Napoleon and the end of the French revolution

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NAPOLEON

AND THE

END OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

BY CHARLES F. WARWICK

AUTHOR OF MIRABEAU AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

DANTON AND 'THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
ROBESPIERRE AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

PHILADELPHIA

GEORGE W. JACOBS & COMPANY
PUBLISHERS

Copyright, IQIO
By George W7. Jacobs &* Company

Published October, 1910

All rights reserved, including that of translation
into foreign languages. Printed in U. S. A.

The illustrations in this volume are
fully protected by copyright

TO
MY WIFE

PREFACE

This book is a sequel to my works on Mira-
beau, Danton, and Robespierre and their part in
the French Revolution. The Revolution made
Napoleon. He was its embodiment, its natural
sequence ; it culminated in him ; he stood between
its chaos and a Bourbon restoration and ahhough
a usurper and a despot he saved the salient prin-
ciples of that great political upheaval and pre-
vented an immediate and a permanent return to
the abuses of the ancient regime. He brought
order out of chaos, organized the government
upon a stable basis, re-established the church,
fostered a spirit of religious toleration, and com-
piled a Code which secured equality before the
law. His ambition carried France to a tran-
scendent glory and at last left her humiliated,
exhausted, and stripped of her conquests; but he
had given to her people a better form of govern-
ment and a more beneficent rule than they had
ever enjoyed and this made it impossible for his
successors to restore the offensive features of the
Bourbon monarchy.

" The Revolution is planted," he declared, " on
the principles from which it proceeded. It is
ended/' The^gpvernment did not emanate from
thp^nverf ignty of the people, but was created and
bestowed upon them by an autocrat; it was not

PREFACE

liberty in its broad sense, but in the reaction that
followed the Revolution when society was escap-
ing from the violence of that great upheaval and
was likely to run to extremes in the opposite
direction, Napoleon held in check the mob on one
hand and kept the Bourbons at bay on the other.
The illustrations are from the very valuable
collection of engravings and etchings belonging
to Mr. William J. Latta, of Philadelphia. Many
of them are original sketches made by artists con-
temporary with Napoleon, and have never be-
fore been published. I take this occasion to
thank him for his kindness in allowing me access
to his portfolios and aiding me in making the se-
lections.

CHARLES F. WARWICK.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I PAGE
Napoleon Bonaparte — Birth — Parentage — Corsica —
Charles Bonaparte— Childhood of Napoleon— En-
ters School of Brienne— His Studies and Reading-
Enters Military School of Paris— Appointed Lieu-
tenant—Death of Charles Bonaparte— Napoleon Vis-
its Ajaccio — His Writings 15

CHAPTER II

French Revolution — Bonaparte Visits Ajaccio — Dedi-
cates His History of Corsica to Paoli — Bonaparte
Rejoins His Regiment — Death of Mirabeau — Bona-
parte Relieved of His Commission — Day of the
Black Breeches — August the Tenth — Bonaparte Re-
stored to His Position as Captain — Revisits Corsica
—Flees with His Family from Calvi — Overthrow of
Girondins — Supper of Beaucaire 33

CHAPTER III
Toulon — Thirteenth Vendemiaire 45

CHAPTER IV

Robespierre — Barras — Josephine Tascher de la Pagerie
— Viscount Beauharnais — Desirie Clery — Madame
Permon — Bonaparte Meets Josephine Beauharnais.. 62

CHAPTER V

Bonaparte Woos Josephine — Bonaparte Weds Jose-
phine— Character of Josephine — Bonaparte Departs

for Italy 72

9

CONTENTS

CHAPTER VI PAGE
Bonaparte in Italy 84

CHAPTER VII
Bonaparte in Italy — Continued 98

CHAPTER VIII
Invasion of Egypt 122

CHAPTER IX
Invasion of Egypt — Continued 139

CHAPTER X
Nineteenth Brumaire 155

CHAPTER XI
Marengo 168

CHAPTER XII

The Consular Government — The Code — The Concor-
dat— Napoleon's Religious Views — Legion of Honor
* — Education 176

CHAPTER XIII

Conspiracies to Assassinate Napoleon — San Domingo
— Toussaint L'Ouverture — Contention over the
Treaty of Amiens — Lord Whitworth — Declaration
of War by England — Louisiana 193

CHAPTER XIV

Count de Provence Urged by Napoleon to Renounce
his Right of Succession — Execution of due d'En-
ghien — Coronation of Napoleon as Emperor 204

10

CONTENTS

CHAPTER XV PAGE
Threatened Invasion of England— Eugene Beauhar-
nais made Viceroy of Italy— The Crown of Lom-
bardy 219

CHAPTER XVI
Ulm— Trafalgar— Austerlitz 231

CHAPTER XVII
Jean — Atierstadt — Berlin Decree — Orders in Council.. 242

CHAPTER XVIII
Eylau— Friedland— Treaty of Tilsit ' 258

CHAPTER XIX

Junot Enters Lisbon — Murat Enters Madrid — Charles
IV of Spain Abdicates 268

CHAPTER XX

War with Austria — Wagram — Treaty of Schonbrunn
— War in Spain 282

CHAPTER XXI

Napoleon's Divorce from Josephine — His Marriage
with Maria Louisa — Spain — Abdication of Louis,
King of Holland — Commercial War with England —
Birth of King of Rome 292

CHAPTER XXII
Invasion of Russia 309

CHAPTER XXIII
The Retreat from Moscow 328

CHAPTER XXIV

Napoleon's Return to Paris — Battle of Liitzen — Bat-
tle of Bautzen — Armistice 345

II

CONTENTS

CHAPTER XXV
Battle of Dresden— Battle of Leipsic ................ 353

CHAPTER XXVI
Napoleon Returns to Paris — The Frankfort Proposals

— Invasion of the Allies ......................... 364

CHAPTER XXVII
Napoleon's Departure for Elba — His Residence in Elba

— His Return to France — New Constitution — Champ

de Mai .......................................... 376

CHAPTER XXVIII
Ligny — Quatre Bras ................................ 392

CHAPTER XXIX
Waterloo .......................................... 401

CHAPTER XXX

Napoleon's Second Abdication — Boards the "Bellero-
phon" — Sails for St. Helena ...................... 415

CHAPTER XXXI
St. Helena — Sir Hudson Lowe — Death of Napoleon.. 426

CHAPTER XXXII
Napoleon Bonaparte ................................ 437

CHAPTER XXXIII
Napoleon Bonaparte— Con tinned .................... 447

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FACING PAGE

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. From a portrait by Dela-
roche Frontispiece

LETIZIA, BONAPARTE'S MOTHER, IN NEGLIGEE COSTUME.
From an original drawing by Lefebre. From the
Joseph Bonaparte Collection 22

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. From an original drawing in
black and white by Guerin. Portrait came to present
owner through Pierre Morand, a well-known
Frenchman living in Philadelphia some years ago.. 30

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. From an original sketch in
red crayon by Guerin 58

JOSEPHINE, IN NEGLIGEE COSTUME. From an original
drawing by R. Lefebre. Joseph Bonaparte Collec-
tion 64

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. From an original by Ledru,
1797. From the Joseph Bonaparte Collection 76

MURAT. From an original drawing in colors. From
the Joseph Bonaparte Collection 90

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. From an original water color
in brilliant colors by Victor Adam. From the
Joseph Bonaparte Collection 102

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. From an original drawing by
Dubrez 124

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. From an original drawing in
blue by an unknown artist 140

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FACING PAGE

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. From a painting by Gerard;
engraved by Richomme 160

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. The painter and engraver of
this portrait (R. Lefebre and A. Desnoyers) are two
of the best known artists in the Napoleon and sub-
sequent periods. Considered one of the best por-
traits of Napoleon ever made 170

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. From an original water color
drawing by L. David, 1803. From the Joseph Bona-
parte Collection 198

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. From an original drawing in
crayon by Vallot. Came into the possession of the
present owner through Godefroy Meyer of Paris. . 210

JOSEPHINE. After the Isabey Portrait 216

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. From an original drawing by
Vallot. Formerly in the collection owned by Car-
dinal Bonaparte of Rome, a nephew of the famous
Emperor. Came into the possession of the present
owner through Godefroy Meyer, of Paris 222

NELSON. Painting by L. F. Abbott. Proof before
letters 236

WILLIAM PITT. From a portrait by Owen, engraved
by H. S. Goed 244

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. From a rare portrait in bright
colors engraved by Levachez 250

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. From an original drawing by
Guerin, 1810. Came to the present owner through
Pierre Morand, a well-known Frenchman living in
Philadelphia some years ago 272

MARIA LOUISA. Representative portrait made in
Vienna by well-known Austrian artists 296

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. From a portrait in colors by
G. Hemmerle 312

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FACING PAGE

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. From an original drawing
made in the Waterloo period by Rouguet, 1815.
Came into the possession of the owner through
Pierre Morand, a well-known French resident of
Philadelphia 348

BLUCHER. From an original drawing in colors, by an
unknown artist 368

DUKE OF REICHSTADT. From a portrait made in
Vienna. Proof before letters 372

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. From an original portrait
drawn and engraved on the island of Elba by D'Al-
bon in 1814 382

WELLINGTON. From a portrait by Sir Thomas Law-
rence 404

MARSHAL GROUCHY. From an original drawing in
colors by Biard 410

MARSHAL NEY. From an original drawing by Guerin 418

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. From an original water color
by Coquette made at St. Helena in 1816. Came into
possession of owner through Pierre Morand, a well-
known French resident of Philadelphia 432

NATIONAL CONCEPTIONS OF NAPOLEON. Dutch, German,
English, Spanish, Danish 442

NATIONAL CONCEPTIONS OF NAPOLEON. Austrian, Ital-
ian, French, United States, Swedish 452

NAPOLEON

AND
THE END OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

CHAPTER I

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE BIRTH PARENTAGE

CORSICA CHARLES BONAPARTE CHILDHOOD

OF NAPOLEON — ENTERS SCHOOL OF BRIENNE—

HIS STUDIES AND READING ENTERS MILITARY

SCHOOL OF PARIS — APPOINTED LIEUTENANT

DEATH OF CHARLES BONAPARTE NAPOLEON

VISITS AJACCIO HIS WRITINGS.

_No man in the history of the modern world
has so dominated by his commanding personality

the period in which he lived as Napoleon. He
looms up out of the stirring events of his era as
the one great central figure, like a mighty rock
around which surged and lashed the waves of a
tempestuous sea. JHe was the greatest individual,
intellectual fnrre of the century, mjnany respects
ol.all time. The story of his life is an epic, his
dazzling and unparalleled career reads like a
romance; he makes fact seem but fiction, reality
but the figment of imagination.

15

NAPOLEON

He was unique ; he has no exact counterpart in
history. His genius was transcendent, univer-
sal. His executive ability and powers of organ-
ization werej^ejiojmenal. His., plans and proi-
ects appear^ impossibler but while men were
predicting failure he accomplished success. HTi
audacity was sublime, his will inflexible, his
energy prodigious. " There are no Alps," he
cried when he intended to cross their snowy
summits and pour his army like an avalanche
upon the sunny fields and fertile valleys of
Italy.

He changed the geography of Europe at his
will, he drew the boundary lines of nations with
the point of his sword. With the exception of
London, he entered in triumph every capital in
Fnrnpe. At his command great armies marched,
and the earth shook beneath the tread of his
mighty legions, capitals fell, thrones crashed and
dynasties that seemed secure for all time, were,
in the twinkling of an eye, overthrown and de-
stroyed.

The world has stood in amazement marveling
at his career, almost bewildered by its intensity
of action and its rapidly changing scenes; and it
still marvels, for time and distance do not dim
the greatness of his character but only delineate
its features in sharper outline and bolder relief.
A man who could raise himself from obscurity to
a throne, whose power of action seemed at times*
almost superhuman, whose will made nations
bend and the terror of whose name sent a thrill
through continents and across seas possessed a

16

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

superiority of talent and an ascendency of genius
unparalleled.

Whence came this man of phenomenal power?
On the 1 5th day of August, 1769, Madame Le-
tizia Bonaparte, while in attendance upon her
devotions in a church at Ajaccio, Corsica, ;felt
coming upon her suddenly the pains of. labor.
She hurried home and barely reached her bed-
room in time to give birth there to a male child.
The story that the boy was born on a tapestry
representing battle scenes from the Iliad, no mat-
ter how pleasing to the imagination, must be
consigned to the realm of fiction. The mother
herself in after years when questioned positively
denied the story.

During the greater part of the mother's preg-
nancy, Corsica was shaken by war, and the child,
it may be said, first saw the light of day amidst
the clash of arms. " I was born," said Napo-
leon, " while my country was dying. Thirty
thousand French vomited on our shores, drown-
ing the throne of liberty in waves of blood —
such was the horrid sight which first met my
view. The cries of the dying, the groans of the
oppressed, tears of despair, surrounded my cradle
at my birth."

Corsica, an island in the Mediterranean Sea
about one hundred miles in length and fifty in
width, with a population of one hundred and
twenty-five thousand — had been rocked by
almost incessant war for centuries. Using again
the language of her most illustrious son, " She
has been a prey to the ambition of her neighbors,
2 17

NAPOLEON

the victim of their politics and of her own wilful-
ness." Her people, untamed, vindictive and
courageous, were imbued with a spirit of inde-
pendence, but had been conquered successively
by Carthaginians, Romans, Germans, Byzantine
Greeks, Moors, Goths, Vandals, Longobards, the
Popes, Pisans, Genoese and French. :' We have
seen her," quoting once more from the same au-
thority, " take up arms, shake the atrocious
power of Genoa, recover her independence

. . but then pursued by an irresistible fa-
tality fall again into intolerable disgrace. For
twenty- four centuries these are the scenes which
recur again and again ; the same changes, the
same misfortune but also the same courage, the
same resolution, the same boldness. . . . If,
led by a natural feeling, she kissed, like a slave,
the chains of Rome, she was not long in breaking
them. If, finally, she bowed her head before the
Ligurian aristocracy, if irresistible forces kept
her twenty years in the despotic grasp of Ver-
sailles, forty years of mad warfare astonished
Europe and confounded her enemies."

Sampiero, wrho had endeavored to shake off
the yoke of Genoa, and Pascal Paoli were patriots
of a high type whose fame filled the universe, but,
after years of glorious effort to gain a national
independence, Corsica passed into the control of
France, Genoa releasing her hold in 1768 upon
the payment by Choiseul of two million francs.

When this infamous pact, by which the island
had been sold under their very feet, was made
known, the Corsicans sprang to arms against

18

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

their new masters, but France, with overwhelming
forces, defeated Paoli, who was a better statesman
than soldier, at Ponte Nuovo on June 12, 1769,
and the heroic Corsicans were compelled to lay
down their arms. Embittered by the treatment
they received at the hands of their conquerors, the
islanders once more rose in rebellion, but were
crushed by a savage brutality. These were the
prevailing conditions at the time of Napoleon's
birth; the new-born child "breathed air that was
hot with civil hates."

The inhabitants of Corsica were a primitive and
an imaginative people, with a rich folk-lore. It
was the land of the unwritten code. The deadly
vendetta existed here in its full development, a
slight, an injury done to a neighbor would inau-
gurate a bloody feud which in many instances
would drag its dreary, tortuous way through in-
trigue, conspiracy and murder from generation
to generation, until, the principals having been
destroyed, the collateral branches would continue
the strife and the man who would not avenge the
family honor would lose all caste and be looked
upon by his neighbors, clansmen and countrymen
as a coward beneath contempt.

It was in this atmosphere of war, strife, impas-
sioned effort, vendetta, legend and romance, that
Napoleon first opened his eyes, and it was under
these circumstances his temperament was molded
and his character formed in preparation for his
extraordinary career; fitting conditions for the
development and training of such a life.

In due course of time the infant was christened.
19

NAPOLEON

"The bell," says Dumas, "which sounded his
baptism still quivered with the tocsin."

There has been much controversy over the
question as to the year of Napoleon's birth. At
the time of his marriage to Josephine he was en-
tered in the registry as having been born in Feb-
ruary, 1768, but this was done obviously for the
purpose of lessening the disparity in their ages.
While not a vital or important matter, it is never-
theless an interesting one, for it defines Napo-
leon's nationality. If born in the earlier year he
was a Genoese, for at that period Corsica be-
longed to the republic of Genoa ; if, however, his
birth occurred in 1769 he was French, for in the
early part of that year the island was annexed to
France. The weight of evidence is altogether
with the later year. An extract from an original
baptismal certificate in the archives of the French
war department gives the date of Napoleon's
birth as August 15, 1769, while the same date
appears in the application made by his father
for admission to the school of Brienne and also
in an autograph paper written by Napoleon in
his early youth. Further than this, investigation
has shown that Joseph, the eldest son in the
Bonaparte family, was born in 1768. His bap-
tismal name was Nabulione, which is Italian for
Napoleon, and this name was subsequently pre-
fixed by Joseph. This fact, doubtless, aided also
in giving rise to the controversy. In any event
he was very close to not being born a French-
man.

Charles Marie Bonaparte, the father of Napo-
20

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

ft/W

Icon, was a lawyer by profession, whose family
had for centuries been prominent in the social
and political life of Corsica. The house pos-
sessed a proud coat-of-arms and an ancient title
of nobility bestowed by the Genoese government
and also another granted by the Grand Duke of
Tuscany.

The Bonaparte family was an honorable one,
but after Napoleon rose to distinction and power
the ingenious heralds began to trace its genealogy,
and some of them, giving full play to their fancy
and imagination, to win, no doubt, the favor and
tickle the pride of the emperor, ran the line back
into the dim and cloudy vista of the past to the
Roman csesars and the Byzantine emperors. One
master of his art traced it to the Borgias, while
another made the " Man with the Iron Mask,"
the brother of Louis XIV, the progenitor of the
family. In spite of all these romances, careful
research has shown that it was both ancient and
honorable, being easily traced back to the middle
of the thirteenth century, the founder, one Wil-
liam, having been an active and influential Ghibel-
line.

Charles Bonaparte was a member of the Council
of Corsican Nobles, and had been a supporter of
the patriot Paoli, but after the French possession
had abandoned his cause. It was for this de-
sertion that Napoleon time and again in bitter
terms reproached his father. " Paoli was a great
man," he exclaimed, " he loved his country ; and
I will never forgive my father for his share in
uniting Corsica to France/'

21

NAPOLEON

In 1764, when he was eighteen, Charles mar-
ried a beautiful girl of fifteen, Letizia Ramolino,
from a respectable if not noble Florentine family.
She was a woman of no education but of great
force of character — Napoleon declaring that she
had a man's head on a woman's shoulders.
Time and again he admitted : " It is to my mother
and to the principles she instilled into me that I
owe my fortune and all the good I have ever
done." She lived to an advanced age, dying in
her eighty-fifth year. Often she predicted that
her great son would not be able to maintain his
elevation and she wisely made provision for a
rainy day. She bore thirteen children, five of
whom died in infancy. Napoleon was fourth in
order of birth, and the second in age among the
survivors.

Charles Bonaparte studied law at the Univer-
sity of Pisa, a famous institution of learning in
that day, and received his degree of doctor of
laws in 1769. He could have lived comfortably
on the income from his own and his wife's estate,
eked out by the returns from his practice, but a
man in his position was required to discharge his
social obligations which were necessarily a heavy
drain on his purse. He was handsome in both
form and feature, most genial in manner, con-
vivial in his tastes and especially fond of the
pleasures of the table. He entertained exten-
sively, lived beyond his means, and in consequence
was constantly in debt and greatly harassed by
duns and importuning creditors. Besides this he
had inherited a suit-at-law, to maintain which

22

Copyright, 1910, by George W. Jacobs & Co.

LETIZIA, BONAPARTE'S MOTHER, IN NEGLIGEE COSTUME

From an original drawing by Lefebre
From the Joseph Bonaparte Collection

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

was not only annoying but expensive. One of
his ancestors, on his death-bed under clerical per-
suasion, gave away by testament his estate to
the church, which gift was in direct violation of
the provisions of a prior ancestor's will. The
church having secured the land upon what it con-
tended was a good and sufficient consideration —
the repose of the donor's soul — refused to relin-
quish or surrender it. A suit-at-law was insti-
tuted to recover possession, but after long years
of litigation and the expenditure of large sums
of money in fees and court charges it ended
fruitlessly for the plaintiff. The Jesuits retained
the property. This litigation so incensed and em-
bittered Charles Bonaparte against the church
that on his death-bed he is said to have refused
the consolations of religion and the rite of abso-
lution at the hands of a priest.

Napoleon's childhood was passed without spe-
cial incident. He was not remarkably precocious ;
he gave no pronounced signs of his future great-
ness. He was not the wise child that promises
so much and realizes so little. He was in no
sense a prodigy.

The story of his early life is very obscure. It
is made up of detached incidents. One little
romance is that while at school he formed an
attachment for a girl about his own age named
Giacominetta ; so attentive was he that he pro-
voked the ridicule of his companions ; but to their
gibes he replied with sticks and stones and tor-
rents of abuse. Even at this early age he was
not tidy in appearance, his stockings as a rule

23

NAPOLEON

were about his heels and one of his little school-
fellows, taking for his subject Napoleon's sloven-
liness and youthful courtship, indited a couplet
which became the song of the school :

" Napoleon di mezza calzetta
Fa I'amore a Giacominetta''

At St. Helena Napoleon delighted to refer to
his childhood's scrapes and escapades, and painted
himself in the darkest colors as a very madcap.
He described how he would abuse Joseph, beat
him, scratch him, and when his mother appeared
make her believe it was his brother's fault. The
statement that his mother likened him to a little
imp and predicted a sad end is without substan-
tiation. The fact seems to be that Napoleon as
a child was gloomy, morose and solitary, but
with a high, uncontrollable temper. On the other
hand he was generous, grateful, most susceptible
to friendship, and easily won by kind treatment.
" Ah, Bourrienne/' he said at Brienne, " I like
you; you never make fun of me."

The Bonapartes had a country seat called Mil-
leli not far from Ajaccio, situated on the coast.
To this estate the family would repair during the
summer months, and Napoleon spent much of
his time while here in a grotto from which could
be had a magnificent view of the sea. Here alone
he would spend hours day after day in study and
reading.

In 1779, when nine years of age, he left home
after a sad parting with his mother, and journeyed
with his father to Brienne to enter the military

24

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

school located in that town, his father, through
the influence of some French friends, having
secured for him a cadetship in the institution.
For a pensioner the requisites were that he should
be without fortune, but have four degrees of no-
bility. The father had made application for the
admission of both Joseph and Napoleon, but the
authorities had so long held the matter under ad-
visement that Joseph passed his tenth year, which
made him ineligible.

On his way to Brienne, Napoleon spent two
or three months in a school at Autun, where
Joseph was studying for the priesthood. This
was done to acquire the use of the French tongue,
for up to this time, he had spoken nothing but
Italian. He soon became sufficiently familiar
with French to carry on an ordinary conversa-
tion, but with a most pronounced foreign accent,
and to write short letters. After this prepara-
tory study he journeyed to Brienne, which insti-
tution he entered April 23, 1779, a few months
before his tenth year.

Here at once his troubles began; his foreign
birth and the fact that he was a child of a con-
quered race made him an object of derision.
Shy and diffident in manner, but with an innate
pride, he suffered in spirit, but would brook no
insolence. His shabby clothes, lack of money,
and the position he occupied as a pensioner drew
a line between him and the rich, well-dressed sons
of the aristocracy, while his broken tongue ex-
cited the merriment if not the ridicule of his com-
panions.

25

NAPOLEON

" Your father is nothing but a wretched tip-
staff," said one of the haughty nobles address-
ing Napoleon; and the hot-headed young Corsi-
can sent a challenge to his insulter. For his
temerity, he was imprisoned in the school dun-
geon.

Each boy at Brienne was given a small piece
of land to cultivate as a garden. Napoleon
made his a retreat where he might retire to read
and study. His companions in a spirit of fun
would occasionally interrupt his seclusion, but he
would sally forth and bravely repel any attempt
at intrusion.

In this institution he was reported as " taci-
turn, fond of solitude, capricious, haughty, ex-
tremely disposed to heroism, seldom speaking,
energetic in his answers, ready and sharp in
repartee, full of self-love, ambitious and of un-
bounded aspirations/'

In his studies he excelled in history, geog-
raphy, geometry and mathematics, but made little
progress in the languages and mere accomplish-
ments, or the humanities, as they were called in
those days. He never could acquire grammar
and orthography, and to the latest day of his
life neither wrote nor spelled correctly, although
few men have ever equaled him in the clear, terse
expression of thought.

He did not confine himself to his curriculum
alone. He was a close student of the works of
French and other writers. Two of his favorite
authors were Plutarch and Ossian; Caesar's Con-
quest of Gaul also gave him great delight. He
26

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

studied the lives and the campaigns of famous
commanders such as Frederick the Great, Tu-
renne and Marlborough, and read with zest the
philosophical treatises of Raynal and Rousseau.

Although in early life much impressed by the
teachings of the last named author, he subse-
quently discarded him for Voltaire. In an after-
dinner discussion with Roederer, in 1803, he said :
" The more I read Voltaire the more I like him ;
he is always reasonable, never a charlatan, never
a fanatic, he is made for mature minds. Up to
sixteen years of age I would have fought for
Rousseau against all the friends of Voltaire.
Now it is the contrary; I have been especially
disgusted with Rousseau since I have seen the
East. Savage man is a dog."

In the severe winter of 1783-4, the students at
Brienne amused themselves by building snow
forts and indulging in sham battles. According
to Bourrienne Napoleon directed the construction
of the walls, and also the methods of attack and
defence. This story in itself contradicts many
of the statements made concerning the shabby
treatment he received at the hands of his school
fellows. He must, since his early admission to
the college, have grown into favor. Even in
their games boys do not give the supreme com-
mand to an unpopular member of the class. An
incident occurred which revealed in the boy the
character of the soldier and the disciplinarian :
One of his comrades, while the fight was on, re-
fusing to obey a command was knocked down by
Napoleon with a piece of ice. The story goes

27

NAPOLEON

that in after years the unfortunate youth in seek-
ing the Emperor's aid showed the scar on his
forehead and recalled the occasion when the
wound was given. His petition was forthwith
granted.

Towards the close of his term an officer who
inspected the school made the following report
as to Bonaparte : " Constitution : health excel-
lent. Character: submissive, sweet, honest,
grateful. Conduct : very regular, has always dis-
tinguished himself by his application to mathe-
matics, knows history and geography passably,
very weak in accomplishments. He will be an
excellent seaman. Is worthy to enter the school
of Paris."

On this recommendation, in September, 1784,
he passed as " Cadet-gentilhomme " into that in-
stitution. No sooner had he entered this college
than he drew up a plan of reform which seriously
reflected upon the management and in conse-
quence brought down upon his head the censure
of his masters. He saw to it, however, in after-
life, that his suggestions were put into operation.

In February, 1785, his father died in the house
of Madame Permon at Montpelier, where he had
taken refuge when overcome by a sudden illness.
He passed away at the comparatively early age
of thirty-eight, with the same disease that after-
wards caused the death of his illustrious son.
He left his family penniless, but they loved him,
for he had been a kind and an indulgent parent
and had struggled hard to get his boys well started
in life. His death was sincerely mourned by all
28

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

of them. Little did he believe that one of his
sons would be an emperor, three of them kings,
one daughter a queen and the others princesses.
Napoleon at his coronation turned aside for a
moment and whispered in the ear of his brother
Joseph : " What would father say if he were
here?"

Napoleon remained in the school of Paris for
a year and graduated in August, 1785, being
forty-second in his class, surely not a high stand-
ing.

During his short sojourn in Paris after his
graduation and before his assignment as sub-
lieutenant, he suffered from poverty and truly,
it may be said, ate his bread in the salt of his
tears. The two hundred francs given to him
when he left the college was soon exhausted, and
at times without a sou in his pocket, he had to
depend for a meal upon the bounty and charitable-
ness of his acquaintances. Napoleon never for-
got in his prosperous days those friends who
helped him in his adversity. Some writers try to
trace in his Corsican blood the spirit of the ven-
detta, but they signally fail, he was not vindicti^e^.
nor was he_harsh or at heart cruel, but on the
other fianjTjhe^was one of the most grateful of
men; he^never forgot a real service or favor

At this period of his life Napoleon was de-
scribed as " dark, swarthy in feature, short in
stature, poor physique, head large, full and in-
tellectual." He wore immense " dog's ears," as
they were called, a style of wearing the hair then

29

NAPOLEON

in vogue. His long lank locks fell over his ears
and the sides of his face and almost, if not quite,
reached his shoulders. He was exceedingly thin,
and his legs did not fill out the tops of his mili-
tary boots. He presented rather a ridiculous
appearance until the gaze of the beholder met
the searching and thoughtful expression of his
deep-set eyes.

In September, 1785, he was appointed junior
lieutenant, but did not receive his commission
until the close of October. He set out, at once,
to join his regiment of artillery called La Fere,
stationed at Valence on the Rhone. He left
Paris with a young friend named Des Mazis.
They reached Lyons on the way, and here indulg-
ing in the gayeties of that seductive southern
town spent all their money and in consequence
had to go afoot the remainder of the distance.

While in Valence Napoleon had entree to the
best society; although provincial it was refined
and intellectual. He had brought a letter of
introduction from the Bishop of Autun to the
Abbot of St. Ruffe. His social duties, however,
did not interfere with his course of reading and
study. During his stay here he met a young
woman, Caroline Colombier, for whom he formed
a close attachment. It was, however, only a
passing devotion, but in after years at St. Helena
he recalled with pleasure the delightful strolls
he had taken with her at dawn and the eating of
cherries together.

It was at this free and joyous time of his life
that he made an effort to acquire the art of

30

Copyright, 1910, by George W. Jacobs & Co.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

From an original drawing in black and white by Guerin

Portrait came to present owner through Pierre Morand, a well-known

French resident of Philadelphia

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

dancing, but he met with no success; he never
could waltz with ease and grace.

In 1786, having secured a furlough, he returned
to Ajaccio to see his mother and sisters and to
visit the scenes of his early childhood. General
Marbeuf, who had been the French commandant
of the island, and who had been a great friend
of the Bonapartes, often relieving them financially
when in an exigency, was dead, and the family
had to depend upon the meagre salary of Napo-
leon, 1125 francs per annum, as the principal
means of their support.

In October, 1787, he was back in Paris, and
in the following year was again in Ajaccio. In
1788 he reluctantly rejoined his regiment at
Auxonne and in 1789 he secured another fur-
lough, and on his way home stopped at Mar-
seilles to pay his respects to the Abbe Raynal.
Although neglecting his military duties or rather
avoiding by leaves of absence the monotonous
routine of camp, barrack or garrison life, he de-
voted himself assiduously to his literary labors.
He wrote a story entitled the " Count of Essex,"
and another one called " The Masked Prophet,"
but his principal work was a " History of Cor-
sica."

Napoleon was an ardent patriot; he loved his
native land, every foot of her soil was dear to
him. Her past history and heroic effort for lib-
erty and independence aroused the enthusiasm of
his soul, while her heroes created in him a spirit
of emulation. iKwas the dream of his youth to
be her savior, to secure for her freedom from

NAPOLEON

oppression. She was to be the theatre of his
efforts, from boyhood his blood tingled at the
mere mention of her name, and he was ever ready
to resent any aspersion cast upon her fame or
her people. It is, at times, touching to read of
the love and pure devotion he gave to his native
isle. But time gradually effaced his early attach-
ment, and his activities and ambitions found for
him ultimately a field that, instead of being con-
fined within the coast lines of a Mediterranean
island, was circumscribed only by the limitations
of the universe.

CHAPTER II

FRENCH REVOLUTION — BONAPARTE VISITS AJAO

CIO DEDICATES HIS HISTORY OF CORSICA TO

PAOLI BONAPARTE REJOINS HIS REGIMENT

DEATH OF MIRABEAU BONAPARTE RELIEVED OF

HIS COMMISSION DAY OF THE BLACK

BREECHES — AUGUST THE TENTH BONAPARTE

RESTORED TO HIS POSITION AS CAPTAIN RE-
VISITS CORSICA FLEES WITH HIS FAMILY FROM

CALVI OVERTHROW OF GIRONDINS — SUPPER OF

BEAUCAIRE.

Napoleon Bonaparte was in his twentieth year
when the States-General met at Versailles, in
May, 1789.

D'Israeli, in one of his dazzling phrases, de-
clared that there were only two events in history
— the Siege of Troy and the French Revolution;
and perhaps there is more truth in this appar-
ently paradoxical assertion than at first appears.
Surely the second event he names was the most
important and all-absorbing of modern times.
It was the culmination of centuries of misrule, a
cataclysm that swallowed up dogmas, doctrines,
creeds, titles, privileges, and abuses, and distinc-
tively marked the beginning of a new social and
political era.

The great philosophers had so impressed the
3 33

NAPOLEON

age with their teachings that France, oppressed
for centuries, demanded reforms, and in an effort
to obtain them inaugurated the greatest political
convulsion of all time.

Prior to the Revolution, France was ground
down by a despotism that had well nigh exhausted
her revenues and resources in maintaining the
extravagance of a dissolute court, and in the
prosecution of expensive and useless wars.

To be sure, during the past century, notwith-
standing these adverse conditions, France had
made advancement in commerce, wealth and gen-
eral enlightenment. Although the peasant, a
mere serf, was still bound to the soil, a strong,
prosperous, educated middle class had come to
exert an influence on public thought. It was this
class that formed an audience for the philosoph-
ical and political teachings of Voltaire, Rousseau
and their confreres, and that was determined to
secure, if possible, the needed reforms. To their
ranks must be added a number of the gentry and
nobility who entertained enlightened views and
had compassion for the miseries of the poor.
1 This effort for reformation did not mean a change
in the form of government, nor did it even con-
template the grasping of political power; but it
aimed at relief from an intolerable oppression
and gross inequalities in social, economical, and
political conditions. The delegates comprising
that portion of the States-General known as the
Third Estate were chosen from these upper and
middle classes. The peasantry and the proleta-
riat could not read or write, they were steeped in

34

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

ignorance; books were closed to them, but they
soon appreciated the fact that the struggle was
being made against their oppressors, and the very
air became charged with revolt. The absolutism
of the king, the insolence and arrogance of the
nobility, the oppression and exactions of the
church, had created a feeling of resentment in the
hearts of all the people.

But France was not worse off than her neigh-
bors ; in fact, in some respects she was much more
fortunate. Everywhere on the continent the so-
called privileged classes, consisting of the nobility
and the higher ecclesiastical functionaries, were
exempt from taxation, and not amenable to the
laws. Russia, governed by the czar, was a hope-
less despotism; so it was with Austria, Prussia,
Spain, Portugal, the smaller German states, and
the republics of Venice and Genoa. The king,
the nobility, the church, received all the benefits
of government while the unprivileged classes, the
common people, bore all the burdens and had no
voice in the direction of public affairs.

The doctrine of the divine right of kings ob-
tained in its full rigor sanctioned by the argu-
ments and precedents of centuries, until this im-
passioned struggle was entered upon to secure, in
spite of this theory, the rights of man.

That Bonaparte was impressed by the stirring
events of the Revolution, there can be no doubt.
With his clear and deep political insight he was
enabled to read the signs of the times, and to
anticipate events. He saw from the beginning
the drift towards popular rule, and was deter-

NAPOLEON

mined if possible to secure under this movement
the independence of his native isle. Like all lib-
eral Frenchmen he had long been disgusted with
the ancient regime and had personally suffered
from its taunts.

In the latter part of 1789, he was again in
Corsica on furlough, and urged his compatriots
in Ajaccio to espouse the popular cause and don
the tri-color cockade. He further appealed to
them to form a club, republican in character, and
to organize a National Guard, as had been done
in Paris. The French Governor of Corsica, hav-
ving royalist affiliations, or fearing that such a
programme might give the island an opportunity
to effect a severance from France, ordered the
club to be closed, and by force dispersed the Na-
tional Guard. Bonaparte denounced this action
and signed a remonstrance which was addressed
to the National Assembly in Paris, but that body
gave it a mere passing notice.

Bonaparte's ardor seemed to cool after this visit
and his antagonism to France to subside. There
were several reasons for his change of heart.
The great Mirabeau, by his eloquence in the
Assembly, succeeded in having a decree passed
which allowed the Corsican exiles who had fled
the country in 1768 to return and enjoy the full
rights of citizens. So tolerant a spirit did much
to soften the heart of Bonaparte towards the con-
querors of his native isle.

About the time of the arrival of Paoli in Cor-
sica with the banished patriots under the new dis-
pensation, Bonaparte had finished writing his

36

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

history of the island and had dedicated it to the
famous patriot, but when the manuscript was sent
to Paoli for his revision and approval the sturdy
old man tartly replied that he had faithfully
served his country, and that his glory did not
need to be extolled by Bonaparte's panegyric and
further that the distinguished author was too
young to write history. The manuscript not hav-
ing been returned to Napoleon, he addressed a
letter to Paoli through his brother Joseph, re-
questing him to send it forthwith, but the answer
came back that it had been mislaid and he had
not time to search his papers. After treatment
so shabby Napoleon desisted from paying further
homage at the shrine of the old man. Perhaps
it was the remembrance of Charles Bonaparte's
desertion of his compatriots that induced Paoli
to treat the son with such discourtesy. It seems
hardly possible that anyone without some substan-
tial reason could have treated another so disdain-
fully.

Notwithstanding his rebuff, Napoleon worked
most industriously on his history, wrote and re-
wrote it, cast and recast it and in its latest form,
after dedicating it to Necker, submitted it to
Raynal and to one of his old tutors, both of whom
criticised it severely; but the author in a measure
adopting their suggestions persevered in his com-
position until he finished it to his own satisfac-
tion. Not being able to make arrangements with
a publisher, it was never put upon the market.

After remaining away from his post far beyond
the limits of his furlough on the ground of ill

37

NAPOLEON

health, Bonaparte rejoined his regiment at Aux-
onne in the winter of 1791.

In the spring of this year Mirabeau died, and
all France went into mourning. At this time
Bonaparte was in Valence and it is said he as-
sisted in decorating the cathedral where the me-
morial services were held and made a public
address eulogizing the great statesman.

He paid another visit to Corsica in August of
this same year with his brother Louis, whom he
had been supporting and educating. He became )
at this time involved in all kinds of political quar- \
rels, made a reputation for trickery, shiftiness, /
double dealing and unscrupulous self-seeking. X
Remaining four months over his time, he got into
a coritroversy with the War Department in Paris, /
and was relieved of his commission, and it was-'
not until the latter part of May, 1792, that he
returned to the capital. Without money, without
position, without influential friends, he wandered
about the city, sleeping in the cheapest lodging
houses, and eating in the cheapest restaurants,
compelled to pawn his watch to obtain the bare
necessaries of life.

While wandering through the streets of Paris,
occasionally visiting the Palais Royal, the hot-
bed of rumor and sedition, he had an opportunity
to breathe the very atmosphere of the Revolution
and to w-itness the scenes that marked the gradual
fall of the monarchy.

On the " Day of the Black Breeches," the twen-
tieth of June, 1792, he watched with his old school
companion, Bourrienne, the rabble to the number

38

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

of thirty thousand swarm around the palace of
the Tuileries, overcome the guard and penetrate
to the very chamber of the king. Bonaparte's
blood boiled with indignation as he witnessed the
humiliation of the amiah]e rnrmQrrhr " whom Na-
ture, framed/' says Rns^ " for a, farm house and
Fate tossed into a revolution. " Napoleon de-
clared that with a few pieces of artillery he could
scatter the mob to the winds, but when he saw
Louis appear at the window wearing complacently
the red cap of the Jacobins, his disgust at such
pusillanimity was expressed in a sneer.

Then again on the tenth of August when the
Marseillais and an armed mob attacked the royal
palace and compelled the king with his family to
take refuge in the bosom of the Assembly, Bona-
parte witnessed the scene from the windows of
a furniture shop in the Tuileries, kept by an old
school friend named Fauvelet. He saw the brutal
slaughter of the Swiss Guards and by his own
intercession saved one of these loyal fellows from
murder. He_was disgusted with the savagery
and obscenity of t He rioters and so expressed him-
self. The scenes he witnessed, however, were
important lessons, which taught him how to act
on the very same spot in a time not far distant.
In a letter to his brother Joseph describing the
affair, he declared that if Louis had mounted a
horse and led his forces he could have won the
fight. '

The story that Bonaparte on this memorable
day was a leader of the mob at the barricades is
without any proof whatever. It is likely true,

39

NAPOLEON

However, that he was stopped by a gang of hood-
lums who were bearing aloft a gory head upon a
pike, and compelled to take off his hat and hurrah
for the nation.

Following the attack upon the palace of the
king came the domiciliary visits and the dreadful
massacres of September.

Napoleon was restored to his position as cap-
tain on August 30, 1792, and his commission and
pay were made to date from February 6, 1/92.

War had already been declared against Austria
on April 21, 1792; yet notwithstanding this fact,
Napoleon obtained another leave of absence in
September of that year only a few days after his
reinstatement, for the purpose of escorting his
sister Elise home to Corsica. The school of St.
Cyr was a royal institution of learning for indi-
gent young ladies of aristocratic blood. It was
originally founded in the reign of Louis XIV and
was under the special direction and care of
Madame de Maintenon. It was maintained at
the expense of the state and was charitable in its
features, the young ladies at graduation being
entitled to a dot to enable them to form a respect-
able alliance. Such an institution of course fell
under the disapprobation of the radicals, and the
Assembly abolished it by special decree, gallantly
providing, however, a fund for the payment of the
traveling expenses of young ladies who lived some
distance from the capital. Here was a chance
for Napoleon once more to visit Corsica, and
although he had been as we have seen but recently
restored to his rank and pay as an officer, he

40

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

made application for leave, was released from
duty, and sailing from Marseilles reached Corsica
on the seventeenth of September, 1792.

The fact that he could obtain so many fur-
loughs, remain away beyond the dates of their
limitations and escape punishment shows that he
must have had great influence or else military dis-
cipline must have been very lax.

No sooner had Napoleon landed on the island
than he became involved in a controversy with
Paoli. He also took part in the unfortunate
expedition directed by the French government
against Sardinia. Paoli had no sympathy with
the Revolution ; its violence to him was abhorrent,
and he advocated annexation to England if Cor-
sica could not win her separate independence.
The Jacobins because of these views openly de-
nounced him as a traitor and at last, in April,
1793, the old man was summoned to the bar of
the Convention for trial, but refused to attend.
Napoleon defended Paoli in his course, but after-
wards deserted him. In the struggle between
the French Commissioners and the followers of
Paoli, Napoleon took sides with the former, and
after several attacks upon the citadel of Ajaccio
the French were driven off and Napoleon nar-
rowly escaped with his life. He joined his fam-
ily at Calvi, to which town they had fled for
safety, and on June n, 1793, under cover of
night they embarked upon a vessel and sailed
straightway for France. Jerome and Caroline
were left behind, sheltered by the Ramolinos.

It is pleasing to escape from these Corsican
41

NAPOLEON

imbroglios. It is hard to fathom, at times, the
real intention or purpose of Napoleon. He
seemed entirely inconsistent in his conduct. He
displayed the spirit of the agitator, the self-
seeker, the mere adventurer. " You see that lit-
tle fellow ? " said Paoli, pointing to Napoleon.
*' Well ! he has in him the making of two or three
men like Marius and one like Sulla."

Napoleon had departed for Corsica just before
the dethronement of the king and the establish-
ment of the Republic. Then followed the trial
and execution of Louis, and afterwards occurred
the expulsion of the Girondins from the Conven-
tion, and their political overthrow.

The Girondins had clamored for war, believ-
ing that it would arouse the patriotic ardor of
the people and hasten the creation of the Repub-
lic. They were right in this, but after plung-
ing the country into a conflict with a foreign
power, they failed to conduct it successfully, be-
cause of their factional dissensions and inefficient
methods. The men of " the Mountain," who
had from partisan motives opposed the declara-
tion fearing that their adversaries would profit
by it, now by extraordinary energy having over-
thrown their opponents, organized victory un-
der the able direction of Carnot, and put into
the field a military force that imbued with patri-
otic fervor and led by Hoche, Pichegre, Kleber,
and Moreau, became the nucleus of the Grand
Army.

During this period it was Danton, with his
marvelous energy, courage, and audacity, that

42

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

dominated the events. He had planned and urged
the attack on the Tuileries on the tenth of August,
he was responsible for the domiciliary visits and
the dreadful massacres of September, he aided
in the establishment of the Republic, and voted
for the death of the king. He fain would have
saved the Girondins, but they spurned his offers
of assistance, and in his wrath he wrought their
ruin. Although at first opposed to the declara-
tion of \var, he afterwards urged the enlistment
of troops, and aroused the patriotism of the na-
tion by his stirring and eloquent appeals.

Napoleon doubtless was impressed by the tre-
mendous energy displayed by the radicals, and
although disgusted with the violence of the rab-
ble gave his adherence to the Jacobins.

The first actual sendee he rendered the Re-
public \vas at Avignon, which town, being in pos-
session of the Girondins, had arisen in insurrec-
tion against the Convention. Bonaparte had
been sent from Nice, where his regiment was
stationed, to Avignon, to secure necessary stores,
and Carteaux in command of the Republican
forces appointed him to take charge of a battery.

It was in August, 1793, that the young author
published his well-known pamphlet entiled : " The
Supper of Beaucaire," one of the brightest politi-
cal brochures of that day. Two merchants of
Marseilles, a citizen of Nimes, a manufacturer
of Montpelier, and an officer, Bonaparte himself,
meet by chance in an inn in the little town of
Beaucaire and while at supper indulge in a gen-
eral discussion on the political conditions of the

43

NAPOLEON

hour. The officer contends that all good and
patriotic citizens should support the Jacobin gov-
ernment because it has shown energy and capacity
in a contest to the death against the despots of
Europe; that so long as a foreign foe threatens
the Republic or has a foot upon her sacred soil,
there is but one duty for Frenchmen. All per-
sonal and political differences should be dismissed
for the time being, at least. It would be better
to submit to the tyranny of " the Mountain " than
to suffer the vengeance of the emigrant nobles.
Even Tacobin mob rule and despotism should be
condoned if they save the Republic. The officer
urges united action, and argues that any one who
opposes the government gives aid and comfort
to the enemy and is guilty of treason.

These views, doubtless, reveal the thoughts
of Napoleon on the current questions; and as a
patriot, without endorsing all the acts of the Jaco-
bins, he gives his support to them in their struggle
to save France.

This book was shown to Augustin Robes-
pierre, and so cordially endorsed by him that it
was published at the expense of the state. Na-
poleon in after years, during the Consulate, when
charged with his early Jacobinism, did every-
thing in his power to destroy the copies extant.
His publisher's widow living at Avignon, where
the brochure had been first printed and sold, was
paid a good round sum for destroying all the
copies remaining in her possession. The views
expressed by Bonaparte in his pamphlet were the
views of the men who saved France.

44

CHAPTER III

TOULON — THIRTEENTH VENDEMIAIRE

The expulsion and overthrow of the Girondins
sent a feeling of indignation through the land,
and aroused a spirit of resentment among their
followers and supporters in the southern prov-
inces whence they had been sent as delegates or
representatives to the National Convention.

Several towns, notably Lyons and Marseilles,
rose in revolt against the tyranny of the consti-
tuted authorities, Girondins and Royalists joining
forces and making common cause against the
Revolution.

Charlotte Corday, a beautiful and refined girl,
granddaughter of the great Corneille, journeyed
alone from Caen to Paris to avenge the overthrow
of the Girondins. Reaching the capital, she ob-
tained an audience with Marat, to whom she
ascribed all the evils of her country, and while
the monster was in his bath stabbed him to the
heart. Her heroic deed thrilled all France; it
revealed the spirit of the South. But instead of
making a victim of Marat, her fanaticism created
a martyr whose murder was to be avenged in
torrents of blood. Charlotte went to the scaffold
and in her wake followed the Girondins.

Toulon, one of the principal cities in the south
45

NAPOLEON

of France, raised the standard of revolt. The
Moderates and the Royalists, being in the major-
ity, united their forces and flung to the breeze the
white flag of the Bourbons, proclaimed the son
of Louis XVI, who was lying in prison in Paris,
as king of France under the title of Louis XVII,
opened the harbors to the entrance of the Eng-
lish and Spanish fleets, surrendered the arsenal
and magazines to the British, and then began an
indiscriminate slaughter of the Jacobins.

The republicans under General Carteaux, a
painter of some renown but a soldier without
training or experience, beleaguered the city with
a large army and made preparations for a
lengthy siege.

About the middle of September Bonaparte
arrived at Toulon. Whether he was a mere vis-
itor or had been assigned to the post as he claimed
by the War Department is a mooted question.
Suffice it to say he was there, and it was for-
tunate for the government that he arrived in
time. He was assigned at once to take charge
of the artillery. So much ability did he display
that two weeks after his arrival the Commission-
ers of the Convention recommended his promo-
tion to a majorship.

Upon inspection he found a few field pieces, two
or three siege guns, and a couple of mortars. By
arduous effort after weeks of ceaseless toil —
" when he needed rest," wrote Doppet, " he lay
on the ground wrapped in his cloak ; he never left
the batteries " — he succeeded in securing heavy
guns, mortars and ammunition sufficient for his

46

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

purpose. He made requisitions for horses, tim-
ber, gabions, fascines and whatever he needed to
perfect the siege, like an experienced soldier, in-
stead of a stripling who had never been under
fire. His first step was to place his guns in so
commanding a position as to force the withdrawal
of the allied fleets. " The moment they leave
the harbor," he explained to a council of war,
" the town will be at the mercy of the besiegers."

Carteaux, the artist, having proved his inef-
ficiency, was succeeded in the command by a phy-
sician named Doppet. The doctor had won dis-
tinction at the siege of Lyons, but when he saw
the difficulties that confronted him at Toulon he
requested to be transferred to an easier post. He
was succeeded by a professional soldier, General
Dugommier, as commander-in-chief, and Duteil
was made general of artillery.

Napoleon's plans were put in writing, submitted
to the war department in Paris, and approved.

He had ordered a battery to be posted almost
within pistol shot of the English guns. The British
engineers realizing the strategical importance of
the position which Napoleon was anxious to gain
had strongly fortified it as a redoubt and had
named it the Little Gibraltar. So fierce was the
English fire on the exposed position where was
planted Napoleon's battery that to work the can-
non meant almost certain death. Even the brav-
est men flinched from exposing themselves to
so great a danger. It was all important, how-
ever, to hold this position, for it was the key to
the situation, and Napoleon appealed to the sol-

47

NAPOLEON

dierly spirit of his command by calling it " the
battery of men without fear." After this when
a cannoneer fell there was never wanting a recruit
to take his place.

Junot, afterwards Napoleon's aide-de-camp,
won his stars at Toulon for cool and consummate
bravery. When requested to make a recon-
noissance it was suggested that he go in civilian's
dress. " No ! " he replied, " I will run the risk
of being shot as a soldier, but I will not be hanged
as a spy." When he brought in his informa-
tion, Bonaparte directed him to put it in writing ;
while complying with this order a shell burst close
at hand, and covered his report with sand.
" Clever," he coolly remarked as he shook the
paper, " for those British gunners to send me
just what I needed." On one occasion when an
unexploded shell fell into a tent in the midst of
a group of officers he rose with glass in hand and
proposed a toast to those about to die. When
the shell burst and killed a comrade, Junot still
standing with glass in hand drank a toast : " To
the memory of a hero."

The English, feeling the lines closely drawn,
stormed the works of Bonaparte on November
thirtieth, but they were repulsed with great loss,
and their commander, General O'Hara, was taken
prisoner.

In the columns of the " Moniteur " of Decem-
ber seventh the name Buona Parte appears for
the first time anjd_Jie is mentioned among the
most distinguished _officers in the action.

On December seventeenth, between" midnight
48

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

and dawn, while a heavy rain storm was raging,
the French began their assault on the English
works; at first the assailants were driven back,
but afterwards rallied and in the final charge
swept everything before them. Toulon and the
vessels in the harbor were now at the mercy of
the French guns and the fleets at once made prep-
arations to depart. While the French batteries
poured shot and shell into the doomed town,
thousands of the inhabitants, men, women and
children, rushed through the streets to the quays
to be taken aboard the vessels that were already
weighing anchor and spreading sail. Fourteen
thousand citizens found refuge in the British and
Spanish ships. To add to the confusion and ter-
ror, the arsenal, store-houses, and docks were set
on fire and the magazines filled with great quan-
tities of powder were blown up with a noise and
concussion that shook the earth.

The night was hideous beyond description, but
the days that followed were even more ghastly,
when the Jacobins, under the direction of Barras,
Freron, and Fouche, inaugurated a reign »of
butchery, until the gutters ran red to the s\a.
The guillotine was erected in the public square,
but not working fast enough, platoons of soldiers
were drawn up in line and poured volleys of mus-
ketry into crowds of terrified and cowering citi-
zens while the cannon mowed them down in
swaths. Groups of men, frantic with liquor and
rage, ravaged homes and ravished women. It
was as if the lower regions had let loose all the
demons at once.

4 49

NAPOLEON

V Marmont declares that Bonaparte pleaded for
clemency, but in vain. It must be borne in mind
that the man who sought mercy or even expressed
sympathy for the aristocrats in those bitter days
was likely to fall under the suspicion of the Con-
vention and not only lose a chance for promotion
but also his head.

" Leave not a single rebel alive," cried the
brutal Freron. Fouche, who had been at Lyons,
went down to Toulon to witness its destruction,
and in a letter to his friend, Collot d'Herbois,
wrote a description of the manner in which they
were celebrating the victory. " This night we
send two hundred and thirteen rebels into hell
fire. Tears run down my cheeks and fill my soul
with joy." This is the language of a man who
subsequently became chief of police and the Duke
of Otranto under Napoleon, and held high posi-
tion under the Bourbons after the restoration.
The fury and hate of the Revolution had trans-
formed men into fiends, but in the heartless
Fouche was found a ready subject.

The scenes witnessed in Toulon were hardly
surpassed in fiendish cruelty by the fusillades and
noyades of the infamous and ferocious Carrier at

f Barras in his Memoirs tries to dim the glory /
Ny of Bonaparte as the victor of Toulon by alleging S
[that the young captain simply carried out a plan }
I of campaign designed by others. f

I Dugommier, it is true, in his report to the Con-
vention made no mention of Bonaparte's services,
but Duteil in a letter to the Minister of War

50

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

speaks of him in the highest terms. " £ great
deal of science, as much intelligence, and too much
bravery; such is_.ajaint sketch of the virtues of
this rare officer, — It-rests. .jadfe...: you, Minister,
to retain jthemJoxJth^

From the moment of his arrival Bonaparte had
inspired confidence ; he pointed out the vulnerable
point in the enemy's position, and from that time
the attack converged on that point and its ulti-
mate capture resulted in the surrender of the
town. It unquestionably was the opinion of that
day that the fall of Toulon was due to his energy
and skill, and shortly afterwards, February 6,
1794, in recognition of his services he was ap-
pointed by the War Department general of
brigade of the Army of Italy.

During the assault on the French works by the
English General O'Hara, Bonaparte was wounded
in the thigh by a bayonet thrust and afterwards
claimed to have had three horses shot under him ;
he also in that same engagement caught the itch
by seizing a rammer in the hands of a fallen
soldier, who was troubled with the affliction, and
it was not until he became Consul for life that he
succeeded in getting rid of that annoying disease.

At the time of the capture of Toulon France
was in a frenzy. The " Reign of Terror " was at
its height with the guillotine as its right arm.
The Revolution had become a factional struggle.
Hebert, a ribald scoffer who set at defiance every
moral precept of God and man, had inaugurated
the worship of the goddess of Reason, and by
his dangerous teachings was undermining the very

51

NAPOLEON

foundations of society. Arousing the indignation
of Robespierre, he was brought to trial, con-
demned and on the twenty-fourth of March, 1794,
sent to the scaffold. Danton, who had evinced
a desire to moderate the violence of the Revolu-
tion, provoked the opposition of the radicals and
paid for his temerity by the loss of his head.
This left Robespierre as the leading dominant
figure of the Revolution. There can be no ques-
tion that he was anxious to check the slaughter
and to establish the Republic upon a strong foun-
dation of law and morals, but becoming arbitrary
in his conduct and exciting the fear and apprehen-
sion of his enemies by the passage of an infamous
measure known as the law of the 22nd Prairial,
which made possible the condemnation of his ene-
mies upon mere suspicion, a conspiracy was
formed for his overthrow. He had also given
offence to both Atheists and pious Christians by
indulging in a silly pageant incident to the estab-
lishment of the worship of the Supreme Being.

In a long speech delivered in the Convention
on July 26, 1794, he used language that alarmed
his foes, he threatened without striking. Sud-
denly and unexpectedly on the 9th Thermidor, the
day after the delivery of his remarkable oration,
Tallien, Barras, Fouche, Carrier, Vadier, Collot
d'Herbois and Billaud Varennes turned the Con-
vention against Robespierre, outlawed him and
sent him to the guillotine.

Bonaparte, who was classed as a Robespierreist,
was arrested and thrown into prison at Fort Carre
near Antibes. It was fortunate for him that he

52

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

was not taken to Paris, for in the wild excitement
of the hour he doubtless would have gone to the
scaffold. Junot and some of his friends were
much distressed at his misfortune and offered to
rescue him and carry him away to Genoa, but he
advised them not to attempt such an exploit as it
would only tend to compromise him. He opened
at once a correspondence with some influential
friends in Paris, protesting his innocence and
avowing his loyalty to the Republic, which for-
tunately met with a favorable response. After
an imprisonment of two weeks he was released,
but in the meantime had been deprived of his
commission.

After the fall of Robespierre a reaction set in
at once. Collot, Billaud, Vadier, Barere and
men of that class, not appreciating the fact that
a change had taken place in public sentiment,
endeavored to keep alive the Terror, but they were
soon placed under arrest and banished. During
the trial of these men the rabble rose, but the
authorities acting promptly, order was restored
without bloodshed.

Paris emerging from the gloom of the " Reign
of Terror," gradually resumed its former gayety.
Crowds of young men called the " Gilded Youth "
armed with loaded canes paraded through the
streets and drove from the highways the sans-
culottes. Girondins and Royalists returned to the
capital. Fashionable society resumed its sway
in the social world, splendid equipages once more
appeared on the avenues. Aristocratic receptions
and what were called " Balls of the Victims,"

53

NAPOLEON

most exclusive in character, were held in the fash-
ionable quarters of the city. At the latter were
assembled only those who had lost a relative on
the guillotine. One feature of the dance at these
ghastly entertainments was the rocking of the
head, simulating its fall into the basket. The
participants wore the style of dress and affected
the cool and nonchalant manner of those who had
gone to the scaffold.

On the 2Oth of May, 1795, another uprising
of the Sections took place. The mobs poured
out of the faubourgs clamoring for bread, and
for the Constitution of 1793. They invaded
the Convention, killed a brave young deputy
named Feraud, brought his head on a pike into
the hall and pushed it into the face of Boissy
d'Anglas, the presiding officer, who coolly and de-
liberately took off his hat and bowed respectfully
as if paying obeisance to the dead.

This was one of the most terrible days of the
Revolution, for the mob never before had been
in so supreme a control of the Convention, not
only interrupting the sessions but at the close of
the day calling the delegates of " the Mountain "
together and dictating legislation. Towards mid-
night the mob withdrew, like a wild beast slunk
to its lair and for the time being ceased even
to growl.

The authorities at once exerted themselves,
and six members of the Convention who were
charged with having incited the riot were tried
and condemned; three of them cheated the
guillotine by committing suicide. The murderer

54

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

of Feraud was arrested, but was rescued by the
mob.

After his release from prison Bonaparte vis-
ited his family at Marseilles and found them
in the deepest distress. His brothers, like him-
self, were out of employment. With the fall of
the Robespierreists Bonaparte had lost his most
influential friends.

While in Marseilles he had secured an appoint-
ment to the Army of the West but afterwards was
determined not to accept the position, believing
it would remove him far away from every avenue
~ of promotion.

On May second he set out from Marseilles to
Paris with his brother Louis and his friends
Marmont and Junot. They arrived at their desti-
nation on the tenth and took cheap lodgings in
a house called the Liberty Hotel.

Upon reaching the capital Bonaparte induced
the War Department to grant his request to re-
main in Paris until a general reassignment of
officers took place.

Wandering through the city without employ-
ment and poor in purse, he became at times almost
desperate. Lack of proper food reduced him to
a skeleton, his figure was emaciated and his face
wan. Madame Permon, at whose house he fre-
quently called, described him as having " sharp,
angular features ; small hands, long and thin ; his
hair long and disheveled; without gloves; wear-
ing badly made, badly polished shoes; having
always a sickly appearance, which was the result
of his lean and yellow complexion, brightened

55

NAPOLEON

only by two eyes glistening with shrewdness and
firmness."

The following description of Bonaparte about
this time in his life given by the Duchess d'Abran-
tes is vivid and most interesting : " When Napo-
leon came to see us," she writes, " after our re-
turn to Paris, his appearance made an impression
upon me I shall never forget. At this period of
his life he was decidedly ugly; he afterwards
underwent a total change. I do not speak of
the illusive charm which his glory spread around
him but I mean to say that a gradual physical
change took place in him in the space of seven
years. His emaciated thinness was converted
into a fullness of face and his complexion, which
had been yellow and apparently unhealthy, be-
came clear and comparatively fresh. His features,
which were angular and sharp, became round and
filled out. As to his smile, it was always agree-
able. The mode of dressing his hair, which had
so droll an appearance, as we see it in the prints
of the passage of the bridge of Arcola, was then
comparatively simple; for the young men of
fashion whom he used to rail at so loudly at that
time, wore their hair very long. But he was
very careless of his personal appearance, and his
hair, which was ill combed and ill powdered, gave
him the look of a sloven. His little hands, too,
underwent a great metamorphosis. When I first
saw him they were thin, long and dark; but he
was subsequently vain of their beauty and with
good reason. In short, when I recollect Napo-
leon at the commencement of 1794, with a shabby

56

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

round hat drawn over his forehead and his ill-
powdered hair hanging over the collar of his gray
great-coat, which afterwards became as celebrated
as the white plume of Henry IV, without gloves,
because he used to say they were a useless lux-
ury, with boots ill-made and ill-blacked — with
his thinness and his sallow complexion — in fine,
when I recollect him at that time and I think what
he was afterwards I do not see the same man in
the two pictures. "

Napoleon when at St. Helena, upon one occa-
sion while in a reminiscent mood, referring to
this distressed period of his life, told the following
remarkable story: Strolling along the banks of
the Seine one evening, tempted to throw himself
into the river, he met unexpectedly an old friend,
Des Mazis, who noticing his despondency asked
him the cause of it. Napoleon unreservedly made
a full confession. " Is that all ? " said his gen-
erous friend, at the same time unbuttoning his
waistcoat and unstrapping a belt, " take this,"
handing Napoleon 30,000 francs ; " it may relieve
your wants." Napoleon was so overjoyed at his
good fortune that he dashed away to send his
mother the news without even taking time to
thank his benefactor. They did not meet again
until after the establishment of the empire, when
the emperor, who never forgot a favor, repaid the
sum many times over and provided for his old
friend a lucrative position under the government.

On the 22nd of August, 1795, the Convention
decreed the new Constitution. The republican
members, fearing the results of a general election

57

1

NAPOLEON

and desirous of controlling the Convention, dis-
gusted the entire community by decreeing that the
provision of the Constitution which required the
election of one-third of the deputies every year
should apply to the existing Convention. And
thus by a legislative enactment in contravention

» of the Constitution the Convention imposed itself

\on France for two years longer.

The Constitution was the work of the conserva-
tive republicans, and vested the executive power
in the hands of five directors and the legislative
in two chambers, a Council of Ancients and a
Council of Five Hundred. It was not democratic
enough to meet with the approval of the red
republicans, and not aristocratic enough to suit
the Royalists. Accordingly on the fifth of Oc-
tober, 1795, or in the republican calendar the
thirteenth of Venclemiaire, Year IV, a mob of
40,000 men, including 20,000 of the National
Guard, with the Lepelletier section as the rallying
point, marched against the Convention, which was
holding its sessions in the Tuileries. It threat-
ened to be a second Tenth of August, the govern-
ment was to be overturned by mob force as was
the monarchy. The battle ground was the same.
On the fourth of October, the Convention had
placed Barras, a strong man in an emergency, in
command of its forces- and while planning a de-
fence he said to Tallien: " I know just the man
for our purpose. A little Corsican officer who
will not stop on ceremony." During that even-
ing diligent search was made for Bonaparte, at
the direction of Barras, who was exceedingly

58

Copyright, 1910, by George W. Jacobs & Co.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

From an original sketch in red crayon by Guerin

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

anxious to secure his services, but he could not
be found in any of his usual haunts. Later in
the night he strolled into the Tuileries, and
Barras induced him after some persuasion, to
accept the commission. The young general en-
tered upon his task with his usual energy and
before the morning dawned had converted the
palace into a veritable fortress; it bristled with
cannon and every avenue of approach was
guarded. Hearing that a number of pieces of
artillery were at Sablons, he dispatched Murat
with a troop of 300 horse to bring them at once
to the Tuileries. The cavalry arrived just in
time to save the guns, which were about to be
seized by the Insurgents, and under their very
eyes Murat whirled them away to the palace.
The total force under Napoleon consisted of
5,000 regular troops, 1,500 volunteers, and 200
cannon.

General Thiebault, in speaking of Bonaparte
at this time, says : " From the first his activity
was astonishing; he seemed to be everywhere.
He surprised people by his laconic, clear, and
prompt orders, imperative to the last degree.
Everybody was struck also by the vigor of his
arrangements and passed from admiration to con-
fidence and from confidence to enthusiasm."

On the morning of the thirteenth Vendemiaire,
the Insurgents were confronted at every point by
a complete defence. The crowd set up a shout
but hesitated to begin an attack. The day wore
away without a movement being made on either
side. At last, about half past four o'clock in

59

NAPOLEON

the afternoon, a musket shot was fired, and at a
signal from General Danican, commander of the
Sections, the attack upon the palace began. The
mob showed some courage, but could make no
headway against so formidable a defence. The
cannon swept every avenue and at six o'clock
the battle was over. The total loss was estimated
at about two hundred on each side. The actual
loss of the Insurgents must have been much
greater than this number, but it was evidently
minimized, doubtless out of political considera-
tions.

This " Day of the Sections," as this episode
was designated, was the first time in the Revolu-
tion when the army defended the constituted
authorities against the people. It was the ending
of the era of mob rule and in the dim vista
could now be seen approaching " the man on
horseback."

On October 12, 1795, Napoleon was restored
to his position as general of artillery. A few
days later, by the resignation of Barras, he was
made commander-in-chief of the Army of the
Interior. While in this position there were fre-
quent difficulties and disturbances in the sections
and faubourgs which he attempted in many in-
stances to allay by pacific means. One day while
he was addressing a crowd, a fat woman inter-
rupted him by calling upon his hearers to pay no
attention to these " smart officers who so long as
they keep fat on eating the best and richest food
do not care for the poor and starving." Bona-
parte, who was very thin, turned the tables quickly

60

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

on his interrupter by comparing his shadow of a
figure with hers. " Look at me, good woman,"
he said, " and then tell me which of us two is
the fatter." The mob good-naturedly dispersed.

61

CHAPTER IV

ROBESPIERRE BARRAS JOSEPHINE TASCHER DE

LA PAGERIE VISCOUNT BEAUHARNAIS BONA-
PARTE ADDRESSES DESIREE CLERY MADAME

PERMON BONAPARTE MEETS JOSEPHINE BEAU-
HARNAIS.

During the " Reign of Terror," when Bona-
parte was stationed at Toulon, he cultivated the
friendship of Augustine, the brother of Maxi-
milien Robespierre, who had been sent to the
army as the representative or commissioner of
the Convention. Augustine showed to Bonaparte
several letters he had received from his brother,
and Bonaparte was much impressed with their
contents. He looked upon the elder Robespierre
as a man of high ideals and believed it was his
purpose to end the " Reign of Terror " and estab-
lish a government upon a strong foundation of
law and morals. Bonaparte, too, believed that
Robespierre was the coming man in the politics
of France, and the young soldier, with an eye
for the main chance, was anxious to secure so
valuable a patron.

The events of the 9th Thermidor, as we have
seen, resulted in the complete overthrow of Robes-
pierre and his party, ushered in a new era, and
brought other men to the front. Among them

62

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

was Paul Jean, Comte de Barras, one of the
leaders in the conspiracy to destroy Robespierre.
Barras was to become in time a valuable patron of
Bonaparte, was to open up a career for the young
Corsican's ambition and to introduce him to Jose-
phine Beauharnais, who subsequently became his
wife.

Josephine Tascher de la Pagerie was a beau-
tiful Creole, born in 1763 on the island of Mar-
tinique. She was taken by her father in 1778
to visit an aunt in Paris, by whom she was subse-
quently adopted. Josephine developed early into
a charming, voluptuous woman and her hand was
sought in marriage and won by Viscount Beau-
harnais. She bore him two children, a boy and
a girl, named respectively Eugene and Hortense.
Before the birth of the daughter, the viscount and
his wife had domestic disagreements, which re-
sulted in an action for divorce, instituted by the
husband, who lost the suit and was ordered to pay
alimony. It is not known what was the cause
of the trouble, but gossip, as usual, putting the
worst construction on the case, whispered that
it was the wife's infidelity. If this were so the
order of the court, after a full hearing, that the
plaintiff should pay alimony for the respondent's
support, is a strong presumption in favor of her
innocence. After separating from her husband,
the wife went back to Martinique.

When the war for independence broke out in
America, the viscount sailed to that country with
the army of Bouille, where he remained until
the opening of the French Revolution. Upon his

63

NAPOLEON

return to France he warmly espoused the popular
cause, and was chosen a delegate of the Third
Estate to the States-General. Having taken up
his residence in Paris, he opened a correspondence
with his wife, and requested her to return to his
home. She seems to have complied willingly
with his wishes, for she came at once, and they
lived together, under the same roof, as " brother
and sister." Having been appointed commander
of the Army of the Rhine, he went to the wars
and served efficiently, if not brilliantly, the cause
of the Republic.

During the " Reign of Terror," his title of
nobility bringing him under the suspicion of the
Great Committee, he was arrested, haled before
the Revolutionary Tribunal, and sentenced to
death. He went to the guillotine with composure
and courage. In a farewell letter to his wife,
he feelingly acknowledged his fraternal affection
for her, and committed to her care the children
that had blessed their union, hoping that in their
companionship she would find that consolation
that in some measure would reconcile her to
his death.

At the time the viscount was guillotined Jose-
phine herself was in prison, having been arrested
as a " suspect," but she was released almost im-
mediately after Robespierre's execution.

Had Robespierre, to whom Bonaparte was anx-
ious to attach his fortune, lived, Josephine doubt-
less would have gone to the scaffold and the same
fate would have overtaken Barras. These two
persons were important factors in the career of

64

Copyright, 1910, by George W. Jacobs & Co,

JOSEPHINE, IN NEGLIGEE COSTUME

From an original drawing by R. Lefebre
Joseph Bonaparte Collection

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Napoleon and their demise might have changed
the whole current of his life.

" There's a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough hew them how we will."

During her incarceration Josephine had formed
an acquaintanceship with Therese Cabarrus,
known as " Notre Dame de Thermidor," because
love for her had inspired Tallien to assail and
overthrow Robespierre. Therese was a most fas-
cinating and accomplished woman, but of doubtful
reputation; for a time she was the mistress of
Tallien though subsequently she became his wife.
She was of Spanish blood, ravishingly beautiful
and the leader of the gayest and most fashionable
set in Paris.

After her release from prison, rinding herself
in straitened circumstances, Josephine took her
children from the care of Madame Egle, an aunt
in whose house they had been living during the
imprisonment of their parents, and apprenticed
them to trades. Eugene was indentured to an
upholsterer, and Hortense to a dressmaker. The
widow having placed her children at useful em-
ployments, formed an alliance with Barras, that
enabled her to indulge in a life of ease and lux-
ury. Seemingly indifferent to her own fame, and
to the reputation of her husband, and at the same
time forgetful of the duty she owed her children,
she plunged into a career of gayety and dissipa-
tion, and became one of the reigning beauties of
the court of Barras, where she divided the honors
. with her friend Madame Tallien, both women, it
5 65

NAPOLEON

is said, living on his bounty and sharing his affec-
tion.

