The campaign in Egypt was of little service to France, but to Napoleon

it was most useful. Of the aides-de-camp whom he took with him four

perished there, Croisier, Sulkowski, Guibert and Julian; two, Duroc and

Eugene Beauharnais were wounded; Lavalette and Merlin alone returned

safe and sound. Bonaparte had the highest regard for Josephine's son

Eugene. He was brave and manly, and although a youth of seventeen soon

won Bonaparte's lasting affection. If there was a dangerous duty,--to

ride into the desert and reconnoitre the bands of Arabs or Mamelukes,

Eugene was always the first to volunteer. One day when he was hastening

forward with his usual eagerness, Bonaparte called him back, saying:

"Young man, remember that in our business we must never _seek_ danger;

we must be satisfied with doing our duty, doing it well, and leaving the

rest to God!"

At the capital Napoleon was received with every demonstration of joy by

the French people, who now looked upon him as their liberator. All

parties seemed to be weary of the Directory, and to demand the decisive

interference of the unrivalled soldier. On his return he was much

surprised to learn of the real condition of France, and to an emissary

of Barras he said with some degree of feeling: "What have you done with

that land of France which I left to your care in so magnificent a

condition? I bequeathed you peace, and on my return find war. I left you

the memory of victories, and now I have come back to face defeats. I

left with you the millions I had gathered in Italy, and today I see

nothing in every direction but laws despoiling the people, coupled with

distress. What have you done with the one hundred thousand of French

citizens, my companions in glory, all of whom I knew? You have sent

them to their death. This state of things cannot last; for it would lead

us to despotism, and we require liberty reposing on a basis of

equality." The Directory offered him the choice of any army he would

command. He did not refuse, but pleaded the necessity of a short

interval of leisure for the recovery of his health and speedily withdrew

from the conference in order to avoid any more such embarrassing offers.

He had by this time, evidently, a very clear perception of the course

before him, and had made up his mind to place himself in circumstances

to confer high offices and commands, instead of accepting them.

In talking afterwards to Madame de Rémusat about this period in his

career, Napoleon said: "The Directory was not uneasy at my return; I was

extremely on my guard, and never in my life have I displayed more skill.

Everyone ran into my traps, and when I became the head of the State

there was not a party in France that did not base its hopes on my

success."

IV

PASSAGE OF THE ALPS, AND BATTLE OF MARENGO

At the time of Napoleon's return from the Egyptian expedition the

legislative bodies of Paris were divided into two parties, the

Moderates, headed by Sieyes, and the Democrats, by Barras. Finding it

impossible to remain neutral, Bonaparte took sides with the former.

Lucien, his brother, had just been elected president of the Council of

Five Hundred; the subtle and able Talleyrand and the accomplished Sieyes

were his confidants, and he determined to overwhelm the imbecile

government and take the reins in his own hands. He had measured his

strength, established his purpose, and, as France stood in need of a

more energetic and regenerated government, he now went calmly to its

execution.

During his absence in Egypt France had cause to deplore the loss of his

military genius, and had hailed his return with rapturous acclamations.

Napoleon's intentions were no sooner suspected than he was surrounded by

all those who were discontented with the established government, and who

found in him such a leader as they had long looked for in vain.

He soon opened negotiations with Sieyes who commanded a majority in the

Council of Ancients, and had no sooner convinced him that the project of

overturning the Directorial government was his object, than he was

regarded as the instrument destined to give France that "systematic"

constitution he had so long deliberated on and desired. Napoleon's

overtures were therefore cordially met, and Sieyes gave all the weight

of his influence to the impending revolution. Two men whose names have

since been known all over Europe, were also added to the number of his

adherents, Talleyrand, who had been recently deposed from a place in the

ministry; and Fouché, minister of police. The talents of both were

actively employed in his service and materially promoted his success. He

had no faith in Fouché and used him without giving him his confidence.

Lucien Bonaparte held the important post of president of the Council of

Five Hundred; a circumstance highly advantageous to his brother at this

juncture. It was there that the greatest opposition would be made to any

attempt which was hostile to the Constitution of the Year Three.

A large portion of the army was certain to side with Napoleon. His house

was now the resort of all the generals and men of note who had served

under him in his campaigns in Italy and Egypt, Bernadotte alone standing

aloof.

A meeting took place between Napoleon and Sieyes on the 6th of November

1799, in which it was finally determined that the revolution should be

attempted on the 9th. This date, called in the history of the period,

the 18th Brumaire, was exactly one month from the day of Napoleon's

landing at Fréjus on his return from Egypt. The measures resolved upon

were as follows: The Council of Ancients, taking advantage of an article

in the constitution, which authorized the measure, were to decree the

removal of the legislative bodies to St. Cloud, beyond the walls of the

city. They were next to appoint Napoleon commander-in-chief of their own

guard, of the troops of the military division of Paris, and of the

National Guard. These decrees were to be passed at seven in the morning;

at eight Napoleon was to go to the Tuileries, where the troops should be

assembled, and there assume the command of the capital.

The Council of Ancients at length gathered in the Tuileries at an early

hour, every arrangement having been made in accordance with these

resolutions, declared that the salvation of the State demanded vigorous

measures, and proposed through its president, (one of Napoleon's

confidants)--the passage of the decrees already agreed upon. The decrees

were at once adopted without debate and Napoleon notified. All had

occurred as had been prearranged. Early on the morning of the 18th

Brumaire, the house of Napoleon in the Rue de la Victoire was crowded

with a large assemblage of officers. It was too small to hold them all

and many were in the court-yard and entrances. Numbers of these were

devoted to him; a few were in the secret, and all began to suspect that

something extraordinary was soon to happen. Every one was in uniform

except Bernadotte who appeared in plain clothes. Displeased at this mark

of separation from the rest Napoleon said hastily: "How is this? You are

not in uniform!"

"I never am on a morning when I am not on duty," replied Bernadotte.

"You will be on duty presently," rejoined Napoleon.

"I have not heard of it; I should have received my orders sooner," came

the answer quickly.

Napoleon now drew him aside, disclosed his plans and invited him to take

part with the new movement against a detested government. Bernadotte's

only answer was that "he would not take part in a rebellion," and with

some reluctance made a half promise of neutrality.

The moment the decrees of the Council of Ancients arrived Napoleon came

forward to the steps of his house, read the documents, and invited them

all to follow him to the Tuileries. The enthusiasm of those present was

now at the highest pitch and all the officers drew their swords,

promising their services and fidelity. Napoleon instantly mounted, and

placed himself at the head of the generals and officers. Attended by one

thousand five hundred horse, he halted on the boulevard at the corner

of the street Mont Blanc; he then dispatched some confidential troops

under Moreau to guard the Luxembourg, and the Directory ceased to exist,

although Barras entered a mild protest and then retired to his country

residence to live upon the great spoils of his office.

The Council of Five Hundred, an hour or two afterwards, assembled to

learn its fate. Resistance would have been idle, and adjourning for

their next session at St. Cloud, they mingled with the enthusiastic

people shouting, "Vive la République!" When they assembled at St. Cloud

the next morning they found that beautiful chateau completely invested

by the brilliant battalions under the orders of Murat.

At about one o'clock on the 19th Brumaire Napoleon appeared at St. Cloud

attended by Berthier, Lefebvre, Lannes and all the generals in his

confidence. Upon his arrival he learned that a heated debate had

commenced in the Council of Ancients on the subject of the resignation

of the directors and the immediate election of others. Napoleon hastily

entered the hall accompanied only by Berthier and Bourrienne who

attended as his secretary. He addressed the body with much difficulty

and after many dramatic interruptions, told them that it was upon

them he relied, declaring his belief that the Council of Five

Hundred--corresponding in part with the lower house of Congress--would

restore the Convention, popular tumults, the scaffold, the Reign of

Terror. "I will save you from all these horrors," he said, "I and my

brave comrades, whose swords and caps I see at the door of this hall;

and if any hireling traitor talks of outlawry, to those swords will I

appeal. You stand over a volcano. Let a soldier tell the truth frankly.

