Memoirs;

kIEUT.-GENERAL BARON DE MARBOT

THE MEMOIRS

BARON DE MARBOT

LATE
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL IN THE FRENCH ARMY

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH
BY

ARTHUR JOHN BUTLER

LATE FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE

WITH PORTRAIT

NEW IMPRESSION u| £ *"!—

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BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.

First Edition, 2 vols., Bvo, March, 1892 ; Reprinted
April, 1892 ; July, 1892 ; New Edition, Slightly
Abridged, 1 vol., Crown Svo, March, 1893; Re-
printed January, 1894.
Silver Library Edition, 2 vols., July, 1897 ; Re-
printed April, 1900 ; January, 1903 ; January, 1905 ;
November, 1907 ; June, 1913.

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

This English version of what is in some respects the most
interesting book that has appeared in France— or for that
matter in either country — for a generation must be taken
for what it is, namely, an attempt to convey some of the
interest of this work to English readers who do not read
French fluently. Owing to circumstances not necessary
to specify here, the work was entrusted to a translator
whose principal qualifications were a fair knowledge of
French, and just enough acquaintance with French mili-
tary terms to be aware that brigadier does not mean a
brigadier, nor marechal de camp a. field-marshal. Further,
the different conditions of the book-market in England
and France made it impossible to render the 1,200 and odd
pages of the original in their entirety ; and consequently the
whole work, except the most exciting episodes, has had to
be somewhat condensed, and several passages reduced to
little more than abstracts. These last are indicated by
brackets. The book has been less injured than some
would be by this treatment — for ' style ' was not General
Marbot's forte. He tells his stories (and excellent stories
they are) quite intelligibly, and with the most engaging
good faith, but with a decided excess of relative clauses.
On the other hand, it has been thought expedient to pre-
serve, as far as possible, the colloquial turns of phrase
which abound, and give the recital much of its freshness.
Whether it be that a good deal of the book was composed
by the process of copying notes made at the moment, or
that the author, as he wrote, identified himself with his

VI MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

former self to the point of adapting his diction to the
period of his life which he happened to be recording, it is
certainly noticeable that these colloquialisms are much less
frequent in the latter portions of the book. In fact, from
the beginning of the Russian campaign and his own
promotion to the command of a regiment, a curious
accession of seriousness is to be remarked, and at last a
tone of positive bitterness when the enemies of France are
mentioned. No doubt the recollection of that time was
enough to inspire seriousness, and even occasional bitter-
ness, in the tone of any Frenchman who had taken part
in its events.

On the whole, the author's fairness is very conspicuous.
Though attached to Napoleon, he is by no means a blind
partisan, and when he thinks the Emperor in the wrong,
does not scruple to say so. When, as in the case of
Napoleon's conduct towards Prince Hatzfeld, or his treat-
ment of Hofer, we miss any expression of the reprobation
with which most honest men regard those deeds, it is
clearly because General Marbot only knew the versions
current in France. He was not writing history, still less
criticism ; nor does he, as a rule, lay any claim to special
knowledge in regard to matters which did not fall under
his personal observation. For this reason it has been
thought worth while to depart from the course usually and
rightly followed in the case of translations, and to append
an occasional note to statements which seem at variance
with the facts as established after investigation of evidence
by professed riistorians (and that even in cases where
Marbot's evidence ought probably to be accepted), most of
all in those portions of the story which are especially
likely to interest English readers. That these notes may
now and then have been prompted by a feeling akin to that
which made Dr. Johnson object to ' letting the Whig dogs

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE Vll

have the best of it ' the translator is not concerned to
deny. If so, it is a tribute to the interest of the book. It
should here be mentioned that the notes due to the trans-
lator are distinguished by brackets. Where names have
been suppressed by the French editors it has been felt that
any attempt to supply them would hardly be in good taste.
As to the question which has been raised in some
quarters with regard to the genuineness of the Memoirs,
it will suffice to say that there are persons of the highest
authority who were acquainted with General Marbot, saw
the Memoirs in MS. during his lifetime, and vouch for the
virtual identity of the book as now published with what
they then saw. Its genuineness once established, it is
hardly possible to doubt that it is a faithful record. There
is sincerity in every line of it. With an utter absence of
anything like swagger, there is no pretence of self-depre-
ciation. Whether in his yoimger days Marbot performs
some daring feat of arms, or in a more responsible position
saves his regiment by his own good management from
some of the worst miseries of the Russian retreat, he
knows that what he did is creditable to him, and does not
mind, in a modest way, taking credit for it. When his
services are recognised, his delight is childlike; 'Cetait
un des plus beaux jours de ma vie ' is almost a refrain, at
least in the first half of the book; when the promised
reward is delayed, he makes no affectation of indifference.
The boyish countenance which he seems to have borne,
even at thirty years old, is the outward sign of a boyish
temperament, using the word in its best sense and in no
way so as to detract from the type of an almost ideal
soldier such as the book presents to us, the soldier who —

Through the heat of conflict keeps the law
In calmness made, and sees what he foresaw ;

Vlll MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

Or if an unexpected call succeed,
Come when it will, is equal to the need.

Is yet a soul whose master-bias leans

To homefelt pleasures and to gentle scenes.

But the book needs no introduction to English readers.
Since its appearance in France many notices of it have
appeared in our reviews and magazines, from the pens
of approved men of letters, and must have made many,
even of those who do not read French with ease,
desirous of its further acquaintance. To some at least
of these it is hoped that the present version may be of
service.

NOTE TO FIFTH EDITION.

1 am indebted to Mr. Archibald Forbes for several sugges-
tions and corrections which have been embodied in this
edition.

THE MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

CHAPTER I.

II was born August 18, 1782, at my father's chateau of
^ariviere, in the vale of Beaulieu, on the borders of the
Limousin and Quercy, now in the Department of Correre.
My father was an only son, as were his father and grand-
father before him. His income from land consequently
amounted to what was, for our province, a considerable
sum. Our family was of noble origin, although it had for a
long time dropped any title ; but our mode of living was what
was called 'noble' — that is, we lived on our own income,
without adding to it by any profession or trade. The house
was connected by marriage with many of the good families of
the neighbourhood, and on terms of friendship with others — a
point worth remarking, as showing the respect in which it was
held at a period when the old nobility was in its full pride and
power.

My father was born in 1753. He had received an excellent
education and was a thoroughly cultivated man, loving study,
literature, and art. Naturally hot-tempered, he had acquired
self-control from the ways of the society in which he lived ;
and, being extremely kind-hearted, he would always do his
best to efface the impression of any hasty word which in the
first impulse of anger might have escaped him. He was a
splendid man — very tall and strongly built; of dark com-
plexion, with severe but handsome and regular features. His
mother died when he was a lad ; my grandfather was old and
infirm, and nearly blind from the effects of a flash of lightning,
and the management of the household was left to an elderly
cousin, Mile. Oudinet de Beaulieu. Thus my father on his
first entry into active life found himself practically his own

1

2 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

master. The only use, however, which he made of his liberty
was to accept the offer made to him by his neighbour and
friend, Colonel the Marquis d'Estresse, of a sub-lieutenant's
commission in the body-guard of Louis XV. From this he
passed in 1 781 to General Count de Schomberg's regiment of
dragoons with the rank of captain, and in the following year
became aide-de-camp to the general.

Some years before this my grandfather had died, and my
father, in 1776, had married the daughter of M. de Certain,
a gentleman of small means but old family living within a
few miles of our home at the chateau of Laval de Cere. Mme.
de Certain belonged to the family of Verdal, which claims
kindred with St. Roch 1 — a Verdal having, it is said, married a
sister of the saint at Montpellier. I cannot vouch for the truth
of the story, but I know that before the Revolution there
existed at the chateau of Gouveau, still in the possession of
the Verdal family, a stone bench, held in great veneration by
the mountain-folk of the country, because St. Roch, when
visiting his sister, was fond of sitting on it. It commands a
better view of the country than can be had from the chateau,
one of the most gloomy of fortresses.

M. and Mme. de Certain had three sons and a daughter.
Each of these, according to the old custom, bore the title oi
one of the family estates. Thus the eldest son, who was at
this time a captain in the Penthievre regiment of foot, had
the surname of Canrobert, which his son, my cousin, has since
rendered illustrious; the second son, lieutenant in the same
regiment, was called De l'lsle; the third, a comrade of my
father's in the body-guard, La Coste. The daughter, my
mother, was known as Mile, du Puy.

At that time the public coaches were few, dirty, and un-
comfortable, and no man of fashion would ever travel in one.
Elderly persons and invalids travelled in post-chaises, young
gentlemen and officers in the saddle. Among the body-guard'
a custom which to us seems quaint enough had sprung up.
Each was only on duty for three months in every year, and
they were thus divided into four groups : those whose homes
were in districts possessing a good breed of horses — such as
Brittany, Auvergne, the Limousin — were expected to buy
them, at prices not exceeding 100 francs, saddle and bridle

1 [St. Roch (1295-1327), the patron-saint of the plague-stricken, was son
of Jean de a Croix, a distinguished citizen of Montpellier, and, through his
grandmother, great-grandson of Charles of Anjou-1

EARLY DAYS 3

included. When the day for returning to duty arrived, all
those belonging to the same province met at some appointed
rendezvous and rode, a merry caravan, to Versailles, stopping
at regular stations, where good quarters and a good supper at
a moderate price, agreed on beforehand, were ready for them.
As they rode along, laughing, singing, chatting, telling stories
(of which each was bound to produce a supply when his turn
came), their numbers were constantly swelled by the arrival
of comrades from the districts they traversed. Finally, they
got to Versailles as another detachment was ready to start
on its leave. The outgoing party bought the nags of the
incomers at the established price of 100 francs, rode them to
the paternal mansion, and then turned them out to grass for
nine months. On their return to duty they disposed of them
as they had acquired them ; and in this way the horses with one
master after another went about to every province of France.
In these journeys and during their turn of duty my father
became very intimate with M. Certain de la Coste, and, through
him, with the rest of the family, and ultimately married Mile,
du Puy. They had four children — all sons. The eldest,
Adolphe, is now major-general ; I was the second ; Theodore,
the third ; Felix, the youngest. We were born at interval*
of about two years.]

I was of strong constitution, and never had an illness
save the small-pox ; but my life was nearly cut short by an
accident which happened when I was three years old. By
reason of my snub nose and round face my father called me
1 the kitten.' That was quite inducement enough to set me
imitating a kitten, and I used to delight in going about on all-
fours mewing. Every day I used to go upstairs in this way
to the second floor, to be with my father in his library, where
he used to pass the hottest part of the day. When he heard
his ' kitten ' mew he would open the door and give me a
volume of Buffon, that I might look at the pictures while he
was reading. This I thought excellent fun ; but one day I was
not received with the usual welcome. My father, probably
intent on more serious matters, did not open to his ■ kitten.'
Vainly I mewed more and more, in my most insinuating
tones ; the door remained closed. Then I noticed, on a level
with the floor, a hole, which in all the country-houses in the
South of France is made at the bottom of the door to allow
the cat to get into the rooms, known as the 'cat-hole.' This
was obviously my way, and I gently slipped my head through.

4 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

But my body would not follow, nor could I draw my head
back: it was caught. Though I was beginning to be
strangled, I had so completely identified myself with my
part of kitten, that, instead of speaking to let my father
know of my unpleasant situation, I mewed with all my might,
like a cat undergoing strangulation. It seems I did it so
well that my father, thinking it part of the joke, was seized
with a fit of helpless laughter. Suddenly, however, the mew-
ing grew faint ; my face turned blue ; I swooned away. I
imagine my father's alarm when he perceived the truth.
With some difficulty he lifted the door from its hinges, re-
leased me, and carried me, still unconscious, to my mother.
She, thinking me dead, was seized with hysterics. When I
came to, a doctor was in the act of bleeding me. The sight
of my own blood, and the anxiety of the whole household
crowding round my mother and myself, made so vivid an
impression on my childish imagination that the whole affair
has remained deeply graven on my memory.

While my childhood was passing peacefully great events
were preparing. The storm of revolution was already
grumbling, and it was not long before it burst ; 1789 had
come. The first effect which the assembling of the States-
General produced upon provincial tranquillity was discord in
nearly every family. Ours did not escape : for my father, who
had long been accustomed to censure the abuses under which
France laboured, acquiesced in principle in the proposed re-
forms, without any notion of the atrocities which would follow
in the train of the changes. His three brothers-in-law, on the
other hand, and his friends rejected all alterations of the
established state of things. Hence arose debates, of which I
understood nothing, but was none the less distressed at seeing
my mother endeavouring with tears to keep the peace between
brothers and husband. Meanwhile, without knowing why, I
was on the side of the moderate democrats, who had chosen
my father, as unquestionably the ablest man of the neighbour-
hood, for their leader.

The Constituent Assembly abolished feudal quit-rents.1
My father, as a man of noble family, possessed sundry such,
which his father had bought, and was the first to accept the

1 [Rentes fiodales, rent originally paid in lieu of military service by
tenants qualified for such service, as opposed to rent paid by roturiers, for
whom, as Hallam observes, there appears to be no English equivalent.]

BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION 5

law. The peasants, waiting to follow his lead, as soon as they
found that he ceased to collect his rents, ceased to pay theirs.
Then came the division of France into departments. My father
was appointed administrator of Correze, and, soon after, mem-
ber of the Legislative Assembly.

My three uncles and nearly all the nobility of the district
had gone abroad at once ; and war seemed imminent. With
the view of inducing all citizens to arm, and perhaps, too, of
judging how far it could reckon on the energy of the people
at large, the Government spread a report simultaneously in
every parish that brigands under the leadership of the imigris
were coming to put down the new constitutions. The tocsin
was rung in every church. Each man took up what arms he
could ; the national guards were organised, and the country
with a warlike air awaited the alleged brigands, who were
generally said to be in the next parish. None appeared, but
the effect was produced ; France had found herself in arms,
and had shown that she was ready to defend herself. We
were in the country alone with my mother, when this alarm,
known as the Day of Fear, occurred. I was surprised, and
should no doubt have been frightened had I not seen my
mother pretty calm. I have always believed that my father,
knowing her discretion, had given her a hint of what was to
happen.

At the beginning there were no excesses on the part of the
peasantry. They had always in our district preserved a great
respect for the old families. But when the town demagogues
got at them attacks began on the houses of the gentry,
nominally to search for concealed Imigris, really for plunder.
My mother's anxiety was heightened when her mother
arrived, driven from her own house, which on the flight of
her sons had been declared national property. Even my
father's known patriotism, and the fact that he was then
serving in the Army of the Pyrenees as captain of chasseurs,
was insufficient to prevent the confiscation of a house which
he had bought ten years ago at Saint-Ce're*. It was declared
national property on the ground that it had passed by private
contract, and that the vendor had left the country without
ratifying the sale before a notary. It was sold by auction, and
bought by the president of the district, at whose instance the
proceedings had taken place. Finally, our own house was visited.
They behaved politely to my mother, but said that they must
burn the title-deeds of the feudal rents, and ascertain that her
brothers were not concealed about the place. My mother gave

6 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

them the deeds, and pointed out that her brothers, being, as
they were aware, no fools, were not likely to have gone abroad in
order to come back to France and hide in her house. They
admitted the force of the argument, had a meal, burnt the
deeds in the middle of the courtyard, and retired without doing
any damage, shouting : ' Hurrah for the nation and citizen
Marbot ! ' bidding my mother write and tell him that they
loved him much, and that his family was quite safe with them.

Before long, however, my mother, not feeling sure that her
position as sister to three imigrts was sufficiently balanced by
that of wife to one of the country's defenders to ensure her
against inconvenience, decided to leave home for a time. Like
many others, as she has since told me, she was convinced that
a few months would see the end of the disturbances. She
determined to go to Rennes. One of her uncles, who had
formerly served in the Penthievre regiment of foot, had on
leaving the service married the widow of a member of the
parliament of that city. With her my mother proposed to
stay, taking me with her; but at the moment of starting I
was attacked with painful boils, which made me too ill to
travel so far. I was therefore left in charge of a friend —
Mile. Mongalvi, the mistress of a small girl's school at Turenne,
where my mother had been one of the first pupils. *A boy
in a girls' school?' you say. Well, yes ; but you must observe
that I was a very quiet and obedient child, and only eight
years old. The young ladies, who were mostly between six-
teen and twenty, petted me to their hearts' content ; and my
only regret was that my stay among them would, as I
imagined, be but of short duration. As it turned out, I
remained there for four years.

My mother reached her uncle's house at Rennes with the
intention of staying two or three months. Public events
followed with rapidity. The Terror bathed France in blood,
and civil war broke out in Brittany and Vendue. Travelling
in those parts became impossible. My father was still with
the army in the Pyrenees and in Spain, having been promoted
to the rank of general of division. The end of it was that
my mother remained at Rennes for several years also.

Long afterwards, when I read how * Vert- Vert ' lived
among the Visitandines of Nevers, I said, ' That is myself in
the ladies' school at Turenne.' Like the parrot, I was spoilt
by mistresses and scholars as much as any child could be. I
had only to wish in order to get ; nothing was good enough
for me. I became perfectly healthy; my complexion was

THE BOY IN THE GIRLS SCHOOL J

clear and fresh ; and the young ladies contended for the
privilege of kissing me and tending me. When we played
prisoner's base I was allowed always to catch, never to be
caught ; they read me stories, they sang to me. One remi-
niscence connected with this time is that when the news of
the king's execution arrived Mile. Mongalvi caused the whole
school to kneel and say prayers for the repose of his soul.
An indiscretion on the part of any one of them might have
brought her into serious trouble. But the pupils were old
enough to understand the state of affairs, and I perceived that
the matter should not be talked about ; so it was never known
beyond the house.

CHAPTER II.

I remained in my pleasant quarters till November 1793, when
my father, who was in command of a camp which had been
formed at Toulouse, took the opportunity of a few days' leave
to come and see me at Turenne. His appearance in the uniform
of a general officer with sword and enormous moustache, hair
short and unpowdered, was a strange contrast to my recollec-
tion of him in the peaceful days at Lariviere. As I have said,
though stern in countenance he was exceedingly kind, especially
to children ; so we met with the keenest delight on my part,
and abundance of caresses on his. His gratitude was great to
the kind ladies who had taken really maternal care of me ; but,
as I was now in my twelfth year, he naturally decided that the
time had come for a more masculine education. He found on
examining me that,' while I was well up in prayers and hymns,
my knowledge of history, geography, even spelling, was limited.
So it was decided that I should go with him to Toulouse, where
my brother Adolphe was already, and that we should both be
placed at the military college of Soreze, the only large establish-
ment of the kind which the Revolution had spared.

At Cressensac we found Captain Gault, my father's aide-
de-camp. While we were halting here I saw a sight that I
had never seen before. A marching column of gendarmes,
national guards, and volunteers entered the little town, their
band playing. I thought it grand, but could not understand
why they should have in the middle of them a dozen carriages
full of old gentlemen, ladies, and children, all looking very sad.
My father was furious at the sight. He drew back from the
window, and as he strode up and down the room with his aide-
de-camp I heard him exclaim : ' Those scoundrels of the Con-
vention have spoilt the Revolution, which might have been so
splendid ! There is another batch of innocent people being
taken off to prison because they are of good family, or have
relations who have gone abroad 1 It is terrible ! ' I under-
stood him perfectly, and, like him, I vowed hatred to the party
of terror who spoilt the Revolution of 1789. I may be asked,

(8)

ON THE ROAD TO TOULOUSE 9

Why, then, did my father continue to serve a Government for
which he had no esteem ? Because he held that to repel the
enemy from French territory was under all circumstances
honourable, and in no way pledged a soldier to approval of the
atrocities committed by the Convention in its internal adminis-
tration.

What my father had said awakened my lively interest in the
persons whom the carriages contained. I found out that they
were noble families who had been that morning arrested in
their houses and were being carried to prison at Souilhac. I
was wondering how these old men, women, and children could
be dangerous to the country when I heard one of the children
ask for food. A lady begged a national guard to let her get
out to buy provisions ; he refused harshly ; the lady then held
out an assignat, and asked him to be so kind as to get her a
loaf ; to which he replied : ' Do you think I am one of your old
lackeys ? ' His brutality disgusted me ; and having noticed
that our servant Spire had placed in the pockets of the carriage
sundry rolls, each lined with a sausage, I took two of them, and
approaching the carriage where the children were, I threw these
in when the guard's back was turned. Mother and children
made such expressive signs of gratitude that I decided to victual
all the prisoners, and accordingly took them all the stores that
Spire had packed for the nourishment of four persons during
the forty-eight hours which it would take us to reach Toulouse.
We started without any suspicion on his part of the way in
which I had disposed of them. The children kissed their hands
to me, the parents bowed, and we set off. We had not gone
a hundred yards when my father, who in his haste to escape
from a sight which distressed him had not taken a meal at
the inn, felt hungry and asked for the provisions. Spire
mentioned the pockets in which he had placed them. My father
and M. Gault rummaged the whole carriage and found nothing.
My father pitched into Spire ; Spire from the coach-box swore
by all the fiends that he had victualled the carriage for two
days. I was rather in a quandary ; however, not liking to let
poor Spire be scolded any more, I confessed what I had done,
fully expecting a slight reproof for having acted on my own
authority. But my father only kissed me, and long afterwards
he used to delight to speak of my conduct on that occasion.
This is why, my children, I thought I might relate it to you.
There is always happiness in the recollection of praise earned
from those whom we have loved and lost.

From Cressensac to Toulouse the road swarmed with

10 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

volunteers going gaily to join the Army of the Pyrenees, and
the air rang with their patriotic songs. The bustle delighted
me, and I should have been happy but for a physical discom-
fort. I had never made a long journey in a carriage, and
during this one I suffered from sea-sickness. My father stopped
at night to let me rest ; but I was very tired when we got to
Toulouse. However, the meeting with my brother, whom I
had not seen for four or five years, was a great joy and soon
set me up again.

My father, as general commanding the camp (which was
at Le Miral, near Toulouse), had a right to quarters, and the
town council had assigned him the Hotel Resse'guier, a fine
house, of which the owner had gone abroad. Mme. Ress£guier
and her son occupied a retired part of the house, and my father
ordered that they should be treated with all respect. He
entertained largely — indeed, to an extent which his general's
allowance of eighteen rations per diem was insufficient to meet.
His pay, except for the sum of eight francs a month, which
all officers, of whatever rank, received in cash, was paid in
assignats, the value of which decreased daily; and he was
compelled to draw upon the savings of former years. From
the date of his return to active service his fortune was seriously
diminished. Though the spirit of subordination and good
manners generally were just then at a low ebb in France,
his influence was such that a tone of perfect courtesy was
always maintained in his drawing-room and at his table
alike.

Among the officers serving in the camp, two were especial
favourites with my father, and received invitations more often
than any. One, Augereau by name, was adjutant-general,
that is, a colonel on the staff; the other, Lannes, a lieutenant
of grenadiers in a volunteer battalion from the Gers. Both
became marshals of the Empire, and I was aide-de-camp to
both. You will hear more of them later on.

At this time Augereau had just come from service in Vendue,
after previously escaping from the prisons of the Inquisition at
Lisbon. He had been noticed for his courage and the ease
with which he handled his troops. He was a good tactician,
having learnt the science in Prussia, where he had long served
in the foot-guards of Frederick the Great ; whence his nickname
of ' le grand Prussien.' He was always dressed irreproachably,
in perfect trim ; hair curled and powdered, long queue, his long
riding-boots highly polished, and withal a most martial bearing ;
all the more conspicuous that at that time a brilliant get-up

SOME OFFICERS 1 1

was not common in the French army. The volunteers of which
it was mainly composed had not been accustomed to wear
uniform, and were careless as to their toilet. Still no one
ventured to rally Augereau on this score ; he was well known
to be handy with his 'tool,' and of undoubted courage. He
had made the celebrated Saint-George, the stoutest swordsman
in France, lower his colours. His reputation as a tactician
caused my father to entrust to him the training of the newly -
raised battalions of which the division mostly consisted, coming
chiefly from the central and south-western provinces. Augereau
got them into excellent shape, little thinking that in so doing
he was laying the foundations of his future renown ; for the
troops which my father then commanded formed in after times
the celebrated * Augereau's division ' which did so splendidly in
the Eastern Pyrenees and in Italy. He came almost daily to
see my father, and, finding himself valued, vowed for him a
friendship which was always true to itself, and of which I felt
the good effects after my mother's death.

Lieutenant Lannes was the most lively of young Gascons ;
witty, merry, devoid of learning or education, but desirous to
learn, at a time when such a desire was rare. He became a
very good instructor, and, having plenty of self-esteem, he
received with inexpressible delight the praises which my
father deservedly lavished on him. Out of gratitude, more-
over, he spoilt his general's children to the best of his ability.

One fine morning my father received orders to strike his
camp at Le Miral and march with his division to join the force
under General Dugommier, then besieging Toulon, which the
English had captured by a surprise.1 He then pointed out to
me that I needed to study more seriously than had been possible
in a girls' school, and that the next day he should take me to
the college of Soreze, where he had already entered my brother
and myself. I was quite taken aback. I could hardly believe
that I was not to go back to my girl friends and Mile. Mongalvi.
Nor could the sight of the troops and guns which my father
reviewed at Castelnaudary comfort me. My mind was full of
the professors among whom I was going to be thrown. That
night my father heard that the English had evacuated Toulon2

1 [August 27, 1793. As a matter of history, the surrender of Toulon
seems to have been due to the fact that much disaffection to the Republican
Government existed in the town and fleet.]

a [Taking the French fleet, or most of it, with them. For a full account
of the proceedings at Toulon, see James's Naval History of Great Britain,
vol. i. pp. 91, sqq. It was at this recapture of Toulon that Napoleon Bona-
parte, then an artillery officer, first distinguished himself.]

12 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MAR BO T

(December 18, 1793), and that he was ordered to the Eastern
Pyrenees. He decided, therefore, to leave us at Soreze the next
day and go on to Perpignan.

As we left Castelnaudary my father stopped his carriage by
the famous toll under which the Constable Montmorency was
made prisoner by the troops of Louis XIII. after the defeat of
the supporters of the revolted Gaston d'Orteans. He talked
about the story with his aide-de-camp, and my brother, who
was already well educated, joined in the conversation. My
notions on French history generally were very dim, and I
knew nothing of the details. I had never heard of the battle
of Castelnaudary, of Gaston or his revolt, or of the capture and
execution of the Constable Montmorency; and I was much
ashamed to see that my father, knowing that I could not have
answered, put no questions to me on the subject. I privately
concluded, therefore, that he was quite right to send me to the
college, and my regrets were transformed into a resolution to
learn all that I ought to know. Still my heart sank when I
saw the high gloomy walls of the cloister in which I was to be
shut up. I was now eleven years and four months old.

CHAPTER III.

The College of Soreze dated from the time of the expulsion of
the Jesuits in the reign of Louis XV. Their supporters main-
tained that they alone knew how to educate ; their rivals, the
Benedictines, resolved to show that they could do it as well.
To this end they converted four of their houses into colleges,
Soreze being one. The place flourished ; lay teachers were
engaged, and settled with their families in the town ; girls'
schools were started, to profit by the available teaching-power ;
and many foreigners, English, Spanish, American, took up their
abode there for the period of their children's education. The
little town became remarkable for the high standard of instruc-
tion and cultivation to be found among all classes.

The Benedictines went much into society, and were
extremely popular. Consequently, when the Revolution broke
out, and the property of religious houses was sold, the neigh-
bours urged the principal, Dom Ferlus, to buy in the convent
and annexed domain. Instead of bidding against him, they
lent him the purchase money (which he repaid in timber), and
the local authorities permitted payment to be spread over a
long time. The former principal, Dom Despaulx, retired,
having had conscientious scruples about taking the civic oath ; 1
but Dom Ferlus and the other brethren accepted the position,
and under their management the college continued to prosper.
They had no money ; but their estates provided all necessaries,
and the teachers' salaries were paid in kind. Later, on the
death of Dom Ferlu6, the college passed into the hands of his
brother, an Oratorian who had renounced his orders and married.
He was a man of far inferior capacity ; and under him and his
son-in-law, an ex-officer of artillery, who succeeded him, it lost
its importance. The hostility of the Jesuits, who returned in
1814, also aided its downfall.

When I entered, however, it was at the height of its success

1 [The oath of fidelity to the Constitution, including the civil constitution
of the Church, which the clergy were ordered, by a decree of the National
Assembly in January 1791, to take on pain of deprivation.]

(13)

14 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

under Dom Ferlus. The monks wore lay clothes, and were
addressed as 'citizen ' ; but otherwise no change of any import-
ance had taken place in the routine of the school. Of course it
could not but show some traces of the feverish agitation which
prevailed outside. The walls were covered with Republican
4 texts.' We were forbidden to use the term ' monsieur.'
When we went to the refectory, or for a walk, we sang Marseil-
laise, or other Republican hymns. The exploits of our armies
formed the chief subject of conversation ; and some of the
elder boys enrolled themselves among the volunteers. We
learnt drill, riding, fortification, &c. This military atmosphere
tended to make the manners of the pupils somewhat free-and-
easy ; and as for their outward person, thick boots, only cleaned
on decadis, grey socks, brown coat and trousers, shirts tattered
and inkstained, no necktie or cap, untidy hair, hands worthy of
a charcoal-burner, gave them a rough appearance enough.

Now imagine me clean, well brushed, in a good cloth suit,
shot into the middle of seven hundred young imps dressed in
this fashion. One of them shouted, ' Here are some new
boys ! ' and in a swarm they left their games and came and
crowded round us, looking at us as if we had been some strange
beasts. My father kissed us and departed. I was in utter des-
pair. There I was, for the first time in my life, all alone, for
my brother was in the large quadrangle, and I in the small. It
was the depth of winter, and exceedingly cold ; the rules of the
school forbad the pupils to have any fire. On the other hand,
they were Well fed ; for while France was being laid waste by
famine, the good arrangement of Dom Ferlus insured plenty in
the college. The fare was certainly all that could be desired for
schoolboys. In spite of this it seemed to me a most wretched
supper, and the sight of the dishes which were on the table
before me disgusted me ; they might have offered me ortolans
and I should have refused them, my heart was so full. The
meal ended as it had begun, with a patriotic song. At the
verse of the Marseillaise which begins with the words ' Amour
sacre* de la patrie ' all knelt. Then we marched out as we had
come in, to the drum, and so to bed.

Those who were in the large quadrangle had each a room
to himself, and were locked in at night ; those in the smaller
slept four in a room. I was put with Guirand, Romestan, and
Lagarde. They were almost as new comers as I, and we sat
together at meals. I was glad to be with them, for they
seemed, and really were, good fellows. I was horrified,
however, to see how narrow my bed was, and how thin the

soRkzB 15

mattress, and, above all, disgusted at finding the bedstead was
of iron. I had never seen such before. Still it was all very
clean, and, in spite of my troubles, I slept soundly, being
thoroughly tired by the new sensations of this critical day of
my life.

Next morning the drum beat very early, and its horrible
roll in the dormitories seemed to me terribly barbarous. Think
of my feelings when I discovered that while I was asleep they
had taken away my nice clothes, my fine stockings, and my
pretty shoes, and replaced them by the coarse garments and
the clumsy foot-gear of the school ! I cried with rage.

Now that I have told you my first impressions on entering
the college, I will spare you the history of my troubles for the
next six months. I had been so much petted at the ladies'
school that I was bound to suffer both mentally and physically
in my new surroundings. I became very melancholy, and if
my constitution had been less strong I should certainly have
fallen ill. It was one of the saddest periods of my life.
Gradually, however, as I got used to the work, my spirits
improved ; I was very fond of my lessons in French literature,
in geography, and, most of all, in history, and I got on well
with them. I became fairly good in mathematics, in Latin, in
riding, and in fencing ; I learnt my musketry exercise thoroughly ;
and I took much delight in drilling with the school battalion,
commanded by an old retired captain.

As I have said, when I entered the college at the end of
1793, the sanguinary rule of the Convention was at its heaviest.
Commissioners were travelling through the provinces, and
nearly all those who had any influence in the South came to
visit the establishment of Soreze. Citizen Ferlus had a knack
of his own for persuading them that it was their duty to support
an institution which was training, in great numbers, young
people who were the hope of the country. Thus he got all that
he wanted out of them. Very often they allowed him to have
large quantities of fagots which were destined for the supply of
the armies, on the plea that we formed part of the army, and
were its nursery.

When these representatives arrived they were received like
sovereigns : the pupils put on their military uniforms, the
battalion was drilled in their presence ; sentries were placed at
every door, as in a garrison town ; we acted pieces inspired by
the purest patriotism ; we sang national hymns. When they
inspected the classes, especially the history classes, an oppor-
tunity was always found to introduce some dissertation on the

l6 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

excellence of Republican government, and the patriotic virtues
which result from it. I remember in this connection that the
deputy Chabot, who had been a Capuchin, was questioning me
one day on Roman history. He asked me what I thought of
Coriolanus, who, when his fellow-citizens, forgetful of his old
services, had offended him, took refuge with the Volsci, the
Roman's sworn enemies. Dom Ferlus and the masters were
in terror lest I should approve the Roman's conduct ; but I
said that a good citizen should never bear arms against his
country, nor dream of revenging himself on her, however just
grounds he might have for discontent. The representative was
so pleased with my answer that he embraced me, and compli-
mented the head of the college and his assistants on the good
principles which they instilled into their pupils.

This little success in no way diminished my hatred for the
Convention. Young as I was, I had sense enough to under-
stand that in order to save the country it was not necessary to
bathe in the blood of Frenchmen, and that the guillotinings
and massacres were odious crimes. There is no need here to
speak of the oppression under which our unhappy country then
suffered ; you have read it in history. But no colours that
history can employ to depict the horrors of which the Terrorists
were guilty can bring the picture up to the reality. What was
most surprising was the stupidity of the masses in allowing
themselves to be led by men of whom very few had any
capacity ; for nearly all the members of the Convention were
below the average in ability. Even their boasted courage was
due mainly to their fear of each other, since it was through
dread of being guillotined that they acquiesced in the wishes
of their leaders. During my exile in 1815 I came across
numbers of conventionnels who had been compelled to leave
France as I had. They were utterly devoid of steady prin-
ciples, and they admitted to me that they only voted for the
execution of Louis XVI. and a heap of hateful decrees in order
to save their own heads. The recollections of this period made
such an impression on me that I detest anything which might
tend to re-establish democracy, so convinced I am that the
masses are blind, and that no government is so bad as the
government of the people.

CHAPTER IV.

I remained at Soreze till February 1799 ; I was then sixteen
and a half years old. A friend of my father's, M. Dorignac,
brought me to Paris, where we arrived on the night when the
Od£on Theatre was burnt down for the first time. The blaze
was to be seen reflected in the sky from a great distance on the
Orleans road, and I quite believed that it was the natural glare
of the street lamps of the capital. My family were living in
the Rue de Faubourg Saint-Honor^, where I joined them the
next morning. I have seldom had a happier day.

In the spring of 1799 the Republic was still in existence,
the Government consisting of an executive Directory of five
members, and two Chambers called ' Conseil des Anciens ' and
• Conseil des Cinq Cents.' My father was intimate with many
conspicuous people ; I met at his house such men as Berna-
dotte, Joseph and Lucien Bonaparte, Napper Tandy (the leader
of the Irish refugees), General Joubert, Cambaceres. In my
mother's company I often saw Madame Bonaparte, Madame
de Condorcet, and occasionally Madame de Stael.

A month after I came to Paris a general election took place.
My father, tired of the incessant worries of political life, and
not liking to be debarred from a share in the great deeds of our
armies, declined to stand again, and expressed his wish to re-
enter active service. The course of events suited his purpose
well. With the new Chambers came a change of Ministry.
Bernadotte became War Minister, and promised my father a
post with the Army of the Rhine. As he was about to start for
Mainz, the news came of the defeat of the Army of Italy under
General Scherer ; and Joubert, then in command of the 17th
division at Paris, was sent by the Directory to replace him.
The vacant command, one of political importance, and requiring
a capable and strong man, was offered to my father. As his
chief reason for resigning his seat in the Chamber had been his
desire for active service, he at first declined ; but on Bernadotte
showing him his appointment already signed, with the remark
that as a friend he begged him, and as a Minister ordered him,

* (17)

1 8 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARB01

to accept it, my father yielded. On the following day he estab-
lished himself at the head-quarters of the Paris division. The
house has now been pulled down, and several houses stand on
its site. It was on the Quai Voltaire, at the corner of the Rue
des Saints-Peres.

My father had appointed as chief of the staff his old
friend Colonel Me'nard. I was delighted with all the military
bustle which surrounded him : the head-quarters always full
of officers of all ranks ; a squadron of cavalry, a battalion of
infantry, and six guns permanently stationed in front of the
door; orderlies coming and going. I thought it much more
amusing than the themes and versions of Soreze.

At that time there was much excitement in France, and
particularly in Paris : we were on the eve of a catastrophe.
The Russians, under the celebrated Souvaroff, had entered
Italy, and had severely defeated our army at Novi. Joubert,
the commander-in-chief, had been killed ; Souvaroff was
marching on our Army of Switzerland, where Massena was
in command. We had few troops on the Rhine. The peace
conference which had been begun at Rastadt had been dis-
solved and our plenipotentiaries assassinated.1 The whole of
Germany was arming anew against us ; the Directory had
fallen into discredit, and, having neither troops nor money to
levy them, in order to procure funds, had just decreed a
forced loan, which had completed the measure of its unpopu-
larity. Our last hopes were in Masse'na ; he alone could stop
the Russians and prevent the invasion of France. The
Directory sent despatch after despatch ordering him to give
battle ; but, like a modern Fabius, not wishing to risk the
safety of his country, he waited till some false move on the
part of the enemy should offer a chance of beating him.

Here I may relate an anecdote which shows on how small
a matter the destiny of a state and the reputation of com-
manders sometimes turn. The Directory, irritated at seeing
that Massena did not obey their repeated order to give battle,
resolved to recall him. They feared, however, that the
commander-in-chief would take no notice of their recall, and
would simply put the despatch in his pocket, if they forwarded
it by an ordinary messenger, and accordingly instructed the
War Minister to send to Switzerland a staff officer com-

1 [The Congress of Rastadt, held in order to settle some details in the
Treaty of Campo Formio, sat from November 1797 to January 1799, when
it was dissolved by the French plenipotentiaries. These were attacked by
Austrian troops as they were returning to France, and two of them killed.]

THE DIRECTORY COLLAPSING Ig

missioned to hand the order of recall to Masse'na in public,
and to give to Che'rin, his chief of the staff, a commission
conferring on him the command of the army. Bernadotte
imparted these arrangements in confidence to my father, who
expressed disapproval of them, explaining how dangerous it
was, on the eve of a decisive affair, to deprive the Army of
Switzerland of a general in whom it had confidence, in order
to replace him by one who had more experience in secretary's
work than in manoeuvring troops. Besides this the position
of the armies might change. It would therefore be necessary
to entrust with this mission a man capable of judging the
state of affairs, and who was not likely to hand the order of
recall to Masse'na immediately before or during a battle.
He persuaded the Minister to entrust the duty to M. Gault,
his aide-de-camp, who should go to Switzerland under the
ostensible pretext of ascertaining if the contractors had
delivered the stipulated number of horses, and should be
authorised to withhold or to hand over the order of recall to
Masse'na and the commission to General Che'rin according as
he should see fit under the circumstances. It was a good
deal to confide to the judgment of a mere captain ; but M.
Gault did not disappoint the good opinion formed of him.
He reached the head-quarters of the army five days before
the battle of Zurich, and found the troops so full of confidence
in Massena, and Masse'na himself so calm and so firm, that
he felt no doubt of his success. He maintained, therefore,
the most profound silence with regard to his secret powers,
and after being present at the battle of Zurich he returned
to Paris without any suspicion on Masse'na's part that this
modest captain had had in his hands the power of depriving
him of the glory of winning one of the finest victories of the age.
The ill-judged recall of Masse'na would probably have
involved the defeat of General Che'rin, the invasion of France
by the Russians, and by the Germans after them, and ulti-
mately, perhaps, a European overturn. Che'rin was killed in
the battle without ever suspecting the intentions of the Govern-
ment with regard to himself. The victory of Zurich, while
preventing an invasion, gave the Directory only a momentary
credit. The Government was breaking down on all sides ; no
one had any confidence in it. The finances had collapsed,
Vendue and Brittany were in complete insurrection, there were
no troops in the country, the South was in a blaze, the
Chambers were quarrelling with each other and with the
Executive— in short, the state was on the brink of ruin,

20 MEMOIRS OP THE BARON DM MARBOT

Every politician was aware that great changes were neces-
sary and inevitable, but opinions differed as to the remedies to
be employed. The old Republicans, who stood by the Consti-
tution of the year 3, which was still in force, held that to save
the country it was enough to change some members of the
Directory. Two of them were accordingly dismissed and
replaced by Gohier and Moulins; but this was but a feeble
palliative for the calamities under which the country was on
the point of sinking, and the anarchical agitations continued.
Therefore several of the Directors, among them the celebrated
Sieves, together with many of the Deputies and the vast
majority of the public, held that in order to save France the
reins of government should be put into the hands of some
strong man who had already rendered illustrious services to
the state. It was obvious also that such a chief could only be
a soldier with a great influence in the army, who should be
able to rekindle the enthusiasm of the nation, and so to restore
victory to our flag, and to hold off the foreigners who were
ready to cross our frontier.

The one man who satisfied these conditions was General
Bonaparte ; but at this moment he was in Egypt, and the need
was pressing. Joubert had just been killed in Italy. Masse'na
was illustrious for his many victories, an excellent general at
the head of an army in the field, but in no sense a statesman.
Bernadotte appeared to have neither the talents nor the character
required to heal the ills of France. The reformers, therefore,
turned their thoughts towards Moreau, though his character
was weak and his undecided conduct on the 18th of Fructidor1
inspired some fear as to his aptitude for governing. It is certain,
however, that, failing a better man, it was proposed to him to
put himself at the head of the party which wished to overthrow
the Directory, and the chief post in the state was offered to
him, with the title of President or Consul. Moreau, though a
good soldier and brave enough, lacked political courage, and
possibly distrusted his own ability to manage affairs so
disordered as those of France then were. Being, moreover,
selfish and indolent, he cared very little for the future of his
country, and preferred the tranquillity of private life to the
worry of politics. At any rate, he refused the offer, and retired
to his estate of Grosbois to amuse himself with his favourite
field sports.

1 [September 4, 1797, when the Directors Barras, Rewbeu, and La
Revelliere-Lepeaux, supported by the troops under Augereau, purged the
Directory and Council of members — including Carnot, Pichegru, and others
—suspected of Royalist tendencies. See below, p. 119.]

INTRIGUES OF SI BYES 21

[Those who wished to change the form of government had,
therefore, no alternative but to seek the co-operation of General
Bonaparte. Sieves, who was the chief mover in the scheme,
was President of the Directory ; and his calculation was that
if he could get Bonaparte into power, the general, while
nominally the head of the Government, would confine his
attention to military organisation, leaving to himself the real
direction of affairs. As the sequel showed, he mistook his man ;
but this was his thought, when, acting through the Corsican
Deputy, Salicetti, he sent a trusty secret agent to Bonaparte to
inform him of the unsatisfactory state of affairs, and invite him
to return and put himself at the head of the Government. Of
his colleagues in the Directory, he found little difficulty in
persuading Roger-Ducos that in the circumstances it was to
their own interest no less than to that of the public to bring about
the formation of a strong Government, in which their places
would be less precarious ; but the other three, Barras, Gohier,
and Moulins, were unwilling to part with their power. Sieves
and those of his party resolved, therefore, to act without them,
and to sacrifice them if affairs turned out as they planned.

Even with Bonaparte at hand it would be a difficult and
dangerous business to overthrow the Directory without the
support of the army, and more especially of the Paris division.
Sieyes tried accordingly to win over Bernadotte and my father,
first sounding them through the help of various Deputies who
were at once their friends and his partisans. Later on I learnt
that my father answered the half-advances of the astute Sieyes
to the effect that, while he was well aware that the state of the
country required prompt remedies, he had sworn to maintain
the Constitution of the year 3, and he was not going to use his
authority or the troops of his division to bring about the over-
throw of that Constitution ; after which he waited on Sieyes,
resigned his command of the Paris division, and requested to
have a division on active service. Sieyes was glad enough to
get a man of my father's character out of the way before he
could spoil the plot by strict adherence to his duty, and hastened
to accede to his request. Bernadotte resigned at the same
time, and was replaced by Dubois-Crance\

There was some little delay before a man could be found to
take my father's place ; ultimately Sieyes gave the command
to General Lefebvre, who was in Paris on leave, having been
wounded with the Army of the Rhine. Lefebvre had been a
sergeant in the Gardes Franchises ; he was a brave soldier, and,
as a general, good at executing distinct orders ; but he had no

22 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

judgment or knowledge of politics, so that a dexterous applica-
tion of words like ' glory,' * country,' ' victory,' was sure to make
him a willing tool. He was just the man that Sieves wanted
for commandant in Paris ; and so sure was he that when the
time came Lefebvre would not resist the influence of Bonaparte
and his own cajoleries, that he did not even take the trouble to
let him know what was expected of him. The 18th of Brumaire
showed that he judged right. Lefebvre put his troops at the
disposal of Bonaparte when he overthrew the Directory and
established the Consulate ; and earned thereby, in later days,
the high favour of the Emperor, the title of Marshal Duke of
Dantzig, and heaps of wealth. I have sketched these events to
explain what took my father to Italy : a move which had
important results both to him and to me.]

After handing over his command to General Lefebvre my
father returned to the house in the Faubourg Saint-Honore', and
attended only to the preparations for his departure to Italy.

Very trifling causes often influence human destiny. My
father and mother were very intimate with M. Barairon,
Registrar-General. One day they were going to breakfast
with him, and took me with them. The conversation turned
on my father's departure, and on the good conduct of my two
younger brothers ; finally, M. Barairon inquired, ' What is
Marcellin to be ? ' 'A sailor,' answered my father ; ' Captain
Sibille has undertaken him, and is going to carry him off to
Toulon.' Whereupon good Mme. Barairon (I have always
been most grateful to her for it) remarked to my father that the
French navy was utterly disorganised, that the finances were in
too bad a state to allow of its being quickly reformed, and that,
moreover, its inferiority to the English fleet would keep it for
some time shut up in the ports. She wondered that he, a
general officer of the land forces, should put his son in the navy
instead of in a regiment where his father's name and services
would be sure to make him welcome. She ended by saying,
1 It would be better for you to take him to Italy than send
him to be bored to death on board a vessel blockaded in Toulon
harbour.' My father had been for the moment captivated by
Captain Sibille's proposal, but was too clear-sighted to fail to
see the force of Mme. Barairon's arguments. He turned to me
saying, ' Well, will you come to Italy with me and serve in the
army ? ' I threw my arms round his neck and accepted with
joy. My mother was equally glad, for she had been opposed to
my father's first plan.

THE NEW HUSSAR

23

There was then no ' Ecole militaire,' and the only way to
enter the army was in the ranks. My father took me straight
to the office of the first arrondissement in the Place Beauvau
and enlisted me in the 1st Regiment of Hussars (the old
« Bercheny'), which formed part of the division which he was
about to command in Italy. This was September 3, 1799.
He next took me to the tailor who supplied the Ministry of
War with patterns and ordered for me a complete uniform and
equipment. So I was actually a hussar ; I was beside myself
with joy. My joy was, however, alloyed by the thought that
it would increase the vexation of my brother Adolphe, who was
two years older than I and was still stuck at the college like a
child. I decided that I would tell him of my enlistment and
at the same moment inform him that I was going to spend in
his company the month which would pass before my departure.
I therefore begged my father to allow me to settle myself near
Adolphe at Sainte-Barbe until the day when we should have to
set out for Italy. He understood the motive of my request and
approved it. The next day he took me himself. You may
imagine my entry into the college ! It was recreation time,
but all games ceased on the spot, and the pupils, old and young,
crowded round me, contending for the honour of touching my
accoutrements. The hussar had a complete success. When
the day of my departure came I took leave of my mother and
my three brothers with grief, tempered though it was by my
delight at entering on the career of arms,

CHAPTER V.

Soon after my father had accepted a command in Italy, a
vacancy occurred in that of a division of the Army of the Rhine.
He would have preferred to be there, but an inevitable destiny
drew him towards the country where he was to find a grave.
He had a friend from his own province, M. Lacheze — his evil
genius, I might say — who had been long Consul at Leghorn
and Genoa, and had personal business interests in those parts.
This infernal man was always setting before my father the
most exaggerated pictures of the beauties of Italy, and pointing
out how much was to be gained by restoring victory to an army
that had been unfortunate, and how little chance of obtaining
glory with the prosperous Army of the Rhine. My poor father
let himself be captured by these arguments, thinking that where
the danger was greatest most credit was to be gained, and
adhered to his purpose of going to Italy. My mother opposed
in vain. She had a secret presentiment that it would be better
if my father was on the Rhine — a presentiment that was ful-
filled, for she never saw him again.

Besides M. Gault, my father took another aide-de-camp,

Major R , who had been passed on to him by his friend

General Augereau. This officer, who belonged to a Maintenon
family, possessed talents and education of which he made little
use ; for, by a whim not uncommon at that time, he thought
fit to adopt the style of a swashbuckler, for ever swearing,
damning, and threatening to split people's heads. This bully
had only one good point, and that one which then was rare :
he was always most carefully dressed. My father was soon
sorry that he had accepted him for his aide-de-camp without
knowing him, but he could not dismiss him without offending
his old friend Augereau ; and, though not liking him, he held
that a general ought to make the most of his officers' military
qualities withouttroubling himself toomuch about their manners.

As, however, he did not care to have the company of M. R in

a long journey, he had given him the duty of bringing his
carriages and horses from Paris to Nice. Our old groom Spire,

(H)

ON THE WAY TO LYONS 25

a faithful servant, accustomed to looking after stablemen, was

put under his orders. M. R started a month before us in

command of a numerous caravan — fifteen horses belonging to my
father, besides those of the staff, the baggage wagons, and so on.

In my father's carriage travelled the unlucky M. Lacheze,
Captain Gault, and I. Colonel Menard, chief of the staff,
with one of his assistant aides-de-camp, followed in a post-
chaise. I had a very smart forage-cap, which I liked to wear
always. One night, being troubled with my old enemy ' sea-
sickness,' I was constantly putting my head out of the window.
My cap fell off; the carriage was going at the best pace of
six stout horses. I did not dare to stop it, and my cap was
lost. I was much distressed, but did not mention it for fear
of the banter which would ensue as to the little care which
the new soldier took of his property.

After staying a day at Macon with an old friend of my
father's we pushed on towards Lyons. When we were chang-
ing horses at Limonest, within a few leagues of that town, we
noticed that all the post-horses were adorned with tricoloured
ribbons and the houses with flags. On asking the cause of
this display we were told that Bonaparte had just arrived at
Lyons. My father, thinking he knew for certain that Bona-
parte was at the other end of Egypt, treated this piece of
news as a joke. His astonishment was great when, on ques-
tioning the postmaster, who had just come from Lyons, he
learnt that that official, who had served under Bonaparte in
Italy and knew him well by sight, averred that he had seen

him. ' He is at Lyons, in the Hotel . His brother

Louis, General Berthier, Lannes, and Murat are with him ;
also many other officers and a mameluke.' This was pretty
positive evidence. Still the Revolution had given rise to so
many impostures, and so much ingenuity had been shown in
inventing stories to serve party purposes, that my father was
still in doubt as we entered Lyons by the suburb of Vaise.
The houses were all illuminated and beflagged, fireworks were
being let off; our carriage could hardly make its way through
the crowd. People were dancing in the open spaces, and the
air rang with cries of ' Hurrah for Bonaparte ! he will save the
country ! ' This evidence was irresistible ; we had to admit
that Bonaparte was in Lyons. My father said, ' Of course I
thought they would bring him, but I never suspected it would
be so soon ; they have played their game well. We shall see
great events come to pass. Now I am sure that I was right
in getting away from Paris ; with the army I shall be able to

26 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

serve my country without being mixed up in a coup d'ttat. It
may be as necessary as it seems, but I dislike it altogether.'
With that he fell into deep thought, lasting through the tedious
interval required to make our way through the crowd, which
grew thicker at every step, and reach our hotel.

Arrived there, we found it hung with lanterns and
guarded by a battalion of grenadiers. They had given
General Bonaparte the apartments ordered a week before for
my father. Quick-tempered though he was, he said nothing,
and when the landlord made somewhat confused apologies to
the effect that lie had been compelled to obey the orders of
the town council, my father made no answer. On hearing
that a lodging had been taken for us in a good hotel of the
second class kept by a relation of the landlord's, my father
confined himself to bidding M. Gault order the postillions to
drive there. When we got there we found our courier —
he was an excitable man, and, being well warmed by the
numerous quenchers which he had taken at every halting-place
on his long journey, had kicked up the devil's own row on
learning, when he preceded us at the first hotel, that the
apartments engaged for his master had been given to General
Bonaparte. The aides-de-camp, hearing this fearful uproar
and learning the cause of it, went to let their chief know
that General Marbot had been thrown over for him. At the
same moment Bonaparte himself, through his open window,
perceived my father's two carriages standing before the door.
Up to then he had known nothing of his landlord's shabby
behaviour towards my father, and, seeing that General Marbot,
recently commandant of Paris, and at that moment at the head
of a division of the Army of Italy, was too important a man for
any offhand treatment, and that, moreover, he himself was
returning with the intention of being on a good footing with
everybody, he ordered one of his officers to go down at once
and offer General Marbot to come and share his lodging with
him in soldier fashion. But the carriages went on before the
aide-de-camp could speak to my father ; so Bonaparte started
at once on foot in order to come and express his regret in person.
The cheers of the crowd which followed him as he drew near
our hotel might have given us notice, but we had heard so
much cheering since we entered the town that it occurred to
none of us to look out into the street. We were all in the
sitting-room, and my father was pacing up and down plunged
in meditation, when suddenly a waiter, throwing open both
folding-doors, announced General Bonaparte.

GENERAL BONAPARTE 2J

On entering, he ran up to my father and embraced him ; my
father received him courteously but coldly. They were old
acquaintances, and between persons of their rank a few words
were sufficient to explain matters with regard to the lodging.
They had much else to talk of, so they went alone into the bed-
room, where they conferred together for more than an hour.
Meanwhile the generals and officers who had come with Bona-
parte from Egypt chatted with us in the sitting-room. I was
never tired of studying their martial air, their faces bronzed by
the Eastern sun, their strange costumes, and their Turkish
sabres slung by cords. I listened attentively to their tales of
the campaigns in Egypt and the battles fought there. I enjoyed
the repetition of the celebrated names, Pyramids, Nile, Cairo,
Alexandria, Acre, and so forth. But what delighted me most
was the sight of the young mameluke Roustan. He had
waited in the antechamber, and I went there more than once to
admire his costume, which he was pleased to show me. He
could already speak French pretty well, and I was never tired
of asking him questions. General Lannes remembered how he
had let me fire his pistols in 1793, when he was serving under
my father at the camp of Le Miral. He was very good-natured
to me, and neither of us suspected then that I should one day
be his aide-de-camp, and that he would die in my arms at
Essling.

General Murat had been born in our own neighbourhood,
and as he had been shopboy to a haberdasher at Saint-C£re' in
the days when my family used to spend the winter there, he
had often come with goods for my mother. My father, too,
had done him several kindnesses, for which he was always
grateful. He kissed me and reminded me how he had often
carried me when I was a baby. Later on 1 shall relate the
life of this famous man who rose so high from so low an origin.

General Bonaparte and my father returned into the sitting-
room, and introduced to each other the members of their re-
spective staffs. Lannes and Murat were old acquaintances of
my father's, and he received them very cordially. He was
somewhat cold towards Berthier, whom he Jiad seen in old
days at Marseilles when he was in the body-guard and Berthier
an engineer. General Bonaparte asked me very courteously
for news of my mother, and complimented me in a kind manner
on having taken up the military career so young. Then,
gently pinching my ear — the flattering caress which he always
employed to persons with whom he was pleased — he said,
addressing my father, ' Here will be a second General Marbot

28 MEMOIRS OP THE BARON DE MAR EOT

some day.' His forecast has been verified, though at that
time I had little hope of it. All the same, his words made me
feel proud all over — it doesn't take much to awaken the pride
of a child.

The visit came to an end, and my father gave no indication
of what had passed between General Bonaparte and himself;
but I learnt later on that Bonaparte, without actually betraying
his schemes, had endeavoured by the most adroit cajoleries to
enlist my father on his side. My father, however, steadily
evaded the question.

So shocked was he at the sight of the people of Lyons
running to meet Bonaparte, as if he were already sovereign of
France, that he expressed a wish to get away next morning at
daybreak ; but his carriages required repair, and he was forced
to stay an entire day at Lyons. I took the opportunity of
getting a new forage-cap made, and in my delight at this
purchase I paid no sort of heed to the political conversation
which I heard all about me, nor, to tell the truth, did I under-
stand much of it. My father went to return General Bona-
parte's visit. They walked for a long time alone in the little
garden of the hotel, while their staffs kept at a respectful
distance. We saw them at one time vigorously gesticulating,
at another talking more calmly ; presently Bonaparte, coming
close to my father with a coaxing air, took his arm in a friendly
fashion. His motive, probably, was that the authorities who
were in the courtyard and the many curious spectators who
were crowding the neighbouring windows might say that
General Marbot assented to General Bonaparte's plans. But
this clever man never overlooked any means of reaching his
end ; some people he drew over, and wished to have it believed
that he had also won to his side those whose sense of duty led
them to resist him. Herein his success was wonderful.

My father came out from this second conversation even
more thoughtful than from the first, and on entering the hotel
he gave orders that we should proceed on the following day.
But General Bonaparte was going to make a visit of inspection
of the points in the neighbourhood of the town suitable for
fortification, and all the post-horses had been engaged for him.
For the moment I thought that my father would be angry, but
he confined himself to saying : * There's the beginning of omni-
potence.' He gave orders that an effort should be made to
hire some horses, so eager was he to get away from the town
and to escape a spectacle which shocked him. No horses were
to be found ; thereupon Colonel Menard, who was a native of

WRECKED ON THE RHONE 20.

the South, and knew the country thoroughly, remarked that
the road from Lyons to Avignon was terribly dilapidated, and
that as there was every possibility that our carriages would get
damaged, it would be much better to ship them on the Rhone,
and descend the river in the midst of charming scenery. My
father, who cared very little for the picturesque, would at any
other time have rejected this suggestion ; but as it gave him
the chance of getting away a day sooner from the town of Lyons,
where, under the existing circumstances, it was no pleasure to
him to stay, he agreed to the journey by water. Colonel
Menard hired a large boat ; two carriages were put on board,
and very early next morning we all embarked. It was very
near being the death of us. As usual in autumn, the water was
very low ; the boat every moment kept touching the bottom and
sticking fast, and there was considerable fear that she would
go to pieces. We slept the first night at Saint- P^ray, the next
at Tain, so we took two days to descend as far as the mouth of
the Drome. After that we found much more water, and got
along quickly ; but about a quarter of a league above Port Saint-
Esprit we were struck by such a furious mistral that the boat-
men could not reach the bank. They lost their heads, and
instead of rowing began to pray, the current and the fierce gale
driving the boat all the time towards the bridge. We were on
the point of being dashed against one of the piles of the bridge
and swamped, when my father and the rest of us caught up the
boathooks and held them forward just at the right moment, and
so parried the shock. The recoil was so severe that it threw us
all on to the seats, but the direction of the boat had been
changed, and by almost miraculous good fortune it slipped
under the arch. The boatmen recovered a little from their
terror, and resumed after a fashion the navigation of their vessel ;
but the gale continued, and the two carriages catching the wind
made it almost impossible to steer. Ultimately we were cast
ashore on a large island about six leagues above Avignon. The
prow of the boat ran deep into the sand, in such a way that
it would be impossible to pull it out without a great many
hands, and the vessel took such a list to one side that we
expected her every moment to fill. Some planks were placed
between the boat and the shore, and by the help of a rope we
all landed without accident, though not without danger.
Though no rain fell it was impossible to think of re-embarking
as long as the wind remained so high, so we began to explore
the island. It was very large, and we thought at first unin-
habited, but at last we discovered a farm. The kind people

30 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

received us well ; we were famishing, having only a little
bread with us, and it was impossible to go on board to get
more provisions. They told us that the isle was full of fowls,
which they allowed to run wild and shot when they wanted
them. My father was very fond of shooting, and just now
was glad of a distraction, so we borrowed the peasants' guns,
took pitchforks and sticks, and started off laughing to shoot
fowls. They were not easy to get at, for they flew like
pheasants, but we killed several and collected a good many
eggs in the woods. On our return to the farm a great fire
was lighted in the open. We established ourselves in a
bivouac round it, while my father's servant, with the help of
the farmer's wife, dressed the fowls and the eggs. We had a
merry supper, and afterwards went to bed in the hay, for none
of us had the courage to accept the beds which the kind
peasants offered us. At daybreak came the boatmen with the
news that the wind had fallen ; peasants and boatmen all took
pick and shovel, and after some hours of hard work they got
the vessel afloat again. We continued our voyage to Avignon,
and arrived there without further accident, though what we had
undergone was improved by rumour till the report reached
Paris that my father and all his suite had perished in the
waters of the Rhone.

The entry into Avignon, especially by the river, is very
picturesque. The old papal castle, the ramparts of the town,
its many towers, and the castle of Villeneuve over against it
compose a charming picture. At Avignon we found Madame
Menard and one of her nieces ; we spent three days in the
town, and visited the beautiful country in the neighbourhood,
not omitting the fountain of Vaucluse. My father was in no

hurry to go, for M. R had written to him that, owing to

the heat, which was still great in the South, he had been
compelled to travel slowly, and there was no use in arriving
before the horses. From Avignon we went on to Aix, but on
reaching the bank of the Durance, which was then traversed in
a ferry-boat, we found the river swollen beyond its banks to
such an extent that it would be impossible to cross for five or
six hours. We were consulting whether to return to Avignon,
when the man who farmed the ferry, who was by way of being
a gentleman, and owned a pretty country house on a height a
few hundred yards from the bank, came and begged my father
to rest there until his carriages could be got across. He
accepted, in the hope that it would only be for a few hours;
but it would seem that there had been a great storm in the

THE COMPLIMENTARY BANQUET 3 1

mountains about the source of the Durance, for the river
continued to rise all day. We were therefore compelled to
accept the offer of shelter for the night which was very cordially
made by the master of the house, and as the day was fine we
spent the whole of it in strolling about. This episode of our
voyage I found very agreeable.

Next morning the stream was running yet more fiercely,
and our entertainer, who was a hot Republican, seeing from his
knowledge of the river that we were fixed for another twenty-
four hours, went off, without a word to us, to the little town of
Cavaillon, two leagues away, and announced to the patriots of
the neighbourhood that he had General Marbot staying with
him. Then he returned in triumph to his mansion, and an
hour later we saw a cavalcade arrive, composed of the stoutest
patriots of Cavaillon, with a request that my father would
kindly accept a banquet which they offered in the name of the
chief men of a town always eminent for its Republican senti-
ments.

My father, who had no taste for honours of this kind,
refused at first; but the citizens were so urgent with their
representations that everything had been prepared and the
guests assembled, that he yielded, and we set out for Cavaillon.
The best hotel was adorned with garlands and lined with all
the local rank and fashion. After endless compliments we sat
down round a huge table covered with the most elaborate
dishes, especially ortolans, to which bird that country is a
favourite haunt. There were vehement speeches against ' the
enemies of liberty.' Numerous toasts were drunk, and we did
not break up till ten o'clock — rather too late to return to Bom-
part. My father could not well leave his entertainers at the
moment of rising from the table, so he decided to sleep at
Cavaillon, and the rest of the evening passed in pretty noisy
conversation. Gradually the company dropped off home, and
we were left alone. Next morning, on rising, M. Gault asked
the landlord what was our share of last night's festivity, suppos-
ing it to be a picnic, at which each guest would pay for his
own dinner. The man handed him a bill for 1,500 francs, the
good patriots not having paid a mortal sou ! We heard after-
wards that some had expressed a wish to pay their share, but
the great majority had pointed out that to do so would be an
insult to General Marbot ! Captain Gault was furious; but my
father, after recovering from his first astonishment, shouted
with laughter, and bade the landlord come for his money to
Bompart. We returned thither at once, and said nothing

32 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

about the affair to our host. His servants were handsomely
vailed ; and the Durance having fallen, we took the opportunity
to cross it, and make our way to Aix. Though I was not old
enough to discuss politics with my father, from things which
I had heard him say, I was inclined to believe that his Re-
publican views had in the past two years been much modified,
and that some of the remarks made at the Cavaillon dinner
had given them a final shock; but he never showed any
annoyance on the subject of the so-called 'picnic.' On the
contrary, he was much amused by the wrath of M. Gault, who
kept saying : ' I do not wonder that those scamps ordered
such quantities of ortolans, regardless of cost, and called for
all those bottles of expensive wines.'

We slept at Aix, and pushed on to Nice. This was our last
day of posting. As we crossed the lovely mountain and forest
of the Esterel we met the colonel of the ist Hussars, who was
returning from the army to the dep8t at Le Puy en Velay, with
an escort of one officer and several troopers leading broken-
down horses. His name was M. Picart ; he had been left in
command of his regiment, though very seldom at the front, in
consideration of his merits as an administrator; and he was
constantly being sent to the dep8t to fit out men and horses,
which he forwarded to the combatant squadrons. On seeing
him my father stopped his carriage and alighted ; and, after
presenting me to my colonel, took him aside and begged him
to suggest a non-commissioned officer of good character and
education who might become my mentor. The colonel named
Sergeant Pertelay. My father took a note of the name, and we

went on to Nice. There we found Major R installed in

a first-rate hotel, with our carriages and horses in very good
condition.

CHAPTER VI.

The town of Nice was full of troops, among them a squadron
of my regiment, the ist Hussars. In the colonel's absence the
regiment was commanded by Major Muller, a brave officer,
father of the poor adjutant of the 7th Hussars who was wounded
at my side by a cannon-ball at Waterloo. On learning that the
divisional commander had arrived, Major Muller waited on my
father ; and it was settled that after a few days' rest I should
begin my service in the 7th troop, commanded by Captain
Mathis, a meritorious officer, who became colonel under the
Empire and major-general under the Restoration.

Kind as my father was to me, I held him in such awe that
in his presence I was extremely shy. He fancied me even more
so than I really was, and used to say that I ought to have been
a girl, often calling me * Miss Marcellin.' This vexed me a
good deal, especially now that I was a hussar. It was in order
to overcome this shyness that my father wished me to serve
with my comrades. Although, as I have said, it was impos-
sible to enter the army otherwise than through the ranks, my
father might have attached me to his personal service, as my
regiment formed part of his division ; but besides the reason
which I have given, he wanted me to learn to saddle and bridle
my own horse and to clean myj own accoutrements. If he had
allowed his son to enjoy any privileges it would have produced
a bad effect in the troop. I had already been favoured in
getting admitted to the regiment without a long and wearisome
apprenticeship at the depot.

I passed several days with my father and his staff going
over the beautiful country about Nice. When the time came
for me to join, my father directed Major Muller to send Sergeant
Pertelay to him. Now you must know that there were in the
regiment two brothers of this name, both sergeants, but quite
unlike each other morally and physically. You might have
thought that the author of Les Deux Philibert " had taken his

1 [A popular comedy, by L. F. Picard, first produced in 1815.]
3 (33)

34 MEMOIRS OR THE BARON DE MARBOT

characters from these two men : the elder Pertelay being the
wicked Philibert, the younger Pertelay the virtuous Philibert.
It was the latter whom the colonel had intended to recommend
as my mentor ; but, being in a hurry, he had omitted when
naming Pertelay to add 'junior.' Further, this Pertelay was
not in the squadron at Nice, whereas the elder was actually in
Troop 7, to which I was to belong. Major Muller therefore
supposed that it was the elder brother whom the colonel had
named to my father; and that this wild fellow had been selected in
order to take the nonsense out of a mild and shy lad like myself.
So he sent us Pertelay senior. This typical hussar of the old
school was a hard drinker, a brawler, always ready for a quarrel
and a fight ; brave, moreover, to the point of rashness. He
was absolutely ignorant of everything that did not concern his
horse, his accoutrements, or his service in the field. Pertelay
junior, on the other hand, was gentle, well-mannered, highly
educated; and, being also a very handsome man and every
whit as brave as his brother, he would certainly have got on
fast had he not been killed, while still young, on the battle-
field. However, to return to the elder. He came to my
father's house, and what did we behold ? A jolly ruffian —
very well set up, I must admit — with his shako over his ear,
his sabre trailing, his florid countenance divided by an
enormous scar, moustaches half a foot long waxed and turned
up to his ears, on his temples two long locks of hair plaited,
which came from under his shako and fell on his breast, and
withal such an air ! — a regular rowdy air, heightened still
further by his words, jerked out in the most barbarous
French-Alsatian gibberish. This last peculiarity was no
surprise to my father, for he knew that the ist Hussars were
the old Bercheny regiment, consisting formerly of nothing but
Germans ; indeed, down to 1793 the word of command used to
be given in German, which was the language of most of the
officers and the troopers, who were nearly all born in the
provinces on the banks of the Rhine. What was a surprise,
however, was the demeanour, the answers, and the swaggering
manner of my mentor. Later on, indeed, I learnt that my
father had had some hesitation in entrusting me to the hands
of this fellow, but M. Gault pointed out that Colonel Picart
had specified him as the best non-commissioned officer in the
squadron, and so he resolved to give him a trial. Accordingly
I followed Pertelay, who took my arm in an off-hand way,
came to my room, snowed me how to pack up my things, and
brought me to a little barrack establishment in an old convent

INTRODUCED TO THE REGIMENT 35

and occupied by a squadron of the 1st Hussars. He made me
saddle and unsaddle a handsome little horse which my father
had bought for me. Then he showed me how to dispose of
my cloak and accoutrements, showed me, in short, all that was
to be shown. When he had explained everything he bethought
him that it was time to go to dinner ; for my father, wishing
me to take my meals with my mentor, had allowed us extra
pay for this item. Pertelay brought me to a little inn, where
the dining-room was full of hussars, grenadiers, and soldiers
of all arms. Our dinner was served, and on the table was
placed an enormous bottle of the strongest and roughest red
wine, of which Pertelay poured me out a bumper. We clinked
our glasses ; my friend emptied his. I set mine down without
putting it to my lips, for I had never drunk unmixed wine, and
I did not like the smell of this. I confessed as much to my
mentor, who straightway shouted in a stentorian voice,
1 Waiter, lemonade for this lad — he never drinks wine.'
Shouts of laughter rang through the whole room. I was
much abashed, but I could not make up my mind to taste
this wine, nor did I dare to ask for water, so I dined without
drinking.

The apprenticeship of a soldiers life is at all times pretty
rough ; it was especially so at the time of which I am writing,
and I had some disagreeable moments to pass. But what
seemed to me intolerable was to be obliged to sleep with
another hussar, for the regulations at that time only allowed
one bed for two soldiers. Non-commissioned officers alone
had a bed to themselves. The first night which I passed in
barracks I had just got into bed, when a strapping great
hussar, who had come in an hour after the others, came up
to the bed, and, seeing that there was someone there already,
unhooked the lamp and put it under my nose to have a better
look at me. As I watched him undressing I had no idea
that he proposed to take his place by me, but I was soon
undeceived when he said roughly, ' Make room, recruit.'
Therewith he got into the bed, lay down so as to take up
three-quarters of it, and set to work snoring in a high key.
I found it impossible to sleep, chiefly by reason of the horrible
smell which emanated from a great bundle placed by my
comrade under the bolster to raise his head. I couldn't
imagine what it could be. In order to find out I slipt my
hand gently towards the object and discovered a leathern
apron well impregnated with cobbler's wax. My amiable
bedfellow was one of the regimental shoemaker's assistants.

36 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

I was so disgusted that I got up, dressed, and went to the
stable to sleep on a truss of straw. Next day I imparted
my misfortune to Pertelay, who reported it to our sub-
lieutenant. He happened to be a man of good breeding, by
name Lesteinschneider (German for 'lapidary'). Under the
Empire he became a colonel, and senior aide-de-camp to
Bessi&res, and was killed. Understanding how disagreeable
it must be to me to sleep with a shoemaker, he ordered me
on his own responsibility a bed in the non-commissioned
officers' room, which was a great comfort to me.

Although with the Revolution military costume had
become slovenly, the ist Hussars had always preserved
theirs as correct as in the days when they were Bercheny.
Save, therefore, for the physical dissimilarities imposed by
nature, all the troopers were bound to get themselves up alike,
and as the hussar regiments at that time wore not only a pig-
tail but also long ' love locks,' locks on the temples, and had
their moustaches turned up, everyone belonging to the corps
was expected to have moustaches, pigtails, and locks. As I
had none of them, my mentor took me to the regimental barber,
where I purchased a sham pigtail and locks. These were
attached to my hair, which was already fairly long, for since
my enlistment I had let it grow. I was embarrassed at first by
this make-up, but in a few days I got used to it, and enjoyed
it because I thought it gave me the air of an old hussar. With
regard to moustaches the case was different. Of them I had
no more than a girl, and as a beardless face would have spoilt
the uniformity of the squadron, Pertelay, in conformity with
the practice of the regiment, took a pot of blacking and with
his thumb made two enormous hooks covering my upper lip
and reaching almost to my eyes. At that time the shakoes had
no peak, so it happened that during reviews or when I was
doing vedette duty and was bound to remain perfectly motion-
less, the scorching rays of the Italian sun pouring down on to
my face used to suck up the liquid part of the blacking with
which my moustaches had been made, and the blacking as it
dried drew my skin in a very unpleasant way. Still I did not
so much as wink : I was a hussar ; the word had a magical
effect on me, and, besides, when I entered on a military career
I thoroughly understood that my first duty was to conform to
the regulations.

Before my father left Nice the news arrived of the over-
throw of the Directory on the 18th Brumaire and the establish-
ment of the Consulate. My father's opinion of the Directory

THB GANG' 37

had not been such as to make him regret its fall, but he feared
that in the intoxication of power Bonaparte, when he had
restored order in France, would not content himself with the
modest title of consul, and predicted that before long he would
want to make himself king. He was only wrong as to the
title : in four years' time Napoleon made himself emperor.
Whatever his presentiments may have been, my father rejoiced
at being absent from Paris on the 18th Brumaire ; if he had
been there I think he would have vigorously opposed Bona-
parte's enterprise. But being on service, at the head of a
division in face of the enemy, he felt able to take refuge in the
passive obedience of a soldier. He rejected the proposals which
several generals and colonels made to him to march on Paris
at the head of their troops. ' Who,' he asked, ' will defend the
frontier if we desert it ? And what will become of France if
the miseries of a civil war are added to our war against the
foreigner ? ' By this caution he kept the excitement in check,
but, at the same time, he none the less felt very strongly on
the subject of the recent coup d'Stat. He adored his country,
and would have wished to see her saved without being brought
under the yoke of a tyrant.

My father's chief motive, as I have said, in making me go
through my service in the ranks, was to get rid of my rather
foolish schoolboy air, which my short stay in the world of Paris
had not removed. He succeeded beyond his hopes, for, living
in the middle of the boisterous hussars, and having for my
tutor a kind of Pandour who laughed at all my follies, I learnt
to suit my conduct to my company, and for fear of being laughed
at for my shyness I became a perfect daredevil. I was not,
however, as yet qualified to be admitted into a sort of brother-
hood which, under the name of ■ the gang,' drew its initiated
from all the squadrons of the ist Hussars. The * gang' was
composed of the most reckless and the bravest soldiers of
the regiment; its members supported each other against all
comers, especially in presence of the enemy. They called each
other by the name of loustic,1 and were to be known by means
of a notch made with a knife in the first button of the row on
the right side of the pelisse and the jacket. The officers knew
of the existence of the gang, but as its greatest crimes were
limited to the occasional looting of sheep and fowls, or playing
tricks on the inhabitants, while, on the other hand, the loustics

1 [Loustic m ' joker ' ; German, lustig. The term seems to have been
first in use in the Swiss regiments of the later Monarchy (Littre).]

38 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

were always the first under fire, the chiefs winked at it.
Featherbrain that I was, I was eager to be admitted into this
society of roysterers ; it seemed to me that it would give me a
respectable position among my comrades ; but it was all very
well to frequent the fencing-school, to learn foil and broad-
sword, pistol and carbine, to elbow out of the way everyone
I met, to let my sabre trail, and wear my shako over one ear :
the members of the gang looked upon me as a child and refused
to admit me. However, an unforeseen adventure brought
about my unanimous election, in the following way.

At that time the Army of Italy was occupying Liguria,
extended on a front more than sixty leagues in length, its
right on the Gulf of Spezia beyond Genoa, the centre at
Finale, and the left on the Var — that is, the French frontier.
We had, therefore, the sea in our rear, and were fronting
towards Piedmont, which was occupied by the Austrian army,
separated from us by the spur of the Apennines which extends
from the Var to Gavi. It was a false position, for the French
army was exposed to be cut in two, which actually happened
some months later ; but I will not anticipate. My father had
been ordered to concentrate at Savona, and established his
head-quarters in the bishop's palace ; the infantry was distributed
among the country towns and villages in the neighbourhood, to
watch the valleys through which issue the roads leading to
Piedmont. The ist Hussars had come from Nice, and were
bivouacking in a plain called La Madona. The enemy's out-
posts were at Dego, four or five leagues from us, on the reverse
slope of the Apennines. The mountain-tops were covered with
snow, while Savona and the neighbourhood enjoyed a mild
temperature. Our bivouac would have been delightful if provi-
sions had been more plentiful. But there was then no high road
from Nice to Genoa ; the English cruisers held the sea ; and
the army had to live on supplies brought on mules along the
Corniche, or landed from such small coasters as could slip along
unperceived. These precarious methods barely sufficed to
provide the grain necessary for the daily bread of the troops.
Happily, however, the country produces plenty of wine, which
served to keep up the soldiers' spirits and make them bear their
hardships more cheerfully. So one lovely day, as I was walking
along the shore with friend Pertelay, he spied a public-house in
a garden full of orange-trees and olives. Under these were
tables, at which soldiers of all arms were sitting, and he
proposed that we should go in. I had not been able to get
over my dislike of wine; but out pf friendship I followed him.

THE DUEL 39

I may mention that at this time a cavalry soldier's belt had
no hook, so that when he went on foot he had to hold the scab-
bard of his sword in the left hand, letting the point trail on the
ground. This made a clatter and gave a roystering air, which
was quite enough to make me adopt the fashion. But behold,
as I entered the garden the end of my scabbard touched the
foot of a gigantic horse-artilleryman who was taking his ease
stretched out on his chair, his legs in front of him. The horse-
artillery (or ' flying artillery ' as it was then called) had been
formed, at the beginning of the Revolutionary wars, of volun-
teers from the grenadier companies ; and the opportunity had
been taken to get rid of some of the more disorderly from the
regiments. The ' gallopers ' were therefore renowned for their
courage, and for their love of a quarrel no less. The man whom
my sabre had touched said to me in a stentorian voice and a
very majestic tone: 'You hussar, your sword trails far too much.'
I was going on without taking any notice, when friend Pertelay,
touching my elbow, whispered in a low tone : ' Answer him,
" Come and pick it up." ' I, to the gunner : ' Come and pick
it up.' ' That is easily done,' replied he. Pertelay, prompting
me again : ■ We have got to see that.' Thereupon the gunner
—the Goliath, I might say, for he was all six feet high — sat
upright with a threatening air. My mentor dashed between
him and me. All the artillerymen in the garden at once took
their comrade's part ; but a crowd of hussars ranged up along-
side of Pertelay and myself. Tempers grew hot ; all shouted
and spoke at once : I quite thought there would be a general
scrimmage. The hussars, however, being two to one, were the
calmer ; and the artillerymen perceived that if swords were
drawn they would get the worst of it. So at length the giant
was brought to see that in touching his foot with the point
of my sword I had in nowise insulted him, and that between
us two things need go no further. But in the tumult an
artillery bugler some twenty years old had been saying rude
things to me, and in my anger I had pushed him so roughly
that he had fallen head foremost into a muddy ditch. So it
was agreed that this lad and I should fight with sabres, and
we left the garden, followed by all present. Behold us, then,
close to the water's edge, on fine firm sands, ready for a bout
with the steel. Pertelay knew that I was fairly good with the
sabre, but still he gave me some advice as to the best method
of attack, and fastened my sword-hilt to my hand with a large
handkerchief which he wrapped round my arm.

Here I may mention that my father had a horror of duelling,

40 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

based not only on his views as to the barbarism of the practice,
but also on a recollection of his youthful days in the body-guard,
when he had acted as second to a much-loved comrade who
had been killed in single combat in a most futile cause. For
whatever reason, his first step on assuming a command was to
order the gendarmes to arrest and bring before him any soldiers
whom they might catch crossing swords. The artillery bugler
and I were well aware of this order ; none the less had we
thrown off our jackets and stood sabre in hand. I had my back
to the town of Savona ; my adversary faced it. Just as we
were about to begin ouf fence, I saw the bugler leap to one side,
catch up his jacket and bolt. ' Running away, coward ? ' 1
shouted, and was pursuing him, when a grip of iron seized my
collar from behind. I turned, and found myself in the hands
of eight or ten gendarmes. I knew then why my antagonist
had bolted. The spectators had done the same, and were
making off as fast as their legs could carry them, Mastei
Pertelay among the number, in dire fear of being arrested and
brought before the general.

There I was, disarmed and a prisoner ! I slipped on my
jacket and followed the gendarmes, with a pretty hang-dog
look. I did not give my name, and they brought me to the
bishop's palace, where my father lodged. He was at that
moment with General (afterwards Marshal) Suchet, who had
come to Savona to talk over some service matters with him ;
and they were walking in a gallery open to the court. The
gendarmes brought me up, without a notion that I was the
general's son, and the corporal explained the reason of my
arrest. My father, in his most severe manner, gave me a sharp
reprimand, and at the end of his admonition said to the cor-
poral, * Take this hussar to the citadel.' I retired without a
word, and without a suspicion on the part of General Suchet,
who did not know me, that the scene to which he had been a
witness had passed between father and son. He did not learn our
relationship till the next day, and has often since then laughed
over the story with me. On reaching the citadel, an old relic ot
the Genoese, standing near the harbour, I was shut up in a vast
room lighted by a dormer looking towards the sea. Gradually
I got over my excitement, and felt that I had deserved the repri-
mand which I had undergone. At the same time I thought
more of having given pain to my father than of having dis-
obeyed my commanding officer. I spent the rest of the day
gloomily enough ; and in the evening an old pensioner of the
Genoese army brought me a jug of water, a piece of ammuni-

AN ESCAPE 41

tion bread, and a truss of straw. I flung myself on it, unable
to eat. Nor could I sleep ; first, because I was too much upset,
and, further, by reason of the evolutions of some big rats, who
soon took possession of my bread. I was in the dark, brooding
over my sorrows, when towards ten o'clock I heard the bolts
of my prison drawn, and behold, my father's faithful old servant,
Spire. From him I learnt that after I had been sent to the
citadel Colonel Menard, Captain Gault, and all my father's
officers had interceded for me, that the general had agreed to
pardon me, and had sent him, Spire, to fetch me, and to bear
the order for my liberation to the governor of the fort. I was
taken before this governor, General Buget, an excellent man,
who had lost an arm in battle, and who knew me, and had
a great regard for my father. He returned me my sword,
and thought it his duty to give me a long lecture. I listened
patiently enough, but with the thought that I had got
to have another, much more severe, from my father. This
I did not feel that I had courage to endure, and I resolved
to get off it if I could. Well, we were escorted past the
gates of the citadel, and, as the night was dark, Spire
walked in front of me with a lantern. As we made our way
through the narrow and tortuous streets, the good man, in his
delight at bringing me back, enlarged upon all the comforts
that awaited me at head-quarters. ' But you know,' he added,
1 you may expect a fine scolding from your father.' This last
remark fixed my resolution, and in order to leave time for my
father's wrath to cool, I decided to return to the bivouac at
Madona, and to keep out of his presence for several days. I
could, no doubt, have got away without playing any trick on
poor Spire ; but I was afraid that he might pursue me by the
light of the lantern which he carried, so with a kick I sent it
flying ten yards away, and ran for my life. As the good man
groped about after his lantern I could hear him exclaim, ' You
little scamp, I'll tell your father ! I'm blessed if he was not
quite right to put you with those Bercheny rascals. A fine
school for a scapegrace ! '

I wandered for a while through the deserted streets, and
at length found the road to La Madona and reached the
bivouac of my regiment. All the hussars thought I was in
prison ; but as soon as I was recognised by the firelight they
came round me, asking questions, and shouting with laughter
when I related how I got away from the trusty servant
charged to bring me to the general. The members of the
'gang' were especially delighted with this sign of a resolute

42 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

character, and unanimously agreed to admit me into their
society. They were just planning an expedition for that
very night : to go to the gates of Dego, and carry off a herd
of cattle belonging to the Austrian army. The French
generals and corps-commanders were obliged to feign ignor-
ance of the excursions which the soldiers made beyond the
outposts, since there was no other way of procuring a regular
supply of victuals. Thus in every regiment the bravest men
had formed marauding bands, who had a wonderful knack of
discovering the places where the enemy's victualling went
forward, and of getting hold, by cunning or boldness, of his
stores.

A scoundrelly horse-dealer had given information to the
'gang' of the ist Hussars that a herd of cattle which he had
sold to the Austrians was parked in a meadow a quarter of a
league from Dego. Accordingly, sixty hussars, armed only
with their carbines, started off to lift them. We went for
several leagues through the mountains by side-roads of the
most fearful kind so as to avoid the highway, and surprised
five Croats who were on guard over the herd asleep in a shed.
Lest they should give the alarm to the garrison of Dego, we
tied them up and left them there, carrying off the herd with-
out having to strike a blow. By the time we got back to our
bivouac we were tired, but highly pleased at the smart trick
we had played the enemy, to say nothing of having got our
victuals. I have told this story to show the state of destitution
into which the Army of Italy had fallen, and how disorganised
troops must get when left to themselves to such an extent that
their officers not only tolerate expeditions of this kind but profit
by the victuals so obtained, affecting all the while to be igno-
rant whence they have come.

CHAPTER VII.

With the good fortune which attended my military career, I
avoided altogether the grade of corporal, passing at a leap from
the ranks to the position of sergeant, which befell in this wise.
To the left of my father's division was stationed that of General
Seras, with its head-quarters at Finale. This division occupied
that part of Liguria where the mountains are steepest and con-
sequently consisted of infantry only, there being no room for
cavalry to move, save in very small detachments, in the few
passes which here connect the Mediterranean coast with
Piedmont. General Seras, having received orders from the
commander-in-chief, General Championnet, to push a recon-
naissance into the valleys beyond Monte Santo Giacomo, wrote
to my father begging him to lend him for this expedition a
detachment of fifty hussars. My father naturally agreed, and
appointed Lieutenant Lesteinschneider to command the detach-
ment of which my section formed part. We started from La
Madona to go to Finale ; the only road along the coast then was
a very bad one, called La Corniche. The lieutenant happened
to dislocate his foot in consequence of a fall from his horse, and
the next in rank to him was Sergeant Canon, a fine young
man, well educated, possessing plenty of ability, and still more
assurance. On the following day General Seras led his force
over Monte San Giacomo, where we bivouacked in the snow.
We were pretty certain the next day, if we advanced, to come
in contact with the enemy ; but in what strength should we
find them ? The general had no notion ; his orders were to
reconnoitre the position of the Austrians in this part of the line,
but on no account to engage if he found them in force. It
had struck him that in advancing his infantry division through
a mountain country where a column often cannot be perceived
until one comes face to face with it at the turn of a gorge, he
might, against his will, be drawn into a serious action against
superior forces and compelled to execute a dangerous retreat.
He resolved, therefore, to march cautiously, and to send forward
to two or three leagues' distance a detachment which might

(43)

44 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

explore the country, and, above all, make some prisoners from
whom he could hope to get better information than the peasants
were either able or willing to give. But feeling also that an
infantry detachment would be in an awkward position if he
sent it too far away, and that, moreover, men on foot would
not be able to bring the desired intelligence quickly enough,
the task of discovery and exploration was assigned to the fifty
hussars. As the country was very much broken, he handed a
map to our sergeant, and gave him full instructions, both in
writing and viva voce, in presence of the detachment. Two
hours before daylight he sent us off, repeating that we muse
march, without fail, until we touched the enemy's outposts,
from which he was exceedingly anxious that we might be able
to bring away some prisoners.

M. Canon's dispositions were perfect. He sent out a small
advance-guard, covered his flank with scouts, and took, in short,
all the precautions customary in guerilla warfare. Two leagues
from camp we came to a large inn ; our sergeant questioned the
innkeeper, and was informed that a good hour further on we
should find an Austrian corps, the strength of which he could
not state. He knew, however, that the leading regiment was
one of very ill-conditioned hussars, who had maltreated sundry
of the inhabitants. With this information we continued our
march, but we had hardly gone a few hundred paces when M.
Canon began to writhe on his horse, saying that he was in
horrible pain, and that he could not go any farther, but must
hand over the command of the detachment to Sergeant Pertelay
the elder, the next in seniority to himself. Pertelay, however,
remarked that, being an Alsatian, he could not read French, and
consequently would be unable to make any use of the map or
understand the general's written instructions, so he would not
take command. All the other sergeants, old Bercheny men,
with no more tincture of letters than Pertelay, refused on
similar grounds ; the corporals the same. In vain did I offer,
in order to induce them, to read the general's instructions, and
to point out our route on the map to any sergeant who would
take the command ; they repeated their refusal, and, to my
great surprise, all these veterans answered : ' Take command
yourself; we will follow you and obey you implicitly.' All the
detachment expressed the same desire, and as it was clear to
me that if I declined we should not get any farther, and that
the honour of the regiment would suffer — for in some way or
other the order of General Seras would have to be executed
or his division might perhaps come into serious trouble — I

IN COMMAND 45

accepted the command after having asked M. Canon whether
he felt fit to resume it. On this he renewed his complaints,
left us, and returned to the inn. I must admit that I believed
him to be really indisposed ; but the men of the detachment,
who knew him better, indulged in some very insulting banter
with regard to him.

I may, I think, say without boasting that nature has allotted
to me a fair share of courage ; I will even add that there was a
time when I enjoyed being in danger, as my thirteen wounds
and some distinguished services prove, I think, sufficiently.
When, therefore, I took command of the fifty men who had
come under my orders in such unusual circumstances, a mere
trooper as I was and seventeen years old, I resolved to show
my comrades that if I had not yet much experience or military
talent, I at least possessed pluck. So I resolutely put myself
at their head and marched on in what we knew was the direc-
tion of the enemy. We had been some time on the way, when
our scouts perceived a peasant trying to hide himself; they
quickly captured him and brought him in. I questioned him ;
it appeared that he came from four or five leagues off, and
averred that he had not met any Austrian troops. I was sure
that he was lying through fear or through cunning, for we must
be very near the enemy's cantonments. I remembered to have
read in the Parfait Partisan, of which my father had given me
a copy, that in order to get information from the inhabitants of
a country which one is passing through in time of war one
must sometimes frighten them ; so I put on a big voice, and,
trying to give my youthful countenance a ferocious air, I cried :
* What, you scamp ! You have just come through a country
occupied by a strong Austrian army corps, and you pretend to
have seen nothing ? You're a spy. Here, shoot him on the
spot ! ' I ordered four hussars to dismount, giving them a sign
that they were to do the man no harm. The man, seeing himself
in the hands of troopers who had just cocked their carbines,
was in such a fright that he swore to tell me all he knew. He
was the servant of a convent, and was charged with a letter to
some relations of the prior ; he had been ordered if he met the
French not to tell them where the Austrians were, but since he
was forced to confess he informed us that at a distance of a
league from us several of the enemy's regiments were quartered
in the villages, while there were a hundred Barco Hussars in a
hamlet which we saw close at hand. When questioned as to
the kind of guard which the hussars kept, the peasant replied
that they had in advance of the houses a grand guard consisting

46 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

of a dozen dismounted men posted in a garden surrounded by
hedges, and that at the moment when he had come through the
hamlet the rest of the hussars were getting ready to water their
horses in a little pond at the further side of the nouses.

