Marshal, you
+will appreciate the value of slippers that have taken the shape of your
+feet." With Napoleon at Paris, Lille seemed to offer but little
+security, and accordingly the King determined to seek safety in Belgium.
+The Marshal escorted him to the frontier and saw him put in charge of
+the Belgian troops. Then, promising to be faithful to his oath, he took
+an affectionate farewell of the old monarch with the words, "Farewell,
+sir; au revoir, in three months!"
+
+Macdonald returned to Paris and lived quietly in his own house,
+refusing to have any intercourse with Napoleon or his ministers. Within
+three months came the news of Waterloo. Thereafter, against his will,
+but in accordance with orders, he joined Fouche, who had established a
+provisional government. Fouche, who knew the importance of outward
+signs, sent him off to try and persuade the returning monarch to win
+over the army by mounting the tricolour instead of the white cockade.
+But the King was obstinate; the Marshal quoted Henry IV.'s famous
+saying, "Paris is worth a mass." The King countered with, "Yes; but it
+was not a very Catholic one." But though the King would not listen to
+his advice he called on him to show his devotion. The imperial army had
+to be disbanded--a most unpopular and thankless task, requiring both
+tact and firmness. At his sovereign's earnest request, Macdonald
+undertook the duty, but with two stipulations: first, that he should
+have complete freedom of action; secondly, that he should be in no way
+an instrument for inflicting punishment on individuals. Immediately on
+taking up his appointment at Bourges, the Marshal summoned all the
+generals and officers to his presence, and informed them that, under
+Fouche's supervision, a list of proscribed had been drawn up. His advice
+was that all on this list should fly at once. That same evening police
+officials arrived in the camp to arrest the proscribed; playing on the
+fears of the mouchards, he locked them up all night, alleging that it
+was to save them from the infuriated soldiery. Thus all the proscribed
+escaped; but neither Fouche nor the Duc de Berri cared to bring the old
+soldier to task for this action. So the Marshal was left to work in his
+own way, and by October 21, 1815, thanks to his firmness and tact, "the
+bold and unhappy army, which had for so long been triumphant," was
+quietly dissolved without the slightest attempt at challenging the royal
+decision.
+
+The Marshal did not mix much in politics. The King, at the second
+Restoration, created him arch-chancellor of the Legion of Honour. This
+post gave him considerable occupation, as it entailed the supervision of
+the schools for the children of those who had received the Cross, and he
+was for long happily employed in looking after the welfare of the
+descendants of his late comrades-in-arms. In November, 1830, the plea of
+the gout came opportunely at the moment of the commencement of the July
+monarchy, and the Marshal resigned the arch-chancellorship and returned
+to his estate of Courcelles, where he lived in retirement till his
+death, on September 25, 1840, at the age of seventy-five.
+
+It was a maxim of Napoleon that success covers everything, that it is
+only failure which cannot be forgiven. Against the Duke of Tarentum's
+name stood the defeats of Trebbia and the Katzbach. But in spite of
+this, Napoleon never treated him as he treated Dupont and the other
+unfortunate generals. For Macdonald possessed qualities which were too
+important to be overlooked. With all the fiery enthusiasm of the Gael,
+he possessed to an unusual degree the caution of the Lowland Scot.
+Possessed of great reasoning powers and of the gift of seeing clearly
+both sides of a question, he had the necessary force of character to
+make up his mind which course to pursue, and to persevere in it to the
+logical issue. In the crossing of the Vaal, in the fighting round Rome,
+in the campaign with Prince Eugene in Italy, before and after Leipzig,
+and in his final campaign in France, he proved the correctness of his
+judgment and his capacity to work out his carefully prepared
+combinations. His defeat at the Trebbia was due to the treachery of the
+general commanding one of the attached divisions; the rout at the
+Katzbach was primarily due to climatic conditions and to the want of
+cohesion among the recently drafted recruits which formed the bulk of
+his army. On the stricken field of Wagram, and in the running fight at
+Hanau, his inflexible will and the quickness with which he grasped the
+vital points of the problem saved the Emperor and his army.
+
+The only black spot in his otherwise glorious career is the battle of
+Leipzig. Long must the cry of "Monsieur le Marechal, save your soldiers,
+save your children!" have rung in his ear. For once he had forgotten his
+proud boast that he never deserted troops entrusted to his command. Like
+the Emperor and his fellow Marshals and most of the generals, for the
+moment he lost his nerve; but he could still, though humbly, boast that
+he was the first to remember his duties and to try and save the remnant
+of the troops who had crossed the Elster.
+
+Duty and truth were his watchwords. Once only he failed in his duty;
+never did he shirk telling the truth. It was this fearless utterance of
+the truth more than any connection with Moreau which was the cause of
+his long years of disgrace; it was this fearlessness, strange to say,
+which, in the end, conquered the Emperor, and which so charmed King
+Louis that he nicknamed him "His Outspokenness."
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+AUGUSTE FREDERIC LOUIS VIESSE DE MARMONT, MARSHAL, DUKE OF RAGUSA
+
+
+Auguste Frederic Louis Viesse De Marmont, the youngest of Napoleon's
+Marshals, was born at Chatillon-sur-Seine on July 25, 1774. The family
+of Viesse belonged to the smaller nobility, who from the days of
+Richelieu had supplied the officers of the line for the old royal army.
+Marmont's father had destined him from the cradle for the military
+career, and had devoted his life to training him, both in body and mind,
+for the profession of arms. His hours of patience and self-denial were
+not thrown away, for, thanks to his early Spartan training, the Duke of
+Ragusa seldom knew fatigue or sickness, and owing to this physical
+strength was able, without neglecting his professional duties, to spend
+hours on scientific and literary work. In 1792 young Marmont, at the age
+of eighteen, passed the entrance examination for the Artillery School at
+Chalons, and started his military career with his father's oft-repeated
+words ringing in his ears, "Merit without success is infinitely better
+than success without merit, but determination and merit always command
+success." The young artillery cadet had both determination and capacity
+and his early career foreshadowed his future success. Aristocratic to
+the bone, Marmont detested the excesses of the Revolution; but politics,
+during his early years, had little effect on his thoughts, which were
+solely fixed on military glory. The exigencies of the revolutionary wars
+cut short his student days at Chalons, and before the end of 1792 he was
+gazetted to the first artillery regiment. In February, 1793, he saw his
+first active service with the Army of the Alps, under General
+Kellermann. Owing to the dearth of trained officers, though only newly
+gazetted, he performed all the duties of a senior colonel, laying out
+entrenched camps and commanding the artillery of the division to which
+he was attached. It was with this promising record already behind him
+that he attracted Bonaparte's attention at the siege of Toulon by his
+admirable handling of the guns under his command, and by his inventive
+powers, which overcame all obstacles. From that day the Corsican
+destined him for his service, and during the campaign in the Maritime
+Alps used him as an unofficial aide-de-camp. So devoted did Marmont
+become to the future Emperor, that when Bonaparte was arrested at the
+time of Robespierre's fall, he and Junot formed a plan of rescuing their
+idol by killing the sentries and carrying him off by sea.
+
+When Bonaparte returned to Paris Marmont accompanied him, and was
+offered the post of superintendent of the gun factory at Moulins. He
+contemptuously refused this position, telling the inspector of ordnance
+that he would not mind such a post in peace time, but that he was going
+to see as much active service as he could while the war lasted, so at
+his own request he was posted to the army of Pichegru, which was
+besieging Maintz.
+
+A temporary suspension of hostilities on the Rhine gave him the
+opportunity of once again joining his chosen leader, and early in 1796
+he started for Italy on Bonaparte's staff. Lodi was one of the great
+days of his life. Early in the action he captured one of the enemy's
+batteries, but a moment later he was thrown from his horse and ridden
+over by the whole of the cavalry, without, however, receiving a single
+scratch. Scarcely had he mounted when he was despatched along the river,
+under fire of the whole Austrian force on the other bank, to carry
+orders to the commander of the cavalry, who was engaged in fording the
+river higher up. Of his escort of five, two were killed, while his horse
+was severely wounded, yet he managed to return in time to take his place
+among the band of heroes who forced the long bridge in the face of a
+storm of bullets and grape. Castiglione added to his laurels, for it was
+his handling of the artillery that enabled Augereau to win his great
+victory. The Marshal, in his Memoirs, asserts that this short campaign
+was the severest strain he ever underwent. "I never at any other time
+endured such fatigue as during the eight days of that campaign. Always
+on horseback, on reconnaissance, or fighting, I was, I believe, five
+days without sleep, save for a few stolen minutes. After the final
+battle the general-in-chief gave me leave to rest and I took full
+advantage of it. I ate, I lay down, and I slept twenty-four hours at a
+stretch, and, thanks to youth, hardiness, a good constitution, and the
+restorative powers of sleep, I was as fresh again as at the beginning of
+the campaign."
+
+Though Castiglione thus brought him fresh honours, it nearly caused an
+estrangement between him and his chief. For Bonaparte, ever with an eye
+to the future, desiring to gain as many friends as possible, chose one
+of Berthier's staff officers to take the news of the victory to Paris.
+This was a bitter blow to his ambitious aide-de-camp, whose pride was
+further piqued because his hero, forgetting that he had not to deal with
+one of the ordinary adventurers who formed so large a number of the
+officers of the Army of Italy, with great want of tact, had offered him
+opportunities of adding to his wealth by perquisites and commissions
+abhorrent to the eyes of a descendant of an honourable family. But the
+exigencies of war and the thirst for glory left little time for
+brooding, and Bonaparte, recognising with whom he had to deal, took the
+opportunity of the successful fighting which penned Wuermser into Mantua
+to send Marmont with despatches to Paris. As his reward the Minister of
+War promoted him colonel and commandant of the second regiment of horse
+artillery. A curious state of affairs arose from this appointment, for
+promotion in the artillery ran quite independent of ordinary army rank.
+Accordingly, the army list ran as follows: Bonaparte, lieutenant-colonel
+of a battalion of artillery, seconded as general-in-chief of the Army of
+Italy. Marmont, colonel of the second regiment horse artillery, seconded
+as aide-de-camp to Lieutenant-Colonel Bonaparte, the commander-in-chief
+of the Army of Italy.
+
+[Illustration: AUGUSTE DE MARMONT, DUKE OF RAGUSA
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY MUNERET]
+
+Marmont hurried back to Italy in time to join Bonaparte's staff an hour
+before the battle of Arcola. The Austrians were making their last effort
+to relieve the fortress of Mantua, and it seemed as if they would be
+successful, as Alvinzi had concentrated forty thousand troops against
+twenty-six thousand. The French attempted a surprise, but were
+discovered, and for three days the fate of the campaign hung on the
+stubborn fight in the marshes of Arcola. It was Marmont who helped to
+extricate Bonaparte when he was flung off the embankment into the ditch,
+a service which Bonaparte never forgot. Diplomatic missions to Venice
+and the Vatican slightly turned the young soldier's head, and his chief
+had soon to give him a severe reprimand for loitering among Josephine's
+beauties at Milan instead of hastening back to headquarters. But to a
+man of Marmont's character one word of warning was enough; his head
+governed his heart; glory was his loadstar. Ambitious though he was, he
+was essentially a man of honour and fine feelings, and refused the hand
+of Pauline Bonaparte for the simple reason that he did not truly love
+her.
+
+A year later he made a love match with Mademoiselle Perregaux, but
+differences of temperament and the long separation which his military
+career imposed caused the marriage to turn out unhappily, and this lack
+of domestic felicity spoiled the Marshal's life and nearly embittered
+his whole character, turning him for the time into a self-centred man
+with an eye solely to his own glory and a sharp tongue which did not
+spare even his own friends. Yet in his early days Marmont was a bright
+and cheerful companion and no one enjoyed more a practical joke, getting
+up sham duels between cowards or sending bogus instructions to officious
+commanders. But fond as he was of amusement, even during his early
+career he could find delight in the society of men of science and
+learning like Monge and Berthollet.
+
+After the peace of Campo Formio he accompanied his chief to Paris, where
+an incident occurred which illustrates well the character of the two
+men. The Minister of War wanted detailed information regarding the
+English preparations against invasion, and Bonaparte offered to send his
+aide-de-camp as a spy. Marmont indignantly refused to go in such a
+capacity, and a permanent estrangement nearly took place. Their
+standards had nothing in common; in the one honour could conquer
+ambition, in the other ambition knew no rules of honour.
+
+However, their lust for glory brought them together again, and Marmont
+sailed with the Egyptian expedition. He was despatched north to command
+Alexandria after the battle of the Pyramids, where his guns had played
+so important a part in shattering the Mamelukes. Later he was entrusted
+with the control of the whole of the Mediterranean littoral. His task
+was a difficult one, but a most useful training for a young commander.
+With a tiny garrison he had to hold the important town of Alexandria and
+to keep in order a large province; to organise small columns to repress
+local risings; to make his own arrangements for raising money to pay his
+troops, and consequently to reorganise the fiscal system of the
+country; to reconstruct canals and to improvise flotillas of barges to
+supply Alexandria with provisions; to keep in touch with the remnant of
+the French fleet and thus to try to establish communications with
+Europe. He was responsible for resisting any attempt at invasion by the
+Turks or the English, and it was mainly owing to his measures that when
+the former landed at Aboukir they were destroyed before they could march
+inland. While his comrades were gaining military glory in Syria, he was
+fighting the plague at Alexandria, learning that patient attention to
+detail and careful supervision of the health of his troops were as
+important attributes of a commander as dash and courage in the field.
+
+Marmont quitted Egypt with joy; he had learned many useful lessons, but,
+like the rest of the army, he hated the country and the half Oriental
+life, and above all, as he said, "seeing a campaign and not taking part
+in it was a horrible punishment." On returning to Paris his time was
+fully occupied in winning over the artillery to Bonaparte. He had no
+false ideas on the subject, for, as he said to Junot before the Egyptian
+expedition, "You will see, my friend, that on his return Bonaparte will
+seize the crown." As his reward the First Consul gave him the choice of
+the command of the artillery of the Guard or a seat as Councillor of
+State. Jealous of Lannes, and flattered by the title, he chose the
+councillorship, in which capacity he was employed on the War Committee
+and entrusted with the reorganisation of the artillery. His first
+business was to provide a proper train to ensure the quick and easy
+mobilisation of the artillery. After the Marengo campaign he took in
+hand the reform of the materiel. Too many different types of guns
+existed. Marmont reorganised both the field and the fortress artillery,
+replacing the seven old types of guns by three--namely, six-pounders,
+twelve-pounders and twenty-four pounders; he also reduced the different
+types of wheels for gun carriages, limbers and wagons from twenty-four
+to eight, thus greatly simplifying the provision of ammunition and the
+work of repair in the field.
+
+The Marengo campaign added to his prestige as an artillery officer. It
+was owing to his ingenuity that the guns were unmounted and pulled by
+hand in cradles up the steep side of the mountain and thus safely taken
+over the St. Bernard Pass. It was his ingenious brain which suggested
+the paving of the road with straw, whereby the much-needed artillery was
+forwarded to Lannes by night, without any casualties, right under the
+batteries of the fortress of Bard. It was owing to his foresight that
+the reserve battery of guns, captured from the enemy, saved the day at
+Marengo by containing the Austrians while Desaix's fresh troops were
+being deployed, and it was the tremendous effect of his massed battery
+which gave Kellermann the opportunity for his celebrated charge. The
+First Consul marked his approval by promoting Marmont a general of
+division, and thus at the age of twenty-six the young artillery officer
+had nearly reached the head of his profession. After Marengo he
+continued his work of reorganisation, but before the end of the year he
+was once again in Italy, this time as a divisional commander under
+Brune, who, being no great strategist, was glad to avail himself of the
+brains of the First Consul's favourite: it was thanks to Marmont's plans
+that the French army successfully crossed the Mincio in the face of the
+enemy and, forced on him the armistice of Treviso. When Moreau's victory
+of Hohenlinden induced Austria to make peace, the general was sent to
+reorganise the Italian artillery on the same principles he had laid down
+for the French. He established an immense foundry and arsenal at Pavia,
+and the excellence of his plans was clearly proved in many a later
+campaign. From Italy he was recalled to Paris in September, 1802, as
+inspector-general of artillery. He threw himself heart and soul into his
+new duties, but found time to increase his scientific knowledge and to
+keep himself up to date with everything in the political and scientific
+world. He keenly supported Fulton's invention of the steamboat, and
+pressed it on the First Consul, and to the day of his death he was
+convinced that, if the Emperor had adopted the invention, the invasion
+of England would have been successful.
+
+The year 1804 brought him the delight of his first important command. In
+February he was appointed chief of the corps of the Army of the Ocean
+which was stationed in Holland. He entered on his task with his usual
+fervour. His first step was to make friends with all the Dutch
+officials, and thus to secure the smooth working of his commissariat and
+supply departments; then he turned to the actual training of his troops.
+For this purpose he obtained permission to hold a big camp of
+instruction, where all the divisions of his corps were massed. So
+successful was this experiment that it became an annual institution. But
+amid all the pleasure of this congenial work came the bitter moment when
+he found the name of so mediocre a soldier as Bessieres included in the
+list of the new Marshals and his own omitted. It was a sore blow, and
+his appointment as colonel-general of the horse chasseurs and Grand
+Eagle of the Legion of Honour did little to mitigate it. The Emperor,
+careful as ever to stimulate devotion, later explained to him that a
+dashing officer like himself would have plenty of opportunities of
+gaining distinction, while this was Bessieres's only chance. But in
+spite of this the neglect rankled, and from that day he was no longer
+the blindly devoted follower of Napoleon.
+
+On the outbreak of the Austrian War Marmont's corps became the second
+corps of the Grand Army. In the operations ending in Ulm the second
+corps formed part of the left wing. After the capitulation it was
+detached to cover the French communications from an attack from the
+direction of Styria. In the summer of the following year Marmont was
+despatched as commander-in-chief to Dalmatia, where he spent the next
+five years of his life. Dalmatia had been ceded to France by the treaty
+of Pressburg. In Napoleon's eyes the importance of the province lay in
+the harbour of Cattaro, which he regarded as an outlet to the Balkan
+Peninsula. His intention was to get possession of Montenegro, to come to
+an understanding with Ali Pacha of Janina and the Sultan, and oppose the
+policy of Russia. But the Russians and Montenegrins had seized Cattaro,
+and were threatening to besiege Ragusa. It was to meet this situation
+that the Emperor in July, 1806, hastily sent his former favourite to
+Dalmatia. The new commander-in-chief found himself, as in Egypt, faced
+with the difficulty of supply. Half the army was in hospital from want
+of proper nourishment and commonsense sanitation. Having, by his care of
+his men, refilled his battalions, he advanced boldly on the enemy, and
+drove them out of their positions. This punishment kept the Montenegrins
+quiet for the future, and the Russians fell back on Cattaro. From there
+he was unable to drive them owing to the guns of their fleet, and it was
+not till the treaty of Tilsit that the French got possession of the
+coveted port. The French commander's chief difficulty in administering
+his province was that which is felt in all uncivilised countries, the
+difficulty of holding down a hostile population where roads do not
+exist. Otherwise his just but stern rule admirably suited the townsmen
+of the little cities on the coast, while order was kept among the hill
+tribes by making their headmen responsible for their behaviour, and by
+aiding them in attacking the Turks, who had seized certain tracts of
+territory and maltreated the inhabitants. But it was not gratitude which
+kept the hill-men quiet, so much as the miles of new roads on which the
+French commander employed his army when not engaged on expeditions
+against restless marauders. During his years in the Dalmatian provinces
+Marmont constructed more than two hundred miles of roads, with the
+result that his small force was able with ease to hold down the long
+narrow mountainous province by the speed with which he could mobilise
+his punitive expeditions. Moreover, owing to the increased means of
+traffic the peasants were able to find a market for their goods, and the
+prosperity of the country increased beyond belief. With prosperity came
+contentment: manufactures were established, and the mines and the other
+natural resources of the country were exploited to advantage. As the
+Emperor of Austria said to Metternich in 1817, when visiting the
+province, "It is a great pity that Marshal Marmont was not two or three
+years longer in Dalmatia."
+
+The years spent at Ragusa were probably the happiest of Marmont's life.
+His successful work was recognised in 1808, when the Emperor created him
+Duke of Ragusa. Each day was full of interest. He was head of the civil
+administration and of the judicial and fiscal departments. As
+commander-in-chief he was responsible for the health, welfare, and
+discipline of the troops, and for the military works which were being
+erected to protect the province from Austrian aggression. He had his
+special hobby--the roads. Yet in spite of all this business he found
+time to put himself in the hands of a tutor and to work ten hours a day
+at history, chemistry, and anatomy. To aid him in his studies he
+collected a travelling library of six hundred volumes which accompanied
+him in all his later campaigns.
+
+The Austrian campaign of 1809 called him from these congenial labours to
+the even more congenial operations of war. The duty of the Army of
+Dalmatia was to attempt to cut off the Archduke John on his retirement
+from Italy; but the Duke of Ragusa had not sufficient troops to carry
+out this operation successfully, although he effected a junction with
+the Army of Italy. After a succession of small engagements the united
+armies found themselves on the Danube in time to take part in the battle
+of Wagram. In reserve during the greater part of the battle, Marmont's
+corps was entrusted with the pursuit of the enemy. Unfortunately, either
+from lack of appreciation of the situation or from jealousy, their
+commander refused to allow Davout to co-operate with him, and
+consequently, although he overtook the Austrians, he was not strong
+enough to hold them till other divisions of the army came up. However,
+at the end of the operations Napoleon created him Marshal. But the Duke
+of Ragusa's joy at receiving this gift was tempered by the way it was
+given. For the Emperor, angry doubtless at the escape of the Austrians,
+told him, "I have given you your nomination and I have great pleasure in
+bestowing on you this proof of my affection, but I am afraid I have
+incurred the reproach of listening rather to my affection than to your
+right to this distinction. You have plenty of intelligence, but there
+are needed for war qualities in which you are still lacking, and which
+you must work to acquire. Between ourselves, you have not yet done
+enough to justify entirely my choice. At the same time, I am confident
+that I shall have reason to congratulate myself on having nominated you,
+and that you will justify me in the eyes of the army." Unkind critics of
+the three new Marshals created after Wagram said that Napoleon, having
+lost Lannes, wanted to get the small change for him, but it is only fair
+to remember that though Macdonald, Marmont, and Oudinot were all
+inferior to Lannes, they were quite as good soldiers as some of the
+original Marshals.
+
+After peace was declared the new Marshal returned to Dalmatia and took
+up the threads of his old life. He had won the respect of the
+inhabitants and the fear of their foes, the Turks, and save for an
+occasional expedition against the brigands or friction with the fiscal
+officials, his time passed peaceably and pleasantly. But in 1811 he was
+recalled to Paris to receive orders before starting on a new sphere of
+duty. Massena, "the spoiled child of victory," had met his match at
+Torres Vedras, and Napoleon, blaming the man instead of the system, had
+determined to try a fresh leader for the army opposing Sir Arthur
+Wellesley. The Emperor did not hide from himself the fact that in
+selecting Marmont he was making an experiment, for he told St. Cyr that
+he had sent Marmont to Spain because he had plenty of talent, but that
+he had not yet tested to the full his force of character, and he added,
+"I shall soon be able to judge of that, for now he is left to his own
+resources." The new commander of the Army of Portugal set out with the
+full confidence that the task was not beyond his powers, and with the
+promise of the viceroyalty of one of the five provinces into which Spain
+was to be divided. He arrived at the front two days after the battle of
+Fuentes d'Onoro, and found a very different state of affairs from what
+he had expected. The country was a howling waste covered with fierce
+guerillas. The French army, so long accustomed to success, was
+absolutely demoralised by repeated disappointments and defeats. It was
+necessary to take stringent measures to restore the morale of the troops
+before he could call on them to face once more "the infantry whose fire
+was the most murderous of all the armies of Europe."
+
+Accordingly he withdrew from the Portuguese frontier, put his army into
+cantonments round Salamanca, and set to work on the difficult task of
+collecting supplies from a country which was already swept bare.
+Meanwhile he split up his army into six divisions, established direct
+communications between himself and the divisional officers, and, to get
+rid of the grumblers, gave leave to all officers, who so desired, to
+return to France. At the same time he distributed his weak battalions
+among the other corps so that each battalion had a complement of seven
+hundred muskets. He also broke up the weak squadrons and batteries and
+brought up the remainder to service strength. Scarcely was this
+reorganisation completed when Soult, who had been defeated at Albuera,
+called on Marmont to aid him in saving Badajoz. In spite of his personal
+dislike for the Duke of Dalmatia, the Marshal hurried to his aid and for
+the time the important fortress was saved. During the rest of the summer
+the Army of Portugal lay in the valley of the Tagus, holding the bridge
+of Almaraz, and thus ready at any moment to go to the relief of Badajoz
+or Ciudad Rodrigo, the two keys of Portugal. When, in the autumn,
+Wellington threatened Ciudad Rodrigo, the Marshal, calling to his aid
+Dorsenne, who commanded in Northern Spain, at the successful engagement
+of El Bodin drove back the advance guard of the Anglo-Portuguese and
+threw a large quantity of provisions into the fortress.
+
+The year 1812 was a disastrous one for the French arms all over Europe.
+The Emperor attempted to direct the Spanish War from Paris. In his
+desire to secure all Southern Spain, he stripped Marmont's army to
+reinforce Suchet in his conquest of Valencia. Accordingly in January the
+Marshal was powerless to stop Wellington's dash at Ciudad Rodrigo, and
+was unable later to make a sufficient demonstration in Portugal to
+relieve the pressure on Badajoz; so both the fortresses fell, and the
+Duke of Ragusa was blamed for the Emperor's mistake. He was thereafter
+called upon to try to stem the victorious advance of the English into
+Spain. Short of men, of horses, and of supplies, he did wonders. Thanks
+to his strenuous efforts, supplies were massed at Salamanca, good food
+and careful nursing emptied the hospitals and filled the ranks, and the
+cavalry was supplied with remounts by dismounting the "field officers"
+of the infantry. The month of July saw an interesting duel round
+Salamanca between Marmont and Wellington. The two armies were very
+nearly equal in numbers, the French having forty-seven thousand men and
+the English forty-four thousand. The French had the advantage of a broad
+base with lines of retreat either on Burgos or Madrid. The English had
+to cover their single line of communication, which ran through Ciudad
+Rodrigo. The French had the further advantage that their infantry
+marched better than the English. Owing to these causes their commander
+was so far able to outgeneral his adversary that by July 22nd he was
+actually threatening the English line of retreat. But a tactical mistake
+threw away all these strategic advantages. In his eagerness he allowed
+his leading division to get too extended, forgetting that he was
+performing the dangerous operation of a flank march. Wellington waited
+till he saw his opportunity and then threw himself on the weak French
+centre and cut the French army in half, thus proving his famous dictum
+that the great general is not he who makes fewest mistakes, but he who
+can best take advantage of the mistakes of his enemy. Marmont saw his
+error as soon as the English attack began, but a wound from a cannon
+ball disabled him at the very commencement of the action. This injury to
+his arm was so serious that he had to throw up his command and return to
+France, and for the whole of the next year he had to wear his arm in a
+sling.
+
+Napoleon, furious with the Marshal for his ill-success, most unjustly
+blamed him for not waiting for reinforcements: these actually arrived
+two days after the battle. Joseph, however, had told him distinctly that
+he was not going to send him any help, and if it had not been for his
+tactical blunders, Marmont would undoubtedly have caused Wellington to
+fall back on Portugal. But in 1812 the exigencies of war demanded that
+France should send forth every soldier, and accordingly in March the
+Duke of Ragusa was gazetted to the command of the sixth corps, which was
+forming in the valley of the Maine. On taking up this command he found
+that his corps was mainly composed of sailors drafted from the useless
+ships, and of recruits, while his artillery had no horses and his
+cavalry did not exist. With these raw troops he had to undergo some
+difficult experiences at Luetzen and Bautzen, but, as the campaign
+progressed, he moulded them into shape, and his divisions did good
+service in the fighting in Silesia and round Dresden. At the rout after
+the battle of Leipzig, Marmont, like most of the higher officers of the
+army, thought more of his personal safety than of his honour, and
+allowed himself to be escorted from the field by his staff officers.
+
+But in the campaign of 1814 he made amends for all his former blunders,
+and his fighting record stands high indeed. At Saint-Dizier, La
+Rothiere, Arcis-sur-Aube, Nogent, Sezanne, and Champaubert, he held his
+own or defeated the enemy with inferior numbers in every case. Once only
+at Laon did he allow himself to be surprised. When the end came it was
+Marmont who, at Joseph's command, had to hand over Paris to the Allies.
+Thereafter he was faced with a terrible problem. His army was sick of
+fighting, officers and men demanded peace. He had to decide whether his
+duty to Napoleon was the same as his duty to France. Unfortunately he
+acted hurriedly, and, without informing the Emperor, entered into
+negotiations with the enemy. The result was far-reaching, for his
+conduct showed Alexander that the army was sick of war and would no
+longer fight for Napoleon. It thus cut away the ground of the
+Commissioners who were trying, by trading on the prestige of the Emperor
+and the fear of his name, to persuade the Czar to accept Napoleon's
+abdication on behalf of his son, the King of Rome. The Marshal's enemies
+put down his action to ill-will against the Emperor for withholding for
+so long the marshalate and for his treatment after Salamanca. But
+Marmont asserted that it was patriotism which dictated his action, and
+further maintained that Napoleon himself ought to have approved of his
+action, quoting a conversation held in 1813. "If the enemy invaded
+France," said the Emperor, "and seized the heights of Montmartre, you
+would naturally believe that the safety of your country would command
+you to leave me, and if you did so you would be a good Frenchman, a
+brave man, a conscientious man, but not a man of honour."
+
+The defection of the Duke of Ragusa came as a bitter blow to Napoleon.
+"That Marmont should do such a thing," cried the fallen Emperor, "a man
+with whom I have shared my bread, whom I drew out of obscurity!
+Ungrateful villain, he will be more unhappy than I." The prophecy was
+true. The Duke of Ragusa stuck to the Bourbons and refused to join
+Napoleon during the Hundred Days, going to Ghent as chief of the
+military household of the exiled King. He returned with Louis to Paris,
+and was made major-general of the Royal Guard and a peer of France, in
+which capacity he sat as one of the judges who condemned Ney to death.
+But men looked askance at him, and from 1817 he lived in retirement,
+occupying his leisure in experimental farming, with great injury to his
+purse, for his elaborate scheme of housing his sheep in three-storied
+barns and clothing them in coats made of skin was most unprofitable.
+Retirement was a bitter blow to the keen soldier, but the Bourbon
+monarchs clearly understood that the deserter of Napoleon and the judge
+of Marshal Ney could never be popular with the army.
+
+Still, when in July, 1830, discontent was seething, Charles X.
+remembered his sterling qualities and summoned him to Paris as governor
+of the city. It was an unfortunate nomination, for the Marshal's
+unpopularity weakened the bonds of discipline, whilst his eagerness to
+show his loyalty caused him to adopt such measures as the King ordered,
+irrespective of their military worth. In vain he warned the King that
+this was not a revolt but a revolution; the counsels of Polignac were
+all powerful. The Marshal's political suggestions were unheeded and his
+military plans overridden. The mass of the troops of the line, kept for
+long hours without food in the streets, mutinied and went over to the
+populace, while those who remained loyal, and the royal guards, instead
+of being concentrated and protected by batteries of artillery, were
+frittered away in useless expeditions into outlying parts of the city.
+After two days' fighting the royalists had to evacuate the city. Thus it
+fell to the lot of the Marshal once more to hand over Paris to the foes
+of those to whom his allegiance was due.
+
+The Duke of Ragusa accompanied Charles to Cherbourg and quitted France
+in August, 1830, never to return. The remainder of his life was spent in
+foreign countries. He made Vienna his headquarters, and from there took
+journeys to Russia, Turkey, Egypt, and Italy. Deeply interested in
+science and history, he devoted his leisure to writing his Memoirs, to
+works on military science, philanthropy, and travel. Thus occupied,
+though an exile from his country, he lived a busy, active, and on the
+whole useful life till death overtook him at Vienna in 1852.
+
+Marshal Marmont has been called one of Napoleon's failures, but this
+criticism is one-sided and unjust. True it is that his name is
+intimately connected with the failure in Spain and with the fall of the
+Empire, but to judge his career by these two instances and to neglect
+his other work, is to generalise from an insufficient and casual basis.
+The Duke of Ragusa owed his marshalate, like many others, to his
+intimacy with Napoleon, but unlike several of the Marshals he really
+earned his baton. His great powers of organisation, so unstintedly given
+to the re-armament of France and Italy, and his work of regeneration in
+Dalmatia, together with his military operations in Styria, Spain, and
+during the campaign of 1814, mark him out as a soldier of great
+capabilities. Organisation was his strong point, but he also possessed
+great physical bravery and many of the qualities of a commander. His
+love for his profession was great, and not only had he graduated under
+Napoleon's eye, but much of his time was spent in studying his calling
+from a scientific and historical point of view. As a strategist he
+probably stood as high as any of his fellow Marshals, and his operations
+in Dalmatia, Spain, and France deserve the careful study of all students
+of military history. But he failed as a tactician. Salamanca and Laon
+prove not only that he made mistakes and had not the faculty of
+retrieving his errors, but above all he lacked the capacity of seizing
+on the mistakes of his enemy. In 1811 at El Bodin he had Wellington at
+his mercy, but he hesitated to strike, for he could not believe his
+great opponent could make the glaring error of leaving his divisions
+unsupported. Again and again during his career he showed that lack of
+resolution which was responsible for his last catastrophe in Paris,
+where he allowed his own judgment to be overruled by King Charles's
+personal desires. In a word, he had the gift of a great
+quartermaster-general rather than of a commander-in-chief. As a man the
+Marshal's character is an interesting study. In youth the thirst for
+personal glory and ambition were the dominant traits, and what stability
+he had he drew from his proud sense of honour, which refused to allow
+him to take plunder or bribes. But responsibility developed many latent
+qualities. The desire to keep his troops efficient led him to pay
+especial care to their physical well-being, and from doing this as a
+duty he learned to do it as a labour of love. As time went on, desire
+for personal glory became merged in keen delight in the glory of France,
+and hence grew up a patriotism which rightly or wrongly led to the
+scenes of 1814 and 1830. Misfortune also had its share in the enlarging
+of his character. His unhappy marriage, his bitterness at the
+withholding of the marshalate, his unpopularity after 1814, led him to
+remember his father's warning that success is not everything, and turned
+his attention to the development of those scientific and literary
+abilities to which he had always shown strong leanings. Hence, though
+the blight of his marriage and his unpopularity, arising from his
+desertion of Napoleon, embittered him and caused his Memoirs to teem
+with cutting descriptions of his contemporaries and former friends, his
+old age, though spent in exile, was soothed by congenial work which
+proved "that to the eye of a general he united the accomplishments of a
+scholar and the heart of a philanthropist."
+
+
+
+
+XI
+
+LOUIS GABRIEL SUCHET, MARSHAL, DUKE OF ALBUFERA
+
+
+Louis Gabriel Suchet, the son of a silk manufacturer, was born at Lyons
+on March 2, 1770. His father had acquired a certain eminence by his
+discoveries in his profession, and had occupied a prominent place in the
+municipality of Lyons. Louis Gabriel, who received a sound education at
+the College of Isle Barbe, early showed that he inherited his father's
+gifts of organisation and research. In 1792 he entered a corps of
+volunteer cavalry. His education and ability soon brought him to the
+front, and after two years' service he became lieutenant-colonel of the
+eighteenth demi-brigade, in which capacity he took part in the siege of
+Toulon. There he had the double good fortune to make prisoner General
+O'Hara, the English governor of the fortress, and to gain the friendship
+of Bonaparte. Suchet and his brother accompanied the future Emperor on
+many a pleasant picnic, and the three were well known among a certain
+class of Marseilles society. But this was but a passing phase, and soon
+the thirst for glory called the young soldier to sterner things. The
+campaigns of 1794-5 in the Maritime Alps, the battle of Loano, and the
+fierce fights in 1796 at Lodi, Rivoli, Arcola, and Castiglione proved
+Colonel Suchet's undaunted courage and ability as a regimental
+commander. In 1797, for his brilliant conduct at Neumarkt, in Styria,
+Bonaparte gazetted him general of brigade. In his new capacity Suchet
+proved that he could not only carry out orders but act in
+semi-independence as a column commander, and as a reward for his success
+in Switzerland under General Brune he had the honour of carrying
+twenty-three captured stands of colours to the Directory. At Brune's
+request he was sent back to Switzerland to act as chief of his staff.
+Suchet had to a great extent those qualities which go to make an ideal
+staff officer. He had a cheery smile and word for everybody, and his
+tall upright figure and genial face inspired confidence in officers and
+men alike; as a regimental commander and a general of brigade he had a
+sound knowledge of the working of small and large corps, and his early
+experience as a cavalry officer and his intimate acquaintance with the
+officers of the artillery stood him in good stead. He had a natural
+aptitude for drafting orders, and his tact and energy commended him to
+all with whom he served, but above all he had the secret of inspiring
+those around him with his own vehemence and enthusiasm. Brune, Joubert,
+Massena, and Moreau all proved his worth, and Moreau only expressed the
+opinion of the others when he said to a friend, "Your general is one of
+the best staff officers in all the armies of France." As general of
+division Suchet acted as chief of the staff to Joubert in Italy in 1799.
+Later in the year he commanded one of the divisions of the Army of the
+Alps under Massena, and fought against the celebrated Suvaroff. But when
+Joubert was hurriedly despatched to Italy he at once demanded to have
+Suchet as chief of the staff. On Joubert's death at the battle of Novi,
+Suchet served Massena in a similar capacity; the latter was so delighted
+with him that he wanted to carry him off to the Army of the Rhine. But
+in that disastrous year men of ability could not be spared, and
+Bernadotte, as Minister of War, retained him in Italy to aid the new
+commander-in-chief "with his clear insight as the public weal demands."
