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If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon + University" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Carnegie-Mellon University". + +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + + +The Memoirs of General the Baron de Marbot +Translated by Oliver C. Colt + +THE MEMOIRS OF GENERAL THE BARON DE MARBOT. + +Translated by Oliver C. Colt + + +Volume 1. + +Table of contents + +Chap. 1. Origins of my family. My father joins the bodyguard. The +de Certain family. Life at Lariviere. Episode in infancy. + +Chap. 2. Outbreak of revolution. My father's attitude. He rejoins +the army. I go to Mlle. Mongalvi. My life as a boarder. + +Chap. 3. My father is posted to Toulouse. He takes me with him. +The convoy of aristocrats. Life at Toulouse. I am taken to +Soreze. + +Chap. 4. Life at Soreze. Early hardships. Visit of representative +of the people. + +Chap. 5. I join my family in Paris. My father is given command of +the 17th division in Paris. He refuses to join with Sieyes and +hands the command to Lefebvre. + +Chap. 6. My father is posted to Italy. How my career is begun. I +become a Hussar. + +Chap. 7. My father leaves. Meeting with Bonaparte at Lyon. An +adventure on the Rhone. The cost of a Republican banquet. I am +presented to my commanding officer. + +Chap. 8. Arrival at Nice. My mentor Pertelay. I become a true +Hussar. I join the "clique". My first duel. We rustle some +cattle. The "Clique". + +Chap. 9. How I get immediate promotion. The capture of 17 enemy +Hussars. + +Chap. 10. Campaign in Piedmont. General Macard. Capture of enemy +cannons. I am promoted to Sous-lieutenant. I become aide de camp +to my father. + +Chap. 11. Retreat of the right wing of the army to Genoa. My +father wounded. The siege. My friend Trepano. Death of my father. +Famine and fighting. + +Chap. 12. Episodes in the siege. Fate of Austrian captives. + +Chap. 13. Napoleon crosses the St. Bernard. Massena yields. +Marengo. I return to my family. My extreme prostration. + +Chap. 14. I am temporary aide de camp to Bernadotte. We go to +Tours. + +Chap. 15. At Brest and Rennes. I am posted to the 23rd Chasseurs, +in Portugal. Journey from Nantes to Salamanca. We form the right +wing of the Spanish army. Return to France. + +Chap. 16. On the road from Bayonne to Toulouse. The inspection. + +Chap. 17. The events at Rennes. My brother Adolphe is involved +and is sent to prison. Death of my brother Theodore. + +Chap. 18. The school at Versailles. My mother's brothers. + +Chap. 19. Preparations for invasion of Britain. I become aide de +camp to Augereau. + +Chap. 20. Augereau. + +Chap. 21. From Bayonne to Brest. 1804. Pichegru. Death of Duc +d'Enghien. Bonaparte becomes emperor. + +Chap. 22. 1805. Institution of Legion of Honour. Camp at +Boulogne. I am made lieutenant. Death of my brother Felix. +Russia and Austria declare war. + +Chap. 23. The army heads for the Rhine. Mission to Massena. +Jellachich surrenders. The Hungarian Colonel. + +Chap. 24. The march to Vienna. The battle at Dirnstein. Lannes +and Murat bluff their way across the Danube. + +Chap. 25. Hollabrunn. I bring the flags captured at Breganz to +the Emperor. The danger of a white lie. + +Chap. 26. The Prussian Ambassador. Austerlitz. I save a Russian +sergeant. + +Chap. 27. Meeting of the Emperors. Return to my unit. Darmstadt +and Frankfurt. + +Chap. 28. Mission to Prussia. Situation in Prussia. + +Chap. 29. State of Prussian army. Wurtzberg. Saalefeld and death +of Prince Louis. Augereau and his former companions. + +Chap. 30. Jena. The Cure. Auerstadt. The behaviour of Bernadotte. + +The entry into Berlin. + +Chap. 31. Demoralisation of Prussians. Origin of the house of +Rothschild. With Duroc to the King of Prussia. Graudentz. The +army at the Vistula. + +Chap. 32. Crossing of the Ukra. Various encounters. Cantonments +on the banks of the Vistula. + +Chap. 33. 1807. Made Captain. Eylau. Destruction of Augereau's +corps. + +Chap. 34. My part in the battle of Eylau. My mare Lisette. I +escape death by a miracle. Return to Warsaw and Paris. + +Chap. 35. Missions for the Emperor. I join Marshal Lannes. +Hostilities resumed June 11th. + +Chap. 36. Battle of Friedland. I escape from dangers. Treaty of +Tilsitt. + +Chap. 37. Mission to Dresden. An unwitting smuggler. An incident +at Mainz. Paris and La Houssaye. + + + +Introduction. General, later the Baron, Marbot, came from a +family which might be described as landed gentry. His father +served in the bodyguard of Louis XV and later in the Republican +army. Marbot himself was a soldier from the age of 17 and fought +in the wars of the Republic and the campaigns of Napoleon. His +memoirs were written for his family and his intimate circle, +without thought of publication, and it was not until after his +death in 1854 that his family were persuaded to offer the +manuscript to publishers. + +This is not a meticulously researched historical document, but +the reminiscences of an old soldier, writing of events which took +place many years earlier and I suspect that like most of us when +we try to recall things that happened forty years ago his memory +was a trifle indistinct. + +By far the greater part of his narrative has the ring of truth, +but in my opinion there are places where his imagination has +embroidered the facts. This is particularly so when it comes to +some of his personal adventures. He also,in my view, describes as +real, events in which he did not take part and which may be no +more than popular rumour. + +It has to be remembered that there were no inquisitive war +correspondents attached to the "Grande Armee" and news was what +was written in Napoleon's bulletins. + +As an example of the kind of thing which raises a question in my +mind, in his opening chapter he says that he was a very sturdy +infant and that the only illness he ever suffered from was +small-pox. This does not seem probable; an outbreak of small-pox +in the family would be a disastrous occurrence, it is a disease +with a high mortality and could not be dismissed as a childish +complaint. He also goes on to describe how his head got stuck in +the cat-hole, but in the original he claims that his face turned +blue and that he was being strangled when his father removed the +door from its hinges to extricate him. Anyone who has attempted +to remove a door from its hinges knows that you cannot do so +without opening the door and using at least a screwdriver. It is +also an operation which is difficult to perform single-handed and +with a small child stuck in it even more so. He says that he was +about three or four at the time, and the long-term memory does +not start developing in a child until around the age of four. I +think it more than likely that that good Baron has a false +recollection derived from being told of these goings on by his +mother and truly believes that he remembers them. A misdiagnosis +of small-pox would not be surprising given the inadequate state +of medical knowledge and practice of the time. + +I do not doubt that he ran great danger and was seriously injured +at Eylau, but there are elements in his recital which although +they enhance the drama and would pass muster with the lay reader, +are open to criticism by anyone with a medical training. He says +that while he was attempting to release the "Eagle" from its +standard, a bullet passed through his hat without touching his +head. As a result of this he claims that he found himself +paralysed and unable to use his legs to urge his horse forward, +although he remained mentally perfectly clear. He says that the +passage of the bullet close to his head caused bleeding from his +nose and ears and even from his eyes, signs which a clinician +would regard as probably indicating a serious fracture of the +base of the skull. + +I am not a neurologist, but I can think of no neurological injury +which would produce the type of paralysis which he describes +except a high lesion of the spinal cord. What is more, within a +few moments he is in the saddle of a galloping horse and I cannot +imagine that anyone suffering from a form of paralysis could +remain there for very long. + +The thoughtful reader may also wonder how the soldier who robbed +him as he lay unconscious could suppose that he was dead, an +unconscious person is quite plainly breathing. + +Could it be that having been rendered unconscious as a result of +the fall from his horse, he has some degree of retrograde amnesia +and has invented details to fill the gaps in his memory, or could +it be that writing, as he was, for his family and friends, he was +indulging in a little pardonable exaggeration. + +In spite of these reservations the story he tells is full of life +and interest, and gives a vivid impression of war as it was +fought then, including all its horrors and disasters. + +In this translation I have not deviated from the gist of events, +but I have taken the liberty of making a variety of omissions and +emendations, with the aim of adding credibility to some of the +events, such as those noted above. I have also prefaced some of +his anecdotes, which he retails as fact, with the words "It is +believed that..." or something to that effect. + +The campaigns can be followed by the use of a good atlas, but +unfortunately the many upheavals which Europe has undergone since +those days has resulted in many of the names of places being +changed. The curious reader may well find maps dealing with the +Napoleonic wars in any well stocked public library. + +All translation requires some degree of paraphrase. What sounds +well in one language may sound ridiculous if translated literally +into another. I have endeavoured to produce a version of these +memoirs acceptable to the English-speaking reader, whether I have +succeeded or not only the reader can say. + +Oliver C. Colt + + +THE MEMOIRS OF GENERAL THE BARON DE MARBOT. + +Translated by Oliver C. Colt + +Chap. 1. + +I was born on the 18th August 1782 at my father's Chateau of +Lariviere, in the beautiful valley of Beaulieu, on the borders of +Limousin and Quercy--now the department of Correze--where my +father owned a considerable property. + +The family of Marbot was of noble origin, although for a long +time they had not preceded their name by any title. To use a then +current expression, they lived nobly, that is to say on the +income from their estates, without engaging in any form of +employment. They were allied to and joined in the society of +several of the important families of the district. + +I mention this because, at a time when the nobility were so +haughty and powerful, it shows that the family had a social +position of considerable standing. + +My father was born in 1753. He had a rather fiery temperament, +but he was so good-hearted that, after a first outburst, he +always sought to make one forget any hasty words which he might +have uttered. He was a fine figure of a man, very tall and well +built, with handsome, manly features. + +My grandfather had become a widower when my father was still at +school. His house was run by one of his elderly cousins, the +oldest of the demoiselles Oudinet of Beaulieu. She gave +unstinting care to my grandfather, who, having become almost +blind as a result of a flash of lightning, which had struck near +him, no longer went out of his manor. Thus my father, when he +reached manhood, faced by an infirm old man and an aunt devoted +to his least wishes, could have played fast and loose with the +family fortune. He did not, however, abuse his position, but as +he had a great fancy for a military career, he accepted a +proposal which was made to him by colonel the Marquis d'Estresse, +a neighbour and close friend of the family, which was to have him +enrolled in the bodyguard of the king, Louis XV. + +Being under the auspices of the Marquis d'Estresse, he was +received in a number of houses; notably that of +lieutenant-general the Comte de Schomberg, the inspector-general +of cavalry, who, recognising my father's worth, had him posted to +his regiment of dragoons as captain, and took him as his +aide-de-camp. + +On the death of my grandfather my father was still unmarried, and +his fortune, as well as his place in the Royal Bodyguard, put him +in a position to choose a wife, without the likelihood of being +refused. + +There lived at that time, in the Chateau de Laval de Cere, about +a league from Lariviere, a family of noble rank but without much +money, named de Certain. The head of this house was stricken by +gout and so his affairs were managed by Madame de Certain, an +admirable woman, who came from the noble family of de Verdal, who +claim to have Saint Roch amongst the kinsfolk of their ancestors +on the distaff side, a Verdal, so they say, having married a +sister of the Saint at Montpellier. I do not know how much truth +there is in this claim, but before the Revolution of 1789, there +was, at the gateway of the old chateau of Gruniac, owned by the +de Verdals, a stone bench, which was greatly venerated by the +inhabitants of the nearby mountains, because, according to +tradition, St. Roch, when he came to visit his sister, used to +sit on this bench, from where one can view the countryside, which +one cannot do from the chateau, which is a sort of fortress of +the gloomiest kind. + +The de Certains had three sons and a daughter, and as was the +custom at that time they added to their family name that of some +estate. Thus the eldest son was given the name Canrobert: this +eldest son was, at the time of which I write, Chevalier de St. +Louis and a captain in the infantry regiment of Penthievre; the +second son who was called de L'Isle was a lieutenant in the same +regiment; the third son, who had the surname La Coste served, +like my father, in the Royal Bodyguard; the daughter was called +Mlle. Du Puy,and she was my mother. + +My father became a close friend of M. Certain de La Coste, and it +would have been difficult to do otherwise, for quite apart from +the three months which they spent in quarters at Versailles +during their period of duty, the journeys which they made +together, twice a year, were bound to make a bond between them. + +At that time public coaches were very few in number, dirty, +uncomfortable, and travelled by very short stages; also it was +considered not at all fashionable to ride in them. So, gentry who +were old or in poor health travelled by carriage, while the young +and officers in the armed forces went on horseback. There was an +established custom among the Bodyguard, which today would seem +most peculiar. As these gentlemen did only three months on duty, +and as in consequence the corps was split into four almost equal +sections, those of them who lived in Brittany, the Auvergne, +Limousin and other parts of the country where there were good +small horses had bought a number of these at a price not +exceeding 100 francs, which included the saddle and bridle. On a +fixed day all the Bodyguards from the same province, who were +called to go and take up their duties, would meet, on horseback, +at an agreed spot and the cheerful caravanserai would take the +road for Versailles. + +They made twelve to fifteen leagues each day, sure of finding +every evening, at an agreed and reasonable price, a good lodging +and a good supper at the inns previously arranged as stopping +places. They went happily on their way, talking, singing, putting +up with bad weather or heat as they did with accidents and +laughing at the stories which all, in turn, had to tell as they +rode along. + +The group grew in size by the arrival of Bodyguards from the +provinces through which they passed until, at last, the various +parties arrived from all parts of France to enter Versailles on +the day on which their leave expired, and, in consequence, at the +moment of departure of those guards whom they had come to +relieve. Then each of these latter bought one of the ponies +brought by the new arrivals, for which they paid 100 francs, and +forming fresh groups they took to the road for their paternal +chateaux, where they turned the horses out to grass for nine +months, until they were taken back to Versailles and handed over +to other comrades-in-arms. + +My father, then, was a close friend of M. Certain de La Coste, +who shared the same quarters and belonged, like him, to the +company de Noailles. On their return to the country they saw much +of each other, and he made the acquaintance of Mlle. Du Puy. +Mlle. Du Puy was pretty and high spirited, and although she would +have little in the way of dowry, and although several rich +matches were offered to my father, he preferred Mlle. Du Puy, and +he married her in 1776. + +We were four brothers: the eldest Adolphe, myself the second, +Theodore the third and Felix the last. There was a gap of about +two years between our ages. + +I was very sturdy and suffered only some minor illnesses, but +when I was about three, I had an accident which I can still +remember. + +Because I had a rather turned-up nose and a round face, my father +called me "pussy-cat". It needed no more than this to give a +small child the desire to imitate a cat; so it was my greatest +pleasure to go about on all fours, mewing. I was also in the +habit of going up to the second floor of the chateau to join my +father in a library, where he spent the hottest hours of the day. +When he heard the "miaow" of his little cat, he came and opened +the door and gave me a picture-book to look at while he continued +his reading. These little sessions gave me infinite pleasure. One +day, however, my visit was not so well received as usual. My +father, perhaps absorbed in his book, did not open the door for +his little cat. In vain, I redoubled my "miaows" in the most +appealing tone which I could produce. The door remained closed. +Then I saw, at floor level, an opening called a cat-hole, which +is present in all the chateaux of the Midi, at the bottom of the +doors, to allow cats free access. This route seemed, naturally, +to be for me: I put my head through, but that was as far as I +could go. I then tried to withdraw my head, but my head was stuck +and I could go neither forward nor back, but I was so much +identified with my role as a cat that instead of speaking, to let +my father know my predicament, I "miaowed" at the top of my +voice, like a cat that is angry, and it appears that I did so in +such a natural tone that my father thought that I was playing, +but suddenly the "miaows" became weaker, and turned into crying +and you may imagine my father's concern when he realised what had +happened. It was only with great difficulty that I was freed and +carried, half unconscious, to my mother, who thinking I was +injured was much distressed. + +A surgeon was sent for, who proceeded to bleed me, and the sight +of my own blood and the crowd of all the inhabitants of the +chateau, gathered about my mother and me, made such a vivid +impression on my young imagination that the event has remained +for ever fixed in my memory. + +Chap. 2. + +While my childhood was rolling by peacefully, the storm of +revolution which had been growling in the distance, drew ever +nearer, and it was not long before it broke. We were in 1789. + +The assembly of the States General stirred up all manner of +passions, destroyed the tranquillity enjoyed by the province in +which we lived and introduced divisions into all families, +particularly into ours; for my father, who for a long time had +railed against the abuses to which France was subjected, +accepted, in principle, the improvements which were mooted, +without foreseeing the atrocities to which these changes were +going to lead; while his three brothers-in-law and all his +friends rejected any innovation. This gave rise to animated +discussions, of which I understood nothing, but which distressed +me because I saw my mother in tears as she tried to keep the +peace between her brothers and her husband. For my part, although +I did not understand what was going on, I naturally took sides +with my father. + +The Constituent Assembly had revoked all feudal rents. My father +possessed some of these which his father had purchased. He was +the first to conform to the law. The peasantry who had been +waiting to make up their minds until my father gave them a lead, +refused to continue paying these rents once they knew what he had +done. + +Shortly after this, France having been divided into departments, +my father was named administrator for the Correze and then a +member of the Legislative Assembly. + +My mother's three brothers, and nearly all the nobility of the +county had hurriedly emigrated. War seemed to be imminent, so, to +persuade all citizens to take up arms, and also, perhaps, to find +out up to what point they could count on the populace, the +government arranged for the rumour to be spread throughout all +the communes of France, that the "Brigands" led by the emigres, +were coming to destroy all the new institutions. The tocsin was +rung by all the churches; everyone armed themselves with whatever +they could lay hands upon; a National Guard was organised; the +country turned into an armed camp while it waited for these +imaginary "Brigands" who, in every commune, were said to be in +the one next door. Nothing ever appeared, but the effect +remained: France found herself in arms and had shown that she was +prepared to defend herself. + +We children were then alone in the country with our mother. This +alert, which was called "The day of fear" surprised me and would +probably have alarmed me, had I not seen my mother remain so +calm. I have always thought that my father had discreetly warned +her of what was about to happen. + +All went well at first, without any excess on the part of the +peasants, who, in our part of the country, retained much respect +for the ancient families; but soon, stirred up by demagogues from +the towns, the country-dwellers invaded the houses of the nobles, +under the pretext of looking for hidden emigres, but in fact to +exact money and to seize the title deeds of feudal rents, which +they burned in a big bonfire. From the height of our terrace, we +saw these ruffians, torches in their hands, running towards the +Chateau d'Estresse, from which all the men had emigrated and +which was occupied only by women. These were my mother's best +friends, and so she was greatly upset by this spectacle. Her +anxiety was redoubled by the arrival of her own aged mother, who +had been driven out of her chateau, which was declared national +property because of the emigration of her three sons...! + +Up until then, my father's property had been respected; largely +because his patriotism was known, and because, to give further +proof of it, he had taken service in the army of the Pyrenees as +captain in the Chasseurs des Montagnes, at the end of his term in +the legislative assembly. But the revolutionary torrent swept +over everyone; the house at St. Cere, which my father had bought +ten years before, was confiscated and declared national property +because the deed of sale had been signed privately and the seller +had emigrated before ratifying the deal before a notary. My +mother was given a few days to remove her linen, then the house +was put up for auction and was bought by the president of the +district who had himself arranged for its confiscation! + +At last, the peasants, stirred up by some agitators from +Beaulieu, came in a body to my father's chateau and insisted, +though with some politeness, that they had to burn the deeds of +feudal rents which we still had, and make sure that emigres were +not concealed in the chateau. + +My mother received them with fortitude, handed over the deeds and +pointed out to them that, knowing her brothers to be sensible +people, they should not suppose that they would emigrate only +then to come back to France and hide in her chateau. + +They accepted the correctness of this line of reasoning, ate and +drank and having burned the deeds in the centre of the courtyard, +they left without doing any further damage, shouting "Long live +France and citizen Marbot!" And charging my mother to write to +him to say that they liked him very much and that his family was +quite safe among them. + +In spite of this assurance, my mother felt that her position as +the sister of emigres might expose her to a great deal of +unpleasantness from which even her position as the wife of a +defender of the country would not protect her. She decided to go +away for the time being. She told me later that she took this +step because she was convinced that the revolutionary storm would +last only for some months. There were many people who thought +this! + +My grandmother had had seven brothers, all of whom, as was usual +in the Verdal family had been soldiers and knights of St. Louis. +One of them, a former battalion commander in the infantry +regiment of Penthievre, had married, on retirement, the rich +widow of counsellor of the parliament of Rennes. My mother +decided to go and stay with her and was counting on taking me +with her, when I was smitten by a number of large and very +painful boils. It was impossible to travel with a child of eight +in such a state, and my mother was in great perplexity. She was +extricated by a worthy lady, Mlle. Mongalvi, who was much devoted +to her and whose memory will always be dear to me. Mlle. +Mongalvi lived at Turenne and ran boarding establishment for +young ladies of which my mother had been one of the first +occupants. She offered to take me into her house for the few +months of my mother's absence. My father's agreement having been +obtained, I left and was installed there. "What!" you may say, "A +boy amongst young ladies?" Well yes, but do not forget that I was +a quiet, peaceable, obedient child, and I was only eight years +old. + +The boarders who stayed with Mlle. Mongalvi, where my mother had +once been one of them, were young persons of some sixteen to +twenty years of age; the youngest being at least fourteen, and +were sensible enough to let me mingle with them. + +On my arrival, all this little feminine flock gathered about me +and received me with such cries of pleasure and warm caresses +that, from the first instant, I thought myself lucky to have made +this trip. I figured that it would not last long and I believe +that, secretly, I even regretted that I would have only a short +time to spend with these nice young ladies, who did everything to +please me and argued as to who was to hold my hand. + +However, my mother left and went to stay with my uncle. Events +moved forward rapidly. The terror bathed France in blood. Civil +war broke, out in the Vendee and in Brittany. Travel there became +absolutely impossible, so that my mother, who had thought to +spend two or three months at Rennes, found herself stuck there +for several years. + +My father continued on active service in the Pyrenees and in +Spain, where his ability and courage had raised him to the rank +of divisional general; while I, having gone as a boarder for a +few months, stayed for some four years, which were for me years +of much happiness, clouded only, from time to time, by the memory +of my parents; but the good Mlles. Mongalvi and their boarders +would then redouble their kindness, to dispel those thoughts +which now and then saddened me. I was spoiled beyond belief by +the mistresses and the boarders; I had only to wish for something +to obtain it. There was nothing too good or too fine for me. My +health recovered completely. I was clean and fresh, so they vied +with one another to cuddle me. During recreation, which took +place in a vast enclosure, where there was a fine garden, with +paddocks, vines and arbours, the young ladies would crown me and +garland me with flowers, then placing me on a little litter +covered with roses, they would take it in turns to carry me while +they sang. At other times I would play prisoners base with them, +having the privilege of always catching but never being caught. +They would read stories to me and sing songs. They competed to do +something for me. + +I recall, that on hearing of the horrible execution of Louis XVI, +Mlle. Mongalvi had all the boarders on their knees, to recite +prayers for the repose of the soul of the unfortunate king. The +indiscretion of any one of us could have brought down disaster on +her head, but all the pupils were of an age to understand, and I +felt that it was something I should not talk about; so no one +knew anything about it. I stayed in this pleasant retreat until +November 1793. + +Chap. 3. + +When I was eleven and a half years old, my father was given +command of a camp which was set up at Toulouse. He took advantage +of a few days leave to come and see me and to arrange his +affairs, which he had not been able to do for several years. He +came to Turenne, to the house of one of his friends, and hurried +to my lodging. He was in the uniform of a general officer, with a +big sabre, his hair cut short and unpowdered and sporting an +enormous moustache, which was in remarkable contrast to the +costume in which I was used to seeing him when we lived +peacefully at Lariviere. + +I have said that my father, in spite of his stern masculine +looks, was a kind man, and particularly toward children, whom he +adored. I saw him again with the keenest transports of delight, +and he overwhelmed me with caresses. He stayed for several days +at Turenne; he warmly thanked the good mesdames Mongalvi for the +truly maternal care they had taken of me; but when he asked me a +few questions, it was easy for him to see that though I had a +good knowledge of prayers and litanies and lots of hymns, my +remaining education was limited to some notions of history, +geography, and spelling. He considered also, that, being now in +my twelfth year, it was not possible to leave me in a boarding +establishment for young ladies, and that it was time to give me +an education which was more masculine and more extensive. He had +resolved therefore, to take me with him to Toulouse, to where he +had also brought Adolphe, and to place us both in the military +college of Soreze, the sole great establishment of this kind +which the revolutionary turmoil had left standing. + +I left, after bidding a tender farewell to my young friends. We +headed for Cressensac, where we were joined by Captain Gault, my +father's aide-de-camp. While the coach was being got ready, +Spire, my father's old servant, who knew that his master intended +to travel day and night, made up packages of food. + +At this moment a new spectacle was presented to me: a mobile +column, composed of gendarmes, national guards and volunteers, +entered the town of Cressensac with a band playing at its head. I +had never seen anything like it, and it seemed to me quite +superb, but I was unable to understand why, in the midst of all +these soldiers, there was a dozen coaches filled with old men, +women and children, all of whom looked extremely sad. This sight +infuriated my father. He drew back from the window and, striding +about with his aide-de-camp, whom he could trust, I heard him +burst out, "These miserable members of the convention have ruined +the revolution which could have done so much good. There you see +yet more innocent people who are being thrown into gaol because +they are landowners or are related to emigres; it is disgusting!" + +Why, you may ask, did my father continue to serve a government +which he despised? It was because he thought that to confront the +enemies of France was honourable, but did not mean that the +military condoned the atrocities which the convention committed +in the interior of the country. + +What my father had said, had interested me in the people in the +coaches. I gathered that they had been, that morning, seized from +their chateaux and were being led away to the prisons of +Souilhac. They were old men, women and children, and I was +wondering to myself how these frail people could present any +danger to the country, when I heard several of the children +asking for food. One lady begged a national guard to let her get +out to go and buy something to eat. He refused her, rudely, and +when the lady produced an "assignat" and pleaded with him to go +and buy some bread, he replied, "Do you take me for one of your +former lackeys?" This brutality angered me. I had noticed that +Spire had placed in the pockets of the coach, a number of +bread-rolls in the centre of which was a sausage; I took two of +these rolls, and drawing near to the coach holding the child +prisoners, I threw them in, when the guards were not looking. The +mothers and the children made signs to me of such gratitude that +I resolved to give food to all the other prisoners, and piece by +piece, I gave them all the provisions which Spire had made for +the two days journey to Toulouse, which we were about to make. We +left, at last, without Spire having any suspicion of the +distribution which I had just made. The little prisoners blew me +kisses and their parents waved to me; but no sooner were we some +hundred paces from the post-house than my father, who had been in +haste to get away from a spectacle which distressed him, and had +not wished to eat at the inn, felt hungry, and asked for the +provisions. Spire pointed to the pockets in which he had placed +them. My father and M. Gault rummaged through all the interior of +the coach, but found nothing. My father grew angry with Spire, +who from the height of his seat, swore by all the saints that he +had stuffed the coach with food for two days. I was somewhat +embarrassed; however, I did not want poor Spire to be blamed any +longer, so I admitted what I had done. I expected to be scolded +for acting without authority, but my father put his arm round me +in the most affectionate manner, and many years after he still +spoke with pleasure of my conduct on this occasion. + +From Cressensac to Toulouse the road was full of volunteers, +going to join the army of the Pyrenees, and making the air ring +with patriotic songs. I was charmed by this bustling spectacle +and would have been happy had it not been for my physical +suffering. I had never made a long journey by coach before, and I +was sea-sick throughout the trip, which decided my father to stop +every night to allow me some repose. I arrived at Toulouse +feeling very tired, but the sight of my brother, from whom I had +been parted for four or five years, gave me so much joy that I +very soon recovered. + +My father, with the rank of divisional general, commanding the +camp situated at Miral, close to Toulouse, was entitled to a +billet, and the municipality had assigned to him the fine town +house of Resseguier, whose owner had emigrated. Madame de +Resseguier and her son had retreated to the most distant rooms, +and my father gave orders that the strictest regard was to be +given to their unhappy position. + +My father's house was much frequented. Every day there were +visitors, and he had a great deal of expense, for although at +that time a divisional general received eighteen rations of all +kinds, and his aides-de-camp a similar amount, it was not enough. +He had to buy a host of things and as the state gave to a general +officer what it gave to a sous-lieutenant, that is eight francs a +month in cash, the rest being made up in assignats, the value of +which diminished daily, and as my father was very generous, +entertained many of the officers from the camp, had numerous +domestic servants (at that time called servitors), had eighteen +horses, a coach, a box at the theatre etc...He spent the savings +which he had accumulated at Lariviere, and it was from the time +of his re-entry into military service that the decline of his +fortune began. + +Although the "Terror" was now at its height and class distinction +was greatly weakened in France, from whence all good manners +seemed to have removed themselves forever, my father knew so well +how to impose them on the many officers who came to his quarters, +that the most perfect politeness ruled in his salon and at his +table. + +Among the officers employed at the camp, my father had taken a +great liking to two, who were invited more often than the others. + +One was named Augereau and was the adjutant-general, that is to +say colonel of the general staff, the other was Lannes, a +lieutenant of Grenadiers, in a battalion of volunteers from the +department of Gers. + +They became Marshals of the Empire and I have been aide-de-camp +to both of them. + +At this period Augereau, after escaping from the prison of the +Inquisition at Lisbon, had come to fight in the Vendee, where he +was noticed for his courage and his quality of leadership. He was +an excellent tactician, a skill which he had learned in Prussia, +where he had served for a considerable time in the Foot-guards of +Frederick the Great; hence his nick-name of "The Big Prussian." +He had an irreproachable military turn-out, spick and span, +curled and powdered, with a long pig-tail, big, highly polished +riding boots and withal, a very martial bearing. This smart +appearance was the more remarkable because, at this time it was +not something on which the French army could pride itself, being +almost entirely made up of volunteers not used to wearing uniform +and very careless of their grooming. However nobody made fun of +Augereau about this, for he was known to be a brave and +accomplished duelist, who had given even the celebrated +Saint-George, the finest swordsman in France, a run for his +money. + +I have said that Augereau was a good tactician; because of this, +my father had appointed him to direct the training of the +battalions of new levees, of which the division was largely +composed. These men came from Limousin, Auvergne, the Basque +country, Quercy, Gers and Languedoc. Augereau trained them well, +and in so doing he was unaware that he was laying the foundations +of his own future fame, for these troops, which my father then +commanded, formed later the famous Augereau division which did +such fine things in the Pyrenees and in Italy. + +Augereau came almost daily to my father's house, and seeing that +he was appreciated, he devoted to him a friendship which never +wavered and of which I felt the benefit after the death of my +mother. + +As for Lieutenant Lannes, he was a very lively young Gascon, +intelligent and cheerful, without education or training but +anxious to learn at a time when no one else was. He became a very +good instructor, and since he was very vain, he accepted with the +greatest delight the praises which my father lavished on him, and +which he deserved. By way of recompense, he spoiled, as much as +he could, his general's children. + +One fine morning, my father received the order to strike his camp +at Miral and to lead his division to join the army corps of +General Dugommier, which was laying siege to Toulon, which the +English had captured in a surprise attack. My father then said to +me that it was not in a school for young ladies that I would +learn what I needed to know; that I needed more serious studies +and in consequence he was taking me, the next day, to the +military college of Soreze, where he had already arranged a place +for me and my brother. I was thunderstruck! Never to go back to +my friends with the Mesdames Mongalvi? That seemed impossible! + +The road was covered with troops and guns, which my father passed +in review at Castelnaudary. This spectacle, which a few days +earlier would have delighted me, now failed to lessen the anxiety +which I felt about the teachers in whose presence I was about to +find myself. + +We stayed overnight at Castelnaudary, where my father learned of +the evacuation of Toulon by the English (18th Dec 1793), and was +ordered to go with his division, to the eastern Pyrenees. +Whereupon he decided to deposit us, the very next day, at Soreze, +to stay there for a few hours only, and to set off immediately +for Perpignon. + +On leaving Castelnaudary, my father ordered the coach to stop at +a famous tree under which the Constable Montmorency had been +taken prisoner by the troops of Louis XIII, following the defeat +of the supporters of Gaston d'Orleans, who had rebelled against +his brother. He chatted about this event with his aides-de-camp, +and my brother-- who was already well informed--took part in the +conversation. As for me, I had only the vaguest notions of the +general history of France and knew nothing of the details. It was +the first time I had heard of the battle of Castelnaudary, of +Gaston, of his revolt and of the capture and execution of the +Constable de Montmorency. I realised that my father did not ask +me any question on the subject because he was quite certain that +I would be unable to reply. This made me feel ashamed, and I +concluded that my father was right in taking me to the college to +be educated. My regrets then changed into a resolution to learn +all that I needed to know. + +Nevertheless, my heart sank at the sight of the high sombre walls +of the cloister in which I was to be enclosed. I was eleven years +and four months old when I entered this establishment. + +Chap. 4. + +I shall now give you a brief history of the college of Soreze, as +I had it from Dom Abal, a former vice principal, whom I saw often +in Paris during the Empire. + +When, under Louis XV, it was resolved to clear the Jesuits out of +France, their defenders claimed that they alone knew how to +educate children. The Benedictines, sworn enemies of the Jesuits, +wished to prove that this was not so; but as it did not suit +them, although they were studious and learned, to turn themselves +into schoolmasters, they selected four of their houses to be +turned into colleges, among which was Soreze. There they placed +those members of the order who had the most aptitude for +teaching, and who could, after working for several years, retire +to other monasteries of the order. The new colleges prospered, +Soreze in particular stood out, and the crowd of pupils, who +hurried there from all parts, made a larger number of teachers +necessary. The Benedictines attracted there many learned laymen, +who established themselves, with their families, in the little +town in which the monastery was situated. The children of these +lay teachers, who attended the college free as day pupils, +formed, later, a nursery of masters of all the arts and sciences. +Eventually the ability to give lessons at a very reasonable cost +led to the setting up of several boarding houses for young +ladies, and the little town became remarkable in that its +citizens, even the simple merchants, had an extended education +and practised all the fine arts. A crowd of foreigners, +principally English, Spanish and American, came to stay there, in +order to be near their sons and daughters during their education. + +The Benedictine order was, in general, made up of very easy-going +men; they mixed with the world and entertained often, so they +were well liked; something that was very useful to those at +Soreze when the revolution broke out. + +The Principal at that time was Dom Despaulx, a man of the highest +integrity, but who, being unwilling to subscribe to the "civic +oath" then exacted from the clergy, retired and spent several +years in retreat, from where he was later called by the Emperor +to fill one of the highest positions in the university. + +All the other Benedictines at Soreze took the oath: Dom Ferlus +became Principal and Dom Abal Vice-Principal, and the college, in +spite of the revolutionary upheavals, continued to operate, +following the excellent start which it had been given by Dom +Despaulx. + +Later, however, a law having been passed requiring the +secularising of the monks and the sale of their property, the +days of the college seemed numbered; but many of the most +important men in the country had been educated there, and they +wanted it to be there for their children; the inhabitants of the +town, even the labourers and peasants, respected the good fathers +and realised that the destruction of the college would result in +the ruin of the area. So an arrangement was made whereby Dom +Ferlus would become the owner of the college and the immense +property which belonged to it. Nobody attended the auction, and +the Principal became, at a very modest price, the owner of the +huge monastery and the land which it owned. The administrators +of the department gave him plenty of time to pay. Everyone lent +him assignats which he repaid with some loads of wood; the vast +farms of the estate furnished food for the college and, lacking +money, Dom Ferlus paid the external teachers in provisions, which +suited them very well at a time when famine was rife in France. + +On the death of Dom Ferlus, the college passed into the hands of +his brother Raymond Ferlus, a former Oration, now married, a +third-rate poet and man of little capacity. The college went into +decline when the restoration of 1814 allowed back the Jesuits, +who were determined to wreak revenge on the Benedictines by +destroying the edifice which the latter had erected on the ruins +of their order. + +The university took sides with the Jesuits. M. Raymond Ferlus +handed over the college to his son-in-law, M. Bernard, a former +artillery officer who had been one of my contempories. He knew +nothing about running such an establishment, and, besides that, a +host of other good colleges sprang up as rivals, and Soreze, +losing its importance from day to day, became one of the most +mediocre institutions of learning. + +I return now to the time when I was at Soreze. I have told you +how Dom Ferlus saved the college from ruin, and how, upheld by +the care of this enlightened man, it was the only great +establishment of its kind left standing by the revolution. The +monks adopted lay clothing and the appellation "Citizen" replaced +that of "Dom." Apart from that, nothing essential was changed in +the college and it continued to exist peacefully in a corner of +France, while the country was most cruelly being torn to pieces. +I say that nothing essential had changed because the studies +followed their usual course, and there was no breakdown of order, +but it was impossible that the feverish agitation which reigned +outside should not be felt in the college. I will say also that +Dom Ferlus, with diplomatic skill, presented the appearance of +approving of what he could not prevent. The walls therefore were +covered with Republican slogans. It was forbidden to use the word +"Monsieur". The pupils went to the dining hall or on walks, +singing the Marseillaise or other Republican hymns; and as they +heard continually of the achievements of our armies, in which +some of the older pupils were even enrolled as volunteers, and as +they were brought up in a military atmosphere, (since, even +before the revolution, Soreze was a military college, where one +learned drill, horse-riding, fortification, and so on), all this +youth had, for some time, adopted a warrior-like stance and +spirit which had led to a slackening of good manners. Added to +which the uniform contributed greatly to give them a very strange +aspect. The scholars wore big shoes, which were cleaned only +every ten days, stockings of grey thread, plain brown trousers +and jacket, no waistcoat, shirts undone, and covered with stains +of ink and red pencil, no tie, nothing on the head, the hair in a +pig-tail, often undone, and the hands....! Like those of a +coal-heaver. + +Imagine me, clean, polished, dressed in clothes of fine cloth, +neat and tidy, thrown into the midst of seven hundred urchins, +got up as imps, and who, on hearing a shout of "Here are some new +ones!" left their games and came, in a mob to gather round us, +staring as if we were strange animals. + +My father embraced us and left...! I was in a state of utter +despair! Here I was, alone, alone for the first time in my life, +my brother being in the upper school while I was in the lower. We +were in the middle of winter. It was very cold, but according to +school rules, the pupils were never allowed a fire! + +Nevertheless, the pupils at Soreze were well fed, especially for +that time; for in spite of the famine which was sweeping France, +the good administration of Dom Ferlus provided an abundance of +food. The everyday fare was certainly all that could be desired +for school-children. However the supper seemed to me to be most +niggardly, and the sight of the dishes put before me disgusted +me: but had I been offered ortolans, I would not have been +tempted, my heart was so full. The meal finished as it had begun, +with a patriotic song. We knelt down at the couplet of the +Marseillaise which begins "Amour sacre de la patrie"...Then we +filed out, as we had come in, to the sound of a drum, and we went +to the dormitories. + +The pupils of the upper school had each his own room, in which he +was shut in for the night; those of the lower school slept four +to a room, of which each angle contained a bed. I was put with +Guiraud, Romestan and Lagarde, who were my companions at table, +and almost as new as I was. I was quite happy with this. They had +seemed to me to be nice children, which, in fact, they were. But +I was taken aback when I saw the smallness of my bed, the +thinness of the mattress, and what displeased me most, the iron +bed-stead. I had never seen anything like it. However everything +was very clean, and in spite of my dismay I slept soundly, worn +out by the shocks to my system which I had suffered on this +fateful day. + +The next morning, the drum beat reveille, making a horrible noise +in the dormitories, which I thought was quite atrocious; but how +do you think I felt when I saw that, while I was asleep, someone +had removed my beautiful clothes, my fine stockings and my pretty +shoes, and had replaced them by the coarse garments and heavy +footwear of the school? I wept with rage. + +Having told you of the first impressions which I experienced on +my entry into the college, I shall spare you the recital of all +the torments to which I was exposed during the next six months. I +had been too pampered by the mesdames Mongalvi not to suffer +mentally and physically in my new position. I became very +depressed, and had my constitution been less robust, I should +have become ill. This period was one of the most unhappy in my +life. In the long run, however, work and familiarity enabled me +to cope with the situation. I was very fond of the lessons in +French literature, in geography, and above all, in history, and I +made progress in these subjects. I became passable at Latin and +mathematics and at horsemanship and fencing. I was an expert at +fire-arms drill and took much pleasure in the manoeuvres of the +school battalion which was commanded by a retired captain. + +At the time when I entered the college, the convention was +imposing its blood-stained sceptre over France. Representatives +of the people, on various missions, infested the provinces, and +almost all of these who were of any importance in the Midi came +to visit Soreze, whose title of "Military Academy" sounded +pleasing to their ears. + +Citizen Ferlus had a particular talent for persuading them that +they must maintain an establishment devoted to educating a +numerous youth, "The hope of the country". So he obtained all +that he wanted. Often they would send us great bundles of +brushwood, destined to supply the army, our Principal having +persuaded them that we were a part of it, and were, in effect, +its nursery. + +These Representatives were received and fˆted like Sovereigns. On +their arrival, all the pupils were dressed in their military +uniforms; the battalion was paraded before them; a guard was +mounted at every gate as if in a military barracks. Little +tableaux were enacted which exuded the purest patriotism; one +sang national hymns, and when they visited the classes, +particularly those of history, an occasion was always found to +produce some tirade on the excellence of Republican government +and the patriotic virtues which derived from it. I can remember, +in this regard, an occasion when Representative Chabot, a former +Capuchin, questioned me on Roman history. He asked me what I +thought of Coriolanus, who finding himself wronged by his fellow +citizens, forgetful of his former services, withdrew to the +country of the Volscians, sworn enemies of the Romans. Dom Ferlus +and the teachers feared greatly that I might approve of the +Roman's conduct, but I blamed him, saying that a good citizen +must never bear arms against his country, nor dream of any +vengeance against her, no matter how justified his discontent. +The representative was so pleased with my answer that he patted +me on the back, and complemented the head of the college and the +teachers on the sound principles which they inculcated in their +pupils! + +This little success did not diminish the dislike I had for these +representatives. The actions of the convention filled me with +horror. Young as I was, I had, already, enough sense to realise +that it was not necessary to wallow in French blood in order to +save the country, and that the guillotinades and massacres were +appalling crimes. + +I shall not discuss here the system of oppression which ruled, +then, in our unhappy country; this is a matter of history; but I +may say that however strong the colours used to paint the horrors +of which these terrorists were capable, the picture will be less +lurid than the reality. Perhaps the most surprising thing is the +stupidity of the masses, who allowed themselves to be dominated +by men, the greater part of whom lacked any ability: for whatever +may have been said, almost all the members of the convention were +of more than ordinary mediocrity and their boasted unanimity +arose from the fear they had of one another, since in their +anxiety to avoid being guillotined themselves, they agreed with +anything which the ringleaders proposed. + +I saw, during my exile in 1815, many members of the convention +who like me were forced to leave France. They were completely +lacking in back-bone, and assured me that they voted for the +death of Louis XVI and a host of odious decrees solely to save +their own skins. The memory of these times has convinced me that +the worst form of government is that by the masses. + +Chap. 5. + +I reached the age of sixteen in August 1798. Six months later, +towards the end of February, I left the college of Soreze. + +My father had a friend named M. Dorignac, who offered to take me +with him to the capital. It took us eight days to reach Paris, +where we arrived in March 1799, on the day when the Odeon theatre +was burned down for the first time. The flames were visible far +off on the Orleans road, and I thought, in my simplicity, that +the light came from furnaces operating in the city. My father, at +that time, occupied a fine mansion in the Faubourg-St-Honore +road, number 87, on the corner with the little Rue Vert. I +arrived there at dinner time: all the family were gathered there. +It would be impossible for me to describe the joy which I felt at +seeing them all together! This was one of the happiest days of my +life! + +We were now in the spring of 1799. The Republic still existed, +and the government was now composed of the Directorate of five +members, and two chambers, one of which was called the Council of +Elders, and the other the Council of Five Hundred + +My father entertained many members of society. There I made the +acquaintance of his intimate friend, General Bernadotte, and some +of the outstanding men of the period, such as Joseph and Lucien +Bonaparte, and also Napper-Tandy, the Irish leader, who had taken +refuge in France. At my mother's house I frequently saw Madame +Bonaparte and sometimes Madame De Sta‰l, already celebrated for +her literary works. + +I had been in Paris for only about a month, when the term of the +legislature expired. It was necessary to hold new elections. My +father, fed up with the constant wrangling of political life, and +regretting that he was not taking any part in the army's +achievements, declared that he would no longer accept nomination +as a deputy, and that he wished to return to active service. +Events turned out in his favour. On the assembly of the new +Chambers there was a change of minister. General Bernadotte +became minister for war. He had promised my father that he would +send him to the army of the Rhine, and my father was about to set +off for Mainz, when the directory, learning of the defeat +suffered by the army of Italy, commanded by Scherer, appointed as +his successor, General Joubert, who commanded the 17th division, +(now the 1st,) in Paris. + +This post having now become vacant, the directory, realising that +its great political importance required that it should be filled +by someone of capacity and determination, instructed the minister +for war to offer it to my father. My father who had resigned from +the legislature only to resume active service, turned the offer +down; but on Bernadotte showing him the letter of appointment, +already signed, and saying that as a friend, he begged him to +accept, and as a minister, he ordered him, my father gave in, and +the next day he went to install himself in the headquarters of +the Paris division, situated, at that time in the Quai Voltaire, +at the corner of the Rue de Saint-Peres, and which has since been +demolished. My father took as his chief of staff his old friend +Col. Menard. I was delighted by all the military suite with which +my father was surrounded. His headquarters were never empty of +officers of all ranks. A squadron of cavalry, a battalion of +infantry and six field-guns were stationed before his portals, +and one saw a crowd of orderlies coming and going. This seemed to +me much more entertaining than the exercises and translations of +Soreze. + +France, and in particular Paris, were, at this time, in a state +of much agitation. We were on the brink of catastrophe. The +Russians, commanded by the celebrated Souwaroff, had just entered +Italy, where our army had suffered a major defeat at Novi, where +General Joubert had been killed. The victor, Souwaroff, was +heading for our army of Switzerland, commanded by Massena. + +We had few troops on the Rhine. The peace conference begun at +Rastadt had broken down and our ambassadors had been +assassinated; now all Germany was arming once more against us, +and the Directory, fallen into disfavour, had neither troops nor +the money to raise them. In order to procure funds it decreed a +forced loan, which had the effect of turning everyone against it. +All hopes were pinned on Massena's ability to stop the Russians +and prevent them from entering France. The directory, impatient, +sent him courier after courier, ordering him to join battle; but +this latter-day Fabius, unwilling to risk the safety of his +country, was waiting for some false move, on the part of his +impetuous adversary, to give him the opportunity for victory. + +At this point, I shall relate an anecdote which demonstrates on +how fine a thread sometimes hangs the destiny of states and the +reputation of generals. The directory, exasperated to see that +Massena did not obey the repeated commands to engage in battle, +resolved to relieve him of his post; but, as it was feared that +this general would take no notice of the order and simply stuff +it in his pocket, if it was sent by an ordinary courier, the +minister for war was ordered to send a staff-officer, charged to +deliver, publicly, to Massena his demotion, and to give to his +chief of staff, Cherin, the official letter which would confirm +him as commander-in-chief of the army. + +When the minister told my father, in confidence, about these +plans, my father disapproved, saying that it would be dangerous, +on the eve of a decisive action, to deprive the army of +Switzerland of a general in whom it had confidence, and give the +command to a general who was more used to administration than the +direction of troops in the field. In addition, the position of +the armies might change; and he thought it essential that the +mission was given to a man with enough wisdom to assess the state +of affairs, and who would not hand Massena his dismissal on the +eve of, or in the middle of a battle. + +My father, eventually persuaded the minister to give the task to +M. Gault, his aide-de-camp, who, under the ostensible pretext of +going to see if the suppliers had delivered the number of horses +stipulated in their contract, would proceed to Switzerland with +the authority to retain or to hand out the order for the +dismissal of Massena, and the installing of general Cherin, +according to the circumstances which might lead him to judge +whether this would be useful or dangerous. This was an enormous +responsibility to confide to the prudence of a simple captain, +but M. Gault fully justified the faith my father had in him. + +Arriving at the headquarters of the army of Switzerland five days +before the battle of Zurich, he found the troops so full of +confidence in Massena, and Massena himself so calm and +determined, that he had no doubts of success, and, maintaining +the deepest silence about his secret powers, he took part in the +battle of Zurich and then returned to Paris, without Massena +suspecting that this modest captain had in his hands the +authority which could have deprived him of the glory of one of +the finest victories of the century. + +Had Massena been rashly dismissed, this would probably have led +to the defeat of General Cherin and the invasion of France by the +Russians, followed by the Germans, and perhaps finally to the +overrunning of Europe. General Cherin was killed at Zurich, +without being aware of the intentions of the government towards +him. + +The victory of Zurich, although, it prevented the advance of the +enemy into the country, gave the Directory only a momentary +respite. The government was everywhere crumbling; no one had +confidence in it. The treasury was bankrupt; the Vendee and +Brittany were in open revolt; the interior stripped of troops; +the Midi in turmoil; the chamber of deputies squabbling among +themselves, and with the executive. In short, the state was on +the verge of disaster. + +Everyone in politics recognised that a major change was necessary +and inevitable; but although all agreed on this point, opinions +differed as to the remedy to be employed. The old Republicans, +who upheld the constitution of year III, then still in force, +believed that it would be sufficient to change several members of +the Directory. Two of them were removed and replaced by MM. +Gohier and Moulins; but this was the feeblest of palliatives for +the calamities which afflicted the country, and it continued to +be shaken by anarchy. + +It was then that several members of the Directory, amongst whom +was the well-known Sieyes, thought, as did many of the deputies +and the great majority of the public, that to save France it was +necessary to put the reins of government in the hands of someone +resolute and already distinguished by services given to the +state. It was realised, also, that this would have to be a +soldier who had great influence in the army, and who was able, by +re-arousing national enthusiasm, to lead our banners to victory +and chase away the foreigners who were preparing to cross our +frontiers. + +To speak like this was to point to General Bonaparte, but at this +moment he was in Egypt, and the need was pressing. Joubert had +been killed in Italy. Messena, though famous for several +victories, was an excellent general at the head of an army in the +field, but in no way a politician. Bernadotte did not seem to +have the capacity or the wisdom to repair the country's fortunes. +The eyes of the reformers then turned to General Moreau; although +the weakness of his character and his indecisive conduct on the +18th Fructidor raised some fears about his ability to govern. It +is certain, however, that lacking an alternative, he was asked to +head the party which intended to overthrow the Directory, and was +offered the title of President or Consul. Moreau, a good fighting +soldier, lacked political courage, and perhaps doubted his own +ability to cope with affairs in such a mess as were those of +France. Also he was self-centered and indolent and worried little +about the future of the country, preferring the repose of private +life to the agitation of politics. He refused the offer and +retired to his estate of Grosbois, to devote himself to hunting, +of which he was passionately fond. + +Abandoned by the man of their choice, Sieyes and those with him, +who wished to change the form of the government, not feeling +themselves to be sufficiently strong or popular to achieve their +aim without the support of a general whose name would rally the +army to their side, were forced to turn their thoughts to General +Bonaparte. The leader of this enterprise, Sieyes, flattered +himself that, having been placed in power, Bonaparte would busy +himself with the management and re-organising of the army, and +leave to him the conduct of the government, of which he would be +the master and Bonaparte but the nominal head. Events showed how +badly he was mistaken. + +Imbued with this notion, Sieyes, through the intermission of the +Corsican deputy, Salicetti, sent a reliable secret agent to +Egypt, to inform General Bonaparte of the troubled state of +France, and propose to him that he should come back and place +himself at the head of the government. Having no doubt that +Bonaparte would accept readily and return promptly to Europe, +Sieyes put everything in motion to assure the execution of the +coup d'etat which he was planning. + +It was easy for him to convince his fellow director, +Roger-Duclos, that their power was slipping away daily, and that +the country being on the brink of complete disorganisation, the +public welfare, and their personal interests, demanded that they +should take part in the establishment of a strong government, in +which they would contrive to place themselves in a less +precarious and more advantageous position. + +Roger-Duclos promised his agreement to the proposed changes; but +the other three directors, Barras, Gohier and Moulins were +unwilling to give up their positions, so Sieyes and the leaders +of his party resolved to go over their heads, and to sacrifice +them after the event. + +However, it would be difficult, not to say dangerous, even with +the presence of General Bonaparte, to overthrow the Directorate, +change the constitution and establish a new government, without +the support of the army, and, above all, that of the division +which occupied Paris. To be able to rely on this, it was +necessary to be sure of the co-operation of the minister for war +and of the general commanding the 17th division. + +President Sieyes then sought to win over Bernadotte and my +father, by having them sounded out by several deputies who were +their friends and also supporters of Sieyes's plans. I have +learned since that my father replied to the vague overtures which +were put to him on behalf of the crafty Sieyes by saying that he +agreed that the country's misfortunes demanded a drastic remedy, +but that, having sworn to maintain the constitution of year III, +he would not use the authority he had over his troops to lead +them to its overthrow. He then went to Sieyes and handed in his +resignation as commander of the Paris division, and requested a +posting to a division on active service. Sieyes hastened to fall +in with his wishes, being only too glad to get rid of a man whose +devotion to what he saw as his duty, might abort the projected +coup. The minister, Bernadotte followed my father's example, and +was replaced by Dubois-Crance. + +President Sieyes was, for some days, at a loss to find a +successor to my father. In the end, he gave the command to +general Lefebvre, who, having recently been wounded in the army +of the Rhine, was at that moment in the capital. Lefebvre was a +former sergeant in the Guards, a brave soldier, a good, +workmanlike general, provided that he was closely supervised, but +credulous in the extreme, with no understanding of the political +situation in France. So, by careful use of the words "Glory," +"Motherland," and " Victory, " One could be sure of making him do +whatever one wished. This was just the sort of commander that +Sieyes was looking for. He did not even take the trouble to win +him over, or to warn him of what was about to happen, so sure was +he that on the day Lefebvre would not resist the influence of +General Bonaparte, and the cajoleries of the president of the +directorate. + +He had made an accurate assessment of Lefebvre, for on the 18th +Brumaire, he placed himself and all his troops under the command +of General Bonaparte, to march against the Directorate and the +Councillors, to throw down the established government and create +the Consulate. This action made him, later, one of the Emperor's +greatest favourites. He was made a marshal, Duke of Danzig and +senator and was showered with riches. + +I have rapidly outlined these events, because they explain some +of the reasons which led my father to Italy: a move which had +such a profound effect on his destiny and mine. + +Chap. 6. + +After handing over his command to General Lefebvre, my father +returned to his house in the Faubourg St. Honore and busied +himself with preparations for his departure to Italy. + +A man's destiny is often influenced by the smallest of events. My +father and mother were very friendly with M. Barairon, the +director of registration, and one day, when they were going to +dine with him, they took me along. The talk was of my father's +coming departure, and the progress of my two younger brothers. At +last, M. Barairon asked, "And Marcellin, what are you going to +make of him?" "A sailor," replied my father, "Captain Sibille has +agreed to take him with him to Toulon." Then the good Mme. +Barairon, towards whom I have always felt the warmest gratitude, +observed to my father that the French navy was in complete +disarray, that the poor state of the country's finances would not +allow its rapid refurbishment, and, furthermore, its inferiority +vis-…-vis the English navy was such that it would spend most of +its time in harbour. She said that she could not think why he, a +divisional general, would put his son into the navy, instead of +placing him in a regiment, where the name and services of his +father would make him welcome. She ended by saying, "Take him to +Italy, sooner than send him to die of boredom, in a vessel shut +up in Toulon harbour." + +My father, who had been briefly enticed by Capt. Sibille's +proposition, was too intelligent not to appreciate Mme. +Barairon's reasoning. "Well then," he asked me, "Do you want to +come to Italy with me and serve in the army?" I put my arms round +him and accepted, with a joy which my mother shared, for she had +not been in favour of my father's first idea. + +As, at that time, there was no military academy, and one could +join the army only as a private soldier, my father took me right +away to the municipality of the first arrondissment, in the Place +Beauvau, and had me enlisted in the 1st Hussars, (formerly the +Bercheny), who were part of the division which he was going to +command in Italy. It was September the 3rd, 1799. + +My father took me to a tailor, who had the job of making official +army uniforms, and ordered for me a complete outfit for a Hussar +of the 1st. As well as all the arms and equipment. + +There I was!....A soldier!.....And was I not happy? But my +happiness was somewhat lessened when I reflected that this was +going to upset my brother Adolphe, two years older than me, and +still stuck in college. I then had the idea that I would not tell +Adolphe about my enlistment without telling him, at the same +time, that I wanted to spend with him the period which would have +to pass before my departure. I then asked my father if he would +allow me to be installed close to Adolphe, at Sainte-Barbe, until +the day when we would take the road for Italy. My father +understood the reason for my asking, and thought well of me for +it. He took me, the next day to stay with a M. Lanneau. + +Can you imagine my arrival at college?...It was a recreation +period. All games stopped. All the pupils, big and small, +surrounded me. They vied with each other to touch part of my +equipment....In short, the Hussar was a complete success! + +The day of the departure arrived....I said farewell to my mother +and my three brothers with the greatest sadness, in spite of the +pleasure I felt on starting a military career. + +Chap. 7. + +After my father had accepted a command in Italy, a division +became vacant in the army of the Rhine, which he would have +preferred; but an inescapable fate drew him towards the country +where he would find his grave. + +One of his compatriots, and a personal friend, M. Lacheze, whom I +might call his evil genius, had for a long time been French +consul at Leghorn and Genoa, where he had business interests. +This wretched man, in order to lure my father to Italy, was +forever painting the most exaggerated picture of the country's +beauties, and pointing out the credit which might be gained by +dealing successfully with the difficult situation in the army +there, whereas there would be little opportunity to acquire +distinction in the army of the Rhine, where all was well. My +father was swayed by this specious reasoning, and believing that +there was more merit in going to the more dangerous post, he +persisted in his intention of going to Italy, in spite of the +objections of my mother, who had a secret presentiment which made +her wish for my father to go to the Rhine. This presentiment was +not false. She never saw her husband again! + +To his present aide-de-camp, Captain Gault, my father now added +another officer, M. R*** who had come to him from his friend +General Augereau. M. R*** had the rank of major. He was a member +of a Maintenon family and had some ability and some education, +which he very rarely employed; for in a stupid manner, which was +then quite common, he swaggered about, forever cursing and +swearing, and talking of running people through with his sabre. +This bully-boy had only one virtue, very rare at this time: he +was always turned out with the greatest elegance. My father, who +had taken on M. R*** without knowing anything about him, now much +regretted it; but he could not send him back without upsetting +his old friend, Augereau. Although my father disliked him, he +thought, perhaps rightly, that a general should make use of the +military qualities of an officer, without worrying too much about +his personal manners; but, as he did not care to have the company +of M. R*** on a long journey, he had given him the job of taking +his coaches and horses from Paris to Nice, having under his +orders the old stud-groom, Spire, a highly responsible man, used +to the management of stables. The stable was large: my father had +fifteen horses, which with those of his aide-de-camp and of his +chief-of-staff and his assistants, together with those for the +wagons and so on, made up a fairly large group of which R*** was +the leader. + +They left a month before we did. + +My father took in his coach the fatal M. Lacheze, Captain Gault +and me. Colonel Menard, the chief-of- staff, followed, with one +of his assistants, in a post-chaise. A big rascal, my father's +valet, went ahead as a courier. We travelled in uniform. I had a +fine forage cap which pleased me so much that I wore it all the +time, but, as I put my head out of the coach window frequently, +because the coach made me travel-sick, it so happened that during +the night, when my companions were asleep, the cap fell into the +road. The coach, drawn by six vigourous horses, was going at top +speed. I did not dare have it stopped and so I lost my cap. A bad +omen! But I was to suffer far worse things in the terrible +campaign which we were about to undertake. This incident upset me +a good deal, but I said nothing about it for fear of being +chaffed about the way the new soldier was looking after his kit. + +My father stopped at Macon, at the house of an old friend. We +spent twenty-four hours there and then continued our journey to +Lyons. We were not more than a few leagues from there, and were +changing horses at the post-house of Limonest, when we noticed +that all the postilions had decorated their hats with tricolour +ribbons, and that there were flags of the same colours hanging +from all the windows. We asked the reason for this demonstration, +and were told that General Bonaparte had just arrived in +Lyons...! + +My father, who was certain that Bonaparte was still in the depths +of Egypt, treated this news as absurd, but he was taken aback +when, having sent for the post master, who had just returned from +Lyons, he was told, "I saw General Bonaparte, whom I know very +well, because I served under his command in Italy. He is staying +in some hotel in Lyon, and has with him his brother Louis, +Generals Berthier, Lannes and Murat, as well as a great, number +of officers, and a Mameluke." + +This could hardly have been more positive; however the revolution +had given rise to so many falsehoods, and factions had been so +cunning in inventing stories which would serve their ends, that +my father was still in doubt when we entered the suburbs of Lyon. +All the houses were draped with flags. Fireworks were going off. +The crowd filled the streets to the point of preventing our coach +from moving. There was dancing in the public squares and the air +rang with cries of "Vive Bonaparte. Saviour of the country!" It +was evident that Bonaparte was indeed in Lyon. My father said, "I +was well aware that he was to be sent for, but I did not think it +would be so soon. The coup has been well organised, and there are +great events to come. I feel sure that I was right to leave +Paris. At least, in the army I can serve the country without +taking part in a coup, which, however necessary, I find +repugnant." Having said this, he fell into a deep reverie, which +lasted for the long time it took us to work our way through the +crowds to the hotel where our rooms had been prepared. + +The nearer we got to the hotel, the thicker the crowd became, and +when we reached the door we saw that it was hung about with +Chinese lanterns and guarded by Grenadiers. It was here that +General Bonaparte was staying, in rooms that had been booked a +week before for my father. + +Although quick-tempered, my father did not say a word when the +hotelier, who had been compelled to obey the orders of the +municipality, came with some embarrassment to make his excuses. +The inn-keeper having added that he had arranged for our +accommodation at another hotel....very good, though of second +grade....and run by one of his relatives, my father simply asked +Capt. Gault to tell the postilion to take us there. + +When we arrived, we were met by our courier, a lively fellow, +who, heated by the long journey he had just made and the numerous +drinks he had downed at each post-house had complained most +loudly when he found that the rooms booked for his master had +been given to General Bonaparte. The latter's aides-de-camp +hearing this uproar and learning the cause, went to warn their +master that General Marbot had been displaced to make room for +him, and, at the same time, General Bonaparte saw through his +open window my father's two coaches pull up at the door. + +He had not been aware, until then, of the shabby way in which my +father had been treated; and as General Marbot, recently +commandant of Paris, and now a divisional commander in Italy was +too important a man to be treated unceremoniously, and also as +General Bonaparte had good reason to make himself popular with +everybody, he ordered one of his officers to go down straight +away and ask General Marbot to come, as a fellow soldier, and +share his accommodation. Then, seeing the coaches leave before +his aide-de-camp could speak to my father, Bonaparte went +immediately, on foot, to offer his regrets in person. + +The crowd which followed him set up a great noise of cheering, +which, as it drew near our hotel, should have warned us, but we +had heard so much since coming to the town that it did not occur +to one of us to look out of the window. We were all in the +drawing-room where my father was striding up and down, deep in +thought, when the valet-de-chambre, opening the double doors, +announced, "The General Bonaparte." + +On entering, he hurried to embrace my father, who received him +very politely, but coolly. They had known each other for a long +time. + +The explanations about the lodgings could be disposed of in a few +words between two such people, and so they were. They had much +else to talk about; so they went alone into the bedroom, where +they remained in conference for more than an hour. + +During this time, the officers who had come with General +Bonaparte chatted with us in the drawing-room. I never tired of +examining their martial appearance, their sun-bronzed faces, +their strange uniforms and their Turkish sabres, hung from cords. +I listened with interest to their stories of the campaign in +Egypt, and the battles which were fought there. I took pleasure +in hearing them talk of such celebrated places as the Pyramids, +the Nile, Cairo, Alexandria, Acre, the desert and so on. What +delighted me most, however, was the sight of the young Mameluke, +Rustum. He had stayed in the ante-chamber, where I went several +times to admire his costume, which he showed me willingly. He +already spoke reasonable French, and I never wearied of asking +him questions. + +General Lannes recalled having let me fire his pistols, when, in +1793, he was serving under my father in the camp at Miral. He was +very friendly toward me, and neither of us then foresaw that one +day I should be his aide-de-camp, and that he would die in my +arms at Essling. General Murat came from the same region as we +did, and as he had been a shop-assistant to a silk merchant at +Saint-Cere during the period when my family spent the winter +there, he had often come to the house, bringing purchases to my +mother. My father, also, had rendered him a number of services, +for which he was always grateful. He gave me a hug, and reminded +me that he had often held me in his arms, when I was an infant. + +General Bonaparte and my father having come back into the room, +they presented to one another the members of their suites. +Generals Lannes and Murat were old acquaintances of my father, +who welcomed them with great affability. He was a little distant +with General Berthier, whom, however he had seen before, when he +was in the bodyguard and Berthier was an engineer. + +General Bonaparte, who knew my mother, asked me, very politely, +for news of her. He complimented me most warmly on having, while +yet so young, taken up a military career, and taking me gently by +the ear, which was always the most flattering caress which he +bestowed on those with whom he was pleased, he said to my father, +"One day this will be a second General Marbot." This prediction +came true, although at that time I had no expectation of it. +However I was very proud of these words. It takes so very little +to make a child feel pleased with himself. + +When the visit was over, my father disclosed nothing of what had +been said between him and General Bonaparte; but I learned later +that Bonaparte, without stating his objectives clearly, had +sought, by the most adroit cajolements, to win my father over to +his side, and that, my father had always dodged the issue. + +Disgusted at seeing the people of Lyon running in front of +Bonaparte, as if he was already the sovereign of France, my +father declared that he wanted to leave at dawn the next day; but +as his coaches needed some repairs, he was forced to spend an +entire day at Lyon. I profited from this to have a new forage cap +made, and, enchanted with this purchase, I took no notice of the +political conversations, about which, to tell the truth, I +understood little. + +My father went to return the visit he had received from General +Bonaparte. They walked alone for a very long time in the hotel's +little garden, while their suites remained respectfully at a +distance. We saw them sometimes gesture with warmth, and at other +times speak more calmly; then Bonaparte, with a wheedling look, +went up to my father and put his arm through his in a friendly +fashion, probably so that the officials who were in the courtyard +and the many spectators who hung out of neighbouring windows +might conclude that General Marbot agreed with the plans of +General Bonaparte; for this crafty man neglected nothing to +achieve his aims. + +My father came away from this second conversation even more +pensive than he had been after the first, and on coming back to +the hotel, he ordered our departure for the next day. +Unfortunately, the next day, General Bonaparte was to make an +excursion round the town to inspect the heights suitable for +fortification, and all the post-horses were reserved for him. I +thought that at this blow my father would become angry, but he +contented himself by saying, "There is the beginning of +omnipotence." And told his staff to see if they could hire any +horses, so keen was he to get away from the town and from the +sights which offended him. No spare horses could be found. Then +Col. Menard, who was born in the Midi, and knew the district +perfectly, observed that the road from Lyon to Avignon was in +such a poor state of repair that the coaches might be badly +damaged if they attempted it, and it would be better to embark +them on the Rhone, the descent of which would offer us an +enchanting spectacle. My father, who was no great lover of the +picturesque, would, at any other time, have rejected this advice, +but as it gave him the opportunity to leave the town a day +earlier, he agreed to take to the Rhone. + +Col. Menard then hired a large boat, the coaches were put on +board, and the next day, early in the morning, we all embarked: a +decision which was very nearly the end of us. + +It was autumn. The water was very low. All the time the boat +touched and scraped along the bottom. One feared that it might be +torn open. We slept the first night at Saint-Peray, next at Tain, +and took two days to get as far down as the junction with the +Drome. There we had much more water, and went along rapidly; but +a dangerous high wind called the Mistral hit us when we were +about a quarter league above the bridge known as Pont +Saint-Esprit. The boatmen were unable to reach the bank. They +lost their heads, and set themselves to praying instead of +working, while a furious wind and a strong current were driving +the boat towards the bridge! We were about to crash against the +pier of the bridge and be sunk, when my father and all of us, +taking up boat-hooks, hurried forward to fend off from the pier +which we were about to strike. + +The shock was so severe that it knocked us into the thwarts, but +the push had changed the direction of the boat, which, by a +miraculous piece of good fortune, shot through under the arch. +The boatmen then recovered a little from their terror and resumed +some sort of control of their boat; but the Mistral continued, +and the two coaches offering a resistance to the wind made any +manoeuvre almost impossible. At last, six leagues above Avignon, +we went aground on a very large island, where the bow of the boat +dug into the sand in such a way that it would not be possible to +get it out without a gang of labourers, and we were listing over +so far that we feared being swamped at any moment. We put some +planks between the boat and the shore and, with the help of some +rope, we all got ashore without accident, though with some +difficulty. + +There could be no thought of re-embarking in the very high +wind,(although without rain), and so we pushed on into the +interior of the island, which we thought at first was +uninhabited; but eventually we came across a sort of farm, where +we found some good folk who made us very welcome. We were dying +of hunger, but it was impossible to go back to the boat for food, +and all we had was a little bread. + +We were told that the island was full of poultry, which was +allowed to run wild, and which the peasants shot, when they +wanted some. My father was very fond of shooting, and he needed +some relaxation from his problems, so we borrowed guns from the +peasants, some pitch-forks and sticks, and we set off on a hen +shoot. We shot several, though it was not easy to hit them as +they flew like pheasants. We also picked up many of their eggs in +the woods. When we returned to the farm, we lit a big fire in the +middle of a field, around which we set up a bivouac, while the +valet, helped by the farmer, prepared the eggs and the chickens +in a variety of ways. We supped well and then bedded down on +some hay, no one daring to accept the beds which the good +peasants offered us, as they seemed to us to be far from clean. + +By day-break the wind had dropped, so all the peasants and the +boatmen took spades and picks, and after several hours of hard +work they got the boat afloat, enabling us to continue our +journey towards Avignon, which we reached without any further +accidents. Those that had befallen us were so embroidered in the +telling, that the rumour reached Paris that my father and all his +staff had been drowned. + +The approach to Avignon, particularly when one comes down the +Rhone, is very picturesque. The old Papal Chateau; the ramparts +by which the city is surrounded; its numerous steeples and the +Chateau de Villeneuve rising opposite, combine to make a fine +prospect. At Avignon we met Mme. Menard and one of her nieces, +and we spent three days in the town, visiting the charming +outskirts, including the fountain of Vaucluse. My father was in +no hurry to leave, because M. R*** h d written to say that the +very hot weather,still persisting in the Midi,had forced him to +slow the pace of his march and my father did not wish to arrive +before his horses. + +From Avignon we headed for Aix, but when we reached Bompart, on +the banks of the Durance, which, at that time, was crossed by a +ferry, we found the river so swollen by flood, that it would not +be possible to cross for at least five or six hours. We were +debating whether to return to Avignon, when the operator of the +ferry, a gentlemanly sort of person, who owned a charming little +castle on the height some five hundred paces from the river bank, +came and begged my father to rest there until the coaches could +be embarked. He accepted, hoping that it would be for a few hours +only; but it appeared that there had been heavy storms in the +Alps, where the Durance has its source, for the river continued +to rise all day, and we were compelled to accept lodging for the +night, which was offered most cordially by the owner of the +castle. The weather being fine we spent the day walking. It was a +break in our travels which I enjoyed. + +The next day, seeing that the flood-water was running even more +rapidly than the evening before, our host, who was a devout +Republican, and who knew the river well enough to judge that we +would not be able to cross for twenty-four hours, hurried off, +unknown to us, to the little town of Cavaillon, which is about +two leagues from Bompart, on the same bank of the river. He had +gone to inform all the "Patriots" of the locality that he had in +his house divisional General Marbot. He then returned to the +castle, where, an hour or so later, we saw the arrival of a +cavalcade composed of the keenest "Patriots" of Cavaillon, who +had come to beg my father to accept an invitation to a banquet, +which they offered him in the name of all the notables of the +town, "Always so staunchly Republican." + +My father, who found these sort of occasions far from agreeable, +at first refused; but these "Citoyens" were so insistent, saying +that everything had been organised and that the guests had +gathered, that my father gave in and went off to Cavaillon. + +The best hotel had been decked with garlands, and was graced by +the presence of the local dignitaries from the town and its +outskirts. After an interminable number of compliments, we took +our places at a table laden with the most exclusive dishes. Above +all, there were ortolans, birds which thrive well in this part of +the country. + +A great many toasts were drunk. Virulent speeches were made, +denouncing the "Enemies of liberty" and the dinner did not end +until ten o'clock in the evening. It was a little late to return +to Bompart, and anyway, my father could not with politeness leave +his hosts the moment the meal was over. He decided then to spend +the night at Cavaillon, and the rest of the evening was passed in +rather noisy talk. Eventually, one by one, the guests went home +and we were left alone. + +The next morning, M. Gault asked the inn-keeper how much my +father owed for his part in the immense feast of the night +before, which he assumed was a communal meal in which each paid +for his own share. The inn-keeper presented him with a bill of +more than 1500 francs. The good "Patriots" not having paid a +single sou!...We were told that though some had expressed a wish +to pay, the great majority had replied that this would be "An +insult to General Marbot"....! + +Capt. Gault was furious at this procedure, but my father, who at +first could not get over his astonishment, burst into laughter, +and told the inn-keeper to go and collect the money at Bompart, +to where we returned straight away, without saying a word of this +to the chatelaine; whose servants we tipped handsomely, and then, +taking advantage of the fall in the water level, we at last +crossed the Durance and made our way to Aix. + +Although I might not yet be of an age to discuss politics with my +father, what I had heard him say led me to believe that his +Republican ideas had been much modified over the preceding two +years, and what he had experienced as a supposed guest of honour +at Cavaillon had severely shaken them, but he did not display any +ill-feeling on the subject of this banquet, and was even amused +at the anger of M. Gault, who said repeatedly, "I am not +surprised that, in spite of their cost, these scoundrels produced +so many ortolans, and ordered so many bottles of good wine! " + +After spending a night at Aix, we left for Nice. This was the +last stage of our journey. While we were travelling through the +mountain and the beautiful forest of Esterel, we encountered the +Colonel of the 1st Hussars, who, escorted by an officer and +several troopers, was taking some lame horses, returned by the +army, back to the depot at Puy-en-Velay. This colonel was named +M. Picart and had been given his command because of his +administrative ability. He was sent frequently to the depot to +arrange for the equipment of men and horses, which he then +forwarded to the fighting units, where he appeared but rarely and +did not stay for long. + +When he saw Col. Picart, my father had the coach stopped and got +out, and after presenting me to my colonel, he took him on one +side, and asked him to name an intelligent and well educated +non-commissioned officer who might be made my mentor. The Colonel +named Sergeant Pertelay. My father made a note of the name, and +we continued on our way to Nice; where we found M.R*** settled in +an excellent hotel, with our coaches and horses in first-class +order. + +Chap. 8. + +The town of Nice was full of troops, among which was a squadron +of the 1st Hussars, to which regiment I belonged. In the absence +of its colonel, the regiment was commanded by a Major Muller. On +learning that the divisional general had arrived, Muller came to +see my father, and it was agreed between them that, after a few +days rest, I should begin my service in the seventh company, +commanded by Capt. Mathis. + +Although my father was very good to me, I was so much in awe of +him that I was very shy in his presence, a shyness which he +thought was greater than was really the case; he said I should +have been a girl, and often called me madamoiselle Marcellin, +which annoyed me very much, especially now that I was a Hussar. +It was to overcome this shyness, that my father wished me to +serve in the ranks, and in any case, as I have already said, one +could not join the army except as a private soldier. My father, +it is true, could have attached me to his personal staff, since +my regiment was part of his division, but, quite apart from the +notion which I have described above, he wanted me to learn how to +saddle and bridle my own horse and to look after my arms and +equipment; also, he did not want his son to enjoy the least +privilege, as this would have had a bad effect on the rest of the +troops. It was already enough that I was to be allowed to join a +squadron without undergoing a long and wearisome period of +training at the depot. I passed several days with my father and +his staff, travelling about the district round Nice, which was +very beautiful, but the moment for my entry into the squadron +having arrived, my father asked Major Muller to send him Sergeant +Pertelay. + +Now, there were two brothers of this name in the regiment, both +of them sergeants, but having nothing else, physically or +mentally in common, the elder being something of a scamp, while +the younger was thoroughly respectable. It was this latter whom +the colonel had intended to appoint as my mentor, but in the +short time which he and my father had spent together, Col. Picart +had forgotten, when naming Pertelay, to add the younger: +furthermore, this Pertelay was not in the part of the squadron +which was stationed in Nice, while the elder was in the very +company, the seventh, which I was about to join. + +Major Muller believed that the colonel had named the elder to my +father and that this wild character had been chosen to open the +eyes of an innocent and shy young man, which I then was. So he +sent us the elder Pertelay. + +This example of the old type of Hussar was a rowdy, quarrelsome, +swashbuckling, tippler, but also brave to the point of +foolhardiness; for the rest, he was completely ignorant of +anything that was not connected with his horse, his arms and his +duties in the face of the enemy. Pertelay the younger, on the +other hand, was quiet, polite, and well-educated. He was a +handsome man and just as brave as his brother, and would surely +have gone far had he not, while still very young, been killed in +action. + +Now to return to the elder. He arrived at my father's quarters, +and what did we see? A fine fellow, very well turned out it is +true, but with his shako tipped over one ear, his sabre trailing +on the ground, his red face slashed by an immense scar, +moustaches six inches long, which, stiffened by wax, curled up +into his ears, two big plaits of hair, braided from his temples, +which, escaping from his shako, hung down to his chest, and with +all this an air...! An air of rakishness which was increased by +his speech, which was rattled out in a sort of Franco-Alsatian +patois. This last did not surprise my father, as he knew that the +1st Hussars were the former regiment of Bercheny, which in +earlier days recruited only Germans, and where, until 1793, all +the orders were given in German, which was the language generally +used by the officers and men, almost all of whom came from the +provinces bordering the Rhine. My father was however exceedingly +surprised by the style and manner of my proposed mentor. + +I learned later that he had hesitated to put me in the hands of +this bravo, but M. Gault having reminded him that Colonel Picart +had described him as the best N.C.O.in the squadron, he decided +to try it. So off I went with Pertelay, who, taking me by the arm +without ceremony, came to my room, showed me how to pack my kit +into my valise, and conducted me to a small barracks, situated in +a former monastery, and now occupied by a squadron of the 1st +Hussars. + +My mentor made me saddle and unsaddle the pretty little horse +which my father had bought me; then he showed me how to put on my +cloak and my arms, giving me a complete demonstration, and having +decided that he had explained to me all that was necessary, he +thought it time to go for dinner. My father, who wished me to eat +with my mentor, had given us extra money to meet the expense. + +Pertelay took me to a small inn, which was crammed with Hussars, +Grenadiers and soldiers of every sort. We were served with a +meal, and on the table was placed an enormous bottle of red wine +of the most violent nature. Pertelay poured me a glassful. We +clinked glasses. My man emptied his and I raised mine without +putting it to my lips, for I had never drunk undiluted wine and I +found the smell of this liquid disagreeable. I admitted this to +my mentor, who shouted, in a stentorian voice, "Waiter! Bring +some lemonade for this boy who never drinks wine." A gale of +laughter swept through the room. I was mortified, but I could not +bring myself to taste this wine, and as I did not dare to ask for +water, I dined without a drink. + +A soldier's apprenticeship has always been hard going. It was +particularly so at the time of which I write. I had, therefore, +some unhappy experiences to suffer. A thing I found unbearable +was the requirement to share my bed with another Hussar. The +regulations allotted only one bed for two soldiers. N.C.O.s alone +were allowed to have a bed each. On the first night which I spent +in the barracks, I had already gone to my bed when a tall, +ungainly Hussar, who arrived an hour after the others, approached +it, and seeing that it was occupied, he unhooked a lantern and +stuck it under my nose to examine me more closely. Then he got +undressed. As I watched him, I had no idea that he intended to +get in beside me; but I was soon disillusioned, when he said to +me roughly, "Shove over, conscript!" And got into the bed, taking +up three-quarters of it, and began to snore loudly. I was unable +to sleep a wink, largely because of the revolting odour arising +from a large package which my comrade had placed under the +bolster, to raise his head. I could not think what this could be, +so to find out, I slid my hand gently toward this object and +found it to be a leather apron impregnated with cobbler's wax, +which shoemakers use to treat their thread. My amiable bed +companion was one of the men employed by the regimental +bootmaker. I was so disgusted that I got up, got dressed, and +went to the stables where I bedded down on a heap of straw. The +next day I told Pertelay of my misadventure, and he reported it +to the sub-lieutenant commanding the platoon. He was a +well-educated man named Leisteinschneider (in German, a +stone-worker) who was later killed in action. He understood how +painful it must be for me to have to sleep with a bootmaker, and +he took it on himself to arrange for me to have a bed in the +N.C.O's room, something which pleased me greatly. + +Although the revolution had produced a great relaxation in the +general turn-out of troops, the 1st Hussars had kept theirs +exactly as it was when they were Bercheny's Hussars; so except +for the physical differences imposed by nature, all troopers had +to resemble one another in their appearance, and as the regiments +of Hussars of that period had not only pig-tails, but long +plaited tresses which hung from their temples and turned-up +moustaches, it was the rule that everyone belonging to the +regiment must have moustache, pig-tail and tresses. Now, as I had +none of these things, my mentor took me to the regimental +wig-maker where I bought a false pig-tail and tresses, which were +attached to my own hair, already fairly long, as I had let it +grow since my enlistment. These embellishments embarrassed me at +first but I got used to them in a few days, and it pleased me to +imagine that they gave me the appearance of a seasoned trooper. +It was a different matter when it came to the moustache I had no +more of a moustache than a girl, and as a hairless face would +have spoiled the ranks of the squadron, Pertelay, as was the +custom of Bercheny, took a pot of black wax, and with his thumb +he gave me an enormous curling moustache, which covered my upper +lip and reached almost to, my eyes. The shakos of the time did +not have a vizor, so that, when I was on guard duty, or during an +inspection, when one has to remain perfectly still, the Italian +sun, shining hotly onto my face, sucked the moisture out of the +wax of which my moustache was made, and, as it dried it pulled at +my skin in a most disagreeable manner. However, I did not blink. +I was a Hussar! A word that had for me an almost magical +significance; besides which, having engaged in a military career, +I understood very well that my first duty was to obey the +regulations. + +My father and part of his division were still in Nice, when we +heard of the events of the 18th Brumaire, the overthrow of the +Directorate and the establishment of the Consulate. My father had +too much contempt for the Directorate to regret its downfall, but +he feared that, intoxicated by power, General Bonaparte, after +re-establishing order in France, would not restrict himself to +the modest title of consul, and he predicted to us that in a +short time he would aim to become king. My father was mistaken +only in the title, four years later Napoleon made himself +emperor. + +Whatever his misgivings about the future, my father congratulated +himself on not having been in Paris on the 18th Brumaire, and I +believe that had he been there he might well have opposed the +actions of General Bonaparte, but in the army, at the head of a +division facing the enemy, he was content to adopt the passive +obedience of the soldier. He even rejected proposals, which were +made to him by a number of generals and colonels, to march on +Paris at the head of their troops. "Who," he said to them, "will +defend our frontiers if we abandon them? And what will become of +France if, to the war against foreigners, we add the calamity of +civil strife?" By these wise observations he calmed down the +hot-heads; but he was, nonetheless, very disturbed by the coup +which had just taken place: he adored his country and would have +greatly preferred that it could have been saved without being +submitted to the yoke of a dictator. + +I have said that my father's principle reason for making me +enlist as a lowly Hussar had been to rid me of the simple notions +of a schoolboy, which had not been changed by my short +acquaintance with the world of Paris. The result exceeded his +expectations, for living amongst swaggering Hussars, and having +as a mentor a sort of brigand who laughed at my innocence, I +began to howl with the wolves, and for fear that I might be +mocked for my timidity, I became a real devil. This, however, was +not enough for me to be accepted into a sort of brotherhood, +which under the name of the clique, had members in all the +squadrons the 1st Hussars. + +The clique was made up of all the biggest rogues, but, at the +same time, some of the bravest men in the regiment. The members +of the clique supported one another against all opposition, +particularly in the face of the enemy. They called themselves the +Jokers, and recognised one another by a notch cut into the metal +of the first button on the right hand row of the pelisse and +dolman. The officers were aware of the existence of the clique, +but as its worst crimes were limited to the adroit theft of +chickens or sheep, or some trick played on the local inhabitants, +and as the Jokers were always at the forefront in any action, +they turned a blind eye. I was young and feckless, and I longed +desperately to belong to this raffish society, which I thought +would raise my standing amongst my comrades; but it was in vain +that I frequented the salle-d'armes to practice swordsmanship and +the use of the pistol and carbine, and that I dug my elbows into +anyone who got in my way: allowed my sabre to trail on the ground +and tipped my shako over one ear, the members of the clique +regarded me as a child and refused to admit me to their society. +However, an unforeseen event led to my being accepted +unanimously. + +The army of Italy was at this time in Liguria and spread out on a +front of more than sixty miles in length, the right of which was +in the Gulf of Spezzia, beyond Genoa, and the left at Nice and +Var, that is to say on the frontier of France. We had, therefore, +the sea at our backs, and we faced Piedmont, which was occupied +by the Austrian army, from which we were separated by that branch +of the Apennines which runs from Var to Gavi: a bad position, in +which the army ran the risk of being cut in two, which, in fact, +happened some months later. + +My father, having been ordered to concentrate his division at +Savona, a small town, by the sea, ten leagues towards France from +Genoa, set up his headquarters in the bishop's palace. The +infantry was spread out among the market towns and villages of +the neighbourhood to keep watch on the valleys from which emerged +the roads which led to Piedmont. The 1st Hussars, who had come +from Nice to Savona, were encamped on a plain known as the +Madona. The outposts of the enemy were at Dego, four or five +leagues from us, on the forward slopes of the Apennines, whose +summits were covered in snow, whereas Savona and its surroundings +enjoyed the mildest of climates. + +Our encampment would have been delightful if the rations had been +more plentiful; but there was at that time no main road from Nice +to Genoa; the sea was covered by English warships, so the army +had to live on what could be brought by detachments of mules +along the Corniche, or by small boat-loads, which could slip +unnoticed along the coast. These precarious supplies were +scarcely enough to provide, from day to day, sufficient food to +support the troops; but, happily, the country produced plenty of +wine, which enabled them to bear their privations with more +resignation. + +One fine day I was walking along the beach with my mentor when we +came on a "taverna," where there was a charming garden planted +with orange and lemon trees, under which were tables at which sat +soldiers of all kinds. He suggested that we went there, and +although I had never overcome my distaste for wine, I agreed, +simply to please him. + +In those days the cavalryman's belt did not have a hook, so that +when we went on foot, it was necessary to hold up the scabbard of +the sabre with one's left hand, and one could allow the end to +trail on the ground. This made a noise on the pavement, and +looked rather dashing, so of course I had to adopt this way of +doing things. Thus it happened that as we went into this garden, +the end of my scabbard came in contact with the foot of an +enormous horse-gunner, who was sprawled on his chair with his +legs sticking out. The horse artillery had been formed at the +beginning of the revolutionary wars from men taken from the +companies of Grenadiers, who took advantage of the occasion to +get rid of their most troublesome characters. The men of the +flying artillery, as it was then called, were known for their +dash, but also for their love of quarreling. + +The one whose foot the end of my scabbard had touched, shouted to +me in a very rude tone of voice, "Hussar, your sabre drags too +much!" I was going to walk on without saying any thing, when +master Pertelay, nudging me with his elbow, whispered, "Tell him +to come and lift it up." So I said to the gunner "Come and lift +it up then!" "That will be easy!" he replied. Then, at another +whisper from Pertelay, "I'd like to see you do it!" I said. On +these words, the gunner, or this Goliath, for he was at least six +feet tall, sat up straight with a threatening air... But my +mentor pushed himself between him and me. All the gunners who +were in the garden came to support their comrade, but a crowd of +Hussars gathered beside Pertelay and me. There was a lot of angry +shouting with everyone talking at once; I thought there was going +to be a general melee. However as the Hussars were in a majority +of at least two to one, they took the matter the more calmly, +while the gunners realised that if they started something they +would get the worst of it, so in the end the giant was made to +understand that in brushing his foot with my scabbard, I had in +no way insulted him, and that should be the end of the matter. + +During the tumult, however, a trumpeter from the artillery, of +about twenty years of age, had offered me some insults, and in my +indignation I had pushed him so roughly that he had fallen into a +muddy ditch. It was agreed that this lad and I should fight a +duel with our sabres. + +We left the garden, followed by all the assistants, and found +ourselves by the edge of the sea, on fine solid sand, ready for +battle. Pertelay knew that I was quite a good swordsman; however +he gave me some words of advice on how I should attack my +adversary, and fastened the hilt of my sabre to my hand with a +large handkerchief, which he rolled round my arm. + +My father hated duelling. Not only because of his own conclusions +about this barbarous custom, but also, I believe, because in his +youth, when he was a member of the bodyguard, he had acted as +second for a comrade of whom he was very fond, and who was killed +in a duel over the most trivial matter. However that may be, when +my father took command, he ordered the police to arrest anyone +caught engaging in swordplay and bring them before him. + +Although the trumpeter and I both knew of this order, we had, +nevertheless, taken off our dolmans and taken up our sabres. I +had my back to the town of Savona, my adversary was facing it, +and we were about to begin our combat when I saw the trumpeter +duck to one side, pick up his dolman and make off at top speed. + +"Coward!....Runaway!" I shouted, and was about to, pursue him +when two iron hands grasped me by the collar. I turned my head +and found myself facing some eight to ten police! I understood +then why my antagonist had cleared off, followed by all the +assistants, including master Pertelay, whom I saw disappearing +into the distance, as fast as their legs could carry them, for +fear of being arrested and brought before the General. + +There I was! Disarmed and a prisoner! I picked up my dolman, and +looking very sheepish, followed my captors, to whom I had not +given my name, as they led me to the Bishop's palace where my +father was installed. He was at that moment with General Suchet, +who had come to Savona to confer with him on service matters. +They were walking in a gallery which overlooked the courtyard. +The police put me up before General Marbot, without any idea that +I was his son. The sergeant explained why I had been arrested. +Then my father, looking very severe, gave me a lively dressing +down, after which admonition, he said to the sergeant, "Take this +Hussar to the citadel." I left without saying a word, and without +General Suchet, who did not know me, suspecting that the scene he +had just witnessed had taken place between a father and his son. +It was not until the next day that he learned the truth, and he +has often spoken to me since, with laughter, about the episode. + +On my arrival at the citadel, an ancient Genoese building +situated near the harbour, I was locked into a big room lit by a +high window, which faced toward the sea. I recovered slowly from +my fright. The reprimand which I had received seemed to me to be +deserved; however I was less concerned at having disobeyed the +General than I was at having upset my father. I passed the rest +of the day sadly enough. + +In the evening, an old ex-soldier of the Genoan force brought me +a jug of water, a piece of ration bread, and a bale of straw, on +which I lay down, without being able to eat. I could not go to +sleep; at first because I was too upset, and later because of the +arrival of some large rats, which ran about me and soon made off +with my piece of bread. I was lying in the dark, a prey to my sad +reflections, when, at about ten o'clock, I heard the bolts of my +prison being drawn and I saw Spire, my father's old and faithful +servant. He told me that after my despatch to the citadel, Capt. +Gault, Col. Menard, and all my father's officers had asked him to +pardon me. The General had agreed, and had sent him, Spire, to +find me and take the order for my release to the governor of the +fort. I was taken before the governor, General Buget, an +excellent man, who had lost an arm in battle. He knew me and was +very fond of my father. He felt it his duty, after giving me back +my sabre, to give me a long lecture, to which I listened +patiently, but which made me reflect that I would get a much +worse telling-off from my father. I did not have the courage to +face this and decided to evade it, if that were possible. At +last we were let out of the gates of the citadel. The night was +dark, and Spire went in front with a lantern. As we walked +through the narrow twisting streets, the good fellow, delighted +to be bringing me back, recounted all the comforts which would +await me at headquarters. "But," he said, "you must expect a +severe ticking-off from your father." This last remark put an end +to my doubts, and in order to let my father's anger cool off, I +decided it would be better not to appear before him for a few +days and that I would return to my bivouac at Madona. I could +easily have slipped away without playing any trick on poor Spire; +but fearing that he might be able to pursue me by the light of +his lantern, I gave it a kick which sent it flying ten paces from +him, and ran off while the good man, groping for his lantern, +shouted, "Ah...! You little blighter! I shall tell your father!" + +After wandering for some time in the deserted streets, I found at +last the road to Madona, and made my way to the regimental camp. +All the Hussars thought I was in prison. As soon as one of them +recognised me by the light of the fires, I was surrounded and +questioned. There was much laughter when I described how I had +got away from Spire. The members of the clique were so satisfied +with my behaviour that they decided unanimously to admit me into +their society, which was preparing an expedition to go, that very +night, to the gates of Dego and steal a herd of cattle which +belonged to the Austrian army. The French Generals and even the +corps commanders were obliged to ignore these raids, which, in +the absence of regular rations, the soldiers carried out beyond +the advance posts in order to obtain food. In each regiment the +boldest soldiers had formed marauding bands who were marvellously +skilled at finding out where supplies were being assembled for +the enemy, and using ruse and audacity to lay hands on them. + +A rascally horse-dealer had told the clique that a herd of cattle +which he had sold to the Austrians was in a meadow a quarter of a +league from Dego, and now sixty Hussars, armed only with their +carbines, were on their way to capture it. Avoiding the main +road, we went several leagues into the mountain by winding and +atrociously rough tracks. We surprised five Croats, who had been +left to guard the herd, asleep in a shed. To prevent them from +going to waken the garrison at Dego, we tied them up and left +them there. We drove away the herd without a shot being fired and +returned to the camp, tired out, but delighted to have played +such a successful trick on the enemy, and at the same time +acquired some food. + +This event illustrates the already wretched condition of the army +of Italy, and demonstrates to what a state of disorganisation +such neglect will bring troops; whose officers are obliged not +only to tolerate these sort of expeditions, but to take advantage +of the supplies they procure without seeming to know whence they +come. + +Chap. 9. + +Happy in my military career, I had not even reached the rank of +corporal when I was raised immediately to that of sergeant. This +is how it came about. + +On the left of my father's division was that commanded by General +Seras, whose headquarters were at Finale. This division, which +occupied the part of Liguria where the mountains are steepest, +was composed solely of infantry, the cavalry being unable to +operate, except in small detachments, on the few open spaces +which at this point separate the shore of the Mediterranean from +the mountains of Piedmont. General Seras, having been ordered to +push forward with the greater part of his division to reconnoitre +the area of Mount Santa-Giacomo, beyond which there were several +valleys, wrote to my father requesting the loan of a detachment +of fifty Hussars for this expedition; a request which could not +be turned down. So my father agreed and named Lt. +Leisteinschneider as commander of this detachment, of which my +platoon was a part. + +We left Madona to make our way to Finale. There was, at that +time, only a very bad road along the sea coast, known as the +Corniche. The lieutenant badly injured his foot as a result of a +fall from his horse, and so the command passed to the next in +seniority who was a sergeant named Canon, a handsome young man, +capable and well-trained, and full of self-assurance. + +General Seras, at the head of his division, advanced next day +onto the snow-clad slopes of Mount Santa-Giacomo, where we +encamped. He had intended to go forward the next day, with he +almost certain expectation of making contact with the enemy; but +in how great a number? On this subject the General had absolutely +no information, and as his orders from the commander-in-chief +were to reconnoitre the Austrian positions at this point of the +line, but not to engage in combat if he found the enemy in +strength, General Seras reflected that if he advanced his +infantry division into the middle of the mountains, where often +one could not see enemy troops until one found oneself face to +face with them at a bend in a gorge, he might be led, in spite of +his wishes, into a major battle against superior forces, and +obliged to carry out a dangerous retreat. + +He decided therefore to proceed with caution, and to push out, +three or four leagues in front of him, an advance party which +could probe the country and, most importantly, take some +prisoners, from whom he hoped to get some information; for the +peasantry either knew nothing or would not talk. As a small body +of infantry would be endangered if he advanced them too far, and +as, also, men on foot would take too long to return with the +information which he so urgently needed, it was to the fifty +Hussars that he gave the task of going ahead and exploring the +terrain. Then, as the country was very broken, he gave a map to +our sergeant, briefed him, in front of the detachment and sent us +off, two hours before daylight, repeating that it was essential +that we went ahead until we made contact with the enemy outposts, +from which he would very much like us to capture a few prisoners. + +Sergeant Canon managed his detachment according to the book. He +sent out a small advance-guard, put scouts on the flanks and took +all the precautions usual in partisan warfare. When we had gone +some two leagues from the camp, we came on a large inn. Our +sergeant questioned the inn-keeper and was told that, a good +hour's march away, was a body of Austrian troops, the size of +which he did not know, though he knew that the leading regiment +contained some very unpleasant Hussars, who had maltreated a +number of the local inhabitants. + +Having gathered this information, we set off once more, but +hardly had we gone a hundred paces, when Sergeant Canon, writhing +on his horse, declared that he had the most dreadful pain and +could not go any further. He handed the command to Sergeant +Pertelay, who was next in seniority. Pertelay, however pointed +out that he was an Alsatian and was unable to read French, and +could not, in consequence, understand the map or the written +instructions given by the general. He did not wish to accept the +command. All the other sergeants, old Bercheny Hussars, refused +for the same reason, as did the corporals. In vain, as a matter +of duty, I offered to read the general's instructions and explain +our route on the map for any of the sergeants who would take +over; they all refused anew; then, to my great surprise, these +old sweats turned to me and said "Take command yourself. We'll +follow you and obey all your orders." + +The rest of the party expressed the same wish, and it was clear +that if I refused, we would go no further and the honour of the +regiment would be blemished; for it was essential that the +general's orders were carried out, above all when it was perhaps +a matter of avoiding a disaster for his division. So I accepted +the command, but not without asking Sergeant Canon if he felt +able to continue. At which point he began to complain once more, +left us and returned to the inn. I promise you I thought he was +really ill, but the men of the detachment, who knew him better, +made some very disparaging remarks about him. + +I think I can say, without boasting, that nature has endowed me +with a good stock of courage. I might even add that there was a +time when I enjoyed facing danger. My military record and the +thirteen wounds I have received in the wars are, I believe, +sufficient proof. So, on taking command of fifty men, placed +under my orders in such extraordinary circumstances,--me, a +simple Hussar, seventeen years of age--I resolved to prove to my +comrades that if I had neither experience nor military talent, I +was at least brave; and placing myself resolutely at their head I +set off in the direction where I knew we would encounter the +enemy. + +We had been marching for a long time when our scouts spotted a +peasant who was trying to hide. They hastened to capture him and +bring him back. I questioned him. He came, it seemed, from four +or five leagues away, and claimed that he had not seen any +Austrian troops. I was sure he was lying, either from fear or +from cunning, because we were very close to the enemy +cantonments. I remembered then that I had read in a book about +partisan warfare, which my father had given me to study, that to +persuade the inhabitants of a country in which one is fighting to +talk, it is sometimes necessary to frighten them. So I roughened +my voice, and, trying to give my boyish face a ferocious look, I +shouted, "What! You rascal! You have been wandering about in a +country occupied by a great body of Austrian troops, and you +claim you have seen nothing? You are a spy! Come on lads, let's +shoot him right away." + +I ordered four Hussars to dismount, indicating to them not to +harm the fellow, who, finding himself held by the troopers whose +carbines had just been loaded in front of him, was overcome by +such terror that he swore that he would tell me all he knew. He +was a servant in a monastery, who had been given a letter to take +to relatives of the Prior, and he had been told that if he ran +into the French, he was not to tell them where the Austrians +were; but now that he was forced to speak, he told us that a +league from us there were several regiments of the enemy billeted +in the villages, and that about a hundred of Barco's Hussars were +in a hamlet which was only a short distance away. Questioned +about the defensive precautions taken by these Hussars, he said +that before one reached the houses, they had posted a +picket-guard which was in a garden surrounded by hedges, and that +when he went through the hamlet, the remainder were preparing to +water their horses at a little pond on the far side of the +buildings. + +Having received this information, I had now to make a plan of +action. I wished to avoid passing the picket-guard who, being +entrenched behind hedges, could not be attacked by cavalry, while +the fire from their carbines would perhaps kill several of my men +and give warning of our approach. To do this required that we go +round the hamlet, so as to reach the pond, and fall, +unexpectedly, on our enemies. But how were we to pass without +being seen? I then ordered the peasant to lead us on a detour, +and promised to set him free as soon as we reached the other side +of the hamlet, which we could see: when he refused to do so, I +had him taken by the scruff of the neck by one Hussar while +another held a pistol to his ear, which made him change his mind. +He guided us very well; some large hedges hid our movements, and +we got completely round the village to see, at the edge of a +small pond, the Austrian squadron peacefully watering their +horses. All the riders were carrying their arms, which is the +usual practice for outposts, but those in command had neglected a +precaution which is essential in war, that is, to allow only one +troop at a time to unbridle their horses and enter the water, +while the remainder stay on the bank ready to repel any attack. +Confident that there were no French about and relying on the +watchfulness of the guard posted at the entry to the village, the +enemy commander had thought this precaution unnecessary. This was +to be his downfall. + +When I was some five hundred paces from the pond, I ordered the +peasant to be released, who ran off as fast as his legs could +carry him; then, sabre in hand, and having forbidden my comrades +to utter any war-cry, I advanced at full gallop on the enemy +Hussars, who did not see us until a moment before we arrived at +the pond. The pond's banks were too high for the horses to climb +out, and there was only one practicable way in, which was the one +that served as the village drinking place. It is true that this +was a wide area, but there were more than a hundred horsemen +crowded together there, all with their bridles in their hands and +their carbines slung, so unconcerned that some of them were +singing. You may imagine their surprise! + +I attacked them immediately with carbine fire, which killed +several, wounded many and knocked out a lot of their horses. The +confusion was total! Nevertheless, their captain, rallying some +men who were nearest to the outlet, tried to force a passage to +get out of the water, and opened fire on us, which although not +sustained, wounded two of my men; they then engaged us, but +Pertelay having killed the captain with a blow from his sabre, +the rest crowded back into the pond. To escape from the carbine +fire, many tried to reach the other bank; several lost their +footing and a good number of men and horses were floundering in +the water. Those who reached the other side found that their +horses could not clamber up the steep edge and so they abandoned +them, and pulling themselves up by the aid of trees growing along +the bank, they fled in disorder into the countryside. + +The twelve men of the picket-guard came running at the sound of +firing. We attacked them with the sabre and they also took to +flight. However there remained about thirty men still in the +pond, afraid to try to escape because we occupied the only way +out. They shouted to us that they were surrendering; I accepted +this and as they came to the bank, made them throw down their +arms. Most of these men and horses were wounded, but as I wished +to have some trophy from our victory, I chose seventeen horses +and riders who were fit, and placing them in the middle of the +detachment,I abandoned the rest and went off at the gallop, going +round the village, as before. + +It was just as well that I made a rapid retreat, for as I had +foreseen, the fugitives had run to warn the nearby troops who had +already been alerted by the sound of gunfire, and within half an +hour there were five hundred horsemen on the banks of the little +pond and some thousands of infantrymen close behind them. We, +however, were two leagues away, our wounded having been able to +sustain a full gallop. We stopped for a short time on top of a +hill to bandage their wounds, and we laughed to see in the +distance several enemy columns following our trail, since we knew +that they had no hope of catching us, because in their fear of +falling into an ambush they were feeling their way forward very +slowly. Being now out of danger, I gave Pertelay two of the +best-mounted troopers and sent him off post-haste to inform +general Seras of the success of our mission; then marshalling the +detachment into good order, with our prisoners in the centre and +well guarded, I set off at a slow trot down the road to the inn. + +It would be impossible for me to describe the joy of my +companions and the praises which they heaped on me during this +journey. It could be summed up in these words, which in their +minds was the highest commendation, "You are truly worthy to +serve in Bercheny's Hussars, the finest regiment in the world." + +Meanwhile, what had been happening at Santo-Giacomo during my +absence? After several hours of waiting, General Seras, impatient +for news, saw some smoke on the horizon; his aide-de-camp put his +ear to a drum placed on the ground, a common expedient in +wartime, and heard the distant sound of gunfire. General Seras +was uneasy, and having no doubt that the cavalry detachment was +at grips with the enemy, he took a regiment of infantry with him +as far as the inn. When he arrived there, he saw, under the +cart-shelter, a Hussar's horse tied up to the rail; it was +Sergeant Canon's. The inn-keeper appeared and was questioned. He +replied that the sergeant of Hussars had gone no further than the +inn, and had been, for several hours, in the dining room. The +General went in, and what did he find but Sergeant Canon asleep +by the fireside with, in front of him, an enormous ham, two empty +bottles and a coffee cup! The wretched sergeant was woken up; he +attempted once more to make the excuse of a sudden indisposition, +but the accusing remains of the formidable meal which he had just +eaten, gave the lie to his claims of illness, so General Seras +was very short with him. The General's anger was increasing at +the thought that a detachment of fifty cavalrymen handed over to +the command of a young soldier had probably been wiped out by the +enemy, when Pertelay and the two troopers who were with him +arrived at the gallop to announce our victory and the approaching +arrival of seventeen prisoners. As General Seras, in spite of +this happy outcome, continued to berate Sergeant Canon, Pertelay +said to him, in his bluff outspoken way, "Don't scold him, mon +General, he's such a coward that if he'd been in charge we +wouldn't have succeeded!" A remark which did nothing to improve +the awkward position of Sgt. Canon, who was now placed under +arrest. + +I arrived in the midst of these goings-on. General Seras broke +poor Sgt. Canon, and made him take off his chevrons in front of a +regiment of infantry and fifty Hussars. Then, coming to me, whose +name he did not know, he said, "You have carried out successfully +a mission which would normally be given only to an officer. I am +sorry that the powers of a divisional commander do not allow me +to promote you to sous-lieutenant, only the commander-in-chief +can do that, and I shall ask him to, do so, but in the meantime I +promote you to sergeant." He thereupon ordered his aide-de-camp +to announce this in front of the detachment. In order to carry +out this formality, the aide-de-camp had to ask my name, and it +was only then that General Seras learned that I was the son of +his comrade, General Marbot. I was very pleased about this, +because it demonstrated to my father that favouritism had nothing +to do with my promotion. + +Chap. 10. + +The information which General Seras obtained from the prisoners +having decided him to push forward, he ordered his division to +come down from the heights of Mont Santa-Giacomo, and to encamp +that evening near to the inn. The prisoners were sent to Finale, +and as for the horses they belonged by rights to the Hussars. +They were all of good quality, but, according to the custom of +the time, which was aimed at favouring poorly mounted officers, +captured horses were always sold for five louis. This was a fixed +price and was paid in cash. As soon as the camp was established +the sale began. General Seras, the officers of his staff, the +colonels and battalion commanders of the regiments in his +division soon took up our seventeen horses, which produced the +sum of 85 louis. This was handed over to my detachment, who, not +having had any pay for six months, were delighted with this +windfall, for which they gave me the credit. + +I had some money, so I did not pocket my share from the sale of +the horses, but to celebrate my promotion, I bought from the +inn-keeper two sheep, an enormous cheese and a load of wine, with +which my detachment had a feast. This was one of the happiest +days of my life. + +General Seras, in his report to General Championet included a +most flattering reference to my conduct, and said the same sort +of thing to my father; so when, several days later, I brought the +detachment back to Savona, my father welcomed me with the +greatest show of affection. I was highly delighted; I rejoined +the camp where all the regiment was united; my detachment had +arrived there before me and had told of what we had done, giving +me always the leading part in our success, so I was heartily +welcomed by the officers and soldiers and also by my new +comrades, the non-commissioned officers, who handed me my +sergeant's stripes. + +It was on this day that I met the younger Pertelay for the first +time, he had come back from Genoa, where he had been stationed +for some months. I became friendly with this excellent man, and +regretted not having had him as my mentor at the beginning of my +career, for he gave me much good advice, which steadied me up and +made me break away from the wild men of the clique. + +The commander-in-chief, Championet, intended to carry out some +operations in the interior of Piedmont, but having very little in +the way of cavalry, he ordered my father to send him the 1st +Hussars, who could no longer stay at Madon, in any case, because +of the shortage of fodder. I parted from my father with much +regret and left with the regiment. + +We went along the Corniche as far as Albenga. We crossed the +Apennines, in spite of the snow, and entered the fertile plains +of Piedmont. The commander-in-chief fought a number of actions in +the area round Fossano, Novi and Mondovi, some of which were +successful and others not. + +In one of these actions I had the opportunity of seeing +Brigadier-general Macard, a soldier of fortune whom the +revolutionary upheavals had carried almost straight from the rank +of trumpet-major to that of general! He was a good example of a +type of officer created by luck and their personal courage who, +although displaying much bravery before the enemy, were +nevertheless incapable of occupying effectively a senior position +because of their lack of education. + +This extraordinary character, a veritable colossus, was well +known for one peculiarity. When about to lead his troops in a +charge against the enemy, it was his custom to shout "Let's go! +I'll put on my animal dress." Then he took off his uniform, his +jacket and shirt and retained only his plumed hat, his leather +breeches and his big boots! Thus, naked to the waist, he +displayed a torso almost as hairy as that of a bear, which gave +him a very strange appearance indeed. Once in his animal dress, +as he called it, General Macard, sabre in hand, hurled himself at +the enemy horsemen, swearing like a pagan; but it so happened +that he rarely reached any of them, for at the unexpected and +terrible sight of this kind of giant, half naked and covered in +hair rushing toward them uttering the most fearsome yells the +enemy often fled in all directions, not knowing if they had to +deal with a man or some extraordinary wild beast. + +General Macord was entirely ignorant, which sometimes amused the +more educated officers under his command. One day one of them +came to ask permission to go into a neighbouring town to order a +pair of boots. "Parbleu!" said the general, "This has come at +just the right time; since you are going to the bootmaker, sit +down and take the measurements of my boots and order a new pair +for me." The officer, much surprised, said that he could not take +the measurements as he had no idea how to do this, having never +been a boot-maker. "What!" exclaimed the general loudly, "I see +you sometimes spend whole days sketching and drawing lines +opposite the mountains and when I ask what you are doing, you say +you are measuring the mountains. How is it that you can measure +objects which are more than a league away, and yet you cannot +measure a pair of boots which are under your nose? Come on, take +the measurements quickly and no more nonsense." The officer +assured him that this was impossible. The general insisted; +swore; got angry; and it was only with great difficulty that +other officers, attracted by the noise, were able to put an end +to this ridiculous scene. The general could never understand how +a man who could measure mountains could not measure a pair of +men's boots. + +You should not think, as a result of this anecdote, that all the +general officers in the army of Italy were like the good general +Macord. Far from that, they contained in their number many men +distinguished by their education and manners; but at this time +there were still some senior officers who were completely out of +place in the higher ranks of the army. They were being weeded out +little by little. + +The 1st Hussars took part in all the battles fought at this time +in Piedmont, and suffered many losses in encounters with the +Austrian heavy cavalry. After some marching and countermarching, +and a series of almost daily minor engagements, General +Championet, having concentrated the centre and left of his army +between Coni and Mondovi, attacked, at the end of December, +several divisions of the enemy army. + +The encounter took place on a plain dotted with small hills and +clumps of trees. The 1st Hussars, attached to General Beaumont's +brigade, were positioned on the extreme right of the French army. +As the number of officers and men who make up a squadron is laid +down in the regulations, our regiment, having suffered casualties +in the previous affairs, instead of putting four squadrons into +the line could put only three; but having done this, there were +some thirty men left over, of which five were sergeants. I was +one of this number, as were both the Pertelays. We were formed +into two sections and Pertelay the younger was put in command. +General Beaumont merely instructed him to scout on the right +flank of the army, and act as the situation seemed to require. We +then left the regiment and went to explore the countryside. + +In the meanwhile, a fierce battle commenced between the two +armies, and an hour later, when we were returning to our own +lines without having spotted anything on the flank, young +Pertelay saw, opposite us, and consequently on the extreme left +of the enemy line, a battery of eight guns whose fire was raking +the French ranks. Very unwisely, this Austrian battery, in order +to have a better field of fire, had advanced onto a small hillock +some seven or eight hundred paces in front of the infantry +division to which it belonged. The commander of this artillery +believed that he was quite safe because the position he occupied +dominated the whole French line, and he thought that if any +troops set out to attack him, he would see them and would have +time to regain the safety of the Austrian lines. He had not +considered that a little clump of trees, close to where he was, +could conceal a party of French troops, and had thought no more +about it. But young Pertelay resolved to lead his men there, and +from there to fall upon the Austrian battery. + +Pertelay, knowing that on the battlefield no one takes much +notice of a single horseman, explained his plan to us, which was +for us to go individually, making a detour by a sunken road, to +arrive one by one behind the wood on the left of the enemy +battery, and from there to make a sudden assault on it, without +the fear of cannon-balls, because we would be approaching from +the side. We would capture the guns and take them to the French +lines. The first part of this plan was executed without the +Austrian gunners noticing; we reached the back of the little +wood, where we re-formed the sections. Pertelay put himself at +our head. We went through the wood, and sabre in hand, threw +ourselves on the enemy battery at the moment when it was +directing a murderous fire on our troops. We sabred some of the +gunners, but the rest hid under their ammunition wagons, where +our sabres could not reach them. As instructed by Pertelay, we +did not kill or wound the men on the limbers, but forced them at +sword point to make their horses pull the guns toward the French +lines. This order was obeyed in respect of six guns whose riders +had remained on horseback, but the riders for the two other guns +had dismounted, and although some of the Hussars took the horses +by the bridle, they refused to move. + +The enemy infantry were running to the aid of their battery; +minutes seemed like hours to us; so young Pertelay, satisfied to +have captured six guns, ordered us to leave the others and to +head, with our booty, at the gallop, for the French lines. + +This was a prudent measure, but it proved fatal to our leader, +for hardly had we begun our retreat, when the gunners and their +officers emerged from their hiding places under the wagons, +loaded the two guns which we had not taken with grape-shot and +discharged a hail of bullets into our backs. + +You can well imagine that thirty horsemen and six artillery +pieces, each drawn by six horses and ridden by three transport +riders, all proceeding in a state of disorder, presented a target +which the grape-shot could hardly miss. We had two sergeants and +several Hussars killed or wounded, as well as two of the +transport riders. Some of the horses were also put out of action, +so that most of the teams were so disorganised that they could +not move. Pertelay, keeping perfectly cool, ordered the traces +of the dead or injured horses to be cut and Hussars to take the +place of the dead transport riders, and we continued quickly on +our way. However, the commander of the Austrian battery made use +of the few minutes we had taken to do this to direct a second +volley of grape-shot at us, which caused further casualties, but +we were so resolved not to abandon the six guns which we had +captured that we repaired the damage as well as we could, and +kept on the move. We were already in touch with the French lines +and out of the range of grape-shot, when the enemy artillery +officer changed projectiles and fired two cannon-balls at us, one +of which shattered the back of poor young Pertelay. + +However, our attack on the Austrian battery and its outcome had +been seen by the French generals who moved the line forward. The +enemy drew back, which allowed the remnants of the 1st Hussars to +revisit the area where our unfortunate comrades had fallen. +Almost a third of the detachment were killed or wounded. There +were five sergeants at the beginning of the action; three had +perished; there remained only Pertelay the elder and myself. The +poor fellow was wounded but suffered almost more mentally, for he +adored his brother, whom we all bitterly regretted. While we were +paying him our last respects and picking up the wounded, General +Championet arrived with General Suchet, his chief-of-staff. The +commander-in-chief had witnessed the actions of the platoon. He +gathered us round the six guns which we had just captured, and +after praising the courage with which we had rid the French army +of a battery which was causing them the most grievous losses, he +added that to reward us for having saved the lives of so many of +our comrades, and contributed to the day's success, he intended +to use the power which a recent decree of the First Consul had +given him to award "Armes d'honneur" and that he would award +three sabres of honour and one promotion to sous-lieutenant to +the detachment, who should decide amongst themselves who the +recipients should be. We then regretted even more keenly the loss +of young Pertelay, who would have made such a fine officer. + +The elder Pertelay, a corporal and a Hussar were awarded the +sabres of honour, which, three years later gave the right to the +Cross of the Legion of Honour. It remained to be decided which of +us would be sous-lieutenant. All my comrades put my name forward, +and the commander-in-chief, recalling that General Seras had +written to him about my conduct at Santa-Giacomo, designated me +sous-lieutenant...! I had been a sergeant for only a month! I +have to admit, however, that during the capture of the guns, I +had done no more than the rest of my companions; but as I have +already said, these good Alsatians did not feel that they had the +qualities to take command and become officers. They were +unanimous in choosing me, and General Championet, as well as +noting the favourable comments of General Seras, was perhaps also +glad to be able to please my father. + +My father, however, was less than pleased with what he considered +to be my over-rapid promotion, and he wrote to me instructing me +to refuse it. I would have obeyed; but my father had written in +the same strain to General Suchet, the chief-of-staff, and this +latter had replied that the commander-in-chief would be very put +out to find that one of his divisional generals had taken it upon +himself to disapprove of a promotion which he had made. My father +then authorised me to accept, and I was gazetted sous-Lieutenant +in December 1799. + +I was one of the last officers promoted by General Championet, +who, not being able to remain in Piedmont in the face of superior +forces, was compelled to re-cross the Apennines and lead his army +back to Liguria. He was greatly distressed to see his force +breaking down, because he was not given enough supplies to +support it, and he died two weeks after he had made me an +officer. My father, who was now the most senior divisional +general, was made provisional commander-in-chief of the army of +Italy, whose headquarters were at Nice. He therefore went there +and immediately sent back to Provence the few remaining cavalry, +as there was no longer any fodder in Liguria. So the 1st Hussars +went back to France, but my father kept me behind to become his +aide-de-camp. + +While we were at Nice, my father received an order from the war +ministry to go and take command of the advance guard of the army +of the Rhine, where his chief-of-staff Col. Menard would join +him. We were very pleased at this, since want of supplies had +reduced the army of Italy to such a state of disorder that it +seemed impossible that it could be kept in Liguria. My father was +not sorry to be leaving an army which was disintegrating, and was +likely to be pushed back across the Var and into France. He +prepared to move as soon as General Massena, who had been +nominated to replace him, had arrived. He sent M. Gault, his +aide-de-camp, to Paris to buy maps and make various preparations +for our operations on the Rhine. But fate had decreed otherwise, +and my unfortunate father's grave was destined to be in Italy. + +When Massena arrived he found no more than the shadow of an army: +the soldiers, without pay and almost without clothing and +footwear, existing on a quarter of the normal ration, were dying +of malnutrition as well as an epidemic of disease, the result of +the intolerable privations which they were suffering. The +hospitals were full but had no medicines. Some groups of +soldiers, and even whole regiments, were daily abandoning their +posts and heading for the bridge across the Var, where they +forced a passage to get into France and spread themselves over +Provence, although saying that they were willing to return if +they were given food! The generals were unable to remedy this +appalling state of affairs. They became, daily more discouraged, +and all were requesting leave or retiring on the grounds of +ill-health. Massena had expected that he would be joined in Italy +by several of the generals who had helped him to defeat the +Russians in Switzerland, among them, Soult, Oudinot and Gazan, +but none of them had yet arrived, and it was essential to do +something about the serious situation. + +Massena, who was born in La Turbie, a village in the little +principality of Monaco, was one of the most crafty Italians that +ever existed. He did not know my father, but he decided on their +first meeting that he was a big-hearted man who loved his +country, and, to persuade him to stay, he played on these +sensitive areas, his generosity and his patriotism, suggesting to +him how much nobler it would be for him to continue to serve in +the unhappy army of Italy rather than go to the Rhine. He said +that he would take the responsibility for the failure to carry +out the orders given to my father by the government if he would +agree to stay. My father, beguiled by these speeches and not +wishing to leave the new commander in a mess, consented to remain +with him. He did not doubt that his chief-of-staff, Col. Menard, +his friend, would also give up the idea of going to the Rhine; +but this was not to be. Menard stuck to the order he had been +given, although he was assured that it would be cancelled if he +wished. My father felt very badly about this desertion. Menard +hurried off to Paris, where he took the job of chief-of-staff to +general Lefebvre. + +My father went to Genoa, where he took command of the three +divisions which composed the right wing of the army. Despite all +the shortages, the winter carnival was quite gay in the town, the +Italians being so pleasure-loving! We were lodged in the +Centurione Palace, where we spent the end of the winter +1799-1800. My father had left Spire at Nice with the greater part +of his baggage. He now took on Col. Sacleux as his +chief-of-staff, an admirable man, a good soldier, with a very +pleasant personality, if somewhat solemn and serious-minded. He +had as his secretary a young man by the name of Colindo, the son +of a banker, Signor Trepano of Parma, whom he had picked up after +a series of adventures too long to relate here, who became my +very good friend. + +Early in the spring of 1800, my father was told that General +Massena intended to give the command of the right wing to General +Soult, who had just arrived, and was much my father's junior, and +he was ordered to go back to Savona and head his old division, +the third. My father obeyed, though his pride was hurt by this +new posting. + +Chap. 11. + +A serious situation was developing in Italy. Massena had received +some reinforcements; he had established a little order in his +army, and the campaign of 1800, which led to the memorable siege +of Genoa and the battle of Marengo, was about to begin. + +The snows which covered the mountains separating the two armies +having melted, the Austrians attacked us, and their first efforts +were directed upon my father's division, the third, stationed at +the right of the French line, which they wished to separate from +the centre and the left by driving them back from Savona to +Genoa. + +As soon as hostilities commenced, my father and Col. Sacleux sent +all the non-combatants to Genoa; Colindo was among them. As for +me, I was thoroughly enjoying myself, exhilarated as I was by the +sight of marching troops, the noisy movements of artillery and +the excitement of a young soldier at the prospect of action. I +was far from suspecting that this war would become so terrible +and would cost me so dear. + +My father's division, fiercely attacked by greatly superior +forces, defended for two days positions at Cadibone and +Montenotte, but eventually, seeing themselves on the point of +being outflanked, they had to retire to Voltri, and from there to +Genoa, where they shut themselves in, together with the two other +divisions of the right wing. + +I had heard all the well-informed generals deploring the +circumstances which forced our separation from the centre and the +left, but I had at that time so little understanding of the +principles of warfare that I took no notice. I understood well +enough that we had been defeated, but as I personally had +overcome, before Montenotte, an officer of Burco's Hussars, and +taking the plume from his shako, had fastened it proudly to the +head-band of my bridle, it seemed to me that I was like a knight +of the middle-ages returning laden with the spoils of the +infidel. + +My childish vanity was soon crushed by a dreadful event. During +the retreat, and at a moment when my father was giving me an +order to take, he was hit by a bullet in the left leg, which had +been wounded once before, in the army of the Pyrenees. The injury +was serious, and my father would have fallen from his horse if he +had not leaned on me. I took him out of the battle area. His +wound was dressed. I shed tears as I saw his blood flow, but he +tried to calm me, saying that a soldier should have more courage. +My father was carried to the Centurione Palace in Genoa, where he +had lived during the preceding winter. Our three divisions having +entered Genoa, the Austrians blockaded it by land, and the +English by sea. + +I can hardly bring myself to describe the sufferings of the +garrison and the population of Genoa during the two months for +which this siege lasted. Famine, fighting and an epidemic of +typhus did immense damage. The garrison lost ten thousand men out +of sixteen thousand, and there were collected from the streets, +every day, seven or eight hundred of the bodies of the +inhabitants, of every age, sex, and condition, which were taken +behind the church of Carignan to an immense pit filled with +quick-lime. The number of victims rose to more than thirty +thousand. + +For you to understand just how badly the lack of food was felt by +the inhabitants, I should explain that the ancient rulers of +Genoa, in order to control the populace, had from time immemorial +exercised a monopoly over grain, flour and bread, which was +operated by a vast establishment protected by cannons and guarded +by soldiers, so that when the Doge or the Senate wished to +prevent or put down a revolt, they closed the state ovens and +reduced the people to starvation. Although by this time the +constitution of Genoa had been greatly modified and the +aristocracy now had very little influence, there was not, however +a single private bakery, and the old system of making bread in +the public ovens was still in operation. Now, these public +bakeries, which normally provided for a population of a hundred +and twenty thousand souls, were closed for forty-five days out of +the sixty for which the siege lasted. Neither rich nor poor could +buy bread. The little in the way of dried vegetables and rice +which was in the shops had been bought up at the beginning of the +siege at greatly inflated prices. The troops alone were given a +small ration of a quarter of a pound of horse flesh and a quarter +of a pound of what was called bread. This was a horrible mixture +of various flours, bran, starch, chalk, linseed, oatmeal, rancid +nuts and other evil substances. General Thibauld in his diary of +the siege described as "Turf mixed with oil." + +For forty five days neither bread nor meat was on sale to the +public. The richest were able (at the start the siege only,) to +buy some dried cod, figs and some other dried goods such as +sugar. There was never any shortage of wine, oil and salt, but +what use are they without solid food? All the dogs and cats in +the town were eaten. A rat could fetch a high price! In the end +the starvation became so appalling that when the French troops +made a sortie, the inhabitants would follow them in a crowd out +of the gates, and rich and poor, women, children and the old +would start collecting grass, nettles, and leaves, which they +would then cook with some salt. The Genoese government mowed the +grass which grew on the ramparts, which was then cooked in the +public squares and distributed to the wretched invalids, who had +not the strength to go and find for themselves and prepare this +crude dish. Even the soldiers cooked nettles and all sorts of +herbage with their horse flesh. The richest and most +distinguished families in the town envied them this meat, +disgusting as it was, for the shortage of fodder had made nearly +all the horses sick and even the flesh of those dying of disease +was distributed. + +During the latter part of the siege, the desperation of the +people was something to fear. There were cries that, as in 1756 +their fathers had massacred an Austrian army, they should now try +to get rid of the French army in the same way; and that it was +better to die fighting than to starve to death, after watching +their wives and children perish. These threats of revolt were +made more serious by the fact that if they were carried out, the +English by sea and the Austrians by land would have rushed to +join their efforts to those of the insurgents, and would have +overwhelmed us. + +Amid such dangers and calamities of all sorts, Massena remained +immovable and calm, and to prevent any attempt at an uprising, he +issued a proclamation that French troops had orders to open fire +on any gathering of more than four people. Regiments camped in +the squares and the principal streets. The avenues were occupied +by cannon loaded with grape-shot. It being impossible for them to +come together, the Genoese were unable to revolt. + +It may seem surprising that Massena was so determined to hold on +to a place where he could not feed the inhabitants and could +scarcely maintain his own troops; but Genoa was, at that time, of +great importance. Our army had been cut in two. The centre and +the left wing had retired behind the Var. As long as Massena +occupied Genoa, he kept part of the Austrian army occupied in +besieging him and prevented them from employing all their forces +against Provence. + +Massena knew also that the First Consul was assembling at Dijon, +Lyon, and Geneva, an army of reserve, with which he proposed to +cross the Alps by the St. Bernard pass, to enter Italy and to +surprise the Austrians by falling on their rear while they were +directing their efforts at taking Genoa. We therefore had the +greatest interest in holding the town for as long as possible. +These were the orders of the First Consul, and were subsequently +justified by events. + +To return to the siege. When he heard that my father had been +brought to Genoa, Colindo Trepano hurried to his bedside, and it +was there that we met once more. He helped me most tenderly to +care for my father, for which I am even more beholden to him +because, in the midst of these calamities my father had no one +about him. All his staff officers had been ordered to go and +attend the commander-in-chief; soon rations were refused to our +servants, who were forced to go and take up a musket and line up +with the combatants to have a right to the miserable ration which +was distributed to the soldiers. No exception was made, apart +from a young valet, named Oudin, and a young stable-lad, who +looked after the horses; but Oudin deserted us as soon as he knew +that my father had typhus. + +My father fell ill with this dreadful disease, and at a time when +he was in the greatest need of care, there was no one with him +except me, Colindo and the stable lad Bastide. We did our best to +follow the doctor's instructions, we hardly slept, being +endlessly busy massaging my father with camphorated oil and +changing his bedclothes and linen. + +My father could take no nourishment except soup and I had nothing +with which to make it but rotten horse-meat. My heart was +breaking. + +Providence sent us some help. The huge buildings of the public +ovens were next to the walls of the palace where we were living. +The terraces were almost touching. It was on the immense terraces +of the public ovens that the crushing and mixing took place of +all sorts of chicken food which was added to the rotten flour to +make the garrison's bread. The stable lad Bastide had noticed +that when the workmen of the bakery left the terraces, they were +invaded by horde of pigeons who had their nests in the various +church towers of the town, and were in the habit of coming to +pick up the small amounts of grain which had spilled onto the +flagstones. Bastide, who was a very clever lad, crossed the +narrow space which separated the terraces, and on that of the +public ovens he set up snares and other devices with which he +captured pigeons which we used to make soup for my father, who +found it excellent, compared to that made from horse. + +To the horrors of famine and typhus were added those of a +merciless and unceasing war, for the French troops fought all day +on land against the Austrians, and when nightfall put an end to +the Austrian assaults, the English, Turkish, and Neapolitan +fleets, which were protected by darkness from the port's cannons +and the batteries on the coast, drew close to the town, into +which they hurled a great number of bombs which did fearful +damage. + +The noise of the guns and the cries of the wounded and dying +reached my father and greatly disturbed him. He lamented his +inability to place himself at the head of the men of his +division. This state of mind worsened his condition. He became +more gravely ill from day to day, and progressively weaker. +Colindo and I did not leave him for a moment. Eventually, one +night when I was on my knees by his bedside, sponging his wound, +he spoke to me, perfectly lucidly, and placed his hand +caressingly on my head, saying, "Poor child, what will happen to +him, alone and without support in the horrors of this terrible +siege?" Then he mumbled some words, among which I could +distinguish the name of my mother, dropped his arms and closed +his eyes... + +Although very young and without much length of service, I had +seen many dead on various battlefields, and above all on the +streets of Genoa; but they had fallen in the open, still in their +clothes, which gave them a very different appearance to someone +who had died in bed. I had never witnessed this last sad +spectacle and I believed that my father had fallen asleep. +Colindo knew the truth but had not the heart to tell me, so I was +not aware of my error until some time later, when M. Lacheze +arrived and I saw him pull the sheet over my father's face, +saying, "This is a dreadful loss for his family and friends". +Only then did I understand that my father was dead. + +My grief was so heartbroken that it touched even General Massena, +a man not easily moved, particularly in the present situation +when he had need of such resolution. The critical position in +which he found himself drove him to behave toward me in a way +which I thought atrocious, although now I would do the same in +the same circumstances. + +To avoid anything that could lower the morale of the troops, +Massena had forbidden any funeral ceremonies, and as he knew that +I had been unwilling to desert the mortal remains of my +much-loved father, and thought it was my intention to go with him +to his graveside, he feared that his troops might be adversely +affected by the sight of a young officer, scarcely more than a +boy, following, in tears, his father's bier. So he came the next +day before dawn to the room where my father lay, and taking me by +the hand, he led me under some pretext or other to a distant +room, while, on his orders, twelve Grenadiers, accompanied only +by one officer and Col. Sacleux, took the body in silence, and +placed it in a provisional grave on the rampart facing the sea. +It was only after this mournful ceremony was over that General +Massena told me of it and explained his motives for this +decision. I was overcome by misery. It seemed to me that I had +lost my poor father for a second time; that he had been deprived +of my last services. My protests were in vain and there was +nothing I could do but go and pray by my father's grave. I did +not know where it was, but Colindo had followed the burial party, +and he led me there. This good young man gave me the most +touching evidences of sympathy, and this at a time when everyone +thought only of themselves. + +Nearly all the officers of my father's staff had been killed or +carried off by typhus. Out of the eleven which we were at the +start of the campaign, there remained only two; the commandant +R*** and me! But R*** was interested only in himself, and instead +of offering support to his general's son, he lived alone in the +town. M. Lacheze abandoned me also. Only the good Col. Sacleux +showed any interest in me, but having been given the command of a +brigade, he was constantly outside the walls combatting the +enemy. I stayed alone in the huge Centurione Palace with Colindo, +Bastide, and the ancient concierge. + +A week had scarcely passed since my father's death when General +Massena, who needed a large number of officers in attendance +because some were killed or wounded almost every day, ordered me +to come and serve as aide-de-camp, as did R*** and all the +officers on the staff of those generals who were dead or unable +to mount a horse. I obeyed. I followed the general all day in +battle, and when I was not detained at headquarters, I went back +to the Palace, and at nightfall, Colindo and I, passing among the +dying and the dead bodies of men, women, and children which +littered the streets, went to pray at my father's tomb. + +The famine in the town continued to worsen. An order went out +forbidding any officer from having more than one horse, the rest +were to be butchered. There were several of my father's left and +I was most unhappy at the thought of these poor beasts being +killed. I managed to save their lives by proposing that I should +give them to officers of the general staff in exchange for their +worn out mounts, which I then sent to the butchery. These horses +were later paid for by the state, on production of an order for +their delivery. I have kept one of these orders as a curiosity; +it bears the signature of General Oudinot, Massena's +chief-of-staff. + +The cruel loss which I had just suffered, the position in which I +found myself, and the sight of the truly horrible scenes in which +I was involved every day, taught me more in a short time than I +would have learned in a number of happier years. I realised that +the starvation and disaster of the siege had made egoists of all +those who a few months before had been smothering my father with +attention. + +I had to find within myself the courage and resource not only for +my own needs but to look after Colindo and Bastide. The most +pressing requirement was to find something for them to eat, since +they were given no food from the army stores. I had, it is true, +as an officer, two rations of horse meat and two rations of +bread, but all this added together did not amount to more than a +pounds weight of very bad food, and we were three! We very rarely +caught pigeons now, for their numbers had infinitely diminished. + +In my position as aide-de-camp to the commander-in- chief, I was +entitled to a place at his table, where once a day was served +some bread, some roast horse and some chick peas; but I was so +embittered at General Massena having deprived me of the sad +consolation of attending my father's burial, that I could not +bring myself to sit down at his table, although all my comrades +were there and a place was reserved for me. But at last the wish +to help my two unfortunate companions decided me to go and eat +with the commander-in-chief. From then on Colindo and Bastide had +each a quarter of a pound of horse meat and the same amount of +bread. As for me, I did not have enough to eat, for the portions +served at the general's table were exceedingly small, and I was +worked hard. Often I had to lie on the ground to stop myself from +fainting. + +Providence came once more to our aid. Bastide had been born in +the region of Cantal, and he had met, the previous winter, +another Auvergnian whom he knew, and who was living in Genoa +where he had a small business. Bastide went to visit this friend, +and was surprised, on entering the house, to smell the odour +which floats around a grocer's shop. Bastide remarked on this and +asked his friend if he had some food. His friend admitted that he +had, and begged Bastide to keep this a secret, since all food +found in private hands was confiscated and taken to the army +stores. The shrewd Bastide then offered to arrange the purchase +of any surplus provisions by someone who would pay cash and would +keep the secret inviolate. He came to tell me of his discovery. +My father had left me some thousands of francs, so I bought, and +brought back to our dwelling at night, a quantity of dried cod, +cheese, figs, sugar, chocolate etc. All of which was extremely +expensive, and the Auvergnian had most of my money. However I was +happy to pay whatever he asked, for I heard daily at general +headquarters suggestions that the siege would continue and the +famine get worse. Sadly, this in fact happened. My joy at having +procured some food was increased by the thought that I had +thereby saved the life of my friend Colindo, who, without it, +would have assuredly died of starvation, for he knew no one in +the army except me and Col. Sacleux, who was shortly to be struck +down by a dreadful misfortune. + +Massena, attacked on all sides, seeing his troops worn down by +continual battle and famine, forced to hold down a large +population, driven to despair by hunger, found himself in a most +critical position, and believed that to maintain good order in +the army he needed to impose iron discipline. So any officer who +did not execute his orders immediately was dismissed, under the +power which the law gave at that time to the commander-in-chief. + +Several examples of this kind had already been made when, during +a sortie which we had pushed forward some six leagues from the +town, the brigade commanded by Col. Sacleux was not in position +at the time ordered in a valley where it was meant to block the +passage of the Austrians, who thus escaped. + +The commander-in-chief, furious at seeing his plans come to +nothing, dismissed poor Col. Sacleux by publishing his dismissal +in an order of the day. Sacleux may well not have understood what +was expected of him, but he was a very brave man. Assuredly he +would have blown his brains out, had he not been determined to +restore his honour. He took up a musket and joined the ranks as a +private soldier! He came to see us one day, Colindo and I were +sore at heart to see this excellent man dressed as a simple +infantryman. We said our good-byes to Sacleux who, after the +surrender of the town, was restored to his rank of colonel at the +request of Massena himself, who had been impressed by Sacleux's +courage. But the following year, when peace had been made in +Europe, Sacleux, perhaps wishing to rid himself completely of the +stigma with which he had been so unjustly branded, asked to be +posted to the war in Santa-Dominica, where he was killed at the +moment when he was about to be promoted to brigadier-general! +There are men who, in spite of their merits, have a cruel +destiny; of which he was an example. + +Chap. 12. + +I shall discuss only briefly the conduct of the siege or blockade +which we sustained. The fortifications of Genoa consisted at that +time of a plain wall, flanked by towers; but what made the place +well suited for defence was the fact that it is surrounded at a +short distance by mountains, the summits and flanks of which are +dotted with forts and strong-points. The Austrians continually +attacked these positions. When they took one, we went to retake +it, and the next day they came to take it again. If they managed +to do so, we went to chase them out once more. There was an +endless shuttling back and forth, with varying results, but in +the end, we remained in control of the terrain. These encounters +were often very fierce. In one of them, General Soult, who was +General Massena's right hand man, was climbing up Monte Corona at +the head of his men to retake a fort of that name, which we had +lost the day before, when his knee was struck by a bullet at a +moment when the enemy, who greatly outnumbered his party, were +running down from the top of the mountain. It was impossible with +the few troops we had at this point to resist the avalanche, and +a retreat was called for. The soldiers carried General Soult for +some way, on their muskets, but the intolerable pain which he +suffered decided them that he should be left at the foot of a +tree, where his brother and one of his aides-de-camp stayed with +him to protect him from being attacked by the first enemy troops +to arrive. Luckily there were among these some officers who had +much respect for their illustrious prisoner. + +The capture of General Soult having encouraged the Austrians, +they pushed us back to the city wall, which they were preparing +to attack when a heavy storm darkened the blue sky, which we had +had since the beginning of the siege. The rain fell in torrents. +The Austrians halted and most of them sought shelter in the +blockhouses or under the trees. Then General Massena, one of +whose principal gifts was the ability to turn to advantage the +unforeseen incidents of warfare, addressed his men, rekindled +their spirit, and having reinforced them with some troops from +the town, he ordered them to fix bayonets and led them, at the +height of the storm, against the erstwhile victorious Austrians +who, taken by surprise, retired in disorder. Massena pursued them +with such effect that he cut off some three thousand Grenadiers, +who laid down their arms. + +This was not the first time that we had taken numerous prisoners, +for the total of those we had captured since the beginning of the +siege amounted to more than eight thousand; but having no food +for them, Massena had always sent them back, on the condition +that they would not be used against us for a period of six +months. Although the officers held religiously to their promise, +the wretched soldiers, who went back to the Austrian camp +ignorant of the undertaking that their leaders had made on their +behalf, were transferred to other regiments and forced to fight +against us once more. If they fell again into our hands, +something that often happened, they were once more sent back and +transferred anew; so that there were very many of these men who, +on their own admission, had been captured four or five times. +Massena, angered at the lack of good faith on the part of the +Austrian generals, decided that this time he would retain both +officers and men of the three thousand Grenadiers whom he had +captured; and so that the duty of guarding them would not fall on +his troops, he had the unfortunate prisoners loaded into floating +hulks moored in the middle of the harbour with the guns of the +harbour mole aimed at them. He then sent an envoy to General Ott, +who commanded the Austrian troops before Genoa, to reproach him +for his failure to keep his word, and to warn him that he did not +consider himself bound to give the prisoners more than half the +ration of the French soldier; but that he would agree to an +arrangement which the Austrians might make with the British, +whereby vessels might bring, every day, food for the prisoners, +and not leave until they had seen it eaten, so that it could not +be thought that Massena was using this pretext to bring in food +for his own men. The Austrian general who may have hoped that a +refusal would compel Massena to send back the three thousand +soldiers, whom he probably intended to use again, turned down +this philanthropic proposal, and Massena then carried out his +threat. + +The French ration was composed of a quarter of a pound of +disgusting bread and an equal amount of horse flesh; the +prisoners were given only half this amount! This was fifteen days +before the end of the siege. For fifteen days, these poor devils +remained on this regime!. Every two or three days Messena renewed +his offer to the enemy general; he never accepted, perhaps out of +obstinacy, or perhaps because the English admiral, Lord Kieth, +was unwilling to employ his long-boats for fear, it is said, that +they would bring typhus back to the fleet. However that may be, +the wretched Austrians were left howling with rage and hunger in +their floating prison. It was truly appalling! In the end, having +eaten their boots and packs, and perhaps some dead bodies, they +nearly all died of starvation! There were hardly more than seven +or eight hundred left when the place was surrendered to our +enemies. The Austrian soldiers, when they entered the town, +hurried to the harbour and gave food to their compatriots with so +little caution that many of them died as a result. + +I have described this horrible episode, firstly as an example of +the sort of ghastly event which war brings in its train, but +principally to brand with shame the conduct and lack of good +faith of the Austrian general, who forced soldiers who had been +captured and released on parole, to take up arms against us once +more, although he had promised to send them back to Germany. + +In the course of the fighting which took place during the siege, +I ran into a number of dangers but I shall limit myself to +mentioning two of the more serious. + +I have already said that the Austrians and the English took it in +turns to keep us constantly in action. The first attacked us at +dawn, on the landward side, and we fought them all day; at night, +Lord Kieth's fleet would begin its bombardment, and try, under +cover of darkness, to seize the harbour; which forced the +garrison to keep a keen look-out on the seaward side, and +prevented it from having any rest or relaxation. Now, one night, +when the bombardment was more violent than usual, the +commander-in-chief was warned that the light of Bengal flares +burning on the beach had disclosed numerous boat loads of English +soldiers heading for the harbour breakwater. Massena, his staff, +and the squadron of guides which went everywhere with him, +immediately mounted their horses. We were about a hundred and +fifty to two hundred horsemen when, passing through a little +square called Campetto, the general stopped to speak to an +officer who was returning from the harbour. Someone shouted "Look +out for bombs!" And at that moment, one fell onto the crowded +square. + +I and several others had pushed our horses under a balcony which +overhung the door of an hotel, and it was on this balcony that +the bomb fell. It reduced the balcony to rubble, and bounced onto +the road, where it exploded with a fearful bang in the middle of +the square, which was lit for an instant by its malevolent light, +after which there was complete darkness. One expected many +casualties. There was the most profound silence, which was +broken by the voice of General Massena, asking if anyone was +hurt. There was no reply, for by some miracle, not one of the +horses or men had been hit by the flying fragments. As for those +who, like me, had been under the balcony, we were covered with +dust and bits of building material, but nobody was injured. + +I have said that the English bombarded us only at night. However, +one day, when they were celebrating some occasion or other, their +ships, dressed overall, approached the town in broad daylight, +and amused themselves by hurling at us a large number of +projectiles. Those of our batteries which were in the best +position to reply to this fire, were located near the breakwater +on a big bastion in the form of a tower, known as the Lanterne. +The general ordered me to take a message to the officer in charge +of this battery, instructing him to direct all his efforts on an +English brig, which had insolently anchored a short distance from +the Lanterne. Our gunners fired with such accuracy that one of +our large bombs fell on the English brig, piercing it from deck +to keel so that it sank almost immediately. This so infuriated +the English admiral that he had all his guns trained on the +Lanterne, on which they now opened a violent fire. My mission +being completed, I should have returned to Massena; but it is +rightly said that young soldiers, not recognising danger, +confront it more coolly than those with more experience. The +spectacle of which I was a witness, I found very interesting. The +platform of the Lanterne was floored with flagstones and was the +size of a small courtyard. It was equipped with twelve cannons on +enormous wooden mountings. Although it may be very difficult for +ship at sea to aim its fire with sufficient accuracy to hit such +a small target as was the platform of the Lanterne, the English +managed to land several bombs there. As these bombs descended, +the gunners took shelter behind or underneath the massive timbers +of the gun mountings. I did the same; but this shelter was not +entirely safe, because the flagstones presented a great +resistance to the bombs, which, being unable to bury themselves, +rolled unpredictably about the platform in all directions, and +the fragments from their explosion could pass under or behind the +mountings. It was, therefore, absurd to stay there when, like me, +one was not obliged to do so. But I experienced a fearful +pleasure, if one can describe it thus, in running here and there +with the gunners whenever a bomb fell, and emerging with them as +soon as the fragments from its explosion had settled. It was a +game which could have cost me dear. One gunner had his legs +broken, others were wounded by bomb fragments, lumps of metal +which did terrible damage to anything they hit. One of them +sliced through the thick timber baulk of a mounting behind which +I was sheltering. However, I remained on the platform until Col. +Mouton, who later became Marshal the Comte de Lobeau, and who, +having served under my father, took an interest in me, while +passing, caught sight of me. He came over to the Lanterne and +ordered me sharply to come down and return to my post beside +General Massena. He added, "You are still very young, but you +should realise that, in war, it is stupid to expose yourself to +needless danger. Would you be any better off if you had a leg +smashed for no good reason?" + +I never forgot this lesson, and I have often thought of the +difference it would have made to my life, if I had lost a leg at +the age of seventeen. + +Chap. 13. + +The courage and tenacity with which Massena had defended Genoa +would have very important results. Major Franceschi, sent by +Massena to contact the First Consul, had managed to slip through +the enemy fleet at night, both in going and coming. On arriving +back in Genoa he said that he had left Bonaparte descending the +St. Bernard at the head of the army of reserve. Field-marshal +Melas was so convinced of the impossibility of bringing an army +across the Alps, that while part of his force, under General Ott +was blockading us, he had gone with the remainder fifty leagues +away, to attack General Suchet on the Var. This gave the First +Consul the opportunity to enter Italy without resistance, so that +the army of reserve had reached Milan before the Austrians had +ceased to regard its existence as imaginary. The First Consul, +once in Italy, would have liked to go straight away to the aid of +the town's brave garrison, but to do that it was necessary for +him to unite all the elements of his force, such as the artillery +and military supplies, whose passage across the Alps had proved +extremely difficult. This delay gave Marshal Melas the time to +hurry with his main force from Nice in order to oppose Bonaparte, +who was then unable to continue his march towards Genoa without +defeating the Austrian army. + +While Bonaparte and Melas were engaged in marches and +countermarches in preparation for a battle which would decide the +destiny of France and Italy, the garrison of Genoa found itself +reduced to its last extremity. The typhus epidemic was raging. +The hospitals had become ghastly charnel houses; starvation was +at its worst. Nearly all the horses had been eaten, and though +for a long time the soldiers had had no more than half a pound of +rotten food daily, the distribution for the following day was not +assured. There was absolutely nothing left when, on the 15th +Prairial Massena gathered all his generals and colonels together +and announced that he had decided to attempt a breakout with +those remaining men who were fit for duty, to try to reach +Livorno; but his officers declared unanimously that the troops +were no longer in a state to engage in combat, or even a simple +march, unless they were given sufficient food to restore their +strength, and the stores were completely empty! General Massena +then considered that, having carried out the orders of the First +Consul and facilitated his entry into Italy, that it was his duty +to save the remains of a garrison which had fought so valiantly, +and which it was in the country's interest to preserve. He +therefore resolved to treat for the evacuation of the place, for +he would not allow the word capitulation to be uttered. The +English admiral and General Ott had, for more than a month, been +making proposals for a parley, which Massena had always turned +down; but now, compelled by circumstance, he told them that he +would accept. The conference took place in the little chapel +which is situated in the middle of the bridge of Conegliano, and +which is, as a result, between the sea and the French and +Austrian lines. The French, English, and Austrian staffs occupied +each end of the bridge. I was present at this most interesting +event. + +The foreign generals treated Massena with much respect and +consideration, and although he demanded favourable conditions, +Admiral Kieth said more than once that the defense had been so +heroic that they did not wish to refuse them. It was then agreed +that the garrison would not be made prisoners, that they could +retain their weapons and could go to Nice, and that having +reached there they would be free to engage in further +hostilities. + +Massena, who realised how important it was that the First Consul +should not be led into making any false move because of his +anxiety to go to the aid of Genoa, asked that the negotiations +should permit the safe passage of two officers through the +Austrian lines, whom he proposed to send to Bonaparte to inform +him of the evacuation of the town by the French. General Ott +opposed this because he intended to leave with some twenty-five +thousand men of the blockading force to go and join Field-marshal +Melas, and he did not want these French officers to warn General +Bonaparte of his movements. But Admiral Kieth overruled this +objection. The treaty was about to be signed when, from far away, +in the midst of the mountains, came the distant sound of gunfire. +Massena held up his pen, saying, "That is the First Consul, who +has arrived with his army." The foreign commanders were much +taken aback, but after a long pause it was realised that the +sound was that of thunder, and Massena appended his signature. + +It is to be regretted that the garrison and its commander were +deprived of the fame which would have been theirs if they had +been able to hold Genoa until the arrival of Bonaparte; and +furthermore, Massena would have liked to hold out for a few more +days, to delay the departure of General Ott's men to join in the +battle, which was inevitable, between the First Consul and +Field-marshal Melas. In the event, General Ott was unable to join +the main Austrian army until the day after the battle of Marengo, +the result of which might have been very different if the +Austrians, whom we had great difficulty in overcoming, had had +twenty-five thousand more men with which to oppose us. The +Austrians took possession of Genoa on the 16th Prairial(May) +after a siege which had lasted two whole months. + +Massena, as has been said, considered it so important that the +First Consul was informed immediately about the situation that he +had demanded a safe conduct for two aides-de-camp, so that if any +thing untoward befell one of them, the other could carry his +despatch. As it would be useful if an officer going on such a +mission spoke Italian, Massena chose a Major Graziani, an Italian +who was in the French service, but being a most suspicious man, +Massena feared that a foreigner might be corrupted by the +Austrians and delay his journey, so he sent me to make sure that +he made all possible haste. This precaution was unnecessary as +Major Graziani was a man of probity who knew the urgency of his +mission. + +On the 16th Prairial we departed from Genoa where I left Colindo, +whom I expected to collect in a few days time, as we knew that +the First Consul's army was not very far away. Major Graziani and +I reached it the next day at Milan. + +General Bonaparte spoke to me with sympathy about the loss which +I had suffered, and promised that he would be a father to me if I +behaved myself well, a promise which he kept. He asked us endless +questions about the events which had occurred in Genoa, and about +the strength and movements of the Austrian forces we had come +through to reach Milan; he kept us by him, and had horses +provided for us from his stable, since we had travelled on post +mules. + +We followed the First Consul to Montebello and then to the +battlefield of Marengo, where we were employed to carry his +orders. I shall not go into any details about this battle, where +I ran into no danger; one knows that we were on the brink of +defeat, and might have fallen if General Ott's men had arrived in +time to take part in the action. The First Consul, who feared +that he might see them appear at any moment, was very anxious, +and did not relax until our cavalry and the infantry of General +Desaix, of whose death he was still unaware, had ensured victory +by overwhelming the Grenadiers of General Zach. Seeing that the +horse which I was riding was slightly wounded on a leg, he took +me by the ear, and said, laughing, "I lend you my horses, and +look what happens to them!" Major Graziani having died in 1812, I +am the only French officer who was present at the siege of Genoa +and the battle of Marengo. + +After this memorable affair, I went back to Genoa, which the +Austrians had left as a result of our victory at Marengo. There I +rejoined Colindo and Major R***. I visited my father's grave, +then we embarked on a French brig, which in twenty-four hours +carried us to Nice. Some days later, a ship from Leghorn brought +Colindo's mother, who had come in search of her son. This fine +young man and I had come through some very rough times together, +which had strengthened the friendship between us, but our paths +were divergent and we had to part, albeit with much regret. + +I have said earlier, that about the middle of the siege, +Franceschi, carrying despatches from General Massena to the First +Consul, had reached France by passing through the enemy fleet at +night. He took with him the news of my father's death. My mother +had thereupon nominated a council of guardians, who sent to the +aged Spire, who was at Nice with the coach and my father's +baggage, an order to sell everything and return to Paris, which +he then did. There was now nothing to detain me on the banks of +the Var, and I was in a hurry to rejoin my dear mother; but this +was not so easy; public coaches were, at the time, very scarce; +the one that ran from Nice to Lyon went only every second day and +was booked up for several weeks by sick or wounded officers, +coming, like me, from Genoa. + +To overcome this difficulty, Major R***, two colonels, a dozen +officers and I decided to form a group to go to Grenoble on foot, +crossing the foothills of the Alps by way of Grasse, Sisteron, +Digne and Gap. Mules would carry our small amount of baggage, +which would allow us to cover eight to ten leagues every day. +Bastide was with me and was a great help to me, for I was not +accustomed to making such long journeys on foot, and it was very +hot. After eight days of very difficult walking, we reached +Grenoble, from where we were able to take coaches to Lyon. It was +with sorrow that I saw once more the town and the hotel where I +had stayed with my father in happier times. I longed for and yet +dreaded the reunion with my mother and my brothers. I fancied +that they would ask me to account for what I had done with her +husband and their father! I was returning alone, and had left him +in his grave in a foreign land! I was very unhappy and had need +of a friend who would understand and share my grief, while Major +R***, happy, after so much privation, to enjoy once more, +abundance and good living, was madly jolly, which I found most +wounding; so I decided to leave for Paris without him; but he +claimed, now that I had no need of him, that it was his duty to +deliver me to the arms of my mother, and I was forced to put up +with his company as far as Paris, to where we went by mail coach. + +There are scenes which are perhaps better left to the +imagination, so I shall not attempt to describe my first +heartbreaking meeting with my widowed mother and my brothers. You +can picture it for yourselves. + +My mother had a rather pretty country house at Carriere, near the +forest of Saint-Germain. I spent two months there with her, my +uncle Canrobert, who had returned from emigration, and an old +knight of Malta, M. d'Estresse, a friend of my late father. +Adolphe was not in Paris, he was in Rennes with Bernadotte, the +commander-in-chief of the army of the west, but my younger +brothers and M. Gault came to see us from time to time. In spite +of the kindness and shows of affection which were lavished on me, +I fell into a state of sombre melancholy, and my health +deteriorated. I had suffered so much, physically and mentally! I +became incapable of doing any work. Reading which I had always +loved became insupportable. I spent the greater part of the day +alone in the forest, where I lay in the shade absorbed in my +sorrowful reflections. In the evenings, I accompanied my mother, +my uncle, and the old knight on their usual walk along the bank +of the Seine; but I took very little part in the conversation, +and hid from them my sad thoughts, which revolved always about my +poor father, dying for want of proper care. Although my condition +alarmed my mother, Canrobert, and M. d'Estresse, they had the +good sense not to make matters worse by any remarks which would +have only irritated a sick mind, but they sought gradually to +chase away the unhappy memories which were so affecting me by +bringing forward the holidays of my two younger brothers, who +came to live with us in the country. The presence of these two +children, whom I dearly loved, eased my mind of its sorrows, by +the care I took to make their stay at Carriere a happy one. I +took them to Versailles, to Maisons and to Marly, and their +childish happiness slowly brought back to life my spirits which +had been so cruelly crushed by misfortune. Who could have thought +that these two children, so lovely and full of life would soon be +no more? + +Chap. 14. + +The end of the autumn of 1800 was approaching; my mother went +back to Paris, my young brothers went back to school, and I was +ordered to join Bernadotte at Rennes. + +Bernadotte had been my father's best friend, and my father had +helped him in various ways on many occasions. In recognition of +the debt owed to my family, he had written to me saying that he +had reserved a place for me as his aide-de-camp. I received this +letter at Nice when I returned from Genoa, and on the strength of +it, I refused an offer from General Massena to take me on as a +permanent aide-de-camp, and to allow me to spend several months +with my mother before joining him and the army of Italy. + +My father had arranged that my brother Adolphe should continue +his studies in order to enter the polytechnic; so he was not a +soldier when my father died; but on hearing this sad news, he +rebelled at the thought that his younger brother was already an +officer, and had been in action, while he was still on a school +bench. He gave up the studies required for the technical arms, +and opted to join the infantry instead, which allowed him to +leave school. + +He was presented with a good opportunity. The government had +ordered a new regiment to be raised in the department of the +Seine. The officers for this regiment were to be selected by +General Lefebvre, who, as you know, had replaced my father in +command of the Paris division. General Lefebvre was only too +pleased to do something for the son of one of his old companions +who had died in the service of his country; he therefore awarded +my brother the rank of sous-lieutenant in this new unit. So far, +so good! But instead of going to join his company, and without +waiting for my return from Genoa, Adolphe hurried off to General +Bernadotte, who, without further ado, handed the vacant post to +the first brother to arrive, as if it was the prize in a race! So +when I went to join the general staff at Rennes, I learned that +my brother had been gazetted as permanent aide-de-camp, and I was +only a supernumerary, that is to say temporary. I was very +disappointed, because, had I expected this, I would have accepted +the proposal made by General Massena. But this opportunity had +now passed. It was in vain that General Bernadotte assured me +that he would obtain an increase in the establishment of his +aides-de-camp, I did not think this likely, and was convinced +that I would soon be moved elsewhere. + +Bernadotte's staff was made up of officers who nearly all reached +senior positions; four were already colonels. The most +outstanding was, undoubtedly, Gerard. He was very clever, brave +and had a natural talent for warfare. He was under the command of +Marshal Grouchy at Waterloo, and gave him some sound advice, +which could have led us to victory. Out of the eleven +aides-de-camp attached to Bernadotte's staff, two became +marshals, three lieutenant-generals, four were brigadiers and one +was killed in action. + +In the winter of 1800, Portugal, backed by the English, had +declared war on Spain, and the French government had resolved to +support the latter. In consequence, troops were sent to Bayonne +and Bordeaux, and the companies of Grenadiers who belonged to +various regiments scattered throughout Brittany and the Vendee +were gathered together at Tours. This corps d'elite was intended +to be the nucleus of the so-called army of Portugal, which +Bernadotte was destined to command. The general had to move his +headquarters to Tours; to where had to be sent all his horses and +equipment, as well all that was required for the officers +attached to his service. But the general, partly to receive his +final orders from the First Consul and partly to take Madame +Bernadotte back, had to go to Paris; and as it was customary in +these circumstances during the absence of the general for the +officers of his staff to be permitted to go and take leave of +their families, it was decided that all the permanent aides could +go to Paris, and that the supernumeraries would go to Tours with +the baggage to supervise the servants, pay them every month, +arrange with the supply commission for the distribution of +forage, and the allotment of lodgings for the great number of men +and horses. This disagreeable duty fell to me and my fellow +supernumerary Lieutenant Maurin. + +In the depths of winter and the most atrocious weather, we made +on horseback the long eight days journey from Rennes to Tours, +where we had all sorts of difficulties in setting up the +headquarters. We had been told that we would not be there for +much more than a fortnight, but we stayed there, bored stiff, for +six weary months, while our comrades were disporting themselves +in the capital. That was a foretaste of the unpleasant duties +which fell to me as a supernumerary aide-de-camp. So ended the +year 1800, during which I had undergone so much mental and +physical suffering. + +The town of Tours had many inhabitants, and there were many +diversions; but although I received many invitations I did not +accept any of them. Fortunately my time was fully occupied in +looking after the large collection of men and horses, without +which the isolation in which I lived would have been +insupportable. The number of horses belonging to the +commander-in-chief and the officers of his staff amounted to more +than eighty, and all were at my disposal. I rode two or three +every day, and went for some long rides round Tours, which +although solitary, had for me much charm, and gave me gentle +solace. + +Chap. 15. + +The First Consul now changed his mind about the army of Portugal. + +He gave the command to his brother-in-law, General Leclerc, and +kept General Bernadotte in command of the army of the west. In +consequence, the general staff, which my brother and the other +aides-de-camp had just joined at Tours, was ordered to return to +Brittany and betake itself to Brest, where the commander-in-chief +was to be stationed. It is a long way from Tours to Brest, but +the weather was fair, we were a young crowd, and the trip was +great fun. I was unable to ride on horseback, because of an +accidental injury to my hindquarters, so I rode in one of the +commander-in-chief's coaches. We found him awaiting us at Brest. + +The harbour at Brest held at that time not only a great number of +French vessels, but also the Spanish fleet, commanded by Admiral +Gravina, who was later killed at Trafalgar. When we arrived in +Brest, the two allied fleets were expected to take to Ireland, +General Bernadotte and a large invading force of French and +Spanish troops; but while we awaited this expedition,--which +never actually took place--the presence of so many army and naval +officers greatly animated the town of Brest. The +commander-in-chief, the admirals and several of the generals +entertained daily. The troops of the two nations mingled on the +best of terms, and I made the acquaintance of several Spanish +officers. + +We were thoroughly enjoying ourselves at Brest, when the +commander-in-chief decided it would be a good idea to move his +headquarters to Rennes, a dismal town, but more in the centre of +his command. We had hardly arrived there when what I had foreseen +happened. The First Consul cut the number of aides-de-camp +allotted to the commander-in-chief. He was allowed only one +colonel, five officers of lower rank and no additional officers. +As a result I was told that I was to be posted to a regiment of +light cavalry. I would have resigned myself to this, if it had +been to return to the first Hussars, where I was known and whose +uniform I wore; but it was more than a year since I had left the +regiment, and I had been replaced, so I was ordered to join the +25th Chasseurs, who had just gone to Spain and were on the +frontier with Portugal around Salamanca and Zamora. I felt +increasingly bitter about the way I had been treated by General +Bernadotte, for without his false promises I would have been an +aide-de-camp to Messena and regained my place in the 1st Hussars. + +So I was much discontented....But one must obey. Once I had got +over my resentment--which does not last long at that age--I could +not wait to get on the road and leave General Bernadotte, of whom +I thought I had good reason to complain. I had very little money. +My father had often lent money to Bernadotte, in particular when +he bought the estate of Lagrange; but although he knew that, +scarcely recovered from an injury, I was about to cross a large +part of France and all of Spain and, what is more, had to buy a +new uniform, he never offered to advance me a sou; and not for +anything in the world would I have asked him to do so. Very +luckily for me my mother had, at Rennes, an elderly uncle, M. de +Verdal of Gruniac, a former major in the infantry of Ponthievre, +with whom she had spent the first years of the revolution. This +old man was a little eccentric, but very good-hearted; not only +did he advance me the money which I desperately needed, but he +gave it to me out of his own pocket. + +Although, at this period, the Chasseurs wore the same dolman as +the Hussars, theirs was green. I was foolish enough to shed a few +tears when I had to discard the Bercheny uniform, and renounce +the name of Hussar to become a Chasseur! + +My farewell to General Bernadotte was somewhat cool; however he +gave me letters of introduction to Lucien Bonaparte, our +ambassador at Madrid, and to General Leclerc, our commander in +Portugal. + +On the day of my departure, all the aides-de-camp joined me in a +farewell luncheon; then I set out with a heavy heart. I arrived +at Nantes after two days of travel, dog tired, with a pain in my +side, and quite sure that I would not be able to stand riding on +horseback the four hundred and fifty leagues which I had to cover +to reach the frontier of Portugal. By chance, however, I met in +the house of an old acquaintance from Soreze, who lived in +Nantes, a Spanish officer named Don Raphael, who was on his way +to join his regimental depot at Estramadura. We agreed to travel +together, and that I would be guide as far as the Pyrenees, after +which he would take over. + +We went by stage-coach through the Vendee, where almost all the +market towns and villages still bore the marks of fire although +the civil war had been over for two years. These ruins made a +sorry spectacle. We passed through La Rochelle, Rochefort and +Bordeaux. From Bordeaux to Bayonne we rode in a sort of "Berlin" +which never went at faster than a walking pace over the sands of +Landes, so we often got out and walked alongside until we would +stop to rest under a group of pine trees. Then, sitting in the +shade, Don Raphael would take up his mandolin and sing. In this +way we took six days to reach Bayonne. + +Before crossing the Pyrenees, I had to report to the general +commanding Bayonne. His name was General Ducos, an excellent man, +who had served under my father. Out of concern for my safety, he +wished to delay my entry into Spain for a few days, because he +had just heard that a gang of robbers had plundered some +travellers not far from the frontier. Even before the War of +Independence and the Civil Wars, the Spanish character, at once +both adventurous and lazy, had given them a noticeable taste for +brigandage, and this taste was encouraged by the splitting up of +the country into several kingdoms which once formed independent +states, each with its own laws, usages, and frontiers. Some of +these states imposed customs duties, some, such as Biscay and +Navarre, did not; and the result was that the inhabitants of the +customs-free countries constantly tried to smuggle dutiable goods +into those whose frontiers were guarded by lines of armed and +active customs officers. The smugglers, on their part, had, from +time immemorial, formed bands, which employed force when cunning +was insufficient, and whose occupation was not considered in any +way dishonourable by the majority of Spaniards, who saw it as a +just war against the imposition of customs. Preparing their +expeditions, collecting intelligence, posting armed guards, +hiding in the mountains, where they lie about smoking and +sleeping, such is the life of the smugglers, who, as a result of +the large profits to be made from a single operation, can live in +comfortable idleness for several months. However, when the +customs officers, with whom they have frequent skirmishes, have +been victorious and confiscated their goods, these Spanish +smugglers, reduced to extremes, think nothing of becoming +highwaymen, a profession which they pursue with a certain +magnanimity, since they never kill travellers, and always leave +them the means to continue their journey. They had just done as +much to an English family, and General Ducos, who wished to spare +us the disagreeable experience of being robbed, had for this +reason decided to delay our departure; but Don Raphael assured +him that he knew enough about the habits of Spanish robbers to be +certain that the safest time to travel in a province was just +after a gang had committed some offence, because they then +cleared off and hid for a while. So general Ducos allowed us to +leave. + +Draught-horses were at this time unknown in Spain, where all +coaches, even the king's, were drawn by mules. There were no +stage-coaches, and in the post-houses nothing but saddle horses. +So that even the greatest of noblemen, who had their own coaches, +were forced when they travelled to hire harness mules and go by +short stages. The comfortably off took light carriages, which did +not go more than ten leagues a day. The ordinary people attached +themselves to caravanserais of donkey-men, who carried baggage in +the same way as our carters, but no one travelled alone, partly +for fear of robbers, and partly because of the mistrust with +which a solitary traveller was regarded. After our arrival in +Bayonne, Don Raphael, who was now in charge, said to me that as +we were not such grandees that we could hire a coach, nor so poor +that we had to join the donkey-men, there remained only two +possibilities, either we rode on horseback or we took a seat in a +carriage. Travelling on horseback, of which I have done so much, +did not seem suitable, as we would have no means of carrying our +baggage, so it was decided that we should go by carriage. + +Don Raphael bargained with an individual who agreed to take us to +Salamanca for 800 francs a head, and to lodge us and feed us on +the way, at his own expense. This was double what a similar +journey would have cost in France, and I had already spent a lot +of money to get to Bayonne; but that was the price, and as there, +was no other way for me to join my new regiment, I had to accept. + +We left in an enormous and ancient four-wheeled carriage, in +which three of the seats were occupied by a citizen of Cadiz, his +wife and daughter, while a Benedictine Prior from the university +of Salamanca completed the party. + +Everything was new to me on this trip. Firstly, the harnessing, +which greatly surprised me. The team consisted of six splendid +mules, of which, to my astonishment, only the two on the shaft +had bridles and reins, the remaining four went freely, guided +only by the voices of the coachman and his "Zagal" who, agile as +a squirrel, sometimes went for more than a league on foot, +running beside his mules, which were at full trot, then, in a +blink of an eye he would climb up on to the seat beside his +master, only to get down and then up again; which he did twenty +times a day; going round the coach and the harness to make sure +that nothing was out of order, and while doing all this, singing +to encourage his mules, each one of which he called by name. He +never struck them, his voice alone being enough to urge on any +mule which was not pulling its weight. + +These activities, and in particular the man's singing, I found +most entertaining. I also took a lively interest in what was said +in the coach, for, although I did not speak Spanish, what I knew +of Italian and Latin enabled me to understand much of what my +fellow passengers were saying, to whom I replied in French, which +they understood reasonably well. I did not smoke, but the five +Spaniards, even the two ladies and the monk, soon lit up their +cigars. We were all in good spirits. Don Raphael, the ladies, and +even the fat monk sang together. + +Normally we left in the morning. We stopped from one o'clock to +three, to dine, rest the mules, and allow the heat of the day to +pass, during which time one slept; what the Spanish call the +siesta. Then we went on to our night stop. The meals were +sufficiently plentiful, but the Spanish cuisine seemed to me, at +first, to taste awful, however I got used to it; but I could +never have got used to the horrible beds which we were offered at +night in the pousadas or inns. They were really disgusting, and +Don Raphael, who had just spent a year in France was forced to +agree. To avoid this unpleasantness, on the first day of my +arrival in Spain, I asked if I could sleep on a bale of straw. +Sadly, I discovered that such a thing as a bale of straw was +unknown in Spain, because, instead of threshing the sheaves of +corn they have them trampled under foot by mules, which breaks +the straw into short bits, scarcely as long as a finger. But I +had the bright idea of filling a large cloth sack with this short +straw, which I placed in a barn and slept on covered by my cloak; +thus avoiding the vermin with which the beds and the rooms were +infested. In the morning I emptied the sack and put it in the +coach and each evening I refilled it so that I had a clean +palliasse. Don Raphael followed my example. + +We crossed the provinces of Navarre, Biscay and Alava, country of +high mountains; then we crossed the Ebro and entered the immense +plains of Castile. We passed through Burgos and Valladolid, and +arrived, at last, after a journey lasting fifteen days, at +Salamanca. + +There, not without regret I parted from my good travelling +companion, whom I was to meet once more in the same part of the +world, during the War of Independence. General Leclerc was at +Salamanca. He received me kindly, and even proposed that I should +stay with him as a supernumerary aide-de-camp, but my recent +experience had taught me that although the post of aide-de-camp +offers one more freedom and comfort than regimental duty, this is +only when one is on the establishment. As a supernumerary you are +landed with all the unpleasant jobs, and you have only a very +precarious position. I therefore turned down the favour which I +was offered and asked to go and join my regiment. It was a good +thing that I took this step, because, the following year, the +general, having been given the command of the expedition to Santa +Dominica, took with him, on his general staff, a lieutenant who +had accepted the post which I had turned down, and all these +officers and the general died of yellow fever. + +I joined the 25th Chasseurs at Salamanca. The colonel was M. +Moreau, an old officer and a very fine fellow. He gave me a warm +welcome, as did my new comrades; and in a few days I was on the +best of terms with everybody. I was introduced to the town's +society, for at that time the presence of the French was highly +acceptable to the Spanish, and completely opposite to what it +became later. In 1801 we were their allies. We had come to fight +for them against the Portuguese and the English, so we were +treated as friends. The French officers were billeted with the +wealthiest inhabitants and there was competition to have them. We +were received everywhere. We were overwhelmed by invitations. +Being thus admitted into the family life of the Spaniards, we +learned more, in a short time, about their way of living than +officers who came to the peninsula during the War of Independence +could have learned in several years. + +I was billeted in the home of a university professor, who had +given me a very nice room looking out onto the handsome Salamanca +square. My regimental duties were not very onerous and left me +plenty of leisure time, which I used to study the Spanish +language, which is, in my opinion, the most elegant and beautiful +in Europe. It was at Salamanca that I saw, for the first time, +the famous General Lasalle. He sold me a horse. + +The fifteen thousand French troops sent to Spain with General +Leclerc formed the right wing of the Spanish Grand Army, which +was commanded by the "Prince de la Paix" and we were therefore +under his orders. This man (Emmanuel Godoy) was the queen's +favourite and was, in effect, the king. He came to revue us on +one occasion. He seemed to me to be very pleased with himself, +and although he was small and undistinguished looking, he was not +lacking in charm and ability. + +Godoy started the army moving, and our regiment went to Toro and +then to Zamora. I was sorry to leave Salamanca at first, but we +were as well received in other towns, particularly in Zamora, +where I stayed in the house of a rich merchant who had a superb +garden, where a numerous society would gather in the evenings to +make music and pass part of the night in conversation amid groves +of pomegranates myrtles and lemon trees. It is difficult to +appreciate fully the beauties of nature if one has not +experienced the delicious nights of the southern countries. + +We had, however, to tear ourselves away from the pleasant life +which we were leading to go and attack the Portuguese. We crossed +the border: there were a few small engagements which all went our +way: the French troops went to Viseu, while the Spanish came down +the Tagus and reached Alantejo: we expected to enter Lisbon soon, +as conquerors. But the Prince de la Paix, who had, without much +reflection, called the French troops into the peninsula, now, +also without much reflection, took fright at their presence, and +to get rid of them he concluded, without the knowledge of the +First Consul, a peace treaty with the Portuguese, which he +cunningly had ratified by the French ambassador, Lucien +Bonaparte. This greatly annoyed the First Consul, and caused, +from that day, a rift between the two brothers. + +The French troops stayed for several months longer in Portugal, +until the beginning of 1802; then we returned to Spain and +successively to our previous charming stations of Zamora, Toro +and Salamanca, where we were always made welcome. + +On this occasion I went through Spain on horseback with my +regiment, and had no longer any need to avoid the verminous beds +of the pousadas, since we were lodged each evening with the most +respectable citizens. A route march, when one makes it with one's +own regiment and in good weather, is not without a certain charm. +One has a constant change of scene, without being separated from +one's comrades; one sees the countryside in the greatest detail; +we talk as we travel, we dine together, sometimes well, sometimes +badly, and one is in a position to observe the customs of the +inhabitants. + +One of our pleasures was to watch in the evenings the Spaniards, +shedding their usual lethargy, dance the fandango and the bolero +with a perfection of grace and agility, even in the villages. +The colonel offered them the use of his band, but they, quite +rightly, preferred the guitar, the castanets, and a woman's +voice; an accompaniment which gave the dance its national +characteristics. These improvised dances, in the open air, +engaged in by the working class in the towns as well as in the +country, gave us so much pleasure, even as spectators, that we +were sorry to leave them. + +After more than a month on the road, we recrossed the Bidassoa, +and although I had happy memories of my stay in Spain, it was +with pleasure that I saw France once more. + +Chap. 16. + +At this period, regiments were responsible for their own +remounts, and the colonel had been authorised to buy sixty horses +which he hoped to procure, bit by bit, in French Navarre, while +he was taking the regiment to Toulouse, where we were to form the +garrison. But, for my sins, we arrived at Bayonne on the day of +the town fair, and the place was full of horse-copers. The +colonel arranged a deal with one of them, who provided all the +horses the unit needed straight away. The dealer could not be +paid immediately because the funds provided by the ministry would +take a week to arrive. The colonel then ordered that an officer +should remain behind in Bayonne, to receive this money and pay +the supplier. I was picked for this wretched task, which landed +me later in a most disagreeable situation, though at the time I +saw only that I had been deprived of the pleasure of travelling +with my comrades. However, in spite of my feelings, I had to obey +orders. + +To make it easier for me to rejoin the unit, the colonel decided +that my horse should go with the regiment, and that after I had +completed my mission, I should take the stage-coach to Toulouse. +I knew several former pupils from Soreze who lived in Bayonne and +who helped me to pass the time agreeably. The funds provided by +the ministry arrived and I paid them out and was now free from +all responsibility and ready to rejoin my regiment. + +I had a cotton dolman, braided in the same material, and with +silver buttons. I had had this strange costume made when I was on +Bernadotte's staff, since it was the fashion there to wear this +uniform when travelling in hot weather. I decided to wear this +outfit on the journey to Toulouse, as I was not with my regiment, +so I packed my uniform in my trunk and took it to the +stage-coach, where I booked my seat and, unfortunately, paid in +advance. + +The coach was due to leave at five in the morning, so I told the +porter at the hotel where I was staying to come and waken me at +four, and the rascal having promised to do so, I went to bed +without further ado. But he forgot; and when I opened my eyes, +the sun was shining into the room and it was after eight +o'clock...! What a disaster...! I was dumbfounded, and having +cursed and upbraided the negligent porter, I had to think what I +could do. The first difficulty was that the stage-coach ran only +every second day, but that was not the major problem, which was +that though the regiment had paid for my seat because I was on +duty, they were not obliged to pay twice, and I had been stupid +enough to pay for the whole journey in advance; so that if I took +a new seat it would be at my own expense. Now at this time +stage-coach fares were very costly, and I had very little money, +and also, what was I to do for forty-eight hours in Bayonne, when +all my belongings were on the coach...? I resolved to make the +journey on foot. + +I left the town without delay, and set off bravely on the road to +Toulouse. I was lightly clad, and had nothing but my sabre, which +I carried on my shoulder, so I covered the first stage briskly +enough and spent the night at Peyrehorade. + +The next day was a day of disaster. I intended to go as far as +Orthez, and had already made half the journey when I was +overtaken by one of these terrible storms which one has in the +Midi. Rain mixed with hail fell in torrents, beating on my face; +the road, already bad, became a morass in which I had the +greatest difficulty in walking in boots with spurs; a chestnut +tree near to me was struck by lighting.... No matter, I walked on +with stoic resignation. But, behold....! In the midst of the +storm I saw coming toward me two mounted gendarmes. You can +easily imagine how I looked after paddling for two hours in the +mud, dressed in my cotton breeches and dolman. The gendarmes +belonged to the station at Peyrehorade, to which they were +returning, but it seemed that they had lunched very well at +Orthez, for they were somewhat drunk. The older of the two asked +me for my papers; I gave him my travel permit, on which I was +described as a sous-lieutenant of the 25th Chasseurs. "You! A +sous-lieutenant?" shouted the gendarme, "you're too young to be +an officer!" But read the description," I said, "and you will +see that it says that I am not yet twenty years old. It is exact +in every point." "That may be," he replied, "but it is a forgery; +and the proof of that is that the Chasseur's uniform is green and +you are wearing a yellow dolman. You are an escaped conscript, +and I am arresting you." "All right," I said, "but when we get to +Orthez and I see your lieutenant, I can easily prove that I am an +officer and that this travel document is genuine." + +I was not much worried by this arrest; but now the older gendarme +said that he did not intend to go to Orthez. He belonged to the +station at Peyrehorade, and I must follow him there. I said that +I would do nothing of the kind, and that he could require this +only if I had no papers, but as I had shown him my travel permit, +he had no right to make me go back, and that it was his duty, +according to the regulations, to accompany me to my destination, +which was Orthez. + +The younger gendarme, who was less full of wine, said that I was +right. A lively dispute then broke out between the two of them. +They hurled insults at one another and in the middle of the +tempest which was all around us, they drew their sabres and +charged furiously together. I was afraid I might be injured in +this ridiculous combat, so I got into one of the huge ditches +which ran along each side of the road, and although I was in +water up to my waist, I climbed up onto the bordering field, from +where I watched the two warriors skirmishing to get the better of +one another. + +Fortunately, the heavy, wet cloaks which they were wearing clung +round their arms, and the horses, frightened by the thunder, +would not go near each other, so that the riders could manage +only a few ill directed blows. Eventually the older gendarme's +horse fell, and he landed in the ditch. When he got out,covered +in mire, he found that his saddle was broken and that he would +have to continue his journey on foot; so he set out, after +telling his companion that he was now responsible for the +prisoner. Left alone with the more sensible of the two gendarmes, +I pointed out to him that if I had anything to hide, it would be +easy for me to make off into the country, as there was a large +ditch between us which his horse could not cross, but that I +would surrender myself to him since he had agreed not to make me +go back. So I continued on my way, escorted by the gendarme, who +was beginning to sober up. We had some conversation, and it +became apparent that the fact that I had surrendered, when it +would have been easy for me to run away, made him begin to think +that I might be what I said I was. He would have let me go had he +not been put in charge of me by his companion. He became more and +more accommodating, and said he would not take me all the way to +Orthez, but would consult the Mayor of Puyoo, which we were going +to pass through. + +My arrival was that of a malefactor: all the villagers, who had +been driven back to the village by the storm, were at their doors +and windows to see the criminal in the charge of the gendarme; +however, the Mayor of Puyoo was a good, stout, sensible peasant, +whom we found in his barn, threshing corn. As soon as he had read +my travel permit, he said, gravely, to the gendarme, "Set this +young man at liberty at once. You have no right to arrest him. An +officer on a journey is designated by his documents, not by his +clothes." Could Solomon have produced a better judgement? The +good peasant did not stop at that, he wanted me to stay with him +until the storm had passed and he offered me food. Then, while we +were talking, he told me that he had once seen at Orthez a +general whose name was Marbot. I told him that this was my +father, and described him. Then the good man, whose name was +Bordenave became even more solicitous and wanted to dry my +clothes and offered me a bed for the night; but I thanked him and +went on my way to Orthez, where I arrived at nightfall, +completely worn out. The next day it was only with great +difficulty that I could put my boots on, partly because they were +wet and partly because my feet were swollen. + +However I managed to drag myself as far as Pau, and being unable +to go any further, I stayed there all day. I could find no other +means of transport but the mail coach, and although the seats +were very expensive, I took one as far as Gimont, where I was +welcomed with open arms by M. Dorignac, a friend of my father, +with whom I had spent several months after I left Soreze. I +rested for a few days with his family, then I took a stage-coach +to Toulouse. I had spent four times the cost of the seat which I +had lost through the negligence of the hotel porter at Bayonne. + +On my arrival at Toulouse I was going to look around for +somewhere to live, but the colonel told me that he had arranged a +place for me with one of his friends, an elderly doctor named M. +Merlhes, whose name I shall never forget, because this worthy man +and his numerous offspring were so good to me. During the two +weeks I stayed with them, I was treated as a member of the family +rather than as a boarder. + +The regiment was up to strength and well mounted. We had many +exercises which I found very interesting; though I sometimes +found myself up before squadron commander Blancheville, an +excellent officer, an old soldier from whom I learned to work +with precision, and I owe much to him. Blancheville, before the +revolution, had been on the staff of the gendarmes of Luneville. +He was very well educated and took a great interest in young +officers whom he thought capable of learning, and compelled them +to study whether they liked it or not. As for the others, whom he +called the block-heads, he simply shrugged his shoulders when +they did not know their drill or made mistakes during exercises, +but he never punished them for it. There were two or three +sous-lieutenants whom he had picked out, they were MM. Gavoille, +Dumonts and me. In our case he would not suffer an incorrectly +given order, and punished us for the slightest mistake. As he was +a very good fellow, when off duty we risked asking him why he +treated us so severely. "Do you think I am so stupid that I would +try to wash a black man white?" He replied, "Messers so and so +are too old and lacking in talent to make it worth my while to +try to improve them. As for you who have all that is required to +succeed, you need to study, and study you shall!" I have never +forgotten this reply, and I made use of it when I became a +colonel. In fact old Blancheville had drawn our horoscopes +accurately, Gavoille became a lieutenant-colonel, Dumonts a +brigadier-general and I a divisional general. + +On my arrival at Toulouse, I had exchanged the horse which I had +bought in Spain for a delightful mount from Navarre. Now, it so +happened that the prefect had arranged a race meeting in +celebration of some fˆte or other, and Gavoille, who was a great +lover of racing, had persuaded me to enter my horse. One day, +when I was exercising my horse on a grass track, as he took a +tight curve at full speed, he collided with the projecting wall +of a garden and fell stone dead. My companions thought I had +been killed or at least seriously injured, but by a miraculous +piece of good luck I was unhurt. When I had been picked up, and +saw my poor horse lying motionless, I was very upset, and went +back sadly to my billet, where I confronted the realisation that +I would have to buy another horse, and would have to ask my +mother for the money to do so, although I knew she was very +hard-up. + +Comte Defermon, a minister of state and one of our trustees, was +opposed to the sale of those properties which still belonged to +us, because he foresaw that peace would increase the value of +land. He considered, rightly, that they should be retained and +creditors paid off gradually by rigid economy. This is one of the +greatest obligations we owe to the good M. Defermon, the most +sincere of my father's friends, and one for whose memory I have +the deepest respect. + +When my request for money to buy a new horse was submitted to the +council of trustees, General Bernadotte, who was one of them, +burst out laughing, saying that it was a good try and that the +excuse was well chosen, and suggesting that my application was +what now-a-days would be called a "con", but, fortunately my +request was backed up by a letter from the colonel, and M. +Defermon stated that he did not believe me capable of trying to +obtain money by trickery. He was quite right in this, for +although I had an allowance of only 600 francs, my pay of just 95 +francs a month and a lodging allowance of 12 francs, I never had +a penny of debt; something I have always regarded with horror. + +I bought a new horse, which was not as good as the Navarrais, but +the general inspections, which had been reintroduced by the First +Consul, were approaching, and it was essential that I was quickly +remounted, the more so because we were to be inspected by General +Bourcier, who had the reputation of being a stern disciplinarian. + +I was detailed to go with thirty men to form an escort for him. +He welcomed me warmly and spoke of my father, whom he had known +well, which, however, did not prevent him from putting me on a +charge the following day. The way in which this came about is +quite amusing. + +One of our captains, named B***, was a very good-looking lad, and +would have been one of the most handsome men in the army if his +calves had been in harmony with the rest of his person; but his +legs were like stilts, which looked very odd in the tight +breeches, called Hungarians, which were then worn by the +Chasseurs. To get over this blemish, Captain B*** had acquired +pads made in the shape of calves, which completed his fine +appearance. You will see how these calves got me into trouble, +but they were not the only cause. + +The regulations laid down that the tails of officer's horses +should be left flowing, as were the tails of the trooper's +horses. Our colonel, M. Moreau, was always perfectly mounted, +but all his horses had their tails cut, and as he feared that +General Bourcier--a stickler for the rules--would take him to +task for setting a bad example to his officers, he had, for the +time of the inspection, had false tails fitted to his horses +which were so realistic that, unless one knew, one would think +them natural. This was all very fine. We went on manoeuvres, to +which General Bourcier had invited General Suchet, the inspector +of infantry, and General Gudin, the commander of the territorial +division, and was accompanied by a numerous and brilliant staff. + +The exercises were very long. Almost all the movements, carried +out at the gallop, ended with several charges at top speed. I was +in command of a section in the centre of Captain B***'s squadron, +and it was next to the captain that the colonel took up his +position. They were therefore a couple of paces in front of me +when the generals came to congratulate Colonel Moreau on the fine +performance of his troops. But what did I then see?.... The +extreme rapidity of the movements had deranged the accessories +added to the turn-out of both the colonel and Captain B***; the +false tail of the colonel's horse had come adrift, the centre +part, made of a pad of tow, was hanging down nearly to the ground +and the hairs were spread over the horse's crupper in a sort of +peacock's tail. As for Captain B***'s calves, they had slipped +round to the front, and could be seen as large lumps on his +shins, which produced a somewhat bizarre effect, while the +captain sat up proudly on his horse, as if to say "Look at me! +See how handsome I am!" + +One has little gravity at the age of twenty. Mine was unable to +resist the grotesque spectacle in front of me, and in spite of +the presence of no less than three generals, I was unable to stop +myself from bursting into laughter, however much I tried. The +inspecting general, not knowing the reason for my hilarity, +called me out of the ranks to reprimand me, but to reach him I +had to pass between the colonel and Captain B***, and my eyes +were once more directed to this cursed tail and the new calves +sported by the captain, and I again burst out laughing. I was +then put under open arrest. The generals must have thought I was +crazy, but as soon as they had gone, the officers of the regiment +gathered round the colonel and Captain B***, and soon realised +what had happened. They laughed as I had done, but in easier +circumstances. + +In the evening, the commandant Blancheville attended a reception +given by Madame Gudin. General Bourcier, who was also there, +having brought up the subject of what he called my escapade, M. +Blancheville explained the reasons for my unseemly laughter, an +explanation which gave rise to much amusement. The laughter was +increased by the entry of Captain B***, who having adjusted his +false calves, had come to display himself in this brilliant +society, without suspecting that he was one of the reasons for +their hilarity. General Bourcier, appreciating that if he could +not help laughing at a description of the sight which had greeted +my eyes, it was natural enough that a young sous-lieutenant could +not contain himself when confronted with this ridiculous +spectacle, cancelled my arrest and sent someone to look for me. +My arrival rekindled the laughter, which was increased by the +sight of Captain B***, who alone was unaware of the cause, going +from person to person asking what it was all about, while +everyone gazed at his calves. + +Chap. 17. + +Let us now turn to more serious matters. The Treaty of Luneville +had been followed by the Peace of Amiens, which put an end to the +war between France and England. The First Consul decided to +profit from the tranquility of Europe and the freedom of the sea +to despatch a large body of troops to Dominica, which he wished +to recover from the control of the blacks led by +Toussaint-Louverture, a man who, without being in open revolt +against the French, nevertheless adopted an air of great +independence. General Leclerc was to be in command of this +expedition. This general was a capable officer who had fought +successfully in Egypt and Italy; but his principal distinction +was that he had married Pauline Bonaparte, the First Consul's +sister. Leclerc was the son of a miller from Pontoise, if one can +describe as a miller, a very rich mill owner who had a +considerable business. The miller had given the best of +educations to his son and also to his daughter, who married +General Davout. + +While General Leclerc was preparing for his departure, the First +Consul concentrated in Brittany those troops which he had +earmarked for the expedition, and these troops naturally came +under the command of the commander-in-chief of the area, which +was Bernadotte. + +It is well known that there was always a great rivalry between +the troops of the Rhine army and those of the army of Italy. The +former were greatly attached to General Moreau, and did not care +for General Bonaparte, whose elevation to the head of government +they had witnessed with regret. For his part, the First Consul +had a great liking for the soldiers who had fought with him in +Italy and Egypt, and, although the breach with Moreau was not yet +openly declared, he considered that it would be in his interest +to remove to as far away as possible troops devoted to this +general. In consequence, the troops selected for the expedition +to Dominica were almost all taken from the army of the Rhine. +These men, however were perfectly happy to find themselves in +Brittany, under the command of Bernadotte, a former lieutenant of +Moreau's who had almost always served with them on the Rhine. + +The expeditionary force was to comprise eventually some forty +thousand men. The army of the west proper consisted of a similar +number, so that Bernadotte, whose command extended to cover all +the departments between the mouth of the Gironde and that of the +Seine, had for a time under his orders an army of eighty thousand +men, of whom the majority were more attached to him than to the +head of the consular government. + +If General Bernadotte had had more strength of character, the +First Consul would have regretted putting him in such a powerful +position; for I can say today, as an historical fact which will +harm no one, that Bernadotte plotted against the government of +which Bonaparte was the head. I shall give some details about +this conspiracy which were never known to the public, and perhaps +not even to General Bonaparte himself. + +Generals Bernadotte and Moreau, jealous of the elevated position +of the First Consul, and dissatisfied with the small part he gave +them in public affairs, had resolved to overthrow him, and place +themselves at the head of the government in conjunction with a +civil administrator or an enlightened magistrate. To achieve this +aim, Bernadotte, who, it must be said, had a talent for making +himself liked by both officers and men, went about the provinces +of his command, reviewing troops and using every means to +increase their attachment to him. Enticements of all sorts, +money, promises of promotion, were employed among the junior +officers, while secretly he denigrated the government of the +First Consul to the seniors. Having sown disaffection amongst +most of the regiments, it would not have been difficult to push +them into revolt; particularly those destined for the +expeditionary force, who regarded it as a sort of deportation. + +Bernadotte had as chief of staff Brigadier-general Simon, a +competent but rather colourless officer. His rank put him in a +position to correspond daily with unit commanders, and he used it +to make his office the centre of the conspiracy. A battalion +commander named Foucart was at that time attached to General +Simon, who made him his principal agent. Foucart, using the +excuse of official duties, travelled from garrison to garrison +organising a secret league, which was joined by almost all the +colonels and a crowd of senior officers, who were turned against +the First Consul by accusations that he aspired to royalty; +something, it seems, that he had not yet considered. + +It was agreed that the garrison of Rennes, composed of several +regiments, would begin the movement, which would spread like a +trail of gunpowder into all divisions of the army: and as it was +necessary that in this garrison there should be one unit which +would start things off and get the rest moving, the 82nd Line +regiment was brought to Rennes. This regiment was commanded by +Colonel Pinoteau, an energetic and capable man, very brave, but +something of a hothead, although he appeared outwardly +phlegmatic. He was a follower of Bernadotte and one of the most +enthusiastic of the conspirators. He promised to deliver his +regiment, where he was extremely popular. + +Everything was ready for the explosion when Bernadotte, lacking +resolve and aiming, like a true Gascon, to have a catspaw to pull +his chestnuts from the fire, persuaded General Simon and the +other principal conspirators that it was essential that he should +be in Paris when the army of Brittany proclaimed the deposition +of the consul, so that he would be in a position to seize +immediately the reins of government, in association with General +Moreau, with whom he was going to confer about the matter. In +reality, Bernadotte wished not to be compromised if the attempt +failed, while maintaining himself in a position to take advantage +of any success, and General Simon and the other conspirators were +blind enough not to see through this ruse. The day of the armed +uprising was then agreed, but the man who should have led it, +because he had organised it, had cunningly absented himself. + +Before Bernadotte left for Paris, a proclamation had been drawn +up, addressed to the people of France as well as to the army. +Several thousand copies of this were to be stuck up on the day of +the event. A bookseller in Rennes, introduced by General Simon +and by Foucart into the conspiracy, had undertaken to print this +proclamation himself. This ensured that the proclamation would be +ready for use in Brittany, but Bernadotte wanted to have a large +number of these posters in Paris, for it was important to spread +them throughout the capital and to send them to all the provinces +as soon as the army of the west had made its move against the +government, and as there was a risk of discovery if an approach +was made to a Paris printer, Bernadotte devised a method of +acquiring a large number of posters without compromising himself. +He told my brother Adolphe, who was his aide-de-camp, that he was +authorised to accompany him to Paris, and that he was to bring +his horse and his carriage in anticipation of a long stay. My +brother was delighted, and having packed his personal effects +into the lockers of the carriage, he instructed his servant to +bring the carriage, unhurriedly, to Paris while he went there by +stage-coach. + +As soon as my brother had left, General Simon and Commandant +Foucart, delaying, under some pretext or other, the departure of +my brother's servant, opened the carriage lockers and took out +the personal possessions, which they replaced by packets of the +proclamation. Then, having closed everything up, they sent poor +Joseph on his way, without any suspicion of what he was carrying. + +However, the First Consul's police had got wind of something +brewing in the army of Brittany, but without knowing exactly what +was going on or who was involved. The minister of police thought +it was his duty to inform the prefect of Rennes who was a M. +Mounier, and by the most extraordinary chance the prefect +received this despatch on the very day when the revolt was due to +break out, during a parade at Rennes, at mid-day. It was now +eleven-thirty! + +The prefect, to whom the minister had given no positive +information, thought that in order to obtain some, he could do no +better,in the absence of the commanding general, than to consult +his chief of staff. He therefore asked General Simon to come to +his office, and showed him the ministerial despatch. General +Simon, believing that all had been discovered, then foolishly +lost his head. + +He told the prefect that there was indeed a vast conspiracy in +the army, in which he had, unfortunately, played a part, of which +he now repented; and thereupon he disclosed all the plans of the +conspirators, and named the leaders; adding that in a few minutes +the troops gathered on the parade ground, at a signal from +General Pinoteau, were going to proclaim the overthrow of the +consular government! + +You may imagine M. Mounier's astonishment, and the concern he +felt at being in the presence of a culpable general who, though +at first thrown into confusion, might recover himself and +recollect that he had eighty thousand men under his command, of +whom eight to ten thousand were at this moment gathered not far +from the prefecture. The position in which M. Mounier found +himself was critical, but he extricated himself adroitly. + +The general commanding the gendarmerie, Virion, had been ordered +by the government to put together at Rennes a body of unmounted +gendarmes, for the formation of which every regiment had supplied +some Grenadiers. These soldiers, having no unifying bonds, +escaped, in consequence, from the influence of the colonels of +the regiments, and recognised only the orders of their new +leaders, those of the gendarmerie who, in accordance with the +regulations, obeyed the instructions of the prefect. M. Mounier +now sent for General Virion, telling him to bring all the +gendarmes. Meanwhile, fearing that General Simon might change his +mind and leave him to go and place himself at the head of his +troops, he soothed him with honeyed words, assuring him that his +repentance and his confession would mitigate his offence in the +eyes of the First Consul, and persuaded him to hand over his +sword and go to the Tour Labat with the gendarmes who had at that +moment arrived in the courtyard. So now the prime mover in the +revolt was in prison. + +While this was going on at the prefecture, the troops assembled +at the Place D'armes were awaiting the hour of the parade which +would also be that of the beginning of the revolt. All the +colonels were in the secret, and had promised their support +except the commander of the 79th, M. Goddard, who it was hoped +would follow the rest. + +From what a slender thread hangs the destiny of empires! +Pinoteau, a strong and determined man, was due to give the signal +which his regiment, the 82nd, already drawn up in battle +formation on the square, was impatiently awaiting; but Pinoteau, +with Foucart, had been busy all morning arranging for the +despatch of proclamations, and in their preoccupation he had +forgotten to shave. Mid-day arrived. Colonel Pinoteau realising +that he was unshaven, hurried to put this right; but while he was +engaged in this operation, General Virion, escorted by a large +number of gendarmes, burst into the room, seized his sword and +declared him a prisoner. He was taken to the tower to join +General Simon. A few minutes later and Colonel Pinoteau would +have been at the head of ten thousand men, and would undoubtedly +have succeeded in starting the revolt. But taken thus by surprise +he could do nothing but surrender to force. + +Having made this second arrest, Virion and the prefect sent an +aide-de-camp to the parade ground to tell Colonel Goddard of the +79th that they had a communication for him from the First Consul. +As soon as he arrived, they told him of the discovery of the +conspiracy and the arrest of General Simon and Colonel Pinoteau, +and persuaded him to unite with them in putting down the +rebellion. Having agreed to this, Colonel Goddard returned to the +parade ground without telling anyone what he had learned, and +taking his battalion to the Tour Labat, he joined the battalion +of gendarmes who were guarding it. Also there were the prefect +and General Virion, who arranged for ammunition to be distributed +to the loyal troops. They then awaited events. + +Meanwhile, the officers of the regiments which were assembled on +the parade ground, surprised at the sudden departure of the 79th, +and not understanding why General Pinoteau was late, sent to his +home, where they were told that he had been arrested and sent to +the tower. They were told at the same time of the arrest of +General Simon. + +This put the cat among the pigeons. The officers of the various +units got together; Commandant Foucart proposed that they should +march immediately to free the two prisoners and carry on with the +movement. This suggestion was received with acclamation, +particularly from the 82nd, who worshipped Colonel Pinoteau. They +hurried to the Tour Labat, but found it surrounded by four +thousand gendarmes and the battalion of the 79th. The assailants +were undoubtedly the more numerous, but they had no ammunition +and if they had had any, many of them would have been reluctant +to fire on their comrades, simply to make a change in the members +of the government. General Virion and the Prefect addressed them +and urged them to return to their duty. The soldiers hesitated, +and seeing this, none of the officers dared to order a bayonet +attack, which was the only action which remained possible. +Gradually the regiments stood down, and returned one by one to +their barracks. Commandant Foucart, left alone, was taken to the +tower, along with the unfortunate printer. + +On learning that the insurrection at Rennes had failed, all the +officers of the other regiments of the army of Brittany disavowed +it; but the First Consul was not taken in by their protestations, +he brought forward the date of their embarkation for Dominica and +the other islands of the Antilles, where nearly all of them died, +either in the fighting or of yellow fever. + +As soon as he had heard the first confessions of General Simon +and before the situation was fully under control, M. Mounier had +sent a despatch rider to the government, and the First Consul now +considered whether he should have Bernadotte and Moreau arrested. +However, he suspended this measure for lack of any evidence, and +to get hold of some, he ordered the examination of any travellers +coming from Brittany. + +While all this was going on, the good Joseph arrived at +Versailles in my brother's carriage, and much to his surprise, +found himself seized by the gendarmerie, and, in spite of his +protests, brought before the minister of police. On learning that +the carriage which this man was driving belonged to one of +Bernadotte's aides-de-camp, the minister, Fouche, had all the +lockers searched and found them full of proclamations, in which +Bernadotte and Moreau, after denouncing the First Consul in +violent terms announced his fall and their accession to power. + +Bonaparte, furious with these two officers, demanded their +presence. Moreau told him that as he, Moreau,had no authority +over the army of the west, he would accept no responsibility for +the conduct of the regiments of which it was composed; and one +has to admit that this was a valid objection. It however worsened +the position of Bernadotte, who, as commander-in-chief of the +troops assembled in Brittany, was responsible for maintaining +good order and discipline amongst them; but not only had his army +engaged in conspiracy, but his chief-of-staff was a leader in the +enterprise. The rebel proclamations bore Bernadotte's signature, +and more than one thousand copies of this document had just been +found in a carriage belonging to his aide-de-camp. The First +Consul thought that such evident proofs would flatten and +confound Bernadotte; but he was dealing with a true Gascon, as +devious as they come! + +Bernadotte expressed surprise...indignation! He knew +nothing...absolutely nothing! General Simon was a villain and so +was Pinoteau! He defied anyone to produce the original +proclamation bearing his signature! Was it his fault if some +lunatic had arranged for his name to be printed at the foot of a +proclamation which he utterly and completely rejected. As for the +wicked originators of all these plots, he would be the first to +demand their punishment. + +Bernadotte had indeed contrived to get everything directed by +General Simon, without giving him a single word in writing which +might compromise himself, and had left himself in a position in +which he could deny everything if, in the event of the plot +failing, General Simon should accuse him of being a participant. +The First Consul, though convinced of Bernadotte's guilt, had no +solid evidence to go on, and his council of ministers concluded +that it would not be feasible to bring charges against a general +who was so popular in the country and the army. Sadly, these sort +of considerations did not apply to my brother Adolphe. One fine +night they came to my mother's house to arrest him, and this at a +time when the poor woman was already overburdened with grief. + +M. de Canrobert, her eldest brother, whom she had managed to have +taken off the list of emigres, was living peaceably with her when +he was picked out by a policeman as having been present at some +gathering whose aim was the restoration of the previous +government. He was taken to the Temple Prison, where he was +detained for eleven months. My mother was taking every possible +step to prove his innocence and obtain his liberty when she was +struck by another terrible disaster. + +My two younger brothers were pupils at the French Military +School. This establishment had a huge park and a fine country +house in the village of Vanves, not far from the banks of the +Seine; and in the summer the pupils went there to pass some of +their holidays, when those who had behaved well were allowed to +bathe in the river. Now it so happened that, because of some +student peccadillo, the headmaster had deprived the whole school +of the pleasure of swimming; however my brother Theodore loved +swimming, so he and some of his friends decided to go swimming +without the knowledge of their masters. While the pupils were +spread about the park playing, they went to an isolated spot +where they climbed over the wall and, on a very hot day, they ran +to the Seine, into which they jumped, bathed in perspiration. +They were scarcely in the water, however, when they heard the +college drum beating for dinner. Fearing that their escapade +would be discovered by their absence from the refectory, they +dressed hurriedly and rushed back by the way they had come, to +arrive, breathless, at the start of the meal. In such +circumstances, they should have eaten little or nothing, but +schoolboys are heedless, and they ate as much as usual, with the +result that they nearly all became ill. Theodore was particularly +affected, and was taken to my mother's house desperately ill with +pneumonia. + +It was while she was going from the bedside of her mortally +afflicted son to her brother's prison, that they came to arrest +her first-born. An appalling situation for any mother. To make +matters worse, poor Theodore died. He was eighteen years old, +charming and handsome. I was desolated to hear of his death, for +I was very fond of him. These dreadful misfortunes which, one +after another, assailed my mother, impelled those who were my +father's true friends to exert themselves on her behalf. A +leading figure among them was M. Defermon, who worked almost +daily with the First Consul, and who rarely failed to intercede +for Adolphe and his widowed mother. Eventually, General Bonaparte +said to him one day, that although he had a low opinion of +Bernadotte's common sense, he did not believe that he was so +lacking in judgement that in conspiring against the government, +he would take into his confidence a twenty-one year old +lieutenant; and besides that, General Simon had stated that it +was he and Commandant Foucart who had put the proclamations in +young Marbot's carriage, so that, if he was to blame at all, it +was only to a very small extent. However, he, the First Consul, +was not willing to release the aide-de-camp until Bernadotte came +in person to ask him to do so. + +When she heard of this decision taken by the First Consul, my +mother hastened to Bernadotte's house and begged him to take the +necessary step. He promised solemnly to do but the days and weeks +rolled past without him doing anything. Eventually, he said to my +mother, "What you are asKing of me will be extremely painful, but +no matter, I owe this to the memory of your husband, as well as +to the interest I have in your children. I shall go this very +evening to see the First Consul and I shall call at your house +after leaving the Tuileries. I am certain I shall be able to +announce the release of your son." + +One can imagine with what impatience my mother waited during this +long day! Every coach she heard made her heart beat. But at last +it struck eleven o'clock and Bernadotte had not appeared. My +mother then went round to his house, and what do you suppose she +was told?....That General Bernadotte and his wife had left, to +take the waters at Plombieres, and would not be back for two +months! In spite of his promises, Bernadotte had left Paris +without seeing the First Consul. Devastated, my mother wrote to +General Bonaparte. M. Defermon, who undertook to deliver the +letter, was so indignant at the conduct of General Bernadotte +that he could not resist telling the First Consul how he had +behaved toward us. "That," said the First Consul, "is the sort of +thing I would expect!" + +M. Defermon, Generals Mortier, Lefebvre and Murat then urged that +my brother should be freed; observing that if he had been unaware +of the conspiracy, it was unjust to keep him in prison, and even +if he had known something about it, he could not be expected to +carry tales about Bernadotte, whose aide-de-camp he was. This +reasoning impressed the First Consul, who set my brother at +liberty and sent him to Cherbourg, to join the 49th Line +regiment, as he did not wish him to continue as aide-de-camp to +Bernadotte. + +Bonaparte, who had a very long memory, probably had engraved, +somewhere in his head, the words, "Marbot. Aide-de-camp of +Bernadotte. Conspiracy of Rennes." So my brother was never again +looked on with favour, and some time later he was sent to +Pondichery. + +Adolphe had spent a month in prison; Commandant Foucart was there +for a year. He was cashiered and ordered to leave France. He took +refuge in Holland, where he lived miserably for thirty years on +earnings from French lessons, which he was reduced to giving, as +he had no personal fortune. + +At last, in 1832, he thought to return to his native country, and +during the siege of Anvers I saw, one day, come into my room, a +sort of elderly schoolmaster, very threadbare; it was Foucart, I +recognised him. He told me that he did not have a brass farthing! +While I offered him some assistance, I could not help reflecting +on the bizarre workings of fate. Here was a man who in 1802 was +already a battalion commander, and whose courage and ability +would have certainly carried him to the rank of general, if +Colonel Pinoteau had not decided to shave at the moment when the +conspiracy of Rennes was due to come to a head. I took Foucart to +Marshal Gerard, who also remembered him, and together we +presented him to the Duc d'Orleans, who gave him a job in his +library, at a salary of 2400 francs. He lived there for fifteen +years. + +As for General Simon and Colonel Pinoteau, they were imprisoned +in the Isle de Re for five or six years. Eventually, Bonaparte, +having become Emperor, set them free. Pinoteau had been +vegetating for some time in Rufec, his birthplace, when, in 1808, +the Emperor, who was on his way to Spain, having stopped there to +change horses, Pinoteau presented himself boldly before him and +requested to be re-engaged in military service. The Emperor, who +knew that he was an excellent officer, then placed him in command +of a regiment, which he led faultlessly throughout the wars in +Spain, so that after several campaigns, he was promoted to the +rank of brigadier-general. + +General Simon also returned to military service. He was in +command of an infantry brigade in Massena's army when we invaded +Portugal. At the battle of Busaco, where Massena made the mistake +of mounting a frontal attack on the Duke of Wellington's army, +which was in position on the heights of a mountain with a very +difficult approach, Poor Simon, wishing, no doubt, to redeem +himself and to make up for the time he had lost towards +promotion, charged bravely at the head of his brigade, overcame +every obstacle, clambered up the rocks under a hail of bullets, +broke through the English line and was first into the enemy +entrenchments. But, there, a bullet fired at close range +shattered his jaw at the moment when the English second line +drove back our troops, who were thrown down into the valley with +considerable losses. The enemy found the unfortunate general +lying in the redout among the dead and dying. His face was hardly +recognisable as human. Wellington treated him with much respect, +and as soon as he could be moved, he sent him to England as a +prisoner of war. He was later permitted to return to France. But +his terrible injury barred him from any further service. The +Emperor gave him a pension, and one heard no more of him. + +Chap. 18. + +After the unhappy events which had just befallen her, my mother +longed to re-unite her three remaining sons around her. My +brother, having been ordered to join the expeditionary force +which was being sent to India under the command of General +Decaen, was given permission to spend two months with my mother; +Felix was at the Military School, and a piece of good fortune +brought me also to Paris. + +The School of Cavalry was then at Versailles; every regiment sent +there an officer and a non-commissioned officer, who, after +completing their studies, returned to their unit to act as +instructors. Now it so happened that at the moment when I was +about to ask for permission to go to Paris, the lieutenant who +had been at the School had completed the course, and the colonel +proposed to send me to replace him. I accepted this with +pleasure, for not only would it allow me to see my mother again, +but it would ensure that for eighteen months I would be living +only a short distance from her. + +My preparations were soon made. I sold my horse and taking the +stage-coach, I left the 25th Chasseurs, to which I was never to +return; although not being aware of this at the time, my +farewells to my comrades were lighthearted. + +On my arrival in Paris, I found my mother greatly upset, not only +on account of the cruel loss which we had just suffered, but also +over the imminent departure of Adolphe for India, and the +detention of my uncle Canrobert, which continued indefinitely. + +We spent a month together as a family, at the end of which my +elder brother had to report to Brest, where he was soon embarked +for Pondichery in the "Marengo." As for me, I went to settle in +at the School of Cavalry, whose barracks were in the great +stables of Versailles. + +I was lodged on the first floor, in apartments which had once +been occupied by the Prince de Lambesc, the master of horse. I +had a very big bedroom and an immense "salon" which looked out +over the Avenue de Paris and the parade-ground. I was at first +astonished that the most recently arrived pupil should be so well +housed, but I soon learned that no one wanted this apartment +because its huge size made it glacially cold, and few of the +officer pupils could afford to keep a fire going. Happily I was +not entirely without means. I had a good stove put in, and with a +big screen, I made in this vast apartment a little room, which I +furnished modestly, since all we were issued with was a table, a +bed, and two chairs, which were quite out of place in the +enormous space of my quarters. So I made myself reasonably +comfortable until the return of spring, when the place seemed +quite charming. + +Although we were called pupils, you should not suppose that we +were treated as students. We were allowed every freedom, too much +freedom in fact. We were commanded by an old colonel, M. Maurice, +whom we hardly ever saw, and who did not take part in anything. +On three days in the week we had civilian horsemanship, under the +celebrated equestrians Jardin and Coupe, and we went there when +it suited us. In the afternoon, an excellent veterinarian, M. +Valois, ran a course on the care of horses; but no one compelled +us to study with any diligence. The other three days were devoted +to military matters. In the morning, military horsemanship, +taught by the only two captains in the school, and in the +afternoon, drill, also taught by them. Once this parade was +finished, the captains disappeared and each student went his own +way. + +You will appreciate that it took a keen desire to learn, to get +anywhere in a school so badly run; however most of the students +made progress because, being destined to become instructors in +their respective regiments, their self-respect made them fear not +being up to the task. So they worked reasonably hard, but not as +hard as one would as a schoolboy. As for behaviour, the staff +took no interest in it. As long as the students caused no trouble +in the establishment itself, they were allowed to do as they +pleased. They came and went at all hours. They were subject to no +role call. They ate in hotels, if it suited them, slept out, and +even went to Paris without asking permission. The +non-commissioned pupils had a little less liberty. Two +moderately strict sergeants were in charge of them, who insisted +that they were back by ten o'clock at night. + +Each of us wore the uniform of his regiment, so that a gathering +of the whole school presented an interesting sight, as when, on +the first day of every month, we paraded in full dress in order +to draw up the pay roll; then you could see the uniforms of all +the French cavalry regiments. + +As all these officers belonged to different units, and were +thrown together only for the duration of the course, there could +not exist between them the close fellowship which is one of the +features of regimental life. We were too numerous (ninety) for +there to be a bond between all. There were coteries but no union. +I did not feel any need to socialise with my new comrades. I left +every Saturday for Paris, where I spent the next day and most of +Monday with my mother. There were at Versailles two old friends +of my mother, from Rennes; the Comtesses de Chateauville, a pair +of very respectable and well educated elderly ladies, who +entertained only a select society. I went two or three times a +week to spend an evening with them. The remaining evenings I +employed in reading, which I have always greatly enjoyed, for if +school sets a man on the road to education, he must get there by +himself through reading. How pleasant it was, in the midst of a +very harsh winter, to come back to my quarters after dinner, make +up a good fire and there, alone, ensconced behind my screen and +beside my little lamp, to read until eight or nine o'clock; then +to go to bed, in order to save wood, and continue reading to +midnight. In this way I re-read Tacitus and Xenophon and many of +the classical Greek and Roman authors; I revised the history of +Rome and of France, and the principle countries of Europe. My +time, shared between my mother, my work at the school, a little +good society and my beloved books, passed very agreeably. + +I began the year 1803 at Versailles. Spring introduced some +changes into my way of life. Each of the officers at the school +was provided with a horse, so I devoted some of my evenings to +taking long rides in the magnificent woods which surround +Versailles, Marly, and Meudon. + +During May, my mother was made very happy by the release of her +eldest brother from the Temple prison, and the return to France +of the other two, de l'Isle and de la Coste, who, having been +struck off the list of emigres came to Paris. + +The eldest of my mother's brothers, M. de Canrobert was a very +pleasant, sensible man. He entered the service at a very young +age, as a sous-lieutenant in the infantry of Ponthievre, and, +under Lieutenant-general De Vaux, fought in all the campaigns of +the war in Corsica, in which he distinguished himself. After the +conquest of that country, he served out the twenty-four years +which earned him the Cross of St. Louis. He was a captain when he +married Mlle. Sanguinet and then retired to the Chateau of Laval +de Cere. + +Having become the father of a son and a daughter, M. de Canrobert +was living happily in his manor when the revolution broke out in +1789. He was forced to emigrate to escape the scaffold, with +which he was threatened, all his possessions were confiscated and +sold, his wife was imprisoned with her two young children. My +mother obtained permission to visit her unhappy sister-in-law, +and found her in a cold, damp tower, stricken by a fever, which +carried off, that very day, her young daughter. By dint of +requests and supplications, my mother managed to obtain the +release of her sister-in-law; but she died a few days later from +the illness she had contracted in prison. My mother then took +charge of the young boy, named Antoine. He was sent in turn to +college and then to the military school, where he was one of +their brightest pupils. Finally he became an infantry officer and +was killed, bravely, on the field of battle, at Waterloo. My +uncle was one of the first of the emigres who, under the +consulate, were given permission to return to France. He +recovered some part of his estate, and married again, this time +to one of the daughters of M. Niocel, an old friend of the +family. + +M. Certain de l'Isle, the second of my mother's brothers, was one +of the most handsome men in France. At the time of the revolution +he was a lieutenant in the regiment of Ponthievre, in which were +also serving his elder brother and several of his uncles. He took +the same course as nearly all his comrades and emigrated in +company with his younger brother, Certain de la Coste, who was in +the King's bodyguard. After leaving France the two brothers +stayed always together. They retreated first to the country of +Baden, but their tranquility was soon disturbed: the French +armies crossed the Rhine, and as all emigres who fell into their +clutches were shot, by order of the Convention, the brothers were +forced to hide hurriedly in the interior of Germany. Lack of +money compelled them to travel on foot, which soon became too +much for poor La Coste. They had great difficulty in finding +lodgings, as everywhere was occupied by Austrian troops. La Coste +became ill. His brother supported him. In this way they reached +a little town in Wurtemberg, where they found a bed in a low +class tavern. At daybreak they saw the Austrians leaving, and +they were told that the French were about to occupy the town. La +Coste, unable to move, urged de l'Isle to look to his own safety +and to leave him to the care of Providence; but de l'Isle +declared solemnly that he would not abandon his sick brother. + +However two French volunteers arrived at the inn with a +requisition for lodgings. The inn-keeper took them to the room +occupied by my two uncles, whom he told that they would have to +leave. It has been said, quite rightly, that during the +Revolution, the honour of France took refuge in the army. The two +soldiers, seeing that La Coste was ill, told the landlord that +not only did they wish to keep him with them, but that they +wanted a large room which was on the first floor, where they +would establish themselves with my two uncles. In enemy country, +the victor being the master, the inn-keeper obeyed the two French +volunteers, who, during the two weeks in which their battalion +was billeted in the town, took great care of Messers La Coste and +de l'Isle, and even let them share in the good meals which their +host was obliged to provide in accordance with the usages of war; +and this comfortable regime, coupled with rest, restored to some +extent, the health of La Coste. + +When they left, the volunteers, who belonged to a battalion from +the Gironde, wishing to give their new friends the means of +passing through the French columns without being arrested, took +from their uniforms the metal buttons which bore the name of +their battalion, and attached them to the civilian clothing worn +by my uncles, who could then pass themselves off as sutlers. With +this new form of passport, they went through all the French +cantonments without rousing any suspicion. They reached Prussia, +and settled down in the town of Hall, where De l'Isle was able to +give French lessons. They lived there peacefully until 1803, when +my mother managed to have them struck of the list of emigres, and +they returned to France after twelve years of exile. + +Chap. 19. + +Let us now return to Versailles. While I was on the course at the +school of cavalry, great events were under way in Europe. England +having broken the Treaty of Amiens, hostilities recommenced. The +First Consul resolved to take the initiative by leading an army +onto the soil of Great Britain, a daring and difficult +undertaking, but not impossible. To put it into operation, +Napoleon, who had just seized Hanover, the private property of +the English monarchy, stationed on the coasts of the North Sea +and the Channel, several army corps, and ordered the construction +and assembly, at Boulogne and neighbouring ports, of an immense +number of barges and flat-bottomed boats, on which he proposed to +embark his troops. + +All the armed forces were set in motion for this war. I regretted +that I was not involved; and being destined to carry back to my +regiment the knowledge I had acquired at the school, I saw myself +condemned to spend several years in the depot with a whip in my +hand, making recruits trot round on elderly horses, while my +comrades were fighting at the head of troops which I had trained. +I did not find this prospect very pleasant, but how was it to be +changed? A regiment must always be fed with recruits, and it was +certain that my colonel, having sent me to the school of cavalry +to learn how to train these recruits, would not deprive himself +of the services which I could render in this respect, and would +keep me out of the fighting squadrons. One day, however, as I was +walking down the Avenue de Paris, with my drill manual in my +hand, I had a brilliant idea, which totally changed my destiny +and contributed greatly to my promotion to the rank which I now +occupy. + +I had just learned that the First Consul, having fallen out with +the court of Lisbon, had ordered the formation, at Bayonne, of an +army corps destined to enter Portugal under the command of +General Augereau. I knew that General Augereau owed some of his +advancement to my father, under whose command he had served in +the camp at Toulouse and in the Pyrenees, and although what I had +experienced at Genoa after the death of my father had not given +me a high opinion of the gratitude of mankind, I resolved to +write to him and, having explained the predicament in which I +found myself, ask him to extricate me by taking me on as one of +his aides-de-camp. + +Having written this letter, I sent it to my mother, to see if she +approved. She not only approved, but knowing that Augereau was in +Paris, she decided to take the letter to him herself. Augereau +received the widow of his old friend with the greatest +consideration; he immediately took his carriage and went to the +War Ministry, and that same evening he handed to my mother my +appointment as aide-de-camp. Thus a wish, which twenty-four hours +earlier had seemed a dream, became a reality. + +The following day I hurried to Paris to thank the general. He +received me most kindly, and ordered me to join him at Bayonne, +to where he was now going. It was now October, I had completed +the first course at the school of cavalry and had little interest +in starting on the second; so I was happy to leave Versailles, +for I felt sure that I was starting on a new career, much more +advantageous than that of a regimental instructor. I was quite +right in thinking this, for nine years later I was a colonel, +while those I had left at the school had hardly reached the rank +of captain. + +I reported promptly to Bayonne and took up my post as an +aide-de-camp to the commander-in-chief. He was installed a +quarter of a league from the town in the fine Chateau de Marac, +in which the Emperor lived some years later. I was made very +welcome by General Augereau and by my new comrades, his +aides-de-camp, nearly all of whom had served under my father. +This general staff, although it did not give to the army as many +general officers as that of Bernadotte, was nevertheless very +well made up. General Danzelot who was the chief-of-staff, was a +highly capable man who later became the governor of the Ionian +islands and then Martinique. His second in command was Colonel +Albert, who at his death was general aide-de-camp to the Duc +d'Orleans. The aides-de-camp were Colonel Sicard, who died at +Heilsberg, Major Brame, who retired to Lille after the Peace of +Tilsit, Major Massy, killed as a colonel at Moscow, Captain +Chevetel and Lieutenant Mainville, the first of whom retired to +his estate in Brittany and the second ended his career in +Bayonne. I was the sixth and youngest of the aides-de-camp. + +Finally the staff was completed by Dr. Raymond, who helped me +greatly at Eylau, and Colonel Augereau, a half-brother of the +general; a very quiet man, who later became a lieutenant general. + +Chap. 20. + +The greater part of the generals who made a name for themselves +in the early wars of the revolution having sprung from the lower +ranks of society, it has been supposed, wrongly, that they had +received no education, and that they owed their success solely to +their fighting ability. Augereau, in particular, has been very +badly judged. He has been represented as boastful, hard, noisy +and nasty. This is an error, for although he had a stormy youth, +and fell into some political misconceptions, he was kind, polite +and affectionate, and I can assure you that of the five marshals +under whom I have served, it was he who did most to lessen the +evils of war, who was most considerate toward the local populace +and who treated his officers best, among whom he lived like a +father among his children. It is true that he had a most +irregular life, but before passing judgement you must consider +the conditions which existed at the time. + +Pierre Augereau was born in Paris in 1757. His father had an +extensive business in the fruit trade and had acquired a large +fortune, which allowed him to give his children a good education. + +His mother was born in Munich, and she had the good sense to +speak nothing but German to her son, who, as a result spoke it +perfectly; something he found most useful in his travels, and +also during the wars. + +Augereau was good-looking, large and well built. He loved all +physical activities, at which he excelled. He was a good horseman +and a fine swordsman. When he was seventeen his mother died, and +one of her brothers who worked in the office of Monsieur (the +king's brother) arranged for him to join the Carabiniers, of whom +Monsieur was colonel in chief. + +He spent several years at Saumur, where the Carabiniers were +usually garrisoned, and where his efficiency and good conduct +soon raised him to the rank of sergeant. Sadly, there was at this +time a craze for duels. The reputation which Augereau had as an +excellent swordsman compelled him to engage in several, for it +was a great point among duelists not to accept that anyone was +their superior; gentlemen, officers and soldiers fought for the +most futile of reasons. It so happened that when Augereau was on +leave in Paris, the celebrated fencing master Saint-George, +seeing him pass, said, in the presence of several swordsmen, +there is one of the finest blades in France. Upon this, a +sergeant of Dragoons named Belair, who claimed to be next to +Saint-George in ability, wrote to Augereau saying that he would +challenge him to fight unless he recognised the writer's +superiority. Augereau having replied that he would do nothing of +the sort, they met on the Champs-Elysees where Belair received a +penetrating sword-thrust. He subsequently recovered and having +left the service, he married and became the father of eight +children, for whom he was unable to provide. So in the first days +of the Empire it occurred to him to approach his old adversary, +now a marshal. This man, whom I knew, was something of an +original character; he presented himself before Augereau with a +little violin under his arm, and said that as he had nothing to +give his eight children for dinner, he would make them dance a +quadrille to cheer them up, unless the marshal could put him in +the way of providing a more substantial meal. Augereau recognised +Belair, invited him to a meal, gave him some money and a few days +later arranged for him to have a good job in the transport +department. He also placed two of his sons in school. Conduct +which requires no commentary. + +Not all the duels which Augereau fought ended like this. As a +result of an absurd custom, there existed an inveterate hatred +between some units, the cause for which was buried in the past +and often hardly known, but which, handed down from age to age, +resulted in duels every time the units met. In this way the +Gendarmes of Luneville and the Carabiniers had been at war for +half a century, though they had not seen one another in this long +period of time. At last, at the beginning of the reign of Louis +XVI, they found themselves in the same camp at Compiegne; +whereupon, to show themselves no less brave than their +forefathers, the Carabiniers and the Gendarmes decided to fight, +and their determination was such that the officers thought it +wiser to look the other way. However, to avoid too much +bloodshed, it was agreed that there would be only one duel; each +unit would select a combatant who would represent them, and after +that there would be a truce. The Carabiniers chose their twelve +best swordsmen, among whom was Augereau, and it was agreed that +the defender of the regimental honour should be chosen by lot. +On that day fate was more blind than usual, for it selected a +sergeant by the name of Donnadieu, who had five children. +Augereau observed that the name of a father of a family should +not have been included in the draw, and asked if he might replace +his comrade. Donnadieu declared that as his name had been chosen +he would go forward. Augereau insisted, and this battle of +generosity was ended only by the members of the meeting accepting +Augereau's proposal. The name of the combatant chosen by the +Gendarmes would soon be known and after that it was merely a +matter of arranging for the two adversaries to meet, when a +simulated quarrel would serve as a motive for the encounter. + +Augereau had a fearsome opponent, an excellent swordsman, a +professional duelist, who as a warm-up, awaiting the contest, had +killed two sergeants of the Guards, on the days previously. +Augereau, without allowing himself to be intimidated by the +reputation of this bravo, went to the cafe where he knew he was +to appear, and while awaiting him sat down at a table. The +Gendarme arrived, and when his opponent had been pointed out to +him, he pulled aside his coat-tails, and sat down insolently on +the table, his backside not a foot from Augereau's face. Augereau +was drinking a cup of very hot coffee at the time and he gently +eased back the opening, called the ventouse, which existed then +at the back of a cavalryman's leather breeches, and poured the +steaming liquid onto the the buttocks of the impudent Gendarme, +who turned round in a fury! The quarrel having now been engaged +upon, they went outside, followed by a crowd of Gendarmes and +Carabiniers. As they went along, the ferocious Gendarme, to mock +the man whom, he felt confident, would be his victim, asked +Augereau, in a bantering tone, whether he would prefer to be +buried in the town or in the country. "The country" replied +Augereau, "I have always liked the open air." "Fine," said the +gendarme, and, turning to his second, he said, "Put him with the +other two I killed yesterday and the day before." This was not +very encouraging, and anyone but Augereau might have been put +out, but determined to sell his life dearly, he defended himself +with such skill that his adversary lost his temper and made a +false move, which allowed Augereau, who had remained calm, to run +him through, saying that it was he who would be buried in the +country. + +The camp being ended, the Carabiniers returned to Saumur, where +Augereau was peacefully continuing his military service when a +disastrous event precipitated him into a life of high adventure. + +A young officer of exalted birth, but with a very nasty temper, +having found something to complain about concerning the grooming +of horses, rounded on Augereau, and in an access of rage offered +to strike him with his riding whip in front of the whole +squadron. Augereau indignantly seized the officer's whip and +threw it away, whereupon the latter, in a fury, drew his sword +and confronted Augereau, saying, "Defend yourself!" Augereau +restricted himself at first merely to parrying, but having been +slightly wounded, he made a riposte and the officer fell dead. + +The general, Comte de Malseigne, who commanded the Carabiniers in +the name of Monsieur, was soon told of this affair, and although +eye-witnesses agreed in saying that Augereau, provoked by the +most unjustifiable attack, had legitimately defended himself, the +general, who favoured Augereau, thought it would be wiser to get +him out of the way. To do this he called on a Carabinier named +Papon, a native of Geneva whose term of service was due to expire +in a few days, and invited him to give his travel permit to +Augereau, promising to give him another one later. Papon agreed +to this, and Augereau was always most grateful to him, for when +he arrived in Geneva, he learned that the court-martial, in spite +of the evidence of the witnesses, had condemned him to death for +raising his sword against an officer. + +The Papon family had a business which exported a large number of +watches to the east. Augereau decided to go with a representative +whom they were sending there, and travelled with him to Greece, +to the Ionian islands, to Constantinople and the shores of the +Black Sea. + +He was in the Crimea when a Russian colonel, guessing from his +bearing that he had been a soldier, offered him the rank of +sergeant. + +Augereau accepted, and served for several years in the Russian +army, which the famous Souwaroff commanded in a war against the +Turks, and was wounded in the assault on Ismailoff. + +When peace was made between the Porte and Russia, the regiment in +which Augereau was serving was ordered to go to Poland; but he +did not wish to stay any longer with the semi-barbarous Russians, +so he deserted and went to Prussia, where he served at first in +the regiment of Prince Henry, and then, on account of his height +and good looks, he was posted to the famous guards of Frederick +the Great. He was there for two years, and his captain had led +him to hope for promotion, when one day the king, who was +reviewing his guards stopped in front of him and said, "There is +a fine looking Grenadier!....Where does he come from?" "He is +French sire," came the reply. "Too bad," said Frederick, who had +come to detest the French as much as he had once liked them. "Too +bad. If he had been Swiss or German we could have made something +of him". + +Augereau, from then on, was convinced he would get nowhere in +Prussia, since he had heard it from the lips of the king himself, +and so he resolved to leave the country. This was a very +difficult matter, because as soon as the desertion of a soldier +was signalised by the firing of a cannon, the population set off +in pursuit of him, in the hope of obtaining the promised reward, +and the deserter when captured was invariably shot. + +In order to avoid this fate and to regain his liberty, Augereau, +who knew that a good one third of the guards, foreigners like +himself, had only one wish, and that was to get out of Prussia, +spoke with some sixty of the most daring, to whom he pointed out +that a single deserter had no chance of escape, since it required +only two or three men to arrest him, so that it was essential to +leave in a body with arms and ammunition for defence. This is +what they did, under the leadership of Augereau. + +This determined group of men, attacked on their way by peasants, +and even a detachment of soldiers, lost several of their company, +but killed many of their adversaries, and in one night they +reached a small area of the country of Saxony which is not more +than ten leagues from Potsdam. Augereau went to Dresden, where he +gave lessons in dancing and fencing, until the birth of the first +Dauphin, the son of Louis XVI, an event which the government +celebrated by granting an amnesty to all deserters, which allowed +Augereau not only to return to Paris, but to rejoin the +Carabiniers, his sentence having been quashed, and General de +Malseigne having insisted that he was one of the finest N.C.O.s +in the corps. + +In 1788, the King of Naples, feeling the need to put his army on +a good footing, requested the King of France to send him a number +of officers and N.C.O.s to act as instructors, whom he undertook +to promote to a rank above their present one on their arrival. +Augereau was included in this party and was promoted to +sous-lieutenant. He served there for several years, and had just +been promoted to lieutenant, when he fell in love with the +daughter of a Greek merchant. When her father refused his consent +to the union, the two lovers were married in secret, and +embarking on the first vessel they found about to leave, they +went to Lisbon, where they lived peacefully for some time. + +It was now the end of 1792; the French Revolution was spreading +rapidly, and all the sovereign heads of Europe feared the +introduction of these new principles into their states, and were +suspicious of everything French. Augereau has often assured me +that during his stay in Portugal he never said or did anything +which could alarm the government, nevertheless, he was arrested +and incarcerated in the prison of the Inquisition. + +He had been languishing there for several months, when Madame +Augereau, his wife, a woman of courage, saw come into the harbour +a ship flying the tricolour. She went on board to give the +captain a letter, informing the French government of the +arbitrary arrest of her husband. The captain, although not a +naval officer, went boldly to the Portuguese ministry and +demanded the release of his compatriot; failing which, he said +that he would declare war in the name of France. Whether the +Portuguese believed this, or whether they realised that they had +acted unjustly, they set Augereau free, and he and his wife went +back to Havre in the ship of the gallant captain. + +On his arrival in Paris, Augereau was designated captain, and was +sent to the Vendee, where by his advice and example he saved the +army of the incompetent General Ronsin, which gained him the rank +of battalion commander. Sick of fighting his fellow Frenchmen, +Augereau asked to be posted to the Pyrenees, and was sent to the +camp at Toulouse commanded by my father, who, recognising his +ability, made him adjutant-general, (That is colonel of the +general staff), and showed him many marks of affection, something +which Augereau never forgot. Having become general, he +distinguished himself in the wars in Spain and Italy, and in +particular, at Castiglione. + +On the eve of this battle, the French army, beset on all sides, +found itself in a most critical position, and the +commander-in-chief, Bonaparte, called a council of war; the only +one he ever consulted. All the generals, even Massena, proposed +a retreat, but Augereau, having explained what, in his opinion, +could be done to get out of the situation, said, "Even if you all +go, I shall stay here and will attack the enemy, with my +division, at dawn." Bonaparte, impressed by the arguments which +Augereau had put forward, then said that he would stay with him. +After which there was no more talk of retreat, and the next day a +brilliant victory, due in large part to the courage and tactical +skill of Augereau, established, for a long time, the position of +the French army in Italy. Bonaparte was always mindful of this +day, and when, as Emperor, he created a new nobility, he named +Augereau Duc de Castiglione. + +When General Hoche died, Augereau replaced him in the army of the +Rhine. After the establishment of the consulate, he was put in +charge of an army composed of French and Dutch troops which +fought the campaign of 1800 in Franconia, and won the battle of +Burg-Eberach. + +When peace had been declared, he bought the estate and chateau of +La Houssaye. I may say, in regard to this purchase, that there +has been much exaggeration of the fortunes of some generals of +the army of Italy. Augereau, after having held for twenty years +the rank of commander-in-chief, or of marshal, and having enjoyed +for seven years a salary of two hundred thousand francs, and an +award of twenty-five thousand francs, due to his Legion of +Honour, left at his death an income of no more than forty-eight +thousand francs. + +There was never a man more generous, unselfish and obliging. I +could give a number of examples, but will limit myself to two. +General Bonaparte, after his elevation to the consulate, created +a large unit of Guards, the infantry portion of which was placed +under the command of General Lannes. Lannes was a distinguished +soldier, but had no understanding of administration. Instead of +conforming to the tariff laid down for the purchase of clothing, +fabrics and other items, nothing was too good for him; so that +the suppliers of clothing and equipment to the guards, delighted +to be able to deal by mutual agreement with the manufacturers, +(in order to get back-handers,) and believing that their +malversations would be covered by the name of General Lannes, the +friend of the First Consul, made uniforms in such luxurious style +that when the accounts were drawn up, they exceeded by three +hundred thousand francs the sum allowed by the ministerial +regulations. The First Consul, who had resolved to restore order +to the finances, and to compel commanders not to go beyond the +permitted expenditure, decided to make an example. In spite of +his affection for Lannes, and his certainty that not a centime +had gone into his pocket, he held him responsible for the deficit +of three hundred thousand francs, and gave him no more than eight +days to pay this sum into the Guard's account, or face +court-martial. + +This uncompromising ruling had an excellent effect in putting an +end to the extravagance which had got into unit accounting, but +General Lannes, although he had recently married the daughter of +a senator, had no hope of making this payment. When General +Augereau heard of the fix in which his friend found himself, he +went to his lawyer, drew out the sum required, and instructed his +secretary to pay it into the Guard's account, in the name of +General Lannes. When the First Consul heard of this, he warmly +approved of what Augereau had done, and to put Lannes in a +position to pay him back, he had him sent to Lisbon as +ambassador, a very lucrative post. + +Here is another example of Augereau's generosity. He was not a +close friend of General Bernadotte, who had bought the estate of +Lagrange, for which he expected to pay with his wife's dowry; but +there was some delay in the transfer of this money, and his +creditors were pressing him, so he asked Augereau to lend him two +hundred thousand francs for five years. Augereau having agreed to +this, Madame Bernadotte took it on herself to ask what rate of +interest he would expect. He replied that although bankers and +businessmen required interest on money which they lent, when a +marshal was in the happy position of being able to help a +comrade, he should not expect any reward but the pleasure of +being of service. That is the man whom some have represented as +being hard and avaricious. At this moment, I shall say nothing +more about the life of Augereau, which will unroll itself in the +course of my story, which will show up his faults as well as his +fine qualities. + +Chap. 21. + +Let us now go back to Bayonne, where I had just joined Augereau's +staff. The winter, in this part of the country, is very mild; +which allowed us to train and exercise troops in preparation for +an attack on the Portuguese. However, the court of Lisbon having +conceded all that the French government required, we gave up the +idea of crossing the Pyrenees, and General Augereau was ordered +to go to Brest and take command of the 7th army corps, which was +earmarked for an invasion of Ireland. + +General Augereau's first wife, the Greek, being in Pau, he wished +to visit her and take his leave of her, and he took with him +three aides-de-camp, of which I was one. + +Normally, a commander-in-chief had a squadron of "Guides", a +detachment of which always escorted his carriage, as long as he +was in a part of the country occupied by troops under his +command. Bayonne did not yet have any "Guides," so they were +replaced by a platoon of cavalry at each of the post-houses +between Bayonne and Pau. These came from the regiment which I had +just left, the 25th Chasseurs; so that from the carriage in which +I was taking my ease, beside the Commander in Chief, I could see +my former companions trotting beside the door. I did not take any +pride in this, but I must admit that when we came to Puyoo, where +you saw me arrive two years previously on foot, bedraggled and +in the hands of the gendarmerie, I was weak enough to put on an +air, and to make myself known to the worthy mayor, Bordenave, +whom I presented to the commander-in-chief to whom I had told the +story of what had happened to me in this commune in 1801; and as +the brigade of gendarmes from Pyrehorade had joined the escort to +Pau, I was able to recognise the two who had arrested me. The +old mayor was sufficiently malicious to inform them that the +officer whom they saw in the commander-in-chief's fine carriage +was the same traveller whom they had taken for a deserter, +although his papers were in order, and the good fellow was, at +the same time, very proud of the judgement he had given on this +occasion. + +After a stay of twenty-four hours at Pau, we returned to Bayonne, +from where the general despatched me and Mainville to Brest, in +order to prepare his headquarters. We took seats in the +mail-coach as far as Bordeaux; but there, owing to the lack of +public transport, we were forced to take to the hacks of the +posting houses, which of all means of travelling, is surely the +most uncomfortable. It rained. The roads were appalling. The +nights pitch dark; but in spite of this, we had to press on at +the gallop, as our mission was urgent. Although I have never +been a very good horseman, the fact that I was accustomed to +riding, and a year spent in the riding school at Versailles, gave +me enough assurance and stamina to drive on the dreadful screws +which we were forced to mount. I got well enough through this +apprenticeship in the trade of courier, in which, you will see +later, I had to perfect myself; but it was not so with Mainville, +so we took two days and two nights to reach Nantes, where he +arrived bruised and worn out and incapable of continuing to ride +at speed. However we could not leave the commander-in-chief +without lodgings when he arrived at Brest, so it was agreed that +I would go on ahead, and that Mainville would follow later by +coach. + +On my arrival, I rented the town house of M. Pasquier, the +banker, brother of the Pasquier who had been chancellor and +president of the house of peers. Mainville and several of my +comrades came to join me a few days later, and helped to make the +necessary arrangements for the commander-in-chief to maintain the +sort of state expected of him. + +We began the year 1804 at Brest. The 7th Corps was made up of two +divisions of infantry and a brigade of cavalry; as these troops +were not encamped but were billeted in the neighbouring communes, +all the generals and their staffs stayed in Brest, where the +anchorages and the harbour were packed with vessels of all sorts. +The admirals and senior officers of the fleet were also in the +town, and other officers came there every day, so that Brest +afforded a most animated spectacle. Admiral Truguet and the +commander-in-chief held a number of brilliant receptions, scenes +that have often been the prelude to war. + +In February General Augereau left for Paris, to where the First +Consul had summoned him to discuss with him the plan for the +invasion of Ireland. I went with him. + +On our arrival in Paris, we found a very tense political +situation. The Bourbons, who had hoped that in taking the reins +of government, Bonaparte would support them, and would be +prepared to play the part that General Monk had once played in +England, when they discovered that he had no intention of +restoring them to the throne, resolved to overthrow him. To this +end they concocted a conspiracy which had as its leaders three +well known men, although of very different character. These were +General Pichegru, General Moreau and Georges Cadoudal. + +Pichegru had taught Bonaparte mathematics at the college of +Brienne, but he had left there to join the army. The revolution +found him a sergeant in the artillery. His talent and courage +raised him rapidly to the rank of general. It was he who achieved +the conquest of Holland, in the middle of winter, but ambition +was his downfall. He allowed himself to be seduced by agents of +the Prince de Conde, and entered into correspondence with the +Prince, who promised him great rewards and the title of +"Constable" if he would use the influence which he had with the +troops to establish Louis XVIII on the throne of his forefathers. + +Chance, that great arbiter of human destiny, decreed that +following a battle in which French troops, commanded by Moreau, +had defeated the division of the Austrian General Kinglin, the +latter's supply wagon was captured, which contained letters from +Pichegru to the Prince de Conde. It was taken to Moreau, who was +a friend of Pichegru, to whom he owed some of his promotion, and +who concealed his discovery as long as Pichegru retained his +influence; but Pichegru having become a representative of the +people in the house of elders, where he continued to favour the +Bourbons, was arrested with several of his colleagues. Whereupon +Moreau hurriedly sent to the directorate the documents which +incriminated Pichegru, and led to his deportation to the wilds of +Guyana. + +Pichegru contrived to escape from Guyana to America, from whence +he went to England; where having no longer any need for secrecy, +he put himself openly in the pay of Louis XVIII and aimed at the +overthrow of the consular government. However, he could not +pretend that, deprived of his rank, banished and absent from +France for more than six years, he could any longer wield as much +influence over the army as General Moreau, the victor of +Hohenlinden, and on this account, very popular with the troops, +of whom he was the inspector-general. Pichegru, then, out of +devotion to the Bourbon cause, agreed to forget the reasons he +had for disliking Moreau, and to unite with him for the triumph +of the policy to which he was committed. Moreau, who was born in +Brittany, was studying law at Rennes when the revolution of 1789 +broke out. The students, young and turbulent, elected him as +their leader, and when they formed a battalion of volunteers, +they named Moreau as their commander. Having made his debut in +the profession of arms as a senior officer, he proved himself +both courageous and competent, and was rapidly promoted to +general and army commander. He won several battles, and +conducted, in the face of Prince Charles of Austria, a justly +celebrated retreat. But though a good soldier, Moreau lacked +civic courage. We have seen him refuse to put himself at the head +of the government, while Bonaparte was absent in Egypt, however, +though he had helped the latter on the 18th Brumaire, he became +envious of his power when he saw him raised to the position of +First Consul, to the extent that he sought by all means to +supplant him; driven on, it is said, by the jealousy felt by his +wife and mother-in-law towards Josephine. Given this situation, +it would not be difficult to persuade Moreau to conspire with +Pichegru to overthrow the government. + +A Breton, named Lajolais, an agent of Louis XVIII, and a friend +of Moreau, became the intermediary between him and Pichegru; he +travelled frequently between London and Paris, and it soon became +evident to him that Moreau, while agreeing to the overthrow of +Bonaparte, intended to keep power for himself, and not to hand it +to the Bourbons. It was then thought that a meeting between him +and Pichegru might lead him to change his mind, so Pichegru was +landed on the coast of France from an English vessel at a spot +near Trepot, and went to Paris, to where Georges Cadoudal had +preceded him, along with M. de Riviere, the two Polignacs, and +other royalists. + +Georges Cadoudal was the youngest son of a miller from Morbihan; +but as there was a bizarre custom, in that part of lower +Brittany, whereby the last-born of a family inherited all the +estate, Georges, whose father was comfortably off, had been given +a certain amount of education. He was a short man, with wide +shoulders and the heart of a tiger, whose audacity and courage +had raised him to the high command of all the groups of "Chouans" +in Brittany. + +Since the pacification of Brittany he had lived in London; but +his fanatical devotion to the house of Bourbon did not allow him +any repose as long as the First Consul was at the head of the +government. He formed a plan to kill him. Not by a clandestine +assassination, but in broad daylight, by attacking him on the +road to Saint-Cloud with a party of thirty or forty mounted +"Chouans" well armed and wearing the uniform of the consular +guard. This plan had the more chance of success, since, at this +time, Bonaparte's escort was usually no more than four +cavalrymen. + +A meeting was arranged between Pichegru and Moreau; it took place +at night, near the Church of La Madeleine, which was then being +built. Moreau agreed to the deposition, and even the death of the +First Consul, but he refused to consider the restoration of the +Bourbons. + +Bonaparte's secret police having warned him that there was +underground plotting going on in Paris, he ordered the arrest of +a number of former "Chouans" who were in the city. One of these +gave some information which seriously compromised General Moreau, +whose arrest was then agreed upon by the council of ministers. + +This arrest initially created a very bad impression amongst the +general public, because Cadoudal and Pichegru not having been +arrested, no one believed they were in France, and it was said +that Bonaparte had invented the conspiracy in order to get rid of +Moreau. The government then had the strongest reasons to prove +that Cadoudal and Pichegru were in Paris, and that they had met +Moreau. All the barriers were closed for several days, and the +most drastic punishment was decreed for anyone sheltering the +conspirators. From that moment it became very difficult for them +to find any place of safety, and soon Pichegru, M. de Riviere and +the Polignacs fell into the hands of the police. These arrests +began to convince the public of the reality of the conspiracy, +and the capture of Georges Cadoudal dispelled any remaining +doubts. + +Cadoudal having stated in his interrogation that he had come with +the intention of killing the First Consul, and that the +conspiracy was backed by a prince of the royal family, the police +started an investigation to discover the location of all the +princes of the house of Bourbon. They found that the Prince +D'Enghien, the grandson of the great Conde, had been living for +some time at Ettenheim, a little town situated some leagues from +the Rhine, in the country of Baden. It has never been proved that +the Duc D'Enghien was involved in the conspiracy, but he +certainly had, on several occasions, been imprudent enough to +enter French territory. However that may be, the First Consul +sent, secretly, and by night, a detachment of troops led by +General Ordener, to the town of Ettenhiem, where they seized the +Duc D'Enghien. He was taken immediately to Vincennes, where he +was tried, condemned, and shot before the public was aware of his +arrest. + +This execution was greeted with general disapproval. It was held +that had the prince been captured on French territory, he could +have been tried under a law which in this case carried the death +penalty, but that to go and seize him beyond the frontiers, in a +foreign land, was a gross infringement of human rights. + +It appeared, however, that the First Consul had not intended the +execution of the prince, and had wished only to frighten the +royalists who were conspiring against him; but that General +Savary, the head of the gendarmerie, who had gone to Vincennes, +took custody of the prince after sentence had been pronounced and +in an excess of zeal, had him shot, in order, he said, to save +the First Consul the trouble of ordering his death, or of sparing +the life of so dangerous an enemy. Savary has since denied that +he expressed such sentiments, but I have been assured by people +who heard him that he did. Bonaparte is known to have blamed +Savary for his hastiness, but the deed having been done, he had +to accept the consequences. + +General Pichegru, ashamed to be associated with assassins, and +that the conqueror of Holland should stand in the dock with +criminals, hanged himself in prison by his cravat. It has been +claimed that he was strangled by Mamelukes of the Guard, but this +is a fabrication. Bonaparte had no incentive to commit such a +crime. It was more in his interest to have Pichegru disgraced +before a public tribunal than to have him killed in secret. + +Georges Cadoudal, condemned to death, along with several +accomplices, was executed. The brothers Polignac, and M. de +Riviere, who received the same sentence, had it commuted to life +imprisonment. They were locked up in Vincennes, but after several +years they obtained permission to live on parole in a nursing +home. However, in 1814, on the approach of the allies, they left +and went to join the Comte d'Artois in Franche-comte; then in +1815 they were most savage in their pursuit of the Bonapartists. + +As for General Moreau, he was sentenced to two years detention. +The First Consul pardoned him on condition that he went to the +United States. He lived there in obscurity until 1813, when he +went to Europe to range himself among the enemies of his country, +and died fighting against the French; thus confirming all the +accusations which were made against him at the time of Pichegru's +conspiracy. + +The French nation, weary of revolutions, and recognising the +extent to which Bonaparte was needed for the maintenance of good +order, chose to forget what was odious in the affair of the Duc +d'Enghien, and raised Bonaparte to the throne, by declaring him +Emperor on May 25th, 1804. + +Almost all nations recognised the new sovereign of France. To +mark the occasion, eighteen generals, selected from the most +notable, were elevated to the dignity of Marshals of the Empire. + +Chap. 22. + +After the trial of Moreau, we returned to Brest, from where we +shortly came back to Paris, as the marshal had to assist in the +distribution of the decoration of the Legion d'Honneur, an award +which the Emperor had recently instituted for the recognition of +all sorts of meritorious actions. In this connection I recall an +anecdote which was widely circulated at the time. In order to +bestow the award on all these soldiers who had distinguished +themselves in the Republican armies, the Emperor took into +consideration all those who had been given Armes d'Honneur, and +he selected a great number of these for the Legion d'Honneur, +although several of them had returned to civilian life. M. de +Narbonne, a returned emigre, was living quietly in Paris in the +Rue de Miromesnil, in the house next to my mother's, when, on the +day that the medals were distributed, he discovered that his +footman, a former soldier in Egypt, had just been decorated. +Being about to dine, he sent for the footman and said to him, "It +is not right that a recipient of the Legion d'Honneur should hand +round plates; and it would be even less right that you should put +aside your decoration to serve at table. Sit down with me and we +shall dine together, and tomorrow you shall go to my country +estate where you shall be a game-keeper. An occupation which is +not incompatible with wearing your decoration." + +When the Emperor was told of this display of good taste, he sent +for M. de Narbonne, whom he had wanted to meet for a long time, +having heard so much about his wit and intelligence, and was so +pleased with him that he made him an aide-de-camp. + +After distributing the crosses in Paris, the Emperor went, for +the same purpose, to the camp at Boulogne, where the troops were +drawn up in a semi-circle facing the sea. The ceremony was +imposing. The Emperor appeared for the first time on a throne, +surrounded by his marshals. The enthusiasm was indescribable! The +English fleet who could see what was going on, sent several light +vessels in an attempt to disrupt the event by a cannonade, but +our coastal batteries briskly returned their fire. + +There was a story current at the time which related that, after +the ceremony was over, the Emperor was returning to Boulogne +followed by his marshals and an immense retinue, when he stopped +in the shelter of one of these batteries, and calling to Marmont, +who had served in the artillery, said "Let us see if we can +remember our old trade and land a bomb on that English brig." And +dismissing the corporal who was in charge of the weapon, the +Emperor aimed and fired at the vessel. The bomb brushed the +vessel's sails and fell into the sea. Marmont tried but with no +better fortune. The Emperor then recalled the corporal to his +post and the latter took aim and fired with such effect that he +landed a bomb on the brig, which promptly sank, to the great +delight of the onlookers, whereupon Napoleon pinned a medal to +the soldier's uniform. How much truth there is in this tale, I do +not know. I shared in the favours being distributed on that day. +I had been a sous-lieutenant for five and a half years, and had +been through several campaigns. The Emperor, at the request of +Augereau promoted me to lieutenant; but for a moment I thought he +was going to refuse me this rank, for remembering that a Marbot +had figured in the conspiracy of Rennes, he frowned when the +marshal spoke up for me and, looking closely at me he said "Is it +you who...?" "No sire, it is not me who!..." I replied. "Ah!" he +said, "you are the one who was at Genoa and Marengo. I appoint +you lieutenant." + +The Emperor also granted me a place at the military school of +Fontainebleau for my younger brother, Felix, and from that day on +he no longer confused me with my elder brother for whom he always +had antipathy, though Adolphe had done nothing to deserve it. + +As the troops of 7th Corps were not concentrated in an +encampment, Marshal Augereau's presence in Brest was of very +little use; so he was given permission to spend the rest of the +summer and the autumn at his fine estate of La Houssaye, near +Tournan, in Brie. I even suspect that the Emperor preferred to +have him there rather than in the depths of Brittany at the head +of a large army. However, any doubts which the Emperor may have +had about Augereau's loyalty were without foundation, and arose +from the underground plots of a General S.... + +S.... was a brigadier-general serving in 7th Corps. A capable +officer, but over-ambitious. He was regarded as untrustworthy by +his fellow generals, who did not associate with him. Angered by +this rejection, and bent on revenge, he sent to the Emperor a +letter in which he denounced all the generals, as well as the +marshal, as conspiring against the empire. Napoleon, to his +credit, did not employ any secret means to ascertain the truth: +he simply passed the general's letter on to Marshal Augereau. The +marshal felt sure that nothing serious was going on in his army; +however as he knew that several generals and colonels had engaged +in some thoughtless talk, he resolved to put an end to this sort +of thing. As he did not wish to jeopardize the career of those +officers to whom he intended to deliver a rebuke, he thought it +would be best if his words were carried by an aide-de-camp, and +he chose to take me into his confidence for this important +mission. + +I left La Housaye in August, in very hot weather, and rode at +full speed the one hundred and sixty leagues between the chateau +and the town of Brest, and as many again on the way back. I +stayed no more than twenty-four hours in the town, so I arrived +back completely worn out, for I think that there is no more +exhausting job than riding rapidly on horseback from post-house +to post-house. I had found things a good deal more serious than +the marshal had thought; there was, in fact a considerable +ferment in the army, but the message I had brought calmed down +the generals, almost all of whom were devoted to the marshal. + +I was beginning to recover from my exertions when the marshal +said to me one morning, that the generals wanted to denounce +S.... as a spy. He added that it was absolutely essential that +he sent one of his aides-de-camp, and he wanted to know if I felt +able to make the journey again. He said he would not order me to +go, but would leave it to me to decide whether I could do it or +not. If it had been merely a matter of reward or even promotion, +I think I would have refused the task, but it was a question of +obliging my father's friend, who had welcomed me with so much +kindness, so I said that I would be ready to go in an hour's +time. I was worried that I might not be able to complete the +journey, because of the extremely tiring nature of this form of +travel; I rested for no more than two hours out of the +twenty-four, when I flung myself down on a heap of straw in the +post-house stables. It was fearfully hot weather, but I managed +to reach Brest and return without accident, and had the +satisfaction of being able to tell the marshal that the generals +would limit themselves to expressing their mistrust of S.... + +General S... being now discredited, deserted and went to England, +and is said to have wandered over Europe for twenty years before +dying in poverty. + +After my second return from Brest, the marshal rewarded me by +putting me in direct contact with the Emperor. He sent me to +Fontainebleau to meet Napoleon and conduct him to La Houssaye, +where he was to spend a day in the company of several of his +marshals. It was while walking with them and discussing his +plans, and the manner in which he intended to uphold his dignity +and theirs, that he presented each of them with a sum of money +sufficient for them to purchase a mansion in Paris. Marshal +Augereau bought that of Rochechouart, in the Rue +Grenelle-St-Germain, which is today occupied by the ministry of +information. The mansion was superb, but the marshal preferred to +stay at La Houssaye, where he kept up a great state; for over and +above his aides-de-camp, each of whom had his own apartments, the +number of invited guests was always considerable. One enjoyed +complete liberty; the marshal allowed his guests to do as they +pleased, provided that no noise reached the wing of the chateau +occupied by his wife. + +This excellent woman, who had become a chronic invalid, lived +very quietly, and appeared only rarely at the table or in the +salon, but when she did, far from constraining our high spirits, +she took pleasure in encouraging them. + +She had with her two extraordinary lady companions. The first of +these always wore men's clothing, and was known by the name of +Sans-gene. She was the daughter of one of the leaders who, in +1793, defended Lyon against the forces of the convention. She +escaped, with her father, both of them disguised as soldiers, and +took refuge in the ranks of the 9th Dragoon regiment; where they +assumed nommes de guerre and took part in