Having got this information, I made my plans at once. I
would avoid passing in front of the grand guard, who, being
entrenched behind their hedges, were safe from a cavalry attack,
while the fire of their carbines might kill some of my men and
give warning of the approach of the French. I must therefore
turn the hamlet, reach the watering-place, and fall upon the
enemy unawares. But how was I to get round unperceived ?
I ordered the peasant to guide us, making a circuit, and
promised to let him go as soon as we were at the other side of
the hamlet. However, he was not willing to march, so I made
one hussar take him by the collar while another held the
muzzle of a pistol to his ear, and he had to do as he was told.
He guided us very well ; our movement was masked by high
hedges. We turned the village successfully, and perceived at
the edge of the little pond the Austrian squadron quietly water-
ing their horses. All the troopers had their arms with them,
as is customary with outposts, but the officers had neglected
a very essential precaution, namely, to allow only a certain
number of horses to be unbridled and to drink at once, and to
send the sections into the water in succession, so that half may
always be on the bank ready to repulse an enemy. Trusting
in the distance of the French and the vigilance of the post placed
in advance of the village, the enemy's commander had thought
it unnecessary to take this precaution, which was fatal to him.

At five hundred paces from the little pond I let our guide
go ; he made off as fast as his legs would carry him ; while I,
sabre in hand, and forbidding my comrades to shout before
they were engaged, dashed at full gallop on the enemy's
hussars. They did not catch sight of us till the moment before
we were at the edge of the pond. The banks were almost
everywhere too steep for the horses to climb, the only practi-
cable approach being at the spot where the villagers drew their
water, where there was a pretty wide opening. But at this
point more than a hundred troopers were massed, all having
their bridles over their arms, and their carbines in the buckets
— so perfectly at their ease that some were singing. Their
surprise may be imagined when I first attacked them with a
carbine-fire which killed several, wounded many, and knocked
over a great number of horses. They were thrown into utter
confusion, in spite of which the captain, rallying the men who

THE AUSTRIANS SURPRISED 47

were next the bank, forced his way out, and opened upon us
a fire which, though ill-sustained, wounded two men. They
then charged us ; but Pertelay having slain the captain with a
sabre-cut, they were rolled back into the pond. Some in their
efforts to escape the fire reached the other bank ; many lost
their footing, and a good number of men and horses were
drowned, while those of the Austrian troopers who got across
from the other side of the pond, not being able to get their
horses up the bank, abandoned them, and, clambering up by
help of some trees, fled in disorder across the fields. At the
sound of fighting the grand guard hurried up. We met them
with the sabre and put them to flight also. Meanwhile some
thirty of the enemy were still in the pond ; but fearing to
urge their horses forward, when they saw that the only place
where a landing could be effected was in our hands, they called
out that they surrendered. I accepted, and as they came ashore
made them lay down their arms. Most of the men and horses
were wounded ; but, wishing to take away a trophy of our
victory, I chose seventeen troopers and the same number of
horses who were not much injured, and placed them in the
middle of my detachment. Then I left the other Barcos to
themselves, and made off at a gallop, turning the village again.
It was just as well that I did retreat promptly, for, as I had
foreseen, the fugitives had given the alarm in the neighbouring
cantonments, which already had been put on the alert by the
musketry fire. All stood to their arms, and half an hour later
there were more than 1,500 cavalry on the banks of the little
pond, and several thousand infantry close behind. But our
wounded were able to gallop, and by that time we were a couple
of leagues away. We halted a moment on the top of a hill to
dress wounds, and laughed a good deal to see in the distance
several columns starting on our tracks. We knew quite well
that they would not catch us, because, fearing a possible
ambush, they were advancing very slowly and feeling their
way ; so that we were quite out of danger. I told Pertelay to
take the two best mounted hussars and gallop forward to tell
General Seras the result of our mission ; then I dressed my
detachment carefully, and with the prisoners in the middle,
well guarded, I trotted easily along the road to the inn. It is
impossible to describe the joy of my comrades and the congra-
tulations which they addressed to me as we went along. It
was all summed up in the words which to their mind expressed
the height of eulogy : ■ You thoroughly deserve to belong to the
Bercheny Hussars, the first regiment in the world.'

48 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

What, meanwhile, had been passing at San Giacomo?
After waiting for some hours, General Seras, impatient for
news, perceived from the heights some smoke on the horizon ;
his aide-de-camp, laying his ear on a drum placed upon the
ground, was able, by this common military artifice, to hear
the sound of distant musketry. The general became uneasy,
and, feeling sure that the cavalry detachment must be engaged
with the enemy, took a regiment of infantry and went forward
as far as the inn. There he saw a hussar's horse in the
shed, hitched up to the rack ; Sergeant Canon's, in fact. The
innkeeper appeared, and from him the general learnt that the
sergeant in command of the hussars had got no farther than
the inn, where he had been for some hours in the dining-room.
The general entered, and found M. Canon asleep by the fire,
with a huge ham, two empty bottles, and a cup of coffee in
front of him. The poor sergeant was roused from his slumbers,
and tried once more to plead the excuse of sudden indisposition.
But the accusing remains of the mighty meal he had just eaten
destroyed all belief in his malady, and General Seras was
pretty rough with him. His wrath was increased by the
thought that a detachment of fifty cavalry, entrusted to the
command of a common trooper, had probably been destroyed
by the enemy. At that moment Pertelay and his two hussars
galloped up, announcing our triumph, and our immediate
return with seventeen prisoners. As in spite of this happy
result of our expedition the general continued to heap reproaches
on Canon, Pertelay said with rough ardour, * Do not scold him,
general ; he is such a coward that, if he had led us, we were
bound to fail.' This way of putting the matter naturally did
not improve poor M. Canon's already awkward position ; the
general put him under arrest, and degraded him on the spot,
having his stripes torn off in presence of the regiment and the
fifty hussars ; then, turning to me, who had just come up,
and not knowing my name, he said : ' You have performed
admirably a duty which is usually entrusted only to officers.
I am sorry that, as a general of division, I have not the
power to appoint you sub-lieutenant; I will, however, ask
your promotion to that rank of the commander-in-chief.
Meanwhile, I make you sergeant' He ordered his aide-de-
camp to announce my promotion formally to the detachment.
In order to do this, the aide-de-camp had to ask my name ;
and then General Seras learned for the first time that I was
the son of his colleague General Marbot. I was very glad of
this adventure, because it would prove to my father that favour
had nothing to do with my promotion.

CHAPTER VIII.

The information which General Seras got from the prisoners
having determined him to advance the next day, he sent
orders to his division to descend from the heights of San
Giacomo, and to bivouac that same night near the inn. The
prisoners were forwarded to Finale. The horses were by right
the property of the hussars ; they were all good horses, but,
according to the existing custom, which was established in
order to benefit ill-mounted officers, a prize horse was never
sold for more than five louis. It was an established price,
and paid in cash. The sale began as soon as the tents were
pitched ; General Seras, his staff officers, and the colones,
and majors of the regiments soon carried off our seventeen
horses, which brought the sum of eighty-five louis. This was
handed over to my detachment, and the hussars, who had
received no pay for more than six months, were delighted
with this windfall, the merit of which they ascribed to me. I
had some pieces of gold on me, so, in order to pay my footing
as a sergeant, I not only refused to take my share of the
purchase-money of the horses, but I bought from the innkeeper
three sheep, a gigantic cheese, and a cask of wine, with which
my detachment had a blow-out. This was one of the happiest
days of my life ; it was the ioth Frimaire, year 8.

On the next and following days the division of General
S6ras had several little engagements with the enemy, during
which I continued to command my fifty hussars, doing scout
duty, to the general's satisfaction. In his report to General
Championnet General S6ras praised my conduct in stately
terms, and reported it also to my father ; so that when, a few
days later, I brought my detachment back to Savona, my
father received me with every sign of affection. I was in
raptures. When I rejoined our bivouac where the regiment
was all again assembled, the troopers of my detachment who
had got there before me related what we had done, always
giving me the lion's share of the success ; so I was received
with acclamation by officers and soldiers, as well as by my new
4 (49)

50 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

comrades the non-commissioned officers, who presented me
with my sergeant's stripes. That day I saw, for the first time,
Pertelay junior, who was just back from Genoa, where he
had been for some months on special service. I made great
friends with this excellent man, and was sorry that I had not
had him for mentor at the beginning of my career, for he gave
me good advice, which made me quieter, and caused me to
break off my connection with the * gang.'

The commander-in-chief, having in view certain operations
in the interior of Piedmont, in the direction of Cuneo and
Mondovi, and being very short of cavalry, directed my father
to send him the ist Hussars. As a matter of fact, we could
stay no longer at La Madona, for want of forage. I took leave
of my father with much regret, and departed with the regi-
ment. We followed the Corniche as far as Alberga, crossed
the Apennines, in spite of the snow, and reached the fertile
plains of Piedmont. The commander-in-chief fought a series of
actions in the neighbourhood of Fossano, Novi, and Mondovi,
with varying success.

In some of these fights I had occasion to see Brigadier-
General Macard, a soldier of fortune, who had been carried by
the whirlwind of the Revolution, almost without intermediate
steps, from the rank of trumpet-major to that of general officer.
He was an excellent specimen of the officers who were called
into existence by chance and their own courage, and who,
while they displayed a very genuine valour before the enemy,
were none the less unfitted by their want of education for
filling exalted positions. He was chiefly remarkable for a very
quaint peculiarity. Of colossal size and extraordinary bravery,
this singular person, when he was about to charge at the head
of his troops, invariably cried, ' Look here ! I'm going to dress
like a beast.' Therewith he would take off his coat, his vest,
his shirt, and keep on nothing except his plumed hat, his
leather breeches, and his boots. Stripped thus to the waist,
General Macard offered to view a chest almost as shaggy as a
bear's, which gave him a very strange appearance. When he
had once got on what he very truly called his beast's clothing,
General Macard would dash forward recklessly, sabre in hand,
and swearing like a pagan, on the enemy's cavalry. But he
very seldom got at them, for at the sight of this giant, half-
naked, hairy all over, and in such a strange outfit, who was
hurling himself at them and uttering the most fearful yells,
his opponents would bolt on all sides, scarcely knowing if
they had a man to deal with or some strange wild animal.

AN ECCENTRIC GENERAL 5 1

General Macard was, as might be expected, completely
ignorant, which sometimes caused great amusement to the
better-educated officers under his command. One day one of
these came to ask leave to go into the neighbouring town to
order himself a pair of boots. * By Jove!' said the general,
' that will suit well ; as you are going to a shoemaker, just
come here and take my measure and order me a pair too.' The
officer, much surprised, replied that he could not take his
measure, as, never having been a shoemaker, he had not the
least idea how to set about it. * What ! ' cried the general, ' I
sometimes see you pass whole days looking at the mountains,
pencilling and drawing lines, and when I ask you what you are
doing, you answer that you are measuring the mountains ;
well, if you can measure objects more than a league away from
you, what do you mean by telling me that you cannot take my
measure for a pair of boots when you have got me under your
hand ? Come, take my measure without any more ado.' The
officer assured him that it was impossible ; the general insisted,
got angry, began to swear ; and it was only with great difficulty
that other officers, attracted by the noise, succeeded in bringing
this ridiculous scene to an end. The general never would
understand how an officer who measured the mountains could
be unable to measure a man for a pair of boots.

You must not think from this anecdote that all the general
officers of the Army of Italy were of the same sort as brave
General Macard ; far from it It included a great number of
men distinguished for their education and their manners, but at
this period it still contained several commanders who, as I have
just said, were out of place in the upper ranks of the army.
They were gradually eliminated.

The 1 st Hussars took part in all the combats which at this
time were fought in Piedmont, and went near to lose consider-
ably in its encounters with the Austrian heavy cavalry. After
several marches and counter-marches and a succession of small
affairs almost every day, General Championnet, having brought
up the centre and the left of his army between Cuneo and
Mondovi on the 10th Nivose, attacked several divisions of the
enemy. The fight took place in a plain intersected with low
hills and clumps of wood. The 1st Hussars attached to
General Beaumont's brigade were placed at the extreme right of
the French army. As you are aware, the number of soldiers
and officers comprising a squadron is fixed by the regulations.
Our regiment, having suffered in the preceding affairs, could
only put three squadrons in line that day instead of four ; but

52 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

there remained some thirty men as supernumeraries, among
them five non-commissioned officers, including myself and the
brothers Pertelay. We were formed in two sections, com-
manded by the brave and intelligent Pertelay junior. General
Beaumont, who knew his capacity, directed him to scout on
the right flank of the army, giving him no special instruction,
but orders to act as seemed best under the circumstances. We
therefore left the regiment and went to search the country.
Meanwhile a brisk combat took place between the two forces.
After an hour we were falling back on our main body without
having met anything on the flank, when Pertelay perceived
in face of us, and consequently on the extreme left of the
enemy's line, a battery of eight pieces, whose fire was doing
much execution in the French ranks. With unpardonable
imprudence this Austrian battery, with a view of getting
better aim, had been brought up to a little plateau seven or
eight hundred paces in advance of the infantry division to
which it belonged. The commander of the artillery believed
himself to be quite safe, thinking that, as the point which he
occupied commanded the whole French line, if any force was
detached to attack him, he would perceive it in time to fall back
upon the Austrian line. He had not considered that a little
clump of trees very near his position might conceal a body of
French. It did not as yet contain any ; but Pertelay resolved
to lead his section thither, and thence to charge upon the
Austrian battery. To conceal his movement from the enemy's
gunners he acted on the well-known principle that in war no
one takes any notice of a solitary horseman. His design, as
he explained it to us, was to send us individually round by a
hollow road until, one after another, we should get behind the
wood, which was to the left of the enemy's battery ; thence we
were to make a dash upon it all at once without any fear of
his shot, seeing that we should come up on the flank of the
guns ; we should capture these, and bring them to the French
army. The movement was executed without being perceived
by the Austrian gunners. We went off one by one, and by a
circuitous march reached the rear of the little wood, where we
re-formed our section. Young Pertelay put himself at our
head ; we passed through the wood and dashed, sabre in hand,
on the enemy's battery, just as it was pouring a terrible fire
upon our troops. We sabred some of the gunners, the remainder
hid under the ammunition wagons, where our swords could not
reach them.

Pertelay's instructions were neither to kill nor wound the

CAPTURE OF A BATTERY 53

drivers, but to force them at the sword's point to push their
horses on and to draw the guns as far as the French line.
This order was satisfactorily carried out with regard to six
pieces, the drivers remaining mounted and following our injunc-
tions. But those of the other two guns, whether through
fright or determination, dismounted from their horses. The
hussars might pull the animals by the bridles as they would,
they could not be got to move. The nearest battalions of the
enemy were coming up at the double to support their battery ;
minutes were like hours for us. At length Pertelay, satisfied
with having captured six guns, gave orders to abandon the
others and to gallop in with those we had taken upon our own
army. Prudent as this step was, it proved fatal to our gallant
leader ; for hardly had we begun our retreat when the gunners
and their officers, emerging from below the ammunition wagons
which had protected them from our swords, loaded with canister
the two guns which we had not been able to carry off, and sent
a hail of missiles into our backs.

You can imagine that thirty troopers, six guns harnessed
each to six horses and driven by three drivers, marching in
loose order, presents a wide surface, so nearly every missile
told. We had two sergeants and several troopers killed or
wounded, and one or two of the drivers ; several horses, also,
were disabled — so much so that the greater number of the
teams were thrown into disorder and could get no farther.
Pertelay, with the most perfect coolness, gave orders to cut the
traces of the killed and disabled horses, to replace the killed and
wounded drivers by hussars, and to go forward as fast as we
could ; but the few minutes which we lost in carrying out this
order had been utilised by the commander of the Austrian
battery. He let us have a second volley of canister, which
caused us fresh losses ; but our blood was up and we were
resolved not to abandon the six guns which we had captured ;
we again succeeded in patching everything up as well as we
could and in resuming our march. We were almost touching
the French line, and were beyond the range of canister, when
our enemy changed his projectile and sent two round-shots at
us, one of which broke poor Pertelay's back.

Meanwhile, our attack on the Austrian battery and its result
had been perceived by the French army and the generals
ordered the lines to advance. The enemy recoiled, which
allowed the remains of our detachment to return to the ground
where our poor comrades had fallen. Nearly a third of the
number had been killed or wounded. At the beginning of

54 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

the action there had been five non-commissioned officers ;
three had perished ; there remained only the elder Pertelay
and myself. He, poor fellow, had been wounded, and
was in still greater pain of mind than of body, for he
adored his brother ; and we also keenly regretted him. While
we were doing the last duties by him and removing the
wounded, General Championnet came up with General Suchet,
his chief of the staff. The commander-in-chief had seen the
exploit of our battalion. He called us together beside the six
guns which we had just taken and gave us the greatest praise
for the courage with which we had succeeded in ridding the
army of a battery that had been causing great damage. He
added that in order to reward us for having thus saved a great
number of lives and contributed to the success of the day, he
wished to use the power given to him by a recent decree of the
First Consul instituting arms of honour, and that he granted to
the detachment three swords of honour and a sub-lieutenancy,
authorizing us at the same time ourselves to name those who
should receive these rewards. More keenly did we then regret
the loss of the younger Pertelay, so well fitted to be an officer.
The swords of honour, which three years later entitled their
wearers to the Cross of the Legion of Honour, fell to the elder
Pertelay, a corporal, and a trooper. Then came the naming
of the one of us who was to have a sub-lieutenancy ; all my
comrades pronounced my name, and the commander-in-chief,
remembering what General Seras had written to him about my
conduct at San Giacomo, appointed me sub-lieutenant. I had
only been sergeant a month. At the same time I must admit
that in the attack and capture of the guns I had done no more
than my comrades ; but, as I have already said, none of these
worthy Alsatians felt himself fit to command as an officer, so
they unanimously named me, and the commander-in-chief was
kind enough to take account of the proposal in my favour which
General Seras had made. I may say, too, that possibly he was
glad to do what would please my father. At all events this
was the view that my father took of my rapid promotion, for,
as soon as he heard of it, he wrote forbidding me to accept it.
I obeyed, but as he had written to the same effect to General
Suchet, the chief of the staff, and the latter had answered that
the commander-in-chief would certainly be hurt if one of his
divisional generals claimed to disapprove a nomination which
he had made in virtue of powers conferred on him by the Govern-
ment, my father permitted me to accept, and I was gazetted
sub-lieutenant on the ioth Nivose, year 7 (December 1799).

MAS SEN A 55

I was one of the last officers promoted by General
Championnet. Being unable to hold his position in Piedmont
in presence of a superior force, he was compelled to retreat
across the Apennines and bring the army back into Liguria.
Such was his grief at seeing a portion of his troops disbanded
because he was no longer given the means of provisioning,
that he died on the 25th of Nivose, fifteen days after he had
made me an officer. My father, being the senior general of
division, became provisionally commander-in-chief of the Army
of Italy, with his head-quarters at Nice. He returned thither,
and with all haste sent back into Provence what little cavalry
still remained, for there was no longer any store of forage in
Liguria. The 1st Hussars therefore returned to France, but
my father kept me with him to act as aide-de-camp.

During our stay at Nice my father received orders from the
Ministry of War to take up the command of the advanced
guard of the Army of the Rhine, whither Colonel Menard, as
his chief of the staff, was to follow him. We were all very
much satisfied with this new post, for the Army of Italy had
become so demoralised by want of supplies that it seemed
impossible to maintain our position in Liguria. Nor was my
father sorry to get away from an army that was breaking up,
and seemed about to tarnish its laurels by a shameful retreat,
the result of which would be to throw it back behind the Var.
He made ready, therefore, to depart as soon as General
Massena should arrive to replace him, and he sent M. Gault to
Paris in order to buy maps and make the necessary prepara-
tions for our campaign on the Rhine. But destiny had decided
otherwise, and my poor father's grave was marked out on the
soil of Italy.

Massena arrived to find but the shadow of an army. The
troops, unpaid, almost unclad and unshod, were receiving only
quarter rations, and dying of starvation or epidemic sickness,
the result of privations. The hospitals were full, and medicine
was lacking. Bands of soldiers, even whole regiments, were
every day quitting their posts and making for the bridge over
the Var. They forced their way into France, and scattered
about Provence, declaring themselves ready to return to their
duty if they were fed. The generals had no power against
such a mass of misery ; every day their discouragement grew,
and they were all asking for leave or resigning on the ground
of illness. Massena had, indeed, hoped to be joined in Italy
by several of the generals who had been taking part in the
defeat of the Russians in Switzerland : among them by Soult,

$6 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MAR BO T

Oudinot, and Gazan. But none of these had as yet come, and
the pressing need must be met.

Massena, who was born at Turbia, a township in the little
principality of Monaco, was the wiliest of Italians. He was
not acquainted with my father, but at first sight he judged him
to be a man of magnanimous nature, above all things patriotic.
In order to get him to stay, therefore, he approached him on his
most sensitive side, appealing to his generosity and love of his
country, and pointing out how much more to his honour it
would be to stay with the Army of Italy in its misfortunes than
to go to the Rhine where things were prosperous. He offered,
moreover, if my father would stay, to take upon himself all
responsibility for his neglect of orders. My father was over-
persuaded, and, not liking to leave the new commander-in-chief
while things were in confusion, agreed to stay. He made no
doubt that Colonel Menard, his friend, and chief of the staff,
would follow his example and decline to serve on the Rhine ;
but here he was mistaken. Colonel Menard, though assured
that there would be no difficulty in getting the order revoked,
held himself bound to obey it, and lost no time in reaching
Paris, where he obtained the post of chief of the staff to General
Lefebvre. My father felt his defection keenly. The post he
had held was filled by Colonel Sacleux, an excellent man and
good soldier, of a kindly but grave and serious disposition.
His secretary was a young man named Colindo, son of one
Trepano, a banker at Parma, who became an excellent friend
of mine. Spire was left at Nice with the bulk of the baggage,
and my father repaired to Genoa, to take up the command of
the three divisions composing the left wing. He lodged in the
Centurione Palace till the end of the winter 1799-1800.

At the beginning of the following spring my father learnt
that Massena had given the command of the right wing to
Soult, who had just arrived. At the same time he received
orders to return to Savona and resume the command of his old
division, the third. Though sorely hurt at this supersession
by an officer much his junior, he complied with the new
arrangements.

Meanwhile great events were preparing in Italy. Massena
had received reinforcements, and re-established some measure
of order in the army. The famous campaign of 1800, which
led to the siege of Genoa and the battle of Marengo, was about
to open.

CHAPTER IX.

As soon as the snow had melted on the mountains which lay
between the two armies, the Austrians attacked. Their first
efforts were directed against the third division of the right
wing with the view of separating it from the centre and the
left and hurling it back on Genoa. At the commencement
of hostilities my father and Colonel Sacleux sent all non-
combatants to that city, Colindo among the number. For my
part, I was over head and ears in happiness. The animating
sight of troops on the march, the clatter of artillery movements,
roused the desire which is always in a young soldier's heart of
taking part in warlike operations. I was far from suspecting
how terrible a war this would be, and how costly to myself.

My father's division, briskly attacked by a superior force,
held for two days the famous position of Cadibone and
Montenotte ; but finally, being in danger of having its flank
turned, it was forced to retreat on Voltri, and then on Genoa,
where, with the other two divisions of the right wing, it was
shut up.

I could hear the generals who knew the state of the case
deploring the necessity of separating ourselves from the centre
and the left wing, but at that time I knew so little of the
principles of war that it in no way affected me. I understood
well enough that we had been beaten, but as I had with
my own hand captured an officer of the Barco Hussars and
fastened his plume with much pride to the headstall of my
horse, I felt as if this trophy gave me some resemblance to a
knight of the Middle Ages coming home laden with the spoils
of the infidels. My boyish vanity was soon brought down by
a terrible catastrophe. During the retreat, just as my father
was giving me an order to carry, he received a ball in the left
leg, the leg in which he had before been wounded with the
Army of the Pyrenees. The shock was so great that he must
have fallen from his horse if he had not leant upon me. I got
him away from the field of battle ; his wound was dressed, and
when I saw his blood flow I began to cry. He tried to soothe

(57)

58 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

me, and said that a soldier ought to have stronger nerves.
We carried him to Genoa and placed him in the Centurione
Palace, which he had occupied in the previous winter. Our
three divisions entered Genoa ; the Austrians blockaded the
place by land, and the English by sea.

The courage fails me to describe what the garrison and
population of Genoa had to suffer during the two months which
this memorable siege lasted. The ravages of famine, war,
typhus were enormous. Out of 16,000 men, the garrison lost
10,000 ; every day seven or eight hundred corpses of the
inhabitants, of every age, sex, and"class, were picked up in the
streets and buried in an immense trench filled with quicklime
behind the church of Carignan. The number of victims
reached more than 30,000, nearly all starved to death.

In order to realise to what extent the dearth of food was
felt among the inhabitants, you must know that the old
Genoese Government, to keep the population in check, had
from time immemorial claimed a monopoly of grain, flour, and
bread. The bread was baked in an immense building guarded
by cannon and soldiers, so that whenever the Doge or the
Senate wished to prevent or punish a revolt they had only to
close the state bakeries and subdue the people by famine.
Although at the time of which I speak the Genoese Constitution
had undergone much change, and the aristocracy had lost
nearly all its authority, there still was not a single private
bakehouse, and the old custom of making the bread in the
state ovens continued. Well, these public ovens, which
habitually provided food for a population of more than
120,000 souls, remained closed for forty-five days out of the
sixty which the siege lasted. Rich no more than poor had
the means of obtaining bread ; the small quantity of dried
vegetables and rice which was in the hands of the dealers had
been bought up at enormous prices at the very beginning of
the siege. The troops alone received a miserable ration of a
quarter of a pound of horseflesh and a quarter of a pound of
what was called bread — a horrible compound of damaged flour,
sawdust, starch, hair powder, oatmeal, linseed, rancid nuts,
and other nasty substances, to which a little solidity was
given by the admixture of a small portion of cocoa. Each
loaf, moreover, was held together by little bits of wood, without
which it would have fallen to powder. General Thiebault in
his journal of the siege compares this bread to peat mingled
with oil.

For five-and-forty days neither bread nor meat was publicly

SIEGE OF GENOA 59

sold ; the richest inhabitants were able, but only during the
first part of the siege, to obtain a little codfish, figs, and other
dried provisions, as well as some sugar. Oil, wine, and salt
never failed ; but of what use are these without solid food ?
All the dogs and cats in the town were eaten ; rats fetched
a high price. At length the misery grew so terrible that
whenever the French troops made a sortie crowds followed
them outside the gates, and there rich and poor, women,
children, and old men, set to work to cut grass, nettles, and
leaves, which they then boiled with salt. The Genoese
Government had the grass which grew on the ramparts mown,
and afterwards cooked in the public squares and distributed to
the sick people who were not strong enough to get this coarse
food and cook it themselves. Our troops used to boil nettles
and all kinds of plants with their horseflesh ; the richest and
most eminent families envied them their meat, disgusting as it
was — for nearly all the horses were ill for want of forage, and
the flesh even of those which had died of consumption was
distributed. During the latter part of the siege the exasperation
of the Genoese populace became a serious danger. They were
heard to exclaim that in 1746 their fathers. had massacred an
Austrian army, and that they ought to try to get rid of the
French army in the same way. Decidedly it was better worth
while to die fighting than to see their wives and children succumb
and then starve themselves. These symptoms of revolt were
the more terrible in that if they had come to anything the
English and the Austrians would undoubtedly have hastened
to join the insurgents in the effort to overwhelm us.

In the middle of dangers so imminent and calamities so
various, Massena remained impassible and calm. To prevent
any attempt at a rising, he proclaimed that the French troops
had orders to fire on any assemblage of the inhabitants which
amounted to more than four men. Our regiments continually
bivouacked in the squares and in the principal streets, the
approaches to which were defended by guns loaded with
canister ; and the Genoese, being unable to assemble, found it
impossible to rise.

It may seem surprising that MassSna should have clung so
obstinately to the defence of a place of which he could maintain
the garrison with difficulty, and the population not at all. But
Genoa weighed heavily just then in the balance of the fate of
France. Our army was cut in two ; the left and centre had
retired behind the Var ; while Mass6na, shut up in Genoa,
detained a portion of the Austrian army before that place.

60 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

and thus prevented it from invading Provence in full force
Massena knew that at Dijon, at Lyons, and at Geneva th©
First Consul was collecting a reserve army with which he
proposed to cross the Alps by the Great St. Bernard, to enter
Italy, and to surprise the Austrians by falling on their rear
while they were occupied with the siege of Genoa. It was,
therefore, of immense importance to us to hold that town as
long as possible. The First Consul had given orders to that
effect, and his foresight was justified by events. But let me
return to what befell me in the siege.

On learning that my father had been brought wounded into
Genoa, Colindo Trepano hastened to his bedside, and we met
again there. He helped me in the most affectionate way to
tend the sick man ; and I was the more grateful to him that
in the midst of our troubles my father had no one with
him. All staff officers had received orders to place themselves
at the service of the commander-in-chief. Very soon provisions
were no longer allowed to our servants : and they were com-
pelled to take a musket and enroll themselves among the
combatants, in order to claim the wretched ration which was
distributed to the soldiers. The only exceptions were made in
favour of a young valet named Oudin and a young groom who
looked after our horses ; but Oudin left us on learning that my
father had been seized with typhus. This terrible disorder,
like the plague, with which it has much affinity, always attacks
the wounded and those who are already ill. My father took it ;
and just when he most needed care he had no one with him
but myself, Colindo, and the groom Bastide. We carried out
the doctor's prescriptions to the best of our power, and got no
sleep day or night, being incessantly occupied in rubbing my
father with camphorated oil, and in changing bedclothes and
bandages. He could take nothing but broth, and to make this
we had only bad horseflesh. My heart sank within me.
Providence, however, sent us some aid. The great buildings
of the public bakeries were close to the walls of the palace in
which we lived ; their terraces were almost in contact. That
of the bakeries was very spacious ; the crushing and mixing of
the various grains which were added to the damaged flour to
make bread for the garrison was carried on there. Bastide,
the groom, had observed that when the workmen of the
bakehouse had left the terrace it was invaded by swarms of
pigeons, which had their nests in the various towers of the
city and came thither to pick up what few grains might have
been let fall in sifting. Being a man of intelligence, he

MY FATHER'S ILLNESS 6 1

contrived to cross the short space which separated this from
our terrace, and on it set traps of various kinds wherewith he
took the pigeons. Of these we made my father a broth which
he found excellent in comparison with that made from horse.
To the horrors of famine and pestilence were added those of
obstinate and incessant warfare ; for all day long the French
troops were fighting on the land side against the Austrians,
and when night put a stop to this, the English, Turkish, and
Neapolitan fleets, sheltered by the darkness from the fire of the
harbour batteries, poured enormous quantities of shells into the
town, doing terrible damage. Thus we had not an instant of
repose.

The noise of the cannonade and the cries of the dying
reached my father's room, and agitated him extremely. He
kept regretting that he could not be at the head of his division;
and his mental state made his bodily condition worse. From
day to day his illness grew more serious, and he became
visibly weaker. Colindo and I never left him for an instant.
At last, one night, while I was kneeling by his bedside bathing
his wound, he spoke to me with his mind perfectly clear.
Then, feeling his end approaching, he laid his hand on my
head, stroked it caressingly, and said : ' Poor child ! what is to
become of you with no one to look after you, in the midst of
the horrors of this terrible siege ? ' He murmured a few words,
among which I made out my mother's name, dropped his arms,
and closed his eyes.

Young as I was, and short as had been my service, I had
seen plenty of men die in the field, and still more in the streets
of Genoa ; but these had fallen in the open air and in their
clothes. Very different is the sight of a man dying in bed ;
and this last sad spectacle I had never yet witnessed. I
thought, therefore, that my father had dropped off to sleep.
Colindo, who understood the truth, had not the heart to tell
me, and I was only undeceived some hours later, when M.
Lacheze came in and I saw him draw the sheet over my
father's face, saying, ' A terrible loss for his family and his
friends.' Then, for the first time, I realised my full mis-
fortune. My grief was so heartrending that it even touched
the commander-in-chief, Massena, who was not very easily
moved, especially in circumstances like the present, where
firmness was so much required. The critical position of
affairs caused him to take in regard to me a step which I
thought atrocious, though if I ever commanded in a besieged
town I should do the same myself. In order to avoid anything

62 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MAR EOT

which might weaken the moral of the troops Mass6na had
forbidden all funeral processions. He knew that I was
unwilling to quit the mortal remains of my dear father, and
suspected that my intention was to accompany them to the
grave. Fearing the effect on the troops of seeing a young
officer, little more than a child, sobbing behind the bier of his
father, a general of division, and a victim of this terrible war,
Masse'na came the next morning before daybreak into the
room where my father was lying, and, taking me by the
hand, led me under some pretext into a distant apartment.
Meanwhile, at his orders, twelve grenadiers, accompanied
only by Colonel Sacleux and another officer, took up the bier
in silence and carried it off to the temporary grave on the
ramparts towards the sea. Not till this sad ceremony was
over did Massena tell me what had been done, explaining the
motives of his decision. I cannot express the despair into
which I was thrown. It seemed to me that by this removal
of my father's body without the last cares from me I had lost
him a second time. It was no use complaining, and there was
nothing more for me to do but to go and pray at his grave. I
did not know where it was, but my friend Colindo had followed
the funeral at a little distance, and he took me there. This
kind young fellow gave me at this time proofs of a touching
sympathy at a moment when everyone was thinking of nothing
but his personal position.

Almost all the officers on my father's staff had been killed
or carried off by typhus ; we were eleven before the campaign,

and there remained only two of us, Major R and myself.

But R thought only about himself, and, instead of being

any help to his general's son, he continued to live by himself in
the town ; M. Lacheze also left me to myself. Only the kind
Colonel Sacleux showed any signs of interest in me, but as
the commander-in-chief had given him the command of a
brigade, he was constantly engaged in repelling the enemy
outside the walls. I remained, therefore, alone in the vast
Centurione Palace with Colindo, Bastide, and the old porter.

Scarcely a week had passed since I had lost my father
when General Massena, who wanted a great many officers
about him, for he got some killed or wounded almost every
day, sent me orders to come and act as his aide-de-camp.

R and all the officers of generals who were killed or

disabled from riding were doing the like ; I obeyed, and all
day long attended the commander-in-chief during the fighting.
When I was not kept at head-quarters I went home, and when

THE HORRORS OF FAMINE 63

night came Colindo and I, passing through dying and dead,
through women and children who were lying about the streets,
used to go and pray at my father's tomb.

Meanwhile famine was increasing to an alarming extent.
By order of the commander-in-chief each officer was allowed
to retain only one horse ; all the rest had to be sent to the
butcher. My father had left several, and it would have been
very painful to me to know that the poor beasts were going to
be killed. I saved their lives by proposing to the staff officers
to exchange them for their broken-down animals, and gave
these over to the butcher. Later on, the state paid for these
horses on presentation of the order to give them up. I pre-
served one of these orders as a curious relic; it bears the
signature of General Oudinot, chief of the staff to Massena.

The cruel loss which I had undergone, the position in
which I found myself, and the terrible scenes at which I was
every day present, had in a short time developed my intelli-
gence more than many years of happiness would have done.
I understood that all those who a few months before had been
surrounding my father with attentions were rendered selfish by
the misery of the siege, and that I must find in myself courage
and resource enough, not only for my own needs, but to support
Colindo and Bastide. The chief thing was to find the means
of feeding them, since they got no provision from the army
stores. I had, indeed, as an officer double rations of horseflesh
and bread ; but all this together only made a pound of nourish-
ment, and that very bad, and there were three of us. We very
seldom now caught any pigeons, for their number had greatly
diminished. As aide-de-camp to the commander-in-chief I had
my place laid at his table, where once a day bread, roast horse,
and dried peas were served ; but I was so angry with MassSna
for having deprived me of the sad consolation of following my
father to the grave that I could not make up my mind to take my
place at his table, although all my comrades were there, and
he had given me a general invitation. Ultimately, however,
the desire of aiding my two unfortunate fellow-lodgers decided
me to take my meals with the general. After that Colindo and
Bastide each got a quarter of a pound of bread and the same
amount of horseflesh. I did not myself get enough to eat, for
at the general's table the portions were extremely minute, and I
was very hard-worked. I often found my strength failing, and
more than once it happened to me to be obliged to lie down on
the ground to save myself from fainting.

Once more Providence came to our aid. Bastide was a

64 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

native of the Cantal, and in the previous winter had come
across another Auvergnat of his acquaintance who was settled
at Genoa as a small tradesman. He went to see him, and
was struck on entering the house by a smell like that of a
grocer's shop. He remarked upon it to his friend, saying,
' You have got provisions ! ' The other admitted it, binding
him to secrecy, for every kind of provisions found in private
houses were carried off to the army stores. The sensible
Bastide offered to find him a purchaser for any superfluous
provisions who would pay in cash and keep his secret, and
came to let me know of his discovery. My father had left
several thousand francs, so I bought and had brought to the
house at night a good store of cod, cheese, figs, sugar,
chocolate, and so on. All this was horribly dear ; the
Auvergnat got nearly all my money, but I deemed myself
only too happy in letting him do what he liked with me, for
according to what I heard every day at head-quarters the
siege was going to last a good deal longer, and the famine
to go on increasing, which, unhappily, came true. What
doubled my joy in getting means of subsistence was the
thought that I was saving the life of my friend Colindo, who
but for this would literally have starved to death, for he knew
no one in the army except me and Colonel Sacleux.

Before very long the colonel met with a terrible disaster
under the following circumstances : Mass6na, attacked on every
side, and seeing his troops mowed down by constant famine
and by fighting, and being obliged at the same time to keep
in check an immense population driven by hunger to despair,
found his position most critical. Knowing that if he was to
maintain any order in his army he must establish an iron
discipline, he cashiered without pity every officer who did not
execute his orders precisely in virtue of the power which the
law at that time conferred on commanders-in-chief. Many
examples of this kind had already been made. One day, in
a sortie which we pushed to a distance of six leagues from
the town, the brigade commanded by Colonel Sacleux failed
to be at the appointed hour in a valley where it was to have
barred the Austrians' passage. Consequently they escaped,
and the commander-in-chief, furious\at seeing his combination
fail, cashiered poor Colonel Sacleux, and announced it in a
general order. It was quite possible that Sacleux had not
understood what was expected of him, but there was no doubt
about his courage. He would in his despair have certainly
blown his brains out if his heart had pot be§n set on gaining

SACLEUX 65

back his honour. He took a musket and placed himself in
the ranks as a soldier. One day he came to visit us ; Colindo
and I were touched to the heart at seeing this excellent man
in a private's uniform. We bade farewell to Sacleux, who,
after the surrender of the place, was restored by the First
Consul to his rank of colonel at the instance of Massena
himself, Sacleux having by his courage compelled him to
reconsider his decision. But in the following year, seeing
that peace was made in Europe, and wishing to free himself
completely from the slur which had been so unjustly cast
upon him, Sacleux asked leave to go and fight in San
Domingo, and there was killed just as he was about to be
appointed brigadier-general. There are some men with whom
in spite of their merit destiny deals very hardly ; he was one
of them.

CHAPTER X.

I can only speak very briefly of the operations of the siege,
or rather blockade, which we sustained. At this period the
fortifications of Genoa consisted on the land side merely of
a wall flanked with towers ; but what rendered the place
capable of a good defence was the fact of its being surrounded
at a short distance by hills whose summits and slopes were
covered with forts and redoubts. The Austrians were always
attacking these positions ; as soon as they carried one we
marched to retake it; the next day they tried again to get
possession of it. If they succeeded we went to drive them
out afresh — in short, it was a perpetual see-saw with varying
chances, but on the whole we ended by remaining masters of
the ground. These fights were often very brisk; in one of
them General Soult, who was Mass&ia's right-hand man,
was climbing Monte Corona at the head of his columns to
recapture the fort of the same name which we had lost the
day before, when a bullet smashed his knee just as the enemy,
far outnumbering us, were charging down from the top of
the hill. It was impossible with the few troops which we
had at this point to resist such a torrent, and we had to beat
a retreat. The soldiers carried Soult for some time on their
muskets, but the intolerable pain compelled him to order
them to set him down at the foot of a tree, where his brother
and one of his aides-de-camp remained alone with him to
defend him from the fury of the first of the enemy who
should reach him. Luckily, among these were some officers,
who treated their illustrious prisoner with much respect.
The capture of General Soult having stimulated the ardour
of the Austrians, they drove us very smartly back to the
wall, and were preparing to assault this, when a tremendous
storm darkened the blue sky which we had had since the
beginning of the siege. The rain fell in torrents. The
Austrians halted, and the greater number of them sought
shelter in cottages or under trees. Then Massena, whose
principal merit in war lay in profiting by all sorts of unfore-

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PRISONERS STARVED Gj

seen circumstances, addressed his soldiers, rekindled their
ardour, and, supporting them with troops brought up from
the town, ordered a bayonet-charge, and led them, while
the storm was at its height, against the Austrians ; who,
victorious so far, were taken aback by this audacity, and
retired in disorder. Massena pursued with such vigour that
he cut off a force of 3,000 grenadiers, who laid down
their arms.

This was not the first time that we had taken a good
many prisoners. The total number of those captured since
the beginning of the siege amounted to more than eight
thousand ; but, having no means of feeding them, the general
had always sent them back on condition that they should
not serve against us for six months. The officers kept their
parole faithfully ; but the unlucky soldiers, who did not know
what their chiefs had undertaken on their behalf, were, on
their return to the Austrian camp, distributed among other
regiments, and compelled to fight again. If they again fell
into our hands, which often happened, we gave them back
again ; they were again passed into other battalions, and so
it happened that a great many men on their own admission
were taken prisoners four or five times during the siege.
Angry at this bad faith on the part of the Austrian generals,
Masse'na determined this time that the three thousand whom
he had captured should be detained, officers and men. But
in order that the task of guarding them should not be an
additional duty for the troops, he placed the unhappy prisoners
on board hulks in the harbour, and had some of the guns on
the mole trained upon them. Then he sent a flag of truce to
General Ott, commanding the Austrian troops before Genoa,
to reproach him for his breach of good faith, and let him
know that he did not feel bound to give the prisoners more
than half the ration of a French soldier, but that he would
agree to an arrangement between the Austrians and the
English under which boats should bring provisions every
day to the prisoners, and not leave them till they had seen
the food eaten, lest it should be believed that he, Massena,
was availing himself of this pretext to get provisions in for his
own troops. The Austrian general, in the hope that a refusal
would induce Massena to send back his three thousand men,
of whom he probably thought again to make use against us,
withheld his consent to this philanthropic proposal ; so Mass6na
carried out his declared intention.

The ration of the French was composed of a quarter of a

68 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

pound of horrible bread and an equal quantity of horseflesh ;
so the prisoners got only half that quantity of each commodity.
The siege lasted fifteen days longer, and the poor wretches
remained all that time on this diet. In vain did Massena every
two or three days renew his proposal. Either from obstinacy
or because the English admiral, Lord Keith, was unwilling to
supply boats for fear of introducing typhus into his fleet, it was
never accepted. The unhappy Austrians were yelling with rage
and hunger on board the hulks ; at last, after having eaten their
shoes, knapsacks, pouches, and even, according to rumour, the
bodies of some of their comrades, they nearly all died of star-
vation. There remained no more than 700 or 800 when the
place was surrendered. As soon as the Austrian soldiers
entered Genoa, they hastened to the harbour and supplied
food to their comrades, but with so little judgment that all
the survivors died. I have thought fit to relate this horrible
incident not only as a further example of the calamities which
war brings in its train, but more especially to brand the bad
faith of the Austrian general in compelling his soldiers who
had been made prisoners and sent back on parole again to bear
arms against us in spite of his undertaking to send them back
to Germany.

Of my own perils during the siege I will confine myself to
recounting the two principal. I have already said that the
Austrians and the English took it in turns to keep us constantly
on the alert. The former attacked us at daybreak on the land-
side, fought us all day long, and returned to rest at night.
During the night Lord Keith's fleet came and bombarded us,
trying under cover of darkness to get possession of the port,
and thus forcing the garrison to watch that side most carefully,
and preventing them from getting the least rest. One night
when the bombardment was more than ordinarily violent,
Mass6na, having been informed that, by the help of some
Bengal lights which had been fired on the beach, many
English craft, laden with troops, could be seen advancing
towards the moles, mounted with all his staff and his regular
escort of guides. We were in all some 150 to 200 horsemen.
As we passed a little square named the Campetto, the com-
mander-in-chief halted to speak to an officer who was returning
from the port. All were thronging round him, when a cry was
heard, ■ Look out ! a shell ! ' We all looked up and beheld a
vast mass of red-hot iron descending on the group of men and
horses who were packed in the narrow space. I happened to
be close to the wall of a great house, above the door of which

IN THE BATTERY 69

was a marble balcony. I urged my horse under this and
several of my neighbours did the same. Precisely on this
balcony the shell dropped ; it smashed it to pieces, bounded
off on to the pavement, and burst with a tremendous noise in
the middle of the square, which for a moment was lighted up
by the flash and then relapsed into deeper darkness. We
thought the loss would have been great ; the profound silence
was broken by the voice of General MassSna asking if anyone
was wounded ; there was no answer, for by a really miraculous
chance not one of the fragments of the shell had struck a man
or a horse in the crowd. As for those who, like myself, were
under the balcony, they were covered with dust and fragments
of building materials, but no one was wounded.

I have said that as a rule the English only bombarded us
at night ; but one day when they were celebrating some
festival or other, their fleet, dressed with flags, sailed up to
the town in the middle of the day, and amused itself by
showering projectiles on us. The one of our batteries which
was in the best position for replying to this fire was near the
mole, on a great tower-like bastion called the Lantern. The
commander-in-chief ordered me to carry to the officer com-
manding this battery instructions to take good aim before
firing, and to let all his fire converge upon an English brig
which had impudently anchored a short distance from the
Lantern. Our gunners aimed so well that one of our 500-lb.
shells dropped on the English brig, smashing through from
deck to keel and sinking it instantly.1 This enraged the
English admiral so much that he ordered all his gunboats to
advance upon the Lantern, on which they opened a furious
fire. Having fulfilled my orders, my duty was to return to
Mass6na ; but, as is often and rightly said, young soldiers, not
realising danger, frequently face it more coolly than experienced
veterans. The spectacle which I witnessed was highly inter-
esting; the platform of the Lantern, paved with flagstones,
was about the area of an average courtyard, and was armed
with twelve pieces of ordnance, the carriages of which were of
great size. Difficult as it is for a vessel at sea to throw shells
with accuracy at so small a mark as the platform of a tower,
the English contrived to drop several on the Lantern. At the
moments when they fell the gunners took refuge behind and

1 [In the list given by James, of British ships lost during 1800, there is
no mention of any at Genoa. The story told here bears a certain resemblance
to that of the apocryphal destruction of another English brig off Boulogne.
See below, p. 125.]

7<3 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

beneath the massive wooden carriages. I followed their
example, but our refuge was by no means secure, since the
shells, being unable to break through the floor of the platform,
rolled along the flags without our being able to foresee what
direction they would take, and their fragments, spinning about
from every point of the platform, flew beneath and behind the
gun-carriages. It was, therefore, absurd for anyone to stay
there, who, like me, was not obliged to do so ; but I felt a
fearful joy, if I may use the term, in rushing with the gunners
to cover every time that a shell fell, and in returning with them
as soon as it had burst and the fragments no longer flew. It
was a sport for which I might have paid dear. One gunner
had his legs broken ; others were severely wounded, for the
huge fragments of iron did frightful execution. One of them cut
in two a great timber of one of the carriages behind which I
was just going to take shelter. In spite of it, I stayed on the
platform until Colonel Mouton (in later days Marshal Count of
Lobau), who had served under my father and took an interest
in me, happened to pass near the Lantern, and ordered me
peremptorily to come away and go back to my post with the
commander-in-chief. \ You are a young fellow still,' he added,
: but you must learn that in war it is foolish to expose oneself
to needless dangers. What good would it have done you if
you had had a leg smashed, without any advantage to your
country ? ' I never forgot this lesson, and long after thanked
the Count of Lobau for it. It has often struck me what a
difference there would have been in my fortunes if I had lost a
leg at the age of seventeen.

CHAPTER XI.

The obstinate courage with which Mass6na had held Genoa
had important consequences. Major Franceschi, sent by
him to the First Consul, succeeded, both going and returning,
in passing through the enemy's fleet at night undetected.
He was back at Genoa on the 6th Prairial with the news
that he had left Bonaparte descending from the Great St.
Bernard at the head of his reserve force. Field-marshal
Melas was so convinced of the impossibility of bringing such
an army across the Alps, that while the force under General
Ott was blockading us he had gone with the rest of his army
to attack General Suchet on the Var, fifty leagues away,
with the intention of invading Provence. This allowed the
First Consul to enter Italy unopposed, so that the army of
reserve was at Milan before the Austrians had begun to
believe in its existence. Thus the resistance of Genoa had
effected a powerful diversion in aid of France. Once in Italy,
Bonaparte's first wish would have been to succour the valiant
garrison of that town ; but in order to do this he had to wait
until his whole force was assembled, and the passage of the
Alps offered great difficulties to the artillery and commis-
sariat wagons. This delay allowed time for Melas to hasten
up with the bulk of his forces from Nice to oppose the First
Consul, who was thus unable to continue his march upon
Genoa except by previously defeating the Austrian army.

But while Bonaparte and Melas were marching and
countermarching in Piedmont and the province of Milan
previously to the battle which was to decide the fate of Italy
and France, the garrison of Genoa was at the last gasp.
Typhus was doing frightful execution ; the hospitals were
charnel-houses ; the measure of misery was full. Nearly all
the horses had been eaten, and the half-pound of wretched
food, which was all that the troops had for some time received,
was never secure for one day in advance. Absolutely nothing
was left when, on the 15th Prairial, the commander-in-chief
summoned all the generals and colonels, and announced that

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72 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

he had determined to take such sound men as remained and
try to cut his way through and reach Leghorn. The officers,
however, declared with one voice that the troops were utterly
unfit to fight, even to march, without a sufficient meal to
sustain their strength before starting. The stores were com-
pletely exhausted. So Massena, deeming that by facilitating
the entry of the First Consul into Italy he had carried out
his instructions, and that it was now his duty to save the
fragments of a garrison which had fought so valiantly, and
which, in the interests of the country, ought to be preserved,
finally decided to offer terms for the evacuation of the place.
He would not hear of capitulation.

For more than a month past the English admiral and
General Ott had been proposing an interview, but Massena
had always refused. Now, however, he was constrained by
the circumstances to send them word that he agreed to it.
The meeting took place in a little chapel which stands on the
bridge of Conegliano, and was situated between the sea and
the French and Austrian outposts. The French, Austrian,
and English staffs took their stand at the ends of the bridge.
I was present at this most interesting scene. The enemy's
commander showed special marks of esteem and respect to
Massena. Although the conditions which he required were
unfavourable to them, Lord Keith said repeatedly : ' General,
your defence has been so heroic that we can refuse you
nothing.' It was agreed, therefore, that the garrison should
not be prisoners, should retain their arms, and should proceed
to Nice. As soon as they had reached that town they were
free to take part again in hostilities.

Mass6na well understood how important it was that the
keen desire which the First Consul must be feeling to come
to the aid of Genoa should not lead him into any movement
which might compromise his safety. He demanded, there-
fore, that the conditions should include a safe-conduct through
the Austrian army for two officers who were to bear to him
the news of the evacuation of the place by the French troops.
General Ott objected, having in view a speedy departure to
join Melas with 25,000 envoys of the blockading force, and
he did not wish that warning of this should be brought to the
First Consul by Masseria's troops. But Lord Keith over-
ruled this objection. The treaty was on the point of being
signed when sounds as of distant cannon were heard far away
among the mountains. Masse'na put down his pen, exclaim-
ing, ' There comes the First Consul with his army ! ' The

EVACUATION OF GENOA 73

hostile generals were amazed ; but after waiting some time it
became evident that the sound was that of thunder, and
Massdna decided to sign.

The loss to the garrison and its commander of the full
credit of holding Genoa till the First Consul could come
up was not the only source of regret; Massena would
have been glad to hold out a few days longer, and by so
much to delay the departure of General Ott's force. He
clearly foresaw that this general would march to join Field-
marshal Melas, and thereby afford him valuable help in
meeting the First Consul. His fear, though well founded,
was unnecessary, for Ott was not able to effect a junction
with the main Austrian army till the day after Marengo.
The result of that battle would have been very different
if the Austrians, whom we had so much trouble to beat as it
was, had had another 25,000 men to bring against us. Thus
Mass^na's defence of Genoa had not only kept the Alps open
for Bonaparte, and given Milan into his hands, but had also
kept 25,000 men out of his way on the day of Marengo.

On the 16th Prairial the Austrians took possession of
Genoa, after a siege of just two months.

So important did our commander-in-chief deem it that
the First Consul should have timely notice of the treaty just
concluded, that he had asked for a safe-conduct for two aides-
de-camp, in order that if one fell ill the other might take on the
despatch. It was as well that the officer to whom the duty was
entrusted should be able to speak Italian, so Massena selected
for it Major Graziani, a Piedmontese or Roman in the French
service. With his wonted excess of suspicion, however, fear-
ing that one who was not a Frenchman might be tampered
with by the Austrians and induced to delay, he attached me
to him, with special instructions to urge him forward till we
fell in with the First Consul. There was really no need for
this for M. Graziani was perfectly loyal, and thoroughly
understood the importance of his errand. We started on the
1 6th Prairial, and came up with Bonaparte the next evening
at Milan.

General Bonaparte spoke with much sympathy of my
recent loss, and promised if I behaved well to act a father's
part to me. He kept his word. He was never tired of
questioning M. Graziani and me both as to what had
happened at Genoa and about the strength and direction of
the Austrian forces which we had passed on our way to
Milan. He kept us near him, and lent us horses from his

74 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

stable. We had performed the journey on post-mules. We
accompanied him to Montebello, and on to the battlefield
of Marengo, where we were his orderly officers. I will not
enter into the details of this memorable fight, in which no
harm befell me. As is well known, we were on the verge
of defeat, and should probably have been defeated if Ott's
25,000 men had come up before the end of the battle. The
First Consul, fearing that they would appear every moment,
was very anxious, and only recovered his spirits when our
infantry and the cavalry of Desaix (whose death he only learnt
later) had decided the victory by repulsing Zach's column
of grenadiers. Just then, noticing that the horse which
I rode was slightly wounded in the leg, he took me by
the ear and said, laughing, ' You expect me to lend you
my horses for you to treat them in that way ? ' As Major
Graziani died in 181 2, I am the only French officer who
was present both at the siege of Genoa and at the battle of
Marengo.

After the battle I returned to Genoa, which the Austrians
were compelled, by the treaty made as a result of our victory,

to evacuate. I met again Colindo and Major R , visited

the grave of my father, and we embarked on board a French
brig, which brought us to Nice in twenty-four hours. A few
days later a Leghorn vessel brought Colindo's mother, who
came to look after her son. This excellent young man and I
had had our friendship cemented by the severe trials which we
had gone through together; but our destinies lay apart, and
with keen regret we had to separate.

As I mentioned above, Mass6na's aide-de-camp, Franceschi,
bearing despatches to the First Consul, had passed through
the English fleet at night and succeeded in reaching France.
He brought the news of my father's death. On receiving this
my mother had had administrators of his estate 1 appointed,
and they had sent orders to old Spire, who had remained at
Nice with my father's travelling outfit, to sell everything and
return at once to Paris. This having been done, I had nothing
to keep me on the banks of the Var, and was eager to rejoin
my mother — not an easy thing to do, for there were few public
conveyances then. The coach from Nice to Lyons went only
every other day, and all the places were taken weeks in
advance for the crowd of sick and wounded officers coming

1 [Probably the nearest English approach to conseil de tutelle. These,
however, would also have personal authority over the children.!

RETURN TO FRANCE 75

also from Genoa. To get out of this difficulty, Major R ,

two colonels, a dozen of other officers, and myself decided to
form a little caravan and walk to Grenoble, passing along the
lower spurs of the Alps, by Grasse, Sisteron, Digne, and Gap.
Our scanty luggage was carried by mules, so that we could do
eight or ten leagues a day. Bastide was with me, and I found
him a great help, for I was not used to going so far on foot,
and it was very hot. After eight days of a difficult march we
reached Grenoble, where we found carriages to take us on to
Lyons. It was with pain that I again beheld that town, where
my father and I had stayed in a happier time. I longed and
dreaded to see my mother and brothers. I felt as if they
would demand of me an account for husband and father; I
was returning alone, and had left him in his grave in a strange
land. My grief was very keen. I needed a friend who would
comprehend and share it ; and meanwhile the wild spirits of

Major R , revelling, after so much privation, in abundant

good cheer, cut me to the heart. I resolved, therefore, to set out
for Paris without him ; but, now that I needed him no longer,
he averred that his duty was to restore me to the arms of my
mother, and I was obliged to endure his company in the mail
coach as far as Paris.

I will not attempt to recount my meeting with my mother
and brothers. Some scenes can be realised by everyone who
has a heart, but are too sad to describe. Adolphe was not at
Paris, but at Rennes, with Bernadotte, then commanding the
Army of the West. My mother had a rather pretty house at
Carriere, near the forest of St. Germain. I passed two months
there with her, my uncle Canrobert, who had come back from
abroad, and an old Knight of Malta, M. d'Estresse, a former
friend of my father's ; my young brother and M. Gault came
now and then to visit us. In spite of the loving care and the
proofs of affection which all bestowed on me, I fell into a
gloomy state of melancholy, and my health gave way. Both
in mind and in body I had suffered much. I became incapable
of any work ; reading, of which I had always been fond, grew
intolerable to me. I spent a great part of the day alone in the
forest, lying in the shade and plunged in sad meditation. Of
an evening I would accompany my mother, my uncle, and the
old gentleman in their customary walk along the banks of the
Seine; but I joined little in the conversation, keeping my sad
thoughts to myself. I was ever thinking of my poor father
dying for want of proper care. My mother, my uncle, and M.
d'Estresse, though alarmed at my state, had sufficient tact not

j6 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

to take notice of it — a thing which only irritates a mind out of
health ; but they endeavoured gradually to remove the sad
recollections which were torturing me by getting the holidays
of my two younger brothers hastened forward. They joined
us in the country, and the presence of these two lads, of
whom I was very fond, allowed me to divert my mind from
my sorrow by the trouble which I took to make their stay
at Carriere pleasant. I took them to Versailles, to Maisons,
to Marly, and their childish satisfaction gradually revived my
heart after the crushing sorrow which it had undergone. Who
could then have foretold that these two handsome boys, so full
of life, would have shortly ceased to exist ?

CHAPTER XII.

The autumn of 1800 was drawing to an end. My mother
returned to Paris, my young brothers to school, and I received
orders to go to Rennes and join the commander-in-chief —
Bernadotte. He had been the closest friend of my father,
who had rendered him services of all kinds in various cir-
cumstances. To evince his gratitude, Bernadotte had written
to me that he had kept an aide-de-camp's place vacant for
me. I had found his letter at Nice on my return from
Genoa, and it had decided me to refuse the offer of Mass6na
to take me as regular aide-de-camp, with leave at the same
time to spend some months with my mother before rejoining
the Army of Italy. My father had insisted on my brother's
continuing the studies necessary for entry into the Ecole
Polytechnique, so that when we lost our father Adolphe was
not yet in the army. When, however, he heard the sad news,
he was unable to bear the thought that while his younger
brother was already an officer who had seen service he was
still on the form. He threw up his study for the scientific
corps, and preferred to enter the infantry at once, which
allowed him to leave the school. A good opportunity offered ;
the Government had just ordered the creation of a new
regiment, which was being raised in the department of the
Seine. The nomination of the officers was to be in the
hands of General Lefebvre, who, as you will remember, had
succeeded my father in the command of the Paris division.
Lefebvre eagerly seized the opportunity to be of service to
the son of one of his old comrades who had died in the
service of his country, so he appointed my brother a sub-
lieutenant in the new corps. So far it was all right, but,
instead of going to join his company, and without even
awaiting my return from Genoa, Adolphe hurried off to Rennes
to join Bernadotte, who, without further consideration, gave the
post to the brother who arrived first, as if it was a question of
a prize for a race. In this way, when I reached Rennes and
joined the staff of the Army of the West, I learnt that my

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78 MEMOIRS OP THE BARON DE MARBOT

brother had received the commission of regular aide-de-camp
to the chief, and that I was only a supernumerary, that is,
provisional aide-de-camp. I was much disappointed, for if I
had expected this I should have accepted Massena's proposal ;
but it was now too late. In vain did Bernadotte assure me
that he would obtain leave to increase the number of his aides-
de-camp. I had no hope of it, and I understood that before long
I should have to go elsewhere. I have never approved of two
brothers serving together on the same staff or in the same
regiment, because they always stand in each other's way. It
will be seen that this happened frequently in the course of our
career.

Bernadotte's staff was at that time composed of officers who
nearly all reached a high rank. Four of them were already
colonels, viz. : G6rard, Maison, Willatte, and Maurin, of whom
Gerard was undoubtedly the most remarkable. He had plenty
of talent and of courage, and a great instinct for war. At the
battle of Waterloo he was under the orders of Marshal Grouchy,
and gave him admirable advice, which might have assured us
the victory. Maison became a marshal, and afterwards
Minister of War, under the Bourbons. Willatte was a
general of division under the Restoration ; Maurin the same.
The other aides-de-camp of Bernadotte were Majors Chalopin,
killed at Austerlitz, and Mergey, who became major-general ;
Captain Maurin, brother of the colonel, became major-general,
also Sub-Lieutenant Willate. My brother Adolphe, who
became major-general, was the last of the regular aides-de-
camp ; finally, Maurin, brother of the other two, who became
colonel, and I were the supernumeraries. Thus of eleven
aides-de-camp attached to the staff of Bernadotte, two reached
the rank of marshal, three that of lieutenant-general, four
major-general, and one died on the field of battle.

In the winter of 1800 Portugal, supported by England,
declared war against Spain, and the French Government
resolved to take the side of the latter Power. Consequently
troops were sent to Bayonne and Bordeaux, and at Tours were
assembled the grenadier companies of numerous regiments
quartered about Brittany and Vendee. This select force, 7,000
to 8,000 men strong, was intended to form the reserve of the
so-called Army of Portugal, of which Bernadotte was to have
the command. He therefore had to move his head-quarters to
Tours, whither were sent his horses and his outfit, as also
those of the officers attached to his person. The general,
however, in order both to receive his last orders from the

ON BEENADOTTE'S STAFF 79

Consul and to take Madame Bernadotte back, had to go to
Paris. As in such cases it is usual during the absence of
the general for his staff officers to have leave to go and take
farewell of their families, it was decided that all the regular
aides-de-camp might go to Paris, and that the supernumeraries
should accompany the baggage to Tours in order to look after
the domestics and pay them every month, and to arrange with
the commissaries for the distribution of forage and the allotment
of quarters for this large number of men and horses. This
disagreeable duty therefore fell upon Lieutenant Maurin and
myself. On horseback and in the depth of winter and in
horrible weather, we did the eight long days of march which
separate Rennes from Tours ; and there we had all sorts of
trouble in installing the head-quarters. We were told that it
would remain there for a fortnight at most, but we remained
there six long months, horribly bored, our comrades the while
enjoying themselves in the capital. This was a foretaste of the
annoyances which the position of supernumerary aide-de-camp
caused me. Thus ended the year 1800, during which I had
undergone so much pain both of mind and body.

CHAPTER XIII.

At that time there was very good society at Tours, and much
amusement going on ; but although I received many invitations
I accepted none. The task of attending to the oversight of a
great number of men and horses fortunately kept me well
occupied ; otherwise the isolation in which I lived would have
been unendurable. The horses belonging to the commander-
in-chief and to the officers of his staff were more than eighty in
number, and all were at my disposal. I took two or three of
them every day and made long excursions in the neighbourhood
of Tours. These, solitary as they were, had a great charm for
me, and afforded me a tranquil distraction.

Meanwhile the First Consul had changed his arrangements
with regard to the Army of Portugal. He entrusted the
command of it to his brother-in-law, General Leclerc,1 and
retained Bernadotte with the Army of the West. Consequently
when my brother and the other aides-de-camp had rejoined the
staff at Tours they received orders almost directly to return to
Brittany and remove to Brest, whither the general was about
to proceed. It is a long journey, especially when one travels
by fixed marches ; but it was the fine time of year, we were
young, and there were plenty of us, so the way was merry
enough. Being unable to ride, owing to an injury which I had
accidentally received in the hip, I went in one of the general's
carriages. Him we found at Brest.

In the harbour of Brest were not only a great number of
French vessels, but also a Spanish fleet, commanded by
Admiral Gravina. He was killed afterwards at Trafalgar,
where the combined fleets of France and Spain fought that
of England under the celebrated Nelson, who also lost his life
in the engagement. At the time of our arrival at Brest, the
fleets were intended to take General Bernadotte and a strong
expeditionary force of French and Spaniards over to Ireland.
This plan was never carried out, but in the meantime the

1 [Married to Pauline Bonaparte. See below, p. 96.]

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OFF TO PORTUGAL 8 1

presence of so many officers, naval and military, kept the town
of Brest very lively. The commander-in-chief and many
generals and admirals kept open house, and the soldiers of
the two nations were on the most friendly terms ; so that I
made the acquaintance of several Spanish officers.

We were very well off at Brest, till the commander-in-
chief thought it wiser to retransferthe head-quarters to Rennes,
a dull town, but more central for his district. No sooner had
we got settled there than what I had foreseen happened.
The First Consul reduced the number of aides-de-camp
which the general might keep on his staff. He was to have
only one colonel and five officers of lower rank ; no more
provisional aides-de-camp. Accordingly I received notice
that I was to be attached to a light cavalry regiment. I
could have made up my mind to it well enough if it had been
to return to the ist Hussars, where I was known, and of which
I still wore the uniform ; but it was more than a year since I
had left the regiment, and the colonel had filled up my place.
The Minister sent me a commission in the 25th Mounted
Chasseurs, which had just entered Spain and was marching
on the Portuguese frontier, in the direction of Salamanca and
Zamora. I felt keenly the injury that Bernadotte had done
me in misleading me by false promises ; for otherwise I
should either have been a regular member of Massena's staff
in Italy, or have resumed my place in the ist Hussars.
Discontented as I was, I was bound to obey orders ; and my
first impulse of ill-humour past — they pass quickly at that
age — I was in a hurry to be on the road and get away from
the general against whom I had a grievance. My father had
often lent him money, especially when he was buying his
estate at Lagrange ; but, though he knew that his old friend's
son, hardly well of a recent injury, had to traverse a great
part of France and the whole of Spain, and buy new uniforms
into the bargain, he never offered to advance me a sou ; and,
short of money as I was, I would not have asked him to do
so for all the world. But, luckily for me, there was at
Rennes an old uncle of my mother's, M. de Verdal of Gruniac,
formerly paymaster in the Penthievre regiment of foot. It
was with him that my mother had lived during the first
years of the Revolution. This old gentleman, though some-
what eccentric, was very kind ; not only did he advance me
the money of which I stood in great need, but he gave me
some out of his own purse.

The chasseurs at that period wore the hussar-jacket,

6

82 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

except that it was green ; but none the less I was foolish
enough to shed a few tears when I had to abandon the
Bercheny uniform and give up the name of hussar for that
of chasseur. I took leave pretty coldly of Bernadotte. He
gave me letters of introduction to Lucien Bonaparte, then
ambassador at Madrid, and to General Leclerc, commanding
the Army of Portugal.

On the day of my departure all the aides-de-camp gave
me a breakfast, and I set out with a heavy heart. Two days'
journey brought me to Nantes, tired to death, with much
pain in my side, and convinced that I should never have
endurance enough to ride the 450 leagues which lay between
me and the frontier of Portugal. As good luck would have
it, at Nantes, in the house of one of my schoolfellows of
Soreze, I found a Spanish officer, by name Don Rafael, who
was going to the depdt of his regiment in Estremadura. We
arranged that I should show him the way as far as the
Pyrenees, and that from that point he should assume the
direction of the journey so far as our ways lay together.

We passed through La Vendee by coach. Every market-
town and village still bore the traces of burning, though two
years had passed since the end of the civil war. It was a
painful sight. We visited La Rochelle, Rochefort, and
Bordeaux. From the last place to Bayonne we travelled in
carriages with four places, which never went out of a walk
through the sandy Landes. We often got out, and, walking
merrily forward, would go and rest under some clump of
pines. As we sat in the shade Don Rafael would take his
guitar and sing. In this way we reached Bayonne in five or
six days.

Before crossing the Pyrenees I had to present myself
to the general commanding at Bayonne, whose name was
Ducos ; an excellent man, who had served under my father.
He took an interest in me, and was anxious that I should
delay entering Spain for a few days, as he had just learnt
that a band of brigands had been rifling some travellers not
far from the frontier. At all times, even before the War of
Independence, their adventurous and yet indolent character
has given the Spaniards a decided taste for brigandage, which
has been further encouraged by the division of the country
into several kingdoms, once independent states, and still
preserving their own laws, fashions, and frontiers. In some
of these ancient states there are customs-duties ; others, like
Biscay and Navarre, are exempt. The consequence is, that

TRAVELLING IN SPAIN 83

the inhabitants of the provinces which enjoy free trade are
always trying to smuggle forbidden wares into those whose
frontiers are guarded by lines of well-armed and brave pre-
ventive men. The smugglers, on their side, have from time
immemorial been quite ready to employ force where craft
does not succeed ; nor is their trade in arv way discreditable
in Spanish eyes, being considered a righteous warfare against
the abuse of customs-duties. To plan expeditions and carry
them out without concealment, to take military precautions,
to hide in the mountains, resting, smoking, sleeping — such is
the life of the smugglers. The large profits on a single
successful operation put them in a position to live at their
ease and do nothing for several months. When, however,
the custom-house people have beaten them in one of their
frequent fights, and captured their convoy of merchandise,
the smugglers, brought to bay, have no scruple about turning
highwaymen. They exercise their calling with much good
feeling, for they never murder travellers, and as a rule leave
them money enough to continue their journey. They had
just treated an English family in this fashion ; and General
Ducos, wishing to spare us the inconvenience of being
plundered, had intended to delay our departure. Don Rafael,
however, remarked that he knew the ways of Spanish brigands
well enough to be certain that the safest time to travel through
a given district was when the bands had just committed an
offence against the law, because at such times they get out of
the way for a while. So the general sanctioned our departure.
At the time of which I am speaking carriage-horses were
quite unknown in Spain, all carriages, even those of the king,
being drawn by mules. Coaches there were none, and for
postin g there were only saddle-horses, so that the very greatest
nobles who had their own carriages were compelled when they
travelled to hire mules and go by short day's journeys. Well-
to-do travellers hired carriages which did not do more than ten
leagues in the day ; the poorer people joined one of the caravans
of donkey-drivers who transported goods after the fashion of
our carriers ; but nobody travelled alone, partly by reason of
the highwaymen, but also for the low esteem in which this
mode of travelling was held. After our arrival at Bayonne,
Don Rafael, who now had the direction of our journey, told me
that, as we were neither sufficiently great people to hire a
carriage and a team of mules for ourselves, nor paupers enough
to go with the ass-drivers, the only alternative left was to ride
post or to take places in a hired carriage. Riding post, which J

84 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MAR BO T

have since often done, did not suit me, because it was impos
sible to take our baggage with us ; it was decided, then, that
we had to go by public carriage. Don Rafael made terms with
an individual who, in consideration of 800 francs apiece, under-
took to carry us to Salamanca, providing our board and lodging
at his own cost. I thought this very dear, for it was double
what a similar journey would have cost in France, and I had
just had to spend a good deal of money on the journey to
Bayonne ; but it was the regular price, and there was no other
way of getting to my new regiment, so I accepted the terms.

We started in an immense old coach, three places in which
were occupied by an inhabitant of Cadiz with his wife and
daughter. A prior of Benedictines from the University of
Salamanca made up the tale of passengers. Everything in
this journey was naturally new to me. To begin with, the
team astonished me much. It consisted of six splendid mules,
of which, to my great surprise, the wheelers alone had reins
and bridles. The other four went free, guided by the voice of
the driver and his zagal, or teamster. The former, perched in
lordly style on a huge box, gave his orders gravely to the zagal,
who, nimble as a squirrel, would often do more than a league on
foot, running beside the mules at full trot ; then in the twink-
ling of an eye he would climb on to the box beside his master,
only to get down and get up again, and that twenty times
during the journey. He would run round the carriage and the
team to make sure that nothing was out of place, and as he
performed this exercise he was continually singing to encourage
his mules, each of which he would call by her name ; he never
struck them, his voice being sufficient to stimulate any one
who was slackening her pace.

The performances, and especially the songs, of this man
were a great amusement to me. I took also much interest in
the conversation that went on in the carriage ; for though I
spoke no Spanish, what I knew of Latin and Italian made me
able to understand my companions, and I answered them in
French, which they understood fairly well. The five Spaniards
— even the two ladies and the monk — soon lighted up their
cigars. I regretted that I had not yet acquired the habit
of smoking. We were all in good humour ; Don Rafael, the
ladies, and even the stout Benedictine used to sing in chorus.
We generally started betimes, and used to stop from one to
three to dine, rest the mules, and let the heat of the day go by.
During this we slept, or, as the Spaniards call it, made our
siesta. Then we went on to our sleeping-place. The meals

TRAVELLING IN SPAIN 85

were plentiful enough, but the flavour of the Spanish cookery
seemed to me at first horrible ; however, I ended by getting
used to it, but I never could reconcile myself to the dreadful
beds which were offered to us in the posadas, or inns. They
were truly disgusting, as Don Rafael, who had just passed
a year in France, was compelled to admit. To avoid this
inconvenience, on the first day of entering Spain I asked to
sleep on a truss of straw. Unhappily, I learnt that a truss of
straw was a thing unknown in this country, since, instead of
threshing the sheaves, they are trampled out by mules, whereby
the straw is reduced to small pieces of hardly more than half a
finger's length. I had the brilliant idea of getting a great sack
filled with this chopped straw ; then, placing it in a barn, I
slept on it wrapped in my cloak, and thus escaped the vermin
with which the beds and the rooms were infested. In the
morning I emptied my sack and placed it in the carriage, and
in this fashion, by getting it filled at each sleeping-place, I had
a clean mattress. My invention was imitated by Don Rafael.

We traversed the mountainous provinces of Navarre,
Biscay, and Alava ; then we crossed the Ebro and entered
the vast plains of Castile. We saw Burgos and Valladolid,
and after fifteen days' journey reached Salamanca. There I
parted, not without regret, from my pleasant travelling-com-
panion Don Rafael, whom I was to meet again later on in the
same regions during the War of Independence. General
Leclerc was at Salamanca ; he received me most kindly, and
even proposed that I should stay with him as supernumerary
aide-de-camp; but my recent 'experience had shown me that,
although service on the staff offers more advantages in the way
of liberty than service with the regiment, this is only when one
holds the position of a regular aide-de-camp, otherwise all the
tiresome duties fall to your share, and you have only a very
uncertain position. I refused, therefore, the favour which the
commander-in-chief offered me, and asked leave to do duty with
my regiment. It was just as well that I acted in this way, for
in the following year the general, having got the command of
the expedition to San Domingo, took with him a lieutenant
who had accepted the place which I refused, and all the staff
officers, as well as the general, died of the yellow fever.

I found the 25th Chasseurs at Salamanca. The colonel, M.
Moreau, a very kind old officer, and my new comrades received
me well, and in a few days I was on the best terms with
them all. I was introduced to the society of the town ; for at
that time the position of a Frenchman in Spain was pleasant

86 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

enough, and quite unlike what it afterwards became. In fact,
in 1801 we were allies of the Spaniards; we came to fight on
their behalf against the Portuguese and English, and so they
treated us as friends. The French officers were lodged with
the most wealthy inhabitants ; there was quite a competition
to take us in ; we were received everywhere, and overwhelmed
with invitations. Admitted thus familiarly into the homes of
the Spaniards, we were able to form a much better idea of their
character in a short time than those officers could do in several
years who did not come to the Peninsula until the War of
Independence. I lodged with a professor of the University,
who put me in a very pleasant room looking out on the fine
square. My regimental duties were light, and left me plenty
of leisure, of which I availed myself to study the Spanish
language, which, to my thinking, is the most stately and the
finest in Europe. At Salamanca I met for the first time the
celebrated General Lasalle, then colonel of the 10th Hussars :
he sold me a horse.

The 15,000 French sent into the Peninsula, under General
Leclerc, formed the right wing of the Spanish grand army,
commanded by the Prince of the Peace, under whose orders
they therefore were. He came one day to review us. This
favourite of the Queen of Spain was at that time practically
king. He seemed to me very well satisfied with his personal
appearance, although he was small of stature and of no distinc-
tion ; still he lacked neither elegance nor ability. He ordered
our division forward, and my regiment went to Toro, and then
to ZamOra. At first I regretted Salamanca, but we were very
well off in the other towns, and especially at Zamora. There
I lodged with a rich merchant, whose house had a splendid
garden, where a numerous company used to meet in the
evening for music and conversation, amid shrubberies of
pomegranates, myrtles and lemon-trees. It is hard to appre-
ciate thoroughly the beauties of nature unless one knows these
delicious nights of Southern lands.

Nevertheless, we had to tear ourselves from this agreeable
life to go and attack the Portuguese. We invaded their
territory, and got the best of them in several trifling affairs.
The French division marched upon Viseu, while the Spanish
army descended the Tagus and entered the Alemtejo. We
counted on shortly entering Lisbon as conquerors ; but the
Prince of the Peace, who had without due consideration
summoned the troops into the Peninsula, became, with no
more consideration, alarmed at their presence, and in order to

THE HOMEWARD MARCH 87

get rid of them concluded the treaty of peace with Portugal
without the knowledge of the First Consul. He was clever
enough to get this ratified by the French ambassador Lucien
Bonaparte, which irritated the First Consul considerably, and
from that day dated the enmity of the two brothers. The
French troops remained some months longer in Portugal, till the
beginning of 1802. We then returned to Spain, and revisited
our pleasant garrisons of Zamora, Toro, and Salamanca, where
we had always been so well received. This time I traversed
Spain on horseback with my regiment, and had no longer to
dread the horrible beds of the posadas, since we were billeted
every night in the most well-to-do houses. This marching by
stages when one goes with a regiment, and in fine weather, is
not wanting in a certain charm : one is always changing the
scene without leaving one's companions ; one gets a detailed
view of the country ; one chats as one goes along ; at meals
whether good or bad, one has company ; and one is in a good
position for observing the ways of the inhabitants. Our chief
amusement of an evening was to see the Spaniards, aroused
from their languor, dance fandangos and boleros with perfect
grace and agility. The colonel often offered them the band,
but they preferred, with reason, their guitars, castanets, and
women's voices — an accompaniment which does not take away
the national character from their dance. These impromptu
open-air balls of the working-class in town and country alike
had such a charm for us, though only as spectators, that we
were sorry to leave them behind. After more than a month's
march we recrossed the Bidassoa ; and though my stay in
Spain had given me nothing but satisfaction, I was pleased to
see France again.

CHAPTER XIV.

At that time each regiment managed its own remounts, and
our colonel had been authorised to buy some sixty horses. He
hoped to pick them up by degrees in French Navarre, on the
way to Toulouse, where we were to be in garrison. But for
my sins we arrived at Bayonne on the very day of the local
fair. There were numbers of horse-dealers there, and the
colonel arranged with one of them to furnish at once the horses
required. They could not be paid for in ready money, because
the funds of which we had been advised by the Minister
would not arrive for eight days. Accordingly the colonel
ordered that an officer should remain at Bayonne to receive the
money and pay the dealer ; and this duty, which I did not
bless, fell to me. Later on it cost me a disagreeable adventure ;
but at the moment I thought only of losing the pleasure of my
comrades' society on the journey. Still, annoying as it was, I
had to obey orders. That I might have less trouble in
rejoining the regiment, the colonel decided that my horse
should go on with it, and that, my task accomplished, I
should take the coach for Toulouse. There were several of my
old schoolfellows at Bayonne, and with them I passed the time
pleasantly. The funds came ; I received them and paid, and,
my cares being at an end, prepared to rejoin my regiment.

I possessed a jacket made of nankeen, with trimmings of
the same, and silver buttons — a fancy uniform which I had
had made when I was on Bernadotte's staff, where it was the
fashion to dress in this way for travelling in hot weather.
This I determined to wear for the journey from Bayonne to
Toulouse, as I was not with the regiment. So I put my
uniform in my trunk and sent it to the coach, having engaged,
and unluckily paid for, my place. It was to start at five in the
morning, and I charged the waiter at my hotel to call me at
four, which the scamp faithfully promised to do. So I went to
sleep in perfect security ; but he forgot me, and when I opened
my eyes the sun was shining brightly into my room, and it was
past eight. What a nuisance ! I was petrified. However,

im

AN ADVENTURE ON THE ROAD 89

after storming a good deal, swearing a little, and invoking
curses on the head of the faithless waiter, I saw that I
must make up my mind to do something. The coach only
went every other day, which was inconvenient, to begin with ;
but it was not the worst ; for though, as I had remained behind
on duty, my fare had been found out of the regimental chest, I
could not claim this a second time. I had been foolish enough
to pay for the whole distance, so that if I booked afresh it would
have to be out of my own pocket. Coach-fares were very dear
then, and I had very little money. Moreover, what could I do
for two days at Bayonne, when all my things were gone ? So I
settled to walk the distance. Starting straightway from the
town, I trudged resolutely along the Toulouse road. I was
lightly clad, and had nothing to carry but my sword, which I
carried on my shoulder ; so I did the first stage nimbly enough,
and slept at Peyrehorade.

On the morrow — a day of ill-omen — I was to reach Orthez.
I had already done half the distance when one of those fearful
storms which one only sees in the South came on. Rain and
hail fell in torrents and lashed my face. The high-road, never
good, became a quagmire through which I had all conceivable
difficulty in walking with spurs on my boots. A walnut-tree
was struck by lightning close to me ; but no matter, I went
steadily on with the resolution of a Stoic. But behold, in the
midst of the lightning and the tempest, I saw two mounted
gendarmes approaching. You may imagine the figure I cut,
after two hours' wading through the mud, with my nankeen
pantaloons and jacket. The gendarmes belonged to the force
at Peyrehorade, and were returning thither ; but they seemed
to have been breakfasting well at Orthez, for they struck me as
being fairly drunk. The elder asked for my papers. I handed
him my passport whereon I was described as sub-lieutenant in
the 25th Mounted Chasseurs. ' You a sub-lieutenant ! ' cried
the gendarme. ' You are too young to be an officer.' ■ But
read the personal description, and you will see it says that
I am under twenty ; besides, it is correct at all points.' ' That
may be, but you have forged it, and the proof is that the
uniform of the Chasseurs is green, and you have got a yellow
jacket. You are a runaway conscript, and I arrest you.'
1 Very good ; but when we get to Orthez I shall have no
difficulty in proving to your lieutenant that I am an officer and
this passport was made out for me.' My arrest did not
trouble me much until the elder gendarme declared that he
had no intention of returning to Orthez, that his quarters were

90 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

at Peyrehorade, and that I was going thither with him. I
declared I was not going to do any such thing ; that if I had
had no papers he would have a right to require it, but that
as I had produced a passport he had no business to make me
go back, and that according to the regulations he ought to go
with me to Orthez. The younger man, who was also less in
liquor, said that I was right ; whereupon a lively altercation
arose between the two horsemen. They insulted each other
freely, and presently, in the midst of the tremendous storm
which was going on all the time, they drew their swords and
fell on madly. As for me, being afraid that I might get
wounded in this ridiculous combat, I got down into the
immense ditch by the roadside, waded through up to my
waist in water, and clambered up into the neighbouring field,
whence I had a good view of my lively friends foining away
to the best of their power. Luckily their cloaks, heavy with
wet, hampered their arms, and their horses, frightened by
the thunder, would not come near each other, so the com-
batants were only able to aim unsteady blows. At last the
elder gendarme's horse fell, and the rider rolled into the ditch.
Emerging, covered with mud, he found that his saddle was
broken, and that he had no choice but to continue his journey
on foot, which he did, announcing to his comrade that he
must be responsible for the prisoner. Left alone with the
more reasonable of the gendarmes, I pointed out to him that
if I had had a guilty conscience it would have been easy for me
to escape across country, since I had between him and me a
broad ditch full of water which his horse would certainly not be
able to cross, but that, as he admitted that he had no right tc
make me retrace my steps, I was going to recross and come tc
him. So I resumed my journey escorted by the gendarme,
who was quite sobered. We fell into conversation, and the
man, understanding from the way in which I had surrendered
when I might have easily escaped that I probably was what I
said, would have let me go but for his responsibility to his
comrade. Finally he became ready to do anything for me,
and said that he would not take me to Orthez, but would be
satisfied with consulting the mayor of Puyoo as we passed
through that place. I entered it as a malefactor ; the inhabitants,
all driven home by the storm, stood at windows and doors to
see the criminal brought in by a gendarme. The mayor, a
good, stout, sensible peasant, whom we found in his barn
threshing his wheat, looked through my passport, and said at
once to the gendarme, ' Set this young man at liberty at once.

ARRIVAL AT TOULOUSE gi

You had no right to arrest him, for an officer on a journey is
identified by his papers not by his clothes.' Could Solomon
have given a better judgment ? Nor did the good peasant stop
at that. He begged me to stay with him till the storm was
over, and offered me refreshments. As we chatted he said that
he had once seen a General Marbot at Orthez. I said it was
my father, and described him. Thereat the good fellow, whose
name was Bordenave, with redoubled civility, insisted on
drying my clothes, and wanted me to stay the night. I
declined with thanks, and resumed my way to Orthez, where I
arrived at nightfall, tired out and with aching limbs.

Next morning I had hard work to get my boots on, so wet
were they and so swollen my feet. Still, I dragged myself as
far as Pau, and there, being quite done up, I had to halt for
the rest of the day. I found no means of conveyance other
than the mail ; the places were dear, but I took one to
Gimont. There I was received with open arms by M. Dorignac,
the friend of my father, in whose house I had passed some
months after leaving Soreze. I rested some days with him
and his family; then the coach bore me to Toulouse. My
expenses had come to four times the cost of the place which the
waiter's carelessness had lost me.

On reaching Toulouse I was going to set about finding a
lodging, but the colonel told me that he had taken me a room
in the house of an old doctor, a friend of his, named M.
Merlhes. I shall never forget his name, for no one could have
been kinder than were this venerable man and his numerous
family. During the fortnight that I stayed with them I was
treated rather as a child of the house than as a lodger.

The regiment was strong and well mounted ; we exercised
very often, and I took much interest in it, though I got
occasional punishments over it from Major Blancheville. He
was an excellent officer of long standing in the service, and
from him I learnt to do my duty with precision, and in this
respect I owe much to him. Before the Revolution he had
been adjutant in the Luneville gendarmes, and had a thorough
knowledge of his profession. He took a great interest in such
young officers as were capable of learning and forced them,
whether they would or not, to study their business. As for
the others — the blockheads as he called them — he was contented
to shrug his shoulders when they did not know their theory or
blundered in their drill ; but he never punished them for
that. There were three of us sub-lieutenants whom he had
distinguished; these were MM. Gavoille, Demonts, and myself.

g2 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

With us he never overlooked an inaccurate word of command,
and would put us under arrest for the smallest faults. As he
was very good-natured off duty, we ventured to ask him why he
reserved his severity for us. He replied, Y Do you think I am

such a fool as to waste my time in soaping a negro ? MM.

and are too old, and have not sufficient abilities for me to

waste my time in completing their education. As for you, you
have got all the necessary materials for success ; you only
want to work, and work you shall.' I never forgot this
answer, which I turned to account when I was colonel. Old
Blancheville undoubtedly had drawn the horoscope of the
three sub-lieutenants correctly, for Gavoille became lieutenant-
colonel, Demonts general of brigade, and I lieutenant-general.

When I came to Toulouse I exchanged the horse which I
had bought in Spain for a beautiful Navarrese. The prefect
having got up some races on the occasion of some festivity or
other, Gavoille, who was devoted to races, had entered my
horse. One day, when I was practising him on the training-
ground, the circle being small, he got puzzled with the sharpness
of the curve, and, galloping straight forward with ths speed of
an arrow, he ran his chest against the sharp angle of a garden
wall, and fell stone-dead. My comrades thought I was killed,
. or at least severely wounded ; but by a perfectly miraculous
piece of luck, I had not the smallest scratch. When they
picked me up, and I saw my poor horse lying motionless, I
felt deep grief. I returned, very melancholy, to my quarters,
seeing that I should be forced to remount myself, and for
that purpose to ask my mother, who was by no means in
affluence, for some more money. Count Defermon, a minister
of state, and one of our trustees, had opposed the sale of
our remaining property, because, foreseeing that when peace
came land would increase in value, he thought, with reason,
that we ought to hold on to it and gradually reduce our debts
by strict economy. It was one of the greatest obligations that
we owed to M. Defermon, who was one of my father's sincerest
friends, and I have always retained a great reverence for his
memory.

When my request for a new horse was brought before the
trustees, General Bernadotte, who was one of them, burst out
laughing, saying that it was an excellent trick, and the pretext
very well chosen — in fact, giving them to understand that my
request was what is nowadays called a ■ plant.' But, luckily,
my request was backed up by a certificate from my colonel, and
M. Defermon added that he believed me incapable of trying to

KEEPING UP APPEARANCES

93

get money by a trick. He was quite right ; for though I
only had an allowance of 600 francs, while my pay was only
ninety-five francs a month, with twelve francs in addition
for lodging, I never was a sou in debt — I always had a dread
of it.

I bought a new horse — not as good as the Navarrese, but the
general inspection, which the First Consul had re-established,
was drawing near, and I was obliged to be mounted without
delay ; all the more that we were going to be inspected by the
celebrated General Bourcier, who had a great reputation for
severity. I was told off to go and receive him with a detach-
ment of thirty men. He met me very kindly and spoke of my
father, whom he had known well, which did not prevent him
from putting me under arrest the next day. You shall hear the
reason ; it is a good story.

