January 5th.—Konigsberg occupied by the Russians.January 13th.—Senatus Consultus calls up 250,000 conscripts.January 22nd.—Americans defeated at Frenchtown, near Detroit, and lose 1200 men.January 25th.—Concordat at Fontainebleau between Napoleon and Pope Pius VII., with advantageous terms for the Papacy. The Pope, however, soon breaks faith.January 28th.—Murat deserts the French army for Naples, and leaves Posen. "Your husband is very brave on the battlefield, but he is weaker than a woman or a monk when he is not face to face with an enemy. He has no moral courage"(Napoleon to his sister Caroline, January 24, 1813.Brotonne, 1032).Replaced by Eugène (Napoleon's letter dated January 22nd).February 1st.—Proclamation of Louis XVIII. to the French people (dated London).February 8th.—Warsaw surrenders to Russia.February 10th.—Proclamation of Emperor Alexander calling on the people of Germany to shake off the yoke of "one man."February 28th.—Sixth Continental Coalition against France. Treaty signed between Russia and Prussia at Kalisch.March 3rd.—New treaty between England and Sweden at Stockholm: Sweden to receive a subsidy of a million sterling and the island of Guadaloupe in return for supporting the Coalition with 30,000 men.March 4th.—Cossacks occupy Berlin. Madison inaugurated President U.S.A.March 9th.—Eugène removes his headquarters to Leipsic.March 12th.—French evacuate Hamburg.March 21st.—Russians and Prussians take new town of Dresden.April 1st.—France declares war on Prussia.April 10th.—Death of Lagrange, mathematician;greatly bemoaned by Napoleon, who considered his death as a "presentiment"(D'Abrantès).April 14th.—Swedish army lands in Germany.April 15th.—Napoleon leaves Paris; arrives Erfurt (April 25th).Americans take Mobile.April 16th.—Thorn (garrisoned by 900 Bavarians) surrenders to the Russians. Fort York (now Toronto) andApril 27th.—Upper Canada taken by the Americans.May 1st.—Death of the Abbé Delille, poet. Opening of campaign. French forces scattered in Germany, 166,000 men; Allies' forces ready for action, 225,000 men. Marshal Bessières killed by a cannon-ball at Poserna.May 2nd.—Napoleon with 90,000 men defeats Prussians and Russians at Lutzen (Gross-Goerschen) with 110,000; French loss, 10,000. Battle wonchiefly by French artillery. Emperor of Russia and King of Prussia present.May 8th.—Napoleon and the French reoccupy Dresden.May 18th.—Eugène reaches Milan, and enrols an Italian army 47,000 strong.May 19th-21st.—Combats of Konigswartha, Bautzen, Hochkirch, Würschen. Napoleon defeats Prussians and Russians; French loss, 12,000; Allies, 20,000.May 23rd.—Duroc (shot on May 22nd) dies. "Duroc," said the Emperor, "there is another life. It is there you will go to await me, and there we shall meet again some day."May 27th.—Americans capture Fort George (Lake Ontario) andMay 29th.—Defeat English at Sackett's Harbour.May 30th.—French re-enter Hamburg andJune 1st.—Occupy Breslau. British frigateShannoncapturesChesapeakein fifteen minutes outside Boston harbour.June 4th.—Armistice of Plesswitz, between Napoleon and the Allies.June 6th.—Americans (3500) surprised at Burlington Heights by 700 British.June 15th.—Siege of Tarragona raised by Suchet; English re-embark, leaving their artillery. "If I had had two marshals such as Suchet, I should not only have conquered Spain, but I should have kept it"(Napoleon inCampan's Memoirs).June 21st.—Battle of Vittoria; total rout of the French under Marshal Jourdan and King Joseph. In retreat the army is much more harassed by the guerillas than by the English.June 23rd.—Admiral Cockburn defeated at Craney Island by Americans.June 24th.—Five hundred Americans surrender to two hundred Canadians at Beaver's Dams.June 25th.—Combat of Tolosa. Foy stops the advance of the English right wing.June 30th.—Convention at Dresden. Napoleon accepts the mediation of Austria; armistice prolonged to August 10th.July 1st.—Soult sent to take chief command in Spain.July 10th.—Alliance between France and Denmark.July 12th.—Congress of Prague. Austria, Prussia, and Russia decide that Germany must be independent, and the French Empire bounded by the Rhine and the Alps; "but to reign over 36,000,000 men did not appear to Napoleon a sufficiently great destiny"(Montgaillard).Congress breaks up July 28th.July 26th.—Moreau arrives from U.S., and lands at Gothenburg.July 31st.—Soult attacks Anglo-Spanish army near Roncesvalles in order to succour Pampeluna. Is repulsed, with loss of 8000 men.August 12th.—Austria notifies its adhesion to the Allies.August 15th.—Jomini, the Swiss tactician, turns traitor and escapes to the Allies. He advises them of Napoleon's plans to seize Berlin and relieve Dantzic [see letter to Ney, No. 19,714, 20,006, and especially 20,360 (August 12th) inCorrespondence].On August 16th Napoleon writes to Cambacérès: "Jomini, Ney's chief of staff, has deserted. It is he who published some volumes on the campaigns and who has been in the pay of Russia for a long time. He has yielded to corruption. He is a soldier of little value, yet he is a writer who has grasped some of the sound principles of war."August 17th.—Renewal of hostilities in Germany. Napoleon's army, 280,000, of whom half recruits who had never seen a battle; the Allies 520,000, excluding militia. In his counter-manifesto to Austria, dated Bautzen, Napoleon declares "Austria, the enemy of France, and cloaking her ambition under the mask of a mediation, complicated everything.... But Austria, our avowed foe, is in a truer guise, and one perfectly obvious. Europe is therefore much nearer peace; there is one complication the less."August 18th.—Suchet, having blown up fortifications of Tarragona, evacuates Valentia.August 21st.—Opening of the campaign in Italy. Eugène, with 50,000 men, commands the Franco-Italian army.August 23rd.—Combats of Gross-Beeren and Ahrensdorf, near Berlin. Bernadotte defeats Oudinot with loss of 1500 men and 20 guns. Berlin is preserved to the Allies. Oudinot replaced by Ney. Lauriston defeats Army of Silesia at Goldberg with heavy loss.August 26th-27th.—Battle of Dresden.—Napoleon marches a hundred miles in seventy hours to the rescue. With less than 100,000 men he defeats the Allied Army of 180,000 under Schwartzenberg, Wittgenstein, and Kleist. Austrians lose 20,000 prisoners and 60 guns. Moreau is mortally wounded (dies September 1st).Combat of the Katzbach, in Silesia. Blucher defeats Macdonald with heavy loss, who loses 10,000 to 12,000 men in his retreat.August 30th.—Combat of Kulm. Vandamme enveloped in Bohemia, and surrenders with 12,000 men.August 31st.—Combat of Irun. Soult attacks Wellington to save San Sebastian, but is repulsed. Graham storms San Sebastian.September 6th.—Combat of Dennewitz (near Berlin). Ney routed by Bulow and Bernadotte; loses his artillery, baggage, and 12,000 men.September 10th—Americans capture the English flotilla on Lake Erie.September 12th.—Combat of Villafranca (near Barcelona). Suchet defeats English General Bentinck.October 7th.—Wellington crosses the Bidassoa into France. "It is on the frontier of France itself that ends the enterprise of Napoleon on Spain. The Spaniards have given the first conception of a people's war versus a war of professionals. For it would be a mistake to think that the battles of Salamanca (July 22nd, 1812) and Vittoria (June 21st, 1813) forced the French to abandon the Peninsula.... It was the daily losses, the destruction of man by man, the drops of French blood falling one by one, which in five years aggregated a death-roll of 150,000 men. As to the English, they appeared in this war only as they do in every world-crisis, to gather, in the midst of general desolation, the fruits of their policy, and to consolidate their plans of maritime despotism, of exclusive commerce" (Montgaillard).October 15th.