Chapter 21

[173]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 71; Jomini, tom. iv., p. 153.[174]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 74.[175]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 77.[176]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 86.[177]"During the work, it was remarked that great numbers of ravens surrounded this cross, and that Napoleon, weary of their hoarse croaking, exclaimed, that 'it seemed as if these flocks of ill-omened birds meant to defend it.' We cannot pretend to tell all that he thought in this critical situation, but it is well known that he was accessible to every kind of presentiment. His daily excursions, always illumined by a brilliant sun, in which he strove himself to perceive and to make others recognise his star, did not amuse him. To the sullen silence of inanimate Moscow was superadded that of the surrounding deserts, and the still more menacing silence of Alexander."—Ségur.[178]"Koutousoff made his camp ring with the news of the victory of Salamanca. 'The French,' said he, 'are expelled from Madrid: the hand of the Most High presses heavily upon Napoleon. Moscow will be his prison, his grave, and that of all his grand army. We shall soon take France in Russia.'"—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 88.[179]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 92; Twenty-fifth Bulletin of the Grand French Army.[180]"When we were about three leagues from Moscow, the Emperor stopped to wait for news from Mortier, who had orders to destroy the Kremlin on leaving the place. He was walking in a field with M. Daru; this gentleman left him; I was called—'Well, Rapp, we are going to retreat to the frontiers of Poland by the road to Kalouga; I shall take up good winter-quarters. I hope that Alexander will make peace.'—'You have waited a long time, Sire; the inhabitants foretell that it will be a severe winter.'—'Poh! poh! with your inhabitants. It is the 19th of October to-day; you see how fine it is. Do you not recognise my star.' But all that he said to me in the way of encouragement did not deceive even himself: his countenance bore the marks of uneasiness."—Rapp, p. 222.[181]Jomini, tom. iv., p. 163.[182]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 95.[183]Jomini, tom. iv., p. 166; Ségur, tom. ii., p. 101; Labaume, p. 247; Twenty-seventh Bulletin.[184]"In the habitation of a weaver—an old, crazy, filthy, wooden hut, and in a dirty, dark room—was the fate of the army and of Europe about to be decided."—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 107.[185]"'O heavens!' exclaimed Napoleon, clasping his hands, 'Are you sure you are right? Are you not mistaken? Will you answer for that?' Bessières repeated his assertion. He affirmed that '300 grenadiers would suffice to keep in check a whole army.' Napoleon then crossed his arms with a look of consternation, hung his head, and remained as if overwhelmed with the deepest dejection."—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 108.[186]Mémoires de Rapp, p. 227; Ségur, tom. ii., p. 110.[187]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 117.[188]Jomini, tom. iv., p. 165.[189]"Barrels of powder had been placed in all the halls of the palace of the Czars, and 183,000 pounds under the vaults which supported them. While Mortier was rapidly retiring, some Cossacks and squalid Muscovites approached: they listened, and emboldened by the apparent quiet which pervaded the fortress, they ventured to penetrate into it; they ascended, and their hands eager after plunder, were already stretched forth, when in a moment they were all destroyed, crushed, hurled into the air, with the buildings which they had come to pillage, and 30,000 stand of arms that had been left behind there; and then their mangled limbs, mixed with fragments of walls and shattered weapons, blown to a great distance, descended in a horrible shower."—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 129.[190]Twenty-sixth Bulletin of the Grand Army.[191]"The inhabitants of Russia do not recollect such a season as we have had for the last twenty years. The army is in an extremely rich country: it may be compared to the best in France or Germany."—Twenty-sixth Bulletin.[192]"Crossing his arms with violence, as if to grasp and to restrain himself."—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 131.[193]"The gendarmes remained motionless, like men accustomed to see these violent scenes terminate without effect, and sure of obeying best by disobeying."—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 131.[194]"Each of us endeavoured to appease the Emperor; the King of Naples, the Duke de Vicenza particularly, suggested to him how much, in the present situation of things, any violence towards a man who had his origin under the quality of a Russian general, would be to be lamented; there was no council of war, and the affair rested there."—Rapp, p. 229.[195]"The ground was covered all around with fragments of helmets and cuirasses, broken drums, gun-stocks, tatters of uniforms, and standards died with blood. On this desolate spot lay thirty thousand half-devoured corses. A number of skeletons, left on the summit of one of the hills, overlooked the whole. It seemed as if death had here fixed his empire: it was that terrible redoubt, the conquest and the grave of Caulaincourt. The cry, 'It is the field of the great battle!' formed a long and doleful murmur. Napoleon passed quickly—nobody stopped. Cold, hunger, and the enemy urged us on; we merely turned our faces as we proceeded, to take a last melancholy look at the vast grave of our companions in arms."—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 137.—"On arriving at Borodino, my consternation was inexpressible at finding the 20,000 men, who had perished there, yet lying exposed. In one place were to be seen garments yet red with blood, and bones gnawed by dogs and birds of prey; in another were broken arms, drums, helmets, and swords."—Labaume, p. 265.[196]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 138.[197]"On approaching Gjatz, we felt the sincerest regret when we perceived that the whole town had disappeared. Gjatz, constructed entirely of wood, was consumed in a day. It contained many excellent manufactories of cloth and leather, and furnished the Russian navy with considerable quantities of tar, cordage, and marine stores."—Labaume, p. 270.[198]"In this vast wreck, the army, like a great ship tossed by the most tremendous of tempests, threw, without hesitation, into that sea of ice and snow, all that could slacken or impede its progress."