IrW- . !. v ■ 8«c jjjl ;.;.\; : . - Kw«\«vy . ■,. '■".;.':■ • : . -■ '-)': 'i-.-rrr-: :';':■•■'.. wmssmm ■5;;:;;-;;-;;';-.' . . . , . . wM 1//& Library of Congress. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Chap ,W3 Shelf 9—404 THE CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON: COMPRISING THE MOST BRILLIANT ACHIEVEMENTS OP THE EMPEROR AND HIS MARSHALS. BY HENRY C. WATSON. PHILADELPHIA : H. C. PECK & THEO. BLISS. 1867. Entered According to the Act of Congress, in the year 1854, BY H. C. PECK & THEO. BLISS, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. B .m . ^ Voi "9* • PREFACE HE vivid pictures of war, however ensanguined, have a wonderful at- traction for the mass of men. They stir the heart like a trumpet. No narratives are so generally perused with avidity as those of " feats of broils and battles ;" for in them, in spite of many disgusting features, there is always something to excite a pleasing thrill. We love excitement, and it seems that it is to war, and the VI PREFACE. descriptions of its varied scenes of danger, during which the faculties of the combatants are roused to extraordinary strength, that most look for the gratification of their natural desires. We have heard of many persons who, in the abstract, condemn all wars as brutal and degrading to humanity, peruse, with unwearied attention, narratives of the cam- paigns of great generals, and dwell upon their details with evident manifestations of delight. The passion is irresistible. In this work, the author has endeavored to present to the mental eye, more vividly than the so-termed dignity of ordi- nary history permits, the most striking scenes and remarkable personages of Napoleon's astonishing career of glory — to show the greatest warrior of any age in the field, and at the nightly bivouacs — upon the fertile plains of Piedmont — in the shadow of the Egyptian pyramids — amid the forests of Germany, and on the frozen plains of Russia — surrounded by his galaxy of splendid generals, his military family — to illustrate a passage in the history of Europe, which, for stirring scenes and powerful characters, has, perhaps, no parallel. From the camp-fire at Toulon, where the young lieutenant of artillery gave the first impression of his wonder- ful genius, till the terrible night of darkness and death fol- lowing the battle of Waterloo, the career of Napoleon is traced by his bivouacs ; and around each watch-fire is grouped the incidents of the conflicts which there occurred. The salient points in the life of the great warrior are, therefore, illumined, so as to fix them in the memory. Who can know the incidents of that career of glory without astonishment ? We find a genius, under the smile of fortune, rising from the ranks of the people to the summit of despotic power — surpassing the generalship of Hannibal — the states- manship of Caesar, and performing exploits, which, before his time, were placed among the impossible. There is im- perishable interest attached to every event in the lifeof such PREFACE. Vll a character ; and, therefore, no work which honestly aims to illustrate them can be considered superfluous. It is hoped that the numerous engravings will add to the attractions of the book, and render its word-pictures clearer and more perfect to the mind. Their value is so well estab- lished, that the time is approaching when few historical works will be published without such illustrations. CONTENTS CAMP-FIRE OF TOULON, 13 CAMP-FIRE OF MONTE-NOTTE, 19 CAMP-FIRE OF MONDOVI, 26 CAMP-FIRE OF THE BRIDGE OF LODI, 37 CAMP-FIRE OF CASTIGLIONE, - - - - _ 46 CAMP-FIRE OF ARCOLA, - - - - - - - .53 CAMP-FIRE OF RIVOLI, 69 CAMP-FIRE OF THE ALPS, 79 CAMP-FIRE OF THE NILE, - - 89 CAMP-FIRE OF MOUNT TABOR, 98 CAMP-FIRE OF ABOUKIR, HO CAMP-FIRE OF THE VALLEY OF AOSTA, - - - - 121 CAMP-FIRE OF MARENGO, 139 CAMP-FIRE OF ULM, 156 CAMP-FIRE OF AUSTERLITZ, 163 2 (ix) X CONTENTS. CAMP-FIRE OF PALENY, 180 CAMP-FIRE OF JENA, - - 186 CAMP-FIRE OF THE NAREW, - - 210 CAMP-FIRE OF EYLAU, - - 218 CAMP-FIRE OF FRIEDLAND, - - 239 CAMP-FIRE OF MADRID, 260 CAMP-FIRE OF RATISBON, -------- 266 CAMP-FIRES OF ASPERN AND ESSLING, 275 CAMP-FIRE OF WAGRAM. - - - 282 CAMP-FIRE OF NIEMEN, - 291 CAMP-FIRE OF WITEPSK, 298 CAMP-FIRE OF SMOLENSKOi - - - - - - - 305 CAMP-FIRE OF WIASMA, - - - - - - - - 317 CAMP-FIRE OF BORODINO, - - - - - - - 326 CAMP-FIRE OF MOSCOW, 348 CAMP-FIRE OF MALO-YAROSLAVETZ, - - - - - 362 CAMP-FIRE IN THE SNOW, ------- 371 CAMP-FIRE AT KRASNOE, - - - 389 CAMP-FIRE OF BORYSTHENES, - - 397 THE LAST CAMP-FIRES IN RUSSIA, - 404 CAMP-FIRE OF LUTZEN, - - - - - - - - 413 CAMP-FIRE OF BAUTZEN, - - - ■ 417 CAMP-FIRE OF MONTEREAU, - - - - - - - 421 CAMP-FIRE OF ARCIS, - - - - . - - - 427 CAMP-FIRE OF WATERLOO. - - 434 LIST OF PRINCIPAL EMBELLISHMENTS. NAPOLEON CROSSING THE ALPS, - Frontispiece. THE CAMP-FIRE AT EYLAU, Title. BATTERY OF THE MEN WITHOUT FEAR, - - - - 13 BATTLE OF MONTE-NOTTE, - 19 MARSHAL MURAT, --------- 33 NAPOLEON INFORMED OF HIS ELECTION AS CORPORAL, - 42 NAPOLEON AT THE BRIDGE OF ARCOLA, - - - 58 NAPOLEON'S ARRIVAL IN EGYPT, 89 NAPOLEON AT THE PYRAMIDS, 93 BATTLE OF THE PYRAMIDS, - 94 NAPOLEON ENTERING CAIRO, 97 NAPOLEON AT MOUNT TABOR, - - 98 MARSHAL JUNOT, - 101 NAPOLEON AT ACRE, » - - - - 105 BONAPARTE AS FIRST CONSUL, - - - - - 133 (xi) Xll LIST OF PRINCIPAL EMBELLISHMENTS. THE CAMP-EIRE AT ULM, - - - - - - - 159 NAPOLEON AT JENA, - - - - . - - - - - 136 CAMP SCENE ON THE EVENING BEFORE THE BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ, 171 BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ, 177 THE CAMP-FIRE ON THE NAREW, 214 THE CAMP-FIRE AT FRIEDLAND, - - - - - - 258 MARSHAL LANNES, - - - - - - - - - 269 BATTLE OF ESSLING, 275 NAPOLEON AT WIASMA, - - - - - - - 817 NAPOLEON AT KRASNOE, - 389 NAPOLEON AT MONTEREAU, - - 421 BATTLE OF WATERLOO, - - - - - - - - 434 THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON, - - - - - - 444 DEATH OF NAPOLEON. - - - - - - - .448 BATTERY OF THE MEN WITHOUT FEAR. Page 13. tfeib ®Mas>«[pa[Ei air iF®E!k®a ^3 T was the night of the 19th of December, 1793. A sky of darkness, unbroken by the twinkling of a single star, arched over the town and harbor of Toulon. But on the rugged heights of Balagrier and L'Equillette, where the En- glish had vainly constructed their " Little Gibraltar," the watch-fires of the French beseigers were redly (13) £^s^»*^r*fc-i 14 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. burning ; sending up showers of sparks, which looked like rising stars against the intense blackness of the heavens. It was the 19th of December, and the fate of Toulon, which for four months had lingered in the balance, was decided. Britons, Spaniards, Neapolitans and French — a garrison of the enemies of the republic — had fought in vain. The "Little Gibraltar," which commanded the town and harbor was in the hands of the French ; their troops were even forcing their way into the town, and consternation had seized those who dared to oppose the decrees of the Committee of Safety, as well as those who had so promptly tendered them aid. The evacuation of Toulon had been hurriedly re- solved ; and now, as the red gleam of the watch-fires and the blaze of the thundering artillery shone upon the dark waters of the bay, crowds of trembling people could be seen embarking in vessels of all kinds, glad to avail themselves of the protection of the English fleet, to escape the bloody revenge of the triumphant republicans. The batteries of the " Little Gibraltar," were already sending a shower of death upon the hostile fleet in the roadstead. On a rock, by a small blazing fire, and just above a battery, a form could be dimly seen through the smoke of the guns, which was destined to rise as a terrible image before the eyes of Europe, as it stood now, the conqueror of the foes of France, at Toulon. It was a slender form, on which the costume of a com- mandant of artillery hung loosely. But the inexorable resolution of the pale face, and the keen, quick flashes of the eagle eyes, caused those who gazed to forget all TOULON. 15 but awe and wonder before this genius of war. Occa- sionally, between the reports of the heavy guns, could be heard the shrill voice of command, which none re- fused to obey — it would be obeyed. Those eyes had seen where to strike, and that voice had commanded, the blow which brought Toulon to the feet of the re- public. The commander was Napoleon Bonaparte, the young Corsican — the pet of Paoli — the child cradled amid the civil wars of his native island — who had made the cannon his toy — and who had been educated to war at the military school of Brienne. A subordinate, he had compelled his superior officers to bow before the oracles of his genius. One after another they had yielded, till the last, General Dugommier, a brave old warrior, acknowledged his artillery officer as the con- queror of Toulon. That was a proud moment for the young Napoleon. He knew that the triumph was secured, and that to him, alone, it was due ; for his plan had prevailed against the ignorant and imbecile schemes of the republic's generals, and his devices for rousing an irresistible en- thusiasm in the troops, — such as naming a battery in a desperate position, the battery " des homines sans peur" had rendered the execution of that plan complete. And now the enemy were preparing for flight — precipi- tate flight. "A cooler aim — cut down a flag, brave Junot!" commands the shrill voice, amid the thunder of the guns, and the dusky, slovenly looking artillery man on the right of the battery, fronting Napoleon, steadily watches for a moment when the red glare shall show 16 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. him a portion of the fleet in the roadstead. A glimpse of the cross of St. George ! Loud thunders the gun, and at the next vivid glare, the flag falls ; and amid the roar of the storm of death rises the cheer of the artillery men. " Well done, Junot !" exclaimed the shrill voice. The slovenly man who brought down the cross of St. George was Andoche Junot, afterwards Marshal of France and Duke d'Abrantes, whose cool courage had more than once won the commendation of the commandant during this memorable siege. But now occurred a scene which caused the fire of the " Little Gibraltar," to slacken. Even as Napoleon spoke to Junot, he discovered a spreading flame in the harbor, and in a few moments, great tongues of fire licked the air in front of the town, and lit up the scene for miles around with a terrible brilliancy. The En- glish and Spaniards, under the direction of Sir Sydney Smith, had set fire to the arsenal, the stores, and the French ships which they could not remove. The rising flames, growing redder and redder, seemed at length like the glowing crater of a volcano, amid which could be seen the masts and yards of the burning vessels, and the advance of the republican troops who were at- tempting to force their way into the town. The waters of the bay resembled streams of lava flowing from the mountains and hills around the town, which, themselves glowed like living coals. The Jacobins in the town now arose to take revenge upon the flying royalists. Horrid screams and yells, cries and entreaties rang upon the air like sounds from the infernal regions, while in TOULON. 1 7 the midst of all could be heard the swelling chorus of the Marseillais. The guns of Malbosquet were turned upon the town, and their thunder increased the uproai of this terrible scene. Suddenly, a tremendous explo- sion, as if a mountain had been shattered to its base by a bolt from heaven, shocked the air, and even caused the stern men under the eye of Napoleon to tremble. Hundreds of barrels of powder had exploded, and high above the harbor, the air was filled with the blazing fragments, which descended even among the batteries of the "Little Gibraltar," causing the men to spring about to save themselves from the fire. Again that awful shock was given, a second magazine had exploded, and again the air seemed fairly alive with soaring fires, which threatened destruction when they fell. Frag- ments fell at the very feet of Napoleon, but he stood still, as a statue of resolution, a man without fear. His eyes were fixed upon the British fleet, which, by the red glare of earth and sky, could be seen slowly making sail, the decks of the vessels being crowded with fugi- tives. Once more he commanded the artillery to fire ; and before the fleet got beyond the range of the guns, it received a shower of balls. The triumph was now complete. Wearied officers and men now threw themselves upon the ground to rest, beside the fire. But to most of them, sleep could not come, with such a scene of terror, conflagration and tears before them. Napoleon, how- ever, surveyed the harbor and town, for a few moments, and then, stretching himself upon the ground, com- manded himself to slumber, — a faculty which he pos- 3 18 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. sessed through life — an evidence of his astonishing force of will. The day dawned with a pale, ashen light. The roll of the drums, resounding among the hills, roused the triumphant soldiers of the republic ; and as they gazed upon the smouldering ruins of the arsenal, and the bay strewn with the black fragments of the ships destroyed, they would have cursed their enemy ; but they remem- bered their conquest, and pitied the destructive spite. Cheer after cheer rent the air. The artillery men crowded round their young chief, and with clamorous congratulations, gave him the first evidence of that en- thusiastic aifection, which, years afterwards, caused them to yearn to die in his sendee — to pave with their bodies his path to victory. "What thoughts — what feelings burned within that young conqueror's breast none could know ; for his stern, bronze countenance expressed no- thing but his concentred strength of resolution. The same day, General Dugommier sent intelligence of the capture of Toulon to the Committee of Public Safety, and in the despatch he particularly recommended Napo- leon for promotion, in these remarkable words, — " Promote him, or he will promote himself," ■arias sMap-iFiii&s m wmm s©wis, HE pure, bright moon shone with serene majesty in the soft, dark blue of the Ita- lian sky, dim- ming the light of the silver stars, in her own calm glory. The rug- ged heights of Monte Notte, with here and there a tower and wall, or a row of trees upon its broken ascent, and the two small villages at, its base, surrounded with groves and vineyards, were revealed with scarce the variation of a shadow. They would have seemed to (19) 20 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. sleep beneath the soothing influence of the night, hut for the numerous red fires, which burned here and there along the mountain side, and at intervals for the distance of half a mile from its base; and the occasional booming of a gun, with its grumbling echoes. At a considerable distance in front could be seen the lights of the redoubts upon the heights of Monte* Legino, which throughout the day, under the command of the indomitable Colonel Rampon, had withstood the furious assaults of the Aus- trians under d'Argenteau, the commander preferring to perish rather than capitulate. His resolution had saved the plans of Bonaparte from receiving a check, and now the young general of the French felt sure of his game. Around the watch-fires to which we have alluded were gathered the half-fed, half-clothed, but enthusiastic troops of the divisions commanded by La Harpe and Cervoni, who had united and marched to this strong position in the rear of Monte Legino, in accordance with the plans of Bonaparte. The general-in-chief was with them, for near this place he anticipated the triumph of his wonderful combinations, and the defeat of the Aus- trians. Most of the principal officers were quartered in the villages, resting from the fatigues of a rapid march. But the time was too critical for Bonaparte to think of sleep. He was abroad among those camp-fires, accom- panied by the brave and active Swiss, La Harpe, that faithful and untiring friend, Michael Duroc, then aid- de-camp to the young general, and several ,other officers of distinction. As he walked among them, he looked like a mere boy attending a throng of rough and hardy soldiers. To each group gathered round a fire, he had MQ3TTE XQTTE. 21 a pleasant and encouraging word to say, a condescen- sion to which these war-worn veterans were unacccus- tomecL As he turned away from them he might have heard expressions which showed that the troops believed in his invincibihty, and at all .events, were prepared to suffer any hardships in Ms service. The wretched clothing of many of them was observed by the general, and he occasionally reminded them, that they had now an opportunity of winning not only glory, which every true soldier should seek first, but wealth and abundance, amid the fertile plains of Italy. Such words, uttered by a commander among the camp-fires of an army are calculated to have more effect in arousing its enthu- siasm than the most eloquent of regular and formal ad- dresses. At length, arriving at a fire much larger than any of the others upon the side of the mountain, Bona- parte threw himself upon the ground, and, motioning his officers to follow his example, he took out the plan of operations, which he had drawn up, and began with his usual precision,' to explain how far it had been carried out, and what would be the movements of the next day. In the meantime the soldiers, grim, moustached veterans, withdrew and set about kindling another fire at a re- spectful distance. " Augereau will reach this point early in the morning, and render efficient support to the troops already in position. Marching by this road on the other side of the Appenines, Massena will show himself, nearly at the same time, in d'Argenteau's rear, and then the Aus- trians cannot escape us. They will be surrounded on all sides by a superior force- 22 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. " Th '- far it has been successful," said La Harpe. " But if Rampon had not fought so desperately at Monte Legino, the plan would have' been defeated, or at least, checked for a time." " Rampon fought bravely ; but when such a plan do pends upon the maintenance of a post, a good officer should prefer to die rather than yield it to the enemy," replied Bonaparte. " Rampon fought Eke a hero because he knew the importance of his position," said Duroc. " I trust Massena will be as active as the occasion demands. He has courage, perseverance, and skill ; but it requires the most imminent danger to awaken his activity," said the young commander-in-chief. " A singular man, truly," remarked Duroc. " However," continued Bonaparte, following the train of his own reflections, u never had a commander-in-chief more reason to be proud of his general officers than myself. They are all men born to lead. With them, I have nothing to fear from the delinquency of our half- fed troops." "Yet, general, the soldiers are in a condition calcu- lated to depress their spirits," said La Harpe. " We officers, who chiefly fight for glory, and for the honor of our country, never murmur, although very badly ' treated by our government. But the majority of the soldiers in the ranks have a constant eye to their pay." " But to make soldiers worthy of France, we must alter that;" replied Bonaparte, "one and all must be taught to fight for glory, and then our arms will be irresistible." MONTE XOTTE. 23 La Harpe shook his head. But the enthusiastic Duroc, catching the noble fire of his illustrious friend, exclaimed. " Yes, the love of glory makes the true soldier ! This will cause the troops to forget their toilsome, bare-foot marches, and their long days of hunger ! And never have I seen the French soldiers more eager for conflict in defence of their country's honor, than they have been since our young general took command of the army of Italy. That first proclamation gave them a new spirit, which has been growing stronger every day. There are splendid triumphs before us, I am sure." The face of Bonaparte expressed nothing of the emo- tions which must have heaved in his soul at these words. But he grasped the hand of Duroc and shook it warmly. " My friends," said he, " it is all clear enough to me. To-morrow will be a great day for France. Old Beau- lieu will begin to know his enemy. The plain before us shall be the scene of more Austrian astonishment and dismay than has been known in Italy for many years. Beaulieu supposes that I intended to file off along the coast to Genoa ; whereas, here I am, ready to over- whelm his centre. Following up this victory, it will be easy to cut him off from communication with the Pieclmontese." The officers gazed with wonder and admiration upon the stripling who was thus summarily disposing of the fate of armies and countries, and while they listened to his words of conscious power, an awe crept over them, they felt themselves in the presence of a superior being ; and yet among them were several men of splendid quali- ties, — born to command. 24 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. By this time the groups around the fires had stretched themselves upon the hard earth to repose, and the pacing of the sentinels alone disturbed the stillness of the scene, where thousands of brave warriors sub- mitted to the conqueror, sleep. Bonaparte and his officers returned to a house in the little village of Monte Notte, which had been selected as the quarters for the night. And the army slumbered on, beneath the sweet vigil of the moon, and beside the cheerful warmth of the camp-fires until the cold, white light in the east told that the most glorious king of . day, who has arisen and set upon so many fields of conflict, was about to ascend the heavens. "Far off his coming shone," and the stars soared out of sight, and the moon slowly faded to vapor, as the white light turned to a golden glow. Then was heard the roll of the reveille. With as- tonishing rapidity, the French were under arms and in motion. Bonaparte and his staff rode to an elevated knoll, commanding the whole plain, and then were or- dered the movements which gave to the young com- mander-in-chief the victory of Monte Notte. D'Argen- teau, the Austrian commander, found himself attacked upon one side by the divisions of La Harpe, Cervoni and Augereau, and upon the other by Massena. Then boomed the cannon, and the rattled musketry over the plain. The Austrian infantry sustained the conflict with admirable courage. But they were surrounded by superior forces and after several charges had been made MONTE NOTTE. 25 by the French, in the full confidence of victory, the discomfited d'Argenteau was compelled "to retreat to- wards Dego. In fact, the retreat was a disorderly flight. The French made two thousand prisoners, and several hundred Austrians were left dead on the field. The centre of the Austrian army had been completely over- whelmed. Bonaparte was the victor of Monte Notte. In after years, when the imperial crown adorned his brow, the conqueror showed his contempt for ancestral distinctions by saying that he dated his title to rule from this battle. 4 ral sjasaj>-if ass as ess©®^. 'HEN the conflict is at an end, and the awful silence of night descends upon the field where stark and stiff lie the manglegl dead, among the broken weapons and spoils of the fight, the scene is fearfully impressive. There lie the cold forms of those, who in life were furious ibes ; but in death, side by side, united in their doom of darkness, (26) MOXDOYI. 27 they are all clay together. The bugle and the drum, which were sounded to signal the contest, are broken beside the mutilated and bloody bodies of those who played them at the head of the marching regiments. The captain, whose gallant " forward !" roused the spirits of his men, lies where he perished, in the van. The standard-bearer still clasps a portion of that dear symbol of his country, which numbers cut from his hands, and seems to have yielded his breath, while hugging that remnant to his heart. The grim veteran of a hundred rights, to whom death has been a jeer and a mockery, and the youth, with blooming cheek and eager eye, who left his mother's cottage high in the hope of a glorious renown, are found cold and stiff together ; the one with a smile of scorn curling his lip, the other with the keen agony, kindled by the rushing remembrance of the dear home lost forever, pictured in his countenance. The meek moon and the sentinel stars shining on this field of death, with a pallid light, add to its horrors, increasing the ghastly hue in the faces of the slain. Such a scene was presented on the night of the 22nd of April, 1796, after the desperate battle of Mondavi: Near the town of. that name, the dispirited army of Colli had been overtaken by two divisions of Bonaparte's army, commanded by Serrurier and Massena. Serrurier had been repulsed, but the onset of Massena was irresist- ible, and the enemy were attacked on both flanks at once. The cavalry of the Piedmontese over powered and drove back that of the French, but the wonderful valor of Murat, the most glorious of cavalry officers, re- newed the fortune of the day, and, shortly afterwards, 28 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. Colli's army was put to flight. ; During the retreat, the Piedmontese suffered dreadfully, losing the best of their troops, their canndhs, baggage and appointments. Wearied with the desperate conflict, the greater por- tion of the victorious army encamped in and about the town of Mondovi, a body of cavalry, alone pursuing and harassing the enemy. The description of the field of battle given above, will apply to this one, with the addition of a view of the towers and spires of Mondovi, and of numerous blazing fires in the vicinity, around which the exhausted troops had sunk to repose. Bo- naparte had arrived ; and, now, having gathered his principal officers at a ruined building, just outside of the town, which seemed to have been an old chapel, talked over with them the achievements of the day, and what was contemplated for the morrow. The ruin con- sisted of four broken walls, and was entirely roofless. It was several yards square, and the floor was strewn with fragments of sculpture which had once adorned the edifice. In the centre of the floor a fire was kindled/ and camp-stools were ranged around it. At some dis- tance from the ruin, guards were placed, with orders to keep the inquisitive beyond ear-shot. This place had evidently been selected by Bonaparte, in preference to the best mansion of Mondovi, to be secure from ther treachery of Italians, who might have overheard and communicated to the enemy important information. As usual, Bonaparte had the paper containing the fines of his movements before him, and with pencil and com- passes in hand, he devised and marked alterations even while he talked. Among the officers gathered around MONDOYI. 29 the fire, were Massena, Berthier, Serrurier, Murat and Duroc. Next to the commander-in-chief himself, Massena had the most remarkable personal appearance of any of the group. His massive features had a somewhat Jewish cast and their general expression was extremely heavy, or rather drowsy. The eyes were half-closed, and they did not sparkle like those of the rest, when Bonaparte spoke. Yet it was well known that, when excited by the storm of battle, their flash was terrible. The expression of the mouth, was always that of an inexorable will. The whole aspect of Andrew Massena was that of a man of great powers, difficult to rouse. Napoleon himself re- marked that it was only in clanger that appalled most men, that Massena acquired clearness and force of thought. His want of activity was his great defect as a commander. Serrurier was a large man, with rough, prominent fea- tures, in which strong passions and dogged determina- tions were plainly expressed. His dress was torn and dusty ; for although repulsed by the Piedmontese, he had fought like a lion on that desperate day. The face of Duroc was manly and prepossessing. The slightly receding forehead, prominent nose, clear, bright eyes, and firm mouth, were illumined by a bland, but determined expression, indicative of the truly heroic spirit of this faithful friend of Napoleon. By the side of Michael Duroc, could be seen the stalwart form and noble countenance of Joachim Murat, the great leader of the cavalry, whose desperate charge had decided the battle in favor of the French. His gaudy costume was 30 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON* arranged with scrupulous nicety, and it bore no traces of the conflict. He sat toying with his long, dark curls during the conference. " To-morrow, we will occupy Cherasco, which is within ten leagues of the Piedmontese capital," said Bo- naparte. " It has been a month of glory. Within that time, we have gained complete possession of the moun- tain passes and thus opened the road for our armies into Italy. We have gained three battles over forces far superior to our own ; inflicte'd upon the enemy a loss of about twenty-five thousand men in killed, wounded, iind prisoners, taken eighty pieces of cannon and twenty- one stand of colors ; and almost annihilated the army of Sardinia. We can dictate a treaty at Turin." " The fight to-day was desperate enough, however," said Murat, ever vain of his services. " The cavalry was beaten back by the Piedmontese, and General Stengel was among the slain." " A brave man lost to France," interrupted Bonaparte. " But I soon taught them that the French cavalry was not so easily beaten," continued Murat. " That charge decided the day." " I am told," said Bonaparte, " that the charge was indeed brilliant. But we expect such from Murat, and we hope that, hereafter, he may have the best opportu- nities of displaying his valor and horsemanship at the head of the cavalry of France. You hate won a high promotion. General Serrurier, you were repulsed ; but you afterwards bravely sustained your reputation, and contributed much to the victory. As for you, General Massena, high as were my expectations from your valor MONDOVI. 31 and skill, you have astonished me. France will yet regard you as a child of victory." Massena opened his eyes somewhat wider and nod- ded his thanks. " The troops," he remarked, " are sadly worn with their rapid marches, and four .days' righting. Besides, since they have been so severely treated for seizing upon what food and clothes they found along the line of march, they have suffered much for want of the common necessaries of life." "I know — I know," replied Bonaparte; "I pity them, and hope that their wants may soon be relieved. But they must not become Goths and Vandals. What did you say was the loss of the enemy, to-day, Berthier?" "It is estimated at about three thousand men," replied the officer addressed — an elegant looking soldier, with a frank, intelligent countenance. " Colh is then effectually crippled," said Bonaparte " He will not dare to make a stand between us and Turin. I learn that Cherasco is an ill-defended place, but it has an important position at the confluence of the Stura and the Tanaro, and with the artillery taken from the enemy, we can soon render it defensible, should that be necessary. But at present, the pros- pect is that we shall in a few days conclude a peace with the king of Sardinia, and then we must pursue the Austrians, whom we shall drive beyond the Alps. But in the meantime, you, Murat, shall take some of our trophies to Paris, and proclaim the triumphs of France. A more fitting messenger of victory could Qot be found." At this intelligence Murat's eyes 32 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. sparkled, and a smile lit up his dark features ; for next to the storm of battle, this proud soldier loved to boast of victory. Next to being a lion upon the field of battle, he desired to be a Hon in the saloons of Paris. " General," said Duroc, " you may remember that when we stood upon the heights of Monte Lemoto, and beheld that glorious picture of the plains of Piedmont and Italy, you exclaimed, i Hannibal crossed the Alps ; as for us, we have gone round them !' It seems to me, with deference, that if reinforcements are not speedily sent to our aid, you will find yourself in. a position more nearly resembling that of Hannibal, when, although victorious in Italy, he was deserted by Carthage. The chief difference will be, however, that Hannibal, by fortunate circumstances, was enabled to maintain his army against all the forces of Rome. But we should soon be overwhelmed by superior numbers." « The government of France has neglected its duty," replied Bonaparte, "but I cannot believe that it will desert us altogether. If so, however, I have no doubt, that we can provide for ourselves." " For myself," said Serrurier, " I love France, but despise the present government. But for the bravery of the army, whose triumphs they have taken to them- selves, the members of that government would not now, hold their places." At these words, Bonaparte raised his head, and gave a steady, piercing glance at the frank, out-spoken soldier's countenance, probably with the design of ascertaining the full depth of his meaning. JBut Ser- rurier returned glance for glance, and Bonaparte re- MURAT. MONDOVI. 