—Bavarian army secedes and joins the Austrians.October 16th-19th.—Battles of Leipsic.Allied army330,000 men (Schwartzenberg,Bernadotte,Blucher,Beningsen),Napoleon175,000.Twenty-six battalions and ten squadrons of Saxon and Wurtemberg men leave Napoleon and turn their guns against the French. Napoleon is not defeated, but determines to retreat. The rearguard (20,000 men) and 200 cannon taken. Poniatowski drowned; Reynier and Lauriston captured.October 20th.—Blucher made Field-Marshal.October 23rd.—French army reach Erfurt.October 30th.—Combat of Hanau. Napoleon defeats Wrede with heavy loss.October 31st.—Combat and capture of Bassano by Eugène. English capture Pampeluna.November 2nd.—Napoleon arrives at Mayence (where typhus carries off 40,000 French), and isNovember 9th.—At St. Cloud.November 10th.—Wellington defeats Soult at St. Jean de Luz.November 11th.—Surrender of Dresden by Gouvion St. Cyr; its French soldiers to return under parole to France. Austrians refuse to ratify the convention, and 1700 officers and 23,000 men remain prisoners of war.November 14th.—Napoleon addresses the Senate: "All Europe marched with us a year ago; all Europe marches against us to-day. That is because the world's opinion is directed either by France or England."November 15th.—Eugène defeats Austrians at Caldiero. Senatus-Consultus puts 300,000 conscripts at disposal of government.November 24th.—Capture of Amsterdam by Prussian General Bulow.December 1st.—Allies declare at Frankfort that they are at war with the Emperor and not with France.December 2nd.—Bulow occupies Utrecht. Holland secedes from the French Empire.December 5th.—Capture of Lubeck by the Swedes, and surrender of Stettin (7000 prisoners), Zamosk (December 22nd), Modlin (December 25th), and Torgau (December 26th, with 10,000 men).December 8th-13th.—Soult defends the passage of the Nive—costly to both sides. Murat (now hostile to Napoleon) enters Ancona.December 9th-10th.—French evacuate Breda.December 11th.—Treaty of Valençay between Napoleon and his prisoner Ferdinand VII., who is to reign over Spain, but not to cede Minorca or Ceuta (now in their power} to the English.December 15th.—Denmark secedes from French alliance.December 21st.—Allies, 100,000 strong, cross the Rhine in ten divisions (Bâle to Schaffhausen). Jomini is said to have contributed to this violation of Swiss territory.December 24th.—Final evacuation of Holland by the French.December 28th.—Austrians capture Ragusa.December 31st.—Napoleon, having trouble with his Commons, dissolves the Corps Législatif.Austrians capture Geneva. Blucher crosses the Rhine at Mannheim and Coblentz. Exclusive of Landwehr and levies en masse, there are now a million trained men in arms against Napoleon.
January 5th.—Konigsberg occupied by the Russians.
January 13th.—Senatus Consultus calls up 250,000 conscripts.
January 22nd.—Americans defeated at Frenchtown, near Detroit, and lose 1200 men.
January 25th.—Concordat at Fontainebleau between Napoleon and Pope Pius VII., with advantageous terms for the Papacy. The Pope, however, soon breaks faith.
January 28th.—Murat deserts the French army for Naples, and leaves Posen. "Your husband is very brave on the battlefield, but he is weaker than a woman or a monk when he is not face to face with an enemy. He has no moral courage"(Napoleon to his sister Caroline, January 24, 1813.Brotonne, 1032).Replaced by Eugène (Napoleon's letter dated January 22nd).
February 1st.—Proclamation of Louis XVIII. to the French people (dated London).
February 8th.—Warsaw surrenders to Russia.
February 10th.—Proclamation of Emperor Alexander calling on the people of Germany to shake off the yoke of "one man."
February 28th.—Sixth Continental Coalition against France. Treaty signed between Russia and Prussia at Kalisch.
March 3rd.—New treaty between England and Sweden at Stockholm: Sweden to receive a subsidy of a million sterling and the island of Guadaloupe in return for supporting the Coalition with 30,000 men.
March 4th.—Cossacks occupy Berlin. Madison inaugurated President U.S.A.
March 9th.—Eugène removes his headquarters to Leipsic.
March 12th.—French evacuate Hamburg.
March 21st.—Russians and Prussians take new town of Dresden.
April 1st.—France declares war on Prussia.
April 10th.—Death of Lagrange, mathematician;greatly bemoaned by Napoleon, who considered his death as a "presentiment"(D'Abrantès).
April 14th.—Swedish army lands in Germany.
April 15th.—Napoleon leaves Paris; arrives Erfurt (April 25th).Americans take Mobile.
April 16th.—Thorn (garrisoned by 900 Bavarians) surrenders to the Russians. Fort York (now Toronto) and
April 27th.—Upper Canada taken by the Americans.
May 1st.—Death of the Abbé Delille, poet. Opening of campaign. French forces scattered in Germany, 166,000 men; Allies' forces ready for action, 225,000 men. Marshal Bessières killed by a cannon-ball at Poserna.
May 2nd.—Napoleon with 90,000 men defeats Prussians and Russians at Lutzen (Gross-Goerschen) with 110,000; French loss, 10,000. Battle won
chiefly by French artillery. Emperor of Russia and King of Prussia present.
May 8th.—Napoleon and the French reoccupy Dresden.
May 18th.—Eugène reaches Milan, and enrols an Italian army 47,000 strong.
May 19th-21st.—Combats of Konigswartha, Bautzen, Hochkirch, Würschen. Napoleon defeats Prussians and Russians; French loss, 12,000; Allies, 20,000.
May 23rd.—Duroc (shot on May 22nd) dies. "Duroc," said the Emperor, "there is another life. It is there you will go to await me, and there we shall meet again some day."
May 27th.—Americans capture Fort George (Lake Ontario) and
May 29th.—Defeat English at Sackett's Harbour.
May 30th.—French re-enter Hamburg and
June 1st.—Occupy Breslau. British frigateShannoncapturesChesapeakein fifteen minutes outside Boston harbour.
June 4th.—Armistice of Plesswitz, between Napoleon and the Allies.
June 6th.—Americans (3500) surprised at Burlington Heights by 700 British.
June 15th.—Siege of Tarragona raised by Suchet; English re-embark, leaving their artillery. "If I had had two marshals such as Suchet, I should not only have conquered Spain, but I should have kept it"(Napoleon inCampan's Memoirs).
June 21st.—Battle of Vittoria; total rout of the French under Marshal Jourdan and King Joseph. In retreat the army is much more harassed by the guerillas than by the English.
June 23rd.—Admiral Cockburn defeated at Craney Island by Americans.
June 24th.—Five hundred Americans surrender to two hundred Canadians at Beaver's Dams.
June 25th.—Combat of Tolosa. Foy stops the advance of the English right wing.
June 30th.—Convention at Dresden. Napoleon accepts the mediation of Austria; armistice prolonged to August 10th.
July 1st.—Soult sent to take chief command in Spain.
July 10th.—Alliance between France and Denmark.
July 12th.—Congress of Prague. Austria, Prussia, and Russia decide that Germany must be independent, and the French Empire bounded by the Rhine and the Alps; "but to reign over 36,000,000 men did not appear to Napoleon a sufficiently great destiny"(Montgaillard).Congress breaks up July 28th.
July 26th.—Moreau arrives from U.S., and lands at Gothenburg.
July 31st.—Soult attacks Anglo-Spanish army near Roncesvalles in order to succour Pampeluna. Is repulsed, with loss of 8000 men.