Paul Barras was born in Provence. He was
tall and commanding in appearance, pleasing in
address, most gracious in manner, and versed in
all the arts of polite society. These gifts and
accomplishments, however, were but a veneer that
covered a nature that was both mean and ignoble.
He was a sensualist, a voluptuary. As a poli-
tician he was of moderate ability, although in an
emergency he displayed at times great energy and
decision of character. Morally he was utterly un-
scrupulous : his fortune having been acquired by
bribery, extortion and corruption. His influence
was always on sale to the highest bidder; at one
time it was purchased by the Venetian ambas-
sador for 500,000 francs.

He early advocated the cause of the people
in the Revolution and was elected a delegate to
the Convention. He became prominent as a mem-
ber of the Jacobin Club, and allied himself with
the faction of the Dantonists.

The Convention sent him during the " Reign
of Terror " as a commissioner to Toulon, and
his conduct while there was so infamous, that it
required, upon his return to Paris, all the influ-
ence he could command to prevent an investiga-
tion. His administration in that doomed city
had been not only corrupt but cruel. The guillo-
tine was set up in the public square, and blood
flowed like water, many of the rich citizens pur-
chasing safety by the payment of large sums of
money; even the innocent, if well to do, against

66

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

whom no charges could be justly preferred, found
it to their interest and ease of mind to pay trib-
ute. The commissioner returned to the capital
enriched by his infamy. Robespierre was espe-
cially bitter in his denunciation of Barras, and
openly designated him as a rascal. St. Just de-
scribed him in his characteristic style as one of
those men who make Liberty a harlot.

Barras, having come into great prominence as
one of the leaders in the revolt against Robes-
pierre, was chosen a member of the Directory,
when that executive department was organized
under the Constitution of 1795, and thus became
one of the actual rulers of France.

Barras's hand, as we have already observed,
had always been open for contributions ; but now,
being one of the chief executive officers of the
Republic, he had a broader and a richer field for
his operations. Notwithstanding his reputation
and vile practices, he was not the meanest nor
cheapest thief in the Directorate, for it is related
that one of his colleagues, Rewbell by name,
filched something every day for his purse and
" would have pocketed the candles if he had not
been watched."

The rooms of Barras in the Luxembourg were
the centre of all that was gay in the social world.
He endeavored to establish a court, known as that
of the Directory, after the style of the old regime,
and he succeeded in keeping close to the original
in so far as a reproduction of its extravagance,
luxury, licentiousness and vice were concerned.
His receptions were so brilliant and magnificent

67

NAPOLEON

that they excited even the envy of Saint Ger-
maine, the fashionable quarter in Paris, where
the nobles and the aristocracy had resided before
the Revolution, and to which many of them now
were returning from exile, and restoring their
exclusive social functions.

Barras, after the fall of Robespierre, was the
man of the hour, and Bonaparte, a soldier of
fortune, a young artillery officer, full of ambition,
but out at the elbows, early courted his favor.
Bonaparte, in referring to this matter afterwards,
and offering a sort of excuse for his association
with this demagogue, for he was rather ashamed
of it, said : " I lived in the Paris streets, without
employment. I was well received at the house
of Barras. I went there because there was noth-
ing to be had elsewhere. Robespierre was dead,
Barras was playing a role : I had to attach myself
to somebody or something."

But Bonaparte, after his success at Toulon and
his victory over the rabble on the I3th Vende-
miaire, developed into a man of the world. He
had no need now to haunt garrets, patch his
clothes, mend his stockings, pawn his watch or
eat his dinners in a six sou restaurant. He was
no longer the shy and reserved youth who, in his
shabby uniform, had induced the laughter of the
gay circle that met in Barras's parlors, but had
become far more particular in his dress and had
suddenly acquired the arts of the beau and man
of fashion. Besides by speculation or otherwise
he had accumulated quite a fortune, some friends
possibly having given him pointers on the stock

68

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

market. No matter, however, what the cause he
underwent a complete change in dress and deport-
ment.

Thinking it was about time to choose a wife
and to form a union that would give him an
influential social position, he began by proposing
for the hand of the rich and beautiful Desiree
Clery, the sister of his brother Joseph's wife; but
after some correspondence, in which he com-
plained that the young lady was too coy, the
negotiations were broken off and he was rejected.
Then he was presumptuous enough to pay his
addresses to Madame Permon, the lady in whose
house his father had died. She was a woman
of great wealth, exceedingly vain of her ancestry,
of most exalted dignity and old enough to be his
mother. She did not know, so surprised was she
at his conduct, whether to smile at his audacity or
to rebuke his impudence.

He was living in a gilded, sordid age. A great
revulsion in public feeling followed immediately
upon the death of Robespierre. France, escap-
ing from the influence of his puritanism, weary
of the gloom that prevailed during the rule of this
ascetic and virtuous dictator, plunged straightway
into gayety and dissipation. Extravagance ran
riot; bankers, brokers, speculators, successful
bourgeoisie, came to the front. On every side
there was seen an ostentatious display of wealth.
" The riches of those who had made fortunes in
the Revolution," says Lacretelle, " began to shine
with unprecedented lustre. Splendid hotels,
sumptuously furnished, were embellished by mag-

69

NAPOLEON

nificent fetes." The hoarse roar of the mob, the
terrifying voice of the Revolution, had tempora-
rily subsided and was fast dying out into an echo,
and Paris, recovering from her fright, began to
assume the gay appearance that distinguished her
in the days of the old regime.

Bonaparte saw that money was the " sesame "
that opened every door. Perhaps in no heart
ever burned more fiercely the fires of ambition and
doubtless he thought that the great wealth of
Madame Permon, together with her high and
influential social station, would secure the op-
portunity he sought. That he was in earnest
in his suit there can be no doubt. Evidently, he
was not fascinated by the beauty of a woman
twice his age, but he may have been induced to
lay siege to her heart in order to secure her
influence and dower as stepping stones to his
promotion.

At the time of the fall of "the Mountain,"
Madame Permon had concealed in her house Sal-
icetti, a fellow countryman of Napoleon and a
prominent Robespierreist, and fled with him in
disguise, his identity being concealed under the
garb of a lackey. In June, 1795, Bonaparte wrote
a letter to Salicetti in which he treats him as a
rival, stating : " I could have denounced thee but
did not, although it would have been but a just
revenge so to do." To Madame Permon he com-
plainingly declared that although she had not
taken him into her confidence he knew all the
while that she was harboring Salicetti. The let-
ters evince the spirit of a disappointed lover.

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THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

About this time, however, he met a woman who
fairly bewitched him and whose life, it may be said,
became interwoven with his destiny. It is gen-
erally believed that it was in Barras's house that
Bonaparte first saw Josephine. There is a story,
thought to be somewhat apocryphal in character,
that the initial meeting between them came about
in the following fashion: Eugene Beauharnais, a
beautiful boy, called on General Bonaparte the day
after the disarmament of the Sections, and with
tears in his eyes requested the return of his
father's sword. His request having been granted,
Madame Beauharnais called on the general,
shortly afterwards, to thank him for his courtesy
and kindness in the matter. It was then, so the
story goes, that he was won by her grace and
charm of manner, and lost his heart at first sight.

This is a very pretty little romance that Bona-
parte himself loved to relate, for he was naturally
very chary about admitting his association with
Barras in this matter, knowing full well it was
common gossip that he had received Josephine
as a gift from the Director, and that he had agreed
to accept the siren, under the inducement of his
appointment as commander-in-chief of the Army
in Italy.

CHAPTER V

BONAPARTE WOOS JOSEPHINE BONAPARTE WEDS

JOSEPHINE CHARACTER OF JOSEPHINE BO-
NAPARTE DEPARTS FOR ITALY.

When Bonaparte met Josephine he began at
once to lay siege to her heart, with such ardor
and " with so violent a tenderness " that he ter-
rified her. This woman of the world, who had
made commerce of her love, did not understand
such devotion and earnestness of purpose. She
hesitated to accept him, for fear so intense a
passion would soon burn itself out. In a letter
to a friend asking advice as to whether or not she
should receive the attentions of her ardent suitor,
she admits that she does not understand him, and
though she does not love him she feels no repug-
nance. " I admire," she writes, " the general's
courage, the extent of his information about all
manner of things, concerning which he talks
equally well, the quickness of his intelligence, but
I confess I am afraid of the power he seems anx-
ious to wield over all about him. His piercing
scrutiny has in it something strange and inex-
plicable, that awes even our directors : think, then,
how it frightens a woman."

Josephine still retained much of her beauty,
although she was in the early autumn of her

72

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

womanhood. She had fine brown or chestnut
hair, large full expressive eyes, a small retrousse
nose, a pretty, sensuous mouth, and though she
was slightly under the average size, her figure was
so well proportioned as to give the impression of
height; she seemed taller than she really was.
She dressed with exquisite taste, and studied every
art that added to the attractiveness of her person.
She was six years older than Bonaparte. She
had neither wealth nor social station, although
she must have made him believe she had both,
else how could she have accounted for her extrav-
agant and luxurious mode of living, especially in
view of the fact that she was residing in one of
Barras's houses.

At this time her beauty had lost some of its
early bloom, her teeth were beginning to show
signs of decay, but her elegance of manner still
retained its charm. " She possessed," said Bona-
parte, " the calm and dignified demeanor which
belongs to the old regime," but what impressed
him the most was her sweet and gentle voice.
Upon his entryjnto Paris after his Italian cam-
paign, when the streets were ringing with the
cheers and plaudits of the people, he turned to
Bourrienne and remarked : " That greeting is
almost as sweet to my ears as is the voice of
Josephine.'"' Time and again he referred to the
music of its tones and it seemed ever to ring in
his memory, even relieving the solitude of his im-
prisonment at St. Helena.

That Bonaparte was in love with Josephine
there can be no doubt ; at the same time, however,

73

NAPOLEON

he was not the man to lose any of the advantages
that might go with the alliance, and Barras having
promised to secure for him, in lieu of the bride's
dower, an appointment as commander of the
Army of Italy, he took care to see that the agree-
ment was carried out to the letter.

Bonaparte was not blind; he did not offer his
hand in marriage to this woman with his eyes
shut ; nor was he lured to destruction by a siren,
for he did most of the wooing himself. He must
have known Josephine's character. He was in-
formed of her past history; the very house she
occupied was shady in reputation; she was sus-
pected, and there was every reason for the sus-
picion, of being the mistress of Barras; and her
companions were women of the world. Although
these Aspasias considered themselves far above
the demi-monde, they moved in a circle that was
higher only in the social, not in the moral scale.
Madame Hamelin, whose reputation was noto-
rious, was one of the leaders in this fashionable
set, as was also the clever and bewitching Madame
Recamier. Therese Cabarrus, Josephine's boon
companion, was a woman of easy virtue; her
drawing-room receptions were most brilliant and
crowded with men of the highest distinction,
whose wives, however, insisted upon remaining
at home.

This coterie of women who surrounded Barras,
like moths around a candle, set the modes and
fashions of the hour. On one occasion Therese
appeared upon the streets in a costume that was,
to say the least, vulgar and immodest, even for

74

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

that period when the dress of women was most
suggestive. The under garment was of pink or
flesh-colored silk, which closely fitted the body
and limbs. Over this was worn a robe that fell
in graceful folds, and was so diaphanous that it
revealed the beautiful contour of the figure it was
used simply to cover not to conceal, and so trans-
parent and fine was it in texture that it did not
dim the lustre of the jewels in the bracelet that
encircled the thigh. Crowds of hoodlums fol-
lowed and jeered her until at last she had to
seek safety in a milliner's shop. Of course it may
be said that Josephine was not responsible for the
conduct of her friend, but it shows the character
of the women with whom she associated.

When Napoleon became First Consul he
dropped the names of Madame Tallien and many
of her gay and charming companions from his
invitation list, declaring, much to the disgust and
chagrin of his amiable wife, that such women
should not cross the threshold of St. Cloud.

Finally, Josephine, after some hesitation and
delay, accepted the hand of her devoted lover and
on February 9, 1796, their bans were pro-
claimed.

A short time -before the wedding, on motion
of Carnot and at the instance of Barras, Bona-
parte, who had seen but little actual service in
the field, whose military experience, in the
main, had been the scattering of the mob by " a
whiff of grapeshot " in the streets of Paris, and
who knew nothing but what he had learned in
books of the handling of large masses of infantry

75

NAPOLEON

and cavalry, was given the command of the Army
in Italy.

Carnot, " the organizer of victory," did not act,
however, without reason in this matter, for he
had studied with much care a plan of campaign
for the Army in Italy as prepared and submitted
by Bonaparte, and was greatly impressed with its
clearness and simplicity and especially with its
handling of detail. The plan was forwarded to
General Scherer, then commander of the Army
in Italy, whose tart reply was that the man who
had prepared the plan should be sent to the seat
of war to carry it out. Carnot, taking the crab-
bed soldier at his word, had Bonaparte appointed
in his stead, Barras with his influence as a member
of the Directory, doing of course all in his power
to aid in the matter.

If this appointment was the dowry brought by
Josephine to Bonaparte, it was indeed a rich one,
for it gave an opportunity to the young soldier
to open a career of military glory that was to
dazzle the world and to immortalize his fame.

The marriage by civil contract took place March
9, 1796. The bride gave her age as three years
younger than she actually was, and Bonaparte,
with a gallantry that under the circumstances was
to be commended, had himself registered one year
older than his real age, so as to make the disparity
appear less noticeable. It was because of the
actual difference between the ages that the gos-
sipy old ladies of both houses predicted the union
would be barren.

The wedding was without ceremony ; a pair of
76

Copyright, 1910, by George W. Jacobs & Co.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

From an original drawing by Ledru, 1797
From the Joseph Bonaparte Collection

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

peasants could not have had one simpler. There
was no member of either family present. There
were no groomsmen, nor bridesmaids; only the
subscribing witnesses attended. There was noth-
ing to suggest that in eight years the contracting
parties, who in a notary's office were being so
plainly united in wedlock, would be crowned in
the cathedral of Notre Dame, amidst the greatest
splendor, emperor and empress of the French.

Josephine signed her name to the record as
Detascher, ignoring Beauharnais altogether, while
the groom wrote Bonaparte instead of Buona-
parte, thus dropping all trace of his Corsican and
Italian origin.

After indulging in a honeymoon of two days,
Bonaparte, on March eleventh, took his departure
for Italy.

Josephine, a born coquette with her light and
frivolous nature, did not really appreciate the
intellect, the great force of character, the genius
of Bonaparte, and at times appeared to be an-
noyed by his attentions.

After he left for Italy, his letters, so warm
with affectionate longings, simply worried her and
failed to excite her love. There may have been
a reason for this, for during his absence she re-
newed acquaintance with her old friends, and led
a life of gayety and pleasure. Under such cir-
cumstances letters so ardent as Bonaparte's must
have to such a woman seemed only a rebuke
rather than a consolation for his absence.

"I awake full of thee," he wrote; "thy por-
trait and yester eve's intoxicating charm have

77

NAPOLEON

left my senses no repose. Sweet and matchless
Josephine, how strange your influence upon my
heart ! Are you angry, do I see you sad, are you
uneasy, my soul is moved with grief, and there
is no rest for your friend ; but is there then more
when, yielding to an overmastering desire, I draw
from your lips, your heart, a flame which con-
sumes me? Thou leavest at noon; three hours
more and I shall see thee again — Meantime, mio
dolce amor, a thousand kisses ; but give me none,
for they set me all afire."

This surely was ardent enough for the warm-
est nature, and should have induced a loyal devo-
tion, but it failed to secure the fervid response
to which it was entitled.

When Bonaparte was in Italy winning victories
and covering himself with glory, his chief thought
was for Josephine, and he sent his fiery love let-
ters to Paris one after the other by the swiftest
couriers.

While at Tortona, in June, he received word
that his wife showed symptoms of pregnancy.
The delighted husband was overwhelmed with
joy.

" I care for honor/' he writes, " because you
do, for victory because it gratifies you, otherwise
I would have left all else to throw myself at your
feet. Be sure that I love you, above all that can
be imagined — persuaded that every moment of
my time is consecrated to you ; that never an hour
passes without thought of you; that it never
occurred to me to think of another woman; that
they are all in my eyes without grace, without

78

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

beauty, without wit ; that you — you alone, as I
see you, as you are — could please and absorb all
the faculties of my soul ; that you have fathomed
all its depths ; that my heart has no fold unopened
to you, no thoughts which are not attendant upon
you ; that my strength, my arms, my mind are all
yours; that my soul is in your form, and that
the day you change, or the day you cease to be,
will be that of my death ; that nature, the earth,
is lovely in my eyes, only because you dwell within
it. If you do not believe all this, if your soul is
not persuaded, saturated, you distress me, you do
not love me. Between those who love is a mag-
netic bond. You know I could never see you with
a lover, much less endure your having one: to
see him and to tear out his heart, would be for
me one and the same thing, and then, could I, I
would lay violent hands on your sacred person.
. . . No, I would never dare, but I would
leave a world when that which is most virtuous
had deceived me. ... A child, lovely as its
mother, is to see the light in your arms. Wretched
man that I am, a single day would satisfy me.
A thousand kisses on your eyes and on your lips.
Adorable woman! what a power you have! I
am sick with your disease : besides, I have a burn-
ing fever. Keep the courier but six hours, and
let him return at once, bringing to me the darling
letter of my queen."

It was unfortunate for both Bonaparte and his
wife that the signs of motherhood disappeared.

Again he wrote: "Adieu, my adorable Jose-
phine ! Think of me often. When you cease to

79

NAPOLEON

love your Achilles — when your heart grows cold
towards him — you will be very cruel, very un-
just. But I am sure you will always continue my
faithful mistress as I shall ever remain your fond
lover. Death alone can break the union which
sentiment, love, and sympathy have formed. Let
me have news of your health. A thousand and a
thousand kisses."

In another letter, still writing from Italy, just
on the eve of battle, he says : " I am far from you,
I seem to be surrounded by the blackest night;
I need the lurid light of the thunderbolts which
we are about to hurl on our enemies to dispel the
darkness into which your absence has plunged me.
Josephine, you wept when we parted; you wept!
At that thought all my being trembles. But he
consoled. Wiirmser shall pay dearly for the
tears which I have seen you shed."

It indeed would be strange if her " Creole non-
chalance," as she was pleased to designate her
indifference, did not yield to such rhapsodies.
Her lover threatens to shed torrents of blood to
avenge her tears, tears which were wiped away
and succeeded by smiles so soon as he was out
of sight.

The warrior surely was in love, his letters were
aflame with passion, but in them can there not
be traced an undercurrent of fear, of doubt that
Josephine may not be altogether true ? The lines
" You know I could never see you with a lover
or endure your having one " and the threat " to
tear out the heart " of the intruder and " to lay
violent hands on her sacred person " would
So

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

scarcely have been written by Bonaparte if he had
had implicit confidence in the integrity of his wife.

While Bonaparte was in Italy a glass in a frame
covering the portrait of Josephine was accidentally
broken; his face at once turned as pale as death
and, addressing Marmont, he exclaimed : " That's
a bad omen; Josephine is either dead or false."
This dread of his wife's treachery seemed ever
present to his mind.

He knew her light, frivolous and coquettish
nature, her love of admiration, and, recalling her
past history, there was perhaps a reason for his
doubts, and his absence from her only increased
his jealousy, especially in view of the fact that
her letters were as cold as steel in comparison
with his.

While Bonaparte was in Egypt, Josephine lived
in open adultery with one of her former admirers,
Captain Hippolite Charles, till her conduct be-
came the talk of the town, and a common scandal.

When Bonaparte returned to France, having
already heard of his wife's infidelity, he hurried
to Paris. Josephine with her son started forth
to meet him on the road, but unfortunately by
some mishap took the wrong direction and missed
him. Bonaparte reached his house in the rue
de la Victoire before his wife returned, and when
she arrived he refused to see her, retired to his
room, and closed the door in her face. For
days she lay on the floor outside of his chamber,
plaintively sobbing and crying : " Mon ami !
Mon ami ! " until that voice which once charmed
him with its sweetness revived his old-time love.
6 81

NAPOLEON

Bonaparte had held a family conference on
the question of her conduct, and had decided to
institute divorce proceedings; but when his
brothers, after the consultation, returned to advise
further upon the matter, they found that Bona-
parte had relented, for Josephine was in his arms
and both husband and wife seemed to be as happy
as children.

Bourrienne, in his Memoirs, relates, that in
after years when he and Napoleon were walking
along a boulevard in Paris a carriage hastily drove
by in which was seated the former paramour of
Josephine, Captain Charles. Napoleon caught a
glimpse of his rival, but the only sign he gave
as to the fact of recognition was a spasmodic
clutch of Bourrienne's arm.

It would seem impossible after this flagrant in-
fidelity upon the part of Josephine that Napoleon
should ever have had for her the same regard
and affection as of old, but nevertheless it is true
that she wielded an influence and exerted a fasci-
nation over him to the last that no other woman
ever did.

They gradually grew to understand each other,
and lived agreeably together. Her extravagance,
however, gave him great annoyance, for her
expenditures were most lavish and her pre-
varications when he asked her as to the amount
of her indebtedness greatly angered him, but
this seemed to be their principal cause of dis-
agreement.

Even subsequent to his divorce and his mar-
riage to Maria Louisa, he frequently inquired after

82

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

the welfare of Josephine, and sometimes called
on her at Malmaison, and she was one of the first
to whom he sent news of his good fortune when
the king of Rome was born. During his impris-
onment at St. Helena she was the only woman,
the mention of whose name revived the affection
of his heart and Josephine was the last \vord on
his dying lips.

CHAPTER VI

BONAPARTE IN ITALY

Prince Metternich uttered the truth in a sim-
ple phrase when he said : " Italy is only a geo-
graphical expression and can lay no claim to
national existence." And yet nature seems to
have drawn her boundaries with the idea specially
of creating her a national unit. A high range
of snow-peaked mountains separates her from
the continent of Europe, and she lies in the em-
brace of two seas. Like a great spur from the
mainland, she extends far out into the Mediter-
ranean, while her eastern shores are washed by
the waters of the Adriatic.

"// bel paese
CtiApenmn parte, il mar circonda e I'AIpc."

But even mountains and seas could not pro-
tect her from foreign and hostile invaders. Her
fair plains became the battle fields of Europe,
and her states the booty of contending armies,
peace congresses mapped out her geographical
divisions, and her so-called commonwealths and
republics existed alone by royal sufferance. Al-
though her people were of one race, speaking
virtually the same tongue, and having a common
literature, they, nevertheless, could not be welded

84

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

into a homogeneous mass, and the country was
broken, politically, into fragments.

In his Memoirs, written at Saint Helena, Napo-
leon, looking into the future with a prophetic
vision, said : " Italy, isolated within its natural
limits, separated by the sea and by very high
mountains from the rest of Europe, seems called
to be a great and powerful nation. . . .
Unity in manners, language, literature, ought
finally, in a future more or less remote, to unite
its inhabitants under a single government. . . .
Rome is beyond doubt the capital which the
Italians will one day choose." A remarkable
prophecy, spoken at a time when nothing seemed
so far distant as the unity of Italy, a prophecy
which reached its fulfillment only in a compara-
tively recent period.

In 1796, Genoa and Venice proudly laid claim
to the title of republics. Naples and the Mil-
anese groaned under the yoke of foreign masters.
Parma, Modena, and Lucca were petty states,
the courts of which were nests of intrigue, con-
spiracy and corruption. The Duchy of Tuscany
was ruled by a member of the reigning house of
Austria; Piedmont and Sardinia were governed
by a prince of Savoy ; the southern portion of the
peninsula and Sicily were ruled by a descendant
of the Spanish Bourbons. The Papal States
were steeped in ignorance and dominated by the
popes.

It was in this land of the Caesars, in this land
where Rome, seated on her seven hills, had been
the mistress of the world, in this land so rich in

8s

NAPOLEON

historic association, so fertile in example and
illustration, so reminiscent of glorious effort and
deed, that Bonaparte was to find a stage upon
which to begin his marvelous career, and a fitting
theatre for the portrayal of his genius and power.
The entry of this great actor in the world's his-
tory had a most dramatic setting.

Just before his departure from the capital, on
taking leave of a friend, he said : " In three
months I shall be either at Milan or back again
in Paris," intimating his resolve to succeed, and
that quickly.

When Bonaparte reached Nice to take com-
mand of the army, he issued the first of his
famous bulletins which rang in the ears of the
troops like a blast from a trumpet. " Soldiers !
you are naked, barely fed. The government owes
you much, it can give you nothing. Your en-
durance and the courage you have shown among
these crags do you credit, but gain you no advan-
tage, reflect upon you not a ray of glory. I will
lead you into the most fertile plains in the world;
rich provinces, great cities will be in your power,
and then you will find honor, glory, and riches.
Soldiers of Italy, can you be found wanting in
courage and constancy ? "

Heretofore the republican army, animated by
the purpose and spirit of the Revolution, had
been fighting for principle, for the liberation of
men and states from tyranny and arbitrary rule;
but now it was to fight for glory and booty. Such
a proclamation made by a general in command of
the armies of the Revolution, before the over-

86

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

throw of Robespierre, would have sent him to
the guillotine; then there was a repression of
individual effort, a leveling of the mass. Such
language would have created suspicion, and would
have revealed the spirit of the dictator. In that
period of Jacobin rule a general could but carry
out the orders of the Great Committee, and any
assumption of authority upon his part would have
stripped him of his command, and placed him
under arrest.

The days of reaction had changed all this, and
the people, breaking away from the rigid and
austere principles of democracy, were going-
just as far in the other direction. Wealth and
individual power, after a long interval of
suppression, were asserting themselves, and
ostentatiously making a display that during
the " Reign of Terror " was called incwism
and would have brought the offenders to the
scaffold.

Bonaparte represented the reaction, and the peo-
ple, no longer frightened by the spectre of dictator-
ship, hailed with joy his victories, in spite of
his assumption of authority. No wonder that a
keen observer, who had been impressed by his
audacity and genius, remarked : " His career will
end either on a throne or a scaffold." Did not
he himself, upon one occasion say, while tapping
his sword hilt : " This will carry me far " ? At
this time, any clever politician could easily have
discerned, looming up above the horizon, " the
man on horseback," the military dictator with his
legions behind him, his shadow already falling

87

NAPOLEON

athwart the pathway of the Republic and threat-
ening its integrity.

The proclamation aroused, as was natural, the
greatest enthusiasm among the troops and sent
despair into the hearts of the inhabitants of Italy,
for it announced plainly that the army of in-
vaders if victorious would lay waste the land,
despoil the cities and compel the payment of
tribute.

Before Bonaparte started from Paris to take
command of the army he was informed by the
Directors that the country invaded would have
to pay the expenses of the campaign, for the
government was without money. The Directory
gave him 47,500 francs in cash and good drafts
for 20,000 more, which, however, was a very
small sum for the undertaking in hand; yet to
get even this amount they almost emptied the pub-
lic coffers. With this meagre sum to carry on
the extensive operations in contemplation there
was nothing apparently left to do but to forage
and loot; but be it said to the credit of Bona-
parte that, although he exacted heavy tribute from
conquered states and provinces, there was only
one town he surrendered to pillage and that was
Pavia. In this instance he was induced to yield
to the clamors of his troops but he stopped the
robbery after three hours' duration.

In the year 1796 the Republic was in deep
distress; the treasury was empty, business stag-
nant, and labor unemployed. The paper cur-
rency, because of the vast overissues of assignats,
was almost worthless, it had hardly any purchas-

88

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

ing value, and in consequence the necessaries of
life rose to exorbitant figures. It was a common
saying among the housewives that it took a bas-
ket of assignats to purchase a purse full of food.
The administration of the government was cor-
rupt and inefficient. Speculation ran rife, bread-
stuffs were cornered. The army contractors,
hand in glove with the public officials, were reap-
ing fortunes at the expense of naked and starving
soldiers.

The army of the Sambre and Meuse was com-
manded by Jourdan, that of the Rhine by Moreau,
and that of the West by Hoche. Scherer, who
had been in command of the Army of Italy be-
fore the appointment of Bonaparte, had in the
latter part of November, 1795, beaten the com-
bined forces of the Austrians and Piedmontese at
Loano; but, not following up his victory, had in
consequence given great offence to the Directory.
Sulking in his tent and complaining of the neg-
lect of the home government he was but adding
to the discontent of the army. The soldiers were
in dire want; they had neither food nor clothing
in sufficient quantities. The commissariat, for
some time past, had furnished them with nothing
to eat but dry bread. For months they had re-
ceived no pay, and during the winter had under-
gone the greatest suffering and privation. It
was this poor scarecrow of an army, half naked
and half fed, preferring to cling to the crags and
the passes of the Alps, rather than venture out
into the open plains and give battle to the enemy,
that Bonaparte had promised to lead into fertile

89

NAPOLEON

fields. His cheering words electrified the army,
and aroused it from its stupor. Through the
camps where there had been only lethargy and
discontent now rang the hum and noise of prepa-
ration. There had been some doubt expressed
as to how this pale-faced stripling, a mere aca-
demic, book soldier, without military experience
save in fighting the rabble in the streets of Paris,
would be received by the army; but all doubt
on this point was soon dispelled, for the very
presence of the young commander seemed to
charge the air with enthusiasm.

Upon his arrival at Nice he had to suppress
mutiny, and he did it with a firm hand ; he found
it necessary to disband a battalion for insubordi-
nation. He seized his command with an iron
grip, and so boldly asserted his power that he in-
spired confidence in the superior officers as well
as in the rank and file.

From the moment of his appointment as com-
mander-in-chief, his manner and conduct under-
went a change. He received his old friends, even
Decres, with an air of coql reserve, with a bear-
ing of marked superiority /\ He knew that many
of the older generals, like Massena, Augereau,
Serurier, La Harpe, Kellermann and Cervoni, re-
sented at first his promotion and sneeringly re-
ferred to him as " le general Vendemiaire " or
" general of the boulevards," and that they would
be presumptuous at the first sign of weakness or
dependence upon his part. So he asserted his
power at once, and they soon felt and acknowl-
edged his masterly skill, self-assurance, and over-
go .

Copyright, 1910, by George W. Jacobs & Co.

MURAT

From an original drawing in colors by Ledru, 1797
From the Joseph Bonaparte Collection

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

»

powering genius. Even the blatant and bluster-
ing Augereau, one day after an interview with
Bonaparte in his tent, came out remarking:
" That little devil makes me tremble all over."

The French army in Italy consisted of 37,000
men stationed along the coast of the Mediterra-
nean in the neighborhood of Nice, and in the
passes of the lower Alps.

On the other side of the mountains were two
armies. One, the Sardinian army, numbering
20,000 men, under the command of General Colli,
watched the passes and protected the roads run-
ning towards Turin, which city was its base of
supplies. The other, the Austrian army, under
the command of General Beaulieu, of 35,000 men,
had its line of communication on Alessandria.
This last army occupied Genoa and stretched from
that city, until its right joined the Sardinian left.
The whole distance covered by the extended line
of the two armies from Genoa to the passes of the
Ligurian Alps was about sixty miles.

To meet these conditions Bonaparte concen-
trated his forces, and at once began the offensive.
He took the road as if marching to Genoa, thus
inducing Beaulieu to strengthen his line at that
point, when suddenly turning to the left he drove
his army like a wedge between the widely sepa-
rated divisions of the enemy and fought a number
of battles, in each instance winning a decisive vic-
tory. The principal engagements were Monte-
notte, fought on April I2th; Millessimo, on the
1 3th, and Mondovi, on the 22d. Montenotte is
interesting in that it was the first battle fought

91

NAPOLEON

by Bonaparte in the campaign. At this town
Colonel Rampon, with a force of 1,200 men,
seized a redoubt and held it against all odds,
thus preventing the Austrian General Argenteau
from attacking the main army on the flank. The
Austrians made charge after charge, hurling them-
selves with desperate fury against the little band,
but without avail. In the midst of the conflict,
so the story goes, Rampon called upon his sol-
diers to swear with uplifted hands on their can-
non and colors that they would die rather than
surrender. Against such devotion, resolution and
courage, the Imperialists fought in vain. Night
fell upon the combatants, and the Austrians slept
upon their arms, eager to renew the attack the
next day; but in the meantime Bonaparte hurried
to the relief of the devoted band of defenders and,
in the first rays of the morning sun, the Austrians,
at a glance, saw that they were all but completely
surrounded by a superior force of the French.
They fought desperately to break through the
net that the masterly skill of Bonaparte had woven
around them, while they slept, but they were
turned back at every point, until their defeat be-
came a rout. Their loss was 1,000 killed, 2,000
taken prisoners.

Unfortunately for the truth of this thrilling
incident, in so far as it relates to the taking of
the oath by the soldiers under Rampon, the rec-
ords show that there were no cannon and flags
in the redoubt upon which the men could have
sworn, that the commander of the force was
an officer named Fornesy, and not Rampon, and

92

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

that the words of the former were simply:
" C'est id, mes amis, qu'il faut vaincre oil
mourir." " My friends, it is here we must con-
quer or die." Although the matter has given
rise to considerable controversy, there is, after
all, not much difference between the two versions
after the correction is made as to the names of
the officers.

Having separated the forces of the ?r^rmwi
Bonaparte now turned his back on Beaulieu, re-
sistlessly drove the army of tlie Sardinians away
from its ally, and defeated it in every encounter.
The king of Piedmont asked for an armistice,
which Bonaparte refused, all the while, however,
pushing the Sardinians so fiercely that he did
not give them time to rest, and kept them almost
constantly on the run. So closely did he follow
them that often as the rear guard of tne TetreaP
ing army left a village the vanguard of the French
entered it..

Turin was not far distant and the Sardinians
were endeavoring to prevent the cutting of the
lines of communication and to cover the roads
leading to that city, but Bonaparte was deter-
mined to force if possible its capitulation. The

being con-

vinced, at last, that further resistance to so per-
sistent and indomitable a pufsuer as Bonaparte
was useless, agreed to surrender, and on April
28th, at Cherasco, a treaty of peace was signed
which was mos favorab o fo

The conference arranging the preliminaries
was a long one. Bonaparte met the envoys in

93

NAPOLEON

a manner that was coldly polite, and, growing
impatient because the negotiations were proceed-
ing so slowly, took out his watch about noon
and said in the most nonchalant manner : " Gen-
tlemen, I warn you, that a general attack is
ordered for two o'clock, and if I am not assured
that Coni will be put in my hands before night-
fall the attack will not be postponed for one mo-
ment. It may happen to me to lose battles, but
no one shall ever see me lose minutes either by
over-confidence or sloth." The terms were forth-
with signed. By the treaty Victor Amadeus
yielded up Savoy and Nice and renounced the
alliance with Austria. The Imperialists upon
receipt of this information waxed wroth, and their
camp rang with denunciation of their cowardly
and traitorous ally.

The young soldier was^no\v_J:he jdpj_o£_his
army. Strategy so"TSrTllIant,"vlcfories so glorious
aroused the greatest enthusiasm and elicited the
warmest admiration, not only in the army but
throughout all France, and Bonaparte was hailed
everywhere as the first captain of his times.
" Hannibal," he said one day to his staff, " took
the Alps by storm; we have turned their flank."

Yet Bonaparte had fallen into disfavor with
the home government. He had unquestionably
violated his orders, in that he had entered into a
treaty of peace without the authority or even the
sanction of the Directory, and he had given
offence in many quarters because he did not de-
stroy utterly the kingdom of Piedmont and Sar-
dinia and annex the territory to France; but he

94

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

was on the ground, and knew how far he could
go better than those who were hundreds of miles
away from the seat of war. -1[n waste tirrjs in

advising •\A^J^--^^€^tor^--s^^'^''wh3kt - terms
should be enforced would only have given an
opportunity to delay the settlement and have en-
abled the Austrians, with whom he yet had to
battle, to strengthen their forces and provide
means of defence. It must be borne in mind that
itf took the swiftest courier about seven days to
cover the distance between Nice and Paris.

He had also been directed to destroy the Aus-
trian army before advancing against the Sardin-
but these orders he had absolutely ignored,
and, following his own bent, had proceeded first,
after separating the two armies, to bring the Sar-
dinians to terms. Such conduct of course pro-
voked the opposition of the Directory and to break
his power it was suggested to him to share
his command with another officer; but he soon
killed that project by threatening to resign.

In his communication to Carnot on this matter
he wrote : " Kellermann would command the army
as well as I; for no one is more convinced than
I am of the courage and audacity of the soldiers,
but to unite us together would ruin everything.
I will not serve with a man who considers him-
self the first general in Europe; and it is better
to have one bad general than two good ones.
War, like government, is decided in a great de-
gree by tact."

In answer to this letter Carnot wrote : " The
Directory has maturely considered your argu-

95

NAPOLEON

ments; and the confidence which they have in
your talents and republican zeal has decided the
matter in your favor. Kellermann will remain
at Chamber ry, and you may adjourn the expedi-
tion to Rome as long as you please."

So strong had he grown in public favor that
the matter of dividing his authority, as will be
seen by Carnot's letter, was hastily and quietly
dropped.

He was his own press agent, and the dazzling
bulletins he sent home announcing his victories
and praising the valor of his troops set the Pari-
sians wild with excitement. After the campaign
was over he dispatched Murat to Paris with a score
of flags captured from the enemy. At the sight
of such trophies of victory the joyous acclamations
of that glory-loving people soon silenced the
grumblers.

Soldiers ! in a fortnight," said Bonaparte, ad-
dressing his victorious army in one of his famous
bulletins, "you have gained six victories, taken
twenty-one pairs of colors, fifty-five pieces of can-
non, several fortresses, and conquered the richest
part of Piedmont ; you have made fifteen thousand
prisoners, and killed or wounded more than ten
thousand men ; you had hitherto been fighting for
barren rocks, rendered glorious by your courage
but useless to the country ; you now rival by your
services the army of Holland and of the Rhine.
Destitute of everything, you have supplied all
your wants. You have gained battles without
cannon, crossed rivers without bridges, made
forced marches without shoes, bivouacked without

96

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

brandy, and often without bread. The republican
phalanxes, the soldiers of liberty, alone could have
endured what you have suffered. Thanks be to
you for it, soldiers ! Your grateful country will
owe to you its prosperity, and, if your conquest at
Toulon foreboded the glorious campaign of 1793,
your present victories forebode one still more
glorious. The two armies which so lately
attacked you boldly are fleeing affrighted before
you; the perverse men who laughed at your dis-
tress and rejoiced in thought at the triumph of
your enemies are confounded and trembling.
But, soldiers, you have done nothing, since more
remains to be done. Neither Turin nor Milan
is yours; the ashes of the conquerors of Tarquin
are still trampled upon by the murderers of Basse-
ville. There are said to be among you some
whose courage is subsiding, and who would prefer
returning to the summits of the Apennines and
of the Alps. No ; I cannot believe it. The con-
querors of Montenotte, Millessimo, Dego, and
Mondovi are impatient to carry the glory of the
French people to distant countries."

97

CHAPTER VII

BONAPARTE IN ITALY — CONTINUED

Bonaparte had yet another enemy to meet be-
fore his victory was complete, and he straightway
set about the task.

After the TneaJyjDf^Cherasco, which was signed
April 28th, Beaulieu retreated to the north side
of the Po, and made preparations to defend Lom-
bardy and Milan. Bonaparte headed his forces
directly for thaTriver, and ostensibly made prepa-
ration to cross it at Valenza. He deployed a
large force at that point and acted as if he were
bringing into requisition all the boats he could
find in that vicinity to be used in the transporta-
tion of his troops. The rusejsucceeded even be-
yond his expectations^ for Beaiitieu" never sus-
pected that while these extensive preparations
were going on at Valenza the French army with-
out molestation was crossing the river at Palenza.
fifty miles away. Beaulieu, finding that he had
been outwitted and that his line of communication
was threatened, abandoned the defence of Milan,
and hastened to Lodi. Marching hurriedly, Bo-
naparte reached that town only a few hours after
the arrival of Beaulieu. The Adda, a branch of
the Po, a shallow but rapidly flowing stream, was
crossed here by a wooden bridge 200 yards in

98

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

length, which bridge the Austrians had not had
time to burn, so quickly had the French come
upon them. It was, however, strongly defended,
and swept by Austrian artillery. Bonaparte had
placed behind the town, concealed from the Aus-
trians, a large body of grenadiers, about 6,000
in number. He had given orders to the cavalry
to ford the river, and after reaching the other
side they were to attack at once the flank of the
Austrians while the grenadiers would charge over
the bridge and assail them in front. Bonaparte,
seeing that the horsemen had safely crossed below,
hurriedly, but just in the nick of time, marched
his grenadiers out from behind their shelter and
ordered them to charge. They responded
promptly and with a cheer; but when half way
over the bridge, so fierce was the hail of missiles
from the Austrian musketry and artillery, that
for an instant they faltered and began to recoil.
At this moment Bonaparte, Lannes, Massena, and_
Berthier rushed upon the bridge in the face of
almost certain death, steadied the column, and J
led the charge. The Austrians, attacked in front^
and on the flank, gave way, and were routed at
every point. In the charge across the bridge
Lannes was the first and Bonaparte the second
man over.

The young commander had shown his skill as a
strategist, and in that he had won the confidence
and reliance of the troops, but they had never
before seen him under fire, and they did not know
whether he had that personal courage that so
commands the admiration of the common soldiers.

99

NAPOLEON

/Now they knew the quality and spirit of the man,

( and he was endeared to them more than ever.

) Besides his bravery on the bridge, he had shown

A superb courage by coolly sighting a cannon under

/ a terrific fire during the artillery duel, before the

/grenadiers charged.

It was his almost miraculous escape from death
at Lodi that induced him to believe that he was
" destined to accomplish great things." " Ven-
demiaire and Montenotte," he said, " never in-
duced me to look on myself as a man of a superior
class; it was not till after Lodi that I was struck
with the possibility of becoming famous. It w^s
then that the first spark of my ambition was kin-
dled."

In the evening after the battle, a number of
sergeants of the regiments of grenadiers called
at his tent and informed him that they had elected
him ff le petit caporal" He evinced the greatest
pride and satisfaction in being honored, by the
conferring of so distinguished a title, for he looked
upon it as a term of endearment. It was proof
that he had won the hearts of his soldiers. After
the ceremony the camp rang, far into the night,
with shouts of " Long live the little corporal."

Lombardy belonged to Austria and was nomi-
nally governed by Duke Ferdinand, who lived in
great state in Milan, maintaining a court that
equaled in magnificence that of Vienna. It was
one of the richest fiefs of the house of Hapsburg
and one of the brightest jewels in its crown.
This was the fertile land to which Bonaparte had
promised to lead his troops, and every step of

100

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

the way had been marked by victories. It was a
region rich in harvests of grain and fruit, its
barns were bursting with fulness. A valley in
the highest state of cultivation, watered by streams
flowing from the Alps and the Apennines and
enriched by an alluvial deposit almost as fruitful
as that of the Nile, it was a province of great
wealth and a storehouse of art.

The duke and his court fled at the approach of
the French, and at once Bonaparte, without the
loss of a man or a gun, entered the city in tri-
trrrrprr amidst the acclamations of the people.
Nev'tfl did richer booty fall so easily into the
hands of a conqueror. " Fortune is a woman,"
exclaimed Bonaparte to Marmont as they rode
side by side through the gates of the city; " the^
more she does for me the more I shall exact from J
her. ... In our day no one has conceived T
anything great; it falls to me to give the exam- V
pie."

The French did not present the fine military
appearance of the Austrians. The latter marched
in regular order, were well drilled, and hand-
somely uniformed; while the former, in shabby,
often ragged clothes, the officers in many in-
stances not wearing boots, swung along with a
swaggering air, the fifes playing and the drums
beating the wild strains of the " Qa ira " and the
soldiers at intervals singing in chorus the inspir-
ing words of the Marseillaise, the battle hymn
of the Republic. Their air of abandon diffused
on all sides the spirit of freedom, independence,
and patriotism, the result of a new birth of lib-

101

NAPOLEON

erty. They were the children, the proud heirs,
of the Revolution. At their head rode a young
commander, boyish in appearance, with long lank
hair falling over his temples and ears and reach-
ing to his shoulders, with a cold, impassive face
and with eyes deep set and searching and as im-
penetrable as those of the Egyptian Sphinx.
With hat off and bowing to the people, the young
Bonaparte was the centre of attraction; every
finger pointed him out, every lip mentioned his
name.

He had led a half-starved, half-clothed army
from the cheerless, barren passes of the Alps into
the sunny, fertile fields of Italy; he had scattered
the armies of Piedmont and Austria, driving the
former out of the field, had revolutionized the
science of war, had won for himself immortal
fame, and had covered France with a lustrous
glory. " He knows nothing, this boy general of
yours, of the regular rules of war," said a Hun-
garian officer, taken prisoner by the French ; " he
is on the front, next moment on the rear, then
on either flank. You know not where to look
for him; such violation of rules is intolerable."
War up to this time had been conducted by stiff
and starched martinets in accordance with rules
as precise as those laid down in a dueling code,
but Bonaparte had changed all this ; he was a law
unto himself. He planned his battles to meet
conditions. He did not move his men as a player
would his pawns in a game of chess.
S On May twentieth, Bonaparte issued another
/ one of his famous proclamations to the army. His

102

Copyright, 1910, by George W. Jacobs &• Co.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

From an original water color in brilliant colors by Victor Adam
From the Joseph Bonaparte Collection

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

force had been considerably reduced by the deser-
tion of soldiers who, forming marauding parties,
were scouring the country and despoiling it.
"Soldiers!'' he said, "you have rushed
torrent from the summit of the Apennines;
have overthrown, dispersed everything that op-
posed your progress. Piedmont, delivered from
Austrian tyranny, has returned to her natural
sentiments of peace and friendship for France.
Milan is yours, and the republican flag waves
throughout all Lombardy. The Dukes of Parma
and Modena owe their political existence to your
generosity alone. Your families at home, your
fathers, your mothers, your wives, your daugh-
ters and sweethearts, are rejoicing in your
achievements and boasting with pride that you
belong to them. Yes, soldiers, you have done
much; but is there nothing more left for you to
do? Do not let posterity reoroaqh us for having
found our Capua in Lombardy. feorne is yet to
beliberated ;lHe eternal'tity is to renew heTybuth
and show again the virtues of her worthy sons,
Brutus and Scipio. Then, when France gives
peace to the world and each of you at his own
hearthstone, under his own vine and fig tree, will
be enjoying the prosperity won by your valor,
your fellow-citizens will point at you with affec-
tionate and patriotic pride and exclaim : ' Be- ~
hold ! he was of the army of Italy/ '

Las Casas says that "on reading over this
proclamation one day at St. Helena, the emperor
exclaimed : ' And yet they have the folly to say
that I could not write/ "

103

NAPOLEON

'Bonaparte had exacted the payment of large
sums of money from the Italian states, and had
replenished the coffers of the Directory and the
chests of the armies on the Rhine and the Sambre.
He was already beginning to adorn the capital
with the paintings of the old masters. Whether
it was a Caesar embellishing Rome or an Attila
despoiling Italy depended entirely upon the point
of view taken by the observer. " The Republic
had already received and placed in its Museum,"
says Thibaudeau, " the masterpieces of the Dutch
and Flemish schools. The Romans carried away
from conquered Greece the statues which adorn
the capitol. The principal cities of Europe con-
tained the spoils of antiquity, and no one had
ever thought of imputing it to them as a crime."

Nor must we forget that Lord Elgin, under
the sanction of the English government, tres-
passed on the sacred precincts of the Acropolis
and despoiled the Parthenon, and that the friezes
sculptured by the immortal Phidias are to-day on
exhibition in the British Museum.

"he walls of the Italian churches, museums,
private palaces and public galleries were stripped
of the priceless and incomparable paintings of
Leonardo da Vinci, Michel Angelo, Raphael, Cor-
reggio and Titian. The Duke of Parma offered
Bonaparte 1,000,000 francs if he would relin-
quish his hold on the famous painting of Jerome
by Correggio, but Bonaparte declined to consider

ic offer. Ancient manuscripts, books of ines-
timable value, were packed away in the holds of
frigates and shipped to France. Learned men,
104

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

scholars of the first rank, were brought from
Paris to examine the collections, both scientific
and literary, and make selections for the museums
and libraries of the French capital. IXmng^all

period Of

fingers clean. He of course was entitled to vast
sum's1" 61 "prize money but from no other source
did he derive any personal profit. The Duke of
Modena sent him a present of 4,000,000 francs,
which munificent gift he promptly declined to
accept.

Some of his officers were not so particular
as their chief, and lined their purses with ill-
gotten wealth, and many of the soldiers of the
rank and file let no opportunity pass to help them-
selves, carrying heavy treasure in their knapsacks,
at great personal inconvenience, during the entire
campaign. The big army wagons that at the
beginning were as empty as a beggar's wallet now
fairly groaned under the weight of the rich booty
they contained, and were guarded with as much
care as if they carried the ark of the covenant.

For a week and more the army rested in Milan
and then, after the establishment of a provisional
republic, Bonaparte moved his troops forward to
begin the invasion of Austria. He reached Lodi
on the 24th. During this time insurrections broke^-v.

out in several of the cities, and Bonaparte had to
adopt desperate measures to suppress them, hos- ^
tages chosen from the distinguished and wealthy ^L
citizens resulted in restoring order and securing
the peace.

An incident happened about this time that might
105

NAPOLEON

have had a serious ending. Bonaparte, while at
Valeggio, stopped in a cottage to take a foot-bath
in order to relieve a headache. The Austrian
horse reconnoitring in the neighborhood sud-
denly appeared in sight ; an alarm, none too soon,
was given, and Bonaparte hastily beat a retreat
through the garden, with only one boot on, leaped
into the saddle of his horse and galloped away
with all speed, followed by the Austrians in full
chase, until he reached the camp of Massena.
After this adventure a bodyguard was chosen
for his personal protection and placed under the
command of a brave young officer, Colonel Bes-
sieres, which organization ultimately became the
Imperial Guard of the Grand Army.
X On the 30th of May, 1796, Bonaparte forced
/ the passage of the Mincio, where Beanlieu had
^^ taken up his position. The Austrians, thinking it
^ wise not to give battle, retreated into the Tyrol,
and the French began the siege of Mantua, which
town had been strongly garrisoned and provi-
sioned by Beaulieu.

Between the Po and the Adige is a vast tract
of land known as the Quadrilateral, marked at its
four corners by the towns of Legnago, Verona,
Peschiera, and Mantua, all of which were strongly
fortified and made together at that time the most
famous strategical position in Europe, no doubt

to command the ap-

proaches to Austria and to be in a position to
oppose successfully any relieving army sent to
Mantua, had seized three out of the four towns
forming the Quadrilateral which were located in

106

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Venetia and had done this in direct violation of \
neutrality laws. _i

Beaulieu, having shown himself utterly unable—-^
to cope with Bonaparte, was succeeded in com- ^
mand by General Wurmser, a brave and valiant C
officer but a soldier of the old school.

In the space of about six months, from the sum-
mer of 1796 to the winter of 1797, Austria sent
out four armies under the command of her most
skilful and experienced officers to dislodge Bona-
parte and raise the siege of Mantua.
—* Before the first Imperial army took the field,
however, Bonaparte made an incursion under the
order of the Directory into the Papal States, and
seized Bologna. The relations had been strained
between the Republic and the Papacy since 1793,
when the French envoy, Basseville, was brutally
assassinated in Rome, and it was upon this ground
that the attack was made. The matter reached
a speedy solution, for the Pope had no military
force sufficient to repel the invaders, and the
anathema was a poor weapon with which to fight
a man like Bonaparte. The terms of the treaty
were that the States should be closed against the
commerce of England and that a French garrison
should guard the port of Ancona. Besides this
the Pope consented to deliver to the French Com-
missioners, as they should determine, " one hun-
dred pictures, busts, vases or statues, among which
were specially included the bronze bust of Junius
Brutus and the marble bust of Marcus Brutus,
together with five hundred manuscripts." The
raid cost the Papal States in money and kind

107

NAPOLEON

about 3^000,000 frajic& The murder of Basse-
vjlle wasavengeT*"

A visit to Leghorn brought Tuscany to terms,
and a heavy requisition was made on her wealth
and treasures.

The first army sent forth by Austria to relieve
Mantua and to recover Lombardy, advanced in
two divisions, one led by Wurmser and the other
by Quosdanowich. Bonaparte at once concen-
trated his forces, and after skilful manoeuvring
completely outwitted his opponents, kept the divi-
sions apart, and defeated them in a number of
brilliant engagements, one after the other, Cas-
tiglionc, fought on August the fifth, being "the
most important; in fact, it was the decisive battle
.of the campaign and resulted in the loss of Italy
to the Austrians.

The second victory at Lonato was won without
firing a gun. The French troops had massed at
Lonato and had defeated the Austrians at that
place on the 3ist of July. Bonaparte follow-
ing up his victory was anxious to bring the enemy
to an engagement on the plain of Castiglione,
and had pushed his troops forward as rapidly as
possible, leaving a force in Lonato of only a thou-
sand men. He had galloped in post haste across
the country to give final instructions and reached
Lonato about midday, when, greatly to his sur-
prise, an Austrian messenger bearing a flag of
truce entered the town and summoned the French
to surrender. Bonaparte was put to his wits'
end. He had not time to fight a battle with so
small a force of the enemy as confronted him, in
108

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

view of the great preparations he had made at
Castiglione to bring Wiirmser to an engagement,
and so he resorted to an artifice and succeeded
in his trick by sheer audacity. He immediately
ordered all the officers about him to mount their
horses, and then directed that the eyes of the
messenger be uncovered. " Wretched man," said
he, " do you not know that you are in the presence
of the general-in-chief and that he is here with
his whole army ? Go to those who sent you here
and tell them that unless they surrender at once
I shall put them to the sword." The messenger,
believing it was as Bonaparte stated, hurried back,
and four thousand Austrians laid down their
arms. During this period, that is from July 3ist
to August 5th, inclusive, Bonaparte neither took
off his boots nor lay on a bed. His energy was
sleepless.

After the battle of Castiglione there was a ces-
sation of active hostilities for about a month.
The armies then were put in motion, and, on the
8th of September, met at Bassano, where the
Austrians again suffered a severe defeat. Wiirm-
ser was now in a desperate situation; his army
was almost surrounded by the French, while the
Adige cut off his retreat; a bridge, however,
which should have been destroyed, gave him a
chance to escape and after defeating some French
forces that attempted to intercept his march he
reached Mantua.

The Republic was not so successful elsewhere
as in Italy, for the young Archduke Charles, who *
was just beginning his military career, defeated

109

NAPOLEON

Cthe armies of the Rhine under the command of
^Moreau and Jourdan. His victories gave great
encouragement to the Imperial government in
Vienna and preparations were at once made to
begin another campaign to wrest Lombardy from
Bonaparte.

Wiirmser was sent out with a new army and,
although he took a different route from that in
his first campaign, his tactics were about the same.
,£Ie advanced in two divisions. Bonaparte, vir-
/tually abandoning the siege of Mantua, gathered
j all his available forces and after a most brilliant
/ campaign in which his genius as a soldier was
/ never displayed in a higher degree, inflicted dis-
astrous defeats on both divisions. Marching and
countermarching, striking unexpectedly in one
quarter and then in another, covering in eight
days 114 miles, Bonaparte at last drove Wiirmser
with a remnant of his army, shattered and de-
feated, into Mantua. In this brief campaign the
Austrians lost in killed and wounded half their
number.

The Emperor of Austria, still determined to
recover Lombardy, if possible, sent out another
army, this time under the command of General
Alvintzy, who advanced, as was characteristic of
tl^Ttustrians, in two widely separated divisions.
The wise military maxim : " March in separate
columns; unite for fighting," did not seem to
have a place in the rules of Austrian tactics and
warfare of those days.

One division of the advancing army was under
the command of Alvintzy and the other under

no

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Davidowich. Bonaparte at first was not so suc-
cessful in this campaign as in the others; on the
1 2th of November he sustained a severe defeat
at Caldiero and it looked as if he could not pre-
vent the junction of the two Austrian divisions.
But with superb audacity and with marvelous
skill, he extricated his army from its perilous
position and without the loss of an hour, while his
adversaries were studying plans for his capture,
f7e~crosseH"and recrossed the Adige and suddenly
appeared on the flank and rear of Alvintzy's
troops. The key to the situation was the town
of Arcola, which was desperately defended by the
Austrians. Bonaparte here, as at Lodi, rushed
upon the bridge with colors in hand to lead the
charge, but a counterstroke by the Austrians threw
him into a swamp up to his waist in water
and it was with difficulty and only after a rally
by his troops that he was extricated from his
peril.

It was not until November ijth, after three
days of the bitterest fighting, that a passage was
forced and then Alvintzy, seeing that his lines of
communication were threatened, decided to re-
treat.

The emperor, still persistent in his attempts
to relieve Mantua, launched forth another army
under the command of Alvintzy. The combat-
ants met at^Riyoli on January 14, 1797, where
the AustriafTS^iustained a crushing defeat after
the loss of 13,000 men. Bonaparte forthwith
marched to the Adige just in time to intercept
Provera, who was about to enter Mantua, and
in

NAPOLEON

compelled him to surrender with a force of n nine
thousand men. After reverses so terrible there

was nothing to do but capitulate, the gates of the
city were thrown open to the besiegers, and
Wurmser's force of twenty thousand men laid
down their arms on February 2, 1797. Bona-""^
parte, with a noble-mindedness that did him credit, ^>
declined to be present at the surrender so as not V
to add to the mortification of the old Austrian ^j
general.

After the fall of Mantua a new army of fifty
thousand men took the field under the command
of Archduke Charles, and so relentlessly did Bo-
naparte push forward his columns and so skillfully
did he manoeuvre his troops, outgeneraling the
youthful duke at every point, that on the 7th
of April, 1797, he reached I^pben^Jess than a
hundred-miles from Vienna, wn^rTa

was agreed upon.

At this lime, while negotiations were pending
with Austria, the inhabitants of Venetia rose in
insurrection to expel the French invaders. Bo-
naparte repaired at once to Venice, entering that
city on the loth of May, and the ancient repub-
lic, its rich treasures falling as booty into the
hands of the despoiler, ingloriously ended its
career. The Lion of St. Mark and the famous
Corinthian horses were carried to Paris.

During the summer Bonaparte spent his time in
the castle of Montebello near Milan, negotiating
with the Austrian commissioners or envoys the
terms for a treaty of peace. The chief concern
of the representatives of the court of Vienna at

112

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

the preliminaries was to settle the all-important
question of etiquette. According to time-honored
custom it was contended that the emperor had
precedence before the kings of France, and that
he was always named first in the preamble of
treaties or conventions. The two envoys of the
house of Hapsburg would deign to acknowledge
the French Republic if this ancient etiquette were
preserved : " The French Republic," proudly an-
swered Bonaparte, " has no need to be acknowl-
edged; it is in Europe like the sun above the
horizon; so much the worse for those blind
wretches who can neither see nor profit by it."
It was agreed finally that France and the emperor
should stand on an equality and take turns in
precedence.

While at Milan Bonaparte established a court
and was eager to have Josephine adorn it with
her presence. His letters to her were afire with
love, and he dispatched courier after courier, on
an average about eight a day, begging her to
come to his side at once, but her replies were few,
short, and far apart, and as cold as ice when
compared with his passionate epistles.

After his great victories, when he was recog-
nized everywhere as the coming man of the Re-
public, Josephine's society was sought and courted
by the most fashionable and aristocratic classes
in Paris. She was feted and feasted and was the
centre of attraction and attention at every recep-
tion, her easy, graceful, and charming manner
winning admiration on all sides. This was just
the kind of life that suited her gay and frivolous
8 113

NAPOLEON

nature and she was loath to leave Paris for what
she supposed would be but a dull routine in Milan
and what some of her friends intimated would be
accompanied by the inconveniences and hardships
of camp life. Bonaparte, however, became im-
portunate, and at last his wife, after an outburst
of weeping, started for Italy. Upon her arrival
in Milan she found, much to her surprise as well
as delight, that the court established by her hus-
band was brilliant enough to satisfy even her
fastidious taste, and would afford her every oppor-
tunity for the display of her charms, and so well
did she play the role of hostess that her victories
in the salon were as great as her husband's in the
field.

'his haughty pro-consul of the Republic sur-
rounded himself with almost regal state. Three
hundred Polish soldiers in brilliant uniforms
guarded the approaches to the castle. His gen-
erals and staff officers formed a superb and bril-
liant retinue. Foreign envoys and ambassadors,
Italian nobles, scholars and artists crowded his
ante-chamber, waiting for an audience.

The following interesting pen portrait of Bona-
parte at this period was drawn by the Comte d'
Antraigues, who was a close and critical ob-
server : " Bonaparte is a man of small stature,
of sickly hue, with piercing eyes and something
in his look and mouth which is cruel, covert, and
treacherous; speaking very little, but very talka-
tive when his vanity is engaged or thwarted; of
very poor health because of violent humors in his
blood. He is covered with tetter, a disease of
114

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

such a sort as to increase his vehemence and activ-
ity. He sleeps but three hours every night and
takes no recreation, except when his sufferings
are unendurable. This man wishes to master
France and through France Europe. Every-
thing else even in his present successes seems to be
but a means to an end. Thus he steals without
concealment, plunders everything, but he cares
for his gold and treasures only as a means. This
same man who will rob a community to the last
sou, will without thought give a million francs
to any person who can assist him. This man
abhors royalty; he hates the Bourbons. If there
were a king in France other than himself he would
like to have been his maker and would desire
royal authority to rest on the tip of his own
sword, that sword he would never surrender but
would plunge it into the king's heart should the
monarch cease for a moment to be subservient."
While the conferences over the treaty were
dragging their slow length along, while experi-
enced and adroit diplomats were resorting to sub-
tlety, finesse, and all the arts of their profession,
Bonaparte grew very impatient at what he consid-
ered needless delays, and the story goes that upon
one occasion he jumped from his chair in the
midst of a conference and exclaimed in a furious
rage : " Very well, then ! Let the war begin again,
but remember, I will shatter your monarchy
in three months as I now shatter this ornament,"
the irate soldier at the same time dashing to the
floor a precious vase that stood on a table close
at hand. It was a rare and valuable piece of

us

NAPOLEON

porcelain highly prized by Cobentzal, one of the
Austrian ambassadors, for it had been given to
Jiirn personally by Catharine II of Russia.

While the negotiations were pending in Italy,
the political situation in France was reaching an
acute stage. The elections of 1797 had returned
lany royalists as members to both chambers of
the Councils, so that, forming a combination with
tlie moderates, they controlled a majority of votes
in each chamber and on joint ballot. The pre-
siding officers were pronounced royalists, and it
was the open boast that an effort would be made
to overtjjfow the Directory and restore the Bour-
bons. i General Pichegru, the conqueror of Hol-
land, having abandoned his Jacobinism, was deep
in the conspiracy and was scheming with a club
of royalists which met at Clichy near Paris, and
was also in correspondence with Austria.! Qirnot

Barthelemy, two of the Directors;' "went over
to the opposition. Barras, Rewbell and Lareveil-
liere-Lepeaux remained united and called on Bo-
naparte for assistance. The young and ambitious
general saw it was greatly to his interest to balk
every attempt made to effect a Bourbon restora-
tion and so, without showing his hand too openly,
he responded promptly by sending Augereau to
the capital while he himself kept in the back-
ground by stating in a note to the Directors "that
Augereau had requested leave to go to Paris,
" where his affairs call him." No one would sus-
pect under this cover that Augereau came as the
instrument to carry out the wishes of Bonaparte
and to effect the coup d'etat.
116

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

This burly, blustering soldier made known his
purpose at once by declaring that he had come
" tc kill the royalists." He organized the govern-
ment forces, surrounded the Tuileries, seized the
malcontents, threw them into prison and broke
up the conspiracy. This was the famous coup
d'etat of the eighteenth of Fructidor (September
4th), 1797.

the" LuxembcJurg Pichegru was also appre-

hended. His secret correspondence with Austria
was capturecl by General More'a'U before Ms

( Pichegru' s) arrest, but for reasons never fully
explained Moreau did not make it known until
some time afterwards. Great numbers of the
conspirators were transported to the poisonous,
pestilential swamps of Cayenne in French Guiana.
On October 17, 1797, the Treaty of Campo_
Formio was signed. It gave to France the Rhine <
as a frontier. Austria^.rp.cogmzed the Ligurian
and Cisalpine republics: Genoa, Lombardy, Mo-
dena_and Bologna. For the loss of Lombardy,
Austria was given Venice and her Adriatic prov-
inces. San Marino, one of the oldest and small-
est republics in the world, perched aloft in its
mountain home on the Apennines like an eagle in

1*1 J*\ • • r

its eyry, was not disturbed. JJne interesting fea-
ture of the negotiations was that Bonaparte in-
sisted upon and secured the release of General La
Fayette from the prison of Olmutz, where he
had been confined since his arrest in 1792.

Thus ended the campaign in Italy, one of the
most brilliant in the annals of war either in ancient

«7

NAPOLEON

or in modern times. Perhaps Napoleon in his
whole military career never displayed greater
genius as a soldier. He was in the heyday of his
youth, his energy was tireless, his enthusiasm and
ambition were keen, and the confidence he h'ld in
himself was superb. The skill in his strategv^the
certainty of his combinations, the rapidity of his
movements were never surpassed by him at any
later or more experienced period of his life. Had
his career ended here, his reputation as a soldier
would have been secured and his name enrolled
among the greatest and most successful captains
of the world. s

Briefly to recapitulate : ^He took command of
an army, discontented, and impoverished, and re-
vived their enthusiasm and courage./' He had two
armies to meet the length of whpfee line covered
a distance of sixty miles, he concentrated his
troops and struck suddenly and with force the
point where the two armies joined and after sev-
eral decisive victories hurled them back upon
their respective bases of supply. These bases
being divergent and far distant from each other,
the two armies were drawn further apart the
closer they approached them ; in other words, the
Sardinians retreated towards Turin and the Aus-
trians towards Alessandria. When the allied
armies were thus separated so as not to be able to
assist each other, Bonaparte left a force sufficient
to hold the Austrians in check and then turned
to give his attention alone to the Sardinians.
He followed them so rapidly, so persistently, so
relentlessly, that he finally forced them to lay

118

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

i down their arms and renounce their alliance with

[ the Austrians.

One army having been destroyed, Bonaparte
united his forces and again assumed the offensive.
By a clever piece of strategy, he crossed the Po,
invaded Lombardy and inflicted at Lodi a crush-
ing blow on the Austrians who, having abandoned
the defence of Milan, gave an opportunity to
Bonaparte to enter that city in triumph without
firing a gun. Having rested his army for a week,
he again took the field, crossed the Mincio and
laid siege to Mantua, one of the fortified ap-
proaches to Austria. Four armies, as we have
heretofore seen, were sent against him, which he
defeated in order, one after the other. Mantua
having fallen and the road now being open
to Vienna, he proceeded towards that city,
when he was intercepted by an Austrian army
of 50,000 men under the command of Arch-
duke Charles, whom he quickly defeated and com-
pelled to sue for peace at a town called Leoben
about ninety miles from Vienna. The world
stood in amazement and marveled at the signal
power and genius of so consummate a captain.
Not only had Bonaparte shown his ability as
a soldier, but also as a politician, diplomat, and
statesman. He modeled and constituted the
Cisalpine and Ligurian republics, erected and
organized the kingdom of Lombardy, inaugurated
a system of public improvements, introduced ad-
ministrative reforms in all the departments of
government, fostered a spirit of religious toler-
ance, created a sentiment of patriotism and a

119

NAPOLEON

desire for progress and enlightenment. Although
he spread liberty throughout Northern and Cen-
tral Italy, his ceding to Austria of Venice, that,
as a republic, had enjoyed her independence for
a thousand years, awakened profound indignationA
The provisional government of Venice earnestly
remonstrated against the transfer, but Bonaparte
declared that the necessities of the case compelled
the abandonment of the ancient republic, that
France no longer could be expected to shed her
best blood in merely a moral or sentimental cause.
A converted Venetian Jew, who had assumed
the name of Dandolo and who was a man of
great wealth and influence in his community, was
sent for by Bonaparte and urged to persuade his
fellow-citizens to submit with resignation to the
conditions. But the Venetians, unwilling to have
the heavy hand of Austria laid upon them, sent
secretly three envoys, among whom was Dandolo,
with deep purses of gold to bribe the Directors in
Paris to reject the Treaty of Campo Formio. No
doubt the envoys would have been successful with
the corrupt home government had Bonaparte not
captured them. When he heard of their depar-
ture, he sent Duroc in hot haste to overtake them
and they were caught before they crossed the
Maritime Alps. When brought before Bonaparte
at Milan, he upbraided them for their conduct,
declaring that if they had succeeded in securing
the rejection of the Treaty it would have frus-
trated all his plans and humiliated him in the face
of all Europe; but they maintained a dignified
silence under all his reproaches until Dandolo,

120

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

appealing to his generosity, moved his heart to
compassion. The patriotic envoys were dis-
missed, but Venice fell,

der that marred the phenomenal career of Bona-
parte in Italy.

In his first proclamation he declared that he
came to free the country and yet his final act was
to abandon a sister republic to the oppression of
a foreign despot. The sigh of the dying republic,
however, was not heard amidst the jubilant accla-
mations of the French people nor did the sur-
render, at the time, dim the glory of the young
general who now turned his face homewards

121

CHAPTER VIII

INVASION OF EGYPT

When Bonaparte after his Italian campaign
returned to Paris in November, 1797, he received
a great ovation, a triumphant reception. The
Directory, to show him honor, changed the name
of the street on which he lived from rue Chan-
tereine to rue de la Victoire and made him a
member of the Institute. He had won a score
of pitched battles and forty-seven smaller engage-
ments, had captured 170 colors, 1,500 cannon
and 150,000 prisoners. Besides this he had en-
riched his capital with incomparable masterpieces
of art taken from the churches, galleries, and
museums of conquered cities. No Caesar ever
brought to Rome richer booty than Bonaparte
brought to Paris or was entitled to a greater tri-
umph.

Lwho was this boy who, disregarding the scien-
c tactical rules of warfare, had overthrown
the armies of renowned and grizzled veteran gen-
erals and startled all Europe with the originality
of his tactics ? j "What meant this splendid ig-
noramus," says Victor Hugo, " who, having
everything against him, nothing for him, without
provisions, ammunition, guns, shoes, almost with-
out an army, with a handful of men against

122

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

masses, dashed at allied Europe and absurdly
gained impossible victories ? "

A new force had arisen in the politics of the
old world, and like a comet it now flamed across
the horizon, blinding in its brightness, illuminat-
ing, dazzling, scorching, burning. It was yet in
its early phase, but holding its course steadily.

Bonaparte, at this time, was but twenty-eight
years of age. He had clean-cut classic features,
just the face in profile for a medallion. His hair
was long and hung loosely over his ears or else
was plaited at the sides and tied behind in a
queue or what was called a cadogan. His fea-
tures were bronzed by exposure to wind and sun.
His uniform was plain, not adorned with medals
and resplendent with gold lace, as were the
uniforms of many of his generals; around his
waist was wrapped a silk sash about which was
clasped his sword belt. He wore top boots and a
cocked hat, on the side of which was fastened, at
least at the beginning of the campaign, for his
soldiers were loyal Jacobins, the tri-color cockade
of the Republic. " This child and champion of
democracy/' as Pitt delighted to call him, led an
army whose soldiers were inspired by a spirit of
patriotism — the greatest incentive to victory.
This was a new sentiment created in the hearts
of the common soldiers by the Revolution, and
no one knew better how to appeal to it than Bona-
parte.

This was the man who, at an age when many
have not even chosen their vocations in life, re-
turned to France as the first captain of his time.

123

NAPOLEON

This upstart of a Corsican did not lose his head ;
he held his poise, he knew how fickle the Parisians
were; that, like children, when they grew tired
of a toy they threw it aside. So, fearing he
might grow stale, he took off his military uniform,
donned the dress of a member of the Institute
and retired to the seclusion of his home, where
he enjoyed the companionship of Josephine and
cultivated the society of scholars, scientists, and
authors. Even when he attended the theatre he
avoided all public demonstrations and sat in the
darkest corner of his box out of the eye of the
audience. Such retirement and modesty so ap-
parent only increased his fame and more closely
endeared him to the people.