I was quiet in my home when this Council summoned me to action. I

obeyed: I collected my brave comrades, and placed the arms of my

country at the service of you who are its head. We are repaid with

calumnies--they talk of Cromwell--of Caesar. Had I aspired to power the

opportunity was mine ere now. I swear that France holds no more devoted

patriot. Dangers surround us. Let us not hazard the advantages for which

we have paid so dearly--Liberty and Equality!" Rallying at the uproar

which pursued him to the door, Napoleon turned round and called upon the

Council to assist him in saving the country; and with the words, "Let

those who love me follow," he passed quickly out, reached the courtyard

where he showed the soldiers the order naming him commander-in-chief,

and then leaped upon his horse, shouts of "Vive Bonaparte!" resounding

on all sides.

In the meantime the hostile Council of Five Hundred had assembled, and

there a far different scene was passing. With the same steadiness of

purpose and calmness of manner, Bonaparte walked into the chamber with

two grenadiers on either side, who halted at the doors that were left

open, while the general advanced towards the centre of the chamber.

At the sight of drawn swords at the passageway, and the presence of

armed men at the doors of that deliberative body, loud cries of "Down

with the traitor!" "Long live the Constitution!" etc., broke forth.

Several of the members rushed upon Napoleon, some seized him by the

collar and one is said to have attempted his life with a dagger. In an

instant the grenadiers rushed forward exclaiming, "Let us save our

general," and bore their commander from the hall.

Napoleon was quickly in the midst of his soldiers and found ready ears

and enthusiastic spirits to listen to his excited words. "Soldiers," he

said, "I offered them victory and fame--they have answered me with

daggers."

It was at this moment that Augereau, whose faith in his former general's

fortune began to waver, is said to have addressed him with the words, "A

fine situation you have brought yourself into!" Upon which Napoleon

answered, "Augereau, things were worse at Arcola; take my advice, remain

quiet; in a short time all this will change."

Meanwhile the commotion in the Council of Five Hundred rose to the

highest pitch, a scene of the wildest confusion was taking place in the

Assembly, and the grenadiers sent by Napoleon once more entered and bore

Lucien, the president, from his colleagues. They had charged him with

conspiracy and were about to vent their fury upon him, when he flung off

the insignia of his office and was rescued.

Lucien found the soldiery without in a high state of excitement. He

mounted a horse quickly that he might be seen and heard the better, and

dramatically addressed the assembled troops: "General Bonaparte, and

you, soldiers of France," he said, "the President of the Council of Five

Hundred announces to you that factious men with daggers interrupt the

deliberations of the Senate. He authorizes you to employ force. The

Assembly of Five Hundred is dissolved." The soldiers received his

harangue with shouts of, "Vive Bonaparte!" Still there was an appearance

of hesitation, and it did not seem certain that they were ready to act

against the representatives of the people, till Lucien drew his sword,

and vehemently exclaimed, "I swear that I will stab my own brother to

the heart, if he ever attempts anything against the liberty of

Frenchmen."

This statement roused the soldiers to action and they were now ready to

obey any order from Napoleon. At a signal from him, Murat, at the head

of a body of grenadiers, at once started to execute the order of the

president. With a roll of drums and leveled pieces, Lucien followed the

detachment, mounted the tribune, and dispersed the Council of Five

Hundred. The deputies were debating in a state of wild indecision and

anxiety when the troops slowly entered. Murat, as they moved forward,

announced to the Council that it should disperse. A few of the members

instantly retired; but the majority remained firm. A reinforcement now

entered in close column headed by General Leclerc, the commanding

officer, who said loudly, "In the name of General Bonaparte, the

Legislative Corps is dissolved; let all good citizens retire.

Grenadiers, forward!" The latter advanced, leveling their muskets with

fixed bayonets and occupying the width of the hall. Most of the members

at once made their escape by the windows with undignified rapidity; in a

few minutes not one remained.

Lucien immediately assembled the "Moderate" members of the Council who

resumed its session, and in conjunction with that of the Ancients, a

decree was passed investing the entire authority of the State in a

Provisional Consulate of three--Napoleon, Sieyes and Roger-Ducos who

were known as "Consuls of the French Republic." Thus ended the 18th and

19th Brumaire, (November 10th and 11th, 1799) one of the most decisive

revolutions of which history has preserved any record; and, so admirable

had been the arrangements of Napoleon, that it had not cost France a

drop of blood. "During the greater part of this eventful day," says

Bourrienne, "he was as calm as at the opening of a great battle."

The next day the three Consuls met at Paris, and France once more began

to make progress. At this meeting, Sieyes, who had up to this moment

conceived himself to be the head, and the others but the arms of the new

constitution, asked, as a form of politeness, "Which of us is to

preside?" "Do you not see," answered Ducos, "that the general presides?"

Sieyes had expected that Napoleon would content himself with the supreme

command of all the armies, and had no idea that he was conversant with,

or wished to interfere in profound and extensive political affairs and

projects. He was, however, so astonished at the knowledge displayed by

Napoleon in questions of administration, even to the minutest details,

and in every department, that when their first conference was concluded,

he hurried to Talleyrand, Cabanis, and other counselors, assembled at

St. Cloud, exclaiming, "Gentlemen, you have now a master. He knows

everything, arranges everything, and can accomplish everything."

Those persons must know the character of Napoleon very imperfectly, who

consider him great only at the head of armies; for he was able to acquit

himself of the various functions of government with glory, shining

equally as conspicuous in the cabinet as in the field.

Napoleon guided and controlled everything; humane laws were enacted;

Christianity was again restored, and upwards of 20,000 French citizens

now came forth from the prisons to bless his name. Many who had been

exiled because they did not approve of the Reign of Terror and the

despotism of the Directory were recalled, and many other salutary

reforms at once stamped the new government with the seal of public

approbation and the confidence of Europe. In everything that was done

the genius of Napoleon was visible. A great man was at the helm, and the

world saw that his creative genius was regenerating France. The new

constitution met the approval of the people, and in February 1800 the

First Consul took up his residence in the Tuileries, the old home of the

monarchs of France. Shortly afterwards Napoleon reviewed the Army of

Paris, amounting to 100,000 men. When the 96th, 43rd and 50th

demi-brigades defiled before him he was observed to take off his hat and

incline his head, in token of respect at the sight of their colors torn

to shreds with balls, and blackened with smoke and powder.

For the first time in modern history the world saw the greatest general

of the age the civil chief of the most brilliant state in Europe. The

First Consul now held frequent and splendid reviews of the troops. He

traversed the ranks, now on horseback, now on foot; entered into the

minutest details concerning the wants of the men and the service, and

dispensing in the name of the nation, distinctions and rewards. A

hundred soldiers who had signalized themselves in action, received from

his hand the present of a handsome sabre each, on one of these

occasions.

The Parisians received the new constitution with delight. The

inhabitants also viewed the pomp and splendor of the Consular government

with surprise and self-complacency. They reasoned little and hoped much.

Napoleon was their idol, and from him alone they expected everything.

