Produced by Richard Hulse, John Campbell and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
Footnote anchors are denoted by [number], and the footnotes have been
placed at the end of the book.
The only fractions in this book are on page 401 and reference time;
half-past seven for example is displayed as ‘7 1/2’.
Page numbers 129 and 130 are missing from the original book. No text
is missing and this is probably a numbering error by the printer.
Some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book.
[Illustration: THE BATTLE-FIELD OF THE NATIONS.
A Panoramic View of the Seat of War around Sebastopol, including
Danubian Provinces, Turkey, Asia Minor, Southern Russia, and the
Crimea, from a Survey by order of Louis Napoleon, Emperor of France.
Published by HIGGINS & BRADLEY, 20 Washington Street, Boston.]
THE
POWERS OF EUROPE
AND
FALL OF SEBASTOPOL.
BY A BRITISH OFFICER.
ILLUSTRATED FROM SUPERIOR PHOTOGRAPHS.
BOSTON:
HIGGINS AND BRADLEY,
20 WASHINGTON STREET.
1856.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by
HIGGINS & BRADLEY,
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States,
for the Southern District of New York.
PREFACE.
This work makes no pretensions to absolute originality being
partially a compilation, with incidents in the life of the Author,
who was an actor in many of the scenes narrated. He has striven to be
judicious in selecting, from the most authentic sources, only that
which would be interesting, at this crisis, to the general reader.
Some extracts are given entire; in other cases, long passages have
been abridged and condensed.
Information from a vast variety of sources has, in many instances,
been put together, and presented in a new and more graphic form.
Minute details, as far as practicable, have been avoided; whilst
the whole ground has been, more or less, completely surveyed. The
Author has sought to make a popular volume, which might be read with
pleasure, and be permanently serviceable as a book of reference.
The bloody sieges of Saragossa, Gerona, and Badajos, have been
referred to more in detail to afford the opportunity of comparison
with that of Sebastopol; while the battles of Austerlitz and Waterloo
have been described for comparison with those of Alma and Inkermann.
The origin and progress of the present war are detailed. The
biographies of the principal characters now engaged in the East will
be found entertaining; and the Author confidently hopes it may prove
a volume of interest and permanent value.
H. F. G.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Summary survey of Europe--Aristocracy of France--France previous
to the Revolution--Revolutionary Symptoms--The Great Powers,
1792-6--William Pitt--Execution of Louis XVI.--The Allies against
France--Siege of Toulon--Invasion of Holland--Napoleon--His early
youth--Thirteenth Vendemiaire--The Campaign in Italy--Rapid victories
of Bonaparte--Expedition to Egypt--Return of Bonaparte--First
Consulate--The passage of the Alps--Second Campaign in Italy
--Napoleon Emperor--War with England--Alliance between the Great
Powers, 1805--Indecision of Prussia--Alexander visits the tomb
of Frederick the Great--Battle of Austerlitz--Treaty of Tilsit
--Secret understanding respecting Turkey--British orders in
Council--Battle of Wagram--Annexation of Finland--Campaign of
Moscow--The Grand Alliance, 1813--Battle of Leipsic--Allies
enter Paris, 1
CHAPTER II.
Origin of the War in the Peninsula--Siege of Saragossa--Murderous
Character of the War--Success of the French in Portugal--Battle of
Rolica--Battle of Vimiero--Convention of Cintra--The French
evacuate Portugal--Preparations of Napoleon for another Campaign
--He subdues the Country, and enters Madrid--Address to the Spanish
People--Napoleon recalled by the War with Austria--Soult and Ney
intrusted with the Command of the French Army in Spain--Retreat
of Sir John Moore--Battle of Corunna--Death of Sir John Moore
--The British Army sail for England, 50
CHAPTER III.
Joseph Bonaparte again King of Spain--His Difficulties with Soult
--Second Siege of Saragossa--Another English Army, under Sir Arthur
Wellesley, lands at Lisbon--Battle of Talavera--The English retire
into Portugal--Siege of Gerona--Principal Events of the Campaign
of 1810--The English Troops make a Stand at Torres Vedras--Retreat
of Massena--Siege of Cadiz--Escape of French Prisoners--Opening
of the Campaign of 1811, 99
CHAPTER IV.
The Author, with his Regiment, leaves Gibraltar, for Tarifa
--Dissensions between the Spanish and English Officers--Battle
of Barossa--Retreat of the French--Suffering of the Pursuing Army
--Guerillas--Don Julian Sanchez--Juan Martin Diaz--Xavier Mina
--Continued Privations of the British Army--Adventures of the
Author in Search of Food--Arrival of the Commissariat with
Provisions--Extravagant Joy of the Troops--Departure of the
British Army for Badajos, 123
CHAPTER V.
Badajos--Its Capture by the French--Attempts to retake it by the
English--Wellington invests it in Person--Assault upon Fort
Christoval--Storming of the Town--Terrific Conflict--The place
sacked by the Victors--Disgraceful Drunkenness and Debauchery of
the Troops--The Main Body of the Army depart for Beira, 160
CHAPTER VI.
Brief Summary of Events for Four Years preceding the Battle of
Waterloo--Author’s Narrative resumed at that Period--Preparation
of Troops for the Battle--Skirmishing preceding its Commencement
--Reception of the News at Brussels--Departure of the English for
the Field of Battle--Disposition of the Forces--Attack upon
Hougomont--Progress of the Battle--Arrival of the Prussian
Reinforcements--Charge of the Old Guard--Flight of the French, 199
CHAPTER VII.
TURKEY AND RUSSIA.
Origin of the Ottoman Empire--Siege and Capture of Constantinople
by the Turks--Mahomet--The Sultans--_Abdul Medjid_--His popularity
and power--The Koran.
The Russian Empire--Area and population--Social organization
--Religious policy--Nobility--Serfs--Conscription--The Army
--Progress of Russia and extension of her frontiers--_Nicholas_
--Poland, 231
CHAPTER VIII.
HISTORY OF THE WAR.
Arrival of Menschikoff at Constantinople--Demands of the Czar
--The Sultan--Occupation of Moldavia and Wallachia--Conference
of Vienna--Protest of the Porte--Turkish forces--Commencement
of hostilities, 258
CHAPTER IX.
OMER PACHA.
Anecdote--His Birth--Reforms--Sultan Mahmud--Enlistment in the
Turkish army--His application--Expeditions among the wild tribes
--Appointed Generalissimo--Present high position--Domestic life
--Marriage--Personal habits--Kossuth and Hungarian refugees--War
on the Danube--Battle of Oltenitza, 268
CHAPTER X.
SCHAMYL, THE PROPHET-WARRIOR OF THE CAUCASUS.
Caucasus--Character of the tribes--Circassian slave trade--Birth
of Schamyl--Personal appearance--Form of government--His army
and body-guard--Financial rule--Struggles with Russia--Personal
habits--Legend--Circassian women in battle--Escape from the
Russians, 283
CHAPTER XI.
SINOPE.
Town of Sinope--Osman Pacha--The Mussulmans--The Black Sea
squadron--Exploit of Captain Drummond--Sebastopol harbor--Achmet
Pacha--Citate--The Battle--Turkey, as a military power--Christian
population--War in Asia--England and France--Declaration of War
--Embarkation of Troops, 298
CHAPTER XII.
TREATY OF ALLIANCE.
The Five Articles of the Treaty--War on the Danube--General
Luders--The Pestilence--Decree of the Czar--Governor of Moscow
--Loss of the frigate Tiger--Captain Gifford--Black Sea fleet
--Duke of Cambridge--Arrival at Varna--Captain Hall--Admiral
Plumridge--General Bodisco--Silistria--The Siege--Mussa Pacha
--Evacuation of the Principalities by the Russians, 309
CHAPTER XIII.
CRIMEAN EXPEDITION.
The Crimea--The Fleet--Appearance in the Bay of Baltjik--Sail
from Varna--Land at Eupatoria--March inland--Battle of the Alma
--Lord Raglan--Appearance of the Troops--Distance from Sebastopol
--The morning of battle--Advance to the river Alma--Russian
Position--The Zouaves--Storming the heights--March to Sebastopol
--Death of Marshal St. Arnaud--General Canrobert, 323
CHAPTER XIV.
SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL.
Bay of Balaklava--Landing of the Siege guns--Russian guns
--Sebastopol--Its appearance--Military harbor--Fortifications
--Vessels of war--The country around Sebastopol--Allies opening
trenches--Message of the governor to Lord Raglan--Bombardment
--Lancaster guns--Explosion in the French batteries--Russian
powder magazine explodes--The Allied Fleet--The Cannonade
--Riflemen--Battle of Balaklava--British and French Position
--The Combat--The Turks--The Highlanders--The Russian Cavalry
--Captain Nolan--Lord Cardigan, 344
CHAPTER XV.
SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL.
Lord Raglan--His life--Battle of Inkerman--Morning of battle
--Sons of Emperor Nicholas--The attack--Troops engaged--Fierce
encounters--Sir George Cathcart--His death--Russian cruelty
--French infantry--The Zouaves--Chasseurs--Russians retire
--Renewed attack--Repulsed by the French--Defeat--Sorties--Night
after battle--Treaty with Austria of 2d Dec.--Negotiations for
peace--The four points--Landing of Omer Pacha at Eupatoria--Death
of the Emperor Nicholas--Alexander II.--Fall of Sebastopol, 372
CHAPTER XVI.
SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL.
Siege of Sebastopol continues--Sardinia joins the Western Alliance
--Battle of Eupatoria--Sudden death of Emperor Nicholas--His
love and pride for his Army--His last Words--Alexander II.
ascends the Throne--His Manifesto to his Subjects--A Sketch of
him--Recall of Prince Menschikoff from command in the Crimea
--His abilities and failings--His Successors--Gortschakoff’s
Military Career, 393
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
Summary survey of Europe--Aristocracy of France--France previous
to the Revolution--Revolutionary Symptoms--The Great Powers,
1792-6--William Pitt--Execution of Louis XVI.--The Allies against
France--Siege of Toulon--Invasion of Holland--Napoleon--His early
youth--Thirteenth Vendemiaire--The Campaign in Italy--Rapid victories
of Bonaparte--Expedition to Egypt--Return of Bonaparte--First
Consulate--The passage of the Alps--Second Campaign in Italy--Napoleon
Emperor--War with England--Alliance between the Great Powers,
1805--Indecision of Prussia--Alexander visits the tomb of Frederick
the Great--Battle of Austerlitz--Treaty of Tilsit--Secret understanding
respecting Turkey--British orders in Council--Battle of Wagram
--Annexation of Finland--Campaign of Moscow--The Grand Alliance,
1813--Battle of Leipsic--Allies enter Paris.
“The fate of the East depends upon yon petty town,” was the
exclamation of Bonaparte to Murat, as he pointed towards Acre, which
even his military genius was unable to subdue. Repeated and desperate
assaults proved that the consequence which he attached to the taking
of it was as great as the words expressed. The imagination reverts
from the position of the army of Egypt before that oriental city,
and rapidly traversing the events of succeeding history, runs down
to the position of the army of the successor of Bonaparte, and of
his English and Turkish allies, who, on nearly the precise parallel
of longitude, are unitedly engaged in besieging one of the first
strongholds of Europe.
In recounting some of the great events of the times which have
filled the world with their grandeur, and whose present and future
place in history overshadows the preceding ages, a rapid _resumé_ of
the situation of Europe, just previous to and at the commencement of
the great drama, may be useful, and serve to recall facts and events
which may to the general reader have been known but forgotten.
One who stands amid the gardens and grounds of Versailles, and
contemplates the enormous luxury and expenditure of its builder,
while he recalls his vast wars, his policy, and his intrigues, can
better understand the declaration of Louis XIV. to his assembled
parliament. “The State! I am the State!” And such an observer can
also discover the truth of that statement, that it was that builder
who laid the foundations of the French Revolution with the stones of
Versailles. The keen sagacity of the polite Chesterfield could detect
that approaching revolution a quarter of a century before it took
place; and his remarkable prediction shows how rapidly the signs of
the gathering storm must have accumulated in the years succeeding the
Augustan age of France. The energies of the nation had been devoted
to the service and pleasure of the monarch; they now began to be
directed to their proper end, the examination of their own interests.
From the theatre and the pulpit the genius of the French people
hurried precipitately into morals and politics, a sudden revolution
took place in the minds of all, and the conflict it produced lasted
during a whole century.
The exclusive privileges of the aristocracy, who monopolised every
official position, and who alone were eligible to rank in the army,
choked the development of the great body of the people; and
while they consumed the revenues of the State they were in a great
measure exempt from taxation. Cradled in the luxury of courts, the
aristocracy were sunk in vice and effeminacy. And they looked upon
the great body of the people as only a necessary appendage to a
government in which they had neither right nor control.
In the most martial nation of Europe the private soldier could not,
by the greatest daring or genius, elevate himself, because only the
aristocracy could obtain rank. The effects of the opposite system
were afterwards seen with Napoleon, who boasted that he conquered
Europe with the bivouac; with generals raised from the ranks.
The oppressions of the feudal tenure in France exceeded belief; the
people were even obliged to grind corn at the landlord’s mill, press
their grapes at his press, and bake their bread at his oven on his
own terms.
The fermentation which had long been going on in the public mind;
“the revolt against eighteen centuries of oppression” began to
develop itself rapidly. Yet the monopolizers of all the national
rights continued to dispute for a worn out authority. The court,
careless and tranquil in the midst of the struggle, were wasting
the property of the people while surrounded by the most frightful
disorders. When it was told to the effeminate and dissolute Louis XV.
that the nation could not suffer much longer, he characteristically
said, “Never mind, if it last my time it is sufficient for me!” Such
was the eighteenth century.
It was during the years 1787 and ’88, that the French nation first
conceived the idea of passing from theory to practice. The weak and
vacillating Louis XVI., the least fitted of all men to guide the
destinies of a nation in the throes of political convulsion, had
successively tried ministry after ministry, and one expedient after
the other; yet the ship of state was swiftly approaching the vortex
of the whirlpool in which it had entered.
“Upon what trivial events often depend the most important affairs.
The mistake of a captain, who bore away instead of forcing his
passage to the place of his destination, has prevented the face
of the world from being totally changed,” said Napoleon. “Acre,”
continued he, “would otherwise have fallen: I would have flown to
Damascus and Aleppo; and in the twinkling of an eye, would have
been at the Euphrates. I would have reached Constantinople and the
Indies, and would have changed the face of the world.” It was thus in
the assembly of the Notables, called by the intelligent, brilliant,
and careless Calonne, then minister of state, that a member,
complaining of the prodigality of the court, demanded a statement of
the expenses. Another member, punning on the word, exclaimed, “It
is not statements, but States General that we want.” This single
random expression struck every one with astonishment, and seized
by the people was immediately acted upon; the States General were
called, and the public mind was filled with the wildest fermentation:
France and Europe were to be immediately regenerated; visionary
schemes without number were formed; and that general unhinging of
opinions took place, which is the surest prelude of revolution. That
revolution now came, and in its tumults and convulsions the Ancient
French Monarchy rapidly approached its extinction. Amid frightful
disorders, famine appeared; the elements seemed to partake of the
savagery of the times; and the severity of the tempests of summer
which destroyed the harvests, was succeeded by a winter, 1788-9, of
unparalleled rigor. Soon began that vast emigration of the nobility,
which was afterwards succeeded by the attempted flight of the king;
while all authority but that of the Sans Culottes seemed abolished.
Foreign affairs became daily more menacing; the young Emperor,
Francis II. of Austria, was gathering his armies, and soon demanded
the reëstablishment of the monarchy on its ancient footing. All
classes in France now anxiously desired war; the aristocracy hoped
to regain their lost privileges with the assistance of Germany;
the democracy hoped, amid the tumult of victorious campaigns, to
establish their principles.
At length, on the 20th of April, 1792, oppressed with the solemnity
and grandeur of the occasion, the declaration of war against
Austria was received by the National Assembly of France in solemn
silence. Thus commenced the greatest, the most bloody, and the most
interesting war which has agitated mankind since the fall of the
Roman Empire. Rising from feeble beginnings, it at length involved
the world in its conflagration; rousing the passions of every class,
it brought unheard of armies into the field; and it was carried on
with a degree of exasperation unknown in modern times. “A revolution
in France,” says Napoleon, “is always followed, sooner or later, by a
revolution in Europe.” Situated in the centre of modern civilization,
it has in every age communicated the impulse of its own changes to
the adjoining states Thus, the great changes which had taken place
in France had excited all Europe, and spread the utmost alarm in all
her monarchies.
Austria, Russia, Prussia, and England were at that period, as now,
the great powers of Europe, and they were the principal actors in the
desperate struggle which ensued. They were in a situation capable
of great exertion; years of repose had fitted them to enter upon a
gigantic war. England, although she had lost one empire in the west,
had gained another in the east; and the wealth of India began to pour
into her bosom. The public funds had risen from 57, at the close of
the American War, to 99. Her army consisted of 32,000 men in the
British Isles, besides an equal force in the East and West Indies;
but these forces were rapidly augmented after the commencement of
the war, and before 1796, the regular force amounted to 206,000 men,
including 42,000 militia. Yet experience proves that Britain could
never collect above 40,000 men upon any one point of the continent of
Europe. But her real strength consisted in her great wealth, in the
public spirit and energy of her people, and in a fleet of 150 ships
of the line, which commanded the seas.
England, like other monarchies, had slumbered on contented and
prosperous, and for the most part inglorious, during the eighteenth
century. A great writer observed, that while America was doubling
her population every twenty-five years, Europe was lumbering on with
an increase, which would hardly arrive at the same result in five
hundred; and Gibbon lamented that the age of interesting incidents
was past, and that the modern historian would never again have to
record the moving events, and dismal catastrophes of ancient story.
Such were the anticipations of the greatest men on the verge of a
period that was to usher in a new Cæsar, and to be illustrated by
an Austerlitz and a Trafalgar, a Wellington and a Waterloo; and the
human race, mowed down by unparalleled wars, was to spring up again
with an elasticity before unknown. William Pitt was the great Prime
Minister of England at this time, and modern history cannot exhibit a
statesman more fertile in resources, and whose expedients seemed as
exhaustless as his great abilities. Fox and Burke, each distinguished
by a high order of intellect, filled the British Parliament with
their reasoning and eloquence.
The great Austrian empire contained at that time nearly 25,000,000
of inhabitants, with a revenue of 95,000,000 florins, and numbered
the richest and most fertile districts of Europe among its provinces.