+When Massena took command of the Army of Italy in March, he detached
+Suchet to cover France on the line of the Var, while he, with the rest
+of the army, threw himself into Genoa. The commander-in-chief had
+absolute confidence in his lieutenant; he had tried him again and again
+in the Swiss campaign, and when Suchet had by a marvellous march escaped
+the tangles of the Russians, his only comment had been "I was quite sure
+he would bring me back his brigade." The young general acted once again
+up to his reputation, and evinced those resources in difficulty, and
+that resolution in adversity, which so marked his career. With a mere
+handful of troops, by his energy and tactical ability he stemmed the
+flood of the Austrian invasion on the Var, and when Napoleon debouched
+through the St. Bernard Pass on the enemy's rear, by a masterly return
+to the initiative he drove the Austrians before him, and by capturing
+seven thousand prisoners he materially lightened the First Consul's
+difficulties in the Marengo campaign. Carnot, the War Minister, wrote to
+him in eulogistic terms: "The whole Republic had its eyes fixed on the
+new Thermopylae. Your bravery was as great and more successful than that
+of the Spartans." But in spite of this feat of arms and the unselfish
+way he disengaged Dupont from his difficulties at the crossing of the
+Mincio, in the campaign which followed Marengo, Suchet found himself
+neglected and passed over when the Emperor distributed his new honours
+and rewards. In spite of his former friendship and the remembrance of
+many a pleasant day spent together in earlier years, Napoleon could not
+forgive his stern unbending republicanism. He knew his force of
+character too well to think he could influence his opinions by mere
+honours, and he determined to see if he could conquer him by neglect.
+After holding the office of inspector-general of infantry, Suchet found
+himself in 1803 sent to the camp of Boulogne as a mere divisional
+commander in Soult's army corps. In the same capacity he loyally served
+under Lannes in the Austrian campaign of 1805, and distinguished himself
+at Ulm and Austerlitz, where his division had the good fortune to break
+the Russian centre. In the following year at Saalfeld and Jena he added
+to his reputation, and the Emperor did him the honour of bivouacking in
+the middle of his division on the eve of the battle of Jena. Pultusk and
+Eylau bore witness to his bravery and address on the battlefield, and
+Napoleon began to relent. For his share of the victory of Austerlitz the
+Emperor had created him Grand Eagle of the Legion of Honour and
+presented him with twenty thousand francs; in August, 1807, he gave him
+the temporary command of the fifth corps; a few months later he gazetted
+him Chevalier of the Iron Crown, and in March, 1808, made him a Count of
+the Empire. In 1807 Suchet married one of the Clarys, a relative of
+Joseph Bonaparte's wife, and thus to a certain extent bound himself to
+the Napoleonic dynasty. Still it was only as a divisional commander of
+the fifth corps under Lannes that in 1808 he entered Spain, the scene of
+his glory. But when the war brought to light the poor quality of many of
+the Marshals, and the approaching conflict with Austria caused him to
+withdraw his best lieutenants to the Danube, Napoleon bethought him of
+his new relative and former comrade. After the siege of Saragossa he
+gave him the command of the third corps, now known as the Army of
+Aragon. Suchet's hour of probation had at last arrived. He had so far
+shown himself an excellent interpreter of the ideas of others, a man of
+energy and resource in carrying out orders; it remained to be seen
+whether he could rise to the height of thinking and acting for himself
+in the plain of higher strategy.
+
+[Illustration: LOUIS GABRIEL SUCHET, DUKE OF ALBUFERA
+FROM AN ENGRAVING BY POLLET]
+
+The situation the new general was called on to meet might have depressed
+a weaker man. The third corps or Army of Aragon had been severely shaken
+by the long, stubborn siege of Saragossa. Many of its best officers and
+men were dead or invalided to France; the ranks were full of raw
+recruits who had not yet felt the bit of discipline. There were no
+magazines, the men's pay was months in arrear, the morale of the troops
+was bad; but the General was told that he must expect no reinforcements
+and that his army must live off the province of Aragon. To increase his
+difficulties further he was informed that, while lending an obedient ear
+to all commands from Madrid, he was really to obey orders which came
+from the major-general in Paris. Meanwhile, all around him Aragon and
+even Saragossa were seething with discontent, and Spanish forces, elated
+by partial success, were springing up on all sides. It was thus situated
+that Suchet had his first experience of commanding in war, and of
+showing that success depends on achieving the object desired with the
+means at hand. Luckily for his reputation he fulfilled Napoleon's dictum
+that "a general should above all be cool-headed in order to estimate
+things at their value: he must not be moved by good or bad news. The
+sensations which he daily receives must be so classed in his mind that
+each should occupy its appropriate place." Accordingly he at once
+grasped the vital points of the problem, and strove to restore the
+morale of the troops so that he might be in a position to meet and
+overcome the organised forces which were moving against him. His first
+step was to hold a review of his new command, and then he proceeded to
+visit his troops in their quarters and to get into personal touch with
+the officers and men by watching them at their company and battalion
+drills, encouraging them and supervising the interior economy of the
+various regiments and brigades. His reputation and his personal
+magnetism soon began to effect a complete change in his army. But
+unfortunately the enemy, fighting in their own country, where every
+inhabitant was a spy on their side, knew as well as the general himself
+the exact state of the French morale, the position of every unit, and
+the strength of each company and squadron. So accurate was their
+information that on one occasion, when a battalion was despatched on a
+reconnaissance to occupy a small town, and the officer commanding
+demanded a thousand rations for his men and a hundred for his horse, the
+Alcalde at once replied, "I know that I must furnish rations for your
+troops, but I will only supply seven hundred and eighty for the men and
+sixty for the horses," as he knew beforehand the exact number of men and
+horses in the column.
+
+The Spanish General Blake, with this wonderful intelligence organisation
+at his command, called together his troops, and took the initiative
+against the new French commander by advancing towards Saragossa. Suchet,
+recognising the importance of utilising to the full the elan which the
+French soldier always derives from the sense of attacking, advanced to
+meet him near Alcaniz, but Blake easily beat off the French attack. So
+demoralised was the Army of Aragon that on the following night, when a
+drummer cried out that he saw the Spanish cavalry advancing, an entire
+infantry regiment threw down their arms before this phantom charge. The
+offender was brought at once before a drumhead court martial and shot,
+but with troops in such a condition the French commander very wisely
+slowly fell back the next day towards Saragossa. The situation was
+extremely critical: a hurried retreat would have roused all Aragon to
+the attack; fortunately the morale of the Spanish troops was also none
+too good, and Blake waited for reinforcements before advancing.
+Meanwhile Suchet spent every hour reorganising his army, visiting with
+speedy punishment all slackness, encouraging where possible by praise,
+everywhere showing a cheerfulness and confidence he was far from
+feeling. Every day the troops were drilled or attended musketry
+practice; the ordinary routine of peace was carried out in every detail,
+and the civil and military life of Saragossa showed no signs of the
+greatness of this crisis. Meanwhile care and attention soon showed their
+effect, and when three weeks later the enemy appeared at Maria before
+Saragossa, Suchet had under his command a force full of zealous desire
+to wipe out its late disgrace and absolutely confident in its general.
+Fortunately the Spanish commander, by attempting a wide encircling
+movement, weakened his numerical superiority, and Suchet, as usual
+assuming the offensive, broke the Spanish centre with his cavalry,
+hurled his infantry into the gap, and amid a terrific thunder-shower
+drove the Spanish from the field. The battle before Saragossa saved
+Aragon for the French, but it did not satisfy their commander, who knew
+that "to move swiftly, strike vigorously, and secure all the fruits of
+victory is the secret of successful war"; accordingly with his now
+elated troops he pursued the enemy and attacked them at Belchite. The
+Spanish morale was completely broken; a chance shot at the commencement
+of the engagement blew up an ammunition wagon, and thereon the whole
+army turned and bolted; for the rest of the war, no regular resistance
+existed in Aragon.
+
+The battles of Saragossa and Belchite marked the commencement of a fresh
+stage in the conquest of Eastern Spain. From this time onwards Aragon
+became the base from which was organised the conquest of Catalonia and
+Valencia. It was in pursuance of this scheme that Suchet's next task was
+the organisation of the civil government of the ancient kingdom of
+Aragon. Fortunately for the commander-in-chief the old local patriotism
+burnt strong in the hearts of the Aragonese; jealous of the Castilians,
+they placed their love of Aragon far above their love of Spain. Suchet,
+an ardent student of human nature, was quick to appreciate how to turn
+to his use this provincialism. Loud in his praises of their stubborn
+resistance to the French arms, he approached the nobles and former civil
+servants and prayed them to lend him their help in restoring the former
+glories of the ancient kingdom of Aragon. Meanwhile the people of the
+towns and villages were propitiated by a stern justice and a new fiscal
+system, which, while it drew more from their pockets, was less
+aggravating and inquisitorial than the former method, which exacted a
+tax on the sale and purchase of every individual article. Meanwhile the
+needs of the French army created a market for both agricultural produce
+and for manufactured articles, and hence both the urban and rural
+populations, while paying heavier taxes, made greater profits than
+formerly. Such was the ability with which Aragon was administered that a
+province, which even in its most prosperous days had never contributed
+more than four million francs to the Spanish treasury, was able to
+produce an income of eight million francs for the pay of the troops
+alone, without counting the cost of military operations, and at the same
+time to maintain its own civil servants, while works of public utility
+were commenced in Saragossa and elsewhere.
+
+But it was not only from the point of finance that Suchet proved to the
+full the maxim that the art of war is nothing but the art of feeding
+your troops: his military operations were no whit less remarkable than
+his success as a civil administrator. Immediately after Belchite he
+swept all the guerillas out of Aragon, and by a carefully thought out
+plan of garrisons gave the country that peace and certainty which is
+requisite for commerce and agriculture alike. He then proceeded to wrest
+from the enemy the important fortresses of Lerida and Mequinenza, which
+command the approaches to Catalonia. Suchet's conquest of Aragon,
+Catalonia, and Valencia was marked by a succession of brilliant sieges.
+Lerida, Mequinenza, Tortosa, the fort of San Felipe, the Col of
+Balanquer, Tarragona, Sagunto, and Valencia all fell before his
+conquering arm, for Spain had to be won piece by piece. Each forward
+step was marked by a siege, a battle to defeat the relieving force, the
+fall of the fortress, and its careful restoration as a base for the next
+advance. It was not owing to any weakness or want of precaution on the
+part of the enemy that Suchet thus captured all the noted fortresses of
+central Spain: in every case the Spaniards fought with grim
+determination, and the regular Spanish armies, aided by swarms of
+guerillas, made desperate efforts to relieve their beleaguered
+countrymen. But the French success was due to the qualities of their
+general. With a patience equal to that of Marlborough, with a power of
+supervision over detail like that of his great chief, Suchet knew
+exactly how to pick his staff and how far to trust his subordinates.
+Above all, he had absolute self-control. In the blackest hour he never
+gave way, under the most extreme provocation he never lost his temper;
+hence his own troops idolised him, while his perfect justice impressed
+itself on the enemy. Though the Spanish priests were teaching the
+catechism in every village that it was one's duty to love all men except
+the French, that it was not only lawful but one's sacred duty to kill
+all Frenchmen, though a letter was captured in which a guerilla chief
+ordered his subordinates to make every effort to capture Madame Suchet
+and to cut her throat, especially because she was pregnant, the
+commander-in-chief kept his men in absolute control, and punished with
+the greatest severity every outrage committed by his troops.
+
+The battle and siege of Valencia in 1811 were the crowning success of
+his career, and brought as their reward the long-coveted Marshal's baton
+and the title of Duke of Albufera: to support his title the Emperor
+granted him half a million francs, a greater sum than he gave to any
+other of his Paladins. The year 1812 saw the Marshal busily engaged in
+reorganising the province of Valencia on the lines he had found so
+successful in Aragon. But his work there had never time to take root.
+The necessities of the Russian campaign had forced Napoleon to recall
+from Spain many of his best troops, while the successful advance of
+Wellington on Madrid showed how unstable was the French rule. It was the
+province of Valencia alone which supplied the money and provisions for
+the armies which reconquered the Spanish capital for King Joseph. In
+1813 the victorious advance of Wellington and the battle of Vittoria
+compelled Suchet to evacuate Valencia. The fall of Pampeluna caused him
+to evacuate Aragon. Deprived of all his trustworthy troops, he still, by
+his bold counter-attacks, delayed the advance of the English and
+Spaniards under Bentinck, but by the time Napoleon abdicated he had been
+compelled with his handful of men to fall back on French territory.
+
+Under the Restoration the Marshal was retained in command of the tenth
+division, but on Napoleon's return from Elba he once again rejoined his
+old leader, whom he had not seen since 1808. The Emperor greeted him
+most cordially. "Marshal Suchet," he said, "you have grown greatly in
+reputation since last we met. You are welcome; you bring with you glory
+and all the glamour that heroes give to their contemporaries on earth."
+The Marshal was at once sent off to his old home of Lyons to organise
+there out of nothing an army which was to cover the Alps. Men there were
+in plenty, but the arsenals were empty; still, the Marshal with ten
+thousand troops beat the Piedmontese on June 15th and a few days
+afterwards defeated the Austrians. But the occupation of Geneva by the
+Allies forced him to evacuate Savoy and fall back on Lyons, where he was
+greeted with the news of Waterloo. Under the second Restoration the
+Marshal never appeared in public life, and died at the chateau of Saint
+Joseph at Marseilles on January 3, 1826.
+
+Talking to O'Meara at St. Helena, Napoleon said, "Of the generals of
+France I give the preference to Suchet. Before his time Massena was the
+first." At another time he said of him, "It is a pity that mortals
+cannot improvise men like him. If I had had two Marshals like Suchet I
+should not only have conquered Spain, but have kept it." While making
+due allowance for the probability that the Emperor was influenced in
+this speech by the fact that Suchet alone relieved the gloom of the
+unsuccessful war in Spain, it is yet abundantly clear that the Marshal
+was a commander of no mean ability, for though he did not show the
+precocity of a Marmont, yet, as Napoleon himself said, "Suchet was a man
+whose mind and character increased wonderfully."
+
+As a commander-in-chief, though acting in a small sphere and never
+having more than fifty thousand troops under his command, he showed that
+he possessed determination, insight, and great powers of organisation.
+From the first he saw that the one and only way to wear down the Spanish
+resistance was to capture the fortresses. Hence his operations were
+twofold--the conduct of sieges and the protection of his convoys from
+the guerillas. He justified his reasoning; by 1812 he had captured no
+less than seventy-seven thousand officers and men and fourteen hundred
+guns and had pacified Aragon, Valencia, and part of Catalonia. Another
+great secret of his success lay in the fact that he knew how to profit
+by victory; the battle of Belchite followed on that of Maria; no sooner
+was Lerida captured than plans were made to take Mequinenza, and before
+that fortress was captured the siege train for Tortosa was got ready.
+Profiting by the depression of the enemy after the fall of Tortosa, he
+despatched columns to capture San Felipe and the Col of Balanquer.
+Thanks to his former training as chief of the staff, the Marshal was
+able with his own hand to draw up all the smallest regulations for siege
+operations, and for the government of Aragon and Valencia. The gift of
+drafting clear and concise orders and the intuition with which he chose
+his staff and column commanders explain to a great extent the reason why
+his operations in Catalonia, Aragon, and Valencia were so little
+hampered by the constant guerilla warfare which paralysed the other
+French commanders in Spain. The indefatigable energy with which he made
+himself personally acquainted with every officer under his command, and
+his knowledge of, sympathy with, and care for his soldiers, always made
+him popular; while the burning enthusiasm which he knew how to infuse
+into French, German, and Italian alike so stimulated his troops that he
+could demand almost any sacrifice from them. Thus it was that he himself
+created the morale which enabled him again and again to conquer against
+overwhelming odds.
+
+As a man, moderation and justice lay at the root of his character, and
+they account largely for his success as a statesman. He had the
+difficult task of administering Aragon and Valencia for the benefit of
+the army under his command; yet he was remembered not with hate, but
+with affection, by the people of those countries. When any one inquired
+what was the character of the French general, the Spaniards would reply,
+"He is a just man." The same moderation which caused him to save
+Tarragona and Valencia from the fury of his troops taught him to devote
+himself to the welfare of his temporary subjects, and caused his
+hospital arrangements to receive the gratuitous praise of the Spanish
+and English commanders. At Saragossa his name was given to one of the
+principal streets, and on his death the inhabitants of the town paid for
+masses for his soul, while the King of Spain was only voicing the
+feelings of the people when he wrote to the Marshal's widow that
+everything he had heard in Spain proved how deservedly the Duke of
+Albufera had gained the affections of the people of Valencia and
+Aragon.
+
+
+
+
+XII
+
+LAURENT GOUVION ST. CYR, MARSHAL
+
+
+Laurent Gouvion St. Cyr, the son of a small landowner of Toul, was born
+in that town on April 13, 1764. His father, who was a Gouvion, had
+married a St. Cyr, but the marriage had turned out an unfortunate one,
+and soon after the birth of the young Laurent a separation was agreed
+on. Consequently, from an early age, the boy lacked a mother's care. His
+father, many of whose relations were in the artillery, desired his son
+to enter the army, and with that object in view sent him to the
+Artillery College at Toul. But at the age of eighteen the future Marshal
+decided to abandon the career of arms for that of art, preferring the
+freedom of an artist's life to the dull routine of garrison service.
+Taking the bit between his teeth early in 1782, he set off for Rome,
+which he made his headquarters for the following two years, with
+occasional trips as far as Sicily. The year 1789 found Laurent Gouvion
+established in Paris with a great knowledge of art and some considerable
+skill in technique. Steeped in classic lore, contemptuous of dull
+authority and full of youthful enthusiasm, he hailed with joy the
+outbreak of the Revolution. But by the end of 1792 the young painter was
+too keen a student of men and matters not to perceive "the danger which
+menaced the Republic," and, like all other thinking men, "was lost in
+astonishment, not to say at the imprudence, but the folly of the
+Convention, which instead of seeking to diminish the number of its
+enemies, seemed resolved to augment them by successive insults, not
+merely against all kings, but against every existing government." In
+spite of this, when Europe threatened France, Laurent Gouvion was one of
+the first to enlist in the volunteers. His personality and former
+training at once made themselves felt; within a month of enlisting he
+was elected captain, in which grade he joined the Army of the Rhine
+under General Custine. On reaching the front the volunteer captain soon
+found scope for his pencil. In an army thoroughly disorganised a good
+draughtsman with an eye for country was no despicable asset. Gouvion was
+attached to the topographical department of the staff. He added his
+mother's name--St. Cyr--to his surname because of the constant confusion
+arising owing to the number of Gouvions employed with the army. After a
+year's hard work on the staff, during which he acquired a thorough grasp
+of the art of manoeuvring according to the terrain, and a good working
+knowledge of the machinery of an army, St. Cyr was promoted on June 5,
+1794, general of brigade, and six days later general of division. His
+promotion was not unmerited, for it was his complete mastery of mountain
+warfare which had contributed more than anything else to the success of
+the division of the Army of the Rhine to which he had been attached. The
+soldiers had long recognised the fact, and when they heard the guns
+booming through the defiles of the Vosges they used to call one to the
+other, "There is St. Cyr playing chess." Like Bernadotte, at first he
+refused this rapid promotion; he feared it might lead to the scaffold,
+for death was then the reward of failure, and besides this, the Gouvions
+were classed among the ci-devant nobles. As a commander the new general
+speedily proved that, much as he admired liberty in the abstract, he
+would have nothing but obedience from his men. Tall of stature, more
+like a professor than a soldier, through all his career wearing the
+plain blue overcoat, without uniform or epaulettes, which were affected
+by the generals of the Army of the Rhine, St. Cyr soon became one of the
+best known generals of Republican France. As one of his most bitter
+enemies wrote of him, "It was impossible to find a calmer man; the
+greatest dangers, disappointments, successes, defeats, were alike unable
+to move him. In the presence of every sort of contingency he was like
+ice. It may be easily understood, of what advantage such a character,
+backed by a taste for study and meditation, was to a general officer."
+In the army of the Rhine Desaix and St. Cyr were regarded as the persons
+whose examples should be followed. The austerity of their manner of
+life, their sincere patriotism and laborious perseverance, left an
+indelible mark on all with whom they came in contact. But though they
+had much in common they were really very dissimilar, for Desaix was
+intoxicated with the love of glory, full of burning enthusiasm,
+sympathetic to an extraordinary degree, exceedingly susceptible to the
+influence of the moment, while St. Cyr loved duty as the rule of his
+life, modelled his action by the strict laws of calculation, was
+absolutely impervious to outside influence, and never knew what it was
+to doubt his own powers. But with all his great gifts he had many
+faults; he was exceedingly jealous, and without knowing it he allowed
+his own interests to affect his calculations, consequently very early in
+his career his fellow-generals hated to have to work in co-operation
+with him, and he got the name of being a "bad bed-fellow." Further,
+excellent as he was as a strategist and tactician, the details of
+administration bored him. He never held a review, never visited
+hospitals, and left the threads of administration in the hands of his
+subordinates; consequently, much as his troops trusted him in the field,
+they disliked him in quarters, because, while his discipline was most
+severe, he did nothing to provide for their needs or amusements.
+
+[Illustration: GOUVION ST. CYR, COUNT
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY J. GUERIN]
+
+From 1795 to the peace of Campo Formio St. Cyr shared the fortunes and
+vicissitudes of the Army of the Rhine, serving as a subordinate under
+Hoche, Jourdan, and Moreau. The battle of Biberach, in 1796, was his
+personal triumph. With one single corps he defeated three-fourths of the
+whole of the enemy's army and drove it in rout with a loss of five
+thousand prisoners. But in spite of this victory and numerous mentions
+in despatches, on being introduced to the Director Rewbell, after the
+treaty of Campo Formio, he was actually asked, "In which army have you
+served?" An explanation was necessary, whereupon the Director, finding
+that the general understood and spoke Italian, sent him off at once to
+take command of the Army of Rome. On March 26, 1798, he arrived there
+and commenced his first independent command. His task was a difficult
+one. The officers of the army had risen in revolt against Massena, who
+had made no attempt to pay them or their troops, but had spent his time
+in amassing a fortune for himself. The new general had orders to arrest
+certain officers and restore discipline. It was a task admirably suited
+to his talents, and within four days of his arrival the disaffected were
+arrested and the mutiny quelled. His next duty, according to the command
+of the Directory, was to remove the Pope from Rome; by a queer
+coincidence the officer entrusted to escort his Holiness to Tuscany was
+a certain Colonel Calvin. So far St. Cyr, much against his wish, had
+carried out the orders of the Directory, but his next action was
+spontaneous and dictated by his own idea of justice. It was the hour of
+spoliation: a committee appointed by the Directory was busy in
+transporting to France all the masterpieces of Italian art, and the
+newly-appointed Consuls of the Roman Republic were likewise fully
+engaged in acts of vandalism. When the general heard that the
+magnificent oblation of diamonds belonging to the Doria family had been
+purloined from the Church of St. Agnes to grace the necks of the wives
+of the bastard Consuls, he at once ordered the ostensoir to be returned
+to its owners. The Consuls appealed to the Directory; so after a command
+of four short months St. Cyr was recalled, only to be sent at once to
+resume his old position as a divisional commander in the Army of the
+Rhine.
+
+From there in June, 1799, he was hurriedly despatched to Italy to aid
+Moreau, who was attempting to stem the victorious advance of the
+Austrians and Russians. He arrived in time to take part in the
+hard-fought fight of Novi, and to help to organise a stubborn resistance
+on the slopes of the Apennines. Before the battle of Novi he actually
+had a glimpse of the redoubtable Suvaroff himself. The Russian general,
+who trusted his own eyes more than the reports of his scouts, one day
+rode right up to the line of French vedettes clad in his usual fighting
+kit, a shirt and pair of breeches, and after a hurried reconnaissance
+returned to his camp and gave his celebrated order: "God wishes, the
+Emperor orders, Suvaroff commands, that to-morrow the enemy be
+conquered." Novi added lustre to St. Cyr's reputation; it was his
+strenuous resistance on the right flank and his admirable handling of
+the rear guard which prevented the victorious Allies from hurling the
+beaten French through the passes into the sea. But Novi was an easy task
+compared to what was to follow. The passes of the Apennines had to be
+held and Genoa covered with a handful of men dispirited by defeat and
+half mutinous from want of necessary food. It was a rabble, not an army;
+there was no commissariat, no pay chest, no store of clothing. Meanwhile
+Genoa lay smouldering in rebellion at his rear. The task suited the man;
+by a series of clever feints and manoeuvres in the valley of the
+Bormida, he outwitted the enemy and gradually restored the morale of his
+troops, and was able to hurry back to Genoa with three battalions at the
+psychological moment when mutiny and rebellion were showing their head.
+With absolute calmness he told the civic authorities to prepare
+quarters for eight thousand troops, of which the few with him were the
+advance guard. The authorities, staggered by his sudden appearance,
+never doubted the arrival of this fabulous force, and subsequently St.
+Cyr was able to occupy all the strongholds in the town with the handful
+of troops he had with him, and then at his leisure to arrest the
+ringleaders of the rebellion. Meanwhile, the judicious establishment of
+free soup kitchens in the streets alleviated the necessities of the mob.
+Scarcely was Genoa pacified when the general was confronted by a much
+more serious event. Famine had driven the soldiers to mutiny, and even
+the very outposts withdrew from contact with the enemy, and announced
+their intention of returning to France. It was only by raising a forced
+loan from the Ligurian Government, and delivering a most touching appeal
+to their patriotism, that he was able to persuade the mutineers to
+return to their duty, telling them that if they left the colours, he
+intended, "with the generals, officers, and non-commissioned officers to
+hold the positions occupied by the army." Further to encourage them he
+began a series of small engagements, which restored their morale and led
+up to the battle of Albano, where he inflicted so severe a defeat on the
+Austrians that Genoa was for a considerable time relieved from all
+danger. The First Consul, on hearing of the victory of Albano, at once
+sent St. Cyr a sword of honour, a Damascus blade in a richly engraved
+sheath, with the pommel encrusted with diamonds, which had originally
+been intended for the Sultan.
+
+But though thus rewarded by receiving the first sword of honour ever
+given by the First Consul, he was never a _persona grata_ with Napoleon.
+Accordingly at the beginning of 1800 he was withdrawn from the Army of
+Italy and sent as lieutenant to Moreau, who was to operate in the valley
+of the Danube while Bonaparte reserved the theatre of Italy for
+himself. It was most unfortunate for St. Cyr that he was supposed to
+belong to the Moreau faction, for day by day the struggle between that
+general and the First Consul became more bitter. Moreau took no trouble
+to conceal his dislike of Bonaparte, and on hearing a rumour that the
+First Consul intended to take command of the Army of the Rhine and
+install him as second in command, he lost his temper and told his staff
+at dinner "that he did not want a little tin Louis XIV. with his army,
+and that if the First Consul came he would go." Meanwhile great friction
+arose between the general and his new commander-in-chief. St. Cyr, proud
+of his late achievements, severely criticised the plans and organisation
+of his chief, who was extremely indignant at the idea that anybody
+should doubt his ability to manage an army of one hundred and thirty
+thousand men, and at the same time to command in person the reserve
+corps of twenty-five thousand; so Moreau belittled St. Cyr's
+achievements. St. Cyr at D'Engen, Mosskirch, and Biberach showed his
+accustomed skill as a tactician, but failed to keep in touch with the
+columns on his right and left, and increased his reputation as a jealous
+fighter. The second battle of Biberach was a masterpiece of audacity,
+and to his dying day the general, when recalling his success, always
+maintained, "On that day I was a man." During the operations round Ulm
+relations became still more strained, and St. Cyr was glad to seize the
+excuse of a wound to demand his return to France. The First Consul took
+the line which he always pursued with those whom he disliked but feared.
+He rewarded St. Cyr by making him a Councillor of State, and at the same
+time he got him out of the way by sending him on a diplomatic mission to
+Spain. The general remained at Madrid till August, 1802, and then after
+a short period of leave at Paris he was despatched in 1803 to command
+the army at Faenza which was to occupy the kingdom of Naples after the
+rupture of the treaty of Amiens. During the two years spent in command
+of the army of occupation he had many opportunities of showing his
+patience and diplomatic skill. The court of Naples had to be treated
+with all honour but watched with the greatest care, every effort had to
+be made to maintain outwardly an appearance of great cordiality, while
+Napoleon's demands had to be insisted on to the letter. The situation
+was further complicated by the continued interference of Murat, who
+commanded the Army of Italy, and who desired to have the Army of Naples
+under his control. The strictest discipline had to be maintained among
+the troops to prevent the Neapolitans having any handle to use against
+the army of occupation. So successfully did St. Cyr keep his troops in
+hand that the Neapolitan minister wrote in his next despatch to the
+Queen, "Madame, we can make nothing of that point; these men are not
+soldiers, they are monks." In spite of many an anxious moment these two
+years in Naples were pleasant years for the general, who delighted in
+the congenial society of the many men of letters who were attached to
+his army, for, as Paul Louis Corne wrote of him, "He is a man of merit,
+a learned man, perhaps the most learned of men in the gentle art of
+massacre, a pleasant man in private life, a great friend of mine." But
+there was one great disappointment connected with this Neapolitan
+command, for in 1804 St. Cyr found his name excluded from the list of
+Marshals, and the empty title of colonel-general of the cuirassiers and
+the Grand Cordon of the Legion of Honour in no way made amends for this
+disappointment.
+
+The outbreak of the war with Austria in the autumn of 1805 caused
+Napoleon to withdraw the army of occupation from Naples, and St. Cyr
+hastened north in time to help Massena drive the Austrians out of Styria
+and Carinthia. He greatly distinguished himself at Castel Franco, where
+with a smaller force he captured the whole of a column of the enemy
+under the Prince de Rohan. A month later he was sent back in haste with
+thirty thousand men to reinvade Naples, which Napoleon had given as a
+kingdom to his brother Joseph, but on hearing that he was to act as a
+subordinate to Massena he threw up his command and withdrew to Paris.
+This independent conduct increased Napoleon's dislike for him, and he
+was peremptorily ordered to return to Naples, where he remained till
+August, 1806.
+
+It was not till two years later that the Emperor once again employed St.
+Cyr on active service. But the task he then called upon him to perform
+was one that would make any general, who was anxious about his
+reputation, hesitate to undertake. For Napoleon sent him with a motley
+force of some forty-eight thousand Swiss, Italians, and Germans to
+restore French prestige in the mountainous country of Catalonia, and
+ended his orders with the words, "Preserve Barcelona for me; if it is
+lost I cannot retake it with eighty thousand men." In Barcelona lay the
+French general, Duhesme, who had been hustled into that town by the
+Spanish regulars and guerillas after the news of the great French
+disaster at Baylen. It was absolutely vital to the French to relieve
+Duhesme before lack of provisions caused him to surrender, but before
+any advance could be made it was necessary to seize the fortress of
+Rosas, which lay on the flank of the road from France to Barcelona; this
+post St. Cyr successfully took by assault under the very guns of Lord
+Dundonald's fleet. But still the problem of relieving Barcelona was a
+difficult one. There were two alternative lines of advance: the first
+and easier lay along the coast, but was exposed to the guns of the
+English fleet; the other road was a mere track through the mountains,
+and was accordingly extremely difficult owing to the excellent
+opportunities it gave to the guerillas. But St. Cyr, keeping his
+seventeen thousand men well in hand and taking every precaution against
+ambushes, successfully broke through the lines of regulars and
+guerillas, relieved Barcelona, and pushed on down the coast towards
+Tarragona. His further advance was stopped by the rapid reorganisation
+of the Spanish armies in Catalonia, and it became clear that until
+Gerona, which commanded the mountain road to France, was taken, the
+French forces in the south would always be in danger of having their
+communications cut. Accordingly the Emperor ordered him to return to
+assist General Verdier to capture this important town. Gerona had at one
+time been a fortress, but it was now simply covered with a feeble
+rampart. But the courage of the townspeople and their patriotism was
+fired by the example of Saragossa, and their spirit was animated by
+their governor, Alvarez, whose order, "Whoever speaks of capitulation or
+defeat shall be instantly put to death," was received with shouts of
+delight. Owing to quarrels between St. Cyr and Verdier, to the
+stubbornness of the defence, and above all to the constant success of
+the Spanish General Blake in throwing provisions into the town, the
+siege, which commenced by sap and assault, gradually drifted into a mere
+blockade, and lasted for six and a half months. At last the Emperor,
+angry at the constant bickering between the commanders and at the
+protracted siege, superseded St. Cyr by Marshal Augereau. However, it
+did not suit that Marshal to take over his command until there seemed a
+reasonable prospect of success, and accordingly he waited at Perpignan
+for news of the approaching end of the siege. At last St. Cyr in disgust
+threw up his command without waiting for the arrival of Augereau. The
+Emperor marked this act of insubordination by sending him under arrest
+to his country estate and depriving him of all his appointments.
+Accordingly one of the few French generals who never sustained a defeat
+in Spain passed the next two years of his life in disgrace without
+employment, while day by day the French arms were suffering reverses in
+the Peninsula.
+
+It was not till 1812 that the Emperor recalled St. Cyr to active
+employment and gazetted him to the command of the sixth corps, which,
+together with the second corps under the command of Marshal Oudinot, was
+employed on the line of the Dwina to cover the communications of the
+forces advancing on Moscow. The campaign in Russia showed the general at
+his best and at his worst. In the operations round Polotsk his great
+tactical ability enabled him with the small forces under his command to
+foil again and again the efforts of the Russian commander, Wittgenstein,
+but owing to his want of supervision before the winter arrived the sixth
+corps, which entered Russia twenty-five thousand strong, had been
+reduced to two thousand six hundred bayonets. It was not till his corps
+had almost disappeared that he bestirred himself and compelled his
+subordinates to look after the well-being and provisions of their men.
+Moreover, when placed under the command of Marshal Oudinot, while
+carrying out to the letter all orders transmitted to him, he invariably
+refused to aid him with his advice, and even during the first battle of
+Polotsk, when asked his opinion, he merely bowed and said, "My Lord
+Marshal!" as though he would say, "As they have made you a Marshal, you
+must know more about the matter than a mere general like me; get out of
+it as best you can." But as soon as a wound caused Oudinot to retire
+from the field he at once seized the reins of command, and so great was
+the influence and confidence that he inspired that in a few hours the
+army which Oudinot had left scattered and depressed with its back to a
+river, was advancing victoriously and sweeping all before it. But, good
+soldier as he was when left in supreme command, he unfortunately would
+not act in co-operation with others, and when at the end of October
+Victor, with twenty-five thousand troops, arrived to reinforce him, he
+seized the opportunity of a wound to throw up his command and return to
+France. As one of his critics says, "All that St. Cyr needed to be a
+consummate commander was a smaller share of egotism, and the knowledge
+to attach men and officers to him by attending to their wants." Still,
+Napoleon recognised his services against Wittgenstein by at last making
+him a Marshal.
+
+An attack of typhus and a burst blood-vessel deprived the Emperor of his
+new Marshal's assistance until after the armistice of Dresden. This was
+the first occasion on which the two had actually come into close
+contact, and Napoleon quickly saw that "thrawn" and jealous as St. Cyr
+undoubtedly was, his clearness of brain made his advice of the highest
+importance, while St. Cyr speedily fell under the charm of the great
+Emperor. Accordingly all through the campaign Napoleon constantly came
+to him for advice, which was never withheld. Remembering also his great
+reputation as a master of mountain warfare, the Emperor entrusted him
+with the duty of holding the highland passes leading by Pirna on to
+Dresden, while he himself hurried off to Silesia. In the great battle
+round Dresden the Marshal's twenty thousand raw recruits played their
+part nobly. Napoleon, to cover his own mistakes, laid the blame of
+Vandamme's disaster on St. Cyr and Marmont, but in his private letter to
+the Marshal he placed the blame on Vandamme, as he wrote, "That unhappy
+Vandamme, who seems to have killed himself, had not a sentinel on the
+mountain nor a reserve anywhere." When the Emperor fell back on Leipzig
+he entrusted the defence of Dresden to St. Cyr, leaving him twenty-two
+thousand troops and provisions for eight days. After a siege of a month
+the Marshal was compelled for lack of powder to surrender with the
+honours of war, but the Allies, after the evacuation of the town,
+refused to carry out the terms of the surrender, and retained him and
+his troops as prisoners of war; consequently he took no part in the
+campaign of 1814. During the Hundred Days he remained quietly at his
+country estate, but on the second Restoration he was called upon to
+undertake the duties of Minister of War, to disband the old army and to
+organise the new forces of France; his tenure of office was short, as he
+refused to serve a ministry which proposed to cede French territory to
+the enemy. In May, 1817, on the accession of a Liberal ministry, he once
+again took office, and during this period he laid the foundation of the
+General Staff of the Army, but in November, 1819, he resigned, and lived
+in retirement till he died at Hyeres on March 17, 1830.
+
+During his hours of leisure the Marshal wrote his Memoirs, which he
+intended to aid the future historian of the French wars. These Memoirs
+show how clear and cutting his judgments were, both of men and matters,
+and his criticisms throw many useful lights on Napoleon's character and
+his methods of warfare, while they also to a great extent reveal his own
+character. No one who reads them can doubt that St. Cyr was a great
+strategist, while his powers as a tactician are proved by his
+never-failing success on the field of battle. But in spite of these
+talents the Marshal's actual record as a soldier is spoiled by his
+defects of character. A great believer in living by rule, he had two
+maxims which he ever clung to. First, that in war acts of kindness are
+too often harmful; second, the old adage of Machiavelli, "That a victory
+destroys the effect of the worst operation, and that the man who knows
+how to give battle can be pardoned every fault that he may have before
+committed in his military career." It is to these two maxims that we
+must attribute the want of supervision he showed over his troops and his
+absolute lack of cordiality towards his fellow Marshals and generals,
+which gave him the nickname of the "Bad bed-fellow." For that he did not
+lack the talents of an organiser is shown by the way, when roused, he
+provided for his troops in Russia, and also by the success of his
+efforts when Minister of War. But of all his gifts undoubtedly the most
+useful was his absolute coolness: no matter how badly the fight went, no
+matter if he were run away with in his carriage and carried straight
+through a brigade of the enemy's horse, he never was ruffled, never lost
+his clear grip on the situation. His bitter enemy, Macdonald, well
+summed up his character in answer to Louis XVIII.'s questions as to
+whether he was lazy. "I am not aware of it," said the Duke of Tarentum.