campaigning. + +Mlle. Sans-Gene, who combined with her masculine attire and +appearance, a most manly courage, received several wounds, one of +them at Castiglione, where her regiment was part of Augereau's +division. General Bonaparte, who had often witnessed the prowess +of this remarkable woman, when he became First Consul, gave her a +pension and a position beside his wife; but life at court did not +suit Mlle. San-Gene. She left Mme. Bonaparte, who by mutual +consent handed her over to Mme. Augereau to whom she became +secretary and reader. The second lady companion of Mme. Augereau +was the widow of the sculptor Adam, and in spite of her eighty +years was the life and soul of the chateau. + +Noisy parties and practical jokes were the order of the day at +this period of time, particularly at La Houssaye, whose +proprietor was not happy unless he could see his guests and the +younger members of his staff gay and animated. The marshal came +back to Paris in November; the time for the coronation was +drawing near and already the Pope, who had come for the ceremony, +was at the Tuileries. A crowd of magistrates and deputations from +various departments had collected in the capital, where also were +all the colonels of the army, with detachments from their +regiments, to whom the Emperor distributed, on the Champ de Mars, +the eagles, which became so celebrated. Paris, resplendent, +displayed a luxury hitherto unknown. The court of the new +Emperor became the most brilliant in the world; everywhere were +fˆtes, balls, and joyous assemblies. + +The coronation took place on the 2nd December. I accompanied the +marshal at this ceremony, which I shall not describe, since the +details are so well known. Some days later the marshals held a +ball in honour of the Emperor and Empress. There were eighteen +marshals, and Marshal Duroc, although he was only Prefect of the +Palace, joined with them, which made nineteen subscribers, each +one of whom paid up 25,000 francs for the expenses of the event, +which therefore cost 475000 francs. The ball took place in the +great ballroom of the Opera, where never before had something so +magnificent been seen. General Samson of the engineers was the +organiser; the aides-de-camp acted as stewards, to welcome the +guests and to distribute tickets. Everyone in Paris wanted one, +so the aides were overwhelmed by letters and requests. I never +had so many friends! Everything went off perfectly, and the +Emperor appeared very pleased. So we ended the year 1804 in the +midst of celebrations, and entered the year 1805, which was to be +a year of many important events. + +In order that his army could participate in the general +jollifications, Marshal Augereau went to Brest, in spite of the +rigours of winter, and gave a number of magnificent balls, at +which he entertained a succession of officers, and even a good +number of soldiers. At the beginning of spring, he returned to La +Houssaye to await the moment for the invasion of England. + +This expedition, which was regarded as chimerical, was, however, +on the point of realisation. The presence of an English squadron +of about fifteen ships, cruising endlessly in the Channel, made +it impossible to transport a French army to England in boats and +barges which would have sunk on the least contact with a larger +vessel; but the Emperor could dispose of sixty ships of the line, +either French or foreign, dispersed in the harbours of Brest, +Lorient, Rochefort, Le Ferrol, and Cadiz; it was a matter of +concentrating them, unexpectedly, in the Channel, and crushing, +by a greatly superior force, the little English squadron, to +become masters of the passage, if only for three days. + +To achieve this, the Emperor ordered Admiral Villeneuve, the +commander-in-chief of all these forces, to gather together, from +the French and Spanish ports whatever ships were available, and +head, not for Boulogne, but for Martinique, to where it was +certain the English fleet would follow him. While the English +were making their way to the Antilles, Villeneuve was to quit the +islands, and returning round the north of Scotland, was to enter +the eastern end of the channel with sixty ships, which would +easily overcome the fifteen which the English maintained before +Boulogne, and so put Napoleon in command of the crossing; while +the English, on their arrival at the Antilles, would search +around for Admiral Villeneuve's fleet, and thus waste valuable +time. + +A part of this fine plan was now put into action. Villeneuve +left, with not sixty, but some thirty ships. He reached +Martinique. The English, led astray, hurried to the Antilles, +which Admiral Villeneuve had left, but the French admiral, +instead of returning via Scotland, made for Cadiz in order to +pick up the Spanish fleet, as if thirty ships were not enough to +overcome or chase away the fifteen English vessels! + +That, however, is not all. Having arrived at Cadiz, Villeneuve +spent a great deal of time repairing his ships; time during which +the enemy fleet also returned to Europe, and established a +patrolling force off Cadiz. In the end, the coming of the equinox +gales having made sailing from this port difficult, Villeneuve +found himself blockaded; so the ingenious plans of the Emperor +came to nothing, and he, realising that the English would not be +taken in a second time, gave up the idea of invading Britain, or +at least postponed it indefinitely, and turned his attention to +the continent. + +Before I recount the principal events of this long war, and the +part which I played in it, I must describe a terrible misfortune +which befell the family. + +My brother, Felix, who was at the military school of +Fontainebleau, was a little short-sighted; he had, therefore, +hesitated before taking up a military career; nevertheless, once +embarked on it, he worked with such enthusiasm that he soon +became a sergeant-major, a position difficult to maintain in a +school. The pupils, an unruly lot, were in the habit of burying +in the earth of the fortifications which they were digging, the +implements which had been issued to them for the work. General +Bellavene, the head of the school, a very strict man, ordered +that the implements should be issued to the sergeant-majors, who +would then be accountable for them. + +One day, my brother, having seen a pupil bury a pick, rebuked +him. The pupil replied very rudely and added that in a few days +they would be leaving school, and being then the equal of his +sergeant-major, he would demand satisfaction for the reprimand. +My brother replied indignantly that there was no need to wait so +long. + +Lacking swords, they used compasses fixed to wooden batons: +Jacqueminot, who later became a lieutenant-general, was my +brother's second. My brother's poor eyesight put him at a +disadvantage, but he succeeded in wounding his opponent, though +he received in return a wound which penetrated his right arm. His +companions dressed it secretly. + +By an unhappy coincidence, the Emperor had come to Fontainebleau, +and had decided to conduct manoeuvres for several hours, under a +blazing sun. My poor brother, compelled to run without rest, his +arm dragged down by the weight of his heavy musket, was overcome +by the heat and his wound re-opened! He should have fallen out on +the pretext of an indisposition, but he was in front of the +Emperor who, at the end of the session, would distribute the +commissions of sous-lieutenant, so eagerly desired. Felix made +superhuman efforts to resist, but at last his strength failed him +and he collapsed and was carried away in a most serious +condition. + +General Bellavene sent an unfeeling message to my mother, saying +that if she wished to see her son, she must come immediately, for +he was dying. My mother was so distressed by this news, that she +was unable to make the journey. I posted there as quickly as I +could, but on my arrival I was told that my brother was dead. +Marshal Augereau did all that he could for us, in these unhappy +circumstances, and the Emperor sent the marshal of the palace, +Duroc, to convey his condolences to my mother. + +All too soon another source of sadness would come to afflict her; +I would be forced to leave her, as war was about to break out on +the continent. + +At a time when it might have been thought that the Emperor had +the greatest need to be at peace with the continental powers, in +order to execute his design for the invasion of England, he +issued a decree whereby he annexed the state of Genoa to France. +This was greatly to the advantage of the English, who profited +from this decision to frighten all the peoples of the continent, +to whom they represented Napoleon as aspiring to become the +master of the whole of Europe. Austria and Russia declared war +on us, Prussia, more circumspect, made preparations, but as yet, +said nothing. + +The Emperor had no doubt foreseen these reactions, and a wish to +see hostilities break out perhaps underlay his seizure of Genoa; +for, despairing of ever seeing Villeneuve in control of the +channel, he wanted a continental war to deflect the ridicule to +which his proposed invasion, threatened for three years, but +never put into action, might have exposed him by displaying his +impotence in the face of England. The new coalition extricated +him nicely from an awkward situation. + +Three years under arms had had an excellent effect on our +soldiers. France had never had an army so well trained, so well +organised, so keen for action, nor a leader in control of so much +power and such moral and material resources, who was so skillful +in their employment. So Napoleon accepted the outbreak of war +with pleasure, so confident was he of conquering his enemies, and +of making use of their defeat to strengthen his position on the +throne; for he knew the enthusiasm which the prospect of military +triumph always stirred up in the martial French spirit. + +Chap. 23. + +The great army which the Emperor was about to set in motion +against Austria, now had its back to that Empire, since the +forces deployed on the coasts of the North Sea, the Channel and +the Atlantic were facing England. On the right wing the 1st +Corps, commanded by Bernadotte, occupied Hanover; the 2nd, under +the orders of Marmont, was in Holland; the 3rd under Davout was +in Bruges; the 4th, 5th and 6th commanded by Soult, Lannes and +Ney, were encamped at Boulogne and in the surrounding district, +while finally the 7th commanded by Augereau was in Brest, and +formed the extreme left. + +To break up this long cordon of troops and form them into a large +body which could march toward Austria, it was necessary to effect +an immense turn round from front to back. Each army had to make +an about turn, in order to face Germany, and form columns, to +march there by the shortest route. Thus the right wing became the +left, and the left the right. + +Obviously, to go from Hanover or Holland to the Danube, the 1st +and 2nd Corps had a much shorter distance to travel than those +who came from Boulogne, and they in turn were nearer than +Augereau's corps, which, in order to go from Brest to the +frontiers of Switzerland on the upper Rhine, had to cross the +whole of France, a journey of some three hundred leagues. The +troops were on the road for two months, marching in several +columns; Marshal Augereau was the last to leave Brest, but he +then went on ahead, and stopped first at Rennes and then +successively at Alon‡on, Melun, Troyes and Langres, at which +stops he inspected the various regiments, whose morale was raised +by his presence. The weather was superb: I spent the two months +travelling endlessly in an open carriage, from one column to +another, carrying the marshal's orders to the generals, and was +able to stop twice at Paris to see my mother. Our equipment had +gone on in advance. I had a mediocre servant, but three excellent +horses. + +While the Grande Armee was wending its way towards the Rhine and +the Danube, the French troops stationed in northern Italy, under +the command of Massena, concentrated in the Milan area in order +to attack the Austrians in the region of Venezia. + +To transmit his orders to Massena, the Emperor was obliged to +send his aides-de-camp through Switzerland, which remained +neutral. Now it so happened that while Marshal Augereau was at +Langres, an officer who was carrying Napoleon's despatches was +thrown out of his carriage and broke his collar-bone. He was +taken to Marshal Augereau whom he told that he was unable to +continue his mission. The marshal, knowing how important it was +that the Emperor's despatches should arrive in Italy without +delay, entrusted me with the task of delivering them, and also of +going through Huningue, where I was to pass on his order to have +a bridge built over the Rhine at this spot. I was delighted to +have this mission, as it meant that I would have an interesting +journey and would be sure of rejoining 7th Corps before they were +in action against the Austrians. + +It did not take me long to reach Huningue and Basle; I went from +there to Berne and on to Rapperschwill, where I left my carriage: +then, on horseback and not without some danger, I crossed the +Splugen pass, at that time almost impracticable. I entered Italy +at Chiavenna, and joined Marshal Massena near Verona. I went off +again without any delay, for Massena was as impatient to see me +go with his replies to the Emperor as I was to rejoin Marshal +Augereau before there was any fighting. However my return journey +was not as rapid as my journey out, because a very heavy fall of +snow had covered not only the mountains but also the valleys of +Switzerland; it had begun to freeze hard, and horses slipped and +fell at every step. It was only by offering 600 francs that I was +able to find two guides who were prepared to cross the Splugen +with me. It took us more than twelve hours to make the crossing, +walking through snow sometimes up to our knees. The guides were +on the point of refusing to go any further, saying that it was +too dangerous, but I was young and venturesome, and I knew the +importance of the despatches which the Emperor was awaiting. + +I told my guides that even if they turned back, I would go on +without them. Every profession has its code of honour; that of +the guides consists principally in never abandoning the traveller +committed to their care. Mine then went forward, and after some +truly extraordinary exertions, we arrived at the large inn +situated at the foot of the Splugen as night was falling. We +would have undoubtedly died if we had been trapped on the +mountain, for the path, which was barely discernable, was edged +by precipices which the snow prevented us from seeing clearly. I +was exhausted, but a sleep restored my strength, so I left at +daybreak to reach Rapperschwill, where there were carriages and +passable roads. + +The worst of the journey was over; so, in spite of the snow and +bitter cold, I reached Basle and then Heningue, where the 7th +Corps was stationed, on the 19th October. The next day we began +to cross the Rhine over a bridge of boats built for that purpose; +for although there was, less than half a league away in the town +of Basle, a stone bridge, the Emperor had ordered Marshal +Augereau to respect the neutrality of Switzerland, a neutrality +which they themselves broke, nine years later, by handing the +bridge to the enemies of France in 1814. + +Here I was then, involved once more in a war. It was now 1805, a +year which for me heralded a long series of battles which lasted +continuously for ten years, for it did not end until ten years +later at Waterloo. However numerous the wars of the Empire might +be, nearly all French soldiers enjoyed one or even several years +of respite, either because they were in a garrison in France, or +they were stationed in Italy or Germany when we were at war with +Spain; but, as you will see, this did not happen to me; I was +continually sent from north to south, and south to north, +everywhere where there was fighting. I did not spend a single one +of these ten years without coming under fire and without shedding +my blood in some foreign country. + +I do not intend to give, here, a detailed account of the campaign +of 1805. I shall limit myself to recalling the principal events. + +The Russians, who were marching to the aid of Austria, were still +far away, when Field-marshal Mack, at the head of eighty thousand +men, advanced, unwisely, into Bavaria, where he was defeated by +Napoleon, who forced him to retreat to the fortress of Ulm, where +he surrendered with the greater part of his army, of which only +two corps escaped the disaster. + +One of these, commanded by Prince Ferdinand, managed to reach +Bohemia; the other, commanded by the elderly Field-marshal +Jellachich, escaped into the Vorarlberg near Lake Constance, +where, flanked by neutral Switzerland, it guarded the narrow +passes of the Black Forest. It was these troops which Marshal +Augereau was about to attack. + +After crossing the Rhine at Huningue, 7th Corps found itself in +the country of Baden, whose sovereign, along with those of +Bavaria and Wurtemberg, had just concluded an alliance with +Napoleon; so we were received as friends by the population of +Brisgau. Field-marshal Jellachich had not dared to oppose the +French in such open country, but awaited us beyond Freiburg, at +the entrance to the Black Forest, the passage through which he +expected us to effect only at the cost of much bloodshed. Above +all, he hoped to stop us at the Val d'Enfer, a very long and +narrow pass, dominated on both sides by sheer cliffs, and easy to +defend. But the men of 7th Corps had now heard of the successes +achieved by their comrades at Ulm and in Bavaria, and anxious to +emulate them, they advanced through the Black Forest with such +elan that they crossed through it in three days, in spite of the +natural obstacles, the enemy resistance and the difficulty in +finding food in this dreadful wilderness. The army finally broke +out into fertile country and made camp around Donauschingen, a +very pleasant town where there is the magnificent chateau of the +ancient line of the princes of Furstenburg. + +The marshal and his aides-de-camp were billeted in the chateau, +in the courtyard of which is the source of the Danube; this great +river demonstrates its power at the moment of its birth, for at +the spot where it issues from the earth it already bears a boat. + +The draught-horses for the guns and the supply wagons had been +greatly fatigued by the passage through the rough and mountainous +passes of the Black Forest, which a coating of frost had made +even more difficult. It was therefore necessary to give them +several days of rest; during which period the Austrian cavalry +came from time to time to probe our outposts, which were +positioned two leagues from the town; but this amounted to no +more than some ineffectual fire which kept us on our toes, gave +us some exercise in skirmishing, and allowed us to learn to +recognise the various uniforms of the enemy. I saw, for the +first time, the Uhlans of Prince Charles, Rosenberg's Dragoons +and Blankenstein's Hussars. + +The horses having recovered their strength, the army continued +its march, and for several weeks we had a series of engagements +which left us masters of Engen and Stockach. + +Although I was very much involved in these various actions, I had +only one accident, which, however, might have been serious. The +ground was covered by snow, particularly round Stockach, where +the enemy defended their position fiercely. The marshal ordered +me to go and reconnoitre a spot to which he wanted to direct a +column; I left at the gallop; the ground looked to me to be quite +level, the snow, driven by the wind having hidden all the +hollows, but suddenly my horse and I fell into a deep gully, up +to our necks in snow. I was trying to get out, when two enemy +Hussars appeared at the edge and fired their muskets at me. +Fortunately, the snow in which my horse and I were floundering +about prevented them from taking an accurate aim, and I came to +no harm; but they were about to fire once more when some +Chasseurs, which Marshal Augereau had sent to my aid, forced them +to depart hurriedly. With some help I was able to get out of the +ravine, but we had a great deal of difficulty in extricating my +horse. As we were both unhurt, my comrades had a laugh at the +strange appearance I presented after my bath of snow. + +After we had gained control of the Vorarlberg, we captured +Bregen,and drove Jellachich's Austrian corps to Lake Constance +and the Tyrol. The enemy now sought the protection of the +fortress of Feldkirch and its celebrated gorge, behind which they +could defend themselves with advantage. We expected to have to +fight a murderous battle to take this position when, to our +astonishment, the Austrians offered to capitulate, an offer which +Marshal Augereau was quick to accept. + +During the meeting between the two marshals, the Austrian +officers, humiliated by the reverse which their arms had just +suffered, took malicious pleasure in giving us some very bad news +which had been concealed up till this day, but which the Russians +and Austrians had learned of from English sources. The +Franco-Spanish fleet had been defeated by Lord Nelson on October +20th not far from Cadiz, at Cape Trafalgar. Villeneuve, our +infelicitous admiral, who had failed to carry out the precise +orders of Napoleon at a time when the appearance of a combined +fleet in the Channel could have secured a safe passage for the +troops assembled at Boulogne, learning that he was about to be +replaced by Admiral Rosily, passed suddenly from an excess of +circumspection to an excess of audacity. He left Cadiz and +engaged in a battle which, had it turned out in our favour, would +have been virtually useless, since the French army, instead of +being at Boulogne to take advantage of such a success to embark +for England, was two hundred leagues from the coast, fighting in +Germany. + +After a most desperate struggle, the fleets of France and Spain +had been defeated by that of England, whose admiral, the famous +Nelson, had been killed; taking to his grave a reputation as the +finest seaman of the epoch. On our side we lost Rear-admiral +Magon, a very fine officer. One of our vessels blew up; +seventeen, as many French as Spanish, were captured. A severe +storm which arose toward the end of the battle, lasted all night +and the days following, and was on the verge of overwhelming both +victors and vanquished, so that the English, concerned for their +own safety, were forced to abandon nearly all the ships which +they had captured from us; which were mostly taken back to Cadiz +by the remains of their brave but unfortunate crews, though some +were wrecked on the rock-bound coast. + +It was during this battle that my excellent friend France +d'Houdetot received a wound to his thigh which has left him with +a limp. D'Houdetot, scarcely out of childhood was a naval cadet, +and attached to the staff of Admiral Magon, a friend of my +father. After the death of the admiral, the ship "The Algesiras," +in which he served, was captured after a bloody encounter, and +the English placed on board a prize crew of sixty men. But the +storm separated the ship from the English fleet, and the prize +crew realised that it was very unlikely that they could reach +England, so they agreed to allow the French seamen to take the +ship into Cadiz, with the stipulation that they would not be held +as prisoners of war. The French flag was hoisted to identify the +ship and the badly damaged vessel managed to reach Cadiz, though +not without great difficulty. The ship which bore Admiral +Villeneuve was captured and the unlucky admiral was taken to +England, where he remained a prisoner for three years. Having +been released on exchange, he decided to go to Paris, but, +detained at Rennes, he committed suicide. + +When Field-marshal Jellachich felt obliged to capitulate before +the 7th French army corps, this decision seemed the more +surprising since, even if defeated by us, he had the option of +retiring into the Tyrol which was behind him, and whose +inhabitants have for many centuries been greatly attached to the +house of Austria. The thick snow which covered the country no +doubt made movement difficult, but the difficulties presented +would have been much greater for us, enemies of Austria, than for +the troops of Jellachich, withdrawing through an Austrian +province. However, if the old and hide-bound Field-marshal could +not bring himself to campaign in winter, in the high mountains, +his attitude was not shared by the officers under his command; +for many of them condemned his pusillanimity, and spoke of +rebelling against his authority. The most ardent of his opponents +was General the Prince de Rohan, a French officer in the service +of Austria, a bold and competent soldier. Marshal Augereau, +fearing that Jellachich might take the advice offered by the +Prince and retreat into the Tyrol where pursuit would be almost +impossible, hastened to grant him all the conditions which he +requested. + +The terms of the capitulation were that the Austrian troops +should lay down their arms, hand over their flags, standards, +cannons and horses, but should not themselves be taken to France, +and could withdraw to Bohemia after swearing not to bear arms +against France for one year. + +When he announced the capitulation in one of his army bulletins, +the Emperor seemed a little disappointed that the Austrian +soldiers had not been made prisoners of war; but he changed his +mind when he realised that Marshal Augereau had no means of +retaining them, as escape was so easy. In fact, during the night +preceding the day when the Austrians were to lay down their arms, +a revolt broke out in several brigades against Field-marshal +Jellachich. The Prince de Rohan, refusing to accept the +capitulation, left with his infantry division, and joined by some +regiments from other divisions, he fled into the mountains, which +he crossed, despite the rigours of the season: then by an +audacious march, he bypassed the cantonments of Marshal Ney's +troops, who occupied the towns of the Tyrol, and arriving between +Verona and Venice, he fell on the rear of the French army of +Italy, while this force, commanded by Massena was following on +the tail of Prince Charles, who was retiring towards Friuli. The +arrival of the Prince de Rohan in Venetian territory, when +Massena was already in the far distance, could have had the most +grave consequences; but fortunately a French army, coming from +Naples, under the command of General Saint-Cyr, defeated the +Prince and took him prisoner. He had, at least, submitted only to +force, and was right in saying that if Jellachich had been there +with all his troops, the Austrians might have defeated Saint-Cyr +and opened a route for themselves back into Austria. + +When a force capitulates, it is customary for the victor to send +to each division a staff officer to take charge, as it were, and +to conduct it on the day and at the hour appointed to the place +where it is to lay down its arms. Those of my comrades who were +sent to the Prince de Rohan were left behind by him in the camp +which he quitted, for he carried out his retreat from an area +behind the fortress of Feldkirch, and in a direction away from +the French camp, so that he had little fear of being stopped; but +the Austrian cavalry were not in a similar situation. They were +in bivouac on a small area of open ground in front of Feldkirch, +and opposite and a short distance from our outposts. I had been +detailed to go to the Austrian cavalry and lead them to the +agreed rendezvous; this brigade did not have a general, but was +commanded by a colonel of Blankenstein's Hussars, an elderly +Hungarian, brave and crafty, whose name, I regret, I cannot +remember, for I think highly of him although he played me a most +disagreeable trick. + +On my arrival at the camp, the colonel had offered me the +hospitality of his hut for the night, and we had agreed to set +off at daybreak, to reach the spot indicated on the shore of Lake +Constance, between the town of Bregenz and Lindau, at a distance +of about three leagues. I was most astonished when, at about +midnight, I heard the officers mounting their horses. I hurried +out of the hut and saw that the squadrons were formed up and +ready to move. I asked the reason for this hasty departure, and +the old colonel replied, with cool deceit, that Field-marshal +Jellachich feared that some jeering directed at the Austrian +soldiers by the French, whose camp one would have to pass if one +took the shortest route to the beach at Lindau, might lead to +fighting between the troops of the two nations. Jellachich, in +consultation with Marshal Augereau, had ordered the Austrian +troops to make a long detour to the right so that they would +avoid our camp and the town of Breganz, and would not come into +contact with our soldiers. He added that as the route was very +long and the road bad, the two commanders had advanced the time +of departure by some hours; he was surprised that I had not been +informed of this, but suggested that the written instructions had +been held up at the advance posts, owing to some +misunderstanding; he carried this deception so far as to send an +officer to look for this despatch, wherever it might be. The +explanation given by the colonel of the Blankensteins sounded so +convincing that I did not say anything, although my instinct told +me that this was a little irregular; but, alone in the midst of +three thousand enemy cavalry, what could I do? It was better to +appear confident than to seem to doubt the good faith of the +Austrian brigade. As I was unaware of the flight of the Prince de +Rohan's division, it did not enter my head that the commander of +the cavalry intended to evade the capitulation. I rode alongside +him, at the head of the column. The Austrian had made his +arrangements for the avoidance of the French camps--whose fires +could be seen--so well that we did not pass near any of them. But +what the old colonel had not anticipated, and was unable to +avoid, was an encounter with a flying patrol, which the French +cavalry usually sent out into the countryside at night, some +distance from an encampment: for suddenly there was a challenge, +and we found ourselves in the presence of a large column of +French cavalry, which was clearly visible in the moonlight. The +Hungarian colonel, without seeming the least worried, said to me +"This is work for you, as an aide-de-camp; kindly come with me +and explain the situation to the commander of this French unit." +We went forward. I gave the pass-word, and found myself in the +presence of the 7th mounted Chasseurs, who, knowing that the +Austrian troops were expected for the laying down of arms, and +recognising me as one of Marshal Augereau's aides, made no +difficulty about the passage of the brigade which I was +conducting. The French commander, whose troops had their sabres +drawn, even took the trouble to have them sheathed, as witness to +the good-will existing between the two columns, which went on +their way for some distance, side by side. I closely questioned +the officer in charge of the Chasseurs about the change in the +time at which the Austrians were to move; but he knew nothing at +all about it, something which did not raise any suspicion in my +mind, for I knew that an order of this kind would not be +distributed by the staff down to regimental level. So I continued +to ride with the colonel for the rest of the night, finding, +however that the detour we were making was very long, and the +going very bad. + +At last, at daybreak, the old colonel, seeing a patch of level +ground, said to me, in a conversational tone of voice, that +although he would soon be obliged to hand over the horses of the +three regiments to the French, he wished to care for the poor +animals up to the last, and to deliver them in good condition; In +consequence he had ordered that they should be given a feed of +oats. The brigade halted, formed up and dismounted; and when the +horses had been tethered, the colonel, who alone remained on +horseback, gathered in a circle around him the officers and men +of the three regiments, and in a ringing voice which made the old +warrior seem quite superb, he announced that the Prince de +Rohan's division, preferring honour to a shameful safety, had +refused to subscribe to the disgraceful capitulation whereby +Field-marshal Jellachich had promised to hand over to the French, +the flags and the arms of the Austrian troops, and had fled into +the Tyrol; where he too would have led the brigade were it not +for the fact that he feared that in that barren mountain country, +there would not be enough fodder for so many horses. But now they +had open country in front of them and having, by a ruse of which +he was proud, gained a lead of six leagues over the French +troops, he invited all those who had truly Austrian hearts to +follow him across Germany to Moravia, where they could rejoin the +army of their August sovereign, Francis II. Blankenstein's +Hussars responded to this speech by their colonel with a +resounding cheer of approval; but Rosenberg's Dragoons and the +Uhlans of Prince Charles maintained a gloomy silence. As for me, +although I did not yet know enough German to follow the colonel's +words exactly, what I did understand, together with the tone of +the orator and the position in which he found himself, allowed me +to guess what was afoot, and I can promise you that I felt very +crestfallen at having, although unwittingly, furthered the plans +of this diabolical Hungarian. + +A fearful tumult now arose in the immense circle by which I was +surrounded, and I was able to appreciate the inconvenience +stemming from the heterogeneous amalgamation of different peoples +which makes up the Austrian Empire, and in consequence, the +Austrian army. All the Hussars were Hungarian; the Blankensteins +therefore approved the proposal made by a leader of their own +nationality, but the Dragoons were German and the Uhlans were +Polish; the Hungarian could make no nationalistic appeal to them, +who, in this difficult situation listened only to their own +officers; these officers declared that they thought themselves +bound by the capitulation which Field-marshal Jellachich had +signed and did not wish, by their departure, to worsen his +position or that of their comrades who were already the hands of +the French, who would be within their rights to send them all +back to France as prisoners of war, if a part of the Austrian +forces violated the agreement. To this the colonel replied that +when the Commander-in-Chief of an army looses his head, fails in +his duty and delivers his troops to the enemy, his juniors have +no need to consult anything but their courage and their devotion +to their country. Then the colonel, brandishing his sabre in one +hand, while with the other he seized the regimental standard, +cried out, "Go then Dragoons! Go! Go! Yield to the French your +dishonoured standards, and the arms which the Emperor gave us for +his defence. As for us, the bold Hussars, we are off to rejoin +our sovereign, to whom we can once more show with honour our +unstained colours, and the swords of fearless soldiers!" Then, +drawing close to me, and casting a look of disdain on the Uhlans +and Dragoons, he added, "I am sure that if this young Frenchman +found himself in our position and had to choose between your +conduct and mine, he would take the more courageous course; for +the French love honour and reputation as much as their country." +Having said this, the old Hungarian sheathed his sabre, dug in +his spurs, and leading his regiment at the gallop, he careered +into the distance, where he soon disappeared. There was some +truth in both the arguments which I had heard, but that of the +old Hungarian seemed the more valid because it was in conformity +with the interests of his country; I then secretly approved of +his behaviour, but I could not, of course advise the Dragoons and +Uhlans to follow his example; that would have been to step out of +my role and fail in my duty. I maintained a strict neutrality in +this discussion, and when the Hussars had left, I asked the +colonels of the other two regiments to follow me, and we took the +road for Lindau. + +On the beach beside the lake, we found Marshals Augereau and +Jellachich, as well as the French forces and the Austrian +infantry regiments which had not followed the Prince de Rohan. On +learning from me that the Blankenstein Hussars, having refused to +recognise the capitulation, were heading for Moravia both +marshals flew into a rage: Marshal Augereau because he feared +that these Hussars might cause havoc in the rear of the French +army, since the route which they would follow would take them +through areas where the Emperor, in the course of his march on +Vienna, had left many dressing stations full of wounded; +artillery parks, etc. But the Hungarian colonel did not think it +was part of his duty to advertise his presence by any surprise +attack, as he was only too anxious to get out of a country +bristling with French arms. By avoiding all our positions, moving +always on minor roads, hiding by day in the woods and marching +rapidly at night, he managed to reach the frontier of Moravia +without trouble, and joined an Austrian army corps which occupied +the area. As for the troops who remained with Field-marshal +Jellachich, having laid down their arms, surrendered their flags +and standards and handed over their horses, they became prisoners +on parole for one year, and made off in dismal silence for the +interior of Germany, to make their way sadly to Bohemia. I +remembered, when I saw them, the valiant words of the old +colonel, and I think I saw on the faces of many of these Uhlans +and Dragoons a regret that they had not followed the old warrior, +and an unhappiness when they compared the heroic position of the +Blankensteins with their own humiliation. + +Among the trophies which Jellachich's corps was forced to hand +over were seventeen flags and two standards, which Marshal +Augereau, as was usual, hastened to send to the Emperor, in the +care of two aides-de-camp. Major Massy and I were detailed for +this task, and we left the same evening in a fine carriage with, +in front of us, a wagon containing the flags and standards, in +the charge of an N.C.O. We headed for Vienna via Kempten, +Brauneau, Munich, Lenz and Saint-Poelten. Some leagues before +this last town, following the banks of the Danube, we admired the +superb Abbey of M”lk, one of the richest in the world. It was +here, four years later that I ran the greatest danger, and earned +the praise of the Emperor, for having performed before his eyes +the finest feat of arms of my military career; as you will see +when we come to the campaign of 1809. + +Chap. 24 + +In September 1805, the seven corps which made up the Grande Armee +were on the march from their positions on the coast to the banks +of the Danube. They were already in the countries of Baden and +Wurtemberg when, on the 1st October, Napoleon, in person, crossed +the Rhine at Strasburg. A part of the large force which the +Russians were sending to the aid of Austria had at that moment +arrived in Moravia, and the cabinet at Vienna should, with +prudence, have waited until this powerful reinforcement had +joined the Austrian army; but, carried away by an enthusiasm +which they did not usually display, and which was inspired by +Field-marshal Mack, it had despatched him, at the head of eighty +thousand men, to attack Bavaria; the possession of which had been +coveted by Austria for several centuries, and which French policy +had always protected from invasion. The Elector of Bavaria, +forced to abandon his state, took refuge with his family and his +troops in Wurtzburg, from where he begged Napoleon for +assistance. Napoleon entered into an alliance with him and with +the rulers of Baden and Wurtzburg. + +The Austrian army, under Mack, had already occupied Ulm, when +Napoleon, having crossed the Danube at Donauwerth seized Augsburg +and Munich. The French were now in the rear of Mack's force and +had cut his communication with the Russians, who having reached +Vienna, were advancing towards him by forced marches. The +Field-marshal realised then, but too late, the error he had made +in allowing himself to be encircled by French troops. He tried to +break out, but was defeated successively in the battles of +Wertingen, Gunzberg, and Elchingen, where Marshal Ney won fame. +Under increasing pressure, Mack was forced to shut himself up in +Ulm with all his army, less the corps of the Archduke Ferdinand +and Jellachich who escaped, the former into Bohemia, and the +latter to the region round Lake Constance. Ulm was then besieged +by the Emperor. It was a place which, though not heavily +fortified, could nevertheless have held out for a long time +thanks to its position and its large garrison, and so given the +Russians time to come to its relief. But Field-marshal Mack, +passing from exalted over-confidence to a profound +disheartenment, surrendered to Napoleon, who had now, in three +weeks, scattered, captured, or destroyed eighty thousand +Austrians and freed Bavaria, where he reinstalled the Elector. We +shall see, in 1813, this favour repaid by the most odious +treachery. + +Being now the master of Bavaria, and rid of the presence of +Mack's army, the Emperor increased the pace of his advance, down +the right bank of the Danube towards Vienna. He captured Passau +and then Linz, where he learned that 50,000 Russians, commanded +by General Koutousoff, reinforced by 40,000 Austrians, whom +General Kienmayer had collected, had crossed the Danube at Vienna +and had taken up a position between M”lk and St. Poelten. He was +told at the same time that the Austrian army commanded by Prince +Charles had been defeated by Massena in the Venetian district and +was retreating via the Friuli in the direction of Vienna; and +lastly that the Archduke Jean was occupying the Tyrol with +several divisions. Those two princes were therefore threatening +the right of the French army, while it had the Russians in front +of it. To protect himself against a flank attack, the Emperor, +who already had Marshal Augereau's corps in the region of +Bregenz, sent Marshal Ney to attack Innsbruk and the Tyrol, and +moved Marmont's corps to Loeben, in order to block Prince +Charles' route from Italy. Having taken these wise precautions to +protect his right flank, Napoleon, before advancing to meet the +Russians, whose advance-guard had already clashed with ours at +Amstetten, near to Steyer, wished to protect his left flank from +any attack from those Austrians who had taken refuge in Bohemia, +under the command of Archduke Ferdinand. To effect this he gave +Marshal Mortier the infantry divisions of Generals Dupont and +Gazan, and ordered him to cross the Danube by the bridges at +Passau and Linz, and then proceed down the left bank of the +river, while the bulk of the army went down the right. However, +in order not to leave Marshal Mortier too isolated, Napoleon +conceived the idea of gathering together on the Danube a great +number of boats, which had been captured on the tributaries of +the river, and forming a flotilla which, manned by men from the +guard, could move down the river, keeping level with Mortier and +making a link between the troops on both banks. + +You may think it a little presumptuous of me to criticise one of +the operations of a great captain, but I cannot refrain from +commenting that the sending of Mortier to the left bank was a +move which had not been sufficiently considered, and was an error +which could have had very serious consequences. The Danube, +Europe's largest river, is, after Passau, so wide in winter that +from one bank one cannot discern a man standing on the other; it +is also very deep and very fast-flowing, and it therefore +provided a guarantee of perfect safety for the left flank of the +French army as it marched down the right bank. Furthermore, any +attack could be made only by the Archduke Ferdinand, coming from +Bohemia; but he, very pleased to have escaped from the French +before Ulm, had only a few troops, and they were mostly cavalry. +Even if he had wished to do so, he had not the means to mount an +attack which involved crossing an obstacle such as the Danube, +into which he might be driven back. Whereas, by detaching two of +his divisions and allowing them to be isolated across this +immense river, Napoleon exposed them to the risk of being +captured or exterminated. A disaster which might have been +foreseen and which very nearly came about. + +Field-marshal Koutousoff, had been awaiting the French with +confidence, in a strong position at St. Poelten, because he +believed that they were being pursued by the army of Mack; but +when he heard of the surrender of this army at Ulm, he no longer +felt himself strong enough to face Napoleon alone, and being +unwilling to risk his troops to save the city of Vienna, he +decided to put the barrier of the Danube between himself and the +victor, so he crossed the river by the bridge at Krems, which he +burned behind him. + +He had scarcely arrived on the left bank with all his army, when +he ran into the scouts of the Gazan division, which was +proceeding from Dirnstein to Krems, with Marshal Mortier at its +head. Koutousoff, having discovered the presence of a French +corps isolated on the left bank, resolved to crush it, and to +achieve this aim he attacked it head to head on the narrow road +which ran along the river bank, while seizing control of the +escarpments which overlook the Danube. He sent light troops to +occupy Dirnstein to cut off the retreat of the Gazan division. +The position of the division was made even more critical by the +fact that the flotilla of boats had dropped back and there were +only two little boats available, which made it impossible to +bring reinforcements from the other bank. + +Attacked in front and in the rear and on one of their flanks by +enemies six times their number; shut in between the rocky +escarpment occupied by the Russians and the depths of the Danube, +the French soldiers, crowded on the narrow roadway, did not +despair. The gallant Marshal Mortier set them an example, for, +when it was suggested that he should take one of the boats and go +over to the right bank, where he would be with the Grande Armee, +and avoid giving the Russians the glory of capturing a marshal, +he replied that he would die with his men, or escape over the +dead bodies of the Russians! + +A savage bayonet fight ensued: five thousand French were up +against thirty thousand Russians: night came to add to the +horrors of the combat: Gazan's division, massed in column, +managed to regain Dirnstein at a moment when Dupont's division, +which had remained behind opposite M”lk, alerted by the sound of +gunfire, was running to their aid. Eventually the battlefield +remained in French hands. + +In this hand to hand fighting, where the bayonet was almost the +only weapon used, our men, more adroit and agile than the giant +Russians, had a great advantage; so the enemy losses amounted to +some four thousand five hundred men, while ours were three +thousand only. But had our divisions not been made up of +seasoned soldiers, Mortier's corps would probably have been +destroyed. The Emperor was well aware of this, and hastened to +recall it to the right bank. What seems to me to be proof that +he realised the mistake he had made in sending this corps across +the river, is the fact that, although he generously rewarded the +brave regiments which had fought at Dirnstein, the official +bulletins scarcely mention this sanguinary affair, and it is as +if one wished to conceal the results of this operation because +one could find no military justification for it. + +What further confirms me in the opinion which I have taken the +liberty of expressing, is that in the campaign of 1809, the +Emperor, when he found himself in a similar situation, did not +send any troops across the river, but, keeping all his force +together, he went with it to Vienna. + +But let us return to the mission with which Major Massy and I +were charged. + +When we arrived in Vienna, Napoleon and the bulk of the army had +already left the city, which they had seized without a shot being +fired. The crossing of the Danube which it was necessary to +effect in order to pursue the Russians and the Austrians who were +retreating into Moravia, had not been disputed, thanks to a +perhaps culpable deception which was carried out by Marshals +Lannes and Murat. This incident, which had such a profound effect +on this well-known campaign, deserves recounting. + +The city of Vienna is situated on the right bank of the Danube: a +small branch of that immense river passes through the city, but +the main stream is half a league away; there the Danube contains +a large number of islands which are connected by a long series of +wooden bridges, terminated by one which, spanning the main arm of +the river, reaches the left bank at a place named Spitz. The road +to Moravia runs along this series of bridges. When the Austrians +are opposing the crossing of a river, they have a very bad habit +of leaving the bridges intact up to the very last moment, to give +them a means of mounting a counter-attack against the enemy, who +almost always does not allow them time to do so and takes from +them the bridges which they have neglected to burn. This is what +the French did during the campaign in Italy in 1796 at the +memorable affairs of Lodi and Arcoli. But these examples had not +served to correct the Austrians, for on leaving Vienna, which is +not suited to defence, they retired to the other side of the +Danube without destroying a single one of the bridges spanning +this vast watercourse, and limited themselves to placing +inflammable material on the platform of the main bridge, in order +to set it alight when the French appeared. They had also +established on the left bank, at the end of the bridge at Spitz, +a powerful battery of artillery, as well as a division of six +thousand men under the command of Prince D'Auersperg, a brave but +not very intelligent officer. Now I must tell you that some days +before the entry of the French into Vienna, the Emperor had +received the Austrian general, Comte de Guilay, who came as an +envoy to make peace overtures, which came to nothing. But hardly +had the Emperor settled in the palace of Schoenbrunn, when +General Guilay again appeared and spent more than an hour +tˆte-a-tˆte with Napoleon. From this a rumour arose that an +armistice had been arranged, a rumour which spread amongst the +French regiments which were entering Vienna and the Austrians who +were leaving to cross the Danube. + +Murat and Lannes, whom the Emperor had ordered to secure the +crossing of the Danube, placed Oudinot's Grenadiers behind a +bushy plantation and went forward, accompanied only by some +German-speaking officers. The enemy outposts withdrew, firing as +they went. The French officers called out that there was an +armistice, and continuing their progress, they crossed all the +small bridges, without being held up. When they arrived at the +main bridge, they renewed their assertion to the commander at +Spitz, who did not dare to fire on two marshals, almost alone, +who claimed that hostilities were suspended. However, before +allowing them to go any further, he wanted to go and ask General +Auersperg for orders, and while he did so, he left the post in +charge of a sergeant. Lannes and Murat persuaded the sergeant +that under the terms of the cease-fire, the bridge should be +handed over to them, and that he should go with his men to join +his officer on the left bank. The poor sergeant hesitated, he was +edged back gently while the conversation continued, and by a slow +but steady advance they reached, eventually, the end of the main +bridge. + +At this point an Austrian officer endeavored to set light to the +incendiary material, but the torch was snatched from his hand, +and he was told that he would be in serious trouble if he did any +such thing. Next, the column of Oudinot's Grenadiers appeared and +began to cross the bridge.... The Austrian gunners prepared to +open fire, but the French marshals ran to the commander of the +artillery and assured him that an armistice was in force, then, +seating themselves on the guns, they requested the gunners to go +and inform General Auersperg of their presence. General Auersperg +eventually arrived and was about to order the gunners to open +fire, although by now they and the Austrian troops were +surrounded by the French Grenadiers, when the two marshals +managed to convince him that there was a cease-fire, a principal +condition of which was that the French should occupy the bridge. +The unhappy general, fearing to compromise himself by the useless +shedding of blood, lost his head to the point of leading away all +the troops which he had been given to defend the bridges. + +Without this error on the part of General Auersperg, the passage +of the Danube could only have been carried out with great +difficulty, and might even have been impossible; in which case +Napoleon would have been unable to pursue the Russians and +Austrians into Moravia, and would have failed in his campaign. +That was the opinion at the time, and it was confirmed three +years later when, the Austrians having burned the bridges, to +secure a passage we were forced to fight the two battles of +Essling and Wagram, which cost us more than thirty thousand men, +whereas in 1805 Marshals Lannes and Murat took possession of the +bridges without there being a single man wounded. + +Was the stratagem they employed admissible? I have my doubts. I +know that in war one eases one's conscience, and that any means +may be employed to ensure victory and reduce loss of life, but in +spite of these weighty considerations, I do not think that one +can approve of the method used to seize the bridge at Spitz, and +for my part I would not care to do the same in similar +circumstances. + +To conclude this episode, the credulity of General Auersperg was +very severely punished. A court-martial condemned him to be +cashiered, dragged through the streets of Vienna on a hurdle and +finally put to death at the hands of the public executioner...! A +similar sentence was passed on Field-marshal Mack, to punish him +for his conduct at Ulm. But in both cases the death sentence was +commuted to life imprisonment. They served ten years and were +then released, but deprived of their position, expelled from the +ranks of the nobility and rejected by their families, they died, +both of them, shortly after they had been set at liberty. + +The stratagem employed by Marshals Lannes and Murat having +secured the crossing of the Danube, the Emperor Napoleon directed +his army in pursuit of the Russians and the Austrians. Thus began +the second phase of the campaign. + +Chap. 25. + +The Russian marshal Koutousoff was heading via Hollabrunn for +Brno in Moravia, in order to join the second army which was led +by the Emperor Alexander in person; but on approaching +Hollabrunn, he was alarmed to discover that the troops of Lannes +and Murat were already occupying the town and cutting off his +means of retreat. To get out of this fix, the aged marshal, +making use, in his turn, of trickery, sent General Prince +Bagration as an envoy to Marshal Murat, whom he assured that an +aide-de-camp of the Emperor was on his way to Napoleon in order +to conclude an armistice, and that, without doubt, peace would +shortly follow. + +Prince Bagration was a very amiable man, he knew exactly how to +flatter Murat, so that he in turn was deceived into accepting an +armistice, in spite of the observations of Lannes, who wished to +fight but had to obey Murat, who was his superior officer. + +The truce lasted for thirty-six hours; and while Murat was +inhaling the incense which the crafty Russian lavished on him, +Koutousoff's army made a detour and concealing its movement +behind a screen of low hills, escaped from danger, and went on to +take up, beyond Hollabrunn, a strong position which opened the +road to Moravia and assured his retreat and his junction with the +second Russian army which was encamped between Znaim and Brno. +Napoleon was still in the palace of Schoenbrunn, and was +furiously angry when he heard that Murat had allowed himself to +be bamboozled by Prince Bagration, and had accepted an armistice +without his orders, and he commanded him to attack Koutousoff +immediately. + +Now the situation of the Russians had changed greatly to their +advantage, so they repelled the French most vigorously. The town +of Hollabrunn, taken and re-taken several times, set on fire by +the mortars, filled with the dead and dying, remained finally in +French possession. The Russians retired in the direction of Brno; +our troops followed them and took possession of this town without +a fight, although it was fortified and dominated by the +well-known citadel of Spielberg. + +The Russian armies and the remains of the Austrian troops were +united in Moravia; the Emperor Napoleon, in order to deliver the +final blow, arrived in Brno, the capital of the province. + +My comrade Massy and I followed after him, but we moved slowly +and with much difficulty, firstly because the post-horses were on +their last legs, and then because of the great quantity of +troops, guns, ammunition wagons, baggage, etc. with which the +roads were obstructed. We were obliged to stop for twenty-four +hours at Hollabrunn, while we waited for a passage to be cleared +through the streets, destroyed by fire and littered with planks +and beams and the debris of furniture, still alight. This +unfortunate town had been so completely burned that we were +unable to find a single house to provide shelter! + +During our enforced stay, we were confronted and distressed by +the most horrible and shocking spectacle. The wounded, mainly +Russians, had taken refuge during the fighting in the houses +which were soon set ablaze. All who could walk fled at the +approach of this new danger, but the crippled and gravely injured +were burned alive in the ruins! Many had attempted to escape the +fire by crawling along the ground, but the flames had followed +them into the streets,where one could see a multitude of these +wretched victims half consumed by fire, some of them still +breathing! The bodies of the men and horses killed in the battle +had also been roasted, so that for several leagues around the +town there was a sickening stench of burning flesh! ... There are +countrysides and towns which because of their situation are +destined to serve as battlefields, and Hollabrun is one of them, +because it offers an excellent military position; thus it was +that the damage done by the fire of 1805 had scarcely been +repaired, when I saw the place again, four years later, once more +on fire and littered with the half-roasted bodies of the dead and +dying; as you will see from my description of the campaign of +1809. + +Major Massy and I left this pestilential spot as soon as we +could, and went on to Znaim, where, four years later I was to be +wounded; and at last we reached the Emperor at Brunn (Brno), on +November 22nd, ten days before the Battle of Austerlitz. + +The day after our arrival, we completed our mission and handed +over the flags with the ceremony laid down by the Emperor for +solemn occasions of this kind; for he missed no opportunity of +displaying to the troops anything which could raise their morale +and enthusiasm. + +The procedure was as follows:--Half an hour before the daily +parade,--which took place at eleven o'clock outside whatever +residence was serving as the Emperor's palace,--General Duroc, +the Grand Marshal, sent to our billet a company of Grenadiers of +the Guard, with bandsmen and drummers. The town of Brunn was full +of French troops, and the soldiers, as we passed, celebrated with +much cheering the victory of their comrades of 7th Corps. All the +guard-posts accorded us military honours, and on our entry to the +courtyard of the Emperor's quarters, the units formed up for the +parade beat a salute, presented arms, and cried repeatedly "Vive +L'Empereur!" + +The aide-de-camp on duty came to receive us and to present us to +Napoleon, to whom we were introduced, accompanied always by the +N.C.O.s carrying the Austrian flags. The Emperor examined these +various trophies, and after dismissing the N.C.O.s. he questioned +us closely about the various actions which had been fought by +Marshal Augereau and on all we had seen or learned on our long +journey through a countryside which had been the theatre of war. +Then he told us to await his instructions, and to join the +imperial suite. The Grand Marshal Duroc took charge of the +flags, for which he gave us a receipt in the regular manner, +informed us that horses would be placed at our disposal and +invited us, for the duration of our stay, to the table over which +he presided. + +The French army was now massed around and before Brunn. The +Russian advance-guard occupied Austerlitz, while the bulk of +their army was positioned round the town of Olmutz, where were +also the Emperor Alexander of Russia and the Emperor of Austria. +A battle seemed inevitable, but both sides being well aware that +the outcome would have an immense bearing on the destiny of +Europe, each hesitated to make a decisive move. Napoleon, usually +so swift to act, waited for eleven days at Brunn before launching +a major attack. It is, however, true that every day of waiting +increased his forces by the arrival of great numbers of soldiers +who had lagged behind because of illness or fatigue, and who +having now recovered, hastened to rejoin their units. I recall +that, in these circumstances, I told a white lie which could have +ruined my military career. + +Napoleon usually treated his officers with kindness, but there +was one point on which he was perhaps too strict, for he held +colonels responsible for keeping their units up to full strength, +something it is very difficult to do during a campaign. It was in +this matter that the Emperor was most often deceived, for the +corps commanders were so afraid of displeasing him that they +risked being committed to facing an enemy force disproportionate +to their own numbers, rather than admit that sickness, fatigue +and the need to forage for food had caused many soldiers to drop +out. So Napoleon, in spite of his authority, never knew the exact +number of combatants available to him on the day of battle. + +Now it so happened that the Emperor, in the course of one of the +endless trips he made to visit the various corps of the army, saw +the mounted Chasseurs of his guard, who were moving to a +different position. He was particularly fond of this regiment, of +which his "guides" from Italy and Egypt formed the nucleus. The +Emperor, whose experienced eye could estimate very exactly the +strength of a column, noticing that their numbers were much +reduced, took out of his pocket a little notebook, and, calling +for General Morland, the commander of the mounted Chasseurs, he +said to him in a stern voice, "Your regiment is down in my notes +as having 1200 men, and although you have not been in action, you +have no more than 800; what has happened to the others?" General +Morland was a fine, brave fighting soldier, but he did not have a +ready tongue, and being quite nonplussed, he said in his +Franco-Alsatian dialect that he was short of only a small number +of men. The Emperor maintained that he was about four hundred +short, and to get to the truth of the matter he wanted to have an +immediate count; but knowing that General Morland was very much +liked by the officers of the imperial staff, he feared a +cover-up, and thought he would be more likely to discover the +truth by choosing an officer who did not belong to his entourage +nor to the Chasseurs; so, seeing me, he ordered me to count the +Chasseurs and to deliver to him personally a record of their +numbers; having said which, he made off at the gallop. I began my +task, which was made more easy because the troopers were riding +past four abreast at walking pace. + +Poor General Morland, who knew how close Napoleon's estimate was +to the reality, was in a state of great agitation, for he foresaw +that my report would call down on his head a severe reprimand. He +hardly knew me, and did not dare to suggest that I might +compromise myself to get him out of trouble. He was then sitting +silently on his horse beside me, when, fortunately for him, his +adjutant came to join him. This officer, named Fournier, had +started his military career as an assistant surgeon, then, having +become a surgeon-major, he felt that he had more of a vocation +for the sabre than for the lancet, and had asked for and obtained +permission to join the ranks of the combatant officers, and +Morland, with whom he had served previously, arranged for him to +join the Guard. + +I had known Captain Fournier very well when he was still +surgeon-major, and I was very much obliged to him, for not only +had he dressed my father's wound when it was inflicted, but he +had gone, like him, to Genoa, where, as long as my father lived, +he had come several times a day to care for him: if the doctors +charged with the duty of fighting the typhus epidemic had been as +assiduous and zealous as Fournier, my father, perhaps, would not +have died. I had often thought this, so I gave the warmest of +welcomes to Fournier, whom I did not at first recognise in the +pelisse of a captain of Chasseurs. + +General Morland, seeing the pleasure we had in meeting one +another, thought he might profit from our mutual friendship to +persuade me not to reveal to the Emperor by how many men he was +short. He took his adjutant aside and conferred with him for a +time; then Fournier came, and in the name of our former +friendship, he begged me to extricate General Morland from a most +unpleasant situation by concealing from the Emperor the extent to +which the regiment was under strength. I refused firmly and +continued to count. The Emperor's estimate was very close, for +there were only a few over eight hundred Chasseurs present, four +hundred were missing. + +I was about to leave to make my report, when General Morland and +Captain Fournier renewed their pleas pointing out that the +greater part of the men who had dropped behind for various +reasons would rejoin them very shortly, and that it was not +likely that Napoleon would engage in battle before the arrival of +the divisions of Friant and Gudin, who were still at the gates of +Vienna, thirty-six leagues from us and would take several days to +reach us. In the interval more laggards would rejoin the unit. +They added that the Emperor would be too busy to check my report. +I could not pretend to myself that I was not being asked to +deceive the Emperor, which was very wrong, but I felt also that I +was under a great obligation to Captain Fournier for the truly +tender care he had given to my dying father, I allowed myself +therefore to be swayed and promised to conceal a large part of +the truth. + +I was scarcely alone when I realised the enormity of my error, +but it was too late; the essential object now was to get out of +the situation with the least harm possible. With this aim in +view, I kept out of the way of the Emperor as long as he was on +horseback, in case he went back to the bivouac of the Chasseurs, +where their shortage of numbers striking him anew would give the +lie to my report. I craftily did not return to the imperial +quarters until night was approaching and Napoleon, having +dismounted had gone to his apartment. Brought before him in order +to make my report, I found him lying at full length on an immense +map which was spread on the floor. As soon as he saw me, he +called out "Well now! Marbot, how many Chasseurs are there in my +guard? Are there twelve hundred as Morland claims?" "No sire" I +replied."I counted only eleven hundred and twenty, that is a +shortfall of eighty." "I was sure that there was a lot missing." +said the Emperor, in a tone of voice which made it plain that he +had expected a much larger deficit; and to be sure if there were +no more than eighty men missing from a regiment of twelve hundred +which had just come five hundred leagues in winter, sleeping +almost every night in bivouac, that was a very small loss. So +when, on going to dinner, the Emperor passed through the room +where the senior officers of the guard were gathered, all he said +to Morland was, "Now you see...you are short of eighty troopers; +that is almost a squadron. With eighty of these men one could +stop a Russian regiment! You must take care to see that men do +not drop behind." Then, passing to the commander of the foot +guards, whose numbers were also much reduced, Napoleon gave him a +sharp reprimand. Morland, who thought himself lucky to have got +away with no more than a few observations, came over to me, as +soon as the Emperor was seated at table, and thanked me warmly. +He told me that some thirty troopers had just arrived, and that a +courier from Vienna had met more than a hundred between Znaim and +Brunn, and many more this side of Hollabrunn, which meant that +within forty-eight hours the regiment would have made up most of +its deficiency. I wished for this as fervently as he did, for I +was well aware of the difficult spot I had landed myself in out +of my consideration for Fournier. I could not sleep that night +for fear of the justifiable wrath of the Emperor, if he found out +that I had lied to him. + +I was even more dismayed the next day when Napoleon, in the +course of his usual visit to his troops, started off in the +direction of the Chasseur's bivouac, for a simple question put to +an officer could expose everything; but just when I thought that +I was done for, I heard the sound of the band of the Russian +force, camped on the high ground of the Pratzen half a league +from our position. I urged my horse forward towards the head of +the numerous staff by whom the Emperor was accompanied, and +getting as close to him as possible, I said in a loud voice, "I +am sure there is something going on in the Russian camp, their +band is playing a march".... The Emperor, who heard my remark, +suddenly left the path which led to the Chasseur's bivouac, and +headed towards Pratzen to see what was happening in the enemy +advance-guard. He stayed a long time watching, and as night was +approaching, he went back to Brunn without visiting the +Chasseurs. For several days I was in a mortal panic, although I +learned of the arrival of successive detachments of men, but at +last the coming battle and the many preoccupations of the Emperor +drove from his mind the idea of making the check which I so much +feared. But I had learned my lesson; so when I became a colonel +and was asked by the Emperor how many men were present in the +squadrons of my regiment, I always gave the exact number. + +Chap. 26. + +If Napoleon was often deceived, he also used deception himself to +further his projects, as can be shown by the tale of this +diplomatic-military comedy, in which I played a part. + +In order to understand this affair, which will give you the key +to the intrigues which, the following year, gave rise to the war +between Napoleon and the King of Prussia, we have to go back two +months to the time when the French troops, having left the coast, +were proceeding by rapid marches to the Danube. The shortest +route which the first corps, commanded by Bernadotte, could take +to reach Hanover, on the upper Danube, lay through Anspach. This +little country belonged to Prussia, but as it was quite a long +way from there, from which it was separated by a number of minor +principalities, it had always been regarded in previous wars as +being neutral territory, through which either party could pass, +provided that they paid for any goods they required and refrained +from any hostile action. + +Things having been established on this footing, Austrian and +French armies had often passed through the Margravate of Anspach, +since the time of the Directory, without informing Prussia and +without the latter raising any objection. Napoleon then, taking +advantage of this convention, ordered Bernadotte to go through +Anspach, which he did. However, the Queen of Prussia and her +court, who detested Napoleon, on hearing of this, raised an +outcry, claiming that Prussian territory had been violated, and +took advantage of this event to rouse the nation and call loudly +for war. The King of Prussia and his minister, Count Haugwitz, +alone resisted the general clamour for action. This was in +October 1805, when hostilities were about to break out between +France and Austria, and the Russian armies were on their way to +reinforce the latter. The queen and the young Prince Louis, the +king's nephew, in an attempt to persuade the king to make common +cause with the Austrians and Russians, arranged for the Emperor +Alexander to come to Berlin, in the hope that his presence would +influence Frederick-William. + +Alexander arrived in the capital of Prussia on the 25th October. +He was greeted with enthusiasm by the queen, Prince Louis and the +supporters of war against France. The king, besieged on all +sides, allowed himself to be persuaded, but only on the +condition--advised by the old Prince of Brunswick, and Count +Haugwitz--that his army should not be committed to a campaign +until the outcome of the conflict between the French and the +Austrians on the Danube had been determined. This partial +adherence to their cause pleased neither Alexander nor the queen, +but for the time being they could obtain nothing more explicit. A +melodramatic scene was played out at Potsdam, where the Emperor +of Russia and the King of Prussia, having descended, by the light +of torches, into the sepulchral vaults of the palace, swore, in +the presence of the court, eternal friendship, on the tomb of +Frederick the Great; (an oath which did not prevent Alexander +from incorporating into the Russian Empire, eighteen months +later, one of the Prussian provinces, which Napoleon awarded him +under the treaty of Tilsit, and this in the presence of his +friend Frederick-William.) The Russian Emperor now went back to +Moravia, to place himself at the head of his army, for Napoleon +was advancing rapidly towards Vienna, which he shortly occupied. + +When he heard of the King of Prussia's reluctance and the compact +made at Potsdam, Napoleon, in order to deal with the Russians +before the Prussians had made up their minds, installed himself +for the encounter with the former in Brunn, where we now were. + +It is said, quite rightly, that ambassadors are privileged spies. + +The King of Prussia, who heard daily of fresh victories won by +Napoleon, was anxious to find out what the true position was +between the warring parties; so he decided to send Count +Haugwitz, his minister, to the French headquarters, with +instructions to assess the situation. Now it was necessary to +find an excuse for doing this, so he entrusted Count Haugwitz +with a reply to a letter which Napoleon had sent to him, +complaining about the agreement concluded between the Prussians +and the Russians at Potsdam. Count Haugwitz arrived at Brunn some +days before the Battle of Austerlitz, and would dearly have liked +to stay there until he knew the result of the major engagement +which was in prospect, in order to advise his sovereign to do +nothing if we were victorious, or to attack us if we should be +defeated. You do not have to be a soldier to see from a map what +damage a Prussian army, coming from Breslau in Silesia, could do +by going through Bohemia to fall on our rear around Regansberg. + +As Napoleon knew that Count Haugwitz sent a courier every evening +to Berlin, he decided that it would be by this means that he +would inform the Prussians of the defeat of Field-marshal +Jellachich's army corps, news of which had not yet reached them. +This is how it was done. + +Marshal of the Palace Duroc, after telling us what we were to do, +had all the Austrian flags which we had brought from Bregenz +secretly replaced in the lodgings which Massy and I occupied; +then, some hours later, when the Emperor was in conversation with +Count Haugwitz in his study, we re-enacted the ceremony of the +handover of the flags in exactly the same way as it had been done +on the first occasion. The Emperor hearing the band playing in +the courtyard, feigned astonishment, and went to the windows +followed by the ambassador. Seeing the flags carried by the +N.C.O.s. he called for the duty aide-de-camp and asked him what +was going on. The aide-de-camp having told him that we were two +of Marshal Augereau's aides who had come to hand over to him the +flags of Jellachich's Austrian corps captured at Bregenz, we were +led inside; there Napoleon, without blinking an eyelid, and as if +he had never seen us before, took the letter from Augereau,which +had been re-sealed, and read it, although he had been aware of +its contents for four days. Then he questioned us, making us go +into the smallest details. Duroc had warned us to speak out +loudly, as the ambassador was a little hard of hearing, this +advice was of no use to Major Massy, who was the leader of the +mission, since he was suffering from a cold and had almost +completely lost his voice, so it was I who replied to the +Emperor, and taking a lead from him, I painted in the most vivid +colours the defeat of the Austrians, their despondency, and the +enthusiasm of the French. Then, presenting the trophies one +after the other, I named the Austrian regiments to which they had +once belonged. I laid particular stress on two of them, because I +knew that their capture would have a powerful effect on the +ambassador, "Here," I said "is the flag of the infantry regiment +of his Majesty the Emperor of Austria, and there is the standard +of the Uhlans, commanded by the Archduke Charles, his brother." +Napoleon's eyes twinkled, and he seemed to say, "Well done young +man!" At last he dismissed us, and as we left we heard him say to +the ambassador, "You see, monsieur le Comte, my armies are +everywhere triumphant.... The Austrian army is no more, and soon +the same fate will befall the Russians." Count Haugwitz seemed +deeply impressed, and Duroc said to us, after we had left the +room, "The count will write tonight to Berlin, to tell his +government of the destruction of Jellachich's force, which will +put a damper on the war party, and give the king new reasons for +holding off. Which is what the Emperor very much wants." + +This comedy having been played out, The Emperor, to be rid of a +dangerous onlooker who could give an account of the disposition +of his forces, suggested to Count Haugwitz that it was not very +safe for him to remain between two armies which were about to +come to blows, and persuaded him to go to Vienna to M. Tallyrand, +his minister for foreign affairs, which he did that same evening. + +The following day the Emperor said nothing to us about the scene +which had been enacted the previous evening, but wishing, no +doubt, to give some sign of his satisfaction with the manner in +which we had played our parts, he asked Major Massy, kindly, +about the progress of his cold, and he pinched my ear, which with +him was a sort of caress. + +Now the denouement of the great drama was approaching and both +sides were preparing for the coming struggle. Nearly all military +authors so overload their narrative with details that they +confuse the mind of the reader, to the extent that, in most of +the published works on the wars of the Empire which I have read, +I have been unable to understand the description of several of +the battles in which I myself have taken part, and the various +phases of which I know. I think that to preserve clarity in the +description of an action, one needs to limit oneself to +indicating the respective positions of the two armies, prior to +the engagement, and to recounting only the principal and decisive +events in the combat. This is what I shall attempt to do. + + +The coming battle is known as the Battle of Austerlitz, although +it took place some distance from the village of that name: the +reason for this is that, on the eve of the battle, the Emperors +of Austria and Russia had slept in the Chateau of Austerlitz, out +of which Napoleon drove them. + +You will see on the map that a stream, the Goldbach, which rises +on the far side of the road to Olmutz, flows into a pool called +Menitz. This stream, which runs in a little valley with quite +steep banks, separated the two armies. The right of the +Austro-Russian forces lay on a wooded escarpment, situated behind +the post-house of Posoritz, on the far side of the Olmutz road; +their centre occupied Pratzen and the vast plateau of that name, +and their left was near the meres of Satschan and the +neighbouring marshes. The Emperor placed his left flank on a +little hill, very difficult of access, which our men who had been +in Egypt called the Santon (a holy man's grave) because it was +surmounted by a small chapel, the roof of which had the +appearance of a minaret. The French centre was near the pool of +Kobolnitz, and the right was at Telnitz. The Emperor had put very +few troops there in order to tempt the Russians into the marshy +ground, where he had prepared their defeat by concealing in +Gross-Raigern, on the road to Vienna, the corps of Marshal +Davout. + +On the 1st December, the eve of the battle, Napoleon left Brunn +in the morning and spent all day examining the positions; in the +evening he set up his headquarters behind the French centre, at a +spot from where could be seen the camps of both armies and the +area which would form their battlefield the next day. There was +no building in the vicinity but a dilapidated barn, and it was +there that were placed the Emperor's tables and maps, while he +himself took up a position by a huge fire, surrounded by his +numerous staff and his guards. Happily there was no snow, +although it was very cold. I bedded down on the ground and fell +into a deep sleep; but soon we had to remount our horses to +accompany the Emperor, who was about to visit his troops. There +was no moon, and the obscurity of the night was increased by a +thick mist which made progress difficult. The troopers of the +Emperor's escort had the idea of lighting torches made of +pinewood and straw which were most useful. The soldiers, seeing +the approach of a group of mounted men thus illuminated, could +easily distinguish the imperial staff, and in an instant, as if +by magic, one saw all our camp lit up by torches carried by the +men who greeted the Emperor with cheer, made all the louder +because the next day would be the anniversary of his coronation, +a coincidence which seemed to them to be a good augury. The enemy +must have been greatly astonished when, from the height of the +neighbouring slope, they saw in the middle of the night, the +light of sixty thousand torches and heard the repeated cheers of +"Vive l'Empereur!" mingled with the sound of the regimental +bands. All was gaiety, light and movement in our camp, while, on +the Austro-Russian side, all was dark and silent. + +The next day, the 2nd December, the cannons were heard at +daybreak. We have seen that the Emperor had deployed few troops +on his right wing; a bait which he dangled before the enemy, who +would see the apparent possibility of taking Telnitz easily, and +then crossing the Goldbach and going on to Gross-Raigern in order +to control the road from Brunn to Vienna and so cut off our line +of retreat. The Austro-Russians fell headlong into the trap, and, +thinning out the rest of their line, they clumsily piled up a +considerable force in the lower part of Telnitz, and in the +narrow, marshy defiles around the meres of Satschan and Menitz. +They thought, for some unknown reason, that Napoleon was +considering withdrawing, without facing a battle, so to hasten +this move they decided to attack us at the Santon on our left and +at our centre before Puntowitz, so that, being defeated at these +two points, and forced to retreat, we would find the road to +Vienna cut by the Russian troops. But on our left Marshal Lannes +not only repelled all the enemy attacks on the Santon, but drove +them back across the Olmutz road as far as Blasiowitz, where the +more level ground allowed Murat's cavalry to make several very +effective charges, which compelled the Russians to retire +hurriedly to the village of Austerlitz. + +While our left was achieving this brilliant success, the centre, +consisting of the troops of Marshals Soult and Bernadotte, who +had been placed by the Emperor in the valley of the Goldbach +where they were hidden by a thick mist, advanced towards the +slope on which stood the village of Pratzen. It was at this +moment that the bright "Sunshine of Austerlitz" appeared, the +memory of which Napoleon was pleased so frequently to recall. +Marshal Soult took not only the village of Pratzen but also the +great plateau of that name, which is the high point of the +surrounding country, and, in consequence, the key to the +battlefield. Here took place, before the eyes of the Emperor, a +very sharp engagement in which the Russians were defeated; but a +battalion of the 4th Line regiment, commanded by Prince Joseph, +Napoleon's brother, went too far in pursuit of the enemy and was +charged and over-run by the horse-guards and Cuirassiers of the +Grand-duke Constantin, the brother of Alexander, who captured +their Eagle. A force of Russian cavalry advanced rapidly to +support the momentary success of the horse-guards; but Napoleon +sent against them the Mamelukes, the light cavalry and the +mounted Grenadiers of his guard, led by Marshal Bessieres and +General Rapp, and a most sanguinary melee ensued. The Russian +squadrons were overcome and driven back beyond the village of +Austerlitz with great losses. Our cavalry captured many standards +and prisoners, among whom was Prince Repnin, the commander of the +horse-guards. This regiment, made up of the most glittering youth +of the Russian nobility, suffered many casualties. The boastful +threats which they had made concerning the French were known to +our men, who in reply said that they would give the ladies of St. +Petersburg something to cry about. + +The painter Gerard, in his picture of the Battle of Austerlitz, +has taken as his subject the moment when General Rapp, leaving +the battle, wounded and covered in his own and the enemies' +blood, is presenting to the Emperor the flags which have been +captured as well as Prince Repnin, his prisoner. I was present at +this memorable scene, which the painter has reproduced with +remarkable exactness. All the heads are portraits, even that of +the brave trooper, who without complaining, though shot through +the body, fell dead at the feet of the Emperor as he presented +the standard which he had just captured. Napoleon, to honour the +memory of this brave Chasseur, ordered the painter to include him +in his composition. One can see also in this picture a Mameluke, +who carries in one hand an enemy flag, and with the other holds +the bridle of his wounded horse. This man, named Mustapha, known +in the guards for his courage and ferocity, had set off, during +the charge, in pursuit of the Grand-duke Constantin, who was only +able to get rid of him by firing a pistol shot which mortally +wounded his horse. Mustapha, grieved at having only a standard to +offer the Emperor, said in his broken French, when he presented +it, "Ah! If me catch Prince Constantin, me cut off head and bring +to Emperor!" Napoleon replied indignantly, "You be quiet! You +wicked savage!" + +Let us now finish the story of the battle. While Marshals Lannes, +Soult and Murat attacked the centre and right of the +Austro-Russians and drove them back beyond the village of +Austerlitz, the enemy left, having fallen into the trap which the +Emperor had prepared for them, attacked the village of Telnitz +and took possession of it, then, crossing the Goldbach, they +prepared to occupy the road to Vienna; but they had greatly +underestimated the skill of Napoleon in thinking that he would +neglect to defend his route of retreat in case of misfortune. +Marshal Davout's divisions were concealed in Gross-Regairn and +from that point he fell on the Russians as soon as he saw that +their massed troops were held up in the defiles between the meres +of Telnitz, Menitz and the rivulet. + +The Emperor, whom we left on the plateau of Pratzen, free of the +right and centre of the enemy, who were retreating in disorder +beyond Austerlitz, came down from the heights of Pratzen and +hurried with Marshal Soult's corps and all his guard, infantry, +cavalry and artillery, towards Telnitz; where he attacked in the +rear the enemy columns which Marshal Davout was attacking in +front. From this moment, the cumbersome masses of the +Austro-Russians, crammed together on the narrow pathways which +ran alongside the Goldbach, finding themselves between two fires, +fell into indescribable confusion. The ranks broke down and each +man sought his own safety in flight. Some rushed into the marshes +around the meres, but our infantry followed them; others tried to +escape down the road which runs between the two meres, but our +cavalry charged them with fearful slaughter; the largest body of +men, principally Russians, tried to get across the frozen meres, +and already a great number were on the ice of Lake Satschan when +Napoleon ordered his gunners to fire on them. The ice broke in +many places with a loud cracking sound and we saw a host of +Russians with their horses wagons and guns slide slowly into the +depths. The surface of the lake was covered with men and horses +struggling amid the ice and water. A few were saved, helped by +poles and ropes which our men held out to them from the bank, but +many were drowned. + +The number of combatants at the Emperor's disposal in this battle +was sixty-eight thousand men. The Austro-Russians had ninety-two +thousand. Our losses in killed and wounded were about eight +thousand, the enemy stated that their losses in killed wounded +and drowned amounted to fourteen thousand. We took eighteen +thousand prisoners and captured one hundred and fifty cannons, as +well as a great number of flags, standards, etc. + +After giving orders to pursue the enemy in all directions, the +Emperor went to his new headquarters in the post-house at +Posoritz, on the Olmutz road. He was highly delighted as you may +imagine, although he several times expressed regret that the only +Eagle we had lost was that of the fourth line regiment, of which +his brother, Prince Joseph, was colonel. The fact that this had +been captured by the regiment of the Grand-duke Constantin, the +Emperor of Russia's brother, made the loss even more annoying. + +Napoleon soon had a great consolation; Prince Jean of +Lichtenstein came, on behalf of the Emperor of Austria, to +request a meeting, and Napoleon, realising that this would lead +to peace and remove the fear of having the Prussians attack the +French rear before he had rid himself of his present enemies, +readily agreed to the proposal. + +Of all the units of the Imperial Guard, the regiment of Mounted +Chasseurs was the one which suffered the most casualties in the +great charge made on the Pratzen plateau against the Russian +Guard. My poor friend Fournier was killed, as was General +Morland. It is said that Napoleon intended to have the body of +General Morland interred in a mausoleum which he meant to have +built in the centre of the Esplanade des Invalides, and that it +was preserved in a cask of rum for that reason. But the mausoleum +was never built, and it is alleged that the general's body was +still in a room in the school of medicine when Napoleon lost his +Empire in 1814. + +I was not wounded at Austerlitz, although I was often exposed to +danger, notably during the melee with the Russian cavalry on the +Pratzen plateau. The Emperor had sent me to take some orders to +General Rapp, whom I found it very difficult to reach amid the +appalling confusion of the embattled soldiery. My horse was +crushed up against that of a Russian horse-guard and our sabres +were about to clash when we were separated by other combatants; I +came away with a large bruise. However, the next day I ran into a +more serious danger, one that one does not expect to meet on the +field of battle. + +On the morning of the 3rd of December, the day after the battle, +the Emperor mounted his horse and went round all the places where +action had taken place on the previous day. Having arrived at the +mere of Satschan, Napoleon dismounted and was chatting round a +fire with a number of marshals, when we saw, some hundred paces +from the bank, a large slab of ice on which lay a poor Russian +sergeant, who was unable to help himself because of a bullet +wound in his thigh. Seeing the large group on the bank, the +soldier raised his voice and pleaded for help, saying that when +the fighting was over we were all brother soldiers. When his +interpreter translated this, Napoleon was touched and ordered +General Bertrand to do what he could to rescue the wretched +Russian. + +Several men of the escort, and even two staff officers, attempted +to reach the Russian using two tree trunks which they pushed into +the water, but they ended up by falling in with all their clothes +on, and having difficulty in getting out. It then occurred to me +to say that they should have entered the water naked, so that +their movements would not be hampered, and they would not have to +wear wet clothing. This observation was repeated to the Emperor, +who said that I was right, and that the others had shown zeal +without forethought. I have no wish to make myself out to be +better than I am; I can assure you that, having just taken part +in a battle where I had seen thousands of dead and dying, my +emotions were blunted, I did not feel sufficiently philanthropic +to risk pneumonia by struggling amongst the ice floes to save the +life of an enemy soldier, however much I deplored his unhappy +lot; but the Emperor's remark stung me into action, it seemed to +me ridiculous that I should offer advice which I was not prepared +to put into action. I jumped off my horse, stripped off my +clothes and leapt into the lake. + +I had been very active during the day, and was warm; the water +felt bitterly cold, but I was young and vigourous, a very good +swimmer, and encouraged by the presence of the Emperor, I was +making towards the Russian, when my example and probably the +praise I received from the Emperor, persuaded a lieutenant of +artillery named Roumestain to come after me. + +While he was undressing, I pushed on, but I had more difficulty +than I had foreseen in forcing my way through the thin layer of +new ice which was forming on the water, the sharp edges of which +inflicted many scrapes and scratches. The officer who followed me +was able to make use of the sort of path which I had made, and +when he reached me, he volunteered to take the lead, to give me +some relief. We eventually reached the large block of ice on +which the Russian lay, but it was only with the greatest +difficulty that we managed to push it near enough to the shore +for the man to be rescued. We were both so cold and exhausted +that we had to be lifted out of the water, and we were hardly +able to stand. My good comrade Massy, who had watched me with +much anxiety during this swim, had had the forethought to warm +his horse's blanket before the fire, which he wrapped round me as +soon as I was out of the water. After I had dried myself and +dressed, I wanted to lie beside the fire, but Doctor Larrey was +against this and told me to walk around, something I was unable +to do without the aid of two troopers. The Emperor came to +congratulate the two of us on the courage with which we had +undertaken the rescue of the wounded Russian, and calling for his +Mameluke, Roustan, whose horse was always loaded with provisions, +he poured out for us a tot of rum each, and asked us, laughing, +how we had enjoyed the bath. + +As for the Russian sergeant, after his wound had been dressed by +Doctor Larrey, Napoleon gave him several gold coins. He was +wrapped in warm coverings and put in one of the houses of Telnitz +which was acting as a dressing station; the next day he was taken +to the hospital at Brunn. The poor lad blessed the Emperor as +well as Roumestain and me, and wanted to kiss our hands. He was a +Lithuanian, that is to say, born in a former province of Poland, +which is now part of Russia. As soon as he had recovered, he +announced that he wished now to serve no one but Napoleon. He was +sent back to France with our own wounded and subsequently joined +the Polish legion. In the end he became a sergeant in the lancers +of the guard, and each time I met him, he gave me a warm +greeting. + +The ice-cold bath which I had taken and the almost superhuman +efforts I had made to rescue the Russian could have cost me dear +had I been less young and strongly built; for Lieutenant +Roumestain, who did not possess the latter of these two +advantages to the same extent, was taken that same evening with a +severe chest infection. He had to be taken to the hospital at +Brunn, where he spent several months between life and death. He +never recovered completely, and his poor health forced him to +resign from the service some years later. + +As for me, although I felt very weak, I mounted my horse when the +Emperor left to go to the chateau of Austerlitz, where his +headquarters had been set up. Napoleon never went anywhere except +at the gallop; in my bruised state this pace was hardly suitable, +however I followed on, since night was approaching, and I feared +to be left behind, and anyway, if I had ridden at a walk, I would +have been overcome by the cold. + +When I arrived at the courtyard of the chateau of Austerlitz, I +had to be helped off my horse. A violent shivering took me, my +teeth chattered and I felt very ill. Colonel Dahlmann, a major in +the Mounted Chasseurs, who had just been promoted to replace +Colonel Morland, remembering, no doubt, the service I had +rendered to the latter, took, me into one of the chateau's barns, +where he had established himself with his officers. There, after +giving me some hot tea, his medical officer massaged me with warm +oil, I was wrapped in several blankets and put into an enormous +pile of hay with only my face exposed. A gentle warmth crept +slowly back into my benumbed limbs; I slept very soundly and +thanks to these ministrations and my twenty-three years, I awoke +the next day fully recovered and able to mount my horse and to +observe a spectacle of great interest. + +Chap. 27. + +The defeat suffered by the Russians had thrown their army into +such confusion that all those who had escaped from the disaster +of Austerlitz, hastened to Galicia to get out of reach of the +victor. The rout was complete: the French took a great number of +prisoners, and found the roads covered with cannons and abandoned +baggage. The Emperor of Russia, who had believed he was marching +to certain victory, withdrew, stricken with grief, and authorised +his ally, Francis II to treat with Napoleon. In the evening +following the battle, the Austrian Emperor, in order to save his +country from total ruin, had sent a request for an interview to +the French Emperor, and when Napoleon had agreed to this, he went +to the village of Nasiedlowitz. The meeting took place on the 4th +of December, near the Poleny mill, between the lines of the +French and the Austrian outposts. I was at this memorable +conference. + +Napoleon left the chateau of Austerlitz early in the morning, +accompanied by his large staff. He arrived first at the +rendezvous, dismounted and strolled around until he saw the +Emperor of Austria arrive. He went over to him and embraced him +warmly.... A spectacle which might well inspire some +philosophical reflection! A German Emperor coming to humble +himself and solicit peace from a little Corsican gentleman, +recently a second lieutenant of artillery, whose talents, good +fortune and the courage of the French armies had raised to the +pinnacle of power and made arbiter of the destiny of Europe. + +Napoleon did not abuse the position in which the Austrian Emperor +found himself; he was attentive and extremely polite, as far as +could be judged from the distance which was respectfully +maintained by the two general staffs. An armistice was arranged +between the two sovereigns which stipulated that both parties +should send plenipotentiaries to Brunn in order to negotiate a +peace treaty between France and Austria. The two Emperors +embraced once more on parting; the Germans returned to +Nasiedlowitz, and Napoleon returned to spend the night at +Austerlitz. He spent two days there, during which time he gave +Major Massy and me our final audience, and charged us to tell +Marshal Augereau all that we had seen; he gave us at the same +time some despatches for the court of Bavaria, which had returned +to Munich, and informed us that Marshal Augereau had left Bregenz +and that we would find him at Ulm. We went back to Vienna and +continued our journey, travelling day and night in spite of the +heavy falls of snow. + +I shall not go into any details of the political changes which +resulted from the Battle of Austerlitz and the Peace of Presburg. + +The Emperor went to Vienna and from there to Munich, where he had +to assist at the marriage of his step-son, Eugene de Beauharnais +to the daughter of the King of Bavaria. It seems that the +despatches which we carried to this court were concerning this +marriage; for we could not have had a better reception. However, +we stayed only a few hours in Munich and went on to Ulm, where we +found Marshal Augereau and 7th Corps, and where we stayed for a +fortnight. + +In order to move 7th Corps gradually nearer to the electorate of +Hesse, a close ally of Prussia, Napoleon ordered it to move to +Heidelburg, where we arrived about the end of December and saw +the beginning of the year 1806. After a short stay in this town, +7th Corps went to Darmstadt, the capital of the landgrave of +Hesse-Darmstadt, a prince much attached to the King of Prussia by +family ties as well as politics. Although this prince had, on +accepting Hanover, concluded a treaty of alliance with Napoleon, +he had done so with reluctance, and was suspicious of the +approach of the French army. + +Marshal Augereau, before taking his troops into the country of +Darmstadt, considered it his duty to inform the landgrave, by +letter, of his intentions, and he chose me to effect its +delivery. The journey was one of only fifteen leagues; I made it +in a night; but on my arrival at Darmstadt I found that the +landgrave, to whom it had been suggested that the French intended +to make him a prisoner, had left his residence and retired to +another part of his state from where he could easily take refuge +in Prussia. This created a difficulty for me, however, having +heard that his wife was still in the palace, I asked to be +presented to her. + +The princess, whose person greatly resembled the portraits of the +Empress Catherine of Russia, had, like her, a masculine +character, great capability, and all the qualities necessary to +control a vast empire. She also governed her husband as she did +her states; she was a masterful woman, and when she saw the +letter in my hands, addressed to the landgrave, she took it +without further ado, as if it had been addressed her. She then +told me quite frankly, that it had been on her advice that her +husband had left on the approach of the French, but that she +would arrange for him to come back if the marshal would give her +an assurance that he did not have any orders to make an attempt +on the liberty of the prince. I understood that the arrest and +death of the Duc d'Enghien had frightened all those princes who +thought that Napoleon might have some reason to complain about +their alliances. I protested, as much as I could, the innocence +of the French government's intentions, and offered to go back to +Heidelburg and ask Marshal Augereau for the assurances which she +required, an offer which she accepted. + +I left, and returned the next day with a letter from the marshal, +couched in such conciliatory terms that the landgravine, after +saying that she relied on the honour of a French marshal, went +immediately to Giessen, where the landgrave was, and brought him +back to Darmstadt, where they both received Marshal Augereau most +graciously, when he came to set up his headquarters in the town. +The marshal was so grateful for the confidence which they had +placed in him that several months later, when the Emperor +gathered up all the little European states and reduced their +number to thirty-two, out of which he formed the confederation of +the Rhine, he not only contrived to preserve the landgravate but +gained for the landgrave the title of Grand-Duke and an +enlargement of his state which increased the population from +scarcely five hundred thousand to over one million. Some months +later, the new Grand-Duke allied his army to ours to combat the +Russians, and requested that they should serve in Marshal +Augereau's corps. The prince owed not only his preservation but +his elevation to his wife's courage. + +Although I was still very young, I thought that Napoleon had made +a mistake in reducing the number of the little German +principalities. + +The fact is that in previous wars against France, the eight +hundred princes of the Germanic region had been unable to act in +unison; there were some who provided no more than a company, +others only a platoon, and some just one soldier; so that a +combination of all these different contingents made up an army +wholly lacking cohesion, which broke up at the first reverse. But +when Napoleon had reduced the number of the principalities to +thirty-two, centralisation began to appear in the German forces. +Those rulers who remained, with states increased in size, formed +a small well-organised army. This result was what the Emperor had +intended, in the expectation of using for his own ends all the +military resources of the country; something which he was in fact +able to do as long as we were successful. But on the first +setback, the thirty-two sovereigns, by agreement among +themselves, united in opposition to France, and their coalition +with the Russians overthrew the Emperor Napoleon, who was thus +punished for not following the ancient policies of the kings of +France. + +We spent part of the winter at Darmstadt, where there were fˆtes, +balls and galas. The grand-duke's troops were commanded by a +competent general named De Stoch. He had a son of my age, a +charming young man with whom I struck up a close friendship, and +to whom I shall refer again. + +We were only some ten leagues from Frankfurt-on-main. This town, +still free, and immensely rich as a result of its commerce, had +been for a long time a hot-bed of all the plots contrived against +France, and the place of origin of all the false stories about us +which circulated in Germany. So that, the day after Austerlitz, +and while the news was spreading that there had been an +engagement, the result of which was not yet known, the +inhabitants of Frankfurt were sure that the Russians had won, and +several papers indulged their hatred to the point of saying that +the disaster which had overtaken our army was so great that not a +single Frenchman had survived!... The Emperor, to whom all this +was reported, appeared to take no notice until, seeing the +likelihood of a break with Prussia, he gradually moved his armies +to the frontiers of that kingdom. Then, to punish the +impertinence of the Frankfurters, he ordered Marshal Augereau to +leave Darmstadt without warning, and to establish himself with +his army corps in Frankfurt and its surroundings. + +The Emperor decreed that the city, on the entry of our troops, +should give, as a welcome, a louis d'or to each soldier, two to +the corporals, three to the sergeants, ten to second lieutenants +and so on! The inhabitants were also to lodge and feed the +soldiers and pay messing expenses of six hundred francs daily for +the marshal, four hundred for a divisional general, three hundred +for a brigadier-general and two hundred for the colonels. The +senate was instructed to pay every month, one million francs into +the treasury in Paris. The authorities of Frankfurt, appalled by +these exorbitant demands, hurried to the French envoy; but he +replied "You claimed that not a single Frenchman escaped from the +arms of the Russians; the Emperor Napoleon wishes to put you in a +position to count the number making up a single corps of his +army. There are six more of the same size, and the guard to +follow." This reply plunged the inhabitants into consternation, +for however great their wealth, they would be ruined if this +state of affairs continued for any length of time. But Marshal +Augereau made an appeal for clemency on behalf of the citizens, +and he was told he could act as he thought best; so he took it on +himself to station in the town only his general staff and one +battalion. The remaining troops were spread around other +neighbouring principalities. The Frankfurters were greatly +relieved by this, and to show their gratitude to Marshal Augereau +they treated him to a great number of fˆtes. I was billeted with +a rich merchant named M. Chamot. I spent nearly eight months +there, during which time he and his family looked after me very +well. + +Chap. 28. + +While we were in Frankfurt, a very distressing event affecting an +officer of 7th Corps, landed me with a double mission, the first +part of which was very unpleasant and the second most agreeable, +indeed brilliantly so. + +As a result of a brain fever, Lieutenant N... of the 7th +Chasseurs became completely childish. Marshal Augereau detailed +me to take him to Paris, first to Marshal Murat, who had an +interest in the matter, and then, if I was asked to do so, to the +Quercy. As I had not seen my mother since leaving for the +campaign of Austerlitz, and I knew that she was not far from St. +Cere, in the Chateau de Bras, which my father had bought shortly +before his death, I welcomed with pleasure a mission which would +allow me not only to be of service to Marshal Murat but also to +go and spend several days with my mother. Marshal Augereau lent +me a fine carriage and I set off on the road to Paris. But the +heat and insomnia so excited my poor companion that he went from +a state of idiocy to one of mania and nearly killed me with a +blow from a coach spanner. I have never made a more disagreeable +journey. I arrived at last in Paris, and I took Lieutenant N... +to Murat, who was staying for the summer at the Chateau de +Neuilly. The marshal asked me to take the lieutenant to Quercy. I +agreed to do so, in the hope of being able to see my mother +again, but I pointed out that I could not leave for twenty-four +hours, because Marshal Augereau had given me some despatches for +the Emperor, whom I was going to meet at Rambouillet, to where I +reported officially the same day. + +I do not know what was in the despatches which I was carrying, +but they made the Emperor very thoughtful. He sent for M. de +Tallyrand and left with him for Paris to where he ordered me to +follow him and present myself to Marshal Duroc that evening. + +I waited for a long time in one of the salons of the Tuileries, +until Marshal Duroc, coming out of the Emperor's study, the door +of which was left half open, called for an orderly officer to get +ready set off on a long mission. But Napoleon called out, "Duroc, +that will not be necessary; we have Marbot here, who is going to +rejoin Augereau; he can push on to Berlin. Frankfurt is half way +there." So Marshal Duroc told me to prepare to go to Berlin with +the Emperor's despatches. This was disappointing as it meant that +I had to give up all hope of seeing my mother; but I had to +resign myself. I hurried to Neuilly to tell Murat what had +happened and as I believed that my new mission was very urgent, I +returned to the Tuileries; but Marshal Duroc dismissed me until +the next day. I was there at dawn: I was dismissed until evening; +then the evening of the next day, and so on for more than a week. +However, I remained patient, because each time I presented +myself, Marshal Duroc kept me for only a minute, which allowed me +time to get around Paris. I had been given quite a large sum of +money for the purpose of buying myself new uniform, so as to +appear well turned out before the king of Prussia, into whose +hands I was personally to deliver a letter from the Emperor. You +will understand that Napoleon neglected no detail when it came to +enhancing the standing of the French army in the eyes of +foreigners. + +I left at last, after taking the despatches from the Emperor, who +advised me that I should make sure that I carefully examined the +Prussian troops, their bearing, their arms, their horses, etc. M. +de Tallyrand gave me a packet for M. Laforest, the French +ambassador in Berlin, to whose embassy I was to go. On my arrival +at Maintz, which at that time was still part of French territory, +I was told that Marshal Augereau was at Wiesbaden. I reported to +him there and greatly surprised him by telling him that I was +going to Berlin on the Emperor's orders. He congratulated me and +told me to continue my journey. I travelled night and day, in +superb July weather, and arrived in Berlin somewhat weary. At +this period the Prussian roads were not yet metalled, one went +almost always at walking pace over loose soil into which the +coaches sank deeply, raising clouds of unbearable dust. + +I was given a warm welcome by M. Laforest, at whose embassy I +stayed. I was presented to the king and queen, and also to the +princes and princesses. When the king received the letter from +Napoleon, he seemed much affected. He was a fine figure of a man, +with a benevolent expression, but lacking that animation which +suggests a decisive character. The queen was really very pretty; +she had only one blemish, she always wore a large scarf, in +order, it was said, to conceal an ulcerated swelling on her neck. +For the rest, she was graceful and her expression, calm and +spiritual, was evidence of a firm personality. + +I was very well received, and since the reply which I was to take +back to the Emperor seemed so difficult to draft that it took +more than a month, the queen was pleased to invite me to the +balls and fˆtes which she gave during my stay. + +Of all the members of the royal family, the one who treated me in +the most friendly manner, or so it seemed, was Prince Louis, the +king's nephew. + +I had been warned that he hated the French, and in particular, +their Emperor, but as he was passionately interested in military +matters, he questioned me endlessly about the siege of Genoa, the +battles of Marengo and Austerlitz and also about the organisation +of our army. Prince Louis was a most handsome man, and in respect +of spirit, ability and character, the only one of the royal +family who bore any resemblance to Frederick the Great. I made +the acquaintance of several members of the court, mainly with the +officers whom I followed daily to parades and manoeuvres. I spent +my time in Berlin very pleasantly. The ambassador showed me much +attention; but in the end I discovered that he wanted me to play, +in a delicate affair, a role for which I was unsuited, so I +became very reserved. + +Now, let us examine the position of Prussia vis-…-vis France. The +despatches which I had brought concerned this matter, as I later +found out. + +In accepting from Napoleon the gift of the electorate of Hanover, +the patrimony of the English royal family, the cabinet in Berlin +had alienated not only the anti-French party but almost all of +the Prussian nation. Germanic pride was wounded by the victories +won by the French over the Austrians, and Prussia feared that its +commerce would be ruined by the war which had just been declared +against it by the cabinet in London. The queen and Prince Louis +made use of these turbulent emotions to persuade the king to make +war on France by allying himself with Russia who, though +abandoned by Austria, still hoped to take revenge for its defeat +at Austerlitz. The Emperor of Russia was further encouraged in +his plans by a Pole, his favourite aide-de-camp, Prince +Czartoryski. + +The anti-French party, which was growing daily, was not yet able +to persuade the king to break with Napoleon; but aware that it +was supported by Russia, this party redoubled its efforts, and +profited adroitly from the mistakes made by Napoleon in placing +his brother Louis on the throne of Holland, and nominating +himself as protector of the confederacy of the Rhine: acts which +were represented to the Prussian king as being steps on the path +to the re-establishment of the empire of Charlemagne. Napoleon, +it was said, wanted finally to reduce all the sovereigns of +Germany to the status of vassals. + +These assertions, though greatly exaggerated, had had a +considerable influence on the king's thinking. His conduct toward +France became from this time, more and more equivocal, and it was +this that decided Napoleon to write to him personally, without +going through the usual diplomatic channels, to ask "Are you for +me or against me?" This was the tenor of the letter which I had +given the king. His councillors who wished to gain time for the +completion of their re-armament, delayed the reply, which was the +reason for my long stay in Berlin. + +At last, in August, there was a general explosion of ill-feeling +towards France, and one saw the queen, Prince Louis, the +nobility, the army and the general populace, noisily demanding +war. The king allowed himself to become involved but, although +determined to end the peace he still hoped to avoid hostilities, +and it seems that in his reply to the Emperor he undertook to +disarm if the latter would take back to France all the troops he +had in Germany, which Napoleon was unwilling to do until Prussia +had disarmed. So we were in a vicious circle which could be +broken only by a war. + +Before I left Berlin, I witnessed the frenzy to which hatred of +Napoleon raised this normally placid people. The officers whom I +knew no longer dared to speak to me or even to greet me. Several +French people were insulted by the populace, and finally soldiers +of the Royal Guard came boastfully to sharpen their sabres on the +stone steps of the French embassy. I left hurriedly for Paris, +taking with me much information on what was going on in Prussia. +Passing through Frankfurt, I found Marshal Augereau very sad at +having heard of the death of his wife, a good, excellent woman +whose loss he felt deeply, and who was mourned by all the general +staff, for she had been very kind to us. + +On my arrival in Paris, I delivered to the Emperor the +hand-written reply from the King of Prussia. After reading it, he +questioned me on what I had seen in Berlin. When I told him that +the soldiers of the guard had come to sharpen their sabres on the +steps of the French embassy, he clapped his hand firmly on the +hilt of his sword, exclaiming indignantly, "The insolent +braggarts will soon learn that our arms are in good order!" + +My mission now being over, I returned to Marshal Augereau, and +spent all of September in Frankfurt where, while preparing +ourselves for war, we entertained ourselves as best we could, for +we thought that as nothing could be more uncertain than the life +of a soldier, one should enjoy it as much as is possible. + +Chap. 29. + +While the different corps of the French army were approaching the +banks of the Main, the Emperor arrived at Wurtzburg and crossed +the Rhine with his Guard. The Prussians, for their part, were on +the march, and going through Saxony, they compelled the elector +to join forces with them. This enforced, and therefore unstable, +alliance was the only one which the King of Prussia had in +Germany. He was, it is true, expecting the arrival of the +Russians, but their army was still in Poland behind the Niemen, +more than one hundred and fifty leagues from the country where +the destiny of Prussia was to be decided. + +It is hard to believe the incompetence displayed, for seven +years, by our enemies' governments. We saw, in 1805, the +Austrians attack us on the Danube, and be defeated in isolation +at Ulm, instead of waiting for Russia to join them and for +Prussia to declare war on Napoleon. Now, in 1806, those same +Prussians who, a year before, could have prevented the defeat of +the Austro-Russians by joining them, not only declared war on us +when we were at peace with Vienna, but repeated the mistake of +attacking us without waiting for the Russians! Finally, in 1809, +the Austrians renewed the war against Napoleon on their own, at a +time when we were at peace with both Prussia and Russia! This +lack of co-operation ensured a French victory. Sadly it was not +so in 1813, when we were crushed by a coalition of our enemies. + +In 1806 the King of Prussia was even more mistaken in taking to +the field against Napoleon in the absence of the Russians, in +that his troops, although well trained, were in no condition to +be pitted against ours, because their composition and +organisation were so bad. + +In effect, at this time, Prussian captains were the owners of +their company or squadron: men, horses, arms and clothing all +belonged to them and the whole unit was hired out to the +government for a fixed fee. Obviously, since all losses fell to +their account, the captains had a great interest in sparing their +companies, not only on the march but on the field of battle. As +the number of men they were obliged to have was fixed and there +was no conscription, they enrolled for money, first any Prussians +who came forward, and then all the vagabonds of Europe, whom +their recruiters enlisted in neighbouring states. But this was +not enough, and the Prussian recruiters pressed many men into +service, who having become soldiers against their will, were +compelled to serve until they were too old to bear arms; then +they were given a permit to beg, for Prussia could not afford to +provide a home for old soldiers or a retirement pension. For the +duration of their service these men had to be mixed with true +Prussians, who had to constitute at least half of each company to +prevent mutiny. + +To maintain an army composed of such heterogeneous parts required +an iron discipline; so the least fault was punished by beating. A +large number of N.C.O.s, all of them Prussian, carried canes +which they made use of frequently, and according to the current +expression there was a cane for every seven men. The penalty for +desertion by a foreign soldier was inevitably death. You can +imagine the frightful position of these foreigners, who having +enlisted in a moment of drunkenness, or been taken by force, +found themselves far from their native land, under a glacial sky, +condemned to be Prussian soldiers, that is slaves, for the rest +of their lives! And what a life it was! Given scarcely enough to +eat. Sleeping on straw. Thinly clad. Without greatcoats, even in +the coldest winter, and paid a sum insufficient for their needs; +they did not wait to beg until they had been given a permit on +their discharge, for when they were not under the eyes of their +superiors, they held out their hands, and there were several +occasions both at Potsdam and Berlin when Grenadiers, even those +at the palace gate, begged me for alms! + +The Prussian-born officers were, in general, educated men, who +performed their duties very well; but half of the officers, born +outside the kingdom, were poor gentlemen from almost every +country in Europe who had joined the army only to have a living, +and lacking patriotism, were in no way devoted to Prussia, which +the majority abandoned when there was any adversity. Finally, as +promotion was only by length of service, the great majority of +senior Prussian officers were old and infirm, and in no state to +support the fatigues of war. It was an army thus composed and +commanded which was to confront the victors of Italy, Egypt, +Germany and Austerlitz. This was folly. But the cabinet in +Berlin, recalling the victories which Frederick the Great had won +with mercenary troops, hoped things would be the same. They +forgot that times had changed. + +On the 6th of October Marshal Augereau and 7th Corps left +Frankfurt to head, with the rest of the Grande Armee, for the +frontiers of Saxony, already occupied by the Prussians. The +autumn was superb; it froze a little during the night, but by day +there was brilliant sunshine. My little troupe was well +organised; I had a good batman, Francois Woirland, a former +soldier in the black legion, a real rascal and a great scrounger, +but these are the best servants on a campaign, for with one of +them one lacks for nothing. I had three excellent horses, good +weapons, a little money and good health; so I stepped out gaily +to face whatever the future might bring. + +We went first to Aschaffenburg and from there to Wurtzburg, where +we caught up with the Emperor, who ordered a march-past by the +troops of 7th Corps, who were in good heart. Napoleon who kept a +dossier about all the regiments, and who skillfully used to +employ extracts from it to flatter the self-esteem of each unit, +said when he saw the 44th line regiment, "Of all the units of the +army you are the one with the most long service chevrons, so your +three battalions I count as six!"...an announcement which was +greeted by cheers. To the 7th, composed mostly of men from the +lower Languedoc and the Pyrenees, the Emperor said, "There are +the best marchers in the army, one never sees anyone fall behind, +particularly when there is a battle to be fought." Then he added, +laughingly, "But, to do you justice, I must say that you are the +most brawling, thieving unit in the army!" "It's true! It's +true!" replied the soldiers, each of whom had a duck, a chicken +or a goose in his knapsack, an abuse which had to be tolerated, +because, as I have told you, Napoleon's armies, once in the +field, rarely received any rations, and had to live off the +country as well as they could. This system had without doubt many +defects, but it had one huge benefit, that of allowing us to move +forward without being held up by convoys and supply lines, which +gave us a great advantage over an enemy whose movements were +subordinated to the cook-house, or the arrival of bread, and to +the progress of herds of cattle, etc...etc. + +From Wurtzburg, 7th Corps went to Coburg, where the marshal was +lodged in the prince's palace. All his family had fled on our +approach, except the celebrated Austrian Field-marshal, the +Prince of Coburg. This old warrior, although he had fought for +many years against the French, had enough confidence in the +French character to await their coming, a confidence which was +not misplaced, for Marshal Augereau sent him a guard of honour, +returned promptly a visit he had received, and ordered that he +was to be treated with the utmost respect. + +We were not very far from the Prussians, whose king was at +Erfurt. The queen was with him and rode up and down the ranks of +the army on horseback, endeavouring to excite their ardour by her +presence. Napoleon did not think that this was behaviour +befitting a princess, and his bulletins made some wounding +comments on the subject. The French and Prussian advance-guards +met eventually, at Schleitz: where there took place, in view of +the Emperor, a minor action in which the enemy were defeated; it +was for them an ill-omened beginning. + +That same day, Prince Louis, with a body of ten thousand men, +found himself stationed in Saalfeld. This town is on the bank of +the River Saale, in the middle of a plain which we could reach +only by crossing some steep mountains. While Marshals Lannes' and +Augereau's corps were moving toward Saalfeld through these +mountains, Prince Louis, who had decided to await the French, +should have occupied positions in this difficult country, full of +narrow passes, where a few men could hold up a much greater +number, but he failed to do this, probably because he was +convinced that the Prussian soldiers were infinitely better than +the French. He carried this scorn for all precautions so far as +to place part of his force in front of a marshy stream, which +would make their retreat very difficult in the event of a +reverse. Old General Muller, a Swiss in the service of Prussia, +whom the king had attached to his nephew as a steadying +influence, made some observations which the prince took very +badly, adding that there was no need to take precautions to beat +the French, all that was needed was to fall on them the moment +they appeared. + +They appeared in the morning on the 10th; Marshal Lannes' corps +leading and Marshal Augereau's behind him. This last did not +arrive in time to take part in the action where, as it happened, +their presence was not needed, for Marshal Lannes' troops were +more than sufficient. + +While waiting for his corps to emerge onto the plain, Marshal +Augereau, accompanied by his staff, went up onto a little hill +which overlooked the open country, from where we could follow all +stages of the action. + +Prince Louis could still have retreated to join the Prussian +corps which occupied Jena; but having been the leading instigator +of the war he perhaps felt he should not do so without a fight. +He was most cruelly punished for his temerity. Marshal Lannes, +making use of the heights, at the foot of which Prince Louis had +imprudently deployed his troops, first raked them with grape-shot +from his artillery, and when this had demoralised them, he +advanced several masses of infantry, which descending rapidly +from the high ground, swept like a torrent onto the Prussian +battalions and instantly overwhelmed them! Prince Louis, aghast, +and probably aware of his mistake, hoped to repair it by putting +himself at the head of his cavalry and impetuously attacking the +9th and 10th Hussars. He had at first some success, but our +Hussars having made a new and furious charge, drove the Prussians +back into the marshes, while their infantry fled in disorder. + +In the middle of the melee, Prince Louis found himself engaged +with a sous-officier of the 10th Hussars named Guindet, who +summoned him to surrender; the prince replied with a slash of his +sword which cut the sous-officier's face, who thereupon ran the +prince through and killed him. + +After the fight and the complete rout of the enemy, the prince's +body having been recognised, Marshal Lannes had it carried with +honour to the chateau of Saalfeld, where it was handed to the +princely family of that name, who were allied to the royal house +of Prussia, and in whose residence the prince had spent the +previous day and evening, looking forward to the coming of the +French, and even, it is said, giving a ball for the local ladies. +Now he was returned to them, vanquished and dead!... The next +morning I saw the prince's body, laid out on a marble table, all +traces of blood had been cleaned away, he was naked to the waist, +still wearing his leather britches and his boots. He seemed to be +asleep. He was a truly fine looking man, and I could not help +indulging in some sad reflections on the uncertainty of human +affairs, when I saw the remains of this young man, born on the +steps of a throne, and, but lately, so loved, so courted and so +powerful! + +The news of the prince's death spread consternation in the enemy +army, and also throughout Prussia, where he was highly popular. + +7th Corps spent the day of the 11th at Saalfeld. On the 12th we +went to Neustadt, and on the 13th to Kehla, where we encountered +some remains of the Prussian troops defeated at Saalfeld. When +Marshal Augereau attacked them, they put up little resistance and +laid down their arms. Amongst those captured was the regiment of +Prince Henry in which Augereau had once served as a soldier, and +since, unless one was of high birth, it was very difficult to +become a senior officer in the Prussian army, and as sergeants +never became second lieutenants, his former company still had the +same captain and the same sergeant-major. Placed by a quirk of +fate in the presence of his one-time soldier, now a marshal, the +Prussian captain, who remembered Augereau perfectly well, acted +as a man of discretion and spoke always to the marshal as if he +had never seen him before. Augereau invited him to dinner and +seated him next to himself, then, learning that the officer's +baggage had been seized, he lent him all the money he needed and +gave him letters of introduction to take to France. What must +have passed through the captain's mind! But nothing can describe +the astonishment of the old Prussian sergeant-major at seeing his +former soldier covered with decorations, surrounded by a numerous +staff and in command of an army corps! All of which seemed like a +dream! The marshal was more expansive toward this man than he had +been toward the captain. Addressing the sergeant by name, he +shook him by the hand, and arranged for him to be given +twenty-five louis for himself and two for every soldier who had +been in the ranks with him and was still there. We thought this +behaviour was in the best of taste. + +The marshal had expected to sleep at Kehla, which is only three +leagues from Jena; but just as night was falling 7th Corps was +ordered to go immediately to this last town which the Emperor had +just entered, at the head of his guard and the troops of Marshal +Lannes, without striking a blow. + +The Prussians had abandoned Jena in silence, but some candles, +forgotten in the stables, had probably started the fire, the +spreading flames of which were consuming part of the unfortunate +town when Marshal Augereau's corps entered it at about midnight. +It was a sorry spectacle to see the inhabitants, women and old +people, half naked, carrying their children and seeking to escape +by flight from the scene of destruction, while our soldiers, kept +in their ranks by discipline and the nearness of the enemy, +remained unmoved, their arms at the ready, regarding the fire as +a small matter in comparison to the dangers they would soon have +to face. + +The part of the town through which our troops arrived was not +affected by the fire and so they could move around freely, and +while they were gathering in the squares and main streets, the +marshal set up his headquarters in a nice looking mansion. I was +about to enter, on returning from delivering an order, when I +heard loud shrieks coming from a nearby house, the door of which +was open. I hurried there and guided by the cries I found my way +to a well-appointed apartment where I saw two charming girls, of +about eighteen to twenty years of age, dressed only in their +chemises, struggling against the advances of four or five +soldiers from Hesse-Darmstadt, belonging to the regiments which +the landgrave had attached to the French troops of 7th Corps. +Although these men, who were drunk, understood not a word of +French, and I spoke little German, my appearance and my threats +took them aback, and being used to beatings from their own +officers, they made no retaliation to the kicks and cuffs which +in my indignation I distributed freely in driving them +downstairs. In this I was perhaps a little imprudent, for in the +middle of the night, in a town in utter confusion there was a +risk that they might turn on me and even kill me; but they ran +away, and I put a platoon of the marshal's escort in one of the +lower rooms. + +I went up to the apartment where the two young girls had +hurriedly dressed themselves, and was rewarded by their warmest +expressions of gratitude. They were the daughters of a university +professor, who had gone with his wife and the domestic staff to +the aid of one of their sisters, who had recently given birth in +that part of the town where the fire was raging, and they had +been alone when the Hessian soldiers arrived. One of these young +ladies said to me with great emotion, "You are going into battle +at a time when you have just saved our honour. God will reward +you, you may be sure that no harm will come to you." The father +and the mother, who came back at this moment with the new mother +and her child were at first much surprised to find me there; but +when they learned the reason for my presence they too showered me +with blessings. I tore myself away from the thanks of this +grateful family to rejoin Marshal Augereau, who was reposing in +the nearby mansion, awaiting the Emperor's orders. + +Chap. 30. + +The town of Jena is dominated by a height called the +Landgrafenberg, at the foot of which runs the Saale River. The +approaches to Jena are very precipitous, and at that time there +was only one road, which ran to Wiemar via Muhlthal, a long and +difficult pass, the outlet of which was covered by a small wood +and guarded by Saxon troops, allies of the Prussians; a part of +whose army was drawn up in line behind them at the distance of a +cannon shot. + +The Emperor, having only this one route by which he could reach +his enemies, expected to suffer heavy losses in a frontal attack, +for there seemed to be no way in which they could be outflanked. +But Napoleon's lucky star once more came to his aid, in an +unexpected way, which I do not believe has been related by any +historian, although I can vouch for the truth of it happening. + +We have seen that the King of Prussia compelled the elector of +Saxony to join forces with him. The people of Saxony saw +themselves, with regret, drawn into a war which could procure +them no advantage in the future, and which for the present +brought desolation to the countryside, which was the theatre for +the hostilities. The Prussians were therefore detested in Saxony; +and Jena, a Saxon town, shared in this detestation. + +A priest who belonged to the town, angered at the fire which was +consuming it, and regarding the Prussians as enemies of his king +and fatherland, believed he could give Napoleon the means of +clearing them out of the country, by showing him a little pathway +by which a body of infantrymen might climb the steep slopes of +the Landgrafenberg. He led there a platoon of light infantry and +some officers of the general staff. The Prussians, who thought +this pathway impracticable, had not bothered to guard it, but +Napoleon thought differently. As a result of the report given him +by his officers, he went up himself, guided by the Saxon cure, +and accompanied by Marshal Lannes; he saw that, between the +heights of the path and the plain occupied by the enemy, there +was a small stony plateau, and he decided to concentrate there a +body of troops who would sally from it, as if from a citadel, to +attack the Prussians. + +The undertaking would have been of unsurmountable difficulty for +anyone but a Napoleon in command of French soldiers; but he +ordered the tools used by the pioneers to be taken from the +wagons of the engineers and the artillery and distributed to the +infantry battalions, who worked in rotation for one hour each at +widening and levelling the pathway, and when they had finished +their task, each battalion formed up in silence on the +Landgrafenberg, while another took its place. The work was +carried on by the light of torches, whose flames were confused in +the eyes of the enemy with the fires in Jena. + +The nights are very long at this time of year, so that we were +able to make the path accessible not only for foot-soldiers but +also for the wagons of the artillery, with the result that, +before daybreak, the corps of Marshals Lannes and Soult, the +first division of Augereau's, as well as the foot guards, were +massed on the Landgrafenberg. Never has the term massed been used +with more exactitude, for the chest of each man was almost +touching the back of the man in front of him; but the troops were +so well disciplined that, in spite of the darkness and the +crowding together of more than forty thousand men, there was not +the least disorder; and although the enemy were occupying +villages less than half a cannon shot away, they heard nothing. + +On the morning of October 14th, a thick mist covered the +countryside, which favoured our movements; Augereau's second +division, making a diversionary attack, advanced from Jena via +Muhlthal on the road to Weimar. As the enemy believed that this +was the only way by which we could come from Jena, they had +placed a considerable force there; but while they prepared to +conduct a vigourous defence of this pass, Napoleon, bringing down +from the Landgrafenberg the troops which he had accumulated there +during the night, drew them up in battle order on the plain. A +light breeze having dispersed the mist, which was followed by +brilliant sunshine, the Prussians were stupefied to see the lines +of the French army deployed opposite them and advancing to engage +them in battle. They could not understand how we had got there +when they thought we were down in the valley of Jena, with no +other means of reaching them but the road to Wiemar, which they +were guarding so thoroughly. + +The battle began immediately and the first lines of the Prussians +and Saxons, commanded by Prince Hohenlohe, were forced to +retreat. They advanced their reserves, but we received a +powerful reinforcement. Marshal Ney's corps and Murat's cavalry +which had been held up in the pass, burst out into the plain and +took part in the action. However a Prussian army corps commanded +by General Ruchel stopped our columns for a time; but charged by +French cavalry it was almost entirely wiped out and General +Ruchel was killed. + +Marshal Augereau's 1st division, coming down from the +Landgrafenberg, joined with the 2nd, arriving from Muhlthal, and +with the troops of Marshals Lannes and Soult, they proceeded down +the road to Wiemar, capturing enemy positions as they went. + +The Prussian infantry, whose poor composition I have already +described, fought very badly, and the cavalry not much better. +One saw them on several occasions advance, with loud shouts, +towards our battalions; but, intimidated by their calm bearing, +they never dared charge home; at a distance of fifty paces from +our line they shamefully turned about, amid a hail of bullets and +the jeers of our men. + +The Saxons fought with courage; they resisted Marshal Augereau's +corps for a long time, and it was not until after the retreat of +the Prussian troops that, having formed themselves into two large +squares, they began to withdraw while continuing to fire. Marshal +Augereau admired the courage of the Saxons, and to prevent +further loss of life, he had just sent an envoy to persuade them +to surrender, since they had no longer any hope of relief, when +Prince Murat arrived with his cavalry and mounted an attack with +his Cuirassiers and dragoons, who charging impetuously the Saxon +squares, overwhelmed them and forced them to lay down their arms. +The next day, however, the Emperor set them at liberty and +restored them to their sovereign, with whom he hastened to make +peace. + +All the Prussian troops who had fought before Jena, retreated in +a complete rout along the road to Weimar, at whose gates the +fugitives, their baggage and artillery had piled up, when +suddenly the squadrons of the French cavalry appeared! At the +sight of them, panic spread through the crowd of Prussians, who +fled in utter disorder, leaving us with a great number of +prisoners, flags, guns and baggage. + +The town of Weimar, called by some the new Athens, was inhabited +at this period by a great number of scholars, artists and +distinguished authors, who had gathered there under the patronage +of the ruling duke, an enlightened protector of the arts and +sciences. The noise of guns, the passage of the fugitives and +the entry of the victors caused a great stir in this peaceful and +studious population; but Marshals Lannes and Soult maintained a +firm discipline, and apart from having to provide food for the +soldiers, the town suffered no outrage. The Prince of Weimar +served in the Prussian army, nevertheless his palace, where the +princess, his wife, was living, was respected and none of the +marshals took up residence there. + +Marshal Augereau's headquarters were established at the town +gates, in the house of the prince's head gardener. All the +inhabitants of the house having taken flight, the general staff +found nothing to eat, and had to sup on some pineapples and plums +from the hot-houses. This was a very light diet for people who, +without food for twenty-four hours, had spent the preceding night +on foot and all day fighting! But we were the victors, and that +magical word enabled us to support all our privations. + +The Emperor went back to sleep at Jena, where he learned of a +success no less great than that which he had just achieved +himself. The battle of Jena was a double battle, if one may use +the expression, for neither the French nor the Prussian armies +were united at Jena, they were each divided into two parts and +fought two different battles: so that while the Emperor, at the +head of the corps of Augereau, Lannes, Soult and Ney, his guard +and the cavalry of Murat, was defeating the corps of Prince +Hohenlohe and General Ruchel. The King of Prussia, at the head of +his main army, commanded by the celebrated Prince of Brunswick, +Marshals Mollendorf and Kalkreuth had left Weimar, and on their +way to Naumburg had settled for the night at the village of +Auerstadt, not far from the French corps of Davout and +Bernadotte, who were in the villages around Naumburg. In order to +rejoin the Emperor, who was at Apolda, in the plain beyond Jena, +Davout and Bernadotte had to cross the Saale before Naumburg and +traverse the narrow hilly pass of Kosen. Although Davout thought +that the King of Prussia with the main body of his army was +facing the Emperor, and not so close to him at Auerstadt, this +vigilant warrior secured, during the night, the Kosen pass and +its steep slopes which the King of Prussia and his marshals had +neglected to occupy, thus making the same mistake as Prince +Hohenlohe made at Jena in failing to guard the Landgrafenberg. +The combined forces of Bernadotte and Davout did not amount to +more than forty-four thousand men, while the King of Prussia had +eighty thousand at Auerstadt. + +From daybreak on the 14th, the two French marshals realised that +they had to face much superior numbers; it was their duty then to +act in unison. Davout, aware of this necessity, volunteered to +put himself under the command of Bernadotte, but the latter +jibbed at the idea of a shared victory, and unwilling to +subordinate his personal interests to the welfare of his country, +he decided to act on his own; and on the pretext that the Emperor +had ordered him to be at Dornburg on the 13th, he decided to make +his way there on the 14th, although Napoleon had written to him +during the night to say that, if he was still in Naumburg, he +should stay there and support Davout. Not finding the situation +to his liking, Bernadotte left Davout to defend himself as best +he could and, going down the Saale, he settled himself at +Dornburg where, although he came across no enemies, he could see +from the elevated position which he occupied, the desperate +battle being fought by the gallant Davout some two leagues away. +Meanwhile he ordered his men to set up their bivouacs and to +start preparing a meal. His generals complained to him in vain at +this culpable inaction; Bernadotte would not budge, so that +Marshal Davout, with no more than twenty-five thousand men, +comprising the divisions of Friant, Morland and Gudin, faced +almost eighty thousand Prussians animated by the presence of +their king. + +The French, after emerging from the narrow pass of Kosen, formed +up near the village of Hassenhausen; it was here that the real +battle took place, because the Emperor was mistaken when he +thought that he had before him at Jena the king and the bulk of +the Prussian army. The action fought by Davout's men was one of +the most terrible in our annals. His divisions, having +successfully resisted all the attacks of the enemy infantry, +formed into squares and repelled numerous cavalry charges, and +not content with this, they advanced with such resolution that +the Prussians fell back at every point leaving the ground strewn +with dead and wounded. The Prince of Brunswick and General +Schmettau were killed, Marshal Mollendorf was seriously wounded +and taken prisoner. + +The King of Prussia and his troops at first carried out their +retreat towards Weimar in reasonably good order, hoping to rally +there behind the forces of Prince Hohenlohe and General Ruchel, +whom they supposed to have been victorious, while the latter, +having been defeated by Napoleon, were for their part, on their +way to seek support from the troops led by the king. Those two +enormous masses of soldiers, beaten and demoralised, met on the +road to Erfurt; it needed only the appearance of some French +regiments to throw them into utter confusion. The rout was total, +and was a just punishment for the bragging of the Prussian +officers. The results of this victory were incalculable, and made +us masters of almost all Prussia. + +The Emperor showed his great satisfaction with Marshal Davout and +with the divisions of Morand, Friant and Gudin by an order of the +day, which was read out to all companies and even in the +ambulances carrying the wounded. The following year Napoleon +created Davout Duke of Auerstadt, although he had fought less +there than in the village of Hassenhausen; but the King of +Prussia had had his headquarters at Auerstadt, and the Prussians +had given this name to the battle which the French called the +battle of Jena. + +The army expected to see Bernadotte severely punished, but he got +away with a sharp reprimand; Napoleon was afraid of upsetting his +brother Joseph, whose sister-in-law, Mlle. Clary, Bernadotte had +just married. We shall see later how Bernadotte's behaviour +during the battle of Auerstadt served, in a way, as a first step +towards mounting the throne of Sweden. + +I was not wounded at Jena, but I was tricked in a way that still +rankles after forty years. At a time when Augereau's corps was +attacking the Saxons, the marshal sent me to carry a message to +General Durosnel, who commanded a brigade of Chasseurs, ordering +him to charge the enemy cavalry. It was my job to guide the +brigade along a route which I had already reconnoitred. I hurried +away and put myself at the head of our Chasseurs, who threw +themselves on the Saxon squadrons. The Saxons put up a stiff +resistance and there was a general melee, but eventually our +adversaries were forced to retreat with losses. Towards the end +of the fighting, I found myself facing an officer of Hussars, +wearing the white uniform of Prince Albert of Saxony's regiment. +I held the point of my sabre against him and called on him to +surrender, which he did, handing me his sword. As the fighting +was over, I generously gave it back to him, as was the usual +practice among officers in these circumstances, and I added that +although his horse, under the conventions of war, belonged to me, +I did not wish to deprive him of it. He gave me many thanks for +this kind treatment and followed me as I returned to the marshal, +very pleased with myself for bringing back a prisoner. But when +we were about five hundred paces from the Chasseurs, this +confounded Saxon officer, who was on my left, drew his sabre, +wounded my horse on the shoulder and was about to strike me if I +had not thrown myself on him. Although I had no sabre in my hand, +our bodies were so close that he did not have room to swing his +sabre at me, so he grabbed my epaulet, and pulled me off balance, +my saddle slipped under my horse's belly and there I was with one +leg in the air and my head hanging down, while the Saxon made off +at full speed to rejoin the remains of the enemy army. I was +furious, partly at the position I was in, and partly at the +ingratitude with which this foreigner had repaid my courtesy. So +when the Saxon army had been made prisoners, I went to look for +my Hussar officer, to teach him a lesson, but he had disappeared. + +I have said that the Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt, our new ally, had +joined his troops to the Emperor's. This brigade had uniforms +exactly like those of the Prussians, so several of their soldiers +were killed or wounded mistakenly during the action. The young +Lieutenant De Stoch, my friend, was on the point of meeting the +same fate, and had already been seized by our Hussars, when, +having seen me, he called out to me and I had him released. + +The Emperor rewarded most generously the priest of Jena, and the +elector of Saxony, having become king as a result of the +victories of his ally Napoleon, rewarded him also; so that he +lived very comfortably until 1814 when he took refuge in France +to escape from the vengeance of the Prussians. They, however, had +him taken up and shut away in a fortress where he spent two or +three years. Eventually, the King of Saxony having interceded on +his behalf with Louis XVIII, the latter reclaimed the priest on +the grounds that he had been arrested without proper authority, +and the Prussians having released him, he came to live in Paris. +After the victory at Jena, the Emperor ordered a general pursuit +of our enemies, and our columns took an enormous number of +prisoners. + +The King of Prussia had great difficulty in reaching Magdeburg +and getting from there to Berlin, and it was said that the queen +nearly fell into the hands of the scouts of our advance-guard. + +It would take too long to detail all the disasters which befell +the Prussian army; it is enough to say that of those troops who +marched to attack the French, not a battalion escaped; they were +all captured before the end of the month. The fortresses of +Torgau, Erfurt and Wittemburg opened their gates to the victors +who, having crossed the Elbe at several points--Augereau's corps +crossing near Dessau--headed for Berlin. + +Napoleon stopped at Potsdam, where he visited the tomb of +Frederick the Great; then he went to Berlin where, contrary to +his usual practice, he wished to make a triumphal entry. Marshal +Davout's corps headed the procession; an honour to which it was +entitled as it had done more fighting than the others. Then came +Augereau's corps and then the guard. + +Chap. 31. + +On my return to Berlin which, when I had left it not long ago, +had been so brilliant, I could not help having some sad +reflections. The populace, then so self-confident, was now +gloomy, downcast, and much afflicted, for the Prussians are very +patriotic: they felt humiliated by the defeat of their army and +the occupation of their country by the French; besides which +almost every family had to mourn a relative or friend killed or +captured in battle. I had every sympathy with their feelings; but +I must confess that I experienced quite a different sentiment +when I saw, entering Berlin as prisoners of war, walking sadly, +dismounted and disarmed, the regiment of the so-called Noble +Gendarmes; those same arrogant young officers who had so +insolently come to sharpen their sabres on the steps of the +French embassy!....Nothing could depict their shame and abasement +at finding themselves defeated by those same Frenchmen whom they +had boasted they would put to flight by their mere presence. They +had asked that they might go round Berlin without entering it, to +avoid the painful experience of filing as prisoners through the +town where they were so well known and where the inhabitants had +witnessed their bragging; but this is precisely why the Emperor +ordered them to pass between two lines of French soldiers, who +directed them down the road in which stood the French embassy. +The inhabitants of Berlin did not disapprove of this little act +of revenge, since they greatly disliked the Noble Gendarmes whom +they accused of having pushed the king into the war. + +Marshal Augereau was billeted outside the town, in the chateau of +Bellevue, which belonged to Prince Ferdinand, the only one of +Frederick the Great's brothers who was still living. This +venerable old man, the father of Prince Louis who was recently +killed at Saalefeld, was afflicted by grief made even more bitter +by the fact that, against the opinion of all the court and also +that of the son whom he mourned, he had strongly opposed the war, +and had predicted the misfortunes which it would bring upon +Prussia. Marshal Augereau thought it his duty to visit the +prince, who had withdrawn to a dwelling in the town. He was +received most politely; the unhappy father told the marshal that +he had learned that his young son, Prince Auguste, the only one +left to him, was at the town gate in a column of prisoners, and +that he longed to embrace him before he was sent off to France. +Since Prince Ferdinand's great age prevented him from going to +look for his son, the marshal, sure that Napoleon would not +object, told me to mount my horse right away, to go and find +Prince Auguste, and to bring him back. Which I did. + +The arrival of the young prince gave rise to the most moving +scene. His elderly parents could not stop embracing this son, who +recalled to them the loss of the other. To console them as much +as lay within his power, the good marshal went to the Emperor's +quarters and came back with authority for the young prince to +remain, on parole, in the bosom of his family. A favour for which +Prince Ferdinand was infinitely grateful. + +The victory at Jena had had the most profound effect. Complete +demoralisation had gripped not only the troops in the field, but +the garrisons of the fortresses. Magdeburg surrendered without +making any attempt at resistance; Spandau did the same; Stettin +opened its gates to a division of cavalry, and the governor of +Custrin sent boats across the Oder to fetch the French troops; +who without this help would not have been able to take the place +without several months of siege. Every day one heard of the +surrender of some unit of the army or the capitulation of some +fortress. The faulty organisation of the Prussian army became +more evident than ever; the foreigners, in particular those who +had been enlisted against their will, took the occasion to +recover their liberty, and deserted in droves, or stayed behind +to give themselves up to the French. + +To the conquest of the Prussians, Napoleon added the confiscation +of the states of the Elector of Hesse-Cassel, whose duplicity had +earned him this punishment. This prince, who had been requested +some time before the war to declare himself a supporter of either +France or Prussia, lulled both parties with promises, with the +intention of coming down on the side of the victor. An avaricious +sovereign, the Elector had amassed a great fortune by selling his +own people to the English, who used them to fight against the +Americans in the War of Independence, in which many of them +perished. Careless of his people's welfare, he had offered to +join his troops to the French force on condition that the Emperor +would cede to him the French American states. So no one was very +sorry for the Elector, whose precipitous departure occasioned an +event which is still not generally known. + +Compelled to leave Hesse in a hurry, to take refuge in England, +the Elector, who was regarded as one of the richest people in +Europe, was unable to take with him all his wealth. So he sent +for a Jew from Frankfurt by the name of Rothschild, a small-time +banker and not well known, but respected for the scrupulous +devotion with which he practised his religion: and it was this +that decided the Elector to confide to his care some fifteen +million in specie. The interest earned on this money was to +belong to the banker, who was obliged to return only the capital. + +When the palace of Cassel was occupied by our troops, agents of +the French treasury seized a considerable quantity of valuables, +mainly pictures, but did not find any money. It seemed +impossible, however, that the Elector, in his hurried flight, had +been able to take with him all his immense fortune. Now, as +according to what are called the laws of war, the monies found in +an enemy country belong to the victor, one wished to find out +what had become of the treasure of Cassel. Information gathered +on the subject disclosed that, before his departure, the Elector +had spent a whole day with the Jew Rothschild. An imperial +commission went to the latter's house, where his account books +and his strong-boxes were minutely examined; but in vain, for no +trace could be found of a deposit made by the Elector. Threats +and intimidation produced no result, so the commission, convinced +that no material interest would persuade a man so religious to +perjure himself, wished to put him on oath. This he refused to +accept. His arrest was considered but the Emperor was opposed to +this act of violence because he thought it would be useless. +Resort was then had to less honourable methods; it was proposed +to the banker that he might retain half of the treasure if he +would deliver the other half to the French administration; they +would then give him a receipt for the full amount, accompanied by +an order of seizure, proving that he had given way only to force +and was thus shielded from any claim for restitution; but the +upright Jew rejected this suggestion, and, tired of the struggle, +they left him alone. + +So the fifteen million remained in the hands of Rothschild from +1806 to the fall of the empire in 1814. Then, when the Elector +had returned to his state, the Frankfurt banker handed over to +him the exact sum which he had deposited. You may imagine how +much interest might be earned by the sum of fifteen millions left +in the hands of a Jewish Frankfurt banker for a period of eight +years! It is from this time that dates the opulence of the House +of the Brothers Rothschild, who owe to the probity of their +founder the high financial standing which they enjoy today. + +The Emperor, who was staying in the palace in Berlin, every day +passed in revue the troops who arrived in succession in the town, +to march from there to the Oder in pursuit of the enemy. It was +while he was in Berlin that he performed a well known act of +magnanimity in pardoning, for the Princess of Hatzfeld, her +husband, who had used his position as burgomaster of Berlin to +give the Prussian generals information about the movement of +French troops; an act of espionage punishable by death. The +generosity displayed by the Emperor on this occasion had a very +good effect on the feelings of the Prussians. + +During our stay in Berlin, I was pleasantly surprised by the +arrival of my brother Adolphe, who, on learning of the fresh +outbreak of hostilities on the continent of Europe had asked for +and obtained from General Decaen, who commanded the French troops +in India, permission to return to France, where he joined the +Grande Armee. He was offered a position by General Lefebvre, but, +mistakenly, in my opinion, he chose to serve as a supernumerary +on the staff of Marshal Augereau, of which I was a member, a move +which did neither of us any good. + +I had also in Berlin another unexpected encounter. I was walking +one evening with some friends along the Boulevard de Tilleuls, +when I saw coming towards me a group of sous-officiers of the 1st +Hussars. One of them broke away and ran to fall on my neck. It +was my former tutor, the elder Pertelay who, with tears of joy +cried "Te voil…, mon petit!" The officers with whom I was, were +at first astonished to see a sergeant-major so familiar with an +officer; but their surprise vanished when I told them of my +former relations with this old soldier, who, putting his arm +round me, said to his companions, "It is I who made him what you +now see before you!" And the good fellow was really convinced +that I owed my present position to his teaching. So at dinner, +which I stood him the next day, he overwhelmed me with +inconsequential advice, which he believed to be very sensible and +just the thing to perfect my military education. We shall meet +this type of old Hussar again in Spain. + +Napoleon, who was still in Berlin, was told of the surrender of +the Prince Hohenlohe who, with sixteen thousand men, had laid +down his arms at Prenzlow before the troops of Marshal Lannes and +the cavalry of Murat. There was no other enemy corps in the field +except that of General Blucher. This general, hard pressed by the +divisions of Marshals Soult and Bernadotte, violated the +neutrality of Lubeck, where he sought refuge; but the French +pursued him, and Blucher, one of the most ardent supporters of +the war against Napoleon, was forced to give himself up as a +prisoner together with the sixteen thousand men under his +command. + +I must here tell you something remarkable, which shows how +greatly chance influences the affairs of men and empires. We have +seen Marshal Bernadotte failing in his duty and standing aside at +Jena when Marshal Davout was fighting, not far from him, against +infinitely superior forces. Well! This disgraceful conduct served +to place him on the throne of Sweden. This is how it came about. + +After the battle of Jena, the Emperor, although furious with +Bernadotte, ordered him to pursue the enemy because the corps +which he commanded, not having fired a shot, was in better shape +for battle than those who had suffered losses. Bernadotte then +set out on the track of the Prussians whom he defeated first at +Halle and then at Lubeck, with the help of Marshal Soult. Now as +chance would have it, at the very hour when the French were +attacking Lubeck, some ships carrying a division of infantry +which King Gustave IV of Sweden had sent to the aid of the +Prussians entered the harbour. The Swedish troops had scarcely +disembarked when, attacked by the French and abandoned by the +Prussians, they were obliged to surrender to Bernadotte. +Bernadotte, I can assure you, had, when he wished, the most +engaging manner and very much wanted to appear before foreigners +as a "Gentleman." To this end, he treated the Swedish officers in +the most benevolent manner. After according them an honourable +capitulation, he returned to them their horses and their baggage, +saw to their needs and invited to his quarters the +commander-in-chief, Count Moerner, as well as the generals and +senior officers; he loaded them with kindnesses and courtesies to +such an extent that, on their return to their country, they +spread everywhere praise for the magnanimity of Marshal +Bernadotte. + +Some years later a revolution broke out in Sweden; King Gustave, +whom a mental disorder had rendered unfit to rule, was removed +from the throne and replaced by his aged uncle, the Duke of +Sudermanie. As this new monarch had no children, the States +Assembly, in order to designate a successor, chose the Prince of +Holstein-Augustenburg, who took the title of Prince Royal. But he +did not long enjoy this dignity, for he died in 1811 after a +short illness, which was put down to poison. The states gathered +once more to elect a new heir to the throne. They were hesitating +between several German princes who put themselves forward as +candidates when Count Moerner, one of the most influential +members of the states, and the former commander of the Swedish +division captured at Lubeck in 1806 by the French, proposed +General Bernadotte, whose generous conduct he recalled. He +praised also Bernadotte's military talents, and observed that the +marshal was allied, through his wife, to Napoleon, whose support +could be most useful to Sweden. A crowd of officers who had also +been captured at Lubeck, joined their voices to that of General +Moerner, and Bernadotte was elected almost unanimously as +successor to the King of Sweden, and mounted the throne a few +years later. + +We shall see, further on, how Bernadotte, carried to the steps of +a foreign throne by the fame which he had acquired at the head of +French troops, displayed a lack of gratitude towards his native +country. But now let us return to Prussia. + +In one month the main forces of this kingdom, formerly in such a +flourishing condition, had been destroyed by Napoleon, whose +armies occupied the capital and the greater part of the +provinces, and had already reached the Vistula, that great +barrier between northern and central Europe. Marshal Augereau's +corps remained for a fortnight in Berlin to reinforce the Guard +during the long stay which the Emperor made in the town, and left +about the middle of November, heading first for the Oder, which +we crossed at Kostrzyn, and then on to the Vistula whose bank we +reached at Bromburg (?Bydgoszcz). We were now in Poland, the +poorest and nastiest country in Europe...! After the Oder, no +more made roads: we marched on loose gravel or appalling mud. +Most of the land was uncultivated and the few inhabitants we came +across were dirty to a degree which defies the imagination. The +weather which had been magnificent during October and the first +part of November became frightful. We no longer saw the sun, it +rained or snowed continually; food became short; no more wine, +almost never any beer, and what there was atrociously bad; muddy +water, no bread, and billets we had to share with cattle and +pigs. The soldiers used to say, "How dare the Poles call this a +country?" + +The Emperor himself was disillusioned, for having come intending +to rebuild Poland, he had hoped that the whole population of this +vast country would rise as one man at the approach of the French +army. But nobody budged...! In a vain attempt to rouse some +Polish enthusiasm, the Emperor had invited the famous General +Kosciusko, the leader of the last insurrection, to come and join +him, but Kosciusko stayed peacefully in Switzerland, to where he +had retired, and to the reproaches which were addressed to him, +he replied that he knew the heedless and unstable character of +his compatriots too well to hope that they would ever free +themselves, even with French help. Unable to attract Kosciusko, +the Emperor tried to make use of his renown by addressing to the +Poles a proclamation in the name of this old warrior. Not one of +them took up arms, although our troops occupied several provinces +and even the capital. The Poles were not willing to rebel until +Napoleon had declared the re-establishment of Poland, and he was +not willing to do this until they had risen against their +oppressors, which they did not do. + +While 7th Corps was in Bromburg, Duroc, the grand marshal of the +palace, arrived in the middle of the night at Marshal Augereau's +headquarters. I was sent for and told to prepare myself to +accompany Marshal Duroc, who was going as an envoy to the King of +Prussia at Graudentz, and who needed an officer to replace his +aide-de-camp, whom he had just sent to Posnan with despatches for +the Emperor. I had been chosen because it was remembered that the +previous August I had been on a mission to the Prussian court and +that I knew almost all the officers and the court usages. + +I was soon ready. The marshal of the palace took me in his +carriage and we went down the left bank of the Vistula, occupied +by French troops, to cross the river by ferry opposite Graudentz. +We took lodgings in the town and then presented ourselves at the +citadel, where all the royal family of Prussia had taken refuge +after loosing four fifths of their state. The Vistula separated +the two armies. The king seemed calm and resigned; the queen, +whom I had seen not long ago looking so lovely, was greatly +changed and seemed overcome by grief. She could not conceal from +herself the fact that having urged the king to declare war, she +was the principal cause of the misfortunes of her country, whose +citizens raised their voices against her. The Emperor could not +have sent a more acceptable envoy to the king than Marshal Duroc, +who had held the post of ambassador in Berlin, and was well known +to both the king and queen who appreciated his pleasant +personality. I was too small a personage to be of any account; +however the king and queen recognised me and greeted me with a +few polite words. + +I found the Prussian officers attached to the court had greatly +modified the arrogant attitude they had displayed in August. +Their recent defeat had changed their opinion of the French army; +nevertheless I did not wish to take advantage of this and I +carefully avoided mentioning Jena and our other victories. The +affairs which Marshal Duroc had to discuss with the King of +Prussia related to a letter which this monarch had sent to +Napoleon, requesting a peace. The meeting lasted for two days +which I occupied in reading, and walking on the gloomy parade +ground of the fortress. I did not wish to go up onto the +ramparts, although one enjoys from there an admirable view of the +Vistula, for fear that I might be suspected of examining the +defence works and armaments. + +In the battles which had taken place from Jena to the Vistula, +the Prussians had taken about a hundred of our men prisoner, whom +they employed on the earthworks of the fortress in which they +were confined. Marshal Duroc had charged me with the task of +distributing some aid to these poor devils, who were doubly +unhappy in that they could see from the height of the fortress +the French troops from whom they were separated only by the +Vistula. This proximity, and the comparison of their position +with that of their comrades, free and happy on the left bank, led +a French prisoner, one of the elite cavalrymen of the 3rd +Dragoons by the name of Harpin, to attempt to escape. This was no +easy matter, for one had first to get out of the fortress and +then to cross the Vistula; but what cannot be achieved by a +determined man? Harpin, who was employed by the master carpenter +to pile timber, had made, secretly, a little raft; he had taken a +long rope and, at night, had lowered the raft to the foot of the +rampart, and had then descended himself by the same means. He had +already put his raft in the water and was preparing to embark +when he was surprised by a patrol, taken back to the fort and +confined to a dungeon. The next day the Prussian commandant, in +accordance with the common custom of the Prussian army, condemned +Harpin to fifty strokes of the cane. It was useless for Harpin to +claim that as a Frenchman he should not be subject to Prussian +regulations, his status as a prisoner made this complaint void. +He had already been taken to the wooden frame to which he was to +be attached, and two soldiers were preparing to administer the +flogging when, having gone to fetch a book from Marshal Duroc's +coach, which was standing in the parade ground, I saw Harpin +struggling with some Prussians who were trying to tie him up. + +Indignant at the sight of a French soldier about to be subjected +to a flogging, I ran towards him, my sabre in my hand, and +threatened to kill the first man to strike a blow! ... Marshal +Duroc's coach was guarded by one of Napoleon's couriers, known in +every post house in Europe as "Moustache." This man, of herculean +strength and the courage to face anything, had accompanied the +Emperor on twenty fields of battle. When he saw me in the middle +of the Prussians he hurried to me, and on my instructions, he +fetched four loaded pistols which were in the coach. We untied +Harpin; I armed him with two of the pistols and put him in the +coach, where I placed "Moustache" next to him. I then told the +commandant that as this coach belonged to the Emperor, whose arms +it bore, it was a sacred place of safety for the French Dragoon, +entry to which was forbidden to all Prussians under penalty of a +bullet in the head, and I told Harpin and "Moustache" to fire on +anyone who attempted to get into the coach. The commandant, +seeing me so determined, abandoned his prisoner for the moment to +go and get orders from his superiors. Then, leaving Harpin and +"Moustache" in the coach with pistols in their hands, I went to +the king's quarters and begged one of the aides-de-camp to go and +tell Marshal Duroc that I needed to speak to him about a matter +which could not wait. Duroc came out and I told him what had +happened. + +When he heard that they wanted to flog a French soldier, he +shared my indignation. He returned to the king to whom he +protested warmly, adding that if the sentence were to be carried +out, the Emperor by way of reprisal would flog not only the +soldiers but also the Prussian officers who were his prisoners. +The king was a humane man; he ordered that the dragoon Harpin +should be released, and to please Napoleon, from whom he was at +that moment asking peace, he offered to Marshal Duroc to release +to him all the prisoners if he would undertake to send back a +similar number of Prussians. Duroc having accepted this offer, I +went with one of the aides-de-camp to announce the news to the +prisoners, who were overjoyed. We embarked them straight away and +an hour later they were across the Vistula and amongst their +brothers in arms. + +Marshal Duroc and I left Graudentz the next night; he approved of +my conduct and told me later that he had given an account of it +to the Emperor, who also approved, and who warned the Prussians +that if they flogged French soldiers he would have all Prussian +officers who fell into his hands, shot! + +I rejoined 7th Corps at Bromburg, and we went up the left bank of +the Vistula towards Warsaw. Marshal Augereau's headquarters were +established at Mallochiche. The Emperor arrived at Warsaw on the +19th December, and prepared to cross the Vistula. 7th Corps then +went down the left bank once more to Utrata, where for the first +time on this campaign we saw the Russian outposts on the opposite +bank. + +Chap. 32 + +The River Vistula is fast-flowing and very wide; one expected, +because of this that the Emperor would halt his winter operations +there and, protected by the river, would put his troops into +winter quarters until the spring. This however was not to be. +Marshal Davout's and Marshal Lannes' corps crossed the river at +Warsaw, Marshal Augereau and his men crossed at Utrate, from +where we went on to the banks of the Ukra, a tributary of the Bug +and the Vistula. The entire French army having crossed this last +river, found itself face to face with the Russians, against whom +the Emperor ordered an attack on the 24th December. A thaw and +rain made movement extremely difficult on the clay soil, for +there are no metalled roads in this country. + +I shall not describe all the actions which were fought that day +to force a passage across the Bug; I shall restrict myself to +saying that Marshal Augereau, given the task of securing the +crossing of the Ukra, ordered General Desjardins to attack with +his division, Kolozomb, and General Heudelet to attack Sochocyzn. +The marshal directed the attack on Kolozomb in person. The +Russians, after burning the bridge which had existed at this +spot, had raised earthworks on the opposite bank which they +defended with cannons and numerous infantry; but they had +neglected to destroy a store of planks and beams which was on the +right bank, at which we had arrived. Our sappers made use of this +material to construct a temporary bridge in spite of a lively +fire which killed several men of the 14th Line regiment, which +was at the head of our columns. + +The planks of the bridge were not yet fastened and were wobbling +under the feet of our infantrymen, when the colonel of the 14th, +M. Savary, brother of the Emperor's aide-de-camp, risked crossing +on horseback, in order to put himself at the head of his men; but +he had scarcely reached the bank when a Cossack, arriving at the +gallop, plunged a lance into his heart and disappeared into the +woods! This was the fifth colonel of the 14th who had been killed +by the enemy! You will see later the fatal destiny which always +accompanied this unfortunate regiment. The passage of the Ukra +was secured, the guns captured and the Russians put to flight. +Desjardins' division occupied Sochoczyn, where the enemy had +repulsed the attack by Heudelet's division, a repulse which was +of no consequence, as it was necessary only to secure one +crossing. General Heudelet however, out of misplaced pride, had +ordered the attack to be renewed and was once more driven off +with the loss of some thirty men killed or wounded, among them a +highly thought of engineer officer. I have always disapproved of +the contempt for men's lives which sometimes leads generals to +sacrifice them to their desire to see their names in the +bulletins. + +On the 25th of December, the day following the crossing of the +Ukra, the Emperor, pushing the Russians before him, headed for +Golymin, having with him the Guard, Murat's cavalry and the corps +of Davout and Augereau, the last of whom led the column. Marshal +Lannes went off in the direction of Pultusk. There were on this +day some minor encounters with the enemy who were retreating with +all speed. We slept in bivouac amongst the trees. + +On the 26th, 7th Corps set out once more in pursuit of the +Russians. We were at a time of year when the days are at their +shortest, and in this part of Poland at the end of December, it +starts to get dark about two-thirty in the afternoon. It was made +more gloomy as we approached Golymin by a fall of snow mixed with +rain. We had not seen the enemy since morning when, on our +arrival at the village of Kuskowo, very close to Golymin, our +scouts, who had seen in the obscurity a large body of troops +which a marsh prevented them from approaching, came to warn +Marshal Augereau, who ordered Colonel Albert to go and +reconnoitre, escorted by twenty-five mounted Chasseurs, whom he +placed under my command. + +The mission was difficult for we were in the middle of a huge, +bare plain where one could easily become lost. The ground, +already muddy, was intersected by areas of bog which the poor +light prevented us from seeing clearly; so we advanced with +caution, and found ourselves within twenty-five paces of a line +of troops. We thought at first that this must be Davout's corps, +which we knew was in the neighbourhood, but as no one answered +our challenge, we had no doubt that these were enemy troops. +However, to make quite sure, Colonel Albert ordered me to send +one of my best-mounted troopers up to the line which we could +distinguish in the murk: for this task I picked a bemedalled +corporal named Schmit, a man of proven courage. He, having gone +alone to within ten paces of a regiment whose headgear he +recognised as Russian, fired a shot from his carbine into the +middle of it and came back smartly. + +To account for the silence which the Russians had maintained up +till then, I must tell you that this unit had become separated +from the main body of the army, which it was trying to rejoin, +and had lost its way in the vast plains, which it knew to be +occupied by French troops who were heading for Golymin. The +Russian generals, in the hope that they might pass close to us in +the obscurity without being recognised, had forbidden their men +to speak, and in the event of an attack, even the wounded were to +make no outcry. This was an order which only Russian troops would +have obeyed so punctiliously that when Colonel Albert, to warn +Marshal Augereau that we were in the presence of the enemy, +ordered the twenty-five troopers to fire, not a cry nor a word +was heard, and no one fired back! + +We then saw, in spite of the poor light, a body of about a +hundred horsemen who were advancing silently to cut off our +retreat. We should have made off at the gallop to rejoin our +columns, but some of our troopers having become stuck in the mud, +we were forced to proceed less rapidly, although pursued by the +Russians, who fortunately had the same trouble as we did. A fire +which had broken out in a nearby farm lit up the ground and the +Russians began to gallop, which compelled us to do likewise. A +new danger arose in that we had left from General Desjardins' +division and were returning to General Heudelet's, who had not +seen us leave and opened fire on us; so that we were being driven +from behind by the Russians, while a hail of bullets in front +wounded several of our men and some horses. It was no use +shouting "We are French. Don't shoot!" The firing continued, and +one cannot blame the officers who took us for the advance guard +of a Russian column who were using French, which is widely +understood among foreigners, in order to deceive them in the +darkness which had now fallen. We were having a bad time, when it +occurred to me to call out by name to the generals, colonels and +battalion commanders of Heudelet's division, names which they +would know could not be known to the enemy. This was a success +and we were at last received into the French line. + +The Russian generals, seeing that they were discovered and +wishing to continue their retreat, took a measure of which I +heartily approve, and one which in similar circumstances the +French have never attempted to imitate. The Russians pointed all +their guns at us, and having led away all the horses, they opened +a violent fire to keep us at a distance. During this time they +marched off their columns, and when the ammunition was finished, +the gunners withdrew and left the guns to us. Was not this better +than losing many men in an effort to save the guns, which would +have been continually bogged down and slowed the retreat? + +The fierce Russian cannonade became increasingly harmful when it +started several fires in the villages, the spreading light of +which enabled the Russian gunners to pick out the masses of our +troops; in particular the dragoons and Cuirassiers led by Prince +Murat, whose white cloaks made them a target. These units +suffered more losses than the others, and one of our generals of +the Dragoons was cut in two by a cannon-ball. Marshal Augereau, +after taking Kuskowa, entered Golymin, which Marshal Davout was +attacking from the other side. This town was being traversed at +the time by the Russian columns, who, knowing that Marshal Lannes +was marching to cut off their retreat by taking Pultusk, three +leagues from there, were trying to reach that spot before he did +at no matter what cost. So although our soldiers were firing on +them at close range, they did not reply. To do so they would have +had to stop, and minutes were too precious. + +Each division and each regiment marched through our fusillade +without a word and without slowing their pace for a moment...! +The streets of Golymin were full of wounded and dying men, yet +one did not hear a sound. It was forbidden! We might have been +shooting at shadows, and it was only when our soldiers attacked +with the bayonet that they convinced themselves that they were +dealing with men. We took thousands of prisoners, while the +remainder marched into the distance. + +The marshals deliberated as to whether they should pursue the +enemy, but the weather was so horrible and the night so dark once +one left the neighbourhood of the fires, the men so soaked and +exhausted, that it was decided that they should rest until the +next day. + +Golymin being crowded with dead, wounded, and discarded baggage, +Marshals Murat and Augereau, together with some generals and +their staffs, looking for somewhere to shelter from the glacial +rain, established themselves in a huge stable which was near the +town. There, those who could, lay on the dung heap in an attempt +to get warm and to sleep, for we had been on horseback in the +most frightful weather for twenty four hours or more. The +marshals and all the colonels and brass-hats were naturally in +the depths of the stable where it was warmer; as for me, a humble +lieutenant, who came in last, I had to bed down near the doorway, +where I was more or less sheltered from the rain, but exposed to +the freezing wind, since the doorway had no door. The position +was most uncomfortable and added to this I was dying of hunger, +not having eaten since the previous evening. But my lucky star +came once more to my aid. While the well sheltered senior +officers were sleeping in the warm part of the stable, and the +cold was preventing us lieutenants near the doorway from doing +the same, one of Prince Murat's servants arrived. I told him, in +a low voice that his master was asleep; upon this he gave me a +basket containing a roast goose, some bread and some wine, to +give to the prince when he woke, and asked me to tell him that +the mules with the provisions were expected to arrive in an +hour's time. Having said which, he went off to await them. + +Loaded with these provisions, I held council in undertones with +Bro, Mainville, and Stoch, who, as badly placed as I, were +shivering with cold and just as hungry. The conclusion reached in +this deliberation was that as Prince Murat was asleep and as his +provisions were due to arrive shortly, he would be able to have a +meal when he woke; while we would be set on horseback and sent +off in all directions without anyone asking if we had eaten or +not; so without straining our consciences too much, we decided to +demolish the contents of the basket, which we did with great +rapidity. I don't know if this was pardonable, but what I do know +is that I have had few meals which I enjoyed more. + +While the troops who had been engaged at Golymin were resting, +Napoleon, with all his Guard was wandering about on the plain, +because, alerted by the sound of gunfire, the Emperor had +hurriedly left the chateau where he was installed some two +leagues from Golymin, with the intention of joining us by +marching as the crow flies in the direction of the fires. But the +ground was so soaked, the plain so intersected by bogs and the +weather so awful, that it took him all night to make those two +leagues, and he did not arrive on the field of battle until the +fighting was long over. + +On the same day as the fight at Golymin, Marshal Lannes, with no +more than twenty thousand men, attacked at Pultusk some forty +thousand Russians who were retreating, and inflicted immense +losses on them without being able to stop them, so great was +their superiority in numbers. + +For the Emperor to have been able to pursue the Russians it would +have required a frost to harden the ground which, on the +contrary, was now so soft and sodden that one sank in at every +step, and several men, notably the batman of an officer in 7th +Corps, were drowned with their horses in the mud. It had now +become impossible to move the artillery and to venture further +into this unknown territory; besides which the troops lacked food +and even boots, and they were extremely tired. These +considerations decided Napoleon to place the whole army in +cantonment in front of the Vistula, from the outskirts of Warsaw +to the gates of Danzig. The soldiers, billeted in the villages, +were at last sheltered from the weather, received some rations +and were able to repair their equipment. + +The Emperor returned to Warsaw to prepare for a new campaign. +The divisions of Augereau's corps were spread in the villages +around Plock, if one can give that name to a confused heap of +lowly shacks, inhabited by unwashed Jews; but almost all the +so-called towns in Poland are built like this and have similar +inhabitants. The landowners, great and small, live in the country +where they employ their peasants to cultivate their estates. + +The marshal was lodged in Christka, a sort of chateau built of +wood, as was customary in the country. He found in this manor +some reasonable accommodation, while the aides-de-camp settled +wherever they could in the rooms and barns. As for me, by +ferreting around I found in the gardener's quarters a fairly good +room with a fireplace; I settled in there with two friends, and +leaving to the gardener and his family their very unsavoury beds, +we made some out of planks and straw, on which we were very +comfortable. + +Chap. 33. + +We celebrated at Christka the new year of 1807, which was very +nearly the last year of my life. It, however, began very +pleasantly for me, since the Emperor, who had not shown any +favour to Augereau's staff during the Austerlitz campaign, fully +repaired this oversight by heaping us with rewards. Colonel +Albert was promoted to brigadier-general, Major Massy to +lieutenant-colonel of the 44th Line regiment; several +aides-de-camp were decorated; and finally the lieutenants, Bro, +Mainville, and I, were made captains. This promotion gave me more +than usual pleasure, since I had done nothing remarkable to earn +it, and I was only twenty-four years old. Marshal Augereau, when +he gave us our brevets of captain, said to Mainville, Bro, and +me, "Let's see which of you three is the first to become a +colonel." It was in fact I, who six years later commanded a +regiment, while my comrades were still only captains: it is also +true that in this period I had been wounded six times! + +Once we had taken up winter quarters the enemy did the same, +opposite to us but a considerable distance away. The Emperor +expected that they would let us pass the winter in peace; +however, our rest lasted only for a month; this sufficed but was +not really enough. + +The Russians, seeing the ground covered by snow and hardened by a +very sharp frost, thought that this frigid weather would give the +men from the north a great advantage over those from the south, +unaccustomed to the severe cold. They resolved therefore to +attack us, and in order to do this they moved, screened by the +immense forest which lay between us, the greater part of the +troops who faced us before Warsaw, down to the lower Vistula, +opposite the cantonments of Bernadotte and Ney, whom they hoped +to surprise and overrun by weight of numbers before the Emperor +with the other army corps could come to their aid. But Bernadotte +and Ney put up a stiff resistance, and the Emperor had sufficient +time to mount an attack with a considerable force on the enemy +rear who, seeing themselves at risk of being cut off from their +operational base, retreated towards Konigsberg (Kaliningrad). We +had therefore, on the 1st of February, to quit our billets where +we were reasonably comfortable, and restarting the war, to go and +sleep in the snow. + +At the head of the central column, commanded by the Emperor in +person, was Prince Murat's cavalry, then came Marshal Soult's +corps, supported by that of Augereau, finally came the Imperial +Guard. Marshal Davout's corps marched on the right flank of this +huge column, and Marshal Ney's on the left. Such an agglomeration +of troops heading for the same place soon strips the countryside +of whatever food supplies are available, so we suffered much from +hunger; only the Guard had wagons which carried food for +distribution, the other corps lived on whatever they could find, +that is to say they lacked practically everything. + +I am not going to give any details of the actions which preceded +the battle of Eylau, because Augereau's corps, which was in the +second line, took no part in these various contacts, of which the +most important occurred at Mohrungen, Bergfried, Guttstadt, and +Valtersdorf. But at last, before the little town of Landsberg, +the Russians, who had been chased for a week with a sword at +their backs, decided to halt and make a stand. To do this, they +placed eight elite battalions in an advantageous position, their +right bounded by a village by the name of Hoff, their left by a +thick wood, and their centre protected by a very steep-sided +ravine, which could be crossed only by a narrow bridge. Eight +cannons were placed in front of this line. + +When the Emperor arrived opposite this position, he did not think +it necessary to wait for the infantry of Marshal Soult, which was +still several leagues behind, and attacked the Russians with some +regiments of light cavalry who, dashing bravely over the bridge, +crossed the ravine; but, assailed by gunfire and grapeshot, our +squadrons were driven back in disorder into the gulch, from which +they emerged with much difficulty. The Emperor, seeing the light +cavalry repulsed, replaced them by a division of Dragoons, whose +attack, received in the same manner as before, had a similar +outcome. The Emperor then ordered the advance of General +D'Hautpoul's terrible Cuirassiers, who crossed the bridge under a +hail of grapeshot and fell on the Russian line with such ferocity +that they literally flattened it. There then ensued the most +frightful butchery; the Cuirassiers, enraged at the losses +suffered by their comrades of the Hussars and Dragoons, almost +entirely exterminated the eight Russian battalions, All were +either killed or captured! The battlefield was a scene of horror. +Never has a cavalry charge had such a devastating result. The +Emperor demonstrated his satisfaction with the Cuirassiers by +embracing their general before the whole division. General +D'Hautpoul exclaimed, "To show myself worthy of this honour, I +shall dedicate my life to your majesty." He kept his word, for +the next day he was killed on the battlefield of Eylau. What an +epoch! And what men! + +The enemy army which, from a plateau beyond Landsberg, had +witnessed the destruction of its rearguard, retired promptly +towards Eylau, and we took possession of Landsberg. On the 7th +February the Russian commander-in-chief, Benningsen, having +decided to give battle, concentrated his army around Eylau, +mainly in positions between us and the town. Murat's cavalry and +Soult's infantry took these positions after fierce fighting, for +the Russians held tenaciously to Ziegelhof, which dominates +Eylau, as they wanted to make it the centre point of their line +for the battle on the following day; but they were forced to +retreat from the town. Night seemed to have put an end to this +fighting, the prelude to the coming general action, when a +fusillade of shots rang out in the streets of Eylau. + +I know that military authors who have written about this +campaign, claim that Napoleon ordered an attack because he did +not want the town to remain in Russian hands; but I am sure that +they are mistaken, and for the following reason:-- + +When the head of Marshal Augereau's column, coming down the road +from Landsberg, drew near to Ziegelhof, the marshal climbed onto +the plateau where the Emperor was already stationed, and I +actually heard Napoleon say to Augereau, "It has been suggested +to me that we should take Eylau this evening; but, apart from the +fact that I don't like fighting at night, I do not wish to push +my centre too far forward before the arrival of Davout on my +right flank and Ney on my left. So I am going to wait for them +until tomorrow on this plateau which, furbished with artillery, +will provide a fine position for our infantry; then, when Davout +and Ney are in the line, we shall march, together, against the +enemy." Having said this, the Emperor ordered his bivouac to be +set up at the foot of the Ziegelhof, and his guard to encamp +around it. + +But while Napoleon was explaining his plans to Marshal Augereau, +who greatly approved of his prudence, the staff of the imperial +palace, coming from Landsberg with their baggage and servants, +arrived at our outposts, which were at the gates of Eylau, +without anyone telling them to stop at Ziegelhof. These +employees, used to seeing the imperial quarters very well +guarded, and not having been warned that they were almost on top +of the Russians, were interested only in selecting a good lodging +for their master, and they set themselves up in the post-house, +where they unpacked their equipment, stabled their horses, and +began to cook. In the midst of these preparations they were +attacked by a Russian patrol and would have been captured had it +not been for the intervention of the guard which always +accompanied the Emperor's baggage. At the sound of this outbreak +of firing, the troops who were in position at the gates of the +town ran to the rescue of Napoleon's equipment, which was already +being pillaged by the Russian soldiers. The Russian generals, +thinking that the French were attempting to seize Eylau, sent +reinforcements to their side, and so a sanguinary battle was +fought in the streets of the town, which ended up in our hands. + +Although this attack had not been ordered by the Emperor, he saw +no reason not to profit by it, and he set himself up in the Eylau +post-house. The Guard and Soult's troops occupied the town which +was surrounded by Murat's cavalry. Augereau's troops were +positioned in Zehen, a little hamlet in which we hoped to find +some provisions, but the Russians had taken everything with them +as they withdrew, so that our unhappy regiment, which had +received no rations for eight days, had to make do with some +potatoes and water. The equipment of the staff having been left +at Landsberg, our supper was not as good as that of the soldiers, +for we had no potatoes. Eventually, on the morning of the 8th, +when we were about to mount our horses, one of the marshal's +servants brought him some bread, and he, always generous, shared +it out amongst his aides-de-camp. After this frugal meal, which +for several of us was to be our last, the corps moved to the post +to which it had been assigned by the Emperor. + +In accordance with the plan which I explained when I started +these memoirs, I shall not weary you with too detailed a +description of the various phases of this terrible battle of +Eylau, but will limit myself to the principal events. + +On the morning of the 8th, the position of the two armies was as +follows. The Russians had their left at Serpallen, their centre +in front of Auklapen and their right at Schmoditten. They were +awaiting the arrival of eight thousand Prussians, who were +expected to go to Althoff where they would form the extreme right +wing. The enemy's front line was protected by five hundred +artillery pieces, of which a third at least were of large +calibre. The French situation was much less favourable, since +their two wings had not yet arrived. The Emperor had, at the +start of the action, only a part of the force with which he had +expected to do battle. Marshal Soult's corps was placed on the +right and left of Eylau, the Guard in the town itself, and +Augereau's corps between Eylau and Rothenen, opposite Serpellen. +The enemy formed almost a semicircle about us, and the two armies +occupied a terrain in which there were numerous ponds covered by +snow, which neither side could see. + +Neither Marshal Davout, who should have been on our right, +towards Molwitten, nor Marshal Ney, who should have been on our +left around Althoff, had yet appeared, when at daybreak, about +eight in the morning, the Russians began the attack by a violent +cannonade to which our gunners, though fewer in numbers, replied. +Though fewer, they had the advantage, however of being much +better trained than the Russians, and also of directing their +fire at masses of men who had no cover, while the Russian +cannon-balls mainly hit the walls of Eylau and Rothenen. Soon a +strong enemy column advanced with the intention of capturing the +town; it was vigourously repelled by the Guard and Marshal +Soult's troops. At this moment, the Emperor heard, with much +pleasure, that from the top of the church tower could be seen +Davout's men arriving via Molwitten and marching towards +Serpallen, from where they expelled the Russians and drove them +back to Klein-Sausgarten. + +The Russian commander, Benningsen, seeing his left beaten and his +rear menaced by the audacious Davout, resolved to crush him, and +directed the greater part of his force against him. It was then +that Napoleon, with the object of preventing this movement by +creating a diversion against the enemy centre, ordered Augereau +to attack, although he foresaw the difficulties of this +operation. + +There are on the field of battle, circumstances when one must +sacrifice some troops in order to preserve the great majority and +ensure victory. General Corbineau, the Emperor's aide-de-camp, +was killed by a cannon shot near to us while bringing to Marshal +Augereau the order to advance. The marshal passed between Eylau +and Rothenen and led his two divisions boldly against the enemy +centre, and already the 14th Line regiment who made up our +advance guard had seized the position which the Emperor had +ordered to be taken and held at all costs, when the guns which +formed a semi-circle about Augereau hurled out a storm of ball +and grape-shot of hitherto unprecedented ferocity. In an instant, +our two divisions were pulverised under this rain of iron! +General Desjardins was killed and General Heudelet gravely +wounded; however, they stood firm until the corps having been +almost entirely destroyed, the remnants were compelled to retire +to the cemetery of Eylau, with the exception of the 14th, who +almost entirely surrounded by the enemy, remained on the little +hill which they had occupied. The situation was made even worse +by a gale of wind which blew a heavy snowfall into our faces, and +reduced visibility to about fifteen paces, so that several French +batteries opened fire on us, as well as the Russians. Marshal +Augereau was wounded by a bullet. + +The devotion of 7th Corps, however, produced a good result, for, +relieved by our attack, Marshal Davout was able not only to +maintain his position, but to take Klein-Sausgarten and even push +his advance-guard as far as Kuschitten, in the enemy's rear. +Then, in an attempt to deliver a knock-out blow, Napoleon +despatched, between Eylau and Rothenen, the squadrons commanded +by Murat. This terrifying mass fell on the Russian centre, +overwhelming them, cutting them down with their sabres and +throwing them into the greatest confusion. The valiant General +D'Hautpoul was killed at the head of his Cuirassiers, as was +General Dahlmann, who had succeeded General Morland in the +command of the Chasseurs of the Guard. The success of our cavalry +allowed us to carry the day. Eight thousand Prussians, escaped +from pursuit by Marshal Ney, and arriving at Althoff, tried to +mount a new attack by advancing, one does not quite know why, on +Kuschitten instead of Eylau, but Davout drove them off, and the +arrival of Ney's corps at Schmoditten towards the end of the day, +made Benningsen fear that his line of communication would be cut, +and so he ordered a retreat in the direction of Konigsberg, +leaving the French masters of the horrible battlefield covered +with dead and dying. Since the invention of gunpowder one has not +seen such a terrible effect, for in relation to the numbers +engaged at Eylau, in comparison to all the battles, ancient or +modern, the proportion of losses was highest. The Russians had +twenty-five thousand casualties, and although the figure for +French losses has been given as ten thousand, it is my belief +that it was at least twenty thousand. A total of forty-five +thousand men, of whom more than half died! + +Augereau's corps was almost entirely destroyed. Out of fifteen +thousand combatants under arms at the beginning of the action, +there remained by evening only three thousand, under the command +of Lieutenant colonel Massy: the marshal, all the generals and +all the colonels had been either killed or wounded. + +It is difficult to understand why Benningsen, knowing that Davout +and Ney had not yet arrived, did not take advantage of their +absence to attack Eylau at daybreak with the numerous troops of +the centre of his army, instead of using precious time in +bombarding us; for his superior strength would certainly have +made him master of the town before the arrival of Davout, and the +Emperor would then have regretted having moved so far forward +instead of consolidating his position on the plateau of Ziegelhof +and awaiting the arrival of his flank forces, as he had intended +the evening before. + +The day after the battle the Emperor followed the Russians to the +gates of Konigsberg; but that town was fortified and it was +thought unwise to attack it with troops weakened by a sanguinary +battle, and what is more, almost all the Russian army was in +Konigsberg and the surrounding country. + +Napoleon spent several days at Eylau, partly to collect the +wounded and partly to reorganise his forces. The survivors of +Augereau's corps were spread amongst other units and the marshal +was given leave to return to France for the treatment of his +wound. The Emperor, seeing that the bulk of the Russian army was +now at a distance, put his troops into billets in the towns and +villages in front of the lower Vistula. There was no interesting +event during the rest of the winter, except the taking of Danzig +by our troops. Hostilities in the open country would not begin +again until the month of june, as we shall see later. + +Chap. 34. + +I did not want to interrupt the story of the battle of Eylau to +tell you what happened to me in this terrible conflict; a sad +tale, to understand which we must go back to the autumn of 1805 +when the officers of the Grande Armee were equipping themselves +in preparation for the Battle of Austerlitz. I had two good +horses and was looking for a third of a better quality, a +charger. This was something difficult to find, for although +horses were infinitely cheaper than they are today, they were +still expensive, and I did not have much money; but I had a piece +of very good luck. + +I ran into a German scholar, named M. d'Aister, whom I had known +when he was teaching at Soreze; he was now tutor to the children +of a rich Swiss banker, M. Scherer, who lived in Paris and was an +associate of M. Finguerlin, who was a very wealthy man who kept +up great state, and had a stable of many horses, amongst which +was a charming mare called Lisette, an excellent animal from +Mecklemberg, good-looking, swift as a stag, and so well schooled +that a child could ride her. But this mare had a dreadful and +fortunately rare vice: she bit like a bulldog, and attacked +furiously anyone who displeased her, which decided M. Finguerlin +to sell her. She was bought by Mme. de Lauriston, whose husband, +an aide-de-camp to the Emperor, had written to her to ask her to +buy him a charger. + +M. Finguerlin, when he sold the mare, had omitted to mention her +behaviour, and on the evening of her purchase, a groom, whom she +had torn open, was found lying at her feet. Mme. de Lauriston was +justly alarmed and demanded cancellation of the sale. Not only +was this done, but the police, in order to prevent another such +accident, required that a notice be fixed to Lisette's loose-box +informing any potential buyer of her ferocity, and that any sale +would be null and void unless the buyer declared in writing that +he was aware of this notice. + +As you may imagine, with such a recommendation, the mare was very +difficult to sell; M. d'Aister told me that her owner was +prepared to let her go for whatever was offered. I offered a +thousand francs and M. Finguerlin handed Lisette over to me, +although she had cost five thousand. For several months she gave +me a great deal of trouble; it took four or five men to saddle +her, and she could not be bridled without being blindfolded and +having all four legs tied; but once on her back one found her a +matchless ride. + +However, since during the time I had owned her she had bitten +several people, including me, I was thinking of getting rid of +her, when, having taken into my service a man called Francis +Woirland, who was scared of nothing, he, before approaching +Lisette, about whose bad character I had warned him, armed +himself with a very hot leg of roast mutton, and when she +attempted to bite him, he offered this to her, which she seized +in her teeth; but having burned her mouth and her tongue, the +mare gave a cry and dropped the gigot, and from that moment she +submitted herself to Woirland, whom she no longer dared to bite. +I tried the same trick and achieved the same result. Lisette, as +docile as a dog, allowed herself to be handled by myself and my +servant; she even became a little more tractable with the grooms +whom she saw every day, but woe betide any stranger passing too +close to her. I could give many examples of her ferocity, but I +shall limit myself to one. + +While Marshal Augereau was staying at the chateau of Bellevue, +near Berlin, the servants, having noticed that while they were at +diner, someone was coming to steal the sacks of oats from the +stable, asked Woirland to leave Lisette loose near the door. The +thief arrived, slipped into the stable and was already carrying +off one of the sacks when the mare grabbed him by the neck, +dragged him into the yard and broke two of his ribs by trampling +on him. People came running to the cries of the terrified thief, +whom Lisette was unwilling to abandon until my servant and I +persuaded her, for in her rage she would have savaged anyone +else. The wickedness of this animal had got worse since the +officer of the Saxon Hussars had treacherously stabbed her in the +shoulder on the battlefield of Jena. + +It was this mare that I was riding at the time when the remains +of Marshal Augereau's corps, shattered by a hail of cannon and +grape shot, were attempting to re-form in the area of the +cemetery. You will recall that the 14th Line regiment had stayed +alone on the little hill, which it might leave only if ordered to +do so by the Emperor. The snow having stopped for a moment, one +could see this gallant regiment almost completely surrounded by +the enemy, waving its Eagle aloft to show that it still stood +fast and needed help. The Emperor, touched by the devotion to +duty of these brave men, decided to attempt their rescue; he told +Marshal Augereau to send an officer with orders to them to quit +the hillock, form a small square and withdraw towards us; while a +brigade of cavalry would go to meet them and second their +efforts. + +This was before the great charge made by Murat and his cavalry, +and it was almost impossible to carry out the Emperor's command +because a swarm of Cossacks separated us from the 14th. It was +clear that any officer sent towards the unfortunate regiment +would be killed or captured before he got there. Nevertheless, an +order is an order; and the marshal had to obey. + +It was the custom, in the imperial army, for the aides to line up +a few paces from their general, and the one in front went off +first; when he had completed his mission, he joined the back of +the queue, so that as each took his turn to carry orders, the +dangers were shared equally. A brave captain of engineers, named +Froissart, who, although not an aide-de-camp, was attached to the +marshal's staff, was nearest to him and was sent off to carry the +order to the 14th. He left at the gallop; we lost sight of him +in the midst of the Cossacks and never saw him again, nor did we +know what became of him. + +The marshal, seeing that the 14th did not budge, sent another +officer, named David. He suffered the same fate as Froissart, and +we heard no more of him. It is likely that they were both killed, +and having been stripped of their clothing their bodies were not +recognisable among the many dead who covered the ground. For the +third time the marshal called out "An officer to take orders +"!...It was my turn. + +When he saw before him the son of his old friend, and, I think I +may dare to say, his favourite aide-de-camp, the good marshal's +face fell and his eyes filled with tears, for he could not +disguise from himself that he was sending me to an almost certain +death; but the Emperor's order had to be obeyed; I was a soldier; +no one else could take my place, I would not have allowed +something so dishonourable. So I took off! Now, while prepared +to sacrifice my life, I thought it my duty to take every +precaution which might save it. I had noticed that the two +officers who had gone before me had left with drawn sabres, which +made me think that they intended to defend themselves against the +Cossacks who would attack them during the ride. This intention +was in my opinion ill-advised, for they would have been forced to +stop and fight a multitude of enemies who, in the end, had +overwhelmed them. I adopted a different approach, and leaving my +sabre in its scabbard, I thought of myself as a rider who, to win +the prize in a race, goes as fast as possible by the shortest +route towards the winning post without taking any notice of what +is to right or left of him during his passage. Now, my winning +post being the hillock occupied by the 14th, I resolved to get +there without paying any attention to the Cossacks, whom I +blotted out of my thoughts. + +This system worked perfectly. Lisette, light as a swallow, and +flying rather than galloping, rushed through space, leaping over +the piled up bodies of men and horses, over ditches and the +broken mountings of guns, as well as the half-extinguished +bivouac fires. Thousands of Cossacks were scattered about the +plain. The first ones to see me behaved like hunters who, having +raised a hare, mark its presence by shouts of "Yours! Yours!" But +none of them tried to stop me, firstly because I was going so +fast, and also perhaps because each one thought I would be caught +by his comrades who were further on. In this way I escaped from +them all and arrived at the 14th without either I or my excellent +mare having suffered a scratch. + +I found the 14th formed in a square on top of the hillock; but +the slope of the ground was so gentle that the enemy cavalry had +been able to carry out a number of charges, which had been +vigourously repelled, so that they were surrounded by heap of the +dead bodies of horses and Russian Dragoons, which formed a sort +of rampart, and now made the position almost inaccessible to +cavalry; for even with the aid of our infantrymen, I had great +difficulty in getting over this bloody and frightful defence +work, but at last I was inside the square. + +Since the death of Colonel Savary, killed during the crossing of +the Ukra, the 14th had been commanded by a battalion commander; +when I gave this officer the order which I carried, for him to +leave his position and try to rejoin the army corps, he replied +that the enemy artillery which had been firing at them for an +hour had occasioned such heavy losses that the handful of +soldiers which he had left would inevitably be exterminated if +they went down onto the level ground; and anyway there was no +time to prepare for the execution of this movement, since a +Russian column, coming to attack, was now close to us. "I can see +no way of saving the regiment," said the battalion commander. "Go +back to the Emperor and say good-bye to him from the 14th; and +take back the Eagle which we can no longer defend." + +The Eagles of the infantry were very heavy, and their weight was +increased by the long thick pole of oak on which they were +mounted. I was bending forward and attempting to detach the +Eagle from its pole, when one of the many bullets which the +Russians were firing at us went through the back part of my hat, +very close to my head. The shock was made worse by the fact that +the hat was held on by a strong leather strap which went under my +chin, and so offered more resistance to the blow. I was partially +stunned by this, and found myself unable to move. + +However the column of Russian infantry was now climbing the +hillock; they were Grenadiers, whose headgear, garnished with +metal, looked like mitres. These men, full of liquor, flung +themselves on the feeble remnants of the 14th, who defended +themselves bravely with their bayonets, and even when the square +was broken, formed themselves into little groups and continued +for a long time the unequal struggle. In my confused state, I was +unable to react in any way; I was attacked by a drunken Russian +soldier, who thrust his bayonet into my left arm, and then, +aiming another blow at me, lost his balance and missing his mark, +he slashed Lisette's haunch. + +The pain of this injury aroused her ferocious instincts, she +grabbed the soldier with her teeth and tore away the greater part +of his face,then, kicking and biting, she forced her way through +the melee and taking the path by which we had come, she went off +at the gallop in the direction of the Eylau cemetery while, +thanks to the Hussar's saddle in which I was seated, I remained +on her back. + +As we approached Eylau a new danger arose. The snow had started +to fall again and in the poor visibility a battalion of the Guard +took me for a Russian and opened fire on me, but although my +cloak and my saddle were hit, both I and my mare were untouched. +Lisette, continuing to gallop, went through the three lines of +infantry like a grass-snake through a hedge, but this last burst +of speed drained her resources, she was losing a lot of blood +because one of the big veins in her haunch had been cut, she +collapsed suddenly and fell, throwing me to the ground, where I +was rendered unconscious. + +I must have remained in this state for about four hours, and I +was not aroused by the great charge of Murat's ninety squadrons +of cavalry, which went past me and perhaps over me. When I came +to, this is the dreadful position in which I found myself. I was +completely naked except for my hat and my right boot. A soldier +of the transport section, believing me to be dead, had despoiled +me, as was customary, and in an attempt to remove my boot, was +dragging at my leg, with one foot on my stomach. I was able to +raise the upper part of my body and to spit out some clots of +blood, my face, shoulders and chest were badly bruised, and blood +from my wounded arm reddened the rest of my body. I gazed around +with haggard eyes, and must have been a horrible spectacle. The +transport driver made off with my possessions before I could +summon my wits and address a word to him. I was too dazed and +weak to move, and unable to call for help. The cold was +increasing and I had little hope of surviving without some form +of miracle, and something like a miracle took place. + +Marshal Augereau had a valet de chambre, named Pierre Dannel, a +very intelligent boy, loyal, but inclined to be cheeky; and it so +happened that while we were at Houssaye, Dannel, having spoken +back to his master, had been given his notice. Desolated, Dannel +begged me to intercede for him, which I did with so much zeal +that he was reinstated in the marshal's good graces; since when +the valet had been devoted to me. Dannel had taken it on himself +to come from Landsberg, on the day of the battle, to bring some +victuals to his master, which he had put in a very light wagon, +able to go anywhere, and containing all the things that the +marshal used most frequently. This little wagon was driven by a +soldier who had served in the same transport unit as the man who +had stripped me. This fellow, carrying my effects, was passing +the wagon which was standing at the Eylau cemetery when, +recognising his old friend, he went up to him to show him the +lovely booty he had taken from a dead man. + +Now, while we were in cantonments by the Vistula, the marshal +having told Dannel to go to Warsaw to get some provisions, I +asked him to take my pelisse and have the black astrakhan with +which it was trimmed, removed and replaced by grey; a style newly +adopted by the aides-de-camp of Prince Berthier, who set the +fashion in the army. I was still the only one of Marshal +Augereau's officers who had grey astrakhan. + +Dannel, who was present when the transport driver displayed his +booty, easily recognised my pelisse, which made him look more +closely at the other belongings of the alleged dead man, amongst +which he saw my watch, marked with my father's initials, for it +had been his. The valet de chambre had no doubt that I had been +killed, but mourning my death, he wished to see me for the last +time, and having been led there by the transport driver, he found +me alive! + +This good fellow, to whom I owe my life, was overjoyed. He +hurried to fetch my own servant and some orderlies, who carried +me into a barn where they rubbed me down with rum, while they +sent for Dr. Raymond. When he at last arrived, he dressed the +wound in my arm and declared that the blood which I had lost +would save me. + +Soon I was surrounded by my comrades including my brother. A +reward was given to the transport rider who had taken my clothes, +which he handed over with good grace; but as they were soaked +with blood and water, Marshal Augereau had me wrapped up in +clothes of his own. + +The Emperor had given permission for Augereau to return to +Landsberg, but his wound made it impossible for him to ride a +horse; so his aides-de-camp got hold of a sledge on which they +mounted the body of a carriage. The marshal, who had decided not +to abandon me, had me strapped in beside him, for I was too weak +to sit upright. + +Before I was picked up from the battlefield, I had seen my poor +Lisette near to me. Her wound had stopped bleeding and she was +back on her feet, eating some straw which had been used by +soldiers in their bivouacs, the previous night. My servant, who +was very fond of Lisette, returned to look for her; he cut strips +of clothing from a dead soldier and dressed the wound on her +haunch, and got her fit enough to walk to Landsberg. + +The commandant of the little garrison of the town, had had the +good sense to prepare quarters for the wounded. The officers of +the staff were put into a large and comfortable inn, so that +instead of spending the night lying naked in the snow, I was +tucked into a good bed and being looked after by my brother, my +companions and the worthy Dr. Raymond. The doctor had to cut the +boot which the soldier had tried to pull off, and even so, he had +difficulty in getting it off because my foot had swollen so much. +You will see, later that this could have cost me my leg, and +perhaps even my life. + +We stayed in Landsberg for thirty-six hours. The rest and the +care given me restored my ability to move, and when, on the +second day after the battle, Marshal Augereau set off for Warsaw, +I was able, though still very weak, to travel on the sledge. The +journey took eight days, because we moved only in short stages; I +was recovering my strength little by little, but I was aware of +an icy cold in my right foot. + +On our arrival at Warsaw, I was put in a large house which had +been reserved for the marshal, which suited me very well, as I +was unable to get out of bed. The wound of my arm was healing, +the bruising of my upper body was dispersing, and my skin was +resuming its normal colour, however the doctor did not know why I +could not get up, and hearing me complain about my leg, he +decided to have a look at it, and what do you suppose he found? +My foot had become gangrenous! An accident which had occurred +many years ago was the cause of this. While I was at Soreze, my +right foot had been pierced by the foil of a fencing opponent, +which had lost its button. It seems that this injury had made my +foot more sensitive to cold, and while I was lying on the snow it +had become frostbitten, and not having been treated in time, +gangrene had set in at the site of the old fencing injury, the +area was covered by a scar the size of a five franc piece. The +doctor looked with alarm at my foot, then, taking a bistoury, and +having me held down by four servants, he picked off the scab and +dug into my foot to remove the dead flesh, just as one would cut +out the rotten part of an apple. + +I suffered greatly, at first without complaining, though it was a +different matter when the bistoury, having reached live tissue, +exposed the muscles and bones, which one could see. The doctor +then stood on a chair and having soaked a sponge in warm +sweetened wine, he allowed it to fall, drop by drop into the hole +he had made in my foot. The pain was intolerable! Nevertheless I +had to endure for a week this fearful torture, but my leg was +saved. + +Today, when one is so prodigal with decorations and promotions, +an officer who ran the risks which I had run in reaching the 14th +regiment, would certainly be rewarded; but under the Empire this +sort of devotion to duty was regarded as so normal that I was +given no medal, and never thought of asking for one. + +A long rest having been judged necessary for the cure of Marshal +Augereau's wound, the Emperor instructed him to go to France for +treatment, and brought Marshal Massena from Italy; to whom my +brother, Bro and several of my friends were appointed. Marshal +Augereau took me with him, along with his secretary and Dr. +Raymond. I had to be lifted in and out of the carriage, but +otherwise I felt my health improve the further we got away from +those frozen wastes to a more friendly climate. My mare spent the +winter in the stables of M. de Launay, the administrator of army +forage supplies. + +The marshal went by way of Rawa to Silesia. As long as we were in +dreadful Poland, where there are no metalled roads, it took +twelve and sometimes sixteen horses to drag the coach out of the +bogs and swamps through which we travelled. We went always at +walking pace and it was not until we reached Germany that we +found ourselves in a civilised country with proper roads. We +stopped at Dresden, and spent ten or twelve days at +Frankfurt-on-Main, from where we had marched the previous October +to attack Prussia. + +We finally reached Paris about the 15th of March. I could walk +with much difficulty, and had my arm in a sling, and I still felt +the effects of what I had been through, but the pleasure of +seeing my mother once more, and the care she devoted to me, +combined with the gentle influence of the returning spring, +effected my cure. + +Chap. 35. + +I spent the end of March, all of April, and the first week of May +in Paris. It was during this time that I got to know the +Desbrieres, a family of which my marriage was soon to make me a +member. I had recovered my health, and I realised that I could +not stay any longer in Paris. Marshal Augereau sent me to Marshal +Lannes who took me willingly onto his staff. + +The Emperor, in order to keep an eye on any moves which the enemy +might be tempted to make during the winter, had settled himself +in the middle of the cantonments of his troops, first at Osterode +and then at the chateau of Finkenstein, from where, while +planning a new campaign, he governed France and directed his +ministers, who, every week, sent him their reports. The +portfolios holding the various documents furnished by each +ministry were collected every Wednesday by M. Denniee the elder, +under-secretary of state for war, who sent them off on Thursdays +in the charge of a junior official whose duty it was to deliver +them into the hands of the Emperor. But this system worked very +badly because most of these officials had never been out of +France. They did not know a word of German, nor did they +understand the currency or the regulations regarding posting in +foreign countries, so they did not know how to manage matters +once they had crossed the Rhine. In addition, these gentlemen, +being unused to fatigue, soon found themselves overcome by that +of a journey of more than three hundred leagues, which lasted +continuously for ten days and ten nights. One of them was so +incompetent as to allow his despatches to be stolen. Napoleon was +so angry at this mishap that he sent a courier to Paris to tell +M. Denniee not to give the portfolios in future to officials +except those who knew Germany, and who, being able to support +fatigue and privation, could carry out their duties more +efficiently. + +M. Denniee was having great difficulty in finding anyone to fill +the post, when I turned up with a letter ordering me to report to +Marshal Lannes. Delighted to have found someone to take the next +lot of despatches, he warned me to be ready to leave on the +coming Thursday, and gave me five thousand francs for expenses +and the purchase of a carriage, which suited me very well, as I +did not have much money to get me back to the army in the depths +of Poland. + +We left Paris about the 10th of May. Both my servant and I were +armed, and if one of us left the coach the other remained on +guard. We knew enough German to keep the postilions up to the +mark, and as I was in uniform, they obeyed me with more alacrity +than they would a civilian official. So that instead of taking +the usual nine and a half or ten days over the journey, we made +it in eight and a half. + +The Emperor was delighted to have his despatches twenty-four +hours earlier than expected, and after praising the keenness +which had led me to ask to return to duty in spite of my recent +wounds, he added that as I had been so efficient a courier, I +could leave for Paris that same night to take back some other +portfolios; a task which would not prevent me from taking part in +the campaign, which could not restart before the beginning of +june. + +Although I had spent nothing like the five thousand francs which +M. Denniee had given me, the marshal of the palace gave me the +same sum to return to Paris, which I did as quickly as possible. +I stayed no more than twenty-four hours in the capital, and left +once more for Poland; the minister again gave me five thousand +francs for this third journey; it was far more than was +necessary, but that was how Napoleon wanted it. It is true that +these trips were very tiring and very boring, even though the +weather was fine. I was on the road day and night for nearly a +month in the sole company of my servant. + +I reported to the Emperor at Finkenstein, and was afraid that I +might have to continue as postman until fighting broke out, when +fortunately some replacements were found and the Emperor +authorised me to go to Marshal Lannes, to whom I reported at +Marienberg on the 25th May. He had with him Colonel Sicard, +Augereau's aide-de-camp, who had been kind enough to take charge +of my horses. It was with much pleasure that I saw once more my +mare Lisette, who was fit enough for more service. + +The fortress of Danzig, besieged by the French during the winter, +had fallen into their hands. The return of the good weather soon +saw campaigning recommence. The Russians attacked our cantonments +on the 5th of June, and were sharply repulsed at every point. On +the 10th there was a fierce encounter at Heilsberg which some +historians describe as a battle. The enemy were once more +defeated. I shall not go into any detail about this affair, since +Marshal Lannes' corps took very little part in it, not having +arrived until nightfall. We did, however, come under some heavy +fire and Colonel Sicard was mortally wounded. He had already been +wounded at Eylau, and although scarcely recovered from his +injuries, had returned to take part in the renewed fighting. +Before he died, the good colonel requested me to say his farewell +to Marshal Augereau, and gave me a letter for his wife. I was +very much upset by this painful scene. + +The army now being in pursuit of the Russians, we passed through +Eylau. The fields which we had left three months previously +covered with snow and dead bodies, were now overspread by a +delightful carpet of green, bedecked with flowers. What a +contrast! How many soldiers lay beneath those verdant meadows? I +went and sat at the place where I had fallen and been despoiled, +and where I also would have died, had not a truly providential +combination of circumstances come to my aid. Marshal Lannes +wanted to see the hillock which the 14th had so valiantly +defended. I took him there. Since the time of the battle, the +enemy had been in occupation of the place; however, we found, +still intact, the monument which all the corps of the French army +had erected to the memory of their dead comrades of the 14th, +thirty-six of whose officers had been buried in the same grave. +This respect for the dead reflected honour on the Russians. I +remained for a few moments on the spot where I had been hit by +the bullet and wounded by the bayonet, and thought of the brave +men who lay in the dust, and whose fate I had so nearly shared. + +The Russians, having been defeated on the 10th of June at +Heilsberg, retreated hastily and got a day ahead of the French +who, by the evening of the 13th, were concentrated beyond Eylau, +on the left bank of the Alle. The Russians occupied Bartenstein +on the right bank of this river, which the two armies now +descended on opposite sides. + +Benningsen, whose stores of food and ammunition were in +Konigsberg, where the Prussian corps was stationed, wanted to +reach this town before the arrival of the French, but to do so he +had to cross over onto the left bank of the Alle, where there +were the French troops. The Russian commander hoped to reach +Friedland sufficiently far ahead of the French to be able to +cross the river before they could oppose him. The same reasons +which made Benningsen wish to hold on to Konigsberg, made +Napoleon wish to capture it. He had for several days constantly +manoeuvred to out-flank the Russian left, and keep them away from +the place, in the direction of which he had sent Murat, Soult and +Davout to oppose the Russians if they arrived before us. + +The Emperor, however, did not stick to this scheme, and +foreseeing that the Russians would attempt to cross the Alle at +Friedland, he aimed to occupy the town before they did, and on +the night of the 13th-14th June, he despatched towards it the +corps of Marshal Lannes and Mortier, and three divisions of +cavalry. The rest of the army was to follow. + +Marshal Lannes, who was in the van, with the Oudinot Grenadiers +and a brigade of cavalry, having arrived at Posthenen, a league +from Friedland, sent the 9th Hussars to reconnoitre the latter +town. They were repulsed with losses, and daybreak revealed a +large part of the Russian army massed on the opposite bank of the +Alle on the high ground between Allenau and Friedland. They had +begun to cross the old town bridge, beside which they had +constructed two new ones. + +The aim of the two armies was very easily understood. The +Russians wanted to cross the Alle to get to Konigsberg, and the +French wanted to stop them and drive them back across the river, +which had very steep banks. The only crossing point was at +Friedland. The Russians had difficulty in deploying from +Friedland onto the open ground of the left bank, owing to the +fact that the way out of the town was much restricted by a large +lake, and by a stream called the Mill Stream, which ran in a very +steep-sided ravine. To protect their crossing, the Russians had +placed two strong batteries of guns on the right bank, which +could cover the town and part of the land between Posthenen and +Heinrichsdorf. + +The Emperor was still at Eylau: the various corps marching +towards Friedland were still several leagues away, when Marshal +Lannes, having marched all night, arrived before the town. The +marshal would have liked to attack the enemy immediately; but +already they had thirty thousand men drawn up on the level ground +before Friedland, and their lines, the right of which was +opposite Heinrichsdorf, the centre at the mill stream, and the +left at the village of Sortlack, were being endlessly reinforced; +while Marshal Lannes had no more than ten thousand men; however, +he deployed them skillfully in the village of Posthenen and the +woods of Sortlack, from where he threatened the Russian's left +flank, while with two divisions of cavalry he tried to stop their +advance toward Heinrichsdorf, which lay on the route from +Friedland to Konigsberg. There was a brisk exchange of fire +before Mortier's corps arrived. Mortier, to dispute with the +Russians the road to Konigsberg, while waiting for fresh +reinforcements, occupied Heinrichsdorf and the area between this +village and Posthenen. However, it was not possible that Lannes +and Mortier with twenty-five thousand men could resist the +seventy thousand Russians who would soon face them. The situation +was becoming highly critical. Marshal Lannes sent a succession of +officers to warn the Emperor to hasten the arrival of the army +corps which he knew were coming up behind him. Mounted on my +swift Lisette, I was the first to go. I met the Emperor as he was +leaving Eylau; he was beaming with pleasure! He called me to his +side, and as we galloped along, I had to explain to him what had +happened before I left the battle. When I had finished my +recital, the Emperor said to me, smiling, "Have you a good +memory?" "Passable, Sir," I replied. "Well what anniversary is +this, the 14th of June?" "Marengo" I said "Yes! Yes! The +anniversary of Marengo," said the Emperor, "and I shall beat the +Russians as I beat the Austrians!" + +Napoleon was so convinced about this, that as he went along the +columns, where the men greeted him with many cheers, he said to +them repeatedly "Today is a lucky day, it is the anniversary of +Marengo!" + +Chap. 36. + +It was after eleven o'clock when Napoleon arrived on the +battlefield, where several corps had already come to join Lannes +and Mortier. The remainder, including the Guard, were arriving +one by one. Napoleon readjusted the line: Ney was on the right, +positioned in the wood at Sortlack; Lannes and Mortier formed the +centre, between Posthenen and Heinrichsdorf; the left stretched +out beyond this last village. The heat was overpowering. The +Emperor gave the troops an hour's rest, after which, at the +signal of a volley by twenty-five guns, a general attack would +begin. + +Marshal Ney's corps had the most difficult task, for they were to +come out of their hiding place in the woods of Sortlack, fight +their way into Friedland, which was filled with the main forces +and reserves of the enemy, seize the bridges and thus cut off the +Russian's way of retreat. + +It is difficult to understand why Benningsen had placed his +forces in front of the narrow exit from Friedland, and with their +backs to the Alle with its steep banks, in the presence of the +French who commanded the open country. The explanation given +later by the Russian general was that having been a day ahead of +Napoleon, he did not believe that the French troops could cover +in twelve hours a distance which had taken his men twenty-four +hours, and he had thought that Lannes' corps was an isolated +advance-guard of the French army, which he could easily crush. +When this illusion had been dissipated, it was too late to bring +his army back to the other bank because the narrow defile at +Friedland would have caused certain disaster, so he preferred to +stand and fight. + +At about one in the afternoon, the twenty-five guns at Posthenen, +given the order by the Emperor, fired a volley, and battle was +joined all along the line. At first our left and our centre moved +very slowly to give the right, commanded by Ney, time to capture +the town. The marshal, emerging from Sortlack wood, took the +village of that name and advanced rapidly towards Friedland, +sweeping aside everything in his path; but as they moved forward +from the wood and the village of Sortlack to the first houses of +Friedland, Ney's troops were exposed to the fire of the Russian +batteries which, positioned behind the town on the heights of the +opposite bank, caused them severe losses. This fire was made more +dangerous by the fact that the gunners, separated from us by the +river, could aim their guns in safety, knowing that our infantry +could not attack them. This serious problem could have led to the +failure of the attack on Friedland, but Napoleon overcame it by +sending General Senarmont with fifty guns, which he placed on the +left bank of the Alle, and subjected the Russian batteries to +such heavy fire that they were soon silenced. As soon as the +enemy fire had ceased, Marshal Ney resumed his advance, driving +the Russians back into Friedland, and mingled in confusion with +them, entered the streets of the unfortunate town, where the +mortar bombs had started a huge fire. + +A savage bayonet fight ensued in which the Russians, crammed +together and scarcely able to move, suffered enormous losses! ... +At last, in spite of their courage, they were compelled to +retreat in disorder and seek refuge by crossing the bridges to +the other bank; but General Senarmont had moved his guns into a +position from which he could fire on the bridges, which he soon +broke, after killing many of the Russians who were attempting to +escape across them. All those who remained in Friedland were +either killed, captured or drowned while trying to cross the +river. + +Up until this point, Napoleon had, so to speak, made his left and +his centre mark time; he now moved them rapidly forward. General +Gortschakoff, who commanded the centre and right wing of the +enemy, attempted, bravely, to recapture the town, (which would +have been of no use, because the bridges were down, although he +did not know that). He charged at the head of his men into the +burning Friedland; but driven out by Ney, who was occupying the +town, and forced back into the open, he found himself confronting +our centre, who drove him back to the Alle at Kloschenen. The +Russians defended themselves heroically and refused to surrender +although completely surrounded. Many of them were killed by our +bayonets, the remainder rolled down the steep banks into the +river, where a large number were drowned. + +The extreme right of the enemy was composed mostly of cavalry who +tried during the battle to capture or outflank the village of +Heinrichsdorf; but driven off by our troops, they went back to +the banks of the Alle, under the command of General Lambert, who, +seeing that Friedland was in the hands of the French and that the +Russian left and centre were defeated, gathered all he could of +the regiments of the right wing and made off from the battlefield +down the side of the Alle. Nightfall prevented the French from +following, so his was the only body of Russian troops to escape +the disaster. + +Our victory was one of the most complete; we captured all the +Russian guns; we did not take a many prisoners during the action, +but a great many of the enemy were killed or wounded, amounting +to more than twenty-six thousand; our losses were no more than +three thousand dead and four or five thousand wounded. Of all the +battles fought by the Emperor, this was the only one in which the +number of his troops exceeded that of the enemy. The French +strength was eighty thousand and the Russian's only seventy-five +thousand. The remnants of the Russian army marched in disorder +all night, and retired behind the River Pregal, having destroyed +the bridges. + +Marshals Soult, Davout and Murat had not been involved in the +battle of Friedland, but their presence induced the Russians to +abandon Konigsberg, which town our troops entered. We found there +an immense store of all kinds of material. + +I did not suffer any injury during the battle, though I ran into +a number of dangers. You saw how I left Posthenen in the morning, +on Marshal Lannes' orders, to go as quickly as possible to warm +the Emperor that the Russians were crossing the Alle, and that a +battle appeared imminent. Napoleon was at Eylau; I had therefore +to make a journy of about six leagues to reach him, which would +have presented no difficulty to my excellent mare if the road had +been clear, but as it was congested by the troops of various +units hurrying to the aid of Marshal Lannes at Friedland, there +was no way in which I could gallop along it. I therefore went +across country, which meant that Lisette, having had to jump +hedges, fences and ditches, was already very tired when I met the +Emperor, who was just leaving Eylau. However, I had, without a +moment of rest, to return with him to Friedland, and although +this time the troops moved to one side to let us pass, my poor +mare, having galloped over twelve leagues altogether, six of them +being across country, and in very hot weather, was utterly +exhausted by the time I had rejoined Marshal Lannes on the +battlefield. I realised that Lisette could not continue to carry +me during the action, so, taking advantage of the rest which +Napoleon allowed the troops, I set out to look for my servant, in +order to change horses; but in the middle of such a large +collection of troops there was not much hope of finding him. It +was, in fact, impossible, and I went back to the staff still +mounted on the weary Lisette. + +Marshal Lannes and my comrades, who saw my problem, had advised +me to dismount and allow my mare a few hour's rest, when I caught +sight of a Hussar leading a horse which he had captured from the +enemy. I took it over, and gave Lisette to one of the troopers of +the marshal's escort, so that he could take her back behind the +lines, let her have some food and hand her over to my servant, +when he could find him. I then got astride my new mount, took my +place among the aides-de-camp, and when it came to my turn, I +went off. + +I was, at first, very pleased with my fresh horse, until the time +came when, Marshal Ney having gone into Friedland, Marshal Lannes +sent me to warn him of an enemy movement. I had barely entered +the town when this devil of a horse, which had behaved so well in +the open country, finding itself in a little square, where all +the houses were on fire and the street covered with burning +planks and furniture, in the midst of which a number of bodies +were being roasted, was so frightened by the sight of the flames +and the smell of burning flesh that it would go neither forward +nor back, and, digging in its heels, it remained motionless, +snorting loudly, and no amount of spurring would persuade it to +move. Now the Russians, having gained a momentary advantage, +pushed our men back to the point where I was, and from the height +of a church and some neighbouring houses, they were raining down +bullets, while two guns which they carried with them fired +grape-shot at the soldiers among whom I was. + +Many men were killed around me, which recalled to my mind the +position in which I had found myself at Eylau in the middle of +the 14th. As I was not anxious to be wounded again and in any +case, in staying where I was I was not carrying out my mission, I +simply dismounted, and abandoning my infernal mount, I slipped +through the houses to contact Marshal Ney at another spot, which +was pointed out by some officers. + +I was with him for some fifteen minutes; there were some bullets +flying around, but nothing like so many as there had been at the +place where I had left my mount. The Russians were eventually +driven back at bayonet point and forced to retreat toward the +bridges, whereupon Marshal Ney sent me to take the good news to +Marshal Lannes. To get out of the town, I took the same route as +I had taken to get in, and went through the little square where I +had left my horse. It had been the scene of a fierce encounter +which had left many dead and dying, among whom I saw my stubborn +horse, its back broken by a cannon-ball, and its body riddled by +bullets!.... From there I made for the outskirts in something of +a hurry because the burning houses were collapsing on all sides +and I was afraid of being buried beneath the debris. At last I +got out of the town and reached the edge of the lake. + +The heat of the day, added to that of the fire which was raging +in the streets through which I had passed, had bathed me in +sweat, and I was dropping with fatigue and hunger, for I had +spent a night on horseback to come from Eylau to Friedland, I had +galloped back to Eylau and returned to Friedland once more, and +had not eaten since the previous evening. I was not looking +forward, therefore, to crossing, under a blazing sun, the large +area covered with high standing corn which separated me from +Marshal Lannes. But once again I had a stroke of luck. General +Grouchy's division of dragoons had been engaged not far away in a +sharp encounter in which, although victorious, they had lost a +number of men, and the colonels had, as was usual, collected the +horses of the men who had been killed and put them in the hands +of a detachment which would lead them away. I saw this body of +men, of which every trooper was leading four or five horses and +was taking them to the lake to drink. + +I spoke to the officer in charge who, encumbered by all these led +horses, was only too glad to let me have one, which I promised to +return to his regiment in the evening. He picked out for me an +excellent beast, which had been the mount of a sous-officier +killed during the charge; astride of this horse, I returned +rapidly to Posthenen. + +I had hardly left the edge of the lake when it became the theatre +of the most savage encounter, which was due to the desperate +attempt made by Gortschakoff to reopen a way of retreat by +capturing the road to Friedland which was held by Marshal Ney. +Caught between the marshal's troops and those of our centre, who +were now advancing, Gortschakoff's Russians defended themselves +bravely amongst the houses bordering the lake; so that if I had +stayed there, where I had thought of resting for a while, I would +have landed in the middle of this fierce outbreak of fighting. I +rejoined Marshal Lannes at the moment when he was moving towards +the lake to attack the rear of the Russian troops whom Ney was +driving away from the front of the town, and I was able to give +him some useful information about the terrain on which we were +fighting. + +If the French army did not take many prisoners during the battle +of Friedland, it was a different matter the next day and the days +following; for the Russians, pursued with a bayonet at their +backs, thrown into complete disorder and utterly exhausted, were +abandoning their ranks and lying down in the fields, where we +captured a great number. We also collected a large quantity of +artillery. All those members of Benningsen's army who escaped +hurried back across the Nieman, behind which was the Russian +emperor who, perhaps recalling the danger to which he had been +exposed at Austerlitz, had judged it unwise to assist in person +at the battle of Friedland; and two days after our victory he +hastened to ask Napoleon for an armistice, to which Napoleon +agreed. + +Three days after the battle the French army reached the town of +Tilsit and the river Nieman, which at this point is only a few +leagues from the frontiers of the Russian empire. + +The rear of a victorious army presents a most dismal spectacle. +The path of their advance is strewn with the dead, dying, and +wounded, while the survivors, soon forgetting those comrades who +have fallen in the fighting, rejoice in their success and go +forward cheerfully to new adventures. Our men were delighted to +see the Nieman, whose opposite bank was occupied by the remains +of that Russian army which they had defeated in so many +engagements; and where, in contrast to their own lighthearted +songs, there reigned a mournful silence. Napoleon established +himself at Tilsit, and his troops encamped around the town. The +Nieman separated the two armies; the French occupied the left +bank and the Russians the right. + +The Emperor Alexander having requested a meeting with Napoleon, +this took place on the 25th of June, in a pavilion on a raft +anchored in the middle of the river, in sight of the two armies +which lined the banks. It was a most imposing spectacle. The two +emperors arrived, each from his own side, accompanied by only +five of the principal officers of their armies. Marshal Lannes, +who flattered himself that he should accompany the Emperor, saw +himself displaced by Marshal Bessieres, an intimate friend of +Prince Murat; and he never forgave the marshals for depriving him +of what he considered his right. + +So Marshal Lannes stayed with us on the quay at Tilsit, from +where we saw the two emperors embrace on meeting, which +occasioned much cheering from both camps. The next day, the 26th, +in the course of a second interview which took place once more in +the pavilion on the Nieman, the Russian emperor presented to +Napoleon his unfortunate friend, the King of Prussia. This prince +whom the fortunes of war had stripped of a vast kingdom, leaving +him only the small town of Memel and some miserable villages, +maintained a bearing worthy of a descendant of Frederick the +Great: Napoleon greeted him politely but coolly, for he +considered that he had reason to complain of his conduct, and he +planned to confiscate the greater part of his states. + +To facilitate the meetings of the two Emperors, the town of +Tilsit was declared neutral, and Napoleon handed over half of it +to the Russian emperor, who set himself up there with his Guard. +The two sovereigns spent some twenty days together, during which +time they decided the fate of Europe. During these proceedings, +the King of Prussia was relegated to the right bank, and had no +quarters in Tilsit, which he visited but rarely. One day Napoleon +went to call on the Queen of Prussia, who was said to be greatly +distressed. He invited her to dine with him on the following day. +She accepted the invitation, no doubt with little pleasure, but +realising that at a time when peace was being sought it was +necessary to take every measure to soften the heart of the +victor. + +Napoleon and the Queen of Prussia thoroughly detested one +another: she had grossly insulted him in several proclamations, +and he had returned the complement in his bulletins. Their +meeting, however, did not display their mutual hatred; Napoleon +was respectful and attentive, the queen gracious in her attempts +to captivate her former enemy; attempts made all the more +determinedly as she was not unaware that the peace treaty +created--under the name of the kingdom of Westphalia--a new +state, whose territory was to be provided by the electorate of +Hesse, and by Prussia itself. + +The Queen was resigned to the loss of several provinces, but she +could not accept the loss of the fortified city of Magdeberg, +possession of which was needed for the security of Prussia. For +his part, Napoleon, who planned to nominate his brother Jerome as +King of Westphalia, intended to add Magdeberg to this new state. +It appears that, during the meal, the Queen deployed her not +inconsiderable charms, and when Napoleon, to change the +conversation, praised a superb rose which the Queen was wearing, +she said to him, "Would your majesty not accept this rose in +return for Magdeberg?" A more chivalrous person might have +accepted, but Napoleon was too much of a realist to be won over +by a pretty proposition. One may be sure that he restricted +himself to admiring the beauty of the rose and also of the hand +which proffered it, but he did not take the flower, which brought +tears to the Queen's eyes. The conqueror, however, did not seem +to notice. He kept Magdeberg and politely conducted the Queen to +the boat which was to carry her to the opposite bank. + +During our stay at Tilsit, Napoleon held a review of his Guard +and the army in the presence of Alexander, who was impressed by +the martial air and bearing of these troops. The Russian Emperor, +in his turn, put on display some fine battalions of his Guard, +but he did not dare to parade his line regiments, whose numbers +had been so greatly reduced at Heilsberg and Friedland. As for +the King of Prussia, of whose regiments there remained only the +broken debris, he did not exhibit them at all. + +Napoleon drew up, with Russia and Prussia, a peace treaty in +which the principal articles related to the creation of the +kingdom of Westphalia for the benefit of Jerome Bonaparte. The +elector of Saxony, now an ally and friend of France, was elevated +to the dignity of king, and was awarded, in addition, the Grand +Duchy of Warsaw, composed of a vast province of the former +Poland, which was recovered from the Russians. I shall not go +into the less important articles of the treaty, which resulted in +the re-establishment of peace between the great powers of +continental Europe. + +In elevating his brother to the throne of Westphalia, Napoleon +added to the mistakes he had already made in awarding the kingdom +of Naples to Joseph and that of Holland, Louis. The people of +these countries felt humiliated at being ruled by foreigners who +had not themselves done anything of importance and who were, in +fact, nonentities, who had no merit except that of being +Napoleon's brothers. The dislike and distrust which these new +kings attracted contributed largely to the Emperor's downfall. +The conduct of the King of Westphalia in particular made very +many enemies for Napoleon. + +Having concluded the treaty, the two Emperors parted with mutual +assurances of friendship, which at the time seemed sincere. + +Chap. 37. + +The French army was spread out into the various provinces of +Germany and Poland under the command of five marshals, in whose +number Lannes had asked not to be included, since his ill-health +required his return to France. If I had been his permanent +aide-de-camp, I would have had to return with him, but I had an +even better reason for going, and that was to rejoin Marshal +Augereau, to whose staff I had not ceased to belong, my +attachment to Marshal Lannes being only temporary. I made ready +to return to Paris: I sold, as well as possible, my two horses, +and I sent Lisette to the registrar-general, M. de Launey, who, +having taken a liking to her, had asked me to let him have her +when I had no further use for her. Her injuries and hard work +had calmed her down, and I lent her to him for an indefinite +period; he mounted his wife on her, and kept her for seven or +eight years until she died a natural death. + +During the twenty days which the Emperor had spent at Tilsit, he +had despatched a great many officers, some to Paris, some to +other parts of the empire, so that there were hardly any left +available for duty. Napoleon did not want to take officers from +their regiments, so he ordered a list to be made of all those who +had joined the campaign voluntarily and those who did not belong +to any army corps nor to the staff of any of the five marshals +who were in command. I was included in this list, and felt sure +that the Emperor, for whom I had already carried despatches, +would choose me in preference to officers whom he did not know; +and indeed, the Emperor sent for me on the 9th of July, and +having given me some voluminous portfolios and some despatches +for the King of Saxony, ordered me to go to Dresden and await him +there. The Emperor intended to leave Tilsit that same day, but +was going on a long detour to visit Konigsberg, Marienwerder, and +Silesia, so that I would be several days ahead of him. + +I crossed Prussia once more, and saw again several of our +battlefields; I went through Berlin and arrived at Dresden two +days before the Emperor. The court of Saxony was aware that a +peace had been agreed, and that it raised the elector to the rank +of king, and awarded him the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, but they did +not yet know that the Emperor was to pass through Dresden on his +way to Paris; it was I who gave this information to the new king. + +You may imagine the result of this! ...Immediately the court, the +town, and the army were thrown into a turmoil to organise a grand +reception for the great Emperor who, after having so generously +restored to liberty the Saxon troops captured at Jena, had loaded +their sovereign with honours! I was received with enthusiasm; I +was lodged in the chateau in a fine apartment, where I was +magnificently cared for, and the king's aides-de-camp showed me +round all the interesting sights of the palace and the town. +Eventually the Emperor arrived, and in accordance with the +protocol, which I already knew, I hurried to hand over the +portfolios to M. Meneval, and to ask for the Emperor's further +orders. These I found agreeable, for I was instructed to carry +some fresh portfolios to Paris, and the Emperor gave me a letter +which I was to deliver personally to the Empress Josephine. The +marshal of the palace, M. Duroc, gave me eight thousand francs to +cover the expense of the journey from Tilsit to Dresden and from +Dresden to Paris. I took to the road in high spirits: I had just +taken part in three fine campaigns, during which I had been +promoted to captain, and had been noticed by the Emperor; we were +about to enjoy the delights of peace, which would allow me to +spend a long time with my mother; I was fully recovered; I had +never had so much money; everything conspired to make me happy, +and I was very happy. + +I arrived at Frankfurt-on-main, where a lieutenant colonel of the +Imperial Guard named M. de L... was in command. The Emperor had +given me a letter for this officer, from whom he wanted, I think, +some confidential information, for M. de L... was in touch with +M. Savary, who ran the secret police. This colonel invited me to +dine with him, after which he conducted me back to my coach; but +as I got in I noticed a fair sized package which was not part of +my despatches. I was about to call for my batman to get an +explanation for this, when Colonel de L... stopped me, and told +me, in an undertone, that the package contained some dresses in +Berlin knitwear and other materials banned in France, and was +destined for the Empress Josephine, who would be much obliged to +me for bringing them to her! I recalled only too well the cruel +anxieties I had suffered as a result of the false report which I +had been persuaded to give the Emperor regarding the numerical +strength of the "Chasseurs a Cheval" at Austerlitz, to consent to +be engaged once more in some underhand business: so I flatly +refused. To be sure I would have liked to please the Empress, but +I was aware of the inflexible severity with which Napoleon +treated those found guilty of smuggling, and after facing so many +dangers, and shedding so much of my blood in battle, I had no +wish to sacrifice whatever merit I had gained in the eyes of the +Emperor by transgressing his laws in order to draw a smile of +thanks from the Empress. To overcome my objections Colonel de +L... pointed out that the package had several wrappings, of which +the outermost, addressed to the minister for war, bore the seal +of the 7th Light Infantry and the designation "Record of +accounts." He was sure that the customs would not dare open such +a package, the outer covering of which I could remove when I +reached Paris and deliver the stuff to the Empress without being +compromised; but in spite of all this fine reasoning, I +absolutely refused to take part in this transaction and ordered +the postilion to set off. When we arrived at the post-house, half +way between Frankfurt and Mainz, I took my batman to task for +having taken into the coach this extra package; he replied that +during dinner time, M. de L... himself had put these packages +into the coach: he had supposed that they contained more +despatches, and had not thought that he could refuse to accept +them from the hands of the commanding officer in person. "Did you +say packages?" I cried, "were there then several? He took away +only one." And now, rummaging amongst the Emperor's portfolios, I +found a second package of contraband which the colonel had put +into my trunk without my knowledge. I was taken aback by this +trickery and was tempted to throw the dresses onto the highway. +However I did not dare, and I continued my journey, determined +that if the contraband was seized I would explain how it had been +put into my coach, and by whom the stamp of the 7th Light +Infantry had been put on the wrapping; for I had no wish to face +the anger of Napoleon; but as this defence would have compromised +the Empress,I decided that I would use it only as a last resort, +and that I would make every effort to avoid my coach being +examined. A stroke of luck and a little subterfuge got me out of +this dilemma. + +I arrived, very worried, at the bridge over the Rhine at Mainz, +which separates Germany from France, and my anxiety was increased +by the sight of the great collection of customs officers and +soldiers in unifor, who were waiting round this frontier. When my +carriage was stopped, in the usual manner, two men arrived +simultaneously at the door; one was a customs officer, to carry +out a search, and the other was an aide-de-camp to Marshal +Kellerman, who was in command of the station, and who wanted to +know if the Emperor was on his way. This is my chance! I thought +to myself, and pretending not to notice the customs officer, I +replied to the aide-de-camp, "The Emperor is coming behind me." +This was no lie, he was indeed following me, but at an interval +of two days...which I did not think it necessary to add. + +My words were heard by all around me and threw them into a state +of frenzied activity. The aide-de-camp went off across the bridge +at the gallop, at risk of tumbling into the Rhine in his haste to +warn Marshal Kellerman. The guard took up their arms. The customs +men and their superiors tried to arrange themselves in the most +military manner possible in order to look good in front of the +Emperor and, as my carriage got in their way, they told the +postilion to clear off....So there I was! Freed from their +clutches! + +I went on to the posting-house and quickly changed horses; but +while this was being done, a violent storm broke over Mainz and +the rain began to fall in torrents. It was five o'clock in the +afternoon, dinner time; but on the news of the approaching +arrival of the Emperor, the general alarm was beaten throughout +the town; on which signal the marshal, generals, prefect, mayor, +civil and military authorities, all threw down their napkins, and +hastily donning their best clothes, they went in the pouring rain +through the streams of water running in the streets to take up +their posts; while I, who was the cause of all this commotion, +was laughing my head off as I made off at full speed drawn by +three good post-horses. + +In view of the fact that the Empress was willing to disobey her +august spouse by wearing clothes made of prohibited material, and +that a colonel was willing to slip contraband into my coach +without my knowledge, the trick which I had played seemed to me +to be excusable. In any case, since it was June, the soaking +which I had caused these Mainz officials to undergo would do no +harm except to their clothes. When I was far from Mainz, I could +still hear the sound of drums, and I learned afterwards that they +had stayed up all night. The Emperor arrived two days later, but +as he had had an accident to his coach, the good citizens of +Mainz blamed that for the delay of which their fine clothes were +the victims. I was heading swiftly and happily towards Paris, +when a most disagreeable accident interrupted my progress, and +turned my happiness to annoyance. You will understand that when a +sovereign travels, it would be impossible to supply a change of +horses for the numerous carriages which precede and follow him, +if the staging posts were not reinforced by horses, known as "de +tournee", brought from posts established on other routes. Now, as +I was leaving Dombasle, a little town this side of Verdun, a +confounded postilion "de tournee" who had arrived the night +before, not having noticed a steep hill which one encounters +after leaving the staging post, lost control of his horses during +the descent and overturned my carriage, breaking the springs and +the bodywork. To make matters worse, it was a Sunday and all the +population had gone to a fete in a neighbouring village, so that +I could not find a workman. Those that I found the next day were +so unskillful that I had to spend two mortal days in this +miserable place. + +I was about to set out again when an outrider having announced +the arrival of the Emperor, I took the liberty of stopping his +coach to tell him of the accident which I had suffered. He +laughed, took back the letter for the Empress which he had given +me, and went on his way. I followed him to St. Cloud, from where, +after giving the portfolios to the cabinet secretary, I went to +my mother's home in Paris. + +I took up once more my position as aide-de-camp to Marshal +Augereau, a very easy task, as it consisted of going every month +to spend one or two weeks at La Houssaye, where daily life was +always so amusing. Thus rolled by the end of the summer and the +autumn; during which time the Emperor's policies were leading +towards fresh events and storms whose terrible commotions would +nearly swallow me up; me, a very small personage, who, in his +carefree youth, thought of nothing but enjoying life, after +having seen death at such close quarters. + +It has been rightly said that the Emperor was never so great and +powerful as in 1807, when, after defeating the Austrians, the +Russians and the Prussians, he had concluded a peace so +favourable to France and to himself. But scarcely had Napoleon +ended his war against the northern powers, when his evil genius +drove him to undertake one even more terrible, in the south of +Europe, in the Iberian peninsula. + +End of Volume 1, The Memoirs of General the Baron de Marbot. +Translated by Oliver C. Colt + + + + + + + +The Memoirs of General the Baron de Marbot. Translated by +Oliver C. Colt + +Contents of Volume 2. + +Chap. 1. My marriage. Farewell to Massena. + +Chap. 2. Biography of Massena. + +Chap. 3. 1812. Appointed to 23rd Chasseurs. The intrigues of +Count Czernicheff. + +Chap. 4. War becomes inevitable. Warnings given to Napoleon. The +Imperial court at Dresden. Faulty composition of army. + +Chap. 5. Review by the Emperor. The army at the Nieman. Notes on +historians of the 1812 campaign. Bernadotte's attitude. The +Poles. + +Chap. 6. Crossing of Nieman. Entry into Wilna. I meet the enemy. +The 23rd at Wilkomir. Problems in Lithuania. The advance. + +Chap. 7. The Russian army split. Bagration escapes from Jerome. +Fruitless attack on Dvinaberg. I defeat two of Wittgenstein's +units. We leave the Grande Armee. Composition of 2nd Corps. + +Chap. 8. Jakobovo and Kliastitsoui. I am wounded. + +Chap. 9. The marsh at Sebej. Retreat. The ford at Sivotschina. +Death of Koulnieff. A last farewell. + +Chap. 10. Fresh withdrawal by Oudinot. Marches and +countermarches. Retreat to Polotsk. General St. Cyr. Oudinot is +wounded. St. Cyr takes over. + +Chap. 11. Surprise attack on the enemy. Various incidents. We +settle in Polotsk. + +Chap. 12. The advance of the Grande Armee. Capture of Smolensk. +The battle for Moscow. + +Chap. 13. Bad news from Spain. Rostopschine. The fire of Moscow. +Revival of the Russian army. Koutousoff's treachery. + +Chap. 14. Decision to retreat. Napoleon forced to change route. I +become a Colonel. Bravery of Ney as rearguard. + +Chap. 15. Situation of 2nd Corps. Bavarian demoralisation. +Mission to Count Lubenski. + +Chap. 16. The Austrians defect. The defence of Polotsk. +Wittgenstein captured but escapes. The Bavarians leave us. We +join Marshal Victor. + +Chap. 17. Oudinet returns and separates from Victor. Grave +situation of the army. Loss and recapture of Borisoff. The bridge +over the Beresina burnt. We collect much booty from Borisoff. + +Chap. 18. Corbineau rejoins 2nd Corps. The enemy are deceived. + +Chap. 19. Loss of Partouneaux's division. The catastrophe at the +Beresina. 2nd Corps forms the rearguard. I am wounded again. + +Chap. 20.Intense cold. Thieving in the army. Arrival at Wilna. +Using sledges. Arrival at Kovno. Crossing the Vistula. + +Chap. 21. Causes of our disaster. + +Chap. 22. Worrying general situation. Incompetent administration. +Question the retention of fortresses. The state of France. I go +to the depot at Mons. + +Chap. 23. New hostilities on the Elbe. Battles of Lutzen and +Bautzen. An armistice. I rejoin the regiment. The state of the +army. Napoleon should negotiate. + +Chap. 24. The armistice broken. Treachery of Jomeni. A painful +check. + +Chap. 25. The battle of Dresden. Vandamme at Kulm. + +Chap. 26. Oudinot and Macdonald both suffer defeat. The plateau +of Jau‰r. We recross the Katzbach. + +Chap. 27. Forces concentrate at Dresden. The Baskirs. + +Chap. 28. The battle of Leipzig. + +Chap. 29. Vain attempt at armistice. Battle of 18th October. +Bernadotte fights against us. Indecisive result of fighting. + +Chap. 30. A critical situation. Lack of preparation for a +retreat. The allies enter Leipzig. Premature destruction of the +bridge over the Elster. + +Chap. 31. I gather the remnants of our army at the Elster. The +retreat to the Saale. Erfurt. The army reached Hanau. + +Chap. 32. The battle of Hanau. The retreat continues. + +Chap. 33. The last events of 1813. Dresden surrendered. Disasters +in Spain. The situation in Italy and the Tyrol. + +Chap. 34. I am nominated commandant of the department of +Jemmapes. A difficult position. Our troops are recalled to Paris. + +Chap. 35. Napoleon's last stand. Resistance becomes impossible. +Inadequate measures taken to defend Paris. Belated return of the +Emperor to the capital. Paris should have been held. Underhand +plotting against Napoleon. + + + +Volume 2. + +Chap. 1. + +My brother and the rest of Massena's aides-de-camp made haste to +leave Spain and come to join us in Paris, where I remained all +summer and the following autumn. I went each month to spend some +days at the Chateau de Bonneuil, the home of M. and Mme. +Desbrieres. During my absence the Desbrieres had been most +friendly towards my mother, and on my return the affection I had +felt for a long time for their daughter was increased, and I was +shortly permitted to ask for her hand in marriage. The marriage +was agreed, and I even had, for a time, the hope of being +promoted to colonel before this important ceremony took place. + +It was the accepted thing for the Emperor to sign the marriage +contract of any of the colonels in the army, but he only very +rarely accorded this favour to officers of lower rank, and they +were required to inform the minister for war of the reasons which +led them to ask for this distinction. I based my request on what +the Emperor had said to me when I saw him on the eve of the +battle of Marengo. He had said to me, speaking of my father who +had died during the siege of Genoa, "If you behave yourself and +follow in his footsteps, I, myself, will be your father." I added +that since that day I had been wounded eight times, and was +conscious that I had always done my duty. + +The minister, Clarke, a very stern character, who almost always +rejected requests of this sort, agreed that mine merited +consideration, and promised me that he would submit it to his +majesty. He kept his word, for a few days later I was ordered to +report to the Emperor at the chateau of Compiegne, and to bring +with me the notary who held the contract of marriage; this was +the good M. Mailand, with whom I set off in a post carriage. + +When we arrived, the Emperor had gone hunting: not that he much +enjoyed the sport, but he thought that he should copy the former +kings of France. The signing was therefore put off until the next +day, which greatly upset M. Mailand who was awaited in Paris. But +what could one do? + +On the following day we were presented to the Emperor, whom we +found in the apartment where, twenty years later, I have so often +served as aide-de-camp to princes of the House of Orleans. My +contract was signed in the salon where later was signed that of +the King of Belgium with Princess Louise, the daughter of King +Louis-Phillipe of France. + +During these short interviews, Napoleon was always very affable. +He addressed some questions to the notary, asked me if my fiancee +was pretty, what was her dowry, etc. etc. On dismissing me he +said that he would like to see me in a good position, and that he +would soon reward me for my good services. For a moment I saw +myself as a colonel, and this hope was reinforced when, on +leaving the Imperial presence, I was accosted by General Mouton, +Comte de Lobau, who assured me confidentially that the Emperor +had put my name on a list of officers to whom he wished to give +the command of a regiment. My pleasure on hearing this was +increased by my knowledge that the Comte de Lobau, an +aide-de-camp to Napoleon, was responsible under the minister for +war, for military promotions. I returned to Paris full of joy and +hope! I was married on the 14th November following. + +I was happy in the bosom of my family, and expected every day my +brevet as colonel, when I was told by the minister for war that I +was to be posted as Major to the 1st regiment of Mounted +Chasseurs, then in garrison in the depths of Germany. I was much +downcast at this news, for it seemed to me most hurtful that I +should be sent once more to serve as a simple squadron commander, +a rank in which I had been wounded three times and had campaigned +from Wagram to Portugal. I could not understand why I was being +treated like this, after what the Emperor and the Comte de Lobau +had said to me. It was the latter who gave me the key to this +puzzle. + +Massena, on his entry into Portugal, had fourteen aides-de-camp, +of whom six were senior officers. Two of these, MM. Pelet and +Casabianca, were made colonels during the campaign; they were +senior to me and had amply fulfilled their duties. Their +promotion seemed to make mine the more certain since I now became +the most senior squadron commander on the staff. The man in the +fifth place was M. Barain, who was a captain when I joined the +staff. M. Barain had lost a hand at Wagram, and was promoted to +major, which was fair; however, the Emperor in advancing him to +this rank had designated him for work in the arsenals, work which +can easily be done with an arm missing. Massena had expected that +M. Barain would remove himself, but the latter insisted on going +with him to Portugal, although he could not carry out any mission +in such difficult country. No one thought therefore that he would +get any further promotion. + +It so happened, however, that M. Barain was a nephew of M. +Francois de Nantes, the director of legal codification, who had +found numerous positions for members of Massena's family. M. +Francois de Nantes demanded in return that his nephew, Barain, +should be recommended for the rank of colonel. The marshal, +forced to choose between me and Barain, chose Barain. I learned +from the Comte de Lobau that the Emperor was reluctant to sign, +but that he eventually yielded to the insistence of the worthy +director who had come to add weight personally to the only +request he had yet made on the behalf of his family. So Barain +was promoted to colonel. + +I have perhaps dwelt a little overmuch on this regrettable +affair, but to assess my disappointment it is necessary to think +back to the period in question and recall the important position +occupied by battalion commanders in the imperial army, which +resulted in several instances of colonels who refused promotion +to general and asked only to be left in command of their +regiments. + +Massena sent me the following letter, the only reward for three +campaigns fought and three wounds recieved under his command. + +Paris. 24th November. 1811 + +My dear Marbot, I send you the service order which I have +received on your behalf. I asked for promotion for you, as you +are aware, and I am doubly disappointed that you did not obtain +this and that I am also to lose you. I have been very satisfied +with your services; a satisfaction which you are entitled to +feel, regardless of any rewards which this may bring. Your record +will always do you credit in the eyes of those under whose orders +you may find yourself. Please believe, my dear Marbot, in my +appreciation, my regrets and my sincere good wishes for you. + +Massena. + +I had not expected to meet Massena again, but his wife wrote to +me saying that she wished to meet my wife, and inviting us both +to dinner. I had always had the highest regard for the conduct of +Madame Massena, particularly at Antibes, her home territory, +where I met her for the first time, on my return from Genoa. So I +accepted the invitation. Massena came up to me and once more +expressed his regrets, and suggested that he might ask for my +nomination as an officer of the Legion of Honour. I replied that +as he had been unable to do anything for me when I was on his +staff, and wounded before his eyes, I would not like to expose +him to any further embarrassment, and that I would now seek +advancement by my own efforts; then I lost myself in the crowd of +guests. + +This was my last contact with Massena, though I continued to +visit his wife and his son, both of them my firm friends. + +Chap. 2. + +I shall now give you some details of Massena's career. Andre +Massena was born on the 6th of May 1758 at La Turbie, a village +in the little state of Monaco. His paternal grandfather was a +respected tanner who had three sons: Jules, the father of the +marshal, Augustin and Marcel. The first two of these went to +Nice, where they set up a soap-works. Marcel went to France where +he enlisted in the Royal-Italian regiment. When Jules died, +leaving very little money and five children, three of them, +amongst whom was the young Andre, were taken in charge by their +uncle Augustin, who having taught them no more than to read and +write, employed them in soap-making. + +Andre, who was active and adventurous, could not adjust to the +monotonous and laborious work of the factory, and at the age of +thirteen he abandoned his uncle's home and embarked, secretly, as +a cabin-boy, in a merchant ship; accompanied by one of his +cousins named Bavastro, who became, during the wars of the +empire, the most celebrated corsaire of the Mediterranean. As for +Andre, having spent two years at sea and even made a voyage to +America, he rebelled against the hard life and harsh treatment +which were the lot of the seaman, and enlisted as a private +soldier in the Royal-Italian regiment, under the auspices of his +uncle Marcel, who had reached the rank of sergeant-major, and was +soon to be commissioned. This Marcel Massena, whom I met in 1800, +when he was commandant of the fortress at Antibes, was a serious +and capable man, highly thought of by his Colonel, M. Chauvet +d'Arlon. To help his nephew, he had him taught to speak and write +reasonable French, and, in spite of some escapades, had him +promoted to the rank of warrant-officer. He even held out some +hope of a commission in the mounted constabulary, but Andre, +tired of waiting, left at the end of his engagement. + +Having gone back to civilian life, without any money, Andre +joined forces once more once more with his cousin Bavastro, and +taking advantage of the close proximity of the frontiers of +France, Piedmont, the State of Genoa, and the sea, they embarked +on smuggling on a grand scale, not only along the coast but +across the mountains, the various passes through which he got to +know extremely well; knowledge which he later found most useful +when he was in command of troops in this part of the country. +Hardened by the rough trade of smuggling, and compelled always to +keep one jump ahead of the customs officers, Massena acquired, +without being aware of it, an understanding of the principles of +warfare, as well as the vigilance and activity without which one +cannot become a good officer. Having by this means got together +some capital, he married a French woman, Mlle. Lamarre, the +daughter of an Antibes surgeon, and settled in this town, where +he had built up a small business in olive oil and dried Provencal +fruit, when the Revolution of 1789 broke out. + +Influenced by his taste for arms, Massena left his wife and his +shop and enrolled in the 1st battalion of volunteers from Var. +His practical and theoretical knowledge of military matters +earned him the rank of captain, and shortly after, that of major. +Fighting soon broke out, and the courage and skill displayed by +Massena elevated him rapidly to the ranks of colonel and +brigadier-general. He was put in command of a camp called "the +camp of a thousand pitchforks," in part of which was the 4th +artillery company, commanded by Captain Napoleon Bonaparte, under +whose orders he would serve later in Italy. Entrusted with the +command of a column at the siege of Toulon, he distinguished +himself by the capture of the forts Lartigues and +Sainte-Catherine, which led to his promotion to divisional +general. After the town had fallen, he joined his troops to the +army of Italy where he was prominent in all the engagements which +took place in the area between the shores of the Mediterranean +and Piedmont; country which he knew so well. Intelligent, +ceaselessly active, and of boundless courage, Massena, after some +years of success, had already a high reputation, when a grave +mistake nearly brought his career to an end. + +At the beginning of the campaign of 1796, General Bonaparte had +just become commander-in-chief of the army, which placed Massena, +once his senior in rank, under his command. Massena, who always +led the advance-guard, having defeated near Cairo (Cairo in +Piedmont, not Cairo in Egypt. Ed.) an Austrian unit, learned that +the enemy officers had planned a celebratory dinner in the inn of +a nearby village which they had been forced to abandon. He +conceived the notion, together with some brother officers, of +taking advantage of this windfall, and left his division camped +on the top of a fairly high mountain. + +However the Austrians recovered their nerve, and charging back, +they fell on the French camp at daybreak. Our soldiers, although +taken by surprise, defended themselves bravely, but with no +general in control, they were driven back to the edge of the +plateau where they had spent the night, and, attacked by greatly +superior forces, looked certain to suffer a major defeat when +Massena, having with his sabre cut his way through the Austrian +scouts, ran up a path which he knew of old and appeared in front +of his troops who, in their indignation, received him with +well-deserved cat-calls. The general, without taking too much +notice, resumed command and proceeded to march his division to +rejoin the main body of the army. It was then seen that a +battalion placed the night before on an isolated hillock could +not come down by any practicable route without coming under +enfilading fire from the enemy. Massena scrambled quickly up the +hillside on his hands and knees and went alone to the battalion +where he addressed the men and assured them that he would get +then out of this fix if they would follow his example. Ordering +them to sheathe their bayonets, he sat on the snow at the edge of +slope, and pushing himself by his hands, he slid to the bottom of +the valley....All our soldiers, in fits of laughter, did the +same, and in no time the whole battalion was gathered together, +out of the range of the baffled Austrians. This method of +descent, used by the peasants and mountain guides of Switzerland, +had surely never before been used by a battalion of troops of the +line. I have been assured by generals who were in Massena's +division at the time that this incident actually occurred, and, +nine years later, I was at the chateau of La Houssaye, when +Marshal Augereau entertained the Emperor and all the marshals and +I heard them joking with Massena about the new method of retreat +which he had used on this occasion. + +It seems that on the day that Massena was making use of this odd +expedient, which he had often used in the days when he was a +smuggler, Bonaparte, realising that he was very young to be +appointed commander-in-chief, and feeling on that account that he +should come down hard on any officer who failed in his duty, +ordered Massena to be brought before a court-martial and accused +of abandoning his post, which could result in a sentence of death +or at the least cashiering!... But at the moment when the general +was about to be arrested there began the famous battle of +Montenotte, in which Massena's and Augereau's divisions took two +thousand prisoners, four flags and five artillery pieces, and +completely routed the Austrian army. After this triumph, to which +Massena had largely contributed, there could not be any question +of putting him on trial. His misdeeds were forgotten, and he was +able to continue his splendid career. + +Massena distinguished himself at Lodi, Milan, Verona, and Arcoli, +in fact everywhere that he was in action, and in particular at +the battle of Rivoli. When the preliminaries of a peace had been +signed at Leoben, Massena who had contributed so much to our +victories, was entrusted with the task of taking the draft treaty +to the government. Paris welcomed him with the most lively +expressions of admiration, wherever he went people crowded round +him to gaze on the features of this famous warrior. But this +triumph was soon eclipsed by his exaggerated love of money, which +was always his principal weakness. + +General Duphot, the French ambassador in Rome, had been +assassinated in that city. A part of the army of Italy, under the +command of Berthier was ordered to go and exact vengeance; but +Berthier was recalled by Bonaparte who wanted to take him to +Egypt, and his place as commander of the army in Rome was taken +by Massena. Soon after the arrival of this general, who was +already accused of procuring a great deal of money during the +Italian campaigns of the previous year, the army complained that +it was in a state of destitution, without clothing and almost +without bread, while the administration, drawing millions from +the Papal states, lived in luxury and abundance. The army turned +against him and sent a deputation of one hundred officers to +demand from Massena an account for the expenditure of this money. +Whether he was unable to account for it or whether he refused to +do so as a matter of discipline Massena would not give any +explanation, and as the troops persisted in their demand, he was +forced to leave Rome and give up his command. + +As soon as he had returned to France, he put out a memorandum +justifying his conduct, which was badly received by the public +and by his colleagues to whom he had addressed it. What upset him +most was that General Bonaparte left for Egypt without replying +to a letter which he had written to him concerning the matter. + +However, a new coalition of Russia, Austria, and England having +declared war on France, hostilities recommenced. In such +circumstances, Massena, although he had not cleared himself from +the accusations brought against him, could not remain in +obscurity; so the Directory, in order to make use of his military +talents, hurriedly gave him command of the French army whose duty +it was to defend Switzerland. Massena at first did very well; but +having rashly attacked the dangerous defile of Feldkirch, in the +Vorarlberg, he was driven off with losses by the Austrians. + +This was a time when our army of the Rhine, commanded by Jourdan, +had just been defeated at Stockach by Prince Charles of Austria, +and the forces which we had in Italy, defeated at Novi by the +Russians under Souvarow, had lost their commander-in-chief, +Joubert, killed on the field of battle. The Austrians, ready to +cross the Rhine, threatened Alsace and Lorraine; Italy was in the +hands of the Russians, whom Souvarow was leading into Switzerland +through the Saint-Gothard pass. France, on the point of being +invaded over both its frontiers, at the Rhine and at the Alps, +pinned all its hopes on Massena, and was not disappointed in her +expectations. + +As you already know, the Directory, impatient for action, +threatened Massena with dismissal unless he engaged the enemy; +but he was determined not to do so until circumstances gave him a +superiority, however brief, over his opponent. At last this +moment arrived. The maladroit General Korsakoff, a former +favourite of Catherine II, had unwisely pushed on towards Zurich +at the head of 50,000 Russians and Bavarians to await his +commander-in-chief, Souvarow, who was on his way from Italy with +55,000 men. Before the arrival of Souvarow, Massena pounced like +a lion on Korsakoff, surprising him in his camp at Zurich and +driving him back to the Rhine after inflicting tremendous losses! +Then, turning on Souvarow, whom the heroic resistance of General +Molitor had held up for three days in the Saint-Gothard, he +defeated him as he had defeated his lieutenant, Korsakoff. + +As a result of these various engagements 30,000 of the enemy were +killed or taken prisoner, fifteen flags and sixty guns were +captured, the independence of Switzerland was secured, and France +was delivered from an imminent invasion. This was Massena's +finest (and cleanest) hour. + +I have already told how Massena took charge of the disorganised +army of Italy, which, after the death of General Championnet, had +been briefly commanded by my father, and described his conduct of +the defence of Genoa, which gave Napoleon the time to collect a +force together, cross the Alps, and fight the battle of Marengo. + +After this victory the First Consul, on his return to France, +thought he could not commit the command of the army of Italy to a +more illustrious officer than Massena; but in a few months there +were complaints similar to those made by the army in Rome. The +dissatisfaction was widespread, new taxes were levied and +frequent requisitions made on a variety of pretexts, and yet the +troops were unpaid! The First Consul, when he learned of this +state of affairs, immediately and without explanation withdrew +the command of the army from Massena, who returned to private +life, where he showed his annoyance by refusing to vote in favour +of Napoleon's life-consulship. He also did not present himself at +the new court. + +When Bonaparte mounted the imperial throne and rewarded the +generals who had done most for the country, he included Massena +in the first list of marshals, awarded him the grand cordon of +the Legion of Honour, and created him head of the fourteenth +cohort of the order, which he had just established. These +dignities and the enormous emoluments which were attached to them +overcame the resistance put up by Massena since he was deprived +of the command of the army of Italy. He voted for the empire, +went to the Tuileries and assisted at the coronation ceremony. + +When a third coalition menaced France, in 1805, the Emperor gave +Messena the task of defending, with forty thousand men, the +northern part of Ital, against the attacks of the Archduke +Charles of Austria, who had eighty thousand. This was a difficult +operation; but not only did Massena hold Lombardy, but he pushed +the enemy back beyond the Tagliamento, and by forcing Prince +Charles to turn and face him at frequent intervals, he so delayed +the Austrian general's progress that he was unable to arrive in +time to save Vienna, nor to join the Russian army which Napoleon +defeated at Austerlitz. Napoleon, however, did not seem to +appreciate the services rendered by Massena on this campaign; he +reproached him for not having acted with his usual vigour, which +did not prevent him, after the treaty of Presberg, from +instructing him to go and conquer the kingdom of Naples, on whose +throne he wished to place his brother, Prince Joseph. + +Within a month the French occupied the whole of the country +except the fortified town of Gaete, which Massena took after a +siege. But while he was directing the attack against this town, +he suffered a loss which rendered him inconsolable. An enormous +sum, which Massena claimed belonged to him, was confiscated by +the Emperor! + +Napoleon, who believed that the best way of forcing the English +to ask for peace was to ruin their trade, to prevent their goods +from entering the continent, ordered them to be seized and burned +in all the countries under his control, that is to say more than +half of Europe. But the desire for money is very powerful and +business men are very crafty. A fool-proof system of smuggling +had been devised. English merchants who were in the scheme, sent +off a ship or ships full of merchandise which allowed themselves +to be captured by one of our corsairs, who would then take it to +one of the ports occupied by our troops, from Swedish Pomerania +to the end of the kingdom of Naples. This first act having been +carried out, it remained to get the goods ashore without +confiscation, this had already been arranged. The immensely long +coastline presented by the conquered countries could not be +watched in its entirety by customs officers, so this function was +carried out by soldiers under the command of the generals who +were in charge of the kingdom or province occupied by our troops. +So it required only an authorisation from one of them to permit +the goods to be landed, after which the traders negotiated with +the "protector." This was called a "licence." + +The origin of this new form of commerce goes back to the days +when Bernadotte was occupying Hamburg and a part of Denmark. He +made a considerable amount of money in this way, and when he +wanted to reward someone, he would give the person a licence, +which could then be sold to a merchant. This practice spread, +little by little, to all the coasts of Germany, Spain and mainly +to Italy. It even got as far as the Emperor's court, where ladies +and chamberlains were given licences by ministers. Napoleon was +not told of this, but he knew, or suspected, that it went on. +Nevertheless, in order not to interfere too drastically with the +usages of the conquered countries, he tolerated this abuse +outside France as long as it was carried on clandestinely, but if +he discovered that someone had made immoderate profits from the +illicit trade, he made them cough up. For example, when the +Emperor heard that M. Michaux, the administrative head of +Bernadotte's army, had lost, in one evening, 300,000 francs, in a +Paris gaming house, he directed an aide-de-camp to write to him +saying that the Invalides was in need of money, and that he was +ordered to pay 300,000 francs into their account; which Michaux, +who had made so much money from licences, hastened to do. + +As you may imagine, Massena was not the last to engage in the +business of selling licences. Together with General Solignac, his +chief of staff, he flooded all the ports of Naples with them. +When the Emperor was informed that Massena had deposited the sum +of three million with a banker at Leghorn, who had taken at the +same time 600,000 from General Solignac, he had a request sent to +Massena for a loan of one million, and one for 200,000 francs +from his chief of staff. Just one third of their illegal gains, +which was not fleecing them too greatly. However, at the sight of +this demand, Massena, bellowing as if he were being +disembowelled, replied to Napoleon that as the poorest of the +marshals, with a numerous family and crippling debts, he +profoundly regretted that he could not send him anything! And +general replied in similar terms. + +They were congratulating themselves on having evaded these +requests when, during the siege of Gaeta, the son of the Leghorn +banker arrived to say that a French treasury inspector, escorted +by a commissioner of police and a number of gendarmes, had +arrived at his father's establishment and had demanded to see the +accounts in which were recorded the deposits made by the marshal +and general Solignac, stating that these sums belonged to the +army, and had been entrusted to the two officers concerned, and +that the Emperor demanded their immediate return, either in cash +or negotiable bonds, and the cancellation of the receipts given +to Massena and Solignac. A legal endorsement was given to this +seizure which the banker, having nothing to lose, did not oppose. + +It is impossible to describe Massena's fury on finding that he +had been deprived of his fortune. It made him quite ill, but he +did not dare to make any complaint when the Emperor, who was then +in Poland, sent for him. + +After the peace of Tilsit, the title of Duke of Rivoli and an +award of 300,000 francs of income were a recompense for his +services, but did not console him for what had been taken from +him at Leghorn, for, in spite of his usual caution, he was heard +to say on a number of occasions "I think it cruel that, while I +was fighting in his interest, he had the gall to take the small +savings I had banked at Leghorn!" + +The invasion of Spain having sparked off a new war with Austria, +the Emperor, threatened by these considerable forces, hurried +back from the peninsula to go to Germany, to where he had already +sent Massena. I have already described the part played by the +marshal in the campaign of 1809. As a reward for his conduct at +Essling and Wagram, the Emperor created him Prince of Essling and +gave him an additional income of 500,000 francs, which was added +to his previous award of 300,000 francs and his salary of 200,000 +as marshal and army commander. The new prince had no more than +that. + +The campaigns of 1810 and 1811 in Spain and Portugal were +Massena's last. They were not very happy; his morale had gone +down and the two campaigns, instead of adding to his fame, +lowered his reputation. The "Enfant cheri de la victoire," as he +had been named, suffered reverses where he could and should have +been successful. + +Massena was thin and bony, and of less than average height. His +Italian features were full of expression. The bad sides to his +character were hypocrisy, spite, harshness, and avarice. He had +plenty of natural intelligence but his adventurous youth and the +lowly position of his family had not encouraged him to study; he +was totally lacking in what one calls education. In the heyday of +his career he had a keen eye and a decisive mind and was not +dismayed by a reverse. As he aged his caution began to verge on +timidity, so anxious was he not to besmirch the reputation he had +acquired. He hated reading, so he had no idea of what had been +written on the principles of warfare, he acted intuitively, and +Napoleon summed him up accurately when he said the Massena +arrived on the battlefield without knowing what he was going to +do, his actions were determined by circumstances. + +It has been wrongly said that Massena was a stranger to flattery, +and spoke his mind fearlessly even to the Emperor. Beneath his +rough exterior Massena was a shrewd courtier. When in the course +of a pheasant shoot, Napoleon had the misfortune to pepper +Massena, injuring one of his eyes, Massena laid the blame on +Berthier, although only Napoleon had fired a shot. Everyone +understood perfectly the discretion of the courtier, and Massena +was overwhelmed by attentions from the Emperor. + +Although very miserly, the victor of Zurich would have given half +his fortune to have been born in the France of the "Ancien +Regime" rather than on the left bank of the Var. Nothing +displeased him more than the Italian termination to his name, of +which he transformed the "a" to "e" in his signature. However the +public did not adopt this change, and Massena he remained in +spite of his efforts. The campaign in Portugal had so much +weakened Massena physically and mentally, that he was obliged to +seek rest and recuperation in the gentle climate of Nice, where +he stayed for the whole of 1812; but Napoleon, returning from the +disastrous invasion of Russia, and scouring Europe for further +resources, thought that the name of Massena could still be of +service, particularly in Provence. So he appointed him governor +of the 8th military division. + +When, in 1814, enemy forces invaded France, Massena, who, in any +case, had few troops at his disposal, did nothing to arrest their +progress, and on the 15th April he surrendered to the Duc +d'Angoulˆme, who created him a Commander of Saint Louis, but +would not elevate him to the peerage, on the pretext that he had +been born abroad, and had never become a naturalised French +citizen! ... As if the victories of Rivoli, Zurich, the defence +of Genoa, and a series of other successful actions on the behalf +of France were not worth as much as naturalisation papers, given +often to scheming foreigners for cash. The treatment given to +Massena in these circumstances had a very adverse effect on +sentiment in the public and the army, and was an additional +source of the disenchantment of the nation with the government of +Louis XVIII, which led to the return of the Emperor. + +Napoleon disembarked near to Cannes on 1st March 1815 and set off +immediately for Paris at the head of about a thousand Grenadiers +of his Guard. The unexpectedness and swiftness of this invasion +threw Massena into confusion. Nevertheless, he tried to stem the +torrent by calling together some line regiments and activating +the national guard of Marseilles and district; but having learned +that the Duc d'Angoulˆme had surrendered and left the country, he +sent his son to inform Louis XVIII that he could no longer rely +on his support, and rallying to the imperial government, he +hoisted the tricolour throughout the area and locked up the +prefect of Var, who still wanted to resist. By this conduct +Massena alienated both the Royalists and the Bonapartists; so +when the Emperor hurriedly summoned him to Paris, he greeted him +very coolly. + +When, soon afterwards, Napoleon made the great mistake of +abdicating for the second time, following the battle of Waterloo, +the Chamber of Representatives seized power and formed a +provisional government whose first act was to invest Massena with +the command of the national guard of Paris. It was hoped that, +although his infirmities prevented him playing any active role, +his name would inspire the populace to support the army in the +defence of the capital, but when a council of war was assembled, +Massena gave it as his opinion that Paris could not be defended! +As a consequence an armistice was agreed with the enemy generals +and the French army withdrew across the Loire, where it was +disbanded. + +Once the allies were masters of France, Louis XVIII, to punish +Massena for having abandoned his cause after March 20th, included +him among the judges who were to try Marshal Ney, hoping that out +of enmity he would condemn his former colleague and so besmirch +his good name; but Massena recused himself on the grounds that +there had been disagreements between him and Marshal Ney in +Portugal, and when this measure failed he joined with those +judges who wanted Ney brought before the House of Peers. They had +hoped to save him, but it would have been better if they had had +the political courage to try him and acquit him....They did not +dare! Ney was condemned and shot, but his blood did not pacify +the Royalists, they became more implacable and soon pursued +Massena himself. + +The citizens of Marseilles, on whose behalf Massena had used his +influence to obtain the freedom of their port, now denounced him +to the Chamber of Deputies on the grounds of peculation. There +was no evidence to support this charge, as Massena had never +exacted any money in Provence, and the chamber, although known +for its hatred of the leading figures of the empire, rejected the +petition out of hand. + +Massena, having escaped from the wave of reaction which was now +sweeping the country, abandoned the stage on which he had played +so brilliant a part, and retired to his chateau of Rueil, which +had once belonged to Cardinal Richelieu, to end his splendid +career in solitude and disgrace. He died on the 4th April 1817, +at the age of fifty-nine. + +At his death, the government had not sent the baton which is by +custom placed on the bier of a marshal, so his son-in-law, +General Reille, claimed this insignia from the minister for war, +a fervent Royalist. When he received no reply to this reasonable +request, in an act of courage, rare at the time, he let it be +known to the court that if a baton did not arrive in time for his +father-in-law's funeral, he would place ostentatiously on his +coffin, the baton awarded to him by the Emperor. The government +then decided that they would supply a baton after all. + +I have touched on some of the blemishes which mar his career, but +Massena more than compensated for them by the remarkable and +heroic services he rendered to France. He will be remembered as +one of the great captains of an era which produced so many. + +Chap. 3. + +At the beginning of 1812, I was in Paris, with my young wife and +our families. But the happiness which I enjoyed was lessened by +the thought of my imminent departure. I was due to join the 1st +Chasseurs … Cheval as a squadron commander with the rank of +Major. The chagrin which I felt at not having been promoted to +Colonel, which I thought I deserved, was somewhat relieved when, +having gone to the Tuileries to pay my new year respects, the +Emperor sent an aide-de-camp to command my presence in his +private quarters, where I found General Mouton, Comte de Lobau, +who had always been on my side. + +Napoleon appeared and told me in the most friendly manner that he +had intended to give me a regiment, but that there were certain +reasons which had led him to nominate Major Barain. He said that +having promoted three of Massena's aides to Colonel he could not +accord any more promotions to one general staff, but that he had +not forgotten me and although he could not give me the nominal +command, he would put me in the position of being, in effect, a +regimental commander. "The commanding officer of the 23rd Mounted +Chasseurs, M. de La Nougarede, has become so afflicted by gout +that he can hardly mount a horse", the Emperor said, "but he is +an excellent officer who has fought several campaigns with me, +and I have a high regard for him. He has begged me to let him try +to go once more on campaign and I do not wish to remove him from +his regiment. However, I hear that this fine unit is going down +hill in his hands so I am sending you as "Coadjutor" to M. de La +Nougarede. You will be working for yourself, for if the Colonel +recovers his health I shall promote him to general, and if not I +shall transfer him to the gendarmes. In either case he will leave +his regiment and you will become their colonel; so I repeat you +will be working for your own benefit." This promise gave me +renewed hope, and I was making ready to leave when the minister +for war extended my leave until the end of March, which I found +very acceptable. + +The 23rd Chasseurs were stationed in Swedish Pomerania, so I had +an enormous distance to travel, and as I wished to arrive before +the expiration of my leave, I left Paris on the 15th of March, +parting with much regret from my dear wife. I had bought a good +barouche, in which, at the request of Marshal Mortier, I gave a +seat to his nephew, Lieutenant Durbach, who belonged to the +regiment which I was about to join. As my former servant, +Woirland, had asked if he might stay in Spain, where he hoped to +make his fortune running a canteen, I had replaced him, on my +leaving Salamanca, by a Pole named Lorentz Schilkowski. This man, +at one time an Austrian Uhlan, was not lacking intelligence, but, +like all Poles he was a drunkard, and unlike the soldiers of that +nation, he was as timid as a hare. Lorentz, however, as well as +his native language, spoke passable French and fluent German and +Russian, and for this reason he was most valuable to me in my +travelling and campaigning in the north. I was nearing the +Rhenish provinces, when on leaving Kaiserslauten at night, the +postilion tipped my barouche into a pothole, where it was +damaged. No one was hurt, but both M. Durbach and I agreed that +this was a bad omen for soldiers who were about to face the +enemy. However, after spending a day waiting for repairs to be +made, we were able to get under way once more. Unfortunately the +accident had so weakened the springs and the wheels that they +broke six times during our journey, which delayed us +considerably, and on occasions forced us to walk for several +leagues in the snow. We arrived at last at the shores of the +Baltic sea, where the 23rd Chasseurs were in garrison at +Stralsund and Greifswald. + +I found Colonel de La Nougarede to be an excellent officer, +well-informed and capable, but so prematurely aged by gout that +he was hardly able to sit on a horse, and went everywhere in a +carriage, a most unsuitable method of transport for the commander +of a regiment of light cavalry! He gave me an enthusiastic +welcome, and after explaining the reasons which, in the interest +of his career, made him stay with the regiment, he showed me a +letter in which the Comte de Lobau informed him of the motives +which had led the Emperor to attach me to him. M. de La +Nougarede, far from being offended, saw this as another kindness +on the part of the Emperor, and looked forward to being promoted +to general or heading the gendarmerie. He counted, with my help, +on completing at least part of the campaign, and on the +realisation of his hopes at the first imperial revue. To make it +clear that I shared the command, which was not in keeping with my +rank as Major, he called together all the officers, in front of +whom he provisionally delegated all his powers to me, until such +time as he recovered his health, and instructed them to obey my +orders without referring to him, since his illness often made it +impossible for him to follow the regiment sufficiently closely to +command it in person. An order of the day was issued along these +lines, and from that day forward, except for the rank,I was +virtually the commander of the regiment, and the regiment soon +got into the habit of looking on me as their real leader. + +Since that time, I have commanded several cavalry regiments, +either as colonel or general. And I was for a long time inspector +of this branch of the service; I can say with certainty that if I +have seen units as good as the 23rd Chasseurs, I have never seen +one better. It was not that the unit contained any outstanding +personalities, such as I have seen sometimes in other regiments, +but if there was not in the 23rd any one of remarkable talents, +there was no one who did not maintain a high standard in carrying +out his duties. There were no peaks, but there were no troughs; +everyone kept in step. The officers were intelligent, well +trained and well behaved. They lived together as true +brothers-in-arms. The same applied to the N.C.O.s. And the +troopers followed this good example. They were almost all old +soldiers, veterans of Austerlitz, Jena, Friedland, Wagram, a fine +body of men who came mostly from Normandy, Alsace, Lorraine and +Franche-comte, provinces known for their martial spirit and their +love of horses. The build and strength of these men was noticed +by General Bourcier, who was in charge of remounts, and he +supplied the regiment with horses which were bigger and more +lively than the usual issue. A period of several years spent in +the fertile land of Germany, had left both men and horses in +splendid condition, and the regiment, when I took over, consisted +of a thousand officers and men, well disciplined, calm and quiet +in the face of the enemy. + +I did not yet have a horse, so I went to Stralsund in the isle of +Rugen, where they have excellent horses, and I bought several; I +got some others from Rostock and ended with a stable of seven +good beasts, which was not too many, as war with Russia appeared +imminent. I had already forecast this during the summer of 1811, +when I saw the great number of old soldiers whom the Emperor was +taking from the regiments in the peninsula to reinforce his Old +Guard. I had been confirmed in this opinion during my stay in +Paris. There were, at first, some distant rumours of a rupture, +which vanished quickly amid the entertainments and festivities of +winter, but soon returned with increased insistence; and became +almost certainties as a result of a serious event, the echoes of +which reverberated throughout Europe. + +The Emperor Alexander had had, since boyhood, a companion who was +a young Russian nobleman, named Czernicheff, of whom he was very +fond, and whom, when he came to the throne, he took as +aide-de-camp. + +In 1809, when Alexander, who was then an ally of Napoleon, was +pretending, without actually doing so, to make war against +Austria, whose country Napoleon had invaded, there arrived in +Vienna Colonel the Comte de Czernicheff, on the ostensible +mission to cement good relations between Napoleon and Alexander, +but in reality to inform his sovereign of our success or failure, +so that he could continue or break off his alliance with France +according to circumstances. + +Alexander's favourite received the friendliest of welcomes from +Napoleon, whose side he never left during the parades and +manoeuvres which preceded the battle of Essling, but when this +bloody affair appeared to be in the balance, and a hail of +bullets descended on the imperial general staff, M. de +Czernicheff turned tail rapidly, and crossing the bridges over +the Danube, he sought the safety of the palace of Schoenbrunn; +and the day after the battle he took to the road for Petersburg, +to announce, no doubt, the failure of our enterprise. Napoleon +thought this behaviour most unbecoming, and made some jeering +comments on the "bravery" of the Russian colonel. Nevertheless, +after peace had been made with Austria, M. de Czernicheff came +very often to Paris, where he spent part of the years 1810 and +1811. Handsome, courteous, likeable, highly deceitful and +exquisitely polite, his title of aide-de-camp to the Russian +emperor gave him entry not only to the court but also to the +salons of high society, where he never discussed politics, and +appeared to be interested only in the pursuit of women, where he +was said to have considerable success. But toward the end of +1811, when new rumours of war began to circulate, the Paris +police were informed that while appearing to be solely interested +in pleasure, the Russian colonel was mixed up in some dubious +political schemes, and he was put under close surveillance, when +it was discovered that he had frequent meetings with M. X..., an +employee of the ministry for war who had special responsibility +for the situation reports concerning all the personel and +material of the army, which were given to Napoleon every ten +days. Not only had M. de Czernicheff been seen walking after +midnight in the most secluded part of the Champs-Elysees with +this man, but he had been observed, plainly dressed, slipping +into the place where M. X... lived and spending several hours +there. + +The intimacy of someone so highly placed with a poor devil of +clerk in the ministry for war being clear evidence that the +former had seduced the latter to betray state secrets, the +Emperor, highly indignant, ordered the arrest of M.Czernicheff, +but Czernicheff, warned, it is said, by a woman, fled from Paris, +and reached a nearby "relais" from where, taking unfrequented +roads, he managed to reach the frontier, avoiding Maintz and +Cologne to where the telegraph had transmitted the order for his +seizure. As for the wretched clerk, he was apprehended at the +moment when he was counting out the 300,000 francs which he had +received for his act of treason. Compelled by the evidence to +admit to his crime, he stated that another employee had also +given information to the Russian, this man too was arrested, and +the two of them were tried, convicted and shot. They died cursing +Czernicheff, who they claimed had come to their attics to tempt +them with a heap of gold which he increased whenever they +hesitated. The Emperor had published in all the French newspapers +a virulent denunciation of M. de Czernicheff, with some wounding +observations which, although indirect, pointed to the emperor of +Russia himself, for they recalled that the assassins of his +father, Paul I, had not been punished by Alexander. + +After these events, it was no longer possible to doubt that war +was imminent, and although it had not been declared, both sides +were openly preparing for it. The conduct of M. de Czernicheff +was, in general, loudly denounced, but it had its secret +supporters among the diplomatic community, who recalled that +although Napoleon justly punished French citizens who sold their +country's secrets to its enemies, he was not above corrupting +foreign nationals who could give him useful information, +particularly of a military nature. + +Marshal Lannes told me,that in Vienna,in 1809, when hostilities +were about to break out between France and Austria, whose armies +were to be commanded by the Archduke Charles, this prince was +warned anonymously that a Major-general for whom he had a high +regard and whom he was about to take on to his staff, had been +bought by the French ambassador, General Andreossi, with whom he +had frequent night-time meetings in a lonely house in the vast +suburb of Leopoldstadt, the number of which was disclosed. Prince +Charles thought so highly of this officer that he dismissed as an +infamous calumny the anonymous accusation, and took no measures +to determine the truth. The French ambassador had already asked +for his passport and was due to leave Vienna in forty-eight hours +time, when a second anonymous note informed the archduke that his +assistant chief-of-staff, after working alone in his office, +which contained the order of battle for the army, was going to +have, on the following night, a last meeting with General +Andreossi. The archduke, who wished to clear his mind of any +suspicions which he might have, in spite of himself, about an +officer of whom he was fond, decided that he would prove beyond +doubt that he was innocent. So, dressed very simply and +accompanied by only one aide-de-camp, he waited, after midnight, +in the darkest part of the lane where the house in question was +situated. After a short time the prince and his aide saw, with +sadness, a man who in spite of his disguise was easily recognised +as the assistant chief-of-staff, for whom, after an agreed +signal, the door was opened. Soon he was followed by General +Andreossi, who was admitted in the same way. The meeting lasted +for some hours, during which the archduke, no longer able to +doubt the treachery of his assistant chief-of-staff, waited +patiently outside the house, and when the door opened for General +Andreossi and the Austrian general, who, came out together, they +found themselves face to face with Prince Charles, who said +aloud, "Good evening, Mr.Ambassador", and refraining from +speaking to the assistant chief-of-staff, he shone the light from +a lantern in his face. + +The ambassador hurried away without saying a word, and as for the +assistant chief-of-staff, seeing that he was caught in the act +and knowing the fate which awaited him, he went to his house and +blew his brains out with a pistol shot. This tragic event was +hushed up by the Austrian government and not many people knew +about it; it was announced that the assistant chief-of-staff had +died of apoplexy. The French ambassador was said to have paid +him two million. + +While Napoleon was complaining bitterly about the means by which +Colonel Czernicheff obtained information about our armies, +General Lauriston, our ambassador in Petersburg, bought not only +the most detailed information about the disposition of the +Russian forces, but also the copper plates on which were engraved +the immense map of the Muscovite empire. In spite of the great +difficulties presented by the transport of this heavy mass of +metal, the betrayal was so well organised and so lavishly paid +for that these plates, stolen from the Russian archives, were +taken from St. Petersburg to France without their disappearance +being discovered by the police or the Russian customs. When the +plates arrived in Paris the minister for war, when all the +writing had been changed from Russian characters into French, had +this fine map printed, and Napoleon ordered a copy to be sent to +all the generals and commanders of light cavalry regiments. It +was in this latter rank that I received one, which I contrived, +with much difficulty to save during the retreat, for it forms a +very big roll. Few people brought theirs back, but I still have +mine. + +Chap. 4. + +The principal reason which led the Emperor to declare war on +Russia was his desire to see the implementation of the treaty of +Tilsit, whereby the Emperor Alexander agreed to close all the +ports of his country to English traders, an undertaking which had +never been properly carried out. Napoleon thought, rightly, that +he could ruin the English, a manufacturing and trading nation, by +preventing their commerce with the European continent; but the +execution of this gigantic project offered so much difficulty, +that it was only in France that the restrictions were enforced, +and there the use of licences, to which I have referred above, +made an enormous breach in the regulations. As for Italy, Germany +and the Adriatic provinces, although the continental system was +established by imperial decree, it was only implemented in +theory, partly because of the extent of the coastline, and partly +because of connivance and lack of surveillance by those +responsible for the administration of these vast areas. So the +Russian Emperor replied to the demands made by France by pointing +to the state of affairs which was almost universal in Europe. The +true cause, however, of the refusal of Alexander to accede to the +demands of Napoleon, was that he feared that he would be +assassinated in the same manner as his father, the Emperor Paul, +who was accused firstly of having sullied the nation's reputation +by allying himself to France and secondly of having destroyed +Russian trade by declaring war on Britain. Alexander was aware +that he had already given offence by the deference and +friendliness which he had shown towards Napoleon at Tilsit and +Erfurt, and he was anxious not to arouse more anger by cutting +off all trade with England, the sole outlet whereby the Russian +nobility could dispose of the products of their vast estates, and +acquire a monetary income. The death of the Emperor Paul clearly +showed the danger faced by Alexander, if he followed his father's +example. An additional cause of fear was the fact that he was +surrounded by the same officers who had surrounded his father, +amongst whom was his chief-of-staff, Benningsen. + +Napoleon did not take sufficiently into consideration these +difficulties, when he threatened Alexander with war, unless he +fell in with his wishes; although, when he learned of the losses +and reverses suffered in Spain and Portugal, he seemed hesitant +to engage in a conflict the outcome of which he deemed uncertain. + +According to General Bertrand, Napoleon, on St. Helena said +repeatedly that his only intention, to begin with, was to +frighten Alexander into carrying out the terms of the treaty: "We +were," he said, "like two opponents of equal ability, who are +well able to fight, but being reluctant to do so, menace each +other by threats and sabre-rattling, edging slowly forward, each +hoping that his adversary will retreat rather than do battle." +But the Emperor's comparison was not exact, for one of these +swordsmen had behind him a bottomless pit, ready to engulf him at +the first backward step, so that having to choose between an +ignominious death and a combat in which he might be successful he +had to choose the latter. This was the situation in which +Alexander found himself, a situation made worse by the influence +exerted by the Englishman Wilson on General Benningsen and the +officers of his staff. The Emperor Napoleon was still hesitant +and seemed anxious to consult the sage opinions of Caulincourt, +his former ambassador at St. Petersburg and those of a group of +French officers who had lived for some time in Russia. + +Among the latter was Lieutenant-colonel de Ponthon, who had been +among a number of engineer officers who, after the Treaty of +Tilsit had been posted, at the request of Alexander, to Russia, +where they had spent several years. De Ponthon was a highly +competent, but withal a very modest officer, he was attached to +the topographic service, and did not think it was his place to +offer his advice unasked, on the problems which would face an +army at war in the Russian empire; but when he was questioned by +the Emperor he felt it was his duty to tell the whole truth to +the head of state, even at risk of displeasing him, so he +described all the obstacles which would face this enterprise. The +principal ones were the apathy and lack of co-operation between +the Lithuanian states, subject for many years to Russia; the +fanatical resistance to be expected from the people of Moscow; +the scarcity of food and forage; the almost uninhabited areas +which would have to be crossed; roads impassable for artillery +after several hours of rain; but above all he stressed the rigour +of the winter and the physical impossibility of conducting a war +once the snow had begun to fall, which might be as early as the +first days of October. Finally, at risk of giving offence and +jeopardising his career, he begged Napoleon, for the sake of +France and his own reputation, not to undertake this dangerous +expedition, the calamitous outcome of which he now predicted. +Having listened quietly to M. de Ponthon, the Emperor dismissed +him without making any comment. For some days he appeared +withdrawn and contemplative, and the rumour spread that the +undertaking was off, but then M. Maret, duc de Bassano, persuaded +him to go back to his original intention, and assured him that +Marshal Davout would be happy to move his large army of Germany +to the banks of the Nieman, on the frontier of the Russian +empire, in order to galvanise Alexander into action. + +From this time on, although M. de Ponthon was in constant +attendance as a member of the cabinet, the Emperor did not +address a word to him during the advance from the Nieman to +Moscow, and when, during the retreat, Napoleon was forced to +admit to himself that the predictions of this admirable officer +had been only too accurate, he avoided catching his eye. +Nevertheless, he promoted him to the rank of colonel. + +To return to the preparations which Napoleon was making to force +the Russians, by hook or by crook, to comply with his wishes: +from the month of April, the French troops stationed in Germany, +as well as those of various princes of the Germanic confederation +allied to France, were put into motion, and their march towards +Poland was delayed only by the difficulty of finding forage for +their numerous horses; the grass, and even the corn, being +scarcely out of the ground at this time in these northern +countries. However, the Emperor left Paris on the 9th of May, and +accompanied by the Empress, went to Dresden, where, awaiting him, +were his father-in-law the Emperor of Austria, and almost all the +German princes; attracted there, in some cases by the hope of +having their domains extended, and in others by the fear of +displeasing the arbiter of their destiny. The only absentee was +the King of Prussia, who, not being included in the confederation +of the Rhine, was not invited to this reunion and dared not turn +up without the permission of Napoleon. He humbly requested this, +and when it was obtained he hurried to Dresden to pay court to +the all-powerful conqueror of Europe. + +The protestations of fidelity and devotion which were lavished on +Napoleon misled him into making a most serious error in the +organisation of the contingents which were to make up the great +army destined for the war against Russia. Instead of weakening +the governments of Austria and Prussia, his former enemies, by +demanding from them the greater part of their available troops, +which, prudence would suggest should be placed in the van, not +only to spare French lives, but to allow a watch to be kept on +these new and undependable allies, Napoleon required no more than +30,000 men from each of these powers, and placed them on the two +wings of his force. The Austrians under Prince Schwartzenberg on +the right in Volhynie, and the Prussians, to whom he appointed as +commander the French Marshal Macdonald, on the left, near the +mouth of the Nieman. The centre was composed of French troops and +those members of the German federation whose loyalty had been +proved at Jena and Wagram. + +There were discerning observers who were dismayed to see the +wings of the army made up of foreigners, who, in the event of a +reverse, could form two hostile armies in our rear, while the +centre was embroiled in the heart of Russia. Not only that, +Austria who had an army of 200,000, placed only 30,000 at the +disposal of Napoleon, and had 170,000 left with which to attack +us in the event of failure, while Prussia, though less powerful, +still had 60,000 men in reserve. + +One is astonished that the Emperor was so little concerned about +what he was leaving behind him; but his confidence was so great +that when the King of Prussia requested him to allow his eldest +son to join in the campaign as an imperial aide-de-camp, Napoleon +turned him down, although the young prince would have been a +valuable hostage to ensure the fidelity of his father. + +While there was a succession of entertainments at Dresden, +Napoleon's troops were wending their way through northern +Germany. Already the army of Italy, having crossed the mountains +of the Tyrol, was heading for Warsaw. