CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 David a. Flinn 
 
Cornell University Library 
 DC 203.D88 1894 
 
 Napoleon, 
 
 3 1924 008 954 780 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tiiis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924008954780 
 
NAPOLEON 
 
 BY 
 
 ALEXANDRE DUMAS 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH 
 BY 
 
 JOHN B. LARNER 
 
 G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
 
 NEW YORK LONDON 
 
 27 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET 24 BEDFORD STREET, STRAND ' '>*/ 
 
 S^e linittebotlitt f rcsg , ^ ' 
 
 1894 
 
 '1'/ 
 
Copyright, 1894 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN E. LARNER 
 
 Electrotyped, Printed and Bound by 
 
 V^€ 'Knicfierbocftcr ipress, "fflcw Ifforft 
 
 G. P. Putnam's Sons 
 
TO 
 MY WIFE 
 
 ANNA PARKER LARNER 
 
 THIS TRANSLATION IS 
 AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 O OME years ago, while pursuing a course of study in 
 *^ the French language under the direction of the 
 late Prof. Henri Larroque, who not long since met an 
 untimely death, and whose learning and ability placed 
 him in the foremost rank of teachers of languages, there 
 was placed in the hands of the translator for critical 
 study Alexandre Dumas' Napoleon. The more he ex- 
 amined the work the better he was pleased with it, and 
 the result was a complete translation of the book. It 
 was not his intention that the work should be submitted 
 to public reading, but, at the request of a large number 
 of persons interested in Napoleonic literature, a complete 
 translation of Dumas' Napoleon appears for the iirst 
 time in the English language. The work in the original 
 is popular, has a large and continuous sale, and is con- 
 sidered to be an excellent specimen of modern French. 
 It seems very strange that a work from the pen of an 
 author of the character and reputation of Alexandre 
 Dumas should have remained untranslated for so long 
 a time. 
 
 Dumas appears to have written his Napoleon, which 
 was originally a drama, under very peculiar circum- 
 
vi PREFACE. 
 
 Stances. Percy Fitzgerald, in his Life and Adventures 
 of Alexandre Dumas, says that Harel, the manager of 
 the Odeon at Paris during the Revolution of 1830, 
 requested Dumas to prepare a drama to be called 
 Napoleon. Dumas did not proceed with the work at that 
 time, but in 183 1 Harel entrapped him into a handsomely 
 furnished apartment, and told him he could not leave it 
 until the drama had been completed. The piece was 
 to begin with Toulon, and to end with " the five years' 
 agony at St. Helena." In eight days it was finished. 
 It had nine thousand lines and twenty-five tableaux ; 
 and was produced at the Od^on by Harel, an actor 
 named Lemaitre taking the part of Napoleon. This 
 drama, which was expected by Dumas to work up the 
 hostile Bonapartist feeling which existed at that time, 
 proved an absolute failure and was withdrawn. 
 
 According to Fitzgerald this drama was evidently 
 rewritten in 1839. In his list of books, written by 
 Dumas, the present Life of Napoleon is put down as 
 having been written in 1868. The authority for this 
 date is not given, but it is certainly a mistake, for Prof. 
 Fasquelle, as early as 1855, published the work in French 
 to be used as a second book in his course. It is un- 
 certain just when this work was written, but it can be 
 said with certainty that Dumas is its author, and that 
 the serious charge which has so often been made against 
 him of assumed authorship cannot be sustained in this 
 instance. 
 
 The object of the translator has been from the outset 
 to make the translation as nearly literal as possible. 
 Much of the force and beauty of the French is lost by 
 liberal translations. While they read smoothly and 
 often give the author's ideas in English, the translator 
 
PREFACE. vil 
 
 thinks that a literal translation, where possible, of French 
 idioms and expressions gives the reader a better insight 
 into the meaning, though the language may not be as 
 smooth and elegant as the polished English of the free 
 translation. 
 
 This work is submitted to the public with the knowl- 
 edge that its style will be the subject of criticism, but 
 the translator trusts that those who read it may feel 
 repaid. 
 
 The will of Napoleon, which Dumas attached to his 
 work, is not included in this translation, because it is 
 not in any way connected with the body of the work, 
 and has been many times translated. 
 
 JOHN B. LARNER. 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 October i, 1894. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE . 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 GENERAL BONAPARTE 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 BONAPARTE FIRST CONSUL . 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 NAPOLEON EMPEROR 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 NAPOLEON AT THE ISLAND OF ELBA 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 THE HUNDRED DAYS 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 NAPOLEON AT ST. HELENA 
 
 INDEX 
 
 23 
 
 55 
 
 • 79 
 
 ■ 153 
 
 172 
 
 224 
 . 243 
 
NAPOLEON. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 /^N the isth of August, 1769, at Ajaccio, was born an 
 infant, who received of his parents the name of 
 Bonaparte and of Heaven that of Napoleon. 
 
 The first days of his childhood were spent in the midst 
 of that feverish agitation which follows revolutions. 
 Corsica, which for half a century had been breathing in- 
 dependence, had just been half conquered and half sold, 
 and brought out from the slavery of Genoa only to fall 
 into the power of France. Paoli, vanquished at Ponte- 
 Nouvo, went to seek, with his brother and nephew, an 
 asylum in England, where Alfieri was dedicating to him 
 his Timolion. The air that the new-born child breathed 
 was hot with civil hates, and the bell which sounded his 
 baptism was still quivering with the tocsin. 
 
 Charles Bonaparte, his father, and Lstitia Ramolino, 
 his mother, both of patrician race and natives of that 
 charming village of San-Miniato, which overlooks Flor- 
 ence, having been friends of Paoli, had abandoned his 
 party and reunited themselves to the French influence. 
 
2 NAPOLEON. 
 
 It was easy then for them to obtain of M. Marboeuf, who 
 came back as governor of the island where he had 
 landed ten years before as general, his protection to en- 
 able the young Napoleon to enter the Military School of 
 Brienne. The request was granted, and some time after 
 M. Berton, vice-principal of the college, inscribed on his 
 register the following note : 
 
 " To-day, April 23rd, 1779, Napoleon Bonaparte is en- 
 tered at the Royal Mihtary School of Brienne-le- 
 Chateau, at the age of nine years, eight months and five 
 days." 
 
 The new-comer was Corsican, that is to say, of a 
 country which wrestled against civilization with such in- 
 active force that its character was preserved at the loss 
 of its independence. He spoke only the dialect of his 
 maternal island ; he had the burnt complexion of the 
 south and the dark and piercing eye of the mountaineer. 
 That was more than was necessary to excite the curiosity 
 of his comrades and to increase his natural savagery ; 
 for the curiosity of infancy is mockery and want of com- 
 passion. A professor, named Dupuis, took pity on the 
 poor isolated child, and charged himself with giving him 
 private lessons in theFrench language. Three months later 
 the child was far enough advanced in this study to receive 
 the first elements of Latin. But, from the beginning, 
 he manifested the repugnance he always retained for the 
 dead languages, whilst, on the contrary, his aptitude for 
 mathematics developed from the first lessons. The re- 
 sult was, that, by one of those agreements so frequent at 
 college, he would find the solution of the problems that 
 his comrades had to solve, and they, in exchange, would 
 do for him themes and translations which he wished not 
 to understand. 
 
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 3 
 
 The kind of isolation in which young Bonaparte found 
 himself during some time, and which was due to the im- 
 possibility of communicating his ideas, raised between 
 him and his companions a sort of barrier, which never 
 completely disappeared. This first impression, by leav- 
 ing on his mind a painful remembrance which resembled 
 malice, gave birth to that premature misanthropy, which 
 made him seek solitary amusements, and in which some 
 people have wished to see prophetic dreams of the rising 
 genius. Besides, several circumstances, which in the 
 lives of all others would have remained unperceived, 
 gave some foundation for the accounts of those who 
 have attempted to give an exceptional childhood to this 
 wonderful manhood. We shall mention two of them. 
 
 One of the most usual amusements of young Bonaparte 
 was the cultivation of a little flower garden surrounded 
 by fences, into which he habitually retired in the hours 
 of recreation. One day one of his comrades, who was 
 curious to know what he could do thus alone in his gar- 
 den, scaled the fence and saw him engaged in arranging 
 in military order a great number of pebbles, the size of 
 which designated their rank. At the noise which the 
 indiscreet one made Bonaparte turned and, finding him- 
 self surprised, ordered the scholar to descend. Instead 
 of obeying he laughed at the young strategist, v/ho, little 
 disposed to the pleasantry, picked up the largest of his 
 pebbles and with it struck the joker in the middle of the 
 forehead, who fell instantly quite dangerously wounded. 
 
 Twenty-five years later, that is to say, at the moment 
 of his highest fortune, they announced to Napoleon that 
 a person, who called himself his comrade at college, 
 asked to speak with him. As, at all such times busy- 
 bodies were waiting upon him with this pretext in order 
 
4 NAPOLEON. 
 
 that they might see him, the ex-scholar of Brienne or- 
 dered the aide-de-camp to go and ask the name of this 
 schoolfellow, but the name not awakening any remem- 
 brance in the mind of Napoleon, he said : 
 
 " Return and ask of that man if he cannot mention 
 some circumstance which will place me on his track." 
 
 The aide-de-camp delivered his message and returned 
 saying that the petitioner for his only answer had shown 
 him a scar which he had on the forehead. 
 
 " Ah ! This time I remember," said the Emperor ; " it 
 is a General-in-chief that I struck on the head." 
 
 During the winter of 1783 and 1784 there fell a 
 great quantity of snow, which interrupted all out-door 
 recreation. Bonaparte, forced, in spite of himself, 
 to pass, in the midst of the noisy and unaccustomed 
 amusements of his comrades, the hours which he or- 
 dinarily gave to the cultivation of his garden, pro- 
 posed to make a sally, and by the aid of shovels and 
 pickaxes to cut in the snow the fortifications of a city, 
 which would then be attacked by the one body and de- 
 fended by the other. The proposition was too congenial 
 to be refused. The author of the project was naturally 
 chosen to command one of the two parties. The city, 
 besieged by him, was captured after a heroic resistance 
 on the part of his adversaries. The next day the snow 
 melted, but this recreation left a deep impression on the 
 memory of the scholars. When they became men they 
 recalled that young child, and they remembered the 
 ramparts of snow that Bonaparte beat in holes as they 
 saw the walls of so many cities fall before him. 
 
 As Bonaparte grew, the primitive ideas, the germ of 
 which he had in some way carried in his mind, devel- 
 oped and indicated the fruits they would one day 
 
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 5 
 
 bear. The submission of Corsica to France, which 
 gave to him, its only representative, the appearance of a 
 vanquished enemy in the midst of his conquerors, was 
 odious to him. One day when he was dining at the table 
 of Father Berton, the professors, who had already many 
 times noticed the national irritability of their scholar, 
 affected to speak badly of Paoli. The color flushed im- 
 mediately in the face of the young man, who could not 
 contain himself. 
 
 " Paoli," said he, " was a great man who loved his 
 country like an old Roman, and I will never forgive my 
 father, who was his aide-de-camp, for having concurred 
 in the union of Corsica with France. He should have 
 followed the fortunes of his general and fallen with 
 him." 
 
 Nevertheless, at the end of five years young Bonaparte 
 was in the fourth class, and had learned all the mathe- 
 matics that Father Patrault could teach him. His age 
 was that at which one could pass from the school of 
 Brienne to that of Paris. His notes were good, and this 
 report was sent to King Louis XVI. by M. de Keralio, 
 Inspector of Military Schools : 
 
 " M. de Bonaparte (Napoleon), born August 15th, 
 1769, height four feet ten inches and ten lines, is in 
 his fourth class ; of good constitution, excellent health, 
 submissive character, honest, grateful, conduct very regu- 
 lar ; and always distinguished by his application to 
 mathematics. He knows very passably his history and 
 geography ; he is very weak in the ornamental exercises 
 and in Latin, in which he has only made his fourth grade. 
 He will be an excellent sailor. He deserves to pass to 
 the Military School of Paris." 
 
6 NAPOLEON. 
 
 In consequence of this report young Bonaparte ob- 
 tained admission to the Military School of Paris, and on 
 the day of his departure this memorandum was inscribed 
 in the register : 
 
 " Oct. 17th, 1784, is sent out from the Royal School of 
 Brienne, M. Napoleon de Bonaparte, born in the City of 
 Ajaccio on the Island of Corsica, on the 15th day of 
 August, 1769, son of the illustrious Charles Marie de 
 Bonaparte, a deputy of the nobility of Corsica living in 
 the said City of Ajaccio, and of Lady Lsetitia Ramolino, 
 according to the Act carried to the Register, Folio 31, 
 and received into this establishment April 23rd, 1779." 
 
 They have accused Bonaparte of being praised for an 
 imaginary nobility and of having falsified his age ; the 
 fragments, which we have just quoted, answer these two 
 accusations. 
 
 Bonaparte arrived at the capital by the coach from 
 Nogent-sur-Seine. 
 
 Nothing remarkable signalized the stay of Bonaparte 
 at the Military School of Paris except a memoir that he 
 sent to his old vice-principal. Father Berton. The young 
 legislator had found in the organization of this school 
 vices which his rising aptitude for administration could 
 not pass in silence. One of these vices, and the most 
 dangerous of all, was the luxury with which the scholars 
 were surrounded. Therefore Napoleon rose up espe- 
 cially against this luxury. 
 
 " Instead," said he, " of maintaining numerous domes- 
 tics around the scholars, giving them daily, meals with 
 two courses, making parade of horsemanship, expensive 
 as much for the horses as for the grooms, would it not 
 be better, without, however, interrupting the course of 
 
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 7 
 
 their studies, to compel them to serve themselves, lessen 
 their little cooking, which they should not do, make them 
 eat army bread or some other kind like it, and accustom 
 them to brush their coats and to clean their shoes and 
 boots ? Since they are poor and destined for military 
 service, is not this the only education that should be 
 given them ? Subjected to a sober Hfe, and compelled 
 to take care of themselves, they would become more 
 robust to brave the intemperate seasons, to bear with 
 courage the fatigues of war, and to inspire the blind 
 respect and confidence of the soldiers who would be 
 under their orders." 
 
 Bonaparte was fifteen years and a half when he pro- 
 posed this project of reform. Twenty years after he 
 founded the Military School of Fontainebleau. 
 
 In 1785, after brilliant examinations, Bonaparte was 
 appointed second lieutenant of the regiment of the Fere, 
 then in garrison in Dauphiny. After remaining some 
 time at Grenoble, where his passage left no other trace 
 than an apocryphal word on Turenne, he went to live at 
 Valence. There some rays of the sunlight of the future 
 commenced to creep into the dawn of the unknown 
 young man. Bonaparte, they knew, was poor, but, poor 
 as he was, he thought he could aid his family, and he 
 called to France his brother Louis, who was nine years 
 younger than he. Both took lodgings at the house of 
 Mile. Bon, No. 4 Grande Rue. Bonaparte had a sleej)- 
 ing-room, and above this room little Louis inhabited a 
 mansard. Every morning, faithful to his college customs, 
 which later on he would make a virtue of the camps, 
 Bonaparte awakened his brother by knocking on the 
 floor with a walking stick and gave him his lessons in 
 mathematics. One day the little Louis, who had great 
 
8 NAPOLEON. 
 
 trouble in keeping this rule, descended with more regret 
 and slowness than was his custom. Bonaparte had 
 knocked on the floor a second time before the tardy 
 scholar entered. 
 
 " Well, what is there then this morning ? It seems to 
 me that you are very lazy," said Bonaparte. 
 
 " Oh ! brother," answered the child, " I was having a 
 beautiful dream." 
 
 " And what did you dream ? " 
 
 " I dreamt that I was king." 
 
 " And what was I then, Emperor ? " said the young 
 under-lieutenant, shrugging his shoulders. " Go ! to 
 your duty." 
 
 And the daily lesson was, as customary, taken by the 
 future king and given by the future emperor.' 
 
 Bonaparte lodged opposite a rich bookseller named 
 Marcus Aurelius, the door of whose house, which bore, 
 I believe, the date of 1530, is a gem of the Renais- 
 sance. It was there that he passed nearly all the hours 
 of which his military service and his fraternal lessons left 
 him the master. These hours were not completely lost, 
 as we shall see. 
 
 On the 7th of October, 1808, Bonaparte was giving a 
 dinner at Erfurth. His guests were the Emperor Alex- 
 ander, the Queen of Westphalia, the King of Bavaria, 
 the King of Wurtemburg, the King of Saxony, the Grand 
 Duke Constantine, the Prince Primate, Prince WiUiam 
 of Prussia, the Duke of Oldenburg, the Prince of Meck- 
 lenburg-Schwerin, the Duke of Weymar, and the Prince 
 Talleyrand. The conversation fell upon the Golden 
 Bull, which, up to the establishment of the Confedera- 
 
 ' This scene transpired before M. Parmentier, surgeon of the regi- 
 ment in which Bonaparte was second lieutenant. 
 
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 9 
 
 tion of the Rhine, had served as a constitution and a 
 law for the election of emperors, and the number and 
 quality of the electors. The Prince Primate entered 
 into some details about this Bull, and fixed the date 
 of it at 1409. 
 
 "I believe that you are mistaken," said Napoleon, 
 smiling, "The Bull of which you speak was pro- 
 claimed in 1336 under the reign of the Emperor Charles 
 IV." 
 
 " It is true. Sire," answered the Prince Primate, " I 
 remember now ; but how is it that Your Majesty knows 
 these things so well ? " 
 
 " When I was simply second lieutenant in the artil- 
 lery " said Napoleon. 
 
 At this beginning a movement of astonishment, so 
 spirited, manifested itself among the noble guests that 
 the narrator was forced to interrupt himself ; but in an 
 instant he repeated, smiling : 
 
 " When I had the honor of being simply second lieu- 
 tenant of artillery I remained three years in the garrison 
 at Valence. I loved the world little, and lived very re- 
 tired. A happy chance had me lodge near a learned 
 and very courteous bookseller. I read and re-read his 
 library during these three years of garrison life, and I 
 have forgotten nothing, even matters which had no con- 
 nection with my profession. Nature, moreover, has en- 
 dowed me with a memory of numbers. It has happened 
 to me very often with my agents, to cite them the 
 detail and the whole number of their oldest accounts." 
 
 This was not the only remembrance that Napoleon 
 retained of Valence. 
 
 Among the few persons who saw Bonaparte at Valence, 
 was M. de Tardiva, Abbot of Saint Ruf, which Order 
 
lO NAPOLEON. 
 
 had been destroyed some time before. He met, at his 
 house, Mile. Gr^goire of Columbier, and fell in love with 
 her. The family of this young person lived in a country 
 place situated a half league from Valence, and called 
 Bassiau. The young lieutenant was received into the 
 house and made several visits. In the meanwhile a 
 nobleman from Dauphiny, named M. de Bressieux, pre- 
 sented himself. Bonaparte saw that it was time for him 
 to declare himself unless he wished to be outstripped. 
 Consequently he wrote to Mile. Gregoire a long letter, in 
 which he gave expression to all his sentiments towards 
 her, and the contents of which he invited her to commu- 
 nicate to her parents. These, placed in the alternative 
 of giving their daughter to a soldier without a future or 
 to a nobleman possessed of some fortune, decided for 
 the nobleman. Bonaparte was rejected, and his letter 
 placed in the hands of a third person, who wished to 
 return it ta the writer, as they had requested her to do. 
 But Bonaparte would not retake it. 
 
 " Preserve it," said he to the person, " it will one day 
 be a proof both of my love and the purity of my senti- 
 ments towards Mile. Gregoire." 
 
 The person kept the letter, and the family still pre- 
 serve it. 
 
 Three months later Mile. Gregoire wedded M. de 
 Bressieux. 
 
 In 1806 Madame de Bressieux was called to Court 
 with the title of Lady of Honor to the Empress, her 
 brother sent to Turin with the rank of Prefect, and her 
 husband was named Baron and Administrator of the 
 Forests of the State. 
 
 The other persons with whom Bonaparte connected 
 himself during his stay at Valence were Messrs. Monta- 
 
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. II 
 
 livet and Bachasson, who became, the one, Minister of 
 the Interior, and the other, Inspector of the Supplies of 
 Paris. On Sundays these three young men paraded to- 
 gether, almost always outside of the city, stopping there 
 sometimes to look at an open-air ball, which was given, in 
 consideration of two sous for each gentleman for each 
 quadrille, by a grocer of the city, who in his leisure mo- 
 ments carried on the profession of fiddler. This fiddler 
 was an old soldier, who had retired on leave in Valence, 
 a married man, and there carried on in peace his double 
 calling ; but, as it was still insufficient, he solicited and 
 obtained, when the Departments were established, a 
 place as despatching clerk of the Bureaus of the Central 
 Administration. It was there that the first battalion of 
 volunteers took him in 1790 and dragged him away 
 with them. 
 
 This old soldier, grocer, fiddler, and despatching clerk 
 was afterwards Marshal Victor, Duke de Bellune. 
 
 Bonaparte left Valence leaving three francs ten sous 
 of debts at the house of his pastry-cook, named Coriol. 
 
 Let not our readers be astonished if we find similar 
 anecdotes. When one writes the biography of a Julius 
 C»sar, a Charlemagne, or a Napoleon, the lantern of 
 Diogenes serves no more to find the man. The man is 
 found by posterity and appears to the eyes of the world, 
 radiant and sublime. It is then the road he has gone 
 over before arriving at his pedestal that it is necessary 
 to follow, and the fainter the traces that he has left in 
 certain parts of his route the more unknown they are 
 and consequently they excite more curiosity. 
 
 Bonaparte arrived at Paris at the same time as Paoli. 
 The Constitutional Assembly had just admitted Corsica 
 into a participation in the privileges of the French laws. 
 
12 NAPOLEON. 
 
 Mirabeau had declared from the tribune that it was time 
 to recall the fugitive patriots who had defended the 
 independence of the island, and Paoli had returned. 
 Bonaparte was welcomed as a son by the old friend of 
 his father. The young enthusiast found himself face to 
 face with his hero, who had just been named Lieutenant 
 General and Military Commander of Corsica. 
 
 Bonaparte obtained leave and profited by it to follow 
 Paoli and see again his family, which he had left six 
 years before. The patriotic General was received with 
 delirium by all the partisans of independence, and the 
 young Lieutenant assisted at the triumph of the cele- 
 brated exile. The enthusiasm was such that the unani- 
 mous vote of his fellow-citizens brought Paoli, at that 
 time at the head of the National Guard, to the presi- 
 dency of the Provincial Administration. He remained 
 some time in perfect harmony with the Assembly ; but 
 a motion of the Abb6 Charrier, who proposed to cede 
 Corsica to the Duke of Parma in exchange for Plaisan- 
 tin, the possession of which was intended to indemnify 
 the Pope for the loss of Avignon, was to Paoli a proof 
 of the little importance that the metropolis attached to 
 the preservation of its country. It was during this in- 
 terval that the English Government, which had wel- 
 comed Paoli in his exile, opened communication with 
 the new President. Besides, Paoli did not conceal the 
 preference which he accorded to the British Constitution 
 over that prepared by the French Legislature. From 
 this time dates the difference of opinion between the 
 young Lieutenant and the old General. Bonaparte re- 
 mained a French citizen. Paoli became again a Corsi- 
 can General. 
 
 Bonaparte was recalled to Paris at the commencement 
 
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 13 
 
 of 1792. He there again met Bourrienne, his old col- 
 lege friend, who had arrived from Vienna after having 
 passed through Prussia and Poland. Neither the one nor 
 the other of the two scholars of Brienne was happy. 
 They united their misery in order to make it less bur- 
 densome. One was soliciting service at the War Office ; 
 the other in the Foreign Affairs Office. Neither of the 
 two received an answer. Then they dreamt of com- 
 mercial speculations, which their want of funds almost 
 always prevented them from realizing. One day they 
 had the idea of renting several houses in course of con- 
 struction in Rue Montholon for the purpose of under- 
 letting them afterwards, but the claims of the proprietors 
 appeared to them so exaggerated that they were forced 
 to abandon their speculation for the same reason that 
 had made them abandon so many others. In coming 
 out of the house of the builder the two speculators per- 
 ceived not only that they had not dined, but also that 
 they had not the means with which to dine. Bonaparte 
 remedied this inconvenience by putting his watch in 
 pledge. 
 
 Dark prelude to the loth of August, the 20th of June ar- 
 rived. The two young men had arranged a meeting-place 
 for breakfast at the house of a restaurateur on La Rue St. 
 Honor6. They were just finishing their repast when 
 they were attracted to the window by a great tumult and 
 cries of " f« ira ! Vive la nation ! Vive les sans-culottes ! 
 A bas le veto !^ " It was a mob of six or eight thousand 
 men, led by Santerre and the Marquis de Saint Hurugues, 
 descending from the Faubourgs Saint- Antoine and Saint- 
 Marceau and forming themselves into an assembly. 
 
 ' It will go ! Long live the nation ! Long live the knaves (or 
 sans-culottes) ! Down with the veto ! J. B. L. 
 
14 NAPOLEON. 
 
 Let us follow this rabble," said Bonaparte. And the 
 two young men directed their steps towards the Tuileries 
 and made a stand on the edge of the water. Bonaparte 
 leaned against a tree and Bourrienne sat down on a parapet. 
 
 From there they could not see what was passing, but 
 they easily divined what it was, when a window over- 
 looking the garden opened and Louis XVI. appeared 
 covered with a red cap, which had just been presented 
 to him on the end of a pike by a man of the people. 
 
 " Coglione ! Coglione!" murmured the young Lieu- 
 tenant in his Corsican dialect, raising his shoulders, 
 who up to that time had been silent and motionless. 
 
 "What would you have done ?" said Bourrienne. 
 
 " It would only be necessary to sweep away four or 
 five hundred of them with artillery," answered Bona- 
 parte, " and the remainder would at once run." 
 
 During the entire day he spoke only of this scene, 
 which made upon him one of those strong impressions 
 that might ever be felt. 
 
 Bonaparte thus saw unrolling before his eyes the first 
 events of the French Revolution. He assisted, simply 
 as a spectator, in the massacre of the 2d of September. 
 Afterwards, seeing that he could not obtain service, he 
 resolved to make a new voyage to Corsica. 
 
 The intrigues of Paoli with the English Cabinet had 
 made, in the absence of Bonaparte, such development 
 that he was mistaken in his projects. One interview 
 that the young Lieutenant and the old General had at 
 the house of the Governor of Corsica was terminated by 
 a rupture. The two old friends separated, not to meet 
 again except on the battle-field. The same evening a 
 flatterer of Paoli attempted to speak badly of Bonaparte 
 before him. 
 
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 15 
 
 " Chut ! " said the General, carrying his finger to his 
 lips, "he is a youngs man of old-fashioned shape." 
 
 Before long Paoli openly raised the standard of revolt. 
 Appointed June 26, 1793, by the partisans of England, 
 Generalissimo and President of a military court at the 
 city of Corte, he was, the 17th of July following, out- 
 lawed by the National Convention. Bonaparte was ab- 
 sent. He had obtained the active service he had so 
 many times requested. Named Commander of the 
 National Guard, he found himself on board the vessel 
 of Admiral Truguet. During this time he took posses- 
 sion of Fort Saint-Etienne, but the victors were soon 
 forced to evacuate. Bonaparte, on re-entering Corsica, 
 found the island in rebellion. Salicetti and Lacombe 
 Saint-Michael, members of the Convention charged with 
 putting into execution the decree rendered against the 
 rebel, had been obliged to retire to Calvi. Bonaparte 
 went there to rejoin them and with them attempted an 
 attack on Ajaccio, which was repulsed. The same day 
 a conflagration broke out in the city. The Bonapartes 
 saw their house burned. Some time afterward a decree 
 was passed condemning them to perpetual banishment. 
 The fire left them without a home. The proscription left 
 them without a country. They turned their eyes towards 
 Bonaparte and Bonaparte turned his towards France. 
 All this poor exiled family embarked in a frail ship and 
 the future Caesar set sail, protecting his fortune and that 
 of his four brothers, three of whom would be kings and 
 his three sisters, of whom one would become a queen. 
 
 The whole family stopped at Marseilles, reclaiming 
 the protection of that France on account of which they 
 had been proscribed. The Government listened to their 
 complaints. Joseph and Lucien obtained employment 
 
1 6 NAPOLEON. 
 
 in the War Office ; Louis was appointed under-officer ; 
 and Bonaparte passed as first lieutenant, that is to say 
 with promotion, to the 4th regiment of infantry. After 
 a little time he rose by right of seniority to the grade of 
 captain in the second company of the same corps, then 
 in garrison at Nice. 
 
 The bloody year '93 had arrived. One half of France 
 was wrestling with the other. The west and south were 
 on fire. Lyons was taken after a siege of four months. 
 Marseilles had opened its gates to the Convention. Tou- 
 lon had delivered its port to the English. 
 
 An army of thirty thousand men, composed of troops 
 which under the command of Kellermann had besieged 
 Lyons, some drawn from the Army of the Alps, some 
 from the Army of Italy, and some from all the requisi- 
 tions levied in the neighboring Departments, advanced 
 against the sold city. The contest commenced in the 
 gorges of Ollioules. General Duthiel, who should 
 have directed the artillery, was absent. General Dom- 
 martin, his lieutenant, was disabled in this first engage- 
 ment. The first officer of this arm filled his place by 
 right. That first officer was Bonaparte. This time 
 chance was in accord with genius, supposing that for 
 genius chance is not called Providence. 
 
 Bonaparte received his appointment, presented himself 
 to the staff officer, and was introduced to General Car- 
 taux, a gorgeous man gilded from feet to head, who 
 asked him what he wanted. The young officer showed 
 him the commission which required him to come, under 
 orders, to direct the operations of the artillery. 
 
 " Artillery ! " answered the honest General, " we have 
 no need of it. We will this evening take Toulon with 
 the bayonet and to-morrow we will burn it." 
 
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 1 7 
 
 But however great was the assurance of the General- 
 in-chief, he could not get possession of Toulon without 
 knowing its location. So he had patience until the next 
 day. But at the break of day he took his Aide-de-camp, 
 Dupas, and Bonaparte, the Chief of Battalion, into his 
 cabriolet in order to inspect the first offensive arrange- 
 ments. Upon the observations of Bonaparte he had, 
 although with regret, renounced the bayonet and had 
 come back to the artillery. In consequence, orders were 
 given directly by the General-in-chief, and these were 
 those orders, the execution and performance of which 
 he had just examined and hastened. 
 
 The heights from which they discovered Toulon, 
 couched in the midst of its semi-oriental garden and 
 bathing its feet in the sea, were scarcely reached when 
 the General alighted from his cabriolet with the two 
 young men and plunged into a vineyard, in the midst of 
 which he perceived some pieces of cannon ranged be- 
 hind a sort of epaulement. Bonaparte looked around him 
 and divined nothing that was going on. The General 
 enjoyed an instant the astonishment of his Chief of Bat- 
 talion, then turning towards his Aide-de-camp with a 
 smile of satisfaction, he said : 
 
 " Dupas, are those our batteries ? " 
 
 " Yes, General," he responded. 
 
 " And our artillery park ? " 
 
 " It is not far off." 
 
 " And our red-hot balls ? " 
 
 " They are heating them in the neighboring furnaces." 
 
 Bonaparte could not believe his eyes, but he was 
 obliged to believe his ears. He measured the distance 
 with the trained eye of a strategist, and it was one league 
 and a half, or less, from the city. At first he believed 
 
1 8 NAPOLEON. 
 
 that the General wished, what is called in college and 
 war terms, to test his young Chief of Battalion, but the 
 gravity with which Cartaux continued his arrangements 
 left him in no doubt. Then he chanced an observation 
 on the distance and expressed fear that the red-hot balls 
 would not reach the city. 
 
 " Believest thou ? " said Cartaux.' 
 
 " I fear it. General," answered Napoleon ; " perhaps it 
 might be well before embarrassing ourselves with red- 
 hot balls to try with cold ones to well assure ourselves of 
 the range." 
 
 Cartaux found the idea ingenious and ordered them 
 to charge and fire a piece, while he looked on the walls 
 of the city for the effect that the blow would produce. 
 Bonaparte pointed out at about a thousand paces in front 
 of him the ball, which had broken the olive trees, fur- 
 rowed the earth, ricochetted, and died, bounding scarcely 
 to the third part of the distance that the General-in-chief 
 had calculated to see it go. 
 
 The proof was conclusive, but Cartaux wished not to 
 yield and pretended that " those aristocrats of Marseilles 
 had spoiled the powder." 
 
 However, spoiled or not, as the powder did not carry 
 any farther, it was necessary to have recourse to other 
 measures. They returned to the headquarters. Bona- 
 parte asked for a plan of Toulon, unfolded it on a table, 
 and, after having studied an instant the situation of the 
 city and the different works which defended it, from the 
 redoubt built on the summit of Mt. Faron, which com- 
 manded it, to Forts Lamalgue and Malbousquet which 
 
 ' At one time during the French Revolution the tti and toi, or 
 iutoiment as it is called, was, by law, required to be used in the place 
 of vozis. — J. B. L. 
 
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 19 
 
 protected its right and left, the young chief of battalion 
 put his finger on a new redoubt erected by the English, 
 and said with the rapidity and conciseness of genius : 
 
 " It is there that Toulon is." 
 
 Cartaux, in his turn, understood nothing at all. He 
 had taken the words of Bonaparte literally, and turning 
 towards Dupas, his faithful friend, said : 
 
 " It appears that Captain Cannon is not strong in 
 geography." 
 
 This was the first nickname of Bonaparte. We will 
 see why he has since been known as the "Little 
 Corporal." 
 
 At that moment Gasparin, the Representative of the 
 People, entered. Bonaparte had heard of him, not only 
 as a truthful, loyal and brave patriot, but also as a man 
 of good sense and quick mind. The Chief of Battalion 
 went direct to him. 
 
 " Citizen Representative," said he to him, " I am Chief 
 of Battalion of artillery. On account of the absence of 
 General Duthiel and the wounding of General Dom- 
 martin, this arm finds itself under my direction. I de- 
 mand that nobody but I have anything to do with it, or 
 I answer for nothing." 
 
 " And who art thou to answer for anything ? " de- 
 manded the Representative of the People, astonished at 
 seeing a young man of twenty-three years speak to him 
 in such a tone and with such assurance. 
 
 " Who am I ? " answered Bonaparte, drawing him in a 
 corner and speaking in a low voice. " I am a man who 
 knows his business, thrown in the midst of people who 
 are ignorant of theirs. Demand of the General-in-chief 
 his plan of battle, and you will see whether I am right or 
 wrong." 
 
20 NAPOLEON. 
 
 The young officer spoke with such conviction that 
 Gasparin did not hesitate an instant. 
 
 " General," said he, approaching Cartaux, " the Repre- 
 sentatives of the People desire that in three days thou 
 submit thy plan of battle to them." 
 
 " Thou hast but to wait three minutes," answered Car- 
 taux, " and I will give it to thee." 
 
 In effect the General sat down, took a pen, and wrote 
 on a loose sheet of paper that famous plan of cam- 
 paign, which has become a model of its kind. Here 
 it is. 
 
 " The General of Artillery will batter down Toulon 
 during three days, at the end of which time I will attack 
 in three columns and sweep it away. 
 
 "Cartaux." 
 
 The plan was sent to Paris, and placed in the hands of 
 the Committee of Engineers. The committee found it 
 much more gay than learned. Cartaux was recalled and 
 Dugommier sent in his place. 
 
 The new General found, on arriving, all the disposi- 
 tions made by his young Chief of Battalion. It was one 
 of those sieges where force and courage could do nothing 
 at first, and where cannon and strategy must prepare all. 
 There was not an angle of the hill where artillery had not 
 engaged with artillery. It thundered on all sides like an 
 immense thunder-storm crossed by flashes of lightning. 
 It thundered on the heights of the mountains and ram- 
 parts. It thundered from the plain and the sea. One 
 would have said that it was a tempest and a volcano at 
 the same time. 
 
 It was in the midst of this network of flames that the 
 
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 21 
 
 Representatives of the People wished to change some 
 things in a battery established by Bonaparte. The 
 movement had already commenced when the young 
 Chief of Battalion arrived and put everything back in 
 its place. The Representatives of the People wished to 
 make some observations. 
 
 " Mind your business of Deputy," answered Napoleon, 
 " and let me do my work as artillerist. The battery is 
 well there and I will answer for it with my head." 
 
 The general attack commenced on the i6th. From 
 that time the siege was but a long assault. On the 
 morning of the 17th the besiegers took possession of 
 Pas-de-Leidet and Croix-Faron. At midday they drove 
 the allies from the redoubt Saint-Andre, the Fort Pomet, 
 and the two Forts Saint-Antoine. At last, towards 
 evening, lighted at times by the storm and the artillery, 
 the Republicans entered the English redoubt, and then, 
 having accomplished his purpose, and regarding himself 
 as master of the city, Bonaparte, wounded in the thigh 
 by a bayonet thrust, said to General Dugommier, who 
 was wounded by two shot wounds, one in the knee, the 
 other in the arm, and falling both from exhaustion and 
 fatigue : 
 
 " Go to rest, General. We have just taken Toulon 
 and you will sleep there after to-morrow." 
 
 On the 1 8th the forts of l&guillette and of Balagnier 
 were taken and batteries directed on Toulon. At the 
 sight of several houses, which caught fire, and at the 
 whistling of bullets, which furrowed the streets, confu- 
 sion spread among the allied troops. Then the be- 
 siegers, whose eyes darted into the city and upon the 
 road, saw the conflagration show itself at several points 
 which they had not attacked. This was the English, 
 
22 NAPOLEON. 
 
 who, deciding to leave, had set fire to the arsenal, naval 
 stores, and the French vessels, which they could not take 
 away. At the sight of the flames, a general cry went up. 
 The whole army demanded the assault, but it was too 
 late ; the English embarked under the fire of our bat- 
 teries, abandoning those who had betrayed France for 
 them, and whom they had betrayed in their turn. In 
 the meanwhile night came on. The flames which were 
 rising over several points were extinguished in the midst 
 of great clamors. These were caused by the convicts, 
 who had broken their chains and smothered the flames 
 kindled by the English. 
 
 The next day, the 19th, the Republican army entered 
 the city, and that evening, as Bonaparte had foretold, 
 the General-in-chief slept at Toulon.' 
 
 Dugommier forgot not the services of the young Chief 
 of Battalion, who, twelve days after the capture of the 
 city, received the rank of General of Brigade. 
 
 It is here that history takes Napoleon, never more to 
 leave him. 
 
 We go now at a pace precise and rapid, to accompany 
 Bonaparte in the career through which he has gone as 
 General-in-chief, Consul, Emperor, and exile ; after 
 having seen him, like a rapid meteor, reappearing and 
 shining an instant on the throne, we will follow him to 
 that island where he went to die, as we have taken him 
 in that island where he was born. 
 
 ' An interesting account of Napoleon at Toulon may be found in 
 the January (1894) number of Harper's Magazine in an article from 
 the pen of Germain Bapst, — ^J. B. L. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 GENERAL BONAPARTE. 
 
 DONAPARTE had been, as we have just seen, named 
 '— ' General of the Artillery of the Army of Nice as a 
 reward for the services rendered to the Republic before 
 Toulon. It was there that he became intimate with the 
 younger Robespierre, who was a Representative of the 
 People to that army. Recalled to Paris some time be- 
 fore the 9th Thermidor, the latter did all he could to 
 influence the young General to follow him, promising 
 him the direct protection of his brother. But Bonaparte 
 invariably refused him. The time was not yet come 
 when he should take part. 
 
 Then perhaps another motive was withholding him, 
 and this time again, was it chance that was protecting 
 genius ? If it was so, chance was making itself visible, 
 and had taken the form of a young and pretty female 
 Representative of the People, who was sharing, at the 
 Army of Nice, the mission of her husband. Bonaparte 
 had for her a serious affection, which he manifested by 
 proofs of a gallantry quite warlike. One day as he was 
 walking with her in the environs of the gorge of Tenda 
 the idea came to the young General to give his beautiful 
 companion the spectacle of a little war, and he ordered 
 
 23 
 
24 NAPOLEON. 
 
 an attack of the outpost. One dozen men were victims 
 of this amusement, and Napoleon has more than once 
 confessed to Saint-H61ene that these twelve men, killed 
 without real motive and by a mere fancy, were to him a 
 greater cause of remorse than the death of the six hun- 
 dred thousand soldiers that he had scattered in the 
 snowy steppes of Russia. 
 
 It was during this interval that the Representatives of 
 the People near the Army of Italy passed the following 
 decree : 
 
 " General Bonaparte will return to Genoa to confer, 
 jointly with the diplomatic representatives of the French 
 Republic, with the Government of Genoa upon the sub- 
 jects referred to in his instructions. 
 
 " The Charge d'Affaires near the Republic of Genoa 
 will recognize him and will have him recognized by the 
 Genoan Government. 
 
 " LoANO, the 2Sth Messidor, year II. of the Republic." 
 
 The real object of this mission was to have the young 
 General see with his own eyes the fortresses of Savone 
 and Genoa, and to enable him to take away, upon artil- 
 lery and other military subjects, all possible information ; 
 in short, to enable him to collect all facts which might 
 reveal the intention of the Genoan Government relative 
 to the coalition. 
 
 Whilst Bonaparte was accomplishing this mission, 
 Robespierre was marching to the scaffold, and the Ter- 
 rorist Deputies were replaced by Albitte and Salicetti. 
 Their arrival at Barcelonnette was signalized by the fol- 
 lowing decree : 
 
GENERAL BONAPARTE. 2$ 
 
 " The Representatives of the People near the Army of 
 the Alps and Italy. 
 
 " Considermg that General Bonaparte, Commandant- 
 in-chief of the Artillery of the Army of Italy, has totally 
 lost their confidence by most suspicious conduct, and 
 above all by the journey he has latterly made to Genoa, 
 resolve as follows : 
 
 " The General of Brigade Bonaparte, Commandant-in- 
 chief of the Artillery of the Army of Italy is provision- 
 ally suspended from his duties ; he will be, through the 
 care and under the responsibility of the General-in- 
 chief of the said Army, kept in a state of arrest and ar- 
 raigned before the Committee of Public Safety, under 
 good and safe escort ; seals will be affixed upon all his 
 papers and effects, of which an inventory will be made 
 by the Commissioners, who shall be appointed upon the 
 premises by the Representatives of the People, Salicetti 
 and Albitte, and all those said papers which shall be 
 found suspicious will be sent to the Committee of Pub- 
 lic Safety. 
 
 " Done at Barcelonnette, the 19th Thermidor, year II. 
 of the French Republic, one, indivisible, and demo- 
 cratic. 
 
 " Signed. Albitte, Salicetti, Laporte. 
 
 " A true copy, the General-in-chief of the Army in 
 
 Italy. 
 
 "Signed. Dumerbion." 
 
 The decree was put into execution. Bonaparte was 
 conducted to the prison of Nice, and there remained 
 fourteen days ; after which, by a second decree, signed 
 by the same men, his liberty was provisionally restored. 
 
 However, Bonaparte got out of a danger only to be 
 
26 NAPOLEON. 
 
 disgusted. The emergencies of the Thermidor had 
 brought about a reorganization in the committees of the 
 Convention. An old captain named Aubry, finding him- 
 self in charge of the War Committee, made a new list of 
 the army, in which he placed himself as General of the 
 Artillery. As for Bonaparte, in exchange for the rank 
 he held, they gave him that of General of Infantry in 
 La Vendee. Bonaparte, who deemed the theatre of a 
 civil war in a corner of France to be too narrow, refused 
 to go to his post, and was, by a decree of the Committee 
 of Public Safety, stricken from the list of general 
 officers on the active list. 
 
 Bonaparte already believed himself too necessary to 
 France not to be deeply impressed with such injustice ; 
 nevertheless, as he had not yet reached one of those 
 heights of life from which the whole horizon which is to 
 be gone over can be seen, he had already hopes, it is 
 true, but not certainties. These hopes were shattered. 
 He, who was full of genius and of the hopes of the 
 future, thought himself condemned to a long and per- 
 haps eternal inaction, and that in a time when everybody 
 reached fortune very quickly. 
 
 He rented temporarily a room in a hotel on the Rue 
 du Mail ; sold his horses and carriage for six thousand 
 francs ; collected the little money that he possessed, and 
 resolved to retire into the country. Exalted imagina- 
 tions always leap from one extreme to the other. Exiled 
 from the camps, Bonaparte saw nothing but rural life. 
 Not being able to be Cssar, he made himself Cin- 
 cinnatus. 
 
 It was then that he recalled Valence, where he had 
 passed three years, so obscure and so happy. It was to 
 this place that he directed his searches, accompanied by 
 
GENERAL BONAPARTE. 27 
 
 his brother Joseph, who was returning to Marseilles. In 
 passing Mont^limart the two travellers stopped. Bona- 
 parte found the site and the climate of the city suitable, 
 and asked if there was not in the surrounding coun- 
 try some cheap property for sale. They referred him 
 to M. Grasson of the Official Council, with whom he 
 arranged to go the next day and visit a little country- 
 seat called Beauserret, which name, in the _paiots of the 
 country, meant Beause-jour, which was indicative of the 
 agreeable situation. In effect Bonaparte and Joseph 
 visited this country-seat. It was in every particular 
 convenient for them. They feared only, on seeing its 
 extent and good state of preservation, that the price 
 would be too high. They ventured the question — thirty 
 thousand francs — that price was nothing. 
 
 Bonaparte and Joseph returned to Montdlimart to 
 consult together. Their little fortunes united allowed 
 them to appropriate this sum for the purchase of their 
 future hermitage. They fixed a meeting for the third 
 day after. It was upon the very premises that they 
 desired to conclude their agreement, so agreeable to 
 them was Beauserret. M. Grasson accompanied them 
 there again. They examined the property even more in 
 detail than the first time. At length Bonaparte, aston- 
 ished that they gave for so small a sum such a charming 
 country-seat, asked if there was not some unseen cause 
 which lowered the price. 
 
 " Yes," answered M. Grasson, " but without impor- 
 tance to you." 
 
 " No matter," replied Bonaparte, " I wish to know it." 
 
 " There was a murder committed." 
 
 " And by whom ? " 
 
 " By a son upon his father." 
 
28 NAPOLEON. 
 
 " A parricide ! " exclaimed Bonaparte, becoming paler 
 than usual. " Let us leave, Joseph." 
 
 And seizing his brother by the arm, he rushed out of 
 the apartments, re-ascended his cabriolet, arriving at 
 Montdlimart asked for post-horses, and set out imme- 
 diately for Paris, while Joseph continued his route to 
 Marseilles. 
 
 He was going there to marry the daughter of a rich 
 merchant named Clary, who afterwards became also the 
 father-in-law of Bernadotte. 
 
 As for Bonaparte, driven once more by destiny tow- 
 ards Paris, that great centre of great events, he there 
 resumed that obscure and hidden life, which was weigh- 
 ing so much upon him. It was then that, not being 
 able to stand this inaction, he addressed to the Govern- 
 ment a note, in which he expressed the view that it would 
 be for the interest of France to do all that it possibly 
 could to increase the military power of Turkey at the 
 moment when the Empress of Russia had just strength- 
 ened her alliance with Austria. On this account he 
 offered himself to the Government to go across to Con- 
 stantinople with six or seven officers of different troops, 
 who could instruct the numerous and brave, but little 
 seasoned militia of the Sultan. 
 
 The Government did not condescend to answer this 
 note and Bonaparte remained in Paris. What would 
 have happened to the world if a clerk of the Minister 
 had placed at the bottom of this request the word 
 " Granted ? " God only knows. 
 
 However, on the 22d of August, 1795, the Consti- 
 tution of the year III. had been adopted, and the 
 legislators who had drawn it up had stipulated in it 
 that two thirds of the members composing the National 
 
GENERAL BONAPARTE. 29 
 
 Convention should form part of the new legislative 
 body. This was the downfall of the hopes' of the op- 
 posite party, which had hoped by the total renewal of 
 the elections to secure the introduction of a new major- 
 ity representing their opinion. This opposition was 
 especially sustained by the Sections of Paris, which de- 
 clared that they would not accept the Constitution 
 unless the provision as to the re-election of the two-thirds 
 was annulled. The Convention maintained the Constitu- 
 tion in its entirety. The Sections commenced to murmur. 
 On the 25th of September, some precursory troubles 
 arose. Finally, during the day of October 4th (12th 
 Vend^miaire) the danger became so pressing that the 
 Convention thought it was time to take the matter 
 seriously in hand. Consequently it addressed to General 
 Alexandre Dumas, Commander-in-chief of the Army of 
 the Alps, then absent on leave, the following letter, the 
 very brevity of which showed the urgency : 
 
 " General Alexandre Dumas will return instantly to 
 Paris, there to take charge of the forces of the Army." 
 
 The order of the Convention was carried to the Hotel 
 Mirabeau, but General Dumas had left three days before 
 for Villers-Cotterets, where he received the letter on the 
 morning of the 13th. 
 
 In the meantime the danger was increasing hour by 
 hour, and they could not await the arrival of him who 
 had been sent for. Consequently, during the night, the 
 Representative of the People, Barras, was appointed 
 Commander-in-chief of the Interior. He wanted a 
 second. He cast his eyes upon Bonaparte. 
 
 Destiny, as we have seen, had cleared away his route. 
 That hour of the future, which has to strike, it is said, 
 
30 NAPOLEON. 
 
 once in the life of every man, had come for him. The 
 cannon of the 13th Vend6miaire resounded in the 
 capital. 
 
 The Sections, he had just destroyed, gave him the 
 name of Mitrailleur, and the Convention, that he had 
 just preserved, the title of General-in-chief of the Army 
 of Italy. 
 
 But this great day had not only an influence upon the 
 political life of Bonaparte, but a decisive effect upon his 
 private life also. The disarming of the Sections had 
 just been wrought with a vigor made necessary by the 
 circumstances, when one day a child of ten or twelve 
 years presented himself to the staff, beseeching General 
 Bonaparte to give orders that the sword of his father, 
 who had been a General of the Republic, be given back 
 to him. Bonaparte, touched by the demand and by the 
 juvenile grace with which it was made, caused search for 
 the sword to be made, and, having found it, he returned 
 it to him. The child, at the sight of this sacred weapon 
 that he believed lost, kissed in tears the handle so many 
 times touched by the paternal hand. The General was 
 touched by this filial love and expressed so much good 
 will to the child, that his mother believed herself obliged 
 to come the next day to make him a visit of thanks. 
 The child was Eugene, and the mother Josephine. 
 On the 2ist of March, 1796, Bonaparte left for the 
 Army of Italy, taking away with him in his carriage two 
 thousand louis. This was all that he was able to get to- 
 gether by joining to his own fortune and those of his 
 friends, the subsidies of the Directory. It is with this 
 sum that he went to conquer Italy. It was seven times 
 less than Alexander carried when he went to conquer 
 India. 
 
GENERAL BONAPARTE. 3 1 
 
 On arriving at Nice he found an army without disci- 
 pline, without ammunition, without victuals, and without 
 clothes. As soon as he reached the headquarters he 
 ordered to be distributed to each of the generals, to aid 
 them to enter into the campaign, the sum of four louis. 
 Afterwards he said to the soldiers, pointing Italy out 
 to them : 
 
 " Comrades, in the midst of all these rocks you want 
 everything. Cast your eyes upon the rich plains which 
 unroll themselves at your feet. They belong to us. Let 
 us go and take them." 
 
 This was very near the language used by Hannibal to 
 his soldiers nineteen hundred years ago, and during that 
 nineteen hundred years there had passed between these 
 two men but one man worthy to be compared with them 
 — that was Caesar. 
 
 The soldiers to whom Bonaparte addressed these words 
 were the wrecks of an army which, in the sterile rocks of 
 the river of Genoa, had been painfully holding themselves 
 on the defensive for two years, and which had before 
 them two hundred thousand of the best troops of the 
 Empire and of Piedmont. Bonaparte attacked this mass 
 with scarcely thirty thousand men and in eleven days 
 defeated them five times^at Montenotte, at Millesimo, 
 at D^go, at Vico, and at Mondovi. Then he opened the 
 gates of the cities with one hand, whilst with the other 
 he won battles. He took by storm the fortresses of Coni, 
 Tortone, Alexandria, and Ceva. In eleven days the 
 Austrians were separated from the Piedmontese, Provera 
 was taken, and the King of Sardinia was forced to sign 
 a capitulation in his own capital. Then Bonaparte ad- 
 vanced upon Upper Italy. Then divining future suc- 
 cesses by past ones, he wrote to the Directory : 
 
32 NAPOLEON. 
 
 " To-morrow I march on Beaulieu ; I will oblige him 
 to repass the Po ; I will pass immediately after him ; I 
 will take possession of all Lombardy and before a month 
 I hope to be upon the mountains of Tyrol, to find there 
 the Army of the Rhine, and, in concert with it, to carry 
 the war into Bavaria." 
 