The constitution continued the executive power in the hands of three

consuls, who were to be elected for the space of ten years, and were

then eligible to re-election. The First Consul held powers far superior

to his colleagues. He alone had the right of nominating all offices,

civil and military, and of appointing nearly all functionaries

whatsoever. Napoleon assumed the place of First Consul without question

or debate. He then named Cambacérès and LeBrun as Second and Third

Consuls respectively.

It was about this time that Napoleon learned of the death of Washington.

He forthwith issued a general order commanding the French army to wrap

their banners in crape during ten days in honor of "a great man who

fought against tyranny, and consolidated the liberties of his country."

He then celebrated a grand funeral service to the memory of Washington

in the council-hall of the Invalides. The last standards taken in Egypt

were presented on the same occasion; all the ministers, the counselors

of state and generals, were present. The pillars and roof were hung with

the trophies of the campaign of Italy and the bust of Washington was

placed under the trophy composed of the flags of Aboukir.

"From this day," says Lockhart, "a new epoch was to date. Submit to that

government, and no man need fear that his former acts, far less

opinions, should prove any obstacle to his security--nay, to his

advancement." In truth the secret of Bonaparte's whole scheme is

unfolded in his own memorable words to Sieyes: "We are creating a new

era--of the past we must forget the bad, and remember only the good."

During the absence of Bonaparte in Egypt the tri-color which he had left

floating on the castles along the Rhine, and from the Julian Alps to the

Mediterranean, had been humbled, and England and Austria, with the

allies they could bring into the coalition, were preparing once more to

compel the French to retire to their ancient boundaries, and ultimately

offer the crown to the exiled Bourbons.

But Napoleon knew that France needed internal repose, and he desired

universal peace in Europe. He even went so far, in order to bring this

about, as to address a letter to George III. in which he said: "Your

Majesty will see in this overture only my sincere desire to contribute

effectually, for a second time, to a general pacification--by a prompt

step taken in confidence, and freed from those forms, which, however

necessary to disguise the feeble apprehensions of feeble states, only

serve to discover in the powerful a mutual wish to deceive. France and

England, abusing their strength, may long defer the period of its utter

exhaustion; but I will venture to say that the fate of civilized nations

is concerned in the termination of a war, the flames of which are raging

throughout the whole world. I have the honor, etc., etc., BONAPARTE."

If the king himself had had an opportunity to reply to this letter, as

he afterwards admitted, it would have saved England millions of money,

and Europe millions of lives; but in a very short-sighted letter, Lord

Grenville, then Secretary of State, replied to Talleyrand, France's

minister of Foreign Affairs, in which he said: "The war must continue

until the causes which gave it birth cease to exist. The restoration of

the exiled royal family will be the easiest means of giving confidence

to the other powers of Europe." The refusal of England to treat with the

Consular Government of France was to be expected, being perfectly in

accord with the principles which guided the rulers of England at that

period. They had joined the other governments of Europe in commencing

war against France, in order to restore its legitimate sovereign,

contrary to the will of the French people.

When Napoleon read the letter he said: "I will answer that from Italy!"

and immediately called his generals together and ordered them to get

ready for another campaign beyond the Alps. It is said that on receiving

the reply from England Napoleon exclaimed to Talleyrand, "It could not

have been more favorable," but this is credited by but few historians as

it appears that his sincere convictions were that peace was best for

France.

Three days after the Grenville letter, the First Consul electrified

France by an edict for an army of reserve embracing all the veterans

then unemployed, who had ever served the country, and a new levy of

30,000 recruits or conscripts as they were termed; and the most active

preparations were rapidly made. At this time four great armies were

already in the field--one on the North coast was watching Holland, and

guarding against any invasion from England; Jourdan commanded the Army

of the Danube, which had repassed the Rhine; Massena was at the head of

the Army of Helvetia, and held Switzerland; and the fragment of the

mighty host that Napoleon had himself led to victory, still called the

Army of Italy.

Upwards of 350,000 men were now marched to various points of conflict

with the European powers--England, Austria and Russia, together with

Bavaria, Sweden, Denmark, and Turkey, which made a formidable array of

enemies with whom Napoleon had to contend. The operations were conducted

with the utmost secrecy. Napoleon had decided to strike the decisive

blow against Austria in Italy, and to command there in person. An

article in the new constitution forbade the First Consul taking the

command of an army but he found a ready way to evade it. Berthier was

superseded by Carnot as minister of war and given the nominal command of

the Army of Italy. It was generally believed that the troops were to

advance upon Italy. Meantime, while Austria was laughing with derision

at the French conscripts and "invalids" then at Dijon and amused itself

with caricatures of some ancient men with wooden legs, and little boys

twelve years old entitled "Bonaparte's Army of Reserve," the real Army

of Italy was already formed in the heart of France and was marching by

various roads towards Switzerland and was commanded by officers of

recognized ability and courage. The artillery was sent piecemeal from

different arsenals; the provisions, necessary to an army about to cross

barren mountains, were forwarded to Geneva, embarked on the lake, and

landed at Villeneuve, near the entrance of the valley of the Simplon.

The daring plan of Napoleon was to transport his army across the Alps;

surmounting the highest chain of mountains in Europe, by paths which are

dangerous and difficult to the unencumbered traveler; to plant himself

in the rear of the Austrians, interrupt their communications, place them

between his own army and that of Massena who was in command of the

12,000 men at Genoa, cut off their retreat and then give them battle

under circumstances which must necessarily render one defeat

decisive.

After dispatching his orders Napoleon joined Berthier at Geneva on May

8th, 1800. Here he met General Marescot, the engineer, who by his orders

had explored the wild passes of the Alps. He described to the First

Consul most minutely the all but insuperable obstacles that would oppose

the passage of an army.

[Illustration: From an old Drawing, artist unknown

BONAPARTE AT THE SIEGE OF ACRE]

"Difficult, granted; but is it possible for an army to pass?" Napoleon

at last impatiently inquired.

"It might be done," was the answer.

"Then it shall be; let us start," said the First Consul, and

preparations for that most herculean task were at once made, the

commander intending to penetrate into Italy, as Hannibal had done of

old, through all the dangers and difficulties of the great Alps

themselves.

For the treble purpose of more easily collecting a sufficient stock of

provisions for the march, of making its accomplishment more rapid, and

on perplexing the enemy on its termination, Napoleon determined that his

army should pass in four divisions, by as many separate routes. The left

wing, under Moncey consisting of 15,000 men, detached from the army of

Moreau, was ordered to debouch by the way of St. Gothard. The corps of

Thureau, 5,000 strong, took the direction of Mount Cenis; that of

Chabran, of similar strength, moved by the Little St. Bernard. Of the

main body, consisting of 35,000 men, although technically commanded by

Berthier, the First Consul himself took charge, including the gigantic

task of surmounting, with the artillery, the huge barriers of the Great

St. Bernard. Once across he expected to rush down upon Melas, cut off

all his communications with Austria, and then force him to a conflict.

The main body of the army marched on the 15th of May from Lausanne to

the village of St. Pierre, at the foot of the Great St. Bernard, at

which point all traces of a practicable path entirely ceased. Field

forges were established at St. Pierre to dismount the guns. The

carriages and wheels were slung on poles and the ammunition boxes were

to be carried by mules. To convey the pieces themselves a number of

trees were felled, hollowed out, or grooved, and the guns being jammed

within these rough cases, a hundred soldiers were attached to each whose

duty it was to drag them up the steeps. All was now in readiness to

commence the great march.

"The First Consul set forth on his stupendous enterprise," says Botta in

his description of this campaign, "his forces being already at the foot

of the Great St. Bernard. The soldiers gazed on the aerial summits of

the lofty mountains with wonder and impatience. On the 17th of May

the whole body set out from Martigny for the conquest of Italy.