August 12th.—Austria notifies its adhesion to the Allies.
August 15th.—Jomini, the Swiss tactician, turns traitor and escapes to the Allies. He advises them of Napoleon's plans to seize Berlin and relieve Dantzic [see letter to Ney, No. 19,714, 20,006, and especially 20,360 (August 12th) inCorrespondence].On August 16th Napoleon writes to Cambacérès: "Jomini, Ney's chief of staff, has deserted. It is he who published some volumes on the campaigns and who has been in the pay of Russia for a long time. He has yielded to corruption. He is a soldier of little value, yet he is a writer who has grasped some of the sound principles of war."
August 17th.—Renewal of hostilities in Germany. Napoleon's army, 280,000, of whom half recruits who had never seen a battle; the Allies 520,000, excluding militia. In his counter-manifesto to Austria, dated Bautzen, Napoleon declares "Austria, the enemy of France, and cloaking her ambition under the mask of a mediation, complicated everything.... But Austria, our avowed foe, is in a truer guise, and one perfectly obvious. Europe is therefore much nearer peace; there is one complication the less."
August 18th.—Suchet, having blown up fortifications of Tarragona, evacuates Valentia.
August 21st.—Opening of the campaign in Italy. Eugène, with 50,000 men, commands the Franco-Italian army.
August 23rd.—Combats of Gross-Beeren and Ahrensdorf, near Berlin. Bernadotte defeats Oudinot with loss of 1500 men and 20 guns. Berlin is preserved to the Allies. Oudinot replaced by Ney. Lauriston defeats Army of Silesia at Goldberg with heavy loss.
August 26th-27th.—Battle of Dresden.—Napoleon marches a hundred miles in seventy hours to the rescue. With less than 100,000 men he defeats the Allied Army of 180,000 under Schwartzenberg, Wittgenstein, and Kleist. Austrians lose 20,000 prisoners and 60 guns. Moreau is mortally wounded (dies September 1st).Combat of the Katzbach, in Silesia. Blucher defeats Macdonald with heavy loss, who loses 10,000 to 12,000 men in his retreat.
August 30th.—Combat of Kulm. Vandamme enveloped in Bohemia, and surrenders with 12,000 men.
August 31st.—Combat of Irun. Soult attacks Wellington to save San Sebastian, but is repulsed. Graham storms San Sebastian.
September 6th.—Combat of Dennewitz (near Berlin). Ney routed by Bulow and Bernadotte; loses his artillery, baggage, and 12,000 men.
September 10th—Americans capture the English flotilla on Lake Erie.
September 12th.—Combat of Villafranca (near Barcelona). Suchet defeats English General Bentinck.
October 7th.—Wellington crosses the Bidassoa into France. "It is on the frontier of France itself that ends the enterprise of Napoleon on Spain. The Spaniards have given the first conception of a people's war versus a war of professionals. For it would be a mistake to think that the battles of Salamanca (July 22nd, 1812) and Vittoria (June 21st, 1813) forced the French to abandon the Peninsula.... It was the daily losses, the destruction of man by man, the drops of French blood falling one by one, which in five years aggregated a death-roll of 150,000 men. As to the English, they appeared in this war only as they do in every world-crisis, to gather, in the midst of general desolation, the fruits of their policy, and to consolidate their plans of maritime despotism, of exclusive commerce" (Montgaillard).
October 15th.—Bavarian army secedes and joins the Austrians.
October 16th-19th.—Battles of Leipsic.Allied army330,000 men (Schwartzenberg,Bernadotte,Blucher,Beningsen),Napoleon175,000.Twenty-six battalions and ten squadrons of Saxon and Wurtemberg men leave Napoleon and turn their guns against the French. Napoleon is not defeated, but determines to retreat. The rearguard (20,000 men) and 200 cannon taken. Poniatowski drowned; Reynier and Lauriston captured.
October 20th.—Blucher made Field-Marshal.
October 23rd.—French army reach Erfurt.
October 30th.—Combat of Hanau. Napoleon defeats Wrede with heavy loss.
October 31st.—Combat and capture of Bassano by Eugène. English capture Pampeluna.
November 2nd.—Napoleon arrives at Mayence (where typhus carries off 40,000 French), and is
November 9th.—At St. Cloud.
November 10th.—Wellington defeats Soult at St. Jean de Luz.
November 11th.—Surrender of Dresden by Gouvion St. Cyr; its French soldiers to return under parole to France. Austrians refuse to ratify the convention, and 1700 officers and 23,000 men remain prisoners of war.
November 14th.—Napoleon addresses the Senate: "All Europe marched with us a year ago; all Europe marches against us to-day. That is because the world's opinion is directed either by France or England."
November 15th.—Eugène defeats Austrians at Caldiero. Senatus-Consultus puts 300,000 conscripts at disposal of government.
November 24th.—Capture of Amsterdam by Prussian General Bulow.
December 1st.—Allies declare at Frankfort that they are at war with the Emperor and not with France.
December 2nd.—Bulow occupies Utrecht. Holland secedes from the French Empire.
December 5th.—Capture of Lubeck by the Swedes, and surrender of Stettin (7000 prisoners), Zamosk (December 22nd), Modlin (December 25th), and Torgau (December 26th, with 10,000 men).
December 8th-13th.—Soult defends the passage of the Nive—costly to both sides. Murat (now hostile to Napoleon) enters Ancona.
December 9th-10th.—French evacuate Breda.
December 11th.—Treaty of Valençay between Napoleon and his prisoner Ferdinand VII., who is to reign over Spain, but not to cede Minorca or Ceuta (now in their power} to the English.
December 15th.—Denmark secedes from French alliance.
December 21st.—Allies, 100,000 strong, cross the Rhine in ten divisions (Bâle to Schaffhausen). Jomini is said to have contributed to this violation of Swiss territory.
December 24th.—Final evacuation of Holland by the French.
December 28th.—Austrians capture Ragusa.
December 31st.—Napoleon, having trouble with his Commons, dissolves the Corps Législatif.Austrians capture Geneva. Blucher crosses the Rhine at Mannheim and Coblentz. Exclusive of Landwehr and levies en masse, there are now a million trained men in arms against Napoleon.
1814.