35 turned to the contemplation of his map. There was more in that young conqueror's look than, perhaps, any of that martial group, suspected. The chief incidents of the fight of the day having been communicated to Bonaparte by the various offi- cers engaged in its terrible scenes, he proceeded to award commendation where it was due ; and then gave the generals orders in regard to the movements of the next day. Despatches, hurriedly written, were sent to the generals of the divisions not engaged at Mondovi, and then the conference terminated. Most of the officers retired to their respective commands; but^ accompanied by Duroc and Murat, the sleepless commander-in-chief rode over the field, to gain a more accurate knowledge of the terrible character of the battle — to observe where the fight had been thickest, what corps had suffered the greatest loss, and what had the been advantages and disadvantages of the ground. In many places, it was difficult for the horses to proceed without trampling upon the groups of ghastly dead ; and the reckless Murat occasionally rode directly over the corpses, while talking to the commander-in-chief. A considerable number of women, from Mondovi, were seen among the bodies, collecting many little articles of value attached to the clothing of the dead warriors. At the approach of Bonaparte and his officers they scampered away, like so many frightened vultures, upon which Murat would give chase for a short dis- tance to increase their alarm. After a complete survey of the field, Bonaparte and his aids returned to Mon- dovi. The only remark the young commander-in-chief 36 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. was heard to make, was, " It was a hard-won victory — Mondovi ought to be decisive." And it was decisive. At Cherasco, Sardinia submitted to the victor's terms ; and thus one of the bravest of the foes of France was crushed after a campaign of very brief duration, the glories of which are thus touched upon by Bona- parte in an eloquent and powerful proclamation to his soldiers. " Soldiers ! in a fortnight you have gained six victo- ries, taken twenty-one pair of colors, fifty-five pieces of cannon, several fortresses, and conquered the richest part of Piedmont; you have made fifteen thousand prisoners, and killed or wounded more than ten thou- sand men \ you had hitherto been fighting for barren rocks, rendered famous by your courage, but of no ser- vice to the country; you this day compete by your services with the army of Holland and of the Rhine. Destitute of every thing, you have supplied all your wants. You have gained battles without cannon, crossed rivers without bridges, made forced marches without shoes, bivouacked without brandy, and often without bread. Republican phalanxes, the soldiers of . liberty alone, could have endured what you have endured. Thanks be to you for it, soldiers 1" if as sasaiPHFiiiBS at ras ©iequxbh ®ep Mm EAULIEU, the vete- ran general of the Austrians, had been b eaten and compel- led to retreat before the French commander of twen- ty-six. The Po being crossed and the Tesino turned, Bona- parte beheld the road to Milan open before him. But he prepared to make the effort to cut off Beaulieu's retreat, and compel the Austrian army to surrender. Like Nelson, upon the sea, he thought no triumph complete unless the enemy was entirely prostrated. But to cut off the retreat of Beaulieu, it was necessary to anticipate him at the (37) 88 CAMP-FIRES Of NAPOLEON. passage of the rivers. A great number of these flow from the Alps, and cross Lombardy on their way to the Po and the Adriatic. After the Po and the Tesino, come the Adda, the Oglio, the Mincio, the Adige and numerous others. The Adda was now before Bonaparte. It is a large and deep river, although fordable in some places. The passage was to be made at the town of Lodi, an old place containing about twelve thousand inhabitants. It has old Gothic walls, but its chief defence consists in the river, which flows through it, and which is crossed by a wooden bridge, about five hundred feet in length. Having crossed the river, Beaulieu drew up twelve thousand infantry and four thousand horse on the opposite bank, posted twenty pieces of artillery so as to sweep the bridge, and lined the bank with sharp- shooters. It was against all military practice to attempt the passage of a river in the face of such difficulties. But it was the military mission of Bonaparte to asto- nish the routine generals. Napoleon, coming up on the 10th of May, easily drove the rear-guard of the Austrian army before him into the town, but found his further progress threatened by the tremendous fire of the pieces of cannon, sta- tioned at the opposite end of the bridge, so as to sweep- it most completely. The whole body of the enemy's infantry drawn up in a dense line, supported this appalling disposition of the artillery. An answering battery was instantly constructed on the French side, Napoleon exposing himself in the thickest of the fire to point two of the guns with his LODI. 39 own hands. This he effected in such a manner as to prevent the possibility of any approach on the part of the enemy to undermine or blow up the bridge. Observing, meanwhile, that Beaulieu had removed his infantry to a considerable distance backwards, to keep tlieru out of the range of the French battery, he instantly detached his cavalry, with orders to gallop out of sight, and then ford the river, and coming sud- denly upon the enemy, attack them in flank. He now drew up a body of six thousand grenadiers in close column, under the shelter of the houses, and bade them prepare for the desperate attempt of forcing a passage across the narrow bridge, in the face of the enemy's thickly-planted artillery. The cavalry of Napoleon had a difficult task to per- form in passing the river, and he waited with anxiety for their appearance on the opposite bank. But a sud- den movement in the ranks of the enemy showed him that his cavalry had arrived and charged, and he instantly gave the word. The head of the column of grenadiers wheeled to the left, and was at once upon the bridge. The whole body rushed forward with impetuosity, shouting, "Vive la Republique !" A hun- dred bodies rolled dead, and the advancing column faltered under the redoubled roar of the guns, and the tempest of the grape shot. At this critical moment, Lannes, Napoleon, Berthier, and L'Allemand, hurried to the front, and dashing onwards were followed by the whole column in the very mouth of the artillery. They gained the opposite side : Lannes reached the guns first, and Napoleon second. The artillerymen 40 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. were killed; their guns seized ; and the Austrian infantw, which had been removed too far back, not having time to come up to support the artillery, the whole army was put to flight. The French cavalry pursued in the blazing enthu- siasm of almost unprecedented victory. About two thousand Austrians were either killed or wounded, and the same number made prisoners, while twenty pieces of cannon remained in the hands of the French. The victorious army encamped on the banks of the Adda, in the position which had been occupied by the defeated Austrians. Before night fell, Bonaparte was informed that he had failed to get between Beaulieu, and the other divisions of the Austrian army; but, aware of the terror which his daring 'exploit would strike into the enemy, he scarcely regretted Ms trifling failure of movement. The line of the Adda was car- ried ; tremendous difficulties had been vanquished with a loss of only two hundred men, and the courage and devotion of the soldiers had been raised to the highest, pitch. The encampment upon the Adda presented a re- markable aspect. Most of the officers had the accom- modation of tents, but the troops were destitute of that luxury, and then only resource for rest was to throw, themselves upon the ground around their fires. These gallant men, although fatigued with the efforts of the glorious day, were too much excited by their victory to rest without some demonstration. It was a clear, beautiful moonlight night. Although filled in some places with the dead, the Adda danced merrily onward, LODI. 41 the ripples sparkling in the moonbeams. All was quiet above j but in camp and town, there was the bustle of men to whom sleep would not come. Bonaparte had retired to his tent to partake of some refreshment, and having soon satisfied his abstemious appetite, he was about to traverse the camp, alone, to observe the spirit of his troops, as well as to ascertain the character and rank of the prisoners. In front of his tent, he was astonished to meet a small deputation of grim-visaged grenadiers, who saluted him with the title of the " Little Corporal." One of their number then stepped forward, and respectfully communicated the intelligence that they had elected him a corporal, in consideration of his gallant service in the ranks that day, and hoped that they might one day confer still higher honors upon him. Three hearty cheers were then given by the veterans, who appeared to enjoy the joke amazingly ; and after they had retired, the young general was saluted in various parts of the camp as the "Little Corporal." This gaiety was characteristic of the French soldiers. Bonaparte was rather pleased with the sin- gular mode of showing affection for his person, and admiration of his intrepidity. The general approached a group of Hungarian priso- ners without being recognised by them. They were standing near a fire, conversing, and evidently much irritated at the misfortunes of their position. He went among them and mingled in the conversation. An old officer, who spoke to him, appeared to be extremely moody. Bonaparte could not but smile at his language. " Things are going on as ill and irregular as possible," 6 42 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. said this veteran of routine. " The French have got a young general who knows nothing of the regular rules of war ; he is sometimes on our front, sometimes on our flank, sometimes on the rear. There is no supporting such a gross violation of rules." He evidently preferred to be whipped in a regular way. But it is agreed that the object of war is victory, and if rules do not secure that victory, they are of no value. Bonaparte's system appeared very extraordinary to the Austrian com- manders. It was something beyond what they had learned at their German military schools. After traversing the camp, and receiving many testi- monials of the warm devotion of the troops to his person, Bonaparte returned to his tent, where he was soon joined by Berthier, Massena, Augereau, Bessieres, Duroc, Serrurier, Lannes, and others. To each and all he gave a word of compliment ; but he was especially fluent in his praise of the indomitable young General Lannes, whose daring courage had attracted his atten- tion in previous engagements as well as at the tremen- dous charge across the bridge of Lodi. They at ere, indeed, as gallant a group of officers, as ever a general had at his command — men who could as calmly reason and determine upon manoeuvres in the hottest storm of battle, as during the quiet hours of this moonlight night— quick in devising, irresistible in the execution ; and yet it was only yonder stripling, with the Roman features and the piercing eyes,-who could give a glorious harmony to their action, bring their peculiar faculties into play, and secure their triumph. Great as they un- doubtedly were, they failed to achieve great triumphs MONTE NOTTE. 45 when beyond the reach of the " Little Corporal's" con- trolling mind. The conference was long, for there were difficulties in the arrangement of the plan for moving upon Milan, and some of the officers, particularly Mas- sena, had objections to urge. However, Bonaparte de- termined according to his own views. The officers ob- served that there was a remarkable change in his bearing towards them. He had hitherto admitted them to complete familiarity ; but they now felt constrained by his lofty manner to keep at a respectful distance. When they retired that night, some of them exchanged glances of significance ; they were evidently displeased at the haughty bearing of the young commander-in- chief; yet few of them, perhaps, comprehended the change. The fact was that the victory of Lodi had a great influence upon Napoleon's mind. He afterwards ac- knowledged, that neither the quelling of the sections at Paris, nor the victory of Monte Notte made him regard himself as any thing superior, but that after Lodi, for the first time, the idea dawned upon him, that he should one day be " a decisive actor," on the stage of the po- litical world. It was Lodi which gave birth to the 18th Brumaire. teis saehp-fqibs m ®i&mmM®m» T was at Castiglione and in its vicinity that the won- derful spirit and rapidity of Napoleon's movements were more fully displayed than at any other of his scenes of victory in Italy. The aged Beaulieu had been superseded in the command of the Austrian army, by General Wurmser, a commander of high reputation. (46) CASTIGLIONE. 47 His army was greatly superior in numbers to that of Bonaparte. It descended from the Tyrol during the last days of July, in three divisions, commanded by Davidowich, Quasdano witch, and Wurmser himself. Wurmser, confident in his numbers, and calculating upon the absorption of the energies of the French army, by its endeavors to subdue Mantua, disposed his forces in the most admirable way to improve a victory ; never reflecting that he might happen to be defeated. Un- taught by all the previous disasters of Beaulieu, he committed the error of dividing his army, in order to cover an extent of country. His right wing was de- tached, with orders to occupy Brescia, and cut off the retreat of the French in the direction of Milan : his left wing was to descend the Adige, and manoeuvre on Verona; while the centre, under his own command, advanced to raise the siege of Mantua. During the two first days of his approach, the French generals, after resisting to the utmost, yielded up successively, BAvoli, Brescia, and Salo ; but these two days were sufficient to make Napoleon master of the plan on which Wurmser proposed- to carry on the campaign, and he instantly disconcerted the whole of it, by a movement so unlike that of any ordinary general, as to defy all calculation. In one night, (31st July,) he raised the siege of Mantua; sacrificing the whole of his artillery. The men were employed to destroy as much as the time would allow. They spiked the guns, burnt the car- riages, threw the powder into the lake, and buried the balls. Auger eau and Massena were stationed to defend the line of the Mincio as long as possible/ Before 48 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. morning the whole French army had disappeared from Mantua, and Napoleon was hurrying forward to attack the right wing of the Austrian army, before it could effect a junction with the central body of Wurmser. The Austrian right wing was advancing in three di- visions. Napoleon defeated one division at Salo, and another at Lonato. At the same time, Augereau and Massena, leaving a sufficient number of men at their posts to maintain a defence, or at least to impede the enemy, marched upon the third division at Brescia; but it had already fled in disorder towards the Tyrol. The French generals instantly countermarched to the support of their rear-guards, which had been forced by the Austrians. Wurmser reached Mantua and was astonished to find what he believed to be a precipitate flight. He entered the city hi triumph — but he was completely deceived. (August 2nd.) Bonaparte did not halt for a moment. His troops had been constantly on the march, he had himself been all the time on horseback ; he resolved to make them fight the very next morning. He had before him Ba- yalitsch at Lonato, and Liptai at Castiglione, presenting to both of them a front of twenty-five thousand men. He had to attack them before Wurmser should return from Mantua. Sauret had for the second time aban- doned Salo ; Bonaparte sent Guyeux again thither to recover the position, and to keep back Quasdano witch. After these precautions on his left and on his rear, he resolved to inarch forward to Lonato with Massena, and to throw Augereau upon the heights of Castiglione, CASTIGLIONE. 49 which had been abandoned on the preceding day by General Vallette. He broke that general at the head of his army, in order to make his lieutenants do their duty without flinching. On the following day, the 16 th (August 3rd,) the whole army was in motion ; Guyeux ' re-entered Salo, and this rendered any communication between Quasando witch and the Austrian army still more impracticable. Bonaparte advanced upon Lonato ; but his advanced guard was beaten back, some pieces of cannon were taken, and General Pigeon was made prisoner. Bayalitsch, proud of this success advanced with confidence, and extended his wings around the French division. He had two objects in performing this manoeuvre.; in the first place, to surround Bona- parte, and in the second, to extend himself on the right for the purpose of entering into communication with Quasandowitch, whose cannon he heard at Salo. Bona- parte, not alarming himself about his rear, suffered him- self to be surrounded with imperturbable coolness; he placed some sharp-shooters on his exposed wings, and next took the 18th and 32d demi-brigades of infantry, ranged them in close column, gave them a regiment of dragoons to support them, and rushed headlong upon the enemy's centre, which was weakened by its exten- sion. With this brave body of infantry he overthrew all before him, and thus broke the line of the Austrians. The latter, divided into two bodies, immediately lost their courage : one part of the division of Bayalitsch fell back in all haste towards the Mincio ; but the other, which had extended itself in order to communicate with Quasandowitch, was driven towards Salo, where Guyeux 7 50 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. was at that moment. Bonaparte caused it to be pur- sued without intermission, that he might place it be- tween two fires. He let loose Junot in pursuit of it, with a regiment of cavalry. Junot dashed off at a gallop, killed six horsemen with his own hand, and fell, having received several sabre wounds. The fugitive division, entrapped between the corps at Salo and that which was pursuing it from Lonato, was routed, and lost at every step thousands of prisoners. During this suc- cessful pursuit, Bonaparte proceeded on his right to Castiglione, where Augereau had been righting ever since the morning with admirable bravery. The heights on which Liptai's division had placed itself had now to be carried. After an obstinate combat, several times re- newed, he had at length accomplished his object, and Bonaparte on his arrival found the enemy retreating on all sides. Such was the battle called the battle of Lonato, fought on the 16th (August 3rd.) This battle produced considerable results. The French had taken twenty pieces of cannon and three thousand prisoners from the division cut off and driven back upon Salo, and they were still pursuing its scat- tered remnant in the mountains. They had made a thousand or fifteen hundred prisoners at Castiglione, and killed or wounded three thousand men; they had alarmed Quasandowitch, who finding the French army at Salo, and hearing it in the distance at Lonato, thought that it was every where. They had thus nearly disor- ganized the divisions of Bayalitsch and Liptai, which fell back upon Wurmser. That general at this moment came up with fifteen thousand men to rally the two CASTIGLIONE. 51 beaten divisions, and began to draw ont his lines in the plains of Castiglione. Bonaparte now determined upon fighting a decisive battle upon the ground which the Austrian general had chosen, but as it was necessary to collect all his dispos- able force at Castiglione, he deferred the action until the 5th. It was the night of the 4th of August. The weather had been excessively warm for several days, and the troops were almost exhausted by their rapid marches under a burning sun. The hostile armies were encamped close in front of each other, vertically from the line of the heights on which both supported one wing, Bona- parte having his left thereon, and Wurmser his right. A series of heights formed by the last range of the Alps extends from Chiessa to the Mincio, by Lonato, Casti- glione and Solferino. At the foot of these heights was the plains on which the great battle was to be fought. Bonaparte had at most twenty-two thousand men, Ser. rurier's division not having come up yet ; and, indeed, it had been ordered to make an effort to gain the rear of the Austrians, Wurmser had thirty thousand men under his command, and the wing of his army which was on the plain was supported by a redoubt placed upon the elevation of Medolano. It was a clear, warm night. The stars were thickly sprinkled in the arching heaven, but there was no moon, and the position of each army could only be clearly distinguished by the light of the lines of watch-fires, stretching away from the foot of the heights. In the rear of the Austrians, the low wall, and tower of the old town of Castiglione 52 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. $ could be distinguished, forming a looming and shadowy background to a striking and imposing picture. Around one of the fires in the vicinity of the tent of the commander-in-chief, was sitting a group of officers, among whom Bessieres, Duroc, and Augereau were the only men of renown. All ears were opened listening to Bessieres, who was giving an account of Bonaparte's wonderful exploit that day, in escaping from a surprise at Lonato, He told the story as follows : "You know that this morning, our commander-in- chief set off for Lonato at full gallop, to personally hasten the movements of the troops. He was accompanied only by his staff and the Guides under my command. We arrived at Lonato about noon. We found that the orders of the general were already carried out; part of the troops were marching upon Castiglione, and the rest were proceeding towards Salo and Gavardo. About a thousand men remained at Lonato. Scarcely had the general entered the place, when an Austrian flag of truce presented itself, and the bearer summoned him to surrender. The general started at the summons. He could not understand how it was possible that the Aus- trians could be so close upon him. But the case was soon explained. The division separated in the battle of Lonato, and driven back upon Salo, had been partly captured ; but a body of about four thousand five hun- dred men had been wandering all night in the mountains ; and seeing the town almost abandoned, wanted to enter the place, in order to open for itself an outlet upon the Mincio. General Bonaparte had no time to fight a battle, or perhaps he would have done it, even with his CASTIGLIONE. 53 force of one thousand men. His plan was formed with his usual quickness and decision. He ordered all the officers about him to mount their horses, and then, the bearer of the flag to be brought before him, with his eyes uncovered ; for, as usual on such occasions, the officer was blindfolded. You should have seen the Aus- trian's astonishment when he found himself in the presence of.our general and his staff. * Unhappy man!' said General Bonaparte, 'you know not then that you are in the presence of the commander-in-chief, and that he is here with his whole army. Go tell those who sent you. that I give them five minutes to surrender, or I will put them to the sword to punish the insult which they have dared to offer me.' The astonished bearer of the flag returned with this message to his general. In the meantime, General Bonaparte prepared his small forc« for action. The Austrian then asked him to pro- pose terms of capitulation. But our general, knowing the importance of immediate action, replied — ' No, you must become at once prisoners of war/ The Austrian hesitated, but when General Bonaparte ordered his ar- tillery and grenadiers to advance to the attack, the enemy surrendered ; and thus, without striking a blow, four thousand infantry and five hundred cavalry sur- rendered themselves prisoners of war to about one thousand Frenchmen. We gained, besides, two pieces of artillery." A general laugh followed this narrative. All agreed that it was an admirable exploit, and quite worthy of the genius of Bonaparte. At this moment, the young commander-in-chief appeared at the door of his tent. 1 54 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. His horse was standing near, and he was quickly mounted. " Come, Bessieres and Duroc," said he in a sharp voice, " we will go over the field." So saying, he rode away, leaving the officers addressed to follow hhn as soon as they could. They immediately left the group, which was now joined, however, by Lannes and Berthier, who, wearied out, sought the vacant seats to obtain a short rest. " Who ever saw the like ?" said young Lannes, — he of the tall, stout form, stern countenance, and long, fair hair, parted in the centre. " Such incessant activity I That slender 'little Corporal' would tire a host of us. In a few days he lias killed five horses with fatigue. He will not entrust any of us with the execution of his im- portant orders. He must see every thing with his own eyes, inquire into every thing, and set every body in a fever of motion by his presence. Such tremendous energy I never knew any other person to possess. I do not believe he sleeps at all. There he goes again, to make his final arrangements for the battle." " He will wear himself out too soon, I am afraid," said Augereau. " But he will accomplish more in one month than many men could achieve in years. His immortality is already established, and he is but twenty-six," replied Berthier. " He will have a glorious opportunity to achieve a decisive victory to-morrow," said Lannes ; " but I doubt whether the battle will be as long and as desperate as tbat of yesterday." " Yesterday was indeed a day of hard fighting, for CASTIGLIONE. 55 my division here, at least/' said Augereau. u My troops were completely exhausted, when Liptai's division was driven from the heights. But how did Junot get cut up in such a way ?" " I'll tell you," replied Berthier. " When the Austrian line was broken by the charge of our infantry, one di- vision was driven towards Salo, where Guyeux was posted. General Bonaparte caused it to be pursued, in order to place it between two fires, and General Junot was let loose, with a regiment of cavalry. Junot set off at full speed. He encountered Colonel Bender with a party of his regiment of hussars, whom he charged, with his wonted bravery. But not wishing to waste his time by attacking the rear, Junot made a detour to the right, charged the regiment in front, wounded Co- lonel Bender and attempted to take him prisoner, when he suddenly found himself surrounded. Of course, he fought like a hero, as he is, and it is said that he killed six of the enemy with his own hand, before he was cut down, and thrown into a ditch. I suppose he will be disabled for some time, which is a real misfortune to the army, as Junot is one of the bravest and most active officers now under General Bonaparte's command." " Yes," said the generous Lannes, " we shall miss riim. He was promoted from the ranks on account of his cool bravery, and he certainly has done honor to the judg- ment of our general, who first noticed his merit at the siege of Toulon." " Still," said Augereau, " brave men are not scarce in the army of Italy. We shall conquer without Junot, I have no doubt" 56 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. Thus the group continued to converse, until General Bonaparte came up, with Massena and others, and in- vited them to his tent to receive their final instructions. The quick movements, and rapid, concise speech of the young conqueror indicated the unwearied activity of his mind. He had undergone tremendous exertion, but no- trace of it appeared in his bearing. The restless fire of his eye was undimmed ; his mind labored as vigo- rously and with as much precision as if he had been en- joying repose for several clays ; and the commander of the Guides reported that the general slept but an hour that night, At the first peep of day, the two armies were in mo- tion. Wurmser, impatient to attack, moved his right along the heights ; Bonaparte, to favor this movement, drew back his left, formed by Massena's division ; he kept his centre immovable in the plain. He soon heard Serrurier's fire. Then, while he continued to draw back his left, and Wurmser to draw out his right, he ordered the redoubt of Medolano to be attacked. At first, he directed twenty pieces of fight artillery upon that re- doubt, and after briskly cannonading it, he detached General Verdier, with three battalions, to storm it. That brave general advanced, supported by a regiment of calvalry, and took the redoubt. The left flank of the Austrians was thus exposed at the very moment when Serrurier, arriving at Cauriana, excited, alarm upon their rear. Wurmser immediately moved part of his second line upon his right, now deprived of support, and placed it en potence to front the French, who were debouching from Medolano. He took the remainder of L CASTIGLIONE. 57 his second line to the rear, to protect Cauriana, and thus continued to make head against the enemy. But Bonaparte, seizing the opportunity with his accustomed promptness, immediately ceased to avoid engaging his left and his centre, and gave Massena and Augereau the signal which they were impatiently awaiting. Mas- sena with the left, Augereau with the centre, rushed upon the weakened line of the Austrians, and charged it with impetuosity. Attacked so briskly on its entire front, and threatened on its left and its rear, it began to give ground. The ardour of the French increased. Wurmser seeing his army jeopardized then gave the signal for retreat. He was pursued, and some prisoners were taken. To put him completely to the rout, it would have been necessary to make much more haste, and td push him while in disorder upon the Mincio. But for six days the troops had been . constantly march- ing and fighting; they were unable to advance further, and slept on the field of battle. Wurmser had on that day lost no more than two thousand men, but he had never- theless lost Italy. That night, the first time for five days, Bonaparte enjoyed the sweets of repose. The anxiety was at an end — Italy was his own. teis smo^-fiubs m &mm>&* HE indomitable Bona- parte had nearly de- Hi stroyed the army of Wurmser. The laurels of Rovefedo, Bassano, and Saint George, adorned his young brow, beside those of Monte Notte, Lodi and Castiglione. Within ten days, he had carried positions, the natural difficulties of which seemed to defy human assault, killed or captured about twenty thousand men, and taken artillery and stores (58) AKCOIA. 59 which were almost an encumbrance to his gallant little army. His brave officers, Massena, Augereau, Bes- sieres, Murat, Berthier, Lannes, and the rest, had heaped up their titles to immortal renown. To use the language of Thiers, a France was lost in admiration of the com- mander-in-chief of the army of Italy." Still, Bonaparte's situation was rapidly becoming one of startling peril. Austria redoubled her efforts to re- cover Lombardy. A fine army was prepared from the wrecks of Wurmser, the troops from Poland and Turkey, the detachments from the Rhine, and fresh recruits. Marshal Alvinzi was appointed to the command. Bo- naparte's army at this time numbered about thirty thou- sand men, but they were badly provided, while Alvinzi could bring sixty thousand men into the field. On the 1st of November, 1796, the Austrian commander advanced upon the Brenta. At first, the French fell back, but Bonaparte resolved to strike a blow at the onset of this new series of movements, which would break the spirit of the enemy. The action took place on the 5th, between Carmignano and Bassano, and after a hot and bloody conflict, the French were victorious. Other contests followed ; but in spite of the advantages gained by Bo- naparte, he found that unless a great decisive battle was fought, Italy would be lost. The troops began to murmur at the neglect with which their government treated them, and the general complained to the Directory that the majority of his best officers were either killed or disabled by wounds. But in the meantime, Bonaparte conceived a daring plan of action, which, considering the circumstances, stands unparalleled in the annals of 50 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. war. He resolved to give battle, unexpectedly, amid the marshes of the Adige, where the difference in numbers would be neutralized. Then followed the tremendous battle of Areola, which lasted seventy-two hours, and ended in the complete triumph of the French. It was the night of the 17th of November. The sun had set upon a third day of slaughter amid the marshes and upon the plain at Areola. But with the quiet shadows of evening, came victory to gladden the hearts of the French and their glorious general. Exhausted by the terrible conflict, both armies were to pass the night upon the plain. But the Austrians took care to be beyond the reach of the conquerors and far towards Vicenza. The French kindled their camp-fires upon the field of their triumph. It was a gloomy night. Neither moon nor star smiled in the sky ; and the line of the encampments could only be traced by the fires, blazing even among the heaps of the dead, while far away over the plain the long fine of Austrian fires could be distinguished. Having partaken of some slight re- freshment, the French soldiers were stretched upon the ground around the fires. The majority slept. But to some, wearied as they were in body, sleep would not come, so excited were their minds by the vivid and terrible images of the conflict through which they had passed. The Guides, who had kindled their fires around a little cottage in which Bonaparte had taken quarters for the night, were among the wakeful ones. They had secured for themselves, at the order of the commander- in-chief, abundant refreshments, and now, sitting upon their camp-stools to rest their weary limbs, they dis- ARCOLA. 