The wealth of Flanders, the riches of Lombardy, and the valor of
the Hungarians added to the strength of the Empire. Her armies
had acquired immortal renown in the wars of Maria Theresa. At the
commencement of the war, her force amounted to 240,000 infantry,
35,000 cavalry, and 100,000 artillery. Her court, the most
aristocratic in Europe, was strongly attached to old institutions,
and the marriage of Maria Antoinette to Louis XVI. gave the Austrian
court a family interest in the affairs which preceded and followed
the French Revolution.
The military strength of Prussia, raised to the highest pitch by
the genius of Frederic the Great, had rendered her one of the first
powers of Europe; her army of 165,000 strong was in the highest state
of discipline and equipment, and by a system of organization the
whole youth of the kingdom were compelled to serve a limited number
of years in the army, so that she had within herself an inexhaustible
reserve of men trained to arms. Her cavalry was the finest in Europe.
The majesty and power of Russia was beginning to fill the north with
its greatness, and in her struggles and battles from the time of
Peter the Great, through her wars with Sweden, with Frederic and with
the Turks, she had constantly advanced with gigantic strides towards
the Orient and the West. Her immense dominions comprehended nearly
the half of Europe and Asia; while she was secure from invasion
by her position, and by the severity of her climate. The Empress
Catharine, endowed with masculine energy and ambition, had waged a
bloody war with Turkey, in which the zeal of a religious crusade was
directed by motives of policy and desire for the acquisition of new
territory which should pave the way for that future expected conquest
of the whole of European Turkey, and which should give Russia the
shores of the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmora as her southern
boundary, and should make Constantinople, the seat of her commerce
and her power over the Mediterranean and the East, the centre through
which she might command the world. The infantry of Russia has long
been celebrated for its invincible firmness, and the cavalry, though
greatly inferior to its present state of discipline and equipment,
was formidable. The artillery, now so splendid, was then only
remarkable for its cumbrous carriages and the obstinate valor of
its men. Inured to hardship from infancy, the Russian soldier is
better able to bear the fatigues of war than any in Europe; he
knows no duty so sacred as obedience to his officers. Submissive to
his discipline as to his religion, no privation or fatigue makes
him forget his obligations. The whole of the energies of the Empire
are turned to the army. Commerce, the law, and civil employment are
held in no esteem. Immense military schools, in different parts of
the Empire, annually send forth the flower of the population to this
dazzling career. Precedence depends entirely upon military rank, and
the heirs of the greatest families are compelled to enter the army at
the lowest grade. Promotion is open equally to all, and the greater
part of the officers have risen from inferior stations of society.
The military strength of France, which was destined to oppose and
triumph over these immense forces, consisted at the commencement
of the struggle of 165,000 infantry, 35,000, cavalry and 10,000
artillery. But her troops had relaxed their discipline during the
revolution, and her soldiers had been so accustomed to political
discussion, that it had introduced a license unfavorable to
discipline. At first they lacked steadiness and organization, but
these defects were speedily remedied by the pressure of necessity,
and by the talent which emerged from the lower classes of society.
Such was the state of the principal European powers at the
commencement of the war. The celebrated 10th of August, 1792, came,
and the throne was overturned, the royal family put in captivity,
while the massacres of September drenched Paris with blood. The
victories of Dumourier rolled back the tide of foreign invasion to
the Rhine. War was declared against Sardinia, 15th September, and
Savoy and Nice were seized and united to the French Republic.
“The die is thrown, we have rushed into the career; all governments
are our enemies, all people are our friends; we must be destroyed or
they shall be free,” exclaimed the orator of the convention. Geneva
surrendered to the French without a blow, and the Convention declared
it would grant its assistance to all people who wished to recover
their liberty. Flanders was overrun by the French in a fortnight, and
they committed an aggression on the Dutch by opening the Scheldt, and
by pursuing the fugitive Austrians into Dutch territory.
While the tide of Austrian and Prussian invasion was rolled back
to the Rhine, the great frontier city of Germany was wrested from
Austria almost under the eyes of the imperial armies; and although
the campaign commenced only in August, under the greatest apparent
disadvantage to the French, yet before the close of December all this
had been accomplished. The execution of Louis XVI. on the 21st Jan.,
1793, completed the destruction of the French monarchy, accelerated
the Reign of Terror, and brought the accession of England to the
league of the _Allied Sovereigns_; Chauvelin, the French Ambassador,
received orders immediately to quit London; and this was succeeded
in a few days by a declaration of war, 1st February, 1793, by France
against England, Spain, and Holland. The audacity of the Convention,
which thus threw down the gauntlet to nearly all of Europe, excited
universal astonishment. The feeling of national honor, in all ages so
powerful among the French, was awakened to its highest pitch. Every
species of requisition was cheerfully furnished under the pressure
of impending calamity; and in the dread of foreign subjugation the
loss of fortune and employment was forgotten only one path, that
of honor, was open to the brave. The Jacobins, the ruling power in
France, were no longer despised but feared by the European powers,
and terror prompts more vigorous efforts than contempt. No sooner
did the news of the execution of Louis reach St. Petersburg than the
Empress Catharine took the most decisive measures, and all Frenchmen
who did not renounce the principles of the revolution were ordered
to quit her territory; the most intimate relations were established
between the courts of London and St. Petersburg; and a treaty between
them, which laid the basis of the Grand Alliance, was signed, 25th
March, in which they engaged to carry on the war against France, and
not to lay down their arms without restitution of all the conquests
which France had made from either of them, or such states and allies
to whom the benefit of the treaty should extend. Treaties of the same
nature were made with Sardinia and Portugal, and thus all Europe
was arrayed against France. A congress of the allies assembled at
Antwerp, which came to the resolution of totally altering the objects
of the war; and it was openly announced there that the object was
to provide _indemnities_ and _securities_ for the allied powers by
partitioning the frontier territories of France among the invading
states. Soon after, when Valenciennes and Condé were taken, the
Austrian flag, and not that of the Allies, was hoisted on the walls.
The Prussians and Austrians, numbering 100,000, were on the Rhine
early in the spring, and the Ring of Prussia crossed in great force.
The French army, inferior in numbers and discipline, retreated.
Mentz capitulated to the Allies after a long and dreadful siege,
and the French continued to retreat in disorder. But the Allies
wasted their splendid opportunity. The French retreated to their
entrenched camp before Arras, after which there was no place capable
of defence on the road to Paris. The Republican authorities took to
flight, the utmost consternation prevailed, and a rapid advance of
the Allies would have changed the history of Europe. But from this
time dissension began among them; and from this period may be dated
a series of disasters to them, which went on constantly increasing
until the French arms were planted on the Kremlin, and all Europe,
from Gibraltar to the North Cape; had yielded to their arms.
The mighty genius of Carnot, who, in the energetic language of
Napoleon, “_organized victory_,” soon appeared at the head of the
military department of France. Austere in character, unbending in
discipline, and of indefatigable energy, he resembled the great
patriots of antiquity more than any other statesman of modern times,
and in the midst of peril and disaster he infused his unparalleled
vigor into his department, and France became one vast workshop of
arms, resounding with the note of military preparation. The roads
were covered with conscripts hastening to their destination; and
fourteen armies, and 1,200,000 men, were soon under arms. The siege
of Dunkirk, undertaken by the English, was raised, and the Austrian
and Prussian armies were driven back to the Rhine.
The siege of Toulon, whose inhabitants had revolted from the horrors
of the Reign of Terror, was remarkable for the horrible carnage with
which it was accompanied, as well as for the appearance of a young
officer of artillery, then chief of battalion, _Napoleon Bonaparte_.
Its capture, which was owing to his genius, was accompanied by the
destruction of nearly the whole French fleet in its harbor by the
retreating English. At eight in the evening a fire-ship was towed
into the harbor; soon the flames arose in every quarter, and fifteen
ships of the line and eight frigates were consumed. The volume
of smoke which filled the sky, the flames which burst as it were
out of the sea, the red light which illuminated the most distant
mountains, and the awful explosions of the magazines formed, says
Napoleon, “a grand and terrible spectacle.” The arms of France, on
the frontiers of Flanders and elsewhere, now began to be successful,
while the dubious conduct or evident defection of Prussia paralysed
all operations on the Rhine; and before the close of 1794 the
Republican armies, in a winter campaign, invaded Holland and subdued
almost the whole of that rich country without a battle. Amsterdam,
which had defied the whole power of Louis XIV., was conquered; these
successes were followed by others still more marvellous. On the
same day on which General Dandels entered Amsterdam, the left wing
of the army made themselves masters of Dordrecht, containing six
hundred pieces of cannon, ten thousand muskets, and immense stores
of ammunition. The same division passed through Rotterdam and took
possession of the Hague, where the States General were assembled;
and to complete the wonders of the campaign, a body of cavalry and
flying artillery crossed the Zuyder Zee on the ice, and summoned the
fleet lying frozen up at the Texel; and the commander, confounded
at the hardihood of the enterprise, surrendered his ships to this
novel species of assailant; and at the conclusion of the campaign,
the Spaniards, defeated, were suing for peace. The Piedmontese were
driven over the Alps; the Allies had everywhere crossed the Rhine;
Flanders and Holland were subjugated; La Vendée pacificated; and the
English fled for refuge to Hanover; 1,700,000 men had combated under
the banners of France; and peace was concluded soon after between
France, Spain, and Prussia.