"The Allied Powers having proclaimed that the Emperor Napoleon was the sole obstacle to the re-establishment of the Peace of Europe, the Emperor Napoleon, faithful to his oath, declares that he renounces, for himself and his heirs, the thrones of France and Italy, and that there is no personal sacrifice, even that of life itself, that he will not be ready to make for the sake of France."—(Act of Abdication.)January 1st.—Capitulation of Danzic, which General Rapp had defended for nearly a year, having lost 20,000 (out of 30,000) men by fever. Russians, who had promised to send the French home, break faith, following the example of Schwartzenberg at Dresden.January 2nd.—Russians take Fort Louis (Lower Rhine); andJanuary 3rd.—Austrians Montbéliard; and Bavarians Colmar.January 6th.—General York occupies Trèves. Convention between Murat and England and (January 11th) with Austria. Murat is to join Allies with 30,000 men.January 7th.—Austrians occupy Vesoul.January 8th.—French Rentes 5 per cents. at 47.50. Wurtemberg troops occupy Epinal.January 10th.—General York reaches Forbach (on the Moselle).January 15th.—Cossacks occupy Cologne.January 16th.—Russians occupy Nancy.January 19th.—Austrians occupy Dijon; Bavarians, Neufchâteau. Murat's troops occupy Rome.January 20th.—Capture of Toul by the Russians; and of Chambéry by the Austrians.January 21st.—Austrians occupy Châlons-sur-Saône. General York crosses the Meuse.January 23rd.—Pope Pius VII. returns to Rome.January 25th.—General York and Army of Silesia established at St. Dizier and Joinville on the Marne. Austrians occupy Bar-sur-Aube.Napoleon leaves Paris; andJanuary 26th.—Reaches Châlons-sur-Marne; andJanuary 27th.—Retakes St. Dizier in person.January 29th.—Combat of Brienne. Napoleon defeats Blucher.February 1st.—Battle of La Rothière, six miles north of Brienne. French, 40,000; Allies, 110,000. Drawn battle, but French retreat on Troyes; French evacuate Brussels.February 4th.—Eugène retires upon the Mincio.February 5th.—Cortes disavow Napoleon's treaty of Valençay with Ferdinand VII.Opening of Congress of Châtillon. General York occupies Châlons-sur-Marne.February 7th.—Allies seize Troyes.February 8th.—Battle of the Mincio. Eugène with 30,000 conscripts defeats Austrians under Bellegarde with 50,000 veterans.February 10th.—Combat of Champaubert. Napoleon defeats Russians.February 11th.—Combat of Montmirail. Napoleon defeats Sacken. Russians occupy Nogent-sur-Seine; andFebruary 12th.—Laon.February 14th.—Napoleon routs Blucher at Vauchamp. His losses, 10,000 men; French loss, 600 men. In five days Napoleon has wiped out the five corps of the Army of Silesia, inflicting a loss of 25,000 men.February 17th.—Combat near Nangis. Napoleon defeats Austro-Russians with loss of 10,000 men and 12 cannon.February 18th.—Combat of Montereau. Prince Royal of Wurtemberg defeated with loss of 7000.February 21st.—Comte d'Artois arrives at Vesoul.February 22nd.—Combat of Méry-sur-Seine. Sacken defeated by Boyer's Division, who fight in masks—it being Shrove Tuesday.February 24th.—French re-enter Troyes.February 27th.—Bulow captures La Fère with large stores. Battle of Orthes (Pyrenees), Wellington with 70,000 defeats Soult entrenched with 38,000. Foy badly wounded.February 27th-28th.—Combats of Bar and Ferté-sur-Aube. Marshals Oudinot and Macdonald forced to retire on the Seine.March 1st.—Treaty of Chaumont—Allies against Napoleon.March 2nd.—Bulow takes Soissons.March 4th.—Macdonald evacuates Troyes.March 7th.—Battle of Craonne between Napoleon (30,000 men) and Sacken (100,000).Indecisive.March 9th.—English driven from Berg-op-Zoom.March 9th-10th.—Combat under Laon: depôt of Allied army. Napoleon fails to capture it.March 12th.—Duc d'Angoulême arrives at Bordeaux. This town is the first to declare for the Bourbons, and to welcome him as Louis XVIII.March 13th.—Ferdinand VII. set at liberty.March 14th.—Napoleon retakes Rheims from the Russians.March 19th.—Rupture of Treaty of Châtillon.March 20th.—Battle of Tarbes. Wellington defeats French.March 20th-21st.—Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube. Indecisive.March 21st.—Austrians enter Lyons. Augereau retires on Valence. Had Eugène joined him with his 40,000 men he might have saved France after Vauchamp.March 25th.—Combat of Fère-Champenoise. Marmont and Mortier defeated with loss of 9000 men.March 26th.—Combat of St. Dizier. Napoleon defeats Russians, and starts to save Paris.March 29th.—Allies outside Paris. Napoleon at Troyes (125 miles off).March 30th.—Battle of Paris.The Emperor's orders disobeyed. Heavy cannon from Cherbourg left outside Paris, also 20,000 men. Clarke deserts to the Allies. Joseph runs away, leaving Marmont permission to capitulate. After losing 5000 men (and Allies 8000) Marmont evacuates Paris and retires.Napoleon reaches Fontainebleau in the evening, and hears the bad news.March 31st.—Emperor of Russia, King of Prussia, and 36,000 men enter Paris. Stocks and shares advance. Emperor Alexander states, "The Allied Sovereigns will treat no longer with Napoleon Bonaparte, nor any of his family."April 1st.—Senate, with Talleyrand as President, institute a Provisional Government.April 2nd.—Provisional Government address the army: "You are no longer the soldiers of Napoleon; the Senate and the whole of France absolve you from your oaths." They also declare Napoleon deposed from the throne, and his family from the succession.April 4th.—Napoleon signs a declaration of abdication in favour of his son, but after two days' deliberation, and Marmont's defection, Alexander insists on an absolute abdication.April 5th.—Convention of Chevilly. Marmont agrees to join the Provisional Government, and disband his army under promise that Allies will guarantee life and liberty to Napoleon Bonaparte. Funds on March 29th at 45, now at 63.75.April 6th.—New Constitution decreed by the Senate. The National Guard ordered to wear the White Cockade in lieu of the Tricolor.April 10th.—Battle of Toulouse. Hotly contested; almost a defeat for Wellington.April 11th.—Treaty of Paris between Napoleon and Allies (Austria, Russia, and Prussia). Isle of Elba reserved for Napoleon and his family, with a revenue of £200,000; the Duchies of Parma and Placentia for Marie Louise and her son. England accedes to this Treaty. Act of Abdication of the Emperor Napoleon.April 12th.—Count d'Artois enters Paris.April 16th.—Convention between Eugène and Austrian General Bellegarde. Emperor of Austria sees Marie Louise at the little Trianon, and decides upon his daughter's return to Vienna.April 18th.—Armistice of Soult and Wellington.April 20th.—Napoleon leaves Fontainebleau, and bids adieu to his Old Guard: "Do not mourn over my fate; if I have determined to survive, it is in order still to dedicate myself to your glory; I wish to write about the great things we have done together."April 24th.—Louis XVIII. lands at Calais, andMay 3rd.—-Enters Paris.May 4th.—-Napoleon reaches Elba.May 29th.—Death of Josephine, aged 51.May 30th.—Peace of Paris.
"The Allied Powers having proclaimed that the Emperor Napoleon was the sole obstacle to the re-establishment of the Peace of Europe, the Emperor Napoleon, faithful to his oath, declares that he renounces, for himself and his heirs, the thrones of France and Italy, and that there is no personal sacrifice, even that of life itself, that he will not be ready to make for the sake of France."—(Act of Abdication.)
January 1st.—Capitulation of Danzic, which General Rapp had defended for nearly a year, having lost 20,000 (out of 30,000) men by fever. Russians, who had promised to send the French home, break faith, following the example of Schwartzenberg at Dresden.
January 2nd.—Russians take Fort Louis (Lower Rhine); and
January 3rd.—Austrians Montbéliard; and Bavarians Colmar.
January 6th.—General York occupies Trèves. Convention between Murat and England and (January 11th) with Austria. Murat is to join Allies with 30,000 men.
January 7th.—Austrians occupy Vesoul.
January 8th.—French Rentes 5 per cents. at 47.50. Wurtemberg troops occupy Epinal.
January 10th.—General York reaches Forbach (on the Moselle).
January 15th.—Cossacks occupy Cologne.
January 16th.—Russians occupy Nancy.
January 19th.—Austrians occupy Dijon; Bavarians, Neufchâteau. Murat's troops occupy Rome.
January 20th.—Capture of Toul by the Russians; and of Chambéry by the Austrians.
January 21st.—Austrians occupy Châlons-sur-Saône. General York crosses the Meuse.
January 23rd.—Pope Pius VII. returns to Rome.
January 25th.—General York and Army of Silesia established at St. Dizier and Joinville on the Marne. Austrians occupy Bar-sur-Aube.Napoleon leaves Paris; and
January 26th.—Reaches Châlons-sur-Marne; and
January 27th.—Retakes St. Dizier in person.
January 29th.—Combat of Brienne. Napoleon defeats Blucher.