 In fact, Beaulieu was pursued. He turned back vainly 
 to oppose the passage of the Po. The passage was 
 effected. He sheltered himself behind the walls of Lodi. 
 A combat of three hours expelled him. He ranged 
 himself in battle on the left bank of the Adda, defending 
 with his artillery the bridge that he had not had time 
 to destroy. The French army formed itself into a close 
 column, threw itself upon the bridge, upset all that op- 
 posed it, scattered the Austrian army, and continued its 
 march, passing over their bodies. Then Pavia surren- 
 dered, Pizzighitone and Cremona fell, the castle of Milan 
 opened its gate, the King of Sardinia signed the peace, 
 the Dukes of Parma and Modena followed his example, 
 and Beaulieu had but time to shut himself up in 
 Mantua. 
 
 It was in this treaty with the Duke of Modena that 
 Bonaparte gave the first proof of his unselfishness by re- 
 fusing four millions in gold which the Commander of 
 Este offered him in the name of his brother and which 
 Salicetti, Commissioner of the Government near the 
 Army, pressed him to accept. 
 
 It was also in this campaign that he received the pop- 
 ular name, which reopened to him in 1815 the doors of 
 France. This was the occasion. His youth, when he 
 had just taken command of the army, had inspired some 
 astonishment in the old soldiers, so they resolved to con- 
 
GENERAL BONAPARTE. 33 
 
 fer upon him themselves the inferior grades from which 
 the Government had seemingly exempted him. Conse- 
 quently, they met together after each battle to give him 
 a grade, and when he turned into camp he received 
 from the oldest veterans, who saluted him, his new title. 
 It was thus that he was made Corporal of Lodi. From 
 that time the nickname oi" Little Corporal" remained 
 always with Napoleon. 
 
 However, Bonaparte made but one halt, of an instant, 
 and in this halt envy met him again. The Directory, 
 which had seen in the correspondence of the soldier the 
 revelation of the political man, feared that the conqueror 
 might constitute himself the arbiter of Italy, and it 
 prepared to associate Kellermann with him. Bonaparte 
 learned of it and wrote : 
 
 " To associate Kellermann with me is to desire to lose 
 all. I cannot serve willingly with a man who believes 
 himself to be the best tactician of Europe ; moreover, I 
 believe one bad general to be preferable to two good 
 ones. War is like government — a thing of tact." 
 
 Afterwards he made his solemn entry into Milan, 
 where, whilst the Directory signed at Paris the treaty of 
 peace negotiated by Salicetti at the Court of Turin, the 
 negotiations begun with Parma terminated, and those 
 with Naples and Rome opened, he prepared himself for 
 the conquest of Upper Italy. 
 
 The key of Germany was Mantua. It was Mantua, 
 therefore, that must be taken. One hundred and five 
 pieces of cannon taken at the castle of Milan were di- 
 rected upon the city. Serrurier carried the outworks 
 and the seige commenced. 
 
 Then the Cabinet at Vienna appreciated the gravity of 
 
34 NAPOLEON. 
 
 the situation. They sent to the relief of Beaulieu twenty- 
 five thousand men under the orders of Quasdanowitch, 
 and thirty-five thousand under those of Wurmser. A 
 Milanese spy was charged with despatches which an- 
 nounced this reinforcement, and pledged himself to pen- 
 etrate into the city. 
 
 The spy fell into a night round commanded by the 
 Aide-de-camp Dermoncourt and was brought to Gen- 
 eral Dumas. Fruitlessly they searched him ; they 
 found nothing upon him. They were ready to 
 give him his liberty, when by one of those revela- 
 tions of destiny, General Dumas surmised that he had 
 swallowed his despatches. The spy denied it. Gen- 
 eral Dumas ordered him to be shot. The spy confessed. 
 He was replaced in charge of the Aide-de-camp Der- 
 moncourt, who, by means of an emetic administered by 
 the chief surgeon, became possessed of a bullet of bees- 
 wax the size of a marble. It contained the letter of 
 Wurmser written upon parchment with a raven's quill. 
 This letter gave the minutest details of the operations of 
 the opposing army. The letter was sent to Bonaparte. 
 Quasdanowitch and Wurmser separated ; the first 
 marched upon Brescia and the second upon Mantua. 
 This was the same fault that had already caused the 
 loss of Provera and Argentau. Bonaparte left ten thou- 
 sand men before the city ; with twenty-five thousand men 
 he went to meet Quasdanowitch, whom he threw back 
 into the gorges of Tyrol, after having defeated him at Salo 
 and Lonato ; then immediately he turned back to Wurm- 
 ser, who learned of the defeat of his colleague by the 
 presence of the army that conquered him. Attacked 
 with French impetuosity, he was beaten at Castiglione. 
 In five days the Austrians had lost twenty thousand men 
 
GENERAL BONAPARTE. 35 
 
 and fifty pieces of cannon. This victory had given 
 Quasdanowitch time to rally. Bonaparte went again to 
 him ; defeated him at San Marco, at Sarravalle, and at 
 Roveredo. Then he returned, after the battles of Bas- 
 sano, Rimolano, and Cavalo, to lay a second time the 
 siege before Mantua, where Wurmser had entered with 
 the remains of his army. 
 
 There, while the works were being made, the States 
 formed around him and consolidated at his word. He 
 founded republics on both sides of the Po, expelled the 
 English from Corsica, and pressed at the same time 
 upon Genoa, Venice, and the Holy See, which he pre- 
 vented from uprising. It was in the midst of these vast 
 political combinations that he learned of the approach 
 of a new Imperial Army led by Alvinzi ; but there was 
 a fatality upon all those men. The same fault com- 
 mitted by his predecessors, Alvinzi committed in his 
 turn. He divided his army into two bodies ; one, com- 
 posed of thirty thousand men led by himself, was to 
 cross the Veronese and reach Mantua ; the other, com- 
 posed of fifteen thousand men under the command of 
 Davidowitch, was to spread itself out upon the Adige. 
 Bonaparte marched to meet Alvinzi, met him at Arcole, 
 struggled hand to hand with him three days, and did not 
 leave off until five thousand dead of his army slept on 
 the field of battle, and eight thousand prisoners and 
 thirty pieces of cannon were taken. Then, all panting 
 from Arcole, he rushed between Davidowitch, who came 
 out of Tyrol, and Wurmser, who came out of Mantua ; 
 threw back the one into his mountains, the other into 
 his city. He learned upon the battle-field that Alvinzi 
 and Provera were just joining each other. He routed 
 Alvinzi at Rivoli, and compelled Provera, by the battles 
 
36 NAPOLEON. 
 
 of Saint George and Favorita, to surrender. Finally, 
 rid from all his adversaries, he returned to Mantua, en- 
 circled it, pressed it, smothered it, and forced it to sur- 
 render at the moment when a fifth army, detached from 
 the reserves of the Rhine, was advancing, led by an 
 Archduke. No humiliation was spared Austria. The 
 defeats of its generals told upon the throne. On the 
 loth of March, 1797, Prince Charles was beaten at the 
 Pass of Tagliamento. This victory opened to us the 
 State of Venice and the gorges of Tyrol. The French 
 advanced at a running pace through the way that was 
 opened to them ; triumphed at Lavis, at Trasmis, at 
 Clausen ; entered Trieste ; carried by storm Tarvis, 
 Gradisca, and Villach ; pursued with eagerness the 
 Archduke, whom they abandoned, only to occupy the 
 routes to the capital of Austria ; and finally penetrated 
 to within thirty leagues of Vienna. There Bonaparte 
 halted to await the Parliamentarians. It had been a 
 year since he left Nice. In that year he had destroyed 
 six armies, had taken Alexandria, Turin, Milan, and 
 Mantua, and had planted the tri-colored flag upon the 
 Alps of Piedmont, upon Italy, and Tyrol. Around him 
 began to shine the names of Mass^na, Augereau, Jou- 
 bert, Marmont, and Berthier. The galaxy was forming, 
 the satellites revolved around their star, the sky of the 
 Empire was constellating. 
 
 Bonaparte was not deceived. The parliamentarians 
 arrived. L6oben was iixed as the seat of the negotiations. 
 Bonaparte had no more need of full power from the Di- 
 rectory. He made the war ; he will make the peace. 
 
 " Seeing the position of things," he wrote, " the nego- 
 tiations even with the Emperor have become military 
 operations." 
 
GENERAL BONAPARTE. 37 
 
 Nevertheless this work was spun out. All the crafts 
 of diplomacy surrounded and tired him. But a day 
 came when the lion became tired of being entangled in 
 a net. He arose in the midst of a discussion, seized a 
 magnificent china tea-set, broke it in pieces and trod 
 upon it ; then, turning to the stupefied plenipotentiaries, 
 he said : 
 
 " Thus will I pulverize you all, since you wish it." ' 
 
 The diplomats returned to sentiments more peaceful. 
 They gave audience to the treaty. In the first article 
 the Emperor was made to declare that he recognized 
 the French Republic. 
 
 " Strike out that paragraph," said Bonaparte ; " the 
 French Republic is as the sun upon the horizon. Blind 
 are those upon whom its brightness has not shone." 
 
 Thus at the age of twenty-seven years Bonaparte held 
 in one hand the sword that divided empires and in the 
 other the balance that weighed kings. Vainly the Direc- 
 tory traced his way. He marched in his own. If he 
 did not yet command, already he did not obey. The 
 Directory wrote him to remember that Wurmser was an 
 emigrant. Wurmser fell into the hands of Bonaparte, 
 who had for him all the regard due to misfortune and 
 old age. The Directory used in reference to the Pope 
 outrageous formulas ; Bonaparte wrote to him always 
 with respect, and called him only by the name of Most 
 
 ' Bourrienne, in his Memoirs of Napoleon, vol. i., page 3 (Scrib- 
 ners' edition), referring to this incident, says : ' ' But let us dismiss 
 this story with the rest, and among them that of the porcelain tray 
 that was said to have been smashed and thrown at the head of M. de 
 Cobentzel. I certainly know nothing of any such scene ; our manners 
 at Passeriano were not quite so bad." (See Memoirs of Sigur, vol. 
 i., page 375)-— J- B. L. 
 
38 . NAPOLEON. 
 
 Holy Father. The Directory deported the priests and 
 proscribed them ; Bonaparte directed his army to regard 
 them as brothers and to honor them as ministers of God. 
 The Directory tried to exterminate every vestige of the 
 aristocracy ; Bonaparte wrote to the democracy of 
 Genoa to blame the excesses which they had carried on 
 against the nobles, and let them know that if they 
 wished to preserve his esteem they must respect the 
 statue of Doria. 
 
 On the 15th Vendemiaire, year VI., the treaty of 
 Campo-Formio was signed, and Austria, to which 
 Venice was left, renounced its claims upon Belgium and 
 its pretensions to Italy. Bonaparte left Italy for France, 
 and on the 15th Frimaire of the same year (5th Decem- 
 ber, 1797) he arrived at Paris. Bonaparte had remained 
 absent two years, and in those two years had taken one 
 hundred and fifty thousand prisoners, one hundred and 
 seventy flags, five hundred and fifty pieces of cannon, 
 six hundred field pieces, five pontoon trains, nine vessels 
 of sixty-four guns, twelve frigates of thirty-two, twelve 
 corvettes, and eighteen galleys. Moreover, after having, 
 as we have seen, brought with him from France two 
 thousand louis, he had sent there altogether, at different 
 times, nearly fifty millions. Contrary to all ancient and 
 modern traditions it was the Army that fed the 
 fatherland. 
 
 With peace Bonaparte saw arrive the limit of his mili- 
 tary career. Unable to remain inactive, he aspired to 
 the place of one of the two Directors, who were just 
 going out. Unfortunately he was but twenty-eight years 
 old. It was a violation, so great and so sudden, of the 
 Constitution of the year III. that they did not dare to 
 even make the proposition. He returned then to his 
 
GENERAL BONAPARTE. 39 
 
 little house in the Rue Chantereine, struggling in advance, 
 by the combinations of his genius, against an enemy 
 more terrible than all those that he had combated up to 
 that time — neglect. 
 
 " The memory of nothing is preserved at Paris," said 
 he. " If I remain a long time idle I am lost. One fame 
 in this great Babylon succeeds another, and they will 
 not have seen me more than three times at the play 
 when I will not be looked at so much." 
 
 While waiting for something better he had himself 
 appointed a member of the National Academy. 
 
 Finally on the 29th of January, 1798, he said to his 
 Secretary : 
 
 " Bourrienne, I cannot remain here ; there is nothing 
 to do ; they will listen to nothing. I see that if I remain 
 I will sink in a short time. Everything wears out here. 
 I have already no more glory. This little Europe does 
 not furnish enough of it. It is a mole-hill. There have 
 never been such great empires and revolutions as in the 
 East where live six hundred millions of men. I must go 
 to the East ; all great fame comes from there." 
 
 Thus he must exceed all the fame of the greatest. He 
 has already done more than Hannibal. He will do as 
 much as Alexander and Caesar, but his name is wanting 
 on the pyramids, where are written these two great 
 names. 
 
 On April 12, 1798, Bonaparte was commissioned 
 General-in-chief of the Army of the East. 
 
 He had already, as we have seen, only to ask in order 
 to obtain. On arriving at Toulon he gave proof that he 
 had but to command to be obeyed. 
 
 An old man of eighty years had been shot just two days 
 before the time of his arrival in that city. On the i6th 
 
40 NAPOLEON. 
 
 of May, 1798, he wrote the following letter to the mili- 
 tary commissions of the ninth division established by 
 virtue of the law of the 19th Fructidor : 
 
 " Bonaparte, Member of the National Institute. 
 
 " I have learned, citizens, with the greatest grief, that 
 old men of the age of seventy and eighty years, and 
 miserable women, pregnant or surrounded by children 
 of tender age, have been shot, accused of emigration. 
 
 " Should then the soldiers of liberty have become 
 executioners ? 
 
 " Should then the pity that they have manifested in 
 the midst of combats die in their hearts ? 
 
 "The law of the 19th Fructidor has been a measure 
 of public safety. Its intention has been to reach the 
 conspirators and not miserable women and decaying old 
 men. 
 
 " I exhort you then, citizens, that every time that the 
 law shall present to your tribunal old men of more than 
 sixty years, or women, to declare that in the midst of 
 combats you have respected the old men and the wives 
 of your enemies. 
 
 " The soldier who signs a sentence against a person 
 incapable of bearing arms is a coward. 
 
 " Bonaparte." 
 
 This letter saved the life of an unfortunate who was 
 comprised in that category. Bonaparte embarked three 
 days after. Thus his last farewell to France was the 
 exercise of a royal act, the dispensing of the pardoning 
 power. 
 
 Malta was purchased in advance. Bonaparte made it 
 surrender to him while passing, and on the first of July, 
 
GENERAL BONAPARTE. 41 
 
 1798, he touched the land of Egypt near Fort Marabout 
 at some distance from Alexandria. 
 
 As soon as he learned this news, Mourad-Bey, whom 
 they were coming to seek like a lion in his den, called 
 to him his Mamelukes, let go in the current of the Nile 
 a flotilla of djermes, of canges and of launches, armed for 
 war, and sent to follow his boats a body of twelve to 
 fifteen hundred cavaliers on the banks of the river, 
 which Desaix, who commanded our advance guard, met 
 on the 14th at the village of Minieh-Salam. This was 
 the first time since the Crusades that the Orient and the 
 Occident met face to face. 
 
 The shock was terrible. This militia, glittering with 
 gold, swift as the wind, devouring as the flame, charged 
 even upon our squares, the gun-barrels of which it cut 
 to pieces with its tempered Damascus sabres. Then, 
 when the fire burst from these squares as from a volcano, 
 it unrolled itself like a scarf of gold and silk, visited at 
 full gallop all these iron angles, each face of which sent 
 its volley ; and, when they saw any breach impossible, 
 they fled finally like a long line of birds, leaving around 
 our battalions a belt, moving still, of mutilated men and 
 horses, and went oif some distance to form anew, only to 
 return to attempt a new charge as useless and slaughter- 
 ous as the other. 
 
 In the middle of the day they rallied for the last time, 
 but instead of coming again upon us they took the road 
 to the desert and disappeared in the horizon in a whirl- 
 wind of sand. 
 
 It was at Djizeh that Mourad learned of the repulse at 
 Ch^breiss. The same day messengers were sent to the 
 Said, to the Fayoum, and to the desert. Everywhere, 
 Beys, Sheiks, Mamelukes — all were convoked against the 
 
42 NAPOLEON. 
 
 common enemy ; each one was compelled to come with 
 his horse and arms. Three days after Mourad had 
 around him six thousand horsemen. 
 
 All this troop hastened by the war cry of its chief 
 camped in disorder on the banks of the Nile in sight 
 of Cairo and the Pyramids, between the village of 
 Embabeh, on which it rested its right, and Djizeh, the 
 favorite residence of Mourad, to which it stretched out 
 its left. As for the latter, he had planted his tent around 
 a gigantic sycamore, the shade of which covered fifty 
 horsemen. It was in this position that, after having put 
 his militia in a little order, he waited for the French 
 army which was ascending the Nile. 
 
 On the 23d, at the break of day, Desaix, who marched 
 always in the advance guard, perceived a party of five 
 hundred Mamelukes, which had been sent to reconnoitre 
 and which fell back without ceasing to be in view. At 
 four o'clock in the morning Mourad heard loud accla- 
 mations ; it was the entire army cheering the Pyramids. 
 
 At six o'clock the French and Mamelukes were in 
 each other's presence. 
 
 As one pictures the battle-field, it was the same that 
 Cambyses, the other conqueror, who had come from the 
 other end of the world, had selected to crush the Egypt- 
 ians. Two thousand four hundred years had elapsed. 
 The Nile and the Pyramids were still there, but the 
 Sphinx of granite, which the Persians mutilated in the 
 face, had only its gigantic head out of the sand. The 
 Colossus, of which Herodotus spoke, had fallen, Mem- 
 phis had disappeared, Cairo had sprung up. All these 
 reminders, distinct and present in the minds of the French 
 chiefs, were hovering vaguely over the soldiers like those 
 
GENERAL BONAPARTE. 43 
 
 unknown birds which formerly passed over battles, and 
 which foretold victory. 
 
 As for the site, it was a vast plain of sand, suitable for 
 the manoeuvres of the cavalry. A village called Bekir 
 rose in the middle. A small stream bounded it a little 
 in advance of Djizeh. Mourad and all his cavalry rested 
 against the Nile, with Cairo behind them. 
 
 Bonaparte saw, from this disposition of the land and 
 his foes, that it was possible for him not only to conquer 
 the Mamelukes, but even to exterminate them. He ar- 
 ranged his army in a semicircle, forming of each division 
 gigantic squares, in the centre of which was placed the 
 artillery. Desaix, accustomed to march in advance, 
 commanded the first square placed between Embabeh 
 and Djizeh ; then came the Regnier division ; the 
 Kleber division, deprived of its chief, who had been 
 wounded at Alexandria, and commanded by Dugua ; 
 then the Menou division, commanded by Vial ; finally, 
 forming the extreme left, protected by the Nile and 
 nearest to Embabeh, the division of General Bon. 
 
 All the squares were to move together to march upon 
 Embabeh, and to throw into the Nile the village, horses, 
 Mamelukes and intrenchments. 
 
 But Mourad was not the man to stay behind some 
 hillocks of sand. Scarcely had the squares taken posi- 
 tion when the Mamelukes rushed out of their intrench- 
 ments in uneven masses and without choice, without 
 calculation, threw themselves upon the squares which 
 they found nearest to them — these were the Desaix and 
 Regnier divisions. 
 
 Arriving at the mouth of the guns the assailants 
 divided into two columns ; the first rushed headlong upon 
 
44 NAPOLEON. 
 
 the left angle of the R^gnier division, the second upon 
 the right angle of the Desaix division. The squares let 
 them approach to within ten paces, then they blazed 
 forth ; horses and horsemen found themselves stopped 
 by a wall of flames ; the first two lines of Mamelukes 
 fell as if the earth had quaked under them ; the rem- 
 nants of the column, carried on by its course, stopped 
 by this rampart of iron and fire, not being able or willing 
 to turn back, marched along in its ignorance, in front of 
 the Rdgnier square, the fire of which threw it back upon 
 the Desaix division. This latter then, finding itself 
 taken between these two waterspouts of men and horses, 
 which were whirling around it, presented to them the 
 points of the bayonets of its first rank, while two others 
 were emitting flames, and opening their angles to let 
 pass cannon balls impatient to mix in this sanguinary 
 fete. 
 
 There was a moment when the two divisions found 
 themselves completely surrounded, and when all means 
 were put in operation to open these impassable and 
 deadly squares. The Mamelukes charging to within ten 
 paces, received the double fire of musketry and artillery ; 
 then turning their horses around, frightened at the 
 sight of the bayonets, they forced them to advance back- 
 wards and, making them rear, they fell down together, 
 whilst the horsemen, dismounted, were dragging them- 
 selves on their knees, crawling like serpents, and cutting 
 the hamstrings of our soldiers. It was thus during the 
 three-quarters of an hour that this dreadful conflict 
 lasted. Our soldiers in this kind of warfare no longer 
 saw men ; they believed it to be an action with phantoms, 
 spectres and demons. Finally, infuriated Mamelukes, 
 cries of men, neighing of horses, flames and smoke, all 
 
GENERAL BONAPARTE. 45 
 
 vanished as if by a whirlwind : there remained between 
 the two divisions only a bloody battlefield, covered 
 with arms and standards, strewn with the dead and 
 dying, complaining, and rising like the swell of the sea 
 not yet entirely calmed. 
 
 At this moment all the squares, with a step as regular 
 as that of a parade, advanced, closing Embabeh in their 
 circle of fire. Suddenly the line of the Bey blazed forth 
 in its turn : thirty-seven pieces of artillery were shooting 
 upon the plain their network of bronze. The flotilla 
 leaped upon the Nile, shattered by the recoil of the 
 bombards, and Mourad, at the head of three thousand 
 horsemen, darted in his turn to see if he could not 
 break these infernal squares. Then the column which 
 had commenced the attack and which had had time to 
 reorganize itself, recognized him, and returned also 
 against his first and mortal enemies. 
 
 It must have been a marvellous thing for the eye of the 
 eagle hovering over the battle-field, to see these six 
 thousand horsemen, the first in the world, mounted upon 
 horses whose feet left no traces upon the sand, turning 
 about like a pack of hounds around those immovable 
 and inflammable squares, binding them in their folds, 
 enveloping them in their rings, seeking to throttle them 
 when they could not open them, dispersing, reforming 
 to disperse again, changing face as the waves which beat 
 upon the shore ; then returning as far as the squares in 
 a single line led by the indefatigable Mourad standing 
 erect, like a gigantic serpent, the head of which was 
 occasionally seen. All at once the batteries of the in- 
 trenchments changed artillerists. The Mamelukes heard 
 the thunder of their own cannon, and saw themselves 
 carried off by their own bullets. Their flotilla took fire 
 
46 NAPOLEON. 
 
 and exploded. Whilst Mourad was wasting his teeth 
 and claws against our squares, the three columns of 
 attack had taken possession of the intrenchment, and 
 Marmont, commanding the plain, was firing upon the 
 infuriated Mamelukes from the heights of Embabeh. 
 
 Then Bonaparte ordered a new manoeuvre, and all 
 was finished. The squares opened, unfolded, joined, 
 and were welded like the links of a chain. Mourad and 
 his Mamelukes found themselves caught between their 
 own intrenchments and the French line. Mourad saw 
 that the battle was lost. He rallied the men who 
 remained with him, and between this double line of fire 
 darted headlong, with the aerial speed of his horses, into 
 the aperture that the Desaix division had left between 
 itself and the Nile, passed as a whirlwind under the last 
 fire of our soldiers, penetrated into the village of Djizeh, 
 and reappeared, an instant after, above it, retiring 
 towards upper Egypt with two or three hundred horse- 
 men, the remnant of his power. 
 
 He had left upon the field of battle three thousand 
 men, forty pieces of artillery, forty loaded camels, his 
 tents, his horses and his slaves. This field, covered 
 with gold, cashmeres and silk, was abandoned to the 
 victorious soldiers, who secured an immense booty, for 
 all those Mamelukes were adorned with the most beauti- 
 ful armor, and wore jewels of gold and silver. 
 
 Bonaparte slept the same night at Djizeh, and on the 
 third day he entered Cairo by the gate of Victory. 
 
 Scarcely was he in Cairo when Bonaparte dreamt, not 
 only of the colonization of the country which he had 
 just come to occupy, but even of the conquest of India 
 by the way of the Euphrates. He wrote to the Directory 
 a note in which he asked for reinforcements, arms, war 
 
GENERAL BONAPARTE. 47 
 
 equipages, surgeons, pharmacists, physicians, comedians, 
 gardeners, puppet-players for the people, and fifty 
 Frenchwomen. He sent a courier to Typpo-Saeb to 
 propose to him an alliance against the English. Then, 
 lulled with -^ this double hope, he set out in pursuit of 
 Ibrahim, the most influential of the Beys after Mourad. 
 He destroyed him at Saheley'h, and, whilst receiving 
 congratulations for this victory, a messenger brought 
 him the news of the entire loss of his fleet. Nelson had 
 crushed Brueys. The fleet had disappeared as in a ship- 
 wreck. No more communication with France ; no more 
 hope of conquering India. It was necessary to remain 
 in Egypt or to go forth as great as the ancients. 
 
 Bonaparte returned to Cairo and celebrated the anni- 
 versary of the birth of Mahomet and the foundation of 
 the Republic. In the midst of these fetes Cairo revolted, 
 and whilst he battered it down from the heights of Mo- 
 kattam, God came to his aid with a storm. All subsided 
 in four days. Bonaparte left for Suez. He desired to 
 see the Red Sea and to set foot in Asia at the age of 
 Alexander. He came near dying like Pharaoh ; a guide 
 saved him. 
 
 Now his eyes were turned towards Syria. The time 
 to disembark from Egypt had passed, and he could not 
 return until the month of July following. An expedition 
 by way of Gaza and El Arich was to be feared ; for 
 Djezzar-Pasha, surnamed the butcher, had just taken 
 possession of the last-named city. It was necessary to 
 destroy this vanguard of the Ottoman Porte, to overturn 
 the ramparts of Jaffa, of Gaza, and of Acre ; to ravage 
 the country and to destroy all its resources ; and, finally, 
 to render impossible the passage of an army through the 
 desert. This plan was known. But did he not perhaps 
 
48 NAPOLEON. 
 
 conceal one of those gigantic expeditions such as Bona- 
 parte had always in store in the remotest parts of his 
 mind ? We will see. 
 
 He left at the head of ten thousand men. He divided 
 the infantry into four bodies, which he placed under the 
 orders of Bon, K16ber, Lannes, and Regnier, gave the 
 cavalry to Murat, the artillery to Dommartin, and the 
 engineers to Cafarelli-Dufalga. El Arich was attacked 
 on the ist of Ventdse ; the 7th, Gaza was occupied 
 without resistance ; the 17th, Jaffa, carried by storm, 
 saw its garrison, composed of five thousand men, put to 
 the edge of the sword. Then the triumphal march con- 
 tinued. They arrived before Saint-Jean-d'Acre, and on 
 the 30th of the same month a breach was opened. It 
 was then that the reverses commenced. 
 
 It was a Frenchman who commanded the town, an old 
 comrade of Napoleon. Examined together at the Mili- 
 tary School, they had been the same day sent to their 
 respective corps. Attached to the Royalist party, Phe- 
 lippeaux favored the escape of Sydney Smith from the 
 Temple. He followed him to England, and preceded 
 him to Syria. It was with his genius much more than 
 with the ramparts of Acre that Bonaparte came into col- 
 lision. At the first glance of the eye he saw that the 
 defence was conducted by a superior man. A siege ac- 
 cording to the regular rule was impossible. He must 
 carry the city. Three successive assaults were made 
 without result. During one of these assaults a bomb fell 
 at the feet of Bonaparte. Two grenadiers immediately 
 threw themselves upon him, placing him between them, 
 elevated their arms above his head and covered him on 
 all sides. The bomb exploded and, as by a miracle, its 
 fragments respected their devotion ; no one was wounded. 
 
GENERAL BONAPARTE. 49 
 
 One of these grenadiers was called Daumesnil. He was 
 a general in 1809, lost a leg at Moscow in 1812, and was 
 in command at Vincennes in 1814. 
 
 In the meantime relief came from all sides to Djezzar ; 
 the Pashas of Syria had reunited their forces and 
 marched upon Acre ; Sydney Smith hastened with the 
 English fleet ; finally the plague, this auxiliary more 
 terrible than all the others, came to the aid of the exe- 
 cutioner of Syria. It was necessary first to get rid of the 
 army of Damascus. Bonaparte, instead of waiting for 
 it or stepping back at its approach, marched on, met and 
 scattered it in the valley of Mt. Tabor. Then he re- 
 turned to attempt five more assaults as useless as the 
 first. Saint-Jean-d'Acre was to him a cursed city ; he 
 could not pass beyond it. 
 
 Every one was surprised that he exerted himself so to 
 take a small town ; that there he risked his life each 
 day ; that he lost his best officers and his bravest soldiers. 
 Everybody blamed him for this obstinacy, which seemed 
 to be without aim. Yet there was an aim. He explained 
 it himself after one of these unfruitful assaults, when 
 Duroc had been wounded, for it was necessary that some 
 great mind like his own should know that he would not 
 play a game of nonsense. 
 
 " Yes," said he ; "I see that this miserable paltry 
 town has cost me many people and taken much time, 
 but things are too far advanced for me not to try a new 
 effort. If I succeed, I shall find in the city the treasures 
 of the Pasha and arms for three hundred thousand men. 
 I will rouse to action and arm Syria, which has been so 
 much excited by the cruelty of Djezzar, the downfall of 
 whom, at each assault, the populace demand of God. I 
 will march upon Damascus and Alep. In advancing 
 
50 NAPOLEON. 
 
 into the country I will increase my army with the dis- 
 contented ones ; I will announce to the people the aboli- 
 tion of slavery and the tyrannous government of the 
 Pashas ; I will arrive at Constantinople with armed 
 crowds ; I will turn the Turkish Empire upside down ; 
 I will form in the Orient a new and great empire, which 
 will fix my place in posterity ; and I will return to Paris 
 by the way of Adrianople and Vienna after having anni- 
 hilated the house of Austria." 
 
 Then, uttering a sigh, he continued : 
 
 " If I do not succeed in the last assault that I will at- 
 tempt I shall leave on the spot ; time presses me — I 
 shall not be in Cairo before the middle of June ; the 
 winds will then be favorable to go from the north into 
 Egypt. Constantinople will send on troops to Alexan- 
 dria and to Rosetta — I must be there. I do not fear this 
 year the army which will come later by land. I will 
 have everything destroyed up to the entrance of the 
 desert. I will render impossible the passage of an army 
 from now to the end of two years. People cannot live 
 in the midst of the ruins." 
 
 It was this last course he was forced to take. The 
 army withdrew upon Jaffa ; there Bonaparte visited the 
 hospital for pestiferous patients — this will be the most 
 beautiful production of the painter Gros. All that was 
 transportable was taken by sea towards Damietta, and 
 by land to Gaza and El Arich. Sixty of them remained 
 who had but one day to live, and who in one hour would 
 fall into the hands of the Turks. The same stern neces- 
 sity that had caused the garrison of Jaffa to be put to 
 the edge of the sword raised its voice. The pharmacist, 
 R , they say, had a potion distributed to the dying 
 
GENERAL BONAPARTE. 51 
 
 ones, and instead of the tortures that were reserved for 
 them by the Turks — they had at least a sweet agony. 
 
 Finally, on the 26th Prairial, after a long and painful 
 march, the army re-entered Cairo. It was time. Mourad- 
 Bey had escaped from Desaix and was menacing lower 
 Egypt ; a second time he met the French at the foot of 
 the Pyramids ; Bonaparte ordered everything to be ready 
 for battle ; this time it was he who took the position of 
 the Mamelukes and who placed his rear against the 
 river, but the morning of the next day Mourad-Bey had 
 disappeared ; Bonaparte was astonished, but on the same 
 day all was explained to him ; the fleet, as he had 
 divined, had landed at Aboukir just at the time he fore- 
 told ; Mourad, by unfrequented roads, had gone to join 
 the camp of the Turks. 
 
 On arriving he found the Pasha full of the loftiest 
 hopes ; when he had appeared the French detachments, 
 too feeble to fight him, had fallen back to concentrate. 
 
 " Indeed," said Moustapha Pasha to the Bey of the 
 Mamelukes, " I show myself to these Frenchmen, so 
 much feared, the sight of whom thou art not able to 
 bear, and behold, they fly before me." 
 
 " Pasha," answered Mourad-Bey, " render thanks to 
 the Prophet that he may ordain that the Frenchmen 
 retire, for if they return thou wilt vanish before them 
 like the dust before the north wind." 
 
 The son of the desert was prophesying. Some days 
 after this Bonaparte arrived ; after three hours of battle 
 the Turks gave way and took to flight ; Moustapha 
 Pasha tendered his sword with a bloody hand to Murat ; 
 two hundred men surrendered with him ; two thousand 
 remained upon the field of battle ; ten thousand were 
 
52 NAPOLEON. 
 
 drowned ; twenty pieces of cannon, tents, and baggage 
 fell into our hands ; the fort of Aboukir was retaken ; 
 the Mamelukes were thrown back beyond the desert ; 
 and the English and Turks sought for a place of refuge 
 upon their vessels. 
 
 Bonaparte sent a flag of truce to the Admiral's vessel ; 
 he must negotiate for the return of the prisoners, whom 
 it was impossible to guard and useless to shoot as at 
 Jaffa ; in exchange the Admiral sent to Bonaparte some 
 wine, fruits, and the Frankfort Gazette of June 20th, 
 1799. 
 
 Since the month of June, 1798, that is to say for more 
 than one year, Bonaparte had been without news from 
 France. He cast his eyes upon the paper, ran over it 
 rapidly and exclaimed : 
 
 " My presentiments have not deceived me. Italy has 
 been lost. It is necessary that I depart." 
 
 In effect the French had reached that point where he 
 desired them to be, unfortunate enough to see him arriv- 
 ing not as an ambitious person, but as a savior. 
 
 Gantheaume, called by him, soon came. Bonaparte 
 ordered him to prepare the two frigates La Muiron and 
 La Carrlre and the two little ships La Revanche and La 
 Fortune, with provisions for four or five hundred men 
 for two months. On the 22d of August he wrote to the 
 army : 
 
 " News from Europe has made me decide to depart 
 for France. I leave the command to General Kleber ; 
 the army shall soon have news of me. I cannot say 
 more. It is painful for me to part from soldiers to whom 
 I am so much attached, but it will only be for a short 
 while. The General I leave them has the confidence of 
 the army and myself." 
 
GENERAL BONAPARTE. 53 
 
 The next day he embarked on the La Muiron. 
 Gantheaume wished to take the open sea ; Bonaparte 
 opposed it. 
 
 " I wish," said he, " that you sail along the coast of 
 Africa as much as possible ; you will follow this route 
 up to the south of Sardinia. I have a handful of brave 
 men ; I have a little artillery ; if the English present 
 themselves I will run aground upon the sands ; I will 
 reach by land Oran, Tunis, or another port, and there I 
 will find the means to re-embark." 
 
 During twenty-one days the west and northwest winds 
 beat Bonaparte back towards the port from which he 
 had just come. At last the first breezes of an east wind 
 were felt. Gantheaume opened all his sails to it ; in a 
 little while they passed beyond where Carthage formerly 
 was, doubled Sardinia going along the western side ; on 
 the first of October they entered the port of Ajaccio, 
 where they changed seventeen thousand francs of Turk- 
 ish sequins into French money — this was all that Bona- 
 parte brought back from Egypt ; — finally on the seventh 
 of the same month they left Corsica and made sail for 
 France from which they were but seventy leagues. On 
 the evening of the eighth a squadron of forty vessels was 
 sighted. Gantheaume proposed that they turn around 
 and return to Corsica. 
 
 " No," cried Bonaparte, imperiously ; " force the sails, 
 every one at his post ; to the northwest, to the north- 
 west ; let us sail ! " 
 
 They passed the whole night in uneasiness ; Bonaparte 
 did not leave the deck ; he had a large launch prepared, 
 put in it twelve sailors, ordered his secretary to select 
 the most important of his papers, and take twenty men 
 with whom he could run aground on the coast of Corsica. 
 
54 NAPOLEON. 
 
 At daybreak all these precautions had become useless, 
 all terrors were dissipated, the fleet had sailed away 
 towards the northeast. On the 8th of October, at the 
 break of day, they perceived Frdjus ; at eight o'clock 
 they entered the roadstead. Soon the noise spread about 
 that the two frigates carried Bonaparte ; the sea was 
 covered with vessels ; all sanitary measures, that Bona- 
 parte had made up his mind to violate, were forgotten 
 by the people ; in vain did they try to make them ob- 
 serve the danger that was threatening. 
 
 " We prefer the pest to the Austrians," they an- 
 swered. 
 
 Bonaparte was taken, led away, carried ; it was a fete, 
 an ovation, a triumph. Finally, in the midst of enthusi- 
 asm, acclamation, delirium, Csesar set foot upon that 
 land where there was no longer a Brutus. 
 
 Six weeks after France had no Directors, but it had 
 three Consuls, and among these three Consuls there was 
 one, according to the saying of Sieyes, who knew all, 
 who did all, who could do all. 
 We have arrived at the i8th Brumaire. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 BONAPARTE — FIRST CONSUL. 
 
 'T'HE first care of Bonaparte, on arriving at the su- 
 preme magistracy of a state still bleeding from 
 civil and foreign war, and quite exhausted from its own 
 victories, was to establish peace upon a solid basis. Ac- 
 cordingly, on the sth Nivose, year VIII. of the Repub- 
 lic, putting aside all diplomatic forms with which sove- 
 reigns are in the habit of enveloping their thoughts, he 
 wrote directly and with his own hand to King George 
 III., proposing to him an alliance between France and 
 England. The King remained silent. Pitt took upon 
 himself to answer ; that is to say, the alliance was 
 refused. 
 
 Bonaparte, repulsed by George III., turned towards 
 Paul the First. Knowing the chivalrous character of 
 this prince he thought it was necessary in regard to him 
 to act chivalrously. He brought together in the interior 
 of France the Russian troops taken in Holland and 
 Switzerland, had them dressed in new clothes, and sent 
 them back to their country without ransom or exchange. 
 Bonaparte was not mistaken in counting upon this pro- 
 ceeding to disarm Paul the First. The latter, on learning 
 of the courtesy of the First Consul, retired the troops 
 
 55 
 
56 NAPOLEON. 
 
 that he yet had in Germany, and declared that he was 
 no longer a party to the coalition. 
 
 France and Prussia were on good terms and King 
 Frederick William had scrupulously observed the con- 
 ditions of the treaty of 1795. Bonaparte sent Duroc to 
 induce him to extend the line of his troops to the Lower 
 Rhine, in order to have a smaller frontier to defend. 
 The King of Prussia consented, and promised to exert 
 his influence with Saxony, Denmark and Sweden to get 
 them to remain neutral. 
 
 Then there remained England, Austria, and Bavaria. 
 But these three powers were far from being ready to 
 recommence hostilities. Bonaparte had, then, without 
 losing sight of them, to cast his eyes upon the interior. 
 
 The seat of the new government was at the Tuileries. 
 Bonaparte was dwelling in the Palace of the Kings, and, 
 little by little, the old customs of the court were re- 
 appearing in those apartments whence the Convention- 
 alists had driven them. Besides it is just to say that 
 the first of the privileges of the crown which Bonaparte 
 arrogated to himself was that of clemency. M. Defeu, 
 a French emigrant taken in Tyrol, had been brought to 
 Grenoble and sentenced to death. Bonaparte learned 
 this news and wrote, by his secretary, upon a bit of 
 paper, " The First Consul orders the suspension of the 
 execution of the judgment against M. Defeu." He signed 
 this laconic order, despatched it to General F^rino, and 
 M. Defeu was saved. 
 
 Then appeared that passion which took in him the first 
 place after war, the passion for monuments. At first he 
 was content to remove the shops which encumbered the 
 yard of the Tuileries. But soon after, having looked 
 through one of the windows and having been offended 
 
BONAPARTE — FIRST CONSUL. 57 
 
 by the interruption of the Quay d'Orsay where the Seine 
 in overflowing every winter obstructed communication 
 with the Faubourg Saint-Germain, he wrote these 
 words : " The quay of the swimming-school must be 
 finished during the next summer," and sent them to the 
 Minister of the Interior, who hastened to obey. The 
 daily concourse of people, which crossed the Seine in little 
 boats between the Louvre and the Quatre Nations, 
 indicated the necessity of a bridge at that place. The 
 First Consul sent for MM. Percier and Fontaine, and 
 the Pont des Arts was erected from one bank to the 
 other as if by magic. The Place Vend6me was widowed 
 of the statue of Louis XIV. ; a column of melted can- 
 non, taken from the Austrians in a campaign of three 
 months, replaced it. The burnt wheat market will be 
 constructed in iron ; entire leagues of quays will retain 
 the river in its bed from one end of the Capital to the 
 other ; a palace will be built for the Bourse ; the Church 
 of the Invalides will be restored to its original purpose, 
 resplendent as in the days when it sparkled for the first 
 time in the rays of the sun of Louis XIV. ; four ceme- 
 teries, which will recall the Necropolis of Cairo, will be 
 placed at the four cardinal points of Paris, finally, if God 
 will give him time and power, a street will be opened, 
 which will extend from St. Germain I'Auxerrois to the 
 gate of the Throne ; it will be one hundred feet in 
 breadth ; it will be planted with trees like the Boulevards 
 and will be bordered with arcades like the Rue de Rivoli ; 
 but for this street it will be necessary to wait, for it is 
 to be called la Rue Imperiale. 
 
 During this time the first year of the nineteenth 
 century was preparing its wonderful warriors ; the law 
 of recruitment was executed with enthusiasm ; new 
 
58 NAPOLEON. 
 
 military material was organizing ; levies of men, as 
 they were raised, were sent from the river of Genoa to 
 the Lower Rhine. An army of reserve was gathered at 
 the camp of Dijon and was composed, in a large degree, 
 of the Army of Holland, which had just pacified the 
 Vendee. 
 
 On their side the enemies responded to these prepara- 
 tions by similar armaments. Austria pressed the organ- 
 ization of its levies, England took into its pay a body of 
 twelve thousand Bavarians, and one of its ablest agents 
 recruited for it in Suabia, in Franconia, and in the Oden- 
 wald ; finally, six thousand Wurtembergers, the Swiss 
 regiments and the noble corps of emigrants, under the 
 orders of the Prince of Conde, passed from the service 
 of Paul I. to the pay of George III. All these troops 
 were destined to operate on the Rhine ; Austria sent its 
 soldiers into Italy, for it was there the Allies intended 
 to open the campaign. 
 
 On the 17th of March, 1800, in the midst of work upon 
 the institution of the diplomatic schools founded by M. de 
 Talleyrand, Bonaparte turned suddenly to his secretary 
 and with a visible feeling of gayety asked : 
 
 " Where do you believe that I will defeat M^Ias ? " 
 
 " I know nothing of it," answered the astonished 
 secretary. 
 
 " Go, unfold in my cabinet the large chart of Italy, 
 and I will show it to you." 
 
 The secretary hastened to obey ; Bonaparte provided 
 himself with red and black wax headed pins, laid him- 
 self down upon the immense map, marked off his plan 
 of campaign, placed upon the points where the enemy 
 awaited him his black-headed pins, aligned red-headed 
 pins upon the whole line where he hoped to conduct his 
 
BONAPARTE— FIRST CONSUL. 59 
 
 troops ; then he turned to his secretary, who had looked 
 at him in silence. 
 
 " Well ? " said he to him. 
 
 " Well," answered the secretary, " I know no more 
 about it." 
 
 " You are a simpleton. Look a little. Mdlas is at 
 Alessandria, where he has his headquarters ; he will 
 remain there as long as Genoa does not surrender. He 
 has in Alessandria his stores, his hospitals, his artillery, 
 his reserves. (Indicating Saint Bernard), I will pass 
 the Alps here ; I will fall upon his rear before he sus- 
 pects that I am in Italy, cut off his communications with 
 Austria ; I will overtake him in the plains of Scrivia, 
 (placing a red pin at San-Giuliano) and I will defeat 
 him here." 
 
 It was the plan of the battle of Marengo, that the 
 First Consul had just traced. Four months after it was 
 accomplished in every point ; the Alps were crossed ; 
 the headquarters were at San-Giuliano ; Melas was 
 intercepted ; it remained only to defeat him ; Bona- 
 parte had just written his name beside those of Han- 
 nibal and of Charlemagne. 
 
 The First Consul had spoken truly. He rolled down 
 from the summit of the Alps like an avalanche ; on the 
 second of June he was before Milan, where he entered 
 without resistance, and the fort of which he immediately 
 blockaded. The same day Murat was sent to Placentia, 
 and Lannes to Montebello ; both were going to battle, 
 without suspecting it, the one for a crown and the other 
 for a duchy. 
 
 The day following the entry into Milan a spy, who 
 had served him in his first campaigns in Italy, was an- 
 nounced ; the General knew him at the first glance of 
 
6o NAPOLEON. 
 
 the eye ; he was in the service of the Austrians. M^las 
 had sent him to watch the French army, but he wished 
 to finish the dangerous business he carried on, and asked 
 a thousand louis to betray Melas ; besides, it was neces- 
 sary for him to carry back some exact information to his 
 General. 
 
 " It does not matter," said the First Consul ; " it is 
 of little importance whether they know my forces and 
 my position, provided I know the forces and the position 
 of my enemy ; tell me something worth the trouble, and 
 the thousand louis are thine." 
 
 Then the spy told him the number of corps, their 
 forces, their location, the names of the generals, their 
 worth, their character ; the First Consul followed his 
 words upon the chart that he had peppered with pins ; 
 besides, Alessandria was not provisioned, Melas was far 
 from expecting a siege, he had many sick soldiers and 
 was in need of medicines. In exchange, Berthier gave 
 to the spy a note, almost exact, upon the position of the 
 French army. The First Consul saw clearly the posi- 
 tion of Melas as if the genius of battles had made him 
 soar over the plains of Scrivia. 
 
 On the 8th of June, in the night, a courier, sent by 
 Murat, arrived from Placentia. He was the bearer of an 
 intercepted letter. The despatch was from Melas ; it 
 was addressed to the Aulic Council of Vienna ; it an- 
 nounced the capitulation of Genoa, which had taken 
 place on the 4th ; after the people had eaten even the 
 saddles of their horses, Massdna had been compelled 
 to surrender. 
 
 They aroused Bonaparte in the middle of the night 
 by virtue of his precept, " Let me sleep for good news, 
 wake me for bad." 
 
BONAPARTE— FIRST CONSUL. 6l 
 
 " Bah ! You do not understand German," said he at 
 first to his secretary. 
 
 Then forced to acknowledge that the latter had 
 spoken the truth, he arose, passed the remainder of the 
 night giving orders and sending out couriers, and at 
 eight o'clock in the morning all was ready to ward off 
 the probable consequences of this unexpected event. 
 
 The same day the headquarters were transported to 
 Stradella, where they remained until the 12th, and where 
 Desaix rejoined them on the nth. On the 13th, in 
 marching upon the Scrivia, the First Consul traversed the 
 battle-field of Montebello and found the churches still 
 full of the dead and wounded. 
 
 " Devil," said he to Lannes, who served him as a 
 guide, " it appears as if the affair had been hot." 
 
 " It has indeed been so," answered the latter, " bones 
 were crackling in my division like hail upon glass 
 windows." 
 
 Finally, on the evening of the 13th, the First Consul 
 arrived at Torre-di-Golifolo. Though it was late and 
 he was weighed down with fatigue, he would not go to 
 bed until he made sure whether the Austrians had a 
 bridge over the Bormida. At one o'clock in the morn- 
 ing the officer in charge of this mission returned and 
 reported that it did not exist. This announcement 
 quieted the First Consul. He required a last account of 
 the position of the troops, and went to sleep not believ- 
 ing that there would be an engagement the next day. 
 
 Our troops were occupying the following positions : 
 
 The Gardanne and Chamberliac divisions, forming 
 the body of the army of General Victor, were camped at 
 the farm-house of Pedra-Buona in front of Marengo 
 and at an equal distance from the village and the river. 
 
62 NAPOLEON. 
 
 The corps of General Lannes was placed in advance 
 of the village of San-Giuliano at the right of the great 
 Tortone road, about six hundred fathoms nearer the 
 village of Marengo. 
 
 The Guard of the Consuls was placed in reserve in the 
 rear of the troops of General Lannes, at a distance of 
 about five hundred fathoms. 
 
 The brigade of cavalry, under the orders of General 
 Kellermann, and some squadrons of Hussars and Chas- 
 seurs, formed the left, and were filling up, upon the first 
 line, the intervals of the Gardanne and Chamberliac 
 divisions. 
 
 A second brigade of cavalry, commanded by General 
 Champeaux, formed the right, and filled up, upon the 
 second line, the intervals of the infantry of General 
 Lannes. 
 
 Finally the 12th regiment of Hussars and the 21st reg- 
 iments of Chasseurs, detached by Murat, under the 
 orders of General Rivaud, occupied the outlet from Sale, 
 a village situated at the extreme right of the general posi- 
 tion. 
 
 All these corps united, and escheloned obliquely, the 
 left in advance, formed an effectual force of eighteen 
 or nineteen thousand infantry and two thousand five 
 hundred cavalry, to which were to be added during the 
 next day the divisions of Mounier and Boudet, which 
 in accordance with the orders of Desaix, were occupying, 
 in the rear and about ten leagues from Marengo, the 
 villages of Acqui and Castel-Nuovo. 
 
 On his side during the day of the 13th, General Mflas 
 had completed gathering together the troops of Haddik, 
 Kaim, and Ott. On the same day he had passed the 
 Tenaro, and had camped before Alessandria with thirty- 
 
BONAPARTE — FIRST CONSUL. 63 
 
 six thousand infantry, seven thousand cavalry, and an 
 immense artillery, well handled and drawn by good 
 horses. 
 
 At five o'clock Bonaparte was awakened by the noise 
 of cannon. 
 
 At the same instant, and as he was finishing dressing, 
 an aide-de-camp of General Lannes rushed in at full 
 speed of his horse and announced that the enemy had 
 passed the Bormida, had entered the plain, and that a 
 fight was going on. 
 
 The staff-officer had not gone far enough : there was 
 a bridge over the river. 
 
 Bonaparte soon mounted his horse and proceeded in 
 great haste to the point where the battle was in progress. 
 
 He found the enemy formed in three columns ; one, 
 that of the left, composed of all the light cavalry and 
 infantry, was being directed towards Castel-Ceriolo by 
 the Sale road ; while the columns of the centre and of 
 the right, leaning the one upon the other and composed 
 of the infantry corps of Generals Haddik, Kaim, 
 O'Reilly, and the reserve of Grenadiers under the orders 
 of General Ott, were advancing by the Tortone and 
 Fragarole roads and ascending the Bormida. 
 
 At the first advance of the two columns they came 
 into collision with the troops of General Gardanne, 
 stationed, as we have said, at the farm and in the 
 ravine of Pedra-Buona. It was the noise of the numer- 
 ous artillery marching before them, at the heels of which 
 they were deploying battalions three times superior in 
 number to those they were attacking, which had awak- 
 ened Bonaparte and which had enticed the lion to the 
 field of battle. 
 
 He arrived at the moment when the Gardanne division. 
 
64 NAPOLEON. 
 
 crushed, had commenced to fall back, and when General 
 Victor was sending to its relief the Chamberliac division. 
 Protected by this movement the troops of Gardanne 
 made their retreat in good order, and came to defend 
 the village of Marengo. 
 