Extraordinary was their order, wonderful their gaiety, and astonishing

also, the activity and energy of their operations. Laughter and song

lightened their toils. They seemed to be hastening, not to a fearful

war, but a festival. The multitude of various and mingled sounds were

re-echoed from hill to hill, and the silence of these solitary and

desolate regions, which revolving ages had left undisturbed, was for the

moment broken by the rejoicing voices of the gay and warlike.

Precipitous heights, strong torrents, sloping valleys, succeeded each

other with disheartening frequency. Owing to his incredible boldness and

order, Lannes was chosen by the First Consul to take the lead in every

enterprise of danger. They had now reached an elevation where skill or

courage seemed powerless against the domain of Nature. From St. Pierre

to the summit of the Great St. Bernard there is no beaten road whatever,

until the explorer reaches the monastery of the religious order devoted

to the preservation of travelers bewildered in these regions of eternal

winter. Every means that could be devised was adopted for transporting

the artillery and baggage; the carriages which had been wheeled were now

dragged--those which had been drawn were now carried. The largest cannon

were placed in troughs and on sledges, and the smallest swung on

sure-footed mules. The ascent to be accomplished was immense. In the

windings of the tortuous paths the troops were now lost and now revealed

to sight. Those who first mounted the steeps, seeing their companions in

the depths below, cheered them on with shouts of triumph. The valleys on

every side re-echoed to their voices. Amidst the snow, in mists and

clouds, the resplendent arms and colored uniforms of the soldiers

appeared in bright and dazzling contrast: the sublimity of dead Nature

and the energy of living action thus united, formed a spectacle of

surpassing wonder.

"The Consul, exulting in the success of his plans, was seen everywhere

amongst the soldiers, talking with military familiarity to one and now

another, and, skilled in the eloquence of camps, he so excited their

courage that, braving every obstacle, they now deemed that easy which

they had adjudged impossible. They soon approached the highest summit,

and discerned in the distance the pass which leads from the opening

between the towering mountains to the loftiest pinnacle. With shouts of

transport they hailed this extreme point as the termination of their

labors and with new ardor prepared to ascend. When their strength

occasionally flagged under excess of fatigues, they beat their drums,

and then, reanimated by the spirit-stirring sound, proceeded forward

with fresh vigor.

"At last they reached the summit and there felicitated each other as if

after a complete and assured victory. Their hilarity was not a little

increased by finding a simple repast prepared in front of the monastery,

the provident Consul having furnished the monks with money to supply

what their own resources could not have afforded for such numbers. Here

they were regaled with wine and bread and cheese, enjoyed a brief repose

amid dismounted cannon and scattered baggage, amidst ice and

conglomerated snow; while the monks passed from troop to troop in turn,

the calm of religious cheerfulness depicted on their countenances. Thus

did goodness and power meet and hold communion on this extreme summit."

The troops made it a point of honor not to leave their guns in the rear;

and one division, rather than abandon its artillery, chose to pass the

night upon the summit of a mountain, in the midst of snow and excessive

cold.

Thus did this brave army reach the Hospice of St. Bernard, singing

amidst the precipices, dreaming of the conquest of that Italy where they

had so often tasted the delights of victory, and having a noble

presentiment of the immortal glory which they were about to acquire; as

they climbed up and along airy ridges of rock and eternal snow, where

the goatherd, the hunter of the chamois, and the outlaw smuggler, are

alone accustomed to venture; amidst precipices where to slip a foot is

death; beneath glaciers from which the percussion of a musket-shot is

often sufficient to hurl an avalanche.

The labor was not so great for the infantry, of which there were 35,000

including artillery. As for the 5,000 cavalry, these walked, leading

their horses by the bridle. There was no danger in ascending but in the

descent, the path being very narrow, obliging them to walk before the

horse, they were liable, if the animal made a false step, to be dragged

by him into the abyss. Some accidents of this kind, not many, did

actually happen, and some horses perished but scarcely any of the men.

After a brief rest at the hospice the army resumed its march and

descended to St. Remy without any unpleasant accident. Napoleon rested

and took a frugal repast at the convent, after which he visited the

chapel, and the three little libraries, lingering a short time to read a

few pages of some old book. He performed the descent on a sledge, down a

glacier of nearly a hundred yards, almost perpendicular. The whole army

effected the passage of the Great St. Bernard in the space of three

days.

The transfer of the gun carriages, ammunition wagons and cannon was the

most difficult of all, but the genius of Napoleon accomplished even this

seemingly impossible feat. The peasants of the environs were offered as

high as a thousand francs for every piece of cannon which they succeeded

in dragging from St. Pierre to St. Remy. It took a hundred men to drag

each; one day to get it up and another to get it down.

It has been said that Napoleon had his fortune to make at this period;

but, at the moment of crossing Mount St. Bernard, he had fought twenty

pitched battles, conquered Italy, dictated peace to Austria,--only sixty

miles distant from Vienna,--negotiated at Rastadt, with Count Cobentzel

for the surrender of the strong city of Mentz, raised nearly three

hundred millions in contributions,--which had served to supply the army

during two years,--created the Cisalpine Army, and paid some of the

officers of the government at Paris. He had sent to the museum three

hundred _chef d'oéuvres_, in statuary and painting; added to which he

had conquered Egypt, suppressed the factions at home and totally

eradicated the war in La Vendée.

Napoleon has been pictured crossing the Alpine heights mounted on a

fiery steed. As a matter of fact he ascended the Great St. Bernard in

that gray surtout which he usually wore, sometimes upon foot, and again

upon a mule, led by a guide belonging to the country, evincing even in

the difficult passes the abstraction of mind occupied elsewhere,

conversing with the officers scattered on the road, and then, at

intervals, questioning the guide who attended him, making him relate the

particulars of his life, his pleasures, his pains, like an idle traveler

who has nothing better to do. "This guide," says Thiers, "who was quite

young, gave him a simple recital of the details of his obscure

existence, and especially the vexation he felt because, for want of a

little money, he could not marry one of the girls of his valley. The

First Consul, sometimes listening, sometimes questioning the passengers

with whom the mountain was covered, arrived at the hospice, where the

worthy monks gave him a warm reception. No sooner had he alighted from

his mule than he wrote a note which he handed to his guide, desiring him

to be sure and deliver it to the quartermaster of the army, who had been

left on the other side of the St. Bernard. In the evening the young man,

on returning to St. Pierre, learned with surprise what powerful traveler

it was whom he had guided in the morning, and that General Bonaparte

had ordered that a house and a piece of ground should be given to him

immediately, and that he should be supplied, in short, with the means

requisite for marrying, and for realizing all the dreams of his modest

ambition."

This mountaineer lived for a number of years, and when he died was still

the owner of the land given him by the First Consul. The only thing

remembered by this attendant in after years of the conversation of

Napoleon during his trip was, when shaking the rain-water from his hat

he exclaimed, "There! See what I have done in your mountains--spoiled my

new hat!--Well, I will find another on the other side."

The passage of the Alps had been achieved long before the Austrians knew

Napoleon's army was in motion. So utterly unexpected was this sudden

apparition of the First Consul and his army, that no precaution whatever

had been taken, and no enemy appeared capable of disputing his march

towards the valley of Aosta. After a brief engagement at the fortress of

St. Bard and other minor battles in which the French were victorious,

they now advanced, unopposed down the valley to Ivrea which was without

a garrison. Here Napoleon remained four days to recruit the strength of

his troops.