The Directory, shortly after his return, gave
him a magnificent public reception at the Luxem-
bourg. On this occasion he appeared carrying a
scroll containing the Treaty of Campo Formio,
which in a characteristic speech he presented to
the government. During this impressive cere-
mony there stood back of him, in order to make
the scene more dramatic, a beautiful tri-color flag,
the standard of the Republic, bearing upon its
folds in gilt letters the list of his victories. The
Directors \vere most effusive in their greetings,
under which they concealed their fears. " Go
there," said Barras pointing towards England,
" and capture the giant corsair that infests the
seas." Their anxiety to find employment for him
abroad only revealed the dread they felt at his
presence in the capital.

The wild enthusiasm of the spectators did not
124

Copyright, 1910, by George IV. Jac

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

M-orn an original drawing by Dubrez

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

turn the young general's head. He took his hon-
ors meekly and bided his time. He was the idol
of both soldiers and civilians, but he knew that
enthusiasm could easily wear itself out when de-
voted too long to the same object and his seeming
desire to avoid a demonstration only made the
people more anxious to give it. He was a good
judge of human nature and the game he was
playing was a deep one, requiring both skill and
wisdom. The politicians tried hard to fathom his
purpose and they watched him at the turn of
every card. He was too famous and too popular
to be safe and they dreaded his rivalry.

What was Bonaparte to do? Europe was in
repose, there was no present opportunity for the
young soldier to win fresh laurels on the field
of battle. " The cankers of a calm world and a
long peace " gave his ambition no scope, no
chance. His appetite had only been whetted by
his past successes and he yearned for more fields
to conquer. " The people of Paris do not remem-
ber anything," he said to Bourrienne. " Were I
to remain here long doing nothing, I should be
lost. In this great Babylon everything wears out,
my glory has already disappeared." At another
time he exclaimed : " I must get away. Paris
weighs on me like a leaden mantle."

There was no political opening, at present, and
he did not want to lose public favor or waste it
by bidding for popular support when there was
nothing to gain by it. His age precluded him
from membership in the Directory, for one was
not eligible to that body until he was forty.

125

NAPOLEON

Bonaparte cast his eyes longingly in that direc-
tion, but, to use his own words " That pear was
not yet ripe."

The members of the Directory were anxious
to find some military employment for the young
general that would take him out of Paris, or bet-
ter still out of France, so that when he suggested
the practicability of an invasion of England they
gladly gave him every encouragement. With a
small staff he inspected the forts and defences on
the French coast facing the British channel as far
north as Dunkirk. The result of the inspection
was that he believed the invasion was not feasible,
so long as England maintained her command of
the sea.

In his report to the government, February 23,
1798, he wrote: " Whatever efforts we make, we
shall not for some years gain the naval suprem-
acy. To invade England without that supremacy
is the most daring and difficult task ever under-
taken." He concludes: "If we cannot invade
England, we can at least undertake an eastern
expedition which would menace her trade with
the Indies."

Being convinced that the invasion and conquest
of England were next to impossible so long as
she was mistress of the seas, Bonaparte turned
his gaze longingly to the Orient.

" I must have more glory," he said to Bour-
rienne. " This little Europe does not supply
enough of it for me. I must seek it in the East ;
all great fame comes from that quarter." Gigan-
tic projects were seething in his brain, schemes

126

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

of mighty conquest that would lead to glory far
beyond the dreams of men.

The Directory gladly listened to his proposi-
tions, more than anxious to get rid of so formid-
able a rival, and at once equipped a large fleet and
placed under his orders a fine army of 35,000
men. The invasion of Egypt was considered as
a flank movement on England. The real pur-
pose of the expedition was the exclusion of Great
Britain from all her possessions in the East. It
was in contemplation to cut the isthmus of Suez
and to secure the exclusive control of the Red
Sea to the French Republic. Then, after con-
quering the East, to overthrow the Turks, seize
Constantinople, and " take Europe in the rear/'
A grander and more comprehensive scheme of
conquest than even Alexander ever contemplated !

Great inducements were offered the savants to
join the expedition and a number volunteered to
go along, among whom were Monge, Geoffrey
Saint Hilaire, Berthollet and Fourier, scholars of
the highest distinction. Science was to open the
East which, up to that time, had been a closed
book, to explore its treasures and to study its
mysticism. In some quarters the enlistment of
these learned men on such a scheme of conquest
was greatly ridiculed, but in the end they were
found to be a very valuable adjunct to the expe-
dition.

Before sailing, Bonaparte carefully selected a
library consisting of one hundred and twenty-five
volumes of historical works, among which were
translations of Thucydides, Plutarch, Tacitus and

127

NAPOLEON

Livy, and books that threw light on the times and
lives of Turenne, Conde, Luxembourg, Marlbor-
ough and other famous military commanders. Po-
etical works also constituted a considerable part of
the collection. Homer, Virgil, Ariosto, Tasso, and
the French dramatists were found in the library,
but the poet who seems to have appealed most to
the youthful soldier was the so-called Ossian,
whose turgid and declamatory style is often re-
flected in the writings of Bonaparte, especially in
the famous addresses he made from time to time
to his soldiers. He carried along forty English
novels, " Cook's Voyages," the Bible, the Koran,
the Vedas, a book of ancient mythology, and
Montesquieu's " Spirit of the Laws."

At last the fleet was ready to set sail, but the
winds continuing to blow from an unfavorable
quarter delayed its departure. It was not until
May, 1798, that the armada weighed anchor and
sailed out of the port of Toulon bound, as some
supposed, for the invasion of England. The fleet
was under the command of Admiral Brueys, and
consisted of thirteen ships of the line, fourteen
frigates, seventy-two corvettes and nearly 400
transports carrying the 35,000 troops. The prin-
cipal army officers were Kleber, Desaix, Bon,
Menou and Reynier, under whom served Mar-
mont, Murat, Davoust, and Lannes.

Bourrienne says : " During the whole voyage
Napoleon passed the greatest part of his time be-
low in the cabin, reclining upon a couch which
by a ball and socket joint at each foot rendered
the ship's pitching less perceptible and conse-
128

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

quently relieved the sickness from which he was
scarcely ever free." In fine weather he would
occasionally stroll upon the quarter-deck.

Nelson had sent a fleet into the Mediterranean
to watch the movements of the French, but it
kept in the offing and made no attempt to give
battle, so that the French ships without hindrance
sailed on their way and appeared before Malta
on the loth of June. Russia had been looking
with longing eyes on the island, hoping to make
it a naval base of supplies in the Mediterranean,
and had tried, though ineffectually, to make a
treaty with its owners, the Knights of St. John,
in order to acquire its possession. Bonaparte,
fearing the presence of so formidable a rival as
Russia so close to the shores of France, decided
to seize the little island and annex it to the French
Republic. This was the only excuse for its cap-
ture. The Knights of St. John were the de-
scendants of those warriors who had, as Christian
crusaders, fought in Palestine to rescue the Holy
Land from the hands of the infidels. This beau-
tiful island, strongly fortified and surrounded by
the Mediterranean, was looked upon as the out-
post of Christendom against the Saracen, but the
knights on guard were a sorry lot of sentinels.
The order was in its decrepitude, weakened by
indulgence and luxury; its courage was only a
memory. It possessed, however, great wealth
and treasure and Bonaparte easily found an excuse
for opening hostilities. The fortifications of
the island were all but impregnable and the
knights, if they had possessed a modicum of the
9 129

NAPOLEON

courage of their ancestors, could easily have kept
their assailants at bay. Divided, however, by in-
ternal disputes, they soon surrendered one of the
strongest fortresses in Europe without making
even the show of a defence. After the French
troops entered into possession, General Caffarelli,
observing the strength of the fortifications, said
to Bonaparte : " General, it was lucky there was
some one in town to open the gates to us."

Bonaparte, with his wonderful organizing abil-
ity, set the government upon a new basis, gar-
risoned the town with French troops, and then
enriched by the vast treasure of the order sailed
away to the East. All the gold and silver,
whether coin, bullion or vessels, in the treasury
of the order and in the Church of St. John, were
ruthlessly appropriated and stored away in the
flagship of the fleet, the Orient. Everything
was taken but the massive silver doors of the
church and they were missed only because they
were painted or colored with some material that
concealed their real value.

Nothing further of any moment occurred while
Bonaparte was on the way to his destination.
He was fortunate in escaping the pursuit of Nel-
son, for that old sea dog was following with all
haste and once almost got upon his heels. The
two fleets passed each other in the night. His-
tory perhaps would have had another story to
tell, and Napoleon's great career doubtless would
have been out of it, had the French fleet, while
at sea, been overtaken by the English. Never
did Bonaparte's star of fortune shine with greater

130

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

refulgence. On July 2, 1798, after a successful
voyage, but one fraught with great suspense, he
landed his troops at Marabout, near Alexandria,
and, marching with all haste to that city, thus
giving the inhabitants no time to strengthen their
defences or to prepare for an assault, assailed and
captured it with but slight loss. From a military
point of view this unquestionably was a wise
move. The soldiers were weary from inaction
and a long sea voyage and the victory gave them
incentive and aroused their enthusiasm, but from
moral and political considerations it was a grave
mistake; for he had violated the law of nations
by entering upon neutral territory and, without
excuse or reason, waging hostilities. He re-
vealed to Europe the spirit of the marauder, the
buccaneer, the freebooter. In fact, this whole
eastern campaign was without excuse. The peace
of the world was disturbed to gratify the inor-
dinate ambition of a restless adventurer.

Bonaparte knew how deep-seated were the
bigotry and fanaticism of the Moslems, and he
began, at once, to allay their suspicions by assur-
ing them that their religion would not be dis-
turbed. So well did he succeed in quieting their
fears that in a short time the tri-color floated
over the public buildings side by side with the
crescent, while the mosques resounded with
prayers for France as well as for Turkey.

As a wise politician and statesman Bonaparte
paid respect to all religions but really without
having a sincere belief in any of them. Creeds
to him were the toys of conscience. He could

131

NAPOLEON

with the appearance of orthodox piety and devo-
tion attend a service in a mosque or a synagogue
and impress with his reverential air the surround-
ing worshipers. He made peace with the Egyp-
tians by promising that in his contemplated war-
fare with the Mamelukes he would protect and
defend the Moslem religion. Many stories have
been told about his appearing in public in oriental
costume, and about his having repaired to a
mosque where, sitting cross-legged and swaying
his body to and fro, he took part in the worship
of Mahomet like a true Moslem. Although these
stories, doubtless, were greatly exaggerated, there
must have been something in his conduct that
gave rise to them. Bourrienne admits that Bona-
parte upon one occasion donned the turban and
the loose trousers of the Turks, but simply for
the amusement of his friends. " I never/' said
Napoleon, " followed any of the tenets of the
Mahometan religion. I never prayed in the
mosques. I never abstained from wine, nor was
circumcised, neither did I ever profess it. I said
merely that we were the friends of the Mussul-
mans and respected their Prophet, which they
really believed, as the French soldiers never went
to church and had no priest with them, for you
must know that during the Revolution there was
no religion whatever in the army."

It was a standing joke among his soldiers that
to gain the favor and the confidence of the Mos-
lems he had told their chiefs and priests that he
had destroyed the Association of the Knights of
Malta because the Order of St. John had for its-
132

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

purpose the waging of war against the followers
of Mahomet.

;*T his man who in after years could imprison
tHe pope, angrily kick over a chair in his presence
and force him to sign the Concordat, or who could
insolently at his coronation seize the crown from
the aged pontiff's hands and place it on his own
brow, had not much regard for the church when
it stood between him and his ambition; and to
gain his point such a man would flatter, deceive
or denounce either Christian or Moslem^

Shortly after his arrival he issued a proclama-
tion in which he described the tyranny of the
Mamelukes and promised to rid the land of these
marauders. " Are we not true Mussulmans ? "
the address read. " Have we not destroyed the
power of the Pope whose declared purpose it is
to overthrow the Moslem religion ? Thrice happy
they who are on our side. Happy those who are
neutral, for they shall have time to understand
us and shall array themselves with us. But woe,
thrice woe to those who shall take up arms for
the Mamelukes. They shall perish."

Menou and a number of his companions made
open avowal of the faith of Islam and these
conversions created a good impression among
the Orientals who thought it possible, inasmuch
as the French soldiers had no religion, no serv-
ices, and no chaplains to proselyte the whole
army.

Placing Kleber in command of Alexandria,
Bonaparte on July 4th, only two days after the
capture of that city, marched with his troops

133

NAPOLEON

across the desert into the interior on his way to
Cairo.

The sky was cloudless, the sun pitiless, the land-
scape shadeless. The sand, into which the feet
of the men sank at every step, was burning hot,
the atmosphere was like the breath of an oven;
even the shades of night brought but little if any
relief, the soldiers were stung by pestiferous in-
sects and scorpions and consumed by an intoler-
able thirst, for water was scarce and the little
that was found in the wells had been polluted by
the Arabs. The supply of food gave out, for
it was impossible to keep it fresh in so hot a
climate. To add to all these miseries, crowds
of half-naked felaheen assailed the marchers by
firing from behind the low sand hills, while
ferocious Bedouins hung on the flanks and rear,
cutting off the stragglers. Men grew mutinous,
even officers of high rank, tormented almost be-
yond endurance dashed their hats to the ground
in a rage and cursed the day that had brought
them to this burning hell. " Are we here," sneer-
ingly asked the common soldiers, " to get the
seven acres of land promised to us by Bonaparte
when we were in Lombardy ? "

When General Caffarelli, a most popular officer
who had lost a leg in the Rhenish campaign, rode
down the lines endeavoring to cheer the drooping
spirits of the troops, a witty soldier in the ranks
cried out amidst the laughter of his comrades:
"Ah! he does not care, not he! he has one leg
in France."

Through all these trying days Bonaparte pre-
134

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

served his usual composure and suffered with the
rest without complaint.

"Well! General!" said one of the soldiers
addressing Bonaparte, " is this the way you take
us to India?"

" No/' was the quick retort, " I would not
undertake so glorious an enterprise with such
warriors as you."

The soldier's honor was stung to the quick and,
touching his hat, without saying another word,
he turned aside, mortified and humiliated.

At last the river Nile was reached, where after
having quenched their thirst the troops renewed
their courage and for a time ceased their mur-
murs. While on their march to Cairo and when
at Chebreiss, but a short distance from that city,
they met a troop of Mamelukes, 800 in number,
which they scattered to the four winds. They
then pushed their way along the banks of the Nile
to a small town called Embebeh, opposite Cairo.
Here the Mamelukes were strongly fortified but
their army consisted almost solely of cavalry,
having neither infantry nor artillery worth men-
tioning.

Egypt belonged nominally to Turkey, but really
it was under the rule of the Mamelukes, a mili-
tary caste that, it is said, found its origin in the
bodyguard of the famous Saladin. They were
broken into factions and made constant forays
which kept the country in a state of fear, sus-
pense and tumult. They even defied the power
of the Porte.

They were superb horsemen, born to the sad-

NAPOLEON

die, and the bits in the mouths of their steeds
were so powerful that the most fiery animals
were easily checked at full speed. Their stirrups
were short, which gave them great command in
the use of the sabre, while the pommel and the
back part of the saddle were very high, thus pro-
viding the rider a comfortable seat and enabling
him while on a journey to sleep without falling.
They inhabited a burning desert and lived with
their wives and children in flying camps, seldom
remaining more than two nights in any one place.
They looked with contempt upon the French foot-
soldiers and confidently made preparations to
sweep them from the plains.

The battlefield was most spectacular. The
waters of the mysterious Nile flowed by in sight
of both armies, the minarets of Cairo in the dis-
tance glistened in the sun above the walls of the
city, while the Pyramids to the south, with their
forty centuries, calmly looked down on the com-
batants.

The French opened the battle by attacking
the fortifications, which they easily captured.
The soldiers not engaged in this assault were
formed in solid squares with the savants, the
asses, and the baggage in the centre. Suddenly
from behind the sand dunes came a body of ten
thousand horsemen. The earth shook beneath
the tread of these mighty squadrons. The horses,
the finest of their breed — full-blooded Arabians,
beautifully caparisoned, and the riders in pictur-
esque costumes, with plumes waving and scimitars
flashing in the sunlight, presented a magnificent
136

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

spectacle as they dashed against the solid pha-
lanxes of the French infantry; but it was like
the sea beating against a rock-bound coast. The
Mamelukes fought with the desperate courage of
fatalists, all the while crying : " There is but one
God and Mahomet is his prophet ; " but when they
got within musket range of the French they were
mowed down in swaths.

Failing to force their horses through the
squares they would wheel them around and try
to make an opening by kicking. In despair and
frantic with rage they threw at the heads of the
French their pistols, carbines and poniards while
the wounded crawled along the ground and
slashed at the legs of the soldiery with their
curved swords. The dead and dying lay in
heaps, hundreds of riderless horses were gallop-
ing in every direction over the plain, the intelli-
gent beasts neighing and looking for their mas-
ters.

The beys who commanded the Mamelukes,
crestfallen and dismayed by their unexpected de-
feat, gathered their shattered and scattered forces
and hurriedly left the field.

Such was the famous battle of the Pyramids,
a battle in which superb courage was shown by
the Mamelukes against the order and discipline
of trained soldiers; but it was not war, it was
mere slaughter. The veterans, fresh from the
hotly contested fields of Italy, found it child's
play. In truth, the open battles in this campaign
in Egypt were so easily won that a victory did
not seem to be a triumph.

NAPOLEON

The losses of the French in this engagement
were not more than thirty killed and about one
hundred and fifty wounded, while the Mamelukes
lost several thousand, many hundreds being
drowned. The day after the battle the French
soldiers fished the Nile with bent bayonets for
dead Mamelukes to strip them of the jewels and
treasure which it was their custom to carry con-
cealed about their persons. It is said that each
body was worth about 10,000 francs to the for-
tunate finder.

The battle not only struck terror into the inhab-
itants of both Asia and Africa, but also created
great wonder and admiration. The news was
carried into the interior by caravans and many
of the people at heart really rejoiced at the defeat
of the Mameluke cavalry that so long had tyran-
nized over the country. The flaming squares
which had destroyed the charging squadrons so
impressed the imagination of the Orientals that
they called Bonaparte Sultan Kebir, Sultan of
Fire.

CHAPTER IX

INVASION OF EGYPT — CONTINUED

While Bonaparte was at Cairo he received news
of the destruction of his ships in the so-called
battle of the Nile. It came like a bolt from a
clear sky.

Nelson, in his pursuit of the French fleet, had
for weeks scoured the seas and at last came upon
it suddenly in Abouker Bay, lying at anchor close
under a lee shore. The ships were stretched out
in a line forming a semicircle, one end of which
was protected by land batteries, under ordinary
conditions rather a safe bunk. But, after recon-
noitring, Nelson decided quickly upon a plan of
battle and although the night was falling orders
were given to prepare at once for action. Five
British ships were rammed between the French
fleet and the shallows, while the other British
ships engaged the enemy in front on the seaward
side. The French vessels, thus placed between
two fires, were swept fore and aft, their decks
becoming literally pools of blood. During all the
night, for the battle raged continuously for fifteen
hours, the carnage was dreadful, and when the
morning dawned the sun looked down upon a
scene that beggared description ; it was a ghastly
sight, death, wreckage, and destruction every-

139

NAPOLEON

where. Two French ships of the line and two
frigates were the only vessels that escaped. The
rest of the fleet was burnt, sunk, or captured.
The Orient had been sent to the bottom by
an explosion, carrying with it all the spoils and
treasure that had been taken from the Order of
St. John at Malta. Admiral Brueys, in command
of the French, bravely met a sailor's death, going
down with his flag ship as it sank.

This famous battle settled the question as to
naval supremacy. There was a grave contro-
versy over the point as to who was responsible
for the disaster. Bonaparte placed the blame
upon the shoulders of Brueys, but the poor ad-
miral was under the waters and could make no
answer. It was, in truth, more a question as to
the superiority of naval commanders than any-
thing else. The fight was won by the skill and
courage of Nelson, and if he had been in com-
mand of the French fleet the victory doubtless
would have been with it, for Nelson was on the
sea what Bonaparte was on land.

Although much depressed by the news, Bona-
parte soon recovered his wonted composure.

All communication with Europe being severed,
he turned his attention alone to Egypt. " Well ! "
he exclaimed, " here we must remain or achieve
a grandeur like that of the ancients." To be
sure, Europe was cut off, but the way to India
was yet open and he still conjured in his mind
the idea of building an eastern empire even sur-
passing in its greatness the wildest dreams of
Alexander. The fact that he sent a letter to Tip-

140

w, by George W. Jacobs & Co.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

From an original drawing in blue by an unknown artist

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

poo Sahib, an Indian prince then at war with
Great Britain, entreating him to hold out and
promising him assistance, is a fair indication of
his ultimate purpose.

The great power of Bonaparte lay in adapting
himself to conditions no matter how adverse, and
never did he display more resolution and forti-
tude of soul than in this distressing period, a
period with its difficulties that would have broken
the spirit of any man with less courage. By his
example he inspired confidence in the weak and
revived the spirits of the strong.

When the soldiers realized how far they were
from home, now that the French fleet was de-
stroyed, their murmurs greatly increased. Even
some of the highest officers complained of their
lot; among the latter was General Alexander
Dumas, commander of the horse. Dumas was a
tall, powerful mulatto, whose complaints were
loud and deep, whose despondency had become
contagious and whose example had created a
spirit of discontent among the troops. " Take
care," said Bonaparte, addressing the burly negro,
" that your seditious utterances do not compel
me to perform my duty: your six feet of stature
shall not save you from being shot."

To quiet the discontent Bonaparte offered pass-
ports to those who were anxious to return to
France. He was very careful, however, to see
that those whom he desired to retain did not go.

He strove to divert the thoughts of his men
from the great disaster, and on the seventh anni-
versary of the founding of the Republic, the first

141

NAPOLEON

of Vendemiaire, issued a stirring address, among
other things saying: "Five years ago the inde-
pendence of the French people was threatened,
but you took Toulon. A year afterwards you
defeated the Austrians at Dego. The following
year you were on the summits of the Alps. Two
years ago you were engaged against Mantua, and
you gained the famous victory of St. George.
Last year you were at the sources of the Drave
and the Isongo. Who would then have said that
you would be to-day on the banks of the Nile
in the centre of the old world? From the Eng-
lishman, celebrated in the arts and commerce, to
the hideous and ferocious Bedouin, all nations
have their eyes fixed upon you. Soldiers, yours
is a glorious destiny because you are worthy of
what you have done, and of the opinion that is
entertained of you. You will die with honor
like the brave men whose names are inscribed
on this pyramid, or you will return to your coun-
try covered with laurels and with the admiration
of all nations. On this day forty millions of
people are celebrating the era of representative
governments, forty millions of citizens are think-
ing of you. All of them are saying, ' To their
labors, to their blood we are indebted for the
general peace, for repose, for the prosperity of
commerce, and for the blessings of civil liberty ! '

In commemoration of this great festival of the
Republic, and in order to pay tribute to the valor
of the dead and to stimulate the courage of the
living, he had cut on Pompey's pillar the names
of the first forty soldiers slain in Egypt. " These

142

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

forty names of men sprung from the villages of
France,'* observes Thiers, " were thus associated
with the immortality of Pompey and Alexander."

Upper Egypt showing signs of mutiny, Desaix
had been sent forth with a body of troops to
restore order and obedience and he accomplished
his mission. The country was laid bare as if
swept by a tornado. " When they make a soli-
tude they call it peace," was the incisive language
of Tacitus in referring to the conquests of the
Romans, which in this instance may truthfully
be applied to the French. ' To plunder, to slay,
to harry they miscall empire."

Accepting his fate and acting as if the East
were to be the only theatre of his future opera-
tions, Bonaparte began, at once, to reorganize the
government. He set up printing presses and pub-
lished a newspaper, erected foundries and fac-
tories, planned the construction of canals and
dams for the purposes of transportation and irri-
gation, laid out vineyards and extended and im-
proved the cultivation of corn and rice, built wind-
mills for the grinding of grain and great ovens
for the baking of bread. He established a brew-
ery and manufactured a native beer, which to the
soldiers in that torrid, sun-beaten land was a most
refreshing beverage. To provide for the pleas-
ure and amusement of the officers and men there
was opened a public resort called the Tivoli Gar-
dens which in its features resembled the Palais
Royal.

The engineers drew plans and began a series of
surveys; the savants took astronomical observa-
14.3

NAPOLEON

tions and made celestial discoveries, explored the
country and studied it archseologically, geologic-
ally and geographically, established a laboratory
and organized at the suggestion of Bonaparte
himself a learned society called the Institute of
Egypt.

It was about this time that a French officer of
engineers, M. Boussard, while digging the foun-
dations of Fort St. Julien near the Rosetta mouth
of the Nile, found a stone tablet about three feet,
seven inches long by two feet, six inches wide,
containing inscriptions in three different charac-
ters, the Greek, the mystic or hieroglyphic of the
Egyptians, and the demotic or the writing of the
common people. This so-called Rosetta stone
was an invaluable discovery and threw a flood of
light upon the history of ancient Egypt. It be-
came the key that enabled oriental scholars to
interpret the inscriptions on tombs, monuments
and obelisks that without this aid would have been
undecipherable.

Among other things Bonaparte formed and
organized a fleet-footed camel corps for the pur-
pose of making forays across the desert and
attacking the distant tribes of marauding Bedou-
ins, camels being able to endure much better than
horses the hardships of such campaigns. Drom-
edaries of the finest strains were selected for this
service.

Never did the genius of this remarkable man
have a broader or more fertile field for its activity,
and never did its versatility shine with greater
lustre.

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THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Amidst his arduous labors news was brought
to him of Josephine's infidelity. Captain Hip-
polite Charles was living with her in Paris in open
adultery. Her conduct had become a public
scandal and Junot, the faithful friend of Bona-
parte, thought it advisable to be the bearer of
bad tidings and informed him of the condition
of affairs. Bonaparte was thrown into despair,
but he soon rallied, and emerging from his de-
spondency plunged into libertine excesses to such
an extent that he scandalized the army. Up to
this period in his life, taking into consideration
the low moral tone of the times and his tempta-
tions, Bonaparte had been fairly chaste in his con-
duct, but now he broke away from all restraint,
and became openly licentious. In the afternoons
frequently he could be seen riding through the
streets of Cairo with his mistress, Madame
Foures.

The French, lulled into security by the appar-
ent acquiescence of the Egyptians in their rule,
were taken quite by surprise when the natives
revolted in Cairo. Preparations for an outbreak
had been going on for some time. The priests
had been quietly appealing to the fears, supersti-
tion, and religious prejudices of the people until
they had been wrought up to an uncontrollable
fury. Just before the uprising, the muezzins,
calling from the minarets at the hour of prayer,
urged the faithful to arms.

On October 2ist, the French garrison was sud-
denly and fiercely assailed and for a time was
in grave danger; but courage, discipline, and
10 145

NAPOLEON

artillery soon quelled the tumult. With no half-
hearted measures, Bonaparte dealt summarily with
the insurgents. They were shot and beheaded
without mercy. Donkeys laden with sacks were
driven to the public square and when the sacks
were untied ghastly heads rolled out upon the
pavement and were piled up in heaps. This
warning struck the natives dumb with terror and
insurrection in Egypt ceased.

The battle of the Nile resulted in effecting a
coalition between Great Britain and Turkey and
at once the Porte declared war against France.
English, Turks, Mamelukes, and Arabs united
their forces to expel the invaders.

Achmet, Pacha of Acre, surnamed Djezzar,
the Butcher, was raising an army in Syria, and
without delay Napoleon marched against him,
hoping to overthrow him before he could form a
combination with his allies. Town after town
fell into the possesion of the French until Jaffa,
the ancient Joppa, was reached; here the French
messenger, who was sent into the town under a
flag of truce to demand its surrender, was killed.
The fury of the French soldiers because of this
cruel assassination was beyond control and when
they stormed the walls and fortifications of the
town they butchered the inhabitants, men, women,
and children, without discrimination. For days
the massacre continued, when Bonaparte, sick at
heart, sent a messenger with orders to stop the
slaughter. Two thousand prisoners that had
escaped the sword were brought to his tent and
as he saw them approaching, he impatiently ex-

146

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

claimed : " Why do they bring them here ? What
do they suppose I can do with them ? "

When his order was given to stop the mas-
sacre he intended it to apply to women and chil-
dren, that was only to non-combatants and not to
those who were in arms. Under the usages of
war it was claimed the prisoners who were taken
in actual battle could be shot down in cold blood,
if necessity required. A council of officers being
held, it was decided that as there was no fleet to
carry the captives away and no means with which
to provide them with food, they should be shot,
and the poor wretches, whose only crime was that
they had stood in defence of their homes, were
taken to the beach and slaughtered. Bonaparte
very reluctantly gave his consent to this hideous
butchery and yielded only after the troops evinced
signs of mutiny. Many historians have de-
nounced this massacre as the blackest in the an-
nals of civilized warfare. The apologists for this
inhumanity, however, and there are many of
them, contend that the safety of the army re-
quired this method, that the invaders could not
take the prisoners along with them on the march,
and could not release them on parole, for no
dependence could be placed upon their promises.
The question has two sides, however, and we will
leave it for settlement to the casuists.

The army of invasion, having wiped out the
male population of Jaffa, now took up their march
and laid siege to Acre. This town was more
strongly fortified than Jaffa and besides the Eng-
lish were there under the command of Sir Sidney

147

NAPOLEON

Smith to help in its defence. The massacre of
Jaffa had taught the natives that they might ex-
pect no quarter at the hands of the French ; made
desperate by fear, the defenders were determined
to die rather than surrender. Deeds of valor
were performed on both sides. Lannes, in lead-
ing the assaults, displayed a personal bravery that
was incomparable. The French time and again
scaled or breached the walls and penetrated to
the centre of the town, once even reaching the
palace of Djezzar, the Butcher, but every house
was a fortress, and from every window and
crevice blazed the fire of musketry, while the
streets were swept by the English artillery manned
by the blue coats. The women, frenzied with
fear, urged their husbands and sons and brothers
to the combat. Against such courage the French
fought in vain.

An incident, rather amusing than serious,
occurred during the progress of the siege when
Sir Sidney Smith challenged Bonaparte to a duel
for some language the latter had used in the
correspondence that passed between them. Bona-
parte replied that if the English could produce a
Marlborough he would consider the proposition.

Kleber had been sent out with a small division
detached from the besieging army to keep at bay
a large body of Turks and Mamelukes who were
marching to the relief of Acre. The armies met
in battle on the plain at the foot of Mount Tabor.
The Turks had a force of 15,000 foot and 12,000
horse, while the French numbered only 3,000
infantry.

148

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Bonaparte, hearing that his marshal was in
danger, withdrew a portion of his troops from
the siege to go to his rescue and as he approached
Nazareth he saw Kleber's small army enveloped
in a dense volume of smoke and dust through
which, as they kept their assailants at bay, flashed
the incessant fire of their musketry like lightning
from a storm or thunder cloud. Surrounded by
an innumerable host of foot soldiers and cavalry,
the French were fighting desperately against over-
whelming odds. Bonaparte, taking in the situa-
tion at a glance, marched on in silence and so
disposed his troops that in conjunction with the
small army of Kleber he gradually enveloped the
enerny, who, finding no way of escape, dashed
wildly to and fro and were cut down by thousands.
Murat, posted on the banks of the river Jordan,
slaughtered the fugitives in great numbers. After
the battle Kleber embraced Bonaparte, exclaim-
ing : " O General, how great you are ! " Immense
booty fell into the hands of the French, including
the pacha's standard of three tails and four hun-
dred camels. This defeat left no organized army
of natives in the field.

But Acre had not yet fallen, and so long as it
held out it blocked Bonaparte's road to the East.
Week after week went by, month after month,
and still there were no signs of surrender and4
Bonaparte at last, after a loss of 5,000 men, was
compelled to abandon the siege and take up his
retreat, which began on the night of May 20,
1799.

This was his first real repulse, up to this point
149

NAPOLEON

his whole career had been wonderfully successful,
virtually without a break in the line of victories;
but now the charm of his invincibility was broken,
and this to him was the most disastrous feature
of the campaign, for it taught the soldiers that
his star of destiny was not always in the ascend-
ant. " That miserable hole," he exclaimed in
disgust, " has thwarted my ambition." " J'ai
manque ma fortune a Saint Jean d'Acre." No
longer could he dream the dreams of Alexander,
no longer could he look upon India as his booty
and Constantinople as the capital of his new em-
pire. In after years, even when in the zenith
of his power, he referred reluctantly to his failure
to force the surrender of this town.

The retreat from Acre to Cairo was worse than
the march from Alexandria to Cairo, if that were
possible, for in addition to the terrible suffering
from heat and thirst the army was attacked by
plague and pestilence.

To prevent Djezzar from harassing the retreat/
the French laid waste the country on all sides,
every hamlet was fired, every harvested crop and
every field of standing grain destroyed. Amidst
such scenes and surroundings, the dispositions of
the soldiers underwent a change, they grew indif-
ferent and turned a deaf ear to the appeals of the
sick and wounded.

Miot gives a melancholy picture of the indif-
ference and apparent heartlessness of the soldiers
on the retreat in regard to the sufferings of those
who \vere unable to keep up with the march.
Fearful of falling into the hands of the Turks,
150

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

a man who, forced by weakness and fatigue, bad
lain down by the roadside would in desperation
snatch up his gun and knapsack and take his place
in the line. Too weak to walk steadily, he would
stagger and stumble along like a drunken man,
exciting the fear of some of his comrades and
the ridicule of others. " His account is made
up;" " He will not make a long march of it,"
were the comments heard on all sides, and when
at last the poor fellow, unable to go further,
would sink to the ground the observation would
be made that " he had pitched his tent for eter-
nity."

Bonaparte ordered all the able-bodied men to
dismount and go on foot so that every horse, mule,
and camel could be used in the transportation of
the sick and wounded. Bonaparte's groom ad-
dressing him asked : " What horse shall I reserve
for you, General ? " " Out with you, you
rascal ! " cried Bonaparte, at the same time strik-
ing the man with his whip. " Did you not hear
my order, every man on foot ? "

When Jaffa was reached, all the hospitals were
filled with the plague-stricken. Bonaparte vis-
ited the sick and encouraged them with kind
words. To inspire confidence and to allay fears
he even touched the invalids to remove the impres-
sion that the disease was contagious. He sug-
gested the advisability of resorting to the use of
opium to put the victims out of their misery and
to prevent them from falling into the hands of
the enemy, but the doctor in charge, Desgenettes
by name, to whom he made the suggestion, re-

NAPOLEON

torted that it was his duty to cure, not to kill.
And yet there was nothing inhumane in the
thought of Bonaparte, he was not a cruel man;
he believed under the circumstances that in those
instances where death was certain it would be
merciful to put an end to the suffering of the
victims rather than have them fall into the hands
of a cruel enemy.

Before leaving Jaffa, Bonaparte passed through
the wards of the hospital and called out in a loud
voice : " The Turks will be here in a few hours
and whoever is strong enough to follow us, let
him do so."

The line of march was again taken up and after
dreadful hardships Cairo was reached June 14,
1799. Bonaparte had set a noble example by
going the whole distance on foot. Shortly after
his arrival he received information of the landing
of Turkish troops at Aboukir. Hastily organ-
izing his forces, he started forth to meet the
enemy, taking along with him Lannes and Murat.
On July 25th he came up to the Turks, who, hav-
ing formed their line of battle, stood ready to
receive him with their backs to the sea. Bona-
parte, seeing the mistake of this formation, began
the attack at once and when the battle was over
the Turkish army was almost annihilated, their
loss being twelve thousand men, thousands of
riders and horses having been driven into the sea
and drowned. Their commander, Mustapha, was
captured by Murat, who in a personal encounter
almost severed by a stroke of his sabre the Turk's
hand from his wrist. When taken before Bona-

152

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

parte the general said in the kindest tones : " I will
take care to inform the sultan of the courage you
displayed in this battle, though it has been your
misfortune to lose it." " You may save your-
self the trouble," was the prisoner's haughty an-
swer ; " my master knows me far better than you
can."

Aboukir was the last battle fought by Bona-
parte in the East. While at Alexandria he re-
ceived a bundle of English newspapers and a copy
of the Frankfort Gazette. He sat up in his tent
all night reading them. They acquainted him
with the condition of affairs at home. " The
fools/' he cried, " have lost Italy. I must forth-
with return to France," and he made arrange-
ments to start at the earliest possible moment.
A wind from the southeast, an unusual quarter
for it to blow from in that locality, at that season
of the year, seemed an invitation for him to re-
turn to France and so he set sail August 22,
1799, taking with him some chosen commanders
and savants. He also carried along two faithful
body servants, Roustan and Ibrahim, both Mame-
lukes.

His conduct in so suddenly abandoning the
expedition was pronounced as treacherous by
those who were left behind; the deserted officers
and soldiers did not hesitate to stigmatize his act
as a betrayal.

After an uneventful voyage, fortunately escap-
ing the British cruisers, and stopping for a few
days at Ajaccio, his old home, he landed at Frejus
on October 8, 1799.

iS3

NAPOLEON

Thus ended his personal participation in the
invasion of Egypt, a project that was conceived
in iniquity and born in sin. It was arranged
simply to furnish a field for the ambition of Bona-
parte, and without patriotically considering the
justice of such a plan, the Directory supplied an
army and a fleet merely to get rid of an irritating
and a formidable rival. The laws of nations and
of humanity were violated, neutral states invaded
and their rights ignored, dreadful losses and suf-
fering inflicted upon an innocent people who had
given no offence to France and against whom she
had no casus belli. Towns were burned, har-
vests were destroyed, the whole country was laid
waste; men, women and children were butchered
in cold blood ; all this to realize one man's dreams
of conquest, glory, and ambition. And after this
great loss of life and treasure the campaign ended
in failure and disaster and had to be abandoned.
Kleber made a valiant effort to retain Egypt, but
both it and Malta were ultimately lost to France.

Bonaparte in his letters and dispatches had
dazzled the imagination of the French people by
his tales of oriental conquest; he had exaggerated
the victories, minimized the defeats, extolled the
bravery of his troops and promised to the Repub-
lic the annexation of an empire, so that when he
landed on the shores of France his journey to the
capital was a continued ovation.

154

CHAPTER X

NINETEENTH BRUMAIRE

After the Treaty of Campo Formic and the
departure of Bonaparte for Egypt, the Directory
by bad management lost about all that had been
gained in Italy, reversed the peace policy of
Bonaparte, and withouj:__reaspn provoked the
Powers.

Rome and Naples both were occupied by
French troops, and the inhabitants were urged
by emissaries of the Directory to overthrow the
existing governments and establish republics.
Austria and Russia having formed an alliance
with England at once took the field, and Suvaroff
won several battles in northern Italy. Not only
abroad was the Directory unfortunate, but it was
equally so at home. The finances were in a
wretched state; the paper money in circulation
was worthless, and gold had entirely disappeared
as a medium of exchange. France in 1798 was
bankrupt. The administration was inefficient
and corrupt. The armies were unpaid, and were
again ill-supplied. It is stated that one company
used one pipe and one bag of tobacco, and re-
stricted the number of puffs each man was to
take. The public roads and canals were out of
repair, police protection was unprovided, and

155

NAPOLEON

highwaymen held up and robbed the mail coaches
within a few miles of Paris.

In this contingency advice was sought of
Abbe Sieyes, who at this time was occupying the
post of ambassador at the court of Berlin. He
had made a great reputation as a philosophical
statesman in the early sessions of the States-
General in the French Revolution, and was looked
upon as one of the ablest politicians in that body,
but his reputation seems to have gone far beyond
his real merit. He was witty and learned, and
in that congress of orators had the exceptional
faculty of being sententious in expression. He
looked wiser than he really was. When some
one in the presence of Talleyrand remarked that
Sieyes as a thinker was profound, the caustic
politician and brother churchman replied : " Yes !
you are right, he is a cavity, a perfect cavity."

The abbe, however, whatever else may be said
of him, was a shrewd and clever man, and man-
aged to avoid the pitfalls of the Revolution, and
to escape the guillotine during the " Reign of
Terror." Bonaparte disliked him, and according
to Bourrienne declared that " when money is in
question Sieyes is quite a matter-of-fact man.
He sends his ideology to the right-about and be-
comes easily manageable. He readily abandons
his constitutional dreams for a good round sum,
and that is very convenient."

The old directors, keeping a weather eye open
for squalls, had accumulated a sum of money
amounting to 800,000 francs, which they put in
a separate fund and laid by for a rainy day.

156

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

r\

Shortly after the establishment of the Consulate,

Sieyes blandly proposed that the fund should be /
divided among the three members, but Bonaparte /
said to his two colleagues, " You may do with it /
as you please, but I do not want nor shall I touch
a sou of it." Bonaparte had no faith in the V
abbe's integrity or loyalty and frequently referred /
to him as " that priest sold to Berlin."

The selection of a man of the calibre of Sieyes
as a leader to meet a crisis such as was then
menacing France shows what a dearth of real
statesmanship there must have been in the Re-
public at that time.

Sieyes, however, did not hesitate to assume the
Herculean task, and until supplanted by Bonaparte ^~"
was the great protagonist in the drama. He
undertook to institute methods of administrative
reform, while General Joubert was to retrieve
the misfortunes in Italy. The latter was forth- /
with put in command of the army, but in his first /
fight at Novi, on August 15, 1799, he was de- f
feated and killed. This disaster left the frontiers
uncovered from both Germany and Italy. An
Anglo-Russian army in Holland and an Austro-^^/
Russian army in Italy threatened invasion. The
future of the Republic looked dark, and the royal-
ists made ready to aid in the restoration of the
Bourbon regime. Just at this juncture, however,
Massena won several brilliant victories in Switzer-
land, which momentarily dispelled the gloom, re-
vived the hopes of the people and saved France
from immediate invasion. It was at this point
of time that the frigate bearing Bonaparte cast

157

NAPOLEON

anchor in the harbor of Frejus. The general's
arrival was heralded throughout France as if it
were a divine dispensation. He could not have
stepped ashore at a moment more propitious.
The planets were in auspicious conjunction, and
again the star of this child of fortune was in the
ascendant.

The harbor was soon crowded with innumer-
able small craft of every character and description
flocking around the little ship to give it welcome.
The fleet of Bonaparte consisted of four vessels,
and it was most remarkable as well as most for-
tunate that it escaped capture while crossing the
seas, for England's navy was on the lookout and
Nelson's eye swept the horizon every minute of
the day. Although the vessels had come from
an oriental, plague-stricken port, the people, dis-
regarding all quarantine regulations, crowded
aboard and overran the decks. Bonaparte him-
self did not wait for any inspection by the health
officers, but landed at once and hastened to Paris
by speedy relays. Couriers already had preceded
him, carrying the glad news and spreading it on
all sides, and every step of his way to the capital
was an ovation. Bells were rung and at night
villages and towns through which he passed were
illuminated and people joyfully danced in the pub-
lic streets.

When Paris was at last reached he went at
once to his home on the rue de la Victoire.
Josephine, whose welcome above all else he would
have appreciated was, as previously told, not there
to meet him. For days he kept in seclusion and

158

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

carefully studied the political and military condi-
tion of affairs at home and abroad.

The Directory feared his presence, and to get
rid of him offered him his choice of armies, but
he declined on the ground of ill health and that
he needed rest after his excessive labors in the
East and especially after his perilous sea voyage.
He had, without first obtaining permission of the
Directors, abandoned his army in Egypt and at
the time of his landing in France had violated
the quarantine regulations, so that he was both a
deserter and a law-breaker. The question of
arresting him for these offences was held for a
time under advisement but was soon dropped, for
such action would only have increased his already
great popularity.

Bonaparte had been absent from France a year
and" five months all__but_a_few days, and during
that time he took 'every care to see that thrilling
and dramatic accounts were given throughjthe
papers and otherwise of his brilliant victories and
achievements in the East. The whole campaign
was ujvered by a halo of romance. It was more
like an oriental tale, an adventure of knight
errantry than a simple military invasion. On
the banks of the mysterious Nile his army had
marched; in the shadow of the eternal pyramids
it had camped; and under the eye of the inscru-
table Sphinx it had fought. Bonaparte had been
a Caesar on his return from Italy; he was an
Alexander when he came back from the East.
Is it any wonder that a people so sensation loving
as the French saw looming up through this haze

159

NAPOLEON

of glory the figure of the coming man and so
welcomed him?

During all this interval Bonaparte acted with
great discretion. He had been time and again
invited to review the troops, but he wisely de-
clined. His reputation up to this time was that
of a soldier, not an administrator of public affairs,
and he saw that it would be most unwise to
reveal even in the most remote way any desire
to assume a military dictatorship. To rattle his
spurs and sabre would simply startle the people.
He emphatically announced that France must
have peace.

There was a popular demand for Bonaparte to
take to the saddle, and retrieve the losses in Italy,
but affairs were in so deplorable a state in France
that he declared in addressing Marmont that be-
fore victories are sought abroad the home govern-
ment should be placed upon a solid and safe basis ;
or, to use his own words : " When the house is
crumbling is it the time to busy oneself with the
garden ? "

As we have already seen, the executive and
legislative branches of the government, under the
Constitution of 1795, consisted of a Directory
merribefs and two chamberSjJjie

Councilof^Ancients and the Council ofFive Hun-
dred. _ In the last election the Jacobins had been
successful in returning to the lower or popular
chamber a majority of delegates. This revival
of a revolutionary party was used as an argument
to startle the Conservatives, it being claimed that
it indicated a return to the violence of the " Reign
160

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

From a painting by Gerard; engraved by Richomme

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

of Terror " ; and although a vast majority of the
people were anxious to avoid such a condition
they were on the other hand bitterly opposed to
a Bourbon restoration. The conservative parties
could not agree upon any man as a leader. This
gave the opportunity to Bonaparte for a coup
d'etat; he had been so long out of the maelstrom
of politics that he was not identified with any
faction and this made it possible to form a com-
bination that could unite upon him and seize the
reins of government. Talleyrand, Cambaceres,
Roger Ducos, Roederer, Cabanis, the old friend
of the great Mirabeau, Murat, Lannes, Marmont
and Macdonald were a few of the chief conspira-
tors. Fouche, whose services were secured by
Talleyrand, was a very important acquisition, be-
cause of his influence with the police.

The plan agreed upon was to win over to the
project a majority of the members of the Council
of Ancients. This was comparatively a very easy
matter, and was quickly accomplished. At a
meeting of their chamber they were to decree that
the two legislative bodies should hold their ses-
sions at St. Cloud, a suburb of the city, about five
miles distant from the capital. This was to effect
a withdrawal of the councils from Paris, where
the Jacobins were in strength, and to avoid mob
interference with the plot. Bonaparte was__toj)c
placed in^jDCUHfRaiKt^oT'tlie troops in Park— and.
after the Directors had been induced__tQ_resign, a
provisional Consulate was to be" created, consist-
ing of Bonaparte, Sieyes~an'd~Rogef DucosT TRe
pTanlnen waslb~wlil over the FiTT Hundred, or
11 161

NAPOLEON

if there were no other alternative to scatter them
by force. After the passage of the decree by the
Council of Ancients, placing Bonaparte in com-
mand of the troops, it was understood that the
responsibility would be upon him to effect success-
fully the coup d'etat.

The Directors at this time were Sieyes, Barras,
Roger Ducos, Gohier and Moulins. Sieyes and
Ducos were in the plot with the promise of being
named in the Consulate, so their resignations were
forthcoming on request. Barras was loath to
quit office voluntarily, but after an interview with
Talleyrand, who either threatened or bribed him,
or perhaps both, he surrendered. It is said that
Talleyrand in paying over the bribe kept a por-
tion of it for himself. This is the last scene in
which Barras figures prominently. At this very
time he had in his possession a written agreement
to aid in the restoration of the Bourbons, and
had been paid his price. When Bonaparte heard
of this he declared that if he had known it, he
would have pinned the paper to the traitor's
breast and had him shot. It would have been a
punishment well deserved.

The two other directors, Gohier and Moulins,
were weak vessels and were shattered in the
struggle. Josephine tried to seduce Gohier, and
invited him to breakfast with her and Bonaparte,
but he was prudent enough to remain away. To
show how little he understood the real situation,
he remarked, even after the Consuls were in-
stalled, that they could not carry on the govern-
ment because he had the seals of the Republic,
162

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

altogether. Leaving the hall of the Ancients he
proceeded, without taking time to cool, to the
chamber where the Five Hundred were in ses-
sion. The doorways and aisles were crowded,
and he had to edge his way in. So soon as he
was discovered struggling in the mass of people,
the cry went up from every quarter of the hall :
" Down with the tyrant ! outlaw him ! " The
same cry, " hors la loi" had paralyzed the cour-
age and the energy of Robespierre. Murat, see-
ing the peril of the general, forced his way with
a score of grenadiers to the side of Bonaparte
and rescued him from the crowd.

When Bonaparte came from the hall his face
was scratched and bleeding, and his uniform was
torn. One of the members had seized him by
the throat and attempted to strangle him while a
man named Arena had brandished a dagger in his
face. Still nervous and trembling with excite-
ment, Bonaparte exclaimed, " Why, the rascals
would outlaw me." He knew full well the mean-
ing of those terrible words, and they had brought
the pallor to his cheeks. " Why do you not out-
law them?" said Sieyes, seated comfortably in a
coach to which six horses were harnessed, ready
to fly in case the conspiracy should fail. This
admonition revived the courage of Bonaparte, and
he was again the soldier, the man of action, not
of words.

All the while the air rang with the ominous
and dreadful cry : " Outlaw him," which, had it
been heard in Paris, might have been his doom.

It was again fortunate that brother Lucien was
165

NAPOLEON

in the chair, for he refused to put the motion.
Through all the excitement he kept cool, held the
Council in check, and sent word to the conspira-
tors to act at once. Surrounded by a bodyguard
of grenadiers he was escorted into the courtyard,
where he harangued the soldiers of the Council
and declared to them that if his brother " should
attempt to betray the Republic he would stab him
with his own hands."

Bonaparte was now in the saddle, and his call
" to arms " only increased the impatience of the
soldiers, who were eager to act. In the midst of
the confusion some one ordered the drums to roll.
Murat, Leclerc and the grenadiers appeared im-
mediately at the door of the Council chamber
and at once the delegates scampered for their
lives, most of them jumping out of the windows.
Fortunately the orangery was on the ground floor
and no one was seriously hurt.

In the evening a rump parliament was held at
St. Cloud, composed of members of both Coun-
cils, representing the victorious factions, and this
body voted certain decrees to give the appearance
of legality to the acts of the conspirators. The
Directory was deposed and Bonaparte, Sieyes,
and Ducos were named Consuls. The two legis-
lative bodies then adjourned for four months.
The coup was accomplished without bloodshed
and fhis point distinctively marks besides the over-
throw of the Directory the""end of the__so-called
French Revolution. Tne prophecy of Edmund
Burke, that far-seeing politician and statesman,
was fulfilled: "The first great general/' he de-

166

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

clared, " who draws the eyes of men upon him-
self and inspires confidence, will be the master of
the Republic."

Many thought the Directory would be over-
thrown, but few that the revolution would carry
with it the destruction of the legislature.

The Consuls met in the Luxembourg and at
the first meeting Sieyes foolishly asked the ques-
tion, " Who will preside ? " Ducos, pointing at
Bonaparte, who had taken his seat at the head of
the table, replied : " Do you not see the president
is already in the chair?" In truth he had as of
right assumed command. It was his revolution.
Sieyes had been used by Napoleon only as an
instrument in its accomplishment, and it did not
take the wily abbe long to find that out. He was
satisfied to lay down his power in consideration
of the conveyance to him of a lovely estate at
Crosne, to \vhich he retired to spend the re-
mainder of his days in elegant leisure.

Bonaparte soon became First Consul for life,
got rid of both Sieyes and Ducos, and had Cam-
baceres and Lebrun named as their successors.

The Sections immediately after the coup began
to show signs of insurrection, but Bonaparte sent
word to Santerre, the leader of the mob, that if
the district of St. Antoine made a movement he
would have him shot.

The government from the first was a success.
Confidence was restored and every interest in
the community felt that a master pilot was at the
helm.

167

CHAPTER XI

MARENGO,

Bonaparte having patched and supported the
crumbling house now turned his attention to the
garden. On Christmas day, 1799, he wrote let-
ters addressed personally to the king of England
and the emperor of Austria (he had already dis-
engaged the czar of Russia from the coalition)
asking them to agree to an armistice in order if
possible that a treaty of peace might be entered
into. Austria no doubt would have accepted
such a proposition, but England was engaged in
a struggle to wrest Malta and Egypt from French
possession, and would not release her ally from
the coalition. So there was nothing to do but
renew the fighting.

In the spring of 1800 Massena in Italy with a
small French force was covering Genoa, while a
much superior body of Austrians under Melas
had its centre between that city and Nice. In
southern Germany General Kray with a large
Austrian army of 150,000 men, having Ulm as
its base of supplies, menaced the Rhine. Oppos-
ing him was General Moreau with a French army
about equal to the Austrians in numbers and with
his headquarters at Basle in Switzerland.

The original intention of Bonaparte was to
168

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

join the army of Moreau, and supervise its move-
ments. He was, however, as Consul prevented
by law from assuming command. His plan of
campaign was to march to Schaffhausen and
threaten the Austrian lines of communication and
thus throw the enemy at once upon the defensive.
But Moreau strenuously opposed so bold a proj-
ect, and above all he specially objected to divide
his command with Bonaparte, knowing full well
that the supreme command would soon be arro-
gated by the First Consul. About this time Mas-
sena was driven back by the Austrians, and took
refuge in Genoa, where he made preparations to
withstand a siege. On receipt of this news, Bo-
naparte changed his plans and began with great
ostentation to mobilize his troops at Dijon in
France, close to the Swiss border. He personally
visited the camp, and reviewed the small army
already massed at that point, and a poor, ragged,
inexperienced body of soldiers it was. The spies
from England, Austria, and Russia sent reports
to their governments that they had nothing to
fear from an invasion by so insignificant a rabble.
The army of Dijon became the laughing stock of
Europe, but this was only a blind, for Bonaparte
was quietly and expeditiously, for no man ever
knew the value of time better than he, massing
his real army of invasion at other points and put-
ting forth stupendous efforts to equip it. The
money chests of the Republic were empty, but
Bonaparte had so inspired public confidence in
the government that loans were made possible.
As a Consul was not permitted by law to com-
169

NAPOLEON

mand in person an army of the Republic, Bona-
parte named Berthier commander-in-chief. Upon
leaving Paris, May 6, 1800, he publicly announced
that he would be absent from the capital only a
fortnight and that in the meantime his diplomatic
receptions would not be discontinued.

Upon reaching Geneva he took command with-
out ceremony, and at once the army entered four
passes of the Alps, the principal one being that
of St. Bernard. After a week of hard travel and
climbing, from the I4th of May to the 2Oth, over
snow-clad and precipitous mountains, an army
of 60,000 men with horses and cannon debouched
upon the plains of Italy. It was a wonderfully
successful undertaking. Stivaroff had attempted
it a short time before, but he lost half his force
and his pathway was marked with wreckage and
death.

Bonaparte crossed on the back of a sure-footed
mule that was led at the bridle by an Alpine
peasant. On his way along, the guide told Bona-
parte of his love affair and that he would be the
happiest man in the world if he could only pur-
chase a cottage, marry the girl of his heart, and
settle down. It is said that the general, although
his mind was burdened with a thousand cares and
perplexities, was so impressed with the simple
story of the lad that he gave him a purse with
gold sufficient to gratify his wish.

After a rest for a day or so, giving time to
shoe the horses and to mount the cannon, which
had been conveyed over the mountains in hollow
logs, the army took up its march. Instead of

170

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

The painter and the engraver of this portrait (R. Lefebre and
A. Desnoyers) are two of the best known artists in the
Napoleon and subsequent periods. Considered one of the
best portraits of Napoleon ever made.

THE, FRENCH REVOLUTION

going at once to the relief of Massena, who was
now closely shut up in Genoa and suffering all
the horrors of famine and disease, Bonaparte sent
word to the doughty general to hold fast and then
proceeded to Milan, which city he entered amidst
public rejoicings, and was welcomed with every
demonstration of joy. Here he indulged in a
few days of festivities and then took the field in
earnest. Word reached him, much to his sur-
prise, that Massena had capitulated, and upon the
receipt of this unwelcome information he once
more changed his plan of campaign. The sur-
render of Genoa released a considerable force
under Massena that immediately joined the main
army, likewise a great body of Austrians relieved
from the siege augmented the army of Melas.

Bonaparte, fearing that the Austrians would
escape from the net he had woven around them,
manoeuvred to bring on a speedy engagement and
at Marengo, on June 14, 1800, the Austrians with
greatly superior forces answered his challenge
by suddenly making an attack upon the French
centre in order to break through the line. The
French detachments unfortunately were widely
separated and could not relieve each other and
after hours of desperate righting the Austrians
pierced the French centre, which was under the
immediate command of Victor, and gradually
compelled it to give way. Lannes for a time
steadied the column, but overwhelmed by superior
forces the retreat soon became a rout. Bona-
parte stood on the side of the road, swishing a
riding whip, and calling upon the troops to halt,

171

NAPOLEON

but by this time the flight had grown into a panic,
and even the presence of the great commander
could not stem the tide. Melas, believing the
battle was won, hurried to his headquarters to
send dispatches to Vienna of his victory, leaving
General Zach in command.

Desaix, early in the morning, hearing the boom-
ing of the distant cannon, believed that both
armies were engaged and at once hastened to the
relief of Bonaparte. He came upon the field
about four o'clock in the afternoon, just in the
nick of time. Bonaparte at once began to rally
his forces and made arrangements to renew the
battle. At the sight of reinforcements the flee-
ing soldiers halted and the fresh troops of
Desaix renewed the conflict. Twelve pieces of
cannon were massed and opened on the Austrians
who were advancing en echelon along the road;
the artillery cut their ranks to pieces, and a
charge of French infantry on the front with
fixed bayonets, while Kellermann at the head of
his cavalry assailed the flank, sent them flying in
every direction.

The Austrians were without a commander.
Zach had been taken prisoner, and Melas was
absent in his tent, sending congratulatory dis-
patches and letters. The whole battle line of the
Austrians was shattered, their defeat was com-
plete. Sixteen thousand were killed, the losses
being about equal. The brave Desaix, whose
timely arrival saved the day, was mortally
wounded while leading the charge. It was truly
snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.
172

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Bonaparte looked upon it as one of his greatest
battles, and always referred to it with the great-
est pride. The battle was lost until Desaix
came upon the field with reinforcements, the
French being in full flight Bonaparte was un-
questionably taken by surprise, he was not well
informed as to the enemy's numbers and location,
his battle line was too extended and it was because
of this that his weak centre, not within reach of
support, was pierced and broken by Melas. If
Desaix had not come in time, the defeat of the
French would have been overwhelming. It was
surely a lucky escape.

It is not contended for a moment that the
defeat of the French would have brought the
campaign to an end ; it would only have prolonged
it, for even if the Austrians had won a victory
it would not have extricated them altogether from
their peril. Bonaparte still would have held the
key to the situation, and with his superior strate-
gical position he doubtless would ultimately by
a combination of his forces have overthrown his
enemy. The Austrians were thoroughly demor-
alized and Melas sued for peace, agreeing to give
up Genoa and all the fortresses recently taken,
and to abandon forthwith northern Italy.

Bonaparte returned to Milan, reorganized the
Cisalpine republic, and put himself in touch with
the Vatican in anticipation of future treaty nego-
tiations. Massena was placed in command of
the army. Bonaparte returned to Paris in June,
1800, having been away from the capital about
six weeks. He was given a glorious welcome,

173

NAPOLEON

at no time in all his career did he ever receive
a more joyous or generous one. The city was
illuminated and the Parisians, all classes, went
wild with excitement. He afterwards declared
there was no prouder moment in his life than
when, seated on his white charger, bowing on all
sides in answer to the rapturous applause of his
people, he returned and was honored as the Con-
queror of Marengo.

Bonaparte was always fond of producing dra-
matic effects and he had it so arranged that a
battalion of the Consular Guard should reach
Paris on the i4th of July, the national fete day
held in commemoration of the fall of the bastile.
These veterans direct from the field of Marengo,
grim fellows under their tall bearskins, tanned
with the sun of an Italian summer, covered with
the dust of their march, bearing proudly aloft
their tattered and bullet-rent battle flags, keeping
in step with the roll of the drums, marched
through the gates of the city, along the boulevards
to the Champ de Mars, where the people in holi-
day attire were celebrating the national festival
of the Republic. Could anything have so aroused
the patriotic enthusiasm of the people? Tables
were spread for the soldiers, toasts were drunk
and the air rang with cries of " Vive Bonaparte"
" Vive le Consular Guard."

Austria still kept alive the conflict, but without
having much heart in it. In September Eng-
land captured Malta, and on December 3, 1800,
Moreau gained a decisive victory over Archduke
John at the battle of Hohenlinden.
174

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

News reached Paris that Kleber, commander
of the French forces in Egypt, had been assassi-
nated on June i/j-th, the day on which was fought
the battle of Marengo. Menou succeeded him in
command.

The war between France on one side and Eng-
land and Austria on the other still proceeded,
but it was very evident that the last named coun-
try was growing tired of a coalition that was kept
alive only to enable England to continue its strife
with France in the East. At last Austria broke
away from her ally and concluded a treaty of
peace at Luneville in Lorraine on February 9,
1801. This left both nations, France and Aus-
tria, about as they were at the signing of the
Treaty of Campo Formio.

England, after a vigorous campaign, having suc-
ceeded in driving the French out of Egypt, now
evinced signs of willingness to enter upon peace
negotiations. The bone of contention between
the two powers was Malta, which bore on the
question of the maritime control of the Mediter-
ranean. Great Britain, at the point when it
seemed as if the negotiations would come ab-
ruptly to an end, agreed to withdraw from the
island in favor of some neutral power, and eventu-
ally, after much controversy, a treaty was agreed
upon at Amiens on the 2/th of March, 1802,
This was the first time since 1792 that universal
peace prevailed throughout Europe.

175

CHAPTER XII

TgE._CONSULAR GOVERNMENT- — THJE CODE^-THE

CONCORDAT — yAPo_LEok!s RELIGIOUS^VIEWS—

LEGION OF HONOR— EDUCATION

Great as Bonaparte was as a soldier, he was
i greater, if that were possible, as a civil admin-
istrator. He came to the task of reorganizing
the government with an intellectual power that
was prodigious, with a marvelous constructive
ability and with an energy that was indefatigable.
Besides these attributes he already had had great
experience in state-craft and diplomacy. He had*>
- organized several republics in Italy, had created J
local administrations for a number of towns and
cities, and had negotiated the treaties of Campo
Formio and Luneville in which he had acquired
great acquisitions of territory and had, at every
point, vitally protected the interests of France.
He had met and successfully parried the thrusts
of some of the ablest diplomats in Europe, and
in not a few instances had shown himself superior
in resources and subtlety to many of them.
After his return from the battle of Marengo he
entered as Consul upon the work of reconstruct-
ing and reorganizing the government of France.
It was, however, with no fear of failure he un-

176

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

dertook solving the problem, for his confidence
in himself was supreme.

It was fortunate for Bonaparte that he was
not and had not been identified with any political
faction, for he could now, untrammeled by any
party obligations, call for the support of all
classes. It made no difference to him in selecting
men to do his work whether they were Jacobins,
Girondins, Feuillants, or royalists; Roman Cath-
olics, Protestants, atheists or Jews. The simple
question was: "Can the man do the work?"
He knew the treacherous, time-serving characters
of Talleyrand and Fouche, but he used them both.
Cambaceres, his colleague in the Consulate, had
voted for the death of Louis XVI; he was des-
ignated a regicide, as also was Carnot, but that
made no difference to Bonaparte in the matter
of their selection as officials. " I cannot -create
men," he said, " I must take them as I find them."
Time had brought about a change in the order
of things. " Brumaire," he declared, " marked
the beginning of a new era ; it is a brass wall that
stands between the present and the past."

Bonaparte was a tireless worker; he toiled
twelve to eighteen hours a day, and when neces-
sity required there seemed to be no end to his
energy. " I have never found," he declared, " the
limit of my capacity for work." " Come, gentle-
men," he wrould say, " it is early yet ; we must
earn the money the state pays us," and it may
then have been far past midnight. No question
was unimportant if it in any way affected the
interests or the well-being of the state. Agri-
12 177

NAPOLEON

culture, commerce, manufactures, education, in-
ternal improvements, social reforms, art, science,
literature, all received his attention and stimula-
tion. He was equally interested in the cultivation
of the beet for the manufacture of sugar, in the
construction of an embankment for the river
Seine, in the creation of the Legion of Honor,
in the complaint of a neglected grenadier, in the
improvement of the waterways, in the establish-
ment of schools, museums and hospitals, in the
founding of a national bank, and in the codifica-
tion of the laws. There was nothing too small
for his mind to consider, nothing too great for
his intellect to grasp.

After the iQth Brumaire the provisional Con-
suls, assisted by a committee composed of mem-
bers of the Council of Ancients and the Council
of Five Hundred favorable to the Bonaparte gov-
ernment, took up the framing of a new Constitu- v
tton. The executive department was to be a\\y
Consulate, comprising three members chosen for ^
an official term of ten years. They were to reside
in the Tuileries and the salary for each was to
be 150,000 francs per annum. Bonaparte was to
be First Consul, and he was to name the two
other members of the body. Further than this
the new instrument provided that no executive
act should be undertaken without the First Con-
sul consulting with his colleagues, but they should
have no vote and the final decision should rest
with him.

There were created a Council of State, a
Tribunate, a Legislative Body, and a Senate.
178

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

The Council of State, in the nature of a cabinet,
was to advise the executive in the preparation
of legislation, on law, finance and administration.
The Tribunate, a popular body, in a measure rep-
resenting the tribunes of old Rome, discussed the
laws but had no voice in their passage. They
simply stood guard over the interests of the peo-
ple. The Legislative Body voted on the laws
without discussing them, and the Senate sat as
a court to decide constitutional questions raised
by the Tribunes. The Constitution was promul-
gated December 5, 1799. A proclamation sub-
mitting it to the people closed with the following
language : " Citizens, the Revolution is confined
to the principles which commenced it. It is
finished." A plebiscite held in the early days of
1800 accepted the constitution by an overwhelm-
ing majority; 3,011,007 votes against only 1,562.
This would seem to be all but a complete ratifica-
tion by the electorate of the usurpation. Such
a ballot, however, is not always a fair expression
of public opinion because the question is so framed
that it means either the acceptance of the de facto
government or no government, which is chaos
or what is worse than that, civil war.

" The vain titles of the victories of Justinian
are crumbled into dust, but the name of the legis-
lator is inscribed on a fair and everlasting monu-
ment. . . . The public reason of the Romans
has been silently or studiously transfused into the
domestic institutions of Europe, and the laws of
Justinian still command respect or obedience of
independent nations. Wise or fortunate is the

179

NAPOLEON

prince who connects his own reputation with the
honor and interest of a perpetual order of men."
This pompous and laudatory language of the great
Gibbon may be used by the future historian of
the Decline and Fall of the French Empire in his
reference to Napoleon.

/ If the First Consul had accomplished nothing
/ /more during his administration than the compila-
- / tion of the Civil Code afterwards known as the

vCode Napoleon, he would have immortalized his
fame, and through all succeeding generations his
name would have been linked with the great law-
givers of the world, with Solon, Lycurgus and
Justinian. It was due to his stimulating energy
and intellect that this great monument was
erected. When the glorious victories of Ma-
rengo, Ulm, Austerlitz, Jena, Friedland and
Wagram are but memories, this code will live
and be the admiration of nations yet unborn, and

/ the basis of legislation for future civilizations.
A \l To-day traces of it are found in almost every
' J system of law from the Baltic Sea to the Gulf of
Taranto, from the steppes of Russia to the far-
distant coasts of Spain. Many of its features
have been incorporated into the laws of the Cen-
tral and South American states. In portions of
South Africa and in Louisiana it obtains with the
same vigor as it does in France. The English
system of equity jurisprudence derives its prin-
ciples from the Roman law, the source of the
French Code.

It was to his colleague Cambaceres, one of the
ablest jurists of his day, that Bonaparte assigned
180

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

the task of reducing to order the French laws
that had fallen into so chaotic a state. The Revo-
lution had brushed away much of the rubbish of
the ancient regime and made the work somewhat
easier for the compilers than it otherwise would
have been, but it nevertheless was a vast under-
taking. Atjhe_orjening of the French Revolution^
the la. ws were "marT almus I inextricable con-
fusion. What was Taw in one district, arrondisse-
ment, or province was not in another ; there was
no common uniform system of judicature, no
equality before the courts. Exemptions and priv-
ileges resulting from the absolutism of the past,
ecclesiastical rights, and feudalism with its op-
pressive burdens made a system that was unjust,
unreasonable, and inconvenient. France was di-
vided into districts that in many instances were
as inimical to each other as if they had been for- .
eign states. Custom houses were located on
every line separating the provinces from each
other. A cask of wine from Languedoc or Rou-
sillon had to pay duties upwards of a score of
times before it reached Paris, and even when it
entered the capital it had to give an additional
sum before it could be placed upon the market.
" Excessive duties " were imposed at the gates of
Paris " on hay, straw, seeds, tallow candles, eggs,
sugar, fish, faggots and firewood." All these
rights and exactions were fixed by local ordi-
nances or national decrees. The laws and cus-
toms of the ancient regime formed a bewildering
maze and the National Assembly cut its way
through this thicket, this jungle, by general and

181

NAPOLEON

sweeping repeals, but no attempt was made to
codify or systematize the new legislation. To
untangle this mass of ordinances, laws, enact-
ments, customs, regulations, and decisions and
r to adjust them in a well-ordered code was now
the task at hand.

Bonaparte attended many of the sessions of
Cambaceres and his associates and took part in
the discussions. Especially was he attentive upon
those meetings that were called for final revision,
and " never did we adjourn a consultation, at
which the Consul was present," said one of the
committee, " without learning something we had
not known before." Although without the tech-
nical knowledge of a lawyer, his wisdom, his
unerring sagacity, and his intense practicality
would intuitively find a solution of many a mooted
point. His wise and pertinent suggestions mark
the code with his individuality and intellectuality ;
it was through his exertions it was compiled, and
he is entitled to the honor of having it bear his
name. " I shall go down to posterity/' he
proudly exclaimed, " with the code under my
arm."

On the questions of the relation of the family

to the state, of marriage and divorce, he specially

A impressed his individuality. The Revolution,

\/.wild on the theory of individual liberty, had made

marriage a mere agreement, to be dissolved on

a simple declaration of incompatibility of temper.

Against all such ideas he sternly set his face.

The ablest lawyers, such men as Tronchet and
Portalis, were called into consultation to revise
182

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

the last draft of the code, and then after a com-
mittee of legislation of the Council of State had
approved its provisions, it was promulgated as
the fundamental law of France in 1804.. It had
2,281 articles, covering the family relation, the
order of succession, marriage, divorce, last wills
and testaments, the rights of persons and the
rights of things. It was followed by commercial
and criminal codes.

Bonaparte at an early day opened negotiations
w i tTrffie Vatican to adjust the differences between
France and Rome and to re-establish the Roman
tatholic religion. Of course the pope at first
treated with him at arm's length, for the Revo-
lutionjiad stripped the churcrrof her tithes^jmigl-
uments and privilegesTTiad confiscated her lands,
had devoted even her cathedrals to a profane use,
and had compelled her priests, under the threat
of banishment, tcTtake an "oath to the constitu-
tion. During his campaign in Italy, Bonaparte,
as the representative of the Directory, had made
demands upon the pope which the Holy Father
had designated as unchristian. But Bonayarte
kne3^t±Le_-^lu£^^l_rejjgioji from ji polidciaiis
standpoint, and jyas deterrniTi^, ;f KffffyK ito
se^uirjjtsaid_jnr each ing the realization of his
"The Caesars, the Mirabeaus, the

Napoleons," Justin McCarthy declares, " seldom
obey the morals of the porch or the creeds of the
cloister," but as wise men they appreciate the
influence of religion on the public mind. The
ringing of the church bells, a few days after
the 1 9th Brumaire, had been to Bonaparte a reve-

183

NAPOLEON

lation, for it stirred to a remarkable degree the
religious and devotional emotions of the people.
The bells had been so long silent, religious wor-
ship having virtually fallen into disuse, that their
tones seemed to awaken and to revive a tender
sentiment of devotion in the hearts of the people,
a sentiment that for years had lain dormant.
The "goddess of Reason" of Hebert and the
" Supreme Being " of Robespierre were poor sub-
stitutes for the deep consolations of the Christian
religion, and the ringing of the Vesperus with
all its memories and fond associations moved the
stoutest heart to tears if not to prayer. The
Jacobins, or the Reds, as they were called, the
ultra-revolutionists, and the soldiers in the army
murmured against the unrestricted opening of the
churches, but the First Consul's bold stand on this
question in the main increased his popularity.