61 cussed both the provision and the glorious achievements of the army of Italy. Their number had been conside- rably thinned by the great battle through which they had just passed, for they, as well as their general, had been in the thickest of the fire. But there were still Bessieres, the commander, young Lemarois, Duroc, and others of distinction; while among them was, Auge- reau, who, having been reared in the democratic faubourg St. Antoine, never had any scruples upon the subject of rank, outside of actual military operations. He asso- ciated with general and private upon equal terms. The others doubtless considered themselves as honoring the company with their presence ; but they could not have formed a part of a more gallant group. Not an officer among them but bore marks of the terrible conflict through which they had passed. Their costume was bespattered with mud, their faces blackened with powder, and some of them had sabre wounds, which, for the time, disfigured their countenances. " The officers of the army have suffered dreadfully, during these three days of fighting," said Augereau. "I thought that before the battle we were crippled enough in that way ; but only look now. Here's Ge- neral Lannes, who was wounded before he went into the conflict, and he now lies low with three more wounds. Verne, Bon, Verdier, and several others are also wounded, while General Robert and the brave Colonel Muiron, who saved General Bonaparte's life at Toulon, and covered him here again, are killed." " This battle will long be deemed a glorious monument of the genius of Bonaparte," said Bessieres, " I say it 62 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. with deference ; that heroic as are his principal officers, they might have striven in vain against the superior numbers of the enemy, but for the daring and profound combinations of the general-in-chief, while much is also due to his efforts of resolute valor during the struggle." " No one will venture to deny that," said the frank and generous Augereau. Massena merely nodded his head, but left the meaning of the nod unexplained. " For," continued Bessieres, " consider the position of the army before the battle. Our army was greatly inferior in numbers to that of Alvinzi, as, in spite of the immense loss of the Austrians, it remains. Our hospitals were full of sick and wounded. The troops were dispirited, because of the shameful neglect with which their government treated them. A large number of our best officers were entirely disabled. Yet an ad- dress from General Bonaparte restored confidence to the army, and when, on the night of the 15th, orders were given to the troops to fall back, they obeyed with alac- rity, although they believed they were retreating — a movement to which they are unaccustomed, for they supposed that some daring plan had been formed for their glory. When they had recrossed the Adige by the bridge of boats here at Ronco, they found that their confidence in their general had not been misplaced." " See then," said Duroc, " how General Bonaparte availed himself of the advantages of the ground. What other general of this age would have thought of fighting among the marshes. Alvinzi was encamped on the road from Verona to the Brenta. Consequently when General Bonaparte reached Ronco, he found himself ARCOLA. 63 brought back on the flanks and nearly on the rear of the Austrians. The army was then amidst extensive marshes, traversed by two causeways, which we were ordered to occupy. "Now mark the result of his calculations; amidst these marshes numerical advantage was neutralized; there was no deploying but upon the causeways, and on the causeways the courage of the advanced guards of the columns would decide the event. By the cause- way on the left, which communicated with the road be- tween Verona and Caldiero, he could fall upon the Aus- trians if they attempted to scale Verona. By the causeway on the right, which crossed the Alpon at the bridge of Areola, and terminated at Villa Nova, he might debouch upon the rear of Alvinzi, take his artillery and baggage, and cut off his retreat. He was therefore impregnable at Ronco, and he stretched his two arms around the enemy. He had caused the gates at Verona to be shut, and had left Kilmaine there, with fifteen hundred men, to stand a first assault. This combination, so daring and so profound, struck the army, and inspired them with confidence." "It was a grand stroke of genius," said Massena. " I was stationed on the dike at the left, so as to go up to Gombione and Porcil, and take the enemy in the rear, if he should march to Verona." "And I," observed Augereau, "was despatched to the right, to debouch upon Villa Nova. But before I could advance along the right hand dike, I had to cross the Alpon by the bridge of Areola. Some battalions of Croats were stationed along the river, and had their 64 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. cannon pointed at the bridge. They received *uy advance guard with a rattling fire of musketry, an I at first the men fell hack. I rode up and did all in my powe*r to push them on, hut the fire compelled thei t to halt. Soon after that, I saw a party of Hungarian cavalry come to inquire into the reason of the firing among the marshes. The Austrian marshal could not understand it. He did not for a moment suppose that General Bonaparte would choose such a field of battle, at least I judge so, from his orders." " Ha ! ha !" shouted Massena, " you should ha > e seen Rivera leading his division close along the kft dike where I was posted. I permitted them to get too far on the dike to retreat, and then dashed upon them at a run. How we tumbled them into the marsh ! Ha ! ha ! The troops shot them by scores, as they floundered in the mud and water. Ha ! ha !" It was a grim laugh. " I did the same for Mitrowski's division," said Au- gereau. "I then pursued, and attempted to pass the bridge, the soldiers gallantly crowding around the flag I held to cheer them on. But they could not stand that tremendous fire. Lannes, Bon, Verne, and Ver- dier were wounded. In spite of my utmost efforts, the column fell back, and the soldiers descended to the side of the dike, to shelter themselves from the fire." " Then came the heroism of the i Little Corporal,' " exclaimed Duroc, his eyes glowing with enthusiasm. " He saw from Ronco, that Alvinzi had become sensible of his danger, and was striving to prevent you, brave Guyeux, from taking him in the rear at Villa Nova. He saw that it was of the utmost importance to cross ARCOLA. 65 the river at Areola immediately, if he would gain Alvinzi's rear, and thus secure great results. Did you see that glorious commander? He set off at full gallop, came near the bridge, threw himself from his horse, went to the soldiers who were crouching down by the borders of the dike, asked them if they were still the conquerors of Lodi, revived their courage by his words, and seizing a flag cried, ' Follow your general !' Hearing his voice, a number of soldiers went up to the causeway and followed him ; unfortunately, the move- ment could not be communicated to the whole of the column, the rest of which remained behind the dike. Bonaparte advanced, carrying the flag in his hand, amidst a shower of balls and grape-shot. We all surrounded him. Lannes, who had already received two wounds from musket-shots during the battle, was struck by a thud. Muiron, the general's aid-de-camp, striving to cover him with his body, fell dead at his feet. The column was nevertheless on the point of clearing the bridge, when a last discharge arrested it, and threw it back. The rear abandoned the advance. The soldiers who still remained with the general, then laid hold of him, carried him away amidst the fire and smoke, and insisted on his remounting his horse. An Austrian column debouching upon them, threw them in disorder into the marsh. Bonaparte fell in, and sunk up to the waist. As soon as the soldiers perceived his danger, 6 Forward,' cried they, ' to save the general.' They ran after Belliard and Vignolles to extricate him. They pulled him out of the mud, set him upon his horse again, pressed forward and Areola was taken. 9 66 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. " Was there ever a more glorious man ?" And as the enthusiastic Duroc concluded his animated descrip- tion of the splendid exploit, his eyes gleamed in admi- ration of his great friend and patron. "Yes," said Guyeux, "Areola was taken. But I could not get across the river in time to attack Alvinzi's rear, and thus the Austrian was enabled to deploy into the plain. The general had striven gloriously, but he had not attained his object. In my humble opinion, he might have avoided the obstacle of Areola by throwing his bridge over the Adige a little below Ronco. " Aye," said Massena, " but then he would have de- bouched into the plain, which it was of great importance to avoid. The general had the best reasons for doing what he did, and although the success was imperfect, important results had been obtained. Alvinzi had quitted the formidable position of Caldiero ; he had de- scended again into the plain, he no longer threatened Verona ; and he had lost a great number of men in the marshes. The two dikes had become the only field of battle between the two armies, which gave the superi- ority to bravery. Besides, so glorious had been the conflict, that our soldiers had completely recovered their confidence, a result of immense importance, as all may perceive." This defence of Bonaparte's course did honor to the intelligence of Massena. " But it must be admitted," said Bessieres, " that the battle of to-day surpassed all the rest in the display of strategic genius. Yesterday was glorious for us, for the bravery and perseverance of the whole army was exerted in beating the enemy from the dikes, and ARCOLA. 67 tumbling them into the marsh, and we destroyed, an immense number of them. But to-day proved most con- clusively that in strategy our general is at least the rival of the Carthagenian Hannibal. Our general saw that the long conflict had disheartened the enemy, and con- siderably reduced their superior numbers. He then dared to encounter them on the plain. You, General Massena, marching at the head of your column, with your hat upon the point of your sword, showed them the way to victory, and the Austrians were once more crowded into the marsh. But General Robert was re- pulsed at the bridge of Ronco. Yet mark the resources of the general-in-chief ! Sensible of the danger, he placed the 32d in a wood of willows, which borders the right hand dike. While the enemy's column, victorious over Robert, was advancing, the 32d sallied from its ambus- cade, and, of the three thousand Croates who composed it, the greater part were slain or captured. Crossing the Alpon, Bonaparte brought the whole army into the plain, in front of the Austrians. An ordinary general would now have ordered a simple charge. But the ' Little Corporal' determined upon a stratagem. A marsh, overgrown with reeds, covered the left wing of the Austrians. Hereule, chef de battattwn, was ordered to take twenty-five guards, to march in single line through the reeds, and to make a sudden charge, with a great blast of trumpets." " And Hereule was the very man for such a despe- rate service," observed Duroc. " Precisely," said Bessieres. " Then the great charge was made by you generals, Massena and Augereau; 68 CAMP-FIKES OF NAPOLEON. but the Austrians stood their ground until they heard the great blast of trumpets, when, thinking they were going to be charged by a whole division of cavalry, they fled, and the battle was decided in favor of France, Italy is our own." "Not yet," said Massena. "Austria is stubborn. In spite of her many defeats, she will make at least one more effort to recover possession of this fair land. We have much fighting yet to do, I am sure." "We have lost many brave men in these three fighting days," said young Lemarois. " But the enemy have suffered a loss of at least twelve thousand killed, and six thousand made prisoners, while we have taken eighteen pieces of cannon and four stand of colors." " Trophies enough," said Augereau. " It seems to me, that whether this battle has decided the fate of Italy or not, we shall soon have a short respite from our toils, which will give us time to recruit." The conversation continued thus till most of the officers, being overcome with fatigue, retired to their quarters. The Guides slept around their fires, in close proximity to numbers of the gallant dead, whose slumber was destined to be broken only by the arch- angel's trump. In the meantime, the young conquer or had sought his couch for much needed repose, and so soundly did he sleep that even the glories of Areola were forgotten for the time. TOg SAEHP-FIUBB ATT 1HW©M« HE chain of Monte Baldo divides the lake of Garda from the Adige. The high road winds between the Adige and the foot of the mountains, to the extent of some leagues. At Incanale the river washes the very base of the mountains, leaves no room whatever for proceeding along its bank. The road then leaves the banks of the river, rises by a (69) 70 CAMP-FIRES GF NAPOLEON. zig-zag direction round the sides of the mountain,, and debouches upon an extensive elevated plain, which is that of Bivoli. It overlooks the Adige on one side, and is encompassed on the other side by the amphitheatre of Monte Baldo. An army in position of this plateau commands the winding road by which the ascent to it is made, and sweeps by its fire both banks of the Adige to a great distance. It is very difficult to storm this pla- teau m front, since you must climb up the narrow zig- zag road before you can reach it. Therefore no one would attempt to attack it by that single way. Before arriving at Incanale, other roads lead to Monte Baldo, and ascending its long and sloping acclivities terminate at the plateau of Bivoli. They are not passable either for cavalry or for artillery, but they afford easy access to foot soldiers, and may be made available for carrying a considerable force in infantry upon the flanks and rear of the body defending the plateau. Here the star of Napoleon was destined to shine with new glory. Alvinzi commanded the principal attack on the Tyrolese side, at the head of fifty thousand men, and advanced his head-quarters from Bassano to Bo- veredo. General Provera took the command of the army on the lower Adige, which was twenty thousand strong : its head-quarters were at Padua. A great many troops appeared on different points, and some spirited actions also took place in the course of the 12th and 13th ; but the enemy had not fully unmasked his plans, so that the moment for adopting a decisive course had not yet arrived. On the 13th it rained very heavily, and Napoleon had not yet resolved in what direction to RIVOLI. 71 march, whether up or down the Adige. At ten in the evening, the accounts from Joubert, at La Corona, deter- mined him. It was plain that the Austrians were ope- rating with two independent corps, the principal attack being intended against Monte Baldo, the minor one on the Lower Adige. Auger eau's division appeared suffi- cient to dispute the passage of the river with Provera ; but on the Monte Baldo side the danger was imminent. There was not a moment to lose ; for the enemy was about to effect a junction with his artillery and cavalry, by taking possession of the level of Rivoli ; and if he could be attacked before he could gain that important point, he would be obliged to fight without artillery or cavalry. All the troops were therefore put in motion from the head-quarters at Verona, to reach BAvoli before day-break ; the general-in-chief proceeded to the same point, and arrived there at two in the morning. The weather had been rainy for several days. But now the sky was without a cloud. The moon and stars shone with a brilliancy peculiar to their light in this re- gion. The air was keen and bitter cold. The French general, accompanied by his aids and the faithful Guides, proceeded to a projecting rock on the heights of Monte Maggone, to gain a complete view of the enemy, previous to fixing the plan of battle. And now behold the group, dismounted, and collected near the fire, Bonaparte being in advance, with glass in hand, surveying the positions of the enemy. Duroc, Lemarois, Murat, Berthier and Bessieres stood together just behind him. The whole horizon was in a blaze with the Austrian fires, and the red glare contrasted strangely with the pure white light 72 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. of the moon. Bonaparte observed and talked with his customary precision and rapidity. " Alvinzi has at least forty-five thousand men under his command. We have but twenty-two thousand ; while the brave Joubert, who has so nobly maintained his position at Rivoli, has but ten thousand. The enemy has divided his force into three columns, although I see no less than five camps. The principal column, will proceed along the high road between the river and Monte Baldo, and will debouch by the winding road of Incanale. Three divisions of infantry have climbed the steep mountains, and will get to the field by descending the steps of the amphitheatre formed by this chain of heights. Another division will wind round the side of the mountains and attempt to gain our rear. " But yonder seems to be another camp on the other side of the Adige," said Murat, pointing to a line of fires. " True," said Bonaparte, " but that can do no damage. It can only fire a few balls across the river. It is clear, we must keep the plateau at all events. Posted there we prevent the junction of the different divisions of the enemy. We may play our artillery upon the infantry which is deprived of its cannon, and drive back the cavalry and artillery which must be crowded together in a narrow, winding road. The other divisions will not trouble us much." Thus, with lightning-like rapidity, did this matchless general conceive the plan which was to give him a glorious victory. " I suppose we are to begin the battle at daybreak,* said Duroc. RIVOLI. 73 " At daybreak ! Now ! now is the time !" replied the French general, sharply. " Duroc ! Joubert's troops have been fighting forty-eight hours, and they are now taking a little repose. They must be aroused immedi- ately. Tell them for me, that they must not let Mas- sena's division surpass them in endurance, and his troops have marched by night and fought by day. Order Ge- neral Joubert to attack the advanced post of the Aus- trian infantry, drive them back, and extend his force more widely upon the plateau." Duroc immediately spurred away to communicate the order to Joubert. "Joubert has done well; but he should not have abandoned yonder St. Mark's Chapel. At all events, I do not believe the enemy have occupied it. Duroc is rapid in movement. The battle of Rivoli will soon commence," said the French general. "I wish Massena was nearer the field," observed Murat. • ■ He will be up in time, never fear. He is indomi- table. Besides, if the battle should assume a critical aspect, I will go myself to hurry up his division. Ha ! Joubert is up like a roused lion, and in movement. Who leads the column ? Yial — a brave officer," con- tinued Bonaparte. At this moment, a rattling fire of musketry rang on the air, and from the height where Bonaparte stood, could be seen the rapid advance of Joubert's troops, as well as the long line of D'Ocksky's column of Croats against whom the attack was directed. Then the thunder of the artillery was heard, and clouds of smoke curled up from the plateau." 10 74 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. " St. Mark's Chapel is recovered/' said Bessieres. " The Austrian infantry cannot stand- against the ar- tillery, and they are falling back in a semicircle, with the heights at their rear," remarked Bonaparte. At this moment, Liptai's division which kept the ex- tremity of the enemy's semicircle, fell upon Joubert's left, composed of the 89th and 25th demi-brigades, sur- prised them, broke their lines and compelled them to retire in disorder. The 14th coming immediately after these demi-brigades formed en crochet to cover the rest of the line, and bravely stood their ground. The Aus- trians now put forth all their strength and almost over- whelmed this little band of heroes. They made despe- rate efforts to capture the artillery, the horses of which had all been killed. They had even reached the pieces, when a brave officer rushed forward, and exhorted the grenadiers not to allow their guns to be taken. Fifty men immediately rushed forward, repulsed the enemy, harnessed themselves to the pieces, and drew them back. In the midst of this terrible struggle, the day began to dawn upon the field of Rivoli. Bonaparte who had watched the progress of the fight with the keenest in- terest, repeatedly making exclamations of surprise or admiration, now perceived the critical position of affairs. Turning to Berthier, he said quickly, " General Berthier, I leave you in charge, of my troops at the point where they are threatened. I know you and General Joubert can hold that position, no .matter what the number of the enemy may be. I am going with all speed after Massena. Come, aids — Bessieres, MVOLI. 75 mount and forward !" The whole party was quickly in the saddle, and away, leaving the watch-fire to smoudler and die, as the lurid blaze of battle arose upon the plain. Massena's first troops had scarcely come up, after marching all night. Bonaparte took the 32d, already distinguished by its exploits during the campaign, and brought it to bear upon the left, so as to rally the two demi-brigades, which had given way. The intrepid Massena advanced at its head, rallied behind him the broken troops, and overthrew all before him. He re- pulsed the Austrians, and placed himself by the side of the 14th, which had not ceased to perform prodigies of valor. The fight was thus kept up on this point, and the army occupied the semicircle of the plateau. But the momentary check of the left wing had obliged Jou. bert to fall back with the right ; he gave ground, and already the Austrian infantry was a second time nearing that point which Bonaparte had such an object in com- pelling him to abandon ; in fact, the Austrian infantry was about getting up to the outlet by which the winding road of Incanale led to the plateau. At this moment, the column composed of artillery and cavalry, and pre- ceded by several battalions of grenadiers, ascended the winding road, and with incredible efforts of bravery, repulsed the 29th. Wukassovich, from the other bank of the Adige, sent a shower of cannon balls to protect this kind of escalade. Already had the grenadiers climbed the summit of the defile, and the cavalry was debouching in their train upon the plateau. This was nit all. Lusignan's column, whose fires had been seen 76 CAMP-FIKES OF NAPOLEON. at a distance, and who had been perceived on the left, getting to the rear of the position of the French, were now coming up to their rear, in order to cut them off from the road to Verona, and to stop Rey, who was coming from Castel-Novo with the division of reserve. Lusignan's soldiers finding themselves on the rear of the French army, already clapped their hands, and con- sidered it as taken. Thus, on this plateau, closely pressed in front by a semicircle of infantry, pressed on the rear, on the left by a strong column, sealed on the right by the main body of the Austrian army, and galled by the cannon balls which came from the opposite bank of the Adige in the direction of this plateau, Bo- naparte was alone with Joubert's and Massena's divisions, in the midst of a cloud of enemies. In fact, he was with sixteen thousand men, surrounded by forty thousand at least. At this anxious moment, Bonaparte was not shaken ; he retained all the fire of inspiration. On seeing Lu- signan's Austrians, he said, " Those are ours /" and he allowed them to engage without giving himself any con- cern about their movement. The soldiers, conjecturing what their general meant, experienced the same confi- dence, and also repeated to one another, u They are ours /" Bonaparte did not concern himself with more than what was passing before him. His left was pro- tected by the heroism of the 14th and the 3 2d. His right was threatened at once by the infantry which had resumed the offensive, and by the column that was scaling the plateau. He immediately directed decisive movements to be effected. EIVOLI. 77 A battery of light artillery and two squadrons, under two brave officers, Leclerc and Laselle, were ordered to the outlet of which the enemy had taken possession. Joubert, who, with the extreme right, had this outlet at his back, suddenly faced about with a corps of light infantry. All charged at once. The artillery first poured a discharge upon all that had debouched ; the cavalry and light infantry then charged with vigor. Joubert's horse was killed under him ; he got up nowise daunted, and rushed upon the enemy with a musket in his hand. All that had debouched, grenadiers, cavalry, artillery, all were hurled pell-mell headlong down the winding road of Incanale. The confusion was awful ; some pieces of cannon firing down into the defile, aug- mented the terror and confusion. At every step, the French killed and made prisoners. Having cleared the plateau of the assailants who had scaled it, Bonaparte again returned to his attacks against the infantry which was ranged in semicircle be- fore him, and set Joubert upon it with the light infantry, and Laselle with two hundred hussars. On this new attack, consternation seized that infantry, now deprived of all hope of effecting a junction with the main body ; it fled in confusion. The French semicircular line then moved from right to left, drove back the Austrian s against the amphitheatre of Monte Baldo, and pursued them as far as possible into the mountains. Bonaparte then returned, and proceeded to realize his prediction upon Lusignan's division. That body, on witnessing the disasters of the Austrian army, soon perceived what would be its own fate. Bonaparte, after firing upon it 78 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. with grape-shot, ordered the 18th and the 75th demi- brigades to charge. -These brave demi-brigades moved onwards, singing the chant du depart, and drove Lusig- nan back by the road which Rey was coming up with the reserve. The Austrian corps at first made a stand, then retreated, and came full butt upon the advanced guard of Rey's division. Terrified at this sight, it sought the clemency of the conqueror, and laid down its arms, to the number of four thousand men. Two thousand had been taken in the defile of the Adige. It was five o'clock. The Austrian army was almost annihilated. Lusignan was taken. The infantry which had advanced from the mountains, was flying over the rugged declivities. The principal column was pent up on the bank of the river, while the subordinate division of Wukassovich was an idle spectator of the disaster, separated by the Adige from the field of battle. The French general had had several horses killed under him, and had received several slight wounds, but in spite of his constant activity and exposure, he was still ready to follow up his victory immediately. The battle of La Favorita ensued, in which the army of Provera was annihilated. In three days, twenty-three thousand men were captured. Massena's troops had marched and fought four days and nights, without any considerable intermission. The intrepid general himself, afterwards received the title of Duke of Rivoli. Mantua was at the feet of Bonaparte, and Italy was won. BONAPARTE CROSSING THE ALPS AT TARWIS. TF23 SMBP-FQIBg ©53 TEE AILIP& LTHOUGH Bonaparte had per- formed amazing, and, in some respects, unparalleled, exploits in Italy, there was a general disposition among both French- men and foreigners to set up inferior commanders as his rivals. Now it was Moreau, then Massena ; then Hoehe, and then the young Arch- (79) 80 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. duke Charles, of Austria. The last mentioned had at- tained a high reputation by a campaign in which he triumphed over Generals Moreau and Jour dan, but his valor and skill, although great, were overrated, as Bo- naparte and Massena soon rendered evident. The Archduke took command of the Austrian army of Italy, and on the 6th of February, 1797, advanced his head-quarter to Innspruck. During that month, his engineers visited the passes of the Julien and Noric Alps, which it had been designed to fortify. Napoleon, having about fifty-three thousand troops under his com- mand, resolved to astonish his enemy by a rapid and daring march upon the passes of the Alps before they could be fortified. He formed the plan of a campaign, the great object of which was the Austrian capital, Vi- enna, and the execution was as prompt as the concep- tion was bold. The Tagliamento was passed, and the enemy completely defeated; the passes of the Alps were carried, after a tremendous struggle. Joubert beat the Austrians in the Tyrol, the Archduke's repu- tation was reduced to its proper dimensions, and Vienna trembled, having no means of resisting the all-conquer- ing Bonaparte. Tarwis is the loftiest pass of the ±S oric Alps. It is above the clouds and is generally covered with snow and ice, which give it a desolate and terrible aspect. It overlooks Germany and Dalmatia. At this point the roads leading to Italy and Trieste separate ; the road to Italy running west, and that leading to Trieste running south. At this place, Bonaparte fixed his head-quarters, shortly after the pass had been cap- tured bv the indomitable Massena. It was the last THE ALPS, 81 day of March. The weather was intensely cold, and and the body of troops accompanying the French gene- ral suffered severely. Bonaparte and his aids were snugly quartered in the rude chalets, which are the only habitations upon the height of Tarwis. The soldiers were grouped amid a cordon of fires, the fuel for which they had brought from a great distance below, with a vast amount of labor and difficulty. Yet they shivered beside the crackling blaze. It was a wild and startling scene. The night was cloudy — the wind, keen and fu- rious. The red glare of the fires was reflected by walls of ice and blood-stained snow. As the soldiers wrapped themselves in their blankets, crept as close to the fires as they could get, and conversed with a French attempt at gaiety, they were surprised to see their beloved ge- neral, accompanied by Berthier and Duroc, come out of a chalet, to examine their condition, and speak a word of cheer. " A freezing time, men ; but it will be hot enough soon," he remarked to a group of veterans. .'" The cold is more terrible than the Austrians, gene- ral," said one of them, with an attempt at a laugh. " But it cannot conquer the conquerors of Italy," re- plied Bonaparte. Thus he went among the brave men who followed his standard, and thus he communicated his own spirit to all with whom he came in contact. After traversing the whole ground occupied by the troops, the French general returned to his quarters to repose. Beneath a kinff of shed in the rear of the chalet, seve- ral of the Guides were seated round a cheerful fire, 11 1 82 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. smoking pipes and conversing of the recent actions and their thrilling incidents. Among them were Bessieres and Lemarois. The wall of the chalet, which formed the rear of the shed, served to keep off the fury of the wind, so that this place was comfortable, compared with the position of the soldiers. Besides, the hearts of these veterans had been gladdened with abundance of good eating at the chalet, and satisfaction was evident in their faces. The manly face of Bessieres, wore that expression of calm circumspection, which it never lost in the thickest of battle. " The passage of the Tagliamento," said this brave leader, "will take rank with any similar exploit, recorded in history." " It must be acknowledged that the archduke had posted his forces in an admirable style," said young Lemarois. " His artillery covered the level shingle of the river, and his fine cavalry, deployed on the wings, so as to be brought rapidly into service, was an admi- rable disposition." "Yes," said Bessieres, "but as usual, the character of the manoeuvres which defeated the Austrians throws all their dispositions into insignificance. Was there ever a general so fertile of stratagem as Bonaparte ? See how quickly he determined upon a plan to diminish the vigilance of the enemy ! An immense number of men might have been lost if he had attempted the pas- sage of the river as soon as he reached its banks. But he valued the lives of his soldiers too much, to throw them away, when a simple stratagem could save them. The Austrians naturally supposed that after marching THE ALPS, 83 all night, he wanted rest, and when the general ordered us to halt and begin to partake of our soup, they were completely deceived. How the archduke must have opened his eyes, when he saw us get suddenly in motion at noon !" " The disposition of our forces was so admirable that it made some of our own skilful officers open their eyes," said Lemarois. " Look at it ! Guyeux's division on the left, and Bernadotte's on the right, by which arrange- ment the troops of Italy and the soldiers of the Rhine were brought into a noble rivalry. Then battalions of grenadiers were formed. At the head of each divi- sion was placed the light infantry, ready to disperse as sharp-shooters, then the grenadiers who were to charge, and the dragoons who were to support them. Each demi-brigade had its first battalions, deployed in line, and the two others arranged in close column on the wings of the first. The cavalry hovered on the wings. A finer disposition could not have been made." " Grossing the river was a glorious scene !" said Bes- sieres. " The light infantry covered the bank with a cloud of sharp-shooters. Then the grenadiers entered the water. ' Soldiers of the Rhine !" exclaimed Berna- dotte, c the army of Italy has its eyes upon you.' Each division displayed the utmost bravery in the charge ; we can make no distinction between them." " No, indeed," observed a grim-visaged Guide, who sat next to Bessieres." Our soldiers called the troops of the Rhine tlve contingent, and treated them with the greatest contempt before the battle. A number of sabre cuts were exchanged on account of this raillery. But 84 \ CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. the contingent proved themselves worthy of any army at Tagliamento. They drove the Austrians before them like a flock of sheep. " All acted in a manner worthy of France/' said Lem- arois. The archduke was routed and the line of the Tagliamento cleared in a remarkably short time." " What is the name of that general of cavalry who was captured V inquired one of the Guides — a burly fellow, with a good-humored cast of countenance. " I forget his name," replied Bessieres ; " but I can- not forget that he is a brave man, and that he fought with a courage and resolution which put most of his countrymen to shame. " To be just, however," observed Lemarois, " there are many gallant officers in the Austrian army. It is not their fault if they have not a Bonaparte to bring victory to their standard. They have a large number of hearts following their flag, as intrepid as old Wurmser. But strange to say, they have never had a first class general. " That's about the truth of the matter," commented