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd Corps +commanded by Davout, Oudinot and Ney, were passing through +Prussia on their march to the Vistula. The states comprising the +confederation of the Rhine had supplied their contingents, as had +Austria and Prussia; it was noticeable, however that although the +Austrian generals were happy to unite their flags with ours, the +junior officers and the soldiers were reluctant to attack Russia, +while the situation was reversed in the Prussian army, where the +generals and Colonels felt humiliated by being compelled to serve +under the command of their conqueror, while officers of lower +rank and the soldiers, were pleased to have the opportunity of +fighting alongside the French, and hoped to show that if they +were defeated at Jena, it was not through any lack of courage on +their part, but due to poor leadership by their superiors. + +Napoleon had not only taken into the "Grande Armee" the troops of +Austria and Prussia, but he had lowered the morale of the French +forces by intermingling them with foreign contingents, so that +the various Corps commanded by his marshals contained bodies of +men from every part of Europe, Italians, Poles, Spaniards, +Portuguese, Germans and Croatians. This admixture of races with +different languages, cultures and interests, worked very poorly, +and often hindered the efforts of the French troops. It was one +of the principal causes of the reversals which we suffered. + +Chap. 5. + +Having left Dresden on the 29th of May, the Emperor made his way +towards Poland via Danzig and the old Prussia, through which his +troops were passing, whom he reviewed whenever he encountered +them. + +The army was now organised so that the 23rd mounted Chasseurs +were brigaded with the 24th. This brigade was commanded by +General Castex and formed part of the 2nd Army Corps, commanded +by Marshal Oudinet. I had known General Castex for a long time, +an excellent officer, who treated me very well throughout the +campaign. Marshal Oudinet had seen me at the siege of Genoa when +I was with my father and also in Austria when I was aide-de-camp +to Marshal Lannes, and was well disposed towards me. + +On the 20th June, 2nd Corps was given the order to stop at +Insterberg in order to be reviewed by the Emperor. These military +ceremonies were awaited with impatience by those people who hoped +to benefit from the awards distributed on the occasion by +Napoleon. I was among this number. I felt sure that I would be +promoted to the command of the regiment of which I was the acting +commander, for apart from the promises given me by the Emperor, +General Castex and Marshal Oudinet had told me that they intended +to propose me officially, and that Colonel Nougarede was to be +placed, as general, in command of one of the huge remount depots, +which would have to be set up in the rear of the army; but the +bad luck which had, a few months earlier delayed my promotion to +major, also held up my promotion to colonel. + +At these reviews, the commanders of regiments were subjected to a +rigourous cross-examination by the Emperor, particularly on the +eve of a campaign; for apart from the usual questions about their +strength in men and horses, their arms etc., he would suddenly +ask a number which were unforeseen and not always easy to answer. +For example: "How many men from such and such a department have +you received in the last two years? How many of your carbines +come from Tulle and how many from Charleville? How many of your +horses are from Normandy, from Brittany, from Germany? What is +the average age of your men, your officers, your horses? How many +men in this company have long-service chevrons? etc...etc." + +These questions, which were always posed in an abrupt and +demanding manner, and accompanied by a piercing look, +disconcerted many colonels; but woe to him who hesitated to +reply, he went into Napoleon's bad books. I was so well briefed +that I was able to reply to all his questions, and, after +complementing me on the fine turnout of the regiment, it looked +as if the Emperor was going to promote me to colonel and M. de La +Nougarede to general, when the latter, who with his limbs wrapped +in flannel, had been hoisted onto horseback to follow from afar +the movements of his regiment, which I commanded, hearing himself +called for, came to Napoleon and unwisely angered him by making a +request on behalf of an officer, a member of his family who was +wholly undeserving. This roused a storm of which I suffered the +consequences. The Emperor flew into a rage and ordered the +Gendarmerie to clear the officer in question out of the army, and +leaving M. de La Nougarede in dismay, he went off at the gallop. +So M. de La Nougarede was not made a general. + +Marshal Oudinot followed the Emperor to find out what was to +happen to the 23rd, and was told "Major Marbot will continue to +command them." Before reaching the rank of colonel I was destined +to suffer yet another serious wound. + +In fairness to M. de La Nougarede, I have to say that he +expressed the liveliest remorse at having been the involuntary +cause of the delay in my advancement. I was sorry for the +difficult position in which this worthy man found himself, for he +felt that he had forfeited the Emperor's confidence, and owing to +his disability he had little hope of restoring himself by his +conduct in the battles which were about to take place. + +I was comforted by the fact that the Emperor, on the day of the +review, had awarded all the promotions and the decorations which +I had requested for the officers and other ranks of the 23rd, and +as the gratitude for these favours is always directed to the +commanding officer who has obtained them, the influence which I +was beginning to have in the regiment was greatly increased and +went some way to calm my regrets at not having been awarded +substantive rank for the position which I occupied. + +At about this time, I received a letter from Marshal Massena and +another from his wife, the first recommending a M. Renique, and +the second her son, Prosper. I was touched by this double +approach and I responded by accepting the two captains into my +regiment. However, Madame Massena did not carry out her +intention, and Prosper Massena did not go to Russia. In any case +he would not have been able to stand the harsh climate. + +The army was soon to reach the frontier of the Russian empire, +and see once more the river Nieman, where we had stopped in 1807. +The Emperor positioned his troops on the left bank of this river +as follows: on the extreme right was the Austrian Corps of Prince +Schwartzenberg, on the border of Galicia near Drogitchin. On +Schwartzenberg's left was King Jerome with two considerable army +corps, between Bialystok and Grodno. Next to them was Prince +Eugene de Beauharnais, with 80,000 men, at Prenn. The Emperor was +in the centre, facing Kovno, with 220,000 men commanded by Murat, +Oudinot, Ney, Lefebvre and Bessieres. The Guard formed part of +this immense body of troops. Finally, at Tilsit, Marshal +Macdonald with 35,000 Prussians formed the left wing. Across the +Nieman was the Russian army of about 400,000 men, commanded by +the Emperor Alexander , or rather by Benningsen, his +chief-of-staff. This force was divided into three parts, +commanded by Generals Bagration, Barclay de Tolly and +Wittgenstein. + +Four historians have written about the campaign of 1812. The +first of these was Labaume, a topographer, that is to say, +belonging to a Corps which although part of the armed forces +never engaged in combat, and followed the army only to make maps. +Labaume had never commanded troops and knew nothing of the +practical side of war, so his judgements are almost always +ill-founded, and do an injustice to the French army. However the +work having appeared shortly after the peace of 1814 and the +re-establishment of Louis XVIII, partisan spirit and the desire +for information about the terrible events of the Russian campaign +gave it so much credence that no one tried to refute it, and the +public came to accept its contents as the veritable truth. + +The second book to be published was written by Colonel +Boutourlin, an aide-de-camp to the Emperor Alexander. This, +although expressing the Russian point of view, contained some +worthwhile observations, and if there are some inaccuracies, it +is because he did not have access to certain documents, for he is +impartial and has done all he could to discover the truth. The +work is generally esteemed as that of an honest man. + +Labaume's book had already been forgotten when in 1825, following +Napoleon's death, General de Segur published a third story of the +Russian campaign. The contents of this book distressed more than +one survivor of the campaign, and even the Russians stigmatised +it as a war novel. In spite of this, M. de Segur enjoyed a great +success, partly because of the purity and elegance of his style +and partly because of the welcome the book was given by the court +and the ultra-royalist party. The former officers of the imperial +army, finding themselves under attack, appointed General Gourgaud +to reply. He did so effectively, but with so much acerbity that +it gave rise to a duel between him and M. de Segur, in which M. +de Segur was wounded. One has to agree that if the latter was +less than charitable towards Napoleon and his army, General +Gourgaud accorded the Emperor too much praise and refused to +recognise any of his faults. + +I have no intention of writing another history of the campaign of +1812, but I think I should relate the principal events, since +they form an essential part of my life and times and several of +them have a bearing on what happened to me; but in this brief +resume I shall try to avoid the extremes embraced by Segur and +Gourgaud. I shall neither denigrate nor flatter, I shall be +truthful. + +At a time when the two powerful European empires were about to +come to blows, England, a natural ally of Russia, had a duty to +make every effort to help her to repel the invasion projected by +Napoleon. By disbursing money to the Turkish ministers, the +English cabinet was able to arrange a peace between the Sultan +and Russia, which allowed the latter to recall the army which was +on the frontier of Turkey, an army which played a highly +important role in the war. The English had also contrived a peace +between the Emperor Alexander and Sweden, an ally of France, on +whose goodwill Napoleon counted, the more so because Bernadotte +had just been nominated as the heir apparent, and governed the +country for the King, his adoptive father. + +I have already explained how, through a bizarre sequence of +events, Bernadotte was raised to the rank of heir presumptive to +the crown of Sweden. The new Swedish prince, after announcing +that he would always remain French at heart, allowed himself to +be seduced or intimidated by the English, who could have easily +overthrown him. He sacrificed the true interests of his adoptive +country by submitting to the domination of England and allying +himself with Russia in an interview with the Emperor Alexander. +This meeting took place in Abo, a little town in Finland. The +Russians had recently seized this province and they promised to +compensate Sweden by the gift of Norway, which they intended to +take from Denmark, which was a faithful ally of France. So +Bernadotte, far from relying on our army to restore to him his +provinces, accepted these Russian encroachments by ranging +himself with her allies. + +If Bernadotte had been willing to support us, the geographical +position of Sweden could have been of great assistance to our +common cause. The new prince did not, however, openly state his +position, as he wanted to see who was going to be the victor, and +he did not declare himself until the following year. Deprived of +the aid of Turkey and Sweden, on whom he had relied to keep the +Russian army occupied, Napoleon's only possible allies in the +north were the Poles, but these turbulent people, whose +forefathers had been unable to agree when they were an +independent state, offered neither moral nor physical support. + +In fact, Lithuania and the other provinces which formed more than +a third of the former Poland, having been in Russian hands for +almost forty years, had mostly forgotten their ancient +constitution and had for a long time thought of themselves as +Russian. The nobility sent their sons to join the army of the +Czar, to whom they were too much attached by long custom to +permit any hope that they would join the French. The same +considerations applied to other Poles who in various divisions of +their country had found themselves under the rule of Austria or +Prussia. They were willing to march against Russia, but it was +under the flags and under the command of their new sovereigns. +They had neither love nor enthusiasm for the Emperor Napoleon, +and feared to see their country devastated by war. The grand +duchy of Warsaw, ceded in 1807 to the King of Saxony under the +Treaty of Tilsit, was the only province of the ancient Poland +which retained a spark of national spirit and was somewhat +attached to France, but what was the use of this little state to +the Grande Armee of Napoleon? + +Napoleon, however, full of confidence in his army and in his own +ability, decided to cross the Nieman, and so on the 23rd of June, +accompanied by General Haxo and dressed in the uniform of a +Polish soldier of his guard, he rode along its bank, and that +same evening at ten o'clock, set in motion the crossing of the +river by the pontoon bridges, the most important of which had +been laid across the river opposite the little Russian town of +Kovno, which our troops occupied without encountering any +resistance. + +Chap. 6. + +At sunrise on the 24th we witnessed a most impressive spectacle. +On the highest part of the left bank were the Emperor's tents. +Around them, on the slopes of the hills and in the valleys, +glittered the arms of a great concourse of men and horses. This +mass, consisting of 250,000 soldiers split into three huge +columns, streamed in perfect order towards the three bridges +which had been thrown across the river, over which the different +corps crossed to the right bank in a prearranged manner. On this +same day the Nieman was crossed by our troops at other points, +near Grodno, Pilony and Tilsit. I have seen a situation report, +covered by notes written in Napoleon's hand, which gives the +official strength of the force which crossed the Nieman as +325,000 men, of whom 155,400 were French and 170,000 allies, +accompanied by 940 guns. + +The regiment which I commanded formed part of 2nd Corps, +commanded by Marshal Oudinot, which having crossed the bridge at +Kovno headed immediately for Ianovo. The heat was overpowering. +This, close to nightfall, led to a tremendous storm, and +torrential rain, which drenched the roads and the countryside for +more than fifty leagues around. Happily the army did not see this +as a bad omen, as the soldiers considered violent thunderstorms +were something to be expected in summer. The Russians too, every +bit as superstitious as some of the French, had an unpropitious +omen, for during the night of 23rd-24th of June the Emperor +Alexander escaped with his life when, at a ball in Wilna, the +floor of a room collapsed under the chair on which he was +sitting, at the very hour when the first French boat, carrying a +detachment of Napoleon's troops, reached the right bank of the +Nieman and Russian soil. Be that as it may, the storm had made +the air much cooler and the horses in bivouac suffered from this +and also from eating wet grass and lying on muddy ground. So that +the army lost several thousand from acute colic. + +Beyond Kovnow there runs a little river called the Vilia, the +bridge over which had been cut by the Russians. The storm had so +swollen this tributary of the Nieman that Oudinot's scouts were +held up. The Emperor arrived at the same moment as I did at the +head of my regiment. He ordered the Polish lancers to see if the +river was fordable, and in this process, one man was drowned; I +took his name, it was Tzcinski. I mention this because the losses +suffered by the Polish lancers in the crossing of the Vilia have +been grossly exaggerated. + +The Russians, however, retreated without waiting for the French +army, which shortly occupied Wilna, the capital of Lithuania. It +was near here that there took place a cavalry encounter in which +Octave de Segur, who had been with me on Massena's staff, was +captured by the Russians while leading a squadron of the 8th +Hussars which he commanded, he was the elder brother of General +the Comte de Segur. On the same day that the Emperor entered +Wilna, Marshal Oudinot's troops came up against Wittgenstein's +Russians at Wilkomir, where the first serious engagement of the +campaign took place. I had not previously served under Oudinot, +and this debut confirmed the high opinion I had of his courage, +without convincing me of his intelligence. + +One of the greatest faults of the French at war is to go, without +reason, from the most meticulous caution to limitless confidence. + +Now, since the Russians had allowed us to cross the Nieman, +invade Lithuania and occupy Wilna without opposition, it had +become the done thing, amongst certain officers to say that the +enemy would always retreat and would never stand and fight. +Oudinot's staff and the marshal himself frequently stated this, +and treated as fairy tales the information given by the peasants +that there was a large body of Russian troops positioned in front +of the little town of Wilkomir. This incredulity nearly resulted +in disaster, as you will see. + +The light cavalry, being the eyes of the army, while on the march +is always in front and on the flanks. My regiment, then, was less +than a league ahead of the infantry, when, having gone a little +way beyond Wilkomir without seeing any sign of the enemy, we were +confronted by a forest of huge pine trees, through which the +mounted men could move with ease but whose branches obscured the +distant view. Fearing an ambush, I sent a single squadron, +commanded by a very capable captain, to investigate. In about 15 +minutes he came back and reported that he had seen an enemy army. +I went to the edge of the forest from where I could see, at about +a cannon shot from Wilkomir, behind a stream, a hill on which +drawn up in battle order were 25 to 30 thousand Russian infantry, +with cavalry and artillery. + +You may be surprised that these troops did not have in front of +them any outposts or pickets or scouts, but that is how the +Russians operate when they are determined to defend a strong +position. They allow the enemy to approach without any warning of +the resistance they are about to meet, and it is only when the +main body of their opponents comes within range that they open a +ferocious fire with musketry and cannon, which can shatter the +columns of their adversaries. It is a method which has often +produced good results for the Russians; so General Wittgenstein +had prepared this welcome for us. + +The situation seemed to me to be so serious that to keep my +regiment out of sight, I ordered them to go back into the forest +while I myself hurried to warn Marshal Oudinot of the danger +which lay ahead. + +I found him in some open country, where having dismounted and +halted his troops, he was peacefully eating his lunch in the +midst of his staff. I expected that my report would shake him out +of this false security, but he treated it with an air of +disbelief, and clapping me on the shoulder he called out "Let's +go! Marbot here has discovered thirty thousand men for us to +thump." General Lorencez, the marshal's son-in-law and his +chief-of-staff was the only one to take me seriously; he had once +been aide-de-camp to Augereau and he had known me for a long +time. He came to my defence saying that when the commander of a +unit says "I have seen" he should be believed, and that to take +no notice of information brought by an officer of the light +cavalry was to court disaster. These observations made by his +chief-of-staff caused the marshal to think, and he had started to +question me about the enemy presence, which he still seemed to +doubt, when a staff-captain by the name of Duplessis arrived, all +out of breath, and announced that he had searched the whole area +and had even been into the forest, and had seen not a single +Russian. At this the marshal and his staff began laughing at my +fears, which greatly upset me. Nevertheless, I kept my mouth +shut, certain that before very long, the truth would become +apparent. + +Luncheon being over, the march got under way once more and I +returned to my regiment, which formed the advance-guard. I led +them through the trees as I had done previously, for I could see +what was going to happen the moment we emerged opposite the enemy +positions. In spite of what I had told him, the marshal decided +to go down a wide, dead straight road which ran through the +forest; but he had scarcely reached the edge of the trees when +the enemy, seeing the large group formed by his staff, opened a +running fire from their cannons, which placed opposite the road +could fire directly along it and threw into disorder the gilded +squadron, recently so full of themselves. Fortunately no one was +hit by this fire, but the marshal's horse was killed, as was that +of M. Duplessis and a number of others. I had been amply avenged, +and I must confess, to my shame, that I had difficulty in hiding +my satisfaction at seeing those who had scoffed at my report and +treated as fantasy what I had said about the enemy presence, +taking to their heels under a hail of shot and scrambling over +ditches as best they could to seek shelter behind the great pine +trees! The worthy General Lorencez, whom I had warned to stay in +the forest, laughed heartily at this scene. In fairness to +Oudinot, I must say that once remounted, he came and apologised +for for his behaviour at luncheon, and asked me to brief him on +the Russian positions, and point out a route through the forest +which the infantry might take without being too much exposed to +the enemy's guns. + +Several officers of the 23rd who, like me, had been through the +woodland in the morning, were detailed to guide the infantry +divisions. Nevertheless, on their emerging from the trees they +were subjected to a terrible cannonade, which could have been +avoided if, having been warned of the Russian presence, there had +been an attempt to turn one of their flanks, instead of making a +frontal approach. As it was, we were now committed, once we +emerged from the wood, to attacking the most heavily defended +point and taking the bull by the horns. + +However, our gallant soldiers engaged the enemy with such +determination that they drove them from all their positions, and +after two hours of fighting they began to retreat. This operation +was not without danger, for, to carry it out, they had to go +through the town and cross the bridge over a very steep-sided +stream. This manoeuvre, always difficult to execute under fire, +started off in an orderly fashion, but our light artillery, +having taken up a position on a height which overlooked the town, +soon, by means of its gunfire, produced disorder among the enemy +columns, which broke ranks and rushed to the bridge. Once they +had crossed the stream, instead of regrouping they fled +helter-skelter over the open ground of the opposite bank, where +the retreat soon became a rout! Only one regiment, that of Toula, +stood its ground on the town side of the bridge. Marshal Oudinot +very much wanted to force a passage across the bridge, to +complete his victory by pursuing the fugitives on the other side +of the stream; but our infantry had hardly reached the suburbs; +it would take them at least 15 minutes to reach the bridge, and +time was precious. + +My regiment, which had made a successful charge at the entrance +to the town, had re-formed on the promenade, a short distance +from the stream. The marshal sent word to me to bring them at the +gallop and we had hardly arrived before he ordered me to charge +the enemy battalions which were covering the bridge, then to +cross the bridge and pursue the fugitives on the open ground of +the opposite side. Experienced soldiers know how difficult it is +for cavalry to overcome infantry, who are determined to defend +themselves in the streets of a town. I was well aware of the +dangers of the task which I had been given, but it had to be +done, and without hesitation. I knew also that it is by his +conduct in his first action that a commanding officer gains a +good or a bad reputation amongst his men. My regiment was +composed of battle-hardened troopers: I raised them to the gallop +and, with me at their head, we fell on the Russian Grenadiers, +who stood firm behind their bayonets. They were, however, +overwhelmed by our first impetuous charge, and once their ranks +had been penetrated, my terrible chasseurs using the points of +their sabres inflicted a frightful slaughter. The enemy retreated +to the causeway of the bridge, where we followed them so closely +that, on reaching the other side, they were unable to re-form, +and our men got amongst them, killing all whom they could reach. +When the Russian colonel was killed, his regiment, without +leadership, lost heart, and seeing that the French skirmishers +had now reached the bridge, they surrendered. I lost seven men +killed and some twenty wounded, but captured a flag and two +thousand prisoners. After this action, we advanced onto the open +ground where we took a great number of fugitives, several guns +and many horses. + +Marshal Oudinot had watched this action from a vantage point in +the town, and he came to congratulate the regiment, for which he +henceforth had a particular regard, which it well merited. I was +proud to be in command of such men and when the marshal told me +that he intended to recommend me for promotion to colonel, I was +afraid that the Emperor would go back on his original plan, and +post me to the first regiment which became vacant. How strange +are the twists of fortune! The successful action at Wilkomir, +where the 23rd earned such a fine reputation, nearly led on a +later occasion to its destruction, because the courage which it +had displayed at the time resulted in its being chosen to carry +out a mission which was virtually impossible, which I shall +describe shortly. Let us now return to Wilna, where the Emperor +was beginning to meet with some of the difficulties which were to +wreck his whole gigantic undertaking. + +The first of these concerned the re-organisation of Lithuania, +which we had just conquered. This had to be carried out in away +which would please not only those provinces which were still +occupied by Russia, but also those of the duchies of Posen and +Galicia, which ancient treaties had incorporated into Prussia and +Austria, Napoleon's allies, whom, for the time being, it was +important not to offend. + +The most committed of the noblemen who ruled the various parts of +Poland proposed to Napoleon that they would raise all the +provinces and place at his disposal more than 300,000 men on the +day that he announced officially that all the partitions to which +the country had been subjected were annulled, and that the +kingdom of Poland was reconstituted. The Emperor, although he was +aware of the benefits he would gain from such an armed uprising, +could not conceal from himself the fact that its first result +would be to involve him in war with Austria and Prussia, which, +rather than see themselves deprived of these huge and flourishing +provinces, would join their arms to those of Russia. Above all, +he doubted the constancy of the Poles, who, after dragging him +into war with the three most powerful of the northern nations, +might perhaps fail to deliver their promised support. The Emperor +therefore replied to these propositions that he would not +recognise the kingdom of Poland until the inhabitants of these +huge areas had shown themselves worthy of independence by rising +against their oppressors. This now created a vicious circle, +Napoleon would not recognise the kingdom of Poland until the +Poles took action, and the Poles would not take any action until +he did. An indication that Napoleon, in going to war with +Russia, had no intention other than to enforce the continental +blockade is the fact that he had not brought to the Nieman any +arms or uniforms for the men which the Poles might have supplied. + +Be that as it may, some influential noblemen, in an attempt to +force Napoleon's hand, set up a National Diet in Warsaw, which +was attended by a small number of deputies. The first act of this +assembly was to proclaim the Reconstitution and Independence of +the Ancient Kingdom of Poland. The echo of this patriotic +declaration rang throughout all the provinces, whether Russian, +Prussian or Austrian, and for several days it was believed that +there would be an uprising which would probably favour Napoleon, +but this unthinking exaltation did not last long among the Poles, +of whom only a few hundred came to join us. The cooling off was +so rapid that the town of Wilna and its surroundings could +provide no more than twenty men to form a guard of honour for the +Emperor. If the Poles had displayed at this time a hundredth part +of the energy and enthusiasm which they displayed during the +insurrection of 1830-1831, they might have recovered their +independence and their liberty, but, far from coming to the aid +of the French troops, they denied them all necessities, and +during this campaign our soldiers often had to take by force the +food and forage which the inhabitants, and above all the nobles, +hid from us but handed over to the Russians, their persecutors. +This partiality in favour of our enemies enraged our men and gave +rise to some unpleasant scenes which M. de Segur has stigmatised +as disgraceful pillage! It is however impossible to prevent the +weary and wretched soldiers who have received no issue of rations +from commandeering the bread and the livestock which they need +for their survival. + +The need to maintain order in the provinces occupied by the army +led the Emperor, in spite of everything, to appoint prefects and +sub-prefects who were chosen from the most enlightened Poles, but +their administration was illusory and no help to the French army. + +The main reason for the apathy of the Lithuanian Poles was the +self-interested attachment of the nobility to the Russian +government, which upheld their rights over their peasantry, to +whom they feared the French might award their freedom, for all +those Polish noblemen who talked unceasingly about freedom kept +their peasants in the most brutish serfdom. + +Although the concentration of French troops on their frontiers +should have warned the Russians that hostilities were about to +commence, they were nonetheless taken by surprise by the crossing +of the Nieman, which they nowhere opposed. Their army began a +retreat towards the Duna (Dvina) on the left bank of which they +had prepared, at Drissa, an immense entrenched camp. From all +parts the different French Corps followed the Russian columns. +Prince Murat was in command of the cavalry of the advance-guard, +and every evening he caught up with the Russian rear-guard; but +after some skirmishing they made off during the night by forced +marches, without it being possible to bring them to a decisive +action. + +Chap. 7. + +During the first days of our invasion of Russia, the enemy had +made the very serious mistake of allowing Napoleon to split their +forces, so that the greater part of their army, led by the +Emperor Alexander and Marshal Barclay, had been driven back to +the Duna, while the remainder, commanded by Bagration, was on the +upper Nieman around Mir, eighty leagues from the main body. Cut +off in this way, Bagration tried to join the Emperor Alexander by +going through Minsk; but Napoleon had entrusted the protection of +Minsk to Marshal Davout, who vigourously repelled the Russians +and drove them back to Bobruisk, which he knew was supposed to be +guarded by Jerome Bonaparte, at the head of two corps, amounting +to 60,000 men. Bagration was about to be forced to surrender +when he was saved by the foolishness of Jerome, who had not +accepted the advice which Davout had given him, and failing to +recognise the superior wisdom of the experienced and successful +marshal, had decided to go his own way, whereupon he manoeuvred +his troops so ineptly that Bagration was able to escape from this +first danger. Davout, however, followed him with his usual +tenacity, and caught up with him on the road to Mohilew, where, +although he had no more than 12,000 men, he attacked the 36,000 +Russians and defeated them, though admittedly the Russians were +surprised on an area of very broken ground which prevented them +from making the best use of their superior numbers. Bagration was +compelled to cross the Borysthenia much lower down at +Novoi-Bychow, and being now out of reach of Davout he was able to +rejoin the main Russian army at Smolensk. + +During the marches and countermarches which Bagration undertook +in his efforts to evade Davout, he surprised the brigade of +French cavalry comannded by General Bordesoulle, and captured +from him the whole of the 3rd Regiment of Chasseurs, whose +colonel was my friend Saint-Mars. + +The elimination of Bagration's force would have been of +tremendous benefit to Napoleon, so his fury with King Jerome was +unbounded! He ordered him to quit the army immediately and return +to Westphalia, a rigourous but necessary measur, which had the +effect of greatly damaging King Jerome's reputation in the army. +However, one has to ask if he was entirely to blame? His major +mistake was to think that his dignity as a sovereign should not +permit him to accept the advice of a simple marshal, but Napoleon +knew perfectly well that the young prince had never in his life +commanded so much as a single battalion, nor taken part in the +most minor skirmish, and yet he confided to his care an army of +60,000 men, and this at a somewhat critical juncture. General +Junot, who replaced Jerome, was, before long, also guilty of a +serious blunder. + +It was around this time that the Russian emperor sent one of his +ministers, Count Balachoff,to parley with Napoleon, who was still +in Wilna. The purpose of this discussion has never been entirely +clear; there were those who believed it was to arrange an +armistice, but they were quickly disabused by the departure of +the Count, and it appeared later that the English, who had a +tremendous influence in the Russian court and the army, had taken +umbrage at this mission, and fearing that Alexander might be +considering coming to terms with Napoleon, they had loudly +insisted that he should leave the army and return to St. +Petersburg. Alexander accepted this proposal, but ensured that +his brother, Constantine came with him. Left to themselves, and +egged on by the Englishman Wilson, the Russian generals sought to +wage war with a ferocity which might shake the French morale, so +they ordered their troops to lay waste the country behind them as +they withdrew, by burning all the houses and everything else +which they could not carry away. + +While Napoleon, from the central point of Wilna, was directing +the various units of his army, the columns led by Murat, Ney, +Montbrun, Nansouty and Oudinot had, on the 15th of July, reached +the river Dvina. Oudinot, who had probably misunderstood the +Emperor's orders, took the unusual step of going down the left +bank of the river, while Wittgenstein and his men were going up +the river on the other side. He arrived opposite Dvinaburg, an +old walled town whose fortifications were in bad repair, where he +hoped to capture the bridge and, having crossed to the other +bank, to attack Wittgenstein from the rear. Wittgenstein, +however, on leaving Dvinaburg, had left behind a strong garrison +with numerous pieces of artillery. My regiment as usual +constituted the advance-guard, which on this day was led by +Marshal Oudinot himself. + +The town of Dvinaburg is on the right bank of the river. We +arrived on the left bank, where there is a considerable +fortification which protects the bridge which links it to the +town, from which it is separated by the river, which is very wide +at this point. A quarter of a league from the fortifications, +which Marshal Oudinot claimed were not equipped with cannon, I +came on a Russian battalion whose left flank was protected by the +river, and whose front was covered by the planks and hutments of +an abandoned camp. In such a position the enemy was very +difficult for cavalry to attack; however the Marshal ordered me +to attack them. After I had left it to individual officers to +make their way through the gaps between the huts, I ordered the +charge, but the regiment had hardly gone a few paces amid a +shower of bullets from the Russian infantry when the artillery, +whose existence the Marshal had denied, thundered from the +battlements, to which we were so close that the canisters of +grape-shot were going over our heads before they had time to +burst. A stray ball from one of them went through a fisherman's +hut and broke the leg of the trumpeter who was sounding the +charge by my side!...I lost several men there. + +Marshal Oudinot, who had made a serious mistake in attacking a +position which was protected by cannon, hoped to flush out the +Russian infantry by sending in a Portuguese battalion which was +ahead of our infantry; but these foreigners, former prisoners of +war, who had been enlisted somewhat unwillingly into the French +army, made little headway and we remained exposed. Seeing that +Oudinot bore the enemy fire with courage but without giving any +orders, I thought that if this state of affairs continued for a +few minutes more, my regiment was going to wiped out, so I told +my men to spread out and attack the enemy infantry in open order, +with the double aim of driving them out of their position and +preventing the gunners from firing for fear of hitting their own +men, who were intermingled with ours. Cut down by my troopers, +the defenders of the camp fled towards the bridgehead, but the +garrison of this outpost was composed of recent recruits, who, +fearing that we would follow the fugitives into the +fortifications, hurriedly closed the gates; which compelled them +to make for the pontoon bridge in an attempt to reach the other +bank and the shelter of the town of Dvinaburg itself. + +The bridge had no guard-rail, the pontoons wobbled, the river was +deep and wide, and I could see the armed garrison on the other +side trying to close the gates! It seemed to me to be folly to +advance any further. Thinking that the regiment had done enough, +I had halted them when the Marshal arrived, shouting "Forward the +twenty-third! Do as you did at Wilkomir! Cross the bridge! Force +the gates! Seize the town!" General Lorencez tried, in vain, to +persuade him that the difficulties were too great, and that a +regiment of cavalry could not attack a fortress, however badly +defended, if to get there they had to cross, two abreast, a +third-rate pontoon bridge; but the Marshal persisted, "They will +be able to take advantage of the disorder and fears of the +enemy," he said, and repeated his order to me to attack the town. +I obeyed; but I was scarcely on the first span of the bridge, at +the head of the leading section of my men, when the garrison, +having managed to close the gates which led to the river, mounted +the ramparts, from where they opened fire on us. The slender line +which we presented offered a poor target for these inadequately +trained men, so that their musket and cannon fire caused us fewer +casualties than I had feared, but on hearing the fortress firing +on us, the defenders of the bridgehead recovered their nerve and +joined in the fray. Oudinot, seeing the 23rd caught between two +fires, at the start of an unstable bridge across which it was +impossible to advance, conveyed to me the order to retreat. The +large gap which I had left between each section allowed them to +turn round without too much confusion, however, two men and their +horses fell into the river and were drowned. In order to regain +the left bank we had to pass once more under the ramparts of the +bridgehead, when we were exposed to a rolling fire which, +fortunately, was aimed by unskilled militia, for if we had been +up against trained marksmen, the regiment could have been wholly +destroyed. + +This unsuccessful action, so imprudently undertaken, cost me +thirty men killed and many wounded, and it was to be hoped that +the Marshal would be content with this fruitless effort, +especially in view of the fact that the Emperor had not ordered +him to take Dvinaburg; but, as soon as the infantry had arrived, +he made a new assault on the bridgehead, which had now been +reinforced by a company of Grenadiers, who, at the sound of +firing had hurried from nearby billets, so that our troops were +once more repelled with much greater losses than those suffered +by the 23rd. When the Emperor heard of this abortive attack, he +placed the blame squarely on Marshal Oudinot. + +At this time, my regiment was brigaded with the 24th Chasseurs, +and General Castex, who commanded this brigade, had instituted an +admirable routine in our method of operation. Each of the two +regiments took it in turn to form, for twenty-four hours, the +advance-guard if we were approaching the enemy, or the rear-guard +if we were retreating, and to provide all the sentries, pickets +and so on, while the other regiment marched peacefully along, +recovering from the fatigues of the day before and preparing for +those of the morrow, which did not prevent it from going to the +aid of the unit on duty if they came in contact with the enemy. +This system, which was not in the regulations, had the great +advantage of never separating the men from their officers or +their comrades, or placing them under the orders of unknown +commanders and mingling them with troopers of another regiment. +Moreover, during the night, half of the brigade slept, while the +other half watched over them. However, since no system is without +its shortcomings, it could so happen, by chance, that it was the +same regiment which was more often on duty when a serious +engagement occurred, as happened to the 23rd at Wilkomir and +Dvinaburg. It was the sort of luck which we had throughout the +campaign, but we never complained; we came out of all these +events well and were often envied by the 24th, who had fewer +occasions on which to distinguish themselves. + +While Oudinot was making his assault on Dvinaburg, the corps +commanded by Ney, as well as the immense body of cavalry +commanded by Murat, were proceeding up the left bank of the Dvina +towards Polotsk, while Wittgenstein's Russian army followed the +same route on the right bank. Being separated from the enemy by +the river, our troops grew careless, and pitched their bivouacs +in the French manner, much too close to its bank. Wittgenstein +had noticed this and he allowed the bulk of the French force to +draw ahead. The last unit in the line of march was Sebastiani's +division, which had as its rear-guard the brigade commanded by +General Saint-Genies, who had served as an officer in the army of +Egypt, and who, although courageous, was not very bright. When he +had reached a some way beyond the little town of Drouia, General +Saint-Genies, on the orders of Sebastiani, put his troops into +bivouac some two hundred paces from the river, which was believed +to be uncrossable without boats. Wittgenstein, however, knew of a +ford, and during the night he made use of it to send across the +river a division of cavalry, which fell on the French troops and +captured almost the entire brigade, including General +Saint-Genies. This forced Sebastiani to hurry upstream with the +rest of his division to make contact with the Corps commanded by +Montbrun. After this swift raid, Wittgenstein recalled his troops +and continued his march up the Dvina. The affair did Sebastiani's +reputation a great deal of harm and drew down on his head the +reproaches of the Emperor. + +Shortly after this regrettable incident, Oudinot having been +ordered to leave Dvinaburg and go up the river to rejoin Ney and +Montbrun, his army Corps took the same route as they had done, +and passed the town of Drouia. The Marshal intended to encamp his +force some three leagues further on, but he feared that the enemy +might use the ford to send across large parties of men to harass +the great convoy which trailed behind him, so he decided that +while he made off into the distance, with the main body of the +troops, he would leave behind a regiment of General Castex's +brigade, in the position which had been occupied by General +Saint-Genies, to watch the ford. As my regiment was on duty, +there fell to it the dangerous task of remaining behind at +Drouia, on their own, until the following morning. I knew that +the greater part of Wittgenstein's force had gone up the river, +but I could see that he had left behind, not far from the ford, +two strong regiments of cavalry, a force more than sufficient to +overcome me. + +However much I might have wished to carry out the order to set up +my bivouac on the spot used two days previously by Saint-Genies, +this was impossible, for the ground was littered with more than +two hundred bodies in a state of putrefaction, and to this major +reason was linked another not less important. What I had seen and +what I had learned about war had convinced me that the best means +of defending a river against an enemy whose aim is not to +establish himself on the bank which one occupies, is to keep the +main body of one's troops well back from the river edge; firstly +to have timely warning of the enemy's approach, and secondly, +because, as it his intention to make a sudden raid and then +retire smartly, he dare not go too far from the spot where he can +cross back to the other side. So I settled the regiment half a +league from the Dvina, on some slightly undulating ground. I left +only some two-man sentinels on the bank, because, when it is +purely a matter of observation, two men can see as much as a +large picket. Several lines of troopers were placed one after the +other between these sentinels and our bivouac, where, like a +spider at the bottom of its web, I could be rapidly informed by +these threads about what was going on in the area which it was my +duty to guard. I had forbidden all fires and even the lighting of +pipes, and had ordered complete silence. + +The nights are extremely short in Russia in the month of July, +but this one seemed very long to me, so afraid was I that I might +be attacked during the hours of darkness by a force superior in +strength to my own. Half of the men were in the saddle, the +remainder were allowing their horses to graze but were ready to +mount if given the signal. All seemed quiet on the opposite bank, +when my Polish servant, who spoke Russian fluently, came to tell +me that he had heard one old Jewish woman who lived in a nearby +house say to another, "The lantern has been lit in the clock +tower at Morki. The attack is going to begin." I had the two +women brought to me, and questioned by Lorentz. They said that, +as they were afraid of their village becoming a battleground for +the two enemies, they had been alarmed to see the lamp lit in the +bell tower of the church at Morki, which, the night before last, +had been the signal for the Russian troops to cross the ford and +attack the French camp. + +Although I was prepared for any eventuality, this was a piece of +very useful information. At once the regiment was on horse, +sabres in their hands. The sentinels by the river and the string +of horsemen stretched across the plain passed from man to man, in +low voices, the orders to come back. Two of the boldest +sous-officiers, Prud'homme and Graft, went with Lieutenant Bertin +to see what the enemy was doing. He came back shortly to say that +a large column of Russian cavalry was crossing the ford, and that +already there were some squadrons on our side of the river; but +seemingly taken aback at not finding us camped at the same place +as Saint-Genies, they had halted, fearing, no doubt to go too far +from their only means of retreat; then, having decided to go on, +they were now approaching at a walk, and were not far off. + +I immediately set fire to a huge haystack and to several barns +which stood on some high ground, and by the light of the flames I +could easily distinguish the enemy column, consisting of Grodno +Hussars. I had with me about a thousand brave men, and with a cry +of "Vive L'Emperor!" we charged at the gallop towards the +Russians who, taken by surprise by this fierce and unexpected +attack, turned tail and rushed in disorder to the ford. There +they came face to face with a regiment of dragoons who, being +part of their brigade, had followed them and were just emerging +from the river. This resulted in the most fearful confusion which +enabled our men to kill many of the enemy and take many horses. +The Russians tried to recross the ford in a mob to escape from +the fire which my men aimed at them from the bank and a number of +them were drowned. Our surprise attack had so startled the enemy +who had thought to find us asleep, that they put up no +resistance, and I was able to return to our bivouac without +having to regret the death or wounding of any of our number. The +break of day disclosed the field of battle covered by some +hundreds of dead or wounded Russians. I left the wounded in the +care of the inhabitants of the village near which we had spent +the night, and took to the road to rejoin Marshal Oudinot, with +whom I caught up that same evening. The Marshal gave me a hearty +welcome and complemented the regiment on their conduct. + +2nd Corps continued its march up the left bank of the Dvina and +in three days arrived opposite Polotsk. There we learned that the +Emperor had at last left Wilna, where he had spent twenty days, +and was heading for Vitepsk, a town of some size, which he +intended to make his new centre of operations. + +On quitting Wilna, the Emperor had left the Duc de Bassano as +governor of the province of Lithuania, and General Hogendorp as +military commander. Neither of these two officials was suited to +organising the rear echelons of an army. The Duc de Bassano, a +former diplomat and private secretary, knew nothing about +administration, while the Dutchman Hogendorp, who spoke little +French, and had no idea of our military regulations and customs, +was not likely to have much success with those French who passed +through Wilna or with the local nobility. So the resources +available in Lithuania were of no help to our troops. + +The town of Polotsk is situated on the right bank of the Dvina. +Its houses are built of wood and it is dominated by a very large +and splendid college, at that time occupied by the Jesuits, +almost all of whom were French. It is surrounded by an earthwork +fortification, having at one time undergone a siege during the +war waged by Charles XII against Peter the Great. The corps +commanded by Ney, Murat and Montbrun, in order to get from Drissa +to Witepsk, had built a pontoon bridge across the Dvina opposite +Polotsk, which they left for Oudinot's corps, which was going to +take the road for St. Petersburg. It was from here that 2nd Corps +took a different direction to that of the Grande Armee, which we +did not see again until the following winter, at the crossing of +the Beresina. + +It would require several volumes to describe the manoeuvres and +the battles of that part of the army which followed the Emperor +to Moscow. I shall therefore limit myself to describing the +salient events as they occur. + +On the 25th of July, there took place near to Ostrovno an +advance-guard action, in which our infantry were successful, but +where several regiments of cavalry were too hastily engaged by +Murat. The 16th Chasseurs was amongst this number, and my +brother, who commanded a squadron, was captured. He was taken far +beyond Moscow to Sataroff, on the Volga, where he joined Colonel +Saint-Mars and Octave de Segur. They helped each other to bear +the boredom of captivity, to which my brother was already +accustomed, as he had spent several years in the prisons and +hulks of Spain. The fortunes of war treated us both differently; +Adolphe was captured three times but never wounded, while I was +often wounded but never captured. + +While the Emperor, now in control of Wilna, tried in vain to +manoeuvre the Russian army into a decisive battle, Oudinot's +corps, having crossed the Dvina at Polotsk, established itself in +front of this town, facing the numerous troops of General +Wittgenstein, who formed the enemy right wing. Before I describe +the events which took place on the banks of the Dvina, I should, +perhaps, acquaint you with the composition of 2nd Corps. + +Marshal Oudinot, who commanded the Corps, had under his orders no +more than 44,000 men, divided into three divisions of infantry, +commanded by Generals Legrand, Verdier and Merle. There were two +brigades of light cavalry. The first, composed of the 23rd and +the 24th regiments of Chasseurs, was commanded by General Castex, +an excellent officer on all counts. The second was formed of the +7th and 20th Chasseurs and the 8th Polish Lancers, commanded by +General Corbineau, a brave but dull-witted officer. These +brigades were not combined into a single division, but were +employed wherever the Marshal thought necessary. + +The 24th Chasseurs, with which my regiment was brigaded, was a +first class unit which would have done very well if there had +been a bond of sympathy between the men and their commander. +Unfortunately Colonel A... was very hard on his subordinates who, +for their part, disliked him. This state of affairs led General +Castex to travel and camp with the 23rd, and to unite his field +kitchen with mine, even though he had once served in the 24th. +Colonel A..., big, skillful and always perfectly mounted, showed +up well in engagements featuring the "arme blanche", but was +thought not to be so keen on those in which fire-arms and +artillery were involved. In spite of this, the Emperor recognised +in him qualities which made him undoubtedly the best light +cavalry officer in our European armies. No one had a better eye +for country. Before he set out, he could predict where there +would be obstacles not shown on the map, and where streams, roads +and even paths would lead to, and deduce from enemy movements +forecasts which were almost always correct. In all the aspects of +war, great or small, he was remarkably adept. The Emperor had +often used him for reconnaissance in the past and had recommended +him to Marshal Oudinot, who frequently called him into +consultation; with the result that many of the laborious and +dangerous jobs fell to my regiment. + +Chap. 8. + +Hardly had the various army corps which had preceded us into +Polotsk left to join the Emperor at Witepsk, when Oudinot, +collecting his troops into a single immense column on the road to +St. Petersburg, marched to attack Wittgenstein's army, which we +believed was positioned ten leagues from us, between two little +towns named Sebej and Newel. At the end of the day we made our +bivouac on the banks of the Drissa. This tributary of the Dvina +is no more than a rivulet at the coaching inn of Siwotschina, +where it is crossed by the main road to St. Petersburg; and +where, as there is no bridge, the Russian government has instead +cut back the steep banks between which the stream runs to make a +gently sloping approach, and has paved its bed to the same width +as the road, thus creating a passable ford. To the right and left +of the ford, however, troops and vehicles cannot cross, because +of the steepness of the banks. I mention this because three days +later this spot was the scene of a brisk engagement. + +The next day, the 30th, my regiment being on duty, I took my +place at the head of the advance-guard and, followed by the whole +army corps, I crossed the ford through the Drissa. The heat was +most oppressive, and in the dust-covered corn fields at the side +of the road one could see two large areas where the grain had +been flattened and crushed, as if a roller had been dragged over +it, indicating the passage of a large column of infantry. +Suddenly, near the coaching inn of Kliastitsoui, these signs +disappeared from the main road, and could be seen to the left on +a wide side-road which led to Jacoubovo. It was evident that the +enemy had turned off the road to Sebej at this point and was +preparing to attack our left flank. This seemed to me to be a +serious matter, so I halted our troops and sent a message to warn +my general. The Marshal, however, who usually kept in view of the +advance-guard, had seen that I had halted. He came along at the +gallop and in spite of the opinions of Generals Castex and +Lorencez, he ordered me to continue up the main road. I had +scarcely gone a league when I saw coming towards me a calische +drawn by two post-horses....I stopped it and I saw a Russian +officer who, overcome by the heat, was lying full-length on its +floor. This young man, the son of the nobleman who owned the +coaching inn of Kliastitsoui which I had just passed, was one of +Wittgenstein's aides-de-camp, and was returning from St. +Petersburg with the reply to some despatches which the general +had sent to the government. You may imagine his surprise when, +startled out of his sleep, he found himself surrounded by our +bearded chasseurs, and saw not far away the numerous columns of +French soldiers. He could not understand why he had not +encountered Wittgenstein's army, or at least some of his scouts, +between Sebej and the spot where we were; but his astonishment +confirmed the opinion held by General Castex and me that +Wittgenstein, to lay a trap for Oudinot, had suddenly quitted the +road to St. Petersburg to attack the left flank and the rear of +the French force. In fact, it was not long before we heard the +sound of artillery and gun-fire. + +Marshal Oudinot, although taken by surprise by this unexpected +attack, extricated himself quite well from the tight spot in +which he had landed himself. Ordering his columns to left face, +he presented a line to the attacker, who was repulsed so +vigourously that he did not care to renew the attack that day, +and retired to Jakoubovo. Wittgenstein's cavalry had, however, +enjoyed a considerable success, for they had captured, in the +French rear, some thousand men and some of our equipment; amongst +other things, all our mobile forges. This was a serious loss, +which was felt badly by the cavalry of 2nd Corps throughout the +whole of the campaign. After this engagement, Oudinot's troops +having taken up their position, Castex was ordered to return to +Kliastitsoui, to guard the point at which the road branched, +where we were joined by General Maison's infantry. The Russian +officer held prisoner in the house belonging to his father did us +the honours with good grace. + +In expectation of a major battle on the following day, the +commanders of both armies had made their dispositions, and, at +daybreak, the Russians attacked the inn at Kliastitsoui, which +constituted the French right wing. Although in these +circumstances both our regiments would be in action, the regiment +on duty would be in the first rank, and it was the turn of the +24th Chasseurs. To avoid any possibility of hesitation, General +Castex placed himself at the head of the regiment, and falling +rapidly on the Russians, he overran them and took 400 prisoners +without suffering many casualties. He was in the forefront of the +attack, and his horse was killed by a bayonet thrust. In the +resultant fall his foot had been trodden on, and he was unable +for several days to lead the brigade. His place was taken by +Colonel A.... + +The Russian battalions which the 24th had just defeated were +immediately replaced by others which, emerging from Jacoubovo, +marched rapidly towards us. The Marshal ordered A... to attack +them, and we were told to advance, which we did without delay. +Having arrived at the front line, we arranged ourselves in battle +order and advanced toward the Russians, who awaited us +resolutely. As soon as we were within range, I ordered the +charge...! It was carried out with the greatest vigour, for my +troopers, as well as displaying their usual courage, were aware +that their comrades of the 24th were watching their every move. +The Russians made what I consider to be the fatal mistake of +discharging all their weapons at once by firing a volley, which, +badly aimed, killed only a few men and horses: continuous fire +would have been much more devastating. They then needed to +reload, but we did not give them time; our excellent horses, +galloping at full speed, hit them with such force that many of +them were knocked to the ground. A good number got to their feet +and attempted to defend themselves with their bayonets against +the sabres of our Chasseurs, but after suffering a great many +casualties they fell back, then broke ranks, and a good number +were killed or captured as they fled towards a cavalry regiment +which had come to their aid. This was the Grodno Hussars. + +I have noticed that when a unit has defeated another, it always +maintains its superiority. I saw here a further proof of this, +for the Chasseurs of the 23rd hurled themselves on the Grodno +Hussars, as if they were easy prey, having previously beaten them +soundly in a night battle at Drouia, and the Hussars, having +recognised their enemy, took to their heels. This regiment, +during the rest of the campaign, invariably faced the 23rd, who +always retained their ascendancy. While these events were taking +place on our right wing, the infantry on the left and in the +centre had attacked the Russians who, defeated everywhere, had +abandoned the field of battle and at nightfall they went to take +up a position about a league away. Our army took possession of +the area which it occupied, between Jakoubovo and the road +junction at Kliastitsoui. There was much celebration that night +in the brigade bivouacs, on account of our victory. My regiment +had captured the flag of the Tamboff infantry, and the 24th had +also taken that of the Russian unit which they had overcome; but +their satisfaction was diminished by the knowledge that two of +their squadron commanders had been wounded, both of whom, +however, made a rapid recovery and served throughout the rest of +the campaign. + +When a unit endeavours to outflank an enemy, it risks being +itself outflanked. This is what happened to Wittgenstein, for on +the night of the 29th, having left the St. Petersburg road to +attack the left and rear of the French army, he had compromised +his line of communication, which Oudinot could have cut +completely if he taken full advantage of the victory achieved on +the 30th. The Russian situation was made worse by the fact that +while facing a victorious army which barred its line of retreat, +it learned that Marshal Macdonald, having crossed the Dvina and +taken the fort of Dvinaberg, was advancing on the Russian rear. +To get out of this difficulty, Wittgenstein had, during the night +after the battle, made a cross-country detour which took his army +back on to the St. Petersburg road at a point beyond the inn at +Kliastitsoui. Since, however, he was afraid that the French +troops who were in that area might fall on his force during this +flank move, he decided to prevent them from doing so by himself +attacking them with superior strength, while the bulk of his army +regained the route to St. Petersburg and reopened his +communications with Sebej. + +The next day, the 31st of July, my regiment came on duty at dawn, +when it could be seen that part of the army which we had defeated +the day before had avoided our right wing and was in full flight +towards Sebej, while the remainder were about to attack us at +Kliastitsoui. All of Marshal Oudinot's troops were immediately +stood to, but while the generals were arranging them in battle +order, a strong column of Russian Grenadiers attacked our allies, +the Portuguese, and reduced them to complete disorder; they then +turned on the large and solid coaching inn, an important point +which they were about to take, when Marshal Oudinot, always in +the forefront of any action, hurried to my regiment, which was +already at the outposts, and ordered me to try to stop or at +least slow down the enemy advance until the arrival of our +infantry which was approaching rapidly. I took my regiment off at +the gallop, and ordering the trumpeter to sound the charge, I +struck the right of the enemy line obliquely, which greatly +hindered the ability of their infantry and Grenadiers to fire on +us, and they were about to be cut down, for they were already in +disorder, when either spontaneously or under the orders of their +officers, they made an about turn and ran for a large ditch which +they had left behind them. They all scrambled into it and from +its cover they directed a continuous fire at us. Immediately I +had six or seven men killed and some twenty wounded, and was hit +by a stray ball in the left shoulder. My troopers had their blood +up, but they could not attack men whom it was physically +impossible to reach. At this moment General Maison arrived with +his infantry and having ordered me to withdraw behind his +columns, he attacked the ditch from both ends and all its +defenders were either killed or made prisoner. + +As for me, with a painful wound, I was taken back to the inn and +removed, with difficulty, from my horse. The good Dr. Parot, the +regimental surgeon, came to dress my injury, but he had scarcely +started this when he was forced to break off. There was a new +Russian assault and a hail of ball fell about us, so that we had +to remove ourselves out of range of the fire. The doctor found +that my injury was serious and could have been fatal if the thick +braiding of my epaulet, through which the ball had passed, had +not deflected it and lessened its force. The blow had been +sufficiently heavy to knock me back almost onto my horse's +crupper, so that the officers and troopers who were following me +thought I had been killed, and I would have fallen if my +orderlies had not supported me. The dressing was very painful, +for the ball was embedded in the bone at the point where the +upper arm joins the collar-bone. To get it out the wound had to +be enlarged and you can still see the big scar. + +I can promise you that if I had been already a colonel, I would +have joined the many wounded who were being sent back to Polotsk, +and after crossing the Dvina I would have sought some Lithuanian +town where I might be cared for; but I was only a squadron +commander and at any time the Emperor could arrive at Witepsk and +hold a revue, at which he would award nothing except to those who +were present, bearing arms. This custom which at first may seem +cruel, was based nevertheless on the interest of the service, for +it encouraged the wounded not to remain in hospital any longer +than was necessary, and to rejoin their units as soon as they +were fit enough to do so. In view of the above, my success in +action against the enemy, my recent wound received in combat, and +my devotion to the regiment, all compelled me not to go away; so +I stayed in spite of the severe pain which I was suffering, and +having put my arm in a sling as well as I could, and had myself +hoisted onto horseback, I rejoined my regiment. + +Chap. 9. + +Since I had been wounded, things had changed considerably; our +troops had defeated those of Wittgenstein and taken a great +number of prisoners, but the Russians had reached the St. +Petersburg road and were continuing their retreat to Sebej. + +To get to this town from the inn at Kliastitsoui, one must cross +the enormous marsh of Khodanui, in the middle of which the main +road is raised on an embankment made of huge pine trees laid one +next to another. On each side of this causeway is a ditch, or +rather a wide and deep canal, and there is no other route except +by making an exceedingly long detour. The embankment is almost a +league long, but of considerable width, so that, it being +impossible to put flank guards in the marsh, the Russians marched +in dense columns along this artificial road, beyond which our +maps showed open country. Marshal Oudinot, aiming at further +victory, had decided to follow them, and for this reason he had +already despatched on the road to the marsh General Verdier's +infantry, which was to be followed first by Castex's brigade of +cavalry, then the whole army corps. My regiment had not yet +joined the line when I returned to it. + +When, in spite of my injury, I took up my place at their head, I +received a general acclamation from both officers and men, which +showed the affection and esteem in which these brave people held +me; I was deeply touched by this, and even more so by the welcome +I received from Major Fontaine. This officer, although both +courageous and competent, was so unambitious that he had remained +a captain for eighteen years, having refused promotion three +times, which he had finally accepted only on a direct order from +the Emperor. + +So I once more took command of the 23rd, and began to cross the +marsh behind General Verdier's division, at which the rear unit +of the enemy column fired only a few long range shots while they +were still on the causeway. When, however, our infantry reached +the open country, they saw the Russian army deployed in battle +formation, and were treated to a devastating barrage of artillery +fire. Nevertheless, in spite of their losses the French +battalions continued to advance. Soon they were all off the +embankment and it was the turn of my regiment, at the head of the +brigade, to reach the open ground. Colonel A..., who was the +temporary brigade commander, was not there to give me orders so I +thought it right to remove my regiment from this dangerous spot +and I led them off at the gallop as soon as the infantry gave me +room; however I had seven or eight men killed and a greater +number wounded. The 24th, who followed me, also suffered many +casualties. The same happened to General Legrand's infantry +division; but as soon as they were formed up on the plain, +Marshal Oudinot attacked the enemy lines, and they directed their +artillery fire at several different points so that the exit from +the marsh would have become less perilous for the remainder of +the army, if Wittgenstein had not at that moment attacked with +all his force the units which we had in the open. His superiority +in numbers compelled us to give ground and we were driven back +towards the causeway of the Khodanui. Fortunately the track was +very wide, which allowed us to proceed by platoons. As soon as we +left the plain, the cavalry became more of a hindrance than a +help. The marshal put us in front of the retreat; we were +followed by Verdier's division, whose general had been very +seriously wounded, and General Legrand's division made the +rear-guard. The last brigade of this division, commanded by +General Albert, had to fight a very sharp action while its last +battalions were getting onto the causeway, but once they were +formed into columns General Albert put eight artillery pieces at +the tail end which kept up a continuous fire during the retreat, +so it was the turn of the enemy to suffer heavy casualties. By +contrast, the Russian artillery rarely discharged a shot because +the guns had to be turned round to fire at us and then turned +back to continue the pursuit, a lengthy and difficult operation +on the causeway, so that they did us little damage. + +The day was ending when the French troops, having crossed the +marsh, repassed Kliastitsoui and found themselves once more on +the banks of the Drissa, at the ford of Sivotschina which they +had crossed in the morning to follow the Russians who had been +defeated at Kliastitsoui. The Russians had their revenge for +having caused us seven or eight hundred casualties on the plain +beyond the marsh; they now had a sword at our backs. To put an +end to the fighting and allow the army some rest, Marshal Oudinot +led it across the ford to set up camp at Bieloe. + +Night was falling when the outposts which had been left to watch +the Drissa, reported that the enemy were crossing the river. The +Marshal went there at once, and could see that eight Russian +battalions with a battery of fourteen guns were setting up their +bivouac on our side of the river, while the remainder of the army +stayed on the other side, preparing no doubt to cross over and +attack us on the morrow. This advance party was commanded by +General Koulnieff, an enterprising officer but one who, like most +of the Russian officers of the period, drank to excess. It would +seem that on this evening he had drunk more than usual, for it is +otherwise difficult to explain why he made the grave error of +coming, with no more than eight battalions to set up camp a short +distance from an army of forty thousand men, and that in a most +unfavourable position; for he had, some two hundred paces behind +him, the Drissa, which could not be crossed except by the ford; +not because of the depth of the water but because it ran between +very steep banks fifteen to twenty feet high. Koulnieff had +therefore no other line of retreat but the ford. Could it be that +he hoped that his eight battalions and fourteen canons would be +able, if defeated, to withdraw smartly across this one passage, +in the face of an attack which might be launched at any moment by +the French army from nearby Bieloe? The answer must be no, but +general Koulnieff was in no state to consider the matter when he +put his camp on the left bank of the river. It is perhaps +surprising that Wittgenstein should have entrusted the command of +his advance guard to Koulnieff, of whose intemperate habits he +must have been aware. + +While the head of the Russian column approached, rashly, to +within such a short distance of us, a great confusion reigned, +not among the troops, but among their leaders. Marshal Oudinot, +although the bravest of men, lacked consistency, and passed +rapidly from a plan of attack to one of a withdrawal. The losses +which he had suffered towards the end of the day on the other +side of the great marsh had thrown him into a state of +perplexity, and he could not think how he was to carry out the +Emperor's orders, which were to push Wittgenstein back at least +as far as Sebej and Newel. He was therefore delighted to receive, +during the night, a despatch informing him of the imminent +arrival of a Bavarian corps, commanded by General Saint-Cyr, +which the Emperor was placing under his orders; but instead of +awaiting this powerful reinforcement in his present sound +position, Oudinot, advised by the general of artillery, Dulauloy, +wished to make contact with the Bavarians by withdrawing his army +as far as Polotsk. This inexplicable notion was warmly opposed by +the group of generals summoned by the Marshal. General Legrand +said that although our success of the morning had been +counter-balanced by the losses of the evening, the army was still +in good heart and ready to advance, and that to retreat to +Polotsk would damage their morale and present them to the +Bavarians as a defeated force coming to seek refuge amongst them; +an idea which would arouse indignation in all French bosoms. This +vigourous speech by Legrand was acclaimed by all the generals and +the Marshal then gave up the project of a retreat. + +There remained the question of what to do the next day. General +Legrand, with the authority of his seniority, long service and +experience in warfare, proposed that they should take advantage +of the serious error made by Koulnieff by attacking the +advance-guard so imprudently placed without support on the bank +which we occupied, and drive them back into the Drissa which they +had behind them. This advice having been accepted by the Marshal +and all the group, the execution of it was confided to General +Legrand. + +Oudinot's army was encamped in a forest of huge, widely spaced +pines, beyond which there was a very extensive clearing. The +boundaries of the wood took the form of a bow, the two ends of +which reached the Drissa, which formed as it were the bow-string. +The Russians had set up their bivouac very close to the river, +opposite the ford. Their frontage was protected by fourteen +artillery pieces. + +General Legrand wanted to take the enemy by surprise, so he +ordered General Albert to send a regiment of infantry to each of +the ends of the wood from where they could attack the camp from +the flank as soon as they heard the approach of the cavalry, who, +emerging from the woods in the centre of the bow would go +bald-headed for the Russian battalions and drive them into the +ravine. The task given to the cavalry was plainly the most +dangerous, for not only had they to make a frontal attack on an +enemy armed with 6000 muskets but would also be exposed to the +fire of fourteen artillery pieces before they could reach their +objective. It was, however, hoped that by a surprise attack, the +Russians might be caught asleep, and put up little resistance. + +You have seen that my regiment having come on duty on the morning +of the 31st July at Kliastitsoui, had continued to serve for the +whole of that day, and should, according to the regulations, have +been relieved by the 24th at 1 A.M. on the 1st August, and it was +this regiment whose duty it was to carry out the attack, while +mine remained in reserve; there being only enough space in the +clearing between the woods and the stream for one regiment of +cavalry. However, Colonel A... went to Oudinot and suggested to +him that there was a danger that while we were preparing to +attack the troops in front of us, General Wittgenstein might send +a strong column to our right which could cross the Drissa at +another ford which probably existed some three leagues upstream +from where we were, and gaining our rear could capture our +wounded and our equipment; and that it would be a good idea to +send a regiment of cavalry to keep an eye on this ford. The +Marshal fell in with this suggestion and Colonel A..., whose +regiment had just come on duty, quickly ordered his men into the +saddle and led them off on this expedition which he had thought +up, leaving to the 23rd the dangers of the battle which was about +to take place. + +My regiment received with calm the news of the perilous mission +which had been thrust upon them and welcomed the appearance of +the Marshal and General Legrand when they came to supervise the +preparations for this important attack which we were about to +carry out. + +At this time all the French regiments, with the exception of the +Cuirassiers, had a company of Grenadiers, known as the elite +company, whose customary position was on the right of the line, a +position which they held in the 23rd. General Legrand observed to +the Marshal that, as the enemy had placed their artillery in +front of their centre, it was there that most danger would lie, +and in order to avoid any hesitation which might compromise the +whole operation, it would be advisable to attack this point with +the elite company, which was composed of the most seasoned +soldiers mounted on the best horses. It was in vain that I +assured the Marshal that the regiment was in all respects as +solid in one part as in another, he ordered me to put the elite +company in the centre, which I then did. I next gathered the +officers together and explained to them in low tones what we were +to do, and warned them that, the better to surprise the enemy, I +would give no preparatory commands and would simply order the +charge when we were within close range of the enemy guns. Once +everything had been arranged, the regiment left its bivouac, in +complete silence, at the first faint light of dawn, and made its +way without difficulty through the wood, the great trees of which +were widely spaced, and arrived at the level clearing in which +was the Russian encampment. I alone in the regiment had no sabre +in my hand, for having only one hand which I could use, I needed +that to hold the reins of my horse. You will understand that this +was a very unpleasant situation for a cavalry officer about to +engage the enemy. + +However, I had chosen to go with my regiment and so I placed +myself in front of the elite company, having beside me their +gallant captain, M. Courteau, one of the finest of officers and +one whom I valued most highly. + +All was quiet in the Russian camp, towards which we advanced +slowly and in silence, and my hopes of achieving a total surprise +were increased by the fact that General Koulnieff not having +brought any cavalry across the ford, we saw no mounted outposts, +and could distinguish, by the feeble light of their fires, only a +few infantry sentries, posted so close to the camp that between +their warning and our sudden arrival the Russians would have +little chance to prepare themselves for defence. Suddenly, +however, two prowling and suspicious Cossack peasants appeared on +horseback, some thirty paces from our line, and after regarding +it for a moment they fled towards the camp, where it was obvious +that they intended to give warning of our presence. This +mischance was very unfortunate, because had it not been for that, +we would certainly have reached the Russians without losing a +man; however since we were now discovered and were in any case +nearing the spot where I had decided to increase the speed of our +advance, I urged my horse into a gallop; the regiment did the +same, and shortly I gave the order to sound the charge. + +At this signal my gallant troopers and I launched ourselves at +the enemy, upon whom we fell like a thunderbolt. The two Cossacks +had, however, raised the alarm. The gunners, sleeping beside +their guns, grabbed their slow matches, and fourteen canons +belched grapeshot at the regiment. Thirty-seven men, of whom +nineteen belonged to the elite company, were killed outright. The +brave Captain Courteau was amongst them, as was Lieutenant +Lallouette. The Russian gunners were attempting to reload their +guns when they were cut down by our men. We had few wounded, +almost all the injuries having been fatal. We had some forty +horses killed, mine was maimed by a heavy bullet but was able to +carry me to the Russian camp where the soldiers, rudely awakened +from their sleep, were rushing to take up their arms, but were +being sabred by our troopers, whom I had ordered to get between +them and the rows of muskets, so that few were able to reach one +and fire at us. Then, alerted by the sound of gunfire, General +Albert's two regiments of infantry ran from the wood to attack +the two sides of the camp, bayoneting all who resisted. The +Russians, in disorder, were unable to withstand this triple +attack. Many of them, who having arrived at night had not been +able to see the height of the river banks, tried to escape by +this route and falling fifteen or twenty feet onto the rocks were +injured and in many cases killed. + +General Koulnieff, hardly awake, joined a group of two thousand +men of whom about one third had muskets, and following +mechanically this disorganised crowd, he arrived at the ford, but +I had given orders that this important spot should be occupied by +five or six hundred horsemen, amongst whom were the elite company +who, enraged at the loss of their captain, massacred most of the +Russians. General Koulnieff, who had already been drinking, +attacked Sergeant Legendre, who, thrusting his sabre into the +Russian's neck, laid him dead at his feet. M. de. Segur, in his +story of the campaign of 1812, has General Koulnieff making a +dying speech worthy of Homer. I was within a few feet of Sergeant +Legendre when he drove his sabre into Koulnieff's throat, and I +can certify that the General fell without uttering a word. The +victory achieved by General Albert's infantry and the 23rd was +complete. The enemy had at least 2000 men killed or wounded and +we took around 4000 prisoners. The remainder perished by falling +on the sharp rocks of the river. Some of the most agile Russians +managed to rejoin Wittgenstein, who, when he heard of the +sanguinary defeat of his advance-guard, began a retreat toward +Sebej. + +Marshal Oudinot, encouraged by the resounding success which he +had just gained, decided to pursue the Russians, and took his +army, as on the previous day, back across the Drissa to the right +bank; but in order to give General Albert's infantry brigade and +the 23rd Chasseurs an opportunity to recover from the effects of +the fighting, he left them to keep watch on the field of battle +at Sivotschina. I took advantage of this period of rest to carry +out a ceremony rarely seen in war. This was to pay my last +respects to those of our brave comrades who had lost their lives. +They were laid, arranged by rank, in a large pit, with Captain +Courteau and his lieutenant at their head. Then the fourteen +canons, so gallantly captured by the 23rd, were placed before +this military tomb. + +Having completed this act of piety, I wished to dress my wound of +the previous day, which was causing me a great deal of pain, and +to do this I went to sit apart under a huge pine tree. There I +saw a young battalion commander, who with his back against the +trunk and held up by two Grenadiers, was painfully closing a +little package on which a name was traced in his blood. This +officer, who belonged to Albert's brigade, had suffered, during +the attack on the Russian camp, an appalling bayonet wound which +had slit open his abdomen from which the intestines were +protruding, pierced in several places. Although some dressing +had been applied the blood still flowed and the wound was mortal. +The doomed man, who was well aware of this, had wished, before he +died, to take leave of a lady whom he loved but did not know to +whom he might entrust this precious message, when chance brought +me there. We knew each other only by sight, but nonetheless, +urged by the approach of death, he asked me, in a voice now +faint, to do him two favours, then motioning the Grenadiers to +one side he gave me the package, and saying, with tears in his +eyes, "It is a portrait," he made me promise to deliver it +secretly, with my own hands, if I was fortunate enough to return +one day to Paris. "In any case," he added "there is no hurry, for +it would be better if this was received long after I am gone." I +promised to carry out this sad task, which I was unable to do +until two years later in 1814. The second request which he made I +was able to carry out within some two hours. He was distressed to +think that his body would be devoured by the wolves which +abounded in the country and asked to be put beside the captain +and the troopers of the 23rd, whose burial he had seen. This I +promised, and when he died not long after our unhappy meeting, I +carried out this last wish. + +Chap. 10. + +Deeply moved by this unhappy event,I was meditating with much +sadness, when I was awakened from my reveries by the distant +sound of a sustained cannonade. The two armies were once more in +action. Marshal Oudinot, after passing the inn at Kliastitsoui, +where I had been wounded the day before, had contacted the +Russian rear-guard at the beginning of the marsh, the exit from +which had been so disastrous for us on the previous day. He was +determined to drive the enemy back, but they were not prepared to +pass through this dangerous defile, and mounted a +counter-offensive against the French troops who, after suffering +considerable losses, retreated, followed by the Russians. One +might have thought that Oudinot and Wittgenstein were playing a +game of prisoner's base, advancing and retreating by turn. The +news of this fresh retreat by Oudinot was given to us on the +battlefield of Sivotschina by an aide-de-camp, who brought to +General Albert the order to take his brigade, together with the +23rd Chasseurs, two leagues to the rear, in the direction of +Polotsk. + +When it came to leaving, I was unwilling to part with the +fourteen artillery pieces captured that morning by my regiment, +and as the horses which pulled them had also fallen into our +hands, they were harnessed up and we took the guns to our next +bivouac, and on the night following to Polotsk, where it was not +long before they played an effective part in the defence of that +town. + +Oudinot withdrew that same day to the ford at Sivotschina, which +he had crossed in the morning in pursuit of Wittgenstein who, +bearing in mind the disaster which had overwhelmed his +advance-guard at this place on the occasion, did not risk sending +any isolated unit across to the bank which we occupied. So the +two armies, separated by the Drissa, settled themselves for the +night. + +On the following day, the 2nd August, Oudinot having joined his +units at Polotsk, hostilities ceased for a few days, as both +sides were in need of a rest. We were rejoined by the good +General Castex and also by the 24th Chasseurs, who were very +angry with their Colonel for leading them away when it was their +turn to attack the Russian camp. On their trip up the Drissa they +had seen no sign of the enemy nor had they found any trace of the +supposed ford. + +After several days rest Wittgenstein led part of his troops +towards the lower Dvina, from where Macdonald was threatening his +right. When Marshal Oudinot followed the Russian army in that +direction it turned to face him, and for a week or ten days there +was a series of marches and countermarches, and several minor +engagements which it would be too long and wearisome to describe, +and which resulted only in the useless killing of men and the +demonstration of the indecision of both commanders. + +The most serious engagement during this short period took place +on the 13th August near the magnificent monastery of Valensoui, +built on the bank of the Svolna. This little river, which has +very muddy banks, separated the French and the Russians, and it +was obvious that whichever general attempted to force a crossing +on such unfavourable terrain would come to grief. Neither Oudinot +nor Wittgenstein had any intention of crossing the Svolna at this +point; but instead of going to look for some other place where +they could meet in combat, they took up positions on either side +of this watercourse, as it were in mutual despite. Soon there was +from both banks a lively cannonade which was totally useless as +the troops on neither side could attack their adversaries and was +no credit to either party. + +However Wittgenstein, to protect the lives of his men, had +restricted himself to posting some battalions of unmounted +Chasseurs among the willows and reeds which bordered the stream, +and had kept the bulk of his force out of the range of the French +guns, whose brisk fire hit only some of his sharpshooters, while +Oudinot, who had insisted, in spite of the sensible advice of +several generals, on bringing his first line up to the Svolna +suffered losses which he could have and should have avoided. The +Russian artillery is nowhere as good as ours, but they used +pieces called licornes, which had a range exceeding that of the +French guns of the period, and it was these licornes which did +the most damage among our troops. + +Marshal Oudinot, in his belief that the enemy were going to cross +the river, not only kept a division of infantry in position to +repel them, but supported them with General Castex's cavalry, an +unnecessary precaution, since a crossing of even a small river +takes more time than is needed for the defenders to hurry into a +position to oppose it. Nonetheless my regiment was exposed for +twenty-four hours to the Russian fire, which killed or wounded +several of my men. + +During this confrontation in which the troops remained stationary +for a long period, there arrived the aide-de-camp whom Oudinet +had sent to Witepsk to report to the Emperor the result of the +battles at Kliastitsoui and at Sivotschina. Napoleon, who wanted +to make it clear to the troops that he did not blame them for the +lack of success in our operations, loaded 2nd Corps with rewards +in the way of decorations and promotions, and then, turning to +the cavalry, he awarded four Crosses of the Legion of Honour to +each of the cavalry regiments. In the despatch announcing this +news, Major-general the Prince Berthier added that in order to +show his satisfaction with the conduct of the 23rd Chasseurs at +Wilkomir, at the bridge of Dvinaburg, in the night battle at +Drouia, at Kliastitsoui, and above all in the attack on the +Russian camp at Sivotschina, the Emperor was awarding them, in +addition to the four decorations given to the other regiments, +fourteen decorations, one for each of the guns captured by them +from Koulnieff's advance-guard, so that I had now eighteen +crosses to distribute among my brave soldiers. The aide-de-camp +had not brought the awards themselves, but the Major-general had +added to his letter the request that the regimental commanders +should draw up a list of recipients and forward it to him. + +I assembled all the captains, and after taking their advice, I +drew up my list, and presented it to Marshal Oudinot, asking at +the same time if I might be allowed to announce the awards +immediately to my regiment: "What, here, under fire?" "Yes, +marshal, under fire. That enhances their value." + +General Lorencez, who as chief of staff had written the report of +the various actions, in which he had highly praised the 23rd, +agreed with my suggestion and so the Marshal consented. The +decorations would not arrive until later, but I had my servant +look in my baggage for a piece of ribbon which I had in my +portmanteau, and when it was found, and after it had been cut +into eighteen pieces, I announced to the regiment the awards +which the Emperor had presented, and calling out of the ranks +each of the recipients in turn, I gave them a piece of the red +ribbon, then so keenly wished for and so proudly worn, and which +has since then been so diminished in value, almost prostituted, +by handing it out indiscriminately to all and sundry. + +This ceremony, conducted in the field and under fire, had a great +effect, and the enthusiasm of the regiment was at its height when +I announced the name of Sergeant Prud'homme, reputed justly to be +the most intrepid and unassuming of the warriors of the 23rd. +This brave survivor of many a fierce encounter, accepted with +modesty his piece of ribbon, to the sound of loud acclamation +from all the squadrons. A moment of well earned triumph. I shall +never forget this moving scene which took place, as you know, +within range of the enemy guns. + +Sadly, there is no rose without its thorn. Two of the men who +were included in my list had just been severely wounded. Sergeant +Legendre, who had killed General Koulnieff, had an arm carried +away, and Corporal Griffon had a leg smashed. The injured limbs +were being amputated when I went to the dressing station to give +them their decorations. At the sight of the ribbons they forgot +for a moment their pain, but unhappily, Sergeant Legendre did not +long survive his injury, though Griffon recovered and was sent +back to France, where I saw him some years later in Les +Invalides. + +The 24th Chasseurs, who received only four decorations as opposed +to the eighteen awarded to the 23rd, conceded that this was fair, +but nevertheless they regretted that they had been deprived of +the honour of taking the fourteen Russian guns at Sivotschina, +even at the cost of suffering such casualties as ours, "We are +soldiers" they said, "and must take our chances for better or +worse." They blamed their colonel for providing them with what +they called this let-down. Here was an army whose men actually +clamoured for action. + +You will doubtless wonder what I got out of all this, and the +answer is nothing. The Emperor, before he removed Colonel de La +Nougarede from the command of the regiment and either made him a +general or head of a legion of gendarmes, wanted to know if his +health would permit him to carry out the duties of either of +these two ranks. As a consequence Marshal Oudinot was ordered to +bring Colonel de La Nougarede before a medical board, whose +conclusion was that he would never be able to mount a horse. In +view of this, the Marshal authorised the Colonel's return to +France, where he was given the command of a minor fortress. The +unfortunate Colonel, before leaving Polotsk, where his +infirmities had forced him to remain, wrote me a very touching +letter in which he took his leave of the 23rd, and although he +had never led the regiment into action, an event which increases +the men's regard for their commander, his departure was +justifiably regretted. + +The regiment now being without a colonel, the Marshal expected to +receive at any moment the order for my promotion to that rank, +and quite frankly so did I. The Emperor had however moved away, +and had left Witepsk to take Smolensk and from there to march on +Moscow, and the work of his cabinet had been slowed by their +preoccupation with military operations to such an extent that I +was not gazetted Colonel until three months later. + +Let us now return to the banks of the Svolna, which the French +left hurriedly after depositing some of their wounded in the +monastery of Valensoui. Amongst those whom we lost was M. +Casabianca, Colonel of the 11th light infantry regiment, who had +served with me as aide-de-camp to Massena. He was a very fine +officer whose promotion had been rapid; but his career was ended +by a head injury received when he was visiting some of his men on +the bank of the Svolna. He was dying when I saw him on a +stretcher carried by some sappers. He recognised me and shaking +my hand he observed that he was sorry to see our army corps so +poorly managed. The poor fellow died that evening. + +His last words were only too well founded, for our leader seemed +to proceed without method or plan. After a success, he pursued +Wittgenstein regardless of any obstacles and spoke of nothing +less than driving him back as far as St. Petersburg, but at the +least check he retreated swiftly and started seeing enemies +everywhere. It was in this last state that he took his troops +back to Polotsk, although they were displeased being at being +made to fall back before the Russians whom they had recently +defeated in almost every encounter. + +On the 15th of August, the Emperor's birthday, 2nd Corps arrived +dejectedly at Polotsk, where we met with 6th Corps, formed of the +two fine Bavarian divisions of General Wrede, which had a French +general, Gouvion Saint-Cyr in overall command. The Emperor had +sent this reinforcement of 8 to 10,000 men to Marshal Oudinot, +who would have received it with more pleasure if he had not been +afraid of the man in command. + +Saint-Cyr was one of the most competent soldiers in Europe. A +contemporary and rival of Moreau, Hoche, Kleber and Desaix, he +had successfully commanded one wing of the French army of the +Rhine at a time when Oudinot was scarcely a colonel or a brigade +commander. I do not know anyone who could command troops in the +field better than Saint-Cyr. + +The son of a small landowner in Toul, he had studied to be a +civil engineer, but he gave this up to become an actor in Paris, +where he created the well-known role of "Robert,the Brigand +Chief." In the City Theatre, where he was when the revolution of +'89 broke out, Saint-Cyr joined a volunteer battalion, where he +showed great courage and military talent, and soon became a +divisional general and gained a number of victories. He was a +tall man but looked more like a schoolmaster than a soldier, due +in part perhaps to the habit adopted by the generals of the army +of the Rhine of wearing neither uniform nor epaulets, but only a +plain blue greatcoat. + +One could not imagine anyone more self-controlled; the greatest +dangers, setbacks, successes, or defeats, failed to rouse him to +any show of emotion. He maintained an icy calm in all situations. +It is obvious how useful such a temperament coupled with a taste +for study and meditation, might be to a general officer, but +Saint-Cyr had also some serious faults. Jealous of his comrades, +he had been known to hold his troops back while, close to him, +other divisions were decimated in a desperate struggle. He would +then advance and profiting from the exhaustion of the enemy he +would overcome them, and thus appear to have won the victory +single-handed. Secondly, if Saint-Cyr was one of the best +officers in the employment of troops in the field, he was without +doubt the one who took the least interest in their welfare. He +never inquired if the men had food, clothing or footwear, or if +their arms were in proper repair. He never held an inspection, +nor visited the hospitals, nor even asked if there were any! In +his opinion it was the duty of the colonels to see to all that. +In short he wanted to be presented on the field of battle with +regiments in fighting order, without troubling himself to see +that they were kept in that condition. This sort of behaviour had +not done Saint-Cyr any good. Wherever he served, the soldiers, +although acknowledging his military talents, regarded him without +affection. His fellow officers dreaded working with him and the +various governments which had taken power in France had employed +him only out of necessity. The Emperor did the same, but he so +much disliked Saint-Cyr that when he created the rank of marshal +he left his name off the list of promotions, even though he had +seen more service and shown more skill than most of those to whom +Napoleon awarded the baton. Such was the man whom the Emperor had +just placed under Oudinet's orders, to the great regret of the +latter, who feared that he would be shown up by comparison with +Saint-Cyr's superior talents. + +On the 16th of August, the day on which my eldest son Alfred was +born, the Russian army of some sixty thousand men attacked +Oudinot, who, including the Bavarian unit led by Saint-Cyr, had +fifty two thousand men under his command. In any other +circumstances an engagement between one hundred and twelve +thousand men would have been called a battle; but in 1812 the +when the total number of combatants amounted to some six or seven +hundred thousand, a fight involving one hundred thousand men was +no more than an action, and it is this description which is given +to the struggle at Polotsk between the Russian troops and those +of Marshal Oudinot. + +The town of Polotsk, built on the right bank of the Dvina, is +surrounded by old earthen ramparts. Before the main frontage of +the town the fields are divided by a large number of little +ditches between which vegetables are grown. Although these +obstacles are not impassable for artillery and cavalry, they +hinder their movement. These gardens extend for less than half a +league in front of the town, but on their left, on the bank of +the Divna, there is a large area of level ground. It is here that +the Russian general should have attacked Polotsk, for it would +have given him command of the frail and only pontoon bridge, +which was our communication with the left bank from which we drew +our ammunition and food supply. But Wittgenstein chose to make a +frontal attack and directed his main force towards the gardens +from where he hoped to scale the ramparts which, to tell the +truth, were no more than easily climbed embankments, whose +height, however, allowed them to dominate the ground in front of +them. The attack was pressed home vigourously, but our infantry +put up a stout defence among the gardens, while from the height +of the ramparts the guns, among which were the fourteen captured +by the 23rd at Sivotschina, ravaged the enemy ranks. The Russians +fell back in disorder to reform themselves on the plain. +Oudinot, instead of staying sensibly where he was, went after +them and was in turn driven off with casualties. The greater part +of the day was spent in this way, the Russians returning +repeatedly to the attack, only to be driven back beyond the +gardens by the French. + +During these blood-stained comings and goings, what was General +Saint-Cyr doing? He was following Oudinot about in silence, and +when asked for his opinion he merely bowed and said "Monseigneur +le Marachal...!" as if meaning since you have been made marshal, +you must know more than me, a simple general. So you can sort +this out for yourself. + +Wittgenstein, having lost a great many men and despairing of +gaining victory by continued attacks in the area of the gardens, +ended up where he should have begun, by marching his troops +towards the meadows which bordered the Dvina. Up until this time +Oudinot had kept his twelve pounders and all his cavalry at this +spot, as if they had nothing to do with the fighting; but the +artillery general, Dulauloy, anxious about his guns, suggested to +the Marshal that he should send not only the large calibre guns +but also all the cavalry over to the left bank, on the pretext +that they got in the way of the infantry. When Oudinot asked +Saint-Cyr what he thought, instead of offering the sound advice +that the artillery and the cavalry should stay where they were, +on ground which allowed them to manoeuvre with ease and support +the infantry, he only repeated his endless "Monseigneur le +Marachal...". In the end, Oudinot, in spite of the opinion of +General Lorencez, his chief-of-staff, ordered the artillery and +the cavalry to withdraw to the other side of the river. This +ill-advised movement, which looked like the prelude to a retreat +and the total abandonment of Polotsk and the right bank, greatly +displeased the troops who were involved, and lowered the morale +of the infantry whose job it was to defend that part of the town +which faced the open ground. The spirits of the Russians were, on +the contrary, raised when they saw ten regiments of cavalry and +several batteries of guns leaving the field of battle. In an +effort to create confusion in this huge mass as it departed they +brought forward and fired their licornes, the hollow ammunition +of which acts first as a cannon-ball and then explodes like a +mortar bomb. The regiments next to mine had several men killed or +wounded. I was lucky enough to have none of my men hit though I +lost some horses. My own horse was hit in the head and as it +fell I went down with it and my injured shoulder struck hard on +the ground, which was very painful. If the Russian gun had been +elevated a bit more, it would have been I who was hit, fair and +square, and my son would have been an orphan a few hours after +first seeing the light of day. + +The enemy now resumed their attack, and when, after crossing the +bridge, we looked back to see what was happening on the bank +which we had just left, we saw a disturbing spectacle. The +French, Bavarian and Croatian infantry were fighting bravely and +holding their own, but the Portuguese legion and the two Swiss +regiments fled before the Russians, and did not stop until, +having been driven into the river, they were in the water up to +their knees. Then, forced to face the enemy or drown, they at +last struck back, and by a constant barrage of fire they +compelled the Russians to draw back a little. The commander of +the French artillery, who had just crossed the Dvina with the +cavalry, skillfully made use of the opportunity to be useful, by +bringing his guns to the river bank and directing a heavy fire +across the stream at the enemy battalions drawn up on the +opposite bank. + +This powerful intervention having stopped Wittgenstein's men at +this point, while the French, Bavarians and Croats drove them +back elsewhere, the fighting eased up and an hour before the end +of the day had degenerated into random firing. The Marshal, +however could not escape the fact that he would have to continue +fighting the next day; and so, preoccupied by a situation the +outcome of which he could not predict, and ruffled by the +obstinate silence of Saint-Cyr, he was walking his horse slowly, +followed by only one aide-de-camp, among musketeers of his +infantry, when enemy marksmen, seeing a rider with a plumed hat, +took aim and put a ball through his arm. + +The Marshal at once informed Saint-Cyr of the injury and handing +to him the command of the army left him to sort matters out. He +himself left the field, crossed the bridge, stopped for a few +moments at the cavalry bivouac and quitting the army went to +Lithuania in our rear, to have his wound cared for. We did not +see him again for two months. + +Chap. 11. + +Saint-Cyr took up with a firm and skillful hand the reins of +command, and in a few hours completely changed the look of +things. Such is the influence of a man who is competent and who +inspires confidence. Marshal Oudinot had left the army in a +perilous state: part of his force driven back to the edge of the +river, and the rest scattered amongst the gardens where they were +firing at random; an inadequate lay-out of guns on the ramparts; +the streets of the town cluttered with wagons, baggage, sutlers +and wounded, all in complete confusion, while the troops had no +means of retreat, should they be overcome, other than the pontoon +bridge across the Dvina, a bridge which was very narrow and in +such a bad state that the water was six inches over the planking +of its platform. Finally, night was approaching and it was feared +that the shooting would lead to a general action which might be +disastrous in view of the disorder which ruled amongst the +regiments of different nationalities. + +General Saint-Cyr's first act was to order the withdrawal of +those infantrymen who were in action, in the certainty that the +tired enemy would do the same, as soon as they were no longer +under attack. + +The result was that soon the firing ceased on both sides. The +troops were able to re-form and to have some rest, and further +fighting was postponed until the next day. In order to put +himself in a more favourable position, Saint-Cyr used the night +to make preparations for the repulse of the enemy and to ensure a +line of retreat, should it be necessary. With this aim, he +gathered together all the corps commanders and after making clear +to them the dangers of the situation, one of the more serious of +which was the obstruction of the streets of the town and the +approaches to the bridge, he ordered that the colonels, +accompanied by several officers and with patrols, should go +through the streets, sending those men of their regiments who +were fit to their bivouac area, and all the wounded, sick, led +horses, sutlers and carts to the other side of the bridge. +General Saint-Cyr added that he would visit the town at daybreak +and would suspend from duty any corps commander who had not +carried out his instructions promptly! No excuse would be +accepted! There was a rush to obey. The sick and wounded were +carried to the left bank as well as everything which was not +actually required for combat. That is to say all the impedimenta +of the army. In this way the streets and the bridge were soon +completely clear. The bridge was strengthened and the cavalry and +guns brought back to the right bank and located in a suburb +furthest from the enemy; and then, to improve his means of +retreat, the prudent general had a second bridge made out of +empty barrels and planks, which was for the sole use of the +infantry. All these preparations having been completed before +daylight, the army awaited its enemies with confidence. The +latter, however, did not stir from their encampment, set up on +the open ground at the edge of the vast forest which surrounds +Polotsk on the side opposite to the river. + +General Saint-Cyr, who had expected to be attacked in the early +morning, attributed the tranquillity which reigned in the Russian +camp to the tremendous losses they had suffered the previous day. + +This may have been part of the reason, but the main cause of +Wittgenstein's inactivity was that he expected the arrival, +during the coming night, of a strong division of infantry and +several squadrons of cavalry from St. Petersburg, and he had +delayed his attack until he had received this powerful +reinforcement so that he might the more easily defeat us on the +day following. + +Although the Polish nobles, the great landowners of the property +round Polotsk, did not dare to support us openly, they did so in +secret, and had no difficulty in providing us with spies. General +Saint-Cyr, uneasy at what was going on in the Russian camp, +arranged with one of these noblemen to have him send there one of +his more enlightened vassals. The landowner sent to the Russian +camp several cartloads of forage, and put amongst his carters his +bailiff, dressed as a peasant. This man, who was highly +intelligent, learned by chatting to Wittgenstein's soldiers that +they were expecting a large body of troops, and even witnessed +the arrival of some Cossacks and some cavalry, and was told that +several battalions would arrive at the camp around midnight. +Having gathered this information, the bailiff passed it to his +master, who hurried to warn the commander of the French forces. + +When he heard this news, Saint-Cyr determined to strike at +Wittgenstein before the arrival of the expected reinforcements. +But as he did not want to be involved in a long drawn-out affair, +he warned his generals and corps commanders that he would not +attack until six in the evening, so that, as night would put an +end to the fighting, the Russians would be unable to exploit +their success if things went their way. It is true that if we +were victorious we would be unable to pursue the enemy in the +dark, but Saint-Cyr had no intention of doing this, and for the +moment wanted only to teach the Russians a lesson which would +drive them away from Polotsk. As the French general aimed at +taking the Russians by surprise, he ordered absolute calm to be +maintained in the town and above all in the lines of outposts. + +The day seemed very long. Everyone, even the General, in spite of +his sang-froid, constantly looked at his watch. Having observed +that, on the previous day, the absence of the French cavalry had +allowed the Russians to drive our left wing almost into the +Dvina, General Saint-Cyr, shortly before the attack, moved all +his squadrons, in silence, into a position behind some big shops, +on the other side of which lay the meadowland. It was on this +level ground that the cavalry could manoeuvre to fall on the +enemy right and give cover to the left wing of our infantry, of +which the first two divisions were to attack the Russian camp +while the third supported the cavalry and the remaining two +formed the reserve and protected the town. All was ready when, at +last, it was six o'clock, and the signal for the attack was given +by the firing of a cannon, followed by a volley from all the +French artillery, which landed numerous projectiles on the enemy +outposts and on the camp itself. At once our two first infantry +divisions, led by the 23rd Light, fell on the Russian regiments +positioned in the gardens, killing or capturing all whom they +encountered and chasing the rest back to the camp, where they +took many prisoners and captured several guns. This surprise +attack, although carried out in broad daylight, was so successful +that General Wittgenstein was dining peacefully in a little +country house near his camp when he was warned that French +skirmishers were in the court-yard. He jumped out of a window +and, mounting a Cossack horse which happened to be there, he +galloped away to join his troops. Our skirmishers took some fine +horses, documents, baggage wagons and wines belonging to the +General, also the silverware and some of the dinner laid on the +table. An immense quantity of booty was seized in the camp by +other units. + +At the sound of this wholly unforeseen attack by the French, +panic spread amongst our enemies, the majority of whom took to +their heels without even picking up their weapons. The disorder +was complete; no one was giving orders, even though the approach +of our infantry was heralded by a fusillade of shots and the +sound of the drums beating the charge. The scene seemed set for a +resounding victory by the French troops, at whose head marched +Saint-Cyr with his customary calm. However, in war an unexpected, +and often unimportant, event can change a situation. + +A large number of the enemy soldiers had reached in their flight +the rear area of the camp, where was encamped the squadron of +horse-guards which had arrived a few hours previously. This elite +unit was made up of young men selected from the best of the +nobility, and was led by a major of proven courage, whose elan, +it was said, was increased by generous draughts of liquor. When +he saw what was happening, this officer leapt on his horse and, +followed by some hundred and twenty cuirassed riders, he rushed +towards the French, whom he soon encountered. The first of our +battalions which he attacked belonged to the 26th Light. They put +up a vigourous resistance. The cavalry were repelled with +casualties, and were rallying to prepare for a second charge when +their Major, impatient at the time taken for the scattered +horsemen to regain their ranks, abandoned the unsuccessful attack +on the French battalion, and ordering his men to follow he led +them at the gallop in open order through the camp, which was full +of infantry, Portuguese, Swiss and even Bavarians, our allies, +some of whom, dispersed by the victory itself, were trying to +regroup while others were collecting the booty left by the +Russians. + +The cavalrymen killed or wounded many of these soldiers and threw +the crowd into disarray. A disorderly withdrawal began which +degenerated into a mass panic. Now in a situation like this, +soldiers can mistake for the enemy their own troops who are +running to join them, so that, in a cloud of dust, it seems that +they are being attacked by a large force, when in most cases it +is only a handful of men. This is what happened here; the +horse-guards, scattered widely over the plain and pressing on +without a backward look, seemed to the fugitives to be a massive +force of cavalry, and so the confusion grew until it enveloped +the Swiss battalion in the middle of which General Saint-Cyr had +taken refuge. He was so much jostled by the mob that his horse +fell into a ditch. + +The General, who was clad in a simple blue greatcoat, without any +badges of rank, lay motionless on the ground as the cavalry drew +near, and they thinking he was either dead or only a humble +civilian employee, passed by and continued their pursuit of the +fugitives. One does not know how matters would have ended had not +the gallant and quick-witted General Berckheim, at the head of +the 4th Cuirassiers, charged down upon the Russian cavalry, who +in spite of bravely defending themselves, were almost all killed +or made prisoner. Their valiant Major was among the dead. The +charge carried out by this handful of men could have had a +dramatic result if it had been followed up, and this fine feat of +arms goes to show once more that it is unexpected attacks by +cavalry that have the best chance of success. + +General Saint-Cyr, having been picked up by our Cuirassiers, +ordered all the infantry divisions to advance immediately and +attack the Russians before they could recover from their +confusion. In this they were successful and the enemy were +decisively beaten, losing many men and a number of guns. + +While this infantry battle was taking place before Polotsk, +another action was under way on their left, in the open plain +which bordered the Dvina. As soon as the cannon shot gave the +signal to engage, our cavalry regiments, led by Castex's brigade, +advanced rapidly towards the enemy who, for their part, advanced +towards us. + +A major encounter seemed imminent, and the good General Castex +said that although in spite of my recent injury, I had been able +to command the regiment during the fighting round Sivotschina and +Svolna, where it had been solely a matter of facing the fire of +the infantry and the guns, it would not be the same today when in +action against cavalry. During a charge I would be unable to +defend myself since, with my one arm, I could not hold my horse's +bridle and at the same time use my sabre. He therefore urged me +to remain behind on this occasion, with the reserve division of +infantry. I did not think that I should accept this well-meaning +advice, and I expressed so vehemently my wish not to be removed +from the regiment that the General gave way, but he arranged for +me to have behind me six of the best cavalrymen, led by Sergeant +Prud'homme, while at my side were four warrant officers, a +trumpeter and my orderly Fousse, one of the finest soldiers in +the regiment. Surrounded in this way, and placed in front of the +centre of a squadron, I was sufficiently protected; besides, in +an emergency, I would have dropped the reins to wield my sabre, +which hung by its sword-knot from my right wrist. + +The meadow was large enough to hold two regiments in battle +order, so the 23rd and the 24th advanced in line. General +Corbineau's brigade, consisting of three regiments was in the +second line and the Cuirassiers followed, in reserve. The 24th, +which was on my left, faced a body of Russian dragoons, while I +was opposed to the Cossacks of the Guard, recognisable by the red +colour of their jackets and the fine quality of their horses +which, although they had arrived only a few hours ago, did not +appear in the least tired. We moved forward at the gallop, and +when we were at a suitable distance from the enemy, General +Castex ordered the charge and his whole brigade fell in one line +on the Russians. By the violence of this attack, the 24th +overwhelmed the dragoons who opposed them, but my regiment +experienced more resistance from the Cossacks, a chosen band of +men of superior stature and each armed with a 14 foot lance which +he well knew how to use. Some of my Chasseurs were killed and +many wounded, but once my gallant troopers had broken through +this line bristling with steel, they had the advantage, for the +long lances are ineffective against cavalry when those carrying +them are disorganised and closely engaged by adversaries who are +armed with sabres which they can use with ease, while the lancers +have great difficulty in presenting the point of their weapons. +Thus the Cossacks were forced to turn their backs, whereupon my +men slaughtered many of them and captured a large number of +splendid horses. + +We were about to follow up this success when our attention was +drawn to a great tumult on our right, where we saw the plain +covered with fugitives, for this was the moment when the Russian +Chevalier-Gardes made their desperate attack. General Castex, +thinking it would be unwise to advance any further when our +centre appeared to be retreating in disorder, called for the +rally to be sounded and the brigade came to a halt. + +We had,however, scarcely re-formed our ranks when the Cossacks, +emboldened by what was going on in the centre and burning to +avenge their previous defeat, charged back on the attack and +hurled themselves furiously on my squadrons, while the Grodno +Hussars attacked the 24th. The Russians, driven back at every +point by Castex's brigade, brought up successively their second +and third line, whereupon General Corbineau came to our +assistance with the 7th and 20th Chasseurs and the 8th Lancers, +and there ensued a great cavalry battle, the outcome of which +hung in the balance. Both our own and the Russian Cuirassiers +were advancing to join in when Wittgenstein, seeing his infantry +beaten and hard pressed by ours, sent word to his cavalry to +retire. They, however, were too hotly engaged for this command to +be easily executed. In the event, Generals Castex and Corbineau, +knowing that they would be supported by the Cuirassiers who were +close behind them, committed in turn both their brigades against +the Russians who were thrown into the greatest disorder and +suffered heavy casualties. + +On arriving at the other side of the wood where our victorious +infantry and cavalry divisions were regrouping, General +Saint-Cyr, seeing that night was approaching, called off the +pursuit, and the troops returned to their bivouacs at Polotsk, +which they had quitted a few hours earlier. During the fighting +my wound had given me much pain, particularly when I had to +gallop my horse. My inability to defend myself often put me in a +difficult situation in which I might not have survived had I not +been surrounded by a group of stalwarts who never let me out of +their sight. + +On one occasion, amongst others, I was pushed by the mob of +combatants into a group of Cossacks, where to save myself I had +to let go of the bridle and take up my sabre. I had, however, no +need to use it, for seeing their commanding officer in danger, +all ranks of my escort furiously attacked the Cossacks who were +now surrounding me, laid several of them in the dust and put the +rest to flight. My orderly Fousse, the finest of Chasseurs, +killed three of them and Warrant Officer Joly two. So I came back +safe and sound from this action, in which I had been determined +to take part in order to encourage the regiment, and to show them +afresh that as long as I could mount a horse it would be my +honour to lead them when danger threatened. Both the officers and +men of the regiment appreciated this, and the affection with +which I was already regarded by them was increased, as you will +see later, when I speak of the misfortunes of the great retreat. + +Combat between cavalry units is infinitely less murderous than +that involving the infantry, also the Russians are as a rule +maladroit in the handling of their weapons, and their incompetent +leaders do not always know how to employ their cavalry to best +advantage. So that although my regiment was fighting the Cossacks +of the Guard, considered one of the finest units in the Russian +army, we did not suffer a great many casualties. I had eight or +nine men killed and some thirty wounded; but amongst those last +was Major Fontaine. This very fine officer was in the thick of +the fighting when his horse was killed; his feet were entangled +in the stirrups and he was trying to free himself with the help +of some Chasseurs who had gone to help him when a Cossack +officer, bursting through the group at the gallop, leaned +dexterously from his saddle and dealt Fontaine a terrible sabre +slash which blinded his left eye, damaged the other and split +open his nose. However, as the Russian officer, proud of this +exploit, was leaving the scene, one of our Chasseurs shot him in +the back at six paces, so avenging his squadron commander. As +soon as possible M. Fontaine's injury was dressed and he was +taken to Polotsk to the Jesuit monastery, where I visited him +that same evening. I admired the resignation with which this +courageous soldier bore the pain and disability of becoming +almost completely blind, since which time he has not been able to +continue in active service. This was a great loss for the 23rd, +in which he had been since its creation, liked and respected by +all; I was much moved by his misfortune. + +I was now the only senior officer in the regiment and I had to +see to all the requirements of the service, which was a major +task. + +You may think that I have gone into too much detail about the +various actions in which 2nd Corps was involved, but as I have +said, I enjoy recalling the great conflicts in which I have taken +part, and speak of these times with pleasure, for it then seems +to me that I am once more in the field, surrounded by my brave +companions, almost all of whom have now, alas, quitted this life. + +To return to the present campaign: anyone but Saint-Cyr, after +such a hard-fought action would have reviewed his troops to +congratulate them on their success and enquire into their needs. +Scarcely, however, had the last shot been fired, when Saint-Cyr +shut himself up in the Jesuit monastery and spent all his days +and part of the night playing his violin...a ruling passion from +which only marching to attack the enemy could distract him. +Generals Lorencez and Wrede, given the task of deploying the +troops, sent two divisions of infantry and the Cuirassiers to the +left bank of the Dvina. The third French division and the +Bavarians stayed in Polotsk, where they were employed to build +the fortifications of a vast entrenched camp, before acting as a +support to the troops which from this important point were +covering the left and rear of the "Grande Armee" on its march to +Smolensk and on to Moscow. The light cavalry brigades of Castex +and Corbineau were positioned two leagues in front of this camp, +on the left bank of the Polota, a little river which joins the +Dvina at Polotsk. My regiment went into bivouac near a village +called Louchonski. The colonel of the 24th set up his a quarter +of a league to the rear, covered by the 23rd. We stayed there for +two months, during the first of which we did not go very far. +When he heard of the victory won at Polotsk by Saint-Cyr, the +Emperor sent him the baton of Imperial Marshal. Instead of using +the occasion to visit his troops, the new Marshal retired into +even deeper seclusion, if that were possible. No one could +approach the head of the army, which earned him the nick-name +amongst the soldiers of the "Owl." More than this, although the +huge monastery had more than a hundred rooms which would have +been most useful for the wounded, he lived there alone, and +considered it a great concession that he allowed senior officers +who were wounded to be received in the outhouses. They were +allowed to remain there for forty-eight hours, after which their +comrades had to take them to the town. The cellars and granaries +of the monastery were bursting with provisions amassed by the +Jesuits; wine, beer oil, flour, etc., all were there in +abundance; but the Marshal had taken charge of the keys of the +store-rooms and nothing came from them, even for the hospitals. +It was with the greatest difficulty that I obtained two bottles +of wine for the injured Fontaine. The extraordinary thing was +that the Marshal used hardly any of these provisions for himself, +for he was a man of extreme sobriety, but also highly eccentric. +The army complained loudly about his behaviour,and those same +provisions which he refused to distribute to his troops were, two +months later, consumed by flames and the Russians, when the +French were forced to abandon the burning monastery and town. + +Chap. 12. + +While all this was going on at Polotsk and on the banks of the +Drissa, the Emperor remained at Witepsk, from where he exercised +overall control of the operations of the numerous units of the +army. There are those who have reproached Napoleon with wasting +too much time, first at Wilna, where he stayed for nineteen days, +and then at Witepsk where he stayed for seventeen. They claim +that these thirty-six days could have been better employed, +particularly in a country where the summer is very short, and the +rigours of winter begin to be felt about the end of September. +This claim has some justice up to a point, but it should be +remembered, firstly that the Emperor hoped that the Russians +would request some compromise, and in the second place that it +was necessary to concentrate once more all the units which had +been scattered in the pursuit of Bagration. In addition, it was +essential to give some rest to the troops, who as well as their +regular marches had to scour the countryside each evening, far +from their bivouacs, in a search for food; because the Russians +having burned all the stores as they retreated, it was impossible +to make any daily distribution of rations. There was, however, +for a long time a happy exception to this state of affairs, in +the case of Davout's Corps. Davout was as good an administrator +as he was a fighting soldier, and well before the crossing of the +Nieman he had organised an immense convoy of little carts which +followed his army. These carts carried biscuits, salted meat and +vegetables and were drawn by oxen, a number of which could be +slaughtered daily to provide food. This arrangement contributed +greatly to keeping his men from straying from their ranks. + +The Emperor left Witepsk on the 13th August, and moving further +and further away from 2nd and 6th Corps, which he left at Polotsk +under the command of Saint-Cyr, he went to Krasnoe, where a part +of the Grande Armee faced the enemy. It was hoped that there +would be a battle, but all that took place was a minor action +against the Russian rear-guard, which was defeated and promptly +withdrew. On the 15th of August, his birthday, the Emperor +reviewed his troops, who welcomed him with enthusiasm. On the +16th the army reached Smolensk, a fortified town which the +Russians call the holy of holies because they consider it to be +the key to Moscow and the palladium of their empire. Ancient +prophecies foretold disaster to Russia the day Smolensk was +taken. This superstition, carefully nurtured by the government, +dates from the time when Smolensk, situated on the Dnieper, was +the furthest Muscovite frontier, from where they issued to make +enormous conquests. + +Murat and Ney, who were the first two to arrive before Smolensk, +both thought, for some unknown reason, that the Russians had +abandoned the place. The reports given to the Emperor having +convinced him that this was the case, he ordered that the +advance-guard should be sent into the town. The impatient Ney was +waiting only for this command. He advanced toward the town gate +escorted by a small body of Hussars, but suddenly a regiment of +Cossacks, hidden by a fold in the ground covered by scrub, fell +on our riders, drew them off, and surrounded Marshal Ney, who was +so hard pressed that a pistol shot fired at point blank range +tore the collar of his coat. Fortunately the Domanget brigade +hurried to the spot and freed the Marshal. The arrival of General +Razout's infantry enabled Ney to get close enough to the town to +convince himself that the Russians intended to defend it. + +Seeing the ramparts armed with a great number of cannon, the +artillery general, Eble, a highly competent officer, advised the +Emperor to by-pass the place by sending the Polish Corps +commanded by Prince Poniatowski to cross the Dnieper two leagues +further upstream; but Napoleon, accepting the advice of Ney, who +assured him that Smolensk would be easily captured, gave the +order to attack. Three army Corps, those of Davout, Ney and +Poniatowski, launched an assault on the town from different +directions. A murderous fire was poured down on them from the +ramparts, and one even more deadly came from the batteries which +the Russians had established on the opposite bank of the river. A +most bloody struggle ensued; bullets, grape-shot and bombs +decimated our troops, without the artillery being able to breach +the walls. At last, as night was approaching, the enemy, who had +bravely disputed every foot of ground, were driven back into the +town itself, which they now prepared to abandon. Before they did +so, however, they set all of it on fire. The Emperor thus saw an +end to his hopes of capturing a town which was rightly supposed +to be full of supplies. It was not until dawn the next day that +the French entered the place, the streets of which were strewn +with the dead bodies of Russians and smoking debris. The taking +of Smolensk had cost us 12,000 men killed or wounded, an enormous +loss which could have been avoided by crossing the Dnieper +upstream, as had been proposed by General Eble; for, seeing +himself at risk of being cut off, General Barclay de Tolly, the +enemy commander, would have evacuated the place and retired +towards Moscow. + +The Russians, after burning the bridge, halted for a short time +on the heights of the right bank and then resumed their retreat +on the road to Moscow. Marshal Ney followed them with his army +corps reinforced by Gudin's division, which was detached from +Davout's corps. + +Not far from Smolensk, Marshal Ney caught up with the Russians as +they passed, with all their baggage, through a narrow defile. A +major engagement took place which could have been disasterous for +the enemy if General Junot, who commanded 8th Corps, and who had +been slow in crossing the Dnieper, two leagues above Smolensk, +and who had then halted for forty-eight hours, had hastened to +the sound of Ney's guns, which were no more than a league away. +Although informed of the situation by Ney, Junot did not budge. +He was then ordered in the name of the Emperor to come to the +assistance of Ney, but still he did not move. + +Ney, facing greatly superior numbers, having engaged successively +all the troops of his Corps, ordered Gudin's division to take +some strong positions held by the Russians. This order was +executed with the greatest alacrity, but in the first wave the +brave general fell mortally wounded. However, retaining his usual +calm, and wishing to assure the success of the troops which he +had so often led to victory, he appointed General Gerard to take +over the command, although he was the most junior brigade +commander in the division. + +Gerard, at the head of the division attacked the enemy, and by +ten in the evening, after losing 1800 men and killing some six +thousand, he was master of the field of battle, from which the +Russians made a hasty departure. + +The next day the Emperor came to visit the troops who had fought +so bravely; he rewarded them generously and promoted Gerard to +the rank of divisional general. Gudin died a few hours later. + +If Junot had taken part in the action, he could have trapped the +Russians in a narrow defile when, caught between two fires, they +would have been forced to surrender, and thus brought the war to +an end. One regretted the departure of King Jerome, whom Junot +had replaced, for although a mediocre general, he would probably +have gone to help Ney, and we expected to see Junot severely +punished; but he was one of Napoleon's earliest adherents and had +supported him in all his campaigns, from the siege of Toulon in +'93 to the present. The Emperor was fond of him and he forgave +him. This was a pity, for it was becoming necessary to make an +example. + +When the Russian people heard of the fall of Smolensk, there was +a general outcry against Barclay de Tolly. He was a German; the +nation accused him of not putting enough effort into the war, and +for the defence of ancient Muscovy they demanded a Muscovite +general. Compelled to give way, Alexander handed the command of +all the Russian armies to General Koutousoff, an elderly man of +little ability, renowned only for his defeat at Austerlitz, but +having the great merit, in the circumstances, of being an out and +out Russian, which gave him a considerable influence in the eyes +of the troops and the populace at large. + +The French advance-guard, driving the enemy before it, had +already passed Dorogobouje when, on the 24th of August, the +Emperor decided to leave Smolensk. The heat was stifling; we +marched on loose sand; there was insufficient food for such a +large body of men and horses, for the Russians left nothing +behind them but burning farms and villages. When the army entered +Vyazma, this pretty town was in flames, and it was the same at +Gzhatzk. The nearer we got to Moscow the fewer resources the +countryside had to offer. Several men died and many horses. A few +days later, the intolerable heat was succeeded by a cold rain +which lasted until the 4th of September; autumn was approaching. +The army was no more than six leagues from Mojaisk, the last town +we had to take before reaching Moscow, when it was noticed that +the strength of the enemy rear-guard had been considerably +increased; an indication that a major battle was at last in +prospect. + +On the 5th, our advance-guard was briefly held up by a large +Russian column, well entrenched on a small hill, garnished with a +dozen guns. The 57th line regiment, which in the Italian campaign +the Emperor had named the "Terrible", worthily upheld its +reputation in capturing the redout and the enemy guns. We were +already on the terrain upon which, forty-eight hours later, would +be fought the battle which the Russians call Borodino and the +French Moscow. + +On the 6th, the Emperor announced in an order of the day that +there would be a battle on the day following. The army welcomed +this announcement with pleasure in the hope that it would mean an +end to their privations, for there had been no supply of rations +for a month, and everyone had lived from hand to mouth. On both +sides the evening was employed in taking up positions of +readiness. + +On the Russian side, Bagration, commanding 62,000 men was on the +left wing; in the centre was the Hetman Platov with his Cossacks +and 30,000 infantry in reserve; the right was made up of 70,000 +men under the command of Barclay de Tolly, who was now the second +in command, while the elderly General Koutousoff was the overall +commander of all these troops, amounting to 162,000 men. The +Emperor Napoleon had no more than 140,000, who were disposed as +follows: Prince Eugene commanded the left wing, Marshal Davout +the right, Marshal Ney the centre, King Murat the cavalry, while +the Imperial Guard was in reserve. + +The battle took place on the 7th of September; the weather was +overcast and a cold wind raised clouds of dust. The Emperor, who +was suffering from severe migraine, went down into a sort of +ravine, where he spent the greater part of the day walking on +foot. From this spot he could see only part of the battlefield, +and to see its entirety he had to climb a nearby hillock, which +he did only twice during the action. The Emperor has been blamed +for his lack of activity, but it should be borne in mind that in +the central position which he occupied with his reserves, he was +able to receive frequent reports of events occurring at all +points of the line, whereas if he had been on one wing or the +other, the aides-de-camp, hurrying with urgent information over +such broken ground, might not have been able to see him or known +where to look for him. And it must not be forgotten that the +Emperor was ill and a strong and glacial wind prevented him from +remaining on horseback. + +I took no part in the battle of Moscow, so I shall refrain from +going into any detail about the various manoeuvres carried out +during this memorable action. I shall say only that after almost +unheard of efforts the French succeeded in overcoming the most +obstinate resistance of the Russians, and that the battle was one +of the most bloody fought during the century. The two armies +suffered casualties to a total of 50,000 dead or wounded. The +French had 49 generals killed or wounded and 20,000 men put out +of action. The Russian losses were a third greater. General +Bagration, the best of their officers was killed, and by a +bizarre turn of fate he happened to be the owner of the land on +which the battle was fought. Twelve thousand horses were left on +the field. The French took few prisoners, an indication of the +courage and determination of the Russian resistance. + +During the action there were several interesting episodes. When +the Russian left had been twice driven back by the supreme +efforts of Murat, Davout and Ney and had yet rallied for the +third time and returned to the charge, Murat asked General +Belliard to beg the Emperor to send part of his guard to secure a +victory, failing which it would be necessary to fight another +battle to beat the Russians. Napoleon was inclined to comply +with this request, but Marshal Bessieres, commandant of the Guard +said to him "I shall permit myself to remind your majesty that +you are at this moment some seven hundred leagues from France." +Whether it was this observation or whether the Emperor thought +that the battle had not reached the stage when he should commit +his reserve, he refused the request. Two other demands of this +kind met the same fate. + +There was another remarkable incident which occurred in this +battle so full of gallant deeds. The enemy front was covered by +some high ground on which were redouts and redans and in +particular, a crenelated fort armed with 80 guns. The French, +after considerable losses, had gained control of these field +works but had not been able to retain the fort, and to regain it +would be a very difficult task even for infantry. General +Montbrun, who commanded the 2nd Cavalry Corps, had noticed, with +the help of his field-glass, that the gate of the fort was not +closed and that platoons of Russian soldiers were going through +it. He also noticed that if one went round the side of the high +ground, one could avoid the ramparts, ravines and rocks and lead +a cavalry unit to the gate up a gentle slope, suited to horses. +General Montbrun proposed to get into the fort with his cavalry +from the rear, while the infantry attacked the front. This +hazardous operation having been approved by Murat and the +Emperor, Montbrun was entrusted with its execution; but while the +intrepid general was finalising his plan, he was killed by a +cannon-ball. This was a great loss for the army, but it did not +put an end to the project he had conceived, and the Emperor sent +General Coulincourt to replace him. + +One now saw something unheard of in the annals of war: a huge +fort defended by numerous guns and several battalions of infantry +attacked and taken by a column of cavalry. Coulincourt pressing +ahead with a division of Cuirassiers, headed by their 5th +regiment commanded by Colonel Christophe, broke through all those +defending the approach to the fort, reached the gate, entered the +interior and fell dead with a bullet through his head. Colonel +Christophe and his troopers avenged their general by putting part +of the garrison to the sword. The fort remained in their hands, +which helped to assure a French victory. + +Today, when the thirst for promotion has become insatiable, one +would be astonished if, after such a feat, a colonel was not +promoted; but during the Empire ambition was more modest. +Christophe did not become a general until some years later, and +never showed any discontent with this delay. + +The Poles, usually so courageous, particularly those from the +Grand Duchy of Warsaw commanded by Prince Poniatovski, fought so +badly that the Emperor sent his major general to upbraid them. In +this battle of Moscow, General Rapp was wounded for the +twenty-first time. + +Although the Russians had been defeated and forced to leave the +field of battle, their generalissimo, Koutousoff, had the +impudence to write to the Emperor Alexander, claiming that he had +just won a great victory over the French. This falsehood, which +arrived in St. Petersburg on Alexander's birthday, gave rise to +much rejoicing. A Te Deum was sung and Koutousoff was promoted to +field-marshal. However it was not long before the truth was known +and the joy turned to grief; but Koutousoff was now a +field-marshal, which was what he wanted. Anyone but the timid +Alexander would have severely punished the new field-marshal for +this outrageous lie; but Koutousoff was needed, and so he +remained head of the army. + +Chap. 13. + +The Russians, retreating towards Moscow, were contacted on the +morning of the eighth, when there was a sharp cavalry engagement +in which General Belliard was wounded. Napoleon spent three days +at Mojaisk, partly to draw up the orders necessary in the +circumstances and partly to reply to the back-log of despatches. +One of these, which had arrived on the eve of the battle, had +affected him greatly and had contributed to making him ill, for +it announced that the so-called army of Portugal, commanded by +Marshal Marmont, had suffered a severe defeat at Arpiles, near +Salamanca, in Spain. + +Marmont was one of Napoleon's mistakes. He had been one of +Napoleon's companions at the college of Brienne and later in the +artillery, and Napoleon took an interest in him. Misled by some +success achieved by Marmont at school, the Emperor had a belief +in the Marshal's military talents which his performance in the +field never justified. In 1811, Marmont had replaced Massena as +commander of the army of Portugal, proclaiming that he would +defeat Wellington, but the contrary proved to be the case. +Marmont, defeated, wounded, with his army in disarray and obliged +to abandon several provinces, would have suffered even worse +reverses if General Clausel had not come to his aid. + +When he learned of this disaster, the Emperor must have reflected +deeply on the present operation, for while he was about to enter +Moscow at the head of his largest army, a thousand leagues away +another army had just been defeated. By invading Russia was he +about to lose Spain? Major Fabvier, who brought this despatch, +volunteered to join in the battle for Moscow and was wounded in +the assault on the great redout. It was a long way to come to be +hit by a bullet. + +On the 12th of September Napoleon left Mojaisk, and on the 15th +he entered Moscow. This enormous city was deserted. General +Rostopschine, its governor, had forced all the inhabitants to +leave. This Rostopschine, whom some have described as a hero, +was a barbarian, who would shrink from nothing to achieve his +aims. He had allowed the populace to strangle a number of foreign +merchants, mainly the French, who were living in Moscow, on the +sole grounds that they were suspected of hoping for the arrival +of Napoleon's troops. Some days before the battle of Moscow, the +Cossacks having captured about a hundred sick Frenchmen, +Koutousoff sent them by a roundabout road to the governor of +Moscow, who, regardless of their condition, left them for +forty-eight hours without food and then paraded them triumphantly +through the streets, where a number of these unfortunates +collapsed and died of starvation. As this was happening, +policemen read to the populace a proclamation by Rostopschine in +which, to encourage them to take up arms, he declared that all +the French were in a similar feeble state and would be easily +overcome. When this disgusting performance was over, the majority +of the soldiers still alive were killed by the mob, without +Rostopschine doing anything to protect them. + +The defeated Russian troops had only passed through Moscow, and +had gone to re-group some thirty leagues from there, around +Kalouga. Murat followed them with all his cavalry and several +infantry corps. The Imperial Guard stayed in the town and +Napoleon took up residence in the Kremlin, the ancient fortified +palace of the Czars. Everything seemed peaceful, when, during +the night 15th-16th September, some French and German merchants +who had escaped the governor's attentions came to warn Napoleon's +staff that the city was to be set on fire. This information was +confirmed by a Russian policeman, who refused to carry out the +orders of his superiors: he stated that before leaving Moscow, +Rostopschine had thrown open all the prisons and released the +prisoners and convicts, to whom he had given torches said to have +been supplied by the British, and that these persons were lying +hidden in the abandoned houses waiting for the signal. When the +Emperor heard of this he instituted the strictest precautionary +measures. Patrols went about the streets and killed a number of +those caught setting fires alight, but it was too late; fire +broke out in various parts of the city and spread rapidly owing +to the fact that Rostopschine had taken away all the +fire-fighting equipment. It was not long before the whole of +Moscow was ablaze. The Emperor left the Kremlin and went to the +chateau of Peterskoe. He did not return until three days later, +when the fire was beginning to subside for lack of fuel. I shall +not go into any details about the fire itself, as there are +several eye-witness accounts, but later I shall examine the +consequences of this catastrophic conflagration. + +Napoleon, who did not understand the position in which Alexander +found himself, hoped always for some accommodation and +eventually, tired of waiting, he decided to write to him +personally. In the meantime the Russian army was being +reorganised in the area of Kalouga, from where agents were sent +to direct stray soldiers back to their units. It was estimated +that there were about 15,000 of them concealed in the suburbs and +able to wander about our bivouacs without being challenged. They +sat round the fires with our men and ate with them, yet no one +thought of making them prisoners. This was a great mistake, for +they gradually returned to the Russian army, while our strength +diminished daily owing to sickness and the increasing cold. We +lost an enormous number of horses, which was thought due to the +extraordinary efforts demanded by Murat from the cavalry, of +which he was the commander. Murat, recalling the brilliant +successes obtained against the Prussians in 1806 and 1807 by +pursuing them closely, thought that the cavalry should be equal +to any demands and should march twelve to fifteen leagues a day +without worrying about the fatigue of the horses, the essential +being to reach the enemy with at least some of the columns. +However the climate, the shortage of rations and fodder, the long +duration of the campaign and above all the tenacious resistance +of the Russians had greatly changed the situation, so that by the +time we reached Moscow, half our cavalrymen had no horses, and +Murat managed to finish off the rest at Kalouga. Prince Murat was +proud of his tall stature and his bravery; and being always +decked out in strange but brilliant uniforms, he had attracted +the notice of the enemy, with whom he was pleased to parley, even +exchanging gifts with the Cossack officers. Koutousoff took +advantage of these meetings to encourage in the French the false +hopes of a peace, hopes which Murat passed on to the Emperor. One +day, however, this enemy who claimed to be so weakened, arose, +slipped into our cantonments and captured some supplies, a +squadron of dragoons and a battalion of troops. After this +Napoleon forbade, under pain of death, any communication with the +Russians which he had not authorised. + +The Emperor never entirely lost hope of concluding a peace, on +the 4th of October he sent General Lauriston, his aide-de-camp, +to General Koutousoff's headquarters. The cunning Russian showed +General Lauriston a letter which he had addressed to the Emperor +Alexander, urging him to agree to the French proposals, seeing +that, as he alleged, the Russian army was in no state to continue +the war. The officer carrying this despatch had hardly left for +St. Petersburg, armed with a pass from Lauriston which would +preserve him from attack by any of our men who were in the area +between the two armies, when Koutousoff sent off a second +aide-de-camp to his Emperor. This officer, having no French +laissez-passer, was stopped by one of our patrols, taken prisoner +and his despatches sent to Napoleon. The contents were the exact +opposite to what had been shown to Lauriston. After imploring his +sovereign not to treat with the French, he informed him that +Admiral Tchitchakoff's army, freed from its duties on the +frontier by the peace with Turkey, was moving towards Minsk in +order to cut the French line of retreat. He also told Alexander +of the discussions he had conducted freely with Murat, with the +aim of encouraging the false sense of security entertained by the +French in remaining in Moscow so late in the year. + +When he saw this letter, Napoleon, realising that he had been +tricked, fell into a furious rage, and is said to have +contemplated marching on St. Petersburg; but beyond the +diminished strength of the army and the rigours of the winter, +which militated against such an undertaking, there were pressing +reasons for the Emperor to get closer to Germany, in order to +watch over that country and to see what was going on in France, +where there had been a conspiracy whose leaders had been, for one +day, in control of the capital. A fanatic, General Malet, had +tossed a spark into Paris which could have started a fire, which, +had he not encountered a man as far-seeing and energetic as +Adjutant-major Laborde, might have put an end to the imperial +government. + +This was not heartening, and one can imagine the anxiety of +Napoleon when he learned of the danger which had threatened his +family and his government. + +Chap. 14. + +In Moscow, Napoleon's position grew worse daily. The cold was +already bitter and only the French-born soldiers maintained their +morale, but they composed no more than half the force which +Napoleon had led into Russia. The remainder was made up of +Germans, Swiss, Croats, Lombards, Romanians, Piedmontais, +Spaniards, and Portuguese. All these foreigners, who stayed +loyal as long as the army was successful, now began to complain +and, led astray by the leaflets in various languages which the +Russians spread widely through our camps, they deserted in droves +to the enemy, who promised to repatriate them. + +Added to this, the two wings of the Grande Armee, which consisted +entirely of Austrians and Prussians, were now no longer in line +with the centre as they had been at the beginning of the +campaign, but were in our rear, ready to bar our way on the first +command of their sovereigns, ancient and irreconcilable enemies +of France. The position was critical, and although it would +greatly hurt Napoleon's pride to display to the whole world that +he had failed in his objective of imposing a peace on Alexander, +the word "retreat" was at last uttered. But neither the Emperor +nor the marshals nor anyone else thought of abandoning Russia and +recrossing the Nieman; the idea was to go into winter quarters in +the least unpleasant of the Polish provinces. + +The evacuation of Moscow was agreed on in principle, but before +taking this step, Napoleon, in a last endeavour to obtain a +settlement, sent an emissary to Marshal Koutousoff, who did not +make any response. + +During these delays our army was melting away, day by day, and in +blind overconfidence our outposts remained at risk in the +province of Kalouga in untactical positions, when suddenly a +wholly unforeseen event occurred which opened the eyes of the +most incredulous and destroyed any illusions which the Emperor +still had of achieving peace. + +General Sebastiani, whom we saw allowing himself to be surprised +at Drouia, had replaced General Montbrun as commander of the 2nd +Cavalry Corps and, although close to the enemy, he spent his days +in his slippers, reading Italian poetry and carrying out no +reconnaissance. Taking advantage of this negligence, Koutousoff +attacked Sebastiani on the 18th of October, surrounded him and +overwhelmed him by numbers, forcing him to abandon part of his +artillery. Sebastiani's three divisions of cavalry, separated +from the rest of Murat's troops, were able to rejoin them only +after fighting their way through several enemy battalions who +stood in their way. In the course of this savage combat, +Sebastiani displayed his valour, for he was a brave man, if a +noticeably mediocre general, something which will be demonstrated +anew when we come to the campaign of 1813. + +At the same time as he surprised Sebastiani, Koutousoff ordered +an attack on Murat's lines, in which the Prince was slightly +wounded. Having learned of this unsatisfactory affair, and on +the same day been told of the arrival in the enemy camp of a +reinforcement of ten thousand cavalry from the Russian army in +Wallachia (The Russian border with the Turks, in southern +Romania. Ed.) which the Austrians, our allies, had allowed to +pass, the Emperor gave the order for the departure to begin on +the following day. + +In the morning of the 19th of October, the Emperor left Moscow, +which he had entered on the 15th of September. His Majesty, the +old guard and the bulk of the army took the road to Kalouga; +Marshal Mortier and two divisions of the Young Guard remained +behind for twenty-four hours to complete the destruction of the +city and blow up the Kremlin, after which they brought up the +rear of the march. + +The army trailed behind it more than forty thousand carriages, +which caused an obstruction whenever the road narrowed. When this +was remarked on to the Emperor, he replied that each of these +coaches could carry two wounded men and food for several, and +that their number would gradually diminish. The employment of +this philanthropic system could, I think, be objected to, on the +grounds that the need to speed the march of a retreating army +seems to me to outweigh all other considerations. + +During the French occupation of Moscow, Murat and the cavalry +corps had been stationed in part of the fertile province of +Kalouga, but without seizing the town of that name. The Emperor +wished to avoid passing through the area of the battle of Moscow +(Borodino) and down the road to Mojaisk, which had been stripped +of resources by the army on its approach to Moscow; and for this +reason he took the road to Kalouga, from where he counted on +getting to Smolensk through fertile and, as it were, unspoiled +country. But at the end of several day's march, the army, which +after joining with Murat's force amounted, still, to more than +100,000 men, found itself confronting the Russian army which +occupied the little town of Malo-Iaroslawetz. The enemy was in +an exceedingly strong position; nevertheless the Emperor sent +into the attack Prince Eugene, at the head of the Italian Corps +and the French divisions of Morand and Gerard. Nothing could +stand in the way of these men and they took the town after a long +and murderous fight which cost us 4000 killed or wounded. Among +the dead was General Delzons, a very fine officer. + +The next day, the 24th of October, the Emperor, surprised at the +degree of resistance he had encountered, and knowing that the +whole Russian army barred his way, halted the march and spent +three days considering what course he should follow. + +On one occasion, during a reconnaissance of the enemy line, the +Emperor nearly fell into their hands. There was a very thick fog, +and suddenly shouts of "Hourra! Hourra!" were heard. It was a +group of Cossacks who were emerging from a wood bordering the +road, which they had been going through not twenty paces from the +Emperor, knocking down and spearing anyone that they came across: +but General Rapp rushed forward with the two squadrons of +Chasseurs and mounted Grenadiers which went everywhere with the +Emperor who, wielding their sabres, put the enemies to flight. It +was during this encounter that M. Le Couteulx, my former +companion on the staff of Marshal Lannes, and now an aide-de-camp +to Prince Berthier, having armed himself with the lance belonging +to a Cossack whom he had killed, was unwise enough to come back +brandishing this weapon, and, furthermore, dressed in a pelisse +and a fur hat, which concealed the French uniform. A mounted +Grenadier of the Guard mistook him for a Cossack officer, and +seeing him heading towards the Emperor, went after him and +slashed him across the body with his heavy sabre. In spite of +this serious wound, M. Le Couteulx, placed in one of the +Emperor's carriages, survived the cold and the exhaustion of the +retreat, and managed to reach France. + +The reconnaissance carried out by the Emperor had convinced him +that it would be impossible to continue his march towards Kalouga +without fighting a sanguinary battle against the large force +commanded by Koutousoff. He decided, therefore, to reach Smolensk +by taking the road leading through Mojaisk. The army then left +the fertile countryside to take once more the now devastated +route along which, marking their passage with fires and dead +bodies, they had travelled in September. This movement by the +Emperor left him, after ten weary days, no more than twelve +leagues from Moscow, and caused the troops to feel increasing +anxiety about the future. The weather turned much worse; Marshal +Mortier rejoined the Emperor after having blown up the Kremlin. + +The army saw once more Mojaisk and the battlefield of Borodino. +The ground, furrowed by cannon-balls, was covered with the debris +of helmets, cuirasses, wheels, weapons, fragments of uniform and +thirty thousand bodies, partly eaten by wolves. The Emperor and +the troops passed by quickly, casting a sad look at this immense +graveyard. + +After they had reached Vyazma the snow began to fall and a bitter +wind to blow, which slowed their progress. Many of the vehicles +were abandoned, and some thousands of men and horses perished of +cold by the roadside. The flesh of the horses provided some +nourishment for the men and also for the officers. The command of +the rearguard passed successively from Davout to Prince Eugene +and finally to Marshal Ney, who kept this unpleasant job for the +rest of the campaign. + +Smolensk was reached on the 1st of November. The Emperor had +arranged for a great quantity of food clothing and footwear to be +collected there, but those in charge of these supplies did not +realise the state of disorganisation into which the army had +fallen, and insisted on the paperwork and formalities of a normal +distribution. This delay so exasperated the men, who were dying +of cold and hunger, that they broke into the stores and took, +forcibly, whatever they could. With the result that some had too +much, some enough and some nothing. + +As long as the troops had maintained a proper order of march, the +mixture of nationalities had given rise to no more than minor +inconveniences, but once fatigue and privation had broken the +ranks, discipline was lost. There was no way in which it could be +maintained in a vast body of isolated individuals, lacking every +necessity, walking on their own, without understanding why; for +in this disorderly mass there ruled a veritable babel of tongues. +A few regiments, mainly those in the Guard, held together. Almost +all the troopers of the cavalry, having lost their horses, were +formed into infantry battalions, and those of their officers who +still were mounted were made into special squadrons, commanded by +Generals Latour-Mauberg, Grouchy and Sebastiani, who acted as +ordinary captains, while brigade commanders and colonels filled +the post of sergeant and corporal. This resort alone, shows to +what extremity the army was reduced. + +In this critical position, the Emperor had counted on a strong +division of troops of all arms, which General Baraguey d'Hilliers +was supposed to bring to Smolensk; but, as we neared the town, we +heard the General had laid down his arms before a Russian column, +with the provision that he alone would not be made prisoner and +would be allowed to rejoin the French army in order to explain +his actions. The Emperor, however, refused to see Baraguey +d'Hilliers and ordered him to return to France and to consider +himself under arrest until he was brought before a court-martial. +Baraguey d'Hilliers avoided court-martial by dying in Berlin, it +was said, of despair. + +This General was another of Napoleon's mistakes. He had been +impressed by him at the time of the encampments at Boulogne when +he had promised that he could train dragoons to serve either as +cavalry or infantry. However, when this system was tried out in +1805, during the Austrian campaign, the Dragoons, now on foot and +commanded by Baraguey d'Hilliers in person, were defeated at +Wertingen before the eyes of the Emperor, and when placed once +more on horseback, they once more suffered the same fate. It was +several years before the unit recovered from the effects of this +experiment. The originator of the system, having fallen from +favour and hoping to re-establish himself by asking to come to +Russia, had completed his downfall by capitulating without a +struggle, and violating a decree stating that a commander forced +to surrender should accompany his men into captivity, and +forbidding him from negotiating terms favourable only to himself. + +After spending several days at Smolensk to allow stragglers to +catch up with him, the Emperor went to Krasnoe, from where he +despatched an officer to 2nd Corps, which was still by the Dvina +and was now his only hope of safety. + +The regiments of this corps, although they had not suffered the +hardship and privation of those who had gone to Moscow, had +however been more often in action against the enemy. Napoleon, +wishing to reward them by appointments to vacant positions, had +brought to him for his approval a number of proposals for +promotions, several of which related to me. One of these +recommended me for the rank only of lieutenant-colonel and it was +this that was put before the Emperor for his signature. I have it +from General Grundler who, having been detailed to carry the +despatch, found himself in the Emperor's office during the +signing, that the Emperor scratched out with his own hand the +words Lieutenant-colonel and wrote in the word Colonel, saying "I +am paying off an old debt." So, on the 15th of November, I at +last became Colonel of the 23rd Chasseurs, although I did not +know it until some time later. + +The painful retreat was resumed. The enemy, whose strength +increased continually, cut off from the rest of the army the +Corps of Prince Eugene, Davout and Ney. The first two managed to +fight their way through to join the Emperor, who was very +distressed at the absence of Ney, of whom he had had no news for +several days. + +On the 19th of November Napoleon reached Orscha. It was now a +month since he had left Moscow and there was still a hundred and +twenty leagues to cover before reaching the Nieman. The cold was +intense. + +While the Emperor worried unhappily about the fate of his +rear-guard and the gallant Marshal Ney, the latter was engaged in +one of the finest feats of arms recorded in history. Leaving +Smolensk on the morning of the 17th, after blowing up the +ramparts, the Marshal had hardly begun his march when he was +assailed by a myriad of the enemy, who attacked both flanks and +the front and rear of his column. + +Driving them off continually, Ney marched, surrounded by them for +three days, to halt eventually before the dangerous pass of the +Krasnoe ravine, beyond which could be seen a great mass of +Russian troops and an array of guns which opened a lively and +sustained fire. + +Without being cast down by this unforeseen obstacle the Marshal +took the bold decision to force a passage, and ordered the 48th +of line, commanded by Colonel Pelet, to attack with the bayonet. +At Ney's command, the French soldiers, although tired, hungry and +numb with cold, rushed the Russian batteries and captured them. +They were regained by the enemy and captured once more by our men +but in the end they had to yield to the superiority in numbers. +The 48th, shattered by grape-shot, was largely destroyed. Of the +six hundred and fifty men who entered the ravine only about a +hundred emerged. Colonel Pelet, gravely wounded was among them. + +Night fell, and for the rearguard, all hope of rejoining the +Emperor and the rest of the army seemed to be lost; but Ney had +confidence in his men, and above all in himself. He ordered lines +of fires to be lit, in order to keep the enemy in their camp, in +the expectation of a renewed attack the next day, but he had +decided to put the Dnieper between himself and the Russians and +to entrust his fate and that of his troops to the strength of the +ice covering the river. It was while he was trying to decide +which was the shortest route to the river that a Russian colonel +from Krasnoe arrived as an envoy, and demanded that Ney should +surrender. Ney was indignant, and as the officer was carrying no +written instructions, he replied that he did not regard him as an +envoy but as a spy who would be executed if he did not guide them +to the nearest spot on the bank of the Dnieper. The Russian +Colonel was forced to obey. + +Ney immediately gave the order to quit the camp in silence, +leaving behind the guns, wagons, baggage and those wounded unable +to march with him; and helped by the darkness, he reached, after +four hours, the banks of the Dnieper. The river was frozen over, +but the ice was not everywhere thick enough to bear the weight of +a number of men, so the Marshal sent his troops across one by +one. Once over the river, the troops thought they had reached +safety, but dawn revealed an encampment of Cossacks. This was +commanded by Hetman Platov who, as was his custom, had spent the +evening drinking and was still asleep. + +Discipline is so rigid in the Russian army that no one dared wake +him nor take up arms without his orders, so the remains of Ney's +Corps were able to pass within a league of the camp without being +attacked. The Cossacks did not appear until the next day. + +Under constant attack, the Marshal marched for three days along +the winding bank of the Dnieper, which would lead him to Orscha, +and on the 20th he at last saw this town where he hoped to find +the Emperor and the army. He was, however, still separated from +Orscha by a large area of open ground in which were many enemy +troops, while the Cossacks were preparing to attack him from the +rear. Taking up a good defensive position, he sent of a +succession of officers to find out if the French were still in +Orscha, failing which resistance would no longer be possible. One +of these officers reached Orscha where the general headquarters +still was. The Emperor was delighted to hear of the return of +Marshal Ney, and to rescue him from his dangerous position he +sent Prince Eugene and Marshal Mortier who drove off the enemy +and brought back Ney and what remained of his unit. + +The next day the Emperor continued the retreat. He was joined by +troops under the command of Marshal Victor who had recently +arrived from Germany, and he made contact with 2nd Corps, where +Saint-Cyr had just returned the command to Marshal Oudinot. + +Chap. 15. + +As it is important to understand the events which led to the +reunion of 2nd Corps with the army from which it had been +separated since the start of the campaign, I must describe +briefly what happened after the month of August, when, having +defeated the Russians at Polotsk, Saint-Cyr set up near there an +immense entrenched camp protected by a part of his force, the +remainder of which he spread out on both banks of the Dvina. The +light cavalry provided cover for these cantonments and so, as I +have already said, Castex's brigade, to which my regiment +belonged, was stationed at Louchonski, on a little river named +the Polota, from where we could keep an eye on the main roads +leading from Sebej and Newel. + +Wittgenstein's army, after its defeat, had retired beyond those +towns, so that there was between the French and the Russians a +space of more than twenty-five leagues of no-man's-land, into +which both sides sent reconnaissance parties of cavalry, giving +rise to unimportant skirmishes. For the rest, as the area round +Polotsk was well supplied with forage and standing crops of +grain, and as it seemed plain that we were in for a long stay, +the French soldiers started to reap and thresh the corn, and +grind it in the small hand-mills which are to be found in every +peasant dwelling. + +This process seemed to me to be too slow, so we repaired, with +much difficulty, two water-mills, which stood by the Polota near +Louchonski, and from that time on, a supply of bread for my +regiment was assured. As for meat, the neighbouring woods were +full of abandoned cattle; but as it was necessary to track them +down every day, I had the idea of doing what I had seen done in +Portugal, and that was to form a regimental herd. In a short time +I had rounded up 7 or 8 hundred beasts which I put in the charge +of some unmounted Chasseurs, to whom I gave local ponies, too +small for military use. This herd, which I increased by frequent +searches, lasted for several months and allowed me to make +regular distributions of meat to the regiment, which maintained +the men's health and earned me their gratitude for the care I +took of them. I extended my care to the horses, for which we made +big shelters, thatched with straw, and placed behind the men's +huts, so that our bivouac was almost as comfortable as a regular +camp in peacetime. The other unit commanders did the same sort of +thing, but none of them had a regimental herd: their men lived +from day to day. + +While the French, Swiss, Croat, and Portuguese regiments worked +unceasingly to improve their conditions, the Bavarians alone made +no effort to escape from want and sickness. It was in vain that +General the Comte de Wrede tried to rouse them by pointing out +how the French soldiers were building huts, reaping and threshing +grain, milling it into flour, making ovens and baking bread, the +wretched Bavarians, totally demoralised since they no longer were +issued with regular rations, admired the work done by our men +without attempting to imitate them. So they were dying like flies +and there would have been none left if Marshal Saint-Cyr, shaking +off for a moment his habitual indifference, had not persuaded the +colonels of the other divisions to provide a daily supply of +bread for the Bavarians. The light cavalry, stationed out in the +country and near the woods, sent them some cattle. + +However, these Germans, so feeble when it came to work, were +brave enough in action against the enemy, but the moment the +danger was over they relapsed into complete apathy. Nostalgia or +home-sickness took them; they dragged themselves to Polotsk, and +entering the hospitals established by their commanders, they +asked for somewhere to die, and laying themselves on the straw, +they never rose again. A great many died in this way and General +de Wrede had to take into his wagon the flags of a number of +regiments who had not sufficient men to defend them. And yet it +was only September, the cold weather had not begun and on the +contrary it was very mild. The other troops were in good heart +and awaited cheerfully the outcome of events. + +The men of my regiment were noted everywhere for their good +health, which I attribute firstly to the quantity of bread and +meat which I was able to give them and secondly to the liquor +which I was able to obtain by an arrangement with the Jesuits of +Polotsk. These good Fathers, all of them French, had a big farm +at Louchonski, where there was a distillery for making grain +spirit, but on the approach of war all the workers had fled back +to the monastery, taking with them the stills and utensils, so +that production had stopped, thus depriving the monastery of part +of its revenue. The arrival of so many soldiers in the region had +made alcoholic drinks so scarce and expensive that the owners of +the canteens were undertaking a journey of several days to Wilna +to obtain supplies. It occurred to me that I might be able to +reach an agreement with the Jesuits whereby I would protect their +distillery and have my men reap and thresh the necessary grain, +in return for which my regiment would receive a daily share of +the resulting product. My proposition was accepted by the monks, +who benefitted greatly by being able to sell alcohol in the +camps, while I had the advantage of being able to distribute a +daily ration to my men who, since crossing the Nieman, had drunk +nothing but water. + +At first glance these details may seem pointless, but I am happy +to recall them because the care I took of my men saved many of +their lives and maintained the strength of the 23rd far above +that of the other cavalry regiments in the Corps, which earned me +a token of his satisfaction from the Emperor which I shall refer +to later. + +Among the measures which I took are two which protected the lives +of many of my troopers. The first of these was to insist that +from the 15th of September they should each equip themselves with +a sheepskin coat, many of which were to be found in abandoned +peasant dwellings. Soldiers are like great children, for whom one +must care sometimes against their will. Mine complained that +these heavy pelisses were useless and overburdened their horses, +but come October they were happy to put them on under their +capes, and when it grew really cold they thanked me for having +made them keep them. + +The second step which I took was to send to the rear all those +troopers who were without a mount, either because of enemy fire +or because their horse had died for some other reason. A standing +order required that these men should be sent to Lepel, in +Lithuania, to await horses which were to be sent from Warsaw. I +was preparing to do this when I learned that Lepel was crammed +with dismounted troopers, who were short of all supplies and had +nothing to do because not a single remount had arrived there, so +I took it on myself to send my dismounted men directly to Warsaw +under the command of Captain Poitevin, who had been wounded. I +knew that this was in breach of the regulations, but in a huge +army, so far from its base and under such abnormal conditions, it +was not possible for the general staff to attend to all the needs +of the troops. Occasions therefore arose when a unit commander +had to use his own judgement. Thus, General Castex, who could not +give me official authorisation and having told me that he would +close his eyes to what I was doing, I continued in this manner +for as long as it was possible, so that in the end I had sent 250 +men to Warsaw. After the campaign I found them once more on the +Vistula, all in new uniforms, well-equipped and well-mounted and +a welcome reinforcement for the regiment. The dismounted men from +other regiments, amounting to some 9000, who had been sent to +Lepel, caught unaware by the great retreat from Moscow, were +almost all taken prisoner or died of cold on the roads. Yet it +would have been so easy to have sent them during the summer and +autumn to the remount depot at Warsaw, where there were plenty of +horses but a shortage of riders. + +I remained for a whole month resting at Louchonski, which helped +to heal the wound I had received at Jakoubowo. We were very +comfortable in our camp from the material point of view, but very +worried about the events at Moscow, and it was only on rare +occasions that we had news from France. At last I had a letter in +which my dearest Angelique told me she had given birth to a boy. +My joy at this was mixed with sadness, for I was a long way from +my family, and although I could not foresee all the dangers to +which I would soon be exposed, I could not pretend that there +were not many obstacles to be overcome before our reunion. + +About the middle of September, Marshal Saint-Cyr sent me on a +rather delicate mission. It had two objectives: first to find out +what the enemy were up to in the region round Newel and then to +return via Lake Ozerichtchi in order to get in touch with Count +Lubenski, one of the few Poles who were willing to do anything to +shake off the Russian yoke. The Emperor who, although unwilling +to proclaim the re-establishment of the former Poland, wanted to +organise the areas already conquered into departments, had +received many refusals from the noblemen to whom he had proposed +to confide the administration; but having been assured of Count +Lubenski's patriotism, His Majesty had nominated him Prefect of +Witepsk. As this nobleman lived in an isolated spot outside the +area under French control, it was difficult to inform him of his +nomination and to ensure his safe arrival. Napoleon had therefore +ordered that a body of light cavalry should be sent to the Count. + +Detailed to undertake this mission, with three hundred men of my +regiment, I picked the boldest and best-mounted men and having +provided them with bread, cooked meat and vodka, as well as other +necessities, I left the camp on the 14th of September, taking +with me Lorentz to act as interpreter. + +The life of a partisan is perilous and very tiring. One avoids +the main roads and hides by day in the forest without daring to +make a fire. One takes from a hamlet food and fodder to be eaten +several leagues away to confuse enemy spies; one marches all +night, sometimes arriving at different point from that intended +and one is constantly on the look-out. Such was the life I led +when I found myself with no more than three hundred men, in a +huge area which I did not know, out of touch with the French army +and approaching that of the Russians, a numerous detachment of +whom I might encounter at any time. It was a difficult situation, +but I had confidence in myself and in the men who followed me, so +I went forward resolutely, skirting by two or three leagues the +road which runs from Polotsk to Newel. + +Nothing much of interest happened to us. It is sufficient to say +that thanks to the information given to us by the peasants, who +hated the Russians, we made a tour round Newel, avoiding all the +enemy positions, and after eight days, or rather eight nights, of +marching we came to the shore of Lake Ozerichtchi, where there is +the magnificent chateau which at that time belonged to Count +Lubenski. I shall never forget the scene which greeted us on our +arrival before this ancient and vast manor. It was a splendid +autumn evening. The family of the Count had gathered to celebrate +his birthday and to rejoice in the capture of Moscow by Napoleon, +when some servants ran to announce that the chateau was +surrounded by soldiers on horseback, who had posted sentries and +guards and were now entering the courtyards. It was thought that +these were the Russian police who had come to arrest the Count, +and he, a man of great courage, was waiting calmly to be taken to +the prison of St. Petersburg, when his son, who out of curiosity +had opened a window, came to say that the troopers were speaking +French. + +On hearing this, the Count and his family followed by a crowd of +servants rushed out of the chateau and gathered on an immense +peristyle. When I mounted the steps, he advanced towards me with +arms outstretched to embrace me, and declaimed in theatrical +tones a most fulsome welcome. Not only did the Count embrace me, +but his wife and daughters did the same, then the almoner, the +tutors and governesses came to kiss my hand, and the domestic +staff touched my knee with their lips. I was greatly astonished +at these various honours, and accepted them with all the gravity +I could muster. I had thought the whole performance was over +when, at a word from the Count, they all knelt down and commenced +to pray. + +When we re-entered the chateau, I handed the Count his +appointment as Prefect of Witepsk, adorned with the signature of +the French Emperor, and asked him if he accepted it. "Yes!" he +cried "and I am ready to go with you." The Countess was equally +enthusiastic, and it was agreed that the Count with his eldest +son and two servants would leave with me. I gave them an hour to +get ready, which time was employed in giving my men a good +supper, which they had to eat on horseback because of my fear of +a surprise attack. Having said our farewells, we left to go and +sleep in a forest four leagues from there, where we stayed hidden +all the next day. At night we continued our march, but to put off +our trail any of the enemy who might have been warned of our +presence in the area, I took a different route to that by which I +had come, and going by paths and at times across country, after +five days I reached Polotsk. It was as well that I had taken a +different route, because I learned later from some merchants who +lived in Newel that the Russians had sent a regiment of Dragoons +and 600 Cossacks to wait for me at the source of the Drissa, near +a village I had passed on my way in. + +After reporting to Marshal Saint-Cyr and presenting to him Count +Lubenski, I went back to the camp at Louchonski, where I rejoined +General Castex and the rest of my unit. My expedition had lasted +for thirteen days, during which time we had suffered fatigue and +privation; but I was bringing my men back in good shape. We had +not been obliged to fight since any small bands of the enemy we +did encounter fled when they saw us. + +The journey which Count Lubenski had taken with us had allowed me +to assess his character. He was a well educated man, capable and +patriotic, but one whose enthusiasm was inclined to cloud his +judgement when it came to considering how best to re-build +Poland. Nevertheless, if all his compatriots had shown his +vigour, and had taken up arms on the arrival of the French, +Poland might have regained its freedom in 1812; but, with few +exceptions, they remained profoundly apathetic. + +After leaving Polotsk, the Count went to take up his post as +prefect. He did not keep the position for long, for a month had +hardly passed before the French army, having left Moscow passed +through Witepsk on its retreat. Compelled by this disaster to +abandon his prefecture and to shelter from the vengeance of the +Russians, he took refuge in Galicia, in Austrian Poland, where he +had large landholdings. He lived there peacefully until 1830 when +he returned to Russian Poland to take up arms against the Czar. I +do not know what happened to him after this uprising, but I have +been told by some of his countrymen that he went back to Galicia. +He was a good patriot and a fine man. + +A few days after our return to Louchonski, I was greatly +surprised by the arrival of a detachment of thirty troopers +belonging to my regiment. They had come from Mons and had, in +consequence, travelled through Belgium, the Rhenish provinces, +all of Germany and part of Prussia and Poland, and had come more +than 400 leagues under the command of a simple N.C.O. However not +a man had fallen out and not a horse was injured. That shows the +sort of stuff of which the troopers of the 23rd were made. + +Chap. 16. + +On about the 12th of October, 2nd Corps, which since the 18th of +August had been living in peace and plenty in and around Polotsk, +had to prepare itself to run once more the dangers of war. We +learned that Admiral Tchitchakoff, commander-in-chief of the +Russian army in Walachia, having made peace with the Turks +through the intervention of the English, was heading for Moghilew +with the intention of getting in the rear of Napoleon who, still +nursing the hope of concluding a treaty with Alexander, had not +yet left Moscow. One might be astonished that Prince +Schwartzenberg, who with thirty thousand Austrians, our allies, +was supposed to be watching over the Russian forces in Walachia, +had allowed them to pass, but that is what happened. Not only had +the Austrians failed to block the road taken by the Russians, +which they could have done, but instead of following behind them, +they had stayed comfortably in their cantonments. + +Napoleon had trusted too much in the good faith of the generals +and ministers of his father-in-law, the Emperor of Austria, in +giving them the responsibility of covering the right flank of the +Grande Armee. Whatever excuses are offered, there can be, in my +opinion, no escaping the fact that this was flagrant treachery on +their part, and history will condemn them for it. + +While on our right the Austrians were allowing passage to the +Russian troops coming from Turkey, the Prussians, who had so +unwisely been placed on our left wing, were preparing to do a +deal with the enemy, and that almost openly, without concealment +from Marshal Macdonald, whom the Emperor had put at their head to +ensure their fidelity. As soon as these foreigners learned that +the occupation of Moscow had not led to a peace, they foresaw the +disasters which would befall the French army, and all their +enmity towards us was rekindled. They did not break out in open +revolt, but Marshal Macdonald's orders were obeyed with +reluctance, and the Prussians encamped near Riga could at any +moment join Wittgenstein's Russians to crush 2nd Corps camped +round Polotsk. + +Plainly, Marshal Saint-Cyr's position was becoming difficult. He, +however, did not seem perturbed, and as impassive as ever, he +issued calmly and clearly the orders for an obstinate defence. +All the infantry was concentrated in the town and the entrenched +camp. Several bridges were added to those already uniting the two +banks of the Dvina. The sick and the non-combatants were sent to +Old Polotsk and Ekimania, fortified posts on the left bank. The +Marshal did not consider he had enough troops to dispute the open +ground with Wittgenstein, who had received powerful +reinforcements from St. Petersburg, so he did not keep more than +five squadrons with him, of which he took one from each regiment +of light cavalry. The rest went over to the other bank. + +On the 16th of October the enemy scouts appeared before Polotsk, +the aspect of which had greatly changed, partly because of the +huge, newly established, entrenched camp and partly because of +the numerous fortifications which covered the open country. The +biggest and strongest of these was a redoubt called the Bavarian. +The unhappy remnant of General de Wrede's force asked if they +might defend this redoubt, which they did with much courage. + +The fighting began on the 17th and went on all day without +Marshal Saint-Cyr being forced out of his position. This angered +General Wittgenstein, who attributed the hold-up to his officers +not having distinguished between the stronger and weaker of our +defence works, and wishing to inspect them himself, he boldly +approached them. This devotion to duty nearly cost him his life, +for Major Curely, one of the finest officers in the army, having +spotted the General, dashed forward leading a squadron of the +20th Chasseurs, who sabred some of the escort while he, forcing +his way to General Wittgenstein, put the point of his sword to +his throat and forced him to surrender. + +Having effected the capture of the enemy commander, Major Curely +should have retired swiftly, between two redoubts, and taken his +prisoner into the entrenched camp; but the Major was too keen, +and seeing that the General's escort was about to attempt his +rescue, he thought it would be more creditable if he could keep +his prisoner in spite of all their efforts. Wittgenstein then +found himself in the middle of a group fighting for the +possession of his person. In the course of the struggle Curely's +horse was killed, several of our Chasseurs dismounted in order to +pick up their leader, and, in the confusion this created, +Wittgenstein made off at the gallop, calling for his men to +follow. + +When this event became generally known throughout the army, it +gave rise to much debate. Some maintained that Major Curely +should have killed Wittgenstein as soon as his escort returned to +fight for his rescue, others thought that having accepted his +surrender, Curely was not entitled to do so. Others again, +thought that, having once surrendered, Wittgenstein should not +have tried to escape. Whatever the rights or wrongs of these +arguments may be, when Curely was presented to the Emperor during +the crossing of the Beresina, where General Wittgenstein caused +us many losses, Napoleon said to him, "This would probably not +have happened if you had used your right to kill Wittgenstein at +Polotsk, when the Russians were trying to take him from you." In +spite of this reproach, merited or not, Curely became a colonel +shortly after, and a general in 1814. + +To return now to Polotsk where the enemy, repelled on the 17th, +returned to the attack on the 18th, in so much greater numbers +that, after suffering very heavy losses, Wittgenstein's men +captured the entrenched camp. Saint-Cyr, at the head of Legrand's +and Maison's divisions, drove them out at bayonet point. Seven +times the Russians returned to the attack, and seven times the +French and the Croats drove them off, to remain finally in +control of all their positions. + +Although now wounded, Saint-Cyr continued to direct his troops. +His efforts were crowned with success, for the enemy left the +field and retired into the nearby forest. 50,000 Russians had +been defeated by 15,000 of our men. There was rejoicing in the +French camp, but on the morning of the 19th we heard that General +Steinghel with 14,000 Russians had just crossed the Dvina above +Disna and was moving up the left bank to get behind Polotsk, +seize the bridges and trap Saint-Cyr's force between his own and +Wittgenstein's. And indeed it was not long before Steinghel's +advance-guard appeared, heading for Ekimania, where there were +the division of Cuirassiers and the regiments of Light Cavalry +from each of which the Marshal had retained only one squadron at +Polotsk. + +At once we were all on horseback and we drove off the enemy, who +would in the end have gained the upper hand, for they were being +strongly reinforced, while we had no infantry support until +Saint-Cyr sent us three regiments taken from the divisions who +were protecting Polotsk. However, at this point Steinghel, who +had only to make a little effort to reach the bridges, stopped +short, while on the other side of the river, Wittgenstein did the +same. It seemed that the two Russian generals, after combining to +draw up an excellent plan of attack, were unwilling to put it +into operation, each one leaving it to the other to overcome the +French. + +The French position was now highly critical, for on the right +bank they were pressed back by an army three time their strength +towards a town built entirely of wood and a sizeable river, with +no means of retreat except the bridges which were threatened by +Steinghel's troops on the left bank. + +All the generals urged Saint-Cyr to order the evacuation of +Polotsk, but he wanted to wait for nightfall, because he felt +sure that the 50,000 Russians who faced him were waiting only for +his first backward move to throw themselves on his weakened army +and create a state of disorder in the ranks. So he stayed where +he was, and took advantage of the extraordinary inactivity of the +enemy generals to wait for the onset of the dark, which was +hastened, luckily, by a thick fog which prevented the three +armies from seeing one another. The Marshal seized this +favourable opportunity to effect his withdrawal. + +The large number of guns and some cavalry squadrons who had +remained on the right bank, had already crossed the bridges in +silence, and the infantry were about to follow, their movement +invisible to the enemy, when the men of Legrand's division, +unwilling to leave their huts for the benefit of the Russians, +set them on fire. The two other divisions, believing that this +was an agreed signal, did the same and in an instant the whole +line was aflame. This great conflagration having alerted the +Russians to our retreat, all their guns opened up; their mortars +set fire to the suburbs and the town itself, toward which their +columns charged. However, the French, mainly Maison's division, +disputed every foot of ground, for the fires lit the place as if +it were day. + +Polotsk was burned to the ground. The losses on both sides were +considerable. Nevertheless our retreat was carried out in an +orderly fashion: we took with us those of our wounded whom it was +possible to carry; the rest, together with a great many Russians, +perished in the flames. + +It seemed that there was a complete lack of co-operation between +the leaders of the two enemy armies, for during this night of +fighting Steinghel stayed peacefully in his camp, and made no +more effort to support Wittgenstein than the latter had made to +support him on the previous day. It was only when Saint-Cyr, +after evacuating the place, had put himself beyond the reach of +Wittgenstein by burning the bridges, that Steinghel, on the +morning of the 20th, deployed his troops to attack us. But the +French force was now united on the left bank, and Saint-Cyr +mounted an assault against Steinghel, who was overcome with the +loss of more than 2000 men killed or captured. + +In the course of these fierce engagements, over four days and a +night, the Russians had six generals and 10,000 men killed or +wounded, while the losses of the French and their allies did not +amount to more than 5,000, a huge difference which can be +attributed to the superior firepower of our troops, particularly +the artillery. The advantage which we had in respect of numbers +was in part compensated for by the fact that the wounds which +Marshal Saint-Cyr had suffered would deprive the army of a leader +in whom it had entire confidence. It was necessary to replace +him. The Comte de Wrede claimed that his position as commander in +chief of the Bavarian Corps entitled him to command the French +divisional generals, but they refused to obey a foreigner. So +Saint-Cyr, although in much pain, agreed to remain in control of +the two army corps, and ordered a retreat towards Oula, in order +to reach Smoliany and thus protect on one side the road from +Orscha to Borisoff by which the Emperor was returning from +Moscow. + +This retreat was so well organised that Wittgenstein and +Steinghel, who, after repairing the bridges across the Dvina, +were following our trail with 50,000 men, did not dare to attack +us, although we had no more than 12,000 combatants; and they +advanced only fifteen leagues in eight days. As for the Comte de +Wrede, his injured pride led him to refuse to accept +instructions, so he marched off on his own, with the thousand +Bavarians which he had left and a brigade of French cavalry which +he had acquired by subterfuge, having told General Corbineau that +he had received orders to this effect, which was not the case. +His presumption was soon punished: he was attacked and defeated +by a Russian division. He then retired without authorisation to +Wilna, from where he reached the Nieman. The Corbineau brigade +refused to go with him and returned to join the French army, for +whom its return was a piece of good fortune, as you will see when +we come to the crossing of the Beresena. + +Ordered by the Emperor, Marshal Victor, Duc de Bellune, at the +head of the 9th Army Corps consisting of 25,000 men, half of whom +came from the Confederation of the Rhine, hurried from Smolensk +to join Saint-Cyr for the purpose of driving Wittgenstein back +across the Dvina. This project would have certainly been carried +out if Saint-Cyr had been in overall command; but Victor was the +more senior of the two marshals and Saint-Cyr was unwilling to +serve under his orders, so the evening before their union which +took place at Smoliany on the 31st of October, he declared that +he could no longer continue the campaign and handing over the +command to General Legrand, he set off to return to France. The +departure of Saint-Cyr was regretted by the troops who, although +they disliked him personally, gave him credit for his courage and +his outstanding military talent. Saint-Cyr could have been a +first class army commander if he had been less egoistic and if he +had taken the trouble to gain the affection of officers and men +by caring for their welfare. No man, however, is perfect. + +Marshal Victor had no sooner gathered 9th and 2nd Corps under his +command than chance offered him the opportunity of achieving a +major victory. Wittgenstein, who was unaware of this union, +relying on his superiority in numbers, had decided to attack us +at a place where his line of retreat would be through some narrow +defiles. It would only have required a combined effort from the +two corps to destroy him, for our troops were now as numerous as +his, were inspired by a better spirit and were keen for action; +but Victor, doubtful perhaps of success on terrain which he was +seeing for the first time, retreated during the night, and having +reached Sienno he put the two units into cantonment in the +district. The Russians also withdrew leaving only some Cossacks +to keep an eye on us. This state of affairs which lasted for the +first fortnight of November did the troops much good, for they +lived well, as the country offered many resources. + +One day, Marshal Victor having been told that there was a +considerable enemy force in the area of a certain village, +ordered General Castex to send one of his units to reconnoitre +the place. It was for me to go. We left at dusk and reached the +village without any difficulty. It was situated in a hollow, in +the middle of a huge dried marshland and was entirely peaceful, +the inhabitants whom I interrogated with the aid of Lorentz said +that they had not seen a Russian soldier in the past month, so I +prepared to return to my base. However our return was not as +trouble-free as our journey there had been. + +Although there was no mist, the night was extremely dark and I +was afraid of leading the regiment astray on the many embankments +of the marsh, which I had to cross once more; so I took as a +guide one of the villagers who seemed to me to be the least +stupid. My column had been going along in good order for half an +hour, when suddenly I saw camp fires on the slopes overlooking +the marsh. I halted the column and sent two sous-officiers to +have a look. They reported that there was a large force barring +our advance and another in our rear. I could now see fires +between me and the village which I had just left and it appeared +that I had landed, without knowing it, in the middle of an army +corps which was making ready to bivouac for the night. The +number of fires grew, and I estimated that there was a force of +about 50,000 men present and I was in the middle of it, with 700 +troopers. The odds were too great, and there seemed only one +thing to do, and that was to gallop along the main embankment, on +which we were, and taking the enemy by surprise, cut a path for +ourselves with our sabres. Once free from the light of the fires, +the darkness would prevent the enemy from following us. I made +sure that all my troops knew what I proposed to do, and I have to +admit that I was very uneasy, for the enemy infantry could take +up their arms at the first cry of warning, and cause us many +casualties. + +I was in this state of anxiety when the peasant who was our guide +burst into loud laughter, seconded by Lorentz. I asked them what +they were about, but they did not know enough French to explain +fully. Eventually, however, we understood that these were not +camp fires but marsh fires, or will-of-the-wisp; something none +of us had ever seen before; and so, relieved of one of the +nastiest frights I have ever had, I returned to my camp. + +Chap. 17. + +After several days I was given a new mission, in which we would +face not marsh fires but the muskets of the Russian dragoons. It +happened that General Castex had gone to visit Marshal Victor, +and the 24th was out on patrol, so that my regiment was alone in +the camp when there arrived two peasants, one of whom I +recognised as Captain Bourgoing, Oudinot's aide-de-camp. + +The Marshal, who had gone to Wilna after he had been wounded at +Polotsk on the 18th of August, having heard that Saint-Cyr had +been wounded in his turn on the 18th of October, and had left the +army, decided to rejoin 2nd Corps and take up its command. + +Oudinot knew that his troops were somewhere in the region of +Sienno and was heading for that town when, on arriving at Rasna, +he was warned by a Polish priest that a body of Russian dragoons +and some Cossacks was roaming the area. The Marshal knew that +there was a French cavalry unit at Zapole, so he wrote to the +commander of this unit to request a strong escort, and sent the +letter by Captain Bourgoing, who for additional safety disguised +himself as a peasant. It was as well that he did so, for he had +scarcely covered a league when he encountered a large detachment +of enemy cavalry, who, thinking that he was a local inhabitant, +took no notice of him. Soon after this, Captain Bourgoing heard +the sound of gunfire, and increased his pace towards Zapole. + +As soon as I heard of the serious position in which the Marshal +found himself, I left with my regiment at the trot to bring him +help. It was a good thing that we arrived when we did, for +although the Marshal, joined by his aides-de-camp and some dozen +French soldiers, was barricaded in a stone house, he was on the +point of being captured by the dragoons when we arrived. When +they saw us, the enemy mounted their horses and fled. My troopers +went after them and managed to kill about twenty of them and take +some prisoners; I had two men wounded. The marshal, glad to have +escaped from the Russians, expressed his thanks, and I escorted +him back to the French cantonments where he was out of danger. + +At this period in time, it seemed that none of the marshals was +prepared to recognise the right of seniority amongst themselves, +for not one of them was willing to serve under the orders of his +comrade, no matter how serious the situation. So as soon as +Oudinot took command of the 2nd Corps, Victor, rather than +remaining under his authority to join in combating Wittgenstein, +took himself off with his 25,000 men to Kokhanov. Marshal +Oudinot, left on his own, marched his men for several days round +various parts of the province before setting up his headquarters +at Tschereia, with his advance-guard at Loucoulm. It was here, +during a minor action involving Castex's brigade that I received +my promotion to colonel. If you recall that I had suffered, in +the rank of major, a wound at Znaim in Moravia, two at Miranda de +Corvo in Portugal, one at Jakoubowo, that I had fought in four +campaigns in the same rank and that finally I had been in command +of a regiment since the French entry into Russia, you may think +that I had earned my new epaulets. I was grateful to the Emperor +when I learned that he intended to keep me with the 23rd +Chasseurs, for whom I had great affection, and where I was liked +and valued. In fact this decision was welcomed by all ranks, and +the troops whom I had so often led into battle came, both +officers and men, to tell me of their satisfaction at my +remaining their commander. The good General Castex, who had +always treated me as a brother, welcomed me in front of the +regiment, and even the Colonel of the 24th, with whom I had few +dealings, came to congratulate me with all his officers, whose +respect I had acquired. + +However, the situation of the French army grew worse by the day. +General Schwartzenberg, the Austrian commander-in-chief whom +Napoleon had placed on the right wing of his army, had, by an act +of low treachery, allowed the troops belonging to Admiral +Tchitchakoff to pass, and they had seized control of Minsk, from +where they threatened our rear. The Emperor must now have much +regretted that he had given the command of Lithuania to the +Dutchman Hogendorf, his aide-de-camp, who, having never been in +action, did not know what to do to save Minsk, where he could +have easily have combined the 30,000 men of the Durette, Loison, +and Dombrowski divisions which had been placed at his disposal. +The fall of Minsk, although a serious matter, was one to which +the Emperor attached little importance, for he relied on crossing +the Beresina at Borisoff, where there was a bridge protected by a +fort, in good condition and manned by a Polish regiment. The +Emperor was so confident about this that, in order to speed the +march of his army he burned all his bridging equipment at Orscha. +This was a disastrous mistake, for these pontoons would have +assured us a quick crossing of the Beresina which, in the event, +we had to effect at the cost of so much blood. + +Despite his confidence in relation to the crossing, Napoleon, +when he heard of the Russian occupation of Minsk, ordered Oudinot +to proceed by forced marches to Borisoff. But we arrived there +too late, because General Bronikovski, who was in command of the +fort, seeing himself surrounded by a numerous enemy, thought it +would be a praiseworthy act to save his garrison. So instead of +putting up a determined resistance, which would have given +Oudinot the time to come to his help, he abandoned the fort, +crossed the bridge to the left bank with all his men, and set out +for Orscha to join Oudinot's corps, which he met on the road. The +Marshal gave him a very rough reception and ordered him to return +with us to Borisoff. + +Not only were the town, the bridge across the Beresina, and the +fort which dominates it in the hands of Tchitchakoff, but the +Admiral, carried away by this success and anxious to challenge +the French, had marched from the town with the bulk of his army, +the vanguard of which, consisting of a strong cavalry division, +was led by General Lambert, the most competent of his +lieutenants. + +As the country was open, Oudinot put ahead of his infantry the +division of Cuirassiers, and ahead of them Castex's brigade of +light cavalry. + +It was about three leagues from Borisoff that the Russian +advance-guard, going in the opposite direction to us, came up +against our Cuirassiers, who having done little fighting during +the campaign, had asked to be in the front line. At the sight of +this fine regiment, still strong in numbers and well-mounted, +with their cuirasses gleaming in the sunlight, the Russian +cavalry pulled up short; then, gathering their courage, they +moved forward again, at which point our Cuirassiers, in a furious +charge, overran them, killing or capturing about a thousand. +Tchitchakoff, who had been assured that Napoleon's army was no +more than a disorganised mass of men without arms, had not +expected this display of vitality, and he beat a hurried retreat +towards Berisoff. + +It is well known that after putting in a charge, the big horses +of the heavy cavalry, and above all those of the Cuirassiers, +cannot continue to gallop for very long. So it was the 23rd and +the 24th Chasseurs who took up the pursuit of the enemy, while +the Cuirassiers followed in the second line, at a slower pace. + +Tchitchakoff had not only made a mistake in attacking Oudinot but +he had also brought with him all the baggage of his army, which +filled more than fifteen hundred vehicles, so that the rapid +retreat of the Russians caused such confusion that the two +regiments of Castex's brigade often found themselves hindered by +the carts which had been abandoned by the enemy. This confusion +became even worse when we entered the town, where the streets +were cluttered with baggage and draught horses, through which +obstructions Russian soldiers, who had thrown away their arms, +wove their way as they sought to rejoin their units. We managed +to reach the centre of the town, but only after losing precious +time, which allowed the Russians to cross the river. + +Our orders were to reach the bridge and try to cross it at the +same time as the fleeing Russians; but to do this one had to know +where the bridge was, and none of us knew the town. My troopers +brought me a Jew whom I questioned in German, but he either did +not know, or pretended not to know the language, and I could get +no information from him. I would have given a great deal to have +had with me my Polish servant, Lorentz, to act as interpreter, +but the coward had remained behind as soon as there was any +fighting. So we had to comb the town until we eventually came to +the Beresina. The river was not yet sufficiently frozen to permit +one to cross on the ice, so it was necessary to use the bridge, +but to take the bridge would require infantry, and our infantry +was still three leagues from Borisoff. To take their place, +Marshal Oudinot, who had arrived on the scene, ordered General +Castex to dismount three quarters of the troopers of the two +regiments, who armed with muskets could attack the bridge on +foot. We left the horses in the nearby streets guarded by one or +two men, and headed for the river behind General Castex, who on +this perilous enterprise wished to be at the head of his brigade. + +The defeat suffered by the advance-guard had produced +consternation in Tchitchakoff's army, the utmost disorder ruled +on the side of the river which it occupied, where we could see a +mass of fugitives disappearing into the distance; so although it +had at first seemed to me that it would be extremely difficult +for dismounted troopers, without bayonets, to force a passage +over the bridge, and keep possession of it, I began to hope for a +successful outcome, for the opposition was no more than a few +musket shots. I therefore ordered that as soon as the first +platoon reached the right bank it should occupy houses adjoining +the bridge so that being in control of both ends we could defend +it until the arrival of our infantry. Suddenly, however, the +cannons of the fort thundered into action, covering the bridge +with a hail of grape-shot, which forced our little group to fall +back. A body of Russian sappers used this breathing space to set +fire to the bridge, but as their presence prevented the gunners +from firing, we took the opportunity to attack them, killing or +throwing into the river the greater part of them. Our Chasseurs +had already extinguished the fire when they were charged by a +battalion of Russian Grenadiers, and driven at bayonet point off +the bridge, which was soon set alight in many places and became a +huge bonfire whose intense heat made both sides move away. + +The French had now to give up hope of crossing the Beresina at +this point, and their line of retreat was cut!...This was for us +a fatal calamity, and contributed largely to changing the face of +Europe, by shaking the Emperor on his throne. + +Marshal Oudinot, once he saw that it was impossible to force a +passage over the river at Borisoff, considered that it would be +dangerous to have the town choked by the rest of his troops, so +he ordered them to halt and set up camp while they were still +some distance away. Castex's brigade stayed on its own in +Borisoff and was forbidden to communicate with the other units, +from which it was hoped to conceal for as long as possible the +disastrous news of the burning of the bridge, which they did not +hear about until forty-eight hours later. + +Under the conventions of war, the enemy's baggage belongs to the +captors. General Castex therefore authorised the troopers of my +regiment and those of the 24th to help themselves to the booty +contained in the 1500 wagons and carts abandoned by the Russians +in their flight to the other side of the bridge. The quantity of +goods was immense, but as it was a hundred times more than the +brigade could carry, I called together all the men of my regiment +and told them that as we were to make a long retreat, during +which I would probably be unable to make the distributions of +rations which I had done during all the campaign, I would advise +them to provide themselves mainly with foodstuff, and think also +about protection from the cold, I reminded them that an +overloaded horse will not last for long, and that they should not +weigh theirs down with articles of no use in war. "What is more," +I told them, "I shall hold an inspection, and anything which is +not food, clothing, or footwear will be rejected without +exception." General Castex, to avoid all argument, had planted +markers, which divided the mass of vehicles into two parts, so +that each regiment had its own area. + +Oudinot's forces surrounded the town on three sides, the fourth +was bounded by the Beresina, and there were a number of +observation posts, so that our soldiers could examine the +contents of the Russian carts in safety. It appeared that the +officers of Tchitchakoff's army treated themselves well, for +there was a profusion of hams, pastries, sausages, dried fish, +smoked meat and wines of all sorts, plus an immense quantity of +ships' biscuits, rice, cheese, etc. Our men also took furs and +strong footwear, which saved the lives of many of them. The +Russian drivers had fled without taking their horses, almost all +of which were of good quality. We took the best to replace those +of which the troopers complained, and officers used some as +pack-horses to carry the foodstuff which they had acquired. + +The brigade spent another day in Borisoff, and as in spite of the +precautions which had been taken, the news of the destruction of +the bridge had spread throughout 2nd Corps, Marshal Oudinot, in +order to allow all his troops to take advantage of the goods +contained in the enemy vehicles, arranged that successive +detachments from all the regiments might enter the town, to take +their share of the plunder. Notwithstanding the quantity of +goods of all kinds taken by Oudinot's men, there remained enough +for the numerous stragglers returning from Moscow on the +following day. + +The supreme command ,and indeed all officers who were able to +appreciate the situation, were extremely worried. We had before +us the Beresina, on the opposite bank of which were gathered +Tchitchakoff's forces, our flanks were threatened by +Wittgenstein, Koutousoff was on our tail, and except for the +debris of the Guard and Oudinot's and Victors' corps, reduced now +to a few thousand combatants, the rest of the Grande Armee, +recently so splendid, was composed of sick men and soldiers +without weapons, whom starvation had deprived of their former +energy. Everything conspired against us; for although, owing to a +drop in the temperature, Ney had been able, a few days +previously, to escape across the frozen Nieman, we found the +Beresina unfrozen, despite the bitter cold, and we had no +pontoons with which to make a bridge. + +On the 25th of November, the Emperor entered Borisoff, where +Marshal Oudinot awaited him with the 6000 men he had left. +Napoleon, and the officers of his staff were astonished at the +good order and discipline which obtained in 2nd Corps, whose +bearing contrasted so markedly with that of the wretched groups +of men whom they were leading back from Moscow. Our troops were +certainly not so smart as they would have been in barracks, but +every man had his weapons and was quite prepared to use them. The +Emperor was so impressed by their turn-out that he summoned all +the colonels and told them to inform their regiments of his +satisfaction with the way they had conducted themselves in the +many savage actions which had been fought in the province of +Polotsk. + +Chap. 18. + +You will recall that when the Bavarian General Comte de Wrede +made his unauthorised departure from 2nd Corps, he took with him +Corbineau's cavalry brigade, after assuring General Corbineau +that he had orders to do so, which was not true. Well, this piece +of trickery resulted in the saving of the Emperor and the remains +of his Grande Armee. + +General Corbineau, dragged unwillingly away from 2nd Corps, of +which he was a part, had followed General Wrede as far as +Gloubokoye, but there he had declared that he would go no further +unless the Bavarian general showed him the order, which he +claimed to have, instructing him to keep Corbineau with him. +General Wrede was unable to do this, so Corbineau left him and +headed for Dokshitsy and the headwater of the Beresina, then, +going down the right bank of the river, he intended to reach +Borisoff, cross the bridge and take the road to Orscha to look +for Oudinot's Corps, which he thought was in the region of Bobr. + +The Emperor, who had available the services of several thousand +Poles belonging to the Duchy of Warsaw, has been blamed for not +attaching, from the beginning of the campaign, some of them to +every general or even every colonel to act as interpreters, for +this would have avoided many mistakes. This was proved during the +dangerous journey of several days which the Corbineau brigade had +to undertake through unknown country, the language of whose +inhabitants none of the Frenchmen could understand, for it so +happened that among the three regiments which the General +commanded was the 8th Polish Lancers, whose officers extracted +from the local people all the necessary information. This was a +tremendous help to Corbineau. + +When he was about half a day's journey from Borisoff, some +peasants told the Polish Lancers that Tchitchakoff's troops were +occupying the town, information which dashed his hopes of +crossing the Beresina; however these same peasants having +persuaded him to turn round, led him to the village of Studianka, +not far from Weselovo, four leagues above Borisoff, where there +is a ford. The three regiments crossed the ford without loss and +the General, going across country and avoiding some of +Wittgenstein's troops who were moving towards Borisoff, +eventually rejoined Oudinot on the 23rd of November at a place +called Natscha. + +This daring march undertaken by Corbineau was much to his credit, +but more than that, it was a stroke of remarkable good fortune +for the army, for the Emperor, realising the impossibility of +re-building the bridge at Borisoff in the near future, resolved, +after discussing the matter with Corbineau, to cross the Beresina +at Studianka. Tchitchakoff, who had been told of the crossing at +this point effected by Corbineau's brigade, had placed a strong +division and many guns opposite Studianka, so Napoleon, to +deceive him, employed a stratagem, which although very old, is +almost always successful. He pretended that he was not interested +in Studianka and that he intended to use one of two other fords +which were below Borisoff, the most practicable of which was at +the village of Oukolada. To this end he sent ostentatiously to +the spot one of the still armed battalions, followed by a horde +of stragglers, which the enemy might take for a full-strength +division of infantry. At the tail of this column were numerous +wagons, a few guns and the division of Cuirassiers. Having +arrived at Oukolada these troops placed the guns in position, and +did all they could to look as if they were about to build a +bridge. + +Told of these preparations, Tchitchakoff had no doubt that it was +Napoleon's intention to cross the river at this point so as to +reach the road to Minsk, which ran nearby. He therefore hurriedly +sent down the right bank, to face Oukoloda, the entire garrison +of Borisoff. Not only that, for some extraordinary reason, the +Russian general, who had sufficient troops to protect both the +upper and lower parts of the river, removed all of those which he +had placed previously in a position to oppose a crossing at +Studianka and sent them too down to Oukoloda. He had now +abandoned the place where the Emperor intended to build a bridge, +and had concentrated his force, uselessly, six leagues +downstream. + +In addition to the error of massing all his army below Borisoff, +Tchitchakoff made a mistake which a sergeant would not have made, +and one for which his government never forgave him. The town of +Zembin, which is opposite to the ford at Studianka, is built on a +vast marsh, through which runs the road to Wilna. The road goes +over twenty-two wooden bridges which the Russian general could +have easily reduced to cinders before leaving the district, as +they were surrounded by many stacks of dry reeds. If Tchitchakoff +had done this, the French army would have been left without hope. +It would have served it nothing to have crossed the river, for it +would have been halted by the deep marshland surrounding Zembin; +but the Russian general left the bridges intact, and foolishly +went down the Beresina with all his men, leaving only about fifty +Cossacks to keep an eye on the ford. + +While the Russians, taken in by Napoleon's subterfuge, were +deserting the real point of attack, Napoleon gave his orders. +Oudinot and his army Corps were to go by night to Studianka, and +there arrange for the building of two bridges, before crossing to +the right bank and occupying the area between the town of Zembin +and the river. Marshal Victor, leaving Natscha, was to form the +rear-guard. He was to drive before him all the stragglers, and +was to try to hold Borisoff for a few hours before going to +Studianka and crossing the bridges. Those were the Emperor's +orders, the execution of which in detail was frustrated by +events. + +On the evening of the 25th, Corbineau's brigade, whose commander +knew the area well, proceeded up the left bank of the Beresina +towards Studianka, followed by Castex's brigade and several +battalions of light infantry; after which came the bulk of 2nd +Corps. + +We were sorry to leave Borisoff where we had spent two happy +days. + +We had perhaps a presentiment of the bad times which were to +come. + +At daybreak on the 26th of November we arrived at Studianka, +where there were no signs of any preparation for defence on the +opposite bank, so that, had the Emperor not burned the bridging +equipment a few days previously at Orscha, the army could have +crossed immediately. The river, which some have described as +huge, is more or less as wide as the Rue Royale in Paris where it +passes the Ministry of Marine. As for its depth, it is enough to +say that the three regiments of Corbineau's brigade had forded it +seventy-two hours previously without accident, and did so again +on the day of which I write. Their horses never lost their +footing and had to swim only at two or three places. At this time +the crossing presented only a few minor inconveniences to the +cavalry, the artillery and the carts, one of which was that the +riders and carters were wet up to their knees, which was not +insupportable because, regrettably the cold was not sufficiently +severe to freeze the river, which would have been better for us. +The second inconvenience which arose from the lack of frost was +that the marshy ground which bordered the opposite bank of the +river was so muddy that the saddle-horses had difficulty in +crossing it and the carts could sink in to their axles. + +Esprit de corps is certainly very praiseworthy, but it should be +moderated or forgotten in difficult circumstances. This did not +happen at the Beresina, where the commanders of the artillery and +the engineers both demanded sole responsibility for building the +bridges, and as neither would give way, nothing was being done. +When the Emperor arrived on the 26th, he ended this quarrel by +ordering that two bridges should be built, one by the artillery +and one by the engineers. Immediately beams and battens were +seized from the hovels of the village and the sappers and the +gunners got to work. Those gallant men showed a devotion to duty +which has not been sufficiently recognised. They went naked into +the freezing water and worked for six or seven hours at a +stretch, although there was not a drop of "eau de vie" to offer +them, and they would be sleeping in a field covered by snow. +Almost all of them died later, when the severe frosts came. + +While the bridges were being built and while my regiment and all +the troops of 2nd Corps were waiting on the left bank for the +order to cross the river, the Emperor, walking rapidly, went from +regiment to regiment, speaking to the men and officers. He was +accompanied by Murat. This brave and dashing officer who had so +distinguished himself as the victorious French were advancing on +Moscow, the proud Murat had been, so to speak, eclipsed since we +had left that city and during the retreat he had taken part in +none of the fighting. One saw him following the Emperor in +silence, as if he had nothing to do with what was going on in the +army. He seemed to shed some of his torpor at the Beresina at the +sight of the only troops who were still in good order, and who +constituted the last hope of safety. + +As Murat was very fond of the cavalry, and as of the many +squadrons which had crossed the Nieman there remained none except +those in Oudinot's corps, he urged the Emperor's footsteps in +their direction. + +Napoleon was delighted with the state of these units and of my +regiment in particular, for it was now stronger than several of +the brigades. I had more than 500 men on horseback, whereas the +other colonels in the corps had scarcely 200, so I received some +flattering comments from the Emperor, a great share of which was +due to my officers and men. + +It was at this time that I had the good fortune to be joined by +Jean Dupont, my brother's servant, a man of exemplary loyalty, +devotion and courage. Left on his own after the capture of my +brother early in the campaign, he had followed the 16th Chasseurs +to Moscow and taken part in the retreat, while caring for my +brother Adolphe's three horses, of which he had refused to sell a +single one in spite of many offers. He reached me after five +months of hunger and hardship, still carrying all my brother's +effects, though he told me, with tears in his eyes, that having +worn out his shoes and been reduced to walking barefoot in the +snow, he had dared to take a pair of boots belonging to his +master. I kept this admirable man in my service, and he was a +great help to me when, some time later, I was wounded once more, +in the midst of the most horrible days of the great retreat. + +To return to the crossing of the Beresina. Not only did our +horses cross the river without difficulty, but our "cantiniers" +or sutlers, drove their carts across. This made me think that it +might be possible, if one unharnessed some of the many carts +which followed the army, to fix them in the river in a line, one +after the other, to make a sort of causeway for the infantrymen, +something which would greatly ease the flow of the mass of +stragglers who the next day would be crowding round the entries +to the bridges. This seemed to me to be such a good idea, that +although I was wet to the waist, I recrossed the ford to offer it +to the generals of the Imperial staff. + +They accepted my suggestion, but made no attempt to pass it on to +the Emperor. Eventually, General Lauristan, one of his +aides-de-camp, said to me, "I suggest that you yourself undertake +the building of this footbridge, the usefulness of which you have +so well explained." I replied to this wholly unacceptable +proposition that I had at my disposal neither sappers nor +infantrymen, nor tools, nor stakes, nor rope, and that in any +case I could not leave my regiment, which being on the right +bank, could be attacked at any time. I had offered him an idea +which I thought was a good one, I could do no more and would now +go back to my normal duties. Having said this I went back into +the water and returned to the 23rd. + +When the sappers and the gunners had finally completed the +trestle bridges, they were crossed by the infantry and the +artillery of Oudinot's corps, who, having reached the right bank, +went to set up their bivouacs in a large wood, where the cavalry +were ordered to join them. We could from there watch the main +road from Minsk, down which Admiral Tchitchakoff had led his +troops to the lower Beresina, and up which he would have to come +to reach us, once he heard that we had crossed the river at +Studianka. + +On the evening of the 27th, the Emperor crossed the bridge with +his guard and went to settle at a hamlet named Zawniski, where +the cavalry were ordered to join him. The enemy had not appeared. + +There has been much discussion about the disasters which occurred +at the Beresina; but what no one has yet said is that the greater +part of them could have been avoided if the general staff had +paid more attention to their duty and had made use of the night +27th-28th to send over the bridge not only the baggage, but the +thousands of stragglers who would be obstructing the passage the +next day. It so happened that, after seeing my regiment well +settled in their bivouac, I noticed the absence of the pack +horse, which, as it carried the strong-box and the accounts of +the regiment, could not be risked in the ford. I expected that +its leader and the troopers of its escort had waited until the +bridges were ready, but they had been so for some hours and yet +these men had not arrived. Being somewhat worried about them, and +the precious burden committed to their charge, I thought I would +go in person and expedite their crossing, for I imagined that the +bridges would be crowded. I hurried to the river where, to my +great surprise, I found the bridges completely deserted. There +was no one crossing them, although, by the bright moonlight, I +could see not a hundred paces away, more than 50,000 stragglers +or men cut off from their regiments, whom we called "rotisseurs." +These men, seated calmly before huge fires, were grilling pieces +of horseflesh, little thinking that they were beside a river, the +passage of which would, the next day, cost many of them their +lives, whereas at present they could cross it unhindered, in a +few minutes, and prepare their supper on the other side. +Furthermore, not one officer of the imperial household, not an +aide-de-camp of the army general staff, or that of a marshal was +there to warn these unfortunate men and to drive them, if need +be, to the bridges. + +It was in this disorganised camp that I saw for the first time +the soldiers returning from Moscow. It was a most distressing +spectacle. All ranks were mixed together, no weapons, no military +bearing! Soldiers, officers and even generals, clad only in rags +and having on their feet strips of leather or cloth roughly bound +together with string. An immense throng in which were thrown +together thousands of men of different nationalities gabbling all +the languages of the European continent without any mutual +understanding. + +However, if one had used one of the regiments from Oudinot's +corps or the Guard, which were still in good order, it would have +been easy to herd this mass of men across the bridges, for, as I +was returning to Zawniski, having with me only a few orderlies, I +was able by persuasion and a bit of force to make several +thousand of these wretched men cross to the right bank; but I had +other duties to perform, and had to return to the regiment. + +When I was passing by the general staff, and that of Marshal +Oudinot, I reported the deserted state of the bridges and pointed +out how easy it would be to bring the unarmed men across while +there was no enemy opposition; all I got were evasive answers, +each one claiming that it was a colleague's responsibility to see +to such an operation. + +On returning to the regimental bivouac, I was pleasantly +surprised to see the corporal and the eight troopers who during +the campaign had been in charge of our herd of cattle. These good +fellows were desolate that the crowd of "rotisseurs" had set on +their cattle, butchered and eaten them before their eyes without +their being able to stop them. It was some consolation to the +regiment that each trooper had taken from Borisoff enough food to +last for twenty-five days. + +My adjutant, M. Verdier, thought it his duty to go across the +bridge to try to find the guardians of our accounts, but he got +swallowed up in the crowd and was unable to get back. He was +taken prisoner during the struggle on the next day , and I did +not see him again for two years. + +Chap. 19. + +We now come to the most terrible event in the disastrous Russian +campaign... to the crossing of the Beresina; which took place +mainly on the 28th of November. + +At dawn on this ill-fated day, the position of the two +belligerents was as follows. On the left bank, Marshal Victor, +having evacuated Borisoff during the night, had arrived at +Studianka with 9th Corps, driving in front of him a mass of +stragglers. He had left, to form his rear-guard, the infantry +division of General Partouneaux, who had been told not to leave +the town until two hours after him, and who should, in +consequence, have sent out a small detachment of men, who could +follow the main body and leave guides to signpost the route. He +should also have sent an aide-de-camp to Studianka to reconnoitre +the road and return to the division: but Partouneaux neglected +all these precautions and simply marched off at the prescribed +time. He came to a fork in the road, and he did not know which +way to go. He must have been aware, since he had come from +Borisoff, that the Beresina was on his left, and he should have +concluded that to reach Studianka, at the side of this +watercourse, it was the road on the left which he should take... +but he did not do so, and following blindly some light infantry +which had been ahead of him, he took the right hand road and +landed in the middle of a large force of Wittgenstein's Russian +troops. + +Soon Partouneaux's division, completely surrounded, was forced, +after a brave defence, to surrender. Meanwhile a simple battalion +commander who was in charge of the divisional rear-guard, had the +good sense to take the road to the left, by means of which he +joined Marshal Victor at Studianka. The Marshal was greatly +surprised to see the arrival of this battalion instead of the +division of which it was the rear-guard, but his astonishment +turned to dismay when he was attacked by Wittgenstein's Russians, +whom he thought had been intercepted by Partouneaux. He could not +then doubt that the General and all his regiments had been +defeated and taken prisoner. + +Fresh misfortunes awaited him, for the Russian General +Koutousoff, who had been following Partouneaux from Borisoff with +a strong body of troops, once he heard of his defeat, speeded up +his march and came to join Wittgenstein in his attack on Marshal +Victor. The Marshal, whose army corps had been reduced to 10,000 +men, put up a stout resistance. His troops, even the Germans who +were included among them, fought heroically though they were +attacked by two armies, had their backs to the Beresina, and had +their movements hampered by the swarm of carts driven by +undisciplined stragglers who were endeavouring, in a mob, to +reach the river. Regardless of these circumstances they held off +Koutousoff and Wittgenstein for the whole day. + +While this confusion and fighting were going on at Studianka, the +enemy, who aimed to gain control of both ends of the bridges, +attacked Oudinet's Corps, which was in position before Zawniski, +on the right bank. Some thirty thousand Russians, shouting +loudly, advanced towards 2nd Corps, which was by now reduced to +no more than eight thousand combatants. However, our men had not +yet been in contact with those returning from Moscow, and had no +idea of the disorder which ruled amongst them, so that their +morale was excellent and Tchitchakoff was driven back before the +very eyes of the Emperor, who arrived at that moment with a +reserve of 3000 infantry and 1000 cavalry from the old and the +Young Guard. The Russians renewed their attack, and overran the +Poles of the Legion of the Vistula. Marshal Oudinot was seriously +wounded, and Napoleon sent Ney to replace him. General Condras, +one of our best infantry officers, was killed. The gallant +General Legrand received a dangerous wound. + +The action took place in a wood of enormous pine trees. The enemy +artillery could not, therefore, see our troops clearly, so that, +although they kept up a vigourous bombardment, their cannon-balls +did not hit us, but going over our heads, they broke off +branches, some as thick as a man's body, which in their fall +killed or injured a good number of our men and horses. As the +trees were widely spaced, mounted men could move through them, +although with some difficulty, despite which, Marshal Ney, on the +approach of a strong Russian column, launched a charge against it +with what remained of our division of Cuirassiers. This charge, +carried out under such unusual conditions, was nevertheless one +of the most brilliant which I have seen. Colonel Dubois, at the +head of the 7th Cuirassiers, split the enemy column in two and +took 2000 prisoners. The Russians, thrown into disarray, were +pursued by the Light Cavalry and driven back to the village of +Stakovo with great loss. + +I was re-forming the ranks of my regiment, which had taken part +in this engagement, when M. Alfred de Noailles, with whom I was +friendly, arrived. He was returning from carrying an order from +Prince Berthier, whose aide-de-camp he was; but instead of going +back to the Marshal, he said as he left me, that he was going as +far as the first houses of Stakovo to see what the enemy was +doing. This curiosity proved fatal, for as he approached the +village, he was surrounded by a group of Cossacks who, having +knocked him off his horse, dragged him away by his collar while +raining blows on him. I immediately sent a squadron to his aid, +but this effort at rescue did not succeed, because a volley of +fire from the houses prevented the troopers from getting into the +village. Since that day nothing has been heard of M. de Noailles. +It is likely that his superb furs and his uniform covered in gold +braid having roused the cupidity of the Cossacks, he was murdered +by these barbarians. M. de Noailles' family, knowing that I was +the last person to speak to him, asked me for news about his +disappearance, but I could tell them no more than what I have +described. Alfred de Noailles was an excellent officer and a good +friend. + +This digression has diverted me from Tchitchakoff, who, after his +defeat by Ney, did not dare to attack us again nor to leave the +village of Stakovo for the rest of the day. + +Having described briefly the position of the armies on the two +banks of the Beresina, I shall tell you, in a few words what +happened at the river itself during the fighting. The mass of +unattached men who had had two nights and two days in which to +cross the bridges, and who had, apathetically, failed to do so +because they were not compelled, when Wittgenstein's cannon-balls +began to fall among them, rushed in a body to get across. This +huge multitude of men, horses, and carts piled up at the entrance +to the bridges, trying to force their way on to them.... Many of +those who missed the entrance were pushed by the crowd into the +Beresina where most of them were drowned. + +To add to the disaster, one of the bridges broke under the weight +of the guns and the heavy ammunition wagons which followed them! +Everyone then headed for the second bridge, where the crowd was +so thick that strong men were unable to withstand the pressure +and a large number were stifled to death. When they saw that it +was impossible to cross the overcrowded bridges, many of the cart +drivers urged their horses into the river, but this method of +crossing, which would have been very successful if it had been +carried out in an orderly manner on the two preceding days, +failed in the great majority of instances, because driving their +carts in a tumultuous mob, they crashed into one another and +turned over! Some, however reached the opposite side, but as no +one had prepared an exit by smoothing the slope of the river +bank, which the general staff should have seen to, few vehicles +could climb out, and many more people perished there. + +During the night of 28th 29th November, the Russian cannons added +to these scenes of horror by bombarding the wretched men who were +trying to cross the river, and finally at about nine in the +evening there was a crowning disaster, when Marshal Victor began +his withdrawal, and when his divisions, in battle order, arrived +at the bridge, which they could cross only by dispersing the +crowds which blocked their way! ...We should perhaps draw a veil +over these dreadful events. + +At dawn on the 29th, all the vehicles remaining on the left bank +were set on fire, and when finally General Eble saw the Russians +nearing the bridge, he set that on fire also! Several thousand +unfortunates left at Studianka fell into the hands of +Wittgenstein. + +So ended the most terrible episode of the Russian campaign, an +episode which would have been a great deal less terrible if we +had made proper use of the time which the Russians allowed us +after we had reached the Beresina. The army lost in this crossing +20 to 25,000 men. + +Once this major obstacle had been crossed, the disorganised mass +of men who had escaped from the disaster was still huge. They +were directed to go along the road to Zembin. The Emperor and the +Guard followed. Then came the remains of several regiments, and +finally 2nd Corps, for whom Castex's brigade formed the last +rear-guard. + +I have already explained that the Zembin road, the only way left +open for us, goes through an immense marsh by means of a great +number of bridges which Tchitchakoff neglected to burn when he +occupied this position a few days previously. We did not make the +same mistake, for after the army had passed, the 24th Chasseurs +and my regiment easily set them on fire by means of the stacks of +dry reeds heaped up in the neighbourhood. + +By ordering the burning of the bridges, the Emperor had hoped to +rid himself for a long time of pursuit by the Russians, but fate +was against us. The cold which at this time of year could have +frozen the waters of the Beresina to give us a pathway across, +had left the river running; but we had scarcely crossed over when +there was sharp frost which froze it to the point where it would +bear the weight of a cannon... and as it did the same to the +marsh of Zembin, the burning of the bridges was of no value to +us. The three Russian armies which we had left behind, could now +pursue us without meeting any obstacle; but fortunately the +pursuit was not very energetic, and Marshal Ney, who commanded +the rear-guard and who had gathered together all the troops still +capable of fighting, made frequent sallies against the enemy if +they dared to approach too near. + +Since Marshal Oudinot and General Legrand had been wounded, +General Maison commanded 2nd Corps, which being, in spite of many +losses, now numerically the strongest in the army, was always +given the task of holding off the Russians. We kept them at a +distance during the 30th of November and the 1st of December; but +on the 2nd of December they pressed us so hard, in considerable +numbers, that a serious engagement took place in which I received +a wound, made even more dangerous because the temperature on that +day registered 25 degrees of frost. I should perhaps limit myself +to telling you that I was injured by a lance without going into +further details, for they are so unpleasant that I still do not +like to remember them. However, I said I would tell the story of +my life, and so this is what happened at Plechtchenitsoui. + +It so happened that a Dutch banker named Van Berchem, with whom I +had been a close friend at the college of Soreze, had sent to me, +at the start of the campaign, his only son, who having become +French by the incorporation of his country into the Empire, had +enlisted in the 23rd, although he was barely sixteen years +old!... He was a fine and intelligent young man, and I made him +my secretary, so that he went everywhere fifteen paces behind me +with my orderlies. That is where he was on the day in question, +when 2nd Corps, for whom my regiment was acting as rear-guard +while crossing a vast open plain, saw coming towards them a mass +of Russian cavalry, who quickly surrounded them and attacked them +on all sides. General Maison deployed his troops with such skill +that our squares repelled all the charges made by the enemy +regular cavalry. + +The Russians then sent in a swarm of Cossacks, who came +impudently to attack with their lances the French officers who +stood before their troops. Seeing this, Marshal Ney ordered +General Maison to chase them off, using what remained of the +division of Cuirassiers and also Corbineau's and Castex's +brigades. My regiment, which was still numerically strong, was +confronted by a tribe of Cossacks from the Black Sea, wearing +tall astrakhan hats, and much better clad and mounted than the +usual run of Cossacks. We engaged them, but as it is not their +custom to stand and fight in line, they turned round and made off +at the gallop; but not knowing the locality, they headed for an +obstacle which is very unusual in these enormous plains, and that +is a large, deep gully, which owing to the perfect flatness of +the surrounding country could not be distinguished from any +distance. This pulled them up short, and seeing that they could +not get across with their horses, they bunched together and +turned to present to us their lances. + +The ground, covered by frost, was very slippery, and our +over-tired horses could not gallop without falling. There was, +therefore, no question of a charge, and my line advanced at a +trot towards the massed enemy, who remained motionless. Our +sabres could touch their lances, but as they are thirteen or +fourteen feet long, we could not reach our foes, who could not +retreat for fear of falling into the gulch, and could not advance +without encountering our swords. We were thus face to face, +regarding one another when, in less time than it takes to tell, +this is what happened. + +Anxious to get to grips with the enemy, I shouted to my troops to +grab some of the lances with their left hands and pushing them to +one sided, get into the middle of this crowd of men, where our +short weapons would give us an enormous advantage over their long +spears. To encourage them to obey, I wanted to set an example, +so dodging several lances, I managed to reach the front rank of +the enemy!... My warrant officers and my orderlies followed me, +and soon the whole regiment. There then ensued a general mˆlee; +but at the moment when it started, an old white-bearded Cossack, +who was in the rear rank and separated from me by some of his +comrades, lent forward and thrusting his lance skillfully between +the horses he drove the sharp steel into my right knee, which it +pierced, passing through beneath the kneecap. + +Enraged by the pain of this injury, I was pushing my way towards +the man to take my revenge, when I was confronted by two handsome +youths of about eighteen to twenty, wearing a brilliant costume, +covered with rich embroidery, who were the sons of the chieftain +of this clan. They were accompanied by an elderly man who was +some sort of tutor, but who was unarmed. The younger of his two +pupils did not draw his sword, but elder did and attacked me +furiously!... I found him so immature and lacking strength that I +did no more than disarm him, and taking his arm pushed him behind +me, telling Van Berchem to look after him. I had hardly done this +when a double explosion rang in my ears and the collar of my cape +was torn by a ball. I turned round quickly, to see the young +Cossack officer holding a pair of double-barrelled pistols with +which he had treacherously tried to shoot me in the back and had +blown out the brains of the unfortunate Van Berchem! + +In a transport of rage I hurled myself at this rash stripling, +who was already aiming his second pistol at me. Seeing death in +my face, he seemed momentarily paralysed. He cried out some words +in French. But I killed him. + +Blood calls for blood! The sight of young Van Berchem lying dead +at my feet, the act I had just carried out, the excitement of +battle and the pain of my wound, combined to induce a sort of +frenzy. I rushed at the younger of the Cossack officers and +grabbing him by the throat I had already raised my sabre when his +elderly mentor, to protect his charge, laid the length of his +body on my horses neck in a manner which prevented me from +striking a blow and called out, "Mercy! In the name of your +mother, have mercy! He has done nothing!" + +On hearing this appeal, in spite of the scenes around me, I +seemed to see the white hand I knew so well, laid on the young +man's breast and to hear my mother's gentle voice saying,"Be +merciful!" I lowered my sabre and sent the youth and his guardian +to the rear. + +I was so disturbed by what had happened that I would have been +unable to give any further orders to the regiment if the fighting +had continued for any length of time, but it was soon finished. +Many of the Cossacks had been killed and the remainder, +abandoning their horses, slid into the depths of the ravine, +where a number died in the huge snow-drift which the wind had +created. + +In the evening following this affair, I questioned my prisoner +and his guardian. I learned that the two youngsters were the sons +of a powerful chieftain, who, having lost a leg at Austerlitz, +hated the French so much that being unable to fight them himself, +he had sent his two sons to do so. I thought it likely that, as a +prisoner, the cold and misery would be fatal to the one survivor. +I took pity on him and set both him and his venerable mentor at +liberty. On taking his leave of me the latter said, "When she +thinks of her eldest son, the mother of my two pupils will curse +you, but when she sees the return of her youngest she will bless +you, and the mother in whose name you spared him." + +The vigour with which the Russian troops had been repulsed in +this last contact having cooled their ardour, we did not see them +again for two days, which allowed us to reach Molodechno; but if +the enemy allowed us a momentary truce the cold increased its +attack. The temperature fell to 27 degrees of frost. Men and +horses were falling at every stride, frequently not to rise +again. Notwithstanding, I remained with the debris of my +regiment, in the midst of which I made my nightly bivouac in the +snow. There was nowhere I could go to be better off. My gallant +officers and men regarded their commanding officer as a living +flag. They endeavoured to preserve me and offered me all the care +which our appalling situation permitted. The wound to my knee +prevented me from sitting astride my horse, and I had to rest my +leg on my horse's neck to keep it straight, which made me get +even colder. I was in great pain but there was nothing that could +be done. + +The road was lined with the dead and dying, our march was slow +and silent. What remained of the guard formed a little square, in +which travelled the Emperor's carriage, in which was also King +Murat. + +On the fifth of December, after dictating his twenty-ninth +bulletin, which created stupefaction throughout all of France, +the Emperor left the army at Smorgoni to return to Paris. He was +nearly captured at Ochmiana by some Cossacks. The Emperor's +departure greatly affected the morale of the troops. Some blamed +him and accused him of abandoning them. Others approved, saying +that it was the only way to preserve France from civil war, and +invasion by our so-called allies, the majority of whom were +waiting only for a favourable opportunity to turn against us, but +who would not dare to make a move if they heard that Napoleon had +returned to France, and was organising fresh military forces. + +Chap. 20. + +On his departure, the Emperor handed the command of the remains +of the army to Murat, who in the circumstances proved unequal to +the task, which it must be admitted was extremely difficult. The +cold paralysed the mental and physical activity of everyone; all +organisation had broken down. Marshal Victor refused to relieve +2nd Corps, who had formed the rear-guard since the Beresina, and +Marshal Ney had, unwillingly, to keep it there. Each morning a +multitude of dead were left in the bivouac where we had spent the +night. I congratulated myself on having, in September, made my +men equip themselves with sheepskin coats, a precaution which +saved the lives of many of them. The same applied to the supplies +of food which we had taken from Borisoff, for without these it +would have been necessary to dispute with the starving hordes +over the dead bodies of horses. + +I may mention here that M. de Segur claims that there were +instances of cannibalism. I have to say that there were so many +dead horses lying along the route that there was no need for +anyone to resort to this. What is more, it would be a great +mistake to think that the countryside was completely bare: there +was shortage in localities close to the road, which had been +stripped by the army on its march to Moscow, but the army had +passed in a torrent, without spreading out to the sides. Since +then the harvest had been gathered and the country had recovered +somewhat, so that it was only necessary to go for one or two +leagues from the road to find plenty. It is true, however, that +only a well-organised detachment could do this without being +picked off by the parties of Cossacks which prowled around us. + +I arranged, with some other colonels, the formation of foraging +parties, who came back not only with bread and a few cattle, but +with sledges loaded with salted meat, flour and oatmeal taken +from villages which had not been abandoned by the peasantry. This +proves that if the Duc de Bassano and General Hogendorp, to whom +the Emperor had confided, in June, the administration of +Lithuania, had done their job properly, during the long period +which they spent at Wilna, they could have created large storage +depots, but they were interested only in supplying the town, +without bothering about the troops. + +On the 6th of December, the cold increased and the temperature +fell to nearly minus thirty; so that this day was even more +deadly than its predecessors, particularly for troops who had not +been conditioned gradually to the climate. Amongst this number +was the Gratien division, consisting of 12,000 conscripts, who +left Wilna on the 4th to come in front of us. The sudden +transition from warm barracks to a bivouac in twenty-nine and a +half degrees of frost, within forty-eight hours was fatal to +nearly all of them. The rigour of the season had an even more +terrible effect on the 200 Neapolitan cavalrymen who formed King +Murat's bodyguard. They also came to join us after a long stay in +Wilna, but they all died on the first night which they spent on +the snow. + +The remnants of the Germans, Italians, Spaniards, Croats and +other foreigners whom we had led into Russia, saved their lives +by means which the French found repugnant: they deserted, went to +villages adjoining the road and awaited, in the warmth of their +houses, the arrival of the enemy. This often took some time for, +surprisingly, the Russian soldiers, used to spending the winter +in draught-free houses, warmed by continuously burning stoves, +are more susceptible to the cold than the inhabitants of other +parts of Europe, and their army suffered heavy losses; which +explains the slowness of the pursuit. + +We did not understand why Koutousoff and his generals did no more +than follow us with a weak advance-guard, instead of attacking +our flanks and going to the head of our column to cut off all +means of retreat. But they were unable to carry out this +manoeuvre which would have finished us because their soldiers +suffered as much from the cold as we did, many of them dying as a +result. The cold was so intense that one could see a sort of +steam coming from one's eyes and ears, which froze on contact +with the air and fell like grains of millet onto one's chest, and +one had to stop frequently to rid the horses of huge icicles +which were formed by their breath freezing on the bits of their +bridles. + +There were, however, thousands of Cossacks, attracted by the hope +of plunder, who braved the seasonal bad weather and hung around +our columns, even attacking places where they saw baggage, though +a few shots would drive them off. Eventually, in order to harass +us without running any danger, for we had been forced to abandon +our artillery, they mounted light cannons on sledges, and used +them to fire on our men, until they saw an armed detachment +advancing towards them, when they took to their heels. These +sneak attacks did little real damage, but they became very +unpleasant because of their constant repetition. Many of the sick +and wounded were taken and despoiled by these raiders, some of +whom had acquired an immense amount of booty, and the greed for +enrichment attracted new enemies, who came from the ranks of our +allies: these were the Poles. Marshal de Saxe, the son of one of +their kings, said rightly that the Poles were the biggest thieves +in the world, and would rob even their own parents, so, not +surprisingly, those in our ranks showed little respect for the +property of their allies. On the march or in bivouac, they stole +anything they saw; but as no one trusted them, petty thieving +became more difficult, so they decided to operate on a grand +scale. They organised themselves into bands, and at night they +would don peasant headgear and slip out of the bivouac to meet at +an agreed spot, then they would return to the camp shouting the +Cossack war-cry of "Hourra! Hourra!" which so frightened men +whose morale had been broken, that many of them fled abandoning +their possessions and food. The false Cossacks, after stealing +all they could would return to the camp before daylight and +become once more Poles, ready to become Cossacks again on the +next night. + +When this form of brigandage was disclosed, several generals and +colonels decided to put a stop to it. General Maison kept such a +close watch in the lines of 2nd Corps, that one fine night our +guards surprised a group of about fifty Poles at the moment when +they were about to play their role of Cossacks. Seeing that they +were surrounded these bandits had the impudence to claim that +they were just having a joke, but as this was not the time nor +place for laughter, General Maison had them all shot out of hand. +It was some time before we saw robbers of this kind again, but +they reappeared later. + +On the 9th of December, we arrived at Wilna, where there were +some stores; but as the Duc de Bassano and General Hogendorp had +left for the Nieman, there was no one to give orders, so that +there, as at Smolensk, the officials demanded proper receipts for +the issue of food and clothing, which was virtually impossible +because of the disorganization of almost all the regiments. We +lost some precious time in this way. General Maison broke into +several stores and his men took some supplies, but the remainder +was taken the next day by the Russians. Soldiers from other corps +wandered round the town in the hope of being taken in by the +inhabitants, but the people who six months previously had +welcomed the French with open arms, closed their doors to us when +they saw us in distress. Only the Jews would accommodate those +who could pay for temporary shelter. + +Admitted neither to the stores nor to private houses, the +majority of famished men headed for the hospitals where, although +there was not enough food for all of them, they were at least +sheltered from the piercing cold. This respite was enough to +decide 20,000 sick and wounded, among whom were two hundred +officers and eight generals, to go no further. They had reached +the end of their physical and mental resources. + +Lieutenant Hernoux, one of the most vigourous and brave officers +in my regiment, was so overcome by what he had been through that +he lay down on the snow, refusing to move, until he died. Several +soldiers, of all ranks, blew their brains out, to escape from +their suffering. + +During the night 9th-10th December, in thirty degrees of frost, +some Cossacks came and began shooting at the gates of Wilna. Many +people thought this was the entire army of Koutousoff, and in a +panic they fled from the town. I regret to say that King Murat +was among them. He left without giving any orders, but Marshal +Ney stayed and organised the retreat as best he could. We quitted +Wilna on the morning of the 10th, leaving behind not only a great +number of men, but also an artillery park and a part of the +army's funds. + +We had scarcely left the town when the infamous Jews turned on +the men whom they had taken into their houses, stripped them of +their clothes and threw them out, naked into the snow. Some +officers of the Russian advance-guard, which was entering the +town, were so indignant at this behaviour that they killed a +number of them. + +In the midst of this chaos, Marshal Ney had urged onto the road +to Kowno all those whom he could stir into movement, but he had +gone no more than a league when he came to the hill of Ponari. +This small slope which in other circumstances the army would have +hardly noticed, now became a most serious obstacle because the +ice with which it was covered made it so slippery that the +draught-horses were unable to drag up it the carts and wagons, so +that what remained of the army's money would have fallen into the +hands of the Cossacks had not Marshal Ney ordered that the wagons +should be opened and the soldiers allowed to empty the +strong-boxes. This sensible measure gave rise later to assertions +that the men had robbed the Imperial treasury. + +Several days before our arrival at Wilna, the intense cold having +killed many of our horses and made the rest unfit to ride, my +troopers all went on foot. I would have very much liked to join +them but my injury prevented this, so I took to a sledge to which +was harnessed one of my horses. This new method of transport gave +me the idea that I might by this means save the sick men, of whom +I had a considerable number. There is no dwelling in Russia so +poor that it does not have a sledge, and it was not long before I +had a hundred or so, each one drawn by a troop horse, carrying +two sick men. This method of travel seemed to General Castex to +be so convenient that he authorised me to put all my men on +sledges. The commander of the 24th did the same and so the +remains of the brigade became a sledge-borne unit. + +You may think that in doing this we deprived ourselves of any +means of defence, but you would be wrong, for we were much more +mobile with the sleds, which could go anywhere, and whose shafts +held up the horses, than we would have been in the saddle of +animals which fell down all the time. + +As the road was covered with abandoned muskets, each of our +Chasseurs took two of them and an ample provision of cartridges, +so that if any Cossacks dared to approach, they were met by a +volume of fire which quickly drove them off. Our troopers could +also fight on foot if need be. In the evening we formed a big +square with our sledges, in the middle of which we lit our fires. +Marshal Ney and General Maison often came to spend the night +here, where they were secure, since the only enemies present were +the Cossacks. This was undoubtedly the first time anyone had seen +a rear-guard mounted on sledges; but it was a success in the +prevailing conditions. + +We continued to cover the retreat until, on the 13th of December, +we saw the Nieman once more, and Kowno (Kaunas), the last town in +Russia. It was at this spot that, five months earlier, we had +entered the empire of the Czars. How greatly had our +circumstances changed since then!... What appalling losses had we +suffered! + +On entering Kowno with the rear-guard, Marshal Ney found that the +only garrison was a small battalion of Germans some 400 strong, +whom he joined to the troops which he still had in order to +defend the town for as long as possible, to give the sick and +wounded the opportunity to cross into Prussia. When he heard that +Ney had arrived, King Murat left for Gumbinnen. + +On the 14th, Platov's Cossacks, followed by two battalions of +Russian infantry, mounted on sledges together with several guns, +appeared at Kovno which they attacked at a number of points. But +Marshal Ney, helped by General Gerard, held them off until +nightfall, when he took us across the frozen Nieman, and was the +last to leave Russian territory. + +We were now in Prussia, an allied country!... Marshal Ney, worn +out and ill, and regarding the campaign as finished, left us and +went to Gumbinnen, where there was a gathering of all the +marshals. From that moment the army had no overall commander, and +each regiment made its own way into Prussia. The Russians, who +were at war with this country, would have been entitled to follow +us there, but satisfied with having re-conquered their territory, +and not sure whether they should present themselves to the +Prussians as friends or enemies, they decided to await +instructions from their government, and halted at the Nieman. We +took advantage of their hesitation to head for the towns of old +Prussia. + +The Germans are usually humane; many of them had relatives or +friends in the regiments which had gone with us to Moscow. We +were received well enough, and I can promise you that having +slept for five months in the open, I was delighted to find myself +in a warm room and a comfortable bed; but this sudden transition +from a glacial bivouac to long-forgotten repose made me seriously +ill. Nearly all the army were affected in this way: a number of +them died, including Generals Eble and Lariboisiere, the +artillery commanders. + +In spite of the adequate reception given to us, the Prussians +remembered their defeat at Jena, and the way in which Napoleon +had treated them in 1807 when he seized part of their kingdom. +Secretly they hated us and would have disarmed and captured us at +the first signal from their King. Already General York, who led +the numerous Prussian units which the Emperor had so unwisely +placed on the left wing of the Grande Armee, and who were +stationed between Tilsit and Riga, had made a pact with the +Russians and had sent back Marshal Macdonald, whom, from some +remnant of conscience, he did not dare to arrest. + +The Prussians of all classes approved of General York's +treachery, and as the provinces through which the sick and +disarmed French soldiers were then passing were full of Prussian +troops, it is probable that the inhabitants would have sought to +take hold of them had it not been that they feared for their +King, who was in Berlin, in the midst of a French army commanded +by Marshal Augereau. This fear and the repudiation by the King +(the most honest man in his kingdom) of General York, who was +tried for treason and condemned to death, prevented a general +uprising against the French. We profited from this to reach the +Vistula and leave the country. + +My regiment crossed the river near the fortress of Graudenz at +the same place at which we had crossed on our way to Russia. But +this time the crossing was much more dangerous because the thaw +had already begun some leagues upstream and the ice was covered +by about a foot of water and one could hear frightening crackings +which heralded a general break-up. Added to which, it was in the +middle of a dark night that I was given the order to cross the +river immediately, for the General had just been informed that +the King of Prussia had left Berlin and taken refuge in Silesia, +in the midst of a considerable armed force, and that the populace +was becoming restless and it was feared that they would rise +against us as soon as the thaw prevented us from crossing the +river. We had to get across at all costs, but this was a very +dangerous operation, for the Vistula is quite wide at Graudenz, +and there were many gaps in the ice which it was difficult to see +by the light of the fires lit on both banks. + +As there was no possibility of crossing with our sledges, we +abandoned them. We led the horses and, preceded by some men armed +with poles to indicate the crevasses, we commenced the perilous +journey. We had icy water half-way up our legs, which was not +good for the sick and injured, but the physical discomfort was +nothing compared to the anxiety produced by the cracking of the +ice, which threatened, at any moment, to sink beneath our feet. +The servant of one of my officers fell into a crevasse and did +not reappear. We eventually reached the other side where we spent +the night warming ourselves in some fishermen's huts, and the +next day we witnessed a total thaw of the Vistula, which, had we +delayed our crossing for a few hours, would have made us +prisoners. + +From the spot where we had crossed the Vistula, we made our way +to the little town of Sweld, where my regiment had been in +cantonment before the war, and it was there that I greeted the +year 1813. The year which had ended was certainly the hardest of +my life. + +Chap. 21. + +Let us now cast an eye rapidly over the reasons for the failure +of the Russian campaign. + +Undoubtedly the principal one of these was Napoleon's error in +believing that he could make war in the north of Europe, before +ending that which had been going on for a long time in Spain, +where his armies were suffering serious reverses, at a time when +he was preparing to invade Russian territory. The soldiers of +French nationality, being thus spread from north to south, were +in insufficient numbers everywhere. Napoleon thought he could +supplement them by joining to their battalions those of his +allies, but this was to dilute a good wine with muddy water. The +quality of the French divisions was lowered, the allied troops +were never better than mediocre, and it was they, who, during the +retreat, sowed disorder in the Grande Armee. + +A no less fatal cause of our defeat was the inadequacy, or indeed +the total lack of organisation in the occupied countries. Instead +of doing as we had done during the campaigns of Austerlitz, Jena +and Friedland, and leaving behind the advancing army small bodies +of troops which, stretching back in echelon, could keep in +regular touch with one another to ensure tranquillity in our +rear, to expedite the forwarding of munitions and individual +soldiers and the departure of convoys of wounded, we unwisely +pushed all our available forces towards Moscow, so that between +that city and the Nieman, if one excepts Wilna and Smolensk, +there was not one garrison, nor storage depot, nor hospital. Two +hundred leagues of countryside were left to roving bands of +Cossacks. The result of this was that men who had recovered from +illness were unable to rejoin their units, and as there was no +system of evacuation, we had to keep all the wounded from the +battle for Moscow in the monastery of Kolotskoi for more than two +months. They were still there at the time of the retreat and were +nearly all taken prisoner, while those who felt able to follow +the army died of exhaustion and cold on the roads. Finally, the +retreating troops had no supply of stored food in a country which +produces vast amounts of grain. + +This lack of small garrisons in our rear was the reason why of +the more than 100,000 prisoners taken by the French during the +campaign, not a single one left Russia, because there was no way +in which they could be passed back from hand to hand. All these +prisoners escaped with ease and made their way back to the +Russian army, which thus recovered some of its losses, while ours +increased from day to day. + +The absence of interpreters also contributed to our disasters, +more than you might think. How, for example can one obtain +information about an unknown country, if one cannot exchange a +single word with the inhabitants? When, on the bank of the +Beresina, General Partouneaux mistook the road, and instead of +taking that leading to Studianka, took the one leading to General +Wittgenstein's position, he had with him a peasant from Borisoff, +who, not knowing a word of French, tried to indicate by signs +that the encampment was Russian, but, as he was not understood, +through lack of an interpreter we lost a fine division of 7 or +8000 men. + +In very similar circumstances, during October, the 3rd Lancers, +taken by surprise, in spite of the advice of their guide, whom +they did not understand, lost two hundred men. Now the Emperor +had in his army some bodies of Polish cavalry, nearly all of +whose officers and most of their N.C.O.s. spoke fluent Russian; +but they were left in their regiments whereas some should have +been taken from each unit and attached to generals and colonels, +where they would have been extremely useful. I consider the +provision of interpreters an important but often neglected +element in military operations. + +I have already commented on the major mistake that was made in +forming the two wings of the army from the Prussian and Austrian +contingents. The Emperor must have greatly regretted this, +firstly on learning that the Austrians had given passage to the +Russian army of Tchitchakoff, who then cut our line of retreat on +the banks of the Beresina, and secondly when told of the +treachery of General York, the head of the Prussian Corps. His +regret must have increased further during and after the retreat, +for if he had formed the two wings from French troops and had +taken to Moscow the Austrians and Prussians, the two latter, +having suffered their share of the hardships and the casualties +would have been as much enfeebled as all the other corps, while +Napoleon would have kept intact the French troops he had left on +the two wings. I would go even further and say that to weaken +Prussia and Austria Napoleon should have required from them +contingents triple or quadruple the size of those which they +contributed. It has been said, with hindsight, that neither of +the two states would have complied with such a demand, but I +disagree; the King of Prussia who had come to Dresden to beg the +Emperor to accept his son as an aide-de-camp would not have dared +to refuse, while Austria, in the hope of recovering some of the +rich provinces which Napoleon had snatched from her, would have +done everything to satisfy him. The overconfidence which Napoleon +had, in 1812, in the fidelity of those two states was his +undoing. + +It is often claimed that the fire of Moscow, for which praise is +given to the courage and resolve of the Russian government and +General Rostopschine, was the principal cause of the failure of +the 1812 campaign. This assertion seems to me to be contestable. +To begin with the destruction of Moscow was not so complete that +there did not remain enough houses, palaces, churches and +barracks to accommodate the entire army, and there is evidence of +this in a report which I have seen in the hands of my friend +General Gourgaud, who was then principal aide-de-camp to the +Emperor. It was not therefore lack of shelter which forced the +French to quit Moscow. Many people think that it was the fear of +food shortage, but this is also erroneous, for reports made to +the Emperor by M. le Comte Daru, the quartermaster-general of the +army, show that even after the fire there was in the city an +immense quantity of provisions, which would have supplied the +army for six months, so it was not the prospect of starvation +which decided the Emperor to retreat. These facts would appear to +indicate that the Russian government had failed to achieve its +aim, if this was indeed the aim it was pursuing; but in reality, +its aim was quite different. + +The court wished, in fact, to deliver a mortal blow to the +ancient aristocracy of the Boyars by destroying the city which +was the centre for their continual opposition. The Russian +government, although entirely despotic, has to pay much attention +to the great nobles, whose displeasure has cost several emperors +their lives. The richest and most powerful of these noblemen made +Moscow the backdrop for their intrigues, so the government, more +and more alarmed at the growth of the city, saw in the French +invasion an opportunity for its destruction. General +Rostopschine, who was one of the authors of this plan, was +entrusted with its execution, the blame for which he later laid +on the French. But the aristocracy was not taken in: it accused +the government so loudly and manifested so much discontent at the +useless burning of its palaces that the Emperor Alexander, to +avoid a personal catastrophe, was obliged not only to permit the +rebuilding of the city, but to banish Rostopschine who, in spite +of his protestations of patriotism, died in Paris, hated by the +Russian nobility. + +Whatever the motives may have been for the fire of Moscow, I +think that its preservation would have been more harmful than +useful to the French, for in order to control a city inhabited by +some 300,000 citizens always ready to revolt, it would have been +necessary to take from the army, and place as a garrison in +Moscow, 50,000 men, who, when the time came to retreat, would +have been assailed by the inhabitants, whereas the fire having +driven out almost all the populace, a few patrols were enough to +ensure tranquillity. + +The only influence which Moscow had on the events of 1812 was due +to the fact that Napoleon was unable to understand that Alexander +could not sue for peace without being assassinated by his +subjects, and believed that to leave the city without a treaty +would be to admit that he was not able to hold on to it. The +French Emperor insisted, therefore, on staying as long as +possible in Moscow, where he wasted more than a month waiting in +vain for a proposal of peace. This delay was fatal for it allowed +the winter to become established before the French army could go +into cantonments in Poland. Even if Moscow had been preserved +intact it would not have made any difference; the disaster arose +because the retreat was not prepared in advance and was carried +out at the wrong time. It was not difficult to forecast that it +would be very cold in Russia during the winter!... But, I repeat, +the hope of a peace misled Napoleon and was the sole cause of his +long stay in Moscow. + +The losses suffered by the Grande Armee were enormous, but they +have been exaggerated. I have already said that I have seen a +situation report, covered with notes in Napoleon's hand, which +gives the figure of those who crossed the Nieman as 325,000, of +whom 155,000 were French. Reports issued in February 1813 gave +the number of French who returned across the Nieman as 60,000, +added to this figure can be that of 30,000 prisoners returned by +the Russians after the peace of 1814. Giving a total loss of +French lives of 65,000. + +The loss inflicted on my regiment was, in proportion, much +smaller. At the beginning of the campaign we had 1018 men in the +ranks and we received 30 reinforcements at Polotsk, so that I +took into Russia 1048 troopers. Of this number I had 109 killed, +77 taken prisoner, 65 injured and 104 missing. This amounted to a +loss of 355 men, so that after the return of the men whom I had +sent to Warsaw, the regiment, which from the bank of the Vistula +had been sent beyond the Elbe to the principality of Dessau, had +in the saddle 693 men, all of whom had fought in the Russian +campaign. + +When he saw this figure, the Emperor, who from Paris was +supervising the reorganising of his army, thought it was a +mistake, and sent the report back to me with an order to produce +a corrected version. When I returned the same figure once more, +he ordered General Sebastiani to go and inspect my regiment and +give him a nominal roll of the men present. This operation having +removed all doubt, and confirmed my report, I received a few days +later a letter from the Major-general couched in the most +flattering terms and addressed to all officers and N.C.O.s and +particularly to me, in which Prince Berthier stated that he had +been directed by the Emperor to express his Majesty's +satisfaction at the care we had taken of our men's lives, and his +praise for the conduct of all our officers and N.C.O.s. + +After having had this letter read out before all the squadrons, I +had intended to keep it as a precious memento for my family, but +on further consideration, I decided that it would not be right to +deprive the regiment of a document in which was expressed the +Emperor's satisfaction with all its members, so I sent it to be +included in the regimental archive. I have frequently repented of +this, for scarcely a year had passed before the government of +Louis XVIII was substituted for that of the Emperor, and the 23rd +Chasseurs was combined with the 3rd. The archives of the two +regiments were collected together, badly cared for, and after the +total disbanding of the army in 1815, they disappeared into the +yawning gulf of the war office. I tried in vain, after the +revolution of 1830, to recover this letter, which was so +flattering to my old regiment and to me, but it could not be +found. + +Chap. 22. + +The year 1813 began very badly for France. The remains of our +army, returning from Russia, had scarcely crossed the Vistula and +started to reorganise,when the treachery of General York and the +troops under his command forced us to retire beyond the Elbe, and +shortly to abandon Berlin and all of Prussia, which rose against +us, helped by the units which Napoleon had imprudently left +there. The Russians speeded up their march as much as possible, +and came to join the Prussians, whose King now declared war on +the French Emperor. + +Napoleon had in northern Germany no more than two divisions, +commanded, it is true, by Augereau, but consisting mainly of +conscripts. As for those French troops who had fought in Russia, +once they were well fed and no longer slept on the snow, they +recovered their strength, and could have been used oppose the +enemy; but our cavalry were almost all without horses, very few +infantrymen had kept their weapons, we had no artillery, the +majority of the soldiers had no footwear, and their uniform was +in rags. The government had employed part of the year 1812 in +making equipment of all sorts, but owing to the negligence of the +war department, then in the hands of M. Lacuee, Comte de Cessac, +no regiment received the clothing allotted to it. The conduct of +the administration in these circumstances deserves some comment. + +When a regimental depot had got together, at great expense, the +numerous items required by its active battalions or squadrons, +the administration arranged with forwarding agents the transport +of the supplies as far as Mainz, which was then part of the +Empire. These goods were in no danger while crossing France to +the bank of the Rhine; however, M. de Cessac ordered a detachment +of troops to escort them as far as Mainz. There they were handed +over to foreign agents, who were supposed to forward them to +Magdeberg, Berlin, and the Vistula, without any French +supervision. This undertaking was carried out with so much bad +faith and delay that the packages containing the supplies of +clothing and footwear took six to eight months to go from Mainz +to the Vistula, a distance they should have covered in forty +days. + +This had been no more than a serious inconvenience when the +French armies were in peaceful occupation of Germany and Poland, +but it became a calamity after the Russian campaign. More than +two hundred barges laden with supplies for our regiments were +ice-bound in the Bromberg canal, near Nackel, when we passed this +point in January 1813, but as there was, in this immense convoy, +no French agent, and as the Prussian bargees already considered +us as enemies, no one told us that these vessels were loaded with +goods. The next day the Prussians took possession of this huge +quantity of clothing and footwear and used it to equip several of +the regiments they sent against us. Although the result of this +was that the increasing cold killed a large number of French +soldiers, there are those who boast of our efficient +administration! + +The lack of order in the French army's line of march as it went +through Prussia was due principally to the ineptitude of Murat, +who had assumed command after the departure of the Emperor, and +later to the feebleness of Prince Eugene de Beauharnais, the +Vice-Roi of Italy. + +When the time came for us to re-cross the Elbe and enter the +territory of the Confederation of the Rhine, the Emperor, before +removing his troops from Poland and Prussia, wanted to facilitate +a return to the offensive by leaving strong garrisons in the +fortresses which could assure the crossing of the Vistula, the +Oder and the Elbe, such as Thorn, Stettin, Magdeberg, Danzig, +Dresden, etc. + +This major decision on the part of the Emperor may be looked at +in two ways. So it has been praised by some knowledgeable +military observers and condemned by others. + +The first party say that the need to provide a place of rest and +safety for the numerous sick and wounded, which the army brought +back from Russia, compelled the Emperor to occupy these +fortresses, which, in addition, could store a massive amount of +military equipment and foodstuffs. They add that these fortresses +hindered enemy movements and by investing them, the enemy reduced +the number of troops which could be actively employed against us; +and finally that if the reinforcements which Napoleon was +bringing from France and Germany enabled him to win a battle, the +possession of the forts would help to ensure a new conquest of +Prussia, which would bring us to the banks of the Vistula and +force the Russians to return to their country. + +In reply to this it is claimed that Napoleon weakened his army by +breaking it up into so many scattered units who could not give +each other mutual assistance; that it was not necessary to +compromise the security of France in order to save a some +thousands of sick and wounded, very few of whom would return to +active service, and of whom nearly all died in the hospitals. It +was also said that the regiments of Italians, Poles, and Germans +from the Confederation of the Rhine, which the Emperor mingled +with the garrisons in order to lessen the requirement of French +units, would not be much use; and in fact almost all the foreign +troops fought very badly and ended up by going over to the enemy. +Finally it was claimed that the occupation of the forts gave very +little trouble to the Russian and Prussian armies, which, after +blockading them with an observation force, could continue their +march towards France. Which is what actually happened. + +I find myself in agreement with latter of these two opinions, +because it is evident that the forts could be of use to us only +if we overcame the Russian and Prussian armies, which was a +reason for concentrating our disposable manpower rather than +dispersing it. + +It might be said that as the enemy would no longer have to +blockade the forts, they would thus have an increase in their +manpower to match ours. But this is not so, for the enemy would +have to leave strong garrisons in the forts which we abandoned, +while we could make use of the men which were at present +immobilised. I may add that the defence of these useless forts +deprived the army in the field of the services of a number of +experienced generals, among others, Marshal Davout, who alone was +worth several divisions. I accept that during a campaign one must +leave behind several brigades to guard places on which the safety +of a country depends, such as Metz, Lille, and Strasbourg, in the +case of France, but the forts situated on the Vistula, the Oder, +and the Elbe, two or three hundred leagues from France, were of +only conditional importance, that is to say dependent on the +success of our army in the field. When this did not come about, +over eighty thousand men whom the Emperor had left in those +garrisons in 1812 were obliged to surrender. + +The position of France in the first months of 1813 was extremely +critical, for in the south our armies in Spain had suffered some +very serious reverses due to the weakening of their strength by +the continual withdrawal of regiments, while the English +ceaselessly sent reinforcements to Wellington, who had fought a +brilliant campaign during 1812, and had captured Cuidad-Rodrigo, +Badajoz, and the fort of Salamanca, had won the battle of +Arapiles, occupied Madrid and now threatened the Pyrenees. + +In the north, the numerous battle-hardened soldiers whom Napoleon +had led into Russia had nearly all died in action or of cold and +starvation. The still-intact Prussian army had just joined the +Russians, and the Austrians were on the point of following their +example. Finally, the sovereigns, and more importantly, the +people of the Germanic Confederation, stirred up by the English, +were wavering in their allegiance to France. The Prussian Baron +Stein, an able and enterprising man, took this opportunity to +publish a number of pamphlets in which he appealed to all Germans +to shake off the yoke of Napoleon and regain their liberty. This +appeal was readily received, as the passage, the accommodation, +and the maintenance of the French troops who had occupied Germany +since 1806 had occasioned great expense, to which was added the +confiscation of English merchandise, as a result of Napoleon's +continental blockade. The Confederation of the Rhine would have +defected if the rulers of the various states of which it was +composed had decided to listen to the wishes of their subjects; +but none of them dared budge, so ingrained was their habit of +obedience to the French Emperor, and so great their fear of +seeing him arrive at any moment, to head the considerable forces +which he was organising with such speed and building up +constantly in Germany. + +The greater part of the French nation still had the greatest +confidence in Napoleon. Those who were well-informed blamed him, +no doubt, for having the previous year led his army to Moscow, +and in particular for having awaited the winter there, but the +mass of the people, who were used to considering the Emperor as +infallible and had no notion of the events of this campaign nor +of the losses suffered by our men, saw only the glory which the +occupation of Moscow reflected on our arms, and were more than +willing to give the Emperor the means to heap victories round his +eagles. Every department and every town gave patriotic gifts of +horses, though the numerous levies of conscripts and money soon +cooled this enthusiasm. Nevertheless, the nation complied with +reasonably good grace, and battalions and squadrons seemed to +rise out of the ground, as if by some enchantment. It was +remarkable that after all the levies of conscripts which had been +made over the last twenty years, we had never recruited a finer +body of men. There were several explanations for this. + +To begin with, each of the eight hundred departments which then +existed had, for several years, maintained a company of so-called +departmental infantry, a sort of praetorian guard for the +Prefects, who made a point of selecting men of a high physical +standard for this duty. These men never left the principal towns +of the department, where they were very well housed, fed, and +clad, and as they had very few duties to perform, they were able +to build up their physical strength, for most of them led this +life for six or seven years, during which time they were +exercised regularly in the handling of arms, and in marches and +manoeuvres. They lacked only the "baptism of fire" to become +complete soldiers. These companies, depending on the importance +of the department, were of 150 to 250 men. The Emperor sent them +all to the army, where they were absorbed into the line +regiments. + +In the second place there was called into service a great number +of conscripts from previous years, who had by protection, +cunning, or temporary illness obtained deferment, that is to say +permission to remain at home until further orders. These older +men were nearly all strong and vigourous. + +These measures were legal; but what was not was the call-up of +those who had already taken part in the ballot for conscription +and whose names had not been drawn. These people, to whom this +lottery had given the legal right to remain civilians, were +nevertheless compelled to take up arms if they were less than +thirty years old. This levy produced a large number of men fit +to support the hardships of war. There was some objection raised +to this measure, mainly in the Midi and the Vendee, but the +greater part of the contingent fell into line, so great was the +habit of obedience. This meekness on the part of the populace +enticed the government into practices even more illegal and more +dangerous withal, in that they struck at the upper class; for +after forcibly enlisting men who had been exempted by lot, the +same measure was applied to those who had quite legally paid for +a replacement, and they were forced into the army, although some +families had been financially strained and even ruined in an +attempt to save their sons, for at that time replacements cost +from 12 to 20,000 francs, which had to be paid in cash. There +were even young men who had been replaced two or three times, but +who were still forced to go, and it was not unknown for one to +find himself serving in the same company as the man he had paid +to be his substitute! This injustice was the result of advice +given by Clarke, the Minister for War and Savary, the Minister of +Police, who persuaded the Emperor that to prevent any disturbance +during the war, it was necessary to remove the sons of +influential families from the country and put them in the army, +to serve, in some respects, as hostages!... To reduce somewhat +the odium felt by the upper class towards this imposition, the +Emperor created, under the name of "Guards of Honour," four +regiments of light cavalry, specially reserved for young +gentlemen of good family. These units, which were given a +brilliant Hussar's uniform, were commanded by general officers. + +To these more or less legal levies, the Emperor added the men +produced by an early conscription and a number of battalions +formed from the seamen, sailors, and gunners of the navy, all +trained men, used to handling arms and bored with the monotonous +life in port, keen to join their comrades in the army. There were +more than thirty thousand of these seamen, and it did not take +long for them to become first class infantry soldiers. Finally +the Emperor, obliged to use every means to rebuild his army, of +which the greater part had perished in the frozen wastes of +Russia, further weakened his forces in Spain by taking not only +several thousands of men to make up his guard, but several +brigades and entire divisions composed of old soldiers, +accustomed to hardship and danger. + +For their part, the Russians, and particularly the Prussians, +were preparing for war. The indefatigable Baron de Stein +travelled the provinces, preaching a crusade against the French, +and organising his "Tugenbond" whose members swore to take up +arms for the liberation of Germany. This society, which stirred +up so many enemies against us, operated openly in Prussia, which +was already at war with the Emperor, and insinuated itself into +the states and armies of the Confederation of the Rhine, despite +the opposition of some sovereigns and with the tacit permission +of others, to such an extent that almost the whole of Germany +was, in secret, our enemy, and the contingents which were joined +to our military forces were prepared to betray us at the first +opportunity, as events would shortly show. These events would not +have taken so long to come about if the German's natural laxity +and sloth had not prevented them from acting sooner than they +did, for the debris of the French army which crossed the Elbe in +1812 stayed peacefully in cantonment on the left bank of the +river for the first four months of 1813, without being attacked +by the Russians and Prussians who were stationed on the opposite +bank, and who did not feel themselves strong enough to do so, +although Prussia had mobilised its landwehr, made up of all fit +men, and Bernadotte, forgetting that he was born a Frenchman, had +declared war on us, and had joined his Swedish troops to those +belonging to the enemies of his native country. + +During the period which we spent on the left bank of the Elbe, +although the army received continual reinforcements, there was +still very little in the way of cavalry except for some +regiments, one of which was mine, so we had been allotted as +cantonments several communes and the two little towns of Brenha +and Landsberg, in pleasant country near Magdeberg. While we were +there I had a great disappointment. The Emperor wished to speed +the organisation of the new levies and thought that for this +purpose the temporary presence of unit commanders at their +regimental depots would be useful. So he decided that all +colonels should return to France except those who had a certain +number of men in their unit, the number fixed for the cavalry was +four hundred, and I had more than six hundred mounted men!... I +was therefore forced to stay behind, when I so much longed to +embrace my wife and the child which she had given me during my +absence. + +To the disappointment which I felt was added another vexation, +the good General Castex, whom I had held in such high regard +during the Russian campaign, was to leave us and join the mounted +Grenadiers of the Guard. His brigade, and that of General +Corbineau, who had been given the position of aide-de-camp to the +Emperor, were both put in charge of General Exelmans. General +Wathiez was to replace Castex, and General Maurin to replace +Corbineau. These three generals had, however, gone to France +after the Russian campaign and I was the only colonel left, so +General Sebastiani, to whose corps the new division was to be +attached, ordered me to take over the command, which added a +great deal of work to my regimental duties, for I had to make +frequent visits, in appalling weather, to the cantonments of the +other three regiments. The wound to my knee, although it had +healed, was still painful and I did not know if I would be able +to remain on duty until the end of the winter, when after a month +General Wathiez returned to take up the command of the division. + +A few days later, without my having asked, I was ordered to go to +France to organise the large number of recruits and horses which +had been sent to my regimental depot. The depot was in the +department of Jemmapes, at Mons in Belgium, which was then part +of the Empire. I left immediately and travelled quickly. I +realised that as I was authorised to go to France on duty, it +would not be acceptable for me to request even the shortest +period of leave to go to Paris, so I welcomed the offer made by +Mme. Desbrieres, my mother-in-law, to bring my wife and my son to +Mons. After a year of separation, during which I had experienced +so many dangers, it was with the greatest pleasure that I once +more saw my wife, and held in my arms our little Alfred, now +eight months old. This was one of the happiest days of my life! +The joy which I felt on holding my little son was increased by +the recollection that he very nearly became an orphan on the day +of his birth. + +I spent the end of April and the months of May and June at the +depot, where I was extremely busy. Many recruits had been sent to +the 23rd, men of good physique and from a warrior race, for they +mostly came from the neighbourhood of Mons, the former province +of Hainault, from where the Austrians used to draw their finest +cavalrymen, at the time when they possessed the low countries. +These are people who love and care well for horses, but as the +horses which come from this district are a little too heavy for +Chasseurs, I obtained permission to buy some in the Ardennes, +from where we obtained a fair selection. + +I found at the depot some good officers and N.C.O.s, several of +whom had been in Russia and had gone to the depot to recover from +injuries or illness, and the ministry sent me some young officers +from the school of cavalry at Saint-Cyr. From this material I +made up various squadrons, which, although not perfect, could +mingle without difficulty with the old cavalrymen from Russia +whom I had left on the banks of the Elbe, and throughout whom +they would be spread on their arrival. As soon as a squadron was +ready it was sent off to join the army. + +Chap. 23. + +While I was busily engaged in rebuilding my regiment, as were +many other colonels, mainly from the cavalry, who were in France +for the same reason, hostilities broke out on the Elbe, which had +been crossed by the allies. + +The Emperor left Paris, and on the 25th of April he was at +Naumbourg, in Saxony, at the head of 170,000 men, of whom only a +third were French, a detachment of troops which had been sent to +Germany having not yet arrived. The other two thirds of his army +was formed of units from the Confederation of the Rhine, the +majority of which were very reluctant to fight on his behalf. +General Wittgenstein, who had gained some celebrity following our +disaster at the Beresina, although the weather did us far more +harm than his manoeuvres, was in overall command of the Russian +and German troops, a combined force of 300,000 men, which faced +Napoleon's army on the 28th of April, in the region of Leipzig. + +On the 1st of May there was a sharp engagement at Poserna, in an +area where Gustavus Adolphus had died, during which Marshal +Bessieres was killed by a cannon-ball. The Emperor regretted his +death more than did the army, which had not forgotten that it was +the advice given to Napoleon by the Marshal in the evening of the +battle for Moscow which had deterred him from achieving victory +by committing his guards to the action, which had he done, it +would have changed the outcome and led to the complete +destruction of the Russian force. + +The day after Bessieres' death, while Napoleon was continuing his +march towards Leipzig, he was attacked unexpectedly on the flank, +by the Russo-Prussians, who had crossed the river Elster during +the night. In this battle, which was given the name of the Battle +of Lutzen, there was some fierce fighting, in which the troops +newly arrived from France showed the greatest courage, the marine +regiments being particularly notable. The enemy, soundly beaten, +withdrew towards the Elbe, but the French, having almost no +cavalry, were able to take few prisoners and their victory was +incomplete. Nevertheless it produced a great moral effect in +Europe, and above all in France, for it showed that our troops +had retained their fighting qualities, and that only the frosts +of Russia had overcome them in 1812. + +The Emperor Alexander and the King of Prussia, after being +present at Lutzen and witnessing the defeat of their armies, had +gone to Dresden, from where they had to withdraw on the approach +of the victorious Napoleon, who took possession of the town on +the 8th of May, where he was shortly joined by his ally, the King +of Saxony. After a brief stay in Dresden, the French crossed the +Elbe and pursued the Prusso-Russians, whose rear-guard they +caught up with and defeated at Bischofswerda. + +The Emperor Alexander, dissatisfied with Wittgenstein, assumed +personal command of the allied armies, but having been defeated +in his turn by Napoleon at Wurtchen, it seems likely that he +recognised his lack of ability in this field, for he soon +relinquished the position. + +The Russo-Prussians having come to a halt and dug in at Bautzen, +the French emperor ordered Ney to outflank their position, which +resulted in a victory on the 21st of May, which lack of cavalry +once more rendered incomplete though the enemy lost 18,000 men +and fled in disorder. + +On the 22nd, the French, in pursuit of the Russians, made contact +with their rear-guard at the pass of Reichenbach. What little +cavalry Napoleon had was commanded by General Latour-Maubourg, a +most distinguished soldier, who led it with such elan that the +enemy were overwhelmed and abandoned the field after heavy +losses. Those suffered by the French, though fewer, were most +painful. The cavalry general, Bruyere, a fine officer, had both +his legs carried away and died of this dreadful injury; but the +saddest event of the day was the result of a cannon-ball which, +after killing General Kirgener (brother-in-law of Marshal +Lannes), mortally wounded Marshal Duroc, the grand marshal of the +palace, a man liked by everyone, and Napoleon's oldest and best +friend. Marshal Duroc survived for a few hours following his +injury, and the Emperor who was at his side showed every sign of +the deepest grief. Those who witnessed this melancholy scene, +noted that the Emperor, who was forced to leave his friend by the +demands of duty, parted from him in tears, having given him a +rendez-vous in "A better world!" + +The French army now pressed on into Silesia, whose capital, +Breslau (Wroclaw) it occupied on the 1st of June. The allies, and +in particular the Prussians, much alarmed, realised that in spite +of their boasts, they were unable, without help, to stop the +French, and wanted to gain a respite in the hope that the +Austrians would end their hesitation and join forces with them. +They sent out envoys, given the task of soliciting an armistice +which, subject to the mediation of Austria, would lead, they +said, to a peace treaty. Napoleon thought that he should agree +to this armistice, and so it was signed on the 4th of June, to +last until the 10th of August. + +While Napoleon was going from success to success, Marshal Oudinot +was defeated at Luckau, and lost 1100 men. The Emperor hoped that +during the armistice the numerous reinforcements from France +which he was awaiting, particularly the cavalry which had been +sorely missed, would make their appearance, and would take part +in a new campaign if that became unavoidable. There were, +however, several generals who regretted that the Emperor had not +followed up his victory. They argued that if the armistice +permitted us to build up our reserves, it did the same for the +Russo-Prussians, who hoped that they would be joined by the +Austrians, as well as by the Swedes, who were marching to their +aid. The former were not yet ready, but they would have more than +two months to organise and put into motion their numerous troops. + +When at Mons I heard of the victories of Lutzen and Bautzen, I +was sorry not to have been there, but my regrets were diminished +when I found that my regiment had not been involved; it was, in +fact, before Magdeburg on the road to Berlin. M. Lacour, a former +aide-de-camp to General Castex, had been posted as squadron +commander to the 23rd, about the end of 1812, and he took command +of the regiment in my absence. He was a brave man, who had +acquired some education by reading, which gave him pretentions +which were out of place in a military milieu; in addition to +which his lack of experience as a commanding officer, resulted in +the regiment suffering losses which should have been avoided, and +of which I shall speak later. While I was at the depot, I gained +as second squadron commander M. Pozac, a very fine officer in all +respects who had been awarded a "sabre of honour" for his conduct +at the battle of Marengo. + +Towards the end of June, all the colonels who had been sent to +France to organise the new forces, having completed this task, +were ordered to return to their posts with the army, although +hostilities would be suspended for some time. I was therefore +forced to leave my family, with whom I had passed so many happy +days, but duty called and I had to obey. + +I once more took the road to Germany, and went first to Dresden, +to where the Emperor had summoned all the colonels in order to +question them about the composition of the detachments they had +sent to the army. There I learned something which annoyed me +greatly! At the depot I had organised four superb squadrons of +150 men each. The two first of which (happily the smartest and +best) had joined the regiment; the third had been taken, by +Imperial decision, and sent to Hamburg to be incorporated in the +28th Chasseurs, one of the weakest regiments in the army. This +was a lawful order, and I accepted it without complaint: but it +was not the same when I was told that the 4th squadron which I +had sent from Mons, having been noticed as it passed through +Cassel, by Jerome, the King of Westphalia, this prince had found +it so desirable that he had, on his own authority, enrolled it in +his Guard! I knew that the Emperor, very irritated that his +brother had taken it upon himself to make off with some Imperial +troops, had ordered him to send them on their way immediately, +and I had hopes that I would receive them; but King Jerome got +hold of some of the Emperor's aides, who represented to his +Majesty that as the King of Westphalia's Guard was composed +entirely of Germans, who were not by any means to be relied upon, +it was right that he should have a French squadron on whose +loyalty he could count; in the second place the King had, at much +expense, equipped the squadron with the brilliant uniform of +Hussars of his Guard; and finally, that even without this +squadron, the 23rd would still be the strongest regiment in the +French cavalry. Whatever the reason, my squadron remained in the +Westphalian guard, in spite of my loud protests. I could not get +over this loss, and found it supremely unjust that I should be +deprived of the fruits of my trouble and labour. + +I rejoined my regiment not far from the Oder in the region of +Zagan, where it was in cantonment in the little town of +Freistadt, as was Exelman's division, of which it was a part. + +During our stay in this area, a curious incident occurred. A +trooper by the name of Tantz, the only bad character in the +regiment, having got thoroughly drunk, threatened an officer who +had ordered him to be put in the police cell. Put before a +court-martial he was found guilty, condemned to death and the +sentence confirmed. Now when the guard, commanded by +Warrant-officer Boivin, went to fetch Tantz to take him to the +place where he was to be shot, they found him in the cell +completely naked, on the pretext that it was too hot. + +The warrant-officer, a brave fellow, but one whose brains did not +match his courage, instead of making him dress, told him to wrap +himself in a cloak. However, having arrived on the draw-bridge +across the large moat which surrounded the chateau, Tantz threw +the cloak in the faces of the guard, leapt into the moat which he +swam across, and having reached the other side made off to join +the enemy on the opposite bank of the Oder. We never heard +anything more of him!... I broke the warrant-officer for being +so careless, but he soon regained his rank, by an act of bravery +which I shall describe shortly. + +The squadrons which I had recently added to the regiment, brought +its strength up to 993 men, of whom almost 700 had fought in the +Russian campaign. The newly arrived soldiers were a well-built +body of men who had nearly all come from the departmental legion +of Jemmapes, which made it easier to train them as cavalrymen; I +incorporated the newcomers in the older squadrons. Both sides +were preparing for the coming struggle but our opponents had made +good use of their time, and had presented us with a powerful +adversary by persuading the Austrians to take up arms against us. + +The Emperor Napoleon, whom numerous victories had accustomed to +taking little account of his enemies, believed himself to be once +more invincible, when he saw himself in Germany at the head of +300,000 men, but he did not examine sufficiently closely the +composition of the forces with which he was about to oppose the +whole of Europe, united against him. + +The French army had received an intake of fine quality recruits, +and had never looked better; but with the exception of some +regiments, the majority of these new soldiers had never been in +action, and the disasters of the Russian campaign had generated +an uneasy feeling in the corps, the effects of which were still +felt. Our superb army was better suited to being put on show to +obtain terms, than to being engaged, at this moment, in combat. +Nearly all the generals and colonels, who saw the regiments at +close quarters, were of the opinion that they needed some years +of peace. If one were to pass from the French army to an +examination of those of her allies, one would see nothing but +apathy, ill-will and the wish for an opportunity to betray +France! Everything should have led Napoleon to treat with his +enemies, and to do this he should have first settled with his +father-in-law, the Emperor of Austria, by giving back to him +Dalmatia, Istria, the Tyrol, and some of the other provinces +which he had seized in 1805 and 1809. Some concessions of this +sort offered to Prussia would have quietened the allies who, it +seems, were willing to return to Napoleon the colonies which had +been taken from France and to guarantee his occupation of all the +provinces this side of the Rhine and the Alps, and also upper +Italy; but in return he would have to give up Spain, Poland, +Naples, and Westphalia. These terms were acceptable; but at a +conference with the diplomats sent to discuss them, Napoleon was +rude to M. Metternich, the principal member of the delegation, +and sent them away without any concessions. It is said that as he +saw them leave the palace of Dresden, he remarked "We'll give +them a sound thrashing!" The Emperor seemed to forget that the +enemy armies were almost three times the size of his own forces. +He had, in fact, no more than 320,000 men in Germany, while the +allies could put in the line almost 800,000 fighting men. + +The Emperor's birthday was on the 15th of August, but he ordered +that it should be celebrated in advance, because the armistice +ended on the 10th. The rejoicings of Saint-Napoleon's day then +took place in the cantonments. This was the last time that the +French army celebrated the birthday of its Emperor! There was not +much enthusiasm, for even the least perceptive of officers was +aware that we were on the brink of a catastrophe, and the worries +of the commanders affected the morale of their subalterns. +However each one prepared to do his duty, though with little hope +of success, in view of the great inferiority in numbers of our +army as opposed to the innumerable troops of the enemy. Already, +among our allies of the Confederation of the Rhine, the Saxon +General Thielmann had deserted with his brigade to join the +Prussians, after trying to hand over to them the fortress of +Torgau. Among our troops there was much uneasiness and lack of +confidence. + +It was at this time that one heard of the return to Europe of +General Moreau who, condemned to banishment after the conspiracy +of Pichegru and Cadoudal, had retired to America. The hatred +which Moreau had for Napoleon made him forget the duty he owed to +his country. He soiled his reputation by ranging himself with the +enemies of France; however, it was not long before he paid the +price of this infamous conduct. + +Now an immense semi-circle was formed around the French army. A +body of 40,000 Russians was in Mecklemberg; Bernadotte, the +Prince Royal of Sweden, occupied Berlin and the surrounding +district with an army of 120,000 men, composed of Swedes, +Russians, and Prussians. Two great Russian and Prussian armies, +220,000 men strong, of whom 35,000 were cavalry, were in Silesia +between Schweidnitz and the Oder; 40,000 Austrians were stationed +at Lintz, and the main Austrian army of about 140,000 men was +concentrated in Prague; finally, a short distance behind this +front line of 560,000 combatants, an enormous body of reserves +was ready to march. + +The distribution of his troops made by Napoleon was as follows: +70,000 men were concentrated around Dahmen in Prussia, to oppose +Bernadotte; Marshal Ney with 100,000 occupied part of Silesia. A +corps of 70,000 was in the region of Zittau. Marshal Saint-Cyr +with 16,000 men occupied the camp at Pirna and gave cover to +Dresden. Finally the Imperial Guard, 20 to 25,000 strong was +spread round this capital, ready to go wherever was necessary. +Including the troops left in the garrisons of the forts, the +troops at Napoleon's disposal were infinitely fewer than those of +the enemy. This enumeration did not include the forces left in +Spain and Italy. + +Chap. 24. + +The French Emperor had divided his army into 14 Corps, called +infantry, although they each contained at least a brigade of +light cavalry. The commanding generals were as follows:-- + +1 Corps. Gen. Vandamme. + +2 Corps. Marshal Victor. + +3 Corps. Marshal Ney. + +4 Corps. Gen. Bertrand. + +5 Corps. Gen. Lauriston. + +6 Corps. Marshal Marmont. + +7 Corps. Gen. Reynier. + +8 Corps. Prince Poniatowski. + +9 Corps. Marshal Augereau. + +10 Corps. (confined in Danzig) Gen. Rapp. + +11 Corps. Marshal Macdonald. + +12 Corps. Marshal Oudinot. + +13 Corps. Marshal Davout. + +14 Corps. Marshal Saint-Cyr. + +Finally came the Guard, under the direct orders of the Emperor. + +The cavalry was divided into 5 Corps, commanded by 1. Gen. +Latour-Mauberg, 2. Gen. Sebastiani, 3. Gen. Arrighi, 4. Gen. +Kellermann. 