—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 159.[199]Jomini, tom. iv., p. 173; Ségur, tom. ii., p. 150; Twenty-eighth Bulletin.[200]Labaume, p. 287; Ségur, tom. ii., p. 160.[201]"I delivered the despatches to the Emperor. He opened the packet with haste: aMoniteurwas uppermost. He ran it over; the first article which caught his eye was the enterprise of Mallet: 'What is this! what! plots! conspiracies!' He tore open his letters: they contained the detail of the attempt: he was thunderstruck."—Rapp, p. 232.—"As soon as he was alone with the most devoted of his officers, all his emotions burst forth at once in exclamations of astonishment, humiliation, and anger. Presently after he sent for several others, to observe the effect which so extraordinary a piece of intelligence would produce upon them. He perceived a painful uneasiness, consternation, and confidence in the stability of his government completely shaken."—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 161.[202]Jomini, tom. iv., p. 186; Rapp, p. 239; Ségur, tom. ii., p. 165.[203]Jomini, tom. iv., p. 193; Twenty-eighth Bulletin of the Grand Army; Ségur, tom. ii., p. 181-202.[204]"Napoleon arrived at Smolensk on the 9th of November, amidst this scene of desolation. He shut himself up in one of the houses in the New Square, and never quitted it till the 14th, to continue his retreat."—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 178.[205]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 220.[206]Colonel Boutourlin praises the address of Koutousoff, who, he says, managed with such skill as always to present a superior force to that which the French had upon the field of battle, although his army was on the whole inferior to that of Napoleon. Without admitting the exactness of the last statement, which there is considerable cause to dispute, little merit can be assumed for the Russian general's dexterity in obtaining a numerical superiority at Wiazma, Krasnoi, and elsewhere, when it is considered that Napoleon himself had divided his army into four columns, and placed one day's march betwixt each. The Russians had, therefore, only one column of ten or twelve thousand men to deal with at once.—S.[207]"He called Mortier, and squeezing his hand sorrowfully, told him, that he had not a moment to lose; that the enemy were overwhelming him in all directions; that Koutousoff might have already reached Liady, perhaps Orcsa, and the last winding of the Boristhenes before him; that he would, therefore, proceed thither rapidly with his old guard, in order to occupy the passage. Then, with his heart full of Ney's misfortunes, and despair at being forced to abandon him, he withdrew slowly towards Liady."—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 227.[208]"Napoleon marched on foot at the head of his guard, and often talked of Ney; he called to mind hiscoup-d'œilso accurate and true, his courage proof against every thing, in short all the qualities which made him so brilliant on the field of battle. 'He is lost. Well! I have three hundred millions in the Tuileries; I would give them all if he were restored to me.'"—Rapp, p. 242.[209]"When Napoleon heard that Ney had just reappeared, he leaped and shouted for joy, and exclaimed, 'I have then saved my eagles! I would have given three hundred millions from my treasury sooner than have lost such a man.'"—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 268; Jomini, tom. iv., p. 190.[210]Jomini, tom. iv., p. 189; Ségur, tom. ii., pp. 245-266.[211]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 279.[212]"Napoleon's confidence increased with his peril; in his eyes, and in the midst of these deserts of mud and ice, that handful of men was always the grand army! and himself the conqueror of Europe! and there was no infatuation in this firmness: we were certain of it, when, in this very town, we saw him burning with his own hands every thing belonging to him which might serve as trophies to the enemy, in the event of his fall. There also were unfortunately consumed all the papers which he had collected in order to write the history of his life; for such was his intention when he set out for that fatal war. He had then determined to halt as a threatening conqueror on the borders of the Dwina and the Boristhenes, to which he now returned as a disarmed fugitive. At that time he regarded the ennui of six winter months, which he would have been detained on these rivers as his greatest enemy; and to overcome it, this second Cæsar intended there to have dictated his Commentaries."—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 235.[213]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 278.[214]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 282.[215]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 283.[216]"The Emperor came out from his barrack, cast his eyes on the other side of the river. 'I have outwitted the admiral' (he could not pronounce the name Tchitchagoff;) 'he believes me to be at the point where I ordered the false attack; he is running to Borizoff.' His eyes sparkled with joy and impatience; he urged the erection of the bridges, and mounted twenty pieces of cannon in battery. These were commanded by a brave officer with a wooden leg, called Brechtel; a ball carried it off during the action, and knocked him down. 'Look,' he said, to one of his gunners, 'for another leg in waggon, No. 5.' He fitted it on, and continued his firing."—Rapp, p. 246.[217]"Ney took me apart: he said to me in German, 'Our situation is unparalleled; if Napoleon extricates himself to-day, he must have the devil in him.' We were very uneasy, and there was sufficient cause. Murat came to us, and was not less solicitous. 'I have proposed to Napoleon,' he observed to us, 'to save himself, and cross the river at a few leagues distance from hence. I have some Poles who would answer for his safety, and would conduct him to Wilna, but he rejects the proposal, and will not even hear it mentioned. As for me, I do not think we can escape.' We were all three of the same opinion."—Rapp, p. 245.[218]"When Napoleon saw them fairly in possession of the opposite bank, he exclaimed, 'Behold my star again appear!' for he was a strong believer in fatality,"—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 295.[219]"Napoleon was deeply affected with so unexpected a misfortune—'Must this loss come to spoil all after having escaped as by a miracle, and having completely beaten the Russians.'"—Rapp, p. 246.