One of our captains, named B , a fine young fellow,

would have been one of the handsomest men in the army if
his calves had been in keeping with the rest of his person ;
but he had legs like stilts, which had a very bad effect with
the tight — so-called Hungarian — pantaloons worn at that
time by the chasseurs. In order to meet this inconvenience,

Captain B had had some good-sized pads made in the

shape of calves, which made his handsome figure complete.
You shall see how these false calves cost me an arrest, though
they were not the sole cause of it. It was prescribed by the
regulations that the officers should have their horses' tails
long, like those of the troopers. Our colonel, M. Moreau,
was always admirably mounted, but all his horses had their
tails docked, and, as he feared that General Bourcier, who was
very strict in maintaining the regulations, would reprimand
him for setting a bad example to his officers, he had caused,
for the purpose of the inspection, false tails to be attached
to all his horses. These were so marvellously well fitted
that unless you knew you would have thought them natural.
We went to the inspection, to which General Bourcier had
invited General Suchet, inspector of infantry, as well as
General Gudin, commanding the territorial division. They
were accompanied by a numerous and brilliant staff; the business
took a long time, the movements were nearly all carried
out at a gallop, and ended with several charges at full
speed. I was commanding a section in the centre, forming

part of the squadron under M. B , near whom the colonel

placed himself. They were, therefore, two paces in front of
me, when the generals came forward to congratulate M.

94 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

Moreau on the admirable style in which the manoeuvres
were carried out. But what did I see ? The extreme
rapidity of the movements which we had just made had
deranged the symmetry of the additions which the captain
and the colonel had made to their get-up. The false tail of
the colonel's horse had become partly detached ; the stump,
composed of a plug of tow, was dragging almost on the
ground, like a skein, while the false hair was up in the air,
several feet higher, and spread out fan-shaped over the horse's
croup, so that he seemed to have an enormous peacock's tail.

As for M. B 's sham calves, under the pressure of the

saddle flaps they had slipped forward without his perceiving
it, and presented a round lump on his shin bones, which
produced a most comical effect; the captain all the while
sitting proudly upright on his horse, as who should say,
1 Look at me ! What a handsome man I am ! ' At twenty
years old one has not much gravity ; mine was overcome
by the grotesque spectacle which I had under my eyes, and, in
spite of the imposing presence of three generals, I could not
restrain myself from shouting wildly with laughter. I writhed
on my saddle, I gnawed the sleeve of my jacket : it was no
use ; I laughed and laughed until my sides ached. Thereupon
the inspector-general, not knowing the cause of my merriment,
ordered me to fall out of the ranks and put myself under arrest.
I obeyed, but, as I was obliged to pass between the horses of
the colonel and of the captain, my eyes fell again, in spite of
myself, on that infernal tail and also on the new-fashioned
calves, and there I was again seized with an inextinguishable
laugh which nothing could check. The generals must have
thought that I was gone mad ; but as soon as they had
departed, the officers of the regiment, coming up to the

colonel and Captain B , soon knew what was the matter,

and laughed like me — but at least with less danger to them-
selves.

That evening Major Blancheville was at a party at Mme.
Gudin's. General Bourcier, who happened to be there, having
spoken of what he called my freak, M. Blancheville explained
the cause of my irresistible fit of laughter. The generals, the
ladies, and all the staff laughed till they cried at the story, and
their gaiety redoubled at the entry of the handsome Captain

B , who, having replaced his false calves in the right

position, came to show himself off in this brilliant company,
without suspecting that he was one of the causes of its merri-
ment. General Bourcier realised that if he had not been able to

AGAIN AT LIBERTY 95

refrain from bursting with laughter at the mere description of
the picture which I had had under my eyes, it was natural that
a young sub-lieutenant should have been unable to contain
himself when he was the witness of so ridiculous a spectacle.
He remitted my arrest, and sent to fetch me at once. As soon
as I entered the room the inspector-general and all the assembly
went off in an immense shout of laughter, in which my recol-
lection of the morning made me take a full share ; and the

mirth became crazy when M. B , the only person who did

not know the cause of it, was seen to go from one to the other,
asking what it was all about, while everybody was looking at
his calves.

CHAPTER XV.

But let us come to more serious matters. The treaty of
Luneville had been followed by the Peace of Amiens, which
closed the war between France and England. The First Con-
sul resolved to profit by the tranquillity of Europe and the
recovered freedom of the seas to send a numerous force to San
Domingo with a view of freeing the island from the control of
the blacks and their leader, Toussaint-Louverture.

Toussaint, without being in overt rebellion against the
mother-country, had assumed great airs of independence. The
expedition was to be commanded by General Leclerc, who was
not without capacity, and had done well in Italy and in Egypt.
His chief eminence, however, arose from his having married
Pauline Bonaparte, sister of the First Consul. He was the
son of a miller of Pontoise, if the name of miller may be
applied to the rich owner of enormous mills, doing a very large'
trade. This miller had given a first-rate education to his son
as well as to his daughter, who became the wife of General
Davout.

While General Leclerc was getting ready for his departure,
the forces destined for the expedition were assembled by the
First Consul in Brittany, and, as was customary, these troops
up till the day of their embarkation found themselves under
the command of Bernadotte, commander-in-chief of the Army
of the West. Now, as is well known, there was always a
strong rivalry between the Armies of the Rhine and of Italy ;
the former were much attached to General Moreau, and had no
love for General Bonaparte, whose rise to the head of the
Government they had seen with regret. On his side the First
Consul had a great preference for the soldiers who had fought
with him in Italy and Egypt ; and though his antagonism to
Moreau was not as yet fully declared, he understood that it was
to his interest to get the troops who were devoted to Moreau
as far out of the way as possible. Accordingly the regiments
intended for the expedition to San Domingo were nearly all
selected from the Army of the Rhine. Thus separated from

(96)

THE CONSPIRACY OF RENNES 97

Moreau, they were very well satisfied to find themselves in
Brittany under the command of Bernadotte, Moreau's old
lieutenant, who had seen nearly all his service with them on
the Rhine. The expedition was to consist of about 40,000
men ; in the Army of the West proper there were an
equal number. Thus Bernadotte, whose command extended
over all the departments from the mouth of the Gironde to that
of the Seine, was for the moment at the head of an army of
80,000 men, the majority of whom were much more attached
to him than to the head of the Consular Government.

If Bernadotte had been a man of a stronger character the
First Consul would have found reason to repent of having
given him so important a command ; for, as I can now state,
without injuring anyone, and simply as an historical fact,
Bernadotte conspired against the Government of which
Bonaparte was the head. In regard to this conspiracy I
will give some details, all the more interesting for never
having been publicly known, perhaps not known even by
Bonaparte himself.

Generals Bernadotte and Moreau, jealous of the First
Consul's rise, and dissatisfied with the small share which he
gave them in public affairs, had resolved to overthrow him
arid place themselves at the head of the Government, taking
as assessor someone used to civil administration, or some clear-
headed lawyer. To accomplish this end, Bernadotte, who, I
must say, had a knack peculiar to himself of winning the
affection of officers and soldiers, visited the provinces through-
out his district, reviewing bodies of troops and employing
every means to attach them more firmly to himself. Towards
the subalterns he employed every kind of cajolery, money
bribes, promises of promotion, while in private conversation
with the chiefs he ran down the First Consul and his Govern-
ment. After having brought the great number of the regi-
ments to disaffection, it became easy to drive them to revolt,
those especially who were destined to the expedition to San
Domingo and looked upon this service as a form of transpor-
tation.

Bernadotte's chief of the staff was a general of brigade
named Simon — a man of ability but of weak character. Being
enabled by his position to be in daily correspondence with the
heads of regiments, he abused his opportunity to make his
office the centre of the conspiracy. A major named Fourcart
— whom you remember as a poor old sub-librarian with the
Duke of Orleans, a place which I got him out of pity for his

7

g8 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

thirty years of misery — was then working under General
Simon, and became his principal agent. Going from garrison
to garrison under the guise of performing his duties, he organ-
ised a secret league, which was joined by nearly all the colonels
and a great number of superior officers. Their opposition to
the First Consul was stimulated by accusations that he was
aspiring to the crown — an idea which would appear not to have
come into his head as yet. It was arranged that the garrison
of Rennes, consisting of several regiments, should start the
movement, which would then spread like a train of powder
through all the divisions of the army. As it was necessary
that in this garrison some one regiment should be the first to
declare and carry the others with it, the 82nd of the line was
summoned to Rennes. Colonel Pinoteau, its commander, an
able man, active and brave, but excitable under a phlegmatic
exterior, was a creature of Bernadotte's and one of the most
eager leaders of the conspiracy. He undertook to arrange that
his regiment, in which he was very popular, should be the first
to declare.

All was ready for the explosion when Bernadotte's resolu-
tion failed. He wished, like a true Gascon, to get his chestnuts
out of the fire with a cat's paw. So he persuaded General
Simon and the principal conspirators that it was indispensable
for him, in order that he might be in a position to seize the
reins of government on the spot, after conferring with Moreau
and concerting plans on this important subject, to be in Paris
at the moment when the deposition of the Consuls was pro-
claimed by the Army of Brittany. As a matter of fact Berna-
dotte wished, while reserving the power of profiting in the
event of success, to avoid being compromised if the thing was a
failure ; and General Simon, no less than the other conspirators,
was short-sighted enough not to see through the scheme. The
day for the rising was therefore agreed upon, and he who had
planned it and ought to have taken the lead was clever enough
to get out of the way.

Before Bernadotte's departure for Paris, a proclamation
was drawn up, addressed to the people as well as to the
army ; many thousands of copies, got ready beforehand, were
to be posted up on the eventful day. A bookseller of Rennes,
to whom the secret of the conspirators had been imparted by
General Simon and by Fourcart, undertook to print this pro-
clamation himself. This was well to secure the prompt
publication of it in Brittany. Bernadotte, however, desired
to have a large number of copies of it in Paris, as it was

THE CONS PI R A C Y RE VEA LED 99

important to publish it in the capital and throughout the
provinces the moment that the Army of the West had raised
the standard of revolt. There was, however, some danger in
applying to a Paris printer ; so Bernadotte, in order to have
a number of the proclamations at hand without compromising
himself, adopted the following course. He told my brother
Adolphe (for whom he had just got a commission as lieutenant
in the Legion of the Loire2) that he had his authority to
accompany him to the capital, ana that, as their stay there
would be long, he advised him to bring his horse and dog-
cart. My brother was delighted. He filled the ' boot ' of his
vehicle with luggage of all kinds, and entrusted the transport
of it to his servant, who was to come by short stages, while
Adolphe went off in the coach. As soon as my brother had
started, General Simon and Major Fourcart stopped the
servant on some pretence or other, opened the boot of the
dog-cart, and took out the luggage, replacing it with parcels
of the proclamation; then, having shut everything up again,
they sent poor Joseph on his way, not dreaming what sort of
luggage he was conveying.

Meanwhile the First Consul's police, which was just be-
ginning to be well organised, had got wind of some plot
going forward in the Army of Brittany, though they knew
neither its objects nor the movers in it. The Minister of
Police thought it his duty to warn the Prefect of Rennes,
M. Mounier, who had been a famous orator in the Constituent
Assembly. By an extraordinary chance the prefect received
the despatch the very day the conspiracy was to break out at
Rennes during parade. It was fixed for noon, and the time
was now half-past eleven. M. Mounier, to whom the Minister
had not been able to give any precise information, thought
that in order to obtain it he could not do better in the
absence of the commander-in-chief than to apply to the staff.
He sent word, therefore, to General Simon, begging him to
come to his house, and showed him the Minister's despatch.
General Simon, believing that everything was discovered, lost
his head like any child, and told the prefect that in fact there
did exist a widespread conspiracy in the army, that unhappily
he had taken part in it, but that he now regretted it. Then,
if you please, he unfolds the whole plan of the conspirators,
names their leaders, and adds that in a few moments the
troops assembled on the drill-ground are at a signal given by

1 [Possibly a regiment of the National Guard.]

IOO MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

Colonel Pinoteau about to proclaim the overthrow of the
Consular Government. Imagine the astonishment of M.
Mounier ! His position was by no means an easy one in
presence of the guilty general, who, though he had been at
the first moment bewildered, might come back to his senses
and recollect that he had 80,000 men under his orders, of
whom 8,000 or 10,000 were at that moment massed not far
from the prefecture. The position of M. Mounier was most
critical. He got out of it cleverly.

General Virion, of the gendarmerie, had been charged by
the Government with the formation at Rennes of a body of
infantry gendarmes, towards which every regiment of the
army had contributed some grenadiers. These soldiers,
having no common bond of union, were consequently outside
the influence of the colonels of the line, and recognised only
the orders of their new chiefs, the officers of gendarmerie,
who were themselves, according to the regulations, under the
orders of the prefect. M. Mounier, therefore, sent instructions
at once to General Virion, bidding him bring up all the
gendarmes. Meanwhile, fearing lest General Simon should
change his mind and should get away and put himself at the
head of the troops, he coaxed him over with fair words, assuring
him that his repentance and his confession would extenuate
his fault in the eyes of the First Consul, and bade him sur-
render his sword and repair to the Tour Labat, escorted by
the gendarmes, who at that moment arrived in the court.
There, then, was the chief mover of the revolt in prison. While
this was taking place at the prefecture, the troops of the line,
massed on the drill-ground, were awaiting the hour of parade,
which was also to be that of revolt. All the colonels were in
the secret a id had promised their assistance, except M. Godard
of the 79th, and they hoped to see him follow the movement.

On what small things do the destinies of empires turn !
Colonel Pinoteau, a thoroughly determined man, was to give
the signal, and his regiment, the 82nd, already drawn up in
line, was impatiently awaiting it ; but Pinoteau, in combina-
tion with Fourcart, had been busy all the morning arranging
for sending out the proclamations, and while thus preoccupied
he had forgotten to shave himself. Noon struck. Colonel
Pinoteau, on the point of starting for parade, perceived that
his beard was not shaved, and hastened to do it ; but while
he was proceeding to this operation, General Virion, accom-
panied by a large number of gendarmerie officers, entered the
room hurriedly, seized his sword, and, informing him that he

COLLAPSE OF THE CONSPIRACY 10 1

was a prisoner, had him taken off to the tower where General
Simon already was. A few minutes' delay and Colonel Pinoteau
would have found himself at the head of 10,000 men,
would certainly not have let himself be intimidated by
the capture of General Simon, and would have accomplished
his plan of revolt against the Consular Government ; but he
was surprised by General Virion, and what could he do ? He
had perforce to yield.

After making this second arrest General Virion and the
prefect despatched an aide-de-camp to the drill-ground, with
orders to tell Colonel Godard of the 79th that they had a
message from the First Consul to communicate to him at
once. As soon as he joined them they told him of the
discovery of the conspiracy, and of the arrests of General
Simon and Colonel Pinoteau, and bade him unite with them
to suppress the rebellion. Colonel Godard undertook the duty,
returned to the drill-ground without letting anyone know what
had just been imparted to him, gave his regiment the order to
march on their right flank, and brought them to the Tour
Labat, where he joined the gendarme battalions who were
guarding it. There he found also General Virion and the
prefect, who were causing cartridges to be distributed to the
loyal troops, and they awaited the upshot of events.

Meanwhile, the officers of the regiments who were stationed
on the drill-ground, astonished at the sudden departure of the
79th, and not able to conceive what was delaying Colonel
Pinoteau, sent to his quarters, and learnt that he had just been
taken to the tower. They were at the same time informed of
the arrest of General Simon. The sensation was great. The
officers of the various regiments held a consultation ; Major
Fourcart proposed to march at once and release the two
prisoners, and afterwards to carry out the movement agreed
on. The proposal was received with acclamation, especially
by the 82nd, who adored Pinoteau. They hastened to the
Tour Labat, but found it surrounded by 4,000 gendarmes and
the battalions of the 79th. The assailants were no doubt more
in number, but they had no cartridges, and even if they had
had any, it would have been distasteful to many of them to
fire on their comrades for the sake of merely bringing about a
change of persons in the established Government. General
Virion and the prefect harangued them, bidding them return
to their duty. The soldiers wavered, and the leaders, seeing
this, did not venture to give the signal for an attack with the
bayonet, the only available means of action. The regiments

102 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DR MARB07

fell out gradually and retired to their barracks. Major Four-
cart remained alone, and was taken to the tower ; the poor
printer also.

On learning that the insurrection at Rennes had been
abortive, all the officers in the other regiments of the Army
of Italy disavowed it ; but the First Consul was not taken in
by their protestations. He hurried on their embarkation for
San Domingo, where nearly all came to their end either in
battle or through the yellow fever.

Immediately on hearing General Simon's confession,
although victory was not yet secure, M. Mounier had sent
off an express messenger to the Government, and the First
Consul debated whether he should have Bernadotte and Moreau
arrested. He postponed this step for want of evidence, but in
order to get it he gave orders that all travellers coming from
Italy should be searched. While this was going on, the
worthy Joseph arrived tranquilly at Versailles in my brother's
dog-cart, and great was his surprise when he found himself
collared by the gendarmes, and in spite of his protestations
taken off to the Ministry of Police. You may suppose that on
learning that the carriage which this man had brought belonged
to one of Bernadotte's aides-de-camp, Fouche very soon had
the boot opened. He found it full of proclamations, in which
Bernadotte and Moreau, after speaking of the First Consul in
very strong terms, announced his fall and their own accession
to power. Bonaparte was furious, and sent for the two gen-
erals. Moreau said that he had no authority over the Army of
the West, and declined all responsibility for the conduct of the
regiments composing it. This objection, it must be admitted,
had some force ; but it made Bernadotte's position all the
worse, since he, as commander-in-chief over all the troops
in Brittany, was responsible for the maintenance of good
order among them. Nevertheless, not only had his army
conspired, but his chief of the staff wa^ the manager
of the undertaking, the rebel proclamations were signed
1 Bernadotte,' and more than a thousand copies had just
been seized in the carriage of his aide-de-camp. The
First Consul thought that such clear evidence would crush
and overwhelm Bernadotte, but he had to do with a
trebly-dyed Gascon as cunning as any three. Bernadotte pro-
fessed surprise and indignation ; « he knew nothing of it,
absolutely nothing. General Simon was a scoundrel, and
Pinoteau another. He defied anyone to show him the
original of the proclamation signed in his own hand. Was

MISFORTUNES NEVER COME SINGLE 103

it any fault of his if some crazy fools had had his name
printed beneath a proclamation ? He disavowed it and the
guilty authors of all these proceedings from the bottom of his
soul, and yielded to no one in demanding their punishment.'

In point of fact Bernadotte had been clever enough to let
General Simon conduct the whole business without putting
into his hands a single word of writing which might com-
promise himself; thus reserving to himself the power of deny-
ing everything in the event of the conspiracy failing and
General Simon accusing him of having had a share in it. The
First Consul, though convinced of Bernadotte's guilt, had only
half-proofs, and upon these his council of Ministers judged
that it was impossible to base an indictment against a com-
mander-in-chief whose name was very popular in the country
and in the army. In the case of my brother Adolphe they were
less particular. One fine night he was arrested in my mother's
house, at a moment when she was already overwhelmed with
grief. Her eldest brother, M. de Canrobert, who had been
living quietly with her, had been imprisoned in the Temple
upon a charge brought by some police agents of having been
present at meetings held with a view of re-establishing the old
Government. My mother was busied in taking all possible
steps to prove his innocence when another and more terrible
disaster befell her.

My two young brothers were being educated at the
Prytanee Frangais. This establishment owned a large park
and a country house at the village of Vanves, not far from the
bank of the Seine, and during the summer the pupils used to
go there for a few days' holiday. Those who had behaved well
were allowed to bathe in the river. Now it happened that one
week, on account of some schoolboy misdemeanour, the prin-
cipal issued a general prohibition of bathing. My brother
Theodore was passionately fond of this sport, so he and some
others of his schoolfellows decided to enjoy it without the
knowledge of their tutors. Accordingly, while the pupils were
playing about the park, they climbed the wall at an out-of-the-
way spot, and ran off towards the Seine. The day was very
hot, and they were streaming with perspiration when they leapt
into the stream. Hardly were they in the water when they
heard the drum beat for dinner. Fearing that their absence
from the dining-room would reveal their escapade, they
dressed in all haste, ran back, climbed the wall again, and
arrived panting just as dinner was beginning. In these circum-
stances they would have done well to eat little or nothing ; but

104 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

schoolboys do not think of such things. They made a hearty
meal as usual, and were all taken seriously ill — Theodore
worst of all. He was seized with violent inflammation, and
carried to his mother's house in a hopeless state, and it was
while she was going from the bedside of her dying son to the
prison of her brother that they arrested her eldest son. As a
final stroke of disaster, poor Theodore died. He was eighteen
years old, an excellent lad, his disposition as gentle as his
frame was fine. I was deeply grieved to hear of his death, for
I loved him dearly. The disasters which fell in succession on
my mother led those who had been my father's truest friends to
take all the more interest in her. First among these was the
kind M. Defermon, who was working almost every day with
the First Consul, and never lost an opportunity of interceding
for Adolphe, and more especially for his mother in her trouble.
Finally, Bonaparte replied one day that though he had no very
high opinion of Bernadotte's good sense he did not believe him
to be so devoid of judgment as to take a lieutenant twenty-one
years old into his confidence when conspiring against the
Government. Moreover, General Simon had declared that it
was he and Major Fourcart who had put the proclamations into
the boot of young Marbot's dog-cart. Consequently, if he were
to blame he could not be very seriously so, but that he himself
did not intend to release Bernadotte's aide-de-camp until Berna-
dotte came in person to request it.

On learning Bonaparte's resolve my mother hastened to
Bernadotte to entreat him to comply with this condition. He
promised faithfully to do so, but days and weeks went by and
he did nothing. Finally, he said to my mother, ■ It will cost
me a great deal to do what you ask, but no matter; I owe
thus much to the memory of your husband, and to the
interest which I feel towards your children. I will go this
very evening to the First Consul, and call upon you when
I leave the Tuileries. I feel certain that I shall at last be
able to announce to you the release of your son.' It may be
imagined with what impatience my mother waited during this
long day, her heart beating at the sound of every carriage. At
last eleven o'clock struck. No Bernadotte appeared. My
mother went to his house and learned that Bernadotte and his
wife had just started for Plombieres, and were not expected
back for two months. For all his promise, Bernadotte had
left Paris without seeing the First Consul ! My mother, in
her despair, wrote to General Bonaparte. M. Defermon under-
took to deliver the letter ; and in his indignation at Berna-

'BERNADOTTR ALL OVER/' I05

dotte's conduct he could not refrain from recounting his
behaviour towards us. Bonaparte exclaimed, ' Bernadotte all
over ! '

M. Defermon and Generals Montier, Lefebvre, and Murat
pressed strongly for my brother's release, pointing out that if
he had known nothing of the conspiracy it was unjust to keep
him in prison, while if he had had any knowledge of it he could
not be required to inform against Bernadotte, whose aide-de-
camp he was. The First Consul was struck by these arguments,
restored my brother's liberty, and sent him to join the 49th
Regiment at Cherbourg, not choosing that he should be
Bernadotte's aide-de-camp any longer ; but probably, with the
mnemonic system peculiar to himself, he entered in his head
the words, * Marbot, aide-de-camp to Bernadotte — Rennes
conspiracy.' Anyhow, my brother never got back into favour
with him, and some time later he was sent to Pondicherry.

Adolphe had passed a month in prison : Major Fourcart
remained there a year, was cashiered, and ordered to leave
France. He took refuge in Holland, where he lived for thirty
years in a state of penury, reduced to giving lessons in
French. Ultimately, in 1832, he thought of returning to his
country, and one day during the siege of Antwerp, I saw a
kind of threadbare old schoolmaster enter my room, whom I
recognised as Fourcart. He confessed that he had not a six-
pence. While offering to help him I could not refrain from
philosophic reflections on the strange ways of fortune. There
was a man who in 1802 was already a major, and whom his
courage, combined with his ability, would certainly have
advanced to the rank of general if it had not occurred to
Colonel Pinoteau to shave himself at the moment when the
conspiracy of Rennes was on the point of breaking out ! I
brought Fourcart to Marshal Gerard, who also remembered
him ; we introduced him to the Duke of Orleans, who was
good enough to give him a post in his library, with a salary
of 2,400 francs. He lived fifteen years there.

As for General Simon and Colonel Pinoteau, they were
sent to the island of Re and confined there five or six years,
until Bonaparte, on becoming emperor, set them free. Pino-
teau vegetated a little time at RufTec, his native town, until
the Emperor, on his way to Spain in 1808, halted there to
change horses. Colonel Pinoteau presented himself without
flinching, and demanded to re-enter the service. The Em-
peror, knowing that he was an excellent officer, put him in
command of a regiment. The admirable way in which he led

lo6 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MAR DOT

this during the Spanish war earned him, after several cam-
paigns, the rank of major-general.

General Simon also was restored to the service. He
commanded a brigade of infantry in Massena's army when
we invaded Portugal in 1810. At the battle of Busaco, when
Massena made the blunder of delivering a front attack on
Lord Wellington's army, posted on a height very difficult
of access, poor General Simon, wishing to wipe out his fault
and recover the time which he had lost to his promotion,
dashed forward bravely at the head of his brigade, cleared all
the obstacles, climbed the rocks under a hail of bullets, broke
the English line, and was the first to enter the enemy's entrench-
ments. There, however, a shot fired point blank smashed
his jaw, just at the moment when the English second line
repulsed our troops, who were hurled back into the valley with
considerable loss. The unfortunate general was found lying in
the redoubt among the dead and dying, with scarcely a human
feature left. Wellington treated him with much kindness, and
as soon as he was fit to be moved, sent him as a prisoner of
war to England. Later on he was allowed to return to France,
but his horrible wound did not permit him to serve again. The
Emperor gave him a pension, and nothing more was heard of
him.

CHAPTER XVI.

While I was going through the course of the cavalry school
great events were toward in Europe. England having been
led by jealousy of the prosperity of France to break the
Peace of Amiens,1 hostilities recommenced. The First Consul
determined to push them actively forward by transporting
an army to the soil of Great Britain — a daring operation,
very difficult, but still not impossible. In order to carry it out,
Napoleon, who had just seized Hanover, the special patrimony
of England, formed several army corps on the coast of the
North Sea and the Channel. He ordered an immense quantity
of pinnaces and flat-bottomed boats for the embarkation of
the troops to be built and collected at Boulogne and the
neighbouring ports.

All the military world being stirred to activity for this
war, I regretted that I could not take a share in it, and I
understood what a false position I should be placed in at the
renewal of hostilities. For, destined as I was to convey to
my regiment the instruction which I had acquired in the
cavalry school, I saw myself condemned to pass years at a
dep6t, whip in hand, making recruits trot on old horses, while
my comrades were serving at the head of the troopers whom
I had trained. The prospect was not very agreeable ; but
how was I to change ? A regiment must always be supplied
by recruits, and it was certain that my colonel, having sent
me to the cavalry school in order to learn to drill recruits,
would not deprive himself of the services which I could
render in this kind, and would exclude me from his fighting
squadrons. I was in this perplexity, when one day, as I was
walking at the end of the Avenue of Paris with a book on
the Theory in my hand, a bright idea occurred to me which

1 [The question with whom rested the blame for the rupture of the short
peace is one too complicated to be discussed here. Whether or not the
technical fault was with England, readers of this book will probably admit
that until Napoleon was crushed no permanent peace was possible.]

(i°7)

IOS MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

totally changed my destiny and aided vastly to raise me to the
rank which I hold.

I had just learnt that the First Consul, having fault
to find with the Court of Lisbon, had given orders to form at
Bayonne an army corps which was intended to enter Portugal
under Augereau as commander-in-chief. I knew that this
general owed his promotion partly to my father, under whom
he had served at the camp of Toulon and in the Pyrenees ;
and although the experience which I had gained at Genoa
after my father's death was not calculated to give me a good
opinion of man's gratitude, I resolved to write to Augereau
informing him of my position, and begging him to deliver me
from it by taking me for one of his aides-de-camp. I wrote
my letter and sent it to my mother to obtain her approval.
She not only assented, but, knowing that Augereau was in
Paris, kindly took it to him herself. Augereau received the
widow of his friend with the utmost courtesy ; he at once
drove off to the Minister of War, and that very evening brought
to my mother my appointment as aide-de-camp. Thus was
fulfilled the wish which four-and -twenty hours before I had
considered a dream. The next day I hastened to thank the
general ; he received me most kindly, and ordered me to come
and join him as soon as possible at Bayonne, whither he was
proceeding immediately. It was the month of October, so
that I had finished the first course at the cavalry school ; and,
having little curiosity to pursue the second, I left Versailles
with joy. I had a presentiment that I was starting in a
new direction, and one much more profitable than that of
regimental instructor ; nor was I deceived, for nine years
later I was colonel, while my comrades whom I had left at the
school had scarcely got their troops.

I repaired promptly to Bayonne, where I took up my duty
as aide-de-camp to the commander-in-chief. He was occupy-
ing the fine chateau of Marac, not far from the town, where
some years afterwards the Emperor resided. I was well received
by the general and by my new comrades his aides-de-camp,
who had nearly all served under my father. This staff, although
it did not give so many general officers to the army as that
of Bernadotte, was very well composed. General Donzelot,
chief of the staff, was a very capable man, and afterwards
became governor of the Ionian Islands, and then of Martinique.
The deputy chief of the staff was named Colonel Albert ;
he died a general, and aide-de-camp to the Duke of Orleans.
The aides were Colonel Sicard, who was killed at Heilsberg,

EARL Y DA YS OF A UGEREA U 1 09

Major Brame, and Major Massy, who was killed when colonel
at the Moskowa ; Captain Chevetel, and Lieutenant Mainvielle ;
I was the sixth and the junior. The staff was completed by
Dr. Raymond, an excellent practitioner and a most honourable
man, who was of great assistance to me at the battle of Eylau.
The marshal's half-brother, Colonel Augereau, accompanied
the staff. He was a kindly man, who afterwards became
lieutenant-general.

I must now give some account of Marshal Augereau's
history. Most of the generals who became celebrated in the
early wars of the Revolution rose from the lower ranks of
society ; but it is wrong to imagine, as some have done,
that they were without education and owed their success to
nothing but their brilliant courage. Augereau especially has
been much misjudged. People have thought fit to represent
him as a kind of rough, noisy, ill-conditioned swashbuckler.
This is a mistake ; for, although his youth was pretty stormy,
and though he fell into sundry errors in politics, he was
kind, well-mannered, and affectionate. I can assert that
of the five marshals under whom I served he was distinctly
the one who did most to alleviate the evils of war, who
showed most kindness to non-combatants, and treated his
officers the best, living with them like a father among his
children. He had an extremely disturbed life, but before
judging him one must consider the manners and customs of
the period.

Pierre Augereau was born in Paris in 1757. His father
did a large business as a fruiterer, and had amassed a sufficient
fortune to enable him to educate his children well. His
mother was a native of Munich, and she had the good sense
always to speak German to her son, so that he spoke it
perfectly, which both in his travels and in war was of great use
to him. Augereau was a handsome man, tall and well built.
He was fond of all physical exercises, and a proficient at them :
a good rider, and an excellent swordsman. At the age of
seventeen he lost his mother, and her brother, who was one
of the secretaries of ■ Monsieur,' obtained his enlistment in the
carabineers, of which that prince was proprietary colonel. He
passed some years at Saumur, the regular garrison of the
carabineers. His attention to duty and his good conduct
soon raised him to the rank of non-commissioned officer.
Unfortunately, at that time there was a craze for duelling,
and Augereau's reputation as an excellent fencer compelled
him to fight often, for among the garrison it was the correct

110 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

thing to allow no superior. Noblemen, officers, soldiers, used
to fight on the most futile grounds. Thus it happened that
on one occasion, when Augereau was on a long leave in Paris,
the celebrated fencing-master Saint-Georges, seeing him pass,
said in the presence of several swordsmen that 'there went
one of the best blades in France.' Thereupon a sergeant of
dragoons named Belair, who claimed to be the next best to
Saint-Georges, wrote to Augereau that he would like to fight
him unless the other would admit his superiority. Augereau
answered that he would do nothing of the sort, so they met
in the Champs Elysees, and Belair got a thrust right through
the body. He recovered, and, having left the service, married
and became the father of eight children. In the early days of
the Empire, being at a loss how to feed them, it occurred to
him to apply to his old adversary, now become a marshal. I
knew the man ; he was witty and gay in a very original
fashion. He called upon Augereau with a fiddle under his
arm, and said that, having nothing to give his eight children
for dinner, he was going to make them dance to keep up their
spirits unless the marshal would kindly give him the means of
supplying them with more substantial nourishment. Augereau
recognised Belair, asked him to dinner, gave him money, and
in a few days obtained him a very good post in the Govern-
ment Parcels Office, and got two of his sons into a lycie. This
conduct needs no remark.

All Augereau's duels did not end thus. According to a
most absurd usage, ancient feuds existed between certain
regiments, the cause of which was often pretty much forgotten,
but which were handed down from one generation to another,
and gave rise to duels whenever those corps met. Thus the
Luneville gendarmes and the carabineers had been at war for
more than half a century, although in all this period they had not
seen each other. At last, at the beginning of Louis XVI. 's reign,
these two bodies were summoned to the camp at Compiegne ;
so to show that they were no less brave than their predecessors,
carabineers and gendarmes resolved to fight, and the custom
was of such ancient date that the chiefs felt bound to wink
at it. However, in order to avoid too great bloodshed, they
contrived to make a regulation that there should be only one
duel. Each corps was to appoint a combatant to represent it,
and after that there should be a truce. As the self-esteem
of each side required that the selected champion should be
victorious, the carabineers picked out their twelve best swords-
men, Augereau being among them, and it was agreed to choose

A UGEREA U AND J HE GENDARME 1 1 1

by lot the one to whom the honour of the regiment should be
entrusted. The lot was that day even blinder than usual, for
it fell upon a sergeant named Donnadieu who had five children.
Augereau remarked that they ought not to have put among
the papers one bearing the name of a father of a family, and
demanded to act as his substitute. Donnadieu declared that
as the lot had fallen on him he would go out ; Augereau
insisted. At last the generous contest was terminated by the
meeting accepting Augereau's proposal. They soon learnt
who was the combatant chosen by the gendarmes, and it only
remained to bring the adversaries together, so that a shadow
of a quarrel might furnish a pretext for the meeting.

Augereau's adversary was a terrible man, an excellent
swordsman and a professional duellist, who, to keep his hand
in while waiting, had in the previous day killed two sergeants
of the Garde Francaise. Augereau, without letting himself
be frightened by this bully's reputation, went off to the cafe,
where he knew that he would come, and sat down at a table
to wait for him. The gendarme entered, and as soon as the
carabineers' champion was pointed out to him he turned up his
coat-tails and sat down insolently on the table with his hind-
quarters a foot from Augereau's face. The latter was at this
moment taking a cup of very hot coffee ; he gently opened the
slit which in those days existed in the waistband of the leather
breeches worn by the cavalry, and poured the scalding liquid
upon the person of the impertinent gendarme. The man turned
round in a fury. The quarrel was started, and they went off to
the ground, followed by a crowd of carabineers and gendarmes.
On the way the gendarme, by way of a ferocious raillery of his
intended victim, asked Augereau in a jeering tone, 'Would you
rather be buried in the town or in the country ? ' Augereau
replied, ■ I prefer the country, I have always liked the open
air.' ■ Very good,' said the gendarme, turning to his second,
1 you may put him beside the two whom I packed off yesterday
and the day before.' This was not very encouraging, and
might have shaken the nerves of another than Augereau. It
was not so with him. Resolved to defend his life to the best
of his power, he played so close and so well that his adversary,
enraged at being unable to touch him, lost his temper and
blundered. Augereau, always calm, profited by this to run
him through, remarking, ' You shall be buried in the country.'

When the camp was broken up the carabineers returned to
Saumur, where Augereau continued to serve quietly until a
disastrous event drove him into a life of adventure. A young

112 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

officer of high birth and very hasty temper, happening to find
some fault with the manner in which the horses were groomed,
fell foul of Augereau, and in a fit of anger offered to strike him
with his whip in presence of the whole squadron. Augereau
replied to the insult by sending the imprudent officer's whip
flying from his hand. In a rage he drew his sword and
attacked Augereau, saying, * Defend yourself ! ' Augereau at
first confined himself to parrying, but, having been wounded,
he at length returned a thrust, and the officer fell dead.
General Count de Malseigne, who commanded the cara-
bineers as deputy for * Monsieur,' was soon informed of this
affair ; and although the eye-witnesses with one accord testified
that Augereau had been most unjustly provoked, and that it
was a case of lawful self-defence, the interest which he took
in Augereau led him to think it advisable to get him out of
the way. He therefore summoned a soldier named Papon, a
native of Geneva, whose time expired in a few days, and asked
him to let Augereau have his paper of discharge, promising
him another shortly. Papon agreed, for which Augereau was
always most grateful to him. Having reached Geneva, he
learnt that in spite of the evidence a court-martial had con-
demned him to death for having drawn his sword on an
officer.

The Papon family exported watches largely to the East.
Augereau resolved to accompany the clerk who was sent in
charge of them, and thus visited Greece, the Ionian Islands,
Constantinople, and the shores of the Black Sea. When he
was in the Crimea a Russian colonel, judging from his fine
bearing that he had been a soldier, offered him the rank of
sergeant. Augereau accepted, and passed some years in the
Russian army, serving under Souvaroff against the Turks, and
being wounded at the assault on Ismail. Peace having been
made between Russia and the Porte, Augerea i's regiment was
ordered to Poland ; but, not caring to stay longer among the
Russians, half-barbarous as they were, he deserted and reached
Prussia. There he took service, at first in Prince Henry's
regiment; later on his stature and his pleasing countenance
gained him admission into Frederick the Great's celebrated
regiment of guards. He was there for two years, and his
captain held out hopes of promotion to him, when one day the
King, reviewing his guards, stopped in front of Augereau.
1 There is a fine grenadier : what countryman is he ? ' said the
King. ' A Frenchman, sir.' ' So much the worse,' replied
Frederick, who had come to hate the French as much as he

A UGERRA U ABROAD 1 1 3

once liked them ; ' so much the worse. If he had been a Swiss
or a German, we might have made something of him.'

After this assurance from the King's mouth that he
would never come to anything in Prussia he decided to leave
the country: not an easy thing to do, for every desertion was
signalled by a cannon-shot, and the populace at once pursued
in order to get the reward, while the deserter when taken
was shot. To avoid this misfortune and regain his liberty,
Augereau, knowing well that a good third of the guards who
were foreigners like himself longed for nothing better than to
get out of Prussia, got speech of some sixty of the boldest, and
pointed out that if they deserted individually they were lost,
as two or three men were quite able to arrest one. The right
thing was for them all to go off together with arms and
ammunition, so as to be able to defend themselves. They
acted accordingly, Augereau taking command. Though at-
tacked on the road by the peasants, and even by a detachment
of soldiers, these determined men, with loss of some of their
numbers, but with greater loss to their assailants, reached in
one night a small place belonging to Saxony, not more than
ten leagues from Potsdam.1 Augereau went on to Dresden,
where he gave dancing and fencing lessons until the birth of
Louis XVI. 's eldest son. The French Government celebrated
this event by an amnesty to all deserters, which enabled
Augereau not only to return to Paris, but also to re-enter the
carabineers. His sentence was quashed, and General de Mal-
seigne claimed him back as one of the best sergeants in the
regiment. Augereau thus recovered his rank and his position.
In 1788 the King of Naples, feeling the necessity of reform in
his army, asked the King of France to send him as instructors
some officers and non-commissioned officers, promising them
an advance in rank. Augereau was among those selected, and
on arriving in Naples received the rank of sub-lieutenant. He
served there several years, and had just become lieutenant,
when he fell in love with the daughter of a Greek merchant.
The father being unwilling to agree to his proposal, they got
secretly married ; then, going on board the first ship that they
found starting, they went to Lisbon, where they lived quietly for
some time.

By the end of 1792 the French Revolution had made great
progress, and all the sovereigns of Europe, dreading to see the

1 [The northern frontier of the Electorate of Saxony reached at that time
to within a very short distance of Potsdam.]

8

114 MEMOIRS OP THE BARON DE MARBOT

new principles introduced into their states, began to take severe
measures towards Frenchmen. Augereau has often told me
that during his stay in Portugal he had never said or done any-
thing which could alarm the Government ; nevertheless he was
arrested and imprisoned by the Inquisition. He had lain some
months in prison, when Madame Augereau saw one day a ship
enter the port with a tricolour flag ; she went on board and
handed to the captain a letter informing the French Govern-
ment of her husband's arbitrary arrest. The French skipper
did not belong to the navy, but nevertheless he went boldly to
the Portuguese Ministers, claimed his compatriot who was
detained by the Inquisition, and on their refusal to give him
up declared war upon them in the name of France. Whether
it was that the Portuguese were frightened or that they under-
stood the injustice of their action, Augereau was released, and
with his wife returned to Havre in the brave skipper's vessel.

On arriving in Paris Augereau was promoted captain and
sent to La Vendee. There, by his advice and his courage, he
saved the army of the incapable General Ronsin, earning there-
by the rank of major. Sick of fighting against Frenchmen, he
asked permission to go to the Pyrenees, and was sent to the
camp at Toulouse, then commanded by my father, who, struck
with the way in which he performed his duty, got him the post
of divisional-adjutant with colonel's rank and showed him much
kindness, which Augereau never forgot. As general he dis-
tinguished himself in the wars in Spain and in Italy, especially at
Castiglione. On the eve of this battle the French army was sur-
rounded on all sides, and in a very critical position. Bonaparte,
who was commanding in chief, summoned a council of war for
the only time in his life. All the generals, even Massena, were
in favour of retreating, until Augereau, pointing cut the way of
escaping from the difficulty, ended by saying : * Were you all to
go, I shall remain, and with my division shall attack the enemy
at daybreak.' Bonaparte, struck by Augereau's arguments, said,
1 Very well, I will stay with you.' After that there was no
more talk of retreat, and on the morrow a brilliant victory,
due in great part to the valour and the fine tactics of Augereau,
assured the position of the French army in Italy for a long
time. So it was that when certain jealous tongues thought
fit to slander Augereau in the presence of the Emperor, he
answered, ( Let us not forget that he saved us at Castiglione,'
and when he created his new nobility he named Augereau
Duke of Castiglione.

On the death of General Hoche Augereau took his place

AUGEREAU'S GENEROSITY II5

with the Army of the Rhine, and after the establishment of
the Consulate he was put in command of the Gallo-Batavian
Army, composed of French and Dutch troops, with which he
fought the campaign of 1800 in Franconia, and won the
battle of Burg-Eberach. After the Peace he bought the
estate and chateau of La Houssaye. With reference to this
purchase, I may say that there has been much exaggeration
of the fortunes made by some generals of the Army of Italy.
After drawing for twenty years the pay of commander-in-
chief or marshal, and enjoying for seven years an annuity
of 200,000 francs, and a salary of 25,300 francs with the
Legion of Honour, Augereau left at his death only the
capital of 48,000 francs a year. Never was man more gener-
ous, more disinterested, more ready to do a kindness. I
could quote many instances of it, but I will confine myself
to two.

After his elevation to the Consulate General Bonaparte
formed a numerous guard, the infantry of which he placed
under the command of General Lannes. He, though a most
distinguished soldier, had no idea of administration ; so,
instead of keeping to the established rate for the purchase of
cloth, linen, and such-like, thought that nothing could be
good enough for his men. Consequently the officials of the
clothing department, delighted at being able to deal with the
purveyors by private contract in order to obtain their com-
missions, and further, thinking that the name of General
Lannes, friend of the First Consul, would cover any amount
of plundering, designed the uniforms in such luxurious style
that when it came to paying the bills they were found to be
300,000 francs in excess of the sum allowed by the official
regulations. The First Consul, who had resolved to bring the
finances into order, and to compel the commanders of regi-
ments not to exceed the credits sanctioned, was determined
to make an example. Fond as he was of Lannes, and though
convinced that not a centime had got into his pocket, he
declared him responsible for the deficit of 300,000 francs,
and allowed him only eight days to pay this sum into the
regimental chest, under pain of being brought before a court-
martial. This severe decision produced an excellent effect,
putting a stop to the waste which had been going on in regi-
mental expenditure. But Lannes, although recently married
to the daughter of Senator Gueheneuc, found it impossible
to pay. Then Augereau, learning his friend's awkward position,
hurried to his solicitor, got 300,000 francs, and told his secre-

1 1 6 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

tary to pay them in the name of General Lannes into the
regimental chest of the Guard. The First Consul, when he
heard of this, was most grateful to Augereau, and in order to
put Lannes in a position to be able to discharge his debt he gave
him the very well-paid embassy to Lisbon.

Another instance of Augereau's generosity was the fol-
lowing. Bernadotte, with whom he was not very intimate, had
bought the estate of Lagrange. He had reckoned on pay-
ing it out of his wife's dowry ; but there was some delay in
obtaining this in full, and the vendors pressed for payment.
He therefore asked Augereau to lend him 200,000 francs for
five years, which Augereau agreed to do. Madame Bernadotte
bethought her of asking what interest he would require.
• Madam,' answered Augereau, ' bankers and moneylenders,
no doubt quite rightly, draw profit from the money which
they lend ; but when a marshal is fortunate enough to be
able to oblige a comrade, the pleasure of doing him a service
is interest enough for him.' That was the man who has been
represented as hard and grasping. I will not at the present
moment relate any more of his life ; the rest of his career will
be told as I go along ; and having made known his good
qualities, I shall not conceal his faults.

CHAPTER XVII.

Let us return to Bayonne, where I had just joined Augereau's
staff. The winter in those parts is very mild, so that the
troops in camp were able to manoeuvre and have sham fights,
to practise us for our coming battles with the Portuguese.
But the Court of Lisbon fell in with the views of the French
Government on all points ; so we had no occasion to cross the
Pyrenees, and Augereau was ordered to Brest, there to take
command of the 7th corps of the Coast Army, which was to
bring off an invasion of Ireland.

General Augereau's first wife, the Greek lady, was then at
Pau, and, wishing to take leave of her, he went thither with
three aides-de-camp, I being one. At that time, commanders-
in-chief had each his squadron of guides, by a detachment of
whom their carriages were constantly escorted so long as they
were in the district occupied by troops under their command.
There being as yet no guides at Bayonne, their place was
supplied by posting a detachment of cavalry at every station
between Bayonne and Pau. This duty was done by my late
regiment, the 25th Chasseurs ; so that as I sat at my ease
in the commander-in-chiefs carriage I could see my former
comrades trotting by the side of it. This did not excite my
vanity, but I admit that on entering Puyoo, where two years
ago you saw me come in on foot, all muddy, and escorted by
gendarmes, I could not help swaggering a little to attract the
recognition of the good mayor Bordenave. I introduced him
to the commander-in-chief, to whom I had already related what
had befallen me in this parish in 1801, and as the escort as
far as Puyoo had been joined by the gendarmerie force from
Peyrehorade, I recognised the two gendarmes who had arrested
me. The old mayor mischievously told them that the officer
whom they saw in the commander-in-chiefs fine coach was the
same traveller as they had taken up for a deserter in spite of
his papers being in order ; the good man was indeed very proud
of the judgment which he had given on that occasion.

We stayed twenty-four hours at Pau, and returned to

("7)

Il8 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

Bayonne, whence the general despatched Mainvielle and me
to Brest to get his quarters ready. We travelled by the mail
as far as Bordeaux, but from that point there were no public
conveyances, and we were obliged to bestride post-horses,
which, of all ways of travelling, is certainly the roughest. It
rained, the roads were fearful, the nights pitch-dark, and still
we had to gallop ahead in spite of these hindrances, for our
mission was urgent. I have never been a first-rate rider, but
my practice on horseback and the year that I had just passed
at the Versailles riding-school gave me sufficient confidence to
enable me to push along the frightful screws which we were
obliged to ride. I got pretty well therefore through my
apprenticeship to the trade of mounted messenger, which you
will see that I was forced by circumstances later on to learn
thoroughly. Mainvielle was not so well off, so that it took
us two days and two nights to reach Nantes, where he
arrived utterly broken down and unable to ride post any
farther. However, as we could not allow the commander-in-
chief to find himself without lodging on his arrival at Brest,
it was arranged that I should go on to that town, and that
Mainvielle should rejoin me by carriage. On arriving I
hired the house of the banker Pasquier, the brother of the
former Chancellor and President of the Upper House. My
comrades, including Mainvielle, soon joined me and helped
me to arrange the commander-in-chiefs establishment in a
way that seemed suitable for the state in which he proposed
to keep house. The beginning of the year 1804 found us
at Brest. Our army corps consisted of two divisions of
infantry and a brigade of cavalry ; the troops were not en-
camped, but billeted in the neighbouring villages, the generals
and their staffs lodging in Brest. In the roads and the
harbour were many vessels of every class ; with officers of the
army and the navy, Brest presented a lively scene. Admiral
Truguet and General Augereau gave many brilliant parties,
after the immemorial custom of the French when preparing
for war.

During February Augereau was summoned to Paris by
the First Consul to confer upon the plan of invading Ireland ;
I travelled with him. On reaching Paris we found the
political horizon very stormy. The Bourbons, who had hoped
that Bonaparte, after seizing the reins of government, would
work in their cause and get ready to play the part of Monk,
when they saw that he had no idea of restoring the Crown to
them, resolved to overthrow him. To this end they planned

PICHEGR U 'S COM PA NY 1 1 9

a conspiracy, the leaders of which were three men, all cele-
brated, but with very different titles to celebrity — General
Pichegru, General Moreau, and Georges Cadoudal. Pichegru
had been Bonaparte's mathematical tutor at the college of
Brienne, and had left it to take service. When the Revolution
broke out he was sergeant of artillery ; his talents and his
courage soon raised him to the command of an army. It was
he who conquered Holland in the middle of winter ; but his
ambition was his ruin. He allowed himself to be inveigled
by the agents of the Prince of Cond6, and kept up a cor-
respondence with the prince, who promised him great
advancement and the title of Constable if he would use his
influence with the troops towards replacing Louis XVII. on
the throne of his fathers. Chance, that great arbiter of men's
destinies, would have it that after a fight, in which the French
troops under Moreau had beaten the division of the Austrian
General Klinglin, the baggage wagon of the latter containing
letters addressed by Pichegru to the Prince of Conde was
captured and brought to Moreau. He was Pichegru's friend,
and, in some measure, owed his promotion to him, so that as
long as Pichegru was in power he concealed the fact of the
capture. But when that general, being a member of the
Council of Elders, had been arrested with many of his col-
leagues for acting on behalf of the Bourbons, Moreau lost no
time in sending to the Directory the papers proving his guilt,
which led to his transportation to Sinamary, in the deserts of
Guiana. He contrived by dint of courage to escape, reached
the United States, and then England, and, having from this
time no more reason to keep up appearances, he became
avowedly a paid agent of Louis XVIII., and decided to come
to France to overthrow the Consular Government. However,
as he could not hide from himself the fact that, having been
cashiered, proscribed, and more than six years absent from
France, his influence with the army could not be equal to
that of Moreau, the conqueror of Hohenlinden, the favourite
of the troops, and their inspector-general, he consented to hold
his peace about his reasons for enmity towards Moreau, and to
join with him for the triumph of the cause to which he was
devoted.

Moreau, a Breton by birth, was studying law at Rennes
when the Revolution of 1789 broke out. The turbulent
young students chose him for their leader, and when they
formed a battalion of volunteers they put Moreau in command
of it. Thus, starting on the career of arms in the nost of

120 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

superior officer, he showed himself brave and capable, and
was soon raised to the rank of general, and to the chief com-
mand of armies. He won several battles, and executed a
justly celebrated retreat before the Archduke Charles. But,
good soldier as he was, Moreau lacked political courage ; as
we have seen, he refused to put himself at the head of the
Government while Bonaparte was in Egypt, and although
he aided him on the 18th Brumaire, he became jealous of his
power when he saw him First Consul. He sought every
means of supplanting him — urged thereto, it was said, by the
jealousy of his wife and his mother-in-law towards Josephine.
This being Moreau's disposition, it was likely that he would
easily be brought to co-operate with Pichegru for the overthrow
of the Government.

A Breton named Lajolais, an agent of Louis XVIII., and
a friend of Moreau, undertook to conduct the communication
between him and Pichegru, and was continually passing
between London and Paris. By-and-by, however, it became
clear that Moreau, while willing to aid in the overthrow of
Bonaparte, was minded to hold the power himself, and by
no means to hand it over to the Bourbons ; and it was thought
that a personal interview with Pichegru might put him in a
better frame of mind. The latter accordingly was landed by
an English vessel on the French coast, near Treport, and pro-
ceeded to Paris, where he found Georges Cadoudal, M. de la
Riviere, the two Polignacs, and other Royalists.

Cadoudal was son of a miller in the Morbihan, the youngest
of a large family ; but a quaint custom exists in part of western
Brittany1 by which the latest born takes the family property.
Cadoudal's father was in easy circumstances, and he had
received some education. He was of short stature, broad-
shouldered, fierce as a tiger, and his daring courage had made
him the chief leader of all the ' Chouans ' in Brittany. Since
the pacification of La Vendee he had lived in London ; but his
fanatical zeal for the House of Bourbon allowed him no rest
so long as the First Consul was at the head of the French
Government. He formed a plan of killing him, not by secret
assassination, but by attacking him in open day, on the road to
Saint-Cloud, with the help of a force of thirty or forty mounted
and armed Chouans, disguised as soldiers of the Consular
Guard. There was some chance that this plan might succeed,

1[And is not unknown, under the name of 'borough-English,' in the
south of England. See Elton, Oriptis of English History, p. 187.]

ARRBS T OF MORE A U 121

Bonaparte at that time being, as a rule, escorted only by four
troopers.

An interview was arranged between Pichegru and Moreau.
It took place at night, near the then unfinished Church of the
Madeleine. Moreau agreed to the overthrow, and even to the
murder, of the First Consul, but would give no aid towards the
restoration of the Bourbons. Bonaparte's secret police soon
gave notice that some dark business was on foot in Paris, and
he ordered the arrest of several old Chouans. One of these
made important revelations compromising Moreau, and the
Council resolved to arrest him also.

I remember that this arrest produced a very bad impression.
Cadoudal and Pichegru not being as yet arrested, no one thought
that they were in France, and it was said that the conspiracy
had been trumped up by Bonaparte as an excuse for arresting
Moreau. It was, therefore, to the interest of the Government
to prove that they were in Paris, and had been in communica-
tion with him. The barriers were closed for some days, and a
law of the utmost severity passed against all who sheltered the
conspirators. Unable to find a hiding-place, Pichegru, M. de
la Riviere, and the Polignacs soon fell into the hands of the
police. Their arrest led the public to begin to believe in the
conspiracy ; and when Cadoudal was captured, all doubts were
at an end. He admitted, when examined, that he had come to
kill the First Consul, and that the plot was to have the support of
a prince of the blood royal. The police were thus led to inquire
the whereabouts of all the Bourbon princes. They learned that
the Duke of Enghien, a descendant of the Great Conde, had
been living for a short time at Ettenheim, a little town in
Baden, a few leagues from the Rhine. It has never been
proved that the duke was the leader of the conspiracy, though
there is no doubt that he had more than once been imprudent
enough to enter French territory. Be that as it may, the First
Consul caused a detachment of troops, under General Ordener,
to cross the Rhine under cover of night, to go to Ettenheim, and
seize the Duke of Enghien. He was brought straight to Vin-
cennes, tried, condemned, and shot, before the public had heard
of his arrest. This execution was generally blamed. If the
prince had been taken on French territory, the law prescribing
the capital penalty in such cases might conceivably have been
applied ; but to carry him off from a foreign country, beyond
the frontier, appeared a monstrous violation of international
law.

There seems, however, reason to think that the First

122 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MAR EOT

Consul had not intended to execute the prince, and only
wished to terrify the Royalist party; but General Savary,
chief of the gendarmerie, hastened to Vincennes as soon as
judgment was pronounced, took possession of the prince,
and with a superabundance of zeal had him shot — in order,
as he said, to deliver the First Consul from the dilemma of
having either to order his death or spare the life of a
dangerous enemy. Savary afterwards repudiated this remark ;
but I have been assured by those who were present and heard
it, that he certainly made it. Nor is it less certain that Bona-
parte blamed Savary for his haste ; but the thing being done he
had to accept the consequences.

General Pichegru, ashamed of having been in league
with assassins, and unwilling that the conqueror of Holland
should share the sentence of Chouan criminals, hanged himself
in prison with his neckcloth. An assertion was made that
he had been strangled by some of Bonaparte's mamelukes;
but this was a fabrication. Moreover, it would have been a
useless crime, it being rather to Bonaparte's interest to
display Pichegru in disgrace before a tribunal than to kill
him in private. Cadoudal, with several of his associates, was
condemned to death and executed. The Polignacs and M. de
la Riviere were similarly sentenced, but the penalty was
commuted to imprisonment for life. They were at first shut
up at Vincennes, then allowed under parole to reside in a
private hospital. On the approach of the Allies in 1814 they
escaped and joined the Count of Artois in Franche-Comte\
and in the following year were among the bitterest in urging
the prosecutions of Bonapartists. As for General Moreau, he
was condemned to two years' imprisonment. The First
Consul remitted his sentence, on condition of his going to
the United States. He lived there in obscurity till 1813, and
then returned to Europe to take his place among the enemies
of his country, and to die fighting against Frenchmen,1 thus
confirming all the accusations brought against him at the time
of Pichegru's conspiracy.

The French nation, weary of revolutions, and seeing how
necessary Bonaparte was if order were to be maintained,
forgot the odious business of the Duke of Enghien, and
acclaimed Bonaparte Emperor May 25, 1804. Most Courts

1 [In the Russian army at Dresden, September 1, 1813. In his last letter
to his wife, after he received his mortal wound, he wrote: ' Ce coquin de
Bonaparte a toujour* ete heureux.']

A PPOINTMEN T OF MARSHA LS 1 2 3

recognised the new sovereign. On this occasion, eighteen of
the most conspicuous generals were appointed marshals of the
Empire : Berthier, Augereau, Massena, Lannes, Davout, Murat,
Moncey, Jourdan, Bernadotte, Ney, Bessieres, Mortier, Soult.
and Brune in the active army ; Kellermann, Lefebvre, Perignon,
and Serurier in the Senate.

CHAPTER XVIII.

After Moreau's trial, we returned to Brest; but soon were
back in Paris, as on July 14 the marshal had to attend the
distribution of the decorations of the Legion of Honour, an
order newly founded by the Emperor to reward merit of all
kinds. A propos of this, I may recall an anecdote which went
about at the time. In order that all soldiers who had dis-
tinguished themselves in the Republican armies might share
in the decoration, the Emperor ordered a report of the exploits
of all those who had received arms of honour,1 and noted a
good number of them for the Legion, although many had now
entered civil life. M. de Narbonne, a returned cmigri, was at
that time living tranquilly at Paris, in the Rue Miromesnil,
next door to my mother. On the day of the distribution of the
crosses, M. de Narbonne heard that his man-servant, an old
soldier of the Army of Egypt, had just been decorated. On
sitting down to table he called him, and said, ' It is not proper
that a knight of the Legion of Honour should hand plates ; still
less fitting is it that he should renounce his decoration on
account of his service. Sit down by me ; we will dine to-
gether ; and to-morrow you shall have the place of gamekeeper
on my country estate, which will not be inconsistent with your
decoration.' The Emperor heard of this piece of good taste,
and having long desired to know M. de Narbonne, of whose
good sense and wit he had heard much, sent for him, and took
to him so much that he made him his aide-de-camp. M. de
Narbonne's daughter is the Countess of Rambuteau.

After distributing the crosses at Paris, the Emperor visited
the camp at Boulogne for the same purpose. The army was
drawn up in a semi-circle on an open space fronting the sea ; it
was an imposing ceremony. The Emperor appeared for the
first time on a throne, surrounded by his marshals. The
enthusiasm was indescribable. The English fleet, perceiving
the ceremony, sent some vessels of light draught to disturb it

1 [Cf. p. 54-3

LIEUTENANT 1 25

by a cannonade ; but our coast batteries replied actively. At
the end of the ceremony, the Emperor, returning to Boulogne,
followed by his marshals and a numerous train, halted behind
the batteries, and calling General Marmont, who had served in
the artillery, said : 4 Let us see if we recollect our old trade,
and which of us can send a shell on to that English brig which
has come so close to tease us.' Then the Emperor, motioning
to one side the corporal of artillery in charge of the piece, laid
the mortar ; they fired, and the shell, grazing the sails of the
brig, fell into the sea. General Marmont laid the gun in his
turn, also came near the mark, but also did not touch the brig,
which, seeing the battery full of generals, fired with double
rapidity. ' Come, take your place again,' said Napoleon to the
corporal. He in his turn aimed, and dropped the shell right in
the middle of the brig. Pierced through and through by the
great projectile, the vessel filled in an instant, and sank in a
stately way in sight of the whole French army. Enchanted
by the fortunate omen, the soldiers broke out into loud cheers,
while the English fleet made all sail away. The Emperor con-
gratulated the corporal of artillery, and decorated him on the
spot with his own hands.1

I too had a share in the favours distributed that day.
I had been sub-lieutenant five years and a half, and had
made several campaigns. At Augereau's request the Emperor
appointed me lieutenant. For a moment, however, I thought
he was going to refuse me this promotion ; for, remembering
that a Marbot had figured as Bernadotte's aide-de-camp in
the Rennes conspiracy, he frowned when the marshal men-
tioned me to him, and said, looking steadily at me : ' Is it

you who ? ' ■ No, sir ; it is not I who ' answered I,

briskly. ' Oh ! you're the good one, the Genoa and Marengo
one — I make you lieutenant.' The Emperor also granted me
a place in the military school at Fontainebleau for my young
brother Felix, and from this day forward he never again
mixed me up with my elder brother, who was always an object
of his dislike, though he had done nothing to deserve it.

1 [This pleasing anecdote, though not as strictly true as one could wish,
has some foundation. On the actual day of the distribution of the crosses
no English vessel was sunk by the batteries, and no brig anywhere about
that time. The ' Immortalite ' frigate was struck by a shot on that day, but
not materially injured. On the following day, however, a 13-inch shell fell
on board the armed cutter ' Constitution,' with very much the result here
described, except that she did not sink until all her crew had been brought
off by the boats of the squadron (James). Whether Napoleon was in the
battery whence this shell was fired, the naval historian does not say.]

126 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

The troops of the 7th corps not being yet assembled in
camp, there was little for Augereau to do at Brest. He
obtained leave, therefore, to pass the rest of the summer and
the autumn at his pretty estate of La Houssaye, near Tournau,
in Brie. I rather think that the Emperor was better pleased
to know that he was there than at the further end of Brittany
at the head of a large army ; but Napoleon's suspicion as to
any lack of devotion on the part of Augereau had no founda-
tion whatever, and arose from the underhand dealings of a

certain General S . This person was a major-general,

serving with the 7th corps. He had plenty of talent, and
unbounded ambition, but such a bad reputation for honesty
that no general officer would rub shoulders with him. Piqued
at seeing himself thus cut by his comrades, and wishing to be
revenged, he caused a letter to reach the Emperor in which
he denounced all the generals of the 7th corps, the marshal
among them, as conspirators against the Empire. I must do
Napoleon the justice of saying that he did not employ any
secret means of ascertaining the truth, contenting himself with

passing S 's letter on to Augereau. The marshal believed

himself able to assert that nothing serious was taking place in
his army ; still, as he knew that several generals and colonels
talked sometimes without consideration, he resolved to put a
stop to this state of things. Fearing, however, to compromise
the very officers to whom he only wished to give a wigging,
he thought it better to send what he had to say by an aide-de-
camp, and was good enough to entrust this important errand
to me. I left La Houssaye in hot August weather, rode post-
haste the 160 leagues which lie between that chateau and the
town of Brest, and back again after only twenty-four hours' stay.
I arrived completely tired out, for I think there is no more
laborious business than posting on horseback. I had found the
state of things a good deal more serious than the marshal
thought ; there really was a considerable ferment in the army.
Before I returned to La Houssaye, however, the message which
I bore had tranquillised the minds of the generals, who were
nearly all devoted to the marshal.

I was just beginning to recover from the dreadful fatigue I
had undergone, when one morning the marshal told me that

the generals wanted to kick out S for a spy. He added

that he absolutely must send an aide-de-camp, and that he had
come to ask me if I felt in a condition to repeat my post-haste
ride ; he would not order me, but would refer the question to
me to decide if I could do it. I admit that if there had been

AT LA HOUSSAYB 12J

any reward, even a promotion to be gained, I should have
declined ; but it was a question of being of service to my
father's friend, the marshal, who had so kindly taken me up ;
so, without hesitation, I said that I would start in an hour.
My only anxiety was whether I should be able to post 320
leagues again on horseback, so tiring is this mode of travelling.
However, I got into the way of stopping two hours in every
twenty-four, lying down in the straw in the stable of every post-
house. It was frightfully hot; still, I got to Brest, and returned
without accident, having thus ridden post 640 leagues within one
month. I had at least the satisfaction of being able to tell the
marshal that the generals would confine themselves to letting

S know what they thought of him. Having thus fallen

into discredit, General S deserted to England, married

there, although he had a wife already, was condemned to the
galleys for bigamy, escaped, and, after twenty years' wandering
about Europe, died in penury.

After my second return from Brest the good Marshal
Augereau snowed a redoubled liking for me, and, in order to
prove it by putting me in direct relations with the Emperor,
he selected me in September to go to Fontainebleau to fetch
Napoleon and escort him to the chateau of La Houssaye,
where he came and passed twenty-four hours, accompanied by
several marshals. It was while walking with them there that
the Emperor, after imparting to them his views as to the way
in which he wished to keep up his dignity and theirs, presented
each of them with the sum necessary to buy a house in Paris.
Marshal Augereau bought the Hotel Rochechouart, situated
in the Rue de Grenelle Saint-Germain, which is now used as
the office of Public Instruction. It is a splendid house ; but
the marshal preferred to stay at La Houssaye, where he lived
in fine style, for, besides his aides-de-camp, each of whom had
his apartments, there was always a large number of guests.
We enjoyed perfect liberty, and the marshal let us do any-
thing, provided that there was no noise near the wing of the
chateau occupied by his wife.

This excellent lady, always an invalid, lived very much
by herself, and seldom appeared in the dining-room or draw-
ing-room ; but when she did come, so far from being a
constraint on our mirth, she delighted to encourage it. She
had with her two very extraordinary lady companions. The
first always wore men's clothes, and was known by the name
of ' Free-and-Easy.' She was the daughter of one of the
leaders who defended Lyons against the Convention in 1793.

128 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

She escaped with her father ; they both disguised themselves
as soldiers, and took refuge in the ranks of the 9th regi-
ment of dragoons, passing by military nicknames and going
on campaign. Miss ' Free-and-Easy,' who to a general
masculine appearance united a most masculine courage,
received several wounds, one at Castiglione, where her
regiment formed part of Augereau's division. General
Bonaparte was often witness to the prowess of this intrepid
woman, and when he became First Consul he granted her a
pension and gave her a post about his wife. But court life
hardly suited her, so she left Madame Bonaparte, who, by
mutual consent, made her over to Madame Augereau to be
secretary and reader. The second lady about the marechale
was the widow of the sculptor Adam, and, though eighty
years old, was the life and soul of the chateau. Broad fun
and hoaxes were the order of the day at this period, especially
at La Houssaye, the master of which was never so happy as
when he saw his guests and the young people of his staff alive
with merriment.

In November the marshal returned to Paris. The date
of the Emperor's coronation was approaching, and the Pope
was already at the Tuileries for the ceremony. A crowd of
magistrates and deputations from the different departments
had been summoned to the capital ; there were also all the
colonels of the army, with detachments from their regiments,
to whom the Emperor distributed on the Champ de Mars
those eagles which have since been so celebrated. Paris was
splendid with a display of a luxury hitherto unknown. The
coronation took place on the 2nd of December. I need not
describe the ceremony, for this has been often done. Some
days afterwards the marshals gave a ball to the Emperor
and Empress. As you know there were eighteen of them.
Marshal Duroc, although he was only Prefect of the Palaces,
joined with them, which brought the number of the con-
tributors up to nineteen, each of whom paid 25,000 francs
towards the expenses. The ball took place in the great hall
of the Opera ; nothing so magnificent was ever seen. General
Samson, of the engineers, was the manager; the marshals'
aides-de-camp were the stewards, charged with doing the
honours and distributing tickets. All Paris wanted to be
there, and the aides-de-camp were assailed with letters and
requests. I never had so many friends. Everything passed
with the most perfect order, and the Emperor appeared
satisfied.

NAPOLEON'S NAVAL PLANS 1 29

In the midst of these festivities opened the year 1805,
which was to be so prolific of great events. To give his
army a share in the general rejoicing, Marshal Augereau
repaired to Brest, where, in spite of the rigours of winter,
he gave magnificent balls, and entertained in turn the officers,
and even a good many of the soldiers. In the first days of
spring he returned to La Houssaye, to await the moment of the
invasion of England.

This expedition, though often spoken of as chimerical, was
nevertheless on the point of coming off. An English squadron
of about fifteen vessels, cruising continually in the Channel,
rendered it impossible to transport the French army in boats
and pinnaces, which would have sunk at the least touch from
large vessels. But the Emperor was able to dispose of sixty
sail of the line, French and allied, which were distributed
through the ports of Brest, L'Orient, Rochefort, Ferrol, and
Cadiz. His notion was to assemble them unexpectedly in the
Channel, to crush by an overwhelming force the small squadron
which the English had there, and thus to be able to command
the passage, were it but for three days.

To this end the Emperor ordered Admiral Villeneuve,
commander-in-chief of the naval forces, to send at once every
available vessel out of the ports of France and Spain, with
orders to sail not for Boulogne but for Martinique, where it
was certain that the English fleet would follow them. While
it was hastening off to the Antilles, Villeneuve was to leave
those islands before it came up, to sail back round the north of
Scotland, and return to the Channel by its upper end. With
his sixty vessels he would easily beat the fifteen which the
English kept in front of Boulogne, and put Napoleon in com-
mand of the passage. The English, on reaching Martinique,
not finding Villeneuve's fleet there, would have felt about
before starting in pursuit of him, and thus lost precious time.
Only part of this fine plan was carried out. Villeneuve started
not with sixty, but with something over thirty ships, and
reached Martinique. The English, falling into the trap,
hastened to the Antilles just as Villeneuve had started back ;
but the French admiral, instead of returning by Scotland,
sailed for Cadiz in order to effect a junction with the Spanish
fleet, as if thirty ships were not enough to defeat or drive off
the fifteen ships of the English. Nor was that all ; Villeneuve
lost much time at Cadiz in repairing his ships, during which
the enemy's fleet also got back to Europe, and cruised off
Cadiz. Finally, the equinoctial gales rendered egress from

9

130 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

the port difficult, and Villeneuve found himself blockaded.
Thus collapsed the Emperor's ingenious combination.1 Realis-
ing that the English would not fall into the trap again, he
renounced, or postponed indefinitely, his plan of invading
Great Britain, and turned his eyes again towards the Continent.
But before relating the chief events in this long war, and
the part which I took in it, I must mention a sad disaster
which befell our family. My brother Felix, who was in the
military school at Fontainebleau, was a little near-sighted,
and for this reason had had doubts about entering the army.
Once decided, however, he worked so strenuously that he
soon became sergeant-major, a difficult post to fill in a
school. The mischievous pupils had got a habit, when they
had been constructing a redoubt, of burying under the earth
of the embankment the tools which were given them for
their work. General Bellavere, the head of the school, a
severe man, ordered that the tools were to be given to, and
accounted for by, the sergeant-majors, who thus became
responsible for them. One day when they were at work, my
brother, seeing a pupil bury a pickaxe, took notice of it.
The other replied very rudely, adding that in a few days they
would leave the school, that he would then be the equal of
his former sergeant-major, and would call him to account for
the reprimand. My brother was offended and declared that
it was not necessary to wait so long. For want of swords,
they used compasses fastened to the end of sticks. Jacque*
minot, afterwards lieutenant-general, was Felix's second. In
spite of my brother's short sight, which put him at a
disadvantage, he wounded his adversary, and himself got a
thrust through the right arm. His comrades dressed it secretly.
Unhappily, non-commissioned officers are bound to carry their
weapon in their right hand ; and, as bad luck would have
it, the Emperor came to Fontainebleau, and made them
drill for some hours under a roasting sun. My poor brother,
always on the run, with his right arm constantly stretched by
the weight of a heavy musket, was overcome by the heat, and
his wound reopened. He might have pleaded indisposition,
and fallen out ; but he was in presence of the Emperor, who at
the end of the performance was to distribute the much-coveted
sub-lieutenants' commissions. Felix made superhuman efforts
to conquer the pain, but at length his strength gave way : he

1 [' A scheme bearing the impression of a landsman's mind ' is the phrase
applied to it by an English historian, an4 this seems to have been the view
taken by its intended victims.]

DBA TH OF MY BRO THER 1 3 1

fell, and was carried away in a dying state. General Bellavere
wrote curtly to my mother, ' If you want to see your son, come
quickly, for he has only a few hours to live.' Her despair was
so overwhelming that she could not go to Fontainebleau, but
I posted thither at once. On arriving, I learnt that my brother
was no more. Marshal Augereau was as kind as possible to
us in our sorrow, and the Emperor sent Duroc, Marshal of the
Palace, with a special message of condolence to my mother.
Soon, however, a new grief was to beset her, for I had to leave
her. A Continental war had broken out.

The cause of the war was as follows. At the moment
when the Emperor most needed to be at peace with the
Continental Powers, for the execution of his plan of invading
England, he issued a decree uniting Genoa to France. This
served the turn of the English admirably. They profited by
his action to alarm all the Continental nations, representing
that Napoleon aspired to a general attack on the whole of
Europe. Russia and Austria declared war against us ; Prussia,
with more circumspection, prepared for war, but as yet did not
declare. The Emperor, doubtless, had foreseen this hostile
movement, and the desire to bring matters to a crisis was
perhaps his reason for taking possession of Genoa. The
hope that Villeneuve might make himself master for a few
days of the Channel, by uniting the whole French and Spanish
fleets, was at an end. A Continental war was the best means
of escaping from the ridicule and appearance of impotence as
regarded England, which the failure of the invasion scheme,
after three years' open preparation, had brought upon his arms.
The new coalition came just at the right moment to get him
out of an annoying position.

Three years in camps had had an excellent result on our
troops. Never had France possessed an army so well trained,
of such good material, so eager for fighting and fame. Never
had a general had under his hand forces so powerful both
materially and intellectually, with such capacity for using them.
Napoleon, therefore, accepted the war with joy, so certain was
he of victory, so confident that he would use his enemies'
mistakes to strengthen his throne. He knew how the chival-
rous spirit of Frenchmen has in all ages been influenced by the
enthusiasm of military glory.

CHAPTER XIX.

The ■ Grand Army,' which the Emperor was about to set in
motion against Austria, had at that time its rear towards that
Power, and towards Europe ; the two French corps extended
along the coasts of the North Sea, the Channel, and the ocean,
facing towards England. Thus the right wing of the first
corps, under Bernadotte, was occupying Hanover ; the second,
under Marmont, was in Holland ; the third, under Davout, at
Bruges ; the fourth, fifth, and sixth, commanded by Soult,
Lannes, and Ney respectively, were encamped about Boulogne ;
while the seventh, Augereau's division, was on the extreme
left, at Brest.

To break up this long cordon, and mass the troops for the
march into Austria, involved a reversal of the front on a vast
scale. Every army corps, therefore, had to face about, so as
to bring its front towards Germany, and march thither by the
nearest road. The right wing became the left, and vice versa.
It will be seen that to reach the Danube from Hanover or from
Holland, the first and second divisions had a much shorter
march to make than those which were at Boulogne; while
these again were much nearer than Augereau's corps, which,
in order to reach the Swiss frontiers from Brest, had to traverse
the whole breadth of France, a distance of three hundred
leagues. Travelling in several columns, the army took two
months to cover the distance. Augereau, starting the last from
Brest, passed them, and halting first at Rennes, then at
Alengon, Melun, Troyes, and Langres, he inspected the various
regiments, and roused their ardour by his presence. It was
magnificent weather. I passed the two months in a post-
chaise, going incessantly from one column to another with
orders from the marshal. Twice I was able to stop at Paris
and see my mother. Our studs had preceded us ; I had three
excellent horses, and a servant of moderate quality.

While the Grand Army marched on the Rhine and the
Danube, the French troops who were quartered in Upper Italy

(13^)

OVER THE SPLUGEN AND BACK 133

under the command of Mass6na assembled in the province of
Milan in order to attack the Austrians on Venetian territory.
To transmit orders to Massena the Emperor was obliged to
send his aides-de-camp through Switzerland, which was neutral
ground. Now it happened that while Augereau was at Langres
an orderly officer bearing despatches from Napoleon was over-
turned in his carriage and broke his collar-bone. He had
himself carried to the marshal's quarters, and declared to
him that he could not possibly accomplish his mission. The
marshal, knowing how important it was that the Emperor's
despatches should reach Italy without loss of time, ordered
me to carry them forward by way of Huningen, whither
I had also to take his orders with regard to throwing a bridge
across the Rhine. This duty pleased me much, for it would
give me a fine journey, with the certainty of rejoining the
7th corps before it could come in contact with the Austrians.
I quickly reached Huningen and Basle, thence came to Berne
and Rapperschwyl, where I left my carriage ; then on horse-
back I crossed the Spliigen, which was then almost impracti-
cable, and not without danger. I entered Italy by Chiavenna,
and joined Massena near Verona. But it was only there and
back, for Mass6na was in as great a hurry to see me start
back with his reply to the Emperor as I was myself to rejoin
Augereau so as not to miss any affairs in which his division
might be engaged. I did not, however, return as quickly
as I had come, for a heavy snowfall had recently covered
not the mountains only, but also the valleys. It was freezing
hard, horses fell at every step, and I had to pay 600 frs.
for two guides across the Spliigen. The passage took us
more than twelve hours, walking knee-deep in the snow.
The guides even were on the point of refusing to go any
further, asserting that there was imminent danger ; but I was
young and daring, and well aware of the importance of the
despatches which the Emperor was awaiting. I declared,
therefore, to my two guides that if they turned back I should go
on without them. Every profession has its point of honour —
that of guides consists chiefly in never abandoning the traveller
entrusted to them ; so mine went forward, and, after really
extraordinary efforts, we reached the great inn at the foot of
the Spliigen just at nightfall. If we had been benighted in the
mountain we must inevitably have perished, for the path was
barely marked, and was bounded by precipices which the snow
would have hindered us from seeing. I was thoroughly done
up, but a night's rest restored my energy. I started at day-

134 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

break and reached Rapperschwyl, where I found a carriage and
a road to drive on. The most difficult part of the journey was
over ; in spite of the snow and severe cold I got to Basle and
then to Huningen, where the 7th corps was assembled, on
October 19. Next morning we began to pass the Rhine on a
bridge of boats constructed for that purpose, for, although a
short half-league lower down there was a stone bridge in the
city of Basle, the Emperor had ordered Marshal Augereau to
respect Swiss neutrality. Nine years later the Swiss themselves
violated neutrality when they opened this bridge in 1814 to the
enemies of France.

There then I was once again on campaign. It was 1805,
a year which saw the opening of a long period of warfare for
me, not to end till Waterloo, ten years later. Numerous as
were the wars of the Empire, nearly all French military men
enjoyed one or more years of rest, either because they were
doing garrison duty in France, or because they were in Italy or
Germany at a time when we had no war save in Spain ; but,
as you will see, this was not my case. Constantly sent from
north to south, and from south to north, wherever there was
fighting going on, I did not pass one of these ten years with-
out coming under fire, or without shedding my blood on the
soil of some part of Europe.

I do not intend to relate in detail the campaign of 1805 ; I
will confine myself to recording some of the principal events.
The Russians, who were marching to the support of Austria,
were still far off when Field-Marshal Mack, having imprudently
entered Bavaria at the head of 80,000 men, was beaten by
Napoleon, outmanoeuvred, compelled to take refuge in the
fortress of Ulm, and with the greater part of his army, of
which only two corps escaped, to lay down his arms. Of
these divisions, one, under the command of the Archduke Fer-
dinand, succeeded in reaching Bohemia ; the other, under the
old Field-Marshal Jellachich, threw itself into the Vorarlberg
towards the Lake of Constance, resting with one flank on
Swiss neutral territory, and watching the passes of the Black
Forest.1 It was against this latter force that Augereau was to
act.

After crossing the Rhine at Huningen, the 7th corps was
in Baden, the sovereign of which, like those of Bavaria and
Wurtemberg, had just concluded an alliance with Napoleon.
We were thus received well by the population of Breisgau.

1[Here and on p. 136 the name Vorarlberg seems to be loosely used.]

AN ADVENTURE IN THE SNOW 1 35

Field-Marshal Jellachich had not ventured to try conclusions
with the French in a country where the communications are so
easy, but was awaiting us on the other side of Freiburg, at the
entrance to the Black Forest, reckoning on making us pay a
heavy price in bloodshed as the cost of the passage. His chief
hope was to stop us in the Hollenthal, a long and narrow
gorge, commanded on all sides by steep rocks easy to defend ;
but the troops, jealous of the brilliant success won by their
comrades at Ulm, and eager to show their valour also, dashed
hotly into the Black Forest and crossed it in three days, in
spite of the difficulties of the ground, the resistance of the
enemy, and the scarcity of provisions in that dreadful desert.
Finally, the army emerged into a fertile country, and en-
camped about the pleasant town of Donaueschingen. Marshal
Augereau and his aides-de-camp were quartered in the magnifi-
cent chateau belonging to the ancient princely house of Fur-
stenberg, in the grounds of which is the source of the Danube.
The mighty river shows its power from its birth, for it is
navigable for small boats at its issue from the ground. The
artillery teams and our carriages had experienced great
labour in the rocky defiles of the Black Forest, rendered still
more difficult by the icy state of the ground. We had, there-
fore, to give the horses several days' rest, during which the
Austrian cavalry came from time to time to feel our outposts,
which were two leagues in advance of the town. Nothing
came of it, however, but a little snapshooting, which amused
us, practised us in skirmishing, and gave us an opportunity of
learning the various uniforms of the enemy. There I saw for
the first time the Archduke Charles's Uhlans, the Rosenberg
Dragoons, and the Blankenstein Hussars. When our teams
were sufficiently rested, the army continued its march, and
during several weeks we had continual engagements, which
left us in possession of Engen and Stockach.

Although I was often much exposed in these different affairs,
I only had one accident ; but that might have been pretty
serious. The ground, especially in the neighbourhood of
Stockach, was covered with snow ; the enemy was defending
the position furiously. The marshal ordered me to go and
reconnoitre in the direction in which he wished to send a
column. The ground appeared to me very level, because the
wind driving the snow had filled all the ditches, and I galloped
off. But suddenly my horse and I went into a deep ravine, up
to our necks in the snow ; I was trying to extricate myself when
two of the enemy's hussars appeared at the edge and fired their

136 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

carbines at me. Happily the snow in which my horse and 1
were floundering interfered with the aim of the Austrian
troopers, and I was not hurt; but they were about to fire
again, when a detachment of chasseurs sent by the marshal to
my assistance drew near, and compelled them to make off
promptly. With a little help I got out of the gully, but it took
some trouble to pull out my horse, which, however, was also
unwounded ; and my comrades were able to laugh at the
strange figure which I made on emerging from my bath of
snow.

After having conquered the whole Vorarlberg, we took
possession of Bregenz, and rolled back Jellachich's force upon
the Lake of Constance and upon Tyrol. The enemy was
covered by the fortress and the celebrated defile of Feldkirch,
behind which he might have resisted us with advantage. We
were expecting a murderous fight to carry this strong position,
when, to our great astonishment, the Austrians expressed a
desire to capitulate, which Marshal Augereau accepted with
alacrity.

During the interview which the two marshals held on this
occasion, the Austrian officers, who were humiliated by the
recent reverses to their arms, gave themselves the malicious
pleasure of imparting to us a very unwelcome piece of news,
which had hitherto been concealed from us, but which the
Russians and Austrians had learnt by way of England. The
French and Spanish fleets had been beaten by Lord Nelson on
October 20,1 not far from Cadiz, off Cape Trafalgar. Our ill-
starred Admiral Villeneuve, whom no positive order of Napoleon
could determine to throw off his inactivity at a time when the
sudden appearance of the fleets of France and Spain in the
Channel might have secured the passage to England of the
armies collected at Boulogne — Villeneuve, I say, on learning
that he was about to be superseded by Admiral Rosily, passed
in a moment from excessive circumspection to the extreme of
audacity. He issued from Cadiz and delivered battle.2 Had
this action turned out in our favour it would have been almost
useless, since the French army, instead of being at Boulogne to
profit by his success and cross to England, was fighting in the
centre of Germany, more than two hundred leagues from the
coast. After a most obstinate combat, the fleets of Spain
and France were beaten by that of England, whose admiral,
the celebrated Nelson, was slain, bearing to his grave the

1 [Really October 21.] * [At Napoleon's express orders.]

TRAFALGAR 1 37

reputation of the first seaman of the age. On our side we
lost Rear- Admiral Magon, a most meritorious officer; one of
our vessels blew up, seventeen French and Spanish were
taken. A terrible storm arose towards the end of the battle,
and lasted all that night and the following day. It very nearly
made an end of both conquerors and conquered ; the English,
having their own safety to consider, were obliged to abandon
nearly all their prizes, the greater part of which were brought
into Cadiz by the remainder of their brave and unfortunate
crews ; others went to pieces on the rocks and were
lost.

It was in this battle that my excellent friend General
D'Houdetot received a severe wound in the thigh, from which
he has limped ever since. At that time little more than a
child, he was a naval cadet attached to the staff of my father's
friend, Rear-Admiral Magon. After the death of that brave
officer,1 his vessel, the ' Algesiras,' was captured after a
sanguinary fight, and the English placed on board a prize
crew of sixty men. But the ' Alg6siras ' having been separated
by the storm from the enemy's fleet, the French officers and
seamen who had survived the fight declared to the officers of
the English crew that they would have in their turn to sur-
render, or prepare to recommence the struggle in the midst
or the horrors of the night and the storm.8 The English,
not being disposed to fight, capitulated on condition of not
being retained as prisoners, and the French, though threa-
tened with shipwreck, joyfully replaced their flag on the stump
of the mast. After having been twenty times on the point of
foundering, owing to the damaged state of the ship, they
succeeded at last in reaching Cadiz Bay. Villeneuve's vessel
was captured, and that unlucky admiral was taken to Eng-
land, where he remained three years as prisoner of war.

1['The brave and highly-respected Rear-Admiral Magon.* — James.]
3 [The 4 Algesiras' struck to the * Tonnant' about 2.15, and Lieutenant
Charles Bennett, with a lieutenant of marines and about forty-eight men,
took possession of her. There were about 600 Frenchmen on board, of whom
forty or fifty were wounded. When the ' Algesiras ' had separated from the
fleet in the storm of the following day, and was drifting ashore, Lieutenant
Bennett ordered the hatches to be taken off in order to afford the French
crew an opportunity of saving their lives. After confining the English prize
crew in the after-cabin, the French crew, with difficulty, brought the ship
into Cadiz, and Lieutenant Bennett and his companions were allowed to
return to the fleet. — James.]

138 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

Having been exchanged, he decided to go to Paris, but was
arrested at Rennes, and blew his brains out.1

When Field-Marshal Jellachich decided to capitulate to
the 7th corps of the French army, his decision was the more
astonishing to us that, although we had beaten him, his
retreat was still open into Tyrol, a country whose inhabitants
have been for many ages very loyal to the house of Austria.
No doubt the approaches to Tyrol were rendered difficult by
the great quantity of snow ; but the difficulty would have
been still greater for us as the enemy, than it would have
been for his troops to retire into a friendly province. Yet
if the methodical old field-marshal could not make up his
mind to carry on a war in winter among the mountains,
it was not so with the officers under his command, many of
whom blamed his pusillanimity, and talked of disregarding
his authority. Among the most ardent in opposition to him
was General the Prince of Rohan, a French officer in the
service of Austria, a man of great courage and ability.
Marshal Augereau, fearing lest Jellachich, persuaded by
Rohan's advice, should succeed in throwing himself into
Tyrol and escaping us, made haste to grant to the commander
of the enemy all the conditions that he demanded. The
capitulation therefore arranged that the Austrian troops
should lay down their arms, and deliver up their flags, guns,
and horses, but should not be taken into France, and should
be allowed to retire to Bohemia, after swearing not to serve
against France for a year. When announcing this capitu-
lation in a bulletin, the Emperor at first evinced a little
dissatisfaction that the Austrian troops had not been required
to go as prisoners into France ; but when he knew that, on
account of the ease with which they could have escaped,
Augereau had no means of compelling them to this, he re-
considered his opinion. As a matter of fact, during the night
preceding the day on which they were to lay down their
arms, a revolt against Jellachich broke out in several of the
Austrian brigades. The Prince of Rohan, refusing to agree

1 [Villeneuve actually returned to France on parole in the following
April, and most accounts of his death attribute it, not to a pistol-shot, but
to a wound or wounds with a dagger, whether inflicted by his own hand or
not remains uncertain. Contemporaries were disposed to put his suicide
into the same category with those of Pichegru and some others which were
at all events very convenient to Napoleon. * The First Consul is unlucky ;
his enemies always make away with themselves,' said the Paris of the
period.]

C API TULA TION OF J ELLA CHICH 13 9

to the capitulation, went off with his division of infantry,
joined by several regiments from the other divisions, threw
himself into the mountains, and crossed them, in spite of the
severity of the weather. Then by a bold march passing
through the middle of the cantonments of the troops of
Marshal Ney, who were occupying the Tyrolese towns, he
went near to fall upon the rear of the Army of Italy between
Verona and Venice, as it was, under Massena's command,
closely pursuing the Archduke Charles, who was retiring on
Friuli. The arrival of the Prince of Rohan in the Venetian
territory when Massena was already at some distance from
it might have had very grave consequences ; but, fortunately,
a French army under the command of General Saint-Cyr
coming up from Naples beat the prince and compelled him to
surrender. At any rate, he only yielded to force, and was
entitled to say that if Field-Marshal Jellachich had come with
all his troops, the Austrians would very likely have managed
to overcome Saint-Cyr and open a way for themselves.

When a force capitulates, it is customary for the conqueror
to send to each division a staff officer to take possession of it,
as it were, and bring it at the appointed time to the place where
it is to lay down its arms. That one of my comrades who was
sent to the Prince of Rohan was left by him in the abandoned
camp, since the prince, being able to carry out his retreat in
rear of the fortress of Feldkirch, and in a direction opposite to
the French camp, had no fear of being stopped on his march.
The cavalry, however, was in a different position, for it was
bivouacked in a little plain in front of Feldkirch, facing our out-
posts at no great distance. I had been ordered by Augereau
to take my place with the Austrian cavalry, in order to bring
it to the appointed place of assembling. This brigade, consisting
of three strong regiments, was not under any general, but was
commanded by the colonel of the Blankenstein Hussars, a
brave and very crafty old Hungarian. I regret that I was not
able to catch his name, for I have a great regard for him,
although he contrived to bamboozle me in a very unpleasant
fashion.