5. Gen. Milhau. The cavalry of the Guard was +commanded by general Nansouty. + +The army, as a whole, approved of some of these appointments but +disapproved of others. They disliked such important posts being +given to Oudinot, who had made more than one mistake during the +Russian campaign, to Marmont, whose rashness had lost the battle +of Arpiles, to Sebastiani, who did not seem equal to the task, +and finally it was regretted that for a campaign which was to +decide the destiny of France, the Emperor had seen fit to try out +the strategic talents of Lauriston and Bertrand. The first was a +good artillery officer, and the second an excellent engineer, but +neither had directed troops in the field, and so lacked the +experience needed to command an army Corps. + +Napoleon, recalling that when he was named as commander-in-chief +of the army of Italy, he had hitherto commanded only some +battalions, which had not prevented him from successfully filling +the post, probably believed that Lauriston and Bertrand could do +the same thing. But men of such universal talent as Napoleon are +rare, and he could not hope that his new corps commanders could +follow his example. It is thus that the personal affection which +he felt for these generals led him to commit once more the error +which he had previously made in giving command of an army to the +artilleryman Marmont. + +The history of past wars shows quite clearly that to be +commander-in-chief, theoretical knowledge will not suffice, and +with a very, very few exceptions, it is necessary to have served +in an infantry or cavalry unit and to have commanded one in the +rank of colonel, to be competent to direct masses of men in the +field. This is a basic training which very few men can acquire as +generals or as commanders of an army. Louis XIV never confided +the command of troops in the open country to Marshal de Vauban, +who was, however, one of the most able men of his century, and +one presumes that if he had been offered the post, Vauban would +have turned it down in order to concentrate on his own specialty, +which was the attack and defence of fortresses. Marmont and +Bertrand, lacked this modesty, and the affection which Napoleon +had for them prevented him from listening to any observations on +the subject. + +King Murat, who had gone to Naples after the Russian campaign, +rejoined the Emperor at Dresden. The coalition, that is to say +the Austrians, Russians, and Prussians, opened the campaign with +an act of bad faith, unworthy of civilised nations. Although +under the terms of the previous convention, hostilities should +not have begun until the 16th of August, they attacked our +outposts on the 14th, and put the greater part of their forces in +motion after the defection of Jomini. + +Until this time, only the two Saxon generals, Thielmann and +Langueneau, had, shamefully, changed sides, but no general +wearing French uniform had sullied it in such a manner. It was a +Swiss, General Jomini, who was the first to do so. Jomini was a +simple clerk, on a salary of 1200 francs, in the ministerial +offices of the Republic of Helvetia, when, in 1800, General Ney +was sent to Berne by the First Consul to discuss with the Swiss +government the defence of their state, which was then our ally. +The duties of the clerk Jomini, which involved dealing with +confidential government documents, put him in contact with +General Ney, who was thus in a position to appreciate his +outstanding ability, and, yielding to his urgent requests, he +arranged for him to admitted as lieutenant, and shortly captain, +in the Swiss regiment which was being formed to serve with the +French army. General Ney took an increasing interest in his +protege. He had him enrolled as a French officer, took him as an +aide-de-camp and gave him the means to publish works which he had +written on the art of war, works which, although over-valued, are +not without some merit. + +Thanks to protection of this kind, Jomini advanced rapidly to the +rank of colonel and brigadier-general, and at the resumption of +hostilities in 1813 was chief-of-staff to Marshal Ney. Seduced, +however, by the extravagant promises made by the Russians, he +deserted, in possession of much information about Napoleon's +plans of campaign. It was fear that, on hearing of this +defection, Napoleon would change these plans that induced the +allies to commence hostilities two days before the date agreed +for the ending of the armistice. To the surprise of everyone, the +Emperor Alexander rewarded the treacherous Jomini by taking him +as an aide-de-camp, which is said to have outraged the delicate +susceptibilities of the Austrian Emperor. + +The information which Jomini was able to give the allies was a +serious blow to Napoleon, for several of his corps were attacked +in the course of moving into position and had to give up a number +of important points for lack of time to prepare their defence. +However, the Emperor, whose plan it was to move into Bohemia, +finding that his opponents were forewarned and on their guard +against this, resolved to attack the Prussian army in Silesia, +and re-engage in the offensive those troops which had been +compelled to retreat before Blucher. In consequence Napoleon +arrived at L”wenberg on the 20th of August, where he attacked a +considerable force of the allies consisting of Prussians, +Austrians, and Russians. Various actions took place on the 21st, +22nd, and 23r, in the areas of Goldberg, Graditzberg, and +Bunzlau. The enemy lost 7000 men killed or taken prisoner, and +retired behind the Katzbach. + +During one of the numerous engagements which took place during +these three days, Wathiez's brigade, which was pursuing the +enemy, was held up by a wide and swift-flowing stream, a +tributary of the Bobr. There was no way of crossing except by two +wooden bridges about a quarter of a mile apart, which were +covered by Russian artillery fire. The 24th Chasseurs, who had +passed into the command of the gallant Colonel Schneit, having +received the order to attack the left hand bridge, advanced to +the assault with their usual courage, but it was a different +matter when it came to the 11th (Dutch) Hussars, recently +incorporated into the brigade. Ordered to take the right hand +bridge, their Colonel M. Liegeard, the only Frenchman in the +unit, called in vain on his troops to follow him, they were so +overcome by fear that not one of them moved. As my regiment, +which was in the second line, was being subjected to as much fire +as the 11th Hussars, I hastened to the side of their colonel to +give him some help in urging his men to attack the enemy +artillery, which was the only way of stopping the cannonade, but +when I saw that I would have no success, and that the cowardice +of the Hollanders would result in many casualties in my regiment, +I led my troops to the front of them and was about to move into +the attack when I saw the bridge on the left collapse under the +first section of men from the 24th, throwing them into the river +where several men and horses were drowned. The Russians, during +their withdrawal, had prepared this trap by sawing so cunningly +through the main timbers supporting the bridge that, unless one +were warned, it was impossible to see what had been done. + +The sight of this disaster made me fear that the same treatment +had been given to the bridge towards which I was leading my men, +so I called a halt in order to arrange an inspection. This was a +dangerous undertaking, for not only was the bridge within range +of the enemy guns, but it was also within range of the muskets of +an infantry battalion. I was about to call for a volunteer for +this perilous task, when warrant-officer Boivin, whom I had +recently demoted for negligently allowing the Chasseur condemned +to death to escape, got off his horse and coming to me said, +rather than risking the life of one of his comrades, would I +please permit him to carry out the mission, in order to redeem +his mistake. Pleased with this courageous declaration, I said, +"Go then, and you will recover your epaulets at the end of the +bridge!" + +Boivin went forward and, ignoring cannon-balls and bullets, he +examined the superstructure of the bridge and its supports and +returned to assure me that it was in order and that the regiment +could cross. I thereupon re-instated him in his rank. He +remounted his horse and placing himself at the head of the +squadron which was about to cross the bridge he led the way +towards the Russians, who did not wait for us to attack, but +withdrew smartly. The month following, when the Emperor reviewed +the regiment and awarded several promotions, I had Boivin made a +sous-lieutenant. + +Our new brigade commander, General Wathiez, was able during the +these various actions to win the affection and regard of the +troops. As for the divisional commander, General Exelmans, we +knew only his reputation in army circles which was that of a man +of outstanding bravery; but he was also regarded as being +somewhat unreliable. We had proof of this in an event which +occurred at the re-commencement of hostilities. + +At a time when the division was carrying out a withdrawal, to +which my regiment was giving cover, General Exelmans, on the +pretext that he was about to lay a trap for the Prussian advance +guard, ordered me to place at his disposal my elite company and +25 of my best marksmen, whom he put under the command of Major +Lacour; then he put these 150 men in a meadow surrounded by +woodland, and after telling them not to move without his +permission, he went off and completely forgot them!... The enemy +arrived, and seeing the detachment abandoned in this manner, they +halted, fearing that it had been put there to lure them into an +ambush. To reassure themselves, they sent some individual men to +slip into the wood, on the right and left, and when they heard no +sound of gunfire, they gradually built up the number until they +had completely surrounded our troopers. It was in vain that +several officers pointed out to Major Lacour that this movement +was going to cut off his retreat; Lacour, brave but lacking +initiative, stuck rigidly to the order he had been given, without +considering that General Exelmans might have forgotten him and +that it might be as well to send someone to remind him, and at +least to reconnoitre the terrain over which he might be able to +retreat. He had been ordered to stay there, and he would stay +there even if his men were killed or taken prisoner! + +While Major Lacour was carrying out his instructions in the +manner of a simple sergeant rather than that of a senior officer, +the division marched into the distance! General Walthiez and I, +when we saw that the detachment did not return, and not knowing +how to contact General Exelmans, who was galloping across +country, had serious misgivings. I then asked permission from +General Walthiez to return to Major Lacour, and on receiving it I +left at the gallop with a squadron and arrived just in time to +see a most distressing sight, particularly for a commanding +officer who cared for his soldiers. + +The enemy, having infiltrated both flanks and even the rear of +our detachment, had mounted a frontal attack by a greatly +superior force, so that some 700 to 800 Prussian lancers +surrounded our 150 men, whose only way of retreat was over a +wretched footbridge of wooden planks which joined the two steep +banks of a nearby mill-stream. Our horsemen could cross here only +one by one so that there was congestion, and the elite company +lost several men. A number of riders then noticed a large +farmyard which they thought might lead to the mill-stream, and in +the hope of finding a bridge they entered it, followed by the +rest of the detachment. The stream did, in fact, run past the +farmyard, but it there formed the mill-pool, the banks of which +were lined by slippery flagstones, making access extremely +difficult for horses. This gave the enemy a great advantage, and +in an attempt to capture all the French who had entered this huge +yard, they closed the gates. + +It was at this critical moment that I appeared on the other side +of the stream with the squadron which I had hurriedly brought +with me. I ordered them to dismount, and while one man held four +horses, the rest, armed with their carbines, ran to the +footbridge, which was guarded by a squadron of Prussians. The +Prussians being on horseback and having only a few pistols as +firearms, were unable to reply to the sustained fire from the +carbines of our Chasseurs, and were forced to remove themselves +to a distance of several hundred paces, leaving behind some forty +dead and wounded. + +The troops who had been shut in the farmyard wanted to take +advantage of this momentary respite to force the main gate and +make a rush for it on horseback; but I called to them not to +attempt it, because to join me they would have had to cross the +footbridge, which they could do only one by one, and at this +point they would offer a target to the Prussians who would +undoubtedly charge and destroy them. The river banks were +garnished by many trees, amongst which an infantrymen can easily +withstand the attacks of cavalry, so I placed the dismounted men +along the riverside, and once they were in communication with the +mill's yard, I passed a message to the men there to dismount +also, take their carbines, and while a hundred of them held off +the enemy by their fire, the remainder could slip behind this +protective screen and pass the horses from hand to hand over the +footbridge. + +While this manoeuvre, covered by the fire from a cordon of 180 +dismounted Chasseurs, was proceeding in an orderly fashion, the +Prussian lancers, furious that their prey was about to escape, +tried to disorganise our retreat by a vigourous attack, but their +horses, caught up in the willow branches, amid the numerous holes +and pools of water, could scarcely move at a walk over the muddy +ground, and could never reach our foot-soldiers, whose well-aimed +fire, directed at close range, inflicted on them heavy losses. + +The Prussian major who led this charge, forcing his way boldly +into the centre of our line, killed with a pistol shot to the +head, Lieutenant Bachelet, one of my good regimental officers. I +greatly regretted his loss, which was, however, promptly revenged +by the Chasseurs of his section, for the Prussian major, hit by +several bullets, fell dead beside him. + +The death of their leader, the numerous casualties they had +suffered, and above all the impossibility of getting at us +determined the enemy to give up the enterprise and they withdrew. +I was able to pick up the wounded and make my retreat without +being followed. My regiment lost in this deplorable affair an +officer and nine troopers killed, and thirteen who were made +prisoner, among whom was Lieutenant Marechal. The loss of these +twenty-three members of the regiment I found all the more +distressing because it served no useful purpose, and fell wholly +on the finest soldiers in the unit, most of whom had been +earmarked for decoration or promotion. I have never forgotten +this undeserved setback! It resulted in our taking a poor view of +General Exelmans, who got away with a reprimand from General +Sebastiani and from the Emperor, who was influenced by his +friendship with Murat. Old General Saint-Germain, a former +commander, and almost the creator, of the 23rd Chasseurs, for +whom he had retained much affection, having stated loudly that +Exelmans deserved exemplary punishment, the two generals fell out +and would have come to blows if the Emperor had not personally +intervened. Major Lacour, whose incapacity had been largely +responsible for this catastrophe, I no longer regarded with any +confidence. + +Chap. 25. + +After the 21st, 22nd and 23rd of August, days on which we had +defeated Field-marshal Blucher's corps, and forced him to retire +behind the Katzbach, the Emperor gave orders for the follow-up on +the next day. However, on hearing that the combined army of the +allies, some 200,000 strong, commanded by Prince Schwartzenberg, +had just emerged, on the 22nd, from the mountains of Bohemia and +was heading for Saxony, Napoleon, taking his Guard, as well as +the cavalry of Latour-Maubourg and several divisions of infantry, +hastened by forced marches to Dresden, where Marshal Saint-Cyr +had shut himself in with the troops he had hurriedly withdrawn +from the camp at Pirna On leaving Silesia, the Emperor told +Marshal Ney to follow him, and left Marshal Macdonald in charge +of the large force which he left on the Bobr, that is to say the +3rd, 5th and 11th Infantry Corps and the 2nd Cavalry, with a +powerful element of artillery, making a total of 75,000 men. The +control of such a great body of combatants was too much for +Marshal Macdonald, as subsequent events will show. + +You must have noticed that the larger the number of troops +involved, the less detail I give of their movements: firstly +because this could require an enormous work, which I might not be +able to complete, and secondly because it could make the reading +of these memoirs too wearisome. I shall therefore be even more +concise in my description of events in the War of 1813, in which +600,000 to 700,000 men took part, than I have been in describing +previous campaigns. + +On the 25th of August, the allies having surrounded the town of +Dresden, whose fortifications were not proof against a major +attack, the position of Saint-Cyr became critical for he had no +more than 17,000 French troops to resist the immense numbers of +the enemy. The latter, badly served by their spies, were unaware +of the approaching arrival of Napoleon, and full of confidence in +their superior numbers, they delayed the attack until the +following day. This confidence was increased when they were +strengthened by two Westphalian regiments who had deserted from +King Jerome to join the Austrians. + +The worried Marshal Saint-Cyr expected to be attacked on the +morning of the 26th; but he was reassured as to the outcome of +the struggle by the presence of the Emperor, who had arrived that +very day at an early hour, at the head of the Guard and a +numerous body of all arms. Soon after his arrival, the enemy, who +still thought that they faced only Saint-Cyr's Corps, assaulted +the town in force and captured several redoubts. The Russians and +the Prussians, who now controlled the suburbs of Pirna, were +attempting to break down the Freyberg gate when, on the Emperor's +orders, it swung open to allow the emergence of a column of +infantry of the Imperial Guard, the leading brigade of which was +commanded by General Cambronne!... It was as if the head of +Medusa had appeared!... The enemy recoiled horrified, their guns +were captured at the double and the gunners killed on their +mountings! Simultaneous sorties were made from all the gates of +Dresden with the same results, and the allies, abandoning the +redoubts they had taken, fled into the surrounding country where +they were pursued by the cavalry to the foot of the hills. On +this first day the enemy had 5000 men put out of action, and we +took 3000 prisoners. The French had 2500 killed or wounded, +amongst the latter there being five generals. + +The next day it was the French army which took the initiative, +although they had 87,000 fewer men than their adversaries. The +action was at first fierce and sanguinary; but the rain which +fell in torrents on the heavy soil soon covered the battle-field +with pools of muddy water through which our troops moved with +much difficulty on their advance towards the enemy. Nevertheless, +advance they did, and the Young Guard had already driven back the +enemy left, when Napoleon, having observed that Prince +Schwartzenberg, the allies' commander-in-chief, had not given +sufficient support to his left wing, overwhelmed it with an +attack by Marshal Victor's infantry and Latour-Maubourg's +cavalry. + +King Murat, who was in command of this part of the line, was +highly successful. He forced his way through the pass of Cotta +and outflanking Klenau's corps, he separated it from the Austrian +army and attacked it, sabre in hand, at the head of his +carabiniers and Cuirassiers. Klenau was unable to withstand this +fearsome charge, almost all his battalions were compelled to +surrender, and two other divisions of infantry suffered the same +fate. + +While Murat was defeating the enemy left, their right wing was +routed by the Young Guard, so that after some three hours, +victory was assured and the allies beat a retreat towards +Bohemia. + +As a result of this second day of heavy fighting, the enemy left +on the field of battle 18 flags, 26 cannons and 40,000 men, of +whom 20,000 were prisoners. The main losses were suffered by the +Austrian infantry, who had two generals killed, three wounded and +two taken prisoner. + +It may be remarked that at this epoch percussion caps were +virtually unknown, and the infantry of all nations still used +flint-lock muskets, which it was almost impossible to fire once +the priming powder became wet. Now, as it had rained without +ceasing for the whole day, this contributed largely to the defeat +of the enemy infantry by our cavalry, and gave rise to an +extraordinary incident. + +A division of Cuirassiers, commanded by General Bordesoulle, +found itself facing a strong Austrian infantry division formed +into a square. Bordesoulle called on the enemy general to +surrender, which he refused to do. Bordesoulle then pointed out +to the Austrian that not one of his men's guns was capable of +being fired, to which he replied that his men could defend +themselves successfully with their bayonets, as the cavalry, +whose horses were in mud up to their hocks, would be unable to +charge them down. "Then I will blast your square with my +artillery!" "But you don't have any guns, they are stuck in the +mud." "If I show you my cannons, which are behind my first +regiment, will you then surrender?" "I would have no alternative, +for I would have no means of defence." + +The French general then advanced, to within thirty paces of the +enemy, a battery of six guns, the gunners with their slow-matches +in their hands, prepared to fire on the square. At this sight the +Austrian general and his division laid down their arms. + +The rain having prevented the infantry of both armies from using +their muskets and greatly slowed the movements of the cavalry, it +was the artillery which, in spite of the difficulty of +manoeuvering on the rain sodden ground, played a decisive role: +in particular the French artillery, whose teams of horses +Napoleon had doubled up, using animals from the headquarters +wagons, which remained safely in Dresden; so that our guns did +great damage, and it was one of their cannon-balls which struck +Moreau. + +It had been rumoured for some time that the former illustrious +French general had returned to Europe and had joined the ranks of +his country's enemies. Few people believed this, but it was +confirmed in the evening following the battle of Dresden in a +bizarre manner. Our advance-guard was in pursuit of the routed +enemy when one of our Hussars saw, on entering the village of +Notnitz, a magnificent Great Dane, which seemed to be searching +in distress for its owner. + +He took hold of the dog, and read on its collar the words "I +belong to General Moreau." He was then told by the cure of the +village that that General Moreau had undergone a double +amputation in his house. A French cannon-ball had landed in the +middle of the Russian general staff, it had struck one of the +General's legs, and going through his horse had then struck the +other. This had happened at the moment when the Austrian army had +been defeated, and to prevent Moreau falling into French hands, +the Emperor Alexander had arranged for him to be carried by some +Grenadiers until, the pursuit having slackened, it was possible +to dress his wounds and amputate both legs. The Saxon cure who +had witnessed this cruel operation, said that Moreau, who was +well aware that his life was in danger, had repeatedly cursed the +fate that had left him mortally wounded by a French missile, +amongst the enemies of his country. He died on the 1st of +September, and the Russians took away his body. + +No one in the French army regretted the death of Moreau, when it +was known that he had taken arms against his country. A Russian +envoy came to claim the dog on behalf of Colonel Rapatel, +Moreau's aide-de-camp, who had stayed with him; it was returned +but without the collar, which was given to the King of Saxony and +is now on display in Dresden. + +As Prince Schwartzenberg, the commander of the enemy troops +defeated at Dresden, had given Teplice as the rallying point for +the remains of his defeated armies, the Austrians retreated +through the valley of Dippoldiswalde, the Russians and the +Prussians on the Telnitz road, and the remnants of Klenau's corps +via Freiberg. Napoleon accompanied the French columns which were +pursuing the vanquished as far as Pirna, but just before he +arrived in that town, he was taken by a sudden indisposition, due +perhaps to the fact that he had spent five days constantly on +horseback, exposed to incessant rain. + +It is one of the misfortunes of princes that there are always to +be found in their entourage people who, to demonstrate their +attachment, claim to be alarmed at the slightest indisposition +and exaggerate the precautions which should be taken, which is +what happened on this occasion. The master-of-horse, +Caulaincourt, advised the Emperor to return to Dresden, and the +other great officers dared not give the much more sensible advice +to continue to Pirna, which was no more than a league distant. +The young Guard was already there and the Emperor would have been +able to have the rest which he required while remaining in a +position to guide the movements of the troops in pursuit of the +enemy, which he could not do from Dresden which was much further +from the center of operations. + +Napoleon then left to Marshals Mortier and Saint-Cyr the task of +supporting General Vandamme, commander of 1st Corps, who, +detached from the Grande Armee for three days, had defeated a +Russian corps and now threatened the enemy rear, had cut the road +from Dresden to Prague and occupied Peterswalde, from where he +dominated the Kulm basin and the town of Teplice, a most +important point through which the allies had to make their +retreat. However the return of the Emperor to Dresden nullified +these successes and led to a disastrous reverse which contributed +greatly to the fall of the Empire. + +General Vandamme was fine and courageous officer who, already +well-known from the earliest wars of the revolution, had been +almost continually in command of various Corps during those of +the empire; so that it was surprising that he had not yet been +awarded the baton of a marshal; withheld, perhaps, because of his +brusque and abrupt manner. His detractors said after his defeat +that his desire to obtain this coveted honour had driven him, +with no more than 20,000 men, to stand rashly in the path of +200,000 of the enemy, with the aim of barring their passage; but +the truth is that having been informed by the Emperor's chief of +staff that he would be supported by the armies of Marshals +Saint-Cyr and Mortier, and been given a direct order to capture +Teplice and so seal off the enemy's line of retreat, General +Vandamme had perforce to obey. + +Under the impression that he would be supported he descended +boldly, on the 29th of August, towards Kulm from where, pushing +enemy troops before him, he sought to reach Teplice; it is a +certainty that if Mortier and Saint-Cyr had carried out the +orders which they had been given, the Russian, Austrian, and +Prussian forces stuck on the appalling roads, cut off from +Bohemia and finding themselves attacked in front and in the rear, +would have laid down their arms. Vandamme would have then been +eulogised by the same people who have since blamed him. + +However that may be, Vandamme arrived at Teplice on the morning +of the 30th of August to be confronted by the division of +Ostermann, one of the best of the Russian generals. Vandamme went +confidently into the attack, as he saw, coming down from the +heights of Peterwalde, and taking the route which he had taken +the day previously, a body of troops which he took to be the +armies of Mortier and Saint-Cyr, whose help the Emperor had +promised him. But instead of friends, these newcomers were two +large Prussian divisions commanded by General Kleist, and which, +on the advice of Jomini, had passed between the corps of Mortier +and Saint-Cyr without these two marshals taking any notice, such +was the reluctance of Saint-Cyr to got to the aid of one of his +colleagues. A reluctance which, on this occasion, spread to +General Mortier. Neither of them budged and this at a time when +their co-operation joined to the gallant efforts of Vandamme +would have led to the total defeat of the enemy, whose columns of +infantry, cavalry, artillery, and baggage were piled up in +disorder in the narrow passes of the high mountains which lie +between Silesia and Bohemia. + +In place of the help he was expecting, General Vandamme saw +appear the two divisions of General Kleist, which instantly +attacked him. Vandamme, continuing to fight the Russians of +Ostermann in front of Teplice, turned round his rear-guard to +face Kleist, whom he attacked furiously, but although the enemy +was weakening, the huge reinforcements which they recieved, +bringing their strength to around 100,000 men as opposed to +Vandamme's remaining 15,000, made him think, in spite of his +courage and tenacity, that he should retire towards the corps of +Mortier and Saint-Cyr, whom he believed to be close at hand in +accordance with what Prince Berthier had written to him on the +Emperor's instructions. + +On their arrival at the pass of Telnitz, the French found it +occupied by General Kleist's divisions, who completely blocked +their passage; but nevertheless, our battalions, preceded by the +cavalry of General Corbineau who, in spite of the rough, +mountainous terrain, had insisted on remaining the advance-guard, +fell on the Prussians with such ferocity that they overcame them +and broke through the pass after taking all the enemy guns, from +which they took away only the horses because of the bad state of +the roads. + +Any soldier will be aware that such a success could be won only +at the cost of many casualties, and after this savage engagement +the strength of 1st Corps was greatly reduced. However, Vandamme, +completely surrounded by forces ten times more numerous than his +own, refused to surrender and placing himself at the head of two +battalions of the 85th, the only ones left to him, he hurled +himself into the midst of the enemy in a fight to the death. But +his horse having been killed, a group of Russians seized him and +made him prisoner. It is said that he was brought before the +Emperor Alexander and his brother, the Grand Duke Constantin, +and was rash enough to exchange insults with them. He was then +taken to Wintka, on the frontier of Siberia, and did not see his +country again until after the peace of 1814. + +The battle of Kulm cost 1st Corps 2000 men killed and 8000 made +prisoner, amongst whom was their commanding general. The 10,000 +who were left managed to fight their way through the enemy lines +to join Saint-Cyr and Mortier. Those two generals had gravely +failed in their duty by not pursuing the beaten enemy and instead +stopping, Saint-Cyr at Reinhards-Grimme and Mortier at Pirna, +from where they could hear the noise of the battle being fought +by Vandamme. + +It is surprising that, from nearby Dresden, Napoleon did not send +one of his aides-de-camp to make certain that Saint-Cyr and +Mortier had gone to the aid of Vandamme, as he had ordered. The +two marshals, having failed to carry out their orders, should +have been court-martialled, but the French army, overwhelmed by +the enormous number of enemies which Napoleon had raised against +it, had reached such a point of exhaustion that had Napoleon +wished to punish all those who failed in their duty, he would +have had to dispense with the services of almost all his +marshals. He therefore did no more than reprimand Saint-Cyr and +Mortier. + +He had an increasing need to conceal his disasters, for it was +not only at Kulm that his troops had suffered a reverse, but at +all points of the immense line which they occupied. + +(Subsequent historical research has made it quite clear that as +Napoleon was in control of the operations the two marshals were +entirely correct in waiting to receive his instructions, as they +did not know to where he intended them to go. As for the order to +support Vandamme with two divisions, it did not arrive until the +30th, that is to say at a time when the catastrophe had already +occurred, and no blame can be attributed to the marshals.) + +Chap. 26. + +It has been rightly said that in the last campaigns of the +Empire, battles were rarely fought with any skill unless Napoleon +himself was in command. It is regrettable that this great captain +was not fully aware of this, and placed too much confidence in +his lieutenants, of whom several were not up to the tasks which +they presumed to undertake, as will be seen from some examples. +Instead of ordering his corps commanders, when they were acting +on their own initiative, to remain as much as possible on the +defensive until he could come with a powerful reserve to crush +the force facing them, the Emperor allowed them too much +latitude, and, as each one was jealous of his own reputation and +wanted to have his personal Battle of Austerlitz, they often +went, ill-advisedly, on the offensive and were defeated as a +result. + +This is what happened to Marshal Oudinot, to whom Napoleon had +given a considerable army made up of the Corps of Bertrand and +Reynier, in order to keep a watch on the numerous Prussian and +Swedish troops stationed near Berlin under the command of +Bernadotte, who had now become the Prince of Sweden. Marshal +Oudinot was not as strong as his opponent and should have +temporised, but the habit of advancing, the sight of the steeples +of Berlin, and the fear of not living up to the confidence +Napoleon reposed in him, led him to push forward Bertrand's +corps, which was repulsed, a setback which did not prevent +Oudinot from persisting in his aim of taking Berlin. However, he +lost a major battle at Gross-Beeren and was forced to retire via +Wittemberg, having suffered heavy losses. + +A few days later, Marshal Macdonald, whom Napoleon had left on +the Katzbach at the head of several army corps, thought that he +also would take advantage of the liberty given him by the absence +of the Emperor to attempt to win a battle, which would compensate +for the bloody defeat which he had endured on the Trebia during +the Italian campaign of 1799; but once more he was defeated! + +Macdonald, although personally very brave, was constantly +unfortunate in battle, not that he lacked ability but because, +like the generals of the Austrian army, and in particular the +famous Marshal Mack, he was too rigid and blinkered in his +strategic movements. Before the battle he drew up a plan of +action which was almost always sound, but which he should have +modified according to circumstances; this, however, his stolid +temperament did not permit. He was like a chess player who, when +he plays against himself, can make all the right moves, but does +not know what to do when a real opponent makes moves which he had +not foreseen. So, on the 26th of August, the day on which the +Emperor was winning a resounding victory at Dresden, Macdonald +lost the battle of Katzbach. + +The French army, 75,000 strong, of which my regiment was a part, +was drawn up between Liegnitz and Goldberg, on the left bank of +the little river named the Katzbach,(Kaczawa) which separated +them from several Prussian Corps commanded by Field-marshal +Blucher. The area which we occupied was dotted with small wooded +hills, which, although practicable for cavalry, made movement +difficult, but, by the same token, offered much advantage to the +infantry. Now, as the main body of Macdonald's troops consisted +of this arm, and he had only 6000 cavalry of Sebastiani's Corps, +and as the enemy had 15 to 20,000 horse on the immense plateau of +Jau‰r,(Jawor) where the ground is almost everywhere level, it was +plainly Macdonald's duty to await the Prussians in the position +which he occupied. In addition to this, the Katzbach does not +have a steep approach on the left bank, where we were, but on the +other side it does, so that to reach the plateau of Jau‰r one has +to climb a high hill covered with rocks and affording only a +steep and stony road. + +The Katzbach, which runs at the foot of this hill has no bridges +except at the few villages and only some narrow fords, which +become unpassable on the least rise in the water-level. This +river covered the French army front, which was greatly in our +favour; but Marshal Macdonald wanted to attack the Prussians, and +he abandoned this highly advantageous position and put the +Katzbach at his back by ordering his troops to cross it at +several points. Sebastiani's cavalry, of which Exelmans' +division, which included my regiment, formed a part, were +instructed to cross the river by the ford at Chemochowitz. + +The weather, which was already threatening in the morning, should +have warned the Marshal to put off the attack to another day, or +at least to act rapidly. He did neither, and wasted precious time +in giving detailed orders so that it was not until two in the +afternoon that his columns began to move, and no sooner had they +done so than they were overtaken by a tremendous storm which +swelled the Katzbach and made the ford so difficult that General +Saint-Germain's Cuirassiers were unable to cross. + +Having arrived on the other bank, we climbed, by a narrow gully, +a very steep slope which the rain had made so slippery that the +horses were falling at every step. We had to dismount and did not +get back into the saddle until we had reached the great plateau +which dominates the valley of the Katzbach. There we found +several divisions of our infantry, which the generals had wisely +placed near the clumps of trees which are scattered over this +plain; for, as I have said, the enemy were far stronger than us +in cavalry, and had a further advantage in that the rain had made +it impossible for the infantrymen to fire their weapons. + +When we had arrived on this vast open space, we were astonished +to see no signs of the enemy! The complete silence that reigned +there seemed to me to conceal some kind of a trap, for we were +certain that on the previous night Marshal Blucher was in this +position with more than 100,000 men. It was, in my view, +necessary to reconnoitre the countryside thoroughly before going +any further. General Sebastiani thought differently; so, as soon +as Rousel d'Urbal's division was formed up, he despatched them +into the distance, with not only their own guns but those +belonging to Exelmans' division, which we had dragged onto the +plateau with so much difficulty. + +As soon as Exelmans, who had been separated from his troops, +rejoined us, as we emerged from the gully, and saw that +Sebastiani had made off with his guns, he hurried after him to +reclaim them, leaving his division without orders. The two +brigades of which it was composed were some five hundred paces +from one another, facing the same way and formed into columns by +regiment. My regiment was at the head of Wathiez's brigade and +had behind it the 24th Chasseurs. The 11th Hussars were in the +rear. + +The plateau of Jau‰r is so huge that although the Roussel d'Urbal +division, which had gone ahead, was made up of seven regiments of +cavalry, we could scarcely see them on the horizon. A thousand +paces to the right of the column of which I was a part, was one +of the clumps of trees which dot the plain. If my regiment had +been on its own I would certainly have had this wood searched by +a platoon; but as Exelmans, who was very jealous of his +authority, had established it as a rule that no one was to leave +the ranks without his order, I had not dared to take the usual +precautions, and for the same reason the general commanding the +brigade had felt obliged to do the same. This passive obedience +was nearly fatal. + +I was at the head of my regiment which, as I have said, was +leading the column, when I suddenly heard a great outcry behind +me; this arose from an unforeseen attack by a numerous body of +Prussian lancers who, emerging unexpectedly from the wood, +charged the 24th Chasseurs and the 11th Hussars, whom they took +on the flank and threw into the greatest disorder. The enemy +charge being on the oblique, had first struck the tail of the +column, then the centre, and was now threatening the head. My +regiment was about to be hit on the right flank. The situation +was critical, for the enemy was advancing rapidly; however, +confident in the courage and skill of all ranks of my cavalrymen, +I ordered them to form line facing right at the full gallop. + +This movement, so dangerous in the presence of the enemy, was +carried out with such speed and accuracy that in the blink of an +eye the regiment was in line facing the Prussians who, as they +approached us obliquely, exposed a flank, which our squadrons +took advantage of to get among their ranks where they effected +great carnage. + +When they saw the success obtained by my regiment, the 24th +recovered from the surprise attack which had at first +disorganised them, and rallying smartly, they repelled the part +of the enemy line which faced them. As for the 11th Hussars, +composed entirely of Hollanders whom the Emperor had believed he +could turn into Frenchmen by a simple decree, their commander +found it impossible to lead them into a charge. But we were able +to do without the assistance of these useless soldiers, for the +23rd and the 24th were enough to rout the three Prussian +regiments which had attacked us. + +While our Chasseurs were pursuing them, an elderly enemy colonel +who had been unhorsed, recognising my rank by my epaulets, and +fearing that he might be killed by one of my men, came to take +refuge beside me where, in spite of the excitement of the action, +no one would dare to strike him while he was under my protection. +Although he was on foot, in the clinging mud, he followed for a +quarter of an hour the hurried movements of my horse, supporting +himself by a hand on my knee and repeating all the time "You are +my guardian angel!" I was truly sorry for the old fellow, for +although he was dropping with fatigue he was unwilling to leave +me, so when I saw one of my men leading a captured horse, I had +him lend it to the Prussian colonel, whom I sent to the rear in +the charge of a trusted Sous-officier. You will see that this +enemy officer was not slow in showing his gratitude. + +The plateau of Jau‰r now became the theatre for a desperate +struggle. From each of the woods there emerged a horde of +Prussians, so that the plain was soon covered by them. My +regiment, whose pursuit of their opponents I had been unable to +slow down, found itself before long facing a brigade of enemy +infantry, whose muskets put out of action by the rain, could not +fire a shot at us. I tried to break the Prussian square, but our +horses, bogged down in the mud to their hocks, could move only at +a slow walk, and without the weight of a charge it is almost +impossible for cavalry to penetrate the close-packed ranks of +infantry who, calm and well-led, present a hedge of bayonets. We +could go close enough to the enemy to speak with them and strike +their muskets with the blades of our sabres, but we could never +break through their lines, something which we could have done +easily if General Sebastiani had not sent our brigade artillery +elsewhere. + +Our situation and that of the enemy infantry was really rather +ridiculous for we were eye to eye without being able to inflict +the least harm, our sabres being too short to reach the enemy, +whose muskets could not be fired. We remained in this state for a +considerable time, until General Maurin, the commander of a +neighbouring brigade, sent the 6th Regiment of Lancers to help +us. Their long weapons, outreaching the bayonets of the +Prussians killed many of them and allowed not only the Lancers +but also the Chasseurs of the 23rd and 24th to get into the enemy +square, where they did great carnage. During the fighting, one +could hear the sonorous voice of Colonel Perquit shouting in a +very pronounced Alsatian accent "Bointez, Lanciers! Bointez!" + +The victory which we had won on this part of the vast battlefield +was snatched from us by the unexpected arrival of more than +20,000 of Prussian cavalry who, after overwhelming the Roussel +d'Urbal division, which had been so unwisely sent alone more than +a league ahead of us, now came to attack us with infinitely +greater numbers. + +The approach of this enormous body of enemy troops was signalled +by the arrival of General Exelmans who, as I have said, had +briefly left his division to go almost unaccompanied to claim +back from General Sebastiani his battery of artillery, which that +General had so inappropriately despatched to join that of Roussel +d'Urbal. Having been unable to find General Sebastiani, he +arrived close to the leading division only to witness the capture +of Roussel d'Urbal's guns and also his own, and to find himself +involved in the utter rout of his colleague's squadrons. We had a +warning of some disaster in the sight of our General, his +appearance altered by the fact that he had lost his hat and even +his belt! We hastened to recall our soldiers, who were busy +sabring the enemy infantry which we had just broken into, but +while we were engaged in forming them up in good order we were +completely overrun by the many Prussian squadrons who were +pursuing the debris of d'Urbal's division. + +Instantly, Sebastiani's cavalry division, consisting at the most +of 5 to 6000 men was confronted by 20,000 enemy horsemen who, as +well as outnumbering us, had the advantage of being almost all of +them Uhlans, that is to say armed with lances, while we had only +a few such squadrons! So in spite of the stiff resistance which +we put up, the groups which we formed were broken up by the +Prussians, who drove us steadily back to the edge of the plain +and to the verge of the steep descent into the gorge, at the +bottom of which ran the river Katzbach. + +We were met here by two divisions of French infantry, together +with which we hoped to make a stand; but the muskets of our men +were so wet that they would not fire, and they had no other means +of defence but a battery of six guns and their bayonets, with +which they momentarily arrested the Prussian cavalry; but the +Prussian generals having brought up some twenty cannons, the +French guns were instantly disabled and their battalions crushed! +Then, cheering loudly, the twenty thousand enemy cavalry advanced +on our troops and drove them in confusion towards the Katzbach. + +This river, which we had crossed in the morning with so much +difficulty although it was not very deep, had been transformed +into a raging torrent by the pouring rain which had continued +ceaslessly throughout the whole day. The water, surging between +the two banks, covered almost entirely the parapet of the bridge +at Chemochowitz and made it impossible to discover if the ford at +that point was still passable. However it was by those two points +we had crossed in the morning, and it was to them that we went. +The ford proved impassable for the infantry and a number were +drowned there, but the great majority were saved by the bridge. + +I gathered together my regiment, as much as was possible, and +having been formed into tight-packed half-platoons which could +give each other mutual support, they entered the water in +reasonably good order and gained the other bank with the loss of +only two men. All the other cavalry units took the same route, +for in spite of the confusion inseparable from such a retreat, +the troopers realised that the bridge had to be left for the +infantry. I must confess that the descent of the slope was one of +the most critical moments in my life... The very steep hillside +was slippery under our horses' feet, and they stumbled at every +pace over numerous outcrops of rock; in addition the constant +hail of grape-shot which was hurled from the enemy guns made our +position highly precarious. I came out of this without any +personal accident, thanks to the courage, determination, and +skill of my excellent Turkish horse, which by walking along the +edge of precipices like a cat on a roof, saved my life, not only +on this occasion but on several others. I shall mention this +admirable creature later. + +The French infantry and cavalry who had been driven down from the +Jau‰r plateau thought themselves safe from their enemies once +they had crossed the river, but the Prussians had sent a strong +column to a bridge upstream of that at Chemochowitz, where they +had crossed the Katzbach, so that having arrived on the bank +which we had quitted in the morning, we were astonished to be +attacked by squadrons of Uhlans. However, in spite of the +surprise, several regiments, among which Marshal Macdonald in his +report mentioned mine, unhesitatingly attacked the enemy... +Nonetheless, I do not know what would have happened without the +arrival of the division of General Saint-Germain. He had remained +on the left bank of the river in the morning, and having in +consequence taken no part in the fighting, found himself in full +readiness to come to our aid. This division composed of two +regiments of carabiniers, a brigade of Cuirassiers, and with six +twelve pounders, fell furiously on the enemy and drove back into +the river all those who had crossed with the aim of cutting off +our retreat, and as there is nothing so terrible as troops who, +having suffered a setback, resume the offensive, the troopers of +Exelmanns' and d'Urbal's divisions slaughtered all whom they +could reach. + +This counter-attack did us much good, for it halted the enemy +who, for that day, did not dare to follow us across the Katzbach. + +However, the French army suffered an immense disaster, for +Marshal Macdonald having crossed the river by all the bridges and +fords which there were between Liegnitz and Goldberg, that is to +say on a line of more than five leagues, and now finding nearly +all these crossing points cut off by flooding, the French army +was extended in a long cordon with the Prussians at their back +and facing an almost uncrossable river, and so the frightful +scenes which I had witnessed on the Jau‰r plateau were reproduced +at all points of the field of battle. Everywhere the rain +prevented our infantry from firing and aided the attacks of the +Prussian cavalry, four times more numerous than ours; everywhere +retreat was made highly perilous by the difficulty of crossing +the flooded Katzbach. Most of the men who tried to swim across +were drowned, Brigadier-general Sibuet being among their number; +we were able to save only a few pieces of artillery. + +Chap. 27. + +After the unhappy affair at the Katzbach, Marshal Macdonald, in +an attempt to re-unite his troops, indicated as rallying points +the towns of Bunzlau, Lauban, and Gorlitz. A pitch-dark night, +rutted roads, and continuous torrential rain made movement slow +and very difficult; and many soldiers, particularly those of our +allies, went astray or lagged behind. + +Napoleon's army lost at the battle of the Katzbach 13,000 men +killed or drowned, 20,000 prisoners, and 50 cannons. A veritable +calamity! Marshal Macdonald, whose faulty tactics had led to this +irreparable catastrophe, although he forfeited the confidence of +the army, was able to retain his personal esteem by the frankness +and loyalty with which he admitted to his mistakes; for the day +following the disaster he called together all the generals and +colonels, and after engaging us to do all we could to maintain +order, he said that every officer and man had done his duty, and +there was only one person who was responsible for the loss of the +battle, and that was himself; because, in view of the rain, he +should not have left a well-broken terrain to go and attack, in a +vast open space, an enemy who squadrons greatly outnumbered our +own, nor, during a rain-storm, have put a river at his back. This +contrite admission disarmed the critics, and everyone buckled to +in order to help save the army, which retreated towards the Elbe +via Bautzen. + +Fate now seemed to be against us; for a few days after Marshal +Oudinot had lost the battle of Gross-Beeren, Macdonald that of +the Katzbach, and Vandamme that of Kulm, the French forces +suffered another major reverse. Marshal Ney, who had succeeded +Oudinot in command of the troops who were destined to march on +Berlin, not having a sufficiently powerful force to accomplish +this difficult task, was defeated at Jutterbach (Juterbog) by the +turncoat Bernadotte, and compelled to quit the right bank of the +Elbe. + +The Emperor came back to Dresden with his Guard. The various +units under the command of Macdonald took up positions not far +from that town, while Marshal Ney, having pushed back the Swedes +to the right bank, concentrated his troops on the left bank at +Dassau and Wittemberg. For almost a fortnight, between the end of +September and the beginning of October, the French army remained +almost motionless around Dresden. My regiment was in bivouac +close to Veissig on the heights of Pilnitz, which were occupied +by a division of infantry supported by the cavalry of Sebastiani +and Exelmans. + +Although there was no official armistice, the weariness of both +sides led to a de facto suspension of hostilities, from which +both parties profited to prepare for new and more terrible +conflicts. + +While we were in camp at Pilnitz, I received a letter from the +colonel of Prussian cavalry to whom I had lent a horse after he +had been captured and injured by the men of my regiment at the +start of the battle of the Katzbach. This senior officer, named +M. de Blankensee, who had been freed by his own troops when +things turned against us, was nonetheless grateful for what I had +done, and to prove it he sent me ten Chasseurs and a lieutenant +belonging to my regiment who had been left wounded on the +battlefield and taken prisoner. M. de Blankensee had seen that +their wounds were dressed, and after caring for them for a +fortnight he had obtained permission to have them led to the +French outposts, with a thousand thanks to me, for having, as he +assured me, saved his life. I believe he was right, but I was +still touched by this expression of thanks from one of the +leaders of our opponents. + +During the time we were in this camp there took place a strange +event which was witnessed by all the regiments. A corporal of the +4th Chasseurs, while drunk, had shown disrespect to an officer, +and a Lancer of the 6th whose horse had bitten him and would not +let go had struck it in the belly with some scissors which led to +its death. Certainly the two men deserved to be punished, but +only by proper disciplinary procedures. General Exelmans +condemned them both to death on his own authority, and having +ordered that the division should mount their horses, he drew them +up in a huge square, one side of which was left open, where two +graves were dug, to the side of which the two convicted men were +led. + +I had been away all night and returned to the camp in time to see +these lugubrious preparations. I had no doubt that the prisoners +had been tried and condemned, but I soon learned that this was +not the case, and drawing near to a group formed by General +Exelmans, the two brigadiers and all the regimental commanders, I +heard M. Devence, Colonel of the 4th Chasseurs, and Colonel +Perquit of the 6th Lancers beg General Exelmans to pardon the two +culprits. General Exelmans refused to do so. + +I have never been able to see an act which I consider unjust +without expressing my indignation. It was perhaps wrong of me, +but I addressed Colonels Devence and Perquit saying that it was +an affront to their dignity that men of their regiments should be +paraded through the camp as criminals when they had not had a +proper trial, and I added, "The Emperor has given no one the +power of life or death, and has reserved for himself the right to +grant pardon." + +General Exelmans was sufficiently influenced by the effect +produced by my outburst to announce that he would pardon the +Chasseur of the 4th, but that the Lancer would be shot; that is +to say he would pardon the soldier who had been disrespectful to +his officer, but condemn to execution the one who had killed a +horse. + +In order to carry out this execution each regiment was asked to +provide two N.C.O.s., but as they did not carry muskets, they +would have to use those belonging to other soldiers. When this +order reached me, I did not reply to my regimental +sergeant-major, who took my meaning; so that no one from the 23rd +presented himself to take part in the execution. General Exelmans +noticed this but said nothing! Eventually a shot rang out, and +all those present muttered with indignation! Exelmans ordered +that, as was usual, the troops would be marched past the corpse. +The march began. My regiment was second in the column and I was +in some doubt whether I should make it march past the unlucky +victim of Exelmans' severity when a great burst of laughter was +heard from the 24th Chasseurs, who were in front of me and had +already arrived at the scene of the execution. I sent a warrant +officer to find out the cause of this unseemly mirth in the +presence of the dead, and I soon discovered that the dead man was +in remarkably good health! + +The truth was that all that had happened was a theatrical +performance staged to scare any soldiers who were tempted to +indiscipline; a performance which included shooting a man with +blanks; and to keep the operation secret from the rank and file, +our chief had formed the firing squad of sous-officiers, to whom +he had issued the blank cartridges. However, to complete the +illusion it was necessary for the troops to view the body, and +Exelmans had told the Lancer who was to play the part to throw +himself on his face at the sound of the shots and pretend to be +dead, then to leave the army the next night, dressed as a peasant +and with a sum of money which he had been given for the purpose; +but the soldier who was a sharp-witted Gascon, had understood +perfectly well that General Exelmans was exceeding his authority, +and had no more right to have him shot without trial than he had +to dismiss him from the army without a proper discharge, and so +he remained standing when the shots were fired and refused to +leave the camp without a pass which would guarantee him from +arrest by the gendarmerie. + +When I learned that it was this discussion between the General +and the dead man which had produced the shouts of laughter from +the 24th Chasseurs at the head of the column, I thought it better +that my regiment did not take part in this comedy which seemed to +me to be as much contrary to discipline as the misdemeanors it +was supposed to punish or prevent. I therefore turned my +squadrons about, and setting off at the trot I left this +unhelpful scene and, returning to the camp, I ordered them to +dismount. My example having been followed by all the brigadiers +and regimental commanders of the division, Exelmans was left +alone with the "dead man", who set off calmly down the road to +the bivouac where he tucked into a meal with his comrades, amid +much more laughter. + +During our stay on the plateau of Pilnitz, the enemy, and above +all the Russians, received many reinforcements, the main one, led +by General Benningsen was of not less than 60,000 men, and was +composed of the corps of Doctoroff and Tolsto‹ and the reserve of +Prince Labanoff. This reserve came from beyond Moscow and +included in its ranks a large number of Tartars and Baskirs, +armed only with bows and arrows. + +I have never understood with what aim the Russian government +brought from so far and at such great expense these masses of +irregular cavalry, who having neither sabres nor lances nor any +kind of firearm, were unable to stand up against trained +soldiers, and served only to strip the countryside and starve the +regular forces, which alone were capable of resisting a European +enemy. Our soldiers were not in the least alarmed at the sight of +these semi-barbarous Asiatics, whom they nicknamed cupids, +because of their bows and arrows. + +Nevertheless, these newcomers, who did not yet know the French, +had been so indoctrinated by their leaders, almost as ignorant as +themselves, that they expected to see us take flight at their +approach; and so they could not wait to attack us. From the very +day of their arrival in sight of our troops they launched +themselves in swarms against them, but having been everywhere +repulsed by gunfire, the Baskirs left a great number of dead on +the ground. + +These losses, far from calming their frenzy, seemed to excite +them still more, for without any order and in all directions, +they buzzed around us like a swarm of wasps, flying all over the +place and being very hard to catch, but when our cavalry did +catch them they effected a fearful massacre, our lances and +sabres being immensely superior to their bows and arrows. All the +same, as the attacks by these barbarians were incessant and the +Russians supported them with detachments of Hussars to profit +from the confusion which the Baskirs could create at various +points on the line, the Emperor ordered the generals to be doubly +watchful, and to make frequent visits to our advance posts. + +Now both sides were preparing to renew hostilities which, as I +have already said, had not been suspended by any agreement, but +simply de facto. All was completely peaceful in my camp, and I +had as usual taken off my coat and was preparing to shave in the +open air before a little mirror nailed to a tree, when I was +given a slap on the shoulder. As I was in the middle of my +regiment, I turned round sharply to see who had used this +familiarity with his commanding officer... I found myself facing +the Emperor, who, wishing to examine some neighbouring positions +without arousing the enemy, had arrived with only one +aide-de-camp. As he was not accompanied by a detachment of his +Guard, he was followed by squadrons chosen in equal numbers from +all the regiments in the division, and having, on his orders, +taken command of this escort, I spent the entire day at his side, +and have nothing but praise for his kindliness. + +When we were preparing to return to Pilnitz, we saw a horde of +Baskirs hurrying towards us, with all the speed of their little +Tarter horses. The Emperor, who had never before seen troops of +this sort, stopped on a hillock and asked for the capture of some +prisoners. To this end, I ordered two squadrons of my regiment to +hide behind a clump of trees, while the remainder continued their +march. This well-known ruse would not have deceived Cossacks, but +it succeeded perfectly with the Baskirs, who have not the +slightest notion of tactics. They passed close to the wood +without sending anyone to inspect it, and were continuing to +follow the column when they were unexpectedly attacked by our +squadrons who, falling on them suddenly, killed a great number +and took some thirty prisoners. + +I had these brought to the Emperor, who, after examining them +expressed his surprise at the spectacle of these wretched +horsemen who were sent, with no other arms than bows and arrows, +to fight European soldiers armed with sabres, lances, guns, and +pistols!... These Tarter Baskirs had Chinese features and wore +extravagant costumes. When we got back to the camp, my Chasseurs +amused themselves by giving wine to the Baskirs who, delighted +with this novel reception, got drunk and expressed their joy by +such extraordinary grimaces and capers that all the watchers, +including Napoleon, were in fits of laughter. + +On the 28th of September, after reviewing our army corps, the +Emperor treated me with quite exceptional benevolence, for +although he very rarely gave more than one reward at a time, he +created me an officer of the Legion of Honour, a Baron, and +awarded me a grant of money!... He loaded favours on the +regiment, saying that it was the only one of Sebastiani's corps +which had maintained good order at the Katzbach, had captured +some enemy guns and had driven off the Prussians whenever they +met them. + +The 23rd Chasseurs owed this distinction to the high praise of +its conduct received by the Emperor from Marshal Macdonald, who, +after the debacle at the Katzbach, had sought refuge in the ranks +of my regiment and had taken part in the fierce charges it made +to drive the enemies back across the river. + +After the review, when the troops were on the road to their camp, +General Exelmans came to the front of the regiment and loudly +complemented them for the recognition given by the Emperor to +their courage. Then, turning to me, he embarked on a veritable, +and exaggerated, eulogy of their colonel. + +The French army now was concentrated in the area of Leipzig. All +the enemy forces also proceeded to the town, around which their +great number allowed them to form a huge circle, which contracted +every day, and whose aim was obviously to hem in the French +troops and cut off all means of retreat. + +On the 14th of October there was a sharp encounter between the +Austro-Russian advance-guard and our own; but after an indecisive +result, both sides returned to their previous positions, and the +action ended with one of the most ridiculous features of war, a +cannonade which went on until nightfall, with no result but the +loss of many men's lives. + +The Emperor, after leaving at Dresden a garrison of 25,000 men +commanded by Marshal Saint-Cyr, came to Leipzig, where he arrived +on the morning of the 15th. + +Chap. 28. + +The exact details of the battle of Leipzig will never be known, +partly because of the extent and complexity of the area over +which fighting continued for several days, and partly because of +the immense number of troops of different nations which took part +in this memorable encounter. It is principally the documents +relating to the French army which are missing, because several +commanders of army corps and divisions, and some members of the +general staff, having been killed or left in enemy hands, most of +their reports have never been finished, and those which have +been, reflect the inevitable haste and disorder surrounding their +compilation. At Leipzig I was the colonel of a regiment, a part +of a division whose movements I was bound to follow, so it was +not possible for me to know what was happening elsewhere, in the +manner which it had been in previous campaigns, when as an +aide-de-camp to various marshals, I was able to acquire a general +view of operations as I carried orders to different parts of the +battlefield. I must therefore, more than ever, limit my +description to what is absolutely necessary for an understanding +of the main events of the battle of Leipzig, the outcome of which +had such a profound influence on the destinies of the Emperor, of +France and of Europe. + +The iron circle within which the allies were preparing to enclose +the French army, had not yet completely surrounded Leipzig, when +the King of Wurtemburg, a man of violence but honourable, thought +it his duty to warn Napoleon that the whole of Germany, incited +by the English, was about to rise against him, and that he had +barely sufficient time to retire with the French troops behind +the Main, before all of the German Confederation abandoned him to +join his enemies. He added that he himself, King of Wurtemburg, +could not avoid doing likewise, as he was forced to accede to the +demands of his subjects, who clamoured for him to go with the +torrent of German public opinion and, breaking with Napoleon, +range himself with the enemies of France. + +The Emperor, shaken by this advice from the most able and most +faithful of his allies, is said to have considered retiring +towards the mountains of Thuringia and Hesse, to get behind the +river Saale and there wait for the allies to attack him, where +they would be at a disadvantage on the difficult terrain, heavily +wooded and full of narrow passes. + +This plan could have saved Napoleon; but it had to be executed +quickly, before the enemy armies were completely united and near +enough to attack us during the retreat. However, when it came to +deciding to abandon a part of his conquests, the Emperor could +not make up his mind; he was most unwilling to have it thought +that he considered himself defeated because he sought refuge +behind these inaccessible mountains. The over-boldness of this +great captain was our undoing; he did not stop to consider that +his army, weakened by numerous losses, contained in its ranks +many foreigners who were waiting only for a favourable +opportunity to betray him, and that it was liable to be +overwhelmed by superior forces in the great open plains of +Leipzig. He would have been wiser to lead it to the mountains of +Thuringia and Hesse, which offered good defensive positions, and +so nullify some of the numerical advantage of the royal +coalition. In addition, the approach of winter and the need to +feed their many troops would have soon compelled the enemies to +separate, while the French army, its front and its flanks +protected by the extreme difficulty of mounting an attack in a +country bristling with natural obstacles, would have had behind +it the fertile valleys of the Main, the Rhine, and the Necker. + +Such a position would at least have given us some time and +perhaps tired the allies to the point of desiring a peace; but +the confidence which Napoleon had in himself and in the valour of +his troops overcame these considerations, and he elected to await +his enemies on the plains of Leipzig. + +This fatal decision had hardly been taken, when a second letter +from the King of Wurtemburg informed the Emperor that the King of +Bavaria, having suddenly changed sides, had made a pact with the +allies, and that the two armies, the Austrian and the Bavarian, +in cantonment on the banks of the Inn, had joined into a single +unit under the command of General de Wrede and were marching to +the Rhine; and finally that, to his regret, he was compelled by +force to join his army to theirs. In consequence, the Emperor +could expect that soon 100,000 men would surround Mainz, and +threaten the frontier of France. + +At this unexpected news, Napoleon thought he should return to the +project of retiring behind the Saale and the mountains of +Thuringia; but it was too late, for already the main forces of +the allies were in contact with the French army, and too close +for it to be possible to carry out a retreat without being +attacked in the course of this difficult operation. So the +Emperor decided to stand and fight!... It was a disastrous +decision, for the effective strength of the French troops and +their allies amounted to no more than 157,000 men, of whom only +29,000 were cavalry, while Prince Schwartzenberg, the enemy +generalissimo, disposed of a force of 350,000, of whom 54,000 +were cavalry!... + +This huge army consisted of Russians, Austrians, Prussians, and +Swedes, whom the former French Marshal Bernadotte was leading +against his fellow countrymen and one-time brothers in arms. The +total number of those engaged amounted to 507,000 without +counting the troops left in fortresses. + +The town of Leipzig is one of the most commercial and richest in +Germany. It stands in the middle of a great plain which extends +from the Elbe to the Harz mountains, to Thuringia, and to +Bohemia. Its situation has made it almost always the principal +theatre for the wars which have bloodied Germany. A little river +named the Elster, which is so small and shallow that one could +call it a stream, runs from south to north through water-meadows +in a slight valley as far as Leipzig. This water-course divides +into a great number of branches which are a real obstacle to the +usual operations of war, and require a multiplicity of bridges +for communication between the villages which edge the valley. + +The Pleisse, another river of the same sort but even smaller than +the Elster, runs about a league and a half from the latter, which +it joins under the walls of Leipzig. + +To the north of the town is a small stream called the Partha +which winds through a narrow valley and has at every pace fords +or little bridges across it. + +Leipzig, being at the confluence of these three streams and +almost surrounded to the north and west by their multiple +branches, is the key to the terrain through which they run. The +town, which is not very large, was at this period surrounded by +an old wall in which were four large gates and three small ones. +The road to Lutzen via Lindenau and Markranstadt was the only one +by which the French army could communicate freely with its rear. + +It is in the area of ground between the Pleisse and the Partha +that the heaviest fighting took place. There, a noticeable +feature is a small isolated hillock called the Kelmberg, known +also as the Swedish redoubt, because in the thirty years war, +Gustavus Adolphus built some fortifications at this spot, which +dominates the surrounding countryside. + +The battle of Leipzig began on the 16th of October 1813 and +lasted three days; but the fighting on the 17th was infinitely +more savage than that on the 16th and 18th. + +Without wishing to go into the details of this memorable +encounter, I think I should indicate the principal positions +occupied by the French army, which will give a general idea of +those of the enemy, since each of our army corps had facing it +one and sometimes two of the enemy. + +King Murat was in control of our right wing, the extremity of +which was bounded by the Pleisse near the villages of Connewitz, +D”litz, and Mark-Kleeberg which were occupied by Prince +Poniatowski and his Poles. Next to him and behind the market-town +of Wachau was the corps of Marshal Victor. Marshal Augereau +occupied D”sen. + +These various corps of infantry were flanked and supported by +several masses of Marshals Kellermann's and Michaud's cavalry. + +The centre, under the direct command of the Emperor, was at +Liebert-Wolkwitz. It was made up of the infantry corps of General +Lauriston and Marshal Macdonald, having with them the cavalry of +Latour-Maubourg and Sebastiani. My regiment, which was part of +this last general's corps, was positioned facing the hillock of +Kelmberg, or the Swedish redoubt. + +The left wing, commanded by Marshal Ney, comprised the infantry +Corps of Marshal Marmont, and of Generals Souham and Reynier, +supported by the cavalry of the Duc de Padoue. They occupied +Taucha. + +A body of 15,000 men under the command of General Bertrand was +sent from Leipzig to guard the crossings of the Elster and the +road to Lutzen. + +At Probstheyda, behind our centre, was the reserve commanded by +Marshal Oudinot and consisting of the young and the Old Guard, +and Nansouty's cavalry. + +The venerable King of Saxony, who had been unwilling to desert +his friend the Emperor of France, remained in the town of Leipzig +with his guard and several French regiments who were there to +maintain order. + + +During the night of 15th-16th, Marshal Macdonald's troops were +moved to concentrate in Liebert-Wolkwitz, leaving the area of the +Kelmberg: but as there was no wish to abandon this position to +the enemy before dawn, I was told to keep it under surveillance +until first light. This was an operation of some delicacy, since +I had to advance with my regiment to the foot of the hillock, +while the French army retired for half a league in the opposite +direction. I ran the risk of being surrounded and perhaps +captured with all my men by the enemy advance-guard, whose scouts +would not fail to climb to the top of the hillock as soon as the +dawn light allowed them to see what was going on in the vast +plains below them, which were occupied by the French army. + +The weather was superb and, although it was night, one could see +reasonably well by the light of the stars; but as in these +circumstances it is much easier to see what is overhead than to +see what is below one's feet, I brought my squadrons as close as +possible to the hillock so that its shadow would conceal the +riders, and after ordering silence and immobility, I awaited +events. + +The event which fortune had in store was one which could have +changed the future of France and the Emperor and made my name for +ever celebrated! + +Half an hour before first light, three riders, coming from the +direction of the enemy, climbed, at walking pace, the hillock of +Kelmberg, from where they could not see us, although we could see +clearly their silhouettes and hear their conversation. They were +speaking in French, the one being Russian and the other two +Prussians. The first, who seemed to have some authority over his +companions, ordered one of them to go and inform their majesties +that there were no Frenchmen at this spot, and they could climb +up, for in a few minutes it would be possible to see the whole of +the plain; but they should do this right away, in case the French +sent sharp-shooters to the area. + +The officer to whom these words were addressed observed that the +escort was still a long way off. "What does it matter?" was the +reply, "There is no one here but us." At these words my troops +and I redoubled our attention, and soon we saw on the top of the +hillock some twenty enemy officers, of whom one dismounted. + +Although on setting up an ambush, I had no expectation of making +any great capture, I had, however warned my officers that if we +saw anyone on the Swedish redoubt, at a signal from me two +squadrons would go round it, one to left and one to right, in +order to encircle any enemy who had risked coming so close to our +army. I had high hopes, when the over-keenness of one of my +troopers ruined my plan. This man having accidently dropped his +sabre, immediately took his carbine, and fearing that he would be +late when I gave the order to attack, he fired into the middle of +the group, killing a Prussian major. + +You may imagine how, in an instant, all the enemy officers, who +had no other guard but a few orderlies, seeing themselves on the +point of being surrounded, made off at the gallop. We dared not +follow them too far for fear of falling ourselves into the hands +of the approaching escorts. We did manage to capture two +officers, from whom we could get no information; but I learned +later from my friend, Baron de Stoch, who was a colonel in the +guard of the Grand Duke of Darmstadt, that the Emperor Alexander +of Russia and the King of Prussia had been among the group of +officers who almost fell into French hands, an event which would +have changed the destiny of Europe. However, fate having decided +otherwise, there was nothing left for me to do but to withdraw +smartly with my regiment to the French lines. + +On the 16th of October at eight o'clock in the morning, the +allied batteries gave the signal for the attack. A lively +cannonade was directed at our lines and the allied army marched +towards us from every point. The fighting commenced on our right, +where the Poles, driven back by the Prussians, abandoned the +village of Mark-Kleeberg. + +At our centre the Russians and the Austrians attacked Wachau and +Liebert-Wolkwitz six times and were repeatedly repulsed with +great losses. The Emperor regretting, no doubt, that he had +abandoned that morning the Swedish redoubt which the enemy had +occupied and from where their gunners rained down grape-shot, +ordered its recapture, which was promptly carried out by the 22nd +Light Infantry aided by my regiment. + +Having obtained this first success, the Emperor, not being able +to outflank the enemy wings because their superior numbers +allowed them to present too long a front, decided to keep them +occupied while he attempted to break through their centre. To +this end, he sent Marshal Mortier to Wachau with two divisions of +infantry, and Marshal Oudinot with the Young Guard. General +Drout, with sixty cannons aided the attack, which was successful. + +For his part, Marshal Victor overcame and routed the Russian +Corps commanded by Prince Eugene of Wurtemberg; but after +suffering considerable losses, the Prince was able to rally his +Corps at Gossa. + +At this moment General Lauriston and Marshal Macdonald debouched +from Liebert-Wolkwitz and the enemy was overthrown. The French +then took possession of the wood of Grosspossnau. General Maison +was wounded in the taking of this important point. + +It was in vain that the numerous Austrian cavalry commanded by +General Klenau and aided by a host of Cossacks tried to restore +the situation, they were defeated by General Sebastian's cavalry +corps. This was a very fierce encounter; my regiment took part; +I lost several men and my senior Major was wounded in the chest +by a lance, having failed to protect himself by carrying his +rolled cape. + +Prince Schwartzenberg, seeing his line badly shaken, advanced his +reserves to support it, which decided the Emperor to order a +massive cavalry charge which involved the two corps of Kellermann +and Latour-Maubourg as well as the Dragoons of the Guard. +Kellermann overcame a division of Russian Cuirassiers, but taken +on the flank by another division he had to fall back to the +heights of Wachau after taking several enemy flags. + +King Murat then advanced the French infantry and the fighting was +renewed. The Russian Corps of the Prince of Wurtemberg was once +more overwhelmed and lost twenty-six guns. This treatment +resulted in the enemy centre yielding and it was about to give +way when the Emperor of Russia, who had witnessed the disaster, +rapidly advanced the numerous cavalry of his guard which, +encountering the squadrons of Latour-Maubourg in the state of +confusion which always follows an all-out charge, repelled them +in their turn and took back twenty-four of the guns which they +had just captured. It was during this charge that General +Latour-Maubourg had his leg carried away by a cannon-ball. + +So far neither side had secured a marked advantage and Napoleon, +to achieve a victory, had just launched against the enemy centre +the reserve consisting of the infantry and cavalry of the Old +Guard and a corps of fresh troops newly arrived from Leipzig, +when a regiment of enemy cavalry which had either deliberately or +accidently got behind French lines created some alarm amongst the +moving troops, who halted and formed a square so as not to be +taken by surprise, and before it was possible to find out the +cause of this alert, night had everywhere suspended military +operations. + +There had been other events on our extreme right. For the whole +day General Merfeld had tried fruitlessly to secure a passage +across the Pleisse, defended by Poniatowski's Corps and his +Poles; however, towards the end of the day, he managed to take +the village of D”litz, which compromised our right wing; but the +infantry Chasseurs of the Old Guard, having come from the reserve +at the Pas de Charge chased the Austrians back across the river +and took some hundreds of prisoners, among whom was General +Merfeld, who found himself for the third time, in French hands. + +Although the Poles had allowed the capture of D”litz, the +Emperor, to boost their morale, thought he should give the baton +of a marshal of France to their leader, Prince Poniatowski, who +did not enjoy the honour of bearing it for very long. + +On the other side of the river Elster, the Austrian General +Giulay had taken the village of Lindenau after seven hours of +fierce fighting. When the Emperor was told of this serious event, +which compromised the way of retreat for the major part of his +troops, he ordered an attack by General Bertrand, who re-took the +position by a vigourous bayonet charge. + +On our left, the impatience of Ney nearly led to a major +catastrophe. The Marshal, who commanded the left wing which had +been placed in position by the Emperor, seeing that by ten +o'clock in the morning no enemy troops had appeared, sent, on his +own authority, one of his army corps, commanded by General +Souham, to Wachau, where there seemed to be an active engagement; +but while this ill-considered movement was being carried out, the +Prussian Marshal Blucher, who had been delayed, arrived with the +Silesian army and captured the village of M”ckern. Then Ney, +deprived of a part of his force, and having at his disposal only +Marmont's division, was compelled to withdraw to the walls of +Leipzig and do no more than defend the suburb of Halle. + +The French lost many men in this engagement, which also had a +very disturbing effect on those of our soldiers who were in +positions in front of or to one side of Leipzig, for they heard +the sound of cannon and small-arms fire coming from behind them. +However, at about eight in the evening, the fighting ceased in +all parts and the night was peaceful. + +Chap. 29. + +This first day led to no decisive victory; but the French had the +advantage, since with very much smaller numbers, they had not +only held their own against the coalition, but had driven them +off some of the ground they had occupied the day before. + +The troops on both sides were preparing to renew the fighting on +the following morning; but contrary to their expectations, the +17th passed without any hostile movement on the part of either +side. The coalition was awaiting the arrival of the Russian +Polish army, and the troops which were being brought by the +Prince Royal of Sweden, Bernadotte, which would greatly increase +their strength. + +For his part, Napoleon, now regretting his rejection of the peace +offers which had been made to him two months previously during +the armistice, hoped to have some result from a peace mission +which he had sent the previous evening to the allied sovereigns +through the Austrian General Comte de Merfeld, who had recently +been taken prisoner. + +Here could be seen a strange sequence of events. It was the Comte +de Merfeld who sixteen years previously had come to ask General +Bonaparte, then the commander of the army in Italy, for the +armistice of Leoben. It was he who had brought back to Vienna the +peace treaty concluded between the Austrian government and the +directory, represented by General Bonaparte. It was he who had +carried to the French emperor, on the night following the Battle +of Austerlitz, the proposal for an armistice made by the Austrian +Emperor; now, as a remarkable turn of fate had brought General +Merfeld once more into the Emperor's presence at a moment when he +in his turn was in need of an armistice and peace, he had high +hopes that this intermediary would return with the result he +desired. However things had gone too far for the allied +sovereigns to treat with Napoleon, from whom such a plea denoted +the weakness of his position. So, although unable to conquer us +on the 16th, they hoped to overcome us by a renewed effort with +their superior numbers, and relied heavily on the defection of +the German units which were still with us, and whose leaders, all +members of the secret society, the Tugenbund, took advantage of +the lull in hostilities of the 17th to agree on the manner in +which they would execute their treacherous designs. The Comte de +Merfeld's mission did not even receive a reply. + +On the morning of the 18th, the coalition began its attack. The +2nd Cavalry Corps, of which my regiment was a part, was placed as +it had been on the 16th, between Liebert-Wolkwitz and the +Kelmberg. The fighting, which broke out everywhere was fiercest +towards our centre at the village of Probstheyda which was +attacked simultaneously by a Russian and a Prussian Corps, who +were driven off with tremendous losses. The Russians vigourously +attacked Holzhausen, which Macdonald defended successfully. + +About eleven o'clock, a cannonade was heard from behind Leipzig, +in the direction of Lindenau, and we learned that at this point +our troops had broken through the ring within which the enemy +believed they could contain the French army, and that General +Bertrand's corps was marching towards Weissenfeld in the +direction of the Rhine, without the enemy being able to stop him. +The Emperor then ordered to evacuation of the equipment to +Lutzen. + +Meanwhile, the Leipzig plateau around Connewitz and L”ssnig was +the scene of a massive engagement; the earth shook with the noise +of a thousand cannon, and the enemy tried to force a passage +across the Pleisse. They were driven back, although the Poles +managed to ruin some of the bayonet charges made by our infantry. +Then the 1st French Cavalry Corps, seeing the Austrian and +Prussian squadrons going to the aid of their allies, emerged from +behind the village of Probstheyda and hurled themselves at the +enemy, whom they overwhelmed and drove back to their reserves +which were led by Prince Constantine of Russia. Defeated again at +this spot the allies built up an immense force in order to +capture Probstheyda, but this formidable mass had such a hot +reception from some divisions of our infantry and the infantry +Chasseurs of the Old Guard that they promptly withdrew. We lost +there Generals Vial and Rochambeau. The latter had just been made +a Marshal of France by the Emperor. + +Bernadotte had not yet attacked the French and seemed, it was +said, to waver; but at last urged on or even threatened by the +Prussian Marshal Blucher, he decided to cross the Partha above +the village of Mockau, at the head of his troops and a Russian +corps which had been placed under his command. When a brigade of +Saxon Hussars and Lancers which was positioned at this point saw +approaching the Cossacks who preceded Bernadotte, they marched +towards them as if to give battle; but then, turning round +suddenly and forgetting about their aged King, our ally who was +in the midst of Napoleon's troops, the infamous Saxons aimed +their muskets and cannons at the French! + +This force led by Bernadotte, following the left bank of the +Partha, headed for Sellerhausen which was defended by Reynier. +Reynier, whose corps was almost entirely made up of German +contingents, having seen the desertion of the Saxon cavalry, +distrusted their infantry, which he had placed next to the +cavalry of Durette in order to restrain them; but Marshal Ney, +with misplaced confidence, ordered him to deploy the Saxons and +send them to assist a French regiment which was defending the +village of Paunsdorf. The Saxons had gone only a little distance +from the French, when seeing the Prussian ensigns in the fields +of Paunsdorf they ran towards them at top speed, led by the +shameless General Russel, their commander. Some French officers +could not believe such treachery, and thought that the Saxons +were going to attack the Prussians; so that General Gressot, +Reynier's chief-of-staff rushed towards them to moderate what he +thought was an excess of zeal, only to find himself confronted by +enemies! This defection of an entire army corps produced a +frightening gap in the French centre, and had the additional +effect of raising the allied morale. The Wurtemberg cavalry +promptly followed the example of the Saxons. + +Not only did Bernadotte welcome the perfidious Saxons into his +ranks, but he used their artillery to bolster up his own, which +the former Marshal of France now aimed at Frenchmen. + +The Saxons had scarcely entered the enemy ranks when they +celebrated their treachery by firing at us a hail of projectiles, +many of which were directed to my regiment, for I lost some +thirty men, among whom was Captain Bertain, an excellent officer +who had his head taken off by a cannon-ball. + +So now it was Bernadotte, a man for whom French blood had +procured a throne, who was attempting to deliver to us the coup +de grace. + +Amid this general disloyalty, the King of Wurtemberg presented an +honourable exception, for as I have said, he had informed +Napoleon that circumstances forced him to renounce his +friendship; but even after he had taken this final step, he +ordered his troops not to attack the French without giving them +ten days warning, and although he was now an enemy of France, he +dismissed from his army the general and several officers who had +handed over their troops to the Russians at the battle of +Leipzig, and withdrew all their decorations from the turncoat +regiments. + +Probstheyda, however, continued to be the theatre of a most +murderous struggle. The Old Guard, deployed behind the village, +held itself in readiness to hasten to the aid of its defenders. +Bulow's Prussian corps having attempted to push forward, was +heavily defeated; but we lost in the action General Delmas, a +distinguished soldier and a man of high principles who, having +been involved with Napoleon since the creation of the Empire, had +spent ten years in retirement, but asked to be returned to active +service when he saw his country in danger. + +Facing a terrible cannonade, and continual attacks, the French +line remained steadfastly in position. Towards our left, Marshal +Macdonald and General Sebastiani were holding the ground between +Probstheyda and St”tteritz, in spite of numerous attacks by +Klenau's Austrians and the Russians of Doctoroff, when they were +assailed by a charge of more than 20,000 Cossacks and Baskirs, +the efforts of the latter being directed mainly at Sebastiani's +cavalry. + +With much shouting, these barbarians rapidly surrounded our +squadrons, against which they launched thousands of arrows, which +did very little damage because the Baskirs, being entirely +irregulars, do not know how to form up in ranks and they go about +in a mob like a flock of sheep, with the result that the riders +cannot shoot horizontally without wounding or killing their +comrades who are in front of them, but shoot their arrows into +the air to describe an arc which will allow them to descend on +the enemy. But as this system does not permit any accurate aim, +nine-tenths of the arrows miss their target, and those that do +arrive have used up in their ascent the impulse given to them by +the bow, and fall only under their own weight, which is very +small, so that they do not as a rule inflict any serious +injuries. In fact, the Baskirs, having no other arms, are +undoubtedly the world's least dangerous troops. + +However, since they attacked us in swarms, and the more one +killed of these wasps, the more seemed to arrive, the huge number +of arrows which they discharged into the air of necessity caused +a few dangerous wounds. Thus, one of my finest N.C.O.s. by the +name of Meslin had his body pierced by an arrow which entered his +chest and emerged at his back. The brave fellow, taking two +hands, broke the arrow and pulled out the remaining part, but +this did not save him, for he died a few moments later. This is +the only example which I can remember of death being caused by a +Baskir arrow, but I had several men and horses hit, and was +myself wounded by this ridiculous weapon. + +I had my sabre in my hand, and I was giving orders to an officer, +when, on raising my arm to indicate the point to which he was to +go, I felt my sabre encounter a strange resistance and was aware +of a slight pain in my right thigh, in which was embedded for +about an inch, a four-foot arrow which in the heat of battle I +had not felt. I had it extracted by Dr. Parot and put in one of +the boxes in the regimental ambulance, intending to keep it as a +memento; but unfortunately it got lost. + +You will understand that for such a minor injury I was not going +to leave the regiment, particularly at such a critical time... +The reinforcements brought by Bernadotte and Blucher were +determinedly attacking the village of Sch”nfeld, not far from +where the Partha enters Leipzig. Generals Lagrange and +Friederichs, who were defending this important point, repelled +seven assaults and seven times drove the allies out of houses +they had captured. General Friederichs was killed during this +action; he was a fine officer who among his other qualities, was +the most handsome man in the French army. + +Nevertheless, it looked as if the allies might take Sch”nfeld +until Marshal Ney went to the aid of the village, which remained +in French hands. Marshal Ney received a blow on his shoulder +which forced him to leave the field of battle. + +By nightfall the troops of both sides were, in most parts of the +line, in the same positions which they had occupied at the +beginning of the battle. In the evening my troopers and those of +all the divisions of Sebastiani's cavalry tethered their horses +to the same pickets which they had used for the three preceding +days, and almost all the battalions occupied the same bivouacs. +So this battle which our enemies have celebrated as a great +success, was in fact indecisive, since being greatly inferior in +numbers, having almost all the nations of Europe against us and +harbouring a crowd of traitors in our ranks, we had not yielded +an inch of ground. The English general, Sir Robert Wilson, who +was in Leipzig in the role of British representative and whose +testimony cannot be suspected of partiality, said of this battle: + +"In spite of the defection of the Saxon army in the middle of the +battle, in spite of the courage and perseverance of the allied +troops, it proved impossible to take from the French any of the +villages which they regarded as essential to their position. +Night ended the fighting, leaving the French, and in particular +the defenders of Probstheyda, in the well-earned position of +having inspired in their enemies a generous measure of +respect..." + +After sunset, when it was beginning to grow dark, I was ordered +to put a stop, at the front of my regiment, to the useless +exchange of fire which usually goes on after a serious +engagement. There is some difficulty in separating men on both +sides who have been fighting each other, the more so because, to +prevent the enemy from knowing what is going on, and making use +of it to fall unexpectedly on our advance-posts, one cannot use +drums or trumpets to instruct the infantrymen to cease fire and +to form up to rejoin their regiments; but a warning is given to +platoon commanders, in quiet tones, and they then send +sous-officiers to look silently for the small, scattered groups. +As the enemy were doing the same, the firing gradually grew less +and soon stopped entirely. + +To make sure that no sentinel was forgotten and that this little +withdrawal to bivouac was carried out in good order, it was my +custom to have it supervised by an officer. The one who was on +duty on this evening was a Captain Joly, a brave and well-trained +officer but inclined to be obstinate. He had given evidence of +this trait some months before the battle when, given the job of +distributing some officer's remounts which had been presented on +the Emperor's instructions to those who had taken part in the +Russian campaign, M. Joly, ignoring my advice and that of his +friends, had selected for himself a magnificent light grey, which +neither I nor my friends would have because of its striking +colour, and which I had at first reserved for the trumpeters. So +on the evening of the battle of Leipzig, while M. Joly, in +carrying out his duty, was riding at a walk behind the lines of +infantry, his horse stood out so clearly in spite of the failing +light, that it was picked on by the enemy and both horse and +rider were seriously wounded. The captain had a musket ball +through his body and died during the night in a house in the +suburb of Halle, to where, on the previous evening, I had sent +Major Pozac. + +Although the latter's wound was not dangerous, he was grieved to +think that the French army would probably leave and he would +become a prisoner of the enemy, who would deprive him of the +sabre of honour which he had been awarded by the First Consul +after the battle of Marengo when he was still only a +sous-officier; but I calmed his anxieties by taking charge of the +precious sabre which, given into the care of one of the +regimental surgeons, was handed back to Pozac when he returned to +France. + +Chap. 30. + +The calm of the night having replaced in the fields of Leipzig +the terrible battles which they had just witnessed, the leaders +of both sides could examine their positions. + +That of the Emperor Napoleon was the least favourable: if one +could blame this great man for not retreating behind the Saale +eight days before the battle, when he could have still avoided +risking the safety of his army, which was threatened by +infinitely more numerous forces, there is now even more reason to +disapprove of his judgement when, at Leipzig, one sees him +completely surrounded on the field of battle by his enemies. I +use the word "completely" because, on the 18th, at eleven in the +morning, Lichtenstein's Austrian corps seized the village of +Kleinzschocher, on the left bank of the Elster, and for a time +the route from Leipzig to Weissenfels, the only way of escape for +the French, was cut and Napoleon's army entirely encircled. + +It is true that this situation did not last for more than half an +hour, but would Napoleon not have been wiser to avoid all the +consequences which might have arisen from such an event by taking +shelter behind the mountains of Thuringia and the river Saale +before all the enemy forces could combine to surround him? + +We now come to a very critical situation!... The French had held +on to their positions for the three days of the battle, but this +success had been achieved only at the expense of much blood, for +in killed and wounded we had 40,000 casualties! It is true that +the enemy had suffered 60,000, a figure greatly to their +disadvantage, which was attributable to the persistence with +which they attacked our entrenched positions. As, however, they +had many more men than we did, having lost 40,000 we were +proportionately much more weakened than they were. + +In addition to this, the French artillery had fired during the +three days 220,000 rounds, of which 95,000 were fired on the +18th, and there were no more than 16,000 rounds left in the +reserves, that is to say enough to continue in action for only +two hours. This shortage of ammunition, which should have been +foreseen before we engaged a powerful enemy so far from our +frontiers, prevented Napoleon from renewing the battle, which he +might possibly have won, and forced him to order a retreat. + +This was a movement which it was very difficult to carry out, +because of the nature of the terrain which we occupied, which was +full of water-meadows and streams and traversed by three rivers +which created many narrow defiles which would have to be +negotiated under the eyes and within close range of the enemy, +who might easily throw our ranks into disorder during this +perilous march. + +There was only one means of assuring our retreat, and that was +the construction of a large number of pathways and footbridges +across the meadows, ditches, and small streams, together with +larger bridges across the Partha, the Pleisse, and principally, +over the Elster, which was joined by these various tributaries at +the gates and even within the town of Leipzig. Now, nothing could +have been easier than the creation of these indispensable means +of passage, for the town and suburbs of Leipzig, barely a +musket-shot away, offered a ready source of planks and beams, +girders, nails, and rope etc. The whole army believed that +numerous crossing places had been made since their arrival before +Leipzig, and that these had been increased on the 16th and above +all on the 17th, when the whole day had passed without any +fighting. Well!... for a number of deplorable reasons and by +unbelievable negligence, nothing whatsoever had been done!... and +among those official documents which we possess relating to this +famous battle, one can find nothing, absolutely nothing, which +would show that any measures had been taken to facilitate, in +case of a retreat, the movement of the many columns which were in +action beyond the obstructions formed by the rivers and the +streets of Leipzig and its suburbs. None of the officers who +escaped from the disaster, nor any of the authors who have +written about it, have been able to show that any of the senior +staff of the army took steps to establish new crossing points or +to ensure free use of those which existed. Only General Pelet, +who is a great admirer of Napoleon and who, for this reason, is +sometimes given to exaggeration, writing fifteen years after the +battle, states that M. Odier, the deputy quartermaster of the +Imperial Guard, told him several times that he was present when +one morning (he does say on what day) the Emperor ordered a +general on his staff to look into the construction of bridges and +made him specially responsible for the task. General Pelet does +not disclose the name of the general to whom the Emperor gave +this order, although it would be most important to know it. + +M. Fain, Napoleon's secretary, says in his memoirs "The Emperor +ordered the construction in the neighbouring marshes of new +pathways which would ease the passage of this long defile." + +I do not know how much credit history will give to the accuracy +of these assertions; but even supposing them to be true, there +are those who think that the head of the French army should have +done more than give an order to a general staff officer, who +perhaps did not have at his disposal sappers or the necessary +material, and that he should have given the responsibility for +creating new crossing points to several officers, at least one +from every regiment in each army corps, for it is plain that no +one was doing anything. Here now is the truth of the matter, +which is known to very few people. + +The Emperor had for head of his general staff, Marshal Prince +Berthier, who had never left him since the Italian campaign of +1796. He was capable, precise, and loyal but having often +suffered the effects of the imperial temper, he had developed +such a fear of Napoleon's outbursts that he had decided never to +take the initiative on any matter, never to ask any questions, +and simply to carry out those orders he received in writing. This +system, which maintained good relations between the Major-general +and his chief, was harmful to the interests of the army; for no +matter how great the Emperor's energy and ability, it was +impossible for him to see everything and undertake everything; +and so if he overlooked something of importance nothing was done. + +It seems that this is what happened at Leipzig, where, when +almost all the marshals and generals had on several occasions, +and particularly on the last two days, pointed out to Berthier +how necessary it was to provide adequate ways out, in the event +of a retreat, his invariable reply had been "The Emperor has not +ordered it." No materials were supplied, and so not a plank nor +beam had been placed across a rivulet when, during the night of +18th-19th the Emperor ordered a retreat to Weissenfels and the +river Saale. + +The allies had suffered such heavy losses that they felt it +impossible to renew the struggle. They did not dare to attack us +afresh, and were on the point of retiring themselves when they +noticed the heavy equipment of the army heading for Weissenfels +via Lindenau, and realised that Napoleon was preparing to +retreat. Whereupon they took steps to place themselves in a +position to profit from any opportunities which this movement +might present to them. + +The most unhappy moment of a retreat, particularly for a unit +commander, is that when he has to leave behind those wounded whom +he is compelled to abandon to the mercy of the enemy, who +frequently does not have any, and robs and murders those who are +too badly injured to follow their comrades. However, since the +worst of all things is to be left lying on the ground, I took +advantage of the night to have my men pick up all the wounded +from my regiment, whom I put in two adjoining houses, firstly to +shield them from the drunken fury of the enemy, who would occupy +the suburb, and secondly to allow them to help one another and +keep up their spirits. An assistant surgeon, M. Bordenave, +offered to remain with them. I accepted his offer, and after the +peace I recommended this estimable doctor, whose care saved the +lives of many men, for the award of the Legion of Honour. + +The troops now began their march away from the battlefield where +they had shown so much courage and shed so much blood! The +Emperor left his bivouac at eight in the evening and went to the +town, where he stayed at an inn named the "Prussian Arms" in the +horse market, and after giving some orders he went to visit the +aged King of Saxony, whom he found preparing to follow him. + +This King, a devoted friend, expected that to punish his +unshakable adherence to the French Emperor, the allied sovereigns +would seize his kingdom, but what grieved him more was the +thought that his army had been dishonoured by deserting to the +enemy. Napoleon was unable to comfort the good old man, and it +was with difficulty that he persuaded him to remain in Leipzig, +in the heart of his state, and send an envoy to the confederates +to ask for terms. + +When this emissary had left, the Emperor said adieu to the old +King, the Queen and the Princess their daughter, a model of +virtue who had followed her father even to face the guns of the +enemy. The separation was made more unhappy when it was learned +that the allies would make no promises about the fate reserved +for the Saxon monarch, who would thus be at their mercy. He ruled +over some fine provinces, an invitation to his enemies to be +implacable. + +About eight in the evening the retreat began, with the corps of +Marshals Victor and Augereau, the ambulances, a part of the +artillery, the cavalry, and the Imperial Guard. While these +troops filed through the suburb of Lindenau, Marshals Ney, +Marmont and General Reynier guarded the suburbs of Halle and +Rosenthal. The Corps of Lauriston, Macdonald and Poniatowski +entered the town in succession and took up positions at the +barriers which pierced the walls, all was thus arranged for a +stubborn resistance by the rear-guard to allow the army to +retreat in good order. Nevertheless, Napoleon wished to spare +Leipzig the horrors which always result from fighting in the +streets, and so he permitted the magistrates to address a request +to the allied sovereigns asking them to allow, by an armistice of +a few hours, the peaceful evacuation of the town. This proposal +was rejected and the allies, hoping that the rear-guard might be +thrown into a confusion by which they could profit, did not +hesitate to expose to the risk of total destruction one of the +finest towns in Germany. + +Several French generals then suggested, indignantly, to Napoleon +that he could assure the retreat of his army by massing it in the +centre of the town and then setting fire to all the suburbs +except that of Lindenau, by which our troops could leave while +the fire held up the enemy. + +In my opinion, the allies' refusal to consent to an arrangement +which would allow the retreat to be carried on without fighting, +gave us the right to employ all possible means of defence, and +fire being the most effective in such a situation, we should have +used it; but Napoleon could not bring himself to do so, and this +excessive magnanimity cost him his throne, for the fighting which +I am about to describe resulted in the loss of almost as many men +as the three days of battle in which we had just been involved, +and worse even than that, it disorganised the army which would +otherwise have arrived in France still a potent force. The stiff +resistance which for three months the weak remnants put up +against the allies is evidence enough of what we might have done +if all the French fighting men who had survived the great battle +had crossed the Rhine in good order with their weapons. France +would probably have repelled the invaders. + +That, however is not what happened, for while Napoleon, with what +I regard as misplaced generosity, refused to burn an enemy town +in order to ensure the unopposed retreat of part of his army, the +infamous Bernadotte, dissatisfied with the ardour displayed by +the allies in destroying his fellow Frenchmen, launched all the +troops under his command against the suburb of Taucha, captured +it and from there reached the avenues of the town. + +Encouraged by this example, Marshal Blucher and his Prussians, +the Austrians, and the Russians did the same and attacked from +all sides the tail end of the French, who were retreating towards +the bridge at Lindenau. Finally, for good measure, a lively +fusillade broke out near this bridge, the only way for our troops +to cross the Elster. This fusillade came from the battalions of +the Saxon guard who had been left in the town with their King, +and who, regretting not to have deserted with the other regiments +of their army, wanted to show their German patriotism by +attacking from behind the French who were passing the chateau +where their monarch was in residence!... It was in vain that the +venerable prince appeared on the balcony, amidst the firing, +crying out "Kill me, you cowards! Kill your King, so that I may +not witness your dishonour!" The wretches continued to slaughter +the French, while the King, going back to his apartments, took +the flag of his Guard and threw it in the fire. + +A parting stab in the back was given to our troops by a battalion +of men from Baden who, being notorious cowards, had been left in +the town during the battle to split logs for the fires of the +bakery. These worthless Badeners, sheltered by the walls of the +big bakery, fired from its windows on our soldiers, of whom they +killed a great many. + +The French fought back bravely from house to house and although +the whole of the allied force was massed in the town filling the +avenues and main streets, our troops disputed every foot of +ground as they retired towards the big bridge across the Elster +at Lindenau. + +The Emperor had difficulty in getting out of the town and +reaching the outskirts through which the army was marching. He +stopped and dismounted at the last of the smaller bridges, known +as the mill bridge and it was then that he ordered the big bridge +to be mined. He sent orders to Marshals Ney, Macdonald, and +Poniatowski to hold the town for a further twenty-four hours, or +at least until nightfall, to allow the artillery park, the +equipment, and the rear-guard time to go through the suburb and +across the bridges. But the Emperor had scarcely remounted his +horse and gone a thousand paces down the road towards Lutzen when +suddenly there was a massive explosion!... + +The big bridge across the Elster had been blown up! Macdonald, +Lauriston, Reynier, and Poniatowski, with their troops as well as +200 artillery pieces, were still on the streets of Leipzig and +all means of retreat were now cut off. It was a total +disaster!... + +To explain this catastrophe, it was said later that some Prussian +and Swedish infantrymen, for whom the Badeners had opened the +Halle gate, had gradually worked their way to the region of the +bridge where, having joined some of the Saxon guard, they had +occupied some houses from which they started to fire on the +French columns. The sapper charged with the responsibility of +detonating the mine was deceived by this fire into thinking that +the enemy had arrived, and that the time had come for him to +carry out his mission, and so he put a light to the fuse. Others +blamed a colonel of the engineers named Montfort, who at the +sight of some enemy infantrymen had taken it on himself to order +the detonation of the explosives. This last version was adopted +by the Emperor, and M. de Monfort was put on a charge and made a +scapegoat for the fatal event, but it later became clear that he +had nothing to do with it. However this may be, the army laid the +blame once more on the Major-general, Prince Berthier, and it was +justly claimed that he should have put the protection of the +bridge in the hands of an entire brigade, whose general should +have been made personally responsible for giving the order to +blow it up, when he thought the moment had come to do so. Prince +Berthier defended himself with his usual response "The Emperor +had not ordered it!..." + +After the destruction of the bridge, some of the French whose +retreat was thus cut off, jumped into the Elster in the hope of +swimming across. Several of them succeeded in doing so, Marshal +Macdonald being among them; but the greater number, including +among others Prince Poniatowski, were drowned, because after +crossing the river they were unable to climb the muddy bank, +which was lined by enemy soldiers. + +Those of our soldiers who were trapped in the town and its +suburbs aimed only to sell their lives as dearly as possible. +They barricaded themselves behind the houses and fought all day +and part of the night, but when their ammunition was exhausted +they were forced to retire into their improvised defences where +they were nearly all slaughtered! The carnage did not end until +two o'clock in the morning!... + +The number of those massacred in the houses is given as 13,000, +while 25,000 were taken prisoner. The enemy collected 250 +cannons. + +After describing in general the events which followed the battle +of Leipzig, I shall now describe some of those which related +particularly to my regiment and Sebastiani's cavalry corps to +which it belonged. Seeing that we had for three consecutive days +repelled the enemy attacks and maintained our positions on the +field of battle, the men were greatly surprised and disgusted +when, in the evening of the 18th, we learned that because of +shortage of ammunition we were about to retreat. We hoped that at +least(and that appeared to be the Emperor's intention) we would +go no further than across the river Saale to the proximity of the +fortress of Erfurt, where we could renew our stocks of ammunition +and recommence hostilities. So we mounted our horses at eight in +the evening on the 18th of October, and abandoned the battlefield +on which we had fought for three days and where we left the +bodies of so many of our gallant comrades. + +We had hardly left our bivouac when we ran into some of the +difficulties arising from the failure of the general staff to +make any arrangements for the withdrawal of such a large body of +troops. At every minute the columns, particularly the artillery +and cavalry, were held up by the need to cross wide ditches, +bogs, and streams over which it would have been easy to put small +bridges! Wheels and horses sank into the mud and, the night being +very dark, there was congestion everywhere; our progress was +therefore extremely slow, even when we were in the open country, +and often completely arrested in the streets of the suburbs and +the town. My regiment which was at the front of the column formed +by Excelmans' division, which led this wearisome march, did not +reach the bridge at Lindenau until four in the morning on the +19th. When we had crossed over, we were far from foreseeing the +appalling catastrophe which would occur in a few hours. + +Day broke; the fine, wide road was covered by troops of all arms, +which showed that the army would still be of considerable +strength on arriving at the Saale. The Emperor passed... but as +he galloped along the side of the marching column, he did not +hear the cheers which usually greeted his presence!... The army +was displeased with the little effort which had been made to +secure its retreat since leaving the battlefield. What would the +troops have said if they had known of the inadequate arrangements +made at the Elster, which they had just crossed, but where so +many of their comrades would lose their lives? + +It was during a halt at Markranstadt, a little town some three +leagues from Leipzig, that we heard the explosion of the mine +which destroyed the bridge; but instead of being alarmed, we +rejoiced, for we all believed that the fuse would not have been +lit until after the passage of all our columns, and in order, +then, to prevent that of the enemy. + + +During the few hours of rest which we had at Markranstadt, +without being aware of the catastrophe which had occurred at the +river, I was able to review our squadrons in detail and find out +what losses we had suffered during the three days of conflict. I +was dismayed! For they came to 149 men, of whom 60 were killed, +among whom were two captains, three lieutenant and eleven +N.C.O.s. A very large fraction of the 700 men with which the +regiment had arrived on the battlefield on the morning of October +the 16th. Nearly all the wounded had been hit by cannon-balls or +grape-shot which, sadly, gave them little hope of recovery. My +losses might have been doubled if I had not, during the battle, +taken precautions to shield my regiment from cannon fire, as much +as possible. This requires some explanation. + +There are circumstances where the most humane of generals finds +himself in the painful position of having to expose his troops +openly to enemy fire; but it often happens that certain +commanders deploy their men uselessly in front of enemy +batteries, and take no steps to avoid casualties, although +sometimes this is very easy, particularly for cavalry, who +because of the rapidity of their movements can go swiftly to the +point where they are required and take up the desired formation. +It is when large masses of cavalry are involved on extensive +battlefields that these measures of preservation are most +required, and where, however, they are least employed. + +At Leipzig, on the 16th of October, Sebastiani, commanding the +2nd Cavalry Corps, having placed his three divisions between the +villages of Wachau and Liebert-Wolkwitz, and indicated to each +divisional general roughly the position he should occupy, Exelman +found himself placed on undulating ground intersected, as a +result, by small ridges and hollows. The Corps formed a line of +considerable length. The enemy cavalry, being a long way from +us, could not take us by surprise. I took advantage of the +hollows in the ground where our brigade was positioned to conceal +my regiment which, though formed up and ready for action, saw the +greater part of the day pass without losing a single man, for the +cannon-balls went over their heads while neighbouring corps +suffered considerable casualties. + +I was congratulating myself on having done this when General +Exelmans, on the pretext that everyone should be equally exposed +to danger, ordered me, in spite of the representations of my +brigade commander, to take the regiment a hundred paces forward. +I obeyed, but in a short time I had a captain, M. Bertin, killed +and some twenty men put out of action. I then had recourse to a +different tactic: this was to send some troopers, well spaced +out, to subject the enemy gunners to carbine fire. The enemy then +advanced some infantrymen to counter this, and the two groups +being involved in a fire-fight between the lines, the artillery +could not use their guns for fear of hitting their own men. It is +true that our gunners were in the same boat, but the cessation of +gunfire in a minor corner of the battlefield was to our benefit, +since the enemy had many more guns than we did. In addition to +this, our infantry and that of the enemy being in action at the +village of Liebert-Wolkwitz, the cavalry of both sides had to +await the outcome of this savage fighting; it served no useful +purpose for them to demolish one another by cannon fire, rather +than leave the fighting to the infantrymen, who were for the most +part only frightening the birds. My example was followed by all +the regimental commanders of the other brigades, and the cannons +opposite them too ceased fire, sparing the lives of many men. A +greater number would have been spared if General Exelmans had not +come and ordered the withdrawal of the men on foot, which was the +signal for a hail of cannon-balls hurled at our squadrons. +Fortunately the day was almost over. + +It was now the evening of the 16th. All the colonels of cavalry +belonging to 2nd Corps had found this method of sparing their men +so effective that by common accord we all used it in the battle +of the 18th. When the enemy started firing their cannons, we sent +out our foot-soldiers, and as they would have captured the guns +if they were not defended, the enemy had to send infantrymen to +defend them, and so the guns were silenced on both sides. The +commanders of the enemy cavalry which faced us, having probably +realised what we were up to, started doing the same, so that on +the third day the guns attached to the cavalry of both parties +were much less used. This did not prevent vigourous cavalry +engagements, but at least they were directed to the taking or +holding of positions, in which we did not spare ourselves, but +the cannonades aimed at stationary targets, which too often +replace cavalry to cavalry actions, do nothing but kill good men +for no useful purpose. This was something which Exelmans did not +grasp, but as he was on the move all the time from one wing to +the other, as soon as he had left a regiment the colonel sent out +his foot-soldiers and the guns were silent. + +All the cavalry generals, including Sebastiani, were so much +persuaded of the advantages of this method, that eventually +Exelmans was ordered not to irritate the enemy gunners by firing +our guns at them, when the cavalry was only standing-to, and had +neither an attack nor a defence to undertake. Two years later I +used the same tactics at Waterloo against the English guns, and I +lost far fewer men than I would have done otherwise: but now let +us return to Markranstadt. + +Chap. 31. + +It was while the Emperor and the divisions which had come out of +Leipzig were halted at this spot, that we heard the dreadful news +of the destruction of the bridge at Lindenau, which deprived the +army of almost all its artillery and half of its men, who were +taken prisoner; and which delivered some thousands of our wounded +comrades to the assaults and knives of the brutish enemy, full of +liquor and encouraged to massacre by their unscrupulous officers! +There was widespread grief! Each regretted the loss of a +relative, a friend, some comrade in arms! The Emperor seemed +appalled!... However, he ordered Sebastiani's cavalry to retrace +their steps to the bridge, in order to gather and protect any +stragglers who had been able to cross the river at some point, +after the explosion. + +In order to speed this help, my regiment and the 24th, who were +the best mounted in the corps, were told to go ahead of the +column and leave at a rapid trot. As General Wathiez was +indisposed, and I was the next in seniority, I had to take +command of the brigade. + +When we had reached half way to Leipzig, we heard much gunfire, +and as we approached the avenues we could hear the despairing +cries of the unfortunate French, who having no means of retreat +and no cartridges for their firearms, were unable to defend +themselves and were hunted from street to street, and house to +house, and, overwhelmed by numbers, were disgracefully butchered +by the enemy, mainly the Prussians, the Badeners, and the Saxon +guards. + +It would be impossible for me to express the fury felt then by +the two regiments which I commanded. All longed for vengeance and +regretted that this was denied them, since the Elster, with its +broken bridge, separated us from the assassins and their victims. +Our anger was increased when we came across about 2000 Frenchmen, +most of them without clothes and nearly all wounded, who had +escaped death only by jumping into the river and swimming across +in the face of the shots being fired at them from the opposite +bank. Marshal Macdonald was among them; he owed his life to his +physical strength and his ability as a swimmer. The Marshal was +completely naked and his horse had been drowned, so I quickly +found some clothes for him and lent him the spare horse which +always came with me, which allowed him to go immediately to +rejoin the Emperor at Markranstadt, and to give him an account of +the disaster of which he had been a witness, and in which one of +the principal episodes had been the death of Prince Poniatowski, +who had perished in the waters of the Elster. + +The remainder of the French who had managed to cross the river +had been obliged to discard their arms in order to swim, and had +no means of defence. They ran across the fields to avoid falling +into the hands of four or five hundred Prussians, Saxons, and +Badeners, who, not satisfied with the blood-bath of the massacres +in the town, had made a footbridge of beams and planks across the +remaining arches of the bridge, and had come to kill any of our +unfortunate soldiers whom they could find on the road to +Markranstadt. + +As soon as I caught sight of this group of assassins, I +instructed Colonel Schneit of the 24th to combine with my +regiment to form a vast semi-circle round them, and then sounded +the charge!... The result was horrifying! The bandits, taken by +surprise, put up very little resistance and there ensued a +massacre, for no quarter was given!... + +I was so enraged at these wretches, that before the charge +started I had promised myself that I would run my sabre through +any of them I could catch; however, when I found myself in their +midst and saw that they were drunk and leaderless except for two +Saxon officers who were fear-stricken at our vengeful approach, I +realised that this was not a fight but an execution, and that it +would not be a good thing for me to take part in it. I feared +that I might find pleasure in killing some of these scoundrels, +so I put my sabre back in its scabbard and left to our soldiers +the business of exterminating these assassins, two-thirds of whom +were laid dead. + +The remainder, including two officers and several Saxon guards, +fled towards the debris of the bridge, hoping to recross the +footbridge; but as they could cross only one by one and our +Chasseurs were hard on their heels, they entered a large nearby +inn and began to shoot at my men, helped by some Prussians and +Badeners on the opposite bank. + +As it seemed likely that the noise of firing would attract larger +forces to the bank from where, without crossing the river, they +could destroy my regiment by small-arms and cannon fire, I +decided to bring matters to a conclusion, and ordered the +majority of the Chasseurs to dismount and taking their carbines +and plenty of ammunition to attack the rear of the inn and set on +fire the stables and the hay loft. The assassins, shut in the +inn, seeing that they were about to be caught in the flames, +tried to make a sortie; but as soon as they appeared in the +doorway our Chasseurs shot them with their carbines. + +It was in vain that they sent one of the Saxon officers to me to +intercede; I was pitiless, and refused to treat as soldiers +surrendering after an honourable defence, these monsters who had +murdered our comrades who were prisoners of war. So the four to +five hundred Prussians, Badeners, and Saxons who had crossed the +footbridge were all killed! I sent this information to General +Sebastiani, who halted, midway, the other brigades of the Light +Cavalry. + +The fire which we had lit in the forage store of the inn soon +spread to the neighbouring houses. A major part of the village of +Lindenau, which lines both sides of the road, was burned, which +would delay the repair of the bridge and the passage of enemy +troops, bent on pursuing and harrying the retreating French army. + +The mission being completed, I led the brigade back to +Markranstadt, together with the 2000 Frenc, who had escaped from +the calamity at the bridge. Among them were several officers of +all ranks; The Emperor questioned them on what they knew about +the blowing up of the bridge, and about the massacre of the +French prisoners of war. It seems likely that this sorry tale +made the Emperor regret that he had not taken the advice given +him in the morning, to bar the enemy advance by setting fire to +the suburbs, and even, if need be, the town of Leipzig itself, +most of whose inhabitants had fled during the three day's battle. + +In the course of this return to the bridge of Lindenau, the +brigade which I was commanding suffered only three casualties, +one of which was a member of my regiment; but it was one of my +finest sous-officiers. He had been awarded the Legion of Honour +and was named Foucher. A bullet wound, received at the inn, had +gone through both thighs, leaving four holes; but in spite of +this serious injury the brave Foucher made the retreat on +horseback, refused to enter the hospital at Erfurt, which we +passed a few days later and remained with the regiment until we +reached France. It is true that his friends and all the men in +his platoon took great care of him, but he thoroughly deserved +it. + +As I left Leipzig, I was concerned about the fate of the wounded +from my regiment, whom I had left behind, including Major Pozac; +but luckily the distant suburb in which I had put them was not +visited by the Prussians. + +You have seen that during the last day of the great battle, an +Austrian Corps tried to cut off our retreat by capturing +Lindenau, through which passes the main road leading to +Weissenfels and Erfurt, and how, on the Emperor's orders, they +had been driven off by General Bertrand, who, after re-opening +this route, had made his way to Weissenfels, where we rejoined +him. + +After the losses occasioned by the destruction of the bridge at +Lindenau, it was impossible to think of stopping what remained of +the army at the Saale, so Napoleon crossed the river. + +A fortnight before the battle, this water-course had offered him +an impregnable position, which he had spurned to risk a general +engagement in open country, putting behind him three rivers and a +large town, which presented obstructions at every step!... The +great captain had relied too much on his "star" and on the +incapacity of the enemy generals. + +In the event, they made such serious mistakes that in spite of an +immense superiority in numbers, they were not only unable, during +a battle lasting three days, to take from us a single one of the +villages we were defending, but I have heard the King of Belgium, +who was then serving with the Russian army, say to the Duc +d'Orleans that on two occasions the allies were in such confusion +that the order for a retreat was given: but then the situation +changed and it our army which had to submit to the fortune of +war. + +After crossing the Saale, Napoleon thanked and dismissed those +officers and soldiers of the Confederation of the Rhine, who +either from some sense of honour or from lack of opportunity were +still in our ranks. He even carried magnanimity so far as to +allow them to retain their arms, although he was entitled to +treat them as prisoners of war, since their sovereigns had joined +the forces of our enemies. The French army continued its retreat +to Erfurt, without anything happening but an encounter at Kosen, +where a single French division defeated an Austrian army corps, +and took prisoner its commanding general the Comte de Giulay. + +Led on always by the hope of a fighting return to Germany, and by +the help which he would receive in such a case from the +fortresses which he was now forced to leave behind him, Napoleon +put a numerous garrison into Erfurt. He had left in Dresden +25,000 men, under the command of Saint-Cyr; at Hamburg 30,000 +under Davout, and many strongholds on the Oder and the Elbe, +manned in accordance with their importance; these garrisons made +up a loss in manpower to add to that due to the forts of Danzig +and the Vistula. + +I shall not repeat what I have already said about the +disadvantages of deploying too many of one's troops to man forts +which one is forced to leave behind. I shall merely point out +that Napoleon left in the forts of Germany 80,000 men, not one of +whom returned to France until after the fall of the empire, which +they might perhaps have prevented, had they been defending our +frontiers. + +The arsenal at Erfurt was able to make good the loss of our +artillery. The Emperor, who up till now had borne his reverses +with stoical resignation, was however upset by the departure of +his brother-in-law, the King Murat, who, with the excuse that he +was going to defend his kingdom of Naples, abandoned Napoleon, to +whom he owed everything!... Murat, at one time so brilliant in +war, had done nothing much during this campaign of 1813. It is +certain that, although he was in our ranks, he was carrying on a +correspondence with M. de Metternich, the prime minister of +Austria, who, dangling before his eyes the example of Bernadotte, +guaranteed, in the name of the allied sovereigns, the protection +of his kingdom if he would join Napoleon's enemies. Murat left +the French army at Erfurt and had scarcely arrived in Naples when +he began preparations for war against us. + +It was also at Erfurt that the Emperor learned of the audacious +scheme of the Bavarians, his former allies, who, after deserting +his cause, and joining with an Austrian Corps and several groups +of Cossacks had set off under the command of General the Comte de +Wrede, whose ambition it was not only to stop the French army, +but to make it captive, along with its Emperor. + +General de Wrede marching parallel to us but at two days distance +had already reached Wartzbourg with 60,000 men. He detached +10,000 to Frankfort and with the remaining 50,000 he went to the +little fort of Hanau in order to bar the passage of the French. +General de Wrede, who had fought on our side in Russia, thought +that he would find the French army in the deplorable state to +which cold and hunger had reduced those retreating from Moscow by +the time they reached the Beresina, but we soon showed him that +in spite of our misfortunes, we still had soldiers in good heart, +and quite capable of defeating Austro-Bavarians. + +General de Wrede, who did not know that the troops which we had +fought at Leipzig, though following, were a long way behind us, +had become very bold and believed he could trap us between two +fires. It was not possible for him to do so; though, as several +enemy corps were trying to mount an attack on our right by going +through the mountains of Franconia, while the Bavarians stood in +front of us, the situation could have become serious. + +Napoleon rose to the challenge and marched briskly towards Hanau, +whose approaches are protected by thick forests and notably by +the well-known pass of Gelnhausen, through which runs the river +Kinzig. This river, whose banks are very steep, runs between two +mountains which are separated by a narrow gap which allows the +passage of the river, beside which has been made a fine main +road, cut into the rock, and running from Fulde to +Frankfort-on-main via Hanau. + +Sebastiani's cavalry corps which had been the advance-guard from +Weissenfels to Fulde, where one enters the mountains, should have +been replaced by infantry at this point. I have never understood +for what reason this well known principle of warfare was not +followed in these grave circumstances; but to our astonishment, +Exelmans' cavalry division continued to march in front of the +army, led by my regiment and the 24th Chasseurs. I was in command +of the brigade. We learned from the peasants that the +Austro-Bavarian army already occupied Hanau, and that a strong +division was facing the French, to dispute the passage of the +defile. + + +My position, as commander of the advance-guard, was now very +difficult; for how could I, without a single infantryman and with +cavalry packed between two high mountains and an uncrossable +torrent, fight troops on foot whose scouts, climbing up the +rocks, would shoot us at close range? I sent at once to warn the +divisional general, but Exelmans could not be found. However I +had been ordered to advance and I could not stop the divisions +which were following me, so I continued my march until at a bend +in the valley my scouts told me that they were in sight of a +detachment of enemy Hussars. + +The Austro-Bavarians had made the same mistake as our leaders; +for if the latter had sent cavalry to attack a long and narrow +pass where no more the ten or twelve horsemen could ride abreast, +our enemies had sent cavalry to defend a position where a hundred +sharpshooters could hold up ten regiments of cavalry! I was +highly delighted to see that the enemy had no infantry, and as I +knew from experience that when two opposing columns meet at a +narrow spot, victory always goes to the one which, hurling itself +at the head of the enemy, drives it back into the troops behind +it, I launched at the gallop my elite company, of which only the +leading platoon could engage the enemy; but they did so with such +elan that the head of the Austrian column was overwhelmed and the +rest thrown into such complete confusion that my troopers had +only to take aim. We continued the pursuit for more than an hour. +The enemy regiment in front of us was that of General Ott. I had +never seen such well turned out Hussars. they had come from +Vienna, where they had been fitted with completely new uniforms, +Their outfit, although a little theatrical, looked very handsome: +the pelisse and dolman in white and the trousers and the shako in +lilac; all clean bright and shining. One might have thought they +were going to a ball, or to play in a comedy! This brilliant +appearance contrasted somewhat with the more modest toilette of +our Chasseurs, many of whom were still dressed in the worn +clothing in which they had bivouacked for eighteen months, in +Russia, Poland, and Germany, and whose distinguishing colours had +been dimmed by the smoke of cannon and the dust of battlefields. +However, under those threadbare garments were brave hearts and +sturdy limbs. So the white pelisses of Ott's Hussars became +horribly bloodstained, and this pretty regiment lost in killed +and wounded more than 200 men, without one of our Chasseurs +having the smallest sabre cut, the enemy having always fled +without ever turning to fight. Our Chasseurs took a large number +of excellent horses and gold-braided pelisses. + +Up until then everything had gone well, but as I galloped after +the victors who pursued the vanquished, I was a bit worried about +the end of this strange encounter, for the diminishing height of +the mountains which bordered the Kinzig indicated that we were +nearing the end of the valley, and it was likely that we would +find ourselves in a small plain, full of infantry whose volleys +and cannon fire would make us pay dearly for our success: but +happily there was no such thing, and as we emerged from the pass +we saw not a single infantryman, but only some cavalry, part of +which comprised the main body of that section of Ott's regiment +of Hussars, which we had so roughly manhandled and who in their +panic continued their headlong flight, taking with them some +fifteen squadrons, who retired to Hanau. + +General Sebastiani then deployed his three divisions of cavalry +which were soon supported by the infantry of Marshals Macdonald +and Victor, and several batteries. Then the Emperor with part of +his guard, appeared and the rest of the French army followed. + +It was now the evening of the 29th of October; we established our +bivouacs in a nearby wood; we were only a league from Hanau and +the Austro-Bavarian army. + +Chap. 32. + +Here now are the reasons why Exelmans dropped behind when we were +going through the pass. Before we entered the valley, the scouts +had brought to him two Austrian soldiers who, absent from their +unit, were scrounging and drinking in an isolated village. +Exelmans was having them questioned in German by one of his +aides, when he was surprised to hear them reply in fluent French. +One of these men, half-drunk, and thinking it would do him good, +announced that they were Parisians. As soon as he uttered these +words, the general, furious that Frenchmen should take up arms +against their fellow countrymen, ordered them to be immediately +shot. The poor lad who had boasted of being French was about to +be put to death, when his companion, sobered by this fearful +spectacle, protested that neither of them had ever set foot in +France, but having been born in Vienna to parents who, although +they came from Paris, were naturalised Austrians, they were +regarded as Austrian subjects and had been forced to join the +regiment assigned to them. To prove this he showed his army +record which confirmed the fact. Exelmans, yielding to the advice +of his aides-de-camp, agreed to spare the innocent man. + +At this stage, hearing the sound of firing, the General wished to +reach the head of the column which I was commanding; but on his +arrival at the mouth of the pass, he found it impossible to get +through and take a place in the ranks because of the speed with +which the two regiments were galloping after the enemy. After +trying many times he was so jostled that he fell with his horse +into the Kinzig and nearly drowned. + +The Emperor, who was preparing for battle, took advantage of the +night to reduce the amount of wheeled transport by sending all +the baggage off to the right, in the direction of Coblentz, +escorted by some battalions of infantry and the cavalry of +Lefebvre-Denouettes and Milhau. This was a great relief to the +army. + +On the morning of the 30th, the Emperor had at his disposal only +the infantry Corps of Macdonald and Victor, amounting to 5000 +men, supported by Sebastiani's cavalry division. + +In the direction from which we were coming, a large forest, +through which the road runs, covers the approach to Hanau. The +tall trees of this forest allow movement without much difficulty. +The town of Hanau is built on the other side of the river Kinzig. + +General de Wrede, although not lacking in military skill, had, +however, made the serious mistake of placing his army where it +had the river at its back, which deprived it of the support which +it could have received from the fortifications of Hanau, with +which the Bavarian general could not communicate except by the +bridge of Lamboy, which was his only road of retreat. It is true +that the position he occupied barred the way to Frankfort and to +France, and he felt certain that he could prevent us from forcing +a passage. + +On the 30th of October at dawn, the battle began, like a great +hunting party. Some grape-shot and some small-arms fire from our +infantry, together with a charge in open order by Sebastiani's +cavalry, scattered the first line of the enemy, somewhat +unskillfully placed at the extreme edge of the wood; but as one +penetrated a little further, our squadrons could not operate +except in the few clearings which they came across, only the +Light Infantry followed in the steps of the Bavarians, whom they +pursued from tree to tree to the end of the forest. At that point +they had to stop, faced by an enemy line of forty thousand men, +whose front was covered by eighty guns! + +If the Emperor had had with him all the troops which he brought +from Leipzig, a vigorous attack would have made him master of the +Lamboy bridge, and General de Wrede would have paid dearly for +his temerity, but Marshals Mortier and Marmont, and General +Bertrand, as well as the artillery, were held up by various +passes, mainly that of Gelnhausen, and had not yet arrived. +Napoleon had no more than ten thousand troops. The enemy should +have taken advantage of this to attack us in force, but they did +not dare, and this hesitation gave time for the artillery of the +Imperial Guard to arrive. + +As soon as General Drouet, their commander, had fifteen pieces in +the field, he began firing, and his line grew in size until he +had fifty cannons, which he advanced, firing continuously, +although he still had very few troops behind him to give support; +however it was not possible for the enemy to see through the +thick smoke from the guns, that the gunners had little to back +them up. Eventually the infantry Chasseurs of the Imperial Old +Guard appeared, just as a gust of wind blew away the smoke. + +At the sight of their busbies, the Bavarian infantry recoiled in +fear. General de Wrede, wishing to stop this disorder at all +costs, ordered all his cavalry, Austrian, Bavarian, and Russian, +to charge our artillery, and in an instant our battery was +surrounded by a swarm of horsemen!... But at the voice of their +commander, General Drouet, who, sword in hand, set them an +example in resistance, the French gunners, taking their muskets, +remained calmly behind their guns, from where they fired +point-blank at the enemy. Nevertheless, the great number of the +latter would have eventually triumphed, had not, on the Emperor's +order, all Sebastiani's cavalry, along with all that of the +Imperial Guard, mounted Grenadiers, Dragoons, Chasseurs, +Mamelukes, Lancers, and Guards of Honour, hurled themselves +furiously on the enemy cavalry, killing a great number and +dispersing the rest. + +Then, falling on the Bavarian infantry squares, they broke them +and inflicted tremendous losses, at which stage the Bavarian +army, put to rout, fled to the bridge over the Kinzig and to the +town of Hanau. + +General de Wrede was a brave man, so, before admitting himself +beaten by forces half as numerous as his, he resolved to make +another effort, and gathering all the troops remaining to him, he +made a surprise attack on us. Suddenly a fusillade broke out and +the forest rang once more to the sound of artillery; cannon-balls +whistled through the trees, from which great branches fell with a +crash... The eye sought in vain to pierce the depths of the wood; +one could hardly see the flash of the guns, which lit, at +intervals, the shade cast by the foliage of the huge beeches, +beneath whose canopy we fought. + +Hearing the noise made by this attack, the Emperor sent, from his +position, the infantry Grenadiers of his Old Guard, led by +General Friant who soon overcame this last effort of the enemy, +who now hastily left the field of battle to re-group under the +protection of the fort of Hanau, which they abandoned during the +night, leaving behind a great number of wounded. The French +occupied the fort. + +We were no more than two short leagues from Frankfort, a +considerable town, with a stone bridge across the Main. The +French army would need to go along the bank of this river to +reach Mainz and the frontier of France, which was a day's march +from Frankfort; so Napoleon detached Sebastiani's corps and a +division of infantry to go and occupy Frankfort, and to take over +and destroy the bridge. The Emperor and the bulk of the army +bivouacked in the forest. + +The main road from Hanau to Frankfort runs along the right bank +of the river Maine. General Albert, a friend of mine, who +commanded the infantry which accompanied us, had been married, +some years previously, at Offenbach, a charming little town built +on the left bank exactly opposite the spot where, after emerging +from the woods of Hanau, we rested our horses, on the immense and +beautiful plain of Frankfort. + +Finding himself so close to his wife and their children, General +Albert was unable to resist the temptation to have news of them, +and to reassure them of his well-being after the dangers he had +encountered at the battles of Leipzig and Hanau. To do this he +exposed himself to more risk, perhaps, than he had run during +either of these sanguinary affairs, for, advancing on horseback +and in uniform, to the edge of the river, he hailed, in spite of +our warnings, a boatman who knew him; but while he was chatting +with this man, a Bavarian officer ran up with a picket of +infantry, who aiming their weapons, prepared to shoot at the +French general. However, a large body of citizens and boatmen +crowded in front of the soldiers and prevented them from firing, +for General Albert was very well liked in Offenbach. + +As I looked at this town, to where I had come while fighting for +my country, I did not dream that one day it would be my refuge +from the proscription of a French government, and that I would +spend three years there in exile!... + +After leaving the forest of Hanau to go on his way to Frankfort, +the Emperor had hardly gone two leagues when he learned that +fighting had broken out once more behind him. This was because +the Bavarian general, who, following his defeat the day before, +had expected to be chased, with the Emperor at his heels, had +taken reassurance from seeing the French army more concerned to +reach the Rhine than to pursue him, and had launched a brisk +attack on our rear-guard. However Macdonald, Marmont, and +Bertrand, who with their troops had occupied Hanau during the +night, having allowed the Bavarians to attack them on that side +of the Kinzig, received them with their bayonets, overwhelmed and +massacred them! General de Wrede was seriously injured, and his +son-in-law, Prince d'Oettingen was killed. + +The command of the enemy army then devolved onto the Austrian +General Fresnel, who ordered a retreat, and the French army +continued on its way peacefully towards the Rhine. We recrossed +the river on the 2nd and 3rd of November 1813, after a campaign +which included brilliant victories and disasterous defeats, the +main cause of which, as I have said, was the mistake made by +Napoleon when, instead of making peace in June, following the +victories of Lutzen and Bautzen, he quarreled with Austria, which +involved the Confederation of the Rhine, that is to say all of +Germany, so that he soon had the whole of Europe ranged against +him. + +After we had returned to France, the Emperor spent only six days +at Mainz, and then went to Paris, preceded by twenty-six flags +taken from our enemies. The army disapproved of this rapid +departure on the part of Napoleon. It was accepted that there +were important political reasons which called him to Paris, but +it was thought that he should have divided his time between his +capital and the need to re-organise his army, and that he should +have gone from one to the other to encourage the activity of +each, for he should have learned by experience that in his +absence little or nothing was done. + +The last cannon shots which I heard in 1813 were fired at the +battle of Hanau, where I nearly spent the last day of my life. My +regiment carried out five charges, two on infantry squares, one +on artillery, and two on Bavarian cavalry; but the greatest +danger I ran was when an ammunition wagon, loaded with mortar +bombs, caught fire and exploded close to me. I have told how, on +the Emperor's order, all the cavalry were in action at a +particularly difficult moment. Now, in these circumstances, it +is not good enough for a unit commander to send his troops +blindly forward, a thing I have seen done on several occasions, +but he must pay the closest attention to the ground over which +his squadrons are about to pass, in case he sends them into bogs +and marshes. + +I was therefore, a few paces ahead, followed by my regimental +staff and with my trumpeter at my side, who, at a given command, +would signal to the various squadrons the obstacles which they +would find in their way. Although the trees were widely spaced, +the passage through the forest was difficult for the cavalry +because the ground was littered with dead and wounded men and +horses, arms, cannons and ammunition wagons, abandoned by the +Bavarians; and you can understand that in these conditions when +one is galloping through shot and shell to reach the enemy one +cannot always take much care of oneself, and I relied greatly on +the intelligence and suppleness of my excellent and brave Turkish +horse, Azolan! The little group which followed me had been much +reduced by a blast of grape-shot which had wounded several of my +orderlies and I had beside me only the trumpeter, a charming and +good young man, when I heard from all along the line, cries of +"Look out, Colonel!" And I saw ten paces away a Bavarian +ammunition wagon which one of our shells had set on fire. + +A huge tree which had been knocked down by cannon-balls barred my +way forward, and to go round it would have taken too long. I +shouted to the trumpeter to duck, and crouching on my horse's +neck, I urged him to jump the tree. Azolan leapt a long way, but +not far enough to clear all the leafy branches in which his legs +became entangled. The wagon was now in flames and the powder +about to catch! I thought I was done for... when my horse, as if +he realised our common danger, started bounding four or five feet +into the air, getting always further from the wagon, and as soon +as he was clear of the branches he galloped off with such speed +that he really seemed to be "Ventre … terre". + +I was shaken when the explosion occurred, but it seemed I was out +of range of the bursting shells for neither I nor my horse were +touched. + +Sadly it was not so for my poor young trumpeter, for when we +resumed our march after the explosion we saw his body, mutilated +by the shell fragments, and his horse also cut to pieces. + +My brave Azolan had already saved my life at the Katzbach. I now +owed him my life for the second time. I made much of him, and as +if to show his pleasure he whinnied at the top of his voice. It +is at times like these that one has to believe that some animals +are more intelligent than is generally thought. + +I greatly regretted the death of my trumpeter, who by his courage +and his behaviour had made himself liked by all the regiment. He +was the son of a teacher at the college in Toulouse, and had had +a good education. He delighted in producing Latin quotations, and +an hour before his death, the poor lad, having noticed that +almost all the trees in the forest of Hanau were beeches, whose +branches stretched out to make a sort of roof, had thought it a +suitable occasion to declaim one of Virgil's eclogues, beginning: + +"Tityre, tu patulae recubans sub tegmine fagi..." + +which greatly amused Marshal Macdonald who happened to be passing +and who exclaimed, "There's a jolly lad whose memory isn't upset +by his surroundings; I'll bet it's the first time anyone has +recited Virgil to the sound of enemy cannon fire!" + +"Those who live by the sword, perish by the sword" says the +scripture, and if this is not applicable to every soldier, it was +to a great many under the Empire. For example, M. Guindet, who +killed Prince Louis of Prussia in the fighting at Saalefeld, was +himself killed at the battle of Hanau. It was no doubt the fear +of meeting a similar fate which led the Russian General +Czernicheff to run away from danger. + +You may remember that in the first months of 1812, this officer, +then a colonel, an aide-de-camp and favourite of the Emperor +Alexander, came to Paris where he abused his position to corrupt +two poor employees in the Ministry of War, who were executed for +having sold to him situation reports on the French army, and that +the Russian Colonel only escaped the penalty of the law by +secretly fleeing the country. On his return to Russia, M. de +Czernicheff, although he was a courtier rather than a soldier, +was given the rank of general officer and the command of a +division of 3000 Cossacks, the only Russian troops who appeared +at Hanau, where their leader played a role which made him a +laughing stock among the Austrians and Bavarians who were present +at this engagement. + +Czernicheff, as he marched towards us, spoke loudly of victory, +believing that he had to face only soldiers who were sick and +disorganised; but he changed his tune when he saw himself in the +presence of the hardy and vigorous troops returning from Leipzig. + +General de Wrede had great difficulty in persuading him to enter +the line, and as soon as he heard the fearsome cannonade of our +artillery, he and his 3000 Cossacks trotted bravely off the +field, to the cat-calls of the Austro-Bavarian troops, who +witnessed this shameful conduct. When General de Wrede went +personally to make some scathing observations, M. de Czernicheff +replied that his regiment's horses needed feeding and that he was +taking them for this purpose to nearby villages. This excuse was +regarded as so ridiculous that for some time afterwards the walls +of German villages were decorated by caricatures of M. de +Czernicheff feeding his horses with bunches of laurels gathered +in the forest of Hanau. + +Once across the Rhine, the soldiers who made up the remains of +the French army expected to see an end to their hardships as soon +as they set foot on the soil of their motherland; but they were +much mistaken, for the government, and the Emperor himself, had +so much counted on success, and had so little foreseen that we +might leave Germany, that nothing had been made ready at the +frontier to receive and re-organise the troops. So, from the very +day of our arrival at Mainz, the men and the horses would have +gone short of food if we had not spread them out and lodged them +with the inhabitants of nearby villages and hamlets. But they, +since the first wars of the revolution, had lost the habit of +feeding soldiers, and complained vociferously, and it is true +that the expense was too great for the communes. + +As it was necessary to guard, or at least to watch over the +immensely long frontier formed by the Rhine from Basle to +Holland, we settled, as best we could, the numerous sick and +wounded in the hospitals of Mainz. All fit men rejoined the core +of their regiments, and the various units of the army, which for +the most part consisted only of a small cadre, were spread along +the river. My regiment, together with what was left of +Sebastiani's cavalry corps, went down the Rhine by short marches; +but although the weather was perfect and the countryside +charming, we were all deeply unhappy, for one could foresee that +France was going to lose possession of this fine land, and that +her misfortunes would not stop there. + +My regiment spent some time in Cleves, next a fortnight in the +little town of Urdingen, and then went on to Nimeguen. During +this sad journey we were painfully affected by the sight of the +inhabitants on the opposite bank, the Germans and the Dutch, +tearing down the French flag from their steeples and replacing it +with the flags of their former sovereigns. In spite of these +gloomy reflections, all the colonels tried to re-organise the few +troops which remained to them, but what could one do without +clothing, equipment or replacement of arms?... + +The need to provide food for the army compelled the Emperor to +keep it dispersed, whereas to re-organise it would require the +creation of large centres of concentration. We were therefore in +a vicious circle. However, the allies, who should have crossed +the Rhine a few days after us, to prevent our re-organisation, +felt themselves still so weakened as a result of the hard blows +we had delivered during the last campaign, that they needed time +to recover. + +They left us in peace for the months of November and December, +the greater part of which I spent on the bank of the Rhine, in +the ghost of the army corps commanded by Marshal Macdonald. + +I was eventually ordered, as were the other cavalry colonels, to +take all my dismounted men to my regimental depot for the task of +building up new squadrons. The depot of the 23rd was still at +Mons, in Belgium, and that is where I went. It was there that I +saw the end of the year 1813, so filled with great events and in +which I had had encountered many dangers and undergone so many +trials. + +Before I end my chronicle of the year, I ought to summarise +briefly the final events of the campaign of 1813. + +Chap. 33. + +The German fortresses in which the retreating French had left +garrisons were soon surrounded and in some cases besieged. Almost +all surrendered. Four only were still holding out at the end of +1813. + +The first of these was Hamburg, commanded by the intrepid Marshal +Davout, who held on to this important fort until after the +abdication of the Emperor, when the French government recalled +the garrison to France; the second was Magdeburg, where General +Le Marois, an aide-de-camp to the Emperor, also held out until +the end of the war; the third was Wittemburg, defended by the +elderly General Lapoype, and which was taken by assault on the +12th of the following January; and finally Erfurt, which had to +capitulate for lack of food. + +All the other fortresses beyond the Rhine, which the Emperor had +wanted to keep, the most important of which were Dresden, Danzig, +Stettin, Zamosk, Torgau and Modlin, were already in the hands of +the enemy. + +The circumstances surrounding the taking over of the first two of +these fortresses do not reflect much honour on the allies. After +the battle of Leipzig, Napoleon withdrew with the remains of his +army, leaving at Dresden a corps of 25000 men commanded by +Marshal Saint-Cyr, who tried by force of arms to cut a passage +through the enemies who blocked his way. He drove them back +several times, but eventually overcome by stronger forces and +short of food, he was compelled to accept the honourable +capitulation which was offered to him. This stipulated that the +garrison would keep its arms, would not be made prisoners of war +and would march back to France in day-long stages. + +The Marshal wanted his troops to move as a corps and to bivouac +all together at the same place, which would allow them to defend +themselves in case of treachery; but the enemy generals pointed +out that owing to the exhaustion of the countryside, it would be +impossible to provide at any one place twenty-five thousand +rations, and the French marshal had to accept this. He then +agreed that his force should be divided into several small +columns of 2 or 3000 men who would travel one or even two days +apart. + +For the first few days all went well, but as soon as the last +French column had left Dresden, having handed over the fort and +the munitions of war, the foreign generals announced that they +did not have the authority to sign the capitulation without the +agreement of their generalissimo, Prince Schwartzenberg, and as +he did not approve, the agreement was null and void. They offered +to allow our troops to return to Dresden in exactly the same +state as they had been previously, that is to say with only +enough food for a few days, a shortage which they had concealed +from the enemy for as long as they occupied the place, and which, +as it was now known to them, made the offer worthless. + +Our troops were indignant at this odious lack of good faith, but +what action could be taken by isolated detachments of 2 or 3000 +men, whom the enemy had taken the precaution of surrounding by +battalions of their own, before they could hear of the breakdown +of the capitulation? Any resistance was impossible and our men +were forced to lay down their arms. + +To the treachery practised on the field of battle, was now added +that of the breaking of agreements of capitulation. This did not +prevent the Germans from celebrating a victory, for they regarded +any measures, however despicable, as justified in order to defeat +Napoleon. This new morality was put into operation at Danzig. + +General Rapp had defended this place for a long time, but having +run out of food, he was compelled to surrender on condition that +the garrison would be allowed to return to France. However, in +spite of a treaty signed by the Prince of Wurtemberg, the +commander of the army which conducted the siege, the conditions +were violated and the garrison of 16000 men were sent as +prisoners to Russia where most of them died. + +One of the most remarkable stories of this siege concerns a +Captain de Chambure, who asked for and obtained permission to +form an independent company, chosen from hand-picked volunteers. +They engaged on the most daring ventures, going out at night and +surprising enemy posts, getting into their entrenchments, into +their camps, destroying their siege-works under the nose of their +batteries, spiking their guns and going far into the country to +capture or pillage their convoys. Chambure, having gone out one +night with his men, surprised a Russian cantonment, set fire to +an ammunition dump, destroyed several stores and killed or +wounded one hundred and fifty men, for the loss of three of his +own; and returned to the fort in triumph. + +Now, however, let us return to examine the position of the French +armies in December 1813. + +Spain, the principal cause of all the catastrophes which marked +the end of Napoleon's reign, had been stripped, in the course of +the year, of all its best troops, which the Emperor had sent to +reinforce the army in Germany. However, the effective strength of +those who remained in the Iberian peninsula amounted to more than +100,000 men. A number which, although inadequate, would have +contained the enemy if Napoleon had left the command to Marshal +Soult. But as he most earnestly wished to make of his brother +Joseph a general who could defend the kingdom which he had given +him, it was to this prince, an estimable man, but no soldier, +that the Emperor entrusted the command of the armies of Spain. He +gave him, it is true, as chief of staff and military advisor, +Marshal Jourdan; but the Marshal was prematurely aged and had not +been involved in active warfare since the first campaigns of the +revolution; he was so worn out, both mentally and physically, +that he inspired no confidence in the troops. So, in spite of the +talents displayed by the generals who served under the orders of +King Joseph, the Anglo-Portuguese army commanded by Lord +Wellington and helped by Spanish guerrillas, caused us +irreparable losses. + +The French, under pressure at every point, had already been +compelled to abandon Madrid, the two Castiles, and to recross the +Ebro, to concentrate their main forces round the town of +Vittoria. Attacked in this position by three times their number, +they lost a battle; a loss which was made all the more disastrous +by the fact that King Joseph and Marshal Jourdan had made no +arrangements for the carrying out of a retreat, so that it became +chaotic. The King's suite, the artillery parks, the many coaches +of a crowd of Spaniards, who having taken sides with Joseph, +sought to escape the vengence of their compatriots, the wagons of +the treasury, of the military administration, etc., etc., all +found themselves piled up in confusion, so that the roads were +obstructed and the regiments had great difficulty in moving. +However they did not lose their formation, and in spite of +vigorous attacks by the enemy, the greater part of the army +managed to reach Salvatierra and the road to Pamplona, by which +the retreat was made. + +The battle of Vittoria demonstrated the talent and courage of +General Clausel, who rallied the army and gave it some direction. +It was, however, an unhappy day. The French lost 6000 men killed, +wounded or taken prisoner, and left in the hands of the enemy a +large part of their artillery and almost all their baggage. + +Despite this set-back, the troops, whose morale was excellent, +could have remained in Navarre, with the aid of the fortress of +Pamplona and the Pyrenees mountains, but King Joseph ordered the +continuation of the retreat and the crossing of the Bidassoa, +where our rear-guard, commanded by General Foy, was ordered to +blow up the bridge. So, from the end of June, we abandoned that +part of the Spanish frontier; nevertheless, Marshal Suchet still +held out in Aragon (The region of Zaragossa. Ed.), and Catalonia, +and in the kingdom of Valencia; but the results of the battle of +Vittoria had so much weakened us that when Wellington sent +reinforcements to central Spain, Suchet found it necessary to +leave the town and the kingdom. + +These events were taking place at a time when Napoleon was still +triumphant in Germany. As soon as he was told of the state of +affairs across the Pyrenees, he hastily revoked the powers which +he had given to King Joseph and Marshal Jourden, and appointed +Marshal Soult commander of all the armies in Spain. + +Soult, after re-organising the divisions, made a great effort to +help the French garrison left in Pamplona, but in vain; they were +forced to capitulate and Marshal Soult had to take his troops +back across the Bidassoa. The fortress of San-Sebastian, governed +by General Rey, held out for a long time; but was eventually +taken by assault by the Anglo-Portuguese, who, ignoring the laws +of humanity, robbed, raped and massacred the unfortunate +inhabitants of this Spanish town, although they were their +allies! The English officers made no attempt to stop these +atrocities, which went on for three days, to the shame of +Wellington, his generals, and the English. + +Marshal Soult defended the Pyrenees foot by foot, and beat +Wellington on several occasions; but the greater numbers at the +latter's disposal allowed him unceasingly to take the offensive, +so that he was able eventually to cross our frontier and set up +his headquarters in Saint-Jean de Luz, the first town in France, +which had never previously been lost, even during the defeats +suffered by Francis I, or the disastrous wars of the end of the +reign of Louis XIV. + +It was evident that after the defection of the German troops at +Leipzig, Marshal Soult could not hope to keep in the army of the +Pyrenees several thousand soldiers from across the Rhine. They +all went over to the enemy in a single night, thus augmenting +Wellington's strength. + +However, Marshal Soult, after concentrating several divisions +below the ramparts of Bayonne, once more attacked the +Anglo-Portuguese. On the 9th of December, at Saint-Pierre de +Rube, there was a battle which lasted for five days, and was one +of the bloodiest of the war, for it cost the enemy 16,000 lives +and the French 10,000, but we were able to remain in position +around Bayonne. + +Before these events in the Pyrenees, Marshal Suchet, having +learned of the reverses suffered by Napoleon in Germany, realised +that it would be impossible for him to remain in the middle of +Spain, and prepared to return to France. To do this he withdrew +to Tarragon, where after taking the garrison into his army he +blew up the ramparts. The retreat, although harried by the +Spanish, was carried out in good order, and by the end of +December 1813, Suchet and the troops under his command were +established in Gerona. + +To complete this examination of the position of the French armies +at the end of 1813, one needs to recall that in the spring of +that year, the Emperor, who distrusted Austria, had built up in +the Tyrol and in his kingdom of Italy, a large army, the command +of which he had given to his step-son Eugene de Beauharnais, the +viceroy of the country. This prince was a good man, very gentle +and greatly devoted to the Emperor, but although much more of a +soldier than King Joseph of Spain, he lacked many of the +qualities required to lead an army. The Emperor's affection for +Eugene led him astray in this matter. + +It was on the 24th of August, the day when the armistice between +Napoleon and the allies was due to expire, that the Austrians +abandoned their neutrality and declared themselves our enemies. +The Italian troops continued to serve with us, but the Dalmatians +(Croats) left us to join the Austrians. Prince Eugene had under +his command a number of excellent lieutenants, but the fighting +was never very strenuous because the commanders on both sides +realised that the events in Germany would determine the outcome +of the campaign. There were however, a number of actions, with +various results. In the end the larger forces of the Austrians, +who were shortly joined by an English contingent which +disembarked in Tuscany forced the viceroy to lead the +Franco-Italian army beyond the Adige. + +In November came news of the defection of Murat, the King of +Naples. The Emperor, to whom he owed everything, could not at +first believe it. It was, however, only too true. Murat had +joined forces with the Austrians, against whom he had fought for +so long, and his troops already occupied Bologna. Such is the +volatility of the Italians that everywhere they welcomed with +acclamation the Austro-Neapolitans, whom they had previously +detested, and whom they would soon hate even more. By December, +the vice-roi's army of only 43,000 men, occupied Verona and its +surroundings. + +The Emperor, seeing the whole of Europe combined against him, +could not fail to realise that the first condition which a peace +would demand of him would be the re-installment of the Bourbons +on the throne of Spain. He decided therefore to do of his own +volition what he would be forced to do later: he set free King +Ferdinand, who had been detained at Valancay, and ordered +Suchet's army to retire behind the Pyrenees. + +Thus, at the end of 1813, we had lost all of Germany, all of +Spain, the greater part of Italy, and Wellington's army, which +had crossed the Bidassoa and the western Pyrenees, was encamped +on French soil and threatening Bayonne, Navarre, and Bordeaux. + +Chap. 34. + +I began the year 1814 at Mons. Where I did not undergo such +physical dangers as I had done in previous years, but where I +suffered much more mentally. + +As I had left, at Nimeguen, all the troopers of my regiment who +still had horses, I had none at Mons, where the depot was +situated, except dismounted men, for whom I was trying to get +horses from the Ardennes, when events prevented this. + +On the 1st of January, the enemies, after hesitating for three +months before invading France, crossed the Rhine at several +points, the two most important of these being firstly at Kaub, a +market town situated between Bingen and Coblentz, where a rocky +gorge greatly reduces the width of the river, and then at Basle +where the Swiss handed over the stone bridge, in violation of +their neutrality, a neutrality which they maintain or abandon +according to their interests. + +It is estimated that some five to six hundred thousand allied +soldiers entered a France exhausted by twenty-five years of war, +half of whose troops were prisoners in foreign lands, and many of +whose provinces were ready to defect on the first suitable +occasion, amongst which was that containing the department of +Jemmapes, of which Mons was the principal town. + +This huge area of rich country which had been annexed to France, +firstly "de facto" by the war of 1792, and then by right after +the treaty of Amiens, had been so accustomed to this union that +after the disasters of the Russian campaign, it had shown great +enthusiasm and made considerable sacrifices to help the Emperor +to put his troops back on a sound footing. Men, horses, +equipment, clothing... it had complied with all demands without a +murmur! But the losses we had suffered in Germany had discouraged +the Belgians, and I found the attitude of the populace had +completely changed. They loudly regretted the paternal government +of the house of Austria, under which they had lived for so long, +and were most anxious to separate themselves from France, whose +continual wars were ruining their trade and industry. In a word, +Belgium awaited only a favourable moment to revolt, an event +which would be the more serious for us because, by its +geographical situation, the province was in the rear of the +weakened army corps which we still had on the Rhine. The Emperor +sent some troops to Brussels, whom he placed under the command of +General Maisons, a capable and very determined man. Maisons, +having, visited several departments, recognised that Jemmapes, +and particularly the town of Mons, was the most disaffected. +There was there, open discussion of the possibility of taking up +arms against the weak French garrison, something which its +commander general "O"... could not have prevented, for the old +general, stricken by gout, and lacking in energy, who had been +born in Belgium, seemed afraid to earn the dislike of his +compatriots. General Maisons suspended him from duty and gave me +the command of the department of Jemmapes. + +My job was made more difficult because, after the inhabitants of +Liege, those who live in Borinage are the boldest and most +turbulent in all Belgium, and to control them I had only a small +unit of 400 conscripts, a few gendarmes and 200 unmounted +cavalrymen from my regiment, among whom there were some fifty men +who were born in the area and who, in case of trouble, would join +the insurgents. I could rely entirely only on the other 150 +Chasseurs, who born in France, and having been in action with me, +would have followed me anywhere. + +There were some good officers; those in the infantry, and in +particular the battalion commander, were very willing to back me +up. + +I could not, however, disguise the fact that if it came to blows, +the two sides were not equally matched. From the hotel where I +stayed I saw every day 3 or 4,000 peasants and workmen from the +town, armed with big sticks who gathered in the main square to +listen to speeches from former Austrian officers, all of them +wealthy nobles, who had quitted the service on the union of +Belgium with France, and now spoke out against the Empire which +had loaded them with taxes, taken their children to send them to +the wars, etc.,etc. These speeches were listened to with all the +more attention, in that they were delivered by great landed +proprietors, and addressed to their tenants and employees, over +whom they wielded much influence. + +Add to this that each day brought news of the advance of our +enemies, who were approaching Brussels, driving before them the +debris of Marshal Macdonald's Corps. All the French employees +left the department to take refuge in Valenciennes and Cambrai. +Finally the mayor of Mons, M. Duval of Beaulieu, an honourable +man, thought it his duty to warn me that neither my feeble +garrison nor myself were safe in the midst of an excited and +numerous population, and that I would be wise to leave the town, +a move which would not be opposed since my regiment and I had +always lived at peace with the inhabitants. + +I was aware that this proposition came from a committee composed +of former Austrian officers, which had instructed the mayor to +put it to me, in the hope that I would be intimidated. I resolved +then to show my teeth, I said to M. Duval that I would be most +grateful if he would summon the town council and the leading +citizens, and that I would then give my reply to the proposals +which he had brought me. + +Half an hour later, all the garrison were armed, and when the +municipal council accompanied by the wealthiest citizens had +assembled in the square, I mounted on horseback, in order to be +heard by all, and after I had told the mayor that before talking +with him and his council, I had an important order to give to my +troops, I told my men about the suggestion which had been made +that we should abandon, without a struggle, the town which had +been put in our care. + +They were most indignant, and said so loudly! I added that I +could not conceal the fact that the ramparts were broken down at +several points, and a lack of artillery would make defence +difficult against regular troops, though if need be we would do +our best; but that if it was the inhabitants of the town and the +countryside who rose against us, we would not confine ourselves +to defence, we would attack with all the means at our disposal, +for we would be dealing with revolutionaries. As a consequence I +was ordering my men to take over the church tower, from where, +after a delay of half an hour and three rolls on the drums they +would fire on the occupants of the square, while patrols would +clear the streets by shooting, mainly at those who had left their +work in the country to come and do us harm. I added that if it +came to fighting, I would order, as the best means of defence, +the setting on fire of the town, in order to keep the inhabitants +busy, and I would shoot at them continually to prevent its +extinction. + +This speech may seem a little drastic, but consider the critical +position in which I found myself; with no more than 700 men, few +of whom had seen action, no expectation of reinforcements, and +surrounded by a multitude which increased in size by the moment, +for the officer in charge of the detachment sent to the church +tower told me that the roads leading to the town were full of +miners from the pits of Jemmapes, heading for the town of Mons. +My little troupe and I were at risk of being wiped out if I had +not taken decisive action. My address had produced a marked +effect among the rich noblemen, the promoters of this +disturbance, and also among the townspeople, who began to +disperse, but as the peasants did not budge, I brought up two +ammunition wagons to issue a hundred cartridges to each soldier, +and when they had loaded their weapons, I ordered the three rolls +on the drums, the prelude to the fusillade. + +At this frightening sound, the huge crowd which filled the square +began to run in tumult to the neighbouring streets, where each +one rushed to find shelter, and a few moments later the leaders +of the Austrian party, with the mayor at their head, came to +clutch at my hand and beg me to spare the town. I agreed on the +condition that they would send immediately to tell the miners and +workmen to go back to their homes. They hastened to comply, and +the elegant young men who were the best mounted, jumped on their +fine horses and went out through all the city gates to meet the +mob which they sent back to their villages without any +opposition. + +This passive obedience confirmed me in my opinion that the +disturbance had powerful backers, and that my garrison and I +would have been held prisoner, had I not frightened the leaders +by threatening to use all means, even fire, rather than hand over +to rioters the town confided to my charge. + +The Belgians are very fond of music, and it so happened that +there was a concert to be given that evening, to which I and my +officers had been invited, as was M. de Laussat, the prefect of +the department. + +We agreed that we should go there as usual, which was the right +decision, for we were received with cordiality, at least on the +surface. While talking to the nobles, who had been behind the +disturbance, we put it to them that it was not for the populace +to decide by rebellion the fate of Belgium, but rather for the +contending armies; and it would be folly on their part to incite +the workmen and peasants to shed their blood, in order to hasten +by a few days a solution which would presently become evident. + +An elderly Austrian general, who had retired to Mons, his +birthplace, then said to his compatriots that they had been wrong +to plot the seizure of the garrison, for that would have resulted +in much damage to the town, as no soldiers would lay down their +arms without a fight. They all agreed that this assessment was +correct, and from that day forward the garrison and the townsfolk +lived peacefully together as in the past. The people of Mons even +gave us a few days later a striking demonstration of their +support. + +As the allied armies advanced, a crowd of partisans, mainly +Prussians, disguised themselves as Cossacks, and driven by the +desire for plunder they grabbed anything which had belonged to +the French administration, and had no hesitation in seizing the +goods of even non-military French citizens. + +A large band of these imitation Cossacks, having crossed the +Rhine and spread out on the left bank, had reached as far as the +gates of Brussels, and had pillaged the imperial chateau of +Tervueren, from where they took all the horses of the stud farm +which the Emperor had installed there; then, splitting into +smaller groups, these marauders infested Belgium. Some of them +came to the department of Jemmapes, where they tried to stir up +the populace, but when they did not succeed in doing so, they put +this down to the fact that Mons, the principal town of the +region, had not supported them because of the terror inspired by +the colonel in command of the garrison. Whereupon they decided to +capture or kill me, but in order not to awaken my suspicions by +employing too great a number of men for this exploit, they +limited the number to three hundred. It appeared that the leader +of these partisans had been well briefed, for, knowing that I had +too few men to guard the old gates and ancient, partly +demolished, ramparts, he took his men, during a dark night, to +the rampart, where the major part of them dismounted and made +their way silently through the streets to the main square and the +Hotel de la Poste, where I had at first stayed. However, since I +had heard of the crossing of the Rhine by the enemy, I had gone +every evening to the barracks, where I spent the night surrounded +by my troops. It was as well that I had done so, for the German +Cossacks surrounded the hotel and rifled through all the rooms. +Then, furious at not finding any French officers, they set on the +inn-keeper, whom they robbed and maltreated, and whose wine they +drank until both officers and soldiers were drunk. + +A Belgian, a former corporal in my regiment, named Courtois, for +whom I had obtained a decoration as one of my bravest soldiers, +arrived at this moment at the hotel. This man, born at +Saint-Ghislain near Mons, had lost a leg in Russia the previous +year, and happily I had been able to save him by securing means +for him to return to France. He was so grateful for this that +during my stay in Mons in the winter of 1814, he came often to +visit me, and on those occasions he dressed in the uniform of the +23rd Chasseurs which he had once so honourably worn. Now, it so +happened that on the night in question, Curtois, while returning +to the house of one of his relatives where he had been staying, +saw the enemy detachment heading in the direction of the hotel, +and although the gallant corporal knew that I did not sleep +there, he wanted to be sure that his colonel was in no danger, so +he went to the hotel, taking with him his relative. + +At the sight of the French uniform and the Legion of Honour, the +Prussians shamefully grabbed the crippled man and tried to snatch +the cross of the Legion from him. When he resisted, the Prussian +Cossacks killed him and dragged his body into the street before +continuing their drinking. + +Mons was so large in comparison to my small garrison, that I had +taken refuge in the barracks, and having arranged my defences for +the night at this spot, I had forbidden my men to go near the +main square, although I had been told that the enemy were there, +because I did not know their strength and feared that the local +populace would combine with them. But when the townspeople heard +of the murder of Courtois, their fellow countryman and one +regarded with affection by all, they resolved to be revenged, and +forgetting their complaints against the French, they sent a +deputation, comprising the brother of the dead man and some of +the leading citizens, to ask me to put myself at their head in +order to drive away these "Cossacks." + +I was well aware that the pillage and excess at the Hotel de La +Poste inspired in every bourgeois fear for his family and his +house, which motivated them to expel the Cossacks as much as the +death of Curtois, and that they would have acted very differently +if, instead of robbers and assassins, it had been regular troops +who had entered the town; nonetheless I thought it my duty to +take advantage of the good-will of those inhabitants who were +prepared to take up arms to help us. I then took part of my troop +and set off for the square, while the remainder, in charge of the +battalion commander, who knew the town well, I sent to lie in +wait at the breach in the wall through which the Prussian +Cossacks had entered. + +At the first shots fired by our people at these rogues, there was +a great tumult in the hotel and the square! Those who were not +killed took to their heels, but many got lost in the streets and +were finished off one by one. As for those who reached the place +where they had left their horses tied up to trees in the +promenade, they ran into the battalion commander, who greeted +them with a withering fusillade! At daylight we counted in the +town and in the old breach more than 200 dead, while we had not +lost a single man because our adversaries, fuddled by wine and +strong liquor, had offered no defence. Those of them who escaped +into the country were caught and killed by the peasantry, who +were enraged at the death of the unfortunate Curtois, who was +something of a local celebrity, and who, given the name of "Jambe +de bois", had become as dear to them as General Daumesnil, +another "Jambe de bois," was to the working class of Paris. + +I do not cite this fighting in Mons as something to be +particularly proud of, for with the national guard, I had twelve +or thirteen hundred men compared to the three hundred of the +Prussians. But I thought it worth recording this bizarre +encounter to demonstrate the volatility of the masses, which is +shown by the fact that all the peasants and coal miners of +Borinage, who a month previously had come in a mass to +exterminate or at least disarm the few Frenchmen remaining in +Mons, had come to join us to oppose the Prussians because they +had killed one of their compatriots. I greatly regretted the +death of the brave Courtois, who had fallen victim to his regard +for me. + +The most important trophy from our victory was the three hundred +horses which the enemy abandoned. They nearly all came from the +region of Berg and were of very good quality, so I took them into +my regiment, for which this unexpected provision of remounts was +extremely welcome. + +I passed a further month at Mons, whose inhabitants treated us +perfectly well despite the approach of the enemy armies. However +their continued advance meant that the French were forced not +only to abandon Brussels but the whole of Belgium, and recross +the frontiers into their motherland. I was ordered to take my +regimental depot to Cambrai where, with the horses which I had +taken from the Prussian Cossacks, I was able to remount 300 good +troopers who had returned from Leipzig, and make two fine +squadrons, which commanded by Major Sigaldi, were sent to the +army which the Emperor was assembling in Champagne. There they +upheld the honour of the 23rd chasseuers, particularly at the +battle of Champaubert, where the gallant Captain Duplessis, an +outstanding officer, was killed. + +I have always favoured the lance, a lethal weapon in the hands of +a good cavalryman. I asked for and obtained permission to +distribute to my squadrons some lances which artillery officers +had been unable to carry away when they left the forts on the +Rhine. They were so much appreciated that several other cavalry +units followed my example, and were glad to have done so. + +The regimental depots were obliged to cross to the left bank of +the Seine to avoid falling into the hands of the enemy; mine went +to Nogent-le-Roi, an arrondissment of Dreux. We had a fair number +of troopers but almost no horses. The government was making great +efforts to collect some at Versailles, where it had created a +central cavalry depot commanded by General Preval. + +The General, like his predecessor General Bourcier, knew much +more about remounts and organisation than he did about war, in +which he had rarely been involved. He did his utmost to fulfil +the difficult task which the Emperor had given him; but as he +could not, however, improvise horses or equipment, and as he +would not send out detachments until they were fully organised, +departures were not very frequent. I grumbled, but no colonel +could return to his unit without the permission of the Emperor, +who, to conserve his resources, had forbidden the employment of +more officers in any unit than was justified by the number of men +they had to command. It was therefore useless for me to beg +General Preval to let me go to Champagne. He fixed my departure +for the end of March, at which time I would lead to the army a +draft composed of mounted men from my own depot and several +others. + +Until this time I was authorised to live in Paris with my family, +for M. Caseneuve, my second-in-command, could take care of the +200 men who were still at Nogent-le-Roi, which I could reach, if +necessary, in a few hours. So I went to Paris, where I spent the +greater part of March, which, although I was with those I loved +most, was one of the most miserable months of my life. The +imperial government, to which I was attached, and which I had for +so long defended at the cost of my blood, was everywhere +crumbling. The armies of the enemy, spreading from Lyon, occupied +a large part of France, and it was easy to see that they would +soon arrive at the capital. + +Chap. 35. + +The Emperor's greatest antagonists are forced to admit that he +excelled himself in the winter campaign which he conducted in the +first three months of 1814. No previous general had ever shown +such talent, or achieved so much with such feeble resources. With +a few thousand men, most of whom were inexperienced conscripts, +one saw him face the armies of Europe, turning up everywhere with +these troops, which he led from one point to another with +marvellous rapidity. + +Taking advantage of all the resources of the country in order to +defend it, he hurried from the Austrians to the Russians, and +from the Russians to the Prussians, going from Blucher to +Schwarzenberg and from him to Sacken, sometimes beaten by them, +but much more often the victor. He hoped, for a time, that he +might drive the foreigners, disheartened by frequent defeats, +from French soil and back across the Rhine. All that was required +was a new effort by the nation; but there was general +war-weariness, and there was in all parts, and particularly in +Paris, plotting against the Empire. + +There are those who have expressed surprise that France did not +rise in mass, as in 1792, to repel the invader, or did not follow +the Spanish in forming, in each province, a centre of national +defence. + +The reason is that the enthusiasm which had improvised the armies +of 1792 had been exhausted by twenty-five years of war, and the +Emperor's over-use of conscription, so that in most of the +departments there remained only old men and children. As for the +example of Spain, it is not applicable to France, where too much +influence has been allowed to Paris, so that nothing can be done +unless Paris leads the way, whereas in Spain each Province was a +little government and was able to create its own army, even when +Madrid was occupied by the French. It was centralisation which +led to the loss of France. + +It is no part of the task which I have set myself, to relate the +great feats performed by the French army during the campaign of +1814, to do so I would have to write volumes, and I do not feel +inclined to dwell on the misfortunes of my country. I shall +content myself by saying that after disputing, foot by foot, the +territory between the Marne, the Aube, the Saone, and the Seine, +the Emperor conceived a daring plan which, if it had succeeded, +would have saved France. This was to go, with his troops, by way +of Saint-Dizier and Vitry towards Alsace and Lorraine, which, by +threatening the rear of the enemies, would make them fear being +cut off from their depots and finding themselves without any +route of retreat. This would decide them to withdraw to the +frontier while they still had the opportunity. + +However, to ensure the success of this splendid strategic +movement, it required the fulfilment of two conditions which +failed him; these were: the loyalty of the high officers of +state, and some means of preventing the enemy from seizing Paris, +if they ignored the movement of the Emperor towards their rear +and launched an attack on the city. + +Sadly, loyalty to the Emperor was so much diminished in the +Senate and the legislative body, that there were leading members +of these assemblies, such as Tallyrand, the Duc de Dalberg, +Laisne and others, who through secret emissaries informed the +allied sovereigns of the dissatisfaction among the upper-class +Parisians with Napoleon, and invited them to come and attack the +capital. + +As for defences, it must be admitted that Napoleon had not given +this sufficient thought, and they were limited to the erection of +a spiked palisade at the gates on the right bank, without the +provision of any positions for guns. As the garrison, formed by a +very small number of troops of the line, of invalids, veterans, +and students from the polytechnic, was insufficient to even +attempt resistance, the Emperor, when he left the capital in +January to go and head the troops assembled in Champagne, +confided to the National Guard the defence of Paris, where he +left the Empress and his son. He had called together at the +Tuileries the officers of this bourgeois militia, who had +responded with numerous vows and bellicose undertakings to the +rousing speech which he addressed to them. The Emperor named the +Empress as Regent and appointed as overall commander his brother +Joseph, the ex-King of Spain, the pleasantest but most +unsoldierlike of men. + +Napoleon, under the illusion that he had thus provided for the +safety of the capital, thought that he could leave it for some +days to its own devices, while he went with those troops which +still remained to him to carry out the project of getting behind +the enemy. He left for Lorraine about the end of March, but he +had been on his way for only a few days, when he learned that the +allies, instead of following him as he had hoped, had headed for +Paris, driving before then the weak debris of Mortier's and +Marmont's corps who, positioned on the heights of Montmartre, +attempted to defend the city without any help from the National +Guard except an occasional infantryman. + +This alarming news opened Napoleon's eyes; he turned his troops +to march towards Paris, for where he set out immediately. + +On the 30th of March, the Emperor, riding post and with no +escort, had just passed Moret when a brisk cannonade was heard; +he held on to the hope of arriving before the allies entered the +capital, where his presence would certainly have had a remarkable +effect on the population, who were demanding arms. (There were +one hundred thousand muskets and several million cartridges in +the barracks of the Champ de Mars, but General Clarke, the +Minister for War, would not allow their distribution.) + +On his arrival at Fromenteau, only five leagues from Paris, the +Emperor could no longer hear gunfire and he realised that the +city was in the hands of the allies, which was confirmed at +Villejuif. Marmont had, in fact, signed a capitulation which +delivered the capital to the enemy. + +As danger approached, the Empress and her son, the King of Rome, +had gone to Blois, where they were shortly joined by King Joseph, +who abandoned the command which the Emperor had given him. The +troops of the line left by the Fontainebleau gate, a route by +which the Emperor was expected to arrive. + +It is not possible to describe the agitation which seized the +city whose inhabitants, divided by so many different interests, +had been surprised by an invasion which few of them had +foreseen... As for me, who had expected it, and who had seen at +close quarters the horrors of war, I was most anxiously thinking +of a way to ensure the safety of my wife and our young child, +when the elderly Marshal Serurier offered a shelter for all my +family at Les Invalides, of which he was the governor. I was +comforted by the thought that as everywhere the homes for old +soldiers had always been respected by the French, the enemy would +act in the same way towards ours. I therefore took my family to +the Invalides and left Paris, before the entry of the allies, to +report to General Preval at Versailles. I was given command of a +small column made up of available cavalrymen from my own regiment +and from the 9th and 12th Chasseurs. + +Even if the allies had not marched on Paris, this column was due +to be assembled at Rambouillet, and it is to there that I went. I +found there my horses and my equipment, and I took command of the +squadrons which had been allotted to me. The road was full of the +carriages of those who were flying from the capital. I was not +surprised by that; but I was unable to understand where the great +number of troops of all arms came from, which one saw arriving +from all directions in detachments, which if they had been +combined would have formed a corps of sufficient size to hold up +the enemy at Montmartre, and allow time for the army which was +hurrying from Champagne and Brie to arrive and save Paris. The +Emperor, misled by his Minister for War, had given no +instructions regarding the matter, and was probably unaware that +he still had so great a capacity for defence at his disposal, a +description of which follows, taken from Ministry of War +documents. + +There were at Vincennes, the military school of the Champ de +Mars, and the central artillery depot, some four hundred cannons +with ammunition and 50,000 muskets. As for men, there were the +troops brought by Marshals Marmont and Mortier, which together +with troops gathered from other sources including 20,000 workmen, +nearly all of them old soldiers, who had volunteered to help +defend the city, amounted to some 80,000. + +It would have been possible for Joseph and Clarke to assemble +this force in a few hours and to defend the city until the +arrival of the Emperor and the army which was following him. + +Joseph and Clarke had forty-eight hours warning of the enemy +approach, but did nothing, and as a final act of incompetence, at +the moment when the enemy troops were attacking Romainville, they +sent 4000 men of the Imperial Guard to Blois, to reinforce the +escort of the Empress, which was already quite big enough. + +When the Emperor learned that Paris had capitulated and that the +two small corps of Marmont and Mortier had left, and were +retiring towards him, he sent them orders to take up positions at +Essonnes, seven leagues from Paris and mid-way between that city +and Fontainebleau. He went himself to this last town, where were +arriving the heads of the columns coming from Saint-Dizier, an +indication that he intended to march on Paris as soon as his army +was gathered together. + +The enemy generals have later stated that if they had been +attacked by the Emperor, they would not have risked a battle, +with the Seine behind them and also the great city of Paris, with +its million inhabitants, which might rise in revolt at any moment +during the fighting and barricade the streets and the bridges, +thus cutting off their line of retreat. So they had decided to +draw back and camp on the heights of Belleville, Charonne, +Montmartre, and the slopes of Chaumont, which dominate the right +bank of the Seine and the route to Germany, when new events in +Paris kept them in the city. + +M. de Tallyrand, a former bishop now married, who had always +appeared to be devoted to the Emperor, by whom he had been loaded +with riches and made prince of Benevento, Grand Chamberlain, +etc., etc., felt his pride injured when he was no longer +Napoleon's confidant, and the minister directing his policy. So, +after the disasters of the Russian campaign, he had put himself +at the head of an underground conspiracy, which included all the +malcontents from every party, but mainly the Faubourg +Saint-Germain, that is to say the high aristocracy, who, after +appearing at first submissive and even serving Napoleon in the +time of his prosperity, had become his enemy, and without openly +compromising themselves, attacked, by all means, the head of +government. + +These people, guided by Tallyrand, the most cunning and scheming +of them all, had been waiting for an occasion to overthrow +Napoleon. They realised that they would never have a more +favourable opportunity than that offered by the occupation of the +country by a million and a half enemies, and the presence in +Paris of all the crowned heads of Europe, most of whom had been +grossly humiliated by Napoleon at one time or another. Napoleon, +however, though greatly weakened, was not yet entirely beaten, +for, apart from the army which he had with him, and with which he +had performed prodigies, there was Suchet's army, between the +Pyrenees and the Haute-Garonne, there were troops commanded by +Marshal Soult, there were two fine divisions at Lyon, and +finally, the army in Italy was still formidable, so that in spite +of the occupation of Bordeaux by the English, Napoleon might +still assemble considerable forces and prolong the war +indefinitely, by raising a population, exasperated by the +exactions of the enemy. + +Tallyrand, for his part, realised that if they gave the Emperor +time to bring to Paris the troops who were with him, he might +beat the allies in the streets of the capital, or withdraw to +some loyal provinces, where he might continue the war, until the +allies were exhausted and ready to make peace. In the view of +Tallyrand and his friends, it was therefore necessary to change +the government. Here there arose a great difficulty, for they +wanted to restore the Bourbons to the throne, in the person of +Louis XVIII, while other parts of the country wanted to retain +Napoleon, or at most to install his son. + +The same difference of opinion existed amongst the allied +sovereigns. The kings of England and Prussia were on the side of +the Bourbons, while the emperor of Russia, who had never liked +them, and who feared that the antipathy felt by the French nation +towards these princes and the emigres would lead to a fresh +revolution, was inclined to favour Napoleon's son. + +To cut short these discussions, and decide the question by making +the first move, the astute Tallyrand, in an attempt to force the +hand of the foreign sovereigns, arranged for a group of about +twenty young men from the Faubourg Saint-Germain to appear on +horseback in Louis XV square, decked with white cockades, and led +by Vicomte Talon, my former comrade in arms, from whom I have +these details. They went towards the mansion in the rue +Saint-Florentin occupied by the Emperor Alexander, shouting at +the top of their voices "Long live King Louis XVIII! Long live +the Bourbons! Down with the tyrant!" + +The effect produced on the curious gathering of onlookers by +these cries, was at first one of astonishment, which was quickly +succeeded by threats and menaces from the crowd, which shook even +the boldest of the cavalcade. This first royalist demonstration +having been unsuccessful, they repeated the performance at +various points on the boulevards. At some places they were booed, +at others applauded. As the entry procession of the allied +sovereigns approached, and as the Parisians need a slogan to +animate them, the one produced by Vicomte Talon and his friends +rang in the ears of the Emperor Alexander throughout the whole +day, which permitted Tallyrand to say to that monarch in the +evening, "Your Majesty can judge for himself with what unanimity +the nation desires the restoration of the Bourbons!" + +From that moment, although his supporters greatly outnumbered +those of Louis XVIII, as the events of the following year would +show, Napoleon's cause was lost. + +End of Volume 2, The Memoirs of General the Baron de Marbot. +Translated by Oliver C. Colt + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg etext of The Memoirs of the General +the Baron de Marbot, translated by Oliver C. 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{\*\pnseclvl1\pnucrm\pnstart1\pnindent720\pnhang{\pntxta .}} +{\*\pnseclvl2\pnucltr\pnstart1\pnindent720\pnhang{\pntxta .}}{\*\pnseclvl3\pndec\pnstart1\pnindent720\pnhang{\pntxta .}}{\*\pnseclvl4\pnlcltr\pnstart1\pnindent720\pnhang{\pntxta )}}{\*\pnseclvl5\pndec\pnstart1\pnindent720\pnhang{\pntxtb (}{\pntxta )}} +{\*\pnseclvl6\pnlcltr\pnstart1\pnindent720\pnhang{\pntxtb (}{\pntxta )}}{\*\pnseclvl7\pnlcrm\pnstart1\pnindent720\pnhang{\pntxtb (}{\pntxta )}}{\*\pnseclvl8\pnlcltr\pnstart1\pnindent720\pnhang{\pntxtb (}{\pntxta )}}{\*\pnseclvl9 +\pnlcrm\pnstart1\pnindent720\pnhang{\pntxtb (}{\pntxta )}}\pard\plain \nowidctlpar\adjustright \f6\fs20\cgrid {Title: }{\deleted Done to 173. +\par }{The Memoirs of General the Baron de Marbot +\par Author: Marbot, Translated by Oliver.C.Colt +\par +\par }\pard\plain \s15\nowidctlpar\widctlpar\adjustright \f2\fs20\cgrid {Project Gutenberg Etext The Memoirs of General the Baron de Marbot +\par Translated by Oliver.C.Colt +\par +\par **The .zip version of this file contains several .bbmp graphics** +\par +\par Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +\par the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! +\par +\par Please take a look at the important information in this header. +\par We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +\par electronic path open for the next readers. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* +\par }\pard\plain \nowidctlpar\adjustright \f6\fs20\cgrid { +\par +\par +\par +\par THE MEMOIRS OF GENERAL THE BARON DE MARBOT. +\par +\par Translated by Oliver.C.Colt +\par +\par +\par }\pard \nowidctlpar\hyphpar0\adjustright {Volume 1. +\par }\pard \nowidctlpar\adjustright { +\par Table of contents +\par +\par Chap. 1. Origins of my family. My father joins the bodyguard. The de Certain family. Life at Larivi\'e8re. Episode in infancy. +\par +\par Chap. 2. Outbreak of revolution. My father's attitude. He rejoins the army. I go to Mlle. Mongalvi. My life as a boarder. +\par +\par Chap. 3. My father is posted to Toulouse. He takes me with him. +\par The convoy of aristocrats. Life at Toulouse. I am taken to Sor\'e8ze. +\par +\par Chap. 4. Life at Sor\'e8ze. Early hardships. Visit of representative +\par of the people. +\par +\par Chap. 5. I join my family in Paris. My father is given command of +\par the 17th division in Paris. He refuses to join with Siey\'e8s and hands +\par the command to Lefebvre. +\par +\par Chap. 6. My father is posted to Italy. How my career is begun. I +\par become a Hussar. +\par +\par Chap. 7. My father leaves. Meeting with Bonaparte at Lyon. An +\par adventure on the Rh\'f4ne. The cost of a Republican banquet. I am +\par presented to my commanding officer. +\par +\par Chap. 8. Arrival at Nice. My mentor Pertelay. I become a true +\par Hussar. I join the "clique". My first duel. We rustle some}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839740 }{\deleted +\par }{cattle. The "Clique". +\par +\par Chap. 9. How I get immediate promotion. The capture of 17 enemy +\par Hussars. +\par +\par Chap. 10. Campaign in Piedmont. General Macard. Capture of enemy +\par cannons. I am promoted to Sous-lieutenant. I become aide de camp to +\par my father. +\par +\par Chap. 11. Retreat of the right wing of the army to Genoa. My father +\par wounded. The siege. My friend Trepano. Death of my father. Famine +\par and fighting. +\par +\par Chap. 12. Episodes in the siege. Fate of Austrian captives. +\par +\par Chap. 13. Napoleon crosses the St. Bernard. Mass\'e9na yields. Marengo. +\par I return to my family. My extreme prostration. +\par +\par Chap. 14. I am temporary aide de camp to Bernadotte. We go to Tours. +\par +\par Chap. 15. At Brest and Rennes. I am posted to the 23rd Chasseurs, in +\par Portugal. Journey from Nantes to Salamanca. We form the right wing +\par of the Spanish army. Return to France. +\par +\par Chap. 16. On the road from Bayonne to Toulouse. The inspection. +\par +\par Chap. 17. The events at Rennes. My brother Adolphe is involved and +\par is sent to prison. Death of my brother Th\'e9odore. +\par +\par Chap. 18. The school at Versailles. My mother's brothers. +\par +\par Chap. 19. Preparations for invasion of Britain. I become aide de +\par camp to Augereau. +\par +\par Chap. 20. Augereau. +\par +\par Chap. 21. From Bayonne to Brest. 1804. Pichegru. Death of Duc +\par d'Enghien. Bonaparte becomes emperor. +\par +\par Chap. 22. 1805. Institution of }{\deleted legion of honou}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094369 Legion of Honou}{r. Camp at Boulogne. +\par I am made lieutenant. Death of my brother F\'e9lix. Russia and Austria +\par declare war. +\par +\par Chap. 23. The army heads for the Rhine. Mission to Mass\'e9na. +\par Jellachich surrenders. The Hungarian Colonel. +\par +\par Chap. 24. The march to Vienna. The battle at Dirnstein. Lannes and +\par Murat bluff their way across the Danube. +\par +\par Chap. 25. Hollabr\'fcnn. I bring the flags captured at Breganz to the +\par Emperor. The danger of a white lie. +\par +\par Chap. 26. The Prussian Ambassador. Austerlitz. I save a Russian +\par sergeant. +\par +\par Chap. 27. Meeting of the Emperors. Return to my unit. Darmstadt and +\par Frankfurt. +\par +\par Chap. 28. Mission to Prussia. Situation in Prussia. +\par +\par Chap. 29. State of Prussian army. Wurtzberg. Saalefeld and death of +\par Prince Louis. Augereau and his former companions. +\par +\par Chap. 30. Jena. The Cur\'e9. Auerstadt. The behaviour of Bernadotte. +\par The entry into Berlin. +\par +\par Chap. 31. Demoralisation of Prussians. Origin of the house of +\par }\pard \qj\nowidctlpar\adjustright {Rothschild. With Duroc to the King of Prussia. Graudentz. The army +\par at the Vistula. +\par +\par Chap. 32. Crossing of the Ukra. Various encounters. Cantonments on +\par the banks of the Vistula. +\par +\par Chap. 33. 1807. Made Captain. Eylau. Destruction of Augereau's +\par corps. +\par +\par Chap. 34. My part in the battle of Eylau. My mare Lisette. I escape +\par death by a miracle. Return to Warsaw and Paris. +\par +\par Chap. 35. Missions for the Emperor. I join Marshal Lannes. +\par Hostilities resumed June 11th. +\par +\par Chap. 36. Battle of Friedland. I escape from dangers. Treaty of +\par Tilsitt. +\par +\par Chap. 37. Mission to Dresden. An unwitting smuggler. An incident at +\par Mainz. Paris and La Houssaye. +\par +\par +\par +\par Introduction. +\par General, later the Baron, Marbot, came from a family which might be +\par described as landed gentry. His father served in the bodyguard of +\par Louis XV and later in the Republican army. Marbot himself was a +\par soldier from the age of 17 and fought in the wars of the Republic and +\par the campaigns of Napoleon. His memoirs were written for his family +\par and his intimate circle, without thought of publication, and it was +\par not until after his death in 1854 that his family were persuaded to +\par offer the manuscript to publishers. +\par +\par This is not a meticulously researched historical document, but the +\par reminiscences of an old soldier, writing of events which took place +\par many years earlier and I suspect that like most of us when we try to +\par recall things that happened forty years ago his memory was a trifle +\par indistinct. +\par +\par By far the greater part of his narrative has the ring of truth, +\par but in my opinion there are places where his imagination has +\par embroidered the facts. This is particularly so when it comes to some +\par of his personal adventures. He also,in my view, describes as real, +\par events in which he did not take part and which may be no more than +\par popular rumour. +\par +\par It has to be remembered that there were no inquisitive war +\par correspondents attached to the "Grande Arm\'e9e" and news was what was +\par written in Napoleon's bulletins. +\par +\par As an example of the kind of thing which raises a question in my +\par mind, in his opening chapter he says that he was a very sturdy infant +\par and that the only illness he ever suffered from was small-pox. This +\par does not seem probable; an outbreak of small-pox in the family would +\par be a disastrous occurrence, it is a disease with a high mortality and +\par could not be dismissed as a childish complaint. He also goes on to +\par describe how his head got stuck in the cat-hole, but in the original +\par he claims that his face turned blue and that he was being strangled +\par when his father removed the door from its hinges to extricate him. +\par Anyone who has attempted to remove a door from its hinges knows that +\par you cannot do so without opening the door and using at least a +\par screwdriver. It is also an operation which is difficult to perform +\par single-handed and with a small child stuck in it even more so. He +\par says that he was about three or four at the time, and the long-term +\par memory does not start developing in a child until around the age of +\par four. I think it more than likely that that good Baron has a false +\par recollection derived from being told of these goings on by his mother +\par and truly believes that he remembers them. A misdiagnosis of +\par small-pox would not be surprising given the inadequate state of +\par medical knowledge and practice of the time. +\par +\par I do not doubt that he ran great danger and was seriously injured +\par at Eylau, but there are elements in his recital which although they +\par enhance the drama and would pass muster with the lay reader, are open +\par to criticism by anyone with a medical training. He says that while he +\par was attempting to release the "Eagle" from its standard, a bullet +\par passed through his hat without touching his head. As a result of this +\par he claims that he found himself paralysed and unable to use his legs +\par to urge his horse forward, although he remained mentally perfectly +\par clear. He says that the passage of the bullet close to his head +\par caused bleeding from his nose and ears and even from his eyes, signs +\par which a clinician would regard as probably indicating a serious +\par fracture of the base of the skull. +\par +\par I am not a neurologist, but I can think of no neurological injury +\par which would produce the type of paralysis which he describes except a +\par high lesion of the spinal cord. What is more, within a few moments he +\par is in the saddle of a galloping horse and I cannot imagine that +\par anyone suffering from a form of paralysis could remain there for very +\par long. +\par +\par The thoughtful reader may also wonder how the soldier who robbed +\par him as he lay unconscious could suppose that he was dead, an +\par unconscious person is quite plainly breathing. +\par +\par Could it be that having been rendered unconscious as a result of +\par the fall from his horse, he has some degree of retrograde amnesia and +\par has invented details to fill the gaps in his memory, or could it be +\par that writing, as he was, for his family and friends, he was indulging +\par in a little pardonable exaggeration. +\par +\par In spite of these reservations the story he tells is full of life +\par and interest, and gives a vivid impression of war as it was fought +\par then, including all its horrors and disasters. +\par +\par In this translation I have not deviated from the gist of events, +\par but I have taken the liberty of m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ a variety of omissions and +\par emendations, with the aim of adding credibility to some of the +\par events, such as those noted above. I have also prefaced some of his +\par anecdotes, which he retails as fact, with the words "It is believed +\par that..." or something to that effect. +\par +\par The campaigns can be followed by the use of a good atlas, but +\par unfortunately the many upheavals which Europe has undergone since +\par those days has resulted in many of the names of places being changed. +\par The curious reader may well find maps dealing with the Napoleonic +\par wars in any well stocked public library. +\par +\par All translation requires some degree of paraphrase. What sounds +\par well in one language may sound ridiculous if translated literally +\par into another. I have endeavoured to produce a version of these +\par memoirs acceptable to the English-spe}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ reader, whether I have +\par succeeded or not only the reader can say. +\par +\par Oliver.C.Colt +\par +\par +\par THE MEMOIRS OF GENERAL THE BARON DE MARBOT. +\par +\par Translated by Oliver.C.Colt +\par +\par Chap. 1. +\par +\par I was born on the 18th August 1782 at my father's Ch\'e2teau of +\par Larivi\'e8re, in the beautiful valley of Beaulieu, on the borders of +\par Limousin and Quercy--now the department of Corr\'e8ze--where my +\par father owned a considerable property. +\par +\par The family of Marbot was of noble origin, although for a long time +\par they had not preceded their name by any title. To use a then current +\par expression, they lived nobly, that is to say on the income from their +\par estates, without engaging in any form of employment. They were allied +\par to and joined in the society of several of the important families of +\par the district. +\par +\par I mention this because, at a time when the nobility were so +\par haughty and powerful, it shows that the family had a social position +\par of considerable standing. +\par +\par My father was born in 1753. He had a rather fiery temperament, +\par but he was so good-hearted that, after a first outburst, he always +\par sought to make one forget any hasty words which he might have +\par uttered. He was a fine figure of a man, very tall and well built, +\par with handsome, manly features. +\par +\par My grandfather had become a widower when my father was still at +\par school. His house was run by one of his elderly cousins, the oldest +\par of the demoiselles Oudinet of Beaulieu. She gave unstinting care to +\par my grandfather, who, having become almost blind as a result of a +\par flash of lightning, which had struck near him, no longer went out of +\par his manor. Thus my father, when he reached manhood, faced by an +\par infirm old man and an aunt devoted to his least wishes, could have +\par played fast and loose with the family fortune. He did not, however, +\par abuse his position, but as he had a great fancy for a military +\par career, he accepted a proposal which was made to him by colonel the +\par Marquis d'Estresse, a neighbour and close friend of the family, which +\par was to have him enrolled in the bodyguard of the king, Louis XV. +\par +\par Being under the auspices of the Marquis d'Estresse, he was +\par received in a number of houses; notably that of lieutenant-general +\par the Comte de Schomberg, the inspector-general of cavalry, who, +\par recognising my father's worth, had him posted to his regiment of +\par dragoons as captain, and took him as his aide-de-camp. +\par +\par On the death of my grandfather my father was still unmarried, and +\par his fortune, as well as his place in the Royal Bodyguard, put him in +\par a position to choose a wife, without the likelihood of being refused. +\par +\par There lived at that time, in the Ch\'e2teau de Laval de C\'e8re, about +\par a league from Larivi\'e8re, a family of noble rank but without much +\par money, named de Certain. The head of this house was stricken by gout +\par and so his affairs were managed by Madame de Certain, an admirable +\par woman, who came from the noble family of de Verdal, who claim to have +\par Saint Roch amongst the kinsfolk of their ancestors on the distaff +\par side, a Verdal, so they say, having married a sister of the Saint at +\par Montpellier. I do not know how much truth there is in this claim, +\par but before the Revolution of 1789, there was, at the gateway of the +\par old ch\'e2 +teau of Gruniac, owned by the de Verdals, a stone bench, which was greatly venerated by the inhabitants of the nearby mountains, because, according to tradition, St. Roch, when he came to visit his sister, used to sit on this bench, from where one can v +iew the countryside, which one cannot do from the ch\'e2teau, which is a sort of fortress of the gloomiest kind. +\par +\par The de Certains had three sons and a daughter, and as was the +\par custom at that time they added to their family name that of some +\par estate. Thus the eldest son was given the name Canrobert: this +\par eldest son was, at the time of which I write, Chevalier de St. Louis +\par and a captain in the infantry regiment of Penthi\'e8vre; the second son +\par who was called de L'Isle was a lieutenant in the same regiment; the +\par third son, who had the surname La Coste served, like my father, in the +\par Royal Bodyguard; the daughter was called Mlle. Du Puy,and she was my +\par mother. +\par +\par My father became a close friend of M. Certain de La Coste, and it +\par would have been difficult to do otherwise, for quite apart from the +\par three months which they spent in quarters at Versailles during their +\par period of duty, the journeys which they made together, twice a year, +\par were bound to make a bond between them. +\par +\par At that time public coaches were very few in number, dirty, +\par uncomfortable, and travelled by very short stages; also it was +\par considered not at all fashionable to ride in them. So, gentry who +\par were old or in poor health travelled by carriage, while the young and +\par officers in the armed forces went on horseback. There was an +\par established custom among the Bodyguard, which today would seem most +\par peculiar. As these gentlemen did only three months on duty, and as +\par in consequence the corps was split into four almost equal sections, +\par those of them who lived in Brittany, the Auvergne, Limousin and other +\par parts of the country where there were good small horses had bought a +\par number of these at a price not exceeding 100 francs, which included +\par the saddle and bridle. On a fixed day all the Bodyguards from the +\par same province, who were called to go and take up their duties, would +\par meet, on horseback, at an agreed spot and the cheerful caravanserai +\par would take the road for Versailles. +\par +\par They made twelve to fifteen leagues each day, sure of finding +\par every evening, at an agreed and reasonable price, a good lodging and +\par a good supper at the inns previously arranged as stopping places. +\par They went happily on their way, talking, singing, putting up with bad +\par weather or heat as they did with accidents and laughing at the +\par stories which all, in turn, had to tell as they rode along. +\par +\par The group grew in size by the arrival of Bodyguards from the +\par provinces through which they passed until, at last, the various +\par parties arrived from all parts of France to enter Versailles on the +\par day on which their leave expired, and, in consequence, at the moment +\par of departure of those guards whom they had come to relieve. Then each +\par of these latter bought one of the ponies brought by the new arrivals, +\par for which they paid 100 francs, and forming fresh groups they took to +\par the road for their paternal ch\'e2teaux, where they turned the horses +\par out to grass for nine months, until they were taken back to +\par Versailles and handed over to other comrades-in-arms. +\par +\par My father, then, was a close friend of M. Certain de La Coste, who +\par shared the same quarters and belonged, like him, to the company de +\par Noailles. On their return to the country they saw much of each +\par other, and he made the acquaintance of Mlle. Du Puy. Mlle. Du Puy was +\par pretty and high spirited, and although she would have little in the +\par way of dowry, and although several rich matches were offered to my +\par father, he preferred Mlle. Du Puy, and he married her in 1776. +\par +\par We were four brothers: the eldest Adolphe, myself the second, +\par Th\'e9odore the third and F\'e9lix the last. There was a gap of about two +\par years between our ages. +\par +\par I was very sturdy and suffered only some minor illnesses, but when +\par I was about three, I had an accident which I can still remember. +\par +\par Because I had a rather turned-up nose and a round face, my father +\par called me "pussy-cat". It needed no more than this to give a small +\par child the desire to imitate a cat; so it was my greatest pleasure to +\par go about on all fours, mewing. I was also in the habit of going up +\par to the second floor of the ch\'e2teau to join my father in a library, +\par where he spent the hottest hours of the day. When he heard the +\par "miaow" of his little cat, he came and opened the door and gave me a +\par picture-book to look at while he continued his reading. These little +\par sessions gave me infinite pleasure. One day, however, my visit was +\par not so well received as usual. My father, perhaps absorbed in his +\par book, did not open the door for his little cat. In vain, I redoubled +\par my "miaows" in the most appealing tone which I could produce. The +\par door remained closed. Then I saw, at floor level, an opening called +\par a cat-hole, which is present in all the ch\'e2teaux of the Midi, at the +\par bottom of the doors, to allow cats free access. This route seemed, +\par naturally, to be for me: I put my head through, but that was as far +\par as I could go. I then tried to withdraw my head, but my head was +\par stuck and I could go neither forward nor back, but I was so much +\par identified with my role as a cat that instead of spe}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{, to let my +\par father know my predicament, I "miaowed" at the top of my voice, like +\par a cat that is angry, and it appears that I did so in such a natural +\par tone that my father thought that I was playing, but suddenly the +\par "miaows" became weaker, and turned into crying and you may imagine my +\par father's concern when he realised what had happened. It was only +\par with great difficulty that I was freed and carried, half unconscious, +\par to my mother, who thinking I was injured was much distressed. +\par +\par A surgeon was sent for, who proceeded to bleed me, and the sight +\par of my own blood and the crowd of all the inhabitants of the ch\'e2teau, +\par gathered about my mother and me, made such a vivid impression on my +\par young imagination that the event has remained for ever fixed in my +\par memory. +\par +\par Chap. 2. +\par +\par While my childhood was rolling by peacefully, the storm of +\par revolution which had been growling in the distance, drew ever nearer, +\par and it was not long before it broke. We were in 1789. +\par +\par The assembly of the States General stirred up all manner of +\par passions, destroyed the tranquillity enjoyed by the province in which +\par we lived and introduced divisions into all families, particularly +\par into ours; for my father, who for a long time had railed against the +\par abuses to which France was subjected, accepted, in principle, the +\par improvements which were mooted, without foreseeing the atrocities to +\par which these changes were going to lead; while his three +\par brothers-in-law and all his friends rejected any innovation. This +\par gave rise to animated discussions, of which I understood nothing, but +\par which distressed me because I saw my mother in tears as she tried to +\par keep the peace between her brothers and her husband. For my part, +\par although I did not understand what was going on, I naturally took +\par sides with my father. +\par +\par The Constituent Assembly had revoked all feudal rents. My father +\par possessed some of these which his father had purchased. He was the +\par first to conform to the law. The peasantry who had been waiting to +\par make up their minds until my father gave them a lead, refused to +\par continue paying these rents once they knew what he had done. +\par +\par Shortly after this, France having been divided into departments, +\par my father was named administrator for the Corr\'e8ze and then a member +\par of the Legislative Assembly. +\par +\par My mother's three brothers, and nearly all the nobility of the +\par county had hurriedly emigrated. War seemed to be imminent, so, to +\par persuade all citizens to take up arms, and also, perhaps, to find out +\par up to what point they could count on the populace, the government +\par arranged for the rumour to be spread throughout all the communes of +\par France, that the "Brigands" led by the \'e9migr\'e9s, were coming to +\par destroy all the new institutions. The tocsin was rung by all the +\par churches; everyone armed themselves with whatever they could lay +\par hands upon; a National Guard was organised; the country turned into +\par an armed camp while it waited for these imaginary "Brigands" who, in +\par every commune, were said to be in the one next door. Nothing ever +\par appeared, but the effect remained: France found herself in arms and +\par had shown that she was prepared to defend herself. +\par +\par We children were then alone in the country with our mother. This +\par alert, which was called "The day of fear" surprised me and would +\par probably have alarmed me, had I not seen my mother remain so calm. I +\par have always thought that my father had discreetly warned her of what +\par was about to happen. +\par +\par All went well at first, without any excess on the part of the +\par peasants, who, in our part of the country, retained much respect for +\par the ancient families; but soon, stirred up by demagogues from the +\par towns, the country-dwellers invaded the houses of the nobles, under +\par the pretext of looking for hidden \'e9migr\'e9s, but in fact to exact money +\par and to seize the title deeds of feudal rents, which they burned in a +\par big bonfire. From the height of our terrace, we saw these ruffians, +\par torches in their hands, running towards the Ch\'e2teau d'Estresse, from +\par which all the men had emigrated and which was occupied only by women. +\par These were my mother's best friends, and so she was greatly upset by +\par this spectacle. Her anxiety was redoubled by the arrival of her own +\par aged mother, who had been driven out of her ch\'e2teau, which was +\par declared national property because of the emigration of her three +\par sons...! +\par +\par Up until then, my father's property had been respected; largely +\par because his patriotism was known, and because, to give further proof +\par of it, he had taken service in the army of the Pyrenees as captain in +\par the Chasseurs des Montagnes, at the end of his term in the +\par legislative assembly. But the revolutionary torrent swept over +\par everyone; the house at St. C\'e9r\'e9, which my father had bought ten years +\par before, was confiscated and declared national property because the +\par deed of sale had been signed privately and the seller had emigrated +\par before ratifying the deal before a notary. My mother was given a few +\par days to remove her linen, then the house was put up for auction and +\par was bought by the president of the district who had himself arranged +\par for its confiscation! +\par +\par At last, the peasants, stirred up by some agitators from Beaulieu, +\par came in a body to my father's ch\'e2teau and insisted, though with some +\par politeness, that they had to burn the deeds of feudal rents which we +\par still had, and make sure that \'e9migr\'e9s were not concealed in the +\par ch\'e2teau. +\par +\par My mother received them with fortitude, handed over the deeds and +\par pointed out to them that, knowing her brothers to be sensible people, +\par they should not suppose that they would emigrate only then to come +\par back to France and hide in her ch\'e2teau. +\par +\par They accepted the correctness of this line of reasoning, ate and +\par drank and having burned the deeds in the centre of the courtyard, +\par they left without doing any further damage, shouting "Long live +\par France and citizen Marbot!" And charging my mother to write to him to +\par say that they liked him very much and that his family was quite safe +\par among them. +\par +\par In spite of this assurance, my mother felt that her position as +\par the sister of \'e9migr\'e9s might expose her to a great deal of +\par unpleasantness from which even her position as the wife of a defender +\par of the country would not protect her. She decided to go away for the +\par time being. She told me later that she took this step because she was +\par convinced that the revolutionary storm would last only for some +\par months. There were many people who thought this! +\par +\par My grandmother had had seven brothers, all of whom, as was usual +\par in the Verdal family had been soldiers and knights of St. Louis. One +\par of them, a former battalion commander in the infantry regiment of +\par Penthi\'e8vre, had married, on retirement, the rich widow of counsellor +\par of the parliament of Rennes. My mother decided to go and stay with +\par her and was counting on t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ me with her, when I was smitten by a +\par number of large and very painful boils. It was impossible to travel +\par with a child of eight in such a state, and my mother was in great +\par perplexity. She was extricated by a worthy lady, Mlle. Mongalvi, who +\par was much devoted to her and whose memory will always be dear to me. +\par Mlle. Mongalvi lived at Turenne and ran boarding establishment for +\par young ladies of which my mother had been one of the first occupants. +\par She offered to take me into her house for the few months of my +\par mother's absence. My father's agreement having been obtained, I left +\par and was installed there. "What!" you may say, "A boy amongst young +\par ladies?" Well yes, but do not forget that I was a quiet, peaceable, +\par obedient child, and I was only eight years old. +\par +\par The boarders who stayed with Mlle. Mongalvi, where my mother had +\par once been one of them, were young persons of some sixteen to twenty +\par years of age; the youngest being at least fourteen, and were sensible +\par enough to let me mingle with them. +\par +\par On my arrival, all this little feminine flock gathered about me +\par and received me with such cries of pleasure and warm caresses that, +\par from the first instant, I thought myself lucky to have made this +\par trip. I figured that it would not last long and I believe that, +\par secretly, I even regretted that I would have only a short time to +\par spend with these nice young ladies, who did everything to please me +\par and argued as to who was to hold my hand. +\par +\par However, my mother left and went to stay with my uncle. Events +\par moved forward rapidly. The terror bathed France in blood. Civil war +\par broke, out in the Vend\'e9e and in Brittany. Travel there became +\par absolutely impossible, so that my mother, who had thought to spend +\par two or three months at Rennes, found herself stuck there for several +\par years. +\par +\par My father continued on active service in the Pyrenees and in +\par Spain, where his ability and courage had raised him to the rank of +\par divisional general; while I, having gone as a boarder for a few +\par months, stayed for some four years, which were for me years of much +\par happiness, clouded only, from time to time, by the memory of my +\par parents; but the good Mlles. Mongalvi and their boarders would then +\par redouble their kindness, to dispel those thoughts which now and then +\par saddened me. I was spoiled beyond belief by the mistresses and the +\par boarders; I had only to wish for something to obtain it. There was +\par nothing too good or too fine for me. My health recovered completely. +\par I was clean and fresh, so they vied with one another to cuddle me. +\par During recreation, which took place in a vast enclosure, where there +\par was a fine garden, with paddocks, vines and arbours, the young ladies +\par would crown me and garland me with flowers, then placing me on a +\par little litter covered with roses, they would take it in turns to +\par carry me while they sang. At other times I would play prisoners base +\par with them, having the privilege of always catching but never being +\par caught. They would read stories to me and sing songs. They competed +\par to do something for me. +\par +\par I recall, that on hearing of the horrible execution of Louis XVI, +\par Mlle. Mongalvi had all the boarders on their knees, to recite prayers +\par for the repose of the soul of the unfortunate king. The indiscretion +\par of any one of us could have brought down disaster on her head, but +\par all the pupils were of an age to understand, and I felt that it was +\par something I should not talk about; so no one knew anything about it. +\par I stayed in this pleasant retreat until November 1793. +\par +\par Chap. 3. +\par +\par When I was eleven and a half years old, my father was given +\par command of a camp which was set up at Toulouse. He took advantage of +\par a few days leave to come and see me and to arrange his affairs, which +\par he had not been able to do for several years. He came to Turenne, to +\par the house of one of his friends, and hurried to my lodging. He was in +\par the uniform of a general officer, with a big sabre, his hair cut +\par short and unpowdered and sporting an enormous moustache, which was in +\par remarkable contrast to the costume in which I was used to seeing him +\par when we lived peacefully at Larivi\'e8re. +\par +\par I have said that my father, in spite of his stern masculine looks, +\par was a kind man, and particularly toward children, whom he adored. I +\par saw him again with the keenest transports of delight, and he +\par overwhelmed me with caresses. He stayed for several days at Turenne; +\par he warmly thanked the good mesdames Mongalvi for the truly maternal +\par care they had taken of me; but when he asked me a few questions, it +\par was easy for him to see that though I had a good knowledge of prayers +\par and litanies and lots of hymns, my remaining education was limited to +\par some notions of history, geography, and spelling. He considered +\par also, that, being now in my twelfth year, it was not possible to +\par leave me in a boarding establishment for young ladies, and that it +\par was time to give me an education which was more masculine and more +\par extensive. He had resolved therefore, to take me with him to +\par Toulouse, to where he had also brought Adolphe, and to place us both +\par in the military college of Sor\'e8ze, the sole great establishment of +\par this kind which the revolutionary turmoil had left standing. +\par +\par I left, after bidding a tender farewell to my young friends. We +\par headed for Cressensac, where we were joined by Captain Gault, my +\par father's aide-de-camp. While the coach was being got ready, Spire, +\par my father's old servant, who knew that his master intended to travel +\par day and night, made up packages of food. +\par +\par At this moment a new spectacle was presented to me: a mobile +\par column, composed of gendarmes, national guards and volunteers, +\par entered the town of Cressensac with a band playing at its head. I +\par had never seen anything like it, and it seemed to me quite superb, +\par but I was unable to understand why, in the midst of all these +\par soldiers, there was a dozen coaches filled with old men, women and +\par children, all of whom looked extremely sad. This sight infuriated my +\par father. He drew back from the window and, striding about with his +\par aide-de-camp, whom he could trust, I heard him burst out, "These +\par miserable members of the convention have ruined the revolution which +\par could have done so much good. There you see yet more innocent people +\par who are being thrown into gaol because they are landowners or are +\par related to \'e9migr\'e9s; it is disgusting!" +\par +\par Why, you may ask, did my father continue to serve a government +\par which he despised? It was because he thought that to confront the +\par enemies of France was honourable, but did not mean that the military +\par condoned the atrocities which the convention committed in the +\par interior of the country. +\par +\par What my father had said, had interested me in the people in the +\par coaches. I gathered that they had been, that morning, seized from +\par their ch\'e2teaux and were being led away to the prisons of Souilhac. +\par They were old men, women and children, and I was wondering to myself +\par how these frail people could present any danger to the country, when +\par I heard several of the children asking for food. One lady begged a +\par national guard to let her get out to go and buy something to eat. He +\par refused her, rudely, and when the lady produced an "assignat" and +\par pleaded with him to go and buy some bread, he replied, "Do you take +\par me for one of your former lackeys?" This brutality angered me. I had +\par noticed that Spire had placed in the pockets of the coach, a number +\par of bread-rolls in the centre of which was a sausage; I took two of +\par these rolls, and drawing near to the coach holding the child +\par prisoners, I threw them in, when the guards were not looking. The +\par mothers and the children made signs to me of such gratitude that I +\par resolved to give food to all the other prisoners, and piece by piece, +\par I gave them all the provisions which Spire had made for the two days +\par journey to Toulouse, which we were about to make. +\par We left, at last, without Spire having any suspicion of the +\par distribution which I had just made. The little prisoners blew me +\par kisses and their parents waved to me; but no sooner were we some +\par hundred paces from the post-house than my father, who had been in +\par haste to get away from a spectacle which distressed him, and had not +\par wished to eat at the inn, felt hungry, and asked for the provisions. +\par Spire pointed to the pockets in which he had placed them. My father +\par and M. Gault rummaged through all the interior of the coach, but +\par found nothing. My father grew angry with Spire, who from the height +\par of his seat, swore by all the saints that he had stuffed the coach +\par with food for two days. I was somewhat embarrassed; however, I did +\par not want poor Spire to be blamed any longer, so I admitted what I had +\par done. I expected to be scolded for acting without authority, but my +\par father put his arm round me in the most affectionate manner, and many +\par years after he still spoke with pleasure of my conduct on this +\par occasion. +\par +\par From Cressensac to Toulouse the road was full of volunteers, going +\par to join the army of the Pyrenees, and m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ the air ring with +\par patriotic songs. I was charmed by this bustling spectacle and would +\par have been happy had it not been for my physical suffering. I had +\par never made a long journey by coach before, and I was sea-sick +\par throughout the trip, which decided my father to stop every night to +\par allow me some repose. I arrived at Toulouse feeling very tired, but +\par the sight of my brother, from whom I had been parted for four or five +\par years, gave me so much joy that I very soon recovered. +\par +\par My father, with the rank of divisional general, commanding the +\par camp situated at Miral, close to Toulouse, was entitled to a billet, +\par and the municipality had assigned to him the fine town house of +\par Ress\'e9guier, whose owner had emigrated. Madame de Ress\'e9guier and her +\par son had retreated to the most distant rooms, and my father gave +\par orders that the strictest regard was to be given to their unhappy +\par position. +\par +\par My father's house was much frequented. Every day there were +\par visitors, and he had a great deal of expense, for although at that +\par time a divisional general received eighteen rations of all kinds, and +\par his aides-de-camp a similar amount, it was not enough. He had to buy +\par a host of things and as the state gave to a general officer what it +\par gave to a sous-lieutenant, that is eight francs a month in cash, the +\par rest being made up in assignats, the value of which diminished daily, +\par and as my father was very generous, entertained many of the officers +\par from the camp, had numerous domestic servants (at that time called +\par servitors), had eighteen horses, a coach, a box at the theatre +\par etc...He spent the savings which he had accumulated at Larivi\'e8re, and +\par it was from the time of his re-entry into military service that the +\par decline of his fortune began. +\par +\par Although the "Terror" was now at its height and class distinction +\par was greatly weakened in France, from whence all good manners seemed +\par to have removed themselves forever, my father knew so well how to +\par impose them on the many officers who came to his quarters, that the +\par most perfect politeness ruled in his salon and at his table. +\par +\par Among the officers employed at the camp, my father had taken a +\par great liking to two, who were invited more often than the others. +\par One was named Augereau and was the adjutant-general, that is to say +\par colonel of the general staff, the other was Lannes, a lieutenant of +\par Grenadiers, in a battalion of volunteers from the department of Gers. +\par +\par They became Marshals of the Empire and I have been aide-de-camp to +\par both of them. +\par +\par At this period Augereau, after escaping from the prison of the +\par Inquisition at Lisbon, had come to fight in the Vend\'e9e, where he was +\par noticed for his courage and his quality of leadership. He was an +\par excellent tactician, a skill which he had learned in Prussia, where +\par he had served for a considerable time in the Foot-guards of Frederick +\par the Great; hence his nick-name of "The Big Prussian." He had an +\par irreproachable military turn-out, spick and span, curled and +\par powdered, with a long pig-tail, big, highly polished riding boots and +\par withal, a very martial bearing. This smart appearance was the more +\par remarkable because, at this time it was not something on which the +\par French army could pride itself, being almost entirely made up of +\par volunteers not used to wearing uniform and very careless of their +\par grooming. However nobody made fun of Augereau about this, for he was +\par known to be a brave and accomplished duelist, who had given even the +\par celebrated Saint-George, the finest swordsman in France, a run for +\par his money. +\par +\par I have said that Augereau was a good tactician; because of this, +\par my father had appointed him to direct the training of the battalions +\par of new lev\'e9es, of which the division was largely composed. These men +\par came from Limousin, Auvergne, the Basque country, Quercy, Gers and +\par Languedoc. Augereau trained them well, and in so doing he was +\par unaware that he was laying the foundations of his own future fame, +\par for these troops, which my father then commanded, formed later the +\par famous Augereau division which did such fine things in the Pyrenees +\par and in Italy. +\par +\par Augereau came almost daily to my father's house, and seeing that +\par he was appreciated, he devoted to him a friendship which never +\par wavered and of which I felt the benefit after the death of my mother. +\par +\par As for Lieutenant Lannes, he was a very lively young Gascon, +\par intelligent and cheerful, without education or training but anxious +\par to learn at a time when no one else was. He became a very good +\par instructor, and since he was very vain, he accepted with the greatest +\par delight the praises which my father lavished on him, and which he +\par deserved. By way of recompense, he spoiled, as much as he could, his +\par general's children. +\par +\par One fine morning, my father received the order to strike his camp +\par at Miral and to lead his division to join the army corps of General +\par Dugommier, which was laying siege to Toulon, which the English had +\par captured in a surprise attack. My father then said to me that it was +\par not in a school for young ladies that I would learn what I needed to +\par know; that I needed more serious studies and in consequence he was +\par t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ me, the next day, to the military college of Sor\'e8ze, where he +\par had already arranged a place for me and my brother. I was +\par thunderstruck! Never to go back to my friends with the Mesdames +\par Mongalvi? That seemed impossible! +\par +\par The road was covered with troops and guns, which my father passed +\par in review at Castelnaudary. This spectacle, which a few days earlier +\par would have delighted me, now failed to lessen the anxiety which I +\par felt about the teachers in whose presence I was about to find myself. +\par +\par We stayed overnight at Castelnaudary, where my father learned of +\par the evacuation of Toulon by the English (18th Dec 1793), and was +\par ordered to go with his division, to the eastern Pyrenees. Whereupon +\par he decided to deposit us, the very next day, at Sor\'e8ze, to stay there +\par for a few hours only, and to set off immediately for Perpignon. +\par +\par On leaving Castelnaudary, my father ordered the coach to stop at a +\par famous tree under which the Constable Montmorency had been taken +\par prisoner by the troops of Louis XIII, following the defeat of the +\par supporters of Gaston d'Orl\'e9ans, who had rebelled against his brother. +\par He chatted about this event with his aides-de-camp, and my brother-- +\par who was already well informed--took part in the conversation. As +\par for me, I had only the vaguest notions of the general history of +\par France and knew nothing of the details. It was the first time I had +\par heard of the battle of Castelnaudary, of Gaston, of his revolt and of +\par the capture and execution of the Constable de Montmorency. I +\par realised that my father did not ask me any question on the subject +\par because he was quite certain that I would be unable to reply. This +\par made me feel ashamed, and I concluded that my father was right in +\par t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ me to the college to be educated. My regrets then changed +\par into a resolution to learn all that I needed to know. +\par +\par Nevertheless, my heart sank at the sight of the high sombre walls +\par of the cloister in which I was to be enclosed. I was eleven years +\par and four months old when I entered this establishment. +\par +\par Chap. 4. +\par +\par I shall now give you a brief history of the college of Sor\'e8ze, as +\par I had it from Dom Abal, a former vice principal, whom I saw often in +\par Paris during the Empire. +\par +\par When, under Louis XV, it was resolved to clear the Jesuits out of +\par France, their defenders claimed that they alone knew how to educate +\par children. The Benedictines, sworn enemies of the Jesuits, wished to +\par prove that this was not so; but as it did not suit them, although +\par they were studious and learned, to turn themselves into +\par schoolmasters, they selected four of their houses to be turned into +\par colleges, among which was Sor\'e8ze. There they placed those members of +\par the order who had the most aptitude for teaching, and who could, +\par after working for several years, retire to other monasteries of the +\par order. The new colleges prospered, Sor\'e8ze in particular stood out, +\par and the crowd of pupils, who hurried there from all parts, made a +\par larger number of teachers necessary. The Benedictines attracted +\par there many learned laymen, who established themselves, with their +\par families, in the little town in which the monastery was situated. The +\par children of these lay teachers, who attended the college free as day +\par pupils, formed, later, a nursery of masters of all the arts and +\par sciences. Eventually the ability to give lessons at a very +\par reasonable cost led to the setting up of several boarding houses for +\par young ladies, and the little town became remarkable in that its +\par citizens, even the simple merchants, had an extended education and +\par practised all the fine arts. A crowd of foreigners, principally +\par English, Spanish and American, came to stay there, in order to be +\par near their sons and daughters during their education. +\par +\par The Benedictine order was, in general, made up of very easy-going +\par men; they mixed with the world and entertained often, so they were +\par well liked; something that was very useful to those at Sor\'e8ze when +\par the revolution broke out. +\par +\par The Principal at that time was Dom Despaulx, a man of the +\par highest integrity, but who, being unwilling to subscribe to the +\par "civic oath" then exacted from the clergy, retired and spent several +\par years in retreat, from where he was later called by the Emperor to +\par fill one of the highest positions in the university. +\par +\par All the other Benedictines at Sor\'e8ze took the oath: Dom Ferlus +\par became Principal and Dom Abal Vice-Principal, and the college, in +\par spite of the revolutionary upheavals, continued to operate, following +\par the excellent start which it had been given by Dom Despaulx. +\par +\par Later, however, a law having been passed requiring the +\par secularising of the monks and the sale of their property, the days of +\par the college seemed numbered; but many of the most important men in +\par the country had been educated there, and they wanted it to be there +\par for their children; the inhabitants of the town, even the labourers +\par and peasants, respected the good fathers and realised that the +\par destruction of the college would result in the ruin of the area. So +\par an arrangement was made whereby Dom Ferlus would become the owner of +\par the college and the immense property which belonged to it. Nobody +\par attended the auction, and the Principal became, at a very modest +\par price, the owner of the huge monastery and the land which it owned. +\par The administrators of the department gave him plenty of time to pay. +\par Everyone lent him assignats which he repaid with some loads of wood; +\par the vast farms of the estate furnished food for the college and, +\par lacking money, Dom Ferlus paid the external teachers in provisions, +\par which suited them very well at a time when famine was rife in France. +\par +\par On the death of Dom Ferlus, the college passed into the hands of +\par his brother Raymond Ferlus, a former Oration, now married, a +\par third-rate poet and man of little capacity. The college went into +\par decline when the restoration of 1814 allowed back the Jesuits, who +\par were determined to wreak revenge on the Benedictines by destroying +\par the edifice which the latter had erected on the ruins of their order. +\par +\par The university took sides with the Jesuits. M. Raymond Ferlus handed +\par over the college to his son-in-law, M. Bernard, a former artillery +\par officer who had been one of my contempories. He knew nothing about +\par running such an establishment, and, besides that, a host of other +\par good colleges sprang up as rivals, and Sor\'e8ze, losing its importance +\par from day to day, became one of the most mediocre institutions of +\par learning. +\par +\par I return now to the time when I was at Sor\'e8ze. I have told you how +\par Dom Ferlus saved the college from ruin, and how, upheld by the care +\par of this enlightened man, it was the only great establishment of its +\par kind left standing by the revolution. The monks adopted lay clothing +\par and the appellation "Citizen" replaced that of "Dom." Apart from +\par that, nothing essential was changed in the college and it continued +\par to exist peacefully in a corner of France, while the country was most +\par cruelly being torn to pieces. I say that nothing essential had +\par changed because the studies followed their usual course, and there +\par was no breakdown of order, but it was impossible that the feverish +\par agitation which reigned outside should not be felt in the college. I +\par will say also that Dom Ferlus, with diplomatic skill, presented the +\par appearance of approving of what he could not prevent. The walls +\par therefore were covered with Republican slogans. It was forbidden to +\par use the word "Monsieur". The pupils went to the dining hall or on +\par walks, singing the Marseillaise or other Republican hymns; and as +\par they heard continually of the achievements of our armies, in which +\par some of the older pupils were even enrolled as volunteers, and as +\par they were brought up in a military atmosphere, (since, even before +\par the revolution, Sor\'e8ze was a military college, where one learned +\par drill, horse-riding, fortification, and so on), all this youth had, +\par for some time, adopted a warrior-like stance and spirit which had led +\par to a slackening of good manners. Added to which the uniform +\par contributed greatly to give them a very strange aspect. The scholars +\par wore big shoes, which were cleaned only every ten days, stockings of +\par grey thread, plain brown trousers and jacket, no waistcoat, shirts +\par undone, and covered with stains of ink and red pencil, no tie, +\par nothing on the head, the hair in a pig-tail, often undone, and the +\par hands....! Like those of a coal-heaver. +\par +\par Imagine me, clean, polished, dressed in clothes of fine cloth, +\par neat and tidy, thrown into the midst of seven hundred urchins, got up +\par as imps, and who, on hearing a shout of "Here are some new ones!" +\par left their games and came, in a mob to gather round us, staring as if +\par we were strange animals. +\par +\par My father embraced us and left...! I was in a state of utter +\par despair! Here I was, alone, alone for the first time in my life, my +\par brother being in the upper school while I was in the lower. We were +\par in the middle of winter. It was very cold, but according to school +\par rules, the pupils were never allowed a fire! +\par +\par Nevertheless, the pupils at Sor\'e8ze were well fed, especially for +\par that time; for in spite of the famine which was sweeping France, the +\par good administration of Dom Ferlus provided an abundance of food. The +\par everyday fare was certainly all that could be desired for +\par school-children. However the supper seemed to me to be most +\par niggardly, and the sight of the dishes put before me disgusted me: +\par but had I been offered ortolans, I would not have been tempted, my +\par heart was so full. The meal finished as it had begun, with a +\par patriotic song. We knelt down at the couplet of the Marseillaise +\par which begins "Amour sacr\'e9 de la patrie"...Then we filed out, as we +\par had come in, to the sound of a drum, and we went to the dormitories. +\par +\par The pupils of the upper school had each his own room, in which he +\par was shut in for the night; those of the lower school slept four to a +\par room, of which each angle contained a bed. I was put with Guiraud, +\par Romestan and Lagarde, who were my companions at table, and almost as +\par new as I was. I was quite happy with this. They had seemed to me to +\par be nice children, which, in fact, they were. But I was taken aback +\par when I saw the smallness of my bed, the thinness of the mattress, and +\par what displeased me most, the iron bed-stead. I had never seen +\par anything like it. However everything was very clean, and in spite of +\par my dismay I slept soundly, worn out by the shocks to my system which +\par I had suffered on this fateful day. +\par +\par The next morning, the drum beat reveille, m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ a horrible noise +\par in the dormitories, which I thought was quite atrocious; but how do +\par you think I felt when I saw that, while I was asleep, someone had +\par removed my beautiful clothes, my fine stockings and my pretty shoes, +\par and had replaced them by the coarse garments and heavy footwear of +\par the school? I wept with rage. +\par +\par Having told you of the first impressions which I experienced on my +\par entry into the college, I shall spare you the recital of all the +\par torments to which I was exposed during the next six months. I had been +\par too pampered by the mesdames Mongalvi not to suffer mentally and +\par physically in my new position. I became very depressed, and had my +\par constitution been less robust, I should have become ill. This period +\par was one of the most unhappy in my life. In the long run, however, +\par work and familiarity enabled me to cope with the situation. I was +\par very fond of the lessons in French literature, in geography, and +\par above all, in history, and I made progress in these subjects. I +\par became passable at Latin and mathematics and at horsemanship and +\par fencing. I was an expert at fire-arms drill and took much pleasure in +\par the manoeuvres of the school battalion which was commanded by a +\par retired captain. +\par +\par At the time when I entered the college, the convention was +\par imposing its blood-stained sceptre over France. Representatives of +\par the people, on various missions, infested the provinces, and almost +\par all of these who were of any importance in the Midi came to visit +\par Sor\'e8ze, whose title of "Military Academy" sounded pleasing to their +\par ears. +\par +\par Citizen Ferlus had a particular talent for persuading them that +\par they must maintain an establishment devoted to educating a numerous +\par youth, "The hope of the country". So he obtained all that he wanted. +\par Often they would send us great bundles of brushwood, destined to +\par supply the army, our Principal having persuaded them that we were a +\par part of it, and were, in effect, its nursery. +\par +\par These Representatives were received and f\'eated like Sovereigns. On +\par their arrival, all the pupils were dressed in their military +\par uniforms; the battalion was paraded before them; a guard was mounted +\par at every gate as if in a military barracks. Little tableaux were +\par enacted which exuded the purest patriotism; one sang national hymns, +\par and when they visited the classes, particularly those of history, an +\par occasion was always found to produce some tirade on the excellence of +\par Republican government and the patriotic virtues which derived from +\par it. I can remember, in this regard, an occasion when Representative +\par Chabot, a former Capuchin, questioned me on Roman history. He asked +\par me what I thought of Coriolanus, who finding himself wronged by his +\par fellow citizens, forgetful of his former services, withdrew to the +\par country of the Volscians, sworn enemies of the Romans. Dom Ferlus +\par and the teachers feared greatly that I might approve of the Roman's +\par conduct, but I blamed him, saying that a good citizen must never bear +\par arms against his country, nor dream of any vengeance against her, no +\par matter how justified his discontent. The representative was so +\par pleased with my answer that he patted me on the back, and +\par complemented the head of the college and the teachers on the sound +\par principles which they inculcated in their pupils! +\par +\par This little success did not diminish the dislike I had for these +\par representatives. The actions of the convention filled me with +\par horror. Young as I was, I had, already, enough sense to realise that +\par it was not necessary to wallow in French blood in order to save the +\par country, and that the guillotinades and massacres were appalling +\par crimes. +\par +\par I shall not discuss here the system of oppression which ruled, +\par then, in our unhappy country; this is a matter of history; but I may +\par say that however strong the colours used to paint the horrors of +\par which these terrorists were capable, the picture will be less lurid +\par than the reality. Perhaps the most surprising thing is the stupidity +\par of the masses, who allowed themselves to be dominated by men, the +\par greater part of whom lacked any ability: for whatever may have been +\par said, almost all the members of the convention were of more than +\par ordinary mediocrity and their boasted unanimity arose from the fear +\par they had of one another, since in their anxiety to avoid being +\par guillotined themselves, they agreed with anything which the +\par ringleaders proposed. +\par +\par I saw, during my exile in 1815, many members of the convention who +\par like me were forced to leave France. They were completely lacking in +\par back-bone, and assured me that they voted for the death of Louis XVI +\par and a host of odious decrees solely to save their own skins. The +\par memory of these times has convinced me that the worst form of +\par government is that by the masses. +\par +\par Chap. 5. +\par +\par I reached the age of sixteen in August 1798. Six months later, +\par towards the end of February, I left the college of Sor\'e8ze. +\par +\par My father had a friend named M. Dorignac, who offered to take me +\par with him to the capital. It took us eight days to reach Paris, where +\par we arrived in March 1799, on the day when the Od\'e9on theatre was +\par burned down for the first time. The flames were visible far off on +\par the Orleans road, and I thought, in my simplicity, that the light +\par came from furnaces operating in the city. +\par My father, at that time, occupied a fine mansion in the +\par Faubourg-St-Honor\'e9 road, number 87, on the corner with the little Rue +\par Vert. I arrived there at dinner time: all the family were gathered +\par there. It would be impossible for me to describe the joy which I +\par felt at seeing them all together! This was one of the happiest days +\par of my life! +\par +\par We were now in the spring of 1799. The Republic still existed, +\par and the government was now composed of the Directorate of five +\par members, and two chambers, one of which was called the Council of +\par Elders, and the other the Council of Five Hundred +\par +\par My father entertained many members of society. There I made the +\par acquaintance of his intimate friend, General Bernadotte, and some of +\par the outstanding men of the period, such as Joseph and Lucien +\par Bonaparte, and also Napper-Tandy, the Irish leader, who had taken +\par refuge in France. At my mother's house I frequently saw Madame +\par Bonaparte and sometimes Madame De Sta\'ebl, already celebrated for her +\par literary works. +\par +\par I had been in Paris for only about a month, when the term of the +\par legislature expired. It was necessary to hold new elections. My +\par father, fed up with the constant wrangling of political life, and +\par regretting that he was not t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ any part in the army's +\par achievements, declared that he would no longer accept nomination as a +\par deputy, and that he wished to return to active service. Events +\par turned out in his favour. On the assembly of the new Chambers there +\par was a change of minister. General Bernadotte became minister for +\par war. He had promised my father that he would send him to the army of +\par the Rhine, and my father was about to set off for Mainz, when the +\par directory, learning of the defeat suffered by the army of Italy, +\par commanded by Scherer, appointed as his successor, General Joubert, +\par who commanded the 17th division, (now the 1st,) in Paris. +\par +\par This post having now become vacant, the directory, realising that +\par its great political importance required that it should be filled by +\par someone of capacity and determination, instructed the minister for +\par war to offer it to my father. My father who had resigned from the +\par legislature only to resume active service, turned the offer down; but +\par on Bernadotte showing him the letter of appointment, already signed, +\par and saying that as a friend, he begged him to accept, and as a +\par minister, he ordered him, my father gave in, and the next day he went +\par to install himself in the headquarters of the Paris division, +\par situated, at that time in the Quai Voltaire, at the corner of the Rue +\par de Saint-P\'e8res, and which has since been demolished. My father took +\par as his chief of staff his old friend Col. M\'e9nard. I was delighted +\par by all the military suite with which my father was surrounded. His +\par headquarters were never empty of officers of all ranks. A squadron +\par of cavalry, a battalion of infantry and six field-guns were stationed +\par before his portals, and one saw a crowd of orderlies coming and +\par going. This seemed to me much more entertaining than the exercises +\par and translations of Sor\'e8ze. +\par +\par France, and in particular Paris, were, at this time, in a state of +\par much agitation. We were on the brink of catastrophe. The Russians, +\par commanded by the celebrated Souwaroff, had just entered Italy, where +\par our army had suffered a major defeat at Novi, where General Joubert +\par had been killed. The victor, Souwaroff, was heading for our army of +\par Switzerland, commanded by Mass\'e9na. +\par +\par We had few troops on the Rhine. The peace conference begun at +\par Rastadt had broken down and our ambassadors had been assassinated; +\par now all Germany was arming once more against us, and the Directory, +\par fallen into disfavour, had neither troops nor the money to raise +\par them. In order to procure funds it decreed a forced loan, which had +\par the effect of turning everyone against it. All hopes were pinned on +\par Mass\'e9na's ability to stop the Russians and prevent them from entering +\par France. The directory, impatient, sent him courier after courier, +\par ordering him to join battle; but this latter-day Fabius, unwilling to +\par risk the safety of his country, was waiting for some false move, on +\par the part of his impetuous adversary, to give him the opportunity for +\par victory. +\par +\par At this point, I shall relate an anecdote which demonstrates on +\par how fine a thread sometimes hangs the destiny of states and the +\par reputation of generals. The directory, exasperated to see that +\par Mass\'e9na did not obey the repeated commands to engage in battle, +\par resolved to relieve him of his post; but, as it was feared that this +\par general would take no notice of the order and simply stuff it in his +\par pocket, if it was sent by an ordinary courier, the minister for war +\par was ordered to send a staff-officer, charged to deliver, publicly, to +\par Mass\'e9na his demotion, and to give to his chief of staff, Ch\'e9rin, the +\par official letter which would confirm him as commander-in-chief of the +\par army. +\par +\par When the minister told my father, in confidence, about these +\par plans, my father disapproved, saying that it would be dangerous, on +\par the eve of a decisive action, to deprive the army of Switzerland of a +\par general in whom it had confidence, and give the command to a general +\par who was more used to administration than the direction of troops in +\par the field. In addition, the position of the armies might change; and +\par he thought it essential that the mission was given to a man with +\par enough wisdom to assess the state of affairs, and who would not hand +\par Mass\'e9na his dismissal on the eve of, or in the middle of a battle. +\par +\par My father, eventually persuaded the minister to give the task to +\par M. Gault, his aide-de-camp, who, under the ostensible pretext of going +\par to see if the suppliers had delivered the number of horses stipulated +\par in their contract, would proceed to Switzerland with the authority to +\par retain or to hand out the order for the dismissal of Mass\'e9na, and the +\par installing of general Ch\'e9rin, according to the circumstances which +\par might lead him to judge whether this would be useful or dangerous. +\par This was an enormous responsibility to confide to the prudence of a +\par simple captain, but M. Gault fully justified the faith my father had +\par in him. +\par +\par Arriving at the headquarters of the army of Switzerland +\par five days before the battle of Zurich, he found the troops so full of +\par confidence in Mass\'e9na, and Mass\'e9na himself so calm and determined, +\par that he had no doubts of success, and, maintaining the deepest +\par silence about his secret powers, he took part in the battle of Zurich +\par and then returned to Paris, without Mass\'e9na suspecting that this +\par modest captain had in his hands the authority which could have +\par deprived him of the glory of one of the finest victories of the +\par century. +\par +\par Had Mass\'e9na been rashly dismissed, this would probably have led +\par to the defeat of General Ch\'e9rin and the invasion of France by the +\par Russians, followed by the Germans, and perhaps finally to the +\par overrunning of Europe. General Ch\'e9rin was killed at Zurich, without +\par being aware of the intentions of the government towards him. +\par +\par The victory of Zurich, although, it prevented the advance of the +\par enemy into the country, gave the Directory only a momentary respite. +\par The government was everywhere crumbling; no one had confidence in it. The treasury was bankrupt; the Vend\'e9e and Brittany were in open revolt; +\par the interior stripped of troops; the Midi in turmoil; the chamber of +\par deputies squabbling among themselves, and with the executive. In +\par short, the state was on the verge of disaster. +\par +\par Everyone in politics recognised that a major change was necessary +\par and inevitable; but although all agreed on this point, opinions +\par differed as to the remedy to be employed. The old Republicans, who +\par upheld the constitution of year III, then still in force, believed +\par that it would be sufficient to change several members of the +\par Directory. Two of them were removed and replaced by MM. Gohier and +\par Moulins; but this was the feeblest of palliatives for the calamities +\par which afflicted the country, and it continued to be shaken by +\par anarchy. +\par +\par It was then that several members of the Directory, amongst whom +\par was the well-known Siey\'e8s, thought, as did many of the deputies and +\par the great majority of the public, that to save France it was +\par necessary to put the reins of government in the hands of someone +\par resolute and already distinguished by services given to the state. It +\par was realised, also, that this would have to be a soldier who had +\par great influence in the army, and who was able, by re-arousing +\par national enthusiasm, to lead our banners to victory and chase away +\par the foreigners who were preparing to cross our frontiers. +\par +\par To speak like this was to point to General Bonaparte, but at this +\par moment he was in Egypt, and the need was pressing. Joubert had been +\par killed in Italy. Mess\'e9na, though famous for several victories, was +\par an excellent general at the head of an army in the field, but in no +\par way a politician. Bernadotte did not seem to have the capacity or +\par the wisdom to repair the country's fortunes. The eyes of the +\par reformers then turned to General Moreau; although the weakness of his +\par character and his indecisive conduct on the 18th Fructidor raised +\par some fears about his ability to govern. It is certain, however, +\par that lacking an alternative, he was asked to head the party which +\par intended to overthrow the Directory, and was offered the title of +\par President or Consul. Moreau, a good fighting soldier, lacked +\par political courage, and perhaps doubted his own ability to cope with +\par affairs in such a mess as were those of France. Also he was +\par self-centered and indolent and worried little about the future of the +\par country, preferring the repose of private life to the agitation of +\par politics. He refused the offer and retired to his estate of +\par Grosbois, to devote himself to hunting, of which he was passionately +\par fond. +\par +\par Abandoned by the man of their choice, Siey\'e8s and those with him, +\par who wished to change the form of the government, not feeling +\par themselves to be sufficiently strong or popular to achieve their aim +\par without the support of a general whose name would rally the army to +\par their side, were forced to turn their thoughts to General Bonaparte. +\par The leader of this enterprise, Siey\'e8s, flattered himself that, having +\par been placed in power, Bonaparte would busy himself with the +\par management and re-organising of the army, and leave to him the +\par conduct of the government, of which he would be the master and +\par Bonaparte but the nominal head. Events showed how badly he was +\par mistaken. +\par +\par Imbued with this notion, Siey\'e8s, through the intermission of +\par the Corsican deputy, Salicetti, sent a reliable secret agent to +\par Egypt, to inform General Bonaparte of the troubled state of France, +\par and propose to him that he should come back and place himself at the +\par head of the government. Having no doubt that Bonaparte would accept +\par readily and return promptly to Europe, Siey\'e8s put everything in +\par motion to assure the execution of the coup d'\'e9tat which he was +\par planning. +\par +\par It was easy for him to convince his fellow director, Roger-Duclos, +\par that their power was slipping away daily, and that the country being +\par on the brink of complete disorganisation, the public welfare, and +\par their personal interests, demanded that they should take part in the +\par establishment of a strong government, in which they would contrive to +\par place themselves in a less precarious and more advantageous position. +\par +\par Roger-Duclos promised his agreement to the proposed changes; but the +\par other three directors, Barras, Gohier and Moulins were unwilling to +\par give up their positions, so Siey\'e8s and the leaders of his party +\par resolved to go over their heads, and to sacrifice them after the +\par event. +\par +\par However, it would be difficult, not to say dangerous, even with +\par the presence of General Bonaparte, to overthrow the Directorate, +\par change the constitution and establish a new government, without the +\par support of the army, and, above all, that of the division which +\par occupied Paris. To be able to rely on this, it was necessary to be +\par sure of the co-operation of the minister for war and of the general +\par commanding the 17th division. +\par +\par President Siey\'e8s then sought to win over Bernadotte and my father, +\par by having them sounded out by several deputies who were their friends +\par and also supporters of Siey\'e8s's plans. I have learned since that my +\par father replied to the vague overtures which were put to him on behalf +\par of the crafty Siey\'e8s by saying that he agreed that the country's +\par misfortunes demanded a drastic remedy, but that, having sworn to +\par maintain the constitution of year III, he would not use the authority +\par he had over his troops to lead them to its overthrow. He then went to +\par Siey\'e8s and handed in his resignation as commander of the Paris +\par division, and requested a posting to a division on active service. +\par Siey\'e8s hastened to fall in with his wishes, being only too glad to +\par get rid of a man whose devotion to what he saw as his duty, might +\par abort the projected coup. The minister, Bernadotte followed my +\par father's example, and was replaced by Dubois-Crance. +\par +\par President Siey\'e8s was, for some days, at a loss to find a successor +\par to my father. In the end, he gave the command to general Lefebvre, +\par who, having recently been wounded in the army of the Rhine, was at +\par that moment in the capital. Lefebvre was a former sergeant in the +\par Guards, a brave soldier, a good, workmanlike general, provided that +\par he was closely supervised, but credulous in the extreme, with no +\par understanding of the political situation in France. So, by careful +\par use of the words "Glory," "Motherland," and " Victory, " One could be +\par sure of m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ him do whatever one wished. This was just the sort of +\par commander that Siey\'e8s was looking for. He did not even take the +\par trouble to win him over, or to warn him of what was about to happen, +\par so sure was he that on the day Lefebvre would not resist the +\par influence of General Bonaparte, and the cajoleries of the president +\par of the directorate. +\par +\par He had made an accurate assessment of Lefebvre, for on the 18th +\par Brumaire, he placed himself and all his troops under the command of +\par General Bonaparte, to march against the Directorate and the +\par Councillors, to throw down the established government and create the +\par Consulate. This action made him, later, one of the Emperor's +\par greatest favourites. He was made a marshal, Duke of Danzig and +\par senator and was showered with riches. +\par +\par I have rapidly outlined these events, because they explain some of +\par the reasons which led my father to Italy: a move which had such a +\par profound effect on his destiny and mine. +\par +\par Chap. 6. +\par +\par After handing over his command to General Lefebvre, my father +\par returned to his house in the Faubourg St. Honor\'e9 and busied himself +\par with preparations for his departure to Italy. +\par +\par A man's destiny is often influenced by the smallest of events. My +\par father and mother were very friendly with M. Barairon, the director of +\par registration, and one day, when they were going to dine with him, +\par they took me along. The talk was of my father's coming departure, +\par and the progress of my two younger brothers. At last, M. Barairon +\par asked, "And Marcellin, what are you going to make of him?" "A +\par sailor," replied my father, "Captain Sibille has agreed to take him +\par with him to Toulon." Then the good Mme. Barairon, towards whom I have +\par always felt the warmest gratitude, observed to my father that the +\par French navy was in complete disarray, that the poor state of the +\par country's finances would not allow its rapid refurbishment, and, +\par furthermore, its inferiority vis-\'e0-vis the English navy was such that +\par it would spend most of its time in harbour. She said that she could +\par not think why he, a divisional general, would put his son into the +\par navy, instead of placing him in a regiment, where the name and +\par services of his father would make him welcome. She ended by saying, +\par "Take him to Italy, sooner than send him to die of boredom, in a +\par vessel shut up in Toulon harbour." +\par +\par My father, who had been briefly enticed by Capt. Sibille's +\par proposition, was too intelligent not to appreciate Mme. Barairon's +\par reasoning. "Well then," he asked me, "Do you want to come to Italy +\par with me and serve in the army?" I put my arms round him and accepted, +\par with a joy which my mother shared, for she had not been in favour of +\par my father's first idea. +\par +\par As, at that time, there was no military academy, and one could +\par join the army only as a private soldier, my father took me right away +\par to the municipality of the first arrondissment, in the Place Beauvau, +\par and had me enlisted in the 1st Hussars, (formerly the Bercheny), who +\par were part of the division which he was going to command in Italy. It +\par was September the 3rd, 1799. +\par +\par My father took me to a tailor, who had the job of m}{\deleted aKing}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ official +\par army uniforms, and ordered for me a complete outfit for a Hussar of +\par the 1st. As well as all the arms and equipment. +\par +\par There I was!....A soldier!.....And was I not happy? But my +\par happiness was somewhat lessened when I reflected that this was going +\par to upset my brother Adolphe, two years older than me, and still stuck +\par in college. I then had the idea that I would not tell Adolphe about +\par my enlistment without telling him, at the same time, that I wanted to +\par spend with him the period which would have to pass before my +\par departure. I then asked my father if he would allow me to be +\par installed close to Adolphe, at Sainte-Barbe, until the day when we +\par would take the road for Italy. My father understood the reason for my +\par asking, and thought well of me for it. He took me, the next day to +\par stay with a M. Lanneau. +\par +\par Can you imagine my arrival at college?...It was a recreation +\par period. All games stopped. All the pupils, big and small, +\par surrounded me. They vied with each other to touch part of my +\par equipment....In short, the Hussar was a complete success! +\par +\par The day of the departure arrived....I said farewell to my mother +\par and my three brothers with the greatest sadness, in spite of the +\par pleasure I felt on starting a military career. +\par +\par Chap. 7. +\par +\par After my father had accepted a command in Italy, a division became +\par vacant in the army of the Rhine, which he would have preferred; but +\par an inescapable fate drew him towards the country where he would find +\par his grave. +\par +\par One of his compatriots, and a personal friend, M. Lach\'e8ze, whom I +\par might call his evil genius, had for a long time been French consul +\par at Leghorn and Genoa, where he had business interests. This wretched +\par man, in order to lure my father to Italy, was forever painting the +\par most exaggerated picture of the country's beauties, and pointing out +\par the credit which might be gained by dealing successfully with the +\par difficult situation in the army there, whereas there would be little +\par opportunity to acquire distinction in the army of the Rhine, where +\par all was well. My father was swayed by this specious reasoning, and +\par believing that there was more merit in going to the more dangerous +\par post, he persisted in his intention of going to Italy, in spite of +\par the objections of my mother, who had a secret presentiment which made +\par her wish for my father to go to the Rhine. This presentiment was not +\par false. She never saw her husband again! +\par +\par To his present aide-de-camp, Captain Gault, my father now added +\par another officer, M. R*** who had come to him from his friend General +\par Augereau. M. R*** had the rank of major. He was a member of a +\par Maintenon family and had some ability and some education, which he +\par very rarely employed; for in a stupid manner, which was then quite +\par common, he swaggered about, forever cursing and swearing, and talking +\par of running people through with his sabre. This bully-boy had only one +\par virtue, very rare at this time: he was always turned out with the +\par greatest elegance. My father, who had taken on M. R*** without +\par knowing anything about him, now much regretted it; but he could not +\par send him back without upsetting his old friend, Augereau. Although my +\par father disliked him, he thought, perhaps rightly, that a general +\par should make use of the military qualities of an officer, without +\par worrying too much about his personal manners; but, as he did not care +\par to have the company of M. R*** on a long journey, he had given him the +\par job of t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ his coaches and horses from Paris to Nice, having under +\par his orders the old stud-groom, Spire, a highly responsible man, used +\par to the management of stables. The stable was large: my father had +\par fifteen horses, which with those of his aide-de-camp and of his +\par chief-of-staff and his assistants, together with those for the wagons +\par and so on, made up a fairly large group of which R*** was the leader. +\par +\par They left a month before we did. +\par +\par My father took in his coach the fatal M. Lach\'e8ze, Captain Gault and +\par me. Colonel M\'e9nard, the chief-of- staff, followed, with one of his +\par assistants, in a post-chaise. A big rascal, my father's valet, went +\par ahead as a courier. We travelled in uniform. I had a fine forage +\par cap which pleased me so much that I wore it all the time, but, as I +\par put my head out of the coach window frequently, because the coach +\par made me travel-sick, it so happened that during the night, when my +\par companions were asleep, the cap fell into the road. The coach, drawn +\par by six vigourous horses, was going at top speed. I did not dare have +\par it stopped and so I lost my cap. A bad omen! But I was to suffer far +\par worse things in the terrible campaign which we were about to +\par undertake. This incident upset me a good deal, but I said nothing +\par about it for fear of being chaffed about the way the new soldier was +\par looking after his kit. +\par +\par My father stopped at M\'e2con, at the house of an old friend. We +\par spent twenty-four hours there and then continued our journey to +\par Lyons. We were not more than a few leagues from there, and were +\par changing horses at the post-house of Limonest, when we noticed that +\par all the postilions had decorated their hats with tricolour ribbons, +\par and that there were flags of the same colours hanging from all the +\par windows. We asked the reason for this demonstration, and were told +\par that General Bonaparte had just arrived in Lyons...! +\par +\par My father, who was certain that Bonaparte was still in the depths +\par of Egypt, treated this news as absurd, but he was taken aback when, +\par having sent for the post master, who had just returned from Lyons, he +\par was told, "I saw General Bonaparte, whom I know very well, because I +\par served under his command in Italy. He is staying in some hotel in +\par Lyon, and has with him his brother Louis, Generals Berthier, Lannes +\par and Murat, as well as a great, number of officers, and a Mameluke." +\par +\par This could hardly have been more positive; however the revolution +\par had given rise to so many falsehoods, and factions had been so +\par cunning in inventing stories which would serve their ends, that my +\par father was still in doubt when we entered the suburbs of Lyon. All +\par the houses were draped with flags. Fireworks were going off. The +\par crowd filled the streets to the point of preventing our coach from +\par moving. There was dancing in the public squares and the air rang +\par with cries of "Vive Bonaparte. Saviour of the country!" It was +\par evident that Bonaparte was indeed in Lyon. My father said, "I was +\par well aware that he was to be sent for, but I did not think it would +\par be so soon. The coup has been well organised, and there are great +\par events to come. I feel sure that I was right to leave Paris. At +\par least, in the army I can serve the country without t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ part in a +\par coup, which, however necessary, I find repugnant." Having said this, +\par he fell into a deep reverie, which lasted for the long time it took +\par us to work our way through the crowds to the hotel where our rooms +\par had been prepared. +\par +\par The nearer we got to the hotel, the thicker the crowd became, and +\par when we reached the door we saw that it was hung about with Chinese +\par lanterns and guarded by Grenadiers. It was here that General +\par Bonaparte was staying, in rooms that had been booked a week before +\par for my father. +\par +\par Although quick-tempered, my father did not say a word when the +\par hotelier, who had been compelled to obey the orders of the +\par municipality, came with some embarrassment to make his excuses. The +\par inn-keeper having added that he had arranged for our accommodation at +\par another hotel....very good, though of second grade....and run by one +\par of his relatives, my father simply asked Capt. Gault to tell the +\par postilion to take us there. +\par +\par When we arrived, we were met by our courier, a lively fellow, who, +\par heated by the long journey he had just made and the numerous drinks +\par he had downed at each post-house had complained most loudly when he +\par found that the rooms booked for his master had been given to General +\par Bonaparte. The latter's aides-de-camp hearing this uproar and +\par learning the cause, went to warn their master that General Marbot had +\par been displaced to make room for him, and, at the same time, General +\par Bonaparte saw through his open window my father's two coaches pull up +\par at the door. +\par +\par He had not been aware, until then, of the shabby way in which my +\par father had been treated; and as General Marbot, recently commandant +\par of Paris, and now a divisional commander in Italy was too important a +\par man to be treated unceremoniously, and also as General Bonaparte had +\par good reason to make himself popular with everybody, he ordered one of +\par his officers to go down straight away and ask General Marbot to come, +\par as a fellow soldier, and share his accommodation. Then, seeing the +\par coaches leave before his aide-de-camp could speak to my father, +\par Bonaparte went immediately, on foot, to offer his regrets in person. +\par +\par The crowd which followed him set up a great noise of cheering, +\par which, as it drew near our hotel, should have warned us, but we had +\par heard so much since coming to the town that it did not occur to one +\par of us to look out of the window. We were all in the drawing-room +\par where my father was striding up and down, deep in thought, when the +\par valet-de-chambre, opening the double doors, announced, "The General +\par Bonaparte." +\par +\par On entering, he hurried to embrace my father, who received him +\par very politely, but coolly. They had known each other for a long time. +\par +\par The explanations about the lodgings could be disposed of in a few +\par words between two such people, and so they were. They had much else +\par to talk about; so they went alone into the bedroom, where they +\par remained in conference for more than an hour. +\par +\par During this time, the officers who had come with General +\par Bonaparte chatted with us in the drawing-room. I never tired of +\par examining their martial appearance, their sun-bronzed faces, their +\par strange uniforms and their Turkish sabres, hung from cords. I +\par listened with interest to their stories of the campaign in Egypt, and +\par the battles which were fought there. I took pleasure in hearing them +\par talk of such celebrated places as the Pyramids, the Nile, Cairo, +\par Alexandria, Acre, the desert and so on. What delighted me most, +\par however, was the sight of the young Mameluke, Rustum. He had stayed +\par in the ante-chamber, where I went several times to admire his +\par costume, which he showed me willingly. He already spoke reasonable +\par French, and I never wearied of asking him questions. +\par +\par General Lannes recalled having let me fire his pistols, when, in +\par 1793, he was serving under my father in the camp at Miral. He was +\par very friendly toward me, and neither of us then foresaw that one day +\par I should be his aide-de-camp, and that he would die in my arms at +\par Essling. General Murat came from the same region as we did, and as +\par he had been a shop-assistant to a silk merchant at Saint-C\'e9r\'e9 during +\par the period when my family spent the winter there, he had often come +\par to the house, bringing purchases to my mother. My father, also, had +\par rendered him a number of services, for which he was always grateful. +\par He gave me a hug, and reminded me that he had often held me in his +\par arms, when I was an infant. +\par +\par General Bonaparte and my father having come back into the room, +\par they presented to one another the members of their suites. Generals +\par Lannes and Murat were old acquaintances of my father, who welcomed +\par them with great affability. He was a little distant with General +\par Berthier, whom, however he had seen before, when he was in the +\par bodyguard and Berthier was an engineer. +\par +\par General Bonaparte, who knew my mother, asked me, very politely, +\par for news of her. He complimented me most warmly on having, while yet +\par so young, taken up a military career, and t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ me gently by the +\par ear, which was always the most flattering caress which he bestowed on +\par those with whom he was pleased, he said to my father, "One day this +\par will be a second General Marbot." This prediction came true, although +\par at that time I had no expectation of it. However I was very proud of +\par these words. It takes so very little to make a child feel pleased +\par with himself. +\par +\par When the visit was over, my father disclosed nothing of what had +\par been said between him and General Bonaparte; but I learned later that +\par Bonaparte, without stating his objectives clearly, had sought, by the +\par most adroit cajolements, to win my father over to his side, and that, +\par my father had always dodged the issue. +\par +\par Disgusted at seeing the people of Lyon running in front of +\par Bonaparte, as if he was already the sovereign of France, my father +\par declared that he wanted to leave at dawn the next day; but as his +\par coaches needed some repairs, he was forced to spend an entire day at +\par Lyon. I profited from this to have a new forage cap made, and, +\par enchanted with this purchase, I took no notice of the political +\par conversations, about which, to tell the truth, I understood little. +\par +\par My father went to return the visit he had received from General +\par Bonaparte. They walked alone for a very long time in the hotel's +\par little garden, while their suites remained respectfully at a +\par distance. We saw them sometimes gesture with warmth, and at other +\par times speak more calmly; then Bonaparte, with a wheedling look, went +\par up to my father and put his arm through his in a friendly fashion, +\par probably so that the officials who were in the courtyard and the many +\par spectators who hung out of neighbouring windows might conclude that +\par General Marbot agreed with the plans of General Bonaparte; for this +\par crafty man neglected nothing to achieve his aims. +\par +\par My father came away from this second conversation even more +\par pensive than he had been after the first, and on coming back to the +\par hotel, he ordered our departure for the next day. Unfortunately, the +\par next day, General Bonaparte was to make an excursion round the town +\par to inspect the heights suitable for fortification, and all the +\par post-horses were reserved for him. I thought that at this blow my +\par father would become angry, but he contented himself by saying, "There is the beginning of omnipotence." And told his staff to see if +\par they could hire any horses, so keen was he to get away from the town +\par and from the sights which offended him. No spare horses could be +\par found. Then Col. M\'e9nard, who was born in the Midi, and knew the +\par district perfectly, observed that the road from Lyon to Avignon was +\par in such a poor state of repair that the coaches might be badly +\par damaged if they attempted it, and it would be better to embark them +\par on the Rh\'f4ne, the descent of which would offer us an enchanting +\par spectacle. My father, who was no great lover of the picturesque, +\par would, at any other time, have rejected this advice, but as it gave +\par him the opportunity to leave the town a day earlier, he agreed to +\par take to the Rh\'f4ne. +\par +\par Col. M\'e9nard then hired a large boat, the coaches were put on +\par board, and the next day, early in the morning, we all embarked: a +\par decision which was very nearly the end of us. +\par +\par It was autumn. The water was very low. All the time the boat +\par touched and scraped along the bottom. One feared that it might be +\par torn open. We slept the first night at Saint-P\'e9ray, next at Tain, and +\par took two days to get as far down as the junction with the Dr\'f4me. +\par There we had much more water, and went along rapidly; but a dangerous +\par high wind called the Mistral hit us when we were about a quarter +\par league above the bridge known as Pont Saint-Esprit. The boatmen were +\par unable to reach the bank. They lost their heads, and set themselves +\par to praying instead of working, while a furious wind and a strong +\par current were driving the boat towards the bridge! We were about to +\par crash against the pier of the bridge and be sunk, when my father and +\par all of us, t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ up boat-hooks, hurried forward to fend off from the +\par pier which we were about to strike. +\par +\par The shock was so severe that it knocked us into the thwarts, but +\par the push had changed the direction of the boat, which, by a +\par miraculous piece of good fortune, shot through under the arch. The +\par boatmen then recovered a little from their terror and resumed some +\par sort of control of their boat; but the Mistral continued, and the two +\par coaches offering a resistance to the wind made any manoeuvre almost +\par impossible. +\par At last, six leagues above Avignon, we went aground on a very +\par large island, where the bow of the boat dug into the sand in such a +\par way that it would not be possible to get it out without a gang of +\par labourers, and we were listing over so far that we feared being +\par swamped at any moment. We put some planks between the boat and the +\par shore and, with the help of some rope, we all got ashore without +\par accident, though with some difficulty. +\par +\par There could be no thought of re-embarking in the very high +\par wind,(although without rain), and so we pushed on into the interior +\par of the island, which we thought at first was uninhabited; but +\par eventually we came across a sort of farm, where we found some good +\par folk who made us very welcome. We were dying of hunger, but it was +\par impossible to go back to the boat for food, and all we had was a +\par little bread. +\par +\par We were told that the island was full of poultry, which was +\par allowed to run wild, and which the peasants shot, when they wanted +\par some. My father was very fond of shooting, and he needed some +\par relaxation from his problems, so we borrowed guns from the peasants, +\par some pitch-forks and sticks, and we set off on a hen shoot. We shot +\par several, though it was not easy to hit them as they flew like +\par pheasants. We also picked up many of their eggs in the woods. +\par When we returned to the farm, we lit a big fire in the middle of a +\par field, around which we set up a bivouac, while the valet, helped by +\par the farmer, prepared the eggs and the chickens in a variety of ways. +\par We supped well and then bedded down on some hay, no one daring to +\par accept the beds which the good peasants offered us, as they seemed to +\par us to be far from clean. +\par +\par By day-break the wind had dropped, so all the peasants and the +\par boatmen took spades and picks, and after several hours of hard work +\par they got the boat afloat, enabling us to continue our journey towards +\par Avignon, which we reached without any further accidents. Those that +\par had befallen us were so embroidered in the telling, that the rumour +\par reached Paris that my father and all his staff had been drowned. +\par +\par The approach to Avignon, particularly when one comes down the +\par Rh\'f4ne, is very picturesque. The old Papal Ch\'e2teau; the ramparts by +\par which the city is surrounded; its numerous steeples and the Ch\'e2teau +\par de Villeneuve rising opposite, combine to make a fine prospect. At +\par Avignon we met Mme. M\'e9nard and one of her nieces, and we spent three +\par days in the town, visiting the charming outskirts, including the +\par fountain of Vaucluse. My father was in no hurry to leave, because +\par M. R*** h d written to say that the very hot weather,still persisting +\par in the Midi,had forced him to slow the pace of his march and my +\par father did not wish to arrive before his horses. +\par +\par From Avignon we headed for Aix, but when we reached Bompart, on +\par the banks of the Durance, which, at that time, was crossed by a +\par ferry, we found the river so swollen by flood, that it would not be +\par possible to cross for at least five or six hours. We were debating +\par whether to return to Avignon, when the operator of the ferry, a +\par gentlemanly sort of person, who owned a charming little castle on the +\par height some five hundred paces from the river bank, came and begged +\par my father to rest there until the coaches could be embarked. He +\par accepted, hoping that it would be for a few hours only; but it +\par appeared that there had been heavy storms in the Alps, where the +\par Durance has its source, for the river continued to rise all day, and +\par we were compelled to accept lodging for the night, which was offered +\par most cordially by the owner of the castle. The weather being fine we +\par spent the day walking. It was a break in our travels which I +\par enjoyed. +\par +\par The next day, seeing that the flood-water was running even more +\par rapidly than the evening before, our host, who was a devout +\par Republican, and who knew the river well enough to judge that we would +\par not be able to cross for twenty-four hours, hurried off, unknown to +\par us, to the little town of Cavaillon, which is about two leagues from +\par Bompart, on the same bank of the river. He had gone to inform all the +\par "Patriots" of the locality that he had in his house divisional +\par General Marbot. He then returned to the castle, where, an hour or so +\par later, we saw the arrival of a cavalcade composed of the keenest +\par "Patriots" of Cavaillon, who had come to beg my father to accept an +\par invitation to a banquet, which they offered him in the name of all +\par the notables of the town, "Always so staunchly Republican." +\par +\par My father, who found these sort of occasions far from agreeable, +\par at first refused; but these "Citoyens" were so insistent, saying that +\par everything had been organised and that the guests had gathered, that +\par my father gave in and went off to Cavaillon. +\par +\par The best hotel had been decked with garlands, and was graced by +\par the presence of the local dignitaries from the town and its +\par outskirts. After an interminable number of compliments, we took our +\par places at a table laden with the most exclusive dishes. Above all, +\par there were ortolans, birds which thrive well in this part of the +\par country. +\par +\par A great many toasts were drunk. Virulent speeches were made, +\par denouncing the "Enemies of liberty" and the dinner did not end until +\par ten o'clock in the evening. It was a little late to return to +\par Bompart, and anyway, my father could not with politeness leave his +\par hosts the moment the meal was over. He decided then to spend the +\par night at Cavaillon, and the rest of the evening was passed in rather +\par noisy talk. Eventually, one by one, the guests went home and we were +\par left alone. +\par +\par The next morning, M. Gault asked the inn-keeper how much my father +\par owed for his part in the immense feast of the night before, which he +\par assumed was a communal meal in which each paid for his own share. +\par The inn-keeper presented him with a bill of more than 1500 francs. +\par The good "Patriots" not having paid a single sou!...We were told that +\par though some had expressed a wish to pay, the great majority had +\par replied that this would be "An insult to General Marbot"....! +\par +\par Capt. Gault was furious at this procedure, but my father, who at +\par first could not get over his astonishment, burst into laughter, and +\par told the inn-keeper to go