February 1st.—Battle of La Rothière, six miles north of Brienne. French, 40,000; Allies, 110,000. Drawn battle, but French retreat on Troyes; French evacuate Brussels.
February 4th.—Eugène retires upon the Mincio.
February 5th.—Cortes disavow Napoleon's treaty of Valençay with Ferdinand VII.Opening of Congress of Châtillon. General York occupies Châlons-sur-Marne.
February 7th.—Allies seize Troyes.
February 8th.—Battle of the Mincio. Eugène with 30,000 conscripts defeats Austrians under Bellegarde with 50,000 veterans.
February 10th.—Combat of Champaubert. Napoleon defeats Russians.
February 11th.—Combat of Montmirail. Napoleon defeats Sacken. Russians occupy Nogent-sur-Seine; and
February 12th.—Laon.
February 14th.—Napoleon routs Blucher at Vauchamp. His losses, 10,000 men; French loss, 600 men. In five days Napoleon has wiped out the five corps of the Army of Silesia, inflicting a loss of 25,000 men.
February 17th.—Combat near Nangis. Napoleon defeats Austro-Russians with loss of 10,000 men and 12 cannon.
February 18th.—Combat of Montereau. Prince Royal of Wurtemberg defeated with loss of 7000.
February 21st.—Comte d'Artois arrives at Vesoul.
February 22nd.—Combat of Méry-sur-Seine. Sacken defeated by Boyer's Division, who fight in masks—it being Shrove Tuesday.
February 24th.—French re-enter Troyes.
February 27th.—Bulow captures La Fère with large stores. Battle of Orthes (Pyrenees), Wellington with 70,000 defeats Soult entrenched with 38,000. Foy badly wounded.
February 27th-28th.—Combats of Bar and Ferté-sur-Aube. Marshals Oudinot and Macdonald forced to retire on the Seine.
March 1st.—Treaty of Chaumont—Allies against Napoleon.
March 2nd.—Bulow takes Soissons.
March 4th.—Macdonald evacuates Troyes.
March 7th.—Battle of Craonne between Napoleon (30,000 men) and Sacken (100,000).Indecisive.
March 9th.—English driven from Berg-op-Zoom.
March 9th-10th.—Combat under Laon: depôt of Allied army. Napoleon fails to capture it.
March 12th.—Duc d'Angoulême arrives at Bordeaux. This town is the first to declare for the Bourbons, and to welcome him as Louis XVIII.
March 13th.—Ferdinand VII. set at liberty.
March 14th.—Napoleon retakes Rheims from the Russians.
March 19th.—Rupture of Treaty of Châtillon.
March 20th.—Battle of Tarbes. Wellington defeats French.
March 20th-21st.—Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube. Indecisive.
March 21st.—Austrians enter Lyons. Augereau retires on Valence. Had Eugène joined him with his 40,000 men he might have saved France after Vauchamp.
March 25th.—Combat of Fère-Champenoise. Marmont and Mortier defeated with loss of 9000 men.
March 26th.—Combat of St. Dizier. Napoleon defeats Russians, and starts to save Paris.
March 29th.—Allies outside Paris. Napoleon at Troyes (125 miles off).
March 30th.—Battle of Paris.The Emperor's orders disobeyed. Heavy cannon from Cherbourg left outside Paris, also 20,000 men. Clarke deserts to the Allies. Joseph runs away, leaving Marmont permission to capitulate. After losing 5000 men (and Allies 8000) Marmont evacuates Paris and retires.Napoleon reaches Fontainebleau in the evening, and hears the bad news.
March 31st.—Emperor of Russia, King of Prussia, and 36,000 men enter Paris. Stocks and shares advance. Emperor Alexander states, "The Allied Sovereigns will treat no longer with Napoleon Bonaparte, nor any of his family."
April 1st.—Senate, with Talleyrand as President, institute a Provisional Government.
April 2nd.—Provisional Government address the army: "You are no longer the soldiers of Napoleon; the Senate and the whole of France absolve you from your oaths." They also declare Napoleon deposed from the throne, and his family from the succession.
April 4th.—Napoleon signs a declaration of abdication in favour of his son, but after two days' deliberation, and Marmont's defection, Alexander insists on an absolute abdication.
April 5th.—Convention of Chevilly. Marmont agrees to join the Provisional Government, and disband his army under promise that Allies will guarantee life and liberty to Napoleon Bonaparte. Funds on March 29th at 45, now at 63.75.
April 6th.—New Constitution decreed by the Senate. The National Guard ordered to wear the White Cockade in lieu of the Tricolor.
April 10th.—Battle of Toulouse. Hotly contested; almost a defeat for Wellington.
April 11th.—Treaty of Paris between Napoleon and Allies (Austria, Russia, and Prussia). Isle of Elba reserved for Napoleon and his family, with a revenue of £200,000; the Duchies of Parma and Placentia for Marie Louise and her son. England accedes to this Treaty. Act of Abdication of the Emperor Napoleon.
April 12th.—Count d'Artois enters Paris.
April 16th.—Convention between Eugène and Austrian General Bellegarde. Emperor of Austria sees Marie Louise at the little Trianon, and decides upon his daughter's return to Vienna.
April 18th.—Armistice of Soult and Wellington.
April 20th.—Napoleon leaves Fontainebleau, and bids adieu to his Old Guard: "Do not mourn over my fate; if I have determined to survive, it is in order still to dedicate myself to your glory; I wish to write about the great things we have done together."
April 24th.—Louis XVIII. lands at Calais, and
May 3rd.—-Enters Paris.
May 4th.—-Napoleon reaches Elba.
May 29th.—Death of Josephine, aged 51.
May 30th.—Peace of Paris.
Joséphine
THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGNS, 1796-97
(The numbers correspond to the numbers of the Letters.)
No. 1.
Bonaparte made Commander-in-Chief of the Army of Italy.—Marmont's account of how this came to pass is probably substantially correct, as he has less interest in distorting the facts than any other writer as well fitted for the task. The winter had rolled by in the midst of pleasures—soirées at the Luxembourg, dinners of Madame Tallien, "nor," he adds, "were we hard to please." "The Directory often conversed with General Bonaparte about the army of Italy, whose general—Schérer—was always representing the position as difficult, and never ceasing to ask for help in men, victuals, and money. General Bonaparte showed, in many concise observations, that all that was superfluous. He strongly blamed the little advantage taken from the victory at Loano, and asserted that, even yet, all that could be put right. Thus a sort of controversy was maintained between Schérer and the Directory, counselled and inspired by Bonaparte." At last when Bonaparte drew up plans—afterwards followed—for the invasion of Piedmont, Schérer replied roughly that he who had drawn up the plan of campaign had better come and execute it. They took him at his word, and Bonaparte was named General-in-Chief of the army of Italy (vol. i. 93).
"7A.M."—Probably written early in March. Leaving Paris on March 11th, Napoleon writes Letourneur, President of theDirectory, of his marriage with the "citoyenne Tascher Beauharnais," and tells him that he has already asked Barras to inform them of the fact. "The confidence which the Directory has shown me under all circumstances makes it my duty to keep it advised of all my actions. It is a new link which binds me to the fatherland; it is one more proof of my fixed determination to find safety only in the Republic."[41]
No. 2.
"Our good Ossian."—The Italian translation of Ossian by Cesarotti was a masterpiece; better, in fact, than the original. He was a friend of Macpherson, and had learnt English in order to translate his work. Cesarotti lived till an advanced age, and was sought out in his retirement in order to receive honours and pensions from the Emperor Napoleon.
"Our good Ossian" speaks, like Homer, of the joy of grief.
No. 4.