 Then the Austrian troops ceased to march in column, 
 and, profiting by the ground spread before them, de- 
 ployed in parallel lines numerically superior to those of 
 Generals Gardanne and Chamberliac. The first of these 
 lines was commanded by General Haddik, the second by 
 General Mdlas in person, whilst General Ott's Corps of 
 Grenadiers formed a little in the rear at the right of the 
 village of Castel-Ceriolo. 
 
 A ravine, hollowed out like an intrenchment, formed 
 a half-circle around the village of Marengo. General 
 Victor established there in line the divisions of Gardanne 
 and Chamberliac, which were going to be attacked a 
 second time. Hardly had they been arranged in battle 
 array when Bonaparte caused to be given to them the 
 order to defend Marengo for the longest possible time. 
 The General-in-chief understood that the battle would 
 bear the name of this village. 
 
 In an instant the action commenced anew upon the 
 front of the line. The sharp-shooters were firing at each 
 other from both sides of the ravine, and the cannon were 
 thundering, returning grape-shot at pistol range. Pro- 
 tected by this terrible artillery, the enemy, superior in 
 number, needed only to extend itself to outflank us. 
 General Rivaud, who commanded the extreme right 
 of the Gardanne brigade, then put a battalion in ad- 
 vance outside of the village under the hottest fire of 
 the enemy, and ordered it to stand and be killed without 
 moving back a step. It was a target for the Austrian 
 
BONAPARTE— FIRST CONSUL. 65 
 
 artillery on which each shot took effect. But during 
 that time General Rivaud formed his cavalry into col- 
 umn, turned the protecting artillery, fell upon three 
 thousand Austrians who were advancing at charge pace, 
 repulsed them, and, wounded as he was by a musket ball, 
 forced them, after having put them in disorder, to reform 
 in the rear of their line. Then he came and replaced 
 himself in the line of battle at the right of the battalion, 
 which had remained as firm as a wall. 
 
 At this moment the division of General Gardanne, 
 upon which the whole iire of the enemy had wasted itself 
 since morning, was thrown back into Marengo, where 
 the first line of the Austrians followed it, whilst the 
 second line prevented the Chamberliac division and the 
 Rivaud brigade from lending relief to it. Besides hav- 
 ing been themselves thrust back they were soon forced to 
 retreat on both sides of the village. Behind it they re- 
 united. General Victor reformed them, and recalling to 
 them the importance that the First Consul attached to 
 the possession of Marengo, put himself at their head, 
 rushed in his turn through the streets that the Austrians 
 had not had time to barricade, retook the village, lost it 
 again, retook it still another time, then finally, crushed 
 by superior numbers, he was compelled to abandon it 
 for the last time, and, supported by the two divisions of 
 Lannes, which arrived to his relief, reformed his line 
 parallel to that of the enemy, which in its turn rushed 
 forth from Marengo and expanded, presenting an im- 
 mense battle-front. Soon Lannes, seeing that the two 
 divisions of General Victor had rallied and were pre- 
 pared to maintain anew the combat, extended his line 
 upon the right at the moment when the Austrians 
 were about to outflank us. This manoeuvre put him in 
 5 
 
66 NAPOLEON. 
 
 front of the troops of General Kaim, which had just 
 taken Marengo. The two corps, the one over-excited 
 by the beginning of victory, the other all fresh from its 
 repose, struck against each other with rage, and the com- 
 bat, an instant interrupted by the double manoeuvres of 
 the two armies, recommenced along the whole line more 
 desperately than ever. 
 
 After a struggle of an hour, step by step, bayonet to 
 bayonet, the corps of the army of General Kaim bent 
 and fell back. General Champeaux, at the head of the 
 ist and 8th regiments of Dragoons, charged it and in- 
 creased its disorder. General Watrin, with the 6th Light 
 Infantry and the 22nd and 40th of the Line, pursued it 
 and threw it back nearly a thousand fathoms beyond the 
 brook of Barbotta. But the movement he had made 
 separated him from the body of his army ; the division 
 of General Victor, finding itself endangered by his vic- 
 tory, was obliged to take the position he had left an 
 instant exposed. 
 
 At this moment Kellermann was doing for the left 
 wing what Watrin had just done for the right. Two of 
 his cavalry charges had penetrated the enemy's line of 
 battle, but behind the first line he had found a second, 
 and, not daring to attack it on account of the superior 
 numbers, he had lost the fruit of this momentary victory. 
 
 At midday this line, which was curling like a serpent 
 of flame over a space of nearly a league, was broken 
 near its centre and, after having done all that was hu- 
 manly possible, it commenced to retreat, not conquered, 
 but overwhelmed by the fire of the artillery and the 
 shock of the masses. The centre in recoihng left the 
 wings unprotected. They were then forced to follow 
 its retrograde movement, and General Watrin on one 
 
BONAPARTE— FIRST CONSUL. 6j 
 
 side, and General Kellermann on the other, ordered their 
 divisions to fall backward. 
 
 The retreat was made in squares under the fire of 
 eighty pieces of artillery, which preceded the march of 
 the Austrians. For two leagues the entire army, fur- 
 rowed by cannon-balls, cut by grape-shot, ground by 
 shell, retreated without a single man leaving his ranks 
 to run away, executing the various movements ordered 
 by the First Consul with the regularity and the coolness 
 of a parade. At this moment the first Austrian column, 
 which, as we have said, had been directed upon Castel- 
 Ceriolo and which had not yet charged, appeared out- 
 flanking our right. Such a reinforcement would have 
 been too much, and Bonaparte decided to utilize the 
 Consular Guard, which he had kept in reserve with two 
 regiments of Grenadiers. He ordered it to advance to 
 within three hundred fathoms of the extreme right, and 
 directed it to form a square and stop Elsnitz and his 
 column like a redoubt of granite. 
 
 General Elsnitz then committed the fault into which 
 Bonaparte had hoped that he would fall. Instead of 
 neglecting these nine hundred men, who were not to be 
 feared in the rear of a victorious army, and passing on 
 to the aid of Generals Melas and Kaim, he eagerly 
 fought those brave soldiers, who had used almost their 
 last cartridges without being injured and who, when 
 they had no more ammunition, received the enemy upon 
 the point of their bayonets. 
 
 However, this handful of men could not long hold out 
 thus, and Bonaparte was about to give them the order to 
 follow the retrograde movement of the remainder of the 
 army, when one of the divisions of Desaix, that of Gen- 
 eral Mounier, appeared upon the rear of the French line. 
 
68 NAPOLEON. 
 
 Bonaparte trembled with joy ; it was the half of that 
 for which he had been waiting. Immediately he ex- 
 changed some words with General Dupont, chief of staff. 
 General Dupont darted forth in front of it, took com- 
 mand, found himself surrounded for an instant by the 
 cavalry of General Elsnitz, passed through its ranks, 
 struck with a terrible blow the division of General Kaim, 
 which was beginning to penetrate into the troops of Gen- 
 eral Lannes, pressed the enemy as far as the village of 
 Castel-Ceriolo, there placed one of his brigades, under 
 the command of General Carra Saint-Cyr, which drove 
 out the Tyrolian and Wolf Chasseurs, who were taken 
 unawares by his sudden attack, and ordered him (Saint- 
 Cyr), in the name of the First Consul, to die there with 
 all his men rather than retreat. Then having rescued 
 on his return the battalion of the Consular Guard and 
 the two regiments of Grenadiers, who had made so beau- 
 tiful a defence in the eyes of the whole army, he joined 
 the retrograde movement, which continued with the same 
 order and the same precision. 
 
 It was three o'clock in the afternoon. Of the nine- 
 teen thousand men, who had commenced the battle at 
 five o'clock in the morning, there remained scarcely, 
 upon a radius of two leagues, eight thousand infantry, 
 one thousand cavalry, and six pieces of cannon in con- 
 dition to fire. A fourth of the army was hors de combat, 
 and more than another fourth, on account of the want 
 of vehicles, was busied in carrying the wounded that 
 Bonaparte had given orders not to abandon. All were 
 retreating with the exception of General Carra Saint-Cyr, 
 who, isolated in the village of Castel-Ceriolo, found him- 
 self already more than a league from the body of the 
 army. One half hour more and it was evident to all 
 
BONAPARTE — FIRST CONSUL. 69 
 
 that the retreat would change into a rout, when an aide- 
 de-camp, sent on to meet the division of Desaix, upon 
 which at this hour rested not only the fortune of the 
 day but the destiny of France, arrived at full speed, 
 announcing that the head of his column was appearing 
 on a level with San-Giuliano. Bonaparte turned about, 
 perceived the dust which announced its arrival, cast a 
 final glance of the eye over the whole line, and cried : 
 
 " Halt." 
 
 The short electric word ran along the front of the 
 line of battle ; all stopped. 
 
 At this moment Desaix arrived, preceding his division 
 by a quarter of an hour ; Bonaparte showed him the 
 plain strewn with the dead, and asked him what he 
 thought of the battle. Desaix comprehended it all with 
 a glance of the eye. 
 
 " I think it is lost," said he. Then drawing his 
 watch : 
 
 " But it is only three o'clock, and we have yet time to 
 gain another one." 
 
 " That is my opinion," answered Bonaparte, laconi- 
 cally, " and I have manoeuvred for that." 
 
 In effect, he was going to begin the second act of the 
 day, or rather the second battle of Marengo as Desaix 
 called it. 
 
 Bonaparte passed along the front of the line, which 
 had turned back as on a pivot, and was now extending 
 from San-Giuliano to Castel-Ceriolo. 
 
 " Comrades," cried he, in the midst of cannon-balls 
 which tore up the earth under the legs of his horse, 
 " we have taken too many steps backward ; the moment 
 has come to go forward. Remember that my custom is 
 to sleep on the field of battle." 
 
70 NAPOLEON. 
 
 Cries of " Vive Bonaparte ! Vive le Premier Consul! " 
 arose from all sides, and died away in the noise of the 
 drums beating the charge. 
 
 The different corps of the enemy were then arranged 
 in the following order : 
 
 General Carra Saint-Cyr was still occupying, notwith- 
 standing the efforts made by the enemy to retake it, 
 the village of Castel-Ceriolo, the turning point of the 
 whole army. 
 
 After him was the second brigade of the Mounier 
 division, the Grenadiers and the Consular Guard, which 
 for two hours had held out alone against the entire corps 
 of General Elsnitz. 
 
 Then the two divisions of Lannes. 
 
 Then the Boudet division, which had not yet fought, 
 and at the head of which was General Desaix, who said, 
 laughingly, that an accident would happen to him, as the 
 Austrian cannon-balls knew him no longer on account 
 of his having spent two years in Egypt. 
 
 Finally, the two divisions of Gardanne and Cham- 
 berliac, which had suffered the most during the whole 
 day, and of which hardly fifteen hundred men remained. 
 
 All these divisions were placed diagonally, one behind 
 the other. 
 
 The cavalry was placed in the second line, ready 
 to charge between the intervals of the corps. The 
 brigade of General Champeaux rested against the Tor- 
 tone road. That of General Kellermann was at the 
 centre between the Lannes corps and the Boudet di- 
 vision. 
 
 The Austrians, who had not seen the reinforcements 
 which had arrived, and who believed the day to be 
 theirs, continued to advance in good order. A column 
 
BONAPARTE— FIRST CONSUL. 7 1 
 
 of five thousand Grenadiers commanded by General 
 Zach came forth on the highway and marched at charge 
 pace upon the Boudet division, which was defend- 
 ing San-Giuliano. Bonaparte placed in battery fifteen 
 pieces of artillery which had just arrived and were 
 hidden by the Boudet division ; then, by a shout that 
 ran over the space of a league, he ordered the whole line 
 to advance. This was the general order. 
 
 These were the private orders : 
 
 Carra Saint-Cyr will leave the village of Castel- 
 Ceriolo, will put to rout those who try to oppose him, 
 and will take possession of the bridge over the Bormida 
 to cut off the retreat of the Austrians ; General Marmont 
 will unmask the artillery when they are within pistol- 
 shot of the enemy ; Kellerniann, with his heavy cavalry 
 will open in the opposing line one of those large holes 
 that he so well knows how to make ; Desaix, with his fresh 
 troops, will annihilate the column of the Grenadiers of 
 General Zach ; finally, Champeaux with his light cavalry 
 will charge as soon as the so-called conquerors retreat. 
 
 The orders were carried out as soon as given ; our 
 troops, by a single movement, retook the offensive ; upon 
 the whole line the firing blazed forth and the cannon 
 thundered ; the terrible quickstep was heard, accom- 
 panied by the Marseillaise, as each chief came to the 
 end of the defiling and was ready to enter the plain ; 
 the battery, unmasked by Marmont, vomited fire ; Kell- 
 ermann rushed forth with his Cuirassiers and crossed 
 the two lines ; Desaix jumped the ditches, leaped the 
 hedges, reached a little eminence, and fell at the moment 
 when he turned around to see if his division was follow- 
 ing him. His death, instead of diminishing the ardor of 
 his soldiers, redoubled it. General Boudet replaced 
 
72 NAPOLEON. 
 
 him and rushed upon the column of Grenadiers, who 
 received him with the bayonet. At this instant Keller- 
 mann, who, as we have said, had already crossed two 
 lines, turned around, saw the Boudet division engaged 
 in a struggle with this immovable mass, which it could 
 not throw back, charged it on the flank, penetrated into 
 its intervals, opened it, split it, and broke it. In less 
 than a half hour the five thousand Grenadiers were 
 broken down, thrown head over heels, and dispersed. 
 They disappeared like smoke, thunderstruck and an- 
 nihilated. General Zach and his serjeant-major were 
 taken prisoners. This was all that remained of it. 
 
 Then the enemy in its turn wished to engage its im- 
 mense cavalry, but the continual fire of musketry, the 
 devouring grape-shot, and the terrible bayonet stopped 
 it short. Murat manoeuvred upon its flanks with two 
 pieces of light artillery and a howitzer, which poured 
 forth death to it while running. At this instant a caisson 
 exploded amidst the Austrian ranks and increased the 
 disorder ; it was that for which General Champeaux 
 awaited with his cavalry ; he darted forth, concealed the 
 small number of his soldiers by a skilful movement, and 
 penetrated to the very midst of the enemy ; the Gar- 
 danne and Chamberliac divisions, which were still angry 
 on account of having been forced to retreat the whole 
 day, fell upon them with all the ardor of vengeance ; 
 Lannes placed himself at the head of his two main 
 bodies of troops and rushed ahead of them crying, 
 
 " Montebello ! Montebello ! " 
 
 Bonaparte was everywhere. 
 
 Then all bent back, recoiled and disbanded ; the 
 Austrian generals vainly tried to sustain the retreat ; 
 the retreat changed into a rout ; the French divisions 
 
BONAPARTE — FIRST CONSUL. 73 
 
 cleared in half an hour the plain which they had de- 
 fended step by step for four hours ; the enemy stopped 
 only at Marengo, where it reformed under the fire of the 
 sharp-shooters which General Carra Saint-Cyr had placed 
 from Castel-Ceriolo up to the brook of Barbotta. Then 
 the Boudet division and the divisions of Gardanne and 
 Chamberliac pursued them in turn from street to street, 
 place to place, house to house, and Marengo was taken. 
 The Austrians retired in the direction of Pedra-Buona, 
 where they were attacked from one side by the three 
 infuriated divisions after them and from the other by 
 the demi-brigade of Carra Saint-Cyr. At nine o'clock 
 in the evening Pedra-Buona was taken, and the divisions 
 of Gardanne and Chamberliac had retaken their post of 
 the morning. The enemy threw itself against the 
 bridges in order to pass the Bormida. There they found 
 Carra Saint-Cyr, who had preceded them. Then they 
 looked for fording-places and crossed the river under 
 the fire of our whole line, which did not die away until 
 ten o'clock in the evening. The remnants of the Aus- 
 trian army regained their camp at Alessandria. The 
 French army bivouacked before the intrenchments at the 
 head of the bridge. 
 
 The day had cost the Austrians four thousand five 
 hundred dead, eight thousand wounded, seven thousand 
 prisoners, twelve standards, and thirty pieces of artillery. 
 
 Never, perhaps, had Fortune shown itself in the same 
 day under two faces so diverse. At two o'clock in the 
 afternoon it was a defeat and its disastrous consequen- 
 ces ; at five o'clock it was Victory coming again faithful 
 to the standards of Arcole and Lodi ; at ten o'clock it 
 was Italy reconquered by a single stroke, and the throne 
 of France in the perspective. 
 
74 NAPOLEON. 
 
 The morning of the next day the Prince of Lichten- 
 stein presented himself to the outposts. He brought 
 to the First Consul propositions from General Melas. 
 They were not agreeable to Bonaparte. He dictated 
 his, which the Prince took back in exchange. The army 
 of General M61as was to depart from Alessandria free 
 and with all the honors of war, but on conditions which 
 everybody knows, and which placed Italy entirely under 
 the French domination. 
 
 The Prince of Lichtenstein returned in the evening. 
 The conditions had appeared hard to M^las, who at 
 three o'clock, regarding the day as gained, had abandoned 
 the remainder of our defeat to the Generals and had re- 
 turned to Alessandria to rest ; but at the first observation 
 the Envoy made to him, Bonaparte interrupted : 
 
 " Sir," said he, " I have given you my ultimatum ; take 
 it to your General and return promptly, for it is irrevoca- 
 ble. Consider that I know your position as well as you. 
 I did not make war yesterday for the first time. You 
 are blockaded in Alessandria, you have many wounded 
 and sick, you want food and medicines, I occupy all 
 your rear ; you have lost in killed and wounded the best 
 of your army ; I am able to exact more and my position 
 warrants it, but I moderate my claims in respect to the 
 white hairs of your General." 
 
 " These conditions are hard. Sir," answered the 
 Prince. " Above all those which give back Genoa, which 
 succumbed scarcely fifteen days ago after so long a 
 siege." 
 
 " Do not be bothered by that," answered the First 
 Consul, showing to the Prince the intercepted letter. 
 " Your Emperor has not known of the capture of Genoa. 
 You will only not have to tell him about it." 
 
BONAPARTE — FIRST CONSUL. 75 
 
 The same evening all the conditions imposed by the 
 First Consul were agreed to, and Bonaparte wrote to his 
 colleagues : 
 
 " The next day after the battle of Marengo, Citizen 
 Consuls, General M61as demanded of the outposts that 
 they give him permission to send General Skal to me. 
 During the day the agreement you will find hereto 
 annexed was drawn up. It was signed during the night 
 by General Berthier and General Mdlas. I hope that the 
 French people will be satisfied with its army. 
 
 " Bonaparte." 
 
 Thus was accomplished the prediction that the First 
 Consul had made to his secretary four months before in 
 the cabinet of the Tuileries. 
 
 Bonaparte returned to Milan, where he found the city 
 illuminated and in the liveliest joy. Mass^na, whom 
 he had not seen since the Egyptian campaign, was wait- 
 ing for him there, and received the command of the Army 
 of Italy as a reward for his beautiful defence of Genoa. 
 
 The First Consul returned to Paris in the midst of the 
 acclamations of the people. His entry into the Capital 
 took place in the evening, but when the next morning 
 the Parisians heard of his return they moved en masse 
 to the Tuileries with such cries and so great an enthusi- 
 asm that the young conqueror of Marengo was forced to 
 show himself upon the balcony. 
 
 A few days later frightful news came to sadden the 
 public joy. K16ber had been killed at Cairo by the 
 dagger of Soliman-el-Alebi the same day that Desaix 
 had fallen on the plains of Marengo, killed by the can- 
 non-balls of the Austrians. 
 
 The agreement signed by Berthier and General Mdas 
 
76 NAPOLEON. 
 
 on the night which followed the battle had caused an 
 armistice to be concluded July 5 th, but it was broken 
 September 5th, and renewed after the successful issue of 
 the battle of Hohenlinden. 
 
 During this time conspiracies were moving on. Cerac- 
 chi, Ar6na, Topino-Lebrun, and Demerville had been 
 arrested at the opera, where they were drawing near to 
 the First Consul to assassinate him. The infernal ma- 
 chine had exploded on Rue Saint Nicaise twenty-five 
 paces behind his carriage. Louis XVIII. was writing 
 letters to Bonaparte to make him restore him to his 
 throne.' 
 
 ' The first letter, dated February 28, 1800, was concluded thus : 
 
 " Whatever may be their apparent conduct, men such as you. Sir, 
 never inspire inquietude. You have accepted an eminent place, and 
 I am thankful to you for that. Better than any one else you know 
 what force and power will be necessary to make the happiness of a 
 great nation. Save France from its own madness, you will have per- 
 formed the vow of my heart ; return it to its King, and the future 
 generations will bless your memory. You will always be so neces- 
 sary to the State that it will be impossible for me to repay to you the 
 debt of my grandfather and myself by giving you important positions. 
 
 " Louis." 
 
 This letter having remained unanswered was followed by another 
 here given. 
 
 ' ' You must know. General, that for a long time my esteem for you 
 has been acquired. If you should doubt that I might be susceptible 
 of gratefulness, select your place, fix the condition of your friends. 
 As for my principles, I am French. Merciful by character, I should 
 be so yet by reason. No, the victor of Lodi, Castiglione, Arcole, 
 the conqueror of Italy and Egypt, cannot prefer to glory a vain celeb- 
 rity. However, you lose precious time. We can assure the glory 
 of France. I say WE, because I have need of Bonaparte for that, 
 and he cannot do it without me. General, Europe observes you, 
 glory awaits you, and I am impatient to give my people peace. 
 
 "Louis." 
 
 Bonaparte answered on the 24th of September as follows : 
 
BONAPARTE — FIRST CONSUL. yj 
 
 At length, on the 9th of February, 1801, the treaty of 
 Lundville was signed. It recalled all the clauses of the 
 treaty of Campo-Formio, ceded anew to France all the 
 States situated upon the left bank of the Rhine, indi- 
 cated the Adige as the limit of the Austrian possessions, 
 forced the Emperor of Austria to recognize the Cis- 
 Alpine Republics, Batavian and Swiss, and finally, to 
 abandon Tuscany to France. 
 
 The Republic was at peace with the entire world ex- 
 cept England, its old and eternal enemy. Bonaparte re- 
 solved to overawe her by a grand demonstration. A 
 
 " I have received, Sir, your letter. I thank you for the honest 
 things that you say to me. You should not wish your return to France. 
 It vcould be necessary for you to v/aXk upon a hundred thousand 
 dead bodies. Sacrifice your interests to the repose and happiness 
 of France. History will give you credit for it. I am not insensible 
 of the misfortunes of your family and I will learn with pleasure 
 that you are surrounded by all that can contribute to the tranquillity 
 of your retreat. 
 
 " Bonaparte." 
 
 Let us recall here, to complete the history of these negotiations, the 
 famous letter by which three years later Louis XVIII. was maintain- 
 ing his pretensions to the throne of France. 
 
 " I do not confound M. Bonaparte with those who have preceded 
 him. I esteem his valor, his military talentc ; I am thankful to him 
 for several acts of administration, for the good that one will do my 
 people will always be dear to me. But he makes a mistake if he 
 believes he can induce me to give up my rights ; far from that he 
 would strengthen them himself if they could be doubted, by the pro- 
 ceedings he is taking at this moment I am not aware of the plans of 
 God for my race and for me, but I know the obligations that He has 
 imposed upon me by the rank which it pleased Him to give me at my 
 birth. As a Christian I will fulfil those obligations until my last 
 breath ; son of Saint Louis I will, according to his example, have re- 
 spect for myself even in irons ; successor of Francis I. I wish at least 
 to be able to say as he ' We have lost all save honor.' 
 
 " Louis." 
 
78 NAPOLEON. 
 
 camp of two hundred thousand men was assembled at 
 Boulogne, and an immense number of flat boats designed 
 to transport the army, was assembled in all the ports of 
 the north of France. England was frightened, and on the 
 25th of March, 1802, the treaty of Amiens was signed. 
 
 During this time the First Consul was marching insen- 
 sibly towards the throne, and Bonaparte, little by little 
 was becoming Napoleon. On the isth of July, 1801, he 
 signed a concordat with the Pope, on the 21st of Jan- 
 uary, 1802, he accepted the title of President of the Cis- 
 Alpine Republic ; on the 2nd of August following he 
 was named Consul for life, and on the 21st of March 
 1804, he had the Due d'Enghien shot in the moats of 
 Vincennes. 
 
 After this latter pledge had been given to the Revo- 
 lution this great question was put to France : 
 
 Shall Napoleon Bonaparte be Emperor of the French ? 
 
 Five million signatures answered affirmatively and 
 Napoleon mounted the throne of Louis XVI. 
 
 Meanwhile three men were protesting in the name of 
 literature, that eternal republic which has no Caesars and 
 recognizes no Napoleons. 
 
 These men were Lemercier, Ducis, and Chateaubriand. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 NAPOLEON EMPEROR. 
 
 "T^HE last moments of the Consulship had been em- 
 * ployed in clearing away the avenuds to the throne, 
 by punishments or by favors. Once on the throne Na- 
 poleon busied himself in re-organizing the Empire. 
 
 The feudal nobility had disappeared ; Napoleon cre- 
 ated a popular nobility. The different chivalric orders 
 had fallen into discredit ; Napoleon established the 
 Legion of Honor. For twelve years the highest military 
 distinction had been the Generalship ; Napoleon created 
 twelve Marshals. 
 
 These twelve Marshals were the companions of his 
 hardships ; nativity and favor had nothing to do with 
 their appointment. They all had Courage as their father 
 and Victory as their mother. The twelve chosen were 
 Berthier, Murat, Moncey, Jourdan, Massdna, Augereau, 
 Bernadotte, Soult, Brune, Lannes, Mortier, Ney, Davoust, 
 Kellermann, Lefevre, P^rignon, and Serrurier. After an 
 interval of thirty-nine years three are still living, who have 
 seen the sun of the Republic rise and the star of the Empire 
 set. The first is, at the hour we write these lines. Gover- 
 nor of the Invalides, the second. President of the Council 
 of Ministers, and the third, King of Sweden. Alone and 
 
 79 
 
8o NAPOLEON. 
 
 the last remains of the Imperial pleiades, the two first 
 have maintained themselves in their eminence and the 
 third has grown still more famous. 
 
 On the 2d of December, 1804, the coronation took 
 place in the Church of the Notre Dame. Pope Pius VII. 
 came from Rome expressly to place the crown upon the 
 head of the new Emperor. Napoleon, having Joseph- 
 ine next to him in a carriage drawn by eight horses and 
 escorted by his Guard, repaired to the metropolitan 
 church. The Pope, the Cardinals, the Archbishops, 
 the Bishops, and all the great persons of state awaited 
 him in the cathedral, upon the parvise of which he 
 stopped for a few moments to listen to an address 
 and to respond to it. The address ended, he entered 
 the church and mounted a throne prepared for him, with 
 the crown upon his head and the sceptre in his hand. 
 
 At the appointed time in the ceremonies a Cardinal, 
 the Grand Almoner, and a Bishop conducted him to 
 the foot of the altar. The Pope then approached, and 
 making a triple anointment upon his head and both 
 hands, pronounced in a loud voice the following words : 
 
 " All powerful God, who hast established Hazael to 
 govern Syria, and who hast made Jehu King of Israel, 
 and manifested to them thy desires through the medium 
 of the prophet Elias, and who hast likewise poured the 
 sacred oil of the Kings upon the heads of Saul and 
 David by thy servant the prophet Samuel, pour by my 
 hands the riches of thy grace and benedictions upon thy 
 servant Napoleon, whom, notwithstanding our personal 
 unworthiness, we to-day in thy name consecrate Em- 
 peror." 
 
 Then the Pope slowly and majestically remounted his 
 throne. They carried to the new Emperor the Holy 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. 8 1 
 
 Gospels ; he stretched out his hand upon them and took 
 the oath prescribed by the new Constitution. As soon 
 as the oath was taken the herald-at-arms cried with a 
 loud voice : 
 
 " The thrice glorious and thrice august Emperor of 
 the French is crowned and throned. Vive V Empereur !" 
 
 The church soon resounded with the same cry ; a 
 salvo of artillery responded to it with its voice of bronze ; 
 and the Pope intonated the Te Deum. 
 
 All was over with the Republic from this hour ; the 
 Revolution had become a man. 
 
 But one crown was not enough. One would have 
 believed that the giant having the hundred arms of 
 Geryon had also his three heads. On the 17th of March, 
 1805, M. de Melzi, Vice-President of the Council of 
 State of the Cis- Alpine Republic, came to ask him to 
 join the Kingdom of Italy to the French Empire. On 
 the 26th of May he went to Milan to receive in the 
 cathedral, the corner-stone of which Galeas Visconti 
 had laid and the final decorations of which he, himself, 
 had completed,' the iron crown of the old Lombard 
 Kings, which had been worn by Charlemagne, and 
 which he placed upon his own head saying : 
 
 " God has given it to me, woe to him who touches it." 
 
 From Milan, where he left Eugene with the title of 
 Viceroy, Napoleon went to Genoa, which surrendered to 
 his power, and which territory, reunited to the Empire, 
 formed the three Departments of Genoa, Montenotte, 
 and the Apennines. The Republic of Lucca was em- 
 braced in that division, and became the Principality of 
 
 ' The cathedral at Milan was commenced under Gian Galeazzo 
 Visconti in 1386, and was completed under Napoleon in 1805. 
 
 —J. B. L. 
 
82 NAPOLEON. 
 
 Piombino. Napoleon prepared himself, in making a 
 Viceroy of his step-son and a Princess of his sister, to 
 make Kings of his brothers. 
 
 In the midst of all this organization of disordered 
 affairs Napoleon learned that, in order to avoid the 
 descent with which it was threatened, England had in- 
 duced Austria to recommence war with France. This 
 was not all. Paul I., our chivalrous ally, had been assas- 
 sinated ; Alexander had succeeded to the double 
 throne of Pontiff and Emperor. One of his first acts as 
 sovereign had been, on the nth of April, 1805, to make 
 a treaty of alliance with the British Minister ; and it was 
 to this treaty, which aroused Europe to a third coalition, 
 that Austria had acceded on the 9th of August. 
 
 Once more it was the Allied Sovereigns, who forced 
 the Emperor to lay down the sceptre and the General to 
 take again the sword. Napoleon proceeded to the Sen- 
 ate on the 23d of September, obtained a levy of eighty 
 thousand men, left the next day, passed the Rhine on 
 the rst of October, entered Bavaria on the 6th, deliv- 
 ered Munich on the 12th, took Ulm on the 20th, occupied 
 Vienna on the 13th of November, made a junction with 
 the Army of Italy on the 29th, and, on the 2d of Dec- 
 ember, the anniversary of his coronation, he was in 
 front of the Russians and Austrians on the plains of 
 Austerlitz. 
 
 On the evening before. Napoleon, saw the mistake his 
 enemies had made in concentrating all their forces upon 
 the village of Austerlitz to outflank the left of the 
 French. Towards the middle of the day he mounted 
 on horseback with Marshals Soult, Bernadotte, and Bes- 
 sieres, and, having inspected the ranks of infantry and 
 cavalry of the Guard, which were under arms on the plain 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. 83 
 
 of Schlapanitz, advanced close to the line of the sharp- 
 shooters of the cavalry of Murat, who were exchanging 
 some rifle shots with the enemy. From there he ob- 
 served, in the midst of bullets, the movements of the 
 different columns ; and enlightened by one of those 
 sudden revelations, which were one of the faculties of 
 his genius, he divined the entire plan of Koutousof. 
 From this moment Koutousof was beaten, in his mind, 
 and, re-entering the hut, which he had caused to be 
 constructed in the midst of his Guard upon a plateau 
 which overlooked the whole plain, he said, turning 
 around and casting a final glance upon the enemy : 
 " Before to-morrow evening all this army will be mine." 
 Towards five o'clock in the afternoon the following 
 proclamation was sent to the army : 
 
 " Soldiers ! The Russian army presents itself before 
 you to avenge the Austrians of Ulm. These are the 
 same battalions you defeated at Hollabriin and which 
 you have constantly pursued to this place. The posi- 
 tions that we occupy are formidable, and while they 
 march to outflank my right they will present their flank 
 to me. 
 
 " Soldiers ! I will myself direct your battalions. I will 
 keep myself far from the fire, if, with your accustomed 
 bravery, you carry disorder and confusion into the ranks 
 of the enemy ; but, if the victory should be for a mo- 
 ment doubtful, you will see your Emperor expose himself 
 to the foremost shots ; for victory shall know no hesita- 
 tion on this day, above all others, when the reputation of 
 the French infantry is at stake and when the honor of 
 the whole nation is concerned. 
 
 " Let no one break the ranks under the pretence of 
 
84 NAPOLEON. 
 
 carrying away the wounded, and let every one be well 
 impressed with this thought, that it is necessary to 
 conquer these hirelings of England, who are animated 
 by so great a hatred of the French name. 
 
 " This victory will finish our campaign and we can 
 return to our winter quarters, where we will be joined 
 by the different armies which are forming in France ; 
 and then the peace that I will make shall be worthy of 
 my people, of you, and of myself." 
 
 Let Napoleon himself now speak ; let us listen to 
 Caesar recounting Pharsalia : 
 
 " On the 30th the enemy bivouacked at Hogieditz. I 
 spent that day in surveying the surroundings on horse- 
 back. I saw that it was fully within my power to sustain 
 my right, and to baffle their projects by occupying in 
 force the plateau of Pratzen from Santon to Krese- 
 nowitz to stop them in front. But that would have 
 produced a shock with equal chances, and I wished for 
 something better. The tendency of the Allies to reach 
 my right was manifest. I believed I could strike a sure 
 blow by leaving them the liberty of mancKuvring to 
 extend their left, and I placed upon the heights of 
 Pratzen only one detachment of cavalry. 
 
 " On the I St of December the enemy, debouching 
 from Austerlitz, came face to face with us in the posi- 
 tion on Pratzen, the left extending towards Anjest. 
 Bernadotte, who had arrived from Bohemia, entered 
 into line, and Davoust reached the Abbey of Raigern 
 with one of his divisions ; that of Gudin bivouacked 
 at Nicolsbourg. 
 
 "The reports I was receiving from all sides of the 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. 85 
 
 march of the enemy's columns confirmed me in my 
 opinion. At nine o'clock in the evening I rode through 
 my line, as much to judge of the direction of the camp 
 fires of the enemy as to animate my troops. I had just 
 had a proclamation read to them. It promised them 
 not only victory, but it explained also the manoeuvre 
 which would procure it. This was, without doubt, the 
 first time that a general placed all his army in the pos- 
 session of the plan which would assure to him the 
 victory. I did not fear that the enemy might be in- 
 formed of it, for he would not have believed it. This 
 tour of inspection gave rise to one of the most touching 
 events of my life. My presence in front of the army 
 communicated from place to place an electric enthu- 
 siasm, which reached the extremity of the line with the 
 rapidity of lightning. By a spontaneous movement all 
 the divisions of infantry, hoisting lighted bundles of 
 straw on long poles, honored me with an illumination, 
 which at once looked imposing, fantastical, and even 
 majestic. It was the first anniversary of my coronation. 
 
 " The appearance of these fires recalled to rfly mind 
 the fagots of vine cuttings with which Hannibal de- 
 ceived the Romans, and the bivouacs of the camp 
 of Liegnitz, which saved the army of Frederick by 
 misleading Daun and Laudon. As I passed before 
 each regiment, cries of ' Vive I'Empereur!' resounded, 
 and, being repeated again and again by each corps as I 
 advanced, carried into the camp of the enemy the proofs 
 of the enthusiasm which animated my soldiers. Never 
 had a warlike scene presented such solemn splendor 
 and each soldier shared the confidence with which his 
 devotion inspired me. 
 
 " This line, which I inspecte i until midnight, stretched 
 
86 NAPOLEON. 
 
 from Kobelnitz to Santon ; the corps of Soult formed its 
 right ; being placed between Sokelnitz and Puntowitz 
 he found himself in front of the centre of the enemy ; 
 Bernadotte was bivouacking behind Girskowitz ; Murat 
 to the left of the village ; and Lannes was on horseback 
 upon the road to Brunn ; my reserves were placed back 
 of Soult and Bernadotte. 
 
 " By placing my right, under the command of Soult, 
 in front of the centre of the enemy, it was clear that the 
 great weight of the battle would fall upon him. But in 
 order that his movements might accomplish the result I 
 was expecting, it was necessary to commence by remov- 
 ing from him the enemy's troops which were debouching 
 towards Blasowitz and on the Austerlitz road. It was 
 probable that the Emperors and the headquarters would 
 be found there ; it was necessary to strike there first 
 and to return immediately upon their left by a change 
 of front. It was, besides, the means of cutting off the 
 left from the route to Olmutz. 
 
 " I decided then to assist at first the movement of the 
 corps of Bernadotte upon Blasowitz with my Guards 
 and the Grenadier reserves ; to drive back the right of 
 the enemy, and to return afterwards upon the left, which 
 would find itself so much the more endangered in pro- 
 portion as it had advanced to the other side of Telnitz. 
 
 "My project had been well iixed on the evening of 
 the day before, as I had announced it to my soldiers. 
 The main point was to seize the right moment. I spent 
 the night in bivouac. The Marshals had reassembled 
 around me to receive my final orders. 
 
 " I mounted horse at four o'clock in the morning ; 
 the moon had set, the night was cold and pretty dark, 
 though the weather was calm. It was of importance to 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. 87 
 
 me to know whether the enemy had made any move- 
 ment during the night, which could disarrange my pro- 
 jects. The reports of the main guard established the 
 fact that all the noise was proceeding from the enemy's 
 right to its left, and that the camp fires were appearing 
 more extended towards Anjest. At daybreak a slight 
 mist obscured a little of the horizon, especially over the 
 lowlands. Suddenly this mist died away ; the sun com- 
 menced to gild with its rays the summits of the heights, 
 whilst the dales were still enveloped with a cloudy 
 vapor. We very distinctly discerned the heights of 
 Pratzen, lately covered with troops but now actually 
 abandoned by the enemy's left. It was evident that it 
 had followed its project of stretching its line to the 
 other side of Telnitz. However, I discovered with the 
 same ease another march from the centre towards the 
 right in the direction of Holibitz. Thenceforth nothing 
 was more certain than that the enemy was offering me 
 its centre, exposed to all the blows it might please me 
 to give it. It was eight o'clock in the morning. The 
 troops of Soult were massed in two lines of battalions in 
 column of attack in the dale of Puntowitz. I asked the 
 Marshal how long it would take him to reach the heights 
 of Pratzen. He promised to be there in less than twenty 
 minutes. 
 
 " ' Let us still wait,' I answered. ' When the enemy 
 makes a false movement it is necessary to guard against 
 interrupting it.' 
 
 " Soon the firing commenced more lively in the direc- 
 tion of Sokelnitz and Telnitz. An aide-de-camp an- 
 nounced to me that the enemy was debouching from 
 there with threatening forces. I was waiting for this. 
 I gave the signal. Immediately Murat, Lannes, Berna- 
 
88 NAPOLEON. 
 
 dotte, and Soult, dart forth at full gallop. I also 
 mounted on horseback to go to the centre. In passing 
 before the troops I excited them anew saying : 
 
 The enemy comes to deliver itself to your corps ; 
 terminate the campaign by a thunder-stroke.' 
 
 " Cries of ' Vive VEmpereur ! ' attested that they 
 understood me and became the veritable signal of attack. 
 Before recounting it let us see what was taking place in 
 the army of the Allies. 
 
 "If I must believe the disposition projected by Wey- 
 rother, their design was to act tactically upon the same 
 plan that they had, at first, desired to execute by strategic 
 manoeuvres ; that is to say to make an effort with their 
 reinforced left to reach my right, to cut off the road 
 to Vienna and to drive me back beaten upon Brunn. 
 Although my destiny was not attached to this route and 
 although I should have preferred, as I have said before, 
 that of Bohemia, it is certain nevertheless that this pro- 
 ject did indeed offer chances in favor of the Allies ; but 
 in order that it should succeed it was necessary not to iso- 
 late this active left ; it was essential, on the contrary, to 
 follow it up in succession with the centre and the right, 
 which should be lengthened out in the same direction. 
 Weyrother, as he had done at Rivoli, was going to ma- 
 noeuvre with the two wings, or at least if that was not his 
 project he acted in a manner to make me believe it. 
 
 " The left under Buxhowden, composed of the advance 
 guard of Kienmayer and of the three Russian divisions, 
 Doctorof, Langeron, and Pribitchefsky, numbering thirty 
 thousand men, had to advance in three columns from the 
 heights of Pratzen through Anjest upon Telnitz and 
 Sokelnitz, to cross the stream, which forms two lakes to 
 the left, and to turn upon Turas. 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. 89 
 
 " The fourth column, under the orders of Kolowrath, 
 with which went the headquarters, forming the centre, 
 was to advance through Pratzen towards Kobelnitz, a 
 little behind the third. It was composed of twelve 
 Russian battalions under Miloradowitch and of fifteen 
 battalions of newly levied Austrians. 
 
 " The fifth, composed of eighty squadrons under 
 Prince Jean de Lichtenstein, was to quit the centre, be- 
 hind which it had spent the night, and assist the right in 
 marching towards the Brunn road. 
 
 "The sixth, at the extreme right, composed of the 
 advance guard of Bagration, numbering twelve battalions 
 and forty squadrons, was destined to attack, upon the 
 highway leading to Brunn, the heights of Santon and 
 Bosenitz. 
 
 " The seventh, composed of the Guards under the 
 Grand Duke Constantine, formed the reserve of the 
 right wing upon the Brunn road. 
 
 " It will be seen that the enemy wished to outflank my 
 right, which it supposed extended as far as Melnitz, 
 whilst my army was massed between Schlapanitz and the 
 road to Brunn, ready for any emergency. 
 
 " According to this disposition Buxhowden, who was 
 already more advanced than the rest of the army, had 
 nevertheless moved on before the other columns. More 
 than that, the cavalry of Lichtenstein had remarched 
 from the centre towards the right so that the heights of 
 Pratzen, key to the whole battle-field, were undefended. 
 
 " The instant when I gave the signal, all my columns 
 were in motion ; Bernadotte crossed the defile of Gir- 
 skowitz and advanced upon Blasowitz, supported on the 
 left by Murat ; Lannes marched on the same level on 
 both sides of the highway to Brunn ; my Guard and my 
 
90 NAPOLEON. 
 
 reserves followed at some distance the corps of Ber- 
 nadotte, ready to fall upon the centre of the enemy if it 
 tried to bring its forces back there. 
 
 " Soult left the ravines of Kobelnitz and Puntowitz like 
 the lightning at the head of the divisions of Saint Hilaire 
 and Vandamme, supported by the Levasseur brigade. 
 Two other brigades of the Legrand division were left 
 as flankers to mask and dispute the defiles of Telnitz 
 and Sokelnitz with Buxhowden. Devoust received the 
 order to leave Raigern with the Friant division and the 
 Dragoons of General Bourcier to check the head of the 
 Russian column until we saw fit to attack them more 
 earnestly. 
 
 " Scarcely had Soult climbed the heights of Pratzen 
 when he unexpectedly came upon the column of Kolo- 
 wrath (the fourth) which was marching to the centre 
 behind the third, and which, believing itself shielded by 
 that which was preceding it, was advancing at route step 
 by platoons. The Emperor Alexander, Koutousof, and 
 his staff were with it. Anything that unexpectedly 
 occurs in the midst of the headquarters astonishes and 
 disconcerts. Miloradowitch, who was marching in ad- 
 vance, scarcely found time to lead on to battle the 
 battalions as they were forming. He was thrown back, 
 and the Austrians, who followed him, experienced the 
 same fate. The Emperor Alexander exposed himself to 
 danger and showed coolness in rallying the troops, but, 
 owing to the ridiculous dispositions of Weyrother, he had 
 not at hand a single division ready to act as a reserve. 
 The Allied troops were pushed to Hostiradeck. The 
 Kaminsky brigade, which belonged to the third column, 
 assailed also upon its right flank, came to join its efforts 
 with those of Koutousof and renewed the engagement 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. 9I 
 
 for an instant. Nevertheless, the reinforcements could 
 not resist the combined efforts of Saint Hilaire, Van- 
 damme, and Levasseur. The line of Kolowrath, in dan- 
 ger of being driven into the swampy dale of Birnbaum, 
 fell back upon Waschau as was ordered by the general 
 disposition ; all the artillery of this column, having be- 
 come mired in the half-frozen clay, was abandoned to us, 
 and the infantry, deprived of the cannon and cavalry, 
 could do nothing against the victorious Soult. 
 
 " At that moment, when the decisive blow was being 
 struck, the two columns of the right of Buxhowden had 
 met and hindered each other's movements about Sokel- 
 nitz, whence, nevertheless, they debouched, notwith- 
 standing the efforts of the Legrand division. Buxhowden 
 himself was debouching also from Telnitz, the efforts of 
 four battalions alone being unable to stop him. 
 
 " At this instant Davoust was arriving from Raigern, 
 and the Fraint division was pushing back towards 
 Telnitz the advance guard of the enemy. The battle 
 taking a more serious turn towards Sokelnitz, Davoust, 
 leaving at Telnitz only the Dragoons of Bourcier, re- 
 ascended the stream as far as Sokelnitz with the Fraint 
 division. A very warm battle took place at this point. 
 Sokelnitz, taken and retaken, remained an instant with 
 the Russians. Langeron and Pribitchefsky were even 
 debouching towards the heights of Marxdorf. Our 
 troops, arranged in the form of a crescent, charged their 
 flanks several times with success. This struggle, rather 
 bloody, was, however, only an accessory ; it was enough 
 to check the enemy without forcing it back. There 
 would not have been any danger in letting them get 
 even a little farther ahead. 
 
 " Whilst things were taking so favorable a turn on our 
 
92 NAPOLEON. 
 
 right wing, we were obtaining no less success at the cen- 
 tre and on the left ; that which had befallen the head- 
 quarters and the fourth column also befell the Grand 
 Duke and the Russian Guard ; they were to have been 
 in the reserves but found themselves the first assailed. 
 
 "Bagration was extending to the right towards 
 Dwaroschena to outflank and attack the position of 
 Santon. The cavalry of Lichtenstein, having been re- 
 called from the centre to second him, met en route the 
 other columns, so that the Grand Duke and his Guards, 
 having arrived near Krug before the cavalry, found 
 themselves in the first line at the moment when Berna- 
 dotte was himself advancing upon Blasowitz, and Lannes 
 was advancing upon both sides of the highway to 
 Brunn. The battle soon commenced with spirit. 
 
 " Having reached at last, after a long march, the right 
 of the Grand Duke, the Prince of Lichtenstein was 
 commencing to form his cavalry, when the Huhlans of 
 the Russian Guard, carried away by an untimely valor, 
 threw themselves between the divisions of Bernadotte 
 and Lannes in order to reach the light cavalry of Keller- 
 raann, who fell back before them ; the Huhlans, victims 
 of their ardor, were charged by the reserves of Murat, 
 overthrown and driven back under the fire of our two 
 lines of infantry, which left half of them on the ground. 
 
 " However, our progress in the direction of Pratzen 
 had forced Koutousof to recall Lichtenstein to the re- 
 lief of his centre, but that Prince, being menaced equally 
 on the right and left, knew not to whom to pay attention 
 or where first to carry relief. He hastened to send 
 four regiments of cavalry, which arrived only to be wit- 
 nesses of the defeat of Kolowrath. General Ouwarof was 
 placed with thirty squadrons between Bagration and the 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. 93 
 
 Grand Duke ; the remainder of the cavalry stationed 
 itself at his left. 
 
 " On his side the Grand Duke, seeing the columns of 
 French infantry penetrate the Blasowitz division, decided 
 to descend from the heights in order to save them one 
 half of the road. The movement seemed to him neces- 
 sary, as much for his own safety as to relieve the centre 
 about which they were commencing to be uneasy. 
 
 " Whilst a furious infantry battle was taking place 
 between the Russian Guards and the Erlon division, the 
 Grand Duke ordered the Horse Guards to charge the 
 right flank of the latter, which was composed of the 
 4th Regiment of infantry detached from the Vandamme 
 division to cover the interval. The Russian Cuirassiers 
 rushed upon this regiment, broke a battalion, but paid 
 with the death of their bravest soldiers for the honor of 
 carrying away the Eagle of that battalion. This isolated 
 affray was not dangerous ; nevertheless, not knowing 
 whether the enemy would sustain it, I considered it 
 necessary to send to this point Marshal Bessi^res with 
 the cavalry of my Guard. It was necessary to end it. I 
 ordered him to charge. The Russian line, after a most 
 honorable defence, was obliged to yield to the united 
 efforts of Bernadotte and Bessieres. The infantry of 
 the Guards, unable to resist any longer, fell back upon 
 Krzenowitz. The Horse Guards, which had arrived at 
 this instant from Austerlitz, tried in vain to better the 
 situation. This choice regiment could do nothing ; 
 charged itself by my Horse Grenadiers, which I sent 
 forth under the orders of Rapp, it was broken, and the 
 whole centre took the road to Austerlitz. 
 
 " In the meanwhile Murat and Lannes had attacked 
 with success the corps of Bagration and the cavalry of 
 
94 
 
 NAPOLEON. 
 
 Ouwarof, which was supporting it. Our Cuirassiers had 
 broken the left of this wing, pressed by the divisions of 
 Suchet and Caffarelli : everywhere victory crowned our 
 combinations. 
 
 " Certain that Bernadotte, Lannes, and Murat would 
 be more than sufficient to give the finishing stroke to the 
 enemy on this side, I turned to the right with my Guards 
 and the reserve of Oudinot to aid Soult destroy the left 
 wing, taken in the rear and entangled in the midst of 
 the lakes. It was two o'clock when Soult, inspired by 
 our approach, reunited the two divisions of Saint Hilaire 
 and Legrand to carry Sokelnitz by an attack in the rear, 
 whilst the troops of Davoust were assailing it in front. 
 Vandamme, from his side, rushed upon Anjest, my Guard 
 and Grenadiers followed, in order to strengthen, in case 
 of need, these different attacks. 
 
 " The Pribitchefsky division, surrounded in Sokelnitz, 
 laid down its arms, some fugitives only carried the news 
 of this disaster. Langeron, pressed in his turn, was but 
 little more fortunate, and only half of his troops suc- 
 ceeded in rejoining Buxhowden. The latter, who had 
 lost five of six hours with the column of Doctorof in a 
 useless skirmish about Telnitz, instead of falling back 
 upon Sokelnitz, finally decided that it was time to con- 
 sider his own safety. He commenced marching about 
 two or three o'clock to return upon Anjest, and to get 
 out of the mousetrap in which he found himself caught 
 in marching along the land between the lakes and the 
 heights. He was debouching from the village in column 
 when Vandamme rushed with impetuosity upon his flank, 
 penetrated into Anjest and cut the column in two. 
 Buxhowden, unable to retrace his steps, continued his 
 route with his two head battalions in order to join 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. 95 
 
 Koutousof ; but Doctorof and Langeron with the twenty- 
 eight remaining battalions found themselves pressed in 
 the gap between the lakes and the heights crowned by 
 Saint Hilaire, Vandamme, and my reserves. The head 
 of the column in the direction of Anjest escorting the 
 artillery wished to fly across the ditches formed by the 
 dryness of the lake ; the bridge broke down under the 
 weight of the cannon ; these brave men, in order to save 
 their pieces, endeavored to cross the extremity of the 
 frozen lake, but the ice, ploughed by our bullets, break- 
 ing under the weight of this mass, engulfed men and 
 cannon ; more than two thousand were drowned. 
 Doctorof had but one thing to do, namely, to march 
 along the shore of the lake to Telnitz under our fire, and 
 reach a dike which separates the lake of that name from 
 that of Melnitz. Protected by the cavalry of Kienmayer, 
 who made efforts worthy of praise, he arrived at Sats- 
 chann, not without experiencing an enormous loss, how- 
 ever. They took together the road to Czeitsch to cross 
 the mountains, quickly followed by our troops. The 
 little artillery that the enemy had saved from the centre 
 and right was abandoned in this retreat made on horrible 
 roads which the rain of the evening before and the thaw 
 had made impassable. 
 
 " The position of the enemy was cruel. I had gotten 
 them upon the road to Wischau, which they could not 
 follow because it was in a frightful condition, and the 
 rest of their left wing could not reach it. They were 
 then compelled to take the road to Hungary, but Davoust, 
 one of whose divisions was at Nicolsbourg, could by a 
 flank march reach Gading ahead of them, whilst we were 
 pressing them lively in the rear. The Allied armies, 
 weakened by the loss of twenty-five thousand men. 
 