Napoleon now took the road for Milan. The Sesia was crossed without

opposition; the passage of the Tesino was effected after a sharp

conflict with a body of Austrian cavalry, who were put to flight; and,

on the 2d of June, the First Consul entered Milan, amidst enthusiastic

acclamations of the people, who had all believed that he had died in

Egypt and that it was one of his brothers who commanded this army. He

was conducted in triumph to the ducal palace, where he took up his

residence. He remained six days in Milan during which time he gained

the most important information, all the dispatches between the court of

Vienna and General Melas falling into his hands. From these he learned

the extent of the Austrian reinforcements now on their way to Italy; the

position and state of all the Austrian depots, field-equipages, and

parks of artillery; and the amount and distribution of the whole

Austrian force. Finally, he clearly perceived that Melas still continued

in complete ignorance of the strength and destination of the French

army. His dispatches spoke with contempt of what he called "the

pretended army of reserve," and treated the assertion of Napoleon's

presence in Italy as a "mere fabrication." Possessed of all this

valuable information Napoleon knew how to proceed with clearness and

precision.

The eyes of the Austrian general were at length opened and he was

preparing to meet the emergency with all the energy that the orders from

Vienna and his great age of eighty years permitted; but his delay had

been sufficient to render his situation critical. His army was divided

into two portions, one under Ott near Genoa; the other, under his own

command at Turin. The greatest risk existed that Napoleon would,

according to his old plan, attack and destroy one division before the

other could form a junction with it. To prevent such a disaster, Ott

received orders to march forward on the Tesino, while Melas, moving

towards Alessandria, prepared to resume his communications with the

other division of his army.

Napoleon now advanced to Stradella where headquarters were fixed. On the

9th of June, Lannes, who continued to lead the van-guard of the French

army was attacked by an Austrian division superior in numbers and

commanded by Ott. The battle, though severely contested, ended in the

complete defeat of the Austrians, who lost three thousand killed and six

thousand prisoners. The battle of Montebello was won by sheer hard

fighting, there being little opportunity for skill or manoeuvre, the

fields being covered with full-grown crops of rye. The shower of balls

from the Austrian musketry was at one time so intense, that Lannes,

speaking of it afterwards, described its effect with a horrible graphic

homeliness. "Bones were cracking in my division" he said, "like a shower

of hail upon a skylight." Lannes was subsequently created Duke of

Montebello.

Napoleon remained stationary for three days at Stradella, employing the

time in concentrating his army, in hopes that Melas would be compelled

to give him battle in this position; he was unwilling to descend into

the great plain of Marengo, where the Austrian cavalry and artillery

which was greatly superior in numbers, would have a fearful advantage.

Meanwhile he dispatched an order to Suchet to march on the river

Scrivia, and place himself in the rear of the enemy.

General Desaix now joined the army with his aides-de-camp Rapp and

Savary, he having returned from Egypt and landed in France almost on the

very day that Napoleon left Paris, and had immediately received a

summons from him to repair to the headquarters of the Army of Italy,

wherever they might be situated. Desaix and Napoleon were warmly

attached to each other and their meeting was a great and mutual

pleasure. Desaix was appointed to the command of a division, the death

of General Boudet having left one vacant, and was extremely anxious to

signalize himself. Under the impression that the Austrians were

marching upon Genoa, Napoleon dispatched Desaix's division in form of

the van-guard upon his extreme left, while Victor, arriving at Marengo

from Montebello, where he had assisted Lannes, routed a rear guard of

four or five thousand Austrians and made himself master of the village

of Marengo.

The French and Austrian armies finally came together on June 14th on the

plains of Marengo, to decide the fate of Italy.

Marengo was a day ever to be remembered by those who participated in the

stubborn struggle. Napoleon fought against terrible odds in numbers and

position. A furious cannonading opened the engagement at daybreak

along the whole front, cannon and musketry spreading devastation

everywhere--for the armies were but a short distance apart, their pieces

in some cases almost touching. The advance under Gardanne, was obliged

to fall back upon Victor,--who had been stationed with the main body of

the first line,--for more than two hours and withstood singly the

vigorous assaults of a far superior force; Marengo had been taken and

retaken several times by Victor ere Lannes, who was in the rear of him,

in command of the second line, received orders to reinforce him. The

second line was at length ordered by Napoleon to advance, but they found

the first in retreat, and the two corps took up a second line of

defense, considerably to the rear of Marengo. Here they were again

charged furiously, and again after obstinate resistance, gave way. The

retreat now became general, although Lannes fell back in perfect order.

The Austrians had fought the battle admirably. Their infantry had opened

an attack on every point of the French line, while the cavalry

debouched across the bridge which the French had failed to destroy, and

assailed the right of their army with such fury and rapidity that it was

thrown into complete disorder. The attack of the Austrians was

successful everywhere; the centre of the French was penetrated, the left

routed, and another desperate charge of the cavalry would have

terminated the battle. The order for this, however, was not given; but

the retreating French were still in the utmost peril. Napoleon had been

collecting reserves between Garafolo and Marengo and now sent orders for

his army to retreat towards these reserves, and rally round his guard

which he stationed in the rear of the village of Marengo and placed

himself at their head.

To secure a position more favorable for resisting the overpowering

numbers of the enemy, Bonaparte now seized a defile flanked by the

village of Marengo, shut up on one side by a wood and on the other by

lofty and bushy vineyards. Here from the astonishing exertions of their

commander the French made a firm stand, and fought bayonet to bayonet

with Austrian infantry, whilst exposed at the same time to a battery of

thirty pieces of cannon, which was playing upon them with deadly effect.

Every soldier seemed to consider this the defile of Thermopylae, where

they were to fight until all were slain. With a heroism worthy of the

Spartan band they withstood the tremendous shock of bayonets and

artillery, the latter not only cutting the men in pieces, but likewise

the trees, the large branches in falling killing many of the wounded

soldiers who had sought a refuge under them. At this awful moment

Bonaparte, unmoved, seemed to court death, and be near it, the bullets

being observed repeatedly to tear up the ground beneath his horse's

feet. Alarmed for his safety the officers exhorted him to retire,

exclaiming, "If you should be killed all would be lost." But the hero of

Lodi and Arcola would not retire. Undismayed and unmoved amidst this

dreadful tempest, he observed every movement and gave orders with the

utmost coolness. The soldiers could all see the First Consul with his

staff, surrounded by the two hundred grenadiers of the guard and the

sight kept their hopes from flagging. The right wing, under Lannes,

quickly rallied; the centre, reinforced by the scattered troops of the

left, recovered its strength; the left wing no longer existed; its

scattered remains fled in disorder, pursued by the Austrians. The

contest continued to rage, and was obstinately disputed; but the main

body of the French army, which still remained in order of battle, was

continually, though very slowly, retreating.

The First Consul now dispatched his aide-de-camp, Bruyere, to Desaix,

with an urgent message to hasten to the field of battle. Desaix on his

part, had been arrested in his march upon Novi, by the repeated

discharges of distant artillery; he had in consequence made a halt, and

dispatched Savary, then his aide-de-camp, with a body of fifty horse, to

gallop with all possible haste to Novi, ascertain the state of affairs

there, according to the orders of Napoleon, while he kept his division

fresh and ready for action.

Savary found all quiet at Novi; and returning to Desaix, after the lapse

of about two hours, with this intelligence, was next sent to the First

Consul. He spurred his horse across the country, in the direction of

Marengo, and fortunately met General Bruyere, who was taking the same

short cut to find Desaix. Giving him the necessary directions, Savary

now hastened towards Napoleon. He found him in the midst of his guard,

who stood their ground on the field of battle; forming a solid body in

the face of the enemy's fire, the dismounted grenadiers were stationed

in front and the place of each man who fell was instantly supplied from

the ranks behind.