the burly Guide. "By the way, Jacques," said Bessieres, "it seems to be getting colder as the night advances. Put on a little more of that wood. Its bad enough fuel, though, for it smokes abominably." Jacques was the burly Guide previously alluded to. He obeyed the order of his commander. " The men outside ought to have plenty of provision to console them amid their sufferings on such a night. They will scarcely dare to sleep," said Lemarois. THE ALPS. 85 u l saw onr general out among them a short time ago/' replied Bessieres. "A few sympathetic words from him will do more than any amount of provision." " That's a fact," said the grim veteran who sat next to the commander of the Guides. "They knew that he feels for them, and that he would help them if he could. See there at St. George, an outpost of Man- tua, where there was a necessity for constant vigilance, to prevent Provera from surprising us, and relieving Wurmser, The general visiting one of the outposts at night, found a sentinel lying at the foot of a tree, where he had fallen fast asleep from exhaustion. He took the soldier's musket and walked backwards and forwards on sentry for more than half an hour. Sud- denly the soldier started up, and was terrified at seeing General Bonaparte on duty ; he expected nothing less than death. But the general spoke kindly to him, told him that after his great fatigues, he wanted sleep ; but cautioned him against chosing such a time. That is the way for a general to make heroes out of soldiers. That sentinel would have risked his life at any time to give victory to General Bonaparte." " Bonaparte is every inch of a general, a soldier and a man," said Bessieres. " Some miserable judges wish to set up this young Archduke Charles as a rival to our general," said Lemarois. " Why, this battle of Tarwis, in which he had every thing in his favor, proves that he is not by a great deal, up to the measure of Massena." " Have you heard the full particulars of the struggle at this pass?" inquired Bessieres. u Battles come so 86 CAMP-FIRES OS NAPOLEON. rapidly, that it is difficult to gain a complete knowledge of them." " I was present when an officer of Massena's division who participated in the light communicated the intel- ligence/' replied Lemarois. " While we were advancing to Gradisca, General Massena pressed forward, reached this pass, and made himself master of it without much difficulty. The division of Bayalitsch, proceeding across the sources of the Izonzo to anticipate Massena at the pass, would therefore find the outlet closed. The Archduke Charles, foreseeing this result, left the rest of his army on the Friule and Carniola road, with orders to come and rejoin him behind the Alps at Kla- genfurt; he then himself made the utmost haste to Yillach, where numerous detachments were coming up from the Rhine, to make a fresh attack on the pass, to drive Massena from it, and to re-open the road for Bayalitsch's division. Bonaparte, on his side, left Bernadotte's division to pursue the divisions that were retreating into Carniola, and with Guyeux's and Ser- rurier's divisions, proceeded to harass the Bayalitsch division in its rear, in its passage through the valley of the Izonzo. Prince Charles, after rallying behind the Alps the wrecks of Lusignan and Orksay, who had lost the pass, reinforced them with six thousand grena- diers, the finest and bravest soldiers in the imperial service, and again attacked the pass, where Massena had left scarcely a detachment. He succeeded in recovering it, and posted himself here with the regi- ments of Lusignan and Orksay, and the six thousand grenadiers. Massena collected his whole division, in THE ALPS. 87 order to carry it again. Both generals were sensible of the importance of this point. Tarwis retaken, the French army would be masters of the Alps, and would make prisoners of the whole of Bayalitsch's division. Mas- sena rushed on headlong with his brave infantry, and suffered as usual in person. Prince Charles was not less chary of himself than the republican general, and several times ran the risk of being taken by the French riflemen. Whole lines of cavalry were thrown down and broken on this frightful field of battle. At length, after having brought forward his last battalion, the Archduke Charles abandoned Tarwis to his pertinacious adversary, and found himself compelled to sacrifice Bayalitsch's division. Massena, left master of Tarwis, fell down upon that division which now came up, attacked it in front, while it was pressed in the rear by the divisions of Gluyeux and Serrurier. That division had no other resource than to be made prisoners ; and our army captured all the baggage, artillery and ammu- nition of the enemy that had followed this route. For my part, I think that a good general could have main- tained this pass against a greatly superior force." "It is a strong position, and it does not appear to me that it could be turned," observed Bessieres. "However," continued he, rising, "the pass is ours; Joubert has beaten the enemy and will soon join us ; the archduke is completely beaten, and there is scarcely an obstacle in the way of a march to Vienna. These are the results of a march as daring and skilful as any ever conceived by a general. So much glory for Gene- ral Bonaparte, and renown to the arms of France. 88 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. Come, Lemarois, we will enter the chalet, and strive to gain some repose. Keep up your spirits, men, and above all keep up the fire. Good night !" And keen and swiftly blew the Alpine wind, and redly blazed the fires of Tarwis till the light of day arose from the ashes of the night. Then the French general pursued his march. He united his forces ; Vienna was threatened, and the treaty of Campo For- mio was extorted from Austria. i^svr A POL EON'S ARRIVAL IN EGYPT. Page rag saibhp-fihbb ®ei rag E3Qty£< giving On an HE evening of the 21st of July, 1798, had cast its shadows on the Nile. Al- though the day had been excessively warm, the air was now cool and pleasant. The full moon was gradu- ally deepening the placid splendor of her light, and a silvery sheen to the winding waters of the river, elevated terrace, in the distance, could be dis- 12 (89) 90 CAMP-FIKES OF NAPOLEON. tinguished the bold and gorgeous minarets and gilded domes of Cairo. The villages of Bulak and Shoubra were nestled on the river banks, overlooking a vast extent of cultivated plain, rich in vineyards and grain. The great obelisk of Heliopolis stood out against the eastern sky; and the vast Lybian desert stretched away in desolation to the west. In the midst of this sea of sand, could be faintly distinguished the awful forms of the great pyramids of Ghizeh, from which that day, "forty centuries had looked down,". upon the victory achieved by Bonaparte over the Mameluke tyrants of Egypt. The French were encamped upon the banks of the Nile; and the light of their watch-fires could be seen for a great distance along the river. The victorious general was at Ghizeh, having fixed his quarters in the country-seat of Murad Bey. But although the watch- fires were burning, the soldiers of the conquering army were not gathered around them. No; the spoils of victory would not let them rest. They had suffered much in the dreary march towards Cairo, and fought bravely in overcoming the gallant cavalry of the Egyptian army, and now very naturally sought to repay themselves for their hardships and toils. The field of battle was covered with the troops, who were engaged in stripping the valuable articles from the bodies of the slain Mamelukes. Among the spoils thus obtained were splendid shawls, weapons of fine workmanship, purses, some of which contained as many as two and three hundred pieces of gold; for the Mamelukes carried all their ready money on their THE NILE 93 persons. More than a thousand of these Egyptian warriors had been drowned in the Nile ; and even now, by the light of the moon, the French troops were engaged in dragging for the bodies, to swell the amount of their booty. A more indefatigable set of spoil- seekers never won a victory. The Mamelukes had sixty vessels on the Nile, con- taining the bulk of their riches. In consequence of the unexpected result of the battle, they lost all hope of saving them, and set them on fire. The great blaze suddenly rising to the sky, caused the French troops to pause in the midst of their search for valuables. They knew the contents of those vessels, and they beheld the gradual destruction of those vast treasures with feelings of disappointment not easily delineated. During the whole night, through the volumes of smoke and flame, the French could perceive the forms of the minarets and buildings of Cairo and the City of the Dead ; and the red glare was even gloriously reflected by the Pyramids. To increase the terrors of the scene, the wild and treacherous populace of Cairo, learning the disasters of their countrymen, set fire to the splendid palaces of the Beys, and these great edifices blazed and crackled up against the sky throughout the night. About nine, in the evening, Bonaparte, accompanied by Berthier, Desaix, Lannes, Begnier, and nearly all his principal officers, and even a number of the privates, entered the country-house of Murad Bey, at Ghizeh. This residence presented a magnificent appearance at a distance, and a close inspection disclosed many additional beauties. But it was a point of some diffi- w% 1 94 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. eulty at first to make it serve for a lodging, or to com- prehend the distribution of the apartments. But what chiefly struck the officers with surprise, was the great quantity of cushions and divans covered with the finest damasks and Lyons silks, and ornamented with gold fringe. For the first time, they found the luxury and arts of Europe in Egypt — the cradle of luxury and arts. Bonaparte and his staff explored this singular structure in every direction. The gardens were full of magnificent trees, but without avenues, and not unlike the gardens in some of the nunneries of Italy. The soldiers were much elated at the discovery of large arbors of vines, burdened with the finest grapes in the world. The rapid vintage excited the laughter of the French generals, who, themselves, joined in the scram- ble for the delicious fruit. In the meantime, the two divisions of Bon and Menou, which had remained behind in an entrenched camp, were equally well supplied. Among the bag- gage taken, had been found a great number of canteens full of preserves, both of confectionary and sweetmeats, besides carpets, porcelain, vases of perfume, and a mul- titude of little elegancies used by the Mamelukes. All these luxuries had been purchased by the oppression of the mass of the Egyptians, and it was but a stroke of justice which took them from the oppressor. The French troops, who had murmured much while traversing the hot sands of the desert, now fell in love with Egypt, and began to hope for a career of easy conquest and rare enjoyment. Their general was pleased at their change of tone, and permitted THE NILE. 97 them to revel amidst the fruits of their labor and endurance. Bonaparte and his officers spent the greater part of the night in exploring the residence of Murad Bey. Towards morning they reclined upon its luxurious couches, and while the conflagration raged without, and the soldiers were revelling among the spoil, these veteran officers indulged in repose. A short time pre- vious these gallant men had shared Bonaparte's doubt and anxiety as he stood upon the deck of a vessel, in the harbor of Alexandria, viewing the shores of the land of the Pharoahs. Now they could sleep in the confidence of continued victory. On the 20th of July, the young conqueror of the Pyramids, entered Grand Cairo, receiving the humble submission of the Shieks and the shouts of the throng- ing populace. The capital of Egypt was in the power of the French. 13 TTG2S 8MBIP-PI1IBS AT mmm TAUm JtjT" N Lower Galilee, to the north-east of the great plain of Esdraelon, rises an eminence rendered intensely interesting by mem- ories sacred and profane. It | is Mount Tabor. Although surrounded by chains of ^gf~ '-,- ^0^^?- mountains on nearly all sides, ^SEsSe^Sli^^- it is the only one that stands entirely aloof from its neighbors. The figure of the mount approaches that of a semi-sphere, and presents a (98) MOUNT TABOR. 99 regular appearance. Its ground figure is usually described as round ; and, indeed, seems to be perfectly so to those coming from the midst of the great plain, or from the sea of Galilee. But, in reality, it is really somewhat longer from east to west than broad, so that its true figure is oval. The height of this mountain has never been subjected to actual measurement. It appears, how- ever, that it occupies three hours to travel round the base of the mountain ; that an hour is generally required to reach the summit by a circuitous path, and that the plain upon the top of the eminence is seldom traversed in less time than half an hour. The mountain is inaccessible except on the north, where the ascent offers so little difficulty that there are few parts which suggest to the traveler the prudence or necessity of dismounting from his horse. This remark- able mountain offers so rare a combination of the bold and beautiful, that pilgrims of all ages have expatiated upon its glories with untiring wonder and delight. The trees of various species, and the bushes always green, with which it is invested, and the small groves with which it is crowned, contribute no less than its figure to its perfect beauty. Ounces, wild boars, gazelles, and hares, are among the animals which find shelter in its more wooded parts ; while the trees are tenanted by " birds of every wing," whose warblings and motions beguile the fatigues of the ascent. " The path," says Mr. Stephens, " wound around the mountain, and gave us a view from all its different sides, every step presenting something new, and more and more beautiful, until all was completely forgotten and lost in the exceeding love- ly of C. 100 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. liness of the view from the summit. Stripped of every association, and considered merely as an elevation com- manding a view of unknown valleys and mountains, I never saw a mountain which, for beauty of scene, better repaid the toil of ascending it." The view it commands is magnificent. To the north, in successive ranges, are the mountains of Galilee, backed by the mighty Lebanon ; and Safet, as always, stands out in prominent relief. To the north-east is the Mount of Beatitudes, with its peculiar outline and interesting associations ; behind which rise Great Hermon, and the whole chain of Anti-Lebanon. To the east are the hills of the Haouran, and the country of the Gadarenes, below which the eye catches a glimpse of the Lake of Tiberius, while to the south-east it crosses the valley of the Jordan, and rests on the high land of Bashan. Due south rise the mountains of Gilboa, and behind them those of Samaria, stretching far to the west. On the south-south-west the villages of Endor and Nain are seen on the Little Hermon. Mount Carmel and the Bay of Acre appear on the north-west ; and towards them flows, through the fertile plains of Esdraelon, "that great river, the River Kishon," now dwindled into a. little stream. Each feature in this prospect is beautiful : the eye and mind are delighted ; and, by a combination of objects and associations, unusual to fallen man, earthly scenes, which more than satisfy the external sense, elevate the soul to heavenly contemplations. The beautiful upper plain is inclosed by a wall, — probably the same which was built by Josephus, when Governor of Galilee, — and contains some ruins, which JUNOT. MOUNT TABOR. 103 are probably those of the two monasteries, which, ac- cording to William of Tyre, were built here by Godfrey of Bouillon, in the place of others of earlier date which the Moslems had destroyed. The plain has at different times been under cultivation ; but when, from oppres- sion or fear, abandoned by the cultivator, it becomes a table of rich gra^s and wild flowers, which send forth a most refreshing and luxurious odor. In summer the dews fall copiously on Tabor, and a strong wind blows over it all day. Tabor is chiefly interesting to the Christian, how- ever, as the supposed scene of the Transfiguration, when Christ appeared in glory, with Moses, and Elias. To the reader of profane history and the student of the career of Napoleon Bonaparte, it is also rendered interesting as the scene of a decisive victory gained by the French general over some of the bravest forces of the East. It was the night of the 16th of April. The victo- rious French had encamped at the foot of Mount Tabor. The evening had set in calmly and beautifully, above a plain heaped .with the dead of the annihilated army, but the deep shadows of night had scarcely descended, before the French general-in-chief ordered all the vil- lages of the Naplousians to be set on fire ; and although they were distant, their red fight was so glaring, that it illumined the field of battle and the camp of the victors, and rendered evident many ghastly features of the scene. At the tent of General Kleber were assembled that gallant officer, Junot, Murat and Bon. Bonaparte was 104: CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. in his tent, surrounded by his faithful Guides. Just outside of the line of tents the watch-fires were brightly burning, and the sentinels paced up and down with solemn tread. Kleber, and his brothers in glory, were seated on camp-stools around a table, on which were several bottles of wine. After Napoleon himself, Kleber was the most remarkable man of the army of Egypt. See him there, with his large and powerful frame — his great head of shaggy hair, his quick, piercing eyes, prominent features, and slovenly cos- tume. Great-souled Jean Baptiste Kleber ! The revo- lution found him a peaceful architect. He entered the ranks as a grenadier, and rose to be esteemed a military genius indispensable to France, and a commander as humane and generous as he was brave and skilful. Always peevish, he yet was guilty of no -bitterness of action — mean conduct was with him an impossibility. Opposite Kleber sat Andoche Junot. His mild, pleasant, handsome features expressed nothing of the indomitable spirit which he ever displayed in action ; but his eyes were quick and intelligent. His costume was much cut and soiled by the desperate service he had per- formed during the last two days. Murat was as usual finely dressed. He seemed weary, and drank deeply to revive his spirits. Most terrible had been the slaughter of his sabres that day on the banks of the Jordan. General Bon had nothing remarkable in his appearance. The expression of his sun-burned coun- tenance was that of firmness, united with intelligence and promptitude. " I wonder how things go on at Acre," said Junot. N A F O L E O N AT ACRK. Page 106. MOUNT TABOR. IUo " Bad as usual," replied Kleber. " The place cannot be taken, that is evident. It was clear to me long ago, that Sidney Smith, and the engineer Philippeaux have stimulated the troops to extraordinary exertions. They repulse every assault ; and as we have no siege trains, where is our chance for taking the town. Nowhere, nowhere — and so I told General Bonaparte — the stub- born specimen of lean genius. We shall waste our army before the walls of that place, and gain nothing ; whereas, if the siege were raised, we might yet do much for Egypt. u Then here must end our general's grand project for striking a blow at the English dominion in Asia," observed Bon. " Aye," said Kleber, " and it was folly to entertain such projects after the destruction of our fleet at Abou- kir, by that confounded Englishman, Nelson. The most we could hope to do after that was to consolidate our empire in Egypt, and that would have been no ordinary task. But this ' Little Corporal,' will not listen to any one." " The march to El Arisch, across that burning desert was bad enough ; but I'm afraid that we shall have the same thing to do again, under worse circumstances," said Murat. " But this battle has won us glories enough to atone for many hardships," remarked Junot. " At first the prospect was desperate enough." " You, Junot, have certainly increased your reputa- tion," said Bon. "The advanced guard which you commanded consisted of, at most, but five hundred men. 14 106 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. Yet with that force you dared to encounter the enemy on the 8th, and not only covered the field with their dead, but took five stand of colors, and came off with but little loss." " Very well, but that is scarcely worthy of mention when we consider the long and successful defence made by Kleber's whole division on the ground." " If I had not arrived too late last night, I might have surprised the Turkish army, and then that long defence would have been unnecessary. I designed to attemp the surprise," said Kleber. " The number of the enemy surprised me this morning, when they were drawn up in battle array," said Junot. " Fifteen thousand infantry occupied the village of Fouli, and more than twelve thousand horse were drawn up in the plain, while we had scarcely three thousand infantry in square." " They made an imposing show, but they were met with such steady bravery, and such a blaze of fire, that their ranks seemed to melt away like mist before the sun," said Kleber. " However, it was well that Gene- ral Bonaparte came up. The furious charges of the Turkish cavalry had begun to make an impression on my ranks, and it is probable enough they might have been broken in the course of the afternoon, if the general-in-chief had not brought up your division, Bon, and made those admirable dispositions, which placed the enemy between two fires, and soon put them to the rout. A tremendous fire discharged from three points of the triangle, sent the Mamelukes away in heaps. We took the village of Fouli — yes, Fouli, you call it — MOUNT TABOR, 107 and then Murat finished the enemy by putting them to soak in the waters of the Jordan. It has been a glorious day." u Six thousand French have destroyed an army which the Naplousians stated could no more be numbered than the stars in the heavens and the sands on the sea- shore," observed Junot " Well, we may fail in the conquest of the East, but this victory cannot be for- gotten." " Besides glory," said Kleber, u it may be as well to mention that the booty taken is worth considerable. The Turkish camp was well supplied with both neces- saries and luxuries. We have taken four hundred camels, and the other booty is sufficient to satisfy our soldiers." "And see," said Bon, "the Naplousians will have reason to remember us," and he pulled aside the can- vass of the tent and pointed to the red light of the burning villages. At this moment, General Bonaparte appeared at the door of the tent, in company with Bessieres. The young general .looked much worn and fatigued. His figure was stouter than it had been during the cam- paign of Italy ; but his stern countenance still showed the hollow cheeks and sunken eyes, caused by the con- stant and powerful workings of his genius. His cos- tume was much soiled, and its appearance indicated his want of attention to such matters during the press of the business of life and death. He held some papers in his hand. " Generals, I hope I do not interrupt your conversa- r 108 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. tion. But business like ours admits of no delay. I set off at day-break for Acre, where I am determined to press the siege with renewed vigor. I have reason to dread that a large Turkish army will soon he landed near the mouth of the Nile, and if Acre is to be taken at all, we must accomplish the feat very speedily ; and it must be taken," said Bonaparte, in his emphatic way. "Must be taken," said Kleber, always outspoken. " My opinion is that the- siege will cost us many valu- able lives, and yet not be successful. Every day increases tho difficulties of our safe return to Cairo." "Yes, yes," said Bonaparte, impatiently, "but it will not do to let this Englishman, Sidney Smith, and his Turks, baffle the conquerors of Italy and Egypt. General Kleber, you will lead your division back to Acre; and you, General Bon, will follow. We have annihilated our foes in this quarter, and have nothing more to fear from them. Hasten your march to Acre, and, doubtless, with a few more determined efforts, that town will be in our hands." So saying, he bowed,. and hurried out of the tent. "A man destined to do great things ; but destined to be mistaken in his present enterprise," observed Kleber. Murat now proposed a ride over the field of battle, before retiring to repose. The others agreed, and all were soon mounted, and cantering away along the line of the camp-fires, and among the heaps of the~ dead. A large number of the French soldiers were engaged in searching, for valuables among the bodies of the MOUNT TABOR. 109 Mamelukes, and to the inquiries ©f the generals, they responded that they were reaping a full harvest. Around the line occupied by the troops of Kleber's division, was seen the wall of carcasses which had served as a protection to those gallant men, when they had become extremely fatigued by the struggle against the overwhelming numbers of the enemy. The light of the burning villages, and the watch-fires, was quite sufficient to enable them to pursue their spoil-seeking occupation. After riding ever the whole field, the generals separated, and each sought his tent to stretch himself for repose, and to dream ef the glorious inci- dents of the victory of Mount Tabor. 10 was ® AssKp-yaiBs &r &jmwkm< THE battle of Aboukir, was,, perhaps, the only instance in the history of war, in which a hostile army was utterly annihilated by an inferior force. The victory, therefore, was one of the most splendid which Bona- parte ever achieved. The Turkish army, eonveyed by the squadron of Sir Sidney Smith, anchored in Aboukir Bay on the 11th of July, 1T9& (110) ABOUKIR. Ill The place fixed upon by the English for their landing, was the peninsula which defends this road, and which bears the same name. This narrow peninsula runs out between the sea and Lake Madieh, and has a fort at its extremity. Bonaparte had ordered Marmont, who com- manded at Alexandria, to improve the defences of the fort, and to destroy the village of Aboukir, situated around it. But, instead of destroying the village, he thought it better to keep the place in order to lodge the soldiers there ; and it had merely been surrounded by a redoubt to protect it on the land side. But the redoubt not joining on both sides the sea, did not pre- sent the appearance of a close work, and put the fort on the same footing as a simple field-work. The Turks, in fact, landed with great boldness, attacked the in- trenchments sword in hand, carried them, and made themselves masters of the village of Aboukir, putting the garrison to the sword. The village being taken, the fort could no longer hold out, and it was obliged to surrender. Marmont, who commanded at Alexandria, had issued forth, at the head of twelve hundred men, to hasten to the assistance of the troops at Aboukir. But learning that the Turks had landed in considerable numbers, he durst not attempt to drive them into the sea by a bold attack. He returned to Alexandria, and left them to quietly take up their position on the pen- insula of Aboukir. The Turks amounted to nearly eighteen thousand infantry. These were not the miserable Fellahs who had composed the infantry of the Mamelukes; but brave janizaries, carrying a musket without bayo- 112 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. net, slinging it at their back after firing, and rush- ing pistol and sword in hand upon the enemy. They had a numerous and well-served artillery, and were under the direction of English officers. They had no cavalry, for they had not brought more than three hundred horses ; but they expected Murad Bey, who was to leave Upper Egypt, proceed along the desert, cross the oasis, and throw himself into Aboukir with two or three thousand Mamelukes. When Bonaparte was informed of the particulars of the landing, he left Cairo instantly, and made from that city to Alexandria one of those extraordinary marches of which he had given so many instances in Italy. He took with him the divisions of Lannes, Bon, and Murat. He had ordered Desaix to evacuate Upper Egypt, and Kleber and Begnier, who were in the Delta, to bring themselves nearer Aboukir. He had chosen the point of Birket, midway between Alexandria and Aboukir, in order to concentrate his forces thither, and to ma- noeuvre according to circumstances. He was very fearful lest an English army had landed with the Turks. Murad Bey, according to the plan settled with Mus- tapha Pacha, had tried a descent into Lower Egypt ; but being met and beaten by Murat, he had been obliged to regain the desert. There was now nothing left but the Turkish army to fight, destitute as it was of cavalry, but yet encamped behind intrenchments, and disposed to stand its ground there with its usual pertinacity. Bonaparte, after inspecting Alexandria and the admirable works executed by Colonel^ Cretin, AJBOUKiR. 113 and after reprimanding Marmont, his lieutenant, who had not dared to attack the Turks at the moment of landing, left Alexandria on the 6th Thermidor, (July 24th. Next clay, the 7th, he was at the entrance of the peninsula. His plan was to inclose the Turkish army by intrenchments, and to await the arrival of all his divisions, for all he had with him were no more than the divisions of Lannes, Bon, and Murat, about six thousand men-. But on observing the arrangements made by the Turks, he altered his intentions, and re- solved to attack them immediately, hoping to inclose them in the village of Aboukir, and to overwhelm them with bombs and howitzers. The Turks occupied the furthest end of the peninsula, which is very narrow. They were covered by two lines of intrenchments. Half a league in advance of the vil- lage of Aboukir, where their camp was, they had occu- pied two round sand-hills, supported the one on the sea, the other on Lake Madieh, and thus forming their right and left. In the centre of these two hillocks was a village, which they had likewise kept. They had one thousand men on the hillock to the right, two thousand on the hillock to the left, and three or four thousand men in the village. Such was their first fine. The second was at the village of Aboukir itself. It consisted of the redoubt constructed by the French, and was con- nected with the sea by two trenches. It was there that they had stationed their principal camp and the bulk of their forces. Bonaparte made his arrangements with his usual promptitude and decision. He ordered General Des- 15 114 CAMP-FIKES OF NAPOLEON. staing, with some battalions, to march to the hill on the left, where one thousand Turks were posted j Lannes to march to that on the right, where the two thousand' others were ; and Murat, who was at the centre, to make the cavalry file on the rear of the two hillocks. These arrangements were executed with great precision. De- staing marched to the hillock on the left, and boldly climbed it ; Murat contrived to get at its rear with a troop of cavalry. The Turks, when they saw this, aban- doned their post, fell in with the cavalry, which cut them in pieces, and drove them into the sea, into which they chose rather to throw themselves than to surren- der. The same operation was executed on the right. Lannes attacked the two thousand Mamelukes, Murat got at their rear ; and they were in like manner cut to pieces and driven into the sea. Destaing and Lannes then moved towards the centre, formed by a village, and attacked it in front. The Turks there defended them- selves bravely, relying upon assistance from the second line. A column in fact was detached from the camp of. Aboukir ; but Murat, who had already filed upon the rear of the village, cut this column in pieces, and drove it back into Aboukir. Destaing' s infantry and that of Lannes entered the village at the charge step, driving the Turks out of it, who were dispersed in all directions, and who obstinately refusing to surrender, had no other retreat than the sea, wherein they were drowned. Already four or five thousand had perished in this manner. The first fine was carried ; Bonaparte's ob- ject was accomplished, and now, inclosing the-Turks in Aboukir, he could bombard them while waiting for the A-BOUEHt. 115 arrival of Kleber and Regnier. But he desired to make the most of his success, and to complete his victory that very moment. After giving his troops a little breathing time, he marched upon the second line. The division under Lanusse, which had been left as a reserve, sup- ported Lannes and Destaing. The redoubt which cov- ered Aboukir was difficult to carry ; it had within it nine or ten thousand Turks. On the right, a trench joined it to the sea ; on the left, another trench brought it further out; but was not continued quite to Lake Madieh. The open space was occupied by the enemy, and swept by the fire of numerous gun-boats. Bona- parte, having accustomed his soldiers to defy the most formidable obstacles, sent them upon the enemy's posi- tion. His divisions of infantry marched upon the front and the right of the redoubt. The cavalry, concealed in a wood of palm-trees, had to make the attack on the left, and then to cross, under the fire of the gun-boats, the open space between the redoubt and Lake Madieh. The charge was made ; Lannes and Destaing urged for- ward their brave infantry. The 32d marched with their pieces on their arms towards the intrenchments, and the 18 th got at the rear of the intrenchments on the extreme right. The enemy, without waiting for them, advanced to meet them. They fought hand to hand. The Turkish soldiers, having fired their pieces and their two pistols, drew their flashing sabres. They endeavored to grasp the bayonets, but received them in their flanks before they could lay hold of them. Thus a great slaughter took place in the intrenchments. The 18th was on the point of getting into the redoubt, when 116 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. a tremendous fire of artillery repulsed it, and sent it back to the foot of the works. The gallant Leturcq fell gloriously, by desiring to be the last to retire ; Fugieres lost an arm. Murat on his part had advanced with his cavalry, with a view to clear the space between the fire of the redoubt and Lake Maclieh. Several times he had dashed forward, and had turned back the enemy ; but taken between the two fires of the redoubt, and that of the gun-boats, he had been obliged to fall back on the rear. Some of his horse-soldiers had advanced to the ditches of the redoubt. The efforts of so many brave fellows appeared likely to be entirely unavailable. Bona- parte looked coolly on this carnage, waiting for a favor- able moment to return to the charge. Fortunately the Turks, as they usually did, quitted the intrenchments for the purpose of cutting off the heads of the slain. Bonaparte seized this opportunity, launched forth two battalions, one of the 22d, the other of the 69th, which inarched upon the intrenchments and carried them. On the right, the 18th also took advantage of this opportu-' nity, and entered the redoubt. Murat, on his side, ordered a fresh charge. One of his divisions of cavalry traversed that most exposed space between the intrench- ments and the lake, and made his way into the village of Aboukir. The Turks, affrighted, fled on all sides, and a horrible slaughter of them ensued. They were pressed by the point of the bayonet and driven into the sea. Murat, at the head of his heroes, penetrated into the camp of Mustapha Pacha. The latter, in a fit- of despair, snatched up a pistol and fired it at Murat, whom he wounded slightly. Murat struck off two of his fingers ABOUKIE, 117 and sent him prisoner to Bonaparte. Such of the Turks as were not killed or drowned retired into the fort of Aboukir.