96 NAPOLEON. 
 
 killed, wounded, or prisoners, and of one hundred and 
 eighty pieces of cannon, in addition to a large number of 
 fugitives, found themselves in the greatest disorder." 
 
 Such is the narration of Napoleon himself. It is 
 clear, simple and grave, as such a recital should be. 
 His previsions had not deceived him an instant ; the 
 battle unrolled itself as upon a chess-board, and a single 
 thunder-stroke destroyed, as he had said, the third coali- 
 tion. 
 
 The third day the Emperor of Austria came in person 
 to ask again for the peace he had broken. The meeting 
 of the two Emperors took place in the open air near a 
 mill at the side of the highway. 
 
 " Sire," said Napoleon, advancing to meet Francis II., 
 " I receive you in the only palace I have inhabited for 
 two months." 
 
 " You derive such good advantage from your habita- 
 tion that it must please you," he answered. 
 
 At this meeting they agreed upon an armistice, and 
 the principal conditions of peace were settled. The 
 Russians, whom we could have crushed to the end, had 
 part in the truce at the soHcitation of the Emperor 
 Francis ; and upon the simple word of Alexander that 
 he would evacuate Germany and Austrian and Prussian 
 Poland. The agreement was carried out and he with- 
 drew by day marches. 
 
 The victory of Austerlitz was to the Empire what 
 Marengo had been to the Consulate : The sanction of 
 the past, the power of the future. King Ferdinand of 
 Naples, having violated the treaty of peace with France 
 during the last war, was declared deposed from the King- 
 dom of the two Sicilies, which Joseph received in his 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROH. gj 
 
 place. The Batavian Republic, raised to a Kingdom, 
 was given to Louis ; Murat received the Grand-Duchy 
 of Berg ; Marshal Berthier was made Prince of Neuf- 
 chatel ; and M. de Talleyrand, Prince of Benevento. 
 Dalmatia, Istria, Friuli, Cadore, Conegliano, Bellune, 
 Treviso, Feltre, Bassano, Vicenza, Padua, and Rovigo 
 became Duchies ; and the great Empire, with its secon- 
 dary kingdoms, its fiefs, its Confederation of the Rhine, 
 and its Swiss mediation, was in less than two years made 
 similar to that of Charlemagne. 
 
 There was but one sceptre, which Napoleon had in 
 his hand — that was a globe. 
 
 The peace of Presburg lasted nearly a year. During 
 that year Napoleon founded the Imperial University 
 and promulgated at the same time the Code of Civil 
 Procedure. Interrupted in the midst of these adminis- 
 trative works by the hostile attitude of Prussia, the 
 neutrality of which during the last wars had left her 
 forces intact, Napoleon was soon obliged to face a fourth 
 coalition. Queen Louise had recalled to the Emperor 
 Alexander that they had sworn upon the tomb of Fred- 
 erick the Great an indissoluble alliance against France. 
 The Emperor forgot his second oath to remember the 
 first, and Napoleon received the order, under penalty of 
 war, to make his soldiers recross the Rhine. 
 
 Napoleon sent for Berthier and showed him the ulti- 
 matum of Prussia. 
 
 " They send us a challenge in which our honor is at 
 stake," said he ; " a thing a Frenchman has never refused, 
 and since a beautiful Queen wishes to be a witness of 
 the combat, let us be courteous, and in order not to keep 
 her waiting, let us march without sleeping as far as Sax- 
 ony." 
 
98 N-APOLEON. 
 
 And this time, by gallantry, he renewed and surpassed 
 in swiftness the campaign of Austerlitz. Commenced on 
 the 7th of October, 1806, by the corps of Murat, Ber- 
 nadotte, and Davoust, it was continued on the following 
 days by the battles of Austaed, Schelitz, and Saalfeld, 
 and ended on the 14th with the battle of Jena. On the 
 1 6 th fourteen thousand Prussians laid down their arms 
 at Erfurth ; on the 25th the French army made its entry 
 into Berlin. Seven days had delivered the monarchy of 
 Frederick to this great maker and unmaker of Kingdoms, 
 who had given Kings to Bavaria, Wurtemberg, and Hol- 
 land, and who had chased the Bourbons from Naples and 
 the House of Lorraine from Italy and Germany. 
 
 On the 27th Napoleon, from his quarters at Potsdam, 
 addressed to his soldiers the following proclamation, 
 which summed up the whole campaign : 
 
 " Soldiers ! You have justified my expectations and 
 worthily responded to the confidence of the French 
 people ; you have borne privation and fatigue with as 
 much courage as you have shown intrepidity and cool- 
 ness in the midst of the battles ; you are the worthy 
 defenders of my crown and of the glory of a great 
 people ; as long as you are animated by this spirit 
 nothing will be able to resist you. The cavalry has vied 
 with the infantry and the artillery. I know not hereafter 
 to which arm to give the preference. You are all good 
 soldiers. Behold the result of our work : one of the 
 first powers in Europe, which but lately dared to propose 
 to us a disgraceful capitulation, is annihilated ; the for- 
 ests, the defiles of Franconia, the Sale, the Elbe, that 
 our fathers could not have passed in seven years, we 
 have overleaped in seven days, and we have fought in 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. 99 
 
 the interval four engagements and one great battle ; we 
 have preceded the renown of our victories to Potsdam 
 and Berlin ; we have taken sixty thousand prisoners, 
 sixty-five flags, among which are those of the Guards of 
 the King of Prussia, six hundred pieces of cannon, three 
 fortresses, more than twenty Generals ; notwithstanding 
 more than half of you regret not having fired a shot. All 
 the Provinces of the Prussian Monarchy as far as the 
 Oder are in our power. Soldiers ! The Russians boast 
 of coming to us ; we will march to meet them ; we will 
 save them half of the way. They will find another Aus- 
 terlitz in the middle of Prussia. A Nation, which has 
 so soon forgotten the generosity we showed it after that 
 battle, when its Emperor, its Court, and the remains of 
 its army owed their safety only to the capitulation we 
 accorded to them, is a nation which cannot struggle with 
 success against us. However, whilst we are marching to 
 meet the Russians, new armies, formed in the interior of 
 the Empire, will come to take our place and to guard our 
 conquests. All my people have risen indignant at the 
 shameful capitulation which the Prussian Ministers, in 
 their delirium, proposed to us ; our roads and our fron- 
 tier cities are filled with new recruits, who are anxious 
 to march on your tracks. We will no longer be, hence- 
 forth, the toys of a treacherous peace, and we will not 
 lay down our arms until we have obliged the English, 
 those eternal enemies of our nation, to renounce the 
 design of disturbing the continent and usurping the 
 realm of the seas. Soldiers ! I can no better express 
 to you my sentiments than by saying to you that I 
 carry in my heart the love you show me every day." 
 
 Whilst the King of Prussia, by virtue of the armistice 
 
100 NAPOLEON. 
 
 signed November i6th, abandoned to the French all the 
 places that were left to him, Napoleon halted and turned 
 towards England, which he struck by a decree for want 
 of other weapons. Great Britain was declared in a state 
 of blockade ; all commerce and correspondence with the 
 British Isles were prohibited ; no letter in the English 
 language had any longer currency in the mail ; and sub- 
 jects of King George, of whatever state and condition 
 they might be, found in France or in the countries 
 occupied by our troops and those of our allies, were 
 declared prisoners ; any store, all property, all merchan- 
 dise belonging to an Englishman, were recognized as 
 lawful prizes ; trading in goods belonging to England, 
 or proceeding from its factories or colonies, was pro- 
 hibited ; finally, no vessel coming from England or the 
 English Colonies was to be received in any port. 
 
 Then, when political and supreme Pontiff, he had thus 
 boycotted a whole Kingdom, he named General HuUin 
 Governor of Berlin, preserved to the Prince d'Hazfield 
 his civil authority, and marched to meet the Russians, 
 who, as at Austerlitz, were hastening to the relief of their 
 allies, and who, as at Austerlitz, arrived when they had 
 been annihilated. Napoleon took time to send to Paris, 
 where they were deposited in the Hotel des Invalides, 
 the sword of Frederick the Great, his ribbon of the 
 Black Eagle, his General's sash, and the flags that his 
 Guards carried in the famous Seven Years' War ; and 
 leaving Berlin on the 25th of November he marched to 
 meet the enemy. 
 
 In front of Warsaw Murat, Davoust, and Lannes 
 fell in with the Russians. After a light engagement 
 Benigsen evacuated the capital of Poland and the 
 French made their entry. The Polish people all rose in 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. lOI 
 
 favor of the French, offering their fortunes, their blood, 
 their lives ; and demanding in return only their indepen- 
 dence. Napoleon heard of this first success at Posen, 
 where he had stopped to make a King ; that King was 
 the old Elector of Saxony, whose power he strengthened. 
 
 The year 1806 ended with the battles of Pulstusk and 
 Golymin, and the year 1807 opened with the battle of 
 Eylau. A strange battle and without result, in which 
 the Russians lost eight thousand men and the French 
 ten thousand ; in which each of the two armies claimed 
 the victory ; and after which the Czar caused a Te 
 Deum to be sung for having left in our hands fifteen 
 thousand prisoners, forty pieces of cannon, and seven 
 standards. But it was also the first time that there had 
 been a real struggle between him and Napoleon. He 
 had resisted ; therefore, he was the conqueror. 
 
 This boastful movement was short. On the 26th of 
 May Dantzig was taken ; a few days after the Russians 
 were beaten at Spanden, at Domitten, at Altkirchen, at 
 Wolfesdorff, at Gutstadt, at Heilsberg. Finally, on the 
 evening of the 13th of June, the two armies found them- 
 selves in battle array before Friedland. On the morn- 
 ing of the next day some cannon shots were heard, and 
 Napoleon marched upon the enemy, crying,— 
 
 " This day is a happy epoch ; it is the anniversary of 
 Marengo." 
 
 As at Marengo, in effect, the battle was of the greatest 
 importance, and decisive. The Russians were crushed. 
 Alexander left sixty thousand men lying upon the field 
 of battle, drowned in the Alba, or prisoners ; one 
 hundred and twenty pieces of cannon and twenty-five 
 standards were the trophies of the victory ; and the re- 
 mains of the vanquished army, not even hoping to be 
 
I02 NAPOLEON. 
 
 able to resist, fled, took refuge on the other side of the 
 Pregel and destroyed the bridges. 
 
 Notwithstanding this precaution the French passed 
 the river on the i6th, and immediately marched towards 
 the Ni6man, the last barrier Napoleon had to cross 
 in order to carry the war into the territory of Rus- 
 sia. The Czar frightened, the prestige of the British 
 seductions vanished. He was in the same position as 
 after Austerlitz, without hope of relief. He resolved to 
 humiliate himself the second time. That peace, which 
 he had refused so stubbornly and the articles of which 
 he could have dictated, he now came to ask for himself, 
 and to receive the conditions of his conqueror. On the 
 2ist of June an armistice was signed, and on the 22d 
 the following proclamation was made an army order : 
 
 " Soldiers ! On the 5th of June we were attacked in 
 our cantonments by the Russian army ; the enemy was 
 mistaken as to the causes of our inactivity ; it perceived 
 too late that our repose was that of the lion ; it repents 
 having been unmindful of it. 
 
 " In the days of Gutstadt, of Heilsberg, in that ever 
 memorable day of Friedland, in a campaign of six days, 
 to say all in one word, we have taken one hundred and 
 twenty pieces of cannon, seventy standards, killed, 
 wounded, or made prisoners sixty thousand Russians, 
 taken away from the army of the enemy all its stores, 
 its hospitals, its ambulances, the town of Koenigsberg, 
 the vessels which were in its port, filled with all kinds 
 of ammunitions, and one hundred and sixty thousand 
 muskets which the English had sent to arm our enemies. 
 
 " From the banks of the Vistula we reached those of 
 the Ni^men with the rapidity of the eagle. You cele- 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. I03 
 
 brated at Austerlitz the anniversary of the coronation ; 
 you have this year worthily celebrated that of Marengo, 
 which put an end to the war of the second coalition. 
 Frenchmen, you have been worthy of yourselves and of 
 me. You will re-enter France covered with all your 
 laurels after having obtained a peace, which carries with 
 it the guarantee of its continuance. It is time that our 
 country should live in repose, shielded from the malicious 
 influence of England. My beneficence will show my 
 gratefulness and the greatness of the love I have for you." 
 
 During the day of the 24th of June the General of the 
 Artillery, La Riboissiere, built upon the Niemen a raft, 
 and on this raft a pavilion, designed to receive the two 
 Emperors ; each of whom was obliged to go there from 
 the shore he occupied. 
 
 On the 25th, at one o'clock in the afternoon, the 
 Emperor Napoleon, accompanied by the Grand Duke of 
 Berg, Murat, Marshals Berthier and Bessieres, General 
 Duroc, and the grand armor-bearer Caulaincourt, went 
 from the left bank of the river to the prepared pavilion. 
 At the same time the Emperor Alexander, accompanied 
 by the Grand Duke Constantine, General-in-chief Ben- 
 igsen. Prince Labanow, General Ouwarof, and the aide- 
 de-camp General Count de Li^ven, left the right bank. 
 
 The two boats arrived at the same time. On putting 
 foot on the raft the two Emperors embraced. 
 
 This embrace was the prelude of the peace of Tilsit, 
 which was signed on the 9th of July, 1807. 
 
 Prussia paid the expenses of the war ; the Kingdoms 
 of Saxony and Westphalia were erected like two fort- 
 resses to watch over it ; Alexander and Frederick- 
 William solemnly recognized as brothers, Joseph, Louis 
 
104 NAPOLEON. 
 
 and Jerdme. Bonaparte, First Consul, had created 
 Republics ; Napoleon, Emperor, changed them into 
 fiefs. Heir of the three dynasties, which had reigned 
 over France, he wished still to augment the succession 
 of Charlemagne, and Europe was forced to look on 
 while he did it. 
 
 On the 27th of July of the same year, after having 
 completed this splendid campaign by an act of clemency. 
 Napoleon returned to Paris, having no enemies but Eng- 
 land, bleeding and wounded, it is true, on account of 
 the defeats of its allies, but ever steadfast in its hatred, 
 and always looking to the two extremities of the conti- 
 nent, Sweden and Portugal. 
 
 By the Decree of Berlin on the continental blockade 
 England had been put under the ban of Europe. In 
 the north seas, Russia and Denmark, in the ocean and 
 the Mediterranean, France, Holland, and Spain, had 
 closed their ports and had solemnly agreed to have no 
 commerce with her. There remained only, as we have 
 said, Sweden and Portugal. Napoleon took charge of 
 Portugal and Alexander of Sweden. Napoleon declared, 
 by a decree dated October 27, 1807, that the House of 
 Bragance had ceased to reign ; and Alexander, on the 
 27th of September, 1808, undertook to march against 
 Gustave IV. 
 
 One month after the French were at Lisbon. 
 
 The invasion of Portugal was but the preliminary step 
 to the conquest of Spain, where Charles IV. was reign- 
 ing, influenced by two opposing interests, the favorite 
 Godoy and Ferdinand the Prince of the Asturias. 
 Offended by a thoughtless armament made by Godoy 
 at the time of the war with Prussia, Napoleon had only 
 cast a glance on Spain, a glance rapid and unperceived, 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. lOS 
 
 but which sufficed, however, to enable him to see there 
 a throne to be taken. 
 
 As soon as he was in possession of Portugal his troops 
 penetrated into the Peninsula, and, under the pretext 
 of a maritime war and blockade, occupied at first the 
 shores, then the principal places, and finally formed 
 around Madrid a circle, which they had but to drav/ 
 closer to be in three days the rulers of the capital. In 
 the meantime a revolt broke out against the Minister, 
 and the Prince of the Asturias was proclaimed King, 
 under the name of Ferdinand VII. in the place of his 
 father. This was all that Napoleon desired. 
 
 Immediately the French entered Madrid. The Em- 
 peror hastened to Bayonne, called to him the Spanish 
 princes, forced Ferdinand VII. to give back the crown 
 to his father and sent him prisoner to Valen9ay. Before 
 long the old Charles IV. abdicated in favor of Napoleon 
 and retired to Compiegne. The crown of Charles V. 
 was bestowed upon Joseph by a Supreme Junta, by the 
 Council of Castile, and by the Municipality of Madrid. 
 The throne of Naples was vacated by this change. 
 Napoleon named Murat for it. There were five crowns 
 in his family without counting his own. 
 
 But in extending his power, Napoleon was extending 
 his contest. The interests of Holland compromised 
 by the blockade ; Austria humiliated by the creation 
 of the kingdoms of Bavaria and Wurtemburg ; Rome 
 deceived in its hopes by the refusal to restore to the 
 Holy See the Provinces which the Directory had united 
 to the Cisalpine Republic; and, iinally, Spain and 
 Portugal hurt in their national affections, were so many 
 echoes resounding at the same time under the incessant 
 call of England. A great reaction was being organized 
 
I06 NAPOLEON. 
 
 on all sides at the same time ; yet it showed itself at 
 different times. 
 
 It was Rome which set the example. On the 3d of 
 April the Legate of the Pope left Paris. Soon General 
 Miollis received the order to occupy Rome in a military 
 manner. The Pope threatened our troops with excom- 
 munication, and they responded to him by taking pos- 
 session of Ancone, Urbin, Macerata, and Camerino. 
 
 Next, Spain. Seville, in a Provincial Junta, recog- 
 nised Ferdinand as King, and called to arms all the 
 Spanish Provinces which were not occupied. The Prov- 
 inces revolted. General Dupont threw down his arms 
 and Joseph was forced to leave Madrid. 
 
 Then, Portugal. The Portuguese arose in insurrec- 
 tion on the i6th of June at Oporto. Junot, not having 
 sufficient troops to maintain his conquest, was forced to 
 evacuate by the convention of Cintra ; and, after him, 
 Wellington occupied it with twenty-five thousand men. 
 
 Napoleon considered things grave enough to require 
 his presence. He knew well that Austria was secretly 
 arming, but she could not be ready before a year ; he 
 knew well that Holland was complaining of the ruin of 
 its commerce, but he decided not to pay any attention 
 to it as long as it did nothing but complain ; he had, 
 therefore, more time than was necessary to reconquer 
 Portugal and Spain. 
 
 Napoleon went to the frontiers of Navarre and Biscay 
 with eighty thousand old soldiers just from Germany. 
 The taking of Burgos was the signal of his arrival. It 
 was followed by the victory at Tudella ; then the posi- 
 tions of Somma-Sierra were carried at the point of the 
 lance ; and on December 4th Napoleon made his sol- 
 emn entry into Madrid, preceded by this proclamation : 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. \0^ 
 
 " Spaniards ! I do not present myself among you as a 
 master, but as a liberator. I have abolished the tri- 
 bunal of the Inquisition, against which the century and 
 Europe were crying. Priests should guide the con- 
 science, but should not exercise corporeal and exterior 
 jurisdiction over the people. I have done away with 
 feudal rights, and every one can estabHsh hotels, kilns, 
 mills, fisheries, and give full play to his industry. The 
 selfishness, wealth, and prosperity of a small number of 
 men were doing more damage to your agriculture than 
 the heat of the dog-days. As there is but one God, 
 there should be but one justice in a State ; all private 
 tribunals had been usurped and were contrary to the 
 laws of the nation. I have destroyed them. The present 
 generation will be, perhaps, undecided in its opinion of 
 me, as too many passions have been brought into play, 
 but your posterity will bless me as your regenerator ; 
 they will place in the number of your memorable days 
 those when I have appeared among you, and from those 
 days will date the prosperity of Spain." 
 
 Subdued, Spain was dumb. The Inquisition answered 
 by this catechism : 
 
 " Tell me, my child, who art thou ? " 
 " A Spaniard, by the grace of God." 
 
 " What dost thou mean by that ? " 
 " A good worthy man." 
 
 " Who is the enemy of our happiness ? " 
 " The Emperor of the French." 
 
 " How many natures has he ? " 
 
 " Two. Human nature and devilish nature." 
 
I08 NAPOLEON. 
 
 " How many Emperors are there of the French ? " 
 " One real Emperor in three deceitful persons." 
 
 " What are their names ? " 
 
 " Napoleon, Murat, and Manuel Godoy." 
 
 " Which of the three is the most wicked ? " 
 " They are all three equally so." 
 
 " From whom springs Napoleon ? " 
 " From sin." 
 
 " Murat ? " 
 
 " From Napoleon." 
 
 "And Godoy?" 
 
 " From the combination of the two." 
 
 " What is the spirit of the first ? " 
 " Pride and despotism." 
 
 " Of the second ? " 
 " Rapine and cruelty." 
 
 " Of the third ? " 
 
 " Cupidity, treachery, and ignorance." 
 
 " Who are the French ? " 
 
 " Former Christians who have become heretics." 
 
 " Is it a sin to kill a Frenchman ? " 
 " No, my father ; one gains Heaven in killing one of 
 these dogs of heretics." 
 
 " What judgment does a Spaniard deserve, who fails 
 in his duties ? " 
 
 " Death, and the infamy of a traitor." 
 
 "Who will deliver us from our enemies ?" 
 " Reliance on ourselves and the troops." 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. IO9 
 
 In the meantime Spain, apparently pacified, was almost 
 altogether obeying its new King. The hostile prepara- 
 tions of Austria, among other things, recalled Napoleon 
 to Paris. On his return on the 23d of January, 1809, 
 he immediately demanded explanations of the Austrian 
 Ambassador, and some days after having rejected them 
 as insuiificient, he learned that on the 9th of April the 
 army of the Emperor Francis had passed the Inn and 
 invaded Bavaria. This time it was Austria which had 
 anticipated us and which was ready before France. Na- 
 poleon made an appeal to the Senate. 
 
 On the 14th the Senate responded by a law, which di- 
 rected the levy of forty thousand men ; on the 17th 
 Napoleon was at Donawert in the midst of his army ; on 
 the 20th he won the battle of Tann, on the 21st that 
 of Abensberg, on the 22d that of Ekmiihl, on the 23d 
 that of Ratisbonne ; and on the 24th he addressed this 
 proclamation to his army : 
 
 " Soldiers ! You have vindicated my expectation. 
 You have made up the number by your bravery ; you 
 have gloriously marked the difference which exists be- 
 tween the legions of Caesar and the armed crowds of 
 Xerxes. In four days we have triumphed in the battles 
 of Tann, Abensberg, Ekmiihl, and in the engagements 
 of Peyssing, of Landshutt, and of Ratisbonne. One 
 hundred pieces of cannon, forty standards, fifty thousand 
 prisoners ; these are the results of the rapidity of your 
 march and of your courage. The enemy, incited by a 
 perjured cabinet, appeared to have nothing by which 
 to remember you ; its awakening has been speedy. You 
 have appeared to it more terrible than ever. Lately it 
 crossed the Inn and invaded the territory of our allies ; 
 
1 10 NAPOLEON. 
 
 to-day, defeated, terrified, it flies in disorder. Already 
 my advance-guard has gone beyond the Inn ; before a 
 month we will be at Vienna." 
 
 On the 27th Bavaria and the Palatinate were evac- 
 uated ; on the 3d of May the Austrians lost the battle 
 of Elersberg ; on the 9th Napoleon was under the walls 
 of Vienna ; on the nth that city opened its gates ; on 
 the 13th he made his entrance there. 
 
 This time again he was prophesying. 
 
 One hundred thousand men, under the orders of 
 Prince Charles, had withdrawn upon the left bank of 
 the Danube ; Napoleon pursued and attacked them 
 on the 2ist at Essling, where Massena exchanged his 
 title of Duke for that of Prince. During the battle 
 the bridges over the Danube were carried away by an 
 unexpected rising of the water. In fifteen days Ber- 
 trand built three new bridges ; the first, of sixty arches, 
 upon which three vehicles could pass side by side ; the 
 second, upon piles and eight feet in width ; the third 
 and last, upon boats ; and the bulletin of the 3d of July, 
 dated at Vienna, announced that there was no longer 
 any Danube, as Louis XIV. had announced that there 
 were no longer any Pyrenees. 
 
 In fact on the 4th of July the Danube was crossed ; 
 on the 5th the battle of Enzersdorff was won ; finally on 
 the 7th the Austrians left four thousand dead and nine 
 thousand wounded upon the battle-field of Wagram, and 
 twenty thousand prisoners, ten standards, and forty 
 pieces of cannon in the hands of their conquerors. 
 
 On the nth the Prince of Lichtenstein presented him- 
 self at the outposts to ask a suspension of arms. He 
 was an old acquaintance ; the day after Marengo he 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. Ill 
 
 was introduced, charged with a similar mission. On the 
 1 2th this armistice was concluded at Znaim. Soon con- 
 ferences were commenced. They lasted three months, 
 during which Napoleon lived at Schoenbrunn, where he 
 escaped, as by a miracle, the dagger of Staps. Finally on 
 the 14th of October peace was signed. 
 
 Austria ceded to France all the country located on the 
 right bank of the Save, the circle of Goritz,' the terri- 
 tory of Montefeltro, Trieste, Carniole, and the circle of 
 Villach ; she recognized the reunion of the Illyrian 
 Provinces with the French Empire, and all future annexa- 
 tions that conquest or diplomatic combinations might 
 bring about, as well in Italy as in Portugal and in Spain ; 
 and renounced irrevocably the alliance with England to 
 accept the continental system with all its exigencies. 
 
 Thus all was commencing to react against Napoleon, 
 but nothing yet resisted him. Portugal had communi- 
 cated with the English ; he had invaded Portugal ; 
 Godoy had manifested hostile sentiments by an unskilful 
 but perhaps inoffensive armament ; he had forced Charles 
 IV. to abdicate ; the Pope had made Rome the general 
 rendezvous of the agents of England ; he treated the 
 Pope as a temporal sovereign and deposed him ; nature 
 refused children to Josephine ; he married Marie-Louise 
 and had a son ; Holland, in spite of its promises, had 
 become a mart for English wares ; he depossessed Louis 
 of his Kingdom and reunited it to France. 
 
 Then the Empire had one hundred and thirty Depart- 
 ments. It extended from the British ocean to the 
 
 ' Goritz, or Gortz, or Gorz, is situated in the valley of Isongo and 
 about twenty-five miles from Trieste by railway. It is the seat of 
 an Archbishop and of a Circle Court, hence " the circle of Goritz." 
 —J. B. L. 
 
112 NAPOLEON. 
 
 Grecian seas, from the Tagus as far as the Elbe ; and 
 one hundred and twenty millions of men, obeying a sin- 
 gle will, subjected to a single power, and led in the same 
 way, cried " Vive Napoleon " in eight different languages. 
 
 The General was at the zenith of his glory, and the 
 Emperor at the apogee of his fortune. Up to this day 
 we have seen him rise without ceasing. He will halt 
 for a year at the summit of his prosperity, for it is very 
 necessary that he should take breath to descend. 
 
 On the ist of April, 1810, Napoleon married Marie- 
 Louise, Archduchess of Austria ; eleven months after, a 
 salute of a hundred and one guns announced to the 
 world the birth of an heir to the throne. 
 
 One of the first effects of the alliance of Napoleon 
 with the House of Lorraine, was to bring about a cool- 
 ness between him and the Emperor of Russia, who, if 
 we must believe Dr. O'Meara,' had offered him his 
 sister, the Grand-duchess Anne. From 18 10, the latter, 
 who saw the Empire of Napoleon coming towards him 
 like the rising of an ocean, had increased his armies and 
 renewed his relations with Great Britain. All the year 
 181 1 passed in fruitless negotiations, which, in propor- 
 tion as they failed, rendered an early war more and more 
 probable ; therefore, each, on his side, commenced prep- 
 
 ' Dr. O'Meara represents Napoleon as saying on this subject : 
 " It was, perhaps, a misfortune to me that I had not married a sister 
 of the Emperor Alexander, as proposed to me by Alexander himself 
 at Erfurth. But there were inconveniences in that union arising 
 from her religion. I did not like a Russian priest to be the confessor 
 of my wife, as I considered that he would have been a spy in the 
 Tuileries for Alexander." — Napoleon In Exile ; or, A Voice from 
 St. Helena, by B. E. O'Meara, his late Surgeon, vol. ii. — page 159. 
 -J. B. L. 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. I13 
 
 arations before it was even declared. Prussia, by the 
 treaty of the 24th of February, and Austria, by the 
 treaty of the 14th of March, furnished to Napoleon, the 
 one twenty thousand and the other thirty thousand 
 men. On their part, Italy and the Confederation of the 
 Rhine co-operated in this great enterprise, the one with 
 twenty-five thousand and the other with eighty thou- 
 sand combatants. Finally a decree of the Senate di- 
 vided the National Guard into three divisions for the 
 service of the interior. The first of these three divisions 
 selected for active service, put at the disposal of the 
 Emperor, outside of the gigantic army that proceeded 
 towards the Nidmen, one hundred cohorts of one thou- 
 sand men each. 
 
 On the 9th of March Napoleon left Paris, directing 
 the Duke of Bassano to keep the Prince Kourakine, 
 Ambassador of the Czar, waiting for his passports as 
 long as possible. This recommendation, at the first 
 glance, had the appearance of a pacific expectancy, but 
 it had no other purpose than that of leaving Alexander 
 uncertain of the true sentiments of his enemy, in order 
 that he could surprise him by falling suddenly upon his 
 army. This was the usual custom of Napoleon, and 
 this time, as always, he succeeded. Likewise, the Moni- 
 teur contained the announcement that the Emperor had 
 left Paris to make an inspection of the great army assem- 
 bled on the Vistula, and that the Empress accompanied 
 him as far as Dresden, to visit her illustrious family. 
 
 After remaining there fifteen days, and having had 
 Talma and Mademoiselle Mars act before an audience 
 composed of Kings, according to the promise he had 
 made them at Paris, Napoleon left Dresden and arrived 
 at Thorn on the 2d of June. On the 22d he an- 
 
1 14 NAPOLEON. 
 
 nounced his return to Poland by the following procla- 
 mation, dated at the headquarters of Wilkowsky : 
 
 " Soldiers ! Russia has sworn eternal alliance with 
 France, and war with England ; she, to-day, violates 
 her oath. She will give no explanation of her strange 
 conduct unless the French eagles recross the Rhine, 
 leaving there our allies at her mercy. Does she, there- 
 fore, believe us degenerate ? are we no longer the sol- 
 diers of Austerlitz ? She places us between dishonor 
 and war. The choice should not be doubtful. Forward, 
 march ! Let us pass the Niemen and carry the war into 
 Russian territory. It will be glorious for the French 
 army. The peace that we will conclude will put an 
 end to the baleful influence which the Moscovite cabinet 
 has exerted for fifty years upon the affairs of Europe." 
 
 The army to which Napoleon addressed these words 
 was the most beautiful, the most numerous, and the 
 most powerful he had ever commanded. He had di- 
 vided it into fifteen corps, each commanded by a Duke, 
 by a Prince, or by a King ; and it formed one mass of 
 four hundred thousand infantry, seventy thousand horse- 
 men, and one thousand cannon. 
 
 Three days were necessary for him to cross the Nid- 
 men ; the 23d, the 24th, and the 2Sth of June were 
 employed in that operation. 
 
 Napoleon stopped an instant, thoughtful and motion- 
 less, upon the left bank of this river, where three years 
 before the Emperor Alexander had sworn to him an 
 eternal friendship. Then crossing it in his turn he said 
 " Fatality urges on the Russians ; let the destiny be ful- 
 filled." 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. 1 1 5 
 
 His first steps, as always, were those of a giant. At 
 the end of an expeditious march of two days the Rus- 
 sian army was surprised, overthrown, and a whole corps 
 of the army was separated from it. Then Alexander, 
 recognizing Napoleon and these rapid blows, terrible 
 and decisive, said to him that if he would evacuate the 
 invaded territory and return to the Niemen he would 
 negotiate with him. Napoleon found this proceeding so 
 strange that he answered nothing but entered Vilna the 
 following day. 
 
 There he remained twenty days ; established a pro- 
 visional government whilst a Diet was assembling at 
 Warsaw to consider the reconstruction of Poland ; then 
 he set out again in pursuit of the Russian army. 
 
 On the second day of the march he commenced to be 
 frightened by the system of defence adopted by Alex- 
 ander. The Russians had destroyed everything during 
 their retreat, harvests, castles, cottages. An army of 
 five hundred thousand men was advancing into deserts, 
 which could not formerly furnish food to Charles XII. 
 and his twenty thousand Swedes. From the Ni^man to 
 Willia they marched by the light of the conflagration, 
 upon cadavers and ruins. During the last days of July 
 the army arrived at Vitepsk, already astonished by a war 
 which resembled none other ; in which one could not 
 meet the enemy and had only to do with the spirit of 
 destruction. Napoleon himself was stupefied by this 
 plan of campaign, which he had not been able to foresee. 
 He saw before him nothing but immense deserts, to 
 reach the end of which would take him a year and where 
 each march he made put him farther from France, from 
 his allies and, finally, from all his resources. On arriv- 
 ing at Vitepsk he threw himself overwhelmed into an 
 
Il6 NAPOLEON. 
 
 armchair. Then making Count Daru come he said to 
 him : 
 
 " I remain here. I want to know what I am about, 
 to rally and rest my army, and to organize Poland. The 
 campaign of 1812 is finished ; that of 1813 will accom- 
 plish the remainder. As for you, Sir, think and provide 
 for us here, for we will not commit the folly of Charles 
 XII." 
 
 Then addressing Murat, he added : 
 
 " Plant our eagles here ; in 1813 we will see Moscow ; 
 in 1814 St. Petersburg ; the Russian war is a war of three 
 years." 
 
 This was, in effect, the resolution that he appeared to 
 have taken, but frightened in his turn by this inaction, 
 Alexander at last showed to him those Russian soldiers, 
 who up to this time had fled from him like phantoms. 
 Awakened, like a gambler at the rattle of gold, Napo- 
 leon could not remain inactive, and rushed forth in 
 pursuit of them. On the 14th of August he overtook and 
 defeated them at Krasnoi ; on the i8th he chased them 
 from Smolensk, which he left in flames ; and on the 30th 
 he seized Viazma, where he found all the provisions 
 destroyed. Ever since they had set foot upon Russian 
 territory all the signs of a great national war had burst 
 forth. 
 
 Finally Napoleon learned in this city that the Russian 
 army had changed its chief and was preparing to fight 
 a battle in a position which it had intrenched in haste. 
 The Emperor Alexander, yielding to the public voice, 
 which attributed the disasters of the war to the bad choice 
 of his generals, had just conferred the supreme command 
 upon General Koutousof, conqueror of the Turks. If 
 we believe public rumor the Prussian, Pfuhl had caused 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. WJ 
 
 the first misfortune of the campaign, and the foreigner, 
 Barclay de Tolly, with his endless system of retreats, 
 which seemed suspicious to the unsophisticated Mos- 
 covites, had increased them. In a national war it was 
 a Russian who should save the country, and all were in 
 accord, from the Czar to the lowest serf, that only the 
 conqueror of Roudschouk and the negotiator of Bu- 
 charest was capable of saving Russia. On his part the 
 new General, persuaded that in order to preserve his 
 popularity in the army and in the nation, it was his duty 
 to give us battle before letting us reach Moscow, resolved 
 to accept it in the position he occupied near Borodino, 
 and where he was joined on the 4th of September by 
 ten thousand militia, scarcely organized, from Moscow. 
 The same day Murat met, between Gjatz and Boro- 
 dino, General Konovitzine, directed by Koutousof to 
 hold securely a vast plateau which protected a ravine. 
 Konovitzine strictly followed the order given him and 
 held it until masses double his own had pushed or rather 
 made him slide backwards ; we followed his bloody 
 track as far as the fortified convent of Kolostkoi ; there 
 he again attempted to stand for a moment but, outflanked 
 on all sides, was compelled to turn back in retreat 
 towards Golovino where he did nothing but pass. Our 
 advance-guard debouched from this village almost pell- 
 mell with the Russian rear-guard. An instant after Na- 
 poleon appeared on horseback and, from the height 
 which he had just reached, overlooked the whole plain. 
 The plundered villages, the rye trampled under foot, the 
 woods infested with Cossacks, indicated to him that the 
 plain, which spread itself out before him, had been 
 chosen by Koutousof for his field of battle. Behind this 
 first line were three villages forming a line one league in 
 
Il8 MAPOLEON. 
 
 length ; the intervals between them intersected by ravines, 
 strewn with underbrush, swarming with men. The en- 
 tire Russian army was waiting there ; and the proof of 
 which was that they had constructed a redoubt in front 
 to its left near the village of Schwardino. 
 
 Napoleon took in the horizon at a glance. He fol- 
 lowed for some leagues the two banks of the Kalouga. 
 He knew that at Borodino this river made a bend to the 
 left, and although he did not see the rising ground, 
 which caused this deviation, he divined it and understood 
 that there would be found the principal positions of the 
 Russian army. But the river, in protecting the extreme 
 right of the enemy, left uncovered its centre and its left. 
 There alone it was vulnerable. It was there then that he 
 must strike. 
 
 But first it was important to drive it from the redoubt, 
 which, as an advance work, protected its left ; from there 
 he would be better able to reconnoitre its position. 
 General Compans received the order to carry it. Three 
 times he seized it ; three times he was driven back ; 
 finally a fourth time he re-entered it and established 
 himself there. 
 
 It was from there that Napoleon was able at last to 
 take in at a glance nearly two thirds of the area of the 
 battle-field where he would have to fight. 
 
 The remainder of the day of the 5th was employed by 
 each in making observations, both sides getting ready 
 for a decisive battle. The Russians passed the entire 
 day in the splendors of the Greek worship, and invoked 
 by their hymns the all-powerful aid of the venerated 
 Saint Newsky.' The French, accustomed to the Te 
 
 ' Alexander, Prince of Novgorod, was called Newsky on account 
 of his victory over the Svpedes on the Neva, in 1280.— J. B. L. 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. II9 
 
 Deum and not to prayers, recalled their detached 
 men, closed their ranks, prepared their arms, and dis- 
 posed their parks of artillery. On both sides the numeri- 
 cal forces were equal. The Russians had one hundred 
 and thirty thousand men and we had one hundred and 
 twenty-five thousand. 
 
 The Emperor camped in the rear of the Army of Italy 
 on the left of the highway ; the Old Guard formed 
 around his tent ; the fires were lighted ; those of the 
 Russians formed a crescent, vast and regular ; those of the 
 French were feeble, uneven, without order ; no place 
 had yet been assigned to the different corps, and wood 
 was lacking. During the entire night a penetrating cold 
 rain fell ; autumn was setting in. Napoleon awakened 
 the Prince of Neuchatel eleven times to give him orders, 
 and each time he asked him if the enemy still seemed 
 ready to resist ; it was because he had been several times 
 awakened with a start by the fear that the Russians 
 could escape him ; he thought he had heard the noise 
 made by their departure, he was mistaken, and the light 
 of day effaced the glimmer of the bivouac fires of the 
 enemy. 
 
 At three o'clock in the morning Napoleon mounted 
 his horse and, lost in the dawn with a weak escort, he 
 marched along the whole line of the enemy at half range 
 from the cannon balls. 
 
 The Russians covered all the ridges ; they were on 
 each side of the road to Moscow and the ravine of Gorka, 
 at the bottom of which ran a little stream, and shut in 
 between the old road from Smolensk and the river 
 Moscow. Barclay de Tolly, with three corps of infantry 
 and one of cavalry, formed the right from the great re- 
 doubt with bastions to the river Moscow. Bagration, 
 
120 NAPOLEON. 
 
 with the seventh and eighth corps, formed the left from 
 the great redoubt to the underbrush, which extended 
 between Semenofskoe and Oustiza. 
 
 As strong as it was, this position was defective. The 
 mistake was with General Benigsen, who, filling the 
 duties of Major General of the Army, had given all his 
 attention to the right, defended by nature, and had 
 neglected the left, which was nevertheless the weak side. 
 It was, it is true, covered by three redoubts, but there 
 was between them and the old road to Moscow, an 
 interval of five hundred toises occupied only by a few 
 Chasseurs. 
 
 Here is what Napoleon will do. He will gain the 
 Moscow road with his extreme right, commanded by 
 Poniatowsky ; he will cut the army in two, and whilst 
 Ney, Davoust, and Eugene check the left, will drive 
 back the entire centre and right into the Moscow river. 
 This is the same arrangement as at Friedland ; only at 
 Friedland, the river happened to be at the back of the 
 enemy and cut oif all retreat ; whilst here the Moscow 
 borders his right and has behind it a favorable ground 
 if he wishes to retreat. 
 
 This plan of battle received a modification during the 
 day. It is no longer Bernadotte, it is Eugene who will 
 attack the centre ; Poniatowsky, with all his cavalry, 
 will steal between the underbrush and the highway, and 
 will attack the extremity of the left wing at the same 
 time that Davoust and Ney will approach the front. 
 Poniatowsky received for this purpose, besides his cav- 
 alry, two divisions of Davoust's corps. This separation 
 of one part of his troops completed the bad humor of 
 the Marshal, who came to propose a plan which he 
 believed to be infallible and which he saw rejected. This 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. 121 
 
 plan consisted in changing the position before attacking 
 the redoubts, and fixing it perpendicularly upon the 
 extremity of the enemy. The manoeuvre was good but 
 hazardous in this, that the Russians, perceiving them- 
 selves upon the point of being divided, and seeing no 
 vifay of retreating in case of defeat, could decamp at 
 night by the road to Mojaisk and leave to us the next 
 day only a deserted battle-field and empty redoubts ; 
 now this was what Napoleon feared as much as he did a 
 defeat. 
 
 At three o'clock Napoleon went out a second time on 
 horseback to assure himself that nothing had changed. 
 He arrived upon the heights of Borodino, and, with a 
 spy-glass in his hands, commenced his observations. Al- 
 though only a few persons accompanied him, he was 
 recognized ; a gun-shot, the only one which was fired 
 during all this day, came from the Russian lines, and 
 the ball ricochetted only a few steps from the Emperor. 
 
 At half past four he came back towards his encamp- 
 ment. He found M. de Beausset there, who brought 
 him letters from Marie-Louise, and the portrait of the 
 King of Rome by Gerard. The portrait was exhibited 
 before the tent, and around it was formed a circle of 
 Marshals, Generals, and officers. 
 
 "Remove that portrait," said Napoleon, "it is too 
 soon to show him a battle-field." 
 
 After withdrawing into his tent Napoleon dictated the 
 following orders : 
 
 " There will be constructed, during the night, two 
 redoubts face to face with those which the enemy have 
 erected and which have been discovered during the day. 
 The redoubt on the left will be armed with forty-two 
 
122 NAPOLEON. 
 
 pieces of ordnance, and that on the right with seventy- 
 two. At daybreak the redoubt on the right will 
 commence to fire. That on the left will commence 
 as soon as it shall hear the firing on its right. The 
 Viceroy will throw out into the plain a considerable 
 mass of skirmishers, who will supply a fusillade well 
 kept up. The third and eighth corps, under the orders 
 of Marshal Ney, will also throw out some skirmishers 
 on the front. The Prince of Ekmiihl will remain in 
 position. Prince Poniatowsky, with the fifth corps, will 
 get under way before daybreak in order to have, by 
 six o'clock in the morning, outflanked the enemy on the 
 left. When the action is commenced the Emperor will 
 give his orders according to the exigencies of the 
 situation." 
 
 When this plan was fixed, Napoleon disposed of his 
 masses in such a manner as not to attract too much the 
 attention of the enemy ; each received his instructions ; 
 the redoubts sprang up ; the artillery put itself in posi- 
 tion ; at daybreak one hundred and twenty pieces of 
 ordnance will overwhelm with shot and shell the works 
 that the right shall be charged to carry by storm. 
 
 Napoleon was scarcely able to sleep for an hour ; 
 every instant he asked if the enemy was still there ; dif- 
 ferent movements, which it made two or three times, 
 caused him to believe it in retreat. This was not the 
 case. It only repaired the fault upon which Napoleon 
 had built his entire plan of battle, by placing at its left 
 the entire corps of Touczkof, which then provided for all 
 the weak places. 
 
 At four o'clock Rapp entered the tent of the Emperor 
 and found him with his head supported by his two 
 hands. He lifted up his head again. 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. 1 23 
 
 "Well, Rapp?" he asked. 
 
 " Sire, they are still there." 
 
 " This will be a terrible battle ! Rapp, do you be- 
 lieve in the victory ? " 
 
 "Yes, Sire, but attended with bloodshed." 
 
 " I know it," answered Napoleon, " but I have eighty 
 thousand men. I will lose in it twenty thousand. I 
 will enter Moscow with sixty thousand. The stragglers 
 will rejoin us there, then the marching battalions, and 
 we will be stronger than before the battle." 
 
 It is seen that in the number of his combatants Napo- 
 leon counted neither his Guard nor his cavalry. From 
 this moment his decision was well taken to gain the 
 battle without them. It was to be an artillery battle. 
 
 At this moment acclamations resounded, the cry of 
 " Vive VEm^ereur ! " arose all at once along the line. 
 At the first rays of day they read to the soldiers the 
 following proclamation, one of the most beautiful, sin- 
 cere, and concise of Napoleon : 
 
 " Soldiers ! Behold the battle which you have so 
 desired ; henceforth victory depends but upon you ; it 
 is necessary ; it will bring abundance and we will be 
 assured of good winter-quarters and a prompt return 
 towards our country. Be ye the men of Austerlitz, 
 Friedland, Vitepsk, and of Smolensk, and the most 
 remote posterity in speaking of us will say ' He was at 
 that great battle under the walls of Moscow.' " 
 
 Scarcely had the cries ceased when Ney, always 
 impatient, asked permission to commence the attack. 
 Soon all took up arms, each disposed himself for that 
 great scene which was going to decide the destiny of 
 
124 NAPOLEON. 
 
 Europe ; the aides-de-camp left like arrows in all direc- 
 tions. 
 
 Compans, who began so well two days before, will 
 creep along the underbrush, and will commence the 
 engagement by carrying the redoubt which defends the 
 extreme left of the Russians, and Davoust will assist 
 him by pushing forward into the same underbrush ; the 
 Friant Division' will remain in reserve. As soon as 
 Davoust shall be master of the redoubt, Ney will ad- 
 vance en echelon to take possession of Semenofskoe. 
 His divisions had suffered much at Valoutina and 
 numbered scarcely fifteen thousand combatants ; ten 
 thousand Westphalians must reinforce them and form 
 the second line ; the Young and the Old Guard will 
 form the third and fourth. Murat will divide his cav- 
 alry. To the left of Ney in front of the centre of the 
 enemy will stand the corps of Montbrun. Nansouti and 
 Latour-Maubourg will place themselves in such a man- 
 ner as to follow the movements of our right. Finally 
 Grouchy will assist the Viceroy, who, reinforced by the 
 Morand and G6rard Divisions, taken away from Davoust, 
 will commence by seizing Borodino, will leave there the 
 Delzons Division, and passing with three others the 
 Kalouga on three bridges thrown over it in the morning, 
 will attack the large centre redoubt situated on the 
 right bank. A half hour was sufficient to give all these 
 orders ; it was half past five o'clock in the morning ; 
 the right redoubt commenced its fire ; that of the left 
 responded to it ; all moved ; all marched ; all advanced.' 
 
 ' Napoleon himself made this criticism upon this plan : 
 ' ' This first arrangement had one grave fault, " said he, " and was 
 the cause of the undecided result of the battle. We should have put 
 Davoust with four of his divisions in the open space between the left 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. 
 
 125 
 
 Davoust dashed forth with his two divisions ; the left 
 of Eugene, composed of the Plausonne Brigade, which 
 should have remained on the lookout, confining itself to 
 the occupation of Borodino, rushed on, notwithstanding 
 the cries of its general, passing beyond the village and 
 running against the heights of Gorki, where the Rus- 
 sians destroyed it with a fire from front and side. Then 
 the 92nd Regiment hastened up to aid the io6th, to col- 
 lect the remains and bring them back, half destroyed 
 and having lost its general. 
 
 At this moment Napoleon, believing that Poniatow- 
 sky had had time to effect his movement, sent forth 
 Davoust against the first redoubt. The Divisions of 
 Compans and Desaix followed him, pushing thirty 
 cannon before them. The entire line of the enemy 
 took fire like a train of powder. 
 
 The infantry marched without firing ; it hastened to 
 reach the fire of the enemy and to stop it. Compans 
 was wounded, Rapp hurried to replace him ; he hastened 
 on the run with bayonets fixed ; at the moment when he 
 reached the redoubt he fell struck by a bullet ; it was 
 
 redoubt and the woods of Oustiza, and had him followed by Murat 
 with his cavalry, supported by Ney with his Westphalians, directing 
 them towards Semenofskoe ; whilst the Young Guard marched en 
 echelon to the centre of the two places where fighting was going on ; 
 and while Poniatowsky, tieing fast to Davoust, outflanked the right 
 of Touczkof in the woods of Oustiza. We should have turned and 
 overpowered at the beginning the left of the enemy with an irresistible 
 mass. We should have forced them to have changed their front par- 
 allel to the highway to Moscow and the Moscow river, which would 
 have been back of them. There was in this open space but four 
 weak regiments of Chasseurs, ambushed in the underbrush, so that 
 success seemed not doubtful," etc. — Jomini, Vie Politique et Mili- 
 taire de Napoleon, t. v., page 230, et suiv. 
 
126 NAPOLEON. 
 
 his twenty-second wound ; Desaix replaced him and was 
 struck in his turn ; the horse of Davoust was killed by 
 a cannon-ball ; the Prince of Ekmuhl rolled in the 
 mire ; they believed him killed ; he got up again and 
 remounted ; he had escaped with a simple bruise. 
 
 Rapp had himself carried before the Emperor. 
 
 " What, Rapp ! " said Napoleon, " again wounded ? " 
 
 " Always, Sire. Your majesty knows that it is my 
 habit." 
 
 " What is going on there on the heights ? " 
 
 " Wonders ! But it will be necessary to have the 
 Guard to give the finishing touch." 
 
 " I will not give it," replied Napoleon with a move- 
 ment not unlike fright. " I do not wish to weaken it. 
 I will gain the battle without it." 
 
 Then Ney, with his three divisions, rushed into the 
 plain and, forming en echelon, threw himself at the head 
 of the L6dru Division on that fatal redoubt, which had 
 already caused the Compans Division to be widowed of 
 its three generals. He entered on the left, whilst the 
 brave ones, who had commenced the attack, were scal- 
 ing it on the right. 
 
 Ney and Murat sent forth the Razout Division against 
 the other two redoubts. It was on the point of taking 
 possession of them when it was charged by the Russian 
 Cuirassiers. There was a moment of hesitation ; the 
 infantry stopped but did not retreat ; the cavalry of 
 Bruyfere came to its aid ; the Russian Cuirassiers were 
 repulsed ; Murat and Razout sprang forward ; the in- 
 trenchments were theirs. 
 
 Two hours were passed in these attacks. Napoleon 
 was astonished at not hearing the cannon of Poniatow- 
 sky, and at not seeing any movement, which gave notice 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. 127 
 
 of a diversion in the camp of the enemy. During this 
 time Koutousof, who could easily discover the great 
 masses ready to rush on his left, led there the corps of 
 Bagawout. One of its divisions marched to Oustiza ; 
 the other threw itself into the undergrowth. At this 
 moment Poniatowsky returned. He had not been able 
 to find any path in the forest. Napoleon sent him to 
 form the extreme right of Davoust. 
 
 In the meantime the left of the Russian line had been 
 broken and the plain was opened ; the three redoubts 
 were Ney's, Murat's, and Davoust's ; but Bagration 
 continued to remain in a threatening attitude and was 
 receiving reinforcements upon reinforcements. It was 
 necessary to hasten to throw him behind the ravine of 
 Semenofskoe or he might again take the offensive. All 
 the artillery which could be dragged into the redoubt 
 was brought there to sustain the movement. Ney threw 
 himself in advance followed by from fifteen to twenty 
 thousand men. 
 