+"He is a man of great military capacity, firm, honest, but jealous of
+other peoples' merit. In the army he is regarded as what is called a
+'bad bed-fellow.' In the coldest manner possible he allowed his
+neighbours to be beaten, without attempting to assist them, and then
+criticised them afterwards. But this opinion, not uncommon among
+soldiers, is perhaps exaggerated, and he is admitted to have calmness
+and great capabilities."
+
+
+
+
+XIII
+
+BON ADRIEN JEANNOT DE MONCEY, MARSHAL, DUKE OF CONEGLIANO
+
+
+The glamour of war appeals strongly to most men, to some it calls with
+irresistible demand. Such an one was the Duke of Conegliano. Born on
+July 31, 1754, at Palise, a little village of Besancon, the son of a
+well-to-do lawyer, Bon Adrien Jeannot loathed scholarship and loved
+adventure. When but fifteen years old the future Marshal ran away from
+school and enlisted in the Conti regiment of infantry. After six months'
+service he reluctantly agreed to the purchase of his discharge by his
+father; but very soon ran away again to enlist in the regiment of
+Champagne. He served with this regiment till 1773, when, finding that
+his hopes of gaining a commission were disappointed, he once again
+bought himself out. A few months, however, spent in the study of the law
+only served to increase his hatred of a sedentary life and to kindle
+once more his old ambition, and he again enlisted as a private, this
+time in the gendarmerie. But now fortune was more kind, and after four
+years' service he achieved his desire and was gazetted, in 1779, as
+sub-lieutenant in the dragoons of Nassau Siegen. It was not, however,
+till April, 1791, that he gained his captaincy, which had cost him
+twenty-three years' hard service; but now promotion came rapidly, and in
+three years' time he rose to the rank of general of division.
+
+In 1793 Moncey's regiment of dragoons formed part of the Army of the
+Western Pyrenees. In the first engagement with the enemy he had the good
+fortune to distinguish himself. The Spanish commander-in-chief,
+Bonaventura Casa, led a charge of horse against the ill-disciplined
+recruits and volunteers who formed the mass of the French army covering
+St. Jean Pied de Porte. The miserable French infantry broke, with cries
+of "We are betrayed!" and it was Moncey who, rallying a few brave men,
+stopped the charge of the enemy's horse. Energetic, clear-witted, and
+self-confident, he soon became a man of mark. In February, 1794, he was
+promoted general of brigade, and six months later general of division,
+in which capacity, in August of that year, he was mainly instrumental in
+forcing the lines of Fontarabia; on the proposition of Barrere he was, a
+few days later, appointed by the Convention commander-in-chief of the
+Army of the Western Pyrenees. In October he fully justified his
+selection by forcing the famous pass of Roncesvalles, so intimately
+connected with the names of Charlemagne and the Black Prince. This
+action, which made good a footing in Spain, was extremely brilliant; the
+position, strong by nature, had been made almost impregnable by months
+of hard labour. Moreover, the French troops were badly handicapped by
+the difficulty of getting food; but, by now, they were very different
+from the ill-trained levies of 1793. The turning column, which had four
+days' hard mountain climbing and fighting on three biscuits per man,
+found nothing to eat, when the pass was forced, save a little flour, for
+the Spanish had burnt their magazines. In spite of this there was no
+grumbling, and the men, as their general reported, pressed on with cries
+of "Vive la Republique!" Moncey, like Napoleon, knew how to use the
+great driving force of hunger. He thoroughly deserved the thanks which
+he received from the Convention, and he fully earned them again when,
+early in 1795, he drove the Spanish army in flight across the Ebro, for
+it was his magnificent forward movement which forced Spain to accede to
+the treaty of Basle.
+
+From Spain the general was transferred to the Army of the Cotes de
+Brest. A year later he was posted to the command of the eleventh
+military division at Bayonne, and he was still there when, in October,
+1799, Bonaparte returned from Egypt and overthrew the Directory. No
+politician, it mattered little to Moncey who governed France, as long as
+the honour of the country was maintained and he saw active service.
+Accordingly he gladly accepted from the new government the position of
+lieutenant to Moreau, the commander-in-chief of the Army of the Rhine.
+But he did not serve long under his new chief, being detached in May at
+the head of sixteen thousand to cross the Alps by the St. Gothard Pass,
+as part of the great stroke aimed at the Austrian lines of communication
+in Italy. His corps formed a flank guard to the main Army of the
+Reserve, which crossed the St. Bernard under Napoleon himself. In the
+operations which succeeded the battle of Marengo the First Consul made
+full use of Moncey's great experience in mountain warfare, and sent him
+to the Valtelline to join hands with Macdonald, who was crossing the
+Alps by the Spluegen Pass. Thereafter his division formed the left wing
+of the French army under Brune. After a brilliant series of skirmishes
+in the mountains, Moncey drove the flying enemy into Trent, but he was
+robbed of complete victory by the Austrian general, Laudon, who sent a
+message to say that Brune and Bellegarde had made an armistice.
+Unfortunately for the French their general, the soul of honour,
+suspected no deceit, and thus the Austrians were saved from annihilation
+or absolute surrender.
+
+After the peace of Luneville General Moncey was appointed
+Inspector-General of gendarmerie, and on Napoleon's elevation to the
+throne was created, in 1804, Marshal, Grand Officer of the Legion of
+Honour, and in 1808 Duke of Conegliano. Moncey invariably spoke his
+mind, and for this reason was no favourite with the Emperor; further, in
+comparison with his fellow Marshals, he was an old man, so from 1800 to
+1808 he was not employed on active service. But on the invasion of
+Spain, Napoleon determined to make use of the Duke of Conegliano's
+knowledge of that country, and ordered him to proceed there with the
+Army of Observation of the Ocean, which he was then commanding at
+Boulogne. This army became the third corps of the newly formed Army of
+Spain. It was composed almost entirely of recruits, and when Murat
+marched into Madrid at the head of the third corps, the poor physique of
+these "weak and weedy privates" had a very bad effect on the situation,
+for the Spaniards thought they could easily defeat such troops. From
+Madrid the Marshal was sent to capture Valencia, which had broken out
+into revolt against the French. Though old, the Duke of Conegliano was
+still active and vigorous. After a month's continuous fighting across
+mountain passes and rivers he reached Valencia; but he found the town in
+a state of defence. As Napoleon said on hearing of his check, "A city of
+eighty thousand inhabitants, barricaded streets, and artillery
+entrenched at the gates cannot be taken by the collar." Accordingly
+there was nothing for it but to retreat, and this the Marshal did in
+such a masterly manner that the failure of his expedition produced but
+little bad effect on the French cause. When, after Baylen, Joseph held
+his council of war at Madrid, Moncey alone stood out for the bold course
+of cutting communication with France and concentrating around the
+capital; but he was overruled, and the French fell back on the line of
+the Ebro.
+
+As soon as Napoleon arrived in Spain he vented his anger
+indiscriminately on all those Marshals who had served under Joseph, but
+his greatest displeasure fell on Moncey, for the Duke of Conegliano did
+not believe that Spain could be gained by hanging all those who
+resisted, and had actually received the thanks of the Junta of Oviedo,
+who considered him "a just and honourable man," and published a
+manifesto saying, "We know this illustrious general detests the conduct
+of his companions." Accordingly, in the eyes of the Emperor he had been
+guilty of bungling and slackness, if not of something worse, and he was
+therefore subjected to the cruel affront of being placed under the
+orders of Lannes, a junior Marshal. Though much annoyed, as a soldier he
+could only obey, and the Emperor's decision was to some extent
+justified, as Lannes won the battle of Tudela with the same troops which
+Moncey had not dared to lead against the enemy. Three months later the
+Marshal was once again superseded by Lannes, and this time recalled and
+sent to France. The ostensible reason for this was, that in the
+Emperor's opinion he had not pressed the siege of Saragossa. With a
+desire to avoid bloodshed he had tried to induce the Spaniards to
+capitulate by entering into negotiations, instead of pushing on his
+siege batteries. But his real offence was that he had not concealed his
+dislike of the seizure of Spain.
+
+In 1812 his disgrace was deepened, for he expressed with equal frankness
+his hatred of the Russian campaign. Though never again employed at the
+front, the Emperor made use of him in 1809 in Holland, and in 1812 and
+1813 he led the Army of Reserve; while in 1814 he was appointed
+major-general of the National Guard of Paris and made responsible for
+the defence of the capital. In the last dark days before the city
+capitulated Moncey, with six thousand citizen soldiers, fought bravely
+outside the Clichy gate.
+
+On the Restoration the Marshal became a Minister of State and a member
+of the new Chamber of Peers, and was confirmed in his old appointment of
+inspector of gendarmerie. But on the return of Napoleon he forgot the
+wrongs the Emperor had done him; he thought only of the glory Napoleon
+had once won for France; so he swore allegiance to the imperial
+government and was created a peer. But, on account of his age, the
+Emperor gave him no military command. To punish him for his desertion,
+Louis XVIII., on the second Restoration, appointed him president of the
+council of war for the trial of Ney. But the Duke of Conegliano wrote to
+the King boldly refusing to have anything to do with the trial of the
+hero of Moskowa. So angry was the King at his courageous act that he
+stripped the veteran of his marshalate and the title of duke, and sent
+him to prison for three months in the castle of Ham, the same prison
+which was later to receive the future Napoleon III. But time brought
+forgiveness. In 1819 the Marshal was restored to his honours, and in
+1823 was actually once again employed on active service. It must have
+brought strange memories of the past to the veteran, who had been
+thought too old to fight at Waterloo, again to see service in Spain,
+where he had won his laurels in 1794 and had found naught but disgrace
+in 1808. So, in his seventieth year, he made his last campaign, not in
+command of a republican or imperial army, but as a corps commander in
+the royal army under the Duc d'Angouleme. This time, however, there was
+but little call on his courage and ability, for the campaign brought no
+fighting and was merely a military promenade. On the fall of the Bourbon
+dynasty the Marshal took no active part in affairs, but as Governor of
+the Invalides in December, 1833, he had the honour to receive the
+remains of Napoleon when they were translated to France; and on his
+death nine years later, in 1842, at his special request, he was buried
+in the "aisle of the brave," close to the tomb of the great Emperor.
+
+
+
+
+XIV
+
+JEAN BAPTISTE JOURDAN, MARSHAL
+
+
+Among the recruits who enlisted in the Auxerrois regiment in 1778 was
+the son of the local doctor of Limoges, Jean Baptiste Jourdan. But
+sixteen years old, having been born on April 29, 1762, Jean Baptiste was
+attracted to the service by the desire to see America and to aid in the
+good cause against "perfide Albion." Returning to France in 1784, with
+all hopes of gaining a commission dashed to the ground by Segur's
+ordinance, which excluded from commissioned rank all but those of noble
+birth, Jourdan took his discharge. The ex-sergeant married a marchande
+de modes, and set up a small drapery shop, but so humble was this
+venture that the future Marshal had to carry his stock in a valise on
+his back, and trudge from fair to fair to peddle his wares. As he went
+from village to village he retold his adventures and fired his listeners
+with the account of the glorious freedom of the New World, comparing it
+with the miserable restrictions which had driven from the army himself
+and many another fine soldier. When in the autumn of 1791 there came the
+call for volunteers, Jean Baptiste gladly left his counter and enlisted
+in the battalion of the Upper Vienne. His experience and ability soon
+marked him out for command, and he was chosen by his comrades as
+lieutenant-colonel. The opportunity he had long dreamed of had at last
+arrived, and he made the most of it. Methodical and industrious, with
+the lessons of handling and equipping irregulars which he had had in
+America, he made his battalion a pattern for the others, and was
+complimented by Lafayette on the admirable condition of his command.
+Serving under Dumouriez in the invasion of Belgium, he was present at
+Jemappes, and there proved that, in addition to powers of organisation,
+he possessed the capacity for leading in the field. Promotion came
+speedily when the guillotine cleared the way in the higher ranks by
+removing the incompetent and unfortunate.
+
+By May, 1793, he had gained the grade of general of brigade; two months
+later he became general of division. His first opportunity of
+distinguishing himself in high command came six weeks later, when he was
+entrusted by Houchard with the command of the advance guard in the
+operations which ended in driving the English from the siege of Dunkirk.
+So well did he execute his orders at the battle of Handschoetten that
+Carnot selected him to succeed his commander when Houchard was hurried
+off to the guillotine for failing to reap the full fruits of victory.
+Jourdan was fortunate in that Carnot, "the organiser of victory," was
+responsible for the welfare of the French arms, and not the despicable
+Bouchotte. Carnot had grasped the fact that, if you are to defeat your
+enemy, you must bring superior moral and physical force against him at
+the decisive spot. Thanks therefore to him, Jourdan was able to mass
+superior weight, and at Maubeuge hurl himself on the scattered forces of
+the enemy, who were covering the siege of Valenciennes. But the victory
+of Maubeuge nearly cost him his head, as that of Handschoetten had done
+for his predecessor. The Committee of Public Safety, with that
+incompetent rashness which those who know least of war most readily
+believe to be military wisdom, ordered him to pursue the enemy and
+conquer Belgium. It was in vain that he pointed out the strength of the
+Allies, his want of transport and stores, and the difficulty of
+undertaking a winter campaign with raw troops: reason was of no avail;
+his resignation was wrathfully accepted, and he was ordered to Paris to
+give an account of his actions. Face to face with the Committee, the
+General renewed his arguments, explained how the old battalions of
+regulars had dwindled down to some two hundred muskets apiece; how the
+new levies possessed neither arms nor clothing; how some battalions were
+armed with pikes, some merely with cudgels; and finished by offering, as
+a proof of his zeal for the Republic, to go to La Vendee and fight
+against the rebels. The truth of his statement and his obvious
+disinterestedness won the day, and, though for the moment he was refused
+a new command, his life was saved. Moreover, the Committee of Safety
+profited by his advice, and during the winter the Army of the North was
+reclothed and equipped. Thanks partly to his suggestion, the battalions
+of the line were brigaded with the volunteers, and this reorganisation
+produced the magnificent regiments which Napoleon found to hand when he
+commenced his career in Italy.
+
+[Illustration: JEAN BAPTISTE JOURDAN
+AFTER A DRAWING BY AMBROISE TARDIEU]
+
+Jourdan's time of inactivity was but short. He had proved his worth in
+the field, and France needed every capable soldier. Moreover, he had
+made open testimony of his republicanism in the Jacobin Club, swearing
+before the Tribune that "the sword which he wore should only be
+unsheathed to oppose tyrants and defend the rights of the people." So,
+in March, 1794, he was sent to take command of a new army which Carnot
+had been raising during the winter. By June this new force of one
+hundred thousand, known to history as the famous Army of the Sambre and
+Meuse, had established itself on the Meuse and taken Charleroi. Coburg,
+the commander-in-chief of the Allies, anxious about his communications,
+hurried to oppose this successful advance, and on June 25th was fought
+the battle of Fleurus, which caused the Allies to evacuate France, ended
+the Reign of Terror, and was the starting-point for the long period of
+offensive warfare which was at last brought to an end twenty-one years
+later on the field of Waterloo. At Fleurus Jourdan proved his ability as
+a tactician, and the victory was due to the moral courage with which he
+threw his last reserve into the fray. Backed by the Army of the North
+under Pichegru, he then swept over Belgium, and by the autumn the
+republican armies had crossed the Rhine.
+
+During the next year Jourdan was engaged in the Rhine valley. But in
+1796 he was ordered to advance through the Black Forest on Ratisbon, and
+there join another French army under Moreau, which was moving down the
+right bank of the Danube. Against this defective strategy he protested
+in vain, and, as he had expected, was driven back by the able measures
+of the Austrian general, the Archduke Charles. After this misfortune he
+was placed on the unemployed list, and, for some time, had to find an
+outlet for his energies in the field of politics. Entering the Council
+of Five Hundred as the representative of the Upper Vienne, he was warmly
+received by the republican party, and voted against the proposed
+re-establishment of the Catholic religion, and supported the coup d'etat
+of the 18th Fructidor, by which the royalist councillors were driven
+into exile. Full of fiery zeal for the Republic, a rhetorical speaker
+ready to appeal to the gallery, swearing on his sabre the oath of
+fidelity, he nevertheless had a cool head for business, and it was at
+his suggestion that in September, 1798, the celebrated law was passed
+whereby conscription became the sole method of recruiting for the army.
+Jourdan introduced the law with a flourish of trumpets, assuring the
+Council that "in agreeing to it they had decreed the power of the
+Republic to be imperishable," while as a matter of fact they were
+forging the weapon which was to place their country at the mercy of the
+first adventurer who had the courage and capacity to make himself
+dictator. In 1799 foreign danger once again caused him to be entrusted
+with a military command, and once again he was opposed by his old
+adversary, the Archduke Charles, and driven back in retreat across the
+Rhine. Thereon the Directory superseded him by Massena, and he returned
+to the Council of Five Hundred, and in September proposed his memorable
+resolution, "that the country is in danger." "Italy under the yoke, the
+barbarians of the north at our very barriers, Holland invaded, the fleet
+treacherously given up, Helvetia ravaged, bands of royalists indulging
+in every excess, the republicans proscribed under the name of Terrorists
+and Jacobins." Such were the outlines of his picture. "One more reverse
+on our frontier," he added, "and the alarm bell of royalty will ring
+over the whole surface of France." But France had had enough of the
+Terror, and knew that she could evolve her safety by other means than
+that of the guillotine. Six weeks later Bonaparte returned from Egypt.
+
+From the advent of the Consulate a blight fell over Jourdan's career.
+Napoleon could never forgive him for the obstinacy with which he had
+opposed him on the 18th Brumaire. True, in 1800 he appointed him
+Governor of Piedmont, and in 1804 created him Marshal. He could not
+withhold the baton from the general who had in 1794 driven the enemy
+from the sacred soil of France, who, more often than any other general,
+had commanded in chief the armies of the Republic, and who, in spite of
+numerous defeats, had established a reputation as one of the most
+brilliant of the generals of republican France. But though he gave him
+his baton Napoleon thought but little of his military ability, and
+called him "a poor general"; for in his eyes success, and success alone,
+was the test of merit, and he could see nothing in a general who, from
+his capacity for emerging with credit from defeat, was surnamed "The
+Anvil." But it was not this which caused Napoleon to snub the gallant
+Marshal: it was his ardent republicanism and well-known Jacobin
+sentiments which made him so hateful to the Emperor. But though Napoleon
+treated him shamefully, and did all he could to cast him into ill
+repute, the Marshal showed he had a soul above mere personal ambitions,
+and served France faithfully. At St. Helena the fallen Emperor
+confessed: "I certainly used that man very ill: he is a true patriot,
+and that is the answer to many things urged against him." From 1805 to
+1815 Jourdan's life was full of mortification. When the war broke out
+against Austria in 1805 he was in command of the army in Italy, but was
+at once superseded, under the plea that his health was bad, and that he
+did not know the theatre of war like Massena. However cleverly the pill
+was gilded, the Marshal knew that it was the Emperor's distrust which
+had lost him the command. But, though Napoleon disliked him, Joseph was
+his friend, and in 1806 the new King of Naples applied to be allowed to
+take him with him to Italy as his major-general and chief of the staff.
+When in 1808 Joseph exchanged the crown of Naples for that of Spain the
+Marshal accompanied him, and when, in 1809, Napoleon hurriedly left
+Spain to return to Paris, he appointed him chief of the staff to King
+Joseph. The major-general's task was a difficult one. He had no
+executive authority: his duty was simply to give advice to the King, and
+to transmit such orders as he received; but unfortunately neither Joseph
+nor he had the power to enforce orders once given, for although certain
+French corps had been placed at the disposal of the King, and were
+supposed to obey his orders, their commanders had still to communicate
+with Berthier and to receive through him the decrees of the Emperor.
+Hence there was a dual authority, and, to make matters worse, Napoleon
+did not attempt to veil his contempt of Joseph's military ability. At
+the same time he cast aspersions on Jourdan's skill, and showed his open
+dislike to the Marshal by omitting his name from the list of French
+Marshals in the "Almanack," under the pretence that he had been
+transferred to the Spanish establishment and was no longer a Frenchman.
+Consequently the other Marshals paid but little attention to the King or
+the major-general. At the battle of Talavera Jourdan's advice was
+utterly disregarded and his orders entirely neglected, and still he had
+to bear the blame, and endure the whole of Napoleon's wrath. In despair,
+broken down in health, he applied to be relieved of his duties, and
+returned home to private life. But in 1812, when the Emperor was
+summoning his vast army for the invasion of Russia, being short of
+officers, he sent the Marshal back to his old post in Spain. The task
+had been a hard one in 1809, it was harder still in 1812. The flower of
+the French troops were now withdrawn for the Russian campaign. The
+authority of the King was more feeble than ever, and years of warfare
+had transformed the English army into a perfect fighting machine. The
+Spaniards were now past masters in guerilla warfare, while the
+iniquitous scheme of making war support war had subverted discipline and
+broken the morale of the French army. With admirable lucidity the
+Marshal drew up a memoir showing the state of affairs in Spain, and
+pointing out what was at fault; but memoirs written for Joseph could not
+alter evils which flowed directly from Napoleon's having broken the
+golden canon of the "unity of command." With three practically
+independent commanders-in-chief who refused to acknowledge the
+controlling authority of the King, who were too jealous of each other to
+work with mutual accord, disaster was bound to follow. The temporary
+co-operation of all three drove the English back on Portugal at the end
+of 1812. But in 1813 the disaster in Russia had caused the Emperor to
+make further heavy drafts on the force in Spain. Jourdan could only
+advise a steady retirement towards France. The culminating blow at
+Vittoria was no fault of his. Struck down by a fever the day before the
+action, he was unable to give his advice at the critical moment. So
+Joseph had to fight Vittoria without the assistance of the chief of his
+staff, and with subordinates who not only despised, but disobeyed him in
+the presence of the enemy. It was no wonder that defeat easily turned
+into rout. The whole of the French baggage was captured, and in the
+flight the Marshal had the misfortune to lose his baton, which was
+picked up by the 87th Regiment and sent to England.
+
+After 1813 Jourdan's career came to a close. Napoleon heaped reproaches
+on him, and refused him further employment, entirely oblivious of the
+fact that it was he himself who was responsible for the Spanish
+disaster, and that the Marshal had done all that was possible. On the
+Emperor's abdication the old Jacobin took the oath of allegiance to King
+Louis, and remained true to his allegiance during the Hundred Days. Time
+had chastened and mellowed his fiery republicanism, and seeing that a
+Republic was impossible, he preferred the chance of constitutional
+liberty under a monarchy to the tyranny of the Empire. In 1817, as a
+reward for his services, he was created a peer of France. But though he
+accepted the Restoration in preference to the Empire, all his sympathies
+were liberal, and no one had a greater dislike for the reactionary
+policy of Charles X. In 1830 he gladly accepted the new liberal
+constitution of Louis Philippe, the old Philip Egalite of the days of
+Jemappes. The new monarch appointed his former comrade governor of the
+Hospital of the Invalides, and there, among his old fellow-soldiers of
+the revolutionary wars, the Marshal breathed his last on November 23,
+1833, in his seventy-second year.
+
+
+
+
+XV
+
+CHARLES PIERRE FRANCOIS AUGEREAU, MARSHAL, DUKE OF CASTIGLIONE
+
+
+The future Duke of Castiglione was born in Paris on November 11, 1757.
+His father was a mason by trade and his mother, a native of Munich, kept
+a furniture shop in the Faubourg Saint Marceau. From his earliest youth
+Pierre Francois, handsome and long-limbed, hot-blooded and vain,
+thirsted after adventure. At the age of seventeen, on his mother's
+death, he enlisted in the carabineers. A keen soldier and a fine
+horseman, he soon became sergeant, and within a few years gained the
+name of being one of the best blades in the army; but in upholding this
+reputation Sergeant Augereau constantly fell into disgrace with the
+authorities. Though a blusterer by nature and full of bravado, the
+sergeant was certainly no coward. On one occasion a noted professional
+duellist thought that he could intimidate him. Accordingly, he swaggered
+into a cafe, where Augereau was talking to some friends, and plunged
+himself down on the table at which the sergeant was sitting, and,
+lolling back till he almost leant against him, began to boast how, on
+the previous day, he had accounted for two sergeants of the Garde
+Francaise. This was sufficient insult to cause a challenge, but Augereau
+preferred to let the challenge come from his adversary, and,
+accordingly, undoing the leather belt of his would-be opponent, he
+quietly poured the whole of a cup of scalding coffee down the inside of
+his breeches. Having thus taken the upper hand of the quarrel, he so
+completely mastered the spirit of the bully that he had little
+difficulty in disposing of him in the duel which followed. An
+unfortunate incident cut short his career in the carabineers. One day a
+young officer, losing his temper with him on parade, threatened to
+strike him with his whip. Thereon, Augereau in fury snatched the whip
+from the officer, who at once drew his sword and attacked him. Augereau
+at first confined himself to parrying, but at last, being wounded, he
+thrust out and killed his opponent. The colonel, well aware that it was
+not the sergeant's fault, arranged for his escape across the frontier.
+After wandering about Constantinople and the Levant, Augereau passed
+some years as sergeant in the Russian army, and served under Suvaroff at
+the taking of Ismailia, but, getting tired of service in the East, he
+deserted and escaped to Prussia. There he enlisted, and, owing to his
+height and proficiency in drill, was transferred to the guards. His
+captain held out hopes of a commission, but these were dashed, for when
+he was brought to the King's notice Frederick asked who he was. "A
+Frenchman, sire," was the reply. "So much the worse," answered the King;
+"so much the worse. If he had been a Swiss, or a German, we might have
+done something for him." Augereau, on hearing this, determined to quit
+the Prussian service. Desertion was the only way of escape, but the
+Prussians, by offering heavy rewards for recapture, had made desertion
+almost impossible. Luckily, he was not the only guardsman dissatisfied
+with the Prussian service, and he had little difficulty in getting
+together about sixty of the boldest of the regiment, and, seizing a
+favourable opportunity, he marched off his squad with their arms and
+ammunition, and, beating off all attacks from the peasants and
+detachments of soldiers who tried to stop them, he safely convoyed his
+comrades across the frontier to Saxony. After this escapade Augereau
+settled down as a dancing and fencing master at Dresden, but on the
+amnesty, at the birth of the Dauphin, he returned to France and regained
+his rank in his old regiment. His adventurous life and his natural
+aspirations soon made him tire of always holding a subordinate position,
+and in 1788 he applied to be sent, as one of the French instructors, to
+help in the reorganisation of the Neapolitan army. There he soon gained
+a commission. In 1791 he fell in love with the daughter of a Greek
+merchant, and, as her father refused to listen to him, he quietly
+married her and carried her off by ship to Lisbon. In Portugal his
+freedom of speech, and approval of the changes which were happening in
+France, caused the authorities to hand him over to the Inquisition, from
+whence he was rescued by a French skipper and conveyed, with his wife,
+to Havre.
+
+[Illustration: CHARLES PIERRE AUGEREAU, DUKE OF CASTIGLIONE
+FROM AN ENGRAVING BY RUOTTE]
+
+Augereau returned to France ready to absorb the most republican
+doctrines. His banishment, after killing the officer, had always seemed
+unfair; his long subordination and the harshness of military discipline
+had rankled in his soul; physically, he knew himself superior to most
+men, and by his wits he had found himself able to hold his own and make
+his way in nearly every country in Europe; so far birth had seemed to be
+the only barrier which cut him off from success. But now caste was
+hurled aside, and France was calling for talent; good soldiers were
+scarce: Augereau saw his opportunity, and used it to the full. A few
+months spent fighting in La Vendee taught him that renown was not to be
+gained in civil war, and, accordingly, he got himself transferred to the
+Army of the Pyrenees, where he rose in six months from simple captain to
+general of division. From the Pyrenees he was transferred with his
+division to Italy, and covered himself with glory at Loano, Millesimo,
+and Lodi. But it was his conduct at Castiglione which once and for all
+made his reputation; though it is not true, as he boasted in 1814 after
+deserting the Emperor, that it was only his invincible firmness which
+caused Bonaparte to fight instead of retreat; for Bonaparte was
+concentrating to fight, and his abandonment of the siege of Mantua,
+against which Augereau so wildly protested, was but part of the
+preparation for victory. Though he would not listen to Augereau's
+strategic advice, he had enough confidence in him to leave the first
+attack on Castiglione entirely in his hands. According to the Marshal's
+Memoirs, Bonaparte was afraid of attacking. "I wash my hands of it and
+go away," he said. "And who will command if you go?" asked Augereau.
+"You," retorted Bonaparte. And well he did his work, for not only did he
+defeat the fifteen thousand Austrians at Castiglione, but he restored
+the fallen confidence of his soldiers and refreshed the morale of the
+whole army. Napoleon never forgot this service, and when detractors saw
+fit to cast their venom at Augereau, he answered, "Let us not forget
+that he saved us at Castiglione." From Castiglione onwards the soldiers
+of Augereau's division would do anything for their commander. It was not
+only that they respected his tactical gifts, and had complete confidence
+in him in the hour of battle, but they loved him for his care of them.
+In time of peace a stern disciplinarian, with a touch of the drill
+sergeant, he was ever ready to hear their complaints, and never spared
+himself in looking after their welfare, while in war time he was always
+thinking of their food and clothing; but, above all, he gave them booty.
+Adventurer as he was by nature and training, he loved the spoils of war
+himself, and, while the "baggage wagon of Augereau" was the by-word in
+the army, he saw to it that his men had their wagons also well loaded
+with plunder. His courage was a thing to conjure with; at Lodi he had
+been one of the numerous generals who rushed the bridge; but at Arcola,
+alone, flag in hand, he stood on the bridge and hurled taunts and
+encouragements at his struggling troops, and for three continuous days
+exposed himself, the guiding spirit of every assault and forlorn hope.
+While adding to his reputation as a stern and courageous fighter, a
+clever tactician, and a born leader of men, Augereau's opinion of
+himself increased by leaps and bounds. He was in no way surprised when,
+after Leoben, Bonaparte entrusted him with a delicate secret mission to
+Paris. In his own opinion no better agent could have been found in the
+role of a stern, unbending republican and fiery Jacobin. Bonaparte told
+him he would represent the feeling of the Army of Italy, and help to
+bring to nothing the wiles of the royalists. So the general arrived at
+Paris full of his mission and of his own importance, to the delight of
+his father--the old mason--who saw him ride into the city covered with
+gold lace to present sixty stands of captured colours to the Directory.
+Once in Paris, the fighting general's threats against the Clicheans were
+turned into deeds. Though he protested that "Paris has nothing to fear
+from me: I am a Paris boy myself," on September 4, 1797, he quietly drew
+a cordon of troops round the Tuileries, where the Councils sat, and
+arrested and banished all whose political opinions opposed his own.
+Relying on the promises of Barras, he now thought that he would become a
+Director, in place of either Carnot or Barthelemy, who had been deposed.
+But he soon found, to his sorrow, that he was not the great politician
+he had believed himself to be, but merely the dupe of Bonaparte and
+others, who had allowed him to clear the ground for them and to incur
+the consequent odium. His immediate reward was the command of the Army
+of the Rhine. Full of bitterness, he arrived at his new headquarters
+"covered with gold embroidery, even down to his short boots," and
+thought to debauch his soldiers and get himself accepted as dictator by
+telling how, in the Army of Italy, everybody had a pocketful of gold.
+But the Directory, though unable to curb a Bonaparte, had no fears of
+the "Fructidor General," and very soon deprived him of his command, and
+sent him to an unimportant post at Perpignan, on the Spanish frontier.
+
+For two years Augereau remained at Perpignan, where he had time to
+understand the causes of his failure. Though completely dominated by
+Bonaparte while in his presence, he had not the guileless heart of a
+Lefebvre, and he began to perceive how the wily Corsican had used him
+and betrayed him. Accordingly, when Bonaparte returned from Egypt he
+read his design of becoming Dictator, and, true to his Jacobin
+principles, at first resolved to fight him to the death; when, however,
+he found generals, officers, and men going over to Bonaparte, he
+hastened off to make his submission, saying reproachfully, "When you
+were about to do something for our country, how could you forget your
+own little Augereau?" But though he made his submission, again and again
+his Jacobin principles made themselves felt. Forced to accompany
+Bonaparte to the first mass held in Paris after the Concordat, Augereau
+attempted to slip out of the carriage during the procession to Notre
+Dame, and was ignominiously ordered back by one of the First Consul's
+aides-de-camp; but he revenged himself by laughing and talking so loudly
+during the service that the priest could hardly be heard. But Napoleon
+knew his man and his price: a Marshal's baton and a princely income did
+much to control his Jacobin proclivities. As early as 1801, Augereau
+invested part of his savings on the beautiful estate of La Houssaye,
+where, when not actively employed, he spent his time dispensing lavish
+hospitality, and delighting his friends and military household with
+magnificent entertainments, himself the life and soul of the whole
+party, enjoying all the fun and the practical jokes as much as the
+youngest subaltern. However he gained his money, he spent it freely and
+ungrudgingly. When the First Consul tried to put Lannes in an awkward
+position by ordering him at once to replace the deficit of three hundred
+thousand francs, caused by the magnificent uniforms he had ordered for
+the Guard, Augereau, as soon as he heard of it, hurried to his
+solicitors and told them to pay that sum to General Lannes's account.
+When Bernadotte, whom he scarcely knew, asked him to lend him two
+hundred thousand francs to complete the purchase of an estate, he at
+once assented; and when Madame Bernadotte asked him what interest he
+would require, he replied, "Madame, bankers and moneylenders, no doubt
+quite rightly, draw profit from the money they lend, but when a Marshal
+is fortunate enough to oblige a comrade, the pleasure of doing him a
+service is enough for him."
+
+In the scheme for the invasion of England the Marshal's corps, which was
+stationed round Brest, was destined for the seizure of Ireland, so when
+the Grand Army was turned against Austria his divisions were the last to
+arrive on the theatre of operations, and were directed to the Tyrol,
+where they forced General Jellachich and most of his army to surrender.
+In the following year the Marshal greatly distinguished himself at Jena
+and Pultusk; but at Eylau, though not owing to his own fault, he
+suffered a reverse. The Emperor had placed him in the centre of the
+first line and ordered him to advance against the Russian centre. The
+fog and snow were so thick that the French could not see the foe until
+they came within two hundred yards of them; the enemy suddenly opened
+fire on them with massed batteries; in a moment Augereau's staunch
+divisions were cut to bits by the hail of grape, and, owing to the smoke
+and snow, they could not see their foes; they tried to hold their ground
+and reply to the fire, but at last they wavered and broke. The Marshal,
+so ill with fever that he had to be tied to his horse, did his utmost to
+stop the rout, but in vain; at last, wounded and sick at heart, he had
+to return and report his failure. The Emperor, wishing to cover his own
+mistake, laid all the blame for the ill-success of the day on Augereau,
+and breaking up the remnants of his corps among the other Marshals, he
+sent him home. Afraid, however, of arousing his enmity, and mindful of
+his past services, next year he created him Duke of Castiglione; but he
+never entrusted him again with an important command in the field. In
+1809 the Marshal was sent to Spain to supersede St. Cyr at the siege of
+Gerona. He had lost his lust for fighting, and was soon recalled for not
+showing sufficient energy. In 1812 he commanded part of the reserve of
+the Grand Army in Prussia. In 1813 he was in command of a corps of
+recruits in Germany, and was present at Leipzig, but all through the
+campaign he grumbled against his troops. When reproached for slackness,
+and told that he was not the Augereau of Castiglione, he turned on
+Napoleon, crying out, "Ah, give me back the old soldiers of Italy and I
+will show you that I am!" Still, he had no heart for the war, and after
+the catastrophe at Leipzig he broke out into open revolt, cursing the
+Emperor and telling Macdonald that "the idiot does not know what he is
+about ... the coward, he abandoned us and was prepared to sacrifice us
+all, but do not imagine that I was fool enough to let myself be killed
+or taken prisoner for the sake of a suburb of Leipzig." In spite of
+this, in 1814 Napoleon was so hard pressed that he was forced to employ
+him. He sent him to Lyons with orders to prevent the Allies from
+debouching from Switzerland, and, if possible, to fall on the line of
+communication of Schwartzenberg's army, which was threatening Paris; and
+he implored him "to remember his former victories and to forget that he
+was on the wrong side of fifty." But old age and luxury had snapped the
+once famous spirit of the Duke of Castiglione, and his operations round
+Lyons were contemptible. As Napoleon said at St. Helena, "For a long
+time Augereau had no longer been a soldier; his courage, his early
+virtues, had raised him high above the crowd, but honour, dignity, and
+fortune had forced him back into the ruck." Accordingly, as soon as he
+heard of the capitulation of Paris he hoisted the white cockade, and
+issued a proclamation saying, "Soldiers, you are absolved from your
+oaths; you are so by the nation, in which the sovereignty resides; you
+are still more so, were it necessary, by the abdication of a man who,
+after having sacrificed millions to his cruel ambition, has not known
+how to die as a soldier." Soon after this he met his former Emperor and
+benefactor on his way to exile at Elba, and a bitter conversation
+ensued, in which, in reply to the Emperor's recriminations, the Marshal
+asked, "Of what do you complain: has not your insatiable ambition
+brought us to this?"