[220]The conduct of the admiral was so unaccountable on this occasion, that some attempted to explain it on his naval habits, and to suppose that he was prevented from sending the reinforcements by the wind being contrary.—S.[221]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 317; Jomini, tom. iv., p. 195.[222]"For a long time we had had no news from France; we were ignorant of what was going on in the grand duchy; we were informed of it at Malodeczno. Napoleon received nineteen despatches at once."—Rapp, p. 249.[223]The reader will find the details of this singular attempt in thesucceeding chapter.[224]"Napoleon passed through the crowd of his officers, who were drawn up in an avenue as he passed, bidding them adieu merely by forced and melancholy smiles; their good wishes, equally silent, and expressed only by respectful gestures, he carried with him. He and Caulaincourt shut themselves up in a carriage; his Mameluke and Wakasowitch, captain of his guard, occupied the box; Duroc and Lobau followed in a sledge."—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 337.[225]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 320.[226]Histoire de l'Ambassade dans le Grand Duché de Varsovi, en 1812, p. 207.[227]This alludes to exaggerated reports circulated by Marat, Duke of Bassano, then residing at Wilna, of a pretended victory obtained by Napoleon, at the passage at Studzianka.—S.[228]"Du sublime au ridicule il n'y a qu'un pas?"[229]"He certainly had a long conversation with me, which he misrepresents, as might be expected; and it was at the very moment when he was delivering a long prosing speech, which appeared to me a mere string of absurdity and impertinence, that I scrawled on the corner of the chimney-piece the order to withdraw him from his embassy, and to send him as soon as possible to France; a circumstance which was the cause of a good deal of merriment at the time, and which the abbé seems very desirous of concealing."—Napoleon,Las Cases, tom. ii., p. 94.[230]"In Silesia, Napoleon was very nearly taken prisoner by the Prussians; and at Dresden, he only escaped a plot for his seizure, because Lord Walpole, who was at Vienna, dared not give the signal."—Fouché, tom. ii., p. 117.[231]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 341.[232]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 351.[233]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 371.[234]"Of 400,000 men in arms, who had crossed the Niemen, scarcely 30,000 repassed that river five months afterwards, and of those two-thirds had not seen the Kremlin."—Fouché, tom. ii., p. 118.[235]"Sir Walter takes great pains to prove that the extraordinary severity of the winter was not the principal cause of this frightful catastrophe. He is facetious about the snow, to which he believes, or pretends to believe, that the twenty-ninth bulletin attributes the disaster; whereas, it was not the snow alone, but a cold of thirty degrees below zero. And have we not often known, in the severe winters of the north of France, where the cold is slight in comparison with that of Russia—travellers to perish under the snow? How then can it be denied that the extreme severity of the winter was the cause of the disaster?"—Louis Buonaparte.[236]"Sir Walter Scott has not, in this outrage against Napoleon, the merit of novelty: and what is more painful, French writers have been guilty of repeating the ridiculous accusation. What! he who threw himself upon his gigantic adversary at the head of an innumerable army, and conducted it six hundred leagues from his country; who defeated all the armies of his enemy—burned his capital, or was the cause of its destruction—had such a man lost his senses? The expedition to Russia, according to common rules, was ill-judged and rash, and the more so when undertaken without the basis of Poland; and when we consider the formation of the grand army, composed of so many different nations, and that Napoleon persisted in the project in spite of all obstacles, and the disapprobation of the majority of his greatest generals, we are astonished how he succeeded in invading a great portion of the vast territory of Russia, and penetrated as far as the capital of that empire. Whatever his enemies may assert, had it not been for the extraordinary havoc of the winter, the grand army would have returned to the frontiers of Poland, established itself on that line, and menaced the Russian empire anew, and in a more definitive manner, during the following campaign."—Louis Buonaparte, p. 86.[237]"This was, on Napoleon's part, a new snare held out to the devotedness and credulity of a generous nation; who, struck with consternation, thought that their chief, chastened by misfortune, was ready to seize the first favourable opportunity of bringing back peace, and of at length consolidating the foundation of general happiness."—Fouché, tom. ii., p. 118.[238]"I shall make two observations on this passage: 1st, I am persuaded that this conspiracy was the work of the Jacobin faction, who always laid in wait to profit by every favourable occasion. This opinion is confirmed by many of the avowals which escaped Fouché in his memoirs. 2dly, The fallacy of the sentiment attributed by Sir Walter Scott to the notion with respect to Napoleon, is proved by the slight success of this conspiracy, when he was not only absent, but as well as his armies, at so considerable a distance from France; it is also proved by his return from the island of Elba, in the month of March, 1815. I think that all those who would after this deny the attachment of the nation to the Emperor, would also deny the light of day."—Louis Buonaparte, p. 86.[239]"A secret society in the army, whose immediate object it was to overthrow the Imperial power, and whose ultimate purposes were not perhaps known to themselves. Their founder was Colonel Jacques Joseph Odet, a Swiss, at once a debauchee and an enthusiast, on the plan of his countryman Rousseau. He was shot the night before the battle of Wagram, not, as his followers alleged, by a party of Austrians, but by gendarmes, commissioned for that purpose. His sect continued to subsist, and Massena did not escape suspicions of being implicated in its intrigues. There was a communication in their name to Lord Wellington, in May 1809; but the negotiation was not of a character which the British general chose to encourage."—Southey'sPeninsular War, vol. ii., p. 303.—S.[240]Savary, tom. iii., pp. 13, 32; Fouché, tom. ii., pp. 109, 116.[241]"Mallet died with greatsang froid, carrying with him the secret of one of the boldestcoups-de-mainwhich the grand epocha of our Revolution bequeaths to history."