When I arrived in his camp the colonel had offered me
hospitality for the night in the hut where he was lodging, and
we agreed to start at daybreak in order to reach the place
appointed on the shore of the Lake of Constance between the
towns of Bregenz and Lindau. As we had at most three leagues
to cover, I was much surprised to hear the officers mounting
about midnight. I rushed out and saw that the squadrons

140 MEMOIRS OP THE BARON DE MARBOT

were forming and that they were getting ready to start. The
colonels of the uhlans and of the Rosenberg Dragoons, who
were under the orders of the colonel of hussars, but had
not been informed of his plans, came to ask the motive of this
premature departure. I did the same. Thereupon the old
colonel answered us, with calm hypocrisy, that Field-Marshal
Jellachich, fearing that the French might taunt the Austrian
soldiers as they passed their camp, which lay on the direct
road to the shore by Lindau, and thus produce quarrels between
the troops, had, with Marshal Augereau's consent, ordered the
Austrian troops to make a long detour to the right, and thus,
by turning the French camp and the town of Bregenz, avoid
a meeting with our soldiers. He added that, as the way was
much longer and the roads difficult, the leaders of the two armies
had put forward the hour of departure by several hours. He
was surprised that I had not been informed of it, but probably
the letter which had been addressed to me on the subject had
been by some misunderstanding stopped at the outposts. He
even went so far as to order an officer to go and inquire for
this despatch along the whole line. The motives alleged by
the colonel of the Blankenstein appeared to his two comrades
so natural that they made no remark upon it. Nor did I,
although I had an instinctive feeling that the whole thing
was a little shady ; but what could I do, alone in the middle
of the enemy's three thousand cavalry ? It seemed better to
show confidence than to appear to doubt the good faith of the
Austrian brigade. As, moreover, I knew nothing about the
flight of the Prince of Rohan's division, I admit it nevei
occurred to me that the cavalry commander was trying to
withdraw his force from the capitulation. I marched with
him, therefore, at the head of the column. The Austrian com-
mander, who knew the country intimately, had made his
arrangements so well for keeping away from the French
pickets, the position of which, moreover, was shown by their
fires, that we did not pass near any of them ; but what the old
colonel did not expect, or could not avoid, was a meeting with
the flying patrols of cavalry, which are usually sent out at
night to a certain distance from the camp. All of a sudden we
heard, ' Who goes there ? ' and found ourselves in the presence
of a strong column of French, clearly visible in the moonlight.
Then the old Hungarian colonel, not in the least put out,
remarked to me : ' This is your business, Mr. Aide-de-camp ;
kindly come with me and explain the matter to the commander
of this French regiment.' We went forward, I gave the pass-

HOW TO SAVE A REGIMENT 141

word, and found I had to do with the 7th Mounted Chasseurs,
who, recognising me as one of Marshal Augereau's aides-de-
camp, knowing too that the Austrian troops were expected for
the surrender of their arms, made no difficulty about allowing
the brigade which I was guiding to pass. The French com-
mander, whose troop had drawn swords, was even polite
enough to give the order to sheath them as a sign of the good
understanding which ought to prevail between the two columns,
which continued their march, peaceably rubbing shoulders with
each other. I did question the officer of chasseurs with regard
to the change in the hour at which the arms were to be sur-
rendered ; but he had heard nothing of it. This, however,
aroused no suspicion in my mind, as I knew that an order of
this kind was not one of those which are communicated to the
regiments beforehand from head-quarters. So I continued to
march all the rest of the night with the enemy's column, find-
ing that the devour which we had to make was certainly very
long, and that the roads were very bad. Finally, as the day
dawned, the old colonel perceiving a bit of level ground said to
me in a bantering tone that although he was obliged before
long to hand over the horses of his three regiments to the
French, he wished at least to deliver them in a good condi-
tion and to take care of the poor animals up to the last
moment, and with this view he was going to order a feed of
corn to be given them.

The brigade halted, formed, dismounted, and as soon as the
horses were picketed, the colonel, who alone had remained
mounted, assembled the officers and troopers of the three
regiments in a circle round him. There, in an inspired tone
which rendered this old warrior really magnificent, he an-
nounced to them that the Prince of Rohan's division, pre-
ferring honour to safety with disgrace, had refused to agree to
the shameful capitulation under which Field-Marshal Jellachich
had promised to give up to the French the standards and arms
of the Austrian troops, and had thrown itself into the Tyrol.
He would have brought his cavalry division thither also had
he not feared that forage for so large a number of horses would
not be obtainable in the mountains. However, the plain was
before them, by an artifice on which he congratulated himself
they had got six leagues' start of the French troops, and all
those who had a true Austrian heart might follow him across
Germany into Moravia, where he intended to rejoin the troops
of their august Emperor, Francis II.

The Blankenstein Hussars replied to their colonel's alio-

142 MEMOIRS OB THE BARON DE MARBOT

cution by a loud hurrah of approbation, but the Rosenberg
Dragoons and the Archduke Charles's Uhlans kept a gloomy
silence. As for myself, although I did not as yet know German
enough to follow the colonel's harangue accurately, the words
which I had caught, as well as the speaker's tone and the place in
which he was, had made me guess what was on hand, and I admit
that I felt very sheepish at having, although unwittingly, made
myself the accomplice of this devil of a Hungarian. Meantime
a frightful uproar arose in the immense circle which surrounded
me, and I had a good opportunity of judging of the incon-
venience which results from the heterogeneous mixture of the
different races composing the monarchy, and consequently the
army, of Austria. All the hussars are Hungarians ; the Blanken-
stein, therefore, approved the proposal made by their colonel and
fellow-countryman. But the dragoons were German, and the
uhlans Polish, and for this reason the Hungarian had not the
same influence over these two regiments, who in this dilemma
listened only to their own officers. These declared that, con-
sidering themselves bound by the capitulation which the
field-marshal had signed, they did not wish by their departure
to put him and those of their comrades who were already in
the hands of the French into a worse position ; since, if any
part of the Austrian troops violated the terms, the rest were
liable to be taken as prisoners to France. To this the colonel
of hussars replied that when the commander-in-chief of an
army has lost his head, and failed in his duty so far as to
deliver his troops to the enemy, it is the duty of his subordinates
to consult only their own courage and patriotism. Then,
waving his sword in one hand, and seizing the regimental
colours with the other, he cried, ■ Go, dragoons, go, and hand
over to the French your disgraced colours, and the arms which
our Emperor gave you to defend them. As for us brave
hussars, we are going to rejoin our august sovereign. We
shall be able to show him a flag without stain, and swords
born by valiant soldiers.' Then, coming up to me, and casting
a scornful look at the uhlans and dragoons, he added, ' I am
quite sure that if this young Frenchman were in our place
and compelled to choose between your course and mine,
he would take the courageous side. The French love glory no
less than their country, and in matters of honour know what
they are about.' With these words the old Hungarian chief
set spurs to his horse, and taking his regiment off at a gallop
swept away and soon was out of sight.

There was a measure of truth in both the arguments which

THE HUNGARIAN COLON RL 143

I had just heard ; but I was more convinced by that of the
hussar colonel, because it seemed to me best to suit the
interests of his country. I inwardly approved his conduct,
therefore ; but I could not very well advise the dragoons and
the uhlans to follow his example, without exceeding my
functions and neglecting my duty. So I maintained a strict
neutrality in the discussion, and when the hussars had departed,
I proposed to the other two colonels that they should follow
me, and we took the road to Lindau. On the shore of the lake
we found the Marshals Jellachich and Augereau, as well as the
French army and the two Austrian regiments of infantry which
had not followed the Prince of Rohan. On learning from me
that the Blankenstein Hussars had declined to recognise the
capitulation, and had gone off towards Moravia, both marshals
were exceedingly angry. Augereau's wrath arose chiefly from
the fear lest the hussars should raise the country in rear of
the French army, for the road which they would take lay
through the districts in which the Emperor, in marching on
Vienna, had left huge masses of his wounded, parks of
artillery, and so on. But the colonel thought it better not to
notify his presence by attempting any surprise, being in a
hurry to get away from the regions lying within the radius of
the French army. Therefore, avoiding our outposts, following
always byroads, hiding in the forests by day, and marching
with all speed by night, he managed to reach the frontier of
Moravia without hindrance, and rejoined the Austrian army,
which occupied that country.

The troops which surrendered, after giving into our hands
their arms, colours, and horses, departed in gloomy silence, as
prisoners for one year on parole, in the direction of Bohemia.
I remembered as I saw them go the noble harangue of the old
Hungarian colonel, and thought I traced in the faces of many
of the uhlans and dragoons signs of regret that they had not
followed the old warrior, and grief at comparing the honourable
position of the Blankenstein with their own humiliation.

Among the trophies given up to us by Jellachich's army
were seventeen colours and two standards. According to
custom Augereau sent these at once to the Emperor by the
hands of two aides-de-camp, and entrusted the duty of taking
them to Major Massy and me. We started in a good carriage,
preceded by a post-wagon, in which were the colours under
guard of a sergeant. We went to Vienna by Kempten,
Munich, Linz, and Saint-Polten, passing the superb abbey
of Molk on the Danube, one of the richest in the world.

144 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

a little before reaching the last-named place. Four years
later I performed on this spot the most brilliant feat of my
military career, under the eyes of the Emperor, and was com-
mended for it by him, as you will hear when we reach the
narrative of the campaign of 1809. But I will not anticipate.

CHAPTER XX.

In September 1805, as you have seen, the seven corps com-
posing the Grand Army were on the march from the shores ol
the ocean to the banks of the Danube. When on October 1
the Emperor Napoleon crossed the Rhine in person at Stras-
burg, they were already in possession of Baden and Wurtem-
berg. At the same time a part of the strong force which
Russia was sending to the aid of Austria reached Moravia,
and the Cabinet of Vienna would in prudence have waited
until this powerful reinforcement had joined the Austrian
troops. But, carried away by an unwonted ardour, at the
instigation of Field-Marshal Mack, it had despatched him at
the head of 80,000 men against Bavaria. Of this country
Austria had for centuries coveted the possession, while it had
been the constant policy of France to defend it against in-
vasions. Compelled to leave his state, the Elector of Bavaria
retired with his family and his army to Wurzburg, whence
he invoked the aid of Napoleon, who granted an alliance to
him, and at the same time to the sovereigns of Baden and
Wurtemberg.

After the Austrian army under Mack had occupied Ulm,
Napoleon, crossing the Danube at Donauwerth, made himself
master of Augsburg and Munich. Thus the French army had
got in rear of Mack, and cut the communications between the
Austrians and Russians, whose leading columns were known
to be already at Vienna and coming on by forced marches.
The field-marshal then, recognising too late the mistake of
allowing h;mself to be surrounded by the French troops in a
circle of which the fortress of Ulm was the centre, tried
to get out of it ; but was beaten in the successive battles of
Werthingen, Gunzburg, and, above all, of Elchingen, where
Marshal Ney covered himself with glory, and was closed in
more and more until he was compelled to shut himself up in
Ulm with his army. The divisions of the Archduke Ferdinand
and of Jellachich alone contrived to get away, the former
towards Bohemia, the latter towards the Lake of Constance.
10 (145)

146 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

Ulm was invested by the Emperor, and, although it was not
then much fortified, might, nevertheless, owing to its position
and its numerous garrison, have held out for a long period and
given the Russians time to come to its aid. But Field-Marshal
Mack, passing from boastfulness the most overweening to the
most utter discouragement, laid down his arms to Napoleon,
who had thus in three weeks dispersed, captured, or destroyed
80,000 Austrians, and delivered Bavaria. The Elector was
brought back, and we shall see him in 1813 requite the benefit
by the most odious treason.

No longer impeded by Mack's army the Emperor hastened
his march on Vienna, passing along the right bank of the
Danube. He took possession of Passau, then of Linz, where
he learnt that 50,000 Russians under General Kutusoff, rein-
forced by 40,000 Austrians, whom General Kienmayer had
succeeded in bringing together, had crossed the Danube at
Vienna, and were in position at Molk and St.-Polten. At
the same time he was informed that the army under the
celebrated Archduke Charles had been beaten by Massena in
Venetia, and was retiring by Friuli in the direction of Vienna,
and that the Archduke John was occupying Tyrol with several
divisions. Thus the two archdukes were threatening the right
of the French army, while the Russians were in front of it. To
guard against a flank attack, the Emperor, having Augereau's
division already in the direction of Bregenz, ordered Ney to
invade Tyrol, and sent Marmont's division to Leoben to stop
the Archduke Charles on his way from Italy.

Napoleon having thus secured his right flank wished, before
advancing to a front attack on the Russians, whose leading
division had just come into contact with his, at Amstetten,
near Steyer, to guard his left flank against any attack from the
Austrian troops who had taken refuge in Bohemia, under the
Archduke Ferdinand. To this end the Emperor bade Marshal
Mortier, with Dupont's and Gazan's divisions of infantry, cross
the Danube by the bridges at Passau and Linz, and then de-
scend the river by the left bank, while the main body continued
its march on the right bank. Meanwhile, in order not to leave
Mortier too much isolated, Napoleon formed the scheme of
collecting on the Danube a great number of boats captured on
the tributary streams, and forming a flotilla which, under the
direction of the marine division of the guard, was to descend
the river, keeping always abreast of Mortier's corps, thus
uniting the forces on the two banks. You may think it very
bold of me to venture on a criticism of one of the great captain's

ACTION A T DURRRNS TRJN 1 47

operations, but I cannot refrain from saying that there was no
sufficient ground for sending Mortier's division to the left bank,
and that it was a mistake which might have had the most
awkward results. As a matter of fact the Danube, the greatest
river of Europe, is below Passau so broad in winter that one
cannot with the naked eye make out a man on the opposite
bank. Moreover, it is very deep and swift, and therefore
guaranteed perfect security to the left wing of the French
army. It would have been enough to break the bridges as we
reached them in our march towards Vienna, in order completely
to protect the left wing of the army as it marched down the right
bank, all the more so that an attack could only come from the
Archduke Ferdinand, on the side of Bohemia. But the arch-
duke was only too glad to have escaped from the French before
Ulm, and with his small number of troops, and those almost
entirely cavalry, was not likely to have either the desire or the
means of crossing an obstacle like the Danube, in order to
attack them at the risk of being hurled back into the river. At
the same time, Napoleon, by detaching two of his divisions
and isolating them on the further side of this immense river,
exposed them to the risk of being captured or cut to pieces, a
disaster which was easy to foresee and was very near being
realised.

Field-Marshal Kutusoff, who had resolutely awaited the
French in the strong position of St.-Polten, supposing them
to be closely pursued by the army of Mack, on becoming
aware of the capitulation of that army did not feel himself
strong enough to resist Napoleon single-handed. Not caring
to risk his troops for the defence of the town of Vienna, he
decided to put the Danube between himself and the con-
queror, and so crossed the river at Krems, burning the bridge
behind him. Hardly had he arrived on the left bank with
his whole army than he fell in with the scouts of Gazan's
division, which was marching from Diirrenstein on Krems,
Marshal Mortier at its head. On learning that an isolated
French corps existed on the left bank, Kutusoff resolved to
crush it. With this view he attacked it in front, on the
narrow high road which runs along the Danube, while his
light troops, crowning the scarped heights which command
the Danube, were to occupy Diirrenstein, and thus cut off
Gazan's retreat. The position of the division at that moment
was the more critical that the greater part of the flotilla was
staying behind, and there were only two small vessels, which
offered no facility for bringing reinforcements from the right

148 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

bank. Thus attacked in front, in rear, and on one flank, by
an enemy six times more numerous, shut in moreover between
steep rocks occupied by the Russians, and the deep Danube,
the French soldiers, crowded as they were on a narrow cause-
way, were not for one moment demoralised. Marshal Mortier
set them a noble example, for the suggestion having been made
that he should take advantage of a boat to cross over to the
right bank, where he would be safe in the midst of the Grand
Army, and thus avoid giving the Russians the glory of cap-
turing a marshal, he replied that he would die with his
soldiers or with them pass over the bodies of the Russians.
A sanguinary combat with the bayonet ensued, 5,000 French
opposed to 30,000 Russians ; the horrors of night were added
to those of the struggle. Gazan's division in close column
managed to regain Diirrenstein at the moment when Dupont's
division, which had remained behind opposite Molk, alarmed
by the sound of the cannon, was hastening to its support.
The field of battle remained in the possession of the French.
In this hand-to-hand fight, where the bayonet was almost
exclusively used, our soldiers, being the handier and more
active, had an immense advantage over the gigantic Russians.
The enemy's loss, therefore, amounted to 4,500, while ours
was 3,000 only. Had our divisions not consisted of veteran
troops, Mortier's corps would probably have been destroyed.
So well did the Emperor understand this, that he made
haste to recall it to the right bank; and what proves to
me that he recognised the mistake he had made in throw-
ing this isolated body across the river is that, while he
freely rewarded the brave regiments which had fought at
Diirrenstein, the bulletins made scarcely any mention of this
sanguinary affair. It seemed as if, no explanation satisfactory
to military men being possible of this operation beyond the
Danube, there was a desire to hush up its consequences.
What confirms me still more in the opinion which I make
bold to offer is, that in the campaign of 1809 the Emperor,
when he found himself on the same ground, did not send any
force across the river, but on the contrary kept all his army
together during all the march to Vienna.

But to return to my own experiences. When Major
Massy and I reached Vienna, on the mission entrusted to us
by Augereau, Napoleon and the bulk of his army had already
left that city, of which they had taken possession without
striking a blow. Even the passage of the Danube, which it
was necessary to cross in order to pursue the Austrians and

A SUCCESSFUL LIB 1 49

Russians, who had retired into Moravia, had not been disputed,
thanks to a perhaps not wholly creditable trick employed by
Marshals Lannes and Murat. This episode, which had so
great an influence on the result of this famous campaign,
deserves to be related. The city of Vienna stands on the
right bank of the Danube. A small branch of the great
river flows through the town, from which the main stream
is more than half a league distant. At this point the
Danube forms a number of islands, connected by a
long series of wooden bridges, the last of which crosses
the largest arm and rests on the left bank at a place
called Spitz. Over this long series of bridges runs the
road to Moravia. When the Austrians defend the passage
across a river, they have the very bad habit of keeping up the
bridges till the last moment, in order to retain the power of
making counter attacks. The enemy seldom allows them time
to do this, and carries by assault the bridges which they have
omitted to burn. The French treated them thus in the
campaign of 1796, in the memorable actions of Lodi and
Areola. Even these warnings could not cure the Austrians of
the habit. After abandoning Vienna, which was not capable of
defence, they retired across the Danube without destroying one
of the bridges traversing that mighty stream, and confined
themselves to distributing inflammable materials on the floor-
ing of the great bridge, in order to set it on fire when the
French appeared. Besides this, they had established on the
left bank, at the further end of the bridge of Spitz, a strong
battery of artillery and a division of 6,000 men, under the
command of Prince Auersperg, a brave soldier, but not a man
of much ability. I should mention that a few days before the
entry of the French into Vienna, the Emperor had received the
Austrian general, Count Gyulai, who came with a flag of truce
to make proposals for peace. These had no results ; but as
soon as the advanced guard had taken possession of Vienna,
and Napoleon was established in the royal palace of Schon-
brunn, General Gyulai returned and passed more than an hour
alone with the Emperor. Thereupon the rumour that an
armistice was about to be concluded spread not only among
the French regiments as they entered Vienna, but among the
Austrian troops who were leaving the town to go across the
Danube.

Murat and Lannes, whom the Emperor had ordered to try
and make themselves masters of the passage of the river,
marched towards the bridge, posted Oudinot's grenadiers in

150 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

rear of the thick plantations, and then went forward accom-
panied only by some officers who could speak German. The
weak pickets fell back firing on them ; the two marshals cried
out to the Austrians that there was an armistice, and, continu-
ing to advance, they crossed all the little bridges without
hindrance, and having reached the large one, they made the
same statement to the officer in command at Spitz. He did
not venture to fire upon two marshals, who came almost alone,
asserting that hostilities were suspended ; but before letting
them pass he wished to go himself to General Auersperg and
get his orders. While he was gone, leaving the post in charge
of a sergeant, Lannes and Murat persuaded the latter that as a
condition of the armistice was that the bridge should be given
up to them, he with his soldiers must go and rejoin his officer
on the left bank. The poor sergeant hesitated ; they pushed
him gently back, talking to him all the time, and by a slow but
uninterrupted movement reached the further end of the great
bridge. There an Austrian officer was about to set a light to
the inflammable matter; his match was snatched from his
hands, and he was told that if he committed such a crime it
would be the worse for him. Meantime the column of Oudinot's
grenadiers appeared, and got well on to the bridge ; the Aus-
trian gunners were about to fire ; the French marshals ran to-
wards the commander of artillery and repeated their assurance
that an armistice had been concluded ; then, sitting down on
the guns, they begged the artillerymen to inform General
Auersperg of their presence. In course of time he came up,
and was on the point of giving the order to fire, although the
French grenadiers were by this time surrounding the Austrian
batteries and battalions. But the two marshals assured him
there was a treaty, and that its first condition was that the
French should occupy the bridges. The unhappy general,
fearing to get himself into trouble if he shed blood needlessly,
lost his head so far as to withdraw, taking with him all the troops
which had been given to him to defend the bridges. Without
this blunder on the part of General Auersperg, the passage of
the Danube would certainly not have been executed without
great difficulty; it might even have turned out impracticable;
in which case, Napoleon would have been unable to follow the
Russian and Austrian armies into Moravia, and his campaign
would have failed. He certainly thought so then, and his opinion
was confirmed four years later, when, in 1809, the Austrians
did burn the bridges over the Danube, and to win the passage
of the river we were compelled to fight the two battles of

THE DUPE 'S PUNISH MEN T 1 5 1

Essling and Wagram at a cost of more than 30,000 men ;
while in 1805 Marshals Lannes and Murat carried the bridges
without having a man wounded. But was the stratagem which
they employed permissible ? I think not. I know that in
time of war people stretch their consciences under the pretext
that everything which assures victory may be done, in order
to diminish the loss of life, and at the same time gain an
advantage to one's country. Still, in spite of these weighty
considerations, I do not think that one ought to approve
the means employed to get possession of the bridge of Spitz.
For my part, I should not like to do the same under similar
circumstances.

To conclude this episode I may say that General Auersperg
was severely punished for his credulity. A court-martial con-
demned him to be degraded, to be dragged on a hurdle through
the streets of Vienna, and finally to be put to death by the
hand of the executioner. The same judgment was pronounced
against Field-Marshal Mack for his conduct at Ulm. Both,
however, obtained a commutation of the capital sentence to
that of imprisonment for life. They were released at the end
of ten years, but deprived of their military rank, expelled from
the nobility, and repudiated by their families. They both died
soon after having regained their freedom.

The stratagem of Lannes and Murat having secured the
passage of the Danube, the Emperor marched his army in
pursuit of the Austrians and Russians. Herewith begins the
second phase of the campaign.

CHAPTER XXI.

The Russian Marshal Kutusoff was marching from Krems by
Hollabrunn to Brunn in Moravia, to join the second army,
which the Emperor Alexander was leading in person ; but on
getting near Hollabrunn he learnt with consternation that the
divisions of Murat and Lannes were already in possession of
that town, and his retreat thereby entirely cut off. To get
himself out of this fix, employing a trick in his turn, he sent
General Prince Bagration with a flag of truce to Murat, to
assure him that an aide-de-camp of his Emperor had just con-
cluded an armistice at Vienna with the Emperor Napoleon,
and that peace would ,without doubt shortly follow. Prince
Bagration was a most agreeable man ; he knew so well how
to flatter Murat that the, latter, taken in in his turn by the
Russian general, eagerly accepted the armistice in spite of the
remarks of Lannes, who wished to fight. But Murat was the
superior officer, and Lannes had to obey.

The suspension of hostilities lasted thirty-six hours, and
while Murat was inhaling the incense which the cunning
Russian lavished on him, KutusofTs army by a roundabout
march, concealed behind a barrier of low hills, escaped the
danger, passed Hollabrunn, and took up a strong position by
which the road to Moravia was opened to it, and its retreat,
as well as its junction with the other Russian army, posted
between Znaym and Brunn, was assured. Napoleon was
then at the palace of Schonbrunn. He fell into a great rage
on learning that Murat had let himself be taken in by Prince
Bagration, and had ventured to accept an armistice without
orders, and directed him to attack Kutusoff forthwith. But
the Russians had changed their position very much for the
better, and gave the French a vigorous reception. The fight
was of the most obstinate nature, but at length the town of
Hollabrunn, captured and recaptured several times, set on fire
by shells, filled with dead and dying, remained in possession
of the French. The Russians retired on Brunn ; our troops
followed and occupied that town without fighting, though it

('5*)

HOLLABRUNN 153

was fortified and commanded by the celebrated citadel of
Spielberg.

The Russian armies and part of the remains of the Austrian
troops being assembled in Moravia, the Emperor, in order to
strike a final blow, proceeded to Brunn. My comrade Massy
and I followed him in that direction, but we got along slowly
and with much difficulty ; first because the post-horses were on
their last legs, and further, by reason of the great quantity of
troops, guns, artillery and baggage wagons which cumbered
the roads. We were obliged to wait twenty-four hours at
Hollabrunn, until the way was cleared through its streets
destroyed by fire, and still full of burning planks, beams, and
fragments of furniture. This unlucky town had been so com-
pletely burnt that we could not find a single house to take
shelter in. During our compulsory stay in the place we were
appalled by a horrible spectacle. The wounded, especially the
Russians, had during the fight taken refuge in the houses,
where they were soon overtaken by the fire. At the approach
of this new danger all who were able to move had fled ; but
many, wounded in the legs or otherwise severely injured, had
been burnt alive under the ruins. Some had endeavoured to
escape by crawling on the ground, but the fire had pursued
them into the streets, and one might see thousands of the poor
fellows half reduced to ashes ; some of them were even yet
breathing. The corpses of men and horses killed in the fight
had also been roasted, so that from the unhappy town of
Hollabrunn emanated a horrible and sickening odour of roasted
flesh, perceptible at some leagues' distance.

There are districts and towns so situated as to be constantly
the scene of battles, and Hollabrunn, which offers an excellent
military position, is one of them. Thus it hardly repaired the
mischief caused by the fire of 1805 when I saw it four years
later, again burnt, and again piled with dead and dying men in
a half-roasted state, as I shall have to tell when I relate the
campaign of 1809.

Major Massy and I left this focus of disease as soon as we
could, and reached Znaym, where four years afterwards I was
to be wounded. Finally we came up with the Emperor at
Brunn on November 22, ten days before the battle of Austerlitz.

The day after our arrival we discharged our commission,
and handed over the flags with the ceremonial prescribed by
the Emperor for occasions of the kind, for he never lost any
opportunity of exalting in the eyes of the troops whatever
would stimulate their passion for glory. The ceremony was as

154 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

follows. Half an hour before the parade, which took place at
eleven o'clock each day in front of the Emperor's quarters,
General Duroc, the grand marshal, sent to our lodging a
company of grenadiers of the guard with their band and drums.
The seventeen colours and two standards were placed in the
hands of as many sergeants. Major Massy and I, preceded
by an orderly officer, placed ourselves at the head of the
procession, which set out with the band playing. The town
was full of French troops, and as we passed the soldiers
cheered loudly in honour of the victory gained by their
comrades of the 7th corps. All the sentries saluted, and as
we entered the court of the house where the Emperor lodged,
the bands played a march, the troops assembled for parade,
presented arms and enthusiastically shouted 'Vive l'Empereur!'

The orderly aide-de-camp came forward to receive us, and
presented us to the Emperor, together with the sergeants
who carried the Austrian flags. The Emperor inspected the
various trophies, and after having dismissed the sergeants,
he questioned us freely, both with regard to the battle which
Augereau had fought, and upon our observations during the
long journey which we had just made through the countries
which had been the seat of war. Then he bade us wait
his orders and follow the imperial head-quarters. Marshal
Duroc gave us, as was customary, a receipt for the flags, then
informed us that horses would be placed at our disposal, and
invited us during our stay to take our seats at the table where
he presided.

The Grand Army was at this time massed around and in
front of Brunn ; the advanced guard of the Allies occupied
Austerlitz, the main body being posted around the town of
Olmutz, where the Emperor Alexander and the Emperor of
Austria were together. A battle seemed inevitable, but both
sides so well understood how vast an influence this result must
have on the destinies of Europe that each hesitated to make
any decisive movement. Therefore, Napoleon, usually so
prompt in his movements, remained eleven days at Brunn
before attacking seriously. It is true that every day's delay
increased his forces, as soldiers continued to arrive in great
numbers who had fallen to the rear on account of illness or
fatigue, but as soon as they recovered their strength hastened
to rejoin the army, eager to take part in the great battle which
they knew was coming. This reminds me that, in this con-
nection, out of good nature, I told a lie which might have
ruined mv military career. It happened thus. The Emperor

A REDUCED REGIMENT 1 55

used as a rule to treat his officers with kindness, but there was
one point on which he was, perhaps, over severe. He held the
colonels responsible for maintaining a full complement of men
in the ranks of their regiments, and as that is precisely what is
most difficult to achieve on a campaign, it was just on this
point that the Emperor was most often deceived. The corps
commanders were so afraid of displeasing him that they exposed
themselves to the risk of being set to fight a number of enemies
out of proportion to the strength of their troops, rather than
admit that illness, fatigue, and the necessity of procuring food
had compelled many of the soldiers to fall to the rear.
Thus Napoleon, for all his power, never knew accurately the
number of combatants which he had at his disposal on the
day of battle.

Now it befell that, while we were staying at Brunn, the
Emperor, on one of the rounds which he was incessantly
making to visit the positions of the different divisions, noticed
the mounted chasseurs of his guard marching to take up new
lines. He was particularly fond of this regiment, the nucleus
of which was formed by his guides of Italy and Egypt. His
trained eye could judge very correctly the strength of a column,
and finding this one very short of its number, he took a little
note-book from his pocket, and, after consulting it, sent for
General Morland, colonel of the mounted chasseurs of the
guard, and said to him in a severe tone, ' The strength of
your regiment is entered on my notes at 1,200 combatants,
and, although you have not yet been engaged with the enemy,
you have not more than 800 troopers there. What has become
of the rest ? ' General Morland, at fighting an excellent and
very brave officer, but not gifted with the faculty of ready reply,
was taken aback, and answered in his Alsatian French that
only a very small number of men were missing. The Emperor
maintained that there were close upon 400 short, and to clear
the matter up he determined to have them counted on the
spot ; but knowing that Morland was much liked by his staff,
and being afraid of what their good nature might do, he
thought it would be safer if he took an officer who belonged
neither to his household nor to the guard, and, catching sight
of me, he ordered me to count the chasseurs, and to come and
report their numbers to him in person. Having said this, he
galloped off. I began my operation, which was all the more
easy that the troopers were marching at a walk, and in fours.

Poor General Morland, who knew how nearly correct
Napoleon's calculation had been, was in great distress, for

156 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

he foresaw that my report would draw down upon him a
severe reprimand. He hardly knew me, and did not propose
that I should run into any risk in order to spare him un-
pleasantness. He remained, therefore, in silence by my side,
until, fortunately for him, his staff adjutant came up. This
officer, Fournier by name, had begun his military career as
assistant-surgeon, afterwards becoming surgeon-major, when,
feeling that his vocation was more for the sabre than for the
lancet, he had requested and obtained permission to take
his place among the combatant officers, and Morland, with
whom he had served in former days, had got him a commission
in the guard. I had known Captain Fournier very well when
he was still surgeon-major ; I had, indeed, been under great
obligation to him, for not only had he attended my father
at the moment he was wounded, but had followed him to
Genoa, where, as long as his life lasted, he came several
times a day to look after him. If the doctors whose duty it
was to fight the typhus had been as attentive and as zealous
as Fournier, my father would, perhaps, not have died. So I
had often said to myself, and thus my greeting of Fournier,
whom at first I did not recognise in the pelisse of a captain of
chasseurs, was of the most friendly kind. General Morland,
seeing the pleasure with which we met, conceived the hope of
profiting by our mutual friendship to induce me not to tell the
Emperor how many of his men had fallen out. He took his
adjutant aside and conferred a moment with him. Then the
captain came and entreated me in the name of our old friend-
ship to save General Morland from a very awkward position,
by concealing from the Emperor the extent to which the
effective strength of his regiment had been reduced. I refused
positively, and continued my counting. The Emperor's estimate
had been very correct, for there were only just over 800 men
present, so that 400 were missing.

I was going off to make my report when General Morland
and Captain Fournier pressed me anew, calling my attention
to the fact that the greater part of the absent men, having
fallen out for various causes, would shortly rejoin, and that,
as it was probable that the Emperor would not give battle
before he had brought up the divisions of Friant and Gudin,
who were still thirty-six leagues away at the gates of Vienna,
several days would elapse, during which the chasseurs who
had remained behind would rejoin the colours. They added
that the Emperor was, besides, too busy to verify my report.
I did not conceal from myself that I was being asked to

DECEIVING THE EMPEROR I57

deceive the Emperor, which was a serious business ; but
I also felt that I had a great debt of gratitude to M. Fournier
for the really affectionate care which he had bestowed on my
dying father. So I allowed myself to be over-persuaded, and
promised to dissemble a great part of the truth.

Hardly was I alone when I perceived the enormity of my
fault, but it was too late. The important thing was to get out
of it with as little harm as possible. To this end I took care
not to reappear before the Emperor while he was on horse-
back, for my danger was lest he should go off to the chasseurs'
bivouac, when their numerical weakness would strike him
again and belie my report, which would have brought me into
very great trouble. I was wily, therefore, and did not return
to the imperial head-quarters till after nightfall, when Napoleon
had dismounted and returned to his apartments. I was taken
in, and found him lying at full length on an immense map
spread on the floor. As soon as he saw me he called out, ' Well,
Marbot, how many mounted chasseurs are there present in my
guard ? Are there 1,200 of them, as Morland declares ? ' ' No,
sir, I only counted 1,120, that is to say, 80 short.' ' I was
quite sure that there were a great many missing.' The tone in
which the Emperor pronounced these last words proved that he
expected a much larger deficit ; and, indeed, if there had been
only 80 men missing in a regiment of 1,200, which had just
marched 500 leagues in winter, sleeping almost every night in
the open air, it would have been very little. So, when the
Emperor on his way to dinner crossed the room where the com-
manders of the guard were assembled, he merely said to
Morland, ' You see now you've got 80 chasseurs missing; it is
nearly a squadron. With 80 of these fellows one might stop
a Russian regiment. You must keep a tight hand to stop the
men from falling out' Then, passing on to the commander of
the foot grenadiers, whose effective strength had also been much
weakened, Napoleon reprimanded him severely. Morland,
deeming himself very fortunate in getting off with a few
remarks, came up to me as soon as the Emperor was at
table, and thanked me warmly, telling me that some thirty
chasseurs had just rejoined, and that a messenger arriving
from Vienna had fallen in with more than a hundred between
Znaym and Brunn, and a good many more this side of Holla-
brunn, so that he was certain that within forty-eight hours the
regiment would have recovered most of its losses. I was quite
as anxious for it as he, for I understood the difficulty in which
I had been placed by my excess of gratitude towards Fournier.

158 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

Such was my dread of the just wrath of the Emperor, whose
confidence I had so gravely abused, that I could not sleep all
night.

My perplexity was still greater the next day, when
Napoleon, during his customary visit to the troops, went
towards the bivouac of the chasseurs, for a mere question ad-
dressed to an officer might have revealed everything. I was,
therefore, giving myself up for lost, when I heard the bands
in the Russian encampment on the heights of Pratzen, half a
league from our outposts ; therefore, riding towards the head
of the numerous staff accompanying the Emperor, among
whom I was, I got as near to him as I could, and said in a
loud voice, 'There must surely be some movement going on
in the enemy's camp, for there is their band playing marches.'
The Emperor heard my remark, abruptly quitted the path
leading to the guards' bivouac, and went towards Pratzen to
observe what was going on in the enemy's advanced guard.
He remained a long time watching, and at the approach of
night he returned to Brunn without going to see his chasseurs.
Thus I remained several days in mortal anxiety, although I
heard of the successive return of sundry detachments. Finally,
the battle being at hand, and the Emperor being very busy,
the idea of making the verification which I had so much
dreaded passed out of his thoughts, but I had had a good
lesson. So when I became colonel, and the Emperor ques-
tioned me on the number of combatants present in the
squadrons of my regiment, I always told the exact truth.

CHAPTER XXII.

Meanwhile the great drama was approaching its final scene,
and both sides were preparing to fight their stoutest. Most
military authors are apt to confuse the reader's mind by over-
crowding their story with details. So much is this the case
that, in the greater part of the works published on the wars
of the Empire, I have been utterly unable to understand the
history of many battles at which I was present, and of which all
the phases were well known to me. In order to preserve due
clearness in relating a military action, I think one ought to be
content with indicating the respective conditions of the two
armies before the engagement, and reporting only such facts as
affected the decision. That is what I shall try to do in order
to give you an idea of the battle of Austerlitz, as it is called,
though it took place short of the village of that name. On the
eve of the battle, however, the Emperors of Austria and Russia
had slept at the chateau of Austerlitz, and when Napoleon
drove them from this, he wished to heighten his triumph by
giving that name to the battle.

You will see on the map that the Goldbach brook, which
rises on the other side of the Olmutz road, falls into the small
lake of Monitz. This stream, flowing at the bottom of a little
valley with pretty steep sides, separated the two armies. The
Austro-Russian right rested on a hanging wood in rear of the
Posoritz post-house beyond the Olmutz road ; their centre
occupied Pratzen and the wide plateau of that name ; their left
was near the pools of Satschan and the swampy ground in
their neighbourhood. The Emperor Napoleon rested his left
on a hillock difficult of access, to which the Egyptian soldiers
gave the name of the ' Santon,' because it had on the top a little
chapel with a spire like a minaret. The French centre was
near the marsh of Kobelnitz, the right was at Telnitz. But at
this point the Emperor had placed very few people, in order to
draw the Russians on to the marshy ground, where he had
arranged to defeat them by concealing Davout's corps at Gross
Raigern, on the Vienna road.

On the i st of December, the day before the battle, Napo-
leon left Brunn early in the morning, spent the whole day

(159)

X5o memoirs of the baron de marbot

in inspecting the positions, and in the evening fixed his
head-quarters in rear of the French centre, at a point whence
the view took in the bivouacs of both sides, as well as the
ground which was to be their field of battle next day.
There was no other building in the place than a poor barn.
The Emperor's tables and maps were placed there, and he
established himself in person by an immense fire, surrounded
by his numerous staff and his guard. Fortunately there was
no snow, and though it was very cold, I lay on the ground
and went soundly to sleep. But we were soon obliged to re-
mount and go the rounds with the Emperor. There was no
moon, and the darkness of the night was increased by a thick
fog which made progress very difficult. The chasseurs of the
escort had the idea of lighting torches made of pine branches
and straw, which proved very useful. The troops, seeing a
group of horsemen thus lighted come towards them, had no
difficulty in recognising the imperial staff, and in an instant,
as if by enchantment, we could see along the whole line all our
bivouac fires lighted up by thousands of torches in the hands of
the soldiers. The cheers with which, in their enthusiasm, they
saluted Napoleon, were all the more animated for the fact that
the morrow was the anniversary of his coronation, and the
coincidence seemed of good omen. The enemies must have
been a good deal surprised when, from the top of a neigh-
bouring hill, they saw in the middle of the night 60,000
torches lighted, and heard a thousand times repeated the cry
of ' Long live the Emperor ! ' accompanied by the sound of
the many bands of the French regiments. In our camp all
was joy, light, and movement, while on the side of the
Austrians and Russians all was gloom and silence.

Next day, December 2, the sound of cannon was heard
at daybreak. As we have seen, the Emperor had shown but
few troops on his right ; this was a trap for the enemy, with
the view of allowing them to capture Telnitz easily, to cross
the Goldbach there, then to go on to Gross Raigern and take
possession of the road from Brunn to Vienna, and so to cut off
our retreat. The Russians and Austrians fell into the snare
perfectly, for, weakening the rest of their line, they clumsily
crowded considerable forces into the bottom of Telnitz, and
into the swampy valleys bordering on the pools of Satschan
and Monitz. But as they imagined, for some not very
apparent reason, that Napoleon had the intention of retreating
without delivering battle, they resolved, by way of completing
their success, to attack us on our left towards the ' Santon,'
and also on our centre before Puntowitz. By this means our

AUSTBRLITZ l6l

defeat would be complete when we had been forced back on
these two points, and found the road to Vienna occupied in
our rear by the Russians. As it befell, however, on our left
Marshal Lannes not only repulsed all the attacks of the
enemy upon the ' Santon,' but drove him back on the other side
of the Olmutz road as far as Blasiowitz. There the ground
became more level, and allowed Murat's cavalry to execute
some brilliant charges, the results of which were of great
importance, for the Russians were driven out of hand as far as
the village of Austerlitz.

While this splendid success was being won by our left
wing, the centre, consisting of the troops under Soult and
Bernadotte, which the Emperor had posted at the bottom of
the Goldbach ravine, where it was concealed by a thick fog,
dashed forwards towards the hill on which stands the village
of Pratzen. This was the moment when that brilliant sun
of Austerlitz, the recollection of which Napoleon so delighted
to recall, burst forth in all its splendour. Marshal Soult
carried not only the village of Pratzen, but also the vast
tableland of that name, which was the culminating point of
the whole country, and consequently the key of the battle-
field. There, under the Emperor's eyes, the sharpest of the
fighting took place, and the Russians were beaten back. But
one battalion, the 4th of the line, of which Prince Joseph,
Napoleon's brother, was colonel, allowing itself to be carried
too far in pursuit of the enemy, was charged and broken
up by the Noble Guard and the Grand Duke Constantine's
cuirassiers, losing its eagle. Several lines of Russian cavalry
quickly advanced to support this momentary success of the
guards, but Napoleon hurled against them the Mamelukes,
the mounted chasseurs, and the mounted grenadiers of his
guard, under Marshal Bessieres and General Rapp. The
melee was of the most sanguinary kind ; the Russian squad-
rons were crushed and driven back beyond the village of
Austerlitz with immense loss. Our troopers captured many
colours and prisoners, among the latter Prince Repnin, com-
mander of the Noble Guard. This regiment, composed of
the most brilliant of the young Russian nobility, lost heavily,
because the swagger in which they had indulged against the
French having come to the ears of our soldiers, these, and
above all the mounted grenadiers, attacked them with fury,
shouting as they passed their great sabres through their bodies :
'We will give the ladies of St. Petersburg something to cry for!'

The painter Gerard, in his picture of the battle of Austerlitz,

II

1 62 MEMOIRS OB THE BARON DE MARBOT

has taken for his subject the moment when General Rapp,
coming wounded out of the fight, and covered with his enemies'
blood and his own, is presenting to the Emperor the flags just
captured and his prisoner, Prince Repnin. I was present at
this imposing spectacle, which the artist has reproduced with
wonderful accuracy. All the heads are portraits, even that of
the brave chasseur who, making no complaint, though he had
been shot through the body, had the courage to come up to the
Emperor and fall stone dead as he presented the standard
which he had just taken. Napoleon, wishing to honour his
memory, ordered the painter to find a place for him in his
composition. In the picture may be seen also a Mameluke,
who is carrying in one hand an enemy's flag and holds in
the other the bridle of his dying horse. This man, named
Mustapha, was well known in the guard for his courage and
ferocity. During the charge he had pursued the Grand Duke
Constantine, who only got rid of him by a pistol-shot, which
severely wounded the Mameluke's horse. Mustapha, grieved
at having only a standard to offer to the Emperor, said in his
broken French as he presented it : ' Ah, if me catch Prince
Constantine, me cut him head off and bring it to Emperor ! '
Napoleon, disgusted, replied : * Will you hold your tongue,
you savage ? ' But to finish the account of the battle. While
Marshals Lannes, Soult, and Murat, with the imperial guard,
were beating the right and centre of the allied army, and
driving them back beyond the village of Austerlitz, the enemy's
left, falling into the trap laid by Napoleon when he made a
show of keeping close to the pools, threw itself on the village
of Telnitz, captured it, and, crossing the Goldbach, prepared to
occupy the road to Vienna. But the enemy had taken a false
prognostic of Napoleon's genius when they supposed him
capable of committing such a blunder as to leave undefended
a road by which, in the event of disaster, his retreat was
secured ; for our right was guarded by the divisions under
Davout, concealed in the rear in the little town of Gross
Reigen. From this point Davout fell upon the allies at the
moment when he saw their masses entangled in the defiles
between the lakes of Telnitz and Monitz, and the stream.

The Emperor, whom we left on the plateau of Pratzen,
having freed himself from the enemy's right and centre, which
were in flight on the other side of Austerlitz, descended from the
heights of Pratzen with a small force of all arms, including Soult's
corps and his guard, and went with ail speed towards Telnitz,
and took the enemy's columns in rear at the moment when
Davout was attacking in front. At once the heavy masses of

OVERTURES FOR PEACE . 1 63

Austrians and Russians, packed on the narrow roadways which
lead beside the Goldbach brook, finding themselves between
two fires, fell into an indescribable confusion. All ranks were
mixed up together, and each sought to save himself by flight.
Some hurled themselves headlong into the marshes which
border the pools, but our infantry followed them there. Others
hoped to escape by the road that lies between the two pools ;
our cavalry charged them, and the butchery was frightful.
Lastly, the greater part of the enemy, chiefly Russians, sought
to pass over the ice. It was very thick, and five or six
thousand men, keeping some kind of order, had reached the
middle of the Satschan lake, when Napoleon, calling up the
artillery of his guard, gave the order to fire on the ice. It broke
at countless points, and a mighty cracking was heard. The
water, oozing through the fissures, soon covered the floes, and
we saw thousands of Russians, with their horses, guns, and
wagons, slowly settle down into the depths. It was a
horribly majestic spectacle which I shall never forget. In
an instant the surface of the lake was covered with every-
thing that could swim. Men and horses struggled in the
water amongst the floes. Some — a very small number —
succeeded in saving themselves by the help of poles and
ropes, which our soldiers reached to them from the shore,
but the greater part were drowned.

The number of combatants at the Emperor's disposal in
this battle was 68,000 men ; that of the allied army amounted
to 82,000 men. Our loss in killed and wounded was about
8,000 men ; our enemies admitted that theirs, in killed, wounded,
and drowned, reached 14,000. We had made 18,000 prisoners,
captured 150 guns, and a great quantity of standards and colours.

After giving the order to pursue the enemy in every
direction, the Emperor betook himself to his new head-
quarters at the post-house of Posoritz on the Olmiitz road.
As may be imagined, he was radiant, but frequently expressed
regret that the very eagle we had lost should have belonged to
the 4th regiment of the line, of which his brother Joseph was
colonel, and should have been captured by the regiment of the
Grand Duke Constantine, brother of the Emperor of Russia.
The coincidence was, in truth, rather quaint, and made the loss
more noticeable. But Napoleon soon received great consola-
tion. Prince John of Lichtenstein came from the Emperor of
Austria to request an interview, and Napoleon, understanding
that this would result in a peace and would deliver him from
the fear of seeing the Prussians march on his rear before he
was clear of his present enemy, granted it.

164 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MAR BO T

Of all the divisions of the French imperial guard, it was the
mounted chasseurs who suffered the heaviest loss in their great
charge against the Russian guard on the Pratzen plateau. My
poor friend, Captain Fournier, had been killed, and General
Morland too. The Emperor, always on the look-out for any-
thing that might kindle the spirit of emulation among the
troops, decided that General Morland's body should be placed
in the memorial building which he proposed to erect on the
Esplanade des Invalides at Paris. The surgeons, having
neither the time nor the materials necessary to embalm the
general's body on the battle-field, put it into a barrel of rum,
which was transported to Paris. But subsequent events having
delayed the construction of the monument destined for General
Morland, the barrel in which he had been placed was still
standing in one of the rooms of the School of Medicine when
Napoleon lost the Empire in 1814. Not long afterwards the
barrel broke through decay, and people were much surprised to
find that the rum had made the general's moustaches grow to
such an extraordinary extent that they fell below his waist.
The corpse was in perfect preservation, but, in order to get
possession of it, the family was obliged to bring an action
against some scientific man who had made a curiosity of it.
Cultivate the love of glory and go and get killed, to let some
oaf of a naturalist set you up in his library between a rhinoceros
horn and a stuffed crocodile !

I did not receive any wound at the battle of Austerlitz,
though I was often in a very exposed position ; notably at the
time of the cavalry melee on the Pratzen plateau. The
Emperor had sent me with orders to General Rapp, whom I
succeeded with great difficulty in reaching in the middle of that
terrible hurly-burly of slaughterers and slaughtered. My horse
came in contact with that of one of the Noble Guard, and our
sabres were on the point of crossing, when we were forced
apart by the combatants, and I got off with a severe contusion.
But the next day I incurred a much greater danger of a very
different kind from those with which one ordinarily meets on
the field of battle. It happened in this way. On the morning
of the 3rd, the Emperor mounted and rode round the different
positions where the fights of the day before had taken place.
Having reached the shores of the Satschan lake, Napoleon
dismounted, and was chatting with several marshals round
a camp fire, when he saw floating a hundred yards from the
embankment a large isolated ice floe, on which was stretched
a poor Russian non-commissioned officer with a decoration.

THE MAN ON THE ICE 1 65

The poor fellow could not help himself, having got a bullet
through his thigh, and his blood had stained the ice floe
which supported him. It was a horrible sight. Seeing a
numerous staff surrounded by guards, the man judged that
Napoleon must be there ; he raised himself as well as he
could, and cried out that as soldiers of all countries became
brothers when the fight was over, he begged his life of the
powerful Emperor of the French. Napoleon's interpreter
having translated this entreaty, he was touched by it, and
ordered General Bertrand, his aide-de-camp, to do what he
could to save the poor man. Straightway several men of the
escort, and even two staff officers, seeing two great tree-
stems on the bank, pushed them into the water, and then,
getting astride of them, they thought that by moving their
legs simultaneously they would drive these pieces of wood
forward. But scarcely were they a fathom from the edge
than they rolled over, throwing into the water the men whc
bestrode them. Their clothes were saturated in a moment,
and as it was freezing very hard, the cloth of their sleeves and
their trousers became stiff as they swam, and their limbs, shut
up, as it were, in cases, could not move, so that several came
near to being drowned, and they only got back to land with
great difficulty, by the help of ropes which were thrown to them.
I bethought me then of saying that the swimmers ought
to have stripped ; in the first place, to preserve their freedom
of movement, and secondly, to avoid having to pass the night
in wet clothes. General Bertrand having heard this repeated
it to the Emperor, who declared that I was right and that the
others had shown more zeal than discretion. I do not wish
to make myself out better than I am, so I will admit that just
having taken part in a battle where I had seen thousands of
dead and dying, the edge had been taken off my sensibility,
and I did not feel philanthropic enough to run the risk of a
bad cold by contesting with the ice floes the life of an enemy.
I felt quite content with deploring his sad fate. But the
Emperor's answer piqued me, and it seemed to me that I
should be open to ridicule if I gave advice and did not dare to
carry it into execution. So I leapt from my horse, and stripped
myself naked and dashed into the water. I had gone fast in
the course of the day and got hot, so that the chill struck me
keenly, but I was young and vigorous and a good swimmer ;
the Emperor's presence encouraged me, and I struck out
towards the Russian sergeant. At the same time my example,
and probably the praise given me by the Emperor, determined
a lieutenant of artillery, by name Roumestain, to imitate me.

1 66 MEMOIRS OS THE BARON DE MAR EOT

While he was undressing I was advancing, but with a
good deal more difficulty than I had foreseen. The older
and stronger ice, which had been smashed to pieces the day
before, had almost entirely disappeared, but a new skin had
formed some lines in thickness, the sharp edges of which
scratched the skin of my arms, breast, and neck in a very
unpleasant fashion. The artillery officer, who had caught me
up half-way, had not perceived it at all, having profited by
the path which I had opened in the new ice. He called my
attention to this fact, and generously demanded to be allowed
to take his turn at leading, to which I agreed, for I was
cruelly cut up. At last we reached the huge floe of old ice
on which the poor Russian was lying, and thought that the
most laborious part of our enterprise was achieved. There
we were quite wrong, for as soon as we began to push the
floe forward the layer of new ice which covered the surface
of the water, being broken by contact with it, piled itself up
in front, so as in a short time to form a mass which not only
resisted our efforts, but began to break the edges of the big
floe. The bulk of this got smaller every moment, and we
began to fear that the poor man whom we were trying to
save would be drowned before our eyes. The edges, more-
over, of the floe were remarkably sharp, so that we had to
choose spots on which to rest our hands and our chests as we
pushed. We were at our last gasp. Finally, by way of a
crowning stroke, as we got near the bank the ice split in
several places, and the portion on which the Russian lay was
reduced to a slab only a few feet in breadth, quite insufficient
to bear his weight. He was on the point of sinking when
my comrade and I, feeling bottom at length, slipped our
shoulders under the ice slab, and bore it to the shore. They
threw us ropes, which we fastened round the Russian, and he
was at last hoisted on to the beach. We had to use the
same means to get out of the water, for we were wearied,
torn, bruised, and bleeding, and could hardly stand. My kind
comrade Massy, who had watched me with the greatest anxiety
throughout my swim, had been so thoughtful as to have his
horse-cloth warmed before the camp fire, and as soon as I
was out of the water he wrapped me in it. After a good rub
down I put on my clothes and wanted to stretch out by the
fire, but this Dr. Larrey forbad, and ordered me to walk
about, to do which I required the help of two chasseurs. The
Emperor came and congratulated the artillery lieutenant and
me on our courage in undertaking and achieving the rescue

TREATMENT AFTER A COLD BATH 1 67

of the wounded Russian, and calling his Mameluke Roustan,
who always carried refreshments with him on his horse, he
poured us out a glass of excellent rum, and asked us, laugh-
ing, how we had liked our bath. As for the Russian sergeant,
the Emperor directed Dr. Larrey to attend to him, and gave
him several pieces of gold. He was fed and put into dry
clothes, and after being wrapped in warm rugs, he was taken
to a house in Telnitz which was used as an ambulance, and
transferred the next day to the hospital at Brunn. The poor
lad blessed the Emperor as well as M. Roumestain and me,
and would kiss our hands. He was a Lithuanian, a native,
that is, of a province of the old Poland now joined to Russia.
As soon as he was well he declared that he would never serve
any other than the Emperor Napoleon, so he returned to
France with our wounded and was enrolled in the Polish legion.
Ultimately he became a sergeant in the lancers of the guard,
and whenever I came across him he testified his gratitude in
broken, but expressive, language.

My icy bath, and the really superhuman efforts which I
had had to make to save the poor man, might have cost me
dear if I had been less young and vigorous. M. Roumestain,
who did not possess the latter advantage to the same extent as
I, was seized that same evening with violent congestion of the
lungs, and had to be taken to the hospital, where he passed
several months between life and death. He never, indeed,
recovered completely, and had to leave the service invalided
some years later. As for myself, though I was very weak, I
got myself hoisted on to my horse when the Emperor left the
lake to go to the chateau of Austerlitz, where his head-quarters
now were. Napoleon always went at a gallop, and in my
shaken state this pace did not suit me ; still, I kept up, because
the night was coming on and I was afraid of straying ; besides
which, if I had gone at a walk the cold would have got hold
of me. When I reached the chateau it took several men to
help me to dismount, a shivering fit seized me, my teeth were
chattering, and I was quite ill. Colonel Dahlmann, lieutenant-
colonel of the mounted chasseurs, who had just been promoted
to general in place of Morland, grateful doubtless for the
service I had rendered his late chief, took me into one of the
outbuildings of the chateau, where he and his officers were
established. After having given me some very hot tea, his
surgeon rubbed me all over with warm oil ; they swaddled me
in many rugs and stuck me into a great heap of hay, leaving
only my face outside. Gradually a pleasant warmth penetrated

1 68 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

my numbed limbs. I slept sound, and thanks to all this kind
care, as well as to my twenty-three years, I found myself next
morning fresh and in good condition, and was able to mount
my horse and witness an extremely interesting spectacle.

The defeat which the Russians had undergone had thrown
their army into such disorder that all who escaped the disaster
of Austerlitz made haste to reach Galicia and get out of
the victor's power. The rout was complete ; we took many
prisoners and found the roads covered with deserted cannon
and baggage. The Emperor of Russia, who had made sure
of victory, went away in hopeless grief, authorising his ally
Francis II. to make terms with Napoleon. On the very evening
of the battle, the Emperor of Austria, to save his country from
utter ruin, begged an interview of the French Emperor, and
Napoleon agreeing, had halted at the village of Nasiedlowitz.
The interview took place on the 4th, near the mill of Poleny,
between the French and Austrian lines. I was present at
this memorable meeting. Napoleon, starting very early from
the chateau with his staff, was the first at the place of meeting.
He dismounted and was strolling about when, seeing the
Emperor of Austria approaching, he went towards him and
embraced him cordially. A strange sight for the philosopher
to reflect on ! An Emperor of Germany come to humble himself
by suing for peace to the son of a small Corsican family,
not long ago a sub-lieutenant of artillery, whom his talents,
his good fortune, and the courage of the French soldier had
raised to the summit of power, and made the arbiter of the
destinies of Europe !

Napoleon took no unfair advantage of the Austrian Em-
peror's position, so far as we could judge from the distance at
which respect kept us. He was kind and courteous in the
extreme. An armistice was concluded, and it was arranged
that plenipotentiaries should be sent by both parties to Brunn
to negotiate a treaty of peace. The Emperors embraced again
at parting, and returned to their respective quarters. During
the next two days, Napoleon admitted Major Massy and my-
self to a farewell audience, charging us to report to Marshal
Augereau what we had seen. At the same time the Emperor
handed us despatches for the Bavarian Court, which had
returned to Munich, and informed us that Augereau had left
Bregenz and that we should find him at Ulm. We got back
to Vienna and continued our journey, travelling night and day
in spite of the snow, which had began to fall thickly.

CHAPTER XXIII.

We passed part of the winter at Darmstadt in gaieties of all
kinds. The grand ducal troops were commanded by a general
of much merit, Von Stoch. He had a son of my own age, a
lieutenant in the guards — a delightful young man, with whom
I became very intimate, and of whom I shall have more to say.
We were only ten leagues from Frankfort, still a free town, and
very wealthy ; from of old the nest of all the intrigues against
France, and the source of all the false news circulated in
Germany to our injury. Accordingly, on the day after the
battle of Austerlitz, when a report had got about that a battle
had been fought of which the result was not yet known, the
Frankforters were certain that the Russians had won ; several
newspapers went so far in their hatred as to say that our army
had suffered to the extent that not a Frenchman had escaped.
The Emperor, who got reports of everything, took no notice,
until, foreseeing the possibility of a breach with Prussia, he
began gradually to move his armies near to the frontier of that
kingdom. Then, with the view of punishing the Frankforters
for their impertinence, he ordered Marshal Augereau to leave
Darmstadt at short notice, and quarter himself with his whole
army corps on Frankfort and the neighbourhood. The Em-
peror's order required, further, that on the day of the entry of
our troops the town was, in token of welcome, to give one
louis-d'or to every private, two to the corporals, three to the
sergeants, ten to the sub-lieutenants, and so forth. Moreover,
the inhabitants were to lodge the troops and board them at the
following rates — six hundred francs a day for the marshal,
four hundred for lieutenant-generals, two hundred for major-
generals, one hundred for colonels ; and every month the state
was to send a million francs to the Imperial Treasury at Paris.
The authorities of Frankfort, terrified at so exorbitant a
demand, hastened to the French envoy ; but he, primed before-
hand by Napoleon, replied : ■ You asserted that not a single
Frenchman had escaped the sword of the Russians ; the Em-
peror Napoleon wished therefore to put you in a position to
count the number composing a single corps of the Grand
Army; there are six more of the same strength, and the Guard

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170 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MAR BO T

is coming presently.' This answer, when repeated to the in-
habitants, filled them with consternation. Vast as their wealth
was, they must be ruined if this state of things lasted for long.
But Marshal Augereau appealed in their favour to the Em-
peror's clemency, and received permission to act as he pleased.
In this way he took upon himself to retain only his staff and
one battalion in the city ; the other troops were distributed
among the neighbouring states. From that time joy returned,
and the inhabitants, to show their gratitude to the marshal,
entertained him frequently. I lodged with a rich banker,
named Chamot, who, during the eight months I stayed with
him, was most kind to me, as were all his household.

While we were at Frankfort a sad mishap which befell an
officer of the 7th division was the cause of my being sent on a
twofold errand, the first part of which was unpleasant enough,
while the second was agreeable and even splendid. As the

result of a brain fever, Lieutenant N , of the 7th chasseurs,

fell into a complete state of childishness. Marshal Augereau
assigned to me the duty of taking the poor young man, first, to
Paris, to see Murat, who had always taken an interest in him ;
then, if Murat wished it, to the Quercy. As I had not seen my
mother since I set out for the campaign of Austerlitz, and as I
knew that she was not far from Saint-Cere, at the chateau oi
Bras, which my father had bought some time before his death,
I accepted with pleasure a mission which, while enabling me to
be of service to Marshal Murat, would allow me to pass some
days with my mother. The marshal sent me a good carriage,
and I took the road to Paris. But the heat and want of sleep
excited my poor companion to such a degree that, passing from
idiocy to raving madness, he went near to kill me with a blow
from a coach-wrench. Never did I have a more unpleasant
journey. At last I reached Paris, and brought Lieutenant

N to Murat, who resided during the summer at the chateau

of Neuilly. The marshal begged me to complete my task, and

to bring N to the Quercy. I agreed in the hope of seeing

my mother ; but observed that I could not start for twenty-four
hours, since Marshal Augereau had entrusted me with de-
spatches for the Emperor, ancl I was going to Rambouillet to
find him. I went thither in pursuance of my orders that very day.

I do not know what were the contents of the despatches
which I bore, but they made the Emperor very thoughtful.
He sent for M. de Talleyrand, and went off with him to Paris,
ordering me to follow, and to present myself that evening to
Marshal Duroc. I obeyed, and waited for a long time in one
of the rooms of the Tuileries, till Duroc. coming out of the

TO PARIS AND BACK 171

Emperor's study and leaving the door ajar, gave directions
in a loud voice for an orderly officer to get ready to start by
the post on a distant mission. But Napoleon called out :
1 Duroc, that is unnecessary, for we have got Marbot here
going back to Augereau ; he can go on to Berlin ; Frankfort
is half-way there.' Accordingly, Duroc instructed me to get
ready to go to Berlin with the Emperor's despatches. I was
annoyed, because I must give up going to see my mother ; but
I had to resign myself. I hastened to Neuilly, to let Murat
know ; and as for my own affairs, thinking that my new mission
was very urgent, I returned to the Tuileries, but Duroc allowed
me till the next morning. I turned up at dawn, and was put
off till the evening ; in the evening again till next morning,
and so on for eight days. Still, I bore it with patience, because
each time that I appeared Duroc only kept me a moment,
which allowed me to go about in Paris. He had handed me a
pretty large sum of money in order to set myself up in entirely
new uniforms, so that I might make a good appearance before
the King of Prussia, into whose hands I was myself to give
the Emperor's letter. You see that Napoleon overlooked no
detail when it was a question of raising the French army in the
eyes of foreigners.

I got off at last, after receiving the despatches and instruc-
tions from the Emperor bidding me take special note of the
Prussian troops, their bearing, their arms, horses, and so on.
M. de Talleyrand gave me a packet for M. Laforest, our
ambassador at Berlin, with whom I was to stay. On reaching
Mainz, which was then in French territory, I learnt that
Marshal Augereau was at Wiesbaden. I went there and
surprised him much by telling him that I was going to Berlin
by the Emperor's order. Travelling night and day in splendid
July weather, I reached Berlin somewhat tired. In those days
the roads in Prussia were not metalled, and one rolled along,
nearly always at a walk, on shifting sand, into which the wheels
sank deep and raised intolerable clouds of dust.

M. Laforest received me most kindly. I put up at the
Embassy, and was presented to the King and Queen, and the
princes and princesses. The King displayed much emotion
on receiving the Emperor's letter. He was a tall and fine
man, with a face expressing much kindness, but lacking in the
animation which indicates a strong character. The Queen was
in truth very handsome, but disfigured by the thick wrapping
which sne always wore round her neck — it was said, to conceal
a decided goitre, which, through medical maltreatment, had

172 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

become an open sore. Her figure was full of grace, and hei
countenance, at once bright and dignified, expressed strength
of will. I was most graciously received ; and as it was a month
before the answer which I had to take back to the Emperor was
ready — so difficult, it seems, was it to settle — the Queen was
kind enough to invite me to all the balls and parties which she
gave during my stay.

Of all the members of the royal family, the one who treated
me, to all appearances at least, with most kindness, was the
King's nephew, Prince Lewis. I had been warned that he
detested the French, and especially their Emperor ; but as he
was deeply interested in military matters, he never ceased
questioning me about the siege of Genoa, the battles of
Marengo and Austerlitz, and upon the organisation of our
army. This prince was a splendid man, and, in respect to
mental gifts and character, was the only member of the royal
family who bore any resemblance to the great Frederick. I
made acquaintance with various persons about the Court, and
especially with some officers whom I accompanied every day
to parades and manoeuvres. Thus I passed my time at Berlin
very pleasantly, and our ambassador paid me every attention ;
but in course of time I perceived that he wished to make me
play in a delicate affair a part which would have been improper
for me, and I had to adopt an attitude of reserve.

But let us consider a little Prussia's position with regard to
Napoleon, with which, as I learnt later on, the despatches
which I brought had much to do. By accepting from
Napoleon the gift of the Electorate of Hanover, an hereditary
possession of the family now reigning in England, the
Cabinet of Berlin had alienated not only the anti-French
party, but almost the whole Prussian nation. German self-
esteem was offended by the successes gained by the French
over the Austrians, and Prussia feared, besides, to see her
commerce ruined in consequence of the war which the
Cabinet of London had just declared upon her. The Queen
and Prince Lewis sought to profit by this excitement in
bringing the King to join Russia, which, though deserted by
Austria, still had hopes of taking revenge for Austerlitz, and
to go to war with France. The Emperor Alexander was still
supported in his plans against France by his favourite aide-
de-camp, the Polish Prince Czartoryski. Still the anti-French
party, though increasing every day, had not yet succeeded
in deciding the King of Prussia to break with Napoleon, but,
finding itself supported by Russia, it redoubled its efforts.

WAR WITH PRUSSIA 173

It was clever enough to profit by Napoleon's mistakes in
placing his brother Lewis on the throne of Holland, and nomi-
nating himself Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine —
an act which was represented to the King of Prussia as a step
towards re-establishing Charlemagne's Empire. Napoleon, they
said, would end by making all the sovereigns of Germany come
down to the rank of his vassals. Exaggerated as these asser-
tions were, they yet produced a great revolution in the King's
mind, and from that time his conduct towards France became
so equivocal that Napoleon decided to write to him with his
own hand, regardless of ordinary diplomatic efforts, to ask, Are
you for or against me ? Such was the drift of the letter which I
had handed to the King. His council, wishing to gain time to arm,
delayed the answer, which was what kept me so long at Berlin.

At length, in the month of August, a general explosion against
France broke out, and the Queen, Prince Lewis, the nobility,
the army, and the whole population cried out loudly for war.
The King let himself be carried away, but since, although he
had decided to break the peace, he still cherished a faint hope
that hostilities might be avoided, it appears that in his answer
he undertook to disarm if the Emperor would recall to France
all the troops that he had in Germany. This Napoleon
would not do until Prussia had disarmed, so that they were
revolving in a vicious circle, from which war was the only escape.

Before my departure from Berlin I had evidence of the
frenzy to which their hatred of Napoleon carried the Prussian
nation, usually so calm. The officers whom I knew ventured
no longer to speak to me or salute me ; many Frenchmen were
insulted by the populace; the men-at-arms of the Noble Guard
pushed their swagger to the point of whetting their sword-
blades on the stone steps of the French ambassador's house.
In all haste I betook myself back to Paris, taking with me
copious information on the state of affairs in Prussia. As
I passed through Frankfort I found Marshal Augereau in
much grief, having just heard of the death of his wife, a good
and excellent person, whom he deeply regretted and whose
loss was felt by the whole staff, for she had been most kind to us.

When I got to Paris I gave the Emperor a reply in the
King of Prussia's own hand. He read it, and questioned me
on what I had seen and heard at Berlin. When I told him
how the guardsmen had whetted their sabres on the steps of
the French Embassy, he brought his hand to his sword-hilt,
and indignantly exclaimed, ' The insolent braggarts shall soon
learn that our weapons need no sharpening ! '

CHAPTER XXIV.

My mission being at an end, I returned to Marshal Augereau
and passed the whole month of September at Frankfort. We
prepared for war by getting all the amusement we could, for we
thought that, nothing being more uncertain than soldiers' lives,
they had better make haste to enjoy them.

Meanwhile, the different divisions of the Grand Army were
concentrating on the banks of the Main. The Emperor had
just reached Wurzburg, and his guard was crossing the Rhine.
The Prussians on their side were marching, and on their way
through Saxony had compelled the Elector to join his forces
with theirs, this compulsory and therefore insecure alliance
being the only one which the King of Prussia possessed in
Germany. It was true he was expecting the Russians, but
their army was still in Poland, behind the Niemen, more than
150 leagues from the country where the destiny of Prussia was
to be decided. It is difficult to conceive the blundering which,
during seven years, controlled the decisions of the Cabinets of
states hostile to France. We have seen how, in 1805, the
Austrians attacked us on the Danube, and allowed themselves
to be beaten in detail at Ulm, instead of waiting till the
Russians could join them and Prussia declare against Napo-
leon. Now, in 1806, we had these same Prussians, who a
year before might, by joining them, have hindered the defeat
of the Austrians and Russians, not only declaring war against
us when we were at peace with the Cabinet of Vienna, but
imitating its fault by attacking us without awaiting the
Russians. Then, three years later, in 1809, the Austrians
renewed the war against Napoleon single-handed, just when
he was at peace with Prussia and Russia. This want of
unanimity secured victory for France. Unhappily it was not
so in 1813, when we were crushed by the coalition of our
enemies.

The King of Prussia's mistake in 1806, in declaring war
against Napoleon before the Russians had come up, was
aggravated by the fact that his troops, although well taught,

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THE PRUSSIAN ARMY 175

were so badly organised that they were not fit to match
themselves with ours. In fact, at this period a company or
troop in Prussia was the property of its captain. Men, horses,
arms, accoutrements, everything belonged to him. He farmed
it at the price of a fixed sum paid to the Government. Thus,
all losses being at their expense, it was to the interests of the
captains to spare their companies, whether on the march or on
the battle-field ; and as the number of men which they were
bound to have was fixed, they enrolled in the first place all the
Prussians who presented themselves, and then all the vaga-
bonds in Europe whom their agent's sergeants could enlist
in the neighbouring states. But as this did not suffice, the
Prussian recruiting sergeants carried off a great number of
men by main force, and these having become soldiers without
their own consent were bound to serve till they were past the
age for service. Then they were given a beggar's licence, for
Prussia was too poor to give them a hospital or retiring
pension. During their period of service these soldiers were
mingled with genuine Prussians, the number of whom had to
be at least half of the strength of each company in order to
prevent revolts.

To maintain an army compounded of such heterogeneous
elements an iron discipline was needed, wherefore corporal
punishment was inflicted for the slightest fault. The numerous
non-commissioned officers, all Prussians, carried a cane, which
they frequently used. According to the recognised saying,
they reckoned one cane to every seven men. Among the
foreign soldiers desertion was mercilessly punished with death.
You may imagine the terrible position of these foreigners,
who, having enlisted in a moment of drunkenness, or been
carried off by force, found themselves far from their own
country, and in a bitter climate, condemned to be Prussian
soldiers — that is to say, slaves during their whole lives. And
what lives they were ! With scarcely food enough to keep
them alive, sleeping on straw, very lightly clothed, no cloaks,
even in the coldest winter, and with pay insufficient to meet
their wants. Indeed they did not wait to beg until they had
received licence to do so with their discharge, for when out
of sight of their officers they would put out their hands.
Both at Potsdam and Berlin it has happened more than once
that grenadiers at the King's very gate have "begged alms of
me. The officers, for the most part, were educated and did
their duty well ; but half of them were foreigners, poor gentle-
men from almost every country in Europe, who, having taken

176 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

service only to get a living, felt no patriotism or devotion
towards Prussia. Naturally most of them deserted her when
she was in trouble. Again, promotion going only by
seniority, the great majority of the Prussian officers were
old and worn out, and in no state to undergo the hardships
of war. It was with an army thus composed and thus
officered that the conquerors of Egypt, Italy, and Germany
were to be withstood. Madness it was indeed, but the
Cabinet of Berlin, misled by the victories which the great
Frederick had gained with mercenary troops, thought that it
was going to be the same thing again, forgetting that the
times had greatly changed.

On October 6 Marshal Augereau and the 7th corps left
Frankfort to march towards the frontier of Saxony, of which
the Prussians were already in occupation. It was a splendid
autumn, a little frost at night and a brilliant sun by day.
My little establishment was well organised. I had a good
campaigning servant, Francois Woirland, an old soldier of the
Black Legion, a regular swashbuckler and a grand marauder.
But these make the best servants on campaign, for with them
one never runs short of anything. I had three good horses,
good accoutrements, a little money. I was very well in health,
so I marched gaily to meet coming events.

Our road lay by Aschaffenburg, whence we went on to
Wurzburg. There we found the Emperor, who held a
march-past of the troops of the 7th corps, amid great
enthusiasm. Napoleon, who was in possession of notes
about all the regiments, and knew how to use them cleverly
so as to flatter the self-esteem of every one, said, when he
saw the 44th of the line, ' Of all the corps of my army you
are the one where there are most stripes, so your three bat-
talions count in my eyes for six.' The soldiers replied with
enthusiasm, * We will prove it before the enemy.' To the
78th light infantry, composed mainly of men from Lower
Languedoc and the Pyrenees, the Emperor said, * There are
the best marchers in the army ; one never sees a man of them
fallen out, especially when the enemy has to be met.' Then
he added, laughing, * But to do you justice in full, I must
tell you that you are the greatest rowdies and looters in the
army.' ' Quite true, quite true,' answered the soldiers, every
one of whom had a duck, fowl, or goose in his knapsack.
This was an abuse which had to be tolerated, fur Napoleon's
armies, once on campaign, only received rations at rare
intervals, each living on the country as bewSt he could — a

S A ALP ELD 177

method which doubtless had great inconveniences, but also
one immense advantage : it allowed us to push constantly
forward, without being hampered by provision wagons and
stores. This gave us a great superiority over our enemies,
whose movements depended on the baking or the arrival of
bread, on the pace of herds, and the like.

From Wurzburg the 7th corps marched to Coburg, where
the marshal was quartered in the prince's palace. All the
family had fled at our approach, except the prince himself,
a celebrated Austrian field-marshal. The old soldier had
fought the French long enough to estimate their character,
and had confidence enough in them to await them. His
confidence was not misplaced, for the marshal sent him
a guard of honour, made a point of returning his visit,
and ordered that the greatest respect should be shown
him.

We were now at no great distance from the Prussians,
the King being at Erfurt. The Queen was with him, and
rode about the army on horseback, seeking to kindle the army
by her presence. Napoleon, conceiving that this was not a
part befitting a princess, published in his bulletins some very
insulting remarks about her. The French and Prussian out-
posts met at length on October 9, at Schleitz, and a slight
engagement took place under the Emperor's eyes, where the
enemy was beaten — an ill-omened commencement. On the
same day, Prince Lewis, with a force of 10,000 men, was in
position at Saalfeld, a town on the banks of the Saale in the
middle of a plain, which is reached by crossing very steep hills.
As the divisions of Lannes and Augereau had to advance
on Saalfeld through these hills, if Prince Lewis wished to
await the French, he should have taken up his position in
that country, full as it was of narrow gorges where a few
troops could stop much greater numbers. He neglected this
advantage, however, probably owing to his persuasion that the
Prussian troops were worth very much more than the French.
He even carried his contempt of all precautions so far as to
place part of his forces with a marshy brook in their rear,
thus making their retreat in case of reverse very difficult.
General Muller, an old Swiss officer in the Prussian service,
whom the King had attached to his nephew in order to
check his impetuosity, made, indeed, some remarks to this
effect, which Prince Lewis took in bad part, adding that
there was no need of so many precautions to beat the French —
it was enough to fall upon them as soon as they appeared.

12

178 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

They appeared on the morning of the 10th, Lannes' division
leading ; Augereau's, which followed, did not come up in time
to take part in the battle. Nor was its presence required,
Lannes' force being more than sufficient. Augereau, while
waiting for his division to issue into the open ground, took up
his position with his staff on a hillock, from which we had a
perfect view of the plain and could follow with the eye all the
turning points of the battle.

Prince Lewis might yet have fallen back on the Prussian
force which was occupying Jena, but having been the prime
instigator of the war it seemed to him unseemly to retire
without fighting. He was cruelly punished for his temerity.
Marshal Lannes, cleverly taking advantage of the high ground
under which Prince Lewis had so imprudently deployed his
troops, first played upon them with artillery, and when they
were shaken sent forward his masses of infantry, who, rapidly
descending from the high ground, poured like a torrent on th&
Prussian battalions and broke them up in a moment. Prince
Lewis, losing his head, and probably seeing the mistake he
had made, tried to repair it by putting himself at the head
of his cavalry, with which he impetuously charged the gth
and 10th Hussars. At first he gained a slight advantage,
but our hussars, returning to the charge with fury, threw
back the Prussian cavalry into the marshes, their infantry
at the same time flying in confusion before ours. In the
middle of the scuffle Prince Lewis found himself engaged
hand-to-hand with a sergeant of the 10th Hussars, named
Guindet. Being summoned to surrender, he answered with
a sword-stroke which laid open the Frenchman's face, where-
upon the other ran the prince through the body, killing him on
the spot.

After the battle and the complete rout of the enemy the
prince's body was recognised, and Marshal Lannes had it borne
with due honour to the Castle of Saalfeld. There it was
handed over to the princely family of that name, connected
with the royal house of Prussia, with whom Prince Lewis had
passed the previous day and evening in making merry over
the coming of the French, and even, it was said, in giving
a ball — and now he was brought back to them vanquished
and slain ! I saw his body the next day, laid out on a
marble table ; he was naked to the waist, still wearing his
leather breeches and his boots, and seemed to sleep. He was
indeed a handsome man. I could not refrain from sad reflec-
tions on the mutability of human affairs as I gazed on the

THE WHIRLIGIG OF TIME 179

remains of this young man, born on the steps of the throne,
but lately so beloved and so powerful. The news of his death
caused consternation in the enemy's army, and, indeed, through-
out Prussia.

The 7th corps passed October 11 at Saalfeld. In the next
two days we reached Kala, where we fell in with some frag-
ments of the Prussian troops who had been beaten before
Saalfeld. Marshal Augereau attacked them, but they offered
little resistance, and laid down their arms. Among the rest
was captured Prince Henry's regiment, in which Augereau had
once been a private. As it was difficult in Prussia for any
except men of high rank to become field officers, and as
sergeants were never promoted to sub-lieutenant, his company
had still the same captain and the same sergeant-major. The
Prussian captain, brought by a whim of fortune back into the
presence of his former soldier, now become a marshal and
distinguished for many brilliant services, recognised Augereau
perfectly, but behaved like a man of sense, and talked to the
marshal as if he had never seen him. The marshal invited
him to dine, made him sit next to him, and, knowing that his
baggage had been captured, lent him all the money that he
required, and gave him introductions in France. How curious
must that captain's reflections have been ! But no words can
paint the astonishment of the old sergeant-major at seeing his
former subordinate covered with decorations, surrounded by a
numerous staff, and in command of an army corps. It seemed
to him like a dream. The marshal was much less reserved
with this man than he had been with the captain ; he addressed
him by name, shook hands with him, and gave him twenty-five
louis for himself, and two for every one of the soldiers of his
time who were still in the company. This struck us as in very
good taste.

The marshal reckoned on sleeping at Kala, which is only
three leagues from Jena, but just as night was falling the
7th corps received orders to proceed at once to the latter
town, which the Emperor had entered without opposition at
the head of his guard and of Lannes' troops. The Prussians
had abandoned the place in silence, but it had been set on fire,
probably by some candles having been forgotten and left in
stables, and part of the unhappy city was a prey to the spread-
ing flames when Augereau's corps entered about midnight.
It was sad to see the inhabitants, women and old men, half-
clothed, carrying away their children and trying to escape de-
struction by flight, while our soldiers, whom their duty and the

l8o MEMOIRS OP THE BARON DE MARBOT

neighbourhood of the enemy did not allow to leave the ranks,
remained impassible with shouldered arms, like people who
made light of the fire in comparison with the dangers to which
they were shortly to be exposed.

As the fire had not reached the quarter of the town by
which the French were arriving, the troops could move about
freely, and while they were being massed in the open spaces
in the larger streets the marshal and his staff took up their
quarters in a handsome-looking house. I was just returning
from carrying an order when I heard piercing cries coming from
a neighbouring house, one door of which was open. I hurried
up, and guided by the cries made my way into a handsome
suite of rooms, where I perceived two charming young ladies of
eighteen to twenty years old, in night-dresses, struggling with
four or five Hessian soldiers belonging to the regiments which
the Landgrave had sent to join the troops of the French 7th
corps. The men were far gone in liquor, but though they did
not understand a word of French, and I very little German, the
sight of me and my threats produced an effect on them, and
being used to the stick from their officers they took withoul
a word the kicks and blows which, in my indignation, J
administered to them freely as I drove them down the stairs.
Perhaps I was imprudent, for in the middle of the night, in a
town where utter disorder prevailed, being all alone with these
men, I ran the risk of being killed by them ; but they ran away,
and I placed a guard from the marshal's escort in one of the
lower rooms. Then I returned to the young ladies' rooms ;
they had hurriedly put on some clothes, and I received from
them warm expressions of gratitude. They were the daughters
of one of the university professors, and he, having gone with
his wife and servants into the quarter that was on fire, to help
one of their sisters who had just been confined, had left them
all alone, when the Hessian soldiers appeared. One of the
girls said to me with much energy, ' You are marching to battle
at the moment when you have just saved our honour. God
will requite you ; be sure that no harm will happen to you.'
The father and mother, who came back at the same moment,
bringing the young mother and her child, were at first greatly
surprised to find me there, but as soon as they learnt the reason
of my presence they too heaped blessings upon me. I tore
myself away from the thanks of this grateful family to report
myself to Marshal Augereau, who was resting in the neigh-
bouring house while waiting his orders from the Emperor.

CHAPTER XXV.

The town of Jena is commanded by a height called the
Landgrafenberg, at the foot of which flows the Saale. This
is very steep on the side towards Jena, and the only road there
existing is that to Wiemar through the Muhlthal, a long and
difficult passage, the exit from which, covered by a little
wood, was guarded by the Saxon troops in alliance with the
Prussians. A cannon-shot in rear of them, part of the Prussian
army was drawn up in line. The Emperor, being able to reach
the enemy only by this passage, was prepared for heavy losses
in attacking it, for it did not seem possible to turn the position.
But Napoleon's lucky star, which still guided him, furnished
him with an unexpected means. So far as I am aware no
historian has spoken of it, but I can vouch for the fact.1

As we have seen, the King of Prussia had compelled the
Elector of Saxony to join forces with him. The Saxon people
saw with regret that they were involved in a war which could
bring them no advantage in the future, and which in the present
was bringing ruin on their country. The Prussians were there-
fore detested in Saxony, and the Saxon town of Jena shared the
feeling. A priest of the town, excited by the sight of the con-
flagration which was devouring it, and regarding the Prussians
as the enemies of his sovereign and his country, thought he
might give Napoleon the means of driving them from the land
by pointing out to him a little path which infantry could use to
climb the steep sides of the Landgrafenberg. He therefore
guided a detachment of voltigeurs and some staff officers to the
place, which the Prussians, thinking the passage impracticable,
had omitted to guard. Napoleon, however, took a different
view, and on the strength of the report which the officers made
went up there himself, accompanied by Marshal Lannes and
guided by the Saxon parson. Having observed that between
the highest point of the path and the plain which the enemy
occupied there existed a little rocky platform, the Emperor
resolved to assemble there a portion of his troops, who might

1 [Certainly neither Thiers nor Lanfrey seems to have any inkling of the
way in which Napoleon learnt how to get his troops on to the Landgrafen-
berg.]

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1 82 MEMOIRS OB THE BARON DE MARBOT

issue from it as from a citadel to attack the Prussians. The
difficulty of the task was such that no one but Napoleon, com-
manding Frenchmen, could have surmounted it, but he sent
at once for 4,000 pioneering tools from the wagons of the
engineers and artillery, and ordered that every battalion should
work in turn for an hour at widening and levelling the path,
and that as each finished its task it should go and form up
silently on the Landgrafenberg, while another took its place.
They were lighted at their work by torches, the light of which
was concealed from the enemy's eyes by the blaze of Jena.
The nights being long at this period of the year, we had time
to make the climb accessible not only to the columns of infantry
but even to the wagons and the artillery, so that before daylight
the corps of Lannes and Soult, and Augereau's first division,
together with the foot guards, were massed on the Landgrafen-
berg. The term massed was never more correct, for the breasts of
the men of each regiment were almost touching the backs of those
in front of them. But the troops were so well disciplined that, in
spite of the darkness and the packing of more than 40,000 men
on that narrow platform, there was not the least disorder, and
although the enemy, who were occupying Cospoda and Close-
vitz, were only half a cannon-shot off, they perceived nothing.

On the morning of October 14 a thick fog covered the
country and favoured our movements. Augereau's second
division made a feigned attack, advancing from Jena through
the Muhlthal by the Weimar road. Believing this to be the
only point by which we could issue from Jena, the enemy
had massed a considerable force there. But while he was
preparing to defend the narrow passage with vigour, the
Emperor Napoleon caused the troops which he had assembled
on the Landgrafenberg during the night to debouch into the
plain, and drew them up in order of battle. The first cannon-
shots, aided by a light breeze, dispersed the fog, the sun shone
out brilliantly, and the Prussians were aghast at seeing the
French army deployed in line in their front and advancing to
the contest. They could not understand how we had arrived
on the plateau while they believed us at the farther end of
the Jena valley, with no other means of getting at them but
the Weimar road, which they were carefully watching. We
engaged without loss of time, and the first line of the Prussians
and Saxons, under the Prince of Hohenlohe, was forced to give
way. Their reserve was advancing, but we received a strong
reinforcement on our side. Ney's corps and Murat's cavalry,
which had been delayed in the defile, emerging into the plain,
came into action. A Prussian army corps commanded by

JENA 183

General Ruchel checked our columns for a moment, but it
was charged by the French cavalry and almost annihilated,
General Ruchel being killed.

Augereau's first division, on descending from the Landgra-
fenberg into the plain, joined the second arriving at the
Miihlthal, and the corps, following the road from Vienna to
Weimar, captured Cospoda and then the wood of Iserstadt,
while Lannes took Vierzehnheiligen, and Soult Hermstadt.
The Prussian infantry fought badly and the cavalry did not do
much better. We often saw it coming on with loud shouts,
but, intimidated by the calm attitude of our battalions, it never
dared to push the charge home. On getting within fifty paces
of our line it would wheel about, pursued by a hail of bullets
and the hoots of our soldiers. The Saxons fought with courage;
they resisted Augereau's corps for a long time, and only after
the retreat of the Prussian troops did they form in two great
squares and begin to retire firing. Augereau, admiring the
courage of the Saxons, and wishing to spare these brave fellows
unnecessary bloodshed, sent a flag of truce to invite them to
surrender, as they had no longer any hope of support. But
just at that moment Prince Murat, coming up with his cavalry,
launched his cuirassiers and dragoons on the Saxon squares ;
by their resolute charge they broke them and compelled them
to lay down their arms. But the next day the Emperor let
them go free and sent them back to their sovereign, with whom
he lost no time in making peace.

The whole Prussian force retired completely routed along
the Weimar road. The fugitives, with their artillery and
baggage, were crowded at the gates of the city when the
French appeared. Panic-stricken at the sight of them, the
whole mob fled in the greatest disorder, leaving a great
number of prisoners, flags, guns and baggage in our hands.

The town of Weimar, which has been called the ' modern
Athens,' was at that period inhabited by many distinguished
artists and men of science and letters, assembled there from
all parts of Germany under the enlightened patronage of the
reigning duke. The noise of the cannon, the passage of the
fugitives, the entry of the conquerors caused a lively emotion
in this peaceable and studious population. Marshals Lannes
and Soult preserved perfect order, and beyond having to supply
the necessary provisions for the troops, the town underwent no
exactions. The Prince of Weimar was serving in the Prussian
army, nevertheless his palace, in which the princess had
remained, was respected, and none of the marshals took up

184 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

his quarters there. Marshal Augereau's were established near
the gate of the town, in the house of the prince's chief gardener.
All the servants of the establishment having fled, the staff
found nothing to eat, and was reduced to sup off pineapples
and hothouse plums — light food for people who had eaten
nothing for twenty-four hours, had passed the previous night
on their legs, and the whole day in fighting. But we had won,
and that magic word makes privation easy to bear.

The Emperor returned to sleep at Jena, where he received
news of a success no less than that which he had himself
won. The peculiarity of the battle of Jena was that it was,
if one may so say, double, for neither the French nor the
Prussian army was wholly before Jena. Both were divided
into two parts and fought two separate battles. While the
Emperor, issuing from Jena at the head of the corps under
Augereau, Lannes, Soult, and Ney, with his Guard and
Murat's cavalry, was beating in the manner described the
Prussian force under Prince Hohenlohe and General Ruchel,
the King of Prussia, at the head of his main army, com-
manded by the famous Duke of Brunswick and Marshals
Mollendorf and Kalkreuth, had marched from Weimar to-
wards Naumburg, and slept at the village of Auerstadt, not
far from the French corps of Bernadotte and Davout, who were
in Naumburg and the neighbouring villages. In order to
rejoin the Emperor on the side towards Apolda, in the level
ground beyond Jena, Bernadotte and Davout had to pass the
Saale in front of Naumburg and traverse the narrow hilly
defile of Kosen. Although Davout supposed the King of
Prussia and the bulk of his army to be in front of the Em-
peror, and had no idea that they were so close to him as
Auerstadt, the careful soldier took possession during the night
of the defile of Kosen and the steep hills enclosing it. The
King of Prussia and his marshals had omitted to occupy them,
imitating the mistake which the Prince of Hohenlohe had com-
mitted at Jena in not guarding the Landgrafenberg. The
united troops of Bernadotte and Davout amounted only to 44,000
men, while the King of Prussia had 80,000. At daybreak
on the 14th the French marshals learnt the superiority of the
forces which they had to fight, so on all accounts it was their
duty to act in concert. Davout, realising this, declared that
he was quite willing to put himself under the orders of
Bernadotte ; but the latter, making small account of laurels
which he had to share with another, and unable to make a
sacrifice in the interest of his country, thought fit to act inde-
pendently. His pretext was that as the Emperor had ordered

auerstAdt 185

him to be at Dornburg by the 13th, he must proceed there on
the 14th, although Napoleon had written to him in the night
that, if by any chance he was still at Naumburg, he was to
stay there and support Davout.1 Bernadotte, thinking this
duty below his reputation, left to Davout the task of defending
himself as best he could, while he marched along the Saale
to Dornburg. Though he did not find a single enemy there,
and from the high position which he occupied could see the
terrible combat which the intrepid Davout was waging two
leagues away, Bernadotte ordered his division to bivouac and
quietly prepare their soup. In vain did his generals reproach
him with this culpable inaction ; he would not stir. Whence
it happened that Davout, having with him only the 25,000
men composing the divisions of Friant, Morand, and Gudin,
had to oppose them to more than 80,000 Prussians, inspirited
by the presence of their King.