 Instead of waiting for him Bagration, who feared 
 being driven back by the shock, rushed to the head of 
 his line and marched towards him with lowered bayo- 
 nets. The two masses met ; the fight commenced hand 
 to hand ; it was a duel between forty thousand men. 
 Bagration was grieviously wounded, and the Russian 
 troops, deprived for a moment of direction, gave way in 
 flight. Konowitzine took command, brought them back 
 again to the ravine of Semenofskoe, and, protected by a 
 well-placed artillery, stopped the enthusiastic attack of 
 our columns. Murat and Ney were exhausted ; both 
 had made superhuman efforts. They sent to Napoleon 
 to ask for reinforcements. The Emperor ordered the 
 Young Guard to march. They put themselves in motion, 
 
128 NAPOLEON. 
 
 but almost immediately, upon casting his eyes upon 
 Borodino and seeing some regiments of the soldiers of 
 Eugene driven by the cavalry of Ouwarof, he believed 
 that the whole corps of the Viceroy was in retreat, and 
 ordered the Young Guard to stop. In place of the 
 Young Guard he sent to Ney and Murat all the guns in 
 reserve ; one hundred pieces of cannon rushed forth at 
 full speed to take position on the conquered heights. 
 
 This was what had taken place on Eugene's side. 
 
 After having been held nearly an hour in suspense by 
 the affray of the Plausonne Brigade, the Viceroy had 
 crossed the Kalouga on four little bridges built by the 
 engineers. Scarcely was he on the other bank when he 
 hastened obliquely to the right to take the great redoubt 
 situated between Borodino and Semenofskoe, which pro- 
 tected the centre of the enemy. The Morand Division 
 debouched first on the plateau, threw the 30th Regiment 
 against the redoubt, and advanced in deep columns to 
 help it. Those who composed them were old soldiers, 
 as calm under fire as on parade. They advanced, weapon 
 on arm, and without firing a shot they penetrated into 
 the redoubt notwithstanding the terrible fire of the first 
 line of Paschewitch. But the latter had foreseen the 
 emergency ; he threw himself with the second line upon 
 the flanks of the column ; Yermolof advanced with a 
 brigade of the Guards to help him. On seeing the relief 
 that was coming the first line turned around completely ; 
 the Morand Division was caught in a triangle of fire ; 
 it drew back, leaving General Bonami and the 30th Regi- 
 ment in the redoubt. Bonami was killed there ; half of 
 the 30th fell around him. It was at this moment that 
 Napoleon saw some regiments repass the Kalouga ; he 
 believed his line of retreat threatened, and restrained his 
 Young Guard. 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. 1 29 
 
 However, Koutousof profited by the moment of hesita- 
 tion, which he had seen in Ney and Murat. Whilst they 
 stiffened up to preserve their position, the enemy's Gen- 
 eral called to the relief of his left all his reserves, even 
 the Russian Guard. Thanks to all these reinforcements, 
 Konowitzine, who had replaced Bagration, wounded, 
 re-formed his line. His right rested against the large 
 redoubt, which Eugene attacked ; his left touched the 
 woods. Fifty thousand men were massed en bloc and 
 put in motion to drive us back ; their artillery thundered ; 
 their firing crackled ; balls and bullets mangled our 
 ranks. The soldiers of Friant, placed in the first line, 
 assailed by a shower of grape-shot, hesitated, became 
 confused. A colonel grew disheartened and ordered a 
 retreat, but Murat, who was everywhere, was behind him. 
 Murat stopped him, seized him by the collar, and looking 
 him in the face said : 
 
 " What are you doing ? " 
 
 " You see well that one cannot stand here," answered 
 the colonel, pointing to the ground covered with his 
 men. 
 
 " Well, I myself stand here," responded Murat. 
 
 " You are right," said the colonel. " Soldiers, for- 
 ward ! Let us go to slay." And he took up again his 
 position under the grape-shot with his regiment. 
 
 At this time our redoubts blazed up ; eighty new 
 pieces of cannon firing at one time. The relief expected 
 by Murat and Ney had arrived ; the kind only had 
 changed but it was more terrible. 
 
 Nevertheless the masses, thickset and deep, were put 
 
 in motion, continued to march, and as they approached 
 
 one could see our bullets enter their ranks making deep 
 
 holes. No matter, they came on. But the bullets were 
 
 9 
 
130 NAPOLEON. 
 
 followed by grape-shot. Crushed under the hurricane 
 of fire they tried to re-form ; the deadly rain redoubled ; 
 they stopped, dared not advance farther, but nevertheless 
 would not take a step backwards. They no longer 
 listened to the commands of their generals. Their 
 generals, unqualified to manoeuvre so large a body of 
 men, lost their heads. Be that as it may, forty thousand 
 men were there, who suffered themselves to be crushed 
 for two hours. It was a frightful massacre, a butchery 
 without end. One came to tell Ney and Murat that the 
 ammunition was being used up. The victors were the 
 first to get tired out. 
 
 Ney thrust himself forward again, extending his right 
 line in order to turn the left of the enemy. Murat and 
 Davoust helped this movement. The bayonet and the 
 musketry fire destroyed those who escaped from the 
 artillery. The left of the Russian army was annihilated. 
 The victors united in an outcry calling the Guard, re- 
 turning towards the centre and hastening to the aid of 
 Eugene. All prepared to attack the large redoubt. 
 
 Montbrun, whose corps was placed directly in front 
 of the enemy's centre, marched upon it at quick pace. 
 Scarcely had he gone a quarter of the way when he was 
 cut in two by a cannon-ball. Caulaincourt replaced him. 
 He put himself at the head of the 5th Cuirassiers and 
 precipitated himself upon the redoubt at the same time 
 when the Morand, Gdrard, and Bourcier Divisions, sus- 
 tained by the Legions of the Vistula, attacked it from 
 three sides at once. At the moment he entered it he 
 fell mortally wounded. At the same instant his brave 
 regiment, cut to pieces by the fire of Ostermann's infantry 
 and the Russian Guard placed behind the fortifications, 
 was compelled to retreat and re-form under the protec- 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. 131 
 
 tion of our columns. But at this moment Eugene ar- 
 rived in his turn at the head of his three divisions, took 
 possession of it, and captured General Lichatschefs. 
 Immediately, while establishing himself there, he sent 
 the Corps of Grouchy upon the remnants of the bat- 
 tahons of Doctorof. The Horse Guard and the Russian 
 Guard advanced to meet ours. Grouchy was compelled 
 to make a retrograde movement, but this movement had 
 given time to Belliard to get together thirty pieces of 
 artillery, which were in battery in the redoubt. 
 
 Then the Russians re-formed with the same obstinacy 
 that they had already shown. Their generals brought 
 them back. They approached in close columns to re- 
 take the redoubt for which we had paid so dear. 
 Eugene let them approach to within musket range 
 and then unmasked his thirty pieces. They fired all 
 at one time. The Russians whirled an instant and 
 re-formed again. This time they approached as far as 
 the mouths of the pieces, which crushed them by their 
 fire. Eugene, Murat, and Ney sent messenger after 
 messenger to Napoleon. They demanded vehemently 
 the Guard. The enemy would be entirely destroyed 
 if Napoleon would agree with them. Belliard, Daru, 
 and Berthier urged it. 
 
 " And if there be a second battle to-morrow," he 
 answered, " with what will I fight it ? " 
 
 Victory and the field of battle were ours, but we could 
 not pursue the enemy, who retired under our fire, with- 
 out discontinuing theirs, and soon stopped and rein- 
 trenched themselves in a second position. 
 
 Then Napoleon mounted his horse, advanced towards 
 Semenofskoe, visited the entire field of battle, where 
 came still from time to time some ricochetted spent balls. 
 
132 NAPOLEON. 
 
 Finally, calling Mortier, he ordered him to make the 
 Young Guard advance, but not to go beyond the new 
 ravine, which separated it from the enemy. Then he 
 returned to his tent. 
 
 At ten o'clock in the evening Murat, who had fought 
 since six o'clock in the morning, hastened to announce 
 that the enemy had passed the Moscow River in disorder 
 and were going to escape him again. He demanded the 
 Guard, which had not done a day's work, and with 
 which he promised to overtake and thoroughly rout the 
 Russians. But this time, like the others, Napoleon 
 refused, and let this army, which he was in such a great 
 hurry to meet, run away again. The next day it had 
 entirely disappeared, leaving Napoleon master of the 
 most horrible battle-field that had, perhaps, ever existed. 
 Sixty thousand men, of whom a third belonged to us, 
 were lying there. We had nine generals killed and 
 thirty-four wounded. Our losses were immense and 
 without proportionate results. 
 
 On the 14th of September the French army entered 
 Moscow. 
 
 Everything in this war was gloomy, even victory. 
 Our soldiers were used to entering into capitals and not 
 into cities of the dead. Moscow resembled a vast tomb, 
 everywhere deserted and everywhere silent. Napoleon 
 established himself at the Kremlin, and the army scat- 
 tered throughout the city. Then night came. 
 
 In the middle of the night Napoleon was awakened 
 by the cry of " Fire ! " Red glimmerings penetrating 
 as far as his bed, he ran to his window ; Moscow was in 
 flames. Erostratus sublime,' Rostopchine had at the 
 same time immortalized his name and saved his country. 
 
 ' Erostratus was the incendiary of the Temple of Diana at Ephesus. 
 —J. B. L. 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. 133 
 
 It was necessary to escape from that sea of flames, 
 which rose up like a tide. On the i6th Napoleon, sur- 
 rounded by ruins and enveloped by fire, was forced to 
 leave the Kremlin and to withdraw to the Chateau of 
 Peteroskoi. There he commenced his struggle with his 
 generals, who counselled him to retire while he yet had 
 time, and to abandon his fatal conquest. At this strange 
 and unaccustomed language he hesitated and turned his 
 eyes alternately towards Paris and towards St. Petersburg. 
 One hundred and fifty leagues only separated him from 
 the latter ; eight hundred leagues from the former ; to 
 march upon St. Petersburg was to establish his victory ; 
 to retreat to Paris was to acknowledge his defeat. 
 
 During this time winter had arrived and no longer 
 advised but ordered. On the isth, i6th, 17th, and 18th 
 of October the sick ones were sent to Mojaisk and Smo- 
 lensk. On the 2 2d Napoleon left Moscow. On the 
 23d the Kremlin was blown up. For eleven days the 
 retreat proceeded without too great disaster, when sud- 
 denly, on the 7th of November, the thermometer de- 
 scended from five to eighteen degrees below zero ; and 
 the 29th bulletin, bearing the date of the 14th, carried 
 to Paris news of unknown disasters, which the French 
 would not have believed if they had not been related to 
 them by their Emperor himself. 
 
 Reckoning from that day it was a disaster which 
 equalled our greatest victories ; it was Cambyses envel- 
 oped in the sands of Ammon ; it was Xerxes repassing 
 the Hellespont in a small boat ; it was Varron bringing 
 back to Rome the remnants of the Army of Cannes. Of 
 the seventy thousand horsemen, who had crossed the 
 Nidmen, scarcely could they form four companies of 
 one hundred and fifty men each, to serve as an escort 
 for Napoleon. It was a consecrated battalion ; officers 
 
134 NAPOLEON. 
 
 took the rank of mere soldiers, colonels were under- 
 officers, generals were captains. There was a Marshal 
 for colonel, a King for general ; and the trust which 
 was committed to it, the palladium which was to be 
 preserved, was an Emperor. 
 
 As for the remainder of the army, do you want to 
 know what became of it in those vast marshy steppes, 
 between that sky of snow, which weighed upon its head, 
 and those frozen lakes, which broke down underneath it ? 
 
 Listen ! 
 
 " Generals, ofScers, and soldiers, all were in the same 
 accoutrements and were marching in a confused mass ; 
 the excess of misfortune had made all grades disappear ; 
 cavalry, artillery, infantry, all were helter-skelter. 
 
 " The most of them had upon their shoulders a wallet 
 filled with flour, and were carrying, hanging at their 
 sides, a pot attached to a cord ; others were dragging 
 by the bridle shadows of horses on which were loaded 
 the paraphernalia of the kitchen and the wretched pro- 
 visions. 
 
 " These horses were themselves provisions, so much 
 the more precious because they did not have to be trans- 
 ported, and because, when they died, they served as 
 food for their masters. They did not wait for them to 
 expire to carve them ; as soon as they fell soldiers threw 
 themselves upon them to carry off the fleshy parts. 
 
 " The largest part of the corps of the army was dis- 
 solved. There had' been formed from their remnants a 
 multitude of small bodies composed of nine or ten indi- 
 viduals, who were united for the purpose of marching 
 together, and among whom all their resources were in 
 common. 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. 135 
 
 " Several of these circles had a horse to carry their 
 luggage, the kitchen paraphernalia, and the provisions ; 
 or each of the members was provided with a wallet for 
 that purpose. 
 
 " These little communities, entirely separated from 
 the general mass, had a kind of isolated existence, and 
 thrust away from their midst all who were not a part of 
 themselves. All the members of the family walked close 
 together and took the greatest care not to be separated 
 in the midst of the crowd. Woe to the one who had 
 lost his coterie. He found nowhere any one who would 
 take the least interest in him or who would give him the 
 slightest relief. Everywhere he was rigorously turned 
 away. They hounded him without pity from every 
 place where he wished to take shelter. He ceased not 
 to be assailed even when he succeeded in rejoining his 
 own. Napoleon saw pass before his eyes this mass, 
 truly incredible, of fugitives and disorganized men. 
 
 " Picture to yourself, if it is possible, one hundred 
 thousand poor wretches, shoulders burdened with wal- 
 lets, supported by long staffs, covered with rags most 
 grotesquely arranged, swarming with vermin, and given 
 up to all the horrors of famine. To these accoutrements, 
 which were evidence of the most frightful misery, let 
 one add countenances sunken under the weight of so 
 many misfortunes ; let one picture to himself these 
 pallid men, covered by the earth of the bivouacs, black- 
 ened by smoke, with dim hollow eyes, hair in disorder, 
 and long and disgusting beards, and one will have but a 
 faint perception of the sight which the army presented. 
 
 " We travelled along painfully, abandoned to ourselves 
 in the midst of the snow, on roads scarcely marked out, 
 across deserts and immense forests of firs. 
 
136 NAPOLEON. 
 
 " Here, some unfortunates, weakened by long sickness 
 and hunger, succumbed under the weight of their mis- 
 fortunes and expired in the midst of torments, and a 
 prey to the most violent despair. There, they threw 
 themselves with fury upon one whom they suspected of 
 having provisions and tore them away from him, not- 
 withstanding his obstinate resistance and his frightful 
 oaths. 
 
 " On one side one heard the noise made by the crush- 
 ing of cadavers, already cut to pieces, as the horses 
 trampled them under foot or else squashed them under 
 the wheels of the vehicles ; on the other, cries and 
 groans of victims, whose strength had given out and who, 
 lying on the road and struggling with effort against the 
 most terrible agony, died ten times while waiting for 
 death. 
 
 " Further on, groups, gathered around the cadaver of 
 a horse, were fighting among themselves in contending 
 for the pieces. Whilst some cut the fleshy exterior parts, 
 others plunged into the entrails up to their waists in 
 order to tear out the heart and liver. 
 
 " On all sides sinister figures, frightened, mutilated by 
 freezing ; everywhere, in a word, consternation, suffer- 
 ing, famine, and death. 
 
 " In order to bear the injuries from these frightful 
 calamities which weighed upon our heads, it was nec- 
 essary to have been favored with a spirit of energy, and 
 resolute courage. It was indispensable that the moral 
 force should increase in proportion as the circumstances 
 became more perilous. To permit oneself to be affected 
 by the sight of the deplorable scenes which one witnessed 
 was to condemn oneself. One should then shut his 
 heart to all sentiments of pity. Those who were fortu- 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. 137 
 
 nate enough to find inside of themselves, a force of re- 
 action sufficient to resist so much misfortune, developed 
 the coldest insensibilty and the most imperturbable 
 firmness. 
 
 " In the midst of the horrors with which they were sur- 
 rounded one saw them, calm and intrepid, bearing vicis- 
 situdes, braving all dangers, and, by dint of seeing death 
 present itself before them under the most hideous forms, 
 accustomed, so to speak, to look it in the face without fear. 
 
 " Deaf to the cries of grief, which resounded in their 
 ears from all sides as some unfortunate succumbed before 
 their eyes, they turned aside coldly, and, without feeling 
 the least emotion, continued on their way. 
 
 " Thus these unfortunate victims remained abandoned 
 upon the snow, raising themselves up as long as they had 
 any strength, then falling back again insensible, without 
 receiving from any one a word of encouragement, with- 
 out any one even considering it his duty to give them 
 the slightest relief. We marched constantly at quick 
 pace, silent and with lowered heads, and we did not stop 
 until night closed in around us. 
 
 " Tired out by fatigue and want, it was yet necessary 
 that each of us should then busy himself with fervor to 
 find, if not a lodging, at least shelter from the severity 
 of the north wind. They rushed into the houses, barns, 
 sheds, and all the buildings which they encountered. 
 At the end of some moments they would be heaped up 
 there in such a way that they could neither go in nor 
 come out. Those who could not get in, settled them- 
 selves outside behind the walls nearby. Their first care 
 was to procure wood and straw for their bivouac. To 
 this end they climbed over the surrounding houses and 
 took away, first the roof ; then, when it was not sufficient, 
 
138 NAPOLEON. 
 
 they carried away the joists of the garrets, the partitions ; 
 and finished by tearing the building into pieces, razing 
 it completely, notwithstanding the opposition of those 
 who had taken refuge there and who defended it with 
 all their power. If they were not in this manner driven 
 away from the cottages where they sought refuge, they 
 ran great risk of being devoured by the flames, for very 
 often when they could not get into the houses they set 
 them on fire to make those who were inside come out. 
 It was especially so when the general officers had taken 
 possession after having driven away the first occupants. 
 
 " It was necessary then to resolve to go into bivouac. 
 Thus, instead of lodging in the houses, they formed the 
 habit of completely demolishing them and scattering the 
 material in the midst of the fields to construct separate 
 shelters. As soon as they had made provision for them- 
 selves as far as circumstances permitted, they lighted a 
 fire, and each of the members of the coterie hastened to 
 co-operate in the preparation of a meal. 
 
 " Whilst some were occupied in making a pap, others 
 made biscuits, which they cooked under the ashes. Each 
 one drew out of his own wallet slices of horse meat, 
 which they had preserved, and threw them on the coals 
 to roast. 
 
 " The pap was the most ordinary food. Now this was 
 how the pap was made. As it was impossible to procure 
 water, because ice covered all the springs and marshes, 
 they melted in a kettle a sufficient quantity of snow to 
 produce the volume of water of which they had need ; 
 they afterwards mixed in this water, which was black 
 and muddy, a portion of flour more or less course, with 
 which they had been provided, and thickened this mixt- 
 ure until it was of the consistency of pap ; next they 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. 139 
 
 seasoned it with salt, or when that failed they threw into 
 it two or three cartridges, which, by giving to it the taste 
 of powder, took away its extreme insipidity and colored 
 it a dark tint, making it resemble much the black soup 
 of the Spartans. 
 
 " During the preparation of this soup they overloaded 
 the embers with horse flesh, cut into fillets, which they 
 seasoned equally with gunpowder. When the repast was 
 finished, each one soon fell asleep, overpowered with 
 fatigue, and weakened by the weight of his misfortunes, 
 to recommence the next day the same kind of life. 
 
 " At daybreak, without any military instrument giving 
 the signal of departure, the entire mass rose spontane- 
 ously from its bivouac and took up again its movement." ' 
 
 Twenty days elapsed thus. During these twenty days 
 the army lost on the road two hundred thousand men 
 and five hundred pieces of cannon. Then they reached 
 B^resina like a torrent to a whirlpool. 
 
 On the 5th of December, whilst the remainder of the 
 army were in the pangs of death at Vilna, Napoleon, at 
 the instance of the King of Naples, of the Viceroy of 
 Italy and of his principal generals, left Smorgoni in a 
 sledge for France. The cold had then reached twenty- 
 seven degrees below zero. 
 
 In the evening of the i8th Napoleon appeared at the 
 gates of the Tuileries in an old calash. They at first 
 refused to open for him. Everybody supposed him still 
 at Vilna. 
 
 The third day the Grands Corps de I'J^tat' came to 
 congratulate him on his arrival. 
 
 ■ Relation du sieur Rene Bourgeois. 
 
 ' The Senate, the Supreme Court, the Chamber of Deputies, etc. 
 —J. B. L. 
 
I40 NAPOLEON. 
 
 On the 1 2th of January, a decree of the Senate placed 
 at the disposal of the Minister of War three hundred 
 and fifty thousand conscripts. 
 
 On the loth of March, they learned of the defection 
 of Prussia. 
 
 During four months all France was a place of war. 
 
 On the 15th of April, Napoleon left Paris again at the 
 head of his young legions. 
 
 On the ist of May, he was at Lutzen ready to attack 
 the combined Russian and Prussian army with two 
 hundred and fifty thousand men, of which two hundred 
 thousand belonged to France and fifty thousand were 
 Saxons, Bavarians, Westphalians, Wurtembergians, and 
 of the Grand Duchy of Berg. The giant whom they 
 believed humbled had risen anew. Antsus had touched 
 the earth. As usual his first blows were terrible and 
 decisive. The combined armies left on the battle-field 
 of Lutzen fifteen thousand men, killed or wounded, and 
 in the hands of the victors, two thousand prisoners. The 
 young recruits had placed themselves on a level with 
 the old troops at the first stroke. Napoleon had exposed 
 himself like an under-lieutenant. 
 
 The next day he addressed to his army the following 
 proclamation : 
 
 " Soldiers ! I am satisfied with you. You have ful- 
 filled my expectations. The battle of Lutzen will be 
 placed above the battles of Austerlitz, Jena, Friedland, 
 and Moscow. In a single day you have counteracted 
 all the parricidal plots of our enemies. We will throw 
 back the Tartars into their horrible climate, which they 
 must not leave. Let them remain in their deserts of ice, 
 habitation of slavery, barbarity, and corruption, where 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. I41 
 
 man is put down on a level with the brute. You deserve 
 well from civilized Europe. Soldiers, Italy, France, 
 Germany return you thanks." 
 
 The victory of Lutzen opened again to the King of 
 Saxony the gates of Dresden. On the 8th of May, the 
 French army preceded him there. On the 9th, the 
 Emperor had a bridge thrown over the Elbe, behind 
 which the enemy had withdrawn. On the 20th, he 
 reached them and forced them into an intrenched posi- 
 tion at Bautzen. On the 21st, he continued the victory 
 of the day before, and in these two days, during which 
 Napoleon displayed the most skilful movements of 
 strategy, the Russians and Prussians lost eighteen thou- 
 sand men, killed or wounded, and three thousand 
 prisoners. 
 
 The next day, in a bad engagement of the rear-guard. 
 General Bruyere had both of his legs carried away : 
 General Kirgener of the cavalry and General Duroc 
 were killed by the same shot. 
 
 The combined armies were in full retreat ; they had 
 crossed the Neisse, the Queiss, and the Bober, frightened 
 anew by the fight at Sprotteau, where Sdbastiani captured 
 twenty-two cannon, eighty caissons, and five hundred 
 men. Napoleon followed step by step, and did not 
 give them a moment's repose ; their camps of the day 
 before were our bivouacs of the next day. 
 
 On the 29th Count Schouvalow, aide-de-camp of the 
 Emperor of Russia, and the Prussian General Kleist, 
 appeared at the outposts to solicit an armistice. 
 
 On the 30th a new conference was held at the Chateau 
 Liegnitz, but without resulting in any good. 
 
 Austria was meditating a change of alliance. In order 
 
142 NAPOLEON. 
 
 to remain neutral for the longest possible time, she 
 offered herself as a mediator and was accepted. The 
 result of her mediation was an armistice, concluded at 
 Pleissvvitz on the 4th of June. 
 
 A Congress assembled soon after at Prague to nego- 
 tiate peace ; but peace was impossible. The Con- 
 federated Powers demanded that the Empire should 
 confine its frontiers to the Rhine, the Alps, and the 
 Meuse. Napoleon looked upon these claims as an in- 
 sult ; all was broken off ; Austria went over to the 
 coalition ; and the war, which alone could end that 
 great contest, began again. 
 
 The adversaries appeared again on the field of battle. 
 The French with three hundred thousand men, of which 
 forty thousand were cavalry, occupied the heart of 
 Saxony, on the right bank of the Elbe. The Allied 
 Sovereigns, with five hundred thousand men, of which 
 one hundred thousand were cavalry, threatened on three 
 sides, from Berlin, Silesia, and Bohemia. Napoleon, 
 without stopping to calculate this enormous numerical 
 difference, took again the offensive with his usual ra- 
 pidity. He divided his army into three masses, pushing 
 one on Berlin, where it was to operate against the Prus- 
 sians and Swedes ; left the second stationary at Dresden 
 to watch the Russian army in Bohemia ; and, finally, he 
 himself marched with the third against Bliicher, leaving 
 a reserve at Littaw. 
 
 Blucher was overtaken and thrown back, but Na- 
 poleon^ in the midst of the chase, which he was giving 
 his enemy, learned that the sixty thousand French, 
 which he had left at Dresden, had been attacked by one 
 hundred and eighty thousand allied troops. He de- 
 tached from the body of his army thirty-five thousand 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. 143 
 
 men. Whilst the enemy believed him to be in pursuit 
 of Blucher he arrived, rapid as the lightning, deadly as 
 the thunderbolt. On August 29th, the Allies attacked 
 Dresden again, and were repulsed. The next day they 
 returned to the attack with all their forces. Their 
 forces were shattered, broken, annihilated. All that 
 army, which fought under the eyes of Alexander, was in 
 an instant threatened with total destruction, and suc- 
 ceeded in escaping only after having left forty thousand 
 men on the battle-field. 
 
 It was at this battle that Moreau had both his 
 legs carried away by one of the first shots fired by 
 the Imperial Guard, and aimed by Napoleon himself. 
 Then was brought about the usual reaction. The next 
 day after this butchery an agent of Austria appeared at 
 Dresden bearing friendly words, but whilst negotiations 
 were pending, they learned that the army of Silesia, 
 which had been left to pursue Blucher, had lost twenty- 
 five thousand men ; that the army which marched on 
 Berlin had been beaten by Bernadotte ; and, finally, 
 that nearly all the corps of General Vandamme, who 
 pursued the Russians and Austrians with an army less 
 by one third than theirs, had been forced back by that 
 mass, which, stopping an instant in its flight, had recog- 
 nized the inferiority of its enemy. 
 
 Thus commenced in 1813 that famous campaign of 
 1814, in which, wherever Napoleon himself was he was 
 victorious ; and wherever he was not, he was defeated. 
 
 At this news the negotiations were broken off. 
 
 Napoleon, scarcely recovered from an indisposition be- 
 lieved to be from poisoning, marched immediately upon 
 Magdeburg. His intention was to make an attack on 
 Berlin and take possession of it, in repassing the Elbe at 
 
144 NAPOLEON. 
 
 Wittemburg. Several corps had already arrived in that 
 city, when a letter from the King of Wurtemberg an- 
 nounced that Bavaria had changed sides, and that, with- 
 out a declaration of war, without preliminary notice, the 
 two armies, Austrian and Bavarian, reunited, had camped 
 on the banks of the Inn ; that eight thousand men 
 under the orders of General Vrede were marching to- 
 wards the Rhine ; finally, that Wurtemberg, always 
 faithful in its alliances, but compelled by a similar mass, 
 had been forced to furnish its contingent to the Allies. 
 In a fortnight one hundred thousand men would sur- 
 round Mayence. 
 
 Austria had set the example of defection, and the 
 example had been followed. 
 
 Napoleon's plan, meditated on for two months, and 
 for which everything had already been prepared, for- 
 tresses and stores, was changed in an hour. Instead of 
 throwing the Allies between the Elbe and the Saale by 
 manoeuvring under the protection of the fortifications 
 and magazines of Torgau, Wittemberg, Magdeburg, and 
 Hamburg ; instead of carrying on the war between the 
 Elbe and the Oder, where the French army had posses- 
 sion of Glaugau, Custrin, and Stettin, Napoleon decided 
 to retire upon the Rhine. But first it was necessary for 
 him to defeat the Allies in order to remove the possi- 
 bility of pursuit in his retreat. He, therefore, marched 
 towards them instead of fleeing from them ; and, on 
 October i6th, he encountered them at Leipsic. The 
 French and the Allies met face to face. The French 
 with one hundred and fifty-seven thousand combatants 
 and six hundred pieces of cannon ; the Allies with three 
 hundred and fifty thousand men and an artillery double 
 that of ours. 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. 145 
 
 That very day they fought eight hours. The French 
 army was victorious, but a part of the army that was ex- 
 pected to come from Dresden to complete the defeat of 
 the enemy, did not arrive. We, however, slept on the 
 battle-field. 
 
 On the 17th the Russians and Austrians received a 
 reinforcement. 
 
 On the 1 8th that army attacked in its turn. 
 
 For four hours the fight was victoriously maintained, 
 but suddenly thirty thousand Saxons, who occupied one 
 of the most important positions in the line, went over 
 to the enemy and wheeled around sixty pieces of 
 ordnance. All seemed lost ; as the defection was unex- 
 pected, so was the change terrible. 
 
 Napoleon hastened with one half of his Guard, at- 
 tacked the Saxons, chased them before him, retook from 
 them a part of his artillery, and destroyed them with the 
 cannon they had themselves loaded. The Allies made 
 a retrograde movement. They had lost in these two 
 days one hundred and fifty thousand men of their best 
 troops. That night again we slept upon the battle-field. 
 
 The cannon, if they had not established a complete 
 equality, had at least done away with the great dispro- 
 portion in numbers, and a third battle presented itself 
 with all the chances favorable, when some one came to 
 announce to Napoleon that there remained in the packs 
 but sixteen thousand charges. They had fired two hun- 
 dred and twenty thousand during the last two battles. 
 It became necessary to think of retreat. The result of 
 the two victories was lost. He had sacrificed to no pur- 
 pose fifty thousand men. 
 
 At two o'clock in the morning the retrograde move- 
 ment commenced and was directed upon Leipsic. The 
 
146 NAPOLEON. 
 
 army retired behind the Elster in order to open commu- 
 nication with Erfurth, whence it expected the needed 
 ammunition. But its retreat was not carried on so 
 mysteriously that the AlHed army was not awakened by 
 the noise. It believed at first that it was going to be at- 
 tacked and put itself on guard, but soon it learned the 
 truth. The victorious French were retiring. It was 
 ignorant of the cause, but it profited by their retreat. 
 At daybreak the Alhes attacked the rear-guard and 
 entered with it into Leipsic. Our soldiers turned 
 around, faced the enemy, and fought step by step to 
 give the army time to cross the only bridge over the 
 Elster on which the retreat could be effected. Suddenly 
 a terrible report was heard. They were disquieted. 
 They made inquiries and learned that a sergeant, with- 
 out having received any orders from his chief, had 
 blown up the bridge. Forty thousand French, pursued 
 by two hundred thousand Russians and Austrians, were 
 separated from the army by a river that flows like a 
 torrent. It was necessary that they should surrender or 
 be killed. One part of them was drowned. The other 
 buried themselves under the ruins of the Faubourg de 
 Ranstad. 
 
 On the 20th the French army arrived at Weissenfels 
 and commenced recovering itself. Prince Poniatow- 
 sky. Generals Vial, Dumoutier, and Rochambeau were 
 drowned or killed ; the Prince of Moscow, the Duke of 
 Raguse, Generals Souham, Compans, Latour-Maubourg 
 and Friedrichs were wounded ; Prince Emile of Darm- 
 stadt, the Count of Hochberg, Generals Lauriston, 
 Delmas, Rozniecky, Krasinsky, Valory, Bertrand, Dor- 
 senne, d'Etzko, Colomy, Bronikowsky, Siwowitz, Mala- 
 kowsky, Rautenstrauch and Stockhorn were prisoners. 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. I47 
 
 We had left in the Elster and the faubourgs of the 
 city ten thousand dead, fifteen thousand prisoners, one 
 hundred and fifty pieces of cannon and five hundred 
 wagons. 
 
 As for those who remained of the confederated troops, 
 they had deserted during the march from Leipsic to 
 Valenciennes. 
 
 At Erfurth, where it arrived on the 23d, the French 
 army was reduced to its own forces, numbering nearly 
 eighty thousand men. 
 
 On the 28th on arriving at Schluchtern, Napoleon ob- 
 tained positive information of the movements of the 
 Austro-Bavarian army'; it had made forced marches, and 
 had arrived on the Mein. 
 
 On the 30th the French army met it, prepared for 
 battle before Hanau, and intercepting the road to 
 Frankfort. The French passed through it, killing six 
 thousand men, and crossed the Rhine on the 5th, 6th, 
 and 7th of November. 
 
 On the 9th, Napoleon returned to Paris. 
 
 There defections followed him ; from the exterior 
 they extended into the interior. After Russia, Germany ; 
 after Germany, Italy ; after Italy, France. 
 
 The battle of Hanau had given occasion for new 
 conferences. Baron Saint-Aignan, Prince Metternich, 
 Count Nesselrode, and Lord Aberdeen had met again at 
 Frankfort. Napoleon could have obtained peace by 
 abandoning the Confederation of the Rhine, by renoun- 
 cing Poland and the Departments of the Elbe ; France 
 to remain within its natural boundaries, the Alps and 
 the Rhine : after that they would discuss a frontier in 
 Italy, which would separate us from the House of 
 Austria. 
 
148 NAPOLEON. 
 
 Napoleon assented to these plans and put before the 
 Senate and Corps Legislatif documents relating to the 
 negotiations, declaring that he was disposed to make the 
 sacrifices demanded. The Corps Legislatif, displeased 
 because Napoleon had imposed upon it a President 
 without presenting candidates, nominated a commission 
 of five members to examine these acts. These five 
 committee-men, distinguished for their opposition to the 
 Imperial System, were Messrs. Lain6, Gallois, Flauger- 
 gues, Raynouard, and Maine de Biran. They made an 
 address in which reappeared, after eleven years of obliv- 
 ion, the word " Liberty." Napoleon tore up the address 
 and dismissed the Corps Legislatif. During this time 
 the true intentions of the Allied Sovereigns came to 
 light amidst their delusive protocols. They had only 
 wished, as at Prague, to gain time. They again broke 
 off the conferences, appointing another Congress at 
 Chatillon-sur-Seine. This was, at one and the same 
 time, a defiance and an insult. Napoleon accepted the 
 one and prepared to avenge the other, and on the 25th 
 of January, 1814 he left Paris, leaving his wife and 
 son under the protection of the officers of the National 
 Guard. 
 
 The Empire was invaded at all points. The Aus- 
 trians advanced into Italy ; the English passed the 
 Bidassoa and had appeared upon the summits of the 
 Pyrenees ; Schwartzemberg, with the great army one 
 hundred and fifty thousand men strong, was coming 
 through Switzerland ; Bliicher had entered by Frank- 
 fort with one hundred and thirty thousand Prussians ; 
 Bernadotte had invaded Holland and was entering Bel- 
 gium with ten thousand Swedes and Saxons. Seven 
 hundred thousand men, trained by their very defeats 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. 
 
 149 
 
 in the great school of Napoleonic war, were advan- 
 cing into the heart of France, passing by all fortified 
 places and responding the one to the other by the 
 single cry " Paris ! Paris ! " 
 
 Napoleon stood alone against the whole world. He 
 had scarcely one hundred and fifty thousand men to 
 oppose these immense masses. But he had recovered, 
 if not the confidence, at least the spirit of his early years. 
 The campaign of 1814 was his masterpiece of strategy. 
 
 At a glance he saw all ; comprehended all ; and, as 
 much as it was within the power of a man, he was pre- 
 pared for everything. Maison was charged to stop 
 Bernadotte in Belgium ; Augereau to march and stop 
 the Austrians at Lyons ; Soult was to hold the English 
 behind the Loire ; Eugene was to defend Italy ; for him- 
 self, he was to look after Bliicher and Schwartzemberg. 
 
 He threw himself between them with sixty thousand 
 men, hastened from one army to the other, crushed 
 Bliicher at Champeaubert, at Montmirail, at Chdteau- 
 Thierry and at Montereau. In ten days Napoleon had 
 won five victories and the Allies had lost ninety thou- 
 sand men. 
 
 Then negotiations were renewed at Chatillon-sur- 
 Seine ; but the AUied Sovereigns, more and more unrea- 
 sonable, proposed unacceptable conditions. It was no 
 longer only the conquests of Napoleon they pressed him 
 to abandon ; it was the limits of the Republic he must 
 exchange for those of the old monarchy. 
 
 Napoleon answered by one of those springs of the 
 lion which were so familiar to him. He leaped from 
 Mery-sur-Seine to Craonne, from Craonne to Reims, 
 and from Reims to Saint-Dizier. Wherever he encoun- 
 tered the enemy he chased it, overthrew it, destroyed 
 
ISO NAPOLEON. 
 
 it. But in his rear the enemy re-formed, and, although 
 always conquered, always advanced. 
 
 It was so because, wherever Napoleon was not, his 
 fortune was absent. The English entered Bordeaux ; 
 the Austrians occupied Lyons ; the Belgian army, joined 
 to the remnants of Bliicher's force, reappeared upon his 
 rear. His generals were without energy, indolent, fa- 
 tigued. Bedizened with orders, weighed down with titles, 
 gorged with gold, they no longer wished to fight. Three 
 times the Prussians, whom he believed he had at his mercy, 
 escaped him ; the first time on the left bank of the 
 Marne by a sudden freeze which hardened the mud in 
 the midst of which they would have perished ; the sec- 
 ond time on the Aisne by the surrender of Soissons, 
 which opened to them a passage forward at a moment 
 when they could no longer retreat ; finally, at Craonne, 
 through the negligence of the Duke of Raguse, who 
 allowed a part of his material to be carried away by a 
 sudden attack at night. All these omens did not escape 
 Napoleon, who saw that, notwithstanding his efforts, 
 France was slipping through his hands. Without hope 
 of preserving a throne he wished at least to obtain a 
 tomb there, and he tried, but without success, to get 
 killed at Arcis-sur-Aube and Saint-Dizier. Bullets and 
 balls were friendly to him. 
 
 On the 29th of March he received at Troyes, where he 
 had followed Wintzingerode, news that the Prussians 
 and Russians were marching in close columns on Paris. 
 
 He left immediately, arrived on the ist of April at 
 Fontainebleau, and learned that Marmont had capitu- 
 lated the day before at five o'clock in the evening, and 
 that since morning the Allies had occupied the capital. 
 
 Three courses remained for him to take. 
 
NAPOLEON EMPEROR. 151 
 
 He had still under his command fifty thousand sol- 
 diers, the bravest and most devoted in the world. To 
 be sure of their fidelity he had only to replace the old 
 generals, who had all to lose, by the young colonels, 
 who had all to gain. To his yet powerful voice the pop- 
 ulace would rise in insurrection. But then Paris would 
 be sacrificed. The Allies would burn it upon retiring, 
 and it is only a people like the Russians who can be 
 saved by such a remedy. 
 
 The second was to gain Italy by rallying the twenty- 
 five thousand men of Augereau, the eighteen thousand 
 of General Grenier, the fifteen thousand of Marshal 
 Suchet and the forty thousand of Marshal Soult. But 
 that course would bring about no result. France would 
 still be occupied by the enemy, and the greatest mis- 
 fortunes would result to her from this occupation. 
 
 There remained the third, which was to retire behind 
 the Loire and wage a partisan war. 
 
 The Allies settled his irresolution by declaring that the 
 Emperor Napoleon was the only obstacle to the general 
 peace. 
 
 This declaration left him but two resources ; to get 
 out of life after the manner of Hannibal ; or to descend 
 from the throne after the manner of Sylla. 
 
 He attempted, they say, the first ; the poison of 
 Cabanis was powerless. 
 
 Then he decided to resort to the second, and on a 
 scrap of paper, to-day lost, he wrote these lines, the most 
 important, perhaps, that a mortal hand ever traced. 
 
 " The Allied powers having proclaimed that the Em- 
 peror Napoleon was the only obstacle to the re-establish- 
 ment of peace in Europe, the Emperor Napoleon declares 
 
152 
 
 NAPOLEON. 
 
 that he renounces for himself and his heirs the throne 
 of France and Italy, because there is no personal sacri- 
 fice, even that of life, that he is not ready to make for 
 France." 
 
 For a year the world seemed empty. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 NAPOLEON AT THE ISLAND OF ELBA. 
 
 MAPOLEON was King of the island of Elba. 
 
 ^ ^ In losing the Empire of the world he had intended, 
 
 at first, to keep nothing but his misfortunes. 
 
 " Three francs a day and a horse," he had said ; " that 
 is all that is necessary for me." 
 
 So, forced by the entreaties of those who were around 
 him, when he could have taken Italy, Tuscany, Corsica, 
 he had cast his eyes on the little corner of the earth 
 where we find him. 
 
 But though neglectful of his own interests he had long 
 debated the rights of those who accompanied him. 
 There were, first, Generals Bertrand and Drouot ; the 
 one, Grand Marshal of the Palace ; the other, Aide-de- 
 camp to the Emperor ; then, General Cambronne, Major 
 of the first regiment of the Chasseurs of the Guard ; 
 Baron Jermanowsky, Major of the Polish Lancers, 
 Chevalier Malet, Cornuel, and Raoul, artillery captains, 
 Loubers, Lamourette, Hureau, and Combi, infantry cap- 
 tains ; finally, Balinsky and Schoultz, captains of the 
 Polish Lancers. 
 
 These officers commanded four hundred men, taken 
 from among the Grenadiers and Foot Chasseurs of the 
 
 153 
 
154 NAPOLEON. 
 
 Old Guard, who had obtained permission to accompany 
 their old Emperor into exile. In case of their return to 
 France, Napoleon had stipulated for them the preserva- 
 tion of their rights of citizenship. 
 
 It was on the 3d of May, 1814, at six o'clock in 
 the evening, that the frigate Undaunted dropped her 
 anchor in the roadstead of Porto-Ferrajo. 
 
 General Dalesme, who was still there in command for 
 France, went aboard immediately to render to Napoleon 
 his respectful compliments. 
 
 Count Drouot, appointed Governor of the island, pro- 
 ceeded to land in order to make himself known in this 
 cajDacity, and to take charge of the forts of Porto-Ferrajo. 
 Baron Jermanowsky, named as Commandant of the army 
 of the place, accompanied him, as well as Chevalier 
 Baillon, Quartermaster of the Palace, to prepare lodgings 
 for His Majesty. 
 
 The same evening all the authorities, the clergy, and 
 the principal inhabitants went as a deputation on board of 
 the frigate and were admitted into the presence of the 
 Emperor. 
 
 The next day, the 4th, in the morning, a detachment 
 of troops carried into the city the new flag the Emperor 
 had adopted, which was that of the island, that is to say, 
 of silver with a red band, with three bees of gold on the 
 band. It was soon hoisted on Fort Etoile in the midst 
 of salvos of artillery ; the English frigate, in its turn, 
 saluted it, as did also all the vessels which were in the 
 port. 
 
 Towards two o'clock Napoleon landed with all his 
 suite. At the moment when he put foot on the soil of 
 the island he was saluted by a hundred guns fired by the 
 artillery of the forts, and to which the English frigate 
 
NAPOLEON AT THE ISLAND OF ELBA. 155 
 
 responded by twenty-four guns and by the shouts and 
 hurrahs of all its crew. 
 
 The Emperor wore the uniform of the Colonel of the 
 Horse Chasseurs of the Guard. He had substituted on 
 his chapeau the red and white cockade of the island for 
 the tricolored cockade. 
 
 Before he entered the city he was received by the 
 authorities, the clergy, and the notables, preceded by the 
 mayor, who presented to him the keys of Porto-Ferrajo, 
 on a silver tray. The troops of the garrison were under 
 arms and formed in line ; behind them was the entire 
 population, not only of the capital, but of other cities 
 and villages, who had hastened from all corners of the 
 island. They could not believe that they were going to 
 have as a King over them, poor fishermen, the man whose 
 power, name, and exploits, had filled the world. As for 
 Napoleon he was calm, affable, and almost gay. 
 
 After responding to the mayor he repaired, with his 
 retinue, to the Cathedral, where they chanted a Te Deuin ; 
 then after leaving the church he went to the City Hall, 
 destined to serve him temporarily as a place of abode. 
 In the evening the city and the port were spontaneously 
 illuminated. 
 
 General Dalesme published the same day the following 
 proclamation drawn up by Napoleon. 
 
 " Inhabitants of the island of Elba ! Human vicissi- 
 tudes have conducted into your midst the Emperor 
 Napoleon ; his own choice gave him to you for a sover- 
 eign. Before entering your walls your new monarch 
 addressed to me the following words, which I hasten to 
 make known to you, because they are the pledge of your 
 future happiness. 
 
156 NAPOLEON. 
 
 " ' General,' said the Emperor to me, ' I have sacrificed 
 my rights to the interests of my country, and I have 
 reserved to myself the sovereignty and the ownership of 
 the island of Elba. All the Powers have consented to 
 this arrangement. In making known to the inhabitants 
 this state of things, say to them that I have chosen this 
 island for my residence in consideration of the gentleness 
 of their manners and of their climate ; assure them that 
 they will be the constant object of my liveliest interest.' 
 
 " Elbans, these words do not require any comment ; 
 they will shape your destiny. The Emperor has well 
 judged you. I owe you this justice and I give it to you. 
 
 " Inhabitants of the island of Elba, I will soon go far 
 away from you, and this absence will be painful to me ; 
 but the thought of your happiness allays the bitterness 
 of my departure ; and in any place that I may be I will 
 always preserve the remembrance of the virtues of the 
 inhabitants of the island of Elba. 
 
 " Dalesme." 
 
 The four hundred Grenadiers arrived on the 26th of 
 May ; on the 28th, General Dalesme left with the old gar- 
 rison. The island was entirely given up to its new 
 sovereign. 
 
 Napoleon could not long remain inactive. After hav- 
 ing devoted the first days to the indispensable labors of 
 his installation, he, on the i8th of May, mounted his 
 horse and visited the whole island. He wished to assure 
 himself of the condition of the agriculture and what the 
 products, more or less certain, of the island were, in 
 commerce, fishing, and the extraction of marbles and 
 metals. He inspected especially, with particular attention, 
 the quarries and mines, which were its principal riches. 
 
NAPOLEON AT THE ISLAND OF ELBA. 157 
 
 On his return to Porto-Ferrajo, after having visited 
 even the smallest village, and having given to the inhabi- 
 tants everywhere proofs of his solicitude, he occupied 
 himself in arranging his Court, and applying the public 
 revenues to the most pressing needs. These revenues 
 were composed of iron mines, which could be made to 
 pay a million of francs per annum, tunny fishing, which 
 was let for about four or five hundred thousand francs, 
 salt mines, the working of which, granted to a company, 
 would yield almost the same sum ; finally, the land tax 
 and some duties. All these productions, united to the 
 two millions he had reserved to himself upon the Great 
 Book,' would give him nearly four and a half millions 
 of revenue. 
 
 Napoleon often said that he had never been so rich. 
 
 He left the City Hall for a pretty private dwelHng, 
 which he pompously called his city palace. This house 
 was situated on a rock between forts Falcon and Etoile 
 in a bastion called the Bastion des Moulins ; it was com- 
 posed of two pavilions and a main building which joined 
 them. From its windows one commanded the city 
 and the port lying at its feet in such a way that no new 
 object could escape the eye of the master. 
 
 As for his country palace it was situated at San-Mar- 
 tino. Before his arrival it was but a cottage ; he had 
 reconstructed and furnished it with taste ; besides, the 
 Emperor never slept there ; it was a place to walk to 
 and that was all. Situated at the foot of a high moun- 
 tain, beside a mountain stream, surrounded by a meadow, 
 it took in the city lying below it in the form of an am- 
 
 • The " Great Book " was the book in which the public debts were 
 entered. It was sometimes called the " Book of the Public Debts." 
 
 —J. B. L. 
 
IS8 NAPOLEON, 
 
 phitheatre, the port couched at the foot of the city, and 
 on the horizon, beyond the vapory surface of the sea, 
 the shores of Tuscany. 
 
 At the end of six weeks Madame Mere ' arrived at the 
 island of Elba, and some days after, the Princess Pauline. 
 The latter had rejoined the Emperor at Frejus and had 
 desired to embark with him, but she was then so poorly 
 that her physician was opposed to it. The English cap- 
 tain had engaged himself to return to take the Princess 
 on a fixed day ; that day having passed and the frigate 
 not having appeared, the Princess embarked on a Nea- 
 politan ship to proceed on her journey. On the first 
 voyage she remained but two days and left for Naples, 
 but on the ist of November the hrig L' Inconstant brought 
 her back, not to leave the Emperor again. 
 
 One knows that falling from an activity so great into 
 a repose so absolute. Napoleon had need of creating for 
 himself regular occupations. So all his hours were oc- 
 cupied. He arose with the day, secluded himself in his 
 library and worked at his military memoirs until eight 
 o'clock in the morning ; then he went out to inspect the 
 works, stopping to interrogate the workmen, who were 
 almost always soldiers of his Guard ; towards eleven 
 o'clock he took a very frugal breakfast ; during the 
 warmest part of the day, when he had covered long 
 distances or had worked much, he slept an hour or two 
 after breakfast ; and usually set off again towards three 
 o'clock, either on horseback or in a carriage, accompa- 
 nied by Grand Marshal Bertrand and General Drouot, 
 who on these excursions never left him. On the road 
 he listened to all complaints which might be addressed 
 to him, and never left any one without giving him satis- 
 
 ' The Emperor's mother, J. B. L. 
 
NAPOLEON AT THE ISLAND OF ELBA. 1 59 
 
 faction. At seven o'clock he returned, dined with his 
 sister, who occupied the first floor of his city palace, 
 admitting to his table, sometimes the Superintendent 
 of the island, M. de Balbani, sometimes the Chamber- 
 lain Vantini, sometimes the Mayor of Porto-Ferrajo, 
 sometimes the Colonel of the National Guard, finally, 
 at other times the Mayors of Porto-Longone and Rio. 
 In the evening they ascended to the apartments of the 
 Princess Pauline. 
 
 As for Madame Mere, she occupied a separate house, 
 which the Chamberlain Vantini had vacated for her use. 
 
 Meanwhile the island of Elba had become the rendez- 
 vous of all the curious of Europe ; and soon the influx 
 of strangers was so great that they were obliged to take 
 measures to prevent the disorders inseparable from the 
 assembling of so many unknown persons, among whom 
 were found a good number of adventurers, who came to 
 seek their fortunes. The products of the soil were soon 
 insufficient, and it was necessary to procure provisions 
 from the continent. The commerce of Porto-Ferrajo 
 increased, and this increase improved the general situa- 
 tion. Thus, even in his exile, the presence of Napoleon 
 was a source of prosperity to the country which pos- 
 sessed him. His influence extended to the lower classes 
 of society. A new atmosphere had enveloped the island. 
 
 The most numerous among these strangers were the 
 English. They seemed to attach the highest value to 
 seeing him and hearing him. On his part Napoleon 
 received them with kindness. Lord Bentink, Lord 
 Douglas, and several other lords of the highest rank 
 carried back to England a precious remembrance of the 
 manner in which they had been received. 
 
 Of all the visits which the Emperor received the most 
 
l6o NAPOLEON. 
 
 agreeable were those of a great number of officers of all 
 nations, Italians, Frenchmen, Poles, and Germans, who 
 came to offer to him their services. He answered them 
 that he had neither places nor rank to give them. 
 
 " Well, we will serve you as soldiers," they said. 
 
 And almost always he incorporated them into his 
 Grenadiers. This devotion to his name was what flat- 
 tered him most. 
 
 The 15th of August arrived. It was the Emperor's 
 birthday. It was celebrated with an enthusiasm difficult 
 to describe ; and it must have been, accustomed as he 
 was to official fites, a spectacle entirely new to him. 
 The city gave a ball to the Emperor and the Guard. A 
 vast tent, elegantly decorated, was constructed in the 
 large square, and Napoleon directed that it be left open 
 on all sides so that all the people might take part in the 
 fetes. 
 
 The amount of work which was undertaken in the city 
 and the island was incredible. Two Italian architects, 
 M. Bargini, a Roman, and M. Bettarini, a Tuscan, drew 
 the plans of the works ordered, but almost always the 
 Emperor changed the arrangements to suit his ideas, and 
 became the only creator and the real architect. Thus 
 he changed the direction of several roads they com- 
 menced ; he searched for a fountain, the water of which 
 appeared to him to be of a better quality than that which 
 they drank at Porto-Ferrajo, and directed its course to 
 the city. 
 
 Although he probably followed European events with 
 his eagle sight Napoleon was then, in appearance, en- 
 tirely submissive to his fate. No one even doubted 
 that time would accustom him to his new life, surround- 
 ed as he was by the love of all those who approached 
 
NAPOLEON AT THE ISLAND OF ELBA. l6l 
 
 him. Then the Allied Sovereigns took it upon them- 
 selves to awaken the lion, who probably was not asleep. 
 