—Fouché, tom. ii., p. 115.[242]The Memoirs of Fouché contain a specific averment to this effect.—S.[243]Moniteur, Dec. 21, 1812; Fouché, tom. ii., p. 120.[244]He obtained a pension on the restoration of Louis XVIII., with the title of honorary counsellor, which he had forfeited in July, 1815, in consequence of having accepted, during the Hundred Days, the situation of Prefect of the Bouches-du-Rhone. He died in 1828.[245]"I knew Pius the Seventh from the time of his journey to Paris in 1804, and from that period until his death I never ceased to receive from the venerable Pontiff marks, not of benevolence only, but even of confidence and affection. Since the year 1814 I have resided at Rome: I have often had occasion to see him, and I can affirm, that in many of my interviews with his holiness, he assured me that he was treated by Napoleon, in every personal respect, as he could have wished. These are his very words:—'Personalmente non ho avuto di che dolermi; non ho mai mancato di nulla; la mia persona fu sempre rispettata e trattata in modo da non potermi lagnare.' 'I had nothing to complain of personally; I wanted for nothing; my person was always respected, and treated in a way to afford me no ground of complaint.'"—Louis Buonaparte.[246]See Moniteur, Feb. 15, 1813.[247]Moniteur, 27th January, 1813. On the 24th, Napoleon wrote thus to his sister, the Queen of Naples:—"Your husband quitted the army on the 16th. He is a brave man in the field of battle; but he is more cowardly than a woman or a monk when not in presence of the enemy. He has no moral courage."—Baron Fain,Manuscript de, 1813, tom. i., p. 90.[248]"The Emperor was very much dissatisfied with his conduct; and it is well for the King of Naples that he did not pass through France, where he would certainly have met with a very unfavourable reception."—Savary, tom. iii., p. 43.[249]"Upon receiving the news that the King of Prussia had escaped, Napoleon regretted he had not treated him as he had done Ferdinand VII. and the Pope. 'This is not the first instance,' said he, 'that in politics, generosity is a bad counsellor.' He generous towards Prussia!!"—Fouché, tom. ii., p. 127.[250]See Savary, tom. iii., p. 44.[251]"Sworn from his cradle Rome's relentless foe,Such generous hate the Punic champion bore;Thy lake, O Thrasymene, beheld it glow,And Cannæ's walls and Trebia's crimson'd shore."Shenstone.—S.[252]"Blucher," said Napoleon, at St. Helena, "is a very brave soldier,un bon sabreur. He is like a bull who shuts his eyes, and, seeing no danger, rushes on. He committed a thousand faults; and, had it not been for circumstances, I could repeatedly have madehimprisoner. He is stubborn and indefatigable, afraid of nothing, and very much attached to his country."—Napoleon in Exile, vol. i., p. 200.[253]Fouché, tom. ii., p. 124.[254]Fouché, tom. ii., p. 125.[255]"As the Empress-Regent could not authorise, by her signature, the presentation of anysenatus consultum, nor the promulgation of any law, the part she had to act was limited to her appearance at the council-board. Besides, she was herself under the tutorship of Cambacérès, who was himself directed by Savary. In fact, after the regency was set in motion, the soul of the government did not the less travel with Napoleon, who did not fail of issuing forth numerous decrees from all his moveable headquarters."—Fouché, tom. ii., p. 137.[256]See Jomini, tom. iv., p. 271.[257]Napoleon caused the remains of Bessières to be conveyed to the Invalides at Paris, and intended extraordinary honours for them, of which subsequent events deprived them. "The death of this old and faithful servant produced," says Savary, "a void in the Emperor's heart: fate deprived him of his friends, as if to prepare him for the severe reverses which she had yet in store."[258]Jomini, tom. iv., p. 274; Military Reports to the Empress; Savary, tom. iii., p. 66; Baron Fain, tom. i., p. 267; Lord Cathcart's Despatch, London Gazette, May 25.[259]"The Empress expressed great joy at the event, because, she said, it would secure her countrymen, whom she suspected of wavering. She orderedTe Deumto be sung at Notre Dame, whither she herself repaired in state. She was attended by the whole court, and the troops of the guard, and the public, received her with expressions of the most ardent enthusiasm."—Savary, tom. iii., p. 67.[260]Jomini, tom. iv., p. 304; Manuscript de 1813, tom. i., p. 415; Military Reports to the Empress.[261]Military Reports to the Empress; Savary, tom. iii., p. 72; Baron Fain, tom. i., p. 441.[262]Mémoires de Fouché, tom. ii., p. 139.[263]"If Augereau did utter such nonsense, he would have bestowed upon himself the double charge of folly and absurdity. Augereau did not know Napoleon until the latter had become a general-in-chief; and certainly Napoleon has sufficiently proved, that he had completed his course of military study before he commenced his campaigns in Italy. The battles of Lutzen and Bautzen are at least as memorable in the eyes of soldiers as the first battles in Italy; perhaps more so, when we remember the French army was composed of conscripts, marines, deficient in cavalry; and when we call to mind the valour Napoleon displayed there. He supplied every thing by the force of his genius and enthusiasm."—Louis Buonaparte, p. 89.[264]Fouché, tom. ii., p. 147.[265]"I hate the hawk who always lives in war."[266]"Sir Walter Scott must allow that the end has too clearly shown how well this opinion of Napoleon was founded. I confess having, at this period, urged a peace at whatever price it might be obtained, and having used every effort, however feeble, to influence my brother; but I also confess, I then believed peace really was desired; whereas subsequent events have proved, that the destruction of Napoleon and the abasement of France, were the object in view."—Louis Buonaparte.[267]Journal, &c. par le Comte de Las Cases, tom. iv., partie 7tième, p. 26.—S.[268]The following is a ludicrous instance. When the explosion of the infernal machine took place, a bystander rushed into a company, and exclaimed, "The First Consul is blown up." An Austrian veteran chancing to be of the party, who had witnessed Napoleon's wonderful escapes during the Italian campaigns, exclaimed, in ridicule of the facile credulity of the newsmonger, "Heblown up!—Ah, you little know your man—I will wager at this moment he is as well as any of us. I know all his tricks many a day since."—S.[269]Fouché, tom. ii., p. 152.[270]Fouché, tom. ii., p. 148. See also Savary, tom. iii., p. 78.