Issuing from the Kosen defile, the French had drawn up
near the village of Hasenhausen, and it was really at this
point that the battle took place, for the Emperor was
mistaken in thinking that he had in front of him at Jena the
King and the bulk of the Prussian army. The fight sus-
tained by Davout's troops was one of the most terrible in our
history. His divisions, after having triumphantly resisted all
the attacks of the enemy's infantry, formed square, repelled
numerous cavalry charges, and, not content with that, advanced
with such resolution that the Prussians gave way at all points,
leaving the ground strewn with dead and wounded. The
Duke of Brunswick3 and General Schmettau were killed,
Marshal Mollendorf severely wounded and taken prisoner.
The King of Prussia and his troops executed a retreat on
Weimar in pretty good order, expecting to rally in rear of
the victorious corps, as they supposed, of Prince Hohenlohe
and General Ruchel. These, meanwhile, beaten by Napoleon,
were from their side coming to seek a support from the troops
under the King. The two huge bodies of beaten and demoralised
troops having come together on the Erfurt road, the appear-

1 [There is no evidence whatever that any message to this effect was
sent, still less that it ever reached Bernadotte. The story was, in all pro-
bability, invented when it became the cue of Bonapartist writers to
blacken that marshal by every possible means ; and General Marbot could
hardly be expected to test its truth. Of course he does not profess to
vouch for it from his own knowledge.]

a [The Duke of Brunswick was not killed on the spot, though grievously
wounded. He lived long enough to be grossly insulted by Napoleon, and
died at Altona, on his way to England. His son, ' Brunswick's fated chief-
tain,' fell at Quatre Bras.]

186 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

ance of some French regiments was sufficient to throw them
into the greatest confusion. The rout was complete. Thus the
bragging of the Prussian officers was punished. The results
of this victory were incalculable and made us masters of nearly
the whole of Prussia.

The Emperor expressed his great satisfaction with Marshal
Davout and the divisions under him in a general order which
was read to all the companies and even to the wounded in the
ambulances. In the following year Napoleon created Davout
Duke of Auerstadt, although the battle was fought less in
that village than in Hasenhausen ; but the King of Prussia
had had his head-quarters at Auerstadt, and the enemy had
given that name to the battle which the French call Jena.
The army expected to see Bernadotte severely punished, but
he got off with a smart reprimand. The Emperor feared as
it would seem to vex his brother Joseph, whose sister-in-
law, Mademoiselle Clary, Bernadotte had married. We shall
see later on how Bernadotte's behaviour on the day of that
battle was in some sense his first step to the throne of Sweden.

I was not wounded at Jena, but I was taken in in a way
which after forty years it still awakens my wrath to remember.
At the moment when Augereau's corps was attacking the Saxons,
the marshal sent me to General Durosnel, commanding a
brigade of chasseurs, with orders to charge the enemy's cavalry.
I was to guide the brigade by a road which I had already recon-
noitred. I hastened to place myself at the head of our chasseurs,
who were dashing on the Saxon squadrons. These latter resisted
bravely, but after a short melee were compelled to retire with
loss. Towards the end of the fight I found myself face to face
with a hussar officer in the white uniform of Prince Albert of
Saxony's regiment. I summoned him at the sabre's point to
surrender, which he did by handing me his weapon. The combat
over, I was generous enough to give it back to him, as is the
practice in such cases between officers, and I added that, although
by the laws of war his horse belonged to me, I did not wish to
deprive him of it. He thanked me warmly and followed me
in the direction which I was taking to return to the marshal,
to whom I looked forward to presenting my prisoner. But
as soon as we were 500 paces from the French chasseurs, the
confounded Saxon officer, who was on my left, drew his sabre,
laid open my horse's shoulder, and was on the point of striking
me had I not thrown myself upon him, although I had not
my sabre in my hand. But as our bodies were in contact he
had not room to bring his blades to bear on me, seeing which
he caught me by my epaulette — for I was in full uniform that

TO BERLIN 1 87

day — and pulled hard enough to make me lose my balance.
My saddle turned round, and there I was with one leg in the
air and my head downwards, while the Saxon, going off at
full gallop, returned to what remained of the enemy's army.
I was furious both at the position in which I found myself and
at the ingratitude with which the stranger repaid my kind treat-
ment of him. So, as soon as the Saxon army was captured, I
went to look for my hussar officer and give him a good lesson,
but he had disappeared.

I have said that our new ally, the Grand Duke of Hesse-
Darmstadt, had united his troops to those of the Emperor.
This brigade, which was attached to the 7th corps, had a uniform
exactly like that of the Prussians, so that during the action
many Hessians were killed or wounded. My young friend,
Lieutenant Stoch, was on the point of meeting the same fate,
our hussars having already got hold of him, when he recognised
me, and called to me, and I made them let him go.

The Emperor richly rewarded the parson of Jena, and the
Elector of Saxony, when, as the result of the victories of his
new ally Napoleon, he had become king, also rewarded this
priest, who lived very peaceably till 1814, at which time he
took refuge in France to escape the vengeance of the Prussians.
They carried him off and imprisoned him in a fortress for two
or three years, then the King of Saxony interceded in his favour
with Louis XVIII., and he claimed the priest as having been
arrested without authority. The Prussians agreed to release
him, and he came to live at Paris.

After the victory of Jena the Emperor gave orders to
pursue the enemy in every direction, and our columns made a
vast number of prisoners. The King of Prussia only reached
Berlin by way of Magdeburg with great difficulty, and it is even
asserted that the Queen was on the point of falling into the
hands of our advanced guard.

Augereau's corps crossed the Elbe near Dessau. It would
take too long to recount the disasters of the Prussian army ; it
must be sufficient to say that of the troops which had marched
against the French not one battalion escaped : they were all
captured before the end of the month. The fortresses of
Torgau, Erfurt, and Wittenberg opened their gates to the
conquerors, who marched on Berlin. Napoleon halted at
Potsdam and visited the tomb of Frederick the Great ; then
he went on to Berlin, where, contrary to his practice, Davout's
corps marched at the head of the procession, an honour which
it well deserved, for it had done the most fighting of all ;
Augereau's corps followed, and then the Guard,

CHAPTER XXVI.

My first feeling on returning to Berlin, which I had left not
long before a brilliant capital, was one of sympathy with a
patriotic population thus brought low by defeat, invasion, and
the loss of relations and friends. The entry of the ' noble
Guard,' however, disarmed and prisoners, aroused in me very
different sentiments. The young officers who had sharpened
their sabres on the steps of the French Embassy were now
humble enough. They had begged to be taken round, not
through, Berlin ; not caring to be paraded in view of the
inhabitants who had been witnesses of their old swagger.
For this very reason the Emperor gave directions to the troops
guarding them to march them through the street in which the
French Embassy stood. This little bit of revenge was not
disapproved by the Berliners, who had no love for the ' noble
Guard,' and charged them with having driven the King into
war. Marshal Augereau was quartered outside the town at
the chateau of Belle Vue, belonging to Prince Ferdinand, the
only surviving brother of Frederick the Great, and father of
Prince Lewis, killed at Saalfeld. The venerable old man was
plunged in grief, aggravated by the fact that, in opposition to
all the Court, and especially to his lamented son, he had been
strongly against the war, and had foretold the ills which it
would bring on Prussia. Marshal Augereau felt bound to
call upon Prince Ferdinand, who had removed to a palace
in the city. He was most kindly received, and the poor
father told him that he had just learnt that his younger
and only remaining son, Prince Augustus, was among
the prisoners at the gate of the town, and that he would
like much to embrace him before his departure for France.
As his great age prevented him from going to his son,
the marshal, certain that the Emperor would not disapprove,
ordered me to mount at once, find Prince Augustus, and
bring him back with me. The meeting of the young prince
with his aged parents was a most touching sight. To console
the family as much as lay in his power, the kind marshal went
in person to the Emperor, and returned with authority to leave

(188)

AFTER JENA 1 89

the young prince with his family as a prisoner on parole, for
which Prince Ferdinand was deeply grateful.

The victory of Jena had immense results. Not only the
campaigning troops, but the garrisons of the fortresses were
utterly demoralised. Magdeburg surrendered without attempt-
ing defence, Spandau did the same, Stettin opened its gates to
a division of cavalry, and the governor of Custrin sent boats to
our side of the Oder to convey the French troops into the place
which it would otherwise have required a several months' siege
to capture. Every day we heard of the capitulation of an army
corps or the surrender of some fortress. The faulty organisa-
tion of the Prussian troops became more obvious than ever.
The foreign soldiers, especially those who had been enlisted by
force, seized the chance of recovering their freedom, deserting
in bodies, or remaining in the rear to surrender to the French.

Besides the territory conquered from the Prussians, Napo-
leon confiscated the estates of the Elector of Kesse-Cassel, a
punishment which his duplicity deserved. This prince, though
summoned some time before the war to declare for Prussia or
for France, had put both off with promises, waiting to array
himself on the side of the conqueror. The avaricious sovereign
had amassed a large treasure by selling his own subjects to the
English. They were employed to fight the Americans in the
War of Independence. Disloyal to his relations, he had offered
to ally himself to the French, on condition that the Emperor
would give him their states, so nobody regretted him. But his
hurried departure was the cause of a remarkable incident which
as yet is little known.

When forced to leave Cassel in a hurry to take refuge in
England, the Elector of Hesse, who was supposed to be the
richest man in Europe, being unable to bring away the whole
of his treasure, sent for a Frankfort Jew, named Rothschild,
an obscure banker of the third rank, known only for the
scrupulous practice of his religion. This seems to have de-
cided the Elector to entrust to him 15,000,000 frs. in specie.
The interest of the money was to be the banker's, and he was
only to be bound to return the capital.

When the palace of Cassel was occupied by our troops the
agents of the French treasury seized property of great value,
especially pictures, but no coined money was found, yet it
appeared impossible that in his hasty flight the Elector could
have carried away the whole of his immense fortune. Now
since, by what are conventionally called the laws of war, the
capital and the interest of securities found in a hostile country

1 90 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

belong of right to the conqueror, it became important to know
what had become of the Cassel treasure. Inquiry showed that
before his departure the Elector had passed a whole day with
the Jew Rothschild. An imperial commission visited him and
minutely examined his safes and his cash books ; but it was in
vain : no trace of the Elector's deposit could be found. Threats
and intimidation had no success until the commission, feeling
sure that no personal interest could induce a man so religious
as Rothschild to perjure himself, proposed to administer an oath
to him. He refused to take it. There was talk of arresting
him, but the Emperor, thinking this a useless act of violence,
forbad it. Then they had recourse to a not very honourable
method. Unable to overcome the banker's resistance, they
tried to gain him over by the bait of profit. They proposed to
leave him half the treasure if he would give up the other half to
the French administration. A receipt for the whole, accom-
panied by a deed of seizure, should be given him to prove
that he had only yielded to force and to prevent any claim from
lying against him ; but the Jew's honesty rejected this suggestion
also, and his persecutors, tired out, left him in peace. Thus
the 15,000,000 frs. remained in Rothschild's hands from 1806
till the fall of the Empire in 1814. Then the Elector returned
to his states, and the banker returned him his deposit as he
had received it. You may imagine the sum which a capital of
15,000,000 frs. would produce in the hands of a Jew banker of
Frankfort. From this time dates the opulence of the Roth-
schilds, who thus owe to their ancestor's honesty the high
place which they now hold in the finance of all civilised
countries.

But I must resume my narrative. The Emperor reviewed
every day the troops which kept passing through Berlin on
their way to the Oder in pursuit of the enemy. During his
stay in the Prussian capital Napoleon performed that well-
known act of magnanimity in granting to the Princess of
Hatzfeld the pardon of her husband, who held the office of
burgomaster at Berlin, and availed himself of the facilities
which that post offered to inform the Prussian generals of
the movements of the French army.1 Such conduct among

1 [As a matter of fact he seems merely to have sent an account to the
King of the entry of the French into Berlin. It was on this occasion that
Napoleon, ' in order to destroy the only proof of her husband's guilt,' burnt
before the eyes of the princess a letter of which he had kept a copy. The
prince's life was really spared mainly at the instance of Rapp, Duroc, and
others. ' Never before,' says Lanfrey, ' was a reputation for clemency
earned by sparing the life of an innocent man.']

MY OLD MENTOR 1 9 1

civilised nations is regarded as that of a spy, and punished
with death. The Emperor's generosity on this occasion
produced a very good effect on the minds of the Prussian
people.

During our stay at Berlin, I was agreeably surprised by
the arrival of my brother Adolphe, whom I supposed to be at
the Isle of France. On learning that hostilities had been
renewed on the Continent, he asked and obtained leave from
General Decaen, commanding the French forces in the East
Indies, to return to France, when he hastened to rejoin the
Grand Army. Marshal Lefebvre offered to take my brother
on his staff; but Adolphe preferred to be an extra aide-de-
camp to Augereau — a mistake, as it turned out, for it injured
both of us.

Another meeting, not less unexpected, I had at Berlin.
As I was one evening walking with my comrades * unter den
Linden ' I saw a group of sergeants of the 1st Hussars ap-
proaching. One of them left the group, ran up, and threw
his arms round my neck. It was my old mentor, the elder
Pertelay, who said, crying for delight : * Is it you, my boy ? '
The officers with whom I was were at first not a little
astonished to see a sergeant on so familiar terms with a
lieutenant, but their surprise was at an end when I told them
of my former relations with the brave old fellow. He was
never tired of embracing me and saying to his comrades :
* Look at him ! I made him what he is ! ' The good man was
really convinced that to his lessons I owed my advancement ;
and when breakfasting with me the next day, he plied me with
the most comical advice, highly sensible as he thought, and
the very thing to put a finish on my military education. We
shall yet come across this typical hussar of the old school in
Spain.

While still at Berlin I heard of the capture at Prenzlow
of Prince Hohenlohe's army by Lannes and Murat. Bliicher's
corps alone remained in the field. Pressed by Soult and
Bernadotte, he violated the neutrality of the town of Lubeck
by taking shelter there, but was pursued and forced to surrender
with 16,000 men.

Here I may mention a curious fact, showing how chance
influences the destinies of men and empires. As you have
seen, Bernadotte neglected his duty on the day of Jena by
holding aloof while Davout was fighting close by against
vastiy superior forces. This conduct, for which it is hard to
find a name bad enough, aided him to rise to the throne of

192 MEMOIRS OP THE BARON DE MAR BO T

Sweden. After the battle, the Emperor, though furious with
him, entrusted to him the task of pursuing the enemy, since
his corps, which had not fired a shot, was in better fighting
trim than those which had experienced losses. Bernadotte
accordingly went on the track of the Prussians, whom he
beat first of all at Hall, then, with support from Soult, at
Lubeck. Now, as chance would have it, at the moment
when the French were attacking Lubeck, the vessels sent by
Gustavus IV. with a division of Swedish infantry to the
aid of the Prussians were entering the harbour, and the
Swedish troops had hardly disembarked when they were
compelled to lay down their arms to Bernadotte's force.
The marshal, whose manners, when he liked, were, I must
admit, very attractive, was especially desirous to earn in the
strangers' eyes the character of a well-bred man. He there-
fore treated the Swedish officers with much friendliness, and
after allowing them honourable terms of capitulation, restored
them their horses and baggage, provided for their wants, and,
inviting the commander-in-chief, Count Moerner, the generals,
and field-officers to his quarters, showed them so much kind
consideration that on returning to their own country the
Swedes extolled Marshal Bernadotte's magnanimity up and
down.

When, some years later, the incapable Gustavus IV. was
driven from his throne by a revolution, and succeeded by his
uncle, the Duke of Sudermania, who was old and childless,
the assembled states chose as Crown Prince the Duke of
Holstein-Augustenburg. He, however, did not long enjoy the
dignity, being poisoned, as it was supposed, in 1811. The
states assembled again to choose an heir to the throne, and
after some hesitation between the various German princes who
offered themselves for the place, Count Moerner, remembering
Bernadotte's generous conduct at Lubeck, proposed his name.
He dwelt on his military talents and on his connection, through
his wife, with the Bonapartes ; and various officers who had
been present at Lubeck having seconded the general's recom-
mendation, Bernadotte was almost unanimously elected Crown
Prince, and some years later mounted the throne. We shall
see in due course how, when on the steps of that throne, to
which he had been carried by the glory won at the head of
French armies, he showed his ingratitude towards his country.

But we must now return to Prussia. Her main forces had
been destroyed by Napoleon, who occupied her capital, as well
as a great part of her provinces, while our victorious armies

POLAND 193

were touching the Vistula, the barrier separating Northern from
Central Europe. Marshal Augereau's corps, after remaining
a fortnight at Berlin, left that town about mid-November,
crossed the Oder at Custrin, and reached the banks of the Vis-
tula at Bromberg. We were in Poland — the poorest and least
civilised country in Europe. Beyond the Oder we found no
more high roads ; we marched through shifting sands or
fearful mud. The land was, for the most part, uncultivated ;
the few inhabitants whom we met inconceivably filthy. The
weather, which had been magnificent during the month of
October and the first part of November, became horrible ; it
rained or snowed incessantly. Provisions became very scarce
— no more wine, hardly any beer, and what there was exceed-
ingly bad ; muddy water, no bread, and quarters for which we
had to fight with the pigs and the cows. The soldiers said :
'Is this what the Poles have the impudence to call their
country ? ' The Emperor himself had his eyes opened, for,
having come to reconstitute Poland, he had hoped that the
whole population of the country would rise as one man at the
approach of the French armies. But no one stirred. In vain,
to excite their enthusiasm, did the Emperor write to the famous
General Kosciusko, who had headed the last insurrection, to
come and join him ; Kosciusko remained tranquilly in Switzer-
land, answering all reproaches addressed to him by saying
that he knew too well the careless and fickle character of his
compatriots to have any hope that they would succeed in
freeing themselves even with the aid of the French. Not
being able to attract Kosciusko, the Emperor, wishing at least
to make capital out of his renown, addressed a proclamation to
the Poles in his name. Not a soul took up arms, although
our troops were occupying several provinces of the old Poland
and even its capital. The Poles would not rise until
Napoleon had declared Poland to be re-established, and he had
no notion of doing this until the Poles had risen against their
oppressor, which they would not do.

While the 7th corps was at Bromberg, Duroc, Grand
Marshal of the Imperial Household, arrived in the middle of
the night at Augereau's quarters. The marshal sent for me
and bade me get ready to accompany Duroc, who was on his
way to Graudenz with a flag of truce to the King of Prussia,
and required an officer to take the place of his aide-de-camp,
whom he had just sent to Posen with despatches from the
Emperor. They selected me because they remembered that
in the previous August I had been on a mission to the Prussian

i94

MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

Court, so that I knew most of the officials, as well as the ways
of it. I was soon ready ; the Marshal of the Household took
me in his carriage, and going down the left bank of the Vistula,
occupied by our troops, we crossed the river by a ferry opposite
Graudenz. We got rooms in the town, and went on immedi-
ately to the citadel, where all the Prussian royal family had
taken refuge after losing four-fifths of their states. The Vistula
lay between the two armies. We found the King calm and
resigned. The Queen, whom I had lately seen so beautiful,
was much changed, and appeared consumed with grief. She
could not conceal from herself that she had urged the King to
make war, and was thus the chief cause of the misfortunes of
her country, and in no favour with its inhabitants. No more
agreeable messenger could have been sent to the King of
Prussia than Duroc, who had been ambassador at Berlin, and
was well known to both King and Queen, and esteemed for
the suavity of his disposition. I was too insignificant to
be counted ; still the King and Queen recognised me, and
addressed some courteous words to me.

I found the Prussian officers about the Court in a mood
very far from their swagger of the previous August. Theii
recent defeat had done much to modify their opinion of the
French army. I did not, however, choose to take advantage
of this, and carefully avoided speaking of Jena and our other
victories. The matters of which Marshal Duroc had to treat
with the King of Prussia, in reference to a letter which the
King had addressed to Napoleon with a view of obtaining
peace, occupied two days. I employed these in reading and
walking about on the melancholy drill ground of the fortress.
I did not like to go on the ramparts, even for the sake of the
admirable view over the Vistula, fearing that I might be sus-
pected of examining the fortifications and armament.

In the engagements which had taken place between Jena
and the Vistula, the Prussians had captured from us not more
than a hundred prisoners. These were employed on the earth-
works of the fortress of Graudenz j and Marshal Duroc had
entrusted me with the distribution of aid to the poor fellows,
whose lot was made all the worse by the view which they had
of the French troops just across the Vistula. The neighbour-
hood of his comrades on the other bank, and the contrast of
his position with theirs, had moved one of the prisoners, a
trooper of the 3rd Dragoons, named Harpin, to employ every
means in his power to get out of the hands of the Prussians.
It was not an easy job, for he had first to get out of the fortress,

THE POINT OF HONOUR 1 95

then to cross the Vistula. But determination can do a great
deal. Being employed by the master carpenter to stack timber,
Harpin had secretly constructed a little raft ; by the aid of a
large cable he had succeeded in letting down first his raft and
then himself to the foot of the ramparts. He had launched his
raft, and was on the point of embarking, when he was surprised
by a patrol, taken back to the fortress, and put in a cell. Next
day the Prussian commandant, following the usage of the
Prussian army, sentenced Harpin to fifty strokes with a stick.
In vain did the dragoon protest that being a Frenchman they
had no right to bring him under Prussian regulations ; he was
a prisoner, and his protest unheeded. He was actually being
led to the wooden frame to which he was to be fastened, and
two soldiers were making ready to inflict the punishment. At
that moment, wanting to get a book out of Duroc's carriage,
which was standing on the drill ground, I caught sight of
Harpin struggling in the midst of the Prussian soldiers, who
were trying to tie him up. Indignant at the sight of a French
soldier about to be flogged, I flew towards him sword in
hand, threatening to kill the first man who dared to put
the disgrace of a blow on a soldier of the Emperor. The
marshal's carriage was guarded by one of Napoleon's couriers,
known in every post-house of Europe under the name
of Moustache. This man was of herculean strength and
approved courage, and had attended the Emperor on twenty
battlefields. When he saw me surrounded by the Prussians,
he ran to me and brought at my order four loaded pistols
which were in the carriage. We set Harpin loose; I
gave him a brace of pistols, made him get into the carriage,
and placing Moustache by him, declared to the quarter-
master-sergeant that, as the carriage was the Emperor's and
bore his arms, it was for the French dragoon a sanctuary
which I forbad any Prussian to enter, on pain of getting a
bullet through his head. At the same time I ordered Moustache
and Harpin to fire if anyone attempted to get in. The quarter-
master, seeing me resolute, left his prisoner for the moment
to consult his superior officers. Then I left Moustache and
Harpin, pistols in hand, in the carriage, and went to the King's
quarters. There I requested an aide-de-camp to be so kind
as to go into his Majesty's room and tell Marshal Duroc
that I wished to speak to him on a matter of the utmost
urgency. Duroc came out, and I reported what was going on.
On learning that they wanted to flog a French soldier, the
marshal, sharing my indignation, returned straightway to the

196 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

King, and protested warmly, adding that, if the sentence was
carried out, he felt sure that the Emperor would take reprisals
by flogging not soldiers, but Prussian officers who were prisoners
of war. The King, a kindly man, saw that soldiers of other
nations should be treated in accordance with their own point
of honour, and gave orders that Harpin should be set at liberty.
In order to please Napoleon, to whom he was at that moment
suing for peace, he proposed to Duroc to exchange his hundred
and fifty French prisoners for an equal number of Prussians.
Duroc accepted, and an aide-de-camp of the King's went with
me to announce the good news to the prisoners, who were
overjoyed. We shipped them off at once, and an hour later
they were across the Vistula, and with their comrades.

Marshal Duroc and I left Graudenz the next day. He
approved what I had done, and told me afterwards that he had
reported it to the Emperor, who quite agreed. So much so,
that he had warned the Prussians and the Russians that, if they
flogged any of his soldiers, he would shoot all their officers who
fell into his hands.

I rejoined the 7th corps at Bromberg, and we soon followed
up the left bank of the Vistula, to approach Warsaw. Marshal
Augereau's head-quarters were established at Mallochich. On
December 19 the Emperor arrived at Warsaw and prepared
to cross the Vistula. Then the 7th corps marched down the
left bank again to Utrata, and on the opposite bank we saw, for
the first time in this campaign, the Russian outposts.

CHAPTER XXVII.

The Vistula is rapid and broad. We expected that the Em«
peror would limit his winter operations to establishing his
army, covered by the river, in cantonments until the spring.
It turned out, however, otherwise. The corps of Davout and
Lannes, with the Guard, crossed the Vistula at Warsaw;
Augereau and his troops at Utrata, and marched on Plusk,
whence we continued to the bank of the Wkra, one of the
tributaries of the Bug. Having passed the Vistula the whole
French army was in presence of the Russians, and the Emperor
ordered an attack for December 24. A thaw and rain rendered
evolutions exceedingly difficult on the clayey soil, for in this
country there was no metalled road. Omitting the various
engagements fought that day in forcing the passage of the Bug,
I will only say that Augereau, having the duty of securing that
of the Wkra, caused General Desjardins' division to attack
Colozomb and General Heudelet's Sochocyn, directing the
former attack in person. The Russians, after burning the
existing bridge, had erected a redoubt on the left bank, de-
fended by cannon and a strong force of infantry ; but they
forgot to destroy a store of timber and planks on the right bank
by which we were coming up. Of these materials our sappers
adroitly made use to construct a provisional bridge in face ot
a brisk fire from the enemy, which caused the loss of some
men of the 14th of the line. The planks of the new bridge, not
yet fixed, were swaying under the tread of our soldiers when
the colonel of the 14th, M. Savary, brother of the Emperor's
aide-de-camp, was rash enough to cross on horseback with a
view of putting himself at the head of his skirmishers. Hardly
had he landed on the opposite bank when a Cossack, galloping
out, plunged a lance into his heart and escaped into the woods.
This was the fifth colonel whom the 14th had had killed before
the enemy. You will see by-and-by what an evil fate always
attended this unlucky regiment. The passage of the Wkra was
carried, the guns were taken, the Russians put to flight, and
Desjardins' division occupied Sochocyn, where the enemy had

(197)

198 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DB M ABBOT

repulsed Heudelet's attack. As, however, one passage was
enough, that attack had been quite unnecessary. Nevertheless,
General Heudelet, in a fit of senseless pique, gave orders to
renew it. He was again repulsed with some thirty men killed
or wounded, among them a captain of engineers, a most
promising officer. I have always felt disgusted by this con-
tempt of human life, which at times leads generals to sacrifice
their men to their desire of seeing themselves mentioned in
despatches.

On the following day, December 25, the Emperor, driving
the Russians in front of him, marched to Golymin, having
with him his Guard, Murat's cavalry, and the corps of Davout
and Augereau, the latter leading. Marshal Lannes took the
direction of Pultusk. That day there were some trifling en-
gagements, the enemy retiring with all speed ; we bivouacked
in the woods. On the 26th we continued in pursuit of the
Russians. We were at the time of year when the days are
shortest, and in that part of Poland the night at the end of
December begins about half-past two. As we approached Goly-
min sleet was falling, which made it all the darker. We had
not seen the enemy since the morning, when, close to Golymin,
our scouts, perceiving in the dusk a strong body of troops, whom
they could not approach by reason of marshy ground, brought
information of them to the marshal. He ordered Colonel Albert
to go and reconnoitre this corps with twenty-five mounted
chasseurs of his escort, of whom I was put in command. It was
a difficult task, for we were in a vast treeless plain, where one
might easily go astray. The ground, muddy anyhow, was cut up
by swamps, which we could not make out in the darkness ; we
therefore advanced cautiously, and at length found ourselves
twenty-five paces from a line of troops. We supposed at first
that it was Davout' s corps, but as no one answered our ' Who
goes there ? ' we had no doubt that they belonged to the enemy.
Still, to be quite certain, Colonel Albert ordered me to send
forward the best mounted trooper to the line which we could
perceive in the shadow. I selected a corporal named Schmidt,
a man of tried courage. The brave man, advancing alone to
within ten paces of a regiment which he recognised as Russian
by its helmets, fired his carbine into the thick of the squadron
and came quickly back.

In order to explain the silence which the enemy had
kept, I must tell you that the Russian force which was in
front of us had got separated from the main body, and had
lost its way in the wide plains which it knew to be occupied

RUSSIAN DISCIPLINE IQ9

by the French troops on their way to Golymin. The Russian
generals, hoping under cover of the darkness to be able to
pass near us without being recognised, had forbidden all
speaking, and in the case of our attacking the wounded were
to drop without uttering any sound. This order, which only
Russian troops could carry out, was so punctually obeyed
that when Colonel Albert, in order to let the marshal know
that we were in presence of the enemy, ordered his twenty-five
chasseurs to fire a volley, not a cry, not a word was heard, and
no one replied to us. Only through the darkness we could
perceive some hundred troopers silently advancing to cut off
our retreat. Then we had to gallop to rejoin our column, but
as many of our men got bogged we had to go less rapidly,
although we were close pressed by the Russian horsemen,
who fortunately met with the same difficulties as we did.
Suddenly a fire broke out in a neighbouring farm, and the
plain being thus lighted up the Russians began to gallop,
and we had to do the same. We were in imminent danger,
because, having left the French line from General Desjardins'
division, we were returning by the front of General Heudelet's.
They, not knowing that we had gone, began to fire in the
direction of the enemy, so that we had in the rear a Russian
squadron pushing us hard, while we were met by a hail of
bullets which wounded several of our troopers and horses.
It was no good shouting, ■ We are French ; cease firing ! ' the
fire continued all the same. Nor can one blame the officers,
who took us for the advanced guard of a Russian column,
since their officers, in order to deceive us, often used the
French language, and had by this means before now suc-
ceeded in surprising our regiments in the night. Colonel
Albert and I, with the squad of chasseurs, had a very bad
moment of it. At last it struck me that the only way to get
recognised was to call out to the officers of Heudelet's division
by their names, with which they would know that our enemies
could not be acquainted. This plan answered, and we were at
length admitted within the French line.

The Russian generals, seeing that they were detected, and
wishing to continue their retreat, took a step which I much
approved, but which the French have never been able to make
up their minds to copy. They pointed all their artillery in
the direction of the French troops ; then, having taken away
their team horses, they opened a very heavy fire to keep us
at a distance. Meantime they caused their columns to march
on, and when their ammunition was exhausted the gunners

200 MEMOIRS OP THE BARON DR MARSOT

retired, leaving the guns to us. Was not this better worth
while than to lose a number of men in trying to save this
artillery, which would have stuck in the mud every moment
and have delayed the retreat ?

The violent cannonade of the Russians inflicted all the
more loss on us that many of the villages in the plain being
on fire, the light of them showing to a distance, allowed the
enemy's gunners to make out the masses of our troops,
especially those of the cuirassiers and dragoons whom Prince
Murat had just brought up, and who, in their white cloaks,
formed a good mark to the Russian artillerymen. Accord-
ingly these troopers lost more heavily than the other regiments,
and one of our dragoon generals, named Fin&ol, was cut
in two by a cannon-ball. Marshal Augereau, after having
carried the suburbs, entered Golymin while Davout was
attacking it from another side. The Russian columns were
at this moment passing through the town, and knowing that
Marshal Lannes was marching to cut off their retreat by
capturing Pultusk, three leagues farther on, they were try-
ing to reach that point before him at any price. Therefore,
although our soldiers fired upon them at twenty-five paces,
they continued their march without replying, because in order
to do so they would have had to halt, and every moment was
precious. So every division, every regiment, filed past, with-
out saying a word or slackening its pace for a moment. The
streets were filled with dying and wounded, but not a groan
was to be heard, for they were forbidden. You might have
said that we were firing upon shadows. At last our soldiers
charged the Russian soldiers with the bayonet, and only when
they pierced them could they be convinced that they were
dealing with men. We took some thousand prisoners ; the
rest got off. The marshals debated whether they should pursue,
but the weather was so horrible, the night so pitch-dark as
soon as one was away from the neighbourhood of the burning
houses, the troops so wet and weary, that it was decided to let
them rest till daylight.

Golymin was heaped with dead, wounded and baggage
when Marshals Murat and Augereau, accompanied by many
generals and their staffs, seeking shelter from the icy rain,
established themselves in an immense stable near the town.
There, each stretching himself on the dung-heap tried to get
warm and to sleep, for we had been on horseback more than
twenty hours in this frightful weather — the marshals, the
colonels, all the bigwigs in short having, as was right, settled

AN UNEXPECTED MEAL 201

themselves towards the inner end of the stable, so as to be less
cold. I, a poor lieutenant, having come in the last, was compelled
to lie down close to the doorway, having at the best my body
sheltered from the rain but exposed to an icy wind, for there
were no doors. It was a disagreeable position when you add
that I was dying of hunger, having eaten nothing since the day
before. But my lucky star came once more to my help. While
the great men, well-sheltered, were sleeping in the warm part
of the stable, and the cold was preventing the lieutenants near
the door from doing the same, a servant of Prince Murat
presented himself at the entry. I remarked in a low voice that
his master was asleep. So he gave me a basket for the prince,
containing a roast goose, some bread, and some wine, begging
me to let his master know that the provision mules would come
up in an hour. Having said which he went off to meet them.
In possession of these victuals, I took counsel in a low voice
with Bro, Mainvielle, and Stoch, who had just as bad places as
I, and were just as shivering and hungry. The result of our
deliberation was that as Prince Murat was asleep, and his
canteen was bound to come up before long, he would find
something for breakfast when he awoke, while we should be
sent off in all directions without any questions as to what we
had got to eat ; and that, in consequence, we might, without
over-burdening our consciences, devour the contents of the
basket ; and we did so straightway. I do not know whether 1
may be forgiven for this page's trick : I only know that I have
seldom made a pleasanter meal.

While the troops which had fought at Golymin were thus
halted, Napoleon and his Guard were wandering in the plain,
the Emperor, as soon as he was warned by the cannonade that
an action was beginning, having hurriedly left his quarters two
leagues from Golymin, in the hope of being able to reach us by
marching straight upon the fire. But the ground was so sodden,
the plain so cut up with swamps, and the weather so bad that
it took him all night to cover the two leagues, and he only
reached the field of battle long after the affair was at an end.
On this same day Marshal Lannes with only 20,000 men fought
42,000 Russians at Pultusk, as they were retreating before the
other French forces. He caused them great loss, but could
not stop them owing to their greatly superior force.1 For
the Emperor to have been able to pursue the Russians the
ground ought to have been hardened by frost, whereas, on the

x[The French, in fact, were beaten, and Lannes wounded.]

101 MEMOIRS OR THE BARON DB MARBOT

contrary, it was so soft and saturated that we sank in at every
step, and several men, notably the servant of an officer of the 7th
corps, were drowned, men and horses, in the mud. It became
therefore impossible to move the artillery and to push farther
into this unknown land. Moreover, the troops were short both
of provisions and of boots, and were extremely fatigued. These
considerations decided Napoleon to allow them some days'
rest, and to canton the whole army in front of the Vistula from
the neighbourhood of Warsaw up to the gates of Dantzig.
The soldiers were lodged in the villages, and, sheltered at last
from the bad weather, received their rations, and were able to
repair their accoutrements.

The Emperor returned to Warsaw to plan a new campaign.
The divisions of Augereau's corps were distributed in the
villages around Plusk, if one may give this name to a jumble
of wretched hovels inhabited by dirty Jews. But nearly all the
so-called towns of Poland are so built and so inhabited, the
nobles, great and small, remaining always in the country, where
they get their value out of their lands by employing their
peasants on them. The marshal stayed at Christka, a kind of
country house built, after the local fashion, of wood. He found
a tolerable room there ; the aides-de-camp settled themselves
as best they could in the rooms and in the outbuildings. As
for myself, by hunting about I found a pretty good room in the
gardener's house, furnished with a stove. I established myself
there with two of my comrades, and leaving the gardener and
his family in possession of their not very inviting beds, we
made some for ourselves with planks and straw, with which we
did very well.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

At Christka we celebrated the New Year's Day of 1807, which
was near being the last of my life. The year began, however,
very pleasantly for me, for the Emperor, who had not granted
any favour to Augereau's staff during the campaign of Austerlitz,
repaired his neglect by heaping it with rewards. Colonel Albert
was appointed major-general, Major Massy lieutenant-colonel
of the 44th, several aides-de-camp were decorated, while Lieu-
tenants Bro, Mainvielle, and I became captains. I was all the
more pleased by this promotion that I did not expect it. I had
done nothing to earn it, and I was only twenty-four years old.
When handing our captains' commissions to Mainvielle, Bro,
and myself, Marshal Augereau said : ' We will see which of
you three will be colonel first.' It was I, for six years afterwards
I was in command of a regiment while my two comrades were
still only captains. But it is true that in that space of time I
had been six times wounded. As soon as our cantonments
were established the enemy took up theirs, fronting but pretty
far from us. The Emperor expected that they would let us
pass the winter in peace, but it was not so. We only got a
month's rest, which was a good deal but not enough.

The Russians, seeing the ground covered with snow and
hardened by some sharp frosts, thought that the severe weather
would give the men of the North an advantage over the South-
erners, little accustomed to endure great cold. Consequently
they resolved to attack us, and to this end they caused the
greater part of their troops, who were posted in face of ours
before Warsaw, to pass in rear of the vast forests which separated
them from us, and marched them towards the Lower Vistula
upon the cantonments of Bernadotte and Ney, hoping to surprise
and crush them before the Emperor with the other corps
could come to their support. But Bernadotte and Ney offered
a valiant resistance, and Napoleon, warned in time, marched
with a considerable force on the enemy's rear, who, threatened
with being cut off from his base, retreated towards K6nigs-
berg. We had then, on February 1, to leave our comfortable

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204 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

cantonments, and again begin fighting and sleeping on the
snow.

At the head of the centre column, commanded by the
Emperor in person, marched Prince Murat's cavalry, then
Soult's corps, supported by Augereau's; the Imperial Guard
brought up the rear. Davout's corps marched on the right
flank of the column, Ney's on the left. Such a body of troops
making for the same point would soon exhaust the supplies
which the country could furnish, and we suffered much from
hunger ; the Guard alone, having wagons, carried with it the
means of providing rations. The other corps lived how they
could — that is to say, they got scarcely anything.

There is little need for me to give many details of the affairs
preceding the battle of Eylau, the more so that Augereau's
troops, who formed the second line, took no part in them. The
most important were those at Mohrungen, Bergfried, Guttstadt,
and Waltersdorf. At length, on February 6, the Russians,
whom we had pursued for eight days at the sword's point,
resolved to halt and show firm front before the little town of
Landsberg. They placed eight picked battalions in an excellent
position near Hoff, their right resting on that village, their left
on a thick wood, their centre covered by a deep and thick
ravine, which could only be crossed by a very narrow bridge.
The front of the line was defended by eight guns.

The Emperor, arriving with Murat's cavalry in front of this
position, thought it better not to wait for Soult and the infantry,
who were still some leagues to the rear, and ordered an attack
to be made by several regiments of light cavalry. They crossed
the ravine by the bridge, but were overwhelmed by volleys of
musketry and grape, and driven back in disorder into the ravine,
whence they made their escape with much difficulty. Seeing
that the efforts of the light cavalry were useless, the Emperor
ordered forward a division of dragoons. Their attack was met
in the same way, and had no better success. Then Napoleon
ordered forward General d'Hautpoul's formidable cuirassiers,
who, crossing the bridge and the ravine under a hail of bullets,
fell upon the Russian line with such swiftness that they literally
laid it flat. The slaughter was fearful ; the cuirassiers, furious
at the losses sustained by their comrades of the hussars and
dragoons, nearly exterminated the eight Russian battalions ; all
were killed or taken prisoners. The field of battle was a
horrible sight. Never was a cavalry charge so completely
successful. To testify his satisfaction with the cuirassiers, the
Emperor embraced their general in presence of the whole

THE NIGHT BEFORE EYLAU 205

division. D'Hautpoul exclaimed, 'The only way to show
myself worthy of such an honour is to get killed in your
Majesty's service.' He kept his word, for the next day he
died on the battlefield of Eylau. Such were the men of that
time.

The enemy's army having witnessed from the high ground
behind Landsberg the destruction of its rear-guard, retired
promptly upon Eylau, and we took possession of Landsberg.
On February 7 the Russian commander-in-chief, Bennigsen,
having made up his mind to accept battle, concentrated his
army round Eylau, especially on the position in rear of that
town. Murat's cavalry and Souk's infantry captured the first
position, but only after an obstinate fight, for the Russians
thought it important to hold Ziegelhof, a point which com-
mands Eylau, with the view of making it the centre of their
line for the morrow's battle. They were, however, compelled
to evacuate the town. Just as it began to seem as though
night would put an end to this prelude to a general action, a
brisk fusillade broke out in the streets of Eylau.

I know that some military writers on this campaign
assert that the Emperor, not wishing to leave the town in
possession of the Russians, gave orders to attack it. I am
sure that this is a very great mistake, and I base my assertion
on the following facts. At the moment when the head of
Marshal Augereau's column, coming up by the road from
Landsberg, was approaching Ziegelhof, the marshal reached
the summit of the plateau, where the Emperor already was,
and I heard Napoleon say to him, * They wanted me to carry
Eylau this evening, but I do not like night fighting ; and
besides, I do not wish to push my centre too far forward before
Davout has come up with the right wing and Ney with the
left. I shall await them therefore till to-morrow on this high
ground, which can be defended by artillery, and offers an
excellent position for our infantry ; and when Ney and Davout
are in line we can march simultaneously on the enemy.' After
saying this Napoleon gave orders for his bivouac to be arranged
below Ziegelhof, and made his Guard encamp all round. But
while the Emperor was thus explaining his plans to Marshal
Augereau, who highly approved his prudence, the following
events were taking place. The Imperial quartermasters, coming
from Landsberg with their baggage and servants, had reached
our advanced posts at the entrance of Eylau without anyone
having told them to halt near Ziegelhof. These officials, who
were accustomed to see the Imperial quarters always well

206 MEMOIRS OP THE BARON DE MARBOT

guarded, and had not been warned that they were within a few
paces of the Russians, thought only of choosing a good lodging
for their master, and established themselves in the post-house,
where they unpacked their apparatus, and set to work cooking,
and stabling their horses. But in the midst of their prepara-
tions they were attacked by an enemy's patrol, and would have
been captured but for the aid of the detachment of the Guard
which always accompanied the Emperor's outfit. At the sound
of the firing the troops of Marshal Soult, who were posted
at the gates of the town, ran up to the rescue of Napoleon's
baggage, and found the Russian troops already plundering
it. The enemy's generals, thinking that the French wished
to take possession of Eylau, sent up reinforcements on their
side, so that a bloody engagement took place in the streets oi
the town, which finally remained in our hands.

Though the attack had not been made by the Emperor's
orders, he did not refuse to profit by it, and established himself
accordingly in the posting-house at Eylau. His Guard and
Soult's corps occupied the town, while Murat's cavalry was
stationed round it. Augereau's troops were quartered in the
little hamlet of Zehen. We had hoped to find some supplies
there ; but the Russians had plundered everything in their
retreat, and our unlucky regiments, who had received no rations
for a week, found no better comfort than potatoes and water.
The store-wagons of the staff having been left at Landsberg,
our supper was even less satisfactory than that of the men,
for we could not get any potatoes. At eight in the morning,
just as we were about to mount and advance, a servant brought
a loaf to the marshal, who, with his usual kindness, shared it
with his aides-de-camp. After this frugal meal — the last, as
it turned out, which many of us ate— the corps proceeded to
take up the position which the Emperor had assigned it.

In conformity with the plan of these Memoirs, I shall not
give a detailed account of the battle of Eylau, but confine
myself to relating the chief incidents. On the morning of
February 8 the position of the armies was as follows. The
Russian left was at Serpallen, their centre in front of Auklapen,
their right at Schmoditten. They awaited 8,000 Prussians
who were to debouch by Althoff, and form the extreme right.
The front of the enemy's line was covered by 500 guns, a third
at least of large calibre. The French were far less favourably
situated, since the wings had not come up, and the Emperor
had therefore to go into action with only a portion of the troops
on which he had reckoned. Soult's corps was placed at right

sylau 207

and left of Eylau, the Guard in the town, and Augereau's corps
between Rothenen and Eylau, fronting towards Serpallen. The
enemy thus formed a semicircle, outflanking us, and the two
forces occupied ground in which were numerous ponds, which,
however, were covered by the snow. Neither side, therefore,
noticed them, nor fired ricochet shots to break the ice. If they
had, there would have been a second Satschan disaster.1

Marshal Davout, who was expected on our right, towards
Molwitten, and Marshal Ney, who was to form our left, on the
side of Althoff, had not appeared when, soon after sunrise,
about eight o'clock, the Russians began the attack by a violent
cannonade. Our artillery, though inferior in numbers, replied ;
and all the more successfully that our gunners, who were by
far the better trained, had masses of unsheltered men to aim at,
while most of the Russian shot struck the walls of Rothenen
and Eylau. Soon the enemy sent forward a strong column to
carry the latter place ; but it was smartly repulsed by the Guard
and Soult's division. At the same moment the Emperor heard
with joy that from the top of the church tower Davout's corps
could be seen advancing. He came by Molwitten, and march-
ing on Serpallen, drove in the Russian left, pushing them back
to Klein Sausgarten.

Marshal Bennigsen, seeing his left beaten and his rear
threatened by the bold Davout, resolved to crush him by
superior force. Then Napoleon, in order to hinder this move-
ment by a diversion against the enemy's centre, ordered
Augereau to attack, though foreseeing that the operation would
be difficult. But circumstances arise in battle in which some
troops must be sacrificed to secure the safety and victory of
the greater part. General Corbineau, the Emperor's aide-de-
camp, was killed at our side by a cannon-ball, when bringing
Augereau the order to advance. The marshal, passing with his
two divisions between Eylau and Rothenen, proceeded boldly
against the enemy's centre; and the 14th, our leading regiment,
had already captured the position which the Emperor had given
orders to carry and hold at all costs, when the heavy guns
which were in a semicircle round Augereau belched forth such
a hail of grape and canister as had never been seen within
human memory. In one instant our two divisions were rent to
pieces by the storm of iron. General Desjardins was killed,
General Heudelet dangerously wounded. Still they held their
ground, until the army corps being almost entirely destroyed,

^Scep. 163.]

208 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

its fragments had perforce to be recalled to the neighbourhood
of the cemetery of Eylau ; always excepting the 14th, who,
wholly surrounded by the enemy, remained on the little hill
which it had occupied. Our position was all the more grievous
since a violent wind dashed the thickly -falling snow into our
faces. It was impossible to see more than fifteen paces off, so
that several French batteries fired upon us as well as those of
the enemy. Marshal Augereau was wounded by a grape shot.

Still the devotion of the 7th corps had produced a good
effect, for not only had Davout, relieved by our attack, been
able to hold his positions, but, further, he had captured Klein
Sausgarten, and even pushed his advance-guard as far as
Kuschitten, in rear of the enemy. At this moment the
Emperor, wishing to strike the final blow, ordered Murat with
ninety squadrons to advance between Eylau and Rothenen.
The terrible weight of this mass broke the Russian centre,
upon which it charged with the sabre, and threw it into com-
plete disorder. The brave General d'Hautpoul was killed at
the head of his cuirassiers, so also was General Dahlmann,
who had succeeded General Mcrland in the command of the
chasseurs of the guard.

The success of our cavalry made victory certain. In vain
did 8,000 Prussians, who had escaped Ney's pursuit, advancing
by way of Althoff, attempt a new attack. They bore (it is hard
to say why) on Kuschitten, instead of marching on Eylau.
Davout beat them back, and the arrival of Ney's corps, which
appeared towards evening at Schmoditten, making Bennigsen
fear that his communications might be cut, he gave orders
for a retreat on Konigsberg, leaving the French masters of
that frightful battlefield covered with dying men and corpses.
Never since the invention of gunpowder had its effects been
so terrible. Of all battles, ancient or modern, Eylau was
that in which the proportion of loss to combatants was
greatest.1 The Russians had 25,000 men disabled, and al-
though the number of French who were touched by steel or
lead was reported at 10,000 only, I estimate them as at least
20,000. The total for the two armies was thus 45,000 men,
of whom more than half died. Augereau's corps was almost
entirely destroyed, since of 15,000 combatants present under
arms when the action began, there remained in the evening only

1 [Marbot is not quite correct here. The loss (about one in three of those
engaged) was quite as great at the Borodine, and at Salamanca ; nearly as
great at Marengo ; greater at Zornsdorf. In ancient battles of course a
similar proportion was not uncommon.]

AFTER EYLAU 200,

3,000, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Massy, the marshal,
all the generals and all the colonels being either killed or
wounded.

It is difficult to understand why Bennigsen, knowing that
Davout and Ney had not yet come up, did not profit by their
absence to attack the town of Eylau at daybreak with his
powerful centre, instead of wasting precious time in a can-
nonade. For his superior force would certainly have made
him master of the town before Davout could come up, and
then the Emperor would have been sorry that he advanced so
far, instead of entrenching himself on the plateau of Ziegelhof,
and there awaiting his wings as he had originally intended.
The day after the battle he gave orders for a pursuit as far as
the gates of Konigsberg, but as the town was fortified it was
not thought prudent to attack it with weakened forces, the
more so that almost all the Russian army was in and about the
place.

Napoleon passed several days at Eylau to restore the
wounded and reorganise the armies. Augereau's corps having
been almost destroyed, what was left of it was distributed
among the other corps, and the marshal obtained leave to
return to France to get cured of his wound. The Emperor,
seeing that the main Russian army was at a distance,1 can-
toned his troops in the towns and villages on the east side of
the Lower Vistula. The only thing that happened during
the rest of the winter was the capture of Dantzig by the
French." Hostilities in the open did not recommence till the
month of June, as we shall see in due course.

1 [The retreat of the enemy hardly appears an adequate reason for his
own retreat to a point some hundred miles in rear of the field of battle.
As a matter of fact, Napoleon was worse beaten at Eylau than it suited
him to admit ; and but for the abominable state of the enemy's com-
missariat (that everlasting curse of Russian armies) and the slackness
of the English Government, the retreat from Moscow might have been
anticipated.]

8 [In the following May. ■ Winter,' of course, is used technically J

14

CHAPTER XXIX.

I did not wish to interrupt my account of the battle of
Eylau to tell you what befell me in that terrible conflict.
To enable you to understand my story, I must go back to the
autumn of 1805, when the officers of the Grand Army, among
their preparations for the battle of Austerlitz, were com-
pleting their outfits. I had two good horses, the third, for
whom I was looking, my charger, was to be better still. It
was a difficult thing to find, for though horses were far less
dear than now, their price was pretty high, and I had not
much money ; but chance served me admirably. I met a
learned German, Herr von Aister, whom I had known when he
was a professor at Soreze. He had become tutor to the children
of a rich Swiss banker, M. Scherer, established at Paris in
partnership with M. Finguerlin. He informed me that M.
Finguerlin, a wealthy man, living in fine style, had a large
stud, in the first rank of which figured a lovely mare, called
Lisette, easy in her paces, as light as a deer, and so well
broken that a child could lead her. But this mare, when
she was ridden, had a terrible fault, and fortunately a rare
one: she bit like a bulldog, and furiously attacked people
whom she disliked, which decided M. Finguerlin to sell her.
She was bought for Mme. de Lauriston, whose husband, one
of the Emperor's aides-de-camp, had written to her to get
his campaigning outfit ready. When selling the mare, M.
Finguerlin had forgotten to mention her fault, and that very
evening a groom was found disembowelled at her feet. Mme.
de Lauriston, reasonably alarmed, brought an action to cancel
the bargain ; not only did she get her verdict, but, in
order to prevent further disasters, the police ordered that a
written statement should be placed in Lisette's stall to inform
purchasers of her ferocity, and that any bargain with regard to
her should be void unless the purchaser declared in writing that
his attention had been called to the notice. You may suppose
that with such a character as this the mare was not easy to
dispose of, and thus Herr von Aister informed me that her

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USETTE ail

owner had decided to let her go for what anyone would give.
I offered 1,000 francs, and M. Finguerlin delivered Lisette to
me, though she had cost him 5,000. This animal gave me a
good deal of trouble for some months. It took four or five men
to saddle her, and you could only bridle her by covering her
eyes and fastening all four leg s ; but once you were on her
back, you found her a really incomparable mount.

However, since while in my possession she had already
bitten several people, and had not spared me, I was thinking
of parting with her. But I had meanwhile engaged in my
service Francis Woirland, a man who was afraid of nothing,
and he, before going near Lisette, whose bad character had
been mentioned to him, armed himself with a good hot roast
leg of mutton. When the animal flew at him to bite him, he
held out the mutton ; she seized it in her teeth, and burning her
gums, palate, and tongue, gave a scream, let the mutton drop,
and from that moment was perfectly submissive to Woirland,
and did not venture to attack him again. I employed the same
method with a like result. Lisette became as docile as a dog,
and allowed me and my servant to approach her freely. She
even became a little more tractable towards the stablemen of
the staff, whom she saw every day, but woe to the strangers
who passed near her 1 I could quote twenty instances of her
ferocity, but I will confine myself to one. While Marshal
Augereau was staying at the chateau of Bellevue, near Berlin,
the servants of the staff, having observed that when they went
to dinner someone stole the sacks of corn that were left in the
stable, got Woirland to unfasten Lisette and leave her near the
door. The thief arrived, slipped into the stable, and was in the
act of carrying off a sack, when the mare seized him by the
nape of the neck, dragged him into the middle of the yard and
trampled on him till she broke two of his ribs. At the shrieks
of the thief, people ran up, but Lisette would not let him go
till my servant and I compelled her, for in her fury she would
have fiown at anyone else. She had become still more vicious
ever since the Saxon hussar officer, of whom I have told you,
had treacherously laid open her shoulder with a sabre-cut on
the battlefield of Jena.

Such was the mare which I was riding at Eylau at the
moment when the fragments of Augereau's army corps,
shattered by a hail of musketry and cannon-balls, were
trying to rally near the great cemetery. You will remember
how the 14th of the line had remained alone on a hillock,
which it could not quit except by the Emperor's order. The

213 MEMOIRS OP THE BARON DE MARBOT

snow had ceased for the moment ; we could see how the
intrepid regiment, surrounded by the enemy, was waving
its eagle in the air to show that it still held its ground and
asked for support. The Emperor, touched by the grand
devotion of these brave men, resolved to try to save them,
and ordered Augereau to send an officer to them with orders
to leave the hillock, form a small square, and make their way
towards us, while a brigade of cavalry should march in their
direction and assist their efforts. This was before Murat's
great charge. It was almost impossible to carry out the
Emperor's wishes, because a swarm of Cossacks was between
us and the 14th, and it was clear that any officer who was sent
towards the unfortunate regiment would be killed or captured
before he could get to it. But the order was positive, and the
marshal had to comply.

It was customary in the Imperial army for the aides-de-camp
to place themselves in file a few paces from their general, and
for the one who was in front to go on duty first; then,
when he had performed his mission, to return and place
himself last, in order that each might carry orders in his
turn, and dangers might be shared equally. A brave captain
of engineers, named Froissard, who, though not an aide-de-
camp, was on the marshal's staff, happened to be nearest to
him, and was bidden to carry the order to the 14th. M.
Froissard galloped off; we lost sight of him in the midst of
the Cossacks, and never saw him again nor heard what had
become of him. The marshal, seeing that the 14th did not
move, sent an officer named David ; he had the same fate as
Froissard : we never heard of him again. Probably both were
killed and stripped, and could not be recognised among "the
many corpses which covered the ground. For the third time
the marshal called, * The officer for duty.' It was my turn.

Seeing the son of his old friend, and I venture to say his
favourite aide-de-camp, come up, the kind marshal's face
changed, and his eyes filled with tears, for he could not hide
from himself that he was sending me to almost certain death.
But the Emperor must be obeyed. I was a soldier ; it was
impossible to make one of my comrades go in my place, nor
would I have allowed it ; it would have been disgracing me.
So I dashed off. But though ready to sacrifice my life I felt
bound to take all necessary precautions to save it. I had
observed that the two officers who went before me had gone
with swords drawn, which led me to think that they had
purposed to defend themselves against any Cossacks who

A DANGEROUS MISSION 113

might attack them on the way. Such defence, I thought, was
ill-considered, since it must have compelled them to halt in
order to fight a multitude of enemies, who would overwhelm
them in the end. So I went otherwise to work, and leaving
my sword in the scabbard, I regarded myself as a horseman
who is trying to win a steeplechase, and goes as quickly as
possible and by the shortest line towards the appointed goal,
without troubling himself with what is to right or left of his
path. Now, as my goal was the hillock occupied by the 14th, I
resolved to get there without taking any notice of the Cossacks,
whom in thought I abolished. This plan answered perfectly.
Lisette, lighter than a swallow and flying rather than running,
devoured the intervening space, leaping the piles of dead men
and horses, the ditches, the broken gun-carriages, the half-
extinguished bivouac fires. Thousands of Cossacks swarmed
over the plain. The first who saw me acted like sportsmen
who, when beating, start a hare, and announce its presence to
each other by shouts of ■ Your side 1 Your side ! ' but none of
the Cossacks tried to stop me, first, on account of the extreme
rapidity of my pace, and also probably because, their numbers
being so great, each thought that I could not avoid his com-
rades farther on ; so that I escaped them all, and reached the
14th regiment without either myself or my excellent mare
having received the slightest scratch.

I found the 14th formed in square on the top of the hillock,
nut as the slope was very slight the enemy's cavalry had been
able to deliver several charges. These had been vigorously
repulsed, and the French regiment was surrounded by a circle
of dead horses and dragoons, which formed a kind of rampart,
making the position by this time almost inaccessible to cavalry;
as I found, for in spite of the aid of our men, I had much
difficulty in passing over this horrible entrenchment. At last I
was in the square. Since Colonel Savary's death at the passage
of the Wkra, the 14th had been commanded by a major. While
I imparted to this officer, under a hail of balls, the order to quit
his position and try to rejoin his corps, he pointed out to me
that the enemy's artillery had been firing on the 14th for an
hour, and had caused it such loss that the handful of soldiers
which remained would inevitably be exterminated if they went
down into the plain, and that, moreover, there would not be
time to prepare to execute such a movement, since a Russian
column was marching on him, and was not more than a
hundred paces away. ' I see no means of saving the
regiment,' said the major ; ' return to the Emperor, bid him

214 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

farewell from the 14th of the line, which has faithfully
executed his orders, and bear to him the eagle which he
gave us, and which we can defend no longer: it would add
too much to the pain of death to see it fall into the hands of
the enemy.' Then the major handed me his eagle. Saluted
for the last time by the glorious fragment of the intrepid
regiment with cries of * Vive l'Empereur ! ' they were going
to die for him. It was the Ccesar morituri te salutant
of Tacitus,1 but in this case the cry was uttered by heroes.
The infantry eagles were very heavy, and their weight was
increased by a stout oak pole on the top of which they were
fixed. The length of the pole embarrassed me much, and as
the stick without the eagle could not constitute a trophy for
the enemy, I resolved with the major's consent to break it
and only carry off the eagle. But at the moment when I was
leaning forward from my saddle in order to get a better purchase
to separate the eagle from the pole, one of the numerous
cannon-balls which the Russians were sending at us went
through the hinder peak of my hat, less than an inch from my
head. The shock was all the more terrible since my hat, being
fastened on by a strong leather strap under the chin, offered
more resistance to the blow. I seemed to be blotted out of
existence, but I did not fall from my horse ; blood flowed from
my nose, my ears, and even my eyes ; nevertheless I still
could hear and see, and I preserved all my intellectual
faculties, although my limbs were paralysed to such an
extent that I could not move a single finger.

Meanwhile the column of Russian infantry which we had
just perceived was mounting the hill ; they were grenadiers
wearing mitre-shaped caps with metal ornaments. Soaked
with spirits, and in vastly superior numbers, these men hurled
themselves furiously on the feeble remains of the unfortunate
14th, whose soldiers had for several days been living only on
potatoes and melted snow ; that day they had not had time to
prepare even this wretched meal. Still our brave Frenchmen
made a valiant defence with their bayonets, and when the square
had been broken, they held together in groups and sustained
the unequal fight for a long time.

During this terrible struggle several of our men, in order
not to be struck from behind, set their backs against my
mare's flanks, she, contrary to her practice, remaining perfectly
quiet If I had been able to move I should have urged her

1 [A» a matter of faqt, Suetonius.]

A PERILOUS POSITION 215

forward to get away from this field of slaughter. But it was
absolutely impossible for me to press my legs so as to make
the animal I rode understand my wish. My position was the
more frightful since, as I have said, I retained the power of
sight and thought. Not only were they fighting all round me,
which exposed me to bayonet-thrusts, but a Russian officer
with a hideous countenance kept making efforts to run me
through. As the crowd of combatants prevented him from
reaching me, he pointed me out to the soldiers around him, and
they, taking me for the commander of the French, as I was
the only mounted man, kept firing at me over their comrades'
heads, so that bullets were constantly whistling past my ear.
One of them would certainly have taken away the small
amount of life that was still in me had not a terrible incident
led to my escape from the meie'e.

Among the Frenchmen who had got their flanks against
my mare's near flank was a quartermaster-sergeant, whom I
knew from having frequently seen him at the marshal's, making
copies for him of the ' morning states.' This man, having
been attacked and wounded by several of the enemy, fell under
Lisette's belly, and was seizing my leg to pull himself up,
when a Russian grenadier, too drunk to stand steady, wishing
to finish him by a thrust in the breast, lost his balance, and
the point of his bayonet went astray into my cloak, which at
that moment was puffed out by the wind. Seeing that I did
not fall, the Russian left the sergeant and aimed a great number
of blows at me. These were at first fruitless, but one at last
reached me, piercing my left arm, and I felt with a kind of horrible
pleasure my blood flowing hot. The Russian grenadier with
redoubled fury made another thrust at me, but, stumbling with
the force which he put into it, drove his bayonet into my mare's
thigh. Her ferocious instincts being restored by the pain, she
sprang at the Russian, and at one mouthful tore off his nose,
lips, eyebrows, and all the skin of his face, making of him a
living death's-head, dripping with blood. Then hurling herself
with fury among the combatants, kicking and biting, Lisette
upset everything that she met on her road. The officer who
had made so many attempts to strike me tried to hold her
by the bridle ; she seized him by his belly, and carrying him
off with ease, she bore him out of the crush to the foot of
the hillock, where, having torn out his entrails and mashed
his body under her feet, she left him dying on the snow. Then,
taking the road by which she had come, she made her way
at full gallop towards the cemetery of Evlau. Thanks to

2l6 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

the hussar's saddle on which I was sitting I kept my seat. But
a new danger awaited me. The snow had begun to fall again,
and great flakes obscured the daylight when, having arrived
close to Eylau, I found myself in front of a battalion of the Old
Guard, who, unable to see clearly at a distance, took me for
an enemy's officer leading a charge of cavalry. The whole
battalion at once opened fire on me ; my cloak and my saddle
were riddled, but I was not wounded nor was my mare. She
continued her rapid course, and went through the three ranks
of the battalion as easily as a snake through a hedge. But
this last spurt had exhausted Lisette's strength ; she had lost
much blood, for one of the large veins in her thigh had been
divided, and the poor animal collapsed suddenly and fell on one
side, rolling me over on the other.

Stretched on the snow among the piles of dead and dying,
unable to move in any way, I gradually and without pain lost
consciousness. I felt as if I was being gently rocked to sleep.
At last I fainted quite away without being revived by the
mighty clatter which Murat's ninety squadrons advancing to
the charge must have made in passing close to me and perhaps
over me. I judge that my swoon lasted four hours, and when
I came to my senses I found myself in this horrible position.
I was completely naked, having nothing on but my hat and my
right boot. A man of the transport corps, thinking me dead,
had stripped me in the usual fashion, and wishing to pull off
the only boot that remained, was dragging me by one leg with
his foot against my body. The jerks which the man gave me
no doubt had restored me to my senses. I succeeded in sitting
up and spitting out the clots of blood from my throat. The
shock caused by the wind of the ball had produced such an
extravasation of blood, that my face, shoulders, and chest were
black, while the rest of my body was stained red by the blood
from my wound. My hat and my hair were full of bloodstained
snow, and as I rolled my haggard eyes I must have been
horrible to see. Anyhow, the transport man looked the other
way, and went off with my property without my being able to
say a single word to him, so utterly prostrate was I. But I
had recovered my mental faculties, and my thoughts turned
towards God and my mother.

The setting sun cast some feeble rays through the clouds.
I took what I believed to be a last farewell of it. * If,' thought
I, ' I had only not been stripped, some one of the numerous
people who pass near me would notice the gold lace on my
pelisse, and, recognising that I am a marshal's aide-de-camp,

A LUCKY DISCOVERY 2IJ

would perhaps have carried me to the ambulance. But seeing
me naked, they do not distinguish me from the corpses with
which I am surrounded, and, indeed, there soon will be no
difference between them and me. I cannot call help, and the
approaching night will take away all hope of succour. The
cold is increasing : shall I be able to bear it till to-morrow,
seeing that I feel my naked limbs stiffening already ? * So I
made up my mind to die, for if I had been saved by a miracle in
the midst of the terrible melee between the Russians and the
14th, could I expect that there would be a second miracle to ex-
tract me from my present horrible position ? The second miracle
did take place in the following manner. Marshal Augereau had
a valet named Pierre Dannel, a very intelligent and very faith-
ful fellow, but somewhat given to arguing. Now it happened
during our stay at La Houssaye that Dannel, having answered
his master, got dismissed. In despair, he begged me to plead
for him. This I did so zealously that I succeeded in getting
him taken back into favour. From that time the valet had been
devotedly attached to me. The outfit having been all left
behind at Landsberg, he had started all out of his own head
on the day of battle to bring provisions to his master. He
had placed these in a very light wagon which could go every-
where, and contained the articles which the marshal most
frequently required. This little wagon was driven by a soldier
belonging to the same company of the transport corps as the
man who had just stripped me. This latter, with my property
in his hands, passed near the wagon, which was standing a.1:
the side of the cemetery, and, recognising the driver, his old
comrade, he hailed him, and showed him the splendid booty
which he had just taken from a dead man.

Now you must know that when we were in cantonments
on the Vistula the marshal happened to send Dannel to
Warsaw for provisions, and I commissioned him to get the
trimming of black astrachan taken from my pelisse, and have
it replaced by grey, this having recently been adopted by
Prince Berthier's aides-de-camp, who set the fashion in the
army. Up to now, I was the only one of Augereau's officers
who had grey astrachan. Dannel, who was present when the
transport man made his display, quickly recognised my pelisse,
which made him look more closely at the other effects of the
alleged dead man. Among these he found my watch, which
had belonged to my father and was marked with his cypher.
The valet had no longer any doubt that I had been killed,
and while deploring my loss, he wished to see me for the last

2l8 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

time. Guided by the transport man he reached me and found
me living. Great was the joy of this worthy man, to whom I
certainly owed my life. He made haste to fetch my servant
and some orderlies, and had me carried to a barn, where he
rubbed my body with rum. Meanwhile some one went to
fetch Dr. Raymond, who came at length, dressed the wound
in my arm, and declared that the release of blood due to it
would be the saving of me.

My brother and my comrades were quickly round me;
something was given to the transport soldier who had taken
my clothes, which he returned very willingly, but as they were
saturated with water and with blood, Marshal Augereau had
me wrapped in things belonging to himself. The Emperor
had given the marshal leave to go to Landsberg, but as his
wound forbad him to ride, his aides-de-camp had procured a
sledge, on which the body of a carriage had been placed.
The marshal, who could not make up his mind to leave me,
had me fastened up beside him, for I was too weak to sit
upright.

Before I was removed from the field of battle I had seen
my poor Lisette near me. The cold had caused the blood
from her wound to clot, and prevented the loss from being
too great. The creature had got on to her legs and was eating
the straw which the soldiers had used the night before for
their bivouacs. My servant, who was very fond of Lisette,
had noticed her when he was helping to remove me, and
cutting up into bandages the shirt and hood of a dead soldier,
he wrapped her leg with them, and thus made her able to
walk to Landsberg. The officer in command of the small
garrison there had had the forethought to get quarters ready
for the wounded, so the staff found places in a large and
good inn.

In this way, instead of passing the night without help,
stretched naked on the snow, I lay on a good bed surrounded
by the attention of my brother, my comrades, and the kind
Dr. Raymond. The doctor had been obliged to cut off the
boot which the transport man had not been able to pull off, and
which had become all the more difficult to remove owing to
the swelling of my foot. You will see presently that this very
nearly cost me my leg, and perhaps my life.

We stayed thirty-six hours at Landsberg. This rest, and
the good care taken of me, restored me to the use of speech and
senses, and when on the second day after the battle Marshal
Augereau started for Warsaw I was able to be carried in the

INVALIDED HOME 219

sledge. The journey lasted eight days. Gradually I recovered
strength, but as strength returned I began to feel a sensation
of icy cold in my right foot. At Warsaw I was lodged
in the house that had been taken for the marshal, which
suited me the better that I was not able to leave my bed.
Yet the wound in my arm was doing well, the cxtravasated
blood was becoming absorbed, my skin was recovering its
natural colour. The doctor knew not to what he could
ascribe my inability to rise, till, hearing me complaining of my
leg, he examined it, and found that my foot was gangrened.
An accident of my early days was the cause of this new
trouble. At Soreze I had my right foot wounded by the
unbuttoned foil of a schoolfellow with whom I was fencing.
It seemed that the muscles of the part had become sensitive,
and had suffered much from cold while I was lying uncon-
scious on the field of Eylau ; thence had resulted a swelling
which explained the difficulty experienced by the soldier in
dragging off my right boot. The foot was frost-bitten, and as
it had not been treated in time, gangrene had appeared in the
site of the old wound from the foil. The place was covered
with an eschar as large as a five-franc piece. The doctor
turned pale when he saw the foot : then, making four servants
hold me, and taking his knife, he lifted the eschar, and dug the
mortified flesh from my foot just as one cuts the damaged part
out of an apple. The pain was great, but I did not complain.
It was otherwise, however, when the knife reached the living
flesh, and laid bare the muscles and bones till one could see
them moving. Then the doctor, standing on a chair, soaked a
sponge in hot sweetened wine, and let it fall drop by drop into
the hole which he had just dug in my foot. The pain became
unbearable. Still, for eight days I had to undergo this torture
morning and evening, but my leg was saved.

Nowadays, when promotions and decorations are bestowed
so lavishly, some reward would certainly be given to an officer
who had braved danger as I had done in reaching the 14th
regiment ; but under the Empire a devoted act of that kind was
thought so natural that I did not receive the cross, nor did it
ever occur to me to ask for it. A long rest having been ordered
for the cure of Marshal Augereau's wound, the Emperor wrote
to bid him return for treatment to France, and sent to Italy
for Massena, to whom my brother, Bro, and several of my
comrades were attached. Augereau took me with him, as well
as Dr. Raymond and his secretary. I had to be lifted in and
out of the carriage ; otherwise I found my health coming back

220

MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

as I got away from those icy regions towards a milder climate.
My mare passed the winter in the stables of M. de Launay,
head of the forage department. Our road lay through Silesia.
So long as we were in that horrible Poland, it required twelve,
sometimes sixteen, horses to draw the carriage at a walk
through the bogs and quagmires ; but in Germany we found ait
length civilisation and real roads.

After a halt at Dresden, and ten or twelve days' stay at
Frankfort, we reached Paris about March 15. I walked very
lame, wore my arm in a sling, and still felt the terrible shaking
caused by the wind of the cannon-ball ; but the joy of seeing
my mother again, and her kind care of me, together with the
sweet influences of the spring, completed my cure. Before
leaving Warsaw I had meant to throw away the hat which the
ball had pierced, but the marshal kept it as a curiosity and gave
it to my mother. It still exists in my possession, and should
be kept as a family relic. Vv

CHAPTER XXX.

At Paris I remained the rest of March, all April, and the
first week of May. It was during this stay that I made the
acquaintance of the Desbrieres family, with whom I was
shortly to become connected. As soon as my health was
restored, I felt that I could not stay longer at Paris. Marshal
Augereau recommended me to Marshal Lannes, who received
me very cordially on his staff. In order to be in a position to
watch the enemy's movements during the winter, the Emperor
had taken up his quarters in the midst of the cantonments of
the troops, first at Osterode, then at the chateau of Finken-
stein, whence, while making ready for a new campaign, he
governed France and gave instructions to his ministers, receiv-
ing their reports every week. The portfolios containing the
various papers from each minister were sent every Wednesday
evening to M. Denniee, under- secretary of state for war, who
sent them off every Thursday morning. The duty of convey-
ing them to the Emperor was entrusted to a clerk, but the
service was badly performed, since the majority of the clerks
had never been out of France, could not speak a word of
German, and knew neither the money nor the postal regula-
tions of foreign countries, so that the moment they had
crossed the Rhine they were quite helpless. Besides, these
gentlemen, not being accustomed to fatigue, very soon broke
down under a journey of more than 300 leagues, requiring con-
tinuous travelling ten days and nights. One of them was even
careless enough to let his despatches be stolen.

Furious at this mischance, Napoleon sent a mounted
messenger to Paris ordering M. Denniee to entrust the port-
folios in future only to officers who knew German, and who
were enough accustomed to roughing it to be able to fulfil the
mission more efficiently. M. Denniee was at a loss to find one
when I presented myself with Marshal Lannes' letter summon-
ing me to join him. Delighted at seeing a way of quickly
getting off his portfolios with safety, he bade me get ready by
the following Thursday, and gave me 5,000 francs for posting

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Ill MBMQIRS OF THE BARON DB MARBOT

expenses and the purchase of a carriage. This suited me very
well, as I had very little money with which to rejoin the army
at the other end of Poland.

We left Paris abeut May 10 ; my servant and I were well
armed, and whenever one of us was compelled to leave the
carriage for a moment the other kept guard. We knew enough
German to hurry along the postilions, who were far more
amenable to an officer in uniform than to the clerks. Thus,
instead of requiring, like those gentlemen, nine days and a half,
or, perhaps, ten days to get from Paris to Finkenstein, I did
the journey in eight days and a half.

The Emperor, delighted at getting his despatches twenty-
four hours quicker, began by praising my zeal which had in-
duced me to return to the army in spite of my recent wounds,
and added that, as I was such a good postman, I was to start
back that same night for Paris and bring back some more port-
folios. This would not hinder me from being present when
hostilities recommenced, which could not be until the beginning
of June.

Although I had not by a long way spent the 5,000 francs
which M. Denniee had handed me, the marshal of the Palace
gave me the same amount for my return journey. I went
back to Paris at full speed, remained twenty-four hours there,
and started back for Poland. The minister of war handed
me another 5,000 francs for the third journey ; it was a good
deal more than was necessary, but such were the Emperor's
orders. It is true that the journeys were very tiring, and
still more tedious, although the weather was very fine. I
was on wheels day and night for nearly a month, with my
servant as my sole companion. I found the Emperor again at
the chateau of Finkenstein. I was afraid that just when
fighting was going to begin I should have to go on acting
postman ; but luckily officers had been found to carry the
despatches, and the service was already organised. The
Emperor gave me leave to rejoin Marshal Lannes, which I
did at Marienburg on May 25. Colonel Sicard, Augereau's
aide-de-camp, was with him, and had been kind enough to
bring my horses. It was a great pleasure to see again my
dear mare Lisette, who was still capable of doing good service.

The fortress of Dantzig, which the French had besieged
during the winter, had fallen into their hands. The return of
the summer soon caused the campaign to be reopened. The
Russians beat up our cantonments on June 5, and were smartly
repulsed at all points. At Heilsberg on the 10th there was an

ON THE MARCH 223

engagement sanguinary enough to have been dignified by some
historians into a battle, the enemy being again beaten. I shall
not give any details of this affair, because Marshal Lannes'
corps only came up at nightfall and took very little part in it.
We received, however, a pretty good number of shot, one of
which inflicted a mortal wound on Colonel Sicard, who had
been struck by a bullet at Eylau, and was hardly cured when
he came back to fight afresh. Before dying he bade me take
farewell of Augereau for him, and gave me a letter for his wife.
It was a sad scene and distressed me much.

In our pursuit of the Russians we passed by Eylau. Three
months before we had left the fields covered with snow and
corpses, now they presented a lovely carpet of green, studded
with flowers. What a contrast! How many brave fighting
men were resting under those green meadows ! I went and sat
down at the very place where I had fallen, where I had been
stripped, where I must have died if a combination of really
providential events had not saved me. Marshal Lannes
wanted to see the hillock where the 14th had made such a
gallant defence, and I took him there. The enemy had
occupied this ground since the battle, but in spite of this we
found no damage done to the monument which all the
regiments of the French army had put up to their ill-fated
comrades of the 14th, thirty-six of whose officers had been
buried in the same trench. This respect for the fame of the
dead does honour to the Russians. I halted for a few moments
on the place where I had received the cannon-ball in my hat and
the bayonet- wound, and thought of the brave men who lay
beneath in the dust and whose fate I had gone so near to
sharing.

After their defeat at Heilsberg on the 10th of June, the
Russians made a headlong retreat and gained a day's march on
the French, who, on the evening of the 13th, were assembled
in advance of Eylau on the left bank of the Alle. The enemy
occupied Bartenstein on the right bank, and the two forces
descended the river, marching parallel with each other.
Bennigsen, having his base of supplies at Konigsberg, where
the Prussian army was, planned to reach that town before the
French army could come up ; but to do this, he had to cross to
the left bank of the Alle, along which Napoleon was marching
from Eylau. The Russian general hoped to reach Friedland
sufficiently in advance to be able to cross the river unopposed.
But the same motives which made Bennigsen wish to keep
Konigsberg made it to the Emperor's interest to capture it, and

224 MEMOIRS OP THE BARON DE MARBOT

for some days he had been manoeuvring to outflank the enemy's
left, in order to draw them away from the place ; while he had
detached Soult, Murat, and Davout towards it, in order to meet
the Russians if they got there first. But he was not satisfied
with this precaution. Foreseeing that in order to reach
Konigsberg the Russians would seek to cross the Alle at Fried-
land, he determined to occupy that town before them. In the
night between June 13 and 14 he sent forward the corps of
Marshals Lannes and Mortier, with three divisions of cavalry.
The rest of the army was to follow. Lannes, who, with
Oudinot's grenadiers and a brigade of cavalry, formed the
advance, reached Posthenen, one league short of Friedland, at
2 a.m., and sent the 9th Hussars to reconnoitre the latter town.
They were driven back with loss, and the rising sun enabled
us to see a large part of the Russian army massed on the
other side of the river, on the high table-land between Allenau
and Friedland. The enemy was beginning to cross the old
bridge of the town, close to which he had constructed two new
ones.

The aim which each side had in view was easy to under-
stand. The Russians wished to cross the Alle and reach Konigs-
berg ; the French wished to hinder them, and roll them back
from the other side of the river, the banks of which are very
steep. There is no bridge save that at Friedland. The difficulty
which the Russians had in debouching from the town into
the plain on the left bank was increased by the fact that the
issue from Friedland is narrowed at that spot by a largish lake,
as well as by a stream called the Millstream, which runs in
a deep and narrow ravine. To cover his passage, the enemy
had thrown up two powerful batteries on the right bank, com-
manding the town, and part of the plain between Posthenen
and Heinrichsdorf. The objects and respective positions of
the two armies being thus made clear, I will briefly set out
the chief incidents of this decisive battle, which led to a
peace.

The Emperor was still at Eylau. The various army corps
were marching on Friedland, from which they were several
leagues distant, when Lannes, who had marched all night,
arrived before the town. If the marshal had only listened to
his own eagerness he would have attacked the enemy on
the spot, but they had already 30,000 men in position on the
plain in front of Friedland, and their lines, the right of which
was in front of Heinrichsdorf, the centre on the Millstream,
and the left on the village of Sortlack, were being continually

ANNIVERSARY OF MARENGO 22$

strengthened, while Lannes had only 10,000 men. These,
however, he placed very skilfully in the village of Posthenen,
and in the wood of Sortlack, whence he threatened the Russian
left, while, with two divisions of cavalry, he tried to stop their
march on Heinrichsdorf, a village on the road from Friedland
to Konigsberg. A brisk fire was opened, but Marshal Mortier's
corps appeared without delay, and in order to dispute the way
to Konigsberg with the Russians, while he waited for reinforce-
ments, he occupied Heinrichsdorf and the space between that
village and Posthenen. Still, it was not possible that Mortier
and Lannes could, with 25,000 men, make head against the
70,000 Russians who would shortly face them. The moment
was becoming very critical. Marshal Lannes was sending
officers every instant to warn the Emperor to hurry up the
army corps which he knew were on the march behind him. I
was the first sent, and, mounted on my swift Lisette, I met
the Emperor leaving Eylau and found him beaming. He made
me come to his side, and as we galloped I had to give him
an account of all that had taken place before I had left the
field of battle. When I had ended my report the Emperor
said smiling, ' Have you a good memory ? ' i Pretty fair, sir.'
1 Well, what anniversary is it to-day, 14th June ? ' ' Marengo.'
4 Yes,' replied the Emperor, ' that of Marengo ; and I am
going to beat the Russians as I beat the Austrians.' So con-
vinced was Napoleon on this point that as he rode along the
columns, and while the soldiers saluted him with frequent
cheers, he repeatedly said to them, * To-day is a lucky day, the
anniversary of Marengo.'

15

CHAPTER XXXI.

It was past eleven when the Emperor arrived on the field of
battle, where several army corps had already joined Lannes
and Mortier. The rest, with the guard, came up in due course.
Napoleon rectified the lines. Ney commanded the right wing,
which was placed in the woods of Sortlack, Lannes and Mortier
the centre, between Posthenen and Heinrichsdorf, the left
extended beyond the last-named village. It was oppressively
hot ; the Emperor allowed the troops an hour's rest, and settled
that at a signal given by twenty-five guns firing simultaneously,
a general attack should be made. Marshal Ney's corps had
the roughest task. Concealed in the wood of Sortlack, it had
to issue from it and make its way into Friedland, where the
enemy's main force and reserves were massed, capture the
bridges, and thus cut off the Russians' retreat entirely. It is
difficult to understand how Bennigsen could have made up his
mind to place his army in advance of the Friedland defile,
where it had in rear the Alle, with its steep banks, and before
it the French, who held the plain. To account for his action,
the Russian general explained later on that, being a day's
march ahead of Napoleon, and not being able to conceive that
the French could cover in twelve hours a distance equal to
that which his troops had taken twenty-four hours to traverse,
he had supposed, when he found Lannes' corps at Friedland,
that it was an isolated advanced guard of the French army,
which he would have no difficulty in crushing, and that, when
he discovered his error, it was too late to bring his army back
to the other side of the Alle, because the Friedland defile would
have caused him a certain loss, so that he preferred to fight
with vigour.

About i p.m. the twenty-five cannons at Posthenen fired
simultaneously by the Emperor's order, and battle was joined
all along the line. Our left and our centre advanced at first
very slowly, in order to give the right, under Ney, time to
carry the town. The marshal, issuing from the wood at Sort-
lack, captured the village of that name and advanced very

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FR1BDLAMD 227

quickly on Friedland, clearing everything on his road. But in
the passing from the wood and village of Sortlack to the first
houses of Friedland, the troops had to march without cover,
and found themselves exposed to a terrible fire from the Russian
batteries, which, being placed in rear of the town on the high
ground of the opposite bank, caused them immense loss.
What made the fire more dangerous was that the enemy's
gunners, having the river between us and them, could aim in
security, since they saw that it was impossible for our infantry to
attack them. This serious disadvantage might have prevented
the capture of Friedland, but Napoleon remedied it by sending
fifty guns, which were placed by General Senarmont, and fired
across the river at the Russian batteries, pouring upon them
such a hail of shot as must soon have dismounted them. As
soon as the fire of the enemy's guns was silenced, Ney con-
tinued his bold march, rolled back the Russians in Friedland,
and entered pell-mell with them into the streets of the unlucky
town, which the shells had already set on fire. There was a
terrible bayonet fight, and the Russians, crowded one upon
another and hardly able to move, lost very heavily. Ultimately
they were obliged, in spite of their courage, to retire in disorder,
and seek a refuge on the opposite bank, crossing the bridges
again. But here a new danger awaited them. General Senar-
mont's artillery, having drawn near the town, took the bridges
in flank, and soon broke them, after killing a great number of
the Russians who were crossing them in their hurried flight.
All who still remained in Friedland were captured, killed, or
drowned in crossing the river.

Up to this time Napoleon had, so to say, made his centre
and left wing mark time. Now he pushed them rapidly
forward. The Russian general, Gortschakoff, who commanded
the enemy's centre and right wing, obeying merely his own
courage, wished to recapture the town. This would have
been of no use to him, since the bridges were broken, but that
he did not know. So he dashed forwards at the head of his
troops into Friedland, blazing as it was. But repulsed in front
by Ney's troops, who occupied the town, and compelled to
regain the open country, the enemy's general soon found him-
self surrounded by our centre, which pushed him back on the
Alle, in front of Kloschenen. The Russians defended them-
selves with furious heroism, and though driven in on all sides
refused to surrender. A large part fell under our bayonets, and
the rest were rolled back from the top of the bank into the
river, where nearly all were drowned.

228 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

The enemy's extreme right, consisting chiefly of cavalry,
had attempted to carry or turn the village of Heinrichsdorf.
But repulsed briskly by our troops, it had regained the banks
of the Alle, under command of General Lambert. Seeing Fried-
land occupied by the French, and the Russian left and centre
destroyed, he rallied as many regiments as he could of the
right wing, and escaped from the field of battle by descending
the Alle. Night prevented the French from pursuing,1 so that
of all the enemy's corps this alone escaped utter rout. Our
victory was most complete ; all the Russian artillery fell into
our hands. We had taken few prisoners during the action, but
the numbers of the enemy killed and wounded amounted to
more than 26,000. Our loss was only 3,000 killed, and 4,000
to 5,000 wounded. Of all the battles fought by the Emperor,
this was the only one 2 in which his troops outnumbered those
of the enemy. The French had 80,000 combatants, the
Russians only 75,000. The remains of the enemy's army
marched in disorder all night, and retired behind the Pregel,
destroying the bridges.

Marshals Soult, Davout, and Murat had not been able to
take part in the battle, but their appearance had decided the
Prussians to abandon Konigsberg, and our troops took posses-
sion of it, finding there immense stores of all kinds.

No accident befell me during the battle of Friedland,
although I was exposed to very great dangers on this wise.
You saw me starting in the morning from Posthenen by order
of Marshal Lannes to go at full speed and warn the Emperor
that the enemy was crossing the Alle at Friedland, and a battle
appeared imminent. Napoleon was at Eylau, and I had, there-
fore, nearly six leagues to go in order to meet him, which would
have been a small matter for my excellent mare if the roads
had been clear. But encumbered as they were by the troops of
the various corps coming up with all haste to support Marshal
Lannes, I found it absolutely impossible to gallop if I kept the
road, so I went across country, with the result that Lisette,
having had to jump fences, hedges, and ditches, was pretty
well blown when I joined the Emperor, coming out of Eylau.
But I had, without taking a moment's rest, to return with him
to Friedland, and although this time the troops drew up to let

1 [June 14. Latitude 530.]

3 [The italics are the author's. Napoleon's bulletins after the battles no
doubt usually contained a statement to a similar effect, but subsequent inves-
tigation tends to show that the statement was not always strictly correct.]

INCIDENTS OF THE DA TTLR 22g

us pass, my poor mare, who had galloped twelve leagues at a
stretch, six of them across country, and on a very hot day,
was completely beaten when I reached the field of battle and
rejoined Marshal Lannes. I saw that Lisette could do no
more service during the action, so I took advantage of the
moment's rest which the Emperor allowed the troops to try to
find my servant and change horses. But in the midst of an
army of that size how was I to find my belongings ? It was
impossible, so I returned to the staff, still mounted on the
blown Lisette.

Marshal Lannes and my comrades, seeing the fix I was
in, advised me to dismount, and let my mare rest for a few
hours. At that moment I saw one of our hussars leading a
horse which he had captured. I bought it, and entrusting
Lisette to a trooper of the marshal's escort to take her to the
rear and feed her, and hand her over to my servant whenever
he saw him, I mounted my new horse, resumed my place
among the aides-de-camp, and took my turns of duty. At
first I was well satisfied with my mount, until Lannes sent
me off to Ney, who was by that time in Friedland, to warn
him of a movement which the enemy was making. Hardly
was I in the town when my devil of a horse, who had be-
haved so well in the open country, finding himself in a little
square with houses on fire all round, the pavements covered with
burning furniture and timber, and many half-roasted corpses,
was so terrified by the sight of the flames and the odour of
burning flesh, that he refused to advance or retreat. Putting
his four feet together, he stood stock still and snorted violently,
without taking the slightest notice of the spur, which I vigor-
ously applied. Meanwhile the Russians, having gained a
momentary advantage in a street close by, were pushing our
troops back to the place where I was, and were pouring a
hail of bullets from a church tower and the neighbouring
houses all about me, at the same time plying the battalions by
whom I was surrounded with grape from two guns which they
had dragged up. Many men fell all round me, and I was
reminded of the position in which I had found myself at Eylau.
As I had no curiosity whatever to see what another wound
felt like, and besides, so long as I stayed there I could not
fulfil my errand, I just got off, and leaving my infernal horse,
slipped along the houses to go and join Ney, who was in another
square which the officers pointed out to me. I remained a
quarter of an hour with him : plenty of bullets were dropping
there, but nothing like so many as in the place where I had left

230 memoirs of the baron de marbot

my horse. Finally, a bayonet charge drove back the Russians,
and compelled them to retire on all sides towards the bridges.
Ney bade me take the good news to Lannes. I returned by
the same way which I had taken in coming, and passed again
the spot where I had left my horse. It had been the scene of a
sanguinary fight ; nothing was to be seen but dead and dying,
and in the middle of them was the obstinate horse, his back
broken by a cannon-ball, and his body riddled with bullets.

I hurried on to the end of the suburbs, for burning houses
were falling down on all sides, and I feared to be buried in
the ruins. At last I got out of the town, and reached the
edge of the lake. The heat of the day, combined with that
of the fire in the streets which I had passed through, had
made me steam. I was half-suffocated and dropping with
fatigue and hard work ; for I had passed the night on horse-
back coming from Eylau to Friedland ; then I had galloped
again to Eylau and back, and had eaten nothing since the
previous day. I did not therefore enjoy the prospect of
having to cross on foot under a burning sun and through tall
corn the immense plain which lay between me and Posthenen,
where I had left Marshal Lannes ; but fortune stood my
friend. Grouchy's division of dragoons, which had been
briskly engaged with the enemy close by, though victorious,
had lost a certain number of men, and the colonels had as
usual ordered the horses of the killed to be collected and led
by a detachment at a distance from the rest. I caught sight
of this picket, every man of which was leading four or five
horses, as it was making for the lake to water them. I spoke
to the officer, who, finding so many led horses in the way, was
only too glad to let me take one, which I promised to send
back to the regiment in the evening. He even selected for
me an excellent animal which had been ridden by a sergeant
killed in the charge. I mounted, and returned quickly towards
Posthenen. Hardly had I left the shore of the lake, when it
became the scene of a most bloody fight, owing to the despe-
rate attack made by General Gortschakoff in order to effect
his retreat by the Friedland road, of which Marshal Ney was,
in occupation.

Caught between that marshal's troops and those of our
advancing centre, GortschakofTs Russians made a stout defence
in the houses near the lake. If, therefore, I had, as I at first
intended, stayed to rest a few moments in that spot, I should
have found myself in the thick of a terrible m616e. I rejoined
Lannes just as he was starting to attack Gortschakoff' s force

THE EMPERORS' MEETING 23 1

in rear, while Ney from the town was repulsing it in front,
and I was therefore able to give him some useful information
as to the configuration of the ground on which we were
fighting. If the French army had made few prisoners on the
battlefield of Friedland, it was not so on the morrow and the
following days, for the Russians, driven at the sword's point
in an utter rout, fell out from their ranks and slept, wearied
out, in the fields, where we captured a great number. We
also gathered up a good deal of artillery. All of Bennigsen's
army that could escape made haste to recross the Niemen,
behind which the Emperor of Russia had remained. Remem-
bering probably the dangers to which he had been exposed at
Austerlitz, he had not thought it advisable to be present in
person at the battle of Friedland, and lost no time, two days
after our victory, in asking and obtaining an armistice.