Bonaparte was in no sense ofjhe
of deep religious convictions. He was unfathom-
able in all things, but in nothing was he more
enigmatical than in this matter of his faith. He
was born in the Roman Catholic communion and
he died in it, although extreme unction was ad-
ministered when he was insensible. In his last
will and testament he declared that he died in
the bosom of the Apostolic Roman Church, and
yet upon other occasions he said, " As for me, I
do not believe in the Divinity of Christ. He was
put to death like any other fanatic who professed
to be a prophet or a messiah." " I am a Catholic
because my father was and because it is the re-
ligion of France." At Elba while talking with
184

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Lord Ebrington he exclaimed : " We know not
whence we come, nor whither we go," and more
than once he scoffed at the popular creed, and
in a contradictory strain to these expressions he
told M. Mathues that he had no respect for any
religion which did not hold out to the faithful a
promise of eternal life.

While aboard ship on his way to Egypt, over-
hearing the conversation of a group of officers
who were discussing the question as to God's
existence, he interrupted them by asking, while
pointing heavenwards, if those stars and planets
were there by chance. This may be taken as
proof that he was not an atheist, but it in no way
can be argued therefrom that he was a Christian.
While at St. Helena he told Gourgaud that he was
a materialist, that the sight of myriad deaths in
war made him such, and that he would believe in
Christianity if it had been the original and uni-
versal creed, but that the Mohammedans " follow
a religion simpler and more adapted to their
morality than ours." He thought that great
natural intelligences govern the world, but he time
and again declared that God rights on the side
of the heavy battalions. At St. Helena the Bible
was occasionally read aloud, but Voltaire was the
favorite author, and religious ceremony and wor-
ship were not observed until towards the close of
his life, when the Bonapartes sent two priests to
Longwood, and the dining-room was converted
into a chapel. It is difficult to define the belief
or faith of a man expressing so many contra-
dictory views. But judging from his declarations

185

NAPOLEON

and conduct, it may be said that he gave no posi-
tive evidences at any time of a devout faith in
any creed. He was like many other men who on
the all-important question have their doubts, but
at last throwing them aside accept the comfort and
consolation of that faith in which they were born,
the influence of their early religious teaching still
lingering in their hearts.

Bonaparte had all the superstition of his race.
He believed in omens and would frequently cross
himself to avert an impending evil.

In the political testament left for his son's
guidance, Napoleon wrote : " Religious ideas have
more influence than certain narrqw-minded^jhikis-
dphers are willing to believe ; they are capable of
rendering great services to humanity By stand-

an influence is stillnain-

JnineH rnrnr^the rnn«srienres pj a hundred
~&f men." This language is full of significance,
_ and shows why Bonaparte was anxious to get
•in touch with the Vatican. .The reason that in-
duced him to pay respect to the Moslem religion
when he was in Egypt was perhaps the same that
prompted him to form a coalition wifh Rprrua,

] instances were political J~In TOm^eTs^tToirwith the

""poet Goethe at Erfurt he exclaimed : " Philoso-

phers plague themselves with weaving systems;

they will never find a better one than Christianity,

v' which reconciling man with himself also assures

public order and repose."

The pope, of course, was very cautious at first;
although at heart he rejoiced at even these faint
iS6

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

signs of repentance upon the part of an erring
child — this heir of the Revolution. On jthe
other hand it was no easy task for Bonaparte to

satisfy the public mind on this question of a Con-
cordat or an alliance with the church of Rome.
Out of a population in France of 35,000,000 thexe
were, according to an estimate made by~Thibau-
deau, 3,000,000 Protestants. Jews ffltj Then-
philanthropists, 15,000,000 Catholics and 17,000,-
ooo infidels or
belief whatever.

FreTTcli Revolution in 1790 established
what is known as tne Civil Constitution of the

Clergy, which aimed at making the church inde-
pendent of Rome. The bishops and priests, in
order to retain their benefices and holdings, were
required to take an oath of fidelity to the Consti-
tution. The orthodox or non-juring priests and
prelates, under a law passed in 1792, were sub-
jected to a penalty of banishment for non-compli-
ance with the act. The Constitutionals or state
clericals were supported by the Republic and alone
were permitted and authorized to perform mass.
Under such a system the churches were aban-
doned, "for the faithful would not attend services
conducted by non-orthodox priests, many of whom
had espoused Jacobinical principles and had
broken their vows by taking to themselves wives.
In one case even a bishop wore in the chancel
and the pulpit in place of the mitre the red cap
or bonnet rouge of the Republic and instead of
the shepherd's crosier carried the pike of the sans-
culottes. In time a general unbelief overspread

187

NAPOLEON

the land, the churches were closed, public worship
was suspended, and Sunday as a day of rest was
stricken from the calendar. In negotiating an
agreement with the church, the state had to pro-
tect the constitutional priests against the ven-
geance of Rome, for in her eyes they were even
worse than heretics — they were apostates.
When Consalvi, the papal legate, urged Bonaparte
to take a stand against the constitutionals, or in-
truders, as they were called, he smilingly remarked
that he could do nothing in that direction until
he knew how Rome stood, for you know " when
one cannot arrange matters with God one comes
to terms with the devil." When Rome became
too exacting or too obstinate he coquetted with
the constitutionals, and evinced a desire to estab-
lish a Gallican or national church independent of
the papacy. He even threatened when sore
pressed to bolt to Geneva.

Bonaparte never had a harder task than
attempting to reconcile these discordant interests.
To unite a nation half infidel with the unchang-
ing and inelastic policy of the church of Rome
required deft handling and all the subtlety and
astuteness of the master diplomat. The negotia-
tions were conducted in the main by a priest
named Bernier, who had shown his aptitude in the
pacification of Brittany. He had the implicit
confidence of Bonaparte as well as the Vatican.

Robespierre had brought upon himself the
scorn and condemnation of the free-thinkers in
attempting to set up a Supreme Being, and to in-
troduce a religious belief by legislative enactment.

188

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Bonaparte was arousing the scoffs and indignation
of the same class of men by entering into a com-
pact with Rome. In his negotiations he declared
that if he could not come to terms with the Vat-
ican he would organize a national church; above
all things he intended to provideji religion forTjis
peoglel XI last in the" Easter season of 1802 thr*\
Concordat was ratified. The French government M
recognized the Catholic, Apostolic Roman creed I
as the religion of France. Sixty sees were estab- fl %
lished, and the First Consul was to exercise the.- ^*
right of nomination. All clericals were to take
an oath of fealty to the constitution. The holders
of the confiscated lands were to be secure in their
possession. The state was to pay the stipends
of the clergy out of the public treasury.

The ratification of the Concordat was cele-'
brated by an imposing religious ceremony in the
cathedral of Notre Dame. The rich and pompous
ritual of the Roman church was never more im-
pressive; music, the perfume of flowers, and in-
cense filled the air, everything that could dazzle
the imagination or appeal to the emotions was
resorted to in order to express the appreciation
and thankfulness of Rome upon the occasion of
the return of a wandering child to the fold. The
bewildered observer, however, could not forget
that only eleven years before in the same cathedral
a like ceremony had taken place at the installa-
tion of a deity pompously styled the " Goddess
of Reason," and that the bishop of the diocese
had taken part in the services.

The celebration of the Concordat provoked the
i8g

NAPOLEON

anger and denunciation of the radicals. The sol-
diers specially were incensed and Delmas, one of
the marshals, boldly condemned it as " a fine
piece of monkery, indeed, a harlequinade," and
told the Consul that " it only lacked the million
men who got killed to destroy what he was striv-
ing to bring back."/ But Bonaparte clearly saw
what he wanted add with a calm demeanor he
was proof against the sombre jests of his mar-
shals, the jeers of his troops, the ribaldry and
blasphemy of the infidels and atheists, and the
protests of the priests both orthodox and re-
cusant, for there were remonstrances against the
alliance by both classes of churchmen.

With a broad spirit of toleration Bonaparte
recognized the two Protestant denominations in
France, the Calvinists and Lutherans. The pas-
tors were to b^ salaried and paid out of the state
budget. The government was to approve all
ecclesiastical nominations and the churches in
consideration of governmental protection were to
have no relations \vhatever with any foreign
power. The Jews also came under his broad
panoply and in return for paying taxes and per-
forming military services they were likewise to
receive governmental protection and their rabbis
state support. ^ureljMJieJ^
pi i shed some_goo$Ljn haying soJtejiejJL_j^vej^if it
did not totally destroy, the bigotry and intoler-
ance of the ancient jregiirie72

In 1802 Bonaparte proposed the formation of

r '

_ hich _

inks merTof distinction from every walk in life,
190

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

not only soldiers but savants. Jurists, and authors,
is aristocratic in its tendency," said Berlier,
a .distinguished lawyer, " leading France back to
the ancient regime when crosses, badges, and rib-
bons were the toys of monarchy." " Well," re-
plied Napoleon, " men are led by toys. The
French are not all changed by ten years of revo-
lution: they are what the Gauls were, fierce and

fickle. ^^y^havo_jont_issling^^2^^^ We
must nourish that feeling: they must have dis-
tinction."

The oath taken by a new member of the Legion
of Honor was : " To devote himself to the service
of the Republic, to the maintenance of the integ-
rity of its territory, the defence of its govern-
ment, laws and of the property which they have
consecrated; to fight against every attempt to
re-establish the feudal regime or to reproduce the
titles and qualities thereto belonging."

It was a mark of the highest distinction to be
admitted to its circle, and at the time of the
restoration of the Bourbons, in 1814, one of the
important stipulations was that the Legion of

comprehensive system of universal education
had been roughly sketched by Condorcet and his
fellow reformers in the Convention during the
Revolution, but in the multitude of labors that
commanded their attention they were unable to
complete their work, and it became the basis for
the system adopted and put into operation by
Bonaparte.

The establishment of the TTnjyf.rsiry_nf Franrp

NAPOLEON

in 1808 gave a great impetus to advanced educa-
tion, but notwithstanding all the efforts made by
Napoleon to stirriulate literature there was pro-
duced no great adthor or poet to hymn in lyric
or epic form the praises of the empire and its
ruler. Although "science flourished, literature
languished and it was-soon discovered that Uni-
versities, Institutes, Legions of Honor, prizes and
forcing processes could not produce the natural
poet or the original thinker, and the empire, one
of the greatest ever erected by the skill and genius
of a master mind, remained without a panegyrist.

193

CHAPTER XIII

CONSPIRACIES TO ASSASSINATE NAPOLEON — SAN
DOMINGO TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE CONTEN-
TION OVER THE TREATY OF AMIENS — LORD
WHIT WORTH — DECLARATION OF WAR BY ENG-
LAND LOUISIANA ,

The Bourbons, unable to interpret Bonaparte's
purposes, sought his aid to help in their restora-
tion. Their emissaries went so far as to per-
suade the pliable and elusive Josephine to use her
influence with her husband, but all such propo-
sitions he waived aside; he was not setting up a
throne for an effete and exiled dynasty, but laying
plans for the construction of his own.

The Jacobins and Royalists both formed con-
spiracies against his life, the former because he
was too imperialistic and the latter because he was
too democratic.

The conspiracy of three men, Ceracchi, Arena
and Topino-Lebrun, was unearthed by the police,
and they were condemned and executed. Cerac-
chi was a sculptor who had modeled a bust of
Bonaparte; Arena was a Corsican and brother
of the man who had brandished a knife in the face
of Bonaparte in the Council of Five Hundred on
the i Qth Brumaire; Topino-Lebrun was a violent
patriot and the juryman in the Revolutionary
13 193

NAPOLEON

Tribunal who was bold enough to hesitate to
render a verdict of guilty against Danton. These
were resolute, determined men whose plan of
assassination might have been successful, had it
not been betrayed.

The Royalists tried their hand at the game and
made a most desperate attempt on the First Con-
sul's life. A barrel of gunpowder was loaded on a
wheelbarrow or hand cart and placed in the high-
way, in the rue Ste. Nicaise, at a spot where the
Consul's carriage had to pass on its way to the
opera house. That night Bonaparte was a little
late in leaving the Tuileries, and the coachman,
who is said to have been tipsy, lashed his horses
into a run to make up for lost time, so the explo-
sion took place just an instant too late. The
report was terrific, it shattered the houses in the
neighborhood and killed many people, but the
Consul went unscathed. News of what had taken
place reached the theatre before his arrival, and
upon his appearance the house broke into ap-
plause; he bowed to the audience, took his seat
with composure, and seemed cool and uncon-
cerned. Josephine was hysterical, and completely
unnerved.

These conspiracies and attempts at assassina-
_tion aroused a great public sentiment in his favor
and, taking advantage of this, he created a court
for the trial of political offenders, without the
intervention of a jury, and without the right of
revision or appeal.

He also succeeded in securing the passage of
a decree giving him the right to banish without

194

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

trial suspected persons as " enemies of the state/'
Under this law a great number of people were
transported to the penal colonies.

A complete censorship of the press was estab-
lished, and to such a degree was this carried that^
the Moniteur, a journal as influential in France
as the London Times in England, never made
a single allusion or reference in its columns, at
any time, to the battle of Trafalgar. Bonaparte
once declared that he was indifferent to news-
paper attacks. " If they assail me," he said,
" they will but gnaw on granite." Yet under all
this appearance of indifference and bravado there _
were few men more sensitive to adverse criticism.

On August i, 1802, by a plebiscite Bonaparte \\
was elected Consul for life, and vested with almost V^
autocratic authority. He was empowered to
name his own successor. He appointed all mili-
tary and naval officers, ambassadors to foreign
states, judges in civil and criminal courts, made
treaties, declared war and concluded peace. The
Consulship was only one degree removed from
imperial authority. The Consulate, however,
even for life with its almost unlimited power, did
not satisfy the ambition of Napoleon, who longed
to establish a dynasty.

Meanwhile important changes were taking place
in the large and fertile island of Haiti or San
Domingo, one of the richest colonial possessions
of France. During the French Revolution the
blacks, immensely superior in numbers to the
whites, had risen in insurrection against their
masters and carried on a campaign of extermina-

195

NAPOLEON

tion. The conflict had all the features of a servile
war and the most atrocious outrages were perpe-
trated. The negroes overcame the whites and
established a black republic over which they made
Toussaint L'Ouverture the president. This man,
with really great qualities of mind and heart, was
born of slave parents. He had received the rudi-
ments of an education, could read and write, but
irrespective of these accomplishments was natu-
rally a born leader of men. His administration
of public affairs materially advanced the welfare
of his people and the interests of the island. Tak-
ing the French consulate as the model of his
republic, making his tenure of office as governor
for life with power to appoint his successor,
declaring the independence of San Domingo and
proudly calling himself the " Bonaparte of the
Antilles," he gave offence to Napoleon, who de-
cided to recover the island and once more annex
it to France. For this purpose he sent under the
command of his brother-in-law, General Leclerc,
the husband of Pauline, twenty thousand troops
taken mainly from the army of the Rhine. The
negroes fled in dismay to the mountains before
the trained and well-armed soldiers of France.
Poor Toussaint was captured, after being lulled
to a feeling of security by a promise of peace, and
was transported to France by the direct command
of Napoleon, where a year later he died in the
fortress of Joux among the Jura mountains after
suffering untold hardships.

But the mephitic marshes of his native land
avenged his cruel death. Yellow fever destroyed
196

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

the French army, the survivors having to take
refuge on English ships. General Leclerc died .
in the Tortugas and the whole enterprise ended in
disaster and failure.

Under the treaty of Amiens England had
agreed to surrender Malta to the Knights of St.
John, and to evacuate Alexandria; but neither
provision had been complied with. When Napo-
leon insisted upon their observance, or, using his
own language, demanded " the whole treaty of
Amiens and nothing but that treaty," the British
minister, Hawkesberry, answered : " The state of
the Continent at the period of the treaty of
Amiens and nothing but that state." Napoleon
replied that England had nothing to complain of
in the matter of his intervention in European
affairs; that having waived her interest in Con-
tinental matters she could not resume it at will;
that France had complied with the provisions of
the treaty and that Taranto had been evacuated.
This diplomatic controversy was reaching an acute
stage when Lord Whitworth was appointed min-
ister to France. He was a proud, reserved aristo-
crat of the old school, firm and unyielding and
without that tact and " savoir faire" that were
required in dealing with a man like Napoleon.
Shortly after the British envoy's arrival, the
Moniteur published in full the report of Gen-
eral Sebastiani, a commissioner who had been
sent by Napoleon to investigate affairs in Algiers,
Egypt, Syria, and the Ionian Isles. In this
famous report he described the wretched state of
the Turks in Egypt, the fortifications as being in
197

NAPOLEON

a ruinous condition and the Turkish forces as
beneath contempt. He further reported the Brit-
ish troops as being encamped near Alexandria and
numbering only 4,430, while General Stuart, the
English commander, was on bad terms with the
Pacha. " Six thousand French troops," he de-
clared, " would at present be enough to conquer
Egypt."

The report created a great sensation in both
France and England. Its warlike tone was taken
as a threat, and the British government directed
Whitworth to insist more strenuously than ever
upon the retention of Malta. " Then upon this
single question," exclaimed Napoleon, " will hinge
war or peace."

The Consul sent for Whitworth, and had a
long private conference with him to urge England
to keep her contract, but the minister was coldly
irresponsive.

Afterwards at a public reception of foreign
ambassadors at the Tuileries on March 13, 1803,
the Consul in rather a blustering manner thus
addressed Lord Whitworth : " So you are deter-
mined to go to war." " No," replied the envoy,
" we are too sensible of the advantage of peace."
" Why, then, these armaments? " exclaimed Na-
poleon. " Against whom these measures of pre-
caution? I have not a single ship of the line in
the French ports, but if you wish to arm I will
arm also; if you wish to fight, I will fight also.
You may perhaps kill France, but you will never
intimidate her." " We wish," answered Whit-
worth, " neither the one nor the other. We wish
198

Copyright, /p/o, by George W. Jacobs & Co.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

From an original water color drawing by L. David, 1803
From the Joseph Bonaparte Collection

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

to live on good terms with her." " You must
respect treaties then/' was Napoleon's reply;
" woe to them who do not respect treaties. They
shall answer for it to all Europe." To this last
statement the minister made no reply, and Napo-
leon retired to his apartment much perturbed.
The whole scene was very embarrassing, but it
was only one of those occasions when Napoleon
lost his temper.

The report of this incident to his home govern-
ment, in which the British ambassador claimed
he had been grossly insulted, aroused a great war
sentiment throughout all England. The Ministry
did not hesitate to exaggerate the facts, and the
British press assailed Napoleon with the most
scurrilous abuse, thus adding fuel to the flame.

Some further negotiations took place without
bringing about any satisfactory conclusion and the
British ambassador asked for his passports; but
receiving word from Downing Street to await
developments under an ultimatum he delayed his
departure. On May 16, 1803, England made a
declaration of war, and on the I7th Whit worth
crossed the strait of Dover.

England opened hostilities by seizing French
vessels in every port or wherever found. In
some instances the seizures were made even before
the formal declaration of war, and Napoleon re-
taliated by arresting thousands of English trav-
elers in France between the ages of eighteen and
sixty and throwing them into prison.

It was unfortunate for the peace of Europe that
such a man as Whitworth represented England in

199

NAPOLEON

France at so important a crisis. A more genial
and accommodating diplomat could easily have
found opportunities to grant concessions and pre-
serve the peace of Europe, for England had un-
questionably broken the provisions of the treaty
of Amiens. To be sure, as she claimed, Napo-
leon had made aggressions on the continent, but
these were not in violation of any treaty stipula-
tions and were no excuse for the avoidance of
Great Britain's obligations.

Another grave mistake was the publication in
the Moniteur of General Sebastiani's report.
Warlike in tone, with a covert threat to capture
Egypt, it naturally aroused in England the great-
est indignation, and fomented a bitter war spirit.
It is hard to understand the motive that induced
so inopportune a publication unless it was to scare
England into a settlement.

Still another mistake was England's high-
handed seizure of French vessels before a declara-
ion of war, and worse than all was the arrest
and detention of English travelers in France.
The whole contention was doubtless well ex-
plained in the language of Talleyrand when he
said : " The re-establishment of the Order of St.
John was not so much the point to be discussed
as that of suffering Great Britain to acquire a
possession in the Mediterranean." But, after
all, the first mistake was made by England when
she insisted upon retaining possession of the
island of Malta in direct violation of her agree-
ment under the treaty of Amiens.

The renewal of hostilities between France and

200

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Great Britain worked greatly to the advantage
of the United States. Louisiana, which included
not only what is now the state of that name but
the whole of the western half of the basin of
the Mississippi from the Gulf of Mexico to the
Canadian lakes, had been in the possession of
Spain. Bonaparte, having secured its purchase,
contemplated its immediate occupation in his
grand scheme of colonial expansion. The United
States viewed with fear and apprehension this
transfer of ownership from Spain to France, and
diplomatically remonstrated against it; but for-
tunately before any friction occurred between the
United States and France the declaration of war
by Great Britain caused Bonaparte to change his
plans and to abandon his contemplated conquest
and colonization in America, and after some hag-
gling he transferred Louisiana to the United
States for the sum of sixty million francs ($12,-
000,000), a meagre price for so vast an empire.
The purchase made the Pacific coast instead of
the Mississippi river the western boundary of the
great American Republic.

Bonaparte's brothers, Joseph and Lucien, called
at the palace to protest against the sale of this
vast and important empire at so low a figure, or
even at any figure. The Consul was in his warm,
perfumed bath at the time, but ordered that they
be admitted. The interview grew very animated,
and Bonaparte in his rage drenched his brother
Joseph with water from the tub, all the while
making the room ring with his scornful laughter.
The poor valet who was present at the scene, not

201

NAPOLEON

accustomed to so violent a family quarrel,
swooned, and had to be carried from the room.
This temporarily suspended the contention, but
after the removal of the servant it was at once
resumed upon Lucien's declaring that if Bona-
parte were not his brother he would be his enemy.
" My enemy! you my enemy," cried the Consul,
" why, I would break you as I do this box,"
dashing on the moment his snuff box to the floor.
It did not break, but the glass covering the por-
trait of Josephine cracked, whereupon Lucien,
who seems to have had better control of his temper
than Napoleon, picked up the box and coolly hand-
ing it to his brother, remarked : " You have not
yet succeeded in breaking me, but in the mean-
time you have destroyed your wife's image."
When Josephine, who was very superstitious,
heard of this ill omen, she was greatly alarmed,
for at this time rumors of a divorce were in
circulation.

Although many remonstrances were made
against the surrender, as it was called, of Louisi-
ana, the iron will of the master could not be bent.
Sending for Talleyrand he said : " Irresolution
and deliberation are no longer in season. I re-
nounce Louisiana. It is not only New Orleans
that I cede: it is the whole colony without re-
serve; I know the price of what I abandon. I
have proved the importance I attach to this prov-
ince, since my first diplomatic act with Spain had
the object of recovering it. I renounce it with
the greatest regret: to attempt obstinately to
retain it would be folly. I direct you to negotiate

202

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

the affair/' Afterwards in signing the treaty
with the United States he observed : " This acces-
sion of territory strengthens forever the power of
the United States, and I have just given to Eng-
land a maritime rival that sooner or later will
humble her pride."

203

CHAPTER XIV

COUNT DE PROVENCE URGED BY NAPOLEON TO RE-
NOUNCE HIS RIGHT OF SUCCESSION EXECU-
TION OF DUC D'ENGHIEN — CORONATION OF

NAPOLEON AS EMPEROR.

Early in 1804 the Count of Provence, then
residing at Warsaw, was urged by Bonaparte to
renounce his right of succession to the throne of
^France, and to secure the renunciation of others
who were in the royal line. " As a descendant
of St. Louis," proudly answered the prince, " I
shall endeavor to imitate his example by respect-
ing myself even in captivity. As a successor of
Francis I, I shall at least aspire to say with him :
' We have lost everything but our honor.' '

This move on the part of Napoleon was a clear

./indication that he was paving the way towards

the setting up of a throne for himself, and the

mere declination of the count to renounce did not

for a moment balk him in his purpose.

London was the nest where all the conspiracies
against Napoleon were hatched, and whence assas-
sins were sent forth in quick succession on their
errands of murder. Picot and Le Bourgeois, two
rash swashbucklers, were arrested the very mo-
ment they set foot on French soil as a result of
the vigilance of Touche. The police also were
204

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

alert and guarded with diligence every inch of
the coast. Under this system of surveillance
there was no home free from intrusion and in-
quisition. Even the domestic circle of Napoleon
and Josephine was penetrated by the ubiquitous
spy and its daily occurrences reported.

Mehee de la Touche had led a chequered life;
he had been an assassin in the September mas-
sacres in 1793 and a spy in the days of the
" Reign of Terror " ; he had fallen under the sus-
picion of the government, and was committed to
prison and subsequently exiled. It was intimated
to him that if he would offer his services to Bona-
parte and aid in ferreting out the assassins he
might expect a pardon. His wife assisted in
these negotiations, and was successful in securing
his freedom. Fouche, who knew the capability
of the man as a spy, took him in hand and that
master craftsman laid out a plan of action. Me-
hee was successful beyond all expectations. He
went to London, feigned royalism, mingled with
the conspirators, and without arousing the slight-
est suspicion learned their secrets and the names
of those who were active and even remotely con-
cerned in the plot. Besides all this he unearthed
the fact that the British government retained
many of the conspirators in its pay, and furnished
the necessary expenses even to the providing of a
vessel for the transportation of the assassins to
France. He wormed himself so completely into
the confidence of the emigres at London that he
became an intermediary between them and the
discontented factions in Paris. Going a step

205

NAPOLEON

farther, he interviewed the English ambassador,
Francis Drake, at Munich, and learned from him
the details of the royalist plot. So completely
did he hoodwink the British envoy that the latter
furnished him with money, gave him a code and
a recipe for sympathetic ink with which to con-
duct a secret correspondence. Upon the return
of Mehee to France he sent several harmless let-
ters to the credulous Drake, and it is said that
at the dictation of Napoleon he forwarded news
that the minister in turn submitted to his govern-
ment as authentic and which caused the govern-
ment serious embarrassment.

The Count d'Artois was living in London, and
his house in Baker Street was the headquarters
of the clan. Dumouriez was for a time one of
the conspirators, but he was so despised and mis-
trusted by all classes of Frenchmen, for his trea-
son to the Republic in abandoning his command
and going over to the enemy during the Revo-
lution in 1793, tnat ne was soon ignored.
Pichegru and Bernadotte were suspected and
even Moreau's name was linked with the con-
spiracy.

Moreau was a stout Republican who had given
great offence to Napoleon by boldly criticising his
conduct, and when the Legion of Honor had been
created he bestowed the distinction upon his
poodle and laughingly tied a blue ribbon around
its neck. Upon hearing of this affront, Bona-
parte was so incensed that he was on the point of
sending a challenge until persuaded by cooler
heads to desist from conduct so unwise. Moreau
206

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

was a brave and an able soldier and as much
beloved by the army of Germany as Bonaparte
was by the army of Italy. There is no question
but that the royalists were anxious to secure his
aid, and had selected him to be one of the leaders
of their army in case they succeeded, but there
is no substantial proof that he ever considered •*
their propositions or that he had any connection
whatever with the plot. Mehee reported his
name as one of the conspirators, but his infor-
mation came from the idle talk of the royalists
in London. Of course at a time like that every
personal and political enemy of Bonaparte was
under suspicion.

Perhaps there never was a man in European
politics so hated and so feared as was Napoleon.
His name was held in execration especially by
the English people ; he was an ogre and a monster
who drank blood; he was caricatured and car-
tooned in every conceivable shape and in his pri-
vate life was charged with every social vice.
His palace was described as a den of iniquity,
and his indulgences were represented as more
vicious than those of a Turkish sultan. He was
denounced as a plague, a disturber of the world's
peace. Every court looked upon him as an up-
start, and the Bourbons regarded him as a thief
who had stolen their throne, although they had
been deprived of it by the Revolution and sent
into banishment as being unworthy of its occu-
pation long before he assumed power. He was,
no matter what else may be said of him, the ac-
cepted ruler of a nation, and yet notwithstanding
207

NAPOLEON

this fact he was hounded like a wild beast, to be
stricken down by the hand of paid assassins.

Georges Cadoudal, an ex-Vendean chief and
a man of most resolute courage, was conveyed to
France with a body of desperate royalists on
board of a British vessel commanded by Captain
Wright of the royal navy. They landed at mid-
night on the coast of Normandy and stealthily
climbed the precipitous cliffs on a rope ladder,
used by smugglers, and secretly wended their
separate ways to Paris. Here they adopted a
code of signs and pass words and kept in touch
with each other, waiting for a favorable oppor-
tunity to murder the Consul. The French spies
had been unable to follow the movements of the
conspirators; but Bonaparte, guided alone by the
meagre and unsatisfactory reports he received,
felt that his life was in danger and in consequence
had the palace protected as if in face of an enemy,
the guard and the countersign being some nights
changed hourly.

From one of the conspirators who was arrested
a confession was wrung and the details of the
plot revealed. A cordon of troops was thrown
around the city, the gates were closed and
domiciliary visits or house to house inspection
made. Pichegru was found in the home of an
old friend who, after giving him shelter, be-
trayed him. Georges Cadoudal was brought to
bay in the street, but after fighting desperately
was overpowered and carried to prison. Captain
Wright was captured on the coast and sent to
Paris. Moreau was also arrested. Bonaparte's
208

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

fury was now aroused. " Is my blood ditch-
water ? " he exclaimed. " Am I a dog to be shot
down in the street ? I will teach these Bourbons
a lesson they will not soon forget."

At Ettenheim in Baden, close to the Rhine,
living in quiet seclusion, was a young prince of
the House of Conde, the Duke d'Enghien. He
was enjoying the delights of a honeymoon with
the Princess Charlotte de Rohan to whom he had
been secretly married. A choice circle of friends,
many of them French emigres, indulged with
him in the excitement of the chase and the pleas-
ures of a quiet and retired country life. The
spies had brought reports to Bonaparte that the
duke was one of the leading conspirators ; indeed,
Mehee had hovered around Ettenheim watching
Conde's movements and had informed the Consul
that the young prince was frequently away from
home for days at a time. Another spy brought
information that Dumouriez had visited Etten-
heim. The truth was that the general was not
outside of London during the duke's stay in
Baden. The spy had mistaken for Dumouriez an
old gentleman named Thumery, who was an occa-
sional caller at the house of the duke. Bona-
parte denounced Real, Fouche and Talleyrand
for allowing these conspirators to assemble, with-
out informing him, almost within a stone's throw
of the borders of France. Although the duke
was on German soil, Bonaparte determined to in-
vade or trespass on neutral territory, seize him
bodily, and have him shot. Talleyrand, although
he afterwards endeavored to shirk his share of
14 209

NAPOLEON

the responsibility, was in favor at this time of
stringent measures and assured the Consul that
he could soon prevail upon the elector to overlook
this violation of his territory. After giving or-
ders for the arrest of the duke, Bonaparte retired
to Malmaison, leaving to Generals Ordener and
Caulaincourt, together with Murat and the faith-
ful Savary, the execution of his command.

On the morning of March 15, 1804, before
dawn, a body of French troops, about thirty in
number, surrounded the house of the duke.
When first aroused from his slumber he was
inclined to show fight, but on the advice of his
friends he agreed to surrender without offering
any resistance and was whisked away to the
fortress of Vincennes, a short distance southeast
from Paris. The duke's identity was concealed
under the name of Plessis; even the governor of
the castle was kept in ignorance as to the rank
and title of the distinguished prisoner. A court-
martial was held and after the submission of
some meagre proof he was found guilty and con-
demned to suffer death. The prisoner bore him-
self with a quiet dignity, he stoutly asseverated
his innocence, although he boldly and without any
reservation admitted that if war had been de-
clared he would have borne arms against France.
He asked to have an interview with the Consul,
but this favor was denied. While General Hulin,
one of the judges, was writing a letter to Bona-
parte urging compliance with this last request of
the condemned, Savary, who was standing back
of the general's chair, took the quill from his

210

Copyright, 1910, by George W. Jacobs & Co.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

From an original drawing in crayon by Vallot

Came into possession of the present owner through

Godefroy Mayer, of Paris

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

hand, at the same time remarking : " Your work
is done, the rest is my business." Influence from
all quarters was brought to bear upon Bonaparte
to relent and grant the prince a pardon, but with- _
out avail, he had made up his mind to make an
example.

Early in the morning of the twentieth of
March, 1804, before daylight, the duke was led
out into the moat of the castle; a few torches
shed a dim light that only made the scene more
sombre and grewsome. He asked for a priest,
but his request was refused. For a few moments
he bowed his head in prayer, then turning full
upon the soldiers he begged them to aim straight.
The officer in charge of the shooting squad quietly
gave the command to fire, the musketry rang out,
and the young duke fell dead, shot through the
heart. A grave had been prepared close at hand,
into which the body was thrown without cere-
mony.

Napoleon never shirked the responsibility for
this act. In his last will and testament he wrote :
" I caused the Due d'Enghien to be arrested and
judged because it was necessary for the safety,
the interest and the honor of the French people,
when the Comte d'Artois by his own confession
was supporting sixty assassins in Paris. In sim-
ilar circumstances I would act in the same way
again."

The execution of the duke aroused the greatest
excitement throughout Europe, and nothing that
Napoleon ever did brought down upon his head "
such condemnation. Chateaubriand resigned from

211

NAPOLEON

the diplomatic service. The royalists, of course,
could not find language strong enough to express
•/their indignation; every court in Europe rang
with denunciation. Even many of his friends
and warmest supporters found fault with his act.
His mother pronounced his deed atrocious. But
before denouncing him too severely we must take

... into consideration the circumstances of the case.
His life was in hourly peril; a hundred assassins
were ready and in waiting to strike him down like
"a dog; the Bourbon princes, the emigres, and the
British officials were in a conspiracy to murder
him. He had been informed by his spies that
the duke was in the plot and there was sufficient
reason to accept their reports as true. If Napo-
leon honestly believed that the duke was in a
combination to take his life, his act was not so
heinous in character as his detractors would have
us believe. So far as his violation of neutral ter-
ritory was concerned, that was an offence that
most of the rulers of that day were not in a
position to criticise. Much of the excitement
and denunciation was due to the fact that D'En-
ghien was a prince of the blood royal. The exe-
cution of the humble bookseller Palm was an act
far more inexcusable.

As to the fate of the other conspirators, Piche-
gru was found dead in his cell, Captain Wright
is said to have committed suicide, Cadoudal was
shot, and Moreau was exiled to America.

For a long time past Napoleon had been con-
sidering the question of establishing a dynasty.

\X" You are founding a new era; but you ought to

212

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

make it last forever : splendor is nothing without
duration/' was the fulsome, adulatory language
addressed to the Consul by a sycophantic, sub-
servient senate and clearly reveals the imperial-
istic trend. There was a reason for this. Bona-
parte had accomplished so much, had brought
military glory and renown of so high a degree to
the state, and had shown so great an aptitude _
for government that he had won the admiration
of the conservative men of all parties. The peo-
ple were blinded by his dazzling successes in the -
field and at the council board. After the Revo-
lution he was the only man who gave the state
force and stability. The Revolution with its
principles and memories, with its motto of Lib-
erte, Egalite, Fraternite, was a thing of the past ;
the voices of the million men who had perished in
battle in the cause of equality and freedom were ^
silent in death, and their survivors and successors
were as mute as the dead. " I am more sur-
prised," said La Fayette, " at the submission of
all than at the usurpation of one man." The
Council of State, the Senate, the Tribunate almost
unanimously voted for the establishment of a
Napoleonic dynasty, and accordingly a senatus
consultwn of May 18, 1804, decreed to Bonaparte
the title of Emperor of the French under the *
designation of Napoleon the First.

Dignities were showered upon his relatives.^-
Joseph was made Grand Elector; Louis, Grand
Constable ; his uncle, Cardinal Fesch, Grand I
Almoner; his mother was Madame Mere; and;
his sisters became Imperial Highnesses. Talley-

213

NAPOLEON

rand was dubbed Grand Chamberlain; Duroc,
Grand Marshal of the Palace ; Caulaincourt, Mas-
ter of the Horse; Berthier, Murat, Massena, Ney,
and ten others were made Marshals of the Em-
pire.

The next scene in this grand drama was the
/coronation, which took place in Notre Dame on
v December 2, 1804. " Admit, General," said
La Fayette, " that all you want is the breaking
of the little phial." At the time this witticism
was passed, Napoleon was negotiating the Con-
cordat and in a coarse reply said in referring to
the oil that it was about as essential as the fluid
of the stable. Notwithstanding this remark, the
little bottle containing the sacred oil that accord-
ing to legend had been brought down from
heaven and had anointed the kings of the Valois
and Bourbon houses was now on its way from the
Cathedral of Rheims to Notre Dame in Paris and
most religiously guarded.

Napoleon deemed it of the first importance that
the pope should grace the coronation with his
presence, and after some persuasion and much
coercion, some promises and many threats, the
Holy Father was induced to journey in an inclem-
ent season of the year from Rome to Paris to
crown with religious ceremony the murderer of
the Duke d'Enghien, as Napoleon was now
termed in every court of Europe.

The emperor and the pope met on the road

between Fontainebleau and Nemours. It was so

arranged that Napoleon, while out in a hunting

party, should come suddenly as if by accident

214

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

upon the holy pontiff; this was to avoid all the
cumbersome ceremony incident to a meeting in
the palace. The emperor leaped from his horse,
and hastened with outstretched hands to meet his
guest. The pope was dressed in white, and wore
satin slippers, and in order to receive the em-
brace of welcome from his host had to step from
his carriage into the mud.

"During the pope's stay at Fontainebleau, Jose-
phine thought the time propitious to have him
solemnize her marriage with Napoleon, for there
never had been a religious ceremony. This the
pope gladly consented to do, and Napoleon
offered no objection. With a woman's intuition
Josephine felt that the bonds between her and
her royal spouse were loosening — especially be-
cause of the fact that there was no direct heir
to the dynasty nor likely to be one so far as she
was concerned — and she was anxious to do
everything in her power to strengthen the ties.

A family altercation took place on the eve of
the ceremony, when Joseph's wife was selected
to bear the train of the empress. The quarrel
was finally settled by having her support the man-
tle of Josephine.

Napoleon's mother and his brother Lucien were
not at the ceremony, they were living at the time
in Rome; she could not be persuaded to attend,
and Lucien was not on good terms with" his
brother.

On the surface there seemed to be a universal
approval of the coronation; but on the night be-
fore it took place, the walls of Paris were covered
215

NAPOLEON

with flaming posters announcing : " The Last
•Representation of the French Revolution. For
the benefit of a poor Corsican family."

Nothing was spared to make the pageant
splendid and imposing, and in Notre Dame there
never had been presented so brilliant a scene.
Everything was done to appeal to the imagina-
tion of the beholders. The sword and insignia
of Charlemagne were brought to Paris to grace
the event. The ceremonies incident to the coro-
nation of the Bourbon princes at Rheims had been
tawdry and commonplace in comparison. The
church was filled with handsomely dressed
women, robed in the attractive gowns of that
period and emblazoned with jewels, while the
marshals were resplendent with gold and lace;
envoys, ministers, and ambassadors, with splendid
retinues graced the scene. The emperor wore a
coat of red velvet embroidered with gold, the
collar of the Legion of Honor, a short cloak
adorned with golden bees, the symbol of his
dynasty, white satin knee breeches, silk stockings
and embroidered slippers brilliant with diamonds ;
his sword hilt and scabbard were lustrous with
gems, and on his brow was a wreath of laurel.
Before entering the cathedral there was thrown
over his shoulders the long imperial robe of pur-
ple velvet trimmed and lined with royal ermine.
The well-known steel engraving by Desnoyers,
after the painting by Girard, gives a fair idea of
the emperor's appearance on that auspicious day.
Josephine with her matchless grace made an ideal
•queen ; her robe was of white satin trimmed with
216

JOSEPHINE

After the Isabey portrait

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

silver and besprinkled with golden bees; she was
literally aflame with diamonds, while on her
shapely head was a diadem of jewels valued at
more than a million francs. Beautifully dressed
pages, mantle bearers, and ladies-in-waiting fol-
lowed in her train.

The procession wound slowly through the
streets leading from the Tuileries to the
cathedral, the emperor and empress riding in
the sumptuous state carriage in full view of the
crowds that lined the sidewalks. The reception
of the people was most cordial, and the cry of
" Vive I'Empereur " was heard on all sides. The
critical observer recalled the fact that it was only
about a decade since Louis XVI passed over a
portion of the same route amidst a quiet throng
on his way to the guillotine.

The wedding party was late in reaching the
church, and the aged pope was chilled before the
ceremony began. When the act of coronation
was about to take place, Napoleon took the im-
perial diadem from the pontiff and with his own
hands crowned himself, and then turning to the
kneeling Josephine at his side placed it on her
brow. A murmur ran through the church, either
in admiration of the audacity of the emperor
or in pity for the humiliation of the priest.

La Fayette, the moderate royalist, and Carnot,
the radical republican, seem to have been the
only two distinguished men in France who pub-
licly denounced the mummery. Beethoven had
dedicated his " Sinfonia Eroica" to Bonaparte,
but so disappointed was he in the man who was
217

•NAPOLEON

to establish the principles of the Revolution, that
in anger the great musician tore the inscription
from his famous composition and afterwards ded-
icated it to the memory of a great man.

218

CHAPTER XV

THREATENED INVASION OF ENGLAND EUGENE

BEAUHARNAIS MADE VICEROY OF ITALY — THE
CROWN OF LOMBARDY,

In 1804 Napoleon was in the very zenith of
his power. His civil administration and his mil-
itary successes made him the greatest executive
and the first captain in Europe ; but his ambition
was not satisfied with being the consul of a re-
public, he must be the ruler of an empire. He
had changed the form of government so easily
and the people apparently had so unanimously
endorsed his act that when he was crowned em-'
peror, it did not seem as if it were usurpation.

The most bitter and implacable foe of Napo-
leon was England. He had made peace with his
other enemies, but she could be neither cajoled •
nor appeased. His most subtle diplomacy could
not deceive nor persuade her, and she was the
only state in Europe with which he had not, at
one time or 'another, formed an alliance. She
kept alive the coalitions against him, poured sub-
sidies into the laps of the allies, and after her
declaration of war in 1803 never ceased the-
struggle to overthrow his power and domination
until she caged him at St. Helena. And yet at
one time in conversation with the British ambas-
219

NAPOLEON

sador, Whitworth, Napoleon used the following
significant language : " Why should not the mis-
tress of the seas and the mistress of the land
come to an arrangement and govern the world ? "
But the English envoy was not the man to under-
stand the full meaning of such a suggestion.

At this time, while at peace with the rest of
the world, Napoleon thought the hour propitious
to cross the channel and make a descent upon the
shores of England. For years he had had such
a project in contemplation, but he thought that so
long as Great Britain ruled the seas such an un-
dertaking would be futile. Now, however, hav-
ing greatly strengthened his navy and having
combined it with that of Spain, an ally of France,
he believed the success of such an enterprise was
possible. He had entered in triumph many of the
capitals of Europe, but the capture of London
would be the crowning glory of his reign. A
bronze medal struck at this time, bearing on the
reverse a profile of Napoleon and on the obverse
Hercules strangling a Triton, was sufficiently
significant of his purpose.

His threats and extensive preparations pro-
duced the most profound alarm throughout Eng-
land, and everything was done to put the island
in a complete state of defence. The army and
navy were increased by enlistments and new ships
were ordered to be built. Taxes were increased,
and a loan of £12,000,000 sterling was authorized
by Parliament and taken up by subscription as
soon as issued. A system of signals was estab-
lished between observation vessels in the channel
220

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

and stations on land. Beacons were ready to
flame on every hilltop at a moment's warning.
Every man able to bear arms was drilled, and
the entire male population, young and old, be-
came a home guard ready to protect their " dear
beloved isle " against the haughty invader. The
whole channel coast bristled with armaments, and
the French if they had made an attempt to land
would have been met at every point with a bitter
and a deadly fire.

The first thing Napoleon did was to placate his
foes on the continent lest they should form an
alliance with his arch enemy. Then he began
to draw in his armies, and to mobilize them on
the plains of Boulogne.

To effect the invasion successfully required a
combination of his sea and land forces. His pur-
pose was to manoeuvre his fleet so as to have it
ultimately command the channel, and then under
the protection of its guns convey his troops, con-
sisting of 150,000 to 180,000 men, including in-
fantry, cavalry, and artillery, from the coast of
France across the channel in a flotilla of flat-
bottomed boats and disembark them on the shores
of England. This was a stupendous task, and
yet if his plan of campaign had been followed
closely in all its details, there is reason to believe
it might have been successful, at least so far as
effecting a landing in England was concerned.
There seems to have been no doubt in Napoleon's
mind as to his ability to make the conquest of
Britain if he could successfully cross the channel,
or to use his own words, " leap the ditch."

221

NAPOLEON

" Masters of the channel for six hours," he ex-
claimed, " we are masters of the world."

Unfortunately for him, in carrying out his
project he had to reckon with wind and wave,
and his commanders on the sea were not in any
way equal to his commanders on the land. " The
narrowest strait was to his power," says Macau-
lay, " what it was of old believed that a running
stream was to the sorceries of a witch."

The admiral of the French navy at the open-
ing of the campaign was Latour-Treville, a sailor
of ability, courage, and daring; but he died while
the plans of invasion were in embryo, and was
succeeded by Admiral Villeneuve, who subse-
quently proved his utter incapacity. He was
either too stupid to comprehend the orders of
Napoleon or else so contumacious as wilfully to
disobey them.

Napoleon had fortified every port from Dieppe
to Antwerp and filled them with pontoons and
gunboats.

In writing to one of his admirals in reference to
the matter he said that he hoped to have soon
on the northern coast 1,300 flat-bottomed boats,
able to carry 100,000 men, while the Dutch
flotilla would transport 60,000.

Strange to say, Napoleon was of opinion, at
least in the early days of this remarkable cam-
paign, that keelless, flat-bottomed boats even with-
out the protection of a convoying fleet could keep
large attacking vessels at bay in the choppy seas
of a wind and tide-swept body of water such as
the English channel.

222

Copyright, 1910, by George W. Jacobs & Co.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

From an original drawing by Vallot. Formerly in the collection
owned by Cardinal Bonaparte of Rome, a nephew of the famous
Emperor. Came into possession of the present owner through Godefroy
Mayer, of Paris.

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

One of Napoleon's flat-bottomed boats having
fallen into the possession of the British fleet, the
sailors ridiculed such a bark and looked with con-
tempt upon what they termed " a miserable tool "
that " could not hug the wind, but must drift
bodily to leeward " and whose main defence was
a long eighteen-pounder " which could only be
fired stem on." So ridiculous for the purpose
intended did such a vessel appear in the eyes
of the English sailors that they looked with sus-
picion upon the threatened invasion and thought
that the gathering of these boats at Boulogne was
simply to draw the attention of England from
the real points of attack. The sailors declared
that if they had half a chance they could in a
short time make kindling wood of a whole fleet
of such craft.

Marshal Ney, who was in command of the
French troops at Boulogne, had but little confi-
dence in the staying powers of the flotilla in a
storm or in a battle and looked upon it as noth-
ing more than " a gigantic ferry." In fact, the
only chances for such a multitude of batteaux
to cross the channel safely with their human
freight would have been under the darkness of
night, in a calm when the big vessels could not
manoeuvre or during the absence of the British
fleet. One of Napoleon's admirals was bold
enough to tell him that " no matter how much
the flatterers might persuade him the expedition
was possible, it was doomed to defeat, and noth-
ing but disgrace could be expected."

About this time Robert Fulton was in Europe
223

NAPOLEON

exploiting and experimenting with his new inven-
tion, the steamboat, but it does not seem to have
occurred to Napoleon that he could apply steam
to his flotilla with any practical or advantageous
results. It is well known that Napoleon had the
Fulton invention brought to his attention, but
he evidently decided to depend upon the oar and
the sail rather than upon steam as the means of
locomotion.

In the spring of 1805 everything was in readi-
ness for the final moves in the campaign. By a
series of ruses, the French fleet was to draw the
British fleet as far away as possible from the
Mediterranean, where it was watching the French
ports; then double on its course and under all
sail hasten back to France, command the English
channel, and under its guns give safe convoy to
the transports.

Admiral Villeneuve was with his fleet at
Toulon and was closely observed in all his move-
ments by Nelson. Taking quick advantage of a
favorable wind, the French commander escaped
from that port, sailed through the strait of
Gibraltar, and then headed nearly due west.
Nelson at once started in pursuit, hoping to over-
take and force him to battle. Villeneuve for a
while deceived his foe, for the British admiral,
a rough sea fighter who was not in the habit of
showing his heels to the enemy, could not divine
the meaning of such tactics. A^fter a council of
officers of the British fleet, the opinion was
reached that Villeneuve was sailing for the West
Indies and Nelson decided to follow him across
224

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

the Atlantic. Upon reaching those islands the
British ascertained that the French fleet after a
few days' stay had again put to sea, headed east.
Nelson without delay sailed for the Mediter-
ranean.

Napoleon's instructions to his admiral were
to have the French fleet, immediately upon its
return from the West Indies after leaving the
British in the rear, liberate the small French fleet
blockaded at Ferrol, sail forthwith to Rochefort,
joining the French squadron in that harbor, and
then with this greatly augmented and combined
force to fall suddenly upon the ships of Corn-
wallis, which were blockading Brest, to release
the French fleet in that port, and then to sail up
the channel guarding it with all his vessels, while
Napoleon transported his troops to the coast of
England.

Instead of carrying out this simple and com-
prehensive plan in all its details, Villeneuve, on
the twenty-second of July, 1805, fought an inde-
cisive battle with a small English fleet at Ferrol
and, in place of hastening to Brest as he had been
ordered to do, sailed for Cadiz in a crippled
condition to make repairs. The plan to be suc-
cessful had to be carried out in every particular,
but this was deliberately breaking a link in the
chain.

Believing that his orders had been followed to
the letter, on August 3, 1805, Napoleon came to
Boulogne to be in readiness to take immediate
advantage of the arrival of the French fleet.
Facing the shores of Albion, seated in an iron
15 225

NAPOLEON

chair said to have belonged to Dagobert, king of
the Franks, the emperor held a grand review of
his troops. A line of soldiers nine miles in length
passed before him and every step of the march
his ears were greeted with cheers and cries of
" Vive VEmpereur." In all his campaigns he had
never marshaled a grander host. There were
veterans bronzed with service; veterans who had
marched over the deserts of Egypt and across
the St. Bernard, climbing the snow-peaked Alps,
scaling the crags where only the wild birds riest;
veterans whom the little corporal, clasping the
standard of the Republic, had led over the bridges
of Lodi and Arcola; veterans who had snatched
victory from defeat at the battle of Marengo;
veterans of a dozen campaigns ready to follow
his eagles as did the legions of Rome those of
Caesar in the conquest of Britain. They were
only waiting to be led to further and greater
fields of glory. But soon these mighty hosts van-
ished from the plains of Boulogne like the snows
of winter.

On the thirteenth of August, 1805, informa-
tion was brought to Napoleon of the conduct of
Villeneuve and his disobedience to orders. Na-
poleon's anger and indignation were beyond con-
trol. He poured out his wrath on the head of
his offending admiral and characterized his con-
duct as pusillanimous.

The navy having baffled his designs, Napo-
vleon now turned his attention to the East.

It is a grave question as to whether or not it
really was the intention of Napoleon to invade
226

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

England; if it was his purpose to land on her
shores, it surely was the most perilous undertak-
ing upon which he had ever ventured. Some
contend that Ireland was his objective point and
if he had landed there Erin would perhaps to-day
be free and no longer a part of the United King-
dom. The landing of a French corps would
have been welcomed by the greater portion of the
inhabitants.

Again some contend that the enterprise was
so fraught with peril that Napoleon never
seriously contemplated making an invasion and
that at the proper time he was well satisfied to
find an excuse to abandon it, that his threat was
only to bring England to terms or at least to
keep her at home and to prevent her from aiding
in forming coalitions against the empire. If
these were his purposes he signally failed in all
of them; for she was not brought to terms, was
not kept at home, and was not prevented from
helping to form alliances against him.

If Napoleon had effected a landing in England,
could he have maintained a foothold? Would
it have been Hannibal in Italy or Caesar in Brit-
ain? Napoleon is said to have remarked that
he did not consider the means of getting out of
England, he was so anxious to get in. He was
like a mountain climber whose only purpose is
to reach the summit ; the descent being left to take
care of itself, though that may be the more diffi-
cult part of the undertaking. If Napoleon had
penetrated England he might have been caught
as if in a trap. He had to disembark infantry,
227

NAPOLEON

cavalry, artillery, and military stores and keep
open his line of communication with France.
The British navy, in commanders, in numbers, in
skill and fighting quality, was far superior to the
French. Even if the English ships came too late
to prevent the invasion they could with a favor-
able wind have swept the channel, have cut the
French line of communication, and gradually
have destroyed the entire flotilla. England's
whole population would have been in arms, and
even the capture of London might not have been
decisive, for the English heartily despised Napo-
leon. They would have fought him to the last
ditch and he might have been compelled to lay
down his arms in a strange land.

While France was making preparations for the
invasion, England was not idle, but was doing
everything in her power to provoke a continental
war and with her usual skill was fomenting dis-
cord in every direction and promising subsidies.

Ever since the execution of the Duke d'En-
ghien the young czar had nursed a feeling of
resentment against Napoleon. The Russian
court at that time had gone into mourning, and
Alexander had in the strongest words expressed
his indignation at the outrage. The czar had
gone too far in his emphatic protest in view of
the fact that he himself was supposed to have
been implicated in the cowardly assassination of
Paul I, and Napoleon struck back with force
when he asked if Russia would not have seized
the assassins had she known they were one league
beyond the Russian frontiers? The taunt stung
228

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

to the quick, and diplomatic relations were broken
off with Napoleon in the summer of 1804,
although war did not break out for nearly a year.

Napoleon in the mean time was resorting to
every artifice to prevent the forming of the coali-
tion, but succeeded only in keeping Prussia out
of it.

In January, 1805, he ha(HnigrrnejdJErajncjs_of

Austria that he 'intended to prqclaimjoseph. Bo-

riaprrteTc^^oFTtaI^7but tTiis plan was broken

ntjy J oseph, who wasjno t. _ willing to . forego "his

rigKf of succession to the French crown by accept -

Tng'lfaat of Lombardy One o? the ^articles in

""""the treaty bTTCuneville was that the governments

of France and Italy should be kept separate, and

their thrones not occupied by the same ruler.

After the declination of Joseph, Napoleon sug-
gested to his brother Louis that he should hold
the crown of Italy in trust for his son. Louis,
however, insisted upon an absolute sovereignty,
independent of any trusteeship, and after a stormy
altercation the emperor violently thrust his
brother from the room. To end the matter Na-
poleon at last announced that he would assume
the crown himself, and appoint as viceroy his
stepson, Eugene Beauharnais. In the early sum-
mer Napoleon with Josephine journeyed to Italy
and in the magnificent cathedral of Milan, amidst
the greatest pomp and splendor, placed upon his
brow with his own hands the famous iron crown
of Lombardy, repeating in the act of coronation
the words of the old Lombard kings : " God gave
it me, woe to him who touches it." It was

229

NAPOLEON

observed that at this ceremony he failed to press
the iron circlet upon the forehead of his queen.

After attending to some minor details he hur-
ried back to Paris from Turin, covering the dis-
tance in eighty-five hours.

230

CHAPTER XVI

ULM TRAFALGAR AUSTERLITZ

Austria for some time past had been nursing
her wrath, but now found a pretext for war, and
the third coalition, consisting of Russia, Aus-
tria, England, and Sweden, united their forces to
overthrow Napoleon, whose ambition seemed
limitless, and whose purpose it was apparently
to extend his empire until it was co-equal with
the boundaries of Europe.

Early in the autumn of 1805 the allies began
moving their armies towards the French fron-
tiers. Napoleon without delay, when convinced
that he would have to abandon his project for
the invasion of England, transferred his army
into the heart of Germany and entered Munich,
the capital of Bavaria, on October 14, 1805.

At this time Napoleon was in the full vigor of
his manhood. He was in his thirty-fifth year,
the eligible age for the presidency of the United
States. From a thin, sallow-faced youth he had
developed into a remarkably handsome man; his
features, always refined and most delicately
formed, had filled out, his face, classic in profile,
had a clear healthy color, neither as sallow as it
had been nor as pale as it was to become. His
mouth was firm, his jaw powerful, his chin well
231

NAPOLEON

moulded and prominent, his teeth white and
sound, his nose perfect in its contour, and his
eyes, in hue a bluish gray, were searching and
penetrating, but when in a cheerful mood their
expression was tender and seductive. His head
was massive, well-formed, and is said to have
measured twenty-two inches in circumference.
The fact of this large measurement, however, is
not borne out by an examination of Doctor An-
tommarche's death mask. He wore his hair long
until he went to Egypt ; then he cut it short, and
ever afterwards wore it so. His ears, hands, and
feet were small and shapely. In stature he was
undersized, being about five feet three inches, and
as he grew older he developed a slight stoop in
the shoulders. In attire he was very simple; he
generally wore the uniform of a colonel of grena-
diers or of the light infantry of the consular
guard. He made a picturesque figure in his long
gray coat, high boots and cocked hat, seated on
his white horse and surrounded by his marshals
and aides in magnificent uniforms and resplendent
with decorations.

It is generally conceded that the army he was
about to lead to battle was the finest he ever com-
manded, and that the campaign upon which he
was about to enter was in many respects the most
remarkable he ever waged.

General Mack, in command of the Austrian
army, was about the only general among the
Imperialists who had not suffered great defeat,
and he was named commander in hopes of re-
trieving the losses that Austria had sustained ; but
232

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

as we shall find he was no more fitted to cope with
Napoleon than a child. He was but clay in the
potter's hands.

Early in September, not waiting to form a
junction with the army of Russia, the Austrian
general advanced into Bavaria, marching in the
direction of the Rhine, and took up his position
at Ulm, facing the Black Forest, expecting that
the French would open their attack from that
direction. In order to lull the Austrian com-
mander into a sense of security, Napoleon left
Strasburg after placing Murat in command of the
army and then journeyed leisurely to Paris ; here
he remained as if the last thing in his mind was
the war in Bavaria, even giving his personal
attention to so trivial a matter as changing the
computation of time from the revolutionary
calendar to that of the Gregorian, and announcing
by imperial decree that the latter would go into
effect on January i, 1806. In order further to
deceive his enemies he directed Talleyrand to
publish deceptive war news in the Moniteur,
a semi-official journal, that he might be given
time, using his own language, " to pirouette
200,000 soldiers into Germany." The ruses
worked admirably, for Mack still held his position
at Ulm in anticipation of French attacks from
the direction of Basle and Mayence. At the last
moment Napoleon ostentatiously sent the im-
perial baggage to Strasburg, and after a great
flourish over his departure, set out for that city,
as if at this point he was to concentrate his troops
and direct his attack upon the enemy. By this
233

NAPOLEON

last ruse Mack was convinced more than ever that
he was correct in his original conjecture.

Murat, to carry the delusion further, deployed
great bodies of cavalry in the passes leading out
of the Black Forest, as if reconnoitring in ad-
vance of a battle.

No ruses ever succeeded better, for behind
these screens a net was being deftly woven that,
like the coils of the python, was to strangle the
imperial army of Mack to death. All the while
the French troops, called " the army of Eng-
land," were sweeping to the northwest of the
Austrians, then covering their right wing and
marching into the valley of the Danube in their
rear. On came this mighty host from every
direction, climbing mountains, fording streams,
crossing swamps, and cutting their way through
thickets and forests. Irresistible was their prog-
ress, like an incoming tide, until at last every
point of retreat was cut off. Many of the Aus-
trian officers, seeing the peril of the army, begged
Mack to fall back before his lines of communica-
tion were entirely cut, but the madman clung with
pertinacity to his own notions. Fifteen hundred
officers and soldiers with Duke Ferdinand at their
head rode away, refusing to serve under a com-
mander whose blind policy threatened total de-
struction.

Mack, at last, realized the true condition of
affairs, but it was too late. Some divisions of
the Austrians tried to break through the lines,
but only in a few instances did they succeed.
Mack surrendered with 20,000 foot-soldiers and
234

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

3,000 cavalry on October 20, 1805. The French
emperor, backed by his Imperial Guard, consist-
ing of 10,000 men and eight columns of his
troops, received the homage of the vanquished.
The Austrian general, bowed down with grief,
gave up his sword to the victor, at the same time
remarking: "Here is the unfortunate Mack."
At this moment the sun broke through the clouds,
having been hidden for several days, and flooded
the field with a golden light.

" Our emperor," said the exultant French sol-
diers, " has found out a new way of making war :
he no longer makes it with our arms, but with our
legs."

Napoleon, to inspire further his troops, issued
another of his famous bulletins : " Soldiers of the
Grand Army: In fifteen days we have finished a
campaign. . . . The army that had so osten-
tatiously and imprudently placed itself on our
borders is now destroyed. . . .

" Of the hundred thousand men who made up
this army, sixty thousand are prisoners. . . .
Two hundred guns, the whole train, ninety colors,
all their generals are ours. Only fifteen thou-
sand men have escaped. . . .

" Soldiers ! I had prepared you for a great
battle; but thanks to the bad manoeuvres of the
enemy, I have reached equal results without tak-
ing any risk. . . .

" Soldiers ! this success is due to your unlim-
ited confidence in your emperor, to your patience
in suffering all kinds of fatigue and privations,
to your splendid valor.

235

NAPOLEON

" But we cannot rest yet. You are impatient
for a second campaign.

" The Russian army, drawn by the gold of
England from the furthest limits of the earth,
must suffer the same fate. . . .

"In this contest the honor of the French in-
fantry is at stake . . . whether it is the first
or second in Europe.

" Among the enemy are no generals from
whom I have any glory to win. My whole anx-
iety shall be to obtain the victory with the least
effusion of blood possible: my soldiers are my
children."

Such an address, at such a time, from such a
commander, was certain to win the hearts of the
soldiers and to put on edge their courage and
enthusiasm. The battle had been won by their
patience and valor, each soldier was given a share
in the victory, and the infantry was put on its
mettle to prove in the next encounter that it was
the first in Europe. The emperor had no glory
to win; it was all for his soldiers, who were his
children. Affectionate, generous, unselfish, and
appreciative, the address appealed to the emotions
of his men and won their devotion.

On October twenty-first, the day after the sur-
render of Mack at Ulm, Admiral Villeneuve, hav-
ing sailed out of the harbor of Cadiz with the
combined French and Spanish fleets, gave battle
to Nelson at Trafalgar. The allied fleet was
swept from the seas, but England paid dear for
her triumph in the death of her great Nelson.
The French admiral was so overcome by the dis-
236

NELSON

Painting by L. 1<". Abbott. Proof before letters

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

grace of his defeat that he afterwards committed
suicide.

After his victory at Ulm, one of the most re-
markable in the annals of warfare, Napoleon
marched to Vienna and entered that city in tri-
umph. Without delay he put his army again in
motion and followed the Russians into Moravia
until he brought them to a stand at Austerlitz.
He was now in the enemy's country, 500 miles
from Paris and far distant from his base of sup-
plies. A defeat under such conditions would
have been disastrous.

The armies were drawn up facing each other
in two long lines. The field was a vast plain
in the centre of which was a piece of rising
ground called the plateau of Pratzen. This ele-
vation had been occupied by Napoleon, but he had
fallen back and abandoned it to the enemy in
order to secure a stronger position. Emperor
Francis of Austria and Czar Alexander of Rus-
sia were on the field. The allies had an army of
85,000 under the command of General Kutusoff,
while the French numbered 65,000 men.

The right wing of the French was commanded
by Davoust, the centre by Bernadotte, Soult and
Oudinot with Murat in supreme charge of the
cavalry. Supporting the centre was the Imperial
Guard commanded by Bessieres. The left wing
was under the command of Ney and Lannes.
Great masses of troops were concealed from the
sight of the enemy behind some houses and a
piece of rising ground.

The right wing occupied an exposed position,
237

NAPOLEON

and was the most vulnerable point of the line;
it was, in fact, made so purposely as a bait to
induce the Russian commander to begin his attack
against that position. Davoust, in command of
this wing, was one of the most dogged and deter-
mined fighters in the French army and was given
orders to keep the enemy at bay as long as pos-
sible and, if compelled to retreat, to retire slowly.

At four o'clock on the afternoon of the day
before the battle, Kutusoff began his turning
movement, and drew forces from his centre to
strengthen his left preparatory to beginning an
attack the next morning on the French right.
Napoleon, who had been watching the movement
for a long time through his field glasses, at last
exclaimed, addressing his marshals : " He is
marching into the trap. That army will be mine
before to-morrow night."

In the evening the emperor threw himself down
on some straw in his tent to catch a few hours
of sleep. About midnight he mounted his horse
and started out to reconnoitre in order to see if
it were necessary to make any change in the plan
of battle. He ventured too near the enemy's out-
posts, was chased by some Cossacks, and it was
only the fleetness of his horse that saved him
from capture. Upon reaching the French lines
he dismounted to pick his way and, at once, his
familiar figure, with the gray coat and cocked hat,
was recognized by some grenadiers, who set up
the shout : " Long live the emperor." Remem-
bering it was the anniversary of his coronation,
a soldier improvised a torch by lighting a whisp
238

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

of straw; his example was followed by his com-
rades until the whole camp presented a scene
of illumination and rang with cries of acclama-
tion.

In the morning, after breakfast, Napoleon
buckled on his sword and at the same time ad-
dressing his officers, said : " Come, gentlemen, let
us go forth to a great day." " The sun of Aus-
terlitz " was hidden behind the clouds, but just
before the battle opened it broke through the mist
and was hailed by Napoleon as an augury of
good fortune.

The fight began, as Napoleon expected, by an
attack on his right wing; the temptation was
too great to resist and Kutusoff fell eagerly into
the trap laid for him. Davoust fought stub-
bornly, and fell back slowly, his position being
stronger and more tenable than at first was sup-
posed. At the proper moment the French centre,
supported by the Imperial Guard and the troops
concealed by the houses and the rising ground,
moved forward to the charge, and drove the
Russians from the plateau of Pratzen. To re-
cover the lost ground, the Russian Imperial Guard,
a magnificent body of horse, was hurled against
the French, but Murat, the ff beau sabreur" one
of the bravest officers that ever led a squadron
to battle, came plunging with his cavalry across
the field. The shock when the two bodies of
horsemen met was terrific, the front ranks when
they came together seemed to rise up in the air
like the waves of the sea; but after some time of
desperate hand to hand fighting the Russians gave
239

NAPOLEON

way. The French, having taken the plateau, had
not only pierced and broken the Russian centre,
but had separated both wings. That wing which
was fighting Davoust was placed between two
fires, for the French artillery that occupied the
plateau opened on its rear. Soon the whole line
of the allies wavered, recoiled, and fled, and the
85,000 men, less 35,000 left upon the field of
battle, in killed, wounded, and captured, were in
wild retreat, followed by the French cavalry, who,
attacking the flanks and rear, inflicted upon them
terrible loss.

Recent investigation has thrown doubt on the
story of the drowning of thousands of Russians
while crossing the frozen lake of Satschan and
with it must also fall the suggestion said to have
been made by Napoleon to the gunners who were
aiming the cannon point blank at the fugitives
that they should elevate their pieces so as to have
the balls drop on the ice from a great height
instead of having them merely ricochet across
its surface.

It was one of the best fought battles that Na-
poleon ever waged and one of the greatest vic-
tories he ever achieved and at a loss of only 5,000
men. Some of the French reserves were not
even brought into action. The army fought
superbly; it was animated by a strong esprit de
corps, which had been created upon the plains of
Boulogne. It was composed almost entirely of
Frenchmen and was led by Napoleon's ablest
marshals: Soult, Ney, Murat, Lannes, Davoust,
and Bernadotte.

240

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

" My people," said Napoleon addressing his
soldiers, " my people will see you again with de-
light and if one of you will say, ' I was at Auster-
litz/ everyone will respond : * Here stands a
hero.' '

The Emperor Francis came personally to Napo-
leon's tent to sue for peace.

The treaty of Pressburg was signed on De-
cember 27, 1805. By it the house of Hapsburg
lost twenty thousand square miles of territory
and two and a half millions of subjects. Venetia,
Friuli, Istria, and Dalmatia were ceded by Aus-
tria to Italy and Napoleon's encroachments and
seizure of territory in that kingdom sanctioned.
An indemnity of 40,000,000 francs was imposed
on Austria.

Bavaria, Wiirtemberg and Baden, were given
rich rewards for their faithful adherence to the
cause of Napoleon.

Perhaps after all, with the great victories of
Ulm and Austerlitz, the year ended more glo-
riously for the French arms than it would have
done had Napoleon carried out his intention of
invading England.

16 241

CHAPTER XVII

JENA — AUERSTADT BERLIN DECREE ORDERS IN

COUNCIL,

After the treaty of Pressburg Napoleon with-
drew his army from Austria, and quartered the
main body of his troops in the southern German
states that were friendly to him. He did not
mobilize his soldiers on the plains of Boulogne, as
he had given up, especially since the destruction
of his fleet at Trafalgar, all thought of invading
England.

The battle of Austerlitz was far reaching in
its consequences. It was a death blow to Pitt;
it broke his heart and gave him what was known
as the " Austerlitz look." Passing through the
hall of his house he noticed hanging on the wall
a map of Europe. " Roll it up," he said to his
attendant ; " it will be of no use for ten years to
come, at least." After his decease he was suc-
ceeded in office by Charles James Fox, whose
desire and intention were, if possible, to enter into
treaty relations with Napoleon, but sentiment was
so strong in England against any alliance or un-
derstanding with France that such a plan had to
be abandoned. Indeed the very fact that Fox as
a liberal was anxious to change the belligerent
policy of his predecessor made it impossible for
242

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

him to do so without arousing a suspicion as to
his motive. A burning and consuming hatred
against France made England blind to her own
interests. At this time her finances were at a
low ebb, streams of money so vast had poured
out of her treasury into the laps of her allies in
the way of subsidies that they had been an exhaust-
ive drain upon her resources. British consols
were at the lowest price they had ever reached.
Her commerce and manufactures languished, for
most of the ports and markets of Europe were
closed against her. Labor was out of employ-
ment, and a general depression had settled upon
the people throughout the entire kingdom. Still
she was deaf to all propositions coming from Na-
poleon, and was determined to keep the strife
alive and oppose his aggressions even if she stood
alone. One must admire her tenacity even if he
cannot commend her policy.

After Austerlitz a great number of changes
took place in the empire of France. The Bour-
bons of Naples were deposed, and the Confedera-
tion of the Rhine, consisting of Bavaria, Baden,
Wiirtemberg and a dozen smaller principalities,
was organized. Joseph, the eldest brother of
Napoleon, accepted the crown of Naples with the
distinct understanding that he was not to relin-
quish his right of succession to the throne of
France ; to which inheritance he would have been
the next in order had Napoleon died childless.
So tenaciously did Joseph cling to this shadowy
right that Napoleon observed sarcastically that
his brother acted as if he were in danger of being

243

NAPOLEON

deprived or cheated of his birthright. Louis, an-
other brother, was made king of Holland, while
Jerome, who, at the instance of Napoleon, had
abandoned his American wife, Miss Patterson of
Baltimore, was promised Westphalia. Elise,
Pauline and Caroline, sisters of the emperor, were
not forgotten in this family distribution of crowns
and coronets, although they petulantly complained
that their brother had slighted them. One of
them, after entering into possession of her prov-
ince, actually found a purchaser for it. Lucien
was the only member of the family neglected in
the division and he could have had a share of the
spoils had he been willing to abandon his wife,
but be it said to his credit he refused all offers
and gifts that had so dishonorable a consideration
for their acceptance.