Napoleon Bonaparte was born at Ajaccio, in Corsica, on the 15th of
August, 1769. Corsica is essentially Italian, and to this day a
state of society prevails which differs from that of any other part
of Europe. The wildest and most deadly feuds are common among its
principal families. The people are turbulent and excitable. Napoleon
was too great a man to derive distinction from any adventitious
advantages, and when the Emperor of Austria, after he became his
son-in-law, endeavored to trace his connexion with the obscure Dukes
of Treviso, he answered that he was the Rudolph of Hapsburg of his
family, and that his patent of nobility dated from the battle of
Montenotte. His mother, a woman of no common beauty, being at the
festival of the Assumption on the day of his birth, was seized with
her pains during high mass. She was brought home and hastily laid
upon a couch covered with tapestry representing the heroes of the
Iliad, and there the future conqueror was brought into the world.
The winter residence of his father was usually at Ajaccio; but in
summer the family retired to a villa near the isle of Sanguinere,
once the residence of a relation of his mother’s, situated on a
romantic spot near the sea shore. The house is approached by an
avenue overhung by the cactus, acacia, and other shrubs, which grow
luxuriantly in a southern climate. It has a garden and lawn showing
vestiges of neglected beauty, and surrounded by a shrubbery permitted
to run to a wilderness. There, enclosed by the cactus, the clematis,
and the wild olive, is a singular and isolated granite rock, beneath
which the remains of a small summer-house are still visible. This
was the favorite retreat of young Napoleon, who early showed a love
of solitary meditation, during the period when his school vacations
permitted him to return home. And it may be supposed, perhaps, that
here the magnificence of his oriental imagination formed those
visions of ambition and high resolves, for which the limits of the
world were, ere long, felt to be insufficient. At an early age he was
sent to the military school at Brienne; his character there underwent
a rapid alteration; he became thoughtful, studious, and diligent in
the extreme.
On one occasion, while the youths were playing the death of Cæsar
in their theatre, the wife of the porter, well known to the boys,
presented herself at the door, and being refused admittance made
some disturbance; the matter was referred to the young Napoleon,
who was the officer in command on the occasion. “Remove that woman
who brings here the license of camps!” said the future ruler of the
revolution. At the age of fourteen he was sent to the military school
at Paris, and at _sixteen_ he received a commission in a regiment of
artillery. When the revolution broke out he adhered to the popular
side. After the siege of Toulon, Dugommier, the general in command,
wrote to the Convention, “Reward and promote that young man, for if
you are ungrateful to him he will raise himself alone.” He commanded
the artillery in 1794 during the campaign in Italy. Dumbion, in
command of the army, who was old, submitted the direction of affairs
principally to Bonaparte. His intimacy with the younger Robespierre,
and his refusal of a command in La Vendée in the civil insurrection,
led to his being deprived of his rank as a general officer, and he
was reduced to private life. But his talents being known led to his
being called to the command of the forces in Paris, which triumphed
over the sections; his decision saved the Convention. The story of
his introduction to and marriage of Josephine is too well known to
need repetition.
In 1796 Bonaparte took command of the forces destined to operate
against Italy. With an army destitute of almost every thing, he, in
a short time, overran Piedmont, conquered a peace with Sardinia,
passed the Po and crossed the Adda at the Bridge of Lodi. The nervous
eloquence of Napoleon, in his address to his soldiers, and the
splendor of his success, intoxicated Paris with joy. The first day,
they heard that the gates of the Alps were opened; the next, that the
Austrians were separated from the Piedmontese army; the third that
the Piedmontese army was destroyed and the fortresses surrendered.
The rapidity of this success, the number of prisoners, exceeded
all that had yet been witnessed. Every one asked, who was this
young conqueror whose fame had burst forth so suddenly, and whose
proclamations breathed the spirit of ancient glory?
“The 13th of Vendemiaire and the victory of Montenotte,” said
Napoleon, “did not induce me to think myself a superior character. It
was after the passage of Lodi that the idea shot across my mind that
I might become a decisive actor on the political theatre; then arose
for the first time the spark of great ambition.”
With pomp and splendor Napoleon made his triumphal entry into Milan,
to the sound of military music and the acclamations of an immense
concourse of spectators. The rapidity of the French victories in
Italy, and the destruction of the Austrian armies, sent to oppose
them, crowned Napoleon as the greatest chieftain of his time. The
marshes of Arcola, the heights of Montebello, and the plain of Rivoli
witnessed his successive glories. But while the arms of Republican
France were conquering in Italy, they suffered reverse and defeat
under Moreau on the frontiers and the Rhine; and the Archduke Charles
drove back the French legions who had dared to penetrate Germany. At
the close of the year the death of the great Empress, Catharine of
Russia, and the accession of Paul to the throne, changed, in many
important respects, the fate of the war.
In the midst of threatened invasion from France, a general panic
seized England, and while the public funds had fallen from 99 to
51, a run commenced on the Bank of England, which was on the verge
of bankruptcy. This caused those orders in Council in February,
1797--suspending specie payments, which, although only considered
temporary at the time, continued a quarter of a century. The defeat
of the Spanish fleet at St. Vincent, by Nelson and Collingwood, soon
quelled the fear of invasion in England.
The army of Napoleon in Italy opened the campaign of 1797 by
attacking, early in March, the Archduke Charles before he had
received his reinforcements. Napoleon arrived by rapid marches, with
his army in front of the Austrians, who had chosen, on the line of
the Julian Alps, the river Tagliamento on which to oppose the French.
By a feint, Napoleon deceived the Austrians, crossed the river,
charged them with fury, and drove them back with considerable loss.
They retreated by the blue and glittering waters of the Isonza, and
in twenty days the army of Charles was driven over the Julian Alps,
and the French were within sixty leagues of Vienna; pushing forward,
they came within sight of its steeples. But unsupported, and with
Italy in insurrection behind his back, Napoleon proposed peace to
Austria. Delay after delay occurring in the negotiation, Napoleon
declared if the ultimatum of the Directory was not accepted in twelve
hours, he would commence hostilities. The time having expired, he
entered the presence of the Austrian ambassador, and taking up a
porcelain vase of great value, and which had been presented by the
Empress Catharine to the ambassador, he declared energetically,
“The die is cast, the truce is broken, war is declared. But mark my
words, before the end of autumn I will break in pieces your monarchy,
as I now destroy this porcelain;” and with that he dashed it in
pieces on the ground. Bowing, he retired, mounted his carriage, and
despatched a courier to the Archduke, to announce that hostilities
would commence in twenty-four hours. The Austrian plenipotentiary,
thunderstruck, forthwith agreed to the ultimatum, and the celebrated
treaty of Campo Formio was signed the next day; and thus terminated
the Italian campaign of Napoleon, the most memorable in his military
career.
Returning to Paris, Napoleon was soon anxious to resume those schemes
of ambition which continually occupied his mind. The expedition
for the conquest of Egypt sailed with pomp from Toulon, and after
occupying Malta, and narrowly escaping the English fleet under
Nelson, the French army landed at Alexandria. Victory after victory
soon completed the subjugation of the Land of the Pharaohs, while at
the battle of the Nile the French fleet was almost entirely destroyed
by Nelson.
Cut off by this disaster from Europe, Napoleon projected that
expedition to Syria, which, unsuccessful at Acre, returned to Egypt
in time to destroy the Turkish army, which had landed at Aboukir.
Reverses in the Alps, the loss of Italy, the retreat of the French
to Zurich, and the capture of Corfu by the Russians and English,
determined Napoleon to return to France, which he accomplished in a
small frigate, which escaped the English cruisers. Arrived in Paris,
he found the government in disorder, and without a head, and, while
disaster surrounded the country, its armies had been beaten, and its
finances were in hopeless confusion.
On the celebrated 18th Brumaire (8th November), Napoleon having
command of the troops in Paris, accomplished that sudden revolution
which placed him at the head of affairs. His schemes of ambition
began now to ripen, and France soon felt in all her departments the
energy of his mighty genius. One of his first acts was to propose
peace with England. Disregarding the ordinary rules of negotiation,
Napoleon addressed a letter personally to George III., proposing
peace. This letter was replied to by Lord Grenville, the Prime
Minister, who declined the proposition.
Disappointed in his hopes of negotiating peace, Napoleon prepared
with renewed vigor for war. The campaign was the most important of
his life. Its daring and success are almost unparalleled in history.
Crossing the Alps, the highest chain of mountains in Europe, without
roads, his artillery had to be dragged over narrow foot-paths, up
the rugged sides of frowning mountains, and on the brink of awful
precipices covered with snow; while provisions and stores for a whole
army had to be carried by sheep-paths on the backs of men. Arrived
at Geneva, having deceived the Austrians as to his intentions, he
asked General Marescot, whom he had despatched to survey Mont St.
Bernard, “Is the route practicable?” “It is barely possible,” replied
the engineer. “Let us press forward then,” said Napoleon. Arrived
at the little village of St. Pierre, everything resembling a road
ended. An immense and apparently inaccessible mountain reared its
head amidst general desolation and eternal frost, while precipices,
glaciers, and ravines appeared to forbid access to all living things.