* The proud army of the Turks was* thus completely overwhelmed, as if it had been entirely buried by an avalanche. Xo wonder that the enthusiastic Kleber, after witnessing the manoeuvres that gained this splen- did victory, clasped Bonaparte in his arms, and ex- claimed, "General, you are as great as the world itself/' It was the second night after the battle. The army was encamped upon the field. Bonaparte was alone in his tent. That day he had contrived to obtain from Sir Sidney Smith a file of papers from Europe, from which he eagerly sought information as to the condition and prospects of France. He had dismissed all his officers, and now, as they were either carousing in their tents, or wandering among the camp-fires of the troops, he sat in his tent to obtain that information which was destined to lead to such great and decisive plans. See him, as he sits there, with his eyes keenly fixed upon the papers, and an occasional smile fighting up his fea- tures of bronze ! He learns the calamities which have visited the armies of France, and then the smile is turned to a terrible frown, and he exclaims, pas- sionately, " The imbeciles ! the imbeciles ! Why was I not there?" He perused the accounts of the overthrow of the French armies in Italy and Germany ; he saw that all * Thiers. 118 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. that lie had gained for France, had been lost ; he knew that these disasters would not have occurred if he had retained a European command; and he felt more strongly than ever that he was destined to retrieve the condition of affairs, to bind victory once more to the tri-color standard. Perhaps, also, his mind perceived the opportunity for gratifying the aspirations of a selfish ambition, and that this perception caused the frown to melt once more into a smile — -a smile of tri- umph. He saw that the disasters attending the French arms had rendered the Directory unpopular, and that power was within the reach of any bold, decisive man, who would dare to attempt the overthrow of that government; and he had faith enough in himself to decide that he was the very man for the crisis. Long he read, and long he pondered. Csesar deliberated upon the banks of the Rubicon. At length he started up. The die was cast. He would return to France and strike for the supreme authority. Having once decided upon his movements, no man could have taken his measures with more promptitude. He resolved to sail secretly for Europe. He wrote a dispatch to Admiral Gantheaume, directing him to get the Muiron and Carrere frigates ready for sea. He. determined that as Kleber was very popular with the army, that general should be left in command. There could be no doubt of Kleber's vigor, activity and skill. Bonaparte then sat down, and, with astonishing rapidity and pre- cision, drew up a long list of instructions for the new commander-in-chief. He then sent word to Berthier, Lannes, Murat, Andreossy, Marmont, Berthollet, and ABOTTKIR. 119 Monge, that he wished to see them in his tent. It was late. But they came, without exception, at his sum- mons. Kleber and Menou were then at Cairo, or they, also, would have been invited to this important confe- rence. In a few words, Bonaparte communicated his sudden resolution to those officers he had assembled around him. They were surprised, but when he told them that he wished them to go with him, they were glad ; for in spite of the glory achieved in Egypt, they were anxious to return to France. Berthier had been suffering for some time from depression of spirits, owing to a long standing matrimonial engagement ; and he fairly leaped from his seat when he heard of the intention of the general-in-chief. Monge, that circum- spect votary of science, hinted that there was the greatest danger of the whole party being captured by the English cruisers, which were exceedingly vigilant in the Mediterranean. The only reply was the brief and emphatic " I must incur the risk." The officers cast significant glances at each other, but it was extremely doubtful if they fathomed his designs. " I have received ill news from Europe, my friends," said Bonaparte, turning over his papers, and seemingly attending to several matters at once. u The Austrians and Muscovites have gained the superiority. That which we won with so much toil has been lost, and France is threatened with the invasion of her territory. We are wanted in Europe, and in spite of winds, waves, and English cruisers, we must go thither." Soon afterwards the conference was broken up, and the general-in-chief was again alone in his tent — nay, 120 CAMP-FIKES OF NAPOLEON. not alone, for the images of ambition were fast crowding around hhn, and they were companions whom he valued more than the ordinary human realities of the camp. And there this all-daring, all-achieving soldier sat till the peep of day, perfecting his plans, the ultimate reach of which was a throne above thrones ; for it was his habit of mind never to form a design which did not extend to the farthest point. In war, it was the con- quest of a world at which he aimed ; in politics, consul nor king could satisfy the cravings of his soul — he would be an emperor. Doubtless, his Rubicon v\ as at Aboukir, and there the die was cast which determined him to be master of France. 6Ma3>-!?IlIBI§ 053 TTffilEE WAIIABY ®P &®§m ^rE are now to behold Bo- naparte as First Consul gfc of France — as the suc- cessful rival of the Car- thagenian Hannibal in the prodigious exploit of leading an army over the lofty and win- try Alps — and as the conqueror of his old enemies the Austrians. The time was May, 1800. At Paris, Bonaparte had formed the plan of the most astonishing of his cam- paigns, with a precision so wonderful that it pointed to the very spot on which the decisive battle should be fought. While the intrepid Massena defended Genoa 16 (121) 122 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. with unwearied energy, and Moreau engaged the atten- tion of the Austrians on the line of the Danube, the First Consul had created a third army, caused the passes of the Alps to be explored, determined to take that of the Great St. Bernard, and achieved the pas- sage as far as the vale of Aosta, where an unexpected obstacle was found in the fortress of Bard. The valley of Aosta is traversed by a river which receives all the waters of the St. Bernard, and carries them into the Po, under the name of Dora-Baltea. As it approaches Bard, the valley narrows ; the road lying between the base of the mountains and the bed of the river becomes gradually more contracted, until at length, a rock, which seems to have fallen from the neighbor- ing crags into the middle of the valley, almost entirely blocks it. The river then runs on one side of the rock, and the road proceeds on the other. This road lined with houses composes all the town of Bard. On the top of the rock stands a fort, impregnable by its posi- tion, though ill-constructed, which sweeps with its fire, on the right,- the whole course of the Dora-Baltea, and on the left, the long street forming the little town of Bard. Drawbridges close the entrance and the outlet of this single street. A garrison, small in number, but well commanded, occupied this fort. The brave and persevering Lannes commanded the advanced division of the French. He was not a man to be easily stopped. He immediately put forward a few companies of grenadiers, who broke down the draw- bridge, and, in -the face of a sweeping fire, entBred Bard. The commandant of the fort then poured a storm of shot THE VALLEY OF AOSTA. 123 and shell upon the town, but was soon induced to cease, by a feeling of compassion for the inhabitants. Lannes stationed his division out of the town and under cover ; but it was impossible to pass the materiel of the army under the fire of the fort. He then reported to Gene- ral Berthier, who, coming up, was dismayed at the unexpected obstacle. General Marescot, the skilful engineer of the army, was then brought forward. He examined the fort, and declared it nearly impreg- nable, not on account of its construction, which was indifferent, but from its position, which was entirely iso- lated. The escarpment of the rock did not admit esca- lading, and the walls, though not covered by an embank- ment, could not be battered in breach, as there was no possibility of" establishing a battery in a position suita- ble for breaching them. Nevertheless, it was possible, by strength of arm, to hoist a few guns of small calibre to the top of the neighboring heights. Berthier gave orders to this end. The soldiers, who were used to the most difficult undertakings, went to work eagerly to hoist up two four-pounders, and even two eight-pounders. These they in fact succeeded in elevating to the mountain of Albaredo, which overlooks the rock and fort of Bard; and a plunging fire, suddenly opened, greatly surprised the garrison, which, nevertheless, did not lose courage, but replied, and soon dismounted one of the guns, which were of too feeble a calibre to be useful. Marescot declared that there was no hope of taking the fort, and that some other means must be devised for overcoming this obstruction. Berthier, in great 124 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. alarm, instantly counter-ordered all the columns as they successively came up ; suspended the march of the men aud the artillery all along the hue, in order to prevent them from involving themselves further, should it be necessary, after all, to retreat. An instant panic circu- lated to the rear, and all the men thought themselves arrested in this glorious enterprise. Berthier sent cou- rier after cornier to the First Consul, to inform him of this unexpected disappointment. The latter tarried still at Martigny, not meaning to pass over the St. Bernard, until he had seen, with his own eyes, the last of the artillery sent forward. But this announcement of an obstacle, considered insur- mountable at first, made a terrible impression on him ; but he recovered quickly, and refused positively to ad- mit the possibility of a retreat. Nothing in the world should reduce him to such an extremity. He thought that, if one of the loftiest mountains in the world had failed to arrest his progress, a secondary rock could not be capable of vanquishing his courage and his genius'. The fort, said he to himself, might be taken by bold courage ; if it could not be taken, it still could be tinned. Besides, if the infantry and the cavalry could pass by it, with but a few four-pounders, they could then pro- ceed to Ivrea at the mouth of the gorge, and wait until their heavy guns could follow them. And if the heavy guns could not pass by the obstacle which had arisen ; and if, in order to get any, that of the enemy must be taken, the French infantry were brave and numerous enough to assail the Austrians and take their cannon. Moreover, he studied his maps again and again, ques- THE VALLEY OF AOSTA. 125 tioned a number of Italian officers ; and learning from these that many other roads led from Aosta to the neighboring valleys, he wrote letter after letter to Ber- thier, forbidding him to stop the progress of the army, and pointing out to him, with wonderful precision, what reconnoissances should be made around the fort of Bard. He would not allow himself to see any serious danger, except from the arrival of a hostile corps, shutting up the debouch of Ivrea ; he instructed Berthier to send Lannes as far as Ivrea, by the path of Albaredo, and make him take a stronger position there, which should be safe from the Austrian artillery and cavalry. When Lannes guards the entrance of the valley, added the First Consul, whatever may happen, it is of little consequence, the only result may be a loss of time. We have enough provisions to subsist ourselves awhile, and one way or other we shall succeed in avoiding or over- coming the obstacles which now delay us. These instructions having been sent to Berthier, he addressed his last orders to General Moncey, who should debouch by the St. Gothard ; to General Chabran, who should come clown by the Little St. Bernard, directly in front of the fort of Bard ; and then, at last, resolved to cross the Alps in person. Before he set forth, he received news from the Var, informing him that on the 14th of May— the 24th of Floreal— the Baron cle Melas was still at Nice. As it was now the 20th of May, it could not reasonably be supposed, that the Austrian general, in the space of six days, could have marched from Nice to Ivrea. It was then on the 20th of May, before daylight, that he set out to pass the defile. His 126 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. aid-de-camp Duroc, and his secretary Bourrienne, ac- companied him. Behold him now ascending the rugged and difficult St. Bernard, the rocks and precipices around him, and above, the towering summits of perpetual snow ! He is mounted on a mule, conducted by a young, hardy mountaineer. The grey great coat, which he always wore during his campaigns of sleepless activity, is but- toned closely around him. His cheeks are fuller than when we saw him in Egypt ; but he has the same pale, olive complexion, the same firm-set mouth, the same steady, piercing eyes, and the same air of constant thought. Occasionally he turns to address a remark to Duroc or Bourrienne ; and he has many questions to ask of those officers he meets upon the road. But, strange to say, he converses the longest with that simple-hearted mountaineer who leads his mule. The young guide unrolls his little catalogue of troubles, to which the First Consul listens as he would to a pas- toral romance. The great man learns that the moun- taineer is much grieved, because, for want of a little money, he is unable to marry one of the maidens of the valley who has won his heart. Thus proceeding, the party at length arrived at the monastery of St. Bernard, where the benevolent monks displayed much pleasure at seeing the illustrious general. He alighted ; but before he partook of any refreshment, he wrote a brief note, which he handed to his guide, and told him to give it without delay to the administrator of the army, who had remained on the other side of -the St. Bernard. In the evening, when the young mountaineer THE VALLEY OF AOSTA. 127 reached St. Pierre, he learned how great a person he had conducted, and also that the First Consul had given him a house and a field, as the means of marry- ing the girl of his heart. A delightful pastoral episode in the great warrior's stormy career. Bonaparte halted a short time with the monks, thanked them for the care shown to his troops, made them a noble gift, and then pursued his route. The descent of St. Bernard was made very rapidly, the First Consul descending on a sledge, which glided down the glacier with almost fearful swiftness. The party arrived the same evening at Etroubles. The following morning, having spent some time in examining the park of artillery and the provisions, he started for Aosta and Bard. The night of the 23d of May was clear, bright and cold, in the valley of Aosta. Just beyond the town of Bard — a long, narrow line of old, picturesque houses — were encamped the troops of Lannes's division, the line of the encampment being indicated by the watch-fires. In front of the large tent which had been erected as the quarters of the First Consul, stood Bonaparte, Berthier, Marescot, Lannes, Duroc, and Bourrienne. Marescot stood next to the illustrious commander-in-chief, who was examining the fort and its surroundings with a glass. " The report was perfectly correct ; that is a serious obstacle," said the First Consul. "But I have no doubt that we, who surmounted the difficulties of the St. Bernard, will conquer this rocky position, either by laking or turning it." 128 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. " The only hope of capturing the fort, is by an esca- lade, on the outer ramparts, as you will perceive," remarked Marescot. " True, we can place a battery on the heights of Albaredo ; but that will produce but little effect," replied Bonaparte. " The fire of the fort sweeps the whole course of the river, and that long street of the town," observed Berthier. " We have made reconnoissances to the left, along the sinuous flanks of the Albaredo mountain, and found a path, which through vast dangers, more terrible than those of the St. Bernard, rejoins the great road below the fort at St. Donaz," said Marescot. " Can it be made practicable for infantry, cavalry, and a few light guns V quickly inquired Bonaparte. " I think it can. With about fifteen hundred work- men, it could soon be greatly altered," replied Ma- rescot. "Enough; you shall have the workmen, and the infantry, cavalry, and four-pounders shall be sent by that road," said the First Consul, decisively. " The artillery horses may be sent by the same road, and the only remaining difficulty will be to get the heavy guns along beyond this fort," remarked Duroc. A short time previous, the officers of the advanced division had been appalled by an unexpected obstruc- tion. But difficulties of all kinds seemed to vanish before the First Consul's burning faith in possibility. No thought of retreat was now entertained. " Come in, Marescot, and Bourrienne. Generals, you THE VALLEY OF AOSTA. 129 shall hear from me either in the course of the night, or at dawn/' said Bonaparte, and he entered his tent, followed by Marescot and Bourrienne. Lannes and Duroc followed General Berthier to his tent, where they were soon seated and engaged in conversation, " Come, Lannes, as this is the first time we have met since we were at Dijon, let us know the particu- lars of your march over Mount St. Bernard," said Duroc. Lannes was much better fitted for doing a great thing than giving an account of it, and it required a short period of hard thinking to bring his ideas to the proper point. However, he commenced. " The march was no exploit of which an officer should boast. You -saw that I had under my command six regiments of excellent troops — there are none better in the army. To them belongs all the glory; for they were heavily laden with provisions and ammunition, and their task was one of great difficulty and hardship. We started from St. Pierre, about midnight, in order to get over the mountain before the period of danger from tumbling avalanches. We calculated it would require eight hours to reach the summit of the pass, and two hours to descend to St. Reiny. The troops went to then work in high spirits. Burdened as they were, they scaled the craggy paths, singing among the pre- cipices, and talking gaily, as if they were certain they were marching to new victories in Italy. The labor of the foot soldiers was not near so great as that of the cavalry. The horsemen marched on foot, leading their animals. In this, there was no clanger while ascending; 17 130 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. but when they came to the descent, the narrowness of the paths obliged each man to walk before his horse, so that each was exposed at each tumble of his animal to be dragged headlong down a precipice." " Did any of the men perish in that way V inquired Duroc. " Yes, several," replied Lannes, "and about a dozen horses. The horse is not a sure-footed animal. Near daybreak, we arrived at the hospital, where the First Consul had ordered the monks to provide an agreeable surprise for the troops, in the shape of refreshment. Every soldier received a ration of bread, cheese, and wine. We did not stop longer than was required to dispatch this breakfast, and pursuing our march, we reached St. Remy, without any other accidents than those I have mentioned. While the other divisions of the army were advancing, I received orders from the First Consul to push forward to Aosta, then to Ivrea,. and by taking that town, secure the entrance to the plains of Piedmont. On the 16th and 17th, I marched - upon Aosta. There I found some Croatians, whom I drove down the valley. I reached Chatillon on the 18th, and routed a battalion of the enemy found there, capturing a goodly number of them. I then marched on down the valley, thinking that I would soon be upon the fertile plains of Italy, when this confounded fort suddenly appeared, and checked my march." " We have had a difficult task upon the other side of the mountain," said Duroc. " You know that it was arranged that each day one division of the army should pass over. The materiel had to be transported with THE VALLEY OF AOSTA. 131 each division. The provisions and the ammunition were easily sent forward, for they could be divided into small packages. But the heavier articles which could not be divided and reduced, caused us a vast amount of trouble. In spite of the liberal expenditure of money, a sufficient number of mules could not be obtained. The transportation of the artillery was the most diffi- cult task of all. " The gun-carriages and caissons had been dismounted, and loaded on the backs of mules. The cannon them- selves yet remained. For the twelve pounders and howitzers, the difficulty was much greater than was at first supposed. The sledges with rollers, which had been constructed in the arsenals, were wholly useless. Another mode was suggested, and immediately adopted ; and it proved successful. This was to split pine trunks into two parts, hollow them out, secure a gun between them, and drag the pieces thus protected along the slip- pery ravines. Thanks to wise precautions, no shock could occur to injure them. Mules were attached to these strange loads, and succeeded in bringing a few pieces to the top of the defile. But the descent was more difficult : it- was only to be achieved by manual exertion, and by incurring imminent risk ; as the pieces had to be restrained and checked from rolling down the precipices. Unfortunately, at this juncture, the mules began to fail ; the muleteers, too, who were now requir- ed in great numbers, became exhausted, and in conse- quence fresh means must be resorted to. A price as high as a thousand francs was offered to the neighbor- ing peasants, for dragging a gun from St. Pierre to 132 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. St. Remy. One hundred men were required for one cannon, one day to bring it up, and one day to let it down. Several hundred peasants presented themselves, and, under the direction of artillerists, transported a few pieces. "But not even the allurement of such gain could induce them to maintain this effort. All disappeared ere long, and although officers were sent out to seek them, lavishing money, so as to bring them back, it was in vain ; and it became necessary to call on the soldiers of the several divisions to drag their own artillery them- selves. It seemed that nothing could be asked, too ar- duous, of these devoted soldiers. The money which the exhausted peasants would no longer earn, was offer- ed as a stimulus ; but they refused it to a man, exclaim- ing that it was a point of honor for all troops to save their cannon ; and they took charge of the abandoned pieces. Parties, each of a hundred men, leaving the ranks successively, dragged them, each in their turn. Their bands struck up lively tunes in the more difficult defiles, and animated them to surmount these novel ob- stacles. Arrived at the mountain top, they found re- freshments prepared for them by the monks, and took some brief repose, as a preparation for greater and more perilous efforts to be exerted in descending. Thus the divisions of Chambarlhac and Monnier were seen toiling at their own artillery ; and as the advanced hour of the day did not permit them to descend, they preferred bivouacking in the snow, to abandoning their cannon. Fortunately the sky was clear ; nor had they to endure bad weather, in addition to the hard toils of the way." THE VALLEY OF ApSTA. 135 " I am aware of much that you have been telling us," said Berthier, " having been unceasingly employed in receiving the stores, and superintending the artillery mounted again. The troops have fully communicated their toils and sufferings, but they have borne up under them with astonishing courage and fortitude. Their faithful performance of duty has enabled the First Con- ^ sul to execute a grand campaign, which places him above all the generals of antiquity." " The campaign is not yet decided. We must fight at least one great battle, and the prospect is not favora- ble to our getting near the Austrians in time to take them by surprise," said Lannes. " I think not," replied Duroc. " The First Consul will either take or turn this fort within a few days at the farthest. I have no doubt of it — and the Austrians will be as much astonished as if we had dropped from the clouds. The campaign will cover us with glory." Here Bourrienne entered the tent, and communicated to the generals the plan which the First Consul had formed, which was as follows : He resolved to make his infantry, cavalry, and the four-pounders, proceed by the path of Albaredo, which would be possible, after repairs. All the troops should be sent to take possession of the outlets of the moun- tains before Ivrea ; and the First Consul, meanwhile, would attempt an attack on the fort, or find some means of avoiding its obstruction, by sending his artillery through one of the neighboring defiles. He ordered General Lecchi, commanding the Italians, to proceed on the left, advancing by the road to Grassoney in the 136 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. alley of the Sesia, which extended to the Simplon and the Lago Maggiore. This movement was intended to clear the road of the Simplon, to form a junction with the detachment which was coming down it, and lastly to examine all the paths practicable to wheeled carriages. After some further conversation, the generals sepa- rated for the night. The next day, it was apparent that the conqueror of Italy was present, and among the French. All was activity and resolution. The First Consul directed his mind to the fort of Bard. The single street, which composed this town, was in possession of the French, but only passable, if passable at all, under such a storm of fire as would make it impossible to move artillery that way, even if the dis- tance had been only five or six hundred yards. The commandant was summoned; but replied, with the firmness of a man who appreciated fully the importance of the post intrusted to his courage. Force, therefore, alone, could make them masters of the passage. The artillery, which had been placed in battery on the heights of Albaredo, produced no great effect ; an esca- lade was attempted on the outer ramparts of the fort ; but some brave grenadiers and an excellent officer, Dufour, were killed or wounded to no purpose. At this time the troops were defiling by the path of Albaredo ; for fifteen hundred workmen had wrought the necessary repairs on it. Places that were too narrow they had enlarged by mounds of the earth ; declivities too sud- den they had eased, by cutting steps for the feet; trunks of trees they had thrown across other places, to THE VALLEY OF ANUSTA. 137 form bridges over ravines, which were too broad to be leaped. The army defiled man by man in succession, the cava- liers leading their horses by the bridles. The Austrian officer commanding in the fort of Bard, seeing the columns thus march past, was in despair that he could not stop their progress ; he, therefore, sent a message to M. de Melas, informing him that he had seen the passage of a whole army of infantry and cavalry, with- out having any means to prevent it; but pledged his head that they should arrive without a single piece of cannon. During this time, the artillerymen made one of the boldest of attempts. This was, under the cloud of night, to carry a piece of cannon under the very fire of the fort. - Unfortunately, the enemy, aroused by the noise, threw down fire-pots, which made the whole road light as clay, enabling him by that means to sweep it with a hail-storm of deadly missiles. Out of thirteen gunners who had run the risk of taking this piece for- ward, seven were killed or wounded. There was in that enough to discourage hardy spirits ; yet it was not long ere another way, ingenious, but still very perilous, was devised. The street was strewn with straw and litter ; tow was fastened around all the cannon, to pre- vent the slightest resonance of those huge metallic masses on their carriages ; the horses were taken out, and the bold artillerists, dragging them with their own hands, were so daring as to carry them under the batteries of the fort, along the street of Bard. These means suc- ceeded to perfection. The enemy, who occasionally feed as a precaution, wounded a few of the gunners ; 18 138 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. but soon, in spite of this fire, all the heavy artillery was transported through the defile ; and this formida- ble obstruction, which had given the First Consul more anxiety than the St. Bernard itself, was now entirely overcome. The Alps were passed, and victory already hovered over the banner of Bonaparte. rai ®AfiH[p«i?BiBB at BaijjBBBa®®. HE victory of Marengo was the crowning glory of a campaign unsurpassed in the annals of war, as re- gards the display of daring genius and profound com- bination. It was a stroke which changed the face of affairs in Europe, and raised the conqueror to the imperial height of his ambition. The immense plain of Marengo extends between the (139) 140 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. Scrivia and the Bormida. In this place, the Po retreats from the Appenine, and leaves a vast space, across which the Bormida and the Tanaro roll their waters, now become less rapid, till meeting near Alessandria, they flow on together into the bed of the Po. The road, leading along the foot of the Appenines to Tortona, departs from it abreast of this place, turns to the right, passes the Scrivia, and opens into a vast plain. The stream it crosses at a first village, 'called San Giuliano, runs forward to a second, named Marengo, and at length crosses the Bormida, and terminates at the celebrated fortress of Alessandria. On the 13th of June, 1800, that army which had surmounted the crags and snows of the Alps, debouched into the plain. Here Bonaparte expected to find the Austrians ; but his cavalry scoured the plain without finding a single corps, and the First Consul then con- cluded that Melas had escaped. He then ordered the. wise and valiant Desaix, who had joined him a few ' days previous, to march upon Rivolta and Novi with a single division, that of Boudet, in order to check Melas, if he had eone from Alessandria to Genoa. But the division of Monnier, which was Desaix's second, he retained at head-quarters. Victor was left at the town of Marengo, with two divisions ; Lannes, the indomita- ble Lannes, fresh from the glorious field of Montebello. was left with one division on the plain, and Murat, with his cavalry, was retained at the side of the general-in- chief, with the splendid Consular Guard. But the First Consul had been deceived. Melas had not escaped; he expected to fight at Marengo, and MARENGO. 