Three days after the memorable battle of Friedland the
French army came in sight of the town of Tilsit and the
Niemen, which at this point is only a few leagues distant
from the Russian frontier. After a battle it is all pain and
grief in the rear of a victorious army, whose march is marked
out by dead, dying, and wounded, while the surviving warriors,
soon forgetting their fallen comrades, are rejoicing in their
success and gaily marching on to new adventures. Great was
the joy of our soldiers at seeing the Niemen, whose opposite
bank was occupied by the remains of that Russian army which
they had so often met and beaten. Our troops sang, while a
gloomy silence reigned in the enemy's camp. The Emperor
took up his quarters at Tilsit, while the troops encamped round
the town. The Niemen lay between the two armies, the
French being on the left bank, the Russians on the right. The
Emperor Alexander requested an interview with Napoleon, and
it took place on June 25 in a pavilion set up on a raft, which
was anchored in mid-stream, in full view of the two armies. It
was a most imposing spectacle. The two Emperors arrived
from each side attended by five of the principal personages of
their army. Marshal Lannes, who had flattered himself that
he had this claim to accompany the Emperor, saw Marshal
Bessieres, Murat's intimate friend, preferred to him, and never
forgave those marshals for what he considered an unfair piece
of favour.

So Marshal Lannes stayed with us on the quay at Tilsit,
whence we saw the two Emperors meet and embrace amid loud
cheers from both camps. Next day at another interview in the
same pavilion the Emperor of Russia presented to Napoleon

232 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

his unfortunate friend, the King of Prussia. This prince, who
through the chances of war had lost a vast kingdom, of which
only the little town of Memel and a few poor villages remained
to him, preserved an attitude worthy of the descendant of the
great Frederick. Napoleon received him politely but coldly,
because he thought he had reason to complain of him.
Besides, he was planning the confiscation of a large part of
his state.

In order to facilitate the intercourse of the two Emperors
the town of Tilsit was declared neutral, and Napoleon ceded
half of it to the Emperor of Russia, who took up his quarters
there with his guard. The two sovereigns passed some twenty
days together, during which they arranged the destiny of
Europe. The King of Prussia meanwhile was relegated to
the right bank, and was not even lodged in Tilsit, only coming
there very rarely. One day Napoleon went to call on the
unfortunate Queen of Prussia, who was said to be in great
grief. He invited her to dinner on the following day, which
she accepted, doubtless much against the grain. But at the
moment of concluding peace, it was very necessary to appease
the victor. Napoleon and the Queen of Prussia hated each
other cordially. She had insulted him in many proclamations,
and he had given it her back in his bulletins. Yet their inter-
view showed no traces of their mutual hatred. Napoleon was
respectful and attentive, the Queen gracious and disposed to
captivate her former enemy. She had all the more need to do
so, being well aware that the treaty of peace created under the
title of Kingdom of Westphalia a new state, whose territory was
to be contributed by electoral Hesse and Prussia.

The Queen could resign herself to the loss of several
provinces, but she could not make up her mind to part with
the strong place of Magdeburg, the retaining of which would
be Prussia's safeguard. On his side, Napoleon, who proposed
to make his brother Jerome King of Westphalia, wished to
add Magdeburg to the new state. It is said that in order
to retain this important town, the Queen of Prussia, during
dinner, used all the methods of friendliness until Napoleon,
to change the conversation, praised a superb rose that the
Queen was wearing. The story goes that she said, 'Will
your Majesty have this rose in exchange for Magdeburg ? '
Perhaps it would have been chivalrous to accept, but the
Emperor was too practical a man to let himself be caught by
a pretty offer, and it is averred that while praising the beauty
of the rose and of the hand which offered it, he did not take

RECONSTRUCTIONS 233

the flower. The Queen's eyes filled with tears, but the victor
affected not to perceive it. He kept Magdeburg and escorted
the Queen politely to the boat which was to take her across to
the other side.

During our stay at Tilsit, Napoleon reviewed his guard and
his army in presence of Alexander, who was struck by the
martial air and bearing of the troops. The Emperor of Russia
showed in his turn some fine battalions of his guards, but the
number of his troops of the line had been so reduced at Heils-
berg and Friedland that he did not dare to display them. As
for the King of Prussia, who only had some weak fragments of
regiments remaining, he did not bring them out.

Napoleon concluded with Russia and Prussia a treaty of
peace, in which the principal articles were, that a kingdom of
Westphalia was created for the benefit of Jerome Bonaparte,
and the Elector of Saxony, who had become the ally and friend
of France, was raised to the rank of King, receiving in addition
the grand duchy of Warsaw, consisting of a large province
of the old Poland which was taken back from the Prussians.
I omit the less important articles of the treaty, but its result
was to restore peace between the Great Powers of the Con-
tinent.

In placing his brother Jerome on the throne of Westphalia,
Napoleon added to the mistakes which he had already made
when he gave the kingdom of Naples to Joseph, and that of
Holland to Louis. The people felt themselves humiliated by
being compelled to obey strangers, who, so far from having
done anything great themselves, were utter nullities, whose
only merit was being Napoleon's brothers. The hatred and
contempt which these new kings brought on themselves con-
tributed very largely to the fall of the Emperor. The King of
Westphalia was especially that one whose goings on made
most enemies for Napoleon. Peace being concluded, the two
Emperors parted with mutual assurances of attachment, which
at that time appeared sincere

CHAPTER XXXII.

T passed the autumn and winter with my mother at Paris, and
took part in the numerous entertainments which were given,
the finest being the reception given by the city to the imperial
guard on their return. Thus ended the year 1807, in which
I had incurred so many dangers and led so chequered a life.
I little thought that in the course of the year which was now
beginning I should again be face to face with death.

In the course of January, Napoleon at length replied to
the King of Spain, but in an evasive fashion, for, without
positively refusing to give the hand of one of his nieces to the
Prince of the Asturias, he put off the date of the marriage
indefinitely. The alarm of the court of Madrid at the receipt
of this answer was increased by hearing that more French
troops were on the march towards Catalonia and Aragon,
which, with the army in Portugal, would raise the Emperor's
forces in the Peninsula to 125,000 men. Finally, Napoleon in
great part lifted the veil under which his plans had been
hidden. Under the pretext of sending troops on board the
French fleet stationed at Cadiz, he caused a powerful army
corps to advance in February towards Madrid, through which
the road from Bayonne to Cadiz passes, and named Prince
Murat generalissimo of all the French forces in Spain.

I had now been in Paris more than six months, and
although Marshal Augereau, to whom I was still aide-de-
camp, was far from anticipating the war which was about to
break out in the Peninsula, he thought it neither right nor
conducive to my advance in my profession that I should
stay at Paris when a large army was assembled beyond the
Pyrenees. Being himself still kept in France by the effects
of his wound, he took me to Prince Murat to ask him to attach
me provisionally to his staff. I have already said that my
father, who belonged to the same part of the country as Murat,
had done him many kindnesses. Murat, who had always
shown himself grateful, consented very readily to take me until
such time as Augereau should have a command. I was well

(234)

ON MURA T'S STAFF 235

satisfied with this decision, although the position of a super-
numerary officer has its inconveniences, but I was anxious to
show zeal, I reckoned on the Emperor's goodwill, and, further,
I was glad to go back to Spain and witness the great events
which were in progress there. Considerable expense was
necessary to make a fitting appearance on the staff of Murat,
which at that time was the most brilliant in the army, but this
was made easy to me by what was left of my splendid travelling
allowances during and after the Friedland campaign. So I
bought three good horses, with which my servant, Woirland,
was to await me at Bayonne, whither I went when I had got
my new uniforms.

This was the third time that a change of employment had
taken me to Bayonne. Prince Murat and his staff received me
most kindly, and I was soon on the best of terms with them all,
though I steadily refused, in spite of continual pressure, to take
part in their play. These gentlemen had cards or dice in their
hands all day, winning or losing thousands of francs with
the most perfect calm ; but besides that I have always detested
play, I knew that I must keep what I had in order to renew my
outfit in case of accidents, and that it was dishonourable to risk
what I perhaps could not pay.

Part of the troops which Murat was to command were,
perhaps, already in Castile. He entered Spain on March 10,
and in five days we were at Burgos. From this time Murat
regulated his march on that of the columns, and passed in
succession to Valladolid in Segovia. The Spaniards, always
flattering themselves that the French had come to protect the
Prince of the Asturias, received our troops very well, though
again astonished by their extreme youth and want of robust-
ness, for, under some incomprehensible delusion, Napoleon had
persisted in sending into the Peninsula none but newly-raised
regiments.

We occupied in Spain none but open towns, and two
fortified places only, Barcelona and Pampeluna. But as their
citadels and forts were still in the hands of the Spanish troops,
the Emperor ordered his generals to try to get possession of
them. To this end a thoroughly base trick was employed.
The Spanish Government, while forbidding its generals to let
us occupy the citadels and the forts, had ordered that the
French troops should be received as friends, and everything
done for their comfort. The commanders of our regiments
asked permission to place their sick and their stores in the
citadels, which was granted. Then they disguised their

236 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MAR BOX

grenadiers as sick, and hid arms in the provision sacks of
several companies, who, under pretext of going to the store
houses for bread, made their way into the place and disarmed
the Spaniards. In this way, General Duhesme, with only
5,000 men, got possession of the citadel of Barcelona and of
Fort Monjuich. The citadel of Pampeluna and nearly all
those in Catalonia shared the same fate.

[The Queen and the Prince of the Peace were at Aranjuez,
persisting in their intention of retiring to America if matters
got worse. Ferdinand, however, still hoping to obtain the
hand of Napoleon's niece, saw in us only liberators, and with
the support of many of the Royal Family and of the ministers,
refused to follow the Queen and Godoy. At the sight of the
preparations for a journey, the population and garrison of
Aranjuez understood the facts and their indignation spread
to Madrid. Nevertheless, the King was on the point of
starting on the morning of March 16. But the people, with
the support of the troops, rose and opposed his departure.
Charles submitted, and a proclamation, stating that he would
not go, quieted the crowd. But in the course of the night
their numbers were swelled by the garrison and part of the
population of Madrid, as well as peasants from the neighbour-
hood. Godoy's house was broken into and sacked, his guard
of hussars dispersed by the King's body-guard, and the crowd
went in search of the favourite himself. In order to save his
life, the ministers persuaded the King to sign a decree degrad-
ing the Prince of the Peace from all his titles and dignities.
At the news the crowd broke out into wild rejoicings, in which
Ferdinand had the bad taste to take part.

All this time Godoy was actually concealed in his own
palace, rolled up in some matting in a loft. The place had
been searched, but he had not been discovered. He passed
forty-eight hours in this position, and only came out when con-
strained by hunger. Then, however, he was promptly arrested
by a sentry and handed over to the populace. He had received
several wounds, when a picket of the body-guard, less cruel
than the majority of their comrades, tore him from the hands of
his tormentors, and got him away into the very same barrack
where, twenty years before, he had been himself admitted as a
soldier in the body-guard.]

On learning the arrest of their favourite, the King and
Queen, in fear for his life, appealed to the generosity of the
Prince of the Asturias and implored him to use his influence to
release Godoy from the hands of the insurgents. Ferdinand

THE CONDITION OF MADRID 237

arrived at the barracks just at the moment when the crowd was
breaking in the gates. On his promise that Godoy should be
brought to trial the mob retired respectfully. The prisoner was
courageously awaiting his death when he saw the heir to the
throne enter the stable where he was lying in his blood. At
the sight of his personal foe he recovered all his energy, and
when Ferdinand said to him with a generosity whether genuine
or feigned, ' I pardon you,' Godoy replied with true Castilian
pride, made all the more notable by his unhappy condition,
' The King alone has the right to pardon, and you are not King
yet.' It is alleged, though the fact has not been proved, that
Ferdinand answered, ■ It will not be long first.' However that
may be, half an hour later the crown was on the head of the
Prince of the Asturias.

[On Ferdinand's return to the palace, the King and Queen,
seeing no better way of calming the populace, abdicated in
favour of their son. Instantly a frenzy of joy spread from
Aranjuez to Madrid and throughout Spain, no man thinking
that the approach of the French might disturb their happiness.
At that moment Napoleon's troops were descending from the
heights of Somo Sierra and of the Guadarrama. One column
was at Buitrago and the other near the Escurial ; Murat, with
30,000 men, was within a day's march of Madrid. Meanwhile
Ferdinand VII., as he may now be called, was not without
anxiety. He again sent to the Emperor asking for the hand of
his niece, and despatched the Duke of Parque to explain the
state of affairs to Murat. Then he organised his ministry and
recalled his friends, including the canon Escoiquiz.] It was on
March 19, just as Murat's staff was traversing the Guadarrama
Mountains, that we received the first news of the rising at
Aranjuez. The next day we heard of Charles's abdication and
Ferdinand's accession. Murat hastened forward, and on the
2 1 st his head-quarters were established at the town of El Molar,
a few leagues from Madrid. A fearful tumult was raging in
the capital. In its ferocious joy the populace had burnt and
pillaged the houses of the Prince of the Peace, his family, and
his friends ; they would even have been massacred but for the
energetic action of Count Beauharnais, who offered them at the
French embassy an asylum which no one dared violate.

On learning of the revolution, Prince Murat, usually so
communicative, became gloomy and preoccupied, and passed
several days without speaking to any of us. Doubtless, in his
place, amid a country turned upside down, any other marshal
would have found his task very difficult ; but Murat's personal

238 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MAR EOT

position made it still more complicated. Seeing three of the
Emperor's brothers already provided with crowns, while the
fourth, Lucien, had declined one, Murat might well flatter
himself that Napoleon's intention was to give him the throne
of Spain if the Royal Family deserted their country and fled
to America. He regretted, therefore, much the accession of
Ferdinand, whom the Spanish nation adored and to whom it
would rally. Therefore Murat, grounding his action on the
fact that he had no orders from the Emperor to recognise
Ferdinand VII., continued in his letters to give him the title
of Prince of the Asturias, and advised Charles IV. to repudiate
an abdication which had been extorted from him by revolt and
threats.

The old King and the Queen, regretting their loss of power,
wrote bitter complaints to Napoleon of their son, representing
his conduct at Aranjuez, not wholly without foundation, as a
sort of parricide. On the 23rd Murat entered Madrid at the
head of Marshal Moncey's corps. The new King had called
upon the people to give a good reception to his friend Napo-
leon's troops. He was punctually obeyed ; we saw nothing
but friendly faces among the vast and curious crowd. But it
was easy to perceive how astonished they were at the sight of
our young infantry soldiers. The moral effect was wholly to
our disadvantage, and as I compared the broad chests and
powerful limbs of the Spaniards who surrounded us with those
of our weak and weedy privates, my national pride was humbled.
Though I did not foresee the disasters which would arise from
the poor opinion of our troops on the part of the Spaniards, I
was sorry that the Emperor had not sent into the Peninsula
some veteran regiments from the Army of Germany. Still our
cavalry, and especially our cuirassiers, an arm unfamiliar to the
modern Spaniards, excited their admiration, and the same with
the artillery. But a shout of enthusiasm went up when the
imperial guard appeared. The sight of the Mamelukes aston-
ished the Spaniards, who could not conceive how the Christian
French should have admitted Turks into their ranks. Ever
since the Moorish domination, the peoples of the Peninsula
have loathed the Mussulmans, though much afraid of having
to fight against them. Four Mamelukes would put twenty
Castilians to flight, as was proved before very long.

Murat established himself in a palace belonging to the
Prince of the Peace, the only one which the mob had spared,
under the impression that it still belonged to the crown.
I was lodged hard by with a much respected member of the

GODO Y BEFRIENDED 239

Council of the Indies. Hardly had I alighted when Prince
Murat, hearing that Godoy's enemies were sending him to
prison at Madrid, no doubt to have him murdered there, and
that the poor wretch was already at the gate of the town,
ordered me to set out with a squadron of dragoons, and
prevent at any cost the entry of the Prince of the Peace into
the capital, letting the officers of his escort know that he,
Murat, would hold them responsible for their prisoner's life.
Two leagues from the suburbs I came upon Godoy. Although
the unhappy man was terribly wounded and covered with blood,
the guards who escorted him had been cruel enough to put irons
on his hands and feet, and to tie him on a rough open cart
where he was exposed to the scorching rays of the sun, and to
thousands of flies attracted by his wounds, which were scarcely
covered with coarse linen rags. I was indignant at the sight,
and glad to see that it produced the same effect on the French
squadron which accompanied me.

The guards escorting the Prince of the Peace, about one
hundred in number, were supported by half a battalion of
infantry. I explained my object politely to the commanding
officer, but he replied with extreme arrogance that he did
not take his orders from the commander of the French army.
Adopting the same tone, I said that my business being to
execute those orders, I should use every means to prevent the
prisoner from being taken any farther. My dragoons were
not recruits, but stalwart veterans of Austerlitz ; determina-
tion could be read in their faces. I placed them in line so
as to bar the passage of the cart, and told the officer of the
guard that I waited for him to fire the first shot, but that
I should then at once charge with my squadron upon him
and his men. The officers of my dragoons had already given
the order to draw swords, and the ardour of our adversaries
appeared to be cooling a little when the commander of the
half battalion in the rear came to the head of the column to
see what the disturbance was about, and I recognised in him
Don Miguel Rafael Coeli, the jolly officer with whom I had
travelled from Nantes to Salamanca in 1802.1 Being a
sensible man he understood Murat's reasons for objecting to
the Prince of the Peace being brought into Madrid. If he
were murdered, as was pretty certain, the French army would
incur obloquy for not preventing it, while if it interfered it
would provoke a bloody collision. As second in command

J[Scep. 82.]

24O MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

Don Rafael had the right to give his opinion. He spoke to
the officer commanding in the same sense that I had done,
and it was agreed that Godoy should be detained for the time
in the village of Pinto. The poor wretch had been a silent
witness of what took place, and on reaching his prison he
expressed his thanks to me in very good French, begging me
to convey his gratitude to Prince Murat.

I took the liberty of pointing out to the guards the cruelty
and disgrace to the Spanish uniform in putting irons on a
prisoner who was guarded by 400 men. Don Rafael sup-
ported me, and we succeeded in getting the prince set free from
his iron collar, handcuffs, and fetters. He was only held by a
chain attached to his body, so that, though not free in prison,
he could move a little and lie down on a mattress, which
I made them give him. His wounds, received five days
ago, had not yet been dressed ; the surgeon of our dragoons
attended him, and the officers and even the troopers lent him
linen.

Though I could reckon on the honesty of the infantry
commander, I had little confidence with regard to the treat-
ment which the Prince of the Peace would receive when I
had left him in the hands of his cruel enemies, the guard. I
took it on myself, therefore, to quarter the French squadron in
the village, and arrange with the captain that a sentry should
always be placed inside the prison to keep an eye on the one
posted there by the guards. Murat approved what I had done,
and for further security sent a battalion to take up its quarters
at Pinto, with orders to keep a sharp look-out on the guards.
Finally, Ferdinand VII., passing through the place next day
on his way to Madrid, received from the officer of the guards
a report of what had happened. Dreading above all things
any complications with the French, the new King and his
ministers commended him for having avoided a conflict with
the dragoons, and ordered Godoy to be left in the prison at
Pinto. Some days later they had him moved to the old
fortress of Villa Viciosa, at a greater distance from the
capital.

On March 24 Ferdinand made his royal entry into Madrid,
being received by the people with indescribable joy. An im-
mense crowd greeted him with cheers, women threw flowers
in his path, and men spread their cloaks under his horses'
feet. Our troops did not appear officially. Murat did not
even visit Ferdinand, not knowing, until the Emperor had
decided, whether the father or the son was to be recognised as

ENTRAPPING A KING 241

sovereign of the Spains. If Napoleon intended to seize the
crown, he would probably prefer to see it restored for the
moment to the feeble Charles, rather than have the more
difficult task of taking it from the nation's favourite, Ferdinand.
Murat, therefore, felt pretty sure that the Emperor would refuse
to recognise the new King.

Ferdinand, meanwhile, uneasy as to the view which Napo-
leon might take of his accession, consulted M. de Beauharnais,
who, too upright a man himself to think it possible that
Napoleon could take any steps against the liberty of a prince
coming to seek him in the character of arbiter, advised
Ferdinand to meet the Emperor at Bayonne. The King's
friends doubted ; but General Savary unexpectedly appeared
with a letter from Napoleon, which determined him to take
the course suggested. Moreover, he learnt that his father
and mother were on their way to lay their version of the
case before the Emperor, and it seemed well to anticipate them.
The advice given by M. de Beauharnais had in fact been
prompted by Murat and Savary. The Emperor had started
for Bayonne on April 2, travelling slowly in order to leave
time for events to mature. [Ferdinand sent his brother
Charles on in advance, and himself left Madrid on April 10,
on the faith of Savary's assurances that Napoleon was already
at Bayonne. Accompanied by that general, he reached Burgos,
where he did not, as he had been led to expect, find Napo-
leon ; but did find the roads covered with French columns
on the march. His suspicions that some trap was being
prepared for him were calmed by Savary's assurances that
Napoleon was at Vittoria. On arriving at that town, Fer-
dinand learnt with some surprise that, so far from having
crossed the frontier, the Emperor had not yet arrived at
Bayonne. This was more than his Spanish pride could
endure ; his counsellors pointed out that he had gone as far
to meet a foreign sovereign as was consistent with his dig-
nity, and in spite of all that Savary could say, he decided
to go no farther. Furious at seeing his prey on the point
of escaping him, the general posted off to Bayonne, and
found that the Emperor had arrived on the 14th.

By the next day Ferdinand was practically a prisoner.
Marshal Bessieres had been secretly ordered to arrest him
if he attempted to return, and Savary was coming to see
that the order was executed. But no step of this kind was
necessary, for Ferdinand, hearing that his parents, at the
instance of his sister the ex-Queen of Etruria, were already

16

242 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MAR BO T

on their way from Madrid to Bayonne, in fear of letting
them get the ear of the Emperor before him, insisted on
setting out at once, undeterred by the protests of the people
and the forebodings of older advisers. On April 20 he
crossed the Bidassoa. Not an infantry picket was there to
present arms to him, nor a trooper to escort him. When
at length some officers of the Emperor's household met him,
they accosted him as Prince of the Asturias. It was too
late to go back ; Ferdinand was in France and in Napoleon's
power.

The Emperor, who was occupying the chateau of Marac,
where I had been lodged in 1803 with Augereau, called upon
Ferdinand, treated him politely, and invited him to dinner,
but never gave him the title of King. On the next day he
threw off the mask and announced to Ferdinand and his
ministers that having been charged by Providence to create
a great empire and lower the power of England, and having
learnt by experience that he could not count on the assist-
ance of Spain so long as the Bourbon family governed it,
he had determined to restore the crown neither to Ferdinand
nor to Charles, but to place it on the head of a member
of his own family. Ferdinand and his advisers, overwhelmed
by this statement, refused at first to accept it, answering
with some reason that in any case no member of the French
imperial family had any right to the crown of Spain.

Meanwhile the old King and Queen were approaching
Bayonne, which they reached on April 20. Napoleon received
them with royal honours, and brought them to dine with
him at the chateau of Marac. There they found their beloved
Manuel Godoy, whom they had not seen since the outbreak
of Aranjuez. Before leaving Madrid, however, they had had
an interview with Murat, and implored his intervention on
behalf of the Prince of the Peace. The Emperor also had in-
structed him that Godoy's life was to be saved at all costs. To
Murat's overtures, the provisional Junta, under the presidency
of Prince Anthony, Ferdinand's uncle, replied that they had
not the power to release so important a prisoner. Murat there-
upon surrounded the castle of Villa Viciosa with a French
brigade, ordering the general to bring away the Prince of the
Peace amicably or otherwise. His guards, with the assent
of the commandant, the Marquis of Chasteler, a Belgian in
the Spanish service, having declared that they would stab
him rather than give him up alive, Murat let them know
that if they carried their purpose into effect they should be

E VEN TS AT BA YONNE 243

shot without mercy over his corpse. Thereupon the Junta
ordered his release. The poor wretch arrived in our camp
in a pitiable state ; Murat received him kindly, provided for
his wants, and sent him off at once with an escort of cavalry
to Bayonne. Happening to recognise me as one of those
who had saved him at Pinto, he expressed his desire that I
should be of his escort. I should have liked it very well, but
as I have already said the supernumerary aides-de-camp only
get the disagreeable duties. This task was therefore entrusted
to one of the regular staff, while I before long had one of
extreme danger.

During the interview between Godoy and the elder sove-
reigns, Ferdinand came to pay his respects to his father.
Charles received him with contumely, and had he not been
in the Emperor's palace, would have driven him from his
presence. On the following day, yielding to the persuasions of
the Queen and the Prince of the Peace, who argued that as
he would no longer be able to reign over Spain he would do
better to accept the position which the Emperor offered him in
France, and thus secure at once repose for his declining years
and vengeance upon Ferdinand, Charles offered no more resist-
ance to Napoleon's plans.]

While great events were maturing at Bayonne, Prince
Murat, who had provisionally the control of the Government
at Madrid, had caused Charles' protest to be published, and
Ferdinand's name to be suppressed on all public documents,
much to the discontent of the people and the grandees. When
the news from Bayonne arrived, brought by secret emissaries
in the disguise of peasants, whom Ferdinand's friends had sent,
their agitation increased. The storm was grumbling around us,
nor was it long before it broke out at Madrid.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Charles IV., the Queen, Ferdinand, and his brother, Prince
Charles, being all at Bayonne, the only members of the Royal
Family remaining in Spain were the ex-Queen of Etruria and
her son, the old Prince Anthony, and Charles IV.'s youngest
son, Prince Francis,1 who was then only twelve or thirteen
years old. Murat, having received orders to send these
members of the House of Bourbon to Bayonne, the Queen of
Etruria and Prince Anthony expressed themselves willing to
leave Spain, but the young Prince Francis was still a ward of
the Junta, and that body, in alarm at seeing all the princes of
the Royal Family carried off one by one, definitely opposed the
child's departure Then public excitement became very great,
and in the course of May i numerous groups assembled in the
principal streets of Madrid, and especially in the large square
known as the Puerta del Sol. These were dispersed by some
of our cavalry, but on the following day, just as the princes
were getting into their carriage, some servants came out of the
palace exclaiming that Don Francis was crying bitterly and
clinging to the furniture, declaring that he had been born in
Spain and would not leave it. It is easy to understand the
effect which such generous sentiments, expressed by a child of
the royal house, who, in the absence of his two brothers, was
the hope of the nation, would produce upon the mind of a proud
and free people. In an instant the mob armed itself, and
massacred every Frenchman who was caught by himself in the
town. Most of our troops being camped outside, it was neces-
sary to warn them, and this it was not easy to do.

On hearing the first shots I wished to go to my post near
the marshal, whose hotel was close to my lodging. I leapt
on my horse, and was going out, when my host, the vener-
able member of the Indian Council, stopped me, pointing out
that the street was occupied by some thirty armed insurgents,
whom it was clear that I could not escape. I remarked to

1 [Francisco de Paula, afterwards father of Francisco d'Assis, sometime
king-consort of Spain.]

(244)

DANGEROUS DUTY 245

the excellent man that my honour required me to brave all
dangers in order to get to my general. He advised me to go
out on foot, and leading me to the end of the garden, opened
a little gate, and very kindly himself led me by back lanes to
the rear of Prince Murat's house, where I found a French
sentry. This much respected gentleman, to whom in all
probability I owed my life, was, as I shall never forget, called
Don Antonio Hernandez.

At head-quarters I found great excitement, for although
Murat had with him only two battalions and some squadrons,
he was preparing to march resolutely to face the tumult.
Everybody but myself was on horseback ; I was in despair.
Presently, however, General Belliard, chief of the staff, having
given orders that some pickets of grenadiers should be sent to
drive back the enemy's sharpshooters, who already were occu-
pying the approaches to the palace, I offered to guide one of
them through the street in which the house of Don Hernandez
stood, and as soon as the gate was cleared I got my horse and
joined Prince Murat.

No military duty is more dangerous than that of a staff
officer in a country, still more in a city, which is in a state of
insurrection. Having to go almost always alone through the
midst of the enemy when carrying orders to the troops, he is
exposed to the risk of assassination without the power of
defending himself. Hardly was Murat out of his palace
when he sent off officers to all the officers round Madrid with
orders to bring the troops in by all the gates at once. The
cavalry of the imperial guard and a division of dragoons were
quartered at Buen Retiro. This was one of the nearest camps
to head-quarters, but one of the most dangerous to reach,
since, in order to get there, it was necessary to go through
the two largest streets of the town, those of Alcala and San
Geronimo, where nearly every window was lined with Spanish
sharpshooters. I need not say that, as this was the most
difficult mission, the commander-in-chief did not assign it to
one of his regular aides-de-camp. It was on me that it
devolved, and I started at a smart trot over a pavement which
the sun had made very slippery.

I had hardly gone two hundred yards from the staff when
I was received by numerous musket-shots, but as the tumult
was but just beginning, the fire was endurable, all the more
so since the men at the windows were shopkeepers and work-
men, without much practice in handling muskets. Still the
horse of one of my dragoons was knocked over by a bullet,

246 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

and the people came out of the houses to slaughter the poor
soldier : but his comrades and I laid about us with our sabres,
and when we had stretched a dozen of the rioters on the
ground the rest took to their heels. Then the dragoon, taking
the hand of one of his comrades, was able to run with us till
we reached the outposts of our cavalry camp.

While defending the dismounted dragoon, I had received
a blow from a dagger in my jacket sleeve, and two of my
troopers had been slightly wounded. My orders were to
bring the divisions to the Puerta del Sol, and they started at
a gallop. The squadrons of the guard, commanded by the
celebrated Daumesmil, marched first, with the Mamelukes
leading. The riot had had time to increase ; we were fired
upon from nearly all the houses, especially the palace of the
Duke of Hijar, where every window was lined with good
shots. We lost there several men, among others the terrible
Mustapha, that Mameluke who went near to catching the
Grand Duke Constantine at Austerlitz. His comrades swore
to avenge him, but for the moment it was impossible to halt,
and the cavalry rode on rapidly under a hail of bullets. In
the Puerta del Sol we found Murat engaged with a huge
compact crowd of armed men, among whom could be seen
some thousands of Spanish soldiers, who had brought guns,
and were firing on the French with grape. On seeing the
dreaded Mamelukes arrive, the Spaniards made some attempt
at resistance, but the sight of the Turks alarmed the bravest
of them too much for their resolution to last long. The
Mamelukes, dashing scimitar in hand into the dense mass,
sent a hundred heads flying in a trice, and opened a way for
the chasseurs and dragoons, who set to furiously with their
sabres. The Spaniards, rolled back from the square, tried to
escape by the many wide streets which meet there from all
parts of the town, but they were stopped by other French
columns whom Murat had bidden to rendezvous at that point.
There were also partial combats in other quarters, but this was
the most important, and decided the victory in our favour.
The insurgents had 1,200 or 1,500 men killed and many
wounded, and their loss would have been much greater if
Murat had not given the order to cease firing.

As a soldier I was bound to fight any who attacked the
French army, but I could not help recognising in my inmost
conscience that our cause was a bad one, and that the Spaniards
were quite right in trying to drive out strangers, who, after
coming among them in the guise of friends, were wishing to

MORE DANGEROUS WORK 247

dethrone their sovereign and take forcible possession of the
kingdom. This war, therefore, seemed to me wicked, but I
was a soldier, and I must march or be charged with cowardice.
The greater part of the army thought as I did, and, like me,
obeyed orders all the same.

Hostilities had now ceased almost everywhere ; the town
was occupied by our infantry, and the cavalry received orders
to return to camp. The insurgents who had fired so briskly
from the Duke of Hijar's palace on the imperial guard when
they first came by, had had the imprudent boldness to remain
at their post, and recommence their fire as our squadrons
returned. These, however, indignant at the sight of their
comrades' bodies, which the inhabitants had barbarously cut to
pieces, dismounted a number of troopers, who, climbing into
the windows of the ground floor, penetrated into the palace,
and hastened to take terrible revenge. The Mamelukes, who
had suffered the heaviest loss, entered the rooms, scimitar and
blunderbus in hand, and pitilessly massacred every insurgent
that they met, the greater part being the Duke's servants.
Not one escaped, and their corpses, thrown over the balconies,
mingled their blood with that of the Mamelukes whom they
had slaughtered in the morning.

Thus the fight was ended and victory assured. Murat had
now to attend to two important matters : to report to the
Emperor what had happened at Madrid, and to secure the
departure of the Queen of Etruria, the old Prince Anthony, and
above all the young Don Francis. The child, frightened by
the sound of the firing, now agreed to go with his sister and his
uncle, but this party could only travel by short stages, while
it was important that Murat's despatches should reach the
Emperor by the first possible moment. You will guess what
happened. So long as Spain had been tranquil, the Prince
had entrusted his frequent reports to members of his regular
staff; but now that it was a question of crossing a great part
of the kingdom in the midst of a population who, at the news
of fighting at Madrid, would be ready to murder French officers,
it became a job for a supernumerary aide-de-camp. As I quite
expected, although according to the roster for duty it was not
my turn to go, this dangerous mission was entrusted to me,
and I accepted it without remark.

Murat, who quite misjudged the Castilian character, im-
agined that they would be frightened by the suppression of the
revolt at Madrid, and would make a complete submission
without venturing to take up arms. As he flattered himself that

248 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARB07

Napoleon destined him for the throne of Charles IV. he was
beaming, and, as he handed me the despatches, said more than
once : * You may repeat to the Emperor what I say in this
letter ; my victory over the insurgents in the capital assures us
the peaceable possession of Spain.' I did not believe a word of
it, but was careful not to say so, and merely asked permission
to take advantage as far as Buitrago of the escort which was
going with the Spanish princes. I knew that many peasants
from the neighbourhood who had taken part in the outbreak were
now hiding in the country villages, and would be quite ready to
attack me if I left the town. Murat recognised the justice of
my remark. I hired a horse, and travelling with the escort
reached Buitrago that evening. The princes were to sleep
there, so from that point there was no more escort for me, and
I had to launch out into the unknown.

Our dragoon officers, seeing me make ready to start at
nightfall to cross the Guadarrama Mountains, advised me to
wait for daylight. But in the first place I knew that the
despatches were urgent, and I did not wish the Emperor and
Murat to accuse me of having slackened my pace through fear,
and further I knew that the quicker I got away from the neigh-
bourhood of the capital, and outstripped the news of the fighting,
the less I should have to fear the exasperation of the people on
my road. I found, in fact, that the inhabitants of Buitrago had
received their first news of what had happened that morning at
Madrid from the muleteers who conducted the princes' carriages,
but as the postilion whom I took from Buitrago had probably
heard the news from the one who had brought me there, I
resolved to get rid of him by a trick. After we had gone about
two leagues, I told the man that I had left in the stable of the
post a handkerchief containing 20 douros (4/.), and that while
I considered the money as practically lost, I thought it was
still just possible that no one had found it, and that he must
therefore go back at once to Buitrago, and that if he brought
me the handkerchief and its contents at the next stage, where
I would wait for him, he should have five douros for himself.
Delighted with the prospect of this windfall, the postilion turned
back at once, and I went on to the next stage. Nothing had
been heard there of the fighting ; I was in uniform : but to
remove any suspicion which the postmaster and his people
might have at seeing me arrive alone, I told them that the
horse of the postilion who had been with me having fallen and
hurt himself, I had advised the man to walk him back to
Buitrago. They gave me at once a fresh horse and another

NEWS FOR NAPOLEON 249

postilion, and I galloped off without any qualms about disap-
pointing the Buitrago postilion. The important thing was,
that I was now in sole possession of my secret, and I knew
that if I stopped nowhere, I could reach Bayonne before rumour
had brought the intelligence of the events at Madrid.

All night I travelled through the mountains — the road is
good, and at daybreak I entered L'Herma. Here there was a
French garrison, as indeed there was in every town which I
had to pass on the way to Bayonne. Everywhere the generals
and officers offered me refreshment, asking what news there
was ; but I kept my mouth shut, fearing lest an accident should
compel me to halt somewhere, and so be outstripped by news
which I had myself spread, whereby I should be exposed to an
attack from the peasants.

From Madrid to Bayonne is the same distance as from
Bayonne to Paris ; that is to say 225 leagues, a long journey
when one has to ride post with one's sword by one's side
without a single quarter of an hour's rest, and in a scorching
heat. I was tired out and overcome with the need of sleep,
but I did not yield to it for a moment, knowing well the
necessity for getting on quickly. To keep awake I paid the
postilions something extra on condition that as we galloped
they should sing to me their Spanish songs. At last I saw the
Bidassoa, and entered France.

Marac is only two stages from Saint-Jean de Luz. I
got there on May 5, covered with dust, at the moment when
the Emperor was taking an after-dinner walk in the park
with the Queen of Spain on his arm and Charles IV. beside
him. The Empress Josephine and the Princes Ferdinand
and Charles followed them, and the rear was brought up by
Marshal Duroc and several ladies. As soon as the Emperor
was informed by the aide-de-camp on duty that an officer had
arrived with despatches from Prince Murat, he came towards
me, followed by the members of the Spanish Royal Family,
and asked aloud : ' What news from Madrid ? ' The presence
of the listeners was embarrassing, and as I thought that
Napoleon would no doubt be glad to have the first fruits
of my intelligence, I deemed it wise to do nothing but
present my despatches to the Emperor and look steadily at
him without answering his question. His Majesty under-
stood me, and retired a few paces to read Murat's report.
Having finished, he called me and went towards a solitary
garden-walk, asking me all the time many questions about the
fighting at Madrid. I could easily see that he shared Murat's

250 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

opinion and considered that the victory of May 2 must put an
end to all resistance in Spain. I held the contrary belief, and if
Napoleon had asked my view I should have thought it dis-
honourable to conceal it ; but I had to confine myself to
answering the Emperor's questions with due respect, and I
could only indirectly let him know my presentiments. In
narrating the revolution at Madrid I depicted in most vivid
terms the despair of the people at hearing that the remaining
members of the Royal Family were to be carried away, the fierce
courage which the inhabitants, even the women, had shown,
during the fighting, the gloomy and threatening demeanour
retained by the populace after our victory. I might perhaps
have revealed all my thoughts, but Napoleon cut short my
thoughts, exclaiming : ' Bah ! they will calm down and will
bless me as soon as they see their country freed from the dis-
credit and disorder into which it has been thrown by the
weakest and most corrupt administration that ever existed.'
After this outburst, uttered in a sharp tone, Napoleon sent me
back to the end of the garden to request the King and Queen of
Spain to come to him, and followed me slowly reading over
Murat's despatches. The ex-sovereigns came forward alone to
meet the Emperor, and I suppose he informed them of the
fighting at Madrid, for Charles came up quickly to his son
Ferdinand, and said to him in a loud voice and in a tone of
extreme anger : ' Wretch ! you may now be satisfied ! Madrid
has been bathed in the blood of my subjects shed in consequence
of your criminal rebellion against your father ; may their blood
be on your head ! ' The Queen joined in heaping bitter
reproaches on her son, and went so far as to offer to strike
him. The ladies and the officers, feeling that this distasteful
spectacle was not one for them, withdrew, and Napoleon put a
stop to it.

Ferdinand, who had not replied by a single word to the
objurgations of his parents, resigned the crown to his father
that evening, less through contrition than through fear of being
regarded as the author of the conspiracy which had overthrown
Charles. Next day the old King, in his ignoble desire for
revenge, encouraged by the Queen and the Prince of the Peace,
made over to the Emperor all his rights to the throne of Spain
on certain conditions, the principal one being that by which he
was to have the estate of Compiegne with a pension of seven
and a half million francs. Ferdinand was cowardly enough
also to renounce his hereditary rights in favour of Napoleon,
in return for a pension of a million and the chateau of Navarre

KING-MAKING 25 1

in Normandy. As both these houses required repair, Charles,
with his Queen, his daughter, and the Prince of the Peace,
went for the present to Fontainebleau, while Ferdinand, his
two brothers, and his uncle were sent to Valencay, in Berri,
where they were well treated but kept under strict surveillance.
Thus was consummated the most iniquitous spoliation which
modern history records. In all times a conqueror in a fair and
open war has been held to have the right to take possession of
the dominions of the conquered, but I can say with sincerity
that the conduct of Napoleon in this scandalous affair was
unworthy of so great a man. To offer himself as mediator
between a father and a son in order to draw them into a trap
and then plunder them both — this was an odious atrocity which
history has branded, and which Providence did not delay to
punish. It was the war in Spain which brought about Napo-
leon's fall.

Still, to do him justice, with all his lack of political honesty,
the Emperor was under no delusion as to the reprehensible
nature of his action. I have heard, on the authority of one of
his ministers, M. Defermon, that he admitted this at the
council board, but he added that in politics one must never
forget the great axiom ' success and necessity justify the
means.' Now, rightly or wrongly, the Emperor was firmly
convinced that the only way of keeping the north in check was
to found in the south of Europe a great empire under the pro-
tection of France, which could only be done by taking posses-
sion of Spain.

Having now this fine kingdom to dispose of, Napoleon
offered it to his eldest brother, Joseph, then King of Naples.
He has been blamed for not giving it to his brother-in-law
Murat, who, as an experienced soldier, seemed better suited to
govern a proud nation than the timid, careless, and luxurious
Joseph. Doubtless when Murat first entered Spain everything
about him, even to his extraordinary costume, delighted the
Castilians, and if they had had then to accept a King from
Napoleon's family they would have preferred the chivalrous
Murat to the feeble Joseph ; but since the fighting at Madrid
their admiration for him had been changed to bitter hatred.
I have no doubt that the Emperor had originally destined
Murat for the Spanish ^throne, but as soon as he realised
the dislike of the nation towards him he gave up the plan
as impossible, and sent him to replace Joseph at Naples
when he gave the Spanish crown to the latter. It was un-
fortunate, for in the war which presently broke out Murat

252 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

would have been most useful, while King Joseph was only
a hindrance.

In order to give some colour of legality to his brother's
accession, Napoleon called upon all the provinces to select
deputies who should come to Bayonne to frame a constitu-
tion. Many abstained, but the greater number answered the
summons, some through curiosity, others in the patriotic hope
that one of their Kings would be restored to them. When
assembled, they soon perceived that they would have no
freedom of deliberation ; nevertheless, whether convinced that
a brother of the mighty Emperor could alone restore happiness
to Spain, or urged by the desire of escaping from the trap in
which they found themselves, they all recognised Joseph's
sovereignty. Very few, however, remained with him, the
greater part returning hurriedly to Spain, where, as soon as
they arrived, they protested against the vote, which they said
had been extorted from them.

I had left Bayonne on May 11 to return to Madrid with
despatches from the Emperor to Murat. Throughout the
provinces which I traversed I found people's minds much
disturbed. It was known that Ferdinand, the darling of the
people, had been forced to abdicate, and they perceived that
Napoleon was about to grasp the throne of Spain. An organ-
ised insurrection was growing up on either side. I should
certainly have been assassinated had not our troops been
in occupation of all the towns and villages between France
and Madrid. Though I had an escort from one post to another,
I was more than once attacked. A trooper was killed by my
side in the defile of Pancorvo, and I came across the dead
bodies of two of our soldiers in the mountains of Somo Sierra.
It was the first taste of what the Spaniards were preparing
for us.

The despatches which I carried to Murat contained the
official announcement of his elevation to the throne of Naples.
For several days he was very gloomy, and at last fell so
seriously ill that Napoleon had to send General Savary to
take the command of the army — a task to which his military
talents were unequal, especially in the difficult circumstances
which were about to occur. Murat's illness for a time en-
dangered his life. As soon as he was better he made haste
to leave Spain. Before his departure he asked me if I would
stay at Madrid with General Belliard, who wished to keep me.
I had foreseen this question, and as it by no means suited me,
after serving under several marshals and a prince, to be lost

RETURN TO PARIS 253

in the obscure crowd of the officers on the general staff and
to do postman's work under fire, earning no glory nor hope
of promotion, I answered that I was still Marshal Augereau's
aide-de-camp, that he had agreed to my doing duty with Prince
Murat, but that when Murat left Spain I considered my mission
at an end, and asked leave to return to my former chief. So
I left Madrid with Murat on June 17. We travelled by easy
stages, and reached Bayonne on July 3. There Murat took
the title of King of Naples. The officers of his staff going
to congratulate him, he proposed to us to follow him into
Italy, promising rapid promotion to those who would take
service with him. All accepted except Major Lamothe and
myself; for I had firmly resolved to wear no uniform but
that of the French army. Leaving my horses at Bayonne, I
returned to Paris, and passed three happy months with my
mother and Marshal Augereau.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

The combat of May 2 and the abduction of the Royal
Family had made the nation furious. Every province rose
against Joseph's Government, and though he reached Madrid
and was proclaimed on July 23, he had no authority in the
country. Madrid, although the habitual residence of the
sovereigns of Spain, has no influence on the provinces, each
of which was once a separate kingdom, and has preserved
its title. Each has its capital, its customs, its own laws,
and its own local administration ; so that the possession of
Madrid by an enemy does not affect its independence. Thus
in 1808 each province had its junta, its army, its stores, and
its revenues ; but the junta of Seville was recognised as the
central power.

The French army would thus have been in a critical
condition, with the whole of Spain in arms against it, even
if it had been under the orders of an able general, and its
composition as strong as it actually was weak. We suffered
reverses by sea and land ; a squadron had to surrender in
Cadiz roads just as Marshal Moncey had to retire from the
kingdom of Valencia. The junta of Seville declared war
against France in the name of Ferdinand VII. General
Dupont, whom Savary had imprudently despatched without
support into Andalusia, found at the beginning of July that the
people were all rising round him, and, learning that 10,000 men
from the camp of San Roque were advancing under the orders of
General Castafios, resolved to withdraw towards Madrid, and
with that view sent Vedel's division to occupy the Sierra Morena
and reopen communications. But, instead of following his
advanced guard promptly, Dupont, who from an excellent
general of division had become a very bad commander of an
army corps, resolved to give battle where he stood, and ordered
Vedel's division, which was already ten leagues away, to come
back. This was the first mistake, and besides this, Dupont
scattered the troops that remained with him, and lost precious
time at Andujar, on the banks of the Guadalquivir.

(254)

BAY LBN 255

The Spaniards, reinforced by several Swiss regiments, took
advantage of this delay to send part of their troops over to the
bank opposite to that which our army occupied ; so that we
found ourselves between two fires. Still, so far, nothing was
lost, if our men had fought courageously and in good order ;
but Dupont had handled his troops so badly that on arriving
before the defile of Baylen the rear of the column was three
leagues from the head. Then, instead of bringing his force
together, General Dupont sent each regiment and each gun
into action as they came up. Our weak young soldiers,
exhausted by fifteen hours' marching and eight hours' fighting,
were dropping with weariness under the rays of an Andalusian
sun. The most part could neither march nor bear arms any
longer, and lay down instead of fighting. Then Dupont asked
for a truce, which the Spaniards were all the more ready to
accept that they feared matters might shortly change to their
disadvantage. Vedel's division had, in fact, at that moment
come up in rear of the Spanish force, and was attacking them
successfully. They sent a flag of truce to let the general
know that an armistice had been agreed upon with General
Dupont. Vedel took no notice of it and fought on vigorously.
Two Spanish regiments had laid down their arms ; others
were in flight ; and Vedel was only a short league from
Dupont, and would soon have completely relieved him,
when an aide-de-camp came from the latter through the
enemy's army bringing orders to take no further steps as
arrangements were being made for an armistice. Thereupon
Vedel, instead of yielding further to the happy inspiration
under which he had refused to recognise the authority of
a chief who could send orders to his subordinates only
by passing them through the hands of the enemy, halted
in the middle of his victory and gave the order to cease
firing. The Spaniards meanwhile had only eight cartridges
per man left ; but their supports were coming up and they
wished to gain time. General Dupont asked permission from
General Reding, a Swiss in the Spanish service, to pass
through with his army and return to Madrid. Reding at
first agreed, but afterwards declared that he could do nothing
without the authority of General Castahos, who was some
leagues away. He in his turn wished to refer the matter to
the junta, and they raised all sorts of difficulties.

Meanwhile Dupont's young recruits were in a most unfor-
tunate position; he kept giving contradictory orders, alternately
requiring Vedel to attack and to take back his division to

256 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

Madrid. Vedel took the latter course, and the next day was
at the foot of Sierra Morena, out of reach of attack from
Castanos. But unluckily General Dupont had decided to
capitulate, and with indescribable weakness had comprehended
Vedel's troops in the capitulation, ordering them to return to
Baylen. Having the way to Madrid open to them, they
tumultuously refused ; but instead of taking advantage of their
enthusiasm, Vedel pointed out that they would expose Dupont's
men to reprisals, adding that the terms of capitulation were
not severe since it was stipulated that they would be taken
back to France, where they would get their arms again. The
officers and soldiers declared that in that case they had better
retreat, arms and all, to Madrid ; but General Vedel preached
passive obedience until he succeeded in bringing his division
back to Baylen, where it lay down its arms. General Dupont
deserves much blame for having included in the capitulation
a division which was already out of the enemy's reach ; but
what must we think of General Vedel, who obeyed the orders
of a commander no longer at liberty and handed over to the
Spaniards nearly 10,000 efficient men ? Dupont pushed his
infatuation so far as to include all the troops of his army
corps, even those who had not crossed the Sierra Morena.
General Castanos required that these detachments should come
twenty-five leagues to lay down their arms. One commander
only, who deserves to be named, the brave Major de Sainte-
Eglise, replied that he would not take orders from a general
who was a prisoner of war, and by a rapid march, in spite
of the attacks of the insurgent peasants, he succeeded with
little loss in reaching the outposts of the French camp before
Madrid. The Emperor promoted him to the rank of colonel.
With the exception of this battalion, the whole of Dupont's
army, 25,000 strong, was disarmed. Then the Spaniards,
having no more to fear, refused to keep the articles of the
capitulation, which stipulated for the return of the French
troops to France, and not only declared them prisoners of
war, but shamefully ill-treated them and allowed several
thousand soldiers to be slaughtered by the peasants.

Dupont, Vedel, and some generals alone obtained leave
to return to France. The officers and the soldiers were at
first packed on board pontoons in Cadiz roads, but an epidemic
fever broke out among them, and the Spanish authorities,
fearing that Cadiz might be infected, sent the survivors to
the desert island of Cabrera, where there was neither water
nor houses. There our poor rnen, receiving every week some

FRENCH REVERSES 257

casks of brackish water, some damaged ship biscuit, and a
little salt meat, lived almost like savages. Without clothing,
linen, or medicine, getting no news of their families, or even
from France, they were obliged to shelter themselves in bur-
rows like wild beasts. This lasted six years, until the Peace
of 1814, by which time most of the prisoners were dead of
misery and grief. M. de Lasalle, who became orderly officer
to King Louis Philippe, was among the number, and when
he was released he, like most of his comrades, had been almost
entirely naked for more than six years. When it was pointed
out to the Spaniards that their violation of the Treaty of
Baylen was contrary to the law of nations in force among
all civilised peoples, they replied that the arrest of their king,
Ferdinand VII., had been no less illegal, and that they were
merely following the example which Napoleon had set them —
a reproach which, it 'must be admitted, was not without founda-
tion.

When the news of the disaster at Baylen reached the
Emperor his rage was fearful. Up to then he had regarded
the Spaniards as on a par in courage with the Italians, and
supposed that their rising was merely a peasant revolt which
would quickly be dispersed by a few French battalions. But
his eagles had been humbled, and French troops had lost the
prestige of unbroken victory. Deeply must he have regretted
that he had allowed his army to be composed of recruits,
instead of sending the veterans whom he had left in Germany.
His rage against the generals was indescribable. He made
the mistake of imprisoning them to avoid the scandal of a trial,
which led to their being regarded as the victims of arbitrary
power. It was five years before they were brought to trial by
court martial.

The capitulation of Baylen, as may be supposed, caused the
insurrection to spread widely ; nor did the defeat of the army
of the Asturias by Bessieres do anything to check it. The
Spanish contingent, under General La Romana, which had
served under Napoleon, and had been left on the coast of the
Baltic, was brought back with the help of the English. The
fortresses which the Spaniards still held were defended vigor-
ously, and open towns, following the lead of Saragossa, turned
themselves into fortresses. The Spanish army of Andalusia
was set free to march on Madrid, and King Joseph with an
army corps retreated beyond the Ebro, where the remainder of
our troops raising the sieges in which they were engaged
gradually assembled. Soon we learnt a new disaster. Portugal,

17

258 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

owing to the imprudence with which Junot had scattered his
forces, had been lost to us. Attacked by Sir Arthur Wellesley
at Vimeira with superior forces,1 he had been compelled to
capitulate. That day marked the beginning of Wellesley's fame
and fortune ; he was the junior lieutenant-general in the
English army, and commanded that day only in consequence
of a delay in the landing of his seniors. The terms of capitula-
tion were that the French army should evacuate Portugal and
be taken back to France by sea without being disarmed. They
were faithfully executed by the English ; but instead of being
landed at Bordeaux, the troops were taken to Lorient.

By this time Napoleon had ordered up from Germany three
army corps of infantry and much cavalry — all veterans who had
fought at Jena, Eylau, and Friedland. To these he added a
large portion of his guard, and prepared to set out himself for
Spain, at their head. Their number amounted to more than
100,000, which, with the divisions already in Spain, would
raise our army to 200,000 men.

Some days before starting, the Emperor, intending to take
Augereau with him if the wound he had received at Eylau
allowed him to take the command, had summoned him to
Saint-Cloud. Being on duty, I accompanied the marshal, and
while Napoleon walked about with Augereau I stayed on one
side with his aides-de-camp. It appears that after discussing
the matter which they had in hand their conversation turned
on the battle of Eylau, and the noble conduct of the 14th.
Augereau spoke of the devoted manner in which I had carried
orders to that regiment through the swarming Cossacks, and
entered into full details of the dangers which I had run in
accomplishing that mission, and of the really miraculous
manner in which I had escaped death after being stripped and
left naked on the snow. The Emperor replied : ■ Marbot's
conduct was admirable, and I have given him the Cross for it.'
The marshal having quite correctly declared that I had received
no reward, Napoleon maintained his statement, and in order to
prove it sent for Prince Berthier, the adjutant-general. He
looked through the registers, the result of his search being the
discovery that the Emperor, on hearing of my exploit at Eylau,
had indeed entered the name of Marbot, aide-de-camp to Mar-
shal Augereau among the officers to be decorated. He had, how-
ever, not added my Christian name, not knowing that my brother

1 [English, about 16,000 men (not more than naif of whom were engaged)
and 18 guns; French, 14,000 men and 3 guns ]

DECORA TED 259

was on the marshal's staff as supernumerary; so that when the
time came to deliver the patents, Prince Berthier, always very
busy, had said, to save his secretary trouble, 'The Cross must be
given to the elder.' So my brother got decorated, though it
was his first action, and, since he was only on temporary leave
from the Indies, and his regiment was at the Isle of France,
he did not officially even belong to the Grand Army. Thus
was fulfilled the prediction which Augereau had expressed to
him when he said, ' If you come on the same staff as your
brother you will do each other harm.' Anyhow, after scolding
Berthier a little, the Emperor came towards me, spoke to me
kindly, and, taking the Cross from one of his orderly officers,
fastened it on my breast. October 29, 1808, was one of the
happiest days of my life. At that time the Legion of Honour
had not been lavishly given, and a value was attached to it
which since then it has unfortunately lost. Decorated at 26 !
I was beside myself with joy. The good marshal's satisfac-
tion was equal to mine, and in order to allow my mother to
share it he took me to her. No promotion that I ever got
pleased her as much. To complete my satisfaction, Marshal
Duroc sent for the hat which a cannon-ball had pierced on my
head at the battle of Eylau, and which the Emperor wished
to see.

By Napoleon's own advice, Augereau declined to go on
the campaign. Accordingly, he asked Lannes, who had a
command in Spain, kindly to take me with him ; not, how-
ever, as supernumerary, in which capacity I had been with that
marshal in the Friedland campaign, but as a regular member
of the staff; but if Augereau returned to duty, I was to go
back to him. So in November I set out for Bayonne, where,
for the fourth time, I was to report myself to a new chief. My
outfit had been left there, and was all ready for me. Indeed, I
was able to lend the marshal a horse, as his had not yet come
when the Emperor crossed the frontier. I knew the country
through which we had to pass, and the ways of it, well ; the
language a little ; so that I was able to be of some use to the
marshal, who had never been in these parts before.

Nearly all the officers who had been on Lannes' staff
having got promotion at the Peace of Tilsit, the marshal was
obliged to form a new staff for Spain. He himself was a man
of strong character ; but from various causes he was obliged
to select officers most of whom, for one reason or another, had
had little experience of war. They were all brave enough ;
but it was the least military staff on which I had ever served.

20O MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

The senior aide-de-camp was Colonel O'Meara, brother-in-law
to Clarke, Duke of Feltre. He ended his days as commandant
of a small place on the Belgian frontier. Then came Major
Guelie'neuc, brother-in-law to Lannes, who commanded the
26th Light Infantry at the Beresina. Major Saint-Mars was the
third. After being taken prisoner in Russia he became general
secretary of the Legion of Honour. I was the fourth. The
fifth was Marquis Serafino d'Albuquerque, a great Spanish
noble, fond of good living, and very plucky. He was killed
by a cannon-ball at Essling. Sixth, Captain Watteville, son
of the Landammann of the Helvetic Republic, representing
the Swiss nation ; Lannes being titular colonel of the Swiss
troops in the French service. He too went on the Russian
campaign as a major of lancers. In spite of my care, he
succumbed to cold and fatigue as we got near Wilna. The
seventh was the famous Labddoyere. He was a tall and
handsome man, brave, cultivated, and witty ; a good talker,
though with a slight stammer. He became aide-de-camp to
Prince Eugene Beauharnais, and was colonel in 1814. The
story of his bringing his regiment over to the Emperor at the
return from Elba is well known. Under the Restoration he was
tried and shot. The eighth aide-de-camp was named De Viry.
He belonged to an ancient Savoyard family. So far as I knew,
he had no bad qualities, and I became very intimate with
him ; he was severely wounded at Essling, and died in my
arms at Vienna. Besides these, the marshal had two super-
numerary officers attached to his staff, Captain Dagusan and
Sub-lieutenant Le Couteulx de Canteleu.

On my joining the staff, Marshal Lannes warned me that
he reckoned very much on my help, both on account of the
report of me which he had received from Augereau and from
the manner in which I had served under himself in the
Friedland campaign. ■ If you do not get killed,' said he, ' I
will see that your promotion comes quickly.' The marshal
never promised in vain, and he was in such high favour
with the Emperor that everything was possible to him. I
promised to do my duty with unswerving courage and zeal.

We left Bayonne and marched with the troops as far as
the Ebro, where we joined King Joseph and the army which
had made the recent campaign. Rest in camp life had given
these young recruits a military air, which they had been far
from having in the previous July. But what most raised their
tone was finding themselves under the command of the
Emperor in person, and hearing that the veterans of the

A DUEL UNDER FIRE 26 1

Grand Army had arrived. The Spaniards on their side were
astonished and alarmed at the sight of the old grenadiers of
the Grand Army, and realised that a change in the aspect of
affairs was going to take place. And, indeed, hardly had the
Emperor arrived on the Ebro when he launched numerous
columns across the river. All that tried to make head against
them were exterminated, or saved themselves only by a rapid
flight. The Spaniards, however, astonished but not dis-
couraged, rallied several army corps under the walls of
Burgos, and made bold to accept battle. It took place on
November 9 and did not last long, for the enemy, driven in at
the first charge, fled in all directions, pursued by our cavalry,
with heavy loss.

During this battle, a remarkable, and, happily, very un-
common incident occurred. Two young infantry lieutenants
quarrelled, and fought a duel in front of their battalion under a
storm of cannon-balls from the enemy. One of them had his
cheek laid open by a sword-cut. The colonel put them under
arrest and brought them before the marshal, who sent them to
the citadel of Burgos, and reported them to the Emperor. He
gave them a further punishment, forbidding them to go into
action with their company for a month. At the end of this
period the regiment to which these two foolish fellows belonged
was being reviewed by the Emperor at Madrid. He ordered
the colonel to present to him as usual those whom he proposed
to promote in the place of officers killed. The sub-lieutenant,
who had had the wound in his cheek, was an excellent soldier.
His colonel thought that he ought not to lose his promotion
for a fault which, though serious, was not dishonourable. He
therefore submitted his name to the Emperor, who, perceiving
a recent scar on the young man's face, remembered the duel at
Burgos, and asked him in a severe tone, ' Where did you get
that wound ? ' Thereupon the sub-lieutenant, wishing neither
to tell a lie nor to confess, turned the difficulty very cleverly.
Placing his finger on his cheek, he said, ' I got it there, sir.'
The Emperor understood, and as he liked men of a ready wit,
far from being angry at this original repartee, he smiled, and said
to the officer, 'Your colonel proposes you for the rank of
lieutenant ; I grant it to you, but in future behave better or I
shall cashier you.'

At Burgos I found my brother, who was on the staff of Prince1

1 [Of Neuchatel. He acted usually as chief of the staff to Napoleon
Like Junot, he died (in 1815) by a fall from a window ; whether voluntary 01
not is uncertain.]

262 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

Berthier, chief of the general staff. Lannes' military talent
increased every day, and the Emperor, who had a very high
opinion of him, no longer gave him any stated command,
wishing to keep him about his person and send him wherever
things had got into disorder, being sure that he would quickly
set them to rights. Thus, considering that he had left the
town of Saragossa occupied by the insurgents of Aragon, and
supported by the army of Castanos, which had conquered
Dupont, and that old General Moncey was only bungling,
Napoleon ordered Lannes to go to Logrofio, take command of
the Army of the Ebro, and attack Castanos. Thus Moncey
came under the orders of Lannes. It was the first case in
which one marshal of the Empire had commanded another.
Lannes showed himself worthy of this mark of confidence and
distinction. He started, accompanied by his staff alone, and
we travelled by post. You must know that at this time there
were no draught horses in Spain, but the post-houses kept the
best nags in Europe. We rode therefore night and day,
escorted from stage to stage by detachments of cavalry. In
this way we went back as far as Miranda del Ebro, whence
we reached Logrofio, following the river. Marshal Moncey
appeared much annoyed at finding himself, the senior marshal,
placed under the orders of the junior, but he had no choice but
to obey.

See what the presence of a single capable and energetic
man can do. This army of recruits, which Moncey had not
dared to lead against the enemy, were set in motion by
Lannes on the day of his arrival, and marched against the
enemy with ardour. We came up with him on the follow-
ing day, the 23rd, in front of Tudela, and after three hours'
fighting the conquerors of Baylen were driven in, beaten,
completely routed, and fled headlong towards Saragossa, leav-
ing thousands of dead on the field. We captured a great many
men, several colours, and all the artillery ; a complete victory.
During this affair I had a bullet through my sabretache. Just
at the outset I had had a lively quarrel with Lab^doyere over
the following matter. He had just bought a young and ill-
broken horse, which at the sound of the cannon reared up
and absolutely refused to go on. Lab&loyere leapt off in
a rage, drew his sword, and hamstrung the unhappy horse,
who fell all bleeding on the grass, dragging himself along
on his forefeet. I could not contain my indignation, and
expressed it to him in strong terms ; but Lab^doyere took
it very ill, and we should have come to blows had we not been

labAdoyerb 263

in the presence of the enemy. The report of this incident
got about in the staff, and Marshal Lannes, very angry, declared
that he would not have Lab&loyere any more among his
aides-de-camp. The latter, in despair, had seized his pistols
to blow his brains out, when our friend De Viry pointed out to
him that it would be more honourable to seek death in the
ranks of the enemy than to inflict it on himself. Just at that
moment, De Viry, who was near the marshal, was ordered to
lead a cavalry regiment against the Spanish battery. Lab£-
doyere joined the regiment as it was charging, and was one of
the first to dash into the battery. It was carried and we saw
De Viry and Lab^doyere bringing back a gun which they
had taken together. Neither of them was wounded, but
Lab&loyere had got a grapeshot through his busby, two inches
from his head. The marshal was much touched by this
courageous act ; all the more so, that, after having handed
over the gun to him, Labedoyere was getting ready to hurl
himself a second time on the enemy's bayonets. The marshal
held him back, and, pardoning his fault, restored him to his
place on the staff. That same evening Labedoyere came in
the most honourable way to shake hands with me, and we ever
afterwards lived on the best of terms. He and De Viry were
named in the despatches, and promoted to captains a little
time after the battle.

CHAPTER XXXV.

I have now reached one of the most terrible experiences of my
military career. Marshal Lannes had just won a great victory,
and the next day, after having received the reports of the
generals, he wrote his despatch for one of our officers to take
to the Emperor. Napoleon's practice was to give a step to the
officer who brought him the news of an important success, and
the marshals on their side entrusted such tasks to officers for
whose speedy promotion they were anxious. It was a form of
recommendation which Napoleon never failed to recognise.
Marshal Lannes did me the honour of appointing me to carry
the news of the victory of Tudela, and I could indulge the hope
of being major before long. But, alas ! I had yet much blood
to lose before I reached that rank.

The high road from Bayonne to Madrid by Vittoria, Miranda
del Ebro, Burgos, and Aranda forks off at Miranda from that
leading to Saragossa by Logrono. A road from Tudela to
Aranda across the mountains about Soria forms the third side
of a great triangle. While Lannes was reaching Tudela the
Emperor had advanced from Burgos to Aranda. It was, there-
fore, much shorter for me to go from Tudela to Aranda than by
way of Miranda del Ebro. The latter road, however, had the
advantage of being covered by the French armies ; while the
other, no doubt, would be full of Spanish fugitives who had
taken refuge after Tudela in the mountains. The Emperor,
however, had informed Lannes that he was sending Ney's
corps direct from Aranda to Tudela ; so, thinking Ney to be at
no great distance, and that an advanced force which he had
pushed on the day after the battle to get touch of him at
Taragona would secure me from attack as far as Aranda,
Lannes ordered me to take the shortest road. I may frankly
admit that if I had had my choice I should have preferred to
make the round by Miranda and Burgos ; but the marshal's
orders were positive, and how could I express any fear for my
own person in the presence of a man who knew no more fear
for others than he did for himself ?

(264)

OVER THE MOUNTAINS 265

The duties of marshal's aide-de-camp in Spain were terrible.
During the revolutionary wars the generals had couriers paid
by the state to carry their despatches ; but the Emperor, find-
ing that these men were not capable of giving any intelligible
account of what they had seen, did away with them, and
ordered that in future despatches should be carried by aides-de-
camp. This was all very well as long as we were at war
among the good Germans, to whom it never occurred to attack
a French messenger ; but the Spaniards waged fierce war
against them. This was of great advantage to the insurgents,
for the contents of our despatches informed them of the move-
ments of our armies. I do not think I am exaggerating when
I say that more than 200 staff officers were killed or captured
during the Peninsular War. One may regret the death of an
ordinary courier, but it is less serious than the loss of a promis-
ing officer, who, moreover, is exposed to the risks of the battle-
field in addition to those of a posting journey. A great number
of vigorous men well skilled in their business begged to be
allowed to do this duty, but the Emperor never consented.

Just as I was starting from Tudela, Major Saint-Mars
hazarded a remark intended to dissuade Lannes from sending
me over the mountains. The marshal, however, answered,
1 Oh, he will meet Ney's advance guard to-night, and find
troops echelonned all the way to the Emperor's head-quarters.'
This was too decided for any opposition, so I left Tudela
November 4, at nightfall, with a detachment of cavalry, and
got without any trouble as far as Taragona, at the foot of the
mountains. In this little town I found Lannes' advance
guard. The officer in command, hearing nothing of Ney, had
pushed an infantry post six leagues forward towards Agreda.
But as this body was detached from its supports, it had been
ordered to fall back on Taragona if the night passed without
Ney's scouts appearing.

After Taragona there is no more high road. The way lies
entirely over mountain paths covered with stones and splin-
ters of rock. The officer commanding our advanced guard
had, therefore, only infantry and a score of hussars of the 2nd
(Chamborant) Regiment. He gave me a troop horse and two
orderlies, and I went on my way in brilliant moonlight. When
we had gone two or three leagues we heard several musket-
shots, and bullets whistled close past us. We could not see
the marksmen, who were hidden among the rocks. A little
farther on we found the corpses of two French infantry soldiers,
recently killed. They were entirely stripped, but their shakoes

266 MEMOIRS OP THE BARON DE MARBOT

were near them, by the numbers on which I could see that
they belonged to one of the regiments in Ney's corps. Some
little distance farther we saw a horrible sight. A young officer
of the ioth Mounted Chasseurs, still wearing his uniform, was
nailed by his hands and feet, head downwards, to a barn door.
A small fire had been lighted beneath him. Happily, his
tortures had been ended by death ; but as the blood was still
flowing from his wounds, it was clear that the murderers were
not far off. I drew my sword ; my two hussars handled their
carbines. It was just as well that we were on our guard, for
a few moments later seven or eight Spaniards, two of them
mounted, fired upon us from behind a bush. We were none
of us wounded, and my two hussars replied to the fire, and
killed each his man. Then, drawing their swords, they dashed
at the rest. I should have been very glad to follow them, but
my horse had lost a shoe among the stones and was limping,
so that I could not get him into a gallop. I was the more
vexed because I feared that the hussars might let themselves
be carried away in the pursuit and get killed in some ambush.
I called them for five minutes ; then I heard the voice of one
of them saying, in a strong Alsatian accent, ' Ah! you thieves!
you don't know the Chamborant Hussars yet. You shall see
that they mean business.' My troopers had knocked over two
more Spaniards, a Capuchin mounted on the horse of the poor
lieutenant, whose haversack he had put over his own neck,
and a peasant on a mule, with the clothes of the slaughtered
soldiers on his back. It was quite clear that we had got the
murderers. The Emperor had given strict orders that every
Spanish civilian taken in arms should be shot on the spot ;
and, moreover, what could we do with these two brigands, who
were already seriously wounded, and who had just killed three
Frenchmen so barbarously ? I moved on, therefore, so as not
to witness the execution, and the hussars polished off the
monk and the peasant, repeating, ' Ah, you don't know the
Chamborant ! ' I could not understand how an officer and
two privates of Ney's corps could be so near Taragona, when
their regiments had not come that way ; but most probably
they had been captured elsewhere, and were being taken to
Saragossa, when their escort learned the defeat of their coun-
trymen at Tudela, and massacred their prisoners in revenge
for it.

After this not very encouraging start I continued my
journey. We had gone for some hours, when we saw a
bivouac fire of the detachment belonging to the advance

A DOUBTFUL ESCORT zbj

guard which I had left at Taragona. The sub-lieutenant
in command, having no tidings of Ney, was prepared to
return to Taragona at daybreak, in pursuance of his orders.
He knew that we were barely two leagues from Agreda, but
did not know of which side that town was in possession. This
was perplexing for me. The infantry detachment would return
in a few hours, and if L went back with it, when it might be
that in another league I should fall in with Ney's column,
I should be giving a poor display of courage, and laying
myself open to reproach from Lannes. On the other hand,
if Ney was still a day or two's march away, it was almost
certain that I should be murdered by the peasants of the
mountains or by fugitive soldiers. What was more, I had
to travel alone, for my two brave hussars had orders to
return to Taragona when we had found the infantry detach-
ment. No matter ; I determined to push on ; but then came
the difficulty of finding a mount. There was no farm or
village in this deserted place where I could procure a horse.
That which I was riding was dead lame ; and even if the hussars
had been able, without incurring severe punishment, to lend
me one of theirs, theirs were much fatigued. The horse that
had belonged to the officer of chasseurs had received a bullet in
the thigh during the fighting. There was only the peasant's
mule left. This was a handsome beast, and according to the
laws of war, belonged to the two hussars, who, no doubt,
reckoned on selling her when they got back to the army. Still
the good fellows made no demur about lending her to me, and
put my saddle on her back. But the infernal beast, more
accustomed to the pack than to the saddle, was so restive, that
directly I tried to get her away from the group of horses and
make her go alone, she fell to kicking, until I had to choose
between being sent over a precipice and dismounting.

So I decided to set out on foot. After I had taken farewell
of the infantry officer, this excellent young man, M. Tassin by
name — he had been a friend of my poor brother Felix at the
military school — came running after me, and said that he could
not bear to let me thus expose myself all alone, and that though
he had no orders, and his men were raw recruits, with little
experience in war, he must send one with me, so that I might
at least have a musket and some cartridges in case of an attack.
We agreed that I should send the man back with Ney's corps ;
and I went off, with the soldier accompanying me. He was a
slow-speaking Norman, with plenty of slyness under an appear-
ance of good-nature. The Normans are for the most part brave,

268 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

as I learnt when I commanded the 23rd Chasseurs, where I had
five or six hundred of them. Still, in order to know how far I
could rely on my follower, I chatted with him as we went along,
and asked if he would stand his ground if we were attacked.
He said neither yes nor no, but answered, * Well, zur, us shall
zee.' Whence I inferred that when the moment of danger
arrived my new companion was not unlikely to go and see how
things were getting on in the rear.

The moon had just set, and as yet daylight had not
appeared. It was pitch-dark, and at every step we stumbled
over the great stones with which these mountain paths are
covered. It was an unpleasant situation, but I hoped soon to
come upon Ney's troops, and the fact of having seen the bodies
of soldiers belonging to his corps increased the hope. So I
went steadily on, listening for diversion to the Norman's stories
of his country. Dawn appeared at last, and I saw the first
houses of a large village. It was Agreda. I was alarmed at
finding no outposts, for it showed that not only did no troops
of the marshal's occupy the place, but that his army corps must
be at least half a day further on. The map showed no village
within five or six leagues of Agreda, and it was impossible that
the regiments could be quartered in the mountains, far from any
inhabited place. So I kept on my guard and before going any
farther reconnoitred the position.

Agreda stands in a rather broad valley. It is built at the
foot of a lofty hill, deeply escarped on both sides. The southern
slope, which reaches the village, is planted with large vineyards.
The ridge is rough and rocky, and the northern slope covered
with thick coppice, a torrent flowing at the foot. Beyond are
seen lofty mountains, uncultivated and uninhabited. The
principal street of Agreda runs through the whole length of the
place, with narrow lanes leading to the vineyards opening into
it. As I entered the village I had these lanes and the vine-
yards on my right. This detail is important to the under-
standing of my story.

Everybody was asleep in Agreda ; the moment was favour-
able for going through it. Besides, I had some hope — feeble,
it is true — that when I reached the farther end I might
perhaps see the fires of Marshal Ney's advance guard.
So I went forward, sword in hand, bidding my soldier cock
his musket. The main street was covered with a thick
bed of damp leaves, which the people placed there to make
manure ; so that our footsteps made no sound, of which I was
glad. I walked in the middle of the street, with the soldier on

FIVE TO ONE 269

my right ; but, finding himself no doubt in a too conspicuous
position, he gradually sheered off to the houses, keeping close
to the walls so that he might be less visible in case of
an attack, or better placed for reaching one of the lanes
which open into the country. This showed me how little I
could rely on the man ; but I made no remark to him. The
day was beginning to break. We passed the whole of the
main street without meeting any one. Just as I was congratu-
lating myself on reaching the last houses of the village, I found
myself, at twenty-five paces' distance, face to face with four
Royal Spanish Carabineers on horseback with drawn swords.
Under any other circumstances I might have taken them for
French gendarmes, their uniforms being exactly similar, but
the gendarmes never march with the extreme advanced guard.
These men, therefore, could not belong to Ney's corps, and I
at once perceived they were the enemy. In a moment I
faced about, but just as I had turned round to the direction
from which I had come I saw a blade flash six inches from
my face. I threw my head sharply back, but nevertheless
got a severe sabre-cut on the forehead, of which I carry the
scar over my left eyebrow to this day. The man who had
wounded me was the corporal of the carabineers, who, having
left his four troopers outside the village, had according to
military practice gone forward to reconnoitre. That I had
not met him was probably due to the fact that he had been
in some side lane, while I had passed through the main street.
He was now coming back through the street to rejoin his
troopers, when, seeing me, he had come up noiselessly over
a layer of leaves, and was just going to cleave my head
from behind, when, by turning round, I presented to him my
face and received his blow on my forehead. At the same
moment the four carabineers, who seeing that their corporal
was all ready for me had not stirred, trotted up to join him,
and all five dashed upon me. I ran mechanically towards the
houses on the right in order to get my back against a wall ;
but by good luck I found, two paces off, one of the steep and
narrow lanes, which went up to the vineyards. The soldier
had already reached it. I flew up there too, with the five
carabineers after me ; but at any rate they could not attack
me all at once, for there was only room for one horse to pass.
The brigadier went in front ; the other four filed after him.
My position, although not as unfavourable as it would have
been in the street, where I should have been surrounded, still
remained alarming ; the bloo4 flowing freely from my wound

270 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

had in a moment covered my left eye, with which I could not
see at all, and I felt that it was coming towards my right
eye, so that I was compelled by fear of getting blinded to
keep my head bent over the left shoulder so as to bring the
blood to that side. I could not staunch it, being obliged to
defend myself against the corporal, who was cutting at me
heavily. I parried as well as I could, going up backwards all
the time. After getting rid of my scabbard and my busby,
the weight of which hampered me, not daring to turn my
head for fear of losing sight of my adversary, whose sword
was crossed with mine, I told the light infantry man, whom
I believed to be behind me, to place his musket on my
shoulder, and fire at the Spanish corporal. Seeing no bar-
rel, however, I leapt a pace back and turned my head
quickly. Lo and behold, there was my scoundrel of a Nor-
man soldier flying up the hill as fast as his legs would carry
him. The corporal thereupon attacked with redoubled vigour,
and, seeing that he could not reach me, made his horse
rear, so that his feet struck me more than once on the
breast. Luckily, as the ground went on rising the horse had
no good hold with his hind legs, and every time that he came
down again I landed a sword cut on his nose with such effect
that the animal presently refused to rear at me any more. Then
the brigadier, losing his temper, called out to the trooper be-
hind him, ' Take your carbine : I will stoop down, and you
can aim at the Frenchman over my shoulders.' I saw that
this order was my death-signal ; but as in order to execute it
the trooper had to sheathe his sword and unhook his carbine,
and that all this time the corporal never ceased thrusting at
me, leaning right over his horse's neck, I determined on a
desperate action, which would be either my salvation or my
ruin. Keeping my eye fixed on the Spaniard, and seeing in
his that he was on the point of again stooping over his
horse to reach me, I did not move until the very instant
when he was lowering the upper part of his body towards me ;
then I took a pace to the right, and leaning quickly over to
that side, I avoided my adversary's blow, and plunged half my
sword-blade into his left flank. With a fearful yell the corporal
fell back on the croup of his horse ; he would probably have
fallen to the ground if the trooper behind him had not caught
him in his arms. My rapid movement in stooping had caused
the despatch which I was carrying to fall out of the pocket of my
pelisse. I picked it up quickly, and at once hastened to the
end of the lane where the vines began. There I turned round

SHARP WORK 271

and saw the carabineers busy round their wounded corporal,
and apparently much embarrassed with him and with their
horses in the steep and narrow passage.

This fight took less time than I have taken to relate it.
Finding myself rid, at least for the moment, of my enemies, 1
went through the vines and reached the edge of the hill. Then
I considered that it would be impossible for me to accomplish
my errand and reach the Emperor at Aranda. I resolved,
therefore, to return to Marshal Lannes, regaining first the place
where I had left M. Tassin and his picket of infantry. I did
not hope to find them still there ; but at any rate the army
which I had left the day before was in that direction. I looked
for my soldier in vain, but I saw something that was of more
use to me — a spring of clear water. I halted there a moment,
and, tearing off a corner of my shirt, I made a compress which
I fastened over my wound with my handkerchief. The blood
spurting from my forehead had stained the despatches which I
held in my hand, but I was too much occupied with my
awkward position to mind that.

The agitations of the past night, my long walk over the
stony paths in boots and spurs, the fight in which I had just
been engaged, the pain in my head, and the loss of blood had
exhausted my strength. I had taken no food since leaving
Tudela, and here I had nothing but water to refresh myself
with. I drank long draughts of it, and should have rested
longer by the spring had I not perceived three of the Spanish
carabineers riding out of Agreda and coming towards me
through the vines. If they had been sharp enough to dis-
mount and take off their long boots, they would probably have
succeeded in reaching me ; but their horses, unable to pass
between the vinestocks, ascended the steep and rocky paths with
difficulty. Indeed, when they reached the upper end of the
vineyards they found themselves brought up by the great rocks,
on the top of which I had taken refuge, and unable to climb
any farther. Then the troopers, passing along the bottom of
the rocks, marched parallel with me a long musket-shot off.
They called to me to surrender, saying that as soldiers they
would treat me as a prisoner of war, while if the peasants caught
me I should infallibly be murdered. This reasoning was sound,
and I admit that if I had not been charged with despatches
for the Emperor, I was so exhausted that I should perhaps have
surrendered.

However, wishing to preserve to the best of my ability the
precious charge which had been entrusted to me, I marched oq

272 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

without answering. Then the three troopers, taking their
carbines, opened fire upon me. Their bullets struck the rocks
at my feet but none touched me, the distance being too great
for a correct aim. I was alarmed, not at the fire, but at the
notion that the reports would probably attract the peasants who
would be going to their work in the morning, and quite
expected to be attacked by these fierce mountaineers. My
presentiment seemed to be verified, for I perceived some fifteen
men half a league away in the valley advancing towards me at
a run. They held in their hands something that flashed in the
sun. I made no doubt that they were peasants armed with
their spades, and that it was the iron of these that shone thus.
I gave myself up for lost, and in my despair I was on the point
of letting myself slide down over the rocks on the north side of
the hill to the torrent, crossing it as best I could, and hiding
myself in some chasm of the great mountains which arose on
the farther side of the gorge. Then, if I was not discovered,
and if I still had the strength, I should set out when night
came in the direction of Taragona.

This plan, though offering many chances of failure, was
my last hope. Just as I was about to put it into execution, I
perceived that the three carabineers had given up firing on me,
and gone forward to reconnoitre the group which I had taken
for peasants. At their approach the iron instruments which I
had taken for spades or mattocks were lowered, and I had the
inexpressible joy of seeing a volley fired at the Spanish cara-
bineers. Instantly turning, they took flight towards Agreda,
as it seemed, with two of their number wounded. ' The new-
comers, then, are French ! ' I exclaimed. * Here goes to meet
them ! ' and, regaining a little strength from the joy of being
delivered, I descended, leaning on my sword. The French
had caught sight of me ; they climbed the hill, and I found
myself in the arms of the brave Lieutenant Tassin.

This providential rescue had come about as follows. The
soldier who had deserted me while I was engaged with the
carabineers in the streets of Agreda had quickly reached the
vines ; thence, leaping across the vinestocks, ditches, rocks,
and hedges, he had very quickly run the two leagues which lay
between him and the place where we had left M. Tassin's picket.
The detachment was on the point of starting for Taragona, and
was eating its soup, when my Norman came up all out of
breath. Not wishing, however, to lose a mouthful, he seated
himself by a cooking-pot and began to make a very tranquil
breakfast, without saying a word about what had happened at

SA VED 273

Agreda. By great good luck he was noticed by M. Tassin,
who, surprised at seeing him returned, asked him where he
had quitted the officer whom he had been told off to escort.
1 Good Lord, sir,' replied the Norman, ■ I left him in that big
village with his head half split open, and fighting with Spanish
troopers, and they were cutting away at him with their swords
like anything.' At these words Lieutenant Tassin ordered his
detachment to arms, picked the fifteen most active, and went
off at the double towards Agreda. The little troop had gone a
league when they heard shots, and inferred from them that I
was still alive but in urgent need of succour. Stimulated by
the hope of saving me, the brave fellows doubled their pace,
and finally perceived me on the ridge of the hill, serving as a
mark for three Spanish troopers.

M. Tassin and his men were tired, and I was at the end
of my strength. We halted, therefore, for a little, and mean-
while you may imagine that I expressed my warmest gratitude
to the lieutenant and his men, who were almost as glad as I
was. We returned to the bivouac where M. Tassin had left
the rest of his people. The cantinilre of the company was
there with her mule carrying two skins of wine, bread, and ham.
I bought the lot and gave them to the soldiers, and we break-
fasted, as I was very glad to do, the two hussars whom I had
left there the night before sharing in the meal. One of these
mounted the monk's mule and lent me his horse, and so we set
out for Taragona. I was in horrible pain, because the blood
had hardened over my wound. At Taragona I rejoined Lannes'
advance guard; the general in command had my wound dressed,
and gave me a horse and an escort of two hussars. I reached
Tudela at midnight, and was at once received by the marshal,
who, though ill himself, seemed much touched by my misfortune.
It was necessary, however, that the despatch about the battle
of Tudela should be promptly forwarded to the Emperor, who
must be impatiently awaiting news from the army on the Ebro.
Enlightened by what had befallen me in the mountains, the
marshal consented that the officer bearing it should go by
Miranda and Burgos, where the presence of French troops on
the roads made the way perfectly safe. I should have liked
very much to be the bearer, but I was in such pain and so
tired that it would have been physically impossible for me to
ride hard. The marshal therefore entrusted the duty to his
brother-in-law, Major GuShe'neuc. I handed him the des-
patches stained with my blood. Major Saint-Mars, the secre-
tary, wished to re-copy them and change the envelope. ' No,

18

274 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

no,' cried the marshal, 'the Emperor ought to see how valiantly
Captain Marbot has defended them.' So he sent off the packel
just as it was, adding a note to explain the reason of the delay j
eulogising me, and asking for a reward to Lieutenant Tassin
and his men, who had hastened so zealously to my succour,
without reckoning the danger to which they might have been
exposed if the enemy had been in force.

The Emperor did, as a matter of fact, a little while after,
grant the Cross both to M. Tassin and to his sergeant, and a
gratuity of ioo francs to each of the men who had accom-
panied them. As for the Norman soldier, he was tried by
court martial for deserting his post in the presence of the
enemy, and condemned to drag a shot for two years, and to
finish his time of service in a pioneer company.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

Lannes advanced to Saragossa ; but, having no siege artillery,
he was content for the moment to guard the principal ap-
proaches, and, leaving Marshal Moncey in command, went to
rejoin the Emperor. Being, as I have said, ill, he was obliged
to travel in a carriage, relays being furnished by the draught-
horses of the army. I anticipated a disagreeable journey ; for
though we should halt at night, seven or eight hours' riding
would increase the pain of my wound, already severe.

But the marshal kindly gave me a place in his carriage,
together with his friends Generals Pouzet and Frere. They
were fond of chatting, and at times of joking at the expense
of their friends, and as they had only known me a short time
my presence embarrassed them. But the marshal said, ' He
is a good lad ; you can talk before him,' and they took advan*
tage freely of his opinion. Although we rested at night, I
found the journey very fatiguing. We passed Logroho,
Miranda, and Burgos, and went on foot up the celebrated gorge
of Somo Sierra, which had been carried a few days before,
under the Emperor's eyes, by the Polish lancers of his guard.
It was in this fight that General Montbrun, who afterwards
became famous, distinguished himself. He was with the head'
quarter staff, when the Emperor, who had got some hours in
advance of his infantry, reached the foot of Somo Sierra, having
only his Polish lancers with him. The high road, at that point
very steep, and closed in by mountains, was found to be barred
by a small earthwork defended by several thousand Spaniards.
Napoleon wished to reach Buitrago that day, so, finding his
march arrested, and judging that the infantry could not come
in for some time, he ordered the Poles to force the passage.

The Poles have only one good quality, but that they
possess in the fullest measure — they are very brave. Their
commanders, having seen no service, did not know that in
passing a defile it is necessary to leave a squadron's distance
between every two squadrons, so that if the leaders are
repulsed they may find in the rear of them an open space
in which to re-form and not be driven back upon the squad-
rons following. The Polish officers therefore launched their

(275)

276 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

regiment into the defile without getting them into a proper
formation. Received with a hail of bullets on both flanks,
and finding the road barred at the highest point, they
suffered considerable loss, increased by the way in which the
first squadron fell back in disorder upon the second, the second
on the third, and so on, until the regiment, now only a dis-
organised crowd on an enclosed road, could not wheel about,
and was being shot down at almost point-blank range by the
Spaniards posted on the rocks. It was difficult to disentangle
this mass ; when it was at last managed the Poles re-formed
in the plain, under the Emperor's eyes. He praised their
courage, but blamed their lack of method in attacking. The
officers admitted it, and expressed their regret that they had
not been led by an experienced general. Then Berthier, wish-
ing to do a good turn to Montbrun, who was out of favour at
the moment, but whom he knew to be an excellent cavalry
officer, drew Napoleon's attention to his presence. The Em-
peror called him, and put him in command of the lancers, with
orders to renew the attack.

Montbrun was a splendid man, in the same style as Murat;
lofty stature, a scarred face, a black beard, of soldierly bearing,
and an admirable horseman. The Poles took to him, and
promised to follow his instructions ; and Montbrun, having
made the squadrons take their intervals, and seeing that every-
thing was in proper order, placed himself boldly at their head
and dashed into the gorge. Some squadrons were at first
shaken by the fire, but as the different parts of the column
were at sufficient distance to prevent any serious disorder,
they recovered, and presently the top of the ascent was reached.
General Montbrun dismounted, and was the first to run up
to the entrenchments to tear out the palisades under a hail
of bullets. The Poles followed his example ; the entrench-
ments were carried and the regiment, remounting, charged the
Spaniards, with great slaughter, for the ground, opening out
and sloping down, allowed the lancers to reach the enemy's
infantry as they fled in disorder. By the time the Emperor
reached the top, not only was the French flag to be seen
floating over Buitrago, but Montbrun's cavalry was pursuing
the routed Spaniards a league beyond the town. That evening
Napoleon complimented the Poles, and appointed Montbrun
general of division. He commanded a division soon after in
Austria, and in 1810 was put in chief command of all the
cavalry of the Army of Portugal. He was killed at the battle
of the Moskwa.

When Lannes had examined the position we descended

IN PURSUIT OF THE ENGLISH 2jy

to Buitrago, and the next day reached Madrid, which had been
occupied by Napoleon only after serious fighting. Lannes
presented me to him, and he received me kindly, promising
to reward me ere long for my conduct at Agreda. We found
M. Gu£h£neuc at Madrid in the uniform of a colonel, having
been promoted by the Emperor on delivering the despatch
stained with my blood. Gu6h£neuc was a good fellow ; he
came to me and said, ' You had the danger, and got the
sword-cut, and I have got the step ; but I hope that your
promotion will not be slow in coming.' I hoped so too ; but
I will frankly admit that I was a little annoyed with the
marshal for the obstinacy with which he had insisted on
making me go by Agreda. However, one must submit to
one's destiny. Marshal Lannes lodged at Madrid in the
same house as Murat had occupied. I found that the kind
Sehor Hernandez, hearing of my arrival, had come to ask
me to stay with him. I was the more glad to accept, since
my wound had got poisoned, and good nursing was necessary.
This my host gave me in plenty, and I was on the way to
get well, when new events compelled me to return to the field.