and collect the money at Bompart, to where +\par we returned straight away, without saying a word of this to the +\par chatelaine; whose servants we tipped handsomely, and then, t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ +\par advantage of the fall in the water level, we at last crossed the +\par Durance and made our way to Aix. +\par +\par Although I might not yet be of an age to discuss politics with my +\par father, what I had heard him say led me to believe that his +\par Republican ideas had been much modified over the preceding two years, +\par and what he had experienced as a supposed guest of honour at +\par Cavaillon had severely shaken them, but he did not display any +\par ill-feeling on the subject of this banquet, and was even amused at +\par the anger of M. Gault, who said repeatedly, "I am not surprised that, +\par in spite of their cost, these scoundrels produced so many ortolans, +\par and ordered so many bottles of good wine! " +\par +\par After spending a night at Aix, we left for Nice. This was the last +\par stage of our journey. While we were travelling through the mountain +\par and the beautiful forest of Esterel, we encountered the Colonel of +\par the 1st Hussars, who, escorted by an officer and several troopers, +\par was t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ some lame horses, returned by the army, back to the depot +\par at Puy-en-Velay. This colonel was named M. Picart and had been given +\par his command because of his administrative ability. He was sent +\par frequently to the depot to arrange for the equipment of men and +\par horses, which he then forwarded to the fighting units, where he +\par appeared but rarely and did not stay for long. +\par +\par When he saw Col. Picart, my father had the coach stopped and got +\par out, and after presenting me to my colonel, he took him on one side, +\par and asked him to name an intelligent and well educated +\par non-commissioned officer who might be made my mentor. The Colonel +\par named Sergeant Pertelay. My father made a note of the name, and we +\par continued on our way to Nice; where we found M.R*** settled in an +\par excellent hotel, with our coaches and horses in first-class order. +\par +\par Chap. 8. +\par +\par The town of Nice was full of troops, among which was a squadron +\par of the 1st Hussars, to which regiment I belonged. In the absence +\par of its colonel, the regiment was commanded by a Major Muller. On +\par learning that the divisional general had arrived, Muller came to see +\par my father, and it was agreed between them that, after a few days +\par rest, I should begin my service in the seventh company, commanded by +\par Capt. Mathis. +\par +\par Although my father was very good to me, I was so much in awe of +\par him that I was very shy in his presence, a shyness which he thought +\par was greater than was really the case; he said I should have been a +\par girl, and often called me madamoiselle Marcellin, which annoyed me +\par very much, especially now that I was a Hussar. It was to overcome +\par this shyness, that my father wished me to serve in the ranks, and in +\par any case, as I have already said, one could not join the army except +\par as a private soldier. My father, it is true, could have attached me +\par to his personal staff, since my regiment was part of his division, +\par but, quite apart from the notion which I have described above, he +\par wanted me to learn how to saddle and bridle my own horse and to look +\par after my arms and equipment; also, he did not want his son to enjoy +\par the least privilege, as this would have had a bad effect on the rest +\par of the troops. It was already enough that I was to be allowed to join +\par a squadron without undergoing a long and wearisome period of training +\par at the depot. I passed several days with my father and his staff, +\par travelling about the district round Nice, which was very beautiful, +\par but the moment for my entry into the squadron having arrived, my +\par father asked Major Muller to send him Sergeant Pertelay. +\par +\par Now, there were two brothers of this name in the regiment, both of +\par them sergeants, but having nothing else, physically or mentally in +\par common, the elder being something of a scamp, while the younger was +\par thoroughly respectable. It was this latter whom the colonel had +\par intended to appoint as my mentor, but in the short time which he and +\par my father had spent together, Col. Picart had forgotten, when naming +\par Pertelay, to add the younger: furthermore, this Pertelay was not in +\par the part of the squadron which was stationed in Nice, while the elder +\par was in the very company, the seventh, which I was about to join. +\par +\par Major Muller believed that the colonel had named the elder to my +\par father and that this wild character had been chosen to open the eyes +\par of an innocent and shy young man, which I then was. So he sent us +\par the elder Pertelay. +\par +\par This example of the old type of Hussar was a rowdy, quarrelsome, +\par swashbuckling, tippler, but also brave to the point of foolhardiness; +\par for the rest, he was completely ignorant of anything that was not +\par connected with his horse, his arms and his duties in the face of the +\par enemy. Pertelay the younger, on the other hand, was quiet, polite, +\par and well-educated. He was a handsome man and just as brave as his +\par brother, and would surely have gone far had he not, while still very +\par young, been killed in action. +\par +\par Now to return to the elder. He arrived at my father's quarters, +\par and what did we see? A fine fellow, very well turned out it is true, +\par but with his shako tipped over one ear, his sabre trailing on the +\par ground, his red face slashed by an immense scar, moustaches six +\par inches long, which, stiffened by wax, curled up into his ears, two +\par big plaits of hair, braided from his temples, which, escaping from +\par his shako, hung down to his chest, and with all this an air...! An +\par air of rakishness which was increased by his speech, which was +\par rattled out in a sort of Franco-Alsatian patois. This last did not +\par surprise my father, as he knew that the 1st Hussars were the former +\par regiment of Bercheny, which in earlier days recruited only Germans, +\par and where, until 1793, all the orders were given in German, which was +\par the language generally used by the officers and men, almost all of +\par whom came from the provinces bordering the Rhine. My father was +\par however exceedingly surprised by the style and manner of my proposed +\par mentor. +\par +\par I learned later that he had hesitated to put me in the hands of +\par this bravo, but M. Gault having reminded him that Colonel Picart had +\par described him as the best N.C.O.in the squadron, he decided to try +\par it. So off I went with Pertelay, who, t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ me by the arm without +\par ceremony, came to my room, showed me how to pack my kit into my +\par valise, and conducted me to a small barracks, situated in a former +\par monastery, and now occupied by a squadron of the 1st Hussars. +\par +\par My mentor made me saddle and unsaddle the pretty little horse +\par which my father had bought me; then he showed me how to put on my +\par cloak and my arms, giving me a complete demonstration, and having +\par decided that he had explained to me all that was necessary, he +\par thought it time to go for dinner. My father, who wished me to eat +\par with my mentor, had given us extra money to meet the expense. +\par +\par Pertelay took me to a small inn, which was crammed with Hussars, +\par Grenadiers and soldiers of every sort. We were served with a meal, +\par and on the table was placed an enormous bottle of red wine of the +\par most violent nature. Pertelay poured me a glassful. We clinked +\par glasses. My man emptied his and I raised mine without putting it to +\par my lips, for I had never drunk undiluted wine and I found the smell +\par of this liquid disagreeable. I admitted this to my mentor, who +\par shouted, in a stentorian voice, "Waiter! Bring some lemonade for this +\par boy who never drinks wine." A gale of laughter swept through the +\par room. I was mortified, but I could not bring myself to taste this +\par wine, and as I did not dare to ask for water, I dined without a +\par drink. +\par +\par A soldier's apprenticeship has always been hard going. It was +\par particularly so at the time of which I write. I had, therefore, some +\par unhappy experiences to suffer. A thing I found unbearable was the +\par requirement to share my bed with another Hussar. The regulations +\par allotted only one bed for two soldiers. N.C.O.s alone were allowed +\par to have a bed each. On the first night which I spent in the +\par barracks, I had already gone to my bed when a tall, ungainly Hussar, +\par who arrived an hour after the others, approached it, and seeing that +\par it was occupied, he unhooked a lantern and stuck it under my nose to +\par examine me more closely. Then he got undressed. As I watched him, I +\par had no idea that he intended to get in beside me; but I was soon +\par disillusioned, when he said to me roughly, "Shove over, conscript!" +\par And got into the bed, t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ up three-quarters of it, and began to +\par snore loudly. I was unable to sleep a wink, largely because of the +\par revolting odour arising from a large package which my comrade had +\par placed under the bolster, to raise his head. I could not think what +\par this could be, so to find out, I slid my hand gently toward this +\par object and found it to be a leather apron impregnated with cobbler's +\par wax, which shoemakers use to treat their thread. My amiable bed +\par companion was one of the men employed by the regimental bootmaker. I +\par was so disgusted that I got up, got dressed, and went to the stables +\par where I bedded down on a heap of straw. The next day I told Pertelay +\par of my misadventure, and he reported it to the sub-lieutenant +\par commanding the platoon. He was a well-educated man named +\par Leisteinschneider (in German, a stone-worker) who was later killed +\par in action. He understood how painful it must be for me to have to +\par sleep with a bootmaker, and he took it on himself to arrange for me +\par to have a bed in the N.C.O's room, something which pleased me +\par greatly. +\par +\par Although the revolution had produced a great relaxation in the +\par general turn-out of troops, the 1st Hussars had kept theirs exactly +\par as it was when they were Bercheny's Hussars; so except for the +\par physical differences imposed by nature, all troopers had to resemble +\par one another in their appearance, and as the regiments of Hussars of +\par that period had not only pig-tails, but long plaited tresses which +\par hung from their temples and turned-up moustaches, it was the rule +\par that everyone belonging to the regiment must have moustache, pig-tail +\par and tresses. Now, as I had none of these things, my mentor took me +\par to the regimental wig-maker where I bought a false pig-tail and +\par tresses, which were attached to my own hair, already fairly long, as +\par I had let it grow since my enlistment. These embellishments +\par embarrassed me at first but I got used to them in a few days, and it +\par pleased me to imagine that they gave me the appearance of a seasoned +\par trooper. It was a different matter when it came to the moustache I +\par had no more of a moustache than a girl, and as a hairless face would +\par have spoiled the ranks of the squadron, Pertelay, as was the custom +\par of Bercheny, took a pot of black wax, and with his thumb he gave me +\par an enormous curling moustache, which covered my upper lip and reached +\par almost to, my eyes. The shakos of the time did not have a vizor, so +\par that, when I was on guard duty, or during an inspection, when one has +\par to remain perfectly still, the Italian sun, shining hotly onto my +\par face, sucked the moisture out of the wax of which my moustache was +\par made, and, as it dried it pulled at my skin in a most disagreeable +\par manner. However, I did not blink. I was a Hussar! A word that had +\par for me an almost magical significance; besides which, having engaged +\par in a military career, I understood very well that my first duty was +\par to obey the regulations. +\par +\par My father and part of his division were still in Nice, when we +\par heard of the events of the 18th Brumaire, the overthrow of the +\par Directorate and the establishment of the Consulate. My father had +\par too much contempt for the Directorate to regret its downfall, but he +\par feared that, intoxicated by power, General Bonaparte, after +\par re-establishing order in France, would not restrict himself to the +\par modest title of consul, and he predicted to us that in a short time +\par he would aim to become king. My father was mistaken only in the +\par title, four years later Napoleon made himself emperor. +\par +\par Whatever his misgivings about the future, my father congratulated +\par himself on not having been in Paris on the 18th Brumaire, and I +\par believe that had he been there he might well have opposed the actions +\par of General Bonaparte, but in the army, at the head of a division +\par facing the enemy, he was content to adopt the passive obedience of +\par the soldier. He even rejected proposals, which were made to him by a +\par number of generals and colonels, to march on Paris at the head of +\par their troops. "Who," he said to them, "will defend our frontiers if +\par we abandon them? And what will become of France if, to the war +\par against foreigners, we add the calamity of civil strife?" By these +\par wise observations he calmed down the hot-heads; but he was, +\par nonetheless, very disturbed by the coup which had just taken place: +\par he adored his country and would have greatly preferred that it could +\par have been saved without being submitted to the yoke of a dictator. +\par +\par I have said that my father's principle reason for m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ me enlist +\par as a lowly Hussar had been to rid me of the simple notions of a +\par schoolboy, which had not been changed by my short acquaintance with +\par the world of Paris. The result exceeded his expectations, for living +\par amongst swaggering Hussars, and having as a mentor a sort of brigand +\par who laughed at my innocence, I began to howl with the wolves, and for +\par fear that I might be mocked for my timidity, I became a real devil. +\par This, however, was not enough for me to be accepted into a sort of +\par brotherhood, which under the name of the clique, had members in all +\par the squadrons the 1st Hussars. +\par +\par The clique was made up of all the biggest rogues, but, at the +\par same time, some of the bravest men in the regiment. The members of +\par the clique supported one another against all opposition, particularly +\par in the face of the enemy. They called themselves the Jokers, and +\par recognised one another by a notch cut into the metal of the first +\par button on the right hand row of the pelisse and dolman. The officers +\par were aware of the existence of the clique, but as its worst crimes +\par were limited to the adroit theft of chickens or sheep, or some trick +\par played on the local inhabitants, and as the Jokers were always at the +\par forefront in any action, they turned a blind eye. I was young and +\par feckless, and I longed desperately to belong to this raffish society, +\par which I thought would raise my standing amongst my comrades; but it +\par was in vain that I frequented the salle-d'armes to practice +\par swordsmanship and the use of the pistol and carbine, and that I dug +\par my elbows into anyone who got in my way: allowed my sabre to trail on +\par the ground and tipped my shako over one ear, the members of the +\par clique regarded me as a child and refused to admit me to their +\par society. However, an unforeseen event led to my being accepted +\par unanimously. +\par +\par The army of Italy was at this time in Liguria and spread out on a +\par front of more than sixty miles in length, the right of which was in +\par the Gulf of Spezzia, beyond Genoa, and the left at Nice and Var, that +\par is to say on the frontier of France. We had, therefore, the sea at +\par our backs, and we faced Piedmont, which was occupied by the Austrian +\par army, from which we were separated by that branch of the Apennines +\par which runs from Var to Gavi: a bad position, in which the army ran +\par the risk of being cut in two, which, in fact, happened some months +\par later. +\par +\par My father, having been ordered to concentrate his division at +\par Savona, a small town, by the sea, ten leagues towards France from +\par Genoa, set up his headquarters in the bishop's palace. The infantry +\par was spread out among the market towns and villages of the +\par neighbourhood to keep watch on the valleys from which emerged the +\par roads which led to Piedmont. The 1st Hussars, who had come from Nice +\par to Savona, were encamped on a plain known as the Madona. The +\par outposts of the enemy were at Dego, four or five leagues from us, on +\par the forward slopes of the Apennines, whose summits were covered in +\par snow, whereas Savona and its surroundings enjoyed the mildest of +\par climates. +\par +\par Our encampment would have been delightful if the rations had been +\par more plentiful; but there was at that time no main road from Nice to +\par Genoa; the sea was covered by English warships, so the army had to +\par live on what could be brought by detachments of mules along the +\par Corniche, or by small boat-loads, which could slip unnoticed along +\par the coast. These precarious supplies were scarcely enough to +\par provide, from day to day, sufficient food to support the troops; but, +\par happily, the country produced plenty of wine, which enabled them to +\par bear their privations with more resignation. +\par +\par One fine day I was walking along the beach with my mentor when +\par we came on a "taverna," where there was a charming garden planted with +\par orange and lemon trees, under which were tables at which sat soldiers +\par of all kinds. He suggested that we went there, and although I had +\par never overcome my distaste for wine, I agreed, simply to please him. +\par +\par In those days the cavalryman's belt did not have a hook, so that +\par when we went on foot, it was necessary to hold up the scabbard of the +\par sabre with one's left hand, and one could allow the end to trail on +\par the ground. This made a noise on the pavement, and looked rather +\par dashing, so of course I had to adopt this way of doing things. Thus +\par it happened that as we went into this garden, the end of my scabbard +\par came in contact with the foot of an enormous horse-gunner, who was +\par sprawled on his chair with his legs sticking out. The horse +\par artillery had been formed at the beginning of the revolutionary wars +\par from men taken from the companies of Grenadiers, who took advantage +\par of the occasion to get rid of their most troublesome characters. The +\par men of the flying artillery, as it was then called, were known for +\par their dash, but also for their love of quarreling. +\par +\par The one whose foot the end of my scabbard had touched, shouted to +\par me in a very rude tone of voice, "Hussar, your sabre drags too much!" +\par I was going to walk on without saying any thing, when master +\par Pertelay, nudging me with his elbow, whispered, "Tell him to come +\par and lift it up." So I said to the gunner "Come and lift it up then!" +\par "That will be easy!" he replied. Then, at another whisper from +\par Pertelay, "I'd like to see you do it!" I said. On these words, the +\par gunner, or this Goliath, for he was at least six feet tall, sat up +\par straight with a threatening air... But my mentor pushed himself +\par between him and me. All the gunners who were in the garden came to +\par support their comrade, but a crowd of Hussars gathered beside +\par Pertelay and me. There was a lot of angry shouting with everyone +\par talking at once; I thought there was going to be a general mel\'e9e. +\par However as the Hussars were in a majority of at least two to one, +\par they took the matter the more calmly, while the gunners realised that +\par if they started something they would get the worst of it, so in the +\par end the giant was made to understand that in brushing his foot with +\par my scabbard, I had in no way insulted him, and that should be the end +\par of the matter. +\par +\par During the tumult, however, a trumpeter from the artillery, of +\par about twenty years of age, had offered me some insults, and in my +\par indignation I had pushed him so roughly that he had fallen into a +\par muddy ditch. It was agreed that this lad and I should fight a duel +\par with our sabres. +\par +\par We left the garden, followed by all the assistants, and found +\par ourselves by the edge of the sea, on fine solid sand, ready for +\par battle. Pertelay knew that I was quite a good swordsman; however he +\par gave me some words of advice on how I should attack my adversary, and +\par fastened the hilt of my sabre to my hand with a large handkerchief, +\par which he rolled round my arm. +\par +\par My father hated duelling. Not only because of his own conclusions +\par about this barbarous custom, but also, I believe, because in his +\par youth, when he was a member of the bodyguard, he had acted as second +\par for a comrade of whom he was very fond, and who was killed in a duel +\par over the most trivial matter. However that may be, when my father +\par took command, he ordered the police to arrest anyone caught engaging +\par in swordplay and bring them before him. +\par +\par Although the trumpeter and I both knew of this order, we had, +\par nevertheless, taken off our dolmans and taken up our sabres. I had +\par my back to the town of Savona, my adversary was facing it, and we +\par were about to begin our combat when I saw the trumpeter duck to one +\par side, pick up his dolman and make off at top speed. +\par +\par "Coward!....Runaway!" I shouted, and was about to, pursue him when +\par two iron hands grasped me by the collar. I turned my head and found +\par myself facing some eight to ten police! I understood then why my +\par antagonist had cleared off, followed by all the assistants, including +\par master Pertelay, whom I saw disappearing into the distance, as fast +\par as their legs could carry them, for fear of being arrested and +\par brought before the General. +\par +\par There I was! Disarmed and a prisoner! I picked up my dolman, and +\par looking very sheepish, followed my captors, to whom I had not given my +\par name, as they led me to the Bishop's palace where my father was +\par installed. He was at that moment with General Suchet, who had come to +\par Savona to confer with him on service matters. They were walking in a +\par gallery which overlooked the courtyard. The police put me up before +\par General Marbot, without any idea that I was his son. The sergeant +\par explained why I had been arrested. Then my father, looking very +\par severe, gave me a lively dressing down, after which admonition, he +\par said to the sergeant, "Take this Hussar to the citadel." I left +\par without saying a word, and without General Suchet, who did not know +\par me, suspecting that the scene he had just witnessed had taken place +\par between a father and his son. It was not until the next day that he +\par learned the truth, and he has often spoken to me since, with +\par laughter, about the episode. +\par +\par On my arrival at the citadel, an ancient Genoese building situated +\par near the harbour, I was locked into a big room lit by a high window, +\par which faced toward the sea. I recovered slowly from my fright. The +\par reprimand which I had received seemed to me to be deserved; however I +\par was less concerned at having disobeyed the General than I was at +\par having upset my father. I passed the rest of the day sadly enough. +\par +\par In the evening, an old ex-soldier of the Genoan force brought me a +\par jug of water, a piece of ration bread, and a bale of straw, on which +\par I lay down, without being able to eat. I could not go to sleep; at +\par first because I was too upset, and later because of the arrival of +\par some large rats, which ran about me and soon made off with my piece +\par of bread. I was lying in the dark, a prey to my sad reflections, +\par when, at about ten o'clock, I heard the bolts of my prison being +\par drawn and I saw Spire, my father's old and faithful servant. He told +\par me that after my despatch to the citadel, Capt. Gault, Col. M\'e9nard, +\par and all my father's officers had asked him to pardon me. The General +\par had agreed, and had sent him, Spire, to find me and take the order +\par for my release to the governor of the fort. I was taken before the +\par governor, General Buget, an excellent man, who had lost an arm in +\par battle. He knew me and was very fond of my father. He felt it his +\par duty, after giving me back my sabre, to give me a long lecture, to +\par which I listened patiently, but which made me reflect that I would +\par get a much worse telling-off from my father. I did not have the +\par courage to face this and decided to evade it, if that were possible. +\par At last we were let out of the gates of the citadel. The night was +\par dark, and Spire went in front with a lantern. As we walked through +\par the narrow twisting streets, the good fellow, delighted to be +\par bringing me back, recounted all the comforts which would await me at +\par headquarters. "But," he said, "you must expect a severe ticking-off +\par from your father." This last remark put an end to my doubts, and in +\par order to let my father's anger cool off, I decided it would be better +\par not to appear before him for a few days and that I would return to my +\par bivouac at Madona. I could easily have slipped away without playing +\par any trick on poor Spire; but fearing that he might be able to pursue +\par me by the light of his lantern, I gave it a kick which sent it flying +\par ten paces from him, and ran off while the good man, groping for his +\par lantern, shouted, "Ah...! You little blighter! I shall tell your +\par father!" +\par +\par After wandering for some time in the deserted streets, I found at +\par last the road to Madona, and made my way to the regimental camp. All +\par the Hussars thought I was in prison. As soon as one of them +\par recognised me by the light of the fires, I was surrounded and +\par questioned. There was much laughter when I described how I had got +\par away from Spire. The members of the clique were so satisfied with my +\par behaviour that they decided unanimously to admit me into their +\par society, which was preparing an expedition to go, that very night, to +\par the gates of Dego and steal a herd of cattle which belonged to the +\par Austrian army. The French Generals and even the corps commanders +\par were obliged to ignore these raids, which, in the absence of regular +\par rations, the soldiers carried out beyond the advance posts in order +\par to obtain food. In each regiment the boldest soldiers had formed +\par marauding bands who were marvellously skilled at finding out where +\par supplies were being assembled for the enemy, and using ruse and +\par audacity to lay hands on them. +\par +\par A rascally horse-dealer had told the clique that a herd of cattle +\par which he had sold to the Austrians was in a meadow a quarter of a +\par league from Dego, and now sixty Hussars, armed only with their +\par carbines, were on their way to capture it. Avoiding the main road, we +\par went several leagues into the mountain by winding and atrociously +\par rough tracks. We surprised five Croats, who had been left to guard +\par the herd, asleep in a shed. To prevent them from going to waken the +\par garrison at Dego, we tied them up and left them there. We drove away +\par the herd without a shot being fired and returned to the camp, tired +\par out, but delighted to have played such a successful trick on the +\par enemy, and at the same time acquired some food. +\par +\par This event illustrates the already wretched condition of the army +\par of Italy, and demonstrates to what a state of disorganisation such +\par neglect will bring troops; whose officers are obliged not only to +\par tolerate these sort of expeditions, but to take advantage of the +\par supplies they procure without seeming to know whence they come. +\par +\par Chap. 9. +\par +\par Happy in my military career, I had not even reached the rank of +\par corporal when I was raised immediately to that of sergeant. This is +\par how it came about. +\par +\par On the left of my father's division was that commanded by General +\par S\'e9ras, whose headquarters were at Finale. This division, which +\par occupied the part of Liguria where the mountains are steepest, was +\par composed solely of infantry, the cavalry being unable to operate, +\par except in small detachments, on the few open spaces which at this +\par point separate the shore of the Mediterranean from the mountains of +\par Piedmont. General S\'e9ras, having been ordered to push forward with the +\par greater part of his division to reconnoitre the area of Mount +\par Santa-Giacomo, beyond which there were several valleys, wrote to my +\par father requesting the loan of a detachment of fifty Hussars for this +\par expedition; a request which could not be turned down. So my father +\par agreed and named Lt. Leisteinschneider as commander of this +\par detachment, of which my platoon was a part. +\par +\par We left Madona to make our way to Finale. There was, at that +\par time, only a very bad road along the sea coast, known as the +\par Corniche. The lieutenant badly injured his foot as a result of a +\par fall from his horse, and so the command passed to the next in +\par seniority who was a sergeant named Canon, a handsome young man, +\par capable and well-trained, and full of self-assurance. +\par +\par General S\'e9ras, at the head of his division, advanced next day +\par onto the snow-clad slopes of Mount Santa-Giacomo, where we encamped. +\par He had intended to go forward the next day, with he almost certain +\par expectation of m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ contact with the enemy; but in how great a +\par number? On this subject the General had absolutely no information, +\par and as his orders from the commander-in-chief were to reconnoitre the +\par Austrian positions at this point of the line, but not to engage in +\par combat if he found the enemy in strength, General S\'e9ras reflected +\par that if he advanced his infantry division into the middle of the +\par mountains, where often one could not see enemy troops until one found +\par oneself face to face with them at a bend in a gorge, he might be led, +\par in spite of his wishes, into a major battle against superior forces, +\par and obliged to carry out a dangerous retreat. +\par +\par He decided therefore to proceed with caution, and to push out, +\par three or four leagues in front of him, an advance party which could +\par probe the country and, most importantly, take some prisoners, from +\par whom he hoped to get some information; for the peasantry either knew +\par nothing or would not talk. As a small body of infantry would be +\par endangered if he advanced them too far, and as, also, men on foot +\par would take too long to return with the information which he so +\par urgently needed, it was to the fifty Hussars that he gave the task of +\par going ahead and exploring the terrain. Then, as the country was very +\par broken, he gave a map to our sergeant, briefed him, in front of the +\par detachment and sent us off, two hours before daylight, repeating that +\par it was essential that we went ahead until we made contact with the +\par enemy outposts, from which he would very much like us to capture a +\par few prisoners. +\par +\par Sergeant Canon managed his detachment according to the book. He +\par sent out a small advance-guard, put scouts on the flanks and took all +\par the precautions usual in partisan warfare. When we had gone some two +\par leagues from the camp, we came on a large inn. Our sergeant +\par questioned the inn-keeper and was told that, a good hour's march +\par away, was a body of Austrian troops, the size of which he did not +\par know, though he knew that the leading regiment contained some very +\par unpleasant Hussars, who had maltreated a number of the local +\par inhabitants. +\par +\par Having gathered this information, we set off once more, but hardly +\par had we gone a hundred paces, when Sergeant Canon, writhing on his +\par horse, declared that he had the most dreadful pain and could not go +\par any further. He handed the command to Sergeant Pertelay, who was next +\par in seniority. Pertelay, however pointed out that he was an Alsatian +\par and was unable to read French, and could not, in consequence, +\par understand the map or the written instructions given by the general. +\par He did not wish to accept the command. All the other sergeants, old +\par Bercheny Hussars, refused for the same reason, as did the corporals. +\par In vain, as a matter of duty, I offered to read the general's +\par instructions and explain our route on the map for any of the +\par sergeants who would take over; they all refused anew; then, to my +\par great surprise, these old sweats turned to me and said "Take command +\par yourself. We'll follow you and obey all your orders." +\par +\par The rest of the party expressed the same wish, and it was clear +\par that if I refused, we would go no further and the honour of the +\par regiment would be blemished; for it was essential that the general's +\par orders were carried out, above all when it was perhaps a matter of +\par avoiding a disaster for his division. So I accepted the command, but +\par not without asking Sergeant Canon if he felt able to continue. At +\par which point he began to complain once more, left us and returned to +\par the inn. I promise you I thought he was really ill, but the men of +\par the detachment, who knew him better, made some very disparaging +\par remarks about him. +\par +\par I think I can say, without boasting, that nature has endowed me +\par with a good stock of courage. I might even add that there was a time +\par when I enjoyed facing danger. My military record and the thirteen +\par wounds I have received in the wars are, I believe, sufficient proof. +\par So, on t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ command of fifty men, placed under my orders in such +\par extraordinary circumstances,--me, a simple Hussar, seventeen years of +\par age--I resolved to prove to my comrades that if I had neither +\par experience nor military talent, I was at least brave; and placing +\par myself resolutely at their head I set off in the direction where I +\par knew we would encounter the enemy. +\par +\par We had been marching for a long time when our scouts spotted a +\par peasant who was trying to hide. They hastened to capture him and +\par bring him back. I questioned him. He came, it seemed, from four or +\par five leagues away, and claimed that he had not seen any Austrian +\par troops. I was sure he was lying, either from fear or from cunning, +\par because we were very close to the enemy cantonments. I remembered +\par then that I had read in a book about partisan warfare, which my +\par father had given me to study, that to persuade the inhabitants of a +\par country in which one is fighting to talk, it is sometimes necessary +\par to frighten them. So I roughened my voice, and, trying to give my +\par boyish face a ferocious look, I shouted, "What! You rascal! You have +\par been wandering about in a country occupied by a great body of +\par Austrian troops, and you claim you have seen nothing? You are a spy! +\par Come on lads, let's shoot him right away." +\par +\par I ordered four Hussars to dismount, indicating to them not to harm +\par the fellow, who, finding himself held by the troopers whose carbines +\par had just been loaded in front of him, was overcome by such terror +\par that he swore that he would tell me all he knew. He was a servant in +\par a monastery, who had been given a letter to take to relatives of the +\par Prior, and he had been told that if he ran into the French, he was +\par not to tell them where the Austrians were; but now that he was +\par forced to speak, he told us that a league from us there were several +\par regiments of the enemy billeted in the villages, and that about a +\par hundred of Barco's Hussars were in a hamlet which was only a short +\par distance away. Questioned about the defensive precautions taken by +\par these Hussars, he said that before one reached the houses, they had +\par posted a picket-guard which was in a garden surrounded by hedges, and +\par that when he went through the hamlet, the remainder were preparing to +\par water their horses at a little pond on the far side of the buildings. +\par +\par Having received this information, I had now to make a plan of +\par action. I wished to avoid passing the picket-guard who, being +\par entrenched behind hedges, could not be attacked by cavalry, while the +\par fire from their carbines would perhaps kill several of my men and +\par give warning of our approach. To do this required that we go round +\par the hamlet, so as to reach the pond, and fall, unexpectedly, on our +\par enemies. But how were we to pass without being seen? I then ordered +\par the peasant to lead us on a detour, and promised to set him free as +\par soon as we reached the other side of the hamlet, which we could see: +\par when he refused to do so, I had him taken by the scruff of the neck +\par by one Hussar while another held a pistol to his ear, which made him +\par change his mind. He guided us very well; some large hedges hid our +\par movements, and we got completely round the village to see, at the +\par edge of a small pond, the Austrian squadron peacefully watering their +\par horses. +\par All the riders were carrying their arms, which is the usual +\par practice for outposts, but those in command had neglected a +\par precaution which is essential in war, that is, to allow only one troop +\par at a time to unbridle their horses and enter the water, while the +\par remainder stay on the bank ready to repel any attack. Confident +\par that there were no French about and relying on the watchfulness of +\par the guard posted at the entry to the village, the enemy commander had +\par thought this precaution unnecessary. This was to be his downfall. +\par +\par When I was some five hundred paces from the pond, I ordered the +\par peasant to be released, who ran off as fast as his legs could carry +\par him; then, sabre in hand, and having forbidden my comrades to utter +\par any war-cry, I advanced at full gallop on the enemy Hussars, who did +\par not see us until a moment before we arrived at the pond. The pond's +\par banks were too high for the horses to climb out, and there was only +\par one practicable way in, which was the one that served as the village +\par drinking place. It is true that this was a wide area, but there were +\par more than a hundred horsemen crowded together there, all with their +\par bridles in their hands and their carbines slung, so unconcerned that +\par some of them were singing. You may imagine their surprise! +\par +\par I attacked them immediately with carbine fire, which killed +\par several, wounded many and knocked out a lot of their horses. The +\par confusion was total! Nevertheless, their captain, rallying some men +\par who were nearest to the outlet, tried to force a passage to get out +\par of the water, and opened fire on us, which although not sustained, +\par wounded two of my men; they then engaged us, but Pertelay having +\par killed the captain with a blow from his sabre, the rest crowded back +\par into the pond. To escape from the carbine fire, many tried to reach +\par the other bank; several lost their footing and a good number of men +\par and horses were floundering in the water. Those who reached the other +\par side found that their horses could not clamber up the steep edge and +\par so they abandoned them, and pulling themselves up by the aid of trees +\par growing along the bank, they fled in disorder into the countryside. +\par +\par The twelve men of the picket-guard came running at the sound of +\par firing. We attacked them with the sabre and they also took to +\par flight. However there remained about thirty men still in the pond, +\par afraid to try to escape because we occupied the only way out. They +\par shouted to us that they were surrendering; I accepted this and as +\par they came to the bank, made them throw down their arms. Most of these +\par men and horses were wounded, but as I wished to have some trophy from +\par our victory, I chose seventeen horses and riders who were fit, and +\par placing them in the middle of the detachment,I abandoned the rest and +\par went off at the gallop, going round the village, as before. +\par +\par It was just as well that I made a rapid retreat, for as I had +\par foreseen, the fugitives had run to warn the nearby troops who had +\par already been alerted by the sound of gunfire, and within half an hour +\par there were five hundred horsemen on the banks of the little pond and +\par some thousands of infantrymen close behind them. We, however, were +\par two leagues away, our wounded having been able to sustain a full +\par gallop. We stopped for a short time on top of a hill to bandage +\par their wounds, and we laughed to see in the distance several enemy +\par columns following our trail, since we knew that they had no hope of +\par catching us, because in their fear of falling into an ambush they +\par were feeling their way forward very slowly. Being now out of danger, +\par I gave Pertelay two of the best-mounted troopers and sent him off +\par post-haste to inform general S\'e9ras of the success of our mission; +\par then marshalling the detachment into good order, with our prisoners +\par in the centre and well guarded, I set off at a slow trot down the +\par road to the inn. +\par +\par It would be impossible for me to describe the joy of my companions +\par and the praises which they heaped on me during this journey. It +\par could be summed up in these words, which in their minds was the +\par highest commendation, "You are truly worthy to serve in Bercheny's +\par Hussars, the finest regiment in the world." +\par +\par Meanwhile, what had been happening at Santo-Giacomo during my +\par absence? After several hours of waiting, General S\'e9ras, impatient for +\par news, saw some smoke on the horizon; his aide-de-camp put his ear to +\par a drum placed on the ground, a common expedient in wartime, and heard +\par the distant sound of gunfire. General S\'e9ras was uneasy, and having +\par no doubt that the cavalry detachment was at grips with the enemy, he +\par took a regiment of infantry with him as far as the inn. When he +\par arrived there, he saw, under the cart-shelter, a Hussar's horse tied +\par up to the rail; it was Sergeant Canon's. The inn-keeper appeared and +\par was questioned. He replied that the sergeant of Hussars had gone no +\par further than the inn, and had been, for several hours, in the dining +\par room. The General went in, and what did he find but Sergeant Canon +\par asleep by the fireside with, in front of him, an enormous ham, two +\par empty bottles and a coffee cup! The wretched sergeant was woken up; +\par he attempted once more to make the excuse of a sudden indisposition, +\par but the accusing remains of the formidable meal which he had just +\par eaten, gave the lie to his claims of illness, so General S\'e9ras was +\par very short with him. The General's anger was increasing at the +\par thought that a detachment of fifty cavalrymen handed over to the +\par command of a young soldier had probably been wiped out by the enemy, +\par when Pertelay and the two troopers who were with him arrived at the +\par gallop to announce our victory and the approaching arrival of +\par seventeen prisoners. As General S\'e9ras, in spite of this happy +\par outcome, continued to berate Sergeant Canon, Pertelay said to him, in +\par his bluff outspoken way, "Don't scold him, mon General, he's such a +\par coward that if he'd been in charge we wouldn't have succeeded!" A +\par remark which did nothing to improve the awkward position of +\par Sgt. Canon, who was now placed under arrest. +\par +\par I arrived in the midst of these goings-on. General S\'e9ras broke +\par poor Sgt. Canon, and made him take off his chevrons in front of a +\par regiment of infantry and fifty Hussars. Then, coming to me, whose +\par name he did not know, he said, "You have carried out successfully a +\par mission which would normally be given only to an officer. I am sorry +\par that the powers of a divisional commander do not allow me to promote +\par you to sous-lieutenant, only the commander-in-chief can do that, and +\par I shall ask him to, do so, but in the meantime I promote you to +\par sergeant." He thereupon ordered his aide-de-camp to announce this in +\par front of the detachment. In order to carry out this formality, the +\par aide-de-camp had to ask my name, and it was only then that General +\par S\'e9ras learned that I was the son of his comrade, General Marbot. I +\par was very pleased about this, because it demonstrated to my father +\par that favouritism had nothing to do with my promotion. +\par +\par Chap. 10. +\par +\par The information which General S\'e9ras obtained from the prisoners +\par having decided him to push forward, he ordered his division to come +\par down from the heights of Mont Santa-Giacomo, and to encamp that +\par evening near to the inn. The prisoners were sent to Finale, and as +\par for the horses they belonged by rights to the Hussars. They were all +\par of good quality, but, according to the custom of the time, which was +\par aimed at favouring poorly mounted officers, captured horses were +\par always sold for five louis. This was a fixed price and was paid in +\par cash. As soon as the camp was established the sale began. General +\par S\'e9ras, the officers of his staff, the colonels and battalion +\par commanders of the regiments in his division soon took up our +\par seventeen horses, which produced the sum of 85 louis. This was +\par handed over to my detachment, who, not having had any pay for six +\par months, were delighted with this windfall, for which they gave me the +\par credit. +\par +\par I had some money, so I did not pocket my share from the sale of +\par the horses, but to celebrate my promotion, I bought from the +\par inn-keeper two sheep, an enormous cheese and a load of wine, with +\par which my detachment had a feast. This was one of the happiest days +\par of my life. +\par +\par General S\'e9ras, in his report to General Championet included a most +\par flattering reference to my conduct, and said the same sort of thing +\par to my father; so when, several days later, I brought the detachment +\par back to Savona, my father welcomed me with the greatest show of +\par affection. I was highly delighted; I rejoined the camp where all the +\par regiment was united; my detachment had arrived there before me and +\par had told of what we had done, giving me always the leading part in +\par our success, so I was heartily welcomed by the officers and soldiers +\par and also by my new comrades, the non-commissioned officers, who +\par handed me my sergeant's stripes. +\par +\par It was on this day that I met the younger Pertelay for the first +\par time, he had come back from Genoa, where he had been stationed for +\par some months. I became friendly with this excellent man, and +\par regretted not having had him as my mentor at the beginning of my +\par career, for he gave me much good advice, which steadied me up and +\par made me break away from the wild men of the clique. +\par +\par The commander-in-chief, Championet, intended to carry out some +\par operations in the interior of Piedmont, but having very little in the +\par way of cavalry, he ordered my father to send him the 1st Hussars, who +\par could no longer stay at Madon, in any case, because of the shortage +\par of fodder. I parted from my father with much regret and left with the +\par regiment. +\par +\par We went along the Corniche as far as Albenga. We crossed the +\par Apennines, in spite of the snow, and entered the fertile plains of +\par Piedmont. The commander-in-chief fought a number of actions in the +\par area round Fossano, Novi and Mondovi, some of which were successful +\par and others not. +\par +\par In one of these actions I had the opportunity of seeing +\par Brigadier-general Macard, a soldier of fortune whom the revolutionary +\par upheavals had carried almost straight from the rank of trumpet-major +\par to that of general! He was a good example of a type of officer +\par created by luck and their personal courage who, although displaying +\par much bravery before the enemy, were nevertheless incapable of +\par occupying effectively a senior position because of their lack of +\par education. +\par +\par This extraordinary character, a veritable colossus, was well known +\par for one peculiarity. When about to lead his troops in a charge +\par against the enemy, it was his custom to shout "Let's go! I'll put on +\par my animal dress." Then he took off his uniform, his jacket and shirt +\par and retained only his plumed hat, his leather breeches and his big +\par boots! Thus, naked to the waist, he displayed a torso almost as hairy +\par as that of a bear, which gave him a very strange appearance indeed. +\par Once in his animal dress, as he called it, General Macard, sabre in +\par hand, hurled himself at the enemy horsemen, swearing like a pagan; +\par but it so happened that he rarely reached any of them, for at the +\par unexpected and terrible sight of this kind of giant, half naked and +\par covered in hair rushing toward them uttering the most fearsome yells +\par the enemy often fled in all directions, not knowing if they had to +\par deal with a man or some extraordinary wild beast. +\par +\par General Macord was entirely ignorant, which sometimes amused the +\par more educated officers under his command. One day one of them came to +\par ask permission to go into a neighbouring town to order a pair of +\par boots. "Parbleu!" said the general, "This has come at just the +\par right time; since you are going to the bootmaker, sit down and take +\par the measurements of my boots and order a new pair for me." The +\par officer, much surprised, said that he could not take the measurements +\par as he had no idea how to do this, having never been a boot-maker. "What!" exclaimed the general loudly, "I see you sometimes spend +\par whole days sketching and drawing lines opposite the mountains and +\par when I ask what you are doing, you say you are measuring the +\par mountains. How is it that you can measure objects which are more than +\par a league away, and yet you cannot measure a pair of boots which are +\par under your nose? Come on, take the measurements quickly and no more +\par nonsense." The officer assured him that this was impossible. The +\par general insisted; swore; got angry; and it was only with great +\par difficulty that other officers, attracted by the noise, were able to +\par put an end to this ridiculous scene. The general could never +\par understand how a man who could measure mountains could not measure a +\par pair of men's boots. +\par +\par You should not think, as a result of this anecdote, that all the +\par general officers in the army of Italy were like the good general +\par Macord. Far from that, they contained in their number many men +\par distinguished by their education and manners; but at this time there +\par were still some senior officers who were completely out of place in +\par the higher ranks of the army. They were being weeded out little by +\par little. +\par +\par The 1st Hussars took part in all the battles fought at this time +\par in Piedmont, and suffered many losses in encounters with the Austrian +\par heavy cavalry. After some marching and countermarching, and a series +\par of almost daily minor engagements, General Championet, having +\par concentrated the centre and left of his army between Coni and +\par Mondovi, attacked, at the end of December, several divisions of the +\par enemy army. +\par +\par The encounter took place on a plain dotted with small hills and +\par clumps of trees. The 1st Hussars, attached to General Beaumont's +\par brigade, were positioned on the extreme right of the French army. As +\par the number of officers and men who make up a squadron is laid down in +\par the regulations, our regiment, having suffered casualties in the +\par previous affairs, instead of putting four squadrons into the line +\par could put only three; but having done this, there were some thirty +\par men left over, of which five were sergeants. I was one of this +\par number, as were both the Pertelays. We were formed into two sections +\par and Pertelay the younger was put in command. General Beaumont merely +\par instructed him to scout on the right flank of the army, and act as +\par the situation seemed to require. We then left the regiment and went +\par to explore the countryside. +\par +\par In the meanwhile, a fierce battle commenced between the two +\par armies, and an hour later, when we were returning to our own lines +\par without having spotted anything on the flank, young Pertelay saw, +\par opposite us, and consequently on the extreme left of the enemy line, +\par a battery of eight guns whose fire was r}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ the French ranks. +\par Very unwisely, this Austrian battery, in order to have a better field +\par of fire, had advanced onto a small hillock some seven or eight +\par hundred paces in front of the infantry division to which it belonged. +\par The commander of this artillery believed that he was quite safe +\par because the position he occupied dominated the whole French line, and +\par he thought that if any troops set out to attack him, he would see +\par them and would have time to regain the safety of the Austrian lines. +\par He had not considered that a little clump of trees, close to where he +\par was, could conceal a party of French troops, and had thought no more +\par about it. But young Pertelay resolved to lead his men there, and +\par from there to fall upon the Austrian battery. +\par +\par Pertelay, knowing that on the battlefield no one takes much notice +\par of a single horseman, explained his plan to us, which was for us to +\par go individually, m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ a detour by a sunken road, to arrive one by +\par one behind the wood on the left of the enemy battery, and from there +\par to make a sudden assault on it, without the fear of cannon-balls, +\par because we would be approaching from the side. We would capture the +\par guns and take them to the French lines. The first part of this plan +\par was executed without the Austrian gunners noticing; we reached the +\par back of the little wood, where we re-formed the sections. Pertelay +\par put himself at our head. We went through the wood, and sabre in +\par hand, threw ourselves on the enemy battery at the moment when it was +\par directing a murderous fire on our troops. We sabred some of the +\par gunners, but the rest hid under their ammunition wagons, where our +\par sabres could not reach them. As instructed by Pertelay, we did not +\par kill or wound the men on the limbers, but forced them at sword point +\par to make their horses pull the guns toward the French lines. This +\par order was obeyed in respect of six guns whose riders had remained on +\par horseback, but the riders for the two other guns had dismounted, and +\par although some of the Hussars took the horses by the bridle, they +\par refused to move. +\par +\par The enemy infantry were running to the aid of their battery; +\par minutes seemed like hours to us; so young Pertelay, satisfied to have +\par captured six guns, ordered us to leave the others and to head, with +\par our booty, at the gallop, for the French lines. +\par +\par This was a prudent measure, but it proved fatal to our leader, for +\par hardly had we begun our retreat, when the gunners and their officers +\par emerged from their hiding places under the wagons, loaded the two +\par guns which we had not taken with grape-shot and discharged a hail of +\par bullets into our backs. +\par +\par You can well imagine that thirty horsemen and six artillery +\par pieces, each drawn by six horses and ridden by three transport +\par riders, all proceeding in a state of disorder, presented a target +\par which the grape-shot could hardly miss. We had two sergeants and +\par several Hussars killed or wounded, as well as two of the transport +\par riders. Some of the horses were also put out of action, so that most +\par of the teams were so disorganised that they could not move. +\par Pertelay, keeping perfectly cool, ordered the traces of the dead or +\par injured horses to be cut and Hussars to take the place of the dead +\par transport riders, and we continued quickly on our way. However, the +\par commander of the Austrian battery made use of the few minutes we had +\par taken to do this to direct a second volley of grape-shot at us, +\par which caused further casualties, but we were so resolved not to +\par abandon the six guns which we had captured that we repaired the +\par damage as well as we could, and kept on the move. We were already in +\par touch with the French lines and out of the range of grape-shot, when +\par the enemy artillery officer changed projectiles and fired two +\par cannon-balls at us, one of which shattered the back of poor young +\par Pertelay. +\par +\par However, our attack on the Austrian battery and its outcome had +\par been seen by the French generals who moved the line forward. The +\par enemy drew back, which allowed the remnants of the 1st Hussars to +\par revisit the area where our unfortunate comrades had fallen. Almost a +\par third of the detachment were killed or wounded. There were five +\par sergeants at the beginning of the action; three had perished; there +\par remained only Pertelay the elder and myself. The poor fellow was +\par wounded but suffered almost more mentally, for he adored his +\par brother, whom we all bitterly regretted. While we were paying him +\par our last respects and picking up the wounded, General Championet +\par arrived with General Suchet, his chief-of-staff. The +\par commander-in-chief had witnessed the actions of the platoon. He +\par gathered us round the six guns which we had just captured, and after +\par praising the courage with which we had rid the French army of a +\par battery which was causing them the most grievous losses, he added +\par that to reward us for having saved the lives of so many of our +\par comrades, and contributed to the day's success, he intended to use +\par the power which a recent decree of the First Consul had given him to +\par award "Armes d'honneur" and that he would award three sabres of +\par honour and one promotion to sous-lieutenant to the detachment, who +\par should decide amongst themselves who the recipients should be. We +\par then regretted even more keenly the loss of young Pertelay, who would +\par have made such a fine officer. +\par +\par The elder Pertelay, a corporal and a Hussar were awarded the +\par sabres of honour, which, three years later gave the right to the +\par Cross of the }{\deleted Legion of Honou}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094369 Legion of Honou}{r. It remained to be decided which of us +\par would be sous-lieutenant. All my comrades put my name forward, and +\par the commander-in-chief, recalling that General S\'e9ras had written to +\par him about my conduct at Santa-Giacomo, designated me +\par sous-lieutenant...! I had been a sergeant for only a month! I have to +\par admit, however, that during the capture of the guns, I had done no +\par more than the rest of my companions; but as I have already said, +\par these good Alsatians did not feel that they had the qualities to take +\par command and become officers. They were unanimous in choosing me, and +\par General Championet, as well as noting the favourable comments of +\par General S\'e9ras, was perhaps also glad to be able to please my father. +\par +\par My father, however, was less than pleased with what he considered +\par to be my over-rapid promotion, and he wrote to me instructing me to +\par refuse it. I would have obeyed; but my father had written in the +\par same strain to General Suchet, the chief-of-staff, and this latter +\par had replied that the commander-in-chief would be very put out to find +\par that one of his divisional generals had taken it upon himself to +\par disapprove of a promotion which he had made. My father then authorised me to accept, and I was gazetted sous-Lieutenant in December 1799. +\par +\par I was one of the last officers promoted by General Championet, +\par who, not being able to remain in Piedmont in the face of superior +\par forces, was compelled to re-cross the Apennines and lead his army +\par back to Liguria. He was greatly distressed to see his force bre}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ +\par down, because he was not given enough supplies to support it, and he +\par died two weeks after he had made me an officer. My father, who was +\par now the most senior divisional general, was made provisional +\par commander-in-chief of the army of Italy, whose headquarters were at +\par Nice. He therefore went there and immediately sent back to Provence +\par the few remaining cavalry, as there was no longer any fodder in +\par Liguria. So the 1st Hussars went back to France, but my father kept +\par me behind to become his aide-de-camp. +\par +\par While we were at Nice, my father received an order from the war +\par ministry to go and take command of the advance guard of the army of +\par the Rhine, where his chief-of-staff Col. M\'e9nard would join him. We +\par were very pleased at this, since want of supplies had reduced the +\par army of Italy to such a state of disorder that it seemed impossible +\par that it could be kept in Liguria. My father was not sorry to be +\par leaving an army which was disintegrating, and was likely to be +\par pushed back across the Var and into France. He prepared to move as +\par soon as General Mass\'e9na, who had been nominated to replace him, had +\par arrived. He sent M. Gault, his aide-de-camp, to Paris to buy maps and +\par make various preparations for our operations on the Rhine. But fate +\par had decreed otherwise, and my unfortunate father's grave was destined +\par to be in Italy. +\par +\par When Mass\'e9na arrived he found no more than the shadow of an army: +\par the soldiers, without pay and almost without clothing and footwear, +\par existing on a quarter of the normal ration, were dying of +\par malnutrition as well as an epidemic of disease, the result of the +\par intolerable privations which they were suffering. The hospitals were +\par full but had no medicines. Some groups of soldiers, and even whole +\par regiments, were daily abandoning their posts and heading for the +\par bridge across the Var, where they forced a passage to get into France +\par and spread themselves over Provence, although saying that they were +\par willing to return if they were given food! The generals were unable +\par to remedy this appalling state of affairs. They became, daily more +\par discouraged, and all were requesting leave or retiring on the grounds +\par of ill-health. Mass\'e9na had expected that he would be joined in Italy +\par by several of the generals who had helped him to defeat the Russians +\par in Switzerland, among them, Soult, Oudinot and Gazan, but none of them +\par had yet arrived, and it was essential to do something about the +\par serious situation. +\par +\par Mass\'e9na, who was born in La Turbie, a village in the little +\par principality of Monaco, was one of the most crafty Italians that ever +\par existed. He did not know my father, but he decided on their first +\par meeting that he was a big-hearted man who loved his country, and, to +\par persuade him to stay, he played on these sensitive areas, his +\par generosity and his patriotism, suggesting to him how much nobler it +\par would be for him to continue to serve in the unhappy army of Italy +\par rather than go to the Rhine. He said that he would take the +\par responsibility for the failure to carry out the orders given to my +\par father by the government if he would agree to stay. My father, +\par beguiled by these speeches and not wishing to leave the new +\par commander in a mess, consented to remain with him. He did not doubt +\par that his chief-of-staff, Col. M\'e9nard, his friend, would also give up +\par the idea of going to the Rhine; but this was not to be. M\'e9nard stuck +\par to the order he had been given, although he was assured that it would +\par be cancelled if he wished. My father felt very badly about this +\par desertion. M\'e9nard hurried off to Paris, where he took the job of +\par chief-of-staff to general Lefebvre. +\par +\par My father went to Genoa, where he took command of the three +\par divisions which composed the right wing of the army. Despite all the +\par shortages, the winter carnival was quite gay in the town, the +\par Italians being so pleasure-loving! We were lodged in the Centurione +\par Palace, where we spent the end of the winter 1799-1800. My father +\par had left Spire at Nice with the greater part of his baggage. He now +\par took on Col. Sacleux as his chief-of-staff, an admirable man, a good +\par soldier, with a very pleasant personality, if somewhat solemn and +\par serious-minded. He had as his secretary a young man by the name of +\par Colindo, the son of a banker, Signor Trepano of Parma, whom he had +\par picked up after a series of adventures too long to relate here, who +\par became my very good friend. +\par +\par Early in the spring of 1800, my father was told that General +\par Mass\'e9na intended to give the command of the right wing to General +\par Soult, who had just arrived, and was much my father's junior, and he +\par was ordered to go back to Savona and head his old division, the +\par third. My father obeyed, though his pride was hurt by this new +\par posting. +\par +\par Chap. 11. +\par +\par A serious situation was developing in Italy. Mass\'e9na had received +\par some reinforcements; he had established a little order in his army, +\par and the campaign of 1800, which led to the memorable siege of Genoa +\par and the battle of Marengo, was about to begin. +\par +\par The snows which covered the mountains separating the two +\par armies having melted, the Austrians attacked us, and their first +\par efforts were directed upon my father's division, the third, stationed +\par at the right of the French line, which they wished to separate from +\par the centre and the left by driving them back from Savona to Genoa. +\par +\par As soon as hostilities commenced, my father and Col. Sacleux sent +\par all the non-combatants to Genoa; Colindo was among them. As for me, I +\par was thoroughly enjoying myself, exhilarated as I was by the sight +\par of marching troops, the noisy movements of artillery and the +\par excitement of a young soldier at the prospect of action. I was far +\par from suspecting that this war would become so terrible and would cost +\par me so dear. +\par +\par My father's division, fiercely attacked by greatly superior +\par forces, defended for two days positions at Cadibone and Montenotte, +\par but eventually, seeing themselves on the point of being outflanked, +\par they had to retire to Voltri, and from there to Genoa, where they +\par shut themselves in, together with the two other divisions of the +\par right wing. +\par +\par I had heard all the well-informed generals deploring the +\par circumstances which forced our separation from the centre and the +\par left, but I had at that time so little understanding of the +\par principles of warfare that I took no notice. I understood well +\par enough that we had been defeated, but as I personally had overcome, +\par before Montenotte, an officer of Burco's Hussars, and t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ the +\par plume from his shako, had fastened it proudly to the head-band of my +\par bridle, it seemed to me that I was like a knight of the middle-ages +\par returning laden with the spoils of the infidel. +\par +\par My childish vanity was soon crushed by a dreadful event. During +\par the retreat, and at a moment when my father was giving me an order to +\par take, he was hit by a bullet in the left leg, which had been wounded +\par once before, in the army of the Pyrenees. The injury was serious, +\par and my father would have fallen from his horse if he had not leaned +\par on me. I took him out of the battle area. His wound was dressed. I +\par shed tears as I saw his blood flow, but he tried to calm me, saying +\par that a soldier should have more courage. My father was carried to +\par the Centurione Palace in Genoa, where he had lived during the +\par preceding winter. Our three divisions having entered Genoa, the +\par Austrians blockaded it by land, and the English by sea. +\par +\par I can hardly bring myself to describe the sufferings of the +\par garrison and the population of Genoa during the two months for which +\par this siege lasted. Famine, fighting and an epidemic of typhus did +\par immense damage. The garrison lost ten thousand men out of sixteen +\par thousand, and there were collected from the streets, every day, seven +\par or eight hundred of the bodies of the inhabitants, of every age, sex, +\par and condition, which were taken behind the church of Carignan to an +\par immense pit filled with quick-lime. The number of victims rose to +\par more than thirty thousand. +\par +\par For you to understand just how badly the lack of food was felt by +\par the inhabitants, I should explain that the ancient rulers of Genoa, +\par in order to control the populace, had from time immemorial exercised +\par a monopoly over grain, flour and bread, which was operated by a vast +\par establishment protected by cannons and guarded by soldiers, so that +\par when the Doge or the Senate wished to prevent or put down a revolt, +\par they closed the state ovens and reduced the people to starvation. +\par Although by this time the constitution of Genoa had been greatly +\par modified and the aristocracy now had very little influence, there +\par was not, however a single private bakery, and the old system of +\par m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ bread in the public ovens was still in operation. Now, these +\par public bakeries, which normally provided for a population of a +\par hundred and twenty thousand souls, were closed for forty-five days +\par out of the sixty for which the siege lasted. Neither rich nor poor +\par could buy bread. The little in the way of dried vegetables and rice +\par which was in the shops had been bought up at the beginning of the +\par siege at greatly inflated prices. The troops alone were given a +\par small ration of a quarter of a pound of horse flesh and a quarter of +\par a pound of what was called bread. This was a horrible mixture of +\par various flours, bran, starch, chalk, linseed, oatmeal, rancid nuts +\par and other evil substances. General Thibauld in his diary of the +\par siege described as "Turf mixed with oil." +\par +\par For forty five days neither bread nor meat was on sale to the public. The richest were able (at the start the siege only,) to buy some d +ried cod, figs and some other dried goods such as sugar. There was never any shortage of wine, oil and salt, but what use are they without solid food? All the dogs and cats in the town were eaten. A rat could fetch a high price! In the end the starvation +b +ecame so appalling that when the French troops made a sortie, the inhabitants would follow them in a crowd out of the gates, and rich and poor, women, children and the old would start collecting grass, nettles, and leaves, which they would then cook with +s +ome salt. The Genoese government mowed the grass which grew on the ramparts, which was then cooked in the public squares and distributed to the wretched invalids, who had not the strength to go and find for themselves and prepare this crude dish. Even the + +soldiers cooked nettles and all sorts of herbage with their horse flesh. The richest and most distinguished families in the town envied them this meat, disgusting as it was, for the shortage of fodder had made nearly all the horses sick and even the flesh + of those dying of disease was +\par distributed. +\par +\par During the latter part of the siege, the desperation of the people +\par was something to fear. There were cries that, as in 1756 their +\par fathers had massacred an Austrian army, they should now try to get +\par rid of the French army in the same way; and that it was better to die +\par fighting than to starve to death, after watching their wives and +\par children perish. These threats of revolt were made more serious by +\par the fact that if they were carried out, the English by sea and the +\par Austrians by land would have rushed to join their efforts to those of +\par the insurgents, and would have overwhelmed us. +\par +\par Amid such dangers and calamities of all sorts, Mass\'e9na remained +\par immovable and calm, and to prevent any attempt at an uprising, he +\par issued a proclamation that French troops had orders to open fire on +\par any gathering of more than four people. Regiments camped in the +\par squares and the principal streets. The avenues were occupied by +\par cannon loaded with grape-shot. It being impossible for them to come +\par together, the Genoese were unable to revolt. +\par +\par It may seem surprising that Mass\'e9na was so determined to hold on +\par to a place where he could not feed the inhabitants and could scarcely +\par maintain his own troops; but Genoa was, at that time, of great +\par importance. Our army had been cut in two. The centre and the left +\par wing had retired behind the Var. As long as Mass\'e9na occupied Genoa, +\par he kept part of the Austrian army occupied in besieging him and +\par prevented them from employing all their forces against Provence. +\par +\par Mass\'e9na knew also that the First Consul was assembling at Dijon, +\par Lyon, and Geneva, an army of reserve, with which he proposed to cross +\par the Alps by the St. Bernard pass, to enter Italy and to surprise the +\par Austrians by falling on their rear while they were directing their +\par efforts at t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ Genoa. We therefore had the greatest interest in +\par holding the town for as long as possible. These were the orders of +\par the First Consul, and were subsequently justified by events. +\par +\par To return to the siege. When he heard that my father had been +\par brought to Genoa, Colindo Trepano hurried to his bedside, and it was +\par there that we met once more. He helped me most tenderly to care for +\par my father, for which I am even more beholden to him because, in the +\par midst of these calamities my father had no one about him. All his +\par staff officers had been ordered to go and attend the +\par commander-in-chief; soon rations were refused to our servants, who +\par were forced to go and take up a musket and line up with the +\par combatants to have a right to the miserable ration which was +\par distributed to the soldiers. No exception was made, apart from a young +\par valet, named Oudin, and a young stable-lad, who looked after the +\par horses; but Oudin deserted us as soon as he knew that my father had +\par typhus. +\par +\par My father fell ill with this dreadful disease, and at a time when +\par he was in the greatest need of care, there was no one with him except +\par me, Colindo and the stable lad Bastide. We did our best to follow +\par the doctor's instructions, we hardly slept, being endlessly busy +\par massaging my father with camphorated oil and changing his bedclothes +\par and linen. +\par +\par My father could take no nourishment except soup and I had nothing +\par with which to make it but rotten horse-meat. My heart was bre}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{. +\par +\par Providence sent us some help. The huge buildings of the public +\par ovens were next to the walls of the palace where we were living. The +\par terraces were almost touching. It was on the immense terraces of the +\par public ovens that the crushing and mixing took place of all sorts of +\par chicken food which was added to the rotten flour to make the +\par garrison's bread. The stable lad Bastide had noticed that when the +\par workmen of the bakery left the terraces, they were invaded by horde +\par of pigeons who had their nests in the various church towers of the +\par town, and were in the habit of coming to pick up the small amounts of +\par grain which had spilled onto the flagstones. Bastide, who was a very +\par clever lad, crossed the narrow space which separated the terraces, +\par and on that of the public ovens he set up snares and other devices +\par with which he captured pigeons which we used to make soup for my +\par father, who found it excellent, compared to that made from horse. +\par +\par To the horrors of famine and typhus were added those of a +\par merciless and unceasing war, for the French troops fought all day on +\par land against the Austrians, and when nightfall put an end to the +\par Austrian assaults, the English, Turkish, and Neapolitan fleets, which +\par were protected by darkness from the port's cannons and the batteries +\par on the coast, drew close to the town, into which they hurled a great +\par number of bombs which did fearful damage. +\par +\par The noise of the guns and the cries of the wounded and dying +\par reached my father and greatly disturbed him. He lamented his +\par inability to place himself at the head of the men of his division. +\par This state of mind worsened his condition. He became more gravely +\par ill from day to day, and progressively weaker. Colindo and I did not +\par leave him for a moment. Eventually, one night when I was on my knees +\par by his bedside, sponging his wound, he spoke to me, perfectly +\par lucidly, and placed his hand caressingly on my head, saying, "Poor +\par child, what will happen to him, alone and without support in the +\par horrors of this terrible siege?" Then he mumbled some words, among +\par which I could distinguish the name of my mother, dropped his arms and +\par closed his eyes... +\par +\par Although very young and without much length of service, I had seen +\par many dead on various battlefields, and above all on the streets of +\par Genoa; but they had fallen in the open, still in their clothes, which +\par gave them a very different appearance to someone who had died in bed. +\par I had never witnessed this last sad spectacle and I believed that my +\par father had fallen asleep. Colindo knew the truth but had not the +\par heart to tell me, so I was not aware of my error until some time +\par later, when M. Lach\'e8ze arrived and I saw him pull the sheet over my +\par father's face, saying, "This is a dreadful loss for his family and +\par friends". Only then did I understand that my father was dead. +\par +\par My grief was so heartbroken that it touched even General Mass\'e9na, +\par a man not easily moved, particularly in the present situation when +\par he had need of such resolution. The critical position in which he +\par found himself drove him to behave toward me in a way which I thought +\par atrocious, although now I would do the same in the same +\par circumstances. +\par +\par To avoid anything that could lower the morale of the troops, +\par Mass\'e9na had forbidden any funeral ceremonies, and as he knew that I +\par had been unwilling to desert the mortal remains of my much-loved +\par father, and thought it was my intention to go with him to his +\par graveside, he feared that his troops might be adversely affected by +\par the sight of a young officer, scarcely more than a boy, following, in +\par tears, his father's bier. So he came the next day before dawn to +\par the room where my father lay, and t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ me by the hand, he led me +\par under some pretext or other to a distant room, while, on his orders, +\par twelve Grenadiers, accompanied only by one officer and Col. Sacleux, +\par took the body in silence, and placed it in a provisional grave on +\par the rampart facing the sea. It was only after this mournful +\par ceremony was over that General Mass\'e9na told me of it and explained +\par his motives for this decision. I was overcome by misery. It seemed +\par to me that I had lost my poor father for a second time; that he had +\par been deprived of my last services. My protests were in vain and +\par there was nothing I could do but go and pray by my father's grave. I +\par did not know where it was, but Colindo had followed the burial party, +\par and he led me there. This good young man gave me the most touching +\par evidences of sympathy, and this at a time when everyone thought only +\par of themselves. +\par +\par Nearly all the officers of my father's staff had been killed or +\par carried off by typhus. Out of the eleven which we were at the start +\par of the campaign, there remained only two; the commandant R*** and me! +\par But R*** was interested only in himself, and instead of offering +\par support to his general's son, he lived alone in the town. M. Lach\'e8ze +\par abandoned me also. Only the good Col. Sacleux showed any interest in +\par me, but having been given the command of a brigade, he was constantly +\par outside the walls combatting the enemy. I stayed alone in the huge +\par Centurione Palace with Colindo, Bastide, and the ancient concierge. +\par +\par A week had scarcely passed since my father's death when General +\par Mass\'e9na, who needed a large number of officers in attendance because +\par some were killed or wounded almost every day, ordered me to come and +\par serve as aide-de-camp, as did R*** and all the officers on the staff +\par of those generals who were dead or unable to mount a horse. I +\par obeyed. I followed the general all day in battle, and when I was not +\par detained at headquarters, I went back to the Palace, and at +\par nightfall, Colindo and I, passing among the dying and the dead bodies +\par of men, women, and children which littered the streets, went to pray +\par at my father's tomb. +\par +\par The famine in the town continued to worsen. An order went out +\par forbidding any officer from having more than one horse, the rest were +\par to be butchered. There were several of my father's left and I was +\par most unhappy at the thought of these poor beasts being killed. I +\par managed to save their lives by proposing that I should give them to +\par officers of the general staff in exchange for their worn out mounts, +\par which I then sent to the butchery. These horses were later paid for +\par by the state, on production of an order for their delivery. I have +\par kept one of these orders as a curiosity; it bears the signature of +\par General Oudinot, Mass\'e9na's chief-of-staff. +\par +\par The cruel loss which I had just suffered, the position in which I +\par found myself, and the sight of the truly horrible scenes in which I +\par was involved every day, taught me more in a short time than I would +\par have learned in a number of happier years. I realised that the +\par starvation and disaster of the siege had made egoists of all those +\par who a few months before had been smothering my father with attention. +\par +\par I had to find within myself the courage and resource not only for my +\par own needs but to look after Colindo and Bastide. The most pressing +\par requirement was to find something for them to eat, since they were +\par given no food from the army stores. I had, it is true, as an +\par officer, two rations of horse meat and two rations of bread, but all +\par this added together did not amount to more than a pounds weight of +\par very bad food, and we were three! We very rarely caught pigeons now, +\par for their numbers had infinitely diminished. +\par +\par In my position as aide-de-camp to the commander-in- chief, I was +\par entitled to a place at his table, where once a day was served some +\par bread, some roast horse and some chick peas; but I was so embittered +\par at General Mass\'e9na having deprived me of the sad consolation of +\par attending my father's burial, that I could not bring myself to sit +\par down at his table, although all my comrades were there and a place +\par was reserved for me. But at last the wish to help my two unfortunate +\par companions decided me to go and eat with the commander-in-chief. From +\par then on Colindo and Bastide had each a quarter of a pound of horse +\par meat and the same amount of bread. As for me, I did not have enough +\par to eat, for the portions served at the general's table were +\par exceedingly small, and I was worked hard. Often I had to lie on the +\par ground to stop myself from fainting. +\par +\par Providence came once more to our aid. Bastide had been born in +\par the region of Cantal, and he had met, the previous winter, another +\par Auvergnian whom he knew, and who was living in Genoa where he had +\par a small business. Bastide went to visit this friend, and was +\par surprised, on entering the house, to smell the odour which floats +\par around a grocer's shop. Bastide remarked on this and asked his +\par friend if he had some food. His friend admitted that he had, and +\par begged Bastide to keep this a secret, since all food found in private +\par hands was confiscated and taken to the army stores. The shrewd +\par Bastide then offered to arrange the purchase of any surplus +\par provisions by someone who would pay cash and would keep the secret +\par inviolate. He came to tell me of his discovery. My father had left +\par me some thousands of francs, so I bought, and brought back to our +\par dwelling at night, a quantity of dried cod, cheese, figs, sugar, +\par chocolate etc. All of which was extremely expensive, and the +\par Auvergnian had most of my money. However I was happy to pay whatever +\par he asked, for I heard daily at general headquarters suggestions that +\par the siege would continue and the famine get worse. Sadly, this in +\par fact happened. My joy at having procured some food was increased by +\par the thought that I had thereby saved the life of my friend Colindo, +\par who, without it, would have assuredly died of starvation, for he knew +\par no one in the army except me and Col. Sacleux, who was shortly to be +\par struck down by a dreadful misfortune. +\par +\par Mass\'e9na, attacked on all sides, seeing his troops worn down by +\par continual battle and famine, forced to hold down a large population, +\par driven to despair by hunger, found himself in a most critical +\par position, and believed that to maintain good order in the army he +\par needed to impose iron discipline. So any officer who did not +\par execute his orders immediately was dismissed, under the power which +\par the law gave at that time to the commander-in-chief. +\par +\par Several examples of this kind had already been made when, during +\par a sortie which we had pushed forward some six leagues from the town, +\par the brigade commanded by Col. Sacleux was not in position at the +\par time ordered in a valley where it was meant to block the passage of +\par the Austrians, who thus escaped. +\par +\par The commander-in-chief, furious at seeing his plans come to +\par nothing, dismissed poor Col. Sacleux by publishing his dismissal in +\par an order of the day. Sacleux may well not have understood what was +\par expected of him, but he was a very brave man. Assuredly he would +\par have blown his brains out, had he not been determined to restore his +\par honour. He took up a musket and joined the ranks as a private +\par soldier! He came to see us one day, Colindo and I were sore at heart +\par to see this excellent man dressed as a simple infantryman. We said +\par our good-byes to Sacleux who, after the surrender of the town, was +\par restored to his rank of colonel at the request of Mass\'e9na himself, +\par who had been impressed by Sacleux's courage. But the following +\par year, when peace had been made in Europe, Sacleux, perhaps wishing to +\par rid himself completely of the stigma with which he had been so +\par unjustly branded, asked to be posted to the war in Santa-Dominica, +\par where he was killed at the moment when he was about to be promoted +\par to brigadier-general! There are men who, in spite of their +\par merits, have a cruel destiny; of which he was an example. +\par +\par Chap. 12. +\par +\par I shall discuss only briefly the conduct of the siege or +\par blockade which we sustained. The fortifications of Genoa consisted +\par at that time of a plain wall, flanked by towers; but what made the +\par place well suited for defence was the fact that it is surrounded at a +\par short distance by mountains, the summits and flanks of which are +\par dotted with forts and strong-points. The Austrians continually +\par attacked these positions. When they took one, we went to retake it, +\par and the next day they came to take it again. If they managed to do +\par so, we went to chase them out once more. There was an endless +\par shuttling back and forth, with varying results, but in the end, we +\par remained in control of the terrain. These encounters were often very +\par fierce. In one of them, General Soult, who was General Mass\'e9na's +\par right hand man, was climbing up Monte Corona at the head of his men +\par to retake a fort of that name, which we had lost the day before, when +\par his knee was struck by a bullet at a moment when the enemy, who +\par greatly outnumbered his party, were running down from the top of the +\par mountain. It was impossible with the few troops we had at this point +\par to resist the avalanche, and a retreat was called for. The soldiers +\par carried General Soult for some way, on their muskets, but the +\par intolerable pain which he suffered decided them that he should be +\par left at the foot of a tree, where his brother and one of his +\par aides-de-camp stayed with him to protect him from being attacked by +\par the first enemy troops to arrive. Luckily there were among these +\par some officers who had much respect for their illustrious prisoner. +\par +\par The capture of General Soult having encouraged the Austrians, they +\par pushed us back to the city wall, which they were preparing to attack +\par when a heavy storm darkened the blue sky, which we had had since the +\par beginning of the siege. The rain fell in torrents. The Austrians +\par halted and most of them sought shelter in the blockhouses or under +\par the trees. Then General Mass\'e9na, one of whose principal gifts was +\par the ability to turn to advantage the unforeseen incidents of warfare, +\par addressed his men, rekindled their spirit, and having reinforced them +\par with some troops from the town, he ordered them to fix bayonets and +\par led them, at the height of the storm, against the erstwhile +\par victorious Austrians who, taken by surprise, retired in disorder. +\par Mass\'e9na pursued them with such effect that he cut off some three +\par thousand Grenadiers, who laid down their arms. +\par +\par This was not the first time that we had taken numerous +\par prisoners, for the total of those we had captured since the beginning +\par of the siege amounted to more than eight thousand; but having no +\par food for them, Mass\'e9na had always sent them back, on the condition +\par that they would not be used against us for a period of six months. +\par Although the officers held religiously to their promise, the wretched +\par soldiers, who went back to the Austrian camp ignorant of the +\par undert}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ that their leaders had made on their behalf, were +\par transferred to other regiments and forced to fight against us once +\par more. If they fell again into our hands, something that often +\par happened, they were once more sent back and transferred anew; so that +\par there were very many of these men who, on their own admission, had +\par been captured four or five times. Mass\'e9na, angered at the lack of +\par good faith on the part of the Austrian generals, decided that this +\par time he would retain both officers and men of the three thousand +\par Grenadiers whom he had captured; and so that the duty of guarding +\par them would not fall on his troops, he had the unfortunate prisoners +\par loaded into floating hulks moored in the middle of the harbour with +\par the guns of the harbour mole aimed at them. He then sent an envoy to +\par General Ott, who commanded the Austrian troops before Genoa, to +\par reproach him for his failure to keep his word, and to warn him that +\par he did not consider himself bound to give the prisoners more than +\par half the ration of the French soldier; but that he would agree to an +\par arrangement which the Austrians might make with the British, whereby +\par vessels might bring, every day, food for the prisoners, and not leave +\par until they had seen it eaten, so that it could not be thought that +\par Mass\'e9na was using this pretext to bring in food for his own men. The +\par Austrian general who may have hoped that a refusal would compel +\par Mass\'e9na to send back the three thousand soldiers, whom he probably +\par intended to use again, turned down this philanthropic proposal, and +\par Mass\'e9na then carried out his threat. +\par +\par The French ration was composed of a quarter of a pound of +\par disgusting bread and an equal amount of horse flesh; the prisoners +\par were given only half this amount! This was fifteen days before the +\par end of the siege. For fifteen days, these poor devils remained on +\par this regime!. Every two or three days Mess\'e9na renewed his offer to +\par the enemy general; he never accepted, perhaps out of obstinacy, or +\par perhaps because the English admiral, Lord Kieth, was unwilling to +\par employ his long-boats for fear, it is said, that they would bring +\par typhus back to the fleet. However that may be, the wretched +\par Austrians were left howling with rage and hunger in their floating +\par prison. It was truly appalling! In the end, having eaten their boots +\par and packs, and perhaps some dead bodies, they nearly all died of +\par starvation! There were hardly more than seven or eight hundred left +\par when the place was surrendered to our enemies. The Austrian +\par soldiers, when they entered the town, hurried to the harbour and gave +\par food to their compatriots with so little caution that many of them +\par died as a result. +\par +\par I have described this horrible episode, firstly as an example of +\par the sort of ghastly event which war brings in its train, but +\par principally to brand with shame the conduct and lack of good faith of +\par the Austrian general, who forced soldiers who had been captured and +\par released on parole, to take up arms against us once more, although he +\par had promised to send them back to Germany. +\par +\par In the course of the fighting which took place during the siege, I +\par ran into a number of dangers but I shall limit myself to mentioning +\par two of the more serious. +\par +\par I have already said that the Austrians and the English took it in +\par turns to keep us constantly in action. The first attacked us at +\par dawn, on the landward side, and we fought them all day; at night, +\par Lord Kieth's fleet would begin its bombardment, and try, under cover +\par of darkness, to seize the harbour; which forced the garrison to keep +\par a keen look-out on the seaward side, and prevented it from having any +\par rest or relaxation. Now, one night, when the bombardment was more +\par violent than usual, the commander-in-chief was warned that the light +\par of Bengal flares burning on the beach had disclosed numerous boat +\par loads of English soldiers heading for the harbour breakwater. +\par Mass\'e9na, his staff, and the squadron of guides which went everywhere +\par with him, immediately mounted their horses. We were about a +\par hundred and fifty to two hundred horsemen when, passing through a +\par little square called Campetto, the general stopped to speak to an +\par officer who was returning from the harbour. Someone shouted "Look +\par out for bombs!" And at that moment, one fell onto the crowded square. +\par +\par I and several others had pushed our horses under a balcony which +\par overhung the door of an hotel, and it was on this balcony that the +\par bomb fell. It reduced the balcony to rubble, and bounced onto the +\par road, where it exploded with a fearful bang in the middle of the +\par square, which was lit for an instant by its malevolent light, after +\par which there was complete darkness. One expected many casualties. +\par There was the most profound silence, which was broken by the voice of +\par General Mass\'e9na, asking if anyone was hurt. There was no reply, for +\par by some miracle, not one of the horses or men had been hit by the +\par flying fragments. As for those who, like me, had been under the +\par balcony, we were covered with dust and bits of building material, but +\par nobody was injured. +\par +\par I have said that the English bombarded us only at night. However, +\par one day, when they were celebrating some occasion or other, their +\par ships, dressed overall, approached the town in broad daylight, and +\par amused themselves by hurling at us a large number of projectiles. +\par Those of our batteries which were in the best position to reply to +\par this fire, were located near the breakwater on a big bastion in the +\par form of a tower, known as the Lanterne. The general ordered me to +\par take a message to the officer in charge of this battery, instructing +\par him to direct all his efforts on an English brig, which had +\par insolently anchored a short distance from the Lanterne. Our gunners +\par fired with such accuracy that one of our large bombs fell on the +\par English brig, piercing it from deck to keel so that it sank almost +\par immediately. This so infuriated the English admiral that he had all +\par his guns trained on the Lanterne, on which they now opened a violent +\par fire. My mission being completed, I should have returned to Mass\'e9na; +\par but it is rightly said that young soldiers, not recognising danger, +\par confront it more coolly than those with more experience. The +\par spectacle of which I was a witness, I found very interesting. The +\par platform of the Lanterne was floored with flagstones and was the size +\par of a small courtyard. It was equipped with twelve cannons on enormous +\par wooden mountings. Although it may be very difficult for ship at sea +\par to aim its fire with sufficient accuracy to hit such a small target +\par as was the platform of the Lanterne, the English managed to land +\par several bombs there. As these bombs descended, the gunners took +\par shelter behind or underneath the massive timbers of the gun +\par mountings. I did the same; but this shelter was not entirely safe, +\par because the flagstones presented a great resistance to the bombs, +\par which, being unable to bury themselves, rolled unpredictably about +\par the platform in all directions, and the fragments from their explosion +\par could pass under or behind the mountings. It was, therefore, absurd +\par to stay there when, like me, one was not obliged to do so. But I +\par experienced a fearful pleasure, if one can describe it thus, in +\par running here and there with the gunners whenever a bomb fell, and +\par emerging with them as soon as the fragments from its explosion had +\par settled. It was a game which could have cost me dear. One gunner had +\par his legs broken, others were wounded by bomb fragments, lumps of +\par metal which did terrible damage to anything they hit. One of them +\par sliced through the thick timber baulk of a mounting behind which I +\par was sheltering. However, I remained on the platform until +\par Col. Mouton, who later became Marshal the Comte de Lobeau, and who, +\par having served under my father, took an interest in me, while passing, +\par caught sight of me. He came over to the Lanterne and ordered me +\par sharply to come down and return to my post beside General Mass\'e9na. He +\par added, "You are still very young, but you should realise that, in +\par war, it is stupid to expose yourself to needless danger. Would you be +\par any better off if you had a leg smashed for no good reason?" +\par +\par I never forgot this lesson, and I have often thought of the +\par difference it would have made to my life, if I had lost a leg at the +\par age of seventeen. +\par +\par Chap. 13. +\par +\par The courage and tenacity with which Mass\'e9na had defended +\par Genoa would have very important results. Major Franceschi, sent by +\par Mass\'e9na to contact the First Consul, had managed to slip through the +\par enemy fleet at night, both in going and coming. On arriving back in +\par Genoa he said that he had left Bonaparte descending the St. Bernard +\par at the head of the army of reserve. Field-marshal M\'e9las was so +\par convinced of the impossibility of bringing an army across the Alps, +\par that while part of his force, under General Ott was blockading us, he +\par had gone with the remainder fifty leagues away, to attack General +\par Suchet on the Var. This gave the First Consul the opportunity to +\par enter Italy without resistance, so that the army of reserve had +\par reached Milan before the Austrians had ceased to regard its existence +\par as imaginary. The First Consul, once in Italy, would have liked to go +\par straight away to the aid of the town's brave garrison, but to do that +\par it was necessary for him to unite all the elements of his force, such +\par as the artillery and military supplies, whose passage across the Alps +\par had proved extremely difficult. This delay gave Marshal M\'e9las the +\par time to hurry with his main force from Nice in order to oppose +\par Bonaparte, who was then unable to continue his march towards Genoa +\par without defeating the Austrian army. +\par +\par While Bonaparte and M\'e9las were engaged in marches and +\par countermarches in preparation for a battle which would decide the +\par destiny of France and Italy, the garrison of Genoa found itself +\par reduced to its last extremity. The typhus epidemic was raging. The +\par hospitals had become ghastly charnel houses; starvation was at its +\par worst. Nearly all the horses had been eaten, and though for a long +\par time the soldiers had had no more than half a pound of rotten food +\par daily, the distribution for the following day was not assured. There +\par was absolutely nothing left when, on the 15th Prairial Mass\'e9na +\par gathered all his generals and colonels together and announced that he +\par had decided to attempt a breakout with those remaining men who were +\par fit for duty, to try to reach Livorno; but his officers declared +\par unanimously that the troops were no longer in a state to engage in +\par combat, or even a simple march, unless they were given sufficient +\par food to restore their strength, and the stores were completely empty! +\par General Mass\'e9na then considered that, having carried out the orders +\par of the First Consul and facilitated his entry into Italy, that it was +\par his duty to save the remains of a garrison which had fought so +\par valiantly, and which it was in the country's interest to preserve. He +\par therefore resolved to treat for the evacuation of the place, for he +\par would not allow the word capitulation to be uttered. +\par The English admiral and General Ott had, for more than a month, +\par been m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ proposals for a parley, which Mass\'e9na had always turned +\par down; but now, compelled by circumstance, he told them that he would +\par accept. The conference took place in the little chapel which is +\par situated in the middle of the bridge of Conegliano, and which is, as +\par a result, between the sea and the French and Austrian lines. The +\par French, English, and Austrian staffs occupied each end of the bridge. +\par I was present at this most interesting event. +\par +\par The foreign generals treated Mass\'e9na with much respect and +\par consideration, and although he demanded favourable conditions, +\par Admiral Kieth said more than once that the defense had been so +\par heroic that they did not wish to refuse them. It was then agreed +\par that the garrison would not be made prisoners, that they could retain +\par their weapons and could go to Nice, and that having reached there +\par they would be free to engage in further hostilities. +\par +\par Mass\'e9na, who realised how important it was that the First +\par Consul should not be led into m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ any false move because of his +\par anxiety to go to the aid of Genoa, asked that the negotiations should +\par permit the safe passage of two officers through the Austrian lines, +\par whom he proposed to send to Bonaparte to inform him of the evacuation +\par of the town by the French. General Ott opposed this because he +\par intended to leave with some twenty-five thousand men of the +\par blockading force to go and join Field-marshal M\'e9las, and he did not +\par want these French officers to warn General Bonaparte of his +\par movements. But Admiral Kieth overruled this objection. The treaty +\par was about to be signed when, from far away, in the midst of the +\par mountains, came the distant sound of gunfire. Mass\'e9na held up his +\par pen, saying, "That is the First Consul, who has arrived with his +\par army." The foreign commanders were much taken aback, but after a +\par long pause it was realised that the sound was that of thunder, and +\par Mass\'e9na appended his signature. +\par +\par It is to be regretted that the garrison and its commander were +\par deprived of the fame which would have been theirs if they had been +\par able to hold Genoa until the arrival of Bonaparte; and furthermore, +\par Mass\'e9na would have liked to hold out for a few more days, to delay +\par the departure of General Ott's men to join in the battle, which was +\par inevitable, between the First Consul and Field-marshal M\'e9las. In the +\par event, General Ott was unable to join the main Austrian army until +\par the day after the battle of Marengo, the result of which might have +\par been very different if the Austrians, whom we had great difficulty in +\par overcoming, had had twenty-five thousand more men with which to +\par oppose us. The Austrians took possession of Genoa on the 16th +\par Prairial(May) after a siege which had lasted two whole months. +\par +\par Mass\'e9na, as has been said, considered it so important that the +\par First Consul was informed immediately about the situation that he had +\par demanded a safe conduct for two aides-de-camp, so that if any thing +\par untoward befell one of them, the other could carry his despatch. As +\par it would be useful if an officer going on such a mission spoke +\par Italian, Mass\'e9na chose a Major Graziani, an Italian who was in the +\par French service, but being a most suspicious man, Mass\'e9na feared that +\par a foreigner might be corrupted by the Austrians and delay his +\par journey, so he sent me to make sure that he made all possible haste. +\par This precaution was unnecessary as Major Graziani was a man of +\par probity who knew the urgency of his mission. +\par +\par On the 16th Prairial we departed from Genoa where I left Colindo, +\par whom I expected to collect in a few days time, as we knew that the +\par First Consul's army was not very far away. Major Graziani and I +\par reached it the next day at Milan. +\par +\par General Bonaparte spoke to me with sympathy about the loss which I +\par had suffered, and promised that he would be a father to me if I +\par behaved myself well, a promise which he kept. He asked us endless +\par questions about the events which had occurred in Genoa, and about the +\par strength and movements of the Austrian forces we had come through to +\par reach Milan; he kept us by him, and had horses provided for us from +\par his stable, since we had travelled on post mules. +\par +\par We followed the First Consul to Montebello and then to the +\par battlefield of Marengo, where we were employed to carry his orders. +\par I shall not go into any details about this battle, where I ran into +\par no danger; one knows that we were on the brink of defeat, and might +\par have fallen if General Ott's men had arrived in time to take part in +\par the action. The First Consul, who feared that he might see them +\par appear at any moment, was very anxious, and did not relax until our +\par cavalry and the infantry of General Desaix, of whose death he was +\par still unaware, had ensured victory by overwhelming the Grenadiers of +\par General Zach. Seeing that the horse which I was riding was slightly +\par wounded on a leg, he took me by the ear, and said, laughing, "I lend +\par you my horses, and look what happens to them!" Major Graziani having +\par died in 1812, I am the only French officer who was present at the +\par siege of Genoa and the battle of Marengo. +\par +\par After this memorable affair, I went back to Genoa, which the +\par Austrians had left as a result of our victory at Marengo. There I +\par rejoined Colindo and Major R***. I visited my father's grave, then +\par we embarked on a French brig, which in twenty-four hours carried us +\par to Nice. Some days later, a ship from Leghorn brought Colindo's +\par mother, who had come in search of her son. This fine young man and I +\par had come through some very rough times together, which had strengthened +\par the friendship between us, but our paths were divergent and we had +\par to part, albeit with much regret. +\par +\par I have said earlier, that about the middle of the siege, +\par Franceschi, carrying despatches from General Mass\'e9na to the First +\par Consul, had reached France by passing through the enemy fleet at +\par night. He took with him the news of my father's death. My mother +\par had thereupon nominated a council of guardians, who sent to the aged +\par Spire, who was at Nice with the coach and my father's baggage, an +\par order to sell everything and return to Paris, which he then did. +\par There was now nothing to detain me on the banks of the Var, and I was +\par in a hurry to rejoin my dear mother; but this was not so easy; public +\par coaches were, at the time, very scarce; the one that ran from Nice to +\par Lyon went only every second day and was booked up for several weeks +\par by sick or wounded officers, coming, like me, from Genoa. +\par +\par To overcome this difficulty, Major R***, two colonels, a dozen +\par officers and I decided to form a group to go to Grenoble on foot, +\par crossing the foothills of the Alps by way of Grasse, Sisteron, Digne +\par and Gap. Mules would carry our small amount of baggage, which would +\par allow us to cover eight to ten leagues every day. Bastide was with me +\par and was a great help to me, for I was not accustomed to m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ such +\par long journeys on foot, and it was very hot. After eight days of very +\par difficult walking, we reached Grenoble, from where we were able to +\par take coaches to Lyon. It was with sorrow that I saw once more the +\par town and the hotel where I had stayed with my father in happier +\par times. I longed for and yet dreaded the reunion with my mother and +\par my brothers. I fancied that they would ask me to account for what I +\par had done with her husband and their father! I was returning alone, +\par and had left him in his grave in a foreign land! I was very unhappy +\par and had need of a friend who would understand and share my grief, +\par while Major R***, happy, after so much privation, to enjoy once more, +\par abundance and good living, was madly jolly, which I found most +\par wounding; so I decided to leave for Paris without him; but he +\par claimed, now that I had no need of him, that it was his duty to +\par deliver me to the arms of my mother, and I was forced to put up with +\par his company as far as Paris, to where we went by mail coach. +\par +\par There are scenes which are perhaps better left to the +\par imagination, so I shall not attempt to describe my first +\par heartbre}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ meeting with my widowed mother and my brothers. You can +\par picture it for yourselves. +\par +\par My mother had a rather pretty country house at Carri\'e8re, near +\par the forest of Saint-Germain. I spent two months there with her, my +\par uncle Canrobert, who had returned from emigration, and an old knight +\par of Malta, M. d'Estresse, a friend of my late father. Adolphe was not in +\par Paris, he was in Rennes with Bernadotte, the commander-in-chief of +\par the army of the west, but my younger brothers and M. Gault came to see +\par us from time to time. In spite of the kindness and shows of +\par affection which were lavished on me, I fell into a state of sombre +\par melancholy, and my health deteriorated. I had suffered so much, +\par physically and mentally! I became incapable of doing any work. +\par Reading which I had always loved became insupportable. I spent the +\par greater part of the day alone in the forest, where I lay in the +\par shade absorbed in my sorrowful reflections. In the evenings, I +\par accompanied my mother, my uncle, and the old knight on their usual +\par walk along the bank of the Seine; but I took very little part in the +\par conversation, and hid from them my sad thoughts, which revolved +\par always about my poor father, dying for want of proper care. Although +\par my condition alarmed my mother, Canrobert, and M. d'Estresse, they had +\par the good sense not to make matters worse by any remarks which would +\par have only irritated a sick mind, but they sought gradually to chase +\par away the unhappy memories which were so affecting me by bringing +\par forward the holidays of my two younger brothers, who came to live +\par with us in the country. The presence of these two children, whom I +\par dearly loved, eased my mind of its sorrows, by the care I took to +\par make their stay at Carri\'e8re a happy one. I took them to Versailles, +\par to Maisons and to Marly, and their childish happiness slowly brought +\par back to life my spirits which had been so cruelly crushed by +\par misfortune. Who could have thought that these two children, so +\par lovely and full of life would soon be no more? +\par +\par Chap. 14. +\par +\par The end of the autumn of 1800 was approaching; my mother went back +\par to Paris, my young brothers went back to school, and I was ordered to +\par join Bernadotte at Rennes. +\par +\par Bernadotte had been my father's best friend, and my father had +\par helped him in various ways on many occasions. In recognition of +\par the debt owed to my family, he had written to me saying that he had +\par reserved a place for me as his aide-de-camp. I received this letter +\par at Nice when I returned from Genoa, and on the strength of it, I +\par refused an offer from General Mass\'e9na to take me on as a permanent +\par aide-de-camp, and to allow me to spend several months with my mother +\par before joining him and the army of Italy. +\par +\par My father had arranged that my brother Adolphe should continue his +\par studies in order to enter the polytechnic; so he was not a soldier +\par when my father died; but on hearing this sad news, he rebelled at the +\par thought that his younger brother was already an officer, and had been +\par in action, while he was still on a school bench. He gave up the +\par studies required for the technical arms, and opted to join the +\par infantry instead, which allowed him to leave school. +\par +\par He was presented with a good opportunity. The government had +\par ordered a new regiment to be raised in the department of the Seine. +\par The officers for this regiment were to be selected by General +\par Lefebvre, who, as you know, had replaced my father in command of the +\par Paris division. General Lefebvre was only too pleased to do +\par something for the son of one of his old companions who had died in +\par the service of his country; he therefore awarded my brother the rank +\par of sous-lieutenant in this new unit. So far, so good! But instead of +\par going to join his company, and without waiting for my return from +\par Genoa, Adolphe hurried off to General Bernadotte, who, without +\par further ado, handed the vacant post to the first brother to arrive, +\par as if it was the prize in a race! So when I went to join the general +\par staff at Rennes, I learned that my brother had been gazetted as +\par permanent aide-de-camp, and I was only a supernumerary, that is to +\par say temporary. I was very disappointed, because, had I expected +\par this, I would have accepted the proposal made by General Mass\'e9na. +\par But this opportunity had now passed. It was in vain that General +\par Bernadotte assured me that he would obtain an increase in the +\par establishment of his aides-de-camp, I did not think this likely, and +\par was convinced that I would soon be moved elsewhere. +\par +\par Bernadotte's staff was made up of officers who nearly all reached +\par senior positions; four were already colonels. The most outstanding +\par was, undoubtedly, G\'e9rard. He was very clever, brave and had a +\par natural talent for warfare. He was under the command of Marshal +\par Grouchy at Waterloo, and gave him some sound advice, which could have +\par led us to victory. Out of the eleven aides-de-camp attached to +\par Bernadotte's staff, two became marshals, three lieutenant-generals, +\par four were brigadiers and one was killed in action. +\par +\par In the winter of 1800, Portugal, backed by the English, had +\par declared war on Spain, and the French government had resolved to +\par support the latter. In consequence, troops were sent to Bayonne and +\par Bordeaux, and the companies of Grenadiers who belonged to various +\par regiments scattered throughout Brittany and the Vend\'e9e were gathered +\par together at Tours. This corps d'\'e9lite was intended to be the nucleus +\par of the so-called army of Portugal, which Bernadotte was destined to +\par command. The general had to move his headquarters to Tours; to where +\par had to be sent all his horses and equipment, as well all that was +\par required for the officers attached to his service. But the general, +\par partly to receive his final orders from the First Consul and partly +\par to take Madame Bernadotte back, had to go to Paris; and as it was +\par customary in these circumstances during the absence of the general +\par for the officers of his staff to be permitted to go and take leave of +\par their families, it was decided that all the permanent aides could go +\par to Paris, and that the supernumeraries would go to Tours with the +\par baggage to supervise the servants, pay them every month, arrange +\par with the supply commission for the distribution of forage, and the +\par allotment of lodgings for the great number of men and horses. This +\par disagreeable duty fell to me and my fellow supernumerary Lieutenant +\par Maurin. +\par +\par In the depths of winter and the most atrocious weather, we made +\par on horseback the long eight days journey from Rennes to Tours, where +\par we had all sorts of difficulties in setting up the headquarters. We +\par had been told that we would not be there for much more than a +\par fortnight, but we stayed there, bored stiff, for six weary months, +\par while our comrades were disporting themselves in the capital. That +\par was a foretaste of the unpleasant duties which fell to me as a +\par supernumerary aide-de-camp. So ended the year 1800, during which I +\par had undergone so much mental and physical suffering. +\par +\par The town of Tours had many inhabitants, and there were many +\par diversions; but although I received many invitations I did not accept +\par any of them. Fortunately my time was fully occupied in looking after +\par the large collection of men and horses, without which the isolation +\par in which I lived would have been insupportable. The number of horses +\par belonging to the commander-in-chief and the officers of his staff +\par amounted to more than eighty, and all were at my disposal. I rode +\par two or three every day, and went for some long rides round Tours, +\par which although solitary, had for me much charm, and gave me gentle +\par solace. +\par +\par Chap. 15. +\par +\par The First Consul now changed his mind about the army of Portugal. +\par He gave the command to his brother-in-law, General Leclerc, and kept +\par General Bernadotte in command of the army of the west. In +\par consequence, the general staff, which my brother and the other +\par aides-de-camp had just joined at Tours, was ordered to return to +\par Brittany and betake itself to Brest, where the commander-in-chief +\par was to be stationed. It is a long way from Tours to Brest, but the +\par weather was fair, we were a young crowd, and the trip was great fun. +\par I was unable to ride on horseback, because of an accidental injury to +\par my hindquarters, so I rode in one of the commander-in-chief's +\par coaches. We found him awaiting us at Brest. +\par +\par The harbour at Brest held at that time not only a great number +\par of French vessels, but also the Spanish fleet, commanded by Admiral +\par Gravina, who was later killed at Trafalgar. When we arrived in Brest, +\par the two allied fleets were expected to take to Ireland, General +\par Bernadotte and a large invading force of French and Spanish troops; +\par but while we awaited this expedition,--which never actually took +\par place--the presence of so many army and naval officers greatly +\par animated the town of Brest. The commander-in-chief, the admirals and +\par several of the generals entertained daily. The troops of the two +\par nations mingled on the best of terms, and I made the acquaintance of +\par several Spanish officers. +\par +\par We were thoroughly enjoying ourselves at Brest, when the +\par commander-in-chief decided it would be a good idea to move his +\par headquarters to Rennes, a dismal town, but more in the centre of his +\par command. We had hardly arrived there when what I had foreseen +\par happened. The First Consul cut the number of aides-de-camp allotted +\par to the commander-in-chief. He was allowed only one colonel, five +\par officers of lower rank and no additional officers. As a result I was +\par told that I was to be posted to a regiment of light cavalry. I would +\par have resigned myself to this, if it had been to return to the first +\par Hussars, where I was known and whose uniform I wore; but it was more +\par than a year since I had left the regiment, and I had been replaced, +\par so I was ordered to join the 25th Chasseurs, who had just gone to +\par Spain and were on the frontier with Portugal around Salamanca and +\par Zamora. I felt increasingly bitter about the way I had been treated +\par by General Bernadotte, for without his false promises I would have +\par been an aide-de-camp to Mess\'e9na and regained my place in the 1st +\par Hussars. +\par +\par So I was much discontented....But one must obey. Once I had got +\par over my resentment--which does not last long at that age--I could +\par not wait to get on the road and leave General Bernadotte, of whom I +\par thought I had good reason to complain. I had very little money. My +\par father had often lent money to Bernadotte, in particular when he +\par bought the estate of Lagrange; but although he knew that, scarcely +\par recovered from an injury, I was about to cross a large part of France +\par and all of Spain and, what is more, had to buy a new uniform, he +\par never offered to advance me a sou; and not for anything in the world +\par would I have asked him to do so. Very luckily for me my mother had, +\par at Rennes, an elderly uncle, M. de Verdal of Gruniac, a former major +\par in the infantry of Ponthi\'e8vre, with whom she had spent the first +\par years of the revolution. This old man was a little eccentric, but +\par very good-hearted; not only did he advance me the money which I +\par desperately needed, but he gave it to me out of his own pocket. +\par +\par Although, at this period, the Chasseurs wore the same dolman as +\par the Hussars, theirs was green. I was foolish enough to shed a few +\par tears when I had to discard the Bercheny uniform, and renounce the +\par name of Hussar to become a Chasseur! +\par +\par My farewell to General Bernadotte was somewhat cool; however he +\par gave me letters of introduction to Lucien Bonaparte, our ambassador +\par at Madrid, and to General Leclerc, our commander in Portugal. +\par +\par On the day of my departure, all the aides-de-camp joined me in a +\par farewell luncheon; then I set out with a heavy heart. I arrived at +\par Nantes after two days of travel, dog tired, with a pain in my side, +\par and quite sure that I would not be able to stand riding on horseback +\par the four hundred and fifty leagues which I had to cover to reach the +\par frontier of Portugal. By chance, however, I met in the house of an +\par old acquaintance from Sor\'e8ze, who lived in Nantes, a Spanish officer +\par named Don Raphael, who was on his way to join his regimental depot at +\par Estramadura. We agreed to travel together, and that I would be guide +\par as far as the Pyrenees, after which he would take over. +\par +\par We went by stage-coach through the Vend\'e9e, where almost all +\par the market towns and villages still bore the marks of fire although +\par the civil war had been over for two years. These ruins made a sorry +\par spectacle. We passed through La Rochelle, Rochefort and Bordeaux. +\par From Bordeaux to Bayonne we rode in a sort of "Berlin" which never +\par went at faster than a walking pace over the sands of Landes, so we +\par often got out and walked alongside until we would stop to rest under +\par a group of pine trees. Then, sitting in the shade, Don Raphael would +\par take up his mandolin and sing. In this way we took six days to reach +\par Bayonne. +\par +\par Before crossing the Pyrenees, I had to report to the general +\par commanding Bayonne. His name was General Ducos, an excellent man, +\par who had served under my father. Out of concern for my safety, he +\par wished to delay my entry into Spain for a few days, because he had +\par just heard that a gang of robbers had plundered some travellers not +\par far from the frontier. Even before the War of Independence and the +\par Civil Wars, the Spanish character, at once both adventurous and lazy, +\par had given them a noticeable taste for brigandage, and this taste was +\par encouraged by the splitting up of the country into several kingdoms +\par which once formed independent states, each with its own laws, usages, +\par and frontiers. Some of these states imposed customs duties, some, +\par such as Biscay and Navarre, did not; and the result was that the +\par inhabitants of the customs-free countries constantly tried to smuggle +\par dutiable goods into those whose frontiers were guarded by lines of +\par armed and active customs officers. The smugglers, on their part, +\par had, from time immemorial, formed bands, which employed force when +\par cunning was insufficient, and whose occupation was not considered in +\par any way dishonourable by the majority of Spaniards, who saw it as a +\par just war against the imposition of customs. Preparing their +\par expeditions, collecting intelligence, posting armed guards, hiding in +\par the mountains, where they lie about smoking and sleeping, such is the +\par life of the smugglers, who, as a result of the large profits to be +\par made from a single operation, can live in comfortable idleness for +\par several months. However, when the customs officers, with whom they +\par have frequent skirmishes, have been victorious and confiscated their +\par goods, these Spanish smugglers, reduced to extremes, think nothing of +\par becoming highwaymen, a profession which they pursue with a certain +\par magnanimity, since they never kill travellers, and always leave them +\par the means to continue their journey. They had just done as much to +\par an English family, and General Ducos, who wished to spare us the +\par disagreeable experience of being robbed, had for this reason decided +\par to delay our departure; but Don Raphael assured him that he knew +\par enough about the habits of Spanish robbers to be certain that the +\par safest time to travel in a province was just after a gang had +\par committed some offence, because they then cleared off and hid for a +\par while. So general Ducos allowed us to leave. +\par +\par Draught-horses were at this time unknown in Spain, where all +\par coaches, even the king's, were drawn by mules. There were no +\par stage-coaches, and in the post-houses nothing but saddle horses. So +\par that even the greatest of noblemen, who had their own coaches, were +\par forced when they travelled to hire harness mules and go by short +\par stages. The comfortably off took light carriages, which did not go +\par more than ten leagues a day. The ordinary people attached themselves +\par to caravanserais of donkey-men, who carried baggage in the same way +\par as our carters, but no one travelled alone, partly for fear of +\par robbers, and partly because of the mistrust with which a solitary +\par traveller was regarded. After our arrival in Bayonne, Don Raphael, +\par who was now in charge, said to me that as we were not such grandees +\par that we could hire a coach, nor so poor that we had to join the +\par donkey-men, there remained only two possibilities, either we rode on +\par horseback or we took a seat in a carriage. Travelling on horseback, +\par of which I have done so much, did not seem suitable, as we would have +\par no means of carrying our baggage, so it was decided that we should go +\par by carriage. +\par +\par Don Raphael bargained with an individual who agreed to take us to +\par Salamanca for 800 francs a head, and to lodge us and feed us on the +\par way, at his own expense. This was double what a similar journey +\par would have cost in France, and I had already spent a lot of money to +\par get to Bayonne; but that was the price, and as there, was no other +\par way for me to join my new regiment, I had to accept. +\par +\par We left in an enormous and ancient four-wheeled carriage, in +\par which three of the seats were occupied by a citizen of Cadiz, his +\par wife and daughter, while a Benedictine Prior from the university of +\par Salamanca completed the party. +\par +\par Everything was new to me on this trip. Firstly, the harnessing, +\par which greatly surprised me. The team consisted of six splendid +\par mules, of which, to my astonishment, only the two on the shaft had +\par bridles and reins, the remaining four went freely, guided only by the +\par voices of the coachman and his "Zagal" who, agile as a squirrel, +\par sometimes went for more than a league on foot, running beside his +\par mules, which were at full trot, then, in a blink of an eye he would +\par climb up on to the seat beside his master, only to get down and then +\par up again; which he did twenty times a day; going round the coach and +\par the harness to make sure that nothing was out of order, and while +\par doing all this, singing to encourage his mules, each one of which he +\par called by name. He never struck them, his voice alone being enough +\par to urge on any mule which was not pulling its weight. +\par +\par These activities, and in particular the man's singing, I found +\par most entertaining. I also took a lively interest in what was said in +\par the coach, for, although I did not speak Spanish, what I knew of +\par Italian and Latin enabled me to understand much of what my fellow +\par passengers were saying, to whom I replied in French, which they +\par understood reasonably well. I did not smoke, but the five Spaniards, +\par even the two ladies and the monk, soon lit up their cigars. We were +\par all in good spirits. Don Raphael, the ladies, and even the fat monk +\par sang together. +\par +\par Normally we left in the morning. We stopped from one o'clock to +\par three, to dine, rest the mules, and allow the heat of the day to +\par pass, during which time one slept; what the Spanish call the siesta. +\par Then we went on to our night stop. The meals were sufficiently +\par plentiful, but the Spanish cuisine seemed to me, at first, to taste +\par awful, however I got used to it; but I could never have got used to +\par the horrible beds which we were offered at night in the pousadas or +\par inns. They were really disgusting, and Don Raphael, who had just +\par spent a year in France was forced to agree. To avoid this +\par unpleasantness, on the first day of my arrival in Spain, I asked if I +\par could sleep on a bale of straw. Sadly, I discovered that such a thing +\par as a bale of straw was unknown in Spain, because, instead of +\par threshing the sheaves of corn they have them trampled under foot by +\par mules, which breaks the straw into short bits, scarcely as long as a +\par finger. But I had the bright idea of filling a large cloth sack with +\par this short straw, which I placed in a barn and slept on covered by my +\par cloak; thus avoiding the vermin with which the beds and the rooms +\par were infested. In the morning I emptied the sack and put it in the +\par coach and each evening I refilled it so that I had a clean palliasse. +\par Don Raphael followed my example. +\par +\par We crossed the provinces of Navarre, Biscay and Alava, country +\par of high mountains; then we crossed the Ebro and entered the immense +\par plains of Castile. We passed through Burgos and Valladolid, and +\par arrived, at last, after a journey lasting fifteen days, at Salamanca. +\par +\par There, not without regret I parted from my good travelling +\par companion, whom I was to meet once more in the same part of the +\par world, during the War of Independence. General Leclerc was at +\par Salamanca. He received me kindly, and even proposed that I should +\par stay with him as a supernumerary aide-de-camp, but my recent +\par experience had taught me that although the post of aide-de-camp +\par offers one more freedom and comfort than regimental duty, this is +\par only when one is on the establishment. As a supernumerary you are +\par landed with all the unpleasant jobs, and you have only a very +\par precarious position. I therefore turned down the favour which I was +\par offered and asked to go and join my regiment. It was a good thing +\par that I took this step, because, the following year, the general, +\par having been given the command of the expedition to Santa Dominica, +\par took with him, on his general staff, a lieutenant who had accepted +\par the post which I had turned down, and all these officers and the +\par general died of yellow fever. +\par +\par I joined the 25th Chasseurs at Salamanca. The colonel was +\par M. Moreau, an old officer and a very fine fellow. He gave me a warm +\par welcome, as did my new comrades; and in a few days I was on the best +\par of terms with everybody. I was introduced to the town's society, for +\par at that time the presence of the French was highly acceptable to the +\par Spanish, and completely opposite to what it became later. In 1801 we +\par were their allies. We had come to fight for them against the +\par Portuguese and the English, so we were treated as friends. The +\par French officers were billeted with the wealthiest inhabitants and +\par there was competition to have them. We were received everywhere. We +\par were overwhelmed by invitations. Being thus admitted into the family +\par life of the Spaniards, we learned more, in a short time, about their +\par way of living than officers who came to the peninsula during the War +\par of Independence could have learned in several years. +\par +\par I was billeted in the home of a university professor, who had +\par given me a very nice room looking out onto the handsome Salamanca +\par square. My regimental duties were not very onerous and left me +\par plenty of leisure time, which I used to study the Spanish language, +\par which is, in my opinion, the most elegant and beautiful in Europe. It +\par was at Salamanca that I saw, for the first time, the famous General +\par Lasalle. He sold me a horse. +\par +\par The fifteen thousand French troops sent to Spain with General +\par Leclerc formed the right wing of the Spanish Grand Army, which was +\par commanded by the "Prince de la Paix" and we were therefore under +\par his orders. This man (Emmanuel Godoy) was the queen's favourite and +\par was, in effect, the king. He came to revue us on one occasion. He +\par seemed to me to be very pleased with himself, and although he was +\par small and undistinguished looking, he was not lacking in charm and +\par ability. +\par +\par Godoy started the army moving, and our regiment went to Toro and +\par then to Zamora. I was sorry to leave Salamanca at first, but we were +\par as well received in other towns, particularly in Zamora, where I +\par stayed in the house of a rich merchant who had a superb garden, where +\par a numerous society would gather in the evenings to make music and +\par pass part of the night in conversation amid groves of pomegranates +\par myrtles and lemon trees. It is difficult to appreciate fully the +\par beauties of nature if one has not experienced the delicious nights of +\par the southern countries. +\par +\par We had, however, to tear ourselves away from the pleasant life +\par which we were leading to go and attack the Portuguese. We crossed +\par the border: there were a few small engagements which all went our +\par way: the French troops went to Viseu, while the Spanish came down the +\par Tagus and reached Alantejo: we expected to enter Lisbon soon, as +\par conquerors. But the Prince de la Paix, who had, without much +\par reflection, called the French troops into the peninsula, now, also +\par without much reflection, took fright at their presence, and to get +\par rid of them he concluded, without the knowledge of the First Consul, +\par a peace treaty with the Portuguese, which he cunningly had ratified +\par by the French ambassador, Lucien Bonaparte. This greatly annoyed the +\par First Consul, and caused, from that day, a rift between the two +\par brothers. +\par +\par The French troops stayed for several months longer in Portugal, +\par until the beginning of 1802; then we returned to Spain and +\par successively to our previous charming stations of Zamora, Toro and +\par Salamanca, where we were always made welcome. +\par +\par On this occasion I went through Spain on horseback with my +\par regiment, and had no longer any need to avoid the verminous beds of +\par the pousadas, since we were lodged each evening with the most +\par respectable citizens. A route march, when one makes it with one's +\par own regiment and in good weather, is not without a certain charm. One +\par has a constant change of scene, without being separated from one's +\par comrades; one sees the countryside in the greatest detail; we talk as +\par we travel, we dine together, sometimes well, sometimes badly, and one +\par is in a position to observe the customs of the inhabitants. +\par +\par One of our pleasures was to watch in the evenings the +\par Spaniards, shedding their usual lethargy, dance the fandango and the +\par bolero with a perfection of grace and agility, even in the villages. +\par The colonel offered them the use of his band, but they, quite +\par rightly, preferred the guitar, the castanets, and a woman's voice; an +\par accompaniment which gave the dance its national characteristics. +\par These improvised dances, in the open air, engaged in by the working +\par class in the towns as well as in the country, gave us so much +\par pleasure, even as spectators, that we were sorry to leave them. +\par +\par After more than a month on the road, we recrossed the Bidassoa, +\par and although I had happy memories of my stay in Spain, it was with +\par pleasure that I saw France once more. +\par +\par Chap. 16. +\par +\par At this period, regiments were responsible for their own remounts, +\par and the colonel had been authorised to buy sixty horses which he +\par hoped to procure, bit by bit, in French Navarre, while he was t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ +\par the regiment to Toulouse, where we were to form the garrison. But, +\par for my sins, we arrived at Bayonne on the day of the town fair, and +\par the place was full of horse-copers. The colonel arranged a deal with +\par one of them, who provided all the horses the unit needed straight +\par away. The dealer could not be paid immediately because the funds +\par provided by the ministry would take a week to arrive. The colonel +\par then ordered that an officer should remain behind in Bayonne, to +\par receive this money and pay the supplier. I was picked for this +\par wretched task, which landed me later in a most disagreeable +\par situation, though at the time I saw only that I had been deprived +\par of the pleasure of travelling with my comrades. However, in spite of +\par my feelings, I had to obey orders. +\par +\par To make it easier for me to rejoin the unit, the colonel decided +\par that my horse should go with the regiment, and that after I had +\par completed my mission, I should take the stage-coach to Toulouse. I +\par knew several former pupils from Sor\'e8ze who lived in Bayonne and who +\par helped me to pass the time agreeably. The funds provided by the +\par ministry arrived and I paid them out and was now free from all +\par responsibility and ready to rejoin my regiment. +\par +\par I had a cotton dolman, braided in the same material, and with +\par silver buttons. I had had this strange costume made when I was on +\par Bernadotte's staff, since it was the fashion there to wear this +\par uniform when travelling in hot weather. I decided to wear this +\par outfit on the journey to Toulouse, as I was not with my regiment, so +\par I packed my uniform in my trunk and took it to the stage-coach, where +\par I booked my seat and, unfortunately, paid in advance. +\par +\par The coach was due to leave at five in the morning, so I told the +\par porter at the hotel where I was staying to come and waken me at +\par four, and the rascal having promised to do so, I went to bed without +\par further ado. But he forgot; and when I opened my eyes, the sun was +\par shining into the room and it was after eight o'clock...! What a +\par disaster...! I was dumbfounded, and having cursed and upbraided the +\par negligent porter, I had to think what I could do. The first +\par difficulty was that the stage-coach ran only every second day, but +\par that was not the major problem, which was that though the regiment +\par had paid for my seat because I was on duty, they were not obliged to +\par pay twice, and I had been stupid enough to pay for the whole journey +\par in advance; so that if I took a new seat it would be at my own +\par expense. Now at this time stage-coach fares were very costly, and I +\par had very little money, and also, what was I to do for forty-eight +\par hours in Bayonne, when all my belongings were on the coach...? I +\par resolved to make the journey on foot. +\par +\par I left the town without delay, and set off bravely on the road to +\par Toulouse. I was lightly clad, and had nothing but my sabre, which I +\par carried on my shoulder, so I covered the first stage briskly enough +\par and spent the night at Peyrehorade. +\par +\par The next day was a day of disaster. I intended to go as far as +\par Orthez, and had already made half the journey when I was overtaken +\par by one of these terrible storms which one has in the Midi. Rain +\par mixed with hail fell in torrents, beating on my face; the road, +\par already bad, became a morass in which I had the greatest difficulty +\par in walking in boots with spurs; a chestnut tree near to me was struck +\par by lighting.... No matter, I walked on with stoic resignation. But, +\par behold....! In the midst of the storm I saw coming toward me two +\par mounted gendarmes. You can easily imagine how I looked after +\par paddling for two hours in the mud, dressed in my cotton breeches and +\par dolman. The gendarmes belonged to the station at Peyrehorade, to +\par which they were returning, but it seemed that they had lunched very +\par well at Orthez, for they were somewhat drunk. The older of the two +\par asked me for my papers; I gave him my travel permit, on which I was +\par described as a sous-lieutenant of the 25th Chasseurs. "You! A +\par sous-lieutenant?" shouted the gendarme, "you're too young to be an +\par officer!" But read the description," I said, "and you will see +\par that it says that I am not yet twenty years old. It is exact in +\par every point." "That may be," he replied, "but it is a forgery; and +\par the proof of that is that the Chasseur's uniform is green and you are +\par wearing a yellow dolman. You are an escaped conscript, and I am +\par arresting you." "All right," I said, "but when we get to Orthez and +\par I see your lieutenant, I can easily prove that I am an officer and +\par that this travel document is genuine." +\par +\par I was not much worried by this arrest; but now the older gendarme +\par said that he did not intend to go to Orthez. He belonged to the +\par station at Peyrehorade, and I must follow him there. I said that I +\par would do nothing of the kind, and that he could require this only if +\par I had no papers, but as I had shown him my travel permit, he had no +\par right to make me go back, and that it was his duty, according to the +\par regulations, to accompany me to my destination, which was Orthez. +\par +\par The younger gendarme, who was less full of wine, said that I was +\par right. A lively dispute then broke out between the two of them. +\par They hurled insults at one another and in the middle of the tempest +\par which was all around us, they drew their sabres and charged furiously +\par together. I was afraid I might be injured in this ridiculous combat, +\par so I got into one of the huge ditches which ran along each side of +\par the road, and although I was in water up to my waist, I climbed up +\par onto the bordering field, from where I watched the two warriors +\par skirmishing to get the better of one another. +\par +\par Fortunately, the heavy, wet cloaks which they were wearing clung +\par round their arms, and the horses, frightened by the thunder, would +\par not go near each other, so that the riders could manage only a few +\par ill directed blows. Eventually the older gendarme's horse fell, and +\par he landed in the ditch. When he got out,covered in mire, he found +\par that his saddle was broken and that he would have to continue his +\par journey on foot; so he set out, after telling his companion that he +\par was now responsible for the prisoner. Left alone with the more +\par sensible of the two gendarmes, I pointed out to him that if I had +\par anything to hide, it would be easy for me to make off into the +\par country, as there was a large ditch between us which his horse could +\par not cross, but that I would surrender myself to him since he had +\par agreed not to make me go back. So I continued on my way, escorted by +\par the gendarme, who was beginning to sober up. We had some +\par conversation, and it became apparent that the fact that I had +\par surrendered, when it would have been easy for me to run away, made him +\par begin to think that I might be what I said I was. He would have let +\par me go had he not been put in charge of me by his companion. He +\par became more and more accommodating, and said he would not take me all +\par the way to Orthez, but would consult the Mayor of Puyoo, which we +\par were going to pass through. +\par +\par My arrival was that of a malefactor: all the villagers, who had +\par been driven back to the village by the storm, were at their doors and +\par windows to see the criminal in the charge of the gendarme; however, the +\par Mayor of Puyoo was a good, stout, sensible peasant, whom we found in +\par his barn, threshing corn. As soon as he had read my travel permit, +\par he said, gravely, to the gendarme, "Set this young man at liberty at +\par once. You have no right to arrest him. An officer on a journey is +\par designated by his documents, not by his clothes." Could Solomon have +\par produced a better judgement? +\par The good peasant did not stop at that, he wanted me to stay with +\par him until the storm had passed and he offered me food. Then, while +\par we were talking, he told me that he had once seen at Orthez a +\par general whose name was Marbot. I told him that this was my father, +\par and described him. Then the good man, whose name was Bordenave +\par became even more solicitous and wanted to dry my clothes and offered +\par me a bed for the night; but I thanked him and went on my way to +\par Orthez, where I arrived at nightfall, completely worn out. The next +\par day it was only with great difficulty that I could put my boots on, +\par partly because they were wet and partly because my feet were swollen. +\par +\par However I managed to drag myself as far as Pau, and being unable to +\par go any further, I stayed there all day. I could find no other means +\par of transport but the mail coach, and although the seats were very +\par expensive, I took one as far as Gimont, where I was welcomed with +\par open arms by M. Dorignac, a friend of my father, with whom I had spent +\par several months after I left Sor\'e8ze. I rested for a few days with his +\par family, then I took a stage-coach to Toulouse. I had spent four times +\par the cost of the seat which I had lost through the negligence of the +\par hotel porter at Bayonne. +\par +\par On my arrival at Toulouse I was going to look around for +\par somewhere to live, but the colonel told me that he had arranged a +\par place for me with one of his friends, an elderly doctor named +\par M. Merlhes, whose name I shall never forget, because this worthy man +\par and his numerous offspring were so good to me. During the two weeks +\par I stayed with them, I was treated as a member of the family rather +\par than as a boarder. +\par +\par The regiment was up to strength and well mounted. We had many +\par exercises which I found very interesting; though I sometimes found +\par myself up before squadron commander Blancheville, an excellent +\par officer, an old soldier from whom I learned to work with precision, +\par and I owe much to him. Blancheville, before the revolution, had been +\par on the staff of the gendarmes of Lun\'e9ville. He was very well +\par educated and took a great interest in young officers whom he thought +\par capable of learning, and compelled them to study whether they liked +\par it or not. As for the others, whom he called the block-heads, he +\par simply shrugged his shoulders when they did not know their drill or +\par made mistakes during exercises, but he never punished them for it. +\par There were two or three sous-lieutenants whom he had picked out, they +\par were MM. Gavoille, Dumonts and me. In our case he would not suffer +\par an incorrectly given order, and punished us for the slightest +\par mistake. As he was a very good fellow, when off duty we risked +\par asking him why he treated us so severely. "Do you think I am so +\par stupid that I would try to wash a black man white?" He replied, "Messers so and so are too old and lacking in talent to make it worth +\par my while to try to improve them. As for you who have all that is +\par required to succeed, you need to study, and study you shall!" I have +\par never forgotten this reply, and I made use of it when I became a +\par colonel. In fact old Blancheville had drawn our horoscopes +\par accurately, Gavoille became a lieutenant-colonel, Dumonts a +\par brigadier-general and I a divisional general. +\par +\par On my arrival at Toulouse, I had exchanged the horse which I had +\par bought in Spain for a delightful mount from Navarre. Now, it so +\par happened that the prefect had arranged a race meeting in celebration +\par of some f\'eate or other, and Gavoille, who was a great lover of racing, +\par had persuaded me to enter my horse. One day, when I was exercising +\par my horse on a grass track, as he took a tight curve at full speed, he +\par collided with the projecting wall of a garden and fell stone dead. +\par My companions thought I had been killed or at least seriously +\par injured, but by a miraculous piece of good luck I was unhurt. When I +\par had been picked up, and saw my poor horse lying motionless, I was +\par very upset, and went back sadly to my billet, where I confronted the +\par realisation that I would have to buy another horse, and would have to +\par ask my mother for the money to do so, although I knew she was very +\par hard-up. +\par +\par Comte Defermon, a minister of state and one of our trustees, was +\par opposed to the sale of those properties which still belonged to us, +\par because he foresaw that peace would increase the value of land. He +\par considered, rightly, that they should be retained and creditors paid +\par off gradually by rigid economy. This is one of the greatest +\par obligations we owe to the good M. Defermon, the most sincere of my +\par father's friends, and one for whose memory I have the deepest +\par respect. +\par +\par When my request for money to buy a new horse was submitted to the +\par council of trustees, General Bernadotte, who was one of them, burst +\par out laughing, saying that it was a good try and that the excuse was +\par well chosen, and suggesting that my application was what now-a-days +\par would be called a "con", but, fortunately my request was backed up by +\par a letter from the colonel, and M. Defermon stated that he did not +\par believe me capable of trying to obtain money by trickery. He was +\par quite right in this, for although I had an allowance of only 600 +\par francs, my pay of just 95 francs a month and a lodging allowance of 12 +\par francs, I never had a penny of debt; something I have always regarded +\par with horror. +\par +\par I bought a new horse, which was not as good as the Navarrais, but +\par the general inspections, which had been reintroduced by the First +\par Consul, were approaching, and it was essential that I was quickly +\par remounted, the more so because we were to be inspected by General +\par Bourcier, who had the reputation of being a stern disciplinarian. +\par +\par I was detailed to go with thirty men to form an escort for him. +\par He welcomed me warmly and spoke of my father, whom he had known +\par well, which, however, did not prevent him from putting me on a charge +\par the following day. The way in which this came about is quite +\par amusing. +\par +\par One of our captains, named B***, was a very good-looking lad, and +\par would have been one of the most handsome men in the army if his +\par calves had been in harmony with the rest of his person; but his legs +\par were like stilts, which looked very odd in the tight breeches, called +\par Hungarians, which were then worn by the Chasseurs. To get over this +\par blemish, Captain B*** had acquired pads made in the shape of calves, +\par which completed his fine appearance. You will see how these calves +\par got me into trouble, but they were not the only cause. +\par +\par The regulations laid down that the tails of officer's horses +\par should be left flowing, as were the tails of the trooper's horses. +\par Our colonel, M. Moreau, was always perfectly mounted, but all his +\par horses had their tails cut, and as he feared that General Bourcier--a stickler for the rules--would take him to task for setting a bad +\par example to his officers, he had, for the time of the inspection, had +\par false tails fitted to his horses which were so realistic that, +\par unless one knew, one would think them natural. This was all very +\par fine. We went on manoeuvres, to which General Bourcier had invited +\par General Suchet, the inspector of infantry, and General Gudin, the +\par commander of the territorial division, and was accompanied by a +\par numerous and brilliant staff. +\par +\par The exercises were very long. Almost all the movements, carried +\par out at the gallop, ended with several charges at top speed. I was in +\par command of a section in the centre of Captain B***'s squadron, and it +\par was next to the captain that the colonel took up his position. They +\par were therefore a couple of paces in front of me when the generals +\par came to congratulate Colonel Moreau on the fine performance of his +\par troops. But what did I then see?.... The extreme rapidity of the +\par movements had deranged the accessories added to the turn-out of both +\par the colonel and Captain B***; the false tail of the colonel's horse +\par had come adrift, the centre part, made of a pad of tow, was hanging +\par down nearly to the ground and the hairs were spread over the horse's +\par crupper in a sort of peacock's tail. As for Captain B***'s calves, +\par they had slipped round to the front, and could be seen as large lumps +\par on his shins, which produced a somewhat bizarre effect, while the +\par captain sat up proudly on his horse, as if to say "Look at me! See +\par how handsome I am!" +\par +\par One has little gravity at the age of twenty. Mine was unable to +\par resist the grotesque spectacle in front of me, and in spite of the +\par presence of no less than three generals, I was unable to stop myself +\par from bursting into laughter, however much I tried. The inspecting +\par general, not knowing the reason for my hilarity, called me out of the +\par ranks to reprimand me, but to reach him I had to pass between the +\par colonel and Captain B***, and my eyes were once more directed to this +\par cursed tail and the new calves sported by the captain, and I again +\par burst out laughing. I was then put under open arrest. The generals +\par must have thought I was crazy, but as soon as they had gone, the +\par officers of the regiment gathered round the colonel and Captain +\par B***, and soon realised what had happened. They laughed as I had +\par done, but in easier circumstances. +\par +\par In the evening, the commandant Blancheville attended a reception +\par given by Madame Gudin. General Bourcier, who was also there, having +\par brought up the subject of what he called my escapade, M. Blancheville +\par explained the reasons for my unseemly laughter, an explanation which +\par gave rise to much amusement. The laughter was increased by the entry +\par of Captain B***, who having adjusted his false calves, had come to +\par display himself in this brilliant society, without suspecting that he +\par was one of the reasons for their hilarity. General Bourcier, +\par appreciating that if he could not help laughing at a description of +\par the sight which had greeted my eyes, it was natural enough that a +\par young sous-lieutenant could not contain himself when confronted with +\par this ridiculous spectacle, cancelled my arrest and sent someone to +\par look for me. My arrival rekindled the laughter, which was increased +\par by the sight of Captain B***, who alone was unaware of the cause, +\par going from person to person asking what it was all about, while +\par everyone gazed at his calves. +\par +\par Chap. 17. +\par +\par Let us now turn to more serious matters. The Treaty of Lun\'e9ville +\par had been followed by the Peace of Amiens, which put an end to the war +\par between France and England. The First Consul decided to profit from +\par the tranquility of Europe and the freedom of the sea to despatch a +\par large body of troops to Dominica, which he wished to recover from the +\par control of the blacks led by Toussaint-Louverture, a man who, without +\par being in open revolt against the French, nevertheless adopted an air +\par of great independence. General Leclerc was to be in command of this +\par expedition. This general was a capable officer who had fought +\par successfully in Egypt and Italy; but his principal distinction was +\par that he had married Pauline Bonaparte, the First Consul's sister. +\par Leclerc was the son of a miller from Pontoise, if one can describe as +\par a miller, a very rich mill owner who had a considerable business. +\par The miller had given the best of educations to his son and also to +\par his daughter, who married General Davout. +\par +\par While General Leclerc was preparing for his departure, the First +\par Consul concentrated in Brittany those troops which he had earmarked +\par for the expedition, and these troops naturally came under the command +\par of the commander-in-chief of the area, which was Bernadotte. +\par +\par It is well known that there was always a great rivalry between the +\par troops of the Rhine army and those of the army of Italy. The former +\par were greatly attached to General Moreau, and did not care for General +\par Bonaparte, whose elevation to the head of government they had +\par witnessed with regret. For his part, the First Consul had a great +\par liking for the soldiers who had fought with him in Italy and Egypt, +\par and, although the breach with Moreau was not yet openly declared, he +\par considered that it would be in his interest to remove to as far away +\par as possible troops devoted to this general. In consequence, the +\par troops selected for the expedition to Dominica were almost all taken +\par from the army of the Rhine. These men, however were perfectly happy +\par to find themselves in Brittany, under the command of Bernadotte, a +\par former lieutenant of Moreau's who had almost always served with them +\par on the Rhine. +\par +\par The expeditionary force was to comprise eventually some forty +\par thousand men. The army of the west proper consisted of a similar +\par number, so that Bernadotte, whose command extended to cover all the +\par departments between the mouth of the Gironde and that of the Seine, +\par had for a time under his orders an army of eighty thousand men, of +\par whom the majority were more attached to him than to the head of the +\par consular government. +\par +\par If General Bernadotte had had more strength of character, the +\par First Consul would have regretted putting him in such a powerful +\par position; for I can say today, as an historical fact which will +\par harm no one, that Bernadotte plotted against the government of which +\par Bonaparte was the head. I shall give some details about this +\par conspiracy which were never known to the public, and perhaps not even +\par to General Bonaparte himself. +\par +\par Generals Bernadotte and Moreau, jealous of the elevated position +\par of the First Consul, and dissatisfied with the small part he gave +\par them in public affairs, had resolved to overthrow him, and place +\par themselves at the head of the government in conjunction with a civil +\par administrator or an enlightened magistrate. To achieve this aim, +\par Bernadotte, who, it must be said, had a talent for m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ himself +\par liked by both officers and men, went about the provinces of his +\par command, reviewing troops and using every means to increase their +\par attachment to him. Enticements of all sorts, money, promises of +\par promotion, were employed among the junior officers, while secretly +\par he denigrated the government of the First Consul to the seniors. +\par Having sown disaffection amongst most of the regiments, it would not +\par have been difficult to push them into revolt; particularly those +\par destined for the expeditionary force, who regarded it as a sort of +\par deportation. +\par +\par Bernadotte had as chief of staff Brigadier-general Simon, a +\par competent but rather colourless officer. His rank put him in a +\par position to correspond daily with unit commanders, and he used it to +\par make his office the centre of the conspiracy. A battalion commander +\par named Foucart was at that time attached to General Simon, who made +\par him his principal agent. Foucart, using the excuse of official +\par duties, travelled from garrison to garrison organising a secret +\par league, which was joined by almost all the colonels and a crowd of +\par senior officers, who were turned against the First Consul by +\par accusations that he aspired to royalty; something, it seems, that he +\par had not yet considered. +\par +\par It was agreed that the garrison of Rennes, composed of several +\par regiments, would begin the movement, which would spread like a trail +\par of gunpowder into all divisions of the army: and as it was necessary +\par that in this garrison there should be one unit which would start +\par things off and get the rest moving, the 82nd Line regiment was +\par brought to Rennes. This regiment was commanded by Colonel Pinoteau, +\par an energetic and capable man, very brave, but something of a hothead, +\par although he appeared outwardly phlegmatic. He was a follower of +\par Bernadotte and one of the most enthusiastic of the conspirators. He +\par promised to deliver his regiment, where he was extremely popular. +\par +\par Everything was ready for the explosion when Bernadotte, +\par lacking resolve and aiming, like a true Gascon, to have a catspaw to +\par pull his chestnuts from the fire, persuaded General Simon and the +\par other principal conspirators that it was essential that he should be +\par in Paris when the army of Brittany proclaimed the deposition of the +\par consul, so that he would be in a position to seize immediately the +\par reins of government, in association with General Moreau, with whom he +\par was going to confer about the matter. In reality, Bernadotte wished +\par not to be compromised if the attempt failed, while maintaining +\par himself in a position to take advantage of any success, and General +\par Simon and the other conspirators were blind enough not to see through +\par this ruse. The day of the armed uprising was then agreed, but the +\par man who should have led it, because he had organised it, had +\par cunningly absented himself. +\par +\par Before Bernadotte left for Paris, a proclamation had been drawn +\par up, addressed to the people of France as well as to the army. +\par Several thousand copies of this were to be stuck up on the day of the +\par event. A bookseller in Rennes, introduced by General Simon and by +\par Foucart into the conspiracy, had undertaken to print this proclamation +\par himself. This ensured that the proclamation would be ready for use +\par in Brittany, but Bernadotte wanted to have a large number of these +\par posters in Paris, for it was important to spread them throughout the +\par capital and to send them to all the provinces as soon as the army of +\par the west had made its move against the government, and as there was a +\par risk of discovery if an approach was made to a Paris printer, +\par Bernadotte devised a method of acquiring a large number of posters +\par without compromising himself. He told my brother Adolphe, who was +\par his aide-de-camp, that he was authorised to accompany him to Paris, +\par and that he was to bring his horse and his carriage in anticipation +\par of a long stay. My brother was delighted, and having packed his +\par personal effects into the lockers of the carriage, he instructed his +\par servant to bring the carriage, unhurriedly, to Paris while he went +\par there by stage-coach. +\par +\par As soon as my brother had left, General Simon and Commandant +\par Foucart, delaying, under some pretext or other, the departure of my +\par brother's servant, opened the carriage lockers and took out the +\par personal possessions, which they replaced by packets of the +\par proclamation. Then, having closed everything up, they sent poor +\par Joseph on his way, without any suspicion of what he was carrying. +\par +\par However, the First Consul's police had got wind of something +\par brewing in the army of Brittany, but without knowing exactly what was +\par going on or who was involved. The minister of police thought it was +\par his duty to inform the prefect of Rennes who was a M. Mounier, and by +\par the most extraordinary chance the prefect received this despatch on +\par the very day when the revolt was due to break out, during a parade at +\par Rennes, at mid-day. It was now eleven-thirty! +\par +\par The prefect, to whom the minister had given no positive +\par information, thought that in order to obtain some, he could do no +\par better,in the absence of the commanding general, than to consult his +\par chief of staff. He therefore asked General Simon to come to his +\par office, and showed him the ministerial despatch. General Simon, +\par believing that all had been discovered, then foolishly lost his head. +\par +\par He told the prefect that there was indeed a vast conspiracy in the +\par army, in which he had, unfortunately, played a part, of which he now +\par repented; and thereupon he disclosed all the plans of the +\par conspirators, and named the leaders; adding that in a few minutes the +\par troops gathered on the parade ground, at a signal from General +\par Pinoteau, were going to proclaim the overthrow of the consular +\par government! +\par +\par You may imagine M. Mounier's astonishment, and the concern he felt +\par at being in the presence of a culpable general who, though at first +\par thrown into confusion, might recover himself and recollect that he +\par had eighty thousand men under his command, of whom eight to ten +\par thousand were at this moment gathered not far from the prefecture. +\par The position in which M. Mounier found himself was critical, but he +\par extricated himself adroitly. +\par +\par The general commanding the gendarmerie, Virion, had been ordered +\par by the government to put together at Rennes a body of unmounted +\par gendarmes, for the formation of which every regiment had supplied +\par some Grenadiers. These soldiers, having no unifying bonds, escaped, +\par in consequence, from the influence of the colonels of the regiments, +\par and recognised only the orders of their new leaders, those of the +\par gendarmerie who, in accordance with the regulations, obeyed the +\par instructions of the prefect. M. Mounier now sent for General Virion, +\par telling him to bring all the gendarmes. Meanwhile, fearing that +\par General Simon might change his mind and leave him to go and place +\par himself at the head of his troops, he soothed him with honeyed words, +\par assuring him that his repentance and his confession would mitigate +\par his offence in the eyes of the First Consul, and persuaded him to +\par hand over his sword and go to the Tour Labat with the gendarmes who +\par had at that moment arrived in the courtyard. So now the prime mover +\par in the revolt was in prison. +\par +\par While this was going on at the prefecture, the troops assembled at +\par the Place D'armes were awaiting the hour of the parade which would +\par also be that of the beginning of the revolt. All the colonels were in +\par the secret, and had promised their support except the commander of +\par the 79th, M. Goddard, who it was hoped would follow the rest. +\par +\par From what a slender thread hangs the destiny of empires! Pinoteau, +\par a strong and determined man, was due to give the signal which his +\par regiment, the 82nd, already drawn up in battle formation on the +\par square, was impatiently awaiting; but Pinoteau, with Foucart, had +\par been busy all morning arranging for the despatch of proclamations, +\par and in their preoccupation he had forgotten to shave. Mid-day +\par arrived. Colonel Pinoteau realising that he was unshaven, hurried to +\par put this right; but while he was engaged in this operation, General +\par Virion, escorted by a large number of gendarmes, burst into the room, +\par seized his sword and declared him a prisoner. He was taken to the +\par tower to join General Simon. A few minutes later and Colonel +\par Pinoteau would have been at the head of ten thousand men, and would +\par undoubtedly have succeeded in starting the revolt. But taken thus by +\par surprise he could do nothing but surrender to force. +\par +\par Having made this second arrest, Virion and the prefect sent an +\par aide-de-camp to the parade ground to tell Colonel Goddard of the 79th +\par that they had a communication for him from the First Consul. As soon +\par as he arrived, they told him of the discovery of the conspiracy and +\par the arrest of General Simon and Colonel Pinoteau, and persuaded him +\par to unite with them in putting down the rebellion. Having agreed to +\par this, Colonel Goddard returned to the parade ground without telling +\par anyone what he had learned, and t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ his battalion to the Tour +\par Labat, he joined the battalion of gendarmes who were guarding it. +\par Also there were the prefect and General Virion, who arranged for +\par ammunition to be distributed to the loyal troops. They then awaited +\par events. +\par +\par Meanwhile, the officers of the regiments which were assembled +\par on the parade ground, surprised at the sudden departure of the 79th, +\par and not understanding why General Pinoteau was late, sent to his +\par home, where they were told that he had been arrested and sent to the +\par tower. They were told at the same time of the arrest of General +\par Simon. +\par +\par This put the cat among the pigeons. The officers of the various +\par units got together; Commandant Foucart proposed that they should +\par march immediately to free the two prisoners and carry on with the +\par movement. This suggestion was received with acclamation, +\par particularly from the 82nd, who worshipped Colonel Pinoteau. They +\par hurried to the Tour Labat, but found it surrounded by four thousand +\par gendarmes and the battalion of the 79th. The assailants were +\par undoubtedly the more numerous, but they had no ammunition and if +\par they had had any, many of them would have been reluctant to fire on +\par their comrades, simply to make a change in the members of the +\par government. General Virion and the Prefect addressed them and urged +\par them to return to their duty. The soldiers hesitated, and seeing +\par this, none of the officers dared to order a bayonet attack, which was +\par the only action which remained possible. Gradually the regiments +\par stood down, and returned one by one to their barracks. Commandant +\par Foucart, left alone, was taken to the tower, along with the +\par unfortunate printer. +\par +\par On learning that the insurrection at Rennes had failed, all the +\par officers of the other regiments of the army of Brittany disavowed it; +\par but the First Consul was not taken in by their protestations, he +\par brought forward the date of their embarkation for Dominica and the +\par other islands of the Antilles, where nearly all of them died, either +\par in the fighting or of yellow fever. +\par +\par As soon as he had heard the first confessions of General Simon and +\par before the situation was fully under control, M. Mounier had sent a +\par despatch rider to the government, and the First Consul now considered +\par whether he should have Bernadotte and Moreau arrested. However, he +\par suspended this measure for lack of any evidence, and to get hold of +\par some, he ordered the examination of any travellers coming from +\par Brittany. +\par +\par While all this was going on, the good Joseph arrived at Versailles +\par in my brother's carriage, and much to his surprise, found himself +\par seized by the gendarmerie, and, in spite of his protests, brought +\par before the minister of police. On learning that the carriage which +\par this man was driving belonged to one of Bernadotte's aides-de-camp, +\par the minister, Fouch\'e9, had all the lockers searched and found them +\par full of proclamations, in which Bernadotte and Moreau, after +\par denouncing the First Consul in violent terms announced his fall and +\par their accession to power. +\par +\par Bonaparte, furious with these two officers, demanded their +\par presence. Moreau told him that as he, Moreau,had no authority over +\par the army of the west, he would accept no responsibility for the +\par conduct of the regiments of which it was composed; and one has to +\par admit that this was a valid objection. It however worsened the +\par position of Bernadotte, who, as commander-in-chief of the troops +\par assembled in Brittany, was responsible for maintaining good order +\par and discipline amongst them; but not only had his army engaged in +\par conspiracy, but his chief-of-staff was a leader in the enterprise. +\par The rebel proclamations bore Bernadotte's signature, and more than +\par one thousand copies of this document had just been found in a +\par carriage belonging to his aide-de-camp. The First Consul thought that +\par such evident proofs would flatten and confound Bernadotte; but he was +\par dealing with a true Gascon, as devious as they come! +\par +\par Bernadotte expressed surprise...indignation! He knew +\par nothing...absolutely nothing! General Simon was a villain and so was +\par Pinoteau! He defied anyone to produce the original proclamation +\par bearing his signature! Was it his fault if some lunatic had arranged +\par for his name to be printed at the foot of a proclamation which he +\par utterly and completely rejected. As for the wicked originators of all +\par these plots, he would be the first to demand their punishment. +\par +\par Bernadotte had indeed contrived to get everything directed by +\par General Simon, without giving him a single word in writing which +\par might compromise himself, and had left himself in a position in which +\par he could deny everything if, in the event of the plot failing, +\par General Simon should accuse him of being a participant. The First +\par Consul, though convinced of Bernadotte's guilt, had no solid evidence +\par to go on, and his council of ministers concluded that it would not be +\par feasible to bring charges against a general who was so popular in the +\par country and the army. Sadly, these sort of considerations did not +\par apply to my brother Adolphe. One fine night they came to my mother's +\par house to arrest him, and this at a time when the poor woman was +\par already overburdened with grief. +\par +\par M. de Canrobert, her eldest brother, whom she had managed to have +\par taken off the list of \'e9migr\'e9s, was living peaceably with her when he +\par was picked out by a policeman as having been present at some +\par gathering whose aim was the restoration of the previous government. +\par He was taken to the Temple Prison, where he was detained for eleven +\par months. My mother was t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ every possible step to prove his +\par innocence and obtain his liberty when she was struck by another +\par terrible disaster. +\par +\par My two younger brothers were pupils at the French Military School. +\par This establishment had a huge park and a fine country house in the +\par village of Vanves, not far from the banks of the Seine; and in the +\par summer the pupils went there to pass some of their holidays, when +\par those who had behaved well were allowed to bathe in the river. Now +\par it so happened that, because of some student peccadillo, the +\par headmaster had deprived the whole school of the pleasure of swimming; +\par however my brother Theodore loved swimming, so he and some of his +\par friends decided to go swimming without the knowledge of their +\par masters. While the pupils were spread about the park playing, they +\par went to an isolated spot where they climbed over the wall and, on a +\par very hot day, they ran to the Seine, into which they jumped, bathed +\par in perspiration. They were scarcely in the water, however, when they +\par heard the college drum beating for dinner. Fearing that their +\par escapade would be discovered by their absence from the refectory, +\par they dressed hurriedly and rushed back by the way they had come, to +\par arrive, breathless, at the start of the meal. In such circumstances, +\par they should have eaten little or nothing, but schoolboys are +\par heedless, and they ate as much as usual, with the result that they +\par nearly all became ill. Theodore was particularly affected, and was +\par taken to my mother's house desperately ill with pneumonia. +\par +\par It was while she was going from the bedside of her mortally +\par afflicted son to her brother's prison, that they came to arrest her +\par first-born. An appalling situation for any mother. To make matters +\par worse, poor Theodore died. He was eighteen years old, charming and +\par handsome. I was desolated to hear of his death, for I was very fond +\par of him. +\par These dreadful misfortunes which, one after another, assailed my +\par mother, impelled those who were my father's true friends to exert +\par themselves on her behalf. A leading figure among them was +\par M. Defermon, who worked almost daily with the First Consul, and who +\par rarely failed to intercede for Adolphe and his widowed mother. +\par Eventually, General Bonaparte said to him one day, that although he +\par had a low opinion of Bernadotte's common sense, he did not believe +\par that he was so lacking in judgement that in conspiring against the +\par government, he would take into his confidence a twenty-one year old +\par lieutenant; and besides that, General Simon had stated that it was he +\par and Commandant Foucart who had put the proclamations in young +\par Marbot's carriage, so that, if he was to blame at all, it was only to +\par a very small extent. However, he, the First Consul, was not willing +\par to release the aide-de-camp until Bernadotte came in person to ask +\par him to do so. +\par +\par When she heard of this decision taken by the First Consul, my +\par mother hastened to Bernadotte's house and begged him to take the +\par necessary step. He promised solemnly to do but the days and weeks +\par rolled past without him doing anything. Eventually, he said to my +\par mother, "What you are asKing of me will be extremely painful, but no +\par matter, I owe this to the memory of your husband, as well as to the +\par interest I have in your children. I shall go this very evening to +\par see the First Consul and I shall call at your house after leaving the +\par Tuileries. I am certain I shall be able to announce the release of +\par your son." +\par +\par One can imagine with what impatience my mother waited during this +\par long day! Every coach she heard made her heart beat. But at last +\par it struck eleven o'clock and Bernadotte had not appeared. My mother +\par then went round to his house, and what do you suppose she was +\par told?....That General Bernadotte and his wife had left, to take the +\par waters at Plombi\'e8res, and would not be back for two months! In spite +\par of his promises, Bernadotte had left Paris without seeing the First +\par Consul. Devastated, my mother wrote to General Bonaparte. M. Defermon, +\par who undertook to deliver the letter, was so indignant at the conduct +\par of General Bernadotte that he could not resist telling the First +\par Consul how he had behaved toward us. "That," said the First Consul, +\par "is the sort of thing I would expect!" +\par +\par M. Defermon, Generals Mortier, Lefebvre and Murat then urged that +\par my brother should be freed; observing that if he had been unaware of +\par the conspiracy, it was unjust to keep him in prison, and even if he +\par had known something about it, he could not be expected to carry tales +\par about Bernadotte, whose aide-de-camp he was. This reasoning impressed +\par the First Consul, who set my brother at liberty and sent him to +\par Cherbourg, to join the 49th Line regiment, as he did not wish him to +\par continue as aide-de-camp to Bernadotte. +\par +\par Bonaparte, who had a very long memory, probably had engraved, +\par somewhere in his head, the words, "Marbot. Aide-de-camp of +\par Bernadotte. Conspiracy of Rennes." So my brother was never again +\par looked on with favour, and some time later he was sent to Pondichery. +\par +\par Adolphe had spent a month in prison; Commandant Foucart was there +\par for a year. He was cashiered and ordered to leave France. He took +\par refuge in Holland, where he lived miserably for thirty years on +\par earnings from French lessons, which he was reduced to giving, as he +\par had no personal fortune. +\par +\par At last, in 1832, he thought to return to his native country, and +\par during the siege of Anvers I saw, one day, come into my room, a sort +\par of elderly schoolmaster, very threadbare; it was Foucart, I +\par recognised him. He told me that he did not have a brass farthing! +\par While I offered him some assistance, I could not help reflecting +\par on the bizarre workings of fate. Here was a man who in 1802 was +\par already a battalion commander, and whose courage and ability would +\par have certainly carried him to the rank of general, if Colonel +\par Pinoteau had not decided to shave at the moment when the conspiracy +\par of Rennes was due to come to a head. I took Foucart to Marshal +\par G\'e9rard, who also remembered him, and together we presented him to the +\par Duc d'Orl\'e9ans, who gave him a job in his library, at a salary of 2400 +\par francs. He lived there for fifteen years. +\par +\par As for General Simon and Colonel Pinoteau, they were imprisoned in +\par the Isle de R\'e9 for five or six years. Eventually, Bonaparte, having +\par become Emperor, set them free. Pinoteau had been vegetating for some +\par time in Rufec, his birthplace, when, in 1808, the Emperor, who was on +\par his way to Spain, having stopped there to change horses, Pinoteau +\par presented himself boldly before him and requested to be re-engaged +\par in military service. The Emperor, who knew that he was an excellent +\par officer, then placed him in command of a regiment, which he led +\par faultlessly throughout the wars in Spain, so that after several +\par campaigns, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general. +\par +\par General Simon also returned to military service. He was in +\par command of an infantry brigade in Mass\'e9na's army when we invaded +\par Portugal. At the battle of Busaco, where Mass\'e9na made the mistake of +\par mounting a frontal attack on the Duke of Wellington's army, which was +\par in position on the heights of a mountain with a very difficult +\par approach, Poor Simon, wishing, no doubt, to redeem himself and to +\par make up for the time he had lost towards promotion, charged bravely +\par at the head of his brigade, overcame every obstacle, clambered up +\par the rocks under a hail of bullets, broke through the English line and +\par was first into the enemy entrenchments. But, there, a bullet fired +\par at close range shattered his jaw at the moment when the English +\par second line drove back our troops, who were thrown down into the +\par valley with considerable losses. The enemy found the unfortunate +\par general lying in the redout among the dead and dying. His face was +\par hardly recognisable as human. Wellington treated him with much +\par respect, and as soon as he could be moved, he sent him to England as +\par a prisoner of war. He was later permitted to return to France. But +\par his terrible injury barred him from any further service. The Emperor +\par gave him a pension, and one heard no more of him. +\par +\par Chap. 18. +\par +\par After the unhappy events which had just befallen her, my mother +\par longed to re-unite her three remaining sons around her. My brother, +\par having been ordered to join the expeditionary force which was being +\par sent to India under the command of General Decaen, was given +\par permission to spend two months with my mother; F\'e9lix was at the +\par Military School, and a piece of good fortune brought me also to +\par Paris. +\par +\par The School of Cavalry was then at Versailles; every regiment sent +\par there an officer and a non-commissioned officer, who, after +\par completing their studies, returned to their unit to act as +\par instructors. Now it so happened that at the moment when I was about +\par to ask for permission to go to Paris, the lieutenant who had been at +\par the School had completed the course, and the colonel proposed to send +\par me to replace him. I accepted this with pleasure, for not only would +\par it allow me to see my mother again, but it would ensure that for +\par eighteen months I would be living only a short distance from her. +\par +\par My preparations were soon made. I sold my horse and t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ the +\par stage-coach, I left the 25th Chasseurs, to which I was never to +\par return; although not being aware of this at the time, my farewells to +\par my comrades were lighthearted. +\par +\par On my arrival in Paris, I found my mother greatly upset, not only +\par on account of the cruel loss which we had just suffered, but also +\par over the imminent departure of Adolphe for India, and the detention +\par of my uncle Canrobert, which continued indefinitely. +\par +\par We spent a month together as a family, at the end of which my +\par elder brother had to report to Brest, where he was soon embarked for +\par Pondichery in the "Marengo." As for me, I went to settle in at the +\par School of Cavalry, whose barracks were in the great stables of +\par Versailles. +\par +\par I was lodged on the first floor, in apartments which had once +\par been occupied by the Prince de Lambesc, the master of horse. I had a +\par very big bedroom and an immense "salon" which looked out over the +\par Avenue de Paris and the parade-ground. I was at first astonished +\par that the most recently arrived pupil should be so well housed, but I +\par soon learned that no one wanted this apartment because its huge size +\par made it glacially cold, and few of the officer pupils could afford to +\par keep a fire going. Happily I was not entirely without means. I had a +\par good stove put in, and with a big screen, I made in this vast +\par apartment a little room, which I furnished modestly, since all we +\par were issued with was a table, a bed, and two chairs, which were quite +\par out of place in the enormous space of my quarters. So I made myself +\par reasonably comfortable until the return of spring, when the place +\par seemed quite charming. +\par +\par Although we were called pupils, you should not suppose that we +\par were treated as students. We were allowed every freedom, too much +\par freedom in fact. We were commanded by an old colonel, M. Maurice, +\par whom we hardly ever saw, and who did not take part in anything. On +\par three days in the week we had civilian horsemanship, under the +\par celebrated equestrians Jardin and Coup\'e9, and we went there when it +\par suited us. In the afternoon, an excellent veterinarian, M. Valois, +\par ran a course on the care of horses; but no one compelled us to study +\par with any diligence. The other three days were devoted to military +\par matters. In the morning, military horsemanship, taught by the only +\par two captains in the school, and in the afternoon, drill, also taught +\par by them. Once this parade was finished, the captains disappeared and +\par each student went his own way. +\par +\par You will appreciate that it took a keen desire to learn, to get +\par anywhere in a school so badly run; however most of the students made progress because, being destined to become instructors in their +\par respective regiments, their self-respect made them fear not being up +\par to the task. So they worked reasonably hard, but not as hard as one +\par would as a schoolboy. As for behaviour, the staff took no interest in +\par it. As long as the students caused no trouble in the establishment +\par itself, they were allowed to do as they pleased. They came and went +\par at all hours. They were subject to no role call. They ate in hotels, +\par if it suited them, slept out, and even went to Paris without asking +\par permission. The non-commissioned pupils had a little less liberty. +\par Two moderately strict sergeants were in charge of them, who insisted +\par that they were back by ten o'clock at night. +\par +\par Each of us wore the uniform of his regiment, so that a gathering +\par of the whole school presented an interesting sight, as when, on the +\par first day of every month, we paraded in full dress in order to draw +\par up the pay roll; then you could see the uniforms of all the French +\par cavalry regiments. +\par +\par As all these officers belonged to different units, and were thrown +\par together only for the duration of the course, there could not exist +\par between them the close fellowship which is one of the features of +\par regimental life. We were too numerous (ninety) for there to be a +\par bond between all. There were coteries but no union. I did not feel +\par any need to socialise with my new comrades. I left every Saturday for +\par Paris, where I spent the next day and most of Monday with my mother. +\par There were at Versailles two old friends of my mother, from Rennes; +\par the Comtesses de Ch\'e2teauville, a pair of very respectable and well +\par educated elderly ladies, who entertained only a select society. I +\par went two or three times a week to spend an evening with them. The +\par remaining evenings I employed in reading, which I have always greatly +\par enjoyed, for if school sets a man on the road to education, he must +\par get there by himself through reading. How pleasant it was, in the +\par midst of a very harsh winter, to come back to my quarters after +\par dinner, make up a good fire and there, alone, ensconced behind my +\par screen and beside my little lamp, to read until eight or nine +\par o'clock; then to go to bed, in order to save wood, and continue +\par reading to midnight. In this way I re-read Tacitus and Xenophon and +\par many of the classical Greek and Roman authors; I revised the history +\par of Rome and of France, and the principle countries of Europe. My +\par time, shared between my mother, my work at the school, a little good +\par society and my beloved books, passed very agreeably. +\par +\par I began the year 1803 at Versailles. Spring introduced some +\par changes into my way of life. Each of the officers at the school was +\par provided with a horse, so I devoted some of my evenings to t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ +\par long rides in the magnificent woods which surround Versailles, Marly, +\par and Meudon. +\par +\par During May, my mother was made very happy by the release of her +\par eldest brother from the Temple prison, and the return to France of +\par the other two, de l'Isle and de la Coste, who, having been struck off +\par the list of \'e9migr\'e9s came to Paris. +\par +\par The eldest of my mother's brothers, M. de Canrobert was a very +\par pleasant, sensible man. He entered the service at a very young age, +\par as a sous-lieutenant in the infantry of Ponthi\'e8vre, and, under +\par Lieutenant-general De Vaux, fought in all the campaigns of the war in +\par Corsica, in which he distinguished himself. After the conquest of +\par that country, he served out the twenty-four years which earned him +\par the Cross of St. Louis. He was a captain when he married Mlle. +\par Sanguinet and then retired to the Ch\'e2teau of Laval de C\'e8re. +\par +\par Having become the father of a son and a daughter, M. de Canrobert +\par was living happily in his manor when the revolution broke out in +\par 1789. He was forced to emigrate to escape the scaffold, with which he +\par was threatened, all his possessions were confiscated and sold, his +\par wife was imprisoned with her two young children. My mother obtained +\par permission to visit her unhappy sister-in-law, and found her in a +\par cold, damp tower, stricken by a fever, which carried off, that very +\par day, her young daughter. By dint of requests and supplications, my +\par mother managed to obtain the release of her sister-in-law; but she +\par died a few days later from the illness she had contracted in prison. +\par My mother then took charge of the young boy, named Antoine. He was +\par sent in turn to college and then to the military school, where he +\par was one of their brightest pupils. Finally he became an infantry +\par officer and was killed, bravely, on the field of battle, at Waterloo. +\par My uncle was one of the first of the \'e9migr\'e9s who, under the +\par consulate, were given permission to return to France. He recovered +\par some part of his estate, and married again, this time to one of the +\par daughters of M. Niocel, an old friend of the family. +\par +\par M. Certain de l'Isle, the second of my mother's brothers, was one +\par of the most handsome men in France. At the time of the revolution he +\par was a lieutenant in the regiment of Ponthi\'e8vre, in which were also +\par serving his elder brother and several of his uncles. He took the +\par same course as nearly all his comrades and emigrated in company with +\par his younger brother, Certain de la Coste, who was in the King's +\par bodyguard. After leaving France the two brothers stayed always +\par together. They retreated first to the country of Baden, but their +\par tranquility was soon disturbed: the French armies crossed the Rhine, +\par and as all \'e9migr\'e9s who fell into their clutches were shot, by order +\par of the Convention, the brothers were forced to hide hurriedly in the +\par interior of Germany. Lack of money compelled them to travel on foot, +\par which soon became too much for poor La Coste. They had great +\par difficulty in finding lodgings, as everywhere was occupied by +\par Austrian troops. La Coste became ill. His brother supported him. +\par In this way they reached a little town in Wurtemberg, where they +\par found a bed in a low class tavern. At daybreak they saw the +\par Austrians leaving, and they were told that the French were about to +\par occupy the town. La Coste, unable to move, urged de l'Isle to look +\par to his own safety and to leave him to the care of Providence; but de +\par l'Isle declared solemnly that he would not abandon his sick brother. +\par +\par However two French volunteers arrived at the inn with a requisition +\par for lodgings. The inn-keeper took them to the room occupied by my +\par two uncles, whom he told that they would have to leave. It has been +\par said, quite rightly, that during the Revolution, the honour of France +\par took refuge in the army. The two soldiers, seeing that La Coste was +\par ill, told the landlord that not only did they wish to keep him with +\par them, but that they wanted a large room which was on the first floor, +\par where they would establish themselves with my two uncles. In enemy +\par country, the victor being the master, the inn-keeper obeyed the two +\par French volunteers, who, during the two weeks in which their battalion +\par was billeted in the town, took great care of Messers La Coste and de +\par l'Isle, and even let them share in the good meals which their host +\par was obliged to provide in accordance with the usages of war; and this +\par comfortable regime, coupled with rest, restored to some extent, the +\par health of La Coste. +\par +\par When they left, the volunteers, who belonged to a battalion from +\par the Gironde, wishing to give their new friends the means of passing +\par through the French columns without being arrested, took from their +\par uniforms the metal buttons which bore the name of their battalion, +\par and attached them to the civilian clothing worn by my uncles, who +\par could then pass themselves off as sutlers. With this new form of +\par passport, they went through all the French cantonments without +\par rousing any suspicion. They reached Prussia, and settled down in the +\par town of Hall, where De l'Isle was able to give French lessons. They +\par lived there peacefully until 1803, when my mother managed to have +\par them struck of the list of \'e9migr\'e9s, and they returned to France after twelve years of exile. +\par +\par Chap. 19. +\par +\par Let us now return to Versailles. While I was on the course at the +\par school of cavalry, great events were under way in Europe. England +\par having broken the Treaty of Amiens, hostilities recommenced. The +\par First Consul resolved to take the initiative by leading an army onto +\par the soil of Great Britain, a daring and difficult undert}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{, but +\par not impossible. To put it into operation, Napoleon, who had just +\par seized Hanover, the private property of the English monarchy, +\par stationed on the coasts of the North Sea and the Channel, several +\par army corps, and ordered the construction and assembly, at Boulogne +\par and neighbouring ports, of an immense number of barges and +\par flat-bottomed boats, on which he proposed to embark his troops. +\par +\par All the armed forces were set in motion for this war. I regretted +\par that I was not involved; and being destined to carry back to my +\par regiment the knowledge I had acquired at the school, I saw myself +\par condemned to spend several years in the depot with a whip in my +\par hand, m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ recruits trot round on elderly horses, while my comrades +\par were fighting at the head of troops which I had trained. I did not +\par find this prospect very pleasant, but how was it to be changed? A +\par regiment must always be fed with recruits, and it was certain that my +\par colonel, having sent me to the school of cavalry to learn how to +\par train these recruits, would not deprive himself of the services which +\par I could render in this respect, and would keep me out of the fighting +\par squadrons. One day, however, as I was walking down the Avenue de +\par Paris, with my drill manual in my hand, I had a brilliant idea, which +\par totally changed my destiny and contributed greatly to my promotion to +\par the rank which I now occupy. +\par +\par I had just learned that the First Consul, having fallen out with +\par the court of Lisbon, had ordered the formation, at Bayonne, of an +\par army corps destined to enter Portugal under the command of General +\par Augereau. I knew that General Augereau owed some of his advancement +\par to my father, under whose command he had served in the camp at +\par Toulouse and in the Pyrenees, and although what I had experienced at +\par Genoa after the death of my father had not given me a high +\par opinion of the gratitude of mankind, I resolved to write to him and, +\par having explained the predicament in which I found myself, ask him to +\par extricate me by t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ me on as one of his aides-de-camp. +\par +\par Having written this letter, I sent it to my mother, to see if she +\par approved. She not only approved, but knowing that Augereau was in +\par Paris, she decided to take the letter to him herself. Augereau +\par received the widow of his old friend with the greatest consideration; +\par he immediately took his carriage and went to the War Ministry, and +\par that same evening he handed to my mother my appointment as +\par aide-de-camp. Thus a wish, which twenty-four hours earlier had +\par seemed a dream, became a reality. +\par +\par The following day I hurried to Paris to thank the general. He +\par received me most kindly, and ordered me to join him at Bayonne, to +\par where he was now going. It was now October, I had completed the +\par first course at the school of cavalry and had little interest in +\par starting on the second; so I was happy to leave Versailles, for I +\par felt sure that I was starting on a new career, much more advantageous +\par than that of a regimental instructor. I was quite right in thinking +\par this, for nine years later I was a colonel, while those I had left at +\par the school had hardly reached the rank of captain. +\par +\par I reported promptly to Bayonne and took up my post as an +\par aide-de-camp to the commander-in-chief. He was installed a quarter +\par of a league from the town in the fine Ch\'e2teau de Marac, in which the +\par Emperor lived some years later. I was made very welcome by General +\par Augereau and by my new comrades, his aides-de-camp, nearly all of +\par whom had served under my father. This general staff, although it did +\par not give to the army as many general officers as that of Bernadotte, +\par was nevertheless very well made up. General Danzelot who was the +\par chief-of-staff, was a highly capable man who later became the +\par governor of the Ionian islands and then Martinique. His second in +\par command was Colonel Albert, who at his death was general aide-de-camp +\par to the Duc d'Orl\'e9ans. The aides-de-camp were Colonel Sicard, who +\par died at Heilsberg, Major Brame, who retired to Lille after the Peace +\par of Tilsit, Major Massy, killed as a colonel at Moscow, Captain +\par Ch\'e9vetel and Lieutenant Mainville, the first of whom retired to his +\par estate in Brittany and the second ended his career in Bayonne. I was +\par the sixth and youngest of the aides-de-camp. +\par +\par Finally the staff was completed by Dr. Raymond, who helped me +\par greatly at Eylau, and Colonel Augereau, a half-brother of the +\par general; a very quiet man, who later became a lieutenant general. +\par +\par Chap. 20. +\par +\par The greater part of the generals who made a name for themselves in +\par the early wars of the revolution having sprung from the lower ranks +\par of society, it has been supposed, wrongly, that they had received no +\par education, and that they owed their success solely to their fighting +\par ability. Augereau, in particular, has been very badly judged. He +\par has been represented as boastful, hard, noisy and nasty. This is an +\par error, for although he had a stormy youth, and fell into some +\par political misconceptions, he was kind, polite and affectionate, and I +\par can assure you that of the five marshals under whom I have served, it +\par was he who did most to lessen the evils of war, who was most +\par considerate toward the local populace and who treated his officers +\par best, among whom he lived like a father among his children. It is +\par true that he had a most irregular life, but before passing judgement +\par you must consider the conditions which existed at the time. +\par +\par Pierre Augereau was born in Paris in 1757. His father had an +\par extensive business in the fruit trade and had acquired a large +\par fortune, which allowed him to give his children a good education. +\par His mother was born in Munich, and she had the good sense to speak +\par nothing but German to her son, who, as a result spoke it perfectly; +\par something he found most useful in his travels, and also during the +\par wars. +\par +\par Augereau was good-looking, large and well built. He loved all +\par physical activities, at which he excelled. He was a good horseman and +\par a fine swordsman. When he was seventeen his mother died, and one of +\par her brothers who worked in the office of Monsieur (the king's +\par brother) arranged for him to join the Carabiniers, of whom Monsieur +\par was colonel in chief. +\par +\par He spent several years at Saumur, where the Carabiniers were +\par usually garrisoned, and where his efficiency and good conduct soon +\par raised him to the rank of sergeant. Sadly, there was at this time +\par a craze for duels. The reputation which Augereau had as an excellent +\par swordsman compelled him to engage in several, for it was a great +\par point among duelists not to accept that anyone was their superior; +\par gentlemen, officers and soldiers fought for the most futile of +\par reasons. It so happened that when Augereau was on leave in Paris, +\par the celebrated fencing master Saint-George, seeing him pass, said, +\par in the presence of several swordsmen, there is one of the finest +\par blades in France. Upon this, a sergeant of Dragoons named Belair, +\par who claimed to be next to Saint-George in ability, wrote to Augereau +\par saying that he would challenge him to fight unless he recognised the +\par writer's superiority. Augereau having replied that he would do +\par nothing of the sort, they met on the Champs-Elys\'e9es where Belair +\par received a penetrating sword-thrust. He subsequently recovered and +\par having left the service, he married and became the father of eight +\par children, for whom he was unable to provide. So in the first days of +\par the Empire it occurred to him to approach his old adversary, now a +\par marshal. This man, whom I knew, was something of an original +\par character; he presented himself before Augereau with a little violin +\par under his arm, and said that as he had nothing to give his eight +\par children for dinner, he would make them dance a quadrille to cheer +\par them up, unless the marshal could put him in the way of providing a +\par more substantial meal. Augereau recognised Belair, invited him to a +\par meal, gave him some money and a few days later arranged for him to +\par have a good job in the transport department. He also placed two of +\par his sons in school. Conduct which requires no commentary. +\par +\par Not all the duels which Augereau fought ended like this. As a +\par result of an absurd custom, there existed an inveterate hatred +\par between some units, the cause for which was buried in the past and +\par often hardly known, but which, handed down from age to age, resulted +\par in duels every time the units met. In this way the Gendarmes of +\par Lun\'e9ville and the Carabiniers had been at war for half a century, +\par though they had not seen one another in this long period of time. At +\par last, at the beginning of the reign of Louis XVI, they found +\par themselves in the same camp at Compi\'e8gne; whereupon, to show +\par themselves no less brave than their forefathers, the Carabiniers and +\par the Gendarmes decided to fight, and their determination was such that +\par the officers thought it wiser to look the other way. However, to +\par avoid too much bloodshed, it was agreed that there would be only one +\par duel; each unit would select a combatant who would represent them, +\par and after that there would be a truce. The Carabiniers chose their +\par twelve best swordsmen, among whom was Augereau, and it was agreed +\par that the defender of the regimental honour should be chosen by lot. +\par On that day fate was more blind than usual, for it selected a +\par sergeant by the name of Donnadieu, who had five children. Augereau +\par observed that the name of a father of a family should not have been +\par included in the draw, and asked if he might replace his comrade. +\par Donnadieu declared that as his name had been chosen he would go +\par forward. Augereau insisted, and this battle of generosity was ended +\par only by the members of the meeting accepting Augereau's proposal. +\par The name of the combatant chosen by the Gendarmes would soon be known +\par and after that it was merely a matter of arranging for the two +\par adversaries to meet, when a simulated quarrel would serve as a motive +\par for the encounter. +\par +\par Augereau had a fearsome opponent, an excellent swordsman, a +\par professional duelist, who as a warm-up, awaiting the contest, had +\par killed two sergeants of the Guards, on the days previously. +\par Augereau, without allowing himself to be intimidated by the +\par reputation of this bravo, went to the caf\'e9 where he knew he was to +\par appear, and while awaiting him sat down at a table. The Gendarme +\par arrived, and when his opponent had been pointed out to him, he pulled +\par aside his coat-tails, and sat down insolently on the table, his +\par backside not a foot from Augereau's face. Augereau was drinking a +\par cup of very hot coffee at the time and he gently eased back the +\par opening, called the ventouse, which existed then at the back of a +\par cavalryman's leather breeches, and poured the steaming liquid onto the +\par the buttocks of the impudent Gendarme, who turned round in a fury! +\par The quarrel having now been engaged upon, they went outside, followed +\par by a crowd of Gendarmes and Carabiniers. As they went along, the +\par ferocious Gendarme, to mock the man whom, he felt confident, would be +\par his victim, asked Augereau, in a bantering tone, whether he would +\par prefer to be buried in the town or in the country. "The country" +\par replied Augereau, "I have always liked the open air." "Fine," said +\par the gendarme, and, turning to his second, he said, "Put him with the +\par other two I killed yesterday and the day before." This was not very +\par encouraging, and anyone but Augereau might have been put out, but +\par determined to sell his life dearly, he defended himself with such +\par skill that his adversary lost his temper and made a false move, which +\par allowed Augereau, who had remained calm, to run him through, saying +\par that it was he who would be buried in the country. +\par +\par The camp being ended, the Carabiniers returned to Saumur, where +\par Augereau was peacefully continuing his military service when a +\par disastrous event precipitated him into a life of high adventure. +\par +\par A young officer of exalted birth, but with a very nasty temper, +\par having found something to complain about concerning the grooming of +\par horses, rounded on Augereau, and in an access of rage offered to +\par strike him with his riding whip in front of the whole squadron. +\par Augereau indignantly seized the officer's whip and threw it away, +\par whereupon the latter, in a fury, drew his sword and confronted +\par Augereau, saying, "Defend yourself!" Augereau restricted himself +\par at first merely to parrying, but having been slightly wounded, he +\par made a riposte and the officer fell dead. +\par +\par The general, Comte de Malseigne, who commanded the Carabiniers in +\par the name of Monsieur, was soon told of this affair, and although +\par eye-witnesses agreed in saying that Augereau, provoked by the most +\par unjustifiable attack, had legitimately defended himself, the general, +\par who favoured Augereau, thought it would be wiser to get him out of +\par the way. To do this he called on a Carabinier named Papon, a native +\par of Geneva whose term of service was due to expire in a few days, and +\par invited him to give his travel permit to Augereau, promising to give +\par him another one later. Papon agreed to this, and Augereau was always +\par most grateful to him, for when he arrived in Geneva, he learned that +\par the court-martial, in spite of the evidence of the witnesses, had +\par condemned him to death for raising his sword against an officer. +\par +\par The Papon family had a business which exported a large number of +\par watches to the east. Augereau decided to go with a representative +\par whom they were sending there, and travelled with him to Greece, to +\par the Ionian islands, to Constantinople and the shores of the Black Sea. +\par +\par He was in the Crimea when a Russian colonel, guessing from his +\par bearing that he had been a soldier, offered him the rank of sergeant. +\par +\par Augereau accepted, and served for several years in the Russian army, +\par which the famous Souwaroff commanded in a war against the Turks, and +\par was wounded in the assault on Ismailoff. +\par +\par When peace was made between the Porte and Russia, the regiment in +\par which Augereau was serving was ordered to go to Poland; but he did +\par not wish to stay any longer with the semi-barbarous Russians, so he +\par deserted and went to Prussia, where he served at first in the +\par regiment of Prince Henry, and then, on account of his height and good +\par looks, he was posted to the famous guards of Frederick the Great. He +\par was there for two years, and his captain had led him to hope for +\par promotion, when one day the king, who was reviewing his guards +\par stopped in front of him and said, "There is a fine looking +\par Grenadier!....Where does he come from?" "He is French sire," came +\par the reply. "Too bad," said Frederick, who had come to detest the +\par French as much as he had once liked them. "Too bad. If he had been +\par Swiss or German we could have made something of him". +\par +\par Augereau, from then on, was convinced he would get nowhere in +\par Prussia, since he had heard it from the lips of the king himself, and +\par so he resolved to leave the country. This was a very difficult +\par matter, because as soon as the desertion of a soldier was signalised +\par by the firing of a cannon, the population set off in pursuit of him, +\par in the hope of obtaining the promised reward, and the deserter when +\par captured was invariably shot. +\par +\par In order to avoid this fate and to regain his liberty, Augereau, +\par who knew that a good one third of the guards, foreigners like +\par himself, had only one wish, and that was to get out of Prussia, spoke +\par with some sixty of the most daring, to whom he pointed out that a +\par single deserter had no chance of escape, since it required only two +\par or three men to arrest him, so that it was essential to leave in a +\par body with arms and ammunition for defence. This is what they did, +\par under the leadership of Augereau. +\par +\par This determined group of men, attacked on their way by peasants, +\par and even a detachment of soldiers, lost several of their company, but +\par killed many of their adversaries, and in one night they reached a +\par small area of the country of Saxony which is not more than ten +\par leagues from Potsdam. Augereau went to Dresden, where he gave +\par lessons in dancing and fencing, until the birth of the first Dauphin, +\par the son of Louis XVI, an event which the government celebrated by +\par granting an amnesty to all deserters, which allowed Augereau not only +\par to return to Paris, but to rejoin the Carabiniers, his sentence +\par having been quashed, and General de Malseigne having insisted that he +\par was one of the finest N.C.O.s in the corps. +\par +\par In 1788, the King of Naples, feeling the need to put his army on a +\par good footing, requested the King of France to send him a number of +\par officers and N.C.O.s to act as instructors, whom he undertook to +\par promote to a rank above their present one on their arrival. Augereau +\par was included in this party and was promoted to sous-lieutenant. He +\par served there for several years, and had just been promoted to +\par lieutenant, when he fell in love with the daughter of a Greek +\par merchant. When her father refused his consent to the union, the two +\par lovers were married in secret, and embarking on the first vessel they +\par found about to leave, they went to Lisbon, where they lived +\par peacefully for some time. +\par +\par It was now the end of 1792; the French Revolution was spreading +\par rapidly, and all the sovereign heads of Europe feared the +\par introduction of these new principles into their states, and were +\par suspicious of everything French. Augereau has often assured me that +\par during his stay in Portugal he never said or did anything which could +\par alarm the government, nevertheless, he was arrested and incarcerated +\par in the prison of the Inquisition. +\par +\par He had been languishing there for several months, when Madame +\par Augereau, his wife, a woman of courage, saw come into the harbour a +\par ship flying the tricolour. She went on board to give the captain a +\par letter, informing the French government of the arbitrary arrest of +\par her husband. The captain, although not a naval officer, went boldly +\par to the Portuguese ministry and demanded the release of his +\par compatriot; failing which, he said that he would declare war in the +\par name of France. Whether the Portuguese believed this, or whether +\par they realised that they had acted unjustly, they set Augereau free, +\par and he and his wife went back to Havre in the ship of the gallant +\par captain. +\par +\par On his arrival in Paris, Augereau was designated captain, and was +\par sent to the Vend\'e9e, where by his advice and example he saved the army +\par of the incompetent General Ronsin, which gained him the rank of +\par battalion commander. Sick of fighting his fellow Frenchmen, Augereau +\par asked to be posted to the Pyrenees, and was sent to the camp at +\par Toulouse commanded by my father, who, recognising his ability, made +\par him adjutant-general, (That is colonel of the general staff), and +\par showed him many marks of affection, something which Augereau never +\par forgot. Having become general, he distinguished himself in the wars +\par in Spain and Italy, and in particular, at Castiglione. +\par +\par On the eve of this battle, the French army, beset on all sides, +\par found itself in a most critical position, and the commander-in-chief, +\par Bonaparte, called a council of war; the only one he ever consulted. +\par All the generals, even Mass\'e9na, proposed a retreat, but Augereau, +\par having explained what, in his opinion, could be done to get out of +\par the situation, said, "Even if you all go, I shall stay here and will +\par attack the enemy, with my division, at dawn." Bonaparte, impressed by +\par the arguments which Augereau had put forward, then said that he would +\par stay with him. After which there was no more talk of retreat, and the +\par next day a brilliant victory, due in large part to the courage and +\par tactical skill of Augereau, established, for a long time, the +\par position of the French army in Italy. Bonaparte was always mindful +\par of this day, and when, as Emperor, he created a new nobility, he +\par named Augereau Duc de Castiglione. +\par +\par When General Hoche died, Augereau replaced him in the army of the +\par Rhine. After the establishment of the consulate, he was put in +\par charge of an army composed of French and Dutch troops which fought +\par the campaign of 1800 in Franconia, and won the battle of +\par Burg-Eberach. +\par +\par When peace had been declared, he bought the estate and ch\'e2teau of +\par La Houssaye. I may say, in regard to this purchase, that there has +\par been much exaggeration of the fortunes of some generals of the army +\par of Italy. Augereau, after having held for twenty years the rank of +\par commander-in-chief, or of marshal, and having enjoyed for seven years +\par a salary of two hundred thousand francs, and an award of twenty-five +\par thousand francs, due to his }{\deleted legion of honou}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094369 Legion of Honou}{r, left at his death an +\par income of no more than forty-eight thousand francs. +\par +\par There was never a man more generous, unselfish and obliging. I +\par could give a number of examples, but will limit myself to two. +\par General Bonaparte, after his elevation to the consulate, created a +\par large unit of Guards, the infantry portion of which was placed under +\par the command of General Lannes. Lannes was a distinguished soldier, +\par but had no understanding of administration. Instead of conforming to +\par the tariff laid down for the purchase of clothing, fabrics and other +\par items, nothing was too good for him; so that the suppliers of +\par clothing and equipment to the guards, delighted to be able to deal by +\par mutual agreement with the manufacturers, (in order to get +\par back-handers,) and believing that their malversations would be +\par covered by the name of General Lannes, the friend of the First +\par Consul, made uniforms in such luxurious style that when the accounts +\par were drawn up, they exceeded by three hundred thousand francs the sum +\par allowed by the ministerial regulations. The First Consul, who had +\par resolved to restore order to the finances, and to compel commanders +\par not to go beyond the permitted expenditure, decided to make an +\par example. In spite of his affection for Lannes, and his certainty that +\par not a centime had gone into his pocket, he held him responsible for +\par the deficit of three hundred thousand francs, and gave him no more +\par than eight days to pay this sum into the Guard's account, or face +\par court-martial. +\par +\par This uncompromising ruling had an excellent effect in putting an +\par end to the extravagance which had got into unit accounting, but +\par General Lannes, although he had recently married the daughter of a +\par senator, had no hope of m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ this payment. When General Augereau +\par heard of the fix in which his friend found himself, he went to his +\par lawyer, drew out the sum required, and instructed his secretary to +\par pay it into the Guard's account, in the name of General Lannes. When +\par the First Consul heard of this, he warmly approved of what Augereau +\par had done, and to put Lannes in a position to pay him back, he had him +\par sent to Lisbon as ambassador, a very lucrative post. +\par +\par Here is another example of Augereau's generosity. He was not a +\par close friend of General Bernadotte, who had bought the estate of +\par Lagrange, for which he expected to pay with his wife's dowry; but +\par there was some delay in the transfer of this money, and his creditors +\par were pressing him, so he asked Augereau to lend him two hundred +\par thousand francs for five years. Augereau having agreed to this, +\par Madame Bernadotte took it on herself to ask what rate of interest he +\par would expect. He replied that although bankers and businessmen +\par required interest on money which they lent, when a marshal was in the +\par happy position of being able to help a comrade, he should not expect +\par any reward but the pleasure of being of service. That is the man whom +\par some have represented as being hard and avaricious. At this moment, +\par I shall say nothing more about the life of Augereau, which will +\par unroll itself in the course of my story, which will show up his +\par faults as well as his fine qualities. +\par +\par Chap. 21. +\par +\par Let us now go back to Bayonne, where I had just joined Augereau's +\par staff. The winter, in this part of the country, is very mild; which +\par allowed us to train and exercise troops in preparation for an attack +\par on the Portuguese. However, the court of Lisbon having conceded all +\par that the French government required, we gave up the idea of crossing +\par the Pyrenees, and General Augereau was ordered to go to Brest and +\par take command of the 7th army corps, which was earmarked for an +\par invasion of Ireland. +\par +\par General Augereau's first wife, the Greek, being in Pau, he wished +\par to visit her and take his leave of her, and he took with him three +\par aides-de-camp, of which I was one. +\par +\par Normally, a commander-in-chief had a squadron of "Guides", a +\par detachment of which always escorted his carriage, as long as he was +\par in a part of the country occupied by troops under his command. +\par Bayonne did not yet have any "Guides," so they were replaced by a +\par platoon of cavalry at each of the post-houses between Bayonne and +\par Pau. These came from the regiment which I had just left, the 25th +\par Chasseurs; so that from the carriage in which I was t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ my ease, +\par beside the Commander in Chief, I could see my former companions +\par trotting beside the door. I did not take any pride in this, but I must admit that when we came to Puyoo, where you saw me arrive two years previously on foot, bedraggled and in the hands of the + gendarmerie, I was weak enough to put on an air, and to make myself known to the worthy +\par mayor, Bordenave, whom I presented to the commander-in-chief to whom +\par I had told the story of what had happened to me in this commune in +\par 1801; and as the brigade of gendarmes from Pyrehorade had joined the +\par escort to Pau, I was able to recognise the two who had arrested me. +\par The old mayor was sufficiently malicious to inform them that the +\par officer whom they saw in the commander-in-chief's fine carriage was +\par the same traveller whom they had taken for a deserter, although his +\par papers were in order, and the good fellow was, at the same time, very +\par proud of the judgement he had given on this occasion. +\par +\par After a stay of twenty-four hours at Pau, we returned to Bayonne, +\par from where the general despatched me and Mainville to Brest, in order +\par to prepare his headquarters. We took seats in the mail-coach as far +\par as Bordeaux; but there, owing to the lack of public transport, we +\par were forced to take to the hacks of the posting houses, which of all +\par means of travelling, is surely the most uncomfortable. It rained. +\par The roads were appalling. The nights pitch dark; but in spite of +\par this, we had to press on at the gallop, as our mission was urgent. +\par Although I have never been a very good horseman, the fact that I was +\par accustomed to riding, and a year spent in the riding school at +\par Versailles, gave me enough assurance and stamina to drive on the +\par dreadful screws which we were forced to mount. I got well enough +\par through this apprenticeship in the trade of courier, in which, you +\par will see later, I had to perfect myself; but it was not so with +\par Mainville, so we took two days and two nights to reach Nantes, where +\par he arrived bruised and worn out and incapable of continuing to ride +\par at speed. However we could not leave the commander-in-chief without +\par lodgings when he arrived at Brest, so it was agreed that I would go +\par on ahead, and that Mainville would follow later by coach. +\par +\par On my arrival, I rented the town house of M. Pasquier, the banker, +\par brother of the Pasquier who had been chancellor and president of the +\par house of peers. Mainville and several of my comrades came to join me +\par a few days later, and helped to make the necessary arrangements for +\par the commander-in-chief to maintain the sort of state expected of him. +\par +\par We began the year 1804 at Brest. The 7th Corps was made up of two +\par divisions of infantry and a brigade of cavalry; as these troops were +\par not encamped but were billeted in the neighbouring communes, all the +\par generals and their staffs stayed in Brest, where the anchorages and +\par the harbour were packed with vessels of all sorts. The admirals and +\par senior officers of the fleet were also in the town, and other +\par officers came there every day, so that Brest afforded a most animated +\par spectacle. Admiral Truguet and the commander-in-chief held a number +\par of brilliant receptions, scenes that have often been the prelude to +\par war. +\par +\par In February General Augereau left for Paris, to where the First +\par Consul had summoned him to discuss with him the plan for the invasion +\par of Ireland. I went with him. +\par +\par On our arrival in Paris, we found a very tense political +\par situation. The Bourbons, who had hoped that in t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ the reins of +\par government, Bonaparte would support them, and would be prepared to +\par play the part that General Monk had once played in England, when +\par they discovered that he had no intention of restoring them to the +\par throne, resolved to overthrow him. To this end they concocted a +\par conspiracy which had as its leaders three well known men, although of +\par very different character. These were General Pichegru, General Moreau +\par and Georges Cadoudal. +\par +\par Pichegru had taught Bonaparte mathematics at the college of +\par Brienne, but he had left there to join the army. The revolution +\par found him a sergeant in the artillery. His talent and courage raised +\par him rapidly to the rank of general. It was he who achieved the +\par conquest of Holland, in the middle of winter, but ambition was his +\par downfall. He allowed himself to be seduced by agents of the Prince +\par de Cond\'e9, and entered into correspondence with the Prince, who +\par promised him great rewards and the title of "Constable" if he would +\par use the influence which he had with the troops to establish Louis +\par XVIII on the throne of his forefathers. +\par +\par Chance, that great arbiter of human destiny, decreed that +\par following a battle in which French troops, commanded by Moreau, had +\par defeated the division of the Austrian General Kinglin, the latter's +\par supply wagon was captured, which contained letters from Pichegru to +\par the Prince de Cond\'e9. It was taken to Moreau, who was a friend of +\par Pichegru, to whom he owed some of his promotion, and who concealed +\par his discovery as long as Pichegru retained his influence; but +\par Pichegru having become a representative of the people in the house of +\par elders, where he continued to favour the Bourbons, was arrested with +\par several of his colleagues. Whereupon Moreau hurriedly sent to the +\par directorate the documents which incriminated Pichegru, and led to his +\par deportation to the wilds of Guyana. +\par +\par Pichegru contrived to escape from Guyana to America, from whence +\par he went to England; where having no longer any need for secrecy, he +\par put himself openly in the pay of Louis XVIII and aimed at the +\par overthrow of the consular government. However, he could not pretend +\par that, deprived of his rank, banished and absent from France for more +\par than six years, he could any longer wield as much influence over the +\par army as General Moreau, the victor of Hohenlinden, and on this +\par account, very popular with the troops, of whom he was the +\par inspector-general. Pichegru, then, out of devotion to the Bourbon +\par cause, agreed to forget the reasons he had for disliking Moreau, and +\par to unite with him for the triumph of the policy to which he was +\par committed. +\par Moreau, who was born in Brittany, was studying law at Rennes when +\par the revolution of 1789 broke out. The students, young and turbulent, +\par elected him as their leader, and when they formed a battalion of +\par volunteers, they named Moreau as their commander. Having made his +\par d\'e9but in the profession of arms as a senior officer, he proved +\par himself both courageous and competent, and was rapidly promoted to +\par general and army commander. He won several battles, and conducted, +\par in the face of Prince Charles of Austria, a justly celebrated +\par retreat. But though a good soldier, Moreau lacked civic courage. We +\par have seen him refuse to put himself at the head of the government, +\par while Bonaparte was absent in Egypt, however, though he had helped +\par the latter on the 18th Brumaire, he became envious of his power when +\par he saw him raised to the position of First Consul, to the extent that +\par he sought by all means to supplant him; driven on, it is said, by the +\par jealousy felt by his wife and mother-in-law towards Josephine. Given +\par this situation, it would not be difficult to persuade Moreau to +\par conspire with Pichegru to overthrow the government. +\par +\par A Breton, named Lajolais, an agent of Louis XVIII, and a friend of +\par Moreau, became the intermediary between him and Pichegru; he +\par travelled frequently between London and Paris, and it soon became +\par evident to him that Moreau, while agreeing to the overthrow of +\par Bonaparte, intended to keep power for himself, and not to hand it to +\par the Bourbons. It was then thought that a meeting between him and +\par Pichegru might lead him to change his mind, so Pichegru was landed on +\par the coast of France from an English vessel at a spot near Trepot, +\par and went to Paris, to where Georges Cadoudal had preceded him, along +\par with M. de Rivi\'e8re, the two Polignacs, and other royalists. +\par +\par Georges Cadoudal was the youngest son of a miller from Morbihan; +\par but as there was a bizarre custom, in that part of lower Brittany, +\par whereby the last-born of a family inherited all the estate, Georges, +\par whose father was comfortably off, had been given a certain amount of +\par education. He was a short man, with wide shoulders and the heart of +\par a tiger, whose audacity and courage had raised him to the high +\par command of all the groups of "Chouans" in Brittany. +\par +\par Since the pacification of Brittany he had lived in London; but +\par his fanatical devotion to the house of Bourbon did not allow him any +\par repose as long as the First Consul was at the head of the government. He formed a plan to kill him. Not by a clandestine assassination, +\par but in broad daylight, by attacking him on the road to Saint-Cloud +\par with a party of thirty or forty mounted "Chouans" well armed and +\par wearing the uniform of the consular guard. This plan had the more +\par chance of success, since, at this time, Bonaparte's escort was +\par usually no more than four cavalrymen. +\par +\par A meeting was arranged between Pichegru and Moreau; it took place +\par at night, near the Church of La Madeleine, which was then being +\par built. Moreau agreed to the deposition, and even the death of the +\par First Consul, but he refused to consider the restoration of the +\par Bourbons. +\par +\par Bonaparte's secret police having warned him that there was +\par underground plotting going on in Paris, he ordered the arrest of a +\par number of former "Chouans" who were in the city. One of these gave +\par some information which seriously compromised General Moreau, whose +\par arrest was then agreed upon by the council of ministers. +\par +\par This arrest initially created a very bad impression amongst the +\par general public, because Cadoudal and Pichegru not having been +\par arrested, no one believed they were in France, and it was said that +\par Bonaparte had invented the conspiracy in order to get rid of Moreau. +\par The government then had the strongest reasons to prove that Cadoudal +\par and Pichegru were in Paris, and that they had met Moreau. All the +\par barriers were closed for several days, and the most drastic +\par punishment was decreed for anyone sheltering the conspirators. From +\par that moment it became very difficult for them to find any place of +\par safety, and soon Pichegru, M. de Rivi\'e8re and the Polignacs fell into +\par the hands of the police. These arrests began to convince the public +\par of the reality of the conspiracy, and the capture of Georges Cadoudal +\par dispelled any remaining doubts. +\par +\par Cadoudal having stated in his interrogation that he had come with +\par the intention of killing the First Consul, and that the conspiracy +\par was backed by a prince of the royal family, the police started an +\par investigation to discover the location of all the princes of the +\par house of Bourbon. They found that the Prince D'Enghien, the grandson +\par of the great Cond\'e9, had been living for some time at Ettenheim, a +\par little town situated some leagues from the Rhine, in the country of +\par Baden. It has never been proved that the Duc D'Enghien was involved +\par in the conspiracy, but he certainly had, on several occasions, been +\par imprudent enough to enter French territory. However that may be, the +\par First Consul sent, secretly, and by night, a detachment of troops led +\par by General Ordener, to the town of Ettenhiem, where they seized the +\par Duc D'Enghien. He was taken immediately to Vincennes, where he was +\par tried, condemned, and shot before the public was aware of his arrest. +\par +\par This execution was greeted with general disapproval. It was held +\par that had the prince been captured on French territory, he could have +\par been tried under a law which in this case carried the death penalty, +\par but that to go and seize him beyond the frontiers, in a foreign land, +\par was a gross infringement of human rights. +\par +\par It appeared, however, that the First Consul had not intended the +\par execution of the prince, and had wished only to frighten the +\par royalists who were conspiring against him; but that General Savary, +\par the head of the gendarmerie, who had gone to Vincennes, took custody +\par of the prince after sentence had been pronounced and in an excess of +\par zeal, had him shot, in order, he said, to save the First Consul the +\par trouble of ordering his death, or of sparing the life of so dangerous +\par an enemy. Savary has since denied that he expressed such sentiments, +\par but I have been assured by people who heard him that he did. +\par Bonaparte is known to have blamed Savary for his hastiness, but the +\par deed having been done, he had to accept the consequences. +\par +\par General Pichegru, ashamed to be associated with assassins, and +\par that the conqueror of Holland should stand in the dock with +\par criminals, hanged himself in prison by his cravat. It has been +\par claimed that he was strangled by Mamelukes of the Guard, but this is +\par a fabrication. Bonaparte had no incentive to commit such a crime. +\par It was more in his interest to have Pichegru disgraced before a +\par public tribunal than to have him killed in secret. +\par +\par Georges Cadoudal, condemned to death, along with several +\par accomplices, was executed. The brothers Polignac, and M. de Rivi\'e8re, +\par who received the same sentence, had it commuted to life imprisonment. +\par They were locked up in Vincennes, but after several years they +\par obtained permission to live on parole in a nursing home. However, +\par in 1814, on the approach of the allies, they left and went to join +\par the Comte d'Artois in Franche-comt\'e9; then in 1815 they were most +\par savage in their pursuit of the Bonapartists. +\par +\par As for General Moreau, he was sentenced to two years detention. +\par The First Consul pardoned him on condition that he went to the United +\par States. He lived there in obscurity until 1813, when he went to +\par Europe to range himself among the enemies of his country, and died +\par fighting against the French; thus confirming all the accusations +\par which were made against him at the time of Pichegru's conspiracy. +\par +\par The French nation, weary of revolutions, and recognising the +\par extent to which Bonaparte was needed for the maintenance of good +\par order, chose to forget what was odious in the affair of the Duc +\par d'Enghien, and raised Bonaparte to the throne, by declaring him +\par Emperor on May 25th, 1804. +\par +\par Almost all nations recognised the new sovereign of France. To +\par mark the occasion, eighteen generals, selected from the most notable, +\par were elevated to the dignity of Marshals of the Empire. +\par +\par Chap. 22. +\par +\par After the trial of Moreau, we returned to Brest, from where we +\par shortly came back to Paris, as the marshal had to assist in the +\par distribution of the decoration of the Legion d'Honneur, an award +\par which the Emperor had recently instituted for the recognition of all +\par sorts of meritorious actions. In this connection I recall an +\par anecdote which was widely circulated at the time. In order to bestow +\par the award on all these soldiers who had distinguished themselves in +\par the Republican armies, the Emperor took into consideration all those +\par who had been given Armes d'Honneur, and he selected a great number of +\par these for the Legion d'Honneur, although several of them had returned +\par to civilian life. M. de Narbonne, a returned \'e9migr\'e9, was living +\par quietly in Paris in the Rue de Miromesnil, in the house next to my +\par mother's, when, on the day that the medals were distributed, he +\par discovered that his footman, a former soldier in Egypt, had just been +\par decorated. Being about to dine, he sent for the footman and said to +\par him, "It is not right that a recipient of the Legion d'Honneur +\par should hand round plates; and it would be even less right that you +\par should put aside your decoration to serve at table. Sit down with me +\par and we shall dine together, and tomorrow you shall go to my country +\par estate where you shall be a game-keeper. An occupation which is not +\par incompatible with wearing your decoration." +\par +\par When the Emperor was told of this display of good taste, he sent +\par for M. de Narbonne, whom he had wanted to meet for a long time, having +\par heard so much about his wit and intelligence, and was so pleased with +\par him that he made him an aide-de-camp. +\par +\par After distributing the crosses in Paris, the Emperor went, for the +\par same purpose, to the camp at Boulogne, where the troops were drawn up +\par in a semi-circle facing the sea. The ceremony was imposing. The +\par Emperor appeared for the first time on a throne, surrounded by his +\par marshals. The enthusiasm was indescribable! The English fleet who +\par could see what was going on, sent several light vessels in an attempt +\par to disrupt the event by a cannonade, but our coastal batteries +\par briskly returned their fire. +\par +\par There was a story current at the time which related that, after +\par the ceremony was over, the Emperor was returning to Boulogne followed +\par by his marshals and an immense retinue, when he stopped in the +\par shelter of one of these batteries, and calling to Marmont, who had +\par served in the artillery, said "Let us see if we can remember our old +\par trade and land a bomb on that English brig." And dismissing the +\par corporal who was in charge of the weapon, the Emperor aimed and fired +\par at the vessel. The bomb brushed the vessel's sails and fell into the +\par sea. Marmont tried but with no better fortune. The Emperor then +\par recalled the corporal to his post and the latter took aim and fired +\par with such effect that he landed a bomb on the brig, which promptly +\par sank, to the great delight of the onlookers, whereupon Napoleon +\par pinned a medal to the soldier's uniform. How much truth there is in +\par this tale, I do not know. +\par I shared in the favours being distributed on that day. I had been +\par a sous-lieutenant for five and a half years, and had been through +\par several campaigns. The Emperor, at the request of Augereau promoted +\par me to lieutenant; but for a moment I thought he was going to refuse +\par me this rank, for remembering that a Marbot had figured in the +\par conspiracy of Rennes, he frowned when the marshal spoke up for me +\par and, looking closely at me he said "Is it you who...?" "No sire, +\par it is not me who!..." I replied. "Ah!" he said, "you are the one who +\par was at Genoa and Marengo. I appoint you lieutenant." +\par +\par The Emperor also granted me a place at the military school of +\par Fontainebleau for my younger brother, F\'e9lix, and from that day on he +\par no longer confused me with my elder brother for whom he always had +\par antipathy, though Adolphe had done nothing to deserve it. +\par +\par As the troops of 7th Corps were not concentrated in an encampment, +\par Marshal Augereau's presence in Brest was of very little use; so he +\par was given permission to spend the rest of the summer and the autumn +\par at his fine estate of La Houssaye, near Tournan, in Brie. I even +\par suspect that the Emperor preferred to have him there rather than in +\par the depths of Brittany at the head of a large army. However, any +\par doubts which the Emperor may have had about Augereau's loyalty were +\par without foundation, and arose from the underground plots of a General +\par S.... +\par +\par S.... was a brigadier-general serving in 7th Corps. A capable +\par officer, but over-ambitious. He was regarded as untrustworthy by his +\par fellow generals, who did not associate with him. Angered by this +\par rejection, and bent on revenge, he sent to the Emperor a letter in +\par which he denounced all the generals, as well as the marshal, as +\par conspiring against the empire. Napoleon, to his credit, did not +\par employ any secret means to ascertain the truth: he simply passed the +\par general's letter on to Marshal Augereau. The marshal felt sure that +\par nothing serious was going on in his army; however as he knew that +\par several generals and colonels had engaged in some thoughtless talk, +\par he resolved to put an end to this sort of thing. As he did not wish +\par to jeopardize the career of those officers to whom he intended to +\par deliver a rebuke, he thought it would be best if his words were +\par carried by an aide-de-camp, and he chose to take me into his +\par confidence for this important mission. +\par +\par I left La Housaye in August, in very hot weather, and rode at full +\par speed the one hundred and sixty leagues between the ch\'e2teau and the +\par town of Brest, and as many again on the way back. I stayed no more +\par than twenty-four hours in the town, so I arrived back completely worn +\par out, for I think that there is no more exhausting job than riding +\par rapidly on horseback from post-house to post-house. I had found +\par things a good deal more serious than the marshal had thought; there +\par was, in fact a considerable ferment in the army, but the message I +\par had brought calmed down the generals, almost all of whom were devoted +\par to the marshal. +\par +\par I was beginning to recover from my exertions when the marshal +\par said to me one morning, that the generals wanted to denounce S.... +\par as a spy. He added that it was absolutely essential that he sent one +\par of his aides-de-camp, and he wanted to know if I felt able to make +\par the journey again. He said he would not order me to go, but would +\par leave it to me to decide whether I could do it or not. If it had +\par been merely a matter of reward or even promotion, I think I would +\par have refused the task, but it was a question of obliging my father's +\par friend, who had welcomed me with so much kindness, so I said that I +\par would be ready to go in an hour's time. I was worried that I might +\par not be able to complete the journey, because of the extremely tiring +\par nature of this form of travel; I rested for no more than two hours +\par out of the twenty-four, when I flung myself down on a heap of straw +\par in the post-house stables. It was fearfully hot weather, but I +\par managed to reach Brest and return without accident, and had the +\par satisfaction of being able to tell the marshal that the generals +\par would limit themselves to expressing their mistrust of S.... +\par +\par General S... being now discredited, deserted and went to England, +\par and is said to have wandered over Europe for twenty years before +\par dying in poverty. +\par +\par After my second return from Brest, the marshal rewarded me by +\par putting me in direct contact with the Emperor. He sent me to +\par Fontainebleau to meet Napoleon and conduct him to La Houssaye, where +\par he was to spend a day in the company of several of his marshals. It +\par was while walking with them and discussing his plans, and the manner +\par in which he intended to uphold his dignity and theirs, that he +\par presented each of them with a sum of money sufficient for them to +\par purchase a mansion in Paris. Marshal Augereau bought that of +\par Rochechouart, in the Rue Grenelle-St-Germain, which is today occupied +\par by the ministry of information. The mansion was superb, but the +\par marshal preferred to stay at La Houssaye, where he kept up a great +\par state; for over and above his aides-de-camp, each of whom had his own +\par apartments, the number of invited guests was always considerable. +\par One enjoyed complete liberty; the marshal allowed his guests to do as +\par they pleased, provided that no noise reached the wing of the ch\'e2teau +\par occupied by his wife. +\par +\par This excellent woman, who had become a chronic invalid, lived very +\par quietly, and appeared only rarely at the table or in the salon, but +\par when she did, far from constraining our high spirits, she took +\par pleasure in encouraging them. +\par +\par She had with her two extraordinary lady companions. The first of +\par these always wore men's clothing, and was known by the name of +\par Sans-gene. She was the daughter of one of the leaders who, in 1793, +\par defended Lyon against the forces of the convention. She escaped, with +\par her father, both of them disguised as soldiers, and took refuge in +\par the ranks of the 9th Dragoon regiment; where they assumed nommes de +\par guerre and took part in campaigning. +\par +\par Mlle. Sans-Gene, who combined with her masculine attire and +\par appearance, a most manly courage, received several wounds, one of +\par them at Castiglione, where her regiment was part of Augereau's +\par division. General Bonaparte, who had often witnessed the prowess of +\par this remarkable woman, when he became First Consul, gave her a +\par pension and a position beside his wife; but life at court did not +\par suit Mlle. San-Gene. She left Mme. Bonaparte, who by mutual consent +\par handed her over to Mme. Augereau to whom she became secretary and +\par reader. The second lady companion of Mme. Augereau was the widow of +\par the sculptor Adam, and in spite of her eighty years was the life and +\par soul of the ch\'e2teau. +\par +\par Noisy parties and practical jokes were the order of the day at +\par this period of time, particularly at La Houssaye, whose proprietor +\par was not happy unless he could see his guests and the younger members +\par of his staff gay and animated. The marshal came back to Paris in +\par November; the time for the coronation was drawing near and already +\par the Pope, who had come for the ceremony, was at the Tuileries. A +\par crowd of magistrates and deputations from various departments had +\par collected in the capital, where also were all the colonels of the +\par army, with detachments from their regiments, to whom the Emperor +\par distributed, on the Champ de Mars, the eagles, which became so +\par celebrated. Paris, resplendent, displayed a luxury hitherto unknown. +\par The court of the new Emperor became the most brilliant in the world; +\par everywhere were f\'eates, balls, and joyous assemblies. +\par +\par The coronation took place on the 2nd December. I accompanied the +\par marshal at this ceremony, which I shall not describe, since the +\par details are so well known. Some days later the marshals held a ball +\par in honour of the Emperor and Empress. There were eighteen marshals, +\par and Marshal Duroc, although he was only Prefect of the Palace, joined +\par with them, which made nineteen subscribers, each one of whom paid up +\par 25,000 francs for the expenses of the event, which therefore cost +\par 475000 francs. The ball took place in the great ballroom of the +\par Opera, where never before had something so magnificent been seen. +\par General Samson of the engineers was the organiser; the aides-de-camp +\par acted as stewards, to welcome the guests and to distribute tickets. +\par Everyone in Paris wanted one, so the aides were overwhelmed by +\par letters and requests. I never had so many friends! Everything went +\par off perfectly, and the Emperor appeared very pleased. So we ended +\par the year 1804 in the midst of celebrations, and entered the year +\par 1805, which was to be a year of many important events. +\par +\par In order that his army could participate in the general +\par jollifications, Marshal Augereau went to Brest, in spite of the +\par rigours of winter, and gave a number of magnificent balls, at which +\par he entertained a succession of officers, and even a good number of +\par soldiers. At the beginning of spring, he returned to La Houssaye to +\par await the moment for the invasion of England. +\par +\par This expedition, which was regarded as chimerical, was, however, +\par on the point of realisation. The presence of an English squadron of +\par about fifteen ships, cruising endlessly in the Channel, made it +\par impossible to transport a French army to England in boats and barges +\par which would have sunk on the least contact with a larger vessel; but +\par the Emperor could dispose of sixty ships of the line, either French +\par or foreign, dispersed in the harbours of Brest, Lorient, Rochefort, +\par Le Ferrol, and Cadiz; it was a matter of concentrating them, +\par unexpectedly, in the Channel, and crushing, by a greatly superior +\par force, the little English squadron, to become masters of the passage, +\par if only for three days. +\par +\par To achieve this, the Emperor ordered Admiral Villeneuve, the +\par commander-in-chief of all these forces, to gather together, from the +\par French and Spanish ports whatever ships were available, and head, not +\par for Boulogne, but for Martinique, to where it was certain the +\par English fleet would follow him. While the English were m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ their +\par way to the Antilles, Villeneuve was to quit the islands, and +\par returning round the north of Scotland, was to enter the eastern end +\par of the channel with sixty ships, which would easily overcome the +\par fifteen which the English maintained before Boulogne, and so put +\par Napoleon in command of the crossing; while the English, on their +\par arrival at the Antilles, would search around for Admiral Villeneuve's +\par fleet, and thus waste valuable time. +\par +\par A part of this fine plan was now put into action. Villeneuve left, +\par with not sixty, but some thirty ships. He reached Martinique. The +\par English, led astray, hurried to the Antilles, which Admiral +\par Villeneuve had left, but the French admiral, instead of returning via +\par Scotland, made for Cadiz in order to pick up the Spanish fleet, as +\par if thirty ships were not enough to overcome or chase away the fifteen +\par English vessels! +\par +\par That, however, is not all. Having arrived at Cadiz, Villeneuve +\par spent a great deal of time repairing his ships; time during which the +\par enemy fleet also returned to Europe, and established a patrolling +\par force off Cadiz. In the end, the coming of the equinox gales having +\par made sailing from this port difficult, Villeneuve found himself +\par blockaded; so the ingenious plans of the Emperor came to nothing, and +\par he, realising that the English would not be taken in a second time, +\par gave up the idea of invading Britain, or at least postponed it +\par indefinitely, and turned his attention to the continent. +\par +\par Before I recount the principal events of this long war, and the +\par part which I played in it, I must describe a terrible misfortune +\par which befell the family. +\par +\par My brother, F\'e9lix, who was at the military school of +\par Fontainebleau, was a little short-sighted; he had, therefore, +\par hesitated before t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ up a military career; nevertheless, once +\par embarked on it, he worked with such enthusiasm that he soon became a +\par sergeant-major, a position difficult to maintain in a school. The +\par pupils, an unruly lot, were in the habit of burying in the earth of +\par the fortifications which they were digging, the implements which had +\par been issued to them for the work. General Bellavene, the head of the +\par school, a very strict man, ordered that the implements should be +\par issued to the sergeant-majors, who would then be accountable for +\par them. +\par +\par One day, my brother, having seen a pupil bury a pick, rebuked him. +\par The pupil replied very rudely and added that in a few days they +\par would be leaving school, and being then the equal of his +\par sergeant-major, he would demand satisfaction for the reprimand. My +\par brother replied indignantly that there was no need to wait so long. +\par +\par Lacking swords, they used compasses fixed to wooden batons: +\par Jacqueminot, who later became a lieutenant-general, was my brother's +\par second. My brother's poor eyesight put him at a disadvantage, but he +\par succeeded in wounding his opponent, though he received in return a +\par wound which penetrated his right arm. His companions dressed it +\par secretly. +\par +\par By an unhappy coincidence, the Emperor had come to Fontainebleau, +\par and had decided to conduct manoeuvres for several hours, under a +\par blazing sun. My poor brother, compelled to run without rest, his arm +\par dragged down by the weight of his heavy musket, was overcome by the +\par heat and his wound re-opened! He should have fallen out on the +\par pretext of an indisposition, but he was in front of the Emperor who, +\par at the end of the session, would distribute the commissions of +\par sous-lieutenant, so eagerly desired. F\'e9lix made superhuman efforts +\par to resist, but at last his strength failed him and he collapsed and +\par was carried away in a most serious condition. +\par +\par General Bellavene sent an unfeeling message to my mother, saying +\par that if she wished to see her son, she must come immediately, for he +\par was dying. My mother was so distressed by this news, that she was +\par unable to make the journey. I posted there as quickly as I could, +\par but on my arrival I was told that my brother was dead. Marshal +\par Augereau did all that he could for us, in these unhappy +\par circumstances, and the Emperor sent the marshal of the palace, Duroc, +\par to convey his condolences to my mother. +\par +\par All too soon another source of sadness would come to afflict her; +\par I would be forced to leave her, as war was about to break out on the +\par continent. +\par +\par At a time when it might have been thought that the Emperor had the +\par greatest need to be at peace with the continental powers, in order to +\par execute his design for the invasion of England, he issued a decree +\par whereby he annexed the state of Genoa to France. This was greatly to +\par the advantage of the English, who profited from this decision to +\par frighten all the peoples of the continent, to whom they represented +\par Napoleon as aspiring to become the master of the whole of Europe. +\par Austria and Russia declared war on us, Prussia, more circumspect, +\par made preparations, but as yet, said nothing. +\par +\par The Emperor had no doubt foreseen these reactions, and a wish to +\par see hostilities break out perhaps underlay his seizure of Genoa; for, +\par despairing of ever seeing Villeneuve in control of the channel, he +\par wanted a continental war to deflect the ridicule to which his +\par proposed invasion, threatened for three years, but never put into +\par action, might have exposed him by displaying his impotence in the +\par face of England. The new coalition extricated him nicely from an +\par awkward situation. +\par +\par Three years under arms had had an excellent effect on our +\par soldiers. France had never had an army so well trained, so well +\par organised, so keen for action, nor a leader in control of so much +\par power and such moral and material resources, who was so skillful in +\par their employment. So Napoleon accepted the outbreak of war with +\par pleasure, so confident was he of conquering his enemies, and of +\par m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ use of their defeat to strengthen his position on the throne; +\par for he knew the enthusiasm which the prospect of military triumph +\par always stirred up in the martial French spirit. +\par +\par Chap. 23. +\par +\par The great army which the Emperor was about to set in motion +\par against Austria, now had its back to that Empire, since the forces +\par deployed on the coasts of the North Sea, the Channel and the Atlantic +\par were facing England. On the right wing the 1st Corps, commanded by +\par Bernadotte, occupied Hanover; the 2nd, under the orders of Marmont, +\par was in Holland; the 3rd under Davout was in Bruges; the 4th, 5th and +\par 6th commanded by Soult, Lannes and Ney, were encamped at Boulogne and +\par in the surrounding district, while finally the 7th commanded by +\par Augereau was in Brest, and formed the extreme left. +\par +\par To break up this long cordon of troops and form them into a large +\par body which could march toward Austria, it was necessary to effect an +\par immense turn round from front to back. Each army had to make an +\par about turn, in order to face Germany, and form columns, to march +\par there by the shortest route. Thus the right wing became the left, +\par and the left the right. +\par +\par Obviously, to go from Hanover or Holland to the Danube, the 1st +\par and 2nd Corps had a much shorter distance to travel than those who +\par came from Boulogne, and they in turn were nearer than Augereau's +\par corps, which, in order to go from Brest to the frontiers of +\par Switzerland on the upper Rhine, had to cross the whole of France, a +\par journey of some three hundred leagues. The troops were on the road +\par for two months, marching in several columns; Marshal Augereau was the +\par last to leave Brest, but he then went on ahead, and stopped first at +\par Rennes and then successively at Alon\'e7on, Melun, Troyes and Langres, at +\par which stops he inspected the various regiments, whose morale was +\par raised by his presence. The weather was superb: I spent the two +\par months travelling endlessly in an open carriage, from one column to +\par another, carrying the marshal's orders to the generals, and was able +\par to stop twice at Paris to see my mother. Our equipment had gone on in +\par advance. I had a mediocre servant, but three excellent horses. +\par +\par While the Grande Arm\'e9e was wending its way towards the Rhine and +\par the Danube, the French troops stationed in northern Italy, under the +\par command of Mass\'e9na, concentrated in the Milan area in order to attack +\par the Austrians in the region of Venezia. +\par +\par To transmit his orders to Mass\'e9na, the Emperor was obliged to send +\par his aides-de-camp through Switzerland, which remained neutral. Now +\par it so happened that while Marshal Augereau was at Langres, an +\par officer who was carrying Napoleon's despatches was thrown out of +\par his carriage and broke his collar-bone. He was taken to Marshal +\par Augereau whom he told that he was unable to continue his mission. +\par The marshal, knowing how important it was that the Emperor's despatches should arrive in Italy without delay, entrusted me with +\par the task of delivering them, and also of going through Huningue, +\par where I was to pass on his order to have a bridge built over the +\par Rhine at this spot. I was delighted to have this mission, as it +\par meant that I would have an interesting journey and would be sure of +\par rejoining 7th Corps before they were in action against the Austrians. +\par +\par It did not take me long to reach Huningue and Basle; I went from +\par there to Berne and on to Rapperschwill, where I left my carriage: +\par then, on horseback and not without some danger, I crossed the +\par Spl\'fcgen pass, at that time almost impracticable. I entered Italy at +\par Chiavenna, and joined Marshal Mass\'e9na near Verona. I went off again +\par without any delay, for Mass\'e9na was as impatient to see me go with his +\par replies to the Emperor as I was to rejoin Marshal Augereau before +\par there was any fighting. However my return journey was not as rapid +\par as my journey out, because a very heavy fall of snow had covered not +\par only the mountains but also the valleys of Switzerland; it had begun +\par to freeze hard, and horses slipped and fell at every step. It was +\par only by offering 600 francs that I was able to find two guides who +\par were prepared to cross the Spl\'fcgen with me. It took us more than +\par twelve hours to make the crossing, walking through snow sometimes up +\par to our knees. The guides were on the point of refusing to go any +\par further, saying that it was too dangerous, but I was young and +\par venturesome, and I knew the importance of the despatches which the +\par Emperor was awaiting. +\par +\par I told my guides that even if they turned back, I would go on +\par without them. Every profession has its code of honour; that of the +\par guides consists principally in never abandoning the traveller +\par committed to their care. Mine then went forward, and after some +\par truly extraordinary exertions, we arrived at the large inn situated +\par at the foot of the Spl\'fcgen as night was falling. We would have +\par undoubtedly died if we had been trapped on the mountain, for the +\par path, which was barely discernable, was edged by precipices which the +\par snow prevented us from seeing clearly. I was exhausted, but a sleep +\par restored my strength, so I left at daybreak to reach Rapperschwill, +\par where there were carriages and passable roads. +\par +\par The worst of the journey was over; so, in spite of the snow and +\par bitter cold, I reached Basle and then Heningue, where the 7th Corps +\par was stationed, on the 19th October. The next day we began to cross +\par the Rhine over a bridge of boats built for that purpose; for +\par although there was, less than half a league away in the town of +\par Basle, a stone bridge, the Emperor had ordered Marshal Augereau to +\par respect the neutrality of Switzerland, a neutrality which they +\par themselves broke, nine years later, by handing the bridge to the +\par enemies of France in 1814. +\par +\par Here I was then, involved once more in a war. It was now 1805, a +\par year which for me heralded a long series of battles which lasted +\par continuously for ten years, for it did not end until ten years later +\par at Waterloo. However numerous the wars of the Empire might be, +\par nearly all French soldiers enjoyed one or even several years of +\par respite, either because they were in a garrison in France, or they +\par were stationed in Italy or Germany when we were at war with Spain; +\par but, as you will see, this did not happen to me; I was continually +\par sent from north to south, and south to north, everywhere where there +\par was fighting. I did not spend a single one of these ten years +\par without coming under fire and without shedding my blood in some +\par foreign country. +\par +\par I do not intend to give, here, a detailed account of the campaign +\par of 1805. I shall limit myself to recalling the principal events. +\par +\par The Russians, who were marching to the aid of Austria, were still +\par far away, when Field-marshal Mack, at the head of eighty thousand +\par men, advanced, unwisely, into }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{, where he was defeated by +\par Napoleon, who forced him to retreat to the fortress of Ulm, where he +\par surrendered with the greater part of his army, of which only two +\par corps escaped the disaster. +\par +\par One of these, commanded by Prince Ferdinand, managed to reach +\par Bohemia; the other, commanded by the elderly Field-marshal +\par Jellachich, escaped into the Vorarlberg near Lake Constance, where, +\par flanked by neutral Switzerland, it guarded the narrow passes of the +\par Black Forest. It was these troops which Marshal Augereau was about +\par to attack. +\par +\par After crossing the Rhine at Huningue, 7th Corps found itself in +\par the country of Baden, whose sovereign, along with those of }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{ +\par and Wurtemberg, had just concluded an alliance with Napoleon; so we +\par were received as friends by the population of Brisgau. Field-marshal +\par Jellachich had not dared to oppose the French in such open country, +\par but awaited us beyond Freiburg, at the entrance to the Black Forest, +\par the passage through which he expected us to effect only at the cost +\par of much bloodshed. Above all, he hoped to stop us at the Val +\par d'Enfer, a very long and narrow pass, dominated on both sides by +\par sheer cliffs, and easy to defend. But the men of 7th Corps had now +\par heard of the successes achieved by their comrades at Ulm and in +\par }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{, and anxious to emulate them, they advanced through the Black +\par Forest with such \'e9lan that they crossed through it in three days, in +\par spite of the natural obstacles, the enemy resistance and the +\par difficulty in finding food in this dreadful wilderness. The army +\par finally broke out into fertile country and made camp around +\par Donauschingen, a very pleasant town where there is the magnificent +\par ch\'e2teau of the ancient line of the princes of Furstenburg. +\par +\par The marshal and his aides-de-camp were billeted in the ch\'e2teau, in +\par the courtyard of which is the source of the Danube; this great river +\par demonstrates its power at the moment of its birth, for at the spot +\par where it issues from the earth it already bears a boat. +\par +\par The draught-horses for the guns and the supply wagons had been +\par greatly fatigued by the passage through the rough and mountainous +\par passes of the Black Forest, which a coating of frost had made even +\par more difficult. It was therefore necessary to give them several days +\par of rest; during which period the Austrian cavalry came from time to +\par time to probe our outposts, which were positioned two leagues from +\par the town; but this amounted to no more than some ineffectual fire +\par which kept us on our toes, gave us some exercise in skirmishing, and +\par allowed us to learn to recognise the various uniforms of the enemy. +\par I saw, for the first time, the Uhlans of Prince Charles, Rosenberg's +\par Dragoons and Blankenstein's Hussars. +\par +\par The horses having recovered their strength, the army continued its +\par march, and for several weeks we had a series of engagements which +\par left us masters of Engen and Stockach. +\par +\par Although I was very much involved in these various actions, I had +\par only one accident, which, however, might have been serious. The +\par ground was covered by snow, particularly round Stockach, where the +\par enemy defended their position fiercely. The marshal ordered me to go +\par and reconnoitre a spot to which he wanted to direct a column; I left +\par at the gallop; the ground looked to me to be quite level, the snow, +\par driven by the wind having hidden all the hollows, but suddenly my +\par horse and I fell into a deep gully, up to our necks in snow. I was +\par trying to get out, when two enemy Hussars appeared at the edge and +\par fired their muskets at me. Fortunately, the snow in which my horse and +\par I were floundering about prevented them from t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ an accurate aim, +\par and I came to no harm; but they were about to fire once more when +\par some Chasseurs, which Marshal Augereau had sent to my aid, forced +\par them to depart hurriedly. With some help I was able to get out of +\par the ravine, but we had a great deal of difficulty in extricating my +\par horse. As we were both unhurt, my comrades had a laugh at the strange +\par appearance I presented after my bath of snow. +\par +\par After we had gained control of the Vorarlberg, we captured +\par Bregen,and drove Jellachich's Austrian corps to Lake Constance and +\par the Tyrol. The enemy now sought the protection of the fortress of +\par Feldkirch and its celebrated gorge, behind which they could defend +\par themselves with advantage. We expected to have to fight a murderous +\par battle to take this position when, to our astonishment, the +\par Austrians offered to capitulate, an offer which Marshal Augereau was +\par quick to accept. +\par +\par During the meeting between the two marshals, the Austrian +\par officers, humiliated by the reverse which their arms had just +\par suffered, took malicious pleasure in giving us some very bad news +\par which had been concealed up till this day, but which the Russians and +\par Austrians had learned of from English sources. The Franco-Spanish +\par fleet had been defeated by Lord Nelson on October 20th not far from +\par Cadiz, at Cape Trafalgar. Villeneuve, our infelicitous admiral, who +\par had failed to carry out the precise orders of Napoleon at a time +\par when the appearance of a combined fleet in the Channel could have +\par secured a safe passage for the troops assembled at Boulogne, learning +\par that he was about to be replaced by Admiral Rosily, passed suddenly +\par from an excess of circumspection to an excess of audacity. He left +\par Cadiz and engaged in a battle which, had it turned out in our favour, +\par would have been virtually useless, since the French army, instead of +\par being at Boulogne to take advantage of such a success to embark for +\par England, was two hundred leagues from the coast, fighting in Germany. +\par +\par After a most desperate struggle, the fleets of France and Spain +\par had been defeated by that of England, whose admiral, the famous +\par Nelson, had been killed; t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ to his grave a reputation as the +\par finest seaman of the epoch. On our side we lost Rear-admiral Magon, +\par a very fine officer. One of our vessels blew up; seventeen, as many +\par French as Spanish, were captured. A severe storm which arose toward +\par the end of the battle, lasted all night and the days following, and +\par was on the verge of overwhelming both victors and vanquished, so that +\par the English, concerned for their own safety, were forced to abandon +\par nearly all the ships which they had captured from us; which were +\par mostly taken back to Cadiz by the remains of their brave but +\par unfortunate crews, though some were wrecked on the rock-bound coast. +\par +\par It was during this battle that my excellent friend France +\par d'Houdetot received a wound to his thigh which has left him with a +\par limp. D'Houdetot, scarcely out of childhood was a naval cadet, and +\par attached to the staff of Admiral Magon, a friend of my father. After +\par the death of the admiral, the ship "The Algesiras," in which he served, +\par was captured after a bloody encounter, and the English placed on +\par board a prize crew of sixty men. But the storm separated the ship +\par from the English fleet, and the prize crew realised that it was very +\par unlikely that they could reach England, so they agreed to allow the +\par French seamen to take the ship into Cadiz, with the stipulation that +\par they would not be held as prisoners of war. The French flag was +\par hoisted to identify the ship and the badly damaged vessel managed to +\par reach Cadiz, though not without great difficulty. The ship which +\par bore Admiral Villeneuve was captured and the unlucky admiral was +\par taken to England, where he remained a prisoner for three years. +\par Having been released on exchange, he decided to go to Paris, but, +\par detained at Rennes, he committed suicide. +\par +\par When Field-marshal Jellachich felt obliged to capitulate before +\par the 7th French army corps, this decision seemed the more surprising +\par since, even if defeated by us, he had the option of retiring into the +\par Tyrol which was behind him, and whose inhabitants have for many +\par centuries been greatly attached to the house of Austria. The thick +\par snow which covered the country no doubt made movement difficult, but +\par the difficulties presented would have been much greater for us, +\par enemies of Austria, than for the troops of Jellachich, withdrawing +\par through an Austrian province. However, if the old and hide-bound +\par Field-marshal could not bring himself to campaign in winter, in the +\par high mountains, his attitude was not shared by the officers under his +\par command; for many of them condemned his pusillanimity, and spoke of +\par rebelling against his authority. The most ardent of his opponents +\par was General the Prince de Rohan, a French officer in the service of +\par Austria, a bold and competent soldier. Marshal Augereau, fearing +\par that Jellachich might take the advice offered by the Prince and +\par retreat into the Tyrol where pursuit would be almost impossible, +\par hastened to grant him all the conditions which he requested. +\par +\par The terms of the capitulation were that the Austrian troops should +\par lay down their arms, hand over their flags, standards, cannons and +\par horses, but should not themselves be taken to France, and could +\par withdraw to Bohemia after swearing not to bear arms against France +\par for one year. +\par +\par When he announced the capitulation in one of his army bulletins, +\par the Emperor seemed a little disappointed that the Austrian soldiers +\par had not been made prisoners of war; but he changed his mind when he +\par realised that Marshal Augereau had no means of retaining them, as +\par escape was so easy. In fact, during the night preceding the day when +\par the Austrians were to lay down their arms, a revolt broke out in +\par several brigades against Field-marshal Jellachich. The Prince de +\par Rohan, refusing to accept the capitulation, left with his infantry +\par division, and joined by some regiments from other divisions, he fled +\par into the mountains, which he crossed, despite the rigours of the +\par season: then by an audacious march, he bypassed the cantonments of +\par }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{'s troops, who occupied the towns of the Tyrol, and +\par arriving between Verona and Venice, he fell on the rear of the French +\par army of Italy, while this force, commanded by Mass\'e9na was following +\par on the tail of Prince Charles, who was retiring towards Friuli. The +\par arrival of the Prince de Rohan in Venetian territory, when Mass\'e9na +\par was already in the far distance, could have had the most grave +\par consequences; but fortunately a French army, coming from Naples, +\par under the command of General Saint-Cyr, defeated the Prince and took +\par him prisoner. He had, at least, submitted only to force, and was +\par right in saying that if Jellachich had been there with all his +\par troops, the Austrians might have defeated Saint-Cyr and opened a +\par route for themselves back into Austria. +\par +\par When a force capitulates, it is customary for the victor to send +\par to each division a staff officer to take charge, as it were, and to +\par conduct it on the day and at the hour appointed to the place where it +\par is to lay down its arms. Those of my comrades who were sent to the +\par Prince de Rohan were left behind by him in the camp which he quitted, +\par for he carried out his retreat from an area behind the fortress of +\par Feldkirch, and in a direction away from the French camp, so that he +\par had little fear of being stopped; but the Austrian cavalry were not +\par in a similar situation. They were in bivouac on a small area of open +\par ground in front of Feldkirch, and opposite and a short distance from +\par our outposts. I had been detailed to go to the Austrian cavalry and +\par lead them to the agreed rendezvous; this brigade did not have a +\par general, but was commanded by a colonel of Blankenstein's Hussars, an +\par elderly Hungarian, brave and crafty, whose name, I regret, I cannot +\par remember, for I think highly of him although he played me a most +\par disagreeable trick. +\par +\par On my arrival at the camp, the colonel had offered me the +\par hospitality of his hut for the night, and we had agreed to set off at +\par daybreak, to reach the spot indicated on the shore of Lake +\par Constance, between the town of Bregenz and Lindau, at a distance of +\par about three leagues. I was most astonished when, at about midnight, +\par I heard the officers mounting their horses. I hurried out of the hut +\par and saw that the squadrons were formed up and ready to move. I asked +\par the reason for this hasty departure, and the old colonel replied, +\par with cool deceit, that Field-marshal Jellachich feared that some +\par jeering directed at the Austrian soldiers by the French, whose camp +\par one would have to pass if one took the shortest route to the beach at +\par Lindau, might lead to fighting between the troops of the two nations. +\par Jellachich, in consultation with Marshal Augereau, had ordered the +\par Austrian troops to make a long detour to the right so that they +\par would avoid our camp and the town of Breganz, and would not come into +\par contact with our soldiers. He added that as the route was very long +\par and the road bad, the two commanders had advanced the time of +\par departure by some hours; he was surprised that I had not been +\par informed of this, but suggested that the written instructions had +\par been held up at the advance posts, owing to some misunderstanding; he +\par carried this deception so far as to send an officer to look for this +\par despatch, wherever it might be. The explanation given by the colonel +\par of the Blankensteins sounded so convincing that I did not say +\par anything, although my instinct told me that this was a little +\par irregular; but, alone in the midst of three thousand enemy cavalry, +\par what could I do? It was better to appear confident than to seem to +\par doubt the good faith of the Austrian brigade. As I was unaware of +\par the flight of the Prince de Rohan's division, it did not enter my +\par head that the commander of the cavalry intended to evade the +\par capitulation. I rode alongside him, at the head of the column. The +\par Austrian had made his arrangements for the avoidance of the French +\par camps--whose fires could be seen--so well that we did not pass near +\par any of them. But what the old colonel had not anticipated, and was +\par unable to avoid, was an encounter with a flying patrol, which the +\par French cavalry usually sent out into the countryside at night, some +\par distance from an encampment: for suddenly there was a challenge, and +\par we found ourselves in the presence of a large column of French +\par cavalry, which was clearly visible in the moonlight. The Hungarian +\par colonel, without seeming the least worried, said to me "This is work +\par for you, as an aide-de-camp; kindly come with me and explain the +\par situation to the commander of this French unit." We went forward. I +\par gave the pass-word, and found myself in the presence of the 7th +\par mounted Chasseurs, who, knowing that the Austrian troops were +\par expected for the laying down of arms, and recognising me as one of +\par Marshal Augereau's aides, made no difficulty about the passage of the +\par brigade which I was conducting. The French commander, whose troops +\par had their sabres drawn, even took the trouble to have them sheathed, +\par as witness to the good-will existing between the two columns, which +\par went on their way for some distance, side by side. I closely +\par questioned the officer in charge of the Chasseurs about the change in +\par the time at which the Austrians were to move; but he knew nothing at +\par all about it, something which did not raise any suspicion in my mind, +\par for I knew that an order of this kind would not be distributed by the +\par staff down to regimental level. So I continued to ride with the +\par colonel for the rest of the night, finding, however that the detour +\par we were m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ was very long, and the going very bad. +\par +\par At last, at daybreak, the old colonel, seeing a patch of level +\par ground, said to me, in a conversational tone of voice, that although +\par he would soon be obliged to hand over the horses of the three +\par regiments to the French, he wished to care for the poor animals up to +\par the last, and to deliver them in good condition; In consequence he +\par had ordered that they should be given a feed of oats. The brigade +\par halted, formed up and dismounted; and when the horses had been +\par tethered, the colonel, who alone remained on horseback, gathered in a +\par circle around him the officers and men of the three regiments, and in +\par a ringing voice which made the old warrior seem quite superb, he +\par announced that the Prince de Rohan's division, preferring honour to a +\par shameful safety, had refused to subscribe to the disgraceful +\par capitulation whereby Field-marshal Jellachich had promised to hand +\par over to the French, the flags and the arms of the Austrian troops, +\par and had fled into the Tyrol; where he too would have led the +\par brigade were it not for the fact that he feared that in that barren +\par mountain country, there would not be enough fodder for so many +\par horses. But now they had open country in front of them and having, +\par by a ruse of which he was proud, gained a lead of six leagues over +\par the French troops, he invited all those who had truly Austrian hearts +\par to follow him across Germany to Moravia, where they could rejoin the +\par army of their August sovereign, Francis II. Blankenstein's Hussars +\par responded to this speech by their colonel with a resounding cheer of +\par approval; but Rosenberg's Dragoons and the Uhlans of Prince Charles +\par maintained a gloomy silence. As for me, although I did not yet know +\par enough German to follow the colonel's words exactly, what I did +\par understand, together with the tone of the orator and the position in +\par which he found himself, allowed me to guess what was afoot, and I can +\par promise you that I felt very crestfallen at having, although +\par unwittingly, furthered the plans of this diabolical Hungarian. +\par +\par A fearful tumult now arose in the immense circle by which I was +\par surrounded, and I was able to appreciate the inconvenience stemming +\par from the heterogeneous amalgamation of different peoples which makes +\par up the Austrian Empire, and in consequence, the Austrian army. All +\par the Hussars were Hungarian; the Blankensteins therefore approved the +\par proposal made by a leader of their own nationality, but the Dragoons +\par were German and the Uhlans were Polish; the Hungarian could make no +\par nationalistic appeal to them, who, in this difficult situation +\par listened only to their own officers; these officers declared that +\par they thought themselves bound by the capitulation which Field-marshal +\par Jellachich had signed and did not wish, by their departure, to worsen +\par his position or that of their comrades who were already the hands of +\par the French, who would be within their rights to send them all back to +\par France as prisoners of war, if a part of the Austrian forces violated +\par the agreement. To this the colonel replied that when the +\par Commander-in-Chief of an army looses his head, fails in his duty and +\par delivers his troops to the enemy, his juniors have no need to consult +\par anything but their courage and their devotion to their country. Then +\par the colonel, brandishing his sabre in one hand, while with the other +\par he seized the regimental standard, cried out, "Go then Dragoons! Go! +\par Go! Yield to the French your dishonoured standards, and the arms +\par which the Emperor gave us for his defence. As for us, the bold +\par Hussars, we are off to rejoin our sovereign, to whom we can once more +\par show with honour our unstained colours, and the swords of fearless +\par soldiers!" Then, drawing close to me, and casting a look of disdain +\par on the Uhlans and Dragoons, he added, "I am sure that if this young +\par Frenchman found himself in our position and had to choose between +\par your conduct and mine, he would take the more courageous course; for +\par the French love honour and reputation as much as their country." +\par Having said this, the old Hungarian sheathed his sabre, dug in his +\par spurs, and leading his regiment at the gallop, he careered into the +\par distance, where he soon disappeared. There was some truth in both +\par the arguments which I had heard, but that of the old Hungarian seemed +\par the more valid because it was in conformity with the interests of his +\par country; I then secretly approved of his behaviour, but I could not, +\par of course advise the Dragoons and Uhlans to follow his example; that +\par would have been to step out of my role and fail in my duty. I +\par maintained a strict neutrality in this discussion, and when the +\par Hussars had left, I asked the colonels of the other two regiments to +\par follow me, and we took the road for Lindau. +\par +\par On the beach beside the lake, we found Marshals Augereau and +\par Jellachich, as well as the French forces and the Austrian infantry +\par regiments which had not followed the Prince de Rohan. On learning +\par from me that the Blankenstein Hussars, having refused to recognise +\par the capitulation, were heading for Moravia both marshals flew into a +\par rage: Marshal Augereau because he feared that these Hussars might +\par cause havoc in the rear of the French army, since the route which +\par they would follow would take them through areas where the Emperor, in +\par the course of his march on Vienna, had left many dressing stations +\par full of wounded; artillery parks, etc. But the Hungarian colonel did +\par not think it was part of his duty to advertise his presence by any +\par surprise attack, as he was only too anxious to get out of a country +\par bristling with French arms. By avoiding all our positions, moving +\par always on minor roads, hiding by day in the woods and marching +\par rapidly at night, he managed to reach the frontier of Moravia without +\par trouble, and joined an Austrian army corps which occupied the area. +\par As for the troops who remained with Field-marshal Jellachich, having +\par laid down their arms, surrendered their flags and standards and +\par handed over their horses, they became prisoners on parole for one +\par year, and made off in dismal silence for the interior of Germany, to +\par make their way sadly to Bohemia. I remembered, when I saw them, +\par the valiant words of the old colonel, and I think I saw on the faces +\par of many of these Uhlans and Dragoons a regret that they had not +\par followed the old warrior, and an unhappiness when they compared the +\par heroic position of the Blankensteins with their own humiliation. +\par +\par Among the trophies which Jellachich's corps was forced to hand +\par over were seventeen flags and two standards, which Marshal Augereau, +\par as was usual, hastened to send to the Emperor, in the care of two +\par aides-de-camp. Major Massy and I were detailed for this task, and we +\par left the same evening in a fine carriage with, in front of us, a +\par wagon containing the flags and standards, in the charge of an N.C.O. +\par We headed for Vienna via Kempten, Brauneau, Munich, Lenz and +\par Saint-Poelten. Some leagues before this last town, following the +\par banks of the Danube, we admired the superb Abbey of M\'f6lk, one of the +\par richest in the world. It was here, four years later that I ran the +\par greatest danger, and earned the praise of the Emperor, for having +\par performed before his eyes the finest feat of arms of my military +\par career; as you will see when we come to the campaign of 1809. +\par +\par Chap. 24 +\par +\par In September 1805, the seven corps which made up the Grande Arm\'e9e +\par were on the march from their positions on the coast to the banks of +\par the Danube. They were already in the countries of Baden and +\par Wurtemberg when, on the 1st October, Napoleon, in person, crossed the +\par Rhine at Strasburg. A part of the large force which the Russians +\par were sending to the aid of Austria had at that moment arrived in +\par Moravia, and the cabinet at Vienna should, with prudence, have waited +\par until this powerful reinforcement had joined the Austrian army; but, carried away by an enthusiasm which they did not usually display, and +\par which was inspired by Field-marshal Mack, it had despatched him, at +\par the head of eighty thousand men, to attack }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{; the possession of +\par which had been coveted by Austria for several centuries, and which +\par French policy had always protected from invasion. The Elector of +\par }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{, forced to abandon his state, took refuge with his family +\par and his troops in Wurtzburg, from where he begged Napoleon for +\par assistance. Napoleon entered into an alliance with him and with the +\par rulers of Baden and Wurtzburg. +\par +\par The Austrian army, under Mack, had already occupied Ulm, when +\par Napoleon, having crossed the Danube at Donauwerth seized Augsburg and +\par Munich. The French were now in the rear of Mack's force and had cut +\par his communication with the Russians, who having reached Vienna, were +\par advancing towards him by forced marches. The Field-marshal realised +\par then, but too late, the error he had made in allowing himself to be +\par encircled by French troops. He tried to break out, but was defeated +\par successively in the battles of Wertingen, Gunzberg, and Elchingen, +\par where }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{ won fame. Under increasing pressure, Mack was +\par forced to shut himself up in Ulm with all his army, less the corps of +\par the Archduke Ferdinand and Jellachich who escaped, the former into +\par Bohemia, and the latter to the region round Lake Constance. Ulm was +\par then besieged by the Emperor. It was a place which, though not +\par heavily fortified, could nevertheless have held out for a long +\par time thanks to its position and its large garrison, and so given the +\par Russians time to come to its relief. But Field-marshal Mack, passing +\par from exalted over-confidence to a profound disheartenment, +\par surrendered to Napoleon, who had now, in three weeks, scattered, +\par captured, or destroyed eighty thousand Austrians and freed }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{, +\par where he reinstalled the Elector. We shall see, in 1813, this favour +\par repaid by the most odious treachery. +\par +\par Being now the master of }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{, and rid of the presence of Mack's +\par army, the Emperor increased the pace of his advance, down the right +\par bank of the Danube towards Vienna. He captured Passau and then +\par Linz, where he learned that 50,000 Russians, commanded by General +\par Koutousoff, reinforced by 40,000 Austrians, whom General Kienmayer +\par had collected, had crossed the Danube at Vienna and had taken up a +\par position between M\'f6lk and St. Poelten. He was told at the same time +\par that the Austrian army commanded by Prince Charles had been defeated +\par by Mass\'e9na in the Venetian district and was retreating via the Friuli +\par in the direction of Vienna; and lastly that the Archduke Jean was +\par occupying the Tyrol with several divisions. Those two princes were +\par therefore threatening the right of the French army, while it had the +\par Russians in front of it. To protect himself against a flank attack, +\par the Emperor, who already had Marshal Augereau's corps in the region +\par of Bregenz, sent }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{ to attack Innsbruk and the Tyrol, and +\par moved Marmont's corps to Loeben, in order to block Prince Charles' +\par route from Italy. Having taken these wise precautions to protect his +\par right flank, Napoleon, before advancing to meet the Russians, whose +\par advance-guard had already clashed with ours at Amstetten, near to +\par Steyer, wished to protect his left flank from any attack from those +\par Austrians who had taken refuge in Bohemia, under the command of +\par Archduke Ferdinand. To effect this he gave Marshal Mortier the +\par infantry divisions of Generals Dupont and Gazan, and ordered him to +\par cross the Danube by the bridges at Passau and Linz, and then proceed +\par down the left bank of the river, while the bulk of the army went down +\par the right. However, in order not to leave Marshal Mortier too +\par isolated, Napoleon conceived the idea of gathering together on the +\par Danube a great number of boats, which had been captured on the +\par tributaries of the river, and forming a flotilla which, manned by men +\par from the guard, could move down the river, keeping level with Mortier +\par and m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ a link between the troops on both banks. +\par +\par You may think it a little presumptuous of me to criticise one of +\par the operations of a great captain, but I cannot refrain from +\par commenting that the sending of Mortier to the left bank was a move +\par which had not been sufficiently considered, and was an error which +\par could have had very serious consequences. The Danube, Europe's +\par largest river, is, after Passau, so wide in winter that from one +\par bank one cannot discern a man standing on the other; it is also very +\par deep and very fast-flowing, and it therefore provided a guarantee of +\par perfect safety for the left flank of the French army as it marched +\par down the right bank. Furthermore, any attack could be made only by +\par the Archduke Ferdinand, coming from Bohemia; but he, very pleased to +\par have escaped from the French before Ulm, had only a few troops, and +\par they were mostly cavalry. Even if he had wished to do so, he had not +\par the means to mount an attack which involved crossing an obstacle such +\par as the Danube, into which he might be driven back. Whereas, by +\par detaching two of his divisions and allowing them to be isolated +\par across this immense river, Napoleon exposed them to the risk of being +\par captured or exterminated. A disaster which might have been foreseen +\par and which very nearly came about. +\par +\par Field-marshal Koutousoff, had been awaiting the French with +\par confidence, in a strong position at St. Poelten, because he believed +\par that they were being pursued by the army of Mack; but when he heard +\par of the surrender of this army at Ulm, he no longer felt himself +\par strong enough to face Napoleon alone, and being unwilling to risk his +\par troops to save the city of Vienna, he decided to put the barrier of +\par the Danube between himself and the victor, so he crossed the river by +\par the bridge at Krems, which he burned behind him. +\par +\par He had scarcely arrived on the left bank with all his army, when +\par he ran into the scouts of the Gazan division, which was proceeding +\par from Dirnstein to Krems, with Marshal Mortier at its head. +\par Koutousoff, having discovered the presence of a French corps isolated +\par on the left bank, resolved to crush it, and to achieve this aim he +\par attacked it head to head on the narrow road which ran along the river +\par bank, while seizing control of the escarpments which overlook the +\par Danube. He sent light troops to occupy Dirnstein to cut off the +\par retreat of the Gazan division. The position of the division was made +\par even more critical by the fact that the flotilla of boats had dropped +\par back and there were only two little boats available, which made it +\par impossible to bring reinforcements from the other bank. +\par +\par Attacked in front and in the rear and on one of their flanks by +\par enemies six times their number; shut in between the rocky escarpment +\par occupied by the Russians and the depths of the Danube, the French +\par soldiers, crowded on the narrow roadway, did not despair. The +\par gallant Marshal Mortier set them an example, for, when it was +\par suggested that he should take one of the boats and go over to the +\par right bank, where he would be with the Grande Arm\'e9e, and avoid giving +\par the Russians the glory of capturing a marshal, he replied that he +\par would die with his men, or escape over the dead bodies of the +\par Russians! +\par +\par A savage bayonet fight ensued: five thousand French were up +\par against thirty thousand Russians: night came to add to the horrors of +\par the combat: Gazan's division, massed in column, managed to regain +\par Dirnstein at a moment when Dupont's division, which had remained +\par behind opposite M\'f6lk, alerted by the sound of gunfire, was +\par running to their aid. Eventually the battlefield remained in French +\par hands. +\par +\par In this hand to hand fighting, where the bayonet was almost the +\par only weapon used, our men, more adroit and agile than the giant +\par Russians, had a great advantage; so the enemy losses amounted to some +\par four thousand five hundred men, while ours were three thousand only. +\par But had our divisions not been made up of seasoned soldiers, +\par Mortier's corps would probably have been destroyed. The Emperor was +\par well aware of this, and hastened to recall it to the right bank. +\par What seems to me to be proof that he realised the mistake he had made +\par in sending this corps across the river, is the fact that, although he +\par generously rewarded the brave regiments which had fought at +\par Dirnstein, the official bulletins scarcely mention this sanguinary +\par affair, and it is as if one wished to conceal the results of this +\par operation because one could find no military justification for it. +\par +\par What further confirms me in the opinion which I have taken the +\par liberty of expressing, is that in the campaign of 1809, the Emperor, +\par when he found himself in a similar situation, did not send any troops +\par across the river, but, keeping all his force together, he went with +\par it to Vienna. +\par +\par But let us return to the mission with which Major Massy and I were +\par charged. +\par +\par When we arrived in Vienna, Napoleon and the bulk of the army +\par had already left the city, which they had seized without a shot being +\par fired. The crossing of the Danube which it was necessary to effect +\par in order to pursue the Russians and the Austrians who were retreating +\par into Moravia, had not been disputed, thanks to a perhaps culpable +\par deception which was carried out by Marshals Lannes and Murat. This +\par incident, which had such a profound effect on this well-known +\par campaign, deserves recounting. +\par +\par The city of Vienna is situated on the right bank of the Danube: a +\par small branch of that immense river passes through the city, but the +\par main stream is half a league away; there the Danube contains a large +\par number of islands which are connected by a long series of wooden +\par bridges, terminated by one which, spanning the main arm of the +\par river, reaches the left bank at a place named Spitz. The road to +\par Moravia runs along this series of bridges. When the Austrians are +\par opposing the crossing of a river, they have a very bad habit of +\par leaving the bridges intact up to the very last moment, to give them a +\par means of mounting a counter-attack against the enemy, who almost +\par always does not allow them time to do so and takes from them the +\par bridges which they have neglected to burn. This is what the French +\par did during the campaign in Italy in 1796 at the memorable affairs of +\par Lodi and Arcoli. But these examples had not served to correct the +\par Austrians, for on leaving Vienna, which is not suited to defence, +\par they retired to the other side of the Danube without destroying a +\par single one of the bridges spanning this vast watercourse, and limited +\par themselves to placing inflammable material on the platform of the +\par main bridge, in order to set it alight when the French appeared. +\par They had also established on the left bank, at the end of the bridge +\par at Spitz, a powerful battery of artillery, as well as a division of +\par six thousand men under the command of Prince D'Auersperg, a brave but +\par not very intelligent officer. Now I must tell you that some days +\par before the entry of the French into Vienna, the Emperor had received +\par the Austrian general, Comte de Guilay, who came as an envoy to make +\par peace overtures, which came to nothing. But hardly had the Emperor +\par settled in the palace of Schoenbrunn, when General Guilay again +\par appeared and spent more than an hour t\'eate-a-t\'eate with Napoleon. From +\par this a rumour arose that an armistice had been arranged, a rumour +\par which spread amongst the French regiments which were entering Vienna +\par and the Austrians who were leaving to cross the Danube. +\par +\par Murat and Lannes, whom the Emperor had ordered to secure the +\par crossing of the Danube, placed Oudinot's Grenadiers behind a bushy +\par plantation and went forward, accompanied only by some German-spe}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ +\par officers. The enemy outposts withdrew, firing as they went. The +\par French officers called out that there was an armistice, and +\par continuing their progress, they crossed all the small bridges, +\par without being held up. When they arrived at the main bridge, they +\par renewed their assertion to the commander at Spitz, who did not dare +\par to fire on two marshals, almost alone, who claimed that hostilities +\par were suspended. However, before allowing them to go any further, he +\par wanted to go and ask General Auersperg for orders, and while he did +\par so, he left the post in charge of a sergeant. Lannes and Murat +\par persuaded the sergeant that under the terms of the cease-fire, the +\par bridge should be handed over to them, and that he should go with his +\par men to join his officer on the left bank. The poor sergeant +\par hesitated, he was edged back gently while the conversation continued, +\par and by a slow but steady advance they reached, eventually, the end of +\par the main bridge. +\par +\par At this point an Austrian officer endeavored to set light to the +\par incendiary material, but the torch was snatched from his hand, and he +\par was told that he would be in serious trouble if he did any such +\par thing. Next, the column of Oudinot's Grenadiers appeared and began +\par to cross the bridge.... The Austrian gunners prepared to open fire, +\par but the French marshals ran to the commander of the artillery and +\par assured him that an armistice was in force, then, seating themselves +\par on the guns, they requested the gunners to go and inform General +\par Auersperg of their presence. General Auersperg eventually arrived +\par and was about to order the gunners to open fire, although by now they +\par and the Austrian troops were surrounded by the French Grenadiers, +\par when the two marshals managed to convince him that there was a +\par cease-fire, a principal condition of which was that the French should +\par occupy the bridge. The unhappy general, fearing to compromise +\par himself by the useless shedding of blood, lost his head to the point +\par of leading away all the troops which he had been given to defend the +\par bridges. +\par +\par Without this error on the part of General Auersperg, the passage +\par of the Danube could only have been carried out with great difficulty, +\par and might even have been impossible; in which case Napoleon would +\par have been unable to pursue the Russians and Austrians into Moravia, +\par and would have failed in his campaign. That was the opinion at the +\par time, and it was confirmed three years later when, the Austrians +\par having burned the bridges, to secure a passage we were forced to +\par fight the two battles of Essling and Wagram, which cost us more than +\par thirty thousand men, whereas in 1805 Marshals Lannes and Murat took +\par possession of the bridges without there being a single man wounded. +\par +\par Was the stratagem they employed admissible? I have my doubts. I +\par know that in war one eases one's conscience, and that any means may +\par be employed to ensure victory and reduce loss of life, but in spite +\par of these weighty considerations, I do not think that one can approve +\par of the method used to seize the bridge at Spitz, and for my part I +\par would not care to do the same in similar circumstances. +\par +\par To conclude this episode, the credulity of General Auersperg was +\par very severely punished. A court-martial condemned him to be +\par cashiered, dragged through the streets of Vienna on a hurdle and +\par finally put to death at the hands of the public executioner...! A +\par similar sentence was passed on Field-marshal Mack, to punish him for +\par his conduct at Ulm. But in both cases the death sentence was +\par commuted to life imprisonment. They served ten years and were then +\par released, but deprived of their position, expelled from the ranks of +\par the nobility and rejected by their families, they died, both of them, +\par shortly after they had been set at liberty. +\par +\par The stratagem employed by Marshals Lannes and Murat having secured +\par the crossing of the Danube, the Emperor Napoleon directed his army in +\par pursuit of the Russians and the Austrians. Thus began the second +\par phase of the campaign. +\par +\par Chap. 25. +\par +\par The Russian marshal Koutousoff was heading via Hollabrunn for +\par Brno in Moravia, in order to join the second army which was led by +\par the Emperor Alexander in person; but on approaching Hollabrunn, he +\par was alarmed to discover that the troops of Lannes and Murat were +\par already occupying the town and cutting off his means of retreat. To +\par get out of this fix, the aged marshal, m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ use, in his turn, of +\par trickery, sent General Prince Bagration as an envoy to Marshal Murat, +\par whom he assured that an aide-de-camp of the Emperor was on his way to +\par Napoleon in order to conclude an armistice, and that, without doubt, +\par peace would shortly follow. +\par +\par Prince Bagration was a very amiable man, he knew exactly how to +\par flatter Murat, so that he in turn was deceived into accepting an +\par armistice, in spite of the observations of Lannes, who wished to +\par fight but had to obey Murat, who was his superior officer. +\par +\par The truce lasted for thirty-six hours; and while Murat was +\par inhaling the incense which the crafty Russian lavished on him, +\par Koutousoff's army made a detour and concealing its movement behind a +\par screen of low hills, escaped from danger, and went on to take up, +\par beyond Hollabrunn, a strong position which opened the road to Moravia +\par and assured his retreat and his junction with the second Russian army +\par which was encamped between Znaim and Brno. Napoleon was still in the +\par palace of Schoenbrunn, and was furiously angry when he heard that +\par Murat had allowed himself to be bamboozled by Prince Bagration, and +\par had accepted an armistice without his orders, and he commanded him to +\par attack Koutousoff immediately. +\par +\par Now the situation of the Russians had changed greatly to their +\par advantage, so they repelled the French most vigorously. The town of +\par Hollabrunn, taken and re-taken several times, set on fire by the +\par mortars, filled with the dead and dying, remained finally in French +\par possession. The Russians retired in the direction of Brno; our +\par troops followed them and took possession of this town without a +\par fight, although it was fortified and dominated by the well-known +\par citadel of Spielberg. +\par +\par The Russian armies and the remains of the Austrian troops were +\par united in Moravia; the Emperor Napoleon, in order to deliver the +\par final blow, arrived in Brno, the capital of the province. +\par +\par My comrade Massy and I followed after him, but we moved slowly and +\par with much difficulty, firstly because the post-horses were on their +\par last legs, and then because of the great quantity of troops, guns, +\par ammunition wagons, baggage, etc. with which the roads were +\par obstructed. We were obliged to stop for twenty-four hours at +\par Hollabrunn, while we waited for a passage to be cleared through the +\par streets, destroyed by fire and littered with planks and beams and the +\par debris of furniture, still alight. This unfortunate town had been so +\par completely burned that we were unable to find a single house to +\par provide shelter! +\par +\par During our enforced stay, we were confronted and distressed by the +\par most horrible and shocking spectacle. The wounded, mainly Russians, +\par had taken refuge during the fighting in the houses which were soon +\par set ablaze. All who could walk fled at the approach of this new +\par danger, but the crippled and gravely injured were burned alive in the +\par ruins! Many had attempted to escape the fire by crawling along the +\par ground, but the flames had followed them into the streets,where one +\par could see a multitude of these wretched victims half consumed by +\par fire, some of them still breathing! The bodies of the men and horses +\par killed in the battle had also been roasted, so that for several +\par leagues around the town there was a sickening stench of burning +\par flesh! ... There are countrysides and towns which because of their +\par situation are destined to serve as battlefields, and Hollabrun is one +\par of them, because it offers an excellent military position; thus it +\par was that the damage done by the fire of 1805 had scarcely been +\par repaired, when I saw the place again, four years later, once more on +\par fire and littered with the half-roasted bodies of the dead and dying; +\par as you will see from my description of the campaign of 1809. +\par +\par Major Massy and I left this pestilential spot as soon as we could, +\par and went on to Znaim, where, four years later I was to be wounded; +\par and at last we reached the Emperor at Brunn (Brno), on November 22nd, +\par ten days before the Battle of Austerlitz. +\par +\par The day after our arrival, we completed our mission and handed +\par over the flags with the ceremony laid down by the Emperor for solemn +\par occasions of this kind; for he missed no opportunity of displaying to +\par the troops anything which could raise their morale and enthusiasm. +\par +\par The procedure was as follows:--Half an hour before the daily +\par parade,--which took place at eleven o'clock outside whatever +\par residence was serving as the Emperor's palace,--General Duroc, the +\par Grand Marshal, sent to our billet a company of Grenadiers of the +\par Guard, with bandsmen and drummers. The town of Brunn was full of +\par French troops, and the soldiers, as we passed, celebrated with much +\par cheering the victory of their comrades of 7th Corps. All the +\par guard-posts accorded us military honours, and on our entry to the +\par courtyard of the Emperor's quarters, the units formed up for the +\par parade beat a salute, presented arms, and cried repeatedly "Vive +\par L'Empereur!" +\par +\par The aide-de-camp on duty came to receive us and to present us to +\par Napoleon, to whom we were introduced, accompanied always by the +\par N.C.O.s carrying the Austrian flags. The Emperor examined these +\par various trophies, and after dismissing the N.C.O.s. he questioned us +\par closely about the various actions which had been fought by Marshal +\par Augereau and on all we had seen or learned on our long journey +\par through a countryside which had been the theatre of war. Then he +\par told us to await his instructions, and to join the imperial suite. +\par The Grand Marshal Duroc took charge of the flags, for which he gave +\par us a receipt in the regular manner, informed us that horses would be +\par placed at our disposal and invited us, for the duration of our stay, +\par to the table over which he presided. +\par +\par The French army was now massed around and before Brunn. The +\par Russian advance-guard occupied Austerlitz, while the bulk of their +\par army was positioned round the town of Olmutz, where were also the +\par Emperor Alexander of Russia and the Emperor of Austria. A battle +\par seemed inevitable, but both sides being well aware that the outcome +\par would have an immense bearing on the destiny of Europe, each +\par hesitated to make a decisive move. Napoleon, usually so swift to act, +\par waited for eleven days at Brunn before launching a major attack. It +\par is, however, true that every day of waiting increased his forces by +\par the arrival of great numbers of soldiers who had lagged behind +\par because of illness or fatigue, and who having now recovered, hastened +\par to rejoin their units. I recall that, in these circumstances, I told +\par a white lie which could have ruined my military career. +\par +\par Napoleon usually treated his officers with kindness, but there was +\par one point on which he was perhaps too strict, for he held colonels +\par responsible for keeping their units up to full strength, something it +\par is very difficult to do during a campaign. It was in this matter +\par that the Emperor was most often deceived, for the corps commanders +\par were so afraid of displeasing him that they risked being committed to +\par facing an enemy force disproportionate to their own numbers, rather +\par than admit that sickness, fatigue and the need to forage for food had +\par caused many soldiers to drop out. So Napoleon, in spite of his +\par authority, never knew the exact number of combatants available to him +\par on the day of battle. +\par +\par Now it so happened that the Emperor, in the course of one of the +\par endless trips he made to visit the various corps of the army, saw the +\par mounted Chasseurs of his guard, who were moving to a different +\par position. He was particularly fond of this regiment, of which his +\par "guides" from Italy and Egypt formed the nucleus. The Emperor, whose +\par experienced eye could estimate very exactly the strength of a column, +\par noticing that their numbers were much reduced, took out of his pocket +\par a little notebook, and, calling for General Morland, the commander of +\par the mounted Chasseurs, he said to him in a stern voice, "Your +\par regiment is down in my notes as having 1200 men, and although you +\par have not been in action, you have no more than 800; what has happened +\par to the others?" General Morland was a fine, brave fighting soldier, +\par but he did not have a ready tongue, and being quite nonplussed, he +\par said in his Franco-Alsatian dialect that he was short of only a small +\par number of men. The Emperor maintained that he was about four hundred +\par short, and to get to the truth of the matter he wanted to have an +\par immediate count; but knowing that General Morland was very much liked +\par by the officers of the imperial staff, he feared a cover-up, and +\par thought he would be more likely to discover the truth by choosing an +\par officer who did not belong to his entourage nor to the Chasseurs; so, +\par seeing me, he ordered me to count the Chasseurs and to deliver to him +\par personally a record of their numbers; having said which, he made off +\par at the gallop. I began my task, which was made more easy because the +\par troopers were riding past four abreast at walking pace. +\par +\par Poor General Morland, who knew how close Napoleon's estimate was +\par to the reality, was in a state of great agitation, for he foresaw +\par that my report would call down on his head a severe reprimand. He +\par hardly knew me, and did not dare to suggest that I might compromise +\par myself to get him out of trouble. He was then sitting silently on +\par his horse beside me, when, fortunately for him, his adjutant came to +\par join him. This officer, named Fournier, had started his military +\par career as an assistant surgeon, then, having become a surgeon-major, +\par he felt that he had more of a vocation for the sabre than for the +\par lancet, and had asked for and obtained permission to join the ranks +\par of the combatant officers, and Morland, with whom he had served +\par previously, arranged for him to join the Guard. +\par +\par I had known Captain Fournier very well when he was still +\par surgeon-major, and I was very much obliged to him, for not only had +\par he dressed my father's wound when it was inflicted, but he had gone, +\par like him, to Genoa, where, as long as my father lived, he had come +\par several times a day to care for him: if the doctors charged with the +\par duty of fighting the typhus epidemic had been as assiduous and +\par zealous as Fournier, my father, perhaps, would not have died. I had +\par often thought this, so I gave the warmest of welcomes to Fournier, +\par whom I did not at first recognise in the pelisse of a captain of +\par Chasseurs. +\par +\par General Morland, seeing the pleasure we had in meeting one +\par another, thought he might profit from our mutual friendship to +\par persuade me not to reveal to the Emperor by how many men he was +\par short. He took his adjutant aside and conferred with him for a time; +\par then Fournier came, and in the name of our former friendship, he +\par begged me to extricate General