Yet, surmounting every obstacle, the passage was accomplished; and
a French army of 30,000 men precipitated themselves, apparently
from the clouds, on the plains of Italy, and appeared to the
thunderstruck Austrians, cutting off their retreat from Genoa, and
completely dividing their forces; speedily marching upon Milan,
leaving the Austrian army under Melas, behind him, he returned to
attack them, and at the battle of Marengo gained the most important
of his victories. By the close of 1801 the continental states had
all concluded peace with France, leaving her with the most enormous
aggrandizements of territory. A short interval of peace occurred with
England in 1802, which was broken by a declaration of war in June,
1803, and all the English residents between the ages of eighteen and
sixty were detained as hostages. Hanover was seized by the French,
and the English retaliated by blockading the Elbe and the Weser.
The war with Great Britain, and a conspiracy to overthrow the
authority of the First Consul, which was discovered, served as a
ladder for Napoleon to mount from the Consulate to the Imperial
Dignity; and on the 3d May, 1804, the senate communicated to
Napoleon this address: “We think it of the last importance to the
French people to confide the government of the Republic to Napoleon
Bonaparte--HEREDITARY EMPEROR.”
The Empire was proclaimed at St. Cloud, 18th May, 1804; and Napoleon
was crowned by Pope Pius VII., on the 2d December, in the church of
Notre Dame. War was declared by Spain against England, after she
had unwarrantably attacked and seized four large Spanish frigates
filled with cargoes of immense value. The rising hostility of Russia
and Sweden at this moment incensed the French government still more
against England, to whose influence she attributed their conduct. All
appearances foretold the beginning of another general eruption.
On the 11th of April, 1805, a treaty offensive and defensive was
formed between Russia and England, the object of which was to put
a stop to what they considered the encroachments of the French
government, and to form a general league of the states of Europe.
The accession of Austria was finally obtained to the alliance, after
great difficulty and delay: the deplorable state of her finances,
and the vacillating policy of her government, being (then as now)
stumbling-blocks in the way of negotiation. On the 31st of August,
Sweden was also included. But notwithstanding all the efforts of
England and Russia, it was found impossible to overcome the scruples
of Prussia, who inclined towards the French in hopes of obtaining
Hanover, promised her by France as a reward for her neutrality.
For ten years Prussia had flattered herself that by keeping aloof
she would avoid the storm, that she would succeed in turning the
desperate strife between France and Austria to her own benefit by
enlarging her territory, and augmenting her consideration in the
North of Germany; but at once all her prospects vanished, and it
became apparent, even to her own ministers, that this vacillating
policy was ultimately to be as dangerous as it had already been
discreditable. On the 25th of Oct., the Emperor Alexander arrived
at Berlin, and employed the whole weight of his great authority,
and all the charms of his captivating manners, to induce the King
to embrace a more manly and courageous policy; and on the 3rd of
November a secret convention was signed between the two monarchs
for the regulation of the affairs of Europe, and the erection of a
barrier against the ambition of the French Emperor. The conclusion
of the Convention was followed by a scene as remarkable as it was
romantic. Inspired with a full sense of the dangers of the war,
the ardent and chivalrous mind of the Queen conceived the idea of
uniting the two sovereigns by a bond more likely to be durable than
the mere alliances of cabinets with each other. This was, to bring
them together at the tomb of the great Frederick. The Emperor who
was desirous of visiting the mausoleum of that illustrious hero,
accordingly repaired to the church at Potsdam, where his remains are
deposited.
And at midnight the two monarchs proceeded together by torchlight
to the hallowed grave. Uncovering when he approached the spot, the
Emperor kissed the pall, and taking the hand of the King of Prussia,
as it lay on the tomb, they swore an eternal friendship to each
other, and bound themselves by the most solemn oaths to maintain
their engagements inviolate in the great contest for European
independence in which they were engaged.
It would have been well for the Allies, if, when Prussia had thus
taken her part, her cabinet had possessed sufficient resolution
to have taken the field instead of continuing in her old habit
of temporizing, and thus permitting Napoleon to continue without
interruption his advance on Vienna. But her long indecision had been
her ruin. Her territory had been violated by France, who, while
apparently her ally, was reserving for her only the melancholy
privilege of being last destroyed.
In the meantime, a combined force of English, Russians, and Swedes,
thirty thousand strong, had been landed in Hanover, and the Prussian
troops occupying that Electorate had offered no resistance--a sure
proof to Napoleon of a secret understanding between the Cabinet of
Berlin and that of London.
While she was thus giving daily proofs of her indecision and
treachery, the ever-vigilant Bonaparte was pouring his armies through
Bavaria into Austria and concentrating his divisions for the sweeping
victory which was so soon afterwards destined to scatter to the winds
the opposing allies.
We now come to the campaign of Austerlitz; the most remarkable, in a
military point of view, which the history of the war afforded.
In the beginning of August the French army was cantoned on the
heights of Boulogne; and by the first week of December, Vienna was
taken, and the strength of Austria and Russia prostrated.
The allied armies presented a total of 80,000 men, including a
division of the imperial guard under the Grand Duke Constantine,
brother of the Emperor of Russia.
The forces which Napoleon had to resist this great array hardly
amounted to 70,000 combatants.
On the 30th November, 1805, the light troops of the Allies were seen
from the French outposts marching across their position towards the
right of the army. Napoleon spent the whole of both days on horseback
at the advanced posts watching their movements. At length on the
morning of the 1st Dec. the intentions of the enemy were clearly
manifested, and Napoleon beheld with “inexpressible delight” their
whole columns dark, and massy, moving across his position at so short
a distance as rendered it apparent a general action was at hand.
Carefully avoiding the slightest interruption to their movement, he
merely watched with intense anxiety their march, and when it became
evident that the resolution to turn the right flank of the French
army had been decided upon, he exclaimed, prophetically--“To-morrow,
before night-fall, that army is mine.”
At four in the morning the Emperor was on horseback. All was still
among the immense multitude concentrated in the French lines. Buried
in sleep the soldiers forgot alike their triumphs and the dangers
they were about to undergo. Gradually, however, a confused murmur
arose from the Russian host, and all the reports from the outposts
announced that the advance had already commenced along the whole line.
Gradually the stars which throughout the night had shone clear and
bright began to disappear, and the ruddy glow of the east announced
the approach of day. At last, the “Sun of Austerlitz” rose in
unclouded brilliancy on that field of blood.
The French army occupied an interior position, from whence their
columns started like rays from a centre, while the allies were
toiling in a wide semicircle round their outer extremity.
His marshals, burning with impatience, stood around Napoleon,
awaiting the signal for attack. At last the word was given, and on
they rushed to the onslaught.
The results of the conflict in different sections of the battle-field
were various, the Russians and French alternately being victorious,
till Napoleon, seeing there was not a moment to be lost, ordered
Marshal Bessières with the cavalry of the guard to arrest a terrible
onslaught of Russian cuirassiers of the guard, two thousand strong,
which had already trampled under foot three battalions of the French.
Instantly spurring their chargers, the French precipitated themselves
upon the enemy. The Russians were broken and driven back over the
dead bodies of the square they had destroyed.
Rallying, however, they returned to the charge, and both imperial
guards met in full career! The shock was terrible! and the most
desperate cavalry action that had taken place during the war ensued.
The infantry on both sides advanced to support their comrades. The
resolution and vigor of the combatants were equal. Squadron to
squadron, company to company, man to man, fought with invincible
firmness. At length, however, the stern obstinacy of the Russian
yielded to the enthusiastic valor of the French. The cavalry and
infantry of the guard gave way, and after losing their artillery
and standards, were driven back in confusion almost to the walls of
Austerlitz, while from a neighboring eminence the Emperors of Russia
and Germany beheld the irretrievable rout of the flower of their army.
This desperate encounter was decisive of the fate of the day. The
Russians no longer fought for victory, but for existence. Great
numbers sought to save themselves by crossing with their artillery
and cavalry a frozen lake adjoining their line of march. The ice
was already beginning to yield under the enormous weight, when the
shells from the French batteries bursting below the surface, caused
it to crack with a loud explosion. A frightful yell arose from the
perishing multitude, and above two thousand brave men were swallowed
up in the waves. At noon the allies gave way, and commenced their
retreat in the direction of Austerlitz.
Those who escaped being made prisoners succeeded before nightfall in
reaching Austerlitz, already filled with the wounded, the fugitives
and the stragglers from every part of the army.
Thus terminated the battle of Austerlitz.
The loss of the allies was immense. Thirty thousand (30,000) men
were killed, wounded, or made prisoners. Of the latter were 19,000
Russians, and 6,000 Austrians, most of whom were wounded. Almost
the whole of their baggage fell into the hands of the victors. One
hundred and eighty pieces of cannon, four hundred covered wagons,
and forty-five standards, were taken, and the disorganization of the
combined forces was complete.
Twelve thousand French had been killed and wounded, making the
frightful sum total of that dreadful day’s carnage, 42,000 men.
On the 6th of Dec. an armistice was concluded at Austerlitz, and
Alexander sent to Berlin the Grand Duke Constantine to ascertain if
the Prussian King was prepared to join with him, according to the
principles which he had sworn to adhere to at the tomb of the great
Frederick, in the vigorous prosecution of the war. But the disaster
of Austerlitz had wrought a perfidious change in the policy of the
Prussian Cabinet.
An ambassador was sent to Napoleon to congratulate him upon his
success, and to propose a treaty. Napoleon broke out into a vehement
declamation against the policy of the Prussian Cabinet, and expressed
his determination now to turn his whole forces against them; but at
last yielding, the treaty was concluded, and a new alliance entered
into between Prussia and France, the former receiving as a reward
Hanover, with all the other continental dominions of his Britannic
Majesty.