141 had adopted measures to advance upon the French army. The French, inarching from Placentia and the Scrivia, would first come upon San Giuliano, and afterward, at three quarters of a league farther, upon Marengo, which almost touches the Bormicla, and forms the principal outlet which the Austrian army had to conquer, in order to issue from Alessandria. Between San Giuliano and Marengo extends, in a right fine, the road which was to be disputed ; and on each side, wide spreads the plain covered with fields of wheat and vineyards. Below Marengo, to the right of the French, and left of the Austrians, lay Castel-Ceriolo, a large borough, through which General Ott intended to pass, in order to turn the corps of -General Victor, stationed in Marengo. It was, therefore, upon Marengo that the principal attack of the Austrians would be directed, as tfcis village commanded the entrance of the plain. At clay-break, the Austrian army passed the two bridges of the Bormida. But its movement was slow, because- it had but one bridge-head, from which to debouch. O'Reilly passed first, and encountered the division of Gardanne, which General Victor, after having occupied Marengo, had led forward. This division was formed only of the 101st and 44th demi-brigades. O'Reilly, supported by a numerous artillery, and with double the force of his opponent, compelled him to fall back, and shut himself up in Marengo. Fortunately, he did not throw himself into the place after him, but waited till the centre, under General Haddick, should come to his support. The slowness of their march 142 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. across the defile formed by the bridges, cost the Aus- trians two or three hours. At length Generals Haddick and Kami deployed their forces in the rear of O'Reilly, and General Ott passed the same bridges on his way to Castel-Ceriolo. Thus commenced the great battle of Marengo. The advance, under Gardanne, was obliged to fall back upon Victor. Victor held his position during two hours against the enormous force opposed to him. He was obliged to vacate Marengo, but retook it; and this occurred twice or thrice. Napoleon now ordered Lan- nes to advance to the support of Victor ; but after a long and obstinate contest, the cavalry of Elsnitz sud- denly appeared upon the right of Lannes, and both lines were compelled to retreat. The Austrians had fought the battle admirably. The infantry had opened an attack on every point of the French line, while the cavalry debouched across the bridge which the French had failed to destroy, and assailed the right of their army with such fury and rapidity, that it was thrown into complete disorder. The attack was successful every where ; the centre of the French was penetrated, the left routed, and another desperate charge of the cavalry would have terminated the battle. The order for this, however, was not given ; but the retreating French were still in the utmost peril. Napoleon had been collecting reserves between Garafolo and Ma- rengo, and now sent orders for his army to retreat towards these reserves, and rally round his guard, which he stationed in the rear of the village of Ma- rengo, and placed himself at their head. The soldiers MARENGO. 143 could all see the First Consul, with his staff, surrounded by the two hundred grenadiers of the guard, in the midst of the immense plain. The sight revived their hopes. The right wing, under Lannes, quickly rallied ; the centre, reinforced by the scattered troops of the left, recovered its strength; the left wing no longer existed ; its scattered remains fled in disorder, pursued by the Austrians. The battle continued to rage, and was obstinately disputed ; but the main body of the French army, which still remained in order of battle, was continually, though very slowly, retreating, The First Consul had now dispatched his aid-de-camp, Bruyere, to Desaix, with an urgent message to hasten to the field of battle. Desaix, on his part, had been arrested in his march upon Novi, by the repeated dis- charges of distant artillery : he had in consequence made a halt, and dispatched Savary, then his aid-de- camp, with a body of fifty horse, to gallop with all possible haste to JSfovi, and ascertain the state of affairs there, according to the orders of the First Consul, while he kept his division fresh and ready for action. Savary found all quiet at Novi ; and returning to Desaix, after the lapse of about two hours, with this intelligence, was next sent to the First Consul. He spurred his horse across the country, in the direction of the fire and smoke, and fortunately met Bruyere, who was taking the same short cut to find Desaix. Giving him the necessary directions, Savary hastened to the First Consul. He found him in the midst of his guard, who stood their ground, on the field of battle ; forming a solid body in the face of the enemy's fire, the dis- 144 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. mounted grenadiers stationed in front, and the place of each man who fell being instantly supplied from the ranks behind. Maps were spread open before Napoleon : he was planning the movement which decided the action. Savary made his report, and told him of Desaix's position. "At what hour did you leave him?" said the First Consul, pulling out his watch. Having been informed, he continued, "Well, he cannot be far off; go, and tell him to form in that direction (pointing with his hand to a particular spot :) let him quit the main road, and make way for all those wounded men, who would only embarrass him, and perhaps draw his own soldiers after them." It was now three o'clock in the afternoon. The aged Melas, believing the victory his own, had retired from the field, and left General Zach in command. At this critical moment, the division of Desaix appeared upon the plain. Outstripping the troops, this glorious lieutenant galloped up to the First Consul. He said the battle was lost, but there was yet time to gain another. Bonaparte immediately set about availing himself of the resources brought up by his beloved general. Desaix's three demi-brigades were formed in front of San-Giuliano, a little way to the right of the main road. The 30th deployed in line, the 9th and 59th in close column, on the wings of the former. A slight undula- tion of ground concealed them from the enemy. On the right, rallying and somewhat recovered, were the shattered relics of Chambarlhac's and Garclanne's divi- sions under General Victor. To their right, in the plain, Lannes, whose retreat had been stopped ; next to MARENGO. 145 him the Consular Guard, and next again to that, Carra Saint-Cyr, who had maintained himself as near as possible to Castel-Ceriolo. In this position the army formed a long oblique line, from San-Giuliano to Castel- Ceriolo. In an interval between Desaix and Lannes, but somewhat more in the rear, was stationed Keller- man, with his cavalry. A battery of twelve pieces, the sole remains of the whole artillery of the army, was spread out in front of Desaix's line. These dispositions made, the First Consul passed on horseback along the lines of his soldiers, speaking to several corps. "My friends," said he to them, "you have retreated far enough ; recollect that I am in the habit of sleeping on the field of battle." After having re-animated his troops, who were re-assured by the arrival of their reserves, and burning to avenge the events of the morning, he gave the signal. The charge was beaten along the whole length of the lines. The Austrians, who were rather in order of march than of battle, kept the high road. The column directed by M. de Zach came first; a little behind it came the centre, half deployed on the plain and facing Lannes. General Marmont. suddenly unmasked his twelve pieces of cannon. A heavy discharge of grape-shot fell upon the head of the column, which was completely taken by surprise, and suspecting nothing less than further resis- tance, for they thought the French decidedly on their retreat. They had not yet recovered from their surprise, when Desaix put the 9th light infantry in movement. " Go and inform the First Consul," said he, to his aid- de camp, Savary, " that I am charging, and that I must 19 146 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. be supported by the cavalry." Desaix, on horseback, charged in person at the head of his demi-brigade. He led it over the slight inequality of ground which concealed him from the view of the Austrians, and made them aware of his presence by a discharge of musketry at point blank distance. The Austrians poured in an answering volley; and Desaix fell on the instant, pierced by a bullet in the breast. " Conceal my death/' said he to General Boudet, who was his chief of division, for it might, he thought, produce a panic among his men. Useless precaution of the young hero. He was seen to fall, and his soldiers, like those of Turenne, clamorously demanded to be led forward to avenge the death of their leader. The 9th light infantry, which on that day gained for itself the title of " The Incomparable" a distinction which it bore to the conclu- sion of the war ; the 9 th light infantry, after pouring its fire upon the enemy, formed in column, and fell upon the deep mass of the Austrians. At the sight, the two first regiments that led the march, surprised and- confounded, fell back in disorder upon the second line, and disappeared amidst its ranks. Lattermann's column of grenadiers were now at the head, and received the shock as chosen troops might be expected to receive it. They were firm. The struggle extended to the two sides of the main road. The 9th light infantry was supported to the right by Victor's troops, which had rallied; to the left, by the 30th and 59th demi-brigades of Boudet's division, which followed the movement. Lattermann's grenadiers were defending themselves stoutly, though hard pressed, when suddenly a storm MARENGO. 147 burst on their heads. General Kellermami, who, at the instance of Desaix, had received orders to charge, set off at full gallop, and passing between Lannes and Desaix, placed part of his squadron en potence to make head against the Austrian cavalry, whom he saw before him, and then, with the remainder, threw himself on the flank of the column of grenadiers, already assailed in front by Boudet's infantry. By this charge, which was executed with extraordinary vigor, the column was cut in two. Kellermann's dragoons sabred it to the right and left, till, pressed on every side, the unfortunate grenadiers threw down their arms. Two thousand of them surrendered themselves prisoners. At their head, General Zach himself was compelled to give up his sword, and in this manner the Austrians were deprived of any leader until the battle ended. But Kellermann did not stop here ; he dashed on the dragoons of Lich- tenstein and broke them ! These recoiled in disorder on the centre of the Austrians, as it was forming in the plain, in front of Lannes, and there caused some confusion. At this moment Lannes advanced, pressed vigorously on the Austrians' centre, which was shaken, while the grenadiers of the Consular Guard and of Carra Saint-Cyr again bore down upon Castel-Ceriolo, from which they were not far distant. Along the whole line from San-Giuliano to Castel-Ceriolo, the French had now resumed the offensive ; they marched forward, drunk with joy and enthusiasm, at seeing the victory again returning to their hands. Surprise and discouragement had passed to the side of the Austrians. From the Giuliano to Castel-Ceriolo, the oblique line 148 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. of the French advancing at charging pace, pushed the enemy hack, and compelled them to strive to escape by way of the bridges over the Bormida. The slaughter of the Austrians was dreadful. Their army was thus thrown into the utmost confusion in a moment; and the victory, which had seemed quite secure to them at three o'clock, was completely won by the French at six. The pursuit continued far into the night, the mixed deaths and mangling upon the dark bridges being one confused and crowded horror ; while the whole of the Austrians who had remained on the left bank were taken prisoners, or driven with headlong devastation into the Bormida. The waters ran a deep red with the blood of horses and of men, and presented in some parts a clotted surface of their mangled remains. Several entire battalions surrendered at discretion, and General Zach and all his staff were made prisoners. The greater part of the French army encamped on the field of battle. It was now about seven o'clock in the evening. The storm of conflict was hushed ; but the ghastly burden of the field was revealed in all its horror by the glare of the watch-fires, and the light of the moon. The mangled dead were lying in heaps where the struggle had been most desperate ; and the Bormida was a river of blood. Near the village of San Giuliano, a single officer could be seen walking among the bodies of the slain, leading his horse. For some time it seemed as if his search would be vain. Many of the bodies had been completely stripped by the enemy, and then features were mangled so that it was almost impossible MARENGO. 149 to recognise them. Suddenly, however, Savary halted, In the midst of a circle of bodies, was stretched the manly form of Desaix, which the aid-de-camp recognised by the long, flowing hair which fell upon the neck, and the noble expression of the countenance, which had not altered in the agonies of death. The young man knelt down and wept over that form, like a child ; for he had learned to look up to the heroic general as a father. He loved Desaix with that noble devotion which only the highest qualities can excite, and which is so admira- ble as to make us proud of our human nature. Savary gave free vent to his grief, and then, wrapping his cloak around the body, he lifted it upon his horse, and slowly returned with it to head-quarters. As he passed the watch-fires, the troops, who were in the highest spirits in consequence of the unexpected victory, recognised the body of Desaix, ceased their talk, and respectfully uncovered. At length, Savary brought his melancholy burden to the head-quarters of General Bonaparte, at Torre-di-Garofolo. Leaving the body in charge of some soldiers, he entered the old mansion, which had been selected for head-quarters, and was ushered into the presence of the. First Consul. Bonaparte was seated amidst his principal officers, talking over the thrilling incidents of the day, and complimenting those who had particularly distinguished themselves, and there was scarcely one who did not bear sanguine marks of the fight. * "Tour business, sir?" said Bonaparte, as Savary appeared. " Your excellency, I have found the body of Gene 150 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. ral Desaix, and brought it here to await your orders." " Ah ! Desaix l" interrupted Bonaparte in a tone full of sad feeling. He then appeared to indulge in mournful reflection, and there was a silence of a few minutes. He then continued, " This victory would have been, indeed, glorious, could I this evening em- brace Desaix. I was going to make him a minister of war. I would have made him a prince, had I been able. As mild and modest in manners as he was firm and heroic in battle, he deserves a monument from France. You, and Rapp, are faithful aids. " General Desaix was our father," said Savory. " I will take you both for my aids." This Savary was afterwards Duke of Rovigo. He was faithful to Napoleon to the end, and General Rapp deserves the same praise. The First Consul now gave directions to Savary as to the immediate disposal of the body of Desaix. He designed that it should be embalmed as soon as pos- sible, and placed in a fitting sarcophagus. Having received, full and accurate directions, Savary retired. . "Most of you will recollect the critical position of affairs when Desaix arrived on the field," said the First Consul. " His coming was a happy thought. You all know the worth of his opinion. You drew around him and informed him of the events of the day. Yet most of you advised a retreat. I demurred, and asked the counsel of General Desaix. He cast his eye over the field, and then, taking out his watch and looking at the hour, replied, ' Yes, the battle is completely lost ; MAKENGO. 151 but it is only three o'clock. There is yet time to gain another/ These words encouraged me, and I imme- diately ordered those movements which gave us the victory. What is the loss of the enemy, according to your estimate, M. de Bourrienne V " In my opinion, they have lost about one-third of their army, which, before the battle, consisted of about twenty-eight thousand men. Besides that, General Haddick is killed, and a large number of their best generals are disabled by severe wounds. General Zach is a prisoner," replied the secretary. " Aye ; then they have paid a portion of their debt," said Bonaparte. " But," said Victor, " our staff has suffered also ; Generals Mainomy, Rivaud, Mahler, and Champeaux are wounded, and it is believed that Champeaux has received his mortal stroke." " We have lost about one-fourth of the army, esti- mating it at twenty-eight thousand men," observed Bourrienne. ,"But we have gained a great victory, and the Austrians are completely prostrated," said Bonaparte, quickly. "Let us now talk of our triumph. Little Kellermann made a fine charge — he did it just at the right time — we owe him much ; see what trifles decide these affairs !" Just then, General Kellermann, a young-looking man, of short stature and rather thin, but possessing a manly countenance, entered the room. Strange to say, the First Consul immediately changed his tone. As the gallant young general, whose charge had decided 152 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. the day, approached the table at which Bonaparte was writing, he said, coldly, " You made a pretty good charge," and as a set off to this coldness, he turned to Bessieres, who commanded the horse grenadiers of the guard, and said to him audibly, " Bessieres, the guard has covered itself with glory." Kellermann bit his lips, and his eyes flashed; but in spite of reports to the contrary, he said nothing, and soon after retired from the room. The reason of the treatment extended to him by the First Consul has never been developed. It certainly does no credit to the general-in-chief. Kel- lermann had charged with about five hundred heavy cavalry. It was this handful of brave men who had cut in two the Austrian column. The guard made no charge till night-fall. Yet Kellermann was never raised to the rank of marshal. Turning to Lannes, who seemed suffering from fatigue, the First Consul said, " You ought to be fatigued, General Lannes. Never were witnessed efforts of bravery beyond those you have shown this day. I saw you, with your four demi- brigades. The enemy poured a storm of grape from eighty pieces of artillery upon your troops ; yet you protracted your retreating fight three-quarters of a league for two whole hours. Every battle adds to the glory of the hero of Montebello." Lannes was pleased at receiving praise from Bona- parte, who was the god of his idolatry. Yet it was nothing more than his due. A short time preAdous, he had defeated the Austrians at Montebello, in a long, bloody, hand-to-hand struggle, against greatly superior MARENGO. 153 numbers, and yet he had almost surpassed the achieve- ments of that desperate fight, when, to use his own terrific expression, "the bones were cracking in his division like hail upon a sky-light," by his unparalleled retreat at Marengo. " I knew that so long as I maintained the right," said Lannes, " the army preserved a sure line of retreat by Sale towards the banks of the Po. I compelled the Austrians to fight, and lose a man for every inch of ground. I blew up the caissons I could not bring off." It was late when the generals retired to their re- spective quarters, to sleep upon the laurels of Marengo. Even then the cavalry which had pursued the enemy had not all returned. The vanquished were allowed no repose. The First Consul slept but little that night. He knew that he should hear from the enemy, the next morning, and sat up, with his secretary Bourrienne, to fix upon the precise terms he should grant. He was not mistaken. The watch-fires of the victorious French had not been long extinguished, before Prince Lichten- stein, bearing a flag of truce, reached head-quarters, negotiations for -a capitulation were commenced, and the convention of Alessandria was signed on the 15th of June. It was agreed, in the first place, that there should be a suspension of arms in Italy, until such time as an answer should be received from Vienna. Should the convention be accepted, the Austrians were free to retire, with the honors of war, beyond the line of the Mincio. They bound themselves, in withdrawing, to 20 154 N CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. restore to the French all the strongholds which they occupied. The castles of Tortona, Alessandria. Milan, Arona, and Placentia, were to be surrendered between the 16th and 20th of June — 27th Prairial, and 1st of Messidor — the castles of Ceva aud Savona, the strong- holds of Coni and Genoa, between the 16th and the 24th, and the fort of Urbia, on the 26th of June. The Austrian army was to be divided into three columns, which were to withdraw one after the other, and propor- tionally to the delivery of the strongholds. The immense military stores accumulated by M. de Melas, in Italy, were to be divided into two parts ; the artillery of the Italian foundries was granted to the French army ; the artillery of the Austrian foundries to the imperial army. The Imperialists, after having evacuated Lom- bardy as far as the Mincio, were to fall back behind the following line : — the Mincio, La Fossa, Maestra, the left bank of the Po, from Borgo-Forte to the mouth of that river, on the Adriatic. Peschiera and Mantua were to remain in possession of the Austrian army. It was stated, without explanation, that the detachment of this army, then actually in Tuscany, should continue to occupy that province. There could be no allusion made, in this capitulation, to the States of the Pope, or those of the King of Naples, because these potentates were strangers to the affairs of upper Italy. Should this convention not receive the emperor's ratification, ten days' notice was to be given of the resumption of hos- tilities. In the meantime, no detachment on the one side or the other, should be sent into Germany. It is said that the First Consul was strongly affected MARENGO. 155 at the sight of the field of Marengo, on which so many brave men had fallen. Under the influence of these feelings he wrote a remakable letter to the Emperor of Austria. " It is on the field of battle," said he to him, " amid the sufferings of a multitude of wounded, and sur- rounded by fifteen thousand corpses, that I beseech your majesty to listen to the voice of humanity, and not to suffer two brave nations to cut each other's throats for interests not their own. It is my part to press this on your majesty, being upon the very theatre of war. Your majesty's heart cannot feel it so keenly as does mine." He then argued with peculiar eloquence for the cause of peace, and fortunately the conqueror of Ma- rengo could contend with much grace for the restora- tion of tranquillity. He conquered the peace, and returned to Paris, to receive the homage of an admiring populace, who were now willing to concede to him the imperial crown. TFEIS 8MBIP-PIIIBB E^ Q3ILEL [pIYE years of pea.ce, fol- lowing the . battle of Marengo, had enabled Napoleon Bonaparte to do much for France, and more for his own 7 elevation. Under his wise and vigorous ad- ministration, the country made wonderful progress. (156) ULM. 157 But the price she paid was first the Consulship for Life, and finally the imperial crown. Napoleon now appears as Emperor of France. His old brothers-in-arnis, are Marshals. His beloved Josephine is an Empress. Besides, he has cherished designs of placing his brothers upon the thrones of Europe. Yet the man who has achieved all this greatness, is only thirty-eight years of age. But now, (1805) the peace of Europe is again dis- turbed. The treaty of Amiens is alleged by both par- ties to have been violated, and once more vast armies traverse the fertile fields seeking for conflict. A coa- lition against Napoleon has been formed by Great Britain, Austria, and Russia. Napoleon has formed the plan of a campaign on a gigantic scale, and has executed a part of ^he proposed scheme with a rapidity and precision that has astonished the enemy. By a brilliant series of manoeuvres, he has completely sur- rounded the Austrian army, commanded by General Mack, in the city of Ulni, (October 13.) In several great actions, the French had already captured twenty thousand Austrian troops, and Napoleon now has the satisfaction of knowing that thirty thousand more are within his reach. On the 13th, Napoleon (who expected that Mack would rouse himself with one last effort to avoid a sur- render) made an exciting address to the troops, on the bridge of the Lech, amid the most intense cold, the ground being covered with snow, and the troops sunk to their knees in mud. He warned them to expect a great battle, and explained to them the desperate con- 158 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. dition of the enemy. He was answered with accla- mations, and repeated shouts of "Vive 1'Empereur." In listening to his exciting words, the soldiers forgot their fatigues and privations, and were impatient to rush into the fight. Bernadotte entered Munich on the 14th of October, taking eight hundred prisoners. On the same day, Marshal Ney forced the strong position of Elchingen, taking three thousand prisoners and many pieces of cannon; and the Emperor's head-quarters were fixed there, in the evening. The French soldiers were in a state of great excitement from these rapid successes, and were with difficulty restrained. From the height of the Abbey of Elchingen, Napo- leon now beheld the city of Ulm at his feet, com- manded on every side by his cannon ; his victorious troops ready for the assault, and the great Austrian army cooped up within the walls. He expected a desperate sally, and prepared the soldiers for a general engagement ; but four days passed without any move- ment whatever. Meanwhile, his own troops clamored for the assault, but he chose to wait in vigilant patience for the result, A scene of horrible carnage and the probable destruction of a fine city would have been the consequences of his acting differently ; being what he would have called " unnecessary evils,'' and therefore criminal in his eyes. The weather continued dreadful; the rain fell incessantly, and the soldiers were often up to their knees in mud. The Emperor only kept his feet out of the water in his bivouac, by means of a plank. He was in this situation when Prince Maurice THE C A M P-r IKE AT UL M. Page 159. ULM. 159 Lichtenstein Was brought before him, with a flag of truce from General Mack. The looks of the prince evidently showed that he did not expect to have found the Emperor there in person ; otherwise it is probable he would not have brought such a proposition as that which he delivered. He came commissioned to treat for the evacuation of Uhn, with permission for the Aus- trian army to return to Vienna. The Emperor could not help smiling as he listened to him. " I have not forgotten Marengo/' he replied; "I suffered M, de Melas to go, and in two months Moreau had to fight his troops, in spite of the most solemn promises to con- clude peace. You will be forced to surrender, for want of provisions, in eight days. The Russians have scarcely reached Bohemia. There is the capitulation of your general at Memingen, his whole garrison becoming prisoners of war : carry it to General Mack ; I will ac- cept no other conditions." The same evening General Mack sent his surrender to the Emperor, and on the following morning the capitulation was signed. On the 20th of October, the French army was drawn up on the heights, overlooking the fine city of Ulm, to receive the surrender, according to the conditions. The rain had ceased, and the sky was bright and clear. The dress and accoutrements of the French troops, and especially those of the cavalry, shone resplendent in the sun. The Emperor was posted on a slight eminence in front of the centre of his army. He had caused a large fire to be kindled there, for the air was intensely cold. A short distance in the rear, that faithful Mameluke who always accompanied Napoleon after the Egyptian 160 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. campaign, held the bridle of a restless horse. His gaudy, Asiatic costume, was in singular contrast with that of the French soldiers. The French marshals and generals were grouped in the vicinity of the fire. Among them were the commanding forms of Ney, Lannes, Murat, Davoust, Duroc, Bernadotte, Bessiere, Soult and Dupont — a brotherhood of daring valor. The calm, immovable countenance of Marshal Soult was in strange contrast with the more vivacious faces near him, and bespoke the cool, steady mind of that skilful general. The Emperor stood, as usual, with his hands behind him, and his head slightly bent. His figure had grown stout, and had a decided tendency to corpulency. The countenance was stern, but the eyes were unquiet, and his mind was evidently very busy, as usual. In every lineament could be traced that keen, daring genius, which had raised the lieutenant of artillery to an imperial throne. It was a glorious day for the French. Their drums beat, and their bands poured forth the swelling strains of triumph. The gates of Ulm were opened ; and then the long hue of white uniforms marked the egress of the Austrians. They advanced in silence, becoming the dejection of the vanquished, filed off slowly, and went, corps by corps, to lay down their arms upon the plain between them and the heights on which the French army appeared. The ceremony lasted the whole day. In the morning, General Mack and his principal officers, to the number of sixteen, advanced to meet the conqueror at the fire near which he stood. He received the con- quered generals with respect, and addressed many ULM. 161 remarks to them; but the officers were too deeply humiliated to reply. To General Mack, he said — "I must complain of the iniquitous proceeding of your government, in coming without any declaration of war to seize one hy the throat. The Aulic Council would have done better, if, instead of mixing up Asiatic hordes in European quarrels, it had joined with me to repel Russian encroachment." Mack bowed, but made no reply. During the interview, a general officer, more remark- able*for his petulance than his wit, repeated aloud an expression as coming from one of the soldiers, throwing ridicule upon the vanquished. Napoleon, whose ear was quick to catch the words, immediately sent Savary to tell the officer to retire, saying then to those near him, "He must have little respect for himself, who insults men in misfortune !" All the officers were allowed to return home, on giving their word of honor not to serve against France until a general exchange of prisoners should take place. The men were to be marched into France, to be distributed throughout the agricultural districts of the country, where their work in the field might supply the place of that of the conscripts required for the army. The unfortunate Mack was immediately consigned to a dun- geon on the charge of treachery, upon his return to Vienna. The capitulation of Ulm gave Napoleon the remainder of the Austrian army, which had numbered fifty thou- sand men. The campaign was, perhaps, unexampled in the annals of war. Of the French army, scarcely 21 162 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. fifteen hundred men were killed and wounded ; while the enemy had lost an immense number of men in battle, fifty thousand excellent troops by capitulation, two hun- dred cannon, ninety flags, and a large number of horses. Such were the glorious results of Napoleon's skilful manoeuvres and rapid movements. The Emperor slept that night at Elchingen. Joy pervaded the French camp. The troops were now more strongly convinced than ever, that their Emperor was invincible. irias $MaiP»i?iitBB atf MieiriiBiym < c TPHE victory of Austerlitz is J con considered by many com- petent judges as the most splendid triumph ever iifc gained by Napoleon ; and HI the " sun of Austerlitz," is a watchword with the gB French soldiery to the present day. The scene of this great battle is in the vicinity of the small seig- (163) 164 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. noral town of Austerlitz, situated on the Littawa, in Moravia. Napoleon, with that military tact which he had received from nature, and which he had so greatly improved by experience, had adopted, among other positions which he might have taken about Brunn, one which could not fail to insure to him the most impor- tant results, under the supposition that he should be attacked — a supposition which had become a certainty. The mountains of Moravia, which connect the moun- tains of Bohemia with those of Hungary, subside successively towards the Danube, so completely that near that river Moravia presents but one wide plain. In the environs of Brunn, the capital of the province, they are not of greater altitude than high hills, .and are covered with dark firs. Their waters, retained for want of drains, form numerous ponds, and throw them- selves by various streams into the Morawa, or March, and by the Morawa and the Danube. All these characters are found together in the position between Brunn and Austerlitz, which Napoleon has rendered forever celebrated. The high road of Moravia, running from Vienna to Brunn, rises in a direct line to the northward, then, in passing from Brunn to Olmutz, descends abruptly to the right, that is to the east, thus forming a right angle with its first direction. In the angle is situated the position in question. It commences on the left towards the Olmutz road, with heights studded with firs ; it then runs to the right in an oblique direc- tion towards the Vienna road, and after subsiding gradually, terminates in ponds full of deep water in • AUSTERLITZ. 165 winter. Along this position, and in front of it, runs a rivulet, which has no name known in geography, but which, in part of its course, is called Goldbach by the people of the country. It runs through the little villages of Girzikowitz, Puntowitz, Kobelnitz, Sokolnitz, and Telnitz, and, sometimes forming marshes, sometimes confined in channels, terminates in the ponds above mentioned, which are called the ponds of Satschau and Menitz. Concentrated with all his forces on this ground, de- fended on the one hand upon the wooded hills of Moravia, and particularly upon a rounded knoll to which the soldiers of Egypt gave the name of the Centon, defended on the other, upon the ponds of Satschau and Menitz — thus covering by his left the Olmutz road, by his right the Vienna road — Napoleon was in a condition to accept with advantage a decisive battle. He meant not, how- ever, to confine his operations to self-defence, for he was accustomed to reckon upon greater results ; he had di- vined, as though he had read them, the plans framed at great length by General Weirother. The Austro-Rus- sians, having no chance of wresting from him the point oVappui which he found for his left in the high wooded hills, would be tempted to turn his right, which was not close to the ponds, and to take the Vienna road from him. There was sufficient inducement for this step ; for Napoleon, if he lost that road, would have no other resource but to retire into Bohemia. The rest of his forces, hazarded towards Vienna, would be obliged to ascend separately the valley of the Danube. The French arnry, thus divided, would find itself 166 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. doomed to a retreat, eccentric, perilous, nay, even dis- astrous, if it should fall in with the Prussians by the way. Napoleon was perfectly aware that such must be the plan of the enemy. Accordingly, after concentrating his army towards his left and the heights, he left towards his right, that is towards Sokolnitz, Telnitz, and the ponds, a space almost unguarded. He thus invited the Russians to persevere in their plans. But it was not precisely there that he prepared the mortal stroke for them. The ground facing him presented a feature from which he hoped to derive a decisive result. Beyond the stream that ran in front of the position, the ground spread at first, opposite to the left, into a slightly undulated plain, through which passed the Olmutz road ; then, opposite to the centre, it rose suc- cessively, and at last formed facing the right a plateau, called the plateau of Pratzen, after the name of a vil- lage situated half-way up, in the hollow of a ravine. This plateau terminated on the right in rapid declivities towards the ponds, and at the back in a gentle slope towards Austerlitz, the chateau of which appeared at some distance. There were to be seen considerable forces ; there a multitude of fires blazed at night, and a great move- ment of men and horses was observable by day. Od these appearances, Napoleon had no longer any doubf of the designs of the Austro-Russians. They intended evidently to descend from the position which they occupied, and, crossing the Goldbach rivulet, between AUSTERLITZ. 