Lucien had formed a liaison with Madame
Jouberthon, a beautiful widow of a stockbroker,
and had by her a natural son. Napoleon did all
in his power to induce his brother to break away
from this alliance, promising him, if he would do
so, the hand of the queen of Etruria. But Lucien
positively declined, asserting that he was too much
of a republican to like queens — especially ugly
ones. So desperately was he in love with his
mistress that he made her his wife without inform-
ing or asking permission of Napoleon. When
the news of the marriage reached the Consul he
was present at a musicale being given at St.
Cloud and the information was quietly imparted
to him by his faithful friend Duroc. Suddenly, to
the great surprise of the company, he jumped

244

WILLIAM PITT

From a portrait by Owen; engraved by H. S. Goed

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

to his feet and strode excitedly up and down the
room, muttering, " It is treason — treason." The
musicians instantly stopped playing and the select
gathering of guests was thrown into excitement
and confusion. " What is the matter ? " anx-
iously asked Josephine. " Matter ! " cried Napo-
leon; "matter! why Lucien has married his
coquine." From that day the brothers never
were wholly reconciled.

An empire, if it is to be stable, must have a
caste of nobility, so Napoleon began to lavish
titles upon his statesmen and marshals. Talley-
rand, Bernadotte, Murat, and Berthier were spe-
cially honored and given duchies in Italy and Ger-
many. France was an empire resting on military
glory, and it was but proper that the distinguished
honors should fall upon the commanders who
had won her battles. After his coronation, Napo-
leon assumed a dignity in keeping with his exalted
station and established a court as precise and
rigid in its etiquette as that of the old regime.
Its splendor rivaled even that of Louis XIV.

The establishment, however, of the empire was
not in any sense the restoration of the old regime
with its Bourbonism, feudalism, privileges, exac-
tions, unjust taxation, farmers-general, and ine-
quality before the law. The Revolution had
abolished these abuses and iniquities. The em-
pire was the result of that great political up-
heaval and was not Bourbonistic but distinctively
Napoleonic; it was, too, an empire of the people
and this was why there was so general an acqui-
escence in the usurpation. Napoleon was of
245

NAPOLEON

plebeian blood, and his marshals who had brought
such glory to France were of the common people.
Murat's father was an inn-keeper; Ney was
the son of a cooper; Desaix, Lannes, Davoust,
Massena, Oudinot, all were of humble origin;
they had won their promotions by personal merit,
and not by the accident of birth nor the patron-
age of a king's mistress that was so potential
in the days of the old regime. Merit, not
blood nor female influence, was the means
to advancement. Caste as a barrier to worthy
plebeian promotion had been broken down. Even
the grim veteran of the Imperial Guard was a
child of the Revolution like Napoleon, and prided
himself upon having by his valor helped to make
the glory of the empire.

Paris had become in truth the centre of the
universe; stupendous public works were con-
structed, magnificent buildings erected and tri-
umphal arches, outvying those that had adorned
the eternal city, spanned the great highways and
immortalized in marble and in granite the victories
of the Republic and the Empire. Paris now was
the art centre of the world, even surpassing Italy,
for her galleries were rilled with the most re-
nowned masterpieces of the Renaissance, any one
of which would have made a city famous. Paris
too set the fashions of the world, and her designs
in household furniture of that period, so dis-
tinctive, delicate and exquisite in style, are still
to this day designated " the empire."

It does not seem anomalous at a period such as
that of which we are writing that a man like
246

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Napoleon, who had evolved order out of chaos,
and had brought prosperity to his country, should
have been accepted as the ruler even though he
demanded the title of emperor in consideration
of these blessings. Besides this he had brought
renown to the arms of France, had added great
accessions of territory to her empire, had increased
her revenues, greatly reduced her debt, placed her
finances on a firm basis, introduced administrative
reforms in the departments of the government,
and above all had given a code of laws that was
of itself a national benefaction.

Tyrant he was, for he stifled free speech, muz-
zled the press, and governed arbitrarily; but he
gave something in return for his usurpation of
power, and so reconciled men to his authority by
a just and equitable rule that they did not feel
the galling of the chain. It was only history
repeating itself, for when Augustus assumed the
purple and usurped the power of the Republic
of Rome, " he artfully contrived," says Gibbon,
" that in the enjoyment of plenty the Romans
should lose the memory of freedom/*

France had grown tired of the slaughter, vio-
lence, and confusion of the Revolution, and longed
for a settled government; but at the same time
she was averse to a return of the Bourbons or
a restoration, in any of its features, of the ancient
regime. Out of these conditions was evolved
the empire of Napoleon.

It was not long after the signing of the treaty
of Pressburg before all Europe was again seeth-
ing with discontent. The peace was only a make-

247

NAPOLEON

shift to secure time to form another coalition.
" Go home, my children, and rest until we need
you again," was the significant language of Arch-
duke Charles when he was disbanding the Aus-
trian forces after the treaty of Pressburg.

The potentates of Europe wanted a return
of the Bourbons. An upstart without a drop of
royal blood in his veins, a child and creature of
the Revolution occupying the throne of France
with an ambition to make an empire equal in
extent and influence to that of Charlemagne, was
not only a constant menace, but an abomination
in their eyes and, in the nature of things, the
conflict was irrepressible.

Austria, stung and humiliated by her defeats,
was only biding her time, for she had lost most
of her prestige as well as much of her territory
in the wars that had been waged. She was re-
duced virtually to a second class power, and her
empire was confined to its original hereditary
dominions. The Holy Roman Empire, which
Voltaire sneeringly had declared was neither holy
nor Roman nor an empire, had been shorn of its
strength and ceased to exist August 6, 1806.

Russia had as yet no intention of leaving the
field, while Prussia was imbued with a war spirit
and seemed determined to provoke hostilities.

In order to keep Prussia out of the last coali-
tion, Napoleon had dangled Hanover as a prize
before her eyes, which she accepted, evidently,
however, with no intention of keeping the peace,
if we may judge from her conduct, any longer
than suited her own whim. Just before the battle
248

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

of Austerlitz, when Napoleon was deep in the
enemy's country and seemed doomed to destruc-
tion, Count Haugwitz, an envoy from the Prus-
sian court, submitted to him an ultimatum and
insisted upon an immediate reply. Napoleon re-
served his answer, all the while, however, cajoling
the minister in order to gain time, and acting as
if he were half induced to accede to the demands.
After the great victory of the French arms on
that famous field, the envoy changed his tone and
became even obsequious in his flattery and con-
gratulations. Notwithstanding the prestige that
this victory gave to Napoleon, it was very appar-
ent that Prussia was still anxious to find a pre-
text for war.

A short time before the surrender of Mack
at Ulm, when Napoleon was manoeuvring to en-
circle the army of the Austrians, a large detach-
ment of the French forces marched through
Anspach in Prussian territory, which trespass
greatly exasperated King Frederick William, who
threatened vengeance for so open and flagrant a
breach of neutrality. Napoleon did all in his
power to appease the wrath of the Prussian king
by explaining that it was done with no intention
to offend, but under stress when time was an
essential factor in carrying out the plan of cam-
paign. Napoleon further declared that he stood
ready to make any reasonable reparation.

An unfortunate incident occurred about this
time that aroused the greatest indignation
throughout Germany and united the patriotic sen-
timent of the whole country. A respectable book-
249

NAPOLEON

seller named Palm, residing in Nuremberg, was
arrested under a general order of Napoleon to
suppress the sale of patriotic German pamphlets.
The prisoner was taken to Braunau, a town in
Austria held by the French troops, where he was
tried by court-martial, convicted and shot. The
book Palm sold was entitled " Germany in Her
Deep Humiliation " ; it was in no sense a seditious
or revolutionary publication and the execution of
the poor bookseller was an outrage, a crime, and
so inflamed the temper of the people that it ren-
dered for a time negotiations between the two
countries almost impossible.

There was hardly anything Napoleon could
have done that would have so united public senti-
ment against him, not only among German-speak-
ing peoples, but throughout all Europe. Even
those citizens in the Rhine country, who, believing
in the principles of the Revolution, had welcomed
him as a deliverer, now condemned him as a
tyrant.

When in contravention of international law the
Duke d'Enghien was arrested, tried by drumhead
court-martial, and shot, the cynical Fouche con-
demned the act by declaring it was worse than a
crime, it was a blunder. The wily politician no
doubt would have used the same language had
his opinion been sought in the matter of the
unfortunate bookseller of Nuremberg. There
was some excuse for the execution of the duke,
but there was absolutely none for that of Palm,
and no doubt had Napoleon looked into the facts
of the case he would have avoided the cruel mis-
250

Copyright, 1910, by George W. Jacobs & Co.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

From a rare portrait in bright colors; engraved by Levachez

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

take. The anxiety on the part of willing but
injudicious subordinates to show diligence in car-
rying out the orders of the emperor was no doubt
responsible for the grievous error.

The war spirit in Germany was now at fever
heat, and when the Prussian king demanded the
immediate withdrawal of the French troops from
German states he became the champion of Teu-
tonic unity. The charming and beautiful Queen
Louisa herself helped to enkindle the flame; she
reviewed the troops on horseback, dressed in full
military uniform. So active a part did she take
in arousing the enthusiasm and the patriotism of
the soldiers and the people that she provoked the
resentment of Napoleon, who referred to her in
his dispatches in language that must be described
as brutal as well as unchivalrous. A thousand
sabres were bared vowing vengeance against her
accuser.

The young officers who had not yet received
their baptism of fire clamored for war. They had
often listened to the stories told around the camp-
fires by the veterans who had fought under the
great Frederick, many of whom were still in the
army, and they were eager to find a field upon
which to win their spurs. These hot heads inso-
lently sharpened their swords on the stone steps
of the French ambassador's residence in Berlin
and dared him to send word of it to his master.
When Napoleon heard of this taunt he exclaimed
as he tapped his sword hilt : " I will show those
impudent braggarts that ours need no whetting."
Crowds of excited people gathered in the public
251

NAPOLEON

streets of the Prussian capital and stoned the win-
dows of the houses of those cabinet ministers who
opposed a declaration of war.

King Frederick William was anxious to
achieve military glory and to immortalize his
reign by overthrowing the modern Caesar; he
seems to have had no doubt about his ability to
cope with Napoleon. He believed that there
were several generals in his army equal if not
superior to the French emperor, officers who had
been trained under the eye of the great Frederick
himself. At Tilsit, when Napoleon asked Queen
Louisa why Prussia undertook a war against him
when so unprepared, she quickly replied : " Sire !
I must confess to your Majesty that the glory
of Frederick the Great misled us as to our real
strength."

The Duke of Brunswick, a septuagenarian who
should have been on the retired list, was the com-
mander-in-chief of the Prussian forces. He it
was that had issued, at the instance of the emigres,
the famous proclamation of July 28, 1792, during
his invasion of France in the days of the Revolu-
tion. In this paper the duke threatened with
destruction every town and village that should
oppose his progress, and after all his fury and
bombast ended, his campaign ingloriously at the
battle of Valmy. It seems almost needless to
say that Brunswick as a soldier was in no way
the peer of Napoleon. Indeed, in justice to the
aged duke it should be stated that he himself had
no confidence in his ability to cope with the French
emperor, and took the position with the hope of
252

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

being able to secure at best a treaty of peace with
his great antagonist.

Russia and Prussia having formed an alliance,
the latter sent its ultimatum to Napoleon; but
when the courier arrived in Paris the emperor
had taken his departure and was on the Rhine
in the midst of his army. The courier overtook
him, however, and handed him the message from
Berlin. Having read it the emperor with a sneer
handed it to an aide.

Napoleon at once put his army in motion. The
Prussians were pushing forward their lines which
formed a semicircle extending from flank to
flank, a distance of about ninety miles. Their
army numbered one hundred and ten thousand
men, while the French army numbered one hun-
dred and fifty thousand. By manoeuvring, by
marching and counter-marching, Napoleon suc-
ceeded in getting in the rear and threatened the
enemy's line of communication. " If they give
me three more days of unimpeded marching,"
he exclaimed, " I shall reach Berlin before they
do."

Notwithstanding the marching and counter-
marching, the French commanders seem to have
had no idea of the exact location of the Prussians.
This shows how inefficient must have been the
service of the light horse cavalry which are the
eyes of an army; a careful reconnoissance would
have fixed the enemy's whereabouts. On climb-
ing a hill early in October, Lannes discovered so
soon as the morning mist rose what he supposed
was the main body of the Prussians and so re-
253

NAPOLEON

ported to Napoleon. He was mistaken, however,
for what he saw was but the corps of Hohenlohe
covering the rear of the main army as it retreated
towards the north. On the tenth of October an
indecisive action took place between some detach-
ments at Saalfeld. Here the young Prince Louis
Ferdinand of Prussia, after refusing to surrender,
was killed in a sword contest with an officer of
dragoons. Young, handsome, brave, chivalrous,
he was a great favorite with the soldiers and his
untimely death cast a gloom over the entire army.

Hohenlohe at last decided to make a stand, and
give battle in front of Jena, feeling confident that
with his superior force he could defeat Lannes.
But Napoleon was hurrying forward his divisions
and coming to the assistance of his marshal.

An elevation called the Landgrafenberg, at the
foot of which flows the river Saale, overlooks and
commands the town. The approaches to this
height were guarded by the Prussians, but a pri-
vate road which was deemed too steep to climb
and had been left unprotected was pointed out
to Napoleon by a Saxon parson. It appears that
the clergyman was much incensed at the Prus-
sians because his country had been forced into
an alliance against the French and he gladly and
willingly gave the information.

The ascent was a steep and difficult one, but
Napoleon put a great force of engineers at work
to open the road. A portion of the town of
Jena had been set on fire, and the blaze enabled
the engineers to work by the light of torches
without being observed by the enemy. While
254

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

large detachments of French troops were climbing
this hill some cannons fell into a rut and blocked
the way ; men, horses, artillery, wagons, were soon
a struggling mass. In the midst of the confusion
the emperor arrived upon the scene. His pres-
ence was a rebuke to the officers who slept while
the soldiers toiled, and with lantern in hand he
ran along the line, directing what should be done,
and worked far beyond midnight before retiring
to his tent. It was this personal attention to
details by night and by day that not only secured
success but inspired confidence on the part of his
soldiers.

On the morning of October 14, 1806, the battle
opened. A thick fog hung over the field, and
when the sun broke through the mist the Prus-
sians who had massed their forces on the main
road leading out of Jena, supposing the attack
would come from that quarter, were greatly sur-
prised to see the French troops debouch into the
plain from the Landgrafenberg and form in order
of battle. The French greatly outnumbered their
antagonists and after a short conflict completely
overwhelmed them. Simultaneously with the
battle of Jena another was being fought at Auer-
stadt, only a few miles distant. Here the French
under Davoust opposed a Prussian army com-
manded by the king and the Duke of Brunswick.
The Prussians, who greatly outnumbered the
French — almost two to one — were, after des-
perate fighting, compelled to retreat, and they
soon ran into great masses of frightened troops
flying from the field of Jena. The whole Prus-

255

NAPOLEON

sian army, beaten and disorganized, now became
a panic-stricken mob. Cannon were abandoned,
caps, coats, knapsacks, sabres, muskets, and every-
thing that impeded flight were thrown aside.
Murat with his cavalry and supported by the corps
of Lannes, Soult and Bernadotte pursued the
retreating divisions. Thirteen thousand men
laid down their arms at Erfurt and several for-
tresses surrendered. This great cavalry officer,
Murat, galloped in hot chase after the fugitives
for a distance of three hundred miles from
Mayence to Liibeck on the Baltic Sea. Here
Blikher with a remnant of the Prussian army
made a bold stand, but was compelled in a short
time to surrender to overpowering numbers.

The Prussians had been so confident of victory
that they purposely gave battle to Napoleon be-
fore forming a junction with the Russians, lest
they should have to divide with their ally the glory
and the honors of a triumph. Their pompous
and boastful assurance of success only made their
humiliation after defeat tenfold deeper than it
otherwise would have been. " Pride goeth be-
fore destruction and a haughty spirit before a
fall."

On October 27, 1806, the Grand Army made
its entry into Berlin. Davoust, because of his
victory at Auerstadt, was given the honor of lead-
ing the first column. The streets, windows and
housetops were filled with awe-stricken people,
who sadly and silently watched the marching di-
visions and expressed their surprise that those
" lively, impudent, mean-looking little fellows "
256

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

could have overwhelmingly defeated an army that
boasted of having in its ranks the veterans of
Frederick the Great. Preceded by the Imperial
Guard, and surrounded with his marshals and
staff in magnificent uniforms, the emperor, on a
white horse, wearing his gray coat and black
cocked hat, was " the observed of all observers."
When the bust of Frederick the Great was
reached, which stood in one of the avenues on the
line of march, Napoleon gravely saluted it, his
example being followed by his marshals.

Count Hartzfeldt had presented the conqueror
with the keys of the city, and the count was named
provisionally by Napoleon mayor of the munici-
pality. Subsequently the count, having been
detected in sending secret information to. the Prus-
sians, was forthwith arrested and would have
been shot had it not been for the tearful inter-
cession of his wife; Napoleon, even though the
count should have been summarily convicted and
punished, could not resist a woman's supplications
and gave an order for the prisoner's discharge.

While in the Prussian capital, in November,
1806, Napoleon issued his " Berlin Decree,"
which closed to neutral vessels the ports of Great
Britain, and made all British goods seizable wher-
ever found. England replied with her " Orders
in Council," which declared the entire French
coast in a state of blockade.

No matter how vast became the empire of Na-
poleon, its influence never did extend beyond low
water mark, for Britain's fleets swept and com-
manded the seas.

17 257

CHAPTER XVIII

EYLAU FRIEDLAND TREATY OF TILSIT

Russia was still in the field, and Napoleon
without delay moved his army by way of north-
ern Prussia into Poland, making Warsaw his
headquarters. Upon reaching this city he was
welcomed by the inhabitants with every expression
of joy; they greeted him warmly as their deliv-
erer. Tables were spread in the streets and
squares. Toasts were drunk to Napoleon and to
the Grand Army. Receptions, balls, and dinner
parties were given and Warsaw was never gayer.
It was confidently expected by all classes of the
population that Napoleon would declare Poland's
liberation; but alas! that day never came. No
doubt he would have played the role of emanci-
pator at the conclusion of the war had it not been
his desire, after the battle of Friedland, to make
an ally of Russia ; but while the treaty negotiations
were pending the czar insisted upon Napoleon's
giving him an assurance that he would not re-es-
tablish the integrity of that down-trodden nation.

" Oh, bloodiest picture in the book of time,
Sarmatia fell unwept, without a crime."

Poor Poland had been broken into fragments;

" her partition/' says Miiller, " had been permitted

258

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

by God to show the morality of kings/' and
she longed for that day when once more she
would secure her unity and freedom. She
thought now her dream was to be realized, but
unfortunately her hopes took the place of the
blessings that they promised.

While in Warsaw Napoleon formed a liaison
with a beautiful young woman, Madame Walew-
ski. It is said that he had her brought secretly
more than once to his headquarters. Josephine,
hearing of his conduct, was anxious to brave the
rigors of a northern winter to reach his side ; but
he would not listen to her appeals, and bade her
to remain in Paris, where the weather was more
temperate. Perhaps now she recalled with re-
gret her repeated refusals to join her husband in
Italy, when his passionate letters begged her to
come to his side; and worse than all else was
probably the remembrance of her love affair with
Captain Charles when her spouse was in Egypt.

Napoleon had two sons by the countess and it
was this fact that convinced him, so it is said, that
he was not responsible for Josephine's barrenness
and strengthened him in his desire and purpose to
procure a divorce.

The countess was in the bloom of young wom-
anhood, most fascinating in manner and married
to an old man. Although she was much pleased
with Napoleon, she at first reluctantly received
his attentions; but she was urged by her friends
not to repulse him, as she might be instrumental
in securing the freedom of Poland. She yielded
to this persuasion from patriotic motives. The

259

NAPOLEON

friendship, however, soon ripened into deep mu-
tual affection, irrespective of the question of
the sacrifice of her virtue for the good of her
country.

Autumn was far spent when Napoleon began
the invasion of Poland and cold weather was be-
ginning to set in, but he was nevertheless eager
to cross swords with the enemy before the winter
season in its severity arrived. So barren and
sterile was the land through which the French
troops marched that they asked with surprise
and with a sneer if it was this wretched and des1
olate country the Poles desired to free.

Bennigsen was in command of the Russians,
and offered battle at Pultusk on Christmas day;
but the engagement was indecisive. Both armies
then went into winter quarters, and did not
emerge from their hibernation until February,
1807, when on the eighth of that month was
fought at Eylau one of the fiercest and bloodiest
battles of modern times. The fight opened with
a sharp artillery duel. The corps of Marshal
Augereau advanced to the attack in the face of a
whirling snow storm; they lost their way and
charged diagonally across the field, exposing
their flank to a murderous fire from the Russian
musketry and artillery. They were soon sur-
rounded, and those who did not surrender were
cut to pieces. The whole corps was virtually
annihilated. This left a great gap in the French
line, and the Russians hurled masses of infantry
against the weakened centre and pierced it, leav-
ing exposed Napoleon and his staff, who occu-
260

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

pied an elevated plot of ground in a cemetery.
The emperor, however, refused to withdraw to a
safer position, and the only barrier between him
and capture was the Imperial Guard, who hav-
ing been ordered into action at the critical mo-
ment, fought with unexampled bravery and kept
the greatly superior forces of the enemy at bay.
In the meantime Murat had massed a body of
horsemen, ten thousand in number, consisting of
cuirassiers, chasseurs, lancers and dragoons, and
led them in a charge through a snow squall that
seemed to increase in fury every moment. These
thundering squadrons with the matchless leader
at their head swept everything before them to
destruction and thus saved the day from sheer
defeat. The impetus of this thrilling charge was
so great that it did not spend its force for nearly
three thousand yards.

Both armies still fought with desperate resolve
and when night closed in, each held its original
position. The thirty thousand dead that lay on
the field of battle were silent witnesses to that
courage and desperation with which the com-
batants fought amidst the snows of that short
winter day.

Napoleon was about to give the order to with-
draw when the practiced ear of Davoust heard
the distant rumbling of artillery, and interpreted
it to mean a retreat of the enemy. Putting his
ear to the ground, his suspicions were soon con-
firmed and the emperor straightway gave the or-
der to advance. The Russian position was occu-
pied by the French, and Napoleon claimed Eylau

261

NAPOLEON

as a victory; but in truth it was not, it was at
best only a drawn battle, and although it was
heralded throughout Europe as a French tri-
umph, this claim could not efface the impression
that the prestige of the invincible captain had at
last been dimmed.

Both armies had been terribly shattered, and
both willingly sought winter cantonments. Dur-
ing this period Napoleon was not idle, and he
brought reinforcements from every available quar-
ter to strengthen his forces preparatory to open-
ing the campaign in the spring, but it was not
until June that the roads and the ground were in
condition to admit of great and rapid military
movements. On the tenth of that month an in-
decisive action took place at Heilsberg, and on the
fourteenth the armies met at Friedland, where
was fought one of the most important battles,
so far as results were concerned, of Napoleon's
entire career.

Lannes with a detachment engaged the Rus-
sians, who were in possession of the town, and
Bennigsen, believing that Lannes's corps only was
in front of him, decided to cross the river and
compel the surrender of this force, small in num-
bers as compared with his own. But behind
Lannes, in the surrounding woods, were con-
cealed the corps of Ney, Oudinot, and other mar-
shals, together with a large contingent of the
Imperial Guard. When Napoleon, who from an
adjoining elevation was closely watching through
his field glasses the movements of the Russians,
saw that Bennigsen had so far advanced as to
262

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

put the river between him and his line of re-
treat, he hurried forward his reinforcements and
with a force greatly superior in numbers to his
antagonist — almost two to one — overwhelmed
him and compelled him with a mere remnant of
his army to retreat towards the north. Napo-
leon followed quickly in pursuit, and after reach-
ing the Niemen river which marks the boundary
line between Russia and Prussia, the czar asked
for an armistice, which was granted. On June
25, 1807, at Tilsit, on a raft moored in the mid-
dle of the stream, the two emperors met under a
sumptuous pavilion to decide the fate of Europe.
The armies, French and Russian, were drawn
up on both sides of the river and made a most
imposing appearance. Frederick William, King
of Prussia, and Russia's ally, had been invited to
the conference, and with him came his charming
wife, Queen Louisa. It was most humiliating
for so proud a woman to crave a boon from a
man who had referred to her as an Amazon on
horseback, and who in some of his bulletins had
reflected upon her honor, but no matter what he
had said or what his private opinion may have
been of her, he treated her majesty with great
courtesy and consideration, although he refused
her request. His appearance must have pleased
her, for she declared : " He had a head like that
of a Caesar." Her waiting lady, the Countess
von Voss, evidently a little spiteful, if we may
judge from her language, could see nothing to
admire in the " upstart" " He is excessively
ugly," she writes, " with a fat, swollen, sallow
263

NAPOLEON

face, very corpulent, and entirely without figure.
His great eyes roll gloomily around, the expres-
sion of his face is severe; he looks like the in-
carnation of fate, only his mouth is well shaped
and his teeth are good. He was extremely po-
lite, and talked to the queen a long time alone."
While the negotiations were pending Napoleon
was most charming and fascinating in manner
and won the czar's admiration and confidence.
" I never had more prejudices against anyone,"
said Alexander, " than against him, but after
three-quarters of an hour of conversation they
all disappeared like a dream " ; and afterwards
he was heard to remark, " Would that I had seen
him sooner." After much parleying, during
which Napoleon showed a most friendly dispo-
sition towards the czar, whose assistance he was
desirous to procure in the commercial war he
was waging against England, the so-called treaty
of Tilsit was signed on July 7, 1807. Under the
terms of the treaty, Prussia recovered Silesia and
the lands she had once held between the Elbe
and the Niemen. With these exceptions she was
shorn of much of her territory, saddled with a
lieavy war indemnity, and relegated to the rank
of a secondary power. The Polish lands seized
in the'second and third partitions were

to form a new state, called the Duchy of Warsaw,

and were to~lbe undeFTfie suzerainty of_France.

Prussia jidnot secur?^Maj[de^ the

lovely yueerinCouTsa had so earnestly and tear-

juU}r^gteade3. ^ The czar sanctioned tHeTHolding

by France of her possessions in Italy and Ger-

264

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

many and he was given jLJrg£.hand~tQ-4ak€ Fin-
land from Sweden and certain provinces from
Turkey! The emperor exacted nothing from the
czar' but the island of Cojj^and_a..4n^mise to
co-operate with France in her strjjggl^ ag^jngj-
EnglalidL The result of it all was that Napoleon
and Alexander virtually divf3ed the continent of
EulropenbetwejerrtEem". .....

''~~y;fir wag sn faR7Jnatpri b the

of the emperor that he was easily,._won over

"against^ England, his old and faithful ally — that

isTTaithful in a selfish and diplomatic sense. This

portion of the treaty was to be kept secret, in order

to give the czar time to act as mediator between

France and Engand to secure a general peace, and

if the latter state did not agree within a certain

time to enter into a treaty, Russia bpund herself

-to_a^£t._N.ajKilej2ii/s..cQntinental system.

England was through her spies soon informed
of the secret provisions, and without waiting for
the offers of mediation, she at once made such a
plan impossible by sending her ships to Copen-
hagen and capturing the Danish fleet in Septem-
ber, 1807. This overt act was committed by
England for no other reason than that she feared
Denmark would join the coalition.

The treaty of Tilsit marks the termination of
the first cycle of wars after the establishment of
the empire, and a brief retrospection of the career
of Napoleon from this point is interesting, for
it shows an almost unbroken succession of mar-
velous victories. He suffered only one defeat in
pitched battle and that was at Caldiero in his

265

NAPOLEON

first campaign in Italy, which defeat he almost
immediately retrieved by a great victory. His
only other reverse was in his Egyptian campaign,
when he was compelled to raise the siege of St.
Jean d'Acre and retreat to the coast. At Eylau
he was fought to a standstill, and although the
Russians fell back and he occupied their position
the next morning and claimed a victory, the battle
must be classed as a draw.

Napoleon had met the ablest generals in Europe
and had shown his great superiority over all of
them. In his first campaign in Italy he had de-
feated Beaulieu, Wiirmser, Alvintzy, and Arch-
duke Charles. The last-named was the ablest
and most brilliant soldier in this group and was
destined to achieve great fame, but he never con-
fronted Napoleon without being seized by a super-
stitious fear. General Alvintzy, to be sure, won
the battle of Caldiero, but was in a short time
afterwards, as we have seen, completely over-
whelmed. Melas was outgeneraled at Marengo,
Mack at Ulm, Kutusoff at Austerlitz, Brunswick
and Hohenlohe at Jena, and Bennigsen at Fried-
land.

In breadth and scope of conception, in certainty
of execution, in rapidity of movement, in tactical
and strategical skill, in boldness, audacity, orig-
inality and resourcefulness, Napoleon was in-
finitely their superior. It is a nice question
whether he ever had, when at his best as a soldier,
his equal among all the great captains in the
history of the world. It must, however, be ad-
mitted that the generals he met were not men
266

,THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

like Frederick the Great or Marlborough or com-
manders in their class.

Having formed an alliance with Russia with
tlie "distinct intention of having that powerful
state assist Elm in EiT efforts to destroy the com-
mercial supremacy of England, having .disin-
tegrate'cT tHe^Holy Roman Empire, having con-
fined Austria to her origiTalJ[imits77and having
^erTKr^rr tEe Prussian monarchy,
to a secondary power, he still in the
height of his successes had his gaze riveted on
the East. Taking the island of Corfu as the
T5ase~of his operations, he was revolving in his
mind plans to partition Turkey in co-operation
with his ally and then launch a Franco-Russian
expedition through Persia to_ India. This vast
undertaking never materialized, but its concep-
tion shows what fascination an Oriental conquest
had for him. In fact, his ambitions were circum-
scribed only by the world's limitations. " I de-
sired," said Napoleon to Benjamin Constant, " the
empire of the world, and who in my situation
would not. The world invited me to govern it;
sovereigns and subjects vied with each other in
bending before my sceptre."

267

CHAPTER XIX

JUNOT ENTERS LISBON MURAT ENTERS MADRID

CHARLES IV OF SPAIN ABDICATES

The victory of Friedland forced the last con-
tinental foe of Napoleon to admit defeat, and he
had now reached the very summit of his power.
He was at that point in his life when he could
look back upon a career of successes almost with-
out a break. But from this dizzy elevation we
can trace the beginning of a decline in his for-
tunes. True, his successes continued for a time,
but he had to put forth most strenuous efforts
to maintain his position, his victories were not so
pronounced nor so decisive as they had been,
while his troubles began to accumulate and his
reverses to occur.

With the exception of Sweden, Portugal and
Turkey, every country in Europe was now closed
to British trade and it did look as if England's
commerce would be utterly destroyed. In Por-
tugal, as we have just said, she still found open
ports, and Napoleon decided to close them, thus
depriving her of the one really important entrepot
and outlet she had for her commerce in Europe.
For this purpose a small army under the command
of General Junot was sent into Portugal, and,
meeting with comparatively no resistance, entered
268

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Lisbon on November 30^ 1807. The royal fam-
ily fled in haste to Brazil.

In support of Junot, Napoleon moved a large
army into Spain and occupied the northern prov-
inces. Charles IV, who was on the Spanish
throne, was about as inept and as contemptible a
monarch as could be imagined. He possessed all
the weaknesses and vices of the Bourbons with-
out any of their virtues. He was a royal pimp;
his wife's favorite, Manuel Godoy, being the
virtual ruler of the kingdom. Godoy had been
a common soldier; but as he was a tall, hand-
some fellow he had ingratiated himself by his
good looks into the queen's favor. He had
shown some little ability as an envoy in effecting
a treaty with France in 1795, and was given the
flattering sobriquet of " Prince of the Peace."

For years Spain had been the friend and the
ally of France and had trooped along at her side
without receiving any share in the glory and the
victories of the empire. She had furnished not
only her quota of troops, but also her fleet, to
aid in the French naval encounters and warfare;
but alas! most of her ships were now at the bot-
tom of the sea, having been destroyed in the
engagement at Trafalgar, so that in 1807, just
on the eve of the battle of Friedland, when Napo-
leon's future was a hazard, Godoy thought the
time was ripe to break from so burdensome an
alliance. But the victory of the French induced
him to change front quickly and bide his time.

Napoleon, however, for want of a better ex-
cuse, taking this inclination to break the alliance

269

NAPOLEON

as sufficient cause for action, moved his army,
which was under the immediate command of
Murat, in the direction of Madrid, which city was
entered without any resistance on the part of the
people. Murat forthwith there established his
headquarters, thus intimating an intention to re-
main indefinitely.

Ferdinand, the crown prince, was much in-
censed at the conduct of his mother in her rela-
tions with Godoy, and a family quarrel in the
royal household culminated in the resignation of
Charles IV and the installation of his son Ferdi-
nand as king. A public outbreak nearly resulted
in the murder of the " Prince of the Peace," his
house was ransacked, and the mob spared his life
only at the intercession of his mother, who upon
her knees begged for mercy. Godoy, when re-
leased by the mob, at once took refuge with
Murat.

Ferdinand entered the capital amidst the great-
est acclaim, but Napoleon refused to recognize
him, and without any reservation so informed
him. Charles IV, repenting of his abdication,
hastened with his queen to Bayonne to lay the
facts of his case before the emperor. Ferdinand
followed in quick order, although he had some
difficulty in getting over the frontier ; the citizens
at Vittoria begged him not to go, and tried to
cut the traces of the royal carriage, fearing treach-
ery for the young king if he should cross the
borders into France ; but, beguiled by the promise
of Napoleon to secure for him in marriage the
hand of a French princess, he proceeded on his
270

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

journey under the guidance of Savary, one of the
shrewdest of Napoleon's aides.

Both Charles and his son appeared before the
emperor and, after listening to their claims, he
informed Ferdinand that he must abdicate in
favor of his father, promising to him at the same
time as an inducement ,thje,.-thr.on€ of Etruria.
The prince declined the offer, and refused to
resign: Onel)FInTaTviseTs"orFerdinand, Escoi-
qpfz; warned the emperor not to tamper with the
throne of Spain, for if he did the Spaniards would
swear against him eternal vengeance. " Yes,"
said Napoleon, familiarly pulling the ear of Escoi-
quiz, " you may be right, for you are a clever
fellow; but do you not know that the Bourbons
will never let me alone ? "

Resistance, however, was useless against the
indomitable will of the master. By cajolery,
tl^eats^_.aiKL.-prQmises -he—at last^onclSIexDan
agreement with Godoy, whereby Charles IV relin-
qujsHed all rights to the crown"s~'''o:frgpain and
the__|ndies, with the understanding that they
should remain intact, and that theTCatholic faith
should be maintained ito the ^ "excluBiii of all

others. In consideraTib^^^was_to receive the

estates of Compiegne and Chambord, and be paid

annually an income of seven and a half million

francs. Ferdinand was induced lQ~Tufrende r his

jjghts as crown prmcejfor^a_£astle and a pension.

Napoleon intended at first to offer the crown

of Spain to his brother Louis, king of Holland.

" The climate of Holland does not suit you,"

wrote the emperor. " Besides, Holland can never

271

NAPOLEON

rise from her ruins." Louis, with the character-
istic effrontery of his family, replied, notwith-
standing the fact that he had received the crown
of Holland directly from his brother, that he
could not accept the offer, as God had called him

to his present station. Joseph was then--piacecl

upon the throne of Spain, and Murat, Napoleon's
~T5fo!fier-m-law, being offered his choice between
Portugal and Naples, chose the latter.

Thejn. vasjoii and occupation of Spain, the arbi-
^rary_s-^M.I}K Bsl^e °f the claims of the contestants
for the crown, and the placing of his brother
' Jos^ph'~6n trie Wron^cons^tut^a drama in three
acts that was tragic in its consequences. ^Evejy
stegTtaken was in direct violationjof the principles
of justice and international law. It was alto-
gether a clear case of spoliation, a political out-
rage. There were no reasons to justify such con-
duct and Napoleon lived to rue the day when he
entered that unfortunate land, which soon be-
came the battlefield for English victories. " I
may find in Spain the Pillars of Hercules," was
his proud and scornful boast, " but not the limits
of my power " ; yet he lamented at St. Helena
that it was " the Spanish ulcer " that ruined him.

While the negotiations were pending at
Bayonne, the people in Madrid rose in insurrec-
tion against any renunciation of the throne by
Ferdinand, and in opposition to French domina-
tion. So formidable was the uprising that it
required the strongest efforts on the part of Murat
to quell it. He severely punished the ringleaders,
but this did not prevent disturbances in other parts
272

Copyright, 1910, by George W. Jacobs & Co.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

From an original drawing by Guerin, 1810

Came to the present owner through Pierre Morand, a well-known
French resident of Philadelphia

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

of Spain. A provisional government was estab-
lished by the insurgents, a native army enlisted
and organized, and on July nineteenth twenty
thousand French soldiers, under the command of
General Dupont, were compelled, after their line
of communication was cut, to lay down their
arms at Baylen. This great victory was won by
undisciplined Andalusian peasants, and sent a feel-
ing of humiliation through France, and a throb of
exultation into the heart of Spain.

In a few weeks this severe blow to the imperial
troops was followed by another disastrous defeat
in Portugal. Sir Arthur Wellesley, afterwards
the Duke of Wellington, landed with an English
army near Lisbon, and on the twenty-first of
August defeated Junot at Vimiero, which defeat
was followed by a capitulation at Cintra whereby
the French evacuated Portugal.

These sudden and unexpected reverses startled
Paris. The people had been so long accustomed
to read bulletins containing flaming accounts of
glorious victories that these disasters settled like
a cloud of gloom over the capital.

Napoleon was beside himself with anger. At
first he was stunned when he heard the news of
Dupont's surrender. Then, recovering from the
shock, he expressed his indignation in bitter
words. " Is it possible/' he cried, " that Dupont,
a man whom I loved and intended, one day in
the near future, to make a marshal, could have
done this thing? They explain his cowardice by
saying that he had no other way to save the lives
of his soldiers. It would have been better, far
18 273

NAPOLEON

better, for them to have died with arms in their
hands. Their death would have been glorious;
we should have avenged them." When Dupont
returned to Paris he was thrown into prison, and
Junot was not permitted to enter the capital.

These defeats aroused Napoleon to action, and
his only desire now was to retrieve the losses
which he thought could easily be done by a few
victories; but he did not appreciate to the full
measure the spirit of the national uprising in
Spain. The Catalans and the men of Aragon,
actuated by a patriotic fervor, rose in their might.
Saragossa held out against the invaders and for
a time, after a display of indomitable courage,
and endurance, shook them off. The city finally
was captured' by the persistent assaults of Lan-
nes, who fought with the same bravery that sig-
nalized his conduct at the siege of St. Jean d'Acre.

The Spaniards opposed the invaders by fighting
from house to house and made a last stand at
the cathedral, where the priests urged resistance
and at the same time, with crucifixes in hand,
gave absolution to the dying. This siege is one
of the most famous in the history of warfare,
and the Maid of Saragossa, because of her cour-
age and the heroic part she took in helping to
defend the town, passed into imperishable fame,
her name being coupled with that of Joan of Arc.

Napoleon attributed the defeats to the fact that
the French forces in Spain were made up of new
levies, soldiers that had not been seasoned by serv-
ice in even one campaign. Vast bodies of veteran
troops were hurried to the frontier and Napoleon
274

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

decided to take command in person. By hasty
relay stages he left the capital and joined the
army in November.

He was confronted by raw and inexperienced
Spanish troops, and he struck them so forcibly
and unexpectedly that he scattered them in every
direction. At the pass of Somosierra the Span-
iards had planted a battery that commanded a
narrow defile of the mountain. In the face of
dreadful volleys that swept the pass, Napoleon
hurled his light Polish horse up hill. The fore-
most riders and their steeds were mowed down
in heaps, but the troopers in the rear pressed on,
cut the gunners to pieces, and captured the can-
non; after this an unimpeded way was opened to
Madrid, which city the French entered on the
fourth of December, 1808.

The capture of the capital, however, did not
allay the national spirit. Spain was still aflame
from border to border. The priests and monks,
with crosses in hand, which at close quarters with
the French they used as weapons, exhorted the
people to oppose with all their might the foreign
infidels and save from destruction not only their
hearthstones, but the Catholic faith. Wrought
up to a fanatical frenzy by these mad appeals,
the Spaniards fought with the desperation of re-
ligious zealots.

Spain, unlike Italy, offered a natural resistance
to the invading armies; besides this, the country
was poor and did not furnish sufficient food and
fodder, which condition necessitated the carrying
of supplies in large convoys. The line of inva-
275

NAPOLEON

sion was crossed by mountain ranges which served
as barriers to progress and made the marching
slow and difficult. It was the dead of winter and
the mountain passes were covered with snow and
ice. The peasantry, too, aroused to religious
frenzy by their priests, were up in arms and
made sudden and vicious attacks upon the flanks
and isolated detachments.

At the moment Napoleon was entering Madrid
a British army, which had landed at Lisbon, under
the command of Sir John Moore, was marching
east, and at Valladolid nearly succeeded in cutting
the French line of communication. Napoleon,
hearing of the approach of the English, headed
his army and started in pursuit. Notwithstand-
ing the inclement weather and the fact that the
mountain passes were blocked with snow and ice,
so sharply and rapidly did Napoleon press for-
ward to give attack, that the English army, which
was heavily encumbered with supplies and greatly
outnumbered, had difficulty in reaching the coast
and effecting its escape. After sustaining im-
mense losses, suffering untold hardships and
fighting, when attacked, with lion-like courage,
the English succeeded in reaching Corunna, where
Sir John was killed when engaged in embarking
his exhausted troops.

While he was following the retreating army,
Napoleon received important dispatches calling
him home at once, and after seeing that Sir John
would not give battle and that the escape of the
British was assured, he handed over the command
to Marshal Soult and hastened to Paris as fast
276

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

as post and saddle could carry him. He reached
the capital on January 23, 1809.

There was a reason for his hasty departure ; he
had received word that his enemies were schem-
ing. During his absence in Spain, Talleyrand
and Fouche, who had for a long time been bitter
enemies and at swords' points, had healed their
differences, and ostentatiously, arm in arm, to the
great amazement of all present, entered a public
reception. They were the best political weather-
cocks in Paris, and their friendliness started the
gossips chattering and brought forth the expres-
sions of many conservative men, who denounced
as dangerous and destructive the insatiable ambi-
tion of Napoleon. Talleyrand and Fouche met
secretly and it was believed that they had an
understanding with Murat and his ambitious wife
to seize on power in Paris while Napoleon was
detained in Spain. It was rumored, indeed, that
Fouche had stationed relays between Naples and
Paris to convey Murat and his consort post haste
to the capital in case the conditions were favorable
to effect the change.

The whole matter is involved in obscurity, but
whatever the truth was, the rumors and the mys-
terious conduct of these two wily politicians so
alarmed the friends of Napoleon that they sent
him dispatches urging his immediate return.

Napoleon, as may well be imagined, was in a
towering rage and when he reached Paris severely
rebuked Fouche and at a public reception repri-
manded Talleyrand so sharply and upbraided him
so bitterly that the cynical old diplomat cowered

277

NAPOLEON

under the assault. But after the storm sub-
sided and Talleyrand recovered his usual equa-
nimity, he coolly remarked to those standing by:
:< What a pity that so great a man has been so
badly brought up." It is said that so vehement
were the manner and the attitude of Napoleon
that as he advanced Talleyrand retreated until he
reached the wall, when the emperor shook his fist
in the grand chamberlain's face.

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord was
born of a noble family in Paris in 1754. He met
with an accident in his infancy and in conse-
quence became an incurable cripple. His lame-
ness closed many careers against him and finally,
but reluctantly, he entered the church. In time
he became Bishop of Autum, a rather fat bene-
fice. His private life in his young manhood, even
after he had taken orders, was scandalous ; among
his minor vices was a passionate love of gambling,
and he did not hesitate to play for high stakes.
The celebrated Madame du Barry took a fancy
to him in his early years and materially aided
him with her influence. He was a delegate to
the States-General in 1789 and in the National
Assembly voted for the confiscation of the church
property, for which act he was soon afterwards
excommunicated by the pope.

He was witty, clever, interesting, and fascinat-
ing, cool, calculating and unscrupulous. His
name was a synonym for duplicity and perfidy.
One of his favorite witticisms was that language
was made to conceal thought. He was utterly
unprincipled and without any sense of obligation
278

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

or gratitude. As a diplomat he was shrewd,
adroit, and resourceful ; as a politician, far-seeing
and self-seeking. Napoleon used him, but mis-
trusted him, and described him as a silk stocking
filled with filth. Mirabeau, in his characteristic
style, declared the bishop would sell his soul for
gold, if a purchaser could be found for trash so
vile.

Talleyrand never forgave Napoleon for the
deep public humiliation to which he had been sub-
jected, and quietly waited for an opportunity to
betray him. The wily minister reaped a full har-
vest of vengeance at the time of the Bourbon
restoration.

Another matter that brought the emperor
home so suddenly was the belligerent attitude of
Austria.

In 1808, just before Napoleon went to Spain
to take command of the army, there was a meet-
ing between him and the czar at the little old-
fashioned town of Erfurt. The provisions of the
treaty of Tilsit had been in many particulars
loosely observed, as might have been expected
when two ambitious monarchs were so jealous
and so fearful of each other. There is no ques- ,
tion that the Spanish uprising awakened the
dormant spirit of national unity throughout Ger-
many. The able, patriotic minister Stein, to-
gether with Scharnhorst and other patriots, was
in a conspiracy to throw off the Napoleonic yoke.
One of Stein's letters was intercepted and pub-
lished in the Moniteur by order of the emperor,
who straightway directed the sequestration of

279

NAPOLEON

Stein's property in Westphalia. The patriotic
German for safety fled to Vienna. Austria, too,
gave signs of warlike preparation. Under all
these conditions Napoleon thought it important
to have an understanding with his powerful ally,
and accordingly he sent an invitation to Alex-
ander to meet him at Erfurt. Kings and princes,
envoys and ministers, graced the occasion with
their presence; soldiers in gay uniforms set the
narrow streets of the sombre old Thuringian town
ablaze with color. The emperors at their first
meeting embraced each other and were most pro-
fuse in their protestations of loyalty and friend-
ship. Their entrance into the town was wel-
comed with salvos of artillery. In the mornings
and afternoons they met to discuss and consider
political questions, and the evenings were devoted
to receptions and the theatre. At one of the
dramatic entertainments, during the presentation
of Voltaire's " CEdipe," when the line, "The
friendship of a great man is a benefaction of the
gods," was recited, Alexander arose in full view
of the house and warmly pressed the hand of
Napoleon, who was sitting at his side, and as
usual on such occasions, dozing. The fashionable
audience, to so touching an episode, responded
with rapturous applause.

Under this ostentatious display of mutual ad-
miration and friendship lurked, however, a spirit
of unrest. Alexander pleaded fojC-th^-trniepend-
ence of Prussia^ which Jiad. been assured by the
treaty of Tilsit, and for a reducdonjnjhe_amount
?Ori pecuniary claims agamsThor. Napoleon
280

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

declined the first proposition and allowed a nig-
Tgardly reduction in the sum due to France as
a war" Trilgmnity. THejg wajsf riction too on the
question of the occupancy of Kiistrin on the~Rus-
sian border and also as tolne garrisoning of for-
tresses on the Oder by the French.

Napoleon, wficT was exceedingly anxious to
ave'rt a war with Austria, "urged" Alexander to
join with him in a diplomaticjiienac£,against the
further arming by that state, but this_ Alexander
declined to do; he promised to help Napoleon,
However^ in case Austria ^shoukLaltack him, rec-
ognized Joseph as king of Spain, and joined in
a note to England summoning her to make peace.
In some respects the alliance was strengthened,
but taken altogether the convention was fruitless.
Its splendor had dazzled Europe, but had not con-
quered nor even terrorized its warlike spirit —
Spain, Prussia, the German states, and Austria
were restless and chafing under the yoke.

The interview of Napoleon with Goethe and
Wieland was an interesting feature of the meet-
ing. These two great German poets had been in-
vited to Erfurt by the French emperor, that he
might show them extraordinary honor and thus
soften the feeling of hostility against him in Ger-
many. He invited Goethe to come to Paris, but
fortunately for himself the poet could plead old
age as an excuse. He decorated both Goethe and
Wieland with the cross of the Legion of Honor,
and by a singular coincidence this ceremony took
place on the anniversary of the battle of Jena.

281

CHAPTER XX

WAR WITH AUSTRIA WAGRAM — TREATY OF

SCH5NBRUNN WAR IN SPAIN

After the return of Napoleon from Spain, he
saw that war with Austria was inevitable. The
meeting at Erfurt had only aroused her sus-
picions, and she was fearful, for she was the only
military power of any importance outside of
France and Russia on the continent, that she
might ultimately be reduced to a mere secondary
position in the politics of Europe, as was Prus-
sia; or, worse than even this, have her emperor
compelled to abdicate like Charles IV of Spain,
and a foreigner placed upon the throne as in that
nation. Because of these fears she began increas-
ing her army, much to the dissatisfaction of
Napoleon, who really at this time had no desire
to embark upon a war. He told Metternich, the
Austrian ambassador at the French court, that if
Austria armed it could be for no other purpose
than to war with France, that he was in no sense
hostile, and did not desire to see the peace of
Europe disturbed, but that if Austria continued
to increase her armaments war would be inevi-
table.

At last the step was taken when, on the tenth
of April, 1809, Archduke Charles invaded Ba-
282

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

varia and issued a proclamation calling upon all
Germans to arise and drive out from their midst
their arrogant and foreign oppressors. " The
freedom of Europe," read the appeal, " has sought
refuge beneath your banners. Soldiers, your vic-
tories will break her chains ; your German broth-
ers who are now in the ranks of the enemy wait
for their deliverance."

Napoleon hastened to the front to face once
more the dangers of the battlefield. Upon his
arrival at headquarters, he found the army so
widely separated, stretching from Ratisbon to
Augsburg, a distance of sixty miles, that it re-
quired all his skill to mass them before the Arch-
duke struck his blows. The duty of posting the
troops had been assigned to Berthier, but he had
managed the matter so badly that Napoleon, in-
censed beyond measure, turned upon him and
angrily exclaimed : " If I did not know you to be
my friend, I should suspect you were a traitor."

Fortunately for the French, the Archduke did
not know the value of time as did Napoleon.
Had the positions of the two commanders been
reversed, the Austrians would have been suddenly
attacked before they could have united their forces
and one detachment after another would have
been scattered to the winds. By almost super-
human effort, however, Napoleon got his army
well in hand and by rapid and successful move-
ments crossed the Isar and, after winning the
battles of Abendsberg and Landfurt, brought
Charles to a standstill at Eckmiihl (April 22nd)
and administered a severe defeat the next day.
283

NAPOLEON

Ratisbon was stormed and taken, which last en-
gagement left the road to Vienna open. It was
at Ratisbon that Napoleon was wounded in the
foot.

In these battles 30,000 Austrians were killed
and wounded, while vast stores, cannon, guns,
and ammunition were captured by the French.
Napoleon believed that his manoeuvres up to this
point in this campaign were not surpassed so far
as military skill was concerned during his entire
career.

The French now pushed on to Vienna, forcing
the whole line of the Austrians to retreat. When
that city was reached, it offered some resistance to
the invaders. The French at once brought their
siege guns into position and opened fire. During
the continuance of the bombardment, Napoleon
was informed that the Archduchess Maria Louisa
was in the palace so ill that it was not deemed
safe to remove her; he at once chivalrously
directed that the guns should cease firing in that
direction. By this generous act he perhaps saved
the life of the woman who in less than a year was
to be his wife and to become empress of the
French.

The city soon capitulated and on May thir-
teenth Napoleon again entered in triumph at the
head of his legions the proud city of the Haps-
burgs. The royal family fled to Hungary.

Napoleon, having established his headquarters
at Schonbrunn, on May seventeenth issued a de-
cree annexing Rome to the empire; this included
all that portion of the papal states he heretofore
284

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

had neglected to seize and appropriate. He fur-
ther reduced the popes to the rank of bishops
of Rome, stripped them of all temporal power,
and designated the sum of 2,000,000 francs as
the annual stipend to be paid to the holy pontiff.
The pope, Pius VII, incensed at the spoliation,
hurled in turn a bull of excommunication at the
emperor, and in consequence was placed under
arrest by order of Napoleon and hurried away
from the eternal city to Florence.

The language of the decree deposing the pope
was the most pompous ever used by Napoleon
in a state paper and shows that his elevation was
making him somewhat dizzy. He referred to
Charlemagne as his " august predecessor, . em-
peror of the French."

The capture of Vienna did not put an end to
hostilities, as Napoleon was in hopes it would, so
he sent a communication to Charles suggesting
an armistice, but that prince, did not even deign
to reply.

The Austrian army was on the opposite side
of the Danube, and Napoleon, after a few days'
rest in the capital, decided to assume once more
the offensive, and with this end in view he led his
army a few miles east of Vienna. Here bridges
were constructed and the troops at once crossed
the river. When the French reached the other
shore the Austrians immediately began the attack
and severe fighting ensued, lasting during the
days of the twenty-first and twenty-second of
May, the battlefield being located in the neighbor-
hood of the villages of Aspern and Essling. The

285

NAPOLEON

Austrians made a desperate onslaught on the
French columns and reinforcements were sent
forward as rapidly as the hastily-constructed
bridges would permit. While the troops were
being rushed across the river, a freshet, bearing
trees and barges on its surface, carried the bridges
away and thus was cut off the line of retreat.
With the river back of them the French, under
Lannes and Massena, held the Austrians at bay
with dogged tenacity until nightfall, when, bridges
in the meantime having been constructed, the
French slowly retreated, leaving 25,000 dead
upon the field.

The peerless and dauntless Lannes, the greatest
vanguard leader in the army, was mortally
wounded. He was the son of a Gascon dyer and
enlisted, when a boy, as a grenadier ; he was soon
promoted for conspicuous bravery and rose rap-
idly, Napoleon making him a marshal. Frank,
open-hearted, brave as a lion, he was the idol of
his troops, and he would send no man where he
himself was not willing to go.

He was the first man over the bridge at Lodi,
led the vanguard across the Alps, and steadied
the retreating columns at Marengo. He followed
Bonaparte to Egypt and at Acre led the assaults
with dauntless courage. Through all of Napo-
leon's campaigns he was ever in the thickest of
the fray. He was known as the Ajax and the
Rolando of the French camp. He is said to have
been in fifty-four pitched battles and in three hun-
dred combats of different kinds. At Ratisbon,
when the soldiers quailed before the withering
286

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

fire, he rushed towards the battlements with a
scaling ladder, crying out : " Come on ! I will
show you I have not forgotten that I was once
a grenadier."

Napoleon was much shocked when he heard
that his marshal was wounded, and the meeting
between them, according to Marbot, who was an
eye-witness, was most touching. Napoleon leaned
over the stretcher, embraced Lannes, and wept,
exclaiming : " My friend, you will not die ; all
will yet be well." " I hope so," whispered the
wounded soldier, " if I can be of service to France
or your majesty." Every day the emperor found
time to visit him, but on the thirtieth, following
a painful amputation of his leg, the gallant soldier
died.

After the battle of Aspern and Essling, the
French army had retreated to a large island called
Lobau in the Danube in front of Vienna. Napo-
leon, apparently not in the least disconcerted by
his defeat, now brought into play his extraor-
dinary powers of organization. Reinforcements
were hastened forward from all parts of Ger-
many.

No matter what Napoleon, with his usual effron-
tery claimed, it was known that he had suffered a
repulse, and all Europe for several weeks watched
and anxiously waited for the final result. About
this time news reached the emperor of serious
disasters in Spain, that a British fleet and army
occupied the island of Ischia, threatening the
throne of Murat, and further that Germany was
on the point of rising. All the French troops
287

NAPOLEON

having been withdrawn from the Tyrol, the brave
innkeeper, Hafer, began to organize the peasants
and make arrangements to rise against the op-
pressor.

It looked as if all depended upon the result
of the Austrian invasion and as if another repulse
would rock the imperial throne of France. It
was just such an exigency, however, that brought
forth in their full equipment the marvelous re-
sources and powers of Napoleon. By his skill,
coolness, and sagacity, he finally extricated him-
self from a desperate situation.

While Napoleon was reinforcing his army, the
Austrians were throwing up a long line of heavy
redoubts.

On the night of the fourth of July, during a
terrific thunder-storm, Napoleon at the north-
west corner of the island in front of the Austrian
lines opened a cannonading with his heaviest
guns, as if he contemplated crossing the bridges
and making a direct attack on the Austrian de-
fences. While the enemy's attention was directed
on this point, bridges were being constructed at
the southeastern corner of the island, and by sun-
rise on the morning of the fifth the French army
had crossed the Danube and gained a foothold
on the northern bank. The ruse was completely
successful. By this movement the earthworks of
the Austrians were outflanked, Archduke Charles
evacuated his defences, withdrew his troops into
the open, and fell back to the west a few miles
from Aspern. On the sixth was fought the
famous battle of Wagram, in the sight of Vienna.
288

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

The housetops and steeples of the city were
crowded with people watching the conflict. The
Austrian soldiers were literally fighting for their
hearth-stones in sight of their loved ones. If
there ever was an incentive for an army to show
its courage it was at Wagram.

The archduke's right was extended towards the
Danube and it was strengthened to turn the left
flank of the French, with the hope of cutting off
the line of retreat across the bridges. Napoleon,
with his usual sagacity, divined the purpose of his
antagonist, and encouraged him to weaken his
centre by reinforcing his right. Massena was in
command of the French left wing, with orders to
hold his ground, if possible, against all odds, or,
if compelled to retreat, to give way slowly and
stubbornly. While the archduke's attention was
directed on the right wing, Davoust suddenly
made a desperate attack upon the Austrians' left,
which gradually began to recoil. The centre of
the Austrian line held its ground, and Massena,
pressed by superior forces, was slowly but steadily
falling back. At this critical moment one hun-
dred and twenty pieces of cannon were massed
and opened fire at close range on the Austrian
centre; the fire was overwhelming and deadly.
The French centre, under Bernadotte and Mac-
donald, was now pushed forward, and the Aus-
trians were compelled to retreat, their whole line
of battle giving way. It was not a rout, the arch-
duke left no prisoners behind; he kept his forces
well in hand and withdrew in comparatively good
order. It was not a triumph for the French so
19 289

NAPOLEON

pronounced and decisive as Austerlitz, Jena or
even Friedland. It was a victory, however, and
as such was heralded throughout Europe, and
once more for a time at least the political atmos-
phere was cleared.

Two hundred and fifty thousand men were en-
gaged in this battle; the total loss on both sides
was fifty thousand killed and wounded, equally
divided.

To add to the horrors of the battlefield, the
musketry and cannons set fire to the standing
grain, and great volumes of smoke enveloped the
armies and smothered thousands of wounded to
death. It was sultry midsummer weather, the
harvests were ripe, and the straw being dry and
inflammable made a terrific blaze and intensified
the heat of the atmosphere till it was almost
unbearable.

The Austrians battled with more skill and cour-
age than they ever did before; it looked as if
Napoleon was gradually teaching them how to
fight. They were taking their lessons in the hard
school of experience.

An armistice resulted in a treaty of peace signed
at Schonbrunn in October, and Austria was forced
to give up considerable territory, including Trieste
and Illyria, thus stripping from her every inch
of coast line, and making her absolutely an inland
nation. She lost nearly 4,000,000 subjects,
agreed to exclude British products, and to limit
her army to 150,000 men. She also had to pay
an indemnity of 85,000,000 francs, the amount
that England is said to have given her as a sub-
290

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

sidy to induce her to enter upon the war. The
worst pang she suffered was to be compelled to
abandon the faithful Tyrolese.

After the battle of Wagram the dimensions of
the French Empire were greater than they ever
had been. Eighty millions of people paid tribute
to France and acknowledged her authority, but
there was no homogeneity or unity in sentiment ;
the empire was the result of conquest, and was
held together by force; it contained within itself
the seeds of disintegration.

While war was waging in Austria the situation
in Spain grew desperate. Wellesley outgeneraled
Soult at Oporto, and compelled him to retreat,
leaving behind his artillery, ammunition, and
stores. The French were completely routed, and
as the stragglers, still armed, came pouring panic-
stricken into the town of Lugo, they were assailed
with scoffs and jeers by the soldiers of Ney's
corps. The two marshals themselves took up the
quarrel of their soldiers and were on the point
of drawing swords when wiser and cooler councils
prevailed.

A few weeks after the battle of Wagram, Wel-
lesley won a victory at Talavera over Jourdan and
Victor, which left the road to Madrid open; but
Soult, having reorganized and reinforced his
army, threatened by forced marches through the
mountain passes to cut off the British line of
retreat into Portugal. The English general was
alert, however, and thwarted the plan by a timely
and rapid movement and withdrew his troops in
order.

291

CHAPTER XXI

NAPOLEON'S DIVORCE FROM JOSEPHINE — HIS MAR-
RIAGE WITH MARIA LOUISA SPAIN ABDICA-
TION OF LOUIS, KING OF HOLLAND COMMER-
CIAL WAR WITH ENGLAND — BIRTH OF KING OF
ROME

After the Austrian campaign, Napoleon was
more convinced than ever that the empire must
have a dynasty, and the first essential was a di-
rect successor to the throne. Josephine had long
since abandoned all hopes of giving her spouse an
heir, and with anguish of heart she knew that
the time was rapidly approaching when she would
be called upon to make a sacrifice.

Continually facing the dangers of the battle-
field, Napoleon felt there was no time to be lost ;
he must at once secure an heir. " The French
people," he remarked, " want my successor to be
born in a palace; none of my brothers will suit
the case." The wound he received in the foot
at Ratisbon proved he had no longer a charmed
existence.

An incident, too, occurred in Vienna that made
a deep impression upon his mind, and convinced
him more strongly than ever of the uncertainty
of his life. While the emperor was reviewing
the troops at Schonbrunn a young student named
292

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Staps, the son of a Thuringian clergyman, gained
entrance to the palace yard and acting in a suspi-
cious manner, enough to attract the attention of
Berthier and Rapp, was arrested, and upon exam-
ination there was found concealed under his coat
a long sharp knife. When asked why he carried
so deadly a weapon he boldly replied : " To as-
sassinate Napoleon." Brought before the em-
peror, he again admitted that it had been his in-
tention to kill him. " You are an idiot, or an
Illuminat," said the emperor. " I am neither,"
replied the lad. " I do not even know what you
mean by the latter, but I wish to kill you because
you are the curse, the scourge, of my Father-
land." " What would you do if I were to pardon
you ? " he was asked. " Wait for an opportunity
to carry out my purpose," was the prompt an-
swer. The boy was tried and shot. How many
more patriots there were of this kind in the
Fatherland was the question that worried Napo-
leon.

Upon the emperor's return to Paris from
Vienna his conduct towards Josephine underwent
a complete change. He did not greet her with his
old-time fervor, and closed the door of his cham-
ber against her, virtually in her face. Day after
day he postponed the bitter task of revealing to
her his purpose. Her woman's wit, however,
soon convinced her that the day of doom which
she had so long dreaded was close at hand. On
November thirtieth, in an interview in a retired
room in the palace of the Tuileries, the emperor
broke the sad tidings to his wife. In phrase as

293

NAPOLEON

tender as possible, he informed her that for state
reasons he was imperatively compelled to sever
the tie. Of course to her, a woman, a wife, such
a reason seemed but a subterfuge; what were the
needs and requirements of the empire as com-
pared with her desires? Josephine above all else
was a woman; she had been a foolish one, and
by her occasional infidelities had neutralized the
passionate love that Napoleon once had for her.
Time had gradually cooled his ardor, but had in-
tensified her affection. Their relations had
changed, and now having grown to appreciate
what she was about to lose — husband, station,
honor, title, crown — she piteously begged him to
relent. Upon her knees, with heart-breaking
sobs, she pleaded with him to save her from dis-
grace. Napoleon, who had nerved himself for
the occasion, was proof against her cries, her
tears, and her sorrow, and summoning assistance,
helped to carry her down the staircase to her
room, where he left her in a half-fainting condi-
tion in the charge of her waiting-women. Then
he sorrowfully retraced his steps to his chamber
and gave way to grief. The agony of Josephine
continued for days to express itself in sobs and
lamentations, but finding that her fate was sealed,
that the will of her imperial consort was inflex-
ible, she consented to an annulment of the mar-
riage, and on December fifteenth the divorce took
place. The pope absolutely and sternly refusing
liis consent to the severance, a committee of car-
dinals was coaxed and dragooned into service to
untie the bonds.

294

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

After the separation, Josephine was pensioned
and provided with every luxury.

Through Caulaincourt, his ambassador at the
court of St. Petersburg, Napoleon almost imme-
diately opened overtures for the hand of the
czar's younger sister. At Erfurt when the em-
peror intimated that the older sister's hand might
be sought by him in marriage in case of obtain-
ing a divorce from Josephine, the dowager em-
press, who greatly disliked Napoleon, quickly
blocked that game by publicly announcing her
daughter's betrothal to the Duke of Oldenburg.
Now that Napoleon sought the younger sister's
hand, a little time was gained by intimating that
the tender age of the princess, she being not
twenty years old, might prove an insuperable
barrier. Even before the negotiations with the
czar were finally concluded, Napoleon flew to the
court of the Hapsburgs, and without further ado,
aided by the finesse of Metternich, sued for and
obtained the hand of the Archduchess Maria
Louisa, daughter of the Emperor Francis. Ber-
thier was dispatched to Vienna at once to con-
clude the negotiations. On the fifth of March,
1810, the French envoy made his entry into
the Austrian capital; on the eighth he was given
an audience by the emperor; and on the eleventh
the marriage was celebrated by proxy. On the
thirteenth the bride, accompanied by a suite of
three hundred persons and escorted by eighty-
three carriages and baggage wagons drawn by
four hundred and fifty horses, left Vienna for
Paris. Upon reaching Braunau in Bavaria she
295

NAPOLEON

was virtually on French soil and here the Aus-
trian suite officially took leave.

While these events were happening Napoleon
was in a state of agitation, impatient as a boy,
feverish as a young lover, although he was forty-
one years of age. Time and again he would
ask Lejeune, who had but recently returned from
Vienna, to describe the appearance, the manner,
disposition, and character of Maria Louisa.
Then he would for a long time contemplate her
portrait and compare it with pictures of the other
Hapsburgs. He spent hours in the apartments
of the future empress, directing what changes
should be made and how the furniture and orna-
ments should be placed. He sent for the best
shoemakers in Paris to make his slippers, pumps,
shoes, and boots, and called Leger, a leading
tailor who fashioned the resplendent and magnifi-
cent uniforms of Murat, to advise with him in
relation to new costumes; and he devoted hours
to trying on gold-laced coats, mantles, and em-
broidered waistcoats.

Daily he would retire into his cabinet with the
famous Dubois, and after securely closing the
door against all intrusion, would take lessons in
dancing, in which art, however, he made but lit-
tle progress even under the tuition of so skillful
a master.

He had sent to his fiancee the most beautiful
and costly jewels, the packing of which he had
personally superintended. Every day he dis-
patched a swift-footed courier to meet the coach
and give to his consort letters and flowers. This

MARIE LOUISE

Representative portrait made in Vienna by well-known Austrian artists

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

was the man who, according to his critics, made
love like a hussar.

Before she arrived in Paris he also had pro-
vided for her an expensive and extensive ward-
robe consisting of chemises, nightgowns, night-
caps, dressing sacks, petticoats, handkerchiefs,
silk stockings and sixty pairs of shoes of all
shades and colors. Besides these things he pur-
chased most exquisite laces, magnificent house
robes, and India shawls of the finest texture and
patterns.

It was a short distance from Soissons that the
imperial bride and groom were to meet. Three
sumptuous tents had been erected for the pur-
pose and the ceremony in all its features had
been carefully rehearsed. On the morning of the
day fixed for the reception, when the carriages
were drawn up in the palace yard at Compiegne
and all the court were ready to start, they were
surprised to hear that the emperor had disap-
peared. Early in the morning, accompanied by
Murat, he had slipped out of a side door unob-
served, and in a carriage without livery, had
driven hastily away. It was the twenty-seventh
of March, and the rain was falling in torrents,
but the inclement weather did not dampen the
ardor of the impatient lover. When the car-
riage reached the village of Courcelles it stopped
in front of a small church and the travelers,
alighting, took refuge under its porch, Napoleon
every few minutes running out from his shelter
to take a view of the horizon. Here they re-
mained until the berllne arrived bearing Maria

207

NAPOLEON

Louisa and her traveling companion, Caroline,
Queen of Naples, the latter having been chosen by
Napoleon to escort his bride to the capital. The
emperor quickly opened the door and with hat in
hand, his garments dripping wet, for the rain still
continued to pour, mounted the steps of the
coach. " His Majesty, the emperor of the
French, my brother," said Caroline, and the next
moment Napoleon held his young wife in his
arms. " Your portrait does not flatter you," was
the first compliment paid by the bride to her
imperial lover and these timely words set him in
ecstasy.

The programme for the day had been greatly
interfered with by the disappearance of Napo-
leon from Compiegne. The meeting under the
tents at Soissons had been abandoned, the mag-
nificent banquet prepared by the celebrated ca-
terer, Bausset, was left uneaten. Napoleon was
not in the humor to dine, nor did he have time
to stop at every village and town to listen to the
wearisome addresses of welcome from commit-
tees, mayors, and other officials. Two couriers
on a mad gallop through slush and mud rode in
advance of the coach crying : " Place ! Place ! "
Behind them came rolling along the great berime
conveying the imperial party, drawn by eight
white horses at full speed.

At nine o'clock in the evening the carriage
reached Compiegne. Supper was served in the
apartments of the empress. A few presentations
were made of important personages, after which
Napoleon and his bride retired, occupying the
298

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

same chamber, Napoleon declaring that they were
already man and wife under the procuratorial
ceremony at Vienna; to which contention Maria
herself offered no strenuous objection. As a
further excuse for his conduct the emperor re-
ferred to the example of that amorous lover,
Henry IV of Navarre, who, under like circum-
stances, had not waited for the sanction of a mere
ceremony.

The next day the court had an opportunity to
meet the new bride and they generally were of
opinion that she was quite pretty, but was want-
ing in that elegance, ease, and grace so character-
istic of the women of France and which Josephine
possessed in so high a degree.

One could not help contrasting Maria's mild
inanimate beauty with that of the vivacious and
spirited princess, Marie Antoinette, who not
many years before had come to France from the
same proud house of Hapsburg to marry the
dauphin.

At St. Cloud, on the twenty-ninth, the civil
ceremony was performed. On the second of
April their Majesties entered Paris in great state
and the religious marriage was solemnized in the
grand gallery of the Louvre, in the presence, so
it was said, of the most superb and brilliant as-
sembly ever seen in France.

In making preparations for this final and all-
important ceremony, it was directed by Napo-
leon that the queens of Naples, of Holland, and
of Westphalia, the grand duchess of Tuscany,
and the princess Borghes^ should bear the train
299

NAPOLEON

of the empress. These proud and distinguished
women at first strenuously resisted the imperial
order. " Never ! Never ! " declared the princess
Pauline, " will I consent to this humiliation. I
will die first! " But she smothered her spirit of
rebellion when Napoleon coolly remarked that as
she had formerly carried a basket to market her
dignity would not have to make much of a sacri-
fice in bearing the train of the lady from the
house of Hapsburg. This little family insurrec-
tion was soon calmed, but a more serious oppo-
sition was met when the papal authorities refused
to take part in the ceremony.

After the seizure of the pope the entire college
of cardinals had been transplanted from Rome
to Paris, only those who had pleaded old age or
physical infirmities were allowed to remain in
the eternal city. At the imposing ceremony in
the Louvre the twenty-seven cardinals were not
present, giving as a reason for their absence the
fact that the emperor's divorce from Josephine
had not been sanctioned by Pius VII. Napoleon
wrought dire vengeance on the offending prelates
for what he termed their contumacious conduct
by banishing them, depriving them of their rev-
enues and forbidding them to wear the insignia
of their office. They were designated contemp-
tuously by the people as the " black cardinals."

For days Paris was given over to receptions,
balls, festivals, and illuminations. Congratula-
tions poured in on the emperor from every court
in Christendom and the event seemed to augur a
long-continued peace for Europe.
300

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Metternich, the Austrian ambassador, who took
the credit to himself of having brought about the
alliance, carried away by his emotions while
breakfasting at the Louvre, caught up a wine
glass and appearing at a window overlooking the
court yard, where great crowds had assembled,
proposed in a loud voice a toast to the " King of
Rome," this having been the title under the Holy
Roman Empire for the heir apparent, and which
in this instance the Austrian minister intended
should refer to Napoleon's issue. The crowd
caught the meaning of the toast and filled the
air with cheers.