 Napoleon had already lived in his little kingdom for 
 several months, occupying himself in beautifying it by 
 all the means that his ardent and inventive genius sug- 
 gested to him, when he was secretly informed that they 
 had been discussing his removal. France, through the 
 voice of M. de Talleyrand, had demanded this measure 
 with great force at the Congress of Vienna as indispen- 
 sable to its safety, representing unceasingly how danger- 
 ous it was for the reigning dynasty that Napoleon should 
 reside so near the shores of Italy and Provence. France, 
 besides, pointed out to the Congress that, if he was tired 
 of his exile, the illustrious prescript could in four days 
 pass to Naples and from there, with the aid of his 
 brother-in-law Murat, who still reigned there, descend at 
 the head of an army into the provinces of Upper Italy, 
 already discontented, urge them into insurrection at the 
 first appeal, and thus revive the deadly conflict which 
 had just terminated. 
 
 In order to support this violation of the treaty of 
 Fontainebleau they argued from the correspondence of 
 General Excelmans with the King of Naples, corres- 
 pondence which had just been seized and which caused 
 suspicion of a flagrant conspiracy, the centre of which 
 was in the island of Elba and the ramifications of which 
 extended into Italy and France. These suspicions were 
 soon sustained by another conspiracy which they dis- 
 covered at Milan, and in which were implicated several 
 general officers of the old Italian army. 
 
 Neither could Austria look with a tranquil eye at this 
 dangerous neighbor. The Gazette d'Augsbourg, its organ, 
 explained it in this manner ; it read verbatim in these 
 words : 
 
1 62 NAPOLEON. 
 
 " If the events at Milan are alarming one should 
 nevertheless be quieted by thinking that they will, per- 
 haps, contribute towards removing as quickly as possible 
 a man who, on the rock of the island of Elba, holds in 
 his hands the threads of plots brought about by his gold 
 and who, as long as he remains near to the shores of Italy, 
 will not let the Sovereigns of that country tranquilly 
 enjoy their possessions." 
 
 However, the Congress, notwithstanding the general 
 conviction, did not dare upon such weak proofs to come 
 to a decision, which would be in manifest contradiction 
 to the principles of moderation so pompously expressed 
 by the Allied Sovereigns. It decided that, in order not 
 to have the appearance of violating the existing treaties, 
 it would make overtures to Napoleon, and try to induce 
 him to leave the island of Elba voluntarily, reserving 
 the right to make use of violence in case he should 
 refuse. It then occupied itself in selecting another 
 residence. Malta was chosen, but England saw difficul- 
 ties there ; the prisoner Napoleon could become Grand 
 Master.' 
 
 It proposed St. Helena. 
 
 The first idea of Napoleon was that these rumors 
 were spread by his enemies themselves in order to drive 
 him to some act of desperation, which would permit 
 them to violate the promises made to him. In conse- 
 quence he sent off immediately to Vienna a discreet 
 agent, adroit and faithful, with instructions to discover 
 what confidence he could have in the information that 
 had been given him. This man was recommended to 
 Prince Eugene Beauharnais, who happefiing then to be 
 ' Grand Master of the Knights of Malta. J, B. L. 
 
NAPOLEON AT THE ISLAND OF ELBA. 1 63 
 
 at Vienna and in close connection with the Emperor 
 Alexander, ought to know what took place in the Con- 
 gress. This agent soon procured all the necessary intel- 
 ligence and made it reach the Emperor. In addition to 
 that, he organized an active and sure correspondence, 
 by aid of which Napoleon was to be kept informed of 
 all that was going on. 
 
 Besides this correspondence with Vienna, Napoleon 
 kept up communication with Paris, and each piece of 
 news which arrived from there indicated to him a pow- 
 erful reaction against the Bourbons. 
 
 It was then, placed as he was in this double position, 
 that the first idea came to him of the gigantic project 
 that he soon put into execution. 
 
 Napoleon did in France what he had done at Vienna. 
 He sent emissaries provided with secret instructions to 
 assure themselves most positively of the truth, and to 
 make, if there was any chance for that, arrangements 
 with those of his friends who had remained devoted to 
 him, and with those of his leaders, who, finding them- 
 selves the worst treated, would be the most discontented. 
 
 These emissaries, on their return, confirmed the truth 
 of the news which he dared not believe. They gave him 
 at the same time the assurance that a secret agitation 
 prevailed among the people and in the army ; that all 
 who were discontented, and the number of them was 
 immense, turned their eyes towards him and implored 
 his return ; and finally, that an explosion was inevitable, 
 and that it would be impossible for the Bourbons to 
 struggle for any length of time against the animadversion, 
 which had been aroused by the unskilfulness and im- 
 providence of their government. 
 
 He was then no longer in doubt : on the one side, 
 
164 NAPOLEON. 
 
 danger ; on the other, hope : an eternal prison upon a 
 rock in the middle of the ocean or an empire of the 
 world. 
 
 Napoleon formed his resolution with his usual rapidity. 
 In less than eight days all was decided in his mind. 
 The only point now was to make the preparations for 
 such an enterprise without awakening the suspicions of 
 the English Commissioner, charged to come from time 
 to time to visit the island of Elba, and under the indirect 
 surveillance of whom they had placed all the proceed- 
 ings of the ex-Emperor. 
 
 This Commissioner was Colonel Campbell, who had 
 accompanied the Emperor when he arrived. He had at 
 his disposal an English frigate with which he went con- 
 stantly from Porto-Ferrajo to Genoa, from Genoa to 
 Leghorn, and from Leghorn to Porto-Ferrajo. His stay 
 in the latter roadstead was ordinarily twenty days, dur- 
 ing which the Colonel landed and apparently paid his 
 respects to Napoleon. 
 
 It was necessary also to deceive the secret agents who 
 might be found on the island, to divert the instinctive 
 and sharp sagacity of the inhabitants ; and, finally, to 
 give them entirely the wrong scent of his intentions. 
 
 To this end Napoleon actively continued the works 
 already commenced. He had drawings of several new 
 roads made, which he proposed to establish in all direc- 
 tions across and around the island. He repaired and 
 made fit for wagons that from Porto-Ferrajo to Porto- 
 Longone ; and, as trees were very scarce on the island, 
 he had brought from the continent a large quantity of 
 mulberry trees, which he planted on both sides of the 
 road. Then he busied himself actively in completing 
 his house at San-Martino, on which work had been 
 
NAPOLEON A T THE ISLAND OF ELBA. 165 
 
 delayed ; he ordered statues and vases from Italy ; 
 brought there orange trees and rare plants ; finally, he 
 appeared to give to his house every attention as to a 
 home that he would occupy for a long time. 
 
 At Porto-Ferrajo he demolished the old shanties 
 which surrounded his palace, and also a long building 
 which served as a lodging for his officers, as far as a 
 terrace, the dimensions of which were augmented in 
 such a manner as to make it a parade-ground large 
 enough for the review of two battalions. An old aban- 
 doned English church was given to the inhabitants for a 
 theatre where the best actors from Italy were to come. 
 All the streets were repaired. The Porte-de-Terre was 
 not passable except for mules. He widened it and with 
 the aid of a terrace the road became easy for the trans- 
 portation of all kinds of wagoning. 
 
 During this time, in order to give still further facili- 
 ties for the execution of his project, he sent the brig 
 L' Inconstant, which he had reserved entirely to him- 
 self, and the xebec L'Etoile, which he had bought, on 
 frequent voyages to Genoa, Leghorn, Naples, the coast 
 of Barbary, and even to France, so that the English and 
 French cruisers should become used to the sight of 
 them. In fact these ships ran successively in every 
 direction, and several times returned along the coasts 
 of the Mediterranean under the Elban flag without 
 being at all molested. It was what Napoleon desired. 
 
 It was then that he busied himself seriously with the 
 preparations for his departure. He conveyed on board 
 of the L' Inconstant, at night and with the greatest 
 secrecy, a large quantity of arms and ammunition. He 
 bought new uniforms, new linen and boots for his Guard. 
 He recalled the Poles, who were detached to Porto- 
 
l66 NAPOLEON. 
 
 Longone and the little island of Pianosa where they 
 guarded the fort. He hastened the organization and 
 instruction of the battalion of Chasseurs, which he had 
 formed with men recruited only in Corsica and Italy. 
 Finally,, during the first days of February, everything 
 was found to be ready to profit by the first favorable 
 occasion when they should bring him the news that they 
 waited for him in France. 
 
 This news finally arrived. It was a Colonel of the 
 Old Guard who brought it. He started again almost 
 immediately for Naples. 
 
 Unfortunately Colonel Campbell and his frigate were 
 at this moment in the port. It was necessary to wait 
 without showing the least impatience, and to surround 
 him with the ordinary courtesies until the usual time 
 of his visit should pass. Finally, in the afternoon of 
 the 24th of February, he asked permission to pay his 
 respects to the Emperor. He came to take leave of 
 him and to ask his commissions for Leghorn. Napoleon 
 accompanied him as far as the door, and the attendants 
 were able to hear these last words, which he addressed 
 to him. 
 
 " Adieu, Colonel. I wish you a pleasant voyage. 
 Until we meet again." 
 
 Scarcely had the Colonel left when Napoleon sent for 
 the Grand Marshal. He spent part of the day and 
 night shut up with him, went to bed at three o'clock in 
 the morning, and arose at daybreak. 
 
 At the first glance he cast upon the port he saw the 
 English frigate setting sail. From that time, as if a 
 magic power had enchained his sight to this vessel, he 
 did not remove his eyes from it. He saw it unfurl one 
 after another all its sails, raise its anchor, start, and, 
 
NAPOLEON^ AT THE ISLAND OF ELBA. 167 
 
 with a good wind from the southeast, leave the port 
 and sail before the wind towards Leghorn. 
 
 Then he mounted the terrace with a spy-glass and 
 continued to follow the course of the vessel until it got 
 far away. Towards mid-day the frigate resembled a 
 white speck upon the sea. At one o'clock it had disap- 
 peared entirely. 
 
 Napoleon soon gave his orders. One of the principal 
 commands was an embargo of three days placed upon 
 all boats which were in the port. The smallest boats 
 were subjected to this measure, which was immediately 
 executed. 
 
 Then as the brig L' Inconstant and the xebec LJEtoile 
 were not sufficient for the transportation of his troops, 
 he made agreements with the masters of three or four 
 merchant ships, selected from among the best sailers. 
 The same evening all the arrangements were completed 
 and ships were at the disposal of the Emperor. 
 
 During the night of the 25th and 26th, that is to say 
 the night from Saturday to Sunday, Napoleon called to- 
 gether the principal authorities and the most notable 
 inhabitants, whom he organized into a kind of town 
 council. Then calling Lapi, the Colonel of the National 
 Guard commanding the island, he confided the defence 
 of the country to its inhabitants, committing to them 
 his mother and sister. Finally, without indicating pre- 
 cisely the object of the "expedition which he was going 
 to attempt, he assured in advance those whom he ad- 
 dressed of the success that he would obtain, promising 
 in case of war to send relief to defend the island, and 
 enjoining them never to surrender to any power except 
 upon an order from him. 
 
 In the morning he arranged some details concerning 
 
l68 NAPOLEON. 
 
 his house, took leave of his family, and ordered the em- 
 barkation. 
 
 At noon the drums beat. 
 
 At two o'clock the call to arms followed. It was 
 then that Napoleon himself announced to his old com- 
 panions-at-arms the new destiny to which they were 
 called. At the name of France, at the hope of a near 
 return to that country, a cry of enthusiasm resounded, 
 tears flowed, the soldiers broke their ranks, threw them- 
 selve into one another's arms, running like maniacs and 
 throwing themselves on their knees before Napoleon as 
 before a god. 
 
 Madame Mere and Princess Pauline, crying, looked 
 upon this scene from the windows of the palace. 
 
 At seven o'clock the embarkation was complete. 
 
 At eight o'clock Napoleon left the port in a cutter ; 
 some minutes after he was on board the L Inconstant. 
 At the moment when he set foot on board a cannon- 
 shot was heard. It was the signal for the departure. 
 
 At once the little flotilla set sail, and, with a stiff 
 south-southeast wind went out of the roadstead, then 
 from the gulf, directing itself towards the northwest 
 and running along the shores of Italy for some distance. 
 
 At the time when they set sail emissaries left for 
 Naples and Milan, while a flag-offlcer proceeded to 
 Corsica in order to attempt an insurrection there which 
 would prepare a refuge for the Emperor in case of non- 
 success in France. 
 
 At daybreak on the 27th everybody ascended to the 
 deck to assure themselves of the distance they had cov- 
 ered during the night. The astonishment was great 
 and cruel when they perceived that they had made at 
 the most six leagues. Scarcely had they doubled the 
 
NAPOLEON A T THE ISLAND OF ELBA. 169 
 
 Cape of St. Andrew when the wind slackened and a 
 discouraging calm had succeeded it. 
 
 When the sun had lighted the horizon they perceived 
 towards the west near the shores of Corsica two French 
 frigates La Fleur de Lis and La Melpomine. 
 
 This sight spread alarm through all the boats. It was 
 so great upon the brig L' Lnconstant, which carried the 
 Emperor, the situation seemed so critical, the dan- 
 ger so imminent, that they commenced to agitate the 
 question of returning to Porto-Ferrajo and there wait- 
 ing for a favorable wind. But the Emperor at once 
 made an end to the council and the indecision by order- 
 ing them to continue the voyage, promising that the 
 calm would cease. In fact, as if the wind had been 
 under his orders, it blew up towards eleven o'clock and 
 at four o'clock they found themselves off Leghorn be- 
 tween Capri and Gorgone. 
 
 But then a new alarm, more serious than the first, 
 broke out through the whole flotilla. They discovered 
 all at once in the north to the leeward, about five leagues 
 away, a frigate. Another appeared at the same time off 
 the shores of Corsica. Finally, in the distance they saw 
 appearing another war vessel which came before the 
 wind towards the flotilla. He could no longer hesitate. 
 He must make up his mind on the spot. Night was 
 coming and they might be able, aided by the darkness, 
 to escape the frigates, but the war vessel was constantly 
 advancing, and was soon recognized as a French brig. 
 The first idea that presented itself to every one was that 
 the enterprise had been discovered or betrayed, and that 
 they were going to find themselves confronted by 
 superior forces. The Emperor alone maintained that 
 chance had brought these three vessels, strangers one to 
 
I/O NAPOLEON. 
 
 the Other, together in a position which seemed hostile. 
 He was certain that an expedition conducted with so 
 much secrecy could not have been foreseen in time to 
 enable them to send an entire fleet in pursuit of him. 
 
 Notwithstanding this conviction he ordered the re- 
 moval of the port-hole shutters, and decided that in case 
 of attack they should proceed immediately to board the 
 vessel, certain as he was that, with his crew of old 
 soldiers, he could capture the brig at the first onset and 
 could afterwards tranquilly continue his voyage, escap- 
 ing the frigates during the night by a counter movement. 
 However, still hoping that it was only chance which had 
 brought these three ships now in sight together, he gave 
 orders to the soldiers and to all persons who could be 
 suspected, to descend under the deck. Signals soon 
 transmitted the same orders to the other ships. These 
 arrangements made, he awaited events. 
 
 At six o'clock in the evening the two ships found 
 themselves in the presence of each other and within 
 speaking distance. Although night was coming on 
 rapidly, they recognized the French brig Le Zephir, 
 Captain Andrieux. Besides it was easy to see by its 
 movements that it was presenting itself with entirely 
 pacific intentions. Thus were verified the previsions of 
 the Emperor. 
 
 On recognizing each other the two brigs saluted ac- 
 cording to custom and while continuing their voyage 
 exchanged some words. The two Captains asked each 
 other what was the place of their destination. Captain 
 Andrieux answered that he was going to Leghorn. The 
 response from the L'Incomtant was that he was going 
 to Genoa, and would willingly charge himself with any 
 commissions for that country. Captain Andrieux 
 
NAPOLEON AT THE ISLAND OF ELBA. 171 
 
 thanked him and asked how the Emperor was. At this 
 question Napoleon could not resist the desire to get into 
 a conversation so interesting to him. He took the 
 trumpet from the hands of Captain Chotard and 
 answered : 
 
 " Wonderfully well." 
 
 Then, after these polite interchanges, the two brigs 
 continued their voyage, losing sight of each other during 
 the night. 
 
 They continued their course under full sail and with 
 very cool weather, so that the following day, the 28th, 
 they doubled Cape Corsica. That day again they recog- 
 nized a war vessel of seventy-four guns in the offing and 
 bending its course toward Bastia, but this one did not 
 cause any disquietude. From the first movement they 
 knew that it had no bad intentions. 
 
 Before leaving the island of Elba, Napoleon had 
 drawn up two proclamations, but when he ordered them 
 copied, no one, not even himself, could decipher them. 
 He threw them into the sea and soon dictated two others, 
 the one addressed to the army and the other to the 
 French people. All those who knew how to write were 
 soon transformed into secretaries. Everything was 
 made to serve as desks — drums, benches, caps — and 
 everybody set to work. In the midst of this work they 
 saw the shores of the Antibes. They were saluted with 
 enthusiastic cries. 
 
 •5? 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE HUNDRED DAYS, 
 
 A T three o'clock on the ist of March the flotilla 
 ^*- anchored in the Gulf of Juan ; at five o'clock Na- 
 poleon landed and the camp was established in a grove 
 of olive trees, where is still shown the tree at the foot of 
 which the Emperor sat. Twenty-five Grenadiers and an 
 officer of the Guard were at the same time sent to Anti- 
 bes to endeavor to rally to themselves the garrison, but, 
 carried away by their enthusiasm, they entered the city 
 crying " Vive F Empereur ! " People there were ignorant 
 of the landing of Napoleon and took them for maniacs. 
 The Commandant had the drawbridge raised, and the 
 twenty-five courageous men found themselves prisoners. 
 
 Such an event was a regular defeat ; therefore, some 
 officers proposed to Napoleon to march upon Antibes 
 and take it by storm in order to counteract the bad 
 efi'ect that would be produced on the minds of the public 
 by the resistance of that place. Napoleon answered 
 that it was upon Paris and not upon Antibes that he 
 must march ; and suiting his actions to his word, he 
 raised the camp at the rising of the moon. 
 
 The little army reached Cannes in the middle of the 
 night, passed through Grasse towards six o'clock in the 
 
 172 
 
THE HUNDRED DAYS. 173 
 
 morning, and halted on the high ground which over- 
 looked the city. Scarcely was Napoleon fixed there 
 when he was surrounded by the people of the circumja- 
 cent places, among whom the news of his miraculous 
 landing had already spread. He received them as he 
 would have done at the Tuileries, listening to their 
 complaints, receiving petitions, and promising to do 
 justice. The Emperor expected to find, near Grasse, a 
 road which he had ordered to be built in 1813, but it had 
 not been made. He then decided that it was neces- 
 sary for him to leave in the city his carriage and the 
 four small pieces of artillery which he had brought 
 over from the island of Elba. They marched over 
 mountain footpaths, still covered with snow, and in 
 the evening, after having marched twenty leagues, they 
 slept in the village of C^rdnon. On the 3d of March 
 they arrived at Bareme ; on the 4th at Digne ; on the 
 5th at Gap. In this town they stopped long enough to 
 print the proclamations which the next day they 
 scattered by thousands along the route. 
 
 However, the Emperor was not without uneasiness. 
 So far he had only to deal with the inhabitants, and their 
 enthusiasm was not doubtful, but no soldier had yet 
 presented himself, no organized corps had joined the 
 little army, and it was, above all, on the regiments sent 
 to fight him that Napoleon desired that his presence 
 should operate. The moment he so much feared and 
 desired finally arrived between Lamure and Vizille. 
 General Cambronne, who formed the advance guard 
 with forty Grenadiers, encountered a battalion sent from 
 Grenoble to close the road. The chief of the detachment 
 refused to recognize Cambronne, and he sent to inform 
 Napoleon of what had happened. 
 
174 NAPOLEON. 
 
 Napoleon was following the road in an old travelling 
 coach which they had procured for him at Gap, when he 
 learned this news. He immediately approached his 
 horse, mounted and advanced at a gallop to within nearly 
 a hundred paces of the soldiers who formed the line, 
 without either a single shout or a single acclamation 
 greeting him. The moment for losing or winning the 
 game had come. The disposition of the ground did not 
 permit of retreat. To the left of the road was a steep 
 mountain ; to the right a small meadow scarcely thirty 
 paces in width, bordered by a precipice. In front the 
 battalion under arms stretching from the precipice to 
 the mountain. 
 
 Napoleon stopped upon a little hillock, ten paces from 
 a small stream which crossed the meadow. Then, turn- 
 ing towards General Bertrand and throwing to him the 
 bridle of his horse, said : " They have deceived me, but 
 no matter. Forward, march ! " 
 
 With these words he dismounted, crossed the rivulet, 
 walked straight to the battalion, which still remained 
 motionless, and stopping twenty steps from the line, at 
 the moment when the aide-de-camp of General Marchand 
 unsheathed his sword and gave the order to fire, said to 
 them : 
 
 " What ! My friends, do you not recognize me ? I 
 am your Emperor. If there be among you a soldier who 
 will kill his General, he can do it. Here I am." 
 
 These words were scarcely uttered when the cry of 
 " Vive I'Empereur ! " burst from the mouths of all. The 
 aide-de-camp ordered them the second time to fire, but 
 his voice was smothered in the midst of their shouts. 
 At the same time, and whilst four Polish Lancers pursued 
 him (the officer), the soldiers quit the ranks, rushed 
 
THE HUNDRED DAYS. 
 
 175 
 
 forward, surrounded Napoleon, fell at his feet, kissed 
 his hands, tore away the white cockade, substituted for it 
 the tricolored cockade, and all this with cries, acclama- 
 tions, and an enthusiasm which made tears come to the 
 eyes of their old General. Soon, remembering that he 
 must not lose a moment, he ordered them to make a half 
 turn to the right, took the head of the column and pre- 
 ceded by Cambronne and his forty Grenadiers, followed 
 by the battalion which had been sent to close the passage, 
 he reached the top of the mountain of Vizille, whence 
 he saw, a half league below, the aide-de-camp, still fol- 
 lowed by the four Lancers on whom he gained, thanks 
 to his fresh horse, run into the village, then soon appear 
 at the other end and barely escape them by taking a 
 cross road where their horses, broken down by fatigue, 
 could not follow him. 
 
 However, this man who fled and these four men who 
 pursued him, in passing like lightning through the streets 
 of Vizille, had told all by their presence alone. In the 
 morning they had seen the aide-de-camp pass at the 
 head of his battalion and there he was coming back 
 alone and pursued. That which had been said was then 
 true. Napoleon was advancing surrounded by the love 
 of the people and of the soldiers. Every one came out 
 questioning each other and becoming excited. Sud- 
 denly they saw the procession half way up the side of 
 Lamure. Men, women, children, every one rushed on 
 before him, the entire city surrounded him before he 
 could reach its limits, whilst the peasants descended from 
 the mountains, bounding like chamois, and making 
 resound from rock to rock the cry of " Vive I'Empereur ! " 
 
 Napoleon halted at Vizille. Vizille was the cradle of 
 French liberty, 1814 had not been unfaithful to 1789. 
 
176 NAPOLEON. 
 
 The Emperor was received by a populace intoxicated 
 with joy. But Vizille was only a city without gates, 
 without walls, without garrison. It was necessary to 
 march to Grenoble. Quite a number of the inhabitants 
 accompanied Napoleon. 
 
 About a league from Vizille they saw an infantry offi- 
 cer, who hastened all covered with dust ; like the Greek 
 of Marathon, he was ready to fall from fatigue. He 
 carried precious news. 
 
 Towards two o'clock in the afternoon the 7th Regi- 
 ment of infantry, commanded by Colonel Labddoyere, 
 had left Grenoble to advance against the Emperor. But, 
 about half a league from the city, the Colonel turned 
 around and ordered a halt. Soon a drummer approached 
 the Colonel and presented to him his drum. The Col- 
 onel plunged his hand into it, drew out an eagle and 
 raising himself in his stirrups so that every one could 
 see him, cried : 
 
 " Soldiers ! Behold the glorious symbol which has 
 guided you in our immortal battles. That one, who has 
 so often led us to victory, advances towards us to avenge 
 our humiliations and our reverses. It is time to fly to his 
 flag, which will never cease to be ours. Those who love 
 me, follow me ! Vive V Empereur ! " 
 
 The whole regiment followed him. 
 
 The officer desired to be the first to carry this news to 
 the Emperor and he went on before them, but the entire 
 regiment was behind him. 
 
 Napoleon spurred his horse and pressed forward. All 
 ;his little army, shouting and running, followed him. 
 Arriving at the top of a small hill he saw the regiment 
 of Lab^doy^re, which advanced at quicki pace. ^Scarcely 
 had Napoleon been -seen when cries ' of ^''ViveV'Emper- 
 
THE HUNDRED DAYS. 1 77 
 
 eur I " resounded. These cries were heard by the brave 
 soldiers of the island of Elba who responded to them. 
 Then nobody longer kept the ranks, everybody ran, 
 everybody rushed forward. Napoleon threw himself 
 in the midst of the reinforcement which had reached 
 him. Labddoyere jumped down from his horse to em- 
 brace the knees of the Emperor, who received him in his 
 arms pressing him to his breast. 
 
 " Colonel," said the Emperor to him," it is you who 
 replace me upon the throne." 
 
 Labddoyere was wild with joy. That embrace will 
 cost him his life, but no matter. One has lived a century 
 when one has heard such words. 
 
 They immediately set out on the road, for Napoleon 
 was anxious as long as he was not at Grenoble. Gren- 
 oble had a garrison which it was said would resist. In 
 vain the soldiers answered to the Emperor for their 
 comrades. The Emperor, apparently thoroughly satis- 
 fied, ordered the march upon the city. 
 
 Napoleon arrived under the walls of Grenoble at eight 
 o'clock in the evening. 
 
 The ramparts were covered by the 3d Regiment of En- 
 gineers composed of two thousand old soldiers ; by the 
 4th Regiment of Artillery of the line in which Napoleon 
 had served ; by two battalions of the 5th of the line ; 
 and by the Hussars of the 4th. Besides, the march of 
 the Emperor had been so rapid that it baffled all meas- 
 ures. They had not had time to cut off the bridges ; 
 but the gates were closed and the Commandant refused 
 to open them. 
 
 Napoleon understood that if he hesitated a moment 
 he would be lost. Night would take away from him the 
 prestige of his presence. All eyes would look for him. 
 
178 NAPOLEON. 
 
 without doubt, but no one would see him. He ordered 
 Labddoyere to address the artillery-men. Then the 
 Colonel got upon a hillock and with a strong voice 
 shouted : 
 
 " Soldiers ! We bring back to you again the hero 
 whom you have followed in so many battles. It is for 
 you to receive him and to repeat with us the old rally- 
 ing cry of the conquerors of Europe, Vive FEmpereur ! " 
 
 In fact this magic cry was at the same instant repeated 
 not only upon the ramparts but also in all quarters of the 
 city. Every one rushed towards the gates but they 
 were closed, and the Commandant had the keys. On 
 their side the soldiers who accompanied Napoleon ap- 
 proached. They spoke, were answered, and shook hands 
 together through the grating, but no one could open the 
 gates. The Emperor trembled with an impatience which 
 was not without uneasiness. 
 
 Suddenly the cries of " Room ! Room ! " were heard. 
 It was the entire population of the Faubourg Tres-Cloitre, 
 which advanced with beams to break down the gates. 
 Every one stood aside. The battering rams commenced 
 their work, the gates moaned, shook, opened. Six 
 thousand men ran out at once. 
 
 It was no longer enthusiasm, it was fury, it was rage. 
 These men threw themselves upon Napoleon as if they 
 were going to tear him to pieces ; in an instant he was 
 lifted from his horse and hurried away, carried with 
 frantic cries ; never in any battle had he run similar 
 danger ; everybody trembled for him for he alone could 
 understand that the tide which carried him was one of 
 love. 
 
 Finally they stopped at a hotel. His staff rejoined and 
 surrounded him. Scarcely had each one commenced to 
 
THE HUNDRED DA YS. 
 
 179 
 
 breathe when they heard a new tumult. It was the in- 
 habitants of the city, who, not being able to bring him 
 the keys, came to offer to him the gates. 
 
 The night was but a long fete during which soldiers, 
 citizens, and peasants fraternized together. Napoleon 
 employed that night in having his proclamations re- 
 printed. On the morning of the 8th they were posted 
 up and scattered on all sides. Emissaries went out from 
 the city and carried them in all directions, announcing 
 the taking possession of the capital of Dauphiny ' and 
 the approaching intervention of Austria and the King 
 of Naples. It was only when he reached Grenoble that 
 Napoleon was sure of arriving at Paris. 
 
 The next day the clergy, the staff, the court, the tri- 
 bunals, and all the civil and military authorities came to 
 offer their congratulations to the Emperor. When the 
 audience was finished the garrison, six thousand men 
 strong, passed in review before him, and he proceeded 
 at once towards Lyons. 
 
 The next day, after having rendered three decrees, 
 which announced the return of the Imperial power to 
 his hands, he again started out on his road, and spent 
 the night at Bourgoin. The crowd and the enthusiasm 
 constantly increased. One would have thought that 
 all France accompanied him and advanced with him 
 towards the capital. 
 
 On the road from Bourgoin to Lyons Napoleon 
 learned that Duke d'Orleans, Count d'Artois, and Mar- 
 shal Macdonald would defend the city, and that they 
 were going to destroy the Morand and Guillotiere 
 bridges. He laughed at this information, which he did 
 
 ' Before the first revolution France was divided into thirty-two 
 Provinces. Grenoble was the capital of Dauphiny. — J. B. L. 
 
l80 NAPOLEON. 
 
 not believe, for he knew the patriotism of the Lyonnais, 
 and he gave orders to the 4th Hussars to reconnoitre as 
 far as Guillotiere. The regiment was welcomed with 
 cries of " Vive V Empereur ! " These cries reached as far 
 as Napoleon, who was following at a distance of nearly 
 a quarter of a league. He put his horse at full gallop 
 and arrived, alone and confident, at the moment when 
 they least expected him, in the midst of this populace, 
 whose enthusiasm he changed by his presence into folly. 
 
 At the same instant the soldiers of the two parties 
 threw themselves upon the barricades which separated 
 them, and, working with equal ardor, demolished them. 
 At the end of a quarter of an hour they were in one 
 another's arms. The Duke d'Orleans and General 
 Macdonald were forced to retire. The Count d'Artois 
 took flight, having for his escort a single royal volunteer 
 who had not abandoned him. 
 
 At five o'clock in the evening the whole garrison 
 rushed out to meet the Emperor. 
 
 An hour after the army took possession of the city. 
 
 At eight o'clock Napoleon made his entrance into the 
 second capital of the kingdom. 
 
 During the four days he remained there he had con- 
 stantly under his window twenty thousand souls. 
 
 On the 13th the Emperor left Lyons and spent the 
 night at Macon. The enthusiasm was everywhere in- 
 creasing. It was no longer only some isolated individ- 
 uals, it was the magistrates who came to receive him at 
 the gates of the cities. 
 
 On the 17th it was a Prefect who received him at 
 Auxerre. This was the first high official who had ven- 
 tured a similar demonstration. 
 
 In the evening the coming of Marchal Ney was an- 
 
THE HUNDRED DAYS. l8l 
 
 nounced. He came ashamed of his coolness in 1814 
 and of his oaths to Louis XVIII. asking a place in the 
 ranks of the Grenadiers. Napoleon opened his arms to 
 him, calling him the bravest of the brave, and all was 
 forgotten. 
 
 This also was a mortal embrace. 
 
 On the 20th of March at two o'clock in the afternoon, 
 Napoleon arrived at Fontainebleau. That Chateau pre- 
 served terrible memories. In one of its chambers he 
 had thought of taking his life ; in another he had lost 
 the Empire. He halted there but an instant and con- 
 tinued his triumphant march upon Paris. 
 
 He arrived there, as at Grenoble, in the evening, and, 
 as at Lyons, at the end of one of his long marches, and 
 at the head of the troops which guarded the Faubourgs. 
 He could, if he had wished it, have re-entered with two 
 million men. 
 
 At half-past eight in the evening, he entered the Court 
 of the Tuileries. There they threw themselves upon 
 him as at Grenoble ; a thousand arms stretched them- 
 selves out to him, seized him, carried him off with cries 
 and a delirium of which no one had any idea. The 
 crowd was such that he had not the power to overcome 
 it ; it was a torrent which must run its course. Napo- 
 leon could say nothing but these words : 
 
 " My friends, you smother me." 
 
 In the apartments Napoleon found another crowd, 
 gilded and respectful, of courtiers, generals, and mar- 
 shals. These did not smother Napoleon ; they bowed 
 down before him. 
 
 " Gentlemen," said the Emperor to them, " these are 
 the disinterested people who have brought me back 
 again into my capital ; these are the under-lieutenants 
 
1 82 NAPOLEON. 
 
 and soldiers who have done all ; it is to the people, it 
 is to the army, that I owe all." 
 
 The same night Napoleon occupied himself in re- 
 organizing everything. Cambaceres was appointed 
 Minister of Justice, the Duke of Vicenza Minister of 
 Foreign Affairs, Marshal Davoust, Minister of War, 
 the Duke of Gaete, Minister of Finance, Decrfes, 
 Minister of the Navy, Fouch6, Minister of the Police, 
 Carnot, Minister of the Interior ; the Duke of Bassano 
 was again Minister of State, Count Mollien re-entered 
 the Treasury, the Duke of Rovigo was appointed Com- 
 mandant-General of the armed police force, M. de 
 Montalivet became Intendant of the civil list, Letort 
 and Labddoyere were made Generals, Bertrand and 
 Drouot were maintained in their places as Grand Mar- 
 shal of the Palace, and Major-General of the Guard ; 
 finally, all the chamberlains, equerries, and masters of 
 the ceremonies of 1814 were recalled. 
 
 On March 26th all the great bodies of the Empire 
 were called to express to Napoleon the desires of 
 France. 
 
 On the 27th one would have said that the Bourbons 
 had never existed, and the whole nation believed that it 
 had been in a dream. 
 
 In fact the revolution had been completed in one day, 
 it had not cost one drop of blood. No one this time 
 reproached Napoleon for the death of a father, brother, 
 or friend. The only visible change which was brought 
 about was that the colors floating over the city were 
 changed, and that the cry of "Vive V Empereur !'' 
 ascended, resounding from one end of France to the 
 other. 
 
 In the meantime the nation was emboldened by the 
 
THE HUNDRED DA YS. 1 83 
 
 great spontaneousness by which it had been accom- 
 plished. The grandeur of the undertaking, which had 
 been so well established, seemed to efface by its gigantic 
 result the reverses of the last three years, and it was 
 grateful to Napoleon for remounting the throne. 
 
 Napoleon examined his position and considered it. 
 
 Two ways were open before him. 
 
 To try for peace while preparing himself for war ; or 
 to commence war by one of those unthought-of move- 
 ments, by one of those unexpected thunder-claps which 
 had made him the Jupiter Tonans of Europe. 
 
 Each of these ways had its dangers. 
 
 To try for peace at any price was to give the Allies 
 time to recover themselves. They would count their 
 soldiers and ours, and they would have as many armies as 
 we had divisions. We would find ourselves one against 
 five. What matters it ? We had sometimes conquered 
 even so. 
 
 To commence war was to give proof to those who had 
 said that Napoleon did not desire peace. Then the Em- 
 peror had in hand but forty thousand men. It was 
 enough, it is true, to reconquer Belgium, and to enter 
 Brussels ; but once reaching Brussels they would find 
 themselves shut up in a circle of strong places which 
 must be taken one after the other, and Maestricht, 
 Luxembourg, and Antwerp, were not paltry towns which 
 could be carried by surprise. Besides La Vendee was 
 aroused, the Duke of Angouleme was marching on 
 Lyons, and the Marseillaise on Grenoble. It was 
 necessary to take in time this internal inflammation, 
 which was tormenting France, so that he could present 
 himself before the enemy with his full power and. force. 
 
 Napoleon then decided in favor of the first of these 
 
1 84 ~ NAPOLEON. 
 
 two methods. The peace which he had refused at 
 Chatillon in 1814, after the invasion of France, could be 
 accepted in 1815 after the return from the island of 
 Elba. One can stop while ascending, never while de- 
 scending. 
 
 To show his good will to the people, he wrote this 
 circular to the Kings of Europe : 
 
 " Sire, my brother. 
 
 " You have learned in the course of the last month 
 of my return to the shores of France, my entrance 
 into Paris, and of the departure of the Bourbon fam- 
 ily. The true nature of these events must be known 
 to your Majesty. They are the work of an irresist- 
 ible power ; the work of the unanimous will of a great 
 nation, which knows its duties and its rights.' The 
 expectation which had determined me to make the 
 greatest of sacrifices had failed. I have come and from 
 the point where I touched the shore the love of my 
 subjects has carried me into my capital. The first desire 
 of my heart is to repay so much affection by an honor- 
 able tranquillity. The re-establishment of the Imperial 
 throne being necessary to the happiness of the French, 
 my most ardent thought, is to render it, at the same 
 time, useful to the establishment of the repose of 
 Europe. Enough glory has by turns made famous the 
 flags of the different nations. The vicissitudes of fate 
 have sufficiently made great reverses succeed great suc- 
 cesses. A nobler arena is to-day open to the Sover- 
 
 ' Some translations of this letter insert at this place the following : 
 "The dynasty, which force imposed upon a great people, was no 
 longer calculated for them. The Bourbons had no community with 
 them, either of feeling or of manners. France was, therefore, com- 
 pelled to withdraw from them." — ^J. B. L. 
 
THE HUNDRED DAYS. 185 
 
 eigns, and I am the first to descend into it. After hav- 
 ing presented to the world the spectacle of great battles 
 it will be more agreeable to know hereafter no other 
 strife than that for the advantages of peace, no other 
 struggle than the sacred struggle for the happiness of 
 the nations. France is pleased to proclaim with frank- 
 ness this noble end of its desires. Jealous of its inde- 
 pendence, the invaluable principle of its policy will 
 be the most absolute respect for the independence of 
 the other nations. If such are, as I have the happy- 
 hope, the personal sentiments of your Majesty, the 
 general tranquillity is assured for a long time, and Jus- 
 tice seated at the confines of the States will alone suffice 
 to guard the frontiers." 
 
 This letter, which proposed peace, the result of which 
 would be the most absolute respect for the indepen- 
 dence of the other nations, found the Allied Sovereigns 
 occupied in dividing Europe. In this great white slave 
 trade, in this great public sale of souls, Russia took the 
 Grand Duchy of Warsaw ; Prussia devoured a part of 
 the Kingdom of Saxony, a part of Poland, of West- 
 phalia, of Franconia, and, like an immense serpent whose 
 tail touched at Memel,' she hoped to extend, in follow- 
 ing the left bank of the Rhine, its head as far as Thion- 
 ville. Austria reclaimed Italy as it had been before the 
 treaty of Campo-Formia, as well as all that which its 
 double-headed eagle had let fall from its talons after 
 the successive treaties of Lun6ville, Presburg, and 
 Vienna. The Stadtholder of Holland, raised to the rank 
 of King, demanded that they confirm the adjunction to 
 its hereditary states, of Belgium, the country of Lidge, 
 
 ' The most northern town in Germany. — J. B. L. 
 
1 86 NAPOLEON. 
 
 and the Duchy of Luxemburg. Finally the King of 
 Sardinia urged the annexation of Genoa to his continen- 
 tal state from which it had been separated for fifteen 
 years. Each great Power wished like a marble lion to 
 hold in its clutches instead of a ball, a little kingdom. 
 Russia was to have Poland, Prussia was to have Saxony, 
 Spain was to have Portugal, Austria was to have Italy. 
 As for England, which paid the expenses of all these 
 revolutions, it was to have two in place of one, Holland 
 and Hanover. 
 
 The time, as we have seen, had been badly chosen. 
 However, this overture of the Emperor would have 
 brought about some results if the Congress had been 
 dissolved and if he had treated with the Allied Sovereigns 
 one by one. But placed, as they had been, face to face 
 with one another, their self-love carried them too far, 
 and Napoleon received no response to his letter. 
 
 This silence did not astonish the Emperor. He had 
 anticipated it and had lost no time in putting himself in 
 condition to make war. The further he went into the 
 examination of his offensive means the more he con- 
 gratulated himself that he had not yielded to his first 
 impulse. Everything in France was disorganized. 
 There remained scarcely a nucleus of an army. As for 
 war material, powder, guns, cannon, all seemed to have 
 disappeared. 
 
 During three months Napoleon worked sixteen hours 
 a day. At his voice, France was covered with manu- 
 factures, workshops, foundries, and the armorers of the 
 capital alone furnished as many as three thousand guns 
 in twenty-four hours ; whilst the tailors made in the 
 same time as many as fifteen and even eighteen hundred 
 coats. At the same time the lists of the regiments of 
 
THE HUNDRED DAYS. 187 
 
 the line were increased from two battalions to five ; 
 those of the cavalry were re-enforced by two squadrons ; 
 two hundred battalions of the National Guard were or- 
 ganized ; twenty marine regiments and forty regiments 
 of the Young Guard were put in condition for service ; 
 the old disbanded soldiers were recalled to the standard ; 
 the conscriptions of i8i4and 1815 were raised ; soldiers 
 and officers in retirement were engaged to re-enter the 
 line. Six armies were formed under the names of the 
 Armies of the North, of Moselle, of the Rhine, of the 
 Jura, of the Alps, and of the Pyrenees ; whilst a seventh, 
 under the name of the Army of the Reserve, collected 
 under the walls of Paris and of Lyons, which cities were 
 to be fortified. 
 
 In fact every great capital should be sheltered from a 
 sudden attack, and more than once ancient Lutece ' had 
 owed its safety to its walls. If in 1805 Vienna had 
 been defended, the battle of Ulm would not have de- 
 cided the war. If in 1806 Berlin had been fortified, the 
 army beaten at Jena, would have rallied there and been 
 rejoined by the Russian army. If in 1808 Madrid had 
 been in a state of defence, the French army would not 
 have dared, even after the victories of Espinosa, Tudela, 
 Burgos, and Somma-Sierra, to march upon that capital, 
 leaving behind it the English and French armies in the 
 direction of Salamanga and Valladolid. Finally, if in 
 
 ' Paris was anciendy called Lutece (Lutetia or Mud-town, from the 
 Latin Lutum) because of the filthy condition of its streets. In 1185 
 some carts passing along in front of the Palace of Philip Augustus, 
 stirred up the mud of the street, so that a fetid smell arose. This 
 shocked Philip so much that he ordered all the streets of Paris to be 
 paved with solid stone, for it is said that " this right Christian Prince " 
 aspired to rid Paris of its ancient name, Lutetia or Mud-town. 
 —J. B. L. 
 
l88 NAPOLEON. 
 
 1814, Paris had held out eight days only, the Allied 
 army would have been crushed between its walls and 
 the eighty thousand men that Napoleon reunited at 
 Fontainebleau. 
 
 The General of Engineers, Haxo, was intrusted with 
 this great work. He was to fortify Paris. General 
 Ldry was to fortify Lyons. 
 
 Then if the Allied Sovereigns had left us alone until 
 the ist of June, the effectiveness of our army would 
 have been increased from two hundred thousand men to 
 four hundred and fourteen thousand men, and if they had 
 left us alone until the ist of September, not only would 
 this number have been doubled, but all the cities as far as 
 the centre of France would have been fortified, and would 
 have rendered service in some way as advanced works of 
 the capital. So 1815 rivalled 1793, and Napoleon obtained 
 the same result as the Committee of Public Safety, with- 
 out having need to enforce it with twelve guillotines, 
 which formed part of the baggage of the revolutionary 
 army. 
 
 He had not a moment to lose. The Allies, who were 
 contending for Saxony and Cracow, were resting with 
 arms in their hands, and the match lighted. Four 
 orders were given and Europe marched anew against 
 France. Wellington and Blucher reassembled two hun- 
 dred and twenty thousand men, English, Prussians, Han- 
 overians, Belgians, and Brunswickians, between Liege, 
 and Courtray. The Bavarians, the Badeners, and the 
 Wurtembergers crowded into the Palatinate and into 
 the Black Forest. The x^ustrians advanced by forced 
 marches to rejoin them. The Russians crossed Franco- 
 nia and Saxony, and in less than two months had arrived 
 on the banks of the Rhine from Poland. Nine hundred 
 
THE HUNDRED DAYS. 189 
 
 thousand men were ready. Three hundred thousand 
 others would be. The coalition had the secret of Cad- 
 mus ; at its voice soldiers came out of the ground. 
 
 However, as Napoleon saw the armies of the enemies 
 increase, he felt more and more the need of depending 
 upon that people who failed him in 1814. An instant 
 he hesitated whether he should not abandon the Impe- 
 rial crown and take again the sword of the First Consul, 
 but, born in the midst of revolutions. Napoleon feared 
 them. He feared the popular passion, because he knew 
 that nothing could quell it. As the nation had com- 
 plained of the loss of liberty, he gave to it the Acte Ad- 
 ditionnel. 1790 had its federation ; 1815 would have its 
 Champ de Mai. Perhaps France would be deceived. 
 Napoleon passed in review the federates, and on the ist 
 of June, upon the altar of the Champ de Mars, he took 
 the oath of fidelity to the new Constitution. The same 
 day he opened the Legislative Chambers. 
 
 Thus disembarrassed of this political comedy, which he 
 played with regret, he began anew his true role and be- 
 came again General. He had one hundred and eighty 
 thousand fighting men to open the campaign. What 
 will he do ? Will he march towards the Anglo-Prussians 
 in order to meet them at Brussels or at Namur ? Will 
 he wait for the Allies under the walls of Paris or Lyons ? 
 Will he be Hannibal or Fabius ? 
 
 If he had waited for the Allies he would have gained 
 until the month of August, and then he would have com- 
 pleted his levies, finished his preparations, and organized 
 all his material. He would have fought with all his re- 
 sources an army weakened by two thirds by the observa- 
 tion corps, which it would have been forced to leave be- 
 hind it. 
 
IQO NAPOLEON. 
 
 But half of France, invaded by the enemy, would not 
 understand the prudence of this manoeuvre. One could 
 act as Fabius when one had, like Alexander, an empire 
 that covered the seventh part of the globe, or when, like 
 Wellington, one carried on war in the territory of others. 
 Besides all these delays were not in accord with the 
 spirit of the Emperor. 
 
 On the contrary, by carrying hostilities into Belgium 
 he would astonish the enemy, who believed us not to be 
 in a condition to commence the campaign. Wellington 
 and Bliicher could be beaten, dispersed, annihilated, be- 
 fore the remainder of the Allied troops had time to join 
 them. Then Brussels would declare itself, the banks of 
 the Rhine would take up arms again, Italy, Poland, and 
 Saxony would rouse to action, and thus at the com- 
 mencement of the campaign, the first blow, if well 
 struck, might dissolve the coalition. 
 
 It was true, that in case of reverses, he would have 
 brought the enemy into France at the beginning of 
 July, that is to say, nearly two months before they could 
 come there. But after his triumphant march from the 
 Gulf of Juan to Paris, could Napoleon doubt his army, 
 and foresee a defeat ? 
 
 Of these one hundred and eighty thousand men. Na- 
 poleon must take away one quarter to garrison Bor- 
 deaux, Toulouse, Chambery, B^fort, Strasburg, and to 
 keep down La Vendue, that old political cancer, badly 
 extirpated by Hoche and K16ber. He remained, then, 
 with one hundred and twenty-five thousand men, which 
 he concentrated from Philippeville to Maubeuge. He 
 had two hundred thousand men before him, it is true, but 
 if he should wait only six weeks more he would have by 
 that time the whole of Europe on his hands. On the 
 
THE HUNDRED DAYS. I91 
 
 1 2th of June, he left Paris. On the 14th he removed his 
 headquarters to Beaumont, where he camped in the 
 midst of sixty thousand men, throwing to his right upon 
 Philippeville sixteen thousand men, and to his left tow- 
 ards Solre-sur-Sambre forty thousand men. In this 
 position Napoleon had before him the Sambre, to his 
 right the Meuse, and to his left and behind him, the 
 woods of Avesne, Chimay and Gedine. 
 
 On its side the enemy was located between the Sam- 
 bre and the Scheldt, arranged en echelon upon a space of 
 nearly twenty leagues. 
 
 The Prusso-Saxon army, commanded by Bliicher, 
 formed the advance guard. It numbered one hundred 
 and twenty thousand men and three hundred pieces of 
 ordnance. It was divided into four great bodies ; the 
 first, commanded by General Zietheu, who had his head- 
 quarters at Charleroi and Fleurus, formed the point of 
 concentration ; the second, commanded by General 
 Pirsch, cantoned in the environments of Namur ; the 
 third, commanded by General Thielmann, bordered 
 the Meuse in the environs of Dinant ; the fourth, com- 
 manded by General Bulow, and placed in the rear of the 
 first three, had established its headquarters at Li^ge. 
 Disposed thus, the Prusso-Saxon army was in the form 
 of a horseshoe, the two extremities of which advanced, 
 as we have said, on the one side as far as Charleroi and 
 on the other as far as Dinant, and were distant the one 
 three leagues, and the other only a league and a half 
 from our advance posts. 
 
 Wellington was the commander-in-chief of the Anglo- 
 Dutch army. It numbered one hundred and four thou- 
 sand two hundred men, and formed six divisions. 
 These divisions were separated into two great bodies of 
 
192 NAPOLEON. 
 
 infantry, and one of cavalry. The first body of infantry 
 was commanded by the Prince of Orange, whose head- 
 quarters were at Braine-le-Comte. The second body 
 was commanded by Lieutenant-General Hill, whose 
 headquarters were at Brussels. Finally, the cavalry, 
 which was stationed around Grammont, was commanded 
 by Lord Uxbridge. As for the great artillery park it 
 was stationed at Ghent. 
 
 The second army presented the same disposition of 
 lines as the first, only the horseshoe was turned around 
 so that it was the centre, instead of the extremities which 
 was near to our line of battle, from which it was entirely 
 separated by the Prusso-Saxon army. 
 
 Napoleon came on the evening of the 14th to within 
 two leagues of the enemy without their having the least 
 knowledge of his march. He spent a part of the night 
 bent over a large map of the environs, and surrounded 
 by spies who brought to him positive information about 
 the different positions of the enemy. When he was 
 altogether sure about them he calculated with his usual 
 rapidity that they had extended their lines in such a 
 manner that it would take them three days to reunite 
 themselves. By attacking them suddenly he could 
 divide the two armies and defeat them separately. Be- 
 forehand he had concentrated into a single corps twenty 
 thousand horsemen. It was the sabres of this cavalry 
 which were to cut in two the serpent, afterwards crush- 
 ing the separated parts. 
 
 The plan of battle was traced. Napoleon expedited 
 his different orders and continued to examine the ground 
 and to interrogate the spies. All confirmed him in the 
 idea that he knew perfectly the position of the enemy, 
 and that the enemy, on the contrary, was ignorant of 
 
THE HUNDRED DA YS. 193 
 
 his, when suddenly an aide-de-camp of General Gdrard 
 arrived at full gallop. He brought the news that Lieu- 
 tenant-General Bourmont and Colonels Clouet and 
 Willoutrey, of the 4th corps, had gone over to the 
 enemy. Napoleon heard it with the tranquillity of a 
 man used to treason ; then turning towards Nay, who 
 was standing near him, he said : 
 
 " Well ! You hear. Marshal. That is your prot^gS 
 whom I did not wish to have, for whom you answered, 
 and whom I would not have placed there but for you. 
 Behold him gone over to the enemy." 
 
 " Sire," answered the Marshal, " pardon me, but I 
 believed him so devoted that I would have answered 
 for him as for myself." 
 
 " Marshal," rejoined Napoleon, standing up and laying 
 his hand upon his arm, " those who are blue remain 
 blue, and those who are white remain white." 
 
 Then he sat down again and instantly made the 
 changes in his plan of attack which the defection made 
 necessary. 
 
 At daybreak his columns were to be put in motion. 
 