Maps were spread out before Napoleon; he was planning the movement which

was to decide the action. Savary made his report and told him of

Desaix's position.

"At what hour did he leave you?" said the First Consul pulling out his

watch. Having been informed he continued, "Well he cannot be far off;

go, and tell him to form in that direction (pointing with his hand to a

particular spot); let him quit the main road, and make way for all those

wounded men, who would only embarrass him, and perhaps draw his own

soldiers after them."

It was now three o'clock in the afternoon; had Melas pursued the

advantage with all his reserve the battle was won to the Austrians; but

that aged general (he was eighty years old) doubted not that he had won

it already. At this critical moment, being quite worn out with fatigue,

he retired to the rear leaving General Zach to continue what he now

considered a mere pursuit.

Napoleon's army was still slowly retiring from the field, one corps

occupying three hours in retiring three quarters of a league, when

Desaix, whose division was now forming on the left of the centre, rode

up to the commander, and taking out his watch, said in reply to a

question: "Yes, the battle is lost; but it is only three o'clock; there

is time enough to gain another!"

Bonaparte was delighted with the opinion of Desaix, whose division had

arrived at a full gallop after a force march of thirty miles, and

prepared to avail himself of the timely succor brought to him by that

far-seeing general, and of the advantage insured to him by the position

he had lately taken. Napoleon quickly explained the manoeuvre he was

about to effect and gave the orders instantly. He now drew up his army

on a third line of battle, and riding along said to the different corps:

"Soldiers! We have fallen back far enough. You know it is always my

custom to sleep on the field of battle." The whole army now wheeled its

front up the left wing of its centre, moving its right wing forward at

the same time. By this movement Napoleon effected the double object of

turning all the enemy's troops, who had continued the pursuit of the

broken left wing and of removing his right at a distance from the

bridge, which had been so fatal to him in the morning. The artillery of

the guard was reinforced by that which belonged to Desaix's division,

and formed an overwhelming battery in the centre.

The Austrians made no effort to prevent this decisive movement; they

supposed the First Consul was only occupied in securing his retreat.

Their infantry, in deep close columns, was advancing rapidly, when at

the distance of a hundred paces they suddenly halted, on perceiving

Desaix's division exactly in front of them. The unexpected appearance of

six thousand fresh troops, and the new position assumed by the French,

arrested the battle: very few shots were heard; the two armies were

preparing for a last effort.

The First Consul rode up in person to give the order of attack while he

dispatched Savary with commands to Kellerman, who was at the head of

about six thousand heavy cavalry, to charge the Austrian column in

flank, at the same time Desaix charged it in front. Both generals

effected the movement rapidly and so successfully that in less than half

an hour the French had put the enemy to rout on nearly all sides. A

final charge was now made, when Desaix, whose timely arrival with

reinforcements had saved the day, and who was then in the thickest of

the engagement, was shot dead, just as he led a fresh column of 5,000

grenadiers to meet and check the advance of Zach. But a few moments

before Desaix said to Savary, "Go and tell the First Consul that I am

charging, and that I am in want of cavalry to support me." As the brave

man fell he said: "Conceal my death, it might dishearten the troops."

Napoleon embraced him for an instant, and said, as his eyes filled with

tears: "Alas, I must not weep now--" and mounting his horse again

plunged into the thickest of the battle.

The whole army fought with renewed vigor on learning of Desaix's death,

every soldier being bent on avenging individually the loss of their

leader. The combined forces now concentrated themselves and hurled their

invincible columns upon the Austrian lines, marching victorious at last

over thousands of slain. General Zach, and all his staff, were here made

prisoners. The Austrian columns behind, being flushed with victory, were

advancing too carelessly, and were unable to resist the general assault

of the whole French line, which now pressed onward under the immediate

command of Napoleon. Post after post was carried. The terrified cavalry

and broken infantry fled in confusion to the banks of the Bormida, into

which they were plunged by the French cavalry who swept the field. The

Bormida was clogged and crimsoned with corpses, and whole corps, being

unable to effect the passage, surrendered. The victory, which had seemed

quite secure to the Austrians at 3 o'clock was completely won by the

French at six. Napoleon's conduct throughout the day and the bravery of

his troops were beyond all praise; and it is no less a fact, that the

appearance of victory in one or two parts of the extended field roused

the courage of the Austrians to enthusiasm and in some cases fatal

recklessness. They pressed forward to complete their triumph when the

Consular guard, called the "wall of granite," met and successfully

resisted the shock. The eye of Napoleon fixed the fortune of the day: he

foresaw that the enemy, in the ardor of success, would extend his line

too far; and what he had conjectured happened. Then it was that Desaix's

division rushed amidst the all but triumphant foe, divided his ranks,

and finally completed his ruin.

In this sanguine engagement the Austrians lost about 8,000 men in killed

and wounded, and 4,000 more were taken prisoners--one-third of their

army. The life of Desaix was the sacrifice. The French loss amounted to

6,000 killed or wounded and about 1,000 of them were taken prisoners, a

loss of about one-fourth out of 28,000 soldiers present at the battle.

In the estimation of the First Consul this loss was great enough to

diminish the joy that he felt for the victory. When Bourrienne, his

secretary, congratulated him on his triumph saying, "What a glorious

day!" he replied: "Yes it would have been glorious indeed, could I but

have embraced Desaix this evening on the field of battle. I was going to

make him minister of war; I would have made him a prince if I could."

The triumph of this decisive victory was poisoned by Desaix's death. It

seems that he never loved, nor regretted, any man so much and he never

spoke of him without deep feeling. Desaix met his death at the early age

of thirty-three, and France lost in him a great general and a man of

rare promise. Savary, who was much attached to him, sought for his body

amongst the dead, and found him completely stripped of his clothes,

lying among many others in the same condition. "France has lost one of

her most able defenders and I my best friend," Napoleon said after the

battle; "No one has ever known how much goodness there was in Desaix's

heart; how much genius in his head." Then after a short silence, with

tears starting into his eyes, he added, "My brave Desaix always wished

to die thus; but death should not have been so ready to execute his

wish."

[Illustration: From a Drawing by H. Vernet

RETURN OF THE FRENCH ARMY FROM SYRIA]

Though the vast plain of Marengo was drenched with French blood, joy

pervaded the army. Soldiers and generals alike were merited for their

gallant conduct and were fully aware of the importance of the victory to

France. Thus ended the battle of Marengo, one of the most decisive which

had been fought in Europe, and one which opened to Napoleon the gates of

all the principal cities of northern Italy. By one battle he regained

nearly all that the French had lost in the unhappy Italian campaign of

1799 while he was in Egypt. He had also shown that the French troops

were once more what they had been when he was in the field to command

them.

In talking with Gohier one day, Napoleon said: "It is always the greater

number which defeats the lesser."

"And yet," said Gohier, "with small armies you have frequently defeated

large ones." "Even then," replied Napoleon, "it is always the inferior

force which was defeated by the superior. When with a small body of men

I was in the presence of a large one, collecting my little band, I fell

like lightning on one of the wings of the hostile army, and defeated it.

Profiting by the disorder which such an event never failed to occasion

in their whole line, I repeated the attack, with similar success, in

another quarter, still with my whole force. I thus beat it in detail.

The general victory which was the result was still an example of the

truth of the principle, that the greater force defeats the lesser." One

of his favorite maxims is said to have been, "God always favors the

heaviest battalions."