Morland from a most unpleasant +\par situation by concealing from the Emperor the extent to which the +\par regiment was under strength. I refused firmly and continued to +\par count. The Emperor's estimate was very close, for there were only a +\par few over eight hundred Chasseurs present, four hundred were missing. +\par +\par I was about to leave to make my report, when General Morland and +\par Captain Fournier renewed their pleas pointing out that the greater +\par part of the men who had dropped behind for various reasons would +\par rejoin them very shortly, and that it was not likely that Napoleon +\par would engage in battle before the arrival of the divisions of Friant +\par and Gudin, who were still at the gates of Vienna, thirty-six leagues +\par from us and would take several days to reach us. In the interval +\par more laggards would rejoin the unit. They added that the Emperor +\par would be too busy to check my report. I could not pretend to myself +\par that I was not being asked to deceive the Emperor, which was very +\par wrong, but I felt also that I was under a great obligation to Captain +\par Fournier for the truly tender care he had given to my dying father, I +\par allowed myself therefore to be swayed and promised to conceal a large +\par part of the truth. +\par +\par I was scarcely alone when I realised the enormity of my error, but +\par it was too late; the essential object now was to get out of the +\par situation with the least harm possible. With this aim in view, I +\par kept out of the way of the Emperor as long as he was on horseback, in +\par case he went back to the bivouac of the Chasseurs, where their +\par shortage of numbers striking him anew would give the lie to my +\par report. I craftily did not return to the imperial quarters until +\par night was approaching and Napoleon, having dismounted had gone to his +\par apartment. Brought before him in order to make my report, I found +\par him lying at full length on an immense map which was spread on the +\par floor. As soon as he saw me, he called out "Well now! Marbot, how +\par many Chasseurs are there in my guard? Are there twelve hundred as +\par Morland claims?" "No sire" I replied."I counted only eleven hundred +\par and twenty, that is a shortfall of eighty." "I was sure that there +\par was a lot missing." said the Emperor, in a tone of voice which made +\par it plain that he had expected a much larger deficit; and to be sure +\par if there were no more than eighty men missing from a regiment of +\par twelve hundred which had just come five hundred leagues in winter, +\par sleeping almost every night in bivouac, that was a very small loss. +\par So when, on going to dinner, the Emperor passed through the room +\par where the senior officers of the guard were gathered, all he said to +\par Morland was, "Now you see...you are short of eighty troopers; that is +\par almost a squadron. With eighty of these men one could stop a Russian +\par regiment! You must take care to see that men do not drop behind." +\par Then, passing to the commander of the foot guards, whose numbers were +\par also much reduced, Napoleon gave him a sharp reprimand. Morland, who +\par thought himself lucky to have got away with no more than a few +\par observations, came over to me, as soon as the Emperor was seated at +\par table, and thanked me warmly. He told me that some thirty troopers +\par had just arrived, and that a courier from Vienna had met more than a +\par hundred between Znaim and Brunn, and many more this side of +\par Hollabrunn, which meant that within forty-eight hours the regiment +\par would have made up most of its deficiency. I wished for this as +\par fervently as he did, for I was well aware of the difficult spot I had +\par landed myself in out of my consideration for Fournier. I could not +\par sleep that night for fear of the justifiable wrath of the Emperor, if +\par he found out that I had lied to him. +\par +\par I was even more dismayed the next day when Napoleon, in the course +\par of his usual visit to his troops, started off in the direction of the +\par Chasseur's bivouac, for a simple question put to an officer could +\par expose everything; but just when I thought that I was done for, I +\par heard the sound of the band of the Russian force, camped on the high +\par ground of the Pratzen half a league from our position. I urged my +\par horse forward towards the head of the numerous staff by whom the +\par Emperor was accompanied, and getting as close to him as possible, I +\par said in a loud voice, "I am sure there is something going on in the +\par Russian camp, their band is playing a march".... The Emperor, who +\par heard my remark, suddenly left the path which led to the Chasseur's +\par bivouac, and headed towards Pratzen to see what was happening in the +\par enemy advance-guard. He stayed a long time watching, and as night +\par was approaching, he went back to Brunn without visiting the +\par Chasseurs. For several days I was in a mortal panic, although I +\par learned of the arrival of successive detachments of men, but at last +\par the coming battle and the many preoccupations of the Emperor drove +\par from his mind the idea of m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ the check which I so much feared. +\par But I had learned my lesson; so when I became a colonel and was asked +\par by the Emperor how many men were present in the squadrons of my +\par regiment, I always gave the exact number. +\par +\par Chap. 26. +\par +\par If Napoleon was often deceived, he also used deception himself to +\par further his projects, as can be shown by the tale of this +\par diplomatic-military comedy, in which I played a part. +\par +\par In order to understand this affair, which will give you the key to +\par the intrigues which, the following year, gave rise to the war between +\par Napoleon and the King of Prussia, we have to go back two months to +\par the time when the French troops, having left the coast, were +\par proceeding by rapid marches to the Danube. The shortest route which +\par the first corps, commanded by Bernadotte, could take to reach +\par Hanover, on the upper Danube, lay through Anspach. This little +\par country belonged to Prussia, but as it was quite a long way from +\par there, from which it was separated by a number of minor +\par principalities, it had always been regarded in previous wars as +\par being neutral territory, through which either party could pass, +\par provided that they paid for any goods they required and refrained +\par from any hostile action. +\par +\par Things having been established on this footing, Austrian and +\par French armies had often passed through the Margravate of Anspach, +\par since the time of the Directory, without informing Prussia and +\par without the latter raising any objection. Napoleon then, t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ +\par advantage of this convention, ordered Bernadotte to go through +\par Anspach, which he did. However, the Queen of Prussia and her court, +\par who detested Napoleon, on hearing of this, raised an outcry, claiming +\par that Prussian territory had been violated, and took advantage of this +\par event to rouse the nation and call loudly for war. The King of +\par Prussia and his minister, Count Haugwitz, alone resisted the general +\par clamour for action. This was in October 1805, when hostilities were +\par about to break out between France and Austria, and the Russian +\par armies were on their way to reinforce the latter. The queen and the +\par young Prince Louis, the king's nephew, in an attempt to persuade the +\par king to make common cause with the Austrians and Russians, arranged +\par for the Emperor Alexander to come to Berlin, in the hope that his +\par presence would influence Frederick-William. +\par +\par Alexander arrived in the capital of Prussia on the 25th October. +\par He was greeted with enthusiasm by the queen, Prince Louis and the +\par supporters of war against France. The king, besieged on all sides, +\par allowed himself to be persuaded, but only on the condition--advised +\par by the old Prince of Brunswick, and Count Haugwitz--that his army +\par should not be committed to a campaign until the outcome of the +\par conflict between the French and the Austrians on the Danube had been +\par determined. This partial adherence to their cause pleased neither +\par Alexander nor the queen, but for the time being they could obtain +\par nothing more explicit. A melodramatic scene was played out at +\par Potsdam, where the Emperor of Russia and the King of Prussia, having +\par descended, by the light of torches, into the sepulchral vaults of the +\par palace, swore, in the presence of the court, eternal friendship, on +\par the tomb of Frederick the Great; (an oath which did not prevent +\par Alexander from incorporating into the Russian Empire, eighteen months +\par later, one of the Prussian provinces, which Napoleon awarded him +\par under the treaty of Tilsit, and this in the presence of his friend +\par Frederick-William.) The Russian Emperor now went back to Moravia, to +\par place himself at the head of his army, for Napoleon was advancing +\par rapidly towards Vienna, which he shortly occupied. +\par +\par When he heard of the King of Prussia's reluctance and the compact +\par made at Potsdam, Napoleon, in order to deal with the Russians before +\par the Prussians had made up their minds, installed himself for the +\par encounter with the former in Brunn, where we now were. +\par +\par It is said, quite rightly, that ambassadors are privileged spies. +\par The King of Prussia, who heard daily of fresh victories won by +\par Napoleon, was anxious to find out what the true position was between +\par the warring parties; so he decided to send Count Haugwitz, his +\par minister, to the French headquarters, with instructions to assess the +\par situation. Now it was necessary to find an excuse for doing this, so +\par he entrusted Count Haugwitz with a reply to a letter which Napoleon +\par had sent to him, complaining about the agreement concluded between +\par the Prussians and the Russians at Potsdam. Count Haugwitz arrived at +\par Brunn some days before the Battle of Austerlitz, and would dearly +\par have liked to stay there until he knew the result of the major +\par engagement which was in prospect, in order to advise his sovereign to +\par do nothing if we were victorious, or to attack us if we should be +\par defeated. You do not have to be a soldier to see from a map what +\par damage a Prussian army, coming from Breslau in Silesia, could do by +\par going through Bohemia to fall on our rear around Regansberg. +\par +\par As Napoleon knew that Count Haugwitz sent a courier every +\par evening to Berlin, he decided that it would be by this means that he +\par would inform the Prussians of the defeat of Field-marshal +\par Jellachich's army corps, news of which had not yet reached them. +\par This is how it was done. +\par +\par Marshal of the Palace Duroc, after telling us what we were to do, +\par had all the Austrian flags which we had brought from Bregenz secretly +\par replaced in the lodgings which Massy and I occupied; then, some hours +\par later, when the Emperor was in conversation with Count Haugwitz in +\par his study, we re-enacted the ceremony of the handover of the flags in +\par exactly the same way as it had been done on the first occasion. The +\par Emperor hearing the band playing in the courtyard, feigned +\par astonishment, and went to the windows followed by the ambassador. +\par Seeing the flags carried by the N.C.O.s. he called for the duty +\par aide-de-camp and asked him what was going on. The aide-de-camp +\par having told him that we were two of Marshal Augereau's aides who had +\par come to hand over to him the flags of Jellachich's Austrian corps +\par captured at Bregenz, we were led inside; there Napoleon, without +\par blinking an eyelid, and as if he had never seen us before, took the +\par letter from Augereau,which had been re-sealed, and read it, although +\par he had been aware of its contents for four days. Then he questioned +\par us, m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ us go into the smallest details. Duroc had warned us to +\par speak out loudly, as the ambassador was a little hard of hearing, +\par this advice was of no use to Major Massy, who was the leader of the +\par mission, since he was suffering from a cold and had almost completely +\par lost his voice, so it was I who replied to the Emperor, and t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ a +\par lead from him, I painted in the most vivid colours the defeat of the +\par Austrians, their despondency, and the enthusiasm of the French. +\par Then, presenting the trophies one after the other, I named the +\par Austrian regiments to which they had once belonged. I laid +\par particular stress on two of them, because I knew that their capture +\par would have a powerful effect on the ambassador, "Here," I said "is +\par the flag of the infantry regiment of his Majesty the Emperor of +\par Austria, and there is the standard of the Uhlans, commanded by the +\par Archduke Charles, his brother." Napoleon's eyes twinkled, and he +\par seemed to say, "Well done young man!" At last he dismissed us, and +\par as we left we heard him say to the ambassador, "You see, monsieur le +\par Comte, my armies are everywhere triumphant.... The Austrian army is +\par no more, and soon the same fate will befall the Russians." Count +\par Haugwitz seemed deeply impressed, and Duroc said to us, after we had +\par left the room, "The count will write tonight to Berlin, to tell his +\par government of the destruction of Jellachich's force, which will put a +\par damper on the war party, and give the king new reasons for holding +\par off. Which is what the Emperor very much wants." +\par +\par This comedy having been played out, The Emperor, to be rid of a +\par dangerous onlooker who could give an account of the disposition of +\par his forces, suggested to Count Haugwitz that it was not very safe for +\par him to remain between two armies which were about to come to blows, +\par and persuaded him to go to Vienna to M. Tallyrand, his minister for +\par foreign affairs, which he did that same evening. +\par +\par The following day the Emperor said nothing to us about the scene +\par which had been enacted the previous evening, but wishing, no doubt, +\par to give some sign of his satisfaction with the manner in which we had +\par played our parts, he asked Major Massy, kindly, about the progress of +\par his cold, and he pinched my ear, which with him was a sort of caress. +\par +\par Now the d\'e9nouement of the great drama was approaching and both +\par sides were preparing for the coming struggle. Nearly all military +\par authors so overload their narrative with details that they confuse +\par the mind of the reader, to the extent that, in most of the published +\par works on the wars of the Empire which I have read, I have been +\par unable to understand the description of several of the battles in +\par which I myself have taken part, and the various phases of which I +\par know. I think that to preserve clarity in the description of an +\par action, one needs to limit oneself to indicating the respective +\par positions of the two armies, prior to the engagement, and to +\par recounting only the principal and decisive events in the combat. +\par This is what I shall attempt to do. +\par +\par +\par The coming battle is known as the Battle of Austerlitz, although +\par it took place some distance from the village of that name: the reason +\par for this is that, on the eve of the battle, the Emperors of Austria +\par and Russia had slept in the Ch\'e2teau of Austerlitz, out of which +\par Napoleon drove them. +\par +\par You will see on the map that a stream, the Goldbach, which rises +\par on the far side of the road to Olmutz, flows into a pool called +\par Menitz. This stream, which runs in a little valley with quite steep +\par banks, separated the two armies. The right of the Austro-Russian +\par forces lay on a wooded escarpment, situated behind the post-house of +\par Posoritz, on the far side of the Olmutz road; their centre occupied +\par Pratzen and the vast plateau of that name, and their left was near +\par the meres of Satschan and the neighbouring marshes. The Emperor +\par placed his left flank on a little hill, very difficult of access, +\par which our men who had been in Egypt called the Santon (a holy man's +\par grave) because it was surmounted by a small chapel, the roof of +\par which had the appearance of a minaret. The French centre was near +\par the pool of Kobolnitz, and the right was at Telnitz. The Emperor had +\par put very few troops there in order to tempt the Russians into the +\par marshy ground, where he had prepared their defeat by concealing in +\par Gross-Raigern, on the road to Vienna, the corps of Marshal Davout. +\par +\par On the 1st December, the eve of the battle, Napoleon left Brunn in +\par the morning and spent all day examining the positions; in the evening +\par he set up his headquarters behind the French centre, at a spot from +\par where could be seen the camps of both armies and the area which would +\par form their battlefield the next day. There was no building in the +\par vicinity but a dilapidated barn, and it was there that were placed +\par the Emperor's tables and maps, while he himself took up a position +\par by a huge fire, surrounded by his numerous staff and his guards. +\par Happily there was no snow, although it was very cold. I bedded down +\par on the ground and fell into a deep sleep; but soon we had to remount +\par our horses to accompany the Emperor, who was about to visit his +\par troops. There was no moon, and the obscurity of the night was +\par increased by a thick mist which made progress difficult. The +\par troopers of the Emperor's escort had the idea of lighting torches made +\par of pinewood and straw which were most useful. The soldiers, seeing +\par the approach of a group of mounted men thus illuminated, could easily +\par distinguish the imperial staff, and in an instant, as if by magic, +\par one saw all our camp lit up by torches carried by the men who +\par greeted the Emperor with cheer, made all the louder because the next +\par day would be the anniversary of his coronation, a coincidence which +\par seemed to them to be a good augury. The enemy must have been greatly +\par astonished when, from the height of the neighbouring slope, they +\par saw in the middle of the night, the light of sixty thousand torches +\par and heard the repeated cheers of "Vive l'Empereur!" mingled with the +\par sound of the regimental bands. All was gaiety, light and movement in +\par our camp, while, on the Austro-Russian side, all was dark and silent. +\par +\par The next day, the 2nd December, the cannons were heard at +\par daybreak. We have seen that the Emperor had deployed few troops on +\par his right wing; a bait which he dangled before the enemy, who would +\par see the apparent possibility of t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ Telnitz easily, and then +\par crossing the Goldbach and going on to Gross-Raigern in order to +\par control the road from Brunn to Vienna and so cut off our line of +\par retreat. The Austro-Russians fell headlong into the trap, and, +\par thinning out the rest of their line, they clumsily piled up a +\par considerable force in the lower part of Telnitz, and in the narrow, +\par marshy defiles around the meres of Satschan and Menitz. They +\par thought, for some unknown reason, that Napoleon was considering +\par withdrawing, without facing a battle, so to hasten this move they +\par decided to attack us at the Santon on our left and at our centre +\par before Puntowitz, so that, being defeated at these two points, and +\par forced to retreat, we would find the road to Vienna cut by the +\par Russian troops. But on our left Marshal Lannes not only repelled +\par all the enemy attacks on the Santon, but drove them back across the +\par Olmutz road as far as Blasiowitz, where the more level ground allowed +\par Murat's cavalry to make several very effective charges, which +\par compelled the Russians to retire hurriedly to the village of +\par Austerlitz. +\par +\par While our left was achieving this brilliant success, the centre, +\par consisting of the troops of Marshals Soult and Bernadotte, who had +\par been placed by the Emperor in the valley of the Goldbach where they +\par were hidden by a thick mist, advanced towards the slope on which +\par stood the village of Pratzen. It was at this moment that the bright +\par "Sunshine of Austerlitz" appeared, the memory of which Napoleon was +\par pleased so frequently to recall. Marshal Soult took not only the +\par village of Pratzen but also the great plateau of that name, which is +\par the high point of the surrounding country, and, in consequence, the +\par key to the battlefield. Here took place, before the eyes of the +\par Emperor, a very sharp engagement in which the Russians were +\par defeated; but a battalion of the 4th Line regiment, commanded by +\par Prince Joseph, Napoleon's brother, went too far in pursuit of the +\par enemy and was charged and over-run by the horse-guards and +\par Cuirassiers of the Grand-duke Constantin, the brother of Alexander, +\par who captured their Eagle. A force of Russian cavalry advanced +\par rapidly to support the momentary success of the horse-guards; but +\par Napoleon sent against them the Mamelukes, the light cavalry and the +\par mounted Grenadiers of his guard, led by Marshal Bessi\'e8res and General +\par Rapp, and a most sanguinary mel\'e9e ensued. The Russian squadrons were +\par overcome and driven back beyond the village of Austerlitz with great +\par losses. Our cavalry captured many standards and prisoners, among +\par whom was Prince Repnin, the commander of the horse-guards. This +\par regiment, made up of the most glittering youth of the Russian +\par nobility, suffered many casualties. The boastful threats which they +\par had made concerning the French were known to our men, who in reply +\par said that they would give the ladies of St. Petersburg something to cry +\par about. +\par +\par The painter G\'e9rard, in his picture of the Battle of Austerlitz, +\par has taken as his subject the moment when General Rapp, leaving the +\par battle, wounded and covered in his own and the enemies' blood, is +\par presenting to the Emperor the flags which have been captured as well +\par as Prince Repnin, his prisoner. I was present at this memorable +\par scene, which the painter has reproduced with remarkable exactness. +\par All the heads are portraits, even that of the brave trooper, who +\par without complaining, though shot through the body, fell dead at the +\par feet of the Emperor as he presented the standard which he had just +\par captured. Napoleon, to honour the memory of this brave Chasseur, +\par ordered the painter to include him in his composition. One can see +\par also in this picture a Mameluke, who carries in one hand an enemy +\par flag, and with the other holds the bridle of his wounded horse. This +\par man, named Mustapha, known in the guards for his courage and +\par ferocity, had set off, during the charge, in pursuit of the +\par Grand-duke Constantin, who was only able to get rid of him by firing +\par a pistol shot which mortally wounded his horse. Mustapha, grieved at +\par having only a standard to offer the Emperor, said in his broken +\par French, when he presented it, "Ah! If me catch Prince Constantin, me +\par cut off head and bring to Emperor!" Napoleon replied indignantly, +\par "You be quiet! You wicked savage!" +\par +\par Let us now finish the story of the battle. While Marshals Lannes, +\par Soult and Murat attacked the centre and right of the Austro-Russians +\par and drove them back beyond the village of Austerlitz, the enemy left, +\par having fallen into the trap which the Emperor had prepared for them, +\par attacked the village of Telnitz and took possession of it, then, +\par crossing the Goldbach, they prepared to occupy the road to Vienna; +\par but they had greatly underestimated the skill of Napoleon in thinking +\par that he would neglect to defend his route of retreat in case of +\par misfortune. Marshal Davout's divisions were concealed in +\par Gross-Regairn and from that point he fell on the Russians as soon as +\par he saw that their massed troops were held up in the defiles between +\par the meres of Telnitz, Menitz and the rivulet. +\par +\par The Emperor, whom we left on the plateau of Pratzen, free of the +\par right and centre of the enemy, who were retreating in disorder beyond +\par Austerlitz, came down from the heights of Pratzen and hurried with +\par Marshal Soult's corps and all his guard, infantry, cavalry and +\par artillery, towards Telnitz; where he attacked in the rear the enemy +\par columns which Marshal Davout was attacking in front. From this +\par moment, the cumbersome masses of the Austro-Russians, crammed +\par together on the narrow pathways which ran alongside the Goldbach, +\par finding themselves between two fires, fell into indescribable +\par confusion. The ranks broke down and each man sought his own safety +\par in flight. Some rushed into the marshes around the meres, but our +\par infantry followed them; others tried to escape down the road which +\par runs between the two meres, but our cavalry charged them with fearful +\par slaughter; the largest body of men, principally Russians, tried to +\par get across the frozen meres, and already a great number were on the +\par ice of Lake Satschan when Napoleon ordered his gunners to fire on +\par them. The ice broke in many places with a loud cracking sound and we +\par saw a host of Russians with their horses wagons and guns slide slowly +\par into the depths. The surface of the lake was covered with men and +\par horses struggling amid the ice and water. A few were saved, helped +\par by poles and ropes which our men held out to them from the bank, but +\par many were drowned. +\par +\par The number of combatants at the Emperor's disposal in this battle +\par was sixty-eight thousand men. The Austro-Russians had ninety-two +\par thousand. Our losses in killed and wounded were about eight +\par thousand, the enemy stated that their losses in killed wounded and +\par drowned amounted to fourteen thousand. We took eighteen thousand +\par prisoners and captured one hundred and fifty cannons, as well as a +\par great number of flags, standards, etc. +\par +\par After giving orders to pursue the enemy in all directions, the +\par Emperor went to his new headquarters in the post-house at Posoritz, +\par on the Olmutz road. He was highly delighted as you may imagine, +\par although he several times expressed regret that the only Eagle we had +\par lost was that of the fourth line regiment, of which his brother, +\par Prince Joseph, was colonel. The fact that this had been captured by +\par the regiment of the Grand-duke Constantin, the Emperor of Russia's +\par brother, made the loss even more annoying. +\par +\par Napoleon soon had a great consolation; Prince Jean of Lichtenstein +\par came, on behalf of the Emperor of Austria, to request a meeting, and +\par Napoleon, realising that this would lead to peace and remove the +\par fear of having the Prussians attack the French rear before he had +\par rid himself of his present enemies, readily agreed to the proposal. +\par +\par Of all the units of the }{\deleted Imperial Guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966621 Imperial Guard}{, the regiment of Mounted +\par Chasseurs was the one which suffered the most casualties in the great +\par charge made on the Pratzen plateau against the Russian Guard. My +\par poor friend Fournier was killed, as was General Morland. It is said +\par that Napoleon intended to have the body of General Morland interred +\par in a mausoleum which he meant to have built in the centre of the +\par Esplanade des Invalides, and that it was preserved in a cask of rum +\par for that reason. But the mausoleum was never built, and it is alleged +\par that the general's body was still in a room in the school of medicine +\par when Napoleon lost his Empire in 1814. +\par +\par I was not wounded at Austerlitz, although I was often exposed to +\par danger, notably during the mel\'e9e with the Russian cavalry on the +\par Pratzen plateau. The Emperor had sent me to take some orders to +\par General Rapp, whom I found it very difficult to reach amid the +\par appalling confusion of the embattled soldiery. My horse was crushed +\par up against that of a Russian horse-guard and our sabres were about to +\par clash when we were separated by other combatants; I came away with a +\par large bruise. However, the next day I ran into a more serious danger, +\par one that one does not expect to meet on the field of battle. +\par +\par On the morning of the 3rd of December, the day after the battle, +\par the Emperor mounted his horse and went round all the places where +\par action had taken place on the previous day. Having arrived at the +\par mere of Satschan, Napoleon dismounted and was chatting round a fire +\par with a number of marshals, when we saw, some hundred paces from the +\par bank, a large slab of ice on which lay a poor Russian sergeant, who +\par was unable to help himself because of a bullet wound in his thigh. +\par Seeing the large group on the bank, the soldier raised his voice and +\par pleaded for help, saying that when the fighting was over we were all +\par brother soldiers. When his interpreter translated this, Napoleon was +\par touched and ordered General Bertrand to do what he could to rescue +\par the wretched Russian. +\par +\par Several men of the escort, and even two staff officers, attempted +\par to reach the Russian using two tree trunks which they pushed into +\par the water, but they ended up by falling in with all their clothes on, +\par and having difficulty in getting out. It then occurred to me to say +\par that they should have entered the water naked, so that their +\par movements would not be hampered, and they would not have to wear wet +\par clothing. This observation was repeated to the Emperor, who said +\par that I was right, and that the others had shown zeal without +\par forethought. I have no wish to make myself out to be better than I +\par am; I can assure you that, having just taken part in a battle where I +\par had seen thousands of dead and dying, my emotions were blunted, I did +\par not feel sufficiently philanthropic to risk pneumonia by struggling +\par amongst the ice floes to save the life of an enemy soldier, however +\par much I deplored his unhappy lot; but the Emperor's remark stung me +\par into action, it seemed to me ridiculous that I should offer advice +\par which I was not prepared to put into action. I jumped off my horse, +\par stripped off my clothes and leapt into the lake. +\par +\par I had been very active during the day, and was warm; the water +\par felt bitterly cold, but I was young and vigourous, a very good +\par swimmer, and encouraged by the presence of the Emperor, I was m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ +\par towards the Russian, when my example and probably the praise I +\par received from the Emperor, persuaded a lieutenant of artillery named +\par Roumestain to come after me. +\par +\par While he was undressing, I pushed on, but I had more difficulty +\par than I had foreseen in forcing my way through the thin layer of new +\par ice which was forming on the water, the sharp edges of which +\par inflicted many scrapes and scratches. The officer who followed me +\par was able to make use of the sort of path which I had made, and when +\par he reached me, he volunteered to take the lead, to give me some +\par relief. We eventually reached the large block of ice on which the +\par Russian lay, but it was only with the greatest difficulty that we +\par managed to push it near enough to the shore for the man to be +\par rescued. We were both so cold and exhausted that we had to be lifted +\par out of the water, and we were hardly able to stand. My good comrade +\par Massy, who had watched me with much anxiety during this swim, had had +\par the forethought to warm his horse's blanket before the fire, which he +\par wrapped round me as soon as I was out of the water. After I had +\par dried myself and dressed, I wanted to lie beside the fire, but Doctor +\par Larrey was against this and told me to walk around, something I was +\par unable to do without the aid of two troopers. The Emperor came to +\par congratulate the two of us on the courage with which we had +\par undertaken the rescue of the wounded Russian, and calling for his +\par Mameluke, Roustan, whose horse was always loaded with provisions, he +\par poured out for us a tot of rum each, and asked us, laughing, how we +\par had enjoyed the bath. +\par +\par As for the Russian sergeant, after his wound had been dressed by +\par Doctor Larrey, Napoleon gave him several gold coins. He was wrapped +\par in warm coverings and put in one of the houses of Telnitz which was +\par acting as a dressing station; the next day he was taken to the +\par hospital at Brunn. The poor lad blessed the Emperor as well as +\par Roumestain and me, and wanted to kiss our hands. He was a +\par Lithuanian, that is to say, born in a former province of Poland, +\par which is now part of Russia. As soon as he had recovered, he +\par announced that he wished now to serve no one but Napoleon. He was +\par sent back to France with our own wounded and subsequently joined the +\par Polish legion. In the end he became a sergeant in the lancers of the +\par guard, and each time I met him, he gave me a warm greeting. +\par +\par The ice-cold bath which I had taken and the almost superhuman +\par efforts I had made to rescue the Russian could have cost me dear had +\par I been less young and strongly built; for Lieutenant Roumestain, who +\par did not possess the latter of these two advantages to the same +\par extent, was taken that same evening with a severe chest infection. +\par He had to be taken to the hospital at Brunn, where he spent several +\par months between life and death. He never recovered completely, and +\par his poor health forced him to resign from the service some years +\par later. +\par +\par As for me, although I felt very weak, I mounted my horse when the +\par Emperor left to go to the ch\'e2teau of Austerlitz, where his +\par headquarters had been set up. Napoleon never went anywhere except at +\par the gallop; in my bruised state this pace was hardly suitable, +\par however I followed on, since night was approaching, and I feared to +\par be left behind, and anyway, if I had ridden at a walk, I would have +\par been overcome by the cold. +\par +\par When I arrived at the courtyard of the ch\'e2teau of Austerlitz, I +\par had to be helped off my horse. A violent shivering took me, my teeth +\par chattered and I felt very ill. Colonel Dahlmann, a major in the +\par Mounted Chasseurs, who had just been promoted to replace Colonel +\par Morland, remembering, no doubt, the service I had rendered to the +\par latter, took, me into one of the ch\'e2teau's barns, where he had +\par established himself with his officers. There, after giving me some +\par hot tea, his medical officer massaged me with warm oil, I was wrapped +\par in several blankets and put into an enormous pile of hay with only my +\par face exposed. A gentle warmth crept slowly back into my benumbed +\par limbs; I slept very soundly and thanks to these ministrations and my +\par twenty-three years, I awoke the next day fully recovered and able to +\par mount my horse and to observe a spectacle of great interest. +\par +\par Chap. 27. +\par +\par The defeat suffered by the Russians had thrown their army into +\par such confusion that all those who had escaped from the disaster of +\par Austerlitz, hastened to Galicia to get out of reach of the victor. +\par The rout was complete: the French took a great number of prisoners, +\par and found the roads covered with cannons and abandoned baggage. The +\par Emperor of Russia, who had believed he was marching to certain +\par victory, withdrew, stricken with grief, and authorised his ally, +\par Francis II to treat with Napoleon. In the evening following the +\par battle, the Austrian Emperor, in order to save his country from total +\par ruin, had sent a request for an interview to the French Emperor, and +\par when Napoleon had agreed to this, he went to the village of +\par Nasiedlowitz. The meeting took place on the 4th of December, near the +\par Poleny mill, between the lines of the French and the Austrian +\par outposts. I was at this memorable conference. +\par +\par Napoleon left the ch\'e2teau of Austerlitz early in the morning, +\par accompanied by his large staff. He arrived first at the rendezvous, +\par dismounted and strolled around until he saw the Emperor of Austria +\par arrive. He went over to him and embraced him warmly.... A spectacle +\par which might well inspire some philosophical reflection! A German +\par Emperor coming to humble himself and solicit peace from a little +\par Corsican gentleman, recently a second lieutenant of artillery, whose +\par talents, good fortune and the courage of the French armies had raised +\par to the pinnacle of power and made arbiter of the destiny of Europe. +\par +\par Napoleon did not abuse the position in which the Austrian Emperor +\par found himself; he was attentive and extremely polite, as far as could +\par be judged from the distance which was respectfully maintained by the +\par two general staffs. An armistice was arranged between the two +\par sovereigns which stipulated that both parties should send +\par plenipotentiaries to Brunn in order to negotiate a peace treaty +\par between France and Austria. The two Emperors embraced once more on +\par parting; the Germans returned to Nasiedlowitz, and Napoleon returned +\par to spend the night at Austerlitz. He spent two days there, during +\par which time he gave Major Massy and me our final audience, and charged +\par us to tell Marshal Augereau all that we had seen; he gave us at the +\par same time some despatches for the court of }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{, which had +\par returned to Munich, and informed us that Marshal Augereau had left +\par Bregenz and that we would find him at Ulm. We went back to Vienna +\par and continued our journey, travelling day and night in spite of the +\par heavy falls of snow. +\par +\par I shall not go into any details of the political changes which +\par resulted from the Battle of Austerlitz and the Peace of Presburg. +\par The Emperor went to Vienna and from there to Munich, where he had to +\par assist at the marriage of his step-son, Eug\'e8ne de Beauharnais to the +\par daughter of the King of }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{. It seems that the despatches which +\par we carried to this court were concerning this marriage; for we could +\par not have had a better reception. However, we stayed only a few hours +\par in Munich and went on to Ulm, where we found Marshal Augereau and +\par 7th Corps, and where we stayed for a fortnight. +\par +\par In order to move 7th Corps gradually nearer to the electorate of +\par Hesse, a close ally of Prussia, Napoleon ordered it to move to +\par Heidelburg, where we arrived about the end of December and saw the +\par beginning of the year 1806. After a short stay in this town, 7th +\par Corps went to Darmstadt, the capital of the landgrave of +\par Hesse-Darmstadt, a prince much attached to the King of Prussia by +\par family ties as well as politics. Although this prince had, on +\par accepting Hanover, concluded a treaty of alliance with Napoleon, he +\par had done so with reluctance, and was suspicious of the approach of +\par the French army. +\par +\par Marshal Augereau, before t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ his troops into the country of +\par Darmstadt, considered it his duty to inform the landgrave, by letter, +\par of his intentions, and he chose me to effect its delivery. The +\par journey was one of only fifteen leagues; I made it in a night; but on +\par my arrival at Darmstadt I found that the landgrave, to whom it had +\par been suggested that the French intended to make him a prisoner, had +\par left his residence and retired to another part of his state from +\par where he could easily take refuge in Prussia. This created a +\par difficulty for me, however, having heard that his wife was still in +\par the palace, I asked to be presented to her. +\par +\par The princess, whose person greatly resembled the portraits of the +\par Empress Catherine of Russia, had, like her, a masculine character, +\par great capability, and all the qualities necessary to control a vast +\par empire. She also governed her husband as she did her states; she was +\par a masterful woman, and when she saw the letter in my hands, addressed +\par to the landgrave, she took it without further ado, as if it had been +\par addressed her. She then told me quite frankly, that it had been on +\par her advice that her husband had left on the approach of the French, +\par but that she would arrange for him to come back if the marshal would +\par give her an assurance that he did not have any orders to make an +\par attempt on the liberty of the prince. I understood that the arrest +\par and death of the Duc d'Enghien had frightened all those princes who +\par thought that Napoleon might have some reason to complain about their +\par alliances. I protested, as much as I could, the innocence of the +\par French government's intentions, and offered to go back to Heidelburg +\par and ask Marshal Augereau for the assurances which she required, an +\par offer which she accepted. +\par +\par I left, and returned the next day with a letter from the marshal, +\par couched in such conciliatory terms that the landgravine, after saying +\par that she relied on the honour of a French marshal, went immediately +\par to Giessen, where the landgrave was, and brought him back to +\par Darmstadt, where they both received Marshal Augereau most graciously, +\par when he came to set up his headquarters in the town. +\par The marshal was so grateful for the confidence which they had +\par placed in him that several months later, when the Emperor gathered +\par up all the little European states and reduced their number to +\par thirty-two, out of which he formed the confederation of the Rhine, he +\par not only contrived to preserve the landgravate but gained for the +\par landgrave the title of Grand-Duke and an enlargement of his state +\par which increased the population from scarcely five hundred thousand to +\par over one million. Some months later, the new Grand-Duke allied his +\par army to ours to combat the Russians, and requested that they should +\par serve in Marshal Augereau's corps. The prince owed not only his +\par preservation but his elevation to his wife's courage. +\par +\par Although I was still very young, I thought that Napoleon had made +\par a mistake in reducing the number of the little German principalities. +\par +\par The fact is that in previous wars against France, the eight hundred +\par princes of the Germanic region had been unable to act in unison; +\par there were some who provided no more than a company, others only a +\par platoon, and some just one soldier; so that a combination of all +\par these different contingents made up an army wholly lacking cohesion, +\par which broke up at the first reverse. But when Napoleon had reduced +\par the number of the principalities to thirty-two, centralisation began +\par to appear in the German forces. Those rulers who remained, with +\par states increased in size, formed a small well-organised army. This +\par result was what the Emperor had intended, in the expectation of using +\par for his own ends all the military resources of the country; something +\par which he was in fact able to do as long as we were successful. But +\par on the first setback, the thirty-two sovereigns, by agreement among +\par themselves, united in opposition to France, and their coalition with +\par the Russians overthrew the Emperor Napoleon, who was thus punished +\par for not following the ancient policies of the kings of France. +\par +\par We spent part of the winter at Darmstadt, where there were f\'eates, +\par balls and galas. The grand-duke's troops were commanded by a +\par competent general named De Stoch. He had a son of my age, a charming +\par young man with whom I struck up a close friendship, and to whom I +\par shall refer again. +\par +\par We were only some ten leagues from Frankfurt-on-main. This town, +\par still free, and immensely rich as a result of its commerce, had been +\par for a long time a hot-bed of all the plots contrived against France, +\par and the place of origin of all the false stories about us which +\par circulated in Germany. So that, the day after Austerlitz, and while +\par the news was spreading that there had been an engagement, the result +\par of which was not yet known, the inhabitants of Frankfurt were sure +\par that the Russians had won, and several papers indulged their hatred +\par to the point of saying that the disaster which had overtaken our army +\par was so great that not a single Frenchman had survived!... The Emperor, +\par to whom all this was reported, appeared to take no notice until, +\par seeing the likelihood of a break with Prussia, he gradually moved his +\par armies to the frontiers of that kingdom. Then, to punish the +\par impertinence of the Frankfurters, he ordered Marshal Augereau to +\par leave Darmstadt without warning, and to establish himself with his +\par army corps in Frankfurt and its surroundings. +\par +\par The Emperor decreed that the city, on the entry of our troops, +\par should give, as a welcome, a louis d'or to each soldier, two to the +\par corporals, three to the sergeants, ten to second lieutenants and so +\par on! The inhabitants were also to lodge and feed the soldiers and pay +\par messing expenses of six hundred francs daily for the marshal, four +\par hundred for a divisional general, three hundred for a +\par brigadier-general and two hundred for the colonels. The senate was +\par instructed to pay every month, one million francs into the treasury +\par in Paris. +\par The authorities of Frankfurt, appalled by these exorbitant +\par demands, hurried to the French envoy; but he replied "You claimed +\par that not a single Frenchman escaped from the arms of the Russians; +\par the Emperor Napoleon wishes to put you in a position to count the +\par number m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ up a single corps of his army. There are six more of +\par the same size, and the guard to follow." This reply plunged the +\par inhabitants into consternation, for however great their wealth, they +\par would be ruined if this state of affairs continued for any length of +\par time. But Marshal Augereau made an appeal for clemency on behalf of +\par the citizens, and he was told he could act as he thought best; so he +\par took it on himself to station in the town only his general staff and +\par one battalion. The remaining troops were spread around other +\par neighbouring principalities. The Frankfurters were greatly relieved +\par by this, and to show their gratitude to Marshal Augereau they treated +\par him to a great number of f\'eates. I was billeted with a rich merchant +\par named M. Chamot. I spent nearly eight months there, during which time +\par he and his family looked after me very well. +\par +\par Chap. 28. +\par +\par While we were in Frankfurt, a very distressing event affecting an +\par officer of 7th Corps, landed me with a double mission, the first part +\par of which was very unpleasant and the second most agreeable, indeed +\par brilliantly so. +\par +\par As a result of a brain fever, Lieutenant N... of the 7th Chasseurs +\par became completely childish. Marshal Augereau detailed me to take him +\par to Paris, first to Marshal Murat, who had an interest in the matter, +\par and then, if I was asked to do so, to the Quercy. As I had not seen +\par my mother since leaving for the campaign of Austerlitz, and I knew +\par that she was not far from St. C\'e9r\'e9, in the Ch\'e2teau de Bras, which my +\par father had bought shortly before his death, I welcomed with pleasure +\par a mission which would allow me not only to be of service to Marshal +\par Murat but also to go and spend several days with my mother. Marshal +\par Augereau lent me a fine carriage and I set off on the road to Paris. +\par But the heat and insomnia so excited my poor companion that he went +\par from a state of idiocy to one of mania and nearly killed me with a +\par blow from a coach spanner. I have never made a more disagreeable +\par journey. I arrived at last in Paris, and I took Lieutenant N... to +\par Murat, who was staying for the summer at the Chateau de Neuilly. The +\par marshal asked me to take the lieutenant to Quercy. I agreed to do so, +\par in the hope of being able to see my mother again, but I pointed out +\par that I could not leave for twenty-four hours, because Marshal +\par Augereau had given me some despatches for the Emperor, whom I was +\par going to meet at Rambouillet, to where I reported officially the same +\par day. +\par +\par I do not know what was in the despatches which I was carrying, but +\par they made the Emperor very thoughtful. He sent for M. de Tallyrand and +\par left with him for Paris to where he ordered me to follow him and +\par present myself to Marshal Duroc that evening. +\par +\par I waited for a long time in one of the salons of the Tuileries, +\par until Marshal Duroc, coming out of the Emperor's study, the door of +\par which was left half open, called for an orderly officer to get +\par ready set off on a long mission. But Napoleon called out, "Duroc, +\par that will not be necessary; we have Marbot here, who is going to +\par rejoin Augereau; he can push on to Berlin. Frankfurt is half way +\par there." So Marshal Duroc told me to prepare to go to Berlin with the +\par Emperor's despatches. This was disappointing as it meant that I had +\par to give up all hope of seeing my mother; but I had to resign myself. +\par I hurried to Neuilly to tell Murat what had happened and as I +\par believed that my new mission was very urgent, I returned to the +\par Tuileries; but Marshal Duroc dismissed me until the next day. I was +\par there at dawn: I was dismissed until evening; then the evening of the +\par next day, and so on for more than a week. However, I remained +\par patient, because each time I presented myself, Marshal Duroc kept me +\par for only a minute, which allowed me time to get around Paris. I had +\par been given quite a large sum of money for the purpose of buying +\par myself new uniform, so as to appear well turned out before the king +\par of Prussia, into whose hands I was personally to deliver a letter +\par from the Emperor. You will understand that Napoleon neglected no +\par detail when it came to enhancing the standing of the French army in +\par the eyes of foreigners. +\par +\par I left at last, after t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ the despatches from the Emperor, who +\par advised me that I should make sure that I carefully examined the +\par Prussian troops, their bearing, their arms, their horses, etc. M. de +\par Tallyrand gave me a packet for M. Laforest, the French ambassador in +\par Berlin, to whose embassy I was to go. On my arrival at Maintz, which +\par at that time was still part of French territory, I was told that +\par Marshal Augereau was at Wiesbaden. I reported to him there and +\par greatly surprised him by telling him that I was going to Berlin on +\par the Emperor's orders. He congratulated me and told me to continue my +\par journey. I travelled night and day, in superb July weather, and +\par arrived in Berlin somewhat weary. At this period the Prussian roads +\par were not yet metalled, one went almost always at walking pace over +\par loose soil into which the coaches sank deeply, raising clouds of +\par unbearable dust. +\par +\par I was given a warm welcome by M. Laforest, at whose embassy I +\par stayed. I was presented to the king and queen, and also to the +\par princes and princesses. When the king received the letter from +\par Napoleon, he seemed much affected. He was a fine figure of a man, +\par with a benevolent expression, but lacking that animation which +\par suggests a decisive character. The queen was really very pretty; she +\par had only one blemish, she always wore a large scarf, in order, it was +\par said, to conceal an ulcerated swelling on her neck. For the rest, +\par she was graceful and her expression, calm and spiritual, was evidence +\par of a firm personality. +\par +\par I was very well received, and since the reply which I was to take +\par back to the Emperor seemed so difficult to draft that it took more +\par than a month, the queen was pleased to invite me to the balls and +\par f\'eates which she gave during my stay. +\par +\par Of all the members of the royal family, the one who treated me in +\par the most friendly manner, or so it seemed, was Prince Louis, the +\par king's nephew. +\par +\par I had been warned that he hated the French, and in particular, +\par their Emperor, but as he was passionately interested in military +\par matters, he questioned me endlessly about the siege of Genoa, the +\par battles of Marengo and Austerlitz and also about the organisation of +\par our army. Prince Louis was a most handsome man, and in respect of +\par spirit, ability and character, the only one of the royal family who +\par bore any resemblance to Frederick the Great. I made the acquaintance +\par of several members of the court, mainly with the officers whom I +\par followed daily to parades and manoeuvres. I spent my time in Berlin +\par very pleasantly. The ambassador showed me much attention; but in the +\par end I discovered that he wanted me to play, in a delicate affair, a +\par role for which I was unsuited, so I became very reserved. +\par +\par Now, let us examine the position of Prussia vis-\'e0-vis France. The +\par despatches which I had brought concerned this matter, as I later +\par found out. +\par +\par In accepting from Napoleon the gift of the electorate of +\par Hanover, the patrimony of the English royal family, the cabinet in +\par Berlin had alienated not only the anti-French party but almost all of +\par the Prussian nation. Germanic pride was wounded by the victories won +\par by the French over the Austrians, and Prussia feared that its +\par commerce would be ruined by the war which had just been declared +\par against it by the cabinet in London. The queen and Prince Louis made +\par use of these turbulent emotions to persuade the king to make war on +\par France by allying himself with Russia who, though abandoned by +\par Austria, still hoped to take revenge for its defeat at Austerlitz. +\par The Emperor of Russia was further encouraged in his plans by a Pole, +\par his favourite aide-de-camp, Prince Czartoryski. +\par +\par The anti-French party, which was growing daily, was not yet able +\par to persuade the king to break with Napoleon; but aware that it was +\par supported by Russia, this party redoubled its efforts, and profited +\par adroitly from the mistakes made by Napoleon in placing his brother +\par Louis on the throne of Holland, and nominating himself as protector +\par of the confederacy of the Rhine: acts which were represented to the +\par Prussian king as being steps on the path to the re-establishment of +\par the empire of Charlemagne. Napoleon, it was said, wanted finally to +\par reduce all the sovereigns of Germany to the status of vassals. +\par +\par These assertions, though greatly exaggerated, had had a +\par considerable influence on the king's thinking. His conduct toward +\par France became from this time, more and more equivocal, and it was +\par this that decided Napoleon to write to him personally, without going +\par through the usual diplomatic channels, to ask "Are you for me or +\par against me?" This was the tenor of the letter which I had given the +\par king. His councillors who wished to gain time for the completion of +\par their re-armament, delayed the reply, which was the reason for my +\par long stay in Berlin. +\par +\par At last, in August, there was a general explosion of ill-feeling +\par towards France, and one saw the queen, Prince Louis, the nobility, +\par the army and the general populace, noisily demanding war. The king +\par allowed himself to become involved but, although determined to end +\par the peace he still hoped to avoid hostilities, and it seems that in +\par his reply to the Emperor he undertook to disarm if the latter would +\par take back to France all the troops he had in Germany, which Napoleon +\par was unwilling to do until Prussia had disarmed. So we were in a +\par vicious circle which could be broken only by a war. +\par +\par Before I left Berlin, I witnessed the frenzy to which hatred of +\par Napoleon raised this normally placid people. The officers whom I +\par knew no longer dared to speak to me or even to greet me. Several +\par French people were insulted by the populace, and finally soldiers of +\par the Royal Guard came boastfully to sharpen their sabres on the stone +\par steps of the French embassy. I left hurriedly for Paris, t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ with +\par me much information on what was going on in Prussia. Passing through +\par Frankfurt, I found Marshal Augereau very sad at having heard of the +\par death of his wife, a good, excellent woman whose loss he felt deeply, +\par and who was mourned by all the general staff, for she had been very +\par kind to us. +\par +\par On my arrival in Paris, I delivered to the Emperor the +\par hand-written reply from the King of Prussia. After reading it, he +\par questioned me on what I had seen in Berlin. When I told him that the +\par soldiers of the guard had come to sharpen their sabres on the steps +\par of the French embassy, he clapped his hand firmly on the hilt of his +\par sword, exclaiming indignantly, "The insolent braggarts will soon +\par learn that our arms are in good order!" +\par +\par My mission now being over, I returned to Marshal Augereau, and +\par spent all of September in Frankfurt where, while preparing ourselves +\par for war, we entertained ourselves as best we could, for we thought +\par that as nothing could be more uncertain than the life of a soldier, +\par one should enjoy it as much as is possible. +\par +\par Chap. 29. +\par +\par While the different corps of the French army were approaching the +\par banks of the Main, the Emperor arrived at Wurtzburg and crossed the +\par Rhine with his Guard. The Prussians, for their part, were on the +\par march, and going through Saxony, they compelled the elector to join +\par forces with them. This enforced, and therefore unstable, alliance was +\par the only one which the King of Prussia had in Germany. He was, it is +\par true, expecting the arrival of the Russians, but their army was still +\par in Poland behind the Niemen, more than one hundred and fifty leagues +\par from the country where the destiny of Prussia was to be decided. +\par +\par It is hard to believe the incompetence displayed, for seven years, +\par by our enemies' governments. We saw, in 1805, the Austrians attack +\par us on the Danube, and be defeated in isolation at Ulm, instead of +\par waiting for Russia to join them and for Prussia to declare war on +\par Napoleon. Now, in 1806, those same Prussians who, a year before, +\par could have prevented the defeat of the Austro-Russians by joining +\par them, not only declared war on us when we were at peace with Vienna, +\par but repeated the mistake of attacking us without waiting for the +\par Russians! Finally, in 1809, the Austrians renewed the war against +\par Napoleon on their own, at a time when we were at peace with both +\par Prussia and Russia! This lack of co-operation ensured a French +\par victory. Sadly it was not so in 1813, when we were crushed by a +\par coalition of our enemies. +\par +\par In 1806 the King of Prussia was even more mistaken in t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ to +\par the field against Napoleon in the absence of the Russians, in that +\par his troops, although well trained, were in no condition to be pitted +\par against ours, because their composition and organisation were so bad. +\par +\par In effect, at this time, Prussian captains were the owners of their +\par company or squadron: men, horses, arms and clothing all belonged to +\par them and the whole unit was hired out to the government for a fixed +\par fee. Obviously, since all losses fell to their account, the captains +\par had a great interest in sparing their companies, not only on the +\par march but on the field of battle. As the number of men they were +\par obliged to have was fixed and there was no conscription, they +\par enrolled for money, first any Prussians who came forward, and then +\par all the vagabonds of Europe, whom their recruiters enlisted in +\par neighbouring states. But this was not enough, and the Prussian +\par recruiters pressed many men into service, who having become soldiers +\par against their will, were compelled to serve until they were too old +\par to bear arms; then they were given a permit to beg, for Prussia could +\par not afford to provide a home for old soldiers or a retirement +\par pension. For the duration of their service these men had to be mixed +\par with true Prussians, who had to constitute at least half of each +\par company to prevent mutiny. +\par +\par To maintain an army composed of such heterogeneous parts required +\par an iron discipline; so the least fault was punished by beating. A +\par large number of N.C.O.s, all of them Prussian, carried canes which +\par they made use of frequently, and according to the current expression +\par there was a cane for every seven men. The penalty for desertion by a +\par foreign soldier was inevitably death. You can imagine the frightful +\par position of these foreigners, who having enlisted in a moment of +\par drunkenness, or been taken by force, found themselves far from their +\par native land, under a glacial sky, condemned to be Prussian soldiers, +\par that is slaves, for the rest of their lives! And what a life it was! +\par Given scarcely enough to eat. Sleeping on straw. Thinly clad. Without +\par greatcoats, even in the coldest winter, and paid a sum insufficient +\par for their needs; they did not wait to beg until they had been given a +\par permit on their discharge, for when they were not under the eyes of +\par their superiors, they held out their hands, and there were several +\par occasions both at Potsdam and Berlin when Grenadiers, even those at +\par the palace gate, begged me for alms! +\par +\par The Prussian-born officers were, in general, educated men, who +\par performed their duties very well; but half of the officers, born +\par outside the kingdom, were poor gentlemen from almost every country in +\par Europe who had joined the army only to have a living, and lacking +\par patriotism, were in no way devoted to Prussia, which the majority +\par abandoned when there was any adversity. Finally, as promotion was +\par only by length of service, the great majority of senior Prussian +\par officers were old and infirm, and in no state to support the fatigues +\par of war. It was an army thus composed and commanded which was to +\par confront the victors of Italy, Egypt, Germany and Austerlitz. This +\par was folly. But the cabinet in Berlin, recalling the victories which +\par Frederick the Great had won with mercenary troops, hoped things would +\par be the same. They forgot that times had changed. +\par +\par On the 6th of October Marshal Augereau and 7th Corps left +\par Frankfurt to head, with the rest of the Grande Arm\'e9e, for the +\par frontiers of Saxony, already occupied by the Prussians. The autumn +\par was superb; it froze a little during the night, but by day there was +\par brilliant sunshine. My little troupe was well organised; I had a +\par good batman, Francois Woirland, a former soldier in the black legion, +\par a real rascal and a great scrounger, but these are the best servants +\par on a campaign, for with one of them one lacks for nothing. I had +\par three excellent horses, good weapons, a little money and good health; +\par so I stepped out gaily to face whatever the future might bring. +\par +\par We went first to Aschaffenburg and from there to Wurtzburg, where +\par we caught up with the Emperor, who ordered a march-past by the troops +\par of 7th Corps, who were in good heart. Napoleon who kept a dossier +\par about all the regiments, and who skillfully used to employ extracts +\par from it to flatter the self-esteem of each unit, said when he saw the +\par 44th line regiment, "Of all the units of the army you are the one +\par with the most long service chevrons, so your three battalions I count +\par as six!"...an announcement which was greeted by cheers. To the 7th, +\par composed mostly of men from the lower Languedoc and the Pyrenees, the +\par Emperor said, "There are the best marchers in the army, one never +\par sees anyone fall behind, particularly when there is a battle to be +\par fought." Then he added, laughingly, "But, to do you justice, I must +\par say that you are the most brawling, thieving unit in the army!" "It's true! It's true!" replied the soldiers, each of whom had a +\par duck, a chicken or a goose in his knapsack, an abuse which had to be +\par tolerated, because, as I have told you, Napoleon's armies, once in +\par the field, rarely received any rations, and had to live off the +\par country as well as they could. This system had without doubt many +\par defects, but it had one huge benefit, that of allowing us to move +\par forward without being held up by convoys and supply lines, which gave +\par us a great advantage over an enemy whose movements were subordinated +\par to the cook-house, or the arrival of bread, and to the progress of +\par herds of cattle, etc...etc. +\par +\par From Wurtzburg, 7th Corps went to Coburg, where the marshal was +\par lodged in the prince's palace. All his family had fled on our +\par approach, except the celebrated Austrian Field-marshal, the Prince of +\par Coburg. This old warrior, although he had fought for many years +\par against the French, had enough confidence in the French character to +\par await their coming, a confidence which was not misplaced, for Marshal +\par Augereau sent him a guard of honour, returned promptly a visit he had +\par received, and ordered that he was to be treated with the utmost +\par respect. +\par +\par We were not very far from the Prussians, whose king was at Erfurt. +\par The queen was with him and rode up and down the ranks of the army on +\par horseback, endeavouring to excite their ardour by her presence. +\par Napoleon did not think that this was behaviour befitting a princess, +\par and his bulletins made some wounding comments on the subject. The +\par French and Prussian advance-guards met eventually, at Schleitz: +\par where there took place, in view of the Emperor, a minor action in +\par which the enemy were defeated; it was for them an ill-omened +\par beginning. +\par +\par That same day, Prince Louis, with a body of ten thousand men, +\par found himself stationed in Saalfeld. This town is on the bank of the +\par River Saale, in the middle of a plain which we could reach only by +\par crossing some steep mountains. While Marshals Lannes' and Augereau's +\par corps were moving toward Saalfeld through these mountains, Prince +\par Louis, who had decided to await the French, should have occupied +\par positions in this difficult country, full of narrow passes, where a +\par few men could hold up a much greater number, but he failed to do +\par this, probably because he was convinced that the Prussian soldiers +\par were infinitely better than the French. He carried this scorn for +\par all precautions so far as to place part of his force in front of a +\par marshy stream, which would make their retreat very difficult in the +\par event of a reverse. Old General Muller, a Swiss in the service of +\par Prussia, whom the king had attached to his nephew as a steadying +\par influence, made some observations which the prince took very badly, +\par adding that there was no need to take precautions to beat the French, +\par all that was needed was to fall on them the moment they appeared. +\par +\par They appeared in the morning on the 10th; Marshal Lannes' corps +\par leading and Marshal Augereau's behind him. This last did not arrive +\par in time to take part in the action where, as it happened, their +\par presence was not needed, for Marshal Lannes' troops were more than +\par sufficient. +\par +\par While waiting for his corps to emerge onto the plain, Marshal +\par Augereau, accompanied by his staff, went up onto a little hill which +\par overlooked the open country, from where we could follow all stages of +\par the action. +\par +\par Prince Louis could still have retreated to join the Prussian corps +\par which occupied Jena; but having been the leading instigator of the +\par war he perhaps felt he should not do so without a fight. He was most +\par cruelly punished for his temerity. Marshal Lannes, m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ use of the +\par heights, at the foot of which Prince Louis had imprudently deployed +\par his troops, first raked them with grape-shot from his artillery, and +\par when this had demoralised them, he advanced several masses of +\par infantry, which descending rapidly from the high ground, swept like a +\par torrent onto the Prussian battalions and instantly overwhelmed them! +\par Prince Louis, aghast, and probably aware of his mistake, hoped to +\par repair it by putting himself at the head of his cavalry and +\par impetuously attacking the 9th and 10th Hussars. He had at first some +\par success, but our Hussars having made a new and furious charge, drove +\par the Prussians back into the marshes, while their infantry fled in +\par disorder. +\par +\par In the middle of the mel\'e9e, Prince Louis found himself engaged +\par with a sous-officier of the 10th Hussars named Guindet, who summoned +\par him to surrender; the prince replied with a slash of his sword which +\par cut the sous-officier's face, who thereupon ran the prince through +\par and killed him. +\par +\par After the fight and the complete rout of the enemy, the prince's +\par body having been recognised, Marshal Lannes had it carried with +\par honour to the ch\'e2teau of Saalfeld, where it was handed to the +\par princely family of that name, who were allied to the royal house of +\par Prussia, and in whose residence the prince had spent the previous day +\par and evening, looking forward to the coming of the French, and even, +\par it is said, giving a ball for the local ladies. Now he was returned +\par to them, vanquished and dead!... The next morning I saw the prince's +\par body, laid out on a marble table, all traces of blood had been +\par cleaned away, he was naked to the waist, still wearing his leather +\par britches and his boots. He seemed to be asleep. He was a truly +\par fine looking man, and I could not help indulging in some sad +\par reflections on the uncertainty of human affairs, when I saw the +\par remains of this young man, born on the steps of a throne, and, but +\par lately, so loved, so courted and so powerful! +\par +\par The news of the prince's death spread consternation in the enemy +\par army, and also throughout Prussia, where he was highly popular. +\par +\par 7th Corps spent the day of the 11th at Saalfeld. On the 12th we +\par went to Neustadt, and on the 13th to Kehla, where we encountered some +\par remains of the Prussian troops defeated at Saalfeld. When Marshal +\par Augereau attacked them, they put up little resistance and laid down +\par their arms. Amongst those captured was the regiment of Prince Henry +\par in which Augereau had once served as a soldier, and since, unless one +\par was of high birth, it was very difficult to become a senior officer +\par in the Prussian army, and as sergeants never became second +\par lieutenants, his former company still had the same captain and the +\par same sergeant-major. Placed by a quirk of fate in the presence of +\par his one-time soldier, now a marshal, the Prussian captain, who +\par remembered Augereau perfectly well, acted as a man of discretion and +\par spoke always to the marshal as if he had never seen him before. +\par Augereau invited him to dinner and seated him next to himself, then, +\par learning that the officer's baggage had been seized, he lent him all +\par the money he needed and gave him letters of introduction to take to +\par France. What must have passed through the captain's mind! But +\par nothing can describe the astonishment of the old Prussian +\par sergeant-major at seeing his former soldier covered with decorations, +\par surrounded by a numerous staff and in command of an army corps! All +\par of which seemed like a dream! The marshal was more expansive toward +\par this man than he had been toward the captain. Addressing the +\par sergeant by name, he shook him by the hand, and arranged for him to +\par be given twenty-five louis for himself and two for every soldier who +\par had been in the ranks with him and was still there. We thought this +\par behaviour was in the best of taste. +\par +\par The marshal had expected to sleep at Kehla, which is only three +\par leagues from Jena; but just as night was falling 7th Corps was +\par ordered to go immediately to this last town which the Emperor had +\par just entered, at the head of his guard and the troops of Marshal +\par Lannes, without striking a blow. +\par +\par The Prussians had abandoned Jena in silence, but some candles, +\par forgotten in the stables, had probably started the fire, the +\par spreading flames of which were consuming part of the unfortunate town +\par when Marshal Augereau's corps entered it at about midnight. It was a +\par sorry spectacle to see the inhabitants, women and old people, half +\par naked, carrying their children and seeking to escape by flight from +\par the scene of destruction, while our soldiers, kept in their ranks by +\par discipline and the nearness of the enemy, remained unmoved, their +\par arms at the ready, regarding the fire as a small matter in comparison +\par to the dangers they would soon have to face. +\par +\par The part of the town through which our troops arrived was not +\par affected by the fire and so they could move around freely, and while +\par they were gathering in the squares and main streets, the marshal set +\par up his headquarters in a nice looking mansion. I was about to enter, +\par on returning from delivering an order, when I heard loud shrieks +\par coming from a nearby house, the door of which was open. I hurried +\par there and guided by the cries I found my way to a well-appointed +\par apartment where I saw two charming girls, of about eighteen to +\par twenty years of age, dressed only in their chemises, struggling +\par against the advances of four or five soldiers from Hesse-Darmstadt, +\par belonging to the regiments which the landgrave had attached to the +\par French troops of 7th Corps. Although these men, who were drunk, +\par understood not a word of French, and I spoke little German, my +\par appearance and my threats took them aback, and being used to beatings +\par from their own officers, they made no retaliation to the kicks and +\par cuffs which in my indignation I distributed freely in driving them +\par downstairs. In this I was perhaps a little imprudent, for in the +\par middle of the night, in a town in utter confusion there was a risk +\par that they might turn on me and even kill me; but they ran away, and I +\par put a platoon of the marshal's escort in one of the lower rooms. +\par +\par I went up to the apartment where the two young girls had +\par hurriedly dressed themselves, and was rewarded by their warmest +\par expressions of gratitude. They were the daughters of a university +\par professor, who had gone with his wife and the domestic staff to the +\par aid of one of their sisters, who had recently given birth in that +\par part of the town where the fire was raging, and they had been alone +\par when the Hessian soldiers arrived. One of these young ladies said to +\par me with great emotion, "You are going into battle at a time when you +\par have just saved our honour. God will reward you, you may be sure +\par that no harm will come to you." The father and the mother, who came +\par back at this moment with the new mother and her child were at first +\par much surprised to find me there; but when they learned the reason for +\par my presence they too showered me with blessings. I tore myself away +\par from the thanks of this grateful family to rejoin Marshal Augereau, +\par who was reposing in the nearby mansion, awaiting the Emperor's +\par orders. +\par +\par Chap. 30. +\par +\par The town of Jena is dominated by a height called the +\par Landgrafenberg, at the foot of which runs the Saale River. The +\par approaches to Jena are very precipitous, and at that time there was +\par only one road, which ran to Wiemar via Muhlthal, a long and difficult +\par pass, the outlet of which was covered by a small wood and guarded by +\par Saxon troops, allies of the Prussians; a part of whose army was drawn +\par up in line behind them at the distance of a cannon shot. +\par +\par The Emperor, having only this one route by which he could reach +\par his enemies, expected to suffer heavy losses in a frontal attack, for +\par there seemed to be no way in which they could be outflanked. But +\par Napoleon's lucky star once more came to his aid, in an unexpected +\par way, which I do not believe has been related by any historian, +\par although I can vouch for the truth of it happening. +\par +\par We have seen that the King of Prussia compelled the elector of +\par Saxony to join forces with him. The people of Saxony saw themselves, +\par with regret, drawn into a war which could procure them no advantage +\par in the future, and which for the present brought desolation to the +\par countryside, which was the theatre for the hostilities. The Prussians +\par were therefore detested in Saxony; and Jena, a Saxon town, shared in +\par this detestation. +\par +\par A priest who belonged to the town, angered at the fire which was +\par consuming it, and regarding the Prussians as enemies of his king and +\par fatherland, believed he could give Napoleon the means of clearing +\par them out of the country, by showing him a little pathway by which a +\par body of infantrymen might climb the steep slopes of the +\par Landgrafenberg. He led there a platoon of light infantry and some +\par officers of the general staff. The Prussians, who thought this +\par pathway impracticable, had not bothered to guard it, but Napoleon +\par thought differently. As a result of the report given him by his +\par officers, he went up himself, guided by the Saxon cur\'e9, and +\par accompanied by Marshal Lannes; he saw that, between the heights of +\par the path and the plain occupied by the enemy, there was a small +\par stony plateau, and he decided to concentrate there a body of troops +\par who would sally from it, as if from a citadel, to attack the +\par Prussians. +\par +\par The undert}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ would have been of unsurmountable difficulty for +\par anyone but a Napoleon in command of French soldiers; but he ordered +\par the tools used by the pioneers to be taken from the wagons of the +\par engineers and the artillery and distributed to the infantry +\par battalions, who worked in rotation for one hour each at widening and +\par levelling the pathway, and when they had finished their task, each +\par battalion formed up in silence on the Landgrafenberg, while another +\par took its place. The work was carried on by the light of torches, +\par whose flames were confused in the eyes of the enemy with the fires in +\par Jena. +\par +\par The nights are very long at this time of year, so that we were +\par able to make the path accessible not only for foot-soldiers but also +\par for the wagons of the artillery, with the result that, before +\par daybreak, the corps of Marshals Lannes and Soult, the first division +\par of Augereau's, as well as the foot guards, were massed on the +\par Landgrafenberg. Never has the term massed been used with more +\par exactitude, for the chest of each man was almost touching the back of +\par the man in front of him; but the troops were so well disciplined +\par that, in spite of the darkness and the crowding together of more than +\par forty thousand men, there was not the least disorder; and although +\par the enemy were occupying villages less than half a cannon shot away, +\par they heard nothing. +\par +\par On the morning of October 14th, a thick mist covered the +\par countryside, which favoured our movements; Augereau's second +\par division, m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ a diversionary attack, advanced from Jena via +\par Muhlthal on the road to Weimar. As the enemy believed that this was +\par the only way by which we could come from Jena, they had placed a +\par considerable force there; but while they prepared to conduct a +\par vigourous defence of this pass, Napoleon, bringing down from the +\par Landgrafenberg the troops which he had accumulated there during the +\par night, drew them up in battle order on the plain. A light breeze +\par having dispersed the mist, which was followed by brilliant sunshine, +\par the Prussians were stupefied to see the lines of the French army +\par deployed opposite them and advancing to engage them in battle. They +\par could not understand how we had got there when they thought we were +\par down in the valley of Jena, with no other means of reaching them but +\par the road to Wiemar, which they were guarding so thoroughly. +\par +\par The battle began immediately and the first lines of the Prussians +\par and Saxons, commanded by Prince Hohenlohe, were forced to retreat. +\par They advanced their reserves, but we received a powerful +\par reinforcement. }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{'s corps and Murat's cavalry which had +\par been held up in the pass, burst out into the plain and took part in +\par the action. However a Prussian army corps commanded by General +\par Ruchel stopped our columns for a time; but charged by French cavalry +\par it was almost entirely wiped out and General Ruchel was killed. +\par +\par Marshal Augereau's 1st division, coming down from the +\par Landgrafenberg, joined with the 2nd, arriving from Muhlthal, and with +\par the troops of Marshals Lannes and Soult, they proceeded down the road +\par to Wiemar, capturing enemy positions as they went. +\par +\par The Prussian infantry, whose poor composition I have already +\par described, fought very badly, and the cavalry not much better. One +\par saw them on several occasions advance, with loud shouts, towards our +\par battalions; but, intimidated by their calm bearing, they never dared +\par charge home; at a distance of fifty paces from our line they +\par shamefully turned about, amid a hail of bullets and the jeers of our +\par men. +\par +\par The Saxons fought with courage; they resisted Marshal Augereau's +\par corps for a long time, and it was not until after the retreat of the +\par Prussian troops that, having formed themselves into two large +\par squares, they began to withdraw while continuing to fire. Marshal +\par Augereau admired the courage of the Saxons, and to prevent further +\par loss of life, he had just sent an envoy to persuade them to +\par surrender, since they had no longer any hope of relief, when Prince +\par Murat arrived with his cavalry and mounted an attack with his +\par Cuirassiers and dragoons, who charging impetuously the Saxon squares, +\par overwhelmed them and forced them to lay down their arms. The next +\par day, however, the Emperor set them at liberty and restored them to +\par their sovereign, with whom he hastened to make peace. +\par +\par All the Prussian troops who had fought before Jena, retreated in a +\par complete rout along the road to Weimar, at whose gates the fugitives, +\par their baggage and artillery had piled up, when suddenly the squadrons +\par of the French cavalry appeared! At the sight of them, panic spread +\par through the crowd of Prussians, who fled in utter disorder, leaving +\par us with a great number of prisoners, flags, guns and baggage. +\par +\par The town of Weimar, called by some the new Athens, was inhabited +\par at this period by a great number of scholars, artists and +\par distinguished authors, who had gathered there under the patronage of +\par the ruling duke, an enlightened protector of the arts and sciences. +\par The noise of guns, the passage of the fugitives and the entry of the +\par victors caused a great stir in this peaceful and studious population; +\par but Marshals Lannes and Soult maintained a firm discipline, and apart +\par from having to provide food for the soldiers, the town suffered no +\par outrage. The Prince of Weimar served in the Prussian army, +\par nevertheless his palace, where the princess, his wife, was living, +\par was respected and none of the marshals took up residence there. +\par +\par Marshal Augereau's headquarters were established at the town +\par gates, in the house of the prince's head gardener. All the +\par inhabitants of the house having taken flight, the general staff found +\par nothing to eat, and had to sup on some pineapples and plums from the +\par hot-houses. This was a very light diet for people who, without food +\par for twenty-four hours, had spent the preceding night on foot and all +\par day fighting! But we were the victors, and that magical word enabled +\par us to support all our privations. +\par +\par The Emperor went back to sleep at Jena, where he learned of a +\par success no less great than that which he had just achieved himself. +\par The battle of Jena was a double battle, if one may use the +\par expression, for neither the French nor the Prussian armies were +\par united at Jena, they were each divided into two parts and fought two +\par different battles: so that while the Emperor, at the head of the +\par corps of Augereau, Lannes, Soult and Ney, his guard and the cavalry +\par of Murat, was defeating the corps of Prince Hohenlohe and General +\par Ruchel. The King of Prussia, at the head of his main army, commanded +\par by the celebrated Prince of Brunswick, Marshals Mollendorf and +\par Kalkreuth had left Weimar, and on their way to Naumburg had settled +\par for the night at the village of Auerstadt, not far from the French +\par corps of Davout and Bernadotte, who were in the villages around +\par Naumburg. In order to rejoin the Emperor, who was at Apolda, in the +\par plain beyond Jena, Davout and Bernadotte had to cross the Saale +\par before Naumburg and traverse the narrow hilly pass of Kosen. +\par Although Davout thought that the King of Prussia with the main body +\par of his army was facing the Emperor, and not so close to him at +\par Auerstadt, this vigilant warrior secured, during the night, the Kosen +\par pass and its steep slopes which the King of Prussia and his marshals +\par had neglected to occupy, thus m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ the same mistake as Prince +\par Hohenlohe made at Jena in failing to guard the Landgrafenberg. The +\par combined forces of Bernadotte and Davout did not amount to more than +\par forty-four thousand men, while the King of Prussia had eighty +\par thousand at Auerstadt. +\par +\par From daybreak on the 14th, the two French marshals realised that +\par they had to face much superior numbers; it was their duty then to act +\par in unison. Davout, aware of this necessity, volunteered to put +\par himself under the command of Bernadotte, but the latter jibbed at the +\par idea of a shared victory, and unwilling to subordinate his personal +\par interests to the welfare of his country, he decided to act on his +\par own; and on the pretext that the Emperor had ordered him to be at +\par Dornburg on the 13th, he decided to make his way there on the 14th, +\par although Napoleon had written to him during the night to say that, if +\par he was still in Naumburg, he should stay there and support Davout. +\par Not finding the situation to his liking, Bernadotte left Davout to +\par defend himself as best he could and, going down the Saale, he +\par settled himself at Dornburg where, although he came across no +\par enemies, he could see from the elevated position which he occupied, +\par the desperate battle being fought by the gallant Davout some two +\par leagues away. Meanwhile he ordered his men to set up their bivouacs +\par and to start preparing a meal. His generals complained to him in +\par vain at this culpable inaction; Bernadotte would not budge, so that +\par Marshal Davout, with no more than twenty-five thousand men, +\par comprising the divisions of Friant, Morland and Gudin, faced almost +\par eighty thousand Prussians animated by the presence of their king. +\par +\par The French, after emerging from the narrow pass of Kosen, formed +\par up near the village of Hassenhausen; it was here that the real battle +\par took place, because the Emperor was mistaken when he thought that he +\par had before him at Jena the king and the bulk of the Prussian army. +\par The action fought by Davout's men was one of the most terrible in our +\par annals. His divisions, having successfully resisted all the attacks +\par of the enemy infantry, formed into squares and repelled numerous +\par cavalry charges, and not content with this, they advanced with such +\par resolution that the Prussians fell back at every point leaving the +\par ground strewn with dead and wounded. The Prince of Brunswick and +\par General Schmettau were killed, Marshal Mollendorf was seriously +\par wounded and taken prisoner. +\par +\par The King of Prussia and his troops at first carried out their +\par retreat towards Weimar in reasonably good order, hoping to rally +\par there behind the forces of Prince Hohenlohe and General Ruchel, whom +\par they supposed to have been victorious, while the latter, having been +\par defeated by Napoleon, were for their part, on their way to seek +\par support from the troops led by the king. Those two enormous masses of +\par soldiers, beaten and demoralised, met on the road to Erfurt; it +\par needed only the appearance of some French regiments to throw them +\par into utter confusion. The rout was total, and was a just punishment +\par for the bragging of the Prussian officers. The results of this +\par victory were incalculable, and made us masters of almost all Prussia. +\par +\par The Emperor showed his great satisfaction with Marshal Davout and +\par with the divisions of Morand, Friant and Gudin by an order of the +\par day, which was read out to all companies and even in the ambulances +\par carrying the wounded. The following year Napoleon created Davout +\par Duke of Auerstadt, although he had fought less there than in the +\par village of Hassenhausen; but the King of Prussia had had his +\par headquarters at Auerstadt, and the Prussians had given this name to +\par the battle which the French called the battle of Jena. +\par +\par The army expected to see Bernadotte severely punished, but he got +\par away with a sharp reprimand; Napoleon was afraid of upsetting his +\par brother Joseph, whose sister-in-law, Mlle. Clary, Bernadotte had just +\par married. We shall see later how Bernadotte's behaviour during the +\par battle of Auerstadt served, in a way, as a first step towards +\par mounting the throne of Sweden. +\par +\par I was not wounded at Jena, but I was tricked in a way that still +\par rankles after forty years. At a time when Augereau's corps was +\par attacking the Saxons, the marshal sent me to carry a message to +\par General Durosnel, who commanded a brigade of Chasseurs, ordering him +\par to charge the enemy cavalry. It was my job to guide the brigade +\par along a route which I had already reconnoitred. I hurried away and +\par put myself at the head of our Chasseurs, who threw themselves on the +\par Saxon squadrons. The Saxons put up a stiff resistance and there was a +\par general mel\'e9e, but eventually our adversaries were forced to retreat +\par with losses. Towards the end of the fighting, I found myself facing +\par an officer of Hussars, wearing the white uniform of Prince Albert of +\par Saxony's regiment. I held the point of my sabre against him and +\par called on him to surrender, which he did, handing me his sword. As +\par the fighting was over, I generously gave it back to him, as was the +\par usual practice among officers in these circumstances, and I added +\par that although his horse, under the conventions of war, belonged to +\par me, I did not wish to deprive him of it. He gave me many thanks for +\par this kind treatment and followed me as I returned to the marshal, +\par very pleased with myself for bringing back a prisoner. But when we +\par were about five hundred paces from the Chasseurs, this confounded +\par Saxon officer, who was on my left, drew his sabre, wounded my horse +\par on the shoulder and was about to strike me if I had not thrown myself +\par on him. Although I had no sabre in my hand, our bodies were so close +\par that he did not have room to swing his sabre at me, so he grabbed my +\par epaulet, and pulled me off balance, my saddle slipped under my +\par horse's belly and there I was with one leg in the air and my head +\par hanging down, while the Saxon made off at full speed to rejoin the +\par remains of the enemy army. I was furious, partly at the position I +\par was in, and partly at the ingratitude with which this foreigner had +\par repaid my courtesy. So when the Saxon army had been made prisoners, +\par I went to look for my Hussar officer, to teach him a lesson, but he +\par had disappeared. +\par +\par I have said that the Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt, our new ally, had +\par joined his troops to the Emperor's. This brigade had uniforms +\par exactly like those of the Prussians, so several of their soldiers +\par were killed or wounded mistakenly during the action. The young +\par Lieutenant De Stoch, my friend, was on the point of meeting the same +\par fate, and had already been seized by our Hussars, when, having seen +\par me, he called out to me and I had him released. +\par +\par The Emperor rewarded most generously the priest of Jena, and the +\par elector of Saxony, having become king as a result of the victories +\par of his ally Napoleon, rewarded him also; so that he lived very +\par comfortably until 1814 when he took refuge in France to escape from +\par the vengeance of the Prussians. They, however, had him taken up and +\par shut away in a fortress where he spent two or three years. +\par Eventually, the King of Saxony having interceded on his behalf with +\par Louis XVIII, the latter reclaimed the priest on the grounds that he +\par had been arrested without proper authority, and the Prussians having +\par released him, he came to live in Paris. +\par After the victory at Jena, the Emperor ordered a general pursuit +\par of our enemies, and our columns took an enormous number of prisoners. +\par +\par The King of Prussia had great difficulty in reaching Magdeburg and +\par getting from there to Berlin, and it was said that the queen nearly +\par fell into the hands of the scouts of our advance-guard. +\par +\par It would take too long to detail all the disasters which befell +\par the Prussian army; it is enough to say that of those troops who +\par marched to attack the French, not a battalion escaped; they were all +\par captured before the end of the month. The fortresses of Torgau, +\par Erfurt and Wittemburg opened their gates to the victors who, having +\par crossed the Elbe at several points--Augereau's corps crossing near +\par Dessau--headed for Berlin. +\par +\par Napoleon stopped at Potsdam, where he visited the tomb of +\par Frederick the Great; then he went to Berlin where, contrary to his +\par usual practice, he wished to make a triumphal entry. Marshal +\par Davout's corps headed the procession; an honour to which it was +\par entitled as it had done more fighting than the others. Then came +\par Augereau's corps and then the guard. +\par +\par Chap. 31. +\par +\par On my return to Berlin which, when I had left it not long ago, had been so brilliant, I could not help having some sad reflections. +\par The populace, then so self-confident, was now gloomy, downcast, and +\par much afflicted, for the Prussians are very patriotic: they felt +\par humiliated by the defeat of their army and the occupation of their +\par country by the French; besides which almost every family had to mourn +\par a relative or friend killed or captured in battle. I had every +\par sympathy with their feelings; but I must confess that I experienced +\par quite a different sentiment when I saw, entering Berlin as prisoners +\par of war, walking sadly, dismounted and disarmed, the regiment of the +\par so-called Noble Gendarmes; those same arrogant young officers who had +\par so insolently come to sharpen their sabres on the steps of the French +\par embassy!....Nothing could depict their shame and abasement at finding +\par themselves defeated by those same Frenchmen whom they had boasted +\par they would put to flight by their mere presence. They had asked that +\par they might go round Berlin without entering it, to avoid the painful +\par experience of filing as prisoners through the town where they were +\par so well known and where the inhabitants had witnessed their bragging; +\par but this is precisely why the Emperor ordered them to pass between +\par two lines of French soldiers, who directed them down the road in +\par which stood the French embassy. The inhabitants of Berlin did not +\par disapprove of this little act of revenge, since they greatly disliked +\par the Noble Gendarmes whom they accused of having pushed the king into +\par the war. +\par +\par Marshal Augereau was billeted outside the town, in the +\par ch\'e2teau of Bellevue, which belonged to Prince Ferdinand, the only one +\par of Frederick the Great's brothers who was still living. This +\par venerable old man, the father of Prince Louis who was recently killed +\par at Saalefeld, was afflicted by grief made even more bitter by the +\par fact that, against the opinion of all the court and also that of the +\par son whom he mourned, he had strongly opposed the war, and had +\par predicted the misfortunes which it would bring upon Prussia. Marshal +\par Augereau thought it his duty to visit the prince, who had withdrawn +\par to a dwelling in the town. He was received most politely; the +\par unhappy father told the marshal that he had learned that his young +\par son, Prince Auguste, the only one left to him, was at the town gate +\par in a column of prisoners, and that he longed to embrace him before he +\par was sent off to France. Since Prince Ferdinand's great age prevented +\par him from going to look for his son, the marshal, sure that Napoleon +\par would not object, told me to mount my horse right away, to go and +\par find Prince Auguste, and to bring him back. Which I did. +\par +\par The arrival of the young prince gave rise to the most moving +\par scene. His elderly parents could not stop embracing this son, who +\par recalled to them the loss of the other. To console them as much as +\par lay within his power, the good marshal went to the Emperor's quarters +\par and came back with authority for the young prince to remain, on +\par parole, in the bosom of his family. A favour for which Prince +\par Ferdinand was infinitely grateful. +\par +\par The victory at Jena had had the most profound effect. +\par Complete demoralisation had gripped not only the troops in the field, +\par but the garrisons of the fortresses. Magdeburg surrendered without +\par m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ any attempt at resistance; Spandau did the same; Stettin +\par opened its gates to a division of cavalry, and the governor of +\par Custrin sent boats across the Oder to fetch the French troops; who +\par without this help would not have been able to take the place without +\par several months of siege. Every day one heard of the surrender of +\par some unit of the army or the capitulation of some fortress. The +\par faulty organisation of the Prussian army became more evident than +\par ever; the foreigners, in particular those who had been enlisted +\par against their will, took the occasion to recover their liberty, and +\par deserted in droves, or stayed behind to give themselves up to the +\par French. +\par +\par To the conquest of the Prussians, Napoleon added the confiscation +\par of the states of the Elector of Hesse-Cassel, whose duplicity had +\par earned him this punishment. This prince, who had been requested +\par some time before the war to declare himself a supporter of either +\par France or Prussia, lulled both parties with promises, with the +\par intention of coming down on the side of the victor. An avaricious +\par sovereign, the Elector had amassed a great fortune by selling his own +\par people to the English, who used them to fight against the Americans +\par in the War of Independence, in which many of them perished. Careless +\par of his people's welfare, he had offered to join his troops to the +\par French force on condition that the Emperor would cede to him the +\par French American states. So no one was very sorry for the Elector, +\par whose precipitous departure occasioned an event which is still not +\par generally known. +\par +\par Compelled to leave Hesse in a hurry, to take refuge in England, +\par the Elector, who was regarded as one of the richest people in Europe, +\par was unable to take with him all his wealth. So he sent for a Jew from +\par Frankfurt by the name of Rothschild, a small-time banker and not well +\par known, but respected for the scrupulous devotion with which he +\par practised his religion: and it was this that decided the Elector to +\par confide to his care some fifteen million in specie. The interest +\par earned on this money was to belong to the banker, who was obliged to +\par return only the capital. +\par +\par When the palace of Cassel was occupied by our troops, agents of +\par the French treasury seized a considerable quantity of valuables, +\par mainly pictures, but did not find any money. It seemed impossible, +\par however, that the Elector, in his hurried flight, had been able to +\par take with him all his immense fortune. Now, as according to what are +\par called the laws of war, the monies found in an enemy country belong +\par to the victor, one wished to find out what had become of the treasure +\par of Cassel. Information gathered on the subject disclosed that, before +\par his departure, the Elector had spent a whole day with the Jew +\par Rothschild. An imperial commission went to the latter's house, where +\par his account books and his strong-boxes were minutely examined; but in +\par vain, for no trace could be found of a deposit made by the Elector. +\par Threats and intimidation produced no result, so the commission, +\par convinced that no material interest would persuade a man so religious +\par to perjure himself, wished to put him on oath. This he refused to +\par accept. His arrest was considered but the Emperor was opposed to +\par this act of violence because he thought it would be useless. Resort +\par was then had to less honourable methods; it was proposed to the +\par banker that he might retain half of the treasure if he would deliver +\par the other half to the French administration; they would then give him +\par a receipt for the full amount, accompanied by an order of seizure, +\par proving that he had given way only to force and was thus shielded +\par from any claim for restitution; but the upright Jew rejected this +\par suggestion, and, tired of the struggle, they left him alone. +\par +\par So the fifteen million remained in the hands of Rothschild from +\par 1806 to the fall of the empire in 1814. Then, when the Elector had +\par returned to his state, the Frankfurt banker handed over to him the +\par exact sum which he had deposited. You may imagine how much interest +\par might be earned by the sum of fifteen millions left in the hands of a +\par Jewish Frankfurt banker for a period of eight years! It is from this +\par time that dates the opulence of the House of the Brothers Rothschild, +\par who owe to the probity of their founder the high financial standing +\par which they enjoy today. +\par +\par The Emperor, who was staying in the palace in Berlin, every day +\par passed in revue the troops who arrived in succession in the town, to +\par march from there to the Oder in pursuit of the enemy. It was while +\par he was in Berlin that he performed a well known act of magnanimity in +\par pardoning, for the Princess of Hatzfeld, her husband, who had used +\par his position as burgomaster of Berlin to give the Prussian generals +\par information about the movement of French troops; an act of espionage +\par punishable by death. The generosity displayed by the Emperor on this +\par occasion had a very good effect on the feelings of the Prussians. +\par +\par During our stay in Berlin, I was pleasantly surprised by the +\par arrival of my brother Adolphe, who, on learning of the fresh outbreak +\par of hostilities on the continent of Europe had asked for and obtained +\par from General Decaen, who commanded the French troops in India, +\par permission to return to France, where he joined the Grande Arm\'e9e. He +\par was offered a position by General Lefebvre, but, mistakenly, in my +\par opinion, he chose to serve as a supernumerary on the staff of Marshal +\par Augereau, of which I was a member, a move which did neither of us any +\par good. +\par +\par I had also in Berlin another unexpected encounter. I was +\par walking one evening with some friends along the Boulevard de +\par Tilleuls, when I saw coming towards me a group of sous-officiers of +\par the 1st Hussars. One of them broke away and ran to fall on my neck. +\par It was my former tutor, the elder Pertelay who, with tears of joy +\par cried "Te voil\'e0, mon petit!" The officers with whom I was, were at +\par first astonished to see a sergeant-major so familiar with an officer; +\par but their surprise vanished when I told them of my former relations +\par with this old soldier, who, putting his arm round me, said to his +\par companions, "It is I who made him what you now see before you!" And +\par the good fellow was really convinced that I owed my present position +\par to his teaching. So at dinner, which I stood him the next day, he +\par overwhelmed me with inconsequential advice, which he believed to be +\par very sensible and just the thing to perfect my military education. +\par We shall meet this type of old Hussar again in Spain. +\par +\par Napoleon, who was still in Berlin, was told of the surrender of +\par the Prince Hohenlohe who, with sixteen thousand men, had laid down +\par his arms at Prenzlow before the troops of Marshal Lannes and the +\par cavalry of Murat. There was no other enemy corps in the field except +\par that of General Bl\'fccher. This general, hard pressed by the divisions +\par of Marshals Soult and Bernadotte, violated the neutrality of Lubeck, +\par where he sought refuge; but the French pursued him, and Bl\'fccher, one +\par of the most ardent supporters of the war against Napoleon, was forced +\par to give himself up as a prisoner together with the sixteen thousand +\par men under his command. +\par +\par I must here tell you something remarkable, which shows how greatly +\par chance influences the affairs of men and empires. We have seen +\par Marshal Bernadotte failing in his duty and standing aside at Jena +\par when Marshal Davout was fighting, not far from him, against +\par infinitely superior forces. Well! This disgraceful conduct served to +\par place him on the throne of Sweden. This is how it came about. +\par +\par After the battle of Jena, the Emperor, although furious with +\par Bernadotte, ordered him to pursue the enemy because the corps which +\par he commanded, not having fired a shot, was in better shape for battle +\par than those who had suffered losses. Bernadotte then set out on the +\par track of the Prussians whom he defeated first at Halle and then at +\par Lubeck, with the help of Marshal Soult. Now as chance would have it, +\par at the very hour when the French were attacking Lubeck, some ships +\par carrying a division of infantry which King Gustave IV of Sweden had +\par sent to the aid of the Prussians entered the harbour. The Swedish +\par troops had scarcely disembarked when, attacked by the French and +\par abandoned by the Prussians, they were obliged to surrender to +\par Bernadotte. Bernadotte, I can assure you, had, when he wished, the +\par most engaging manner and very much wanted to appear before foreigners +\par as a "Gentleman." To this end, he treated the Swedish officers in +\par the most benevolent manner. After according them an honourable +\par capitulation, he returned to them their horses and their baggage, saw +\par to their needs and invited to his quarters the commander-in-chief, +\par Count Moerner, as well as the generals and senior officers; he loaded +\par them with kindnesses and courtesies to such an extent that, on their +\par return to their country, they spread everywhere praise for the +\par magnanimity of Marshal Bernadotte. +\par +\par Some years later a revolution broke out in Sweden; King Gustave, +\par whom a mental disorder had rendered unfit to rule, was removed from +\par the throne and replaced by his aged uncle, the Duke of Sudermanie. +\par As this new monarch had no children, the States Assembly, in order to +\par designate a successor, chose the Prince of Holstein-Augustenburg, who +\par took the title of Prince Royal. But he did not long enjoy this +\par dignity, for he died in 1811 after a short illness, which was put +\par down to poison. The states gathered once more to elect a new heir to +\par the throne. They were hesitating between several German princes who +\par put themselves forward as candidates when Count Moerner, one of the +\par most influential members of the states, and the former commander of +\par the Swedish division captured at Lubeck in 1806 by the French, +\par proposed General Bernadotte, whose generous conduct he recalled. He +\par praised also Bernadotte's military talents, and observed that the +\par marshal was allied, through his wife, to Napoleon, whose support +\par could be most useful to Sweden. A crowd of officers who had also been +\par captured at Lubeck, joined their voices to that of General Moerner, +\par and Bernadotte was elected almost unanimously as successor to the +\par King of Sweden, and mounted the throne a few years later. +\par +\par We shall see, further on, how Bernadotte, carried to the steps of +\par a foreign throne by the fame which he had acquired at the head of +\par French troops, displayed a lack of gratitude towards his native +\par country. But now let us return to Prussia. +\par +\par In one month the main forces of this kingdom, formerly in such a +\par flourishing condition, had been destroyed by Napoleon, whose armies +\par occupied the capital and the greater part of the provinces, and had +\par already reached the Vistula, that great barrier between northern and +\par central Europe. +\par Marshal Augereau's corps remained for a fortnight in Berlin to +\par reinforce the Guard during the long stay which the Emperor made in +\par the town, and left about the middle of November, heading first for +\par the Oder, which we crossed at Kostrzyn, and then on to the Vistula +\par whose bank we reached at Bromburg (?Bydgoszcz). We were now in +\par Poland, the poorest and nastiest country in Europe...! After the +\par Oder, no more made roads: we marched on loose gravel or appalling +\par mud. Most of the land was uncultivated and the few inhabitants we +\par came across were dirty to a degree which defies the imagination. The +\par weather which had been magnificent during October and the first part +\par of November became frightful. We no longer saw the sun, it rained or +\par snowed continually; food became short; no more wine, almost never any +\par beer, and what there was atrociously bad; muddy water, no bread, and +\par billets we had to share with cattle and pigs. The soldiers used to +\par say, "How dare the Poles call this a country?" +\par +\par The Emperor himself was disillusioned, for having come intending +\par to rebuild Poland, he had hoped that the whole population of this +\par vast country would rise as one man at the approach of the French +\par army. But nobody budged...! In a vain attempt to rouse some Polish +\par enthusiasm, the Emperor had invited the famous General Kosciusko, the +\par leader of the last insurrection, to come and join him, but Kosciusko +\par stayed peacefully in Switzerland, to where he had retired, and to the +\par reproaches which were addressed to him, he replied that he knew the +\par heedless and unstable character of his compatriots too well to hope +\par that they would ever free themselves, even with French help. Unable +\par to attract Kosciusko, the Emperor tried to make use of his renown by +\par addressing to the Poles a proclamation in the name of this old +\par warrior. Not one of them took up arms, although our troops occupied +\par several provinces and even the capital. The Poles were not willing +\par to rebel until Napoleon had declared the re-establishment of Poland, +\par and he was not willing to do this until they had risen against their +\par oppressors, which they did not do. +\par +\par While 7th Corps was in Bromburg, Duroc, the grand marshal of the +\par palace, arrived in the middle of the night at Marshal Augereau's +\par headquarters. I was sent for and told to prepare myself to accompany +\par Marshal Duroc, who was going as an envoy to the King of Prussia at +\par Graudentz, and who needed an officer to replace his aide-de-camp, +\par whom he had just sent to Posnan with despatches for the Emperor. I +\par had been chosen because it was remembered that the previous August I +\par had been on a mission to the Prussian court and that I knew almost +\par all the officers and the court usages. +\par +\par I was soon ready. The marshal of the palace took me in his +\par carriage and we went down the left bank of the Vistula, occupied by +\par French troops, to cross the river by ferry opposite Graudentz. We +\par took lodgings in the town and then presented ourselves at the +\par citadel, where all the royal family of Prussia had taken refuge after +\par loosing four fifths of their state. The Vistula separated the two +\par armies. The king seemed calm and resigned; the queen, whom I had +\par seen not long ago looking so lovely, was greatly changed and seemed +\par overcome by grief. She could not conceal from herself the fact that +\par having urged the king to declare war, she was the principal cause of +\par the misfortunes of her country, whose citizens raised their voices +\par against her. The Emperor could not have sent a more acceptable envoy +\par to the king than Marshal Duroc, who had held the post of ambassador +\par in Berlin, and was well known to both the king and queen who +\par appreciated his pleasant personality. I was too small a personage to +\par be of any account; however the king and queen recognised me and +\par greeted me with a few polite words. +\par +\par I found the Prussian officers attached to the court had greatly +\par modified the arrogant attitude they had displayed in August. Their +\par recent defeat had changed their opinion of the French army; +\par nevertheless I did not wish to take advantage of this and I carefully +\par avoided mentioning Jena and our other victories. The affairs which +\par Marshal Duroc had to discuss with the King of Prussia related to a +\par letter which this monarch had sent to Napoleon, requesting a peace. +\par The meeting lasted for two days which I occupied in reading, and +\par walking on the gloomy parade ground of the fortress. I did not wish +\par to go up onto the ramparts, although one enjoys from there an +\par admirable view of the Vistula, for fear that I might be suspected of +\par examining the defence works and armaments. +\par +\par In the battles which had taken place from Jena to the Vistula, the +\par Prussians had taken about a hundred of our men prisoner, whom they +\par employed on the earthworks of the fortress in which they were +\par confined. Marshal Duroc had charged me with the task of distributing +\par some aid to these poor devils, who were doubly unhappy in that they +\par could see from the height of the fortress the French troops from whom +\par they were separated only by the Vistula. This proximity, and the +\par comparison of their position with that of their comrades, free and +\par happy on the left bank, led a French prisoner, one of the \'e9lite +\par cavalrymen of the 3rd Dragoons by the name of Harpin, to attempt to +\par escape. This was no easy matter, for one had first to get out of the +\par fortress and then to cross the Vistula; but what cannot be achieved +\par by a determined man? Harpin, who was employed by the master carpenter +\par to pile timber, had made, secretly, a little raft; he had taken a +\par long rope and, at night, had lowered the raft to the foot of the +\par rampart, and had then descended himself by the same means. He had +\par already put his raft in the water and was preparing to embark when +\par he was surprised by a patrol, taken back to the fort and confined to +\par a dungeon. The next day the Prussian commandant, in accordance with +\par the common custom of the Prussian army, condemned Harpin to fifty +\par strokes of the cane. It was useless for Harpin to claim that as a +\par Frenchman he should not be subject to Prussian regulations, his +\par status as a prisoner made this complaint void. He had already been +\par taken to the wooden frame to which he was to be attached, and two +\par soldiers were preparing to administer the flogging when, having gone +\par to fetch a book from Marshal Duroc's coach, which was standing in the +\par parade ground, I saw Harpin struggling with some Prussians who were +\par trying to tie him up. +\par +\par Indignant at the sight of a French soldier about to be subjected +\par to a flogging, I ran towards him, my sabre in my hand, and threatened +\par to kill the first man to strike a blow! ... Marshal Duroc's coach was +\par guarded by one of Napoleon's couriers, known in every post house in +\par Europe as "Moustache." This man, of herculean strength and the +\par courage to face anything, had accompanied the Emperor on twenty +\par fields of battle. When he saw me in the middle of the Prussians he +\par hurried to me, and on my instructions, he fetched four loaded pistols +\par which were in the coach. We untied Harpin; I armed him with two of +\par the pistols and put him in the coach, where I placed "Moustache" next +\par to him. I then told the commandant that as this coach belonged to the +\par Emperor, whose arms it bore, it was a sacred place of safety for the +\par French Dragoon, entry to which was forbidden to all Prussians under +\par penalty of a bullet in the head, and I told Harpin and "Moustache" to +\par fire on anyone who attempted to get into the coach. The commandant, +\par seeing me so determined, abandoned his prisoner for the moment to go +\par and get orders from his superiors. Then, leaving Harpin and +\par "Moustache" in the coach with pistols in their hands, I went to the +\par king's quarters and begged one of the aides-de-camp to go and tell +\par Marshal Duroc that I needed to speak to him about a matter which +\par could not wait. Duroc came out and I told him what had happened. +\par +\par When he heard that they wanted to flog a French soldier, he +\par shared my indignation. He returned to the king to whom he protested +\par warmly, adding that if the sentence were to be carried out, the +\par Emperor by way of reprisal would flog not only the soldiers but also +\par the Prussian officers who were his prisoners. The king was a humane +\par man; he ordered that the dragoon Harpin should be released, and to +\par please Napoleon, from whom he was at that moment asking peace, he +\par offered to Marshal Duroc to release to him all the prisoners if he +\par would undertake to send back a similar number of Prussians. Duroc +\par having accepted this offer, I went with one of the aides-de-camp to +\par announce the news to the prisoners, who were overjoyed. We embarked +\par them straight away and an hour later they were across the Vistula and +\par amongst their brothers in arms. +\par +\par Marshal Duroc and I left Graudentz the next night; he approved of +\par my conduct and told me later that he had given an account of it to +\par the Emperor, who also approved, and who warned the Prussians that if +\par they flogged French soldiers he would have all Prussian officers who +\par fell into his hands, shot! +\par +\par I rejoined 7th Corps at Bromburg, and we went up the left bank of +\par the Vistula towards Warsaw. Marshal Augereau's headquarters were +\par established at Mallochiche. The Emperor arrived at Warsaw on the 19th +\par December, and prepared to cross the Vistula. 7th Corps then went +\par down the left bank once more to Utrata, where for the first time on +\par this campaign we saw the Russian outposts on the opposite bank. +\par +\par Chap. 32 +\par +\par The River Vistula is fast-flowing and very wide; one expected, +\par because of this that the Emperor would halt his winter operations +\par there and, protected by the river, would put his troops into winter +\par quarters until the spring. This however was not to be. Marshal +\par Davout's and Marshal Lannes' corps crossed the river at Warsaw, +\par Marshal Augereau and his men crossed at Utrate, from where we went on +\par to the banks of the Ukra, a tributary of the Bug and the Vistula. +\par The entire French army having crossed this last river, found itself +\par face to face with the Russians, against whom the Emperor ordered an +\par attack on the 24th December. A thaw and rain made movement extremely +\par difficult on the clay soil, for there are no metalled roads in this +\par country. +\par +\par I shall not describe all the actions which were fought that day +\par to force a passage across the Bug; I shall restrict myself to saying +\par that Marshal Augereau, given the task of securing the crossing of the +\par Ukra, ordered General Desjardins to attack with his division, +\par Kolozomb, and General Heudelet to attack Sochocyzn. The marshal +\par directed the attack on Kolozomb in person. The Russians, after +\par burning the bridge which had existed at this spot, had raised +\par earthworks on the opposite bank which they defended with cannons and +\par numerous infantry; but they had neglected to destroy a store of +\par planks and beams which was on the right bank, at which we had +\par arrived. Our sappers made use of this material to construct a +\par temporary bridge in spite of a lively fire which killed several men +\par of the 14th Line regiment, which was at the head of our columns. +\par +\par The planks of the bridge were not yet fastened and were wobbling +\par under the feet of our infantrymen, when the colonel of the 14th, +\par M. Savary, brother of the Emperor's aide-de-camp, risked crossing on +\par horseback, in order to put himself at the head of his men; but he had +\par scarcely reached the bank when a Cossack, arriving at the gallop, +\par plunged a lance into his heart and disappeared into the woods! This +\par was the fifth colonel of the 14th who had been killed by the enemy! +\par You will see later the fatal destiny which always accompanied this +\par unfortunate regiment. The passage of the Ukra was secured, the guns +\par captured and the Russians put to flight. Desjardins' division +\par occupied Sochoczyn, where the enemy had repulsed the attack by +\par Heudelet's division, a repulse which was of no consequence, as it was +\par necessary only to secure one crossing. General Heudelet however, +\par out of misplaced pride, had ordered the attack to be renewed and was +\par once more driven off with the loss of some thirty men killed or +\par wounded, among them a highly thought of engineer officer. I have +\par always disapproved of the contempt for men's lives which sometimes +\par leads generals to sacrifice them to their desire to see their names +\par in the bulletins. +\par +\par On the 25th of December, the day following the crossing of the +\par Ukra, the Emperor, pushing the Russians before him, headed for +\par Golymin, having with him the Guard, Murat's cavalry and the corps of +\par Davout and Augereau, the last of whom led the column. Marshal Lannes +\par went off in the direction of Pultusk. There were on this day some +\par minor encounters with the enemy who were retreating with all speed. +\par We slept in bivouac amongst the trees. +\par +\par On the 26th, 7th Corps set out once more in pursuit of the +\par Russians. We were at a time of year when the days are at their +\par shortest, and in this part of Poland at the end of December, it +\par starts to get dark about two-thirty in the afternoon. It was made +\par more gloomy as we approached Golymin by a fall of snow mixed with +\par rain. We had not seen the enemy since morning when, on our arrival +\par at the village of Kuskowo, very close to Golymin, our scouts, who had +\par seen in the obscurity a large body of troops which a marsh +\par prevented them from approaching, came to warn Marshal Augereau, who +\par ordered Colonel Albert to go and reconnoitre, escorted by twenty-five +\par mounted Chasseurs, whom he placed under my command. +\par +\par The mission was difficult for we were in the middle of a huge, +\par bare plain where one could easily become lost. The ground, already +\par muddy, was intersected by areas of bog which the poor light +\par prevented us from seeing clearly; so we advanced with caution, and +\par found ourselves within twenty-five paces of a line of troops. We +\par thought at first that this must be Davout's corps, which we knew +\par was in the neighbourhood, but as no one answered our challenge, we +\par had no doubt that these were enemy troops. However, to make quite +\par sure, Colonel Albert ordered me to send one of my best-mounted +\par troopers up to the line which we could distinguish in the murk: for +\par this task I picked a bemedalled corporal named Schmit, a man of +\par proven courage. He, having gone alone to within ten paces of a +\par regiment whose headgear he recognised as Russian, fired a shot from +\par his carbine into the middle of it and came back smartly. +\par +\par To account for the silence which the Russians had maintained up +\par till then, I must tell you that this unit had become separated from +\par the main body of the army, which it was trying to rejoin, and had +\par lost its way in the vast plains, which it knew to be occupied by +\par French troops who were heading for Golymin. The Russian generals, in +\par the hope that they might pass close to us in the obscurity without +\par being recognised, had forbidden their men to speak, and in the event +\par of an attack, even the wounded were to make no outcry. This was an +\par order which only Russian troops would have obeyed so punctiliously +\par that when Colonel Albert, to warn Marshal Augereau that we were in +\par the presence of the enemy, ordered the twenty-five troopers to fire, +\par not a cry nor a word was heard, and no one fired back! +\par +\par We then saw, in spite of the poor light, a body of about a hundred +\par horsemen who were advancing silently to cut off our retreat. We +\par should have made off at the gallop to rejoin our columns, but some of +\par our troopers having become stuck in the mud, we were forced to +\par proceed less rapidly, although pursued by the Russians, who +\par fortunately had the same trouble as we did. A fire which had broken +\par out in a nearby farm lit up the ground and the Russians began to +\par gallop, which compelled us to do likewise. A new danger arose in +\par that we had left from General Desjardins' division and were returning +\par to General Heudelet's, who had not seen us leave and opened fire on +\par us; so that we were being driven from behind by the Russians, while a +\par hail of bullets in front wounded several of our men and some horses. +\par It was no use shouting "We are French. Don't shoot!" The firing +\par continued, and one cannot blame the officers who took us for the +\par advance guard of a Russian column who were using French, which is +\par widely understood among foreigners, in order to deceive them in the +\par darkness which had now fallen. We were having a bad time, when it +\par occurred to me to call out by name to the generals, colonels and +\par battalion commanders of Heudelet's division, names which they would +\par know could not be known to the enemy. This was a success and we were +\par at last received into the French line. +\par +\par The Russian generals, seeing that they were discovered and +\par wishing to continue their retreat, took a measure of which I heartily +\par approve, and one which in similar circumstances the French have +\par never attempted to imitate. The Russians pointed all their guns at +\par us, and having led away all the horses, they opened a violent fire +\par to keep us at a distance. During this time they marched off their +\par columns, and when the ammunition was finished, the gunners withdrew +\par and left the guns to us. Was not this better than losing many men in +\par an effort to save the guns, which would have been continually bogged +\par down and slowed the retreat? +\par +\par The fierce Russian cannonade became increasingly harmful when it +\par started several fires in the villages, the spreading light of which +\par enabled the Russian gunners to pick out the masses of our troops; in +\par particular the dragoons and Cuirassiers led by Prince Murat, whose +\par white cloaks made them a target. These units suffered more losses +\par than the others, and one of our generals of the Dragoons was cut in +\par two by a cannon-ball. Marshal Augereau, after t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ Kuskowa, +\par entered Golymin, which Marshal Davout was attacking from the other +\par side. This town was being traversed at the time by the Russian +\par columns, who, knowing that Marshal Lannes was marching to cut off +\par their retreat by t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ Pultusk, three leagues from there, were +\par trying to reach that spot before he did at no matter what cost. So +\par although our soldiers were firing on them at close range, they did +\par not reply. To do so they would have had to stop, and minutes were +\par too precious. +\par +\par Each division and each regiment marched through our fusillade +\par without a word and without slowing their pace for a moment...! The +\par streets of Golymin were full of wounded and dying men, yet one did +\par not hear a sound. It was forbidden! We might have been shooting at +\par shadows, and it was only when our soldiers attacked with the bayonet +\par that they convinced themselves that they were dealing with men. We +\par took thousands of prisoners, while the remainder marched into the +\par distance. +\par +\par The marshals deliberated as to whether they should pursue the +\par enemy, but the weather was so horrible and the night so dark once +\par one left the neighbourhood of the fires, the men so soaked and +\par exhausted, that it was decided that they should rest until the next +\par day. +\par +\par Golymin being crowded with dead, wounded, and discarded baggage, +\par Marshals Murat and Augereau, together with some generals and their +\par staffs, looking for somewhere to shelter from the glacial rain, +\par established themselves in a huge stable which was near the town. +\par There, those who could, lay on the dung heap in an attempt to get +\par warm and to sleep, for we had been on horseback in the most +\par frightful weather for twenty four hours or more. The marshals and +\par all the colonels and brass-hats were naturally in the depths of the +\par stable where it was warmer; as for me, a humble lieutenant, who came +\par in last, I had to bed down near the doorway, where I was more or less +\par sheltered from the rain, but exposed to the freezing wind, since the +\par doorway had no door. The position was most uncomfortable and added +\par to this I was dying of hunger, not having eaten since the previous +\par evening. But my lucky star came once more to my aid. While the well +\par sheltered senior officers were sleeping in the warm part of the +\par stable, and the cold was preventing us lieutenants near the doorway +\par from doing the same, one of Prince Murat's servants arrived. I told +\par him, in a low voice that his master was asleep; upon this he gave me +\par a basket containing a roast goose, some bread and some wine, to give +\par to the prince when he woke, and asked me to tell him that the mules +\par with the provisions were expected to arrive in an hour's time. +\par Having said which, he went off to await them. +\par +\par Loaded with these provisions, I held council in undertones with +\par Bro, Mainville, and Stoch, who, as badly placed as I, were shivering +\par with cold and just as hungry. The conclusion reached in this +\par deliberation was that as Prince Murat was asleep and as his +\par provisions were due to arrive shortly, he would be able to have a +\par meal when he woke; while we would be set on horseback and sent off in +\par all directions without anyone asking if we had eaten or not; so +\par without straining our consciences too much, we decided to demolish +\par the contents of the basket, which we did with great rapidity. I +\par don't know if this was pardonable, but what I do know is that I have +\par had few meals which I enjoyed more. +\par +\par While the troops who had been engaged at Golymin were resting, +\par Napoleon, with all his Guard was wandering about on the plain, +\par because, alerted by the sound of gunfire, the Emperor had hurriedly +\par left the ch\'e2teau where he was installed some two leagues from +\par Golymin, with the intention of joining us by marching as the crow +\par flies in the direction of the fires. But the ground was so soaked, +\par the plain so intersected by bogs and the weather so awful, that it +\par took him all night to make those two leagues, and he did not arrive +\par on the field of battle until the fighting was long over. +\par +\par On the same day as the fight at Golymin, Marshal Lannes, with no +\par more than twenty thousand men, attacked at Pultusk some forty +\par thousand Russians who were retreating, and inflicted immense losses +\par on them without being able to stop them, so great was their +\par superiority in numbers. +\par +\par For the Emperor to have been able to pursue the Russians it would +\par have required a frost to harden the ground which, on the contrary, +\par was now so soft and sodden that one sank in at every step, and +\par several men, notably the batman of an officer in 7th Corps, were +\par drowned with their horses in the mud. It had now become impossible +\par to move the artillery and to venture further into this unknown +\par territory; besides which the troops lacked food and even boots, and +\par they were extremely tired. These considerations decided Napoleon to +\par place the whole army in cantonment in front of the Vistula, from the +\par outskirts of Warsaw to the gates of Danzig. The soldiers, billeted +\par in the villages, were at last sheltered from the weather, received +\par some rations and were able to repair their equipment. +\par +\par The Emperor returned to Warsaw to prepare for a new campaign. +\par The divisions of Augereau's corps were spread in the villages around +\par Plock, if one can give that name to a confused heap of lowly shacks, +\par inhabited by unwashed Jews; but almost all the so-called towns in +\par Poland are built like this and have similar inhabitants. The +\par landowners, great and small, live in the country where they employ +\par their peasants to cultivate their estates. +\par +\par The marshal was lodged in Christka, a sort of ch\'e2teau built of +\par wood, as was customary in the country. He found in this manor some +\par reasonable accommodation, while the aides-de-camp settled wherever +\par they could in the rooms and barns. As for me, by ferreting around I +\par found in the gardener's quarters a fairly good room with a +\par fireplace; I settled in there with two friends, and leaving to the +\par gardener and his family their very unsavoury beds, we made some out +\par of planks and straw, on which we were very comfortable. +\par +\par Chap. 33. +\par +\par We celebrated at Christka the new year of 1807, which was very +\par nearly the last year of my life. It, however, began very pleasantly +\par for me, since the Emperor, who had not shown any favour to Augereau's +\par staff during the Austerlitz campaign, fully repaired this oversight +\par by heaping us with rewards. Colonel Albert was promoted to +\par brigadier-general, Major Massy to lieutenant-colonel of the 44th Line +\par regiment; several aides-de-camp were decorated; and finally the +\par lieutenants, Bro, Mainville, and I, were made captains. This promotion +\par gave me more than usual pleasure, since I had done nothing remarkable +\par to earn it, and I was only twenty-four years old. Marshal Augereau, +\par when he gave us our brevets of captain, said to Mainville, Bro, and +\par me, "Let's see which of you three is the first to become a colonel." +\par It was in fact I, who six years later commanded a regiment, while +\par my comrades were still only captains: it is also true that in this +\par period I had been wounded six times! +\par +\par Once we had taken up winter quarters the enemy did the same, +\par opposite to us but a considerable distance away. The Emperor +\par expected that they would let us pass the winter in peace; however, +\par our rest lasted only for a month; this sufficed but was not really +\par enough. +\par +\par The Russians, seeing the ground covered by snow and hardened by a +\par very sharp frost, thought that this frigid weather would give the men +\par from the north a great advantage over those from the south, +\par unaccustomed to the severe cold. They resolved therefore to attack +\par us, and in order to do this they moved, screened by the immense +\par forest which lay between us, the greater part of the troops who faced +\par us before Warsaw, down to the lower Vistula, opposite the cantonments +\par of Bernadotte and Ney, whom they hoped to surprise and overrun by +\par weight of numbers before the Emperor with the other army corps +\par could come to their aid. But Bernadotte and Ney put up a stiff +\par resistance, and the Emperor had sufficient time to mount an attack +\par with a considerable force on the enemy rear who, seeing themselves +\par at risk of being cut off from their operational base, retreated +\par towards Konigsberg (Kaliningrad). We had therefore, on the 1st of +\par February, to quit our billets where we were reasonably comfortable, +\par and restarting the war, to go and sleep in the snow. +\par +\par At the head of the central column, commanded by the Emperor in +\par person, was Prince Murat's cavalry, then came Marshal Soult's corps, +\par supported by that of Augereau, finally came the }{\deleted Imperial Guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966621 Imperial Guard}{. +\par Marshal Davout's corps marched on the right flank of this huge +\par column, and }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{'s on the left. Such an agglomeration of +\par troops heading for the same place soon strips the countryside of +\par whatever food supplies are available, so we suffered much from +\par hunger; only the Guard had wagons which carried food for +\par distribution, the other corps lived on whatever they could find, that +\par is to say they lacked practically everything. +\par +\par I am not going to give any details of the actions which preceded +\par the battle of Eylau, because Augereau's corps, which was in the second +\par line, took no part in these various contacts, of which the most +\par important occurred at Mohrungen, Bergfried, Guttstadt, and +\par Valtersdorf. But at last, before the little town of Landsberg, the +\par Russians, who had been chased for a week with a sword at their backs, +\par decided to halt and make a stand. To do this, they placed eight \'e9lite +\par battalions in an advantageous position, their right bounded by a +\par village by the name of Hoff, their left by a thick wood, and their +\par centre protected by a very steep-sided ravine, which could be +\par crossed only by a narrow bridge. Eight cannons were placed in front +\par of this line. +\par +\par When the Emperor arrived opposite this position, he did not think +\par it necessary to wait for the infantry of Marshal Soult, which was +\par still several leagues behind, and attacked the Russians with some +\par regiments of light cavalry who, dashing bravely over the bridge, +\par crossed the ravine; but, assailed by gunfire and grapeshot, our +\par squadrons were driven back in disorder into the gulch, from which +\par they emerged with much difficulty. The Emperor, seeing the light +\par cavalry repulsed, replaced them by a division of Dragoons, whose +\par attack, received in the same manner as before, had a similar outcome. +\par The Emperor then ordered the advance of General D'Hautpoul's terrible +\par Cuirassiers, who crossed the bridge under a hail of grapeshot and +\par fell on the Russian line with such ferocity that they literally +\par flattened it. There then ensued the most frightful butchery; the +\par Cuirassiers, enraged at the losses suffered by their comrades of the +\par Hussars and Dragoons, almost entirely exterminated the eight Russian +\par battalions, All were either killed or captured! The battlefield was a +\par scene of horror. Never has a cavalry charge had such a devastating +\par result. The Emperor demonstrated his satisfaction with the +\par Cuirassiers by embracing their general before the whole division. +\par General D'Hautpoul exclaimed, "To show myself worthy of this honour, +\par I shall dedicate my life to your majesty." He kept his word, for the +\par next day he was killed on the battlefield of Eylau. What an epoch! +\par And what men! +\par +\par The enemy army which, from a plateau beyond Landsberg, had +\par witnessed the destruction of its rearguard, retired promptly towards +\par Eylau, and we took possession of Landsberg. On the 7th February the +\par Russian commander-in-chief, Benningsen, having decided to give battle, +\par concentrated his army around Eylau, mainly in positions between us +\par and the town. Murat's cavalry and Soult's infantry took these +\par positions after fierce fighting, for the Russians held tenaciously to +\par Ziegelhof, which dominates Eylau, as they wanted to make it the +\par centre point of their line for the battle on the following day; but +\par they were forced to retreat from the town. Night seemed to have put +\par an end to this fighting, the prelude to the coming general action, +\par when a fusillade of shots rang out in the streets of Eylau. +\par +\par I know that military authors who have written about this campaign, +\par claim that Napoleon ordered an attack because he did not want the +\par town to remain in Russian hands; but I am sure that they are +\par mistaken, and for the following reason:-- +\par +\par When the head of Marshal Augereau's column, coming down the road +\par from Landsberg, drew near to Ziegelhof, the marshal climbed onto the +\par plateau where the Emperor was already stationed, and I actually +\par heard Napoleon say to Augereau, "It has been suggested to me that we +\par should take Eylau this evening; but, apart from the fact that I don't +\par like fighting at night, I do not wish to push my centre too far +\par forward before the arrival of Davout on my right flank and Ney on my +\par left. So I am going to wait for them until tomorrow on this plateau +\par which, furbished with artillery, will provide a fine position for our +\par infantry; then, when Davout and Ney are in the line, we shall march, +\par together, against the enemy." Having said this, the Emperor ordered +\par his bivouac to be set up at the foot of the Ziegelhof, and his guard +\par to encamp around it. +\par +\par But while Napoleon was explaining his plans to Marshal Augereau, +\par who greatly approved of his prudence, the staff of the imperial +\par palace, coming from Landsberg with their baggage and servants, +\par arrived at our outposts, which were at the gates of Eylau, without +\par anyone telling them to stop at Ziegelhof. These employees, used to +\par seeing the imperial quarters very well guarded, and not having been +\par warned that they were almost on top of the Russians, were interested +\par only in selecting a good lodging for their master, and they set +\par themselves up in the post-house, where they unpacked their equipment, +\par stabled their horses, and began to cook. In the midst of these +\par preparations they were attacked by a Russian patrol and would have +\par been captured had it not been for the intervention of the guard which +\par always accompanied the Emperor's baggage. At the sound of this +\par outbreak of firing, the troops who were in position at the gates of +\par the town ran to the rescue of Napoleon's equipment, which was already +\par being pillaged by the Russian soldiers. The Russian generals, +\par thinking that the French were attempting to seize Eylau, sent +\par reinforcements to their side, and so a sanguinary battle was fought +\par in the streets of the town, which ended up in our hands. +\par +\par Although this attack had not been ordered by the Emperor, he saw +\par no reason not to profit by it, and he set himself up in the Eylau +\par post-house. The Guard and Soult's troops occupied the town which was +\par surrounded by Murat's cavalry. Augereau's troops were positioned in +\par Zehen, a little hamlet in which we hoped to find some provisions, but +\par the Russians had taken everything with them as they withdrew, so that +\par our unhappy regiment, which had received no rations for eight days, +\par had to make do with some potatoes and water. The equipment of the +\par staff having been left at Landsberg, our supper was not as good as +\par that of the soldiers, for we had no potatoes. Eventually, on the +\par morning of the 8th, when we were about to mount our horses, one of +\par the marshal's servants brought him some bread, and he, always +\par generous, shared it out amongst his aides-de-camp. After this frugal +\par meal, which for several of us was to be our last, the corps moved to +\par the post to which it had been assigned by the Emperor. +\par +\par In accordance with the plan which I explained when I started these +\par memoirs, I shall not weary you with too detailed a description of the +\par various phases of this terrible battle of Eylau, but will limit +\par myself to the principal events. +\par +\par On the morning of the 8th, the position of the two armies was as +\par follows. The Russians had their left at Serpallen, their centre in +\par front of Auklapen and their right at Schmoditten. They were awaiting +\par the arrival of eight thousand Prussians, who were expected to go to +\par Althoff where they would form the extreme right wing. The enemy's +\par front line was protected by five hundred artillery pieces, of which a +\par third at least were of large calibre. The French situation was +\par much less favourable, since their two wings had not yet arrived. The +\par Emperor had, at the start of the action, only a part of the force with +\par which he had expected to do battle. Marshal Soult's corps was placed +\par on the right and left of Eylau, the Guard in the town itself, and +\par Augereau's corps between Eylau and Rothenen, opposite Serpellen. The +\par enemy formed almost a semicircle about us, and the two armies +\par occupied a terrain in which there were numerous ponds covered by +\par snow, which neither side could see. +\par +\par Neither Marshal Davout, who should have been on our right, towards +\par Molwitten, nor }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{, who should have been on our left around +\par Althoff, had yet appeared, when at daybreak, about eight in the +\par morning, the Russians began the attack by a violent cannonade to +\par which our gunners, though fewer in numbers, replied. Though fewer, +\par they had the advantage, however of being much better trained than the +\par Russians, and also of directing their fire at masses of men who had +\par no cover, while the Russian cannon-balls mainly hit the walls of +\par Eylau and Rothenen. Soon a strong enemy column advanced with the +\par intention of capturing the town; it was vigourously repelled by the +\par Guard and Marshal Soult's troops. At this moment, the Emperor heard, +\par with much pleasure, that from the top of the church tower could be +\par seen Davout's men arriving via Molwitten and marching towards +\par Serpallen, from where they expelled the Russians and drove them back +\par to Klein-Sausgarten. +\par +\par The Russian commander, Benningsen, seeing his left beaten and his +\par rear menaced by the audacious Davout, resolved to crush him, and +\par directed the greater part of his force against him. It was then that +\par Napoleon, with the object of preventing this movement by creating a +\par diversion against the enemy centre, ordered Augereau to attack, +\par although he foresaw the difficulties of this operation. +\par +\par There are on the field of battle, circumstances when one must +\par sacrifice some troops in order to preserve the great majority and +\par ensure victory. General Corbineau, the Emperor's aide-de-camp, was +\par killed by a cannon shot near to us while bringing to Marshal +\par Augereau the order to advance. The marshal passed between Eylau and +\par Rothenen and led his two divisions boldly against the enemy centre, +\par and already the 14th Line regiment who made up our advance guard +\par had seized the position which the Emperor had ordered to be taken and +\par held at all costs, when the guns which formed a semi-circle about +\par Augereau hurled out a storm of ball and grape-shot of hitherto +\par unprecedented ferocity. In an instant, our two divisions were +\par pulverised under this rain of iron! General Desjardins was killed and +\par General Heudelet gravely wounded; however, they stood firm until the +\par corps having been almost entirely destroyed, the remnants were +\par compelled to retire to the cemetery of Eylau, with the exception of +\par the 14th, who almost entirely surrounded by the enemy, remained on +\par the little hill which they had occupied. The situation was made even +\par worse by a gale of wind which blew a heavy snowfall into our faces, +\par and reduced visibility to about fifteen paces, so that several French +\par batteries opened fire on us, as well as the Russians. Marshal +\par Augereau was wounded by a bullet. +\par +\par The devotion of 7th Corps, however, produced a good result, for, +\par relieved by our attack, Marshal Davout was able not only to maintain +\par his position, but to take Klein-Sausgarten and even push his +\par advance-guard as far as Kuschitten, in the enemy's rear. Then, in an +\par attempt to deliver a knock-out blow, Napoleon despatched, between +\par Eylau and Rothenen, the squadrons commanded by Murat. This +\par terrifying mass fell on the Russian centre, overwhelming them, +\par cutting them down with their sabres and throwing them into the +\par greatest confusion. The valiant General D'Hautpoul was killed at the +\par head of his Cuirassiers, as was General Dahlmann, who had succeeded +\par General Morland in the command of the Chasseurs of the Guard. The +\par success of our cavalry allowed us to carry the day. Eight thousand +\par Prussians, escaped from pursuit by }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{, and arriving at +\par Althoff, tried to mount a new attack by advancing, one does not quite +\par know why, on Kuschitten instead of Eylau, but Davout drove them off, +\par and the arrival of Ney's corps at Schmoditten towards the end of the +\par day, made Benningsen fear that his line of communication would be cut, +\par and so he ordered a retreat in the direction of Konigsberg, leaving +\par the French masters of the horrible battlefield covered with dead and +\par dying. Since the invention of gunpowder one has not seen such a +\par terrible effect, for in relation to the numbers engaged at Eylau, in +\par comparison to all the battles, ancient or modern, the proportion of +\par losses was highest. The Russians had twenty-five thousand +\par casualties, and although the figure for French losses has been given +\par as ten thousand, it is my belief that it was at least twenty +\par thousand. A total of forty-five thousand men, of whom more than half +\par died! +\par +\par Augereau's corps was almost entirely destroyed. Out of fifteen +\par thousand combatants under arms at the beginning of the action, there +\par remained by evening only three thousand, under the command of +\par Lieutenant colonel Massy: the marshal, all the generals and all the +\par colonels had been either killed or wounded. +\par +\par It is difficult to understand why Benningsen, knowing that Davout +\par and Ney had not yet arrived, did not take advantage of their absence +\par to attack Eylau at daybreak with the numerous troops of the centre +\par of his army, instead of using precious time in bombarding us; for his +\par superior strength would certainly have made him master of the town +\par before the arrival of Davout, and the Emperor would then have +\par regretted having moved so far forward instead of consolidating his +\par position on the plateau of Ziegelhof and awaiting the arrival of his +\par flank forces, as he had intended the evening before. +\par +\par The day after the battle the Emperor followed the Russians to the +\par gates of Konigsberg; but that town was fortified and it was thought +\par unwise to attack it with troops weakened by a sanguinary battle, and +\par what is more, almost all the Russian army was in Konigsberg and the +\par surrounding country. +\par +\par Napoleon spent several days at Eylau, partly to collect the +\par wounded and partly to reorganise his forces. The survivors of +\par Augereau's corps were spread amongst other units and the marshal was +\par given leave to return to France for the treatment of his wound. The +\par Emperor, seeing that the bulk of the Russian army was now at a +\par distance, put his troops into billets in the towns and villages in +\par front of the lower Vistula. There was no interesting event during +\par the rest of the winter, except the t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ of Danzig by our troops. +\par Hostilities in the open country would not begin again until the month +\par of june, as we shall see later. +\par +\par Chap. 34. +\par +\par I did not want to interrupt the story of the battle of Eylau to +\par tell you what happened to me in this terrible conflict; a sad tale, +\par to understand which we must go back to the autumn of 1805 when the +\par officers of the Grande Arm\'e9e were equipping themselves in preparation +\par for the Battle of Austerlitz. I had two good horses and was looking +\par for a third of a better quality, a charger. This was something +\par difficult to find, for although horses were infinitely cheaper than +\par they are today, they were still expensive, and I did not have much +\par money; but I had a piece of very good luck. +\par +\par I ran into a German scholar, named M. d'Aister, whom I had known +\par when he was teaching at Sor\'e8ze; he was now tutor to the children of a +\par rich Swiss banker, M. Scherer, who lived in Paris and was an associate +\par of M. Finguerlin, who was a very wealthy man who kept up great state, +\par and had a stable of many horses, amongst which was a charming mare +\par called Lisette, an excellent animal from Mecklemberg, good-looking, +\par swift as a stag, and so well schooled that a child could ride her. +\par But this mare had a dreadful and fortunately rare vice: she bit like +\par a bulldog, and attacked furiously anyone who displeased her, which +\par decided M. Finguerlin to sell her. She was bought by Mme. de +\par Lauriston, whose husband, an aide-de-camp to the Emperor, had written +\par to her to ask her to buy him a charger. +\par +\par M. Finguerlin, when he sold the mare, had omitted to mention her +\par behaviour, and on the evening of her purchase, a groom, whom she had +\par torn open, was found lying at her feet. Mme. de Lauriston was justly +\par alarmed and demanded cancellation of the sale. Not only was this +\par done, but the police, in order to prevent another such accident, +\par required that a notice be fixed to Lisette's loose-box informing any +\par potential buyer of her ferocity, and that any sale would be null and +\par void unless the buyer declared in writing that he was aware of this +\par notice. +\par +\par As you may imagine, with such a recommendation, the mare was very +\par difficult to sell; M. d'Aister told me that her owner was prepared to +\par let her go for whatever was offered. I offered a thousand francs and +\par M. Finguerlin handed Lisette over to me, although she had cost five +\par thousand. For several months she gave me a great deal of trouble; it +\par took four or five men to saddle her, and she could not be bridled +\par without being blindfolded and having all four legs tied; but once on +\par her back one found her a matchless ride. +\par +\par However, since during the time I had owned her she had bitten +\par several people, including me, I was thinking of getting rid of her, +\par when, having taken into my service a man called Francis Woirland, who +\par was scared of nothing, he, before approaching Lisette, about whose +\par bad character I had warned him, armed himself with a very hot leg of +\par roast mutton, and when she attempted to bite him, he offered this to +\par her, which she seized in her teeth; but having burned her mouth and +\par her tongue, the mare gave a cry and dropped the gigot, and from that +\par moment she submitted herself to Woirland, whom she no longer dared to +\par bite. I tried the same trick and achieved the same result. Lisette, +\par as docile as a dog, allowed herself to be handled by myself and my +\par servant; she even became a little more tractable with the grooms whom +\par she saw every day, but woe betide any stranger passing too close to +\par her. I could give many examples of her ferocity, but I shall limit +\par myself to one. +\par +\par While Marshal Augereau was staying at the ch\'e2teau of Bellevue, +\par near Berlin, the servants, having noticed that while they were at +\par diner, someone was coming to steal the sacks of oats from the stable, +\par asked Woirland to leave Lisette loose near the door. The thief +\par arrived, slipped into the stable and was already carrying off one of +\par the sacks when the mare grabbed him by the neck, dragged him into the +\par yard and broke two of his ribs by trampling on him. People came +\par running to the cries of the terrified thief, whom Lisette was +\par unwilling to abandon until my servant and I persuaded her, for in her +\par rage she would have savaged anyone else. The wickedness of this +\par animal had got worse since the officer of the Saxon Hussars had +\par treacherously stabbed her in the shoulder on the battlefield of +\par Jena. +\par +\par It was this mare that I was riding at the time when the remains of +\par Marshal Augereau's corps, shattered by a hail of cannon and grape +\par shot, were attempting to re-form in the area of the cemetery. You +\par will recall that the 14th Line regiment had stayed alone on the +\par little hill, which it might leave only if ordered to do so by the +\par Emperor. The snow having stopped for a moment, one could see this +\par gallant regiment almost completely surrounded by the enemy, waving +\par its Eagle aloft to show that it still stood fast and needed help. +\par The Emperor, touched by the devotion to duty of these brave men, +\par decided to attempt their rescue; he told Marshal Augereau to send an +\par officer with orders to them to quit the hillock, form a small square +\par and withdraw towards us; while a brigade of cavalry would go to meet +\par them and second their efforts. +\par +\par This was before the great charge made by Murat and his cavalry, +\par and it was almost impossible to carry out the Emperor's command +\par because a swarm of Cossacks separated us from the 14th. It was clear +\par that any officer sent towards the unfortunate regiment would be +\par killed or captured before he got there. Nevertheless, an order is an +\par order; and the marshal had to obey. +\par +\par It was the custom, in the imperial army, for the aides to line up +\par a few paces from their general, and the one in front went off first; +\par when he had completed his mission, he joined the back of the queue, +\par so that as each took his turn to carry orders, the dangers were +\par shared equally. A brave captain of engineers, named Froissart, who, +\par although not an aide-de-camp, was attached to the marshal's staff, +\par was nearest to him and was sent off to carry the order to the 14th. +\par He left at the gallop; we lost sight of him in the midst of the +\par Cossacks and never saw him again, nor did we know what became of him. +\par +\par The marshal, seeing that the 14th did not budge, sent another +\par officer, named David. He suffered the same fate as Froissart, and we +\par heard no more of him. It is likely that they were both killed, and +\par having been stripped of their clothing their bodies were not +\par recognisable among the many dead who covered the ground. For the +\par third time the marshal called out "An officer to take orders "!...It +\par was my turn. +\par +\par When he saw before him the son of his old friend, and, I think I +\par may dare to say, his favourite aide-de-camp, the good marshal's face +\par fell and his eyes filled with tears, for he could not disguise from +\par himself that he was sending me to an almost certain death; but the +\par Emperor's order had to be obeyed; I was a soldier; no one else could +\par take my place, I would not have allowed something so dishonourable. +\par So I took off! Now, while prepared to sacrifice my life, I thought it +\par my duty to take every precaution which might save it. I had noticed +\par that the two officers who had gone before me had left with drawn +\par sabres, which made me think that they intended to defend themselves +\par against the Cossacks who would attack them during the ride. This +\par intention was in my opinion ill-advised, for they would have been +\par forced to stop and fight a multitude of enemies who, in the end, had +\par overwhelmed them. I adopted a different approach, and leaving my +\par sabre in its scabbard, I thought of myself as a rider who, to win the +\par prize in a race, goes as fast as possible by the shortest route +\par towards the winning post without t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ any notice of what is to +\par right or left of him during his passage. Now, my winning post being +\par the hillock occupied by the 14th, I resolved to get there without +\par paying any attention to the Cossacks, whom I blotted out of my +\par thoughts. +\par +\par This system worked perfectly. Lisette, light as a swallow, and +\par flying rather than galloping, rushed through space, leaping over the +\par piled up bodies of men and horses, over ditches and the broken +\par mountings of guns, as well as the half-extinguished bivouac fires. +\par Thousands of Cossacks were scattered about the plain. The first ones +\par to see me behaved like hunters who, having raised a hare, mark its +\par presence by shouts of "Yours! Yours!" But none of them tried to +\par stop me, firstly because I was going so fast, and also perhaps +\par because each one thought I would be caught by his comrades who were +\par further on. In this way I escaped from them all and arrived at the +\par 14th without either I or my excellent mare having suffered a scratch. +\par +\par I found the 14th formed in a square on top of the hillock; but +\par the slope of the ground was so gentle that the enemy cavalry had been +\par able to carry out a number of charges, which had been vigourously +\par repelled, so that they were surrounded by heap of the dead bodies of +\par horses and Russian Dragoons, which formed a sort of rampart, and now +\par made the position almost inaccessible to cavalry; for even with the +\par aid of our infantrymen, I had great difficulty in getting over this +\par bloody and frightful defence work, but at last I was inside the +\par square. +\par +\par Since the death of Colonel Savary, killed during the crossing of +\par the Ukra, the 14th had been commanded by a battalion commander; when +\par I gave this officer the order which I carried, for him to leave his +\par position and try to rejoin the army corps, he replied that the enemy +\par artillery which had been firing at them for an hour had occasioned +\par such heavy losses that the handful of soldiers which he had left +\par would inevitably be exterminated if they went down onto the level +\par ground; and anyway there was no time to prepare for the execution of +\par this movement, since a Russian column, coming to attack, was now +\par close to us. "I can see no way of saving the regiment," said the +\par battalion commander. "Go back to the Emperor and say good-bye to him +\par from the 14th; and take back the Eagle which we can no longer +\par defend." +\par +\par The Eagles of the infantry were very heavy, and their weight was +\par increased by the long thick pole of oak on which they were mounted. +\par I was bending forward and attempting to detach the Eagle from its +\par pole, when one of the many bullets which the Russians were firing at +\par us went through the back part of my hat, very close to my head. The +\par shock was made worse by the fact that the hat was held on by a strong +\par leather strap which went under my chin, and so offered more +\par resistance to the blow. I was partially stunned by this, and found +\par myself unable to move. +\par +\par However the column of Russian infantry was now climbing the +\par hillock; they were Grenadiers, whose headgear, garnished with metal, +\par looked like mitres. These men, full of liquor, flung themselves on +\par the feeble remnants of the 14th, who defended themselves bravely with +\par their bayonets, and even when the square was broken, formed +\par themselves into little groups and continued for a long time the +\par unequal struggle. In my confused state, I was unable to react in any +\par way; I was attacked by a drunken Russian soldier, who thrust his +\par bayonet into my left arm, and then, aiming another blow at me, lost his +\par balance and missing his mark, he slashed Lisette's haunch. +\par +\par The pain of this injury aroused her ferocious instincts, she +\par grabbed the soldier with her teeth and tore away the greater part of +\par his face,then, kicking and biting, she forced her way through the +\par mel\'e9e and t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ the path by which we had come, she went off at the +\par gallop in the direction of the Eylau cemetery while, thanks to the +\par Hussar's saddle in which I was seated, I remained on her back. +\par +\par As we approached Eylau a new danger arose. The snow had started to +\par fall again and in the poor visibility a battalion of the Guard took +\par me for a Russian and opened fire on me, but although my cloak and my +\par saddle were hit, both I and my mare were untouched. Lisette, +\par continuing to gallop, went through the three lines of infantry like a +\par grass-snake through a hedge, but this last burst of speed drained her +\par resources, she was losing a lot of blood because one of the big veins +\par in her haunch had been cut, she collapsed suddenly and fell, throwing +\par me to the ground, where I was rendered unconscious. +\par +\par I must have remained in this state for about four hours, and I was +\par not aroused by the great charge of Murat's ninety squadrons of +\par cavalry, which went past me and perhaps over me. When I came to, +\par this is the dreadful position in which I found myself. I was +\par completely naked except for my hat and my right boot. A soldier of +\par the transport section, believing me to be dead, had despoiled me, as +\par was customary, and in an attempt to remove my boot, was dragging at +\par my leg, with one foot on my stomach. I was able to raise the upper +\par part of my body and to spit out some clots of blood, my face, +\par shoulders and chest were badly bruised, and blood from my wounded arm +\par reddened the rest of my body. I gazed around with haggard eyes, and +\par must have been a horrible spectacle. The transport driver made off +\par with my possessions before I could summon my wits and address a word +\par to him. I was too dazed and weak to move, and unable to call for +\par help. The cold was increasing and I had little hope of surviving +\par without some form of miracle, and something like a miracle took +\par place. +\par +\par Marshal Augereau had a valet de chambre, named Pierre Dannel, a +\par very intelligent boy, loyal, but inclined to be cheeky; and it so +\par happened that while we were at Houssaye, Dannel, having spoken back +\par to his master, had been given his notice. Desolated, Dannel begged +\par me to intercede for him, which I did with so much zeal that he was +\par reinstated in the marshal's good graces; since when the valet had +\par been devoted to me. Dannel had taken it on himself to come from +\par Landsberg, on the day of the battle, to bring some victuals to his +\par master, which he had put in a very light wagon, able to go anywhere, +\par and containing all the things that the marshal used most frequently. +\par This little wagon was driven by a soldier who had served in the same +\par transport unit as the man who had stripped me. This fellow, carrying +\par my effects, was passing the wagon which was standing at the Eylau +\par cemetery when, recognising his old friend, he went up to him to show +\par him the lovely booty he had taken from a dead man. +\par +\par Now, while we were in cantonments by the Vistula, the marshal +\par having told Dannel to go to Warsaw to get some provisions, I asked +\par him to take my pelisse and have the black astrakhan with which it was +\par trimmed, removed and replaced by grey; a style newly adopted by the +\par aides-de-camp of Prince Berthier, who set the fashion in the army. I +\par was still the only one of Marshal Augereau's officers who had grey +\par astrakhan. +\par +\par Dannel, who was present when the transport driver displayed his +\par booty, easily recognised my pelisse, which made him look more closely +\par at the other belongings of the alleged dead man, amongst which he saw +\par my watch, marked with my father's initials, for it had been his. The +\par valet de chambre had no doubt that I had been killed, but mourning my +\par death, he wished to see me for the last time, and having been led +\par there by the transport driver, he found me alive! +\par +\par This good fellow, to whom I owe my life, was overjoyed. He +\par hurried to fetch my own servant and some orderlies, who carried me +\par into a barn where they rubbed me down with rum, while they sent for +\par Dr. Raymond. When he at last arrived, he dressed the wound in my arm +\par and declared that the blood which I had lost would save me. +\par +\par Soon I was surrounded by my comrades including my brother. A reward +\par was given to the transport rider who had taken my clothes, which he +\par handed over with good grace; but as they were soaked with blood and +\par water, Marshal Augereau had me wrapped up in clothes of his own. +\par +\par The Emperor had given permission for Augereau to return to +\par Landsberg, but his wound made it impossible for him to ride a horse; +\par so his aides-de-camp got hold of a sledge on which they mounted the +\par body of a carriage. The marshal, who had decided not to abandon +\par me, had me strapped in beside him, for I was too weak to sit upright. +\par +\par Before I was picked up from the battlefield, I had seen my poor +\par Lisette near to me. Her wound had stopped bleeding and she was back +\par on her feet, eating some straw which had been used by soldiers in +\par their bivouacs, the previous night. My servant, who was very fond of +\par Lisette, returned to look for her; he cut strips of clothing from a +\par dead soldier and dressed the wound on her haunch, and got her fit +\par enough to walk to Landsberg. +\par +\par The commandant of the little garrison of the town, had had the +\par good sense to prepare quarters for the wounded. The officers of the +\par staff were put into a large and comfortable inn, so that instead of +\par spending the night lying naked in the snow, I was tucked into a good +\par bed and being looked after by my brother, my companions and the +\par worthy Dr. Raymond. The doctor had to cut the boot which the soldier +\par had tried to pull off, and even so, he had difficulty in getting it +\par off because my foot had swollen so much. You will see, later that +\par this could have cost me my leg, and perhaps even my life. +\par +\par We stayed in Landsberg for thirty-six hours. The rest and the +\par care given me restored my ability to move, and when, on the second +\par day after the battle, Marshal Augereau set off for Warsaw, I was +\par able, though still very weak, to travel on the sledge. The journey +\par took eight days, because we moved only in short stages; I was +\par recovering my strength little by little, but I was aware of an icy +\par cold in my right foot. +\par +\par On our arrival at Warsaw, I was put in a large house which had +\par been reserved for the marshal, which suited me very well, as I was +\par unable to get out of bed. The wound of my arm was healing, the +\par bruising of my upper body was dispersing, and my skin was resuming +\par its normal colour, however the doctor did not know why I could not +\par get up, and hearing me complain about my leg, he decided to have a +\par look at it, and what do you suppose he found? My foot had become +\par gangrenous! An accident which had occurred many years ago was the +\par cause of this. While I was at Sor\'e8ze, my right foot had been pierced +\par by the foil of a fencing opponent, which had lost its button. It +\par seems that this injury had made my foot more sensitive to cold, and +\par while I was lying on the snow it had become frostbitten, and not +\par having been treated in time, gangrene had set in at the site of the +\par old fencing injury, the area was covered by a scar the size of a five +\par franc piece. The doctor looked with alarm at my foot, then, t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ a +\par bistoury, and having me held down by four servants, he picked off the +\par scab and dug into my foot to remove the dead flesh, just as one would +\par cut out the rotten part of an apple. +\par +\par I suffered greatly, at first without complaining, though it was a +\par different matter when the bistoury, having reached live tissue, +\par exposed the muscles and bones, which one could see. The doctor then +\par stood on a chair and having soaked a sponge in warm sweetened wine, +\par he allowed it to fall, drop by drop into the hole he had made in my +\par foot. The pain was intolerable! Nevertheless I had to endure for a +\par week this fearful torture, but my leg was saved. +\par +\par Today, when one is so prodigal with decorations and promotions, an +\par officer who ran the risks which I had run in reaching the 14th +\par regiment, would certainly be rewarded; but under the Empire this sort +\par of devotion to duty was regarded as so normal that I was given no +\par medal, and never thought of asking for one. +\par +\par A long rest having been judged necessary for the cure of Marshal +\par Augereau's wound, the Emperor instructed him to go to France for +\par treatment, and brought Marshal Mass\'e9na from Italy; to whom my +\par brother, Bro and several of my friends were appointed. Marshal +\par Augereau took me with him, along with his secretary and Dr. Raymond. +\par I had to be lifted in and out of the carriage, but otherwise I felt +\par my health improve the further we got away from those frozen wastes to +\par a more friendly climate. My mare spent the winter in the stables of +\par M. de Launay, the administrator of army forage supplies. +\par +\par The marshal went by way of Rawa to Silesia. As long as we were +\par in dreadful Poland, where there are no metalled roads, it took twelve +\par and sometimes sixteen horses to drag the coach out of the bogs and +\par swamps through which we travelled. We went always at walking pace +\par and it was not until we reached Germany that we found ourselves in a +\par civilised country with proper roads. We stopped at Dresden, and +\par spent ten or twelve days at Frankfurt-on-Main, from where we had +\par marched the previous October to attack Prussia. +\par +\par We finally reached Paris about the 15th of March. I could walk +\par with much difficulty, and had my arm in a sling, and I still felt the +\par effects of what I had been through, but the pleasure of seeing my +\par mother once more, and the care she devoted to me, combined with the +\par gentle influence of the returning spring, effected my cure. +\par +\par Chap. 35. +\par +\par I spent the end of March, all of April, and the first week of May +\par in Paris. It was during this time that I got to know the Desbri\'e8res, +\par a family of which my marriage was soon to make me a member. I had +\par recovered my health, and I realised that I could not stay any longer +\par in Paris. Marshal Augereau sent me to Marshal Lannes who took me +\par willingly onto his staff. +\par +\par The Emperor, in order to keep an eye on any moves which the enemy +\par might be tempted to make during the winter, had settled himself in +\par the middle of the cantonments of his troops, first at Osterode and +\par then at the ch\'e2teau of Finkenstein, from where, while planning a new +\par campaign, he governed France and directed his ministers, who, every +\par week, sent him their reports. The portfolios holding the various +\par documents furnished by each ministry were collected every Wednesday +\par by M. Denni\'e9e the elder, under-secretary of state for war, who sent +\par them off on Thursdays in the charge of a junior official whose duty +\par it was to deliver them into the hands of the Emperor. But this +\par system worked very badly because most of these officials had never +\par been out of France. They did not know a word of German, nor did they +\par understand the currency or the regulations regarding posting in +\par foreign countries, so they did not know how to manage matters once +\par they had crossed the Rhine. In addition, these gentlemen, being +\par unused to fatigue, soon found themselves overcome by that of a +\par journey of more than three hundred leagues, which lasted continuously +\par for ten days and ten nights. One of them was so incompetent as to +\par allow his despatches to be stolen. Napoleon was so angry at this +\par mishap that he sent a courier to Paris to tell M. Denni\'e9e not to give +\par the portfolios in future to officials except those who knew Germany, +\par and who, being able to support fatigue and privation, could carry out +\par their duties more efficiently. +\par +\par M. Denni\'e9e was having great difficulty in finding anyone to fill +\par the post, when I turned up with a letter ordering me to report to +\par Marshal Lannes. Delighted to have found someone to take the next lot +\par of despatches, he warned me to be ready to leave on the coming +\par Thursday, and gave me five thousand francs for expenses and the +\par purchase of a carriage, which suited me very well, as I did not have +\par much money to get me back to the army in the depths of Poland. +\par +\par We left Paris about the 10th of May. Both my servant and I were +\par armed, and if one of us left the coach the other remained on guard. +\par We knew enough German to keep the postilions up to the mark, and as +\par I was in uniform, they obeyed me with more alacrity than they would a +\par civilian official. So that instead of t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ the usual nine and a +\par half or ten days over the journey, we made it in eight and a half. +\par +\par The Emperor was delighted to have his despatches twenty-four hours +\par earlier than expected, and after praising the keenness which had led +\par me to ask to return to duty in spite of my recent wounds, he added +\par that as I had been so efficient a courier, I could leave for Paris +\par that same night to take back some other portfolios; a task which +\par would not prevent me from t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ part in the campaign, which could +\par not restart before the beginning of june. +\par +\par Although I had spent nothing like the five thousand francs which +\par M. Denni\'e9e had given me, the marshal of the palace gave me the same +\par sum to return to Paris, which I did as quickly as possible. I stayed +\par no more than twenty-four hours in the capital, and left once more +\par for Poland; the minister again gave me five thousand francs for this +\par third journey; it was far more than was necessary, but that was how +\par Napoleon wanted it. It is true that these trips were very tiring and +\par very boring, even though the weather was fine. I was on the road day +\par and night for nearly a month in the sole company of my servant. +\par +\par I reported to the Emperor at Finkenstein, and was afraid that I +\par might have to continue as postman until fighting broke out, when +\par fortunately some replacements were found and the Emperor authorised +\par me to go to Marshal Lannes, to whom I reported at Marienberg on the +\par 25th May. He had with him Colonel Sicard, Augereau's aide-de-camp, +\par who had been kind enough to take charge of my horses. It was with +\par much pleasure that I saw once more my mare Lisette, who was fit +\par enough for more service. +\par +\par The fortress of Danzig, besieged by the French during the winter, +\par had fallen into their hands. The return of the good weather soon saw +\par campaigning recommence. The Russians attacked our cantonments on the +\par 5th of June, and were sharply repulsed at every point. On the 10th +\par there was a fierce encounter at Heilsberg which some historians +\par describe as a battle. The enemy were once more defeated. I shall +\par not go into any detail about this affair, since Marshal Lannes' corps +\par took very little part in it, not having arrived until nightfall. We +\par did, however, come under some heavy fire and Colonel Sicard was +\par mortally wounded. He had already been wounded at Eylau, and although +\par scarcely recovered from his injuries, had returned to take part in +\par the renewed fighting. Before he died, the good colonel requested me +\par to say his farewell to Marshal Augereau, and gave me a letter for his +\par wife. I was very much upset by this painful scene. +\par +\par The army now being in pursuit of the Russians, we passed through +\par Eylau. The fields which we had left three months previously +\par covered with snow and dead bodies, were now overspread by a +\par delightful carpet of green, bedecked with flowers. What a contrast! +\par How many soldiers lay beneath those verdant meadows? I went and sat +\par at the place where I had fallen and been despoiled, and where I also +\par would have died, had not a truly providential combination of +\par circumstances come to my aid. Marshal Lannes wanted to see the +\par hillock which the 14th had so valiantly defended. I took him there. +\par Since the time of the battle, the enemy had been in occupation of the +\par place; however, we found, still intact, the monument which all the +\par corps of the French army had erected to the memory of their dead +\par comrades of the 14th, thirty-six of whose officers had been buried in +\par the same grave. This respect for the dead reflected honour on the +\par Russians. I remained for a few moments on the spot where I had been +\par hit by the bullet and wounded by the bayonet, and thought of the +\par brave men who lay in the dust, and whose fate I had so nearly shared. +\par +\par The Russians, having been defeated on the 10th of June at +\par Heilsberg, retreated hastily and got a day ahead of the French who, +\par by the evening of the 13th, were concentrated beyond Eylau, on the +\par left bank of the Alle. The Russians occupied Bartenstein on the +\par right bank of this river, which the two armies now descended on +\par opposite sides. +\par +\par Benningsen, whose stores of food and ammunition were in +\par Konigsberg, where the Prussian corps was stationed, wanted to reach +\par this town before the arrival of the French, but to do so he had to +\par cross over onto the left bank of the Alle, where there were the +\par French troops. The Russian commander hoped to reach Friedland +\par sufficiently far ahead of the French to be able to cross the river +\par before they could oppose him. The same reasons which made Benningsen +\par wish to hold on to Konigsberg, made Napoleon wish to capture it. He +\par had for several days constantly manoeuvred to out-flank the Russian +\par left, and keep them away from the place, in the direction of which he +\par had sent Murat, Soult and Davout to oppose the Russians if they +\par arrived before us. +\par +\par The Emperor, however, did not stick to this scheme, and foreseeing +\par that the Russians would attempt to cross the Alle at Friedland, he +\par aimed to occupy the town before they did, and on the night of the +\par 13th-14th June, he despatched towards it the corps of Marshal Lannes +\par and Mortier, and three divisions of cavalry. The rest of the army was +\par to follow. +\par +\par Marshal Lannes, who was in the van, with the Oudinot Grenadiers +\par and a brigade of cavalry, having arrived at Posthenen, a league from +\par Friedland, sent the 9th Hussars to reconnoitre the latter town. They +\par were repulsed with losses, and daybreak revealed a large part of the +\par Russian army massed on the opposite bank of the Alle on the high +\par ground between Allenau and Friedland. They had begun to cross the +\par old town bridge, beside which they had constructed two new ones. +\par +\par The aim of the two armies was very easily understood. The Russians +\par wanted to cross the Alle to get to Konigsberg, and the French wanted +\par to stop them and drive them back across the river, which had very +\par steep banks. The only crossing point was at Friedland. The Russians +\par had difficulty in deploying from Friedland onto the open ground of +\par the left bank, owing to the fact that the way out of the town was +\par much restricted by a large lake, and by a stream called the Mill +\par Stream, which ran in a very steep-sided ravine. To protect their +\par crossing, the Russians had placed two strong batteries of guns on the +\par right bank, which could cover the town and part of the land between +\par Posthenen and Heinrichsdorf. +\par +\par The Emperor was still at Eylau: the various corps marching towards +\par Friedland were still several leagues away, when Marshal Lannes, +\par having marched all night, arrived before the town. The marshal would +\par have liked to attack the enemy immediately; but already they had +\par thirty thousand men drawn up on the level ground before Friedland, +\par and their lines, the right of which was opposite Heinrichsdorf, the +\par centre at the mill stream, and the left at the village of Sortlack, +\par were being endlessly reinforced; while Marshal Lannes had no more +\par than ten thousand men; however, he deployed them skillfully in the +\par village of Posthenen and the woods of Sortlack, from where he +\par threatened the Russian's left flank, while with two divisions of +\par cavalry he tried to stop their advance toward Heinrichsdorf, which +\par lay on the route from Friedland to Konigsberg. There was a brisk +\par exchange of fire before Mortier's corps arrived. Mortier, to dispute +\par with the Russians the road to Konigsberg, while waiting for fresh +\par reinforcements, occupied Heinrichsdorf and the area between this +\par village and Posthenen. However, it was not possible that Lannes and +\par Mortier with twenty-five thousand men could resist the seventy +\par thousand Russians who would soon face them. The situation was +\par becoming highly critical. Marshal Lannes sent a succession of +\par officers to warn the Emperor to hasten the arrival of the army corps +\par which he knew were coming up behind him. Mounted on my swift +\par Lisette, I was the first to go. I met the Emperor as he was leaving +\par Eylau; he was beaming with pleasure! He called me to his side, and as +\par we galloped along, I had to explain to him what had happened before I +\par left the battle. When I had finished my recital, the Emperor said to +\par me, smiling, "Have you a good memory?" "Passable, Sir," I replied. +\par "Well what anniversary is this, the 14th of June?" "Marengo" I said +\par "Yes! Yes! The anniversary of Marengo," said the Emperor, "and I shall +\par beat the Russians as I beat the Austrians!" +\par +\par Napoleon was so convinced about this, that as he went along the +\par columns, where the men greeted him with many cheers, he said to them +\par repeatedly "Today is a lucky day, it is the anniversary of Marengo!" +\par +\par Chap. 36. +\par +\par It was after eleven o'clock when Napoleon arrived on the +\par battlefield, where several corps had already come to join Lannes and +\par Mortier. The remainder, including the Guard, were arriving one by +\par one. Napoleon readjusted the line: Ney was on the right, positioned +\par in the wood at Sortlack; Lannes and Mortier formed the centre, +\par between Posthenen and Heinrichsdorf; the left stretched out beyond +\par this last village. The heat was overpowering. The Emperor gave the +\par troops an hour's rest, after which, at the signal of a volley by +\par twenty-five guns, a general attack would begin. +\par +\par }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{'s corps had the most difficult task, for they were to +\par come out of their hiding place in the woods of Sortlack, fight their +\par way into Friedland, which was filled with the main forces and +\par reserves of the enemy, seize the bridges and thus cut off the +\par Russian's way of retreat. +\par +\par It is difficult to understand why Benningsen had placed his forces +\par in front of the narrow exit from Friedland, and with their backs to +\par the Alle with its steep banks, in the presence of the French who +\par commanded the open country. The explanation given later by the +\par Russian general was that having been a day ahead of Napoleon, he did +\par not believe that the French troops could cover in twelve hours a +\par distance which had taken his men twenty-four hours, and he had +\par thought that Lannes' corps was an isolated advance-guard of the +\par French army, which he could easily crush. When this illusion had +\par been dissipated, it was too late to bring his army back to the other +\par bank because the narrow defile at Friedland would have caused +\par certain disaster, so he preferred to stand and fight. +\par +\par At about one in the afternoon, the twenty-five guns at Posthenen, +\par given the order by the Emperor, fired a volley, and battle was joined +\par all along the line. At first our left and our centre moved very +\par slowly to give the right, commanded by Ney, time to capture the +\par town. The marshal, emerging from Sortlack wood, took the village of +\par that name and advanced rapidly towards Friedland, sweeping aside +\par everything in his path; but as they moved forward from the wood and +\par the village of Sortlack to the first houses of Friedland, Ney's +\par troops were exposed to the fire of the Russian batteries which, +\par positioned behind the town on the heights of the opposite bank, +\par caused them severe losses. This fire was made more dangerous by the +\par fact that the gunners, separated from us by the river, could aim +\par their guns in safety, knowing that our infantry could not attack +\par them. This serious problem could have led to the failure of the +\par attack on Friedland, but Napoleon overcame it by sending General +\par Senarmont with fifty guns, which he placed on the left bank of the +\par Alle, and subjected the Russian batteries to such heavy fire that +\par they were soon silenced. As soon as the enemy fire had ceased, +\par }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{ resumed his advance, driving the Russians back into +\par Friedland, and mingled in confusion with them, entered the streets of +\par the unfortunate town, where the mortar bombs had started a huge fire. +\par +\par A savage bayonet fight ensued in which the Russians, crammed +\par together and scarcely able to move, suffered enormous losses! ... At +\par last, in spite of their courage, they were compelled to retreat in +\par disorder and seek refuge by crossing the bridges to the other bank; +\par but General Senarmont had moved his guns into a position from which +\par he could fire on the bridges, which he soon broke, after killing many +\par of the Russians who were attempting to escape across them. All those +\par who remained in Friedland were either killed, captured or drowned +\par while trying to cross the river. +\par +\par Up until this point, Napoleon had, so to speak, made his left and +\par his centre mark time; he now moved them rapidly forward. General +\par Gortschakoff, who commanded the centre and right wing of the enemy, +\par attempted, bravely, to recapture the town, (which would have been of +\par no use, because the bridges were down, although he did not know +\par that). He charged at the head of his men into the burning +\par Friedland; but driven out by Ney, who was occupying the town, and +\par forced back into the open, he found himself confronting our centre, +\par who drove him back to the Alle at Kloschenen. The Russians defended +\par themselves heroically and refused to surrender although completely +\par surrounded. Many of them were killed by our bayonets, the remainder +\par rolled down the steep banks into the river, where a large number were +\par drowned. +\par +\par The extreme right of the enemy was composed mostly of cavalry who +\par tried during the battle to capture or outflank the village of +\par Heinrichsdorf; but driven off by our troops, they went back to the +\par banks of the Alle, under the command of General Lambert, who, seeing +\par that Friedland was in the hands of the French and that the Russian +\par left and centre were defeated, gathered all he could of the regiments +\par of the right wing and made off from the battlefield down the side of +\par the Alle. Nightfall prevented the French from following, so his was +\par the only body of Russian troops to escape the disaster. +\par +\par Our victory was one of the most complete; we captured all the +\par Russian guns; we did not take a many prisoners during the action, but +\par a great many of the enemy were killed or wounded, amounting to more +\par than twenty-six thousand; our losses were no more than three thousand +\par dead and four or five thousand wounded. Of all the battles fought by +\par the Emperor, this was the only one in which the number of his troops +\par exceeded that of the enemy. The French strength was eighty thousand +\par and the Russian's only seventy-five thousand. The remnants of the +\par Russian army marched in disorder all night, and retired behind the +\par River Pregal, having destroyed the bridges. +\par +\par Marshals Soult, Davout and Murat had not been involved in the +\par battle of Friedland, but their presence induced the Russians to +\par abandon Konigsberg, which town our troops entered. We found there an +\par immense store of all kinds of material. +\par +\par I did not suffer any injury during the battle, though I ran into a +\par number of dangers. You saw how I left Posthenen in the morning, on +\par Marshal Lannes' orders, to go as quickly as possible to warm the +\par Emperor that the Russians were crossing the Alle, and that a battle +\par appeared imminent. Napoleon was at Eylau; I had therefore to make a +\par journy of about six leagues to reach him, which would have presented +\par no difficulty to my excellent mare if the road had been clear, but as +\par it was congested by the troops of various units hurrying to the aid +\par of Marshal Lannes at Friedland, there was no way in which I could +\par gallop along it. I therefore went across country, which meant that +\par Lisette, having had to jump hedges, fences and ditches, was already +\par very tired when I met the Emperor, who was just leaving Eylau. +\par However, I had, without a moment of rest, to return with him to +\par Friedland, and although this time the troops moved to one side to let +\par us pass, my poor mare, having galloped over twelve leagues +\par altogether, six of them being across country, and in very hot +\par weather, was utterly exhausted by the time I had rejoined Marshal +\par Lannes on the battlefield. I realised that Lisette could not +\par continue to carry me during the action, so, t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ advantage of the +\par rest which Napoleon allowed the troops, I set out to look for my +\par servant, in order to change horses; but in the middle of such a large +\par collection of troops there was not much hope of finding him. It was, +\par in fact, impossible, and I went back to the staff still mounted on +\par the weary Lisette. +\par +\par Marshal Lannes and my comrades, who saw my problem, had advised me +\par to dismount and allow my mare a few hour's rest, when I caught sight +\par of a Hussar leading a horse which he had captured from the enemy. I +\par took it over, and gave Lisette to one of the troopers of the +\par marshal's escort, so that he could take her back behind the lines, +\par let her have some food and hand her over to my servant, when he could +\par find him. I then got astride my new mount, took my place among the +\par aides-de-camp, and when it came to my turn, I went off. +\par +\par I was, at first, very pleased with my fresh horse, until the time +\par came when, }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{ having gone into Friedland, Marshal Lannes +\par sent me to warn him of an enemy movement. I had barely entered the +\par town when this devil of a horse, which had behaved so well in the +\par open country, finding itself in a little square, where all the houses +\par were on fire and the street covered with burning planks and +\par furniture, in the midst of which a number of bodies were being +\par roasted, was so frightened by the sight of the flames and the smell +\par of burning flesh that it would go neither forward nor back, and, +\par digging in its heels, it remained motionless, snorting loudly, and no +\par amount of spurring would persuade it to move. Now the Russians, +\par having gained a momentary advantage, pushed our men back to the point +\par where I was, and from the height of a church and some neighbouring +\par houses, they were raining down bullets, while two guns which they +\par carried with them fired grape-shot at the soldiers among whom I was. +\par +\par Many men were killed around me, which recalled to my mind the +\par position in which I had found myself at Eylau in the middle of the +\par 14th. As I was not anxious to be wounded again and in any case, in +\par staying where I was I was not carrying out my mission, I simply +\par dismounted, and abandoning my infernal mount, I slipped through the +\par houses to contact }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{ at another spot, which was pointed out +\par by some officers. +\par +\par I was with him for some fifteen minutes; there were some bullets +\par flying around, but nothing like so many as there had been at the +\par place where I had left my mount. The Russians were eventually driven +\par back at bayonet point and forced to retreat toward the bridges, +\par whereupon }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{ sent me to take the good news to Marshal +\par Lannes. To get out of the town, I took the same route as I had taken +\par to get in, and went through the little square where I had left my +\par horse. It had been the scene of a fierce encounter which had left +\par many dead and dying, among whom I saw my stubborn horse, its back +\par broken by a cannon-ball, and its body riddled by bullets!.... From +\par there I made for the outskirts in something of a hurry because the +\par burning houses were collapsing on all sides and I was afraid of +\par being buried beneath the debris. At last I got out of the town and +\par reached the edge of the lake. +\par +\par The heat of the day, added to that of the fire which was raging in +\par the streets through which I had passed, had bathed me in sweat, and I +\par was dropping with fatigue and hunger, for I had spent a night on +\par horseback to come from Eylau to Friedland, I had galloped back to +\par Eylau and returned to Friedland once more, and had not eaten since +\par the previous evening. I was not looking forward, therefore, to +\par crossing, under a blazing sun, the large area covered with high +\par standing corn which separated me from Marshal Lannes. But once +\par again I had a stroke of luck. General Grouchy's division of +\par dragoons had been engaged not far away in a sharp encounter in +\par which, although victorious, they had lost a number of men, and the +\par colonels had, as was usual, collected the horses of the men who had +\par been killed and put them in the hands of a detachment which would +\par lead them away. I saw this body of men, of which every trooper was +\par leading four or five horses and was t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ them to the lake to drink. +\par +\par I spoke to the officer in charge who, encumbered by all these led +\par horses, was only too glad to let me have one, which I promised to +\par return to his regiment in the evening. He picked out for me an +\par excellent beast, which had been the mount of a sous-officier killed +\par during the charge; astride of this horse, I returned rapidly to +\par Posthenen. +\par +\par I had hardly left the edge of the lake when it became the theatre +\par of the most savage encounter, which was due to the desperate attempt +\par made by Gortschakoff to reopen a way of retreat by capturing the road +\par to Friedland which was held by }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{. Caught between the +\par marshal's troops and those of our centre, who were now advancing, +\par Gortschakoff's Russians defended themselves bravely amongst the +\par houses bordering the lake; so that if I had stayed there, where I had +\par thought of resting for a while, I would have landed in the middle of +\par this fierce outbreak of fighting. I rejoined Marshal Lannes at the +\par moment when he was moving towards the lake to attack the rear of the +\par Russian troops whom Ney was driving away from the front of the town, +\par and I was able to give him some useful information about the terrain +\par on which we were fighting. +\par +\par If the French army did not take many prisoners during the battle +\par of Friedland, it was a different matter the next day and the days +\par following; for the Russians, pursued with a bayonet at their backs, +\par thrown into complete disorder and utterly exhausted, were abandoning +\par their ranks and lying down in the fields, where we captured a great +\par number. We also collected a large quantity of artillery. All those +\par members of Benningsen's army who escaped hurried back across the +\par Nieman, behind which was the Russian emperor who, perhaps recalling +\par the danger to which he had been exposed at Austerlitz, had judged it +\par unwise to assist in person at the battle of Friedland; and two days +\par after our victory he hastened to ask Napoleon for an armistice, to +\par which Napoleon agreed. +\par +\par Three days after the battle the French army reached the town of +\par Tilsit and the river Nieman, which at this point is only a few +\par leagues from the frontiers of the Russian empire. +\par +\par The rear of a victorious army presents a most dismal spectacle. +\par The path of their advance is strewn with the dead, dying, and wounded, +\par while the survivors, soon forgetting those comrades who have fallen +\par in the fighting, rejoice in their success and go forward cheerfully +\par to new adventures. Our men were delighted to see the Nieman, whose +\par opposite bank was occupied by the remains of that Russian army which +\par they had defeated in so many engagements; and where, in contrast to +\par their own lighthearted songs, there reigned a mournful silence. +\par Napoleon established himself at Tilsit, and his troops encamped +\par around the town. The Nieman separated the two armies; the French +\par occupied the left bank and the Russians the right. +\par +\par The Emperor Alexander having requested a meeting with +\par Napoleon, this took place on the 25th of June, in a pavilion on a +\par raft anchored in the middle of the river, in sight of the two armies +\par which lined the banks. It was a most imposing spectacle. The two +\par emperors arrived, each from his own side, accompanied by only five of +\par the principal officers of their armies. Marshal Lannes, who flattered +\par himself that he should accompany the Emperor, saw himself displaced +\par by Marshal Bessi\'e8res, an intimate friend of Prince Murat; and he +\par never forgave the marshals for depriving him of what he considered +\par his right. +\par +\par So Marshal Lannes stayed with us on the quay at Tilsit, from where +\par we saw the two emperors embrace on meeting, which occasioned much +\par cheering from both camps. The next day, the 26th, in the course of a +\par second interview which took place once more in the pavilion on the +\par Nieman, the Russian emperor presented to Napoleon his unfortunate +\par friend, the King of Prussia. This prince whom the fortunes of war +\par had stripped of a vast kingdom, leaving him only the small town of +\par Memel and some miserable villages, maintained a bearing worthy of a +\par descendant of Frederick the Great: Napoleon greeted him politely but +\par coolly, for he considered that he had reason to complain of his +\par conduct, and he planned to confiscate the greater part of his states. +\par +\par To facilitate the meetings of the two Emperors, the town of Tilsit +\par was declared neutral, and Napoleon handed over half of it to the +\par Russian emperor, who set himself up there with his Guard. The two +\par sovereigns spent some twenty days together, during which time they +\par decided the fate of Europe. During these proceedings, the King of +\par Prussia was relegated to the right bank, and had no quarters in +\par Tilsit, which he visited but rarely. One day Napoleon went to call +\par on the Queen of Prussia, who was said to be greatly distressed. He +\par invited her to dine with him on the following day. She accepted the +\par invitation, no doubt with little pleasure, but realising that at a +\par time when peace was being sought it was necessary to take every +\par measure to soften the heart of the victor. +\par +\par Napoleon and the Queen of Prussia thoroughly detested one another: +\par she had grossly insulted him in several proclamations, and he had +\par returned the complement in his bulletins. Their meeting, however, +\par did not display their mutual hatred; Napoleon was respectful and +\par attentive, the queen gracious in her attempts to captivate her former +\par enemy; attempts made all the more determinedly as she was not unaware +\par that the peace treaty created--under the name of the kingdom of +\par Westphalia--a new state, whose territory was to be provided by the +\par electorate of Hesse, and by Prussia itself. +\par +\par The Queen was resigned to the loss of several provinces, but she +\par could not accept the loss of the fortified city of Magdeberg, +\par possession of which was needed for the security of Prussia. For his +\par part, Napoleon, who planned to nominate his brother J\'e9r\'f4me as King of +\par Westphalia, intended to add Magdeberg to this new state. It appears +\par that, during the meal, the Queen deployed her not inconsiderable +\par charms, and when Napoleon, to change the conversation, praised a +\par superb rose which the Queen was wearing, she said to him, "Would your +\par majesty not accept this rose in return for Magdeberg?" A more +\par chivalrous person might have accepted, but Napoleon was too much of a +\par realist to be won over by a pretty proposition. One may be sure that +\par he restricted himself to admiring the beauty of the rose and also of +\par the hand which proffered it, but he did not take the flower, which +\par brought tears to the Queen's eyes. The conqueror, however, did not +\par seem to notice. He kept Magdeberg and politely conducted the Queen to +\par the boat which was to carry her to the opposite bank. +\par +\par During our stay at Tilsit, Napoleon held a review of his Guard +\par and the army in the presence of Alexander, who was impressed by the +\par martial air and bearing of these troops. The Russian Emperor, in his +\par turn, put on display some fine battalions of his Guard, but he did +\par not dare to parade his line regiments, whose numbers had been so +\par greatly reduced at Heilsberg and Friedland. As for the King of +\par Prussia, of whose regiments there remained only the broken d\'e9bris, he +\par did not exhibit them at all. +\par +\par Napoleon drew up, with Russia and Prussia, a peace treaty in which +\par the principal articles related to the creation of the kingdom of +\par Westphalia for the benefit of J\'e9r\'f4me Bonaparte. The elector of +\par Saxony, now an ally and friend of France, was elevated to the dignity +\par of king, and was awarded, in addition, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, +\par composed of a vast province of the former Poland, which was recovered +\par from the Russians. I shall not go into the less important articles +\par of the treaty, which resulted in the re-establishment of peace +\par between the great powers of continental Europe. +\par +\par In elevating his brother to the throne of Westphalia, Napoleon +\par added to the mistakes he had already made in awarding the kingdom of +\par Naples to Joseph and that of Holland, Louis. The people of these +\par countries felt humiliated at being ruled by foreigners who had not +\par themselves done anything of importance and who were, in fact, +\par nonentities, who had no merit except that of being Napoleon's +\par brothers. The dislike and distrust which these new kings attracted +\par contributed largely to the Emperor's downfall. The conduct of the +\par King of Westphalia in particular made very many enemies for +\par Napoleon. +\par +\par Having concluded the treaty, the two Emperors parted with mutual +\par assurances of friendship, which at the time seemed sincere. +\par +\par Chap. 37. +\par +\par The French army was spread out into the various provinces of +\par Germany and Poland under the command of five marshals, in whose +\par number Lannes had asked not to be included, since his ill-health +\par required his return to France. If I had been his permanent +\par aide-de-camp, I would have had to return with him, but I had an even +\par better reason for going, and that was to rejoin Marshal Augereau, to +\par whose staff I had not ceased to belong, my attachment to Marshal +\par Lannes being only temporary. I made ready to return to Paris: I +\par sold, as well as possible, my two horses, and I sent Lisette to the +\par registrar-general, M. de Launey, who, having taken a liking to her, +\par had asked me to let him have her when I had no further use for her. +\par Her injuries and hard work had calmed her down, and I lent her to him +\par for an indefinite period; he mounted his wife on her, and kept her +\par for seven or eight years until she died a natural death. +\par +\par During the twenty days which the Emperor had spent at Tilsit, he +\par had despatched a great many officers, some to Paris, some to other +\par parts of the empire, so that there were hardly any left available for +\par duty. Napoleon did not want to take officers from their regiments, so +\par he ordered a list to be made of all those who had joined the campaign +\par voluntarily and those who did not belong to any army corps nor to the +\par staff of any of the five marshals who were in command. I was +\par included in this list, and felt sure that the Emperor, for whom I had +\par already carried despatches, would choose me in preference to officers +\par whom he did not know; and indeed, the Emperor sent for me on the 9th +\par of July, and having given me some voluminous portfolios and some +\par despatches for the King of Saxony, ordered me to go to Dresden and +\par await him there. The Emperor intended to leave Tilsit that same day, +\par but was going on a long detour to visit Konigsberg, Marienwerder, and +\par Silesia, so that I would be several days ahead of him. +\par +\par I crossed Prussia once more, and saw again several of our +\par battlefields; I went through Berlin and arrived at Dresden two days +\par before the Emperor. The court of Saxony was aware that a peace had +\par been agreed, and that it raised the elector to the rank of king, and +\par awarded him the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, but they did not yet know that +\par the Emperor was to pass through Dresden on his way to Paris; it was I +\par who gave this information to the new king. +\par +\par You may imagine the result of this! ...Immediately the court, the +\par town, and the army were thrown into a turmoil to organise a grand +\par reception for the great Emperor who, after having so generously +\par restored to liberty the Saxon troops captured at Jena, had loaded +\par their sovereign with honours! I was received with enthusiasm; I was +\par lodged in the ch\'e2teau in a fine apartment, where I was magnificently +\par cared for, and the king's aides-de-camp showed me round all the +\par interesting sights of the palace and the town. Eventually the Emperor +\par arrived, and in accordance with the protocol, which I already knew, I +\par hurried to hand over the portfolios to M. Meneval, and to ask for the +\par Emperor's further orders. These I found agreeable, for I was +\par instructed to carry some fresh portfolios to Paris, and the Emperor +\par gave me a letter which I was to deliver personally to the Empress +\par Josephine. The marshal of the palace, M. Duroc, gave me eight +\par thousand francs to cover the expense of the journey from Tilsit to +\par Dresden and from Dresden to Paris. I took to the road in high +\par spirits: I had just taken part in three fine campaigns, during which +\par I had been promoted to captain, and had been noticed by the Emperor; +\par we were about to enjoy the delights of peace, which would allow me to +\par spend a long time with my mother; I was fully recovered; I had never +\par had so much money; everything conspired to make me happy, and I was +\par very happy. +\par +\par I arrived at Frankfurt-on-main, where a lieutenant colonel of the +\par }{\deleted Imperial Guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966621 Imperial Guard}{ named M. de L... was in command. The Emperor had +\par given me a letter for this officer, from whom he wanted, I think, +\par some confidential information, for M. de L... was in touch with +\par M. Savary, who ran the secret police. This colonel invited me to dine +\par with him, after which he conducted me back to my coach; but as I got +\par in I noticed a fair sized package which was not part of my +\par despatches. I was about to call for my batman to get an explanation +\par for this, when Colonel de L... stopped me, and told me, in an +\par undertone, that the package contained some dresses in Berlin knitwear +\par and other materials banned in France, and was destined for the +\par Empress Josephine, who would be much obliged to me for bringing them +\par to her! I recalled only too well the cruel anxieties I had suffered +\par as a result of the false report which I had been persuaded to give +\par the Emperor regarding the numerical strength of the "Chasseurs a +\par Cheval" at Austerlitz, to consent to be engaged once more in some +\par underhand business: so I flatly refused. To be sure I would have +\par liked to please the Empress, but I was aware of the inflexible +\par severity with which Napoleon treated those found guilty of smuggling, +\par and after facing so many dangers, and shedding so much of my blood in +\par battle, I had no wish to sacrifice whatever merit I had gained in the +\par eyes of the Emperor by transgressing his laws in order to draw a +\par smile of thanks from the Empress. To overcome my objections Colonel +\par de L... pointed out that the package had several wrappings, of which +\par the outermost, addressed to the minister for war, bore the seal of +\par the 7th Light Infantry and the designation "Record of accounts." He +\par was sure that the customs would not dare open such a package, the +\par outer covering of which I could remove when I reached Paris and +\par deliver the stuff to the Empress without being compromised; but in +\par spite of all this fine reasoning, I absolutely refused to take part +\par in this transaction and ordered the postilion to set off. +\par When we arrived at the post-house, half way between Frankfurt and +\par Mainz, I took my batman to task for having taken into the coach this +\par extra package; he replied that during dinner time, M. de L... himself +\par had put these packages into the coach: he had supposed that they +\par contained more despatches, and had not thought that he could refuse +\par to accept them from the hands of the commanding officer in person. "Did you say packages?" I cried, "were there then several? He took +\par away only one." And now, rummaging amongst the Emperor's portfolios, +\par I found a second package of contraband which the colonel had put +\par into my trunk without my knowledge. I was taken aback by this +\par trickery and was tempted to throw the dresses onto the highway. +\par However I did not dare, and I continued my journey, determined that +\par if the contraband was seized I would explain how it had been put into +\par my coach, and by whom the stamp of the 7th Light Infantry had been +\par put on the wrapping; for I had no wish to face the anger of Napoleon; +\par but as this defence would have compromised the Empress,I decided that +\par I would use it only as a last resort, and that I would make every +\par effort to avoid my coach being examined. A stroke of luck and a +\par little subterfuge got me out of this dilemma. +\par +\par I arrived, very worried, at the bridge over the Rhine at Mainz, +\par which separates Germany from France, and my anxiety was increased by +\par the sight of the great collection of customs officers and soldiers in +\par unifor, who were waiting round this frontier. When my carriage was +\par stopped, in the usual manner, two men arrived simultaneously at the +\par door; one was a customs officer, to carry out a search, and the other +\par was an aide-de-camp to Marshal Kellerman, who was in command of the +\par station, and who wanted to know if the Emperor was on his way. This +\par is my chance! I thought to myself, and pretending not to notice the +\par customs officer, I replied to the aide-de-camp, "The Emperor is +\par coming behind me." This was no lie, he was indeed following me, but +\par at an interval of two days...which I did not think it necessary to +\par add. +\par +\par My words were heard by all around me and threw them into a state +\par of frenzied activity. The aide-de-camp went off across the bridge at +\par the gallop, at risk of tumbling into the Rhine in his haste to warn +\par Marshal Kellerman. The guard took up their arms. The customs men and +\par their superiors tried to arrange themselves in the most military +\par manner possible in order to look good in front of the Emperor and, +\par as my carriage got in their way, they told the postilion to clear +\par off....So there I was! Freed from their clutches! +\par +\par I went on to the posting-house and quickly changed horses; but +\par while this was being done, a violent storm broke over Mainz and the +\par rain began to fall in torrents. It was five o'clock in the +\par afternoon, dinner time; but on the news of the approaching arrival +\par of the Emperor, the general alarm was beaten throughout the town; on +\par which signal the marshal, generals, prefect, mayor, civil and +\par military authorities, all threw down their napkins, and hastily +\par donning their best clothes, they went in the pouring rain through +\par the streams of water running in the streets to take up their posts; +\par while I, who was the cause of all this commotion, was laughing my +\par head off as I made off at full speed drawn by three good post-horses. +\par +\par In view of the fact that the Empress was willing to disobey her +\par august spouse by wearing clothes made of prohibited material, and +\par that a colonel was willing to slip contraband into my coach without +\par my knowledge, the trick which I had played seemed to me to be +\par excusable. In any case, since it was June, the so}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ which I had +\par caused these Mainz officials to undergo would do no harm except to +\par their clothes. When I was far from Mainz, I could still hear the +\par sound of drums, and I learned afterwards that they had stayed up all +\par night. The Emperor arrived two days later, but as he had had an +\par accident to his coach, the good citizens of Mainz blamed that for the +\par delay of which their fine clothes were the victims. +\par I was heading swiftly and happily towards Paris, when a most +\par disagreeable accident interrupted my progress, and turned my +\par happiness to annoyance. You will understand that when a sovereign +\par travels, it would be impossible to supply a change of horses for the +\par numerous carriages which precede and follow him, if the staging posts +\par were not reinforced by horses, known as "de tourn\'e9e", brought from +\par posts established on other routes. Now, as I was leaving Dombasle, a +\par little town this side of Verdun, a confounded postilion "de +\par tourn\'e9e" who had arrived the night before, not having noticed a steep +\par hill which one encounters after leaving the staging post, lost +\par control of his horses during the descent and overturned my carriage, +\par bre}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ the springs and the bodywork. To make matters worse, it was +\par a Sunday and all the population had gone to a fete in a neighbouring +\par village, so that I could not find a workman. Those that I found the +\par next day were so unskillful that I had to spend two mortal days in +\par this miserable place. +\par +\par I was about to set out again when an outrider having announced the +\par arrival of the Emperor, I took the liberty of stopping his coach to +\par tell him of the accident which I had suffered. He laughed, took back +\par the letter for the Empress which he had given me, and went on his +\par way. I followed him to St. Cloud, from where, after giving the +\par portfolios to the cabinet secretary, I went to my mother's home in +\par Paris. +\par +\par I took up once more my position as aide-de-camp to Marshal +\par Augereau, a very easy task, as it consisted of going every month to +\par spend one or two weeks at La Houssaye, where daily life was always so +\par amusing. Thus rolled by the end of the summer and the autumn; during +\par which time the Emperor's policies were leading towards fresh events +\par and storms whose terrible commotions would nearly swallow me up; me, +\par a very small personage, who, in his carefree youth, thought of +\par nothing but enjoying life, after having seen death at such close +\par quarters. +\par +\par It has been rightly said that the Emperor was never so great and +\par powerful as in 1807, when, after defeating the Austrians, the +\par Russians and the Prussians, he had concluded a peace so favourable to +\par France and to himself. But scarcely had Napoleon ended his war +\par against the northern powers, when his evil genius drove him to +\par undertake one even more terrible, in the south of Europe, in the +\par Iberian peninsula. +\par +\par End of Volume 1, The Memoirs of General the Baron de Marbot. +\par Translated by Oliver.C.Colt +\par +\par +\par +\par +\par +\par +\par \page +\par The Memoirs of General the Baron de Marbot. +\par Translated by Oliver.C.Colt +\par +\par Contents of Volume 2. +\par +\par Chap. 1. My marriage. Farewell to Mass\'e9na. +\par +\par Chap. 2. Biography of Mass\'e9na. +\par +\par Chap. 3. 1812. Appointed to 23rd Chasseurs. The intrigues of Count +\par Czernicheff. +\par +\par Chap. 4. War becomes inevitable. Warnings given to Napoleon. The +\par Imperial court at Dresden. Faulty composition of army. +\par +\par Chap. 5. Review by the Emperor. The army at the Nieman. Notes on +\par historians of the 1812 campaign. Bernadotte's attitude. The Poles. +\par +\par Chap. 6. Crossing of Nieman. Entry into Wilna. I meet the enemy. The +\par 23rd at Wilkomir. Problems in Lithuania. The advance. +\par +\par Chap. 7. The Russian army split. Bagration escapes from J\'e9r\'f4me. +\par Fruitless attack on Dvinaberg. I defeat two of Wittgenstein's units. +\par We leave the Grande Arm\'e9e. Composition of 2nd Corps. +\par +\par Chap. 8. Jakobovo and Kliastitsoui. I am wounded. +\par +\par Chap. 9. The marsh at Sebej. Retreat. The ford at Sivotschina. Death +\par of Koulnieff. A last farewell. +\par +\par Chap. 10. Fresh withdrawal by Oudinot. Marches and countermarches. +\par Retreat to Polotsk. General St. Cyr. Oudinot is wounded. St. Cyr takes +\par over. +\par +\par Chap. 11. Surprise attack on the enemy. Various incidents. We settle +\par in Polotsk. +\par +\par Chap. 12. The advance of the Grande Arm\'e9e. Capture of Smolensk. The +\par battle for Moscow. +\par +\par Chap. 13. Bad news from Spain. Rostopschine. The fire of Moscow. +\par Revival of the Russian army. Koutousoff's treachery. +\par +\par Chap. 14. Decision to retreat. Napoleon forced to change route. I +\par become a Colonel. Bravery of Ney as rearguard. +\par +\par Chap. 15. Situation of 2nd Corps. }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{n demoralisation. Mission to +\par Count Lubenski. +\par +\par Chap. 16. The Austrians defect. The defence of Polotsk. Wittgenstein +\par captured but escapes. The }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{ns leave us. We join Marshal +\par Victor. +\par +\par Chap. 17. Oudinet returns and separates from Victor. Grave situation +\par of the army. Loss and recapture of Borisoff. The bridge over the +\par Beresina burnt. We collect much booty from Borisoff. +\par +\par Chap. 18. Corbineau rejoins 2nd Corps. The enemy are deceived. +\par +\par Chap. 19. Loss of Partouneaux's division. The catastrophe at the +\par Beresina. 2nd Corps forms the rearguard. I am wounded again. +\par +\par Chap. 20.Intense cold. Thieving in the army. Arrival at Wilna. Using +\par sledges. Arrival at Kovno. Crossing the Vistula. +\par +\par Chap. 21. Causes of our disaster. +\par +\par Chap. 22. Worrying general situation. Incompetent administration. +\par Question the retention of fortresses. The state of France. I go to the +\par depot at Mons. +\par +\par Chap. 23. New hostilities on the Elbe. Battles of Lutzen and Bautzen. +\par An armistice. I rejoin the regiment. The state of the army. Napoleon +\par should negotiate. +\par +\par Chap. 24. The armistice broken. Treachery of Jomeni. A painful check. +\par +\par Chap. 25. The battle of Dresden. Vandamme at Kulm. +\par +\par Chap. 26. Oudinot and Macdonald both suffer defeat. The plateau of +\par Jau\'ebr. We recross the Katzbach. +\par +\par Chap. 27. Forces concentrate at Dresden. The Baskirs. +\par +\par Chap. 28. The battle of Leipzig. +\par +\par Chap. 29. Vain attempt at armistice. Battle of 18th October. +\par Bernadotte fights against us. Indecisive result of fighting. +\par +\par Chap. 30. A critical situation. Lack of preparation for a retreat. The +\par allies enter Leipzig. Premature destruction of the bridge over the +\par Elster. +\par +\par Chap. 31. I gather the remnants of our army at the Elster. The retreat +\par to the Saale. Erfurt. The army reached Hanau. +\par +\par Chap. 32. The battle of Hanau. The retreat continues. +\par +\par Chap. 33. The last events of 1813. Dresden surrendered. Disasters in +\par Spain. The situation in Italy and the Tyrol. +\par +\par Chap. 34. I am nominated commandant of the department of Jemmapes. A +\par difficult position. Our troops are recalled to Paris. +\par +\par Chap. 35. Napoleon's last stand. Resistance becomes impossible. +\par Inadequate measures taken to defend Paris. Belated return of the +\par Emperor to the capital. Paris should have been held. Underhand +\par plotting against Napoleon. +\par +\par +\par +\par Volume 2. +\par +\par Chap. 1. +\par +\par My brother and the rest of Mass\'e9na's aides-de-camp made haste to +\par leave Spain and come to join us in Paris, where I remained all summer +\par and the following autumn. I went each month to spend some days at the +\par Ch\'e2teau de Bonneuil, the home of M. and Mme. Desbri\'e8res. During my +\par absence the Desbri\'e8res had been most friendly towards my mother, and +\par on my return the affection I had felt for a long time for their +\par daughter was increased, and I was shortly permitted to ask for her +\par hand in marriage. The marriage was agreed, and I even had, for a +\par time, the hope of being promoted to colonel before this important +\par ceremony took place. +\par +\par It was the accepted thing for the Emperor to sign the marriage +\par contract of any of the colonels in the army, but he only very rarely +\par accorded this favour to officers of lower rank, and they were +\par required to inform the minister for war of the reasons which led them +\par to ask for this distinction. I based my request on what the Emperor +\par had said to me when I saw him on the eve of the battle of Marengo. +\par He had said to me, spe}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ of my father who had died during the +\par siege of Genoa, "If you behave yourself and follow in his footsteps, +\par I, myself, will be your father." I added that since that day I had +\par been wounded eight times, and was conscious that I had always done my +\par duty. +\par +\par The minister, Clarke, a very stern character, who almost always +\par rejected requests of this sort, agreed that mine merited +\par consideration, and promised me that he would submit it to his +\par majesty. He kept his word, for a few days later I was ordered to +\par report to the Emperor at the ch\'e2teau of Compi\'e8gne, and to bring with +\par me the notary who held the contract of marriage; this was the good +\par M. Mailand, with whom I set off in a post carriage. +\par +\par When we arrived, the Emperor had gone hunting: not that he much +\par enjoyed the sport, but he thought that he should copy the former +\par kings of France. The signing was therefore put off until the next +\par day, which greatly upset M. Mailand who was awaited in Paris. But +\par what could one do? +\par +\par On the following day we were presented to the Emperor, whom we +\par found in the apartment where, twenty years later, I have so often +\par served as aide-de-camp to princes of the House of Orl\'e9ans. My +\par contract was signed in the salon where later was signed that of the +\par King of Belgium with Princess Louise, the daughter of King +\par Louis-Phillipe of France. +\par +\par During these short interviews, Napoleon was always very affable. +\par He addressed some questions to the notary, asked me if my fianc\'e9e was +\par pretty, what was her dowry, etc. etc. On dismissing me he said that +\par he would like to see me in a good position, and that he would soon +\par reward me for my good services. For a moment I saw myself as a +\par colonel, and this hope was reinforced when, on leaving the Imperial +\par presence, I was accosted by General Mouton, Comte de Lobau, who +\par assured me confidentially that the Emperor had put my name on a list +\par of officers to whom he wished to give the command of a regiment. My +\par pleasure on hearing this was increased by my knowledge that the Comte +\par de Lobau, an aide-de-camp to Napoleon, was responsible under the +\par minister for war, for military promotions. I returned to Paris full +\par of joy and hope! I was married on the 14th November following. +\par +\par I was happy in the bosom of my family, and expected every day my +\par brevet as colonel, when I was told by the minister for war that I was +\par to be posted as Major to the 1st regiment of Mounted Chasseurs, then +\par in garrison in the depths of Germany. I was much downcast at this +\par news, for it seemed to me most hurtful that I should be sent once +\par more to serve as a simple squadron commander, a rank in which I had +\par been wounded three times and had campaigned from Wagram to Portugal. +\par I could not understand why I was being treated like this, after what +\par the Emperor and the Comte de Lobau had said to me. It was the latter +\par who gave me the key to this puzzle. +\par +\par Mass\'e9na, on his entry into Portugal, had fourteen aides-de-camp, +\par of whom six were senior officers. Two of these, MM. Pelet and +\par Casabianca, were made colonels during the campaign; they were senior +\par to me and had amply fulfilled their duties. Their promotion seemed to +\par make mine the more certain since I now became the most senior +\par squadron commander on the staff. The man in the fifth place was +\par M. Barain, who was a captain when I joined the staff. M. Barain had +\par lost a hand at Wagram, and was promoted to major, which was fair; +\par however, the Emperor in advancing him to this rank had designated him +\par for work in the arsenals, work which can easily be done with an arm +\par missing. Mass\'e9na had expected that M. Barain would remove himself, +\par but the latter insisted on going with him to Portugal, although he +\par could not carry out any mission in such difficult country. No one +\par thought therefore that he would get any further promotion. +\par +\par It so happened, however, that M. Barain was a nephew of M. Francois +\par de Nantes, the director of legal codification, who had found +\par numerous positions for members of Mass\'e9na's family. M. Francois de +\par Nantes demanded in return that his nephew, Barain, should be +\par recommended for the rank of colonel. The marshal, forced to choose +\par between me and Barain, chose Barain. I learned from the Comte de +\par Lobau that the Emperor was reluctant to sign, but that he eventually +\par yielded to the insistence of the worthy director who had come to add +\par weight personally to the only request he had yet made on the behalf +\par of his family. So Barain was promoted to colonel. +\par +\par I have perhaps dwelt a little overmuch on this regrettable affair, +\par but to assess my disappointment it is necessary to think back to the +\par period in question and recall the important position occupied by +\par battalion commanders in the imperial army, which resulted in several +\par instances of colonels who refused promotion to general and asked only +\par to be left in command of their regiments. +\par +\par Mass\'e9na sent me the following letter, the only reward for three +\par campaigns fought and three wounds recieved under his command. +\par +\par Paris. 24th November. 1811 +\par +\par My dear Marbot, I send you the service order which I have received +\par on your behalf. I asked for promotion for you, as you are aware, and +\par I am doubly disappointed that you did not obtain this and that I am +\par also to lose you. I have been very satisfied with your services; a +\par satisfaction which you are entitled to feel, regardless of any +\par rewards which this may bring. Your record will always do you credit +\par in the eyes of those under whose orders you may find yourself. Please +\par believe, my dear Marbot, in my appreciation, my regrets and my +\par sincere good wishes for you. +\par +\par Mass\'e9na. +\par +\par I had not expected to meet Mass\'e9na again, but his wife wrote to me +\par saying that she wished to meet my wife, and inviting us both to +\par dinner. I had always had the highest regard for the conduct of +\par Madame Mass\'e9na, particularly at Antibes, her home territory, where I +\par met her for the first time, on my return from Genoa. So I accepted +\par the invitation. Mass\'e9na came up to me and once more expressed his +\par regrets, and suggested that he might ask for my nomination as an +\par officer of the }{\deleted Legion of Honou}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094369 Legion of Honou}{r. I replied that as he had been +\par unable to do anything for me when I was on his staff, and wounded +\par before his eyes, I would not like to expose him to any further +\par embarrassment, and that I would now seek advancement by my own +\par efforts; then I lost myself in the crowd of guests. +\par +\par This was my last contact with Mass\'e9na, though I continued to visit +\par his wife and his son, both of them my firm friends. +\par +\par Chap. 2. +\par +\par I shall now give you some details of Mass\'e9na's career. Andr\'e9 +\par Mass\'e9na was born on the 6th of May 1758 at La Turbie, a village in +\par the little state of Monaco. His paternal grandfather was a respected +\par tanner who had three sons: Jules, the father of the marshal, +\par Augustin and Marcel. The first two of these went to Nice, where they +\par set up a soap-works. Marcel went to France where he enlisted in the +\par Royal-Italian regiment. When Jules died, leaving very little money +\par and five children, three of them, amongst whom was the young Andr\'e9, +\par were taken in charge by their uncle Augustin, who having taught them +\par no more than to read and write, employed them in soap-m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{. +\par +\par Andr\'e9, who was active and adventurous, could not adjust to the +\par monotonous and laborious work of the factory, and at the age of +\par thirteen he abandoned his uncle's home and embarked, secretly, as a +\par cabin-boy, in a merchant ship; accompanied by one of his cousins +\par named Bavastro, who became, during the wars of the empire, the most +\par celebrated corsaire of the Mediterranean. As for Andr\'e9, having spent +\par two years at sea and even made a voyage to America, he rebelled +\par against the hard life and harsh treatment which were the lot of the +\par seaman, and enlisted as a private soldier in the Royal-Italian +\par regiment, under the auspices of his uncle Marcel, who had reached the +\par rank of sergeant-major, and was soon to be commissioned. This Marcel +\par Mass\'e9na, whom I met in 1800, when he was commandant of the fortress +\par at Antibes, was a serious and capable man, highly thought of by his +\par Colonel, M. Chauvet d'Arlon. To help his nephew, he had him taught to +\par speak and write reasonable French, and, in spite of some escapades, +\par had him promoted to the rank of warrant-officer. He even held out +\par some hope of a commission in the mounted constabulary, but Andr\'e9, +\par tired of waiting, left at the end of his engagement. +\par +\par Having gone back to civilian life, without any money, Andr\'e9 joined +\par forces once more once more with his cousin Bavastro, and t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ +\par advantage of the close proximity of the frontiers of France, +\par Piedmont, the State of Genoa, and the sea, they embarked on smuggling +\par on a grand scale, not only along the coast but across the mountains, +\par the various passes through which he got to know extremely well; +\par knowledge which he later found most useful when he was in command of +\par troops in this part of the country. Hardened by the rough trade of +\par smuggling, and compelled always to keep one jump ahead of the customs +\par officers, Mass\'e9na acquired, without being aware of it, an +\par understanding of the principles of warfare, as well as the vigilance +\par and activity without which one cannot become a good officer. Having +\par by this means got together some capital, he married a French woman, +\par Mlle. Lamarre, the daughter of an Antibes surgeon, and settled in this +\par town, where he had built up a small business in olive oil and dried +\par Provencal fruit, when the Revolution of 1789 broke out. +\par +\par Influenced by his taste for arms, Mass\'e9na left his wife and his +\par shop and enrolled in the 1st battalion of volunteers from Var. His +\par practical and theoretical knowledge of military matters earned him +\par the rank of captain, and shortly after, that of major. Fighting soon +\par broke out, and the courage and skill displayed by Mass\'e9na elevated +\par him rapidly to the ranks of colonel and brigadier-general. He was +\par put in command of a camp called "the camp of a thousand pitchforks," +\par in part of which was the 4th artillery company, commanded by Captain +\par Napoleon Bonaparte, under whose orders he would serve later in Italy. +\par Entrusted with the command of a column at the siege of Toulon, he +\par distinguished himself by the capture of the forts Lartigues and +\par Sainte-Catherine, which led to his promotion to divisional general. +\par After the town had fallen, he joined his troops to the army of Italy +\par where he was prominent in all the engagements which took place in the +\par area between the shores of the Mediterranean and Piedmont; country +\par which he knew so well. Intelligent, ceaselessly active, and of +\par boundless courage, Mass\'e9na, after some years of success, had already +\par a high reputation, when a grave mistake nearly brought his career to +\par an end. +\par +\par At the beginning of the campaign of 1796, General Bonaparte had +\par just become commander-in-chief of the army, which placed Mass\'e9na, +\par once his senior in rank, under his command. Mass\'e9na, who always led +\par the advance-guard, having defeated near Cairo (Cairo in Piedmont, +\par not Cairo in Egypt. Ed.) an Austrian unit, learned that the enemy +\par officers had planned a celebratory dinner in the inn of a nearby +\par village which they had been forced to abandon. He conceived the +\par notion, together with some brother officers, of t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ advantage of +\par this windfall, and left his division camped on the top of a fairly +\par high mountain. +\par +\par However the Austrians recovered their nerve, and charging back, +\par they fell on the French camp at daybreak. Our soldiers, although +\par taken by surprise, defended themselves bravely, but with no general +\par in control, they were driven back to the edge of the plateau where +\par they had spent the night, and, attacked by greatly superior forces, +\par looked certain to suffer a major defeat when Mass\'e9na, having with +\par his sabre cut his way through the Austrian scouts, ran up a path +\par which he knew of old and appeared in front of his troops who, in +\par their indignation, received him with well-deserved cat-calls. The +\par general, without t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ too much notice, resumed command and +\par proceeded to march his division to rejoin the main body of the army. +\par It was then seen that a battalion placed the night before on an +\par isolated hillock could not come down by any practicable route +\par without coming under enfilading fire from the enemy. Mass\'e9na +\par scrambled quickly up the hillside on his hands and knees and went +\par alone to the battalion where he addressed the men and assured them +\par that he would get then out of this fix if they would follow his +\par example. Ordering them to sheathe their bayonets, he sat on the snow +\par at the edge of slope, and pushing himself by his hands, he slid to +\par the bottom of the valley....All our soldiers, in fits of laughter, +\par did the same, and in no time the whole battalion was gathered +\par together, out of the range of the baffled Austrians. This method of +\par descent, used by the peasants and mountain guides of Switzerland, had +\par surely never before been used by a battalion of troops of the line. I +\par have been assured by generals who were in Mass\'e9na's division at the +\par time that this incident actually occurred, and, nine years later, I +\par was at the ch\'e2teau of La Houssaye, when Marshal Augereau entertained +\par the Emperor and all the marshals and I heard them joking with Mass\'e9na +\par about the new method of retreat which he had used on this occasion. +\par +\par It seems that on the day that Mass\'e9na was m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ use of this odd +\par expedient, which he had often used in the days when he was a +\par smuggler, Bonaparte, realising that he was very young to be appointed +\par commander-in-chief, and feeling on that account that he should come +\par down hard on any officer who failed in his duty, ordered Mass\'e9na to +\par be brought before a court-martial and accused of abandoning his post, +\par which could result in a sentence of death or at the least +\par cashiering!... But at the moment when the general was about to be +\par arrested there began the famous battle of Montenotte, in which +\par Mass\'e9na's and Augereau's divisions took two thousand prisoners, four +\par flags and five artillery pieces, and completely routed the Austrian +\par army. After this triumph, to which Mass\'e9na had largely contributed, +\par there could not be any question of putting him on trial. His +\par misdeeds were forgotten, and he was able to continue his splendid +\par career. +\par +\par Mass\'e9na distinguished himself at Lodi, Milan, Verona, and Arcoli, +\par in fact everywhere that he was in action, and in particular at the +\par battle of Rivoli. When the preliminaries of a peace had been signed +\par at Leoben, Mass\'e9na who had contributed so much to our victories, was +\par entrusted with the task of t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ the draft treaty to the government. +\par Paris welcomed him with the most lively expressions of admiration, +\par wherever he went people crowded round him to gaze on the features of +\par this famous warrior. But this triumph was soon eclipsed by his +\par exaggerated love of money, which was always his principal weakness. +\par +\par General Duphot, the French ambassador in Rome, had been +\par assassinated in that city. A part of the army of Italy, under the +\par command of Berthier was ordered to go and exact vengeance; but +\par Berthier was recalled by Bonaparte who wanted to take him to Egypt, +\par and his place as commander of the army in Rome was taken by Mass\'e9na. +\par Soon after the arrival of this general, who was already accused of +\par procuring a great deal of money during the Italian campaigns of the +\par previous year, the army complained that it was in a state of +\par destitution, without clothing and almost without bread, while the +\par administration, drawing millions from the Papal states, lived in +\par luxury and abundance. The army turned against him and sent a +\par deputation of one hundred officers to demand from Mass\'e9na an account +\par for the expenditure of this money. Whether he was unable to account +\par for it or whether he refused to do so as a matter of discipline +\par Mass\'e9na would not give any explanation, and as the troops persisted +\par in their demand, he was forced to leave Rome and give up his command. +\par +\par As soon as he had returned to France, he put out a memorandum +\par justifying his conduct, which was badly received by the public and by +\par his colleagues to whom he had addressed it. What upset him most was +\par that General Bonaparte left for Egypt without replying to a letter +\par which he had written to him concerning the matter. +\par +\par However, a new coalition of Russia, Austria, and England having +\par declared war on France, hostilities recommenced. In such +\par circumstances, Mass\'e9na, although he had not cleared himself from the +\par accusations brought against him, could not remain in obscurity; so +\par the Directory, in order to make use of his military talents, +\par hurriedly gave him command of the French army whose duty it was to +\par defend Switzerland. Mass\'e9na at first did very well; but having +\par rashly attacked the dangerous defile of Feldkirch, in the Vorarlberg, +\par he was driven off with losses by the Austrians. +\par +\par This was a time when our army of the Rhine, commanded by Jourdan, +\par had just been defeated at Stockach by Prince Charles of Austria, and +\par the forces which we had in Italy, defeated at Novi by the Russians +\par under Souvarow, had lost their commander-in-chief, Joubert, killed on +\par the field of battle. The Austrians, ready to cross the Rhine, +\par threatened Alsace and Lorraine; Italy was in the hands of the +\par Russians, whom Souvarow was leading into Switzerland through the +\par Saint-Gothard pass. France, on the point of being invaded over both +\par its frontiers, at the Rhine and at the Alps, pinned all its hopes on +\par Mass\'e9na, and was not disappointed in her expectations. +\par +\par As you already know, the Directory, impatient for action, +\par threatened Mass\'e9na with dismissal unless he engaged the enemy; but he +\par was determined not to do so until circumstances gave him a +\par superiority, however brief, over his opponent. At last this moment +\par arrived. The maladroit General Korsakoff, a former favourite of +\par Catherine II, had unwisely pushed on towards Zurich at the head of +\par 50,000 Russians and }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{ns to await his commander-in-chief, +\par Souvarow, who was on his way from Italy with 55,000 men. Before the +\par arrival of Souvarow, Mass\'e9na pounced like a lion on Korsakoff, +\par surprising him in his camp at Zurich and driving him back to the +\par Rhine after inflicting tremendous losses! Then, turning on Souvarow, +\par whom the heroic resistance of General Molitor had held up for three +\par days in the Saint-Gothard, he defeated him as he had defeated his +\par lieutenant, Korsakoff. +\par +\par As a result of these various engagements 30,000 of the enemy were +\par killed or taken prisoner, fifteen flags and sixty guns were captured, +\par the independence of Switzerland was secured, and France was delivered +\par from an imminent invasion. This was Mass\'e9na's finest (and cleanest) hour. +\par +\par I have already told how Mass\'e9na took charge of the disorganised +\par army of Italy, which, after the death of General Championnet, had +\par been briefly commanded by my father, and described his conduct of the +\par defence of Genoa, which gave Napoleon the time to collect a force +\par together, cross the Alps, and fight the battle of Marengo. +\par +\par After this victory the First Consul, on his return to France, +\par thought he could not commit the command of the army of Italy to a +\par more illustrious officer than Mass\'e9na; but in a few months there were +\par complaints similar to those made by the army in Rome. The +\par dissatisfaction was widespread, new taxes were levied and frequent +\par requisitions made on a variety of pretexts, and yet the troops were +\par unpaid! The First Consul, when he learned of this state of affairs, +\par immediately and without explanation withdrew the command of the army +\par from Mass\'e9na, who returned to private life, where he showed his +\par annoyance by refusing to vote in favour of Napoleon's +\par life-consulship. He also did not present himself at the new court. +\par +\par When Bonaparte mounted the imperial throne and rewarded the +\par generals who had done most for the country, he included Mass\'e9na in +\par the first list of marshals, awarded him the grand cordon of the +\par }{\deleted legion of honou}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094369 Legion of Honou}{r, and created him head of the fourteenth cohort of +\par the order, which he had just established. These dignities and the +\par enormous emoluments which were attached to them overcame the +\par resistance put up by Mass\'e9na since he was deprived of the command of +\par the army of Italy. He voted for the empire, went to the Tuileries +\par and assisted at the coronation ceremony. +\par +\par When a third coalition menaced France, in 1805, the Emperor gave +\par Mess\'e9na the task of defending, with forty thousand men, the northern +\par part of Ital, against the attacks of the Archduke Charles of +\par Austria, who had eighty thousand. This was a difficult operation; +\par but not only did Mass\'e9na hold Lombardy, but he pushed the enemy back +\par beyond the Tagliamento, and by forcing Prince Charles to turn and +\par face him at frequent intervals, he so delayed the Austrian general's +\par progress that he was unable to arrive in time to save Vienna, nor to +\par join the Russian army which Napoleon defeated at Austerlitz. +\par Napoleon, however, did not seem to appreciate the services rendered +\par by Mass\'e9na on this campaign; he reproached him for not having acted +\par with his usual vigour, which did not prevent him, after the treaty of +\par Presberg, from instructing him to go and conquer the kingdom of +\par Naples, on whose throne he wished to place his brother, Prince +\par Joseph. +\par +\par Within a month the French occupied the whole of the country except +\par the fortified town of Gaete, which Mass\'e9na took after a siege. But +\par while he was directing the attack against this town, he suffered a +\par loss which rendered him inconsolable. An enormous sum, which Mass\'e9na +\par claimed belonged to him, was confiscated by the Emperor! +\par +\par Napoleon, who believed that the best way of forcing the English to +\par ask for peace was to ruin their trade, to prevent their goods from +\par entering the continent, ordered them to be seized and burned in all +\par the countries under his control, that is to say more than half of +\par Europe. But the desire for money is very powerful and business men +\par are very crafty. A fool-proof system of smuggling had been devised. +\par English merchants who were in the scheme, sent off a ship or ships +\par full of merchandise which allowed themselves to be captured by one of +\par our corsairs, who would then take it to one of the ports occupied by +\par our troops, from Swedish Pomerania to the end of the kingdom of +\par Naples. This first act having been carried out, it remained to get +\par the goods ashore without confiscation, this had already been +\par arranged. The immensely long coastline presented by the conquered +\par countries could not be watched in its entirety by customs officers, +\par so this function was carried out by soldiers under the command of the +\par generals who were in charge of the kingdom or province occupied by +\par our troops. So it required only an authorisation from one of them +\par to permit the goods to be landed, after which the traders negotiated +\par with the "protector." This was called a "licence." +\par +\par The origin of this new form of commerce goes back to the days when +\par Bernadotte was occupying Hamburg and a part of Denmark. He made a +\par considerable amount of money in this way, and when he wanted to +\par reward someone, he would give the person a licence, which could then +\par be sold to a merchant. This practice spread, little by little, to +\par all the coasts of Germany, Spain and mainly to Italy. It even got as +\par far as the Emperor's court, where ladies and chamberlains were given +\par licences by ministers. Napoleon was not told of this, but he knew, +\par or suspected, that it went on. Nevertheless, in order not to +\par interfere too drastically with the usages of the conquered countries, +\par he tolerated this abuse outside France as long as it was carried on +\par clandestinely, but if he discovered that someone had made immoderate +\par profits from the illicit trade, he made them cough up. For example, +\par when the Emperor heard that M. Michaux, the administrative head of +\par Bernadotte's army, had lost, in one evening, 300,000 francs, in a +\par Paris gaming house, he directed an aide-de-camp to write to him +\par saying that the Invalides was in need of money, and that he was +\par ordered to pay 300,000 francs into their account; which Michaux, who +\par had made so much money from licences, hastened to do. +\par +\par As you may imagine, Mass\'e9na was not the last to engage in the +\par business of selling licences. Together with General Solignac, his +\par chief of staff, he flooded all the ports of Naples with them. When +\par the Emperor was informed that Mass\'e9na had deposited the sum of three +\par million with a banker at Leghorn, who had taken at the same time +\par 600,000 from General Solignac, he had a request sent to Mass\'e9na for a +\par loan of one million, and one for 200,000 francs from his chief of +\par staff. Just one third of their illegal gains, which was not fleecing +\par them too greatly. However, at the sight of this demand, Mass\'e9na, +\par bellowing as if he were being disembowelled, replied to Napoleon that +\par as the poorest of the marshals, with a numerous family and crippling +\par debts, he profoundly regretted that he could not send him anything! +\par And general replied in similar terms. +\par +\par They were congratulating themselves on having evaded these +\par requests when, during the siege of Gaeta, the son of the Leghorn +\par banker arrived to say that a French treasury inspector, escorted by +\par a commissioner of police and a number of gendarmes, had arrived at +\par his father's establishment and had demanded to see the accounts in +\par which were recorded the deposits made by the marshal and general +\par Solignac, stating that these sums belonged to the army, and had been +\par entrusted to the two officers concerned, and that the Emperor +\par demanded their immediate return, either in cash or negotiable bonds, +\par and the cancellation of the receipts given to Mass\'e9na and Solignac. +\par A legal endorsement was given to this seizure which the banker, +\par having nothing to lose, did not oppose. +\par +\par It is impossible to describe Mass\'e9na's fury on finding that he had +\par been deprived of his fortune. It made him quite ill, but he did not +\par dare to make any complaint when the Emperor, who was then in Poland, +\par sent for him. +\par +\par After the peace of Tilsit, the title of Duke of Rivoli and an +\par award of 300,000 francs of income were a recompense for his services, +\par but did not console him for what had been taken from him at Leghorn, +\par for, in spite of his usual caution, he was heard to say on a number of +\par occasions "I think it cruel that, while I was fighting in his +\par interest, he had the gall to take the small savings I had banked at +\par Leghorn!" +\par +\par The invasion of Spain having sparked off a new war with Austria, +\par the Emperor, threatened by these considerable forces, hurried back +\par from the peninsula to go to Germany, to where he had already sent +\par Mass\'e9na. I have already described the part played by the marshal in +\par the campaign of 1809. As a reward for his conduct at Essling and +\par Wagram, the Emperor created him Prince of Essling and gave him an +\par additional income of 500,000 francs, which was added to his previous +\par award of 300,000 francs and his salary of 200,000 as marshal and army +\par commander. The new prince had no more than that. +\par +\par The campaigns of 1810 and 1811 in Spain and Portugal were +\par Mass\'e9na's last. They were not very happy; his morale had gone down +\par and the two campaigns, instead of adding to his fame, lowered his +\par reputation. The "Enfant ch\'e9ri de la victoire," as he had been named, +\par suffered reverses where he could and should have been successful. +\par +\par Mass\'e9na was thin and bony, and of less than average height. His +\par Italian features were full of expression. The bad sides to his +\par character were hypocrisy, spite, harshness, and avarice. He had +\par plenty of natural intelligence but his adventurous youth and the +\par lowly position of his family had not encouraged him to study; he was +\par totally lacking in what one calls education. In the heyday of his +\par career he had a keen eye and a decisive mind and was not dismayed by +\par a reverse. As he aged his caution began to verge on timidity, so +\par anxious was he not to besmirch the reputation he had acquired. He +\par hated reading, so he had no idea of what had been written on the +\par principles of warfare, he acted intuitively, and Napoleon summed him +\par up accurately when he said the Mass\'e9na arrived on the battlefield +\par without knowing what he was going to do, his actions were determined +\par by circumstances. +\par +\par It has been wrongly said that Mass\'e9na was a stranger to flattery, +\par and spoke his mind fearlessly even to the Emperor. Beneath his rough +\par exterior Mass\'e9na was a shrewd courtier. When in the course of a +\par pheasant shoot, Napoleon had the misfortune to pepper Mass\'e9na, +\par injuring one of his eyes, Mass\'e9na laid the blame on Berthier, +\par although only Napoleon had fired a shot. Everyone understood +\par perfectly the discretion of the courtier, and Mass\'e9na was overwhelmed +\par by attentions from the Emperor. +\par +\par Although very miserly, the victor of Zurich would have given half +\par his fortune to have been born in the France of the "Ancien R\'e9gime" +\par rather than on the left bank of the Var. Nothing displeased him more +\par than the Italian termination to his name, of which he transformed the +\par "a" to "e" in his signature. However the public did not adopt this +\par change, and Mass\'e9na he remained in spite of his efforts. The campaign +\par in Portugal had so much weakened Mass\'e9na physically and mentally, +\par that he was obliged to seek rest and recuperation in the gentle +\par climate of Nice, where he stayed for the whole of 1812; but Napoleon, +\par returning from the disastrous invasion of Russia, and scouring Europe +\par for further resources, thought that the name of Mass\'e9na could still +\par be of service, particularly in Provence. So he appointed him +\par governor of the 8th military division. +\par +\par When, in 1814, enemy forces invaded France, Mass\'e9na, who, in any +\par case, had few troops at his disposal, did nothing to arrest their +\par progress, and on the 15th April he surrendered to the Duc +\par d'Angoul\'eame, who created him a Commander of Saint Louis, but would +\par not elevate him to the peerage, on the pretext that he had been born +\par abroad, and had never become a naturalised French citizen! ... As if +\par the victories of Rivoli, Zurich, the defence of Genoa, and a series +\par of other successful actions on the behalf of France were not worth as +\par much as naturalisation papers, given often to scheming foreigners +\par for cash. The treatment given to Mass\'e9na in these circumstances had +\par a very adverse effect on sentiment in the public and the army, and +\par was an additional source of the disenchantment of the nation with the +\par government of Louis XVIII, which led to the return of the Emperor. +\par +\par Napoleon disembarked near to Cannes on 1st March 1815 and set off +\par immediately for Paris at the head of about a thousand Grenadiers of +\par his Guard. The unexpectedness and swiftness of this invasion threw +\par Mass\'e9na into confusion. Nevertheless, he tried to stem the torrent +\par by calling together some line regiments and activating the national +\par guard of Marseilles and district; but having learned that the Duc +\par d'Angoul\'eame had surrendered and left the country, he sent his son to +\par inform Louis XVIII that he could no longer rely on his support, and +\par rallying to the imperial government, he hoisted the tricolour +\par throughout the area and locked up the prefect of Var, who still +\par wanted to resist. By this conduct Mass\'e9na alienated both the +\par Royalists and the Bonapartists; so when the Emperor hurriedly +\par summoned him to Paris, he greeted him very coolly. +\par +\par When, soon afterwards, Napoleon made the great mistake of +\par abdicating for the second time, following the battle of Waterloo, the +\par Chamber of Representatives seized power and formed a provisional +\par government whose first act was to invest Mass\'e9na with the command of +\par the national guard of Paris. It was hoped that, although his +\par infirmities prevented him playing any active role, his name would +\par inspire the populace to support the army in the defence of the +\par capital, but when a council of war was assembled, Mass\'e9na gave it as +\par his opinion that Paris could not be defended! As a consequence an +\par armistice was agreed with the enemy generals and the French army +\par withdrew across the Loire, where it was disbanded. +\par +\par Once the allies were masters of France, Louis XVIII, to punish +\par Mass\'e9na for having abandoned his cause after March 20th, included him +\par among the judges who were to try }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{, hoping that out of +\par enmity he would condemn his former colleague and so besmirch his good +\par name; but Mass\'e9na recused himself on the grounds that there had been +\par disagreements between him and }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{ in Portugal, and when this +\par measure failed he joined with those judges who wanted Ney brought +\par before the House of Peers. They had hoped to save him, but it would +\par have been better if they had had the political courage to try him and +\par acquit him....They did not dare! Ney was condemned and shot, but his +\par blood did not pacify the Royalists, they became more implacable and +\par soon pursued Mass\'e9na himself. +\par +\par The citizens of Marseilles, on whose behalf Mass\'e9na had used his +\par influence to obtain the freedom of their port, now denounced him to +\par the Chamber of Deputies on the grounds of peculation. There was no +\par evidence to support this charge, as Mass\'e9na had never exacted any +\par money in Provence, and the chamber, although known for its hatred of +\par the leading figures of the empire, rejected the petition out of hand. +\par +\par Mass\'e9na, having escaped from the wave of reaction which was now +\par sweeping the country, abandoned the stage on which he had played so +\par brilliant a part, and retired to his ch\'e2teau of Rueil, which had once +\par belonged to Cardinal Richelieu, to end his splendid career in +\par solitude and disgrace. He died on the 4th April 1817, at the age of +\par fifty-nine. +\par +\par At his death, the government had not sent the baton which is by +\par custom placed on the bier of a marshal, so his son-in-law, General +\par Reille, claimed this insignia from the minister for war, a fervent +\par Royalist. When he received no reply to this reasonable request, in +\par an act of courage, rare at the time, he let it be known to the court +\par that if a baton did not arrive in time for his father-in-law's +\par funeral, he would place ostentatiously on his coffin, the baton +\par awarded to him by the Emperor. The government then decided that they +\par would supply a baton after all. +\par +\par I have touched on some of the blemishes which mar his career, but +\par Mass\'e9na more than compensated for them by the remarkable and heroic +\par services he rendered to France. He will be remembered as one of the +\par great captains of an era which produced so many. +\par +\par Chap. 3. +\par +\par At the beginning of 1812, I was in Paris, with my young wife and +\par our families. But the happiness which I enjoyed was lessened by the +\par thought of my imminent departure. I was due to join the 1st +\par Chasseurs \'e0 Cheval as a squadron commander with the rank of Major. +\par The chagrin which I felt at not having been promoted to Colonel, +\par which I thought I deserved, was somewhat relieved when, having gone +\par to the Tuileries to pay my new year respects, the Emperor sent an +\par aide-de-camp to command my presence in his private quarters, where I +\par found }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839705 General }{Mouton, }{\deleted comte }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839705 Comte }{de Lobau, who had always been on my side. +\par +\par Napoleon appeared and told me in the most friendly manner that he +\par had intended to give me a regiment, but that there were certain +\par reasons which had led him to nominate Major Barain. He said that +\par having promoted three of Mass\'e9na's aides to Colonel he could not +\par accord any more promotions to one general staff, but that he had not +\par forgotten me and although he could not give me the nominal command, +\par he would put me in the position of being, in effect, a regimental +\par commander. "The commanding officer of the 23rd }{\deleted mounted }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839706 Mounted }{Chasseurs, +\par M. de La Nougar\'e8de, has become so afflicted by gout that he can hardly +\par mount a horse", the Emperor said, "but he is an excellent officer +\par who has fought several campaigns with me, and I have a high regard +\par for him. He has begged me to let him try to go once more on campaign +\par and I do not wish to remove him from his regiment. However, I hear +\par that this fine unit is going down hill in his hands so I am sending +\par you as "Coadjutor" to M. de La Nougar\'e8de. You will be working for +\par yourself, for if the Colonel recovers his health I shall promote him +\par to general, and if not I shall transfer him to the gendarmes. In +\par either case he will leave his regiment and you will become their +\par }{\deleted Colonel}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839703 colonel}{; so I repeat you will be working for your own benefit." This +\par promise gave me renewed hope, and I was m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ ready to leave when +\par the minister for war extended my leave until the end of March, which +\par I found very acceptable. +\par +\par The 23rd Chasseurs were stationed in Swedish Pomerania, so I had +\par an enormous distance to travel, and as I wished to arrive before the +\par expiration of my leave, I left Paris on the 15th of March, parting +\par with much regret from my dear wife. I had bought a good barouche, in +\par which, at the request of Marshal Mortier, I gave a seat to his +\par nephew, Lieutenant Durbach, who belonged to the regiment which I was +\par about to join. As my former servant, Woirland, had asked if he might +\par stay in Spain, where he hoped to make his fortune running a canteen, +\par I had replaced him, on my leaving Salamanca, by a Pole named Lorentz +\par Schilkowski. This man, at one time an Austrian Uhlan, was not +\par lacking intelligence, but, like all Poles he was a drunkard, and +\par unlike the soldiers of that nation, he was as timid as a hare. +\par Lorentz, however, as well as his native language, spoke passable +\par French and fluent German and Russian, and for this reason he was most +\par valuable to me in my travelling and campaigning in the north.}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839702 }{\deleted +\par }{I was nearing the Rhenish provinces, when on leaving Kaiserslauten}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839702 }{\deleted +\par }{at night, the postilion tipped my barouche into a pothole, where it}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839702 }{\deleted +\par }{was damaged. No one was hurt, but both M. Durbach and I agreed that}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839702 }{\deleted +\par }{this was a bad omen for soldiers who were about to face the enemy. }{\deleted +\par }{However, after spending a day waiting for repairs to be made, we were}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839702 }{\deleted +\par }{able to get under way once more. Unfortunately the accident had so}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839702 }{\deleted +\par }{weakened the springs and the wheels that they broke six times during}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839702 }{\deleted +\par }{our journey, which delayed us considerably, and on occasions forced}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839702 }{\deleted +\par }{us to walk for several leagues in the snow. We arrived at last at}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839702 }{\deleted +\par }{the shores of the Baltic sea, where the 23rd Chasseurs were in}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839702 }{\deleted +\par }{garrison at Stralsund and Greifswald. +\par +\par I found Colonel de La Nougar\'e8de to be an excellent officer, +\par well-informed and capable, but so prematurely aged by gout that he +\par was hardly able to sit on a horse, and went everywhere in a carriage, +\par a most unsuitable method of transport for the commander of a regiment +\par of light cavalry! He gave me an enthusiastic welcome, and after +\par explaining the reasons which, in the interest of his career, made him +\par stay with the regiment, he showed me a letter in which the }{\deleted comte }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839701 Comte }{de +\par Lobau informed him of the motives which had led the Emperor to attach +\par me to him. M. de La Nougar\'e8de, far from being offended, saw this as +\par another kindness on the part of the Emperor, and looked forward to +\par being promoted to general or heading the gendarmerie. He counted, +\par with my help, on completing at least part of the campaign, and on the +\par realisation of his hopes at the first imperial revue. To make it +\par clear that I shared the command, which was not in keeping with my +\par rank as Major, he called together all the officers, in front of whom +\par he provisionally delegated all his powers to me, until such time as +\par he recovered his health, and instructed them to obey my orders +\par without referring to him, since his illness often made it impossible +\par for him to follow the regiment sufficiently closely to command it in +\par person. An order of the day was issued along these lines, and from +\par that day forward, except for the rank,I was virtually the commander +\par of the regiment, and the regiment soon got into the habit of looking +\par on me as their real leader. +\par +\par Since that time, I have commanded several cavalry regiments, +\par either as }{\deleted Colonel }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839701 colonel }{or general. And I was for a long time inspector of +\par this branch of the service; I can say with certainty that if I have +\par seen units as good as the 23rd Chasseurs, I have never seen one +\par better. It was not that the unit contained any outstanding +\par personalities, such as I have seen sometimes in other regiments, but +\par if there was not in the 23rd any one of remarkable talents, there was +\par no one who did not maintain a high standard in carrying out his +\par duties. There were no peaks, but there were no troughs; everyone kept +\par in step. The officers were intelligent, well trained and well +\par behaved. They lived together as true brothers-in-arms. The same +\par applied to the N.C.O.s. And the troopers followed this good example. +\par They were almost all old soldiers, veterans of Austerlitz, Jena, +\par Friedland, Wagram, a fine body of men who came mostly from Normandy, +\par Alsace, Lorraine and Franche-comte, provinces known for their martial +\par spirit and their love of horses. The build and strength of these men +\par was noticed by General Bourcier, who was in charge of remounts, and +\par he supplied the regiment with horses which were bigger and more +\par lively than the usual issue. A period of several years spent in the +\par fertile land of Germany, had left both men and horses in splendid +\par condition, and the regiment, when I took over, consisted of a +\par thousand officers and men, well disciplined, calm and quiet in the +\par face of the enemy. +\par +\par I did not yet have a horse, so I went to Stralsund in the isle of +\par Rugen, where they have excellent horses, and I bought several; I got +\par some others from Rostock and ended with a stable of seven good +\par beasts, which was not too many, as war with Russia appeared imminent. +\par I had already forecast this during the summer of 1811, when I saw +\par the great number of old soldiers whom the Emperor was t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ from the +\par regiments in the peninsula to reinforce his }{\deleted Old Guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966653 Old Guard}{. I had been +\par confirmed in this opinion during my stay in Paris. There were, at +\par first, some distant rumours of a rupture, which vanished quickly amid +\par the entertainments and festivities of winter, but soon returned with +\par increased insistence; and became almost certainties as a result of a +\par serious event, the echoes of which reverberated throughout Europe. +\par +\par The Emperor Alexander had had, since boyhood, a companion who was a +\par young Russian nobleman, named Czernicheff, of whom he was very fond, +\par and whom, when he came to the throne, he took as aide-de-camp. +\par +\par In 1809, when Alexander, who was then an ally of Napoleon, was +\par pretending, without actually doing so, to make war against Austria, +\par whose country Napoleon had invaded, there arrived in Vienna Colonel +\par the Comte de Czernicheff, on the ostensible mission to cement good +\par relations between Napoleon and Alexander, but in reality to inform +\par his sovereign of our success or failure, so that he could continue or +\par break off his alliance with France according to circumstances. +\par +\par Alexander's favourite received the friendliest of welcomes from +\par Napoleon, whose side he never left during the parades and manoeuvres +\par which preceded the battle of Essling, but when this bloody affair +\par appeared to be in the balance, and a hail of bullets descended on the +\par imperial general staff, M. de Czernicheff turned tail rapidly, and +\par crossing the bridges over the Danube, he sought the safety of the +\par palace of Schoenbrunn; and the day after the battle he took to the +\par road for Petersburg, to announce, no doubt, the failure of our +\par enterprise. Napoleon thought this behaviour most unbecoming, and made +\par some jeering comments on the "bravery" of the Russian }{\deleted Colonel}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839699 colonel}{. +\par Nevertheless, after peace had been made with Austria, M. de +\par Czernicheff came very often to Paris, where he spent part of the +\par years 1810 and 1811. Handsome, courteous, likeable, highly deceitful +\par and exquisitely polite, his title of aide-de-camp to the Russian +\par emperor gave him entry not only to the court but also to the salons +\par of high society, where he never discussed politics, and appeared to +\par be interested only in the pursuit of women, where he was said to have +\par considerable success. But toward the end of 1811, when new rumours +\par of war began to circulate, the Paris police were informed that while +\par appearing to be solely interested in pleasure, the Russian }{\deleted Colonel}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839699 colonel}{ +\par was mixed up in some dubious political schemes, and he was put under +\par close surveillance, when it was discovered that he had frequent +\par meetings with M. X...}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839698 ,}{ an employee of the ministry for war who had +\par special responsibility for the situation reports concerning all the +\par personel and material of the army, which were given to Napoleon every +\par ten days. Not only had M. de Czernicheff been seen walking after +\par midnight in the most secluded part of the Champs-Elysees with this +\par man, but he had been observed, plainly dressed, slipping into the +\par place where M. X...}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839699 }{lived and spending several hours there. +\par +\par The intimacy of someone so highly placed with a poor devil of +\par clerk in the ministry for war being clear evidence that the former +\par had seduced the latter to betray state secrets, the Emperor, highly +\par indignant, ordered the arrest of M.Czernicheff, but Czernicheff, +\par warned,}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839698 }{it is said, by a woman, fled from Paris, and reached a nearby +\par "relais" from where, t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ unfrequented roads, he managed to reach +\par the frontier, avoiding Maintz and Cologne to where the telegraph had +\par transmitted the order for his seizure. As for the wretched clerk, he +\par was apprehended at the moment when he was counting out the 300,000 +\par francs which he had received for his act of treason. Compelled by +\par the evidence to admit to his crime, he stated that another employee +\par had also given information to the Russian, this man too was arrested, +\par and the two of them were tried, convicted and shot. They died +\par cursing Czernicheff, who they claimed had come to their attics to +\par tempt them with a heap of gold which he increased whenever they +\par hesitated. The Emperor had published in all the French newspapers a +\par virulent denunciation of M. de Czernicheff, with some wounding +\par observations which, although indirect, pointed to the emperor of +\par Russia himself, for they recalled that the assassins of his father, +\par Paul I, had not been punished by Alexander. +\par +\par After these events, it was no longer possible to doubt that war +\par was imminent, and although it had not been declared, both sides were +\par openly preparing for it. The conduct of M. de Czernicheff was, in +\par general, loudly denounced, but it had its secret supporters among the +\par diplomatic community, who recalled that although Napoleon justly +\par punished French citizens who sold their country's secrets to its +\par enemies, he was not above corrupting foreign nationals who could give +\par him useful information, particularly of a military nature. +\par +\par Marshal Lannes told me,that in Vienna,in 1809, when hostilities +\par were about to break out between France and Austria, whose armies were +\par to be commanded by the }{\deleted archduke }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839697 Archduke }{Charles, this prince was warned +\par anonymously that a Major-general for whom he had a high regard and +\par whom he was about to take on to his staff, had been bought by the +\par French ambassador, General Andreossi, with whom he had frequent +\par night-time meetings in a lonely house in the vast suburb of +\par Leopoldstadt, the number of which was disclosed. Prince Charles +\par thought so highly of this officer that he dismissed as an infamous +\par calumny the anonymous accusation, and took no measures to determine +\par the truth. The French ambassador had already asked for his passport +\par and was due to leave Vienna in forty-eight hours time, when a second +\par anonymous note informed the archduke that his assistant +\par chief-of-staff, after working alone in his office, which contained +\par the order of battle for the army, was going to have, on the following +\par night, a last meeting with General Andreossi. The archduke}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839697 ,}{ who wished +\par to clear his mind of any suspicions which he might have}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839696 ,}{\deleted ,}{ in spite of +\par himself, about an officer of whom he was fond, decided that he would +\par prove}{\deleted ,}{ beyond doubt}{\deleted ,}{ that he was innocent. So, dressed very simply}{\deleted ,}{ +\par and accompanied by only one aide-de-camp, he waited, after midnight, +\par in the darkest part of the lane where the house in question was +\par situated. After a short time the prince and his aide saw, with +\par sadness, a man who in spite of his disguise was easily recognised as +\par the assistant chief-of-staff, for whom, after an agreed signal, the +\par door was opened. Soon he was followed by }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839696 General }{Andreossi}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839696 ,}{ who was +\par admitted in the same way. The meeting lasted for some hours, during +\par which the archduke, no longer able to doubt the treachery of his +\par assistant chief-of-staff, waited patiently outside the house, and +\par when the door opened for }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839695 General }{Andreossi and the Austrian general, +\par who, came out together, the}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839695 y}{ found themselves face to face with Prince +\par Charles, who said aloud, "Good evening}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839695 ,}{ Mr.Ambassador"}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839695 ,}{ and refraining +\par from spe}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ to the assistant chief-of-staff, he shone the light +\par from a lantern in his face. +\par +\par The ambassador hurried away without saying a word, and as for the +\par assistant chief-of-staff, seeing that he was caught in the act and +\par knowing the fate which awaited him, he went to his house and blew his +\par brains out with a pistol shot. This tragic event was hushed up by +\par the Austrian government and not many people knew about it; it was +\par announced that the assistant chief-of-staff had died of apoplexy. +\par The French ambassador was said to have paid him two million. +\par +\par While Napoleon was complaining bitterly about the means by which +\par Colonel Czernicheff obtained information about our armies, }{\deleted general}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839695 General}{ +\par Lauriston, our ambassador in Petersburg, bought not only the most +\par detailed information about the disposition of the Russian forces, but +\par also the copper plates on which were engraved the immense map of the +\par Muscovite empire. In spite of the great difficulties presented by +\par the transport of this heavy mass of metal, the betrayal was so well +\par organised and so lavishly paid for that these plates, stolen from the +\par Russian archives, were taken from }{\deleted Saint-Petersburg}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967375 St. Petersburg}{ to France without +\par their disappearance being discovered by the police or the Russian +\par customs. When the plates arrived in Paris the minister for war, when +\par all the writing had been changed from Russian characters into French, +\par had this fine map printed, and Napoleon ordered a copy to be sent to +\par all the generals and commanders of light cavalry regiments. It was in +\par this latter rank that I received one, which I contrived, with much +\par difficulty to save during the retreat, for it forms a very big roll. +\par Few people brought theirs back, but I still have mine. +\par +\par Chap. 4. +\par +\par The principal reason which led the Emperor to declare war on +\par Russia was his desire to see the implementation of the treaty of +\par Tilsit, whereby the Emperor Alexander agreed to close all the ports +\par of his country to English traders, an undert}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ which had never +\par been properly carried out. Napoleon thought, rightly, that he could +\par ruin the English, a manufacturing and trading nation, by preventing +\par their commerce with the European continent; but the execution of this +\par gigantic project offered so much difficulty, that it was only in +\par France that the restrictions were enforced, and there the use of +\par licences, to which I have referred above, made an enormous breach in +\par the regulations. As for Italy, Germany and the Adriatic provinces, +\par although the continental system was established by imperial decree, +\par it was only implemented in theory, partly because of the extent of +\par the coastline, and partly because of connivance and lack of +\par surveillance by those responsible for the administration of these +\par vast areas. So the Russian Emperor replied to the demands made by +\par France by pointing to the state of affairs which was almost universal +\par in Europe. The true cause, however, of the refusal of Alexander to +\par accede to the demands of Napoleon, was that he feared that he would +\par be assassinated in the same manner as his father, the Emperor Paul, +\par who was accused firstly of having sullied the nation's reputation by +\par allying himself to France and secondly of having destroyed Russian +\par trade by declaring war on Britain. Alexander was aware that he had +\par already given offence by the deference and friendliness which he had +\par shown towards Napoleon at Tilsit and Erfurt, and he was anxious not +\par to arouse more anger by cutting off all trade with England, the sole +\par outlet whereby the Russian nobility could dispose of the products of +\par their vast estates, and acquire a monetary income. The death of the +\par Emperor Paul clearly showed the danger faced by Alexander, if he +\par followed his father's example. An additional cause of fear was the +\par fact that he was surrounded by the same officers who had surrounded +\par his father, amongst whom was his chief-of-staff, Benningsen. +\par +\par Napoleon did not take sufficiently into consideration these +\par difficulties, when he threatened Alexander with war, unless he fell +\par in with his wishes; although, when he learned of the losses and +\par reverses suffered in Spain and Portugal, he seemed hesitant to engage +\par in a conflict the outcome of which he deemed uncertain. +\par +\par According to General Bertrand, Napoleon, on St. Helena said +\par repeatedly that his only intention, to begin with, was to frighten +\par Alexander into carrying out the terms of the treaty: "We were}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839693 ,}{" }{\deleted He}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839693 he}{ +\par said, "}{\deleted Like }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839693 like }{two opponents of equal ability, who are well able to +\par fight, but being reluctant to do so, menace each other by threats and +\par sabre-rattling, edging slowly forward, each hoping that his adversary +\par will retreat rather than do battle}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839693 .}{"}{\deleted .}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839693 }{But the }{\deleted emperor's }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839693 Emperor's }{comparison was +\par not exact, for one of these swordsmen had behind him a bottomless +\par pit, ready to engulf him at the first backward step, so that having +\par to choose between an ignominious death and a combat in which he might +\par be successful he had to choose the latter. This was the situation in +\par which Alexander found himself, a situation made worse by the +\par influence exerted by the Englishman Wilson on General Benningsen and +\par the officers of his staff. The Emperor Napoleon was still hesitant +\par and seemed anxious to consult the sage opinions of Caulincourt, his +\par former ambassador at St. Petersburg and those of a group of French +\par officers who had lived for some time in Russia. +\par +\par Among the latter was Lieutenant-colonel de Ponthon, who had been +\par among a number of engineer officers who, after the }{\deleted treaty }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839692 Treaty }{of Tilsit +\par had been posted, at the request of Alexander, to Russia, where they +\par had spent several years. De Ponthon was a highly competent, but +\par withal a very modest officer, he was attached to the topographic +\par service, and did not think it was his place to offer his advice +\par unasked, on the problems which would face an army at war in the +\par Russian empire; but when he was questioned by the Emperor he felt it +\par was his duty to tell the whole truth to the head of state, even at +\par risk of displeasing him, so he described all the obstacles which +\par would face this enterprise. The principal ones were the apathy and +\par lack of co-operation between the Lithuanian states, subject for many +\par years to Russia; the fanatical resistance to be expected from the +\par people of Moscow; the scarcity of food and forage; the almost +\par uninhabited areas which would have to be crossed; roads impassable +\par for artillery after several hours of rain; but above all he stressed +\par the rigour of the winter and the physical impossibility of conducting +\par a war once the snow had begun to fall, which might be as early as the +\par first days of October. Finally, at risk of giving offence and +\par jeopardising his career, he begged Napoleon, for the sake of France +\par and his own reputation, not to undertake this dangerous expedition, +\par the calamitous outcome of which he now predicted. Having listened +\par quietly to M. de Ponthon, the Emperor dismissed him without m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ any +\par comment. For some days he appeared withdrawn and contemplative, and +\par the rumour spread that the undert}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ was off, but then M. Maret, duc +\par de Bassano, persuaded him to go back to his original intention, and +\par assured him that Marshal Davout would be happy to move his large army +\par of Germany to the banks of the Nieman, on the frontier of the Russian +\par empire, in order to galvanise Alexander into action. +\par +\par From this time on, although M. de Ponthon was in constant attendance +\par as a member of the cabinet, the Emperor did not address a word to him +\par during the advance from the Nieman to Moscow, and when, during the +\par retreat, Napoleon was forced to admit to himself that the predictions +\par of this admirable officer had been only too accurate, he avoided +\par catching his eye. Nevertheless, he promoted him to the rank of +\par }{\deleted Colonel}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839691 colonel}{. +\par +\par To return to the preparations which Napoleon was m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ to force +\par the Russians, by hook or by crook, to comply with his wishes: from +\par the month of April, the French troops stationed in Germany, as well +\par as those of various princes of the Germanic confederation}{\deleted ,}{ allied to +\par France, were put into motion, and their march towards Poland was +\par delayed only by the difficulty of finding forage for their numerous +\par horses; the grass, and even the corn}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839690 ,}{ being scarcely out of the ground +\par at this time in these northern countries. However, the Emperor left +\par Paris on the 9th of May, and accompanied by the Empress, went to +\par Dresden, where, awaiting him, were his father-in-law the Emperor of +\par Austria, and almost all the German princes; attracted there, in some +\par cases by the hope of having their domains extended, and in others by +\par the fear of displeasing the arbiter of their destiny. The only +\par absentee was the King of Prussia, who, not being included in the +\par confederation of the Rhine, was not invited to this reunion and dared +\par not turn up without the permission of Napoleon. He humbly requested +\par this, and when it was obtained he hurried to Dresden to pay court to +\par the all-powerful conqueror of Europe.}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839690 +\par }{ +\par The protestations of fidelity and devotion which were lavished on +\par Napoleon misled him into m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ a most serious error in the +\par organisation of the contingents which were to make up the great army +\par destined for the war against Russia. Instead of weakening the +\par governments of Austria and Prussia, his former enemies, by demanding +\par from them the greater part of their available troops, which, prudence +\par would suggest should be placed in the van, not only to spare French +\par lives, but to allow a watch to be kept on these new and undependable +\par allies, Napoleon required no more than 30,000 men from each of these +\par powers, and placed them on the two wings of his force. The Austrians +\par under Prince Schwartzenberg on the right in Volhynie, and the +\par Prussians, to whom he appointed as commander the French Marshal +\par Macdonald, on the left, near the mouth of the Nieman. The centre was +\par composed of French troops and those members of the German federation +\par whose loyalty had been proved at Jena and Wagram. +\par +\par There were discerning observers who were dismayed to see the wings +\par of the army made up of foreigners, who, in the event of a reverse, +\par could form two hostile armies in our rear, while the centre was +\par embroiled in the heart of Russia. Not only that, Austria who had an +\par army of 200,000, placed only 30,000 at the disposal of Napoleon, and +\par had 170,000 left with which to attack us in the event of failure, +\par while Prussia, though less powerful, still had 60,000 men in reserve. +\par +\par One is astonished that the Emperor was so little concerned about +\par what he was leaving behind him; but his confidence was so great that +\par when the King of Prussia requested him to allow his eldest son to +\par join in the campaign as an imperial aide-de-camp, Napoleon turned him +\par down, although the young prince would have been a valuable hostage to +\par ensure the fidelity of his father. +\par +\par While there was a succession of entertainments at Dresden, +\par Napoleon's troops were wending their way through northern Germany. +\par Already the army of Italy, having crossed the mountains of the Tyrol, +\par was heading for Warsaw. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd Corps commanded by +\par Davout, Oudinot and Ney, were passing through Prussia on their march +\par to the Vistula. The states comprising the confederation of the Rhine +\par had supplied their contingents, as had Austria and Prussia; it was +\par noticeable, however that although the Austrian generals were happy to +\par unite their flags with ours, the junior officers and the soldiers +\par were reluctant to attack Russia, while the situation was reversed in +\par the Prussian army, where the generals and Colonels felt humiliated by +\par being compelled to serve under the command of their conqueror, while +\par officers of lower rank and the soldiers, were pleased to have the +\par opportunity of fighting alongside the French, and hoped to show that +\par if they were defeated at Jena, it was not through any lack of courage +\par on their part, but due to poor leadership by their superiors. +\par +\par Napoleon had not only taken into the "Grande Arm\'e9e" the troops of +\par Austria and Prussia, but he had lowered the morale of the French +\par forces by intermingling them with foreign contingents, so that the +\par various Corps commanded by his marshals contained bodies of men from +\par every part of Europe, Italians, Poles, Spaniards, Portuguese, Germans +\par and Croatians. This admixture of races with different languages, +\par cultures and interests, worked very poorly, and often hindered the +\par efforts of the French troops. It was one of the principal causes of +\par the reversals which we suffered. +\par +\par Chap. 5. +\par +\par Having left Dresden on the 29th of May, the Emperor made his way +\par towards Poland via Danzig and the old Prussia, through which his +\par troops were passing, whom he reviewed whenever he encountered them. +\par +\par The army was now organised so that the 23rd mounted Chasseurs were +\par brigaded with the 24th. This brigade was commanded by }{\deleted general Castex}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967337 General Castex}{ +\par and formed part of the 2nd }{\deleted army }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839688 Army }{Corps, commanded by }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839688 Marshal }{Oudinet. +\par I had known }{\deleted general Castex}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967337 General Castex}{ for a long time, an excellent officer, who +\par treated me very well throughout the campaign. Marshal Oudinet had +\par seen me at the siege of Genoa when I was with my father and also in +\par Austria when I was aide-de-camp to Marshal Lannes, and was well +\par disposed towards me. +\par +\par On the 20th June, 2nd Corps was given the order to stop at +\par Insterberg in order to be reviewed by the Emperor. These military +\par ceremonies were awaited with impatience by those people who hoped to +\par benefit from the awards distributed on the occasion by Napoleon. I +\par was among this number. I felt sure that I would be promoted to the +\par command of the regiment of which I was the acting commander, for +\par apart from the promises given me by the Emperor, }{\deleted general Castex}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967337 General Castex}{ and +\par }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839687 Marshal }{Oudinet had told me that they intended to propose me +\par officially, and that Colonel Nougar\'e8de was to be placed, as general, +\par in command of one of the huge remount depots, which would have to be +\par set up in the rear of the army; but the bad luck which had, a few +\par months earlier delayed my promotion to }{\deleted Major}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839687 major}{, also held up my +\par promotion to }{\deleted Colonel}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839687 colonel}{. +\par +\par At these reviews, the commanders of regiments were subjected to a +\par rigourous cross-examination by the Emperor, particularly on the eve +\par of a campaign; for apart from the usual questions about their +\par strength in men and horses, their arms etc., he would suddenly ask a +\par number which were unforeseen and not always easy to answer. For +\par example: "How many men from such and such a department have you +\par received in the last two years? How many of your carbines come from +\par Tulle and how many from Charleville? How many of your horses are from +\par Normandy, from Brittany, from Germany? What is the average age of +\par your men, your officers, your horses? How many men in this company +\par have long-service chevrons? etc...etc." +\par +\par These questions, which were always posed in an abrupt and demanding +\par manner, and accompanied by a piercing look, disconcerted many +\par }{\deleted Colonels}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839687 colonels}{; but woe to him who hesitated to reply, he went into +\par Napoleon's bad books. I was so well briefed that I was able to reply +\par to all his questions, and, after complementing me on the fine turnout +\par of the regiment, it looked as if the Emperor was going to promote me +\par to }{\deleted Colonel }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839686 colonel }{and M. de La Nougar\'e8de to general,}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839686 }{when the latter, who with +\par his limbs wrapped in flannel}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839686 ,}{\deleted ,}{ had been hoisted onto horseback to +\par follow}{\deleted ,}{ from afar}{\deleted ,}{ the movements of his regiment, which I commanded, +\par hearing himself called for, came to Napoleon and}{\deleted ,}{ unwisely}{\deleted ,}{ angered +\par him by m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ a request on behalf of an officer, a member of his +\par family}{\deleted ,}{ who was wholly undeserving. This roused a storm of which I +\par suffered the consequences. The Emperor flew into a rage and ordered +\par the Gendarmerie to clear the officer in question out of the army, and +\par leaving M. de La Nougar\'e8de in dismay, he went off at the gallop. So}{\deleted ,}{ +\par M. de La Nougar\'e8de was not made a general. +\par +\par }{\deleted Marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{ followed the Emperor to find out what was to happen +\par to the 23rd, and was told "Major Marbot will continue to command +\par them." Before reaching the rank of }{\deleted Colonel }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839685 colonel }{I was destined to suffer +\par yet another serious wound. +\par +\par In fairness to M. de La Nougar\'e8de, I have to say that he expressed +\par the liveliest remorse at having been the involuntary cause of the +\par delay in my advancement. I was sorry for the difficult position in +\par which this worthy man found himself, for he felt that he had +\par forfeited the Emperor's confidence, and owing to his disability he +\par had little hope of restoring himself by his conduct in the battles +\par which were about to take place.}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839680 +\par }{ +\par I was comforted by the fact that the Emperor, on the day of the +\par review, had awarded all the promotions and the decorations which I +\par had requested for the officers and other ranks of the 23rd, and as +\par the gratitude for these favours is always directed to the commanding +\par officer who has obtained them, the influence which I was beginning to +\par have in the regiment was greatly increased and went some way to calm +\par my regrets at not having been awarded substantive rank for the +\par position which I occupied. +\par +\par At about this time, I received a letter from Marshal Mass\'e9na and +\par another from his wife, the first recommending a M. Renique, and the +\par second her son, Prosper. I was touched by this double approach and I +\par responded by accepting the two captains into my regiment. However, +\par }{\deleted madame }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839680 Madame }{Mass\'e9na did not carry out her intention, and Prosper Mass\'e9na +\par did not go to Russia. In any case he would not have been able to +\par stand the harsh climate. +\par +\par The army was soon to reach the frontier of the Russian empire, and +\par see once more the river Nieman, where we had stopped in 1807. The +\par Emperor positioned his troops on the left bank of this river as +\par follows: on the extreme right was the Austrian Corps of Prince +\par Schwartzenberg, on the border of Galicia near Drogitchin}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839679 .}{ On +\par Schwartzenberg's left was King J\'e9r\'f4me with two considerable army +\par }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839679 corps}{, between Bialystok and Grodno. }{\deleted next }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839679 Next }{to them was Prince Eug\'e8ne +\par de Beauharnais, with 80,000 men, at Prenn. The Emperor was in the +\par centre, facing Kovno, with 220,000 men commanded by Murat, Oudinot, +\par Ney, Lefebvre and Bessi\'e8res. The Guard formed part of this immense +\par body of troops. Finally, at Tilsit, Marshal Macdonald with 35,000 +\par Prussians formed the left wing. Across the Nieman was the Russian +\par army of about 400,000 men, commanded by the Emperor Alexander , or +\par rather by Benningsen, his chief-of-staff. This force was divided into +\par three parts, commanded by Generals Bagration, Barclay de Tolly and +\par Wittgenstein. +\par +\par Four historians have written about the campaign of 1812. The first +\par of these was Labaume, a topographer}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839678 ,}{ that is to say, belonging to a +\par Corps which although part of the armed forces never engaged in +\par combat, and followed the army only to make maps. Labaume had never +\par commanded troops and knew nothing of the practical side of war, so +\par his judgements are almost always ill-founded, and do an injustice to +\par the French army. However the work having appeared shortly after the +\par peace of 1814 and the re-establishment of Louis XVIII, partisan +\par spirit and the desire for information about the terrible events of +\par the Russian campaign gave it so much credence that no one tried to +\par refute it, and the public came to accept its contents as the +\par veritable truth. +\par +\par The second book to be published was written by Colonel Boutourlin, +\par an aide-de-camp to the Emperor Alexander}{\deleted }{. This, although expressing +\par the Russian point of view}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839678 ,}{ contained some worthwhile observations, and +\par if there are some inaccuracies, it is because he did not have access +\par to certain documents, for he is impartial and has done all he could +\par to discover the truth. The work is generally esteemed as that of an +\par honest man. +\par +\par Labaume's book had already been forgotten when in 1825, following +\par Napoleon's death, General de S\'e9gur published a third story of the +\par Russian campaign. The contents of this book distressed more than one +\par survivor of the campaign, and even the Russians stigmatised it as a +\par war novel. In spite of this, M. de S\'e9gur enjoyed a great success, +\par partly because of the purity and elegance of his style and partly +\par because of the welcome the book was given by the court and the +\par ultra-royalist party. The former officers of the imperial army, +\par finding themselves under attack, appointed General Gourgaud to reply. +\par He did so effectively, but with so much acerbity that it gave rise +\par to a duel between him and M. de S\'e9gur, in which M. de S\'e9gur was +\par wounded. One has to agree that if the latter was less than +\par charitable towards Napoleon and his army, General Gourgaud accorded +\par the Emperor too much praise and refused to recognise any of his +\par faults. +\par +\par I have no intention of writing another history of the campaign of +\par 1812, but I think I should relate the principal events, since they +\par form an essential part of my life and times and several of them have +\par a bearing on what happened to me; but in this brief resum\'e9 I shall +\par try to avoid the extremes embraced by S\'e9gur and Gourgaud. I shall +\par neither denigrate nor flatter, I shall be truthful. +\par +\par At a time when the two powerful European empires were about to come +\par to blows, England, a natural ally of Russia, had a duty to make every +\par effort to help her to repel the invasion projected by Napoleon. By +\par disbursing money to the Turkish ministers, the English cabinet was +\par able to arrange a peace between the Sultan and Russia, which allowed +\par the latter to recall the army which was on the frontier of Turkey, an +\par army which played a highly important r\'f4le in the war. The English +\par had also contrived a peace between the Emperor Alexander and Sweden, +\par an ally of France, on whose goodwill Napoleon counted, the more so +\par because Bernadotte had just been nominated as the heir apparent, and +\par governed the country for the King, his adoptive father. +\par +\par I have already explained how, through a bizarre sequence of events, +\par Bernadotte was raised to the rank of heir presumptive to the crown of +\par Sweden. The new Swedish prince, after announcing that he would +\par always remain French at heart, allowed himself to be seduced or +\par intimidated by the English, who could have easily overthrown him. He +\par sacrificed the true interests of his adoptive country by submitting +\par to the domination of England and allying himself with Russia in an +\par interview with the Emperor Alexander. This meeting took place in +\par Abo, a little town in Finland. The Russians had recently seized this +\par province and they promised to compensate Sweden by the gift of +\par Norway, which they intended to take from Denmark, }{\deleted who }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839676 which }{was a faithful +\par ally of France. So Bernadotte, far from relying on our army to +\par restore to him his provinces, accepted these Russian encroachments by +\par ranging himself with her allies. +\par +\par If Bernadotte had been willing to support us, the geographical +\par position of Sweden could have been of great assistance to our common +\par cause. The new prince}{\deleted ,}{ did not, however, openly state his position, +\par as he wanted to see who was going to be the victor, and he did not +\par declare himself until the following year. Deprived of the aid of +\par Turkey and Sweden, on whom he had relied to keep the Russian army +\par occupied, Napoleon's only possible allies in the north were the +\par Poles, but these turbulent people, whose forefathers had been unable +\par to agree when they were an independent state, offered neither moral +\par nor physical support. +\par +\par In fact, Lithuania and the other provinces which formed more than a +\par third of the former Poland, having been in Russian hands for almost +\par forty years, had mostly forgotten their ancient constitution and had +\par for a long time thought of themselves as Russian. The nobility sent +\par their sons to join the army of the Czar, to whom they were too much +\par attached by long custom to permit any hope that they would join the +\par French. The same considerations applied to other Poles who in +\par various divisions of their country had found themselves under the +\par rule of Austria or Prussia. They were willing to march against +\par Russia, but it was under the flags and under the command of their new +\par sovereigns. They had neither love nor enthusiasm for the Emperor +\par Napoleon, and feared to see their country devastated by war. The +\par grand duchy of Warsaw, ceded in 1807}{\deleted ,}{ to the King of Saxony under the +\par }{\deleted treaty }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839674 Treaty }{of Tilsit, was the only province of the ancient Poland which +\par retained a spark of national spirit and was somewhat attached to +\par France, but what was the use of this little state to the Grande Arm\'e9e +\par of Napoleon? +\par +\par Napoleon, however, full of confidence in his army and in his own +\par ability, decided to cross the Nieman, and so on the 23rd of June, +\par accompanied by General Haxo and dressed in the uniform of a Polish +\par soldier of his guard, he rode along its bank, and that same evening +\par at ten o'clock, set in motion the crossing of the river by the +\par pontoon bridges, the most important of which had been laid across the +\par river opposite the little Russian town of Kovno, which our troops +\par occupied without encountering any resistance. +\par +\par Chap. 6. +\par +\par At sunrise on the 24th we witnessed a most impressive spectacle. +\par On the highest part of the left bank were the Emperor's tents. +\par Around them, on the slopes of the hills and in the valleys, glittered +\par the arms of a great concourse of men and horses. This mass}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839673 ,}{ +\par consisting of 250,000 soldiers}{\deleted ,}{ split into three huge columns}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839673 ,}{\deleted +\par }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839673 +\par }{streamed in perfect order towards the three bridges which had been +\par thrown across the river, over which the different }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839673 corps }{crossed to +\par the right bank in a prearranged manner. On this same day the Nieman +\par was crossed by our troops at other points, near Grodno, Pilony and +\par Tilsit. I have seen a situation report, covered by notes written in +\par Napoleon's hand, which gives the official strength of the force which +\par crossed the Nieman as 325,000 men, of whom 155,400 were French and +\par 170,000 allies, accompanied by 940 guns. +\par +\par The regiment which I commanded formed part of 2nd Corps, commanded +\par by }{\deleted marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{, which having crossed the bridge at Kovno headed +\par immediately for Ianovo. The heat was overpowering. This, close to +\par nightfall, led to a tremendous storm, and torrential rain, which +\par drenched the roads and the countryside for more than fifty leagues +\par around. Happily the army did not see this as a bad omen, as the +\par soldiers considered violent thunder}{\deleted -}{storms were something to be +\par expected in summer. The Russians too, every bit as superstitious as +\par some of the French, had an unpropitious omen, for during the night of +\par 23rd-24th of June the Emperor Alexander escaped with his life when, +\par at a ball in Wilna, the floor of a room collapsed under the chair on +\par which he was sitting, at the very hour when the first French boat, +\par carrying a detachment of Napoleon's troops}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839671 ,}{ reached the right bank of +\par the Nieman and Russian soil. Be that as it may, the storm had made +\par the air much cooler and the horses in bivouac suffered from this and +\par also from eating wet grass and lying on muddy ground. So that the +\par army lost several thousand from acute colic. +\par +\par Beyond Kovnow there runs a little river called the Vilia, the +\par bridge over which had been cut by the Russians. The storm had so +\par swollen this tributary of the Nieman that Oudinot's scouts were held +\par up. The Emperor arrived at the same moment as I did at the head of +\par my regiment. He ordered the Polish lancers to see if the river was +\par fordable, and in this process, one man was drowned; I took his name, +\par it was Tzcinski. I mention this because the losses suffered by the +\par Polish lancers in the crossing of the Vilia have been grossly +\par exaggerated. +\par +\par The Russians, however, retreated without waiting for the French +\par army, which shortly occupied Wilna, the capital of Lithuania. It was +\par near here that there took place a cavalry encounter in which Octave +\par de S\'e9gur, who had been with me on Mass\'e9na's staff, was captured by +\par the Russians while leading a squadron of the 8th Hussars which he +\par commanded, he was the elder brother of }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839671 General }{the }{\deleted comte }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839671 Comte }{de S\'e9gur. +\par On the same day that the Emperor entered Wilna, }{\deleted marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{'s +\par troops came up against Wittgenstein's Russians at Wilkomir, where the +\par first serious engagement of the campaign took place. I had not +\par previously served under Oudinot, and this d\'e9but confirmed the high +\par opinion I had of his courage, without convincing me of his +\par intelligence. +\par +\par One of the greatest faults of the French at war}{\deleted ,}{ is to go}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839670 ,}{\deleted ,}{ without +\par reason}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839670 ,}{ from the most meticulous caution to limitless confidence. +\par Now, since the Russians had allowed us to cross the Nieman, invade +\par Lithuania and occupy Wilna without opposition, it had become the done +\par thing, amongst certain officers to say that the enemy would always +\par retreat and would never stand and fight. Oudinot's staff and the +\par marshal himself frequently stated this, and treated as fairy tales +\par the information given by the peasants that there was a large body of +\par Russian troops positioned in front of the little town of Wilkomir. +\par This incredulity nearly resulted in disaster, as you will see. +\par +\par The light cavalry, being the eyes of the army, while on the march}{\deleted ,}{ +\par is always in front and on the flanks. My regiment}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839669 ,}{\deleted ,}{ then}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839669 ,}{\deleted ,}{ was less +\par than a league ahead of the infantry, when, having gone a little way +\par beyond Wilkomir without seeing any sign of the enemy, we were +\par confronted by a forest of huge pine trees, through which the mounted +\par men could move with ease but whose branches obscured the distant +\par view. Fearing an ambush, I sent a single squadron, commanded by a +\par very capable captain, to investigate. In about 15 minutes he came +\par back and reported that he had seen an enemy army. I went to the edge +\par of the forest from where I could see, at about a cannon shot from +\par Wilkomir, behind a stream, a hill on which drawn up in battle order +\par were 25 to 30 thousand Russian infantry, with cavalry and artillery. +\par +\par You may be surprised that these troops did not have}{\deleted ,}{ in front of +\par them}{\deleted ,}{ any outposts or pickets or scouts, but that is how the Russians +\par operate when they are determined to defend a strong position. They +\par allow the enemy to approach without any warning of the resistance +\par they are about to meet, and it is only when the main body of their +\par opponents comes within range that they open a ferocious fire with +\par musketry and cannon, which can shatter the columns of their +\par adversaries. It is a method which has often produced good results +\par for the Russians; so }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839668 General }{Wittgenstein had prepared this welcome +\par for us. +\par +\par The situation seemed to me to be so serious that to keep my +\par regiment out of sight, I ordered them to go back into the forest +\par while I myself hurried to warn }{\deleted marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{ of the danger which +\par lay ahead. +\par +\par I found him in some open country, where having dismounted and halted +\par his troops, he was peacefully eating his lunch in the midst of his +\par staff. I expected that my report would shake him out of this false +\par security, but he treated it with an air of disbelief, and clapping me +\par on the shoulder he called out "Let's go! Marbot here has discovered +\par thirty thousand men for us to thump." General Lorencez, the marshal's +\par son-in-law and his chief-of-staff was the only one to take me +\par seriously; he had once been aide-de-camp to Augereau and he had known +\par me for a long time. He came to my defence saying that when the +\par commander of a unit says "I have seen" he should be believed, and +\par that to take no notice of information brought by an officer of the +\par light cavalry was to court disaster. These observations made by his +\par chief-of-staff caused the marshal to think, and he had started to +\par question me about the enemy presence, which he still seemed to doubt, +\par when a staff-captai}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839667 n}{\deleted n,}{ by the name of Duplessis}{\deleted ,}{ arrived, all out of +\par breath, and announced that he had searched the whole area and had +\par even been into the forest, and had seen not a single Russian. At +\par this the marshal and his staff began laughing at my fears, which +\par greatly upset me. Nevertheless, I kept my mouth shut, certain that}{\deleted ,}{ +\par before very long, the truth would become apparent. +\par +\par Luncheon being over, the march got under way once more}{\deleted ,}{ and I +\par returned to my regiment,}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839667 }{which formed the advance-guard. I led them +\par through the trees as I had done previously, for I could see what was +\par going to happen the moment we emerged opposite the enemy positions. +\par In spite of what I had told him, the marshal decided to go down a +\par wide, dead straight road which ran through the forest; but he had +\par scarcely reached the edge of the trees when the enemy, seeing the +\par large group formed by his staff, opened a running fire from their +\par cannons, which placed opposite the road could fire directly along it +\par and threw into disorder the gilded squadron, recently so full of +\par themselves. Fortunately no one was hit by this fire, but the +\par marshal's horse was killed}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839666 ,}{ as was that of M.