[173]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 71; Jomini, tom. iv., p. 153.

[174]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 74.

[175]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 77.

[176]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 86.

[177]"During the work, it was remarked that great numbers of ravens surrounded this cross, and that Napoleon, weary of their hoarse croaking, exclaimed, that 'it seemed as if these flocks of ill-omened birds meant to defend it.' We cannot pretend to tell all that he thought in this critical situation, but it is well known that he was accessible to every kind of presentiment. His daily excursions, always illumined by a brilliant sun, in which he strove himself to perceive and to make others recognise his star, did not amuse him. To the sullen silence of inanimate Moscow was superadded that of the surrounding deserts, and the still more menacing silence of Alexander."—Ségur.

[178]"Koutousoff made his camp ring with the news of the victory of Salamanca. 'The French,' said he, 'are expelled from Madrid: the hand of the Most High presses heavily upon Napoleon. Moscow will be his prison, his grave, and that of all his grand army. We shall soon take France in Russia.'"—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 88.

[179]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 92; Twenty-fifth Bulletin of the Grand French Army.

[180]"When we were about three leagues from Moscow, the Emperor stopped to wait for news from Mortier, who had orders to destroy the Kremlin on leaving the place. He was walking in a field with M. Daru; this gentleman left him; I was called—'Well, Rapp, we are going to retreat to the frontiers of Poland by the road to Kalouga; I shall take up good winter-quarters. I hope that Alexander will make peace.'—'You have waited a long time, Sire; the inhabitants foretell that it will be a severe winter.'—'Poh! poh! with your inhabitants. It is the 19th of October to-day; you see how fine it is. Do you not recognise my star.' But all that he said to me in the way of encouragement did not deceive even himself: his countenance bore the marks of uneasiness."—Rapp, p. 222.

[181]Jomini, tom. iv., p. 163.

[182]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 95.

[183]Jomini, tom. iv., p. 166; Ségur, tom. ii., p. 101; Labaume, p. 247; Twenty-seventh Bulletin.

[184]"In the habitation of a weaver—an old, crazy, filthy, wooden hut, and in a dirty, dark room—was the fate of the army and of Europe about to be decided."—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 107.

[185]"'O heavens!' exclaimed Napoleon, clasping his hands, 'Are you sure you are right? Are you not mistaken? Will you answer for that?' Bessières repeated his assertion. He affirmed that '300 grenadiers would suffice to keep in check a whole army.' Napoleon then crossed his arms with a look of consternation, hung his head, and remained as if overwhelmed with the deepest dejection."—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 108.

[186]Mémoires de Rapp, p. 227; Ségur, tom. ii., p. 110.

[187]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 117.

[188]Jomini, tom. iv., p. 165.

[189]"Barrels of powder had been placed in all the halls of the palace of the Czars, and 183,000 pounds under the vaults which supported them. While Mortier was rapidly retiring, some Cossacks and squalid Muscovites approached: they listened, and emboldened by the apparent quiet which pervaded the fortress, they ventured to penetrate into it; they ascended, and their hands eager after plunder, were already stretched forth, when in a moment they were all destroyed, crushed, hurled into the air, with the buildings which they had come to pillage, and 30,000 stand of arms that had been left behind there; and then their mangled limbs, mixed with fragments of walls and shattered weapons, blown to a great distance, descended in a horrible shower."—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 129.

[190]Twenty-sixth Bulletin of the Grand Army.

[191]"The inhabitants of Russia do not recollect such a season as we have had for the last twenty years. The army is in an extremely rich country: it may be compared to the best in France or Germany."—Twenty-sixth Bulletin.

[192]"Crossing his arms with violence, as if to grasp and to restrain himself."—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 131.

[193]"The gendarmes remained motionless, like men accustomed to see these violent scenes terminate without effect, and sure of obeying best by disobeying."—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 131.

[194]"Each of us endeavoured to appease the Emperor; the King of Naples, the Duke de Vicenza particularly, suggested to him how much, in the present situation of things, any violence towards a man who had his origin under the quality of a Russian general, would be to be lamented; there was no council of war, and the affair rested there."—Rapp, p. 229.

[195]"The ground was covered all around with fragments of helmets and cuirasses, broken drums, gun-stocks, tatters of uniforms, and standards died with blood. On this desolate spot lay thirty thousand half-devoured corses. A number of skeletons, left on the summit of one of the hills, overlooked the whole. It seemed as if death had here fixed his empire: it was that terrible redoubt, the conquest and the grave of Caulaincourt. The cry, 'It is the field of the great battle!' formed a long and doleful murmur. Napoleon passed quickly—nobody stopped. Cold, hunger, and the enemy urged us on; we merely turned our faces as we proceeded, to take a last melancholy look at the vast grave of our companions in arms."—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 137.—"On arriving at Borodino, my consternation was inexpressible at finding the 20,000 men, who had perished there, yet lying exposed. In one place were to be seen garments yet red with blood, and bones gnawed by dogs and birds of prey; in another were broken arms, drums, helmets, and swords."—Labaume, p. 265.

[196]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 138.

[197]"On approaching Gjatz, we felt the sincerest regret when we perceived that the whole town had disappeared. Gjatz, constructed entirely of wood, was consumed in a day. It contained many excellent manufactories of cloth and leather, and furnished the Russian navy with considerable quantities of tar, cordage, and marine stores."—Labaume, p. 270.

[198]"In this vast wreck, the army, like a great ship tossed by the most tremendous of tempests, threw, without hesitation, into that sea of ice and snow, all that could slacken or impede its progress."—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 159.

[199]Jomini, tom. iv., p. 173; Ségur, tom. ii., p. 150; Twenty-eighth Bulletin.

[200]Labaume, p. 287; Ségur, tom. ii., p. 160.