During the year 1807, disagreements sprang up between France and
Prussia, which resulted at the battle of Jena, (Oct. 14th) in the
total discomfiture of the latter, and triumph of Napoleon, who now
became master of the whole country from the Rhine to the Vistula.
Passing the sanguinary contests of Eylau and Friedland, we come to
the treaty of Tilsit, the arrangement of which took place under
circumstances eminently calculated to impress the imagination of
mankind.
Certain misunderstandings having arisen between England and Russia,
and the latter power being somewhat crippled for the moment by
numerous defeats, an armistice was proposed by Alexander, and
accepted by Napoleon, on the 22d of June, which ended in the treaty
of Tilsit.
There was little difficulty in coming to an understanding, for France
had nothing to demand of Russia, except that she should close her
ports against England! Russia nothing to ask of France but that she
should withdraw her armies from Poland, and permit the Emperor to
pursue his long cherished projects of conquest in Turkey.
The armistice having been concluded, it was agreed that the two
Emperors should meet, to arrange, in a private conference, the
destinies of the world.
It took place accordingly on the 25th June. On the river Niemen,
which separated the two armies, a raft of great dimensions was
constructed. It was moored in the centre of the stream, and on its
surface a wooden apartment surmounted by the eagles of France and
Russia, was framed with all the magnificence which the time and
circumstances would admit.
This was destined for the reception of the Emperors alone; at a
little distance was stationed another raft less sumptuously adorned,
for their respective suites.
The shore on either side was covered with the Imperial Guard of the
two monarchs, drawn up in triple lines. At one o’clock precisely,
amid the thunder of artillery, each Emperor stepped into a boat on
his own side of the river, accompanied by a few of his principal
officers. The splendid suite of each monarch followed in another boat
immediately after.
The bark of Napoleon advanced with greater rapidity than that of
Alexander. He arrived first at the raft, entered the apartment,
and himself opened the door on the opposite side to receive the
Czar; while the shouts of the soldiers drowned even the roar of the
artillery.
In a few seconds Alexander arrived, and was received by the Conqueror
at the door on his own side. Their meeting was friendly, and
Alexander expressed his dissatisfaction with his ally, the Government
of _Great Britain_.
“I hate the English,” said he, “as much as you do, and am ready to
second you in all your enterprises against them.” “In that case,”
replied Napoleon, “everything will be easily arranged, and peace is
already made.” And peace was made. A treaty was concluded between
France and Russia, also between France and Prussia, by which the
latter ceded to Napoleon about half her dominions, and Alexander and
Napoleon, deeply impressed with the genius of each other, became,
for the time being, intimate friends. By the provisions of this
celebrated treaty, Russia was assigned the Empire of the East, while
France acquired absolute sway in the Kingdoms of the West, and both
united in cordial hostility against Great Britain.
France being the ally of Turkey, Napoleon could do no less than
arrange for the evacuation of Moldavia and Wallachia (at that time
occupied by Russian troops); but it is supposed there was a secret
understanding between the two Emperors, that ultimately, Wallachia,
Moldavia, and Bulgaria were to fall into the possession of Russia,
while France was to arrange to her liking, the affairs of Greece and
the Spanish Peninsula.
But the sagacity of Napoleon would not permit him to agree to
the cession of Constantinople and Roumelia, and rivalry for the
possession of that Capitol was one of the principal causes which
afterwards brought about the disastrous campaign of Moscow.
As a consequence of the downfall of Prussia, the neutrality of
Austria, and the accession to the confederacy of Alexander at Tilsit,
Napoleon was emboldened to attempt the carrying out of his long
cherished “_Continental System_” of combining all the Continental
States into one great alliance against England, and to compel them to
exclude the British Flag and British merchandise from their harbors.
It was at this time that he promulgated the famous _Berlin Decree_,
which declared the British Islands in a state of blockade,
and subjected all goods of British produce or manufacture, to
confiscation within his dominions, or those of the countries subject
to his control, and prohibited all vessels from entering any harbor,
which had touched at any British port.
As a retaliatory measure the celebrated _Orders in Council_ were
issued by the British Government (on the 11th Nov. 1807), which
proclaimed France and all the Continental States in a state of
blockade, and declared all vessels good prize, which should be bound
for any of their harbors, excepting such as had previously cleared
out _from_ or touched _at_ a British harbor.
This was followed on the 17th December, by the _Milan Decree_, which
declared that any vessel, of whatever nation, which shall have
submitted to be searched by British cruisers, shall be considered and
dealt with as English vessels, and every vessel of whatever nation,
coming _from_ or bound _to_ any British harbor, shall be declared
good prize.
England, being mistress of the seas, enforced with unfeeling rigor
her orders in council, entailing immense losses upon the commerce of
neutral States, but more particularly upon America, which ultimately
brought about the war between herself and the great Republic; while
France, comparatively powerless on the ocean, invoked the aid of
privateers and seized upon all British persons and property within
her grasp.
Since the defeat of Austria at Austerlitz, in 1805, the Cabinet of
Vienna had adhered with cautious prudence to a system of neutrality.
Still the Imperial Government had been successfully at work to fill
up the ranks of their decimated armies, and to place themselves again
in a position of strength.
Napoleon was no sooner informed of these military preparations than
he demanded an explanation of their import.
Austria made professions of pacific intentions, but still continued
to arm herself; the war in Spain, which Napoleon had at this time on
his hands, leading her to suppose that he would not for so slight a
cause undertake another contest.
In the meantime, the wily Metternich, Austrian Ambassador at Paris,
was endeavoring to maintain apparently amicable relations with the
French government, while every effort was made to induce Alexander to
join with Austria; but the Czar had pledged his word to Napoleon, and
was not inclined to break a personal engagement of such importance.
The French ambassador left Vienna finally, on the 28th Feb., 1809,
and in April active hostilities broke out thus kindling again the
flames of war.
Warsaw, garrisoned by the French, was taken by the Austrians, at
which time occurred an event of significant importance.
In pursuing the Austrians, a courier was taken with despatches
from the Russian General Gortschakoff to the Austrian Arch-Duke,
congratulating him on the capture of Warsaw, and breathing a wish
that he might soon join his armies to the Austrian Eagles.
This letter was immediately forwarded to Napoleon, who remarked, “I
see, after all, I must make war upon Alexander.”
The Czar disavowed the letter, and attempted explanations, but a
breach was opened which was never again healed.
Austria endeavored to win Prussia to her side after the battle of
Aspern (unfavorable to Napoleon), and secret negotiations were
carried on. But the Prussian government replied to Austria’s
overtures, that they had every disposition to assist her, but could
not take part in the contest till the views of Russia in regard to it
were known.
In the meantime the struggle continued, and after a great number
of contests, in some of which Napoleon’s chances were desperate,
finally, on the 5th of July, 1809, was fought the celebrated battle
of Wagram, under the walls of Vienna, which resulted in victory to
Napoleon, though at so dear a price as almost to equal a defeat.
50,000 men were killed and wounded.
The peace of Vienna followed on the 14th of October, and was of so
humiliating a nature that it was received with marked disapprobation
by the Cabinet of St. Petersburg, and was attended with a most
important effect in widening the breach which was already formed
between the two Emperors.
The Turkish empire at this time was in a state of decay, and the
people, from the inefficiency of the government, and the constantly
recurring insurrections, in a state of misery.
But amid the general decay, the matchless situation of Constantinople
still attracted a vast concourse of inhabitants, and veiled under a
robe of beauty the decline of the Queen of the East.
This celebrated capital, the incomparable excellence of whose
situation attracted the eagle eye of Alexander, had long formed the
real object of discord between the Courts of Paris and St. Petersburg.
War had been formally declared by Russia against Turkey, in Jan.,
1807, in consequence of a dispute about the hospodars, or governors,
of Wallachia and Moldavia. Soon after, the conspiracy of the
Janizaries broke out against the reforms of the Sultan, assisting
materially Russia’s designs.
In the beginning of the year 1810 an _Imperial Ukase_ appeared,
annexing Moldavia and Wallachia, which for three years had been
occupied by their troops, to the Russian Empire, and declaring the
Danube, from the Austrian frontier to the Black Sea, the southern
European boundary of their mighty dominion.
A bloody war was the consequence, in which both parties made
prodigious efforts, and neither gained decisive success, until the
peace of Bucharest was concluded on the 28th of May, 1812.
Russia was as anxious as Turkey for the cessation of hostilities,
being desirous of withdrawing her armies from the Danube to engage in
the formidable contest which was impending over them with Napoleon.
ANNEXATION OF FINLAND.
Sweden was summoned to join in the alliance against Great Britain,
to which the Swedish monarch did not accede. Alexander consequently
declared war, and on the 28th of March, 1808, the following Imperial
Ukase appeared at St. Petersburg:
“_We unite Finland, conquered by our arms, for ever to our Empire,
and command its inhabitants forthwith to take the oath of allegiance
to our throne._”
The Swedish Monarch, however, not being willing to surrender so
important a portion of his dominions, was forced to abdicate; and his
successor endeavored to conclude a peace with Russia, and to retain
Finland through appeals to Napoleon.
The latter was, however, bound to Alexander by the treaty of Tilsit,
and refused to interfere. The Czar, determined to retain his
conquest, marched an army across the gulf of Bothnia, on the ice, in
March, 1809, and arrived by the middle of that month on the Swedish
side, en route for Stockholm.