}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839666 }{Duplessis and a number of +\par others. I had been amply avenged, and I must confess, to my shame, +\par that I had difficulty in hiding my satisfaction at seeing those who +\par had scoffed at my report and treated as fantasy what I had said about +\par the enemy presence, t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ to their heels under a hail of shot and +\par scrambling over ditches as best they could to seek shelter behind the +\par great pine trees! The worthy }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839666 General }{Lorencez, whom I had warned to +\par stay in the forest, laughed heartily at this scene. In fairness to +\par Oudinot, I must say that once remounted, he came and apologised for +\par for his behaviour at luncheon, and asked me to brief him on the +\par Russian positions, and point out a route through the forest which the +\par infantry might take without being too much exposed to the enemy's +\par guns. +\par +\par Several officers of the 23rd who, like me, had been through the +\par woodland in the morning, were detailed to guide the infantry +\par divisions. Nevertheless, on their emerging from the trees they were +\par subjected to a terrible cannonade, which could have been avoided if, +\par having been warned of the Russian presence, there had been an attempt +\par to turn one of their flanks, instead of m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ a frontal approach. +\par As it was, we were now committed, once we emerged from the wood, to +\par attacking the most heavily defended point and t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ the bull by the +\par horns. +\par +\par However, our gallant soldiers engaged the enemy with such +\par determination that they drove them from all their positions, and +\par after two hours of fighting they began to retreat. This operation +\par was not without danger, for, to carry it out, they had to go through +\par the town and cross the bridge over a very steep-sided stream. This +\par manoeuvre, always difficult to execute under fire, started off in an +\par orderly fashion, but our light artillery, having taken up a position +\par on a height which overlooked the town, soon, by means of its gunfire, +\par produced disorder among the enemy columns, which broke ranks and +\par rushed to the bridge. Once they had crossed the stream, instead of +\par regrouping they fled helter-skelter over the open ground of the +\par opposite bank, where the retreat soon became a rout! Only one +\par regiment, that of Toula, stood its ground on the town side of the +\par bridge. }{\deleted Marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{ very much wanted to force a passage across +\par the bridge, to complete his victory by pursuing the fugitives on the +\par other side of the stream; but our infantry had hardly reached the +\par suburbs}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839664 ; }{it would take them at least 15 minutes to reach the bridge, +\par and time was precious. +\par +\par My regiment, which had made a successful charge at the entrance to +\par the town, had re-formed on the promenade, a short distance from the +\par stream. The marshal sent word to me to bring them at the gallop and +\par we had hardly arrived before he ordered me to charge the enemy +\par battalions which were covering the bridge, then to cross the bridge +\par and pursue the fugitives on the open ground of the opposite side. +\par Experienced soldiers know how difficult it is for cavalry to overcome +\par infantry, who are determined to defend themselves in the streets of a +\par town. I was well aware of the dangers of the task which I had been +\par given, but it had to be done, and without hesitation. I knew also +\par that it is by his conduct in his first action that a commanding +\par officer gains a good or a bad reputation amongst his men. My +\par regiment was composed of battle-hardened troopers: I raised them to +\par the gallop and, with me at their head, we fell on the Russian +\par Grenadiers, who stood firm behind their bayonets. They were, +\par however, overwhelmed by our first impetuous charge, and once their +\par ranks had been penetrated, my terrible }{\deleted Chasseurs }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839663 chasseurs }{using the points of +\par their sabres inflicted a frightful slaughter. The enemy retreated to +\par the causeway of the bridge, where we followed them so closely that, +\par on reaching the other side, they were unable to re-form, and our men +\par got amongst them, killing all whom they could reach. When the +\par Russian }{\deleted Colonel }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839663 colonel }{was killed, his regiment, without leadership, lost +\par heart, and seeing that the French skirmishers had now reached the +\par bridge, they surrendered. I lost seven men killed and some twenty +\par wounded, but captured a flag and two thousand prisoners. After this +\par action, we advanced onto the open ground where we took a great number +\par of fugitives, several guns and many horses. +\par +\par }{\deleted Marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{ had watched this action from a vantage point in +\par the town, and he came to congratulate the regiment, for which he +\par henceforth had a particular regard, which it well merited. I was +\par proud to be in command of such men and when the marshal told me that +\par he intended to recommend me for promotion to }{\deleted Colonel}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839662 colonel}{, I was afraid +\par that the Emperor would go back on his original plan, and post me to +\par the first regiment which became vacant. How strange are the twists +\par of fortune! The successful action at Wilkomir, where the 23rd earned +\par such a fine reputation, nearly led}{\deleted ,}{ on a later occasion}{\deleted ,}{ to its +\par destruction, because the courage which it had displayed at the time +\par resulted in its being chosen to carry out a mission which was +\par virtually impossible, which I shall describe shortly. Let us now +\par return to Wilna, where the }{\deleted emperor }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839662 Emperor }{was beginning to meet with some of +\par the difficulties which were to wreck his whole gigantic undert}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{. +\par +\par The first of these concerned the re}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839662 -}{\deleted -}{organisation of Lithuania, which +\par we had just conquered. This had to be carried out in away which +\par would please not only those provinces which were still occupied by +\par Russia, but also those of the duchies of Posen and Galicia, which +\par ancient treaties had incorporated into Prussia and Austria, +\par Napoleon's allies, whom, for the time being, it was important not to +\par offend. +\par +\par The most committed of the noblemen who ruled the various parts of +\par Poland proposed to Napoleon that they would raise all the provinces +\par and place at his disposal more than 300,000 men on the day that he +\par announced officially that all the partitions to which the country had +\par been subjected were annulled, and that the kingdom of Poland was +\par reconstituted. The Emperor, although he was aware of the benefits he +\par would gain from such an armed uprising, could not conceal from +\par himself the fact that its first result would be to involve him in war +\par with Austria and Prussia, }{\deleted who}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839661 which}{, rather than see themselves deprived of +\par these huge and flourishing provinces}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839661 ,}{ would join their arms to those +\par of Russia. Above all, he doubted the constancy of the Poles, who, +\par after dragging him into war with the three most powerful of the +\par northern nations, might perhaps fail to deliver their promised +\par support. The Emperor therefore replied to these propositions that he +\par would not recognise the kingdom of Poland until the inhabitants of +\par these huge areas had shown themselves worthy of independence by +\par rising against their oppressors. This now created a vicious circle, +\par Napoleon would not recognise the kingdom of Poland until the Poles +\par took action, and the Poles would not take any action until he did. +\par An indication that Napoleon, in going to war with Russia, had no +\par intention other than to enforce the continental blockade is the fact +\par that he had not brought to the Nieman any arms or uniforms for the +\par men which the Poles might have supplied. +\par +\par Be that as it may, some influential noblemen, in an attempt to +\par force Napoleon's hand, set up a National Diet in Warsaw, which was +\par attended by a small number of deputies. The first act of this +\par assembly was to proclaim the Reconstitution and Independence of the +\par Ancient Kingdom of Poland. The echo of this patriotic declaration +\par rang throughout all the provinces, whether Russian, Prussian or +\par Austrian, and for several days it was believed that there would be an +\par uprising which would probably favour Napoleon, but this unthinking +\par exaltation did not last long among the Poles, of whom only a few +\par hundred came to join us. The cooling off was so rapid that the town +\par of Wilna and its surroundings could provide no more than twenty men +\par to form a guard of honour for the Emperor. If the Poles had +\par displayed at this time}{\deleted ,}{ a hundredth part of the energy and enthusiasm +\par which they displayed during the insurrection of 1830-1831}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839660 ,}{ they might +\par have recovered their independence and their liberty, but, far from +\par coming to the aid of the French troops, they denied them all +\par necessities, and during this campaign our soldiers often had to take +\par by force the food and forage which the inhabitants, and above all the +\par nobles, hid from us}{\deleted ,}{ but handed over to the Russians, their +\par persecutors. This partiality in favour of our enemies enraged our +\par men and gave rise to some unpleasant scenes which M. de S\'e9gur has +\par stigmatised as disgraceful pillage! It is however impossible to +\par prevent the weary and wretched soldiers who have received no issue of +\par rations from commandeering the bread and the livestock which they +\par need for their survival. +\par +\par The need to maintain order in the provinces occupied by the army +\par led the Emperor, in spite of everything}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839659 ,}{ to appoint prefects and +\par sub-prefects}{\deleted ,}{ who were chosen from the most enlightened Poles, but +\par their administration was illusory and no help to the French army. +\par The main reason for the apathy of the Lithuanian Poles was the +\par self-interested attachment of the nobility to the Russian government, +\par which upheld their rights over their peasantry, to whom they feared +\par the French might award their freedom, for all those Polish noblemen +\par who talked unceasingly about freedom}{\deleted ,}{ kept their peasants in the most +\par brutish serfdom. +\par +\par Although the concentration of French troops on their frontiers +\par should have warned the Russians that hostilities were about to +\par commence}{\deleted . T}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839658 , t}{hey were nonetheless taken by surprise by the crossing of +\par the Nieman, which they nowhere opposed. Their army began a retreat +\par towards the Duna (Dvina) on the left bank of which they had prepared, +\par at Drissa, an immense entrenched camp. From all parts the different +\par French Corps followed the Russian columns. Prince Murat was in +\par command of the cavalry of the advance-guard, and every evening he +\par caught up with the Russian rear-guard; but after some skirmishing +\par they made off during the night by forced marches, without it being +\par possible to bring them to a decisive action. +\par +\par Chap. 7. +\par +\par During the first days of our invasion of Russia, the enemy had +\par made the very serious mistake of allowing Napoleon to split their +\par forces, so that the greater part of their army, led by the +\par Emperor Alexander and Marshal Barclay, had been driven back to the +\par Duna, while the remainder, commanded by Bagration, was on the upper +\par Nieman around Mir, eighty leagues from the main body. Cut off in this +\par way, Bagration tried to join the Emperor Alexander by going through +\par Minsk; but Napoleon had entrusted the protection of Minsk to }{\deleted marshal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839656 Marshal}{ +\par Davout, who vigourously repelled the Russians and drove them back to +\par Bobruisk, which he knew was supposed to be guarded by J\'e9r\'f4me +\par Bonaparte, at the head of two }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839656 corps}{, amounting to 60,000 men. +\par Bagration was about to be forced to surrender when he was saved by +\par the foolishness of J\'e9r\'f4me, who had not accepted the advice which +\par Davout had given him, and failing to recognise the superior wisdom of +\par the experienced and successful marshal, had decided to go his own +\par way, whereupon he manoeuvred his troops so ineptly that Bagration was +\par able to escape from this first danger. Davout, however, followed him +\par with his usual tenacity, and caught up with him on the road to}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839655 }{\deleted +\par }{Mohilew, where,}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839655 }{although he had no more than 12,000 men}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839655 ,}{ he attacked the +\par 36,000 Russians and defeated them, though admittedly the Russians +\par were surprised on an area of very broken ground which prevented them +\par from m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ the best use of their superior numbers. Bagration was +\par compelled to cross the Borysthenia much lower down at Novoi-Bychow, +\par and being now out of reach of Davout he was able to rejoin the main +\par Russian army at Smolensk. +\par +\par During the marches and countermarches which Bagration undertook in +\par his efforts to evade Davout, he surprised the brigade of French +\par cavalry comannded by General Bordesoulle, and captured from him the +\par whole of the 3rd }{\deleted regiment }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839655 Regiment }{of Chasseurs, whose colonel was my friend +\par Saint-Mars. +\par +\par The elimination of Bagration's force would have been of tremendous +\par benefit to Napoleon, so his fury with King J\'e9r\'f4me was unbounded! He +\par ordered him to quit the army immediately and return to Westphalia, a +\par rigourous but necessary measur}{\deleted e}{, which had the effect of greatly +\par damaging King J\'e9r\'f4me's reputation in the army. However}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839654 ,}{ one has to +\par ask if he was entirely to blame? His major mistake was to think that +\par his dignity as a sovereign should not permit him to accept the advice +\par of a simple marshal, but Napoleon knew perfectly well that the young +\par prince had never in his life commanded so much as a single battalion, +\par nor taken part in the most minor skirmish, and yet he confided to his +\par care an army of 60,000 men, and this at a somewhat critical juncture. +\par General Junot, who replaced J\'e9r\'f4me, was, before long, also guilty of +\par a serious blunder. +\par +\par It was around this time that the Russian emperor sent one of his +\par ministers, Count Balachoff,to parley with Napoleon, who was still in +\par Wilna. The purpose of this discussion has never been entirely clear; +\par there were those who believed it was to arrange an armistice, but +\par they were quickly disabused by the departure of the Count, and it +\par appeared later that the English, who had a tremendous influence in +\par the Russian court and the army, had taken umbrage at this mission, +\par and fearing that Alexander might be considering coming to terms with +\par Napoleon, they had loudly insisted that he should leave the army and +\par return to }{\deleted Saint-Petersburg}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967375 St. Petersburg}{. Alexander accepted this proposal, but +\par ensured that his brother, Constantine came with him. Left to +\par themselves, and egged on by the Englishman Wilson, the Russian +\par generals sought to wage war with a ferocity which might shake the +\par French morale, so they ordered their troops to lay waste the country +\par behind them as they withdrew, by burning all the houses and +\par everything else which they could not carry away. +\par +\par While Napoleon, from the central point of Wilna, was directing the +\par various units of his army, the columns led by Murat, Ney, Montbrun, +\par Nansouty and Oudinot had, on the 15th of }{\deleted july}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839653 July}{, reached the river +\par Dvina. Oudinot, who had probably misunderstood the Emperor's orders, +\par took the unusual step of going down the left bank of the river, while +\par Wittgenstein and his men were going up the river on the other side. +\par He arrived opposite Dvinaburg, an old walled town}{\deleted ,}{ whose +\par fortifications were in bad repair, where he hoped to capture the +\par bridge and, having crossed to the other bank, to attack Wittgenstein +\par from the rear. Wittgenstein, however, on leaving Dvinaburg, had left +\par behind a strong garrison with numerous pieces of artillery. My +\par regiment}{\deleted ,}{ as usual}{\deleted ,}{ constituted the advance-guard, which on this day +\par was led by }{\deleted marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{ himself. +\par +\par The town of Dvinaburg is on the right bank of the river. We +\par arrived on the left bank, where there is a considerable +\par fortification}{\deleted ,}{ which protects the bridge}{\deleted ,}{ which links it to the town, +\par from which it is separated by the river, which is very wide at this +\par point. A quarter of a league from the fortifications, which }{\deleted marshal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839652 Marshal}{ +\par Oudinot claimed were not equipped with cannon, I came on a Russian +\par battalion}{\deleted ,}{ whose left flank was protected by the river}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839651 ,}{ and whose +\par front was covered by the planks and hutments of an abandoned camp. +\par In such a position the enemy was very difficult for cavalry to +\par attack; however the }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839651 Marshal }{ordered me to attack them. After I had +\par left it to individual officers to make their way through the gaps +\par between the huts, I ordered the charge, but the regiment had hardly +\par gone a few paces}{\deleted ,}{ amid a shower of bullets from the Russian infantry}{\deleted ,}{ +\par when the artillery, whose existence the }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839651 Marshal }{had denied, thundered +\par from the battlements, to which we were so close that the canisters +\par of grape-shot were going over our heads before they had time to +\par burst. A stray ball from one of them went through a fisherman's hut +\par and broke the leg of the trumpeter who was sounding the charge by my +\par side!...I lost several men there. +\par +\par }{\deleted Marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{, who had made a serious mistake in attacking a +\par position which was protected by cannon, hoped to flush out the +\par Russian infantry by sending in a Portuguese battalion}{\deleted ,}{ which was +\par ahead of our infantry; but these foreigners, former prisoners of war, +\par who had been enlisted}{\deleted ,}{ somewhat unwillingly}{\deleted ,}{ into the French army, +\par made little headway and we remained exposed. Seeing that Oudinot bore +\par the enemy fire with courage}{\deleted ,}{ but without giving any orders, I thought +\par that if this state of affairs continued for a few minutes more, my +\par regiment was going to wiped out, so I told my men to spread out and +\par attack the enemy infantry in open order, with the double aim of +\par driving them out of their position and preventing the gunners from +\par firing for fear of hitting their own men, who were intermingled with +\par ours. Cut down by my troopers, the defenders of the camp fled +\par towards the bridgehead, but the garrison of this outpost was composed +\par of recent recruits, who, fearing that we would follow the fugitives +\par into the fortifications, hurriedly closed the gates; which compelled +\par them to make for the pontoon bridge}{\deleted ,}{ in an attempt to reach the other +\par bank and the shelter of the town of Dvinaburg itself. +\par +\par The bridge had no guard-rail, the pontoons wobbled, the river was +\par deep and wide}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839649 ,}{ and I could see the armed garrison on the other side +\par trying to close the gates! It seemed to me to be folly to advance any +\par further. Thinking that the regiment had done enough, I had halted +\par them}{\deleted ,}{ when the }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839648 Marshal }{arrived, shouting "Forward the twenty-third! +\par Do as you did at Wilkomir! Cross the bridge! Force the gates! Seize +\par the town!" General Lorencez tried, in vain, to persuade him that +\par the difficulties were too great, and that a regiment of cavalry could +\par not attack a fortress, however badly defended, if to get there they +\par had to cross, two abreast, a third-rate pontoon bridge; but the +\par }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839648 Marshal }{persisted, "They will be able to take advantage of the +\par disorder and fears of the enemy}{\deleted ." }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839648 ," }{\deleted He }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839648 he }{said, and repeated his order to +\par me to attack the town. I obeyed; but I was scarcely on the first +\par span of the bridge, at the head of the leading section of my men, +\par when the garrison, having managed to close the gates which led to the +\par river, mounted the ramparts, from where they opened fire on us. The +\par slender line which we presented offered a poor target for these +\par inadequately trained men, so that their musket and cannon fire caused +\par us fewer casualties than I had feared, but on hearing the fortress +\par firing on us, the defenders of the bridgehead recovered their nerve +\par and joined in the fray. Oudinot, seeing the 23rd caught between two +\par fires, at the start of an unstable bridge}{\deleted ,}{ across which it was +\par impossible to advance, conveyed to me the order to retreat. The +\par large gap which I had left between each section allowed them to turn +\par round without too much confusion, however, two men and their horses +\par fell into the river and were drowned. In order to regain the left +\par bank we had to pass once more under the ramparts of the bridgehead, +\par when we were exposed to a rolling fire}{\deleted ,}{ which, fortunately, was aimed +\par by unskilled militia, for if we had been up against trained marksmen, +\par the regiment could have been wholly destroyed. +\par +\par This unsuccessful action, so imprudently undertaken, cost me +\par thirty men killed and many wounded, and it was to be hoped that the +\par }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839646 Marshal }{would be content with this fruitless effort, especially in +\par view of the fact that the Emperor had not ordered him to take +\par Dvinaburg; but, as soon as the infantry had arrived, he made a new +\par assault on the bridgehead, which had now been reinforced by a company +\par of Grenadiers, who, at the sound of firing had hurried from nearby +\par billets, so that our troops were once more repelled with much greater +\par losses than those suffered by the 23rd. When the Emperor heard of +\par this abortive attack, he placed the blame squarely on }{\deleted marshal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839646 Marshal}{ +\par Oudinot. +\par +\par At this time, my regiment was brigaded with the 24th Chasseurs, +\par and }{\deleted general Castex}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967337 General Castex}{, who commanded this brigade, had instituted an +\par admirable routine in our method of operation. Each of the two +\par regiments took it in turn to form, for twenty-four hours, the +\par advance-guard if we were approaching the enemy, or the rear-guard if +\par we were retreating, and to provide all the sentries, pickets and so +\par on, while the other regiment marched peacefully along, recovering +\par from the fatigues of the day before and preparing for those of the +\par morrow, which did not prevent it from going to the aid of the unit on +\par duty}{\deleted ,}{ if they came in contact with the enemy. This system, which was +\par not in the regulations, had the great advantage of never separating +\par the men from their officers or their comrades, or placing them under +\par the orders of unknown commanders and mingling them with troopers of +\par another regiment. Moreover, during the night, half of the brigade +\par slept, while the other half watched over them. However, since no +\par system is without its shortcomings, it could so happen, by chance, +\par that it was the same regiment which was more often on duty when a +\par serious engagement occurred, as happened to the 23rd at Wilkomir and +\par Dvinaburg. It was the sort of luck which we had throughout the +\par campaign, but we never complained}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839645 ; }{we came out of all these events +\par well and were often envied by the 24th, who had fewer occasions on +\par which to distinguish themselves. +\par +\par While Oudinot was m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ his assault on Dvinaburg, the }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839645 corps}{ +\par commanded by Ney, as well as the immense body of cavalry commanded by +\par Murat, were proceeding up the left bank of the Dvina towards Polotsk, +\par while Wittgenstein's Russian army followed the same route on the +\par right bank. Being separated from the enemy by the river, our troops +\par grew careless, and pitched their bivouacs}{\deleted ,}{ in the French manner, much +\par too close to its bank. Wittgenstein had noticed this and he allowed +\par the bulk of the French force to draw ahead. The last unit in the +\par line of march was S\'e9bastiani's division, which had as its rear-guard +\par the brigade commanded by General Saint-Geni\'e8s, who had served as an +\par officer in the army of Egypt, and who, although courageous, was not +\par very bright. When he had reached a some way beyond the little town +\par of Drouia, General Saint-Geni\'e8s, on the orders of S\'e9bastiani, put his +\par troops into bivouac some two hundred paces from the river, which was +\par believed to be uncrossable without boats. Wittgenstein, however, +\par knew of a ford, and during the night he made use of it to send across +\par the river a division of cavalry, which fell on the French troops and +\par captured almost the entire brigade, including General Saint-Geni\'e8s. +\par This forced S\'e9bastiani to hurry upstream with the rest of his +\par division to make contact with the Corps commanded by Montbrun. After +\par this swift raid, Wittgenstein recalled his troops and continued his +\par march up the Dvina. The affair did S\'e9bastiani's reputation a great +\par deal of harm and drew down on his head the reproaches of the Emperor. +\par +\par Shortly after this regrettable incident, Oudinot having been +\par ordered to leave Dvinaburg and go up the river to rejoin Ney and +\par Montbrun, his army Corps took the same route as they had done, and +\par passed the town of Drouia. The }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839643 Marshal }{intended to encamp his force +\par some three leagues further on, but he feared that the enemy might use +\par the ford to send across large parties of men to harass the great +\par convoy which trailed behind him, so he decided that while he made off +\par into the distance, with the main body of the troops, he would leave +\par behind a regiment of }{\deleted general Castex}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967337 General Castex}{'s brigade}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839643 ,}{ in the position which +\par had been occupied by }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839643 General }{Saint-Geni\'e8s, to watch the ford. As my +\par regiment was on duty, there fell to it the dangerous task of +\par remaining behind at Drouia, on their own, until the following +\par morning. I knew that the greater part of Wittgenstein's force had +\par gone up the river, but I could see that he had left behind, not far +\par from the ford, two strong regiments of cavalry, a force more than +\par sufficient to overcome me. +\par +\par However much I might have wished to carry out the order to set up +\par my bivouac on the spot used two days previously by Saint-Geni\'e8s, this +\par was impossible, for the ground was littered with more than two +\par hundred bodies in a state of putrefaction, and to this major reason +\par was linked another not less important. What I had seen and what I +\par had learned about war}{\deleted ,}{ had convinced me that the best means of +\par defending a river against an enemy whose aim is not to establish +\par himself on the bank which one occupies, is to keep the main body of +\par one's troops well back from the river edge; firstly to have timely +\par warning of the enemy's approach, and secondly, because, as it his +\par intention to make a sudden raid and then retire smartly, he dare not +\par go too far from the spot where he can cross back to the other side. +\par So I settled the regiment half a league from the Dvina, on some +\par slightly undulating ground. I left only some two-man sentinels on +\par the bank, because, when it is purely a matter of observation, two men +\par can see as much as a large picket. Several lines of troopers were +\par placed one after the other between these sentinels and our bivouac, +\par where, like a spider at the bottom of its web, I could be rapidly +\par informed by these threads about what was going on in the area which +\par it was my duty to guard. I had forbidden all fires and even the +\par lighting of pipes, and had ordered complete silence. +\par +\par The nights are extremely short in Russia in the month of }{\deleted july}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839641 July}{, but +\par this one seemed very long to me, so afraid was I that I might be +\par attacked}{\deleted ,}{ during the hours of darkness}{\deleted ,}{ by a force superior in +\par strength to my own. Half of the men were in the saddle, the remainder +\par were allowing their horses to graze but were ready to mount if given +\par the signal. All seemed quiet on the opposite bank, when my Polish +\par servant, who spoke Russian fluently, came to tell me that he had +\par heard one old }{\deleted jewish }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839640 Jewish }{woman}{\deleted ,}{ who lived in a nearby house}{\deleted ,}{ say to +\par another, "The lantern has been lit in the clock tower at Morki. The +\par attack is going to begin." I had the two women brought to me, and +\par questioned by Lorentz. They said that, as they were afraid of their +\par village becoming a battleground for the two enemies, they had been +\par alarmed to see the lamp lit in the bell tower of the church at +\par Morki, which, the night before last, had been the signal for the +\par Russian troops to cross the ford and attack the French camp. +\par +\par Although I was prepared for any eventuality, this was a piece of +\par very useful information. At once the regiment was on horse, sabres +\par in their hands. The sentinels by the river and the string of +\par horsemen stretched across the plain}{\deleted ,}{ passed from man to man,}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839640 }{in low +\par voices}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839640 ,}{ the orders to come back. Two of the boldest sous-officiers, +\par Prud'homme and Graft, went with }{\deleted lieutenant }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839639 Lieutenant }{Bertin to see what the +\par enemy was doing. He came back shortly to say that a large column of +\par Russian cavalry was crossing the ford, and that already there were +\par some squadrons on our side of the river; but seemingly taken aback at +\par not finding us camped at the same place as Saint-Geni\'e8s, they had +\par halted, fearing, no doubt to go too far from their only means of +\par retreat; then, having decided to go on, they were now approaching at +\par a walk, and were not far off. +\par +\par I immediately set fire to a huge haystack and to several barns}{\deleted ,}{ +\par which stood on some high ground, and by the light of the flames I +\par could easily distinguish the enemy column, consisting of Grodno +\par Hussars. I had with me about a thousand brave men, and with a cry of +\par "Vive L'Emperor!" we charged at the gallop towards the Russians}{\deleted ,}{ who, +\par taken by surprise by this fierce and unexpected attack, turned tail +\par and rushed in disorder to the ford. There they came face to face +\par with a regiment of dragoons}{\deleted ,}{ who, being part of their brigade}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839638 ,}{ had +\par followed them and were just emerging from the river. This resulted in +\par the most fearful confusion which enabled our men to kill many of the +\par enemy and take many horses. The Russians tried to recross the ford +\par in a mob to escape from the fire which my men aimed at them from the +\par bank and a number of them were drowned. Our surprise attack had so +\par startled the enemy who had thought to find us asleep, that they put +\par up no resistance, and I was able to return to our bivouac without +\par having to regret the death or wounding of any of our number. The +\par break of day disclosed the field of battle covered by some hundreds +\par of dead or wounded Russians. I left the wounded in the care of the +\par inhabitants of the village near which we had spent the night, and +\par took to the road to rejoin }{\deleted marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{, with whom I caught up +\par that same evening. The }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839638 Marshal }{gave me a hearty welcome and +\par complemented the regiment on their conduct. +\par +\par 2nd Corps continued its march up the left bank of the Dvina and in +\par three days arrived opposite Polotsk. There we learned that the +\par Emperor had at last left Wilna, where he had spent twenty days, and +\par was heading for Vitepsk, a town of some size, which he intended to +\par make his new centre of operations. +\par +\par On quitting Wilna, the Emperor had left the }{\deleted duc }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839637 Duc }{de Bassano as +\par governor of the province of Lithuania, and General Hogendorp as +\par military commander. Neither of these two officials was suited to +\par organising the rear echelons of an army. The }{\deleted duc }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839637 Duc }{de Bassano, a +\par former diplomat and private secretary, knew nothing about +\par administration, while the Dutchman Hogendorp, who spoke little +\par French, and had no idea of our military regulations and customs, was +\par not likely to have much success with those French who passed through +\par Wilna or with the local nobility. So the resources available in +\par Lithuania were of no help to our troops. +\par +\par The town of Polotsk is situated on the right bank of the Dvina. +\par Its houses are built of wood and it is dominated by a very large and +\par splendid college, at that time occupied by the Jesuits, almost all of +\par whom were French. It is surrounded by an earthwork fortification, +\par having at one time undergone a siege during the war waged by Charles +\par XII against Peter the Great. The }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839637 corps }{commanded by Ney, Murat and +\par Montbrun, in order to get from Drissa to Witepsk, had built a pontoon +\par bridge across the Dvina}{\deleted ,}{ opposite Polotsk, which they left for Oudinot's }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839636 corps}{ +, which was going to take the road for St. Petersburg. It was from here that 2nd Corps took a different direction to that of the Grande Arm\'e9e, which we did not see again until the following winter, at the crossing of the Beresina. +\par +\par It would require several volumes to describe the manoeuvres and +\par the battles of that part of the army which followed the Emperor to +\par Moscow. I shall therefore limit myself to describing the salient +\par events as they occur. +\par +\par On the 25th of July, there took place near to Ostrovno}{\deleted ,}{ an +\par advance-guard action, in which our infantry were successful, but +\par where several regiments of cavalry were too hastily engaged by Murat. +\par The 16th Chasseurs was amongst this number, and my brother}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839636 ,}{ who +\par commanded a squadron}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839636 ,}{ was captured. He was taken far beyond Moscow to +\par Sataroff, on the Volga, where he joined Colonel Saint-Mars and Octave +\par de S\'e9gur. They helped each other to bear the boredom of captivity, +\par to which my brother was already accustomed, as he had spent several +\par years in the prisons and hulks of Spain. The fortunes of war treated +\par us both differently}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839635 ; }{Adolphe was captured three times but never +\par wounded, while I was often wounded but never captured. +\par +\par While the Emperor, now in control of Wilna, tried}{\deleted ,}{ in vain}{\deleted ,}{ to +\par manoeuvre the Russian army into a decisive battle, Oudinot's }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839635 corps}{, +\par having crossed the Dvina at Polotsk, established itself in front of +\par this town, facing the numerous troops of }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839635 General }{Wittgenstein, who +\par formed the enemy right wing. Before I describe the events which took +\par place on the banks of the Dvina, I should, perhaps, acquaint you with +\par the composition of 2nd Corps. +\par +\par }{\deleted Marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{, who commanded the Corps, had under his orders no +\par more than 44,000 men, divided into three divisions of infantry, +\par commanded by Generals Legrand, Verdier and Merle. There were two +\par brigades of light cavalry. The first, composed of the 23rd and the +\par 24th regiments of Chasseurs, was commanded by }{\deleted general Castex}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967337 General Castex}{, an +\par excellent officer on all counts. The second was formed of the 7th +\par and 20th Chasseurs and the 8th Polish Lancers, commanded by General +\par Corbineau, a brave but dull-witted officer. These brigades were not +\par combined into a single division, but were employed wherever the +\par }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839634 Marshal }{thought necessary. +\par +\par The 24th Chasseurs, with which my regiment was brigaded, was a +\par first class unit which would have done very well if there had been a +\par bond of sympathy between the men and their commander. Unfortunately +\par Colonel A... was very hard on his subordinates}{\deleted ,}{ who, for their part, +\par disliked him. This state of affairs led }{\deleted General Castex}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967337 General Castex}{ to travel and +\par camp with the 23rd, and to unite his field kitchen with mine, even +\par though he had once served in the 24th. Colonel A..., big, skillful +\par and always perfectly mounted, showed up well in engagements featuring +\par the "arme blanche", but was thought not to be so keen on those in +\par which fire-arms and artillery were involved. In spite of this, the +\par Emperor recognised in him qualities which made him undoubtedly the +\par best light cavalry officer in our European armies. No one had a +\par better eye for country. Before he set out, he could predict where +\par there would be obstacles not shown on the map, and where streams, +\par roads and even paths would lead to, and deduce from enemy movements +\par forecasts which were almost always correct. In all the aspects of +\par war, great or small, he was remarkably adept. The Emperor had often +\par used him for reconnaissance in the past and had recommended him to +\par }{\deleted Marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{, who frequently called him into consultation; with +\par the result that many of the laborious and dangerous jobs fell to my +\par regiment. +\par +\par Chap. 8. +\par +\par Hardly had the various army }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839633 corps }{which had preceded us into +\par Polotsk left to join the Emperor at Witepsk, when Oudinot, collecting +\par his troops into a single immense column on the road to +\par }{\deleted Saint-Petersburg}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967375 St. Petersburg}{, marched to attack Wittgenstein's army, which we +\par believed was positioned ten leagues from us, between two little towns +\par named Sebej and Newel. At the end of the day we made our bivouac on +\par the banks of the Drissa. This tributary of the Dvina is no more than +\par a rivulet at the coaching inn of Siwotschina, where it is crossed by +\par the main road to }{\deleted Saint-Petersburg}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967375 St. Petersburg}{; and where, as there is no bridge, +\par the Russian government has instead cut back the steep banks between +\par which the stream runs to make a gently sloping approach, and has +\par paved its bed to the same width as the road, thus creating a passable +\par ford. To the right and left of the ford, however, troops and vehicles +\par cannot cross, because of the steepness of the banks. I mention this +\par because}{\deleted ,}{ three days later this spot was the scene of a brisk +\par engagement. +\par +\par The next day, the 30th, my regiment being on duty, I took my +\par place at the head of the advance-guard and}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839632 ,}{ followed by the whole army +\par }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839632 corps, }{I crossed the ford through the Drissa. The heat was most +\par oppressive, and in the dust-covered corn fields at the side of the +\par road one could see two large areas where the grain had been flattened +\par and crushed, as if a roller had been dragged over it, indicating the +\par passage of a large column of infantry. Suddenly, near the coaching +\par inn of Kliastitsoui}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839632 ,}{ these signs disappeared from the main road, and +\par could be seen to the left on a wide side-road which led to Jacoubovo. +\par It was evident that the enemy had turned off the road to Sebej at +\par this point and was preparing to attack our left flank. This seemed +\par to me to be a serious matter, so I halted our troops and sent a +\par message to warn my general. The }{\deleted marshal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839631 Marshal,}{\deleted ,}{ however, who usually kept +\par in view of the advance-guard, had seen that I had halted. He came +\par along at the gallop and in spite of the opinions of Generals Castex +\par and Lorencez, he ordered me to continue up the main road. I had +\par scarcely gone a league when I saw}{\deleted ,}{ coming towards me}{\deleted ,}{ a calische}{\deleted ,}{ +\par drawn by two post-horses....I stopped it and I saw a Russian officer}{\deleted ,}{ +\par who, overcome by the heat, was lying full-length on its floor. This +\par young man, the son of the nobleman who owned the coaching inn of +\par Kliastitsoui which I had just passed, was one of Wittgenstein's +\par aides-de-camp, and was returning from }{\deleted Saint-Petersburg}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967375 St. Petersburg}{ with the reply +\par to some despatches which the general had sent to the government. You +\par may imagine his surprise when, startled out of his sleep, he found +\par himself surrounded by our bearded }{\deleted Chasseurs}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839630 chasseurs}{, and saw not far away the +\par numerous columns of French soldiers. He could not understand why he +\par had not encountered Wittgenstein's army, or at least some of his +\par scouts, between Sebej and the spot where we were; but his +\par astonishment confirmed the opinion held by }{\deleted General Castex}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967337 General Castex}{ and me that +\par Wittgenstein, to lay a trap for Oudinot, had suddenly quitted the +\par road to }{\deleted Saint-Petersburg}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967375 St. Petersburg}{ to attack the left flank and the rear of the +\par French force. In fact, it was not long before we heard the sound of +\par artillery and gun-fire. +\par +\par }{\deleted Marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{, although taken by surprise by this unexpected +\par attack, extricated himself quite well from the tight spot in which he +\par had landed himself. Ordering his columns to left face, he presented a +\par line to the attacker, who was repulsed so vigourously that he did not +\par care to renew the attack that day, and retired to Jakoubovo. +\par Wittgenstein's cavalry had, however, enjoyed a considerable success, +\par for they had captured, in the French rear, some thousand men}{\deleted ,}{ and +\par some of our equipment; amongst other things, all our mobile forges. +\par This was a serious loss, which was felt badly by the cavalry of 2nd +\par Corps throughout the whole of the campaign. After this engagement, +\par Oudinot's troops having taken up their position, Castex was ordered +\par to return to Kliastitsoui, to guard the point at which the road +\par branched, where we were joined by }{\deleted General Maison}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967290 General Maison}{'s infantry. The +\par Russian officer held prisoner in the house belonging to his father +\par did us the honours with good grace.}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839628 +\par }{ +\par In expectation of a major battle on the following day, the +\par commanders of both armies had made their dispositions, and, at +\par daybreak, the Russians attacked the inn at Kliastitsoui, which +\par constituted the French right wing. Although in these circumstances +\par both our regiments would be in action, the regiment on duty would be +\par in the first rank, and it was the turn of the 24th Chasseurs. To +\par avoid any possibility of hesitation, }{\deleted general Castex}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967337 General Castex}{ placed himself at +\par the head of the regiment, and falling rapidly on the Russians, he +\par overran them and took 400 prisoners without suffering many +\par casualties. He was in the forefront of the attack, and his horse was +\par killed by a bayonet thrust. In the resultant fall his foot had been +\par trodden on, and he was unable for several days to lead the brigade. +\par His place was taken by Colonel A.... +\par +\par The Russian battalions which the 24th had just defeated were +\par immediately replaced by others}{\deleted ,}{ which, emerging from Jacoubovo, +\par marched rapidly towards us. The }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839628 Marshal }{ordered A...}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839628 }{to attack them, +\par and we were told to advance, which we did without delay. Having +\par arrived at the front line, we arranged ourselves in battle order and +\par advanced toward the Russians, who awaited us resolutely. As soon as +\par we were within range, I ordered the charge...! It was carried out +\par with the greatest vigour, for my troopers, as well as displaying +\par their usual courage, were aware that their comrades of the 24th were +\par watching their every move. The Russians made what I consider to be +\par the fatal mistake of discharging all their weapons at once by firing +\par a volley, which, badly aimed, killed only a few men and horses: +\par continuous fire would have been much more devastating. They then +\par needed to reload, but we did not give them time; our excellent +\par horses, galloping at full speed, hit them with such force that many +\par of them were knocked to the ground. A good number got to their feet +\par and attempted to defend themselves with their bayonets against the +\par sabres of our Chasseurs}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839627 ,}{ but after suffering a great many casualties}{\deleted ,}{ +\par they fell back, then broke ranks, and a good number were killed or +\par captured as they fled towards a cavalry regiment which had come to +\par their aid. This was the Grodno Hussars. +\par +\par I have noticed that when a unit has defeated another, it always +\par maintains its superiority. I saw here a further proof of this, for +\par the Chasseurs of the 23rd hurled themselves on the Grodno Hussars, as +\par if they were easy prey, having previously beaten them soundly in a +\par night battle at Drouia, and the Hussars, having recognised their +\par enemy, took to their heels. This regiment, during the rest of the +\par campaign, invariably faced the 23rd, who always retained their +\par ascendancy. While these events were t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ place on our right wing, +\par the infantry on the left and in the centre had attacked the Russians}{\deleted ,}{ +\par who}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839626 ,}{ defeated everywhere, had abandoned the field of battle and at +\par nightfall they went to take up a position about a league away. Our +\par army took possession of the area which it occupied, between Jakoubovo +\par and the road junction at Kliastitsoui. There was much celebration +\par that night in the brigade bivouacs, on account of our victory. My +\par regiment had captured the flag of the Tamboff infantry, and the 24th +\par had also taken that of the Russian unit which they had overcome; but +\par their satisfaction was diminished by the knowledge that two of their +\par squadron commanders had been wounded, both of whom}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839625 ,}{\deleted ,}{ however, made a +\par rapid recovery and served throughout the rest of the campaign. +\par +\par When a unit endeavours to outflank an enemy,}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839625 }{it risks being +\par itself outflanked. This is what happened to Wittgenstein, for +\par }{\deleted having, }{on the night of the 29th, }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839625 having }{left the St. Petersburg road to +\par attack the left and rear of the French army, he had compromised his +\par line of communication, which Oudinot could have cut completely if he +\par taken full advantage of the victory achieved on the 30th. The +\par Russian situation was made worse by the fact that while facing a +\par victorious army which barred its line of retreat, it learned that +\par }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839624 Marshal }{Macdonald, having crossed the Dvina and taken the fort of +\par Dvinaberg, was advancing on the Russian rear. To get out of this +\par difficulty, Wittgenstein had, during the night after the battle, made +\par a cross-country detour which took his army back on to the +\par St.}{\deleted Petersburg }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839624 Petersburg }{road}{\deleted ,}{ at a point beyond the inn at Kliastitsoui. +\par Since, however, he was afraid that the French troops who were in that +\par area might fall on his force during this flank move, he decided to +\par prevent them from doing so by himself attacking them with superior +\par strength, while the bulk of his army regained the route to St. +\par Petersburg and reopened his communications with Sebej. +\par +\par The next day, the 31st of July, my regiment came on duty at dawn, +\par when it could be seen that part of the army}{\deleted ,}{ which we had defeated +\par the day before}{\deleted ,}{ had avoided our right wing and was in full flight +\par towards Sebej, while the remainder were about to attack us at +\par Kliastitsoui. All of }{\deleted marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{'s troops were immediately stood +\par to, but while the generals were arranging them in battle order, a +\par strong column of Russian Grenadiers attacked our allies, the +\par Portuguese, and reduced them to complete disorder; they then turned +\par on the large and solid coaching inn, an important point which they +\par were about to take, when }{\deleted marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{, always in the forefront of +\par any action, hurried to my regiment, which was already at the +\par outposts, and ordered me to try to stop or at least slow down the +\par enemy advance until the arrival of our infantry which was approaching +\par rapidly. I took my regiment off at the gallop, and ordering the +\par trumpeter to sound the charge, I struck the right of the enemy line +\par obliquely, which greatly hindered the ability of their infantry and +\par Grenadiers to fire on us, and they were about to be cut down, for +\par they were already in disorder, when either spontaneously or under the +\par orders of their officers, they made an about turn and ran for a large +\par ditch which they had left behind them. They all scrambled into it +\par and from its cover they directed a continuous fire at us. +\par Immediately I had six or seven men killed and some twenty wounded, +\par and was hit by a stray ball in the left shoulder. My troopers had +\par their blood up, but they could not attack men whom it was +\par physically impossible to reach. At this moment }{\deleted general Maison}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967290 General Maison}{ +\par arrived with his infantry and having ordered me to withdraw behind +\par his columns, he attacked the ditch from both ends and all its +\par defenders were either killed or made prisoner. +\par +\par As for me, with a painful wound, I was taken back to the inn and +\par removed, with difficulty, from my horse. The good Dr. Parot, the +\par regimental surgeon, came to dress my injury, but he had scarcely +\par started this when he was forced to break off. There was a new +\par Russian assault}{\deleted ,}{ and a hail of ball fell about us, so that we had to +\par remove ourselves out of range of the fire. The doctor found that my +\par injury was serious and could have been fatal if the thick braiding of +\par my epaulet, through which the ball had passed, had not deflected it +\par and lessened its force. The blow had been sufficiently heavy to +\par knock me back almost onto my horse's crupper, so that the officers +\par and troopers who were following me thought I had been killed, and I +\par would have fallen if my orderlies had not supported me. The dressing +\par was very painful}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839616 ,}{ for the ball was embedded in the bone at the point +\par where the upper arm joins the collar-bone. To get it out the wound +\par had to be enlarged and you can still see the big scar. +\par +\par I can promise you that if I had been already a }{\deleted Colonel}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839616 colonel}{, I would +\par have joined the many wounded who were being sent back to +\par Polotsk, and after crossing the Dvina I would have sought some +\par Lithuanian town where I might be cared for}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839616 ; }{but I was only a squadron +\par commander and at any time the Emperor could arrive at Witepsk and +\par hold a revue, at which he would award nothing except to those who +\par were present, bearing arms. This custom which at first may seem +\par cruel, was based nevertheless on the interest of the service, for it +\par encouraged the wounded not to remain in hospital any longer than was +\par necessary, and to rejoin their units as soon as they were fit enough +\par to do so. In view of the above, my success in action against the +\par enemy, my recent wound}{\deleted ,}{ received in combat}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839615 ,}{ and my devotion to the +\par regiment, all compelled me not to go away; so I stayed}{\deleted ,}{ in spite of +\par the severe pain which I was suffering, and having put my arm in a +\par sling}{\deleted ,}{ as well as I could, and had myself hoisted onto horseback, I +\par rejoined my regiment. +\par +\par Chap. 9. +\par +\par Since I had been wounded, things had changed considerably; our +\par troops had defeated those of Wittgenstein and taken a great number of +\par prisoners, but the Russians had reached the St. Petersburg road and +\par were continuing their retreat to Sebej. +\par +\par To get to this town from the inn at Kliastitsoui, one must cross the +\par enormous marsh of Khodanui, in the middle of which the main road is +\par raised on an embankment made of huge pine trees laid one next to +\par another. On each side of this causeway is a ditch}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839615 ,}{ or rather a wide +\par and deep canal, and there is no other route except by m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ an +\par exceedingly long detour. The embankment is almost a league long, but +\par of considerable width, so that, it being impossible to put flank +\par guards in the marsh, the Russians marched in dense columns along this +\par artificial road, beyond which our maps showed open country. Marshal +\par Oudinot, aiming at further victory, had decided to follow them, and +\par for this reason he had already despatched on the road to the marsh +\par General Verdier's infantry, which was to be followed first by +\par Castex's brigade of cavalry, then the whole army }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839614 corps}{. My regiment +\par had not yet joined the line when I returned to it. +\par +\par When, in spite of my injury, I took up my place at their head, I +\par received a general acclamation from both officers and men, which +\par showed the affection and esteem in which these brave people held me; +\par I was deeply touched by this, and even more so by the welcome I +\par received from Major Fontaine. This officer, although both courageous +\par and competent, was so unambitious that he had remained a captain for +\par eighteen years, having refused promotion three times, which he had +\par finally accepted only on a direct order from the Emperor. +\par +\par So I once more took command of the 23rd, and began to cross the +\par marsh behind }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839613 General }{Verdier's division, at which the rear unit of +\par the enemy column fired only a few long range shots while they were +\par still on the causeway. When,}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839613 }{however, our infantry reached the open +\par country, they saw the Russian army deployed in battle formation, and +\par were treated to a devastating barrage of artillery fire. +\par Nevertheless, in spite of their losses the French battalions +\par continued to advance. Soon they were all off the embankment and it +\par was the turn of my regiment, at the head of the brigade, to reach the +\par open ground. Colonel A...}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839612 ,}{ who was the temporary brigade commander}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839612 ,}{ +\par was not there to give me orders so I thought it right to remove my +\par regiment from this dangerous spot and I led them off at the gallop as +\par soon as the infantry gave me room; however I had seven or eight men +\par killed and a greater number wounded. The 24th, who followed me, also +\par suffered many casualties. The same happened to }{\deleted general Legrand}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967291 General Legrand}{'s +\par infantry division; but as soon as they were formed up on the plain, +\par }{\deleted marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{ attacked the enemy lines, and they directed their +\par artillery fire at several different points so that the exit from the +\par marsh would have become less perilous for the remainder of the army}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839611 ,}{ +\par if Wittgenstein had not at that moment attacked with all his force +\par the units which we had in the open. His superiority in numbers +\par compelled us to give ground and we were driven back towards the +\par causeway of the Khodanui. Fortunately the track was very wide}{\deleted . }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839611 , }{which +\par allowed us to proceed by platoons. As soon as we left the plain, the +\par cavalry became more of a hindrance than a help. The marshal put us +\par in front of the retreat; we were followed by Verdier's division, +\par whose general had been very seriously wounded, and }{\deleted general Legrand}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967291 General Legrand}{'s +\par division made the rear-guard. The last brigade of this division, +\par commanded by }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839610 General }{Albert, had to fight a very sharp action while +\par its last battalions were getting onto the causeway, but once they +\par were formed into columns }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839610 General }{Albert put eight artillery pieces at +\par the tail end which kept up a continuous fire during the retreat, so +\par it was the turn of the enemy to suffer heavy casualties. By +\par contrast, the Russian artillery rarely discharged a shot because the +\par guns had to be turned round to fire at us and then turned back to +\par continue the pursuit, a lengthy and difficult operation on the +\par causeway, so that they did us little damage. +\par +\par The day was ending when the French troops, having crossed the +\par marsh, repassed Kliastitsoui and found themselves once more on the +\par banks of the Drissa, at the ford of Sivotschina which they had +\par crossed in the morning to follow the Russians who had been defeated +\par at Kliastitsoui. The Russians had their revenge for having caused us +\par seven or eight hundred casualties on the plain beyond the marsh}{\deleted , }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839609 ; }{they +\par now had a sword at our backs. To put an end to the fighting and +\par allow the army some rest, }{\deleted marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{ led it across the ford to +\par set up camp at Bieloe. +\par +\par Night was falling when the outposts which had been left to watch +\par the Drissa, reported that the enemy were crossing the river. The +\par }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839609 Marshal }{went there at once, and could see that eight Russian +\par battalions with a battery of fourteen guns were setting up their +\par bivouac on our side of the river, while the remainder of the army +\par stayed on the other side, preparing no doubt to cross over and attack +\par us on the morrow. This advance party was commanded by }{\deleted general}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839609 General}{ +\par Koulnieff, an enterprising officer}{\deleted ,}{ but one who, like most of the +\par Russian officers of the period}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839609 ,}{ drank to excess. It would seem that +\par on this evening he had drunk more than usual, for it is otherwise +\par difficult to explain why he made the grave error of coming, with no +\par more than eight battalions to set up camp a short distance from an +\par army of forty thousand men, and that in a most unfavourable position; +\par for he had, some two hundred paces behind him, the Drissa, which +\par could not be crossed except by the ford; not because of the depth of +\par the water but because it ran between very steep banks fifteen to +\par twenty feet high. Koulnieff had therefore no other line of retreat +\par but the ford. Could it be that he hoped that his eight battalions +\par and fourteen canons would be able, if defeated, to withdraw smartly +\par across this one passage, in the face of an attack which might be +\par launched at any moment by the French army from nearby Bieloe}{\deleted . }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839607 ? }{The +\par answer must be no, but general Koulnieff was in no state to consider +\par the matter when he put his camp on the left bank of the river. It is +\par perhaps surprising that Wittgenstein should have entrusted the +\par command of his advance guard to Koulnieff, of whose intemperate +\par habits he must have been aware. +\par +\par While the head of the Russian column approached, rashly, to within +\par such a short distance of us, a great confusion reigned, not among the +\par troops, but among their leaders. }{\deleted Marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{, although the +\par bravest of men, lacked consistency, and passed rapidly from a plan of +\par attack to one of a withdrawal. The losses which he had suffered +\par towards the end of the day}{\deleted ,}{ on the other side of the great marsh}{\deleted ,}{ had +\par thrown him into a state of perplexity, and he could not think how he +\par was to carry out the Emperor's orders, which were to push +\par Wittgenstein back at least as far as Sebej and Newel. He was}{\deleted ,}{ +\par therefore delighted to receive, during the night, a despatch +\par informing him of the imminent arrival of a }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{n }{\deleted Corps, }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839606 corps, }{commanded +\par by }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839606 General }{Saint-Cyr, which the Emperor was placing under his orders; +\par but instead of awaiting this powerful reinforcement in his present +\par sound position, Oudinot, advised by the general of artillery, +\par Dulauloy, wished to make contact with the }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{ns by withdrawing +\par his army as far as Polotsk. This inexplicable notion was warmly +\par opposed by the group of generals summoned by the }{\deleted marshal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839606 Marshal}{. General +\par Legrand said that although our success of the morning had been +\par counter-balanced by the losses of the evening, the army was still in +\par good heart and ready to advance, and that to retreat to Polotsk would +\par damage their morale and present them to the }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{ns as a defeated +\par force coming to seek refuge amongst them; an idea which would arouse +\par indignation in all French bosoms. This vigourous speech by Legrand +\par was acclaimed by all the generals and the }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839605 Marshal }{then gave up the +\par project of a retreat. +\par +\par There remained the question of what to do the next day. General +\par Legrand, with the authority of his seniority, long service and +\par experience in warfare, proposed that they should take advantage of +\par the serious error made by Koulnieff by attacking the advance-guard so +\par imprudently placed without support on the bank which we occupied, and +\par drive them back into the Drissa which they had behind them. This +\par advice having been accepted by the }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839605 Marshal }{and all the group, the +\par execution of it was confided to }{\deleted general Legrand}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967291 General Legrand}{. +\par +\par Oudinot's army was encamped in a forest of huge, widely spaced +\par pines, beyond which there was a very extensive clearing. The +\par boundaries of the wood took the form of a bow, the two ends of which +\par reached the Drissa, which formed as it were the bow-string. The +\par Russians had set up their bivouac very close to the river, opposite +\par the ford. Their frontage was protected by fourteen artillery pieces. +\par +\par }{\deleted General Legrand}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967291 General Legrand}{ wanted to take the enemy by surprise, so he +\par ordered }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839605 General }{Albert to send a regiment of infantry to each of the +\par ends of the wood from where they could attack the camp from the flank +\par as soon as they heard the approach of the cavalry, who, emerging from +\par the woods in the centre of the bow would go bald-headed for the +\par Russian battalions and drive them into the ravine. The task given to +\par the cavalry was plainly the most dangerous, for not only had they to +\par make a frontal attack on an enemy armed with 6000 muskets but would +\par also be exposed to the fire of fourteen artillery pieces before they +\par could reach their objective. It was, however, hoped that by a +\par surprise attack, the Russians might be caught asleep, and put up +\par little resistance. +\par +\par You have seen that my regiment having come on duty on the morning +\par of the 31st July at Kliastitsoui, had continued to serve for the +\par whole of that day, and should, according to the regulations, have +\par been relieved by the 24th at 1 A.M. on the 1st August, and it was +\par this regiment whose duty it was to carry out the attack, while mine +\par remained in reserve; there being only enough space in the clearing +\par between the woods and the stream for one regiment of cavalry. +\par However, Colonel A... went to Oudinot and suggested to him that there +\par was a danger that while we were preparing to attack the troops in +\par front of us, General Wittgenstein might send a strong column to our +\par right which could cross the Drissa at another ford which probably +\par existed some three leagues upstream from where we were, and gaining +\par our rear could capture our wounded and our equipment; and that it +\par would be a good idea to send a regiment of cavalry to keep an eye on +\par this ford. The }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839603 Marshal }{fell in with this suggestion and Colonel A...}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839603 ,}{ +\par whose regiment had just come on duty, quickly ordered his men into +\par the saddle and led them off on this expedition which he had thought +\par up, leaving to the 23rd the dangers of the battle which was about to +\par take place. +\par +\par My regiment received with calm the news of the perilous mission +\par which had been thrust upon them and welcomed the appearance of the +\par }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839602 Marshal }{and }{\deleted General Legrand}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967291 General Legrand}{ when they came to supervise the +\par preparations for this important attack which we were about to carry +\par out. +\par +\par At this time}{\deleted ,}{ all the French regiments, with the exception of the +\par Cuirassiers, had a company of Grenadiers, known as the \'e9lite company, +\par whose customary position was on the right of the line, a position +\par which they held in the 23rd. }{\deleted General Legrand}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967291 General Legrand}{ observed to the }{\deleted marshal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839602 Marshal}{ +\par that}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839601 ,}{ as the enemy had placed their artillery in front of their +\par centre, it was there that most danger would lie, and in order to +\par avoid any hesitation which might compromise the whole operation, it +\par would be advisable to attack this point with the \'e9lite company, which +\par was composed of the most seasoned soldiers mounted on the best +\par horses. It was in vain that I assured the }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839601 Marshal }{that the regiment +\par was in all respects as solid in one part as in another, he ordered me +\par to put the \'e9lite company in the centre, which I then did. I next +\par gathered the officers together and explained to them in low tones +\par what we were to do, and warned them that, the better to surprise the +\par enemy, I would give no preparatory commands and would simply order +\par the charge when we were within close range of the enemy guns. Once +\par everything had been arranged, the regiment left its bivouac, in +\par complete silence, at the first faint light of dawn, and made its way +\par without difficulty through the wood, the great trees of which were +\par widely spaced, and arrived at the level clearing in which was the +\par Russian encampment. I alone in the regiment had no sabre in my hand, +\par for having only one hand which I could use, I needed that to hold the +\par reins of my horse. You will understand that this was a very +\par unpleasant situation for a cavalry officer about to engage the enemy. +\par +\par However, I had chosen to go with my regiment and so I placed myself +\par in front of the \'e9lite company, having beside me their gallant +\par captain, M. Courteau, one of the finest of officers and one whom I +\par valued most highly. +\par +\par All was quiet in the Russian camp, towards which we advanced +\par slowly and in silence, and my hopes of achieving a total surprise +\par were increased by the fact that }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839600 General }{Koulnieff not having brought +\par any cavalry across the ford, we saw no mounted outposts, and could +\par distinguish}{\deleted only}{, by the feeble light of their fires, }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839600 only }{a few infantry +\par sentries, posted so close to the camp that between their warning and +\par our sudden arrival the Russians would have little chance to prepare +\par themselves for defence. Suddenly, however, two prowling and +\par suspicious Cossack peasants appeared on horseback, some thirty paces +\par from our line, and after regarding it for a moment they fled towards +\par the camp, where it was obvious that they intended to give warning of +\par our presence. This mischance was very unfortunate, because had it not +\par been for that}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839599 ,}{\deleted ,}{ we would certainly have reached the Russians without +\par losing a man; however since we were now discovered and were in any +\par case nearing the spot where I had decided to increase the speed of +\par our advance, I urged my horse into a gallop; the regiment did the +\par same, and shortly I gave the order to sound the charge. +\par +\par At this signal my gallant troopers and I launched ourselves at the +\par enemy, upon whom we fell like a thunderbolt. The two Cossacks had, +\par however, raised the alarm. The gunners, sleeping beside their guns, +\par grabbed their slow matches, and fourteen canons belched grapeshot at +\par the regiment. Thirty-seven men, of whom nineteen belonged to the +\par \'e9lite company, were killed outright. The brave Captain Courteau was +\par amongst them, as was Lieutenant Lallouette. The Russian gunners were +\par attempting to reload their guns when they were cut down by our men. +\par We had few wounded, almost all the injuries having been fatal. We +\par had some forty}{\deleted .}{ horses killed, mine was maimed by a heavy bullet}{\deleted ,}{ but +\par was able to carry me to the Russian camp where the soldiers, rudely +\par awakened from their sleep, were rushing to take up their arms, but +\par were being sabred by our troopers, whom I had ordered to get between +\par them and the rows of muskets, so that few were able to reach one and +\par fire at us. Then, alerted by the sound of gunfire, }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839598 General }{Albert's +\par two regiments of infantry ran from the wood to attack the two sides +\par of the camp, bayoneting all who resisted. The Russians, in disorder, +\par were unable to withstand this triple attack. Many of them, who +\par having arrived at night had not been able to see the height of the +\par river banks, tried to escape by this route and falling fifteen or +\par twenty feet onto the rocks were injured and in many cases killed. +\par +\par General Koulnieff, hardly awake, joined a group of two thousand +\par men of whom about one third had muskets, and following mechanically +\par this disorganised crowd, he}{\deleted ,}{ arrived at the ford, but I had given +\par orders that this important spot should be occupied by five or six +\par hundred horsemen, amongst whom were the \'e9lite company who, enraged at +\par the loss of their captain, massacred most of the Russians. General +\par Koulnieff, who had already been drinking, attacked Sergeant Legendre, +\par who, thrusting his sabre into the Russian's neck, laid him dead at +\par his feet. M. de. S\'e9gur, in his story of the campaign of 1812, has +\par General Koulnieff m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ a dying speech worthy of Homer. I was +\par within a few feet of Sergeant Legendre when he drove his sabre into +\par Koulnieff's throat, and I can certify that the }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839597 General }{fell without +\par uttering a word. The victory achieved by }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839597 General }{Albert's infantry +\par and the 23rd was complete. The enemy had at least 2000 men killed or +\par wounded and we took around 4000 prisoners. The remainder perished by +\par falling on the sharp rocks of the river. Some of the most agile +\par Russians managed to rejoin Wittgenstein, who}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839597 ,}{ when he heard of the +\par sanguinary defeat of his advance-guard, began a retreat toward Sebej. +\par +\par }{\deleted Marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{, encouraged by the resounding success which he had +\par just gained, decided to pursue the Russians, and took his army, as on +\par the previous day, back across the Drissa to the right bank; but in +\par order to give }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839597 General }{Albert's infantry brigade and the 23rd +\par Chasseurs an opportunity to recover from the effects of the fighting, +\par he left them to keep watch on the field of battle at Sivotschina. I +\par took advantage of this period of rest to carry out a ceremony rarely +\par seen in war. This was to pay my last respects to those of our brave +\par comrades who had lost their lives. They were laid, arranged by rank, +\par in a large pit, with }{\deleted captain }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839597 Captain }{Courteau and his lieutenant at their +\par head. Then the fourteen canons, so gallantly captured by the 23rd, +\par were placed before this military tomb. +\par +\par Having completed this act of piety, I wished to dress my wound of +\par the previous day, which was causing me a great deal of pain, and to +\par do this I went to sit apart under a huge pine tree. There I saw a +\par young battalion commander, who with his back against the trunk and +\par held up by two Grenadiers, was painfully closing a little package on +\par which a name was traced in his blood. This officer, who belonged to +\par Albert's brigade, had suffered, during the attack on the Russian +\par camp, an appalling bayonet wound which had slit open his abdomen from +\par which the intestines were protruding, pierced in several places. +\par Although some dressing had been applied the blood still flowed and +\par the wound was mortal. The doomed man, who was well aware of this, +\par had wished, before he died, to take leave of a lady whom he loved but +\par did not know to whom he might entrust this precious message, when +\par chance brought me there. We knew each other only by sight, but +\par nonetheless, urged by the approach of death, he asked me, in a voice +\par now faint, to do him two favours, then motioning the Grenadiers to +\par one side he gave me the package, and saying, with tears in his +\par eyes,}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839596 }{"It is a portrait," he made me promise to deliver it secretly, +\par with my own hands, if I was fortunate enough to return}{\deleted ,}{ one day}{\deleted ,}{ to +\par Paris. "In any case}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839596 ,}{" he added "there is no hurry, for it would be +\par better if this was received long after I am gone." I promised to +\par carry out this sad task, which I was unable to do until two years +\par later in 1814. The second request which he made I was able to carry +\par out within some two hours. He was distressed to think that his body +\par would be devoured by the wolves which abounded in the country and +\par asked to be put beside the captain and the troopers of the 23rd, +\par whose burial he had seen. This I promised}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839595 ,}{ and when he died}{\deleted ,}{ not long +\par after our unhappy meeting, I carried out this last wish. +\par +\par Chap. 10. +\par +\par Deeply moved by this unhappy event,I was meditating with much +\par sadness, when I was awakened from my reveries by the distant sound of +\par a sustained cannonade. The two armies were once more in action. +\par }{\deleted Marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{, after passing the inn at Kliastitsoui, where I had +\par been wounded the day before}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839594 ,}{ had contacted the Russian rear-guard at +\par the beginning of the marsh, the exit from which had been so +\par disastrous for us on the previous day. He was determined to drive the +\par enemy back, but they were not prepared to pass through this +\par dangerous defile, and mounted a counter-offensive against the French +\par troops}{\deleted ,}{ who}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839594 ,}{ after suffering considerable losses}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839594 ,}{ retreated, followed +\par by the Russians. One might have thought that Oudinot and +\par Wittgenstein were playing a game of prisoner's base, advancing and +\par retreating by turn. The news of this fresh retreat by Oudinot was +\par given to us on the battlefield of Sivotschina by an aide-de-camp, who +\par brought to General Albert the order to take his brigade}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839594 ,}{ together with +\par the 23rd Chasseurs, two leagues to the rear, in the direction of +\par Polotsk. +\par +\par When it came to leaving, I was unwilling to part with the fourteen +\par artillery pieces}{\deleted ,}{ captured that morning by my regiment, and as the +\par horses which pulled them had also fallen into our hands, they were +\par harnessed up and we took the guns to our next bivouac, and on the +\par night following to Polotsk, where it was not long before they played +\par an effective part in the defence of that town. +\par +\par Oudinot withdrew that same day to the ford at Sivotschina, which +\par he had crossed in the morning in pursuit of Wittgenstein}{\deleted ,}{ who}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839593 ,}{ bearing +\par in mind the disaster which had overwhelmed his advance-guard at this +\par place on the occasion, did not risk sending any isolated unit across +\par to the bank which we occupied. So the two armies, separated by the +\par Drissa, settled themselves for the night. +\par +\par On the following day, the 2nd August, Oudinot having joined his +\par units at Polotsk, hostilities ceased for a few days, as both sides +\par were in need of a rest. We were rejoined by the good }{\deleted General Castex}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967337 General Castex}{ +\par and also by the 24th Chasseurs, who were very angry with their +\par Colonel for leading them away when it was their turn to attack the +\par Russian camp. On their trip up the Drissa they had seen no sign of +\par the enemy nor had they found any trace of the supposed ford. +\par +\par After several days rest Wittgenstein led part of his troops +\par towards the lower Dvina, from where Macdonald was threatening his +\par right. When }{\deleted Marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{ followed the Russian army in that +\par direction it turned to face him, and for a week or ten days there was +\par a series of marches and countermarches, and several minor engagements +\par which it would be too long and wearisome to describe, and which +\par resulted only in the useless killing of men and the demonstration of +\par the indecision of both commanders. +\par +\par The most serious engagement during this short period took place on +\par the 13th August near the magnificent monastery of Valensoui, built on +\par the bank of the Svolna. This little river}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839592 ,}{ which has very muddy banks}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839592 ,}{ +\par separated the French and the Russians, and it was obvious that +\par whichever general attempted to force a crossing on such unfavourable +\par terrain would come to grief. Neither Oudinot nor Wittgenstein had +\par any intention of crossing the Svolna at this point; but instead of +\par going to look for some other place where they could meet in combat, +\par they took up positions on either side of this watercourse, as it were +\par in mutual despite. Soon there was from both banks a lively cannonade +\par which was totally useless as the troops on neither side could attack +\par their adversaries and was no credit to either party. +\par +\par However Wittgenstein, to protect the lives of his men, had +\par restricted himself to posting some battalions of unmounted Chasseurs +\par among the willows and reeds which bordered the stream, and had kept +\par the bulk of his force out of the range of the French guns, whose +\par brisk fire hit only some of his sharpshooters, while Oudinot, who had +\par insisted, in spite of the sensible advice of several generals, on +\par bringing his first line up to the Svolna suffered losses which he +\par could have and should have avoided. The Russian artillery is nowhere +\par as good as ours, but they used pieces called licornes, which had a +\par range exceeding that of the French guns of the period, and it was +\par these licornes which did the most damage among our troops. +\par +\par }{\deleted Marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{, in his belief that the enemy were going to cross +\par the river, not only kept a division of infantry in position to repel +\par them, but supported them with }{\deleted general Castex}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967337 General Castex}{'s cavalry, an +\par unnecessary precaution, since a crossing of even a small river takes +\par more time than is needed for the defenders to hurry into a position +\par to oppose it. Nonetheless my regiment was exposed for twenty-four +\par hours to the Russian fire, which killed or wounded several of my men. +\par +\par During this confrontation in which the troops remained stationary +\par for a long period, there arrived the aide-de-camp whom Oudinet had +\par sent to Witepsk to report to the Emperor the result of the battles at +\par Kliastitsoui and at Sivotschina. Napoleon}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839591 ,}{ who wanted to make it +\par clear to the troops that he did not blame them for the lack of +\par success in our operations, loaded 2nd Corps with rewards in the way +\par of decorations and promotions, and then, turning to the cavalry, he +\par awarded four }{\deleted crosses }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839590 Crosses }{of the }{\deleted Legion of Honou}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094369 Legion of Honou}{r to each of the cavalry +\par regiments. In the despatch announcing this news, Major-general the +\par Prince Berthier added that in order to show his satisfaction with the +\par conduct of the 23rd Chasseurs at Wilkomir}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839590 ,}{\deleted ,}{ at the bridge of +\par Dvinaburg}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839590 ,}{\deleted ,}{ in the night battle at Drouia, at Kliastitsoui}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839590 ,}{ and above +\par all in the attack on the Russian camp at Sivotschina, the Emperor was +\par awarding them, in addition to the four decorations given to the other +\par regiments, fourteen decorations, one for each of the guns captured by +\par them from Koulnieff's advance-guard, so that I had now eighteen +\par crosses to distribute among my brave soldiers. The aide-de-camp had +\par not brought the awards themselves, but the Major-general had added to +\par his letter the request that the regimental commanders should draw up +\par a list of recipients and forward it to him. +\par +\par I assembled all the captains, and after t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ their advice, I +\par drew up my list, and presented it to }{\deleted marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{, asking at the +\par same time if I might be allowed to announce the awards immediately to +\par my regiment: "What, here, under fire?" "Yes, marshal, under fire. +\par That enhances their value." +\par +\par General Lorencez, who as chief of staff had written the report of +\par the various actions, in which he had highly praised the 23rd, agreed +\par with my suggestion and so the }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839589 Marshal }{consented. The decorations +\par would not arrive until later, but I had my servant look in my baggage +\par for a piece of ribbon which I had in my portmanteau, and when it was +\par found, and after it had been cut into eighteen pieces, I announced to +\par the regiment the awards which the Emperor had presented, and calling +\par out of the ranks each of the recipients in turn, I gave them a piece +\par of the red ribbon, then so keenly wished for and so proudly worn, and +\par which has since then been so diminished in value, almost prostituted, +\par by handing it out indiscriminately to all and sundry. +\par +\par This ceremony, conducted in the field and under fire, had a great +\par effect, and the enthusiasm of the regiment was at its height when I +\par announced the name of }{\deleted sergeant }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839588 Sergeant }{Prud'homme, reputed justly to be the +\par most intrepid and unassuming of the warriors of the 23rd. This brave +\par survivor of many a fierce encounter, accepted with modesty his piece +\par of ribbon, to the sound of loud acclamation from all the squadrons. +\par A moment of well earned triumph. I shall never forget this moving +\par scene which took place, as you know, within range of the enemy guns. +\par +\par Sadly, there is no rose without its thorn. Two of the men who +\par were included in my list had just been severely wounded. Sergeant +\par Legendre, who had killed General Koulnieff, had an arm carried away, +\par and Corporal Griffon had a leg smashed. The injured limbs were being +\par amputated when I went to the dressing station to give them their +\par decorations. At the sight of the ribbons they forgot for a moment +\par their pain, but unhappily, Sergeant Legendre did not long survive his +\par injury, though Griffon recovered and was sent back to France, where I +\par saw him some years later in Les Invalides. +\par +\par The 24th Chasseurs, who received only four decorations as opposed +\par to the eighteen awarded to the 23rd, conceded that this was fair, but +\par nevertheless they regretted that they had been deprived of the honour +\par of t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ the fourteen Russian guns at Sivotschina, even at the cost +\par of suffering such casualties as ours, "We are soldiers" they said, +\par "and must take our chances for better or worse." They blamed their +\par }{\deleted Colonel }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839587 colonel }{for providing them with what they called this let-}{\deleted out}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839587 down}{. Here +\par was an army whose men actually clamoured for action. +\par +\par You will doubtless wonder what I got out of all this, and the +\par answer is nothing. The Emperor, before he removed Colonel de La +\par Nougar\'e8de from the command of the regiment and either made him a +\par general or head of a legion of gendarmes, wanted to know if his +\par health would permit him to carry out the duties of either of these +\par two ranks. As a consequence }{\deleted marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{ was ordered to bring +\par Colonel de La Nougar\'e8de before a medical board, whose conclusion was +\par that he would never be able to mount a horse. In view of this, the +\par }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839586 Marshal }{authorised the Colonel's return to France, where he was given +\par the command of a minor fortress. The unfortunate Colonel, before +\par leaving Polotsk, where his infirmities had forced him to remain, +\par wrote me a very touching letter in which he took his leave of the +\par 23rd, and although he had never led the regiment into action, an +\par event which increases the men's regard for their commander, his +\par departure was justifiably regretted. +\par +\par The regiment now being without a }{\deleted Colonel}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839586 colonel}{, the }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839586 Marshal }{expected to +\par receive at any moment the order for my promotion to that rank, and +\par quite frankly so did I. The Emperor had however moved away, and had +\par left Witepsk to take Smolensk and from there to march on Moscow}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839586 ,}{ and +\par the work of his cabinet had been slowed by their preoccupation with +\par military operations to such an extent that I was not gazetted Colonel +\par until three months later. +\par +\par Let us now return to the banks of the Svolna, which the French +\par left hurriedly}{\deleted ,}{ after depositing some of their wounded in the +\par monastery of Valensoui. Amongst those whom we lost was M. Casabianca, +\par Colonel of the 11th light infantry regiment, who had served with me +\par as aide-de-camp to Mass\'e9na. He was a very fine officer whose +\par promotion had been rapid; but his career was ended by a head injury +\par received when he was visiting some of his men on the bank of the +\par Svolna. He was dying when I saw him on a stretcher carried by some +\par sappers. He recognised me and sh}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ my hand he observed that he +\par was sorry to see our army }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839585 corps }{so poorly managed. The poor fellow +\par died that evening. +\par +\par His last words were only too well founded, for our leader seemed to +\par proceed without method or plan. After a success, he pursued +\par Wittgenstein regardless of any obstacles and spoke of nothing less +\par than driving him back as far as }{\deleted Saint-Petersburg}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967375 St. Petersburg}{, but at the least +\par check he retreated swiftly and started seeing enemies everywhere. It +\par was in this last state that he took his troops back to Polotsk, +\par although they were displeased being at being made to fall back before +\par the Russians whom they had recently defeated in almost every +\par encounter. +\par +\par On the 15th of August, the Emperor's birthday, 2nd Corps arrived +\par dejectedly at Polotsk, where we met with 6th Corps, formed of the +\par two fine }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{n divisions of General Wr\'e8de, which had a French +\par general, Gouvion Saint-Cyr in overall command. The Emperor had sent +\par this reinforcement of 8 to 10,000 men to }{\deleted Marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{, who would +\par have received it with more pleasure if he had not }{\deleted beem }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839584 been }{afraid of the +\par man in command. +\par +\par Saint-Cyr was one of the most competent soldiers in Europe. A +\par contemporary and rival of Moreau, Hoche, Kleber and Desaix, he had +\par successfully commanded one wing of the French army of the Rhine at a +\par time when Oudinot was scarcely a colonel or a brigade commander. I do +\par not know anyone who could command troops in the field better than +\par Saint-Cyr. +\par +\par The son of a small landowner in Toul, he had studied to be a civil +\par engineer, but he gave this up to become an actor in Paris, where he +\par created the well-known role of "Robert,the Brigand Chief}{\deleted ". }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839584 ." }{In the +\par City Theatre, where he was when the revolution of '89 broke out}{\deleted .}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839584 ,}{ +\par Saint-Cyr joined a volunteer battalion, where he showed great courage +\par and military talent, and soon became a divisional general and gained +\par a number of victories. He was a tall man but looked more like a +\par schoolmaster than a soldier, due in part perhaps to the habit adopted +\par by the generals of the army of the Rhine of wearing neither uniform +\par nor epaulets, but only a plain blue greatcoat. +\par +\par One could not imagine anyone more }{\deleted self }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839583 self-}{controlled}{\deleted , }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839583 ; }{the greatest +\par dangers, setbacks, successes, or defeats, failed to rouse him to any +\par show of emotion. He maintained an icy calm in all situations. It is +\par obvious how useful such a temperament coupled with a taste for study +\par and meditation, might be to a general officer, but Saint-Cyr had also +\par some serious faults. Jealous of his comrades, he had been known to +\par hold his troops back}{\deleted ,}{ while, close to him, other divisions were +\par decimated in a desperate struggle. He would then advance and +\par profiting from the exhaustion of the enemy he would overcome them, +\par and thus appear to have won the victory }{\deleted single }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839582 single-}{handed. Secondly, if +\par Saint-Cyr was one of the best officers in the employment of troops in +\par the field, he was without doubt the one who took the least interest +\par in their welfare. He never inquired if the men had food, clothing or +\par footwear, or if their arms were in proper repair. He never held an +\par inspection, nor visited the hospitals, nor even asked if there were +\par any! In his opinion it was the duty of the }{\deleted Colonels }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839582 colonels }{to see to all +\par that. In short he wanted to be presented on the field of battle with +\par regiments in fighting order, without troubling himself to see that +\par they were kept in that condition. This sort of behaviour had not +\par done Saint-Cyr any good. Wherever he served}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839582 ,}{\deleted ,}{ the soldiers, although +\par acknowledging his military talents, regarded him without affection. +\par His fellow officers dreaded working with him and the various +\par governments which had taken power in France had employed him only out +\par of necessity. The Emperor did the same, but he so much disliked +\par Saint-Cyr that when he created the rank of marshal he left his name +\par off the list of promotions, even though he had seen more service and +\par shown more skill than most of those to whom Napoleon awarded the +\par baton. Such was the man whom the Emperor had just placed under +\par Oudinet's orders, to the great regret of the latter}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839581 ,}{ who feared that +\par he would be shown up by comparison with Saint-Cyr's superior talents. +\par +\par On the 16th of August, the day on which my eldest son Alfred was +\par born, the Russian army of some sixty thousand men attacked Oudinot, +\par who, including the }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{n unit led by Saint-Cyr, had fifty two +\par thousand men under his command. In any other circumstances an +\par engagement between one hundred and twelve thousand men would have +\par been called a battle; but in 1812 the when the total number of +\par combatants amounted to some six or seven hundred thousand, a fight +\par involving one hundred thousand men was no more than an action, and it +\par is this description which is given to the struggle at Polotsk between +\par the Russian troops and those of }{\deleted marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{. +\par +\par The town of Polotsk, built on the right bank of the Dvina, is +\par surrounded by old earthen ramparts. Before the main frontage of the +\par town the fields are divided by a large number of little ditches}{\deleted ,}{ +\par between which vegetables are grown. Although these obstacles are not +\par impassable for artillery and cavalry, they hinder their movement. +\par These gardens extend for less than half a league in front of the +\par town, but on their left, on the bank of the Divna}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839579 ,}{ there is a large +\par area of level ground. It is here that the Russian general should have +\par attacked Polotsk, for it would have given him command of the frail +\par and only pontoon bridge, which was our communication with the left +\par bank from which we drew our ammunition and food supply. But +\par Wittgenstein chose to make a frontal attack and directed his main +\par force towards the gardens from where he hoped to scale the ramparts +\par which, to tell the truth, were no more than easily climbed +\par embankments, whose height, however, allowed them to dominate the +\par ground in front of them. The attack was pressed home vigourously, but +\par our infantry put up a stout defence among the gardens, while from the +\par height of the ramparts the guns, among which were the fourteen +\par captured by the 23rd at Sivotschina, ravaged the enemy ranks. The +\par Russians fell back in disorder to reform themselves on the plain. +\par Oudinot, instead of staying sensibly where he was, went after them +\par and was in turn driven off with casualties. The greater part of the +\par day was spent in this way, the Russians returning repeatedly to the +\par attack, only to be driven back beyond the gardens by the French. +\par +\par During these blood-stained comings and goings, what was }{\deleted general}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839579 General}{ +\par Saint-Cyr doing? He was following Oudinot about in silence, and when +\par asked for his opinion he merely bowed and said "Monseigneur le +\par }{\deleted marachal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839577 Marachal}{..}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839578 .}{!" as if meaning since you have been made marshal, you must +\par know more than me, a simple general. So you can sort this out for +\par yourself. +\par +\par Wittgenstein, having lost a great many men and despairing of gaining +\par victory by continued attacks in the area of the gardens, ended up +\par where he should have begun, by marching his troops towards the +\par meadows which bordered the Dvina. Up until this time}{\deleted ,}{ Oudinot had +\par kept his twelve pounders and all his cavalry at this spot, as if they +\par had nothing to do with the fighting; but the artillery general, +\par Dulauloy, anxious about his guns, suggested to the }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839578 Marshal }{that he +\par should send not only the large calibre guns but also all the cavalry +\par over to the left bank, on the pretext that they got in the way of the +\par infantry. When Oudinot asked Saint-Cyr what he thought, instead of +\par offering the sound advice that the artillery and the cavalry should +\par stay where they were, on ground which allowed them to manoeuvre with +\par ease}{\deleted ,}{ and support the infantry}{\deleted . H}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839577 , h}{e only repeated his endless +\par "Monseigneur le Marachal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839577 ...}{". In the end, Oudinot, in spite of the +\par opinion of }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839577 General }{Lorencez, his chief-of-staff, ordered the +\par artillery and the cavalry to withdraw to the other side of the river. +\par This ill-advised movement, which looked like the prelude to a +\par retreat and the total abandonment of Polotsk and the right bank, +\par greatly displeased the troops who were involved, and lowered the +\par morale of the infantry whose job it was to defend that part of the +\par town which faced the open ground. The spirits of the Russians were, +\par on the contrary, raised when they saw ten regiments of cavalry and +\par several batteries of guns leaving the field of battle. In an effort +\par to create confusion in this huge mass as it departed they brought +\par forward and fired their licornes, the hollow ammunition of which acts +\par first as a cannon-ball and then explodes like a mortar bomb. The +\par regiments next to mine had several men killed or wounded. I was +\par lucky enough to have none of my men hit though I lost some horses. +\par My own horse was hit in the head and as it fell I went down with it +\par and my injured shoulder struck hard on the ground, which was very +\par painful. If the Russian gun had been elevated a bit more, it would +\par have been I who was hit, fair and square, and my son would have been +\par an orphan a few hours after first seeing the light of day. +\par +\par The enemy now resumed their attack, and when, after crossing the +\par bridge, we looked back to see what was happening on the bank which we +\par had just left, we saw a disturbing spectacle. The French, }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{n +\par and Croatian infantry were fighting bravely and holding their own, +\par but the Portuguese legion and the two Swiss regiments fled before the +\par Russians, and did not stop until, having been driven into the river, +\par they were in the water up to their knees. Then, forced to face the +\par enemy or drown, they at last struck back, and by a constant barrage +\par of fire they compelled the Russians to draw back a little. The +\par commander of the French artillery, who had just crossed the Dvina +\par with the cavalry, skillfully made use of the opportunity to be +\par useful, by bringing his guns to the river bank and directing a heavy +\par fire across the stream at the enemy battalions drawn up on the +\par opposite bank. +\par +\par This powerful intervention having stopped Wittgenstein's men at +\par this point, while the French, }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{ns and Croats drove them back +\par elsewhere, the fighting eased up and an hour before the end of the +\par day had degenerated into random firing. The }{\deleted marshal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839575 Marshal}{, however could +\par not escape the fact that he would have to continue fighting the next +\par day; and so, preoccupied by a situation the outcome of which he could +\par not predict, and ruffled by the obstinate silence of Saint-Cyr, he +\par was walking his horse slowly, followed by only one aide-de-camp, +\par among musketeers of his infantry, when enemy marksmen, seeing a +\par rider with a plumed hat, took aim and put a ball through his arm. +\par +\par The }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839575 Marshal }{at once informed Saint-Cyr of the injury and handing to +\par him the command of the army left him to sort matters out. He himself +\par left the field, crossed the bridge, stopped for a few moments at the +\par cavalry bivouac and quitting the army went to Lithuania in our rear, +\par to have his wound cared for. We did not see him again for two +\par months. +\par +\par Chap. 11. +\par +\par Saint-Cyr took up with a firm and skillful hand the reins of +\par command, and in a few hours completely changed the look of things. +\par Such is the influence of a man who is competent and who inspires +\par confidence. }{\deleted Marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{ had left the army in a perilous state: +\par part of his force driven back to the edge of the river, and the rest +\par scattered amongst the gardens where they were firing at random}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839574 ; }{an +\par inadequate lay-out of guns on the ramparts}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839574 ; }{the streets of the town +\par cluttered with wagons, baggage, sutlers and wounded, all in complete +\par confusion, while the troops had no means of retreat, should they be +\par overcome, other than the pontoon bridge across the Dvina, a bridge +\par which was very narrow and in such a bad state that the water was six +\par inches over the }{\deleted planKing }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839574 planking }{of its platform. Finally, night was +\par approaching and it was feared that the shooting would lead to a +\par general action which might be disastrous in view of the disorder +\par which ruled amongst the regiments of different nationalities. +\par +\par General Saint-Cyr's first act was to order the withdrawal of +\par those infantrymen who were in action, in the certainty that the tired +\par enemy would do the same, as soon as they were no longer under attack. +\par +\par The result was that soon the firing ceased on both sides. The +\par troops were able to re-form and to have some rest, and further +\par fighting was postponed until the next day. In order to put himself in +\par a more favourable position, Saint-Cyr used the night to make +\par preparations for the repulse of the enemy and to ensure a line of +\par retreat, should it be necessary. With this aim, he gathered together +\par all the }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839573 corps }{commanders and after m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ clear to them the dangers +\par of the situation, one of the more serious of which was the +\par obstruction of the streets of the town and the approaches to the +\par bridge, he ordered that the }{\deleted Colonels}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839573 colonels}{, accompanied by several officers +\par and with patrols, should go through the streets, sending those men of +\par their regiments who were fit to their bivouac area, and all the +\par wounded, sick, led horses, sutlers and carts to the other side of the +\par bridge. General Saint-Cyr added that he would visit the town at +\par daybreak and would suspend from duty any }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839572 corps }{commander who had not +\par carried out his instructions promptly! No excuse would be accepted! +\par There was a rush to obey. The sick and wounded were carried to the +\par left bank as well as everything which was not actually required for +\par combat. That is to say all the impedimenta of the army. In this way +\par the streets and the bridge were soon completely clear. The bridge +\par was strengthened and the cavalry and guns brought back to the right +\par bank and located in a suburb furthest from the enemy; and then, to +\par improve his means of retreat, the prudent general had a second bridge +\par made out of empty barrels and planks, which was for the sole use of +\par the infantry. All these preparations having been completed before +\par daylight, the army awaited its enemies with confidence. The latter, +\par however, did not stir from their encampment, set up on the open +\par ground at the edge of the vast forest which surrounds Polotsk on the +\par side opposite to the river. +\par +\par General Saint-Cyr, who had expected to be attacked in the early +\par morning, attributed the tranquillity which reigned in the Russian +\par camp to the tremendous losses they had suffered the previous day. +\par This may have been part of the reason, but the main cause of +\par Wittgenstein's inactivity was that he expected}{\deleted ,}{ the arrival, during +\par the coming night, of a strong division of infantry and several +\par squadrons of cavalry from St. Petersburg, and he had delayed his +\par attack until he had received this powerful reinforcement so that he +\par might the more easily defeat us on the day following. +\par +\par Although the Polish nobles, the great landowners of the property +\par round Polotsk, did not dare to support us openly, they did so in +\par secret, and had no difficulty in providing us with spies. General +\par Saint-Cyr, uneasy at what was going on in the Russian camp, arranged +\par with one of these noblemen to have him send there one of his more +\par enlightened vassals. The landowner sent to the Russian camp several +\par cartloads of forage, and put amongst his carters his bailiff, dressed +\par as a peasant. This man, who was highly intelligent, learned}{\deleted ,}{ by +\par chatting to Wittgenstein's soldiers}{\deleted ,}{ that they were expecting a large +\par body of troops, and even witnessed the arrival of some Cossacks and +\par some cavalry, and was told that several battalions would arrive at +\par the camp around midnight. Having gathered this information, the +\par bailiff passed it to his master, who hurried to warn the commander of +\par the French forces. +\par +\par When he heard this news, Saint-Cyr determined to strike at +\par Wittgenstein before the arrival of the expected reinforcements. But +\par as he did not want to be involved in a long }{\deleted drawn }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839571 drawn-}{out affair, he +\par warned his generals and }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839571 corps }{commanders that he would not attack +\par until six in the evening, so that, as night would put an end to the +\par fighting, the Russians would be unable to exploit their success if +\par things went their way. It is true that if we were victorious we +\par would be unable to pursue the enemy in the dark, but Saint-Cyr had no +\par intention of doing this, and}{\deleted ,}{ for the moment}{\deleted ,}{ wanted only to teach +\par the Russians a lesson which would drive them away from Polotsk. As +\par the French general aimed at t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ the Russians by surprise, he +\par ordered absolute calm to be maintained in the town and above all in +\par the lines of outposts. +\par +\par The day seemed very long. Everyone, even the }{\deleted general}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839570 General}{, in spite of +\par his sang-froid, constantly looked at his watch. Having observed +\par that, on the previous day, the absence of the French cavalry had +\par allowed the Russians to drive our left wing almost into the Dvina, +\par General Saint-Cyr, shortly before the attack, moved all his +\par squadrons, in silence, into a position behind some big shops, on the +\par other side of which lay the meadowland. It was on this level ground +\par that the cavalry could manoeuvre to fall on the enemy right and give +\par cover to the left wing of our infantry, of which the first two +\par divisions were to attack the Russian camp while the third supported +\par the cavalry and the remaining two formed the reserve and protected +\par the town. All was ready when}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839569 ,}{\deleted ,}{ at last, it was six o'clock, and the +\par signal for the attack was given by the firing of a cannon, followed +\par by a volley from all the French artillery, which landed numerous +\par projectiles on the enemy outposts and on the camp itself. At once +\par our two first infantry divisions, led by the 23rd }{\deleted light}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839569 Light}{, fell on the +\par Russian regiments positioned in the gardens, killing or capturing all +\par whom they encountered}{\deleted ,}{ and chasing the rest back to the camp, where +\par they took many prisoners and captured several guns. This surprise +\par attack, although carried out in broad daylight}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839569 ,}{ was so successful that +\par }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839568 General }{Wittgenstein was dining peacefully in a little country house +\par near his camp}{\deleted ,}{ when he was warned that French skirmishers were in the +\par court-yard. He jumped out of a window}{\deleted ,}{ and}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839568 ,}{ mounting a Cossack horse +\par which happened to be there}{\deleted }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839568 , }{he galloped away to join his troops. Our +\par skirmishers took some fine horses, documents, baggage wagons and +\par wines belonging to the }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839568 General, }{also the silverware and some of the +\par dinner laid on the table. An immense quantity of booty was seized in +\par the camp by other units. +\par +\par At the sound of this wholly unforeseen attack by the French, panic +\par spread amongst our enemies, the majority of whom took to their heels +\par without even picking up their weapons. The disorder was complete}{\deleted , }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839567 ; }{no +\par one was giving orders, even though the approach of our infantry was +\par heralded by a fusillade of shots and the sound of the drums beating +\par the charge. The scene seemed set for a resounding victory by the +\par French troops, at whose head marched Saint-Cyr}{\deleted ,}{ with his customary +\par calm. However}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839567 ,}{\deleted ,}{ in war}{\deleted ,}{ an unexpected, and often unimportant, event +\par can change a situation. +\par +\par A large number of the enemy soldiers had reached in their flight +\par the rear area of the camp, where was encamped the squadron of +\par horse-guards}{\deleted ,}{ which had arrived a few hours previously. This \'e9lite +\par unit was made up of young men selected from the best of the nobility, +\par and was led by a }{\deleted Major }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839566 major }{of proven courage, whose \'e9lan, it was said, +\par was increased by generous draughts of liquor. When he saw what was +\par happening, this officer leapt on his horse and}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839566 ,}{ followed by some +\par hundred and twenty cuirassed riders, he rushed towards the French, +\par whom he soon encountered. The first of our battalions which he +\par attacked belonged to the 26th }{\deleted light}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839566 Light}{. They put up a vigourous +\par resistance. The cavalry were repelled with casualties, and were +\par rallying to prepare for a second charge when their }{\deleted major}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839566 Major}{, impatient +\par at the time taken for the scattered horsemen to regain their ranks, +\par abandoned the unsuccessful attack on the French battalion, and +\par ordering his men to follow he led them at the gallop in open order +\par through the camp, which was full of infantry, Portuguese, Swiss and +\par even }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{ns, our allies, some of whom, dispersed by the victory +\par itself}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839565 ,}{ were trying to regroup while others were collecting the booty +\par left by the Russians. +\par +\par The cavalrymen killed or wounded many of these soldiers and threw +\par the crowd into disarray}{\deleted , a}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839564 . A}{ disorderly withdrawal began which +\par degenerated into a mass panic. Now}{\deleted ,}{ in a situation like this, +\par soldiers can mistake for the enemy their own troops who are running +\par to join them, so that, in a cloud of dust, it seems that they are +\par being attacked by a large force, when in most cases it is only a +\par handful of men. This is what happened here}{\deleted , }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839564 ; }{the horse-guards, +\par scattered widely over the plain and pressing on without a backward +\par look, seemed to the fugitives to be a massive force of cavalry, and +\par so the confusion grew until it enveloped the Swiss battalion in the +\par middle of which }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839563 General }{Saint-Cyr had taken refuge. He was so much +\par jostled by the mob that his horse fell into a ditch. +\par +\par The }{\deleted g}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839563 G}{eneral, who was clad in a simple blue greatcoat, without any +\par badges of rank, lay motionless on the ground as the cavalry drew +\par near, and they thinking he was either dead or only a humble civilian +\par employee, passed by and continued their pursuit of the fugitives. One +\par does not know how matters would have ended had not the gallant and +\par quick-witted General Berckheim, at the head of the 4th Cuirassiers, +\par charged down upon the Russian cavalry, who in spite of bravely +\par defending themselves, were almost all killed or made prisoner. Their +\par valiant Major was among the dead. The charge carried out by this +\par handful of men could have had a dramatic result if it had been +\par followed up, and this fine feat of arms goes to show once more that +\par it is unexpected attacks by cavalry that have the best chance of +\par success. +\par +\par General Saint-Cyr, having been picked up by our Cuirassiers, +\par ordered all the infantry divisions to advance immediately and attack +\par the Russians before they could recover from their confusion. In this +\par they were successful and the enemy were decisively beaten, losing +\par many men and a number of guns. +\par +\par While this infantry battle was t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ place before Polotsk, +\par another action was under way on their left, in the open plain which +\par bordered the Dvina. As soon as the cannon shot gave the signal to +\par engage, our cavalry regiments, led by Castex's brigade, advanced +\par rapidly towards the enemy}{\deleted ,}{ who, for their part, advanced towards us. +\par +\par A major encounter seemed imminent, and the good }{\deleted general Castex}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967337 General Castex}{ +\par said that although}{\deleted ,}{ in spite of my recent injury, I had been able to +\par command the regiment during the fighting round Sivotschina and +\par Svolna, where it had been solely a matter of facing the fire of the +\par infantry and the guns, it would not be the same today}{\deleted ,}{ when in action +\par against cavalry. During a charge I would be unable to defend myself}{\deleted ,}{ +\par since, with my one arm, I could not hold my horse's bridle and at the +\par same time use my sabre. He therefore urged me to remain behind on +\par this occasion, with the reserve division of infantry. I did not think +\par that I should accept this well-meaning advice, and I expressed so +\par vehemently my wish not to be removed from the regiment that the +\par }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839561 General }{gave way, but he arranged for me to have behind me six of the +\par best cavalrymen, led by }{\deleted sergeant }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839561 Sergeant }{Prud'homme, while at my side were +\par four warrant officers, a trumpeter and my orderly Fousse, one of the +\par finest soldiers in the regiment. Surrounded in this way, and placed +\par in front of the centre of a squadron, I was sufficiently protected; +\par besides, in an emergency, I would have dropped the reins to wield my +\par sabre, which hung by its sword-knot from my right wrist. }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839561 +\par }{ +\par The meadow was large enough to hold two regiments in battle order, +\par so the 23rd and the 24th advanced in line. General Corbineau's +\par brigade, consisting of three regiments was in the second line and the +\par Cuirassiers followed, in reserve. The 24th, which was on my left, +\par faced a body of Russian dragoons, while I was opposed to the Cossacks +\par of the Guard, recognisable by the red colour of their jackets and the +\par fine quality of their horses}{\deleted ,}{ which}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839561 ,}{ although they had arrived only a +\par few hours ago}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839560 ,}{ did not appear in the least tired. We moved forward at +\par the gallop, and when we were at a suitable distance from the enemy, +\par }{\deleted General Castex}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967337 General Castex}{ ordered the charge and his whole brigade fell}{\deleted ,}{ in one +\par line}{\deleted ,}{ on the Russians. By the violence of this attack, the 24th +\par overwhelmed the dragoons who opposed them, but my regiment +\par experienced more resistance from the Cossacks, a chosen band of men}{\deleted ,}{ +\par of superior stature and each armed with a 14 foot lance}{\deleted ,}{ which he +\par well knew how to use. Some of my Chasseurs were killed and many +\par wounded, but once my gallant troopers had broken through this line +\par bristling with steel, they had the advantage, for the long lances are +\par ineffective against cavalry}{\deleted ,}{ when those carrying them are +\par disorganised and closely engaged by adversaries who are armed with +\par sabres which they can use with ease, while the lancers have great +\par difficulty in presenting the point of their weapons. Thus the +\par Cossacks were forced to turn their backs, whereupon my men +\par slaughtered many of them and captured a large number of splendid +\par horses. +\par +\par We were about to follow up this success when our attention was +\par drawn to a great tumult on our right, where we saw the plain covered +\par with fugitives, for this was the moment when the Russian +\par Chevalier-Gardes made their desperate attack. }{\deleted General Castex}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967337 General Castex}{, +\par thinking it would be unwise to advance any further when our centre +\par appeared to be retreating in disorder, called for the rally to be +\par sounded and the brigade came to a halt. +\par +\par We had,however, scarcely re-formed our ranks when the Cossacks, +\par emboldened by what was going on in the centre and burning to avenge +\par their previous defeat, charged back on the attack and hurled +\par themselves furiously on my squadrons, while the Grodno Hussars +\par attacked the 24th. The Russians, driven back at every point by +\par Castex's brigade, brought up successively their second and third +\par line, whereupon }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839559 General }{Corbineau came to our assistance with the 7th +\par and 20th Chasseurs and the 8th Lancers, and there ensued a great +\par cavalry battle, the outcome of which hung in the balance. Both our +\par own and the Russian Cuirassiers were advancing to join in when +\par Wittgenstein, seeing his infantry beaten and hard pressed by ours, +\par sent word to his cavalry to retire. They, however, were too hotly +\par engaged for this command to be easily executed. In the event, +\par }{\deleted generals }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839559 Generals }{Castex and Corbineau, knowing that they would be supported +\par by the Cuirassiers who were close behind them, committed in turn both +\par their brigades against the Russians who were thrown into the greatest +\par disorder and suffered heavy casualties. +\par +\par On arriving at the other side of the wood}{\deleted ,}{ where our victorious +\par infantry and cavalry divisions were regrouping, }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839558 General }{Saint-Cyr, +\par seeing that night was approaching, called off the pursuit, and the +\par troops returned to their bivouacs at Polotsk, which they had quitted +\par a few hours earlier. During the fighting my wound had given me much +\par pain, particularly when I had to gallop my horse. My inability to +\par defend myself often put me in a difficult situation in which I might +\par not have survived had I not been surrounded by a group of stalwarts +\par who never let me out of their sight. +\par +\par On one occasion, amongst others, I was pushed by the mob of +\par combatants into a group of Cossacks, where to save myself I had to +\par let go of the bridle and take up my sabre. I had, however, no need +\par to use it}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839558 ,}{ for seeing their commanding officer in danger, all ranks of +\par my escort furiously attacked the Cossacks who were now surrounding +\par me, laid several of them in the dust and put the rest to flight. My +\par orderly Fousse, the finest of Chasseurs, killed three of them and +\par }{\deleted warrant }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839557 Warrant }{\deleted officer }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839557 Officer }{Joly two. So I came back safe and sound from this +\par action}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-2042839557 ,}{\deleted ,}{ in which I had been determined to take part}{\deleted ,}{ in order to +\par encourage the regiment, and to show them afresh that as long as I +\par could mount a horse it would be my honour to lead them when danger +\par threatened. Both the officers and men of the regiment appreciated +\par this, and the affection with which I was already regarded by them was +\par increased, as you will see later, when I speak of the misfortunes of +\par the great retreat. +\par +\par Combat between cavalry units is infinitely less murderous than +\par that involving the infantry, also the Russians are as a rule +\par maladroit in the handling of their weapons, and their incompetent +\par leaders do not always know how to employ their cavalry to best +\par advantage. So that although my regiment was fighting the Cossacks of +\par the Guard, considered one of the finest units in the Russian army, we +\par did not suffer a great many casualties. I had eight or nine men +\par killed and some thirty wounded; but amongst those last was Major +\par Fontaine. This very fine officer was in the thick of the fighting +\par when his horse was killed}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505968128 ; }{his feet were entangled in the stirrups +\par and he was trying to free himself with the help of some Chasseurs who +\par had gone to help him when a Cossack officer, bursting through the +\par group at the gallop, leaned dexterously from his saddle and dealt +\par Fontaine a terrible sabre slash which blinded his left eye, damaged +\par the other and split open his nose. However, as the Russian officer, +\par proud of this exploit, was leaving the scene, one of our Chasseurs +\par shot him in the back at six paces, so avenging his squadron +\par commander. As soon as possible M.}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505968128 }{Fontaine's injury was dressed and +\par he was taken to Polotsk to the }{\deleted jesuit }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505968128 Jesuit }{monastery, where I visited him +\par that same evening. I admired the resignation with which this +\par courageous soldier bore the pain and disability of becoming almost +\par completely blind, since which time he has not been able to continue +\par in active service. This was a great loss for the 23rd, in which he +\par had been since its creation, liked and respected by all; I was much +\par moved by his misfortune. +\par +\par I was now the only senior officer in the regiment and I had to see +\par to all the requirements of the service, which was a major task. +\par +\par You may think that I have gone into too much detail about +\par the various actions in which 2nd Corps was involved, but as I have +\par said, I enjoy recalling the great conflicts in which I have taken +\par part, and speak of these times with pleasure, for it then seems to me +\par that I am once more in the field, surrounded by my brave companions, +\par almost all of whom have now, alas, quitted this life. +\par +\par To return to the present campaign: anyone but Saint-Cyr, after +\par such a hard-fought action would have reviewed his troops to +\par congratulate them on their success and enquire into their needs. +\par Scarcely, however, had the last shot been fired, when Saint-Cyr shut +\par himself up in the }{\deleted jesuit }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505968127 Jesuit }{monastery and spent all his days and part of +\par the night playing his violin...a ruling passion from which only +\par marching to attack the enemy could distract him. Generals Lorencez +\par and Wr\'e8de, given the task of deploying the troops, sent two divisions +\par of infantry and the Cuirassiers to the left bank of the Dvina. The +\par third French division and the }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{ns stayed in Polotsk, where they +\par were employed to build the fortifications of a vast entrenched camp, +\par before acting as a support to the troops which from this important +\par point were covering the left and rear of the "Grande Armee" on its +\par march to Smolensk and on to Moscow. The light cavalry brigades of +\par Castex and Corbineau were positioned two leagues in front of this +\par camp, on the left bank of the Polota, a little river which joins the +\par Dvina at Polotsk. My regiment went into bivouac near a village called +\par Louchonski. The }{\deleted Colonel }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505968126 colonel }{of the 24th set up his a quarter of a league +\par to the rear, covered by the 23rd. We stayed there for two months, +\par during the first of which we did not go very far. When he heard of +\par the victory won at Polotsk by Saint-Cyr, the Emperor sent him the +\par baton of }{\deleted imperial }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505968125 Imperial }{\deleted marshal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505968125 Marshal}{. Instead of using the occasion to visit +\par his troops, the new }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505968125 Marshal }{retired into even deeper seclusion, if +\par that were possible. No one could approach the head of the army, +\par which earned him the nick-name amongst the soldiers}{\deleted ,}{ of the "Owl}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505968126 .}{"}{\deleted . }{ +\par More than this, although the huge monastery had more than a hundred +\par rooms which would have been most useful for the wounded, he lived +\par there alone, and considered it a great concession that he allowed +\par senior officers who were wounded to be received in the outhouses. +\par They were allowed to remain there for forty-eight hours, after which +\par their comrades had to take them to the town. The cellars and +\par granaries of the monastery were bursting with provisions amassed by +\par the Jesuits; wine, beer oil, flour, etc}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505968125 .,}{ all were there in abundance; +\par but the }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505968125 Marshal }{had taken charge of the keys of the store-rooms and +\par nothing came from them, even for the hospitals. It was with the +\par greatest difficulty that I obtained two bottles of wine for the +\par injured Fontaine. The extraordinary thing was that the }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505968124 Marshal }{used +\par hardly any of these provisions for himself, for he was a man of +\par extreme sobriety, but also highly eccentric. The army complained +\par loudly about his behaviour,and those same provisions which he refused +\par to distribute to his troops}{\deleted ,}{ were, two months later, consumed by +\par flames and the Russians, when the French were forced to abandon the +\par burning monastery and town. +\par +\par Chap. 12. +\par +\par While all this was going on at Polotsk and on the banks of the +\par Drissa, the Emperor remained at Witepsk, from where he exercised +\par overall control of the operations of the numerous units of the army. +\par There are those who have reproached Napoleon with wasting too much +\par time, first at Wilna, where he stayed for nineteen days, and then at +\par Witepsk where he stayed for seventeen. They claim that these +\par thirty-six days could have been better employed, particularly in a +\par country where the summer is very short, and the rigours of winter +\par begin to be felt about the end of September. This claim has some +\par justice up to a point, but it should be }{\deleted remembered}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967471 reme}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967470 m}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967471 bered}{, firstly that the +\par Emperor hoped that the Russians would request some compromise, and in +\par the second place that it was necessary to concentrate once more all +\par the units which had been scattered in the pursuit of Bagration. In +\par addition, it was essential to give some rest to the troops, who as +\par well as their regular marches had to scour the countryside each +\par evening, far from their bivouacs, in a search for food; because}{\deleted ,}{ the +\par Russians having burned all the stores as they retreated, it was +\par impossible to make any daily distribution of rations. There was, +\par however, for a long time a happy exception to this state of affairs, +\par in the case of Davout's Corps. Davout was as good an administrator as +\par he was a fighting soldier, and well before the crossing of the Nieman +\par he had organised an immense convoy of little carts which followed his +\par army. These carts carried biscuits, salted meat and vegetables and +\par were drawn by oxen, a number of which could be slaughtered daily to +\par provide food. This arrangement contributed greatly to keeping his +\par men from straying from their ranks. +\par +\par The Emperor left Witepsk on the 13th August, and moving further +\par and further away from 2nd and 6th Corps, which he left at Polotsk +\par under the command of Saint-Cyr, he went to Krasnoe, where a part of +\par the Grande Arm\'e9e faced the enemy. It was hoped that there would be a +\par battle, but all that took place was a minor action against the +\par Russian rear-guard, which was defeated and promptly withdrew. +\par On the 15th of August, his birthday, the Emperor reviewed his +\par troops, who welcomed him with enthusiasm. On the 16th the army +\par reached Smolensk, a fortified town which the Russians call the holy +\par of holies}{\deleted ,}{ because they consider it to be the key to Moscow and the +\par palladium of their empire. Ancient prophecies foretold disaster to +\par Russia the day Smolensk was taken. This superstition, carefully +\par nurtured by the government, dates from the time when Smolensk, +\par situated on the Dnieper, was the furthest Muscovite frontier, from +\par where they issued to make enormous conquests. +\par +\par Murat and Ney, who were the first two to arrive before Smolensk, +\par both thought, for some unknown reason, that the Russians had +\par abandoned the place. The reports given to the Emperor having +\par convinced him that this was the case, he ordered that the +\par advance-guard should be sent into the town. The impatient Ney was +\par waiting only for this command}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967467 . H}{\deleted h}{e advanced toward the town gate +\par escorted by a small body of Hussars}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967468 , }{but suddenly a regiment of +\par Cossacks, hidden by a fold in the ground}{\deleted ,}{ covered by scrub, fell on +\par our riders, drew them off}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967467 ,}{ and surrounded }{\deleted marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{, who was so hard +\par pressed that a pistol shot}{\deleted ,}{ fired at point blank range}{\deleted ,}{ tore the +\par collar of his coat. Fortunately the Domanget brigade hurried to the +\par spot and freed the }{\deleted marshal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967467 Marshal}{. The arrival of General Razout's infantry +\par enabled Ney to get close enough to the town to convince himself that +\par the Russians intended to defend it. +\par +\par Seeing the ramparts armed with a great number of cannon, the +\par artillery general, \'c9bl\'e9, a highly competent officer, advised the +\par Emperor to by-pass the place by sending the Polish Corps commanded by +\par Prince Poniatowski to cross the Dnieper two leagues further upstream; +\par but Napoleon, accepting the advice of Ney, who assured him that +\par Smolensk would be easily captured, gave the order to attack. Three +\par army Corps, those of Davout, Ney and Poniatowski, launched an assault +\par on the town from different directions. A murderous fire was poured +\par down on them from the ramparts, and one even more deadly came from +\par the batteries which the Russians had established on the opposite bank +\par of the river. A most bloody struggle ensued; bullets, grape-shot and +\par bombs decimated our troops, without the artillery being able to +\par breach the walls. At last, as night was approaching, the enemy, who +\par had bravely disputed every foot of ground, were driven back into the +\par town itself, which they now prepared to abandon. Before they did so, +\par however, they set all of it on fire. The Emperor thus saw an end to +\par his hopes of capturing a town which was rightly supposed to be full +\par of supplies. It was not until dawn the next day that the French +\par entered the place, the streets of which were strewn with the dead +\par bodies of Russians and smoking debris. The }{\deleted taKing }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967465 t}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967465 }{of Smolensk had +\par cost us 12,000 men killed or wounded, an enormous loss which could +\par have been avoided by crossing the Dnieper upstream, as had been +\par proposed by }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967463 General }{\'c9bl\'e9; for, seeing himself at risk of being cut +\par off, General Barclay de Tolly, the enemy commander, would have +\par evacuated the place and retired towards Moscow. +\par +\par The Russians, after burning the bridge, halted for a short time on +\par the heights of the right bank and then resumed their retreat on the +\par road to Moscow. }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{ followed them with his army corps +\par reinforced by Gudin's division, which was detached from Davout}{\deleted "}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967462 '}{s +\par }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967462 corps}{. +\par +\par Not far from Smolensk, }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{ caught up with the Russians as +\par they passed, with all their baggage, through a narrow defile. A +\par major engagement took place which could have been disasterous for the +\par enemy if General Junot, who commanded 8th Corps, and who had been +\par slow in crossing the Dnieper, two leagues above Smolensk, and who had +\par then halted for forty-eight hours, had hastened to the sound of Ney's +\par guns, which were no more than a league away. Although informed of +\par the situation by Ney, Junot did not budge. He was then ordered}{\deleted ,}{ in +\par the name of the Emperor to come to the assistance of Ney, but still +\par he did not move. +\par +\par Ney, facing greatly superior numbers, having engaged successively +\par all the troops of his Corps, ordered Gudin's division to take some +\par strong positions held by the Russians. This order was executed with +\par the greatest alacrity, but in the first wave the brave general fell +\par mortally wounded. However, retaining his usual calm, and wishing to +\par assure the success of the troops which he had so often led to +\par victory, he appointed }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967461 General }{G\'e9rard to take over the command, +\par although he was the most junior brigade commander in the division. +\par +\par G\'e9rard, at the head of the division attacked the enemy, and by ten +\par in the evening}{\deleted . }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967461 , }{after losing 1800 men and killing some six thousand, +\par he was master of the field of battle, from which the Russians made a +\par hasty departure. +\par +\par The next day the Emperor came to visit the troops who had fought +\par so bravely; he rewarded them generously and promoted G\'e9rard to the +\par rank of divisional general. Gudin died a few hours later. +\par +\par If Junot had taken part in the action, he could have trapped the +\par Russians in a narrow defile}{\deleted ,}{ when, caught between two fires, they +\par would have been forced to surrender, and thus brought the war to an +\par end. One regretted the departure of King J\'e9r\'f4me, whom Junot had +\par replaced, for although a mediocre general, he would probably have +\par gone to help Ney, and we expected to see Junot severely punished}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967460 ; }{but +\par he was one of Napoleon's earliest adherents and had supported him in +\par all his campaigns, from the siege of Toulon in '93 to the present. +\par The Emperor was fond of him and he forgave him. This was a pity, for +\par it was becoming necessary to make an example. +\par +\par When the Russian people heard of the fall of Smolensk, there was a +\par general outcry against Barclay de Tolly. He was a German; the nation +\par accused him of not putting enough effort into the war, and for the +\par defence of ancient Muscovy they demanded a Muscovite general. +\par Compelled to give way, Alexander handed the command of all the +\par Russian armies to General Koutousoff, an elderly man of little +\par ability, renowned only for his defeat at Austerlitz, but having the +\par great merit, in the circumstances, of being an out and out Russian, +\par which gave him a considerable influence in the eyes of the troops and +\par the populace at large. +\par +\par The French advance-guard, driving the enemy before it, had already +\par passed Dorogobouje}{\deleted ,}{ when, on the 24th of August, the Emperor decided +\par to leave Smolensk. The heat was stifling}{\deleted , }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967459 ; }{we marched on loose sand; +\par there was insufficient food for such a large body of men and horses, +\par for the Russians left nothing behind them but burning farms and +\par villages. When the army entered Vyazma, this pretty town was in +\par flames, and it was the same at Gzhatzk. The nearer we got to Moscow +\par the fewer resources the countryside had to offer. Several men died +\par and many horses. A few days later, the intolerable heat was succeeded +\par by a cold rain which lasted until the 4th of September; autumn was +\par approaching. The army was no more than six leagues from Mojaisk, the +\par last town we had to take before reaching Moscow, when it was noticed +\par that the strength of the enemy rear-guard had been considerably +\par increased; an indication that a major battle was at last in prospect. +\par +\par On the 5th, our advance-guard was briefly held up by a large +\par Russian column, well entrenched on a small hill, garnished with a +\par dozen guns. The 57th line regiment, which in the Italian campaign the +\par Emperor had named the "Terrible", worthily upheld its reputation in +\par capturing the redout and the enemy guns. We were already on the +\par terrain upon which, forty-eight hours later, would be fought the +\par battle which the Russians call Borodino and the French Moscow. +\par +\par On the 6th, the Emperor announced}{\deleted ,}{ in an order of the day}{\deleted ,}{ that +\par there would be a battle on the day following. The army welcomed this +\par announcement with pleasure}{\deleted ,}{ in the hope that it would mean an end to +\par their privations, for there had been no supply of rations for a +\par month, and everyone had lived from hand to mouth. On both sides the +\par evening was employed in t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ up positions of readiness. +\par +\par On the Russian side, Bagration, commanding 62,000 men was on the +\par left wing; in the centre was the Hetman Platov with his Cossacks and +\par 30,000 infantry in reserve; the right was made up of 70,000 men under +\par the command of Barclay de Tolly, who was now the second in command, +\par while the elderly }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967433 General }{Koutousoff was the overall commander of all +\par these troops, amounting to 162,000 men. The Emperor Napoleon had no +\par more than 140,000, who were disposed as follows: Prince Eug\'e8ne +\par commanded the left wing, Marshal Davout the right, }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{ the +\par centre, King Murat the cavalry, while the }{\deleted Imperial Guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966621 Imperial Guard}{ was in +\par reserve. +\par +\par The battle took place on the 7th of September; the weather was +\par overcast and a cold wind raised clouds of dust. The Emperor, who was +\par suffering from severe migraine, went down into a sort of ravine, +\par where he spent the greater part of the day walking on foot. From this +\par spot he could see only part of the battlefield, and to see its +\par entirety he had to climb a nearby hillock, which he did only twice +\par during the action. The Emperor has been blamed for his lack of +\par activity, but it should be borne in mind that in the central position +\par which he occupied with his reserves, he was able to receive frequent +\par reports of events occurring at all points of the line, whereas if he +\par had been on one wing or the other}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967432 ,}{ the aides-de-camp, hurrying with +\par urgent information over such broken ground, might not have been able +\par to see him or known where to look for him. And it must not be +\par forgotten that the Emperor was ill and a strong and glacial wind +\par prevented him from remaining on horseback. +\par +\par I took no part in the battle of Moscow, so I shall refrain from +\par going into any detail about the various manoeuvres carried out during +\par this memorable action. I shall say only that after almost unheard of +\par efforts the French succeeded in overcoming the most obstinate +\par resistance of the Russians, and that the battle was one of the most +\par bloody fought during the century. The two armies suffered casualties +\par to a total of 50,000 dead or wounded. The French had 49 generals +\par killed or wounded and 20,000 men put out of action. The Russian +\par losses were a third greater. General Bagration, the best of their +\par officers was killed, and by a bizarre turn of fate he happened to be +\par the owner of the land on which the battle was fought. Twelve +\par thousand horses were left on the field. The French took few +\par prisoners, an indication of the courage and determination of the +\par Russian resistance. +\par +\par During the action there were several interesting episodes. When +\par the Russian left had been twice driven back by the supreme efforts of +\par Murat, Davout and Ney and had yet rallied for the third time and +\par returned to the charge, Murat asked General Belliard to beg the +\par Emperor to send part of his guard to secure a victory, failing which +\par it would be necessary to fight another battle to beat the Russians. +\par Napoleon was inclined to comply with this request, but Marshal +\par Bessi\'e8res, commandant of the Guard said to him "I shall permit myself +\par to remind your majesty that you are at this moment some seven hundred +\par leagues from France." Whether it was this observation or whether the +\par Emperor thought that the battle had not reached the stage when he +\par should commit his reserve, he refused the request. Two other demands +\par of this kind met the same fate. +\par +\par There was another remarkable incident which occurred in this +\par battle so full of gallant deeds. The enemy front was covered by some +\par high ground on which were redouts and redans and in particular, a +\par crenelated fort armed with 80 guns. The French, after considerable +\par losses}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967431 ,}{ had gained control of these field works}{\deleted ,}{ but had not been able +\par to retain the fort, and to regain it would be a very difficult task +\par even for infantry. General Montbrun, who commanded the 2nd }{\deleted cavalry}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967430 Cavalry}{ +\par Corps, had noticed, with the help of his field-glass, that the gate +\par of the fort was not closed and that platoons of Russian soldiers were +\par going through it. He also noticed that if one went round the side of +\par the high ground, one could avoid the ramparts, ravines and rocks and +\par lead a cavalry unit to the gate up a gentle slope, suited to horses. +\par General Montbrun proposed to get into the fort with his cavalry from +\par the rear, while the infantry attacked the front. This hazardous +\par operation having been approved by Murat and the Emperor, Montbrun was +\par entrusted with its execution; but while the intrepid general was +\par finalising his plan, he was killed by a cannon-ball. This was a +\par great loss for the army, but it did not put an end to the project he +\par had conceived, and the Emperor sent General Coulincourt to replace +\par him. +\par +\par One now saw}{\deleted now }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967429 }{something unheard of in the annals of war}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967429 : }{a huge +\par fort defended by numerous guns and several battalions of infantry +\par attacked and taken by a column of cavalry. Coulincourt pressing +\par ahead with a division of Cuirassiers, headed by their 5th regiment +\par commanded by Colonel Christophe, broke through all those defending +\par the approach to the fort, reached the gate, entered the interior and +\par fell dead with a bullet through his head. Colonel Christophe and his +\par troopers avenged their general by putting part of the garrison to the +\par sword. The fort remained in their hands, which helped to assure a +\par French victory. +\par +\par Today, when the thirst for promotion has become insatiable, one +\par would be astonished if, after such a feat, a }{\deleted Colonel }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967423 colonel }{was not +\par promoted; but during the }{\deleted empire }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967423 Empire }{ambition was more modest. Christophe +\par did not become a general until some years later, and never showed any +\par discontent with this delay. +\par +\par The Poles, usually so courageous, particularly those from the +\par }{\deleted grand }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967423 Grand }{\deleted duchy }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967423 Duchy }{of Warsaw commanded by Prince Poniatovski, fought so +\par badly that the Emperor sent his major general to upbraid them. In +\par this battle of Moscow, General Rapp was wounded for the twenty-first +\par time. +\par +\par Although the Russians had been defeated and forced to leave the +\par field of battle, their generalissimo, Koutousoff, had the impudence +\par to write to the Emperor Alexander}{\deleted }{, claiming that he had just won a +\par great victory over the French. This falsehood, which arrived in +\par }{\deleted Saint-Petersburg}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967375 St. Petersburg}{ on Alexander's birthday, gave rise to much +\par rejoicing. A Te Deum was sung and Koutousoff was promoted to +\par field-marshal. However it was not long before the truth was known +\par and the joy turned to grief; but Koutousoff was now a field-marshal, +\par which was what he wanted. Anyone but the timid Alexander would have +\par severely punished the new field-marshal for this outrageous lie; but +\par Koutousoff was needed, and so he remained head of the army. +\par +\par Chap. 13. +\par +\par The Russians, retreating towards Moscow, were contacted on the +\par morning of the eighth, when there was a sharp cavalry engagement}{\deleted ,}{ in +\par which General Belliard was wounded. Napoleon spent three days at +\par Mojaisk, partly to draw up the orders necessary in the circumstances +\par and partly to reply to the back-log of despatches. One of these, +\par which had arrived on the eve of the battle, had affected him greatly +\par and had contributed to m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ him ill, for it announced that the +\par so-called army of Portugal, commanded by }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967421 Marshal }{Marmont, had +\par suffered a severe defeat at Arpiles, near Salamanca, in Spain. +\par +\par Marmont was one of Napoleon's mistakes. He had been one of +\par Napoleon's companions at the college of Brienne and later in the +\par artillery, and Napoleon took an interest in him. Misled by some +\par success achieved by Marmont at school, the Emperor had a belief in +\par the }{\deleted marshal's }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967421 Marshal's }{military talents which his performance in the field +\par never justified. In 1811, Marmont had replaced Mass\'e9na as commander +\par of the army of Portugal, proclaiming that he would defeat Wellington, +\par but the contrary proved to be the case. Marmont, defeated, wounded, +\par with his army in disarray and obliged to abandon several provinces, +\par would have suffered even worse reverses if General Clausel had not +\par come to his aid. +\par +\par When he learned of this disaster, the Emperor must have reflected +\par deeply on the present operation, for while he was about to enter +\par Moscow}{\deleted ,}{ at the head of his largest army, a thousand leagues away +\par another army had just been defeated. By invading Russia was he about +\par to lose Spain? Major Fabvier, who brought this despatch, volunteered +\par to join in the battle for Moscow and was wounded in the assault on +\par the great redout. It was a long way to come to be hit by a bullet. +\par +\par On the 12th of September Napoleon left Mojaisk, and on the 15th +\par he entered Moscow. This enormous city was deserted. General +\par Rostopschine, its governor, had forced all the inhabitants to leave. +\par This Rostopschine}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967420 ,}{ whom some have described as a hero, was a +\par barbarian, who would shrink from nothing to achieve his aims. He had +\par allowed the populace to strangle a number of foreign merchants, +\par mainly the French, who were living in Moscow, on the sole grounds +\par that they were suspected of hoping for the arrival of Napoleon's +\par troops. Some days before the battle of Moscow, the Cossacks having +\par captured about a hundred sick Frenchmen, Koutousoff sent them by a +\par roundabout road to the governor of Moscow, who, regardless of their +\par condition, left them for forty-eight hours without food and then +\par paraded them triumphantly through the streets, where a number of +\par these unfortunates collapsed and died of starvation. As this was +\par happening, policemen read to the populace a proclamation by +\par Rostopschine in which, to encourage them to take up arms, he declared +\par that all the French were in a similar feeble state and would be +\par easily overcome. When this disgusting performance was over, the +\par majority of the soldiers still alive were killed by the mob, without +\par Rostopschine doing anything to protect them. +\par +\par The defeated Russian troops had only passed through Moscow, and +\par had gone to re-group some thirty leagues from there, around Kalouga. +\par Murat followed them with all his cavalry and several infantry }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967419 corps}{. +\par The }{\deleted imperial }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967419 Imperial }{\deleted guard }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967419 Guard }{stayed in the town and Napoleon took up residence +\par in the Kremlin, the ancient fortified palace of the Czars. +\par Everything seemed peaceful, when, during the night 15th-16th +\par September, some French and German merchants}{\deleted ,}{ who had escaped the +\par governor's attentions}{\deleted ,}{ came to warn Napoleon's staff that the city +\par was to be set on fire. This information was confirmed by a Russian +\par policeman, who refused to carry out the orders of his superiors: he +\par stated that before leaving Moscow, Rostopschine had thrown open all +\par the prisons and released the prisoners and convicts, to whom he had +\par given torches}{\deleted ,}{ said to have been supplied by the British, and that +\par these persons were lying hidden in the abandoned houses waiting for +\par the signal. When the Emperor heard of this he instituted the +\par strictest precautionary measures}{\deleted , p}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967418 . P}{atrols went about the streets and +\par killed a number of those caught setting fires alight, but it was too +\par late; fire broke out in various parts of the city and spread rapidly +\par owing to the fact that Rostopschine had taken away all the +\par fire-fighting equipment. It was not long before the whole of Moscow +\par was ablaze. The Emperor left the Kremlin and went to the ch\'e2teau of +\par Peterskoe. He did not return until three days later, when the fire +\par was beginning to subside for lack of fuel. I shall not go into any +\par details about the fire itself, as there are several eye-witness +\par accounts, but later I shall examine the consequences of this +\par catastrophic conflagration. +\par +\par Napoleon, who did not understand the position in which Alexander +\par found himself, hoped always for some accommodation}{\deleted ,}{ and eventually, +\par tired of waiting, he decided to write to him personally. In the +\par meantime the Russian army was being reorganised in the area of +\par Kalouga, from where agents were sent to direct stray soldiers back to +\par their units. It was estimated that there were about 15,000 of them +\par concealed in the suburbs and able to wander about our bivouacs +\par without being challenged. They sat round the fires with our men and +\par ate with them, yet no one thought of m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ them prisoners. This was +\par a great mistake, for they gradually returned to the Russian army, +\par while our strength diminished daily owing to sickness and the +\par increasing cold. We lost an enormous number of horses, which was +\par thought due to the extraordinary efforts demanded by Murat from the +\par cavalry, of which he was the commander. Murat, recalling the +\par brilliant successes obtained against the Prussians in 1806 and 1807 +\par by pursuing them closely, thought that the cavalry should be equal to +\par any demands and should march twelve to fifteen leagues a day without +\par worrying about the fatigue of the horses, the essential being to +\par reach the enemy with at least some of the columns. However the +\par climate, the shortage of rations and fodder, the long duration of the +\par campaign and above all the tenacious resistance of the Russians had +\par greatly changed the situation, so that by the time we reached Moscow, +\par half our cavalrymen had no horses, and Murat managed to finish off +\par the rest at Kalouga. Prince Murat was proud of his tall stature}{\deleted ,}{ and +\par his bravery; and being always decked out in strange but brilliant +\par uniforms, he had attracted the notice of the enemy, with whom he was +\par pleased to parley, even exchanging gifts with the Cossack officers. +\par Koutousoff took advantage of these meetings to encourage in the +\par French the false hopes of a peace, hopes which Murat passed on to the +\par Emperor. One day, however, this enemy who claimed to be so weakened, +\par arose, slipped into our cantonments and captured some supplies, a +\par squadron of dragoons and a battalion of troops. After this Napoleon +\par forbade, under pain of death, any communication with the Russians +\par which he had not authorised. +\par +\par The Emperor never entirely lost hope of concluding a peace, on the +\par 4th of October he sent }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967415 General }{Lauriston, his aide-de-camp, to +\par }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967415 General }{Koutousoff's headquarters. The cunning Russian showed }{\deleted general}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967415 General}{ +\par Lauriston a letter which he had addressed to the Emperor Alexander, +\par urging him to agree to the French proposals, seeing that, as he +\par alleged, the Russian army was in no state to continue the war. The +\par officer carrying this despatch had hardly left for S}{\deleted ain}{t}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967414 .}{\deleted -}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967415 }{Petersburg, +\par armed with a pass from Lauriston which would preserve him from attack +\par by any of our men who were in the area between the two armies, when +\par Koutousoff sent off a second aide-de-camp to his Emperor. This +\par officer, having no French laissez-passer, was stopped by one of our +\par patrols, taken prisoner and his despatches sent to Napoleon. The +\par contents were the exact opposite to what had been shown to Lauriston. +\par After imploring his sovereign not to treat with the French, he +\par informed him that }{\deleted Admiral Tchitchakoff}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967313 Admiral Tchitchakoff}{'s army, freed from its duties +\par on the frontier by the peace with Turkey, was moving towards Minsk in +\par order to cut the French line of retreat. He also told Alexander of +\par the discussions he had conducted freely with Murat, with the aim of +\par encouraging the false sense of security entertained by the French in +\par remaining in Moscow so late in the year. +\par +\par When he saw this letter, Napoleon, realising that he had been +\par tricked, fell into a furious rage, and is said to have contemplated +\par marching on S}{\deleted aint-}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967414 t. }{Petersburg; but beyond the diminished strength of +\par the army and the rigours of the winter, which militated against such +\par an undert}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{, there were pressing reasons for the Emperor to get +\par closer to Germany, in order to watch over that country and to see +\par what was going on in France, where there had been a conspiracy}{\deleted ,}{ whose +\par leaders had been, for one day, in control of the capital. A fanatic, +\par General Malet, had tossed a spark into Paris which could have started +\par a fire, which, had he not encountered a man as far-seeing and +\par energetic as Adjutant-major Laborde, might have put an end to the +\par imperial government. +\par +\par This was not heartening, and one can imagine the anxiety of +\par Napoleon when he learned of the danger which had threatened his +\par family and his government. +\par +\par Chap. 14. +\par +\par In Moscow, Napoleon's position grew worse daily. The cold was +\par already bitter and only the French-born soldiers maintained their +\par morale}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967413 , }{but they composed no more than half the force which Napoleon +\par had led into Russia. The remainder was made up of Germans, Swiss, +\par Croats, Lombards, Romanians, Piedmontais, Spaniards}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967413 ,}{ and Portuguese. +\par All these foreigners, who stayed loyal as long as the army was +\par successful, now began to complain}{\deleted ,}{ and}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967412 ,}{ led astray by the leaflets in +\par various languages}{\deleted ,}{ which the Russians spread widely through our +\par camps, they deserted in droves to the enemy, who promised to +\par repatriate them. +\par +\par Added to this, the two wings of the Grande Arm\'e9e, which consisted +\par entirely of Austrians and Prussians, were now no longer in line with +\par the centre}{\deleted ,}{ as they had been at the beginning of the campaign, but +\par were in our rear, ready to bar our way on the first command of their +\par sovereigns, ancient and irreconcilable enemies of France. The +\par position was critical, and although it would greatly hurt Napoleon's +\par pride to display to the whole world that he had failed in his +\par objective of imposing a peace on Alexander, the word "retreat" was at +\par last uttered}{\deleted : b}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967411 . B}{ut neither the Emperor nor the marshals nor anyone +\par else thought of abandoning Russia and recrossing the Nieman; the idea +\par was to go into winter quarters in the least unpleasant of the Polish +\par provinces. +\par +\par The evacuation of Moscow was agreed on in principle, but before +\par t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ this step, Napoleon, in a last endeavour to obtain a +\par settlement, sent an emissary to Marshal Koutousoff, who did not make +\par any response. +\par +\par During these delays our army was melting away, day by day, and in +\par blind overconfidence our outposts remained at risk in the province of +\par Kalouga in untactical positions, when suddenly a wholly unforeseen +\par event occurred}{\deleted ,}{ which opened the eyes of the most incredulous}{\deleted ,}{ and +\par destroyed any illusions which the Emperor still had of achieving +\par peace. +\par +\par General S\'e9bastiani, whom we saw allowing himself to be surprised +\par at Drouia, had replaced }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967410 General }{Montbrun as commander of the 2nd +\par }{\deleted cavalry }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967410 Cavalry }{Corps}{\deleted ,}{ and}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967410 ,}{ although close to the enemy, he spent his days in +\par his slippers, reading Italian poetry and carrying out no +\par reconnaissance. T}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ advantage of this negligence, Koutousoff +\par attacked S\'e9bastiani on the 18th of October, surrounded him and +\par overwhelmed him by numbers, forcing him to abandon part of his +\par artillery. S\'e9bastiani's three divisions of cavalry, separated from +\par the rest of Murat's troops}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967410 ,}{ were able to rejoin them only after +\par fighting their way through several enemy battalions who stood in +\par their way. In the course of this savage combat, S\'e9bastiani displayed +\par his valour, for he was a brave man, if a noticeably mediocre general, +\par something which will be demonstrated anew when we come to the +\par campaign of 1813. +\par +\par At the same time as he surprised S\'e9bastiani, Koutousoff ordered an +\par attack on Murat's lines, in which the }{\deleted prince }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967409 Prince }{was slightly wounded. +\par Having learned of this unsatisfactory affair, and on the same day +\par been told of the arrival in the enemy camp of a reinforcement of ten +\par thousand cavalry from the Russian army in Wallachia (The Russian +\par border with the Turks, in southern Romania. Ed.) which the Austrians, +\par our allies, had allowed to pass, the Emperor}{\deleted ,}{ gave the order for the +\par departure to begin on the following day. +\par +\par In the morning of the 19th of October, the Emperor left Moscow, +\par which he had entered on the 15th of September. His Majesty, the old +\par guard and the bulk of the army took the road to Kalouga; }{\deleted marshal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967408 Marshal}{ +\par Mortier and two divisions of the }{\deleted young guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966661 Young Guard}{ remained behind for +\par twenty-four hours to complete the destruction of the city and blow up +\par the Kremlin, after which they brought up the rear of the march. +\par +\par The army trailed behind it more than forty thousand carriages, which +\par caused an obstruction whenever the road narrowed. When this was +\par remarked on to the Emperor, he replied that each of these coaches +\par could carry two wounded men and food for several, and that their +\par number would gradually diminish. The employment of this +\par philanthropic system could, I think, be objected to, on the grounds +\par that the need to speed the march of a retreating army seems to me to +\par outweigh all other considerations. +\par +\par During the French occupation of Moscow, Murat and the cavalry +\par }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967407 corps }{had been stationed in part of the fertile province of Kalouga, +\par but without seizing the town of that name. The Emperor wished to +\par avoid passing through the area of the battle of Moscow (Borodino) and +\par down the road to Mojaisk}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967407 ,}{ which had been stripped of resources by the +\par army on its approach to Moscow; and for this reason he took the road +\par to Kalouga, from where he counted on getting to Smolensk through +\par fertile and, as it were, unspoiled country}{\deleted : b}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967407 . B}{ut at the end of several +\par day's march, the army, which after joining with Murat's force +\par amounted, still, to more than 100,000 men, found itself confronting +\par the Russian army which occupied the little town of Malo-Iaroslawetz. +\par The enemy was in an exceedingly strong position}{\deleted , }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967406 ; }{nevertheless the +\par Emperor sent into the attack Prince Eug\'e8ne, at the head of the +\par Italian Corps and the French divisions of Morand and Gerard. Nothing +\par could stand in the way of these men and they took the town after a +\par long and murderous fight which cost us 4000 killed or wounded. Among +\par the dead was General Delzons, a very fine officer. +\par +\par The next day, the 24th of October, the Emperor, surprised at the +\par degree of resistance he had encountered, and knowing that the whole +\par Russian army barred his way, halted the march and spent three days +\par considering what course he should follow. +\par +\par On one occasion, during a reconnaissance of the enemy line, +\par the Emperor nearly fell into their hands. There was a very thick fog, +\par and suddenly shouts of "Hourra! Hourra!" were heard. It was a group +\par of Cossacks who were emerging from a wood bordering the road, which +\par they had been going through not twenty paces from the Emperor, +\par knocking down and spearing anyone that they came across: but }{\deleted general}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967405 General}{ +\par Rapp rushed forward with the two squadrons of Chasseurs and mounted +\par Grenadiers which went everywhere with the Emperor who, wielding their +\par sabres, put the enemies to flight. It was during this encounter that +\par M. Le Couteulx, my former companion on the staff of Marshal Lannes, +\par and now an aide-de-camp to Prince Berthier, having armed himself with +\par the lance belonging to a Cossack whom he had killed, was unwise +\par enough to come back brandishing this weapon, and, furthermore, +\par dressed in a pelisse and a fur hat, which concealed the French +\par uniform. A mounted Grenadier of the }{\deleted guard }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967403 Guard }{mistook him for a Cossack +\par officer, and seeing him heading towards the Emperor, went after him +\par and slashed him across the body with his heavy sabre. In spite of +\par this serious wound, M. Le Couteulx, placed in one of the Emperor's +\par carriages, survived the cold and the exhaustion of the retreat, and +\par managed to reach France. +\par +\par The reconnaissance carried out by the Emperor had convinced him +\par that it would be impossible to continue his march towards Kalouga +\par without fighting a sanguinary battle against the large force +\par commanded by Koutousoff. He decided, therefore, to reach Smolensk by +\par t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ the road leading through Mojaisk. The army then left the +\par fertile countryside to take once more the now devastated route along +\par which, marking their passage with fires and dead bodies, they had +\par travelled in September. This movement by the Emperor left him, after +\par ten weary days, no more than twelve leagues from Moscow, and caused +\par the troops to feel increasing anxiety about the future. The weather +\par turned much worse; }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967404 Marshal }{Mortier rejoined the Emperor after having +\par blown up the Kremlin. +\par +\par The army saw once more Mojaisk and the battlefield of Borodino. +\par The ground, furrowed by cannon-balls, was covered with the debris of +\par helmets, cuirasses, wheels, weapons, fragments of uniform and thirty +\par thousand bodies, partly eaten by wolves. The Emperor and the troops +\par passed by quickly, casting a sad look at this immense graveyard. +\par +\par After they had reached Vyazma the snow began to fall and a bitter +\par wind to blow, which slowed their progress. Many of the vehicles were +\par abandoned, and some thousands of men and horses perished of cold by +\par the roadside. The flesh of the horses provided some nourishment for +\par the men and also for the officers. The command of the rearguard +\par passed successively from Davout to Prince Eug\'e8ne and finally to +\par }{\deleted marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{, who kept this unpleasant job for the rest of the +\par campaign. +\par +\par Smolensk was reached on the 1st of November. The Emperor had +\par arranged for a great quantity of food clothing and footwear to be +\par collected there, but those in charge of these supplies did not +\par realise the state of disorganisation into which the army had fallen, +\par and insisted on the paperwork and formalities of a normal +\par distribution. This delay so exasperated the men, who were dying of +\par cold and hunger, that they broke into the stores and took, forcibly, +\par whatever they could. With the result that some had too much, some +\par enough and some nothing. +\par +\par As long as the troops had maintained a proper order of march, the +\par mixture of nationalities had given rise to no more than minor +\par inconveniences, but once fatigue and privation had broken the ranks, +\par discipline was lost. There was no way in which it could be maintained +\par in a vast body of isolated individuals, lacking every necessity, +\par walking on their own, without understanding why; for in this +\par disorderly mass there ruled a veritable babel of tongues. A few +\par regiments, mainly those in the Guard, held together. Almost all the +\par troopers of the cavalry, having lost their horses, were formed into +\par infantry battalions, and those of their officers who still were +\par mounted were made into special squadrons, commanded by Generals +\par Latour-Mauberg, Grouchy and S\'e9bastiani, who acted as ordinary +\par captains, while brigade commanders and colonels filled the post of +\par sergeant and corporal. This resort alone, shows to what extremity +\par the army was reduced. +\par +\par In this critical position, the Emperor had counted on a strong +\par division of troops of all arms, which General Baraguey d'Hilliers was +\par supposed to bring to Smolensk; but, as we neared the town, we heard +\par the }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967402 General }{had laid down his arms before a Russian column, with the +\par provision that he alone would not be made prisoner and would be +\par allowed to rejoin the French army in order to explain his actions. +\par The Emperor, however, refused to see Baraguey d'Hilliers and ordered +\par him to return to France and to consider himself under arrest until he +\par was brought before a court-martial. Baraguey d'Hilliers avoided +\par court-martial by dying in Berlin, it was said, of despair. +\par +\par This }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967402 General }{was another of Napoleon's mistakes. He had been +\par impressed by him at the time of the encampments at Boulogne when he +\par had promised that he could train dragoons to serve either as cavalry +\par or infantry. However, when this system was tried out in 1805, during +\par the Austrian campaign, the }{\deleted dragoons}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967401 Dragoons}{, now on foot and commanded by +\par Baraguey d'Hilliers in person, were defeated at Wertingen before the +\par eyes of the Emperor, and when placed once more on horseback, they +\par once more suffered the same fate. It was several years before the +\par unit recovered from the effects of this experiment. The originator +\par of the system, having fallen from favour}{\deleted ,}{ and hoping to re-establish +\par himself by asking to come to Russia, had completed his downfall by +\par capitulating without a struggle, and violating a decree stating that +\par a commander}{\deleted ,}{ forced to surrender}{\deleted ,}{ should accompany his men into +\par captivity}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967400 ,}{ and forbidding him from negotiating terms favourable only +\par to himself. +\par +\par After spending several days at Smolensk}{\deleted ,}{ to allow stragglers to +\par catch up with him, the }{\deleted emperor }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967400 Emperor }{went to Krasnoe, from where he +\par despatched an officer to 2nd Corps, which was still by the Dvina and +\par was now his only hope of safety. +\par +\par The regiments of this }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967400 corps}{, although they had not suffered the +\par hardship and privation of those who had gone to Moscow, had however +\par been more often in action against the enemy. Napoleon}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967399 ,}{ wishing to +\par reward them by appointments to vacant positions, had brought to him}{\deleted ,}{ +\par for his approval a number of proposals for promotions, several of +\par which related to me. One of these recommended me for the rank only +\par of lieutenant-colonel and it was this that was put before the Emperor +\par for his signature. I have it from General Grundler}{\deleted ,}{ who}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967399 ,}{ having been +\par detailed to carry the despatch, found himself in the Emperor's office +\par during the signing, that the Emperor scratched out with his own hand +\par the words }{\deleted lieutenant}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967399 Lieutenant}{-colonel and wrote in the word Colonel, saying "I +\par am paying off an old debt." So, on the 15th of November, I at last +\par became Colonel of the 23rd Chasseurs, although I did not know it +\par until some time later. +\par +\par The painful retreat was resumed. The enemy, whose strength +\par increased continually, cut off from the rest of the army}{\deleted ,}{ the Corps +\par of Prince Eug\'e8ne, Davout and Ney. The first two managed to fight +\par their way through to join the Emperor, who was very distressed at the +\par absence of Ney, of whom he had had no news for several days. +\par +\par On the 19th of November Napoleon reached Orscha. It was now a month +\par since he had left Moscow and there was still a hundred and twenty +\par leagues to cover before reaching the Nieman. The cold was intense. +\par +\par While the Emperor worried unhappily about the fate of his +\par rear-guard and the gallant }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{, the latter was engaged in one +\par of the finest feats of arms recorded in history. Leaving Smolensk on +\par the morning of the 17th, after blowing up the ramparts, the +\par }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967398 Marshal }{had hardly begun his march when he was assailed by a myriad +\par of the enemy, who attacked both flanks and the front and rear of his +\par column. +\par +\par Driving them off continually, Ney marched, surrounded by them for +\par three days, to halt eventually before the dangerous pass of the +\par Krasnoe ravine, beyond which could be seen a great mass of Russian +\par troops and an array of guns which opened a lively and sustained fire. +\par +\par Without being cast down by this unforeseen obstacle the }{\deleted marshal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967397 Marshal}{ +\par took the bold decision to force a passage, and ordered the 48th of +\par line, commanded by Colonel Pelet, to attack with the bayonet. At +\par Ney's command, the French soldiers, although tired, hungry and numb +\par with cold, rushed the Russian batteries and captured them. They were +\par regained by the enemy and captured once more by our men but in the +\par end they had to yield to the superiority in numbers. The 48th, +\par shattered by grape-shot, was largely destroyed. Of the six hundred +\par and fifty men who entered the ravine only about a hundred emerged. +\par Colonel Pelet, gravely wounded was among them. +\par +\par Night fell, and for the rearguard, all hope of rejoining the +\par Emperor and the rest of the army seemed to be lost; but Ney had +\par confidence in his men, and above all in himself. He ordered lines of +\par fires to be lit, in order to keep the enemy in their camp, in the +\par expectation of a renewed attack the next day, but he had decided to +\par put the Dnieper between himself and the Russians and to entrust his +\par fate and that of his troops to the strength of the ice covering the +\par river. It was while he was trying to decide which was the shortest +\par route to the river that a Russian }{\deleted Colonel }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967396 colonel }{from Krasnoe arrived}{\deleted ,}{ as an +\par envoy, and demanded that Ney should surrender. Ney was indignant, +\par and as the officer was carrying no written instructions, he replied +\par that he did not regard him as an envoy but as a spy who would be +\par executed if he did not guide them to the nearest spot on the bank of +\par the Dnieper. The Russian Colonel was forced to obey. +\par +\par Ney immediately gave the order to quit the camp in silence, +\par leaving behind the guns, wagons, baggage and those wounded unable to +\par march with him; and}{\deleted ,}{ helped by the darkness, he reached, after four +\par hours, the banks of the Dnieper. The river was frozen over, but the +\par ice was not everywhere thick enough to bear the weight of a number of +\par men, so the }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967395 Marshal }{sent his troops across one by one. Once over the +\par river, the troops thought they had reached safety, but dawn revealed +\par an encampment of Cossacks. This was commanded by Hetman Platov}{\deleted ,}{ who, +\par as was his custom, had spent the evening drinking}{\deleted ,}{ and was still +\par asleep. +\par +\par Discipline is so rigid in the Russian army that no one dared wake +\par him nor take up arms without his orders, so the remains of Ney's +\par Corps were able to pass within a league of the camp without being +\par attacked. The Cossacks did not appear until the next day. +\par +\par Under constant attack, the }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967395 Marshal }{marched for three days along +\par the winding bank of the Dnieper, which would lead him to Orscha, and +\par on the 20th he at last saw this town}{\deleted ,}{ where he hoped to find the +\par Emperor and the army. He was, however, still separated from Orscha by +\par a large area of open ground in which were many enemy troops, while +\par the Cossacks were preparing to attack him from the rear. T}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ up a +\par good defensive position, he sent of a succession of officers to find +\par out if the French were still in Orscha, failing which resistance +\par would no longer be possible. One of these officers reached Orscha +\par where the general headquarters still was. The Emperor was delighted +\par to hear of the return of }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967394 ,}{ and to rescue him from his +\par dangerous position he sent Prince Eug\'e8ne and Marshal Mortier who +\par drove off the enemy and brought back Ney and what remained of his +\par unit. +\par +\par The next day the Emperor continued the retreat. He was joined by +\par troops under the command of }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967394 Marshal }{Victor who had recently arrived +\par from Germany, and he made contact with 2nd Corps, where Saint-Cyr had +\par just returned the command to }{\deleted marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{. +\par +\par Chap. 15. +\par +\par As it is important to understand the events which led to the +\par reunion of 2nd Corps with the army}{\deleted ,}{ from which it had been separated +\par since the start of the campaign, I must describe briefly what +\par happened after the month of August, when, having defeated the +\par Russians at Polotsk, Saint-Cyr set up}{\deleted ,}{ near there}{\deleted ,}{ an immense +\par entrenched camp}{\deleted ,}{ protected by a part of his force, the remainder of +\par which he spread out on both banks of the Dvina. The light cavalry +\par provided cover for these cantonments}{\deleted ,}{ and so, as I have already said, +\par Castex's brigade, to which my regiment belonged, was stationed at +\par Louchonski, on a little river named the Polota, from where we could +\par keep an eye on the main roads leading from Sebej and Newel. +\par +\par Wittgenstein's army, after its defeat, had retired beyond those +\par towns, so that there was}{\deleted ,}{ between the French and the Russians}{\deleted ,}{ a +\par space of more than twenty-five leagues of no-man}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967391 '}{s-land, into which +\par both sides sent reconnaissance parties of cavalry, giving rise to +\par unimportant skirmishes. For the rest, as the area round Polotsk was +\par well supplied with forage and standing crops of grain, and as it +\par seemed plain that we were in for a long stay, the French soldiers +\par started to reap and thresh the corn, and grind it in the small +\par hand-mills which are to be found in every peasant dwelling. +\par +\par This process seemed to me to be too slow}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967391 ,}{\deleted ,}{ so we repaired, with +\par much difficulty, two water-mills, which stood by the Polota near +\par Louchonski, and}{\deleted ,}{ from that time on, a supply of bread for my regiment +\par was assured. As for meat, the neighbouring woods were full of +\par abandoned cattle; but as it was necessary to track them down every +\par day, I had the idea of doing what I had seen done in Portugal, and +\par that was to form a regimental herd. In a short time I had rounded up +\par 7 or 8 hundred beasts which I put in the charge of some unmounted +\par Chasseurs, to whom I gave local ponies, too small for military use. +\par This herd, which I increased by frequent searches, lasted for several +\par months and allowed me to make regular distributions of meat to the +\par regiment, which maintained the men's health and earned me their +\par gratitude for the care I took of them. I extended my care to the +\par horses, for which we made big shelters, thatched with straw, and +\par placed behind the men's huts, so that our bivouac was almost as +\par comfortable as a regular camp in peacetime. The other unit commanders +\par did the same sort of thing, but none of them had a regimental herd: +\par their men lived from day to day. +\par +\par While the French, Swiss, Croat}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967390 ,}{ and Portuguese regiments worked +\par unceasingly to improve their conditions, the }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{ns alone made no +\par effort to escape from want and sickness. It was in vain that General +\par the Comte de Wr\'e8de tried to rouse them by pointing out how the French +\par soldiers were building huts, reaping and threshing grain, milling it +\par into flour, m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ ovens and b}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ bread, the wretched }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{ns, +\par totally demoralised since they no longer were issued with regular +\par rations, admired the work done by our men without attempting to +\par imitate them. So they were dying like flies and there would have +\par been none left if Marshal Saint-Cyr, }{\deleted shaKing }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967390 sh}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967390 }{off for a moment his +\par habitual indifference, had not persuaded the }{\deleted Colonels }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967389 colonels }{of the other +\par divisions to provide a daily supply of bread for the }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{ns. The +\par light cavalry, stationed out in the country and near the woods, sent +\par them some cattle.}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967389 +\par }{ +\par However, these Germans, so feeble when it came to work, were brave +\par enough in action against the enemy, but}{\deleted ,}{ the moment the danger was +\par over}{\deleted ,}{ they relapsed into complete apathy. Nostalgia or home-sickness +\par took them; they dragged themselves to Polotsk, and entering the +\par hospitals established by their commanders, they asked for somewhere +\par to die, and}{\deleted ,}{ laying themselves on the straw, they never rose again. +\par A great many died in this way and General de Wr\'e8de had to take into +\par his wagon the flags of a number of regiments who had not sufficient +\par men to defend them. And yet it was only September, the cold weather +\par had not begun and on the contrary it was very mild. The other troops +\par were in good heart and awaited cheerfully the outcome of events. +\par +\par The men of my regiment were noted everywhere for their good +\par health, which I attribute firstly to the quantity of bread and meat +\par which I was able to give them and secondly to the liquor which I was +\par able to obtain by an arrangement with the Jesuits of Polotsk. These +\par good Fathers, all of them French, had a big farm at Louchonski, +\par where}{\deleted ,}{ there was a distillery for m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ grain spirit, but on the +\par approach of war all the workers had fled back to the monastery, t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ +\par with them the stills and utensils, so that production had stopped, +\par thus depriving the monastery of part of its revenue. The arrival of +\par so many soldiers in the region had made alcoholic drinks so scarce +\par and expensive that the owners of the canteens were undert}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ a +\par journey of several days}{\deleted ,}{ to Wilna}{\deleted ,}{ to obtain supplies. It occurred +\par to me that I might be able to reach an agreement with the Jesuits}{\deleted ,}{ +\par whereby I would protect their distillery and have my men reap and +\par thresh the necessary grain, in return for which my regiment would +\par receive a daily share of the resulting product. My proposition was +\par accepted by the monks, who benefitted greatly by being able to sell +\par alcohol in the camps, while I had the advantage of being able to +\par distribute a daily ration to my men}{\deleted ,}{ who, since crossing the Nieman}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967387 ,}{ +\par had drunk nothing but water. +\par +\par At first glance these details may seem pointless, but I am happy +\par to recall them}{\deleted ,}{ because the care I took of my men saved many of their +\par lives}{\deleted ,}{ and maintained the strength of the 23rd far above that of the +\par other cavalry regiments in the Corps}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967387 , }{which earned me a token of his +\par satisfaction from the Emperor which I shall refer to later. +\par +\par Among the measures which I took}{\deleted ,}{ are two which protected the lives +\par of many of my troopers. The first of these was to insist that from +\par the 15th of September they should each equip themselves with a +\par sheepskin coat, many of which were to be found in abandoned peasant +\par dwellings. Soldiers are like great children, for whom one must care +\par sometimes against their will. Mine complained that these heavy +\par pelisses were useless and overburdened their horses, but come October +\par they were happy to put them on under their capes, and when it grew +\par really cold they thanked me for having made them keep them. +\par +\par The second step which I took was to send to the rear all those +\par troopers who were without a mount, either because of enemy fire or +\par because their horse had died for some other reason. A standing order +\par required that these men should be sent to Lepel, in Lithuania, to +\par await horses which were to be sent from Warsaw. I was preparing to +\par do this when I learned that Lepel was crammed with dismounted +\par troopers, who were short of all supplies and had nothing to do}{\deleted ,}{ +\par because not a single remount had arrived there}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967385 , }{so I took it on +\par myself to send my dismounted men directly to Warsaw}{\deleted ,}{ under the +\par command of Captain Poitevin, who had been wounded. I knew that this +\par was in breach of the regulations, but in a huge army, so far from its +\par base and under such abnormal conditions, it was not possible for the +\par general staff to attend to all the needs of the troops. Occasions}{\deleted ,}{ +\par therefore}{\deleted ,}{ arose when a unit commander had to use his own judgement}{\deleted ;}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967383 .}{ +\par }{\deleted thus}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967383 Thus}{, }{\deleted General Castex}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967337 General Castex}{, who could not give me official authorisation}{\deleted ,}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967383 and}{ +\par having told me that he would close his eyes to what I was doing, I +\par continued in this manner for as long as it was possible, so that in +\par the end I had sent 250 men to Warsaw. After the campaign I found +\par them once more}{\deleted ,}{ on the Vistula, all in new uniforms, }{\deleted well }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967380 well-}{equipped +\par and }{\deleted well }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967380 well-}{mounted and a welcome reinforcement for the regiment. The +\par dismounted men from other regiments, amounting to some 9000, who had +\par been sent to Lepel, caught unaware by the great retreat from Moscow, +\par were almost all taken prisoner or died of cold on the roads. Yet it +\par would have been so easy to have sent them}{\deleted ,}{ during the summer and +\par autumn}{\deleted ,}{ to the remount depot at Warsaw, where there were plenty of +\par horses but a shortage of riders. +\par +\par I remained for a whole month resting at Louchonski, which helped +\par to heal the wound I had received at Jakoubowo. We were very +\par comfortable in our camp from the material point of view, but very +\par worried about the events at Moscow, and it was only on rare occasions +\par that we had news from France. At last I had a letter in which my +\par dearest Angelique told me she had given birth to a boy. My joy at +\par this was mixed with sadness, for I was a long way from my family, +\par and}{\deleted ,}{ although I could not foresee all the dangers to which I would +\par soon be exposed, I could not pretend that there were not many +\par obstacles to be overcome before our reunion. +\par +\par About the middle of September, Marshal Saint-Cyr sent me on a +\par rather delicate mission. It had two objectives: first to find out +\par what the enemy were up to in the region round Newel and then to +\par return via Lake Ozerichtchi in order to get in touch with Count +\par Lubenski, one of the few Poles who were willing to do anything to +\par shake off the Russian yoke. The Emperor who, although unwilling to +\par proclaim the re-establishment of the former Poland, wanted to +\par organise the areas already conquered into departments, had received +\par many refusals from the noblemen to whom he had proposed to confide +\par the administration; but}{\deleted ,}{ having been assured of }{\deleted count }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967379 Count }{Lubenski's +\par patriotism, His Majesty had nominated him Prefect of Witepsk. As +\par this nobleman lived in an isolated spot}{\deleted ,}{ outside the area under +\par French control, it was difficult to inform him of his nomination and +\par to ensure his safe arrival. Napoleon had therefore ordered that a +\par body of light cavalry should be sent to the Count. +\par +\par Detailed to undertake this mission, with three hundred men of my +\par regiment, I picked the boldest and best-mounted men and having +\par provided them with bread, cooked meat and vodka, as well as other +\par necessities, I left the camp on the 14th of September, t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ with me +\par Lorentz to act as interpreter. +\par +\par The life of a partisan is perilous and very tiring. One avoids the +\par main roads and hides by day in the forest without daring to make a +\par fire. One takes from a hamlet food and fodder to be eaten several +\par leagues away to confuse enemy spies; one marches all night, sometimes +\par arriving at different point from that intended and one is constantly +\par on the look-out. Such was the life I led when I found myself with no +\par more than three hundred men, in a huge area which I did not know, out +\par of touch with the French army and approaching that of the Russians, a +\par numerous detachment of whom I might encounter at any time. It was a +\par difficult situation, but I had confidence in myself and in the men +\par who followed me, so I went forward resolutely, skirting by two or +\par three leagues the road which runs from Polotsk to Newel. +\par +\par Nothing much of interest happened to us. It is sufficient to say +\par that thanks to the information given to us by the peasants, who hated +\par the Russians, we made a tour round Newel, avoiding all the enemy +\par positions, and after eight days, or rather eight nights, of marching +\par we came to the shore of Lake Ozerichtchi, where there is the +\par magnificent ch\'e2teau which at that time belonged to Count Lubenski. +\par I shall never forget the scene which greeted us on our arrival +\par before this ancient and vast manor. It was a splendid autumn +\par evening. The family of the Count had gathered to celebrate his +\par birthday and to rejoice in the capture of Moscow by Napoleon, when +\par some servants ran to announce that the ch\'e2teau was surrounded by +\par soldiers on horseback, who had posted sentries and guards and were +\par now entering the courtyards. It was thought that these were the +\par Russian police who had come to arrest the Count, and he, a man of +\par great courage, was waiting calmly to be taken to the prison of +\par }{\deleted Saint-Petersburg}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967375 St. Petersburg}{, when his son, who out of curiosity had opened a +\par window, came to say that the troopers were spe}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ French. +\par +\par On hearing this, the Count and his family followed by a crowd of +\par servants rushed out of the ch\'e2teau and gathered on an immense +\par peristyle. When I mounted the steps, he advanced towards me with +\par arms outstretched to embrace me, and declaimed in theatrical tones a +\par most fulsome welcome. Not only did the Count embrace me, but his +\par wife and daughters did the same, then the almoner, the tutors and +\par governesses came to kiss my hand, and the domestic staff touched my +\par knee with their lips. I was greatly astonished at these various +\par honours, and accepted them with all the gravity I could muster. I +\par had thought the whole performance was over when, at a word from the +\par Count, they all knelt down and commenced to pray. +\par +\par When we re-entered the ch\'e2teau, I handed the Count his appointment +\par as Prefect of Witepsk, adorned with the signature of the French +\par Emperor, and asked him if he accepted it. "Yes}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967374 !}{" }{\deleted He }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967374 he }{cried "}{\deleted And }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967374 and }{I am +\par ready to go with you." The Countess was equally enthusiastic, and it +\par was agreed that the Count with his eldest son and two servants would +\par leave with me. I gave them an hour to get ready, which time was +\par employed in giving my men a good supper, which they had to eat on +\par horseback}{\deleted ,}{ because of my fear of a surprise attack. Having said our +\par farewells, we left}{\deleted ,}{ to go and sleep in a forest four leagues from +\par there, where we stayed hidden all the next day. At night we +\par continued our march, but to put off our trail any of the enemy who +\par might have been warned of our presence in the area, I took a +\par different route to that by which I had come, and going by paths and +\par at times across country, after five days I reached Polotsk. It was as +\par well that I had taken a different route, because I learned later from +\par some merchants who lived in Newel that the Russians had sent a +\par regiment of Dragoons and 600 Cossacks to wait for me at the source of +\par the Drissa, near a village I had passed on my way in. +\par +\par After reporting to Marshal Saint-Cyr and presenting to him Count +\par Lubenski, I went back to the camp at Louchonski, where I rejoined +\par }{\deleted general Castex}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967337 General Castex}{ and the rest of my unit. My expedition had lasted for +\par thirteen days, during which time we had suffered fatigue and +\par privation; but I was bringing my men back in good shape. We had not +\par been obliged to fight since any small bands of the enemy we did +\par encounter fled when they saw us. +\par +\par The journey which Count Lubenski had taken with us}{\deleted ,}{ had allowed me +\par to assess his character. He was a well educated man, capable and +\par patriotic, but one whose enthusiasm was inclined to cloud his +\par judgement when it came to considering how best to re-build Poland. +\par Nevertheless, if all his compatriots had shown his vigour, and had +\par taken up arms on the arrival of the French, Poland might have +\par regained its freedom in 1812; but, with few exceptions, they remained +\par profoundly apathetic. +\par +\par After leaving Polotsk, the Count went to take up his post as +\par prefect. He did not keep the position for long, for a month had +\par hardly passed before the French army, having left Moscow passed +\par through Witepsk on its retreat. Compelled by this disaster to +\par abandon his prefecture and to shelter from the vengeance of the +\par Russians, he took refuge in Galicia, in Austrian Poland, where he had +\par large landholdings. He lived there peacefully until 1830 when he +\par returned to Russian Poland to take up arms against the Czar. I do +\par not know what happened to him after this uprising, but I have been +\par told by some of his countrymen that he went back to Galicia. He was +\par a good patriot and a fine man. +\par +\par A few days after our return to Louchonski, I was greatly surprised +\par by the arrival of a detachment of thirty troopers belonging to my +\par regiment. They had come from Mons}{\deleted ,}{ and had, in consequence}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967372 ,}{ travelled +\par through Belgium, the Rhenish provinces, all of Germany and part of +\par Prussia and Poland, and had come more than 400 leagues under the +\par command of a simple N.C.O. However not a man had fallen out and not a +\par horse was injured. That shows the sort of stuff of which the +\par troopers of the 23rd were made. +\par +\par Chap. 16. +\par +\par On about the 12th of October, 2nd Corps, which since the 18th of +\par August had been living in peace and plenty}{\deleted ,}{ in and around Polotsk, +\par had to prepare itself to run once more the dangers of war. We +\par learned that }{\deleted admiral Tchitchakoff}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967313 Admiral Tchitchakoff}{, commander-in-chief of the Russian +\par army in Walachia, having made peace with the Turks through the +\par intervention of the English, was heading for Moghilew}{\deleted ,}{ with the +\par intention of getting in the rear of Napoleon}{\deleted ,}{ who, still nursing the +\par hope of concluding a treaty with Alexander, had not yet left Moscow. +\par One might be astonished that Prince Schwartzenberg, who with thirty +\par thousand Austrians, our allies, was supposed to be watching over the +\par Russian forces in Walachia, had allowed them to pass, but that is +\par what happened. Not only had the Austrians failed to block the road +\par taken by the Russians, which they could have done, but instead of +\par following behind them, they had stayed comfortably in their +\par cantonments. +\par +\par Napoleon had trusted too much in the good faith of the generals +\par and ministers of his father-in-law, the }{\deleted emperor }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967370 Emperor }{of Austria, in giving +\par them the responsibility of covering the right flank of the Grande +\par Arm\'e9e. Whatever excuses are offered, there can be, in my opinion, no +\par escaping the fact that this was flagrant treachery on their part, and +\par history will condemn them for it. +\par +\par While}{\deleted ,}{ on our right}{\deleted ,}{ the Austrians were allowing passage to the +\par Russian troops coming from Turkey, the Prussians}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967370 ,}{ who had}{\deleted ,}{ so +\par unwisely}{\deleted ,}{ been placed on our left wing, were preparing to do a deal +\par with the enemy, and that almost openly, without concealment from +\par Marshal Macdonald, whom the Emperor had put at their head to ensure +\par their fidelity. As soon as these foreigners learned that the +\par occupation of Moscow had not led to a peace, they foresaw the +\par disasters which would befall the French army, and all their enmity +\par towards us was rekindled. They did not break out in open revolt, but +\par Marshal Macdonald's orders were obeyed with reluctance, and the +\par Prussians encamped near Riga could at any moment join Wittgenstein's +\par Russians to crush 2nd Corps camped round Polotsk. +\par +\par Plainly, Marshal Saint-Cyr's position was becoming difficult. He, +\par however, did not seem perturbed, and}{\deleted ,}{ as impassive as ever, he issued +\par calmly and clearly the orders for an obstinate defence. All the +\par infantry was concentrated in the town and the entrenched camp. +\par Several bridges were added to those already uniting the two banks of +\par the Dvina. The sick and the non-combatants were sent to Old Polotsk +\par and Ekimania, fortified posts on the left bank. The }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967369 Marshal }{did not +\par consider he had enough troops to dispute the open ground with +\par Wittgenstein, who had received powerful reinforcements from +\par }{\deleted Saint-Petersburg}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967375 St. Petersburg}{, so he did not keep more than five squadrons with +\par him, of which he took one from each regiment of light cavalry. The +\par rest went over to the other bank. +\par +\par On the 16th of October the enemy scouts appeared before Polotsk, +\par the aspect of which had greatly changed, partly because of the huge, +\par newly established, entrenched camp and partly because of the numerous +\par fortifications which covered the open country. The biggest and +\par strongest of these was a redoubt called the }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{n. The unhappy +\par remnant of }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967368 General }{de Wr\'e8de's force asked if they might defend this +\par redoubt, which they did with much courage. +\par +\par The fighting began on the 17th and went on all day without Marshal +\par Saint-Cyr being forced out of his position. This angered General +\par Wittgenstein, who attributed the hold-up to his officers not having +\par distinguished between the stronger and weaker of our defence works}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967367 ,}{\deleted ,}{ +\par and}{\deleted ,}{ wishing to inspect them himself, he boldly approached them. +\par This devotion to duty nearly cost him his life, for Major Cur\'e9ly, one +\par of the finest officers in the army, having spotted the }{\deleted g}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967367 G}{eneral, +\par dashed forward}{\deleted ,}{ leading a squadron of the 20th Chasseurs, who sabred +\par some of the escort while he, forcing his way to }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967367 General }{Wittgenstein, +\par put the point of his sword to his throat and forced him to surrender. +\par +\par Having effected the capture of the enemy commander, Major Cur\'e9ly +\par should have retired swiftly, between two redoubts, and taken his +\par prisoner into the entrenched camp; but the Major was too keen, and +\par seeing that the }{\deleted general's }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967366 General's }{escort was about to attempt his rescue, he +\par thought it would be more creditable if he could keep his prisoner in +\par spite of all their efforts. Wittgenstein then found himself in the +\par middle of a group fighting for the possession of his person. In the +\par course of the struggle Cur\'e9ly's horse was killed, several of our +\par Chasseurs dismounted in order to pick up their leader, and, in the +\par confusion this created, Wittgenstein made off at the gallop, calling +\par for his men to follow. +\par +\par When this event became generally known throughout the army, it +\par gave rise to much debate. Some maintained that Major Cur\'e9ly should +\par have killed Wittgenstein as soon as his escort returned to fight for +\par his rescue, others thought that having accepted his surrender, Cur\'e9ly +\par was not entitled to do so. Others again, thought that, having once +\par surrendered, Wittgenstein should not have tried to escape. Whatever +\par the rights or wrongs of these arguments may be, when Cur\'e9ly was +\par presented to the Emperor}{\deleted ,}{ during the crossing of the Beresina, where +\par }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967366 General }{Wittgenstein caused us many losses, Napoleon said to him, +\par "This would probably not have happened if you had used your right to +\par kill Wittgenstein at Polotsk, when the Russians were trying to take +\par him from you." In spite of this reproach, merited or not, Cur\'e9ly +\par became a colonel shortly after, and a general in 1814. +\par +\par To return now to Polotsk}{\deleted ,}{ where the enemy, repelled on the 17th, +\par returned to the attack on the 18th, in so much greater numbers that, +\par after suffering very heavy losses, Wittgenstein's men captured the +\par entrenched camp. Saint-Cyr, at the head of Legrand's and Maison's +\par divisions}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967365 ,}{ drove them out at bayonet point. Seven times the Russians +\par returned to the attack, and seven times the French and the Croats +\par drove them off, to remain finally in control of all their positions. +\par +\par Although now wounded, Saint-Cyr continued to direct his troops. +\par His efforts were crowned with success, for the enemy left the field +\par and retired into the nearby forest. 50,000 Russians had been +\par defeated by 15,000 of our men. There was rejoicing in the French +\par camp, but on the morning of the 19th we heard that General Steinghel +\par with 14,000 Russians had just crossed the Dvina above Disna and was +\par moving up the left bank to get behind Polotsk, seize the bridges and +\par trap Saint-Cyr's force between his own and Wittgenstein's}{\deleted , a}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967360 . A}{nd indeed +\par it was not long before Steinghel's advance-guard appeared, heading +\par for Ekimania, where there were the division of Cuirassiers and the +\par regiments of }{\deleted l}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967360 L}{ight }{\deleted cavalry }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967360 Cavalry }{from each of which the }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967360 Marshal }{had +\par retained only one squadron at Polotsk. +\par +\par At once we were all on horseback and we drove off the enemy}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967359 ,}{\deleted ,}{ who +\par would}{\deleted ,}{ in the end}{\deleted ,}{ have gained the upper hand, for they were being +\par strongly reinforced, while we had no infantry support until Saint-Cyr +\par sent us three regiments taken from the divisions who were protecting +\par Polotsk. However}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967359 ,}{ at this point}{\deleted ,}{ Steinghel, who had only to make a +\par little effort to reach the bridges, stopped short, while on the other +\par side of the river, Wittgenstein did the same. It seemed that the two +\par Russian generals, after combining to draw up an excellent plan of +\par attack, were unwilling to put it into operation}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967358 , }{each one leaving it +\par to the other to overcome the French. +\par +\par The French position was now highly critical, for on the right bank +\par they were pressed back by an army three time their strength towards a +\par town built entirely of wood and a sizeable river}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967358 , }{with no means of +\par retreat except the bridges which were threatened by Steinghel's +\par troops on the left bank. +\par +\par All the generals urged Saint-Cyr to order the evacuation of +\par Polotsk, but he wanted to wait for nightfall, because he felt sure +\par that the 50,000 Russians who faced him were waiting only for his +\par first backward move to throw themselves on his weakened army and +\par create a state of disorder in the ranks. So he stayed where he was}{\deleted ,}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967358 ,}{ +\par and took advantage of the extraordinary inactivity of the enemy +\par generals to wait for the onset of the dark, which was hastened, +\par luckily, by a thick fog which prevented the three armies from seeing +\par one another. The }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967357 Marshal }{seized this favourable opportunity to +\par effect his withdrawal. +\par +\par The large number of guns and some cavalry squadrons who had +\par remained on the right bank, had already crossed the bridges in +\par silence, and the infantry were about to follow, their movement +\par invisible to the enemy, when the men of Legrand's division, unwilling +\par to leave their huts for the benefit of the Russians, set them on +\par fire. The two other divisions, believing that this was an agreed +\par signal, did the same and in an instant the whole line was aflame. +\par This great conflagration having alerted the Russians to our retreat, +\par all their guns opened up}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967356 ; }{their mortars set fire to the suburbs and +\par the town itself, toward which their columns charged. However, the +\par French, mainly Maison}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967356 '}{s division, disputed every foot of ground, for +\par the fires lit the place as if it were day. +\par +\par Polotsk was burned to the ground}{\deleted : t}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967356 . T}{he losses on both sides were +\par considerable}{\deleted ; n}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967356 . N}{evertheless our retreat was carried out in an orderly +\par fashion: we took with us those of our wounded whom it was possible to +\par carry; the rest, together with a great many Russians, perished in the +\par flames. +\par +\par It seemed that there was a complete lack of co-operation between +\par the leaders of the two enemy armies, for during this night of +\par fighting Steinghel stayed peacefully in his camp, and made no more +\par effort to support Wittgenstein than the latter had made to support +\par him on the previous day. It was only when Saint-Cyr, after +\par evacuating the place, had put himself beyond the reach of +\par Wittgenstein by burning the bridges, that Steinghel, on the morning +\par of the 20th, deployed his troops to attack us}{\deleted : b}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967355 . B}{ut the French force +\par was now united on the left bank, and Saint-Cyr mounted an assault +\par against Steinghel, who was overcome with the loss of more than 2000 +\par men killed or captured.}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967355 +\par }{ +\par In the course of these fierce engagements, over four days and a +\par night, the Russians had six generals and 10,000 men killed or +\par wounded, while the losses of the French and their allies did not +\par amount to more than 5,000, a huge difference which can be attributed +\par to the superior firepower of our troops, particularly the artillery. +\par The advantage which we had in respect of numbers was}{\deleted ,}{ in part}{\deleted ,}{ +\par compensated for by the fact that the wounds which }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967354 Marshal }{Saint-Cyr +\par had suffered would deprive the army of a leader in whom it had entire +\par confidence. It was necessary to replace him. The }{\deleted comte }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967354 Comte }{de Wr\'e8de +\par claimed that his position as commander in chief of the }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{n Corps +\par entitled him to command the French divisional generals, but they +\par refused to obey a foreigner}{\deleted , s}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967353 . S}{o Saint-Cyr, although in much pain, +\par agreed to remain in control of the two army }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967354 corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967353 ,}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967354 }{and ordered a +\par retreat towards Oula, in order to reach Smoliany}{\deleted ,}{ and thus protect on +\par one side}{\deleted ,}{ the road from Orscha to Borisoff}{\deleted ,}{ by which the Emperor was +\par returning from Moscow. +\par +\par This retreat was so well organised that Wittgenstein and +\par Steinghel, who, after repairing the bridges across the Dvina, were +\par following our trail with 50,000 men, did not dare to attack us, +\par although we had no more than 12,000 combatants; and they advanced +\par only fifteen leagues in eight days. As for the Comte de Wr\'e8de, his +\par injured pride led him to refuse to accept instructions, so he marched +\par off on his own}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967352 ,}{ with the thousand }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{ns which he had left}{\deleted ,}{ and a +\par brigade of French cavalry which he had acquired by subterfuge, having +\par told General Corbineau that he had received orders to this effect, +\par which was not the case. His presumption was soon punished: he was +\par attacked and defeated by a Russian division. He then retired without +\par authorisation}{\deleted ,}{ to Wilna, from where he reached the Nieman. The +\par Corbineau brigade refused to go with him and returned to join the +\par French army, for whom its return was a piece of good fortune, as you +\par will see when we come to the crossing of the Beresena. +\par +\par Ordered by the Emperor, Marshal Victor, Duc de Bellune, at the +\par head of the 9th }{\deleted army }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967351 Army }{Corps consisting of 25,000 men, half of whom +\par came from the Confederation of the Rhine, hurried from Smolensk to +\par join Saint-Cyr for the purpose of driving Wittgenstein back across +\par the Dvina. This project would have certainly been carried out if +\par Saint-Cyr had been in overall command; but Victor was the more senior +\par of the two marshals and Saint-Cyr was unwilling to serve under his +\par orders, so the evening before their union which took place at +\par Smoliany on the 31st of October, he declared that he could no longer +\par continue the campaign and handing over the command to }{\deleted general}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967351 General}{ +\par Legrand, he set off to return to France. The departure of Saint-Cyr +\par was regretted by the troops}{\deleted ,}{ who, although they disliked him +\par personally, gave him credit for his courage and his outstanding +\par military talent. Saint-Cyr could have been a first class army +\par commander if he had been less egoistic and if he had taken the +\par trouble to gain the affection of officers and men by caring for their +\par welfare. No man, however, is perfect. +\par +\par Marshal Victor had no sooner gathered 9th and 2nd Corps under his +\par command than chance offered him the opportunity of achieving a major +\par victory. Wittgenstein, who was unaware of this union, relying on his +\par superiority in numbers, had decided to attack us at a place where his +\par line of retreat would be through some narrow defiles. It would only +\par have required a combined effort from the two }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967350 corps }{to destroy him, +\par for our troops were now as numerous as his, were inspired by a better +\par spirit and were keen for action; but Victor}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967350 ,}{ doubtful perhaps of +\par success on terrain which he was seeing for the first time, retreated +\par during the night, and having reached Sienno he put the two units into +\par cantonment in the district. The Russians also withdrew leaving only +\par some Cossacks to keep an eye on us. This state of affairs which +\par lasted for the first fortnight of November did the troops much good, +\par for they lived well}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967349 ,}{ as the country offered many resources. +\par +\par One day, Marshal Victor having been told that there was a +\par considerable enemy force in the area of a certain village, ordered +\par }{\deleted General Castex}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967337 General Castex}{ to send one of his units to reconnoitre the place. It +\par was for me to go. We left at dusk and reached the village without any +\par difficulty. It was situated in a hollow, in the middle of a huge +\par dried marshland and was entirely peaceful, the inhabitants whom I +\par interrogated with the aid of Lorentz said that they had not seen a +\par Russian soldier in the past month, so I prepared to return to my +\par base. However our return was not as trouble-free as our journey there +\par had been. +\par +\par Although there was no mist, the night was extremely dark and I was +\par afraid of leading the regiment astray on the many embankments of the +\par marsh, which I had to cross once more; so I took}{\deleted ,}{ as a guide}{\deleted ,}{ one of +\par the villagers who seemed to me to be the least stupid. My column had +\par been going along in good order for half an hour, when suddenly I saw +\par camp fires on the slopes overlooking the marsh. I halted the column +\par and sent two sous-officiers to have a look. }{\deleted they }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967348 They }{reported that there +\par was a large force barring our advance and another in our rear. I +\par could now see fires between me and the village which I had just left +\par and it appeared that I had landed, without knowing it, in the middle +\par of an army }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967348 corps }{which was m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ ready to bivouac for the night. +\par The number of fires grew, and I estimated that there was a force of +\par about 50,000 men present and I was in the middle of it, with 700 +\par troopers. The odds were too great, and there seemed only one thing +\par to do, and that was to gallop along the main embankment, on which we +\par were, and t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ the enemy by surprise, cut a path for ourselves with +\par our sabres. Once free from the light of the fires, the darkness would +\par prevent the enemy from following us. I made sure that all my troops +\par knew what I proposed to do, and I have to admit that I was very +\par uneasy, for the enemy infantry could take up their arms at the first +\par cry of warning, and cause us many casualties. +\par +\par I was in this state of anxiety when the peasant who was our guide +\par burst into loud laughter, seconded by Lorentz. I asked them what +\par they were about, but they did not know enough French to explain +\par fully. Eventually, however, we understood that these were not camp +\par fires but marsh fires, or will-of-the-wisp; something none of us had +\par ever seen before; and so, relieved of one of the nastiest frights I +\par have ever had, I returned to my camp. +\par +\par Chap. 17. +\par +\par After several days I was given a new mission, in which we would +\par face not marsh fires but the muskets of the Russian dragoons. It +\par happened that }{\deleted general Castex}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967337 General Castex}{ had gone to visit }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967347 Marshal }{Victor, and +\par the 24th was out on patrol, so that my regiment was alone in the +\par camp}{\deleted ,}{ when there arrived two peasants, one of whom I recognised as +\par Captain Bourgoing, Oudinot's aide-de-camp. +\par +\par The }{\deleted marshal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967347 Marshal}{, who had gone to Wilna after he had been wounded at +\par Polotsk on the 18th of August, having heard that Saint-Cyr had been +\par wounded in his turn on the 18th of October, and had left the army, +\par decided to rejoin 2nd Corps and take up its command. +\par +\par Oudinot knew that his troops were somewhere in the region of +\par Sienno and was heading for that town}{\deleted ,}{ when, on arriving at Rasna, he +\par was warned by a Polish priest that a body of Russian }{\deleted dragoons }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967345 d}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967346 ragoons }{and +\par some Cossacks was roaming the area. The }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967346 Marshal }{knew that there was +\par a French cavalry unit at Zapol\'e9, so he wrote to the commander of this +\par unit to request a strong escort, and sent the letter by Captain +\par Bourgoing, who for additional safety disguised himself as a peasant. +\par It was as well that he did so, for he had scarcely covered a league +\par when he encountered a large detachment of enemy cavalry, who, +\par thinking that he was a local inhabitant, took no notice of him. Soon +\par after this, Captain Bourgoing heard the sound of gunfire, and +\par increased his pace towards Zapol\'e9. +\par +\par As soon as I heard of the serious position in which the }{\deleted marshal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967346 Marshal}{ +\par found himself, I left with my regiment at the trot to bring him help. +\par It was a good thing that we arrived when we did, for although the +\par }{\deleted marshal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967346 Marshal}{, joined by his aides-de-camp and some dozen French soldiers, +\par was barricaded in a stone house, he was on the point of being +\par captured by the }{\deleted dragoons }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967345 dragoons }{when we arrived. When they saw us, the +\par enemy mounted their horses and fled. My troopers went after them and +\par managed to kill about twenty of them and take some prisoners}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967345 ; }{I had +\par two men wounded. The marshal, glad to have escaped from the +\par Russians, expressed his thanks, and I escorted him back to the French +\par cantonments where he was out of danger. +\par +\par At this period in time, it seemed that none of the marshals was +\par prepared to recognise the right of seniority amongst themselves, for +\par not one of them was willing to serve under the orders of his comrade, +\par no matter how serious the situation. So}{\deleted ,}{ as soon as Oudinot took +\par command of the 2nd Corps, Victor, rather than remaining under his +\par authority to join in combating Wittgenstein, took himself off with +\par his 25,000 men to Kokhanov. }{\deleted Marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{, left on his own, +\par marched his men for several days round various parts of the province +\par before setting up his headquarters at Tschereia, with his +\par advance-guard at Loucoulm. It was here, during a minor action +\par involving Castex's brigade that I received my promotion to colonel. +\par If you recall that I had suffered, in the rank of }{\deleted Major}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967344 major}{, a wound at +\par Znaim}{\deleted ,}{ in Moravia, two at Miranda de Corvo}{\deleted ,}{ in Portugal, one at +\par Jakoubowo, that I had fought in four campaigns in the same rank and +\par that finally I had been in command of a regiment since the French +\par entry into Russia, you may think that I had earned my new epaulets. +\par I was grateful to the Emperor when I learned that he intended to keep +\par me with the 23rd Chasseurs, for whom I had great affection, and where +\par I was liked and valued. In fact this decision was welcomed by all +\par ranks, and the troops whom I had so often led into battle came, both +\par officers and men, to tell me of their satisfaction at my remaining +\par their commander. The good }{\deleted general Castex}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967337 General Castex}{, who had always treated me +\par as a brother, welcomed me in front of the regiment, and even the +\par Colonel of the 24th, with whom I had few dealings, came to +\par congratulate me with all his officers, whose respect I had acquired. +\par +\par However, the situation of the French army grew worse by the day. +\par General Schwartzenberg, the Austrian commander-in-chief}{\deleted ,}{ whom +\par Napoleon had placed on the right wing of his army, had, by an act of +\par low treachery, allowed the troops belonging to }{\deleted Admiral Tchitchakoff}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967313 Admiral Tchitchakoff}{ +\par to pass, and they had seized control of Minsk, from where they +\par threatened our rear. The Emperor must now have much regretted that +\par he had given the command of Lithuania to the Dutchman Hogendorf, his +\par aide-de-camp, who, having never been in action, did not know what to +\par do to save Minsk, where he could have easily have combined the 30,000 +\par men of the Durette, Loison}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967342 ,}{ and Dombrowski divisions}{\deleted ,}{ which had been +\par placed at his disposal. The fall of Minsk, although a serious +\par matter, was one to which the Emperor attached little importance, for +\par he relied on crossing the Beresina at Borisoff, where there was a +\par bridge}{\deleted ,}{ protected by a fort, in good condition and manned by a Polish +\par regiment. The Emperor was so confident about this that, in order to +\par speed the march of his army he burned all his bridging equipment at +\par Orscha. This was a disastrous mistake, for these pontoons would have +\par assured us a quick crossing of the Beresina}{\deleted ,}{ which, in the event, we +\par had to effect at the cost of so much blood. +\par +\par Despite his confidence in relation to the crossing, Napoleon, when +\par he heard of the Russian occupation of Minsk, ordered Oudinot to +\par proceed by forced marches to Borisoff}{\deleted ; b}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967341 . B}{ut we arrived there too late, +\par because General Bronikovski, who was in command of the fort, seeing +\par himself surrounded by a numerous enemy, thought it would be a +\par praiseworthy act to save his garrison}{\deleted ; s}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967340 . S}{o instead of putting up a +\par determined resistance, which would have given Oudinot the time to +\par come to his help, he abandoned the fort, crossed the bridge to the +\par left bank with all his men, and set out for Orscha to join Oudinot's +\par }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967340 corps}{, which he met on the road. The }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967340 Marshal }{gave him a very rough +\par reception and ordered him to return with us to Borisoff. +\par +\par Not only were the town, the bridge across the Beresina}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967340 ,}{ and the fort +\par which dominates it in the hands of Tchitchakoff, but the Admiral, +\par carried away by this success and anxious to challenge the French, had +\par marched from the town with the bulk of his army, the vanguard of +\par which, consisting of a strong cavalry division, was led by General +\par Lambert, the most competent of his lieutenants. +\par +\par As the country was open}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967339 ,}{ Oudinot put ahead of his infantry +\par the division of Cuirassiers, and ahead of them Castex's brigade of +\par light cavalry. +\par +\par It was about three leagues from Borisoff that the Russian +\par advance-guard, going in the opposite direction to us, came up against +\par our Cuirassiers, who having done little fighting during the campaign, +\par had asked to be in the front line. At the sight of this fine +\par regiment, still strong in numbers and }{\deleted well }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967339 well-}{mounted, with their +\par cuirasses gleaming in the sunlight, the Russian cavalry pulled up +\par short; then, gathering their courage, they moved forward again, at +\par which point our Cuirassiers, in a furious charge, overran them, +\par killing or capturing about a thousand. Tchitchakoff, }{\deleted Who }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967339 who }{had been +\par assured that Napoleon's army was no more than a disorganised mass of +\par men without arms, had not expected this display of vitality, and he +\par beat a hurried retreat towards Berisoff. +\par +\par It is well known that after putting in a charge, the big horses of +\par the heavy cavalry, and above all those of the Cuirassiers, cannot +\par continue to gallop for very long. So it was the 23rd and the 24th +\par Chasseurs who took up the pursuit of the enemy, while the Cuirassiers +\par followed in the second line, at a slower pace. +\par +\par Tchitchakoff had not only made a mistake in attacking Oudinot but +\par he had also brought with him all the baggage of his army, which +\par filled more than fifteen hundred vehicles, so that the rapid retreat +\par of the Russians caused such confusion that the two regiments of +\par Castex's brigade often found themselves hindered by the carts which +\par had been abandoned by the enemy. This confusion became even worse +\par when we entered the town, where the streets were cluttered with +\par baggage and draught horses, through which obstructions Russian +\par soldiers, who had thrown away their arms, wove their way as they +\par sought to rejoin their units. We managed to reach the centre of the +\par town, but only after losing precious time, which allowed the +\par Russians to cross the river. +\par +\par Our orders were to reach the bridge and try to cross it at the +\par same time as the fleeing Russians; but to do this one had to know +\par where the bridge was, and none of us knew the town. My troopers +\par brought me a Jew whom I questioned in German, but he either did not +\par know, or pretended not to know the language, and I could get no +\par information from him. I would have given a great deal to have had +\par with me my Polish servant, Lorentz, to act as interpreter, but the +\par coward had remained behind as soon as there was any fighting. So we +\par had to comb the town until we eventually came to the Beresina. The +\par river was not yet sufficiently frozen to permit one to cross on the +\par ice, so it was necessary to use the bridge, but to take the bridge +\par would require infantry, and our infantry was still three leagues from +\par Borisoff. To take their place, }{\deleted marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{, who had arrived on +\par the scene, ordered }{\deleted general Castex}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967337 General Castex}{ to dismount three quarters of the +\par troopers of the two regiments, who armed with muskets could attack +\par the bridge on foot. We left the horses in the nearby streets guarded +\par by one or two men, and headed for the river behind }{\deleted general Castex}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967337 General Castex}{, +\par who on this perilous enterprise wished to be at the head of his +\par brigade. +\par +\par The defeat suffered by the advance-guard had produced +\par consternation in Tchitchakoff's army, the utmost disorder ruled on +\par the side of the river which it occupied, where we could see a mass of +\par fugitives disappearing into the distance; so although it had at first +\par seemed to me that it would be extremely difficult for dismounted +\par troopers, without bayonets, to force a passage over the bridge, and +\par keep possession of it, I began to hope for a successful outcome, for +\par the opposition was no more than a few musket shots. I therefore +\par ordered that as soon as the first platoon reached the right bank it +\par should occupy houses adjoining the bridge so that being in control of +\par both ends we could defend it until the arrival of our infantry. +\par Suddenly, however, the cannons of the fort thundered into action, +\par covering the bridge with a hail of grape-shot, which forced our +\par little group to fall back. A body of Russian sappers used this +\par breathing space to set fire to the bridge, but as their presence +\par prevented the gunners from firing, we took the opportunity to attack +\par them, killing or throwing into the river the greater part of them. +\par Our Chasseurs had already extinguished the fire when they were +\par charged by a battalion of Russian Grenadiers, and driven at bayonet +\par point off the bridge, which was soon set alight in many places and +\par became a huge bonfire whose intense heat made both sides move away. +\par +\par The French had now to give up hope of crossing the Beresina at +\par this point, and their line of retreat was cut!...This was for us a +\par fatal calamity, and contributed largely to changing the face of +\par Europe, by sh}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ the Emperor on his throne. +\par +\par }{\deleted Marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{, once he saw that it was impossible to force a +\par passage over the river at Borisoff, considered that it would be +\par dangerous to have the town choked by the rest of his troops, so he +\par ordered them to halt and set up camp while they were still some +\par distance away. Castex's brigade stayed on its own in Borisoff and +\par was forbidden to communicate with the other units, from which it was +\par hoped to conceal for as long as possible the disastrous news of the +\par burning of the bridge, which they did not hear about until +\par forty-eight hours later. +\par +\par Under the conventions of war, the enemy's baggage belongs to the +\par captors. }{\deleted General Castex}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967337 General Castex}{ therefore authorised the troopers of my +\par regiment and those of the 24th to help themselves to the booty +\par contained in the 1500 wagons and carts}{\deleted ,}{ abandoned by the Russians in +\par their flight to the other side of the bridge. The quantity of goods +\par was immense, but as it was a hundred times more than the brigade +\par could carry, I called together all the men of my regiment and told +\par them that as we were to make a long retreat, during which I would +\par probably be unable to make the distributions of rations which I had +\par done during all the campaign, I would advise them to provide +\par themselves mainly with foodstuff, and think also about protection +\par from the cold, I reminded them that an overloaded horse will not last +\par for long, and that they should not weigh theirs down with articles of +\par no use in war. "}{\deleted }{What is more," I told them}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967334 ,}{ "I shall hold an +\par inspection, and anything which is not food}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967334 ,}{ clothing}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967334 ,}{ or footwear will +\par be rejected without exception." }{\deleted General Castex}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967337 General Castex}{, to avoid all +\par argument, had planted markers, which divided the mass of vehicles +\par into two parts, so that each regiment had its own area. +\par +\par Oudinot's forces surrounded the town on three sides, the fourth +\par was bounded by the Beresina, and there were a number of observation +\par posts, so that our soldiers could examine the contents of the Russian +\par carts in safety. It appeared that the officers of Tchitchakoff's +\par army treated themselves well, for there was a profusion of hams, +\par pastries, sausages, dried fish, smoked meat and wines of all sorts, +\par plus an immense quantity of ships}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967334 '}{ biscuits, rice, cheese, etc. Our +\par men also took furs and strong footwear, which saved the lives of many +\par of them. The Russian drivers had fled without t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ their horses}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967334 ,}{ +\par almost all of which were of good quality. We took the best to +\par replace those of which the troopers complained, and officers used +\par some as pack-horses to carry the foodstuff which they had acquired. +\par +\par The brigade spent another day in Borisoff, and as in spite of the +\par precautions which had been taken, the news of the destruction of the +\par bridge had spread throughout 2nd Corps, }{\deleted marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{, in order to +\par allow all his troops to take advantage of the goods contained in the +\par enemy vehicles, arranged that successive detachments from all the +\par regiments might enter the town, to take their share of the plunder. +\par Notwithstanding the quantity of goods of all kinds taken by Oudinot's +\par men, there remained enough for the numerous stragglers returning from +\par Moscow on the following day. +\par +\par The supreme command }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967333 ,}{and indeed all officers who were able to +\par appreciate the situation}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967333 ,}{\deleted ,}{ were extremely worried. We had before +\par us the Beresina, on the opposite bank of which were gathered +\par Tchitchakoff's forces, our flanks were threatened by Wittgenstein, +\par Koutousoff was on our tail, and except for the debris of the Guard +\par and Oudinot's and Victors}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967332 '}{ }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967332 corps}{, reduced now to a few thousand +\par combatants, the rest of the Grande Arm\'e9e, recently so splendid, was +\par composed of sick men and soldiers without weapons, whom starvation +\par had deprived of their former energy. Everything conspired against +\par us; for although, owing to a drop in the temperature, Ney had been +\par able, a few days previously, to escape across the frozen Nieman, we +\par found the Beresina unfrozen, despite the bitter cold, and we had no +\par pontoons with which to make a bridge. +\par +\par On the 25th of November, the Emperor entered Borisoff, where +\par }{\deleted marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{ awaited him with the 6000 men he had left. Napoleon, +\par and the officers of his staff were astonished at the good order and +\par discipline which obtained in 2nd Corps, whose bearing contrasted so +\par markedly with that of the wretched groups of men whom they were +\par leading back from Moscow. Our troops were certainly not so smart as +\par they would have been in barracks, but every man had his weapons and +\par was quite prepared to use them. The Emperor was so impressed by +\par their turn-out that he summoned all the }{\deleted Colonels }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967326 colonels }{and told them to +\par inform their regiments of his satisfaction with the way they had +\par conducted themselves in the many savage actions which had been fought +\par in the province of Polotsk. +\par +\par Chap. 18. +\par +\par You will recall that when the }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{n General Comte de Wr\'e8de made +\par his unauthorised departure from 2nd Corps, he took with him +\par Corbineau's cavalry brigade, after assuring General Corbineau that he +\par had orders to do so, which was not true. Well, this piece of +\par trickery resulted in the saving of the Emperor and the remains of his +\par Grande Arm\'e9e. +\par +\par General Corbineau, dragged unwillingly away from 2nd Corps, of +\par which he was a part, had followed General Wr\'e8de as far as Gloubokoye, +\par but there he had declared that he would go no further unless the +\par }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{n general showed him the order, which he claimed to have, +\par instructing him to keep Corbineau with him. General Wr\'e8de was unable +\par to do this, so Corbineau left him and headed for Dokshitsy and the +\par headwater of the Beresina, then, going down the right bank of the +\par river, he intended to reach Borisoff, cross the bridge and take the +\par road to Orscha to look for Oudinot's Corps, which he thought was in +\par the region of Bobr. +\par +\par The Emperor, who had available the services of several thousand +\par Poles belonging to the }{\deleted duchy }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967324 Duchy }{of Warsaw}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967324 ,}{ has been blamed for not +\par attaching, from the beginning of the campaign, some of them to every +\par general or even every colonel}{\deleted ,}{ to act as interpreters, for this would +\par have avoided many mistakes. This was proved during the dangerous +\par journey of several days which the Corbineau brigade had to undertake +\par through unknown country, the language of whose inhabitants none of +\par the Frenchmen could understand, for it so happened that among the +\par three regiments which the }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967324 General }{commanded was the 8th Polish +\par Lancers, whose officers extracted from the local people all the +\par necessary information. This was a tremendous help to Corbineau. +\par +\par When he was about half a day's journey from Borisoff, some +\par peasants told the Polish Lancers that Tchitchakoff's troops were +\par occupying the town, information which dashed his hopes of crossing +\par the Beresina; however these same peasants having persuaded him to +\par turn round, led him to the village of Studianka, not far from +\par Weselovo, four leagues above Borisoff, where there is a ford. The +\par three regiments crossed the ford without loss and the }{\deleted general}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967323 General}{, going +\par across country and avoiding some of Wittgenstein's troops who were +\par moving towards Borisoff, eventually rejoined Oudinot on the 23rd of +\par November at a place called Natscha. +\par +\par This daring march undertaken by Corbineau was much to his credit, +\par but}{\deleted ,}{ more than that, it was a stroke of remarkable good fortune for +\par the army, for the Emperor, realising the impossibility of re-building +\par the bridge at Borisoff in the near future, resolved, after discussing +\par the matter with Corbineau, to cross the Beresina at Studianka. +\par Tchitchakoff, who had been told of the crossing at this point +\par effected by Corbineau's brigade, had placed a strong division and +\par many guns opposite Studianka, so Napoleon, to deceive him, employed a +\par stratagem, which although very old, is almost always successful. He +\par pretended that he was not interested in Studianka and that he +\par intended to use one of two other fords which were below Borisoff, the +\par most practicable of which was at the village of Oukolada. To this +\par end he sent ostentatiously to the spot}{\deleted ,}{ one of the still armed +\par battalions, followed by a horde of stragglers, which the enemy might +\par take for a full-strength division of infantry. At the tail of this +\par column were numerous wagons, a few guns and the division of +\par Cuirassiers. Having arrived at Oukolada these troops placed the guns +\par in position, and did all they could to look as if they were about to +\par build a bridge. +\par +\par Told of these preparations, Tchitchakoff had no doubt that it was +\par Napoleon's intention to cross the river at this point so as to reach +\par the road to Minsk, which ran nearby}{\deleted , h}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967321 . H}{e therefore hurriedly sent down +\par the right bank, to face Oukoloda, the entire garrison of Borisoff. +\par Not only that, for some extraordinary reason, the Russian }{\deleted general}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967320 g}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967321 eneral}{, +\par who had sufficient troops to protect both the upper and lower parts +\par of the river, removed all of those which he had placed previously in +\par a position to oppose a crossing at Studianka and sent them too down +\par to Oukoloda. He had now abandoned the place where the Emperor +\par intended to build a bridge, and had concentrated his force, +\par uselessly, six leagues downstream. +\par +\par In addition to the error of massing all his army below Borisoff, +\par Tchitchakoff made a mistake which a sergeant would not have made, and +\par one for which his government never forgave him. The town of Zembin, +\par which is opposite to the ford at Studianka, is built on a vast marsh, +\par through which runs the road to Wilna. The road goes over twenty-two +\par wooden bridges which the Russian general could have easily reduced to +\par cinders before leaving the district, as they were surrounded by many +\par stacks of dry reeds. If Tchitchakoff had done this, the French army +\par would have been left without hope. It would have served it nothing +\par to have crossed the river, for it would have been halted by the deep +\par marshland surrounding Zembin; but the Russian general left the +\par bridges intact, and foolishly went down the Beresina with all his +\par men, leaving only about fifty Cossacks to keep an eye on the ford. +\par +\par While the Russians, taken in by Napoleon's subterfuge, were +\par deserting the real point of attack, Napoleon gave his orders. +\par Oudinot and his army Corps were to go by night to Studianka, and +\par there arrange for the building of two bridges, before crossing to the +\par right bank and occupying the area between the town of Zembin and the +\par river. Marshal Victor, leaving Natscha, was to form the rear-guard. +\par He was to drive before him all the stragglers, and was to try to hold +\par Borisoff for a few hours before going to Studianka and crossing the +\par bridges. Those were the Emperor's orders, the execution of which in +\par detail was frustrated by events. +\par +\par On the evening of the 25th, Corbineau's brigade, whose commander +\par knew the area well, proceeded up the left bank of the Beresina +\par towards Studianka, followed by Castex's brigade and several +\par battalions of light infantry; after which came the bulk of 2nd Corps. +\par +\par We were sorry to leave Borisoff where we had spent two happy days. +\par +\par We had perhaps a presentiment of the bad times which were to come. +\par +\par At day}{\deleted -}{break on the 26th of November we arrived at Studianka, where +\par there were no signs of any preparation for defence on the opposite +\par bank, so that, had the Emperor not burned the bridging equipment a +\par few days previously at Orscha, the army could have crossed +\par immediately. The river, which some have described as huge, is more +\par or less as wide as the Rue Royale in Paris where it passes the +\par Ministry of Marine. As for its depth, it is enough to say that the +\par three regiments of Corbineau's brigade had forded it seventy-two +\par hours previously without accident, and did so again on the day of +\par which I write. Their horses never lost their footing and had to swim +\par only at two or three places. At this time the crossing presented only +\par a few minor inconveniences to the cavalry, the artillery and the +\par carts, one of which was that the riders and carters were wet up to +\par their knees, which was not insupportable because, regrettably the +\par cold was not sufficiently severe to freeze the river, which would +\par have been better for us. The second inconvenience which arose from +\par the lack of frost was that the marshy ground which bordered the +\par opposite bank of the river was so muddy that the saddle-horses had +\par difficulty in crossing it and the carts could sink in to their axles. +\par +\par }{\deleted Esprit }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967318 Esprit }{de }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967318 corps }{is certainly very praiseworthy, but it should be +\par moderated or forgotten in difficult circumstances. This did not +\par happen at the Beresina, where the commanders of the artillery and the +\par engineers both demanded sole responsibility for building the bridges, +\par and as neither would give way, nothing was being done. When the +\par Emperor arrived on the 26th, he ended this quarrel by ordering that +\par two bridges should be built, one by the artillery and one by the +\par engineers. Immediately beams and battens were seized from the hovels +\par of the village and the sappers and the gunners got to work. Those +\par gallant men showed a devotion to duty which has not been sufficiently +\par recognised. They went naked into the freezing water and worked for +\par six or seven hours at a stretch, although there was not a drop of +\par "eau de vie" to offer them, and they would be sleeping in a field +\par covered by snow. Almost all of them died later, when the severe +\par frosts came. +\par +\par While the bridges were being built and while my regiment and all +\par the troops of 2nd Corps were waiting on the left bank for the order +\par to cross the river, the Emperor, walking rapidly, went from regiment +\par to regiment, spe}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ to the men and officers. He was accompanied by +\par Murat. This brave and dashing officer}{\deleted ,}{ who had so distinguished +\par himself as the victorious French were advancing on Moscow, the proud +\par Murat had been, so to speak, eclipsed since we had left that city and +\par during the retreat he had taken part in none of the fighting. One +\par saw him following the Emperor in silence, as if he had nothing to do +\par with what was going on in the army. He seemed to shed some of his +\par torpor at the Beresina at the sight of the only troops who were still +\par in good order, and who constituted the last hope of safety. +\par +\par As Murat was very fond of the cavalry, and as of the many +\par squadrons which had crossed the Nieman there remained none except +\par those in Oudinot's }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967316 corps}{, he urged the Emperor's footsteps in their +\par direction. +\par +\par Napoleon was delighted with the state of these units and of my +\par regiment in particular, for it was now stronger than several of the +\par brigades. I had more than 500 men on horseback, whereas the other +\par }{\deleted Colonels }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967316 colonels }{in the }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967316 corps }{had scarcely 200, so I received some flattering +\par comments from the Emperor, a great share of which was due to my +\par officers and men. +\par +\par It was at this time that I had the good fortune to be joined by +\par Jean Dupont, my brother's servant}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967315 ,}{ a man of exemplary loyalty, +\par devotion and courage. Left on his own after the capture of my +\par brother}{\deleted ,}{ early in the campaign, he had followed the 16th Chasseurs to +\par Moscow and taken part in the retreat, while caring for my brother +\par Adolphe's three horses, of which he had refused to sell a single one}{\deleted ,}{ +\par in spite of many offers. He reached me after five months of hunger +\par and hardship, still carrying all my brother's effects, though he told +\par me, with tears in his eyes, that having worn out his shoes and been +\par reduced to walking barefoot in the snow, he had dared to take a pair +\par of boots belonging to his master. I kept this admirable man in my +\par service, and he was a great help to me}{\deleted ,}{ when, some time later, I was +\par wounded once more, in the midst of the most horrible days of the +\par great retreat. +\par +\par To return to the crossing of the Beresina. Not only did our horses +\par cross the river without difficulty, but our "cantiniers" or sutlers, +\par drove their carts across. This made me think that it might be +\par possible, if one unharnessed some of the many carts which followed +\par the army, to fix them in the river in a line, one after the other, to +\par make a sort of causeway for the infantrymen, something which would +\par greatly ease the flow of the mass of stragglers who the next day +\par would be crowding round the entries to the bridges. This seemed to +\par me to be such a good idea, that although I was wet to the waist, I +\par recrossed the ford to offer it to the generals of the }{\deleted imperial }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967314 Imperial }{staff. +\par +\par They accepted my suggestion, but made no attempt to pass it on to +\par the Emperor. Eventually, General Lauristan, one of his aides-de-camp, said to me}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967314 ,}{ "I suggest that you yourself undertake the building +\par of this footbridge, the usefulness of which you have so well +\par explained." I replied to this wholly unacceptable proposition that I +\par had at my disposal neither sappers nor infantrymen, nor tools, nor +\par stakes, nor rope, and that in any case I could not leave my regiment, +\par which being on the right bank, could be attacked at any time. I had +\par offered him an idea which I thought was a good one, I could do no +\par more and would now go back to my normal duties. Having said this I +\par went back into the water and returned to the 23rd. +\par +\par When the sappers and the gunners had finally completed the trestle +\par bridges, they were crossed by the infantry and the artillery of +\par Oudinot's }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967314 corps}{, who, having reached the right bank, went to set up +\par their bivouacs in a large wood, where the cavalry were ordered to +\par join them. We could from there watch the main road from Minsk, down +\par which }{\deleted admiral Tchitchakoff}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967313 Admiral Tchitchakoff}{ had led his troops to the lower Beresina, +\par and up which he would have to come to reach us, once he heard that we +\par had crossed the river at Studianka. +\par +\par On the evening of the 27th, the Emperor crossed the bridge with +\par his guard and went to settle at a hamlet named Zawniski, where the +\par cavalry were ordered to join him. The enemy had not appeared. +\par +\par There has been much discussion about the disasters which occurred +\par at the Beresina; but what no one has yet said is that the greater +\par part of them could have been avoided if the general staff had paid +\par more attention to their duty and had made use of the night 27th-28th +\par to send over the bridge not only the baggage, but the thousands of +\par stragglers who would be obstructing the passage the next day. It so +\par happened that, after seeing my regiment well settled in their +\par bivouac, I noticed the absence of the pack horse, which, as it +\par carried the strong-box and the accounts of the regiment, could not be +\par risked in the ford. I expected that its leader and the troopers of +\par its escort had waited until the bridges were ready, but they had been +\par so for some hours and yet these men had not arrived. Being somewhat +\par worried about them, and the precious burden committed to their +\par charge, I thought I would go in person and expedite their crossing, +\par for I imagined that the bridges would be crowded. I hurried to the +\par river where, to my great surprise, I found the bridges completely +\par deserted. There was no one crossing them, although, by the bright +\par moonlight, I could see not a hundred paces away, more than 50,000 +\par stragglers or men cut off from their regiments, whom we called +\par "rotisseurs}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967311 .}{"}{\deleted .}{ These men, seated calmly before huge fires, were +\par grilling pieces of horseflesh, little thinking that they were beside +\par a river, the passage of which would, the next day, cost many of them +\par their lives, whereas at present they could cross it unhindered, in a +\par few minutes, and prepare their supper on the other side. +\par Furthermore, not one officer of the imperial household, not an +\par aide-de-camp of the army general staff, or that of a marshal was +\par there to warn these unfortunate men and to drive them, if need be, to +\par the bridges. +\par +\par It was in this disorganised camp that I saw for the first time}{\deleted ,}{ +\par the soldiers returning from Moscow. It was a most distressing +\par spectacle. All ranks were mixed together, no weapons, no military +\par bearing! Soldiers, officers and even generals}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967311 ,}{ clad only in rags}{\deleted ,}{ and +\par having on their feet strips of leather or cloth roughly bound +\par together with string. An immense throng in which were thrown +\par together thousands of men of different nationalities gabbling all the +\par languages of the European continent without any mutual understanding. +\par +\par However, if one had used one of the regiments from Oudinot's }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967310 corps}{ +\par or the Guard, which were still in good order, it would have been easy +\par to herd this mass of men across the bridges, for, as I was returning +\par to Zawniski, having with me only a few orderlies, I was able by +\par persuasion and a bit of force to make several thousand of these +\par wretched men cross to the right bank; but I had other duties to +\par perform, and had to return to the regiment. +\par +\par When I was passing by the general staff, and that of Marshal +\par Oudinot, I reported the deserted state of the bridges and pointed out +\par how easy it would be to bring the unarmed men across while there was +\par no enemy opposition; all I got were evasive answers, each one +\par claiming that it was a colleague's responsibility to see to such an +\par operation. +\par +\par On returning to the regimental bivouac, I was pleasantly surprised +\par to see the corporal and the eight troopers who during the campaign +\par had been in charge of our herd of cattle. These good fellows were +\par desolate that the crowd of "rotisseurs" had set on their cattle, +\par butchered and eaten them before their eyes without their being able +\par to stop them. It was some consolation to the regiment that each +\par trooper had taken from Borisoff enough food to last for twenty-five +\par days. +\par +\par My adjutant, M.}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967309 }{Verdier, thought it his duty to go across the +\par bridge to try to find the guardians of our accounts, but he got +\par swallowed up in the crowd and was unable to get back. He was taken +\par prisoner during the struggle on the next day , and I did not see him +\par again for two years. +\par +\par Chap. 19. +\par +\par We now come to the most terrible event in the disastrous Russian +\par campaign...}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967309 }{to the crossing of the Beresina; which took place mainly +\par on the 28th of November. +\par +\par At dawn}{\deleted ,}{ on this ill-fated day, the position of the two +\par belligerents was as follows. On the left bank, Marshal Victor, +\par having evacuated Borisoff during the night, had arrived at Studianka +\par with 9th Corps, driving in front of him a mass of stragglers. He had +\par left, to form his rear-guard, the infantry division of }{\deleted general}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967308 General}{ +\par Partouneaux, who had been told not to leave the town until two hours +\par after him, and who should, in consequence, have sent out a small +\par detachment of men, who could follow the main body and leave guides to +\par signpost the route. He should also have sent an aide-de-camp to +\par Studianka to reconnoitre the road and return to the division: but +\par Partouneaux neglected all these precautions and simply marched off at +\par the prescribed time. He came to a fork in the road, and he did not +\par know which way to go. He must have been aware, since he had come +\par from Borisoff, that the Beresina was on his left, and he should have +\par concluded that to reach Studianka, at the side of this watercourse, +\par it was the road on the left which he should take... but he did not do +\par so, and following blindly some light infantry which had been ahead of +\par him, he took the right hand road and landed in the middle of a large +\par force of Wittgenstein's Russian troops. +\par +\par Soon}{\deleted ,}{ Partouneaux's division, completely surrounded, was forced, +\par after a brave defence, to surrender. Meanwhile a simple battalion +\par commander who was in charge of the divisional rear-guard, had the +\par good sense to take the road to the left, by means of which he joined +\par }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967307 Marshal }{Victor at Studianka. The }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967307 Marshal }{was greatly surprised to +\par see the arrival of this battalion instead of the division of which it +\par was the rear-guard, but his astonishment turned to dismay when he was +\par attacked by Wittgenstein's Russians, whom he thought had been +\par intercepted by Partouneaux. He could not then doubt that the }{\deleted general}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967307 General}{ +\par and all his regiments had been defeated and taken prisoner. +\par +\par Fresh misfortunes awaited him, for the Russian }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967307 General }{Koutousoff, +\par who had been following Partouneaux from Borisoff}{\deleted ,}{ with a strong body +\par of troops, once he heard of his defeat, speeded up his march and came +\par to join Wittgenstein in his attack on Marshal Victor. The }{\deleted marshal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967306 Marshal}{, +\par whose }{\deleted army }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967306 army }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967306 corps }{had been reduced to 10,000 men, put up a stout +\par resistance. His troops, even the Germans who were included among +\par them, fought heroically}{\deleted ,}{ though they were attacked by two armies, had +\par their backs to the Beresina}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967306 ,}{ and had their movements hampered by the +\par swarm of carts}{\deleted ,}{ driven by undisciplined stragglers who were +\par endeavouring, in a mob, to reach the river. Regardless of these +\par circumstances they held off Koutousoff and Wittgenstein for the whole +\par day. +\par +\par While this confusion and fighting were going on at Studianka, the +\par enemy, who aimed to gain control of both ends of the bridges, +\par attacked Oudinet's Corps, which was in position before Zawniski, on +\par the right bank. Some thirty thousand Russians, shouting loudly, +\par advanced towards 2nd Corps, which was by now reduced to no more than +\par eight thousand combatants. However, our men had not yet been in +\par contact with those returning from Moscow, and had no idea of the +\par disorder which ruled amongst them, so that their morale was excellent +\par and Tchitchakoff was driven back before the very eyes of the Emperor, +\par who arrived at that moment with a reserve of 3000 infantry and 1000 +\par cavalry from the old and the }{\deleted young guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966661 Young Guard}{. The Russians renewed their +\par attack, and overran the Poles of the Legion of the Vistula. Marshal +\par Oudinot was seriously wounded, and Napoleon sent Ney to replace him. +\par General Condras, one of our best infantry officers, was killed. The +\par gallant }{\deleted general Legrand}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967291 General Legrand}{ received a dangerous wound. +\par +\par The action took place in a wood of enormous pine trees. The enemy +\par artillery could not, therefore, see our troops clearly, so that, +\par although they kept up a vigourous bombardment, their cannon-balls did +\par not hit us, but going over our heads, they broke off branches, some +\par as thick as a man's body, which in their fall killed or injured a +\par good number of our men and horses. As the trees were widely spaced, +\par mounted men could move through them, although with some difficulty, +\par despite which, }{\deleted marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{, on the approach of a strong Russian +\par column, launched a charge against it with what remained of our +\par division of Cuirassiers. This charge, carried out under such unusual +\par conditions, was nevertheless one of the most brilliant which I have +\par seen. Colonel Dubois, at the head of the 7th Cuirassiers, split the +\par enemy column in two and took 2000 prisoners. The Russians}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967303 ,}{ thrown +\par into disarray, were pursued by the }{\deleted light }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967303 Light }{\deleted cavalry }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967303 Cavalry }{and driven back to +\par the village of Stakovo with great loss. +\par +\par I was re-forming the ranks of my regiment, which had taken part in +\par this engagement, when M. Alfred de Noailles, with whom I was friendly, +\par arrived. He was returning from carrying an order from Prince +\par Berthier, whose aide-de-camp he was; but instead of going back to the +\par }{\deleted marshal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967302 Marshal}{, he said}{\deleted ,}{ as he left me, that he was going as far as the +\par first houses of Stakovo}{\deleted ,}{ to see what the enemy was doing. This +\par curiosity proved fatal, for as he approached the village, he was +\par surrounded by a group of Cossacks who, having knocked him off his +\par horse, dragged him away by his collar}{\deleted ,}{ while raining blows on him. I +\par immediately sent a squadron to his aid, but this effort at rescue did +\par not succeed, because a volley of fire from the houses prevented the +\par troopers from getting into the village. Since that day nothing has +\par been heard of M. de Noailles. It is likely that his superb furs and +\par his uniform covered in gold braid having roused the cupidity of the +\par Cossacks, he was murdered by these barbarians. M. de Noailles' family, +\par knowing that I was the last person to speak to him, asked me for news +\par about his disappearance, but I could tell them no more than what I +\par have described. Alfred de Noailles was an excellent officer and a +\par good friend. +\par +\par This digression has diverted me from Tchitchakoff, who, after his +\par defeat by Ney, did not dare to attack us again nor to leave the +\par village of Stakovo for the rest of the day. +\par +\par Having described briefly the position of the armies on the two +\par banks of the Beresina, I shall tell you, in a few words what happened +\par at the river itself during the fighting. The mass of unattached men +\par who had had two nights and two days in which to cross the bridges, +\par and who had, apathetically, failed to do so because they were not +\par compelled, when Wittgenstein's cannon-balls began to fall among them, +\par rushed in a body to get across. This huge multitude of men}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967295 ,}{ horses}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967295 ,}{ and +\par carts piled up at the entrance to the bridges, trying to force their +\par way on to them.... Many of those who missed the entrance were pushed +\par by the crowd into the Beresina where most of them were drowned. +\par +\par To add to the disaster, one of the bridges broke under the weight +\par of the guns and the heavy ammunition wagons which followed them! +\par Everyone then headed for the second bridge, where the crowd was so +\par thick that strong men were unable to withstand the pressure and a +\par large number were stifled to death. When they saw that it was +\par impossible to cross the overcrowded bridges, many of the cart drivers +\par urged their horses into the river, but this method of crossing}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967294 ,}{ which +\par would have been very successful if it had been carried out in an +\par orderly manner on the two preceding days, failed in the great +\par majority of instances, because driving their carts in a tumultuous +\par mob, they crashed into one another and turned over! Some, however +\par reached the opposite side, but as no one had prepared an exit by +\par smoothing the slope of the river bank, which the general staff should +\par have seen to, few vehicles could climb out, and many more people +\par perished there. +\par +\par During the night of 28th 29th November, the Russian cannons added +\par to these scenes of horror by bombarding the wretched men who were +\par trying to cross the river, and finally at about nine in the evening +\par there was a crowning disaster, when }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967294 Marshal }{Victor began his +\par withdrawal, and when his divisions, in battle order, arrived at the +\par bridge, which they could cross only by dispersing the crowds which +\par blocked their way! ...We should perhaps draw a veil over these +\par dreadful events. +\par +\par At dawn on the 29th, all the vehicles remaining on the left bank +\par were set on fire, and when finally }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967293 General }{\'c9bl\'e9 saw the Russians +\par nearing the bridge, he set that on fire also! Several thousand +\par unfortunates left at Studianka fell into the hands of Wittgenstein. +\par +\par So ended the most terrible episode of the Russian campaign, an +\par episode which would have been a great deal less terrible if we had +\par made proper use of the time which the Russians allowed us after we +\par had reached the Beresina. The army lost in this crossing 20 to +\par 25,000 men. +\par +\par Once this major obstacle had been crossed, the disorganised mass +\par of men who had escaped from the disaster was still huge. They were +\par directed to go along the road to Zembin. The Emperor and the }{\deleted guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967293 Guard}{ +\par followed. Then came the remains of several regiments, and finally 2nd +\par Corps, for whom Castex's brigade formed the last rear-guard. +\par +\par I have already explained that the Zembin road, the only way left +\par open for us, goes through an immense marsh by means of a great number +\par of bridges which Tchitchakoff neglected to burn when he occupied this +\par position a few days previously. We did not make the same mistake, +\par for after the army had passed, the 24th Chasseurs and my regiment +\par easily set them on fire by means of the stacks of dry reeds heaped up +\par in the neighbourhood. +\par +\par By ordering the burning of the bridges, the Emperor had hoped to +\par rid himself for a long time of pursuit by the Russians, but fate was +\par against us. The cold which at this time of year could have frozen +\par the waters of the Beresina to give us a pathway across, had left the +\par river running; but we had scarcely crossed over when there was sharp +\par frost which froze it to the point where it would bear the weight of a +\par cannon...}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 }{and as it did the same to the marsh of Zembin, the burning +\par of the bridges was of no value to us. The three Russian armies which +\par we had left behind, could now pursue us without meeting any obstacle; +\par but fortunately the pursuit was not very energetic, and }{\deleted marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{, +\par who commanded the rear-guard and who had gathered together all the +\par troops still capable of fighting, made frequent sallies against the +\par enemy if they dared to approach too near. +\par +\par Since }{\deleted marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{ and }{\deleted general Legrand}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967291 General Legrand}{ had been wounded, +\par }{\deleted general Maison}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967290 General Maison}{ commanded 2nd Corps, which being, in spite of many +\par losses, now numerically the strongest in the army, was always given +\par the task of holding off the Russians. We kept them at a distance +\par during the 30th of November and the 1st of December; but on the 2nd +\par of December they pressed us so hard, in considerable numbers, that a +\par serious engagement took place}{\deleted ,}{ in which I received a wound, made even +\par more dangerous because the temperature on that day registered 25 +\par degrees of frost. I should perhaps limit myself to telling you that +\par I was injured by a lance without going into further details, for they +\par are so unpleasant that I still do not like to remember them. However, +\par I said I would tell the story of my life, and so this is what +\par happened at Plechtchenitsoui. +\par +\par It so happened that a Dutch banker}{\deleted ,}{ named Van Berchem}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967289 ,}{\deleted ,}{ with whom I +\par had been a close friend at the college of Sor\'e8ze, had sent to me, at +\par the start of the campaign, his only son, who having become French by +\par the incorporation of his country into the }{\deleted empire}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967289 Empire}{, had enlisted in the +\par 23rd, although he was barely sixteen years old!...}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967289 }{He was a fine and +\par intelligent young man, and I made him my secretary, so that he went +\par everywhere fifteen paces behind me}{\deleted ,}{ with my orderlies. That is where +\par he was on the day in question, when 2nd Corps, for whom my regiment +\par was acting as rear-guard}{\deleted ,}{ while crossing a vast open plain, saw +\par coming towards them a mass of Russian cavalry, who quickly surrounded +\par them and attacked them on all sides. }{\deleted General Maison}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967290 General Maison}{ deployed his +\par troops with such skill that our squares repelled all the charges made +\par by the enemy regular cavalry. +\par +\par The Russians then sent in a swarm of Cossacks, who came impudently +\par to attack with their lances the French officers who stood before +\par their troops. Seeing this, }{\deleted marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{ ordered }{\deleted general Maison}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967290 General Maison}{ to +\par chase them off, using what remained of the division of Cuirassiers +\par and also Corbineau's and Castex's brigades. My regiment, which was +\par still numerically strong, was confronted by a tribe of Cossacks from +\par the Black Sea, wearing tall astrakhan hats, and much better clad and +\par mounted than the usual run of Cossacks. We engaged them, but as it +\par is not their custom to stand and fight in line, they turned round and +\par made off at the gallop; but not knowing the locality, they headed for +\par an obstacle which is very unusual in these enormous plains, and that +\par is a large, deep gully, which owing to the perfect flatness of the +\par surrounding country could not be distinguished from any distance. +\par This pulled them up short, and seeing that they could not get across +\par with their horses, they bunched together and turned to present to us +\par their lances. +\par +\par The ground, covered by frost, was very slippery, and our +\par over-tired horses could not gallop without falling. There was, +\par therefore, no question of a charge, and my line advanced at a trot +\par towards the massed enemy, who remained motionless. Our sabres could +\par touch their lances, but as they are thirteen or fourteen feet long, +\par we could not reach our foes, who could not retreat for fear of +\par falling into the gulch, and could not advance without encountering +\par our swords. We were thus face to face, regarding one another}{\deleted ,}{ when, +\par in less time than it takes to tell, this is what happened. +\par +\par Anxious to get to grips with the enemy, I shouted to my troops to +\par grab some of the lances with their left hands and pushing them to one +\par sided}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967287 ,}{ get into the middle of this crowd of men, where our short +\par weapons would give us an enormous advantage over their long spears. +\par To encourage them to obey, I wanted to set an example, so dodging +\par several lances, I managed to reach the front rank of the enemy!...}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967286 }{My +\par warrant officers and my orderlies followed me, and soon the whole +\par regiment. There then ensued a general m\'eal\'e9e; but at the moment when +\par it started, an old white-bearded Cossack, who was in the rear rank +\par and separated from me by some of his comrades, lent forward and +\par thrusting his lance skillfully between the horses he drove the sharp +\par steel into my right knee, which it pierced, passing through beneath +\par the kneecap. +\par +\par Enraged by the pain of this injury, I was pushing my way towards +\par the man to take my revenge, when I was confronted by two handsome +\par youths of about eighteen to twenty, wearing a brilliant costume, +\par covered with rich embroidery, who were the sons of the chieftain of +\par this clan. They were accompanied by an elderly man who was some sort +\par of tutor, but who was unarmed. The younger of his two pupils did not +\par draw his sword, but elder did and attacked me furiously!...}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967286 }{I found +\par him so immature and lacking strength that I did no more than disarm +\par him, and t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ his arm pushed him behind me, telling Van Berchem to +\par look after him. I had hardly done this when a double explosion rang +\par in my ears and the collar of my cape was torn by a ball. I turned +\par round quickly, to see the young Cossack officer holding a pair of +\par double-barrelled pistols with which he had treacherously tried to +\par shoot me in the back and had blown out the brains of the unfortunate +\par Van Berchem! +\par +\par In a transport of rage I hurled myself at this rash stripling, who +\par was already aiming his second pistol at me. Seeing death in my face, +\par he seemed momentarily paralysed. He cried out some words in French. +\par But I killed him. +\par +\par Blood calls for blood! The sight of young Van Berchem lying dead +\par at my feet, the act I had just carried out, the excitement of battle +\par and the pain of my wound, combined to induce a sort of frenzy}{\deleted , }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967285 . }{I +\par rushed at the younger of the Cossack officers and grabbing him by the +\par throat I had already raised my sabre when his elderly mentor, to +\par protect his charge, laid the length of his body on my horses neck in +\par a manner which prevented me from striking a blow and called out, +\par "Mercy! In the name of your mother, have mercy! He has done nothing!" +\par +\par On hearing this appeal, in spite of the scenes around me, I seemed +\par to see the white hand I knew so well, laid on the young man's breast +\par and to hear my mother's gentle voice saying,"Be merciful!"}{\deleted .}{ I +\par lowered my sabre and sent the youth and his guardian to the rear. +\par +\par I was so disturbed by what had happened that I would have been +\par unable to give any further orders to the regiment if the fighting had +\par continued for any length of time, but it was soon finished. Many of +\par the Cossacks had been killed and the remainder, abandoning their +\par horses, slid into the depths of the ravine, where a number died in +\par the huge snow-drift which the wind had created.}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967284 +\par }{ +\par In the evening following this affair, I questioned my prisoner and +\par his guardian. I learned that the two youngsters were the sons of a +\par powerful chieftain, who, having lost a leg at Austerlitz, hated the +\par French so much that being unable to fight them himself, he had sent +\par his two sons to do so. I thought it likely that, as a prisoner, the +\par cold and misery would be fatal to the one survivor. I took pity on +\par him and set both him and his venerable mentor at liberty. On t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ +\par his leave of me the latter said, "When she thinks of her eldest son, +\par the mother of my two pupils will curse you, but when she sees the +\par return of her youngest she will bless you, and the mother in whose +\par name you spared him}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967284 .}{"}{\deleted .}{ +\par +\par The vigour with which the Russian troops had been repulsed in this +\par last contact having cooled their ardour, we did not see them again +\par for two days, which allowed us to reach Molodechno; but if the enemy +\par allowed us a momentary truce the cold increased its attack. The +\par temperature fell to 27 degrees of frost. Men and horses were falling +\par at every stride, frequently not to rise again. Notwithstanding, I +\par remained with the debris of my regiment, in the midst of which I made +\par my nightly bivouac in the snow}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967283 .}{\deleted :}{ There was nowhere I could go to be +\par better off. My gallant officers and men regarded their commanding +\par officer as a living flag. They endeavoured to preserve me and offered +\par me all the care which our appalling situation permitted. The wound +\par to my knee prevented me from sitting astride my horse, and I had to +\par rest my leg on my horse}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967283 '}{s neck to keep it straight, which made me get +\par even colder. I was in great pain but there was nothing that could be +\par done. +\par +\par The road was lined with the dead and dying, our march was slow and +\par silent. What remained of the guard formed a little square, in which +\par travelled the Emperor's carriage, in which was also King Murat. +\par +\par On the fifth of December, after dictating his twenty-ninth bulletin, +\par which created stupefaction throughout all of France, the Emperor left +\par the army}{\deleted ,}{ at Smorgoni}{\deleted ,}{ to return to Paris. He was nearly captured at +\par Ochmiana by some Cossacks. The Emperor's departure greatly affected +\par the morale of the troops. Some blamed him and accused him of +\par abandoning them. Others approved}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967283 ,}{ saying that it was the only way to +\par preserve France from civil war, and invasion by our so-called allies, +\par the majority of whom were waiting only for a favourable opportunity +\par to turn against us, but who would not dare to make a move if they +\par heard that Napoleon had returned to France, and was organising fresh +\par military forces. +\par +\par Chap. 20. +\par +\par On his departure, the Emperor handed the command of the remains of +\par the army to Murat, who in the circumstances proved unequal to the +\par task, which it must be admitted was extremely difficult. The cold +\par paralysed the mental and physical activity of everyone; all +\par organisation had broken down. Marshal Victor refused to relieve 2nd +\par Corps, who had formed the rear-guard since the Beresina, and }{\deleted marshal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967282 Marshal}{ +\par Ney had, unwillingly, to keep it there. Each morning a multitude of +\par dead were left in the bivouac where we had spent the night. I +\par congratulated myself on having, in September, made my men equip +\par themselves with sheepskin coats}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967282 ,}{\deleted ;}{ a precaution which saved the lives +\par of many of them. The same applied to the supplies of food which we +\par had taken from Borisoff, for without these it would have been +\par necessary to dispute with the starving hordes over the dead bodies of +\par horses. +\par +\par I may mention here that M. de S\'e9gur claims that there were +\par instances of cannibalism. I have to say that there were so many dead +\par horses lying along the route that there was no need for anyone to +\par resort to this. What is more, it would be a great mistake to think +\par that the countryside was completely bare}{\deleted , }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967281 : }{there was shortage in +\par localities close to the road, which had been stripped by the army on +\par its march to Moscow}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967281 , }{but the army had passed in a torrent, without +\par spreading out to the sides. Since then the harvest had been gathered +\par and the country had recovered somewhat, so that it was only necessary +\par to go for one or two leagues from the road to find plenty. It is +\par true, however, that only a }{\deleted well }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967281 well-}{organised detachment could do this +\par without being picked off by the parties of Cossacks which prowled +\par around us. +\par +\par I arranged, with some other }{\deleted Colonels}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967280 colonels}{, the formation of foraging +\par parties, who came back not only with bread and a few cattle, but with +\par sledges loaded with salted meat, flour and oatmeal taken from +\par villages which had not been abandoned by the peasantry. This proves +\par that if the Duc de Bassano and General Hogendorp, to whom the Emperor +\par had confided, in June, the administration of Lithuania, had done +\par their job properly, during the long period which they spent at Wilna, +\par they could have created large storage depots, but they were +\par interested only in supplying the town, without bothering about the +\par troops. +\par }{\deleted +\par }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967278 +\par }{On the 6th of December, the cold increased and the temperature +\par fell to nearly minus thirty; so that this day was even more deadly +\par than its predecessors, particularly for troops who had not been +\par conditioned gradually to the climate. Amongst this number was the +\par Gratien division, consisting of 12,000 conscripts, who left Wilna on +\par the 4th to come in front of us. The sudden transition from warm +\par barracks to a bivouac in twenty-nine and a half degrees of frost, +\par within forty-eight hours was fatal to nearly all of them. The rigour +\par of the season had an even more terrible effect on the 200 Neapolitan +\par cavalrymen}{\deleted ,}{ who formed King Murat's bodyguard. They also came to +\par join us after a long stay in Wilna}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967278 , }{but they all died on the first +\par night which they spent on the snow. +\par +\par The remnants of the Germans, Italians, Spaniards, Croats and other +\par foreigners whom we had led into Russia, saved their lives by means +\par which the French found repugnant: they deserted, went to villages +\par adjoining the road and awaited, in the warmth of their houses, the +\par arrival of the enemy. This often took some time}{\deleted ,}{ for, surprisingly, +\par the Russian soldiers, used to spending the winter in draught-free +\par houses, warmed by continuously burning stoves, are more susceptible +\par to the cold than the inhabitants of other parts of Europe, and their +\par army suffered heavy losses; which explains the slowness of the +\par pursuit. +\par +\par We did not understand why Koutousoff and his generals did no more +\par than follow us}{\deleted ,}{ with a weak advance-guard, instead of attacking our +\par flanks and going to the head of our column to cut off all means of +\par retreat}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967276 . B}{\deleted b}{ut they were unable to carry out this manoeuvre}{\deleted ,}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967276 }{\deleted }{which +\par would have finished us}{\deleted ,}{ because their soldiers suffered as much from +\par the cold as we did, many of them dying as a result. The cold was so +\par intense that one could see a sort of steam coming from one's eyes and +\par ears, which froze on contact with the air and fell like grains of +\par millet onto one's chest, and one had to stop frequently to rid the +\par horses of huge icicles which were formed by their breath freezing on +\par the bits of their bridles. +\par +\par There were, however, thousands of Cossacks, attracted by the hope +\par of plunder, who braved the seasonal bad weather and hung around our +\par columns, even attacking places where they saw baggage, though a few +\par shots would drive them off. Eventually, in order to harass us +\par without running any danger, for we had been forced to abandon our +\par artillery, they mounted light cannons on sledges, and used them to +\par fire on our men, until they saw an armed detachment advancing towards +\par them, when they took to their heels. These sneak attacks did little +\par real damage, but they became very unpleasant because of their +\par constant repetition. Many of the sick and wounded were taken and +\par despoiled by these raiders, some of whom had acquired an immense +\par amount of booty, and the greed for enrichment attracted new enemies, +\par who came from the ranks of our allies: these were the Poles. +\par Marshal de Saxe, the son of one of their kings, said rightly that +\par the Poles were the biggest thieves in the world, and would rob even +\par their own parents, so, not surprisingly, those in our ranks showed +\par little respect for the property of their allies. On the march or in +\par bivouac, they stole anything they saw; but as no one trusted them, +\par petty thieving became more difficult, so they decided to operate on a +\par grand scale. They organised themselves into bands, and at night they +\par would don peasant headgear and slip out of the bivouac to meet at an +\par agreed spot, then they would return to the camp shouting the Cossack +\par war-cry of "Hourra! Hourra!" }{\deleted Which }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967274 which }{so frightened men whose morale had +\par been broken, that many of them fled abandoning their possessions and +\par food. The false Cossacks, after stealing all they could would return +\par to the camp before daylight and become once more Poles, ready to +\par become Cossacks again on the next night. +\par +\par When this form of brigandage was disclosed, several generals and +\par }{\deleted Colonels }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967274 colonels }{decided to put a stop to it. }{\deleted General Maison}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967290 General Maison}{ kept such a +\par close watch in the lines of 2nd Corps, that one fine night our guards +\par surprised a group of about fifty Poles at the moment when they were +\par about to play their role of Cossacks. Seeing that they were +\par surrounded these bandits had the impudence to claim that they were +\par just having a joke, but as this was not the time nor place for +\par laughter, }{\deleted general Maison}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967290 General Maison}{ had them all shot out of hand. It was some +\par time before we saw robbers of this kind again, but they reappeared +\par later. +\par +\par On the 9th of December, we arrived at Wilna, where there were some +\par stores; but as the Duc de Bassano and General Hogendorp had left for +\par the Nieman, there was no one to give orders, so that there, as at +\par Smolensk, the officials demanded proper receipts for the issue of +\par food and clothing, which was virtually impossible because of the +\par disorganization of almost all the regiments. We lost some precious +\par time in this way. }{\deleted General Maison}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967290 General Maison}{ broke into several stores and his +\par men took some supplies, but the remainder was taken the next day by +\par the Russians. Soldiers from other }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967273 corps }{wandered round the town in +\par the hope of being taken in by the inhabitants, but the people who}{\deleted ,}{ +\par six months previously}{\deleted ,}{ had welcomed the French with open arms, closed +\par their doors to us when they saw us in distress. Only the Jews would +\par accommodate those who could pay for temporary shelter. +\par +\par Admitted neither to the stores nor to private houses, the majority +\par of famished men headed for the hospitals}{\deleted ,}{ where, although there was +\par not enough food for all of them, they were at least sheltered from +\par the piercing cold. This respite was enough to decide 20,000 sick and +\par wounded, among whom were two hundred officers and eight generals, to +\par go no further. They had reached the end of their physical and mental +\par resources. +\par +\par Lieutenant Hernoux, one of the most vigourous and brave officers +\par in my regiment, was so overcome by what he had been through that he +\par lay down on the snow, refusing to move, until he died. Several +\par soldiers, of all ranks, blew their brains out, to escape from their +\par suffering. +\par +\par During the night 9th-10th December, in thirty degrees of frost, +\par some Cossacks came and began shooting at the gates of Wilna. Many +\par people thought this was the entire army of Koutousoff, and in a panic +\par they fled from the town. I regret to say that King Murat was among +\par them. He left without giving any orders, but }{\deleted marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{ stayed}{\deleted ,}{ and +\par organised the retreat as best he could. We quitted Wilna on the +\par morning of the 10th, leaving behind not only a great number of men, +\par but also an artillery park and a part of the army's funds. +\par +\par We had scarcely left the town when the infamous Jews turned on the +\par men whom they had taken into their houses, stripped them of their +\par clothes and threw them out}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967272 ,}{\deleted ,}{ naked into the snow. Some officers of +\par the Russian advance-guard, which was entering the town, were so +\par indignant at this behaviour that they killed a number of them. +\par +\par In the midst of this chaos, }{\deleted marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{ had urged onto the road to +\par Kowno all those whom he could stir into movement, but he had gone no +\par more than a league when he came to the hill of Ponari. This small +\par slope which in other circumstances the army would have hardly +\par noticed, now became a most serious obstacle because the ice with +\par which it was covered made it so slippery that the draught-horses were +\par unable to drag up it the carts and wagons, so that what remained of +\par the army's money would have fallen into the hands of the Cossacks had +\par not }{\deleted marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{ ordered that the wagons should be opened and the +\par soldiers allowed to empty the strong-boxes. This sensible measure +\par gave rise later to assertions that the men had robbed the }{\deleted imperial}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967271 Imperial}{ +\par treasury. +\par +\par Several days before our arrival at Wilna, the intense cold having +\par killed many of our horses and made the rest unfit to ride, my +\par troopers all went on foot. I would have very much liked to join them +\par but my injury prevented this, so I took to a sledge}{\deleted ,}{ to which was +\par harnessed one of my horses. This new method of transport gave me the +\par idea that I might}{\deleted ,}{ by this means}{\deleted ,}{ save the sick men, of whom I had a +\par considerable number. There is no dwelling in Russia so poor that it +\par does not have a sledge, and it was not long before I had a hundred or +\par so, each one}{\deleted ,}{ drawn by a troop horse, carrying two sick men. This +\par method of travel seemed to }{\deleted general Castex}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967337 General Castex}{ to be so convenient that he +\par authorised me to put all my men on sledges. The commander of the +\par 24th did the same and so the remains of the brigade became a +\par sledge-borne unit. +\par +\par You may think that in doing this we deprived ourselves of any +\par means of defence, but you would be wrong, for we were much more +\par mobile with the sleds, which could go anywhere, and whose shafts held +\par up the horses, than we would have been in the saddle of animals which +\par fell down all the time. +\par +\par As the road was covered with abandoned muskets, each of our +\par Chasseurs took two of them and an ample provision of cartridges, so +\par that if any Cossacks dared to approach, they were met by a volume of +\par fire which quickly drove them off. Our troopers could also fight on +\par foot if need be. In the evening we formed a big square with our +\par sledges, in the middle of which we lit our fires. }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{ and +\par }{\deleted general Maison}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967290 General Maison}{ often came to spend the night here, where they were +\par secure, since the only enemies present were the Cossacks. This was +\par undoubtedly the first time anyone had seen a rear-guard mounted on +\par sledges; but it was a success in the prevailing conditions. +\par +\par We continued to cover the retreat until, on the 13th of December, +\par we saw the Nieman once more, and Kowno}{\deleted ,}{ (Kaunas)}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967269 ,}{ the last town in +\par Russia. It was at this spot that, five months earlier, we had +\par entered the empire of the Czars. How greatly had our circumstances +\par changed since then!...}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967269 }{What appalling losses had we suffered! +\par +\par On entering Kowno with the rear-guard, }{\deleted marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{ found that the +\par only garrison was a small battalion of Germans some 400 strong, whom +\par he joined to the troops which he still had}{\deleted ,}{ in order to defend the +\par town for as long as possible, to give the sick and wounded the +\par opportunity to cross into Prussia. When he heard that Ney had +\par arrived, King Murat left for Gumbinnen. +\par }{\deleted +\par }{ +\par On the 14th, Platov's Cossacks, followed by two battalions of +\par Russian infantry, mounted on sledges together with several guns, +\par appeared at Kovno which they attacked at a number of points}{\deleted , b}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967268 . B}{ut +\par }{\deleted marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{, helped by }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967268 General }{G\'e9rard, held them off until nightfall, +\par when he took us across the frozen Nieman, and was the last to leave +\par Russian territory. +\par +\par We were now in Prussia, an allied country!... }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{, worn +\par out and ill, and regarding the campaign as finished, left us and went +\par to Gumbinnen, where there was a gathering of all the marshals. From +\par that moment}{\deleted ,}{ the army had no overall commander, and each regiment +\par made its own way into Prussia. The Russians, who were at war with +\par this country, would have been entitled to follow us there, but +\par satisfied with having re-conquered their territory, and not sure +\par whether they should present themselves to the Prussians as friends or +\par enemies, they decided to await instructions from their government, +\par and halted at the Nieman. We took advantage of their hesitation to +\par head for the towns of old Prussia. +\par +\par The Germans are usually humane; many of them had relatives or +\par friends in the regiments which had gone with us to Moscow. We were +\par received well enough, and I can promise you that having slept for +\par five months in the open, I was delighted to find myself in a warm +\par room and a comfortable bed}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967267 ; }{but this sudden transition from a glacial +\par bivouac to long-forgotten repose made me seriously ill. Nearly all +\par the army were affected in this way: a number of them died, including +\par Generals \'c9bl\'e9 and Lariboisi\'e8re, the artillery commanders. +\par +\par In spite of the adequate reception given to us, the Prussians +\par remembered their defeat at Jena, and the way in which Napoleon had +\par treated them in 1807}{\deleted ,}{ when he seized part of their kingdom. Secretly +\par they hated us and would have disarmed and captured us at the first +\par signal from their King. Already General York, who led the numerous +\par Prussian units which the Emperor had so unwisely placed on the left +\par wing of the Grande Arm\'e9e, and who were stationed between Tilsit and +\par Riga, had made a pact with the Russians and had sent back Marshal +\par Macdonald, whom, from some remnant of conscience, he did not dare to +\par arrest. +\par +\par The Prussians of all classes approved of }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967266 General }{York's treachery, +\par and as the provinces through which the sick and disarmed French +\par soldiers were then passing were full of Prussian troops, it is +\par probable that the inhabitants would have sought to take hold of them +\par had it not been that they feared for their King, who was in Berlin, +\par in the midst of a French army commanded by Marshal Augereau. This +\par fear and the repudiation by the King (the most honest man in his +\par kingdom) of }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967266 General }{York, who was tried for treason and condemned to +\par death, prevented a general uprising against the French. We profited +\par from this to reach the Vistula and leave the country. +\par +\par My regiment crossed the river near the fortress of Graudenz}{\deleted ,}{ at +\par the same place at which we had crossed on our way to Russia}{\deleted ; b}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967265 . B}{ut this +\par time the crossing was much more dangerous}{\deleted ,}{ because the thaw had +\par already begun some leagues upstream and the ice was covered by about +\par a foot of water and one could hear frightening crackings which +\par heralded a general break-up. Added to which, it was in the middle of +\par a dark night that I was given the order to cross the river +\par immediately, for the }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967264 General }{had just been informed that the King of +\par Prussia had left Berlin and taken refuge in Silesia, in the midst of +\par a considerable armed force, and that the populace was becoming +\par restless and it was feared that they would rise against us as soon as +\par the thaw prevented us from crossing the river. We had to get across +\par at all costs, but this was a very dangerous operation, for the +\par Vistula is quite wide at Graudenz, and there were many gaps in the +\par ice which it was difficult to see by the light of the fires lit on +\par both banks. +\par +\par As there was no possibility of crossing with our sledges, we +\par abandoned them}{\deleted : w}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967264 . W}{e led the horses}{\deleted ,}{ and}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967263 ,}{ preceded by some men armed +\par with poles}{\deleted ,}{ to indicate the crevasses, we commenced the perilous +\par journey. We had icy water half-way up our legs, which was not good +\par for the sick and injured, but the physical discomfort was nothing +\par compared to the anxiety produced by the }{\deleted cracKing }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967263 cracking }{of the ice, which +\par threatened, at any moment, to sink beneath our feet. The servant of +\par one of my officers fell into a crevasse and did not reappear. We +\par eventually reached the other side where we spent the night warming +\par ourselves in some fishermen's huts, and the next day we witnessed a +\par total thaw of the Vistula, which, had we delayed our crossing for a +\par few hours, would have made us prisoners. +\par +\par From the spot where we had crossed the Vistula, we made our way to +\par the little town of Sweld, where my regiment had been in cantonment +\par before the war, and it was there that I greeted the year 1813. The +\par year which had ended was certainly the hardest of my life. +\par +\par Chap. 21. +\par +\par Let us now cast an eye rapidly over the reasons for the failure of +\par the Russian campaign. +\par +\par Undoubtedly the principal one of these was Napoleon's error in +\par believing that he could make war in the north of Europe, before +\par ending that which had been going on}{\deleted ,}{ for a long time}{\deleted ,}{ in Spain, where +\par his armies were suffering serious reverses, at a time when he was +\par preparing to invade Russian territory. The soldiers of French +\par nationality, being thus spread from north to south, were in +\par insufficient numbers everywhere. Napoleon thought he could supplement +\par them by joining to their battalions those of his allies, but this was +\par to dilute a good wine with muddy water. The quality of the French +\par divisions was lowered, the allied troops were never better than +\par mediocre, and it was they, who, during the retreat, sowed disorder in +\par the Grande Arm\'e9e. +\par +\par A no less fatal cause of our defeat was the inadequacy, or indeed +\par the total lack of organisation in the occupied countries. Instead of +\par doing as we had done}{\deleted ,}{ during the campaigns of Austerlitz, Jena and +\par Friedland, and leaving}{\deleted ,}{ behind the advancing army}{\deleted ,}{ small bodies of +\par troops which, stretching back in echelon, could keep in regular touch +\par with one another}{\deleted ,}{ to ensure tranquillity in our rear, to expedite the +\par forwarding of munitions and individual soldiers and the departure of +\par convoys of wounded, we unwisely pushed all our available forces +\par towards Moscow, so that between that city and the Nieman, if one +\par excepts Wilna and Smolensk, there was not one garrison, nor storage +\par depot, nor hospital. Two hundred leagues of countryside were left to +\par roving bands of Cossacks. The result of this was that men who had +\par recovered from illness were unable to rejoin their units, and as +\par there was no system of evacuation, we had to keep all the wounded +\par from the battle for Moscow in the monastery of Kolotskoi for more than +\par two months. They were still there at the time of the retreat and were +\par nearly all taken prisoner}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967261 , }{while those who felt able to follow the +\par army}{\deleted ,}{ died of exhaustion and cold on the roads. Finally, the +\par retreating troops had no supply of stored food}{\deleted ,}{ in a country which +\par produces vast amounts of grain. +\par +\par This lack of small garrisons in our rear was the reason why of the +\par more than 100,000 prisoners taken by the French during the campaign, +\par not a single one left Russia, because there was no way in which they +\par could be passed back from hand to hand. All these prisoners escaped +\par with ease and made their way back to the Russian army, which thus +\par recovered some of its losses, while ours increased from day to day. +\par +\par The absence of interpreters also contributed to our disasters, +\par more than you might think. How, for example can one obtain +\par information about an unknown country, if one cannot exchange a single +\par word with the inhabitants? When, on the bank of the Beresina, }{\deleted general}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967260 General}{ +\par Partouneaux mistook the road, and instead of t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ that leading to +\par Studianka, took the one leading to }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967260 General }{Wittgenstein's position, +\par he had with him a peasant from Borisoff, who, not knowing a word of +\par French, tried to indicate by signs that the encampment was Russian, +\par but, as he was not understood, through lack of an interpreter we lost +\par a fine division of 7 or 8000 men. +\par +\par In very similar circumstances, during October, the 3rd +\par Lancers,}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967259 }{taken by surprise, in spite of the advice of their guide, +\par whom they did not understand, lost two hundred men. Now the Emperor +\par had in his army some bodies of Polish cavalry, nearly all of whose +\par officers and most of their N.C.O.s. spoke fluent Russian; but they +\par were left in their regiments whereas some should have been taken}{\deleted ,}{ +\par from each unit}{\deleted ,}{ and attached to generals and }{\deleted Colonels}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967259 colonels}{, where they +\par would have been extremely useful. I consider the provision of +\par interpreters an important}{\deleted ,}{ but often neglected element in military +\par operations. +\par +\par I have already commented on the major mistake that was made in +\par forming the two wings of the army from the Prussian and Austrian +\par contingents. The Emperor must have greatly regretted this, firstly +\par on learning that the Austrians had given passage to the Russian army +\par of Tchitchakoff, who then cut our line of retreat on the banks of the +\par Beresina, and secondly when told of the treachery of }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967258 General }{York, +\par the head of the Prussian Corps. His regret must have increased +\par further during and after the retreat, for if he had formed the two +\par wings from French troops and had taken to Moscow the Austrians and +\par Prussians, the two latter, having suffered their share of the +\par hardships and the casualties would have been as much enfeebled as all +\par the other }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967258 corps}{, while Napoleon would have kept intact the French +\par troops he had left on the two wings. I would go even further and say +\par that to weaken Prussia and Austria Napoleon should have required from +\par them contingents triple or quadruple the size of those which they +\par contributed. It has been said, with hindsight, that neither of the +\par two states would have complied with such a demand, but I disagree}{\deleted ,}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967258 ;}{ +\par the King of Prussia who had come to Dresden to beg the Emperor to +\par accept his son as an aide-de-camp}{\deleted ,}{ would not have dared to refuse, +\par while Austria, in the hope of recovering some of the rich provinces +\par which Napoleon had snatched from her}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967257 ,}{ would have done everything to +\par satisfy him. The overconfidence which Napoleon had, in 1812, in the +\par fidelity of those two states was his undoing. +\par +\par It is often claimed that the fire of Moscow, for which praise is +\par given to the courage and resolve of the Russian government and +\par }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967257 General }{Rostopschine, was the principal cause of the failure of the +\par 1812 campaign. This assertion seems to me to be contestable. To +\par begin with the destruction of Moscow was not so complete that there +\par did not remain enough houses, palaces, churches and barracks to +\par accommodate the entire army, and there is evidence of this in a +\par report which I have seen in the hands of my friend General Gourgaud, +\par who was then principal aide-de-camp to the Emperor. It was not +\par therefore lack of shelter which forced the French to quit Moscow. +\par Many people think that it was the fear of food shortage, but this is +\par also erroneous, for reports made to the Emperor by M. le Comte Daru, +\par the quartermaster-general of the army}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967257 ,}{ show that even after the fire +\par there was in the city an immense quantity of provisions, which would +\par have supplied the army for six months, so it was not the prospect of +\par starvation which decided the Emperor to retreat. These facts would +\par appear to indicate that the Russian government had failed to achieve +\par its aim, if this was indeed the aim it was pursuing; but}{\deleted ,}{ in reality, +\par its aim was quite different. +\par +\par The court wished,}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967256 }{in fact, to deliver a mortal blow to the ancient +\par aristocracy of the Boyars}{\deleted ,}{ by destroying the city which was the +\par centre for their continual opposition. The Russian government, +\par although entirely despotic, has to pay much attention to the great +\par nobles, whose displeasure has cost several emperors their lives. The +\par richest and most powerful of these noblemen made Moscow the backdrop +\par for their intrigues, so the government, more and more alarmed at the +\par growth of the city, saw in the French invasion an opportunity for its +\par destruction. General Rostopschine, who was one of the authors of +\par this plan, was entrusted with its execution, the blame for which he +\par later laid on the French}{\deleted ; b}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967256 . B}{ut the aristocracy was not taken in}{\deleted , }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967255 : }{it +\par accused the government so loudly and manifested so much discontent at +\par the useless burning of its palaces}{\deleted ,}{ that the Emperor Alexander}{\deleted }{, to +\par avoid a personal catastrophe, was obliged not only to permit the +\par rebuilding of the city, but to banish Rostopschine}{\deleted ,}{ who, in spite of +\par his protestations of patriotism, died in Paris, hated by the Russian +\par nobility. +\par +\par Whatever the motives may have been for the fire of Moscow, I think +\par that its preservation would have been more harmful than useful to the +\par French, for in order to control a city inhabited by some 300,000 +\par citizens}{\deleted ,}{ always ready to revolt, it would have been necessary to +\par take from the army, and place as a garrison in Moscow, 50,000 men, +\par who, when the time came to retreat, would have been assailed by the +\par inhabitants, whereas the fire having driven out almost all the +\par populace, a few patrols were enough to ensure tranquillity. +\par +\par The only influence which Moscow had on the events of 1812 was due +\par to the fact that Napoleon was unable to understand that Alexander +\par could not sue for peace without being assassinated by his subjects, +\par and believed that to leave the city without a treaty would be to +\par admit that he was not able to hold on to it. The French Emperor +\par insisted, therefore, on staying as long as possible in Moscow, where +\par he wasted more than a month waiting}{\deleted ,}{ in vain}{\deleted ,}{ for a proposal of +\par peace. This delay was fatal}{\deleted ,}{ for it allowed the winter to become +\par established before the French army could go into cantonments in +\par Poland. Even if Moscow had been preserved intact it would not have +\par made any difference; the disaster arose because the retreat was not +\par prepared in advance and was carried out at the wrong time. It was +\par not difficult to forecast that it would be very cold in Russia during +\par the winter!