+
+Yet when the Emperor returned to Paris Augereau threw up his command in
+Normandy and hastened to proffer his allegiance. But Napoleon would have
+none of it, and refused him place or preferment. After Waterloo the
+Bourbons also showed him the cold shoulder; so the Marshal retired to
+his country seat of La Houssaye, where he died on June 11, 1816, of
+dropsy on the chest. Born and bred a Paris boy, he had lived as such,
+and of such were his virtues and his vices. Physically brave, yet
+morally a coward; vain, blustering, yet kind-hearted; full of boisterous
+spirits, greedy, yet generous; liberal by nature, hating control, yet a
+severe disciplinarian; a firm believer in the virtue of principles, yet
+ever ready to sacrifice his principles at the altar of opportunity,
+Augereau, in spite of his many faults, knew how to win and keep the love
+of his soldiers and his friends. A leader of men rather than a tactician
+or strategist, he played on the enthusiasm of his soldiers by example
+rather than precept. Unfortunately for his reputation, his moral courage
+failed him at the end of his career, and he added to the imputation of
+inconstancy the crime of ingratitude.
+
+
+
+
+XVI
+
+GUILLAUME MARIE ANNE BRUNE, MARSHAL
+
+
+Guillaume Marie Anne Brune, poet and warrior, was born on May 13, 1763,
+at Brives-la-Gaillard. His father, who belonged to a legal family,
+destined his son to follow in his footsteps, and after giving him a good
+education, sent him to finish his study of law at the College of France
+at Paris. But the boy's taste did not lie among the dull technicalities
+of law. Artistic and emotional by temperament, he early threw himself
+heart and soul into literature. At the age of eighteen he published his
+first work, half prose, half verse, in which he described a holiday in
+Poitou and Angoumois. But his father viewed with suspicion his son's
+literary aspirations, and the breach between them widened when Guillaume
+married a young burnisher of metal, Angelique Nicole Pierre, the
+orphaned daughter of a miller from Arpajon, who had captivated him by
+her beauty and then nursed him through a dangerous illness. The young
+couple were thrown entirely on their own resources, and Angelique had to
+continue her burnishing, while to ensure the publication of his works
+Brune took to the trade of printer. But in spite of poverty and hard
+work the marriage was a happy one, for Angelique's beauty, and purity of
+mind and character were the necessary complement to her husband's
+artistic desires. While engaged in his literary work Brune met the
+celebrated Mirabeau, who introduced him to his friends, Camille
+Desmoulins and Danton. Generous by nature, and smarting under the social
+disgrace which followed his marriage, the poet, turned printer, threw
+himself heart and soul into the philosophy of the day: when the
+Revolution broke out he hailed the new era with delight, but, like many
+another visionary, he failed to see the cruel necessities which the
+Revolution was bringing in its train. Following the example of his
+friend Camille Desmoulins, on September 15, 1789, he started a
+newspaper, the _Magazin Historique ou Journal General_, and followed up
+this speculation by editing, in collaboration with Gauthier, the
+_Journal de la Cour_; but owing to the violent politics of Gauthier,
+Brune broke his connection with the paper in August, 1790. As the
+Revolution grew in violence and blind disorder, and hate took the place
+of his dream of platonic justice, eager to escape from cruelty and lust,
+the printer hastened to console himself among those who were hurrying to
+the frontier to fight the enemy as the only means of getting away from
+the chaos at home. In August, 1791, he enlisted in the volunteers of the
+Seine and Oise, and within a few weeks his activity, zeal, and talent
+for administration caused his comrades to elect him adjutant-major.
+Early in 1792 he joined the staff of the army as assistant
+adjutant-general, and, owing to the influence of Danton and his
+political friends, was recalled from Thionville to Paris in September,
+1792, as commissary general, to direct and organise the newly raised
+battalions of volunteers. But when he arrived in Paris on September 5th,
+and found the streets swimming in blood and Danton gloating over his
+work, disgusted with Paris and its savage population, he at once applied
+for active service, and was back at the camp of Meaux in time to take
+part in Dumouriez's campaign of Valmy. Though he recoiled from their
+methods, his friendship with Danton and Camille Desmoulins stood him in
+good stead; as adjutant-general he served at Neerwinden, and after that
+battle was one of the five general officers chosen to rally the
+scattered troops of the Army of the North. In July he was ordered to
+Calvados to assist in crushing the Girondists. After his success in
+Normandy his friends offered him a post in the ministry at Paris, but
+"he loved liberty fair and free, as she existed in the army, but not as
+she was adored in Paris, to the sound of the tocsin and the beat of the
+generale, and fierce songs of death trolled out by cannibals."
+Accordingly he returned to the Army of the North in time to fight under
+Houchard at Handschoetten. But he had to pay the penalty for his
+friendship with the Terrorists, for just as he was setting out full of
+delight to fight the English at Dunkirk, owing to the exigencies of
+political strife he was hurriedly recalled to give the Girondists their
+coup-de-grace at Bordeaux.
+
+[Illustration: BRUNE
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY F. J. HARRIET]
+
+Brune returned to the capital in 1794 in time to witness the fall of his
+patron, Danton; but fortunately for him Barras took him under his
+protection, and in October, thanks to his influence, he became
+commandant of Paris. For a whole year the General held this post, and on
+October 5th commanded the second column while Bonaparte with the first
+column ended the reaction of the Terror with a few rounds of grape shot.
+Still under the patronage of Barras, Brune spent the year 1796 in
+pacifying the Midi, and his work there has been admirably portrayed in
+Alexandre Dumas' "Les Compagnons de Jehu," where he figures as General
+Rolland. From this vexatious and wearisome struggle against hostile
+countrymen he was summoned to Italy at the beginning of 1797, and was
+present with Massena's division at the battle of Rivoli. Under Massena,
+he fought through the campaign which ended at Leoben, and attracted the
+notice of Bonaparte by his courage and goodwill: in reward for his
+services he was created general of division. From Italy the general,
+with his division, was sent in October to join the Army of England;
+while marching north it was suggested that he should take the post of
+ambassador at Berlin; but when the troops heard of this offer they
+asked the adjutant-general to write to their commander, saying, "Listen
+general: your division charges me to tell you not to give up fighting;
+the division will bring you honour, and that is much better than an
+embassy." However, there was to be no question of an embassy, for on
+February 7, 1798, the Directors sent him to take over the command of the
+French troops whose duty it was to annex Switzerland to France. This was
+the general's first independent command; and though the campaign added
+to his military reputation, unfortunately it left a stain on his honour.
+The war was entered on merely with the desire of capturing the Swiss
+treasury at Berne, and thus providing funds for Bonaparte's Egyptian
+expedition. Brune had learned his lesson in Italy, so the campaign was
+short, in spite of the difficulty of the country and the patriotism of
+the Swiss. Writing to Bonaparte, the general explained the cause of his
+success: "From the moment I found myself in a situation to act, I
+assembled all my strength to strike like lightning: for Switzerland is a
+vast barrack, and I had everything to fear from a war of posts. I
+avoided it by negotiations which I knew were not sincere on the part of
+the Bernese, and since then I have followed out the plan which I traced
+to you. I think always I am still under your command." The crushing of
+the Swiss peasantry and the capture of Berne were followed by the hour
+of spoliation; no less than one million seven hundred thousand pounds
+were wrung from the wretched Swiss. Brune himself kept his own hands
+clean and was, as he wrote, "constantly paring the nails of rascals and
+taking the public treasure from them"; but the fact that he was
+officially responsible for the spoliation and that his own share of the
+plunder was thirty-two thousand pounds caused his name to be loathed
+throughout the length and breadth of Switzerland, and "to rob like a
+Brune" became a proverb, which was eagerly seized on by his detractors.
+
+The Directors, pleased with his operations in Switzerland, despatched
+Brune, on March 31, 1798, to take command of the Army of Italy. His task
+was a difficult one, for at Rome and Mantua the starving troops had
+mutinied, while the contractors and agents of the Directors were
+amassing huge fortunes. To complicate the situation the general was
+encumbered by a civil Commission, whose duty it was to supervise the
+governments of the Cisalpine Republic. Trouve, the moving spirit of the
+Commission, had but one idea, to curb the growing democratic spirit of
+the Piedmontese. The commander-in-chief, whose love of freedom had not
+yet been blunted, violently opposed Trouve, and at last forced his views
+on the Directory, and Trouve was replaced by Fouche. But it was too
+late; the mischief had been done. The Piedmontese would no longer bear
+the French control: "This then," they cried, "is the faith, the
+fraternity, and the friendship you have brought us from France!" In
+spite of Brune's efforts to restore confidence they had lost all faith
+in French honour, and on December 6th his successor found himself forced
+to expel, at the point of the bayonet, all senators opposed to the
+French interest.
+
+Leaving Italy in November, Brune found himself sent at the beginning of
+1799 to Holland, where danger was threatening: it was evident that
+England was going to make an effort to regain for the Prince of Orange
+his lost possessions. In spite of this knowledge, as late as August the
+French commander could only concentrate ten thousand men under General
+Daendals to oppose an equal force of English under Abercromby when they
+landed on the open beach at Groete Keten. Though as strong as the enemy,
+General Daendals made the most feeble attempt to oppose the landing. Day
+by day English and Russian reinforcements poured into Holland, till at
+last they numbered forty-eight thousand. But the Duke of York, the
+English commander-in-chief, had a hopeless task. With no means of
+transport, no staff, and an army composed of hastily enrolled militia
+recruits and insubordinate drunken Russians, his only chance of success
+lay in a general rising of the Dutch; for early in September the French
+forces were numerically as strong as his own. Abercromby's opinion was
+that defeat would mean utter disaster: "Were we to sustain a severe
+check I much doubt if the discipline of the troops would be sufficient
+to prevent a total dissolution of the army": while the English opinion
+of the Russians was that they were better at plundering than at
+fighting. As a militiaman wrote, "The Russians is people as has not the
+fear of God before their eyes, for I saw some of them with cheeses and
+bitter and all badly wounded, and in particklar one man had an eit day
+clock on his back, and fiting all the time which made me to conclude and
+say all his vanity and vexation of spirit." In spite of this the English
+had some considerable tactical success, and drove the French back
+towards Amsterdam; but lack of provisions compelled them at the
+beginning of October to fall back on their entrenched position on the
+Zype. Fortunately Brune, who had been much impressed by the fighting
+powers of the enemy, did not understand how difficult it would have been
+for them to re-embark their forces if he pressed an attack. He allowed
+some of his staff officers to throw out hints of an armistice and
+convention, which were eagerly accepted, for on October 20th the English
+had only three days' provision of bread. With Massena's victory at
+Zurich and the embarkation of the Allies after the convention of
+Alkmaar, the ring of foes which had so gravely threatened France was
+snapped asunder, and Brune, although he had shown but little resource or
+initiative during the fighting in Holland, and had failed to diagnose
+the extremity of the enemy, was hailed, along with Massena, as the
+saviour of the country, and his tactical defeats were celebrated as the
+victory of Bergen.
+
+From Holland the conqueror of the English was despatched, early in 1800,
+by the First Consul to quell the rising in La Vendee, where his former
+experience of guerilla warfare in Switzerland stood him in good stead,
+and he soon brought the rebels to their knees. During the Marengo
+campaign he commanded the real Army of Reserve at Dijon, but in August,
+when Bonaparte found it necessary to replace Massena, he despatched
+Brune to take command of the Army of Italy. Unfortunately the future
+Marshal's genius was more suited to the details of administration and
+the direction of small columns than to the command of large forces in
+the field. Though at the head of a hundred thousand men, and supported
+admirably by Murat, Marmont, Macdonald, Suchet and Dupont, he failed
+conspicuously as a commander-in-chief. His movements at the crossing of
+the Mincio were hesitating and slow, and he neglected to seize the
+opportunity which Dupont's successful movements presented to him. At
+Treviso, as in Holland, he showed only too clearly his limitations: he
+held the enemy in the hollow of his hand, but, failing to see his
+advantage, he once again signed an armistice which permitted the foe to
+escape out of his net.
+
+On his return to France the First Consul regarded him with suspicion.
+His well-known republican opinions did not harmonise with Bonaparte's
+schemes of self-aggrandisement. The First Consul had a very poor
+estimate of his military ability, but the people at large still hailed
+him as the saviour of Holland and France. Bonaparte treated him like all
+those whom he suspected but whom he could not afford to despise, and
+under the pretext of a diplomatic appointment he practically banished
+him to Constantinople. Diplomacy was not Brune's forte, and after
+eighteen months' residence in Turkey he was obliged to quit the Porte,
+which had fallen entirely under Russian influence.
+
+The general was still abroad when the Emperor created his Marshals: his
+appointment of Brune, like his appointment of Lefebvre, was part of his
+scheme for binding the republican interest to his dynasty, for his
+opinion of the Marshal's talent was such that he scarcely ever employed
+him in the field. From 1805 to 1807 Brune was occupied in drilling the
+troops left at Boulogne. In May, 1807, he was appointed to command the
+reserve corps of the Grand Army, and when in July the King of Sweden
+declared war on Napoleon, he was entrusted with the operations round
+Stralsund, and captured that fortress and the island of Ruegen. During
+this short campaign the Marshal had an interview with Gustavus of
+Sweden, and tried to point out to him the folly of fighting against
+France. A garbled account of this interview, full of unjust
+insinuations, came to Napoleon's ears. In anger the Emperor sent for
+Brune and taxed him with the false accusations. The Marshal, furious
+that his good faith should be suspected, refused any explanation and
+merely contented himself with repeating: "It is a lie." The Emperor,
+equally furious at his obstinacy, deprived him of his command. The
+result of this quarrel was that for the next five years Brune lived at
+home in disgrace. On the Restoration he made his submission to Louis
+XVIII., and received the cross of St. Louis. But in 1815, on the return
+from Elba, he answered the Emperor's summons, for Napoleon could no
+longer afford the luxury of quarrelling with generous Frenchmen who were
+willing to serve him. Remembering the Marshal's talent for
+administration and a war of posts, he offered him the command of the
+Midi. Brune hesitated; Napoleon had treated him disgracefully, but in
+his generosity he was ready to overlook all that; still, he knew well
+that the Empire was not the Republic: yet he preferred Napoleon's regime
+to that of the Bourbons, and at last he accepted, but set out for his
+new duties depressed and not at all himself. The difficulties he had to
+contend with were enormous; the Austrians and Sardinians were massing on
+the frontiers, the allied fleet commanded the Mediterranean, while
+Provence was covered by bands of brigands who called themselves
+royalists. Marseilles, the fickle, which had given France and the
+Republic the "Marseillaise," was now red-hot Legitimist. So the news of
+Waterloo and of Napoleon's abdication came as a relief to the harassed
+Marshal, who was only too glad on July 22nd to hand over Toulon to the
+English. Thereon, in obedience to the command of the King, he set out
+for Paris.
+
+Well aware of the disorder in the Midi, the Marshal asked Lord Exmouth,
+the commander of the British squadron, to take him by sea to Italy, so
+that he might escape the danger which he knew threatened him from the
+hatred of the royalists. Unfortunately for the fame of England, Lord
+Exmouth refused in the rudest terms, calling him "the prince of scamps"
+and a "blackguard." Accordingly he set off by land, receiving a promise
+of protection from the royalist commander, but no escort. With his two
+aides-de-camp he reached Avignon in safety, but there he was set on by
+the mob, chased into a hotel and shot in cold blood, and his body thrown
+into the Rhone; a fisherman by night rescued the corpse, and for many
+years the body of the Marshal reposed in the humble grave where the
+kindhearted fisherman had placed it. Meanwhile the Government sanctioned
+the story that he had committed suicide. But at last the persistence of
+his widow compelled an inquiry, when the truth was revealed, and it was
+proved without doubt that the murder had been connived at by the
+authorities. The inquiry further revealed that the real cause of the
+Marshal's death was not so much the measures he had taken to stamp out
+the bands of royalists during his command in the Midi, as his old
+connection with Camille Desmoulins and Danton. In spite of the fact
+that he was not in Paris during the September massacres, and that he was
+constantly employed with the army, rumour said that it was Brune who had
+carried round Paris the head of the Princess Lamballe on a pike, and the
+cunning revival of this story by the leaders of the White Terror had
+roused the mob to commit the outrage. The story was absurd. The archives
+of the War Office proved beyond doubt that he was not in Paris at the
+time of the execution of the Princess. Strange to say, the Marshal
+himself years before seems to have foretold his own death when, writing
+about the Terrorists, he composed the following lines:--
+
+"Against one, two hundred rise,
+Assail and smite him till he dies.
+Yet blood, they say, we spare to spill,
+And patriots we account them still.
+Urged by martial ardour on,
+In the wave their victim thrown,
+Return their frantic joy to fill;
+Yet these men are patriots still."
+
+Though his faithful wife had forced the authorities to remove the stain
+of suicide from the Marshal's fair fame, it was not till 1839, the year
+after her death, that at last a fitting monument was raised at
+Brives-la-Gaillard to the memory of the Marshal, who, whatever his
+failings as a commander might be, had lived a staunch friend, a true
+patriot, a courageous soldier; and had twice received the grateful
+thanks of the Government, and had twice been acclaimed as the saviour of
+his country.
+
+
+
+
+XVII
+
+ADOLPHE EDOUARD CASIMIR JOSEPH MORTIER, MARSHAL, DUKE OF TREVISO
+
+
+Edouard Mortier was born near Cambrai on February 13, 1768. His father,
+a prosperous farmer, gave the future Marshal a fair education. Becoming
+a man of some importance on the outbreak of the Revolution, he was able
+in 1791 to secure for his son a commission in the volunteer cavalry of
+the north. Extremely tall, heavily built, slow of speech, "with a stupid
+sentinel look," the yeoman captain of 1791 gave the casual observer but
+little sign of promise. But in spite of those rather weary looking eyes,
+young Mortier was possessed of a burning enthusiasm and a dauntless
+courage. From his first engagement at Quievrain, in April, 1792, where
+he had a horse killed under him, to the day he and Marmont surrendered
+Paris in 1814, every skirmish or engagement in which he took part bore
+testimony to his extraordinary bodily strength and bravery. Nature
+having also endowed him with a kindly temperament, it was not to be
+wondered at that his men swore by him, and were ready to follow him
+anywhere. But in spite of many gallant actions and numerous mentions in
+despatches, promotion came but slowly; for Mortier spent the first six
+years of his service with the armies of the Sambre and Meuse and of the
+Rhine, and had to compete against such men as Soult, Ney, St. Cyr,
+Kleber, and Desaix, who were on a higher mental plane. Still, he was
+recognised as one who was bound to rise, and was one of those whom
+Kleber singled out for commendation when he wrote to the Directory
+saying, "With such chiefs a general can neglect to count the number of
+his enemies"; and well he might, for on the day after he wrote his
+report, Mortier, with a single battalion and four squadrons of cavalry,
+having been ordered to try and drive two thousand of the enemy out of a
+strong position on the Wisent, attacked them with such vivacity that, to
+the surprise of everybody, in an hour he drove them in flight.
+
+After the campaign in 1798 Jourdan sent up his name for the command of a
+brigade; but he preferred the colonelcy of the twenty-first regiment of
+cavalry. However, a few months later, on February 22nd, he was promoted
+general of brigade. It was in this capacity that he served under Massena
+in the celebrated campaign in Switzerland. At the second battle of
+Zurich he did yeoman service; by a vigorous demonstration he held the
+enemy near the town while Massena completed his turning movement; he
+further distinguished himself by his vigour and resource during the
+pursuit of the Russians; thus he won his promotion to general of
+division on September 25, 1799. When Bonaparte became First Consul,
+Mortier found no cause for dissatisfaction with the change of
+Government; no politician, he was ready to accept any strong government.
+Fortunately for him his dogged character and his fighting record
+attracted the First Consul's attention. Bonaparte saw in him a man
+without guile, a soldier who would accept any order from his chief, and
+execute it instantly without questioning. Still, it was a great piece of
+fortune for the general of division, who had hitherto held no
+independent command in the field, that he lay with his troops near the
+Vaal, at the time that the First Consul determined to punish England for
+her suspicion of him by seizing Hanover. With twenty thousand men
+General Mortier issued from Holland, fell suddenly on the Hanoverian
+troops at Borstel on the Weser, and forced Count Walmoden to sign a
+convention whereby the Hanoverian army was to retire behind the Elbe and
+not to bear arms against the French as long as the war continued. The
+English Government refused to ratify it, so Mortier at once called on
+Walmoden to resume hostilities; but so unequal was the contest, that the
+Hanoverian general was forced to accept a modified form of the former
+convention. Thereon Mortier hurriedly occupied Hamburg and Bremen, and
+closed the Elbe to English commerce. But brilliant as his operations had
+been in the field, as military governor of the ceded provinces he
+established a reputation for great rapacity, which followed him
+throughout his career.
+
+Napoleon, however, winked at his general's peculations so long as they
+did not affect his treasury, and he showed his approbation of his
+successful campaign by making him one of the four commandants of the
+Guard, and including him, in 1804, among the first creation of Marshals.
+Next year Mortier marched to Germany in command of a division of the
+Guards. When after Ulm the army was reorganised for the advance on
+Vienna, a new corps, composed of the division of Dupont and Gazan, was
+entrusted to the Marshal. The duty he was to perform was difficult; he
+was to cross the Danube at Linz and, unsupported save by a flotilla of
+boats, hang on the Russian rear, while the rest of the army marched on
+Vienna by the right bank of the river. The Emperor impressed on him the
+necessity for caution, and warned him that he must throw out a ring of
+vedettes and keep somewhat behind Lannes's corps, which was marching in
+advance of him on the other side of the river. Unfortunately the
+Marshal, in his eagerness to inflict loss on the Russians, whom he
+believed to be flying in complete rout, neglected all warnings and
+pushed recklessly forward. At Duerrenstein (near the castle where Richard
+Coeur de Lion was imprisoned by the Archduke of Austria) he fell into
+a trap. The enemy allowed him to pass the defile of Duerrenstein with
+Gazan's division, knowing that Dupont was many miles in the rear, and
+then closed in on him on front and rear. With but seven thousand men,
+surrounded by thirty thousand Russians, it seemed that the Marshal was
+lost. But he kept his head, and at once turned about to try and break
+back and join Dupont, who he knew would hurry to his support. Firing at
+point-blank range, struggling bayonet against bayonet, the small French
+force worked its way towards the defile. Darkness fell, but still the
+fight continued, and at last Dupont's guns were heard at the other side
+of the gorge. But by then two-thirds of Gazan's division had fallen,
+three eagles were taken, and Mortier himself, conspicuous by his
+towering height, owed his safety to his skill with his sabre. His
+officers had begged him to escape across the river by boat, lest a
+Marshal of France should become a prisoner in the hands of the despised
+Russians; this he indignantly refused. "No," he said, "reserve this
+resource for the wounded. One who has the honour to command such brave
+soldiers should esteem himself happy to share their lot and perish with
+them. We have still two guns and some boxes of grape; let us close our
+ranks and make a last effort." But still the Russians pressed the
+devoted column, and now all the ammunition was expended and the
+survivors were preparing to sell their lives dearly, when Dupont's men
+at last hurled the enemy aside, and amid cries of "France! France! you
+have saved us!" the undaunted remnant of Gazan's division threw
+themselves into the arms of their comrades. On the morrow the sorely
+battered corps was recalled across the Danube, but the Emperor could not
+lay all the blame on Mortier, for it was his own mistake in strategy in
+dividing his army by the broad Danube which had really caused the
+disaster.
+
+[Illustration: ADOLPHE EDOUARD MORTIER, DUKE OF TREVISO
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY LARIVIERE]
+
+In 1806 the Marshal acted independently on the left of the Grand Army,
+and after occupying Cassel and Hamburg, where his cruel exactions
+greatly increased his reputation for rapacity, he was entrusted with the
+operations against the Swedes. In 1807, however, he was called up to
+reinforce the Grand Army in time to take part in the decisive battle at
+Friedland. In July, 1808, Napoleon rewarded him by creating him Duke of
+Treviso. A month later he despatched him to Spain in command of the
+fifth corps, which was composed of veterans of the Austrian and Prussian
+campaigns, very different from the recruits of the third corps and other
+corps in Spain. But in spite of this magnificent material the Marshal
+did not distinguish himself. The severe reverse he had received at
+Duerrenstein seemed to have killed his dash. His physical bravery
+remained the same as ever, but his moral courage had deteriorated, and
+in Spain his manoeuvres were always halting and timid. At Saragossa he
+did not press the siege with the vehemence Lannes showed when he
+superseded him; but at the battle of Ocana he showed that during a
+combat his nerve was as good as ever. The first lines of the French,
+broken by the fire of the Spanish battery, had begun to waver; the
+Marshal was slightly wounded, but at the critical moment he rode up to
+Girard's division, which was in reserve, and leading it through the
+intervals of the first line, he caught the victorious enemy at a
+disadvantage, and completely turned the fortunes of the day. The
+remainder of the Duke of Treviso's service in the Peninsula was spent
+under the command of Marshal Soult, either in front of Cadiz or as a
+covering force to the troops occupied in that siege. From Spain he was
+recalled in 1812 to command the Young Guard in the Russian campaign.
+When the French evacuated Moscow the Marshal, at the Emperor's commands,
+had the invidious duty of blowing up the Kremlin. During his retreat he
+showed himself worthy of his post of commander of the Young Guard, and
+in 1813, in the same capacity, he fought throughout the campaign, taking
+his share in the battles of Luetzen, Bautzen, Dresden, Leipzig, and
+Hanau. After Dresden he incurred, along with St. Cyr, the wrath of the
+Emperor for not having aided Vandamme. But the fact remains that the
+blame of the disaster at Kuelm rests entirely on Napoleon and Vandamme.
+No orders were sent to Mortier or St. Cyr till after the disaster had
+occurred, and Vandamme had not taken the most elementary precautions
+against surprise. In 1814 the Marshal fought gallantly at Montmirail and
+Troyes, but, like Victor and Ney, he showed but little ingenuity. When
+Napoleon made his last dash eastward, he left Mortier and Marmont to
+hold off the Prussians from Paris. The Duke of Treviso, though far
+senior to the Duke of Ragusa, bowed to his superior genius, and in the
+operations ending in the surrender of Paris he carried out his junior's
+ideas with great generosity and without the least show of jealousy.
+
+Like the rest of the Marshals, the Duke of Treviso made his submission
+to the new Government. On the return of Napoleon he for a time kept true
+to his oath to the Bourbons. When the Duke of Orleans, who shared with
+him the command of the north, on leaving Lille, wrote to him, "I am too
+good a Frenchman to sacrifice the interests of France, because now
+misfortune compels me to quit it. I go to hide myself in retirement and
+oblivion. It only remains for me to release you from all the orders
+which I have given you, and to recommend you to do what your excellent
+judgment and patriotism may suggest as best for the interests of
+France," the Marshal, in spite of his decoration of St. Louis and his
+seat as a peer of France, once again returned to his old allegiance. The
+Emperor greeted him warmly and created him one of his new peers, and in
+June sent him to the frontier in command of the Young Guard; but an
+attack of sciatica forcing him to bed, he escaped the disaster of
+Waterloo. On the second restoration he lost for the time his honours and
+dignities, but refused to re-purchase them at the price of sitting as
+judge on Marshal Ney; however, in 1819 he was reinstated in all of them.
+
+It was not till the accession of the July monarchy that the Duke of
+Treviso once again played a prominent part. In 1831 his old friend, the
+Duke of Orleans, now become King, made him Grand Chancellor of the
+Legion of Honour, and in November, 1834, called on him to accept the
+onerous task of head of the Government and Minister of War. To help his
+friend and sovereign the Duke accepted the responsibility, but soon
+found that he was unequal to the task. A frank and loyal soldier, of
+unimpeachable honour, integrity, and character, he could shine in the
+field, but not in the forum. His fine, lofty figure, commanding air,
+military bearing, and frankness were of no avail in the Chamber of
+Peers, where what was wanted was a subtle spirit which could discern and
+influence the drift of parties, a clear, facile tongue, and an apparent
+acquaintance with any subject which might come up for discussion. These
+were the very qualities in which the Marshal was most lacking.
+Slow-witted by nature, with a limited vocabulary and a bad delivery, he
+soon found himself unfitted for the post, and resigned in February,
+1835. But unfortunately for him he still retained his position as Grand
+Chancellor, and in this capacity he attended Louis Philippe on his way
+to the ill-fated review of July 29th. As the procession arrived at the
+boulevard of the Temple, the Marshal complained of the heat; his staff
+tried to persuade the old soldier to go home, but he refused, saying,
+"My place is by the King, in the midst of the Marshals, my comrades in
+arms." Scarcely had he spoken when Fieschi hurled the fatal bomb, which
+missed the King and the princes, but killed the Marshal and many another
+soldier.
+
+The Duke of Treviso, while doing his duty by his sovereign, met his
+death like a soldier, though not on the field of battle. As with Davout,
+the key to his character was his dogged determination; but though he
+resembled the Prince of Eckmuehl on the battlefield, he had not his
+powers of organisation, nor his clear insight into matters of policy and
+strategy. But he had other qualities which Davout lacked. He was
+kind-hearted, and beloved by his men. His simplicity and faithfulness
+appealed to Napoleon, and to all who came in contact with him, and it
+was for this reason that the Emperor entrusted him with the Young Guard.
+What distinguished him from many of the other Marshals was his lack of
+jealousy, and the generous way in which he co-operated with his comrades
+in arms. When the funeral procession passed down the Rue Royale on its
+way to the Church of the Invalides, with four Marshals on horseback
+holding the corners of the pall, men felt, and felt rightly, that France
+had suffered a loss, for one was gone who, peasant-born, had in his high
+position known how to retain the simple virtues of a peasant, whose one
+vice was the peasant vice of avarice, and who, with this exception, had
+never allowed place or power to interfere with what he thought was his
+duty.
+
+
+
+
+XVIII
+
+JEAN BAPTISTE BESSIERES, MARSHAL, DUKE OF ISTRIA
+
+
+Fidelity and conscientiousness are great assets in life's race, and to
+these Jean Baptiste Bessieres added great presence of mind and
+considerable dash. It is not therefore surprising that, in an age when
+disinterestedness and reliability were notably absent among public men,
+his force of character pushed him above the ordinary adventurers, and
+caused him to become one of Napoleon's most trusted lieutenants. The
+Marshal was born at Prayssac in 1768. His father, a surgeon, brought up
+his son in his own profession. But the outbreak of the Revolution opened
+a wider field to the audacious young Gascon. Early in 1792 Jean Baptiste
+quitted Cahors and the medical profession, and started off to Paris as
+one of the newly-enrolled "garde constitutionnelle." His fidelity and
+courage were soon put to the test. He aided the royal family in the
+flight to Varennes, and consequently had to seek safety in retirement.
+But the life of a soldier was as the breath of his nostrils, and three
+months later he managed to enlist in the 22nd Chasseurs, a corps which
+formed part of the Army of the Pyrenees. There his courage and ability
+made him conspicuous. Within three months of enlisting he was promoted
+sub-lieutenant. The year 1793 proved a disastrous one for France. Defeat
+followed defeat. But Jean Baptiste never despaired, and when success
+ultimately smiled on the French arms, he had established a reputation as
+a daring and capable squadron commander. Still, like many another of the
+successful soldiers of the age, Bessieres owed his quick promotion to
+his early friendship with the great Corsican. It was Murat who called
+Napoleon's attention to the future commander of the Imperial Guard, and
+Bonaparte, with his eagle eye, at once appreciated his qualities. When
+the young chief formed his special bodyguard, called the Guides, he
+placed him at their head. The new corps was composed of the choicest
+troops, and formed the nucleus of the Imperial Guard. Henceforward
+Bessieres became his chief's confidant and inseparable friend. It was
+the rare fidelity that he displayed to his master and his constant
+attention to detail, his intuitive knowledge of his commander's
+requirements, and his energy in carrying out his plans, rather than
+great military genius, which accounted for the Emperor's life-long
+appreciation of the commander of his Guides.
+
+At Lonato and Castiglione Bessieres proved the correctness of the young
+Corsican's judgment. At Roveredo he broke through the centre of the
+Austrian infantry, and, with six others, captured two of the enemy's
+guns. At the first battle of Rivoli, in accordance with his general's
+commands, he laid an ambuscade in the marsh on the Austrian left, which
+proved the decisive factor in the battle. In the following year he again
+distinguished himself at the second battle of Rivoli and at the siege of
+Mantua. As a reward for his services Bonaparte sent him to Paris with
+the official despatches and the stands of colours won from the enemy,
+and at the end of the campaign promoted him full colonel, and as a
+further mark of his confidence appointed him tutor and instructor to his
+stepson, Eugene. Bessieres accompanied Bonaparte to the East, and served
+by his side in Egypt and Syria.
+
+The commander of the Guides was among the chosen body of friends who
+accompanied Bonaparte on his secret return to France, and in Paris he
+helped Murat, Lannes, and Marmont to win over the army, and took a
+prominent part in the coup d'etat of the 18th Brumaire. Immediately
+after becoming First Consul Napoleon created the consular Guard,
+composed of four battalions of infantry and two regiments of cavalry. He
+placed at the head of the infantry Lannes, and at the head of the
+cavalry Bessieres. With the cavalry of the Guard Bessieres took part in
+the famous march across the Alps and in the drawn battle of Marengo.
+Faithful as he had proved himself in war, he showed his fidelity in
+peace by exposing the plot of the artist, Caracchi, and thus by ties of
+gratitude bound himself closer to the First Consul. Tall, good-looking,
+with a graceful figure and a charming smile, the commandant of the Guard
+captivated everybody by his intelligence and his distinguished bearing,
+which had a piquant flavour by reason of his adherence to the queue and
+powder of a bygone age.
+
+Rejecting the brilliant match proposed by the First Consul, he chose as
+his bride Mademoiselle Lapezriere, a young lady of a royalist family.
+The couple were married by a nonjuring priest, and, far from incurring
+displeasure, were greatly complimented, for Bonaparte already desired
+the Concordat with the Pope, and saw in the bride a useful supporter of
+his scheme. Madame Bessieres was a great social success: a favourite of
+Napoleon and a close friend and confidant of Josephine; everywhere she
+was welcomed for her beauty, her force of character, and the charm of
+her manner.
+
+During the year of peace and the preparation for the invasion of
+England, Bessieres accompanied the First Consul on all his numerous
+expeditions. To his credit be it said, he protested loudly against the
+ill-judged execution of the Duc d'Enghien. When the First Consul became
+Emperor he enrolled his friend among his new Marshals, not for his
+military genius, but as a reward for his fidelity, for none knew better
+than Napoleon how lacking the new Marshal was in many of the requisites
+of a great commander.
+
+In 1805 the cavalry of the Guard formed part of the Grand Army, and
+their commander, by his able backing of Murat, had his share in helping
+to win the battle of Austerlitz. During the interval between the
+Austrian and the Prussian campaigns the Marshal was busily occupied in
+Paris in reorganising and expanding the Guard, and, as usual, was in
+close touch with the Emperor. In the Prussian campaign Bessieres had his
+first taste of an independent command, and gained great credit for his
+masterly manoeuvring in Poland, where with a weak force he kept the
+enemy in complete ignorance of the movements of the French, and covered
+the conjunction of the various corps of the army.
+
+After the peace of Tilsit he was entrusted with the delicate mission of
+negotiating a marriage between Princess Charlotte of Wuertemburg and
+Prince Jerome, the new King of Westphalia. Hardly had he returned to
+Paris when he was hurried off again on active service, this time to
+Spain. It was just a week before the disaster of Baylen that Marshal
+Bessieres was confronted with a most serious problem. The Spanish levies
+from Old Castile, under Cuesta, had effected a junction with the levies
+of Galicia, under Blake, and were threatening to overwhelm the weak
+force of ten thousand men with which the Marshal was attempting to put
+down the guerilla warfare in the northern provinces. Bessieres had not
+been the great Emperor's confidant for nothing, and he at once saw that,
+unless he took the initiative, his force was doomed, for the enemy were
+in overwhelming strength, and every day added to their numbers. He knew
+well how ill-disciplined their forces were, and he determined to try the
+effect of a surprise. Everything fell out as he wished. On July 14th he
+found the Spanish armies in position outside Medina del Rio Seco, some
+few miles east of Valladolid. The Spaniards, not knowing whether the
+French were advancing from the direction of Valladolid or Burgos, had
+placed the army of Blake on the Valladolid road, and that of Cuesta on
+the Burgos road. Accordingly the Marshal was able to surprise and defeat
+Blake, and then to turn and inflict a similar defeat on Cuesta. So far
+his dispositions had been excellent, but, as General Foy said, "He could
+organise victory, but he could not profit by it," for he was paralysed
+by the extent of the guerilla warfare with which he was faced, and after
+a short but bloody pursuit he called off his troops. Still, he had
+accomplished much; for the time he had dispersed all organised
+resistance in the northern provinces, and had opened the road to Madrid
+for King Joseph.
+
+But Baylen and Vimeiro proved that the war in the Iberian Peninsula was
+still only in its first stage. Joseph had hastily to evacuate Madrid,
+and, in spite of having twelve thousand French troops under his command,
+Bessieres could effect nothing. The Spanish armies of Cuesta and Blake
+once again took shape; and, like the other French generals, the Marshal
+had to fall back on the line of the Ebro. Such was the situation in
+October when the Emperor himself appeared on the scene. The situation
+changed like magic at the touch of a master hand. The French troops,
+strung out in a great semicircle on the Ebro, were quickly concentrated.
+Blake and Cuesta were each defeated by an overwhelming combination of
+the different French armies. Meanwhile, the Emperor, recognising the
+limitations of his faithful friend, superseded him by Soult, but gave
+him the command of the Guard and of the reserve cavalry, under his own
+immediate supervision, and took him back to France when he gave up the
+pursuit of the English.