"Chauvet is dead."—Chauvet is first mentioned in Napoleon's correspondence in a letter to his brother Joseph, August 9, 1795. Mdme. Junot,Memoirs, i. 138, tells us that Bonaparte was very fond of him, and that he was a man of gentle manners and very ordinary conversation. She declares that Bonaparte had been a suitor for the hand of her mother shortly before his marriage with Josephine, and that because the former rejected him, the general had refused a favour to her son; this had caused a quarrel which Chauvet had in vain tried to settle. On March 27th Bonaparte had written Chauvet from Nice that every day that he delayed joining him, "takes away from my operations one chance of probability for their success."
No. 5.
St. Amand notes that Bonaparte begins to suspect his wife in this letter, while the previous ones, especially that of April 3rd, show perfect confidence. Napoleon is on the eve of aserious battle, and has only just put his forces into fighting trim. On the previous day (April 6th) he wrote to the Directory that the movement against Genoa, of which he does not approve, has brought the enemy out of their winter quarters almost before he has had time to make ready. "The army is in a state of alarming destitution; I have still great difficulties to surmount, but they are surmountable: misery has excused want of discipline, and without discipline never a victory. I hope to have all in good trim shortly—there are signs already; in a few days we shall be fighting. The Sardinian army consists of 50,000 foot, and 5000 horse; I have only 45,000 men at my disposal, all told. Chauvet, the commissary-general, died at Genoa: it is a heavy loss to the army, he was active and enterprising."
Two days later Napoleon, still at Albenga, reports that he has found Royalist traitors in the army, and complains that the Treasury had not sent the promised pay for the men, "but in spite of all, we shall advance." Massena, eleven years older than his new commander-in-chief, had received him coldly, but soon became his right-hand man, always genial, and full of good ideas. Massena's men are ill with too much salt meat, they have hardly any shoes, but, as in 1800,[42]he has never a doubt that Bonaparte will make a good campaign, and determines to loyally support him. Poor Laharpe, so soon to die, is a man of a different stamp—one of those, doubtless, of whom Bonaparte thinks when he writes to Josephine, "Men worry me." The Swiss, in fact, was a chronic grumbler, but a first-rate fighting man, even when his men were using their last cartridges.
"The lovers of nineteen."—The allusion is lost. Aubenas, who reproduces two or three of these letters, makes a comment to this sentence, "Nous n'avons pu trouver un nom à mettre sous cette fantasque imagination" (vol. i. 317).
"My brother," viz. Joseph.—He and Junot reached Paris in five days, and had a great ovation. Carnot, at a dinner-party, showed Napoleon's portrait next to his heart, because "I foresee he will be the saviour of France, and I wish him to know that he has at the Directory only admirers and friends."
No. 6.
Unalterably good.—"C'est Joseph peint d'un seul trait."—Aubenas (vol. i. 320).
"If you want a place for any one, you can send him here. I will give him one."—Bonaparte was beginning to feel firm in the saddle, while at Paris Josephine was treated like a princess. Under date April 25th, Letourneur, as one of the Directory, writes him, "A vast career opens itself before you; the Directory has measured the whole extent of it." They little knew! The letter concludes by expressing confidence that their general will never be reproached with the shameful repose of Capua. In a further letter, bearing the same date, Letourneur insists on a full and accurate account of the battles being sent, as they will be necessary "for the history of the triumphs of the Republic." In a private letter to the Directory (No. 220, vol. i. of theCorrespondence, 1858), dated Carru, April 24th, Bonaparte tells them that when he returns to camp, worn-out, he has to work all night to put matters straight, and repress pillage. "Soldiery without bread work themselves into an excess of frenzy which makes one blush to be a man."[43]... "I intend to make terrible examples. I shall restore order, or cease to command these brigands. The campaign is not yet decided. The enemy is desperate, numerous, and fights well. He knows I am in want of everything, and trusts entirely to time; but I trust entirely to the good genius of the Republic, to the bravery of the soldiers, to the harmony of the officers, and even to the confidence they repose in me."
No. 7.
Aubenas goes into ecstasies over this letter, "the longest, most eloquent, and most impassioned of the whole series" (vol. i. 322).
Facsimile of Letter dated April 24, 1796.
letter rectoletter versonView larger image rectoView larger image verso
View larger image rectoView larger image verso
June 15.—Here occurs the first gap in the correspondence, but his letters to the Directory between this date and the last letter to Josephine extant (April 24) are full of interest, including his conscientious disobedience at Cherasco, and the aura of his destiny to "ride the whirlwind and direct the storm" which first inspired him after Lodi. On April 28th was signed the armistice of Cherasco, by which his rear was secured by three strong fortresses.[44]He writes the Directory that Piedmont is at their mercy, and that in making the armistice into a definite peace he trusts they will not forget the little island of Saint-Pierre, which will be more useful in the future than Corsica and Sardinia combined. He looks upon northern Italy as practically conquered, and speaks of invading Bavaria through the Tyrol. "Prodigious" is practically the verdict of the Directory, and later of Jomini. "My columns are marching; Beaulieu flees. I hope to catch him. I shall impose a contribution of some millions on the Duke of Parma: he will sue for peace: don't be in a hurry, so that I may have time to make him also contribute to the cost of the campaign, by replenishing our stores and rehorsing our waggons at his expense." Bonaparte suggests that Genoa should pay fifteen millions indemnity for the frigates and vessels taken in the port. Certain risks had to be run in invading Lombardy, owing to want of horse artillery, but at Cherasco he secured artillery and horses. When writing to the Directory for a dozen companies, he tells them not to entrust the execution of this measure "to the men of the bureaus, for it takes them ten days to forward an order." Writing to Carnot on the same day he states he is marching against Beaulieu, who has 26,000 foot out of 38,000 at commencement of campaign. Napoleon's force is 28,000, but he has less cavalry. On May 1st, in a letter dated Acqui to Citizen Faipoult, he asks for particulars of the pictures,statues, &c., of Milan, Parma, Placentia, Modena, and Bologna. On the same day Massena writes that his men are needing shoes. On May 6th Bonaparte announces the capture of Tortona, "a very fine fortress, which cost the King of Sardinia over fifteen millions," while Cherasco has furnished him with twenty-eight guns. Meanwhile Massena has taken possession of Alessandria, with all its stores. On May 9th Napoleon writes to Carnot, "We have at last crossed the Po. The second campaign is begun; Beaulieu ... has fool-hardiness but no genius. One more victory, and Italy is ours." A clever commissary-general is all he needs, and his men are growing fat—with good meat and good wine. He sends to Paris twenty old masters, with fine examples of Correggio and Michael-Angelo. It is pleasant to find Napoleon's confidence in Carnot, in view of Barras' insinuations that the latter had cared only for Moreau—his type of Xenophon. In this very letter Napoleon writes Carnot, "I owe you my special thanks for the care that you have kindly given to my wife; I recommend her to you, she is a sincere patriot, and I love her to distraction." He is sending "a dozen millions" to France, and hopes that some of it will be useful to the army of the Rhine. Meanwhile, and two days before Napoleon's letter to Carnot just mentioned, the latter, on behalf of the Directory, suggests the division of his command with the old Alsatian General Kellermann. The Directory's idea of a gilded pill seems to be a prodigiously long letter. It is one of those heart-breaking effusions that, even to this day, emanate from board-rooms, to the dismay and disgust of their recipients. After plastering him with sickening sophistries as to his "sweetest recompense," it gives the utterly unnecessary monition, "March! no fatal repose, there are still laurels to gather"! Nevertheless, his plan of ending the war by an advance through the Tyrol strikes them as too risky. He is to conquer the Milanais, and then divide his army with Kellermann, who is to guard the conquered province, while he goes south to Naples and Rome. As an implied excuse for not sending adequate reinforcements, Carnot adds, "The exaggerated rumours that you have skilfully disseminated as to the numbers of the French troops in Italy, will augment the fear of our enemies and almost double your means of action." TheMilanais is to be heavily mulcted, but he is to be prudent. If Rome makes advances, his first demand should be that the Pope may order immediate public prayers for the prosperity and success of the French Republic! The sending of old masters to France to adorn her National Galleries seems to have been entirely a conception of Napoleon's. He has given sufficiently good reasons, from a patriotic point of view; for money is soon spent, but a masterpiece may encourage Art among his countrymen a generation later. The plunderers of the Parthenon of 1800 could not henceforward throw stones at him in this respect. But his real object was to win the people of Paris by thus sending them Glory personified in unique works of genius.