}{\deleted }{... But}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967253 ,}{\deleted , }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967253 }{I repeat, the hope of a peace misled Napoleon +\par and was the sole cause of his long stay in Moscow. +\par +\par The losses suffered by the Grande Arm\'e9e were enormous, but they +\par have been exaggerated. I have already said that I have seen a +\par situation report, covered with notes in Napoleon's hand, which gives +\par the figure of those who crossed the Nieman as 325,000, of whom +\par 155,000 were French. Reports issued in February 1813 gave the number +\par of French who returned across the Nieman as 60,000, added to this +\par figure can be that of 30,000 prisoners}{\deleted ,}{ returned by the Russians +\par after the peace of 1814. Giving a total loss of French lives of +\par 65,000.}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967252 +\par }{ +\par The loss inflicted on my regiment was,}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967252 }{in proportion, much smaller. +\par At the beginning of the campaign we had 1018 men in the ranks and we +\par received 30 reinforcements at Polotsk, so that I took into Russia +\par 1048 troopers. Of this number I had 109 killed, 77 taken prisoner, 65 +\par injured and 104 missing. }{\deleted this }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967252 This }{amounted to a loss of 355 men, so that +\par after the return of the men whom I had sent to Warsaw, the regiment, +\par which from the bank of the Vistula had been sent beyond the Elbe}{\deleted ,}{ to +\par the principality of Dessau, had in the saddle 693 men, all of whom +\par had fought in the Russian campaign. +\par +\par When he saw this figure, the Emperor}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967251 ,}{\deleted ,}{ who}{\deleted , }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967251 }{from Paris}{\deleted , }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967251 }{was +\par supervising the reorganising of his army, thought it was a mistake, +\par and sent the report back to me with an order to produce a corrected +\par version. When I returned the same figure once more, he ordered +\par }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967251 General }{S\'e9bastiani to go and inspect my regiment and give him a +\par nominal roll of the men present. This operation having removed all +\par doubt, and confirmed my report, I received a few days later a letter +\par from the Major-general couched in the most flattering terms and +\par addressed to all officers and N.C.O.s and particularly to me, in which +\par Prince Berthier stated that he had been directed by the Emperor to +\par express his Majesty's satisfaction at the care we had taken of our +\par men's lives, and his praise for the conduct of all our officers and +\par N.C.O.s. +\par +\par After having had this letter read out before all the squadrons, I +\par had intended to keep it as a precious memento for my family, but on +\par further consideration, I decided that it would not be right to +\par deprive the regiment of a document in which was expressed the +\par Emperor's satisfaction with all its members, so I sent }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967250 it }{to be included}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967250 }{\deleted +\par }{in the regimental archive. I have frequently repented of this, for}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967250 }{\deleted +\par }{scarcely a year had passed before the government of Louis XVIII was +\par substituted for that of the Emperor, and the 23rd Chasseurs was +\par combined with the 3rd. The archives of the two regiments were +\par collected together, badly cared for, and after the total disbanding +\par of the army in 1815, they disappeared into the yawning gulf of the +\par war office. I tried in vain, after the revolution of 1830, to +\par recover this letter, which was so flattering to my old regiment and +\par to me, but it could not be found. +\par +\par Chap. 22. +\par +\par The year 1813 began very badly for France. The remains of our +\par army, returning from Russia, had scarcely crossed the Vistula and +\par started to reorganise,}{\deleted }{when the treachery of }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967249 General }{York and the +\par troops under his command forced us to retire beyond the Elbe, and +\par shortly to abandon Berlin and all of Prussia}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967249 ,}{\deleted ;}{ which rose against us, +\par helped by the units which Napoleon had imprudently left there. The +\par Russians speeded up their march as much as possible, and came to join +\par the Prussians, whose King now declared war on the French Emperor. +\par +\par Napoleon had in northern Germany no more than two divisions, +\par commanded, it is true, by Augereau, but consisting mainly of +\par conscripts. As for those French troops who had fought in Russia, +\par once they were well fed and no longer slept on the snow, they +\par recovered their strength, and could have been used oppose the enemy; +\par but our cavalry were almost all without horses, very few infantrymen +\par had kept their weapons, we had no artillery, the majority of the +\par soldiers had no footwear}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967248 ,}{ and their uniform was in rags. The +\par government had employed part of the year 1812 in m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ equipment of +\par all sorts, but owing to the negligence of the war department, then in +\par the hands of M. Lacu\'e9e, Comte de Cessac, no regiment received the +\par clothing allotted to it. The conduct of the administration in these +\par circumstances deserves some comment. +\par +\par When a regimental depot had got together, at great expense, the +\par numerous items required by its active battalions or squadrons, the +\par administration arranged}{\deleted ,}{ with forwarding agents}{\deleted ,}{ the transport of the +\par supplies as far as Mainz, which was then part of the Empire. These +\par goods were in no danger while crossing France to the bank of the +\par Rhine; however}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967247 ,}{ M. de Cessac ordered a detachment of troops to escort +\par them as far as Mainz. There they were handed over to foreign agents, +\par who were supposed to forward them to Magdeberg, Berlin}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967247 ,}{ and the +\par Vistula, without any French supervision. This undert}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ was +\par carried out with so much bad faith and delay that the packages +\par containing the supplies of clothing and footwear took six to eight +\par months to go from Mainz to the Vistula, a distance they should have +\par covered in forty days. +\par +\par This had been no more than a serious inconvenience when the French +\par armies were in peaceful occupation of Germany and Poland, but it +\par became a calamity after the Russian campaign. More than two hundred +\par barges laden with supplies for our regiments were ice-bound in the +\par Bromberg canal, near Nackel, when we passed this point in January +\par 1813, but as there was, in this immense convoy, no French agent, and +\par as the Prussian bargees already considered us as enemies, no one told +\par us that these vessels were loaded with goods. The next day the +\par Prussians took possession of this huge quantity of clothing and +\par footwear and used it to equip several of the regiments they sent +\par against us. Although the result of this was that the increasing cold +\par killed a large number of French soldiers, there are those who boast +\par of our efficient administration! +\par +\par The lack of order in the French army's line of march}{\deleted ,}{ as it went +\par through Prussia}{\deleted ,}{ was due principally to the ineptitude of Murat, who +\par had assumed command after the departure of the Emperor, and later to +\par the feebleness of Prince Eug\'e8ne de Beauharnais, the Vice-Roi of +\par Italy. +\par +\par When the time came for us to re-cross the Elbe and enter the +\par territory of the Confederation of the Rhine, the Emperor, before +\par removing his troops from Poland and Prussia, wanted to facilitate a +\par return to the offensive by leaving strong garrisons in the fortresses +\par which could assure the crossing of the Vistula, the Oder and the +\par Elbe, such as Thorn, Stettin, Magdeberg, Danzig, Dresden, etc. +\par +\par This major decision on the part of the Emperor may be looked at in +\par two ways. So it has been praised by some knowledgeable military +\par observers and condemned by others. +\par +\par The first party say that the need to provide a place of rest and +\par safety for the numerous sick and wounded, which the army brought back +\par from Russia, compelled the Emperor to occupy these fortresses, which, +\par in addition, could store a massive amount of military equipment and +\par foodstuffs. They add that these fortresses hindered enemy movements +\par and by investing them, the enemy reduced the number of troops which +\par could be actively employed against us; and finally that if the +\par reinforcements which Napoleon was bringing from France and Germany +\par enabled him to win a battle, the possession of the forts would help +\par to ensure a new conquest of Prussia, which would bring us to the +\par banks of the Vistula and force the Russians to return to their +\par country. +\par +\par In reply to this it is claimed that Napoleon weakened his army by +\par bre}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ it up into so many scattered units who could not give each +\par other mutual assistance; that it was not necessary to compromise the +\par security of France in order to save a some thousands of sick and +\par wounded, very few of whom would return to active service, and of whom +\par nearly all died in the hospitals. It was also said that the +\par regiments of Italians, Poles}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967245 ,}{ and Germans from the Confederation of +\par the Rhine, which the Emperor mingled with the garrisons in order to +\par lessen the requirement of French units, would not be much use; and in +\par fact almost all the foreign troops fought very badly and ended up by +\par going over to the enemy. Finally it was claimed that the occupation +\par of the forts gave very little trouble to the Russian and Prussian +\par armies, which, after blockading them with an observation force, could +\par continue their march towards France. Which is what actually +\par happened. +\par +\par I find myself in agreement with latter of these two opinions, +\par because it is evident that the forts could be of use to us only if we +\par overcame the Russian and Prussian armies, which was a reason for +\par concentrating our disposable manpower rather than dispersing it. +\par +\par It might be said that}{\deleted ,}{ as the enemy would no longer have to +\par blockade the forts, they would thus have an increase in their +\par manpower to match ours}{\deleted , b}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967244 . B}{ut this is not so, for the enemy would have +\par to leave strong garrisons in the forts which we abandoned, while we +\par could make use of the men which were at present immobilised. I may +\par add that the defence of these useless forts deprived the army in the +\par field of the services of a number of experienced generals, among +\par others, Marshal Davout, who}{\deleted ,}{ alone}{\deleted ,}{ was worth several divisions. I +\par accept that during a campaign one must leave behind several brigades +\par to guard places on which the safety of a country depends, such as +\par Metz, Lille}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967243 ,}{ and Strasbourg, in the case of France, but the forts +\par situated on the Vistula, the Oder}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967243 ,}{ and the Elbe, two or three hundred +\par leagues from France}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967243 ,}{ were of only conditional importance, that is to +\par say dependent on the success of our army in the field. When this did +\par not come about, over eighty thousand men}{\deleted ,}{ whom the Emperor had left +\par in those garrisons in 1812}{\deleted ,}{ were obliged to surrender. +\par +\par The position of France in the first months of 1813 was extremely +\par critical, for in the south our armies in Spain had suffered some very +\par serious reverses due to the weakening of their strength by the +\par continual withdrawal of regiments}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967242 , }{while the English ceaselessly sent +\par reinforcements to Wellington, who had fought a brilliant campaign +\par during 1812, and had captured Cuidad-Rodrigo, Badajoz}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967242 ,}{ and the fort of +\par Salamanca, had won the battle of Arapiles, occupied Madrid and now +\par threatened the Pyrenees. +\par +\par In the north, the numerous battle-hardened soldiers whom Napoleon +\par had led into Russia}{\deleted ,}{ had nearly all died in action or of cold and +\par starvation. The }{\deleted still }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967241 still-}{intact Prussian army had just joined the +\par Russians, and the Austrians were on the point of following their +\par example. Finally, the sovereigns, and more importantly, the people of +\par the Germanic Confederation, stirred up by the English, were wavering +\par in their allegiance to France. The Prussian Baron Stein, an able and +\par enterprising man, took this opportunity to publish a number of +\par pamphlets}{\deleted ,}{ in which he appealed to all Germans to shake off the yoke +\par of Napoleon}{\deleted ,}{ and regain their liberty. This appeal was readily +\par received, as the passage, the accommodation}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967240 ,}{ and the maintenance of the +\par French troops who had occupied Germany since 1806 had occasioned +\par great expense, to which was added the confiscation of English +\par merchandise}{\deleted ,}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967240 ,}{ as a result of Napoleon's continental blockade. The +\par Confederation of the Rhine would have defected if the rulers of the +\par various states of which it was composed had decided to listen to the +\par wishes of their subjects; but none of them dared budge, so ingrained +\par was their habit of obedience to the French Emperor, and so great +\par their fear of seeing him arrive at any moment, to head the +\par considerable forces which he was organising with such speed}{\deleted ,}{ and +\par building up constantly in Germany. +\par +\par The greater part of the French nation still had the greatest +\par confidence in Napoleon. Those who were well-informed blamed him, no +\par doubt, for having}{\deleted ,}{ the previous year}{\deleted ,}{ led his army to Moscow, and in +\par particular for having awaited the winter there, but the mass of the +\par people, who were used to considering the Emperor as infallible and +\par had no notion of the events of this campaign nor of the losses +\par suffered by our men, saw only the glory which the occupation of +\par Moscow reflected on our arms, and were more than willing to give the +\par Emperor the means to heap victories round his eagles. Every +\par department and every town}{\deleted ,}{ gave patriotic gifts of horses}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967239 , }{though the +\par numerous levies of conscripts and money soon cooled this enthusiasm. +\par Nevertheless}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967239 ,}{ the nation complied with reasonably good grace, and +\par battalions and squadrons seemed to rise out of the ground, as if by +\par some enchantment. It was remarkable that after all the levies of +\par conscripts which had been made over the last twenty years, we had +\par never recruited a finer body of men. There were several explanations +\par for this. +\par +\par To begin with, each of the eight hundred departments which then +\par existed had, for several years, maintained a company of so-called +\par departmental infantry, a sort of praetorian guard for the Prefects, +\par who made a point of selecting men of a high physical standard for +\par this duty. These men never left the principal towns of the +\par department, where they were very }{\deleted well }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967238 well }{housed, fed}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967238 ,}{ and clad, and as +\par they had very few duties to perform, they were able to build up their +\par physical strength, for most of them led this life for six or seven +\par years, during which time they were exercised regularly in the +\par handling of arms, and in marches and manoeuvres. They lacked only +\par the "baptism of fire" to become complete soldiers. These companies, +\par depending on the importance of the department, were of 150 to 250 +\par men. The Emperor sent them all to the army, where they were absorbed +\par into the line regiments. +\par +\par In the second place there was called into service a great number +\par of conscripts from previous years, who had by protection, cunning}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967238 ,}{ or +\par temporary illness obtained deferment, that is to say permission to +\par remain at home until further orders. These older men were nearly all +\par strong and vigourous. +\par +\par These measures were legal; but what was not was the call-up of +\par those who had already taken part in the ballot for conscription and +\par whose names had not been drawn. These people, to whom this lottery +\par had given the legal right to remain civilians, were nevertheless +\par compelled to take up arms if they were less than thirty years old. +\par This levy produced a large number of men fit to support the hardships +\par of war. There was some objection raised to this measure, mainly in +\par the Midi and the Vend\'e9e, but the greater part of the contingent fell +\par into line, so great was the habit of obedience. This meekness on the +\par part of the populace enticed the government into practices even more +\par illegal}{\deleted ,}{ and more dangerous withal, in that they struck at the upper +\par class; for after forcibly enlisting men who had been exempted by lot, +\par the same measure was applied to those who had}{\deleted ,}{ quite legally}{\deleted ,}{ paid +\par for a replacement, and they were forced into the army, although some +\par families had been financially strained and even ruined in an attempt +\par to save their sons, for}{\deleted ,}{ at that time replacements cost from 12 to +\par 20,000 francs, which had to be paid in cash. There were even young +\par men who had been replaced two or three times, but who were still +\par forced to go, and it was not unknown for one to find himself serving +\par in the same company as the man he had paid to be his substitute! This +\par injustice was the result of advice given by Clarke, the }{\deleted minister }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967232 Minister }{for +\par }{\deleted war }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967232 War }{and Savary, the }{\deleted minister }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967232 Minister }{of }{\deleted police}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967232 Police}{, who persuaded the Emperor +\par that to prevent any disturbance during the war, it was necessary to +\par remove the sons of influential families from the country and put them +\par in the army, to serve, in some respects, as hostages!}{\deleted }{... To reduce +\par somewhat the odium felt by the upper class towards this imposition, +\par the Emperor created, under the name of "Guards of Honour}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967231 ,}{" four +\par regiments of light cavalry, specially reserved for young gentlemen of +\par good family. These units, which were given a brilliant Hussar's +\par uniform, were commanded by general officers. +\par +\par To these more or less legal levies, the Emperor added the men +\par produced by an early conscription and a number of battalions formed +\par from the seamen, sailors}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967231 ,}{ and gunners of the navy, all trained men, +\par used to handling arms and}{\deleted ,}{ bored with the monotonous life in port, +\par keen to join their comrades in the army. There were more than thirty +\par thousand of these seamen, and it did not take long for them to become +\par first class infantry soldiers. Finally the Emperor, obliged to use +\par every means to rebuild his army, of which the greater part had +\par perished in the frozen wastes of Russia, further weakened his forces +\par in Spain by t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ not only several thousands of men to make up his +\par guard, but several brigades and entire divisions composed of old +\par soldiers, accustomed to hardship and danger. +\par +\par For their part, the Russians}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967230 ,}{ and}{\deleted ,}{ particularly}{\deleted ,}{ the Prussians, +\par were preparing for war. The indefatigable Baron de Stein travelled +\par the provinces, preaching a crusade against the French, and organising +\par his "Tugenbond" whose members swore to take up arms for the +\par liberation of Germany. This society, which stirred up so many +\par enemies against us, operated openly in Prussia, which was already at +\par war with the Emperor, and insinuated itself into the states and +\par armies of the Confederation of the Rhine, despite the opposition of +\par some sovereigns}{\deleted ,}{ and with the tacit permission of others, to such an +\par extent that almost the whole of Germany was, in secret, our enemy, +\par and the contingents which were joined to our military forces were +\par prepared to betray us at the first opportunity, as events would +\par shortly show. These events would not have taken so long to come +\par about if the German's natural laxity and sloth had not prevented them +\par from acting sooner than they did}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967229 , }{for the debris of the French army +\par which crossed the Elbe in 1812}{\deleted ,}{ stayed peacefully in cantonment on +\par the left bank of the river for the first four months of 1813, without +\par being attacked by the Russians and Prussians who were stationed on +\par the opposite bank, and who did not feel themselves strong enough to +\par do so, although Prussia had mobilised its landwehr, made up of all +\par fit men, and Bernadotte, forgetting that he was born a Frenchman, had +\par declared war on us, and had joined his Swedish troops to those +\par belonging to the enemies of his native country. +\par +\par During the period which we spent on the left bank of the Elbe, +\par although the army received continual reinforcements, there was still +\par very little in the way of cavalry}{\deleted ,}{ except for some regiments, one of +\par which was mine, so we had been allotted as cantonments several +\par communes and the two little towns of Brenha and Landsberg, in +\par pleasant country near Magdeberg. While we were there I had a great +\par disappointment. The Emperor wished to speed the organisation of the +\par new levies and thought that for this purpose the temporary presence +\par of unit commanders at their regimental depots would be useful. So he +\par decided that all }{\deleted Colonels }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967228 colonels }{should return to France except those who +\par had a certain number of men in their unit, the number fixed for the +\par cavalry was four hundred, and I had more than six hundred mounted +\par men!}{\deleted }{...}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967228 }{I was therefore forced to stay behind, when I so much longed +\par to embrace my wife and the child which she had given me during my +\par absence. +\par +\par To the disappointment which I felt was added another vexation, the +\par good }{\deleted general Castex}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967337 General Castex}{, whom I had held in such high regard during the +\par Russian campaign, was to leave us and join the mounted Grenadiers of +\par the Guard. His brigade, and that of General Corbineau, who had been +\par given the position of aide-de-camp to the Emperor, were both put in +\par charge of }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967227 G}{\deleted g}{eneral Exelmans. General Wathiez was to replace Castex, +\par and }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967227 General }{Maurin to replace Corbineau. These three generals had}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967227 ,}{\deleted ,}{ +\par however}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967227 ,}{ gone to France after the Russian campaign and I was the only +\par }{\deleted Colonel }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967227 colonel }{left, so General S\'e9bastiani, to whose }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967226 corps }{the new division +\par was to be attached, ordered me to take over the command, which added +\par a great deal of work to my regimental duties, for I had to make +\par frequent visits, in appalling weather, to the cantonments of the +\par other three regiments. The wound to my knee, although it had healed, +\par was still painful and I did not know if I would be able to remain on +\par duty until the end of the winter, when after a month General Wathiez +\par returned to take up the command of the division. +\par +\par A few days later, without my having asked, I was ordered to go to +\par France to organise the large number of recruits and horses which had +\par been sent to my regimental depot. The depot was in the department of +\par Jemmapes, at Mons in Belgium, which was then part of the }{\deleted empire}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967226 Empire}{. I +\par left immediately and travelled quickly. I realised that as I was +\par authorised to go to France on duty, it would not be acceptable for me +\par to request even the shortest period of leave to go to Paris, so I +\par welcomed the offer made by Mme. Desbri\'e8res, my mother-in-law, to +\par bring my wife and my son to Mons. After a year of separation, during +\par which I had experienced so many dangers, it was with the greatest +\par pleasure that I once more saw my wife, and held in my arms our little +\par Alfred, now eight months old. This was one of the happiest days of +\par my life! The joy which I felt on holding my little son was increased +\par by the recollection that he very nearly became an orphan on the day +\par of his birth. +\par +\par I spent the end of April and the months of May and June at the +\par depot, where I was extremely busy. Many recruits had been sent to +\par the 23rd, men of good physique and from a warrior race, for they +\par mostly came from the neighbourhood of Mons, the former province of +\par Hainault, from where the Austrians used to draw their finest +\par cavalrymen, at the time when they possessed the low countries. These +\par are people who love and care well for horses, but as the horses which +\par come from this district are a little too heavy for Chasseurs, I +\par obtained permission to buy some in the Ardennes, from where we +\par obtained a fair selection. +\par +\par I found at the depot some good officers and N.C.O.s, several of +\par whom had been in Russia and had gone to the depot to recover from +\par injuries or illness, and the ministry sent me some young officers +\par from the school of cavalry at Saint-Cyr. From this material I made +\par up various squadrons, which, although not perfect, could mingle +\par without difficulty with the old cavalrymen from Russia whom I had +\par left on the banks of the Elbe, and throughout whom they would be +\par spread on their arrival. As soon as a squadron was ready it was sent +\par off to join the army. +\par +\par Chap. 23. +\par +\par While I was busily engaged in rebuilding my regiment, as were many +\par other }{\deleted Colonels}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967225 colonels}{, mainly from the cavalry, who were in France for the +\par same reason, hostilities broke out on the Elbe, which had been +\par crossed by the allies. +\par +\par The Emperor left Paris, and on the 25th of April he was at +\par Naumbourg, in Saxony, at the head of 170,000 men, of whom only a +\par third were French, a detachment of troops which had been sent to +\par Germany having not yet arrived. The other two thirds of his army was +\par formed of units from the Confederation of the Rhine, the majority of +\par which were very reluctant to fight on his behalf. General +\par Wittgenstein, who had gained some celebrity following our disaster at +\par the Beresina, although the weather did us far more harm than his +\par manoeuvres, was in overall command of the Russian and German troops, +\par a combined force of 300,000 men, which faced Napoleon's army on the +\par 28th of April, in the region of Leipzig. +\par +\par On the 1st of May there was a sharp engagement at Poserna, in an +\par area where Gustavus Adolphus had died, during which }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967224 Marshal }{Bessi\'e8res +\par was killed by a cannon-ball. The Emperor regretted his death more +\par than did the army, which had not forgotten that it was the advice +\par given to Napoleon by the }{\deleted marshal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967224 Marshal}{\deleted ,}{ in the evening of the battle for +\par Moscow}{\deleted ,}{ which had deterred him from achieving victory by committing +\par his guards to the action}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967223 , }{which had he done, it would have changed +\par the outcome}{\deleted ,}{ and led to the complete destruction of the Russian +\par force. +\par +\par The day after Bessi\'e8res' death, while Napoleon was continuing his +\par march towards Leipzig, he was attacked}{\deleted ,}{ unexpectedly}{\deleted ,}{ on the flank, +\par by the Russo-Prussians, who had crossed the river Elster during the +\par night. In this battle, which was given the name of the }{\deleted battle }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967222 Battle }{of +\par Lutzen, there was some fierce fighting, in which the troops newly +\par arrived from France showed the greatest courage, the marine regiments +\par being particularly notable. The enemy, soundly beaten, withdrew +\par towards the Elbe, but the French, having almost no cavalry, were able +\par to take few prisoners}{\deleted ,}{ and their victory was incomplete. +\par Nevertheless it produced a great moral effect in Europe, and above +\par all in France, for it showed that our troops had retained their +\par fighting qualities, and that only the frosts of Russia had overcome +\par them in 1812. +\par +\par The Emperor Alexander and the King of Prussia, after being present +\par at Lutzen and witnessing the defeat of their armies, had gone to +\par Dresden, from where they had to withdraw on the approach of the +\par victorious Napoleon, who took possession of the town on the 8th of +\par May}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967221 , }{where he was shortly joined by his ally, the King of Saxony. +\par After a brief stay in Dresden, the French crossed the Elbe and +\par pursued the Prusso-Russians, whose rear-guard they caught up with and +\par defeated at Bischofswerda. +\par +\par The Emperor Alexander, dissatisfied with Wittgenstein, assumed +\par personal command of the allied armies, but having been defeated in +\par his turn by Napoleon}{\deleted ,}{ at Wurtchen, it seems likely that he recognised +\par his lack of ability in this field, for he soon relinquished the +\par position. +\par +\par The Russo-Prussians having come to a halt and dug in at Bautzen, +\par the French emperor ordered Ney to outflank their position, which +\par resulted in a victory on the 21st of May, which lack of cavalry once +\par more rendered incomplete}{\deleted ,}{ though the enemy lost 18}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967220 ,}{000 men and fled in +\par disorder. +\par +\par On the 22nd, the French, in pursuit of the Russians, made contact +\par with their rear}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967220 -}{guard at the pass of Reichenbach. What little cavalry +\par Napoleon had was commanded by General Latour-Maubourg, a most +\par distinguished soldier, who led it with such }{\deleted elan}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967202 \'e9lan}{ that the enemy were +\par overwhelmed and abandoned the field after heavy losses. Those +\par suffered by the French, though fewer, were most painful. The cavalry +\par general, Bruy\'e8re, a fine officer, had both his legs carried away and +\par died of this dreadful injury; but the saddest event of the day was +\par the result of a cannon-ball which, after killing General Kirgener +\par (brother-in-law of Marshal Lannes), mortally wounded Marshal Duroc, +\par the grand marshal of the palace, a man liked by everyone, and +\par Napoleon's oldest and best friend. Marshal Duroc survived for a few +\par hours following his injury, and the Emperor who was at his side +\par showed every sign of the deepest grief. Those who witnessed this +\par melancholy scene, noted that the Emperor, who was forced to leave his +\par friend by the demands of duty, parted from him in tears, having given +\par him a rendez-vous in "A better world!" +\par +\par The French army now pressed on into Silesia, whose capital, +\par Breslau (Wroclaw) it occupied on the 1st of June. The allies, and in +\par particular the Prussians, much alarmed, realised that}{\deleted ,}{ in spite of +\par their boasts, they were unable, without help, to stop the French, and +\par wanted to gain a respite}{\deleted ,}{ in the hope that the Austrians would end +\par their hesitation and join forces with them. They sent out envoys, +\par given the task of soliciting an armistice}{\deleted ,}{ which, subject to the +\par mediation of Austria, would lead, they said, to a peace treaty. +\par Napoleon thought that he should agree to this armistice, and so it +\par was signed on the 4th of June, to last until the 10th of August. +\par +\par While Napoleon was going from success to success, }{\deleted marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{ +\par was defeated at Luckau, and lost 1100 men. The Emperor hoped that +\par during the armistice}{\deleted ,}{ the numerous reinforcements from France which +\par he was awaiting, particularly the cavalry which had been sorely +\par missed, would make their appearance, and would take part in a new +\par campaign if that became unavoidable. There were, however, several +\par generals who regretted that the Emperor had not followed up his +\par victory. They argued that if the armistice permitted us to build up +\par our reserves, it did the same for the Russo-Prussians, who hoped that +\par they would be joined by the Austrians, as well as by the Swedes, who +\par were marching to their aid. The former were not yet ready, but they +\par would have more than two months to organise and put into motion their +\par numerous troops. +\par +\par When}{\deleted ,}{ at Mons}{\deleted ,}{ I heard of the victories of Lutzen and Bautzen, I +\par was sorry not to have been there, but my regrets were diminished when +\par I found that my regiment had not been involved; it was, in fact, +\par before Magdeburg on the road to Berlin. M. Lacour, a former +\par aide-de-camp to }{\deleted General Castex}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967337 General Castex}{, had been posted as squadron commander +\par to the 23rd, about the end of 1812, and he took command of the +\par regiment in my absence. He was a brave man, who had acquired some +\par education by reading, which gave him pretentions which were out of +\par place in a military milieu; in addition to which his lack of +\par experience as a commanding officer, resulted in the regiment +\par suffering losses which should have been avoided, and of which I shall +\par speak later. While I was at the depot, I gained as second squadron +\par commander M. Pozac, a very fine officer in all respects}{\deleted ,}{ who had been +\par awarded a "sabre of honour" for his conduct at the battle of Marengo. +\par +\par Towards the end of June, all the }{\deleted Colonels }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967216 colonels }{who had been sent to +\par France to organise the new forces, having completed this task, were +\par ordered to return to their posts with the army, although hostilities +\par would be suspended for some time. I was therefore forced to leave my +\par family}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967215 ,}{\deleted ,}{ with whom I had passed so many happy days}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967216 , }{but duty called +\par and I had to obey. +\par +\par I once more took the road to Germany, and went first to Dresden, +\par to where the Emperor had summoned all the }{\deleted Colonels }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967215 colonels }{in order to +\par question them about the composition of the detachments they had sent +\par to the army. There I learned something which annoyed me greatly! At +\par the depot I had organised four superb squadrons of 150 men each. The +\par two first of which (happily the smartest and best) had joined the +\par regiment; the third had been taken, by }{\deleted imperial }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967215 Imperial }{decision, and sent to +\par Hamburg}{\deleted ,}{ to be incorporated in the 28th Chasseurs, one of the weakest +\par regiments in the army. This was a lawful order, and I accepted it +\par without complaint: but it was not the same when I was told that the +\par 4th squadron which I had sent from Mons, having been noticed as it +\par passed through Cassel, by J\'e9r\'f4me, the King of Westphalia, this prince +\par had found it so desirable that he had, on his own authority, enrolled +\par it in his Guard! I knew that the Emperor, very irritated that his +\par brother had taken it upon himself to make off with some }{\deleted imperial}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967214 Imperial}{ +\par troops, had ordered him to send them on their way immediately, and I +\par had hopes that I would receive them; but King J\'e9r\'f4me got hold of some +\par of the Emperor's aides, who represented to his Majesty that as the +\par King of Westphalia's Guard was composed entirely of Germans, who were +\par not by any means to be relied upon, it was right that he should have +\par a French squadron on whose loyalty he could count; in the second +\par place the King had, at much expense, equipped the squadron with the +\par brilliant uniform of Hussars of his Guard; and finally, that even +\par without this squadron, the 23rd would still be the strongest regiment +\par in the French cavalry. Whatever the reason, my squadron remained in +\par the Westphalian guard, in spite of my loud protests. I could not get +\par over this loss, and found it supremely unjust that I should be +\par deprived of the fruits of my trouble and labour. +\par +\par I rejoined my regiment not far from the Oder in the region of +\par Zagan, where it was in cantonment in the little town of Freistadt, as +\par was Exelman's division, of which it was a part. +\par +\par During our stay in this area, a curious incident occurred. A +\par trooper by the name of Tantz, the only bad character in the regiment, +\par having got thoroughly drunk, threatened an officer who had ordered +\par him to be put in the police cell. Put before a court-martial he was +\par found guilty, condemned to death and the sentence confirmed. Now}{\deleted ,}{ +\par when the guard, commanded by Warrant-officer Boivin, went to fetch +\par Tantz}{\deleted ,}{ to take him to the place where he was to be shot, they found +\par him in the cell completely naked, on the pretext that it was too hot. +\par +\par The warrant-officer, a brave fellow, but one whose brains did not +\par match his courage, instead of m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ him dress, told him to wrap +\par himself in a cloak. However, having arrived on the draw-bridge across +\par the large moat which surrounded the ch\'e2teau, Tantz threw the cloak in +\par the faces of the guard, leapt into the moat which he swam across, and +\par having reached the other side made off to join the enemy on the +\par opposite bank of the Oder. We never heard anything more of him!... +\par I broke the warrant-officer for being so careless, but he soon +\par regained his rank, by an act of bravery which I shall describe +\par shortly. +\par +\par The squadrons which I had recently added to the regiment, brought +\par its strength up to 993 men, of whom almost 700 had fought in the +\par Russian campaign. The newly arrived soldiers were a well-built body +\par of men}{\deleted ,}{ who had nearly all come from the departmental legion of +\par Jemmapes, which made it easier to train them as cavalrymen; I +\par incorporated the newcomers in the older squadrons. Both sides were +\par preparing for the coming struggle}{\deleted ,}{ but our opponents had made good +\par use of their time, and had presented us with a powerful adversary by +\par persuading the Austrians to take up arms against us. +\par +\par The Emperor Napoleon, whom numerous victories had accustomed to +\par t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ little account of his enemies, believed himself to be once +\par more invincible, when he saw himself in Germany at the head of +\par 300,000 men, but he did not examine sufficiently closely the +\par composition of the forces with which he was about to oppose the whole +\par of Europe, united against him. +\par +\par The French army had received an intake of fine quality recruits, +\par and had never looked better; but with the exception of some +\par regiments, the majority of these new soldiers had never been in +\par action, and the disasters of the Russian campaign had generated an +\par uneasy feeling in the }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967211 corps}{, the effects of which were still felt. +\par Our superb army was better suited to being put on show}{\deleted ,}{ to obtain +\par terms, than to being engaged}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967211 ,}{\deleted ,}{ at this moment}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967211 ,}{\deleted ,}{ in combat. Nearly all +\par the generals and }{\deleted Colonels}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967210 colonels}{, who saw the regiments at close quarters, +\par were of the opinion that they needed some years of peace. +\par If one were to pass from the French army to an examination of +\par those of her allies, one would see nothing but apathy, ill-will and +\par the wish for an opportunity to betray France! Everything should have +\par led Napoleon to treat with his enemies, and to do this he should have +\par first settled with his father-in-law, the Emperor of Austria, by +\par giving back to him Dalmatia, Istria, the Tyrol}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967210 ,}{ and some of the other +\par provinces which he had seized in 1805 and 1809. Some concessions of +\par this sort offered to Prussia would have quietened the allies who, it +\par seems, were willing to return to Napoleon the colonies which had been +\par taken from France and to guarantee his occupation of all the +\par provinces this side of the Rhine and the Alps, and also upper Italy; +\par but in return he would have to give up Spain, Poland, Naples}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967210 ,}{ and +\par Westphalia. These terms were acceptable; but at a conference with +\par the diplomats sent to discuss them, Napoleon was rude to +\par M. Metternich, the principal member of the delegation, and sent them +\par away without any concessions. It is said that as he saw them leave +\par the palace of Dresden, he remarked "We'll give them a sound +\par thrashing!" The Emperor seemed to forget that the enemy armies were +\par almost three times the size of his own forces. He had, in fact, no +\par more than 320,000 men in Germany, while the allies could put in the +\par line almost 800,000 fighting men. +\par +\par The Emperor's birthday was on the 15th of August, but he ordered +\par that it should be celebrated in advance, because the armistice ended +\par on the 10th. The rejoicings of Saint-Napoleon's day then took place +\par in the cantonments. This was the last time that the French army +\par celebrated the birthday of its Emperor! There was not much +\par enthusiasm, for even the least perceptive of officers was aware that +\par we were on the brink of a catastrophe, and the worries of the +\par commanders affected the morale of their subalterns. However each one +\par prepared to do his duty, though with little hope of success, in view +\par of the great inferiority in numbers of our army as opposed to the +\par innumerable troops of the enemy. Already, among our allies of the +\par Confederation of the Rhine, the Saxon General Thielmann had deserted +\par with his brigade to join the Prussians, after trying to hand over to +\par them the fortress of Torgau. Among our troops there was much +\par uneasiness and lack of confidence. +\par +\par It was at this time that one heard of the return to Europe of +\par General Moreau}{\deleted ,}{ who, condemned to banishment after the conspiracy of +\par Pichegru and Cadoudal, had retired to America. The hatred which +\par Moreau had for Napoleon made him forget the duty he owed to his +\par country. He soiled his reputation by ranging himself with the +\par enemies of France; however, it was not long before he paid the price +\par of this infamous conduct. +\par +\par Now an immense semi-circle was formed around the French army. A +\par body of 40,000 Russians was in Mecklemberg; Bernadotte, the +\par Prince Royal of Sweden, occupied Berlin and the surrounding district +\par with an army of 120,000 men, composed of Swedes, Russians}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967208 ,}{ and +\par Prussians. Two great Russian and Prussian armies, 220,000 men +\par strong, of whom 35,000 were cavalry, were in Silesia}{\deleted ,}{ between +\par Schweidnitz and the Oder; 40,000 Austrians were stationed at Lintz, +\par and the main Austrian army of about 140,000 men was concentrated in +\par Prague; finally, a short distance behind this front line of 560,000 +\par combatants, an enormous body of reserves was ready to march. +\par +\par The distribution of his troops made by Napoleon was as follows: +\par 70,000 men were concentrated around Dahmen in Prussia, to oppose +\par Bernadotte; }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{ with 100,000 occupied part of Silesia. A +\par corps of 70,000 was in the region of Zittau. Marshal Saint-Cyr with +\par 16,000 men occupied the camp at Pirna and gave cover to Dresden. +\par Finally the }{\deleted Imperial Guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966621 Imperial Guard}{, 20 to 25,000 strong was spread round this +\par capital, ready to go wherever was necessary. Including the troops +\par left in the garrisons of the forts, the troops at Napoleon's disposal +\par were infinitely fewer than those of the enemy. This enumeration did +\par not include the forces left in Spain and Italy. +\par +\par Chap. 24. +\par +\par The French Emperor had divided his army into 14 Corps, called +\par infantry, although they each contained at least a brigade of light +\par cavalry. The commanding generals were as follows}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967207 :-}{- +\par +\par 1 Corps. Gen. Vandamme. +\par +\par 2 Corps. Marshal Victor. +\par +\par 3 Corps. }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{. +\par +\par 4 Corps. Gen. Bertrand. +\par +\par 5 Corps. Gen. Lauriston. +\par +\par 6 Corps. Marshal Marmont. +\par +\par 7 Corps. Gen. Reynier. +\par +\par 8 Corps. Prince Poniatowski. +\par +\par 9 Corps. Marshal Augereau. +\par +\par 10 Corps. (confined in Danzig) Gen. Rapp. +\par +\par 11 Corps. Marshal Macdonald. +\par +\par 12 Corps. }{\deleted Marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{. +\par +\par 13 Corps. Marshal Davout. +\par +\par 14 Corps. Marshal Saint-Cyr. +\par +\par Finally came the Guard, under the direct orders of the Emperor. +\par +\par The cavalry was divided into 5 Corps, commanded by +\par 1. Gen. Latour-Mauberg, 2. Gen. S\'e9bastiani, 3. Gen. Arrighi, +\par 4. Gen. Kellermann. 5. Gen. Milhau. The cavalry of the Guard was +\par commanded by general Nansouty. +\par +\par The army, as a whole, approved of some of these appointments but +\par disapproved of others. They disliked such important posts being given +\par to Oudinot, who had made more than one mistake during the Russian +\par campaign, to Marmont, whose rashness had lost the battle of Arpiles, +\par to S\'e9bastiani, who did not seem equal to the task, and finally it was +\par regretted that for a campaign which was to decide the destiny of +\par France, the Emperor had seen fit to try out the strategic talents of +\par Lauriston and Bertrand. The first was a good artillery officer, and +\par the second an excellent engineer, but neither had directed troops in +\par the field, and so lacked the experience needed to command an army +\par Corps. +\par +\par Napoleon, recalling that when he was named as commander-in-chief +\par of the army of Italy, he had hitherto commanded only some battalions, +\par which had not prevented him from successfully filling the post, +\par probably believed that Lauriston and Bertrand could do the same +\par thing. But men of such universal talent as Napoleon are rare, and he +\par could not hope that his new }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967206 corps }{commanders could follow his +\par example. It is thus that the personal affection which he felt for +\par these generals led him to commit}{\deleted ,}{ once more}{\deleted ,}{ the error which he had +\par previously made in giving command of an army to the artilleryman +\par Marmont. +\par +\par The history of past wars shows quite clearly that to be +\par commander-in-chief, theoretical knowledge will not suffice, and with +\par a very, very few exceptions, it is necessary to have served in an +\par infantry or cavalry unit and to have commanded one in the rank of +\par }{\deleted Colonel}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967206 colonel}{, to be competent to direct masses of men in the field. This +\par is a basic training which very few men can acquire as generals or as +\par commanders of an army. Louis XIV never confided the command of +\par troops in the open country to Marshal de Vauban, who was, however}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967205 ,}{ one +\par of the most able men of his century, and one presumes that if he had +\par been offered the post}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967205 ,}{ Vauban would have turned it down}{\deleted ,}{ in order to +\par concentrate on his own specialty, which was the attack and defence +\par of fortresses. Marmont and Bertrand, lacked this modesty, and the +\par affection which Napoleon had for them prevented him from listening to +\par any observations on the subject. +\par +\par King Murat, who had gone to Naples after the Russian campaign, +\par rejoined the Emperor at Dresden. The coalition, that is to say the +\par Austrians, Russians}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967204 ,}{ and Prussians, opened the campaign with an act of +\par bad faith, unworthy of civilised nations. Although}{\deleted ,}{ under the terms +\par of the previous convention, hostilities should not have begun until +\par the 16th of August, they attacked our outposts on the 14th, and put +\par the greater part of their forces in motion after the defection of +\par Jomini. +\par +\par Until this time, only the two Saxon generals, Thielmann and +\par Langueneau, had, shamefully, changed sides, but no general wearing +\par French uniform had sullied it in such a manner. It was a Swiss, +\par }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967204 General }{Jomini, who was the first to do so. Jomini was a simple +\par clerk, on a salary of 1200 francs, in the ministerial offices of the +\par Republic of Helvetia, when, in 1800, }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967204 General }{Ney was sent to Berne by +\par the First Consul}{\deleted ,}{ to discuss with the Swiss government the defence of +\par their state, which was then our ally. The duties of the clerk +\par Jomini, which involved dealing with confidential government +\par documents, put him in contact with }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967203 General }{Ney, who was thus in a +\par position to appreciate his outstanding ability, and, yielding to his +\par urgent requests, he arranged for him to admitted as lieutenant, and +\par shortly captain, in the Swiss regiment which was being formed to +\par serve with the French army. General Ney took an increasing interest +\par in his proteg\'e9. He had him enrolled as a French officer, took him as +\par an aide-de-camp and gave him the means to publish works which he had +\par written on the art of war, works which, although over-valued, are not +\par without some merit. +\par +\par Thanks to protection of this kind, Jomini advanced rapidly to the +\par rank of }{\deleted Colonel }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967202 colonel }{and brigadier-general, and at the resumption of +\par hostilities in 1813 was chief-of-staff to }{\deleted marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{. Seduced, +\par however, by the extravagant promises made by the Russians, he +\par deserted, in possession of much information about Napoleon's plans of +\par campaign. It was fear that, on hearing of this defection, Napoleon +\par would change these plans that induced the allies to commence +\par hostilities two days before the date agreed for the ending of the +\par armistice. To the surprise of everyone, the Emperor Alexander +\par rewarded the treacherous Jomini by t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ him as an aide-de-camp, +\par which is said to have outraged the delicate susceptibilities of the +\par Austrian Emperor. +\par +\par The information which Jomini was able to give the allies was a +\par serious blow to Napoleon, for several of his }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967201 corps }{were attacked in +\par the course of moving into position and had to give up a number of +\par important points for lack of time to prepare their defence. +\par However, the Emperor, whose plan it was to move into Bohemia, +\par finding that his opponents were forewarned and on their guard against +\par this, resolved to attack the Prussian army in Silesia, and re-engage +\par in the offensive those troops which had been compelled to retreat +\par before Bl\'fccher. In consequence Napoleon arrived at L\'f6wenberg}{\deleted ,}{ on the +\par 20th of August, where he attacked a considerable force of the allies +\par consisting of Prussians}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967200 ,}{ Austrians}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967200 ,}{ and Russians. Various actions took +\par place on the 21st, 22nd}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967200 ,}{ and 23r}{\deleted d}{, in the areas of Goldberg, +\par Graditzberg}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967200 ,}{ and Bunzlau. The enemy lost 7000 men killed or taken +\par prisoner, and retired behind the Katzbach. +\par +\par During one of the numerous engagements which took place during +\par these three days, Wathiez's brigade, which was pursuing the enemy, +\par was held up by a wide and swift-flowing stream, a tributary of the +\par Bobr. There was no way of crossing except by two wooden bridges +\par about a quarter of a mile apart, which were covered by Russian +\par artillery fire. The 24th Chasseurs, who had passed into the command +\par of the gallant Colonel Schneit, having received the order to attack +\par the left hand bridge, advanced to the assault with their usual +\par courage, but it was a different matter when it came to the 11th +\par (Dutch) Hussars, recently incorporated into the brigade. Ordered to +\par take the right hand bridge, their Colonel M. Li\'e9geard, the only +\par Frenchman in the unit, called in vain on his troops to follow him, +\par they were so overcome by fear that not one of them moved. As my +\par regiment, which was in the second line, was being subjected to as +\par much fire as the 11th Hussars, I hastened to the side of their +\par }{\deleted Colonel }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966752 colonel }{to give him some help in urging his men to attack the enemy +\par artillery, which was the only way of stopping the cannonade, but when +\par I saw that I would have no success, and that the cowardice of the +\par Hollanders would result in many casualties in my regiment, I led my +\par troops to the front of them and was about to move into the attack +\par when I saw the bridge on the left collapse under the first section of +\par men from the 24th, throwing them into the river where several men and +\par horses were drowned. The Russians, during their withdrawal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967198 ,}{ had +\par prepared this trap}{\deleted ,}{ by sawing so cunningly through the main timbers +\par supporting the bridge}{\deleted ,}{ that, unless one were warned, it was +\par impossible to see what had been done. +\par +\par The sight of this disaster made me fear that the same treatment +\par had been given to the bridge towards which I was leading my men, so I +\par called a halt in order to arrange an inspection. This was a +\par dangerous undert}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{, for not only was the bridge within range of +\par the enemy guns, but it was also within range of the muskets of an +\par infantry battalion. I was about to call for a volunteer for this +\par perilous task, when warrant-officer Boivin, whom I had recently +\par demoted for negligently allowing the Chasseur condemned to death to +\par escape, got off his horse and coming to me said, rather than risking +\par the life of one of his comrades, would I please permit him to carry +\par out the mission, in order to redeem his mistake. Pleased with this +\par courageous declaration, I said, "Go then, and you will recover your +\par epaulets at the end of the bridge!" +\par +\par Boivin went forward and, ignoring cannon-balls and bullets, he +\par examined the superstructure of the bridge and its supports and +\par returned to assure me that it was in order and that the regiment +\par could cross. I thereupon re-instated him in his rank. He remounted +\par his horse and placing himself at the head of the squadron which was +\par about to cross the bridge he led the way towards the Russians, who +\par did not wait for us to attack, but withdrew smartly. The month +\par following, when the Emperor reviewed the regiment and awarded several +\par promotions, I had Boivin made a sous-lieutenant. +\par +\par Our new brigade commander, }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967197 General }{Wathiez, was able during the +\par these various actions}{\deleted ,}{ to win the affection and regard of the troops. +\par As for the divisional commander, General Exelmans, we knew only his +\par reputation in army circles which was that of a man of outstanding +\par bravery; but he was also regarded as being somewhat unreliable. We +\par had proof of this in an event which occurred at the re-commencement +\par of hostilities. +\par +\par At a time when the division was carrying out a withdrawal, to +\par which my regiment was giving cover, }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966751 General }{Exelmans, on the pretext +\par that he was about to lay a trap for the Prussian advance guard, +\par ordered me to place at his disposal my elite company and 25 of my +\par best marksmen, whom he put under the command of Major Lacour; then he +\par put these 150 men in a meadow surrounded by woodland, and after +\par telling them not to move without his permission, he went off and +\par completely forgot them!... The enemy arrived, and seeing the +\par detachment abandoned in this manner, they halted, fearing that it had +\par been put there to lure them into an ambush. To reassure themselves, +\par they sent some individual men to slip into the wood, on the right and +\par left, and when they heard no sound of gunfire, they gradually built +\par up the number until they had completely surrounded our troopers. It +\par was in vain that several officers pointed out to Major Lacour that +\par this movement was going to cut off his retreat; Lacour, brave but +\par lacking initiative, stuck rigidly to the order he had been given, +\par without considering that }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966750 General }{Exelmans might have forgotten him +\par and that it might be as well to send someone to remind him, and at +\par least to reconnoitre the terrain over which he might be able to +\par retreat. He had been ordered to stay there, and he would stay there +\par even if his men were killed or taken prisoner! +\par +\par While Major Lacour was carrying out his instructions in the manner +\par of a simple sergeant rather than that of a senior officer, the +\par division marched into the distance! General Walthiez and I, when we +\par saw that the detachment did not return, and not knowing how to +\par contact General Exelmans, who was galloping across country, had +\par serious misgivings. I then asked permission from General Walthiez to +\par return to Major Lacour, and on receiving it I left at the gallop with +\par a squadron and arrived just in time to see a most distressing sight, +\par particularly for a commanding officer who cared for his soldiers. +\par +\par The enemy, having infiltrated both flanks and even the rear of our +\par detachment, had mounted a frontal attack by a greatly superior force, +\par so that some 700 to 800 Prussian lancers surrounded our 150 men, +\par whose only way of retreat was over a wretched footbridge of wooden +\par planks which joined the two steep banks of a nearby mill-stream. Our +\par horsemen could cross here only one by one so that there was +\par congestion, and the elite company lost several men. A number of +\par riders then noticed a large farmyard}{\deleted ,}{ which they thought might lead +\par to the mill-stream, and in the hope of finding a bridge they entered +\par it, followed by the rest of the detachment. The stream did, in fact, +\par run past the farmyard, but it there formed the mill-pool, the banks +\par of which were lined by slippery flagstones, m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ access extremely +\par difficult for horses. This gave the enemy a great advantage, and in +\par an attempt to capture all the French who had entered this huge yard, +\par they closed the gates. +\par +\par It was at this critical moment that I appeared on the other side +\par of the stream with the squadron which I had hurriedly brought with +\par me. I ordered them to dismount, and while one man held four horses, +\par the rest, armed with their carbines, ran to the footbridge, which was +\par guarded by a squadron of Prussians. The Prussians being on horseback +\par and having only a few pistols as firearms, were unable to reply to +\par the sustained fire from the carbines of our Chasseurs, and were +\par forced to remove themselves to a distance of several hundred paces, +\par leaving behind some forty dead and wounded. +\par +\par The troops who had been shut in the farmyard wanted to take +\par advantage of this momentary respite to force the main gate and make a +\par rush for it on horseback; but I called to them not to attempt it, +\par because to join me they would have had to cross the footbridge, which +\par they could do only one by one, and at this point they would offer a +\par target to the Prussians who would undoubtedly charge and destroy +\par them. The river banks were garnished by many trees, amongst which an +\par infantrymen can easily withstand the attacks of cavalry, so I placed +\par the dismounted men along the riverside}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966748 ,}{ and once they were in +\par communication with the mill's yard, I passed a message to the men +\par there to dismount also, take their carbines, and while a hundred of +\par them held off the enemy by their fire, the remainder could slip +\par behind this protective screen and pass the horses from hand to hand +\par over the footbridge. +\par +\par While this manoeuvre, covered by the fire from a cordon of 180 +\par dismounted Chasseurs, was proceeding in an orderly fashion, the +\par Prussian lancers, furious that their prey was about to escape, tried +\par to disorganise our retreat by a vigourous attack, but their horses, +\par caught up in the willow branches, amid the numerous holes and pools +\par of water, could scarcely move at a walk over the muddy ground, and +\par could never reach our foot-soldiers, whose }{\deleted well }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966747 well-}{aimed fire, directed +\par at close range, inflicted on them heavy losses. +\par +\par The Prussian major who led this charge, forcing his way boldly +\par into the centre of our line, killed with a pistol shot to the head, +\par Lieutenant Bachelet, one of my good regimental officers. I greatly +\par regretted his loss, which was, however}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966747 ,}{ promptly revenged by the +\par Chasseurs of his section, for the Prussian major, hit by several +\par bullets, fell dead beside him. +\par +\par The death of their leader, the numerous casualties they had +\par suffered}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966746 ,}{ and above all the impossibility of getting at us determined +\par the enemy to give up the enterprise and they withdrew. I was able to +\par pick up the wounded and make my retreat without being followed. My +\par regiment lost in this deplorable affair an officer and nine troopers +\par killed, and thirteen who were made prisoner, among whom was +\par Lieutenant Mar\'e9chal. The loss of these twenty-three members of the +\par regiment I found all the more distressing because it served no useful +\par purpose, and fell wholly on the finest soldiers in the unit, most of +\par whom had been earmarked for decoration or promotion. I have never +\par forgotten this undeserved setback! It resulted in our t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ a poor +\par view of General Exelmans, who got away with a reprimand from }{\deleted general}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966746 General}{ +\par S\'e9bastiani and from the Emperor, who was influenced by his friendship +\par with Murat. Old General Saint-Germain, a former commander, and +\par almost the creator, of the 23rd Chasseurs, for whom he had retained +\par much affection, having stated loudly that Exelmans deserved exemplary +\par punishment, the two generals fell out and would have come to blows if +\par the Emperor had not personally intervened. Major Lacour, whose +\par incapacity had been largely responsible for this catastrophe, I no +\par longer regarded with any confidence. +\par +\par Chap. 25. +\par +\par After the 21st, 22nd and 23rd of August, days on which we had +\par defeated Field-marshal Bl\'fccher's }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966745 corps}{, and forced him to retire +\par behind the Katzbach, the Emperor gave orders for the follow-up on the +\par next day. However,}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966745 }{on hearing that the combined army of the allies, +\par some 200,000 strong, commanded by Prince Schwartzenberg, had just +\par emerged, on the 22nd, from the mountains of Bohemia and was heading +\par for Saxony, Napoleon, t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ his }{\deleted guard, }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966745 Guard, }{as well as the cavalry of +\par Latour-Maubourg}{\deleted ,}{ and several divisions of infantry}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966744 ,}{ hastened by forced +\par marches to Dresden, where Marshal Saint-Cyr had shut himself in with +\par the troops he had hurriedly withdrawn from the camp at Pirna +\par On leaving Silesia, the Emperor told }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{ to follow him, +\par and left Marshal Macdonald in charge of the large force which he left +\par on the Bobr, that is to say the 3rd, 5th and 11th }{\deleted infantry }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966744 Infantry }{Corps and +\par the 2nd }{\deleted cavalry}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966744 Cavalry}{, with a powerful element of artillery, m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ a total +\par of 75,000 men. The control of such a great body of combatants was +\par too much for Marshal Macdonald, as subsequent events will show. +\par +\par You must have noticed that the larger the number of troops +\par involved, the less detail I give of their movements: firstly because +\par this could require an enormous work, which I might not be able to +\par complete, and secondly because it could make the reading of these +\par memoirs too wearisome}{\deleted , }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966743 . }{I shall therefore be even more concise in my +\par description of events in the }{\deleted war }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966743 War }{of 1813, in which 600,000 to 700,000 +\par men took part, than I have been in describing previous campaigns. +\par +\par On the 25th of August, the allies having surrounded the town of +\par Dresden, whose fortifications were not proof against a major attack, +\par the position of Saint-Cyr became critical}{\deleted ,}{ for he had no more than +\par 17,000 French troops to resist the immense numbers of the enemy. The +\par latter, badly served by their spies, were unaware of the approaching +\par arrival of Napoleon, and full of confidence in their superior +\par numbers, they delayed the attack until the following day. This +\par confidence was increased when they were strengthened by two +\par Westphalian regiments who had deserted from King J\'e9r\'f4me to join the +\par Austrians. +\par +\par The worried Marshal Saint-Cyr expected to be attacked on the +\par morning of the 26th; but he was reassured as to the outcome of the +\par struggle by the presence of the Emperor, who had arrived that very +\par day at an early hour, at the head of the }{\deleted guard }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966742 Guard }{and a numerous +\par body of all arms. Soon after his arrival, the enemy, who still +\par thought that they faced only Saint-Cyr's Corps, assaulted the town in +\par force and captured several redoubts. The Russians and the Prussians, +\par who now controlled the suburbs of Pirna, were attempting to break down +\par the Freyberg gate}{\deleted ,}{ when, on the Emperor's orders}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966741 ,}{ it swung open to +\par allow the emergence of a column of infantry of the }{\deleted imperial }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966742 Imperial }{\deleted guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966742 Guard}{, +\par the leading brigade of which was commanded by General Cambronne!...}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966741 }{It +\par was as if the head of Medusa had appeared!... The enemy recoiled +\par horrified, their guns were captured at the double and the gunners +\par killed on their mountings! Simultaneous sorties were made from all +\par the gates of Dresden with the same results, and the allies, +\par abandoning the redoubts they had taken, fled into the surrounding +\par country}{\deleted ,}{ where they were pursued by the cavalry to the foot of the +\par hills. On this first day the enemy had 5000 men put out of action, +\par and we took 3000 prisoners. The French had 2500 killed or wounded}{\deleted :}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966740 ,}{ +\par amongst the latter there being five generals. +\par +\par The next day it was the French army which took the initiative, +\par although they had 87,000 fewer men than their adversaries. The +\par action was at first fierce and sanguinary; but the rain which fell in +\par torrents on the heavy soil soon covered the battle-field with pools +\par of muddy water}{\deleted ,}{ through which our troops moved with much difficulty +\par on their advance towards the enemy. Nevertheless, advance they did, +\par and the }{\deleted young guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966661 Young Guard}{ had already driven back the enemy left, when +\par Napoleon, having observed that Prince Schwartzenberg, the allies' +\par commander-in-chief, had not given sufficient support to his left +\par wing, overwhelmed it with an attack by }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966740 Marshal }{Victor's infantry and +\par Latour-Maubourg's cavalry. +\par +\par King Murat, who was in command of this part of the line, was +\par highly successful. He forced his way through the pass of Cotta and +\par outflanking Klenau's }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966739 corps}{, he separated it from the Austrian army +\par and attacked it, sabre in hand, at the head of his carabiniers and +\par Cuirassiers. Klenau was unable to withstand this fearsome charge, +\par almost all his battalions were compelled to surrender, and two other +\par divisions of infantry suffered the same fate. +\par +\par While Murat was defeating the enemy left, their right wing was +\par routed by the }{\deleted young guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966661 Young Guard}{, so that after some three hours, victory +\par was assured and the allies beat a retreat towards Bohemia. +\par +\par As a result of this second day of heavy fighting, the enemy left on +\par the field of battle 18 flags, 26 cannons and 40,000 men, of whom +\par 20,000 were prisoners. The main losses were suffered by the Austrian +\par infantry, who had two generals killed, three wounded and two taken +\par prisoner. +\par +\par It may be remarked that at this epoch percussion caps were +\par virtually unknown, and the infantry of all nations still used +\par flint-lock muskets, which it was almost impossible to fire once the +\par priming powder became wet. Now, as it had rained without ceasing for +\par the whole day, this contributed largely to the defeat of the enemy +\par infantry by our cavalry, and gave rise to an extraordinary incident. +\par +\par A division of Cuirassiers, commanded by General Bordesoulle, found +\par itself facing a strong Austrian infantry division}{\deleted ,}{ formed into a +\par square. Bordesoulle called on the enemy general to surrender, which +\par he refused to do. Bordesoulle then pointed out to the Austrian that +\par not one of his men's guns was capable of being fired, to which he +\par replied that his men could defend themselves successfully with their +\par bayonets, as the cavalry, whose horses were in mud up to their hocks, +\par would be unable to charge them down. "Then I will blast your square +\par with my artillery!" "But you don't have any guns, they are stuck in +\par the mud." "If I show you my cannons, which are behind my first +\par regiment, will you then surrender?}{\deleted }{" "I would have no alternative, +\par for I would have no means of defence." +\par +\par The French general then advanced, to within thirty paces of the +\par enemy, a battery of six guns, the gunners with their slow-matches in +\par their hands, prepared to fire on the square. At this sight the +\par Austrian general and his division laid down their arms. +\par +\par The rain having prevented the infantry of both armies from using +\par their muskets}{\deleted ,}{ and greatly slowed the movements of the cavalry, it +\par was the artillery which, in spite of the difficulty of manoeuvering +\par on the rain sodden ground, played a decisive r\'f4le: in particular the +\par French artillery, whose teams of horses Napoleon had doubled up, +\par using animals from the headquarters wagons, which remained safely in +\par Dresden; so that our guns did great damage, and it was one of their +\par cannon-balls which struck Moreau. +\par +\par It had been rumoured for some time that the former illustrious +\par French general had returned to Europe and had joined the ranks of his +\par country's enemies. Few people believed this, but it was confirmed in +\par the evening following the battle of Dresden in a bizarre manner. Our +\par advance-guard was in pursuit of the routed enemy when one of our +\par Hussars saw, on entering the village of Notnitz, a magnificent +\par Great}{\deleted -}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966737 }{Dane, which seemed to be searching}{\deleted ,}{ in distress for}{\deleted ,}{ its owner. +\par +\par He took hold of the dog, and read on its collar the words "I +\par belong to General Moreau." He was then told by the cur\'e9 of the +\par village that that General Moreau had undergone a double amputation in +\par his house. A French cannon-ball had landed in the middle of the +\par Russian general staff, it had struck one of the General's legs, and +\par going through his horse had then struck the other. This had happened +\par at the moment when the Austrian army had been defeated, and to +\par prevent Moreau falling into French hands, the Emperor Alexander had +\par arranged for him to be carried by some Grenadiers until, the pursuit +\par having slackened, it was possible to dress his wounds and amputate +\par both legs. The Saxon cur\'e9 who had witnessed this cruel operation, +\par said that Moreau, who was well aware that his life was in danger, had +\par repeatedly cursed the fate that had left him}{\deleted ,}{ mortally wounded by a +\par French missile, amongst the enemies of his country. He died on the +\par 1st of September, and the Russians took away his body. +\par +\par No one in the French army regretted the death of Moreau, when it +\par was known that he had taken arms against his country. A Russian +\par envoy}{\deleted having come }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966735 came }{to claim the dog on behalf of Colonel Rapatel, +\par Moreau's aide-de-camp, who had stayed with him}{\deleted , }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966735 ; }{it was returned but +\par without the collar, which was given to the King of Saxony}{\deleted ,}{ and is now +\par on display in Dresden. +\par +\par }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966733 As }{Prince Schwartzenberg, the commander of the enemy troops defeated +\par at Dresden, }{\deleted having }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966733 had }{given Teplice as the rallying point for the +\par remains of his defeated armies, the Austrians retreated through the +\par valley of Dippoldiswalde, the Russians and the Prussians on the +\par Telnitz road}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966733 ,}{ and the remnants of Klenau's }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966733 corps }{via Freiberg. +\par Napoleon accompanied the French columns which were pursuing the +\par vanquished as far as Pirna, but just before he arrived in that town, +\par he was taken by a sudden indisposition, due perhaps to the fact that +\par he had spent five days constantly on horseback, exposed to incessant +\par rain. +\par +\par It is one of the misfortunes of princes that there are always to +\par be found in their entourage}{\deleted ,}{ people who, to demonstrate their +\par attachment, claim to be alarmed at the slightest indisposition and +\par exaggerate the precautions which should be taken}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966732 , }{which is what +\par happened on this occasion. The master-of-horse, Caulaincourt, +\par advised the Emperor to return to Dresden, and the other great +\par officers dared not give the much more sensible advice to continue to +\par Pirna, which was no more than a league distant. The young }{\deleted guard }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966732 Guard }{was +\par already there and the Emperor would have been able to have the rest +\par which he required while remaining in a position to guide the +\par movements of the troops in pursuit of the enemy, which he could not +\par do from Dresden which was much further from the center of operations. +\par +\par Napoleon then left to Marshals Mortier and Saint-Cyr the task of +\par supporting General Vandamme, commander of 1st Corps, who, detached +\par from the Grande Arm\'e9e for three days, had defeated a Russian }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966731 corps}{ +\par and now threatened the enemy rear, had cut the road from Dresden to +\par Prague and occupied Peterswalde, from where he dominated the Kulm +\par basin and the town of Teplice, a most important point through which +\par the allies had to make their retreat. However the return of the +\par Emperor to Dresden nullified these successes and led to a disastrous +\par reverse}{\deleted ,}{ which contributed greatly to the fall of the }{\deleted empire}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966731 Empire}{. +\par +\par General Vandamme was fine and courageous officer}{\deleted ,}{ who, already +\par well-known from the earliest wars of the revolution, had been almost +\par continually in command of various Corps during those of the empire; +\par so that it was surprising that he had not yet been awarded the baton +\par of a marshal; withheld, perhaps, because of his brusque and abrupt +\par manner. His detractors said}{\deleted ,}{ after his defeat}{\deleted ,}{ that his desire to +\par obtain this coveted honour had driven him, with no more than 20,000 +\par men, to stand rashly in the path of 200,000 of the enemy, with the +\par aim of barring their passage; but the truth is that having been +\par informed by the Emperor's chief of staff that he would be supported +\par by the armies of }{\deleted marshals }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966730 Marshals }{Saint-Cyr and Mortier, and been given a +\par direct order to capture Teplice and so seal off the enemy's line of +\par retreat, General Vandamme had perforce to obey. +\par +\par Under the impression that he would be supported he descended +\par boldly, on the 29th of August, towards Kulm}{\deleted ,}{ from where, pushing +\par enemy troops before him, he sought to reach Teplice; it is a +\par certainty that if Mortier and Saint-Cyr had carried out the orders +\par which they had been given, the Russian, Austrian}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966729 ,}{ and Prussian forces}{\deleted ,}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966729 }{ +\par stuck on the appalling roads, cut off from Bohemia and finding +\par themselves attacked in front and in the rear, would have laid down +\par their arms. Vandamme would have then been eulogised by the same +\par people who have since blamed him. +\par +\par However that may be, Vandamme arrived at Teplice on the morning of +\par the 30th of August to be confronted by the division of Ostermann, one +\par of the best of the Russian generals. Vandamme went confidently into +\par the attack, as he saw, coming down from the heights of Peterwalde, +\par and t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ the route which he had taken the day previously, a body of +\par troops which he took to be the armies of Mortier and Saint-Cyr, whose +\par help the Emperor had promised him}{\deleted : b}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966728 . B}{ut instead of friends, these +\par newcomers were two large Prussian divisions commanded by }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966728 G}{\deleted g}{eneral +\par Kleist, and which, on the advice of Jomini, had passed between the +\par }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966728 corps }{of Mortier and Saint-Cyr without these two marshals t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ any +\par notice, such was the reluctance of Saint-Cyr to got to the aid of one +\par of his colleagues. A reluctance which, on this occasion, spread to +\par General Mortier. Neither of them budged and this at a time when +\par their co-operation joined to the gallant efforts of Vandamme would +\par have led to the total defeat of the enemy, whose columns of infantry, +\par cavalry}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966728 ,}{ artillery}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966728 ,}{ and baggage were piled up in disorder in the narrow +\par passes of the high mountains which lie between Silesia and Bohemia. +\par +\par In place of the help he was expecting, General Vandamme saw appear +\par the two divisions of General Kleist, which instantly attacked him. +\par Vandamme, continuing to fight the Russians of Ostermann}{\deleted ,}{ in front of +\par Teplice, turned round his rear-guard to face Kleist, whom he attacked +\par furiously, but although the enemy was weakening}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966727 ,}{\deleted ,}{ the huge +\par reinforcements which they recieved, bringing their strength to around +\par 100,000 men as opposed to Vandamme's remaining 15,000, made him +\par think, in spite of his courage and tenacity, that he should retire +\par towards the }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966727 corps }{of Mortier and Saint-Cyr, whom he believed to be +\par close at hand}{\deleted ,}{ in accordance with what Prince Berthier had written to +\par him on the Emperor's instructions. +\par +\par On their arrival at the pass of Telnitz, the French found it +\par occupied by General Kleist's divisions, who completely blocked their +\par passage; but}{\deleted ,}{ nevertheless, our battalions, preceded by the cavalry +\par of General Corbineau}{\deleted ,}{ who, in spite of the rough, mountainous +\par terrain, had insisted on remaining the advance-guard, fell on the +\par Prussians with such ferocity that they overcame them and broke +\par through the pass}{\deleted ,}{ after t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ all the enemy guns, from which they +\par took away only the horses}{\deleted ,}{ because of the bad state of the roads. +\par +\par Any soldier will be aware that such a success could be won only at +\par the cost of many casualties, and after this savage engagement the +\par strength of 1st Corps was greatly reduced. However}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966726 ,}{\deleted ,}{ Vandamme, +\par completely surrounded by forces ten times more numerous than his own, +\par refused to surrender}{\deleted ,}{ and placing himself at the head of two +\par battalions of the 85th, the only ones left to him, he hurled himself +\par into the midst of the enemy in a fight to the death}{\deleted : b}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966725 . B}{ut}{\deleted ,}{ his horse +\par having been killed, a group of Russians seized him and made him +\par prisoner. It is said that he was brought before the Emperor Alexander +\par and his brother, the Grand Duke Constantin, and was rash enough to +\par exchange insults with them. He was then taken to Wintka, on the +\par frontier of Siberia, and did not see his country again until after +\par the peace of 1814. +\par +\par The battle of Kulm cost 1st Corps 2000 men killed and 8000 made +\par prisoner, amongst whom was their commanding general. The 10,000 who +\par were left managed to fight their way through the enemy lines to join +\par Saint-Cyr and Mortier. Those two generals had gravely failed in +\par their duty by not pursuing the beaten enemy and instead stopping, +\par Saint-Cyr at Reinhards-Grimme and Mortier at Pirna, from where they +\par could hear the noise of the battle being fought by Vandamme. +\par +\par It is surprising that, from nearby Dresden, Napoleon did not send +\par one of his aides-de-camp to make certain that Saint-Cyr and Mortier +\par had gone to the aid of Vandamme, as he had ordered. The two +\par marshals, having failed to carry out their orders, should have been +\par court-martialled, but the French army, overwhelmed by the enormous +\par number of enemies which Napoleon had raised against it, had reached +\par such a point of exhaustion that had Napoleon wished to punish all +\par those who failed in their duty, he would have had to dispense with +\par the services of almost all his marshals. He therefore did no more +\par than reprimand Saint-Cyr and Mortier. +\par +\par He had an increasing need to conceal his disasters, for it was not +\par only at Kulm that his troops had suffered a reverse, but at all +\par points of the immense line which they occupied. +\par +\par (Subsequent historical research has made it quite clear that as +\par Napoleon was in control of the operations the two marshals were +\par entirely correct in waiting to receive his instructions, as they did +\par not know to where he intended them to go. As for the order to +\par support Vandamme with two divisions, it did not arrive until the +\par 30th, that is to say at a time when the catastrophe had already +\par occurred, and no blame can be attributed to the marshals.) +\par +\par Chap. 26. +\par +\par It has been rightly said that in the last campaigns of the }{\deleted empire}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966720 Empire}{, +\par battles were rarely fought with any skill}{\deleted ,}{ unless Napoleon himself +\par was in command. It is regrettable that this great captain was not +\par fully aware of this, and placed too much confidence in his +\par lieutenants, of whom several were not up to the tasks which they +\par presumed to undertake}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966720 , }{as will be seen from some examples. Instead +\par of ordering his }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966719 corps }{commanders, when they were acting on their own +\par initiative, to remain as much as possible on the defensive until he +\par could come with a powerful reserve to crush the force facing them, +\par the Emperor allowed them too much latitude, and, as each one was +\par jealous of his own reputation}{\deleted ,}{ and wanted to have his personal Battle +\par of Austerlitz, they often went, ill-advisedly, on the offensive and +\par were defeated as a result. +\par +\par This is what happened to }{\deleted marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{, to whom Napoleon had +\par given a considerable army}{\deleted ,}{ made up of the Corps of Bertrand and +\par Reynier, in order to keep a watch on the numerous Prussian and +\par Swedish troops stationed near Berlin under the command of Bernadotte, +\par who had now become the }{\deleted prince }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966718 Prince }{of Sweden. }{\deleted Marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{ was not as +\par strong as his opponent and should have temporised}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966719 , }{but the habit of +\par advancing, the sight of the steeples of Berlin, and the fear of not +\par living up to the confidence Napoleon reposed in him, led him to push +\par forward Bertrand's }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966718 corps}{, which was repulsed, a setback which did not +\par prevent Oudinot from persisting in his aim of t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ Berlin. +\par However, he lost a major battle at Gross-Beeren and was forced to +\par retire via Wittemberg, having suffered heavy losses. +\par +\par A few days later, Marshal Macdonald, whom Napoleon had left on the +\par Katzbach at the head of several army }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966717 corps}{, thought that he also +\par would take advantage of the liberty given him by the absence of the +\par Emperor to attempt to win a battle, which would compensate for the +\par bloody defeat which he had endured on the Tr\'e9bia during the Italian +\par campaign of 1799}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966717 ; }{but once more he was defeated! +\par +\par Macdonald, although personally very brave, was constantly +\par unfortunate in battle, not that he lacked ability but because, like +\par the generals of the Austrian army, and in particular the famous +\par }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966716 Marshal }{Mack, he was too rigid and blinkered in his strategic +\par movements. Before the battle he drew up a plan of action which was +\par almost always sound, but which he should have modified according to +\par circumstances; this, however, his stolid temperament did not permit. +\par He was like a chess player who, when he plays against himself, can +\par make all the right moves, but does not know what to do when a real +\par opponent makes moves which he had not foreseen. So, on the 26th of +\par August, the day on which the Emperor was winning a resounding victory +\par at Dresden, Macdonald lost the battle of Katzbach. +\par +\par The French army, 75,000 strong, of which my regiment was a part, +\par was drawn up between Liegnitz and Goldberg, on the left bank of the +\par little river named the Katzbach,(Kaczawa) which separated them from +\par several Prussian Corps commanded by }{\deleted field}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966716 Field}{-marshal Bl\'fccher. The area +\par which we occupied was dotted with small wooded hills, which, although +\par practicable for cavalry, made movement difficult, but, by the same +\par token, offered much advantage to the infantry. Now, as the main body +\par of Macdonald's troops consisted of this arm, and he had only 6000 +\par cavalry of S\'e9bastiani's Corps, and as the enemy had 15 to 20,000 +\par horse on the immense plateau of Jau\'ebr,(Jawor) where the ground is +\par almost everywhere level, it was plainly Macdonald's duty to await the +\par Prussians in the position which he occupied. In addition to this, +\par the Katzbach does not have a steep approach on the left bank, where +\par we were, but on the other side it does, so that to reach the plateau +\par of Jau\'ebr one has to climb a high hill covered with rocks and +\par affording only a steep and stony road. +\par +\par The Katzbach, which runs at the foot of this hill has no bridges +\par except at the few villages and only some narrow fords, which become +\par unpassable on the least rise in the water-level. This river covered +\par the French army front, which was greatly in our favour; but }{\deleted marshal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966715 Marshal}{ +\par Macdonald wanted to attack the Prussians, and he abandoned this +\par highly advantageous position and put the Katzbach at his back by +\par ordering his troops to cross it at several points. S\'e9bastiani's +\par cavalry, of which Exelmans' division, which included my regiment, +\par formed a part, were instructed to cross the river by the ford at +\par Chemochowitz. +\par +\par The weather, which was already threatening in the morning, should +\par have warned the }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966715 Marshal }{to put off the attack to another day, or at +\par least to act rapidly. He did neither, and wasted precious time in +\par giving detailed orders so that it was not until two in the afternoon +\par that his columns began to move, and no sooner had they done so than +\par they were overtaken by a tremendous storm which swelled the Katzbach +\par and made the ford so difficult that }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966714 General }{Saint-Germain's +\par Cuirassiers were unable to cross. +\par +\par Having arrived on the other bank, we }{\deleted had }{climb}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966713 ed}{, by a narrow gully, +\par a very steep slope}{\deleted ,}{ which the rain had made so slippery that the +\par horses were falling at every step. We had to dismount and did not +\par get back into the saddle until we had reached the great plateau which +\par dominates the valley of the Katzbach. There we found several +\par divisions of our infantry, which the generals had wisely placed near +\par the clumps of trees which are scattered over this plain; for, as I +\par have said, the enemy were far stronger than us in cavalry, and had a +\par further advantage in that the rain had made it impossible for the +\par infantrymen to fire their weapons. +\par +\par When we had arrived on this vast open space, we were astonished to +\par see no signs of the enemy! The complete silence that reigned there +\par seemed to me to conceal some kind of a trap, for we were certain that +\par on the previous night }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966712 Marshal }{Bl\'fccher was in this position with more +\par than 100,000 men. It was, in my view, necessary to reconnoitre the +\par countryside thoroughly before going any further. General S\'e9bastiani +\par thought differently; so, as soon as Rousel d'Urbal's division was +\par formed up, he despatched them into the distance, with not only their +\par own guns but those belonging to Exelmans' division, which we had +\par dragged onto the plateau with so much difficulty. +\par +\par As soon as Exelmans, who had been separated from his troops, +\par rejoined us, as we emerged from the gully, and saw that S\'e9bastiani +\par had made off with his guns, he hurried after him to reclaim them, +\par leaving his division without orders. The two brigades of which it +\par was composed were some five hundred paces from one another, facing +\par the same way and formed into columns by regiment. My regiment was at +\par the head of Wathiez's brigade and had behind it the 24th Chasseurs. +\par The 11th Hussars were in the rear. +\par +\par The plateau of Jau\'ebr is so huge that although the Roussel d'Urbal +\par division, which had gone ahead, was made up of seven regiments of +\par cavalry, we could scarcely see them on the horizon. A thousand paces +\par to the right of the column of which I was a part, was one of the +\par clumps of trees which dot the plain. If my regiment had been on its +\par own I would certainly have had this wood searched by a platoon; but +\par as Exelmans, who was very jealous of his authority, had established +\par it as a rule that no one was to leave the ranks without his order, I +\par had not dared to take the usual precautions, and for the same reason +\par the general commanding the brigade had felt obliged to do the same. +\par This passive obedience was nearly fatal. +\par +\par I was at the head of my regiment}{\deleted ,}{ which, as I have said, was +\par leading the column, when I suddenly heard a great outcry behind me; +\par this arose from an unforeseen attack by a numerous body of Prussian +\par lancers who, emerging unexpectedly from the wood, charged the 24th +\par Chasseurs and the 11th Hussars, whom they took on the flank and threw +\par into the greatest disorder. The enemy charge being on the oblique, +\par had first struck the tail of the column, then the centre}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966710 ,}{ and was now +\par threatening the head. My regiment was about to be hit on the right +\par flank. The situation was critical, for the enemy was advancing +\par rapidly}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966710 ; }{however, confident in the courage and skill of all ranks of +\par my cavalrymen, I ordered them to form line facing right at the full +\par gallop. +\par +\par This movement, so dangerous in the presence of the enemy, was +\par carried out with such speed and accuracy that in the blink of an eye +\par the regiment was in line facing the Prussians}{\deleted ,}{ who, as they}{\deleted ,}{ +\par approached us obliquely, exposed a flank, which our squadrons took +\par advantage of to get among their ranks where they effected great +\par carnage}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966710 .}{ +\par +\par When they saw the success obtained by my regiment, the 24th +\par recovered from the surprise attack}{\deleted ,}{ which had at first disorganised +\par them}{\deleted }{, and}{\deleted ,}{ rallying smartly, they repelled the part of the enemy +\par line which faced them. As for the 11th Hussars, composed entirely of +\par Hollanders}{\deleted ,}{ whom the Emperor had believed he could turn into +\par Frenchmen by a simple decree, their commander found it impossible to +\par lead them into a charge. But we were able to do without the +\par assistance of these useless soldiers, for the 23rd and the 24th were +\par enough to rout the three Prussian regiments which had attacked us. +\par +\par While our Chasseurs were pursuing them, an elderly enemy }{\deleted Colonel}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966709 colonel}{\deleted ,}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966709 }{ +\par who had been unhorsed, recognising my rank by my epaulets, and +\par fearing that he might be killed by one of my men, came to take refuge +\par beside me}{\deleted ,}{ where, in spite of the excitement of the action, no one +\par would dare to strike him while he was under my protection. Although +\par he was on foot, in the clinging mud, he followed for a quarter of an +\par hour the hurried movements of my horse, supporting himself by a hand +\par on my knee and repeating all the time "You are my guardian angel!" I +\par was truly sorry for the old fellow, for although he was dropping with +\par fatigue he was unwilling to leave me, so when I saw one of my men +\par leading a captured horse, I had him lend it to the Prussian }{\deleted Colonel}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966708 colonel}{, +\par whom I sent to the rear in the charge of a trusted Sous-officier. +\par You will see that this enemy officer was not slow in showing his +\par gratitude. +\par +\par The plateau of Jau\'ebr now became the theatre for a desperate +\par struggle. From each of the woods there emerged a horde of Prussians, +\par so that the plain was soon covered by them. My regiment, whose +\par pursuit of their opponents I had been unable to slow down, found +\par itself before long facing a brigade of enemy infantry, whose muskets}{\deleted ,}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966708 }{ +\par put out of action by the rain, could not fire a shot at us. I tried +\par to break the Prussian square}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966708 , }{but our horses, bogged down in the mud +\par to their hocks, could move only at a slow walk, and without the +\par weight of a charge it is almost impossible for cavalry to penetrate +\par the close-packed ranks of infantry}{\deleted ,}{ who, calm and }{\deleted well }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966707 well-}{led, present a +\par hedge of bayonets. We could go close enough to the enemy to speak +\par with them and strike their muskets with the blades of our sabres, but +\par we could never break through their lines, something which we could +\par have done easily if }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966707 General }{S\'e9bastiani had not sent our brigade +\par artillery elsewhere. +\par +\par Our situation and that of the enemy infantry was really rather +\par ridiculous for we were eye to eye without being able to inflict the +\par least harm, our sabres being too short to reach the enemy, whose +\par muskets could not be fired. We remained in this state for a +\par considerable time, until }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966707 General }{Maurin, the commander of a +\par neighbouring brigade, sent the 6th }{\deleted regiment }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966707 Regiment }{of }{\deleted lancers }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966707 Lancers }{to help us. +\par Their long weapons, outreaching the bayonets of the Prussians killed +\par many of them and allowed not only the }{\deleted lancers }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966706 Lancers }{but also the Chasseurs +\par of the 23rd and 24th to get into the enemy square, where they did +\par great carnage. During the fighting, one could hear the sonorous +\par voice of Colonel Perquit shouting in a very pronounced }{\deleted alsatian}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966706 Alsatian}{ +\par accent "Bointez, }{\deleted lanciers}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966706 Lanciers}{! Bointez!" +\par +\par The victory which we had won on this part of the vast battlefield +\par was snatched from us by the unexpected arrival of more than 20,000 of +\par Prussian cavalry}{\deleted ,}{ who, after overwhelming the Roussel d'Urbal +\par division, which had been so unwisely sent}{\deleted ,}{ alone}{\deleted ,}{ more than a league +\par ahead of us, now came to attack us with infinitely greater numbers. +\par +\par The approach of this enormous body of enemy troops was }{\deleted signalised}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966705 signalled}{ +\par by the arrival of }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966705 General }{Exelmans}{\deleted ,}{ who, as I have said, had briefly +\par left his division to go}{\deleted ,}{ almost unaccompanied}{\deleted ,}{ to claim back from +\par }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966705 General }{S\'e9bastiani his battery of artillery, which that }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966705 General }{had +\par so inappropriately despatched to join that of Roussel d'Urbal. +\par Having been unable to find }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966705 General }{S\'e9bastiani, he arrived close to +\par the leading division only to witness the capture of Roussel d'Urbal's +\par guns and also his own, and to find himself involved in the utter rout +\par of his colleague's squadrons. We had a warning of some disaster in +\par the sight of our }{\deleted general}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966705 General}{, his appearance altered by the fact that he +\par had lost his hat and even his belt! We hastened to recall our +\par soldiers, who were busy sabring the enemy infantry which we had just +\par broken into, but while we were engaged in forming them up in good +\par order we were completely overrun by the many Prussian squadrons who +\par were pursuing the debris of d'Urbal's division. +\par +\par Instantly, S\'e9bastiani's cavalry division, consisting}{\deleted ,}{ at the most}{\deleted ,}{ +\par of 5 to 6000 men was confronted by 20,000 enemy horsemen}{\deleted ,}{ who, as +\par well as outnumbering us, had the advantage of being almost all of +\par them Uhlans, that is to say armed with lances, while we had only a +\par few such squadrons! So}{\deleted ,}{ in spite of the stiff resistance which we put +\par up, the groups which we formed were broken up by the Prussians, who +\par drove us steadily back to the edge of the plain and to the verge of +\par the steep descent into the gorge, at the bottom of which ran the +\par river Katzbach. +\par +\par We were met here by two divisions of French infantry, together +\par with which we hoped to make a stand; but the muskets of our men were +\par so wet that they would not fire, and they had no other means of +\par defence but a battery of six guns and their bayonets, with which they +\par momentarily arrested the Prussian cavalry; but the Prussian generals +\par having brought up some twenty cannons, the French guns were instantly +\par disabled and their battalions crushed! Then, cheering loudly, the +\par twenty thousand enemy cavalry advanced on our troops and drove them +\par in confusion towards the Katzbach. +\par +\par This river}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966703 ,}{ which we had crossed in the morning with so much +\par difficulty}{\deleted ,}{ although it was not very deep, had been transformed into +\par a raging torrent by the pouring rain which had continued ceaslessly +\par throughout the whole day. The water, surging between the two banks}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966703 ,}{ +\par covered almost entirely the parapet of the bridge at Chemochowitz and +\par made it impossible to discover if the ford at that point was still +\par passable. However it was by those two points we had crossed in the +\par morning, and it was to them that we went. The ford proved impassable +\par for the infantry and a number were drowned there, but the great +\par majority were saved by the bridge. +\par +\par I gathered together my regiment, as much as was possible, and +\par having been formed into }{\deleted tight }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966702 tight-}{packed }{\deleted half }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966702 half-}{platoons which could give +\par each other mutual support, they entered the water in reasonably good +\par order and gained the other bank with the loss of only two men. All +\par the other cavalry units took the same route, for in spite of the +\par confusion inseparable from such a retreat, the troopers realised that +\par the bridge had to be left for the infantry. I must confess that the +\par descent of the slope was one of the most critical moments in my +\par life... The very steep hillside was slippery under our horses}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966702 '}{ feet, +\par and they stumbled at every pace over numerous outcrops of rock}{\deleted , }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966701 ; }{in +\par addition the constant hail of grape-shot which was hurled from the +\par enemy guns made our position highly precarious. I came out of this +\par without any personal accident, thanks to the courage, determination}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966701 ,}{ +\par and skill of my excellent }{\deleted turkish }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966701 Turkish }{horse, which by walking along the +\par edge of precipices like a cat on a roof, saved my life, not only on +\par this occasion but on several others. I shall mention this admirable +\par creature later. +\par +\par The French infantry and cavalry who had been driven down from the +\par Jau\'ebr plateau}{\deleted ,}{ thought themselves safe from their enemies once they +\par had crossed the river}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966701 , }{but the Prussians had sent a strong column to +\par a bridge upstream of that at Chemochowitz, where they had crossed the +\par Katzbach, so that having arrived on the bank which we had quitted in +\par the morning, we were astonished to be attacked by squadrons of +\par Uhlans. However, in spite of the surprise, several regiments, among +\par which }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966700 Marshal }{Macdonald}{\deleted ,}{ in his report}{\deleted ,}{ mentioned mine, +\par unhesitatingly attacked the enemy...}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966700 }{Nonetheless, I do not know what +\par would have happened without the arrival of the division of }{\deleted general}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966700 General}{ +\par Saint-Germain. He had remained on the left bank of the river in the +\par morning, and having in consequence taken no part in the fighting, +\par found himself in full readiness to come to our aid. This division +\par composed of two regiments of carabiniers, a brigade of Cuirassiers, +\par and with six twelve pounders, fell furiously on the enemy and drove +\par back into the river all those who had crossed with the aim of cutting +\par off our retreat, and as there is nothing so terrible as troops who, +\par having suffered a setback, resume the offensive, the troopers of +\par Exelmanns' and d'Urbal's divisions slaughtered all whom they could +\par reach. +\par +\par This counter-attack did us much good, for it halted the enemy}{\deleted ,}{ +\par who, for that day, did not dare to follow us across the Katzbach. +\par However, the French army suffered an immense disaster, for }{\deleted marshal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966699 Marshal}{ +\par Macdonald having crossed the river by all the bridges and fords which +\par there were between Liegnitz and Goldberg, that is to say on a line of +\par more than five leagues, and now finding nearly all these crossing +\par points cut off by flooding, the French army was extended in a long +\par cordon with the Prussians at their back and facing an almost +\par uncrossable river, and so the frightful scenes which I had witnessed +\par on the Jau\'ebr plateau were reproduced at all points of the field of +\par battle. Everywhere the rain prevented our infantry from firing and +\par aided the attacks of the Prussian cavalry, four times more +\par numerous than ours; everywhere retreat was made highly perilous by +\par the difficulty of crossing the flooded Katzbach. Most of the men who +\par tried to swim across were drowned, Brigadier-general Sibuet being +\par among their number}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966699 ; }{we were able to save only a few pieces of +\par artillery. +\par +\par Chap. 27. +\par +\par After the unhappy affair at the Katzbach, }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966699 Marshal }{Macdonald, in an +\par attempt to re-unite his troops, indicated as rallying points}{\deleted ,}{ the +\par towns of Bunzlau, Lauban}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966698 ,}{ and Gorlitz. A pitch-dark night, rutted +\par roads}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966698 ,}{ and continuous torrential rain made movement slow and very +\par difficult; and many soldiers, particularly those of our allies, went +\par astray or lagged behind. +\par +\par Napoleon's army lost at the battle of the Katzbach 13,000 men +\par killed or drowned, 20,000 prisoners}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966698 ,}{ and 50 cannons. A veritable +\par calamity! Marshal Macdonald, whose faulty tactics had led to this +\par irreparable catastrophe, although he forfeited the confidence of the +\par army, was able to retain his personal esteem by the frankness and +\par loyalty with which he admitted to his mistakes; for the day following +\par the disaster he called together all the generals and colonels, and +\par after engaging us to do all we could to maintain order, he said that +\par every officer and man had done his duty, and there was only one +\par person who was responsible for the loss of the battle, and that was +\par himself; because, in view of the rain, he should not have left a +\par well-broken terrain to go and attack, in a vast open space, an enemy +\par who squadrons greatly outnumbered our own, nor, during a rain-storm, +\par have put a river at his back. This contrite admission disarmed the +\par critics, and everyone buckled to in order to help save the army, +\par which retreated towards the Elbe via Bautzen. +\par +\par Fate now seemed to be against us; for a few days after }{\deleted marshal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966697 Marshal}{ +\par Oudinot had lost the battle of Gross-Beeren, Macdonald that of the +\par Katzbach}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966697 ,}{ and Vandamme that of Kulm, the French forces suffered +\par another major reverse. }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{, who had succeeded Oudinot in +\par command of the troops who were destined to march on Berlin, not +\par having a sufficiently powerful force to accomplish this difficult +\par task, was defeated at Jutterbach (J\'fcterbog) by the turncoat +\par Bernadotte, and compelled to quit the right bank of the Elbe. +\par +\par The Emperor came back to Dresden with his }{\deleted guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966696 Guard}{. The various units +\par under the command of Macdonald took up positions not far from that +\par town, while }{\deleted marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{, having pushed back the Swedes to the right +\par bank, concentrated his troops on the left bank}{\deleted ,}{ at Dassau and +\par Wittemberg. For almost a fortnight, between the end of September and +\par the beginning of October, the French army remained almost motionless +\par around Dresden. My regiment was in bivouac close to Veissig on the +\par heights of Pilnitz, which were occupied by a division of infantry +\par supported by the cavalry of S\'e9bastiani and Exelmans. +\par +\par Although there was no official armistice, the weariness of both +\par sides led to a de facto suspension of hostilities, from which both +\par parties profited to prepare for new and more terrible conflicts. +\par +\par While we were in camp at Pilnitz, I received a letter from the +\par }{\deleted Colonel }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966696 colonel }{of Prussian cavalry}{\deleted ,}{ to whom I had lent a horse}{\deleted ,}{ after he had +\par been captured and injured by the men of my regiment}{\deleted ,}{ at the start of +\par the battle of the Katzbach. This senior officer, named M. de +\par Blankens\'e9e, who had been freed by his own troops when things turned +\par against us, was nonetheless grateful for what I had done, and to +\par prove it he sent me ten Chasseurs and a lieutenant}{\deleted ,}{ belonging to my +\par regiment}{\deleted ,}{ who had been left wounded on the battlefield and taken +\par prisoner. M. de Blankens\'e9e had seen that their wounds were dressed}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966694 ,}{ +\par and after caring for them for a fortnight he had obtained permission +\par to have them led to the French outposts, with a thousand thanks to +\par me, for having, as he assured me, saved his life. I believe he was +\par right, but I was still touched by this expression of thanks from one +\par of the leaders of our opponents. +\par +\par During the time we were in this camp there took place a strange +\par event which was witnessed by all the regiments. A corporal of the +\par 4th Chasseurs, while drunk, had shown disrespect to an officer, and a +\par }{\deleted lancer }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966694 Lancer }{of the 6th whose horse had bitten him and would not let go had +\par struck it in the belly with some scissors which led to its death. +\par Certainly the two men deserved to be punished, but only by proper +\par disciplinary procedures. General Exelmans condemned them both to +\par death on his own authority, and having ordered that the division +\par should mount their horses, he drew them up in a huge square, one side +\par of which was left open, where two graves were dug, to the side of +\par which the two convicted men were led. +\par +\par I had been away all night and returned to the camp in time to see +\par these lugubrious preparations. I had no doubt that the prisoners had +\par been tried and condemned, but I soon learned that this was not the +\par case, and drawing near to a group formed by General Exelmans, the two +\par brigadiers and all the regimental commanders, I heard M. Devence, +\par Colonel of the 4th Chasseurs, and Colonel Perquit of the 6th }{\deleted lancers}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966693 Lancers}{ +\par beg General Exelmans to pardon the two culprits. General Exelmans +\par refused to do so. +\par +\par I have never been able to see an act which I consider unjust}{\deleted ,}{ +\par without expressing my indignation. It was perhaps wrong of me, but I +\par addressed Colonels Devence and Perquit saying that it was an affront +\par to their dignity that men of their regiments should be paraded +\par through the camp as criminals when they had not had a proper trial, +\par and I added}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966693 ,}{ "The Emperor has given no one the power of life or death, +\par and has reserved for himself the right to grant pardon." +\par +\par General Exelmans was sufficiently influenced by the effect produced +\par by my outburst to announce that he would pardon the Chasseur of the +\par 4th, but that the }{\deleted lancer }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966692 Lancer }{would be shot; that is to say he would +\par pardon the soldier who had been disrespectful to his officer, but +\par condemn to execution the one who had killed a horse. +\par +\par In order to carry out this execution each regiment was asked to +\par provide two N.C.O.s.}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966692 ,}{ but as they did not carry muskets, they would +\par have to use those belonging to other soldiers. When this order +\par reached me, I did not reply to my regimental sergeant-major, who took +\par my meaning; so that no one from the 23rd presented himself to take +\par part in the execution. General Exelmans noticed this but said +\par nothing! Eventually a shot rang out, and all those present muttered +\par with indignation! Exelmans ordered that, as was usual, the troops +\par would be marched past the corpse. The march began. My regiment was +\par second in the column and I was in some doubt whether I should make it +\par march past the unlucky victim of Exelmans' severity when a great +\par burst of laughter was heard from the 24th Chasseurs, who were in +\par front of me and had already arrived at the scene of the execution. I +\par sent a warrant officer to find out the cause of this unseemly mirth +\par in the presence of the dead, and I soon discovered that the dead man +\par was in remarkably good health!}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966692 +\par }{ +\par The truth was that all that had happened was a theatrical +\par performance}{\deleted ,}{ staged to scare any soldiers who were tempted to +\par indiscipline; a performance which included shooting a man with +\par blanks; and to keep the operation secret from the rank and file, our +\par chief had formed the firing squad of sous-officiers, to whom he had +\par issued the blank cartridges. However, to complete the illusion it +\par was necessary for the troops to view the body, and Exelmans had told +\par the }{\deleted lancer}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966691 Lancer}{\deleted ,}{ who was to play the part}{\deleted ,}{ to throw himself on his face at +\par the sound of the shots and pretend to be dead, then to leave the army +\par the next night, dressed as a peasant and with a sum of money which he +\par had been given for the purpose; but the soldier who was a +\par sharp-witted Gascon, had understood perfectly well that General +\par Exelmans was exceeding his authority, and had no more right to have +\par him shot without trial than he had to dismiss him from the army +\par without a proper discharge, and so he remained standing when the +\par shots were fired and refused to leave the camp without a pass which +\par would guarantee him from arrest by the gendarmerie. +\par +\par When I learned that it was this discussion between the }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966690 General }{and +\par the dead man which had produced the shouts of laughter from the 24th +\par Chasseurs at the head of the column, I thought it better that my +\par regiment did not take part in this comedy which seemed to me to be as +\par much contrary to discipline as the misdemeanors it was supposed to +\par punish or prevent. I therefore turned my squadrons about, and +\par setting off at the trot I left this unhelpful scene and, returning to +\par the camp, I ordered them to dismount. My example having been +\par followed by all the brigadiers and regimental commanders of the +\par division, Exelmans was left alone with the "dead man", who set off +\par calmly down the road to the bivouac where he tucked into a meal with +\par his comrades, amid much more laughter. +\par +\par During our stay on the plateau of Pilnitz, the enemy, and above all +\par the Russians, received many reinforcements, the main one, led by +\par General Benningsen was of not less than 60,000 men, and was composed +\par of the }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966689 corps }{of Doctoroff and Tolsto\'ef and the reserve of Prince +\par Labanoff. This reserve came from beyond Moscow and included in its +\par ranks a large number of Tartars and Baskirs, armed only with bows and +\par arrows. +\par +\par I have never understood with what aim the Russian government +\par brought from so far and at such great expense these masses of +\par irregular cavalry, who having neither sabres nor lances nor any kind +\par of firearm, were unable to stand up against trained soldiers, and +\par served only to strip the countryside and starve the regular forces, +\par which alone were capable of resisting a European enemy. Our soldiers +\par were not in the least alarmed at the sight of these semi-barbarous +\par Asiatics, whom they nick}{\deleted -}{named cupids, because of their bows and +\par arrows. +\par +\par Nevertheless, these newcomers, who did not yet know the French, +\par had been so indoctrinated}{\deleted up }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966689 }{by their leaders, almost as ignorant as +\par themselves, that they expected to see us take flight at their +\par approach; and so they could not wait to attack us. From the very day +\par of their arrival in sight of our troops they launched themselves in +\par swarms against them, but having been everywhere repulsed by gunfire, +\par the Baskirs left a great number of dead on the ground. +\par +\par These losses}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966688 ,}{ far from calming their frenzy, seemed to excite them +\par still more, for without any order}{\deleted ,}{ and in all directions, they buzzed +\par around us like a swarm of wasps, flying all over the place and being +\par very hard to catch, but when our cavalry did catch them they effected +\par a fearful massacre, our lances and sabres being immensely superior to +\par their bows and arrows. All the same, as the attacks by these +\par barbarians were incessant and the Russians supported them with +\par detachments of Hussars}{\deleted ,}{ to profit from the confusion which the +\par Baskirs could create at various points on the line, the Emperor +\par ordered the generals to be doubly watchful, and to make frequent +\par visits to our advance posts. +\par +\par Now}{\deleted ,}{ both sides were preparing to renew hostilities}{\deleted ,}{ which, as I +\par have already said, had not been suspended by any agreement, but +\par simply }{\deleted De }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966687 de }{facto. All was completely peaceful in my camp, and I had}{\deleted ,}{ +\par as usual taken off my coat and was preparing to shave in the open +\par air}{\deleted , }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966687 }{before a little mirror nailed to a tree, when I was given a slap +\par on the shoulder. As I was in the middle of my regiment, I turned +\par round sharply to see who had used this familiarity with his +\par commanding officer...}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966686 }{I found myself facing the Emperor, who, wishing +\par to examine some neighbouring positions without arousing the enemy, +\par had arrived with only one aide-de-camp. As he was not accompanied by +\par a detachment of his }{\deleted guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966686 Guard}{, he was followed by squadrons chosen in +\par equal numbers from all the regiments in the division, and having, on +\par his orders, taken command of this escort, I spent the entire day at +\par his side, and have nothing but praise for his kindliness. +\par +\par When we were preparing to return to Pilnitz, we saw a horde of +\par Baskirs hurrying towards us, with all the speed of their little +\par }{\deleted tarter }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966686 Tarter }{horses. The Emperor, who had never before seen troops of this +\par sort, stopped on a hillock and asked for the capture of some +\par prisoners. To this end, I ordered two squadrons of my regiment to +\par hide behind a clump of trees, while the remainder continued their +\par march. This }{\deleted well }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966685 well-}{known ruse would not have deceived Cossacks, but it +\par succeeded perfectly with the Baskirs, who have not the slightest +\par notion of tactics. They passed close to the wood}{\deleted ,}{ without sending +\par anyone to inspect it, and were continuing to follow the column when +\par they were unexpectedly attacked by our squadrons}{\deleted ,}{ who, falling on +\par them suddenly, killed a great number and took some thirty prisoners. +\par +\par I had these brought to the Emperor, who, after examining them +\par expressed his surprise at the spectacle of these wretched horsemen +\par who were sent, with no other arms than bows and arrows, to fight +\par European soldiers armed with sabres, lances, guns}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966685 ,}{ and pistols!... +\par These Tarter Baskirs had Chinese features and wore extravagant +\par costumes. When we got back to the camp, my Chasseurs amused +\par themselves by giving wine to the Baskirs}{\deleted ,}{ who}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966684 ,}{ delighted with this +\par novel reception}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966684 ,}{ got drunk and expressed their joy by such +\par extraordinary grimaces and capers that all the watchers, including +\par Napoleon, were in fits of laughter. +\par +\par On the 28th of September, after reviewing our army }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966684 corps}{, the +\par Emperor treated me with quite exceptional benevolence, for although +\par he very rarely gave more than one reward at a time, he created me an +\par officer of the }{\deleted legion }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966684 Legion }{of }{\deleted honour}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966684 Honour}{, a }{\deleted baron}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966684 Baron}{, and awarded me a grant of +\par money!...}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966684 }{He loaded favours on the regiment, saying that it was the +\par only one of S\'e9bastiani's }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966683 corps }{which had maintained good order at the +\par Katzbach, had captured some enemy guns and had driven off the +\par Prussians whenever they met them. +\par +\par The 23rd Chasseurs owed this distinction to the high praise of its +\par conduct received by the Emperor from }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966683 Marshal }{Macdonald}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966683 ,}{\deleted ,}{ who, after +\par the debacle at the Katzbach, had sought refuge in the ranks of my +\par regiment and had taken part in the fierce charges it made to drive +\par the enemies back across the river. +\par +\par After the review, when the troops were on the road to their camp, +\par }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966683 General }{Exelmans came to the front of the regiment and loudly +\par complemented them for the recognition given by the Emperor to their +\par courage. Then, turning to me, he embarked on a veritable, and +\par exaggerated, eulogy of their }{\deleted Colonel}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966683 colonel}{.}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966682 +\par }{ +\par The French army now was concentrated in the area of Leipzig. All the +\par enemy forces also proceeded to the town, around which their great +\par number allowed them to form a huge circle, which contracted every +\par day, and whose aim was obviously to hem in the French troops and cut +\par off all means of retreat. +\par +\par On the 14th of October there was a sharp encounter between the +\par Austro-Russian advance-guard and our own; but after an indecisive +\par result, both sides returned to their previous positions, and the +\par action ended with one of the most ridiculous features of war, a +\par cannonade which went on until nightfall, with no result but the loss +\par of many men's lives. +\par +\par The Emperor, after leaving at Dresden a garrison of 25,000 men}{\deleted ,}{ +\par commanded by }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966682 Marshal }{Saint-Cyr, came to Leipzig, where he arrived on +\par the morning of the 15th. +\par +\par Chap. 28. +\par +\par The exact details of the battle of Leipzig will never be known, +\par partly because of the extent and complexity of the area}{\deleted ,}{ over which +\par fighting continued for several days, and partly because of the +\par immense number of troops of different nations which took part in this +\par memorable encounter. It is principally the documents relating to the +\par French army which are missing, because several commanders of army +\par }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966681 corps }{and divisions, and some members of the general staff, having +\par been killed or left in enemy hands, most of their reports have never +\par been finished, and those which have been, reflect the inevitable +\par haste and disorder surrounding their compilation. At Leipzig I was +\par the }{\deleted Colonel }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966681 colonel }{of a regiment, a part of a division}{\deleted ,}{ whose movements I +\par was bound to follow, so it was not possible for me to know what was +\par happening elsewhere, in the manner which it had been in previous +\par campaigns, when as an aide-de-camp to various marshals, I was able to +\par acquire a general view of operations}{\deleted ,}{ as I carried orders to +\par different parts of the battlefield. I must}{\deleted ,}{ therefore, more than +\par ever, limit my description to what is absolutely necessary for an +\par understanding of the main events of the battle of Leipzig, the +\par outcome of which had such a profound influence on the destinies of +\par the Emperor, of France and of Europe. +\par +\par The iron circle within which the allies were preparing to enclose +\par the French army, had not yet completely surrounded Leipzig, when the +\par King of Wurtemburg, a man of violence}{\deleted ,}{ but honourable, thought it his +\par duty to warn Napoleon that the whole of Germany, incited by the +\par English, was about to rise against him, and that he had barely +\par sufficient time to retire}{\deleted ,}{ with the French troops}{\deleted ,}{ behind the Main, +\par before all of the German Confederation abandoned him to join his +\par enemies. He added that he himself, King of Wurtemburg, could not +\par avoid doing likewise, as he was forced to accede to the demands of +\par his subjects, who clamoured for him to go with the torrent of German +\par public opinion and, bre}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ with Napoleon, range himself with the +\par enemies of France. +\par +\par The Emperor, shaken by this advice from the most able and most +\par faithful of his allies, is said to have considered retiring towards +\par the mountains of Thuringia and Hesse, to get behind the river Saale +\par and there wait for the allies to attack him, where they would be at a +\par disadvantage on the difficult terrain, heavily wooded and full of +\par narrow passes. +\par +\par This plan could have saved Napoleon; but it had to be executed +\par quickly, before the enemy armies were completely united and near +\par enough to attack us during the retreat. However, when it came to +\par deciding to abandon a part of his conquests, the Emperor could not +\par make up his mind}{\deleted , }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966678 ; }{he was most unwilling to have it thought that he +\par considered himself defeated because he sought refuge behind these +\par inaccessible mountains. The over-boldness of this great captain was +\par our undoing; he did not stop to consider that his army, weakened by +\par numerous losses, contained in its ranks many foreigners}{\deleted ,}{ who were +\par waiting only for a favourable opportunity to betray him, and that it +\par was liable to be overwhelmed by superior forces in the great open +\par plains of Leipzig. He would have been wiser to lead it to the +\par mountains of Thuringia and Hesse, which offered good defensive +\par positions, and so nullify some of the numerical advantage of the +\par royal coalition. In addition, the approach of winter and the need to +\par feed their many troops would have soon compelled the enemies to +\par separate, while the French army, its front and its flanks protected +\par by the extreme difficulty of mounting an attack in a country +\par bristling with natural obstacles, would have had behind it the +\par fertile valleys of the Main, the Rhine}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966677 ,}{ and the Necker. +\par +\par Such a position would at least have given us some time and perhaps +\par tired the allies to the point of desiring a peace; but the confidence +\par which Napoleon had in himself and in the valour of his troops +\par overcame these considerations, and he elected to await his enemies on +\par the plains of Leipzig. +\par +\par This fatal decision had hardly been taken, when a second letter +\par from the King of Wurtemburg informed the Emperor that the King of +\par }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{, having suddenly changed sides}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966674 ,}{ had made a pact with the +\par allies, and that the two armies, the Austrian and the }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{n, in +\par cantonment on the banks of the Inn, had joined into a single unit}{\deleted ,}{ +\par under the command of }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966674 General }{de Wr\'e8de}{\deleted ,}{ and were marching to the +\par Rhine; and finally that, to his regret, he was compelled by force to +\par join his army to theirs. In consequence, the Emperor could expect +\par that soon 100,000 men would surround Mainz, and threaten the frontier +\par of France. +\par +\par At this unexpected news, Napoleon thought he should return to the +\par project of retiring behind the Saale and the mountains of Thuringia; +\par but it was too late, for already the main forces of the allies were +\par in contact with the French army, and too close for it to be possible +\par to carry out a retreat without being attacked in the course of this +\par difficult operation. So the Emperor decided to stand and fight!... +\par It was a disastrous decision, for the effective strength of the +\par French troops and their allies amounted to no more than 157,000 men, +\par of whom only 29,000 were cavalry, while Prince Schwartzenberg, the +\par enemy generalissimo, disposed of a force of 350,000, of whom 54,000 +\par were cavalry!... +\par +\par This huge army consisted of Russians, Austrians, Prussians}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966673 ,}{ and +\par Swedes, whom the former French }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966673 Marshal }{Bernadotte was leading against +\par his fellow countrymen and one-time brothers in arms. The total +\par number of those engaged amounted to 507,000 without counting the +\par troops left in fortresses. +\par +\par The town of Leipzig is one of the most commercial and richest in +\par Germany. It stands in the middle of a great plain which extends from +\par the Elbe to the Harz mountains, to Thuringia}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966672 ,}{ and to Bohemia. Its +\par situation has made it almost always the principal theatre for the +\par wars which have bloodied Germany. A little river named the Elster, +\par which is so small and shallow that one could call it a stream}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966672 ,}{ runs +\par from south to north through water-meadows in a slight valley as far +\par as Leipzig. This water-course divides into a great number of +\par branches}{\deleted ,}{ which are a real obstacle to the usual operations of war, +\par and require a multiplicity of bridges for communication between the +\par villages which edge the valley. +\par +\par The Pleisse, another river of the same sort}{\deleted ,}{ but even smaller than +\par the Elster}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966672 ,}{ runs about a league and a half from the latter, which it +\par joins under the walls of Leipzig. +\par +\par To the north of the town is a small stream called the Partha which +\par winds through a narrow valley and has}{\deleted ,}{ at every pace}{\deleted ,}{ fords or little +\par bridges across it. +\par +\par Leipzig, being at the confluence of these three streams and almost +\par surrounded to the north and west by their multiple branches}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966671 ,}{ is the +\par key to the terrain through which they run. The town, which is not +\par very large, was}{\deleted ,}{ at this period}{\deleted ,}{ surrounded by an old wall}{\deleted ,}{ in which +\par were four large gates and three small ones. The road to Lutzen via +\par Lindenau and Markranstadt was the only one by which the French army +\par could communicate freely with its rear. +\par +\par It is in the area of ground between the Pleisse and the Partha +\par that the heaviest fighting took place. There, a noticeable feature is +\par a small isolated hillock called the Kelmberg, known also as the +\par Swedish redoubt, because}{\deleted ,}{ in the thirty years war, Gustavus Adolphus +\par built some fortifications at this spot, which dominates the +\par surrounding countryside. +\par +\par The battle of Leipzig began on the 16th of October 1813 and lasted +\par three days; but the fighting on the 17th was infinitely more savage +\par than that on the 16th and 18th. +\par +\par Without wishing to go into the details of this memorable +\par encounter, I think I should indicate the principal positions occupied +\par by the French army, which will give a general idea of those of the +\par enemy, since each of our army }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966670 corps }{had facing it one and sometimes +\par two of the enemy. +\par +\par King Murat was in control of our right wing, the extremity of +\par which was bounded by the Pleisse near the villages of Connewitz, +\par D\'f6litz}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966669 ,}{ and Mark-Kleeberg which were occupied by Prince Poniatowski +\par and his Poles. Next to him and behind the market-town of Wachau was +\par the }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966669 corps }{of Marshal Victor. Marshal Augereau occupied D\'f6sen. +\par +\par These various }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966669 corps }{of infantry were flanked and supported by +\par several masses of Marshals Kellermann's and Michaud's cavalry. +\par +\par The centre, under the direct command of the Emperor, was at +\par Liebert-Wolkwitz. It was made up of the infantry }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966669 corps }{of General +\par Lauriston and Marshal Macdonald, having with them the cavalry of +\par Latour-Maubourg and S\'e9bastiani. My regiment}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966669 ,}{ which was part of this +\par last general's }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966669 corps}{, was positioned facing the hillock of Kelmberg, +\par or the Swedish redoubt. +\par +\par The left wing, commanded by }{\deleted marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{, comprised the infantry +\par Corps of Marshal Marmont, and of Generals Souham and Reynier, +\par supported by the cavalry of the Duc de Padoue. They occupied Taucha. +\par +\par A body of 15,000 men}{\deleted ,}{ under the command of General Bertrand was +\par sent from Leipzig to guard the crossings of the Elster and the road +\par to Lutzen. +\par +\par At Probstheyda, behind our centre, was the reserve}{\deleted ,}{ commanded by +\par }{\deleted Marshal Oudinot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967336 Marshal Oudinot}{ and consisting of the young and the }{\deleted old guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966653 Old Guard}{, and +\par Nansouty's cavalry. +\par +\par The venerable King of Saxony, who had been unwilling to desert his +\par friend}{\deleted ,}{ the Emperor of France, remained in the town of Leipzig with +\par his guard and several French regiments who were there to maintain +\par order. +\par +\par +\par During the night of 15th-16th, }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966668 Marshal }{Macdonald's troops were +\par moved}{\deleted ,}{ to concentrate in Liebert-Wolkwitz, leaving the area of the +\par Kelmberg: but as there was no wish to abandon this position to the +\par enemy before dawn, I was told to keep it under surveillance until +\par first light. This was an operation of some delicacy, since I had to +\par advance}{\deleted ,}{ with my regiment}{\deleted ,}{ to the foot of the hillock, while the +\par French army retired for half a league in the opposite direction. I +\par ran the risk of being surrounded and perhaps captured with all my men +\par by the enemy advance-guard, whose scouts would not fail to climb to +\par the top of the hillock as soon as the dawn light allowed them to see +\par what was going on in the vast plains below them, which were occupied +\par by the French army. +\par +\par The weather was superb}{\deleted ,}{ and, although it was night, one could see +\par reasonably well by the light of the stars; but as in these +\par circumstances it is much easier to see what is overhead than to see +\par what is below one's feet, I brought my squadrons as close as possible +\par to the hillock so that its shadow would conceal the riders, and after +\par ordering silence and immobility, I awaited events. +\par +\par The event which fortune had in store}{\deleted ,}{ was one which could have +\par changed the future of France and the Emperor and made my name for +\par ever celebrated! +\par +\par Half an hour before first light, three riders, coming from the +\par direction of the enemy, climbed, at walking pace, the hillock of +\par Kelmberg, from where they could not see us, although we could see +\par clearly their silhouettes and hear their conversation. They were +\par spe}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ in French, the one being Russian and the other two +\par Prussians. The first, who seemed to have some authority over his +\par companions, ordered one of them to go and inform their majesties that +\par there were no Frenchmen at this spot, and they could climb up, for in +\par a few minutes it would be possible to see the whole of the plain; but +\par they should do this right away, in case the French sent +\par sharp-shooters to the area. +\par +\par The officer to whom these words were addressed observed that the +\par escort was still a long way off. "What does it matter?" was the +\par reply, "There is no one here but us}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966665 .}{"}{\deleted .}{ At these words my troops and I +\par redoubled our attention, and soon we saw on the top of the hillock +\par some twenty enemy officers, of whom one dismounted. +\par +\par Although on setting up an ambush, I had no expectation of m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ +\par any great capture, I had, however warned my officers that if we saw +\par anyone on the Swedish redoubt, at a signal from me two squadrons +\par would go round it, one to left and one to right, in order to encircle +\par any enemy who had risked coming so close to our army. I had high +\par hopes, when the over-keenness of one of my troopers ruined my plan. +\par This man having accidently dropped his sabre, immediately took his +\par carbine, and fearing that he would be late when I gave the order to +\par attack, he fired into the middle of the group, killing a Prussian +\par }{\deleted Major}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966665 major}{. +\par +\par You may imagine how, in an instant, all the enemy officers, who +\par had no other guard but a few orderlies, seeing themselves on the +\par point of being surrounded, made off at the gallop. We dared not +\par follow them too far for fear of falling ourselves into the hands of +\par the approaching escorts. We did manage to capture two officers, from +\par whom we could get no information}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966664 ; }{but I learned later from my friend, +\par }{\deleted baron }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966664 Baron }{de Stoch, who was a }{\deleted Colonel }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966664 colonel }{in the guard of the }{\deleted grand }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966664 Grand }{\deleted duke }{ +\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966664 Duke }{of +\par Darmstadt, that the Emperor Alexander of Russia and the King of +\par Prussia had been among the group of officers who almost fell into +\par French hands, an event which would have changed the destiny of +\par Europe. However, fate having decided otherwise, there was nothing +\par left for me to do but to withdraw smartly}{\deleted ,}{ with my regiment}{\deleted ,}{ to the +\par French lines. +\par +\par On the 16th of October at eight o'clock in the morning, the allied +\par batteries gave the signal for the attack. A lively cannonade was +\par directed at our lines and the allied army marched towards us from +\par every point. The fighting commenced on our right, where the Poles, +\par driven back by the Prussians, abandoned the village of Mark-Kleeberg. +\par +\par At our centre the Russians and the Austrians attacked Wachau and +\par Liebert-Wolkwitz six times and were repeatedly repulsed with great +\par losses. The Emperor regretting, no doubt}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966663 ,}{ that he had abandoned that +\par morning the Swedish redoubt}{\deleted ,}{ which the enemy had occupied and from +\par where their gunners rained down grape-shot, ordered its recapture, +\par which was promptly carried out by the 22nd }{\deleted light }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966662 Light }{\deleted infantry }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966662 Infantry }{aided by my +\par regiment. +\par +\par Having obtained this first success, the Emperor, not being able to +\par outflank the enemy wings because their superior numbers allowed them +\par to present too long a front, decided to keep them occupied while he +\par attempted to break through their centre. To this end, he sent +\par Marshal Mortier to Wachau with two divisions of infantry, and Marshal +\par Oudinot with the }{\deleted young }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966662 Young }{\deleted guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966662 Guard}{. General Drout, with sixty cannons aided +\par the attack, which was successful. +\par +\par For his part, Marshal Victor overcame and routed the Russian Corps +\par commanded by Prince Eug\'e8ne of Wurtemberg; but after suffering +\par considerable losses, the Prince was able to rally his Corps at Gossa. +\par +\par At this moment General Lauriston and Marshal Macdonald debouched +\par from Liebert-Wolkwitz and the enemy was overthrown. The French then +\par took possession of the wood of Grosspossnau. }{\deleted General Maison}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967290 General Maison}{ was +\par wounded in the }{\deleted taKing }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966661 t}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966661 }{of this important point. +\par +\par It was in vain that the numerous Austrian cavalry commanded by +\par General Klenau and aided by a host of Cossacks tried to restore the +\par situation, they were defeated by }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966656 General }{S\'e9bastian's cavalry }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966656 corps}{. +\par This was a very fierce encounter; my regiment took part; I lost +\par several men and my senior Major was wounded in the chest by a lance, +\par having failed to protect himself by carrying his rolled cape. +\par +\par Prince Schwartzenberg, seeing his line badly shaken, advanced his +\par reserves to support it, which decided the Emperor to order a massive +\par cavalry charge which involved the two }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966656 corps }{of Kellermann and +\par Latour-Maubourg as well as the }{\deleted dragoons }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966656 Dragoons }{of the }{\deleted guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966656 Guard}{. Kellermann +\par overcame a division of Russian Cuirassiers, but taken on the flank by +\par another division he had to fall back to the heights of Wachau}{\deleted ,}{ after +\par t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ several enemy flags. +\par +\par King Murat then advanced the French infantry and the fighting was +\par renewed. The Russian Corps of the Prince of Wurtemberg was once more +\par overwhelmed and lost twenty-six guns. This treatment resulted in the +\par enemy centre yielding and it was about to give way when the }{\deleted emperor}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966655 Emperor}{ +\par of Russia}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966655 ,}{ who had witnessed the disaster, rapidly advanced the +\par numerous cavalry of his guard}{\deleted ,}{ which, encountering the squadrons of +\par Latour-Maubourg in the state of confusion which always follows an +\par all-out charge, repelled them in their turn and took back twenty-four +\par of the guns which they had just captured. It was during this charge +\par that General Latour-Maubourg had his leg carried away by a +\par cannon-ball. +\par +\par So far neither side had secured a marked advantage}{\deleted ,}{ and Napoleon, +\par to achieve a victory, had just launched against the enemy centre the +\par reserve consisting of the infantry and cavalry of the }{\deleted old }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966654 Old }{\deleted guard }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966654 Guard }{and a +\par }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966654 corps }{of fresh troops newly arrived from Leipzig, when a regiment of +\par enemy cavalry which had either deliberately or accidently got behind +\par French lines created some alarm amongst the moving troops, who halted +\par and formed a square so as not to be taken by surprise, and before it +\par was possible to find out the cause of this alert, night had +\par everywhere suspended military operations. +\par +\par There had been other events on our extreme right. For the whole +\par day General Merfeld had tried fruitlessly to secure a passage across +\par the Pleisse, defended by Poniatowski's Corps and his Poles; however, +\par towards the end of the day, he managed to take the village of D\'f6litz, +\par which compromised our right wing; but the infantry Chasseurs of the +\par }{\deleted old }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966654 Old }{\deleted guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966654 Guard}{, having come from the reserve at the Pas de Charge chased +\par the Austrians back across the river and took some hundreds of +\par prisoners, among whom was General Merfeld, who found himself for the +\par third time, in French hands. +\par +\par Although the Poles had allowed the capture of D\'f6litz, the Emperor, +\par to boost their morale, thought he should give the baton of a marshal +\par of France to their leader, Prince Poniatowski, who did not enjoy the +\par honour of bearing it for very long. +\par +\par On the other side of the river Elster, the Austrian General Giulay +\par had taken the village of Lindenau after seven hours of fierce +\par fighting. When the Emperor was told of this serious event, which +\par compromised the way of retreat for the major part of his troops, he +\par ordered an attack by General Bertrand, who re-took the position by a +\par vigourous bayonet charge. +\par +\par On our left, the impatience of Ney nearly led to a major +\par catastrophe. The }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966652 Marshal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966651 ,}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966652 }{who commanded the left wing which had been +\par placed in position by the Emperor, seeing that by ten o'clock in the +\par morning no enemy troops had appeared, sent, on his own authority, one +\par of his army }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966651 corps}{, commanded by General Souham, to Wachau, where +\par there seemed to be an active engagement; but while this +\par ill-considered movement was being carried out, the Prussian }{\deleted marshal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966651 Marshal}{ +\par Bl\'fccher, who had been delayed, arrived with the Silesian army and +\par captured the village of M\'f6ckern. Then Ney, deprived of a part of his +\par force, and having at his disposal only Marmont's division, was +\par compelled to withdraw to the walls of Leipzig and do no more than +\par defend the suburb of Halle. +\par +\par The French lost many men in this engagement, which also had a very +\par disturbing effect on those of our soldiers who were in positions in +\par front of or to one side of Leipzig, for they heard the sound of +\par cannon and small-arms fire coming from behind them. However, at +\par about eight in the evening, the fighting ceased in all parts and the +\par night was peaceful. +\par +\par Chap. 29. +\par +\par This first day led to no decisive victory; but the French had the +\par advantage, since with very much smaller numbers, they had not only +\par held their own against the coalition, but had driven them off some of +\par the ground they had occupied the day before. +\par +\par The troops on both sides were preparing to renew the fighting on +\par the following morning; but contrary to their expectations, the 17th +\par passed without any hostile movement on the part of either side. The +\par coalition was awaiting the arrival of the Russian Polish army, and +\par the troops which were being brought by the Prince Royal of +\par Sweden, Bernadotte, which would greatly increase their strength. +\par +\par For his part, Napoleon, now regretting his rejection of the peace +\par offers which had been made to him two months previously}{\deleted ,}{ during the +\par armistice, hoped to have some result from a peace mission which he +\par had sent the previous evening to the allied sovereigns}{\deleted ,}{ through the +\par Austrian General Comte de Merfeld, who had recently been taken +\par prisoner. +\par +\par Here could be seen a strange sequence of events. It was the Comte +\par de Merfeld who sixteen years previously had come to ask General +\par Bonaparte, then the commander of the army in Italy, for the armistice +\par of L\'e9oben. It was he who had brought back to Vienna the peace treaty +\par concluded between the Austrian government and the directory, +\par represented by General Bonaparte. It was he who had carried to the +\par French emperor, on the night following the Battle of Austerlitz, the +\par proposal for an armistice made by the Austrian Emperor; now, as a +\par remarkable turn of fate had brought General Merfeld once more into +\par the Emperor's presence}{\deleted ,}{ at a moment when he in his turn was in need +\par of an armistice and peace, he had high hopes that this intermediary +\par would return with the result he desired. However things had gone too +\par far for the allied sovereigns to treat with Napoleon, from whom such +\par a plea denoted the weakness of his position. So, although unable to +\par conquer us on the 16th, they hoped to overcome us by a renewed effort +\par with their superior numbers, and relied heavily on the defection of +\par the German units which were still with us, and whose leaders, all +\par members of the secret society, the Tugenbund, took advantage of the +\par lull in hostilities of the 17th to agree on the manner in which they +\par would execute their treacherous designs. The Comte de Merfeld's +\par mission did not even receive a reply. +\par +\par On the morning of the 18th, the coalition began its attack. The +\par 2nd }{\deleted cavalry }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966648 Cavalry }{Corps, of which my regiment was a part, was placed}{\deleted ,}{ as it +\par had been on the 16th, between Liebert-Wolkwitz and the Kelmberg. The +\par fighting}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966648 , }{\deleted }{which broke out everywhere}{\deleted ,}{ was fiercest towards our centre +\par at the village of Probstheyda which was attacked simultaneously by a +\par Russian and a Prussian Corps, who were driven off with tremendous +\par losses. The Russians vigourously attacked Holzhausen, which +\par Macdonald defended successfully. +\par +\par About eleven o'clock, a cannonade was heard from behind Leipzig, +\par in the direction of Lindenau, and we learned that at this point our +\par troops had broken through the ring within which the enemy believed +\par they could contain the French army, and that General Bertrand's }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966647 corps}{ +\par was marching towards Weissenfeld in the direction of the Rhine, +\par without the enemy being able to stop him. The Emperor then ordered to +\par evacuation of the equipment to Lutzen. +\par +\par Meanwhile, the Leipzig plateau}{\deleted ,}{ around Connewitz and L\'f6ssnig}{\deleted ,}{ was +\par the scene of a massive engagement; the earth shook with the noise of +\par a thousand cannon, and the enemy tried to force a passage across the +\par Pleisse. They were driven back, although the Poles managed to ruin +\par some of the bayonet charges made by our infantry. Then the 1st French +\par }{\deleted cavalry }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966647 Cavalry }{Corps, seeing the Austrian and Prussian squadrons going to +\par the aid of their allies, emerged from behind the village of +\par Probstheyda and hurled themselves at the enemy, whom they overwhelmed +\par and drove back to their reserves which were led by Prince Constantine +\par of Russia. Defeated again at this spot the allies built up an +\par immense force in order to capture Probstheyda, but this formidable +\par mass had such a hot reception from some divisions of our infantry and +\par the infantry Chasseurs of the }{\deleted old guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966653 Old Guard}{ that they promptly withdrew. +\par We lost there Generals Vial and Rochambeau. The latter had just been +\par made a }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966646 Marshal }{of France by the Emperor. +\par +\par Bernadotte had not yet attacked the French}{\deleted ,}{ and seemed, it was +\par said, to waver; but at last urged on or even threatened by the +\par Prussian Marshal Bl\'fccher, he decided to cross the Partha above the +\par village of Mockau, at the head of his troops and a Russian }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966645 corps}{ +\par which had been placed under his command. When a brigade of Saxon +\par Hussars and }{\deleted lancers}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966645 Lancers}{\deleted ,}{ which was positioned at this point}{\deleted ,}{ saw +\par approaching the Cossacks who preceded Bernadotte, they marched +\par towards them as if to give battle; but then, turning round suddenly}{\deleted ,}{ +\par and forgetting about their aged King, our ally}{\deleted ,}{ who was in the midst +\par of Napoleon's troops, the infamous Saxons aimed their muskets and +\par cannons at the French! +\par +\par This force}{\deleted ,}{ led by Bernadotte, following the left bank of the +\par Partha, headed for Sellerhausen which was defended by Reynier. +\par Reynier, whose }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966644 corps }{was almost entirely made up of German +\par contingents, having seen the desertion of the Saxon cavalry, +\par distrusted their infantry, which he had placed next to the cavalry of +\par Durette}{\deleted ,}{ in order to restrain them; but }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{, with misplaced +\par confidence, ordered him to deploy the Saxons and send them to assist +\par a French regiment which was defending the village of Paunsdorf. The +\par Saxons had gone only a little distance from the French, when seeing +\par the Prussian ensigns in the fields of Paunsdorf they ran towards them +\par at top speed, led by the shameless General Russel, their commander. +\par Some French officers could not believe such treachery, and thought +\par that the Saxons were going to attack the Prussians; so that General +\par Gressot, Reynier's chief-of-staff rushed towards them to moderate +\par what he thought was an excess of zeal, only to find himself +\par confronted by enemies! This defection of an entire army }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966643 corps}{ +\par produced a frightening gap in the French centre, and had the +\par additional effect of raising the allied morale. The Wurtemberg +\par cavalry promptly followed the example of the Saxons. +\par +\par Not only did Bernadotte welcome the perfidious Saxons into his +\par ranks, but he used their artillery to bolster up his own, which the +\par former }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966643 Marshal }{of France now aimed at Frenchmen. +\par +\par The Saxons had scarcely entered the enemy ranks when they +\par celebrated their treachery by firing at us a hail of projectiles, +\par many of which were directed to my regiment, for I lost some thirty +\par men, among whom was Captain Bertain, an excellent officer}{\deleted ,}{ who had +\par his head taken off by a cannon-ball. +\par +\par So now it was Bernadotte, a man for whom French blood had procured +\par a throne, who was attempting to deliver to us the coup de grace. +\par +\par Amid this general disloyalty, the King of Wurtemberg presented an +\par honourable exception, for as I have said, he had informed Napoleon +\par that circumstances forced him to renounce his friendship; but even +\par after he had taken this final step, he ordered his troops not to +\par attack the French without giving them ten days warning, and although +\par he was now an enemy of France, he dismissed from his army the general +\par and several officers who had handed over their troops to the Russians +\par at the battle of Leipzig, and withdrew all their decorations from the +\par turncoat regiments.}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966642 +\par }{ +\par Probstheyda, however, continued to be the theatre of a most +\par murderous struggle. The }{\deleted old guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966653 Old Guard}{, deployed behind the village, held +\par itself in readiness to hasten to the aid of its defenders. Bulow's +\par Prussian }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966642 corps }{having attempted to push forward, was heavily +\par defeated; but we lost in the action General Delmas, a distinguished +\par soldier and a man of high principles}{\deleted ,}{ who, having been involved with +\par Napoleon since the creation of the Empire, had spent ten years in +\par retirement, but asked to be returned to active service when he saw +\par his country in danger. +\par +\par Facing a terrible cannonade, and continual attacks, the French +\par line remained steadfastly in position. Towards our left, }{\deleted marshal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966641 Marshal}{ +\par Macdonald and General S\'e9bastiani were holding the ground between +\par Probstheyda and St\'f6tteritz, in spite of numerous attacks by Klenau's +\par Austrians and the Russians of Doctoroff, when they were assailed by a +\par charge of more than 20,000 Cossacks and Baskirs, the efforts of the +\par latter being directed mainly at S\'e9bastiani's cavalry. +\par +\par With much shouting, these barbarians rapidly surrounded our +\par squadrons, against which they launched thousands of arrows}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966640 ,}{\deleted ;}{ which did +\par very little damage}{\deleted ,}{ because the Baskirs, being entirely irregulars, +\par do not know how to form up in ranks}{\deleted ,}{ and they go about in a mob}{\deleted ,}{ like +\par a flock of sheep}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966640 , }{with the result that the riders cannot shoot +\par horizontally}{\deleted ,}{ without wounding or killing their comrades who are in +\par front of them, but shoot their arrows into the air to describe an arc +\par which will allow them to descend on the enemy. But as this system +\par does not permit any accurate aim, }{\deleted nine }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966639 nine-}{tenths of the arrows miss +\par their target, and those that do arrive have used up}{\deleted ,}{ in their ascent}{\deleted ,}{ +\par the impulse given to them by the bow, and fall only under their own +\par weight, which is very small}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966639 , }{so that they do not as a rule inflict +\par any serious injuries. In fact, the Baskirs, having no other arms, +\par are undoubtedly the world's least dangerous troops. +\par +\par However, since they attacked us in swarms, and the more one killed +\par of these wasps, the more seemed to arrive, the huge number of arrows +\par which they discharged into the air}{\deleted ,}{ of necessity caused a few +\par dangerous wounds. Thus, one of my finest N.C.O.s. by the name of +\par Meslin}{\deleted ,}{ had his body pierced by an arrow}{\deleted ,}{ which entered his chest and +\par emerged at his back. The brave fellow, t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ two hands, broke the +\par arrow and pulled out the remaining part, but this did not save him, +\par for he died a few moments later. This is the only example which I +\par can remember of death being caused by a Baskir arrow}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966638 , }{but I had +\par several men and horses hit, and was myself wounded by this ridiculous +\par weapon. +\par +\par I had my sabre in my hand, and I was giving orders to an officer, +\par when, on raising my arm to indicate the point to which he was to go, +\par I felt my sabre encounter a strange resistance and was aware of a +\par slight pain in my right thigh, in which was embedded for about an +\par inch, a }{\deleted four }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966637 four-}{foot arrow which in the heat of battle I had not felt. I +\par had it extracted by Dr.}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966637 }{Parot and put in one of the boxes in the +\par regimental ambulance, intending to keep it as a memento; but +\par unfortunately it got lost. +\par +\par You will understand that for such a minor injury I was not going +\par to leave the regiment, particularly at such a critical time... The +\par reinforcements brought by Bernadotte and Bl\'fccher were determinedly +\par attacking the village of Sch\'f6nfeld, not far from where the Partha +\par enters Leipzig. Generals Lagrange and Friederichs}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966637 ,}{ who were defending +\par this important point, repelled seven assaults}{\deleted ,}{ and seven times drove +\par the allies out of houses they had captured. General Friederichs was +\par killed during this action; he was a fine officer who among his other +\par qualities, was the most handsome man in the French army. +\par +\par Nevertheless, it looked as if the allies might take Sch\'f6nfeld}{\deleted ,}{ until +\par }{\deleted marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{ went to the aid of the village, which remained in French +\par hands. }{\deleted Marshal Ney}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967292 Marshal Ney}{ received a blow on his shoulder which forced him +\par to leave the field of battle. +\par +\par By nightfall}{\deleted ,}{ the troops of both sides were, in most parts of the +\par line, in the same positions which they had occupied at the beginning +\par of the battle. In the evening my troopers and those of all the +\par divisions of S\'e9bastiani's cavalry}{\deleted ,}{ tethered their horses to the same +\par pickets which they had used for the three preceding days, and almost +\par all the battalions occupied the same bivouacs. So this battle which +\par our enemies have celebrated as a great success, was in fact +\par indecisive, since being greatly inferior in numbers, having almost +\par all the nations of Europe against us and harbouring a crowd of +\par traitors in our ranks, we had not yielded an inch of ground. The +\par English general, Sir Robert Wilson, who was in Leipzig in the r\'f4le of +\par }{\deleted british }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966635 British }{representative and whose testimony cannot be suspected of +\par partiality, said of this battle: +\par +\par "In spite of the defection of the }{\deleted saxon }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966635 Saxon }{army in the middle of the +\par battle, in spite of the courage and perseverance of the allied +\par troops, it proved impossible to take from the French any of the +\par villages which they regarded as essential to their position. Night +\par ended the fighting, leaving the French, and in particular the +\par defenders of Probstheyda, in the well-earned position of having +\par inspired in their enemies a generous measure of respect..." +\par +\par After sunset, when it was beginning to grow dark, I was ordered to +\par put a stop, at the front of my regiment, to the useless exchange of +\par fire which usually goes on after a serious engagement. There is some +\par difficulty in separating men on both sides}{\deleted ,}{ who have been fighting +\par each other, the more so because, to prevent the enemy from knowing +\par what is going on, and m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ use of it to fall unexpectedly on our +\par advance-posts, one cannot use drums or trumpets to instruct the +\par infantrymen to cease fire and to form up to rejoin their regiments; +\par but a warning is given to platoon commanders, in quiet tones, and +\par they then send sous-officiers to look silently for the small, +\par scattered groups. As the enemy were doing the same, the firing +\par gradually grew less and soon stopped entirely. +\par +\par To make sure that no sentinel was forgotten and that this little +\par withdrawal to bivouac was carried out in good order, it was my custom +\par to have it supervised by an officer. The one who was on duty on this +\par evening was a Captain Joly, a brave and well-trained officer}{\deleted ,}{ but +\par inclined to be obstinate. He had given evidence of this trait some +\par months before the battle}{\deleted ,}{ when}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966633 ,}{ given the job of distributing some +\par officer's remounts which had been presented}{\deleted ,}{ on the Emperor's +\par instructions}{\deleted ,}{ to those who had taken part in the Russian campaign, +\par M. Joly, ignoring my advice and that of his friends, had selected for +\par himself a magnificent light grey, which neither I nor my friends +\par would have because of its striking colour, and which I had at first +\par reserved for the trumpeters. So}{\deleted ,}{ on the evening of the battle of +\par Leipzig, while M. Joly, in carrying out his duty, was riding at a walk +\par behind the lines of infantry, his horse stood out so clearly in spite +\par of the failing light, that it was picked on by the enemy and both +\par horse and rider were seriously wounded. The captain had a musket ball +\par through his body and died during the night in a house in the suburb +\par of Halle, to where, on the previous evening, I had sent Major Pozac. +\par +\par Although the latter's wound was not dangerous, he was grieved to +\par think that the French army would probably leave and he would become a +\par prisoner of the enemy, who would deprive him of the sabre of honour +\par which he had been awarded by the First Consul after the battle of +\par Marengo}{\deleted ,}{ when he was still only a sous-officier; but I calmed his +\par anxieties by t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ charge of the precious sabre}{\deleted ,}{ which, given into +\par the care of one of the regimental surgeons, was handed back to Pozac +\par when he returned to France. +\par +\par Chap. 30. +\par +\par The calm of the night having replaced}{\deleted ,}{ in the fields of Leipzig}{\deleted ,}{ +\par the terrible battles which they had just witnessed, the leaders of +\par both sides could examine their positions. +\par +\par That of the }{\deleted emperor }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966632 Emperor }{Napoleon was the least favourable: if one +\par could blame this great man for not retreating behind the Saale}{\deleted ,}{ eight +\par days before the battle, when he could have still avoided risking the +\par safety of his army, which was threatened by infinitely more numerous +\par forces, there is now even more reason to disapprove of his judgement}{\deleted ,}{ +\par when, at Leipzig, one sees him completely surrounded on the field of +\par battle by his enemies. I use the word "completely" because, on the +\par 18th, at eleven in the morning, Lichtenstein's Austrian }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966631 corps }{seized +\par the village of Kleinzschocher, on the left bank of the Elster, and +\par for a time the route from Leipzig to Weissenfels, the only way of +\par escape for the French, was cut}{\deleted ,}{ and Napoleon's army entirely +\par encircled. +\par +\par It is true that this situation did not last for more than half an +\par hour, but would Napoleon not have been wiser to avoid all the +\par consequences which might have arisen from such an event by t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ +\par shelter behind the mountains of Thuringia and the river Saale before +\par all the enemy forces could combine to surround him? +\par +\par We now come to a very critical situation!... The French had held +\par on to their positions for the three days of the battle, but this +\par success had been achieved only at the expense of much blood, for in +\par killed and wounded we had 40,000 casualties! It is true that the +\par enemy had suffered 60,000}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966631 , }{a figure greatly to their disadvantage, +\par which was attributable to the persistence with which they attacked +\par our entrenched positions. As, however, they had many more men than +\par we did, having lost 40,000 we were proportionately much more weakened +\par than they were. +\par +\par In addition to this, the French artillery had fired}{\deleted ,}{ during the +\par three days}{\deleted ,}{ 220,000 rounds, of which 95,000 were fired on the 18th, +\par and there were no more than 16,000 rounds left in the reserves, that +\par is to say enough to continue in action for only two hours. This +\par shortage of ammunition}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966630 ,}{ which should have been foreseen before we +\par engaged a powerful enemy so far from our frontiers, prevented +\par Napoleon from renewing the battle, which he might possibly have won, +\par and forced him to order a retreat. +\par +\par This was a movement which it was very difficult to carry out, +\par because of the nature of the terrain which we occupied, which was +\par full of water-meadows and streams and traversed by three rivers}{\deleted ,}{ +\par which created many narrow defiles which would have to be negotiated +\par under the eyes and within close range of the enemy, who might easily +\par throw our ranks into disorder during this perilous march. +\par +\par There was only one means of assuring our retreat, and that was the +\par construction of a large number of pathways and footbridges across the +\par meadows, ditches}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966629 ,}{ and small streams, together with larger bridges +\par across the Partha, the Pleisse}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966629 ,}{ and}{\deleted ,}{ principally, over the Elster, +\par which was joined by these various tributaries at the gates and even +\par within the town of Leipzig. Now, nothing could have been easier than +\par the creation of these indispensable means of passage, for the town +\par and suburbs of Leipzig, barely a musket-shot away, offered a ready +\par source of planks and beams, girders}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966629 ,}{ nails}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966629 ,}{ and rope etc. +\par The whole army believed that numerous crossing places had been +\par made since their arrival before Leipzig}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966628 , }{and that these had been +\par increased on the 16th and above all on the 17th, when the whole day +\par had passed without any fighting. Well!... for a number of +\par deplorable reasons and by unbelievable negligence, nothing whatsoever +\par had been done!... and among those official documents which we possess +\par relating to this famous battle, one can find nothing, absolutely +\par nothing, which would show that any measures had been taken to +\par facilitate, in case of a retreat, the movement of the many columns +\par which were in action beyond the obstructions formed by the rivers and +\par the streets of Leipzig and its suburbs. None of the officers who +\par escaped from the disaster, nor any of the authors who have written +\par about it}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966628 ,}{ have been able to show that any of the senior staff of the +\par army took steps to establish new crossing points or to ensure free +\par use of those which existed. Only }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966628 General }{Pelet, who is a great +\par admirer of Napoleon and who, for this reason, is sometimes given to +\par exaggeration, writing fifteen years after the battle, states that +\par M. Odier, the deputy quartermaster of the }{\deleted imperial }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966627 Imperial }{\deleted guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966627 Guard}{, told him +\par several times that he was present when one morning (he does say on +\par what day) the Emperor ordered a general on his staff to look into the +\par construction of bridges and made him specially responsible for the +\par task. General Pelet does not disclose the name of the general to +\par whom the Emperor gave this order, although it would be most important +\par to know it. +\par +\par M. Fain, Napoleon's secretary, says in his memoirs "The Emperor +\par ordered the construction in the neighbouring marshes of new pathways +\par which would ease the passage of this long defile}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966627 .}{"}{\deleted .}{ +\par +\par I do not know how much credit history will give to the accuracy of +\par these assertions; but even supposing them to be true, there are those +\par who think that the head of the French army should have done more than +\par give an order to a general staff officer, who perhaps did not have at +\par his disposal sappers or the necessary material, and that he should +\par have given the responsibility for creating new crossing points to +\par several officers, at least one from every regiment in each army +\par }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966626 corps}{, for it is plain that no one was doing anything. Here now is +\par the truth of the matter, which is known to very few people. +\par +\par The Emperor had for head of his general staff, Marshal Prince +\par Berthier, who had never left him since the Italian campaign of 1796. +\par }{\deleted he }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966626 He }{was capable, precise}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966626 ,}{ and loyal but having often suffered the +\par effects of the imperial temper, he had developed such a fear of +\par Napoleon's outbursts}{\deleted ,}{ that he had decided never to take the +\par initiative on any matter, never to ask any questions, and simply to +\par carry out those orders he received in writing. This system}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966625 ,}{ which +\par maintained good relations between the Major-general and his chief, +\par was harmful to the interests of the army; for no matter how great the +\par Emperor's energy and ability, it was impossible for him to see +\par everything and undertake everything; and so if he overlooked +\par something of importance nothing was done. +\par +\par It seems that this is what happened at Leipzig, where, when almost +\par all the marshals and generals had on several occasions, and +\par particularly on the last two days, pointed out to Berthier how +\par necessary it was to provide adequate ways out, in the event of a +\par retreat, his invariable reply had been "The Emperor has not ordered +\par it." No materials were supplied, and so not a plank nor beam had been +\par placed across a rivulet when, during the night of 18th}{\deleted /}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966624 -}{19th the +\par Emperor ordered a retreat to Weissenfels and the river Saale. +\par +\par The allies had suffered such heavy losses that they felt it +\par impossible to renew the struggle. They did not dare to attack us +\par afresh, and were on the point of retiring themselves when they +\par noticed the heavy equipment of the army heading for Weissenfels via +\par Lindenau, and realised that Napoleon was preparing to retreat. +\par Whereupon they took steps to place themselves in a position to profit +\par from any opportunities which this movement might present to them. +\par +\par The most unhappy moment of a retreat, particularly for a unit +\par commander, is that when he has to leave behind those wounded whom he +\par is compelled to abandon to the mercy of the enemy}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966624 , }{who frequently +\par does not have any, and robs and murders those who are too badly +\par injured to follow their comrades. However, since the worst of all +\par things is to be left lying on the ground, I took advantage of the +\par night to have my men pick up all the wounded from my regiment, whom I +\par put in two adjoining houses, firstly to shield them from the drunken +\par fury of the enemy, who would occupy the suburb, and secondly to allow +\par them to help one another and keep up their spirits. An assistant +\par surgeon, M.}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966623 }{Bordenave, offered to remain with them. I accepted his +\par offer, and after the peace I recommended this estimable doctor, whose +\par care saved the lives of many men, for the award of the Legion of +\par Honour. +\par +\par The troops now began their march away from the battlefield where +\par they had shown so much courage and shed so much blood! The Emperor +\par left his bivouac at eight in the evening and went to the town}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966623 ,}{\deleted ,}{ where +\par he stayed at an inn named the "Prussian Arms"}{\deleted ,}{ in the horse market, +\par and after giving some orders he went to visit the aged King of +\par Saxony, whom he found preparing to follow him. +\par +\par This King, a devoted friend, expected that to punish his +\par unshakable adherence to the French Emperor, the allied sovereigns +\par would seize his kingdom, but what grieved him more was the thought +\par that his army had been dishonoured by deserting to the enemy. +\par Napoleon was unable to comfort the good old man, and it was with +\par difficulty that he persuaded him to remain in Leipzig, in the heart +\par of his state, and send an envoy to the confederates to ask for terms. +\par +\par When this emissary had left, the Emperor said adieu to the old +\par King, the }{\deleted queen }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966622 Queen }{and the }{\deleted princess }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966622 Princess }{their daughter, a model of virtue}{\deleted ,}{ +\par who had followed her father}{\deleted ,}{ even to face the guns of the enemy. The +\par separation was made more unhappy when it was learned that the allies +\par would make no promises about the fate reserved for the Saxon monarch, +\par who would thus be at their mercy. He ruled over some fine provinces, +\par an invitation to his enemies to be implacable. +\par +\par About eight in the evening the retreat began, with the }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966622 corps }{of +\par }{\deleted marshals }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966621 Marshals }{Victor and Augereau, the ambulances, a part of the +\par artillery, the cavalry}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966621 ,}{ and the }{\deleted imperial guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966621 Imperial Guard}{. While these troops +\par filed through the suburb of Lindenau, Marshals Ney, Marmont and +\par General Reynier guarded the suburbs of Halle and Rosenthal. The +\par Corps of Lauriston, Macdonald and Poniatowski entered the town in +\par succession and took up positions at the barriers which pierced the +\par walls, all was thus arranged for a stubborn resistance by the +\par rear-guard to allow the army to retreat in good order. Nevertheless, +\par Napoleon wished to spare Leipzig the horrors which always result from +\par fighting in the streets, and so he permitted the magistrates to +\par address a request to the allied sovereigns asking them to allow, by +\par an armistice of a few hours, the peaceful evacuation of the town. +\par This proposal was rejected and the allies, hoping that the rear-guard +\par might be thrown into a confusion by which they could profit, did not +\par hesitate to expose to the risk of total destruction one of the finest +\par towns in Germany. +\par +\par Several French generals then suggested, indignantly, to Napoleon +\par that he could assure the retreat of his army by massing it in the +\par centre of the town and then setting fire to all the suburbs except +\par that of Lindenau, by which our troops could leave while the fire held +\par up the enemy. +\par +\par In my opinion}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966620 ,}{ the allies' refusal to consent to an arrangement +\par which would allow the retreat to be carried on without fighting, gave +\par us the right to employ all possible means of defence, and fire being +\par the most effective in such a situation, we should have used it; but +\par Napoleon could not bring himself to do so, and this excessive +\par magnanimity cost him his throne, for the fighting which I am about to +\par describe resulted in the loss of almost as many men as the three days +\par of battle in which we had just been involved, and}{\deleted ,}{ worse even than +\par that, it disorganised the army which would otherwise have arrived in +\par France still a potent force. The stiff resistance which}{\deleted ,}{ for three +\par months}{\deleted ,}{ the weak remnants put up against the allies is evidence +\par enough of what we might have done if all the French fighting men who +\par had survived the great battle had crossed the Rhine in good order +\par with their weapons. France would probably have repelled the +\par invaders. +\par +\par That, however is not what happened, for while Napoleon}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966619 ,}{ with what I +\par regard as misplaced generosity, refused to burn an enemy town}{\deleted ,}{ in +\par order to ensure the unopposed retreat of part of his army, the +\par infamous Bernadotte, dissatisfied with the ardour displayed by the +\par allies in destroying his fellow Frenchmen, launched all the troops +\par under his command against the suburb of Taucha, captured it and from +\par there reached the avenues of the town. +\par +\par Encouraged by this example, }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966618 Marshal }{Bl\'fccher and his Prussians, the +\par Austrians}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966618 ,}{ and the Russians did the same and attacked from all sides +\par the tail end of the French, who were retreating towards the bridge at +\par Lindenau. Finally, for good measure, a lively fusillade broke out +\par near this bridge, the only way for our troops to cross the Elster. +\par This fusillade came from the battalions of the Saxon guard}{\deleted ,}{ who had +\par been left in the town with their King, and who, regretting not to +\par have deserted with the other regiments of their army, wanted to show +\par their German patriotism by attacking}{\deleted ,}{ from behind}{\deleted ,}{ the French who +\par were passing the ch\'e2teau where their monarch was in residence!... It +\par was in vain that the venerable prince appeared on the balcony, amidst +\par the firing, crying out "Kill me, you cowards! Kill your King, so that +\par I may not witness your dishonour!" The wretches continued to +\par slaughter the French, while the King, going back to his apartments, +\par took the flag of his }{\deleted guard }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966617 Guard }{and threw it in the fire. +\par +\par A parting stab in the back was given to our troops by a battalion +\par of men from Baden}{\deleted ,}{ who, being notorious cowards, had been left in the +\par town}{\deleted ,}{ during the battle}{\deleted ,}{ to split logs for the fires of the bakery. +\par These worthless Badeners, sheltered by the walls of the big bakery, +\par fired from its windows on our soldiers, of whom they killed a great +\par many. +\par +\par The French fought back bravely from house to house and although +\par the whole of the allied force was massed in the town filling the +\par avenues and main streets}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966616 ,}{ our troops disputed every foot of ground as +\par they retired towards the big bridge across the Elster at Lindenau. +\par +\par The Emperor had difficulty in getting out of the town and reaching +\par the outskirts through which the army was marching. He stopped and +\par dismounted at the last of the smaller bridges, known as the mill +\par bridge and it was then that he ordered the big bridge to be mined. +\par He sent orders to Marshals Ney, Macdonald}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966616 ,}{ and Poniatowski to hold the +\par town for a further twenty-four hours, or at least until nightfall, to +\par allow the artillery park, the equipment}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966616 ,}{ and the rear-guard time to go +\par through the suburb and across the bridges}{\deleted : b}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966615 . B}{ut the Emperor had +\par scarcely remounted his horse and gone a thousand paces down the road +\par towards L\'fctzen when suddenly there was a massive explosion!... +\par +\par The big bridge across the Elster had been blown up! Macdonald, +\par Lauriston, Reynier}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966615 ,}{ and Poniatowski, with their troops}{\deleted ,}{ as well as 200 +\par artillery pieces}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966615 ,}{ were still on the streets of Leipzig and all means +\par of retreat were now cut off. It was a total disaster!... +\par +\par To explain this catastrophe, it was said later that some Prussian +\par and Swedish infantrymen}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966614 ,}{\deleted ,}{ for whom the Badeners had opened the Halle +\par gate}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966614 ,}{\deleted ,}{ had gradually worked their way to the region of the bridge}{\deleted ,}{ +\par where}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966613 ,}{ having joined some of the Saxon guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966613 ,}{ they had occupied some +\par houses from which they started to fire on the French columns. The +\par sapper charged with the responsibility of detonating the mine}{\deleted ,}{ was +\par deceived by this fire into thinking that the enemy had arrived}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966613 ,}{ and +\par that the time had come for him to carry out his mission, and so he +\par put a light to the fuse. Others blamed a colonel of the engineers}{\deleted ,}{ +\par named Montfort, who at the sight of some enemy infantrymen had taken +\par it on himself to order the detonation of the explosives. This last +\par version was adopted by the Emperor}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966613 ,}{ and M. de Monfort was put on a +\par charge and made a scapegoat for the fatal event}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966612 , }{but it later became +\par clear that he had nothing to do with it. However this may be, the +\par army laid the blame once more on the Major-general, Prince Berthier, +\par and it was justly claimed that he should have put the protection of +\par the bridge in the hands of an entire brigade, whose general should +\par have been made personally responsible for giving the order to blow it +\par up, when he thought the moment had come to do so. Prince Berthier +\par defended himself with his usual response "The Emperor had not ordered +\par it!..." +\par +\par After the destruction of the bridge, some of the French whose +\par retreat was thus cut off, jumped into the Elster in the hope of +\par swimming across. Several of them succeeded in doing so, Marshal +\par Macdonald being among them; but the greater number, including among +\par others Prince Poniatowski, were drowned, because after crossing the +\par river they were unable to climb the muddy bank, which was lined by +\par enemy soldiers. +\par +\par Those of our soldiers who were trapped in the town and its suburbs +\par aimed only to sell their lives as dearly as possible. They +\par barricaded themselves behind the houses and fought all day and part +\par of the night, but when their ammunition was exhausted they were +\par forced to retire into their improvised defences where they were +\par nearly all slaughtered! The carnage did not end until two o'clock in +\par the morning!... +\par +\par The number of those massacred in the houses is given as 13,000, +\par while 25,000 were taken prisoner. The enemy collected 250 cannons. +\par +\par After describing in general the events which followed the battle +\par of Leipzig, I shall now describe some of those which related +\par particularly to my regiment and S\'e9bastiani's cavalry }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966611 corps }{to which +\par it belonged. Seeing that we had}{\deleted ,}{ for three consecutive days}{\deleted ,}{ repelled +\par the enemy attacks}{\deleted ,}{ and maintained our positions on the field of +\par battle, the men were greatly surprised and disgusted when, in the +\par evening of the 18th}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966610 ,}{ we learned that}{\deleted ,}{ because of shortage of +\par ammunition}{\deleted ,}{ we were about to retreat. We hoped that at least}{\deleted ,}{(and +\par that appeared to be the Emperor's intention) we would go no further +\par than across the river Saale}{\deleted ,}{ to the proximity of the fortress of +\par Erfurt, where we could renew our stocks of ammunition and recommence +\par hostilities. So we mounted our horses at eight in the evening on the +\par 18th of October, and abandoned the battlefield on which we had fought +\par for three days and where we left the bodies of so many of our gallant +\par comrades. +\par +\par We had hardly left our bivouac}{\deleted ,}{ when we ran into some of the +\par difficulties arising from the failure of the general staff to make +\par any arrangements for the withdrawal of such a large body of troops. +\par At every minute the columns, particularly the artillery and cavalry, +\par were held up by the need to cross wide ditches, bogs}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966609 ,}{ and streams over +\par which it would have been easy to put small bridges! Wheels and horses +\par sank into the mud and, the night being very dark, there was +\par congestion everywhere; our progress was therefore extremely slow, +\par even when we were in the open country, and often completely arrested +\par in the streets of the suburbs and the town. My regiment which was at +\par the front of the column formed by Excelmans' division, which led this +\par wearisome march, did not reach the bridge at Lindenau until four in +\par the morning on the 19th. When we had crossed over, we were far from +\par foreseeing the appalling catastrophe which would occur in a few +\par hours. +\par +\par Day broke}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966608 ; }{the fine, wide road was covered by troops of all arms, +\par which showed that the army would still be of considerable strength on +\par arriving at the Saale. The Emperor passed... but as he galloped +\par along the side of the marching column, he did not hear the cheers +\par which usually greeted his presence!... The army was displeased with +\par the little effort which had been made to secure its retreat since +\par leaving the battlefield. What would the troops have said if they had +\par known of the inadequate arrangements made at the Elster, which they +\par had just crossed, but where so many of their comrades would lose +\par their lives? +\par +\par It was during a halt at Markranstadt, a little town some three +\par leagues from Leipzig, that we heard the explosion of the mine which +\par destroyed the bridge; but instead of being alarmed, we rejoiced, for +\par we all believed that the fuse would not have been lit until after the +\par passage of all our columns, and in order, then, to prevent that of +\par the enemy. +\par +\par +\par During the few hours of rest which we had at Markranstadt, +\par without being aware of the catastrophe which had occurred at the +\par river, I was able to review our squadrons in detail and find out what +\par losses we had suffered during the three days of conflict. I was +\par dismayed! For they came to 149 men, of whom 60 were killed, among +\par whom were two captains, three lieutenant and eleven N.C.O.s. A very +\par large fraction of the 700 men with which the regiment had arrived on +\par the battlefield on the morning of October the 16th. Nearly all the +\par wounded had been hit by cannon-balls or grape-shot which, sadly, gave +\par them little hope of recovery. My losses might have been doubled if I +\par had not, during the battle, taken precautions to shield my regiment +\par from cannon fire, as much as possible. This requires some +\par explanation. +\par +\par There are circumstances where the most humane of generals finds +\par himself in the painful position of having to expose his troops openly +\par to enemy fire; but it often happens that certain commanders deploy +\par their men uselessly in front of enemy batteries, and take no steps to +\par avoid casualties, although sometimes this is very easy, particularly +\par for cavalry, who because of the rapidity of their movements can go +\par swiftly to the point where they are required and take up the desired +\par formation. It is when large masses of cavalry are involved}{\deleted ,}{ on +\par extensive battlefields}{\deleted ,}{ that these measures of preservation are most +\par required, and where, however, they are least employed. +\par +\par At Leipzig, on the 16th of October, S\'e9bastiani, commanding the 2nd +\par }{\deleted cavalry }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966606 Cavalry }{Corps, having placed his three divisions between the villages +\par of Wachau and Liebert-Wolkwitz, and indicated to each divisional +\par general roughly the position he should occupy, Exelman found himself +\par placed on undulating ground}{\deleted ,}{ intersected, as a result, by small +\par ridges and hollows. The Corps formed a line of considerable length. +\par The enemy cavalry, being a long way from us, could not take us by +\par surprise. I took advantage of the hollows in the ground where our +\par brigade was positioned to conceal my regiment which}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966606 ,}{ though formed up +\par and ready for action, saw the greater part of the day pass without +\par losing a single man, for the cannon-balls went over their heads while +\par neighbouring }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966606 corps }{suffered considerable casualties. +\par +\par I was congratulating myself on having done this when General +\par Exelmans, on the pretext that everyone should be equally exposed to +\par danger, ordered me, in spite of the representations of my brigade +\par commander, to take the regiment a hundred paces forward. I obeyed, +\par but in a short time I had a captain, M. Bertin, killed and some twenty +\par men put out of action. I then had recourse to a different tactic: +\par this was to send some troopers, well spaced out, to subject the enemy +\par gunners to carbine fire. The enemy then advanced some infantrymen to +\par counter this, and the two groups being involved in a fire-fight +\par between the lines, the artillery could not use their guns for fear of +\par hitting their own men. It is true that our gunners were in the same +\par boat, but the cessation of gunfire in a minor corner of the +\par battlefield was to our benefit, since the enemy had many more guns +\par than we did. In addition to this, our infantry and that of the enemy +\par being in action at the village of Liebert-Wolkwitz, the cavalry of +\par both sides had to await the outcome of this savage fighting; it +\par served no useful purpose for them to demolish one another by cannon +\par fire, rather than leave the fighting to the infantrymen, who were for +\par the most part only frightening the birds. My example was followed by +\par all the regimental commanders of the other brigades, and the cannons +\par opposite them too ceased fire, sparing the lives of many men. A +\par greater number would have been spared if General Exelmans had not +\par come and ordered the withdrawal of the men on foot, which was the +\par signal for a hail of cannon-balls hurled at our squadrons. +\par Fortunately the day was almost over. +\par +\par It was now the evening of the 16th. All the }{\deleted Colonels }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966604 colonels }{of cavalry +\par belonging to 2nd Corps had found this method of sparing their men so +\par effective that by common accord we all used it in the battle of the +\par 18th. When the enemy started firing their cannons, we sent out our +\par foot-soldiers, and as they would have captured the guns if they were +\par not defended, the enemy had to send infantrymen to defend them, and +\par so the guns were silenced on both sides. The commanders of the enemy +\par cavalry which faced us, having probably realised what we were up to, +\par started doing the same, so that on the third day the guns attached to +\par the cavalry of both parties were much less used. This did not +\par prevent vigourous cavalry engagements, but at least they were +\par directed to the t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ or holding of positions, in which we did not +\par spare ourselves, but the cannonades aimed at stationary targets, +\par which too often replace cavalry to cavalry actions, do nothing but +\par kill good men for no useful purpose. This was something which +\par Exelmans did not grasp, but as he was on the move all the time from +\par one wing to the other, as soon as he had left a regiment the colonel +\par sent out his foot-soldiers and the guns were silent. +\par +\par All the cavalry generals, including S\'e9bastiani, were so much +\par persuaded of the advantages of this method, that eventually Exelmans +\par was ordered not to irritate the enemy gunners by firing our guns at +\par them, when the cavalry was only standing-to, and had neither an +\par attack nor a defence to undertake. Two years later I used the same +\par tactics at Waterloo against the English guns, and I lost far fewer +\par men than I would have done otherwise: but now let us return to +\par Markranstadt. +\par +\par Chap. 31.}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966603 +\par }{ +\par It was while the Emperor and the divisions which had come out of +\par Leipzig were halted at this spot, that we heard the dreadful news of +\par the destruction of the bridge at Lindenau, which deprived the army of +\par almost all its artillery and half of its men, who were taken +\par prisoner; and which delivered some thousands of our wounded comrades +\par to the assaults and knives of the brutish enemy, full of liquor and +\par encouraged to massacre by their unscrupulous officers! There was +\par widespread grief! Each regretted the loss of a relative, a friend, +\par some comrade in arms! The Emperor seemed appalled!...}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094383 }{However, he +\par ordered S\'e9bastiani's cavalry to retrace their steps to the bridge, in +\par order to gather and protect any stragglers who had been able to cross +\par the river at some point, after the explosion. +\par +\par In order to speed this help, my regiment and the 24th}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094383 ,}{ who were the +\par best mounted in the }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094383 corps, }{were told to go ahead of the column and +\par leave at a rapid trot. As General Wathiez was indisposed, and I was +\par the next in seniority, I had to take command of the brigade. +\par +\par When we had reached half way to Leipzig, we heard much gunfire, +\par and as we approached the avenues we could hear the despairing cries +\par of the unfortunate French, who having no means of retreat and no +\par cartridges for their firearms, were unable to defend themselves and +\par were hunted from street to street, and house to house, and, +\par overwhelmed by numbers, were disgracefully butchered by the enemy, +\par mainly the Prussians, the Badeners}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094381 ,}{ and the Saxon guards. +\par +\par It would be impossible for me to express the fury felt then by the +\par two regiments which I commanded. All longed for vengeance}{\deleted ,}{ and +\par regretted that this was denied them, since the Elster, with its +\par broken bridge, separated us from the assassins and their victims. Our +\par anger was increased when we came across about 2000 Frenchmen, most of +\par them without clothes and nearly all wounded, who had escaped death +\par only by jumping into the river and swimming across}{\deleted ,}{ in the face of +\par the shots being fired at them from the opposite bank. Marshal +\par Macdonald was among them; he owed his life to his physical strength +\par and his ability as a swimmer. The }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094380 Marshal }{was completely naked and +\par his horse had been drowned, so I quickly found some clothes for him +\par and lent him the spare horse which always came with me, which allowed +\par him to go immediately to rejoin the Emperor at Markranstadt, and to +\par give him an account of the disaster of which he had been a witness, +\par and in which one of the principal episodes had been the death of +\par Prince Poniatowski, who had perished in the waters of the Elster. +\par +\par The remainder of the French who had managed to cross the river had +\par been obliged to discard their arms in order to swim, and had no means +\par of defence. They ran across the fields to avoid falling into the +\par hands of four or five hundred Prussians, Saxons}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094380 ,}{ and Badeners, who, +\par not satisfied with the blood-bath of the massacres in the town, had +\par made a footbridge of beams and planks across the remaining arches of +\par the bridge, and had come to kill any of our unfortunate soldiers whom +\par they could find on the road to Markranstadt. +\par +\par As soon as I caught sight of this group of assassins, I instructed +\par Colonel Schneit of the 24th to combine with my regiment to form a +\par vast semi-circle round them, and then sounded the charge!... The +\par result was horrifying! The bandits, taken by surprise, put up very +\par little resistance}{\deleted ,}{ and there ensued a massacre, for no quarter was +\par given!... +\par +\par I was so enraged at these wretches, that before the charge started +\par I had promised myself that I would run my sabre through any of them I +\par could catch}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094373 ; }{however}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094373 ,}{ when I found myself in their midst and saw that +\par they were drunk and leaderless except for two Saxon officers who were +\par fear-stricken at our vengeful approach, I realised that this was not +\par a fight but an execution, and that it would not be a good thing for +\par me to take part in it. I feared that I might find pleasure in +\par killing some of these scoundrels, so I put my sabre back in its +\par scabbard and left to our soldiers the business of exterminating these +\par assassins, }{\deleted two }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094373 two-}{thirds of whom were laid dead. +\par +\par The remainder, including two officers and several }{\deleted saxon }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094373 Saxon }{guards, +\par fled towards the debris of the bridge, hoping to recross the +\par footbridge; but as they could cross only one by one and our Chasseurs +\par were hard on their heels, they entered a large nearby inn and began +\par to shoot at my men, helped by some Prussians and Badeners on the +\par opposite bank. +\par +\par As it seemed likely that the noise of firing would attract larger +\par forces to the bank}{\deleted ,}{ from where, without crossing the river}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094372 ,}{ they could +\par destroy my regiment by small-arms and cannon fire, I decided to bring +\par matters to a conclusion, and ordered the majority of the Chasseurs to +\par dismount and t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ their carbines and plenty of ammunition to attack +\par the rear of the inn and set on fire the stables and the hay loft. +\par The assassins, shut in the inn, seeing that they were about to be +\par caught in the flames, tried to make a sortie; but as soon as they +\par appeared in the doorway our Chasseurs shot them with their carbines. +\par +\par It was in vain that they sent one of the }{\deleted saxon }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094372 Saxon }{officers to me}{\deleted ,}{ to +\par intercede; I was pitiless, and refused to treat as soldiers +\par surrendering after an honourable defence, these monsters who had +\par murdered our comrades who were prisoners of war. So the four to five +\par hundred Prussians, Badeners}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094371 ,}{ and Saxons}{\deleted ,}{ who had crossed the +\par footbridge were all killed! I sent this information to }{\deleted general}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094371 General}{ +\par S\'e9bastiani, who halted, midway, the other brigades of the }{\deleted light}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094371 Light}{ +\par }{\deleted cavalry}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094371 Cavalry}{. +\par +\par The fire which we had lit in the forage store of the inn}{\deleted ,}{ soon +\par spread to the neighbouring houses. A major part of the village of +\par Lindenau, which lines both sides of the road, was burned, which would +\par delay the repair of the bridge and the passage of enemy troops, bent +\par on pursuing and harrying the retreating French army. +\par +\par The mission being completed, I led the brigade back to +\par Markranstadt, together with the 2000 Frenc}{\deleted h}{, who had escaped from the +\par calamity at the bridge. Among them were several officers of all +\par ranks; The Emperor questioned them on what they knew about the +\par blowing up of the bridge}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094370 ,}{\deleted ,}{ and about the massacre of the French +\par prisoners of war. It seems likely that this sorry tale made the +\par Emperor regret that he had not taken the advice given him in the +\par morning, to bar the enemy advance by setting fire to the suburbs, and +\par even, if need be, the town of Leipzig itself, most of whose +\par inhabitants had fled during the three day's battle. +\par +\par In the course of this return to the bridge of Lindenau, the +\par brigade which I was commanding suffered only three casualties, one of +\par which was a member of my regiment; but it was one of my finest +\par sous-officiers. He had been awarded the }{\deleted legion }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094370 Legion }{of }{\deleted honour }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094370 Honour }{and was +\par named Foucher. A bullet wound, received at the inn}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094369 ,}{ had gone through +\par both thighs, leaving four holes; but in spite of this serious injury +\par the brave Foucher made the retreat on horseback, refused to enter the +\par hospital at Erfurt, which we passed a few days later and remained +\par with the regiment until we reached France. It is true that his +\par friends and all the men in his platoon took great care of him, but he +\par thoroughly deserved it. +\par +\par As I left Leipzig, I was concerned about the fate of the wounded +\par from my regiment, whom I had left behind, including Major Pozac; but +\par luckily the distant suburb in which I had put them was not visited by +\par the Prussians. +\par +\par You have seen that during the last day of the great battle, an +\par Austrian Corps tried to cut off our retreat by capturing Lindenau, +\par through which passes the main road leading to Weissenfels and Erfurt, +\par and how, on the Emperor's orders, they had been driven off by }{\deleted general}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094368 General}{ +\par Bertrand, who, after re-opening this route, had made his way to +\par Weissenfels, where we rejoined him. +\par +\par After the losses occasioned by the destruction of the bridge at +\par Lindenau, it was impossible to think of stopping what remained of the +\par army at the Saale, so Napoleon crossed the river. +\par +\par A fortnight before the battle, this water-course had offered him +\par an impregnable position, which he had spurned to risk a general +\par engagement in open country, putting behind him three rivers and a +\par large town, which presented obstructions at every step!... The great +\par captain had relied too much on his "star" and on the incapacity of +\par the enemy generals. +\par +\par In the event, they made such serious mistakes that in spite of an +\par immense superiority in numbers, they were not only unable, during a +\par battle lasting three days, to take from us a single one of the +\par villages we were defending, but I have heard the King of Belgium, who +\par was then serving with the Russian army, say to the Duc d'Orleans that +\par on two occasions the allies were in such confusion that the order for +\par a retreat was given: but then the situation changed and it our army +\par which had to submit to the fortune of war. +\par +\par After crossing the Saale, Napoleon thanked and dismissed those +\par officers and soldiers of the Confederation of the Rhine, who either +\par from some sense of honour or from lack of opportunity were still in +\par our ranks. He even carried magnanimity so far as to allow them to +\par retain their arms, although he was entitled to treat them as +\par prisoners of war, since their sovereigns had joined the forces of our +\par enemies. The French army continued its retreat to Erfurt, without +\par anything happening but an encounter at Kosen, where a single French +\par division defeated an Austrian army }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094367 corps}{, and took prisoner its +\par commanding general the }{\deleted comte }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094367 Comte }{de Giulay. +\par +\par Led on always by the hope of a fighting return to Germany, and by +\par the help which he would receive}{\deleted ,}{ in such a case}{\deleted ,}{ from the fortresses +\par which he was now forced to leave behind him, Napoleon put a numerous +\par garrison into Erfurt. He had left in Dresden 25,000 men, under the +\par command of Saint-Cyr; at Hamburg 30,000 under Davout, and many +\par strongholds on the Oder and the Elbe, manned in accordance with their +\par importance}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094366 ; }{these garrisons made up a loss in manpower to add to that +\par due to the forts of Danzig and the Vistula. +\par +\par I shall not repeat what I have already said about the +\par disadvantages of deploying too many of one's troops to man forts +\par which one is forced to leave behind. I shall merely point out that +\par Napoleon left in the forts of Germany 80,000 men, not one of whom +\par returned to France until after the fall of the empire, which they +\par might perhaps have prevented, had they been defending our frontiers. +\par +\par The arsenal at Erfurt was able to make good the loss of our +\par artillery. The Emperor, who up till now had borne his reverses with +\par stoical resignation, was however upset by the departure of his +\par brother-in-law, the King Murat, who, with the excuse that he was +\par going to defend his kingdom of Naples, abandoned Napoleon, to whom he +\par owed everything!... Murat, at one time so brilliant in war, had done +\par nothing much during this campaign of 1813. It is certain that, +\par although he was in our ranks, he was carrying on a correspondence +\par with M. de Metternich, the prime minister of Austria, who, dangling +\par before his eyes the example of Bernadotte, guaranteed, in the name of +\par the allied sovereigns, the protection of his kingdom if he would join +\par Napoleon's enemies. Murat left the French army at Erfurt}{\deleted ,}{ and had +\par scarcely arrived in Naples when he began preparations for war against +\par us. +\par +\par It was also at Erfurt that the Emperor learned of the audacious +\par scheme of the }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{ns, his former allies, who, after deserting his +\par cause, and joining with an Austrian Corps and several groups of +\par Cossacks had set off under the command of }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094365 General }{the }{\deleted comte }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094365 Comte }{de Wr\'e8de, +\par whose ambition it was not only to stop the French army, but to make +\par it captive, along with its Emperor. +\par +\par General de Wr\'e8de marching parallel to us but at two days distance +\par had already reached Wartzbourg with 60,000 men. He detached 10,000 +\par to Frankfort and with the remaining 50,000 he went to the little fort +\par of Hanau}{\deleted ,}{ in order to bar the passage of the French. General de +\par Wr\'e8de, who had fought on our side in Russia, thought that he would +\par find the French army in the deplorable state to which cold and hunger +\par had reduced those retreating from Moscow by the time they reached the +\par Beresina}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094364 , }{but we soon showed him that in spite of our misfortunes, we +\par still had soldiers in good heart, and quite capable of defeating +\par Austro-}{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{ns. +\par +\par General de Wr\'e8de}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094363 ,}{ who did not know that the troops which we had +\par fought at Leipzig, though following, were a long way behind us, had +\par become very bold and believed he could trap us between two fires. It +\par was not possible for him to do so}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094362 ;}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094364 }{though}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094364 ,}{ as several enemy }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094364 corps }{ +were +\par trying to mount an attack on our right}{\deleted ,}{ by going through the +\par mountains of Franconia, while the }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{ns stood in front of us}{\deleted , }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094362 ,}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094363 }{the +\par situation could have become serious. +\par +\par Napoleon rose to the challenge and marched briskly towards Hanau}{\deleted ;}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094361 ,}{ +\par whose approaches are protected by thick forests and notably by the +\par well-known pass of Gelnhausen, through which runs the river Kinzig. +\par This river, whose banks are very steep, runs between two mountains +\par which are separated by a narrow gap which allows the passage of the +\par river, beside which has been made a fine main road, cut into the +\par rock, and running from Fulde to Frankfort-on-main via Hanau. +\par +\par S\'e9bastiani's }{\deleted cavalry }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094361 cavalry }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094360 corps }{which had been the advance-guard from +\par Weissenfels to Fulde, where one enters the mountains, should have +\par been replaced by infantry at this point. I have never understood for +\par what reason this well known principle of warfare was not followed in +\par these grave circumstances; but to our astonishment, Exelmans' cavalry +\par division continued to march in front of the army, led by my regiment +\par and the 24th Chasseurs. I was in command of the brigade. We learned +\par from the peasants that the }{\deleted austro}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094360 Austro}{-}{\deleted bavarian }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094360 n }{army already occupied +\par Hanau, and that a strong division was facing the French, to dispute +\par the passage of the defile. +\par +\par +\par My position, as commander of the advance-guard, was now very +\par difficult; for how could I, without a single infantryman and with +\par cavalry packed between two high mountains and an uncrossable torrent, +\par fight troops on foot}{\deleted ,}{ whose scouts, climbing up the rocks}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094359 ,}{ would shoot +\par us at close range? I sent at once to warn the divisional general, but +\par Exelmans could not be found. However I had been ordered to advance +\par and I could not stop the divisions which were following me, so I +\par continued my march until at a bend in the valley my scouts told me +\par that they were in sight of a detachment of enemy Hussars. +\par +\par T}{\deleted }{he Austro-}{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{ns had made the same mistake as our leaders; for +\par if the latter had sent cavalry to attack a long and narrow pass}{\deleted ,}{ +\par where no more the ten or twelve horsemen could ride abreast, our +\par enemies had sent cavalry to defend a position where a hundred +\par sharpshooters could hold up ten regiments of cavalry! I was highly +\par delighted to see that the enemy had no infantry, and as I knew from +\par experience that when two opposing columns meet at a narrow spot, +\par victory always goes to the one which}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094358 ,}{ hurling itself at the head of +\par the enemy}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094358 ,}{ drives it back into the troops behind it, I launched at the +\par gallop my elite company, of which only the leading platoon could +\par engage the enemy; but they did so with such \'e9lan that the head of the +\par Austrian column was overwhelmed and the rest thrown into such +\par complete confusion that my troopers had only to take aim.}{\deleted +\par +\par }{ +\par We continued the pursuit for more than an hour. The enemy +\par regiment in front of us was that of }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094357 General }{Ott. I had never seen +\par such well turned out Hussars. they had come from Vienna, where they +\par had been fitted with completely new uniforms, Their outfit, although +\par a little theatrical, looked very handsome: the pelisse and dolman in +\par white and the trousers and the shako in lilac; all clean bright and +\par shining. One might have thought they were going to a ball, or to +\par play in a comedy! This brilliant appearance contrasted somewhat with +\par the more modest toilette of our Chasseurs, many of whom were still +\par dressed in the worn clothing in which they had bivouacked for +\par eighteen months, in Russia, Poland}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094357 ,}{ and Germany, and whose +\par distinguishing colours had been dimmed by the smoke of cannon and the +\par dust of battlefields. However, under those threadbare garments were +\par brave hearts and sturdy limbs. So the white pelisses of Ott's +\par Hussars became horribly bloodstained, and this pretty regiment lost}{\deleted ,}{ +\par in killed and wounded more than 200 men}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094356 ,}{ without one of our Chasseurs +\par having the smallest sabre cut, the enemy having always fled without +\par ever turning to fight. Our Chasseurs took a large number of +\par excellent horses and gold-braided pelisses. +\par +\par Up until then}{\deleted ,}{ everything had gone well, but as I galloped after +\par the victors who pursued the vanquished, I was a bit worried about the +\par end of this strange encounter, for the diminishing height of the +\par mountains which bordered the Kinzig indicated that we were nearing +\par the end of the valley, and it was likely that we would find ourselves +\par in a small plain, full of infantry whose volleys and cannon fire +\par would make us pay dearly for our success: but happily there was no +\par such thing, and as we emerged from the pass we saw not a single +\par infantryman, but only some cavalry, part of which comprised the main +\par body of that section of Ott's regiment of Hussars, which we had so +\par roughly manhandled and who in their panic continued their headlong +\par flight, t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ with them some fifteen squadrons, who retired to +\par Hanau. +\par +\par General S\'e9bastiani then deployed his three divisions of cavalry +\par which were soon supported by the infantry of }{\deleted marshals }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094355 Marshals }{Macdonald and +\par Victor, and several batteries. Then the Emperor with part of his +\par guard, appeared and the rest of the French army followed. +\par +\par It was now the evening of the 29th of October; we established our +\par bivouacs in a nearby wood; we were only a league from Hanau and the +\par Austro-}{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{n army. +\par +\par Chap. 32. +\par +\par Here now are the reasons why Exelmans dropped behind when we +\par were going through the pass. Before we entered the valley, the +\par scouts had brought to him two Austrian soldiers who, absent from +\par their unit, were scrounging and drinking in an isolated village. +\par Exelmans was having them questioned in German by one of his aides, +\par when he was surprised to hear them reply in fluent French. One of +\par these men, }{\deleted half }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094355 half-}{drunk, and thinking it would do him good, announced +\par that they were Parisians. As soon as he uttered these words, the +\par general, furious that Frenchmen should take up arms against their +\par fellow countrymen, ordered them to be immediately shot. The poor lad +\par who had boasted of being French was about to be put to death, when +\par his companion, sobered by this fearful spectacle, protested that +\par neither of them had ever set foot in France, but having been born in +\par Vienna to parents who, although they came from Paris, were +\par naturalised Austrians, they were regarded as Austrian subjects and +\par had been forced to join the regiment assigned to them. To prove this +\par he showed his army record which confirmed the fact. Exelmans, +\par yielding to the advice of his aides-de-camp, agreed to spare the +\par innocent man. +\par +\par At this stage, hearing the sound of firing, the }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094355 General }{wished +\par to reach the head of the column which I was commanding; but on his +\par arrival at the mouth of the pass, he found it impossible to get +\par through and take a place in the ranks}{\deleted ,}{ because of the speed with +\par which the two regiments were galloping after the enemy. After trying +\par many times he was so jostled that he fell with his horse into the +\par Kinzig and nearly drowned. +\par +\par The Emperor, who was preparing for battle, took advantage of +\par the night to reduce the amount of wheeled transport by sending all +\par the baggage off to the right, in the direction of Coblentz, escorted +\par by some battalions of infantry and the cavalry of Lefebvre-Denouettes +\par and Milhau. This was a great relief to the army. +\par +\par On the morning of the 30th, the Emperor had at his disposal only +\par the infantry Corps of Macdonald and Victor, amounting to 5000 men, +\par supported by S\'e9bastiani's cavalry division. +\par +\par In the direction from which we were coming, a large forest, through +\par which the road runs, covers the approach to Hanau. The tall trees of +\par this forest allow movement without much difficulty. The town of +\par Hanau is built on the other side of the river Kinzig. +\par +\par General de Wr\'e8de, although not lacking in military skill, had, +\par however, made the serious mistake of placing his army where it had +\par the river at its back, which deprived it of the support which it +\par could have received from the fortifications of Hanau, with which the +\par }{\deleted bavarian }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094353 n }{general could not communicate except by the bridge of +\par Lamboy, which was his only road of retreat. It is true that the +\par position he occupied barred the way to Frankfort and to France, and +\par he felt certain that he could prevent us from forcing a passage. +\par +\par On the 30th of October}{\deleted ,}{ at dawn, the battle began, like a great +\par hunting party. Some grape-shot and some small-arms fire from our +\par infantry, together with a charge in open order by S\'e9bastiani's +\par cavalry, scattered the first line of the enemy, somewhat unskillfully +\par placed at the extreme edge of the wood; but as one penetrated a +\par little further, our squadrons could not operate except in the few +\par clearings which they came across, only the }{\deleted light }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094352 Light }{\deleted infantry }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094352 Infantry }{followed in +\par the steps of the }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{ns, whom they pursued from tree to tree to +\par the end of the forest. At that point they had to stop, faced by an +\par enemy line of forty thousand men, whose front was covered by eighty +\par guns! +\par +\par If the Emperor had had with him all the troops which he brought +\par from Leipzig, a vigorous attack would have made him master of the +\par Lamboy bridge, and General de Wr\'e8de would have paid dearly for his +\par temerity, but Marshals Mortier and Marmont, and General Bertrand, as +\par well as the artillery, were held up by various passes, mainly that of +\par Gelnhausen, and had not yet arrived. Napoleon had no more than ten +\par thousand troops. The enemy should have taken advantage of this to +\par attack us in force, but they did not dare, and this hesitation gave +\par time for the artillery of the }{\deleted imperial guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966621 Imperial Guard}{ to arrive. +\par +\par As soon as General Drouet, their commander, had fifteen pieces in +\par the field, he began firing, and his line grew in size until he had +\par fifty cannons, which he advanced, firing continuously, although he +\par still had very few troops behind him to give support; however it was +\par not possible for the enemy to see through the thick smoke from +\par the guns, that the gunners had little to back them up. Eventually +\par the infantry Chasseurs of the }{\deleted imperial }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094351 Imperial }{\deleted old guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966653 Old Guard}{ appeared, just as a +\par gust of wind blew away the smoke. +\par +\par At the sight of their busbies, the }{\deleted bavarian }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094351 n }{infantry recoiled in +\par fear}{\deleted , }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094351 . }{General de Wr\'e8de}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094351 ,}{ wishing to stop this disorder at all costs, +\par ordered all his cavalry, Austrian}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094351 ,}{ }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{n}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094351 ,}{ and Russian, to charge our +\par artillery, and in an instant our battery was surrounded by a swarm of +\par horsemen!... But at the voice of their commander, }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094350 General }{Drouet, +\par who, sword in hand, set them an example in resistance, the French +\par gunners, t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ their muskets, remained calmly behind their guns, +\par from where they fired point-blank at the enemy. Nevertheless, the +\par great number of the latter would have eventually triumphed, had not, +\par on the Emperor's order, all S\'e9bastiani's cavalry, along with all that +\par of the }{\deleted imperial guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966621 Imperial Guard}{, mounted Grenadiers, }{\deleted dragoons}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094350 Dragoons}{, Chasseurs, +\par }{\deleted mamelukes}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094350 Mamelukes}{, }{\deleted lancers }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094350 Lancers, }{and }{\deleted guards }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094350 Guards }{of }{\deleted honour}{ +\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094350 Honour}{, hurled themselves furiously +\par on the enemy cavalry, killing a great number and dispersing the rest. +\par +\par Then, falling on the }{\deleted bavarian }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094350 n }{infantry squares, they broke them +\par and inflicted tremendous losses, at which stage the }{\deleted bavarian }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094349 n }{army, +\par put to rout, fled to the bridge over the Kinzig and to the town of +\par Hanau. +\par +\par General de Wr\'e8de was a brave man, so, before admitting +\par himself beaten by forces half as numerous as his, he resolved to make +\par another effort, and gathering all the troops remaining to him, he +\par made a surprise attack on us. Suddenly a fusillade broke out and the +\par forest rang once more to the sound of artillery; cannon-balls +\par whistled through the trees, from which great branches fell with a +\par crash...}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094349 }{The eye sought in vain to pierce the depths of the wood; one +\par could hardly see the flash of the guns, which lit, at intervals, the +\par shade cast by the foliage of the huge beeches, beneath whose canopy +\par we fought. +\par +\par Hearing the noise made by this attack, the Emperor sent, from his +\par position, the infantry Grenadiers of his }{\deleted old guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966653 Old Guard}{, led by }{\deleted general}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094349 General}{ +\par Friant who soon overcame this last effort of the enemy, who now +\par hastily left the field of battle to re-group under the protection of +\par the fort of Hanau, which they abandoned during the night, leaving +\par behind a great number of wounded. The French occupied the fort. +\par +\par We were no more than two short leagues from Frankfort, a +\par considerable town, with a stone bridge across the Main. The French +\par army would need to go along the bank of this river to reach Mainz and +\par the frontier of France, which was a day's march from Frankfort; so +\par Napoleon detached S\'e9bastiani's }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094348 corps }{and a division of infantry to go +\par and occupy Frankfort, and to take over and destroy the bridge. The +\par Emperor and the bulk of the army bivouacked in the forest. +\par +\par The main road from Hanau to Frankfort runs along the right bank of +\par the river Maine. General Albert, a friend of mine, who commanded the +\par infantry which accompanied us, had been married, some years +\par previously, at Offenbach, a charming little town}{\deleted ,}{ built on the left +\par bank}{\deleted ,}{ exactly opposite the spot where, after emerging from the woods +\par of Hanau, we rested our horses, on the immense and beautiful plain of +\par Frankfort. +\par +\par Finding himself so close to his wife and their children, +\par General Albert was unable to resist the temptation to have news of them, and to reassure them of his well-being after the dangers he had +\par encountered at the battles of Leipzig and Hanau. To do this he +\par exposed himself to more risk, perhaps, than he had run during either +\par of these sanguinary affairs, for, advancing on horseback and in +\par uniform, to the edge of the river, he hailed, in spite of our +\par warnings, a boatman who knew him; but while he was chatting with this +\par man, a }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{n officer ran up with a picket of infantry, who aiming +\par their weapons, prepared to shoot at the French general}{\deleted , h}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094347 . H}{owever, a +\par large body of citizens and boatmen crowded in front of the soldiers +\par and prevented them from firing, for General Albert was very well +\par liked in Offenbach. +\par +\par As I looked at this town, to where I had come while fighting for +\par my country, I did not dream that one day it would be my refuge from +\par the proscription of a French government, and that I would spend three +\par years there in exile!... +\par +\par After leaving the forest of Hanau}{\deleted ,}{ to go on his way to Frankfort, +\par the Emperor had hardly gone two leagues when he learned that fighting +\par had broken out once more behind him. This was because the }{\deleted bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{n +\par general, who, following his defeat the day before, had expected to be +\par chased, with the Emperor at his heels, had taken reassurance from +\par seeing the French army more concerned to reach the Rhine than to +\par pursue him, and had launched a brisk attack on our rear-guard. +\par However Macdonald, Marmont}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 ,}{ and Bertrand, who with their troops had +\par occupied Hanau during the night, having allowed the }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{ns to +\par attack them on that side of the Kinzig, received them with their +\par bayonets, overwhelmed and massacred them! General de Wr\'e8de was +\par seriously injured, and his son-in-law, Prince d'Oettingen was killed. +\par +\par The command of the enemy army then devolved onto the Austrian +\par General Fresnel, who ordered a retreat, and the French army continued +\par on its way peacefully towards the Rhine. We recrossed the river on +\par the 2nd and 3rd of November 1813, after a campaign which included +\par brilliant victories and disasterous defeats, the main cause of which, +\par as I have said, was the mistake made by Napoleon when, instead of +\par m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ peace in June, following the victories of Lutzen and Bautzen, +\par he quarreled with Austria, which involved the Confederation of the +\par Rhine, that is to say all of Germany, so that he soon had the +\par whole of Europe ranged against him. +\par +\par After we had returned to France, the Emperor spent only six days +\par at Mainz, and then went to Paris, preceded by twenty-six flags taken +\par from our enemies. The army disapproved of this rapid departure on the +\par part of Napoleon. It was accepted that there were important +\par political reasons which called him to Paris, but it was thought that +\par he should have divided his time between his capital and the need to +\par re-organise his army, and that he should have gone from one to the +\par other to encourage the activity of each, for he should have learned +\par by experience that in his absence little or nothing was done. +\par +\par The last cannon shots which I heard in 1813 were fired at the +\par battle of Hanau, where I nearly spent the last day of my life. My +\par regiment carried out five charges, two on infantry squares, one on +\par artillery}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094345 ,}{ and two on }{\deleted bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{n cavalry}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094345 ; }{but the greatest danger I ran +\par was when an ammunition wagon, loaded with mortar bombs, caught fire +\par and exploded close to me. I have told how, on the Emperor's order, +\par all the cavalry were in action at a particularly difficult moment. +\par Now, in these circumstances, it is not good enough for a unit +\par commander to send his troops blindly forward, a thing I have seen +\par done on several occasions, but he must pay the closest attention to +\par the ground over which his squadrons are about to pass, in case he +\par sends them into bogs and marshes. +\par +\par I was therefore, a few paces ahead, followed by my regimental +\par staff and with my trumpeter at my side, who, at a given command}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094344 ,}{ would +\par signal to the various squadrons the obstacles which they would find +\par in their way. Although the trees were widely spaced, the passage +\par through the forest was difficult for the cavalry because the ground +\par was littered with dead and wounded men and horses, arms, cannons and +\par ammunition wagons, abandoned by the }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{ns; and you can understand +\par that in these conditions when one is galloping through shot and shell +\par to reach the enemy one cannot always take much care of oneself, and I +\par relied greatly on the intelligence and suppleness of my excellent and +\par brave Turkish horse, Azolan! The little group which followed me had +\par been much reduced by a blast of grape-shot which had wounded several +\par of my orderlies and I had beside me only the trumpeter, a charming +\par and good young man, when I heard from all along the line, cries of +\par "Look out, Colonel!" And I saw ten paces away a }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{n ammunition +\par wagon which one of our shells had set on fire. +\par +\par A huge tree which had been knocked down by cannon-balls +\par barred my way forward, and to go round it would have taken too long. +\par I shouted to the trumpeter to duck, and crouching on my horse}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094344 '}{s neck, I +\par urged him to jump the tree. Azolan leapt a long way, but not far +\par enough to clear all the leafy branches in which his legs became +\par entangled. The wagon was now in flames and the powder about to +\par catch! I thought I was done for... when my horse, as if he realised +\par our common danger, started bounding four or five feet into the air, +\par getting always further from the wagon, and as soon as he was clear of +\par the branches he galloped off with such speed that he really seemed to +\par be "Ventre \'e0 terre". +\par }{\deleted +\par }{ +\par I was shaken when the explosion occurred, but it seemed I was out +\par of range of the bursting shells for neither I nor my horse were +\par touched. +\par +\par Sadly it was not so for my poor young trumpeter, for when we resumed +\par our march after the explosion we saw his body, mutilated by the shell +\par fragments, and his horse also cut to pieces. +\par +\par My brave Azolan had already saved my life at the Katzbach. I now +\par owed him my life for the second time. I made much of him, and as if +\par to show his pleasure he whinnied at the top of his voice. It is at +\par times like these that one has to believe that some animals are more +\par intelligent than is generally thought. +\par +\par I greatly regretted the death of my trumpeter, who by his courage +\par and his behaviour had made himself liked by all the regiment. He was +\par the son of a teacher at the college in Toulouse, and had had a good +\par education. He delighted in producing Latin quotations, and an hour +\par before his death, the poor lad, having noticed that almost all the +\par trees in the forest of Hanau were beeches, whose branches stretched +\par out to make a sort of roof, had thought it a suitable occasion to +\par declaim one of Virgil's eclogues, beginning: +\par +\par "Tityre, tu patulae recubans sub tegmine fagi..." +\par +\par which greatly amused }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094342 Marshal }{Macdonald who happened to be passing and +\par who exclaimed, "There's a jolly lad whose memory isn't upset by his +\par surroundings; I'll bet it's the first time anyone has recited Virgil +\par to the sound of enemy cannon fire!"}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094342 +\par }{ +\par "Those who live by the sword, perish by the sword" says the +\par scripture, and if this is not applicable to every soldier, it was to +\par a great many under the Empire. For example, M. Guindet, who killed +\par Prince Louis of Prussia in the fighting at Saalefeld, was himself +\par killed at the battle of Hanau. It was no doubt the fear of meeting a +\par similar fate which led the Russian }{\deleted general }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094342 General }{Czernicheff to run away +\par from danger. +\par +\par You may remember that in the first months of 1812, this officer, +\par then a }{\deleted Colonel}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094342 colonel}{, an aide-de-camp and favourite of the }{\deleted emperor}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094342 Emperor}{ +\par Alexander, came to Paris where he abused his position to corrupt two +\par poor employees in the }{\deleted ministry }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094342 Ministry }{of }{\deleted war}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094342 War}{, who were executed for having +\par sold to him situation reports on the French army, and that the +\par }{\deleted russian }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094342 Russian }{Colonel only escaped the penalty of the law by secretly +\par fleeing the country. On his return to Russia, M. de Czernicheff, +\par although he was a courtier rather than a soldier, was given the rank +\par of general officer and the command of a division of 3000 Cossacks, +\par the only Russian troops who appeared at Hanau}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094341 , }{where their leader +\par played a r\'f4le which made him a laughing stock among the Austrians and +\par }{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{ns who were present at this engagement. +\par +\par Czernicheff, as he marched towards us, spoke loudly of victory, +\par believing that he had to face only soldiers who were sick and +\par disorganised; but he changed his tune when he saw himself in the +\par presence of the hardy and vigorous troops returning from Leipzig. +\par General de Wr\'e8de had great difficulty in persuading him to enter the +\par line, and as soon as he heard the fearsome cannonade of our +\par artillery, he and his 3000 Cossacks trotted bravely off the field, to +\par the cat-calls of the Austro-}{\deleted Bavaria}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094346 Bavaria}{n troops, who witnessed this +\par shameful conduct. When General de Wr\'e8de went personally to make some +\par scathing observations, M. de Czernicheff replied that his regiment's +\par horses needed feeding and that he was t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ them for this purpose to +\par nearby villages. This excuse was regarded as so ridiculous that for +\par some time afterwards the walls of German villages were decorated by +\par caricatures of M. de Czernicheff feeding his horses with bunches of +\par laurels gathered in the forest of Hanau. +\par +\par Once across the Rhine, the soldiers who made up the remains of the +\par French army}{\deleted ,}{ expected to see an end to their hardships as soon as +\par they set foot on the soil of their motherland; but they were much +\par mistaken, for the government, and the Emperor himself, had so much +\par counted on success, and had so little foreseen that we might leave +\par Germany, that nothing had been made ready at the frontier to receive +\par and re-organise the troops. So, from the very day of our arrival at +\par Mainz, the men and the horses would have gone short of food if we had +\par not spread them out and lodged them with the inhabitants of nearby +\par villages and hamlets}{\deleted : b}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094336 . B}{ut they, since the first wars of the +\par revolution, had lost the habit of feeding soldiers, and complained +\par vociferously, and it is true that the expense was too great for the +\par communes. +\par +\par As it was necessary to guard, or at least to watch over the +\par immensely long frontier formed by the Rhine from Basle to Holland, we +\par settled, as best we could}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094336 ,}{ the numerous sick and wounded in the +\par hospitals of Mainz. All fit men rejoined the core of their regiments, +\par and the various units of the army, which for the most part consisted +\par only of a small cadre, were spread along the river. My regiment, +\par together with what was left of S\'e9bastiani's cavalry }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094335 corps}{, went down +\par the Rhine by short marches; but}{\deleted ,}{ although the weather was perfect and +\par the countryside charming, we were all deeply unhappy, for one could +\par foresee that France was going to lose possession of this fine land, +\par and that her misfortunes would not stop there. +\par +\par My regiment spent some time in Cleves, next a fortnight in +\par the little town of Urdingen, and then went on to Nimeguen. During +\par this sad journey we were painfully affected by the sight of the +\par inhabitants on the opposite bank, the Germans and the Dutch, tearing +\par down the French flag from their steeples and replacing it with the +\par flags of their former sovereigns. In spite of these gloomy +\par reflections, all the }{\deleted Colonels }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094335 colonels }{tried to re-organise the few troops +\par which remained to them, but what could one do without clothing, +\par equipment or replacement of arms?... +\par +\par The need to provide food for the army}{\deleted ,}{ compelled the Emperor to +\par keep it dispersed, whereas to re-organise it would require the +\par creation of large centres of concentration. We were}{\deleted ,}{ therefore}{\deleted ,}{ in a +\par vicious circle. However, the allies, who should have crossed the +\par Rhine a few days after us, to prevent our re-organisation, felt +\par themselves still so weakened as a result of the hard blows we had +\par delivered during the last campaign, that they needed time to recover. +\par +\par They left us in peace for the months of November and December, the +\par greater part of which I spent on the bank of the Rhine, in the ghost +\par of the army }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094334 corps }{commanded by }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094334 Marshal }{Macdonald. +\par +\par I was eventually ordered, as were the other cavalry }{\deleted Colonels}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094334 colonels}{, to +\par take all my dismounted men to my regimental depot for the task of +\par building up new squadrons. The depot of the 23rd was still at Mons, +\par in Belgium, and that is where I went. It was there that I saw the +\par end of the year 1813, so filled with great events and in which I had +\par had encountered many dangers and undergone so many trials. +\par +\par Before I end my chronicle of the year, }{\deleted think }{I ought to summarise +\par briefly the final events of the campaign of 1813. +\par +\par Chap. 33. +\par +\par The German fortresses in which the retreating French had left +\par garrisons}{\deleted ,}{ were soon surrounded and in some cases besieged. Almost +\par all surrendered. Four only were still holding out at the end of +\par 1813. +\par +\par The first of these was Hamburg, commanded by the intrepid }{\deleted marshal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094333 Marshal}{ +\par Davout, who held on to this important fort until after the abdication +\par of the Emperor, when the French government recalled the garrison to +\par France; the second was Magdeburg, where General Le Marois, an +\par aide-de-camp to the Emperor, also held out until the end of the war; +\par the third was Wittemburg, defended by the elderly General Lapoype, +\par and which was taken by assault on the 12th of the following January; +\par and finally Erfurt, which had to capitulate for lack of food. +\par +\par All the other fortresses beyond the Rhine, which the Emperor had +\par wanted to keep, the most important of which were Dresden, Danzig, +\par Stettin, Zamosk, Torgau and Modlin, were already in the hands of the +\par enemy. +\par +\par The circumstances surrounding the t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ over of the first two of +\par these fortresses do not reflect much honour on the allies. After the +\par battle of Leipzig, Napoleon withdrew}{\deleted ,}{ with the remains of his army, +\par leaving at Dresden a }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094332 corps }{of 25000 men commanded by }{\deleted marshal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094332 Marshal}{ +\par Saint-Cyr, who tried by force of arms to cut a passage through the +\par enemies who blocked his way. He drove them back several times}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094332 ,}{ but +\par eventually}{\deleted ,}{ overcome by stronger forces and short of food}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094332 ,}{ he was +\par compelled to accept the honourable capitulation which was offered to +\par him. This stipulated that the garrison would keep its arms, would +\par not be made prisoners of war and would march back to France in +\par day-long stages. +\par +\par The }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094331 Marshal }{wanted his troops to move as a }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094331 corps }{and to bivouac +\par all together at the same place, which would allow them to defend +\par themselves in case of treachery; but the enemy generals pointed out +\par that owing to the exhaustion of the countryside, it would be +\par impossible to provide at any one place twenty-five thousand rations, +\par and the French marshal had to accept this. He then agreed that his +\par force should be divided into several small columns of 2 or 3000 men +\par who would travel one or even two days apart. +\par }{\deleted +\par }{ +\par For the first few days all went well, but as soon as the last +\par French column had left Dresden, having handed over the fort and the +\par munitions of war, the foreign generals announced that they did not +\par have the authority to sign the capitulation without the agreement of +\par their generalissimo, Prince Schwartzenberg, and as he did not +\par approve, the agreement was null and void. They offered to allow our +\par troops to return to Dresden in exactly the same state as they had +\par been previously, that is to say with only enough food for a few days, +\par a shortage which they had concealed from the enemy for as long as +\par they occupied the place, and which, as it was now known to them, made +\par the offer worthless. +\par +\par Our troops were indignant at this odious lack of good faith, but +\par what action could be taken by isolated detachments of 2 or 3000 men, +\par whom the enemy had taken the precaution of surrounding by battalions +\par of their own, before they could hear of the breakdown of the +\par capitulation? Any resistance was impossible and our men were forced +\par to lay down their arms. +\par +\par To the treachery practised on the field of battle, was now added +\par that of the brea}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 k}{\deleted K}{ing of agreements of capitulation. This did not +\par prevent the Germans from celebrating a victory, for they regarded any +\par measures, however despicable, as justified in order to defeat +\par Napoleon. This new morality was put into operation at Danzig. +\par +\par General Rapp had defended this place for a long time}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094329 ,}{ but having +\par run out of food}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094329 ,}{ he was compelled to surrender on condition that the +\par garrison would be allowed to return to France. However, in spite of +\par a treaty signed by the Prince of Wurtemberg, the commander of the +\par army which conducted the siege, the conditions were violated and the +\par garrison of 16000 men were sent as prisoners to Russia where most of +\par them died. +\par +\par One of the most remarkable stories of this siege concerns a +\par Captain de Chambure, who asked for and obtained permission to form an +\par independent company, chosen from hand-picked volunteers. They +\par engaged on the most daring ventures, going out at night and +\par surprising enemy posts, getting into their entrenchments, into their +\par camps, destroying their siege-works under the nose of their +\par batteries, spiking their guns and going far into the country to +\par capture or pillage their convoys. Chambure, having gone out one night +\par with his men, surprised a Russian cantonment, set fire to an +\par ammunition dump, destroyed several stores and killed or wounded one +\par hundred and fifty men, for the loss of three of his own; and returned +\par to the fort in triumph. +\par +\par Now, however, let us return to examine the position of the French +\par armies in December 1813. +\par +\par Spain, the principal cause of all the catastrophes which marked +\par the end of Napoleon's reign, had been stripped, in the course of the +\par year, of all its best troops, which the Emperor had sent to reinforce +\par the army in Germany. However, the effective strength of those who +\par remained in the Iberian peninsula amounted to more than 100,000 men. +\par A number which, although inadequate, would have contained the enemy +\par if Napoleon had left the command to }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094328 Marshal }{Soult}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094327 . B}{\deleted b}{ut as he most +\par earnestly wished to make of his brother Joseph a general who could +\par defend the kingdom which he had given him, it was to this prince, an +\par estimable man, but no soldier, that the Emperor entrusted the command +\par of the armies of Spain. He gave him, it is true, as chief of staff +\par and military advisor, }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094327 Marshal }{Jourdan; but the }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094327 Marshal }{was +\par prematurely aged and had not been involved in active warfare since +\par the first campaigns of the revolution}{\deleted , }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094327 ; }{he was so worn out, both +\par mentally and physically, that he inspired no confidence in the +\par troops. So, in spite of the talents displayed by the generals who +\par served under the orders of King Joseph, the }{\deleted anglo}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094327 Anglo}{-}{\deleted portuguese }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094327 Portuguese }{army +\par commanded by }{\deleted lord }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094327 Lord }{Wellington and helped by }{\deleted spanish }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094326 Spanish }{guerrillas, caused +\par us irreparable losses. +\par +\par The French, under pressure at every point, had already been +\par compelled to abandon Madrid, the two Castiles, and to recross the +\par Ebro, to concentrate their main forces round the town of Vittoria. +\par Attacked in this position by three times their number, they lost a +\par battle; a loss which was made all the more disastrous by the fact +\par that King Joseph and Marshal Jourdan had made no arrangements for the +\par carrying out of a retreat, so that it became chaotic. The }{\deleted king's}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094326 King's}{ +\par suite, the artillery parks, the many coaches of a crowd of Spaniards, +\par who having taken sides with Joseph, sought to escape the vengence of +\par their compatriots, the wagons of the treasury, of the military +\par administration, etc., etc., all found themselves piled up in +\par confusion, so that the roads were obstructed and the regiments had +\par great difficulty in moving. However they did not lose their +\par formation, and in spite of vigorous attacks by the enemy, the greater +\par part of the army managed to reach Salvatierra and the road to +\par Pamplona, by which the retreat was made. +\par +\par The battle of Vittoria demonstrated the talent and courage of +\par General Clausel, who rallied the army and gave it some direction. It +\par was, however, an unhappy day}{\deleted , }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094326 . }{The French lost 6000 men killed, +\par wounded or taken prisoner, and left in the hands of the enemy a large +\par part of their artillery and almost all their baggage. +\par +\par Despite this set-back, the troops, whose morale was excellent, could +\par have remained in Navarre, with the aid of the fortress of Pamplona +\par and the Pyrenees mountains, but King Joseph ordered the continuation +\par of the retreat and the crossing of the Bidassoa, where our +\par rear-guard, commanded by General Foy, was ordered to blow up the +\par bridge. So, from the end of June, we abandoned that part of the +\par Spanish frontier; nevertheless, }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094325 Marshal }{Suchet still held out in +\par Aragon (The region of Zaragossa. Ed.)}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094325 ,}{ and Catalonia, and in the +\par kingdom of Valencia; but the results of the battle of Vittoria had so +\par much weakened us}{\deleted ,}{ that when Wellington sent reinforcements to central +\par Spain}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094325 ,}{ Suchet found it necessary to leave the town and the kingdom. +\par +\par These events were t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ place at a time when Napoleon was still +\par triumphant in Germany. As soon as he was told of the state of +\par affairs across the Pyrenees, he hastily revoked the powers which he +\par had given to King Joseph and Marshal Jourden, and appointed }{\deleted marshal}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094325 Marshal}{ +\par Soult commander of all the armies in Spain. +\par +\par Soult, after re-organising the divisions, made a great effort to +\par help the French garrison left in Pamplona, but in vain; they were +\par forced to capitulate and }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094324 Marshal }{Soult had to take his troops back +\par across the Bidassoa. The fortress of San-Sebastian, governed by +\par General Rey, held out for a long time; but was eventually taken by +\par assault by the Anglo-Portuguese, who, ignoring the laws of humanity, +\par robbed, raped and massacred the unfortunate inhabitants of this +\par Spanish town, although they were their allies! The English officers +\par made no attempt to stop these atrocities, which went on for three +\par days, to the shame of Wellington, his generals}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094324 ,}{ and the English. +\par +\par Marshal Soult defended the Pyrenees foot by foot, and beat +\par Wellington on several occasions; but the greater numbers at the +\par latter's disposal allowed him unceasingly to take the offensive, so +\par that he was able eventually to cross our frontier and set up his +\par headquarters in Saint-Jean de Luz, the first town in France, which +\par had never previously been lost, even during the defeats suffered by +\par Francis I, or the disastrous wars of the end of the reign of Louis +\par XIV. +\par +\par It was evident that after the defection of the German troops at +\par Leipzig, Marshal Soult could not hope to keep in the army of the +\par Pyrenees several thousand soldiers from across the Rhine. They all +\par went over to the enemy in a single night, thus augmenting +\par Wellington's strength. +\par +\par However, Marshal Soult, after concentrating several divisions +\par below the ramparts of Bayonne, once more attacked the +\par Anglo-Portuguese. On the 9th of December, at Saint-Pierre de Rube, +\par there was a battle which lasted for five days, and was one of the +\par bloodiest of the war, for it cost the enemy 16,000 lives and the +\par French 10,000, but we were able to remain in position around Bayonne. +\par +\par Before these events in the Pyrenees, }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094323 Marshal }{Suchet, having +\par learned of the reverses suffered by Napoleon in Germany, realised +\par that it would be impossible for him to remain in the middle of Spain, +\par and prepared to return to France. To do this he withdrew to +\par Tarragon, where after t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ the garrison into his army he blew up +\par the ramparts. The retreat, although harried by the Spanish, was +\par carried out in good order, and by the end of December 1813, Suchet +\par and the troops under his command were established in Gerona. +\par +\par To complete this examination of the position of the French armies +\par at the end of 1813, one needs to recall that in the spring of that +\par year, the Emperor, who distrusted Austria, had built up in the Tyrol +\par and in his kingdom of Italy, a large army, the command of which he +\par had given to his step-son Eug\'e8ne de Beauharnais, the viceroy of the +\par country. This prince was a good man, very gentle and greatly devoted +\par to the Emperor, but although much more of a soldier than King Joseph +\par of Spain, he lacked many of the qualities required to lead an army. +\par The Emperor's affection for Eug\'e8ne led him astray in this matter. +\par +\par It was on the 24th of August, the day when the armistice between +\par Napoleon and the allies was due to expire, that the Austrians +\par abandoned their neutrality and declared themselves our enemies. The +\par Italian troops continued to serve with us, but the Dalmatians +\par (Croats) left us to join the Austrians. Prince Eug\'e8ne had under his +\par command a number of excellent lieutenants, but the fighting was never +\par very strenuous because the commanders on both sides realised that the +\par events in Germany would determine the outcome of the campaign. There +\par were however, a number of actions, with various results. In the end +\par the larger forces of the Austrians, who were shortly joined by an +\par English contingent which disembarked in Tuscany forced the viceroy to +\par lead the Franco-Italian army beyond the Adige. +\par +\par In November}{\deleted ,}{ came news of the defection of Murat, the King of +\par Naples. The Emperor, to whom he owed everything, could not at first +\par believe it. It was, however, only too true. Murat had joined forces +\par with the Austrians, against whom he had fought for so long, and his +\par troops already occupied Bologna. Such is the volatility of the +\par Italians that everywhere they welcomed with acclamation the +\par Austro-Neapolitans, whom they had previously detested}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094322 , }{and whom they +\par would soon hate even more. By December, the vice-roi's army of only +\par 43,000 men, occupied Verona and its surroundings. +\par +\par The Emperor, seeing the whole of Europe combined against him, +\par could not fail to realise that the first condition which a peace +\par would demand of him would be the re-installment of the Bourbons on +\par the throne of Spain. He decided therefore to do of his own volition +\par what he would be forced to do later: he set free King Ferdinand, who +\par had been detained at Valancay, and ordered Suchet's army to retire +\par behind the Pyrenees.}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094322 +\par }{ +\par Thus, at the end of 1813, we had lost all of Germany, all of +\par Spain, the greater part of Italy, and Wellington's army}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094321 ,}{ which had +\par crossed the Bidassoa and the western Pyrenees, was encamped on French +\par soil and threatening Bayonne, Navarre}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094321 ,}{ and Bordeaux. +\par +\par Chap. 34. +\par +\par I began the year 1814 at Mons. Where I did not undergo such +\par physical dangers as I had done in previous years, but where I +\par suffered much more mentally. +\par +\par As I had left, at Nimeguen, all the troopers of my regiment who +\par still had horses, I had none at Mons, where the depot was situated, +\par except dismounted men, for whom I was trying to get horses from the +\par Ardennes, when events prevented this. +\par +\par On the 1st of January, the enemies, after hesitating for three +\par months before invading France, crossed the Rhine at several points, +\par the two most important of these being firstly at Kaub, a market town +\par situated between Bingen and Coblentz, where a rocky gorge greatly +\par reduces the width of the river, and then at Basle where the Swiss +\par handed over the stone bridge, in violation of their neutrality, a +\par neutrality which they maintain or abandon}{\deleted ,}{ according to their +\par interests. +\par +\par It is estimated that some five to six hundred thousand allied +\par soldiers entered a France exhausted by twenty-five years of war, half +\par of whose troops were prisoners in foreign lands, and many of whose +\par provinces were ready to defect on the first suitable occasion}{\deleted :}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094320 ,}{ +\par amongst which was that containing the department of Jemmapes, of +\par which Mons was the principal town. +\par +\par This huge area of rich country which had been annexed to France, +\par firstly "de facto" by the war of 1792, and then by right after the +\par treaty of Amiens, had been so accustomed to this union that after the +\par disasters of the Russian campaign, it had shown great enthusiasm and +\par made considerable sacrifices to help the Emperor to put his troops +\par back on a sound footing. Men, horses, equipment, clothing... it had +\par complied with all demands without a murmur! But the losses we had +\par suffered in Germany had discouraged the Belgians, and I found the +\par attitude of the populace had completely changed. They loudly +\par regretted the paternal government of the house of Austria, under +\par which they had lived for so long, and were most anxious to separate +\par themselves from France, whose continual wars were ruining their trade +\par and industry. In a word, Belgium awaited only a favourable moment to +\par revolt, an event which would be the more serious for us because, by +\par its geographical situation, the province was in the rear of the +\par weakened army }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094318 corps }{which we still had on the Rhine. The Emperor +\par sent some troops to Brussels, whom he placed under the command of +\par }{\deleted general Maison}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967290 General Maison}{s, a capable and very determined man. Maisons, having, visited several departments, recognised that}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094318 }{\deleted +\par }{Jemmapes, and particularly the town of Mons, was the most}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094318 }{\deleted +\par }{disaffected. There was there, open discussion of the possibility of}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094318 }{\deleted +\par }{t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ up arms against the weak French garrison, something which its}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094318 }{\deleted +\par }{commander general "O"... could not have prevented, for the old}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094318 }{\deleted +\par }{general, stricken by gout, and lacking in energy, who had been born}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094318 }{\deleted +\par }{in Belgium, seemed afraid to earn the dislike of his compatriots. }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094318 }{\deleted +\par General Maison}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505967290 General Maison}{s suspended him from duty and gave me the command of}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094318 }{\deleted +\par }{the department of Jemmapes. +\par +\par My job was made more difficult because, after the inhabitants of +\par Li\'e9ge, those who live in Borinage are the boldest and most turbulent +\par in all Belgium, and to control them I had only a small unit of 400 +\par conscripts, a few gendarmes and 200 unmounted cavalrymen from my +\par regiment, among whom there were some fifty men who were born in the +\par area and who, in case of trouble, would join the insurgents. I could +\par rely entirely only on the other 150 Chasseurs, who born in France, +\par and having been in action with me, would have followed me anywhere. +\par +\par There were some good officers; those in the infantry, and +\par in particular the battalion commander, were very willing to back me +\par up. +\par +\par I could not, however, disguise the fact that if it came to blows, +\par the two sides were not equally matched. From the hotel where I stayed +\par I saw}{\deleted ,}{ every day}{\deleted ,}{ 3 or 4,000 peasants and workmen from the town, +\par armed with big sticks who gathered in the main square to listen to +\par speeches from former Austrian officers, all of them wealthy nobles, +\par who had quitted the service on the union of Belgium with France, and +\par now spoke out against the Empire}{\deleted ,}{ which had loaded them with taxes, +\par taken their children to send them to the wars, etc.,etc. These +\par speeches were listened to with all the more attention, in that they +\par were delivered by great landed proprietors, and addressed to their +\par tenants and employees, over whom they wielded much influence. +\par +\par Add to this that each day brought news of the advance of our +\par enemies, who were approaching Brussels, driving before them the +\par debris of }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094316 Marshal }{Macdonald's Corps. All the French employees left +\par the department to take refuge in Valenciennes and Cambrai. Finally +\par the mayor of Mons, M. Duval of Beaulieu, an honourable man, thought it +\par his duty to warn me that neither my feeble garrison nor myself were +\par safe in the midst of an excited and numerous population, and that I +\par would be wise to leave the town, a move which would not be opposed +\par since my regiment and I had always lived at peace with the +\par inhabitants. +\par +\par I was aware that this proposition came from a committee composed +\par of former Austrian officers, which had instructed the mayor to put it +\par to me, in the hope that I would be intimidated. I resolved then to +\par show my teeth, I said to M. Duval that I would be most grateful if he +\par would summon the town council and the leading citizens, and that I +\par would then give my reply to the proposals which he had brought me. +\par +\par Half an hour later, all the garrison were armed, and when the +\par municipal council accompanied by the wealthiest citizens had +\par assembled in the square, I mounted on horseback, in order to be heard +\par by all, and after I had told the mayor that before talking with him +\par and his council, I had an important order to give to my troops, I +\par told my men about the suggestion which had been made that we should +\par abandon, without a struggle, the town which had been put in our care. +\par +\par They were most indignant, and said so loudly! I added that I could +\par not conceal the fact that the ramparts were broken down at several +\par points, and a lack of artillery would make defence difficult against +\par regular troops, though}{\deleted ,}{ if need be we would do our best; but that if +\par it was the inhabitants of the town and the countryside who rose +\par against us, we would not confine ourselves to defence, we would +\par attack with all the means at our disposal, for we would be dealing +\par with revolutionaries. As a consequence I was ordering my men to take +\par over the church tower, from where, after a delay of half an hour and +\par three rolls on the drums they would fire on the occupants of the +\par square, while patrols would clear the streets by shooting, mainly at +\par those who had left their work in the country to come and do us harm. +\par I added that if it came to fighting, I would order, as the best means +\par of defence, the setting on fire of the town, in order to keep the +\par inhabitants busy, and I would shoot at them continually to prevent +\par its extinction. +\par +\par This speech may seem a little drastic, but consider the critical +\par position in which I found myself; with no more than 700 men, few of +\par whom had seen action, no expectation of reinforcements, and +\par surrounded by a multitude which increased in size by the moment}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094315 , }{for +\par the officer in charge of the detachment sent to the church tower told +\par me that the roads leading to the town were full of miners from the +\par pits of Jemmapes, heading for the town of Mons. My little troupe and +\par I were at risk of being wiped out if I had not taken decisive action. +\par My address had produced a marked effect among the rich noblemen, the +\par promoters of this disturbance, and also among the townspeople, who +\par began to disperse}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094314 , }{but as the peasants did not budge, I brought up +\par two ammunition wagons to issue a hundred cartridges to each soldier, +\par and when they had loaded their weapons, I ordered the three rolls on +\par the drums, the prelude to the fusillade. +\par +\par At this frightening sound, the huge crowd which filled the square +\par began to run in tumult to the neighbouring streets, where each one +\par rushed to find shelter, and a few moments later the leaders of the +\par Austrian party, with the mayor at their head, came to clutch at my +\par hand and beg me to spare the town. I agreed on the condition that +\par they would send immediately to tell the miners and workmen to go back +\par to their homes. They hastened to comply, and the elegant young men +\par who were the best mounted, jumped on their fine horses and went out +\par through all the city gates to meet the mob which they sent back to +\par their villages without any opposition. +\par +\par This passive obedience confirmed me in my opinion that the +\par disturbance had powerful backers, and that my garrison and I would +\par have been held prisoner, had I not frightened the leaders by +\par threatening to use all means, even fire}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094314 ,}{ rather than hand over to +\par rioters the town confided to my charge. +\par +\par The Belgians are very fond of music, and it so happened that +\par there was a concert to be given that evening, to which I and my +\par officers had been invited, as was M. de Laussat, the prefect of the +\par department. +\par +\par We agreed that we should go there as usual, which was the right +\par decision, for we were received with cordiality, at least on the +\par surface. While talking to the nobles, who had been behind the +\par disturbance, we put it to them that it was not for the populace to +\par decide by rebellion the fate of Belgium, but rather for the +\par contending armies; and it would be folly on their part to incite the +\par workmen and peasants to shed their blood, in order to hasten by a few +\par days}{\deleted ,}{ a solution which would presently become evident. +\par +\par An elderly Austrian general, who had retired to Mons, his +\par birthplace, then said to his compatriots that they had been wrong to +\par plot the seizure of the garrison, for that would have resulted in +\par much damage to the town, as no soldiers would lay down their arms +\par without a fight. They all agreed that this assessment was correct, +\par and from that day forward the garrison and the townsfolk lived +\par peacefully together as in the past. The people of Mons even gave us}{\deleted ,}{ +\par a few days later}{\deleted ,}{ a striking demonstration of their support. +\par +\par As the allied armies advanced, a crowd of partisans, mainly +\par Prussians, disguised themselves as Cossacks, and driven by the desire +\par for plunder they grabbed anything which had belonged to the French +\par administration, and had no hesitation in seizing the goods of even +\par non-military French citizens. +\par +\par A large band of these imitation Cossacks, having crossed the +\par Rhine and spread out on the left bank, had reached as far as the +\par gates of Brussels, and had pillaged the imperial ch\'e2teau of +\par Tervueren, from where they took all the horses of the stud farm which +\par the Emperor had installed there; then, splitting into smaller groups, +\par these marauders infested Belgium. Some of them came to the +\par department of Jemmapes, where they tried to stir up the populace}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094312 , }{but +\par when they did not succeed in doing so, they put this down to the fact +\par that Mons, the principal town of the region, had not supported them}{\deleted ,}{ +\par because of the terror inspired by the }{\deleted Colonel }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094312 colonel }{in command of the +\par garrison. Whereupon they decided to capture or kill me}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094312 , }{but in order +\par not to awaken my suspicions by employing too great a number of men +\par for this exploit, they limited the number to three hundred. It +\par appeared that the leader of these partisans had been well briefed, +\par for, knowing that I had too few men to guard the old gates and +\par ancient, partly demolished, ramparts, he took his men, during a dark +\par night, to the rampart, where the major part of them dismounted and +\par made their way silently through the streets to the main square and +\par the Hotel de la Poste, where I had at first stayed. However, since I +\par had heard of the crossing of the Rhine by the enemy, I had gone}{\deleted ,}{ +\par every evening}{\deleted ,}{ to the barracks, where I spent the night surrounded by +\par my troops. It was as well that I had done so, for the German +\par Cossacks surrounded the hotel and rifled through all the rooms}{\deleted , t}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094311 . T}{hen}{\deleted .}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094311 ,}{ +\par furious at not finding any French officers, they set on the +\par inn-keeper, whom they robbed and maltreated, and whose wine they +\par drank until both officers and soldiers were drunk. +\par +\par A Belgian, a former corporal in my regiment, named Courtois, for +\par whom I had obtained a decoration as one of my bravest soldiers, +\par arrived}{\deleted ,}{ at this moment}{\deleted ,}{ at the hotel. This man, born at +\par Saint-Ghislain}{\deleted ,}{ near Mons, had lost a leg in Russia the previous +\par year, and happily I had been able to save him by securing means for +\par him to return to France. He was so grateful for this that during my +\par stay in Mons in the winter of 1814, he came often to visit me, and on +\par those occasions he dressed in the uniform of the 23rd Chasseurs which +\par he had once so honourably worn. Now, it so happened that on the +\par night in question, Curtois, while returning to the house of one of +\par his relatives}{\deleted ,}{ where he had been staying, saw the enemy detachment +\par heading in the direction of the hotel, and although the gallant +\par corporal knew that I did not sleep there, he wanted to be sure that +\par his }{\deleted Colonel }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094310 colonel }{was in no danger, so he went to the hotel, t}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ with +\par him his relative. +\par +\par At the sight of the French uniform and the }{\deleted legion of honou}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094369 Legion of Honou}{r, the +\par Prussians shamefully grabbed the crippled man and tried to snatch the +\par cross of the }{\deleted legion }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094309 Legion }{from him. When he resisted, the Prussian +\par Cossacks killed him and dragged his body into the street}{\deleted ,}{ before +\par continuing their drinking. +\par +\par Mons was so large in comparison to my small garrison, that I had +\par taken refuge in the barracks}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094309 ,}{ and having arranged my defences for the +\par night at this spot, I had forbidden my men to go near the main +\par square, although I had been told that the enemy were there, because I +\par did not know their strength and feared that the local populace would +\par combine with them}{\deleted : b}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094309 . B}{ut when the townspeople heard of the murder of +\par Courtois, their fellow countryman and one regarded with affection by +\par all, they resolved to be revenged, and forgetting their complaints +\par against the French, they sent a deputation, comprising the brother of +\par the dead man and some of the leading citizens, to ask me to put +\par myself at their head in order to drive away these "Cossacks}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094308 .}{"}{\deleted .}{ +\par +\par I was well aware that the pillage and excess at the }{\deleted hotel }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094308 Hotel }{de La +\par Poste}{\deleted ,}{ inspired in every bourgeois fear for his family and his house, +\par which motivated them to expel the Cossacks as much as the death of +\par Curtois, and that they would have acted very differently if, instead +\par of robbers and assassins, it had been regular troops who had entered +\par the town}{\deleted , }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094308 ; }{nonetheless I thought it my duty to take advantage of the +\par good-will of those inhabitants who were prepared to take up arms to +\par help us. I then took part of my troop and set off for the square, +\par while the remainder, in charge of the battalion commander, who knew +\par the town well, I sent to lie in wait at the breach in the wall +\par through which the Prussian Cossacks had entered. +\par +\par At the first shots fired by our people at these rogues, there was +\par a great tumult in the hotel and the square! Those who were not killed +\par took to their heels, but many got lost in the streets and were +\par finished off one by one. As for those who reached the place +\par where they had left their horses}{\deleted ,}{ tied up to trees in the promenade, +\par they ran into the battalion commander, who greeted them with a +\par withering fusillade! At daylight we counted in the town and in the +\par old breach}{\deleted ,}{ more than 200 dead, while we had not lost a single man}{\deleted ,}{ +\par because our adversaries, fuddled by wine and strong liquor}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094307 ,}{ had +\par offered no defence. Those of them who escaped into the country were +\par caught and killed by the peasantry, who were enraged at the death of +\par the unfortunate Curtois, who was something of a local celebrity, and +\par who, given the name of "Jambe de bois", had become as dear to them as +\par General Daumesnil, another "Jambe de bois}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094306 ,}{"}{\deleted ,}{ was to the working class +\par of Paris. +\par +\par I do not cite this fighting in Mons as something to be +\par particularly proud of, for with the national guard, I had twelve or +\par thirteen hundred men compared to the three hundred of the Prussians}{\deleted ;}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094306 .}{ +\par }{\deleted but }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094306 But }{I thought it worth recording this bizarre encounter to +\par demonstrate the volatility of the masses}{\deleted . W}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094305 , w}{hich is shown by the fact +\par that all the peasants and coal miners of Borinage}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094305 ,}{ who}{\deleted ,}{ a month +\par previously had come in a mass to exterminate or at least disarm the +\par few Frenchmen remaining in Mons, had come to join us to oppose the +\par Prussians because they had killed one of their compatriots. I +\par greatly regretted the death of the brave Courtois, who had fallen +\par victim to his regard for me. +\par +\par The most important trophy from our victory was the three hundred +\par horses which the enemy abandoned. They nearly all came from the +\par region of Berg and were of very good quality}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094305 , }{so I took them into my +\par regiment, for which this unexpected provision of remounts was +\par extremely welcome. +\par +\par I passed a further month at Mons, whose inhabitants treated us +\par perfectly well}{\deleted ,}{ despite the approach of the enemy armies. However +\par their continued advance meant that the French were forced not only to +\par abandon Brussels but the whole of Belgium, and recross the frontiers +\par into their motherland. I was ordered to take my regimental depot to +\par Cambrai}{\deleted ,}{ where, with the horses which I had taken from the Prussian +\par Cossacks}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094304 ,}{ I was able to remount 300 good troopers who had returned +\par from Leipzig, and make two fine squadrons, which commanded by Major +\par Sigaldi, were sent to the army which the Emperor was assembling in +\par Champagne. There they upheld the honour of the 23rd chasseuers, +\par particularly at the battle of Champaubert, where the gallant }{\deleted captain}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094304 Captain}{ +\par Duplessis, an outstanding officer, was killed. +\par +\par I have always favoured the lance, a lethal weapon in the hands of +\par a good cavalryman. I asked for and obtained permission to distribute +\par to my squadrons some lances which artillery officers had been unable +\par to carry away when they left the forts on the Rhine. They were so +\par much appreciated that several other cavalry units followed my +\par example, and were glad to have done so. +\par +\par The regimental depots were obliged to cross to the left bank of +\par the Seine}{\deleted ,}{ to avoid falling into the hands of the enemy}{\deleted , }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094304 ; }{mine went to +\par Nogent-le-Roi, an arrondissment of Dreux. We had a fair number of +\par troopers but almost no horses. The government was m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ great +\par efforts to collect some at Versailles, where it had created a central +\par cavalry depot}{\deleted ,}{ commanded by General Pr\'e9val. +\par +\par The }{\deleted general}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094303 General}{, like his predecessor General Bourcier, knew much more +\par about remounts and organisation than he did about war, in which he +\par had rarely been involved. He did his utmost to fulfil the difficult +\par task which the Emperor had given him; but as he could not, however, +\par improvise horses or equipment, and as he would not send out +\par detachments until they were fully organised, departures were not very +\par frequent. I grumbled, but no }{\deleted Colonel }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094303 colonel }{could return to his unit +\par without the permission of the Emperor, who, to conserve his +\par resources, had forbidden the employment of more officers}{\deleted ,}{ in any +\par unit}{\deleted ,}{ than was justified by the number of men they had to command. +\par It was therefore useless for me to beg General Pr\'e9val to let me go to +\par Champagne. He fixed my departure for the end of March, at which time +\par I would lead to the army a draft composed of mounted men from my own +\par depot and several others. +\par +\par Until this time I was authorised to live in Paris with my family, +\par for M. Caseneuve, my }{\deleted second }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094302 second-}{\deleted in }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094302 in-}{command, could take care of the 200 men +\par who were still at Nogent-le-Roi, which I could reach, if necessary, +\par in a few hours. So I went to Paris, where I spent the greater part +\par of March, which, although I was with those I loved most, was one of +\par the most miserable months of my life. The imperial government, to +\par which I was attached, and which I had for so long defended at the +\par cost of my blood, was everywhere crumbling. The armies of the enemy, +\par spreading from Lyon, occupied a large part of France, and it was easy +\par to see that they would soon arrive at the capital. +\par +\par Chap. 35. +\par +\par The Emperor's greatest antagonists are forced to admit that he +\par excelled himself in the winter campaign which he conducted in the +\par first three months of 1814. No previous general had ever shown such +\par talent, or achieved so much with such feeble resources. With a few +\par thousand men, most of whom were inexperienced conscripts, one saw him +\par face the armies of Europe, turning up everywhere with these troops, +\par which he led from one point to another with marvellous rapidity. +\par +\par T}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ advantage of all the resources of the country in order to +\par defend it, he hurried from the Austrians to the Russians, and from +\par the Russians to the Prussians, going from Bl\'fccher to Schwarzenberg +\par and from him to Sacken, sometimes beaten by them, but much more often +\par the victor. He hoped, for a time, that he might drive the +\par foreigners, disheartened by frequent defeats, from French soil and +\par back across the Rhine. All that was required was a new effort by the +\par nation; but there was general war-weariness, and there was in all +\par parts, and particularly in Paris, plotting against the Empire. +\par +\par There are those who have expressed surprise that France did not +\par rise in mass, as in 1792, to repel the invader, or did not follow the +\par Spanish in forming, in each province, a centre of national defence. +\par +\par The reason is that the enthusiasm which had improvised the armies +\par of 1792 had been exhausted by twenty-five years of war, and the +\par Emperor's over-use of conscription, so that in most of the +\par departments there remained only old men and children. As for the +\par example of Spain, it is not applicable to France, where too much +\par influence has been allowed to Paris, so that nothing can be done +\par unless Paris leads the way, whereas in Spain each Province was a +\par little government and was able to create its own army, even when +\par Madrid was occupied by the French. It was centralisation which led to +\par the loss of France. +\par +\par It is no part of the task which I have set myself, to relate the +\par great feats performed by the French army during the campaign of 1814, +\par to do so I would have to write volumes, and I do not feel inclined to +\par dwell on the misfortunes of my country. I shall content myself by +\par saying that after disputing, foot by foot, the territory between the +\par Marne, the Aube, the Sa\'f4ne}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094301 ,}{ and the Seine, the Emperor conceived a +\par daring plan}{\deleted ,}{ which, if it had succeeded, would have saved France. +\par This was to go, with his troops, by way of Saint-Dizier and Vitry +\par towards Alsace and Lorraine, which}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094300 ,}{ by threatening the rear of the +\par enemies, would make them fear being cut off from their depots and +\par finding themselves without any route of retreat. This would decide +\par them to withdraw to the frontier while they still had the +\par opportunity. +\par +\par However, to ensure the success of this splendid strategic +\par movement, it required the fulfilment of two conditions which failed +\par him}{\deleted : }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094300 ; }{these were}{\deleted , }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094300 : }{the loyalty of the high officers of state, and some +\par means of preventing the enemy from seizing Paris, if they ignored the +\par movement of the Emperor towards their rear and launched an attack on +\par the city. +\par +\par Sadly, loyalty to the Emperor was so much diminished in the Senate +\par and the legislative body, that there were leading members of these +\par assemblies, such as Tallyrand, the Duc de Dalberg, Laisn\'e9 and others, +\par who through secret emissaries}{\deleted ,}{ informed the allied sovereigns of the +\par dissatisfaction among the upper-class Parisians with Napoleon, and +\par invited them to come and attack the capital. +\par +\par As for defences, it must be admitted that Napoleon had not given +\par this sufficient thought, and they were limited to the erection of a +\par spiked palisade at the gates on the right bank, without the provision +\par of any positions for guns. As the garrison, formed by a very small +\par number of troops of the line, of invalids, veterans}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094299 ,}{ and students from +\par the polytechnic}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094299 ,}{ was insufficient to even attempt resistance, the +\par Emperor, when he left the capital in January to go and head the +\par troops assembled in Champagne, confided to the National Guard the +\par defence of Paris, where he left the Empress and his son. He had +\par called together at the Tuileries the officers of this bourgeois +\par militia, who had responded with numerous vows and bellicose +\par undert}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{s to the rousing speech which he addressed to them. The +\par Emperor named the Empress as }{\deleted regent }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094298 Regent }{and appointed as overall +\par commander his brother Joseph, the ex-King of Spain, the pleasantest +\par but most unsoldierlike of men. +\par +\par Napoleon, under the illusion that he had thus provided for the +\par safety of the capital, thought that he could leave it for some days +\par to its own devices, while he went}{\deleted ,}{ with those troops which still +\par remained to him}{\deleted ,}{ to carry out the project of getting behind the +\par enemy. He left for Lorraine about the end of March}{\deleted ; }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094298 , }{but he had been +\par on his way for only a few days, when he learned that the allies, +\par instead of following him as he had hoped, had headed for Paris, +\par driving before then the weak debris of Mortier's and Marmont's }{\deleted Corps}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094298 corps}{\deleted ,}{ +\par who, positioned on the heights of Montmartre, attempted to defend the +\par city}{\deleted ,}{ without any help from the National Guard}{\deleted ,}{ except an occasional +\par infantryman. +\par +\par This alarming news opened Napoleon's eyes; he turned his troops to +\par march towards Paris, for where he set out immediately. +\par +\par On the 30th of March, the Emperor, riding post and with no escort, +\par had just passed Moret when a brisk cannonade was heard; he held on to +\par the hope of arriving before the allies entered the capital, where his +\par presence would certainly have had a remarkable effect on the +\par population, who were demanding arms. (There were one hundred +\par thousand muskets and several million cartridges in the barracks of +\par the Champ de Mars, but General Clarke, the }{\deleted minister }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094297 Minister }{for }{\deleted war }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094296 War, }{would not +\par allow their distribution.) +\par +\par On his arrival at Fromenteau, only five leagues from Paris, the +\par Emperor could no longer hear gunfire and he realised that the city +\par was in the hands of the allies, which was confirmed at Villejuif. +\par Marmont had, in fact}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094296 ,}{ signed a capitulation which delivered the +\par capital to the enemy. +\par +\par As danger approached, the Empress and her son, the King of Rome, +\par had gone to Blois, where they were shortly joined by King Joseph, who +\par abandoned the command which the Emperor had given him. The troops of +\par the line left by the Fontainebleau gate, a route by which the Emperor +\par was expected to arrive. +\par +\par It is not possible to describe the agitation which seized the +\par city}{\deleted ,}{ whose inhabitants, divided by so many different interests, had +\par been surprised by an invasion which few of them had foreseen... As +\par for me, who had expected it, and who had seen at close quarters the +\par horrors of war, I was most anxiously }{\deleted thinKing }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094296 thinking }{of a way to ensure the +\par safety of my wife and our young child, when the elderly Marshal +\par S\'e9rurier offered a shelter for all my family at Les Invalides, of +\par which he was the governor. I was comforted by the thought that as +\par everywhere the homes for old soldiers had always been respected by +\par the French, the enemy would act in the same way towards ours. I +\par therefore took my family to the Invalides and left Paris, before the +\par entry of the allies, to report to General Pr\'e9val at Versailles. I was +\par given command of a small column made up of available cavalrymen from +\par my own regiment and from the 9th and 12th Chasseurs. +\par +\par Even if the allies had not marched on Paris, this column was due +\par to be assembled at Rambouillet, and it is to there that I went. I +\par found there my horses and my equipment, and I took command of the +\par squadrons which had been allotted to me. The road was full of the +\par carriages of those who were flying from the capital. I was not +\par surprised by that; but I was unable to understand where the great +\par number of troops of all arms came from, which one saw arriving from +\par all directions in detachments, which if they had been combined would +\par have formed a }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094295 corps }{of sufficient size to hold up the enemy at +\par Montmartre, and allow time for the army which was hurrying from +\par Champagne and Brie}{\deleted ,}{ to arrive and save Paris. The Emperor}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094295 ,}{ misled by +\par his }{\deleted minister }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094295 Minister }{for }{\deleted war}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094295 War}{, had given no instructions regarding the matter, +\par and was probably unaware that he still had so great a capacity for +\par defence at his disposal, a description of which follows, taken from +\par }{\deleted ministry }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094294 Ministry }{of }{\deleted war }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094294 War }{documents. +\par +\par There were at Vincennes, the military school of the Champ de Mars}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094294 ,}{ +\par and the central artillery depot}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094294 ,}{ some four hundred cannons with +\par ammunition}{\deleted ,}{ and 50,000 muskets. As for men, there were the troops +\par brought by Marshals Marmont and Mortier, which together with troops +\par gathered from other sources including 20,000 workmen, nearly all of +\par them old soldiers, who had volunteered to help defend the city, +\par amounted to some 80,000. +\par +\par It would have been possible for Joseph and Clarke to assemble this +\par force in a few hours and to defend the city until the arrival of the +\par Emperor and the army which was following him. +\par +\par Joseph and Clarke had forty-eight hours warning of the enemy +\par approach, but did nothing, and as a final act of incompetence, at the +\par moment when the enemy troops were attacking Romainville, they sent +\par 4000 men of the }{\deleted Imperial Guard}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-1505966621 Imperial Guard}{ to Blois, to reinforce the escort of +\par the Empress, which was already quite big enough.}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094293 +\par }{ +\par When the Emperor learned that Paris had capitulated and that the two +\par small }{\deleted Corps }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094293 corps }{of Marmont and Mortier had left, and were retiring +\par towards him, he sent them orders to take up positions at Essonnes, +\par seven leagues from Paris and mid-way between that city and +\par Fontainebleau. He went himself to this last town, where were arriving +\par the heads of the columns coming from Saint-Dizier, an indication that +\par he intended to march on Paris as soon as his army was gathered +\par together. +\par +\par The enemy generals have later stated that if they had been +\par attacked by the Emperor, they would not have risked a battle, with +\par the Seine behind them and also the great city of Paris, with its +\par million inhabitants, which might rise in revolt at any moment during +\par the fighting and barricade the streets and the bridges, thus cutting +\par off their line of retreat. So they had decided to draw back and camp +\par on the heights of Belleville, Charonne, Montmartre}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094293 ,}{ and the slopes of +\par Chaumont, which dominate the right bank of the Seine and the route to +\par Germany, when new events in Paris kept them in the city. +\par +\par M. de Tallyrand, a former bishop now married, who had always appeared +\par to be devoted to the Emperor, by whom he had been loaded with riches +\par and made prince of Benevento, Grand Chamberlain, etc., etc., felt his +\par pride injured when he was no longer Napoleon's confidant, and the +\par minister directing his policy. So, after the disasters of the +\par Russian campaign, he had put himself at the head of an underground +\par conspiracy, which included all the malcontents from every party, but +\par mainly the Faubourg Saint-Germain, that is to say the high +\par aristocracy, who, after appearing at first submissive and even +\par serving Napoleon in the time of his prosperity, had become his enemy}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094292 ,}{ +\par and without openly compromising themselves, attacked, by all means, +\par the head of government. +\par +\par These people, guided by Tallyrand, the most cunning and scheming +\par of them all, had been waiting for an occasion to overthrow Napoleon. +\par They realised that they would never have a more favourable +\par opportunity than that offered by the occupation of the country by a +\par million and a half enemies, and the presence in Paris of all the +\par crowned heads of Europe, most of whom had been grossly humiliated by +\par Napoleon at one time or another. Napoleon, however, though greatly +\par weakened, was not yet entirely beaten, for, apart from the army which +\par he had with him, and with which he had performed prodigies, there was +\par Suchet's army, between the Pyrenees and the Haute-Garonne, there were +\par troops commanded by }{\deleted marshal }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094291 Marshal }{Soult, there were two fine divisions at +\par Lyon, and finally, the army in Italy was still formidable, so that in +\par spite of the occupation of Bordeaux by the English, Napoleon might +\par still assemble considerable forces and prolong the war indefinitely, +\par by raising a population, exasperated by the exactions of the enemy. +\par +\par Tallyrand, for his part, realised that if they gave the Emperor +\par time to bring to Paris the troops who were with him, he might beat +\par the allies in the streets of the capital, or withdraw to some loyal +\par provinces, where he might continue the war, until the allies were +\par exhausted and ready to make peace. In the view of Tallyrand and his +\par friends, it was therefore necessary to change the government. Here +\par there arose a great difficulty, for they wanted to restore the +\par Bourbons to the throne, in the person of Louis XVIII, while other +\par parts of the country wanted to retain Napoleon, or at most to install +\par his son. +\par +\par The same difference of opinion existed amongst the allied +\par sovereigns. The kings of England and Prussia were on the side of the +\par Bourbons, while the emperor of Russia, who had never liked them, and +\par who feared that the antipathy felt by the French nation towards these +\par princes and the \'e9migr\'e9s would lead to a fresh revolution, was +\par inclined to favour Napoleon's son. +\par +\par To cut short these discussions, and decide the question by m}{\deleted aking}{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094330 aking}{ +\par the first move, the astute Tallyrand, in an attempt to force the hand +\par of the foreign sovereigns, arranged for a group of about twenty young +\par men from the Faubourg Saint-Germain to appear on horseback in Louis +\par XV square, decked with white cockades, and led by Vicomte Talon, my +\par former comrade in arms, from whom I have these details. They went +\par towards the mansion in the rue Saint-Florentin occupied by the +\par Emperor Alexander}{\deleted }{, shouting at the top of their voices "Long live +\par King Louis XVIII! Long live the Bourbons! Down with the tyrant!" +\par +\par The effect produced on the curious gathering of onlookers by these +\par cries, was at first one of astonishment, which was quickly succeeded +\par by threats and menaces from the crowd, which shook even the boldest +\par of the cavalcade. This first royalist demonstration having been +\par unsuccessful, they repeated the performance at various points on the +\par boulevards. At some places they were booed, at others applauded. As +\par the entry procession of the allied sovereigns approached, and as the +\par Parisians need a slogan to animate them, the one produced by Vicomte +\par Talon and his friends rang in the ears of the Emperor Alexander +\par throughout the whole day, which permitted Tallyrand to say to that +\par monarch in the evening, "Your Majesty can judge for himself with what +\par unanimity the nation desires the restoration of the Bourbons!" +\par +\par From that moment, although his supporters greatly outnumbered +\par those of Louis XVIII, as the events of the following year would show, +\par Napoleon's cause was lost. +\par +\par End of Volume 2, The Memoirs of General the Baron de Marbot. +\par Translated by Oliver.C.Colt +\par +\par }{\deleted +\par }{\revised\revauth1\revdttm-969094290 +\par +\par End of the Project Gutenberg etext of The Memoirs of the General the Baron de Marbot, translated by Oliver.C.Colt. +\par }{\deleted ===========}{ +\par }}
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