+
+Napoleon desired to take the Guard with him on the Austrian campaign,
+and, as several regiments were still in Spain, others had to be
+enrolled to take their places. These regiments were entirely organised
+by Bessieres, and formed the nucleus of what was later called the Young
+Guard. The Marshal's duty during the Austrian campaign of 1809 was the
+same as in Spain: the command of the Guard and of the reserve cavalry.
+During the famous Five Days' Fighting he proved again that no troops in
+Europe could resist the charges of the heavy cavalry of the Guard, and
+that he himself had almost as great a command of the technique of
+cavalry tactics as his famous friend and instructor, the King of Naples.
+At Aspern and Essling the cavalry of the Guard and the reserve cavalry
+covered themselves with glory by their dashing charges. Again and again,
+with cries of "Vive l'Empereur," the glittering masses of cuirassiers
+attempted to break down the stern handful of indomitable Hungarians who
+guarded the Austrian batteries. When the bridges were broken, and the
+retreat to the island of Lobau was the only hope for the army,
+Bessieres, with the remains of cavalry, so severely punished the enemy
+that the retirement was effected in safety. At Wagram, when all seemed
+lost, Napoleon called on his old comrade to sacrifice himself with his
+cavalry. As the cuirassiers of the Guard trotted past to debouch on
+their heroic mission, the Emperor, waving his sword, cried out, "No
+sabring. Give point, give point!" The needed time was gained, and the
+gallant Marshal was wounded. But at the end of the day, when the
+troopers, after their great effort, could no longer face the unbroken
+lines of slowly retreating Austrians, Napoleon, chagrined at his
+failure, met his cavalry and their commander with reproach: "Was ever
+anything seen like this? neither prisoners nor guns! This day will be
+attended with no result."
+
+The Emperor's ill-humour was only temporary. When his most trusted
+lieutenants were grumbling and longing for peace in which to enjoy the
+spoil they had collected in war, when Bernadotte and Fouche were openly
+intriguing against him, Napoleon could ill afford to disregard his most
+faithful friend. Accordingly, immediately after Wagram he despatched the
+newly created Duke of Istria to Belgium to take over the command of the
+French troops who were opposing the ill-fated English expedition to the
+isle of Walcheren. When the Marshal returned from Belgium to Paris he
+found that the Emperor had made all arrangements for the divorce of
+Josephine and for his second marriage. Bessieres was placed in a very
+awkward position. Prince Eugene was his greatest friend. Josephine had
+always been most kind to him and the Duchess, but he could not help them
+in any way, and, to make matters worse, the Emperor insisted on coming
+and staying with him at his country house at Grignon.
+
+Meanwhile the war in Spain was spoiling many great reputations.
+Reinforcements were urgently required, so the Emperor decided to give
+his Young Guard their baptism of fire in Spain. Accordingly, at the
+commencement of 1811 he despatched them with Bessieres, their commander,
+to operate on the northern lines of communication. The ill-success of
+the French was palpably due to two causes. There was no
+commander-in-chief on the spot--the Emperor was in Paris--and there was
+no other Marshal whom all the others would obey. Secondly, there was a
+great want of concentration; as Bessieres wrote to Berthier: "All the
+world is aware of the vicious system of our operations, everyone sees
+that we are too much scattered. We occupy too wide an extent of country:
+we exhaust our resources without profit and without necessity: we cling
+to dreams. We should concentrate our forces; retain certain points
+d'appui for the protection of our magazines and hospitals, and regard
+two-thirds of Spain as a vast battlefield, which a single victory may
+either secure or wrest from us." Unfortunately the Marshal was human,
+like his comrades, and instead of loyally backing up Massena, he came to
+an open rupture with him on the question of supplies, and by his
+inaction at Fuentes d'Onoro he caused the French to lose that battle.
+Though he made good his excuses before Napoleon, and secured the
+disgrace of the Prince of Essling, in the opinion of the Duke of
+Wellington it was Bessieres's refusal to lend Massena assistance which
+was entirely responsible for the French defeat. Moreover, sound as were
+his views on the method of conducting war, he had not the personality to
+impress them on others or the application to put them into practice, and
+his whole time was occupied in attempting to make head against the
+guerilla warfare. His methods were rough and barbarous, and reacted
+against the French, for he avenged the ill deeds of the guerillas on
+their families and women folk, and visited with military execution any
+village which failed to meet his onerous requisitions. So the Spaniards
+retaliated with revenge, the weapon of the weak, that "wild kind of
+justice." The Marshal's blunders were cut short by his recall to Paris
+at the beginning of 1812 to reorganise the Guard prior to the Russian
+campaign.
+
+The Duke of Istria accompanied the Emperor to the front. His individual
+share was restricted by the fact that the King of Naples was with the
+army. But during the retreat he led the van and did yeoman service in
+restoring order among the disheartened troops.
+
+Early in 1813 he was recalled from Ebling to reorganise the Guard and
+the reserve cavalry. The task tried to the utmost the Marshal's great
+administrative capacity, for not only was there the question of men and
+equipment, but above all he was confronted with the difficulty of
+providing remounts. In spite of all his efforts it was impossible to
+find anything like enough horses for the cavalry, for the guns had to be
+supplied first.
+
+The Marshal's share in the campaign was short. At Luetzen, on the eve of
+the first engagement, he was greatly depressed and possessed by a
+presentiment of death, which proved only too true, for scarcely had the
+battle opened when he was struck by a bullet which inflicted a mortal
+wound.
+
+The Duke of Istria has always been among the more unknown of the
+Marshals. The reason for this is clear. As commander of the cavalry of
+the Guard and organiser of the Young Guard, his greatest work was done
+in the office at Paris, disciplining, organising, equipping, and
+supervising the instruction of these picked troops. His greatest talents
+were those of administration. As a cavalry leader in the field he was
+overshadowed by the brilliant and more striking King of Naples. Still,
+as a subordinate he possessed some sterling qualities, as is proved by
+his actions during the Great Five Days, and by the fierce fight at
+Aspern-Essling. As an independent commander he was a failure. Again and
+again his moral courage seemed to desert him at the critical moment. In
+Spain, at Medina del Rio Seco, at Burgos, and at Fuentes d'Onoro, he
+could not brace himself to take the responsibility of throwing his whole
+weight into the action. Like many another general, he was sound, but he
+was unable to rise to the height of those great commanders who
+intuitively know when to stake their all. Consequently, although he
+undoubtedly possessed the true military eye, as is shown by the
+wonderful way he covered the junction of the French corps along the
+Vistula, and by his clearly written despatch on the errors of the war in
+Spain, his military reputation always suffered when he had not his great
+chief close at hand to stiffen his determination. Napoleon knew full
+well his weakness, and the reproaches he hurled at him at Wagram were
+not altogether without ground. Still, the Emperor was aware that
+Bessieres's advice was always valuable, because of his clearness of
+vision and his absolute lack of all bias and prejudice; and while he
+made allowances for his lack of moral courage, he always listened to him
+attentively. The army believed that it was his frantic appeal, "Sire,
+you are seven hundred leagues from Paris," which deterred the Emperor at
+Moskowa from throwing the Guard into the action, and thus permitted the
+Russians to escape absolute annihilation. As a man the Marshal was loved
+and respected by all for his absolute disinterestedness and
+straightforwardness. He was adored by his troops, while he possessed the
+qualities which enabled him to succeed in the difficult task of
+establishing an iron discipline in the Guard. It was due to him that, in
+the Imperial Guard, there was none of that lawlessness which made the
+Pretorians of Rome a danger to the Empire. When not unnerved by
+responsibility the Marshal was tenderhearted to an extreme. At Moscow he
+was foremost in saving the wretched inhabitants from the flames; during
+the horror of the retreat he dashed back alone to a deserted camp on
+hearing the cries of an infant. But when frightened he could be cruelty
+itself, as is shown in his terrible decrees against the Spanish
+guerillas. Yet even in Spain his justice was appreciated, and in many a
+village in Castile, on the news of his death, masses were sung for his
+soul. Though he lacked the highest moral courage, his physical bravery
+was proven on many a stricken field from Valladolid to Warsaw. At St.
+Helena the great Emperor gave his friend a noble epitaph--"He lived like
+Bayard, he died like Turenne."
+
+
+
+
+XIX
+
+CLAUDE VICTOR PERRIN, MARSHAL, DUKE OF BELLUNO
+
+
+Not specially dowered by fortune with talents for war, but possessed of
+a resolute character, a high sense of honour, great courage, and that
+intrepidity which Napoleon maintained was so absolutely essential for
+high command, the Duke of Belluno is a striking instance of how large a
+factor is character in the struggle of life which ends in the survival
+of the fittest. Born on December 7, 1764, at La Marche, among the
+mountains of the Vosges, Victor Perrin enlisted as a private, at the age
+of seventeen, in the artillery regiment of Grenoble. The artillery was
+the finest arm of the old royal army, for there, and there alone, merit,
+not favour, was the key to promotion. Accordingly the future Marshal
+served his apprenticeship to arms under officers who knew their service
+and loved it. Ten years spent in the ranks under those who maintained
+strict discipline and were themselves punctilious in matters of duty,
+who exercised careful supervision over their men and materiel, and made
+a serious study of their profession, the art of war--these years with
+their example were not thrown away on the young soldier. When, in 1791,
+the upheaval of the Revolution threatened to subvert the service, Claude
+Victor, now a sergeant, in disgust at the licence prevailing among the
+troops, applied for his discharge. Seven months of civil life proved
+enough for the sturdy ex-sergeant, and in October he enrolled himself
+in the volunteers of the Drome, where in nine months he forced himself
+by strength of character to the command of his battalion, for, as
+Napoleon aptly said, "the times of revolution are the occasions for
+those soldiers who have insight and courage." After six months' drill
+under the hand of the ex-artilleryman, the volunteers of the Drome were
+able to hold their own on the parade ground with the best regiments of
+the line. Well might their commander be proud of his battalion. In the
+fighting on the Var, Victor's volunteers greatly distinguished
+themselves, but it was at Toulon that they first showed their real
+worth. It was well for the colonel that he had brought his troops to a
+high pitch of morale, for, on starting to attack Mount Faron, General
+Dugommier summoned him aside. "We must take the redoubt," he said,
+"or----" and he passed his hand in a suggestive way across his throat.
+In this attack, alone of all the corps engaged, the men of the Drome
+stood their ground when the English made their counter-attack; amid
+cries of "Sauve qui peut!" they alone replied steadily to the murderous
+fire of the enemy, and as quietly as on parade they covered the rout and
+slowly withdrew in good order. Three weeks later came the opportunity of
+Victor's life in the assault on the "Little Gibraltar," the seizure of
+which position forced the English to evacuate Toulon. The attack was
+planned by Bonaparte, and Victor had the good fortune to be chosen as
+one of the leaders; he was already the firm friend of the Corsican
+captain of artillery, and he now won his boundless admiration by his
+reckless bravery and his capacity for making his troops follow him. The
+two wounds which he received in the charge which carried the palisades
+were a cheap price to pay for the rank and glory which he was later to
+gain as a reward for the way in which he flung his shattered column
+against the second line of defence. His immediate recompense was the
+post of general of brigade in the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees.
+
+From the Spanish campaign Victor returned, in 1795, to Italy with an
+enhanced reputation and some knowledge of mountain warfare which was to
+stand him in good stead later. When, in 1796, Bonaparte took command of
+the Army of Italy, he found Victor still general of brigade, but reputed
+one of the bravest men in that army of heroes. The campaign of 1796
+brought him still more to the front. Dego, Mondovi, Peschiera, San
+Marco, Cerea, and the fights round Mantua proved his courage and
+capacity to exact the most from his troops, but it was his manoeuvring
+on January 16, 1797, at Saint Georges, outside Mantua, which proved his
+real ability, for there, with but two French regiments, he forced the
+whole division of General Provera, seven thousand strong, to lay down
+its arms. Bonaparte chose the conqueror of Provera to lead the French
+army to invade the Papal States. This was Victor's first independent
+command, but, owing to the poor condition of the Papal troops, it was no
+severe test of his ability; still, it gained for him his step as general
+of division, and confirmed his chief's high opinion of him.
+
+During the year following the peace of Campo Formio, General Victor held
+several posts in France, but was back again in Italy in 1799, to take
+part in the disastrous campaign against the Austrians and Russians.
+Detached by General Moreau to aid Macdonald on the Trebbia, he, for the
+first time, showed that jealousy which was such a blemish in his
+character, and during the retreat he paid so little attention to orders
+that he was almost overwhelmed by the enemy. Not from cowardice, but
+from his desire to escape Macdonald's control, he abandoned his guns,
+and withdrew into the mountains to try to join Moreau; but Macdonald
+saved the guns, and sarcastically wrote to his insubordinate lieutenant
+that he had secured the guns but found neither friend nor foe.
+
+Victor was serving under Massena when Bonaparte returned from Egypt.
+Stern Republican, sprung from the ranks, he hated the idea of a
+dictatorship, and did not hide from superiors or inferiors his dislike
+of the coup d'etat of the 18th Brumaire. Indeed, so subversive of
+discipline became his attitude and his speeches to his soldiers, that
+Massena was forced to remove him from his command and report him to the
+First Consul. In retirement and disgrace at Monaco, he saw with dismay
+the armies of the Allies surging up to the French frontier. Putting
+aside all personal animosity, he wrote to his former friend and
+commander, with no complaints, or prayers to be reinstated, but giving a
+clear exposition of the state of affairs in Italy, and of the means
+necessary to restore the prestige of the French arms, and actually
+proposing the plan, which the First Consul had already conceived, of
+crossing the Alps and falling on the communications of the enemy.
+Bonaparte was greatly struck with this letter. Perhaps also he called to
+mind his former friendship, in the days when the old ex-artillery
+sergeant used to walk round his batteries at Toulon, and doubtless he
+remembered his stubborn courage and tenacity in the fights round Mantua;
+at any rate, he summoned him to Paris, received him with marks of
+affection, and sent him off at once to command a division of the Army of
+Reserve. But though he forgave him outwardly, Bonaparte was too shrewd a
+judge of men not to see that his old comrade was always dangerous when
+not employed. While busy drilling and supervising his troops the general
+had no time to think about politics and the theories of government. So,
+as First Consul and Emperor, Napoleon saw to it that the ex-artilleryman
+had plenty of employment. During the Marengo campaign the general gained
+fresh honours. Luckily it was his old friend, Lannes, with whom he had
+to co-operate; and Lannes willingly acknowledged his loyal aid at
+Montebello, for on the day he received his dukedom he embraced Victor,
+saying, "My friend, it is to you I owe my title!" At Marengo he again
+had to work with Lannes, and it was due to their admirable co-operation
+and stubbornness that the retreat did not become a rout, and that Desaix
+had time to return to the field, and allow the First Consul to fight
+another battle and turn a defeat into a victory.
+
+But though Napoleon gave him his due share of the glory of Marengo, and
+mentioned him first in despatches and presented him with a sword of
+honour, he yet remembered his former hostility, and, while constantly
+employing him, took care to keep him as much as possible out of France.
+So for two years after Marengo General Victor held the post of
+commander-in-chief in the Army of Holland. Then in 1802 he was appointed
+Captain-General of Louisiana. But fortune here defeated the First
+Consul's intentions, and the expedition to America never sailed. Victor
+was sent back to his post in Holland, and kept there till February,
+1805, when he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary at the Danish
+court.
+
+During these years it was clear to everybody that he was in disgrace,
+and it was due to the boldness of his friend, Marshal Lannes, that he
+was recalled to active service and once again given a chance of
+distinguishing himself. In September, 1806, owing to the promotion of
+his chief staff officer, Lannes had to find a new chief of the staff for
+his corps, and he applied to the Emperor to be allowed to appoint
+General Victor. Napoleon hesitated for a moment, then, mindful of the
+number of troops under arms, and the necessity of employing really
+efficient officers on the staff, he acquiesced in the Marshal's choice,
+saying, "He is a really sound man and one in whom I have complete
+confidence, and I will give him proof of this when the occasion
+arrives." Jena and Pultusk added to the general's distinguished record,
+and the Emperor began to treat him once again with favour, and in
+January, 1807, entrusted him with the new tenth corps of the Grand Army.
+Soon after he had taken over his new command he had the bad luck to be
+captured by a patrol of the enemy while driving with a single
+aide-de-camp near Stettin. Luckily for him he had by now completely won
+back the goodwill of the Emperor. Napoleon at once set about to effect
+his exchange, and in a few days he was back again with his corps. At the
+beginning of June, when Bernadotte fell ill, the Emperor summoned him to
+the front to take command of the first corps, and it was in this
+capacity that he was present at the battle of Friedland, and in that
+terrible struggle he won his baton. Rewards now came speedily, for after
+Tilsit he was entrusted with the government of Prussia, and in 1808
+created Duke of Belluno.
+
+From Prussia the Marshal was summoned, in the autumn of 1808, to take
+command of the first corps of the Army of Spain, and for the next three
+years he saw continuous service in the Peninsula. During the first few
+months of his career there fortune smiled upon him. At Espinosa he dealt
+General Blake a smashing blow; later he led the van of the army under
+Napoleon in the march on Madrid, and forced the enemy's entrenched
+position in the pass of the Somosierra by a charge of his Polish
+lancers. From Madrid he was despatched to the south to keep the enemy at
+some distance from the capital, and at Ulces and Medellin he proved that
+the Spanish generals were no match for him and his seasoned troops. But
+unfortunately he smirched the fame of these victories by the licence he
+permitted his soldiers: at Ulces he allowed the town to be sacked, and
+executed sixty-nine of the most prominent of the citizens, including
+some monks, while he ordered all prisoners who were unable to march to
+be shot. At Medellin the French bayoneted the Spanish wounded. Further,
+like many another commander, he did not scruple to make the most of his
+successes in his reports, and the Spaniards assert that he eked out his
+trophies by taking down the old battle-flags of the knights of Santiago
+from the church of Ulces. After Medellin his successes ended. Placed
+under the command of Joseph and Jourdan, whom he despised; in great
+straits to feed his army in a country which was really a wilderness;
+worried by constant contradictory orders, it was in no pleasant mood
+that he at last found himself under the personal command of King Joseph
+at Talavera. Anxious to maintain his independence and to show off his
+military skill, he attempted by himself to surprise the English wing of
+the allied army. Consequently he committed King Joseph and Jourdan to an
+action which they did not wish to fight, and by refusing to co-operate
+with the other corps commanders he brought defeat upon the French army,
+for, as Napoleon wrote to Joseph, "As long as you attack good troops,
+like the English, in good positions, without reconnoitring them, you
+will lead your men to death 'en pure perte.'"
+
+After Talavera Victor's independent career came to an end; he was placed
+under the orders of Marshal Soult and sent to besiege Cadiz, before
+which place he lay till he was summoned to take part in the Russian
+campaign. But before leaving Cadiz he fought one more action against the
+British when General Graham seized the opportunity of Soult's absence to
+attempt to break up the siege; and he had once again to acknowledge
+defeat, when at Barossa the little column of four thousand British
+turned at bay and boldly attacked and defeated nine thousand chosen
+French infantry under the Marshal himself.
+
+In Russia the Duke of Belluno was saved some of the greatest hardships,
+for his corps was on the line of communication, and it was not till the
+day before the battle of the Beresina that he actually joined the
+retreating army, in time to earn further glory by covering the passage
+of the river, though at the cost of more than half his corps. During
+1813 he fought at Dresden and at Leipzig, and at the commencement of
+1814 was entrusted with the defence of the Vosges; but he soon had to
+fall back on the Marne. At Saint Dizier and Brienne he bore himself
+bravely, but at Montereau he fell into disgrace; he neglected to hold
+the bridge on the Seine, and thus completely spoiled Napoleon's
+combination. The Emperor was furious, and deprived him of the command of
+his corps and told him to leave the army. But the Marshal refused to go.
+"I will shoulder my musket," said he; "Victor has not forgotten his old
+occupation. I will take my place in the Guard." At such devotion the
+Emperor relented. "Well, Victor," he said, stretching out his hand,
+"remain with us. I cannot restore to you your corps, which I have
+bestowed on Girard; but I give you two divisions of the Guard." However,
+the Marshal did not long occupy his new position, for he was severely
+wounded at Craonne and forced to go home.
+
+On Napoleon's abdication the Duke of Belluno swore allegiance to the
+Bourbons and kept it, for, on the return of Napoleon from Elba, he
+withdrew to Ghent with Louis XVIII. On the second Restoration he was
+created a peer of France and nominated one of the four major-generals of
+the Royal Guard. Though never an imperialist, and at heart a republican,
+it was Napoleon's treatment of him at Montereau which recalled the old
+grievance of his disgrace in 1800 and turned him into a royalist. The
+Marshal earned the undying hatred of many of his old comrades by the
+severity he displayed when "charged with examining the conduct of
+officers of all grades who had served under the usurpation." But, though
+steadfast in his adherence to the monarchy, the Duke of Belluno still
+clung to his liberal ideals, and it was for this reason that in 1821
+Villele invited him to join the Cabinet as Minister for War. It was a
+strange position for the ex-sergeant of artillery, but he filled it
+admirably, and brought considerable strength to the Ministry, in that as
+a soldier of fortune, a self-made man, he conciliated the Liberals, and
+as a resolute character, a firm royalist, and a man of intrepidity and
+honour, he had the confidence and esteem of the Conservative party. It
+was during his term of office that a French army once again invaded
+Spain, and thanks in no small degree to his knowledge of the country
+and to his business capacity that it suffered no reverse. When the
+Bourbon dynasty fell in July, 1830, the Duke of Belluno took the oath of
+allegiance to the new Government, but never again entered public life,
+and on March 1, 1841, he died in Paris at the age of seventy-seven.
+
+
+
+
+XX
+
+EMMANUEL DE GROUCHY, MARSHAL
+
+
+When the Revolution broke out in 1789 the young Count Emmanuel de
+Grouchy was serving as lieutenant-colonel in the Scotch company of the
+Gardes du Corps. Born on October 23, 1766, the only son of the Marquis
+de Grouchy, the representative of an old Norman family which could trace
+its descent from before the days of William the Conqueror, Emmanuel de
+Grouchy had entered the army at the age of fourteen. After a year's
+service in the marine artillery he had been transferred to a cavalry
+regiment of the line, and on his twentieth birthday had been selected
+for the Gardes du Corps. A keen student of military history and devoted
+to his profession, the young Count had read widely and thought much.
+Impressionable and enthusiastic, a philosophical liberal by nature, he
+eagerly absorbed the teaching of the Encyclopedists. As events
+developed, he found that his position in the Gardes du Corps was
+antagonistic to his principles, and, at his own request, at the end of
+1791 he was transferred to the twelfth regiment of chasseurs as
+lieutenant-colonel commanding. After a few months' service with this
+regiment he was promoted brigadier-general, and served successively
+under General Montesquieu with the Army of the Midi, and under
+Kellermann with the Army of the Alps. At the commencement of 1793, while
+on leave in Normandy, he was hurriedly despatched to the west to take
+part in the civil war in La Vendee. No longer Comte de Grouchy but plain
+Citizen-general Grouchy, for the next three years he saw almost
+continuous service in the civil war, with the exception of a few months
+when, like all ci-devant nobles, he was dismissed the service by the
+decree of the incompetent Bouchotte. But Clanclaux, who commanded the
+Army of La Vendee, had found in him a most useful subordinate and a
+sound adviser; and accordingly, at his instance, the ci-devant noble was
+restored to his rank, and sent back as chief of the staff to the Army of
+the West, and in April, 1795, promoted general of division.
+Clear-headed, firmly convinced of the soundness of his opinions, without
+being bigoted or revengeful, Grouchy saw that the cruel methods of many
+of the generals did more to continue the war than the political tenets
+of the Vendeens and Chouans, and he used his influence with Clanclaux,
+and later with Hoche, to restrain useless reprisals and crush the
+rebellion by overwhelming the armed forces of the rebels, not by
+insulting women and shooting prisoners. The problem to be solved was a
+difficult one, as he pointed out in a memoir written for Clanclaux. "It
+is the population of the entire country which is on your hands, a
+population which suddenly rushes together to fight, if it is strong
+enough to crush you; which hurls itself against your flanks and rear,
+and then as suddenly disappears, when not strong enough to resist you."
+His solution of the difficulty was to wear down resistance by light
+mobile columns, and to starve the enemy out by devastating the country.
+In September, 1795, on Clanclaux's retirement, the Commissioners
+attached to the Army of the West wished to invest Grouchy with the
+command, but the general refused the post; for, clear counsellor and
+good adviser as he was, he lacked self-confidence, and knew that he was
+not fit for the position. It was this horror of undertaking
+responsibility which dragged him down during all his career, and which,
+on the two occasions when fortune gave him his chance to rise, made him
+choose the safe but inglorious road of humdrum mediocrity. In 1796 came
+his first chance: after a brief period of service with the Army of the
+North in Holland he was once again at his old work under Hoche in the
+west, when the Directory determined to try to retaliate for the English
+participation in the Chouan revolt by raising a hornet's nest in
+Ireland. At the end of December a force of fifteen thousand men under
+Hoche, with Grouchy as second in command, set sail for Ireland.
+Unfortunately the expedition met with bad weather, the ship on which
+Hoche sailed got separated from the rest of the fleet, and, when Grouchy
+arrived at the rendezvous in Bantry Bay, he found the greater part of
+the expedition, but no general-in-chief. In spite of this he rightly
+determined to effect a landing, but had not the necessary force of
+character to ensure his orders being carried out, and after six days'
+procrastination Admiral Bouvet, pleading heavy weather, refused to allow
+his ships to remain off the coast, and the expedition returned to
+France. If Grouchy had been able to get his orders obeyed, all would
+have been well, for on the very day after his squadron left Bantry Bay,
+Hoche himself arrived at the rendezvous. As Grouchy said, if he had only
+flung that ---- Admiral Bouvet into the sea all would have been right.
+Where Grouchy hesitated and failed a Napoleon would have acted and
+conquered.
+
+[Illustration: EMMANUEL DE GROUCHY, MARQUIS
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY ROUILLARD]
+
+Hoche died, and Grouchy, who under his influence had disapproved of the
+policy of France towards the Italian States, at once accepted employment
+in Italy. He soon had to rue his decision, for he found himself
+entrusted with the task of using underhand means to drive the King of
+Sardinia from his country. Still, he obeyed his orders to the letter.
+During negotiations he secretly introduced French troops into the
+citadel at Turin and then seized the fortresses of Novara, Alessandria,
+and Chiasso. Meanwhile he terrified the unfortunate monarch by
+announcing the arrival of imaginary columns of troops, suborned the
+King's Council, and so worked on the feelings of the bewildered
+sovereign that he escaped by night from his palace and fled across the
+sea. But though their King had deserted them, the Piedmontese did not
+tamely submit, and for the next few months the general was busy tracking
+out and capturing the numerous members of the secret societies who were
+avenging their country by cutting the throats of Frenchmen. While
+striking with a heavy hand at these conspirators, Grouchy was
+level-headed enough to understand that the proper method of tackling the
+problem was to remove the grievance. In his opinion it was not the
+people so much as the Church which was opposed to the French, and
+accordingly he did his best to get Joubert to issue a proclamation that
+there should be no interference with religion. Still, the situation must
+have been galling to a man of culture and a theoretical liberal, for,
+while forcing democratic institutions on an unwilling people, he had at
+the same time to strip their capital of all objects of art; and while
+issuing proclamations for the freedom of religion he had to arrange for
+the passage of the Pope on his way to captivity. In May, 1799, the
+general was recalled from his governorship of Turin, for the Austrians
+and Russians were invading Lombardy and Joubert was concentrating his
+forces. The campaign, as far as Grouchy was concerned, was short, for
+while attempting to stem the flight of the left wing after the battle of
+Novi he was ridden over and captured by the Allies. Four sabre cuts, one
+bullet wound, and several bayonet thrusts kept him in hospital for some
+time; when he was well enough to be moved he was sent to Graetz, and it
+was not till a year later--in June, 1800--that his exchange was
+effected. But he soon had his revenge on the Austrians, for in the
+autumn he was despatched to join the army under Moreau, which was
+operating on the Danube, and arrived at headquarters in time to take
+part in the battle of Hohenlinden. In the face of a blinding snowstorm
+Grouchy's division drove back the main column of the enemy, and after
+hours of murderous hand-to-hand fighting in the forest, he shared with
+Ney the honour of the last charge which drove the enemy in hopeless
+rout.
+
+It was on his return from Hohenlinden that the ex-Count met Bonaparte.
+The First Consul, who aimed at conciliating the old nobility, made much
+of him, employed him on a confidential mission to Italy, and nominated
+him inspector-general of cavalry. This post admirably suited Grouchy,
+who was a horseman by nature and a cavalry soldier by instinct. Later,
+on the formation of the Army of the Ocean, he was appointed to the
+command of an infantry division in Marmont's corps in Holland, and it
+was with Marmont that he made the campaign of 1805. In October, 1806, he
+was summoned from Italy to a more important command. The Grand Army was
+advancing on Prussia, and Napoleon had need of capable leaders to
+command his vast masses of cavalry. Grouchy was entrusted with the
+second division of dragoons of the cavalry corps under Murat and played
+a prominent part in the battle of Prinzlow and the pursuit to Luebeck. At
+Eylau he had a narrow escape: his charger was killed in the middle of
+the melee and he was only saved by the devotion of his aide-de-camp;
+though much shaken, he was able to resume command of his division, and
+distinguished himself by his fierce charges in the blinding snow. At
+Friedland a chance occurred for which his capacity proved fully equal.
+Murat was absent at Koenigsberg trying to get across the enemy's rear,
+and Grouchy was in command of all the reserve cavalry at the moment the
+advance guard interrupted the Russian retreat. It was his admirable
+handling of the cavalry under Lannes's directions which held the
+Russians in check for sixteen hours, until Napoleon was able to
+concentrate his divisions and give the Russians the coup-de-grace. The
+Emperor showed his gratitude by presenting the general with the Grand
+Cross of Baden, investing him with the Cordon of the Legion of Honour,
+and granting him the domain of Nowawies, in the department of Posen.
+
+The following year, 1808, saw Grouchy, now a Count of the Empire, with
+Murat in Spain, acting as governor of Madrid. But when, in the autumn,
+Joseph evacuated all the western provinces, Grouchy, whose health had
+been much shaken by the Polish campaign, was granted leave of absence
+and took care not to be sent back, for he had seen enough of the Spanish
+to foresee the terrible difficulties of guerilla warfare; moreover, the
+annexation of the country was contrary to his ideas of political
+justice. When the war with Austria was imminent Napoleon sent him to
+Italy to command the cavalry of the viceroy's army. With Prince Eugene
+he fought through Styria and Carinthia and distinguished himself greatly
+at the battle of Raab. At Wagram his cavalry was attached to Davout's
+corps, and his fierce charges, which helped to break the Austrian left,
+brought him again under the notice of the Emperor, who showed his
+appreciation by appointing him colonel-general of chasseurs.
+
+In 1812 the Count was summoned once again to the field, to command the
+third corps of reserve cavalry with the Grand Army in Russia. At Moskowa
+his cuirassiers, sabre in hand, drove the Russians out of the great
+redoubt, but Grouchy himself was seriously wounded. During the retreat
+from Moscow he commanded one of the "Sacred Bands" of officers who
+personally guarded the Emperor, but his health, never good, completely
+broke down under the strain and he was allowed to return straight home
+from Vilna. A year elapsed before he had sufficiently recovered to take
+the field, and it was not till the beginning of 1814 that he was fit for
+service. During the campaign in France, first under Victor and later
+with Marmont, he commanded the remnant of the reserve cavalry; but on
+March 7th at Craonne he was once again so badly wounded that he had to
+throw up his command.
+
+During the Restoration Grouchy remained at his home; his relations with
+the Bourbons were not cordial, and he bitterly resented the loss of his
+title of colonel-general of chasseurs. Accordingly, when Napoleon
+returned from Elba and France seemed to welcome him with open arms, in
+spite of having accepted the Cross of St. Louis, he had no scruple in
+answering the Emperor's summons. He was entrusted with the operations
+against the Duc d'Angouleme round Lyons, but disliked the task, for he
+remembered the fate of the Duc d'Enghien, and in spite of Napoleon's
+protests that he only desired to capture the Duke in order to make the
+Austrians send back the Empress, Grouchy determined that, if possible,
+while doing everything to defeat the royalists, he would not capture
+d'Angouleme. Unfortunately, the Duke refused the opportunity to escape
+which was offered him, and Grouchy had to make him a prisoner. However,
+Napoleon, anxious to stand well with the Powers of Europe, at once
+ordered him to be set free. At the same time he sent Grouchy to command
+the Army of the Alps, giving him his Marshal's baton. The new Marshal
+was delighted with his promotion; he had now served for twenty years as
+general of division, and although only forty-nine, had practically given
+up all hope of promotion. But scarcely had he reached his new command
+when he was recalled to Paris.
+
+With Murat in disgrace and Bessieres dead, the Emperor had no great
+cavalry leader on whom he could rely, and, remembering the new Marshal's
+exploits at Friedland and Wagram, and his staunchness in 1814, he
+determined to entrust him with the command of the reserve cavalry.
+Unfortunately for Napoleon and Grouchy, the exigencies of the campaign
+forced the Emperor to divide his army; so, while entrusting Ney with a
+part of his troops, with orders to pursue the English, and keeping the
+Guard and reserves under his immediate control, he gave Grouchy the
+command of two corps of infantry and one of cavalry; in all, some
+thirty-three thousand men. The appointment was an unfortunate one, for
+the Marshal, though in many respects a good cavalry leader, had never
+before had the command of a large body of mixed troops, and even his
+cavalry successes had been obtained when under the orders of a superior:
+at Friedland he was under Lannes; at Wagram under Davout; at Moskowa
+under Eugene; and in 1814 under either Victor or Marmont. But what was
+most unfortunate about the selection was that Grouchy had not enough
+personal authority to enforce his orders on his corps commanders, and
+the fiery Vandamme not only despised but hated him because he had
+received the baton which he hoped was to have been his, while Girard was
+a personal enemy. At Ligny, where Napoleon himself supervised the
+attack, all went well, but from the moment fighting ceased difficulties
+began. Immediately after the battle the Emperor entrusted the Marshal
+with the pursuit of the Prussians, but Pajol, who commanded his light
+cavalry, carried out his reconnaissance in a perfunctory manner, and
+reported that the Prussians had retreated towards Namur. Grouchy
+received this news at 4 a.m. on June 17th, but he did not dare to
+disturb the Emperor's rest, and it was 8 a.m. before he could see him
+and demand detailed orders. Napoleon, trusting to Pajol's report,
+thought that the Prussians were absolutely demoralised and were leaving
+the theatre of war, and so he kept the Marshal talking about Paris and
+politics till 11 a.m. Consequently it was 11.30 before he received exact
+orders, penned by Bertrand, which told him to proceed to Gembloux,
+keeping his forces concentrated; to reconnoitre the different roads
+leading to Namur and Maestricht, and to inform the Emperor of the
+Prussians' intentions, adding, "It is important to know what Bluecher and
+Wellington mean to do, and whether they prefer to unite their armies in
+order to cover Brussels and Liege, by trying their fortunes in another
+battle." Bad staff directions and heavy rains retarded the advance, and
+it took six hours for the troops to cover the nine miles to Gembloux,
+where at eight in the evening Grouchy heard that part of the Prussians
+had fallen back on Wavre, which meant that they might still unite with
+the English to cover Brussels. He at once reported this to the Emperor,
+adding that Bluecher had retired on Liege and the artillery on Namur.
+But, in spite of the fact that on the evening of the seventeenth
+Napoleon knew that this was a mistake, and that the Prussians were
+actually massed round Wavre, it was not till 10 a.m. on the morning of
+Waterloo that he sent to the Marshal informing him of the Prussians'
+concentration, and telling him that "he must therefore move thither
+(_i.e._, to Wavre) in order to approach us, and to push before him any
+Prussians who may have stopped at Wavre." This was the exact course
+which Grouchy had determined to pursue. It is therefore quite clear that
+neither the Emperor nor the Marshal had dreamed that Bluecher would
+attempt to give any assistance to the English in their position at
+Waterloo. At 11 a.m., when his columns were just approaching Wavre, the
+Marshal heard the commencement of the cannonade at Waterloo. Girard
+entreated him to march to the sound of the cannon, but Grouchy had what
+he considered distinct orders to pursue the Prussians; he was now in
+touch with them, and with a force of thirty-three thousand men he did
+not dare to make a flank march in the face of what, he was becoming
+convinced, was the whole Prussian army. At 5 p.m. he received Napoleon's
+despatch, hastily written at 1 p.m., ordering him to turn westward and
+crush the Prussian corps which was marching on the Emperor's right rear,
+but by then his main force was heavily engaged at Wavre, and even if he
+had been able to despatch part of his force it could not have arrived at
+Mont St. Jean till long after the end of the battle.
+
+On the morning of the nineteenth the Marshal was preparing to pursue
+Thielmann's corps, which, on the previous evening, he had driven from
+Wavre, when he heard of the catastrophe at Waterloo. He immediately
+stopped the pursuit, and, by rapid marching, reached Namur before the
+Allies could cut him off, and, by a skilful retreat, brought back his
+thirty-three thousand men to Paris before the enemy arrived at the
+gates. But instead of the thanks he had expected he found himself
+saddled with the blame of the loss of Waterloo. The disaster, however,
+clearly rested on the Emperor, whose orders were vague, and who had not
+realised the extraordinary moral courage of Bluecher and the stubbornness
+of the Prussians, and if Napoleon did not foresee this he could not
+blame Grouchy for being equally blind. The Marshal did all that a
+mediocre man could do. He carefully carried out the orders given him,
+trusting, no doubt, too much to the letter, too little to the spirit.
+But long years spent in a subordinate position under a military
+hierarchy like that of the Empire were bound to stifle all initiative,
+and it was not to be supposed that the man who, twenty years earlier,
+had failed to rise to the occasion in Ireland would, after at last
+gaining his Marshal's baton, risk his reputation by marching, like
+Desaix at Marengo, to the sound of the guns, across the front of an
+enemy vastly superior to himself, through a difficult country partially
+waterlogged and intercepted by deep broad streams, contrary to what
+seemed his definite orders.