167 the ponds and the French right, to cut them off from the Vienna road. But, for this reason, it was resolved to take the offensive in turn, to cross the rivulet at the villages of Girzikowitz and Puntowitz, to ascend to the plateau of Pratzen while the Russians were leaving it, and to take possession of it. In case of success, the enemy's army would be cut in two ; one part would be thrown to the left into the plain crossed by the 01- mutz road ; the other to the right into the ponds. Thenceforward the battle could not fail to be disastrous for the Austro-Russians. But, for this effect, it was requisite that they should not blunder by halves. The prudent, nay even timid attitude of Napoleon, exciting their silly confidence, would induce them to commit the entire blunder. Agreeably to these ideas, Napoleon made his disposi- tions. Expecting for two days past to be attacked, he had ordered Bernadotte to quit Iglau on the frontier of Bdhemia, to leave there the Bavarian division which he had brought with him, and to hasten by forced marches to Brunn. He had ordered Marshal Davoust to march Friant's and if possible Gudin's division towards the abbey of Gross Raigern, situated on the road from Vienna to Brunn, opposite to the ponds. In conse- quence of these orders, Bernadotte marched, and had arrived on the 1st of December. General Friant, being alone apprised in time, because General Guclin was at a greater distance towards Presburg, had set out imme- diately, and travelled in forty-eight hours the thirty-six leagues which separate Vienna from Gross Raigern. The soldiers sometimes dropped on the road, exhausted 168 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. . with fatigue ; but at the least sound, imagining that they heard the cannon, they rose with ardor to hasten to the assistance of their comrades, engaged, they said, in a bloody battle. On the night of the 1st of Decem- ber, which was extremely cold, they bivouacked at Gross Raigern, a league and a half from the field of battle. Never did troops on foot perform so astonishing a march ; for it is a march of eighteen leagues a day for two successive days. On the 1st of December, Napoleon, reinforced by Bernadotte's corps and Friant's division, could number sixty-five or seventy thousand men, present under arms, against ninety thousand men, Russians and Austrians, likewise present under arms. At his left he placed Lannes, in whose corps Caffa- relli's division supplied the place of Gazan's. Lannes, with the two divisions of Suchet and Caffarelli, was to occupy the Olmutz road, and to fight in the undulated plain outspread on either side of that road. Napoleon gave him, moreover, Murat's cavalry, comprising the cuirassiers of Generals d'Hautpoul and JSTansouty, the dragoons of General Walther and Beaumont, and. the chasseurs of Generals Milhaud and Kellermann. The level surface of the ground led him to expect a prodi- gious engagement of cavalry on this spot. On the knoll of the Centon, which commands this part of the ground, and is topped by a chapel called the chapel of Bosenitz, he placed the 17th light artillery, com- manded by General Claparede, with eighteen pieces of cannon, and made him take an oath to defend this posi- tion to the death. USTERLITZ. 169 At the centre, behind the Goldbach rivulet, he ranged Vandamme's and St. Hilaire's divisions, which belong to the corps of Marshal Soult. He destined them to cross that stream at the villages of Girzikowitz and Puntowitz, and to gain possession of the plateau of Pratze'n, when the proper moment should arrive. A little further behind the marsh of Kobelnitz and the chateau of Kobelnitz, he placed Marshal Soult' s third division, that of General Legrand*. He reinforced it with two battalions of tirailleurs, known by the names of chasseurs of the Po and Corsican chasseurs, and by a detachment of light cavalry, under General Margaron. This division was to have only the third of the line and the Corsican chasseurs at Telnitz, the nearest point to the ponds, and to which Napoleon was desirous of drawing the Russians. Far in rear, at the distance of a league and a half, was posted Friant's division at Gross Raigern. Having ten divisions of infantry, Napoleon, there- fore, presented but six of them in line. Behind Mar- shals Lannes and Soult, he kept in reserve Oudinot's grenadiers, separated on this occasion from Lannes's corps, the corps .of Bernaclotte, composed of Drouet's and Rivaud's divisions, and, lastly, the imperial guard. He thus kept at hand a mass of twenty-five thousand men, to move to any point where they might be needed, and particularly to the heights of Pratzen, in order to take those heights at any cost, if the Russians should not have cleared them sufficiently. Such were the skilful dispositions of the Emperor, and having completed what may be called the foundation 22 ' 170 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. of victory, he issued a confident proclamation to his soldiers, as follows : "Soldiers — The Russian army appears before you to avenge the Austrian army of Ulm. They are the same battalions that you beat at Hollabrunn, and that you have since been constantly pursuing to this spot. " The positions which we occupy are formidable ; and while they are marching to turn my right, they will present their flank to me. " Soldiers, I shall myself direct your battalions. I shall keep out of the fire, if, with your usual bravery, you throw disorder and confusion into the enemy's ranks. But, if the victory should be for a moment uncertain, you will see your Emperor the foremost to expose himself to danger. For victory must not hang doubtful on this clay, most particularly, when the honor of the French infantry, which so deeply concerns the honor of the whole nation, is at stake. " Let not the ranks be thinned upon pretence of carry- ing away the wounded, and let every one be thoroughly impressed with this thought, that it behoves us to con- quer these hirelings of England, who are animated with such bitter hatred against our nation. " This victory will put an end to the campaign, and we shall then be able to return to our winter-quarters, where we shall be joined by the new armies which are forming in France, and then the peace which I shall make will be worthy of my people, of you, and of myself. Napoleon." AUSTERLITZ. ' 171 Napoleon had passed the whole day on horseback, and had himself placed every division in position, inspecting every position. All his marshals dined with him, and received his careful and precise orders for the operations of the next day. He then once more glanced at the position of the Russian and Austrian armies, and a smile illumined his features as he said to his marshals, " Before to-morrow night that army will he in my power. Since the Czar refuses to negotiate for a peace, we must drub him into it." He then entered a rude hut, which his soldiers had constructed for him, and stretched himself upon some straw to repose. A hard couch for an emperor ! Yet there Napoleon fell into so deep a sleep that his aid-de- camp, Savary, was obliged to shake him, in order to wake him up, to listen to a report which he had ordered to be brought to him. Rousing himself, he left the hut, accompanied by his aid, and proceeded to visit the bivouacs of the army. The night was cold and dark ; and the Emperor had reason to believe that he could go among the soldiers without being noticed. But he had only proceeded a few steps before he was discovered, and in a few moments, the whole line was illuminated with torches of straw, while the air was filled with acclamations of " Vive l'Empereur !" It was a glorious sight, and the glare of the torches must have astonished the enemy. That tremendous shout must have told Kutusoff, the Prussian general, that he would be com- pelled to fight an enemy, full of spirit and confidence. As Napoleon passed along, one of the old grenadiers, 172 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. a veteran of Italy, stepped forward, and accosted him with an air of republican familiarity and kindly patronage. " Sire," said this old soldier, " you will have no need to expose yourself to danger ; I promise you, in the name of the grenadiers of the army, that you will only have to fight with your eyes, and that we will bring you all the flags and cannon of the Russian army, to celebrate the anniversary of your coronation." The Emperor was delighted at the spirit displayed by the troops, and, in accordance with their general request, he promised to keep beyond the reach of the enemy's guns. Sir Walter Scott finely remarks upon this : " Napo- leon," says he, "promises that he will keep his person out of the reach of the fire : thus showing the full confidence that the assurance of his personal safety would be considered as great an encouragement to the troops as the usual protestations of sovereigns and leaders, that they will be in the front, and share the dangers of the day. This is, perhaps, the strongest proof possible of the complete and confidential under- standing which subsisted between Napoleon and his soldiers. Yet there have not been wanting those who have thrown the imputation of cowardice on the victor of a hundred battles, and whose reputation was so well established amongst those troops, who must have been the best judges, that his attention to the safety of his person was requested by them, and granted by him, as a favor to his army." The Emperor was on the field by one o'clock in the AUSTERLITZ. 116 morning, to get an army under arms in silence. A thick fog, through which the light of the torches could not penetrate to the distance of ten paces, enveloped all the bivouacs ; but he knew the ground as well as the environs of Paris. His army, amounting in all to ab out- seventy thousand men, was arranged as follows. The two divisions of Marshal Soult, placed on a vast pla- teau, formed the right; the division of united grena- diers, drawn up in line behind, constituting the reserve of the right. The two divisions of Marshal Berna- dotte, in line with the united grenadiers, formed the centre of the army. The left wing was composed of the two divisions of Marshal Lannes ; the infantry of the guard forming the reserve of the left. In advance of the centre, and between the right and left wings, was posted the whole of the cavalry, under the command of Murat. The divisions of hussars and chasseurs were entrusted to Kellermann ; the dragoons, to Valther and Beaumont. The cuirassiers and eighty pieces of light artillery formed the reserve of the cavalry. The right of the army rested on some long and narrow defiles formed by ponds ; the left, on the strongly fortified position of the Centon. The two divisions of Marshal Davoust were posted on the extreme right, beyond the ponds, to face the left wing of the Russians, which had been extended, as we have said, to a dangerous dis- tance from their centre, and intended, as the Emperor perceived, to commence the battle with an attempt to turn his right. The Emperor himself, with Berthier, Junot, and the whole of his staff, occupied a command- ing position, as the reserve of the army, with ten bat- 174 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. talions of the imperial guard, and ten battalions of grenadiers, commanded by Oudinot and Duroc. This reserve was ranged in two lines, in columns, by bat- talions, having in their intervals forty pieces of cannon served by the artillery of the guard. With this reserve, equal to turning the fate of almost any battle, he held himself ready to act wherever occasion should require. As the day dawned, the mist which had overhung all the dreadful show, began slowly to ascend, like a vast curtain, from the broad plain below. The sun rose in unclouded and majestic brilliancy; and dissipating all remains of the vapors, disclosed to view the great Rus- sian army, commanded by Field-Marshal Kutusoff, to the number of eighty thousand men, ranged in six divisions, on the opposite heights of Pratzen. The magnificence of the sunrise of this eventful morning, enhanced at the time by the previous dense mist, and by the national memories ever since, has caused the "sun of Austerlitz" to become proverbial with the people of France. The two emperors of Russia and Austria were witnesses of the fierce contest; being stationed on horseback on the heights of Austerlitz. As the first rays of the sun were flung from the horizon, the Emperor Napoleon appeared in front of his army, surrounded by his marshals, and formed every division, both of infantry and cavalry, into columns. A brisk fire had just commenced on the extreme right, where Davoust was already at his post; and the Russians began to put themselves in motion to descend from the heights upon the plain. The marshals who surrounded the Emperor importuned him to begin. "How long AUSTERLITZ. 175 will it take you," said he to Soult, " to crown those opposite heights which the Russians are now abandon- ing ?" " One hour/' answered the marshal. " In that case, we will wait yet a quarter of an hour/' replied the Emperor. The cannonade increased, denoting that the attack had become serious. The extreme of the Russian left had commenced its movement to turn the right flank of the French army, but had encountered the formidable resistance of Davoust's two divisions, with whom they were just engaged. Napoleon now dismissed all the marshals to their posts, and ordered them to begin. The whole of the right and left wings at once moved forward, in columns, to the foot of the Russian posi- tion. They marched as if to exercise, halting at times to rectify their distances and directions ; while the words of command of the individual officers were dis- tinctly heard. The two divisions of Marshal Soult came first within reach of the enemy's fire. The division commanded by General Vandamme overthrew the opposing column, and was master of its position and artillery in an instant ; the other, commanded by General St Hilaire, had to sustain a tremendous fire, which lasted for two hours, and brought every one of its battalions into action. The Emperor now dispatched the united grenadiers, and one of Marshal Bernadotte's division, to support those of Soult, while Lannes had engaged the right of the Russians, and effectually pre- vented them from moving to the assistance of their left, which was wholly engaged by the tremendous attack we have described, and entirely cut off from 176 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. their centre. The extreme left of the Russians, which had begun the battle, perceiving the fatal mistake which had been made, attempted to re-ascend the Pratzer, but were so desperately pressed by Davoust, that they were compelled to fight where they stood, without daring either to advance or retire. Marshal Soult now ordered his division, under Van- damme, supported by one of Bernadotte's divisions, to make a change of direction by the right flank, for the purpose of turning all the Russian troops which still resisted St. Hilaire's division. The movement was completely successful ; and Soult' s two divisions crowned the heights to which the Emperor had pointed before the battle began. The right wing of the Russian army was meanwhile sustaining the tremendous onset of Lannes with both his divisions. The fight raged in that quarter through- out the whole of the operations we have detailed ; but at this point, Bernadotte's division being no longer required to support those of Soult, the Emperor ordered - the centre of the army to support the left. The Rus- sian right was now entirely broken ; the French cavalry by desperate and repeated charges completed the rout, and pursued the fugitives, who took the road to Austerlitz, till nightfall. Bernadotte, after pursuing the Russian infantry a full league, returned to his former position ; nobody knew why. Had he, on the contrary, continued inarching another half hour, he would have entirely in- tercepted the retreat, and taken or destroyed the whole of the Russian right. As it was, their flight w^is disas- trous in the extreme : they were forced into a hollow, AUSTEMITZ. 177 where numbers attempted to escape across a frozen lake ; but the ice proving too weak for them, gave way, and the horrible scene which ensued — the crashing of the broken fragments, the thundering of the artillery, and the groans and shrieks of wounded and drowning men — baffles the imagination. Marshal Soult, now changing his position again by the right flank, descended the heights, having traversed a complete semi-circle, and took the Russian extreme left in the rear. The Emperor of Russia, who perceived the imminent danger of his whole army, dispatched his fine regiment of Russian guards, supported by a strong force of artillery, to attack Soult. Their desperate charge broke one of the French regiments. It was at this crisis that Napoleon brought his reserve into action. Bessieres, at the head of the imperial guard, rushed with irresistible fury into the fight. The Russians were entirely broken ; their army, surprised in a flank move- ment, had been cut into as many separate masses as there were columns brought up to attack it. They fled in disorder, and the victory of Austeriitz was decided. It was with the utmost difficulty that the two emperors of Russia and Austria effected their personal escape. The Emperor Alexander lost all his artillery, baggage, and standards ; twenty thousand prisoners, and upwards of twenty thousand killed and wounded. In the preci- pitate flight, the wounded were abandoned to their fate. Kutusoff, however, with laudable humanity, left placards in the French language, on the doors of the churches and the barns towards which they had crept, inscribed with these words : — " I recommend these unfortunate 23 178 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. men to the generosity of the Emperor Napoleon, and the humanity of his brave soldiers." In attempting to escape across some frozen ponds, the Russians broke through, and a large number of them were drowned. An eye-witness, General Lange- ron, says, " I have previously seen some lost battles, but I had no conception of such a defeat." Napoleon, who had participated in the pursuit, re- turned about night-fall. He was received with shouts by his triumphant troops, and they could scarcely be prevented from taking him in their arms. He soon commanded silence, and set about relieving the wounded, who actually covered the field. He administered brandy with his own hand to some suffering Russians, who could only repay him with a blessing, and gave orders that all the wounded should be attended to as speedily as possible. The troops had already given a name to the battle, that of the " Three Emperors." But Napo- leon himself gave this great conflict the name of the village near which it was fought. He issued the fol- lowing proclamation, immediately after victory had been achieved. " Soldiers — I am satisfied with you : in the battle of Austerlitz you have justified all that I expected from your intrepidity. You have decorated your eagles with immortal glory. An army of one hundred thousand men, commanded by the Emperors of Russia and Austria, has been in less than four hours either cut in pieces or dispersed. Those who escaped your weapons are drowned in the lakes. AUSTERLITZ. 179 " Forty colors, the standards of the imperial guard of Russia, one hundred and twenty pieces of cannon, more than thirty thousand prisoners, are the result of this ever-celebrated battle. That infantry, so highly vaunted and superior in number, could not withstand your shocks, and thenceforward you have no rivals to fear. Thus, in two months, this third coalition has been vanquished and dissolved. Peace cannot now be far distant, but, as I promised my people, before I passed the Rhine, I will make only such a peace as gives us guarantees and insures rewards to our allies. " Soldiers, when all that is necessary to secure the welfare and the prosperity of our country is accom- plished, I will lead you back to France : there you will be the object of my tenderest concern. My people will see you again with joy, and it will be sufficient to say, I was at the battle of Austerlitz, for them to reply, there is a brave man. " Napoleon." TEE SMatP-PQlEl AT [PAkEEY* ^HE disaster at Austerlitz affected the Emperors Francis and Alexan- der very differently, Alexander was deeply dejected ; but Erancis was tranquil. Under the common misfor- tune, he had at least the consolation, that the Russians could no longer allege that the cowardice of the Austrians con- stituted all the glory of Napoleon. The two emperors (180) PALENY. 181 retreated precipitately over the plain of Moravia, amidst profound darkness, separated from their household, and liable to be insulted through the barbarity of their own soldiers. Francis took it upon himself to send their gallant Prince John of Litchtenstein to Napoleon, to solicit an armistice, with a promise to sign a peace in a few days. He commissioned him, also, to express to Napoleon, his wish to have an interview with him at the advanced posts of the army. The French Emperor, having returned to his head-quarters at Posoritz, there received Prince John. He treated him as a conqueror full of courtesy, and agreed to an interview with the Emperor of Austria. But an armistice was not to be granted until the Emperors had met and explained themselves.- Napoleon hastened to recall his columns to Nasied- lowitz and Goding. Marshal Davoust, reinforced by the junction of Friant's whole division, and by the arrival in line of Gudin's division, had lost no time, thanks to his nearer position to the Hungary road. He set out in pursuit of the Russians, and pressed them closely. He intended to overtake them before the passage of the Morava, and to cut off perhaps a part of their army. After marching on the 3d, he was, on the morning of the 4th, in sight of Goding and nearly up with them. The greatest confusion prevailed in Goding. Beyond that place there w r as a mansion belonging to the Emperor of Germany, that of Holitsch, where the two allied sovereigns had taken refuge. The perturbation there was as great as at Goding. The Russian officers continued to hold the most unbecoming language re- 182 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. specting the Austrians. They laid the blame of the common defeat on them, as if they ought not to have attributed it to their own presumption, to the incapacity of their generals, and to the levity of their government. The Austrians, moreover, had behaved quite as well as the Russians on the field of battle. The two vanquished monarchs were very cool towards each other. The Emperor Francis wished to confer with the Emperor Alexander, before he went to the interview agreed upon with Napoleon. Both thought that they ought to solicit an armistice and peace, for it was impossible to continue the struggle. Alexander was desirous, though he did not acknowledge it, that himself and his army should be saved as soon as possi- ble from the consequences of an impetuous pursuit, such as might be apprehended from Napoleon. As for the conditions, he left his ally to settle them as he pleased. The Emperor Francis alone having to defray the ex- penses of the war, the conditions on which peace should be signed concerned him exclusively. Some time before, the Emperor Alexander, setting himself up for the arbiter of Europe, would have insisted that those con- ditions concerned him also. His pride was less exigent since the battle of the 2d of December. The Emperor Francis accordingly set out for Nasied- lowitz, a village and there,near the mill of Paleny, between Nasiedlowitz and Urschitz, amidst the French and the Austrian advanced posts, he found Napoleon waiting for him, before a bivouac fire kindled by his soldiers. Napoleon had had the politeness to arrive firstv He went to meet the Emperor Francis, received him as he PALENT. 183 alighted from his carriage and embraced him. The Austrian monarch, encouraged by the welcome of his all-powerful foe, had a long conversation with him. The principal officers of the two armies, standing aside, beheld with great curiosity the extraordinary spectacle of the successor of the Caesars vanquished and soliciting peace of the crowned soldier, whom the French Revo- lution had raised to the pinnacle of human greatness. Francis wore the brilliant costume of an Austrian field-marshal, and was a monarch of dignified aspect. Napoleon apologized to the Emperor Francis for receiving him in such a place. " Such are the palaces," said he, " which your majesty has obliged me to inhabit for these three months." — " The abode in them," replied the Austrian monarch, "makes you so thriving, that you have no right to be angry with me for it." The conversation then turned upon the general state of affairs, Napoleon insisting that he had been forced into the war against his will at a moment when he least ex- pected it, and when he was exclusively engaged with England; the Emperor of Austria affirming that he had been urged to take arms solely by the designs of France in regard to Italy. Napoleon declared that, on the conditions already specified to M. de Giulay, and which he had no need to repeat, he was ready to sign a peace. The Emperor Francis, without explaining himself on this subject, wished to know how Napoleon was disposed in regard to the Russian army. Napoleon first required that the Emperor Francis should separate his cause from that of the Emperor Alexander, and that the Russian army should retire by regulated marches from 184 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. the Austrian territories, and promised to grant him an armistice on this condition. As for peace with Russia, he added, that would be settled afterwards, for this peace concerned him alone. " Take my advice," said Napoleon to the Emperor Francis, "do not mix up your cause with that of the Emperor Alexander. Russia alone can now wage only a fancy war in Europe. Van- quished, she retires to her deserts, and you, you pay with your provinces the costs of the war." The forcible language of Napoleon expressed but too well the state of things in Europe between that great empire and the rest of the continent. The Emperor Francis pledged his word as a man and a sovereign not to renew the war, and above all to listen no more to the suggestions of powers which had nothing to lose in the struggle. He agreed to an armistice for himself — and for the Em- peror Alexander, an armistice, the condition of which was that the Russians should retire by regulated marches -—and that the Austrian cabinet should immediately send negotiators empowered to sign a separate peace with France. The two emperors parted with reiterated demonstra- tions of cordiality. Napoleon handed into his carriage that monarch whom he had just called his brother, and remounted his horse to return to Austerlitz. General Savary was sent to suspend the march of Davoust's corps. He first proceeded to Holitsch, with the suite of the Emperor Francis, to learn whether the Emperor Alexander acceded to the proposed conditions. He saw the latter, around whom every thing was much changed since the mission on which he was sent to him PALENY. 185 a few days before. " Your master," said Alexander to him, "has shown himself very great. I acknowledge all the power of his genius, and, as for myself, I shall retire, since my ally is satisfied." General Savary con- versed for some time with the young czar on the late battle, explained to him how the French army, inferior in number to the Russian army, had nevertheless appeared superior on all points, owing to the art of manoeuvring which Napoleon possessed in so eminent a degree. He courteously added that with experience Alexander, in his turn, would become a warrior, but that so difficult an art was not to be learned in a day. After these flatteries to the vanquished monarch, he set out for Goding to stop Marshal Davoust, who had rejected all the proposals for a suspension of arms, and was ready to attack the relics of the Russian army. To no purpose he had been assured in the name of the Em- peror of Russia himself that an armistice was negotiating between Napoleon and the Emperor of Austria. He would not on any account abandon his prey. But Gene- ral Savary stopped him with a formal order from Na- poleon. These were the last musket-shots fired during that unexampled -campaign. The troops of the several nations separated to go into winter-quarters, awaiting what should be decided by the negotiators of the belli- gerent powers. 