Maria Louisa was a buxom healthy girl eight-
een years of age in the full bloom of her youth,
and therein she met in the first place the require-
ments of the union, for this proud " daughter of
the Caesars " had been chosen to succeed a barren
wife that a progeny might be raised in order to
establish a dynasty. She was pleasing and
comely in appearance, had blue eyes, a fine com-
plexion, and beautiful luxuriant light brown hair;
but was commonplace, timid, self-conscious, and
without those charms which fascinate. She was
indolent, indifferent, tactless, and without any
strong sentiment of affection. She grew to be
most jealous of the ex-empress, Josephine, show-
ing signs of displeasure at the mere mention of
her name. It is not reasonable to suppose that
she could have had any deep affection for Na-
poleon, a man much her senior in years, in fact
more than twice her age, and whom she never saw
until she came to Paris. It was simply a state
301

NAPOLEON

marriage, and without the preliminaries of a
courtship, it was solemnized only for the purpose
of obtaining an heir.

Is it possible that Napoleon ever imagined in
his wildest dreams that his great and vast empire,
the larger portion of which was made up of de-
nationalized states, could be held together in its
integrity and entirety after his death merely by
placing a boy on the throne? Napoleon's sur-
passing genius had created it. This master
craftsman, using the army as his tool, had welded
this mighty mass together and the very moment
the force that held it intact was removed the
whole fabric would probably crumble to pieces.
History shows many instances of great and vast
empires erected by the genius of a single man,
from Alexander to Genghis Khan, from Tamer-
lane to Charlemagne, but in the nature of things
they were all of short duration.

On July 10, 1810, Holland by royal decree was
annexed to the empire. Louis, in a gust of rage,
had abandoned his throne and gone to Bohemia
to drink the mineral waters of Teplitz.

After receiving the crown of Holland from
Napoleon, Louis insisted upon exercising the pow-
ers of sovereignty absolutely independent of his
brother and pompously set up the claim of the di-
vine right of kings. He was directed by the
emperor to seize all American vessels lying in
the Dutch ports, which ships were supposed to
contain English goods; and upon his refusal
twenty thousand French troops started on the
march to Amsterdam to enforce compliance with
302

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

the order. But before their arrival Louis, on
the night of July first, deserted the kingdom.
He slipped away so quietly and secretly that for
several days his whereabouts were not known,
much to the dismay and mortification of the em-
peror.

Louis had married Hortense, the daughter of
Josephine, but after the death of their child she
had separated from her husband and was flirt-
ing with a handsome coxcomb, the Duke de Fla-
haut, renowned throughout the fashionable cir-
cles in France for his shapely legs.

The family feuds of the Bonapartes had be-
come a public scandal. Jerome, as king of West-
phalia, disgusted his subjects by his dissipation,
luxury, and extravagance. " I never," declared
Napoleon, " put a relative on a throne that I do
not have another enemy to watch." Lucien, at
odds with his brother, was residing in Rome and
publicly criticising the emperor's treatment of
the pope. Even Madame Mere, who was living
with Lucien, felt she had been slighted in the
distribution of honors and continually upbraided
her ungrateful son, while his three sisters were
a constant annoyance in their frequent demands
and exactions.

The royal line of Sweden was all but extinct
and it was necessary to find a suitable successor
who for the time being would be the virtual
crown prince. Anxious to secure the favor of
Napoleon, the Swedes chose Bernadotte, one of
his marshals. For some reason or other the
emperor, although disliking Bernadotte, was in-
303

NAPOLEON

duced to sanction the selection, and even fur-
nished him with a large sum of money, two mil-
lion francs, to enable him to assume in proper
state his new dignity as prince royal.

Bernadotte in several instances had deceived
and enraged Napoleon; he had conspired against
him in the days of the Consulate and at Auer-
stadt and Wagram had signally failed in his
duty as a soldier, but having married the sister
of Joseph's wife he was considered a member
of the Bonaparte family and thus had escaped
punishment for his derelictions. Napoleon could
easily have defeated his selection to the Swedish
succession, but by some weighty influence and
the loyal protestations of Bernadotte he was per-
suaded against his will to consent; and he lived
to rue the day, for he found to his dismay that
he had only warmed another serpent into life.

Joseph, in an endeavor to maintain his hold
in Spain, was incessant in his demand for money
and troops. The marshals commanding the
French armies in Spain were so jealous of each
other that they would not act in concert, and
Joseph was not the man to bring them together.
A mere puppet king, he could not win the affec-
tion nor even the confidence of his subjects, nor
command the obedience of his marshals. Re-
duced to bankruptcy and perplexed beyond meas-
ure by his accumulating troubles, he hurried to
Paris, and in May, 1811, tendered his resigna-
tion. Napoleon, to hush up the scandal, strove
in every possible way to appease his brother, and
under the promise of paying him one-fourth of
304

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

the taxes levied by the French commanders in-
duced him to withdraw his resignation and re^
turn to his post.

The war in Spain demanded attention, and it
is surprising that Napoleon himself did not take
command of the army and put an end to the
jealousies existing among the French marshals,
Massena, Ney, and Soult. Wellington declared
that " his presence on the field made a difference
of 40,000 men."

Some of the troops of the Grand Army had
been sent into Spain and Portugal, with orders
from Napoleon " to drive the leopards/' referring
to the British troops, " into the sea " ; but their
efforts were neutralized because of the want of
concerted action.

Wellington repulsed the army of Massena at
Busaco and then fell back towards Lisbon, and
opened the celebrated campaign of Torres Vedras.
Massena followed in pursuit, with an army
of 65,000 men, and, failing to carry the British
redoubts or to induce Wellington to come out
from his intrenchments to offer battle, was com-
pelled, in November, 1810, to withdraw. He
had suffered a great loss from disease and hun-
ger during a pestilential autumn in a district that
had been laid waste by Wellington on his retreat.

Massena, failing to form a junction with the
army of Soult, abandoned Portugal in the early
spring of 1811, after a most disastrous cam-
paign, entailing the loss of 35,000 men.

The successes fci Portugal revived the cour-
age of England, although she was still in a de-
20 305

NAPOLEON

pressed condition. At the close of 1810 the
three per cent. British consols were quoted at
sixty-five, trade was languishing, manufactures
had fallen to a minimum, there was lack of work,
and in consequence wages were low. Foreign
commerce, the little there was of it, was con-
ducted by smuggling, and voluntary bankrupts
averaged nearly ten a day. The ministry was
incapable and at odds, while the king, George
III, was mentally deranged. To add to the gen-
eral distress the harvests of 1809 and 1810 had
been failures. It looked as if England were on
the verge of ruin, and that her commercial su-
premacy was being strangled to death in the
coils of the Continental system which, like an
immense serpent, stretched its vast length
throughout and around all Europe.

Napoleon promulgated a decree at Trianon on
August 5, 1810, imposing heavy duties, generally
half their values, on all imported colonial prod-
ucts such as cotton, coffee, tea, and cocoa. It
was further directed that all traders should de-
clare their possession of these goods under a
penalty of confiscation for disobedience. Such
stores if within four days' distance of the fron-
tiers were liable to seizure. It would seem by
these extreme measures that Napoleon was deter-
mined to put a price so high on imported goods,
that were admitted in spite of the Continental
system, as to place them beyond the reach of the
people. His Fontainebleau decree of October
18, 1810, directed that the manufactures of Eng-
land found in the hands of dealers should be
306

THE FRENCH 'REVOLUTION

seized and publicly burned. Special tribunals
were created for the purpose of investigating
these cases and imposing punishment upon the
violators of the law, and above all, upon the
smugglers. Such a rigorous system, however,
caused a rise in prices throughout the empire.
Wherever the ports were closed against the im-
portation of England's home and colonial prod-
ucts the prices increased enormously. Sugar,
for instance, rose as high as seven francs, and
coffee, eight francs per pound. If Napoleon had
possessed a navy he would have starved Eng-
land to death or forced her to a peace, but with
her great fleets she commanded the ocean, and
conveyed to her own shores without hindrance
or danger the products of her colonies, including
corn and wheat. While Napoleon was the arbi-
ter of Europe, England was mistress of the seas.

When this commercial war was at its height
a male child was born to Napoleon, on March
20, 1811. At one time in the crisis the mother
was in great peril, and the question arose as to
which life, hers or the child's, should be saved;
when the emperor was consulted he unhesitatingly
said: " Save the mother."

After the birth of the infant Napoleon ten-
derly embraced his wife, and when the danger
was passed considerately sent word of his good
fortune to Josephine. When the glad tidings
were announced all Paris went wild with joy,
steeple answered steeple and the cannon fired one
hundred volleys because the infant was a boy.

The child was given the proud title: " King of
307

NAPOLEON

Rome." " Now begins," exultantly exclaimed
Napoleon, " the finest epoch of my reign," and
in truth the future did seem on the surface to
warrant his sanguine assertion. His dynasty was
established ; his empire, greater in extent than even
that of Charlemagne, covered Europe, extending
from Denmark to Naples. Sweden recently had
taken for its king Bernadotte, a member of the
Bonaparte family ; his brother Joseph was on the
throne of Spain; Holland, Naples, and West-
phalia were ruled by his kinsmen; he was pro-
tector of the Helvetic and the Rhine Confedera-
tions; Russia was still his ally; Austria virtually
his vassal; while Prussia crouched at his feet.
But on the other hand there could be heard in the
east the distant rumblings of a coming storm.
" The Spanish ulcer " was still a running sore ;
the detention of the pope as a prisoner greatly
distressed the Catholic world, and the British
fleets were sweeping the seas.

308

CHAPTER XXII

INVASION OF RUSSIA

The Treaty of Tilsit with its liberal provisions
was drawn by Napoleon with the intention of
making the czar of Russia an ally of France,
and having him assist in the effort that was be-
ing made to destroy the commercial supremacy
of England. But it had not worked satisfac-
torily to that end. The Continental ports were
still open to British manufactures, and English
goods were carried in what ostensibly were neu-
tral bottoms, but which in fact were, in the vast
majority of instances, ships engaged in the mari-
time commerce of England and whose home ports
were London and Liverpool.

In 1810 Napoleon wrote to Alexander that he
was not keeping in good faith the provisions of
the treaty, and insisted upon his seizing the so-
called neutral ships in the Baltic sea. " No mat-
ter what flags or papers they sail under, you
may rest assured," said Napoleon, " that they
are English." But Alexander refused, and not
only refused, but in addition issued a decree
which virtually opened the Russian ports to Brit-
ish goods in neutral bottoms and at the same
time imposed restrictions upon French wines and
silks. In the correspondence that passed be-

309

NAPOLEON

tween the two sovereigns the czar coolly inti-
mated that Napoleon himself winked at violations
of the treaty when it was to his interest to do so.
Doubtless there was much truth in what the czar
said, for even afterwards when Napoleon was
making preparations to invade Russia he closed
his eyes to the fact that many of his supplies
came from England. The greater portion of the
2,000,000 pairs of shoes for his men were fur-
nished by British manufacturers, as the immense
order could not be filled on the continent.

So long as Napoleon could not establish a
universal boycott against England and close the
continental markets to the entrance of her co-
lonial goods and products, he could not destroy
her influence and power. Secure in her island
home and secure as well in her eastern posses-
sions, which, since Napoleon's disastrous inva-
sion of Egypt, were far beyond his reach, she
could defy the power of the autocrat as could
no other European nation. To the stability and
the permanence of the empire and the Napoleonic
dynasty she was a standing menace, and the
whole effort of Napoleon was bent upon her de-
struction. It is a question whether his invasion
of Russia did not have for its ultimate purpose
the opening of a grand highway overland to the
East, as a menace to India, the richest of all the
colonial possessions of England. Even at this
time, in the very zenith of his power, he looked
back with regret upon his failure to reduce Saint
Jean d'Acre, which had barred his way to India.
" That miserable hole," he complained, " thwarted
310

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

my destiny." At another time he declared:
"If Acre had fallen I would have changed the
face of the world."

The friendly attitude of Russia towards Eng-
land greatly irritated Napoleon, and he was heard
more than once to say that Alexander's conduct
would, in time, provoke a war; that if he con-
tinued in his mistaken policy a conflict was in-
evitable.

There were other questions besides the viola-
tion of the provisions of the Treaty of Tilsit that
created a hostile feeling. Napoleon's occupancy
of Gallicia and his taking possession of Olden-
burg, a duchy governed by the duke of that
name who had married the older sister of the
czar, gave great offence to Russia, and although
Napoleon made a diplomatic explanation for his
conduct, his high-handed acts still rankled in the
memory of Alexander. The Russian, too, was
in constant dread that Napoleon would wrest
Poland from his grasp.

All the while Russia was quietly making vast
preparations in anticipation of the coming hos-
tilities. She strengthened her defences and for-
tifications and greatly increased her armaments,
and thus necessarily aroused the suspicions of
France.

In at least one instance the pride of the czar
had been grievously wounded. After Napoleon
had divorced Josephine and was looking through
the courts of Europe for a suitable bride, he had
opened negotiations, as we have heretofore
stated, with the czar for the hand of his younger
311

NAPOLEON

sister. But almost before the negotiations were
concluded the czar was surprised and mortified
to hear that Napoleon had been a suitor for the
hand of Maria Louisa of Austria and had been
accepted. If there was anything to be gained
by the alliance the house of Hapsburg had se-
cured the prize under the very eyes of the Ro-
manoffs.

The czar took this as a personal affront and
stored it up in his memory to be avenged when
the opportunity should arrive. And yet in this
matter he had no real cause of complaint; he
could have secured Napoleon as his brother-in-
law if he had acted promptly, but to temporize
with a man like Bonaparte in so delicate a matter
was virtually to reject his addresses, and to hu-
miliate him in the eyes of all Europe.

Year after year one thing and another trifling
in character created friction and discontent be-
tween the two emperors, but while diplomatic
relations were strained there was as yet no open
rupture, no declaration of war.

England, at this time standing at the ear of
Russia, constantly urged her to break off all re-
lations with France and assert her independence
regardless of treaty obligations.

During this period Russia and Turkey were at
war and so long as hostilities continued between
them it would have been perilous for Russia to
cross swords with France. England, ever alert,
here found an opportunity to serve her friend
effectively, and she induced Turkey to sign a
treaty of peace under a threat that, if she refused,
312

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

From a portrait in colors by G. Hemmerle

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

England might find it of necessity to bring her
fleet to the Bosphorus and bombard Constanti-
nople. So fine and subtle was the diplomatic
skill of the English ministers that Turkey ac-
tually became an ally of Russia, and these two
life-long enemies, with an inborn race and re-
ligious hatred, agreed, under the ministrations
of England, to unite their forces against a com-
mon foe.

Napoleon, when informed of this alliance,
could not at first believe the report, it took him
so completely by surprise. But when told that
Bernadotte, whom he had enriched and virtually
enthroned, had induced Sweden to become the
ally of Russia, he was dumbfounded.

Without further delay he gave the command
to assemble his cohorts, and at his word a vast
army of 500,000 men rose up as if out of the
earth. The emperor, accompanied by Maria
Louisa, left Paris and journeyed in great state to
Saxony to assume command. A grand review
of this mighty host took place at Dresden in May,
1812. It was the last and most magnificent pa-
geant that signalized the marvelous career of
this modern Caesar.

While in Dresden and before putting himself
at the head of his army, he received the homage
of his vassals, and showered precious gifts upon
his allies. Kings and princes of the blood royal,
dukes and dignitaries of the highest rank waited
in his ante-chamber for an audience. The mag-
nificence of his receptions surpassed anything
ever seen at Versailles or the Tuileries, even in
313

NAPOLEON

the days of the old regime, but all this splendor
was only the dazzling glory of a declining dy-
nasty — the brilliancy of a setting sun.

So happy was he to be once more at the head
of his army that he tramped up and down the
floor of his room, the first night he passed at
headquarters, singing at the top of his voice the
revolutionary marching song, " Le Chant du De-
part" So great a noise did he make that he
aroused from their slumbers the officers of his
staff.

In this vast army there were but 200,000
Frenchmen, the remainder being composed of
Germans from the Confederation of the Rhine,
Austrians, Prussians, Italians, Poles, Switzers,
Dutchmen, Spaniards and Portuguese. Every
modern tongue greeted the ear, flags of almost
every European nation filled the eye. It seemed
as if all Europe had united its forces in one grand
scheme of conquest. But this babel of languages
reminds one of the confusion of tongues at the
building of a famous structure in biblical times.
The invasion as well as the erection of the im-
pious tower were doomed to failure.

For the support of this vast host supplies were
stored in immense quantities in the towns of
Modlin, Thoru, Pillau, Dantzig, and Magdeburg.
Thousands of heavy wagons, carrying supplies of
all kinds and drawn by oxen, accompanied the
army and at times greatly delayed its progress.
Pontoons and material for bridges were in abun-
dance, and 18,000 horses drew 1,300 pieces of
artillery. Everything was provided to anticipate
314

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

the demands, the necessities, and the emergencies
of this wonderful campaign. At no time in his
whole career did Napoleon display to a higher
degree his marvelous organizing ability, for down
to the merest detail everything passed under his
direction and supervision.

Before the order was given for this great host
to march, Napoleon in every way tried to induce
Alexander to recede from his position and to
open negotiations for peace, but these efforts met
with no success. It must be remembered that up
to this time no official declaration of war had
been made by either side ; in fact, there was noth-
ing really upon which to base a declaration, there
was no point of contention between the two na-
tions that ought not to have been settled by
arbitration. Napoleon would gladly have wel-
comed at this point the first faint signs of peace.
Nothing would have given him greater joy than
to have had a good excuse to disband his army,
and if this had occurred, thus avoiding the re-
sults of this disastrous invasion, who can picture
what would have been the glory of his reign?

To use a vulgar phrase, the emperor and the
czar had been bluffing, but unfortunately they
had gone so far that it was impossible, without
loss of national prestige, to retreat.

Alexander declared that he would not begin
hostilities, and if there was to be war Napoleon
would have to be the aggressor.

Napoleon well knew the dangers and hardships
of such a campaign as he was about to undertake ;
he no doubt called to mind the advice given to
315

NAPOLEON

him, when in the East, by the old Syrian philos-
opher : " Never make war on a desert/' He
himself had at one time said that he would never
lead an army, as did Charles XII, to destruction
in the steppes.

Many of his marshals were opposed to enter-
ing upon a campaign fraught with such perils, in
a country where the towns and villages were far
apart, and where the intervening spaces were
bleak wildernesses. In answer to their murmur-
ings, Napoleon exclaimed : " I have made my
marshals too rich." In truth some of them had
grown to love the silken dalliance of peace, sump-
tuous palaces, fine dinners, receptions, and gor-
geous uniforms resplendent with decorations. A
Russian campaign had no attractions for them.
Unquestionably, too, Napoleon himself was not
the man he had been; his health for some time
past, although almost imperceptibly, had been
failing, and he was not in a condition physically
to undertake so arduous a campaign. He al-
ready had premonitions of a painful disease
(dysuria) which was soon to reach its full de-
velopment. Besides this he had a war on his
hands in Spain, where 300,000 of his best troops
under the command of some of his ablest mar-
shals were fighting the English under Welling-
ton and meeting with reverses. The Iron Duke
was proving to the world that the French sol-
diers were not invincible, for Marmont had been
sent flying through Spain with his defeated and
shattered legions to find refuge in Burgos.

At last all hope of securing peace with Rus-
316

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

sia was abandoned, and at sunrise on June 24,
1812, the command was given for the Grand
Army to march. Amid the blare of trumpets, the
rolling of drums, and the strains of martial music,
the vanguard crossed the bridges over the Nie-
men. The standards of the empire were borne
proudly aloft. The imperial eagles had begun
their flight.

When the emperor reached Russian territory
after crossing the bridge, he put spurs to his
horse and dashed wildly through the woods at
full speed as if to give vent to his exuberance of
spirit. His staff followed in hot pursuit. It
was like a fox chase, a ride across country with
the hounds in full cry. He was in the saddle
for the first time after three years of peace and
he was once more in his element.

It would have been better for the enterprise if
Napoleon had given up his useless parleying and
had started sooner on his march of invasion; for,
although it was yet in the first month of summer,
it must not be forgotten that the campaign was to
be made in a country that was often visited by
winter weather in the early autumn.

After crossing the Niemen, and entering upon
Russian soil, the vanguard found no enemy to
oppose their progress. A few horsemen galloped
away at the approach of the French and were
soon lost to sight in the distance.

The Russians seemed to have no plan of cam-
paign; their armies were scattered and widely
separated. Napoleon with his old-time decision
and promptitude, after reconnoitring the posi-

317

NAPOLEON

tion of the enemy, decided to drive a portion of
his army like a wedge between the separated ar-
mies of the Russians, to prevent them uniting,
and then proceed to find them and destroy them
in turn. But, unfortunately, the enemy kept pro-
vokingly out of sight, and the Grand Army had
nothing to do but press forward into the wastes
of this wild and barren country that was al-
ready revealing a desolation that was alarming.
Not only was the land bare and inhospitable,
but the condition of the inhabitants was rude and
savage. Captain Gaspard Schumacher, who
commanded a company of the Royal Swiss
Guards in the army of invasion, in describing in
his interesting Memoirs the poverty and misery
of the Russian peasants, says : " Their houses
are usually composed of four walls made of
rough logs, with one door and without chimneys.
They are covered with roofs made of straw.
The windows are only small openings and in the
place of glass they use oiled paper. The peasants
have no beds, but lie on the floor on straw, and
in cold weather cover themselves with sheep
skins. All their farming utensils are rude and
primitive. In every cabin is a loom upon which
the peasants weave their own flax, but it is a very
coarse product. In this material they clothe
themselves. Their outer garment in winter is a
coat made of sheepskins. In their houses are
hand mills which grind the rye out of which they
make their black bread." It is not easy for a
stranger, says the captain, to describe fully the
desolation and miseiy of these poor creatures.
318

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Napoleon had hoped the down-trodden natives
would welcome him as their deliverer and flock
to his standard, but the peasants who gathered
by the roadside to watch the troops looked upon
them with surprise and awe, rather than with
rejoicing. When Vilna was reached the French
were warmly received; the inhabitants, men,
women, and children, turned out to greet them,
and the oldest citizens, in their native costumes,
came as a delegation to petition the emperor to
declare the freedom of Poland. Napoleon would
gladly have granted the request had it not been
for the fact that by so doing he would have given
offence to his allies, Austria and Prussia, to
whom he was bound by treaty obligations not to
destroy the political status of Poland.

In this town of Vilna Napoleon lingered for
nearly three weeks, that is, from June 28th to
July 1 6th, a loss of time that put in jeopardy
the success of the expedition, says Lord Wolse-
ley, in view of the lateness of the season. The
emperor doubtless was waiting to receive peace
propositions from the czar.

The Russian army was divided into two sec-
tions, one commanded by Barclay de Tolly con-
sisting of 125,000 men, and the other under
Prince Bagration numbering about 40,000. The
plan of campaign as laid out by General Phull,
a martinet of the old school, was that the larger
force should oppose the French advance, while
the smaller should operate on the flanks and rear.
This plan of operations, for an army on the de-
fensive, was in strict accordance with the tactical
319

NAPOLEON

rules prescribed, from time immemorial, by mili-
tary writers of the highest authority. To meet
this was a regularly prescribed counter move-
ment, as if war were a game of chess. But Na-
poleon, who did not fight in compliance with the
rules laid down in the books, quickly divining
the purpose of his opponents, manoeuvred to en-
circle and capture the army of the prince and
would have succeeded in his plan had Jerome
carried out his orders. But Jerome failing to
connect with the forces of Marshal Davoust, who
was operating with him in this movement, Prince
Bagration easily slipped out of the net and ef-
fected his escape. If the original plan had been
successful, the Russians would have been com-
pelled to surrender or would have been driven
into the mephitic marshes of Pripet, where, cut
off from their supplies, they would have been
rendered useless as an army.

Napoleon was greatly enraged at the failure
of Jerome to carry out his orders, and when the
brothers met they indulged in so bitter an alter-
cation that Jerome indignantly threw up his com-
mand and departed for his little kingdom of
Westphalia, doubtless glad to find an excuse to
escape the rigor of what promised to be a long
campaign and to hurry home to indulge in the
ease and the delights of his miniature court at
Cassel.

Barclay did not favor the plan of campaign
as laid out by General Phull and urged the czar
to adopt a Fabian policy, and that was to wear
out the French army by a slow retreat.
320

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

It is a remarkable coincidence that at this time
the men who were giving the greatest amount of
trouble to Napoleon were Barclay, of Scotch de-
scent, in Russia, and an Englishman named Wel-
lington in Spain.

As the French advanced their hardships in-
creased. Torrential storms turned the roads
into ditches of soft mud, and when the sun shone
the heat was intense, wagons and cannons sank
into ruts and blocked the way, men overcome by
the weather fell dead by the roadside, between
Kovno and Vilna ten thousand horses died from
exhaustion. An eyewitness describing the trail
of the march said : " It looked more like a road
traversed by a defeated and retreating army than
one over which had passed a victorious and an
invading host."

The country grew more barren as the troops
advanced. The flying inhabitants had devastated
their fields, had destroyed every vestige of vege-
tation, and had burned their barns and hay
stacks. Food became scarcer day by day, and
the foragers brought in from their expeditions
mean and meagre supplies. The country had
been visited by a failure of crops, and in conse-
quence the land was unusually bare and barren.
The horses and oxen, half starved, gorged them-
selves with the rotten, weather-beaten straw of the
thatched roofs upon the abandoned huts of the
peasants and fell down sick and exhausted.

Still there was nothing left for the army to do
but to advance. It was hard to keep the enthusi-
asm of soldiers alive under conditions so distress-
21 32I

NAPOLEON

ing and depressing, where the enemy kept tanta-
lizingly out of sight, and in a country where the
further the invaders went the more desolate did
it become.

Napoleon, too, grew impatient and chagrined
at not being able to catch up to the enemy. As
he approached Vitepsk where the Russian army
was entrenched, he wrote : " We are on the eve
of great events," but in the night the enemy
quietly withdrew.

Onward pushed the French, already exhausted
in this fruitless chase, until Smolensk was
reached. Here, at last, the Russians made a
stand and offered battle, although it was against
the advice of Barclay, who still favored a re-
treat.

Napoleon's over-confidence induced him to
neglect his usual precautions; perhaps he feared
the enemy would again escape and so without
delay, not even waiting for his artillery to breach
the walls, he assailed the ramparts with heavy
masses of infantry. He made no attempt to cut
off Barclay's line of retreat or his communica-
tions with Moscow, nor did he try to turn the
flanks of the enemy. He seemed determined to
crush the centre and overwhelmingly defeat the
main army. His whole campaign in Russia was
lacking in the tactical skill that signalized his
prior career as a soldier.

The conflict lasted throughout the day, and
the slaughter on both sides was fearful. Not-
withstanding the terrific onslaughts of the French,
the town at nightfall still remained in the posses-
322

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

sion of the Russians. In the meantime the
French cannon, having been brought up, breached
the walls and set fire to the wooden buildings,
thus adding to the flames that had already been
started by the Russians. Napoleon waited im-
patiently for the dawn to renew the attack and
to secure what he considered an assured victory.
But Barclay, having inflicted on the French a
loss of 12,000 in killed and wounded, withdrew
his forces, under the cover of night, and unop-
posed took the road to Moscow.

It was about this time that the czar sent word
to Napoleon that if he would retrace his steps
and recross the Niemen propositions for peace
would be considered. Of course to such an offer
Napoleon could give no heed.

The French army in their march of invasion
had covered more than half the distance between
Kovno and Moscow and were now in the very
centre of the dreary wastes of Muscovy. Napo-
leon had been lured from Vilna to Vitepsk, from
Vitepsk to Smolensk, but as yet had gained no
decisive victory. Eager to bring the enemy to
a stand and crush them with an overwhelming
blow, he gave orders, even against the remon-
strances of his marshals, to continue the pursuit.

The Russian soldiers, gaining confidence be-
cause of the brave showing they had made in the
hand-to-hand conflicts with the French veterans,
began to murmur against the plan of campaign
that kept them constantly on the retreat and at
last to quiet the growing discontent the czar re-
moved Barclay from his command and appointed

323

NAPOLEON

in his stead General Kutusoff, a brave and reso-
lute soldier.

Napoleon was to be given one more chance to
secure his long-sought victory, for Kutusoff de-
cided to make a stand at Borodino and after
throwing up his redoubts and entrenchments
awaited the attack of the French. Napoleon
adopted the same plan of battle as he did at
Smolensk.

The fight opened on the morning of September
.seventh. The Russians fought with the desperate
bravery of men who were defending their homes
and hearth-stones, their courage kept alive by
singing in chorus their inspiring war cry : " God
have mercy upon vis." Time and again the re-
doubts were taken by the French, but just as
often were they dislodged and driven back. Sud-
denly, when the Russian lines began to waver, a
vast column of French cavalry charged and
pierced the centre, column after column followed
in the wake, like billow on billow. Under this
terrific storm of hoof and steel the Russians broke
and fled. Great masses of Cossacks and Musco-
vite horsemen were led to the rescue and made a
gallant endeavor to repulse the attack by a coun-
ter charge. The shock of the impact of the two
bodies of cavalry was terrific, but Murat at the
head of fresh squadrons sent the Russians flying
over the field in all directions. The battle was
one of the fiercest and bloodiest ever fought in
the history of the world. A quarter of a mil-
lion men met in a deadly hand-to-hand conflict;
40,000 were left dead upon the field, the total
324

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

number of killed and wounded amounted to 70,-
ooo. Eight hundred cannon were engaged, and
the roar from these eight hundred brazen throats
resounded and reverberated through the solitudes
of Russia and was heard at a distance of seventy-
five miles from the field of battle.

For some reason Napoleon refused to use the
Imperial Guard; if he had launched them forth
at the critical moment the victory would have
been more decisive and the total destruction of
the Russian forces might have been accomplished
and the czar without an army might have made
offers of peace. Ney fumed and raged like a
madman when he heard that the emperor had
decided that he would not order the guard into
battle. " Has he forgotten how to fight? " cried
the fiery marshal. " Let him go back to his pal-
ace of the Tuileries and we will end the cam-
paign."

Napoleon was loath to waste the lives of the
soldiers of the Imperial Guard in a battle that
was already won, fearing, no doubt, that the
time was coming when he would have greater
need of their services. " Remember, Sire," said
Bessieres, commander of the Guard, "you are
eight hundred leagues from Paris." Napoleon
certainly made a grave error in hesitating to use
the Guard; he practised economy in the applica-
tion of force and thus violated one of the funda-
mental principles of war. " Generals who save
troops for the next day are always beaten," was
one of his favorite maxims, but upon this occa-
sion he must have forgotten it.
325

NAPOLEON

Marshal Davoust begged for permission to at-
tack the extended left flank of the Russians,
promising to roll it up like a scroll, but Napoleon
refused his assent.

Ney fought with courage and gallantry so in-
comparable that, notwithstanding his impulsive
and contumacious language, Napoleon conferred
upon him the title, Duke of Moskwa.

The Russian army was defeated but not de-
stroyed, and Kutusoff gathered his scattered
forces and again took the field, though he offered
no resistance to the French advance.

The battle of Borodino with its dreadful loss
of life was not followed by any apparent desire
on the part of the czar to secure terms of peace,
and therein Napoleon was greatly disappointed.

The grand army now pushed on to Moscow
and at last, on September fourteenth, the spires
and domes of the three hundred churches of the
sacred city, glistening in the rays of the morning
sun, greeted the eyes of the invading host.
Down the lines ran the glad cry : " Moscow !
Moscow ! " Napoleon and his marshals viewed
the city from an adjoining hill. " It is not a
day too soon," quietly remarked the emperor.

Strange to say, the city gave no signs of life ;
no smoke issued from the chimneys, the hum and
the noises of a teeming population were not
heard, the roads were deserted, no people nor
wagons passed in and out of the gates. The
hush, the silence, were oppressive, ominous.
From a distance the city seemed as quiet as the
dreary wastes over which the invaders had
326

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

marched. This then after all was the empty
prize that was the reward of so much blood and
suffering and which was soon to crumble to ashes
in the victor's hands.

327

r

CHAPTER XXIII

THE RETREAT FROM MOSCOW

When on September 14, 1812, the Grand Army
marched triumphantly through the gates of Mos-
cow, they found to their amazement and despair
a deserted city; silence, solitude, and desolation
reigned everywhere. The martial strains of the
bands and the roll of the French drums resounded
through the empty streets, the echoes coming back
as if in mockery of the triumph. The inhabitants
had abandoned their homes; men, women and
children had gone forth to seek refuge elsewhere;
even the jail doors had been opened, and the pris-
oners released. Only a few fanatics stood guard
in the Kremlin, the ancient palace of the czars,
believing it, according to tradition, to be im-
pregnable.

After their long and weary march across the
steppes of Russia, the French soldiers broke away
from restraint and discipline, in spite of all that
Napoleon could do, and surrendering themselves
to dissipation, began to plunder. They despoiled
the churches of their ornaments and treasure;
broke into the deserted shops, and loaded them-
selves with loot ; took possession of the abandoned
houses and cellars, and gorged themselves with
food and wine. Crowds of drunken soldiers,
328

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

indulging in an orgy, reeled through the streets
shouting: " Vive I'empercur" and defying the
commands of their officers.

The day after the entry of the French, flames
burst forth suddenly, at midnight, in different
quarters of the city, fanned into fury by a raging
equinoctial storm. In every direction was heard
the terrifying cry of Fire! Fire! The emperor,
aroused from his slumber, stood at a window in
the palace, watching with anxiety the ravaging
flames. Despite the efforts of the soldiers to
quench the fire, it devoured everything in its path-
way and at last enveloped the Kremlin itself, com-
pelling Napoleon and his officers to seek safety in
flight. Indeed, if it had not been for the courage
of the rugged Davoust, who literally snatched the
emperor from the flames, the latter would have
lost his life. The dreadful conflagration died
down on the twentieth, but it was at once kindled
anew, and again threatened the destruction of
the entire city, the wooden buildings of which it
was composed affording an abundance of fuel.
Great billows of flame rolled forward like an
engulfing sea, and at night vast volumes of smoke
rising heavenwards reflected the flames, until it
seemed as if earth and sky were in one grand
conflagration. Napoleon afterwards in describ-
ing the awful scene, said : " It was the sublimest
sight the world ever saw and one which struck
terror and consternation into the hearts of all
those who beheld it."

It was asserted by the Russians that tipsy
French soldiers started the fire, but the French
329

NAPOLEON

denied the charge and put the blame entirely upon
the Russians. It is a well known fact, however,
that some Russians were caught with torch in
hand in the act of setting fire to the buildings.
These incendiaries were tried, found guilty, and
shot.

In some of the cellars, great quantities of in-
flammable material had been deposited by the
Russians before their departure, so as to add fuel
to the flames. Besides this the municipal author-
ities had removed or destroyed all the appliances
and apparatuses for extinguishing fires.

It is not difficult to believe that a people who
destroyed Smolensk, reducing it to a smoking
heap of ashes, could also have destroyed the city
of Moscow, after deserting it and leaving it
defenceless to the enemy. On the other hand
it is not reasonable to suppose that the French
would deliberately have set fire to a city, which
it was to their interest to save, in view of the
fact that they might be compelled to make it their
winter quarters.

As days wore on, food grew scarce; the sur-
rounding country had been laid waste, and forag-
ing parties in order to gather supplies were com-
pelled to penetrate into the interior as far as
forty miles from the city, thus often subjecting
themselves to attacks from large bands of ma-
rauding Cossacks. An army of 100,000 men
had to be fed and besides this fodder for 50,000
horses had to be procured.

The weather during the French occupation had
been delightful, " as pleasant as that at Fontaine-
330

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

bleau," remarked Napoleon; but every one knew
that winter was approaching and that its icy
blasts would bring death and destruction if the
soldiers were without shelter, food, and clothing.
The Cossack prisoners brought in told the French
soldiers that their nails would drop from their
fingers when frost came, and they would be
unable to handle their muskets. Not only was
this a true prediction, but far worse than this
happened, for hands fell from the wrists and
feet from the ankles.

All this time Napoleon was waiting impa-
tiently to hear from the czar ; but no word came,
no messenger arrived. Days and weeks passed
by, still not even a suggestion to open up negotia-
tions. The French emperor's communications to
Alexander were not answered, although he had
offered to make peace on the easiest terms.

The silence of the Russians seemed to dumb-
found Napoleon. For hours at a time he would
walk up and down his rooms in the Kremlin, not
speaking a word, but impatiently striking his leg,
at intervals, with a riding whip ; or else he would
lie on a sofa, holding a novel in his hand, appar-
ently reading, the pages of which, however, he
never turned. In the evening he would occasion-
ally indulge in a game of cards, and several times
he attended performances at the theatre, the offi-
cers and soldiers having mounted some plays at
the opera house, but he seemed to take no interest
in these diversions.

" Moscow is the heart of Russia," he had said,
" and we will winter there," but now, having

3.31

NAPOLEON

realized his dream, he was anxious to return to
France, feeling that his presence was needed in
the capital. " Paris," he said, " is not accus-
tomed to my absence," and, in truth, at this time
his enemies were conspiring to overthrow his
power.

As the fires had consumed the dwellings of
the town, it was suggested to him to provide shel-
ter for the soldiers in the cellars. There was an
abundance of fuel to keep the troops warm, and
there were also horses enough, if it came to the
worst, to furnish them with food until the spring.
But Napoleon could not abide the thought of
remaining inactive in Russia during the win-
ter. Up to this time, the expedition had resulted
in nothing but disaster; his victory was no tri-
umph, and he knew that his enemies at home
would exaggerate his losses. He had beaten the
Russians in every encounter, but they were still
unconquered and in the field, and to be successful
in the eyes of Europe he would have to bring
Alexander to terms. Winter was too close at
hand to begin an open campaign, and to remain
idle two thousand miles from his capital, simply
waiting for the coming spring in order to renew
hostilities, would put in grave jeopardy his inter-
ests at home.

At a council of officers Napoleon suggested a
march on St. Petersburg, but his marshals so
strongly opposed the plan as impracticable that it
was at once abandoned.

The autumn weather continued delightful, but
all the while winter was coming on apace. Still
332

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Napoleon hesitated. This man of action, this
man always resolute and resourceful and equal
to every emergency, was at last outwitted by an
antagonist who, without offering any effectual
resistance, had lured him to destruction.

In his calculations Napoleon had never consid-
ered it possible that the Russians would desert
the city, the sacred city of the Muscovites; he
had made no provision to meet such a contin-
gency. Ney had predicted, when the invasion of
Russia was in contemplation, that the army would
never reach Moscow, but that feat had been ac-
complished, and Napoleon, as usual, had per-
formed the impossible; but the victory was an
empty one in that the Russians were still in the
field and the city was a mass of ruins. There
was no enemy in sight, but the blasts from the
north announced that the Ice King, with his hosts,
was approaching, and that the French would soon
be in the grip of a Russian winter.

Napoleon, at last aroused from his indecision
and lethargy, gave the order to retreat, and on
the 1 8th of October the Grand Army began its
memorable march homewards. The retreating
army moved in four divisions, the first com-
manded by Napoleon and the others by Eugene,
Ney, and Davoust. At the beginning the army
was accompanied by a vast train of wagons car-
rying rich booty, the protection of which caused
much delay in the progress of the march. Later
these wagons were burned, abandoned, or else
captured by the enemy.

It was the intention of Napoleon to take a new

333

NAPOLEON

route, on his way through the Russias, known
as the Kalouga Road ; but General Bessieres, after
reconnoitring, brought news that a large army
under Kutusoff blocked the way. Acting under
this information, Napoleon abandoned the road
he was on, and resumed his march over that
on which the French army had come on its way
to Moscow. This was a grievous mistake, for
that route and the surrounding country had been
laid waste by the invaders. Further than this the
report that a large army barred the way was
wrong, for what Bessieres had described as a
large force well entrenched, was in reality only-
the rear guard of KutusofFs army covering his
retreat.

When Borodino was reached the French were
horrified to see that the 40,000 men who had
fallen in the engagement fought on that field still
lay unburied. When the army approached, vul-
tures rose from their ghastly feast in such num-
bers that the great flocks darkened the sun.

Up to this time the French had not suffered
intensely from the cold, but on November 4th
the first storm of winter broke upon this mighty
host; bleak winds and rain beat into the faces
of the soldiers, snow began to fall, and the whole
plain, as far as the eye could reach, was soon
covered with a white sheet. The troops, still
wearing their summer uniforms, were benumbed
by the frost, the cutting blasts chilled them to
the bone, and men and horses found great diffi-
culty in marching over the frozen surface, not
having been shod for such weather. " God has
334

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

made Napoleon forget there is a winter here/'
exclaimed the Cossacks.

The cold increased in bitterness from day to
day; on the gth it was 5° above zero and on the
1 3th 5° below; food grew scarcer and scarcer,
the principal ration being a broth made of horse
flesh thickened with flour; supplies of all kinds
were captured by bands of plundering Cossacks,
who hung night and day on the rear and the
flanks of the retreating army. Savage and in-
furiated peasants armed with agricultural imple-
ments such as hoes, scythes, pitchforks and spades
cruelly beat to death the famished, benumbed,
and exhausted stragglers. Great flocks of vul-
tures and birds of prey hovered menacingly above
the troops ; packs of dogs and wolves fought with
starving men over the carcasses of dead horses ;
fuel was scarce, and the cold intolerable; the
nights, sixteen hours in length, seemed almost
interminable, and to make matters worse furious
storms of hail and sleet often extinguished the
bivouac fires. In the daytime the sun shed no
warmth, and the soldiers were blinded by the
fields of glistening snow. Many of them cast
aside their arms and equipments, while others
in sheer exhaustion and despair threw themselves
on the ground never to rise again. Above the
crunching tread of the troops and the rumbling
of wains and artillery would frequently be heard
the wild and incongruous laugh of the maniac,
showing that under the strain some poor wretch's
mind had suddenly given away.

On the Qth of November the army reached
335

NAPOLEON

Smolensk, where it remained until the I4th, when
it again took up its march, every foot of which
was blood-stained and marked with torture and
suffering that were almost beyond human endur-
ance. The army struggled along without dis-
cipline, the old guard alone retaining any sem-
blance of military order.

" As the season advanced so intense became the
cold," says Marbot, " that we could see a kind
of vapor rising from men's eyes and ears. Con-
densing on contact with the air, this vapor fell
back on our persons with a rattle such as grains
of millet might have made. We had often to
halt and clear away from the horses' bits the
icicles formed by their frozen breath."

" During thirty days," says Captain Gaspard
Schumacher in his Memoirs, " horse flesh and
snow were almost our only nourishment. . . .
We believed ourselves fortunate when we found
a little rye flour in the deserted huts. We boiled
it in snow water and congratulated ourselves
upon having a good repast.

" The cold became more and more acute.
Often in the evening we would seek among the
dead for some stiff and rigid corpses and placing
them in a circle around the camp fires we would
seat ourselves upon them to avoid coming di-
rectly in contact with the snow."

Although under these trying conditions human
nature was revealed in its most selfish and hideous
form, the picture at times was relieved by instances
of the highest heroism, and of the most heroic
self-sacrifice and devotion. A starving man
336

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

would share his last morsel of food with a dying
comrade, soldiers almost bare-footed would drag
over the snow on sleds their wounded compan-
ions, and nurse them as tenderly as women. On
the other hand often the wolfish instinct would
appear, and the strong would snatch from the
weak a bone or a crust of bread. Soldiers would
murder each other in a quarrel over a piece of
wood. There were several instances even of
cannibalism: De Segur, a reliable authority,
says that " When a few wretches threw them-
selves into the blazing heaps of burning wagons
and baggage, some of their comrades dragged out
the disfigured and roasted bodies and dared to
fill their mouths with this revolting food," while
Sir Robert Wilson states that he saw " a group
of wounded men lying over the body of a com-
rade which they had roasted and the flesh of
which they had begun to eat."

Although the hardships increased after leaving
Smolensk, the courage of the troops did not
abate; never did the Russians make an attack
even with overwhelming numbers that the French
did not resist with their wonted courage.

Napoleon, clad in furs, with staff in hand,
marched through the snow drifts, facing the bliz-
zards side by side with his soldiers, and encour-
aged them by his patience and the endurance he
displayed. Never did commander have more
loyal and devoted troops. When his bivouac fire
was burning low, freezing soldiers would con-
tribute, from their own scanty store, dry faggots

to revive it. As he rode down the lines, dying
22

NAPOLEON

soldiers with their last breath would cry : " Long
live the emperor."

Murat fought in the van, in resplendent uni-
form and with conspicuous courage, hurling his
squadrons in whirlwind charges against the Cos-
sacks, until there was not a horse left to saddle.
Then, exhausted by his Herculean efforts and
having no more cavalry to lead, he rested in the
emperor's carriage.

News reached Napoleon by couriers that Vic-
tor's forces had been defeated on the Dwina and
to add further to his troubles information was
brought in that the army in Spain had met with
severe repulses.

Ney was in the rear, fighting with desperate
courage against overwhelming odds. He had
been separated from Davoust, and it looked as if
he would be captured, but his reply to an order
from the Russian commander to lay down his
arms, was, " A marshal of France has never sur-
rendered." KutusofT, the Russian general, with
an army of 60,000, pressed him on all sides;
hordes of Cossacks in wild charges assailed his
front, his flanks and his rear; but with dauntless
courage, that elicited the admiration even of his
foes, he cut his way through, crossed the Dnieper
on ice so thin that it bent beneath the weight of
his soldiers, and hastened on to join the main
army.

While his marshals were in danger, Napoleon
made a bold stand at Krasnoi, with compara-
tively only a handful of men, for the available
fighting force of the main body of the Grand
338

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Army had been reduced to a mere shadow of 'its
former self. So audacious was the stand that
Napoleon took with his little band against the
overwhelming forces of the Russians, that
Kutusoff, fearing it was only to conceal some
more important movement, withdrew without
making an attack, and thus fortunately released
Davoust and Ney from their perilous positions.

The latter marshal, however, was still far in the
rear of the main army, and not yet safe from
attack, and Napoleon was much concerned as to
his safety and frequently inquired whether any-
thing had been heard from him or his command.
The emperor gave orders to announce Ney's ap-
proach by the firing of cannon. General Gour-
gaud at last brought the welcome intelligence that
the marshal was safe and only a few leagues in
the rear of the main army. " I have in the
vaults of the Tuileries," exclaimed Napoleon,
" 3,000,000 francs, and I would gladly have given
every one of them for Ney's ransom had he been
captured." It was at this time that the emperor,
because of Ney's conspicuous gallantry, bestowed
upon him the distinguished title: "Bravest of
the Brave."

Fighting, freezing, suffering, starving, dying, the
Grand Army, dwindling day by day, staggered
along until at last it reached the Beresina. The
river was swollen, and the bridge at Borisoff,
which Napoleon depended upon, had been de-
stroyed by the Russians. Oudinot had made a
desperate effort to wrest it from the enemy, but
they had driven him back with great loss and

330

NAPOLEON

burned it under his very eyes. Its destruction
seemed for a time to cut off from the French
every chance of escape. Overwhelming forces in
front, on the flanks and in the rear threatened
with annihilation all that was left of the once
proud Grand Army of France. So hopeless did
the outlook appear that Napoleon destroyed his
papers and burned his eagles to prevent them
from falling into the hands of the enemy.

To build a bridge over an icy torrent, in the
dead of winter, and in the face of an opposing
foe, was the task that of necessity had to be per-
formed by the French army. The engineers and
sappers began, without delay, constructing two
bridges, many of them at times working up to
their necks in water; all night long they toiled,
getting the timbers into place. When the morn-
ing dawned the bridges were ready for the pas-
sage of the troops, and strange to say, the Rus-
sians had entirely disappeared. Hearing that the
French were preparing to cross lower down the
stream, they had hastened to intercept them and
thus gave the French an opportunity to cross the
river, at first unopposed. The bridges con-
structed so hastily and under such difficulties were
not equal to the strain put upon them and they
began to totter, one of them finally giving away.
It was quickly repaired, however, for the original
supports still remained, and the troops in crowds
again pressed forward, eager to reach the other
shore. Men, horses, artillery and wagons were
in an inextricable mass and blocked the way.
The bridges had no railings, and in the crush
340

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

many were pushed into the river, the drowned
numbering thousands. In the midst of all this
confusion, Napoleon at the risk of his life dashed
on the bridge, seized the horses by the bridles,
gave his commands and soon had the crowd once
more on the move and in some sort of order.

Suddenly the Russians returned and a fight
ensued between them and the rear guard. Dur-
ing the night multitudes kept crowding upon the
bridges, till one of them again went down. Re-
pairs were hastily made and in the morning
the battle was renewed. While Victor's rear
guard was holding the enemy at bay, the Russian
artillery opened on the fugitives crossing the river
and swept them into the icy waters. At last, on
the morning of the 2Qth of November, the
bridges were burned and a shout of despair went
up from the stragglers and camp followers who
were left to perish by starvation or under the
swords of the brutal Cossacks.

The passage of the Beresina was one of the
most dreadful scenes ever witnessed in warfare.
When the floods subsided and spring arrived,
12,000 corpses were found on the bottom and
along the shores of this fatal stream. The Rus-
sian regulars did not continue their pursuit be-
yond the Beresina, but the Cossacks like a pack
of wolves still ruthlessly followed the famished
host.

At Smorgoni on December 5th Napoleon
turned over his command to Murat. Then en-
tering a covered sleigh, accompanied by Caulain-
court, Duroc, Lobau, and one or two other offi-

341

NAPOLEON

cers, he set out at once for France, to prevent
the news of the disaster from spreading too rap-
idly. His desertion called forth the impreca-
tions of both officers and men. " That is the
way he treated us in Egypt," cried the veterans.

When the troops reeled into Vilna they pre-
sented a sad and pathetic spectacle. " Remove
all strangers from the city," was the imperative
order sent by the emperor, "the army will not
bear inspection."

A sorry host it was indeed. The men had
long hair and unkempt beards, their bodies were
thin and emaciated, their faces haggard and wan,
their eyes deep sunken, their fingers, toes, ears
and noses frost-bitten; they were clothed in tat-
tered garments and worn-out skins and their feet
were swathed in rags; many of them limped on
crutches and countless numbers carried their
arms in slings. Truly they pictured to the full
the suffering and the agony through which they
had passed.

The cold and frost continued, the thermometer
ranging from 29° to 35° below zero; the stores
were soon exhausted and the Cossacks still per-
sistent, so that this trailing army of spectres had
again to take up its march. The storms in-
creased in violence; the elements seemed deter-
mined to waste this poor shivering, frost-bitten
remnant of the Grand Army. But at last, foot-
sore and weary, it limped across the bridge at
Kovno and found food and refuge.

Begrimed and blackened with powder and
smoke, his uniform tattered and soiled, Marshal
342

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Ney made the last stand and fired the parting
shot, then crossing the bridge that spanned the
Niemen, enveloped in his great cloak and with
musket in one hand and sword in the other,
claimed the proud distinction of being himself
the rear guard of the Grand Army.

Of the half-million men who at the beginning
of the invasion had proudly crossed the Niemen,
only 20,000 crawled over the bridge at Kovno
on the return. The Grand Army had been de-
stroyed by fire and frost and flood. Napoleon
had at last found his master in the elements.

It has been estimated that, out of an army of
500,000 men, 125,000 were killed in battle or
died of wounds, 132,000 died of disease, cold, or
exhaustion, and 193,000 were taken prisoners.

The following official report made by Major
Carre, commanding the Sixth Regiment of the
Imperial Guard, will give an idea of the frightful
losses sustained. The condition of this regiment
was not exceptional; it was a fair example of the
others. On leaving Smolensk, on the retreat, the
officers numbered 31 and the rank and file 300.
It will be seen that at this point the regiment
already had lost half its numbers. In the middle
of December 14 officers answered roll call and
only 10 privates; all the rest were sick, wounded,
or dead.

Murat, too, like Napoleon, had a kingdom to
defend, and after endeavoring to unite and reor-
ganize, without much success, the shattered
forces of the army, turned his command over to
Eugene Beauharnais and departed.

34.3

NAPOLEON

So ended the disastrous campaign of the in-
vasion of Russia, an enterprise that in its con-
ception was magnificent and in its execution gi-
gantic. Had it been successful no one can
measure its possibilities. Its failure marked the
beginning of the decline of Napoleon's power.

344

CHAPTER XXIV

NAPOLEON'S RETURN TO PARIS — BATTLE OF LUT-
ZEN — BATTLE OF BAUTZEN — ARMISTICE.

Napoleon, after leaving his army at Smorgoni
and fleeing through the wilds of Poland, reached
Paris on the night of December 18, 1812, and
taking a hackney coach arrived at the palace of
the Tnileries about midnight. Wrapped in his
furs, his face covered with a beard, he ascended
the staircase, arousing the household with the
tread of his heavy boots, and went directly to
the room of his wife, from whom he received the
first welcome ; then he stooped over the cradle
and kissed the forehead of the king of Rome.

The next day he kept indoors, and received
only a few of his ministers and intimate friends.
He heard for the first time the details of the
conspiracy headed by Malet to overturn the gov-
ernment in his absence, and poured out his re-
proaches on the officials for not acting with more
decision.

The day before his arrival, Paris had read the
bulletin announcing the destruction of the Grand
Army, and all France was stricken with grief by
the distressing news ; yet there were no murmurs
against the emperor. The French people had not
been opposed to the Russian invasion. Capti-
345

NAPOLEON

vated by the marvelous triumphs of Napoleon,
they believed its success, which in their opinion
was assured under his leadership, would only
further enhance the glory of the empire. Their
imagination had been dazzled by the fetes held
and the homage paid to Napoleon at Dresden
and the descriptions of the vast host enrolled
under his banners. Glowing accounts, too, had
been given of the march through Russia, the de-
feat of her armies, and the triumphal entry into
Moscow.

Despite the dreadful catastrophe that overtook
the enterprise and the destruction of this splendid
army of invasion, one of the greatest ever mar-
shaled by man, the French were willing to re-
spond once more to Napoleon's call and surrender
their boys to this insatiable maw of war. So
great was the drain on the nation's strength that
many were appalled at this sapping of the young-
est and best blood of France, but a demand for
troops met in most of the districts with what
under the circumstances might be called a hearty
response. In the peasant sections old men and
women were left behind to do the work, for the
conscription had placed an army of one hundred
and fifty thousand men in the field for actual
service, and during the year 1813, 1,000,000 were
enrolled.

The greatest loss from a military consideration
that Napoleon sustained in the Russian campaign
was the destruction of his veterans who had won
the past victories, and who formed the nucleus
and the strength of his army. Even of the Im-
346

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

perial Guard there was left but a remnant. The
troops at this critical period when all Europe was
arming against France were raw recruits who
had no experience nor seasoning in actual war-
fare.

Prince Eugene, after Murat had thrown up
the command, gathered and held in hand the
scattered forces and waited to form a junction
with Napoleon. The emperor was putting forth
gigantic efforts to raise and equip an army, but
unfortunately it was impossible to secure horses
for the cavalry and artillery service, 50,000 and
upwards having been lost in the Russian cam-
paign.

Napoleon at this time could have made an
honorable peace with his foes with but little loss
of territory, if he had modified his continental
system, withdrawn his garrisons from Prussia,
soothed Austria, and made some concessions to
Russia ; but with his overweening, inordinate am-
bition and his consuming pride he could not, he
believed, without loss of prestige let go any por-
tion of his territory, or yield or modify any point
in his schemes. In Russia he had not been over-
thrown in battle, the campaign had not produced
any great military genius, he was overcome by
the elements, not by arms, and all he wanted was
an army and he felt confident he could soon re-
trieve his losses. He would listen to no over-
tures for peace but girded himself for battle and
risked the future of his empire on the chance of
war. His reverses, however, had broken the
spell of his invincibility; his name no longer as
347

NAPOLEON

of old carried such terror into the hearts of his
foes, and they were determined now with over-
whelming forces to beat him to earth.

On December 3Oth, General Yorck, who had
commanded the Prussians attached to Macdon-
ald's division, deserted the French and entered
into an agreement with the Russians in violation
of international law, stipulating that his troops
should hold as neutral territory the district
around Memel and Tilsit until the Prussian king,
Frederick William, should decide upon a course
of action. The king was apparently ashamed of
this treachery upon the part of his general, and
informed the French minister that he did not en-
dorse the act of his officer. Hardenburg, the
German chancellor, kept up the deception by pub-
licly rebuking Yorck, although at the same time
he sent to him a private messenger commending
his action. In order to carry the ruse further the
king was persuaded to go to Breslau under the
pretext of raising troops for Napoleon's army.
But, at last throwing off the mask, Prussia at
Kalisch on February 27, 1813, entered into a
treaty of alliance with Russia. The Prussian
realm once more thrilled with enthusiasm, anx-
ious to retrieve the defeat at Jena. The profes-
sors and students of the universities, burning
with a war spirit, rallied to the standard of the
fatherland.

Austria, under the guidance of Metternich, still

assumed a neutral attitude, and in spite of the

proffers of assistance made by England through

her special and secret envoy, Walpole, to aid in

348

Copyright, 1910, by George W. Jacobs &• Co.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

From an original drawing made in the Waterloo period by Rouguet, 1815

Came into the possession of the owner through Pierre Morand,

a well-known French resident of Philadelphia

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

recovering the lost provinces of Venetia, Illyria,
and the Tyrol, the emperor assured Napoleon of
his desire to act as mediator to secure an hon-
orable peace.

Russia had suffered by the French invasion,
her lands had been laid waste, many villages de-
stroyed, and Smolensk and Moscow burned to
ashes. The army had lost many men in battle,
and the pursuing troops had suffered from cold,
hunger, and disease almost as much as the
French. The czar hesitated to assume the of-
fensive until aroused to action by the earnest ap-
peals and arguments of the German patriot, Stein,
who declared that the overthrow of Napoleon
was imperative if Russia desired to avoid an
invasion in 1813.

There was a broad field for diplomacy at this
time and the envoys and ministers of all Europe
were in the game. Austria again pressed home
her offers of mediation in a way that revealed
her real purpose. " Come to terms," was her
language to the emperor, " or we will join the
allies in forcing a general peace." Napoleon told
the Austrian ambassador that he could not take
the initiative; that if the czar wanted peace he
must ask for it; that if France made the request
it would be considered by her enemies a capitula-
tion.

The allies were concentrating their forces and
had already invaded Saxony which was to be
the battlefield. King Frederick Augustus fled
into Bohemia and sought the protection of Aus-
tria.

349

NAPOLEON

By the month of April Napoleon had a large
army across the Rhine and taking command
in person advanced rapidly to effect a junc-
tion with Prince Eugene, and, this being ac-
complished, the united forces pressed on to
Berlin. On May 2, 1813, the Russians and
Prussians under Wittgenstein and Blikher
rather unexpectedly attacked the French at
Lutzen. Ney in command of the south wing
had strengthened the village of Gros Groschen
and received the brunt of the Prussian general's
assault. The fighting at this point was terrific;
time and again the village was lost and then re-
taken, but at nightfall it remained in the posses-
sion of the French. The Prussian cavalry
charged against the French squares and were met
with " showers of grape shot and musketry " and
driven back with great loss. After fighting all
day long Napoleon gathered his reserves and
made an attack on the allies' right wing. The
charge was supported by a fire from advancing
batteries, and the Russian-Prussian line gave way.
It was a hard fought field, but the victory re-
mained with the French. Napoleon, being with-
out cavalry, could not follow up his success and
rout the retreating columns. So bravely did the
young conscripts fight that they elicited the
praise of their commanders, who encouraged
them by declaring that Lutzen was a second
Jena. The allies had lost in killed and wounded
10,000 men and the French loss was about as
great.

A few weeks later another battle was fought
350

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

at Bautzen, with about the same results. The
engagement began on the afternoon of May 2Oth
by the seizure of the town, where the allies had
taken up a strong position. Back of the town
was an amphitheatre of wooded hills, to which
the Russian-Prussian lines retired. Napoleon
had a superior force, but the allies had the
stronger position. On the following day the
French commander opened fire with musketry
and artillery on the allies' line, which was about
six miles in length. Suddenly Ney made an at-
tack on the enemies' right wing, rolled it up, and
getting in their rear cut off their communications.
Driven back, temporarily, he received re-enforce-
ments, and then once more pressing forward with
irresistible force encircled the wing and threat-
ened to intercept the line of retreat. Marmont
and Bertrand bitterly assailed the centre, which
was under the command of Bliicher, and forced
it after desperate hand-to-hand fighting to fall
back. The battle from this point was lost to
the allies and although Oudinot's attack on the
left had been repulsed, the Russian-Prussian
army gave way at all points. Their rear was
covered by a large force of cavalry, consisting
of Cossacks and Uhlans, which kept at bay by
desperate charges the pursuing French and
enabled the allies to retreat in comparatively good
order. They left no prisoners behind and re-
tained their cannon. The losses in both armies
were heavy, from twelve to fifteen thousand
killed and wounded on each side. Duroc, the
Duke de Friuli, was mortally wounded by a
35i

NAPOLEON

cannon ball, and the death of this faithful friend
deeply grieved the emperor.

After pursuing the allied armies into Silesia,
Napoleon agreed on the 4th of June to an armis-
tice. Taking advantage of this cessation of arms
he put forth all his efforts to strengthen his army
with men and horses. He brought 25,000 sea-
soned troops from Spain, and increased the con-
scriptions in France.

352

CHAPTER XXV

BATTLE OF DRESDEN BATTLE OF LEIPSIC

During the suspension of hostilities news came
of disasters in Spain and Wellington's decisive
victory at Vittoria. Joseph's throne was totter-
ing and it was not long before he abandoned it
and hastened to Paris.

The armistice was continued and resulted in
the calling of a peace congress at Prague and at
this juncture Austria put forth her efforts os-
tensibly to secure, as mediator, the peace of
Europe, but in reality under the deft manipulation
of Metternich to compel Napoleon under the
usual threat of Austria's joining the coalition to
bend to her behests. This wily minister ever
since the Russian disaster had determined to take
advantage of Napoleon's discomfiture and to re-
store if possible the prestige of Austria.

Metternich was born at Coblentz in 1773. The
family was one of influence, his father having
been a diplomat of some renown; the son was
carefully trained and developed talents of a high
order. He was cool, shrewd, resourceful, and
far-seeing as a politician, plausible in manner,
accomplished in the arts of duplicity, and had the
reputation of being the most winsome liar in all
Europe. Napoleon had formed a high regard
23 353

NAPOLEON

for him when he first came as Austrian envoy to
the court of France, but soon discovered that he
was a master of intrigue and perfidious to a de-
gree.

Although unscrupulous as a politician, Metter-
nich was loyal to Austria and his royal master
Emperor Francis. His cleverness he devoted to
the interests of his country. " What rascals we
would be," exclaimed Cavour upon One occasion,
when deeply involved in a political intrigue, " if
we would do for ourselves what we do for our
states."

After adroitly holding the allies at bay during
the continuance of the armistice and thus gaining
time to put Austria on a war footing, Metternich
finally submitted to Napoleon the following con-
ditions of peace: The dissolution of the Con-
federation of the Rhine, the destruction of the
Duchy of Warsaw, the restoration of the
boundaries of 1795 to Prussia and the return of
certain territory to Austria. This left Napoleon
France, Belgium, Holland and Italy, a pretty ex-
tensive empire, but he was loath to relinquish his
hold on any portion of his conquests. He felt,
and truthfully so, no doubt, that if he once
yielded there would be no end to the demands
and he might as well fight for it all as to sur-
render it piecemeal.

After numerous interviews and consultations,
which only revealed the insincerity of both par-
ties who were playing for time, the negotia-
tions came to an end on August loth and
hostilities were straightway resumed. Austria
354

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

gave her adhesion to the allies, and at once put
in the field an army of two hundred thousand
men. Napoleon now faced all Europe, Russia,
Austria Prussia, England and Sweden, for Ber-
nadotte had induced the last named state to join
the coalition, and he was in command of her
troops.

During the peace conference the marshals, who
were tired of war, pleaded with Napoleon to
accept reasonable terms. Even Murat, believing
that the tide was rising against Napoleon and
anxious to save his own kingdom from being
swept away in the flood, entered into negotia-
tions with Austria. France having given her
best blood to gratify Napoleon's ambitions, now
longed for a cessation of hostilities, but the great
captain still had confidence in his ability to restore
his prestige and save his empire in its integrity.

While the armistice continued he had taken
advantage of the opportunity to equip, train, and
drill his new levies and to organize a corps of
cavalry, the one arm of the service in which his
army had been sadly lacking, and for want of
which his victories of Liitzen and Bautzen had
been incomplete, comparatively fruitless. Murat
had ceased his vacillating course, and joined the
army in the latter part of August. When the
emperor heard of his arrival he exclaimed : " As
long as I am successful Murat will follow my
fortune."

Napoleon's position, with Dresden as its centre,
was strong strategetically, while his enemies were
stretched out in a vast semicircle from Prague
355

NAPOLEON

to Berlin. The allied forces numbered half a
million men, with 1,500 cannon, a far larger force
than Napoleon imagined, but the armies were,
as we have seen, widely separated and not under
the direction of one master mind. Napoleon de-
cided to adopt his old tactics and by rapid move-
ments attack the separate detachments one after
the other. But never before in his career had he
been confronted by numbers so overwhelming.

Assuming boldly the offensive, he started in
pursuit of Blucher, but the Prussian general re-
fused to give battle and attempted to lure Na-
poleon towards Silesia to afford an opportunity
to Schwarzenberg to seize Dresden. Receiving
a dispatch from St. Cyr that the allies were mass-
ing their forces in anticipation of assaulting Dres-
den, Napoleon hurried back, through mud and
rain, and reached the city just in the nick of
time. His appearance as he came in sight on the
brow of the hill with the Imperial Guard created
the greatest reaction. The troops welcomed him
with every demonstration of joy and along the
lines that before his arrival had been wavering
and murmuring rang the inspiring cry : " Vive
I' empereur" The gray overcoat and the black
cocked hat were equal to 40,000 men upon that
field. It was wonderful the enthusiasm his pres-
ence could produce. He possessed to a super-
lative degree a mystic, indefinable power that in-
spired confidence, courage, devotion and even a
spirit of self-sacrifice in the hearts of his fol-
lowers. The cry : " The emperor's eye is upon
us," made cowards perform prodigies of valor.
356

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Men were willing to die in his presence, and they
cheered him wildly on their way to death. " Ave
Casar imperator, morituri te salutant."

On the morning of August 26th the fight
opened. The weather was dark and cloudy, the
rain falling in torrents. As usual Napoleon had
the stronger position, with his troops well massed.
The enemy, on the other hand, although much
superior in numbers, were stretched out in a long
thin line, their left wing separated from the
centre by the river and valley of Plauen. It was
against this wing that Napoleon directed his at-
tack, and while Victor was assailing it in front
Murat with ten thousand horsemen charged it on
the flank and rear and, after dreadful slaughter,
10,000 men laid down their arms. The rest were
put to flight, and cut down by the pursuing cav-
alry. The right and centre were still intact, but
much shattered by the heavy and continuous fire
of artillery, and during the night the whole army
fled, pursued by the cavalry of Murat. The al-
lies lost 35,000 men in killed, wounded, and pris-
oners. Among the killed was General Moreau,
the hero of Hohenlinden, who had left America
to join the army of the czar. A cannon ball
tore off both his legs.

The battle of Dresden was the last of Napo-
leon's great victories ; but it was barren in results.
It did not discomfit his foes; instead of inducing
a treaty as did Marengo, Austerlitz, Jena, Fried-
land and Wagram, it incited the allies to greater
effort. But nothing so testifies to the greatness
of Napoleon as the fact that it required a com-

357

NAPOLEON

bination of all Europe to beat him down with
overpowering forces. Never did he display his
fighting qualities and his marvelous resourceful-
ness in a higher degree or his great superiority as
a soldier over the commanders who opposed him
than when the future was dark and the outlook
foreboded disaster.

The victory of Dresden was almost immedi-
ately dimmed by the destruction of Vandamme's
army of 40,000 men at Kulm on the 29th. Van-
damme had been sent to Pirna on the 26th to
cut off the retreat of the allies, when he was
attacked and surrounded by greatly superior num-
bers, and his force fighting to the death and re-
fusing to surrender, was cut to pieces.

Some one blundered, but who it was is and
always will be a mooted question. Military
critics have discussed the matter from every point
of view, but without reaching a satisfactory or
definite conclusion. Whether it was a false
movement of Vandamme or a failure on the part
of Napoleon to support him it is hard to say.
The facts seem to be that for some reason or
other Napoleon failed to follow with his old-
time vigor the retreating army of the allies. If
he had done so they doubtless would have been
caught between his forces and those of Van-
damme and annihilated with the chance of cap-
turing the czar of Russia and the king of Prus-
sia. But the story goes that Napoleon was taken
ill suddenly so that, instead of pushing on to
Pirna to direct the attack, he was carried back to
Dresden and the pursuit was virtually discontin-
358

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

ued, thus leaving Vandamme to be overwhelmed
by the vastly superior forces of the allies.

Napoleon's marshals had within a period of
two weeks been defeated in five engagements;
Ney notably at Dennewitz, where he lost 10,000
in killed and wounded, 15,000 prisoners and
eighty cannon. To add to the disasters Bavaria
had deserted and gone over to the allies.

After days of hesitation, Napoleon decided at
last to fall back towards Leipsic. On this point
all the allied armies immediately converged. The
French at most, for their ranks had been greatly
depleted, numbered one hundred and fifty thou-
sand, while the allies, who had received large
reinforcements, had more than twice that many.
After leaving Dresden Napoleon divided his army
into two parts ; one was commanded by him and
the other by Murat. Napoleon marched north
in hopes of bringing Blucher or Bernadotte to an
engagement, while Murat was to hold Schwarzen-
berg in check to prevent a union of the allied
forces. Napoleon failing in his purpose to en-
gage either Blucher or Bernadotte, marched at
once on Leipsic, where he found Murat already
in a struggle with Schwarzenberg, who was in
command of a greatly superior force. Hoping
to crush the Austrians before the arrival of the
Prussians and Swedes, the emperor prepared for
battle, and on the morning of the i6th of October
the engagement opened with heavy cannonading.
The union of Napoleon's and Murat's forces gave
the French a slight advantage in numbers over
Schwarzenberg's army. Ney and Marmont had

359

NAPOLEON

been posted on the north to keep Bliicher and
Bernadotte at bay, but the emperor, anxious to
crush Schwarzenberg with overwhelming num-
bers, ordered the two marshals to his aid. Ney
answered at once, but Marmont, who was already
engaged with Bliicher when the emperor's dis-
patch arrived, could not respond, and while at-
tempting to hold the enemy at bay was completely
overpowered by superior numbers and his corps
almost destroyed. The timely arrival of Mac-
donald's corps to Napoleon's assistance saved
the day from utter defeat. Its attack upon
Schwarzenberg's flank, while 12,000 cavalry un-
der the command of Murat assailed the centre,
shook the Austrian line, but could not break it,
and after desperate fighting the night closed in
without an advantage on either side.

Napoleon clearly saw, however, that the odds
were against him, and sent a messenger to the
Austrian general asking an armistice ; but his note
received no reply. The king of Wurtemberg
gave notice that he would join the allies ; even
the king of Saxony renounced his allegiance and
Bavaria was making preparations to attack the
French in the rear.

There was no fighting on the I7th, but on the
night of that day, rockets in the heavens an-
nounced the arrival of the Russians, Prussians,
and Swedes. Blucher, Bernadotte, and Bennig-
sen had united their forces with Schwarzenberg,
and the allied army numbered nearly if not quite
400,000 men.

On the morning of the i8th of October, 1813,
360

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

the " Battle of the Nations " opened, " the great-
est battle in all authentic history," in which up-
wards of half a million men fought with desper-
ate fury. The French were on the defensive, and
although confronted by overwhelming numbers,
two to one, held their ground most valiantly. In
the heat of the engagement the Saxon infantry
deserted Napoleon and went over to the enemy.
Their example was followed by the Wiirtemberg
cavalry. At nightfall the armies still stood fac-
ing each other, notwithstanding the desertions,
but when the news was brought to Napoleon that
the ammunition was well nigh exhausted, there
being, according to Marbot, only 16,000 rounds
left, enough for two hours' fighting, he gave the
order to withdraw. He refused to burn the
suburbs of Leipsic to cover the retreat of his
army.