+
+The Marshal's career really ended on the abdication of the Emperor,
+though he was appointed by the Provisional Government to the command of
+the remains of the Army of the North, and in this capacity proclaimed
+the Emperor's son as Napoleon II. On gaining Paris he found himself
+subordinate to Davout, an old enemy. Accordingly he threw up his command
+and retired into private life. After his conduct during the Hundred Days
+he could expect no mercy from the returned Bourbons, and was glad to
+escape abroad. Included in the general pardon, he returned to France in
+1818, but his marshalate was annulled, and he never regained his baton,
+though on the accession of Charles X. he was actually received at court.
+But though the King might forgive, his favourites and ministers could
+not forget, and in December, 1824, he was included among the fifty
+generals of Napoleon who were placed on the retired list, an action
+which General Foy shrewdly remarked was "a cannon-shot charged at
+Waterloo, fired ten years after the battle, and pointed direct at its
+mark." Like many another of the Marshals, the veteran retained his
+health and faculties for many years, and defended his character and
+actions and criticised his enemies with the same clear logic which had
+so powerfully contributed to his early advancement; for the ex-Marshal
+wielded the pen as easily as the sword. It was not till 1847 that death
+carried off the sturdy old warrior at the age of eighty-one.
+
+
+
+
+XXI
+
+FRANCOIS CHRISTOPHE KELLERMANN, MARSHAL, DUKE OF VALMY
+
+
+When old institutions suddenly collapse with a crash; when all is
+confusion and chaos, and the lines of reconstruction are as yet veiled
+in uncertainty; when people suspect their old rulers and are shy of
+those who would set themselves up as their new directors, there comes an
+interval before genius and wile can organise their forces, when
+character, and character alone can shepherd the people scattered like
+sheep on the mountains. Such was the case in France in September, 1792.
+The old constitution had foundered, sweeping away in its ruin the order
+and discipline of the royal army. The officers had either fled or been
+deposed by their men, and such few as remained were held "suspect." The
+new officers, chosen by their fellows, had but little authority. The
+staff of the army was changed weekly to suit the whim of some civil or
+military self-seeker, at a time when France was at war with the great
+military powers of Europe. It was little wonder, therefore, that the
+Prussians and Austrians looked forward to the campaign of 1792 as a
+military promenade. They knew better even than the War Minister at Paris
+how debauched were the regular troops of France, how unreliable and
+contemptible were the few thousand old men and boys who rejoiced in the
+name of volunteers, and they never for a moment believed that the
+French generals would be able to force their men to stand and fight. But
+they had calculated wrongly. They had not learned that in war a man is
+everything; they had not grasped how deeply the spirit of discipline had
+been engrained in the old royal army. Fortunately for France she had two
+men of character to fall back upon; and aided by their example, on
+September 20th the regulars of France stood firm before the famous
+Prussian army. The two men were Dumouriez and Kellermann. Dumouriez had
+brains and character, Kellermann character and stolid imperturbability.
+
+Descended from an old Saxon family long domiciled in Alsace, Francois
+Christophe Kellermann was born at Strasburg on May 28, 1735. Entering
+the French army at the age of fifteen, he fought his way up step by step
+by sheer hard work and merit. Winning the Cross of St. Louis for
+distinguished cavalry work in the Seven Years' War, he was sent in 1766
+on a mission to Poland and Russia, on the strength of which he was lent
+by the French Government to help the Confederates of Bar to organise
+their irregular cavalry. Returning to France, he slowly gained
+promotion, and in 1788 became major-general and was promoted
+lieutenant-general in March, 1792, mainly owing to his warm adoption of
+the revolutionary principles. Kellermann had not the gifts of a great
+commander, but he had what is sometimes better, the confidence of his
+men. He was notorious for his hatred of the old regime and had a high
+reputation as a cavalry commander: added to this, the firm belief he had
+in himself served to inspire confidence in others. Independent by
+nature, ambitious, cantankerous, jealous and conceited, Kellermann had
+not found his life in the army any too pleasant. Save in war time merit
+gained little reward; promotion came neither from the east nor the west,
+but from court favouritism. It thus happened that the rough Alsatian had
+always found himself subordinate to men who were really his inferiors,
+but who despised his want of culture and his provincial accent; for
+Kellermann knew no grammar, spoke through his nose and spelt as he
+spoke, even writing "debute" for "depute." It was thanks to the
+friendship of Servan, the War Minister, that on August 25th he was
+summoned from the small column he had been commanding on the Lauter to
+succeed Luckner in command of the Army of the Centre. When he arrived at
+his new headquarters at Metz he found a woeful state of affairs. The
+Prussians and Austrians were sweeping everything before them, and at
+Metz he found a fortress without stores and an army without discipline.
+Luckily he had the advantage of Berthier, a staff officer of the highest
+order, Napoleon's future chief of the staff. The soldiers welcomed
+Kellermann, "this brave general whose patriotism equals his talents,"
+and whose civism was praised throughout all Alsace. Organisation was his
+first work, and his former experience of irregular warfare in Poland
+stood him in good stead. He immediately sent home the battalions of the
+volunteers of 1792, who were arriving without arms and in rags. He
+retained a few picked men from each battalion, to be used as light
+troops and pioneers. After weeding out undesirables and drafting
+reinforcements into his most reliable regiments, in three weeks he
+evolved a force of twenty thousand men capable of taking the field.
+While thus engaged he was ordered to join Dumouriez, who had been
+holding the Prussians in check at the defiles of the Argonne. On the
+evening of September 19th Kellermann effected his junction with
+Dumouriez near St. Menehould, and was attacked early next morning by the
+enemy under the Duke of Brunswick. The morning was wet and foggy, and
+the Prussians surprised the French and cut them off from the road to
+Paris. But instead of driving home their attack they thought to frighten
+them by a mere cannonade. Luckily the artillery was the least
+demoralised part of the French army, and under the able command of
+d'Abbeville, it not only replied to the Prussian guns, but played with
+great effect on the infantry, when at last Brunswick ordered an attack.
+Kellermann meanwhile sat on his horse in front of his infantry, and by
+his example and sangfroid managed to keep them in the ranks, though they
+were really so unsteady that when an ammunition wagon blew up, three
+regiments of infantry and the whole of the ammunition column fled in
+disorder from the field. But Kellermann galloped up in time to prevent
+the panic spreading. Meanwhile Dumouriez had hastened up reinforcements
+to secure Kellermann's flanks, and the Duke of Brunswick, seeing the
+French standing firm, and not being sure of his own men, refused to
+allow the attack to be pressed home. Such was the cannonade of Valmy;
+the Prussians had thirty-four thousand men engaged, and lost one hundred
+and eighty-four men; the French had thirty-six thousand engaged out of a
+total of fifty-two thousand, and lost three hundred, and the greater
+proportion of this loss was due to Kellermann's bad tactics in massing
+his infantry close behind his guns.
+
+[Illustration: FRANCOIS CHRISTOPHE KELLERMANN, DUKE OF VALMY
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY ANSIAUX]
+
+Still, Valmy was one of the most important battles in the world's
+history, for it taught Europe that France still existed as a political
+unit, and it allowed her to effect her regeneration in her own way.
+Neither Kellermann nor Dumouriez at first understood what they had done.
+Dumouriez drew off his army to a better position to await events. But
+Valmy had restored the morale of the French and broken that of the
+Prussians, whom disease and bad weather further affected, and soon
+Brunswick was glad to negotiate and retreat to the Rhine. Kellermann's
+share in the great event is easily determined. He had most unwillingly
+joined Dumouriez, he had allowed himself to be surprised in the morning,
+and his tactics were so bad that his men suffered heavier loss than was
+necessary; but though it was Dumouriez who made good the tactical
+mistake and covered Kellermann's flanks, and d'Abbeville whose
+artillery caused the infantry attack to miscarry, it was Kellermann's
+reputation and example which kept the really demoralised infantry in
+line, and prevented them from running in terror from the field. It was
+the sight of the old Alsatian quietly getting on a fresh horse when his
+former one was killed, caring nothing though one of his coat-tails was
+carried off by a round shot, which breathed new life and courage into
+the masses of waiting men, and taught them to cry out, "Vive la nation!
+Vive la France! Vive notre general!" So, though men might smile when
+they heard the old boaster talking of "My victory," yet in their hearts
+they knew he had done much to save France.
+
+While the Prussians retreated Kellermann was entrusted by Dumouriez with
+the pursuit; on his return to Paris his boasting habits brought him into
+trouble. The Terrorists, hearing him constantly talking of "My men," "My
+army," were afraid he was getting too powerful and he very nearly came
+to the scaffold. Restored to favour, he was employed with the Army of
+the Alps and the Army of Italy in 1794 and 1795, where he gained some
+success, although his plans were constantly interfered with by the
+Committee of Public Safety. In 1796 the Army of the Alps was made
+subordinate to the Army of Italy under Bonaparte, and the Directory
+wanted to associate Kellermann with Bonaparte, but the future conqueror
+of Italy would brook no equal, especially a cantankerous boaster. So he
+wrote to Carnot, "If you join Kellermann and me in command in Italy, you
+will undo everything. General Kellermann has more experience than I, and
+knows how to make war better than I do; but both together we shall make
+it badly. I will not willingly serve with a man who considers himself
+the first general in Europe." When, however, Bonaparte came to power he
+did not forget the old Alsatian: in 1800 he made him one of his
+Senators, and in 1804 he created him a Marshal, though not in the active
+list. But exigencies of warfare demanded that France should use all her
+talents, and in every campaign the Emperor entrusted the old warrior
+with the command of the Army of the Reserve. Sometimes on the Rhine,
+sometimes on the Elbe, sometimes in Spain, the old soldier taught the
+recruits of the Grand Army how to keep themselves and their muskets
+clean; and, in spite of age and infirmities, showed those talents of
+organisation which he had learned in Poland and earlier still in the
+Seven Years' War. In 1808, when creating his new nobility, the Emperor
+cleverly conciliated the republican party by creating the Marshal Duke
+of Valmy, and presenting him with a splendid domain at Johannisberg, in
+Germany. But when the end came in 1814, the Duke of Valmy, like the
+other Marshals, quietly accepted the Restoration, and the veteran
+republican, now in his eightieth year, was created a peer of France and
+accepted the command of the third military division. During the Hundred
+Days he held no command, and on the Restoration he retired into private
+life, and died at Paris on September 23, 1820. His body was buried in
+Paris, but his heart, according to his directions, was taken to Valmy
+and interred beside the remains of those who had fallen there, and a
+simple monument was placed over the spot with the following lines,
+written by the Marshal himself: "Here lie the soldiers who gloriously
+died, and who saved France, on September 20, 1792. Marshal Kellermann,
+the Duke of Valmy, the soldier who had the honour to command them on
+that memorable day, twenty-eight years later, making his last request,
+desired that his heart should be placed among them."
+
+
+
+
+XXII
+
+FRANCOIS JOSEPH LEFEBVRE, MARSHAL, DUKE OF DANTZIG
+
+
+Francois Joseph Lefebvre, Marshal and peer of France, is best known to
+the ordinary reader as the husband of that Duchess of Dantzig who has
+been so unjustly caricatured in Monsieur Sardou's celebrated play as
+Madame Sans Gene. Accordingly, the record of this hard-fighting soldier
+of the Empire has been cruelly buried in ridicule. The son of an old
+private soldier of the hussars of Bercheny, who became in later life the
+wachtmeister of the little Alsatian town of Rouffach, Francois Joseph
+was born October 26, 1755. After his father's death he was entrusted, at
+the age of eight, to the care of his uncle, the Abbe Jean Christophe
+Lefebvre. The abbe destined his nephew for the Church, but nature had
+dowered him for the camp, and after a severe tussle with the good abbe,
+Jean Francois set out with a light heart, a light purse, a few sentences
+of Latin, a rough Alsatian accent, and a fine physique to seek his
+fortune in the celebrated Garde Francaise at Paris. The year 1789 found
+him with sixteen years' service, one of the best of the senior sergeants
+of the regiment, married since 1783 to Catherine Huebscher, also from
+Alsace, by profession a washerwoman, by nature a philanthropist.
+Washing, soldiering, and philanthropy being on the whole unremunerative
+occupations, the Lefebvres had to supplement their income, and Madame
+went out charring, while the sergeant taught Alsatian, which he called
+German, and occupied his spare moments in instructing his wife in
+reading and writing. But the Revolution suddenly changed their outlook.
+On September 1, 1789, Lefebvre was granted a commission as lieutenant in
+the newly enrolled National Guard as a recompense for the devotion shown
+to the officers when the Guards mutinied. Within the next two years he
+further showed his devotion to the lawful authorities, and was twice
+wounded while defending the royal family. But in spite of personal
+attachment to the Bourbons, the Prussian invasion turned him into a
+republican, and the Republic, as idealised by the warm-hearted warriors
+of the armies of the Sambre and Meuse and of the Rhine, became the idol
+of his heart. From the siege of Thionville, in 1792, till he was
+invalided in 1799, Lefebvre was on continuous active service. His
+extraordinary bravery, his knowledge of his profession, and his absolute
+devotion to his duty brought him quick promotion, for he became captain
+in June, 1792, lieutenant-colonel in September, 1793, brigadier two
+months later, and general of division on January 18, 1794. The stern
+battle of Fleurus in June, 1794, proved that the general of division was
+worthy of his rank, for it was his counter-attack in the evening which
+decided the fate of the day. The early years of the republican wars were
+times when personal bravery, audacity, and devotion worked marvels on
+the highly strung, enthusiastic republican troops, and Lefebvre had
+these necessary qualifications, while his Alsatian accent and
+kindheartedness won the devotion of his men. He was highly appreciated
+by his commander-in-chief, Jourdan, who, in his official report, stated
+"that the general added to the greatest bravery all the necessary
+knowledge of a good advance guard commander, maintaining in his troops
+the strictest discipline, working unceasingly to provide them with
+necessaries, and always manifesting the principles of a good
+republican." Unswerving devotion to duty--"I am a soldier, I must
+obey"--was the guiding principle of his career, and accordingly each
+commander he served under had nothing but praise for the thoroughness
+with which he did his work, from the enforcement of petty regulations to
+the covering of a defeated force. But in spite of this the ex-sergeant
+knew his worth and did not fear to claim his due. When Hoche, in his
+general order after the battle of Neuweid, stated that "the army had
+taken seven standards of colours," Lefebvre naively wrote to him, "It
+must be fourteen altogether, for I myself captured seven." But Hoche had
+both humour and tact, and made ample amends by replying, "There were
+only seven stands of colours as there is only one Lefebvre."
+
+By 1799 seven years' continuous fighting had begun to tell on a physique
+even as strong as Lefebvre's, and the general applied for lighter work
+as commander of the Directory Guard, and later, for sick leave; but the
+commencement of the campaign against the Archduke Charles, in the valley
+of the Danube, once again stimulated his indefatigable appetite for
+active service. Though suffering from scurvy and general overstrain, he
+took his share in the hard fighting at Feldkirche and Ostrach, but a
+severe wound received in the latter combat at last compelled him to
+leave the field and go into hospital.
+
+On his return to France he was entrusted by the Directory with the
+command of the 17th military district, with Paris as its headquarters.
+The task was a difficult one, as the numerous coups d'etat had shaken
+both public morality and military discipline. Among other
+unpleasantnesses the commander of Paris found himself on one occasion
+forced to place a general officer in the Abbaye, the civil prison, for
+flatly refusing to obey orders. But, difficult as his task was, the
+situation became much more complicated by the sudden return of Bonaparte
+from Egypt. Bonaparte arrived in Paris with the fixed determination to
+assume the reins of government. It was clear to so staunch a republican
+as Lefebvre that all was not well with the Republic under the Directory,
+and it seemed as if Bonaparte, shimmering in the glamour of Italy and
+Egypt, was the sole person capable of conciliating all parties and of
+bringing the state of chronic revolution to an end. Directly he met the
+famous Corsican the simple soldier fell an easy victim to his
+personality; while Bonaparte was quick to perceive what a great
+political asset it would be if Lefebvre, the republican of the
+republicans, the embodiment of the republican virtues, could be bound a
+satellite in his train. On the morning of the 18th Brumaire, the
+commander of the Paris Division was the first to arrive of all the
+generals whom the plotter had summoned to his house; he was puzzled to
+find that troops were moving without his orders, and he entered in
+considerable anger. Bonaparte at once explained the situation. The
+country was in danger, foes were knocking at the door, and meanwhile the
+Republic lay the prey of a pack of lawyers who were exploiting it for
+their own benefit without thought of patriotism. "Now then, Lefebvre,"
+said he, "you, one of the pillars of the Republic, are you going to let
+it perish in the hands of these lawyers? Join me in helping to save our
+beloved Republic. Look, here is the sword I carried in my hand at the
+battle of the Pyramids. I give it to you as a token of my esteem and of
+my confidence." Lefebvre could not resist this appeal; his warm and
+generous nature responded to the artful touch; grasping the treasured
+sword with tears in his eyes, he swore he was ready "to throw the
+lawyers in the river." With a sigh of relief Bonaparte put his arm
+through Lefebvre's and led him into his study, and for the next fourteen
+years he remained, as he thought, the confidential right-hand man of the
+great-hearted patriot, but in reality the tool, dupe, and stalking-horse
+of a wily adventurer.
+
+The general accompanied Napoleon to the Tuileries and listened to the
+carefully chosen words: "Citizens Representatives, the Republic is
+perishing; you know it well, and your decree can save it. A thousand
+misfortunes on all who desire trouble and disorder. I will oust them,
+aided by all the friends of liberty.... I will support liberty, aided by
+General Lefebvre and General Berthier, and my comrades in arms who share
+my feelings.... We wish a Republic founded on liberty, on equality, on
+the sound principles of national representation. We swear this: I swear
+this; I swear in my own name and in the name of my comrades in arms."
+Later in the day, during the struggle at the Orangerie, it was Lefebvre
+who saved Lucien Bonaparte and cleared the hall with the aid of some
+grenadiers.
+
+From the 18th Brumaire Napoleon, as First Consul, and later as Emperor,
+held in Lefebvre a trump card whereby he could defeat any attempted
+hostile combination of the republicans. Hence it was that, at the time
+of the proclamation of the Empire, he included him in his list of
+Marshals, to prove as it were that the Empire was merely another form of
+the Republic. Later still, for the same reason, when he was making his
+hierarchy stronger, he created him one of his new Dukes.
+
+The immediate reward for Lefebvre's support during the coup d'etat was a
+mission to the west to extinguish the civil war in La Vendee. The
+general was lucky in surprising a considerable force of rebels at
+Alencon, and soon fulfilled his work, and received the further reward of
+a seat as Senator, which brought in an income of 35,000 francs a year.
+When the list of Marshals was published he was bracketed with
+Kellermann, Perignon, and Serurier as "Marshals whose sphere of duty
+would lie in the Senate." As such, at the coronation of the Emperor in
+Notre Dame he held the sword of Charlemagne, while Kellermann carried
+the crown. Strong in his trust of him, Napoleon had, in 1803, created
+him Praetor of the Senate. But fortune did not destine that he should
+long enjoy his honours in peace. Thanks to his magnificent physique a
+few years of rest entirely restored his health. The wound, which in 1799
+had threatened to incapacitate him permanently, had completely healed,
+and in 1806 he once again found himself on active service. The Emperor
+knew well that the Marshal was a sergeant-major rather than a
+strategist, and accordingly placed him at the head of the Guard, where
+his powers of discipline could be utilised to the full without calling
+on him to solve any difficult problems. At Jena the Guard had plenty of
+hard fighting such as their commander loved. A few days later the
+Marshal proved that the Guard could march as well as fight, when, at
+nine o'clock on the evening of October 24th, the regiments marched into
+Potsdam after covering forty-two miles since the morning.
+
+Early in 1807 the Emperor entrusted the Marshal with the siege of
+Dantzig, a strong fortress near the mouth of the Vistula,
+well-garrisoned by a Prussian force of fourteen thousand under Marshal
+Kalkreuth. Lefebvre, conscious of his lack of engineering skill, was
+afraid of undertaking the task, but the Emperor promised to send him
+everything necessary, and to guide him himself to the camp of
+Finkenstein, and ultimately said goodbye to him with the words, "Take
+courage, you also must have something to speak about in the Senate when
+we return to France." The siege lasted fifty-one days, during which the
+Marshal took scarcely a moment's rest: ever in the trenches, heading
+every possible charge, calling out to the soldiers, "Come on, children,
+it's our turn to-day," or "Come on, comrades, I am also going to have a
+turn at fighting." Such treatment worked wonders with the fiery French,
+but the sluggish men of Baden, who formed a considerable part of his
+force, were not accustomed to be so hustled, and the Marshal's camp
+manners grated on the Prince of Baden, who considered "that the
+Marshal's staff was mostly composed of men of little culture, and that
+his son held the first place among those who had no manners." The
+Emperor had to write to his fiery lieutenant, "You treat our allies
+without any tact; they are not accustomed to fire, but that will come.
+Do you think that our men are as good now as in 1792--that we can be as
+keen to-day after fifteen years' war? Pay what compliments you can to
+the Prince of Baden ... you cannot throw down walls with the chests of
+your grenadiers ... let your engineers do their work and be patient....
+Your glory is to take Dantzig; when you have done that you will be
+content with me." It was hard for the Marshal to show patience, for he
+knew but one way to do a thing, and that was to go straight at it as
+hard as he could. As one of the privates said, "The Marshal is a brave
+man, only he takes us for horses." With Lannes and Mortier sent to
+reinforce him, it was still more difficult to show patience. But the end
+came, and on the fifty-first day of the siege Marshal Kalkreuth
+surrendered, and the two other Marshals had the generosity to allow
+Lefebvre to enjoy alone all the honours of the conquest.
+
+In the next year the Emperor had determined to strengthen his throne by
+the creation of a new nobility. It was important to see how Republican
+France would greet this scheme, and accordingly Napoleon determined to
+include Lefebvre among his new Dukes. One day the Emperor sent an
+orderly officer with orders to say to the Marshal, "Monsieur le Duc, the
+Emperor wishes you to breakfast with him, and asks you to come in a
+quarter of an hour." The Marshal did not hear the title and merely said
+he would attend. When he entered the breakfast-room the Emperor went up
+to him, shook hands with him, and said, "Good-morning, Monsieur le Duc;
+sit by me." The Marshal, hearing the title, thought he was joking. The
+Emperor, to further mystify him, said, "Do you like chocolate, Monsieur
+le Duc?" "Yes, sire," replied the Marshal, still mystified. Thereon the
+Emperor went to a drawer and took out a packet labelled chocolate; but
+when the Marshal opened the box he found it contained one hundred
+thousand ecus in bank notes. While in the army the new Duke was warmly
+congratulated on his honours, at Paris the smart ladies and Talleyrand
+did their best to annoy the Duchess. Numerous were the cruel tales they
+spread of her lack of breeding and of her Amazon ways; how, when the
+horses bolted with her carriage, she seized the coachman by the scruff
+of his neck and by main force pulled him off the seat and herself
+stopped the runaways. But, quite unmoved, the Duchess pursued her
+course, visiting the sick, giving away large sums to charities, lending
+a helping hand to any friend in difficulties, and as usual prefacing her
+remarks by "When I used to do the washing."
+
+When, in the autumn of 1808, Napoleon realised how serious was the
+Spanish rising, he despatched his Guard to the Peninsula under the Duke
+of Dantzig. But the war brought few honours to any one, and the Marshal
+proved once again that he could neither act independently nor assist in
+combinations with patience. He nearly spoiled Napoleon's whole plan of
+campaign by a premature move against Blake, prior to the battle of
+Espinosa. From Spain the Guard was hurriedly recalled on the outbreak of
+the Austrian campaign of 1809. The Marshal, in command of the Bavarian
+allies, did yeoman service under Napoleon's eye during the great Five
+Days' Fighting. He was present also at Wagram, and immediately after
+that battle was despatched to put down the rising in the Tyrol. During
+the Russian campaign he once again commanded the Guard, taking part in
+all the hard fighting of the advance and also in the horrors of the
+retreat. Though in his fifty-eighth year the tough old soldier marched
+on foot every mile of the way from Moscow to the Vistula, and shared the
+privations of his men, watching over his beloved Emperor, his little
+"tondu de caporal," with the care of a woman, himself mounting guard
+over him at night and surrounding him with picked men of the Guard. To
+add to the trials of that dreadful campaign the Duke lost at Vilna his
+eldest son, a most promising young soldier who had already reached the
+rank of general. This blow and the strain of the retreat were too much
+for him, and he was unable to assist the Emperor in the campaign of
+1813. But when the Allies invaded the sacred soil of France the old
+warrior put on harness again and fought at Montmirail, Arcis-sur-Aube
+and Champaubert, where he had his horse killed under him. At Montereau
+he fought with such fury that "the foam came out from his mouth."
+
+While the Marshal was spending his life-blood in the field, the Duchess
+in Paris was fighting the intrigues of the royalist ladies. When an
+insinuation was made that the Duke might be won over from the Emperor,
+the Duchess despatched a friend to the army commanding him "to return to
+the army and tell my husband that if he were capable of such infamy I
+should take him by the hair of his head and drag him to the Emperor's
+feet. Meanwhile, inform him of the intrigues going on here." On April
+4th the end came. The Marshals refused to fight any longer, and, after
+Napoleon's abdication, Lefebvre, with the others, went to Paris to treat
+with Alexander. The Emperor was gone, but France remained, and it was
+thanks to Kellermann and Lefebvre that Alsace was not wrested from her,
+for they so strongly impressed Alexander by their arguments that he
+decided to oppose the Prussians, who desired to strip France of her
+eastern provinces.
+
+The Marshal swore allegiance to the Bourbons and duly received the Cross
+of St. Louis and his nomination as peer of France. With the year's peace
+came time for reflection, and he began to see that "son petit bonhomme
+de Sire," as he called Napoleon, had merely used him as a political pawn
+in his endeavour to bind the republicans to the wheel of the imperial
+chariot. Accordingly, when the Emperor returned from Elba he was not
+among those who rushed to meet him. Still, although he had no personal
+interview with the Emperor during the Hundred Days, he so far
+compromised himself as to accept a seat in the Senate. For this conduct
+he was under a cloud for the first years of the second Restoration, but
+in 1819 he was pardoned and restored to his rank and office.
+
+From 1814 to the day of his death the Duke of Dantzig spent the greater
+part of his time at his estate at Combault, in the department of the
+Seine and Marne, dispensing that hospitality which he and his wife loved
+to shower on all who had met with misfortune, and many a poor soldier
+and half-pay officer owed his life and what prosperity he had to the
+generous charity of the Duke and Duchess of Dantzig. His death on
+September 14, 1820, two days after that of his old friend Kellermann,
+was due to dropsy, arising from rheumatic gout brought on by the strain
+of the Russian campaign.
+
+The greatness of the Duke of Dantzig lay not so much in his soldierly
+capacity as in his personal character. His military renown rested
+largely on his ability to carry out, without hesitation and jealousy,
+the commands of others. By his personality he was able to maintain the
+strictest discipline and exact the last ounce from his troops without
+raising a murmur. His men loved him, for they knew that he shared all
+their hardships and that his fingers were soiled with no perquisites or
+secret booty. It was no empty boast when he wrote to the Directory
+asking "bread for himself and rewards for his officers." Though raised
+to ducal rank he never lost his sense of proportion, and delighted to
+give his memories of "when I was sergeant" to his friends and to the
+officers of his staff. Still, he was intensely proud of his success,
+which he had won by years of hard work, and he knew how to put in their
+place those whose fame rested solely on the deeds of their ancestors,
+telling a young boaster, "Don't be so proud of your ancestors; I am an
+ancestor myself." Though he ever looked an "old Alsatian camp boy," even
+in his gorgeous ducal robes; though his manners were rough and he would
+not hesitate to refuse a lift to a lady to a review, with the words, "Go
+to blazes; we did not come here to take your wife out driving"--he was
+the true example of the best type of republican soldier, fiery, full of
+theatrical zeal, absolutely unselfish, and animated solely by love of
+France.
+
+
+
+
+XXIII
+
+NICOLAS CHARLES OUDINOT, MARSHAL, DUKE OF REGGIO
+
+
+Nicolas Charles Oudinot, the son of a brewer of Bar-le-Duc, was born on
+April 23, 1767. From his earliest days he showed that spirit of bravado
+which later distinguished him among the many brave men who attained the
+dignity of Marshal. Though kind-hearted and affectionate, his fiery
+character led him into much disobedience, and his turbulent nature
+caused many a sorrowful hour to his parents. Still it was with sore
+hearts that, despite their entreaties, they saw him march gaily off in
+1784 to enlist in the regiment of Medoc. But two years later he returned
+home, tired of garrison duty, and, greatly to his parents' delight,
+entered the trade. When, in 1789, the good people of Bar-le-Duc began to
+organise a company of the National Guard, young Oudinot was chosen as
+captain, and for the next two years threw himself heart and soul into
+politics, to the neglect of the brewery. But much as he approved of the
+spirit of the Revolution, he was no advocate of mob rule, and he used
+his company of citizen soldiers to put down all disturbances in the
+town. Later still, in 1794, when invalided home from the front, he used
+a short and sharp method with an enthusiastic supporter of the Terror;
+in his anger he seized a large dish of haricot and effectually stopped
+the praises of Hebert by hurling it in the Jacobin's face. In
+September, 1791, the call to arms summoned the fire-eating captain of
+the National Guard to sterner scenes. He at once entered the volunteers,
+and it was as a lieutenant-colonel of the third battalion of the Meuse
+that he set out on active service which was to last almost continuously
+for twenty-two years, and from which he was to emerge with the proud
+rank of Marshal, the title of Duke, and the honourable scars of no less
+than thirty-four wounds.
+
+[Illustration: NICOLAS CHARLES OUDINOT, DUKE OF REGGIO
+FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PAINTING BY ROBERT LE FEVRE]
+
+His campaigning began auspiciously with the action at Bitche, when, with
+his battalion of volunteers, he captured seven hundred Prussians and a
+standard. The hard fighting in the Rhine valley in 1793 added greatly to
+his reputation; but it was at Morlantier in June, 1794, that his gallant
+action made his name resound throughout the French armies. The division
+of General Ambert was attacked on both flanks. Oudinot with the second
+regiment of the line formed the advance guard, but, not perceiving the
+plight of the main body, he continued to advance. The enemy surrounded
+him with six regiments of cavalry. Forming square, he repulsed every
+assault, and ultimately fought his way back to camp with but slight
+loss, and recaptured eight French standards which the enemy had seized
+when they surprised Ambert's division. Ten days later he was promoted
+general of brigade. But, in spite of his glorious exploit, the officers
+of the regiment of Picardy, the senior regiment of the old royal army,
+were disgusted at being commanded by a young brigadier, as yet but
+twenty-seven years old, and sprung from the ranks. Calling the
+disaffected officers together, the general thus addressed them:
+"Gentlemen, is it because I do not bear an historic name that you wish
+to throw me over for your old titled chiefs, or is it because you think
+I am too young to hold command? Wait till the next engagement and then
+judge. If then you think that I cannot stand fire I promise to hand over
+the command to one more worthy." After the next engagement there were no
+more murmurs against the general, and officers and men were ready to
+follow him to the death. While Oudinot thus won the love and respect of
+his command, he requited them with equal love. But his way of showing it
+was characteristic of the man. As he used to say in later years, "Ah,
+how I loved them; I know full well I loved them! I led them all to
+death." For in his eyes a glorious death on the field of battle was what
+the true soldier desired above all things. In August, 1794, a fall from
+his horse which broke his leg placed him in hospital for some months,
+and he could not return to the front till September, 1795. He arrived in
+time to take part in the capture of Mannheim, but a month later, at
+Neckerau, he was ridden down by a charge of the enemy's cavalry,
+receiving five sabre cuts and being taken prisoner. After three months'
+captivity at Ulm he was exchanged. The campaigns of 1796 and 1797 on the
+Danube added to the number of his wounds. In 1799 he served under
+Massena in Switzerland, and gained his step as general of division. His
+new commander formed so high an opinion of his capacity that he
+appointed him chief of his staff, and took him with him when transferred
+to the Army of Italy. It was a new role for the fiery Oudinot, but he
+played it well, and Massena gave him but his due when he wrote to the
+Directory, "I owe the greatest praise to General Oudinot, my chief of
+the staff, whose fiery nature, though restrained to endure the laborious
+work of the office, breaks out again, ever ready to hand, on the field
+of battle; he has assisted me in all my movements, and has seconded me
+to perfection." During the disastrous campaign in Italy in 1800 he
+earned the further thanks of his chief. He it was who broke the blockade
+at Genoa, and penetrating through the English cruisers, successfully
+carried the orders to Suchet on the Var, and returned to the beleaguered
+city to share the privations of the army. By now his name was well known
+to friend and foe alike, and his chivalrous nature was admired, even by
+his enemies. But an episode occurred during the siege which, for some
+time, caused his name to be execrated by the Austrians. The French had
+captured three thousand prisoners during the sorties round Genoa. At the
+command of Massena, Oudinot wrote to General Ott to explain that, owing
+to famine, it was impossible to give them nourishment, and asking him to
+make arrangements for feeding them. Ott replied that the siege would end
+before they could starve. With their own soldiers dying of hunger at
+their posts, the French could spare but little food for the miserable
+prisoners, and when the town capitulated there was hardly one left
+alive. But the burden of this calamity falls on General Ott and Massena,
+and not on Oudinot, who could only carry out the orders he received.
+
+After the surrender, Oudinot went home on sick leave, but was back in
+Italy in time to take part in the last phase of the war under General
+Brune. On December 26th, at Monzembano, he had an opportunity of showing
+his dashing courage. An Austrian battery, suddenly coming into action,
+threw the French into disorder. Oudinot dashed forward, collected a few
+troopers, galloped across the bridge straight at the Austrian guns, and
+captured one of them with his own hands. A few days later he was sent
+home to Paris with a copy of the armistice signed on January 16, 1801.
+Arriving in Paris, the general was received with great warmth by the
+First Consul, who gave him a sword of honour and the cannon which he had
+captured at Monzembano.
+
+During the years of peace which followed the treaty of Luneville,
+General Oudinot fell entirely under the influence of Napoleon. His
+frank, chivalrous nature was captivated by the bold personality of the
+Corsican, so great in war, so attractive in peace. The First Consul
+rewarded his affection by giving him the posts of inspector-general of
+infantry and cavalry. While not engaged in these duties, or in
+attendance at the court of Paris, the general spent his leisure hours at
+his home at Bar-le-Duc. There he was the idol of the populace; his bust
+adorned the hotel de ville, and his fellow-citizens were never tired of
+singing his praise and repeating the stories of his marvellous
+adventures and daring escapades. But no one who first saw him could
+believe that this was Oudinot, the hero of all these marvellous tales.
+There was nothing of the swashbuckler about this aristocratic-looking
+man, spare, of medium height, whose pale, intellectual face, set off by
+a pair of brown moustaches, revealed a rather gentle, gracious
+expression, over which flashed occasionally a fugitive smile. It was
+only those piercing, flashing eyes which revealed his real character.
+Still, it was easy to understand how, with his heroic exploits, he had
+fascinated both friend and foe, and gained for himself the title of the
+young Bayard. By his first wife the general had two sons and two
+daughters. The daughters married early, Generals Pajol and Lorencz, but
+it was his sons who were his pride. He had sent for his eldest boy, at
+the age of eight, to accompany him on the Zurich campaign, and the lad
+had at that age to perform all the duties of a subaltern officer. During
+the year of peace both boys were constantly with their father, who spent
+his time superintending their military studies and building for himself
+a house at Bar-le-Duc. From this patriarchal life he was recalled, in
+1804, to take command of the chosen division of picked grenadiers which
+had been organised at Arras by Junot. The division, so well known to
+history as "Oudinot's Grenadiers," or the "Infernal Column," was
+composed of selected men from every regiment, and next to the Guard, was
+the finest division in the imperial army. In the campaign of 1805 the
+division formed part of Lannes' corps, and covered itself with
+distinction at Ulm, and again at Austerlitz, where Oudinot was present,
+though not in command. He had been wounded at Hollabruenn, and sent to
+hospital, and his division entrusted to Duroc, the Grand Marshal of the
+palace. But when he heard of the approaching engagement, the fire-eating
+soldier could not be held back, and on the eve of the battle he arrived
+in camp. Duroc chivalrously offered to give up command, but Oudinot, who
+was satisfied as long as he saw fighting, would not hear of this. "My
+dear Marshal," he said, "remain at the head of my brave grenadiers; we
+will fight side by side." After the treaty of Pressburg he was sent to
+Switzerland, to take possession of Neuchatel, which had been ceded to
+France by Prussia, to form a fief for Marshal Berthier. The Neuchatelois
+were furious at being treated as mere pawns in the game, and trouble was
+expected. Fortunately Oudinot possessed great commonsense. He saw that a
+timely concession might bind the proud Swiss to their new lord. The
+people of Neuchatel depended almost entirely on their trade with
+England, and he wrung from Napoleon the promise that this trade should
+not be interfered with. So grateful were the Swiss that they passed a
+law making Oudinot a citizen of Neuchatel. The general returned from his
+diplomatic triumph in time to command his grenadiers in the Prussian
+campaign of 1806, and gained fresh laurels at Jena, Ostralenka, Dantzig
+and Friedland. At Dantzig, with his own hand, he killed a Russian
+sergeant who had caught a French cavalry colonel in an ambush. At
+Friedland he was with Lannes when the Marshal surprised the Russian
+rear, and held them pinned against the town until Napoleon could draw in
+his troops and overwhelm them. From six in the evening till twelve next
+day the grenadiers fought with stubborn tenacity. At last the Emperor
+arrived on the field. Oudinot, with his coat hanging in ribbons from
+musket shots, his horse covered with blood, dashed up to the Emperor,
+"Hasten, Sire," he cried; "my grenadiers are all but spent; but give me
+some reinforcements and I will hurl all the Russians into the river."