This had the effect to intimidate the court of Stockholm, who
therefore ceded Finland, and peace was concluded Sept. 17, 1809.
On the 13th Dec., 1810, Napoleon formally annexed to the French
Empire the Hanse towns and the Duchy of Oldenburg. This measure
irritated Alexander, who now grew apprehensive lest some of his
ill-gotten gains should be wrested from him, and that the restoration
of Poland might next be thought of.
A convention was drawn up at St. Petersburg, and signed by the
representatives of France and Russia, by which it was stipulated,
that “_The kingdom of Poland shall never be reëstablished; and the
name of Poland and Poles shall never in future be applied to any of
the districts, or inhabitants; and shall be effaced for ever from
every public and official act._”
Napoleon, however, refused to ratify it, and thus again exasperated
the Czar, who commenced to place Poland in a state of defence, which,
in its turn, excited the jealousy of the French Emperor.
Alexander, therefore, published, on the 31st of Dec., 1810, an
order, containing a material relaxation of the rigour of the decrees
hitherto in force in the Russian Empire against English commerce.
On the 24th Feb., 1812, the Cabinet of Prussia concluded a treaty
offensive and defensive with France; and a royal edict appeared
prohibiting the introduction of colonial produce, on any pretence,
from the Russian into the Prussian territory. Austria being at this
time in close alliance with France, another treaty was concluded
March 14, 1812, between them, placing a considerable part of her
resources at Napoleon’s command.
In consequence of the overbearing demands of Napoleon, the Swedish
Government allied itself with Russia on the 5th of April (1812), and
with Great Britain on the 12th of July following.
The differences between Alexander and Napoleon had now become so
serious, that war was inevitable. But Napoleon knew the foe he had
to grapple with, and proposed terms of peace to Great Britain on the
17th of April, hoping to be left to meet the Russians single-handed,
and thus humble the overweening pride of the Czar. His proposals
were, however, rejected.
Down to the very commencement of hostilities, notes continued to be
interchanged between the representatives of the two Emperors, which
did little more than recapitulate the mutual grounds of complaint of
the two cabinets against each other. Finally, on the 24th of April,
Alexander sent to Napoleon his ultimatum, offering an accommodation
on condition that France would evacuate Prussia, and come to an
arrangement with the king of Sweden which remained without any
answer, on the part of the French Government.
Both prepared for the worst, and on the 23d of June, Napoleon arrived
on the banks of the Niemen, with his countless hosts, for the
invasion of Russia.
The armies at his command, at this time, amounted in the aggregate,
to the enormous sum of 1,250,000 men; and the force which entered
Russia, during the year 1812, was 647,158 men--187,111 horses, and
1372 cannon.
The regular forces of the Russians amounted, at the close of 1811,
to 517,000 men, 70,000 of whom were in garrison, and the remainder
dispersed over an immense surface.
To oppose the invasion of the French, the Russians had collected
about 200,000 men, and upwards of 800 pieces of cannon. The forces
of the French, therefore, exceeded those of the Russians, by nearly
300,000 men; but the former were at an immense distance from their
resources, and had no means of recruiting their losses; whereas the
latter were in their own country, and supported by the devotion of a
fanatical and patriotic people.
The face of the country on the Western frontier of Russia is in
general flat, and in many places marshy; vast woods of pine cover the
plains, and the rivers flow in some places through steep banks, in
others stagnate over extensive swamps, which often present the most
serious obstacles to military operations. The villages are few and
miserable.
The wants of such a prodigious accumulation of troops speedily
exhausted all the means of subsistence which the country afforded,
and the stores they could convey with them. Forced requisitions from
the peasantry became, therefore, necessary, and so great was the
subsequent misery that the richest families in Warsaw were literally
in danger of starving, and the interest of money rose to 80 per cent.
Napoleon reached Wilna on the 28th of June, the Russians receding as
he advanced, and destroying everything before them. On the 15th of
August, the starving army reached the city of Smolensko, which was
burned by the Russians, and abandoned on the 18th.
The losses in the meantime by battle, exposure, want, and sickness,
were fast decimating the French ranks. The soldiers were seized with
disquietude as they contrasted their miserable quarters amid the
ruins of Smolensko, with the smiling villages they had abandoned in
their native land; but amid the universal gloom, their Emperor was
ever present, and by words and deeds of kindness, sustained their
drooping spirits.
Leaving Smolensko, Napoleon pressed forward, and on the 5th of
September, arrived at Borodino where the Russians had made a stand to
oppose their march upon Moscow.
On the 7th, two days subsequently, was fought the bloody battle of
Borodino, the most murderous and obstinately contested of which
history has preserved a record.
The Russian force was 132,000 men, with 640 pieces of artillery.
The French consisted of 133,000 men, with 590 pieces of cannon.
There were killed 15,000 Russians and 12,000 French, besides upwards
of 70,000 wounded on both sides, making a total loss of 100,000 men
in this one battle.
The French were, however, victorious, and reached Moscow on the 14th.
The Holy City was found to be evacuated, not only by the Russian
army, but by the inhabitants, and as the French hosts defiled through
the silent streets, it was like entering a city of the dead.
Not a sound was to be heard in its vast circumference! the dwellings
of three hundred thousand persons seemed as silent as the wilderness.
Evening came on! With increasing wonder the French troops traversed
the central parts of the city, recently so crowded with passengers,
but not a living creature was to be seen to explain the universal
desolation. Night approached! an unclouded moon illuminated those
beautiful palaces, those vast hotels, those deserted streets--all was
still!
The officers broke open the doors of some of the principal mansions
in search of sleeping quarters. They found every thing in perfect
order; the bedrooms were fully furnished as if guests were expected;
the drawing-rooms bore the marks of having been recently inhabited;
even the work of the ladies was on the tables, the keys in the
wardrobes--but still not an inmate was to be seen. By degrees a few
of the lowest slaves emerged pale and trembling from the cellars, and
showed the way to the sleeping apartments, and laid open every thing
which these sumptuous mansions contained; but the only account they
could give was that the whole of the inhabitants had fled, and that
they alone were left. The persons intrusted with the duty of setting
fire to the city, only awaited the retreat of their countrymen to
commence the work of destruction. The terrible catastrophe soon
commenced. On the night of the 13th a fire broke out in the bourse,
and spread to the streets in the vicinity. At midnight, on the 15th,
a bright light was seen to illuminate the northern and western parts
of the city; fresh fires were then seen breaking out every instant
in all directions, and Moscow soon exhibited the spectacle of a sea
of flame agitated by the wind. But it was chiefly during the nights
of the 18th and 19th that the conflagration attained its greatest
violence. At that time the whole city was wrapped in flames, and
volumes of fire of various colors ascended to the heavens in many
places, diffusing a prodigious light on all sides, and attended by an
intolerable heat. These balloons of flame were accompanied in their
ascent by a frightful hissing noise, and loud explosions, the result
of the vast stores of oil, tar, rosin, spirits, and other combustible
materials, with which the greater part of the shops were filled. The
wind, naturally high, was raised by the sudden rarefaction of the
air to a perfect hurricane. The howling of the tempest drowned even
the roar of the conflagration; the whole heavens were filled with
the whirl of the burning volumes of smoke, which rose on all sides,
and made midnight as bright as day, while even the bravest hearts,
subdued by the sublimity of the scene, and the feeling of human
impotence in the midst of such elemental strife, sank and trembled
in silence. Imagination cannot conceive the horrors into which the
remnant of the people who could not abandon their homes were plunged.
Bereft of every thing, they wandered amid the ruins eagerly searching
for a parent or a child: pillage became universal, and the wrecks of
former magnificence were ransacked alike by the licentious soldiery
and the suffering multitude.
In addition to the whole French army, numbers flocked in from
the country to share in the general license; furniture of the
most precious description, splendid jewellery, Indian and Turkish
stuffs, stores of wine and brandy, gold and silver plate, rich
furs, gorgeous trappings of silk and satin were spread about in
promiscuous confusion, and became the prey of the least intoxicated
among the multitude. A frightful tumult succeeded to the stillness
which had reigned in the city when the troops first entered. The
French soldiers, tormented by hunger and thirst, and loosened from
all discipline by the horrors which surrounded them, often rushed
headlong into the burning edifices to ransack their cellars for
wines and spirits, and beneath the ruins great numbers miserably
perished, the victims of intemperance and the surrounding fire.
Napoleon abandoned the Kremlin on the evening of the 16th. Early on
the following morning, casting a melancholy look to the burning city,
which now filled half the heavens with its flames, he exclaimed after
a long silence, “This sad event is the presage of a long train of
disasters.”
Thus vanished the hopes of those indefatigable soldiers who had
endured so much, and fought so well. To reach the fabulous city whose
domes and minarets were now fallen--had been the dream of their
ambition--the goal which once attained, would give rest and food to
their weariness and hunger.
Thus Napoleon found himself possessed of a heap of burning ruins
without food for his famishing soldiers and horses.
All negotiations with the Russian authorities having failed, a
retreat was decided upon, and the Emperor left Moscow on the 19th
of October, at the head of 105,000 combatants. The disasters of that
retreat are too well known to require recapitulation.