To take the road to Mayence necessitated the
crossing of a bridge over the Elster. Through
some oversight no preparations had been made
to meet the conditions in case of defeat and the
existing bridge was too narrow to accommodate
the retreating army without crowding. Suddenly
a terrific explosion occurred, which shook the
country for miles around. The French officer
whose duty it was to destroy the bridge after the
army had crossed, set the mine off too soon and
left 30,000 men on the further bank. Marshal
Macdonald plunged into the stream and swam
across, but the brave and noble-hearted Prince
Pouiatowski was drowned. The rear guard laid
down their arms.

361

NAPOLEON

The Grand Army, dwindling day after day,
stricken by typhus fever, and assailed on the
flanks and rear by the allied horse, were in dire
straits; but when the Bavarians with a force of
40,000 men attempted to intercept the march they
were swept ruthlessly aside. When the Rhine
was reached the army numbered only 70,000
men.

Murat took his departure at Erfurt and hur-
ried home to Naples to strengthen if possible the
foundations of his own throne, which was totter-
ing, and after some negotiations with Austria,
signed a treaty with the House of Hapsburg on
January n, 1814.

Napoleon was so confident of victory at Leip-
sic, although confronted by a force numbering
twice his own, that he had made no adequate
preparations for a retreat, and this neglect added
greatly to the losses. It was his over-confidence
that wrought his ruin. Marbot in his Memoirs
says : " The emperor's chief of staff was Ber-
thier, a man of great capacity and devotion to
duty, but he had so often felt the effects of the
imperial wrath and had acquired such a dread of
Napoleon's outbreaks that he had vowed under
no circumstances to take the initiative or ask any
question, but to confine himself to executing or-
ders which he received in writing. This system,
while keeping the chief of staff on good terms
with his master, was injurious to the interests of
the army ; for, great as were the emperor's activ-
ity and talents, it was physically impossible for
him to see to everything, and thus if he over-
362

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

looked any important matter it did not get at-
tended to.

" So it seems to have been at Leipsic. Nearly
all the marshals and generals commanding army
corps pointed out to Berthier over and over again
the necessity of providing many passages to se-
cure the retreat in the event of a reverse, but he
always answered : ' The emperor has given no
orders ! ' So that when, on the night of the i8th,
the emperor gave the order to retreat on Weissen-
fels and the Salle there was not a beam or a plank
across a single brook."

Napoleon had at least 200,000 men in the
fortresses and garrisons of Germany, which he
could easily have called to his assistance, but for
some unaccountable reason he made no effort to
reinforce his army from these nearby sources of
supply.

In the three days' fight at Leipsic the French
lost 40,000 killed and wounded and 30,000 pris-
oners. The allies' total loss was about 55,000.

363

CHAPTER XXVI

NAPOLEON RETURNS TO PARIS — THE FRANKFORT
PROPOSALS INVASION OF THE ALLIES

When Napoleon reached Paris he saw that a
decided change since his departure for the seat of
war had come over the people. It was not that
they were tired of the empire, for it was the best
form of government France had ever enjoyed,
but they wanted repose. In the past eighteen
months the defeats had been so many and the
disasters so great that there was a universal de-
mand for peace. France was exhausted ; her life
blood had been sapped, and an army of half a
million men pressed upon her borders. " All
Europe marched with us a year ago," said Na-
poleon; "to-day all Europe marches against us."

Virtually the empire had already been dismem-
bered, shorn of its territory, and could be restored
only by the same force and conquest that had
created it. Germany had declared its emancipa-
tion from Napoleon's domination. Spain had
been wrested from his grasp, and Italy through
the defection and treachery of Murat was all but
lost. Still with obstinate tenacity Napoleon re-
fused to yield.

On November 8th and 9th, Metternich met the
French envoy and after some negotiations the
364

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Austrian minister submitted what are known as
the Frankfort Proposals. The allies demanded
that France should give up Spain, Italy, and Ger-
many, and retire within her own borders, the
Alps, the Pyrenees and the Rhine. This meant
a virtual destruction of the empire.

Napoleon, although defeated, spurned with in-
dignation the propositions, and was still loath to
relinquish his grasp on any portion of his con-
quests. His adversaries, however, now that he
was driven to bay, were determined not only to
disintegrate his empire but to destroy his power
and if possible restore the Bourbons. " So long
as he lives," remarked the czar, " there can be no
security." With parties so antagonistic in pur-
pose it was all but impossible to effect a compro-
mise.

Napoleon did everything in his power to detach
his father-in-law, the emperor of Austria, from
the coalition, but without avail. It was known
that the allies were jealous of each other, and
Napoleon endeavored to profit by this condition
of affairs. The czar himself had no high regard
for the Bourbons, and really had a personal dis-
like for the count of Provence, who as next in
the line of succession was Louis XVIII. All
these facts were known to Napoleon, and through
his ministers he tried to take advantage of them.
But no matter how much the allies might differ
among themselves, they were all of one mind
when it came to the question of Napoleon's de-
struction. Berthier urged him to agree upon
terms of peace. " Peace ! " he cried, " do you
365

NAPOLEON

not think I want peace? But the more I yield
the more they demand."

The negotiations dragged their slow length
along, Napoleon all the while playing for time,
and hoping by a change of fortune to release
himself from his predicament. The allies urged
a speedy settlement; they had driven the tiger to
his lair, and they feared that delay would enable
him to renew his strength. The time to force him
to terms, they declared, is when he is unprepared
to offer battle.

When the allies insisted upon the independence
of Holland, thus leaving France smaller than
Napoleon found her, he could no longer restrain
his wrath, and declared he would rather risk
by battle the loss of Paris than agree to terms
so humiliating. But when the dispatch came
from Caulaincourt, the French envoy, announc-
ing as an ultimatum that the allies insist upon
France returning to the limits of 1791, the French
people denounced such a treaty and were seized
with a patriotic fervor. The Frankfort Pro-
posals and the ultimatum were rejected, and once
more France girded for the fray. The whole
nation rang with the noise of preparation. The
seat of war now was not on the Rhine, the Elbe,
the Danube, or the Vistula, but on the Seine.

The allies throughout the negotiations had
affected a spirit of moderation to win the favor
of the people and before their invasion issued the
following proclamation : " We do not make war
on France, but we are casting off the yoke your
government imposed on our countries. We
366

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

hoped to find peace before touching your soil;
we now go to find it there."

Early in 1814 the Austrians, Russians, and
Prussians crossed the Rhine without resistance
and in three divisions converged on Paris. Na-
poleon, with his old-time energy, now quickly
organized an army of 50,000 raw recruits, a
beardless legion, many of them from the peasant
districts, marching into camp without knapsacks,
wearing blouses and sabots and carrying shot-
guns. Money was needed, and Napoleon con-
tributed out of his own private funds 50,000,000
francs. The rich men of the nation were ap-
pealed to, taxes were increased and paper money
was issued. To his wavering marshals the em-
peror said : " Pull on the boots and the resolu-
tion of 1793." The invasion of foreign hosts,
the demands of the allies to reduce France to the
limits of 1791, thus depriving her of even the con-
quests of the Revolution, had aroused a spirit of
patriotism throughout the country of which Na-
poleon was quick to take advantage. His trou-
bles, however, were accumulating; his marshals
were tired of war, and were anxious for peace
on almost any terms.

The legislative body under the leadership of a
royalist, M. Laine, considered the advisability of
accepting the Frankfort Proposals. Word was
received that Murat had entered into a treaty with
Austria, and had promised an army of thirty
thousand men to co-operate with the allies. Jo-
seph and Jerome, driven from their thrones, had
returned to France.

367

NAPOLEON

On January 23d, the emperor left Paris to take
command of the army. Before his departure he
addressed the officers of the legions of the Na-
tional guard : " Gentlemen, officers ! I put un-
der your protection what next to France are
dearest to me in all the world — my wife and my
son." Little did he believe that this was the last
time he was ever to see them.

The emperor at once put himself at the head
of his troops, and marching up the valley of the
Marne struck Bliicher an unexpected blow at St.
Dizier on January 27, 1814, and scattered the
forces of that doughty old German soldier. Na-
poleon followed him up, and again came upon
him suddenly at Brienne on the 29th, almost cap-
turing him personally.

Bliicher was one of the interesting characters
of those times. He had fought under Frederick
the Great and had been seasoned in many a cam-
paign. Defeats did not chill his ardor or weaken
his determination; routed one day he came back
to fight on the next. A braver soldier never sat
in a saddle, but he was no match for Napoleon
when it came to military skill and strategy. He
was simply a fighter; although at least seventy
years of age he was as tough as oak and able to
endure hardships with the resolution and the
fortitude of a man with half his years. He was
a severe, brusque old captain, but the idol of his
troops.

After his defeats Bliicher joined Schwarzen-
berg, and together they advanced with greatly
superior forces against Napoleon, who made a
368

Copyright, 1910, by George W. Jacobs & Co.

BLUCHER

From an original drawing in colors by an unknown artist

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

stand at La Rothiere on February ist. He held
his own through a long day's fight, but during
the night he fell back to Nogent. Here Napoleon
became greatly depressed, and sank into a state
of utter despondency. Within comparatively a
few months all his misfortunes had come upon
him. At the beginning of that time he was the
autocrat of Europe, with an empire of his own
creation, greater in extent than even that of
Charlemagne. Now, hunted down and driven at
bay, he was fighting in France with a shadowy
remnant of his once Grand Army to save a rem-
nant of his once great empire. It was at this
time that he instructed Caulaincourt to secure
peace on the most favorable terms. But while
in his despondent mood, he suddenly saw a chance
to retrieve the defeat he suffered at La Rothiere.

Bliicher and Schwarzenberg had resumed their
march to Paris, the former following the valley
of the Marne and the latter the valley of the
Seine. So confident were the Austrian and Prus-
sian officers of reaching the French capital with-
out further interruption that in a bantering spirit
they were inviting each other to dinner in the
Palais Royal a week hence.

Napoleon saw the mistake made in dividing
the armies of invasion and was quick to take
advantage of it. Leaving a force to hold in
check the advance of Schwarzenberg, he marched
across country to the valley of the Marne, along
which Bliicher's army was trailing, stretched out
to a great length, there being a several days'
march between his front and rear divisions. Na-
24 369

NAPOLEON

poleon to the great surprise of Bliicher suddenly
struck this attenuated line in the centre with solid
masses of infantry, bent it like a bow, and then
at the breaking point assailed it with cavalry, and
scattered it to the four winds ; by rapid marching
he struck in turn both flanks, and Bliicher's army
was sent flying in a wild rout. These engage-
ments took place at Champaubert, Montmirail,
and Vauchamps, and for skillful strategy were
never surpassed by Napoleon in his best days.
His brilliant victories revived the hopes of
France, and elicited the astonishment and admira-
tion of the world. With 30,000 men, many of
them raw recruits, making forced marches over
snow and icy roads, he had beaten and scattered
an army of 50,000 men confident of victory.

Having intercepted and defeated one division
of the invading army on its way to the capital,
Napoleon started in pursuit of Schwarzenberg in
the valley of the Seine to inflict like punishment
upon him; but that prudent and wily commander
thought it better to retreat. Napoleon, however,
overtook him and administered a series of crush-
ing blows.

But these victories, great as they were from a
military viewpoint, only temporarily held the al-
lies in check. The battles diminished the forces
of Napoleon, who had no power of recuperation,
whereas the allies were receiving daily reinforce-
ments.

With his handful of an army, however, Na-
poleon fought on, giving way step by step ; never
did he display to a higher degree his qualities as
370

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

a soldier; but the odds were too many, the vast
host of invaders with overwhelming numbers
swept on like a tidal wave. The allies now had
an army in France of 400,000 men.

Napoleon again attacked Blucher and defeated
him at Craonne, but at Laon on March 7th the
French were beaten and had to retire. On the
2Oth Napoleon attacked Schwarzenberg, believing
at first it was only a corps of the Austrian forces ;
but he soon discovered it was the entire army and
before numbers so superior he was compelled to
retreat.

Abandoning the defence of Paris, Napoleon
marched to the Rhine as if to threaten the ene-
mies' lines of communication, a defensible piece
of strategy if there had been an army in front
of the invaders sufficient to defend the capital.
Napoleon by his counter-movement could not
divert the attention of the invaders from their
purpose and they continued their march on Paris.
It was his last move in the game ; the ruse was
not successful, and leaving his army to follow,
he hastened his steps towards the capital and
reached Fontainebleau on the evening of March
3Oth. He intended to continue further, but he
was persuaded by his friends to remain where he
was. The long struggle was over. Still his
proud spirit could not bend, and at times he
threatened to raise another army. But France
wanted peace at any cost. Napoleon tried to
induce the allies to agree to a regency for his son,
but that proposition was rejected. A provisional
government was organized in Paris under the
37i

NAPOLEON

direction of Talleyrand, and it was alone with
this government that the allies treated.

Marmont, one of Napoleon's early friends and
trusted marshals, abandoned at this juncture his
master and traitorously with 12,000 men went
over to the enemy. Crushed and mortified by
this blow, Napoleon at last signed his abdication
on April -4th. It was couched in these words:
' The allied Powers having proclaimed that the
Emperor Napoleon was the sole obstacle to the
re-establishment of peace in Europe, the Emperor
Napoleon, faithful to his oaths, declares that he
renounces for himself and his heirs the thrones
of France and Italy, and that there is no sacrifice,
not even that of life, which he is not ready to
make for the interest of France."

The allies decided that he was to retire to Elba,
a little island off the coast of Tuscany in the
Mediterranean sea, not far from the island on
which he had been born, and to receive annually
two million francs, to be paid out of the French
treasury and to be divided equally between him
and the empress. Napoleon and his consort were
to retain their titles, but their son wras to bear
the name the Duke of Parma. To the emperor's
wife and heir the duchies of Parma, Placentia and
Guastalla were allotted. It was further provided
that several hundred soldiers might accompany
the exile to Elba.

There was nothing now to do but to make

preparations for his departure. Abandoned by

many of his friends and marshals and even by his

wife; deprived of crown, throne and empire, he

372

DUKE OF REICHSTADT

From a portrait made in Vienna. Proof before letters

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

was truly an object of sympathy. He made an
attempt to take his life, which having failed, he
declared that Fate had decided that he must live
and await all that Providence had in store for
him.

He railed against the Austrians for keeping
his wife away from him, not knowing, fortu-
nately for his peace of mind, that she had shown
no special desire to see him or to accompany him
into exile. Shortly after her husband's departure
she was easily persuaded to go to Vienna, where
she lived the rest of her life. But Napoleon's
great cause of complaint was that his enemies
purposely and cruelly deprived him of the society
of his child, upon whom he had centred the hopes
and affection of his heart. When Maria Louisa
went to Austria she took the boy with her and
he never afterwards saw his father. He devel-
oped into a feeble manhood, physically, and gave
no evidences of possessing the genius of his illus-
trious parent. He was named Duke of Reich-
stadt in 1818, entered the Austrian army in early
youth, reached the rank of lieutenant colonel,
and died near Schonbrunn in 1832. He never
ceased, notwithstanding his associations, to have
the deepest affection for his father.

The deprivation of the society of his boy
was the heaviest cross the emperor had to bear
in all his exile.

Did any man ever stand so high as Napoleon
and fall so low? If he had wintered in Moscow
and had brought Alexander to terms, or if his
Russian invasion had been successful, and he

373

NAPOLEON

had held his empire intact, and had died in the
zenith of his power, his career would not be so
interesting a study, or the story of his life so
fascinating and instructive; it is its lights and
shades, its contrasts, that make it so picturesque,
so dramatic, so human and at times so pathetic.
On April 2Oth Napoleon left the palace to take
a carriage in waiting that was to bear him to-
wards the coast. A large body of the Imperial
Guard, wearing their tall bearskins, was drawn
up in the courtyard, and as he approached they
lowered their flags and presented arms. Old
grenadiers were in the ranks who had been with
him at Lodi, who had fought at Marengo, Aus-
terlitz, Jena, Friedland and Wagram. They had
toiled across the deserts of Egypt, climbed the
Alps, and marched over the frozen steppes of
Russia. They had followed his star of destiny
and with sorrow had watched its decline. Na-
poleon, turning towards them, said in a voice full
of emotion : " Soldiers of my old guard, I bid
you farewell. For twenty years we have been
together, and I have ever found you on the path
of honor and of glory. In these last days as in
those of our prosperity you have always been
models of bravery and of fidelity. With men
such as you our cause was not lost but the war
would have been endless; it would have been a
civil war and France would have suffered. I
have sacrificed all our interests for the welfare
of our country. I go forth ; you my friends must
continue to serve France. Her happiness was my
only thought ; it will always be the object of my
374

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

wishes. Bemoan not my fate. I might have
chosen death. If I have decided to live it is to
enhance your fame. I will write of the great
deeds we have done together. Farewell, my chil-
dren, my good wishes will ever follow you. Bear
me in your memories. I wish I could press you
all to my heart, but I will, at least, embrace your
colors." At these words General Petit advanced
with the eagle, and Napoleon taking the officer in
his arms kissed the standard. " Once more fare-
well, my old companions; may this last kiss
ever linger in your hearts." Then taking in his
hands one of the soiled and battle-rent banners,
he buried his face in its folds and sobbed.

375

CHAPTER XXVII

NAPOLEON'S DEPARTURE FOR ELBA — HIS RESI-
DENCE IN ELBA HIS RETURN TO FRANCE —

NEW CONSTITUTION CHAMP DE MAI

Napoleon's disasters had befallen him in the
short space of eighteen months. His retreat
from Moscow began on October 18, 1812; he
suffered defeat at Leipsic, October 18, 1813; and
his abdication took place April 4, 1814. He was
in the zenith of his power at Dresden, when all
Europe paid him homage and when he reviewed
his Grand Army just before the invasion of Rus-
sia, and nothing seemed so remote as the destruc-
tion of his dynasty. But now his vast realm had
crumbled to pieces, and was about to be parceled
out among his foes. This Caesar, who had
chained Victory to the chariot wheels of the Re-
public, had seized the consulate and established
an empire, had fought and defeated all Europe
combined, had overturned the thrones of his ene-
mies, and tossed the crowns to his friends, was
now stripped of his power, ordered into exile,
and pensioned by the restored Bourbons.

After bidding farewell to the old guard, Na-
poleon entered his carriage, accompanied by
Bertrand, and fell back on the cushions, his face
buried in his hands.

376

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

His journey through France revealed the sen-
timent of the people. In the north he was
greeted with cheers and tears, but, after passing
Lyons and reaching the lower districts and such
royalist towns as Orgon and Avignon, he was
hissed and denounced; great crowds gathered
around the carriage and threatened him with per-
sonal violence. The Provengals had been taught
to believe that his mother was a loose woman,
his father a butcher, and that he was a bastard,
his baptismal name being Nicholas, and while
shaking their fists in his face they hissed into his
ears their vile slanders and imprecations. The
Austrian and Russian hussars that accompanied
the cortege kept the assailants at bay and fre-
quently had to draw their sabres, spur their
horses and ride into the crowd to keep them from
dragging the emperor out into the road. It is
said that Napoleon's face grew pale under these
assaults and he cowered in the corner of his car-
riage, showing every sign of terror. A man
who braves the dangers of the battlefield may
tremble in the presence of an infuriated mob
threatening to tear him to pieces, for in its aspect
there is nothing more terrifying.

Towards the end of the journey the emperor
wore the uniform of a postilion and mounted one
of the post horses; subsequently he rode in the
carriage of the Austrian commissioners and thus
escaped recognition. After the excitement was
over and the danger had passed, he felt much
humiliated at what he called his pusillanimity.

At last reaching the coast, Napoleon boarded

377

NAPOLEON

an English frigate, the Undaunted, under the
command of Captain Usher. It was the town
of Frejus from which he set sail, the very town
in which he had landed on his return from Egypt
in 1799. Then his career of glory was but open-
ing, now it was rapidly drawing to a close.

The voyage to Elba was uneventful. Na-
poleon was not accorded the honors due his rank
as emperor, but was treated simply as an ordinary
citizen. The British sailors who expected to see
a monster, for he had been so described and pic-
tured in the English papers, were surprised to
meet a short, stout, quiet gentleman of middle
age, plainly dressed, easy in manner, most agree-
able and fascinating in conversation. Before
reaching their destination the sailors with but
one exception grew to have great respect for
" Boney," as they called him ; the exception was
a bluff old tar named Hinton, who would not
change his views, but in answer to every word
of approbation spoken of the distinguished pas-
senger would simply reply by saying, " humbug."

On the 4th of May the vessel arrived in the
harbor of Porto Ferrajo and while Napoleon is
disembarking we will return to Paris.

The allies had entered the city on March 31,
1814. The provisional government that had
been organized by Talleyrand invited the Bour-
bons to return. To show the allies, especially
the czar, who personally disliked the count of
Provence, that there was an apparent public de-
mand for that prince's enthronement, crowds of
young aristocrats, wearing the white cockade,
378

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

paraded through the streets at the instance of
the wily minister, shouting and cheering for
Louis XVIII.

It had been twenty years since the Bourbons
had been dethroned, when Louis and Marie
Antoinette had gone to the scaffold, and the great
body of the people feared a return of the detested
ancient regime. France had escaped from misrule
and privilege and had experienced the joy of liv-
ing under a government of equality. The abso-
lutism of the past with its doctrine of the divine
right of kings, feudalism with all its iniquitous
burdens, the privileges and exactions of the
church and the nobility which had cost such an
effusion of blood to destroy, were now to be re-
stored at the dictation of foreign potentates,
whose armies were encamped in the Bois de Bou-
logne. How much fairer it would have been to
the French people if the allies had treated directly
with Napoleon, who was the lawfully constituted
ruler of France, and exacted from him, for they
were in a position to enforce their demands, a
peace on their own terms, and then had left him
to settle the final account with his people. But
these allies, foreign princes, took upon themselves
the responsibility of changing the government of
France.

After the return of peace, soldiers came pour-
ing into the country, released from the garrisons
and fortresses of Germany and Italy and
discharged from the prisons of Russia, Aus-
tria, and Great Britain, and when they found
their occupation gone became a disturbing ele-
379

NAPOLEON

ment. The Old Guard, which had brought such
glory to the French army, was disbanded, and in
its stead was organized a body of 6,000 nobles
called the " Maison du Roi." Nothing could
have been more tactless ; but, as some wiseacre of
that period declared (the saying is attributed to
Talleyrand), "The Bourbons had learned noth-
ing and forgotten nothing." The family of
Georges Cadoudal, the leader in the celebrated
conspiracy to assassinate Napoleon, was ennobled
by special decree.

Among the old soldiers the feeling was most
bitter against the Bourbons, and they longed for
the return of " Le Pere Violette," as they called
the emperor, the violet being his favorite flower.

The Congress of Vienna met September 20,
1814, and by its dissensions brought the nations
almost to the brink of war. Russia's demands
were so arbitrary that to thwart her threatened
aggressions a secret compact was made by Aus-
tria, England, and France on January 3, 1815.

At this international feast Europe was carved
up anew and dainty bits distributed. Belgium
was annexed to the Netherlands, much to the
disgust of both states. Germany was made a
confederation, Spain was once more saddled with
the Bourbons. Italy again was broken into
fragments and parceled out among her former
rulers, Austria in the general distribution seizing
Venice and Milan, while Ferdinand was assigned
the Kingdom of Naples. France lost besides
Italy the Rhineland and the Netherlands.

At Elba Napoleon was watching with a furtive
380

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

eye the events happening in Europe, and waiting
for an opportunity to take advantage of the condi-
tions. Upon his arrival on the island, in order
to occupy his active mind, he had inaugurated a
system of internal improvements ; he busied him-
self in the developing of mines, the construction
of roads and the building of bridges. He also
effected a fair distribution of the taxes and
greatly increased the revenues.

He had a small country seat to which he oc-
casionally repaired for rest and seclusion, and
here he could be seen feeding chickens and playing
the role of a gentleman farmer. According to
the testimony of a Scotch visitor Napoleon drove
around the island in an old, dilapidated carriage
drawn by horses that were in keeping with the ve-
hicle. Out of mere curiosity thousands of tour-
ists visited the island, and among them many
lewd women, who hoped to win the favor of the
emperor. His mother and his sister Pauline
joined him to relieve the tedium and the loneli-
ness of his exile. Some base creatures circulated
a story that the emperor and his sister Pauline,
who had separated from her husband, the Prince
Borghese, had illicit relations, but there is no
foundation whatever for so cruel a scandal.
The princess was loose in her conduct and had
many lovers, as is proved by her intercepted let-
ters, but there is not a shadow of proof that she
and her brother were guilty of conduct so vile.
The rumor was industriously circulated at the
court of Louis XVIII, and in many quarters se-
riously affected the reputation of the emperor.
381

NAPOLEON

It is said that the Countess Walewski, with
one of the two sons she bore Napoleon, paid him
a visit and after a few days disappeared as mys-
teriously as she came.

Napoleon had many just causes of complaint,
for the agreement under the abdication was vio-
lated in nearly all of its provisions. The authori-
ties in Paris neglected to send him any portion
of his allowance, and when the British envoy,
Castlereagh, called Talleyrand's attention to this
matter the latter gave as a reason for the neglect
that it was not safe to supply Napoleon with
money. The island was filled with Bourbon
spies who dogged his footsteps night and day.
Further than this, his wife and son were pur-
posely kept away from him. Maria Louisa was
in Vienna receiving the attentions of a dash-
ing soldier, General Count Neipperg, whom she
subsequently married, and by whom she had sev-
eral children. Even though she had no desire
to see her husband, she should at least have
sent his son to comfort him in his banish-
ment. There could not have been treatment
more heartless and for it the father of Maria
Louisa and his minister Metternich were respon-
sible. The emperor Francis deliberately placed
his daughter in the way of Neipperg in order to
obliterate all recollection of her husband.

Napoleon had been allowed to take with him
seven hundred soldiers of the old guard, but the
Bourbon government had made no provision for
their maintenance, and had it not been for the
money, five million francs, which Napoleon had
382

Copyright, 1910, by George W. Jacobs & Co.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

From an original portrait drawn and engraved on the Island of Elba
by D'Albon in 1814

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

brought with him, it is likely they would have
been disbanded.

During the sessions of the Congress of Vienna
the papers were rilled with rumors that Napoleon
was to be removed further from the shores of
Europe, to the Azores or the island of St. Helena.
It was subsequently denied by the Duke of Wel-
lington that any such suggestion was made at
any conference he attended, but at the time there
was every reason for Napoleon to believe the
reports were true.

Agitated by such rumors and embittered by
the many provocations he had suffered, Na-
poleon at last decided to risk all on another
cast of the die, and at once made preparations
to depart the island and return to France. As-
certaining that the British war vessel that
guarded the island, the Partridge, commanded
by Captain Adye, would be absent on a run to
Leghorn from the 24th to the 26th, Napoleon
decided to take advantage of that opportunity.
On Sunday night, February 25, 1815, the em-
peror embarked at Porto Ferrajo on the brig
Inconstant, which had been painted by his
order to resemble an English ship, and accom-
panied by seven other vessels, altogether carrying
1,050 officers and men, set sail for France. The
little fleet was favored by fair winds and eluded
the French guard ship Fleur de Lys. Na-
poleon, after this fortunate escape, ordered his
vessels to scatter. A French cruiser hailed the
little brig off the island of Corsica and asked after
the health of the emperor ; the answer sent back,
383

NAPOLEON

suggested by Napoleon himself, was : " Marvel-
ously well." On the afternoon of the first of
March, 1815, the ships sailed into the Gulf de
Jouan near Cannes, where a successful landing
was effected.

" I shall reach Paris without firing a shot,"
was the emperor's prediction as he approached
the shores of France. Turning aside from the
royalist towns of Provence, he took the road to
the north into the mountains towards Savoy.
When a short distance from Grenoble a body of
troops under the command of General Marchand,
who had threatened to scatter the invading bri-
gands, barred the way. Without hesitation, Na-
poleon, accompanied by forty of his old guard
wearing their tall bearskins and carrying their
arms reversed, came forward. The very moment
the royalist troops saw the old familiar figure in
gray coat and little cocked hat, their ranks began
to swerve. The order by their officers to fire
was not obeyed. Then Napoleon addressing
them said : " Soldiers, if there is one among you
who wishes to kill his emperor, he can do so.
Here I am." Then throwing open his coat,
showing his well-known uniform and the ribbon
of the Legion of Honor, he stood facing the
opposing lines. It was too much for the soldiers
to resist, and immediately the cry rang out,
" Vive I'empereur." The next moment the ranks
were broken, the white cockades torn from their
hats were trampled in the dust, and the enthusias-
tic soldiers were crowding around their idol.

At Grenoble the garrison troops stood by and
384

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

laughed while the Bonapartists battered down the
gates of the town. " Before reaching Grenoble,"
said Napoleon, " I was an adventurer. At
Grenoble I was a prince." Everywhere on the
road to Paris officers were defied and deserted
and armies melted away. Colonel Labedoyere,
a former aide-de-camp of the emperor, ordered
the drums to be broken open and the regimental
flags and tri-color cockades were brought forth
from their place of concealment; the standards
were thrown to the breeze amidst the wild cheers
of the troops, and the cockades distributed. At
Lyons the count d'Artois and Marshal Macdon-
ald fled, and the soldiers welcomed Napoleon
with every demonstration of joy, crying out,
" Down with the Bourbons." Napoleon, now at
the head of 14,000 men, pressed on to Paris.
Marshal Ney with a force of 6,000 men was
marching from Besangon to oppose his progress
with a wild boast upon his lips that he would
bring back the Corsican in an iron cage. The
soldiers under Ney were sullen, and at every
step of the way evinced signs of dissatisfaction.
When the town of Bourg was reached one regi-
ment deserted in a body. Ney, having received
assurances from his old commander that he would
be fairly treated, gathered his troops about him
and in the midst of their acclamations renounced
his allegiance to Louis XVIII and avowed his
loyalty to the emperor.

So great were the desertions that a wag hung
a placard on the railing of the column Vendome
in Paris purporting to be a copy of a letter ad-
25 385

NAPOLEON

dressed by Napoleon to Louis XVIII. It read:
" My dear Brother : It is useless to send me
any more troops; I have enough."

As the triumphant army advanced, the whole
countryside turned out to greet Napoleon; the
roads were lined with cheering peasants, 'many
of whom joined in the march. Hearing of the
desertion of his troops and the cordial reception
given to the returning hero, Louis XVIII gath-
ered his effects and left Paris with his court in
great haste. As the capital was approached the
emperor entered a carriage with his devoted
friend Caulaincourt, and together, leaving his
followers in the rear, they rode after nightfall
into the city, accompanied only by a few Polish
lancers. The silence seemed ominous. The citi-
zens as yet did not realize what was taking place,
but when the Tuileries was reached the officers
and soldiers set up an exultant shout; stout and
loving arms seized the emperor and carried him
up the staircase to his old apartments on the sec-
ond floor. Soon the enthusiasm spread through
the city like wild fire and the streets were crowded
with citizens hastening to the palace to do homage
to the returned emperor.

According to Bourrienne, one of the Paris
newspapers announced the arrival and advance
of Napoleon as follows: "The Corsican brig-
and has landed at Cannes;" the next day:
" The rash usurper has been received at Gre-
noble ;" then the tone changed : " General Bona-
parte has 'entered Lyons;" a few days after:
" Napoleon is at Fontainebleau ;" and finally :
386

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

" His majesty the emperor alighted this evening
at his palace of the Tuileries."

To show how sentiment was affected by the
return of Napoleon, the following from the
Memoirs of General Thiebault is a g<?od illustra-
tion. He had been a soldier through the wars
of the republic and the empire and after the abdi-
cation of Napoleon had given his allegiance to
the Bourbons. While the emperor was on his
way to the capital after his return from Elba,
Thiebault's troops deserted him in a body, and
espoused Napoleon's cause. The general, being
without a command, withdrew to his home to
await events. After dinner he took a stroll, pur-
posely going in a direction other than towards
the Tuileries, but finding throngs of people hur-
rying through the streets on the way to the pal-
ace, he joined them, drawn by an impulse he could
not resist, and suddenly carried away by the gen-
eral enthusiasm, found himself, although he had
never been a zealous Bonapartist, with hat in air
cheering as lustily as the others.

It was just as Napoleon predicted in his proc-
lamation written on board the brig that brought
him from Elba. " Victory," he said, " will ad-
vance at the full gallop, the eagle with the na-
tional colors will fly from steeple to steeple, even
to the towers of Notre Dame." For days thou-
sands of people gathered around the Tuileries to
catch a glimpse of the emperor and whenever he
appeared at the windows a great shout went up
which he answered with a smile and a bow.

Napoleon acted with prudence, declared that
387

NAPOLEON

France needed peace and that it could only be
disturbed by the action of the allies. He an-
nounced that the rule of the Bourbons was at an
end, disbanded the hated corps known as the
" Maison (}u Roi," which had supplanted the Im-
perial Guard, sequestered the estates of the Bour-
bon princes and abolished all feudal titles. His
ministry was composed of men representing every
shade of political opinion: Maret was named
secretary of state, Decres was appointed to the
navy, Davoust became head of the war depart-
ment, Mollein took the treasury, Carnot and
Fouche the departments of home affairs and
police respectively.

The Congress of Vienna was still in session,
reconstructing the map of Europe, when Napoleon
arrived in Paris. The news at first stunned that
group of astute diplomats, but immediately recov-
ering from their surprise they greeted it with a
roar of laughter. They at once placed Napoleon
beyond the protection of the law by declaring him
an outcast, which was virtually an incitement to
assassination.

Instead of execrating him and putting a pre-
mium upon his head the allies should have dealt
fairly with Napoleon. The Bourbons had shown
their utter incapacity to rule and they had delib-
erately broken every stipulation of the agreement
made with Napoleon at the time of his abdication.
Austria, too, had violated her part of the com-
pact by the detention of his wife and child. Be-
sides this, the enthusiastic and spontaneous recep-
tion to the emperor upon his return was a fair

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

indication of public sentiment, and it should have
been left to the French people to choose their
ruler and not to the potentates and ministers of
foreign powers. The conduct of the allies was
controlled alone by their fears.

Napoleon, seeing the attitude of the coalition,
endeavored to sow dissension in their ranks.
Among the papers left behind by the Bourbons
in their hasty flight he found the secret compact
signed by Austria, Great Britain, and France
against Russia and Prussia and dispatched it
forthwith to the czar ; but that monarch, sending
for Metternich, with whom he had not for some
months been on speaking terms, consigned in
the Austrian minister's presence the paper to the
flames, stating at the same time that all past dis-
sensions and differences must be forgotten in a
united effort to overthrow a common foe.

Murat in a final effort to save his kingdom of
Naples raised an army of 40,000 men, but was
disastrously defeated by the Austrians at Tolen-
tino, May 3, 1815, and fled to France. Here he
opened a correspondence with the emperor who,
however, declined to be reconciled. After Na-
poleon's downfall Murat wandered about for
some months as a fugitive. In October, 1815,
in a final effort to recover his kingdom, he landed
on the shores of Naples with a handful of men,
but was captured, summarily tried, convicted,
and sentenced to be shot. When led out to exe-
cution he would not accept a chair nor suffer his
eyes to be blindfolded. He stood upright, kissed
a cornelian ring upon which the likeness of his
389

NAPOLEON

wife was engraved, and turning to the soldiers,
said : " Save my face — aim at my heart —
fire."

It was unfortunate for Napoleon that Murat,
the greatest cavalry officer in the French army,
was not at Waterloo, for his presence on that
field might have saved the day.

When Napoleon reached Lyons after his escape
from Elba he promised in a public proclamation
to give a liberal constitution to France. This
great instrument was drawn up by Benjamin
Constant under the immediate direction of the
emperor. It established an hereditary Chamber
of Peers, the members to be nominated by the
emperor and a lower Chamber to be elected by
popular vote. The jury system was to be main-
tained and the liberty of the press secured. The
power of appointment of the judges was to reside
in the emperor.

On the first of June a great ceremony was held
called the Champ de Mai. Why it was so desig-
nated it is hard to tell, but it resembled in many
of its features the Festival of the Federation.
Detachments from every corps in the army passed
in review. Napoleon instead of appearing in his
familiar military uniform was dressed in a very
unbecoming theatrical costume. Amidst cheers
and the booming of cannon, he took a solemn oath
to maintain the new constitution. One of the
most imposing features of the pageant was the
presentation of the eagles. As the emperor
handed the standards to the different commands
he addressed to them a few well chosen remarks
390

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

in which he appealed to their sentiments of pa-
triotism.

It was vitally necessary to arouse the enthusi-
asm of his troops, for all Europe was now march-
ing towards the borders of France. An Anglo-
Prussian army under Wellington and Bliicher
was massed near Brussels, Schwarzenberg was
leading a large Austrian army to the Rhine, while
Germany and Russia were hastening their col-
umns forward towards the French frontier.

391

CHAPTER XXVIII

LIGNY QUATRE BRAS

Napoleon knew he could expect no quarter
from the allies. They had refused to treat with
him as the actual ruler of France at the time of
his abdication, and now they had declared him
an outlaw. They had arbitrarily deposed him
as emperor, and had saddled upon France a gov-
ernment which the vast majority of the people
did not want. They had nullified all the results
of the Revolution and by the restoration of the
Bourbons had turned back the hands of the clock
twenty years.

The allies in dealing with Napoleon, now that
he had returned to France, did not take into con-
sideration the fact that they had willfully broken
every covenant in the agreement made with him.
In truth what right had they as foreign poten-
tates to say who should be the ruler of France?
That was a question for her people to decide.

Napoleon might have organized an army and
awaited an invasion of the allies, but he well
knew that such a plan would result in a long-
drawn-out war and bring him no personal re-
nown. Besides he had not the patience to stand
simply on the defensive; his purpose was to re-
store by conquest as much of his empire as was
392

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

possible. His ambition was not yet circum-
scribed by the frontiers of France. To deal a
blow that would shatter the Anglo-Prussian
armies before they were reinforced would terrify
his enemies, restore his prestige, and enable him
to dictate terms of peace. Accordingly he gave
orders to mass his army on the frontiers of Bel-
gium, and on the nth of June, 1815, left Paris.
He reached Beaumont, and was in the midst of
his troops on the I4th.

He was not the man he had been; his intellect
was as bright, his conceptions were as great and
his skill as a strategist was not in the least im-
paired ; but he lacked, as we shall see, that decision,
promptitude and energy, that indefatigable activ-
ity that once so signally characterized him. Nor
could he stand the strain and exposure as in his
earlier years ; his urinary and hemorrhoidal com-
plaints gave him much pain and annoyance, and
he could no longer keep the saddle for eighteen
or twenty hours at a stretch without exhaustion.
Besides he was greatly handicapped in that he
had not all his old marshals around him. Murat,
as we have seen, was out of favor. Oudinot,
Victor, St. Cyr, Macdonald, Augereau, and Mar-
mont remained loyal to Louis XVIII. Junot
was in a mad house, and Berthier, his chief of
staff, had retired to Germany and in a fit of
frenzy had thrown himself from a window of a
house in Bamberg. Massena was too old to
enter upon the hardships of a campaign. Da-
voust, the hero of Auerstadt, one of the greatest
of Napoleon's marshals, had been named secre-

393

NAPOLEON

tary of war, and although he begged to be given
a command, the emperor refused to listen to his
appeal. " I must have some one in Paris whom
I can implicitly trust to protect my interests while
I am absent," argued Napoleon. " O ! Sire," re-
plied Davoust, " if victory comes to your stand-
ard anybody can protect your interests here, but
if defeat should be your lot, I nor no one else
can be of use to your Majesty." Still Napoleon
could not be persuaded to take his marshal along,
whose presence on the field of Waterloo might
have saved the day. Another grave mistake Na-
poleon made was in selecting Soult as his chief
of staff; he had been a division commander of
skill and experience and could have been ap-
pointed to a much more important position, while
a younger man could easily and perhaps more
efficiently have performed the duties to which he
was assigned.

Napoleon's sudden appearance at the head of
his troops took by complete surprise both Wel-
lington and Blucher. The emperor issued one
of his stirring appeals, and forthwith gave an
order to advance, the vanguard of his army
reaching Charleroi on the fifteenth. The Prus-
sian outposts were driven in and the main body
fell back on Ligny.

When news of the French advance was carried
to Wellington on the night of the I5th, he was
at the Duchess of Richmond's ball in Brussels.
He at once dispatched the Prince of Orange to
command the troops at Quatre Bras, so called from
two roads crossing at that point, one running
394

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

north by west from Charleroi to Brussels and the
other west by north from Namur to Nivelles and
beyond. Wellington quietly withdrew from the
ball and taking the Duke of Richmond into a

private room remarked : " That d rascal

Bonaparte has humbugged me." Placing his
hand upon a map lying upon a table, he marked
with his thumb nail Waterloo as the place where
the battle would be fought. Officers were hastily
sent from the ball-room to their commands, or-
derlies and aides were soon flying in every direc-
tion with dispatches to the different corps
commanders to concentrate their troops.

Napoleon's army consisted of 125,000 men,
while Wellington and Bliicher had each one hun-
dred thousand. Together the English and Prus-
sians were in numbers greatly superior to the
French, but Napoleon's army was somewhat
stronger numerically than either. The English
army stretched from Antwerp, its base, to Brus-
sels and beyond, until its left wing joined the
Prussian right between Quatre Bras and Ligny.
The Prussian line extended as far east as Liege,
which was its base. It will thus be seen that the
same conditions confronted Napoleon in Belgium
as in his first campaign in Italy. The strategy
he adopted in 1815 was the same as in 1796. His
plan was to strike these two armies in the centre
and after dividing them throw each back on its
base, thus driving them away from each other in
diverging directions.

On the morning of the i6th, Napoleon began
making preparations to attack the Prussians un-
395

NAPOLEON

der Bliicher at Ligny, directing Ney to engage
at the same time the English at Quatre Bras,
thus keeping them at bay while Napoleon
was handling Bliicher. There seems to have
been some misunderstanding in relation to the
order given to Ney, as to whether he was to
attack or seize Quatre Bras, and that there should
have been a misunderstanding is not surprising
in view of the fact that it was not until the elev-
enth that Ney was ordered to the battlefield and
he assumed command on the afternoon of the
fifteenth without any knowledge of the plan of
campaign.

For some reason never explained Napoleon de-
layed until half -past eleven o'clock his attack on
the Prussians, thus giving them time to mass their
troops and to strengthen their position.

The battle opened with a severe artillery fire
and then the corps of Vandamme and Gerard
simultaneously assailed at different points the
Prussian line. Charge after charge was made
by Gerard with varying success, but at last the
French heavy guns concentrated their fire on
Ligny. Roofs were torn away, buildings toppled
and fell, and flames burst forth in different quar-
ters of the town. Under a pall of smoke the
French made a furious onset and after a hand-
to-hand scuffle the Prussians were slowly driven
back and compelled to give ground. At St.
Amand, Vandamme fought with desperate cour-
age but made no serious impression on the Prus-
sian lines, for after hours of the bitterest fighting
the combatants still stood face to face. Bliicher
396

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

had weakened his centre to reinforce his left in
order to repel the fierce onslaughts of Vandamme,
and Napoleon, quickly taking advantage of this
condition, massed his troops ready to deliver the
finishing blow, and at 5.30 the Imperial Guard
was brought up to strengthen the attack.

When on the point of giving the word to the
batteries to open fire before the final charge, Na-
poleon, sweeping the field with his glass, saw to
the northwest a large body of troops marching
to the southeast as if to attack the French left
wing. Whether it meant that Ney had been
defeated and the English were coming to the
assistance of the Prussians or whether they were
German troops reinforcing Bliicher, was the ques-
tion.

Light-horse cavalry were sent out at once to
reconnoitre, but before they returned the whole
body of advancing troops began a counter-move-
ment and turned in an opposite direction. Word
was soon brought to Napoleon that it was d'Er-
lon's corps.

It appears that an aide, Colonel de Forsin Jan-
son, had been dispatched to Ney with an order
to release d'Erlon's corps in order that it might
strike the Prussians on the right flank while Na-
poleon pounded the centre. Of course this order
was not to be carried out unless Ney could afford
to do without d'Erlon. Although Napoleon sent
the order to Ney the courier stopped at the head-
quarters of d'Erlon, who commanded but a corps
in the army of Ney, and read to him the dispatch.
Without waiting for further orders from Ney,
397

NAPOLEON

d'Erlon with his force of 30,000 men started to
carry out the instructions as he supposed of the
commander in chief, and while groping around
for the Prussian flank an order from Ney brought
him back, and it was at that moment that he re-
lieved Napoleon's anxiety by counter-marching.
Thus the whole corps like a pendulum swung be-
tween the armies of Napoleon and Ney without
being of use to either of them. It was a lost
force. If the 30,000 men had been in either bat-
tle, at Quatre Bras or Ligny, the result would
have been decisive. If it had not been for the
blunder of the stupid aide, Wellington as well as
Bliicher doubtless would have suffered a severe
defeat.

In the meantime the artillery had been working
dreadful havoc among the Prussian troops who
occupied an exposed position on an opposite slope.
Suddenly a terrific thunder storm broke over the
heads of the combatants, the rain fell in torrents
and amidst the crashing of thunder bolts and the
roar of artillery the French troops, consisting of
Gerard's corps and the Imperial Guard, charged
on the run the Prussian centre, the army was cut
in twain, the line shattered and the whole body
began a retreat. Bliicher tried to rally his forces,
but in vain, and in the confusion the stubborn
old fighter was unhorsed and stunned by the fall,
while a troop of cavalry charged over him. It
was through the courage of Nostitz, his faithful
aide, that he was sheltered and saved from cap-
ture. The command fell upon Gneisenau, his
chief of staff, a very able soldier.
398

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

The Prussians never fought better, but because
of their exposed position, they were terribly bat-
tered by the terrific discharge of artillery and the
repeated assaults of infantry and cavalry during
eight hours of continuous fighting. About 14,-
ooo Prussians and 11,000 French lay dead and
wounded on that blood-soaked field.

Never did Napoleon need Murat's services
more than at this moment. If he could have sent
that peerless officer with a body of cavalry after
the fleeing Prussians, he would have turned the
retreat into a rout and doubtless the great victory
of Jena would have been repeated. As it was, the
Prussians withdrew in comparatively good order.
Why Napoleon did not follow up his success and
make it decisive it is hard to tell. " He is not
the man he was in Italy," remarked Vandamme.
After eighteen hours of continuous riding he left
the saddle and sought rest, and it was not until
the next day that he sent Grouchy with a corps
of 33,000 men to follow Blucher.

The Prussians, instead of falling back on
Liege, their base of supplies, as it was reasonable
to suppose they would do, abandoned their line
of communication and retreated north towards
Wavre. If they had fallen back to the east on
Namur or Liege every step would have taken
them further away from the English, but going
to Wavre brought them closer to their ally.

At Quatre Bras a terrible conflict had been

waged while the battle was on at Ligny. Ney

had delayed his attack upon the enemy until two

o'clock in the afternoon and by that time the Eng-

399

NAPOLEON

lish troops had been greatly reinforced. Wel-
lington was in command, his army amounting to
30,000 men, while the French had but 20,000.
Ney fought with skill and desperate courage, but
at nightfall retired to Frasnes, where he was
joined by the wandering corps of d'Erlon.

The English loss was about 5,000 killed and
wounded ; the French loss was not so great.

Taken altogether the events of the i6th were
favorable to Napoleon. Blucher had suffered de-
feat and although his retreat was not a rout the
victory was complete and had greatly inspirited
the French troops. Ney after desperate fighting
had not succeeded in occupying Quatre Bras, but
he had kept Wellington so warmly engaged that
the duke was unable to send any reinforcements
to Blucher, even though he knew the Prussian
general was being sorely pressed.

Late in the night of the i6th Napoleon
organized a corps of 33,000 men and placed
Grouchy in command to follow the retreating
Prussians, but the French did not start on their
errand until the dawn of the I7th.

400

CHAPTER XXIX

WATERLOO

Napoleon, after giving his army a rest, united
with Ney on the i/th and began operating against
Wellington. Why he was so prodigal of time
was no doubt due to the fact that he believed
Bliicher had fallen back towards his base, and
was quite removed from the present sphere of
operations. As a prudent general the emperor
ought to have known what was Bliicher's line of
retreat, and if Davoust had been in Grouchy 's
place he would have known. But Grouchy
moved slowly and with hesitation, whereas the
Prussian general had a well-defined plan and
acted with promptitude.

Wellington and Blucher had a meeting in a
windmill on the I7th, and the Prussian general
promised to reinforce the duke with three corps ;
upon this guarantee of assistance Wellington de-
cided to give battle.

As Napoleon advanced, Wellington fell back,
but on the night of the I7th the British general
reached Mont St. Jean. It began raining early
in the afternoon of the I7th, which greatly re-
tarded the movements of both armies. The po-
sition chosen by Wellington for a stand was a
strong, defensive one. The country was undulat-

26 401

NAPOLEON

ing. Directly in front of the English was a slope
which ran up to a crest, upon which their artillery
was posted, while the infantry and cavalry were
sheltered by the rising ground. Back of the Eng-
lish army was the forest of Soignes, on their
front to the left was the farmhouse of La Haye
Sainte, which was strongly fortified. The left
was further protected by a ravine that ran trans-
versely and which was the so-called sunken ditch
or fallen road into which, according to tradition,
plunged Dubois's brigade of cavalry, men and
horses rolling in horrid confusion and trampling
each other to death in the pit. Opposite the cen-
tre of their right wing was another farmhouse
called Hougomont, which had been converted into
a veritable fortress. Mont St. Jean was Wel-
lington's centre. The English army was de-
ployed in three lines. The first was in full view
of the French, the second partially concealed by
the crest and the third entirely so.

When Napoleon reached Belle Alliance on the
evening of the I7th he was surprised and rejoiced
to see the English army drawn up in line of battle,
for he had feared that it was Wellington's inten-
tion to retreat behind the forest of Soignes and
there await reinforcements from Blucher.

Napoleon prepared at once for battle. His
army was formed in three lines. The first com-
posed of infantry, with cavalry on each wing ; the
second was shorter, but of the same formation
as the first, that is, infantry flanked by cavalry;
the third was the Imperial Guard, acting as re-
serves. Belle Alliance, a farmhouse, was the
402

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

French centre and in the rear of the army was
an elevation called Rossomme, where Napoleon
had his headquarters, and from which elevation
he had a full view of the field. He wore his fa-
miliar uniform, long gray surtout and black
cocked hat.

The original assignments were as follows :
General Drouet d'Erlon the first corps, Gen-
eral Reille the second, General Vandamme the
third, General Gerard the fourth, and Count Lo-
bau the sixth and the Imperial Guard. Marshal
Ney commanded the left wing, consisting of the
first and second corps ; General Grouchy the right
wing, comprising the third and fourth corps,
while the sixth corps and the Imperial Guard
forming the centre were under the immediate
command of Napoleon.

The rain had continued to fall all afternoon
and far into the night, and the lanes and roads
were converted into quagmires, entirely too heavy
for rapid military movements. During the night
of the I7th and morning of the i8th the French
troops were rushed forward and reaching their
position in line slept on their arms on the wet
ground in sight of the bivouac fires of the British.

Napoleon was up several times during the
night reconnoitring the enemy's position. The
ground was so heavy that he had to receive as-
sistance frequently to drag his boots out of the
mud. When morning dawned the rain ceased,
but it was nearly noon before Napoleon gave the
command to open the battle. In the meantime
the armies stood facing each other in grim de-
403

NAPOLEON

termination. It was Sunday morning; the air
was misty and sultry, the sky was dark with over-
hanging clouds, there was no sun to usher in the
day as on the glorious field of Austerlitz. The
standing grain was yellow, almost ripe for the
sickle, the wide landscape lay not only in the
quiet of a Sabbath day, but in the awful hush
that precedes the opening of a battle and the clash
of arms.

Suddenly one hundred and twenty cannon
roared out in defiance and covered the field with
smoke. Reille, leading the second corps, made an
attack upon Hougomont, but the English were so
strongly entrenched and their fire was so terrific
that the French recoiled. Four Englishmen by
sheer physical strength closed the heavy gate
against the foes ; a few grenadiers scaled the wall
that surrounded the garden of the chateau, but
were killed when on the other side. The orchard
and part of the garden at last were carried, but
the English retained the chateau and were not
dislodged at any time during the battle.

The assault on Hougomont was not successful
and Napoleon immediately ordered an attack on
the English left. Infantry and artillery advanced
to the charge. General Picton, one of the brav-
est officers in the British army, who had rendered
signal service in Spain, led a countercharge with
the bayonet, and drove back the assaulting col-
umns of the French, but lost his life in the fray.
Picton's charge was supported by the " Scotch
Grays," who rushed into battle, shouting,
" Scotland forever," and they were closely fol-
404

WELLINGTON

From a portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

lowed by the Inniskilling dragoons. The head-
long charge of the British cavalry carried them
almost within the French lines, but in turn they
were assailed and driven back.

Ney now made charge after charge, leading
squadron after squadron against the British
squares; five horses were shot under him, but
the cavalry could not break the English forma-
tion; the plunging steeds though urged by spur
until their flanks ran blood could not penetrate
the bristling breastwork of steel. It was like the
waves of a storm-driven sea, dashing against a
rock in mid-ocean; rushing on, they strike with
tremendous force, break into foam and then
seething and hissing fall back in all directions,
only to gather their strength and renew the at-
tack.

The second charge was one of the most famous
that ever took place on a European battlefield.
Twelve thousand horsemen, light and heavy
cavalry, were engaged. The English artillery
tore great gaps in their massed ranks and checked
their advance even before the squares were
reached, but rallying their forces they dashed
down the slope with a cheer, only to meet with a
final repulse and to reel back in disorder.

The English squares were four deep, the first
line kneeling, the second at the charge and the
third and the fourth firing over their heads. As
the cavalry came on the foremost riders were
swept from their saddles by volleys of musketry
and in desperation those horsemen who reached
the squares would discharge their pistols in the
405

NAPOLEON

faces of the kneeling soldiers and then lean over
and sabre them in an effort to force an opening
into the solid ranks, but all such attempts were
futile. The squares stood fast.

As the French cavalry rode up the slope, the
artillery on the crest would open fire, the gun-
ners after the last volley abandoning the cannon
and seeking refuge in the British lines. For
some unaccountable reason, perhaps owing to the
excitement of battle, the French failed to spike
or disable the English guns and every charge
of horse had to meet the same deadly artillery
fire.

For two hours these attacks continued in quick
succession. The soldiers in the squares, sub-
jected to constant volleys from heavy guns and
the incessant fusillade of musketry from skir-
mishers, could not lie down or break their forma-
tion for fear the cavalry would again suddenly
assail them and in consequence they suffered
great losses.

Ney fought like a madman; at times he as-
sumed supreme command and made requisitions
on troops that were not in his division, without
even consulting with his chief. Napoleon, no
longer able to keep his saddle, had dismounted,
and was seated at a table with his maps spread
out before him. Occasionally he was seen to
nod, so worn out was he by the terrific strain of
the past three days. No one can study the details
of this famous battle and get into its atmosphere
without being convinced that Napoleon was not
the man he had been. His apathy was in sad
406

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

contrast to the zeal, activity and energy of Wel-
lington.

Towards five o'clock one more desperate effort
was made to capture the farmhouse of La Haye
Sainte. The attack was opened with a furious
cannonading; then a headlong charge with in-
fantry led by Ney on foot with a broken sword
put the garrison to flight, and following in hot
pursuit the French broke through the English
centre. Ney, in order to hold his ground, sent
hurriedly to Napoleon for more men.

"Where am I to get them?" cried Napoleon
petulantly; "does he think I can make them?"
If Napoleon had possessed the spirit and courage
he displayed at Lodi and Arcola he would per-
sonally have headed the Guard and led them to
the assistance of his marshal and won the day.
This was the last chance he had to retrieve his
fortune.

There was no sign nor word from Grouchy,
but over the hills to the northeast could be seen
approaching the army of Bliicher, and their ad-
vance columns under Bulow soon began to
press upon the right wing of the French. Na-
poleon had ordered Count Lobau to hold
Planchenoit and keep the Prussians at bay,
while he prepared to make one supreme and final
effort to break the English lines. The Imperial
Guard was massed and marched with its usual
confidence and courage to the attack, but by this
time the English line had been strengthened by
Prussian reinforcements to the number of nearly
fifty thousand. Under a terrific fire from mus-
407

NAPOLEON

ketry and artillery the Guard began to recoil.
Wellington, with the eye of an experienced sol-
dier, saw the decisive moment had arrived.
" Up, men, and at them," he cried. In the sight
of his army he took off his hat and waving it
towards the enemy ordered an advance of the
whole line. Bugles and bagpipes, fifes and
drums, aroused the spirit of the soldiers. Under
so vast a host the Guard was overwhelmed. Na-
poleon deployed them so as to form rallying
points, but when the Guard was seen to wince
under the galling fire, consternation seized the
common soldiers, discipline and order were lost,
and the cry rang through the ranks : " The
Guard gives way." D'Erlon's corps, overpow-
ered by superior numbers, broke and fled, and
the defeat became a rout. Ney, foaming with
rage, ran among the troops brandishing a broken
sword and attempted to rally them for one more
stand; but they swept on without heeding his
appeals. " Cowards," he cried, " have you for-
gotten how to die ? "

• The Old Guard stubbornly fell back from posi-
tion to position, its ranks torn and riddled by
shot and shell. Cambronne, its commander,
hatless, blackened with powder and smoke, de-
fiant to the last, with sword in hand, when sum-
moned to surrender, made a nasty reply which
fortunately has gone down into the romance of
history as " The Old Guard dies but never sur-
renders." Immediately the valiant soldier was
shot in the face and fell seriously wounded, but
his command desperately fought on and doggedly
408

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

held their ground until encompassed on all sides
by an overwhelming host; then, seeing that
further resistance was useless, the few that were
left, one hundred and fifty in number, filed sadly
and dejectedly to the rear of the English lines.
So closed the glorious career of the Imperial
Guard.

Wellington had prudently reserved for the
final stroke some brigades of cavalry and at the
decisive moment they were let loose and sent in
to make the disaster complete. Anxious to have
a share in the glory, they responded with a will.

As night came on the rising moon shed light
enough to enable the Prussian horse to follow
the fleeing, panic-stricken host. The carnage
was dreadful; there was no mercy shown as the
sabres rose and fell, keeping time with the ex-
ultant and vengeful cry: "Remember Jena!"
When the horses became exhausted or the sol-
diers grew tired of the slaughter, the officers
ordered the bugles to ring out the charge to
revive the energy of the men and through all the
night and far into the next day the chase con-
tinued.

When he realized the army was in full retreat
Napoleon seemed dazed, his looks grew dark, he
called out to the fleeing troops to halt, but they
were deaf even to his appeal. Soult took him
by the arm and led him away. With a small
command he hastened from the field, Bertrand
and Monthyon supporting him on his horse as
they rode along. Charleroi was reached about
daybreak on the morning of the iQth. Here
409

NAPOLEON

Napoleon left the saddle and continued his flight
in a carriage.

So ended the famous battle of Waterloo, so
called because it was from that village that Wel-
lington dated his dispatch announcing his vic-
tory. It has become the synonym for utter de-
feat. To say that a man has met his Waterloo
means that he has suffered ruin beyond repair,
and yet the battle was lost by the greatest captain
in all history. The allies had from eighteen to
twenty thousand killed and wounded and the
French twenty-five thousand.

Taking all things into consideration Napoleon
should have won the field. At the start he was
over-confident; he was careless of details and too
prodigal of time. On the morning of the i6th
he began the battle at Ligny too late in the day,
thus giving Blikher an opportunity to mass his
troops and strengthen his position, and even
after the battle was won he did not follow up
the retreating army and make his victory com-
plete. " Napoleon is the only man in Europe/'
declared Czartoryski, " that knows the value of
time/' and yet it was not until the morning of
the 1 7th that he sent Grouchy in pursuit of the
retreating Prussians. Everything depended up-
on knowing the direction Bliicher had gone,
whether to Liege or Wavre. It was presumed
that he had fallen back on his base of supplies,
but that was a mere presumption, for the truth
was he had abandoned his line of communica-
tion and was marching north in the direction
of Wavre with the intention of reinforcing the
410

Copyright, 79/0, by George W. Jacobs & Co.

MARSHAL GROUCHY

From an original drawing in colors by Biard

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

English army. No matter what orders may
have been given to Grouchy, he was told by Soult
to keep in touch with Napoleon's army and he
knew or ought to have known that he was to
prevent at all hazards the junction of the allies,
or failing in that to hasten to Napoleon's aid, and
especially should he have done the latter when
he heard the roar of the guns on the morning of
the 1 8th. Gerard, one of his officers, bluntly
told him it was his duty to follow the sound and
no longer to trail in the rear of the retreating
army.

Even on the morning of the i8th, at the open-
ing of the battle of Waterloo, Napoleon did not
positively know the whereabouts of Bliicher's
army, and this was owing to the incompetency
of Grouchy. Even the famous Bertrand order
dictated by Napoleon, which Grouchy for a long
time denied ever having received, would not have
misled a good, clear-headed soldier. " It is im-
portant to find out," the paper read, " what the
enemy [meaning Bliicher] is intending to do;
whether he is separating himself from the Eng-
lish, or whether he is intending still to unite to
cover Brussels or Liege in trying the fate of
another battle." The gist of this order is in the
first sentence : the instructions are to find out the
intentions of the enemy. This left authority in
Grouchy as an independent commander to act
accordingly. On arriving at Gembloux on the
evening of the I7th Grouchy wrote the follow-
ing dispatch, which proves he knew what was re-
quired of him:. "If the mass of the Prussians
411

NAPOLEON

retire on Wavre, I shall follow it in that direction
in order that they may not be able to gain Brus-
sels, and to separate them from Wellington."
This dispatch reached Napoleon at midnight on
the 1 7th when he was personally reconnoitring
the British lines and it must have assured him
that Grouchy knew at least what should be done.
Later in the night Grouchy sent another dis-
patch announcing he had ascertained that
the Prussians were on the march to Wavre, and
that he was going to Sart a Walhain, which is in
the direction of Wavre, but off the main turn-
pike. By this time he must have been convinced
that he was too far in the rear of Blucher's army
to intercept it or to prevent its junction with the
English, and that his only duty was by forced
marches across country to reinforce the emperor,
but in place of doing that he proceeded on his
way to Wavre; and, instead of separating the
Prussians from the English, the Prussians sepa-
rated him from Napoleon. If he had possessed
the zeal, skill, and energy of Blucher, or had
acted with the precision that characterized the
conduct of Desaix at Marengo, the battle of
Waterloo doubtless would have been another
story.

Two dispatches sent by Soult to Grouchy on
the 1 8th have no bearing in so far as 'Grouchy 's
conduct is concerned, for they reached him too
late, but it has been contended in some quarters
that they show that Napoleon himself was some-
what at sea and approved of Grouchy 's move-
ments. The first dispatch says that the emperor
412

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

is about to engage the English army at Waterloo
and then adds: "His Majesty desires that you
will direct your movements on Wavre in order
to approach us, to put yourself in the sphere of
our operations and keep up your communication
with us; pushing before you those troops of the
Prussian army which have taken this direction
and which may have stopped at Wavre, where
you ought to arrive as soon as possible." This
dispatch was not received by Grouchy till four
o'clock in the afternoon, when he was fighting
the rear guard of Bliicher's army at Wavre, and
too late in the day for him to render any assist-
ance to Napoleon.

The second dispatch dated at one o'clock in
the afternoon on the i8th, reads : " Your in-
tention is to go to Corbaix and Wavre. This
movement is conformable to his Majesty's ar-
rangements which have been communicated to
you. Nevertheless, the emperor orders me to
tell you that you ought always to manoeuvre in
our direction and to seek to come near to our
army, in order that you may join us before any
corps can put itself between us. I do not indi-
cate to you the direction you should take; it is
for you to see the place where we are, to govern
yourself accordingly, and to connect our com-
munication,-so as to be always prepared to fall
upon any of the enemy's troops which may en-
deavor to annoy our right and to destroy them.
At this moment the battle is in progress on the
line of Waterloo in front of the forest of Soignes.
The enemy's centre is at Mont St. Jean; ma-
413

NAPOLEON

noeuvre, therefore, to join our right." A post-
script states that Bulow's corps is seen on the
heights of St. Lambert and then adds: "So
lose not an instant in drawing near and joining
us in order to crush Bulow, whom you will take
in the very act." This dispatch reached Grouchy
at seven o'clock in the evening, when the battle
of Waterloo was about decided.

These dispatches, even if they had been re-
ceived in time to influence the movements of
Grouchy, ought not to have misled him, nor do
they indicate that Napoleon had any doubt in
his mind as to what Grouchy should do. To be
sure, the first dispatch reads that Grouchy ought
to arrive as soon as possible at Wavre, and the
second that Grouchy's intention to go to Corbaix
and Wavre is conformable to his Majesty's com-
munications, but these expressions must be taken
in connection with the dispatches as a whole,
which direct that Grouchy "must approach us,"
must put himself " in the sphere of our opera-
tions," " always manoeuvre in our direction and
seek to come near to our army," and above all
without indicating the direction Grouchy should
take he is told " to see the place where we are "
and to govern himself accordingly. Surely there
is nothing dim in these dispatches, the instruc-
tions are almost explicit and reveal no ignorance
on the part of Napoleon as to what was required
of Grouchy.

414

CHAPTER XXX

NAPOLEON'S SECOND ABDICATION — BOARDS THE
" BELLEROPHON " SAILS FOR ST. HELENA

Upon reaching Philippeville on the day after
the battle of Waterloo, Napoleon's spirits seemed
to revive. On arriving in Paris on the 2ist of
June he went at once to the Elysee palace, and
at times became much depressed, walking up and
down the room, excitedly exclaiming at intervals :
" O my God ! is it possible, is it possible ! " The
manner of his reception when he reached Paris
convinced him that Waterloo had eclipsed his
prestige and past glory.

The Chamber of Deputies on motion of La-
Fayette decided to sit in permanent session, de-
clared that any attempt at dissolution would be
considered an act of treason, and directed the
ministers to report to the Chamber. This was
virtually depriving Napoleon of power. He was
urged by his brother Lucien to resort to a coup
d'etat, but failing to strike at once, the oppor-
tunity soon passed away. While Napoleon was
hesitating the Chamber was acting with vigor.
News reached Paris that Grouchy had escaped
from the Prussians, after a masterly retreat, and
that the army was rallying at Laon. This gave
the emperor a faint gleam of hope, but it soon
415

NAPOLEON

disappeared, for the Chamber demanded an im-
mediate abdication, which after some reluctance
he consented to give. At first he agreed to make
it in favor of his son, but at last on the 22nd of
June, 1815, he surrendered unconditionally.
" My son," he cried, " what a chimera ! No, it
is for the Bourbons that I abdicate. They, at
least, are not prisoners at Vienna." So ended
the famous reign of " The Hundred Days."

The Chamber, whose energy was in marked
contrast to the indecision and supineness of Na-
poleon, organized without delay a provisional
government, and Fouche, the political weather
vane and despicable time-server, was made presi-
dent of the Executive Commission. The other
members were Carnot, Caulaincourt, Grenier and
Quinotte.

On the 25th Fouche sent an order to Napoleon
to leave Paris. The ex-emperor retired to Mal-
maison, an abode sad with recollections and asso-
ciations, for it was here that Josephine had but
a few months before breathed her last. At this
retreat he was joined by Hortense Beauharnais
and a few faithful friends.

The allies were pressing on and the provisional
government pleaded earnestly for an armistice,
to which Bliicher replied that he would consider
the matter if Napoleon were handed over to him,
dead or alive. If alive he would see that he was
executed conformably to the declaration of the
Congress of Vienna. Wellington refused under
any consideration to agree to an armistice and the
march of invasion was continued. On the
416

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

the Prussian vanguard had reached Argenteuil
and Bliicher made an effort to capture the em-
peror, but fortunately was thwarted in his design
by the devoted Davoust, who burned or barri-
caded the bridges crossing the Seine in the vi-
cinity of Malmaison.

It was at this point that Napoleon offered his
services to the government simply as general and
submitted a plan of campaign to repel the in-
vaders from France, but the Executive Commis-
sion declined his proffer.

Dethroned, shorn of his power, an outcast,
hunted to death like a wild beast by the savage
Bliicher, and ordered by the government in Paris
to move on, Napoleon drank the bitter cup of
humiliation to its dregs. He who had brought
such glory to France had not an abiding spot, a
place of refuge within her borders, for on the
29th he received an order from Fouche to quit
the country forthwith. About six o'clock in the
evening of that day he set out for Roche fort,
accompanied by Bertrand, Savary, Gourgaud and
Becker. The last named was a commissioner
of the provisional government, whose duty it
was to see that the orders were complied with.

The party reached Roche fort on the third
of July. The next day Paris fell into the hands
of the allies.

While at Roche fort Napoleon considered a
number of plans of escape. One was to be con-
cealed in a hogshead in the hold of a Dutch
frigate ; another was to go to America in a light
sailing vessel, but none was feasible in view of
27 4i7

NAPOLEON

the fact that the bay was closely guarded by
British cruisers. The government in Paris sent
another order and imperatively insisted upon his
leaving France at once, that his presence in the
country only hindered effecting negotiations with
the allies. Under this command he boarded a
French vessel, lying in the harbor, named the
Saale. The next day he sent Savary and Las
Casas to interview Captain Maitland of H. M. S.
Bellerophon, asking if his departure would
be prevented. The British captain replied that
his orders were strict and specific to intercept
Napoleon, and that if an attempt should be made
to escape he would oppose with force the frigate
upon which the emperor sailed.

In the meantime Louis XVIII had entered
Paris, the provisional government had collapsed,
and the Bourbon restoration was complete.

The second downfall of Napoleon aroused all
the latent energies of the Bourbons, and they
evinced a determination to create a reaction
against the further progress of liberal ideas and
to restore in all its vigor the ancient regime.
They, too, returned to France in a vindictive
temper, and at once, that is, so soon as the French
army evacuated the capital, instituted proceed-
ings against those officers who had upon his
return from Elba espoused Napoleon's cause.
Soult and Grouchy sought safety in flight, rind-
ing refuge in America, but Ney was ar-
rested, charged with treason, court-martialed and
shot. This was in direct violation of the twelfth
article of the convention of Paris of July 3rd,
418

•

Copyright, 1910, by George W. Jacobs & Co.

MARSHAL NEY

From an original drawing by Guerin

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

which provided that no one should be called to
account for his conduct during the hundred days.
Ney and many other officers accepted this am-
nesty in good faith, but were deceived by the
treachery of the Bourbons. Wellington, who
had been a party to the convention, should have
insisted upon the king's respecting to the letter
the articles of this agreement, but he stood idly
by, witnessed the flagrant violation of its terms,
and instead of protesting, made a flimsy excuse
for the conduct of the king. He had witnessed
at Quatre Bras and Waterloo the incomparable
bravery of Ney, and his every instinct as a sol-
dier should have been to save the life of the
marshal by making the government maintain the
inviolability of its parole.

On the 1 2th Napoleon dictated the following
letter to the prince regent of England : " Ex-
posed to the factions which distract my country
and to the enmity of the greatest powers of Eu-
rope, I have closed my political career, and I come
like Themistocles to throw myself upon the hos-
pitality of the British people. I put myself un-
der the protection of their laws, which I claim
from your Royal Highness as the most constant
and the most generous of my enemies."

The emperor intrusted this letter to Gourgaud
and Las Casas, who requested Captain Maitland
to afford them facilities to present it to the prince
regent. The captain provided Gourgaud with
passage to England on a cruiser named the
Slaney in order that the French messenger
might convey personally the letter to his royal
419

NAPOLEON

highness the prince regent. This vessel, at once,
set sail for Torbay.

Bertrand, at the instance of the emperor, wrote
to Maitland that they would come on board the
Bellerophon the next day and further stated
that "If the admiral of the port in consequence
of the demand that you have addressed to him
sends you the passports for the United States, his
Majesty will go there with pleasure; but in de-
fault of them he will go voluntarily to England
as a private individual to enjoy the protection
of the laws of your country."

A long and unsatisfactory controversy has
been waged by partisans on both sides over the
question as to whether or not Napoleon was de-
ceived by assurances of protection from Captain
Maitland at the time he went on board the Bel-
lerophon. There may have been a misunder-
standing between Las Casas and the captain, but
Napoleon was wise enough to know that Mait-
land could not bind his government unless he
was authorized expressly so to do, and really
there is nothing to show that the British officer
acted beyond the scope of his authority, practiced
any deception, or held out any false hopes to the
emperor.