[201]"I delivered the despatches to the Emperor. He opened the packet with haste: aMoniteurwas uppermost. He ran it over; the first article which caught his eye was the enterprise of Mallet: 'What is this! what! plots! conspiracies!' He tore open his letters: they contained the detail of the attempt: he was thunderstruck."—Rapp, p. 232.—"As soon as he was alone with the most devoted of his officers, all his emotions burst forth at once in exclamations of astonishment, humiliation, and anger. Presently after he sent for several others, to observe the effect which so extraordinary a piece of intelligence would produce upon them. He perceived a painful uneasiness, consternation, and confidence in the stability of his government completely shaken."—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 161.

[202]Jomini, tom. iv., p. 186; Rapp, p. 239; Ségur, tom. ii., p. 165.

[203]Jomini, tom. iv., p. 193; Twenty-eighth Bulletin of the Grand Army; Ségur, tom. ii., p. 181-202.

[204]"Napoleon arrived at Smolensk on the 9th of November, amidst this scene of desolation. He shut himself up in one of the houses in the New Square, and never quitted it till the 14th, to continue his retreat."—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 178.

[205]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 220.

[206]Colonel Boutourlin praises the address of Koutousoff, who, he says, managed with such skill as always to present a superior force to that which the French had upon the field of battle, although his army was on the whole inferior to that of Napoleon. Without admitting the exactness of the last statement, which there is considerable cause to dispute, little merit can be assumed for the Russian general's dexterity in obtaining a numerical superiority at Wiazma, Krasnoi, and elsewhere, when it is considered that Napoleon himself had divided his army into four columns, and placed one day's march betwixt each. The Russians had, therefore, only one column of ten or twelve thousand men to deal with at once.—S.

[207]"He called Mortier, and squeezing his hand sorrowfully, told him, that he had not a moment to lose; that the enemy were overwhelming him in all directions; that Koutousoff might have already reached Liady, perhaps Orcsa, and the last winding of the Boristhenes before him; that he would, therefore, proceed thither rapidly with his old guard, in order to occupy the passage. Then, with his heart full of Ney's misfortunes, and despair at being forced to abandon him, he withdrew slowly towards Liady."—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 227.

[208]"Napoleon marched on foot at the head of his guard, and often talked of Ney; he called to mind hiscoup-d'œilso accurate and true, his courage proof against every thing, in short all the qualities which made him so brilliant on the field of battle. 'He is lost. Well! I have three hundred millions in the Tuileries; I would give them all if he were restored to me.'"—Rapp, p. 242.

[209]"When Napoleon heard that Ney had just reappeared, he leaped and shouted for joy, and exclaimed, 'I have then saved my eagles! I would have given three hundred millions from my treasury sooner than have lost such a man.'"—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 268; Jomini, tom. iv., p. 190.

[210]Jomini, tom. iv., p. 189; Ségur, tom. ii., pp. 245-266.

[211]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 279.

[212]"Napoleon's confidence increased with his peril; in his eyes, and in the midst of these deserts of mud and ice, that handful of men was always the grand army! and himself the conqueror of Europe! and there was no infatuation in this firmness: we were certain of it, when, in this very town, we saw him burning with his own hands every thing belonging to him which might serve as trophies to the enemy, in the event of his fall. There also were unfortunately consumed all the papers which he had collected in order to write the history of his life; for such was his intention when he set out for that fatal war. He had then determined to halt as a threatening conqueror on the borders of the Dwina and the Boristhenes, to which he now returned as a disarmed fugitive. At that time he regarded the ennui of six winter months, which he would have been detained on these rivers as his greatest enemy; and to overcome it, this second Cæsar intended there to have dictated his Commentaries."—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 235.

[213]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 278.

[214]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 282.

[215]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 283.

[216]"The Emperor came out from his barrack, cast his eyes on the other side of the river. 'I have outwitted the admiral' (he could not pronounce the name Tchitchagoff;) 'he believes me to be at the point where I ordered the false attack; he is running to Borizoff.' His eyes sparkled with joy and impatience; he urged the erection of the bridges, and mounted twenty pieces of cannon in battery. These were commanded by a brave officer with a wooden leg, called Brechtel; a ball carried it off during the action, and knocked him down. 'Look,' he said, to one of his gunners, 'for another leg in waggon, No. 5.' He fitted it on, and continued his firing."—Rapp, p. 246.

[217]"Ney took me apart: he said to me in German, 'Our situation is unparalleled; if Napoleon extricates himself to-day, he must have the devil in him.' We were very uneasy, and there was sufficient cause. Murat came to us, and was not less solicitous. 'I have proposed to Napoleon,' he observed to us, 'to save himself, and cross the river at a few leagues distance from hence. I have some Poles who would answer for his safety, and would conduct him to Wilna, but he rejects the proposal, and will not even hear it mentioned. As for me, I do not think we can escape.' We were all three of the same opinion."—Rapp, p. 245.

[218]"When Napoleon saw them fairly in possession of the opposite bank, he exclaimed, 'Behold my star again appear!' for he was a strong believer in fatality,"—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 295.

[219]"Napoleon was deeply affected with so unexpected a misfortune—'Must this loss come to spoil all after having escaped as by a miracle, and having completely beaten the Russians.'"—Rapp, p. 246.

[220]The conduct of the admiral was so unaccountable on this occasion, that some attempted to explain it on his naval habits, and to suppose that he was prevented from sending the reinforcements by the wind being contrary.—S.

[221]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 317; Jomini, tom. iv., p. 195.

[222]"For a long time we had had no news from France; we were ignorant of what was going on in the grand duchy; we were informed of it at Malodeczno. Napoleon received nineteen despatches at once."—Rapp, p. 249.

[223]The reader will find the details of this singular attempt in thesucceeding chapter.

[224]"Napoleon passed through the crowd of his officers, who were drawn up in an avenue as he passed, bidding them adieu merely by forced and melancholy smiles; their good wishes, equally silent, and expressed only by respectful gestures, he carried with him. He and Caulaincourt shut themselves up in a carriage; his Mameluke and Wakasowitch, captain of his guard, occupied the box; Duroc and Lobau followed in a sledge."—Ségur, tom. ii., p. 337.