The Directory, already jealous of his fame, endeavour to neutralise the effect of his initiative by hearty concurrence, and write, "Italy has been illumined and enriched by their possession, but the time is now come when their reign should pass to France to stablish and beautify that of Liberty." The despatch adds somewhat naïvely that the effects of the vandalism committed during their own Republican orgies would be obliterated by this glorious campaign, which should "join to the splendour of military trophies the charm of beneficent and restful arts." The Directory ends by inviting him to choose one or two artists to select the most valuable pictures and other masterpieces.
Meanwhile, the Directory's supineness in pushing on the war on the Rhine is enabling the Austrians to send large reinforcements against Napoleon. Bonaparte, who has recently suffered (Jomini, vol. viii. 113) from Kellermann's tardiness in sending reinforcements at an important moment, replies to the letters of May 7th a week later, and writes direct to Citizen Carnot from Lodi, as well as to the Executive Directory. "On the receipt of the Directory's letter of the 7th your wishes were fulfilled, and the Milanais is ours. I shall shortly march, to carry out your intentions, on Leghorn and Rome; all that will soon be done. I am writing the Directory relatively to their idea of dividing the army. I swear that I have no thought beyond the interest of my country. Moreover, you will always find me straight (dans la ligne droite).... As it might happen that this letter to the Directory may be badly construed, and since you have assuredme of your friendship, I take this opportunity of addressing you, begging you to make what use of it your prudence and attachment for me may suggest.... Kellermann will command the army as well as I, for no one is more convinced than I am that the victories are due to the courage and pluck of the army; but I think joining Kellermann and myself in Italy is to lose everything. I cannot serve willingly with a man who considers himself the first general in Europe; and, besides, I believe one bad general is better than two good ones. War is like government: it is an affair of tact. To be of any use, I must enjoy the same confidence that you testified to me in Paris. Where I make war, here or there, is a matter of indifference. To serve my country, to deserve from posterity a page in our history, to give the Government proofs of my attachment and devotion—that is the sum of my ambition. But I am very anxious not to lose in a week the fatigues, anxieties, and dangers of two months, and to find myself fettered. I began with a certain amount of fame; I wish to continue worthy of you." To the Directory he writes that the expeditions to Leghorn, Rome, and Naples are small affairs, but to be safely conducted must have one general in command. "I have made the campaign without consulting a soul; I should have done no good if I had had to share my views with another. I have gained some advantages over superior forces, and in utter want of everything, because, certain of your confidence, my marches have been as quick as my thoughts." He foretells disaster if he is shackled with another general. "Every one has his own method of making war. General Kellermann has more experience, and will do it better than I; but both together will do it very badly." With Barras he knew eloquence was useless, and therefore bribed him with a million francs. On May 10th was gained the terrible battle of the Bridge of Lodi, where he won promotion from his soldiers, and became their "little corporal," and where he told Las Cases that he "was struck with the possibility of becoming famous. It was then that the first spark of my ambition was kindled." On entering Milan he told Marmont, "Fortune has smiled on me to-day, only because I despise her favours; she is a woman, and the more she does for me, the more I shall exact from her. In our day noone has originated anything great; it is for me to give the example."
On May 15th, thirty-five days after the commencement of the campaign, he entered Milan, under a triumphal arch and amid the acclamations of the populace. On the previous evening he was guilty of what Dr. Johnson would have considered a fitting herald of his spoliation of picture-galleries—the perpetration of a pun. At a dinner-table the hostess observed that his youth was remarkable in so great a conqueror, whereat he replied, "Truly, madam, I am not very old at present—barely twenty-seven—but in less than twenty-four hours I shall count many more, for I shall have attained Milan" (mille ans).
On May 22nd he returned to Lodi, but heard immediately that Lombardy in general, and Pavia in particular, was in open revolt. He makes a terrible example of Pavia, shooting its chief citizens, and, for the only time, giving up a town to three hours' pillage. The Directory congratulates him on these severe measures: "The laws of war and the safety of the army render them legitimate in such circumstances." He writes them that had the blood of a single Frenchman been spilt, he would have erected a column on the ruins of Pavia, on which should have been inscribed, "Here was the town of Pavia."
On May 21st, Carnot replies to the letter from Lodi: "You appear desirous, citizen general, of continuing to conduct the whole series of military operations in Italy, at the actual seat of war. The Directory has carefully considered your proposition, and the confidence that they place in your talents and republican zeal has decided this question in the affirmative.... The rest of the military operations towards the Austrian frontier and round Mantua are absolutely dependent on your success against Beaulieu. The Directory feels how difficult it would be to direct them from Paris. It leaves to you in this respect the greatest latitude, while recommending the most extreme prudence. Its intention is, however, that the army shall cross into the Tyrol only after the expedition to the south of Italy."
This was a complete victory for Bonaparte (Bingham calls it the Directory's "abject apology"), and, as Scott points out, he now "obtained an ascendency which he took admirable care notto relinquish; and it became the sole task of the Directory, so far as Italy was concerned, to study phrases for intimating their approbation of the young general's measures."
He had forged a sword for France, and he now won her heart by gilding it. On May 16th the Directory had asked him to supply Kellermann with money for the army of the Alps, and by May 22nd he is able to write that six or eight million francs in gold, silver, ingots, or jewels is lying at their disposal with one of the best bankers in Genoa, being superfluous to the needs of the army. "If you wish it, I can have a million sent to Bâle for the army of the Rhine." He has already helped Kellermann, and paid his men. He also announces a further million requisitioned from Modena. "As it has neither fortresses nor muskets, I could not ask for them."
Henceforth he lubricates the manifold wheels of French policy with Italian gold, and gains thereby the approbation and gratitude of the French armies and people. Meanwhile he does not neglect those who might bear him a grudge. To Kellermann and to all the Directors he sends splendid chargers. From Parma he has the five best pictures chosen for Paris—the Saint Jerome and the Madonna della Scodella, both by Correggio; the Preaching of St. John in the Desert, a Paul Veronese, and a Van Dyck, besides fine examples of Raphael, Caracci, &c.
The Directory is anxious that he shall chastise the English at Leghorn, as the fate of Corsica is somewhat dependent on it, whose loss "will make London tremble." They secretly dread a war in the Tyrol, forgetting that Bonaparte is a specialist in mountain fighting, educated under Paoli. They remind him that he has not sent the plans of his battles. "You ought not to lack draughtsmen in Italy. Eh! what are your young engineer officers doing?"
On May 31st Carnot writes to urge him to press the siege of Mantua, reasserting that the reinforcements which Beaulieu has received will not take from that army its sense of inferiority, and that ten battalions of Hoche's army are on the way. It approves and confirms the "generous fraternity" with which Bonaparte offers a million francs to the armies on the Rhine.On June 7th he tells the Directory that Rome is about to fulminate a bull against the French Royalists, but that he thinks the expedition to Naples should be deferred, and also a quarrel with Venice—at least till he has beaten his other enemies; it is not expedient to tackle every one at once. On June 6th he thanks Carnot for a kind letter, adding that the best reward to sweeten labour and perils is the esteem of the few men one really admires. He fears the hot weather for his men: "we shall soon be in July, when every march will cost us 200 sick." The same day he writes General Clarke that all is flourishing, but that the dog-star is coming on at a gallop, and that there is no remedy against its malign influence. "Luckless beings that we are! Our position with nature is merely observation, without control." He holds that the only safe way to end the campaign without being beaten is not to go to the south of Italy. On the 9th he thanks Kellermann for the troops he sends, and their excellent discipline. On the 11th—always as anxious to help his generals as himself—he urges the Directory to press the Swiss Government to refund La Harpe's property to his children.