When Napoleon boarded the English ship he
was received with respect, but without a salute.
He was accompanied by General and Mme.
Bertrand, General and Mme. Montholon and
their little son, Count Las Casas and his son,
Maingaud the physician, Marchand the head
valet, and a group of servants.
420

OTHE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Las Casas had at one time been a sailor, and
no sooner was he on board than he donned his
naval uniform and strutted around the deck with
the air of an experienced navigator, but the voy-
age becoming rather rough he got so sick that he
moved the mirth of the English crew and while
making somewhat of a spectacle of himself, Na-
poleon told him sharply to go below, change his
suit and not disgrace the French navy.

While passing Ushant early in the morning
Napoleon came on deck and so long as the land
was in sight stood alone with his hands behind
his back, watching with sorrow the receding
shores of France which he never was again to
see.

On reaching Torbay, Gourgaud rejoined the
party and informed the emperor that he had not
been permitted to land, and that in consequence
he had been unable to deliver Napoleon's letter
to the prince regent.

The Bellerophon on the 26th received or-
ders to proceed forthwith to Plymouth. After
reaching this port on July 3ist, Sir Henry Bun-
bury, secretary to the Admiralty, and Lord
Keith, admiral in command of Plymouth, came
aboard and informed the captive, breaking the
news gently, that the government had decided to
send him to St. Helena. Napoleon, when the
truth was made known, drew back in horror
from the very thought of spending the remainder
of his days on a barren, cheerless rock in mid-
ocean.

It does seem cruel to have passed so severe
421

NAPOLEON

a judgment upon a man who had held so lofty a
position in the world's politics, but we must trans-
port ourselves to that period and breathe the
atmosphere of those times to appreciate the pub-
lic feeling and sentiment in England. To her na-
tional debt Napoleon had added £600,000,000,
he had been her inveterate and uncompromising
foe, he had banded all Europe in opposition to
her in his war to destroy her manufactures and
commerce, closing almost every port in Christen-
dom against the entrance of her goods. An
army of two hundred thousand men had been
marshaled by him upon the plains of Boulogne
to invade her shores, till she trembled in fear
and apprehension. Her people were taught to
believe him a monster, and looked upon him as
a public enemy, as a disturber of the world's
peace ; his very name to them was a terror. " I
know full well," was his contemptuous com-
parison, " that London is a corner of the world
and that Paris is its centre." Yet in view of all
these facts England dealt more leniently with
him than any other power would have done.
Blucher, as we have seen, openly threatened to
shoot him if he captured him, and, no doubt, if
they had dared, the Bourbons would have dealt
with him in the same way ; he could not, without
suffering the greatest humiliation, have sought
a sanctuary at the hearthstone of his father-in-
law, and as for Russia he himself cried out:
"Oh, God! keep me from that."

If he had been allowed, as he requested, to
settle down in one of the middle counties of
422

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

England far from the sea, as a quiet, retired
citizen, it would have kept him in the public eye
and made his home the centre for conspiracy,
and a rallying point for the political malcontents
of all Europe. Further than this, his life doubt-
less would have been in daily peril from the at-
tacks of assassins.

Even if it had been his honest wish to remain
secluded and to spend his years in literary work,
he himself with his active temperament could
not have resisted the temptations. Rest and re-
tirement would have renewed the vigor of his
exhausted frame — for he was yet in the prime
of life, only forty-six years of age — and with
his returning strength his ambitions would have
revived.

But England with her allies having unfairly
compelled him to abdicate in 1814, she had now
the unpleasant task of sending him into exile.

While Napoleon was on board the Beller-
opJwn in the harbor of Plymouth several ef-
forts were made by his friends to get him
ashore in order to test the efficacy of a writ of
habeas corpus, but every such attempt was frus-
trated by the vigilance of the naval authorities.
One man came down from London with a sub-
poena for Admiral Keith and Captain Maitland,
commanding them to produce the person of Na-
poleon as a witness in the court of King's Bench
to testify in a pending libel suit. The messen-
ger from the court in a hired boat chased Keith
all over the bay to get service of the writ, and
the admiral had to depend upon the lusty rowers
423

NAPOLEON

of his barge to escape him, while Maitland to
avoid him had to hoist sail and put out to sea.

During the time the Bellerophon lay at
anchor in Plymouth harbor with Napoleon on
board, shoals of river craft of all descriptions
crowded with people came out every day to catch
a glimpse of the great captive. It was as much
as the guard boats could do to keep the motley
fleet from crossing the line. In the excitement
several persons were drowned. So great was the
enthusiasm among the people whenever Napoleon
appeared that the authorities feared an attempt
would be made at rescue.

At last the day of departure arrived. Na-
poleon bade his friends farewell, and in the
admiral's barge was transferred from the Bel-
lerophon to the Northumberland, which ves-
sel under the command of Admiral Sir George
Cockburn was to bear him to his new home far
across the seas. As he reached the deck of the
vessel the crew which was drawn up to receive
him gave a salute to which he replied, and then
turning to the commanding officer said, in a firm
voice : " Here I am, sir, at your orders."

The voyage was uneventful, but lasted sixty-
seven days. Napoleon won the regard and re-
spect of the sailors as well as of the officers.
There was some little friction as to the observ-
ance of conventionalities, but except for this
everything passed off agreeably. Napoleon oc-
cupied his time in reading and conversation.
Occasionally he indulged in games of cards; one
of his favorite amusements was chess, which he
424

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

played badly and at which he cheated, as he did
at all games.

At last St. Helena appeared in view like " a
black wart rising out of the sea," grim, gaunt
and desolate — a dungeon in mid-ocean — it gave
no sign nor sound of welcome to the stranger.

425

CHAPTER XXXI

ST. HELENA — SIR HUDSON LOWE — DEATH OF NA-
POLEON

On the I7th of October, 1815, Napoleon
landed at Jamestown, and shortly afterwards,
under cover of the night so as to elude the ob-
servation of the people, went to a house in the
town prepared for his reception. Here he re-
mained until he took up his residence temporarily
at a little bungalow called " The Briars," owned
and occupied by an elderly English gentleman
named Balcombe. He lived in this abode for
seven weeks while his permanent home at Long-
wood was being enlarged and improved for his
accommodation; which work was being done by
the carpenters of the Northumberland. Mr.
Balcombe and his wife treated the great captive
most hospitably, and their two daughters, four-
teen and fifteen years of age, amused his even-
ing hours with games of whist. Upon one
occasion he indulged with them in a play of blind-
man's buff and entered into the spirit of it with
all the zest and enthusiasm of a boy.

On the Qth of December, 1815, Longwood was

ready for occupation, and Napoleon and his suite

moved in at once. " The magician's wand was

broken, and his magnificent theatre of action had

426

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

sunk into a little house and garden far out in the
tropic sea."

St. Helena is an island in the South Atlantic
rising to the height of 2,700 feet above the ocean
and contains forty-five square miles of territory.
It is frequently covered by mist and fog and
although in the tropics its climate is equable and
healthful, but at times enervating; its heat is to a
considerable degree assuaged by the southeast
trade winds. Its shores are deep and precipitous.
Its port of entry is Jamestown and it has a mixed
population, whites and negroes, of about two
thousand. Longwood, situated in the centre of
this great rock, was a substantial farmhouse and
stood upon an elevated plateau, two thousand feet
above the sea. In this habitation five rooms
were reserved for Napoleon, three for the Mon-
tholons, two for Las Casas, and one for Gour-
gaud. The Bertrands lived about a mile away,
at a place called Hutt's Gate.

Admiral Cockburn retained charge of the dis-
tinguished prisoner until the arrival of the newly
appointed governor, Sir Hudson Lowe, on April
14, 1816. This officer was about Napoleon's
age. He was an intelligent man, had had con-
siderable experience in the world and spoke sev-
eral languages fluently, among them French and
Italian. He carried the news of Napoleon's first
abdication to England and was knighted by the
prince regent for his services. He was five feet
seven inches in height, spare in figure, abrupt in
manner, of great firmness and decision and punc-
tilious to a degree. He was not facile nor tact-
427

NAPOLEON

ful, nor did he possess those social qualities
that make men agreeable ; he was altogether want-
ing in that urbanity that under the circumstances
would have counted for so much. He was a
trained soldier, a martinet, and carried out his
instructions to the letter and in a manner that at
times was offensive. He was a mere bureaucrat,
a commonplace man who had no real apprecia-
tion of the greatness of Napoleon. He was no
match in skill, strategy, and intrigue with his
distinguished prisoner, and often was put to his
wits' ends to circumvent his plans. It would
have been hard to find two men better calculated
to annoy and worry each other; the friction be-
tween them was irritating and constant.

Lowe had an English prejudice against his
prisoner to begin with, and besides this having
served as a British attache on Bliicher's staff had
imbibed under the influence of that old soldier
his hatred of Napoleon. He was not the man
to have been named as governor of the island
and custodian of the emperor, for in addition
to his prejudice he possessed too much of the
spirit of the gaoler. It must be borne in mind,
however, that the position imposed upon him a
great responsibility, for if his prisoner had es-
caped there is no telling what his punishment or
degradation would have been.

The restrictions placed upon Napoleon in his
island home were many, and to a man of his
temperament were of course most annoying and
irritating. In the first place, in mere spleen, with-
out any reason, England ignored his title of
428

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

emperor and addressed and recognized him only
as General Bonaparte. This was a very foolish
and most unchivalrous thing to do, in that it
wounded without accomplishing any good. He
unquestionably had been the emperor of France;
that fact was proved and admitted by the allies
themselves when in 1814 they insisted upon his
act of abdication. Sir Hudson Lowe, upon all
occasions and under all circumstances was par-
ticular to address him by his military title. In
fact, letters or parcels addressed to Napoleon as
emperor were not delivered to him by the exact-
ing governor. One day Napoleon, ascertaining
that a book had been sent to him under his
imperial title, asked the governor why it had
been detained. The reply was because it was
addressed to the emperor. " Who gave you the
right," cried Napoleon, "to dispute that title?"
and then launching forth in a tirade, he ex-
claimed : " In a few years your Lord Castle-
reagh and you yourself will be buried in the dust
of oblivion; or if your names be remembered at
all it will be only on account of the indignity
with which you have treated me; but the Em-
peror Napoleon will continue forever the subject,
the ornament of history and the star of civilized
nations. Your libels are of no avail against me.
You have expended millions on them ; what have
they produced? Truth pierces through the
clouds; it shines like the sun, and like the sun it
cannot perish ! " To which outburst Sir Hudson
Lowe merely replied, " You make me smile, sir."
Napoleon was restricted in his walks and rides
429

NAPOLEON

to within a space of about twelve miles in cir-
cumference; beyond these bounds if he desired
to go he had to be accompanied by a British offi-
cer and if a strange ship hove in sight he was
required to return at once within the prescribed
limits.

Sentinels were posted in the daytime six hun-
dred paces from Longwood, at night the cordon
was drawn closer, and the officer on guard had
to be convinced twice in every twenty-four hours
by actual observation of the presence of the
prisoner.

The governor had the right to open and read
all letters and communications.

Four ships of war guarded the island, and no
vessels were allowed to touch except the mer-
chantmen of the East India Company, to which
company the island belonged. The exceptions
were in case a ship was overtaken by stress of
weather or was in need of water.

Napoleon of course chafed under these re-
strictions, limitations and regulations. He was
not in temperament an amiable philosopher, and
he could not reconcile himself to such condi-
tions.

His life had become a monotonous routine.
Suddenly deprived of power and transported as
a prisoner of war to a dreary and barren island
in mid-ocean, living in a house that was com-
modious enough but in sad contrast to the lux-
urious palaces of the Elysee and the Tuileries,
it is no wonder that he complained of his lot.
Like a wild beast he chafed at times against the
430

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

bars of his cage, and longed for the power and
freedom he once enjoyed.

We perhaps may take it for granted that many
of his complaints were trivial and unfounded,
but it goes without saying that Longwood was
far from being a suitable abode for such a man;
it was at best only a patched-up house without
the comforts and conveniences to which the in-
mates had been accustomed and if the accounts
be true was infested with rats. Lord Roseberry
says : " It was a collection of huts which had
been constructed as a cattle shed. It was swept
by an eternal wind; it was shadeless and it was
damp. Lowe himself can say no good of it and
may have felt the strange play of fortune by
which he was allotted the one delightful resi-
dence on the island with twelve thousand a year,
while Napoleon was living in an old cow house
on eight." From a throne and the luxury of 2.
palace to so humble a habitation was a wide step.
Napoleon at times derived some little satis-
faction from his banishment, for in a conversa-
tion he once said to O'Meara: "Our situation
here may even have its attractions. The uni-
verse is looking at us. We remain the martyrs,
of an immortal cause; millions of men weep fot
us; the fatherland sighs and Glory is in mourn,
ing. We struggle here against the oppression
of the gods and the longings of the nations are
for us. ... Adversity was wanting to mj
career. If I had died on the throne amidst the
clouds of my omnipotence, I should have re-
mained a problem for many men : to-day, thanks
43i

NAPOLEON

to my misfortune, they can judge me naked as I
am."

The mornings were devoted to literature and
conversations with O'Meara and Gourgaud, who
were writing those memoirs that were yet to
create such contention and contradiction. It is
fortunate for the world that the sayings of Na-
poleon are embalmed in these memoirs, for they
reveal his thoughts, his views and opinions
on the men and public questions of that day. In
describing his battles and the events of his career
he no doubt made many mistakes and has been
charged by bitter partisans with absolute men-
dacity and willful perversion of the facts. But
when we consider that in recalling the innumera-
ble incidents of his active life he had to depend
alone upon his memory without an opportunity
to refresh it by an examination of records and
official documents or even by conversation with
his officers, the ungenerous charge of falsehood
falls to the ground. Take a common street oc-
currence, and the testimony is so varied and con-
tradictory that at times it is almost impossible
to ascertain the real facts, and yet the witnesses
giving their impressions and recollections may
have no purpose to do aught but to tell the truth.

He wrote monographs on Elba, the Hundred
Days and Waterloo, on the " Art and History
of War," on " Fortification," on " Army Organ-
ization," and analyses on the wars waged by
Caesar, Turenne and Frederick the Great.

The afternoons were given to exercise and
amusements; the games indulged in were cards,
432

Copyright, K)io, by George W. Jacobs & Co.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

From an original water color by Coquette, made at St. Helena in 1816

Came into possession of owner through Pierre Morand, a well-known

French resident of Philadelphia

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

chess, and billiards; in the last named Napoleon
used his hands instead of a cue.

In the evening the hours were spent in read-
ing aloud, the favorite authors being Voltaire,
Corneille and Ossian; chapters from the Bible
were occasionally read. If any one dozed while
the emperor gave a reading he would administer
a sharp rebuke, but he would at times slumber
most contentedly while some one else edified the
company.

In his later years Napoleon took an interest
in gardening, and often could be seen lightly clad
and wearing a broad-brimmed hat, digging up
the ground with a spade. He also constructed
a fish pond in which he seemed to take special
delight. As time wore on, however, he indulged
but little in outdoor exercise, even abandoning
in a great measure horseback-riding, and in con-
sequence he grew sluggish and corpulent. He
ate sparingly at the table and his sleep was dis-
turbed, and irregular; he often complained of
the nights being " so long."

His health was fairly good for about four
years after he landed on the island, but then
symptoms that gave warning of his approaching
end began to appear. .

Las Casas intrusted to a negro servant two
letters, sewn up in a waistcoat, which he desired
transmitted to Europe. The matter was brought
to the attention of the governor and Las Casas
was shipped forthwith to the Cape. The next to
leave the little colony was Gourgaud, and in turn
he was followed by O'Meara, who was dismissed
28 433

NAPOLEON

by Lowe in the autumn of 1819 for facilitating
the secret correspondence of Napoleon.

Shortly after the departure of Surgeon
O'Meara, Dr. Antommarchi arrived at James-
town, accompanied by two priests.

Napoleon's strength gradually diminished.
He knew the end was close at hand, but he faced
death with courage. His pains at times were
very acute and it took all of Antommarchi's skill
to assuage them. The sufferer thought his
trouble came from a disordered liver, and fre-
quently placing his hand on his abdomen would
cry out in anguish, " Le foie, le foie." It
was not until Dr. Arnott, an English physician,
was called in that the true nature of the mal-
ady was known. After a careful diagnosis he
pronounced it cancer of the stomach, the same
disease which had caused the death of Napoleon's
father.

The emperor had already drawn his will, and
generously remembered in its provisions all those
who had befriended him in the past, especially
in his youth and days of adversity. France un-
der the Bourbons had confiscated the imperial
estate and the executors were not able in final
settlement to collect more than three and a half
million of francs with which to pay bequests
amounting to nine and a half millions. In his
will he spoke in the tenderest terms of his wife,
who, he must have known, had utterly abandoned
him. He did this doubtless for the sake of his
son, whom he devotedly loved.

In the codicil Napoleon remembered a man
434

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

named Cautillon, who was tried for an attempt
to assassinate Wellington. It was unfortunate
that in his last will and testament he should have
shown so vindictive a spirit, but he believed that
Wellington, if he had spoken a word, could
have saved him from his banishment, or at least
from being sent to so desolate a spot. Indeed,
the Iron Duke had not much sentiment nor gen-
erosity in his soul, and he did not treat Napoleon
with that consideration and compassion that a
brave man should show to a fallen foe.

Napoleon's last request in his will was to be
buried on the banks of the Seine among the
French people he had loved so well.

On the 5th of May, 1821, early in the even-
ing, while a terrific thunder storm was raging
and while a furious gale of wind was tearing up
the trees he had planted, even his favorite wil-
low, the patient passed away. The last words
on his lips were, "France — arniee — tete
d'armee — Josephine."

Clad in his familiar gray uniform, the coffin
covered with the cloak he had worn at Marengo
and surmounted by his sword, the body was
borne to the grave, and laid to rest in the spot
where had stood his favorite willow. The Eng-
lish soldiers lowered their flags in honor, salvos
of artillery and musketry were fired, awakening
the echoes of the desolate rock, and announcing
to the world, to the uttermost ends of the earth,
that the greatest warrior and administrator of
all the ages had at last surrendered to the arch
king.

435

NAPOLEON

Twenty years afterwards, in compliance with
the wish expressed in his will, France under a
Bourbon king opened her arms once more to
receive him. His body was disinterred at St.
Helena, brought across the sea to Cherbourg, and
then floated along the Seine in a pompous barge
with every mark of honor and respect. The na-
tion he loved so well turned out in great hosts to
greet him, and when Paris was reached, sixteen
black horses, sable plumed and richly caparisoned,
conveyed on a tall funeral car the coffin to the
church, at the great doors of which a herald
called out, " The Emperor." The vast congre-
gation, rose at the announcement and stood in
deep silence as the pallbearers approached the
altar. After a requiem mass for the repose of
the soul the body was at last deposited in the
Invalides in a tomb fit for a Caesar.

'436

CHAPTER XXXII

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

It is hard to delineate truthfully, accurately,
the character of Napoleon. Possessing attributes
that were generous, noble, chivalrous, humane
and patriotic, he on the other hand displayed, at
times, a spirit that was mean, vulgar, selfish,
cruel and tyrannical; it may be said, however,
that in this matter of inconsistency he did not
differ from the vast majority of mankind. In
mere wantonness, while stationed at Tenda, sim-
ply to show a lady companion an actual phase
of warfare, he ordered the advance guard of the
French to charge the Austrian pickets, a little by-
play which resulted in bloodshed. Yet at another
time he severely reprimanded an officer on his
staff for negligently allowing his horse's hoof to
strike a wounded Russian soldier. One day at St.
Helena while strolling with Mrs. Balcombe and
some friends, a number of slaves came toiling up
the hill with heavy loads upon their backs. Mrs.
Balcombe in rather an angry tone ordered the
negroes to step aside, but Napoleon, making room
for them, softly said to the lady : " Respect the
burden, madame ! "

He could most unchivalrously smirch the char-
acter of the lovely Queen Louisa of Prussia, and
437

NAPOLEON

then when they met charm her with his fas-
cinating manner. He could freeze with his cold,
penetrating look or bewitch with his smile. Few
men could pass under the spell of his power
without yielding to its influence. He intoxicated,
fascinated, persuaded, insinuated, ingratiated,
dominated. His unbending will would brook no
contradiction; it broke down all opposition. His
temper was despotic and he was given to sudden
and violent ebullitions of rage. He scolded, he
wept, he commanded, he resorted to every artifice
to gain his point. In his great schemes men to
him were but puppets. In the language of
Madame de Stael : " II regarde line creature
humaine comme un fait on une chose, et non
comme un sembldble" " Soldiers," he cried, " I
need your lives and you owe them to me," and so
positive was he in his assertion that he impressed
it as a truth upon his troops, and they were will-
ing to make every sacrifice, going into battle with
the exultant cry upon their lips of " Vive I'em-
pereur"

"A being like him, wholly unlike anybody
else," observes a well-known author, " neither
feels nor excites sympathy; he was both more
and less than a man." " He was an experiment
under the most favorable conditions," says Emer-
son, " of the powers of intellect without con-
science," or as has been tersely said : " He was
as great as any man could be without virtue."
His ambition was boundless, overwhelming, and
it is true he was not particular in his choice of
means in reaching his ends ; but the Caesars never
438

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

have been scrupulous or restrained by moral con-
siderations; if they had been they would not
have accomplished what they did. In other
words, they would not have been Caesars.

One of the most remarkable features of Na-
poleon was his versatility. He had the instincts
not only of a soldier but of a statesman as well,
an unusual combination; besides, he was a poli-
tician, a diplomat, a public administrator, and an
orator of great power. If the purpose of ora-
tory is to persuade, to convince, to arouse the
emotions, then it may be said that his eloquence
was superb, notably in the addresses to his army.
In fact, all his talents were of the highest order.
Charles James Fox referred to him as " the beau
ideal of greatness." "I am no panegyrist of
Bonaparte," said Canning, " but I cannot shut
my eyes to the superiority of his talents, to the
amazing ascendancy of his genius."

As a soldier the records of Alexander, Hanni-
bal, Caesar, Charlemagne and Charles the Fifth
pale before the glare of his marvelous achieve-
ments. " Although too much of a soldier among
sovereigns," observes Sir Walter Scott, " no one
could claim with better right to be a sovereign
among soldiers." He was a born leader; his
supreme audacity and his abounding confidence
in himself gave him courage to attempt even what
apparently was impossible. Obstacles to him
were but means to an end. Time and space were
mere items in his calculations. Deserts, moun-
tains, floods that threatened destruction to enter-
prise were but highways to success. He planned

439

NAPOLEON

his battles in his head before he fought them in
the field. Victory did not come to him by
_ chance ; he won it by energy, attention to details
and skill. He seemed intuitively, instinctively to
detect the weak spot in the enemy's line of battle
and upon this point he hurled squadron after
squadron until he overwhelmed it by superior
numbers and repeated blows. In the days of
his prime he was never late; punctuality was
an element in his plans. The enemy might
potter, but he never did, and he seldom
struck a blow until he was ready to deliver
it. He knew the value of a strategic position
before he took it, and he massed his troops
while the enemy were guessing. He was
a master of strategy and was both ingenious and
original in his conceptions. No soldier of his
day, in fact few if any of the world's famous cap-
tains, equaled him in this particular. His one
1 great defect was to neglect to provide for retreat
in case of defeat, so confident was he of victory.
Lord Brougham in his interesting sketch of
Napoleon describes him during the progress of a
battle as sitting on the ground with his maps
spread out before him, his face sometimes buried
in his hands, sending aides and orderlies with
dispatches in every direction, but uttering barely
a word except in the way of instruction. With
watch in hand he waits for their return, oc-
casionally taking a pinch of snuff. One by one
the messengers report, but at last the all impor-
tant information is brought in that a certain posi-
tion is occupied. Further explicit instructions
440

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

are given, and sent as how to follow up the ad-
vantage, Napoleon rises from the ground, rub-
bing his hands gleefully; the fight is virtually
over, the victory is won. War seemed to be his
element and on the battlefield he was cool and
impassive.

No commander ever knew better than he how
to win the regard and affection of his troops.
He shared with them his glory and the humblest
soldier could obtain from him a hearing. The
following incident is in point: A sentry had
been placed on guard at the entrance of a re-
cently paved road with instructions to let no one
pass over it on horseback. General Vandamme,
a brave but a rough, coarse soldier, came riding
along and was about to trespass on the guarded
road when he was halted by the sentinel. " I
am General Vandamme, and I go everywhere,"
was the reply to the challenge, but the soldier
kept him at bay at the point of the bayonet, when
Vandamme in anger brutally slashed him over
the face with a whip. The captain, Jollivet by
name, in whose company the sentry was a pri-
vate, sprang forward, seized the musket from
the soldier and aiming it at the breast of Van-
damme said : " General, if you advance another
step I will shoot you down like a dog." Van-
damme, seeing the captain meant what he said,
without further ado rode away. Instead of com-
plimenting the captain and the sentry for their
soldierly and courageous conduct, Vandamme
sought an opportunity publicly to upbraid and
insult the captain, telling him in the presence of
441

NAPOLEON

his company that instead of commanding troops
he was not even fit to herd hogs. Language so
brutal aroused all the anger in the soldier's na-
ture and Captain Jollivet at once asked permission
of his commanding officer, General Oudinot, to
challenge Vandamme, but his request was turned
down without ceremony. Knowing how accessi-
ble Napoleon was, the captain at once sought an
audience at headquarters and laid the whole mat-
ter before him. Napoleon told the captain to at-
tend a meeting of officers, which was to be held the
next day at a certain hour ; that in the meantime
he would investigate the facts, and if Vandamme
were in the wrong he would insist upon his mak-
ing a public apology. On the morning of the
meeting the captain was present, but because of
his inferior rank he kept in the background.
When the conference was over and the officers
were about to disperse, the captain stepped for-
ward and reminded Napoleon of his promise.
Napoleon at once addressing Vandamme said :
" General, I have looked into the facts of a com-
plaint made to me by Captain Jollivet and I
find that without reason you publicly insulted a
brave and worthy officer and I insist that you
make an apology to the captain for your con-
duct."

Vandamme immediately replied, saying:
" Sire, I admit with much regret that, car-
ried away with anger, I spoke rudely to the
captain, but these gentlemen — "

Before the general could speak another word
the captain interrupted him by saying: " Sire,
442

After du Geoffrey portrait
engraved in Madrid

DANISH
Portrait by Baerentzen, Copenhagen

ENGLISH
Engraved by Hepple

GERMAN
A. Grauvok. Strasburg

NATIONAL CONCEPTIONS OF NAPOLEON

DUTCH

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

that is all I ask; I am satisfied. I thank you,"
and with a voice full of emotion added, " I am
yours for life."

News of this incident, and it was not the only
one of its kind, spread through the army, and con-
duct so fair endeared Napoleon to the common
soldiers. He endured with them the rigors and
hardships of a bitter campaign without complaint,'
he gave up his horse for the transportation of
the sick and wounded and marched side by
side with his troops over the sands of burning
deserts and the frozen passes of the Alps. He
who in times of peace had his hat padded, his
boots lined with silk and his garments of the
softest material, and who could sleep only on
down in a room without light, could patiently
submit to the inconveniences and discomforts of
a camp life, eat a soldier's ration of bread and
cheese with relish, and sleep soundly on a pallet
of straw close to a bivouac fire.

A grenadier, stepping out of the ranks one day
and saluting the emperor, said : " Sire, I shared
my loaf of bread with you in the last campaign
and you promised me promotion, and you told
me that if you forgot it I should remind you of
the fact."

" I will see," said Napoleon, smiling kindly,
" that the promise is kept."

One day when Napoleon and a group of
friends and guests were amusing themselves play-
ing barriers in the garden at St. Cloud, two rough-
looking men stood at the railing and closely
watched the party, apparently out of mere curi-
443

NAPOLEON

osity, much to the displeasure of the ladies pres-
ent. Some young gallants were about ordering
them away, when Napoleon was informed that
one of the men was a wounded soldier and that
without any intention of giving annoyance, he
stopped with his brother at the railing simply to
get a glimpse of his old commander. Napoleon
immediately put his arm around the waist of
Josephine and together they went over to greet
the veteran. Kindly the consul spoke to him,
introduced the two men to Josephine, and then
put them under the care of Eugene, with in-
structions to take them into the house and have
them drink his health in a glass of wine.

He knew well how to reprimand, and a rebuke
to his soldiers would send consternation into their
ranks. During the first Italian campaign the
39th and 85th demi-brigades had while under fire
fled in a panic and he resolved to give them a
lesson and to make an example of them in the
presence of the whole corps. ' You have dis-
pleased me," he said. " You have shown neither
discipline, nor constancy nor bravery. You have
been driven from positions where a handful of
brave men might have held in check a large army.
You are no longer French soldiers." Then turn-
ing to one of his aides he said : " Let the words
be written on their colors : They are not of the
army of Italy ! " Groans and supplications filled
the air. " We have been misrepresented," they
cried. " We were overwhelmed by a superior
force, three to one. Place us in the vanguard in
the very brunt of the battle and we will show
444

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

our valor." Bonaparte, changing his tone and
evincing a conciliatory spirit, left them, after re-
lieving, in a measure, their mortification, and in
the next engagement they fought with amazing
courage and covered themselves with glory.

On the other hand, a word of commendation
from him was equivalent to the bestowal of a
medal of honor. He described one regiment be-
cause of its desperate fighting as " the Terrible
42nd," and straightway it inscribed the words
on its banners. " I was not afraid, I knew the
45th was there," he said addressing a regiment
after a battle, and his praise created at once a
spirit of emulation in the whole army.

By his troops he was affectionately called " the
little corporal," " the little monk," and " General
Violette." He was the idol of his army, and his
presence on the field of battle was an inspiration.

Even when his reverses came thick and fast
after the disastrous invasion of Russia, the love
of his soldiers turned into a tender sympathy.
In a hospital filled with wounded soldiers a visitor
remarked in the hearing of a lad who lay in a
cot close by, that it was a blessing that Napoleon
had at last been overthrown.

"Of whom do you speak," said the boy, " of
our emperor? If you do you are wrong," and
mustering all his strength, he cried out at the top
of his feeble voice, for he was sorely wounded,
" Vive I'empereur" and instantly the whole ward
rang with vivats for Napoleon, and it was some
time before the nurses could calm the patients
and restore quiet.

445

NAPOLEON

The armies of Continental Europe were com-
posed of hirelings ; there was nothing in common
between them and their aristocratic officers; but
the soldiers of Napoleon had by the Revolution
been made patriotic citizens of the Republic and
like their warlike Gallic ancestors had raised upon
their bucklers their leader. It was their victories
that had exalted him and created the empire and
with him they enjoyed the honor in common.
Their glory was reflected in him and his glory in
them.

Yet, strange to say, great soldier as Napoleon
was, he made no improvement of any kind in
the arms of war. A Prussian inventor submitted
to him a model of the needle gun, but after an
inspection was made the emperor abandoned all
idea of its introduction, and from the beginning
to the end of his military career he used the old-
time cannon and the flint lock muzzle-loading
musket. When at Boulogne while making
preparations to invade England he remarked:
" We must have shells that will shiver the wooden
sides of ships." Yet he took no steps to put his
suggestion into practical effect. With his great
skill as a soldier if he had made the implements
of war more effective he would have been in-
vincible.

446

CHAPTER XXXIII

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE — CONTINUED

The French Revolution in its violence had
rocked every throne in Europe. It had incul-
cated principles that menaced the absolute su-
premacy of kings, and as its force subsided every
crowned head was anxious to destroy its influence
by the restoration of the Bourbons. When Na-
poleon therefore as the heir of the Revolution
aspired to imperial degree the royal potentates
claiming to rule by divine right looked upon him
as an upstart, as an intruder into sacred precincts,
as one of plebeian strain without the sanction of
heredity, and consequently in the estimation of
those monarchs he was unfit to wear a crown. In
answer to their boast of royal blood he proudly
declared: You are but descendants, whereas I
am an ancestor, the builder of an empire, the
founder of a dynasty. He was of the people, the
common people, without a drop of royal blood
in his veins. " Emperor, consul, soldier/' he ex-
claimed. " I nw_fi everything to Jthjejjgpjgle. My
title of nobility dates from the battle of Mon-
tenotte." This was a strange, an unusual, an
anomalous admission coming from the lips of a
sovereign. It was a distinct echo of the Revolu-
tion, an enunciation of the principle of popular
447

NAPOLEON

sovereignty against the doctrine of the divine
right of kings.

" They seek to destroy the Revolution by attack-
ing my person," he declared. " I will defend it,
for I am the Revolution." He was in truth its
sequel, its embodiment, its culmination. ./That
great social and political upheaval after destroy-
ing abuses and effecting many reforms left
France in a chaotic condition, bleeding at every
pore, and to save from this mighty wreck the
benefits that this colossal struggle had accom-
plished required a man of almost superhuman
energy, of constructive intellect and of organizing
ability. Like Athena, full armed, Napoleon
sprang forth to meet the occasion. ( France in
the reaction that was setting in was rapidly drift-
ing towards the reefs of a Bourbon restoration.
The people, tired of the confusion and disgusted
with the cruelty of the " Reign of Terror," were
ready to accept any change that promised peace,
repose. A pilot was needed who could steer the
ship of state once more into smooth waters. Na-
poleon was the man of the hour. Despot he
may have been, but it required a despot to save
liberty by temporarily suspending it. He curbed
the wild spirit of the Revolution, remoulded the
government of France and gave to the people a
freer and better system of rule than they had
ever enjoyed. " Compare," said Canning, " the
situation in which he found France with that to
which he has raised her." The privileges, the
unequal taxation, the inequality before the law,
the burdens, exactions and abuses of the ancient
448

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

regime were done away with, the claims of mere
heredity were ignored, merit was made the step-
ping stone to promotion. " It is not liberty,"
said Napoleon, " that France needs so much as
equality," and he handed her the code.

" Democratic France owes much to the em-
peror," says Guizot. " He gave her two things
of immense value: within, civiLar4er, strongly
constituted; without, national independence,
firmly established."

As a character perhaps he was not what may
be termed either great or good in the exalted
meaning of those words; that is, he did not rise
above self and act alone for the public welfare,
nor was he controlled at all times in his conduct /
by moral or conscientious scruples. No one
thinks of classing him with Washington and
Lincoln'; but considering him from a purely in-
tellectual standpoint as an original and a con-
structive genius, as a soldier and a civil adminis-
trator, he has not in the history of the world had</
his equal. The social and political conditions
needed such a man, and he met the requirements.
He may not in the broadest sense have given
liberty to France, but by his example and his
reforms he made it impossible for the Bourbons
upon their return to revive, in their full vigor, /•
the abuses of the ancient system.

Every nation annexed to France or in any
way connected with the empire felt the benign
influence of his rule; his government was both
liberal and enlightened; he laid broad and deep

the foundations of a new political life in Italy,
29 449

NAPOLEON

Switzerland and Germany. " To have the right
of using nations/' he said, " you must begin by
using them well." Even in Spain he abolished
the Inquisition and doubtless would have accom-
plished more for the welfare of that mediaeval
and intolerant state had it not been for the upris-
ing of her people.

As a public administrator he was unexcelled;
his plans were broad and comprehensive. In

- Paris he built sewers and introduced sanitary
regulations and improvements, straightened
crooked and widened narrow streets, opened new
avenues, spanned the highways with triumphal
arches, and the rivers with bridges, and con-
structed an embankment on the Seine long before
the great improvement on the Thames was even
contemplated. In Venice he enlarged and deep-
ened the Grand Canal and improved the whole
system of lagoons, and in Milan completed the
magnificent cathedral, that exquisite sample of
Gothic art, which for centuries had remained
unfinished. Every land that came under his rule
felt the impress of his genius. Even in Egypt
to this day as well as in Elba remain traces of

yhis great internal improvements and adminis-
trative reforms.

The Bourbon princes built sumptuous palaces
and laid out magnificent gardens, spending fabu-
lous sums of the people's money for their own
selfish purposes, but Napoleon constructed public

/ works for the comfort, convenience, health and
happiness of the community. Louis XIV, sur-
named the Great, was the model of a Bourbon
450

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

king, a monarch of the ancient regime, aptly
proclaimed by Bolingbroke as " the best actor of
majesty that ever rilled a throne." It is only
necessary to compare such a ruler with Napoleon
if one wants to appreciate the real greatness of
the latter.

The Bourbons under the old system extrava-
gantly, recklessly, squandered the public funds,
but Napoleon economically expended the money
of the people and carefully supervised the ac-
counts and woe to the contractor or official who
attempted to defraud the government.

The reputation of Napoleon as a soldier is so
great and his wars were so frequent and impor-
tant that one wonders when he found the time
to devote to civic administration. A period of
twenty years covers his really active and distin-
guished career, that is, from his first Italian cam-
paign to the date of his second abdication. To
the casual observer it may appear as if the greater
portion of this time had been spent by him away
from Paris, in actual warfare or on the field of
battle, whereas most of his campaigns with the
exception of the first one in Italy and his expedi-
tion to Egypt were comparatively short.

On March n, 1796, he left Paris to take>
command of the army in Italy and returned in
November, 1797, having been absent from the
capital about a year and eight months. He re-
mained in Paris until he sailed for Egypt in May,

1798, and returned to France on October 9,

1799, after an absence of a year and five months.
One month after his arrival from the East oc-

451

NAPOLEON

curred the coup d'etat of the iQth Brumaire,
and on the 6th of May, 1800, he left Paris for
the army of Italy, fought the battle of Marengo
on June I4th, and returned to the capital after
an absence of about six weeks. During the re-
mainder of 1800 and during the years of
1801, 1802, 1803, 1804, and until he took
the saddle in the autumn of 1805, he remained
in Paris. On October 2Oth of this last
named year he compelled the surrender of
Mack at Ulm; continuing at the head of his
army, he fought the battle of Austerlitz Decem-
ber 2nd, which resulted in the treaty of Press-
burg December 26th. Returning to Paris he re-
mained there until he put himself at the head
of his army in October, 1806, and fought the
battle of Jena on October I4th of that year. He
kept the saddle until the battle of Friedland on
June 14, 1807, and after the treaty of Tilsit,
July 7, 1807, he returned to Paris. Here he
remained until he joined the army in Spain in
November, 1808, and after a short campaign
again returned to Paris, reaching that city on
the 23rd of January, 1809. In April of that
same year he again joined the army, fought the
battle of Wagram July 6th, and after conducting
a treaty of peace at Schonbrunn, October 14,
1809, returned to Paris, where he remained until
he invaded Russia in June, 1812. After his
disastrous retreat from Moscow he reached Paris
inT)ecember of that same year. In April, 1813,
he again took the field, fought a number of
engagements and finally suffered a defeat at the
452

UNITED STATES

Engraved in Philadelphi

about 1800

AUSTRIAN
By Jugel

FRENCH

An ideal portrait
from proof of Mazzard's Medallion

I

SWEDISH

Very early portrait engraved by
Clemens at Stockholm, 1797

ITALIAN
Painter, Falconi. Engraver, Zignani.

NATIONAL CONCEPTIONS OF NAPOLEON

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

battle of Leipzig on October 18, 1813; re-
treated t@ France and continued the war until
his abdication on the 4th of April, 1814. On
the 2Oth of that month he left for Elba, where
he remained in exile until February 25, 1815,
when he set sail for France and reached Paris
March 2Oth. In June he was again at the head
of his army and on the i6th defeated Bliicher
at Ligny and in turn was beaten on the i8th by
Wellington at Waterloo, and finally abdicated on
the 22nd.

In this brief resume it will be seen that he was
personally in actual warfare or in the field at
the head of his army six years and six months
approximately during the period extending from
March, 1796, to June, 1815. Three years and
one month were consumed by his first Italian
campaign and his expedition to Egypt and this
left during the consulate and the empire three
years and five months in which he was absent
from the capital at the head of his armies. Tak-
ing out of consideration the time he spent at Elba
this gave him nearly twelve years to devote to
civil affairs in Paris after his election as consul.

Immediately subsequent to the downfall of the
emperor there was a revival of the notions that
had prevailed under the old regime; legitimacy
and privilege were restored temporarily in their
full vigor. The deadening influence of the re-
actionaries was felt in every direction; the peo-
ple being deprived of all voice in government,
the courts of St. Petersburg, Vienna and Berlin
were again dominant. France was ruled by a
453

NAPOLEON

Bourbon prince, who had regained the throne
after years of banishment, and had returned to
it with the rancor and vengeance of an exile who
had been embittered but not made wise by his
experience. The Holy Alliance was formed to
check the advance of liberalism in politics and
to destroy toleration in religion. An effort was
made to put Europe in the position she would
have occupied and the condition she would have
been in had there been no Revolution and no
Napoleon, but the influence of both could not
be destroyed. The years from 1789 to 1815 had
been fruitful of change and reform, notwith-
standing their violence, strife, abuses and blood-
shed.

Stanislas Girardin in his Memoirs relates that
Bonaparte on his visit to the tomb of Rousseau
said : " ' It would have been better for the
repose of France that this man had never been
born/ ' Why, First Consul? ' said I. ' He pre-
pared the French Revolution/ * I thought it was
not for you to complain of the Revolution.'
' Well/ he replied, ' the future will show whether
it would not have been better for the repose of
the world that neither I nor Rousseau had ex-
isted/ ' He was right, perhaps, in so far as
the mere repose of the world was concerned, but
repose may be stagnation.

Time has shown that he saved the salient prin-
ciples of the Revolution, that he accomplished
much for popular government, for religious
toleration, for man's emancipation from the
tyranny of both church and state, for equality
454

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

^before the law and for general enlightenment,
His ambition carried him beyond the possibili-
ties and the pathos of St. Helena closes the story
of a life that in its features is an epic, heroic
and sad. His career was one of the most re-
markable in the history of the children of men, a
career marked by colossal successes and prodi-
gious failure, but the net result of which was and
is for the world's advancement.

455

INDEX

INDEX

Abendsberg, 283

Aboukir, Battle of, 152

Abrantes, Duchess cT, description of Napoleon, 56

Achilles, 80

Achmet, Pacha, 146.

Acre, 147

Adda, 98

Adige, 106

Adye, Captain, 383

Ajaccio, 17 et seq.

Ajax, 286

Alessandria, 91

Alexander, 159, 302

Alexander, Czar, 228, 237; at Erfurt, 280; 309, 3iS» 331,

332

Alexandria, 131
Algiers, 197
Alps, 365

Alvintzy, General, no, 266
Amiens, Treaty of, 174, 197, 200
Ancona, 107

Antommarchi, Doctor, 232, 434
Antraigues, Comte d', description of Napoleon, 114
Antwerp, 222
Arcola, in
Arena, 165, 193
Ariosto, 128
Arnot, Doctor, 434
Artois, Comte d', 206, 211, 285
Aspern, Battle of, 285
Atheists, 177

459

INDEX

Atilla, 104

Auerstadt, Battle of, 256

Augereau, 90, 116, 260, 393

Augustus, 247

Austerlitz, Battle of, 237, 238, 290, 357, 452

"Austerlitz Look," 242

Austria, 35 ; war declared against, 40

Autun, Bishop of, 30

Auxonne, 31

B

Babylon, 125

Baden, 241, 243

Bagration, Prince, 319

Baker Street, 206

Balcombe, Mrs., 437

" Balls of trie Victims," 53

Baltic Sea, 180, 256

Bamberg, 393

Barclay, de Tolly, 319, 320; retreat from Smolensk, 323

Barere, 53

Barras at Toulon, 49, 52, 58, 63 ; his character, 66, 124, 162

Barthelemy, 117

Bassano, 109

Basseville, 107

" Battle of the Nations," 361

Bausset, 298

Bautzen, Battle of, 350, 355

Bavaria, 241, 243, 359

Bayonne, 270

Beauharnais, Eugene, 63; viceroy of Italy, 229, 347

Beauharnais, Hortense, 63, 416

Beauharnais, Viscount, marries Josephine, 63 ; sails for

America, 63; returns to France beginning of French

Revolution, 64; guillotined, 64
Beaulieu, General, 91, 98, 106, 266
Beaumont, 393
Becker, 417
Beethoven, 217
Belle Alliance, 402

460

INDEX

" Bellerophon," the, 48, 421, 424

Bennigsen, 260, 360

Beresina, crossing of the, 339, 340, 341

Berlin, 453

Berlin Decree, 257

Bernadotte, 206, 237, 289; crown prince of Sweden, 303;
359, 360

Bernier, 188

Berthier, 98, 164, 170, 293, 295, 365, 393

Berthollet, 127

Bertrand, 351, 409, 417

Bertrand, Madame, 420

Bertrand, Order of, 411

Besangon, 385

Bible, The, 128, 185

Billaud-Varenne, 52, 53

Bliicher, 255, 350, 359, 360, 368, 391 ; at Ligny, 396, 397,
398, 401 ; wounded, 416

Boissy d' Anglas, 54

Bologne, 107

Bon, 128

" Bonaparte of the Antilles," 196

Bonaparte, Caroline, Queen of Naples, 298

Bonaparte, Charles, marriage of, 22; death of, 28

Bonaparte, Elise, 40

Bonaparte, Jerome, King of Westphalia, abandons Rus-
sian invasion, 320

Bonaparte, Joseph, 201; made grand elector, 213; declines
throne of Italy, 229; named king of Spain, 304; aban-
dons kingdom and comes to Paris, 353

Bonaparte, Madame Letizia, 17

Bonaparte, Louis, king of Holland, abandons throne, 302

Bonaparte, Lucien, 163, 165, 201, 244

Bonaparte, Napoleon, see Napoleon

Bonaparte, Pauline, 300

Borghese, Princess, 299

Borisoff, 329

Borodino, Battle of, 326, 334

Bouille, 63

Boulogne, 225, 446

461

INDEX

Bourg, 385

Bourrienne, 24, 38, 82, 125, 126, 128, 132, 156, 164, 386

Boussard, 144

Branau, 395

" Bravest of the Brave," 339

Breslau, 348

Brienne, 24, 25, 26, 368

Brougham, Lord, 440

Brueys, 128, 140

Brumaire, nineteenth of, 163, 173, 183, 452

Brunswick, Duke of, 252, 266

Biilow, 407

Bunbury, Sir Henry, 421

Burgos, 316

Burke, Edmund, 166

Busaco, 305

Cabanis, 161

Cabarrus, Therese, 65, 74

Cadiz, 225

Cadoudal, Georges, 208, 212, 380

Caesar, 159, 227, 432

Caesar's Commentaries of Gaul, 26

Caffarelli, General, 130, 134

fa ira, 101

Cairo, 135; outbreak in, 145

Caldiero, Battle of, 265

Calvinists, 190

Cambaceres, 161, 167, 177, 180, 182

Cambronne, 408

Campo Formio, Treaty of, 117, 120, 124, 155

Cannes, 384

Canning on Napoleon, 439, 448

Carnot, 42, 76, 95, 117, 177, 388, 416

Carre, Major, 343

Carrier, 50, 52

Carteaux at Toulon, 43

Castiglione, 108, 109

Castlereagh, Lord, 429

462

INDEX

Catharine II, 116

Caulaincourt, 210, 295, 341, 369* 386, 416

Cautillon, 435

Cavour, 354 ,

Ceracchi, 193

Cervoni, 90

Champbaubert, 370

Champ de Mar, 390

Charlemagne, 216, 248, 302, 308, 369

Charleroi, 394, 409

Charles, Archduke, 109, 112, 248; invades Bavaria, 252;

at Wagram, 288, 289
Charles IV of Spain abdicates, 269, 282
Charles, Captain Hippolite, 81, 82, 259
Charles XII, 316
Chateaubriand, 211
Chebreiss, 135
Cherasco, Treaty of, 93
" Child and Champion of Democracy," 123
Choiseul, 18
Cintra, 273

Cisalpine Republic, 117, 173
Clery, Desiree, 69
Cobentzal, 116
Coblentz, 353

Cockburn, Admiral Sir George, 424
Code, The, 178, 180
Colli, General, 91
Colombier, Caroline, 30
Compeigne, 297, 298
Concordat, 187, 188, 189
Conde, 128

Confederation of the Rhine, 354
Congress of Vienna, 380, 388
Coni, 94
Consalvi, 188

Constant, Benjamin, 267, 390
Constitution of 1795, 58
Consular Guard comes to Paris, 174
" Cook's Voyages," 128

463

INDEX

Copenhagen, 265

Corday, Charlotte, 45, 47

Corfu, 267

Corneille, 433

Correggio, 104

Corsica, 17, 18, 19

Council of Ancients, 58, 160, 163, 164

Council of Five Hundred, 58, 160, 163, 164

Council of State, 179

Courcelles, 297

Craonne, 371

Dagobert, 226

Dandolo, 120

Danican, General, 60

Danton, 42, 52, 194

Dantzig, 314

Danube, 285

Davidowich, in

Davoust, 128, 237, 240, 246; made Duke of Auerstadt, 256;

261, 289; named Secretary of War, 388, 393, 417
" Day of the Black Breeches," 38
"Day of the Sections," 60
Decres, 388
Dego, 97
Denmark, 308
Dennewitz, 359
Desaix, 128, 172, 173, 246, 412
De Segur, 337
Desgenettes, 151
Des Mazis, 30, 57
Desnoyers, 216
D'Herbois, Collot, 50, 52, 53
Dieppe, 222
Dijon, Army of, 169
Directory, 85, 159
D'Israeli, 33

Djezzar the Butcher, 146, 148, 150
Dnieper, Ney crosses the, 338
464

INDEX

Doppet at Toulon, 46

Downing Street, 199

Dresden, 313; review of troops in, 313; 346; Battle of,

355

Du Barry, Madame, 276
Dubois, 296

Dugommier at Toulon, 47, 50
Dumas, 20

Dumas, General Alexander, 141
Dumouriez, 206
Dunkirk, 126
Dupont, General, 273
Duroc, 214, 244, 341 ; death of, 351
Duteil, General, 47

B

Ebrington, Lord, 185

Eckmiihl, 283

Egle, Madame, 63

Egypt, 155, 450

Eighteenth Fructidor, coup d'etat of, 116, 117

Elba, 373, 376, 432, 450

Elgin, Lord, 104

Embebeh, 135

Emerson on Napoleon, 438

Enghien, Duke d', 209

England, 200, 210

Erfurt, 256; meeting at Erfurt, 279, 362

Erlon, General Drouet d', 397, 403

Essling, Battle of, 285

Ettenheim, 209

Eylau, Battle of, 260, 266

F

Fauvelet, 39

Feraud, 54

Ferdinand, crown prince of Spain, 270

Ferdinand, Duke, 100, 234

30 465

INDEX

Ferdinand of Prussia, death of, 254

Fesch, Cardinal, 213

Feuillant, 177

Finland, 265

Fontainebleau, 214, 215; decree of, 306

Fornesy, Colonel, 92

Fouche at Toulon, 49, 52, 177, 205, 209, 388, 416

Fourier, 127

Fox, Charles James, 242; on Napoleon, 439

France, 35, 155

Francis of Austria, 237, 241

Frankfort Proposals, 365

Frasnes, 400

Frederick Augustus, 349

Frederick the Great, 27, 257, 266, 432

Frederick William, King of Prussia, 252, 263

French Revolution, 33, 34

Freron at Toulon, 49

Friedland, Battle of, 262, 263, 290, 357, 452

Fulton, Robert, 223

Gallican, 311

Gallican Church, 188

Gembloux, 411

Geneva, 188

Genghis, Khan, 302

Genoa, 35, 85, 91, 168, 169

Geoffrey, Saint Hilaire, 127

Gerard, General, 396, 408

Giacominetta, 23

Gibbon, Edward, 247

Gibraltar, 224

" Gilded Youth," 53

Girardin, Stanislas, 454

Girard, 216

Girondins, 42, 177

Gneisenan, 399

Goddess of Reason, 184, 189

Godoy, Manuel, 269, 271

466

INDEX

Goethe, 186; at Erfurt, 281

Gourgaud, 185, 417, 4*9

Grand Canal, 450

Grenier, 416

Grenoble, 384, 3§5

Gros, Groschen, 350

Grouchy, 400, 401, 4°3» 4O7» 4™, 4*5

Guastalla, 372

Guizot, 449

Gulf of Mexico, 201

H

Haiti, 195

Hamelin, Madame, 74

Hannibal, 94, 227

Hardenburg, 348

Hartzfeldt, Count, 259

Haugwitz, Count, 249

Hawkesberry, 197

Hebert, 51, 184

Heilsberg, 262

Henry IV of Navarre, 299

Hinton, 378

Hoche, General, 42

Hofer, 288

Hohenlinden, 174

Hohenlohe, 266

Holy Alliance, 454

Holy Roman Empire, 248, 267

Homer, 128

Hougomont, 404

Hulin, 210

"Hundred Days, The," 416

Ibraham, 153
Illyria, 290, 349
Incivism, 87
"Inconstant," the, 283

467

INDEX

India, 310

Inniskilling dragoons, 405

Ionian Isles, 197

Ireland, 227

Iron crown of Lombardy, 229

Ischia, 287

Italy, 84

Jacobin Club, 66, 123

Jacobins, 161

Jamestown, 427

Janson, Colonel de Forsin, 397

Jena, Battle of, 255, 290, 343, 357, 452

Jerome, painting of, 104

Jews, 177, 187

John, Archduke, 174

Jolivet, Captain, 441, 442

Joppa, 146

Josephine, born at Martinique, 63; marries Viscount
Beauharnais, 63; committed to prison, 64; meets Bona-
parte, 70; her character, 74; marries Bonaparte, 76;
goes to Milan, 114; 158, 162, 193, 202, 205; coronation,
215, 216; 229, 292, 295

Jouan, Gulf of, 384

Joubert, General, 157

Jouberthon, Madame, 244

Joux, 196

Junius Brutus, 107

Junot at Toulon, 45, 53, 55 ; enters Lisbon, 268, 393

Justinian, 179, 180

Kalisch, 348

Keith, Lord, 421, 423

Kellermann, General, 90, 96

King of Rome, birth of, 307

Kleber, General, 42, 128, 133, 148, 154; assassination of,

175

468

INDEX

Knights of St. John, 129, 197

Koran, 128

Kovno, 323, 342

Krasnoi, Napoleon makes stand at, 338

Kray, 168

Kremlin, 328

Kulm, 358

Kutusoff, General, 237, 239, 266; at Borodino, 324

Labedoyere, Colonel, 385

Lacretelle, 69

La Fayette, 117, 217

La Fere, regiment of, 30

La Harpe, 90

La Haye, Sainte, 407

Landfurt, 283

Landgrafenberg, 254

Lannes, 99, 128, 152, 161, 237, 246; at Marengo, 274; death

of, 286
Laon, 270
La Rothiere, 369
Las Casas, 103, 418, 419, 420, 433
Lebrun, 167

"Le Chant du Depart," 314
Leclerc, 166, 196; his death, 197
Leger, 296
Leghorn, 383

Legion of Honor, 190, 191
Leonardo da Vinci, 104
Le Pere, Violette, 380
Liberty Hall, 55
Liege, 395, 399, 410
Ligny, Battle of, 396 et seq.
Ligurian Republic, 117
Little Corporal, 405
Little Gibraltar, 47
Little Monk, 445
Liverpool, 309
Livy, 128

469

INDEX

Lobau, 134, 403, 407

Lodi, bridge of, 99

Lombardy, 100, 117, 400

Lonato, 108

London, nest of conspirators, 204, 309

Long wood, 426, 431

Louis XIV, 245, 450

Louis XVI, 177

Louis XVIII, 365, 379, 381, 385, 386-393, 418

Louisa, Queen, 252, 263, 437

Louisiana, purchase of, 201

Liibeck, 256

Lucca, 85

Lugo, 291

Luneville, Treaty of, 175

Lutherans, 190

Liitzen, Battle of, 350, 365

Luxembourg, The, 128, 167

Lycurgus, 180

Lyons, 45, 390

Macdonald, 264, 314

Mack, General, 252, 266

Madame Mere, 213, 303

Madrid, 272, 275

Magdeburg, 264, 314

Mahomet, 132

Maingaud, 420

Maintenon, Madame de, 40

Maison du Roi, 380

Maitland, Captain, 418, 423

Malmaison, 417

Malta, capture of, 129, 130; 168; England captures, 174

Mamelukes, 132, 135

Mantua, 106, 108, 109, no, in et seq.

Marabout, 131

Marbeuf, General, 31

Marbot, 326, 361

Marchand, 420

470

INDEX

Marcus Brutus, 107

Marengo, 171, 357, 452

Maret, Secretary of State, 368

Maria Louisa, 82, 312, 373

Marie Antoinette, 299

Marius, 42

Marlborough, 27, 128, 267

Marmont, 50, 55, 101, 128, 152, 161, 316, 351, 359; betrays

Napoleon, 372; 393
Marseillaise, 101
Martinique, 63
"Masked Prophet, The," 31
Massena, 90, 98, 99, 157, 168, 169; surrender of Genoa,

171

Mayence, 256, 361
McCarthy, 183
Mediterranean, 200
Mehee de la Touche, 205
Melas, 168, 171, 172, 266

Menou, 128, 133; succeeds Kleber in Egypt, 175
Metternich, 84, 282, 295, 301, 348; his character, 353, 364,

389

Meuse, array of the, 89
Michel Angelo, 104
Milan, 100, 113, 114, 171, I75» 45O
Milleli, 24
Millessimo, 91, 97
Minsio, 186
Miot, 150

Mirabeau, 36; death of, 38
Mississippi, 152
Modena, 85
Mondovi, 91
Monge, 127
Moniteur, 48, 195, 197
Montebello, 112
Montenotte, 91, 97

Montesquieu's " Spirit of the Laws," 128
Monthyon, 409

Moreau, 42, 89, 117, 168; Hohenlinden, 174
471

INDEX

Moscow, 326, 327 ; burning of, 329

Moulins, 162

Mount Tabor, 148

Munich, 231

Murat, 58, 128, 152, 161, 165, 166, 210, 234, 246, 256; en-
ters Madrid, 270; 206, 325, 343; at battle of Dresden,
357; 362, 389; defeated at Tolentino, 389; his execution,
389

N

Nabulione, 20

Naples, 155, 243

Napoleon, 15, 16; controversy over date of his birth, 20;
leaves home for Brienne, 25 ; stops at Autun, 25 ; enters
Brienne, 25 ; his studies, 26 ; leads sham battle at Brienne,
27; enters school of Paris, 28; suffers from poverty,
29; description of his appearance, 29; appointed junior
lieutenant, 30; meets Caroline Colombier, 30; visits
Ajaccio, 31 ; writes history of Corsica, 3j^_Jmpressed
by events of French Revolution, 35 ; in Corsica on fur-
lough, 36; denounces action of governor, 35; reports to
National Assembly in Paris, 36; submits his history of
Corsica to Paoli, 37; rejoins his regiment, 37; again
visits Corsica, 38; deprived of his commission, 38;
returns to Paris, 38; reduced to poverty. 38; witnesses
^scenes in the Revolution, 39; restored to command, 40;
escorts tlise to Corsica, 40; flees with family from
Calvi, 41 ; renders service at Avignon, 43 ; publishes
"Supper of Beaucaire." 43; at siege of Toulon, 46; ap-
pointed general of brigade of the Army of Italy, 51;
imprisoned in Fort Carre, 52; released from prison, 55 ;
goes to Paris, 55; defends convention on I3th Ven-
demiaire, 58; friendly with Barras, 68; addresses De-
siree Clery and Madame Permon, 69; meets Josephine,
76; appointed general of Army 'of Italy, 76; reaches
Nice, 86; assumes command, 86; issues stirring address
to the troops, 89; suppresses mutiny, 90; wins battles
of Montenotte, Millesimo and Mondovi, 91 ; signs Treaty
of Cherasco, 93; offends Directory, 94, 95; threatens to
resign his command, 95; refuses to divide his command
472

INDEX

with Kellermann, 95; issues another strong address to
the troops, 96; crosses the Po, 98; wins the battle of
Lodi, 98 ; enters Milan in triumph, 101 ; issues another
proclamation, 102; enriches Paris with art works of
Italy, 104; forces the passage of the Mincio, 106; be-
sieges Mantua, 106 ; wins battles of Castiglione and Lo-
nato, 108; wins battle of Bassano, 109; suffers defeat at
Caldiero, in; wins battle of Arcola, in; defeats Al-
vintzy at Rivoli, in; armistice of Leoben, 112; sends
Augereau to aid in coup d'etat of eighteenth Fructidor,
117; signs Treaty of Campo Formio, 117; returns to
Paris, 122; given reception by Directory, 124; contem-
plates invasion of England, 126; sails for Egypt, 128;
captures Malta, 129; lands at Marabout and captures
Alexandria, 131 ; marches to Cairo, 135 ; wins battle
of the Pyramids, 136, 137; his fleet destroyed at the
battle of the Nile, 139 ; addresses the army, 142 ; marches
into Syria, 146; lays siege to Acre, 147, 148; marches to
relief of Kleber, 149; abandons the siege of Acre, 149;
defeats the Mamelukes at Aboukir, 153; returns to
Paris, 153; effects the coup d'etat of nineteenth Bru-
maire, 155, 165; deposes Directory, 166; seizes the Con-
sulate, 166, 167; takes command of army in Italy, 170,
171; battle of Marengo, 171, 172; signs Treaty of Lune-
ville, 175; signs Treaty of Amiens, 174; returns to
Paris, 175; effects concordat with the Pope, 176 et seq.;
compiles the Code, 178 et seq.; establishes Legion of
Honor, 190 ; founds University of France, 191 ; orders
arrest and execution of Duke d'Enghien, 211; pro-
claimed Emperor, 213; coronation, 216, 217; threatens
invasion of England, 220, 221 ; crowned King of Italy,
229; alliance of Russia, Austria, England and Sweden,
231; compels surrender of Mack at Ulm, 233, 234; wins
battle of Austerlitz, 237, 238, 239, 240; signs Treaty of
Pressburg, 241 ; organizes Confederation of the Rhine,
243; makes Joseph King of Naples and Louis King of
Holland, 243, 244; war with Prussia, 255; wins battles
of Jena and Auerstadt, 256 ; enters Berlin in triumph,
256; wins battle of Friedland, 262; signs Treaty of
Tilsit, 263; invades Portugal, Junot enters Lisbon, 268;
473

INDEX

invades Spain, Murat enters Madrid, 269; forces abdi-
cation of Charles IV of Spain, 271 ; induces Ferdinand
to renounce his rights to the throne, 270; offers crown
of Spain to Louis, 271 ; induces Joseph to ascend the
Spanish throne, 272; takes command of the army of
Spain, 275, 276; Austria having declared war against
France, he takes the field, 282 ; enters Vienna, 284 ; sus-
tains defeat at the battle of Aspern and Essling, 285,
286; wins battle of Wagram, 288, 289; signs Treaty of
Schonbrunn, 290; contemplates divorce, 293, 294; se-
cures divorce from Josephine, 294; sues for the hand
of Maria Louisa of Austria, 295 ; marries Maria Louisa, \
299; wages commercial war with England, 306; birth;
of the King of Rome, 307; prepares for invasion of'
Russia, 314, 315; invades Russia, 317; enters Moscow^,
326, 327; orders retreat, 333; leaves army at Smorgona,
342; wins battles of Liitzen and Bautzen, 350, 35!;
wins battle of Dresden, 357; defeated at Leipsic, 3^9;
retreats from Leipsic, 361/362; returns to Paris, 3^4;
leaves Paris to take command of army, 368; suffers de-
feat at La Rothiere, 369; victories at Champaub^rt,
Montmirail and Vauchamps, 370; suffers defeat, at Lapn,
371; retires to Fontainebleau, 371; abdicates, 372; de-
parts for Elba, 373, 376; returns to France from Eljba,
383 ; lands at Jouan, near Cannes, 384 ; marches ,- to
Paris, 385, 386; arrives in Paris, 386, 387; leaves P^ris
to take command of the army, 393; arrives at Bqau-
mont, 393 ; pushes on to Charleroi, 394 ; wins victory; of
Ligny, 396, 397; defeated at Waterloo, 404, 405; a^>di-
cates the throne, 415 ; goes on board the " Bellerophdin,"
420; is carried to Plymouth, 421; is transferred to the
" Northumberland," 424 ; reaches Jamestown, St.
Helena, 426; takes up residence at Longwood, 426; his
death, 435; his remains taken to Paris, 436; his charac-
ter, 437 et seq.

Neipperg, Count, 382

Nelson, 129, 130, 139, 140, 224, 225; death of, 236

Nemours, 214

Ney, 223, 237, 246, 262, 305, 325 ; named Duke of Moskwa,
326; called the "Bravest of the Brave," 329; at the bat-
474

INDEX

tie of Bautzen, 351; 359, 360, 385; at Quatre Bras, 399 ;

at Waterloo, 405, 407; his execution, 418
Nile, battle of the, 139, 140, 159
Ninth Thermidor, 62
Nogent, 369

" Northumberland," the, 424
Notre Dame, 189, 216
Nuremberg, 250

" CEdipe," Voltaire's, 280

O'Harra, General, taken prisoner at Toulon, 48, 51

Oldenburg, 311

Old Guard at Waterloo, 408, 409

O'Meara, 431, 433

Oporto, 291

Orange, Prince of, 394

Ordener, General, 210

Orders in Council, 257

" Orient," the, 130, 140

Ossian, 26, 128, 433

Oudinot, 237, 246, 351, 393

Pagerie, Josephine Tascher de la, see Josephine

Palais Royal, 143

Palm, 249

Paoli, Pascal, 18, 19, 36

Paris, 156, 246

Parma, 85

Parma, Duke, 372

Patterson, Miss, 244

Pa via, University of, 22

Permon, Madame, 28; description of Napoleon by, 55,

69, 70

Peschiera, 106
Petit, General, 375
Phidias, 104

475

INDEX

Phull, General, 319, 320

Pichegru, 42, 116, 206

Picton, General, 404

Piedmont, 85

Pirna, 358

Pitt, William, 123, 242

Pius VII, 285, 300

Placentia, 372

Planchenoit, 407

Plateau of Pratzen, 237

Plauen, 357

Plebiscite, 179

Plessis, 210

Plutarch, 26

Po, 98, 106

Poland, 258, 311

Pompey's Pillar, 142

Poniatowski, death of, 361

Ponte Nuovo, Battle of, 19

Portalis, 182

Porte, the, declares war, 146

Porto Ferrago, 3?8, 383

Portugal, 35, 268, 305

Pressburg, Treaty of, 241

" Prince of the Peace," 269

Protestants, 177

Provence, Count of, 204

Provera, in

Prussia, 35

Pultusk, 260

Pyramids, Battle of the, 136

Pyrenees, 365

Quatre Bras, 394, 395, 396
Quadrilateral, the, 106
Quinotte, 416
Quosdanowich, 108

476

INDEX

Ramolino, Letizia, 22

Rampon, Colonel, 92

Raphael, 104

Rapp, 293

Ratisbon, 284

Raynal, 27, 31

Real, 209

Recamier, Aladame, 74

Red Sea, 127

Reichstadt, Duke of, 373

Reign of Terror, 62

Reille, General, 403, 404

Rewbell, 67

Reynier, 128

Rheims, 216

Richmond, Duchess of, 394

Robespierre, 52, 62, 64, 184, 188

Robespierre, Augustin, 44, 62

Rochefort, 417

Roederer, 27, 161

Rohan, Charlotte de, 209

Rolando, 286

Roman Catholics, 177, 187

Rome, 155, 183 ; annexed to empire, 284

Rome, birth of king of, 307

Rosetta stone, 144

Rossomme, 403

Rousseau, 27, 34, 454

Roustan, 153

Russia, invasion of, 317; description of its inhabitants,

Saalfeld, 254

Sablons, 59

Salicetti, 70

Salle, 363

Sambre, Army of the, 89

477

INDEX

Sampiero, 18

San Domingo, 195

San Marino, 117

Sardinia, 85

Sart a Walhain, 412

Savary, 210, 417

Savoy, 94

Schaffhausen, 119

Scharnhorst, 279

Scherer, General, 89

Schonbrunn, 284; Treaty of, 290, 292

Schumacher, Gaspard, 318, 336

Scotch Grays, 404

Scott, Sir Walter, 439

Senatus consultum, 213

Serurier, 90

Sicily, 85

Siege of Troy, 33

Sieyes, Abbe, 156, 157, 161, 162, 165, 167

Silesia, 264

Smith, Sir Sidney, 148

Smolensk, Battle of, 322, 349

Smorgoni, 341, 345

Soignes, forest of, 401

Soissons, 297

Solon, 180

Soult, 237, 276, 291, 305 ; made chief of staff, 395 ; 412

Spain, 35

Sphinx, 159

St. Amand, 396

St. Antoine, 167

St. Cloud, 161, 164, 166, 244, 299

St. Cyr, 356, 393

St. Dizier, 368

St. Germaine, 18

St. Helena, 427

St. Jean d'Acre, 266, 310

St. Jean, Mont, 401

St. Just, 67

St. Lambert, 414

478

INDEX

St. Petersburg, 322, 450

St. Ruffe, Abbot of, 30

Staps, 292, 293

Stael, Madame de, on Napoleon, 438

States General, 33, 34

Stein, 279

Stuart, General, 198

Sulla, 42

Sultan Kebir, 138

" Supper of Beaucaire," 43

" Supreme Being," 184

Suvaroff, 155

Sweden, 268

Swiss Guards, 39

Syria, 197

Tacitus, 127, 143
Talavera, 291

Talleyrand, 156, 161, 162, 177, 202, 209, 213, 277; his char-
acter, 278; 378
Tallien, 52, 58, 65
Tamerlane, 302
Taranto, Gulf of, 180
Tasso, 123
Tenda, 437
Tenth of August, 39
Themistocles, 419
Theophilanthropists, 187
Thibeaudeau, 104
Thiebault, 59, 387
Thiers, 143
Third Estate, 34

Thirteenth Vendemiaire, 58, 59, 60
Thorn, 314
Thucydides, 127
Thumery, 209

Tilsit, 252; Treaty of, 263, 309
Tippoo, Sahib, 140
Titian, 104

479

INDEX

Tivoli Gardens, 143

Tolentino, Battle of, 389

Topino-Lebrun, 193

Torbay, 421

Torres, Vedras, 305

Toulon, siege of, 45, 46; capture of, 49, 66, 128

Toussaint L'Ouverture, 196

Trafalgar, 195 ; Battle of, 236

Trianon, Decree of, 306

Tribunate, 178

Trieste, 290

Tronchet, 182

Troy, Siege of, 33

Turenne, 27, 128, 432

Turin, 91, 230

Turkey, 268

Tuscany, Duchy of, 85

Tyrol, 349

Tyrolese, 291

U

Ulm, 233, 452

Uprising of 2Oth of May, 1795, 54

Ushant, 421

Usher, Captain, 378

Vadier, 52, 53

Valeggio, 106

Valenza, 98

Vandamme, 358, 359, 399, 4<>3, 441

Vatican, 188

Vauchamps, 370

Vedas, 128

Vendemiaire, thirteenth, 58, 59, 60

Vendome Column, 385

Venetia, 107

Venice, 35, 85, 117; *al1 of> I2I> 349, 45°

Verona, 106

480

JUL 4 -

INDEX

Vesperus, 184

Victor Amadeus, 93, 94

Victor Hugo, 122

Victor, General, 191 ; at Dresden, 357 ; 398

Vienna, 284, 288, 453

Villeneuve, 222, 224, 226

Vilna, 319, 342

Vimiero, 273

Vincennes, 210

Violette Le Pere, 445

Virgil, 128

Vitepsk, 322

Voltaire, 27, 185

Von Voss, Countess, 263

W

Wagram, Battle of, 288, 291, 452

Walewski, Countess, 259; visits Napoleon at Elba, 382

Walpole, 348

Warsaw, 258; Duchy of, 264, 354

Waterloo, Battle of, 395, 432

Wavre, 410, 412

Weissenfels, 363

Wellington, 273, 291, 305, 316, 391, 395, 401; at Waterloo,

408, 409, 419, 435
Westphalia, 244
Whitworth, Lord, 197, 199, 220
Wieland at Erfurt, 281
Wilson, Sir Robert, 337
Wittgenstein, 350
Wright, Captain, 208, 211
Wiirmser, General, 80, 107, 108, 261
Wiirtemberg, 241, 243

Y

Yorck, General, 348

Z

Zach, General, 172

31 481