The Austrians were completely enveloped, and had no alternative but to

submit to the law of the conqueror. Melas sent a flag of truce to

Napoleon at daybreak on the following morning, and peace negotiations

were at once began. In the meeting which followed Bonaparte required

that all the fortresses of Liguria, Piedmont, Lombardy and the Legations

should be immediately given up to France, and that the Austrians should

evacuate all Italy as far as the Mincio.

The surrender of Genoa was strongly objected to by Melas, but the

conqueror would not waive this point. The baron sent his principal

negotiator to make some remonstrances against the proposed armistice:

"Sir," said the First Consul with some warmth, "my conditions are

irrevocable. It was not yesterday that I began my military life; your

position is as well known to me as to yourselves. You are in

Alessandria, encumbered with dead, wounded, sick, destitute of

provisions; you have lost the best troops of your army, and are

surrounded on all sides. There is nothing that I might not require, but

I respect the gray hair of your general, and the valor of your troops,

and I require, nothing more than is imperatively demanded by the present

situation of affairs. Return to Alessandria; do what you will, you shall

have no other conditions."

The treaty of peace was signed at Alessandria, the same day, June 15th,

1800, as originally proposed by General Bonaparte. He then started for

Paris by way of Milan, where preparations had been made for a solemn Te

Deum in the ancient cathedral, and at which the First Consul was

present. He found the city illuminated, and ringing with the most

enthusiastic rejoicings. The streets were lined with people who greeted

him with shouts of welcome. Draperies were hung from the windows, which

were crowded by women of the first rank and who threw flowers into his

carriage as he passed. He set off for Paris on the 24th of June and

arrived at the French capital in the night between the 2nd and 3rd of

July, having been absent less than two months. Massena remained as

Commander-in-chief of the Army of Italy.

To one of his traveling companions with whom he conversed on the journey

to Paris about his remarkable victory at Marengo, he said: "Well, a few

grand deeds like this campaign and I may be known to posterity." "It

seems to me," said his companion, "that you have already done enough to

be talked about everywhere for a time." "Done enough," said Bonaparte

quickly, "You are very kind! To be sure in less than two years I have

conquered Cairo, Paris and Milan; well, my dear fellow, if I were to die

to-morrow, after ten centuries I shouldn't fill half a page in a

universal history!"

At night the city of Paris was brilliantly illuminated and the

inhabitants turned out en masse. Night after night every house was

illuminated. The people were so anxious to show their pleasure at

Napoleon's miraculous victory that they stood in crowds around the

palace contented if they could but catch a glimpse of the preserver of

France. These receptions so deeply touched him that twenty years

afterwards, in loneliness and in exile, a prisoner at St. Helena, he

mentioned it as one of the proudest and happiest moments of his life.

On the day following his return to the capital the president of the

Senate--the entire body having waited upon him in state--complimented

the conqueror of Marengo in language such as kings were formerly

addressed in, and in closing his address said: "We take pleasure in

acknowledging that to you the country owes its salvation; that to you

the Republic will owe its consolidation, and the people a prosperity,

which you have in one day made to succeed ten years of the most stormy

of revolutions."

In November following Napoleon's return to the capital he received a

letter addressed to him by Count de Lille (afterwards Louis XVIII.)

which the exiled prince of the House of Bourbon evidently believed would

place him on the throne of France. He said: "You are very tardy about

restoring my throne to me; it is to be feared that you may let the

favorable moment slip. You cannot establish the happiness of France

without me; and I, on the other hand, can do nothing for France without

you. Make haste, then, and point out, yourself, the posts and dignities

which will satisfy you and your friends."

The First Consul answered thus: "I have received your Royal Highness'

letter. I have always taken a lively interest in your misfortunes and

those of your family. You must not think of appearing in France--_you

could not do so without marching over five hundred thousand corpses_.

For the rest, I shall always be zealous to do whatever lies in my power

towards softening your Royal Highness' destinies, and making you forget,

if possible, your misfortunes. BONAPARTE."

The battle of Marengo was celebrated at Paris by a fête on the 14th of

July, which presented a singularly interesting spectacle owing to the

appearance of the "wall of granite," the members of which, just as the

games were about to begin, marched into the field. The sight of those

soldiers, covered with the dust of their march, sun-burned and

powder-stained, and bearing marks of heroic deeds on the battlefield,

formed a scene so truly affecting that the populace could not be

restrained by the guards from violating the limits, in order to take a

nearer view of those interesting heroes.

V

ULM AND AUSTERLITZ

Napoleon had now reached such a point of power that the Bourbons

resigned all hopes of restoration through his agency, and as the next

best means of obtaining control of the throne of France assassination

was decided upon. The First Consul had scarcely been in Paris a month,

after the engagement at Marengo when Ceracchi, a sculptor of some fame,

attempted Bonaparte's life as he was entering the theatre. But for his

betrayal by a co-conspirator the plot would have succeeded. This attempt

by means of the dagger was followed by the explosion of an infernal

machine, which consisted of a barrel of gunpowder surrounded by an

immense quantity of grape shot. On the night of October 10th the machine

was placed at Nacaise, a narrow street through which Napoleon was to

pass on his way to the opera house.

Some years later, in telling of the narrow escape he had on that night,

he said: "I had been hard at work all day, and was so overpowered by

sleep after dinner that Josephine, who was quite anxious to go to the

opera that night, found it quite difficult to arouse me and persuade me

to go. I fell asleep again after we had entered the carriage, and I was

dreaming of the danger I had undergone some years before in crossing the

Tagliamento at midnight by the light of torches, during a flood, when I

was waked by the explosion of the infernal machine. 'We are blown up,' I

said to Bessieres and Lannes, who were in the carriage, and then quickly

commanded the coachman to drive on."

The coachman, who was intoxicated, heard the order, and having mistaken

the explosion for a salute, lashed his horses furiously until the

theatre was reached. The machine had been fired by a slow match, and the

explosion took place just twenty seconds too soon. Summary justice was

executed upon the perpetrators of this infamous deed, and some time

later the Duke d' Enghien atoned for the part, whatever it might have

been, that the Bourbons had taken in these murderous schemes.

Austria delayed for several months final negotiations of the treaty

agreed upon after the engagement at Marengo, evidently reassured by the

attempts made on the First Consul's life. Preliminaries of peace had

been signed at Paris, between the Austrian general, Saint Julian, and

the French government. Duroc was dispatched to the Emperor of Austria,

to obtain his ratification of the articles; but having reached the

headquarters of the Army of the Rhine, he was refused a pass to proceed

on his journey.

Napoleon immediately ordered Moreau to recommence hostilities, unless

the Emperor delivered up the fortresses of Ulm, Ingolstadt and

Phillipsburg as pledges of his sincerity. Austria, accordingly,

purchased a further protraction of the armistice at this heavy price; at

the same time offering to treat for peace on new grounds. News of the

occupation of the three fortresses by the French troops, was announced

in Paris on the 23d of September 1800, where the fresh hopes of peace

caused universal satisfaction.

These hopes, however, proved delusive. Austria delayed and equivocated,

until it became evident the Emperor would make no peace separate from

England, and that the latter power was prepared to support her ally.

Napoleon, perceiving that he was being trifled with, now gave orders (in

November, 1800) to all his generals to put their divisions in march

all along the frontiers of the French dominions. The shock was

instantaneous, from the Rhine to the Mincio. Brune overwhelmed the

Austrians on the Mincio; Macdonald held the Tyrol, and Moreau achieved

the glorious victory of Hohenlinden after a desperate and most

sanguinary battle. This latter contest decided the fate of the campaign.

Thus with three victorious armies, either of which could have marched

triumphantly into Vienna, Napoleon hesitated long enough before taking

that final step, to allow Austria to sign an honest and definite peace.