We had been barely a week at Madrid, when the Emperor
learnt, on December 21, that the Portuguese army was daring
to march against the Spanish capital, and was only at a few
days' distance. Orders were instantly given to march, and he
left the town at the head of several army corps, going
towards Valladolid, from which direction the English, under
Sir John Moore, were expected. Marshal Lannes, being quite
recovered, was to accompany the Emperor on horseback.
He suggested to me that I should stay at Madrid till my
wound was completely healed ; but there were two reasons
against this. In the first place, I wished to be present at
the battle with the English ; and secondly, I knew that the
Emperor scarcely ever promoted people in their absence,
and I was anxious to obtain the promised step to major, so I
got ready to start. The only thing that troubled me was
that by reason of my wound I could wear neither cocked hat
nor busby. The handkerchief bound round my head was
not quite a sufficiently military head-gear to appear among a
staff closely attached to that of the Emperor. The sight of a
Mameluke of the guard with his turban and red fez gave me an
idea. I had a cap of the same colour ; round this I wound a
smart silk handkerchief, and placed the whole over my bandages.

We marched the first night to the foot of the Guadarrama.
There was a sharp frost, and the ice on the roads caused the

278 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

troops — the cavalry especially — to march with difficulty.
The marshal constantly sent officers to see that the column
was in good order, but kindly exempted me from this duty.

While our colleagues were carrying orders N and I

were often alone with the marshal. N beckoned to me

and held out a bottle of kirsch. I declined, with thanks ;
my friend put the neck of the bottle into his mouth, and in
less than a quarter of an hour had emptied it. Suddenly, like
a Colossus overthrown, he rolled to the ground. The marshal

broke out angrily, but N replied, ' It is not my fault ;

there is ice between my saddle and my seat ! ' At this novel
and quaint excuse, in spite of his wrath, the marshal could
not help laughing. Then he said to me, ' Put him into one
of the provision wagons.' I obeyed, and our comrade went
to sleep on the sacks of rice, all among the hams and saucepans.

Next day a furious snowstorm, with a fierce wind, made
the passage of the mountains almost impracticable. Men and
horses were hurled over precipices. The leading battalions
had actually begun to retreat ; but Napoleon was resolved to
overtake the English at all costs. He spoke to the men, and
ordered that the members of each section should hold one
another by the arm. The cavalry, dismounting, did the same.
The staff was formed in similar fashion, the Emperor between
Lannes and Duroc, we following with locked arms ; and so,
in spite of wind, snow, and ice, we proceeded, though it took
us four hours to reach the top. Half-way up the marshals
and generals, who wore jackboots, could go no further.
Napoleon, therefore, got hoisted on to a gun, and bestrode it ;
the marshals and generals did the same ; and in this grotesque
order they reached the convent at the summit. There the
troops were rested, and wine served out. The descent, though
awkward, was better. At nightfall we reached the market
town of San Rafael, and obtained food and quarters there and
in the villages round. My wound had reopened, the snow
had got down my neck, and I was wet through : so I passed a
wretched night enough.

As we continued our march on the following days we
came into milder weather. Rain took the place of frost, and
the roads became quagmires. At Tordesillas we came u\
with some stragglers of the English army, which at our ap-
proach were retreating towards the port of Corunna. Anxious
to catch it before it could embark, the Emperor forced on the
troops, making them do ten or twelve leagues a day. This
haste was the cause of a check which Napoleon felt all the

WHA T HAPPENED A T THE ESLA 279

more from the fact that it was inflicted on a division of his
guard.

When the army was at Villapanda, where it passed the
night, the Emperor — who by this time was furious at the
protracted pursuit of the English — heard that their rear-
guard was only a few leagues from us, at the town of Bena-
vente, beyond the little stream of the Esla. At daybreak he
sent forward a column of infantry, with cavalry of the guard,
under the command of General Lefebvre- Desnouettes, a brave
but somewhat imprudent officer. On reaching with his cavalry
the banks of the Esla, the general could see no enemy, and pro-
posed to reconnoitre the town of Benavente, half a league
beyond the stream. This was all right ; but a picket would
have sufficed, for twenty-five men can see as far as two
thousand, and if they fall into an ambush the loss is less
serious. General Desnouettes should, therefore, have awaited
his infantry before plunging recklessly into the Esla. But
without listening to any suggestion, he made the whole regi-
ment of chasseurs ford the river, and advanced towards the
town, which he ordered the Mamelukes to search. They
found not a soul in the place, a pretty certain sign that the
enemy was preparing an ambush. The French general ought
in prudence to have drawn back, since he was not in sufficient
force to fight a strong rear-guard. Instead of this, Desnouettes
pushed steadily forward ; but as he was going through the
town, four thousand or five thousand English cavalry x turned
it, covered by the houses in the suburbs, and suddenly charged
down upon the chasseurs. These, hastening from the town,
made so valiant a defence that they cut a great gap through
the English, regained the stream, and recrossed without much
loss. But when, on reaching the left bank, the regiment
re-formed, it was seen that General Desnouettes was no longer
present. A messenger came with a flag of truce announcing
that the general's horse had been killed in the fight, and he
himself was a prisoner of war.*

At this moment the Emperor came up. Imagine his wrath
at hearing that, not only had his favourite regiment undergone
a repulse, but that the commander had remained in the hands
of the English ! Though much displeased with Desnouettes'
imprudence, he proposed to the commander on the other side
to exchange him against an officer of the same rank among
those detained in France ; but General Moore was too proud of

1 [The total number of cavalry fit lor duty in Moore's army was 2,278.]
* [Napier, book iv. chap. 4.]

280 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

being able to show to the English people one of the commanders
of the imperial guard of France to agree to this exchange, and,
consequently, declined it. General Desnouettes was treated
with much kindness, but was sent to London as a trophy,
which made Napoleon all the more angry.

In spite of this little victory, the English continued their
retreat. We crossed the Esla, and occupied Benavente. From
this town to Astorga the distance is not less than fifteen or
sixteen leagues, with several streams to be crossed ; but the
Emperor was in such a hurry to overtake the enemy that he
required his army to march this distance in one day, though it
was the 31st of December and the days were very short.
Seldom have I made such a fatiguing march. An icy rain
wetted us to the skin ; men and horses sank into the marshy
ground. We only advanced with the utmost effort ; and as all
the bridges had been broken by the English, our men were five
or six times compelled to strip, place their arms and clothes on
their heads, and go naked through the icy water of the streams.

It is painful to relate that I saw three veteran grenadiers of
the guard, unable to march any further, and, unwilling to fall
to the rear at the risk of being tortured and massacred by the
peasants, blow out their brains with their own muskets. A
dark and rainy night added to the fatigue of the troops ; the
exhausted soldiers lay down in the mud. A great number
halted at the village of Bafieza ; only the leading companies
arrived at Astorga, the rest remaining on the road. It was late
at night when the Emperor and Lannes, escorted only by their
staffs and some hundred cavalry, entered Astorga. So tired
and anxious for shelter and warmth was everyone that the place
was scarcely searched. If the enemy had had warning of this
and returned on their tracks, they might perhaps have carried
off the Emperor ; fortunately they were in too great a hurry,
and we did not find one of them in the town. Every minute
fresh bodies of French troops were coming up ; and the safety
of the imperial head-quarters was soon secured.

Astorga is a largish town. We quartered ourselves quickly,
placing Marshal Lannes in a handsome house near the Em-
peror. We were wet through, and near enough to the Asturian
mountains to be cold. Our baggage had not yet come up, and
the fires which we lighted could not keep the marshal from
shivering. I got him to take off all his clothes, roll himself in
a woollen rug, and put himself between two mattresses. The
houses being well furnished with beds, we all did the like ; and
in this fashion we saw the year 1808 out.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

New Year's Day 1809 was passed at Astorga. The weather
continued bad, and it was necessary to allow the army to come
together. Food was plentiful, and as there was not an inhabi-
tant in the place we were all the freer to make the most of it.
The suicide of the three grenadiers had affected the Emperor
keenly ; and in spite of rain and wind he visited all the men's
quarters, talking to them and restoring their moral. All were
awaiting the order to start next day in pursuit of the English,
when an aide-de-camp from the Minister of War arrived
bringing despatches which decided Napoleon to go no further
in person. Doubtless it was the news of the hostile movements
which Austria was beginning to make, in order to attack the
French Empire while Napoleon and a part of the Grand Army
were far away in Spain. The Emperor then resolved to return
to France to prepare for this new war with the Austrians ; but
not wishing to lose the chance of chastising the English, he
ordered Ney and Soult to pursue. They set out, their troops
marching past the Emperor.

The English troops are excellent; but as they are only
raised by voluntary enlistment, and as this becomes difficult
in time of war, they are forced to admit married men, who
are allowed to be accompanied by their families. Conse-
quently the regiments took along with them a great number
of women and children ; a serious disadvantage which Great
Britain has never been able to remedy. Thus, just as the
corps of Soult and Ney were marching past the Emperor
outside Astorga, cries were heard from a great barn. The
door was opened, and it was found to contain 1,000 to 1,200
English women and children, who, exhausted by the long
march of the previous days through rain, mud, and streams,
were unable to keep up with the army and had taken refuge
in this place. For forty-eight hours they had lived on raw
barley. Most of the women and children were good-looking,
in spite of the muddy rags in which they were clad. They
flocked round the Emperor, who was touched by their misery,
and gave them lodging and food in the town ; sending a flag
of truce to let the English general know that when the
weather permitted they would be sent back to him.

Marshal Soult came up with the enemy in the mountains
of Leon and beat his rear-guard at Villafranca, where we
lost General Colbert and his aide-de-camp Latour-Maubourg.

(281)

28a MEMOIRS OF THE BAH ON DE MARBOT

The English army reached the port of Corunna after a hasty
march, but a terrible storm made its embarkation very diffi-
cult, and it was compelled to give battle to Marshal Soult's
troops who were close on its heels. The commander-in-chief,
Sir John Moore, was killed, and his army only succeeded in
reaching its vessels after immense loss.1 This event, which
the French regarded at first as an advantage, turned out
unlucky, for General Moore was replaced by Wellington, who
afterwards did us so much harm.

At Astorga my brother, who was on Berth ier's staff, was
captured by guerillas when on his way to Madrid with de-
spatches. I shall have more to say about this.

While Soult was pursuing the retreating enemy towards
Corunna, the Emperor, accompanied by Marshal Lannes, went
back to Valladolid to get on the road to France. He stayed
two days in that town, ordering Lannes to go and take
command of the two corps that were besieging Saragossa,
and after taking that place to rejoin him at Paris. But
before leaving us, the Emperor, wishing to show his satis-
faction with Lannes' staff, invited the marshal to hand in a
scheme of recommendations for promotion with regard to his
officers. I was entered for the rank of major and quite
expected to get it, especially when I heard that the marshal
on leaving the Emperor's study had asked for me. But my
hopes were cruelly overthrown. The marshal said to me
kindly that when he was asking for a step for me, he thought
he ought also to recommend his old friend Captain Dagusan,
but that the Emperor had begged him to choose between
Dagusan and me. * I cannot make up my mind,' said the
marshal, ' for the wound which you received at Agreda and
your behaviour in that difficult business put the right on your
side ; but Dagusan is old, and is making his last campaign.
Still I would not commit an injustice for the world, and
I leave it to you to settle which of the two names I shall
have entered on the commission which the Emperor is about
to sign.' It was an embarrassing position for me ; my heart
was very full. However, I answered that he must put M.
Dagusan's name on the commission. The marshal embraced
me with tears in his eyes, promising that after the siege of
Saragossa I should certainly get my step. That evening the
marshal called his officers together to announce the promo-

1 [English loss at the battle of Corunna about 800, French about 3,000.
During the entire advance and retreat Moore lost about 4,000 men, one-sixth
of his total force.]

SARAGOSSA 283

tions. Gue'he'neuc had his colonelcy confirmed, Saint-Mars
was appointed lieutenant-colonel, Dagusan major, D'Albu-
querque and Watteville got the Legion of Honour, De Viry
and Labexloyere were captains ; I got nothing.

Next day we left Valladolid, riding by short stages to
Saragossa. Lannes took the command of the whole besieging
force to the number of 30,000 men, who were under the orders
of Marshal Mortier, Junot replacing Moncey.

Before the great insurrection which followed the captivity
of Ferdinand VII., the town of Saragossa had been unfortified,
but on learning what had happened at Bayonne, and the
violence which Napoleon was doing in Spain in placing his
brother Joseph on the throne, Saragossa gave the signal for
resistance. Its population rose as one man ; monks, women,
and children took up arms. The town was surrounded by
immense and solidly-built convents ; these were fortified, and
guns placed in them. All the houses were loopholed, and the
streets barricaded ; powder, cannon-balls, and bullets were
manufactured, and great stores of food collected. All the in-
habitants enrolled themselves, and took as their commander
Count Palafox, one of the colonels of the body-guard and a
devoted friend of Ferdinand, whom he had followed to Bayonne,
returning to Aragon after the King's arrest. It was during the
summer of 1808 that the Emperor heard of the revolt, and the
intention to defend Saragossa, but, being still under the
delusion to which Murat's despatches had given rise, he
regarded the insurrection as a fire of straw which the presence
of a few French regiments would put out. Still before employ-
ing force he thought to try persuasion. He applied to Prince
Pignatelli, the greatest Aragonese noble, who was then in Paris,
begging him to use his influence in the province to calm the
excitement. Prince Pignatelli accepted this pacific duty, and
went to Saragossa. The people ran to meet him, not doubting
but that like Palafox he was come to fight the French. But no
sooner had he spoken of submission than he was assailed by
the mob, who would have hanged him if Palafox had not put
him in a dungeon, where he remained eight or nine months.

Meanwhile, several French divisions under General Verdier
appeared in June before Saragossa. The fortifications were
still incomplete, and an attempt was made to carry the place
by assault. But no sooner were our columns in the streets
than a murderous fire from windows, towers, roofs, and cellars
caused them such losses that they were obliged to retreat.
Then our troops surrounded the place, and began a more

284 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MAR BO T

methodical siege. This would probably have succeeded, had
not King Joseph's retreat compelled the army before Saragossa
to retreat, also abandoning part of their artillery.

The first siege thus failed, but when our troops had returned
to Aragon victorious, the marshal came in 1809 to attack
Saragossa afresh. The town was by this time in a much better
state of defence, for the fortifications were completed, and all the
warlike population of Aragon had thrown itself into the place.
The garrison had been further strengthened by a large part of
the army of Castafios, which we had beaten at Tudela, so that
Saragossa was defended by more than 80,000 men, while the
marshal had only 30,000 with which to besiege it. But our
officers were excellent, order and discipline reigned in the
ranks, while in the town all was inexperience and confusion.
The besieged only agreed on one point — to defend themselves
to the death. The peasants were the most determined ; they
had entered the town with their wives, their children, and even
their herds, and each party of them had a quarter of the town
or a house assigned to it for its dwelling-place, which they were
sworn to defend. The people lived mixed up with their beasts
in the most disgusting state of filth, the entrails of slaughtered
animals lay about in the courtyards and in the rooms, and the
besieged did not even take the trouble to remove the bodies of
men who had died in consequence of the epidemic which this
carelessness speedily developed. Religious fanaticism and the
sacred love of country exalted their courage, and they blindly
resigned themselves to the will of God. The Spaniards have pre-
served much of the Arab character; they are fatalists constantly
repeating, * Lo que ha de ser no puede faltar ' (* That which
is to be cannot fail '). Accordingly they took no precaution.

To attack such men by assault in a town where every house
was a fortress would have been to repeat the mistake committed
during the first siege, and to incur heavy losses without a
chance of success. Accordingly, Marshal Lannes and General
Lacoste, the commanding engineer, adopted a prudent method,
which, though tedious, was the best way to bring about the
surrender or destruction of the town. They began in the usual
way by opening trenches, until the first houses were reached,
then the houses were mined and blown up, defenders and all ;
then the next were mined, and so on. These works, however,
involved considerable danger for the French, for as soon as one
showed himself he was a mark to musket-shots from the
Spaniards in the neighbouring buildings. General Lacoste
fell in this way, at the moment when he was taking his

PXOGAESS OF THE SI RGB 285

place in front of a window to examine the interior of the
town. Such was the determination of the Spaniards that
while a house was being mined, and the dull sound of
the rammer warned them that death was at hand, not one
left the house which he had sworn to defend. We could
hear them singing litanies, then at the moment when the walls
flew into the air, and fell back with a crash, crushing the
greater part of them, those who had escaped would collect
about the ruins, and sheltering themselves behind the slightest
cover would recommence their sharpshooting. Our soldiers,
however, warned of the moment when the mine was going off,
held themselves in readiness, and no sooner had the explosion
taken place than they dashed on to the ruins, and, after killing
all whom they found, established themselves behind bits of
wall, threw up entrenchments with furniture and beams, and
in the middle of the ruins constructed passages for the sappers
who were going to mine the next house. In this way a good
third of the town was destroyed, and the passages established
among the ruins formed an inextricable labyrinth, through
which one could only find one's way by the help of stakes which
the engineer officers placed. Besides the mines, the French
used artillery freely, and threw 11,000 shells into the town.

In spite of all Saragossa still held out. In vain did the
marshal, touched by the heroism of the defence, send a flag
of truce to propose a capitulation. It was refused, and the
siege continued. The huge fortified convents could not be
destroyed, like the houses, by mining ; we, therefore, merely
blew up a piece of their thick walls, and when the breach was
made sent forward a column to the assault. The besieged
would flock to the defence, and in the terrible fighting which
resulted from these attacks we suffered our principal losses.

The best fortified convents were those of the Inquisition
and of Santa Engracia. A mine had just been completed
under the latter when the marshal, sending for me in the
middle of the night, told me that in order to hasten my
promotion to the rank of major he designed for me a most
important duty. ■ At daybreak,' said he, * the mine which is
to breach the wall of Santa Engracia will be fired. Eight
companies of grenadiers are to assault; I have given orders
that the captains should be chosen from those junior to you ;
I give you the command of the column. Carry the convent,
and I feel certain that one of the first messengers from Paris
will bring your commission as major.' I accepted with
gratitude, though suffering at the moment a good deal from

286 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

my wound. The flesh in cicatrising had formed a lump which
prevented me from wearing military head-gear, so Dr. Assalagny,
the surgeon-major of the chasseurs, had reduced it with lunar
caustic. This painful operation had been performed the day
before ; I had been feverish all night, and consequently was not
in very good condition for leading an assault. No matter ;
there was no room for hesitation, and I can admit, too, that I
was exceedingly proud of the command entrusted to me. Eight
companies of grenadiers to a mere captain was magnificent.

I hastened to get ready, and as day dawned I went to the
trenches. There I found General Rasout, who, after having
handed over the command of the grenadiers to me, observed
that, as the mine could not be fired for an hour, I should do
well to use this time in examining the wall which was to be
blown up, and in calculating the width of the resulting breach
so as to arrange my attack. I started, with an adjutant of
engineers to show me the way, through the ruins of a whole
quarter which had already been thrown down. Finally, I
reached the foot of the convent wall where the territory con-
quered by us came to an end. I found myself in a little court ;
a light infantry picket, which occupied a sort of cellar hard by,
had a sentry in this court, who was sheltered from musket*
shots by a heap of planks and doors. The engineer officer,
showing me a thick wall in front of us, said that was the one
which was to be blown up. In one of the corners of the court,
whence a pump had been torn away, some stones had fallen
out, and left a gap. The sentry showed me that by stooping
down one could see through this opening the legs of a stormy
force of the enemy posted in the convent garden. In order to
verify his statement and notice the lie of the ground on which
I was going to fight, I stooped down. At that moment a
Spaniard posted on the tower of Santa Engracia fired a shot at
me, and I fell on the stones.

I felt no pain at first, and thought that the adjutant standing
by me had inadvertently given me a push. Presently, however,
the blood flowed copiously ; I had got a bullet in the left side
very near the heart. The adjutant helped me to rise, and we
went into the cellar where the soldiers were. I was losing so
much blood that I was on the point of fainting. There were
no stretchers, so the soldiers passed a musket under my arms,
another under my knees, and thus carried me through the
thousand-and-one passages which had been made through the
debris of this quarter to the place where I had left General
Rasout. There I recovered my senses. The general wished to

A HARD HIT 187

have me attended to, but I preferred to be under Dr. Assalagny,
so, pressing my handkerchief on the wound, I had myself taken
to Marshal Lannes' head-quarters, a cannon-shot from the town.
When they saw me arrive, all covered with blood, carried
by soldiers, one of whom was supporting my head, the marshal
and my comrades thought I was dead. Dr. Assalagny assured
them to the contrary, and hastened to dress my wound.
The difficulty was where to put me, for, as all the furniture
of the establishment had been burnt during the siege, there
was not a bed in the place. We used to sleep on the bricks
wherewith the rooms were paved. The marshal and all my
comrades at once gave their cloaks : these were piled up, and
I was laid on them. The doctor examined my wound, and
found that I had been struck by a projectile which must have
been flat because it had passed between two ribs without
breaking them, which an ordinary bullet would not have done.
To find the object Assalagny put a probe into the wound,
but when he found nothing his face grew anxious. Finding
that I complained of severe pain in the loins, he turned me
on my face, and examined my back. Hardly had he touched
the spot where the ribs are connected with the spine than I
involuntarily gave a cry. The projectile was there. Assalagny
then took a knife, made a large incision, perceived the metallic
body showing between two ribs and tried to extract it with the
forceps. He did not, however, succeed, though his violent
efforts lifted me up, until he made one of my comrades sit on
my shoulders, and another on my legs. At length he suc-
ceeded in extracting a lead bullet of the largest calibre. The
Spaniards had hammered it flat till it had the shape of a
half-crown, a cross was scratched on each face, and small
notches all round gave it the appearance of the wheel of a
watch. It was these teeth which had caught in the muscles,
and rendered the extraction so difficult. Thus crushed out,
the ball presented too large a surface to enter a musket, and
must have been fired from a blunderbus. Striking edgewise,
it had acted like a cutting instrument, passed between two ribs,
and travelled round the interior of the chest to make its exit
in the same way as its entry, fortunately preserving sufficient
force to make its way through the muscles of the back. The
marshal, wishing to let the Emperor know with what fanatical
determination the inhabitants of Saragossa were defending
themselves, sent him the bullet extracted from my body.
Napoleon, after examining it, had it brought to my mother,
at the same time announcing to her that I was about to
be promoted to major.

288 MEMOIRS OP THE BARON DE MARBOT

Assalagny was one of the first surgeons of the day, and,
thanks to him, my wound, which might have been mortal, was
a case of rapid cure. The marshal had a folding bedstead
which he took on campaign. This he lent me, with mattress
and sheets ; my valise served me for pillow, my cloak for
blankets. Still, I was not well off, for my room had neither
door nor window, and wind and rain entered. The ground
floor of the house, too, was used for a hospital, the sounds
and odours of which reached my room ; more than two
hundred sutlers had set up their booths round the head-
quarters. The camp was close by ; so that there was eternal
singing, shouting, drumming, and the bass to this fiendish con-
cert was supplied by numerous cannon, booming night and day.
I got no sleep ; but at the end of a fortnight my vigorous con-
stitution got the upper hand, and I was able to leave my bed.

The climate being mild, I was also able to take short
walks, leaning on the arm of Dr. Assalagny or my friend, De
Viry ; but their duties did not allow of their staying with me
long, and I suffered much from ennui. One day my servant
came in to say that an old hussar, with tears streaming down
his face, was asking to see me. As you will guess, it was my
old tutor, Sergeant Pertelay. His regiment had just come to
Spain, and hearing that I had been wounded, he came straight
to me. I was glad to see the good man again, and gave him a
cordial greeting. After this he often came to visit me, and
divert me by his interminable yarns and the quaint advice
which he still thought himself entitled to give me. My con-
valescence did not last long, and by March 15 I was nearly
well, though weak.

Typhus, famine, fire, and sword had destroyed nearly a
third of the inhabitants and garrison of Saragossa, and still no
thought of surrender entered the minds of the survivors. The
principal forts had been taken, and the mines had destroyed a
very large portion of the town. The monks had persuaded the
poor folk that the French would massacre them, and none dared
come out. Good luck and Lannes' kindness at last put an end
to this memorable siege. On March 20 the French carried a
nunnery by assault. Besides the nuns, they found three hun-
dred women of all classes who had taken refuge in the church.
They were treated with respect, and brought to the marshal.
The poor creatures, having been surrounded for several days,
had received no food, and were famishing. Lannes led them
himself to the camp market, where, summoning the carabi-
neers, he ordered them to bring food for the women, making

THE CAPITULATION 289

himself responsible for payment. Nor did his generosity stop
there; he had them all taken back to Saragossa. On their
return the inhabitants, who had followed their movements
from roofs and towers, rushed forward to hear their adven-
tures. They all spoke well of the French marshal and soldiers,
and from that moment the excitement subsided and a surrender
was decided upon. That evening Saragossa capitulated.

Lannes' first condition was, that Prince Fuentes-Pignatelli
should be given up to him alive. The poor man arrived
escorted by a savage-looking gaoler with pistols in his sash,
who had the impudence to bring him to the marshal's room,
demanding a receipt from the hand of the French commander-
in-chief. The marshal had him turned out; but as the man
would not go without his receipt, Lab&loyere, never very
patient, lost his temper, and literally kicked him downstairs.
As for Prince Pignatelli, he was indeed a painful sight, owing
to his sufferings in prison. He was devoured by fever, and we
had not a bed to offer him ; for, as I have said, the marshal
was lodging in a house utterly unfurnished, the sole advantage
of which was that it lay near the point of attack. Junot mean-
while, being less conscientious, had established himself a
league away in a rich convent, where he lived very comfortably.
He offered hospitality to the prince, who, fatally for himself,
accepted it. Junot gave him such a 'blow-out* that his
stomach, undermined by prison diet, gave way under the
sudden change, and Prince Pignatelli died just as he was
restored to freedom and happiness. He left an income of
more than 900,000 francs to a collateral relation who had
hardly a farthing.

When a place capitulates it is usual for the officers to retain
their swords. This practice was followed at Saragossa, except
in the case of the governor, Palafox, touching whom the mar-
shal had received special instructions from the Emperor, on the
following grounds : —

Count Palafox, a devoted friend of Ferdinand, had followed
him to Bayonne. Thrown into consternation by the abdication
of that prince and his father, the Spanish grandees summoned
by Napoleon to a national assembly, finding themselves in
France and in Napoleon's power, for the most part recognised
Joseph as their king. Palafox, it appears, under the same
pressure, did the same ; but hardly had he returned to Spain
when he promptly protested against the moral violence which,
he asserted, had been used towards him, and hastened to put
himself at the head of the insurgents at Saragossa. The

*9

290 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

Emperor regarded this conduct as perfidious, and ordered
that, when the town was taken, Count Palafox should be
treated, not as a prisoner of war, but as a state prisoner,
and accordingly disarmed and sent to prison at Vincennes.
Marshal Lannes, therefore, found himself under the necessity
of sending an officer to arrest the governor and demand his
sword. He entrusted the duty to D'Albuquerque, who found it
all the more painful that he was not only a Spaniard, but a
relation and old friend of Palafox's. I have never been able to
divine the marshal's motive in selecting him for such a duty.
D'Albuquerque, however, had to obey, and entered Saragossa
more dead than alive. He- presented himself to Palafox, who
handed him his sword, saying, with a noble pride : * If your
ancestors, the famous D'Albuquerques, could return to life, there
is not one of them who would not sooner be in the place of the
prisoner who is surrendering this sword, covered with honour,
than in that of the renegade who is receiving it on behalf of
the enemies of his country.' Poor D'Albuquerque, terrified and
almost fainting, had to lean against a piece of furniture to
avoid falling. The scene was related to us by Captain Pasqual,
who, having been ordered to take charge of Palafox after his
arrest, was present at the interview. Count Palafox remained
in France till 1814.

How strange are human affairs ! Palafox, having been
proclaimed governor of Saragossa when the insurrection
broke out, has received both from fame and history the
credit of the heroic defence. He really contributed little to
it, for he fell ill early in the siege, and handed over the
command to General Saint- Marc, a Belgian in the Spanish
service, and it was he who sustained all our attacks with
such remarkable courage and ability. But as he was a
foreigner, Spanish pride assigned all the glory of the defence
to Palafox, whose name will go down to posterity, while that
of the brave and ardent General Saint-Marc is mentioned in
no history, and remains forgotten.1

The garrison, 40,000 in number, were forwarded to France
as prisoners of war, but two-thirds of them escaped and recom-
menced the slaughter of Frenchmen as members of guerilla
bands. They had carried away the germs of typhus, and died
later. The ruined streets of the city were a perfect charnel-
house, and the contagion spread to the French troops who
formed the new garrison.

1 [Napier's estimate of Palafox Js even lower.]

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

With the capture of Saragossa, Marshal Lannes' work was
done, and he started to rejoin the Emperor at Paris and
accompany him into Germany. We rode the distance from
Aragon to Bidassoa. The celebrated guerilla Mina attacked
our escort in the Pyrenees near Pampeluna, and a servant
of the marshal's who acted as outrider was killed. At
Saint-Jean de Luz the marshal found his carriage and offered
places in it to Saint-Mars, Le Couteulx, and myself. I sold
my horses, and De Viry took my servant back. One of the
marshal's valets having vainly tried to act as outrider, and
there being no postilions, we three offered to do three stages
apiece. I admit that this riding post cost me a good deal
hardly healed as I was of my two wounds, but I reckoned on
my youth and my strong constitution. I began my duties on
the darkest of nights and under a violent storm, and besides,
as I was not preceded by a postilion as the outrider who
carries despatches usually is, I got into bad places, and rode
my horse into holes ; the carriage was at my heels, I did not
know the position of the post-houses, which are hard to find
at night and in such weather. To finish my misfortunes, I
had to wait for some time for the ferry-boat across the Adour
at Peyrehorade. I took cold and was shivering, and in a
good deal of pain from my wound when I took my place in
the carriage. You may see from these details that an aide-de-
camp's life is not all rosewater. We stayed forty-eight hours
at Lectoure, where the marshal had a comfortable house in
the buildings of the old bishop's palace. Then we continued
our journey towards Paris. As the marshal travelled night
and day and could not bear the smell of cooked food, we
were obliged to fast pretty well for six stages, and then only
to eat as we galloped. I was, therefore, much surprised when
one evening the marshal begged me to stop at P&ignac or Le
Roulet, and to announce that he would halt an hour for rapper*
I was especially surprised when I saw that the house to which
I was directed was not an inn ; but when {h§ marshal's coming

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292 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

was announced, the inhabitants displayed the most lively joy,
laid the table, prepared a succulent repast, and flew out to meet
the carriage. The marshal, with tears in his eyes, kissed them
all round, including the smallest brats, and showed every sign
of the warmest friendship towards the postmaster. After
dinner he bade Saint-Mars take out of his pocket-book a superb
gold watch and a chain of the same metal clasped with a big
diamond, presented these to the postmaster and his wife, gave
300 or 400 francs to the maids, and departed after most tender
embraces.

I supposed that this family were the marshal's relations,
but when we were in the carriage he said to us, ' You are
doubtless astonished at the interest I take in these good people,
but the husband did me a great service, for he saved my life in
Syria.' Then the marshal related to us how, when he was a
general of division at Acre, he was leading an assault against
the tower when he received a bullet through his neck, and fell
senseless. His soldiers, deeming him dead, were retiring in
disorder before thousands of Turks, who cut off the heads of
such as they could catch and placed them on the points of the
palisades. A brave captain appealed to the men to bring away
the body of their general, carried him off, and, when exhausted,
dragged him by one leg to the back of the trenches. The soil
being sandy, the general's head received no injury, and his
senses being restored by the shaking he was tended by Larrey,
who quite brought him back to life. The captain having been
severely wounded left the army with a small pension, and
married a wife without much money. But the marshal became
a second Providence for the family. He purchased for them a
postmastership, some fields, some horses, and a house, and had
the eldest son educated at his own expense until the others
were old enough to leave their parents. So naturally these
good people were as grateful to the marshal, as he to his
rescuer. The ex-captain no doubt lost a good deal when
Marshal Lannes died. He never saw him again after that day.

We continued our journey, with the cold always increasing,
which made the way from Orleans to Paris wretched enough.
I arrived on April 2, terribly tired and in much pain. The joy
with which I met my mother again was mingled with bitter, for
she had just heard that my brother had been taken prisoner by
Spanish guerillas, and I was about to start on a new campaign.

The moment I got to Paris the marshal took me to the
minister of war to find out what he had done for me. My
commission as major lacked only the Emperor's signature,

AUSTRIA AGAIN 293

but Napoleon, being much occupied with the movements of the
Austrian army, did not ask the minister for the document,
which was all ready, and made no promotion. An evil fate
pursued me.

The capital was much excited. The English, seeing us
occupied in Spain, thought that the moment had come to raise
the whole North of Europe against Napoleon. The plan was
premature, for the Emperor still could dispose of vast influence
and a strong force in Germany. Prussia did not dare to stir ;
the Princes of the Germanic Confederation placed their armies
at the service of Napoleon ; even Russia sent a corps of 25,000
men. In spite of this, the Austrians in the pay of England
had just declared war, and their armies were advancing on our
ally, Bavaria. The Emperor was making ready to go to
Germany, whither Lannes was to follow him. All the carriages
had been reserved by the hundreds of generals and others, and
I was in a difficulty, for both the Emperor and the marshal were
to leave Paris on April 13, and I had orders to start a day before
them. I had therefore to make up my mind to ride post once
more. Luckily, a week's rest had reduced the irritation of the
wound in my side. That in my forehead was healed over,
and I was careful to wear a cocked hat instead of my heavy
busby. My servant, Woirland, went with me, but being a
very bad rider, he often fell off, only saying, as he got up
again, ' How tough you are ! Oh, yes ; you are tough ! '

In forty-eight hours I covered the hundred and twenty
leagues between Paris and Strasburg, in spite of rain and
snow. Woirland could do no more ; we had to change our
mode of travelling. Besides, I knew that in Germany nobody
posted on horseback, and we were still only half-way to
Augsburg, our rendezvous. At last I found a carriage, and
reached Augsburg, where I joined my comrades. The Em-
peror, the marshal, and nearly all the troops were already
in the field. I managed to buy a horse in the town. I exchanged
my carriage for another, and we set off in the saddle. In the
course of a few weeks we had sold our horses cheap, and spent
a great deal of money — all to go and meet the bullets which
were to take away many of our lives. You may call the feeling
which urged us love of glory, or perhaps madness ; it was an
imperious master, and we marched without looking back.

We reached head-quarters on April 20, during the action
at Abensberg. Marshal Lannes complimented us on- our
zeal, and sent us off at once into the thick of the firn to
bear his orders. The Austrians, under the Archduke Charles,

294 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MAR BO T

withdrew behind the Danube at Landshut, beyond the Iser,
as usual omitting to destroy the bridges. Napoleon attacked
Landshut with the infantry. They crossed the bridge twice
under a hail of bullets, but on reaching the other side were
stopped by a huge gate, which the enemy's rear-guard was
defending with a brisk fire from the walls of the town.
Twice our columns were repulsed with loss, but the Emperor,
who set very much by the capture of Landshut, that he
might cross the Iser before the archduke could organise his
resistance more thoroughly, ordered a third attack. The
troops told off for this were getting ready to march when
Napoleon, seeing his aide-de-camp, General Mouton, who
was coming to report the result of a mission which he had
given him that morning, said, ■ You come just in time ; put
yourself at the head of that column, and carry the town of
Landshut' So perilous a task set him without notice would
have astonished a man less brave than General Mouton. He
was in no way perturbed by it. Dismounting and drawing
his sword, he ordered the charge to be sounded. He was the
first to dash over the bridge at the head of the grenadiers.
Finding the gate of Landshut in his way, he had it broken
down with hatchets, put all who resisted to the sword, took
the town, and came calmly back to the Emperor with his
report of the mission which he had undertaken in the morn-
ing. Strangely enough, during their conversation not a word
was said about the capture of Landshut, and the Emperor
never spoke of it to General Mouton ; but after the campaign
he sent him a remarkable picture by Hersant, in which the
general is represented marching to the attack of the place at
the head of his column. This keepsake from Napoleon was
worth more than the highest eulogies.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

Crossing the Iser, the French army marched on Eckmuhl,
where the bulk of the Austrian army was massed. The
Emperor and Marshal Lannes passed the night at Landshut ;
a battle on the following day appeared imminent. The town
and neighbourhood were full of troops. In every direction staff
officers were carrying orders and returning. My comrades and
I were fully occupied, and as we only had very second-rate
horses, picked up anyhow, and they were pretty thoroughly
tired, we foresaw that it would be difficult for us to perform our
duties satisfactorily in the battle of the morrow.

When I came in about ten o'clock, on returning from an
errand three or four leagues from Landshut, Marshal Lannes
gave me an order to carry to General Gudin. His division
being a long way off, I was to remain with him till the marshal
arrived in the field. This was embarrassing, for the horse
which I had been riding was knocked up, the marshal had not
one to lend me, and there was no French cavalry at Landshut
which might be required to supply me with one. I could not
go to the Emperor's quarters to tell the marshal that I was
practically horseless, yet without a good steed how was I to
carry an order on which perhaps the safety of the army
depended ? I got out of the difficulty by what I admit was a
wicked act, but perhaps excusable in the circumstances. You
shall decide. I called my servant, Woirland, a practised
1 snapper-up of unconsidered trifles,' who had served his
apprenticeship in Humbert's Black Legion, and was never at
a loss. I imparted my difficulty to him, and bade him procure
me a horse at any price ; I simply must have one. ■ You shall
have it,' said he, and leaving the town he made for the camp
of the Wurtemberg cavalry. The men were all asleep, sentries
and all ; Woirland inspected the horses at his ease, saw one
that he liked, unfastened it, and, at the risk of getting knocked
on the head if anyone saw him, he brought it out of the camp,
turned everything off its back, came back to the town, put my
saddle on it, and informed me that it was all ready. Now the

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296 MEMOIRS OB THE BARON DB MARBOT

horses of the Wurtemberg cavalry are marked on the near
thigh with a pair of stag's horns, so I could easily recognise
whence the new mount, which my Figaro had brought me,
was procured. He did not deny it ; the horse, to put it plainly,
had been stolen. But see how a difficult situation stretches
the conscience ! To silence mine, I said to myself : ' If I do
not take this animal, which belongs to the King of Wurtemberg,
it is impossible for me to bear to General Gudin the orders
which he has got to execute at daybreak. This may involve
the loss of a battle, and cost the King of Wurtemberg his
crown. Therefore, in making use of a horse from his army I
am indirectly doing him a service. Besides, as the Emperor
gave him a kingdom, he may very well lend the Emperor a
horse, which I shall return when I have made use of it to their
joint advantage.' Whether this reasoning would satisfy a
casuist I know not, but matters were pressing ; I leapt into the
saddle and galloped off. Master Woirland knew his business,
it was an excellent horse. The only thing which disturbed me
was that the infernal pair of horns stamped on its thigh,
showing whence it came, exposed me to the chance of having
it claimed by some Wurtemberg officer. Finally, at daybreak,
I reached General Gudin, just as his troops were marching.
I went with him until the Emperor and Marshal Lannes over-
took us with the main body. The battle was fought, victory
was never for a moment in doubt. Marshal Davout dis-
tinguished himself, earning the title which was given him later
on of Prince of Eckmuhl.

My horse behaved splendidly, but his last day had come.
In the hottest of the action, Marshal Lannes sent one of his
least experienced aides-de-camp to General Saint- Sulpice with
orders to charge with his cuirassiers a brigade of the enemy's
cavalry. The aide-de-camp explained matters so badly that
the general was going off in quite a different direction, and
the marshal perceiving this told me to place myself at the head
of the division, and to guide it towards the enemy by the high
road which runs through the village of Eckmuhl. While
Lannes was explaining his wishes to me, studying a map
which he, I, and General Cervoni were holding each by one
side, a cannon-ball came across it, and threw General Cervoni
stone dead against the marshal's shoulder. He was covered
with the blood of his friend, who had come from Corsica only
the day before on purpose to make this campaign. Deeply
grieved as he was, he continued to give me his orders with
perfect clearness, and I hastened to General Saint- Sulpice,

AN A WKWARD POSITION 297

and rode beside him at the head of the cuirassiers towards
Eckmuhl.

The village was occupied by a regiment of Croats, who,
instead of firing upon us out of the windows where they were
out of reach of our sabres, bravely but stupidly left their ex-
cellent position, and came down into the street, intending to
form close column, and stop our squadrons with their bayonets.
The French cuirassiers gave them no time for this ; they
came up so quickly that the Croats, caught in disarray just
as they were coming out of the houses, were driven in
and sabred, and soon the street was piled with their bodies.
They did not, however, yield without a valiant defence.
One battalion especially made a vigorous resistance, and my
horse having received in the scuffle the point of a bayonet
in his heart went forward a few steps, and fell dead against
a corner stone in such wise that one of my legs was caught
under the poor animal's body, and my knee pressed against
the stone, so that I was quite unable to move. Woe to
the dismounted horseman in such cases ! No one stops to
pick him up, nor, indeed, could he if he would ; so the first
regiment of our cuirassiers, after cutting down all the Croats
who did not lay down their arms promptly, continued the
charge, and passed through the village followed by the whole
division at a gallop.

Horses, unless very tired, seldom set their feet on the
body of a man lying on the ground. Thus the whole division
of cuirassiers passed over me without doing the slightest
injury. Still, I could not free myself, and my situation be-
came more unpleasant when I foresaw that our cuirassiers
would be repulsed and driven back through the village by a
very strong force of the enemy's cavalry, which I had seen
before the charge on the further side of Eckmuhl. I was
afraid that the Austrian troopers would serve me out by way
of revenging the Croats. During the moment of quiet which
succeeded the uproar of the street fighting and the passage of
cavalry, I perceived at no great distance two grenadiers of
the enemy's who had laid aside their pieces, and were helping
their wounded comrades to rise. I beckoned them to come
to me and assist me in getting my leg free ; whether from
good nature or from fear that I might have them killed,
although at that moment I had no Frenchmen at my orders,
they obeyed. They knew that our cuirassiers were in front,
and probably regarded themselves as prisoners ; anyhow, these
kind of soldiers do not reflect much. They came up, and I

298 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

admit that when I saw one of them pull from his pocket
a knife to cut the leather of the stirrup which held my foot
under the horse, I was afraid that the fancy might seize him
of sticking it, as he might quite safely have done, into me.
But he was honest, and with the help of his comrade suc-
ceeded in setting me on my feet. I made them take my
saddle and bridle, and left Eckmiihl to rejoin our infantry,
which was still outside.

The two Croats followed me in the most docile manner,
and it was lucky for them they did, for hardly were we out
of the village when a fearful noise arose behind us. It was
caused by the return of our squadrons, who, as I expected,
were driven back by the enemy's superior force, and these in
their turn were sabring all who lagged behind.

Our cuirassiers, furious at their repulse, tried as they
galloped past me to run through the Croats who were carrying
my saddle. The men had helped me ; I objected, therefore, to
their being killed, and ordered them by signs to lie down in a
ditch, where the sabres could not reach them. I should have
put myself there if I had not observed at the head of the Austrian
force some Uhlans, who could easily have reached me with
their lances. Luckily for us, help came to Saint-Sulpice's
division before it had gone 300 or 400 paces, for, seeing it in
retreat, the Emperor sent forward two divisions of cavalry,
which were rapidly hastening to meet us. But short as was
the distance which I had to traverse to escape the Austrian
lances, it was a long way for a dismounted man. Two cuiras-
siers took me between them, and each giving me a hand carried
me along so well that with the help of long strides, I could keep
up for a couple of minutes with their galloping horses. This
was all that mattered, the supports came up promptly, the
enemy stayed their pursuit and were even driven back beyond
Eckmiihl, which our troops reoccupied. I was glad to be at
the end of my more than double-quick march, for I was out of
breath, and could not have kept it up. I had a good oppor-
tunity of observing how ill-suited for war are such big and
heavy boots as our cuirassiers then wore. A young officer of
the squadron which saved me had his horse killed, and two of
his men stretched out their hands to help him to run as I had
done, but, although he was tall and slight and far more active
than I, his stiff and heavy foot-gear prevented him from moving
his legs quickly enough to keep up with the horses. He was
compelled to let go of the helping hands, and the next time we
saw the ground which we had so rapidly crossed, we found the

MOUNTED ONCE MORE 299

lieutenant killed by the stroke of a lance. We could iee that
he had been trying to get rid of his large boots, one of which
was pulled half off. My little hussar boots, being light and
flexible, had been no hindrance to me.

Hoping to recover my saddle and bridle, I returned to the
ditch, where I had made the two Croats hide, and found them
quietly lying there. Several charges had taken place across
their lair without their receiving the least scratch. I rewarded
them, and marched them in front of me to the hillock, where
the Emperor and Marshal Lannes were, knowing well that my
chief would not wish to lose my services during the rest of the
battle, and would make one of the regiments which were near
him lend me a horse. He gave orders accordingly, but as at
the moment there were none but cuirassiers in the neighbour-
hood, they brought me an immense heavy animal, quite unfit
to carry an aide-de-camp rapidly from point to point. The
marshal having remarked this, a colonel of Wurtemberg Light
Horse, who happened to be behind the Emperor, eager to do a
polite thing, bade his orderly dismount ; and there I was again
on an excellent horse, marked with the stag's horns. The
colonel's kindness renewed in some measure my remorse for
the crime I had committed in the morning, but I silenced it by
repeating my somewhat Jesuitical arguments. The joke of the
thing was that, as I was bearing an order to the reserve, I fell
in with my servant, Woirland, who, coming up to give me
some provisions out of his always well-filled saddle-bags,
exclaimed, ' Why, that horse is the devil 1 He was grey this
morning, and now he's black ! '

The battle of Eckmiihl began and lasted all day on broken
ground, covered with small hills and copse-wood ; but, as one
advances towards the Danube, the country grows level and bare
until one enters the immense plain which extends to Ratisbon.
The Austrian cavalry is one of the best in Europe, but under
the plea that they must reserve it to cover their retreat in the
event of their being beaten, they employ it not at all, or very
little, during the fight. This leads to their defeat, and compels
a retreat which they might have avoided. Then, however, their
cavalry does cover their retrograde movement admirably. This
happened at Eckmiihl,1 for, as soon as the Archduke Charles
saw that the battle was lost, and that his infantry, driven out
of the hilly ground, were exposed to the French squadrons,
while making it difficult to retreat on the plain, he caused

*[And at Kbniggratz, in 1866,]

300 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

the whole of his cavalry to take the offensive. They came
bravely forward to check us, while the Austrian infantry,
artillery, and baggage were retiring upon Ratisbon. The
Emperor, on his side, advanced our hussars and chasseurs,
supported by the strong brigades of Saint- Sulpice and Nan-
souty, to whom the enemy opposed two brigades of the same
arm. The light cavalry on both sides drew off promptly
to the flank, to avoid being crushed by these formidable
steel-clad masses, who advanced rapidly upon each other, met
with a shock, penetrated each other, and became one immense
mel6e. A faint twilight, and the beams of a rising moon,
alone gave light for this terrible and majestic combat. The
shouts of the fighters were drowned by the sound of re-
peated blows of heavy sabres upon thousands of helmets and
cuirasses, from which the sparks flew in numbers. Austrians
and French both wished to remain masters of the field.
Courage, tenacity, and strength were well matched, but the
defensive arms were unequal, for the Austrian cuirasses only
covered them in front, and gave no protection to the back in a
crowd. In this way, the French troopers, who, having double
cuirasses and no fear of being wounded from behind, had
only to think of thrusting, were able to give point at the
enemy's backs, and slew a great many of them with small loss
to themselves. This unequal fight lasted some minutes ; finally
the Austrians, with immense loss in killed and wounded, were
compelled, for all their bravery, to abandon the ground. When
they had wheeled about, they understood still better what a
disadvantage it is not to have a cuirass behind as well as in
front. The fight became a butchery, as our cuirassiers
pursued the enemy, and for the space of half a league the
ground was piled with killed and wounded cuirassiers. Few
would have escaped, had not our men stayed to charge
some battalions of Hungarian grenadiers, which they broke
up and captured almost entirely. This fight settled a question
which had been long debated, as to the necessity of double
cuirasses, for the proportion of Austrians wounded and killed
amounted respectively to eight and thirteen for one Frenchman.
After this terrible charge, the enemy, unable to resist any
further, fled in the greatest disorder, briskly pursued along
the road — fugitives pell-mell with victors. Marshal Lannes
proposed to the Emperor that he should profit by the rout of
the Austrians to destroy their army completely, hurling it
back on the Danube, and entering Ratisbon with it. But
the other marshals pointed out that we were still three leagues

AFTER THE BATTLE 301

from that place, that our infantry was weary, and that it
would be dangerous to risk a night engagement against an
enemy which had shown such obstinate courage. The Em-
peror therefore ordered the pursuit to cease, and the army
bivouacked in the plain. The Austrians admitted a loss of
5,000 killed, and 15,000 prisoners, twelve colours, and sixteen
guns ; of ours they only captured a few men, and killed 1,500.
in such disorder did the enemy retreat that in the night one
of their cavalry regiments was straying about our camp,
unable to find any line of retreat open. Colonel GuSheneuc,
bearing an order, stumbled upon this force, and the commander,
after having seized M. Gueheneuc, said, ' You were my prisoner,
now I am yours,' and we saw Gu£h£neuc come up, much to
the Emperor's amusement, and the Austrian regiment which
had surrendered to him.

After such a success, captured horses were, as you may
suppose, plentiful in the camp. I bought three capital animals
for a few louis, and being thus completely mounted for the
rest of the campaign I gave up the two screws which I had
previously acquired, and returned to the Wurtembergers the
horse which they had lent me.

CHAPTER XL.

The archduke had made use of the darkness to reach Ratisbon,
where the bridge enabled him to transport his baggage and the
greater part of his army to the left bank of the Danube. Then
we were able to perceive the extent of the Emperor's foresight
in having at the outset of the campaign ordered Davout —
coming up from Hamburg and Hanover, with a view of joining
the Grand Army on the right bank of the Danube — to secure
possession of Ratisbon and his bridge by leaving a regiment
there. Davout had, accordingly, left the 65th of the line, com-
manded by a relative of his, Colonel Coutard, wishing to give
him an opportunity of distinguishing himself. But Coutard
could not hold the place, and, after some hours' fighting, sur-
rendered it to the Austrians, who, but for the means of retreai
afforded by the bridge, would have been compelled to lay down
their arms. Colonel Coutard having stipulated for the return
to France of himself and his officers alone, the Emperor decreed
that in future the officers of a corps which had been compelled
to capitulate should share the fate of their men, hoping thereby
to encourage commanders to resist more stubbornly.

The Emperor could not, however, march on to Vienna until
Ratisbon was retaken, otherwise, as soon as he had moved for-
ward, the archduke would have crossed the Danube by the
bridge, and, bringing his army back to the right bank, would
have attacked us in rear. We had then, at all costs, to take
possession of the place. Marshal Lannes was charged with this
difficult duty. The enemy had 6,000 men in Ratisbon, whom
they could reinforce to any extent by help of the bridge ; many
guns were in position on the ramparts, and the parapet was
garnished with infantry. The fortifications of Ratisbon were
old and bad, the ditches were dry and used as kitchen gardens.
Still, although the means of defence were not such as could
have resisted a regular siege, the town was in a position —
especially as the garrison could communicate with an army of
more than 80,000 men — to repel an assault. To get into the
place it was necessary to descend a deep ditch with the help of

(302)

THE EMPEROR'S WOUND 303

ladders, cross it under fire from the enemy, and scale the ram-
part, the angles of which were commanded by a flanking fire.

The Emperor, having dismounted, took up his position on
a hillock a short cannon-shot from the town. Having noticed
near the Straubing gate a house which had imprudently been
built against the rampart, he sent forward some twelve-pounders
and howitzers, and ordering them to concentrate their fire upon
this house, so that its ruins, falling into the ditch, might
partially fill it, and form at the foot of the wall an incline by
which our troops might mount to the assault. While the
artillery was executing this order, Lannes brought Morand's
division close up to the promenade which goes round the town ;
and, in order to shelter his troops from the enemy's fire, up to
the last moment he placed them in rear of a large stone store-
house, which appeared to have been placed there on purpose to
aid our undertaking. Carts laden with ladders taken from the
neighbouring villages were brought up to this point, where
perfect protection was obtained against the Austrian projectiles.
While waiting till everything was ready, Marshal Lannes had
gone back to the Emperor to receive his final orders. As they
were chatting, a bullet — fired, in all probability, from one of the
long-range Tyrolese rifles — struck Napoleon on the right ankle.
The pain was at first so sharp that the Emperor had to lean
upon Lannes, but Dr. Larrey, who quickly arrived, declared that
the wound was trifling. If it had been severe enough to require
an operation, the event would certainly have been considered a
great misfortune for France ; yet it might perhaps have spared
her many calamities. However, the report that the Emperor
had been wounded spread through the army. Officers and men
ran up from all sides ; in a moment Napoleon was surrounded
by thousands of men, in spite of the fire which the enemy's
guns concentrated on the vast group. The Emperor, wishing to
withdraw his troops from this useless danger, and to calm the
anxiety of the more distant corps, who were getting unsteady
in their desire to come and see what was the matter, mounted
his horse the instant his wound was dressed, and rode down
the front of the whole line, amid loud cheers.

It was at this extempore review held in presence of the
enemy that Napoleon first granted gratuities to private soldiers,
appointing them knights of the Empire and members, at the
same time, of the Legion of Honour. The regimental com-
manders recommended, but the Emperor also allowed soldiers
who thought they had claims to come and represent them
before him ; then he decided upon them by himself. Now

304 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

it befell that an old grenadier who had made the campaigns
of Italy and Egypt, not hearing his name called, came up,
and, in a calm tone of voice, asked for the Cross. ■ But,'
said Napoleon, ■ what have you done to deserve it ? ' * It was
I, sir, who, in the desert of Joppa, when it was so terribly
hot, gave you a water-melon.' « I thank you for it again;
but the gift of the fruit is hardly worth the Cross of the Legion
of Honour.' Then the grenadier, who up till then had been
as cool as ice, working himself up into a frenzy, shouted, with
the utmost volubility, ' Well, and don't you reckon seven
wounds received at the bridge of Areola, at Lodi and Cas-
tiglione, at the Pyramids, at Acre, Austerlitz, Friedland ;
eleven campaigns in Italy, Egypt, Austria, Prussia, Poland
' but the Emperor cut him short, laughing, and mimick-
ing his excited manner, cried : * There, there — how you work
yourself up when you come to the essential point ! That is
where you ought to have begun ; it is worth much more than
your melon. I make you a knight of the Empire, with a
pension of 1,200 francs. Does that satisfy you ? ' ' But,
your Majesty, I prefer the Cross.' * You have both one and
the other, since I make you knight.' ' Well, I would rather
have the Cross.' The worthy grenadier could not be moved
from that point, and it took all manner of trouble to make
him understand that the title of knight of the Empire carried
with it the Legion of Honour. He was not appeased on this
point until the Emperor had fastened the decoration on his
breast, and he seemed to think a great deal more of this than
of his annuity of 1,200 francs. It was by familiarities of this
kind that the Emperor made the soldiers adore him, but it
was a means that was only available to a commander whom
frequent victories had made illustrious ; any other general
would have injured his reputation by it.

As soon as Lannes gave notice that all was ready for the
assault, we returned towards Ratisbon, the Emperor mean-
while going back to his hillock to witness the operations.
The various army corps round him awaited events in silence.
Our artillery had completely destroyed the house by the
rampart, and its fragments falling into the ditch had made
a slope practicable enough, but not reaching higher than to
ten or twelve feet from the top of the wall ; to reach this there-
fore, ladders had to be placed on the rubbish no less than to
descend into the ditch. On reaching the building, behind
which Morand's division were taking shelter from the fire,
Lannes called for fifty volunteers to go forward and plant

GRENADIER FIRST, MARSHAL AFTERWARDS 305

the ladders. Many more than that number came forward,
and the number had to be reduced. The brave fellows, led
by picked officers, set out with admirable spirit ; but they were
hardly clear of the building when they met the hail of bullets,
and were nearly all laid low. A few only continued to descend
into the ditch, where the guns soon disabled them, and the
remains of this first column fell back, streaming with blood,
to the place where the division was sheltered. Nevertheless,
at the call of Lannes and Morand, fifty more volunteers
appeared, and, seizing the ladders, made for the ditch. No
sooner, however, did they show themselves than a still hotter
fire nearly annihilated them. Cooled by these two repulses,
the troops made no response to the marshal's third call for
volunteers. If he had ordered one or more companies to
march, they would, no doubt, have obeyed ; but he knew
well what a difference there is in point of effect between
obedience on the soldiers' part and dash; and for the present
danger volunteers were much better than troops obeying
orders. Vainly, however, did the marshal renew his appeal
to the bravest of a brave division ; vainly did he call upon
them to observe that the eyes of the Emperor and all the
Grand Army were on them. A gloomy silence was the only
reply, the men being convinced that to pass beyond the
walls of the building into the enemy's fire was certain death.
At length Lannes, exclaiming, ' Well, I will let you see that
I was a grenadier before I was a marshal, and still am one,'
seized a ladder, lifted it, and would have carried it towards
the breach. His aides-de-camp tried to stop him ; he resisted,
and got angry with us. I ventured to say, ■ Monsieur le
Mardchal, you would not wish us to be disgraced, and that
we should be if you were to receive the slightest wound in
carrying that ladder to the ramparts as long as one of your
aides-de-camp was left alive.' Then, in spite of his efforts,
I dragged the end of the ladder from him, and put it on my
shoulder, while De Viry took the other end, and our comrades
by pairs took up other ladders.

At the sight of a marshal disputing with his aides-de-camp
for the lead of the assault, a shout of enthusiasm went up
from the whole division. Officers and soldiers wished to lead
the column, and in their eagerness for this honour they
pushed my comrades and me about, trying to get hold of
the ladders. If, however, we had given them up, we should
seem to have been playing a comedy to stimulate the troops.
The wine had been drawn, and we had to drink it, bitter as

20

306 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

it might be. Understanding this, the marshal let us have
our way, though fully expecting to see the greater part of his
staff exterminated as they marched at the head of this perilous
attack.

I have said already that my comrades, although as brave
as possible, lacked experience, and more especially what is
called military tact. -I made, therefore, no demur about taking
the command of the little column. The matter was important
enough to warrant it, and no one contested my right. Behind
the building I organised the detachment which was to follow us.
The destruction of the two former columns I ascribed to the
imprudence with which their leaders had massed together the
soldiers composing them. This arrangement was unsuitable
in two ways. First, it gave the enemy the advantage of firing
upon a mass instead of upon isolated men, and secondly, our
grenadiers, who were laden with ladders, having formed a
single group and getting in each other's way, had not been able
to move fast enough to get quickly clear of the Austrian fire.
I settled, therefore, that De Viry and I, carrying the first ladder,
should start off at a run ; that the second ladder should follow
at twenty paces distant, and the rest in due course ; that when
we reached the promenade the ladders should be placed five
feet apart to avoid confusion ; that when we descended into
the ditch we should leave every second ladder against the wall
towards the promenade so that the troops might follow without
delay ; that the others should be lifted and carried quickly to
the breach, where we should place them only a foot apart,
both on account of the want of space and in order that we
might reach the top of the rampart close together and push
back the besieged when they tried to throw us down. This
plan having been expounded and comprehended, the marshal,
who approved it, cried, ' Off with you, my boys, and Ratisbon
is taken.' At the word, De Viry and I darted out, crossed
the promenade at a run, and, lowering our ladder, descended
into the ditch. Our comrades followed with fifty grenadiers
In vain did the cannon thunder, the musketry rattle, grape-
shot and bullets strike trees and walls. It is very difficult to
take aim at isolated individuals moving very fast and twenty
paces apart, and we got into the ditch without one man of our
little column being wounded. The ladders already indicated
were lifted, we carried them to the top of the rubbish from
the ruined house, and placing them against the parapet, we
ran up them to the rampart. I was first up one of the
first ladders, Labedoyere, who was climbing the one beside

HOW WE TOOK RATI SBON 307

me, feeling that the lower end of it was not very steadily
placed on the rubbish, asked me to give him my hand to
steady him, and so we both reached the top of the rampart
in full view of the Emperor and the whole army, who saluted
us with a mighty cheer. It was one of the finest days of my
life. De Viry and D'Albuquerque joined us in a moment with
the other aides-de-camp and fifty grenadiers, and by this time
a regiment of Morand's division was coming towards the ditch
at the double.

The chances of war are often strange. The two first
detachments had been annihilated before reaching the foot of
the breach, and yet the third suffered no loss whatever.
Only my friend De Viry had a button of his pelisse carried
away by a bullet ; yet if the enemy on the parapet had had
the presence of mind to charge with the bayonet on Lab£-
doyere and me, it is probable that we should have been
overwhelmed by their number, and either killed or hurled
back into the ditch. But Austrians lose their heads very
quickly; the boldness and rapidity of our attack astonished
them to such a point that when they saw us swarming over
the breach they first slackened their fire and soon ceased
firing altogether. Not only did none of their companies
march against us, but all went off in the opposite direction to
the point which we had just carried.

As I said, the attack took place close to the Straubing
gate. Marshal Lannes had ordered me to get it opened or
break it down, so that he could enter the town with Morand's
division. Accordingly, as soon as I saw my fifty grenadiers
on the ramparts, and the head of the supporting regiment
already arrived in the ditch, where their passage was secured
by a further supply of ladders, I went down into the town
without further delay, every moment being precious. We
marched steadily towards the Straubing gate, only a hundred
paces from the breach, and great was my surprise to find an
Austrian battalion massed under the immense archway, all
the men facing towards the gate, so as to be ready to defend
it if the French broke it in. The major in command, thinking
only of the duty which was entrusted to him, and taking no
heed of the noise which he heard on the ramparts close by,
was so confident that the French attack would fail that he had
not even placed a sentry outside the archway to let him know
what was going on, so he was thunderstruck at seeing us
come up in his rear.

He had taken up his position behind his men. so that

308 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

having faced about on seeing us approach, he found himself
fronting the little French column, the strength of which he
was quite unable to judge, for I had formed it in two squads,
which rested on the sides of the arch and closed it com-
pletely. At their major's cry of surprise, the battalion all
faced round, and the rear sections, which had become the
front, presented their muskets at us. Our grenadiers also
raised theirs, and as only one pace separated the two parties,
you may imagine what a horrible massacre would have re-
sulted if a shot had been fired. The situation was very
dangerous for both sides, but their greater number gave the
Austrians an immense advantage, for if we had opened fire
muzzle to muzzle, our little column would have been de-
stroyed, as well as the enemy's company which was in front
of our muskets. But the rest of the battalion would have
been cleared. It was lucky that our adversaries could not
tell the weakness of our force, and I hastened to tell the
major that as the town had been taken by assault and occu-
pied by our troops, nothing remained for him but to lay down
his arms under pain of being put to the sword.

The assured tone in which I spoke intimidated the officer ;
all the more so that he could hear the tumult produced by
the successive arrival of our soldiers who had followed us
over the breach, and hastened to form in front of the arch-
way. He harangued his battalion, and, after having ex-
plained the situation to them, ordered them to lay down
their arms. The companies who were close to our muzzles
obeyed, but those who were at the other end of the archway,
close to the gate and sheltered from our shot, fell to shout-
ing, refused to surrender, and pushed forward the mass of
the battalion till we were nearly upset. The officers, how-
ever, succeeded in quieting them, and everything seemed in
a fair way to be settled, when the impetuous Labe'doyere,
impatient at the delay, lost his temper, and was on the point
of ruining the whole thing ; for, seizing the Austrian major
by the throat, he was just about to run him through if the
rest had not turned his sword aside. The other side then
resumed their arms, and a bloody battle was about to take
place, when the gate began to resound on the outside under
the powerful blows which the axes of the pioneers of Morand's
division, led by Marshal Lannes in person, were delivering
upon it. Then the enemy, understanding that they would be
between two fires, surrendered, and we made them march
disarmed from under the archway towards the town. The

THE POWDER-WAGONS 309

gate thus cleared, we opened it to the marshal, whose troops
rushed into the place like a torrent.

After complimenting us, the marshal gave the order to
march towards the bridge, in order to cut off such of the
enemy's regiments as were in Ratisbon, and prevent the
archduke from sending reinforcements. Hardly, however,
had we entered the main street when we were threatened by
a new danger. Our shells had set several houses on fire, and
the fire was on the point of reaching some thirty wagons,
which the enemy had abandoned after taking out the horses.
If these had caught fire, the passage of our troops would
certainly have been hindered, but we hoped to avoid the
obstacle by slipping along close to the walls. Suddenly, how-
ever, the Austrian major whom I had presented to the marshal
cried out in a tone of most profound despair, ' Conquerors and
conquered, we are all lost; those wagons are full of powder! '
We all turned pale, including the marshal, but, quickly reco
vering his calm in presence of imminent death, he made the
French column take open order, and pile their muskets against
the houses, and ordered the soldiers to push the wagons along
from hand to hand until they were under the arch and out of
the town. He himself set the example, and generals, officers
and men all went to work. The Austrian prisoners worked
with the French, for it was a question of life and death with
them also. Many pieces of burning wood were already falling
on the wagons, and if one of them had taken fire, we should
have all been blown up, and the town entirely destroyed. But
they worked with such energy that in a few minutes all the
powder-wagons were pushed outside the town, whence the
prisoners were made to draw them to our main park of artillery.

The tumbrils being safely out of the way, and the danger
over, the marshal, with the infantry brigade, advanced to the
centre of the town. Having reached this point, and wishing
to make the quarters which he had already captured secure
against any renewed attack, he followed the Spanish practice,
and occupied all the windows in the principal streets. After
this prudent arrangement, the marshal ordered that the column
should continue its route towards the bridge, and ordered me
to march at the head and guide it. I obeyed, though it seemed
a difficult task, for I had never been in Ratisbon before, and,
naturally, did not know the streets.

As the town belonged to our ally, the King of Bavaria, it
might have been expected that the inhabitants would be
sufficiently devoted to our cause to point out the way to the

3IO MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

bridge ; but they were too frightened to come out, and we did
not see one. All the doors and windows were shut and we
were in too great a hurry to drive them in, for at every cross-
road appeared groups of Austrians who retreated firing. The
only retreat open to the enemy was across the bridge, and I
thought that I might get there by following them, but there
was so little concerted action among the Austrians that most of
the squads of sharpshooters who were posted in front of us took
flight at our approach in different directions. As I was thus
lost in the labyrinth of unknown streets, with no idea of the
direction that the column should take, suddenly a door opened,
and a young woman, pale and with wild eyes, came flying
towards us, crying, * I am French, save me ! ' It was a
Parisian milliner in business at Ratisbon, who fearing that, as
a Frenchwoman, she might be ill-treated by the Austrians, had,
as soon as she heard the sound of French voices, came to throw
herself headlong into the arms of her compatriots. At sight of
her a bright idea flashed into my mind. ■ Do you know where
the bridge is ? ' said I. ■ Certainly.' ' Show us the way, then.'
'Great Heavens! In the middle of this shooting? I am frightened
to death already, and was going to ask you to let me have some
soldiers to defend my house. I am going back this moment'
1 Very sorry, but you will show us the bridge before you go back.
Two men take the lady's arms, and march her along at the
head of the column.' This was done in spite of the tears and
cries of our fair compatriot. At every turning I asked her
which direction we must take. The nearer we got to the
Danube, the more skirmishers we met ; the bullets whistled
round the frightened milliner's ears, but, not being familiar
with the sound, she was much less alarmed at the faint whistle
than at the reports of the muskets. But suddenly one of the
grenadiers who was supporting her got a bullet through his
arm ; the blood spurted on to her, her knees gave way, and we
had to carry her. What had befallen her neighbour made me
more cautious for her, so I put her in rear of the first section,
so as to be in some measure sheltered from bullets by the
men. At last we reached a little square facing the bridge.
The enemy, who held the further end of it, as well as the
suburb on the right bank named Stadt-am-Hof, no sooner
caught sight of the column than they opened artillery fire. I
thought it was useless to expose the lady from Paris any
longer, and let her go free. But as the poor woman, who was
more dead than alive, knew not where to take shelter, I advised
her to enter a little chapel of Our Lady at the further end of

THE EMPEROR 'S SA TISF ACTION 3 1 1

the square. She agreed, the grenadiers lifted her over the little
grating which closed the entry, and she hastened to get out of
reach of shot, crouching down behind the statue of the Virgin,
where, I can assure you, she made herself pretty small.

On hearing that we had reached the bank of the river, the
marshal came to the head of the column and recognised for
himself the impossibility of crossing the bridge, the suburb on
the left bank being on fire. While the assault was taking place,
six Austrian battalions, posted on the ramparts at some distance
from the point of attack, had remained tranquilly looking out to
see if anyone was coming from the country. They were roused
from their stolid inaction by the sound of firing in the direction
of the bridge. Hastening thither, they found their retreat cut
off both by us and by the burning suburb, and had to surrender.

The same day the Emperor entered Ratisbon, and ordered
the troops who had not fought to assist the inhabitants in
getting the fire under ; still a great many houses were burnt.
After having visited and rewarded the wounded, the glorious
remains of the two first columns who had failed in their
attempt, Napoleon wished also to see the third column, which
had carried Ratisbon under his eyes. He testified his satisfac-
tion, and decorated several. On the marshal reminding him of
my old and new claims to the rank of major, Napoleon replied,
' You may consider the thing done.' Then turning to Berthier,
1 Make me sign his commission the first time you bring up any
papers.' I could only congratulate myself, I could not reason-
ably expect the Emperor to suspend his important work that I
might have my commission a few days earlier. Indeed, I was
almost beside myself at the marks of satisfaction which the
Emperor and the marshal had shown towards me, and at the
praises which my comrades and I received on all hands.

As you may suppose, before leaving the neighbourhood of
the bridge, I had the Paris lady fetched from the chapel and
taken to her house by an officer. The marshal, seeing the
soldiers helping her to recross the grating, asked me how she
got there. I told him the story, which he passed on to the
Emperor, who laughed a good deal, and said that he should
like to see the lady.

Among the many spectators of our attack — which, as I
have said, was delivered in full view of the Grand Army — were
Marshal Mass6na and his staff. One of them, M. Pelet,1 now

1 [General Pelet, to whom we owe several works on Napoleon's cam-
paigns, was appointed Director-General of Military Stores in 1830, and
lived till 1858. The passage quoted is ' Me*moires sur la Guerre de 1809,'
vol. ii. VV- io7> 80

312 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

Director-General of Military Stores, has written in his excellent
work on the campaign of 1809 : ' Marshal Lannes seized a
ladder, and was starting to fix it himself; his aides-de-camp
struggled to stop him. At the sight of this generous contest,
the mass of our soldiers fell on the ladders, caught them up,
and crossed the intervening span, preceded by the aides-de-
camp. In the twinkling of an eye the ladders were fixed, the
ditch crossed. On the top the first seen to appear, holding
each other's hand, were Labe*doyere and Marbot ; the grena-
diers followed.' This account of an eye-witness is quite
correct ; he rightly gives equal credit to my comrade and
myself. But the biographer of poor Labedoyere * has not
been so fair. After copying General Pelet's account, he has
though fit to suppress my name and give Labedoyere the
sole credit of having been the leader of the assault at
Ratisbon. However, I saw no occasion to put him right;
and, after all, General Pelet's work establishes the fact, to
which 150,000 men could testify.

Ratisbon was taken April 23. The Emperor passed the
next two days in the town, ordering all repairs to be done
at his cost. As Napoleon, accompanied by Lannes, was going
about the streets, I saw the milliner whom I had compelled
to act as our guide to the bridge, and pointed her out to the
marshal. He showed her to the Emperor, who spoke to
her, with many jocose compliments on her courage ; and
subsequently sent her a handsome ring in memory of the
assault. The crowd of soldiers and civilians who were about
the Emperor, having made inquiries about the action of this
little scene, the facts were somewhat distorted. The lady
was represented as a heroine, who of her own accord had
faced death to ensure the safety of her compatriots. In
this form the tale was told, not only in the army, but through-
out Germany. Even General Pelet was misled by the popular
report. If the Parisian lady was for a time under fire from
the enemy, love of glory had very little to do with it.

During our short stay at Ratisbon, the marshal appointed
on his staff Lieutenant De la Bourdonnaye, an intelligent
and brave young officer, who had been recommended to him
by his father-in-law, M. De Gu^heneuc. La Bourdonnaye
was distressed at missing the assault, but he had plenty

1 [I cannot verify this reference, but the biographer of Labedoyere, in
the Supplement (1841) to the ' Biographie Universelle,' certainly does not
mention Marbot. It must, however, be remembered that Labedoyere was
afterwards a more conspicuous personage.]

EBERSBRRG 313

more opportunities of showing his courage. A comical ad-
venture befell him in this connection. The dandies in the
army had taken to trousers of inordinate width, which looked
very well on horseback, but were a great hindrance to walk-
ing. During the action at Wels, La Bourdonnaye had been
ordered by the marshal to dismount, and run across the
bridge with an order for the troops. His spurs caught in
his trousers, he fell, and we thought he was killed. But
he picked himself up nimbly, and as he started off again,
he heard the marshal call out, ' Is it not absurd to go to
fight with six yards of cloth about your legs ? ' La Bour-
donnaye, wishing, in his first battle under Cannes' eyes, to
show his zeal, drew his sword, hacked and tore his trousers
off at mid-thigh, and being thus released, set off running
bare-kneed. Although we were under fire, the marshal and
the staff laughed at the new-fashioned costume till they cried ;
and when La Bourdonnaye came back, he was complimented
on his ready ingenuity.

Leaving a strong garrison in Ratisbon, the Emperor
marched on Vienna by the right bank of the Danube, while
the enemy followed the left bank in the same direction. I
need not relate all the engagements which we had with
Austrian forces trying to bar our road. I will only mention
that Massena, whose division had hitherto been held by cir-
cumstances aloof from all the fighting, was imprudent enough
on May 3 to attack the bridge of Ebersberg over the Traun,
which was defended by 40,000 men with a fortress in their
rear. The attack was utterly useless, since before it began
Lannes' division had crossed the Traun five leagues higher up,
and was marching to take the Austrians in rear. They would
certainly have retired at our approach without Massena's
losing a single man. His attack, made in order to pass a
river already passed, succeeded, but with a loss of more than
1,000 killed and 2,000 wounded. The Emperor blamed1 this
waste of human life, and, doubtless to give Massena a lesson,
he sent from Wels a brigade of light cavalry under the com-
mand of General Durosnel, who descended the left bank of
the Traun, and reached Ebersberg without firing a shot, at
the same time as Mass6na's troops entered after considerable
loss. Napoleon went from Wels to Ebersberg by the right
bank, which showed that the road was perfectly clear. On

1 [General Pelet says that, if Napoleon did blame Massena, he never
heard of it.]

314 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

reaching the field of battle, he was deeply grieved at the
sight of so many men uselessly killed, and would see no one
for the whole evening. If any other than Massena had
ventured without orders to deliver an attack so imprudently,
he would probably have been sent to the rear, but Masse'na
was the spoilt child of victory, and the Emperor limited himself
to some severe remarks. The army was less indulgent, and
criticised Massena's conduct loudly. In excuse he said that as
the Austrians who were defending the place under General
Hiller had the bridge across the Danube at Mauthhausen, there
was reason to fear that if they were not promptly attacked
without awaiting the returning force from Wels, General Hiller
might cross the Danube and join the archduke on the other
side. But this would have involved no inconvenience for us :
it would have been to our advantage, for we should have found
the right bank of the river entirely undefended. Furthermore,
the object that Masse'na had in view was not attained, for
General Hiller actually did cross the Danube at Stein, and
made all haste to reach Vienna.

After crossing the Traun, burning the bridge at Mauth-
hausen, and passing the Enns, the army advanced to Molk,
without knowing what had become of General Hiller. Some
spies assured us that the archduke had crossed the Danube and
joined him, and that we should on the morrow meet the whole
Austrian army, strongly posted in front of Saint-Polten. In
that case, we must make ready to fight a great battle ; but if
it were otherwise, we had to march quickly on Vienna in order
to get there before the enemy could reach it by the other bank.
For want of positive information the Emperor was very
undecided. The question to be solved was, Had General
Hiller crossed the Danube, or was he still in front of us,
masked by a swarm of light cavalry, which, always flying, never
let us get near enough to take a prisoner from whom one might
get some enlightenment ?

CHAPTER XL1.

Still knowing nothing for certain, we reached, on May 7, the
pretty little town of Molk, standing on the bank of the Danube,
and overhung by an immense rock, on the summit of which
rises a Benedictine convent, said to be the finest and richest in
Christendom. From the rooms of the monastery, a wide
view is obtained over both banks of the Danube. There the
Emperor and many marshals, including Lannes, took up their
quarters, while our staff lodged with the parish priest. Much
rain had fallen during the week, and it had not ceased for
twenty-four hours, and still was falling, so that the Danube
and its tributaries were over their banks. That night, as my
comrades and I, delighted at being sheltered from the bad
weather, were having a merry supper with the parson, a jolly
fellow, who gave us an excellent meal, the aide-de-camp on
duty with the marshal came to tell me that I was wanted, and
must go up to the convent that moment. I was so comfortable
where I was that I found it annoying to have to leave a good
supper and good quarters to go and get wet again, but I had to
obey.

All the passages and lower rooms of the monastery were
full of soldiers, forgetting the fatigues of the previous days
in the monks' good wine. On reaching the dwelling-rooms,
I saw that I had been sent for about some serious matter,
for generals, chamberlains, orderly officers, said to me re-
peatedly, ' The Emperor has sent for you.' Some added,
1 It is probably to give you your commission as major.'
This I did not believe, for I did not think I was yet of
sufficient importance to the sovereign for him to send for me
at such an hour to give me my commission with his own
hands. I was shown into a vast and handsome gallery, with
a balcony looking over the Danube; there I found the Emperor
at dinner with several marshals and the abbot of the convent,
who has the title of bishop. On seeing me, the Emperor left
the table, and went towards the balcony, followed by Lannes.
I heard him say in a low tone, ' The execution of this plan is

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316 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DB MARBOT

almost impossible ; it would be sending a brave officer for no
purpose to almost certain death.' * He will go, sir,' replied the
marshal ; ' I am certain he will go, at any rate we can but
propose it to him.' Then, taking me by the hand, the marshal
opened the window of the balcony over the Danube. The river
at this moment, trebled in volume by the strong flood, was
nearly a league wide ; it was lashed by a fierce wind, and we
could hear the waves roaring. It was pitch-dark, and the rain
fell in torrents, but we could see on the other side a long line
of bivouac fires. Napoleon, Marshal Lannes, and I, being
alone on the balcony, the marshal said, ' On the other side of
the river, you see an Austrian camp. Now, the Emperor is
keenly desirous to know whether General Hiller's corps is there,
or still on this bank. In order to make sure, he wants a stout-
hearted man, bold enough to cross the Danube, and bring away
some soldier of the enemy's, and I have assured him that you
will go.' Then Napoleon said to me, ' Take notice that I am
not giving you an order ; I am only expressing a wish. I am
aware that the enterprise is as dangerous as it can be, and you
can decline it without any fear of displeasing me. Go, and
think it over for a few moments in the next room ; come back
and tell us frankly your decision.'

I admit that when I heard Marshal Lannes' proposal I had
broken out all over in a cold sweat ; but at the same moment,
a feeling, which I cannot define, but in which a love of glory
and of my country was mingled, perhaps, with a noble pride,
raised my ardour to the highest point, and I said to myself,
1 The Emperor has here an army of 150,000 devoted warriors,
besides 25,000 men of his guard, all selected from the bravest.
He is surrounded with aides-de-camp and orderly officers, and
yet when an expedition is on foot, requiring intelligence no less
than boldness, it is I whom the Emperor and Marshal Lannes
choose.' ' I will go, sir ! ' I cried without hesitation. ' I will
go ; and if I perish, I leave my mother to your Majesty's care.'
The Emperor pulled my ear to mark his satisfaction ; the
marshal shook my hand, exclaiming, ' I was quite right to tell
your Majesty that he would go. There's what you may call a
brave soldier.'

My expedition being thus decided on, I had to think about
the means of executing it. The Emperor called General
Bertrand, his aide-de-camp, General Dorsenne, of the guard,
and the commandant of the imperial head-quarters, and ordered
them to put at my disposal whatever I might require. At my
request an infantry picket went into the town to find the burgo-

PREPARING FOR WORK 317

master, the syndic of the boatmen, and five of his best hands.
A corporal and five grenadiers of the old guard who could all
speak German, and had still to earn their decorations, were
also summoned, and voluntarily agreed to go with me. The
Emperor had them brought in first, and promised that on their
return they should receive the Cross at once. The brave men
replied by a ' Vive l'Empereur ! ' and went to get ready. As
for the five boatmen, on its being explained to them through
the interpreter that they had to take a boat across the Danube,
they fell on their knees and began to weep. The syndic
declared that they might just as well be shot at once, as
sent to certain death. The expedition was absolutely im-
possible, not only from the strength of the current, but
because the tributaries had brought into the Danube a great
quantity of fir trees recently cut down in the mountains,
which could not be avoided in the dark, and would certainly
come against the boat and sink it. Besides, how could one
land on the opposite bank among willows which would
scuttle the boat, and with a flood of unknown extent ? The
syndic concluded, then, that the operation was physically
impossible. In vain did the Emperor tempt them with an
offer of 6,000 francs per man ; even this could not persuade
them, though, as they said, they were poor boatmen with
families, and this sum would be a fortune to them. But, as
I have already said, some lives must be sacrificed to save
those of the greater number, and the knowledge of this makes
commanders sometimes pitiless. The Emperor was inflexible,
and the grenadiers received orders to take the poor men,
whether they would or not, and we went down to the
town.

The corporal who had been assigned to me was an intelli-
gent man. Taking him for my interpreter, I charged him as
we went along to tell the syndic of the boatmen that as he
had got to come along with us, he had better in his own
interest show us his best boat, and point out everything that
we should require for her fitting. The poor man obeyed ; so
we got an excellent vessel, and we took all that we wanted from
the others. We had two anchors, but as I did not think we
should be able to make use of them, I had sewn to the end of
each cable a piece of canvas with a large stone wrapped in it.
I had seen in the south of France the fishermen use an appa-
ratus of this kind to hold their boats by throwing the cord
over the willows at the water's edge. I put on a cap, the
grenadiers took their forage caps, we had provisions, ropes,

318 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

axes, saws, a ladder, — everything, in short, which I could
think of to take.

Our preparations ended, I was going to give the signal
to start, when the five boatmen implored me with tears to let
the soldiers escort them to their houses, to take, perhaps, the
last farewell of their wives and children ; but, fearing that a
tender scene of this kind would further reduce their small
stock of courage, I refused. Then the syndic said, ■ Well, as
we have only a short time to live, allow us five minutes to
commend our souls to God, and do you do the same, for you
also are going to your death.' They all fell on their knees,
the grenadiers and I following their example, which seemed
to please the worthy people much. When their prayer was
over, I gave each man a glass of the monks' excellent wine,
and we pushed out into the stream.

I had bidden the grenadiers follow in silence all the
orders of the syndic who was steering ; the current was too
strong for us to cross over straight from Molk : we went up,
therefore, along the bank under sail for more than a league,
and although the wind and the waves made the boat jump,
this part was accomplished without accident. But when the
time came to take to our oars and row out from the land, the
mast, on being lowered, fell over to one side, and the sail,
dragging in the water, offered a strong resistance to the
current and nearly capsized us. The master ordered the
ropes to be cut and the masts to be sent overboard : but the
boatmen, losing their heads, began to pray without stirring.
Then the corporal, drawing his sword, said, ' You can pray
and work too ; obey at once, or I will kill you.' Compelled
to choose between possible and certain death, the poor fellows
took up their hatchets, and with the help of the grenadiers,
the mast was promptly cut away and sent floating. It was
high time, for hardly were we free from this dangerous
burden when we felt a fearful shock. A pine-stem borne
down by the stream had struck the boat. We all shud-
dered, but luckily the planks were not driven in this time.
Would the boat, however, resist more shocks of this kind ?
We could not see the stems, and only knew that they were
near by the heavier tumble of the waves. Several touched
us, but no serious accident resulted. Meantime the current
bore us along, and as our oars could make very little way
against it to give us the necessary slant, I feared for a
moment that it would sweep us below the enemy's camp, and
that my expedition would fail. By dint of hard rowing,

LANDING UNDER DIFFICULTIES 319

however, we had got three-quarters of the way over, when I
saw an immense black mass looming over the water. Then
a sharp scratching was heard, branches caught us in the
face, and the boat stopped. To our questions the owner replied
that we were on an island covered with willows and poplars,
of which the flood had nearly reached the top. We had to
grope about with our hatchets to clear a passage through the
branches, and when we had succeeded in passing the obstacle,
we found the stream much less furious than in the middle of
the river, and finally reached the left bank in front of the
Austrian camp. This shore was bordered with very thick
trees, which, overhanging the bank like a dome, made the
approach difficult no doubt, but at the same time concealed our
boat from the camp. The whole shore was lighted up by the
bivouac fires, while we remained in the shadow thrown by the
branches of the willows. I let the boat float downwards, look-
ing for a suitable landing-place. Presently I perceived that a
sloping path had been made down the bank by the enemy to
allow the men and horses to get to the water. The corporal
adroitly threw into the willows one of the stones that I had
made ready, the cord caught in a tree, and the boat brought up
against the land a foot or two from the slope. It must have
been just about midnight. The Austrians, having the swollen
Danube between them and the French, felt themselves so secure
that except the sentry the whole camp was asleep.

It is usual in war for the guns and the sentinels always to
face towards the enemy, however far off he may be. A battery
placed in advance of the camp was therefore turned towards
the river, and sentries were walking on the top of the bank.
The trees prevented them from seeing the extreme edge, while
from the boat I could see through the branches a great part of
the bivouac. So far my mission had been more successful
than I had ventured to hope, but in order to make the suc-
cess complete I had to bring away a prisoner, and to execute
such an operation fifty paces away from several thousand
enemies, whom a single cry would rouse, seemed very difficult.
Still, I had to do something. I made the five sailors lie down
at the bottom of the boat under guard of two grenadiers,
another grenadier I posted at the bow of the boat, which was
close to the bank, and myself disembarked, sword in hand,
followed by the corporal and two grenadiers. The boat was a
few feet from dry land ; we had to walk in the water, but at
last we were on the slope. We went up, and I was making
ready to rush on the nearest sentry, disarm him, gag him, and

320 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

drag him off to the boat, when the ring of metal and the sound
of singing in a low voice fell on my ears. A man, carrying a
great tin pail, was coming to draw water, humming a song as
he went; we quickly went down again to the river to hide
under the branches, and as the Austrian stooped to fill his pail
my grenadiers seized him by the throat, put a handkerchief full
of wet sand over his mouth, and placing their sword-points
against his body threatened him with death if he resisted or
uttered a sound. Utterly bewildered, the man obeyed, and let
us take him to the boat ; we hoisted him into the hands of the
grenadiers posted there, who made him lie down beside the
sailors. While this Austrian was lying captured, I saw by his
clothes that he was not strictly speaking a soldier, but an
officer's servant. I should have preferred to catch a combatant,
who could have given me more precise information ; but I was
going to content myself with this capture for want of a better,
when I saw at the top of the slope two soldiers carrying a
cauldron between them, on a pole. They were only a few
paces off. It was impossible for us to re-embark without being
seen. I therefore signed to my grenadiers to hide themselves
again, and as soon as the two Austrians stooped to fill their
vessel powerful arms seized them from behind, and plunged
their heads under water. We had to stupefy them a little,
since they had their swords, and I feared that they might resist.
Then they were picked up in turn, their mouths covered with a
handkerchief full of sand, and sword-points against their breasts
constrained them to follow us. They were shipped as the ser-
vant had been, and my men and I got on board again.

So far all had gone well. I made the sailors get up and
take their oars, and ordered the corporal to cast loose the
rope which held us to the bank. It was, however, so wet,
and the knot had been drawn so tight by the force of the
stream, that it was impossible to unfasten. We had to saw
the rope, which took us some minutes. Meanwhile, the rope,
shaking with our efforts, imparted its movement to the
branches of the willow round which it was wrapped, and the
rustling became loud enough to attract the notice of the
sentry. He drew near, unable to see the boat, but perceiv-
ing that the agitation of the branches increased, he called
out, 'Who goes there ? ' No answer. Further challenge from
the sentry. We held our tongues, and worked away. I was
in deadly fear ; after facing so many dangers, it would have
been too cruel if we were wrecked in sight of port. At last,
the rope was cut and the boat pushed off. But hardly was it

THE RE TURN VOYAGE 32 1

clear of the overhanging willows than the light of the bivouac
fires made it visible to the sentry, who, shouting, ' To arms,'
fired at us. No one was hit ; but at the sound the whole camp
was astir in a moment, and the gunners, whose pieces were
ready loaded and trained on the river, honoured my boat with
some cannon-shots. At the report my heart leapt for joy, for
I knew that the Emperor and marshal would hear it. I turned
my eyes toward the convent, with its lighted windows, of which
I had, in spite of the distance, never lost sight. Probably all
were open at this moment, but in one only could I perceive any
increase of brilliancy ; it was the great balcony window, which
was as large as the doorway of a church, and sent from afar a
flood of light over the stream. Evidently it had just been
opened at the thunder of the cannon, and I said to myself,
' The Emperor and the marshals are doubtless on the balcony ;
they know that I have reached the enemy's camp, and are
making vows for my safe return.' This thought raised my
courage, and I heeded the cannon-balls not a bit. Indeed, they
were not very dangerous, for the stream swept us along at such
a pace that the gunners could not aim with any accuracy, and
we must have been very unlucky to get hit. One shot would
have done for us, but all fell harmless into the Danube. Soon
I was out of range, and could reckon a successful issue to my
enterprise. Still, all danger was not yet at an end. We had
still to cross among the floating pine-stems, and more than
once we struck on submerged islands, and were delayed by the
branches of the poplars. At last we reached the right bank,
more than two leagues below Molk, and a new terror assailed
me. I could see bivouac fires, and had no means of learning
whether they belonged to a French regiment. The enemy had
troops on both banks, and I knew that on the right bank
Marshal Lannes' outposts were not far from Molk, facing an
Austrian corps, posted at Saint- Polten.

Our army would doubtless go forward at daybreak, but was
it already occupying this place ? And were the fires that I saw
those of friends or enemies ? I was afraid that the current had
taken me too far down, but the problem was solved by French
cavalry trumpets sounding the reveille. Our uncertainty being
at an end, we rowed with all our strength to the shore, where
in the dawning light we could see a village. As we drew near,
the report of a carbine was heard, and a bullet whistled by
our ears. It was evident that the French sentries took us for
a hostile crew. I had not foreseen this possibility, and hardly
knew how we were to succeed in getting recognised, till the

31

3,22 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

happy thought struck me of making my six grenadiers shout,
'Vive l'Empereur Napoleon ! ' This was, of course, no certain
evidence that we were French, but it would attract the attention
of the officers, who would have no fear of our small numbers,
and would no doubt prevent the men from firing on us before
they knew whether we were French or Austrians. A few
moments later I came ashore, and I was received by Colonel
Gautrin and the gth Hussars, forming part of Lannes' division.
If we had landed half a league lower down we should have
tumbled into the enemy's pickets. The colonel lent me a horse,
and gave me several wagons, in which I placed the grenadiers,
the boatmen, and the prisoners, and the little cavalcade went oft
towards Molk. As we went along, the corporal, at my orders,
questioned the three Austrians, and I learnt with satisfaction
that the camp whence I had brought them away belonged to
the very division, General Hiller's, the position of which the
Emperor was so anxious to learn. There was, therefore, no
further doubt that that general had joined the archduke on the
other side of the Danube. There was no longer any question
of a battle on the road which we held, and Napoleon, having
only the enemy's cavalry in front of him, could in perfect
safety push his troops forward towards Vienna, from which we
were but three easy marches distant. With this information I
galloped forward, in order to bring it to the Emperor with the
least possible delay.