"Presentiment of ill."—Marmont tells us what this was. The glass of his wife's portrait, which he always carried with him, was found to be broken. Turning frightfully pale, he said to Marmont, "My wife is either very ill, or unfaithful." She left Paris June 24th. Marmont says, "Once at Milan, General Bonaparte was very happy, for at that time he lived only for his wife.... Never love more pure, more true, more exclusive, has possessed the heart of any man."
No. 8.
Between June 15th and the renewal of Josephine's correspondence a glance at the intervening dates will show that Bonaparte and his army were not wasting time. The treaty with Rome was a masterpiece, as in addition to money and works of art, he obtained the port of Ancona, siege-guns with which to bombard Mantua, and best of all, a letter from the Pope to the faithful of France, recommending submission to the new government there. In consideration of this, and possiblyyielding to the religious sentiments of Josephine, he spared Rome his presence—the only capital which he abstained from entering, when he had, as in the present case, the opportunity. It was not, however, until February 1797 that the Pope fulfilled his obligations under this Treaty, and then under new compulsion.
Fortuné.—Josephine's dog (see note45to Letter 2, Series B).
No. 1.
July 6, Sortie from Mantua of the Austrians.—According to Jomini the French on this occasion were not successful (vol. viii. 162). In one of his several letters to the Directory on this date is seen Bonaparte's anxiety for reinforcements; the enemy has already 67,000 men against his available 40,000. Meanwhile he is helping the Corsicans to throw off the British yoke, and believes that the French possession of Leghorn will enable the French to gain that island without firing a shot.
No. 2.
Marmirolo.—On July 12th he writes to the Directory from Verona that for some days he and the enemy have been watching each other. "Woe to him who makes a false move." He indicates that he is about to make acoup de mainon Mantua, with 300 men dressed in Austrian uniforms. He is by no means certain of success, which "depends entirely on luck—either on a dog[45]or a goose." He complains of much sickness among his men round Mantua, owing to the heat and miasmata from the marshes, but so far no deaths. He will be ready to make Venice disgorge a few millions shortly, if the Directory make a quarrel in the interim.
On the 13th he was with Josephine, as he writes from Milan, but leaves on the 14th, and on the 17th is preparing acoup de
mainwith 800 grenadiers, which, as we see from the next letter, fails.
Fortuné.—Arnault tells an anecdote of this lap-dog, which in 1794, in the days of the Terror, had been used as a bearer of secret despatches between Josephine in prison and the governess of her children outside the grille. Henceforward Josephine would never be parted from it. One day in June 1797 the dog was lying on the same couch as its mistress, and Bonaparte, accosting Arnault and pointing to the dog with his finger, said, "You see that dog there. He is my rival. He was in possession of Madame's bed when I married her. I wished to make him get out—vain hope! I was told I must resign myself to sleep elsewhere, or consent to share with him. That was sufficiently exasperating, but it was a question of taking or leaving, and I resigned myself. The favourite was less accommodating than I. I bear the proof of it in this leg."
Not content with barking at every one, he bit not only men but other dogs, and was finally killed by a mastiff, much to Bonaparte's secret satisfaction; for, as St. Amand adds, "he could easily win battles, accomplish miracles, make or unmake principalities, but could not show a dog the door."
No. 3.
"The village of Virgil."—Michelet (Jusqu'au 18Brumaire) thinks that here he got the idea of the Fête of Virgil, established a few months later. In engravings of the hero of Italy we see him near the tomb of Virgil, his brows shaded by a laurel crown.
No. 4.
Achille.—Murat. He had been appointed one of Bonaparte's aides-de-camp February 29th, made General of Brigade after the Battle of Lodi (May 10th); is sent to Paris after Junot with nine trophies, and arrives there first. He flirts there outrageously with Josephine, but does not escort her back to her husband.
No. 5.
'Will o' the wisp,'i.e.l'ardent.—This word, according to Ménage, was given by the Sieur de St. Germain to those lively young sparks who, about the year 1634, used to meet at the house of Mr. Marsh (M. de Marest), who was one of them.
No. 6.
The needs of the army.—Difficulties were accumulating, and Napoleon was, as he admits at St. Helena, seriously alarmed. Wurmser's force proves to be large, Piedmont is angry with the Republic and ready to rise, and Venice and Rome would willingly follow its example; the English have taken Porto-Ferrajo, and their skilful minister, Windham, is sowing the seeds of discord at Naples. Although on July 20th he has written a friend in Corsica that "all smiles on the Republic," he writes Saliceti, another brother Corsican, very differently on August 1st. "Fortune appears to oppose us at present.... I have raised the siege of Mantua; I am at Brescia with nearly all my army. I shall take the first opportunity of fighting a battle with the enemy which will decide the fate of Italy—if I'm beaten, I shall retire on the Adda; if I win, I shall not stop in the marshes of Mantua.... Let the citadels of Milan, Tortona, Alessandria, and Pavia be provisioned.... We are all very tired; I have ridden five horses to death." Reading between the lines of this letter to Josephine, it is evident that he thinks she will be safer with him than at Milan—Wurmser having the option of advancingviâBrescia on Milan, and cutting off the French communications. The Marshal's fatal mistake was in using only half his army for the purpose. This raising of the siege of Mantua (July 31st) was heart-rending work for Bonaparte, but, as Jomini shows, he had no artillery horses, and it was better to lose the siege train, consisting of guns taken from the enemy, than to jeopardise the whole army. Wurmser had begun his campaign successfully by defeating Massena, and pushing back Sauret at Salo. "The Austrians," wrote Massena, "are drunk with brandy, and fight furiously," while his men are famished and can only hang on bytheir teeth. Bonaparte calls his first war council, and thinks for a moment of retreat, but Augereau insists on fighting, which is successfully accomplished while Wurmser is basking himself among the captured artillery outside Mantua. Bonaparte had been perfectly honest in telling the Directory his difficulties, and sends his brother Louis to the Directory for that purpose on the eve of battle. He is complimented in a letter from the Directory dated August 12th—a letter probably the more genuine as they had just received a further despatch announcing a victory. On August 3rd Bonaparte won a battle at Lonato, and the next day Augereau gained great laurels at Castiglione; in later years the Emperor often incited Augereau by referring to those "fine days of Castiglione." Between July 29th and August 12th the French army took 15,000 prisoners, 70 guns, and wounded or killed 25,000, with little more than half the forces of the Austrians. Bonaparte gives his losses at 7000, exclusive of the 15,000 sick he has in hospital; from July 31st to August 6th he never changed his boots, or lay down in a bed. Nevertheless, Jomini thinks that he showed less vigour in the execution of his plans than in the earlier part of the campaign; but, as an opinionper contra, we may note that the French grenadiers made their "little Corporal"Sergeantat Castiglione. Doubtless the proximity of his wife at the commencement (July 31st) made him more careful, and therefore less intrepid. On August 18th he wrote Kellermann with an urgent request for troops. On August 17th Colonel Graham, after hinting at the frightful excesses committed by the Austrians in their retreat, adds in a postscript—"From generals to subalterns the universal language of the army is that we must make peace, as we do not know how to make war."[46]
On August 13th Bonaparte sent to the Directory his opinion of most of his generals, in order to show that he required some better ones. Some of his criticisms are interesting:—