Suffice it to say that the survivors of the French army, who entered
Russia 500,000 strong, were but 20,000. The total loss of the
campaign, in killed, prisoners, died from cold, fatigue, and famine,
was over 450,000. And on the 13th of December, the wretched remnant
of the French army passed the bridge of the Niemen. The losses of the
Russians were also so great that at the end of the campaign not above
30,000 men could be assembled around the head-quarters of the Emperor
Alexander.
On the 10th Dec., early in the morning, a travelling carriage in
great haste drove into the Hotel d’Angleterre, at Warsaw. It was a
small travelling britschka placed without wheels on a coarse sledge,
made of four pieces of rough fir-wood, which had been almost dashed
to pieces in entering the gateway. The travellers were ushered into a
small dark apartment, with the windows half-shut, and in a corner of
which a servant girl strove in vain to light a fire with green damp
billets of wood, which, after kindling for a moment, gradually went
out, leaving those in the apartment to shiver with cold during three
hours of earnest conversation.
The travellers were Napoleon and his friend Caulaincourt, who five
days previously had bidden the remnant of his retreating army, in
Russia, an affectionate farewell, and started for Paris.
At length, it being announced that the carriage was ready, they
mounted the sledge, and were soon lost in the gloom of a Polish
winter. Outstripping his couriers in speed, on the 18th Dec., at 11
at night, the Emperor arrived at the Tuileries, before the Imperial
government was even aware that he had quitted the army. And early
next morning, while the streets of Paris were yet vacant, he was
buried in state papers, investigating and arranging the disorganized
affairs of the empire.
THE GRAND ALLIANCE.
Napoleon’s power being no longer dreaded, Prussia became disaffected,
and on the 28th of February, 1813, entered into an alliance offensive
and defensive with Russia, called, _the treaty of Kalisch_, which was
the foundation stone of that grand alliance which finally overthrew
the French Emperor. Great efforts were made to induce Saxony to join
the league; but she remained permanently attached to the fortunes of
Napoleon.
Meanwhile Alexander despatched a confidential agent to Vienna, in
order to sound the Imperial Cabinet on the prospect of a European
alliance against France, and it was soon after discovered that,
notwithstanding Austria’s professed friendship for Napoleon, there
was a secret understanding existing between the Cabinets of St.
Petersburg and Vienna, as also with the King of Prussia.
The accession of Sweden was received on the 3d of March.
During the month of April a convention took place between Great
Britain, Russia, and Prussia, when England, in addition to the
immense supplies of arms and military stores which she was
furnishing, agreed to advance two millions sterling ($10,000,000) to
sustain the operations of the Prince Royal of Sweden in the north of
Germany, and a like sum to enable Russia and Prussia to keep up their
vast armaments in Saxony.
On the 14th of June another treaty was signed stipulating that
England should pay to Prussia, for the six remaining months of the
year, about £700,000, in consideration of which, the latter was to
keep in the field an army of 80,000 men.
By another treaty, signed the day after, between Russia and Great
Britain, it was stipulated that Great Britain should pay to its
Emperor, till January, 1814, £1,333,334 in monthly instalments, by
which he was to maintain 160,000 men in the field, independent of
the garrisons of strong places. On the 27th of July Austria joined
the alliance (against their Emperor’s son-in-law), England agreeing
to pay her equal to one million sterling, in the event of her taking
part in the war; thus completing the formidable alliance of Great
Britain, Russia, Prussia, Austria, and Sweden.
While the accession of new and formidable powers to the league
was taking place, the energy of Napoleon seemed to rise with the
difficulties against which he had to contend, and to acquire an
almost supernatural degree of vigor.
His shattered armies were reinforced, and, undiscouraged by the
recollection of Moscow, he prepared again to make his power felt
against the formidable odds which the energies of five empires were
concentrating for his destruction.
Already again in the month of April was he in the field, and in May
occupied Dresden, driving his enemies before him.
In August, however, the allies having been strongly reinforced, made
their first attack upon that city. Through August and September
there were constantly recurring battles, by which the French were
so harassed that Napoleon at length resolved to retreat in the
direction of Leipsic, and on the 15th of October his army, consisting
of 175,000 men and 720 pieces of cannon, occupied that city, and
encamped around it. The allies followed with 290,000 men and above
1300 guns. The 18th dawned, and the last hour of the French Empire
began to toll. The celebrated battle of Leipsic was fought. The
conflict of such masses was terrible, and was so disastrous to the
French, that a retreat was resolved upon, which commenced the next
morning, the allies entering the city as the French retired across
the river.
The battle of Leipsic was, perhaps, the most unfortunate in its
results which Napoleon ever experienced; and the subsequent retreat
of his army to the Rhine partook, in a measure, of the horrors of
that from Moscow.
While the discomfited French were retiring across the Rhine at
Mayence, the allied troops followed closely on their footsteps, and
Alexander entered Frankfort on the 5th of November. Napoleon had left
on the 1st, remaining six days with his army on the opposite shores
of the river, and reached Paris on the 9th.
The day after, in the council of state, he unfolded the danger of his
situation with manly sincerity, and with nervous eloquence referred
to the invasion by Wellington of his southern frontiers, while the
allies menaced the north. A levy by conscription was made of 600,000
men, and preparations to resist the invasion were immediately ordered.
On the 1st of Dec. the allied sovereigns published a declaration
from Frankfort, offering peace to France on condition that she would
confine her limits between the Rhine, the Alps, and the Pyrenees.
But the negotiation was protracted by Napoleon to gain time, until
the impatient allies crossed the Rhine, and Denmark, Naples, and the
Rhenish Confederation, joined the alliance.
The allies had now accumulated forces so prodigious, for the
invasion of France, that nothing in ancient or modern times had ever
approached to their magnitude.
Including 80,000 Austrians, destined to act in the north of Italy,
and a hundred and forty thousand British, Portuguese, and Spaniards,
who, under the guidance of Wellington, were assailing the south,
the whole force of the allies formed a mass of _a million and
twenty-eight thousand men_, which was prepared to act against the
French empire.
The French army was so reduced, that the Emperor could not, with
the utmost exertion, reckon upon more than 350,000 men to defend
the frontiers of his widespread dominions. Of these, 100,000 were
blockaded in Hamburg and on the Oder, 50,000 were maintaining a
painful defensive against the Austrians in the north of Italy, and
100,000 were struggling against the superior armies of Wellington on
the Spanish frontiers. So that the real army which the Emperor had
at his disposal to resist the invasion on the Rhine did not exceed
110,000.
On the 31st of Dec., 1813, the united and victorious allies crossed
that river. Numerous battles ensued. At length a conference was held,
and the allied sovereigns offered to conclude peace, and recognize
Napoleon as Emperor of France, on certain conditions, which would
have left him an empire greater than that over which his nephew now
reigns. This did not, however, satisfy his ambition. The overtures
were refused, and on the 30th of March, 1814, after numerous
sanguinary engagements, and the storming of the city, the allies
entered Paris, which had been forced to capitulate.
On the 11th of April Napoleon signed his abdication at Fontainbleau,
and on the 28th of the same month, at eight at night, set sail from
Frejus for the island of Elba, on board the English frigate “_The
Undaunted_.”
On the 1st of March, 1815, having escaped from Elba, he again entered
France, with a few hundred men, and was everywhere received with
acclamation and shouts of joy, which resounding throughout the land,
were echoed to the Tuileries, and caused such consternation, that the
court became alarmed, and at midnight, on the 19th, Louis XVIII. and
the royal family, left Paris, and escaped into Belgium, while at nine
o’clock in the evening of the next day Napoleon entered the vacated
palace.
The allies became alarmed, and on the 25th of March, Russia, Prussia,
Austria, and Great Britain, concluded a treaty, engaging to unite
their forces against Bonaparte, with a secret stipulation that the
high contracting parties should not lay down their arms till the
complete destruction of Napoleon had been effected. Such, however,
was the poverty at this time of the Continental powers, that
they were unable to put their armies in motion without pecuniary
assistance. And a treaty was entered into at Vienna on the 30th
of April, by which England agreed to furnish Austria, Russia, and
Prussia, the necessary means for the prosecution of the war, and
actually paid to foreign powers during the year above £11,000,000
($55,000,000).
Napoleon left Paris on the morning of the 12th of June, and joined
his army, which had been concentrated near the frontiers of Belgium,
on the 13th. The returns on the evening of the 14th, gave 122,400
men under arms, and at day-break on the 15th his army crossed the
frontier.
Various conflicts ensued between different portions of his forces,
directed to different points, and those of the allies, who, under
Wellington, were in occupation of Brussels.
At length, the morning of the 18th dawned upon the battle field of
Waterloo, and its evening witnessed the annihilation of the French
army, and flight of Napoleon.
On the 17th of July, the victorious allies, headed by Wellington, a
second time entered Paris; and on the following day, Louis XVIII.
made his public entry into that gay capital, escorted by the national
guard.
On the 29th of June, Napoleon had left Malmaison (the home of his
lost Josephine) for Rochefort, arriving at that harbor on the 3d of
July, from whence he was anxious to embark for America.
But the blockade of English cruisers was so vigilant that there was
no possible chance of avoiding them.
[Illustration: NAPOLEON AND JOSEPHINE]
Under these circumstances, he at length adopted the resolution of
throwing himself upon the generosity of the British government; and
on the 14th of July embarked on board the “Bellerophon,” which set
sail immediately for England,--and Napoleon looked for the last time
upon the receding shores of that land which had been the home of his
greatness.