24 ™g s&ehp-pqibb att mm&* EN A was one of Napoleon's most decisive fields. There, in the conflict of a day, Prus- sia, who had dared to defy a power which had brought Austria and Russia to the dust, was completely anni- hilated. There the descend- ants of the great Frederick reaped the bitter consequences of his weak presumption. At Jena, the valley of the Saale begins to widen. (186) NAPOLEON AT JENA. Page 186. JENA. 187 The right bank is low, damp and covered with meadows. The left bank presents steep heights, whose peaked tops overlook the town of Jena, and are ascended by narrow, winding ravines, overhung with wood. On the left of Jena, a gorge more open, less abrupt, called the Muhlthal, has become the passage through which the high road from Jena to Weimar has been carried. This road first keeps along the bottom of the Mulhttial, then rises in form of a spiral staircase, and opens upon the plateaux in rear. It would have required a fierce assault to force this pass. The principal of the heights that overlook the town of Jena is called Landgrafenberg, and, since the memora- ble events of which it has been the theatre, it has received from the inhabitants the name of JNTapoleons- berg. It is the highest in these parts. Napoleon and Lannes, surveying from that height the surrounding country, with their backs turned to Jena, beheld on their right the Saale running in a deep, winding, wooded gorge, to Naumberg, which is six or seven leagues from Jena. Before them they saw undulated plateaux, extending to a distance, and subsiding by a gentle slope to the little valley of the Ilm, at the extremity of which is situated the town of Weimar. They perceived on their left the high road from Jena to Weimar, rising by a series of slopes from the gorge of the Muhlthal to these plateaux, and running in a straight line to Weimar. These slopes, somewhat resembling a sort of snail's shell, have thence received in German the appellation of the Schneeke (snail.) It was in September, 1806, that Napoleon, having 188 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. set all his divisions in motion, left Paris and put him- self at the head of his grand army. The Prussians were superior in numbers, well disciplined, and full of spirit. They numbered between one hundred and thirty thou- sand and one hundred and forty thousand men. The cavalry especially, bore a high reputation, which, how- ever, as we shall see, it could not sustain. The French Emperor had ah army of one hundred and seventy thousand men in the field, with a power of concentrating one hundred thousand of them within a few hours. On learning that the Prussian army was changing its position and advancing from Erfurt upon Weimar, with a view to approach the banks of the Saale, Napoleon manoeuvred to meet the changes of the enemy. They might be coming thither with one of the two fol- lowing intentions : either to occupy the bridge over the Saale at Naumburg, over which passes the great central road of Germany, in order to retire upon the Elbe, while covering Leipzig and Dresden ; or to approach the course of the Saale, for the purpose of defending its banks against the French. To meet this double contin- gency, Napoleon took a first precaution, which was to dispatch Marshal Davoust immediately to Naumburg, with orders to bar the passage of the bridge there with the twenty-six thousand men of the third corps. He sent Murat, with the cavalry, along the banks of the Saale, to watch its course, and to push reconnoisances as far as Leipzig. He directed Marshal Bernadotte upon Naumburg, with instructions to support Marshal Davoust in case of need. He sent Marshals Lannes and Auger eau to Jena itself. His object was to make JENA. 189 himself master immediately of the two principal passages of the Saale, those at Naumburg and Jena, either to stop the Prussian army there, if it should design to cross and to retire to the Elbe, or to go and seek it on the heights bordering that river, if it purposed to remain there on the defensive. As for himself, lie continued with Mar- shals Ney and Soult, within reach of Naumburg and Jena, ready to march for either point according to cir- cumstances. On the morning of the 13th, he learned by more cir- cumstantial accounts that the enemy was definitively approaching the Saale, with the yet uncertain resolution of fighting a defensive battle on its banks, or of crossing and pushing on to the Elbe. It was in the direction from Weimar to Jena that the largest assemblage appeared. Without losing a moment, Napoleon mounted his horse to proceed to Jena. He gave himself his in- structions to Marshals Soult and Ney, and enjoined them to be at Jena in the evening, or at latest in the night. He directed Murat to bring his cavalry towards Jena, and Marshal Bernadotte to take at Dornburg an intermediate position between Jena and Naumburg. He set out immediately, sending officers to stop all troops on march to Gera, and to make them turn back for Jena. In the evening of the preceding clay, Marshal Davoust had entered Naumburg, occupied the bridge of the Saale, and taken considerable magazines, with a fine bridge equipage. Marshal Bernadotte had joined him. Murat had sent his light cavalry as far as Leipzig, and surprised the gates of that great commercial city. Lannes had proceeded towards Jena, a small university 190 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. town, seated on the very banks of the Saale, and had driven back pell-mell the enemy's troops left beyond the river, as at ell as the baggage, which encumbered the road. He had taken possession of Jena, and imme- diately pushed his advanced posts upon the heights which command it. From these heights he had per- ceived the army of the Prince of Hohenlohe, which, after recrossing the Saale, encamped between Jena and Weimar, and he had reason to suspect that a great assemblage was collecting in that place. Napoleon had arrived at Jena on the afternoon of the 13th of October. Marshal Lannes, who had outstripped him, was waiting for him with impatience, like that of a war-horse, snuffing the battle. Both mounted their horses to reconnoitre the localities. We have described the ground upon which the battle was fought. The Prussians were posted on the heights which overlook the town of Jena. The French were coming up on the low ground on the opposite side of the river. The chief difficulty was to reach the Prussians. There was but one method that appeared practicable. The bold tirail- leurs of Lannes, entering the ravines which are met with on going out of Jena, had succeeded in ascending the principal eminence, and all at once perceived the Prus- sian army encamped on the plateaux of the left bank. Followed presently by some detachments of Suchet's division, they had made room for themselves by driving in General Tauenzien's advanced posts. Thus by force of daring, the heights which commanded the left bank of the Saale were gained ; but by a route which was scarcely practicable to artillery. Thither, Lannes con- JENA. 191 ducted the emperor, amidst an incessant fire of tirailleurs which rendered reconnoisance extremely dangerous. Napoleon, having before him a mass of troops, the force of which could scarcely be estimated, supposed that the Prussian army had chosen this ground for a field of battle, and immediately made his dispositions, so as to debouch with his army on the Landgrafenberg, before the enemy should hasten up, en masse, to hurl him into the precipices of the Saale. He was obliged to make the best use of his time, and to take advantage of the space gained by the tirailleurs to establish himself on the height. He had, it is true, no more of it than the summit, for, only a few paces off, there was the corps of General Tauenzien, separated from the French only by a slight ridge of ground. This corps was sta- tioned near two villages, one on the right, that of Close- witz, surrounded by a small wood, the other on the left, that of Cospoda, likewise surrounded by a wood of some extent. Napoleon purposed to leave the Prus- sians quiet in this position till the next day, and mean- while to lead part of his army up the Landgrafenberg. The space which it occupied was capable of containing the corps of Lannes and the guard. He ordered them to be led up immediately through the steep ravines which serve to ascend from Jena to the Landgrafenberg. On the left, he placed Gazan's division. On the right, Suchet's division ; in the centre, and a little in rear, the foot-guard. He made the latter encamp in a square of four thousand men, and in the centre of this square he established hjs own bivouac. But it was not enough to bring infantry upon the 192 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. Landgrafenberg — it was necessary to mount artillery too upon it. Napoleon, riding about in all directions, discovered a passage less steep than the others, and by which the artillery might be dragged up with great ex- ertion. Unluckily, the way was too narrow. Napoleon sent forthwith for a detachment of the engineers, and had it widened by cutting the rock; he himself, in his impatience, directed the works, torch in hand. He did not retire till the night was far advanced, when he had seen the first pieces of cannon rolled up. It required twelve horses to drag each gun-carriage to the top of the Landgrafenberg. Napoleon purposed to attack General Tauenzien at day-break, and, by pushing him briskly, to conquer the space necessary for deploying his army. Fearful, however, of debouching by a single outlet, wishing also to divide the attention of the enemy, he directed Augereau towards the left, to enter the gorge of the Muhlthal, to march one of his two divi- sions upon the Weimar road, and to gain with the other the back of the Landgrafenberg, in order to fall upon the rear of General Tauenzien. On the right, he ordered Marshal Soult, whose corps, breaking up from Gera, was to arrive in the night, to ascend the other ravines, which, running from Lobstedt and Dornburg, debouch upon Closewitz, likewise for the purpose of falling upon the rear of General Tauenzien. With this double diversion, on the right and on the left, Napoleon had no doubt of forcing the Prussians in their position, and gaining for himself the space needed by his army for deploying. Marshals Ney and Murat were to ascend the Landgrafen- berg by the route Lannes and the guard had followed. JENA. 193 The day of the 13th had closed ; profound darkness enveloped the field of battle. Napoleon had placed his tent in the centre of the square formed by his guard, and had suffered only a few fires to be lighted ; but all those of the Prussian army were kindled. The fires of the Prince of Hohenlohe were to be seen over the whole extent of the plateaux, and at the horizon on the right, topped by the old castle of Eckartsberg, those of the army of the Duke of Brunswick, which had all at once become visible for Napoleon. He conceived that, so far from retiring, the whole of the Prussian forces had come to take part in the battle. He sent immediately fresh orders to Marshals Davoust and Bernadotte. He enjoined Marshal Davoust to guard strictly the bridge of Naumberg, even to cross it, if possible, and to fall upon the rear of the Prussians, while they were engaged in front. He ordered Marshal Bernadotte, placed im- mediately, to concur in the projected movement, either by joining Marshal Davoust, if he was near the latter, or by throwing himself directly on the flank of the Prussians, if he had already taken at Dornburg a posi- tion nearer to Jena. Lastly, he desired Murat to arrive as speedily as possible with his cavalry. While Napoleon was making these dispositions, the Prince of Hohenlohe was in complete ignorance of the lot which awaited him. Still persuaded that the bulk of the French army, instead of halting before Jena, was hurrying to Leipzig and Dresden, he supposed that he should at most have to deal with the corps of Marshals Lannes and Augereau, which, having passed the Saale, would, he imagined, make their appearance between 25 194 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. Jena and WeimaB, as if they had descended from the heights of the forest of Thuringia. Under this idea, jiot thinking of making front towards Jena, he had on that side opposed only the corps of General Tauenzien, and ranged his army along the road from Jena to Wei- mar. His left, composed of Saxons, guarded the sum- mit of the Schnecke; his right extended to Weimar, and connected itself with General Ruchel's corps. How- ever, a fire of tirailleurs, which was heard on the Land- grafenberg, having excited a sort of alarm, and General Tauenzien applying for succor, the Prince of Hohenlohe ordered the Saxon brigade of Cerini, the Prussian brigade of Sanitz, and several squadrons of cavalry, to get under arms, and dispatched these forces to the Landgrafenberg, to dislodge from it the French, whom he conceived to be scarcely established on that point. At the moment when he was about to execute this resolution, Colonel de Massenbach brought him from the. Duke of Brunswick a reiterated order not to involve himself in any serious action, to guard well the passages of the Saale, and particularly that of Dornburg, which excited uneasiness because some light troops had been perceived there. The Prince of Hohenlohe, who had become one of the most obedient of lieutenants when he 'ought not to have been so, desisted at once, in com- pliance with these injunctions from the head-quarters. It was singular, nevertheless, that in obeying the order not to fight, he should abandon the dehoiiche by which, on the morrow, a disastrous battle was to be forced upon him. Be this as it may, relinquishing the idea of retaking the Landgrafenberg, he contented himself with JENA. 195 sending the Saxon brigade of Cerini to General Tau- enzien, and with placing at Nerkwitz, facing Dornburg, the Prussian brigade of Scheminelpfennig, lastly several detachments of cavalry and artillery, under the com- mand of General Holzendorf. He sent some light horse to Dornburg itself, to learn what was passing there. The Prince of Hohenlohe confined himself to these dis- positions : he returned to his head-quarters at Capel- lendorf. Napoleon, stirring before daylight, gave his last in- structions to his lieutenants, and orders for his soldiers to get under arms. The night was cold, the country covered to a distance with a thick fog, like that which for some hours enveloped the field of Austerlitz. Es- corted by men carrying torches, Napoleon went along the front of the troops, talking to the officers and sol- diers. He explained the position of the two armies, demonstrated to them that the Prussians were as deeply compromised as the Austrians in the preceding year ; that, if vanquished in that engagement, they would be cut off from the Elbe and the Oder, separated from the Russians, and forced to abandon to the French the whole Prussian- monarchy ; that, in such a situation, the French corps which should suffer itself to be beaten would frustrate the grandest designs, and disgrace itself for ever. He exhorted them to keep on their guard against the Prussian cavalry, and to receive it in square with their usual firmness. His words everywhere drew forth shouts of " Forward ! vive VEmpereur /" Though the fog was thick, yet through its veil the enemy's ad- vanced posts perceived the glare of the torches, heard 196 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. the acclamations of the French, and went to give the alarm to General Tauenzien. At that moment, the corps of Lannes set itself in motion, on a signal from Napoleon. Suchet's division, formed into three brigades, advanced first. Claparede's brigade, composed of the 17th light infantry, and a battalion of elite , marched at the head, deployed in a single line. On the wings of this line, and to preserve it from attacks of cavalry, the 34th and 40th regiments, forming the second brigade, were disposed in close column. Vedel's brigade, deployed, closed this sort of square. On the left of Suchet's division, but a little in rear, came Gazan's divi- sion> ranged in two lines and preceded by its artillery. Thus they advanced, groping their way through the fog. Suchet's division directed its course towards the village of Closewitz, which was on the right, Gazan's division towards the village of Cospoda, which was on the left. The Saxon battalions of Frederick Augustus and Rechten, and the Prussian battalion of Zweifel, perceiving through the fog a mass in motion, fired all together. The 17th light infantry sustained that fire, and immediately returned it. This fire of musketry was kept up for a few minutes, the parties seeing the flash and hearing the report, but not discerning one another. The French, on approaching, at length dis- covered the little wood which surrounded the village of Closewitz. General Claparede briskly threw himself into it, and, after a fight hand to hand, had soon carried it, as well as the village of Closewitz itself. Having deprived General Tauenzien's line of this support, the French continued their march amidst the balls that JENA. 197 issued from that thick fog. Gazan's division, on its part, took the village of Cospoda, and established itself there. Between these two villages, but a little farther off, was a small hamlet, that of Lutzenrode, occupied by Erichsen's fusiliers. Gazan's division carried that also, and was then able to deploy more at its ease. At this moment the two divisions of Lannes were assailed by fresh discharges of artillery and musketry. These were from the Saxon grenadiers of the Cerini brigade, who, after taking up the advanced posts of General Tauenzien, continued to move forward, firing battalion volleys with as much precision as if they had been at a review. The 17th light infantry, which formed the head of Suchet's division, having exhausted its cartridges, was sent to the rear. The 34th took its place, kept up the fire for some time, then encountered the Saxon grenadiers with the bayonet, and broke them. The route having soon extended to the whole corps of General Tauenzien. Gazan's and Suchet's divi- sions picked up about twenty pieces of cannon and many fugitives. From the Lanclgrafenberg, the undulated plateaux, on which the French had just deployed, gradually subsided to the little valley of the Ihn. Hence they marched rapidly upon sloping ground, to the heels of a fleeing enemy. In this quick movement they en- countered two battalions of Cerini, and also Pelet's fusiliers, which had been left in the environs of Close- witz. These troops were flung back for the rest of the day towards General Holzendorf, commissioned on the preceding day to guard the debouche of Dornburg. This action had not lasted two hours. It was nine 198 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. o'clock, and Napoleon had thus early realized the first part of his plan, which consisted in gaining the space necessary for deploying his army. At the same moment his instructions were executed at all points with remark- able punctuality. Towards the left, Marshal Augereau, having sent off Heudelet's division, and likewise his artillery and cavalry, to the extremity of the Muhlthal, on the high road from Weimar, was climbing with Des- jardin's divisions, the back of the Landgrafenberg, and coming to form on the plateaux to the left of Gazan's di- vision. Marshal Soult, only one of whose divisions, that of General St. Hilaire, had arrived, was ascending from Lobstedt, in the rear of Closewitz, facing the posi- tions of Nerkwitz and Alten-Krone, occupied by the relics of Tauenzien's corps and by the detachment of General Holzendorf. Marshal Ney, impatient to share in the battle, had detached from his corps a battalion of voltigeurs, a battalion of grenadiers, the 25th light infantry, two regiments of cavalry, and had gone on before with this body of elite. He entered Jena at the very hour when the first act of the engagement was over. Lastly, Murat, returning at a gallop, with the dragoons and cuirassiers, from reconnoisances executed on the Lower Saale, was mounting in breathless haste towards Jena. Napoleon resolved, therefore, to halt for a few moments on the conquered ground, to afford his troops time to get into line. Meanwhile, the fugitives belonging to General Tauen- zien's force had given the alarm to the whole camp of the Prussians. At the sound of the cannon, theiPrince of Hohenlohe had hastened to the Weimar road, where JENA. 199 the Prussian infantry was encamped, not yet believing the action to be general, and complaining that the troops were harassed by being obliged needlessly to get under arms. Being soon undeceived, he took his measures for giving battle. Knowing that the French had passed the Saale at Saalfeld, he had expected to see them make their appearance between Jena and Weimar, and had drawn up his army along the road running from one to the other of these towns. As this conjuncture was not realized, he was obliged to change his dispositions, and he did it with promptness and resolution. He sent the bulk of the Prussian infantry, under the command of General Grawert, to occupy the positions abandoned by General Tauenzien. Towards the Schnecke, which was to form his right, he left the Niesemuchel division, composed of the two Saxon brigades of Burgsdorf and Nehroff, of the Prussian Boguslawski battalion, and of a numerous artillery, with orders to defend to the last extremity the winding slopes by which the Weimar road rises to the plateaux. To aid them, he gave them the Cerini brigade, rallied and reinforced by four Saxon battalions. In rear of his centre, he placed a reserve of five battalions under General Dyherrn, to support General Grawert. He had the wrecks of Tauenzien's corps rallied at some distance from the field of battle, and supplied with ammunition. As for his left, he directed General Holzendorf to push forward, if he could, and to fall upon the right of the French, while he would himself endeavor to stop them in front. He sent General Buchel information of what was passing, and begged him to hasten his march. Lastly, he hurried 200 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. off himself with the Prussian cavalry and the artillery horses, to meet the French, for the purpose of keeping them in check and covering the formation of General Grawert's infantry. It was about ten o'clock, and the action of the morn- ing, interrupted for an hour, was about to begin again with greater violence, while, on the right, Marshal Soult, debouching from Lobstedt, was climbing the heights with St. Hilaire's division; while in the centre Marshal Lannes, with Suchet's and Gazan's divisions, was deploy- ing on the plateaux won in the morning; and while, on the left, Marshal Augereau, ascending from the bottom of the Muhlthal, had reached the village of Iserstedt, Marshal Ney, in his ardour for righting, had advanced with his three thousand men of the dite, concealed by the fog, and had placed himself between Lannes and Augereau, facing the village of Vierzehn-Heiligen, which occupied the centre of the field of battle. He arrived at the very moment when the Prince of Hohen- lohe was hastening up at the head of the Prussian cavalry. Finding himself all at once facing the enemy, he engaged before the Emperor had given orders for renewing the action. The horse artillery of the Prince of Hohenlohe having already placed itself in battery, Ney pushed the 10th chasseurs upon this artillery. This regiment, taking advantage of a clump of trees to form, dashed forward on the gallop, ascended by its right upon the flank of the Russian artillery, cut down the gunners, and took seven pieces of cannon, under the fire of the whole fine of the enemy. But a mass of Prussian cuirassiers rushed upon it, and he was obliged JENA. 201 to retire -with precipitation. Ney then dispatched the 3d hussars. This regiment, manoeuvring as the 10th chasseurs had done, took advantage of the clump of trees to form, ascended upon the flank of the cuirassiers, then fell upon them suddenly, threw them into disorder, and forced them to retire. Two regiments of light cavalry, however, were not enough to make head against thirty squadrons of dragoons and cuirassiers. The chasseurs and hussars were soon obliged to seek shelter behind the infantry. Marshal Ney then sent forward the battalion of grenadiers and the battalion of volti- geurs which he had brought, formed two squares, then placing himself in one of them, opposed the charges of the Prussian cavalry. He allowed the enemy's cuiras- siers to approach within twenty paces of his bayonets, and terrified them by the aspect of a motionless infantry which had reserved its fire. At his signal, a discharge within point-blank range strewed the ground with dead and wounded. Though several times assailed, these two squares remained unbroken. Napoleon, on the top of the Landgrafenberg, had been highly astonished to hear the firing recommence without his order. He learned with still more aston- ishment that Marshal Ney, whom he had supposed to be in the rear, was engaged with the Prussians. He hastened up greatly displeased, and on approaching Vier- zehn-Heiligen, perceived from the height Marshal Ney defending himself, in the middle of two weak squares, against the whole of the Prussian cavalry. This heroic demonstration was enough to dispel all displeasure. Na- poleon sent General Bertrand with two regiments of 26 202 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. light cavalry, all that he had at hand, in the absence of Murat, to assist in extricating Ney, and ordered Lannes to advance "with his infantry. During the time that elapsed before relief arrived, the intrepid Ney was not disconcerted. While, with four regiments of horse, he renewed his charges of cavalry, he moved the 25th infantry to his left, in order to station himself on the wood of Iserstedt, which Auger eau, on his part, was striving to reach ; he made the battalion of grenadiers advance as far as the little wood which had protected his chasseurs, and dispatched the battalion of . voltigeurs to gain possession of the village of Vierzhn-Heiligen. But, at the same instant, Lannes., coming to his assis- tance, threw the 21st regiment of light infantry into the village of Vierzehn-Heiligen, and, putting himself at the head of the 100th, 103d, 34th, 64th, and 88th of the hue, debouched in the face of the Prussian infantry of General Grawert. The latter deployed before the village of Vierzehn-Heiligen, with a regularity of move- ment due to long exercises. It drew up in order of battle, and opened a regular and terrible fire of small arms. Ney's three little detachments suffered severely ; but Lannes, ascending on the right of General Grawert's infantry, endeavored to turn it in spite of repeated charges of the Prince of Hohenlohe's cavalry, which came to attack him in his march. The Prince of Hohenlohe bravely supported his troops amidst the danger. The regiment of Sanitz was com- pletely broken ; he formed it anew under the fire. He then purposed that the Zastrow regiment should retake the village of Vierzhen-Heiligen at the point of the JENA. 203 bayonet, hoping thereby to decide the victory. Mean- while he was informed that more hostile columns began to appear ; that General Holzendorf, engaged with su- perior forces, was incapable of seconding him; that General Ruchel, however, was on the point of joining him with his corps. He then judged it expedient to wait for this powerful succor, and poured a shower of shells into the village of Vierzehn-Heiligen, resolved to try the effect of flames before he attacked it with his bayonets. He sent at the same time officers to General Huchel, to urge him to hasten up, and to promise him the victory if he arrived in time ; for, according to him, the French were on the point of giving way. At that very hour fortune was deciding otherwise. Auger eau debouching at last from the wood of Iserstedt with Des- jar din's division, disengaged Ney's left, and began to exchange a fire of musketry with the Saxons who were defending the Schnecke, while General Heudelet at- tacked them in column on the high road from Jena to Weimar. On the other side of the field of battle, the corps of Marshal Soult, after driving the remains of the Cerini brigade, as well as the Pelet fusiliers, out of the wood of Closewitz, and flinging back Holzendorf 's de- tachment to a distance, opened its guns on the flank of the Prussians. Napoleon, seeing the progress of his two wings, and learning the arrival of the troops which had been left in rear, was no longer afraid to bring into action all the forces present on the ground, the guard included, and gave orders for advancing. An irresist- ible impulse was communicated to the whole line. The Prussians were driven back, broken, and hurled down 204 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. the sloping ground which descends from Landgrafenberg to the valley of the Urn. The regiments of Hohenlohe and the Hahn grenadiers, of Grawert's division, were almost entirely destroyed by the fire or by the bayonet. The Cerini brigade, assailed with grape, fell back upon the Dyherrn reserve, which in vain opposed its five battalions to the movement of the French. That reserve, being soon left uncovered, found itself attacked, sur- rounded on all sides, and forced to disperse. Tauenzien's corps, rallied for a moment, and brought back into the fire by the Prince of Hohenlohe, was hurried away, like the others, in the general rout. The Prussian cavalry, taking advantage of the absence of the heavy French cavalry, made charges to cover its broken infantry ; but the chasseurs and hussars kept it in check ; and though driven back several times, returned incessantly to the charge. A terrible carnage followed this disorderly re- treat. At every step prisoners were made; artillery was taken by whole batteries. In this great danger, General Ruchel at length made his appearance, but too late. He marched in two lines of infantry, having on the left the cavalry belonging to his corps, and on the right the Saxon cavalry, commanded by the brave General Zeschwitz, who had come of his own accord and taken that position. He ascended at a foot-pace those plateaux, sloping from the Landgrafen- berg to the Ilm. While mounting, Prussian and French poured down around him like a torrent, the one pursued by the other. He was thus met by a sort of tempest, at the moment of his appearance on the field of battle. While he was advancing, his heart rent with grief at JENA. 205 this disaster, the French rushed upon him with the im- petuosity of victory. The cavalry which covered his left flank was first dispersed. That unfortunate general, an unwise but ardent friend of his country, was the first to oppose the shock in person. A ball entered his chest, and he was borne off dying in the arms of his soldiers. His infantry, deprived of the cavalry which covered it, found itself attacked in flank by the troops of Marshal Soult, and threatened in front by those of Marshals Lannes and Ney. The battalions placed at the left ex- tremity of the line, seized with terror, dispersed, and hurried along the rest of the corps in their flight. To aggravate the disaster, the French dragoons and cuiras- siers came up at a gallop, under the conduct of Murat, impatient to take a share in the battle. They surrounded those hapless and dispersed battalions, cut in pieces all who attempted to resist, and pursued the others to the banks of the Ilm, where they made a great number of prisoners. On the field of battle were left only the two Saxon brigades of Burgsdorf and Nehroff, which, after honora- bly defending the Schnecke against Heudelet's and Des- jardin's division of Augereau's corps, had been forced in their position by the address of the French tirailleurs, and effected their retreat, formed into two squares. These squares presented three sides of infantry and one of artillery, the latter being the rear side. The two Saxon brigades retired, halting alternately, firing their guns, and then resuming their march. Augereau's artil- lery followed, sending balls after them ; a swarm of French tirailleurs ran after them, harassing them with 206 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. their small arms. Murat, who had just overthrown the relics of Ruchel's corps, fell upon the two Saxon bri- gades, and ordered them to be charged to the utmost extremity by his dragoons and cuirassiers. The dra- goons attacked first without forcing an entrance ; but they returned to the charge, penetrated and broke the square. General d'Hatpoul, with the cuirassiers, attacked the second, broke it, and made that havoc which a victorious cavalry inflicts on a broken infantry. Those unfortunate men had no other resource but to surrender. The Prussian battalion of Boguslawski was forced in its turn, and treated like the others. The brave General Zeschwitz, who had hastened with the Saxon cavalry to the assistance of its infantry, made vain efforts to support it, and was driven back, and forced to give way to the general rout. Murat rallied his squadrons, and hastened to Weimar, to collect fresh trophies. At some distance from that town were crowded together, pell-mell, detachments of infantry, cavalry, artillery, at the top of a long and steep slope, formed by the high road leading down to the bottom of the valley of the Ilm. These troops, confusedly huddled together, were supported upon a small wood, called the wood of Webicht. All at once, the bright helmets of the French "cavalry made their appearance. A few musket-shots were instinctively fired by this affrighted crowd. At this signal, the mass, seized with terror, rushed down the hill, at the foot of which Weimar is situated : foot, horse, artillery-, men, all tumbled over one another into this gulf — a new and tremendous disaster. Murat now sent JENA. 207 after them a part of his dragoons, who goaded on this mob with the points of their swords, and pursued it into the streets of Weimar. With the others he made a circuit to the other side of Weimar, and cut off the retreat of the fugitives, who surrendered by thousands. Out of the seventy thousand Prussians who had appeared on the field of battle, not a single corps remained entire, not one retreated in order. Out of one hundred thousand French troops, composed of the corps of Marshals Soult, Lannes, Augereau, Ney, Murat, and the guard, not more than fifty thousand had fought, and they had been sufficient to overthrow the Prussian army. The greater part of that army, seized with a sort of vertigo, throwing away its arms, ceasing to know either its colors or its officers, covered all the roads of Thuringin. About twelve thousand Prussians and Saxons, killed and wounded, about four thousand French killed and wounded also, strewed the ground from Jena to Weimar. On the ground were seen stretched a great number — a greater number, indeed, than usual — of Prussian officers, who had nobly paid for their silly passions with their lives. Fifteen thousand prisoners, two hundred pieces of cannon, were in the hands of the French, intoxicated with joy. The shells of the Prus- sians had set fire to the town of Jena, and from the plateaux where the battle was fought, columns of flame were seen bursting from the dark bosom of night. French shells ploughed up the city of Weimar, and threatened it with a similar fate. The shrieks of fugi. tives while ruuning through the streets, the tramp of Murat's cavalry, dashing through them at a gallop, 208 CAMP-FIRES OF NAPOLEON. slaughtering without mercy all who were not quick enough in flinging down their arms, had filled with hor- ror that charming city — the noble asylum of letters. At Weimar, as at Jena, part of the inhabitants had fled. The conquerors, disposing like masters of their almost deserted towns, established their magazines and their hospitals in the churches and public buildings. Napoleon, on returning from Jena, directed his attention, according to his custom, to the collecting of the wounded, and heard shouts of Vive VEiwpereur ! mingled with the moans of the dying. But Napoleon knew not yet the full measure of his victory. In the course of the day, he had heard the distant thundering of the cannon in the direction of Naumberg, where he had posted Marshal Davoust. He had the greatest confidence in the wisdom, valor, and inflexible resolution of that great general, but he did not know of the immensely superior forces the Marshal had to fight, to maintain his position. The facts were soon learned. Marshal Davoust, with only twenty- six thousand men, had not only sustained his position for many hours against the impetuous attack of seventy thousand Prussians, commanded by the Duke of Bruns- wick, and cheered by the presence of Frederick Wilham himself, but had routed his enemy, and thus achieved the victory of Auerstadt. Never had there been a grander display of heroic firmness by general and sol- diers. The Prussians had lost three thousand prisoners, nine or ten thousand men, killed or wounded, besides the Duke of Brunswick, Marshal Mollendorf and Gene- ral Schwettan mortally wounded, together with a pro- jena. 209 digious number of their gallant officers. Davoust had suffered a loss of seven thousand men, killed or wounded, and half the generals of brigade and colonels were placed hors de combat. The king was denied the consolation of his army retreating in good order. Nearly every corps was broken and disbanded, being seized with a panic. The roads were crowded with fear-stricken fugitives. During the terrible night, which followed the bloody day of Jena and Auerstadt, the victors suffered not less than the vanquished. The night was intensely cold, and they were obliged to bivouac on the ground, having scarcely any thing to eat. Many of them wounded, more or less severely, were stretched on the cold earth beside wounded enemies, mingling their groans. Napoleon made every effort in his power to relieve their sufferings, and many a poor soldier, almost fainting from loss of blood, exerted his feeble strength to shout " Vive VEm- pereur I " But the Prussian army was annihilated. The road to Berlin was open, and thither the French Emperor hastened, in following up his decisive victory. A few small actions were fought and the French made thousands of prisoners almost every day. Frederick William so- licited an armistice, but the Emperor refused to grant it for wise military reasons. He was destined to enter the Prussian capital in triumph. Never did Europe dread the name of Napoleon so notably as when that Prussian army, upon which the last hope was founded, vanished before his resistless arms. 27 tos ®Mat?«LFQLE