[225]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 320.

[226]Histoire de l'Ambassade dans le Grand Duché de Varsovi, en 1812, p. 207.

[227]This alludes to exaggerated reports circulated by Marat, Duke of Bassano, then residing at Wilna, of a pretended victory obtained by Napoleon, at the passage at Studzianka.—S.

[228]"Du sublime au ridicule il n'y a qu'un pas?"

[229]"He certainly had a long conversation with me, which he misrepresents, as might be expected; and it was at the very moment when he was delivering a long prosing speech, which appeared to me a mere string of absurdity and impertinence, that I scrawled on the corner of the chimney-piece the order to withdraw him from his embassy, and to send him as soon as possible to France; a circumstance which was the cause of a good deal of merriment at the time, and which the abbé seems very desirous of concealing."—Napoleon,Las Cases, tom. ii., p. 94.

[230]"In Silesia, Napoleon was very nearly taken prisoner by the Prussians; and at Dresden, he only escaped a plot for his seizure, because Lord Walpole, who was at Vienna, dared not give the signal."—Fouché, tom. ii., p. 117.

[231]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 341.

[232]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 351.

[233]Ségur, tom. ii., p. 371.

[234]"Of 400,000 men in arms, who had crossed the Niemen, scarcely 30,000 repassed that river five months afterwards, and of those two-thirds had not seen the Kremlin."—Fouché, tom. ii., p. 118.

[235]"Sir Walter takes great pains to prove that the extraordinary severity of the winter was not the principal cause of this frightful catastrophe. He is facetious about the snow, to which he believes, or pretends to believe, that the twenty-ninth bulletin attributes the disaster; whereas, it was not the snow alone, but a cold of thirty degrees below zero. And have we not often known, in the severe winters of the north of France, where the cold is slight in comparison with that of Russia—travellers to perish under the snow? How then can it be denied that the extreme severity of the winter was the cause of the disaster?"—Louis Buonaparte.

[236]"Sir Walter Scott has not, in this outrage against Napoleon, the merit of novelty: and what is more painful, French writers have been guilty of repeating the ridiculous accusation. What! he who threw himself upon his gigantic adversary at the head of an innumerable army, and conducted it six hundred leagues from his country; who defeated all the armies of his enemy—burned his capital, or was the cause of its destruction—had such a man lost his senses? The expedition to Russia, according to common rules, was ill-judged and rash, and the more so when undertaken without the basis of Poland; and when we consider the formation of the grand army, composed of so many different nations, and that Napoleon persisted in the project in spite of all obstacles, and the disapprobation of the majority of his greatest generals, we are astonished how he succeeded in invading a great portion of the vast territory of Russia, and penetrated as far as the capital of that empire. Whatever his enemies may assert, had it not been for the extraordinary havoc of the winter, the grand army would have returned to the frontiers of Poland, established itself on that line, and menaced the Russian empire anew, and in a more definitive manner, during the following campaign."—Louis Buonaparte, p. 86.

[237]"This was, on Napoleon's part, a new snare held out to the devotedness and credulity of a generous nation; who, struck with consternation, thought that their chief, chastened by misfortune, was ready to seize the first favourable opportunity of bringing back peace, and of at length consolidating the foundation of general happiness."—Fouché, tom. ii., p. 118.

[238]"I shall make two observations on this passage: 1st, I am persuaded that this conspiracy was the work of the Jacobin faction, who always laid in wait to profit by every favourable occasion. This opinion is confirmed by many of the avowals which escaped Fouché in his memoirs. 2dly, The fallacy of the sentiment attributed by Sir Walter Scott to the notion with respect to Napoleon, is proved by the slight success of this conspiracy, when he was not only absent, but as well as his armies, at so considerable a distance from France; it is also proved by his return from the island of Elba, in the month of March, 1815. I think that all those who would after this deny the attachment of the nation to the Emperor, would also deny the light of day."—Louis Buonaparte, p. 86.

[239]"A secret society in the army, whose immediate object it was to overthrow the Imperial power, and whose ultimate purposes were not perhaps known to themselves. Their founder was Colonel Jacques Joseph Odet, a Swiss, at once a debauchee and an enthusiast, on the plan of his countryman Rousseau. He was shot the night before the battle of Wagram, not, as his followers alleged, by a party of Austrians, but by gendarmes, commissioned for that purpose. His sect continued to subsist, and Massena did not escape suspicions of being implicated in its intrigues. There was a communication in their name to Lord Wellington, in May 1809; but the negotiation was not of a character which the British general chose to encourage."—Southey'sPeninsular War, vol. ii., p. 303.—S.

[240]Savary, tom. iii., pp. 13, 32; Fouché, tom. ii., pp. 109, 116.

[241]"Mallet died with greatsang froid, carrying with him the secret of one of the boldestcoups-de-mainwhich the grand epocha of our Revolution bequeaths to history."—Fouché, tom. ii., p. 115.

[242]The Memoirs of Fouché contain a specific averment to this effect.—S.

[243]Moniteur, Dec. 21, 1812; Fouché, tom. ii., p. 120.

[244]He obtained a pension on the restoration of Louis XVIII., with the title of honorary counsellor, which he had forfeited in July, 1815, in consequence of having accepted, during the Hundred Days, the situation of Prefect of the Bouches-du-Rhone. He died in 1828.

[245]"I knew Pius the Seventh from the time of his journey to Paris in 1804, and from that period until his death I never ceased to receive from the venerable Pontiff marks, not of benevolence only, but even of confidence and affection. Since the year 1814 I have resided at Rome: I have often had occasion to see him, and I can affirm, that in many of my interviews with his holiness, he assured me that he was treated by Napoleon, in every personal respect, as he could have wished. These are his very words:—'Personalmente non ho avuto di che dolermi; non ho mai mancato di nulla; la mia persona fu sempre rispettata e trattata in modo da non potermi lagnare.' 'I had nothing to complain of personally; I wanted for nothing; my person was always respected, and treated in a way to afford me no ground of complaint.'"—Louis Buonaparte.