+Napoleon replied, "General, you have surpassed yourself: you seem to be
+everywhere; but you need not worry yourself any more. It is my part to
+finish this affair."
+
+After Friedland came the peace of Tilsit, but even peace has its
+dangers. Soult, Mortier and the grave Davout were at times carried away
+by Oudinot's extravagant spirits, and used to amuse themselves after
+dinner by extinguishing the candles on the table with pistol shots.
+During the day the general spent his time in his favourite pursuit of
+riding. His horses were always thoroughbreds, and nothing stopped him
+once he had decided to take any particular line. So one day, while
+attempting to jump the ditch of a fort, instead of going round by the
+gate, his horse fell with him, and he broke his leg and had to be sent
+home. His officers and comrades gave him a farewell dinner. At dessert a
+pate appeared, from which, when opened by General Rapp, a swarm of birds
+fluttered out, with collars of tricolour ribbon, with the inscription
+"To the glory of General Oudinot."
+
+On returning home the Emperor, in addition to presenting him with the
+pipe of Frederick the Great, had granted him the title of count and a
+donation of a million francs. With part of this sum Oudinot bought the
+beautiful estate of Jeand Heurs. In 1808 he was selected as governor of
+Erfurt during the meeting of the Czar and Napoleon, and had the honour
+of being presented to Alexander by the Emperor, who said, "Sire, I
+present you the Bayard of the French army; like the 'preux chevalier,'
+he is without fear and without reproach." The year 1809 brought sterner
+interludes, and Oudinot was present in command of his grenadiers during
+the Five Days' Fighting, and at Aspern-Essling. On the death of Lannes
+he was promoted to the command of the second corps, and in that capacity
+played his part at Wagram. During the early part of the battle it took
+all his self-restraint to stand still while Davout was turning the
+Austrian left, but when he saw the French on the Neusiedel he could no
+longer control his impatience, and without waiting orders he hurled his
+corps against the enemy's centre, receiving in the attack two slight
+wounds. The next day the Emperor sent for him. "Do you know what you did
+yesterday?" "Sire, I hope I did not do my duty too badly." "That is just
+what you did--you ought to be shot." But the Emperor overlooked his
+impetuosity, and a week later rewarded him for his service by presenting
+him with his baton, and a month later created him Duke of Reggio.
+
+The Duke was fortunate in not being selected for duty in Spain. His next
+service was in 1812, when he commanded a corps on the lines of
+communication in Russia. This was his first independent command, and it
+proved that, though a good subordinate, a dashing soldier and a capable
+diplomatist, he did not possess the qualifications of a great general.
+At Polotsk the day went against the French, but when a wound caused the
+Marshal to hand over his command to St. Cyr, that able officer easily
+stemmed the Russian advance and turned defeat into victory. The Marshal,
+however, made up in zeal what he lacked in ability; a few weeks later,
+hearing that St. Cyr was wounded, he hastened back to the front. It was
+owing to his gallant attack on the Russians that the Emperor was able to
+bridge the Beresina. But, while driving off the enemy who were
+attempting to stem the crossing, he was again wounded. Thanks to the
+devotion of his staff, he was safely escorted back to France and escaped
+the last horrors of the retreat. In 1813 the Duke fought at Bautzen, and
+after the armistice of Dresden was despatched to drive back the mixed
+force of Swedes and Prussians who were threatening the French left under
+Bernadotte. The action of Grosbeeren proved once again that the Duke of
+Reggio had no talent for independent command, and the Emperor superseded
+him by Marshal Ney, whom he loyally served. Emerging unscathed from the
+slaughter at Leipzig, he fought with his accustomed fury all through
+the campaign of 1814 without adding to his reputation as a soldier. On
+Napoleon's abdication the Duke swore allegiance to the Bourbons, who
+received him with warmth, as in the early years of the revolutionary
+wars he had shown great humanity to the captured emigres. Louis XVIII.
+nominated him colonel-general of the royal corps of grenadiers, and gave
+him command of the third military division, with headquarters at Metz.
+It was there that the Marshal first heard of the Emperor's return from
+Elba. He at once set out to try and intercept his advance on Paris, but
+his troops refused to act against their former leader. Thereon Oudinot
+threw up his command and returned to Jeand Heurs. On his arrival at
+Paris, the Emperor told his Minister of War, Davout, to summon the Duke
+of Reggio to court, thinking that, like many another, he would forget
+his oath to the Bourbons. But the Duke was of different stuff; he had
+sworn allegiance to Louis XVIII. at Napoleon's command, but he could not
+break his oath. On his arrival the Emperor greeted him with the
+question, "Well, Duke of Reggio, what have the Bourbons done for you
+more than I have done, that you attempted to intercept my return?" The
+Marshal replied that he had plighted his oath. The Emperor told him to
+break it and take service with him, recalling past favours. The Marshal
+was much affected, but firm. "I will serve nobody since I cannot serve
+you," he said, "but trust me enough not to spy on me with your police:
+save me that degradation. I could not endure it." So the interview
+ended, and the Marshal returned to Jeand Heurs.
+
+On the second Restoration Oudinot became a great favourite of the
+Bourbons. The King made him a peer of France, presented him with the
+order of St. Louis, created him one of the four major-generals of the
+Royal Guard and commandant-in-chief of the National Guard. When the heir
+to the throne, the Duke of Berri, married a Neapolitan princess, the
+second wife of the Marshal became her chief lady, and the Oudinots,
+husband and wife, served the royal family with the greatest fidelity.
+The Marshal once again saw service when, in 1823, he commanded the first
+corps of the army which invaded Spain. It was through no fault of his
+that Charles X. lost his throne, for he was patriotic enough to tell him
+how unfortunate was the disbanding of the National Guard and his other
+ill-advised actions.
+
+After the fall of the Bourbon dynasty in 1830, the Duke of Reggio never
+again entered public life, although in 1839 Louis Philippe created him
+Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honour, and in 1842 governor of the
+Invalides. It was in this honoured position that the Duke breathed his
+last on September 13, 1847, in his eighty-first year.
+
+The Duke of Reggio was fortunate in his career; he never saw service in
+Spain, and he seldom held independent command, for which his fiery
+temper and impetuosity unfitted him. It was his gallantry and
+intrepidity which won for him his baton. In a subordinate position he
+could usually control himself enough to obey orders, in a subordinate
+position also he could do good staff work, and his quick impetuous brain
+teemed with ideas which were useful to his superiors. But by himself he
+was lost. Napoleon well knew his shortcomings. In 1805 the Emperor was
+holding a review; Oudinot's horse was restive and refused to march past,
+whereon he drew his sword and stabbed it in the neck. That evening at
+dinner the Emperor asked, "Is that the way you manage your horse?"
+"Sire," replied Oudinot, "when I cannot get obedience that is my
+method." But it was seldom that his impetuosity resulted in cruelty, and
+the wounded at Friedland and in many another action had cause to bless
+him. The hero of Friedland, the saviour of the emigres, and the
+administrator of Neuchatel was loved not only in the French army, but
+also among the enemy. At Erfurt there was a poor Saxon gardener who
+delighted to cultivate a rose which he called Oudinot; when asked the
+reason he replied, "The general has made me love the war which has
+ruined me." The Duke of Reggio turned his face steadily against
+plundering, and would reprimand any officer who recklessly rode over a
+field of wheat.
+
+Old age did not change his character. Happy in his family relations,
+adored by his young wife, he was universally beloved, and it was with
+great grief that, on September 13, 1847, Royalist, Orleanist,
+Imperialist, and Republican learned that he whom the soldiers called
+"The Marshal of the Thirty-Four Wounds" had passed away.
+
+
+
+
+XXIV
+
+DOMINIQUE CATHERINE DE PERIGNON, MARSHAL
+
+
+Among the few men of moderate opinion who were chosen in 1791 to
+represent their country in the Legislative Assembly was Dominique
+Catherine de Perignon. The scion of a good family of Grenade, in the
+Upper Garonne, neither an ultra-royalist nor ultra-republican, he was a
+man of action rather than a talker. One year spent among the
+self-seekers of Paris was sufficient to prove to him that his role did
+not lie among the twisting paths of partisan statesmanship, and gladly,
+in 1792, he heard the summons to arms and left the forum for the camp.
+Now thirty-eight years old, having been born on May 31, 1754, this was
+not his first experience of soldiering; he had held a commission for
+some years in the old royal army and had served on the staff. He was,
+for this reason, at once elected lieutenant-colonel of the volunteer
+legion of the Pyrenees. His bravery and his former military training
+soon caused him to rise among the mass of ignorant and untrained
+volunteers who formed the Army of the Pyrenees. Luckily for France, she
+was opposed on her western frontier by an army which knew as little of
+war as her own, led by officers of equal ignorance, without the stimulus
+of burning enthusiasm and the dread power of the guillotine; had it been
+otherwise, Perpignan and the fortresses covering Provence would soon
+have been in the hands of the enemy. With all Europe threatening the
+eastern frontier and civil war at home, the Government could spare but
+few troops, and these the least trained, for the defence of the west.
+Accordingly, in the opening fights of the campaign ill-conceived plans
+and panics too frequently caused the defeat of the French, and it was
+often only the personal example of individuals which saved the army from
+absolute annihilation. From the first engagement Perignon made his mark
+by his coolness and courage. The French attack on the Spanish position
+at Serre had been brought to a halt by the fierce fire of the enemy,
+and, as the line wavered, a timely charge of the Spanish horse threw it
+into confusion. Perignon, commanding the first line, rushed up and
+seized the musket and cartridges of a wounded soldier, and collecting a
+few undaunted privates, quietly opened fire on the Spanish cavalry, and
+by his example shamed the runaways into returning to the attack. For
+this he was created general of brigade on July 28, 1793. By September
+the enemy had opened their trenches round Perpignan, and Perignon was
+entrusted with a night sortie. On approaching the Spanish line a
+fusillade of musketry swept down five hundred of his little force, and
+his men at once halted and opened fire; but Perignon believed in the
+bayonet. With stinging reproaches he again got his men to advance, and
+sweeping over the enemy's entrenchments, he drove them in rout and
+captured their camp. He thus won his promotion as lieutenant-general.
+
+In November of 1794 Dugommier, the French commander-in-chief, fell
+mortally wounded at the battle of Montagne-Noire, and Perignon was at
+once appointed his successor. Though no great strategist or tactician,
+he was an able leader of men, and had the faculty of enforcing obedience
+to his orders. Trusting entirely to the bayonet, he forced the fortified
+lines of Escola, making his troops advance and charge over the
+entrenchments with shouldered arms, without firing a shot. The
+fortresses of Figueras and Rosas alone barred the advance of the French
+into Catalonia. So demoralised were the enemy that Figueras, with all
+its immense stores, nine thousand troops and two hundred pieces of
+artillery, capitulated to a mere summons. But Rosas stood firm, covered
+on the land side by the fort of Le Bouton on the top of a precipice, and
+on the sea side swept by the guns of the Spanish squadron anchored in
+the roads. The fort of Le Bouton was called "l'imprenable." But Perignon
+was not frightened by names; although greatly hampered by the civil
+Commissioners with the army, and held by them as "suspect," he
+determined to capture Le Bouton and Rosas. Le Bouton was dominated by a
+perpendicular rock two thousand feet high. It was certain that if
+batteries could be established on this precipice Le Bouton could be
+taken. But the artillerymen believed that it was impossible to construct
+a road to haul guns up to this height. "Very well, then, it is the
+impossible that I am going to do," replied the obstinate little general,
+and after immense toil a zigzag road was constructed and the guns hauled
+by hand to the summit; after a severe bombardment Le Bouton was carried
+by an assault. But still Rosas held out; the weather was very severe and
+the snow came above the soldiers' thighs, and the engineers declared
+that it was impossible to construct siege works unless a certain
+outlying redoubt was first taken. "Very well," said the general; "make
+your preparations. To-morrow I will take it at the head of my
+grenadiers." So at five o'clock the next morning, February 1, 1795, the
+grenadiers, with their general at their head, marched out of camp and,
+under a murderous fire, by eight o'clock captured the outlying redoubt,
+so after a siege of sixty-one days Rosas was captured. It was the
+personality of their general which had taught the French soldiers to
+surmount all difficulties. Absolutely fearless himself, full of grim
+determination, he taught his soldiers how to acquire these virtues by
+example, not by precept: ever exposing himself to danger, showing
+absolute callousness, until his men were shamed into following his
+example. On one occasion during the siege a shell fell at his feet with
+the match still fizzling; he was at the moment directing some troops who
+were exposed to the fire. The men called out to him to get out of the
+way of the explosion, and throw himself flat, but he paid no attention
+to the bomb and quietly went on giving his orders, for he knew how his
+example would steady his troops; meanwhile someone dashed up and
+extinguished the match before the bomb could explode.
+
+The peace of Basle prevented Perignon from gaining any further success
+in Spain, and the Directors, out of compliment, appointed him ambassador
+to the court of Madrid, where his good sense and moderation did much to
+strengthen the peace between the two countries. In 1799 he was sent to
+command a division of the Army of Italy, and commanded the left wing at
+the battle of Novi. While attempting to cover the rout he was ridden
+over by the enemy's horse, and taken prisoner with eight honourable
+sabre wounds on his arms and chest. When the Russian surgeon was going
+to attend to his wounds, thinking more of others than of himself, he
+said to him, "Do not worry about me; look first after those brave men
+there, who are in a worse plight than I." After a few months his
+exchange was effected and he returned to France, severely shaken in
+health and not fit for further active service, to find Bonaparte First
+Consul. Though not one of his own followers, Bonaparte recognised the
+services he had rendered to his country, and arranged for his entry into
+the Senate, and in 1802 appointed him Commissioner Extraordinary to
+arrange the negotiation with Spain, a delicate compliment to Perignon,
+who had made his name on Spanish soil. Further to recall his Spanish
+victories, in 1804 the Emperor created him honorary Marshal, not on the
+active list, and later gave him the title of Count. But though Napoleon
+did not think that the Marshal was physically fit to command again in
+the field, he entrusted him in 1801 with the government of Parma and
+Piacenza, and in 1808 sent him to Naples to command the French troops
+stationed in the kingdom of his brother-in-law, Murat. The task was a
+difficult one, for Murat was no easy person to get on with, and Southern
+Italy, from the days of Hannibal, has been a hard place in which to
+maintain military virtues. But the Marshal, with his sound commonsense,
+gave satisfaction both to Napoleon and to King Joachim, and at the same
+time kept a tight hand over his troops; when, however, in 1814, Murat
+deserted the Emperor, the old Marshal withdrew in sorrow to France, to
+find Paris in the hands of the enemy. Like the other Marshals he
+accepted the Restoration and was created a peer of France. Being himself
+of noble birth, and an ex-officer of the old royal army, Louis XVIII.
+appointed him to investigate the claims, and verify the services of the
+officers of the old army who had returned to France at the Restoration.
+When, in 1815, Napoleon returned from Elba, the Marshal, who was at his
+country house near Toulouse, made every effort to organise resistance
+against him in the Midi. During the Hundred Days he remained quietly at
+his home, and on the second Restoration was rewarded with the command of
+the first military division, and created Marquis and Commander of the
+Order of St. Louis. But he did not long enjoy his new honours, for he
+died in Paris on December 25, 1818, aged sixty-four.
+
+
+
+
+XXV
+
+JEAN MATHIEU PHILIBERT SERURIER, MARSHAL
+
+
+After thirty-four years' service to be still a captain, with no probable
+chance of promotion: such was the lot of Serurier when the Revolution
+broke out in 1789. Born on December 8, 1742, he had received his first
+commission in the militia at the age of thirteen, and from there had
+been transferred to the line. His war service was not inconsiderable,
+including three campaigns in Hanover, one in Portugal, and one in Italy;
+he had been wounded as far back as the action of Wartburg in 1760, but
+there was no court influence to bring him his majority. With the
+Revolution, however, fortune quickly changed. The years of steady
+attention to duty, of patient devotion to, and loving care of his men,
+brought their reward, and when promotion became the gift of the soldiers
+and not of the courtiers, the stern old disciplinarian found himself at
+the head of his regiment. In the hand-to-hand struggles which
+distinguished the early campaigns in the Alps, he soon acquired a
+reputation for bravery and the clever handling of his men. By June,
+1795, he had risen to be general of division, in which capacity he
+distinguished himself on July 7th by the way he led his division at the
+fight for the Col de Tenda, and for the modesty with which he attributed
+all his success to his soldiers. A month later he saved the whole army
+at the Col de Pierre Etroite. When under the cover of driving rain and
+mist the enemy surprised the French line of picquets at midnight and had
+all but seized the position, it was Serurier who, collecting three
+hundred and fifty men, hurled himself against the enemy's column of
+fifteen hundred bayonets, and by sheer hand-to-hand fighting held them
+in check for six hours, and at last repulsed them with the loss of a
+considerable number of prisoners.
+
+With the halo of this action still surrounding him, in March, 1796, he
+first came into direct connection with Bonaparte. The new
+commander-in-chief quickly took measure of his tall, stern subordinate.
+While recognising to the full his bravery, the excellent discipline he
+knew how to maintain, and the high regard in which he was held by his
+division, he saw that the iron of years of subordination had entered
+into the old soldier's soul, and that, while he could be relied on to
+obey orders implicitly, he never could be trusted with an independent
+command. Still, what Bonaparte most required from his subordinates was
+immediate obedience and speedy performance of orders, and consequently
+Serurier played no insignificant part in the glorious campaign of 1796.
+At Mondovi he showed his stubbornness, when the Sardinian general turned
+at bay, and, as Bonaparte wrote to the Directory, the victory was due
+entirely to Serurier. When the Austrians were driven into Mantua,
+Bonaparte entrusted him with the siege. The Austrian forces in the
+fortress numbered some fourteen thousand; Serurier had but ten thousand
+to carry on the siege, although the usual estimate is that a besieging
+force should be three times as strong as the besieged; but by his clever
+use of the marshes and bridges he was able to hold the enemy and open
+his trenches and siege batteries. It was no fault of his that, on the
+advance of Wuermser, he had to abandon his guns and hasten to
+Castiglione, for Bonaparte had given him no warning of the sudden
+advance of the Austrian relieving force. After Castiglione he returned
+to his task round Mantua and gallantly repulsed all sorties. When the
+end came he had the honour of superintending the surrender, and of
+receiving the parole from the gallant old Marshal Wuermser and the
+Austrian officers. In the advance on Vienna his division distinguished
+itself in the terrible march to Asola; but, as Bonaparte said, "the wind
+and the rain were always the crown of victory for the Army of Italy." At
+Gradisca Serurier captured two thousand five hundred prisoners, eight
+stands of colours, and ten pieces of artillery, and again crowned
+himself with glory at the Col de Tarvis. In June Bonaparte sent the old
+warrior to Paris to present twenty-two captured stands to the Directory,
+and in his despatches, after enumerating his triumphs from Mondovi to
+Gradisca, he finished by saying, "General Serurier is extremely severe
+on himself, and at times on others. A stern enforcer of discipline,
+order, and the most necessary virtues for the maintenance of society, he
+disdains intrigues and intriguers"; he then proceeded to demand for him
+the command of the troops of the Cisalpine Republic. But the Directors
+had other designs, and sent back the general to command the captured
+province of Venice.
+
+In 1799, when the Austrians and Russians invaded Northern Italy,
+Serurier commanded a division of the army of occupation. During the
+operations which ended in the enemy forcing the Adda, his division got
+isolated from the main body. The old soldier, whose boast was that he
+never turned his back on an enemy, forgetful of strategy, and thinking
+only of honour, instead of attempting to escape and rejoin the rest of
+the army, took possession of an extremely strong position at Verderio,
+and soon found himself surrounded; after a gallant fight against an
+enemy three times his number, he was compelled to surrender with seven
+thousand men. The celebrated Suvaroff, the Russian commander, treated
+him with great kindness and invited him to dine. After his exchange on
+parole had been arranged, the Russian general asked him where he was
+going. "To Paris." "So much the better," replied Suvaroff; "I shall
+count on seeing you there soon." "I have myself always hoped to see you
+there," replied Serurier with considerable wit and dignity.
+
+The general was still a prisoner on parole when Bonaparte returned from
+Egypt, and at once gladly placed himself at his disposal, and aided him
+during the coup d'etat of Brumaire. It was because of this service, and
+of the strong affection which the old warrior bore him, that Bonaparte
+piled honours upon him, for Serurier had undoubtedly done less than
+anybody, save perhaps Bessieres, to deserve his baton. Still, Napoleon
+knew his devotion, his blind obedience to orders, and his absolute
+integrity. In December, 1799, he called him to the Senate. In April,
+1804, he made him governor of the Invalides, and a month later presented
+him with his Marshal's baton, and created him Grand Eagle of the Legion
+of Honour and Grand Cross of the Iron Crown. But he never employed him
+in the field, though once for a short time during the Walcheren
+Expedition he placed him in command of the National Guard of Paris.
+
+The old Marshal found a congenial occupation in looking after the
+veterans at the Invalides, while, as Vice-President of the Senate, he
+faithfully served the interests of his beloved Emperor. When in 1814 he
+heard that Paris was going to surrender, rather than that the trophies
+of his master's glory should fall into the hands of the enemy, on the
+night of March 30th he collected the eighteen hundred captured standards
+which adorned Notre Dame, and the military trophies from the chapel of
+the Invalides, and burned them, and he actually hurled into the fire the
+sword of the Great Frederick which had been seized in 1806 at Potsdam.
+Yet in spite of his devotion to the Emperor, a few days later he took
+part in the proceedings in the Senate, and voted for his deposition.
+Under the Restoration he was made a peer of France, but on Napoleon's
+return he hastened to greet him. But the Emperor could not forgive his
+desertion, and, thinking he would not benefit by his services, he
+refused them. When the Bourbons returned a second time the Marshal was
+stripped of his titles and, what caused him more grief, of his command
+of the Invalides. After parting from the veterans, whose welfare he had
+so long superintended, the old warrior withdrew into private life, and
+died at Paris on December 21, 1819, at the age of seventy-seven.
+
+
+
+
+XXVI
+
+PRINCE JOSEPH PONIATOWSKI, MARSHAL
+
+
+Joseph Poniatowski, the nephew of King Stanislaus (the erstwhile lover
+of Catherine the Second of Russia), was born in 1762, before his uncle
+had been raised to the kingly rank. Like all Poles of noble birth, war
+and war alone could offer him a profession he was able or cared to
+pursue, and accordingly at an early age he served his apprenticeship in
+arms under the banner of Austria. Returning to his native country in
+1789 with the experience of several campaigns against the Turks, he was
+entrusted by his uncle with the organisation of the Polish army. For the
+cast-off lover of the great Catherine was about to make one last effort
+to save his country from the greedy hands of Prussia, Russia and
+Austria. The great kingdom of Poland had fallen on evil days; she had no
+fortresses, no navy, no roads, no arsenals, no revenue, and no real
+standing army; while the King was elected by a Diet of nobles who
+thought more of foreign gold than of patriotism; the single vote of one
+member of this Diet could bring all business to a standstill. King
+Stanislaus' reforms were wise, but they came too late. The kingship was
+to become hereditary, the "liberum veto," whereby business was paralysed
+was abolished, and a standing army was to be raised. But it suited none
+of her great neighbours to see Poland organising herself into a modern
+State, and before Prince Joseph had had time to raise and thoroughly
+drill his new model army, Prussia and Russia determined once and for all
+to wipe the kingdom off the map of Europe. In 1792 Prince Joseph found
+himself at the head of his new levies opposed by the trained troops of
+those countries. To add to his difficulties, the orders he received from
+his uncle were contradictory and irresolute, for King Stanislaus, though
+patriot at heart, had not the moral courage for so great an emergency.
+The new Polish troops gained some minor successes, but before the
+immense array of enemies the King's heart failed him, and he signed the
+Convention of Targowitz, which foreshadowed the dismemberment of his
+country. Prince Joseph, like many another of his brave comrades, unable
+to stomach such cowardice, threw up his commission and withdrew into
+exile. In 1794 Poland suddenly flew to arms at the command of the
+great-hearted Kosciuszko, and Prince Joseph, keen soldier and patriot,
+gladly placed himself under the orders of his former subordinate, and
+covered himself with glory at the siege of Warsaw. Again, however, the
+Polish resistance was broken down by force of numbers, and the Prince,
+turning a deaf ear to the blandishments of Emperor and Czarina alike,
+withdrew from public life and settled down to manage his estates near
+Warsaw. For eleven long years Poland lay dismembered, but the national
+spirit still smouldered, and broke into clear flame when, in 1806, the
+victorious French drove the battered remains of the Prussian armies
+across the Vistula. But Poland was a mere pawn in the game, to be used
+as a means of threatening or conciliating Russia, and in spite of the
+high hopes of the Poles the treaty of Tilsit, instead of reviving the
+ancient kingdom, merely established a Grand Duchy of Warsaw. The Emperor
+left Davout to watch over the weaning of the State, and appointed Prince
+Joseph to organise the national forces which were to supplement the
+French army of occupation. No better choice could have been made, for
+the Prince had the necessary tact to manage the imperious Davout, while
+his chivalrous nature, his well-known patriotism and his experience and
+ability, enabled him once more to accustom the Polish troops to the bit
+of discipline. When, in 1809, the great European conflagration forced
+Napoleon to leave the Grand Duchy to its fate, Prince Joseph was able to
+keep the Austrians in check, and actually to penetrate into Galicia
+before the battle of Wagram brought the war to an end.
+
+Poniatowski's campaign against Austria, glorious as it was for the
+Poles, was in reality the forerunner of disaster. During the campaign
+the Polish troops were supported by a Russian division. To Poniatowski,
+the Russians, the despoilers of his country, were more hateful than the
+enemy, and he so distrusted them that, at the risk of having to fight
+them, he refused to allow them to occupy any of the captured fortresses;
+this suspicion was increased by the capture of a secret despatch from
+the Russian commander to the Austrian Archduke, congratulating him on
+the victory of Razyn, and expressing a wish that his standards might
+soon be joined to the Austrian eagles. The Prince at once sent the
+intercepted despatch to Napoleon, who summed up the situation with the
+words, "I see that after all I must make war on Alexander." So when the
+Grand Army assembled for the invasion of Russia, Prince Poniatowski with
+his Poles rejoiced at the call to arms, and brought thirty-six thousand
+well disciplined and well equipped troops to the rendezvous, while
+sixty-five thousand were left to garrison the fortresses: the years of
+peace had been spent by him in busy labour as Minister of War, providing
+for the necessities of the army, establishing engineering and artillery
+colleges, equipping hospitals and perfecting organisation and
+discipline. Smolensk, Moskowa, and many a skirmish proved that the
+labour of organisation had not sapped Prince Joseph's dash and courage,
+and the horrors of the retreat brought out to the full his chivalrous
+bravery and determination. Though wounded during the retreat, he was
+ready the following year to help the French in Central Europe. On the
+morning of the first day of the battle of Leipzig, Napoleon, to fire the
+Poles, sent their Prince his baton as Marshal. While esteeming the
+honour, Prince Joseph showed no undue elation, for, much as he admired
+the French, and grateful as he felt, he was at heart a Pole, and, as he
+said to a comrade, "I am proud to be the leader of the Poles. When one
+has a unique title superior to that of Marshal, the title of
+Generalissimo of the Poles, nothing else matters. Besides, I am going to
+die, and I prefer to die as a Polish general and not as a Marshal of