When I reached the gate of the monastery, it was broad
day. I found the approach blocked by the whole population
of the little town of M6lk, and heard among the crowd the
cries of the wives, children, and friends of the sailors whom
I had carried off. In a moment I was surrounded by them,
and was able to calm their anxiety by saying, in shocking bad
German, ' Your friends are alive, and you will see them in a
few moments.' A great cry of joy went up from the crowd,
bringing out the officer in command of the guard at the gate.
On seeing me he ran off in pursuance of orders to warn the
aides-de-camp to let the Emperor know of my return. In an
instant the whole palace was up. The good Marshal Lannes
came to me, embraced me cordially, and carried me straight off
to the Emperor, crying out, ' Here he is, sir ; I knew he would
come back. He has brought three prisoners from General
Hiller's division.' Napoleon received me warmly, and though
I was wet and muddy all over, he laid his hand on my shoulder,
and did not forget to give his greatest sign of satisfaction by
pinching my ear. I leave you to imagine how I was ques-

• MAJOR* MARBOT 323

tioned ! The Emperor wanted to know every incident of the
adventure in detail, and when I had finished my story said, * I
am very well pleased with you, " Major " Marbot.' These words
were equivalent to a commission, and my joy was full. At
that moment, a chamberlain announced that breakfast was
served, and as I was calculating on having to wait in the
gallery until the Emperor had finished, he pointed with his
finger towards the dining-room, and said, ' You will breakfast
with me.' As this honour had never been paid to any officer
of my rank, I was the more flattered. During breakfast I learnt
that the Emperor and the marshal had not been to bed all
night, and that when they heard the cannon on the opposite
bank they had all rushed on to the balcony. The Emperor
made me tell again the way in which I had surprised the three
prisoners, and laughed much at the fright and surprise which
they must have felt.

At last, the arrival of the wagons was announced, but they
had much difficulty in making their way through the crowd, so
eager were the people to see the boatmen. Napoleon, thinking
this very natural, gave orders to open the gates, and let every-
body come into the court. Soon after, the grenadiers, the
boatmen, and the prisoners were led into the gallery. The
Emperor, through his interpreter, first questioned the three
Austrian soldiers, and learning with satisfaction that not only
General Hiller's corps, but the whole of the archduke's army,
were on the other bank he told Berthier to give the order for the
troops to march at once on Saint-Polten. Then, calling up the
corporal and the five soldiers, he fastened the Cross on their
breast, appointed them knights of the Empire, and gave them
an annuity of 1,200 francs apiece. All the veterans wept for
joy. Next came the boatmen's turn. The Emperor told them
that, as the danger they had run was a good deal more than he
had expected, it was only fair that he should increase their
reward ; so, instead of the 6,000 francs promised, 12,000 in gold
were given to them on the spot. Nothing could express their
delight ; they kissed the hands of the Emperor and all present,
crying, ' Now we are rich! ' Napoleon laughingly asked the
syndic if he would go the same journey for the same price the
next night. But the man answered that, having escaped by
miracle what seemed certain death, he would not undertake
such a journey again even if his lordship, the abbot of Molk,
would give him the monastery and all its possessions. The
boatmen withdrew, blessing the generosity of the French
Emperor, and the grenadiers, eager to show off their decora-

324 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

tion before their comrades, were about to go off with their
three prisoners, when Napoleon perceived that the Austrian
servant was weeping bitterly. He reassured him as to his
safety, but the poor lad replied, sobbing, that he knew the
French treated their prisoners well, but that, as he had on
him a belt, containing nearly all his captain's money, he was
afraid that the officer would accuse him of deserting in order
to rob him, and he was heart-broken at the thought. Touched
by the worthy fellow's distress, the Emperor told him that he
was free, and as soon as we were before Vienna, he would
be passed through the outposts, and be able to return to his
master. Then, taking a rouleau of 1,000 francs, he put it in
the man's hand, saying, ' One must honour goodness wherever
it is shown.' Lastly, the Emperor gave some pieces of gold
to each of the other two prisoners, and ordered that they too
should be sent back to the Austrian outposts, so that they
might forget the fright which we had caused them, and that it
might not be said that any soldiers, even enemies, had spoken
to the Emperor of the French without receiving some benefit.

CHAPTER XLII.

On leaving the gallery I found the ante-room filled with
generals and officers of the guard. My comrades were there
also, and all congratulated me, both on the success of my
expedition, and on the step which the Emperor had granted to
me by addressing me as ' major.- It was not, however, till
next month that I got my commission, by which time I had
another wound to show for it. Do not, however, accuse the
Emperor of ingratitude ; during May his time was taken up
by the events of the war, and as he always gave me the title ot
major he would naturally think that I considered myself as such.

As we moved from Molk to Saint-Polten, the Emperor and
Marshal Lannes put many further questions to me as to the
doings of that night. They halted opposite the old castle of
Diirrenstein, on the further bank. This place had a double
interest for us, both as commanding the scene of the memorable
fight1 when Marshal Mortier, separated from the rest of the
French army in 1805, had to cut his way through the Russian
troops, and as having, in the middle ages, been the prison
of Richard Cceur de Lion. While studying these ruins, and
meditating on the fate of the royal warrior who was so long
shut up there, Napoleon fell into a deep reverie. Had he -a
presentiment that his enemies would one day shut him up,
and that he would end his life as a captive ?

Marshal Lannes, hearing several cannon-shots in the
direction of Saint-Polten, moved rapidly on that town, and
a few charges took place in the streets between our advanced
guard and a small force of light cavalry which the enemy
still had on the right bank. All my colleagues being at the
moment on duty, I happened to be alone with the marshal when
we entered Saint-Polten. Passing in front of a nunnery we
saw the abbess come out with a crozier in her hand, followed
by all her nuns. The holy women, terrified, were coming to
seek protection. The marshal reassured them, and, as the
enemy were flying and our troops in the occupation of the

1 [See p. 147.]
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326 MEMOIRS OB THE BARON DE MARBOT

town, he thought he might safely dismount. A scorching sun
had followed the tempest of the previous night. The marshal
had just covered three leagues at a gallop, and was very hot.
The abbess invited him to come and take some refreshment.
He accepted ; and behold us two in the convent surrounded by
some fifty nuns ! In a moment the table was laid and a
splendid luncheon served. I never saw such a profusion of
syrups, preserves, sweetmeats of all sorts. We did them full
justice, and the nuns filled our pockets with them, presenting
several boxes to the marshal, who said that he would take them
as a present from these ladies to his children. Alas ! he was
never to see his dear children again.

That night the Emperor and the marshal slept at Saint
Polten ; two days more brought us to Vienna, which we reached
very early on May 10. The Emperor made his way at once to
the royal palace at Schonbrunn, thus being at the gates of the
Austrian capital twenty-seven days after leaving Paris. We
had thought that the Archduke Charles would have hastened
his march on the left bank, and crossed the river by the bridge
of Spitz, so as to reach Vienna before us ; but he was several
days behind, and only a feeble garrison defended the capital.
The city proper of Vienna is very small, but is surrounded
by immense suburbs, which are enclosed by a single wall too
weak to stop an army. The Archduke Maximilian, who com-
manded in Vienna, abandoned the suburbs, therefore, and with-
drew with all the combatants behind the old fortifications of
the town. If he had chosen to make use of the assistance
offered by the courageous population, he might have held out
for some time, but he did not do so, and on their arrival the
French troops occupied the suburbs without striking a blow.
Marshal Lannes, deceived by an incorrect report, and thinking
that the enemy had also abandoned the city, sent Colonel
Gu^heneuc in a hurry to tell the Emperor that we occupied
Vienna, and Napoleon, eager to announce this great news,
ordered M. Gueheneuc to set out at once for Paris. But the
place still held out, and when Lannes tried to enter at the head
of a division, we were received with cannon-shots. General
Tharreau was wounded and several soldiers killed. The mar-
shal withdrew the troops into the suburbs, and decided to send
Colonel Saint-Mars with a summons to the governor. He was
accompanied by M. de la Grange, who, having been for a long
time attached to the French embassy at Vienna, knew his way
perfectly. A flag of truce ought to go forward alone, accom-
panied by a trumpeter ; but instead of acting according to this

VIENNA 327

custom, Colonel Saint-Mars took three orderlies, and M. de la
Grange the same number, so that with the trumpeter there
were nine of them, which was far too many. The enemy
thought, or pretended to think, that they were coming to
inspect the fortifications rather than to bring a summons to
surrender. A gate suddenly opened, and there came out a
squad of Hungarian hussars, who charged sword in hand
upon the party, wounded them all severely, and carried them
prisoners into the town. The troopers who committed this act
of barbarism belonged to the Szekler regiment, the same which,
in 1799, had murdered the French plenipotentiaries, Roberjot
and Bonnier, and severely wounded Jean Debry outside Rastadt.1

On hearing of the unworthy manner in which the Austrians
had shed the blood of the party sent with the flag of truce, the
Emperor came up indignantly, and sent for a great number of
howitzers to bombard Vienna in the night. The defenders,
meanwhile, had opened a terrible fire on the suburbs, and
kept it up for twenty-four hours at the risk of killing their
fellow-citizens.

On the morning of the nth, the Emperor went round
the outskirts of Vienna, and noticing that the Archduke
Maximilian had committed the serious mistake of not lining
the Prater with troops, he resolved to take possession of it by
throwing a bridge over the small arm of the Danube. To this
end two companies of voltigeurs crossed in boats and occupied
the ■ Lusthaus,' with the neighbouring wood to protect the
construction of the bridge. This was finished during the night,
and as soon as it was known in Vienna that the French held
the Prater and could march thence towards the Spitz bridge,
the only way of retreat open to the garrison, there was great
agitation, which fresh events soon increased. By ten o'clock
in the evening our gunners, covered by the solid buildings of
the imperial stables, began to throw shells into the town, which
soon was on fire in several quarters, and notably in the Graben.

It has been said, and repeated though wrongly by General
Pelet, that the Archduchess Louisa lying ill at that time in her
father's palace, the commander of the garrison gave notice of
this to the Emperor of the French, and that orders were given
to change the positions of the batteries.2 This story is quite

1 [See p. 18.]

2 [Scott, ' Life of Napoleon,' chap, xlvii., gives the story on the authority
of Bourrienne. Pelet also affirms the truth of it, and moralises a good deal
on it.]

328 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

fictitious, for Marie Louise was not in Vienna during the
attack, and if she had been the Austrian generals would
certainly not have exposed their Emperor's daughter to the
hazards of war, when she could with proper care have been
taken in a few minutes to the other side of the Danube. But
there are some people who will discover the marvellous every-
where, and have pleased themselves by making out that the
life of the archduchess was saved by him whose throne she was
shortly to share.

Our shells continued to pour upon the town till midnight,
when Napoleon, leaving the task of directing the fire to the
artillery generals, started with Marshal Lannes to return to
Schonbrunn. It was bright moonlight, and, the road being
good, the Emperor set off as usual at a gallop. He was riding
for the first time a handsome horse presented to him by the
King of Bavaria. His equerry, M. de Canisy, among whose
duties was that of trying the Emperor's horses, had doubtless
neglected this precaution, but affirmed that the horse was
perfect. After a few paces the horse fell ; the Emperor rolled
off and lay at full length without giving a sign of life. We
thought he was dead, but he had only fainted. He was quickly
picked up, and in spite of all that Marshal Lannes could say,
insisted on riding the rest of the way. He took another mount,
and started again at a gallop. On reaching the great court of
the palace, he made all the staff and the squadron of his guard
who had witnessed the accident draw up in a circle round him,
and forbad anyone to speak of it. The secret, though entrusted
to more than two hundred persons, half of whom were common
troopers, was so religiously kept that the army and Europe
never knew that Napoleon had nearly lost his life. The equerry,
Count de Canisy, expected a severe reprimand, but Napoleon
only punished him by ordering him to ride the Bavarian horse
every day, and after the next day, when he had been off several
times owing to the weakness of the animal's legs, the Emperor
pardoned him, bidding him only examine better in future horses
which he gave him to ride.

Finding his retreat threatened, and the capital in danger of
being burnt to the ground, the archduke evacuated Vienna in
the night and retired behind the main branch of the Danube,
destroying the Spitz bridge. It was by this very bridge that
the French army crossed the Danube in 1805, when, as I have
related, Marshals Lannes and Murat got possession of it by a
trick. After the departure of the troops, the populace were
beginning to pillage the town, and the authorities sent General

A FAITHFUL FEW 329

O'Reilly and the archbishop, with some of the principal officials,
to ask for aid from Napoleon. Upon this, several regiments
entered as protectors rather than as conquerors. The citizens
were disarmed, with the exception of the civic guard, who
showed themselves as worthy of this mark of confidence as
they were in 1805.

Marshal Lannes' head-quarters were in the magnificent
palace of Prince Albert of Sachs-Teschen near the Karnthner
Thor. Prince Murat had occupied this during the Austerlitz
campaign, but the marshal did not stay there, preferring to
be lodged in a private house at Schonbrunn, where he could
more readily communicate with the Emperor. In Vienna we
found MM. Saint-Mars and De la Grange, with their escort all
severely wounded. The marshal had M. Saint-Mars taken to
Prince Albert's palace.

From the opening of the campaign of 1809, the English
had done all in their power to stir up fresh enemies for Napoleon
by raising the German populations against him and his allies.
The first to rise in revolt were the Tyrolese,x who, taken from
Austria and given to Bavaria by the treaties of 1805, saw an
opportunity of returning to their former master. The Bava-
rians, under Marshal Lefebvre, fought many bloody engage-
ments with the mountaineers, who, led by a simple innkeeper
named Hofer, fought with heroic courage. But after some
brilliant successes they were beaten by French troops coming
from Italy, and their commandant, Hofer, was taken and shot.5

Prussia, humiliated by the defeat of Jena, but not daring, in
spite of pressure from England, to run the risk of a fresh war
with Napoleon, was willing enough to put a fresh spoke in his
wheel by adopting a middle term between peace and war,
such as is reprobated among all civilised nations. Major
Schill, leaving Berlin in open day at the head of his regiment
of hussars, swept the north of Germany, killing and plundering
the French, and calling on the people to revolt. In this way
he succeeded in forming a band of more than 600 men, at
whose head he had the hardihood to attack, with support from
the English fleet, the fortress of Stralsund, defended by the brave

x[The Tyrolese had quite enough cause to rise, without any English
instigation. The pledges given for the maintenance of their old customs and
liberties were freely violated by the Bavarian Government. As a matter of
fact, the Tyrolese made the first advances to England.]

* [At Mantua, February 20, 1810, by special order from Napoleon,
though a majority of the court which tried ' him were in favour of sparing
his life.]

33° MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

General Gratien.1 There was fighting in the streets, and Major
Schill was killed. Many young men belonging to the best
families of Prussia, who were taken fighting with him, were
brought to trial by the Emperor's order, and sent off to Brest,
condemned as thieves and assassins to penal servitude for life.
The Prussian nation was angry enough at this treatment, but
the Government, realising the true character of such acts of
brigandage, did not venture to make any remonstrance, and
contented itself with disavowing Schill and his troops, whom it
would have rewarded had their enterprise brought about the
rising of Germany.

The Prince of Brunswick-Oels, who had lost his states
under the treaty of Tilsit and taken refuge in England, went to
Lusatia, and, raising a band of 2,000 men carried on a guerilla
war against the French and their allies, the Saxons. In
Westphalia, Colonel Derneberg, an officer of King Jerome's
guard, spread sedition in several districts, and even marched
upon Cassel, with the intention of carrying off Jerome. Katt
and several other Prussian officers raised bands in different
places, as it was afterwards proved, with the tacit consent of the
Prussian Government. If these various insurgent bodies, led
by able and enterprising chiefs, had combined, the consequences
to us might have been very awkward ; but they all broke up
when the news came of the battle of Eckmiihl and the capture of
Vienna. The moment had not yet come to unite all the forces
of Germany against Napoleon ; Russia was then our ally, and
her agreement was lacking. She had even furnished us with a
contingent of 20,000 men, who were acting, though very slackly,
in Galicia. Russia, however, had no scruple at the peace about
claiming her share of the Austrian spoils, with which she never
again parted.

1 [It seems really to have been in defending himself against the French,
who were trying to dislodge him from Stralsund, that Schill perished,
May 31.]

CHAPTER XLIII.

Napoleon had now concentrated the bulk of his forces around
Vienna. Less fortunate, however, than in 1805, he found the
Spitz bridge broken, and could not finish the war, nor reach his
enemy, without passing the mighty stream of the Danube. At
this period of the spring, the melting snow swells the stream
till it becomes immense, and each of its branches is equal to a
large river. The crossing consequently presented many difficul-
ties, but as the stream flows among a great number of islands,
some of which are very spacious, points can be found there on
which to support bridges. After inspecting the bank closely,
both above and below Vienna, the Emperor observed two
spots favourable for the passage. The first by the isle of
Schwarzelaken, opposite Nussdorf, half a league above Vienna;
the second, the same distance below the town, opposite the
village of Kaiserbersdorf, and crossing the great island of
Lobau. Napoleon had both bridges set to work upon at once
in order to distract the attention of the enemy. The first was
entrusted to Lannes, the other to Massena.

Marshal Lannes ordered General Saint-Hilaire to send 500
men to the island of Schwarzelaken, which is separated from
the left bank by a small arm of the river, and almost reaches
the end of the Spitz bridge. General Saint-Hilaire composed
this force of men from two regiments under two majors, which
was likely to interfere with combined action. Thus, on reach-
ing the island these officers, not acting in concert, committed
the great mistake of having no reserve in a large house well
placed for protecting the landing of more troops. Then dashing
on blindly, without organisation, they pursued some detach-
ments of the enemy who were defending the island. These
shortly received reinforcements from the left bank, and though
our soldiers repulsed the first attacks with vigour, forming
square and fighting with the bayonet, they were overwhelmed
by numbers, more than half being killed and all the rest wounded
and taken before support could reach them. The Emperor and
Marshal Lannes arrived on the river-bank just in time to witness
this disaster. They bitterly reproached General Saint-Hilaire,
who, though he had much experience of war, had made the
mistake of first composing his detachment badly, and then of
letting it go before he was in a position to support it promptly
by successive reinforcements. It is true he had few boats at

(331)

332 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

his disposal, but plenty more were coming up, for which he
might have waited, and not acted precipitately. In this affair
the Austrian troops were commanded by a French Smigrd,
General Nordmann. He was very soon punished for having
borne arms against his country, for he was killed by a cannon-
ball at the battle of Wagram.

In despair at having caused the deaths of so many brave
men, the Emperor and Marshal Lannes were hastening along
the bank in a state of great agitation, when the marshal,
catching his foot in a rope, fell into the Danube. Napoleon,
who was alone with him at the moment, dashed into the water
up to his waist, and had got the marshal out when we ran up
to his assistance. This accident did not improve their tempers,
already tried by the check which we had received, and which
compelled the idea of a passage by the Schwarzelaken island
to be given up. Having ascertained our purpose, the enemy
had occupied it with several thousand men. Ebersdorf was
now the only point at which we could cross the Danube. The
village lies on the left bank, and in order to reach it we had to
cross four branches of the river ; the first being 500 yards in
breadth, from which may be judged the immense length of the
bridge that we had to throw across. Then comes an island, and
then the second branch, the most rapid of all, 320 yards wide.
The third stream is not more than 40. After passing these
obstacles the huge island of Lobau is reached, which again is
separated from the main land by the fourth branch, 140 yards
across. We therefore had over 1 ,000 yards of water to traverse,
and four bridges to build. The advantage of the crossing oppo-
site Ebersdorf was that the Lobau island served as an immense
place of arms, from which one could reach the left bank with
more security, and further, as it formed a re-entering angle,
offered a very advantageous debouchment upon the middle
of the plain, which stretches between the villages of Gross-
Aspern and Essling. No better configuration could be desired
for the passage of an army.

Finding, when he arrived opposite Vienna, that Napoleon
was checked by the river, the Archduke Charles hoped to
prevent his crossing it by threatening his rear. He attacked
our forces at Linz, and at Krems made arrangements to cross
the river with all his army. But his troops were everywhere
repulsed, and he confined himself to resisting our passage
opposite Ebersdorf. Many obstacles were in the way of our
building the bridges ; we had to use boats of different shapes
and dimensions, and materials lacking the necessary strength ;
we had no anchors, and had to supply their place with boxes

PREPARA TIONS FOR CROSSING 333

full of cannon-balls. The works were carried on under cover
of the plantations, and protected by Massena's division.

Lannes' division, posted over against Nussdorf, was to make
apparent preparations for a crossing, in order to distract the
enemy's attention. But this demonstration was merely a feint ;
and the marshal himself accompanied the Emperor on the 19th,
when he went to Ebersdorf to direct the establishment of the
bridges. After examining everything most thoroughly, and
ascertaining that everything had been procured that was possible
under the circumstances, Napoleon caused a brigade of Molitofs
division to cross to the island of Lobau in eighty large boats
and ten rafts. The breadth of the river and its roughness made
this difficult, but once on the island the troops met with no
obstacle ; the enemy, preoccupied with the idea that we meant
to cross above Vienna, having omitted to guard that point.
The construction of the bridges lasted all night, and, the weather
being fine, was completed by noon on the 20th, when all the
divisions of Massena's corps crossed to the island. Probably,
such great works have never been completed in so short a time.
By four o'clock in the afternoon the fourth branch of the Danube
was bridged by Massdna's infantry divisions, commanded by
Generals Legrand, Boudet, Carra-Saint-Cyr, and Molitor, fol-
lowed by the light cavalry divisions under Lasalle and Marulaz,
with General Espagne's cuirassiers, 25,000 men in all, de-
bouched from the island, with the intention of occupying the
villages of Essling and Aspern. Only a few squadrons of the
enemy appeared on the horizon ; the bulk of the Austrian army
was still at Gerhardsdorf, but was about to march to prevent us
from establishing ourselves on the left bank. Marshal Lannes'
corps was to leave Nussdorf for Ebersdorf, but, being delayed
in its passage through Vienna, it did not come up till late the
next day. The infantry of the guard followed.

On the evening of May 20, the Emperor and Marshal
Lannes being lodged in the only house which existed on the
island, my comrades and I took up our quarters close by, in
brilliant moonlight, on beautiful turf. It was a delicious night,
and with the carelessness of soldiers, thinking nothing of the
morrow's dangers, we chatted gaily, and sang the last new airs
— among others, two which were then very popular in the
army, being attributed to Queen Hortense. The words were
very appropriate to our circumstances ; there was : —
1 You leave me, dear, to go where glory waits you ;
My loving heart accompanies your steps.'

And then again :—

334 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

* The gentle radiance of the evening star

Illumined with its beams the tents of France.'

Captain d'Albuquerque was the most joyous of us all, and
after charming us with his fine voice, he sent us into fits of
laughing by relating the most comical adventures of his
adventurous life. Poor fellow ! he little thought that the
next day's sun would be his last — as little as we guessed that
the plain which lay over against us on the other bank was soon
to be watered with the blood of our kind marshal, and with that
of almost every one of us.

On the morning of the 21st the Austrian lines showed
themselves, and took up their position facing ours in front of
Essling and Aspern. Marshal Masse'na ought to have loop-
holed the houses of these villages, and covered the approaches
by field-works, but unluckily he had neglected to take this pre-
caution. The Emperor found fault with him, but as the enemy
was approaching, and there was no time to repair the omission,
Napoleon did his best to supply it by covering the last bridge
with a tete de pont, which he traced himself. If Marshal
Lannes' corps, the imperial guard, and the other expected
troops had been present, Napoleon would certainly not have
given the archduke time to deploy, but would have attacked
him on the spot. Having, however, only three divisions of in-
fantry and four of cavalry to oppose to the enemy's large force,
he was constrained, for the moment, to act on the defensive.
To this end he rested his left wing, consisting of three divisions
of infantry under Massena, on the village of Aspern. The
right wing, formed by Boudet's division, rested on the Danube,
near the great wood lying between the river and the village of
Essling, and occupied that village also. Lastly, the three
cavalry divisions, and part of the artillery, under the orders of
Marshal Bessieres, formed the centre, spreading over the space
which remained empty between Essling and Aspern. The
Emperor compared his position to an entrenched camp, of
which Aspern and Essling represented the bastions, united by
a curtain formed by the cavalry and the artillery. The two
villages, though not entrenched, were capable of a good de-
fence, being built of masonry, surrounded by low banks, which
protected them against the inundation of the Danube. The
church and churchyard of Aspern could hold out for a long
time. Essling had for its citadel a large enclosure and an
immense stone house built of hewn stone. We found these
points very useful.

Although the troops composing the right and centre did not

ESSLING 335

form any part of Lannes' corps, the Emperor wished in this
difficulty to make use of the marshal's talents, and had entrusted
the command-in-chief of them to him. He was heard to say to
Marshal Bessieres, much, as it appeared, to Bessieres' annoyance,
' You are under the orders of Marshal Lannes.' I shall relate
directly the serious quarrel to which this declaration gave rise,
and how, greatly against my will, I got mixed up in it.

About 2 p.m. the Austrian army advanced upon us, and we
were very hotly engaged. The cannonade was terrible ; the
enemy's force was so much superior to ours that they might
easily have hurled us into the Danube by piercing the cavalry
line which formed our only centre, and if the Emperor had been
in the archduke's place he would certainly have taken that
course. But the Austrian commander-in-chief was too methodi-
cal to act in this determined way, therefore instead of boldly
massing a strong force in the direction of our tite de pont, he
occupied the whole of the first day in attacking Aspern and
Essling, which he carried and lost five or six times after
murderous combats. As soon as one of these villages was
occupied by the enemy, the Emperor sent up reserves to retake
it, and if we were again driven from it, he took it again, though
both places were on fire. During this alternation of successes
and reverses, the Austrian cavalry several times threatened our
centre, but ours repulsed it and returned to its place between
the two villages, though terribly cut up by the enemy's artillery.
Thus the action continued till ten in the evening, the French
remaining masters of Essling and Aspern, while the Austrians,
withdrawing their left and centre, did nothing but make some
fruitless attacks on Aspern. They brought up, however, strong
reinforcements for the morrow's action.

During this first day of the battle, though Marshal Lannes'
staff, being always engaged in carrying orders to the most
exposed points, had incurred great danger, we had yet no loss
to deplore, and we were beginning to congratulate ourselves
when, as the sun went down, the enemy, wishing to cover his
retreat by a redoubled fire, sent a hail of projectiles at us. At
that moment D'Albuquerque, La Bourdonnaye, and I, standing
facing the marshal, were reporting to him upon orders which
we had been sent to convey, having our backs consequently
towards the enemy's guns. A ball struck poor D'Albuquerque
in the loins, flinging him over the head of his horse, and laying
him stone dead at the marshal's feet. ■ There,' he exclaimed,
' is the end of the poor lad's romance ! But he has at any rate
died nobly.' A second ball passed between La Bourdonnaye's

336 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

saddle and the spine of his horse without touching either horse
or rider, a really miraculous shot. But the front of the saddle-
tree was so violently smashed between La Bourdonnaye's
thighs, that the wood and the iron were forced into his flesh,
and he suffered for a long time from this extraordinary wound.

I had been between my two comrades, and saw them both
fall at the same moment. I went towards the escort to order
some troopers to come and carry La Bourdonnaye away, but I
had hardly gone a few steps when an aide-de-camp of General
Boudet, having come forward to speak to the marshal, had his
head taken off by a cannon-ball in the very spot which I had
just left. Clearly this place was no longer tenable. We were
right in front of one of the enemy's batteries, so the marshal,
for all his courage, thought it advisable to move a couple of
hundred yards to the right.

The last order which Marshal Lannes had given me to carry
was addressed to Marshal Bessieres, and gave rise to a brisk alter-
cation between the two marshals, who hated each other cordially.
In order to understand the scene which I am about to relate, it
is necessary that you should know the reasons of this hatred.

General Bonaparte, when on his way to assume the com-
mand of the Army of Italy in 1796, took as his senior aide-de-
camp Murat, whom he had just promoted to colonel, and for
whom he had a great liking. Having, however, in the first
actions noticed the military capacity, zeal, and courage of
Lannes, then commanding the 4th of the line, he granted to
that officer an equally large share of his esteem and friendship,
thus exciting Murat's jealousy. When the two colonels had
become generals of brigade, Bonaparte was accustomed, on
critical occasions, to entrust to Murat the direction of the
cavalry charges and put Lannes in command of the reserve of
the grenadiers. Both did splendidly, and the army had nothing
but praise for either. But between these gallant officers there
grew up a rivalry which, if the truth must be told, was not at
all displeasing to the commander-in-chief, as tending to stimu-
late their zeal and their desire of distinction. He would extol
before Murat the achievements of General Lannes, and enlarge in
Lannes' presence on the merits of Murat. The rivalry soon led to
altercations, in which Bessieres, then merely captain in General
Bonaparte's Guides and in high favour with the commander,
always took the part of his compatriot1 Murat; while taking every
opportunity, as Lannes was well aware, of depreciating him.

1 [Bessieres was born at Preissac, Murat at La Bastide-Fortuniere, both
in the department of the Lot.J

LANNES AND BESSJERES 337

After the Italian campaigns Lannes and Murat accompanied
Bonaparte to Egypt. About this time both conceived a wish
to marry Caroline Bonaparte, and Bessieres found an oppor-
tunity to injure Lannes' suit irretrievably. As a member of
the administrative council, charged with the distribution of the
military fund, he became aware that Lannes had exceeded the
allowance for the outfit of his regiment, the consular guard, by
300,000 francs. He revealed this to Murat, who brought it to
the ears of the First Consul. Lannes was dismissed from the
command of the guard, and allowed a month to make up the
deficit, which, without the generous aid of Augereau,1 he would
have found it hard to do. Napoleon afterwards received him
back into favour ; but meantime Murat had married Caroline
Bonaparte. As may be supposed, Lannes never forgave
Bessieres, and the antipathy was in full vigour when they came
in contact at the battle of Essling.

At the moment of the brisk cannonade which had just killed
poor D'Albuquerque, Lannes, observing that the Austrians were
making a retrograde movement, thought it a good opening for
a cavalry charge. He called me to carry the order to Marshal
Bessieres, who, as I have said, had just been placed under his
command by the Emperor. I was on duty ; so the next aide-
de-camp in course for service came up. It was De Viry.
Marshal Lannes gave him the following order : ' Go and tell
Marshal Bessieres that I order him to charge home' This
expression, conveying that the charge must be pushed till the
sabres are in the enemy's bodies, obviously is very like a
reprimand; as implying that hitherto the cavalry has not acted
with sufficient vigour. The expression ' I order,' employed by
one marshal to another, was also very rough. Lannes used
the two phrases intentionally.

Off went De Viry, fulfilled his instructions, and returned
to the marshal, who asked, ' What did you say to Marshal
Bessieres ? ' * I informed him that your Excellency begged him to
order a general charge of the cavalry.' Lannes shrugged his
soldiersZand cried, 'You are a baby; send another officer ! '
This time it was Labedoyere. The marshal knew he was of
firmer character than De Viry, and gave him the same message,
emphasising the expressions 'I order' and 'charge home.'
Labedoyere did not see Lannes' intention, and did not like to
repeat the words verbatim to Bessieres ; so he too employed a
circumlocution. Accordingly when he came back and reported

i[Seep. 115.]
22

338 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MAR BO T

the words he had used, Lannes turned his back on him. At
that moment I galloped up to the staff. It was not my turn
for duty, but the marshal called me and said, ' Marbot, Marshal
Augereau assured me that you were a man I could count on.
So far I have found his words justified by your conduct. I
should like a further proof. Go and tell Marshal Bessieres that
I order him to charge home. You understand, sir, home.7 As
he spoke he poked me in the ribs with his finger. I perfectly
understood that Lannes wished to mortify Bessieres, first by
taking a harsh way of reminding him that the Emperor had
put him in a subordinate post to himself, and further by finding
fault with his management of the cavalry. I was perturbed at
being obliged to transmit offensive expressions to the other
marshal. It was easy to foresee that they might have awkward
results ; but my immediate chief must be obeyed.

So I galloped off to the centre, wishing that one of the shots
which were dropping thickly about might bowl over my horse,
and give me a good excuse for not accomplishing my disagree-
able mission ! I approached Marshal Bessieres with much
respect, and begged to speak with him in private. * Speak up,
sir,' he replied stiffly. So I had to say in presence of his staff
and a crowd of superior officers, ■ Marshal Lannes directs me
to tell your Excellency that he orders you to charge home.'
Bessieres angrily exclaimed, ■ Is that the way to speak to a
marshal, sir ? Orders ! charge home ! You shall be severely
punished for this rudeness.' I answered, * Marshal, the more
offensive the terms I have used seem to your Excellency, the
more sure you may be that in using them I only obeyed my
orders.' I saluted and returned to Lannes. * Well, what did
you say to Marshal Bessieres ? ' * That your Excellency ordered
him to charge home.' ' Right ; here is one aide-de-camp at
any rate who understands me.' In spite of this compliment,
you may imagine that I was very sorry to have had to deliver
such a message. However, the cavalry charge came off;
General d'Espagne was killed, but the result was very good.
Whereon Lannes said, ' You see that my stern injunction has
produced an excellent effect ; but for it M . le Marechal Bessieres
would have fiddled about all day.'

Night came on, and the battle ceased both in the centre
and on our right, on which Lannes determined to join the
Emperor, who was bivouacking within the works of the tete
de pont. But hardly had we started, when the marshal,
hearing brisk firing in Aspern, where Massena was in com-
mand, wished to go and see what was taking place in the

• TANTARNE ANIMIS CCELESTIBUS 1RAZ f 339

village. He bade his staff go on to the Emperor's bivouac,
and, taking only myself and an orderly, bade me guide him
to Aspern, where I had been several times in the course of
the day. I went in that direction ; with the moon and the
blaze of Essling and Aspern we had plenty of light. Still,
as the frequent paths were apt to be hidden by the tall corn,
and I was afraid of losing myself in it, I dismounted in order
to find the way better. Soon the marshal dismounted also,
and walked by my side, chatting about the day's fighting and
the chances of that which would take place on the morrow.
A quarter of an hour brought us close to Aspern, the approaches
to which were lined by the bivouac fires of Mass^na's troops.
Wishing to speak to him, Marshal Lannes bade me go forward
to ascertain his quarters. Before we had gone many steps I
perceived Mass6na walking in front of the camp with Marshal
Bessieres. The wound in my forehead which I had received
in Spain prevented me from wearing a busby, and I was the
only one among the marshal's aides-de-camp who had a cocked
hat, and Bessieres recognising me by this, but not yet noticing
Marshal Lannes, came towards me, saying, ' Ah ! it is you,
sir; if what you said recently came from you alone, I will
teach you to choose your expressions better when speaking to
your superiors ; if you were only obeying your marshal he shall
give me satisfaction ; and I bid you tell him so.' Then Marshal
Lannes, leaping forward like a lion, passed in front of me, and
seizing my arm, cried : ' Marbot, I owe you an apology ; for
though I believed I could be certain of your attachment, I had
some doubts remaining as to the manner in which you had trans-
mitted my orders to this gentleman ; but I see that I was unfair
to you.' Then, addressing Bessieres, ' I wonder how you dare
to find fault with one of my aides-de-camp. He was the first to
mount on the walls at Ratisbon, he crossed the Danube at the
risk of almost certain death, he has just been twice wounded in
Spain, while there are some so-called soldiers who haven't had
a scratch in their lives, and have got their promotion by playing
the spy and informer on their comrades. What fault have you
to find with this officer?' 'Sir,' said Bessieres, 'your aide-
de-camp came and told me that you ordered me to charge
home ; it appears to me that such expressions are unseemly ! '
'They are quite right, sir, and it was I who dictated them;
did not the Emperor tell you that you were under my orders ? '
Bessieres replied with hesitation, 'The Emperor warned me
that I must comply with your opinion.' ' Know, sir,' cried the
marshal, ' that in military matters people do not comply, they

34© MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

obey orders. If the Emperor had thought fit to place me under
your command, I should have offered him my resignation. But
so long as you are under mine, I shall give you orders and you
will obey ; otherwise I shall withdraw the command of the
troops from you. As for charging home, I gave you the order
because you did not do it, and because all the morning you
were parading before the enemy without approaching him
boldly.' ' But that's an insult,' said Bessieres angrily; 'you
shall give me satisfaction ! ' ' This very moment if you like ! '
cried Lannes, laying his hand on his sword.

During this discussion, old Massena, interposing between
the adversaries, sought to calm them, and not succeeding, he
took the high tone in his turn. ' I am your senior, gentlemen ;
you are in my camp, and I shall not permit you to give my
troops the scandalous spectacle of seeing two marshals draw
on each other, and that in presence of the enemy. I sum-
mon you, therefore, in the name of the Emperor, to separate
at once.' Then, adopting a gentler manner, he took Marshal
Lannes by the arm, and led him to the further end of the
bivouac, while Bessieres returned to his own. You may sup-
pose how distressed I was by this deplorable scene. Finally,
Marshal Lannes, remounting, set off for the Emperor's bivouac
where my comrades were already established. On reaching it
he took Napoleon aside, and related what had happened. The
Emperor at once sent for Marshal Bessieres, whom he received
sternly ; then they went some distance away, and walked ra-
pidly, the Emperor appearing to be reprimanding him severely.
Marshal Bessieres looked confused, and must have felt still more
so when the Emperor sat down to dinner without inviting him,
while he made Marshal Lannes take a seat at his right hand.
My comrades and I were as sad this evening as we had been
cheerful the night before. We had just seen poor D'Albu-
querque killed ; we had close beside us La Bourdonnaye hor-
ribly wounded, and groaning so as to break our hearts ; and
we were, besides, agitated with sad presentiments with regard
to the result of the battle, of which we had seen only the first
part. Moreover, we were on our legs all night, seeing Marshal
Lannes' corps across the Danube, followed by the imperial
guard. Meanwhile, the river was rising visibly ; great trees,
borne down by the flood, kept striking the bridges of boats,
more than once breaking them. They were, however, promptly
repaired, and, in spite of accidents, the troops which I have
mentioned crossed the river, and were assembled on the battle-
field by the time that the dawn of May 22 appeared, and the

ESSLING : THE SECOND DA Y 341

roar of the cannon announced that the fight was being re-
newed.

Having at his disposal twice as many troops as on the
previous day, the Emperor took steps to attack. Marshal
Massena and three of his infantry divisions remained in
Aspern : the fourth, that of General Boudet, was left at
Essling, under the command of Marshal Lannes, whose corps
occupied the space between the two villages, having as its
second line Bessieres' cavalry, still under the orders of Lannes.
The imperial guard formed the reserve. The Emperor's repri-
mand to Marshal Bessieres had been so severe that, as soon as
he saw Lannes, he came to ask him how he wished his troops
to be placed. The marshal, wishing to establish his authority,
replied, ' As you await my orders, sir, I order you to place them
at such a point.' The expression was harsh, but one must
remember how Bessieres had behaved to Lannes in the days of
the Consulate. He appeared hurt, but obeyed in silence.

The archduke, who might, by a vigorous attack, have
pierced our weak line between Essling and Aspern the day
before, renewed his efforts against those villages. But, as we
had then resisted his whole army, with only Massena's corps
and part of our cavalry, we were all the more able to do so
now that we had been joined by the imperial guard, Marshal
Lannes' corps, and a division of cuirassiers. The Austrians
were repulsed at all points ; one of their columns, consisting
of 1,000 men under General Weber, with six guns, was actually
cut off and captured in Aspern.

So far the Emperor had been acting on the defensive, while
the troops were crossing the river, but now that the numbers
whom he had on the battlefield were doubled, and Marshal
Davout's corps had assembled at Ebersdorf, and begun to cross,
Napoleon judged that the time had come for assuming the
offensive, and ordered Marshal Lannes at the head of the
infantry divisions of Saint-Hilaire, Tharreau, Claparede, and
Demont, followed by two divisions of cuirassiers, to break the
enemy's centre. Lannes advanced proudly into the plain ;
nothing could resist him. In a moment he captured a battalion
five guns, and a flag. At first the Austrians retreated in good
order, but as their centre was obliged to extend in proportion as
we advanced it was at last broken through. Their troops fell
into such disorder that we could see the officers and sergeants
striking their soldiers with sticks, without being able to keep
them in the ranks. If our advance had continued a few moments
longer, it would have been all up with the Archduke's army.

CHAPTER XLIV.

Everything foretold a complete victory for us. Mass6na and
General Boudet were making ready to issue from Aspern and
Essling, and to fall back upon the Austrians, when, to our
surprise, an aide-de-camp from the Emperor came up with
orders to Marshal Lannes to suspend his attacking movement.
Trees and other objects floating in the Danube had caused a
new breach in the bridge, and the arrival of Davout's troops
and of the ammunition was delayed. After an hour's waiting
the passage was repaired, and, though the enemy had profited
by the delay to reinforce his centre, we renewed our attack.
Again the Austrians were giving ground, when we heard that
an immense piece of the great bridge had been carried away,
and would take forty-eight hours to replace. The Emperor
accordingly ordered Lannes to halt on the ground which he
had taken.

This mishap, which hindered us from winning a brilliant
victory, came about as follows. An Austrian officer, posted on
look-out duty with some companies of Jagers in the islands
above Aspern, had embarked in a small boat and gone out to
the middle of the river to get a distant view of our troops
crossing the bridges. Thus he witnessed the first breach caused
by the floating trees, and the idea struck him that the same
accident might be repeated as fast as we repaired the damages.
So he had a number of beams and some fireboats launched
down the stream, destroying some of our pontoons. But seeing
that the engineers quickly replaced them, the officer caused a
large floating mill to be set on fire and towed out into mid-
stream. Borne down upon our principal bridge, it broke away
a large part of it. Perceiving instantly that all hope of restor-
ing the passage, and enabling Davout to reach the field of
battle, was abandoned for that day; the Emperor ordered Lannes
to withdraw his troops by degrees to their former position,
between Aspern and Essling, so that, resting on those villages,
they might hold their ground against the enemy. The move-
ment was being carried out in perfect order, when the archduke,

(342)

A REVERSE 343

who had at first been puzzled by our retreat, heard that the
bridge was broken, and saw a chance of driving the French
army into the Danube. With this view he sent his cavalry
against the most advanced of our divisions, that of Saint-
Hilaire. Our battalions repulsed the charge, and the enemy
then opened upon them with a heavy artillery fire. Just then
I was bearing an order from Lannes to General Saint-Hilaire.
Hardly had I reached him when a storm of grape-shot struck
his staff, killing several officers and smashing the general's leg.
He died under amputation. I was myself struck in the thigh
by a grape-shot, which tore out a piece of flesh as large as an
egg, but the wound was not dangerous, and I was able to
return and report to the marshal. I found him with the
Emperor, who, seeing me covered with blood, remarked, 'Your
turn comes round pretty often ! ' Both he and the marshal felt
the loss of General Saint-Hilaire keenly.

Seeing the division attacked at all points, the marshal went
to take command of it. He withdrew it slowly, often facing
towards the enemy, until our right rested on Essling, which
was still held by Boudet's division. Though my wound was
not yet dressed, I thought I ought to go with the marshal. In
the course of the retreat, my friend De Viry had his shoulder
smashed by a bullet, and I had some difficulty in getting him
brought to the entrenchments.

The position was very critical. Compelled to act on the
defensive, the Emperor posted his army in an arc, having the
Danube for its chord, our right resting on the river in rear
of Essling, our left in rear of Aspern. Under pain of being
driven into the river we had to keep up the fight for the rest
of the day ; it was now 9 a.m., and not till nightfall should we
be able to retire to the island of Lobau by the weak bridge over
the small branch. The archduke, recognising the weakness
of our position, repeatedly attacked the two villages and the
centre, but fortunately for us, did not think of forcing our
weakest point, between Essling and the Danube, by which a
strong column pushed vigorously forward might have reached
the tete de pont and destroyed us. All along our lines the
slaughter was terrible, but absolutely necessary to save the
honour of France and the portion of the army which had
crossed the Danube.

To check the energy of the enemy's attacks, Marshal
Lannes frequently resumed the offensive against their centre,
and forced it back, but they soon returned with reinforcements.
On one of these occasions, Lab6doyere got a grape-shot in his

344 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MAR EOT

foot, and Watteville a dislocated shoulder, his horse being
killed under him by a cannon-ball. Thus of all the staff Sub-
lieutenant Le Couteulx and I remained, and I could not leave
the marshal alone with that young officer, who, though brave
enough, had no experience. Wishing to retain me, he said,
1 Go, and get dressed ; if you can then sit your horse, come
back to me.' I went to the first field-hospital ; the crowd of
wounded was enormous, and lint had run short. A doctor put
into my wound some of the coarse tow which is used as
wadding for cannon, and the rough fibres gave me a good deal
of pain. Under other circumstances I should have gone to the
rear, but now every man had to display all his energy, and I
went back to the marshal. I found him very anxious, having
just heard that the Austrians had taken half of Aspern from
MassSna. That village was taken and retaken many times.
Essling was being vigorously attacked at that very instant, and
bravely defended by Boudet's division. So fierce were both
sides that they were fighting in the midst of the burning houses,
and barricading themselves with the hacked corpses which
blocked the streets. Five times the Hungarian grenadiers
were driven back, but their sixth attack succeeded. They got
possession of the village, all but the great granary, into which
General Boudet withdrew, as into a citadel.

While this fighting was going on, the marshal sent me
several times into Essling. The danger was considerable, but
in the excitement I even forgot the pain of my wound.

At length, perceiving that, repeating his fault of the day
before, he was wasting his forces against our two bastions,
Essling and Aspern, and neglecting our centre, where a well-
sustained attack with his reserve would bring him to our
bridge and secure the destruction of the French army, the
archduke launched large masses of cavalry, supported by
heavy columns of infantry, on this point. Marshal Lannes,
not surprised by this display of force, gave orders that the
Austrians should be allowed to approach within gun-shot range
and received them with such a furious fire of musketry and
grape that they halted, nor could the stimulating presence of
the archduke induce them to come a single pace nearer. They
could perceive behind our line the bearskin caps of the Old
Guard, which was advancing in a stately column, with
shouldered arms.

Cleverly profiting by the enemy's hesitation, Marshal
Lannes caused Bessieres to charge them at the head of two
divisions of cavalry. Part of the Austrian battalions and

THE ENEMY CHECKED 345

squadrons were overthrown, and the archduke, finding his
attack on our centre unsuccessful, thought to profit at least by
the advantage which the capture of Essling offered. At that
moment, however, the Emperor ordered his aide-de-camp,
General Mouton, to retake the village. Hurling himself upon the
Hungarian grenadiers, he drove them out, and remained master
of Essling, a feat which covered himself and the Young Guard
with glory, and earned him later on the title of Count of Lobau.

These successes on our part having slackened the enemy's
ardour, the archduke, whose losses were enormous, abandoned
the hope of forcing our position, and for the rest of the day
only kept up an ineffectual combat. This terrible thirty hours'
battle was drawing to its end. It was high time, for our
ammunition was nearly exhausted. Had it not been for the
activity with which Davout kept sending it over in small
boats from the right bank, it would have failed utterly. As,
however, the boats came few and far between, the Emperor
bade us economise, and our fire became mere sharpshooting
practice, the enemy at the same time reducing his.

While the two armies were mutually watching each other
but not moving, and the commanders in groups in rear of the
battalions were discussing the events of the day, Marshal
Lannes, weary with riding, had dismounted, and was walking
about with Major-General Pouzet. Just then a spent ball
struck the general on the head, laying him dead at the marshal's
feet. He had been formerly a sergeant in the Champagne
Regiment, and at the beginning of the Revolution was at the
camp of Le Miral when my father commanded there. At the
same time the battalion of volunteers from the Gers, in which
Lannes was sub-lieutenant, formed part of the division. The
sergeants of the old line regiments having the task of in-
structing the volunteers, that of Gers fell to the share of
Pouzet. Quickly perceiving the young sub-lieutenant's talents,
he did not confine himself to teaching him the manual exercise,
but gave him such instruction in manoeuvres that he became
an excellent tactician. Attributing his first promotion to
Pouzet's instruction, Lannes was much attached to him, and
in proportion as he got on himself he used his interest to
advance his friend. His grief, then, at seeing him fall dead
was very great.

At that moment we were a little in advance of the tile-
works, to the left, near Essling. In his emotion, wishing to
get away from the corpse, the marshal went a hundred paces
in the direction of Enzersdorf, and seated himself, deep in

346 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

thought, on the further side of a ditch, from which he could
watch the troops. A quarter of an hour later, four soldiers
laboriously carrying in a cloak a dead officer whose face could
not be seen stopped to rest in front of the marshal. The cloak
fell open, and Lannes recognised Pouzet. ' Oh ! ' he cried, * is
this terrible sight going to follow me everywhere ? ' Getting
up, he went and sat down at the edge of another ditch, his
hand over his eyes and his legs crossed. As he sat there,
plunged in gloomy meditation, a small three-pound shot, fired
from a gun at Enzersdorf, ricochetted, and struck him just
where his legs crossed. The knee-pan of one was smashed,
and the back sinews of the other torn. Instantly I rushed
towards the marshal, who said, * I am wounded ; it's nothing
much ; give me your hand to help me up.' He tried to rise,
but could not. The infantry regiments in front of us sent
some men at once to carry the marshal to an ambulance, but,
having neither stretcher nor cloak, we had to take him in our
arms, an attitude which caused him horrible pain. Then a
sergeant, seeing in the distance the soldiers who were carrying
General Pouzet's body, ran and asked them for the cloak in
which he was wrapped. We were about to lay the marshal on
it, so as to carry him with less pain ; but he recognised the
cloak, and said to me, * This is my poor friend's ; it is covered
with his blood ; I will not use it. Drag me along rather how
you can.' Not far off I saw a clump of trees ; I sent M. le
Couteulx and some grenadiers there, and they presently
returned with a stretcher covered with boughs. We carried
the marshal to the tete dt pont, where the chief surgeons pro-
ceeded to dress his wound, first holding a private consultation,
in which they could not agree as to what should be done. Dr.
Larrey was in favour of amputating the leg of which the knee-
pan was broken ; another, whose name I forget, wanted to cut
off both ; while Dr. Yvan, from whom I heard these details,
was against any amputation. This surgeon, who had long
known the marshal, asserted that his firmness of character gave
some chance of a cure, while an operation performed in such
hot weather would inevitably bring him to the grave. Larrey
was the senior surgeon of the army, and his opinion prevailed.
One of the marshal's legs was amputated. He bore the opera-
tion with great courage ; it was hardly over when the Emperor
came up. The interview was most touching. The Emperor,
kneeling beside the stretcher, wept as he embraced the marshal,
whose blood soon stained his white kerseymere waistcoat.
Some evil-disposed persons have written that Marshal

TENDING THE MARSHAL 347

Lannes addressed the Emperor reproachfully, and implored
him to make war no longer; but as I was at that moment
supporting the marshal's shoulders and heard everything that
he said, I can assert that this was not the case.1 On the con-
trary, the marshal felt the proofs of the Emperor's concern very
deeply, and when the latter was obliged to go away to give the
orders required for the safety of the army, and said, ' You will
live, my friend, you will live,' the marshal replied, pressing his
hand, ' I trust I may, if I can still be of use to France and to
your Majesty.'

In spite of his cruel sufferings the marshal did not forget
the position of his troops, but every moment asked for news of
them. He learnt with pleasure that as the enemy did not ven-
ture to pursue they were profiting by nightfall to return to the
island of Lobau. His anxiety extended to his aides-de-camp
who had been wounded near him ; he asked how they were
going on, and when he knew that I had been dressed with
coarse tow he asked Dr. Larrey to examine my wound. I
should have liked to carry the marshal to Ebersdorf, on the
right bank, but the broken bridge prevented this, and we did
not dare to put him on board of a frail boat. He was therefore
compelled to pass the night on the island, where, for want of a
mattress, I borrowed a dozen cavalry cloaks to make him a
bed. We were short of everything, and had not even good
water to give the marshal, who was parched with thirst. We
offered him Danube water, but the flood had made this so
muddy that he could not drink it, and said, resignedly, ■ We
are like sailors who die of thirst with water all round them.'
My desire to soothe his sufferings led me to devise a new kind
of filter. One of the marshal's valets, who had remained on the
island, had with him a small portmanteau containing linen. I
took one of the marshal's shirts of fine material ; we tied all the
openings with string except one, and, plunging into the Danube
the kind of bag thus made, we drew it out full, and then hung it
over a large can, so that the water filtering through the linen was
cleared of nearly all the earthy particles. The poor marshal,
who had followed my operations with eager eyes, was at last
able to get a draught, which, if not perfect, was at least fresh and
clear, and was very grateful for my invention. The care which I
was bestowing on my illustrious patient could not avert my fears
for the fate which might befall him if the Austrians were to
cross the small arm of the river and attack us on the island.

1 [General Pelet also contradicts the story.]

348 ' MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

What could I then do for him ? I thought for a moment that
my fears were going to be realised, for a battery near Enzers-
dorf sent several shots at us ; but the fire did not last long.

In the archduke's position two courses were open to him :
either to make a fierce attack upon the French divisions which
remained on the field of battle, or, if this seemed too bold a
move, he might without risk to his troops place his artillery
on the bank of the small arm from Enzersdorf to Aspern, and by
bombarding the island annihilate the 40,000 French who were
crowded on it. Happily for us, the enemy's commander-in-
chief took neither of these courses ; and Massena, to whom
Napoleon had entrusted the command of so much of the army
as was still on the left bank, was able during the night to
evacuate the villages of Aspern and Essling unmolested, and
bring his wounded, all his troops, and all his artillery over to
the island. The bridge across the small arm was taken up,
and by daybreak on the 23rd all our regiments who had been
engaged were safe on the island ; nor during the forty-five days
which Mass6na's occupation of it lasted did the enemy fire
another shot in that direction.

A boat of some size was sent by the Emperor on the 23rd
to bring Marshal Lannes to the right bank. I put him and
our wounded comrades into it, and when we reached Ebers-
dorf, sent the latter to Vienna in the charge of M. le Couteulx,
remaining myself alone with the marshal. He was taken to
one of the best houses in Ebersdorf, and I sent for all his
people to come and join him there.

Meanwhile our troops massed on the island of Lobau,
■short of food and ammunition, reduced to live on horseflesh,
and cut off from the right bank by the great breadth of the
river, were in a most critical position. It was feared that
the archduke's inaction was feigned, and it was expected
that at any moment he might ascend the Danube to a point
above Vienna, and, crossing the river, attack us in rear by the
right bank, at the same time raising the capital against us. In
that case, Marshal Davout's corps, which was guarding Vienna
and Ebersdorf, would certainly have made a stout resistance.
But could it have beaten the whole of the enemy's army ?
And, meanwhile, what would have become of the troops shut
up on the island ?

The Emperor profited cleverly by the time which the Aus-
trians left him, and never was his prodigious activity better
employed. Aided by the indefatigable Davout and his divisions,
he did on the 23rd alone more than another general could have

CROUCHING FOR A FRESH SPRING 349

got done in a week. A well-organised service of boats brought
provisions and ammunition to the island ; the wounded were
all got away to Vienna ; hospitals were established ; materials
in great quantity collected to repair the bridges, build fresh ones,
and protect them by a stockade ; a hundred guns of the largest
calibre, captured in Vienna, were taken to Ebersdorf. By the
24th, communication with the island was re-established, and
the Emperor marched Lannes' division, the guard, and all the
cavalry on to the right bank, leaving only Mass6na's corps to
fortify the island, and put in battery the big guns which had
been brought up. This point being secured, the Emperor or-
dered Bernadotte's army corps and the various divisions of the
Germanic Confederation to come on to Vienna, which would
enable him to repulse the archduke in the event of his venturing
across the river to attack us. A few days later we received a
powerful reinforcement. A French army under Eugene Beau-
harnais, coming from Italy, took up its position on our right.
I have not yet mentioned this army. At the beginning of the
campaign it had experienced a check at Sacile ; but a renewed
attack on the part of the French resulted in the defeat of the
enemy, who were driven across the Alps. The Archduke John
had been thrown back across the Danube into Hungary, which
opened the communications between the Viceroy and the Grand
Army, of which his troops henceforward formed the right wing,
posted opposite Pressburg.

CHAPTER XLV.

I have promised not to weary you with details of strategy,
but as the battle of Essling and the unforeseen events which
hindered us from winning a brilliant victory have been widely
discussed, I think I ought to make some remarks upon the
causes which led to that result, all the more so that they have
been misdescribed by a Frenchman, who has imputed to the
Emperor mistakes which he did not commit. General Rogniart,
in his work ■ Considerations on the Art of War,' asserts that at
Essling Napoleon fell thoughtlessly into a trap which the arch-
duke set for him when he ordered the centre of his army to
retire and draw the French forward while he was having the
bridges broken, their destruction having been already arranged.
Not only is this assertion contrary to the truth, but, as I think
I showed in my criticism addressed to General Rogniart in
1820, it is absurd. As a matter of fact if the archduke knew
that he had under his hand the means of destroying the bridges,
why did he not have them broken on the evening of the 21st,
when not more than 25,000 French troops had crossed to the
left bank, whom, with the 125,000 at his disposal, he could make
sure of destroying or capturing ? Would not this have been
better than leaving the passage of the river open to Napoleon
all night, thus enabling him to double the force which he could
oppose to the enemy ? If, again, he had arranged the destruc-
tion of the bridges, why did he during the afternoon of the
2 1 st lose four or five thousand men in attacking the villages
of Essling and Aspern ? It would have been much wiser to
wait till Massena's corps, having its retreat cut off, should
be obliged to capitulate. Why, finally, did he on the morn-
ing of the 22nd renew his furious attacks upon Essling and
Aspern instead of waiting till the bridges were broken ? Clearly,
because he did not know that it was in his power to destroy
them. It was only chance and the flooded state of the river
which brought down upon the pontoons the floating trees which
caused the first partial breaches, while later on the quick wit of
an Austrian officer arranged for the destruction of the great bridge

(350)

REASONS FOR THE DEFEAT 35 1

by launching into the current boats laden with burning wood, and
lastly, a huge floating mill, which carried away nearly the whole
bridge. But nothing had been arranged beforehand, and this
was admitted to us afterwards by several of the enemy's generals,
whom we saw on the occasion of the armistice at Znaym.

If any doubt remained on the subject it would be entirely
destroyed by the following irresistible argument. Of all the
military decorations in the Austrian Empire, the most difficult
to obtain was that of Maria Theresa, for it was only granted to
an officer who could show that he had done more than his duty.
He had to ask for the decoration himself, and if he failed he
was for ever debarred from demanding it again. Now, in spite
of the strictness of this regulation, the officer of the Austrian
Jagers obtained the Cross of Maria Theresa, which shows
undoubtedly that he had acted on an inspiration of his own, and
not by the archduke's orders. This reasoning, which I have
developed in my critical remarks on General Rogniart's work,
was especially approved by Napoleon when he read my book
and Rogniart's at St. Helena. It was doubtless to punish that
general for the partiality shown to our enemies that the Em-
peror, when leaving me a legacy of 100,000 francs, added in his
will, ' I bid Colonel Marbot continue to write in defence of the
glories of the French armies, and to the confusion of calum-
niators and apostates.'

As soon as the troops had effected their retreat into the
island of Lobau, and on to the right bank of the Danube, the
Emperor took up his quarters at Ebersdorf in order to survey
the arrangements for a fresh crossing. Not one bridge, but
three, were to be constructed, all having a strong stockade of
piles up stream from them to withstand any floating objects
which the enemy might launch at them. The care which the
Emperor bestowed on these important works did not prevent
him from coming twice a day to visit Marshal Lannes. For
the first four days after his wound the marshal went on as well
as possible ; he preserved perfect equanimity, and conversed
very calmly. So far was he from renouncing the service of his
country, as some writers have stated, that he made plans for
the future. Learning that Mesler, the celebrated Viennese
mechanician, had made for the Austrian general, Count Palfy,
an artificial leg with which he could walk and ride as well as
ever, the marshal asked me to write to that artist, asking him
to come and measure him for a leg. But the oppressive heat
which we had experienced for some time became more intense,
with disastrous results to the wounded man. He was attacked

352 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

by high fever, accompanied with terrible delirium. The critical
situation in which he had left the army was always on his mind,
and he fancied himself still on the battlefield. He would call
his aides-de-camp in a loud voice, bidding one tell the cuirassiers
to charge, another to bring the artillery to such and such a point,
and so on. In vain did Dr. Yvan and I try to soothe him ; he
did not understand us. His excitement kept increasing ; he no
longer recognised even the Emperor. This condition lasted
several days without his getting a moment's sleep or resting
from his imaginary combats. At length, in the night between the
29th and 30th, he left off giving his orders ; a great weakness
succeeded the delirium ; he recovered all his mental faculties, re
cognised me, pressed my hand, spoke of his wife, his five children,
his father, and, as I was very near his pillow, he rested his head
on my shoulder, appeared to be falling asleep, and passed away
with a sigh.1 It was daybreak on May 30. A few moments
later the Emperor arrived for his morning visit. I thought it my
duty to meet him and let him know of the sad event, caution-
ing him not to enter the infected atmosphere of the room. But
Napoleon, putting me aside, advanced to the marshal's body,
which he embraced, bathing it with tears, and saying repeatedly,
* What a loss for France and for me ! ' Berthier tried in
vain to draw him away from the sad sight ; he remained for
more than an hour, and only yielded when Berthier pointed
out that General Bertrand and the engineer officers were
waiting to execute an important piece of work, for which he
had himself fixed the time. As he went away he expressed his
satisfaction with the unremitting care which I had taken of the
marshal, and bade me have the body embalmed, and everything
got ready for its transport to France.

My grief, already very keen, was increased by the necessity
of attending the operation in order to draw up a report of it,
and of superintending the removal of the body. It was a sad
day for me, and I reflected much on the destiny of this man,
who, gifted only with a quick intelligence and a dauntless
courage, had raised himself by merit from the lowest to the
highest rank of society, and now in full enjoyment of his
honours and vast wealth, had just ended his career in a foreign
land, far from his family, in the arms of none but his aide-de-

*[It will be observed that Marbot's report of the last days and death of
Marshal Lannes differs materially from the sensational account given by Sir
Walter Scott, mainly, it would appear, on the authority of Napoleon himself
(as reported by Las Cases) and Savary. But see Lanfrey, III- p. 403.]

AFTER THE DEATH OF LANNES 353

camp. Both physical and moral shocks had impaired my
health. My wound, a slight one at first, and easy to cure if I
could have had a few days' rest of mind and body, had become
terribly inflamed during these ten days of anxiety and fatigue ;
for no one, not even his valets, had rendered me any efficient
help in tending to the marshal. One of them, a kind of dandy,
had gone off the first day, under the plea that the stench of the
wounds made him ill. The other was more zealous, but really
fell ill from this cause, and I was obliged to send for a
hospital man, who was as willing as possible, but whose
unfamiliar face and dress seemed to displease the marshal, so
that I had to givQ him everything. This day and night watch-
ing made my wound worse ; my thigh was much swollen, and
I could hardly stand, when I determined at length to go to
Vienna and get proper treatment In the Archduke Albert's
palace I found all my wounded comrades. The Emperor had
not lost sight of us, for he instructed the chief court surgeon,
who lodged at Schonbrunn, to look after Marshal Lannes'
aides-de-camp, and this good Dr. Franck came to see us twice
daily. On examining my wound he thought it in a very bad
state, and prescribed entire rest. But in spite of his advice I
often walked through the passages to see my friend De Viry,
who was kept in bed by a much worse wound than mine.
Indeed, I soon had the grief of losing this excellent comrade,
to my infinite regret ; and as I was the only aide-de-camp who
knew his father, the duty of announcing to him the fatal news
fell to me. The poor old man, broken-hearted, survived his
son but a short time.

While unable to move I read much, and wrote down the
most important facts of the recent campaign, together with
some anecdotes which I had heard about it. Here is one of
the most interesting. Two years before the establishment
of the Empire, there existed no rank in French regiments
intermediate between that of colonel and that of major.1
Bonaparte, then First Consul, wishing to fill this gap, which
had been caused by a decree of the Convention, consulted the
Council, and it was recognised to be necessary that some
rank should be created, with functions equivalent to that of
the old lieutenant-colonels. The next point was to settle the
title, and Bonaparte was decided against the proposal of
Berthier and some councillors that the former name should
be restored. He pointed out that under the old system, the

1 [Chef de bataillon, or d'escadron.]
23

354 MEMOIRS OB THE BARON DE MARBOT

colonels being great noblemen who passed their life at court
and seldom appeared with their regiments, the administration
and instruction of these had to be entrusted to officers acting
as their substitutes, to whom it was quite fit and proper to
give the title of lieutenant-colonel, since they were the real
commanders of the regiments of which the colonels were
merely the titular chiefs. But now that things had changed,
and the colonels were the real commanders of their corps, it
would not do to create a rivalry between them and the officers
under consideration. If, however, the name of lieutenant-
colonel were given to them, they would be brought too
near their chiefs, because their juniors would for brevity
address them as ' Colonel ' ; nor was it seemly that when a
soldier said he was going to the colonel he should have to be
asked, ' To which ? ' The First Consul accordingly proposed to
give the second officer in a regiment the title of major. His
opinion prevailed, and the rank of lieutenant-colonel was re-
stored, but not the name. This looks like a distinction without
a difference ; but it is not so, as the following story shows.

On the first day of the battle of Essling the Austrians had
captured the village of that name, and the French regiment
which had been posted there was retiring in some disorder
before a much superior force, when, being sent to that point
by Marshal Lannes, I learnt that the colonel had just been
killed. The officers and men, resolved to avenge him and
retake Essling, had, under the command of the major, promptly
re-formed their ranks, still under fire, at no great distance from
the houses. I hastened to tell the marshal the state of affairs ;
but when I said in a low voice, ' The colonel is dead,' Na-
poleon, who was close by, frowned, uttering a « Hush 1 ' which
made me silent ; and though unable to explain to myself how
he proposed to improve the occasion, I could see that for the
moment he did not wish to know that the colonel was killed.

The Emperor, who has been accused of lacking physical
courage, galloped off, in spite of the bullets which were whist-
ling round us, reached the centre of the regiment, and asked
where the colonel was. No one replied, till Napoleon having
repeated his question, several soldiers answered, ' He has just
been killed.' * I did not ask if he was dead, but where he is.'
Then a timid voice announced that he had been left in the
village. ' What, soldiers ! ' said Napoleon. ' You have left
your colonel's body in the hands of the enemy ? Know that a
brave regiment should always be able to show its eagle and its
colonel, dead or living. You have left your colonel in that

ANECDOTES 355

village ; go and find him.' The major, catching Napoleon's
thought, cried, ' Yes, we are dishonoured, if we do not bring
back our colonel ! ' and off he went at the double. The regi-
ment followed, with a shout of ' Long live the Emperor ! '
exterminated some hundred Austrians, remained master of the
position, and got back the body of its colonel, which a grenadier
company brought and laid down at the Emperor's feet. As you
quite understand, the Emperor cared nothing about having the
poor officer's body, but he wished to attain the double object of
retaking the village, and impressing upon the troops that the
colonel is a second flag, which a good regiment should never
abandon. This conviction in moments of difficulty exalts
the courage of the men and leads them to fight obstinately
around their chief, dead or living. Then, turning to Prince
Berthier, the Emperor reminded him of the discussion in the
council, adding, ■ If when I asked for the colonel there had
been a lieutenant-colonel instead of the major, they would have
said, " Here he is," and the effect which I wished to produce
would have been less impressive, for in the soldier's eyes
lieutenant-colonel and colonel are pretty nearly synonymous
titles.' Then the Emperor sent word to the major, who had
just taken his regiment along so bravely, that he promoted him
to colonel.

From what I have just told you you may judge the magic
power which Napoleon exercised over his troops, since his
presence and a few words were enough to send them into any
danger : and you can also see with what readiness he could
turn to advantage any incident of the battlefield. This episode
seemed to me all the more worth recording, since the title of
lieutenant-colonel was mistakenly revived under the Restoration.

Here is another anecdote, the chief interest of which is
that it gave occasion to a very sensible remark on the part of
Lannes. While the infantry of our corps was crossing the
bridges and the cavalry was awaiting its turn, a major of the
7th Chasseurs, named M. Hulot d'Hozery, now a general
[we saw him in 1814 on the staff of the Emperor Alexander,
when the foreign armies entered Paris], being a very brave
man, and urged by curiosity to find out what was taking
place on the field of battle, left his regiment at Ebersdorf,
and crossed the river in a boat. On the other side he mounted
a horse, and came caracoling as an amateur about our staff near
Essling, and at that very moment a cannon-ball took off his
arm. As soon as he had been taken to the ambulance for
amputation, Marshal Lannes said to us, ■ Remember, gentle-

35^ MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MAR BO T

men, that in war swagger is always out of place, and that true
courage consists in facing the dangers to which one is exposed
at one's post, and not in going and parading in the middle of a
fight otherwise than at the summons of duty.'

I think I should now give a more complete biography of
Marshal Lannes. He was born in 1769 at Lectoure, a little
town in Gascony. His father was a mere working dyer, with
three sons and one daughter. Lectoure was then a bishop's
see, and a certain vicar-general, observing the intelligence and
good conduct of the dyer's eldest son, placed him in the
seminary, where he took orders, and in course of time became
a vicar-general himself. He was a worthy man, and set himself
to teach his younger brothers, the second of whom, the future
marshal, profited by his lessons so far as he could in the
intervals of assisting his father in the work of his trade. When
the Revolution broke out, his education was limited to reading,
writing, and arithmetic. The youngest brother had not much
talent, and, after trying to help him in a military career, the
marshal advised him to quit the service, got him married well
for his province, and established him in his native town. The
girl, who, when her second brother became general, was still a
child, was sent to a good school by him, afterwards dowered by
him, and well married.

Lannes was of middle height, but very well built ; his
countenance pleasant and expressive ; his eyes small, but indi-
cating a keen wit ; his disposition very kind, but passionate,
until he succeeded in overcoming it ; his ambition boundless,
his activity extraordinary, and his courage undaunted. After
passing his youth as a dyer's apprentice he saw the military
career open before him, and advanced in it with giant steps.
Carried away by the enthusiasm which in 1791 had decided
most men of his age to fly to the defence of their country
unjustly attacked, he enrolled himself in the volunteers of the
Gers, and served as a grenadier until his comrades were led by
his good behaviour, his zeal, and his quick wit to nominate
him sub-lieutenant. From that moment he gave himself up to
unremitting study, and even when he was marshal he passed
part of his nights in work, so that he became a very fairly
educated man. He saw his first service under my father at the
camp of Le Miral, and afterwards in the army of the Eastern
Pyrenees, where his intrepidity and uncommon intelligence
quickly raised him to the rank of major, which he held at the
time when my father's division passed under the command of

LIFE OF LANNES 357

General Augereau. After a bloody engagement, in which
Lannes had covered himself with glory, Augereau got him
made colonel. Having been wounded in this affair, Lannes
was obliged to pass some months at Perpignan, where he was
quartered with a rich banker, M. M6ric. Winning the esteem
of all the family by his pleasant manners, the young officer
married Mile. Meric — a much better match than at that time
he could have hoped for.

Peace having been concluded between France and Spain
in 1795, Lannes went with Augereau's division to Italy, and
was placed as supernumerary with the 4th half-brigade of the
line, which, in the absence of its regular chief, was really
commanded by him at the time when Bonaparte came to
take command of the army. He quickly recognised Lannes'
merit, so when a decree of the Directory put all the super-
numerary officers on half-pay, Bonaparte took upon himself
to keep him in Italy, where, though not officially belonging
to the army, he was twice wounded in the campaigns of 1796
and 1797. But for the perspicacity of the commander-in-chief,
Lannes would have been removed from the service, and have
buried his military talents in the office of his father-in-law,
and France would have had one great captain the less.
When Bonaparte led an army into Egypt he took Lannes
with him. He had now become major-general, and consequently
was officially restored to the active list.

The new general distinguished himself everywhere, and
was so seriously wounded at the assault of Acre that his troops
thought him dead. I have told you how his life was saved by
a captain of grenadiers, who, at the risk of his own life, dragged
him to the end of the trenches. In this affair Lannes got a
bullet through his neck, and ever afterwards carried his head
bent towards his left shoulder, and had a certain discomfort in
his larynx. He had scarcely recovered from this wound when
he was overtaken by a great sorrow. He learnt that his wife,
whom he had not seen for two years, had just been delivered of
a boy. A lawsuit ensued, and he obtained a divorce.

Lannes left Egypt with Napoleon, and followed him to
Paris. After the 18th of Brumaire he went with him to Saint-
Cloud. He distinguished himself in the campaign of Marengo,
and saved the army at the action of Montebello, where a great
part of our army engaged in the gorges of the Alps would have
been unable to emerge into the plain if Lannes' courage and
masterly manoeuvres had not got the enemy out of the way.
His conduct on this occasion earned him later on the title of

358 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

Duke of Montebello. It was on his return from this campaign
that Lannes conceived a hope of marrying Caroline Bonaparte.
I have told you how the intrigues of Bessieres swayed the
balance in favour of Murat. Lannes was then appointed am-
bassador at Lisbon, and married Mile. GuehSneuc, who brought
him a handsome dowry, which, added to a fortunate windfall,
put his affairs on a satisfactory footing. By a regulation of old
standing, a French ambassador on his first arrival at Lisbon
was entitled to pass in free of duty all goods on board the vessel
which brought him. General Lannes, in pursuance of the usual
practice, ceded this right to a commercial firm for 300,000 francs.
Some time afterwards, on the birth of a boy — who was, in later
days, Minister of Marine under Louis Philippe 1 — the Prince
Regent of Portugal asked to be god-father. On the christening-
day, in the course of a visit to the rooms of the palace in which
Brazilian curiosities were kept, he took Lannes to a room where
were boxes full of precious stones, and, opening one, he took
out three double handfuls of uncut diamonds, and put them into
the general's hat, with the words, ' The first for my godson, the
second for the ambassadress his mother, and the third for the
ambassador.' From this time Lannes, from whom I had the
story, was really a wealthy man.

Nor did the favour of fortune stop there. When on ascend-
ing the throne in 1804, the First Consul created the dignity of
Marshal of France, Lannes naturally was among the first to
receive it, with the title of Duke of Montebello. At the Camp
of Boulogne he commanded the 5th corps of the Grand Army,
and led it the next year into Austria. At Austerlitz he specially
distinguished himself, being in command of the left wing. So,
too, in the following year, at Saalfeld, Jena, Pultusk, and Fried-
land. In 1808 and 1809, in Spain, he assisted the Emperor
bravely at Burgos, won the battle of Tudela by himself, and
captured Saragossa. Then, without resting, he hastened back
to Germany. His exploits there I have just narrated, at Eck-
muhl, Ratisbon, and finally at Essling, where this modern
Bayard closed his glorious career.

That you may better appreciate his character, I may
relate an incident which shows what pains he took with him-
self. In ordinary intercourse he was calm and gentle; but
on the battlefield he would work himself up into a fury the

1 [Napoleon Auguste Lannes, Duke of Montebello, born 1801, was am-
bassador at Naples, Minister (for a few weeks) of Foreign Affairs, and later
of Marine under Louis Philippe, and ambassador at St. Petersburg, 1858-
1864. He died in 1874.]

A GKEA T CAPTAIN 359

moment his orders were not well carried out. Now it happened
during the battle of Burgos that at the decisive moment, a
captain of artillery, having misunderstood a manoeuvre which
had been enjoined, took his battery in exactly the wrong
direction. The marshal, seeing this, galloped off, and in his
wrath gave the officer a severe reprimand in the Emperor's
presence. As he went away he heard Napoleon say something,
of which he only caught the first words, 'That fellow Lannes.'
He returned pensive, and, taking me aside at the first possible
moment, required me by his confidence in me, and my affection
for him, to tell him the whole of the Emperor's remark. I
replied frankly : ' His Majesty said, " That fellow Lannes has
all the qualities which go to make a great captain, but he never
will be one, because he cannot control his temper, and gets in
a rage even with subalterns, and an army-leader can have no
greater fault." ' The marshal's heart was so set on being a
great captain that he resolved to acquire the one qualification
which, in the opinion of so good a judge as the Emperor, he
lacked ; and from that moment I never again saw him out of
temper even when, as often happened, especially at Saragossa,
his orders were ill-performed. When he perceived a serious
fault, the first impulse of his fiery nature towards an outbreak
was in an instant checked by his firm will. He would turn
pale, and his hands would clench, but he made his remarks as
calmly as a phlegmatic man could do, as the following instance
may show. Anyone with the least experience of war knows
that when soldiers want to clean their muskets, instead of
drawing the charges with the proper screw, they have the bad
and dangerous habit of letting them off in the air. In spite of
all prohibition, it happened, during the siege of Saragossa,
that some infantry men were emptying their muskets in this
fashion at a moment when the marshal was passing near their
camp. One of the bullets, striking the bridle of his horse, cut
the reins close to his hand. The soldier was arrested for breach
of the regulations ; but the marshal, checking his impulse to
speak sharply, only said, ' See what you lay yourself open to,
and think how sorry you would be if you had killed me,' and
had the man set free. It requires strength of mind to master
one's character in this way.

As I am writing the history of my life, I have to be con-
stantly coming back to personal details. I may, therefore,
remind you that after the death of Marshal Lannes I had gone
to Vienna to get my wound attended to. I lay on my bed
deep in sad meditations ; for not only did I regret for his own

360 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MAR EOT

sake the marshal who had been so kind to me, but I could not
disguise from myself that the loss of such a supporter changed
my position vastly. The Emperor had, indeed, told me at Molk
that he appointed me major, and both he and Berthier addressed
me as such ; but, as in the bustle of the war, no commissions
had been drawn out, I was actually still only a captain. My
fears for my future were terminated by a piece of good luck.
My comrade, La Bourdonnaye, far more seriously wounded
than I, lay in the next room to mine, and we often chatted
through the open door. M. Mounier, the Emperor's secretary,
afterwards peer of France, often came to see La Bourdonnaye,
and I made his acquaintance. Having often heard my perform-
ances and my wounds spoken of at head-quarters, and seeing
me with a fresh mark of the enemy's fire, he asked what reward
I had got. ' None,' said I. 'It can only be by an oversight,'
replied he, 'for I am sure I saw your name for one of the com-
missions lying in the Emperor's portfolio.' Next day I learnt
from him that he had placed the commission under the Emperor's
eyes, and that the Emperor had written on the margin, ' This
officer shall enter the mounted chasseurs of my guard as major';
thus granting me a great and unprecedented favour, for the
officers of the guard had army rank superior to that which they
held in the corps. In thus admitting me as major, Napoleon
raised me two steps at once, and gave me the rank of major , or
lieutenant-colonel in the line, which was magnificent. I was
not, however, dazzled by this advantage, although, as the guard
did garrison duty in Paris, I should be able to see more of my
mother ; but Marshal Bessieres was general in command of the
guard, and not only did he give a bad reception to officers whom
he had not recommended himself, but I feared his ill-will on
account of the incident at Essling.

I was in a painful state of uncertainty when Prince Eugene,
Viceroy of Italy, arrived at Vienna, and took up his quarters in
the Archduke Albert's palace. One day Massena came to visit
him, and, wishing to show kindness to Marshal Lannes' aides-
de-camp, came up to our rooms and stayed some time with me,
as he had known me at the time of the siege of Genoa. I told
him my difficulty, and he replied, ' No doubt it would be a
great advantage to you to enter the guard, but you would expose
yourself to Marshal Bessieres' vengeance. Come and be my aide-
de-camp, and you shall be received like a child of my family, as
the son of a good general who died when fighting under me,
and I will take care of your promotion.' Enticed by these
promises, I accepted ; Massena went ofTat once to the Emperor,

AIDE-DE-CAMP TO MASSE TV A 36 1

who finally agreed to his request, and sent me on June 18 my
commission as major to be aide-de-camp to Massena.

Delighted though I was at being at length a field-officer, it
was not long before I was sorry for having accepted Massena's
offer. An hour after my appointment as aide-de-camp came
Marshal Bessieres bringing with his own hands my nomination
to the guard ; he assured me that he would have much pleasure
in receiving me in the corps, as he knew that in bearing the
order to him on the field of Essling I was only obeying the
instructions of Marshal Lannes. I was deeply grateful for this
kind and straightforward action, and much regretted that I had
been so prompt in engaging myself to Massena ; but it was
too late to go back on my decision. I feared at the time that
my promotion would suffer, but luckily it was not so, for M.
Mounier, who took my place in the guard, was still only major
when I became colonel. It is true that he passed the next two
years in Paris, while I was in the thick of the fire and got two
more wounds.

Napoleon rewarded Marshal Lannes' staff plentifully.
Among others, Saint-Mars became colonel of the 3rd Chas-
seurs, and Lab6doyere aide-de-camp to Prince Eugene. As for
me, as soon as I could get to Schonbrunn to thank the Em-
peror for my promotion, his Majesty did me the honour of
saying, ' I should have liked to have you in my guard ; however,
as Marshal Massena wants you for his aide-de-camp, and that
suits you, I have no objection ; but in order to show in a special
way how pleased I am with you, I appoint you knight of the
Empire, with an annuity of 2,000 francs.' If I had dared I
should have begged the Emperor to return to his first purpose,
and admit me into his guard ; but how could I tell him the
reason why I had originally declined ? That being impossible,
I confined myself to thanking him, but it was with a sore heart.
However, having to resign myself to the position into which
my own hot-headedness had brought me, I put aside useless
regrets, and took all the more care of my wound, so that I
might be fit to accompany my new marshal in the fighting
which was sure to follow our next passage of the Danube.

CHAPTER XLVI.

By the end of June I was well enough to join Mass6na's
head-quarters on the isle of Lobau, and was greeted in friendly
fashion by my new comrades. The staff was numerous, and
contained several officers of distinction. Before resuming my
tale of the campaign of 1809 I should like to make you acquainted
with one of them who played an important part in the events
preceding the battle of Wagram — Colonel de Sainte-Croix.

Charles d'Escorches de Sainte-Croix, son of the marquis of
that name, once Louis XVI.'s ambassador to the Porte, was in
all respects a most remarkable man. His military career was
short enough, but of wonderful brilliancy. His family and
mine were connected, and we were most intimate friends ;
indeed, the desire of serving with him had been a strong induce-
ment to me to accept Massena's proposal. Keen as was Sainte-
Croix's natural love of war, it was late before he could gratify it,
since he was destined for diplomacy, and all through the Peace
of Amiens was employed under Talleyrand in the Foreign Office.
When the campaign of 1805 opened he was twenty-three, and
therefore too old to enter the Ecole Militaire^ so that but for a
lucky circumstance he might never have entered the army.

After Austerlitz Napoleon formed from the prisoners there
taken two foreign regiments for the French service. These not
being governed by the same regulations as the national forces, he
was able to officer them as he pleased, appointing even to field
rank men who had had no military experience, but belonging to
good families, and showing a zeal for the service. By this
abnormal system of promotion Napoleon got the benefit of
attaching to himself some hundred and fifty young men of
education and fortune who otherwise would have been corrupted
by a slothful life at Paris. The first foreign regiment was
commanded by the nephew of the famous La Tour d'Auvergne;
the second by a great German noble, the Prince of Eisenburg ;
and they were known by the names of their chiefs. They
were organised on the model of the foreign regiments in the
French service before the Revolution, and as the Foreign

(362)

SAINTE-CROIX 363

Minister had always been responsible for the levying of these
troops, Napoleon ordered Talleyrand to search the archives for
precedents. Knowing young Sainte-Croix's military tastes, the
Minister assigned the work to him, and, in addition to tracing
the history of the old regiments, he proposed modifications to
suit the altered conditions. Struck with the good sense dis-
played in this scheme, and knowing the author's desire to serve
in the new corps, the Emperor appointed him first major, and,
soon after, lieutenant-colonel in the La Tour d'Auvergne Regi-
ment. It was a great favour, as the Emperor had never seen
Sainte-Croix; but it went near to spoil his prospects at the outset.

A M. de M , cousin to the Emperor, had hoped for

the rank of lieutenant-colonel, but only got that of major.
Hurt in his vanity, he sought a quarrel with Sainte-Croix on
a frivolous pretext. As he was a first-rate performer with
every kind of weapon, his friends were sure of his victory
and escorted him in a cavalcade to the Bois de Boulogne ; but
only one accompanied him to the spot where his adversary,
with one second, awaited him. They fought with pistols, and

M. de M received a bullet in the breast which laid him

dead ; upon which, his second, instead of going to fetch help,
and thinking only of the consequences which this tragic end
of a relation of the Emperor might entail on himself, fled
through the wood and far away from Paris, without returning
for his horse or informing the dead man's friends. Sainte-
Croix and his friends also returned to the city, and the body
was left alone on the ground. Meanwhile, those who were

awaiting M. de M 's return, hearing the shots but seeing

no more of him, went into the wood, and found the poor young
man's body. It happened that in falling he had fractured his
skull on a hard stump, and when his friends, after examining
the wound in the breast, saw another in the head, they thought
that Sainte-Croix, after wounding his opponent with a bullet
from his pistol, had finished him by smashing his skull with
the butt. This seemed to explain the disappearance of the dead
man's second, on the supposition that he lacked either strength
or courage to prevent the assassination. With this notion in
their minds, they hastened to Saint-Cloud, and imparted it to
the Empress, who went to the Emperor demanding justice.
An order was given to arrest Sainte-Croix, and, as he had in no
way concealed himself, he was locked up. Doubtless he would
have lain in prison while a long inquiry was held had not
Fouche, a family friend, being sure that he would not have
committed such a crime, made an active search for the missing

364 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

second. Being found and brought to Paris, he honestly reported
what had happened, and further, the officials charged with the
inquiry discovered near the corpse a stump of a root stained
with blood, and having hair adhering to it. Sainte-Croix's
innocence was admitted ; he was set free, and went to join his
regiment in Italy.

M. de la Tour D'Auvergne was an estimable man, but with
no great turn for military matters. Sainte-Croix, therefore, had
the organising of the new regiment, and did it with such zeal
that he made it one of the finest corps in the army. He dis-
tinguished himself in Calabria, and earned the great regard of
Mass6na, who, after the battle of Eylau, sent for him to Poland,
though it was quite against the regulations to take an officer,
especially a major, from his regiment. When he reached
Warsaw he was presented by Massena to the Emperor, who,

recalling the death of M. de M , received him coldly,

expressing to the marshal his dissatisfaction at his having
been brought away from his regiment. The Emperor had
another reason for his unfriendly welcome. Although of short
stature himself, Napoleon had a great preference for tall, strong,
masculine men ; but Sainte-Croix was small, slight, and with
the face of a pretty fair-complexioned woman. Inithis feeble-
seeming body, however, there was a soul of steel, an heroic
courage, and a restless activity. The Emperor soon recognised
these qualities, but, thinking that it was enough for Sainte-Croix
to have started with the rank of major, he did nothing for him
during that campaign. When, however, in 1809, Massena was
put in command of an army corps, he remembered how the
Emperor had reproved him for attaching Sainte-Croix to his staff
without leave, and asked and obtained him for his aide-de-camp.

In one of the actions preceding our entry into Vienna Sainte-
Croix took a flag from the enemy, and the Emperor made him
colonel ; at Essling he showed wonderful courage and intelli-
gence, and the Emperor's prejudice against him was completely
destroyed by the important services which he rendered to
Massena's corps when acting as advanced guard on the isle
of Lobau. The Emperor went every day to inspect the fortifica-
tions on the island, remaining on foot for seven or eight hours.
These long walks fatigued Massena, who was already a little
infirm, and General Becker, chief of the staff, often could not
answer the Emperor's questions, while Sainte-Croix, with his
wonderful activity and intelligence, knew everything, foresaw
everything, and could give the most exact information. Thus
Napoleon fell into the way of applying to him, and gradually

ON LOB A U ISLAND 365

Sainte-Croix became, if not dejure, certainly de facto chief of the
staff to the army corps which was defending the island of Lobau.

It would have been so easy for the Austrians to bombard
us out of this island, that the Emperor went away each
evening with regret, and passed each night in cruel anxiety,
As soon as he awoke he wished to have news of Massena's
corps, and Sainte-Croix had orders to report to him in his
room every morning at daybreak. Thus, every night the
colonel went on foot round the vast island, visiting our out-
posts and examining those of the enemy ; then, mounting his
horse, he hurried over the two leagues to Schonbrunn. The
aides-de-camp had orders to bring him at once to the Emperor's
bedroom, and the Emperor, dressing in his presence, would
discuss the position of the two armies. Then they would gallop
off to the island; the Emperor would inspect the works all
day, often mounting a high double ladder, which the ingenious
Sainte-Croix had had set up as an observatory, and whence the
movements of the enemy's troops on the left bank could be
seen, and in the evening Sainte-Croix would escort the Emperor
back to Schonbrunn. For forty-four days in extreme heat he
worked in this way, without being weary or slackening his
activity for a moment. Often Napoleon would call him to
council, when discussing with Marshals Massena and Berthier
the best way of getting the army across to the left bank. The
passage would have to be made at a different point to the former
one, since it was known that that place had been strongly en-
trenched by the archduke. Sainte-Croix proposed to turn the
enemy's defences by crossing opposite Enzersdorf, which course
was adopted.

In short, Napoleon's opinion of his merit was so high that
he said one day to the Russian envoy, M. de Czernicheff, ' I
have never since I have been in command of armies met a more
capable officer, nor one who understood my thought quicker and
executed it better. He reminds me of Marshal Lannes and
General Desaix, and if he is not struck down by a thunderbolt
France and Europe will be astonished at the distance which I
shall take him.' These words were very soon known every-
where, and it was expected that Sainte-Croix would quickly be
a marshal. But, unhappily, the thunderbolt did strike him ; he
was killed the next year by a cannon-ball at the gates of Lisbon.

Napoleon, though he usually kept at a distance the com-
manders whom he most esteemed, now and again was familiar
with one of them, and even amused himself by inciting him to
frank repartees. Thus Lasalle, Junot, and Rapp used to say

366 MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE MARBOT

to the Emperor whatever came into their heads. The two first,
who used to ruin themselves every other year, would thus relate
their pranks to Napoleon, who always paid their debts. Sainte-
Croix was too clever and too decorous to abuse the favour which
he enjoyed ; still, when the Emperor drove him to it, he was
capable of prompt and decisive repartee. Thus, when Napoleon,
who would often take his arm, as they walked through the sands
of the isle of Lobau, said to him, on one of their numerous expe-
ditions, ■ I remember that after your duel with my wife's cousin
I wanted to shoot you ; I admit that it would have been a
mistake and a very great loss.' ' That is quite true, sir,' an-
swered Sainte-Croix, ' and I am certain that now, when your
Majesty knows me better, you wouldn't exchange me for one of
the Empress's cousins.' 'For one, indeed!' said the Emperor;
'you may say for the lot of them.' Another day, when Sainte-
Croix was present, as Napoleon got up the latter said, as he
drank a glass of cold water, ' I believe that Schonbrunn in
German means " beautiful spring " ; it was rightly named, for
the spring in the park produces delicious water, which I drink
every morning. Do you like cold water ? ' ' No, indeed, sir ;
I prefer a good glass of bordeaux or champagne.' Then the
Emperor, turning to his valet, said, 'Send the colonel a hundred
bottles of bordeaux and the same number of champagne,' and
that very evening, as Mass^na's aides-de-camp were dining in
their bivouac under the trees, we saw several mules, from the
imperial stables, arriving with two hundred bottles of excellent
wine for Sainte-Croix, and we drank the Emperor's health therein.

ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY PRESS

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