[246]See Moniteur, Feb. 15, 1813.

[247]Moniteur, 27th January, 1813. On the 24th, Napoleon wrote thus to his sister, the Queen of Naples:—"Your husband quitted the army on the 16th. He is a brave man in the field of battle; but he is more cowardly than a woman or a monk when not in presence of the enemy. He has no moral courage."—Baron Fain,Manuscript de, 1813, tom. i., p. 90.

[248]"The Emperor was very much dissatisfied with his conduct; and it is well for the King of Naples that he did not pass through France, where he would certainly have met with a very unfavourable reception."—Savary, tom. iii., p. 43.

[249]"Upon receiving the news that the King of Prussia had escaped, Napoleon regretted he had not treated him as he had done Ferdinand VII. and the Pope. 'This is not the first instance,' said he, 'that in politics, generosity is a bad counsellor.' He generous towards Prussia!!"—Fouché, tom. ii., p. 127.

[250]See Savary, tom. iii., p. 44.

[251]"Sworn from his cradle Rome's relentless foe,Such generous hate the Punic champion bore;Thy lake, O Thrasymene, beheld it glow,And Cannæ's walls and Trebia's crimson'd shore."Shenstone.—S.

"Sworn from his cradle Rome's relentless foe,Such generous hate the Punic champion bore;Thy lake, O Thrasymene, beheld it glow,And Cannæ's walls and Trebia's crimson'd shore."

Shenstone.—S.

[252]"Blucher," said Napoleon, at St. Helena, "is a very brave soldier,un bon sabreur. He is like a bull who shuts his eyes, and, seeing no danger, rushes on. He committed a thousand faults; and, had it not been for circumstances, I could repeatedly have madehimprisoner. He is stubborn and indefatigable, afraid of nothing, and very much attached to his country."—Napoleon in Exile, vol. i., p. 200.

[253]Fouché, tom. ii., p. 124.

[254]Fouché, tom. ii., p. 125.

[255]"As the Empress-Regent could not authorise, by her signature, the presentation of anysenatus consultum, nor the promulgation of any law, the part she had to act was limited to her appearance at the council-board. Besides, she was herself under the tutorship of Cambacérès, who was himself directed by Savary. In fact, after the regency was set in motion, the soul of the government did not the less travel with Napoleon, who did not fail of issuing forth numerous decrees from all his moveable headquarters."—Fouché, tom. ii., p. 137.

[256]See Jomini, tom. iv., p. 271.

[257]Napoleon caused the remains of Bessières to be conveyed to the Invalides at Paris, and intended extraordinary honours for them, of which subsequent events deprived them. "The death of this old and faithful servant produced," says Savary, "a void in the Emperor's heart: fate deprived him of his friends, as if to prepare him for the severe reverses which she had yet in store."

[258]Jomini, tom. iv., p. 274; Military Reports to the Empress; Savary, tom. iii., p. 66; Baron Fain, tom. i., p. 267; Lord Cathcart's Despatch, London Gazette, May 25.

[259]"The Empress expressed great joy at the event, because, she said, it would secure her countrymen, whom she suspected of wavering. She orderedTe Deumto be sung at Notre Dame, whither she herself repaired in state. She was attended by the whole court, and the troops of the guard, and the public, received her with expressions of the most ardent enthusiasm."—Savary, tom. iii., p. 67.

[260]Jomini, tom. iv., p. 304; Manuscript de 1813, tom. i., p. 415; Military Reports to the Empress.

[261]Military Reports to the Empress; Savary, tom. iii., p. 72; Baron Fain, tom. i., p. 441.

[262]Mémoires de Fouché, tom. ii., p. 139.

[263]"If Augereau did utter such nonsense, he would have bestowed upon himself the double charge of folly and absurdity. Augereau did not know Napoleon until the latter had become a general-in-chief; and certainly Napoleon has sufficiently proved, that he had completed his course of military study before he commenced his campaigns in Italy. The battles of Lutzen and Bautzen are at least as memorable in the eyes of soldiers as the first battles in Italy; perhaps more so, when we remember the French army was composed of conscripts, marines, deficient in cavalry; and when we call to mind the valour Napoleon displayed there. He supplied every thing by the force of his genius and enthusiasm."—Louis Buonaparte, p. 89.

[264]Fouché, tom. ii., p. 147.

[265]"I hate the hawk who always lives in war."

[266]"Sir Walter Scott must allow that the end has too clearly shown how well this opinion of Napoleon was founded. I confess having, at this period, urged a peace at whatever price it might be obtained, and having used every effort, however feeble, to influence my brother; but I also confess, I then believed peace really was desired; whereas subsequent events have proved, that the destruction of Napoleon and the abasement of France, were the object in view."—Louis Buonaparte.

[267]Journal, &c. par le Comte de Las Cases, tom. iv., partie 7tième, p. 26.—S.

[268]The following is a ludicrous instance. When the explosion of the infernal machine took place, a bystander rushed into a company, and exclaimed, "The First Consul is blown up." An Austrian veteran chancing to be of the party, who had witnessed Napoleon's wonderful escapes during the Italian campaigns, exclaimed, in ridicule of the facile credulity of the newsmonger, "Heblown up!—Ah, you little know your man—I will wager at this moment he is as well as any of us. I know all his tricks many a day since."—S.

[269]Fouché, tom. ii., p. 152.

[270]Fouché, tom. ii., p. 148. See also Savary, tom. iii., p. 78.

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