+France." But the Marshal did not allow his gloomy forebodings to
+interfere with his duty, and so fiercely did he face the enemy that
+after three days' fighting his corps had dwindled from seven thousand to
+a bare two thousand men. On the morning of the fatal 19th of October the
+Emperor sent for him and entrusted him with the defence of the southern
+suburb of Leipzig. "Sire," said the Prince, "I have but few followers
+left." "What then?" rejoined the Emperor; "you will defend it with what
+you have." "Ah, Sire," replied the Prince Marshal, "we are all ready to
+die for your Majesty." Thus spoke the Pole, but many a Frenchman thought
+otherwise and hurried from the stricken field. With their hated enemies,
+the Austrians, Russians and Prussians surrounding them, the small band
+of devoted Poles fought to the last. When the bridge was blown up and
+ordered retreat was impossible, the Prince, drawing his sword, called
+out to those around him, "Gentlemen, we must die with honour." Severely
+wounded, with a handful of followers, he fought his way through a column
+of the enemy and reached the bank of the Elster. Faint from loss of
+blood, he urged his horse into the stream, and by great exertions
+reached the other side; but the beast, worn out by the long days of
+battle, was unable to clamber up the steep, slippery bank, and the
+Prince Marshal was so faint that he could no longer guide his steed; so
+horse and rider dropped back into the stream and were seen no more
+alive. Two days later his body was recovered, and buried with all the
+honours due to his rank, in the presence of the allied sovereigns, his
+former enemies. Thus passed away Prince Joseph Poniatowski, whose
+chivalrous courage had won for him the title of the Polish Bayard, whose
+life had been spent for the welfare of his country, whose high military
+reputation was sullied by no inglorious act, and who at the last chose
+death rather than surrender.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+A
+
+Abbaye, 324
+
+Abensberg, 61, 136, 173
+
+Abercromby, 272, 273
+
+Aboukir, 122, 144
+
+Achille Murat, 30
+
+Acre, 27
+
+Adda, 42, 351
+
+Adige, 189
+
+Africa, 121
+
+Agar, Count of Mosburg, 34, 38
+
+Albano, 236
+
+Albion, 251
+
+Albuera, 107, 116
+
+Alessandria, 307
+
+Alexander, Czar, xviii, xix, 86, 87, 88, 89, 132, 154, 166, 167, 171,
+  193, 194, 214, 331, 339, 356
+
+Alexandria, 121, 204, 205
+
+Ali Pacha, 208
+
+Alle, 131
+
+Almarez, 212
+
+Almeida, 64, 66, 67, 150, 151
+
+Alkmaar, 273
+
+Alps, 8, 57, 123, 201, 219, 228, 247, 288, 349
+
+Alsace, 193, 317, 318, 330
+
+Altenkirchen, 74
+
+Alvarez, 240
+
+Alvintzi, 203
+
+Ambert, 334
+
+America, xv, xvii, 3, 159, 251, 252, 300
+
+Amiens, 24, 31
+
+Amsterdam, 273
+
+Andalusia, 104, 105, 109, 115, 133
+
+Andreossy, 122
+
+Angoumois, 268
+
+Antibes, 50
+
+Annoux, 162
+
+Apolda, 80, 81
+
+Appenines, 235
+
+Arabs, 26
+
+Arcis-sur-Aube, 193, 214, 330
+
+Arcola, 53, 60, 120, 124, 203, 219, 262
+
+Argenton, 102
+
+Argonne, 318
+
+Army of the Alps, 4, 201, 220, 305, 311, 320
+  of Arragon, 222, 223
+  of the Centre, 318
+  of the Cote de Brest, 247
+  of Dalmatia, 209
+  of England, 75, 270
+  of the Eastern Pyrenees, 118, 297, 344
+  of Germany, 187
+  Grand, 13, 14, 17, 18, 32, 41, 61, 83, 98, 109, 126, 146, 147, 152,
+    165, 173, 177, 191, 207, 265, 266, 275, 281, 282, 289, 300, 309,
+    310, 321, 356
+  of the Grisons, 187
+  of Hanover, 80
+  of Holland, 300
+
+Army of Italy, 4, 6, 25, 26, 29, 51, 57, 58, 70, 74, 75, 78, 119, 120,
+    164, 185, 186, 190, 191, 202, 203, 209, 221, 236, 238, 263, 272,
+    274, 298, 320, 336, 347, 351
+  of La Vendee, 306
+  of the Loire, 180, 181
+  of the Midi, 305
+  of the Moselle, 163
+  of Naples, 39, 85, 186, 238
+  of Normandy, 2
+  of the North, 253, 254, 270, 307
+  of the Ocean, 10, 126, 165, 207, 309
+  of Portugal, 108, 149, 211
+  of the Pyrenees, 261, 286
+  of the Reserve, 8, 28, 123, 247, 249, 274, 299, 321
+  of the Rhine, 55, 143, 172, 232, 233, 237, 247, 263, 278, 323
+  of Rome, 234
+  of the Sambre and Meuse, 74, 75, 143, 253, 278, 323
+  of Spain, 248, 300
+  of Switzerland, 55
+  of the West, 306
+  of the Western Pyrenees, 246
+
+Arpajon, 268
+
+Arragon, 133, 223, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230
+
+Arras, 337
+
+Artois, Count of, 91, 196
+
+Asola, 351
+
+Aspern, 16, 61, 137, 173, 190, 290, 294, 339
+
+Auch, 129
+
+Auersperg, 127
+
+Auerstaedt, 81, 167, 168, 177
+
+Auerstaedt, Duchess of, 169, 172, 177
+
+Augsburg, 15
+
+Augereau (Life, 259-267), xii, xiii, 26, 35, 79, 93, 121, 125, 126, 129,
+  202, 240
+
+Auguie, 144, 155
+
+Aulic Council, 56
+
+Aurillac, 159
+
+Austerlitz, xviii, 38, 47, 80, 97, 166, 222, 289
+
+Auxerre, 162
+
+Avignon, 276
+
+
+B
+
+Badajoz, 106, 107, 108, 211
+
+Baden, Prince of, 327, 328
+
+Bagration, 41
+
+Balanquer, Col of, 226, 229
+
+Baltic, 35
+
+Bantry Bay, 307
+
+Bar, 317
+
+Barcelona, 239, 290
+
+Bard, 206
+
+Bareges, 37
+
+Bar-le-Duc, 333, 337
+
+Barossa, 302
+
+Barras, 25, 77, 270
+
+Barthelemy, 263
+
+Bassano, 120
+
+Bastille, 3
+
+Bavarians, 80, 193, 329
+
+Bautzen, 19, 42, 153, 213, 283, 340
+
+Bavastros, 50
+
+Bayard, 295, 337, 339, 358
+
+Baylen, xviii, 248
+
+Bayonne, 14, 37, 68, 109, 116, 247
+
+Bearn, 87
+
+Beaumont, 31
+
+Belchite, 225, 226, 229
+
+Belgium, 12, 165, 196, 252, 254, 292
+
+Bellegarde, 95, 247
+
+Bennigsen, 131, 179
+
+Bentinck, 42
+
+Bercheny, 322
+
+Beresford, 107, 108
+
+Beresina, 41, 152, 302, 340
+
+Berg 33, 36, 38, 48
+
+Bergen, 273
+
+Berlin, xviii, 169, 173, 191
+
+Bernadotte (Life, 72-92), x, xi, 98, 99, 153, 167, 220, 232, 265, 291,
+  300, 340
+
+Berne, 270
+
+Berri, Duc de, 197, 341
+
+Berthier (Life, 1-22), xii, xiii, 54, 63, 70, 82, 98, 111, 116, 122,
+  123, 147, 150, 177, 202, 292, 318, 326
+
+Berthollet, 204
+
+Bertrand, 127, 312
+
+Besancon, 155, 245
+
+Besenval, 3
+
+Bessieres (Life, 286-295), xii, 18, 67, 83, 99, 100, 125, 207, 311, 352
+
+Bessonis, 159
+
+Bethune, 196
+
+Beurnonville, 184
+
+Biberach, 234, 237
+
+Bitche, 334
+
+Black Forest, 11, 31, 32, 126, 254
+
+Black Prince, 246
+
+Blake, 223, 240, 289, 290, 301, 329
+
+Bluecher, 34, 81, 84, 98, 130, 167, 168, 180, 192, 312
+
+Bohemia, 14
+
+Bologna, 121, 187
+
+Bonaventura Casa, 246
+
+Bordeaux, 109, 270
+
+Bormida, 235
+
+Bouchotte, 252, 306
+
+Boulogne, 96, 97, 221, 248, 275
+
+Bourbons, xiv, 36, 37, 39, 40, 44, 45, 68, 72, 77, 88, 90, 110, 113,
+  154, 157, 178, 215, 250, 267, 275, 283, 303, 304, 311, 315, 323, 330,
+  341, 342, 353
+
+Bourges, 195, 197
+
+Bourmont, 156
+
+Bouvet, 307
+
+Bremen, 280
+
+Brest, 265
+
+Brienne, 2, 302
+
+Brittany, 78
+
+Brives-la-Gaillard, 268, 277
+
+Bruges, 165
+
+Brumaire, 8, 27, 57, 77, 255, 288, 298, 325, 326, 352
+
+Brune, Madame, 268, 277
+
+Brunswick, Duke of, 118, 167, 318, 319
+
+Brussels, 313
+
+Bruyere, 175
+
+Buelow, 165
+
+Burgos, 100, 212, 290
+
+Burgundy, 162
+
+Busaco, 64, 150
+
+
+C
+
+Cadiz, 105, 108, 109, 282, 302
+
+Caesar, xi, 74, 89, 91, 161
+
+Cahors, 23, 286
+
+Cairo (Egypt), 26, 122
+
+Cairo (Italy), 52
+
+Calabria, 60
+
+Caldiero, 60
+
+Calvados, 270
+
+Calvin, 234
+
+Cambrai, 278
+
+Campan, 164
+
+Camp de milles fourches, 51
+
+Cannes, 45
+
+Capri, 40
+
+Capua, 60
+
+Carinthia, 238, 310
+
+Carnot, 221, 252, 253, 263, 320
+
+Caroline Bonaparte, 28, 29, 30, 33, 39, 43, 123, 124
+
+Caroline, Bourbon Queen of Naples, 60, 238
+
+Cassel, 281
+
+Castanos, 133
+
+Castel Franco, 238
+
+Castiglione, 53, 202, 219, 261, 262, 266, 287, 350
+
+Castile, 289, 295
+
+Castilians, 225
+
+Catalonia, 191, 225, 226, 229, 239, 240
+
+Catherine II., Czarina, 354, 355
+
+Cattaro, 207
+
+Caulaincourt, 99, 151, 154, 194
+
+Cavaignac, 40
+
+Cayenne, 49
+
+Cerea, 298
+
+Cerrachi, 78, 288
+
+Chalons, 156, 200, 201
+
+Champaubert, 214, 330
+
+Championnet, 185, 186
+
+Chancellor, 195
+
+Charlemagne, xi, xvii, 146, 246, 326
+
+Charleroi, 157, 253
+
+Charles, Archduke, xvii, 55, 56, 57, 82, 173, 174, 254, 255, 324, 356
+
+Charles IV. of Spain, 36, 37
+
+Charles X. of France, 215, 216, 217,
+258, 315
+
+Charles XIII. of Sweden, 84, 85
+
+Charles XIV. of Sweden, _cf_. Bernadotte
+
+Charlotte of Wuertemburg, 289
+
+Charles Stewart, 183
+
+Chatillon, 19, 200
+
+Chebrass, 122
+
+Cherasco, 25
+
+Cherbourg, 216
+
+Chiasso, 307
+
+Chouans, 306, 307
+
+Cisalpine Republic, 6, 30, 351
+
+Ciudad Rodrigo, 64, 66, 108, 150, 151, 212, 213
+
+Civita Castellana, 186
+
+Clanclaux, 306
+
+Clanranald, 183
+
+Clarke, Duke of Feltre, 14, 68, 83, 110
+
+Clary, 76
+
+Clary, Madame Suchet, 222, 227, 230
+
+Cleves, 33
+
+Clicheans, 143, 263
+
+Clichy Gate, 249
+
+Coa, 150
+
+Coburg, 253
+
+Code Napoleon, 39
+
+Coffin, 42
+
+Col de Tarvis, 351
+
+Col de Tende, 51, 349
+
+Col de Pierre Etroite, 349
+
+Coland, 143
+
+College of France, 268
+
+College of Isle Barbe, 219
+
+Combault, 331
+
+Committee of Public Safety, 24, 252, 253
+
+Commissioners, 3, 184, 185
+
+Commune, 113
+
+Concordat, 30, 124, 264, 288
+
+Confederation of the Rhine, 33
+
+Congress of Vienna, 89, 90, 156
+
+Consalvi, 30
+
+Constantinople, 79, 260, 274
+
+Consuls of Rome, 234, 235
+
+Convention, 232, 236
+
+Copenhagen, 188
+
+Corfu, 6
+
+Corne, Paul Louis, 238
+
+Corps Legislatif, 195
+
+Corunna, 104
+
+Corsica, 46, 72
+
+Corso, 135
+
+Cortes, 105
+
+Coudreaux, 155
+
+Council of Five Hundred, 254, 255
+
+Courcelles, 198
+
+Craonne, 303, 311
+
+Crawford, 150
+
+Cromwell, xi, 176
+
+Cross of St. Louis, 3, 275, 283, 311, 317, 330
+
+Cuesta, 104, 289, 290
+
+Custine, 2, 232
+
+
+D
+
+d'Abbeville, 319
+
+Daendals, 272
+
+Dallemagne, 120
+
+Dalmatia, 208, 210, 216
+
+Dalmatia, Duchess of, 109
+
+d'Angouleme, Duc, 68, 311
+
+Danton, 269, 270, 277
+
+Dantzig, 40, 131, 192, 302, 327, 328, 338
+
+Dantzig, Duchess of, 302, 329, 330, 331
+
+Danube, xvii, 10, 31, 32, 33, 60, 61, 74, 76, 82, 95, 98, 126, 127, 128,
+  136, 137, 222, 236, 280, 281, 308, 324, 355
+
+D'Artagnan, 23
+
+Dauphine, 72
+
+Davout (Life, 162-182), xii, xiii, 15, 16, 17, 18, 81, 96, 98, 99, 111,
+  119, 128, 130, 133, 145, 195, 210, 284, 285, 310, 312, 314, 339, 341,
+  355, 356
+
+Dego, 25, 120, 298
+
+D'Engen, 237
+
+d'Enghien, 78, 288, 311
+
+Denmark, 14, 82, 84, 90, 300
+
+Dennewitz, 87, 153
+
+d'Erlon, 66, 157, 159
+
+Desaix, xiii, 122, 163, 164, 233, 278, 300, 314
+
+Desire Clary, 76, 78, 85
+
+Desmoulins, Camille, 269, 276
+
+d'Hautpoul, 33
+
+Diet (Polish), 354
+
+Dijon, 28, 274
+
+Directory, xvii, 7, 48, 55, 57, 75, 76, 77, 220, 234, 235, 255, 263,
+  264, 270, 272, 279, 306, 320, 324, 325, 331
+
+Donauwoerth, 15
+
+Don Francisco, 37
+
+Doria, 234
+
+Dorsenne, 212
+
+Douro, 108
+
+Dresden, 42, 214, 242, 261, 283, 340
+
+Drome, 297
+
+Dugommier, 119, 297, 345
+
+Duhesme, 239
+
+Dumas, Alexandre, 270
+
+Dumas, General, 152
+
+Dumerbion, 51
+
+Dumouriez, xvi, 142, 163, 184, 252, 317, 318, 319, 320
+
+Dunaberg, 191
+
+Dundonald, 239
+
+Dunkirk, 252, 270
+
+Dupont, 198, 274, 280, 281
+
+Duroc, 26, 134, 337, 338
+
+Duerrenstein, 280, 281
+
+Duesseldorf, 34
+
+Dutaillis, 12
+
+Dutch, 80, 183, 184, 185, 207, 272
+
+Dwina, 191, 241
+
+
+E
+
+Ebersdorf, 190
+
+Ebling, 293
+
+Ebro, 134, 246, 248, 290
+
+Eckmuehl, 60, 136, 169, 173
+
+Egypt, xvii, 7, 8, 26, 27, 54, 75, 77, 122, 163, 186, 204, 205, 208,
+  247, 255, 264, 271, 287, 298, 324, 325
+
+Elba, 20, 45, 89, 180, 194, 195, 228, 267, 303, 331, 341, 348
+
+Elbe, 280, 321
+
+El Bodin, 212, 217
+
+Elchingen, 32
+
+Elizabeth of Bavaria, 13, 20
+
+Elster, 19, 193, 199, 357
+
+Empress of Austria, 171, 209
+
+Encyclopedists, 305
+
+Enzerdorf, 174
+
+Ercola, 345
+
+Erfurt, 100, 132, 147, 342
+
+Espinosa, 301, 329
+
+Essling, 16, 61, 64, 70, 137, 173, 190, 290, 294, 339
+
+Eugene, Prince, 19, 42, 43, 44, 47, 90, 188, 189, 198, 287, 310, 312
+
+Exmouth, Lord, 276
+
+Eylau, xviii, 14, 35, 47, 81, 95, 131, 147, 170, 222, 265, 309
+
+
+F
+
+Faenza, 237
+
+Faubourg St. Marceau, 259
+
+Feldkirche, 324
+
+Ferdinand, Archduke, 32, 126
+
+Ferdinand VII., King of Spain, 36, 37
+
+Fieschi, 284
+
+Figueras, 191, 346
+
+Finkenstein, 327
+
+Five Days' Fighting, 291, 294, 329, 339
+
+Fleurus, 73, 74, 94, 253, 323
+
+Florence, 30
+
+Flushing, 83
+
+Fontainebleau, 16, 20, 70, 154, 193
+
+Fort Louis, 94
+
+Fouche, 36, 38,43, 79, 85, 197, 272, 291
+
+Foy, 290, 315
+
+Frederic the Great, xviii, 168, 169, 332, 342
+
+Frejus, 77, 110, 155
+
+Friedland, xviii, 61, 99, 131, 132, 148, 282, 309, 311, 312, 338,
+  339, 342
+
+Fructidor General, 263
+
+Fuentes d'Onoro, 67, 211, 293
+
+Fulton, 207
+
+
+G
+
+Gaeta, 60
+
+Galicia, 104, 289
+
+Gamoral, 100
+
+Garde Constitutionelle, 24, 286
+
+Garde du Corps, 305
+
+Gardes Francaises, 259, 322
+
+Garonne, 93, 344
+
+Gascony, 72
+
+Gauthier, 269
+
+Gazan, 134, 280, 281
+
+Gembloux, 312, 313
+
+Gendarmerie, 245, 247
+
+Generalissimo, 357
+
+Geneva, 228
+
+Genoa, 25, 58, 70, 95, 121, 181, 221, 235, 236, 335, 336
+
+Gerard, 179
+
+Germany, xviii, 13, 17, 31, 42, 87 145, 177, 192, 280, 321
+
+Gerona, 240, 266
+
+Gers, 118, 119
+
+Ghent, 215
+
+Gibraltar, 108
+
+Girard, 282, 303, 312, 313
+
+Gironde, 117, 118
+
+Girondists, 270
+
+Goerz, 189
+
+Gouvion, 231, 232
+
+Governolo, 120
+
+Gradisca, 351
+
+Graham, 302
+
+Granada, 104
+
+Graetz, 308
+
+Gratz, 189, 308
+
+Grenade, 344
+
+Grenoble, 72
+
+Greussen, 98
+
+Grignon, 292
+
+Groete Keten, 272
+
+Grosbeeren, 87, 153, 340
+
+Grosbois, 14, 16, 79
+
+Grouchy (Life, 305-315), xiv, 111, 131, 157
+
+Guadaloupe, 79, 89
+
+Guard, Consular, 28, 96, 97, 123, 124, 125, 288
+
+Guard, Imperial, 12, 17, 41, 67, 109, 129, 153, 154, 158, 178, 190, 280,
+  287, 289, 290, 291, 293, 294, 295, 311
+
+Guard, National, 3, 30, 68, 249, 323, 333, 334, 341, 342, 352
+
+Guard, Royal, 215, 303, 341
+
+Guard, Young, 282, 283, 285, 290, 292, 294
+
+Guides, 287
+
+Gueheneuc, 124
+
+Gumbinnen, 152
+
+Gustavus IV., 84, 89, 275
+
+
+H
+
+Hamburg, 84, 178, 179, 181, 280, 281
+
+Hanau, 193, 199, 283
+
+Handschoetten, 252, 270
+
+Hannibal, 89, 161
+
+Hanover, 11, 80, 81, 82, 279, 280, 349
+
+Hanseatic Towns, 82
+
+Hassanhausen, 167, 168
+
+Haut Rhin, 93
+
+Havre, 261
+
+Hebert, 4, 333
+
+Heilsberg, 35, 99, 170
+
+Henry IV., 87, 92, 197
+
+Herborn, 95
+
+Hesdin, 162
+
+Hesse-Cassel, 90
+
+Hoche, 76, 234, 307, 324
+
+Hohenlinden, 28, 188, 206, 309
+
+Hohenlohe, 129, 130
+
+Hollabruenn, 33, 337
+
+Holland, 11, 185, 249, 255, 272, 273, 274, 300, 306, 309
+
+Holy Roman Empire, xvii, 123
+
+Hortense, Queen of Holland, 34, 164
+
+Houchard, 252, 270
+
+Hundred Days, 65, 215, 242, 258, 314, 321, 331, 348
+
+Hungarians, 175, 291
+
+Hyeres, 243
+
+
+I
+
+India, xvii
+
+Infernal Column, 337
+
+Inn, 31
+
+Invalides, 250, 258, 285, 352, 353
+
+Ireland, 265
+
+Iron Crown, 352
+
+Ismailia, 260
+
+Italian Republic, 30
+
+Ivrea, 28
+
+
+J
+
+Jacobin, 4, 48, 73, 75, 79, 253, 255, 263, 264, 333
+
+Janina, 208
+
+Jauer, 192
+
+Jeand Heurs, 339, 341
+
+Jemappes, 184, 252
+
+Jena, 13, 34, 47, 80, 81, 98, 130, 147, 149, 167, 222, 265, 300, 328
+
+Jerome Bonaparte, 289
+
+Johannisberg, 321
+
+John, Archduke, 174, 175, 188, 191, 209
+
+Jomini, 145, 146, 154, 161
+
+Joseph Bonaparte, 15, 38, 60, 61, 63, 76, 78, 79, 81, 84, 104, 105, 106,
+  108, 114, 149, 213, 222, 227, 239, 248, 256, 257, 258, 290, 301, 302,
+  310
+
+Josephine, Empress, 25, 36, 48, 76, 288, 292
+
+Joubert, 55, 220, 308
+
+Jourdan (Life, 251-258), xii, xiii, xvii, 63, 79, 94, 104, 234, 279,
+  301, 302, 323
+
+July Monarchy, 198
+
+Junot, 63, 64, 65, 134, 136, 201, 205, 337
+
+Junta of Oviedo, 248
+
+
+K
+
+Kaiserslautern, 93
+
+Kalioub, 26
+
+Kalish, 132
+
+Kalkreuth, 98, 168, 327, 328
+
+Katzbach, 192, 198
+
+Kehl, 126
+
+Keith, Lord, 59
+
+Kellermann (Life, 316-321), xii, xiii, 4, 51, 99, 201, 305, 326, 330, 331
+
+Kellermann (younger), 29, 157
+
+Kilmaine, 25
+
+King of Rome, 214
+
+Kleber, xiii, 73, 142, 143, 278, 279
+
+Koenigsberg, 99, 131, 171, 309
+
+Korsakoff, 56, 57
+
+Kosciuszko, 355
+
+Koesen, 167
+
+Kovno, 152, 153
+
+Krasnoi, 152
+
+Kremlin, 282
+
+Krems, 32
+
+Kuelm, 283
+
+
+L
+
+La Bastide Fortuniere, 23
+
+La Harpe, 26
+
+La Houssaye, 264, 267
+
+La Marche, 296
+
+La Vendee, 4, 253, 261, 274, 306, 326
+
+Lafayette, 90, 252
+
+Lamarre, 50
+
+Lamballe, 277
+
+Landgrafenberg, 129
+
+Landrieux, 24
+
+Landshut, 136
+
+Lannes (Life, 117-140), xii, xiii, 26, 28, 30, 32, 33, 47, 62, 96, 98,
+  99, 147, 149, 166, 175, 205, 210, 222, 248, 264, 265, 280, 288, 299,
+  300, 309, 312, 328, 337
+
+Laon, 214, 217
+
+Lapezriere, 288
+
+Larrey, 133
+
+Lartigues, 51
+
+Lasalle, 35
+
+Laudon, 247
+
+Lauter, 318
+
+Laybach, 189
+
+Le Bouton, 346
+
+Leclerc, xiii, 27
+
+Leclerc, Aimee, 164
+
+Lecourbe, xiii, 156
+
+Lectourne, 117, 118, 128, 136, 139
+
+Lefebvre (Life, 322-332), xii, 94, 264, 275
+
+Leghorn, 60, 61
+
+Legion of Honour, 146, 191, 198, 207, 221, 228, 247, 284, 309, 342, 352
+
+Legislative Assembly, 344
+
+Leipzig, xiv, xix, 19, 22, 42, 88, 138, 154, 192, 198, 199, 214, 266,
+  283, 302, 340, 347
+
+Lenormand, 83
+
+Leoben, 6, 53, 75, 121, 262, 270
+
+Lerida, 226, 229
+
+Levant, 260
+
+Liege, 313
+
+Ligny, 312
+
+Lille, 156, 196
+
+Limoges, 251
+
+Linares, 106
+
+Linz, 280
+
+Lisbon, 65, 66, 101, 104, 105, 106, 108, 115, 125, 126, 261
+
+Lithuania, 41
+
+Little Gibraltar, 297
+
+Liverpool, Lord, 67
+
+Loano, 51, 70, 119, 219, 261
+
+Lobau, 62, 138, 174, 290
+
+Lodi, 6, 53, 120, 201, 261, 262
+
+Loison, 151
+
+Lombardy, 45, 120, 308
+
+Lonato, 53, 287
+
+London, 113
+
+Lons la Saulnier, 155, 160
+
+Lorencz, 337
+
+Lorraine, 193
+
+Louis XIV., 237
+
+Louis XVIII., 20, 110, 160, 179, 180, 195, 196, 199, 243, 250, 258, 276,
+  341, 348
+
+Louis Napoleon, 38
+
+Louis Philippe, 113, 114, 116, 258, 284
+
+Louisiana, 7, 79, 300
+
+Louvre, 188
+
+Lowe, Sir Hudson, 40
+
+Luebeck, 35, 81, 84, 98, 128, 309
+
+Lucien Bonaparte, 79
+
+Luckner, 3, 318
+
+Lugo, 103, 149
+
+Luetzen, 19, 42, 153, 213, 283, 293
+
+Lyons, 113, 156, 196, 219, 228, 266, 311
+
+
+M
+
+Macachaim, 183
+
+Macard, xiv
+
+Macdonald, Flora, 183
+
+Macdonald, Marshal (Life, 183-199), xiii, xiv, 20, 21, 83, 154, 174,
+  181, 209, 243, 247, 266, 274, 298
+
+Macdonald, Neil, 183
+
+Machiavelli, 243
+
+Mack, 11, 126, 128, 186
+
+Madame Sans Gene, 322
+
+Madrid, 9, 36, 37, 100, 104, 108, 133, 134, 212, 227, 237, 248, 290, 301
+
+Maestricht, 312
+
+Magdeburg, 98, 147
+
+Magnano, 55, 186
+
+Maillebois, 184
+
+Maine, 213
+
+Maintz, 201
+
+Malaga, 104
+
+Malmaison, 180
+
+Malta, 122
+
+Mamelukes, 26, 204
+
+Manhes, 39
+
+Mannheim, 143, 163, 335
+
+Mantua, 25, 120, 189, 203, 262, 272, 287, 298, 299, 350, 351
+
+Marat, 24
+
+Marceau, xiii, 94
+
+Marengo, xvii, 9, 29, 59, 77, 96, 123, 124, 205, 221, 247, 274, 288,
+  299, 300, 314
+
+Maret, 99
+
+Maria, 225, 229
+
+Marie Louise, 16, 175
+
+Marlborough, 227
+
+Marmont (Life, 200-218), xiii, xiv, 26, 67, 68, 78, 108, 122, 123, 189,
+  194, 229, 274, 278, 288, 309, 310
+
+Marne, 302
+
+Marseillaise, 276
+
+Marseilles, 76, 219, 276
+
+Massena (Life, 49-71), xii, xiii, 15, 16, 79, 95, 96, 106, 107, 110,
+  115, 137, 142, 144, 149, 150, 151, 174, 190, 210, 220, 221, 234, 238,
+  239, 255, 256, 270, 273, 274, 279, 292, 293, 298, 299, 335, 336
+
+Massena, Prosper, 69
+
+Maubeuge, 252
+
+Meaux, 269
+
+Mecklenberg-Anhalt, 90
+
+Medici, 30
+
+Medine del Rio Seco, 289
+
+Medoc, 233
+
+Melzi, 30
+
+Menou, 122
+
+Mequinenza, 262, 229
+
+Meric, 119
+
+Mesler, 138
+
+Messina, 40
+
+Metternich, 42, 45, 209
+
+Metz, 141, 146, 318, 341
+
+Meuse, 334
+
+Midi, 275
+
+Milan, 10
+
+Millesimo, 261
+
+Mincio, 25, 206, 221, 274
+
+Mirabeau, 268
+
+Molans, Ure de, 24
+
+Monaco, 299
+
+Moncey (Life, 245-250), 133, 134
+
+Mondego, 150
+
+Mondovi, 25, 298, 350, 351
+
+Monge, 204
+
+Moniteur, 42, 43, 164
+
+Mont St. Jean, 313
+
+Montebello, 25, 28, 123, 138, 299
+
+Monte Cretto, 95
+
+Montenegro, 208
+
+Montenotte, 53
+
+Montesquieu, 305
+
+Montfaucon, 24
+
+Montmartre, 214
+
+Montmirail, 283, 330
+
+Monzembano, 336
+
+Moore, Sir John, 100, 134
+
+Moreau, xiii, xiv, xvii, 28, 76, 138, 144, 186, 187, 199, 206, 220, 234,
+  235, 236, 237, 247, 298, 308
+
+Morlantier, 334
+
+Mortier (Life, 278-285), xii, xiii, xiv, 80, 136, 328, 329
+
+Moscow, 18, 40, 41, 151, 241, 282, 295, 310, 329
+
+Moses, 89
+
+Moskowa, 41, 156, 177, 294, 312, 356
+
+Mosskirch, 237
+
+Moulins, 201
+
+Mount Albis, 56, 57
+
+Mount Faron, 297
+
+Munich, 31, 259
+
+Murat (Life, 22-48), xii, xiii, 10, 18, 19, 89, 93, 120, 122, 123, 124,
+  125, 126, 127, 130, 131, 139, 166, 177, 178, 233, 274, 287, 288, 289,
+  290, 293, 294, 309, 310, 311, 348
+
+Murillo, 105
+
+
+N
+
+Naarden, 185
+
+Namur, 312, 313, 314
+
+Nansouty, 33, 190
+
+Napier, 107, 150
+
+Naples, 37, 38, 39, 42, 43, 60, 69, 72, 185, 186, 188, 237, 238, 239,
+  318
+
+Naples, King of, 29
+
+Napoleon II., 314
+
+Nassau-Siegen, 245
+
+Naumberg, 80, 167
+
+Neckerau, 335
+
+Neerwinden, 142, 163, 184, 269
+
+Neuchatel, 12, 338, 342
+
+Neumarkt, 220
+
+Neusiedel, 174, 340
+
+Neuweid, 324
+
+Ney (Life, 141-161), xii, xiii, 32, 63, 64, 65, 68, 96, 98, 99, 103,
+  104, 117, 120, 129, 166, 194, 196, 215, 250, 283, 284, 309, 311, 340
+
+Nice, 50, 68
+
+Nicole Pierre, 268
+
+Niemen, 41, 47, 152, 153
+
+Nile, 26
+
+Normandy, 270, 305
+
+Norway, 86, 88, 89, 90
+
+Notre Dame, 264, 326, 352
+
+Novara, 307
+
+Novi, 220, 235, 308, 347
+
+Nowawies, 310
+
+Nugent, 214
+
+Nuremburg, 31
+
+
+O
+
+Ocana, 116
+
+Oder, 130
+
+O'Hara, 219
+
+Ogilvie, 183
+
+O'Meara, 228
+
+Omet, 117
+
+Oporto, 101, 102, 103, 112, 114, 116
+
+Orcha, 152
+
+Orangerie, 27
+
+Order of St. Louis, 341, 348
+
+Orient, 122
+
+Orleanist, 113, 114
+
+Orleans, 125, 283, 284
+
+Orleans, Duke of, 156
+
+Orthes, 109
+
+Oscar, 85, 90
+
+Ostrach, 324
+
+Ostralenka, 61, 338
+
+Ott, 336
+
+Oudinot (Life, 333-343), xiv, 131, 153, 210, 240, 241
+
+
+P
+
+Padua, 55
+
+Pajol, 312, 337
+
+Palafox, 133, 135, 136
+
+Palestine, 27
+
+Papal States, 29, 121, 298
+
+Pampeluna, 36, 228
+
+Pantheon, 175
+
+Parma, 348
+
+Passau, 31
+
+Pau, 72
+
+Paulet, 183
+
+Pauline Bonaparte, 164, 203
+
+Pavia, 206
+
+Penn, William, 114
+
+Perignon, de (Life, 344-348), xii, xiii, 326
+
+Perpignan, 119, 240, 264, 344
+
+Perregaux, 203
+
+Peschiera, 298
+
+Piacenza, 29, 186, 348
+
+Picardy, 184, 334
+
+Pichegru, xiii, 76, 185, 201
+
+Piedmont, 255, 277, 308
+
+Piedmontese, 228
+
+Pirna, 242
+
+Pizzo, 46
+
+Plailly, 28
+
+Po, 29, 43, 44, 187
+
+Poitou, 268
+
+Poland, 35, 36, 61, 81, 98, 130, 170, 182, 289, 317, 318, 321, 354, 355
+
+Polignac, 215
+
+Polotsk, 241, 330
+
+Pomerania, 82, 86, 89
+
+Poniatowski (Life, 354-358), xiv, 172, 193
+
+Pope, 7, 45, 54, 234, 288
+
+Porte, 274
+
+Portugal, King of, 36
+
+Posen, 310
+
+Potsdam, 327, 352
+
+Praetorians, 294
+
+Pratzen, 128
+
+Prayssac, 286
+
+Pressburg, 12, 14, 175
+
+Prince of Orange, 272
+
+Prince of Peace, 36
+
+Prince Regent of Portugal, 126
+
+Prinzlow, 130, 309
+
+Provence, 72, 276, 344
+
+Provera, 298
+
+Provisional Government, 314
+
+Prussia, King of, 34, 87, 168, 176, 214
+
+Pultusk, 13, 61, 130, 138, 222, 265, 300
+
+Pyramids, 7, 26, 122, 204, 315
+
+Pyrenees, 36, 93, 109, 116, 344
+
+
+Q
+
+Quadruple Alliance, 90
+
+Quatre Bras, 157, 158, 160
+
+Quercy, 23
+
+Quievrain, 278
+
+
+R
+
+Ragusa, 209
+
+Rapp, 18, 339
+
+Ratisbon, 15, 31, 136, 173, 189, 254
+
+Ratte Eig, 95
+
+Razyn, 356
+
+Regnier, 64, 65, 66
+
+Reille, 69, 157
+
+Rennes, 78
+
+Risorgimento, 44
+
+Restoration, 228, 242, 249, 258, 303, 311, 321, 331, 341, 352
+
+Revolution, French, 3, 38, 53, 72, 75, 142, 184, 200, 231, 269, 286,
+  296, 305, 323, 333, 349
+
+Rewbell, 234
+
+Rhine, xvi, xvii, 33, 55, 56, 74, 95, 126, 185, 201, 254, 255, 319, 321,
+  334
+
+Rhone, 68
+
+Richard Coeur de Lion, 280
+
+Richelieu, 200
+
+Richepanse, xiii
+
+Rights of Man, 73
+
+Rio Tinto, 106
+
+Rivoli, 6, 25, 65, 70, 219, 270, 287
+
+Robespierre, 2
+
+Rochambeau, 2
+
+Rochfort, 180
+
+Roederer, xii
+
+Rohan, 238
+
+Roland, 139
+
+Rolland, 270
+
+Rome, 6, 30, 43, 54, 83, 185, 186, 198, 231, 272, 294
+
+Romana, 149
+
+Roman Republic, 234
+
+Roncesvalles, 246
+
+Ros, Lord, 70
+
+Rosas, 239, 346
+
+Roveredo, 53
+
+Royal Champagne Regiment, 162
+
+Royal Italian Regiment, 49, 50
+
+Royal Military School, 162
+
+Royal Marine Regiment, 73
+
+Rouffach, 322
+
+Rue Royal, 285
+
+Rueil, 63
+
+
+S
+
+Saale, 167, 192
+
+Saalfeld, 129, 138, 221
+
+Sablous, 25
+
+Sacile, 188, 189
+
+Sacred Bands, 310
+
+Sagunto, 226
+
+Sahagun, 100
+
+Saint Cloud, 15, 110
+
+Saint Michel, College of, 23
+
+Saintes Georges, 53, 298
+
+Salamanca, 64, 108, 134, 211, 212, 214, 217
+
+Salicetti, 38
+
+Salisbury, Lady, 113
+
+Sancerre, 183
+
+San Domingo, 9
+
+San Felipe, 226
+
+San Marco, 298
+
+Santarem, 66
+
+Santiago, 301
+
+Santo Paolo, 40
+
+Santo Stefano, 40
+
+Saragossa, 134, 135, 138, 222, 223, 224, 226, 240, 348
+
+Sardinia, 276
+
+Sardinia, King of, 307, 308
+
+Sardinians, 25, 51, 350
+
+Sardou, 322
+
+Sarrelouis, 141, 159
+
+Savigny-sur-Orge, 165
+
+Savoy, 228
+
+Saxe, Marshal, 114
+
+Saxons, 80, 83, 131, 176, 342
+
+Saxony, 280
+
+Scherer, 51, 119, 186
+
+Schwartzenberg, 266
+
+Scots College, 183
+
+Sebastiani, 33
+
+Sedan, 183
+
+Segur, 169, 251
+
+Seine, 180, 303
+
+Serre, 345
+
+Serurier (Life, 349-353), xii, xiii, 26, 326
+
+Servan, 318
+
+Seven Years' War, 317, 321
+
+Seville, 104, 106, 134
+
+Sezanne, 214
+
+Sicily, 38, 39, 42, 43
+
+Sievers, 132
+
+Sieyes, 76, 77, 88
+
+Silesia, 14, 15, 87, 172, 192, 214
+
+Simplon Pass, 42
+
+Smolensk, 41, 151, 356
+
+Somosierra, 301
+
+Sorauren, 109
+
+Soult (Life, 93-116), xii, xiii, 11, 21, 30, 58, 63, 66, 117, 128, 129,
+  138, 145, 147, 149, 157, 166, 211, 212, 221, 276, 282, 290, 302, 339
+
+Spartans, 221
+
+Spluegen Pass, 187, 247
+
+St. Andrew, Order of, 132
+
+St. Agnes, 234
+
+St. Amand, 93, 114
+
+St. Bernard Pass, 8, 187, 206, 221, 247
+
+St. Catherine's Fort, 51
+
+St. Cyr (Life, 231-244), xiii, 181, 185, 211, 266, 278, 340
+
+St. Dizier, 214, 302
+
+St. Germain, xv
+
+St. Gothard Pass, 56
+
+St. Helena, Napoleon's conversations at, 21, 22, 45, 51, 59, 70, 110,
+  138, 145, 160, 228, 256, 266, 294
+
+St. Jean d'Acre, 128
+
+St. Jean Pied de Porte, 246
+
+St. Joseph, Chateau, 228
+
+St. Menehould, 318
+
+St. Omer, 3
+
+St. Petersburg, xviii
+
+St. Sebastian, 36
+
+Stael, 87
+
+Stanislaus, 354, 355
+
+Stein, 173, 176, 181
+
+Stettin, 88, 100, 301
+
+Stockach, 55
+
+Stockholm, 86
+
+Storthing, 90
+
+Stradella, 123
+
+Stralsund, 275
+
+Strassburg, 31, 317
+
+Styria, 207, 216, 220, 238, 310
+
+Suchet (Life, 219-230), xiv, 58, 115, 135, 212, 274, 335
+
+Sully, 92
+
+Sultan, 208
+
+Suvaroff, 56, 57, 188, 235, 266, 351, 352
+
+Sweden, 72, 84, 85, 89, 90, 92, 275
+
+Switzerland, 55, 56, 69, 144, 159, 220, 266, 270, 271, 272, 274, 279,
+  335, 338
+
+Syria, 7, 26, 122, 287
+
+
+T
+
+Tagus, 66, 104, 149, 150, 212
+
+Talavera, 63, 149, 257, 302
+
+Talleyrand, 10, 21, 22, 36, 38, 79, 85, 125, 154, 188, 194, 329
+
+Tarragona, 226, 230, 239
+
+Targowitz, 355
+
+Temple, The, 284
+
+Terror, The, 164, 253, 255, 333
+
+Thermopylae, 221
+
+Thielmann, 314
+
+Thionville, 269, 323
+
+Thirty Years' War, 111
+
+Tolosa, 133, 136
+
+Tondu de caporal, 329
+
+Torres Vedras, 65, 71, 150, 211
+
+Tortosa, 226, 229
+
+Toul, 231
+
+Toulon, 51, 201, 219, 276, 297
+
+Toulouse, 23, 110, 112, 116
+
+Trachenberg, 87
+
+Tras os Montes, 103
+
+Treaty of Aboe, 81
+  Amiens, 237
+  Basle, 119, 247, 347
+  Campo Formio, 163, 234, 298
+  Foligno, 29
+  Luneville, 144, 164, 247, 236
+  Pressburg, 12, 60, 98, 208, 338
+  Tilsit, xviii, 13, 14, 35, 81, 148, 171, 289, 301, 339, 355
+  Vienna, 63
+
+Trebbia, 187, 188, 198
+
+Trent, 247
+
+Treviso, 206, 274
+
+Trieste, 189
+
+Trouve, 272
+
+Troyes, 283
+
+Tudela, 133, 138, 149
+
+Tuileries, 43, 152, 161, 263, 325
+
+Turenne, 114, 295
+
+Turin, 307, 308
+
+Turks, 29, 205, 208, 210, 274, 354
+
+Turreau, 162, 163
+
+Tuscany, 29, 30, 234
+
+Tyrol, 42, 265, 329
+
+
+U
+
+Uist, 183
+
+Ulces, 301
+
+Ulm, xviii, 11, 31, 47, 126, 128, 130, 146, 166, 207, 222, 237, 300,
+  334, 337
+
+United States, 79
+
+Upper Vienne, 251, 253
+
+
+V
+
+Vaal, 185, 198, 279
+
+Valentia, 133, 212, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 248
+
+Valladolid, 290, 294
+
+Valmy, xvi, 269, 319, 321
+
+Valtelline, 25, 247
+
+Vandamme, 242, 283, 312
+
+Var, 50, 221, 297, 335
+
+Varennes, 286
+
+Vasa, 72
+
+Vatican, 203
+
+Velasquez, 105
+
+Vendemiaire, 25
+
+Vendeen, 306
+
+Venice, 54, 203, 351
+
+Verderio, 290
+
+Verdier, 240
+
+Victor (Life, 296-304), xiii, xiv, 104, 105, 121, 124, 134, 187, 241,
+  283, 310
+
+Victoria, Queen, 113
+
+Vienna, 16, 25, 32, 56, 61, 70, 127, 137, 138, 189, 216, 280, 351
+
+Vierzehn Heiligen, 129
+
+Villa Mayor, 135
+
+Villars, Marshal, 114
+
+Villele, 303
+
+Villelongue, 119
+
+Villeneuve l'Etang, 110
+
+Vilna, 18, 41, 177, 310, 330
+
+Vimiero, 290
+
+Vincennes, 87
+
+Visconti, Madame, 7, 12, 13
+
+Vistula, 13, 47, 130, 147, 294, 327, 329, 355
+
+Vittoria, 109, 133, 228, 257, 258
+
+Vosges, 193, 232, 296, 302
+
+
+W
+
+Wagram, xiv, xviii, 62, 64, 69, 70, 82, 149, 174, 190, 191, 199, 210,
+  291, 292, 294, 310, 311, 312, 339, 356
+
+Walcheren, 292, 352
+
+Walmoden, 280
+
+Warsaw, 35, 131, 171, 355
+
+Warsaw, Grand Duchy of, 171, 355, 356
+
+Wartburg, 349
+
+Washington, 114
+
+Waterloo, 45, 89, 111, 156, 158, 160, 180, 197, 228, 250, 254, 267, 283,
+  313, 314, 315
+
+Wavre, 313, 314
+
+Weissenburg, 94
+
+Wellington, 63, 65, 66, 67, 96, 97, 102, 104, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113,
+  117, 150, 157, 160, 161, 165, 211, 212, 213, 217, 227, 228, 293, 312
+
+Wesel, 34
+
+White Terror, 277
+
+William, Duke of Bavaria, 13
+
+William the Conqueror, 305
+
+Wisent, 279
+
+Wittgenstein, 241
+
+Wuermser, 203, 350, 351
+
+Wuerzburg, 13, 31, 143, 146
+
+
+Y
+
+Yonne, 163
+
+York, Duke of, 272
+
+
+Z
+
+Znaim, 63
+
+Zurich, 56, 57, 63, 65, 68, 70, 77, 273, 279, 337
+
+Zype, 273
+
+
+
+
+The Gresham Press,
+
+UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED,
+
+WOKING AND LONDON.
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes
+
+Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
+
+Hyphens added:
+  ill[-]will (pages 4, 214)
+  coup[-]de[-]grace (pages 34, 309)
+  master[-]stroke (page 76)
+  rear[-]guard (page 94)
+  counter[-]stroke (page 108)
+  far[-]seeing (page 186)
+  re[-]armament (page 216)
+  bed[-]fellow (page 233)
+  kind[-]hearted (page 287)
+
+Diacritics added:
+  Jacques Etienne (page xix)
+  Rhone (page 68)
+  menage (page 141)
+  Pantheon (page 175)
+  Luneville (page 184)
+  AUGUSTE FREDERIC (page 200)
+  Pierre Etroite (page 349)
+  Castanos (page 361)
+  Donnauwoerth (page 363)
+  Ocana  (page 369)
+
+Diacritics removed:
+  Luckner (page 318)
+  Desaix (page 363)
+
+Page viii: "EMANUEL DE GROUCHY" changed to "EMMANUEL DE GROUCHY".
+
+Page xix: The full name of Marshall Victor appears in different sources
+as Claude-Victor Perrin and Claude Victor-Perrin. His entry in this
+table is strange but has not been changed.
+
+Page 118: "dulness" changed to "dullness" (dullness of the dyer's
+trade).
+
+Page 157: "D'Erlon's" changed to "d'Erlon's" (d'Erlon's corps).
+
+Page 157: "Quartre" changed to "Quatre" (thirty thousand men now held
+Quatre Bras).
+
+Page 162: "from" added (was dismissed from the service).
+
+Page 300: "Lousiania" changed to "Louisiana" (Captain-General of
+Louisiana).
+
+Page 311: "was" changed to "were" (were not cordial).
+
+Page 360: Reference to non-existent page "387" for "Austerlitz" removed.
+
+Page 368: Reference to non-existent page "xxiii" for "Moncey" removed.
+
+Page 372: "Vendemaire" changed to "Vendemiaire".
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Napoleon's Marshals, by R. P. Dunn-Pattison
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NAPOLEON'S MARSHALS ***
+
+***** This file should be named 34400.txt or 34400.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/4/0/34400/
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Moti Ben-Ari and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/34400.zip b/34400.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f569f1c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34400.zip
diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6312041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..594aff3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #34400 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34400)