 The advance guard from the left, formed of the infantry 
 
 division of General J^r6me Bonaparte, was to repulse 
 
 the advance guard of the Prussian corps of General 
 
 Ziethen, and to take possession of the bridge of the 
 
 Marchiennes. The right, commanded by General 
 
 Gerard, was to capture early the Chatelet bridge, whilst 
 
 the light cavalry of General Pajol, forming the advance 
 
 guard of the centre, was to go forward, supported 
 
 by the third corps of infantry, and take possession of 
 
 the bridge of Charleroi. At ten o'clock the French army 
 
 was to pass the Sambre and be upon the territory of the 
 
 enemy. 
 13 
 
194 NAPOLEON. 
 
 All was executed as Napoleon had ordered it. 
 J^rdme overthrew Ziethen and took five hundred pris- 
 oners. Gerard took possession of the Chatelet bridge 
 and drove the enemy back more than a league beyond 
 the river. Vandamme was the only one who, at six 
 o'clock in the morning, had not yet left his camp. 
 
 "He will rejoin us," said Napoleon. "Pajol, charge 
 with your light cavalry. I follow you with my Guard." 
 
 Pajol left and destroyed all who presented themselves. 
 An infantry square endeavored to resist ; General Des- 
 michels, at the head of the 4th and 9th Regiments of 
 Chasseurs, threw himself upon it, broke it down, scat- 
 tered it, cut to pieces and took several hundred prison- 
 ers. Pajol, cutting his way with the sabre, arrived in 
 front of Charleroi and entered there at a gallop. Napo- 
 leon followed him. At three o'clock Vandamme arrived. 
 A badly written figure was the cause of the delay. He 
 had taken a four for a six. He was the first punished 
 for his error, since he had not fought. The same even- 
 ing the entire French army passed the Sambre. The 
 army of Blucher retreated on Fleurus, leaving between it 
 and the Anglo-Dutch army a vacant space of four 
 leagues. 
 
 Napoleon saw the mistake and hastened to profit by 
 it. He gave Ney verbal orders to leave with forty-two 
 thousand men by the highway from Brussels to Charleroi 
 and not to stop until he reached the hamlet of Quatre- 
 Bras, an important point situated at the intersection of 
 the roads to Brussels, Nivelles, Charleroi, and Namur. 
 There he was to check the English while Napoleon 
 fought the Prussians with the seventy-two thousand 
 men that remained with him. The Marshal departed 
 the same instant. 
 
THE HUNDRED DAYS. I95 
 
 Napoleon, who believed his order to have been execu- 
 ted, commenced his march again on the morning of June 
 i6th and discovered the Prussian army ranged in line of 
 battle between Saint-Amand and Sombref, and facing 
 the Sambre. It was composed of the three corps, which 
 were cantoned at Charleroi, Namur, and Dinant. Its 
 position was detestable, for its right flank was presented 
 to Ney, who, if he had followed the instructions he had 
 received, should have been at this time at Quatre-Bras, 
 that is to say, two leagues in its rear. Consequently Na- 
 poleon made the following disposition : He ranged his 
 army on an even line with that of Blucher in order to 
 attack from the front, and sent a confidential officer to 
 Ney to order him to leave a detachment on the lookout 
 at Quatre-Bras, and to fall back in all haste to Bry, to 
 attack the rear of the Prussians. Another officer left at 
 the same time to stop the corps of Count d'Erlon, who 
 formed the rear guard, and who, in consequence, ought 
 not yet to be as far as Villers-Perruin. It was necessary 
 for him to take the right, and bring him to Bry. This 
 new instruction advanced matters an hour, and doubled 
 the chances, since, if the one failed, the other would not, 
 and if both arrived and kept the distance at which they 
 were to follow each other, the entire Prussian army 
 would be lost. The first gun-shot Napoleon heard from 
 the direction of Bry or Vagnel6e would be the signal for 
 the attack on the front. When these dispositions were 
 made. Napoleon halted and waited. 
 
 The time passed by and Napoleon heard nothing. 
 Two o'clock, three o'clock, and four o'clock in the after- 
 noon arrived ; the same silence prevailed. However, 
 the day was too precious to be lost in this manner. The 
 next day might bring about a junction. Then he 
 
196 napoleon: 
 
 would have to make a new plan, and regain a lost 
 chance. Napoleon gave the order of attack, expecting 
 that the battle would occupy the Prussians, and that 
 they would give less attention to Ney, who would with- 
 out doubt arrive on hearing the cannon. 
 
 Napoleon began the battle by a vast attack upon the 
 left. He hoped in this way to draw in that direction the 
 greater part of the forces of the enemy, and get it out of 
 his line of retreat at the moment when Ney should arrive 
 by the old Chaussde Brunehaut, which was the road 
 from Gembloux. Then he arranged everything to break 
 its centre and thus cut it in two, confining the strongest 
 part of the army in the triangle of iron, which he had 
 arranged the day before. The battle commenced and 
 lasted two hours without any news being received from 
 Ney or from d'Erlon ; yet they ought to have been in- 
 formed at ten o'clock in the morning ; the one had but 
 two leagues, and the other two leagues and a half to 
 cover. Napoleon was obliged to conquer alone. He 
 gave the order to bring into action his reserves, to exe- 
 cute upon the centre the movement which would decide 
 the success of the day. At this moment he was told that 
 a strong column of the enemy was showing itself on the 
 plain of Heppignies threatening his left wing. How did 
 this column pass between Ney and d'Erlon ? How had 
 Bliicher executed the manoeuvre which he. Napoleon, 
 meant to execute ? That was what he could not under- 
 stand. No matter. He stopped his reserves to oppose 
 them against this new attack and the movement on the 
 centre was suspended. 
 
 A quarter of an hour afterwards he learned that this 
 column was d'Erlon's corps which had gone through the 
 Saint Amand road instead of that of Bry. He then took 
 
THE HUNDRED DAYS. 197 
 
 up again his interrupted manoeuvre, marching upon 
 Ligny, carried it at charge pace, and put the enemy in 
 retreat. But night came and Bliicher's entire army 
 passed through Bry, which should have been occupied 
 by Ney and twenty thousand men. Nevertheless, the 
 day had been gained. Forty pieces of cannon fell into 
 our power, twenty thousand men were hors-de-combat, 
 the Prussian army was so demoralized that of the seventy 
 thousand men of which it had been composed scarcely 
 could their generals at midnight rally thirty thousand.' 
 Blucher himself had been thrown from his horse, and, 
 covered with bruises, had only succeeded in escaping on 
 the horse of a dragoon, thanks to the darkness. 
 
 During the night. Napoleon received news from Ney. 
 The mistakes of 1814 were recommenced in 1815. Ney, 
 instead of marching at daybreak, as he had received the 
 order, upon Quatre-Bras, which was occupied by only 
 ten thousand Dutch, and surrounding it, did not leave 
 Grosselies until mid-day, so that, as Quatre-Bras had 
 been designated by Wellington for the successive rendez- 
 vous of the different corps of the army, which arrived 
 there from mid-day until three o'clock, Ney found thirty 
 thousand men instead of ten thousand. The Marshal, 
 who always recovered his usual energy in the face of 
 danger, and who, moreover, believed himself to be fol- 
 lowed by the twenty thousand men of d'Erlon, did not 
 hesitate to attack. His astonishment was then great 
 when he saw that the corps on which he had counted 
 
 ' Napoleon in tis Memoirs said : " It would have been all over with 
 their army if I had pressed them during the night as they pressed us 
 on the evening of the i8th. I gave them many lessons, but they 
 taught me in their turn that a night pursuit, dangerous as it appears 
 to the victors, has also its advantages." 
 
198 NAPOLEON. 
 
 did not come to his relief, and so, repulsed by superior 
 force, he did not find his reserve within easy reach where 
 he thought it to be. He had in consequence sent after 
 it and gave it positive orders to return. But at this 
 moment he himself had received orders from Napoleon. 
 It was too late. The battle had commenced ; he must 
 sustain it. Nevertheless he again sent to Count d'Erlon 
 to authorize him to continue his route to Bry, and re- 
 turned upon the enemy with a new rage. At this 
 moment a new reinforcement of twelve thousand Eng- 
 lish led by Wellington arrived, and Ney was obliged to 
 beat a retreat upon Frasne ; whilst the corps of Count 
 d'Erlon, wasting its day in marching and counter-march- 
 ing, was constantly led between two cannonades within 
 a radius of three leagues, without being of any use to 
 either Ney or Napoleon. 
 
 However, if the victory was less decisive than it should 
 have been, it was none the less a victory. The Prussian 
 army in full retreat, had, in retiring by its left, un- 
 covered the English army, which thus found itself the 
 most advanced. Napoleon, in order to prevent the Prus- 
 sians from rallying, sent Grouchy after them with thirty- 
 five thousand men, ordering him to press them until they 
 faced him. But Grouchy in his turn made the same mis- 
 take as Ney, only the consequences of it were terrible. 
 
 Although the English General-in-chief was accustomed 
 to the rapid blows of Napoleon, he thought he would 
 arrive at Quatre-Bras in time to make connection with 
 Blucher. In fact, on the isth, at seven o'clock in the 
 evening. Lord Wellington received at Brussels a despatch 
 from the Field Marshal, which announced to him that 
 the entire French army was in motion, and that hostili- 
 ties had been commenced. 
 
THE HUNDRED DAYS. 199 
 
 Four hours afterwards, as he was going to mount his 
 horse, he learned that the French were masters of Char- 
 leroi, and that their army, one hundred and fifty thou- 
 sand men strong, was marching upon the same line with 
 their banners ' upon Brussels, covering all the space be- 
 tween Marchiennes, Charleroi, and Chatelet. He soon 
 was on the road, ordering all his troops to raise their 
 cantonments and concentrate upon Quatre-Bras, where 
 he arrived at six o'clock, as we have said, to learn that 
 the Prussian army had been defeated. If Marshal Ney 
 had followed the instructions he received he would have 
 known that it had been destroyed." 
 
 Besides death had made a terrible exchange. The 
 Duke of Brunswick had been killed at Quatre-Bras, 
 and General Letort at Fleurus. 
 
 The following were the respective positions of the 
 three armies during the night from the i6th to the 17th : 
 
 Napoleon camped on the battle-field ; the third corps 
 in front of Saint Amand ; the fourth in front of Vichy ; 
 the cavalry of Marshal Grouchy at Sombref ; the Guard 
 upon the heights of Bry ; the sixth corps behind Ligny ; 
 and the light cavalry toward the Namur road upon which 
 it had its advance guard. 
 
 ' Ready for action. — J. B. L. 
 
 'Napoleon, va. his Memoirs, says: " In the other campaigns Ney 
 would have occupied, at six o'clock in the morning, the position in 
 front of Quatre-Bras, would have defeated and taken the entire 
 Belgian division, and turned the Prussian army, by sending on the 
 road to Namur a detachment which would have fallen upon the 
 rear of their line of battle ; or, by rapidly marching by way of the 
 Jammapes road, he would have surprised en route the Brunswick di- 
 vision and the fifth English division, which were coming from Brus- 
 sels, and from there marched to meet the first and third English 
 divisions, which were arriving by the road from Nivelles, without 
 cavalry or artillery, and worn out by fatigue." 
 
200 NAPOLEON. 
 
 Blucher, weakly pressed by Grouchy, who, after an 
 hours pursuit, had lost sight of him, had retreated in two 
 columns and had stopped behind Gembloux, where he 
 was rejoined by the fourth corps, commanded by Bulow, 
 which had arrived from Li^ge. 
 
 Wellington had kept his position at Quatre-Bras, where 
 the different divisions of his army had successively re- 
 joined him, worn out by fatigue, having marched all the 
 night from the 15th to the i6th, all day the i6th, and 
 almost all the night from the i6th to the 17th. 
 
 Towards two o'clock in the morning, Napoleon sent 
 an aide-de-camp to Ney. The Emperor supposed that 
 the Anglo-Dutch army had followed the retrograde 
 movement of the Prusso-Saxon army, and he ordered 
 the Marshal to recommence his attack upon Quatre- 
 Bras. General Count Lobau, who had advanced on the 
 Namur road with two divisions of the sixth corps, his 
 light cavalry, and the Cuirassiers of General Milhaud, 
 would sustain him in this attack, for which, seconded 
 thus, he ought to be strong enough, all the probabilities 
 being that he would only encounter the rear-guard of the 
 army. 
 
 At daybreak, the French army started in two 
 columns ; one with sixty-eight thousand men com- 
 manded by Napoleon, followed the English ; the other 
 with thirty-four thousand men, commanded by Grouchy, 
 pursued the Prussians. 
 
 Ney was still behind time, and it was Napoleon who 
 first arrived in sight of the farm-house at Quatre-Bras, 
 where he perceived a body of English cavalry. He sent 
 out a body of one hundred Hussars to reconnoitre, 
 which quickly returned, repulsed by the enemy's regi- 
 ment. Then the French army halted and took its posi- 
 
THE HUNDRED DA VS. 201 
 
 tion for battle. The Cuirassiers of General Milhaud 
 spread themselves upon the right, the light cavalry was 
 in line on the left, the infantry placed itself in the centre, 
 and the artillery, profiting by the inequalities of the 
 ground, took position in the second line. 
 
 Ney had not yet appeared. Napoleon, who feared 
 that he was lost as on the day before, did not wish to 
 commence without him. Five hundred Hussars were 
 rushed towards Frasne, where he ought to have been, 
 in order to open communication with him. Arriving at 
 the woods of Delhutte, which are between the Namur 
 and Charleroi roads, this detachment mistook a regiment 
 of Red Lancers belonging to the division of Lefevre- 
 Desnouettes for an English regiment and commenced 
 firing. At the end of a quarter of an hour they recog- 
 nized each other and came to an explanation. Ney was 
 at Frasne as Napoleon thought. Two officers were de- 
 tached and went to press him to debouch before Quatre- 
 Bras. The Hussars returned to take their place at the left 
 of the French army ; the Red Lancers remained in their 
 position. Napoleon, in order not to lose any time, put in 
 battery twelve pieces of cannon which commenced firing. 
 Two pieces only responded to it, new proof that the 
 enemy had evacuated Quatre-Bras during the night and 
 had left there only a rear-guard to protect its retreat. 
 He could see nothing except by instinct or by apprecia- 
 tion, the rain, which fell in torrents, limiting the sight 
 to a narrow horizon. After an hour of cannonading, 
 during which he had his eyes incessantly towards Frasne, 
 Napoleon, seeing that the Marshal was still late, sent 
 order after order. Then one came to tell him that 
 Count d'Erlon had finally appeared with his corps. 
 As he had not yet been engaged either at Quatre-Bras 
 
202 NAPOLEON. 
 
 or Ligny Napoleon charged him with the pursuit of the 
 enemy. He soon took the head of the column and 
 marched at charge pace upon Quatre-Bras. Behind him 
 the second corps appeared. Napoleon put his horse in 
 a gallop, crossed with only thirty men the space between 
 the two roads, reached Marshal Ney, whom he re- 
 proached not only for his slowness of the day before but 
 also of that day which had made Napoleon lose two 
 precious hours, during which by pressing hard he could 
 have, perhaps, changed the retreat of the enemy's army 
 into a rout. Then, without listening to the excuses of 
 the Marshal, he went to the head of the army where he 
 found the soldiers who marched in the fields in mud up 
 to their knees, and those who marched on the road in 
 water up to the middle of their legs. He believed that 
 the inconvenience was the same for the Anglo-Dutch 
 army, and that it had besides to contend with the difficul- 
 ties of a retreat. He then ordered the flying artillery to 
 go ahead by the road where it could turn with every 
 facility, and not stop firing an instant, as that was all 
 there was to indicate its position and that of the enemy. 
 The two armies continued to march in this marsh in the 
 midst of the fog, wading in the mire like two immense 
 antediluvian dragons such as Brongniart and Cuvier 
 have imagined, returning to each other flames and smoke. 
 Towards six o'clock in the evening the cannonade 
 settled down at one place and increased. In fact the 
 enemy had unmasked a battery of fifteen pieces. Napo- 
 leon divined that its rear-guard had been reinforced 
 and that, as Wellington must have arrived near the for- 
 est of Soignes, he would take for the night a position in 
 front of this forest. The Emperor wished to assure him- 
 self of it. He ordered the Cuirrassiers of General 
 
THE HUNDRED DAYS. 203 
 
 Milhaud to deploy and to make a pretence of charging 
 under the protection of four batteries of light artillery. 
 The enemy then unmasked forty pieces which thundered 
 all at the same time. There was no longer any doubt. 
 The entire army was there. It was what Napoleon 
 wished to know. He recalled his Cuirassiers, whom he 
 needed for the next day, took position in front of 
 Planchenoit, established his headquarters in the Caillou 
 farm-house, and ordered that during the night an obser- 
 vatory be erected from the top of which he could the 
 next morning overlook the whole plain. All the proba- 
 bilities were that Wellington would accept battle. 
 
 During the evening several officers of the English cav- 
 alry, who had been taken prisoners during the day, were 
 brought before Napoleon, but he could not get any 
 information out of them. 
 
 At ten o'clock Napoleon, who believed that Grouchy 
 was at Wavre, sent an officer to him to announce that 
 he had before him the entire Anglo-Dutch army in 
 position in front of the forest of Soignes, with its left 
 leaning against the hamlet of La Haie, and that in all 
 probability it would give him battle the next day. In 
 consequence he ordered him to detach from his camp, 
 two hours before daybreak, a division of seven thousand 
 men with sixteen pieces of artillery, and to direct this 
 division towards St. Lambert in order that it might put 
 itself in communication with the right of the grand army, 
 and work on the left of the Anglo-Dutch army. As for 
 himself, as soon as he was sure that the Prusso-Saxon 
 army had evacuated Wavre, either to proceed on 
 Brussels or follow any other direction, he should then 
 march with the greatest part of his troops in the same 
 direction as the division, which would serve him as an 
 
204 NAPOLEON. 
 
 advance guard, and endeavor to arrive there with all his 
 force towards two o'clock in the afternoon at the moment 
 when his presence would be decisive. Besides, Napo- 
 leon, in order not to attract the Prussians by his can- 
 nonade, would not commence the action until quite late 
 in the morning. 
 
 This despatch was scarcely sent when an aide-de-camp 
 from Marshal Grouchy arrived with a report written at 
 five o'clock in the evening and dated at Gembloux. The 
 Marshal had lost sight of the enemy. He was ignorant 
 as to whether it had proceeded towards Brussels or Liege. 
 In consequence he had established his advance guards 
 upon each of these routes. As Napoleon was visiting 
 the posts he only found this message on his return. He 
 at once despatched another order similar to that which 
 he had sent to Wavre, and after the officer had carried 
 it away, a second aide-de-camp arrived bearing another 
 report written at two o'clock in the morning and also 
 dated at Gembloux. Grouchy had learned towards six 
 o'clock in the evening that Bliicher had proceeded 
 towards Wavre with all his forces. His first intention 
 was to immediately follow him, but his troops had already 
 established their bivouac and were cooking their meal. 
 He would not leave then until the morning of the next 
 day. Napoleon understood nothing of the inactivity of 
 his generals, who had, in 1814 and 1815, a year to rest. 
 He despatched to the Marshal a third order even more 
 pressing than the first ones. 
 
 So during the night from the 17th to the i8th the 
 positions of the four armies were as follows : 
 
 Napoleon with the first, second, and sixth corps of 
 infantry, the division of light cavalry of General Subervie, 
 the Cuirrassiers and Dragoons of Milhaud and Keller- 
 
THE HUNDRED DA YS. 205 
 
 mann, finally with the Imperial Guard ; that is to say, 
 with sixty-eight thousand men and two hundred and 
 forty pieces of artillery, camped in the front and rear of 
 Planchenoit, occupying the highway from Brussels to 
 Charleroi, and on both sides of the same. 
 
 Wellington, with the Anglo-Dutch army more than 
 eight thousand men strong, and with two hundred and 
 fifty cannon, had his headquarters at Waterloo, and was 
 stretching out upon the crest of a hill from Braine-Laleud 
 as far as La Haie. 
 
 Blucher was at Wavre, where he had rallied seventy- 
 five thousand men with whom he was prepared to pro- 
 ceed wherever the cannon might indicate they had need 
 of him. 
 
 Finally, Grouchy was at Gembloux, where he rested 
 after having made three leagues in two days. 
 
 The night passed thus. Everybody understood that 
 they were on the eve of the battle of Zama, but they were 
 still ignorant of who would be Scipio and who Hannibal. 
 
 At daybreak Napoleon stepped anxiously out of his 
 tent, for he did not expect to find Wellington still in his 
 position of the evening before. He believed that the 
 English and Prussian Generals would have profited by 
 the night to reunite before Brussels, and that they would 
 wait for him at the other end of the defiles of the forest 
 of Soignes. But at the first glance he was reassured. 
 The Anglo-Dutch troops still crowned everywhere the 
 heights where they had rested the evening before. In 
 case of defeat their retreat was impossible. Napoleon 
 cast but a glance on these dispositions, then turning 
 towards those who accompanied him said : " The day 
 depends on Grouchy, and if he follows the orders he has 
 received we have ninety chances against one." 
 
2o6 NAPOLEON. 
 
 At eight o'clock in the morning the weather cleared 
 up, and the officers of the artillery whom Napoleon had 
 sent to examine the plain returned to announce to him 
 that the ground was commencing to dry, and that in an 
 hour the artillery could commence to manoeuvre. With- 
 out delay Napoleon, who had dismounted for breakfast, 
 remounted his horse, went towards La Belle- Alliance, and 
 recognized the line of the enemy ; but still doubtful, he 
 charged General Haxo to approach it as near as possible 
 to assure himself that the enemy was not protected by 
 intrenchments thrown up during the night. Half an 
 hour afterwards that General returned. He had not 
 perceived any fortifications, and the enemy was defended 
 only by the conformation of the ground. The soldiers 
 received the order to get ready and to dry their arms. 
 
 Napoleon had from the first the idea to commence the 
 attack on the right, but at eleven o'clock in the morning 
 Ney, who had undertaken to examine this part of the 
 ground, returned to say to him that a little stream, which 
 ran through the ravine, had become, by the rain of the 
 evening before, a muddy torrent which it would be im- 
 possible to cross with infantry, and that his soldiers 
 would be forced to leave the village by files. Then 
 Napoleon changed his plan. He would avoid this local 
 difficulty, go up to the commencement of the ravine, 
 break into the centre of the enemy's army, and hurl the 
 cavalry and artillery upon the Brussels road ; thus the 
 two bodies of the army, divided in the middle, would 
 have all retreat cut off, the one by Grouchy who could 
 not fail to arrive in two or three hours, the other by the 
 cavalry and artillery which would defend the Brussels 
 road. In consequence the Emperor sent all his reserves 
 to the centre. 
 
THE HUNDRED DA VS. 20/ 
 
 Then, as every one was at his post and waited only 
 for the order to march, Napoleon put his horse at a gal- 
 lop and rode down the line, arousing wherever he passed 
 the sound of military music and the shouts of the sol- 
 diers, a manoeuvre which always gave to the commence- 
 ment of his battles an air-de-fete, which contrasted with 
 the coldness of the enemy's armies, because there was 
 not one among the generals who commanded them, who 
 could excite enough confidence or sympathy to awaken 
 such enthusiasm. Wellington, glass in hand, leaning 
 against a tree on a little cross-road in front of which 
 his soldiers were ranged in lines, was looking at this im- 
 posing spectacle of an entire army sworn to conquer or 
 to die. 
 
 Napoleon returned and dismounted on the heights of 
 Rossomme from which he viewed the entire battle-field. 
 Behind him the shouts and the music still resounded like 
 the flame of a train of powder ; then soon everything 
 returned to that solemn silence which always hovers 
 over two armies ready to fight. 
 
 Soon this silence was broken by a fusillade, which 
 broke out towards our extreme left, and the smoke of 
 which was seen above the woods of Goumont. It was 
 the sharpshooters of J6r6me who had received orders to 
 commence the battle so as to attract the attention of the 
 English to that side. The result was that the enemy 
 unmasked its artillery, the thunder of the cannon drown- 
 ing the cracking of the fusillade. General Reille came 
 on with the battery of the Foy division, and Kellermann 
 pushed forward at a gallop his twelve pieces of light 
 artillery. At the same time, in the midst of the general 
 immobility of the remainder of the line, the Foy division 
 moved and advanced to the relief of J^rdme. 
 
208 NAPOLEON. 
 
 At the moment when Napoleon had his eyes fixed on 
 this first movement, an aide-de-camp sent by Marshal 
 Ney, who had charge of the attack of the centre on the 
 farm-house of La Haie Sainte, by the Brussels road, ar- 
 rived at full gallop and announced that all was ready, 
 and that the Marshal only waited for the signal. In- 
 deed, Napoleon saw the troops designated for this attack 
 deployed before him in deep masses, and was going to 
 give the order, when suddenly, in casting a last look 
 over the whole battle-field, he perceived in the midst of 
 the fog a cloud which advanced in the direction of St. 
 Lambert. He turned towards the Duke of Dalmatia, 
 who in his capacity of Major-General was near him, and 
 asked what he thought of this apparition. All the glasses 
 of the staff were turned in an instant in that direction. 
 Some contended that it was trees, and others that it was 
 men. Napoleon was the first to recognize a column. 
 But was it Grouchy ? was it Blucher ? They were igno- 
 rant of this. Marshal Soult thought it was Grouchy, but 
 Napoleon, as by a presentiment, still doubted. He called 
 General Domon and ordered him to proceed towards St. 
 Lambert with his division of light cavalry and that of 
 General Subervie, to reconnoitre his right, to communi- 
 cate promptly with the corps which was arriving to effect 
 a reunion with it if it was Grouchy's detachment, and to 
 stop it if it was the advance guard of Blucher. 
 
 The order was scarcely given when the movement was 
 executed. Three thousand cavalry moved to the right 
 four abreast, unrolled themselves like an immense rib- 
 bon, winding a moment in the lines of the army, then 
 breaking loose through our extreme right, proceeded 
 rapidly and re-formed like a parade nearly three thousand 
 toises from its extremity. 
 
THE HUNDRED DAYS. 209 
 
 Scarcely had they effected this movement, which on 
 account of its precision and elegance, had for an instant 
 diverted the attention from the woods of Goumont 
 where the artillery continued to roar, when an officer of 
 the Chasseurs brought to Napoleon a Prussian Hussar 
 who had just been captured between Wavre and Planche- 
 noit by a flying reconnoitring party. He was the bearer 
 of a letter from General Bulow which announced to 
 Wellington that he was coming through St. Lambert and 
 asked him for his orders. In addition to this explana- 
 tion, which removed all doubt relating to the masses 
 which they had perceived, the prisoner gave new intelli- 
 gence, which they had to believe, incredible as it ap- 
 peared. It was that on that morning the three corps 
 of the Prusso-Saxon army were still at Wavre, where 
 Grouchy had by no means disturbed them. It followed 
 then that there were no Frenchmen in front of them, 
 since a patrol from his regiment had pushed on a recon- 
 noitring party that same night to within three leagues of 
 Wavre without having met any one. 
 
 Napoleon turned again to Marshal Soult and said : 
 
 " This morning we had ninety chances for us. The 
 arrival of Bulow makes us lose thirty, but we still have 
 sixty against forty, and if Grouchy repairs this horrible 
 fault which he committed yesterday of loitering at Gem- 
 bloux ; if he will send his detachment with rapidity, the 
 victory will be more decisive, for the corps of Bulow 
 will be entirely lost. Send for an officer." 
 
 An officer of the staff soon came forward. He was 
 
 charged to carry to Grouchy the letter from Bulow and 
 
 to press him to come. After what he himself had said 
 
 he ought to have been at that hour before Wavre. The 
 
 officer was to make a detour and join him from his rear. 
 14 
 
2IO NAPOLEON. 
 
 He had four or five leagues to go by good roads. The 
 officer, who was well mounted, promised to be near him 
 in an hour and a half. At the same time General Demon 
 sent an aide-de-camp who confirmed the news. It was 
 the Prussians whom he had before him and he had just 
 sent out several selected patrols to put himself in com- 
 munication with Marshal Grouchy. 
 
 The Emperor directed General Lobau to cross with 
 two divisions the Charleroi highway and to proceed upon 
 the extreme right to sustain the light cavalry. He was 
 to select a good position where he could with ten thou- 
 sand men stop thirty thousand. Such were the orders 
 that Napoleon gave when he knew those to whom he was 
 addressing them. This movement was executed on the 
 spot. Napoleon brought his eyes back again to the bat- 
 tle-field. 
 
 The skirmishers had commenced firing all along the 
 line, but nevertheless, except the combat which con- 
 tinued with the same obstinacy in the woods of Goumont 
 there was nothing serious yet. With the exception of a 
 division which the English army had detached from its 
 centre and caused to march to the relief of the Guards, the 
 whole line of the Anglo-Dutch army was immovable ; 
 and at its extreme left the troops of Bulow rested and 
 formed themselves, while waiting for their artillery still 
 engaged in defiling. At this time Napoleon sent to 
 Marshal Ney the order to commence firing with his bat- 
 teries, to march upon La Haie-Sainte, to take it with the 
 bayonet, to leave there a division of infantry, to push on 
 immediately to the two farm-houses of Papelotte and 
 La Haie, and to drive the enemy out in order to sepa- 
 rate the Anglo-Dutch army from the corps of Bulow. 
 The aide-de-camp bearing this order left, crossed the 
 
THE HUNDRED DAYS. 211 
 
 little plain which separated Napoleon from the Marshal, 
 and was lost in the midst of the columns which awaited 
 the signal. 
 
 At the end of some minutes eighty cannon all at once 
 blazed forth and announced that the order of the supreme 
 chief was going to be executed. 
 
 Count d'Erlon advanced with three divisions, sup- 
 ported by this terrible fire which began to make a hole 
 in the English lines, when suddenly in crossing a piece 
 of low ground the artillery stuck in the mud. Welling- 
 ton, who from his position on the heights had seen this 
 accident, profited by it and sent out upon the artillery a 
 brigade of cavalry which divided itself into two bodies, 
 and charged with the rapidity of lightning, part upon 
 the Marcognet division, part upon the pieces deprived 
 of all relief and which, not being able to manoeuvre, had 
 not only ceased to attack but were not even in a condi- 
 tion to defend themselves. The infantry, strongly 
 pressed, was broken into and two eagles taken. The 
 artillerymen were sabred, the traces of the cannon and 
 the hamstrings of the horses cut. Already seven pieces 
 of cannon were useless when Napoleon noticed this 
 affray, and sent orders to the Cuirassiers of General 
 Milhaud to hasten to the relief of their brothers. The 
 wall of iron was set in motion, seconded by the Fourth 
 Regiment of Lancers, and the English Brigade sur- 
 prised, having no time to escape, vanished under this 
 terrible shock, crushed, slashed, cut in pieces ; two regi- 
 ments of Dragoons, among others, had entirely disap- 
 peared, the cannon were retaken and the Marcognet 
 division disentangled. 
 
 This order, so admirably executed, had been carried 
 by Napoleon himself, who had darted off at the head of 
 
212 NAPOLEON. 
 
 the line in the midst of bullets and shell, which killed 
 at his side General Devaux and wounded General Lalle- 
 mand. 
 
 In the meantime Ney, although deprived of the artil- 
 lery, did not the less continue to advance, and whilst 
 this repulse, so fatal though so promptly repaired, took 
 place on the right of the road from Charleroi to Brus- 
 sels, he had sent forth on the highway and on the ground 
 to the left another column, which finally reached La 
 Haie-Sainte. 
 
 There, under the fire of all the English artillery, to 
 which ours could respond but feebly, the entire fight 
 concentrated. During three hours Ney, who had recov- 
 ered all the vigor of his prime of life, eagerly fought 
 for this position which he succeeded in capturing and 
 which he found obstructed with the dead bodies of the 
 enemy. Three Scotch regiments were lying there side 
 by side in their ranks, killed as they had fought ; and 
 the second Belgian division and the fifth and sixth Eng- 
 lish divisions had left there a third of their men. Napo- 
 leon sent out after the fugitives Milhaud's indefatigable 
 Cuirassiers who pursued them, sabring them in the 
 back, as far as the middle of the ranks of the English 
 army which they threw into disorder. From the heights 
 where he was the Emperor saw the luggage, wagons, and 
 the English reserves withdraw from the fight and hasten 
 on to the Brussels road. The day would have been ours 
 if Grouchy had appeared. 
 
 Napoleon's eyes were constantly turned towards St. 
 Lambert where the Prussians had at last commenced the 
 fight, and where, notwithstanding the superiority of their 
 number, they were checked by the two thousand five 
 hundred cavalry of Domon and Subervie, and by 
 
THE HUNDRED DAYS. 213 
 
 Lobau's seven thousand men, who would be so useful 
 to him at this time to sustain his attack on the centre, 
 to which he brought back his eyes, hearing nothing, see- 
 ing nothing, which would announce to him the arrival of 
 the so much expected Grouchy. 
 
 Napoleon sent to the Marshal the order to maintain 
 himself in his position, cost what it might. He had need 
 to see clearly for a moment his chess-board. 
 
 At the extreme left J6r6me had taken possession of a 
 part of the woods and of the castle of Goumont, of 
 which there remained only the four walls, all the roofs 
 having been destroyed by the shells ; but the English 
 continued to hold the deep road which ran along the 
 orchard. It was, therefore, but half a victory on that 
 side. 
 
 In front and towards the centre, the Marshal had 
 taken possession of La Haie-Sainte and maintained him- 
 self there, notwithstanding Wellington's artillery and his 
 cavalry charges, which we brought to a standstill by the 
 frightful fire of our musketry. There the victory was 
 complete. 
 
 At the right of the road General Durutte was trying 
 to take the farm-houses of Papelotte and La Haie, and 
 there he had a chance of victory. 
 
 Finally, at the extreme right, the Prussians of Bulow, 
 who were at last formed in battle array, fixed themselves 
 perpendicularly to our right. Thirty thousand men and 
 sixty cannon marched against the ten thousand men of 
 Generals Domon, Subervie, and Lobau. It was there, 
 consequently, that for a moment the great danger was. 
 
 The danger increased as the reports came. General 
 Domon's patrols had returned without having seen 
 Grouchy. Soon they received a dispatch from the Mar- 
 
214 NAPOLEON. 
 
 shal himself. Instead of leaving Gembloux at daybreak 
 as he had promised to do in his letter of the evening 
 before, he had not left until half-past nine in the morn- 
 ing. Nevertheless, it was half-past four o'clock in the 
 afternoon, the cannon had been thundering for five 
 hours ; Napoleon still hoped by obeying the first law of 
 war to rally with the cannon. At half-past seven he 
 could be upon the battle-field. Up to that time it was 
 necessary to redouble our efforts, and, above all, to stop 
 the progress of Bulow's thirty thousand men, who, if 
 Grouchy finally debouched, would find themselves at 
 that hour taken between two fires. 
 
 Napoleon ordered General Duhesme, who commanded 
 the two divisions of the Young Guard, to proceed upon 
 Planchenoit, towards which Lobau, pressed by the Prus- 
 sians, was making his retreat in squares. Duhesme left 
 with eight thousand men, and twenty-four cannon, which 
 arrived at full gallop, were placed in battery and opened 
 fire at the moment when the Prussian artillery was 
 ploughing with its grape-shot the Brussels road. This 
 reinforcement stopped the progressive movement of the 
 Prussians and appeared for an instant to even make 
 them retreat. Napoleon profited by this respite. Ney 
 was ordered to march at charge pace towards the centre 
 of the Anglo-Dutch army, and break through it. He 
 called Milhaud's Cuirassiers to him, who charged in 
 front to open a hole. The Marshal followed them and 
 soon crowned the plateau with his troops. The entire 
 English line began firing and vomited death at short 
 range. Wellington sent forth against Ney all his re- 
 maining cavalry, whilst his infantry formed itself into 
 squares. Napoleon knew the necessity of resisting that 
 movement, and sent orders to the Count de Valmy to 
 
THE HUNDRED DAYS. 215 
 
 proceed with his two divisions of Cuirassiers upon the 
 plateau to assist the Milhaud and Lef^vre-Desnouettes 
 divisions. At the same time Marshal Ney sent forth 
 General Guyot's heavy cavalry ; the Milhaud and Le- 
 f^vre-Desnouettes divisions were rallied by it, and were 
 brought back to the charge. Three thousand Cuiras- 
 siers and three thousand Dragoons of the Guard, that is 
 to say, the first soldiers in the world, rushed forward at 
 full gallop and collided with the English squares, which 
 burst open, vomited out their grape-shot, and re-formed. 
 But nothing stopped the terrible shock of our soldiers. 
 The English cavalry repulsed, the long swords of the 
 Cuirassiers and Dragoons behind them, repassed through 
 the intervals and re-formed in the rear under the protec- 
 tion of the artillery. Immediately Cuirassiers and Dra- 
 goons fell upon the squares, some of which were finally 
 half broken into, but which died without retreating a 
 single step. Then commenced a terrible slaughter, which 
 was interrupted from time to time by the desperate 
 charges of the cavalry, against which our soldiers were 
 obliged to turn, and during which the English squares 
 would breathe and re-form, only to be again broken. 
 Wellington, followed from square to square, shed tears 
 of rage at thus seeing cut to pieces before his eyes, 
 twelve thousand of his best men, but he knew that they 
 would not recoil a step, and calculating the actual time 
 which ought to pass before the destruction would be 
 accomplished, he drew out his watch and said to those 
 who surrounded him : 
 
 " This will last two hours more and before an hour 
 night or Blilcher will have come." 
 
 It lasted three quarters of an hour. 
 
 Then from the heights from which he commanded the 
 
2l6 NAPOLEON. 
 
 whole battle-field, Napoleon saw a deep mass emerge 
 from the Wavre road. 
 
 At last Grouchy, whom he had so long awaited, was 
 arriving ; late, it is true, but still in time to complete the 
 victory. At the sight of this reinforcement he sent 
 aides-de-camp everywhere to announce that Grouchy 
 had appeared, and would enter into Hne. In fact 
 masses in succession deployed and put themselves in 
 order of battle. Our soldiers redoubled their ardor, 
 for they beheved that they had only to strike the last 
 blow. Suddenly a formidable artillery thundered in 
 front of these new-comers, and the balls, instead of 
 being directed against the Prussians, tore away whole 
 ranks of our army. Every one around Napoleon 
 looked at each other with stupefaction ; the Emperor 
 struck himself on the forehead ; it was not Grouchy, it 
 was Bliicher. 
 
 Napoleon judged his position at the first glance. It 
 was terrible. Sixty thousand fresh men, whom he had 
 not expected, were thrown in succession upon his troops, 
 worn out by an eight hours' struggle. The advantage, 
 however, was maintained at the centre, but the right 
 wing was no more. To fight in order to cut the enemy 
 in two, would now be a useless and even a dangerous 
 thing. The Emperor then conceived and ordered one 
 of the most beautiful manoeuvres that he had ever im- 
 agined in his most hazardous strategic combinations. It 
 was a great change of front, obliquely upon the centre, 
 by the aid of which he would be in front of the two 
 armies. Besides, time was passing, and night, which was 
 coming for the English, was also coming for him. 
 
 Then he gave the order to his left, to leave behind it 
 the woods of Goumont and the few English who still 
 
THE HUNDRED DAYS. 21/ 
 
 held out under the cover of the embattled walls of the 
 castle ; and to come and take the place of the first and 
 second corps, which had suffered much ; and at the same 
 time to release Kellermann's and Milhaud's cavalry, 
 too much engaged on the plateau of Mont Saint-Jean. 
 He directed Lobau and Duhesme to continue the retreat 
 and to range themselves in line behind Planchenoit ; 
 and General Pelet to establish himself strongly in that 
 village, in order to sustain this movement. The centre 
 was to turn on itself. At the same time an aide-de-camp 
 received orders to go along the line and announce the 
 arrival of Marshal Grouchy. 
 
 At this news the enthusiasm revived. Every one in 
 the immense line moved. Ney, who had had five horses 
 killed under him, took his sword in his hand. Napoleon 
 took the head of his reserves and advanced in person by 
 the road. The enemy continued to yield at its centre. 
 Its first line was broken. The Guard went beyond it 
 and carried off an unharnessed battery. But there it 
 fell upon the second line which was composed of a ter- 
 rible mass. This was the remains of the regiments cut 
 to pieces by the French cavalry two hours before and 
 which had re-formed. These were the brigades of the 
 English Guard, Chass^'s Belgian Regiment, and the 
 Brunswick division. No matter. The column deployed 
 as on parade, but suddenly ten pieces in battery blazed 
 forth within pistol-shot and carried away its entire front, 
 whilst twenty other cannon attacked it obliquely and 
 plunged into the masses piled up around La Belle- 
 Alliance which their movement had left unprotected. 
 General Friant was wounded. Generals Michel, Jamin, 
 and Mallet were killed. Majors Augelet, Cardinal, and 
 Agnes fell dead, General Guyot in bringing back his 
 
2l8 NAPOLEON. 
 
 heavy cavalry to the charge for the eighth time, received 
 two shot wounds, Ney had his hat and clothes riddled 
 with bullets. A moment of hesitation manifested itself 
 throughout the whole line. 
 
 At this moment Blucher had arrived at the hamlet 
 of La Haie and had dislodged the two regiments which 
 defended it. These two regiments, which had held out 
 a half hour against ten thousand men, then retreated, but 
 Blucher summoned six thousand English cavalrymen, 
 who had guarded Wellington's left and who had become 
 useless since the left was occupied by the Prussians. 
 These six thousand men, who arrived pell mell with those 
 they pursued, made a horrible hole in the heart of the 
 army. Cambronne then threw himself with the second 
 battalion of the ist Regiment of Chasseurs between the 
 English cavalry and the fugitives, formed a square and 
 sustained the retreat of the other battalions of the Guard. 
 That battalion attracted to itself all the shock. It was 
 surrounded, pressed, attacked on all sides. It was then 
 that Cambronne called upon to surrender, answered, not 
 in the flowery phrase ' which has been attributed to him, 
 but a single word, a word of the military jargon it is true, 
 but from which his energy removed nothing of its sublim- 
 ity, and almost immediately fell from his horse, stricken 
 down by a fragment of a shell which hit him on the head. 
 
 At the same time Wellington caused all of his extreme 
 right with which he could part to advance, as by our 
 movement it ceased to be restrained, and retaking the 
 offensive in his turn he sent it forth like a torrent from 
 the heights of the plateau. This cavalry turned the 
 squares of the Guards, which it did not dare to attack, 
 
 ' "The Guard dies but never surrenders'' are the words usually 
 attributed to Cambronne. — J. B. L. 
 
TBE HUNDRED DAYS. 219 
 
 made a movement to the right, and returned to break 
 our centre below La Haie-Sainte. Then it was learned 
 that Bulow had gone beyond our extreme right, that 
 General Duhesme was dangerously wounded, that 
 Grouchy, on whom they had counted, had not come after 
 all. The firing and the cannon blazed forth within five 
 hundred toises of our rear. Bulow had outflanked us. 
 The cry of " Suave qui peut ! " was heard. The rout 
 commenced. Battalions, which still held together, were 
 disorganized by the fugitives. Napoleon, at the moment 
 of being surrounded, threw himself into the Cambronne 
 square with Ney, Soult, Bertrand, Drouot, Corbineau, 
 Flahaut, Gourgaud, and Labddoy^re, who found them- 
 selves without soldiers. The cavalry multiplied its 
 charges. The English artillery from the crest of the 
 heights swept the entire plain. Ours, which no longer 
 had any men to handle it, remained silent. It was no 
 longer a battle, it was a massacre. 
 
 At this moment the clouds cleared up. Bliicher and 
 Wellington, who had joined each other at the farm-house 
 of La Belle- Alliance, profited by this relief from Heaven 
 and sent their cavalry in pursuit of our troops. The 
 force which had excited this gigantic corps was broken, 
 the army was dispersed, some few battalions of the 
 Guard alone stood and died. 
 
 Napoleon in vain attempted to arrest this disorder. 
 He threw himself in the midst of the ruin, found a regi- 
 ment of the Guards and two reserve batteries behind 
 Planchenoit, and tried to rally the fugitives. Unfortu- 
 nately night prevented him from being seen, and in the 
 tumult he could not be heard. Then he dismounted, 
 threw himself into a square, sword in hand. Jdr6me 
 followed him, saying. 
 
220 NAPOLEON. 
 
 "You are right, brother. Here should fall all who 
 bear the name of Bonaparte." 
 
 But he was taken by his generals and staff officers and 
 forced back by his Grenadiers, who were willing to die, 
 but who did not wish their Emperor to die with them. 
 They put him back on his horse, an officer took the 
 bridle and hurried him away at a gallop. He passed 
 through the midst of the Prussians, who had gone nearly 
 half a league farther than he. Neither balls nor bullets 
 would touch him. At last he arrived at Jemmapes, stopped 
 there a moment, renewed his attempts to rally the fugi- 
 tives, which the night, the confusion, the general rout, 
 and still more than all the eager pursuit of the Prussians, 
 again prevented. Then convinced, as after Moscow, 
 that all was over a second time, and that it was only at 
 Paris he could rally an army and save France, he con- 
 tinued his route, made a halt at Philippeville, and arrived 
 on the 2oth at Laon. 
 
 He who writes these lines saw Napoleon but twice in 
 his life a week apart, and then only during the short 
 space of a change of horses. The first time when he 
 was going to Ligny ; the second time when he was re- 
 turning from Waterloo. The first time by sunlight ; the 
 second time by the light of a lamp. The first time in 
 the midst of the acclamations of the multitude ; the 
 second time in the silence of a populace. 
 
 Each time Napoleon was seated in the same carriage, 
 on the same seat, dressed in the same coat. Each time 
 it was the same vague and unoccupied look. Each time 
 it was the same face, calm and impassible, only his head 
 was a little more inclined upon his chest in returning 
 than in going. 
 
 Was that weariness caused by the impossibility of 
 getting any sleep or by grief at having lost the world ? 
 
THE HUNDRED DAYS. 221 
 
 On the 2ist of June Napoleon had returned to Paris. 
 
 On the 22d the Chamber of Peers and the Chamber 
 of Deputies proclaimed themselves permanent, and de- 
 clared traitors to the country whosoever wished to sus- 
 pend or dissolve them. 
 
 The same day Napoleon abdicated in favor of his son. 
 
 On the 8th of July, Louis XVIII. re-entered Paris. 
 
 On the 14th, Napoleon, after having refused the offer 
 of Captain Baudin, at the present day Vice-Admiral, 
 who proposed to take him to the United States, went on 
 board of the Bellerophon, commanded by Captain Mait- 
 land, and wrote to the Prince Regent of England : 
 
 " Royal Highness : Exposed to the factions which 
 divide my country, and to the enmity of the greatest 
 powers of Europe, I have terminated my political career. 
 I come, like Themistocles, to sit down at the fireside of 
 the British people. I place myself under the protection 
 of the laws, which I claim from your Royal Highness as 
 the most powerful, the most constant, and the most gen- 
 erous of my enemies. 
 
 " Napoleon." 
 
 On the 1 6th of July the BelUrophon sailed for England. 
 
 On the 24th it anchored at Torbay, where Napoleon 
 learned that General Gourgaud, the bearer of his letter, 
 could not communicate with land and had been forced 
 to give up possession of his despatches. 
 
 On the evening of the 26th the BelUrophon entered 
 the roadstead of Plymouth. There the first rumors of 
 deportation to St. Helena were given out. Napoleon 
 would not believe it. 
 
 On the 30th of July a Commissioner informed Napo- 
 leon of the resolution relative to his deportation to St. 
 Helena. Napoleon, indignant, took a pen and wrote : 
 
222 NAPOLEON. 
 
 " I here solemnly protest, in the face of Heaven and 
 mankind, against the violence that is done to me, against 
 the violation of my most sacred rights in disposing of 
 my person and liberty by force. I came on board of 
 the BelUrophon voluntarily. I am not a prisoner. I am 
 the guest of England. I came at the instigation of the 
 Captain himself, who said that he had orders from the 
 Government to receive me and conduct me to England 
 with my suite if that was agreeable to me. I presented 
 myself in good faith in order to place myself under the 
 protection of the laws of England. As soon as I was 
 placed on board the BelUrophon I was entitled to the 
 hospitality of the British people. If the Government, in 
 giving the orders to the Captain of the BelUrophon to 
 receive me as well as my suite, only wished to lay a 
 snare, it has forfeited its honor and disgraced its flag. 
 
 " If this act be consummated it will be in vain for the 
 British people to hereafter speak of their sincerit)', their 
 laws, and their liberties. The British faith will have been 
 lost in the hospitality of the BelUrophon. 
 
 " I appeal to history. It will say that an enemy, who 
 made war against the English people for a long time, 
 came voluntarily in his misfortune to seek an asylum 
 under their laws. What greater proof could we have 
 given of his esteem and confidence ? But how did they 
 respond in England to such a magnanimity ? They pre- 
 tended to hold out a hospitable hand to this enemy, and 
 when he gave himself up in good faith they immolated 
 
 him ! 
 
 Napoleon." 
 " On board the Bell&ophon at sea." 
 
 On the 7th of August, notwithstanding this protest. 
 Napoleon was compelled to leave the BelUrophon and 
 
THE HUNDRED DAYS. 223 
 
 go aboard of the Northumberland. The ministerial 
 order sent to Napoleon deprived him of his sword. 
 Admiral Keath was ashamed of such an order and did 
 not wish to execute it. 
 
 On Monday, August 7, 1815, the Northumberland 
 sailed for St. Helena. 
 
 On the 1 6th of October, seventy days after his de- 
 parture from England and one hundred and ten days 
 after leaving France, Napoleon touched the rock, of 
 which he would make a pedestal. 
 
 As for England, it accepted to its fullest extent the 
 shame of its treachery, and reckoning from the 16th of 
 October, 1815, the Kings have had their Christ and the 
 people their Judas. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 NAPOLEON AT ST. HELENA. 
 
 'T'HE Emperor slept the same evening in a kind of 
 ■* tavern, where he was very badly cared for. The 
 next day at six o'clock in the morning he started on 
 horseback, with Grand Marshal Bertrand and Admiral 
 Keith, for Longwood, a house which the latter had se- 
 cured for his residence as the most suitable on the 
 island. On returning the Emperor stopped at a little 
 pavilion attached to a country-seat belonging to a 
 merchant of the island, named Balcombe. It was his 
 temporary lodging, and he was to live there until Long- 
 wood was in a condition to receive him. He had been 
 feeling so badly the evening before that, although this 
 little pavilion was almost entirely unfurnished, he did 
 not wish to return to the town. 
 
 In the evening, when Napoleon wished to retire, he 
 found that a window without glass, without shutters, and 
 without curtains, looked upon his bed. M. de Las-Cases 
 and his son barricaded it as best they could, and made 
 their own way to a garret where they slept, each upon a 
 mattress. The valets covered themselves with their 
 cloaks and threw themselves across the doorway. 
 
 The next day Napoleon breakfasted without a table- 
 224 
 
NAPOLEON AT ST. HELENA. 22% 
 
 cloth or napkin on the remains of the dinner of the day 
 before. 
 
 This was but the beginning of the misery and priva- 
 tion that awaited him at Longwood. 
 
 However, little by little, this condition of affairs was 
 improved. They brought from the Northumberland the 
 linen and silverware. The Colonel of the 53d had 
 offered him a tent, which they erected, lengthening the 
 chamber of the Emperor, after which Napoleon, with his 
 accustomed regularity, thought of putting a little order 
 into his days. 
 
 At ten o'clock the Emperor sent for M. de Las-Cases 
 to breakfast with him. After the breakfast was finished 
 and after a half hour's conversation, M. de Las-Cases 
 read over what had been dictated the previous evening. 
 When this reading was completed. Napoleon continued 
 to dictate until four o'clock. At four o'clock he dressed 
 himself and went out so that they might put his chamber 
 in order, descended into the garden of which he was very 
 fond and at the end of which a kind of arbor, covered 
 with canvas like a tent, offered him a shelter from the 
 sun. He usually sat down under this arbor, where they 
 had brought for him some chairs and a table. There 
 he dictated to the one of his companions who came 
 from the town for that work until dinner time, which 
 was fixed at seven o'clock. The remainder of the even- 
 ing they read from Racine or Moliere, for they did not 
 have Corneille. Napoleon called this going to comedy 
 or tragedy. Finally, he went to bed as late as he could, 
 for when he retired early he awoke in the middle of the 
 night and could not again get to sleep. 
 
 Indeed, which one of the damned of Dante would 
 have wished to exchange his torment for the insomnia of 
 Napoleon ! 
 
226 NAPOLEON. 
 
 At the expiration of some days he found himself tired 
 and sick. They had placed three horses at his disposal, 
 and thinking that an airing might do him good he ar- 
 ranged with Generals Gourgaud and Montholon a ride 
 for the next day, but during the day he learned that an 
 English officer had been ordered not to lose sight of 
 him. Immediately he sent the horses back, saying that 
 everything in this life was reduced to a calculation, and 
 that since the bad effects of the sight of his jailer was 
 greater than the good he could possibly obtain from the 
 exercise, it was clearly a gain to remain at his own 
 house. 
 
 The Emperor substituted for this diversion night 
 walks which sometimes lasted until two o'clock in the 
 morning. 
 
 At length on Sunday the loth of December, the Ad- 
 miral made known to Napoleon that his house at Long- 
 wood was ready and the same day the Emperor pro- 
 ceeded there on horseback. The object which caused 
 him the liveliest pleasure in his new furniture, was a 
 wooden bath-tub which the Admiral had succeeded in 
 having made from his own drawings by a carpenter of 
 the town, a bath-tub being a piece of furniture, unknown 
 at Longwood. The same day Napoleon availed himself 
 of it. 
 
 The next day the attendance upon Napoleon was 
 organized. He divided it into three series, chamber, 
 livery, and cooks, and it was composed of eleven per- 
 sons. 
 
 As for the high offices, almost all were divided as at 
 the island of Elba. Grand Marshal Bertrand kept the 
 command and general surveillance. Montholon was 
 charged with the domestic details. General Gourgaud 
 
NAPOLEON AT ST. HELENA. 227 
 
 had the direction of the stable and Las-Cases superin- 
 tended the home department. 
 
 As for the division of the day it was almost the same 
 as at Briars. At ten o'clock the Emperor breakfasted 
 in his chamber on a round table, whilst the Grand Mar- 
 shal and his companions ate at a dinner table where they 
 were free to invite private individuals. As he had not 
 fixed an hour for an airing, the heat being very great 
 during the day, the humidity sudden and great in the 
 evening, and the saddle-horses and carriage, which were 
 to be brought from the Cape (of Good Hope) had never 
 arrived, the Emperor worked part of the day either with 
 Las-Cases or with Generals Gourgaud or Montholon. 
 From eight to nine o'clock they quickly dined in the 
 dining-room, which had an odor of paint that was un- 
 bearable to the Emperor. Then they passed to the 
 parlor where the dessert was served. There they read 
 Racine, Moli^re, or Voltaire, regretting more and more 
 Corneille. Finally, at ten o'clock, they sat down to a 
 table of reversis, the Emperor's favorite game, at which 
 they remained ordinarily until one o'clock in the morn- 
 ing. 
 
 All this little colony were lodged at Longwood with 
 the exception of Marshal Bertrand and his family, who 
 resided at Hut's Gate, a poor little house situated on 
 the road to the town. 
 
 The apartments of the Emperor comprised two rooms, 
 each about fifteen feet in length by twelve in width, and 
 about seven feet high. Pieces of nankeen hung like 
 wall-paper covered all the walls. A poor carpet covered 
 the floor. 
 
 In the bedchamber was the little camp-bed where the 
 Emperor slept, and a sofa on which he reposed the 
 
228 NAPOLEON. 
 
 greater part of the day, in the midst of the books with 
 which it was covered. On the side was a little round 
 table on which he breakfasted and dined, and on which 
 in the evening was placed a candlestick with three 
 lights covered over with a large shade. 
 
 Between the two windows and opposite to the door 
 was a chest of drawers which contained the Emperor's 
 linen, and on which was a large dressing-case. 
 
 The mantel-piece, surmounted by a small glass, was 
 decorated with several pictures. At the right was the 
 portrait of the King of Rome astride a sheep. At the 
 left and as a mate to the first picture was another por- 
 trait of the King of Rome sitting on a cushion and try- 
 ing on a slipper. In the centre of the mantel-piece was 
 a marble bust of the same royal infant. Two candle- 
 sticks, two bottles, and two cups of gilded silver belong- 
 ing to the Emperor's dressing-case completed the adorn- 
 ment of the mantel-piece. 
 
 Finally, close to the sofa, and precisely in front of the 
 Emperor when he was lying on it, which was a great part 
 of the day, was the portrait of Marie-Louise holding her 
 son in her arms, painted by Isabey. 
 
 Besides, on the left of the mantel-piece, and apart from 
 the portraits, was the large silver watch of the Emperor 
 Frederick the Great, a sort of alarm clock captured at 
 Potsdam, and in front of it was the Emperor's own 
 watch, which had sounded the hours of Marengo and 
 Austerlitz, recovered in gold on two sides and bearing 
 the letter " B." 
 
 The second or waiting-room had at first no furniture 
 but rough boards placed on plain trestles supporting a 
 goodly number of straggling books and the different 
 chapters written by each of the generals or secretaries 
 
NAPOLEON AT ST. HELENA. 229 
 
 under the dictation of the Emperor. Then between the 
 two windows was a closet in the form of a bookcase. 
 Opposite to this was a bed similar to the first, upon 
 which the Emperor reposed sometimes during the day 
 and even slept at night, after having left the first in his 
 frequent and long wakeful spells. Finally, in the centre, 
 was a working-table with the places marked which the 
 Emperor usually occupied while he dictated, and Messrs. 
 Montholon, Gourgaud, or Las-Cases while they wrote. 
 
 Such was the life and the palace of the man who had 
 by turns lived in the Tuileries, the Kremlin, and the 
 Escurial. 
 
 However, notwithstanding the heat of the day, the 
 humidity of the evening and the absence of things very 
 necessary to plain living, the Emperor would have en- 
 dured these privations with patience if they had not 
 endeavored to surround and treat him not only as a 
 prisoner on the island, but in his own house. They had 
 decided, as we have already said, that when Napoleon 
 rode on horseback an ofiicer should always accompany 
 him. Napoleon had determined not to go out anymore. 
 Then his constancy had wearied his jailers and they had 
 revoked this order, provided he would confine himself to 
 certain limits. But within these limits he was surrounded 
 by a circle of sentinels. One day one of these sentinels 
 levelled his gun at the Emperor, but General Gourgaud 
 snatched it away from him at the moment when he was 
 about to fire. This enclosure permitted but little, be- 
 sides a half-league course, and, as the Emperor did not 
 desire to go beyond it to spare himself the company of 
 his jailer, he lengthened his ride by descending by seldom 
 trodden paths into deep ravines where it was incredible 
 that he was not dashed to pieces ten times. 
 
230 NAPOLEON. 
 
 Notwithstanding this change in his habits the health 
 of the Emperor continued pretty good during the first 
 six months. 
 
 But in the following winter, the weather having be- 
 come continuously bad and the dampness and rain hav- 
 ing invaded the pasteboard apartments he occupied, he 
 commenced to experience frequent indispositions which 
 were manifested by torpor and weakness. In addition 
 to which Napoleon was not ignorant that the climate 
 was very unhealthy, and that a person was rarely en- 
 countered on the island who had reached fifty years of 
 age. 
 
 In the meanwhile a new Governor arrived and was 
 presented to the Emperor by the Admiral. He was a 
 man of about forty-five years, of ordinary stature, slen- 
 der, thin, with red face and hair, speckled with freckles, 
 with cross eyes looking at you sneakingly, rarely looking 
 at one's face, and covered thickly and very prominently 
 with reddish eyebrows. His name was Sir Hudson 
 Lowe. 
 
 From the day of his arrival new vexations com- 
 menced, which became more and more intolerable. 
 His first act was to send to the Emperor two pamphlets 
 against him. Then he submitted all the domestics to an 
 inquiry in order to learn if it was without restraint and 
 of their own free will that they lived with the Emperor. 
 These new vexations brought on him one of those at- 
 tacks to which he had become more and more subject. 
 It lasted five days, during which he did not go out, 
 but continued, nevertheless, to dictate his Italian cam- 
 paign. 
 
 The vexations of the Governor soon increased. He 
 carried the omission of the simplest politeness to the 
 
NAPOLEON A T ST. HELENA. 
 
 231 
 
 point of inviting " General Bonaparte " to dine at his 
 house in order to show him to an English lady of dis- 
 tinction, who had touched at the port of St. Helena. 
 Napoleon did not even reply to the invitation. The 
 persecutions redoubled. 
 
 From that time forward no one could write without 
 having first exhibited the letter to the Governor and 
 every letter which gave Napoleon the title of Emperor 
 was confiscated. 
 
 They sent notice to " General Bonaparte " that the 
 expenses which he was incurring were too great ; that 
 the Government had intended to allow him but four 
 persons daily at his table at the most, one bottle of wine 
 each day for each person, and an invitation dinner once 
 a week. If his expenses should be excessive, " General 
 Bonaparte " and the people of his suite must pay them. 
 
 The Emperor had his silver plate broken into pieces 
 and sent it to town, but the Governor required that it 
 be sold only to the man whom he introduced. The 
 man whom he introduced gave six thousand francs for 
 the first parcel which had been made up. It was 
 scarcely two thirds of the value of the plate estimated 
 by weight. 
 
 The Emperor took a bath every day. They told him 
 that he ought to be content with a bath once a week, 
 water being scarce at Longwood. There were some 
 trees under which he sometimes went while walking and 
 which gave the only shade within the limits assigned for 
 his walks. The Governor had them cut down, and when 
 the Emperor complained of this cruelty he answered that 
 he was ignorant that these trees were agreeable to " Gen- 
 eral Bonaparte," but as he missed them others would be 
 planted. 
 
232 NAPOLEON. 
 
 Then, Napoleon occasionally had impulses of sub- 
 lime passion. This response produced one of them. 
 
 " The worst conduct of the English Ministers," cried 
 he, " is not now to have sent me here but to have placed 
 me in your hands. I complained about the Admiral, but 
 he at least had a heart. You, you dishonor your nation 
 and your name will remain a stain upon it." 
 
 Finally, they perceived from the quality of the meat, 
 that they furnished dead animals to the Emperor's table 
 and not those which had been killed. They asked to 
 have live ones but this request was refused. 
 
 From that time Napoleon's existence was but a slow 
 and painful agony which lasted nevertheless five years. 
 For five years longer the modern Prometheus remained 
 chained to the rock where Hudson Lowe preyed upon 
 his heart. Finally, on the 20th of March, 1821, glorious 
 anniversary of the re-entry of Napoleon into Paris, Na- 
 poleon experienced in the morning a strong oppression 
 in the stomach and a kind of fatiguing suffocation in 
 the chest. Soon an acute pain was felt at the epigas- 
 trium in the left hypochondriac and extending on the 
 side of the thorax to the corresponding place on the 
 other shoulder. Notwithstanding the first remedies the 
 fever continued, the abdomen became painful to the 
 touch and the stomach swelled. Towards five o'clock 
 in the afternoon he had a paroxysm accompanied by an 
 icy coldness, especially in the lower extremities, and the 
 invalid complained of cramps. At this moment Madame 
 Bertrand came to make him a visit. Napoleon made an 
 effort to appear less depressed and affected even a little 
 gaiety, but soon his melancholy disposition coming upon 
 him he said : 
 
 " We must prepare for the fatal sentence. You, Hor- 
 
NAPOLEON A T ST. HELENA. 
 
 2Zi 
 
 tense, and myself are destined to meet our fate upon this 
 miserable rock. I shall go first, you will come after- 
 wards, Hortense will follow. But we shall all three meet 
 again in Heaven." 
 
 Then he added these four lines from " Zaire." ' 
 
 " Mais h revoir Paris je ne dois plus fritendre : 
 Vous voyez qu'au tombeaiije suis frit h descendre, 
 ye vais au roi des rois demander aujourd^ hui 
 Leprix de ious les matix quej'ai soufferts pour lui." 
 
 The following night was one of restlessness, the symp- 
 toms becoming more and more grave. An emetic drink 
 caused them momentarily to disappear, but they soon 
 returned. A consultation then took place, almost in 
 spite of the Emperor, between Dr. Antomarchi and Mr. 
 Arnott, surgeon of the 20th Regiment, stationed on the 
 island. These gentlemen recognized the necessity of 
 applying a large blister to the abdominal region, of ad- 
 ministering a purgative, and of putting some vinegar 
 upon his forehead every hour. The disease continued, 
 nevertheless, to make rapid progress. 
 
 One evening a domestic at Longwood said that he 
 had seen a comet. Napoleon heard it and this omen 
 impressed itself upon him. 
 
 " A comet ! " cried he. " That was the precursory 
 sign of the death of Caesar." 
 
 On the nth of April the coldness in the feet became 
 excessive. The Doctor tried fomentations to dissipate 
 it. 
 
 Napoleon said to him : 
 
 " All that is useless. It is not at that place, it is in 
 
 '"Zaire." Act ii. Scenes. By Voltaire. J. B. L. 
 
234 NAPOLEON. 
 
 the stomach, it is in the liver, where the trouble is. You 
 have no remedy for the fever which burns me, no prep- 
 arations, no medicines, to quench the fire with which 
 I am being devoured." 
 
 On the 15 th of April he commenced to draw up his 
 will, and that very day entrance into his chamber was 
 forbidden to everybody except Marchand and General 
 Montholon, who remained with him from half-past one 
 to six o'clock in the afternoon. 
 
 At six o'clock the Doctor entered. Napoleon showed 
 him his will which he had commenced, and each piece 
 of his dressing-case already bearing the name of the 
 person for whom it was intended. 
 
 " You see," said he, " I am making my preparations to 
 go. 
 
 The Doctor tried to reassure him. Napoleon stopped 
 him. 
 
 " More deception," he added ; " I know what it is and 
 I am resigned." 
 
 On the 19th he felt very much better, and everybody 
 but Napoleon began again to hope. Every one con- 
 gratulated him on this change. Napoleon let them 
 speak, and said smilingly : 
 
 " Do not be deceived. I am better to-day, but I feel 
 none the less that my end is approaching. When I am 
 dead every one of you will have the sweet consolation 
 of returning to Europe. Some of you will again see 
 your relatives, others your friends. As for myself I shall 
 find my brave companions in Heaven. Yes ! Yes ! " 
 he added, animating and raising his voice with an in- 
 spired accent, " Yes ! Kleber, Desaix, Bessieres, Duroc, 
 Ney, Murat, Mass^na, Berthier, will come to meet me. 
 They will speak to me of that which we have done 
 
NAPOLEON AT ST. HELENA. 235 
 
 together, and I will relate to them the last events of my 
 life. On seeing me again they will all become full of 
 enthusiasm and glory. We will converse about our wars 
 with the Scipios, the C^sars, and Hannibal, and there 
 will be pleasure in that. Unless," he continued smil- 
 ingly, " they should be frightened in Heaven ' to see so 
 many warriors together." 
 
 Some days later he sent for his chaplain, Vignali. 
 
 " I was born in the Catholic religion," said he to him, 
 " I wish to fulfill the duties which it imposes upon me, 
 and to receive the sacraments which it administers. 
 You will say mass every day in the neighboring chapel ; 
 you will expose the blessed sacrament during forty 
 hours. When I am dead you will place your altar at 
 my head in the ' Chambre ardente.' ° Then you will 
 continue to celebrate mass. You will perform all the 
 customary rites, and you will not cease until I have been 
 interred." 
 
 After the priest came the turn of the Doctor. 
 
 " My dear Doctor," said he to him, " after my death, 
 which can not be much farther away, I wish you to open 
 my body, but I require that no English physician shall 
 place his hands upon me. I request that you will take 
 my heart and place it in alcohol, and that you will carry 
 it to my beloved Marie-Louise. You will tell her that I 
 have loved her tenderly and that I have never ceased to 
 love her. You will relate to her all that I have suffered. 
 You will tell her all that you have seen. You will enter 
 into all the details of my death. I beg you above all 
 
 ' " La Haut" is frequently translated " Elysian Fields." 
 
 -J. B. L. 
 ' A room in which a dead person lies in state, and where candles, 
 etc., are placed around the body. — J. B. L. 
 
236 NAPOLEON. 
 
 to examine my stomach, and make a precise and de- 
 tailed report, which you will send to my son. Then 
 from Vienna you will return to Rome. You will call 
 on my mother and family. You will report to them that 
 which you have observed relative to my situation. You 
 will tell them that Napoleon, the same one that the 
 world calls the Great, like Charlemagne, and Pompey, 
 died in a most deplorable condition, needing everything, 
 abandoned to himself and to his glory. You will tell 
 them that while expiring he bequeathed to all the reign- 
 ing families the opprobrium of his last moments." 
 
 On the 2d of May the fever reached the highest de- 
 gree of intensity that it had yet attained. The pulse 
 went up to one hundred pulsations per minute, and the 
 Emperor was delirious. This was the commencement 
 of the death struggle ; but this struggle had yet many 
 moments of relaxation. In these short moments of 
 lucidness. Napoleon incessantly returned to the order he 
 had given to Dr. Antomarchi. 
 
 " Make with care," said he to him, "the anatomical 
 examination of my body, and above all of my stomach. 
 The physicians of Montpellier told me that the disease 
 of the pylorus would be hereditary in my family. Their 
 report is, I believe, in the hands of Louis. Ask for it, 
 and compare it with what you yourself will have ob- 
 served, in order that I may at least save my child from 
 this cruel malady." 
 
 The night was pretty good, but the next day, in the 
 morning, the delirium returned with new force. How- 
 ever, towards eight o'clock it lost a little of its intensity. 
 Towards three o'clock the invalid recovered conscious- 
 ness. He took advantage of it and called his executors 
 and charged them in case he should completely lose 
 
NAPOLEON A T ST. HELENA. 237 
 
 consciousness to let no English physician approach him, 
 except Dr. Arnott. Then he added in the fulness of his 
 reason and with all the power of his genius. 
 
 " I am going to die. You will return to Europe. I 
 must give you some advice about the line of conduct 
 you are to pursue. You have shared my exile. You 
 will be faithful to my memory. You will do nothing 
 that may injure it. I have sanctioned all good morals 
 and I have infused them into my laws and my acts. 
 There has not been a single one which I have not sanc- 
 tioned. Unfortunately the circumstances were grave, 
 and I have been obliged to act rigorously, and to pro- 
 crastinate. Reverses have come. I had not the power 
 to unbend the bow, and France has been deprived of the 
 liberal institutions that I had intended for her. She 
 judges me with indulgence. She takes into considera- 
 tion my intentions. She cherishes my name and my 
 victories. Imitate her. Be faithful to the opinions you 
 have defended and to the glory we have acquired. Out- 
 side of that there is nothing but shame and confusion." 
 
 On the morning of the 5th the sickness had reached 
 its height. Life was no longer in the body of the 
 patient ; it was only a painful vegetation panting for 
 breath. Respiration became more and more insensible. 
 The eyes, open to their full width, were fixed and 
 lifeless. Some vague words, the last ebullition of his 
 delirious brain, were heard from time to time upon 
 his lips. The last words which were heard were " Tite " 
 and " Arm/e." Then the voice became silent, all in- 
 telligence appeared dead, and the Doctor himself be- 
 lieved that life was extinct. However, towards eight 
 o'clock the pulse revived. The deadly spring, which 
 closes the mouth of the dying, seemed to relax and some 
 
238 NAPOLEON. 
 
 great and deep sighs came from his chest. At half-past 
 ten the pulse was annihilated. At a few minutes after 
 eleven o'clock the Emperor had lived. 
 
 Twelve hours after the death of his illustrious patient, 
 Dr. Antomarchi proceeded to open the body in the same 
 manner Napoleon had so often requested. Then he de- 
 tached the heart, which, in accordance with the instruc- 
 tions he had received, he put in alcohol to carry it to 
 Marie-Louise. But at this moment the executors unex- 
 pectedly arrived with the refusal of Sir Hudson Lowe to 
 allow, not only the body, but any part of it, to leave St. 
 Helena. It must remain on the island. The body was 
 nailed to the scaffold. 
 
 Then they busied themselves in selecting the burial- 
 place of the Emperor, and the preference was given to a 
 spot that Napoleon had seen only once but of which he 
 always spoke with pleasure. Sir Hudson Lowe consented, 
 and the grave was dug at that place. 
 
 When the autopsy was completed Dr. Antomarchi 
 reunited the separated parts with stitches, washed the 
 body, and gave it to the valet-de-chambre who dressed 
 it in the costume which the Emperor had been in the 
 habit of wearing ; that is to say, white cassimere breeches, 
 white silk stockings, long riding boots with little spurs, 
 a white waistcoat, a white cravat covered with a black 
 one buckled behind, the Grand Cordon of the Legion of 
 Honor, the coat of a Colonel of the Chasseurs of the 
 Guard decorated with the orders of the Legion of Honor 
 and the Iron Crown, and, finally, a three-cornered hat. 
 Dressed thus Napoleon was removed from the room on 
 the 6th of May, at a quarter of six o'clock and laid in 
 state in the little bed-room which they had converted 
 into a " chapeUe ardente." The hands were free. He 
 
NAPOLEON A T ST. HELENA. 239 
 
 was laid upon his little camp-bed, his sword at his side, a 
 crucifix upon his chest, and the blue cloak of Marengo 
 thrown over his feet. He remained thus exposed for 
 two days. 
 
 On the morning of the 8th the body of the Emperor, 
 which should have reposed under the column, and the 
 heart which should have been sent to Marie-Louise, were 
 placed in a tin box provided with a mattress and a pil- 
 low covered with white satin. The hat, not being able 
 for want of space to rest upon the head of the dead man, 
 was placed at his feet. Around him they spread eagles 
 and pieces of money struck off, with a representation of 
 his face, during the course of his reign. They also 
 placed there his knife, fork, and spoon, his short sword, 
 and a plate with his coat-of-arms engraved thereon. 
 This first case was enclosed in a second made of mahog- 
 any, then they put this into a third made of lead, which 
 was finally placed in a fourth of mahogany similar to 
 the second, but of much larger dimensions. Then they 
 exhibited the coffin at the same place they had shown 
 the corpse. 
 
 At half past twelve the coffin was carried by the 
 soldiers of the garrison into the main path of the garden 
 where the hearse awaited it. They covered it with 
 violet velvet, over which they threw the cloak of Marengo, 
 and the funeral procession started in the following order. 
 
 The Abbd Vignali arrayed in sacerdotal vestments 
 with young Henry Bertrand at his side carrying a silver 
 holy-water bowl with its sprinkler. 
 
 Drs. Antomarchi and Arnott. 
 
 The persons entrusted with the superintendence of 
 the hearse, which was drawn by four horses led by grooms, 
 and escorted by twelve unarmed Grenadiers on each 
 
240 NAPOLEON. 
 
 side. These last were to carry the coffin on their shoul- 
 ders when the bad condition of the road prevented the 
 hearse from going farther. 
 
 Young Napoleon Bertrand and Marchand, both on 
 foot and by the side of the hearse. 
 
 Counts Bertrand and Montholon on horseback, imme- 
 diately behind the hearse. 
 
 Part of the suite of the Emperor. 
 
 Countess Bertrand with her daughter Hortense, in a 
 carriage drawn by two horses led by domestics who 
 walked by the side of the precipice. 
 
 The Emperor's horse led by his groom, Archambaud. 
 
 Marine officers on horseback and on foot. 
 
 Staff officers on horseback. 
 
 General Coffin and Marquis de Monchenu on horse- 
 back. 
 
 The Rear-Admiral and the Governor on horseback. 
 
 The inhabitants of the island. 
 
 The troops of the garrison. 
 
 The grave was dug nearly a quarter of a mile beyond 
 Hut's Gate. The hearse stopped near the grave and the 
 cannon commenced to fire five rounds per minute. 
 
 The body was lowered into the grave while Abb6 
 Vignali repeated the prayers ; his feet were turned 
 towards the Orient, which he had conquered, his head 
 towards the Occident, where he had reigned. 
 
 Then an enormous stone, which was to have been used 
 in the Emperor's new house, sealed up his last dwelling, 
 and he passed from time into eternity. 
 
 Then they brought a silver plate on which was en- 
 graved the following inscription ; 
 
NAPOLEON AT ST. HELENA. 24 1 
 
 " Napoleon. 
 Born at Ajaccio, August 15, 1769. 
 Died at St. Helena, May 5, 1821." 
 
 But, at the moment when they were going to fasten it 
 on the stone. Sir Hudson Lowe advanced and declared 
 in the name of his Government, that the only inscription 
 they could place upon the tablet was 
 
 " General Bonaparte." 
 
 THE END. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Abensberg, battle of, log 
 
 Aboukir, battle of, 51 
 
 Acre, siege of, 48 et seq. 
 
 Acte Additionnel, the, 189 
 
 Ajaccio, birthplace of Napoleon, 
 I ; his attack on, 15 ; his ar- 
 rival at, on his return from 
 Egypt (1799). 53 
 
 Alessandria, capture of, 31 ; 59 
 et seq, 
 
 Alexander, Emperor of Russia, 
 treaty with England (1805), 
 82 • Austerlitz, 90 et seq. ; 
 Eylau and Friedland, loi ; 
 Tilsit, 103 ; plan of defence, 
 Tli et seq. 
 
 Alexandria, 41 
 
 Alps, Napoleon's passage of the, 
 
 59 
 
 Altkirchen, battle of, loi 
 Alvinzi, General, — in Italy, 35 
 
 et seq. 
 Amiens, treaty of (1802), 78 
 Ancone, capture of, 106 
 Antomarchi, Doctor, 233 et seq. 
 Arcole, battle of, 35 
 Argentau, capture of, 34 
 Arnott, Doctor, 233 et seq. 
 Augereau, General, 36 ; made 
 
 Marshal, 79, 149, 151 
 Austaed, battle of, 98 
 
 B 
 
 Bagration, General, at Auster- 
 litz, 89 et seq. J- at Borodino, 
 liq et seq. ; wounded, 127 
 
 Batavia, made a kingdom, 97 
 
 Bassano, battle of, 35 
 
 Bautzen, battle of, 141 
 
 Bavaria, Austrians invade (1809), 
 109 ; evacuation of, no ; 
 changes sides, 144 
 
 Beauharnais, Prince Eugene, 
 meets Napoleon, 30 ; at Boro- 
 dino, 120 et seq., 149 ; at 
 Vienna, 162 
 
 Beaulieu, General, in Italy, 32 
 et seq. 
 
 Benigsen, General, at Warsaw, 
 100 ; at Borodino, 120 et seq. 
 
 Berlin, French army enters 
 (1806), 98 ; Decree of, or Con- 
 tinental Blockade, 104 
 
 Bernadotte, General, made Mar- 
 shal, 79 ; at Austerlitz, 82 et 
 seq. ; at Borodino, 120 et seq. ; 
 defeats the French, 143 ; in- 
 vades Holland and Belgium, 
 148 et seq. ; stopped by Maison, 
 
 149 
 Berthier, General, 36 ; after 
 Marengo, 75 ; made Marshal, 
 79 ; made Prince of Neuf- 
 chatel, 97 ; at Tilsit, 103 ; 
 
 243 
 
244 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 before Borodino, 119 ct seq., 
 131 ^/ seq, 
 
 Berton, Father, Vice-Principal of 
 the Military School at Brienne, 
 2 ; Napoleon dines with, 5 ; 
 Napoleon's memorial to, 6 
 
 Bertrand, General, taken prisoner 
 at Leipsic, 146; at Elba, 153 
 et seq. ; march to Paris, 174 
 et seq. ; Grand Marshal of the 
 Palace, 182 ; at Waterloo, 219 ; 
 at St. Helena, 224 et seq. 
 
 Bertrand, Madame, at St. Helena, 
 232 et seq. 
 
 Bessieres, General, at Austerlitz, 
 i2etseq., 93, at Tilsit, 103 
 
 Blucher, General, defeat and 
 pursuit of, by Napoleon in Sax- 
 ony, 142 etseq. ; at Montmirail 
 and Monteneau, 1 50 ; reassem- 
 bles his army, 188 ; in com- 
 mand of the Prusso-Saxon 
 army, igi ; at Wavre, 205 et 
 seq. ; at Waterloo, 216 et seq, 
 
 Bonaparte, Charles, father of 
 Napoleon, I 
 
 Bonaparte, Jerome, at Waterloo, 
 ig3 et seq. 
 
 Bonaparte, Joseph, in War Office, 
 15 ; visit to Valence, 26 etseq. ; 
 made King of Naples, 96 ; 
 made King of Spain, 105 ; 
 leaves Madrid, etc., 106 et seq. 
 
 Bonaparte, Louis, at Valence, 7 ; 
 under-ofScer, 16 ; King of Ba- 
 tavia, 97 
 
 Bonaparte, Lucien, in War Office, 
 
 15 
 
 Borodino, battle of, 117 ei seq. 
 
 Bourgeois, Rene, narrative of re- 
 treat from Moscow, 134 et seq. 
 
 Bourrienne, with Napoleon at 
 Paris (1792), 13 ; (1798). 39 
 
 Briars, The, Napoleon at St. 
 Helena, 224 et seq. 
 
 Brienne, Military School of, 2 
 et seq. 
 
 Bulow, General, at Waterloo, 
 200 et seq. 
 
 Burgos, capture of, 106 
 Buxhowden, General, at Auster- 
 litz, 88 et seq. 
 
 Cairo, Napoleon enters, 46 ; re- 
 volts, 47 
 
 Cambronne, General, at Elba, 
 153 ; march to Paris, 173 et 
 seq.; killed at Waterloo, 218 
 
 Camerino, capture of, 106 
 
 Campbell, Colonel, English Com- 
 missioner at Elba, ibi^ etseq. 
 
 Campo-Formio, treaty of (1797), 
 38 
 
 Cartaux, General, at Toulon, 16 
 et seq. ; plan of battle, 20 
 
 Castiglione, battle of, 34 
 
 Cavalo, battle of, 35 
 
 Caulaincourt, General, at Tilsit, 
 103 ; killed at Borodino, 130 
 
 Ceva, capture of, 31 
 
 Champeaubert, battle of, 149 
 
 Charles, General Prince, in Italy 
 (1797). 36 ; at Essling, no 
 
 Chateau-Thierry, battle of, 149 
 
 Chatillon-sur-Seine, Congress of, 
 148 
 
 Chebreiss, battle of, 41 
 
 Cintra, the Convention of, 106 
 
 Cis-Alpine Republic, Napoleon 
 chosen President of the, 78 
 
 Clausen, battle of, 36 
 
 Compans, General, at Borodino, 
 118 et seq.; wounded, 125 ; 
 again wounded at Leipsic, 146 
 
 Coni, capture of, 31 
 
 Constantine, The Russian Grand 
 Duke, at Austerlitz, 89 et seq.; 
 at Tilsit, 103 
 
 Constitutional Convention, the, 
 28 et seq. 
 
 Constitutional Assembly, the, II 
 
 Continental Blockade, the, 100 
 
 Corps Legislatif, action of, 148 
 
 Corsica, submission of, 5 ; Na- 
 poleon visits, 12 ei seq.; exile 
 of the Bonapartes from, 15 ; 
 
INDEX. 
 
 245 
 
 English expelled from, 35 ; 
 Napoleon Visits (1799), 53 
 Cremona, capture of, 32 
 
 D 
 
 Dalesme, General, at Elba, 154 
 
 et seq, 
 Dantzig, capture of, 101 
 Davoust, General, Prince of 
 
 Eckmuhl, made Marshal, 79 ; 
 
 at Austerlitz, 84 ei seq.; at 
 
 Warsaw, 100 ; at Borodino, 
 
 120 et seq.; Minister of War, 
 
 182 
 Dego, battle of, 31 
 Desaix, General, at Minieh- 
 
 Salam, 41 ; at the Pyramids, 
 
 42 et seq. ; at Marengo, 66 
 
 et seq.; killed, 71 
 Djezzar-Pasha, 47 
 Dommartin, General, at Toulon, 
 
 16 et seq.; in Egypt, 48 et seq. 
 Domitten, battle of, loi 
 Domon, General, at Waterloo, 
 
 208 et seq. 
 Dresden, capitulation of, 141 ; 
 
 battles of, 142 et seq. 
 Drouot, General, at Elba, 153 
 
 et seq.; Major-General of the 
 
 Guards, 182 ; at Waterloo, 219 
 Dumas, General Alexandre, 29 ; 
 
 Duroc, General, 56 ; killed at 
 Dresden, 141 
 
 Egypt, campaign in (17981, 41 
 
 et seq, 
 Ekmuhl, battle of, 109 
 Elba, Napoleon at, 153 et seq. 
 Elban flag, the, 154 
 Elersberg, battle of, i ro 
 Elsnitz, General, at Marengo, 67 
 
 et seq. 
 El Arich, 47 ; capture of, 48 
 Enzersdorft, battle of, no 
 
 D'Enghien, death of the Duke 
 
 of, 78 
 Erfurth, the dinner at (1808), S ; 
 
 battle of, 98 ; French army at, 
 
 147 
 D'Erlon, General Count, at 
 
 Waterloo, 195 et seq. 
 Essling, battle of, no 
 Eylau, battle of, loi 
 
 Favorita, battle of, 36 
 
 Ferdinand, King of Naples, de- 
 posed 96 et seq. 
 
 Fontainebleau, Military School 
 of, 7 ; violation of treaty of, 
 161 ; Napoleon at, on his re- 
 turn from Elba, 181 
 
 French Empire, the extent of 
 the. III et seq. 
 
 French Revolution, the, 13 et seq. 
 
 Friedland, the battle of, loi el 
 seq. 
 
 Gasparin, representative of the 
 
 people at Toulon, rg 
 Gaza, 47 ; occupation of, 48 
 Gazette d'Augsbourg, extract 
 
 from, 161 
 Genoa, surrendered by Massena, 
 
 60 ; capture by Napoleon and 
 
 division into Departments, 81 
 George III., King of England, 
 
 Napoleon proposes peace to, 55 
 Golden Bull, the story of the, 8 
 Golymin, battle of, loi 
 Gourgaud, General, at Waterloo, 
 
 2Jt) et seq.; at St. Helena, 226 
 Gradisca, capture of, 36 
 Gregoire, Mile, of Columbier, 10 
 Grenoble, Napoleon stationed at 
 
 7 ; marches upon, 176 ; arrives 
 
 at, 177 
 Grouchy, Marshal, at Borodino, 
 
 131 ; at Waterloo, 198 ei seq. 
 Gutstadt, battle of, 101 
 
246 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 H 
 
 Hanau, battle of, 147 
 Heilsberg, battle of, loi 
 
 Ibrahim Bey, 47 
 
 Inquisition, the catechism of the, 
 107 et seq. 
 
 Jaffa, capture of, 48 ; retreat to 
 and evacuation of, 50 
 
 Jena, battle of, 98 
 
 Josephine, Empress of theFrench, 
 m.eets Napoleon, 30 ; corona- 
 tion of, 80 ei seq. 
 
 K 
 
 Kellermann, General, at Lyons 
 and Toulon, 16, 33 ; at Ma- 
 rengo, 62 et seq.; made Mar- 
 shal, 79 ; at Waterloo, 207 
 
 Kleber, General, in Egypt, 48 ; 
 left in command in Egypt, 52 ; 
 assassinated at Cairo, 75 
 
 Koutousof, General, at Auster- 
 litz, 83 et seq.; at Borodino, 
 lit et seq. 
 
 Krasnoi, battle of, 116 
 
 Kremlin, the, 132 et seq. 
 
 La Belle Alliance, 219 et seq. 
 
 Labedoyere, Colonel, 176 ei seq.; 
 made General, 182 ; at Water- 
 loo, 219 
 
 Lannes, General, in Egypt, 48 ; 
 at Montebello, 59 et seq.; at 
 Marengo, 6l et seq. ; made 
 Marshall, 79 ; at Austerlitz, 86 
 et seq.; at Warsaw, 100 
 
 Las-Cases, M., at St. Helena, 
 224 et seq. 
 
 La Haie, 203 et seq. 
 
 La Vendee, 26 ; pacification of, 
 
 58 ; uprising of, 183 
 Lavis, battle of, 36 
 Leipsic, battle of, 144 et seq. 
 Leoben, negotiations at, 36 
 Lichtenstein, Prince of, 74 ; at 
 
 Austerlitz, 89 et seq.; at Wa- 
 
 gram, 110 
 Liegnitz, conference at the Cha- 
 teau of, 141 
 Ligny, capture of, 197 
 Lodi, battle of, 32 
 Lonato, battle of, 34 
 Longwood, St. Helena, 224 etseq. 
 Louis XVI., King of France, at 
 
 window (1792), 14 
 Louis XVIII. , King of France, 
 
 letters to and from Napoleon, 
 
 76 et seq.; re-entry into Paris, 
 
 221 
 Lowe, Sir Hudson, Governor of 
 
 St. Helena, 230 et seq. 
 Luneville, treaty of (1801), 77 
 Lutece, ancient name of Paris, 
 
 187 
 Lutzen, battle of, 140 
 Lyons, siege of, 16 ; occupied 
 
 by Austrians, 150 ; Napoleon 
 
 a.t,liq etseq.; threatened, 183; 
 
 fortification of, 188 
 
 M 
 
 Macerata, capture of, 106 
 
 Madrid, capture of, 105 ; Napo- 
 leon enters, 106 
 
 Madame Mere, Napoleon's 
 mother, at St. Helena, 158 et 
 seq., 168 
 
 Malta surrenders to Napoleon, 
 40 
 
 Mantua, occupied by Beaulieu, 
 32 ; siege of, 33 et seq.; the 
 second siege of, 35 ; surrender 
 of, 36 
 
 Marchand, at St. Helena, 234 et 
 seq. 
 
 Marengo, plan of battle of, 58 ; 
 battle of, 62 et seq. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 247 
 
 Marie-Louise, marriage of, 112 ; 
 portrait of, 228 
 
 Marmont, General, 36 ; at Ma- 
 rengo, 71 et seq. ; Duke of 
 Raguse, wounded at Leipsic, 
 146 ; negligence of, 150 ; sur- 
 renders Paris, 150 
 
 Marseilles surrenders to the Con- 
 vention, 16 
 
 Massena, General, 36 ; surrenders 
 Genoa, 60 ; in command of the 
 Army of Upper Italy, 75; made 
 Marshal, 79 ; Prince of Essling, 
 no 
 
 Melas, General, in Italy, 58 etseq. 
 
 Milan, surrender of, 32 ; Napo- 
 leon enters, 33 ; his second 
 entry, 59 ; his coronation in 
 the Cathedral of, and Eugene 
 made Viceroy of, 81 
 
 Millesimo, battle of, 31 
 
 Minieh-Salam, battle of, 41 
 
 Mondovi, battle of, 31 
 
 Montbrun, General, killed at 
 Borodino, 130 
 
 Montebello, Lannes at, 59 ; battle 
 of, 61 
 
 Montenotte, battle of, 31 
 
 Montereati, battle of, 149 
 
 Montholon, General, at St. 
 Helena, izt et seq. 
 
 Montmirail, battle of, 149 
 
 Mortier, General, made Marshal, 
 79 ; at Borodino, 132 
 
 Moscow, Napoleon's entry into, 
 burning and evacuation of, 132 
 et seq. 
 
 Mt. Tabor, battle of, 49 
 
 Mourad-Bey at the battle of the 
 Pyramids, 42 et seq. 
 
 Moustapha-Pasha, 51^/ seq. 
 
 Munich, capture of, 82 
 
 Murat, General, in Egypt, 48 ; 
 at Aboukir, 51 ; at Placentia, 
 59 ; made Marshal, 79 ; at 
 Austerlitz, 83 et seq. ; made 
 Grand Duke of Berg, 97 ; at 
 Warsaw, 100 ; at Tilsit, 103 ; 
 made King of Naples, 105 ; at 
 
 Vitepsk, 116; at Borodino, 117 
 et seq.. T39, 161 
 
 N 
 
 Napoleon, birth and parentage 
 of, I ; enters Military School 
 at Brienne, 2 ; amusements of, 
 3 et seq.; passes to Military 
 School at Paris, 5 et seq.; 
 founds Military School at 
 Fontainebleau, 7 ; appointed 
 2d Lieutenant, 7 ; dinner at 
 Erfurth, story of the Golden 
 Bull, etc., 8 et seq.; affair 
 with Mile. Gregoire, 10 ; at 
 Paris with Paoli, 11; follows 
 Paoli to Corsica, 12 ; recalled 
 to Paris (1792), and witnesses 
 the mob, etc., 13 et seq.; again 
 visits Corsica and rupture with 
 Paoli, 14; attack upon Ajaccio 
 and banishment from Corsica, 
 15 ; 1st Lieutenant and Cap- 
 tain, 16 ; at Toulon, idet seq.; 
 General of Brigade, 22 ; ad- 
 venture with female represen- 
 tative, 23 ; mission to Genoa, 
 24 ; arrest, 25 ; removed from 
 active list, 26 ; visit to Valence 
 in search of an estate, 26 et 
 seq.; destroys sections of Paris, 
 is appointed General-in-chief 
 of the Army of Italy and meets 
 Josephine, 30 ; campaign In 
 Italy, 31 et seq.; " Little Cor- 
 poral," 33 ; treaty of peace and 
 conquest of Upper Italy, 33 et 
 seq. ; negotiations at Leoben, 
 36 ; treaty of Campo-Formio 
 and return to Paris (1797), 38 ; 
 General-in-chief of the Army of 
 the East and journey there, 39 
 et seq.; arrival in Egypt (1798), 
 and campaign there, 41 et seq.; 
 entry into Cairo, 46 ; loss of 
 the fleet, 47 ; siege of Acre, 
 48 et seq. ; departure from 
 Egypt, arrival in France and 
 
248 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 election as First Consul, 52 et 
 seq.; overtures to George III. 
 and alliance with Paul I., 55 
 eiseq.j negotiations with Prus- 
 sia and the suspension of the 
 execution of M. Defeu, 56 ; 
 his improvements, 57 ; prepa- 
 rations for war and plan of the 
 battle of Marengo, 58 et seq.; 
 passage over the Alps, second 
 conquest of Italy and battle of 
 Marengo, 59 «;^ seq.; conditions 
 of peace agreed upon and letter 
 to his colleagues, 75 ; conspira- 
 cies, 76 > letters from and to 
 Louis XVIII., •jbetseq.; treaty 
 of Luneville (1801), 77 ; treaty 
 of Amiens, 78 ; elected Em- 
 peror, 78 ; creates twelve Mar- 
 shals, 79 ; coronation (1804), 
 80, et seq.; coronation at Milan 
 (1805), 81 ; the third coalition 
 (1805), 82 ; campaign preced- 
 ing, and battle of, Austerlitz, 
 82 et seq.; his account of Aus- 
 terlitz, 84 et seq.; peace of 
 Presburg, founds the Imperial 
 University, and promulgates 
 the Code, and ultimatum of 
 Prussia, 97 ; campaign in Prus- 
 sia (i8o5), 98, et seq.; decree 
 of Berlin on the Continen- 
 tal Blockade, 100 ; campaign 
 against the Russians ending 
 with the battle of Friedland 
 (1806-7), 100 et seq.; peace of 
 Tilsit (1807), 103 ; invasion of 
 Portugal, (1808), 104 et seq.; 
 conquest of Spain, 105 et seq.; 
 Joseph made King of Spain and 
 Murat, King of Naples, 105 ; 
 war with the Pope (1808), 106 ; 
 revolt of Spain and Portugal, 
 convention of Cintra, second 
 conquest of Spain, and entry 
 into Madrid (1808), 106 ; Span- 
 ish catechism, 107 et seq.; re- 
 turn to Paris and war with 
 Austria (1809), ending with the 
 
 battle of Wagram and the 
 armistice of Znaim, log et seq.; 
 peace, in; reaction against 
 him, III ; extent of the Em- 
 pire, iiirf«5r./marries Louise- 
 Marie (18:0), and birth of 
 the King of Rome, 112 ; war 
 with Russia, 112 et seq.; the 
 Russian campaign, 114 et seq.; 
 the entry into, burning of, and 
 retreat from Moscow, 132 et 
 seq.; arrival at Paris and re- 
 organization of the army, 139 
 et seq. ; war with Russia and 
 Prussia (1813), battles of Lut- 
 zen and Bautzen, conferences 
 at Liegnitz, 140 et seq.; con- 
 gress of Prague, battle of Dres- 
 den, etc., 142 et seq.; Austria 
 declares war, 144 ; battle of 
 Leipsic, 144 et seq.; invasion 
 of the Empire, 148 et seq.; 
 campaign of 1814, negotiations 
 at Chatillon-sur-Seine, and the 
 march upon and capitulation 
 of Paris, 149 et seq.; at Fon- 
 tainebleau, takes poison and 
 abdicates, 150 et seq.; arrival 
 at Elba, 153 et seq.; activity 
 and occupations of, 156 et seq.; 
 his visitors, improvements, 
 etc., 159 et seq.; congress of 
 Vienna and proposed violation 
 of the treaty of Fontainebleau, 
 161 etseq.; communication with 
 Vienna and Paris, 162 et seq.; 
 resolves to leave the island and 
 makes his preparations, 164 et 
 seq,; departure and voyage to 
 France, 168 et seq.; march to 
 Paris, 172, et seq.; arrival at 
 Paris and reorganization of 
 his Court, 181 et seq.; letter to 
 the Kings of Europe, 184 et 
 seq. ; reorganization of the 
 army, 186 et seq. ; leaves 
 Paris, 191 ; plan of, and the 
 battle of, Waterloo, 191 et 
 seq,; " Sauve qui peut I " 219 ; 
 
INDEX. 
 
 249 
 
 return to Paris, 220 et seq.; 
 abdication and voyage to Eng- 
 land, 221 ; protest against de- 
 portation, voyage to and arrival 
 at St. Helena, 222 et seq.; life 
 at St. Helena, 224 et seq.; ill- 
 ness, 230 et seq.; preparations 
 for death, the comet, etc., 232 
 et seq.; death, autopsy, funeral 
 and tomb, 238 et seq. 
 Ney, made Marshal, 79 ; at Boro- 
 dino, 120 et seq.; wounded at 
 Leipsic (Prince of Moscow), 
 146 ; rejoins Napoleon on his 
 return from Elba, 180, 193 ; 
 delay of, etc., 196 et seq. 
 
 O 
 
 OUioules, the gorge of, 16 
 O'Meara, Doctor, 112 
 Orange, Prince of, 192 et seq. 
 Ouwarof, General, at Austerlitz, 
 92 ; at Borodino, 128 et seq. 
 
 Palatinate, the Austrians evacuate 
 the, no 
 
 Paoli, Corsican patriot, in Eng- 
 land, I, 5 ; at Paris, 11; differ- 
 ences arise between him and 
 Napoleon, 12 ; intrigues with 
 England and rupture with Na- 
 poleon, outlawed, 15 
 
 Paris, Military School of, 6 ; 
 Napoleon at, ll et seq., 26 et 
 seq. ; destruction of the sec- 
 tions of, 29 et seq.; Napoleon 
 at (1797), 38 et seq.; improve- 
 ments, 56 et seq. ; Napoleon 
 returns to, after Marengo, 75 
 et seq.; his coronation, 80 et 
 seq.; Napoleon at, after Tilsit, 
 104 ; Napoleon at (1809), 109 ; 
 Napoleon at, after Moscow, 
 139 ; after Leipsic, 147 ; ca- 
 pitulation of, 150 ; march to, 
 172 et seq.; arrival at, 181 et 
 
 seq. ; fortification of, 187 et 
 
 seq. ; ancient name of 187 ; 
 
 Napoleon at, after Waterloo, 
 
 220 et seq. 
 Paul I., Emperor of Russia, 55 
 
 et seq.; assassination of, 82 
 Pauline, the Princess, Napoleon's 
 
 sister, 1^% et seq., i68 
 Pavia, capture of, 32 
 Phelippeaux, commander of Acre, 
 
 48 et seq, 
 Pizzighitone, capture of, 32 
 Placentia, Murat at, 59 
 Poniatowsky, General, at Boro- 
 dino, 120 et seq.; killed at 
 
 Leipsic, 146 
 Portugal, the invasion of, 104 
 
 et seq. 
 Prague, the Congress of, 142 
 Presburg, the Peace of (i8o6), 96 
 
 et seq. 
 Provera, capture of 31, 34 et seq. 
 Pulstusk, battle of, loi 
 Pyramids, the battle of the, 42 
 
 et seq. 
 
 Quasdanowitch, General, in Italy, 
 
 34 et seq. 
 Quatre-Bras, 194 et seq. 
 
 R 
 
 Ramolino, Laetitia, mother of 
 Napoleon, i ; (Madame Mere) 
 at Elba, 158 etseq., 168 
 
 Rapp, General, at Austerlitz, 93 ; 
 at Borodino, 122 et seq. ; 
 wounded, 125 
 
 Ratisbonne, battle of, 109 
 
 Regnier, General, in Egypt, 48 
 
 Rimolano, battle of, 35 
 
 Rivoli, battle of, 35 
 
 Rome, portrait of the King of, 
 at Borodino, 121 ; at St. Hel- 
 ena, 228 
 
 Roveredo, battle of, 35 
 
250 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Saalfeld, battle of, 98 
 
 St. George, battle of, 36 
 
 St. Helena, 221 et seq. 
 
 Saint-HeUne, Napoleon's con- 
 fession to, 24 
 
 Salicetti, in Corsica, 15 ; at Bar- 
 cellonnette, 24 ; in Italy, 32 
 
 Salo, battle of, 34 
 
 San Marco, battle of, 35 
 
 San Martino, Napoleon's home 
 at Elba, 157, 164 
 
 Sardinia, the King of , 31 et seq. 
 
 Sarravelle, battle of, 35 
 
 Schelitz, battle of, 98 
 
 Serrurier, General, at Mantua, 
 33 ; made Marshal, 79 
 
 Sidney Smith, Sir, escapes from 
 the Temple, 48 ; at Acre, 49 
 
 Smolensk, capture of, 116 
 
 Soissons, surrender of, 150 
 
 Somma-Sierra, capture of, 106 
 
 Soult, General, Duke of Dal- 
 matia, made Marshal, 79 ; at 
 Austerlitz, '&2.etseq., 149, 151 ; 
 at Waterloo, 209 et seq. 
 
 Spain, conquest of, 104 et seq.; 
 revolt of, 106 et seq. 
 
 Spanden, battle of, loi 
 
 Sprotteau, fight at, 141 
 
 Syria, expedition to, 47 et seq. 
 
 T 
 
 Tagliamento, battle of, 36 
 
 Talleyrand, Prince of Benevento, 
 founds Diplomatic School, 58, 
 97 ; at the Congress of Vienna, 
 161 
 
 Tann, battle of, 109 
 
 Tarvis, capture of, 36 
 
 Tilsit, Peace of (1807), 103 
 
 Tomb of Napoleon, 241 
 
 Tortone, capture of, 31 
 
 Toulon, surrendered to the Eng- 
 lish, andsiegeof,bytheFrench, 
 it et seq.; evacuation of, 21 
 
 Trasmis, battle of, 36 
 
 Trieste, entry into, 36 
 Tudella, battle of, 106 
 
 Ulm, capture of, 82 
 Urbin, capture of, io5 
 Upper Italy, conquest of, 31 et 
 seq. 
 
 V 
 
 Valence, Napoleon at, 7, 26 
 
 Vandamme, General, defeat of, 
 near Dresden, 143 ; at Water- 
 loo, 194 et seq. 
 
 Viazma, capture of, 116 
 
 Victor, Marshal, Duke de Bel- 
 lune, at Valence, 11 ; at Ma- 
 rengo, 61 et seq. 
 
 Vico, battle of, 31 
 
 Vienna, advance on, 36 ; occu- 
 pied by Napoleon, 82 ; capture 
 of (1800), 110; Congress of, 
 161 ; correspondence with, 163 
 
 Vignali, Father, Napoleon's 
 chaplain at St. Helena, 235 
 et seq. 
 
 Villach, capture of, 36 
 
 Vilna, occupation of, 115 
 
 Vitepsk, Napoleon at, 115 
 
 W 
 
 Wagram, battle of, no 
 
 Waterloo, battle of, 192 et seq. 
 
 Weyrother, General, at Auster- 
 litz, 88 et seq. 
 
 Wellington, the Duke of, in 
 Portugal, 106 et seq., 188 ; at 
 Waterloo, 19T et seq. 
 
 Wolfesdorff, battle of, loi 
 
 Wurmser, General, in Italy, 34 
 et seq. 
 
 Wurtemburg, letter of the King 
 of, 144 
 
 Z 
 ZnaVm, armistice at, in