The treaty of Luneville was at last signed in good faith on February

9th, 1801. By the peace of Luneville, Napoleon for the second time

effected the pacification of the Continent. Of all the powerful

coalition which threatened France in 1800, England alone continued

hostile in 1801 if we except Turkey, with which no arrangement could be

made until the affairs of Egypt were settled.

On the 8th of March, 1801, a British army of 17,000 men landed in Egypt

under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby. The French were very

ill-prepared for an attack. The English army overcame the resistance of

the forces which opposed their landing through the heavy surf formed on

the beach, and advanced upon their enemy. No general action occurred

until the 21st when the English obtained a decisive victory and drove

Menou,--who had succeeded to the command of the troops in Egypt at the

death of Kléber,--with great loss within the walls of Alexandria. Here

he was blockaded and General Belliard, cut off from all communication

with him, capitulated after which Menou submitted. Each capitulated on

condition of being taken back to France with all his troops and their

arms and baggage. Thus ended the conquest of Egypt by Napoleon. The

French admiral, Gantheaume, had long been making fruitless efforts to

land reinforcements in Egypt, but had been unable to elude the British

ships. He was now ordered to return to Toulon, where preparations were

made to receive the French troops.

After the news of the reverses of the French army in Egypt, and the

great sea victory of Copenhagen by Nelson, Napoleon was determined to

bring England to negotiations of peace and a recognition of the French

Republic, and with this in view he gathered an army of 100,000 men on

the coasts of France, with a flotilla sufficiently large to effect a

landing in England, whenever circumstances seemed to favor such a

movement. At this very moment it was, that Fulton, the inventor of

steam-boats, communicated his discovery to the First Consul. Napoleon

thus had the first chance placed in his hands of possessing exclusively

for a time, the greatest and most diversified means of physical power

ever known in the world. Scarcely deigning to bestow a thought upon the

subject the First Consul treated the inventor as a "visionary."

Whether or not Napoleon ever intended to invade Great Britain, he

succeeded at all events in convincing the world for a time that such was

his design, and when the peace of Amiens was signed on March 25th, 1802,

Paris and London rejoiced, as did all civilized nations. The peace of

Amiens left the military resources of France unemployed on the hands of

Bonaparte. This induced him to think of profiting by the European calm,

and effect the conquest of St. Domingo. He gave the command of the

expedition to his brother-in-law, Leclerc; but it was unsuccessful.

The inauguration of Christian worship once more in France in 1802 gave

Napoleon an opportunity to show that he had the interest of the people

at heart. France was an infidel nation, and it was the fashion to

believe there was no God. The signing of the Concordat by Pope Pius VII.

gave to France what she had long needed--a form of religious worship. It

required no little strength of purpose to take this step. "Religion is a

principle which cannot be eradicated from the heart of man;" said

Napoleon. "Last Sunday I was walking here alone, and the church bells of

the village of Ruel rang at sunset. I was strongly moved, so vividly did

the memory of early days come back with that sound. If it be thus with

me, what must it be with others? In re-establishing the Church, I

consult the wishes of the great majority of my people." A grand

religious ceremony took place at Notre Dame Cathedral to celebrate the

proclamation of the Concordat, at which the First Consul presided with

great pomp, attended by all the ministers and general officers then in

Paris. Another measure, adopted at this period, was the decree

permitting the return of the emigrants, provided they appeared and took

the oath to the government within a certain period. It is estimated that

a hundred thousand exiles returned to their country in consequence of

this decree.

It was about this period, too, that the First Consul turned his

attention to the system of a national education. He also commenced the

herculean task of preparing a code of law for the French nation with the

result that the "Code Napoleon" is known to every civilized nation of

the earth. Public improvements, formerly projected, were now carried

out, and sciences and the arts progressed as never before.

The order of the Legion of Honor owes its inception to Napoleon

Bonaparte, and it was he who placed it on such a footing in France

that it has since thrived there as has no similar institution on

the Continent. When established by him, after months of careful

consideration, he believed it necessary to France. To his Counselors of

State he said: "They talk about ribbons and crosses being the playthings

of monarchs, and say that the old Romans had no system of honorary

rewards. The Romans had patricians, knights, citizens and slaves,--for

each class different dresses and different manners--mural crowns, civic

crowns, orations, triumphs and titles. When the noble band of patricians

lost its influence, Rome fell to pieces--the people were a vile rabble.

It was then that you saw the fury of Marius, the proscriptions of

Scylla, and afterward of the Emperors. In that manner Brutus is talked

of as the enemy of tyrants; he was an aristocrat, who stabbed Caesar

because Caesar wished to lower the authority of the senate. You call

these ribbons and crosses child's rattles--be it so: It is with such

rattles that men are led. I would not say that to the multitude, but in

a council of wise men and statesmen one may speak the truth.... Observe

how the people bow before the decorations of foreigners. Voltaire calls

the common soldiers 'Alexanders at five sous a day.' He was right. It is

just so. Do you imagine you can make men fight by reasoning? Never! You

must bribe them with glory, with distinctions and rewards.... In fine,

it is agreed that we have need of some kind of institutions. If this

Legion of Honor is not approved, let some other be suggested. I do not

pretend that it alone will save the State, but it will do its part."

The Legion of Honor was instituted on the 15th of May 1802. When

Napoleon had seen the fruits of it, he said: "This order was the reward

of every one who was an honor to his country, stood at the head of his

profession, and contributed to the national prosperity and glory. Some

were dissatisfied because the decoration was conferred alike on officers

and soldiers; others, because it was given for civil and military merits

indiscriminately; but if this order ever cease to be the recompense of

the brave private, or be confined to military men alone, it will cease

to be what I made it,--the Legion of Honor."

The First Consul was, in right of his office, captain general of the

legion and president of the council of administration. The nomination of

all the members was for life. The grand officers were endowed with a

yearly pension of upwards of $1000. Pensions, decreasing in amount, were

also affixed to the subordinate degrees of rank in the order. All the

members were required to swear, upon their honor, to defend the

government of France, and maintain the inviolability of her Empire, to

combat, by every lawful means against the re-establishment of feudal

institutions, and to concur in maintaining the principle of liberty and

equality. On the day the order was instituted, Napoleon, by act of the

Senate was appointed Consul for life. The First Consul accepted the

offered prolongation from the Senate, on the condition that the

opinion of the people should be consulted on the subject. The question

put to them, as framed by Cambacérès and Le Brun, was: "Napoleon

Bonaparte--Shall he be Consul for life?" Registers were opened in all

municipalities; and the answer of the people qualified to vote was

decisive. Upwards of three million five hundred thousand voted for the

proposal; 8,300 against it. In the month of August Napoleon was formally

declared Consul for life and a decree of the Senate immediately

consolidated his power, by permitting him to appoint his successor.

This personal elevation had its ample share in contributing to the

number of Napoleon's enemies. In fact it appears in some measure

astonishing how any individual could persuade a whole nation, day after

day, to yield him up such a portion of its rights and privileges.

However, among many instances that might be adduced of his powers of

persuasion, one which occurred about this period is not the least

remarkable. In the beginning of the summer of 1802 some officers of

rank, enthusiastic republicans, took umbrage at Napoleon's conduct, and

determined to go and remonstrate with him upon the points that had given

them offense, and speak their minds freely. On the evening of the same

day, one of the party gave the following account of the interview: "I do

not know whence it arises, but there is a charm about that man,

indescribable and irresistible. I am no admirer of his; I dislike the

power to which he has risen; yet I cannot help confessing that there is

something in him which seems to speak him born to command. We went into

his apartment, determined to declare our minds; to expostulate with him

warmly; and not to depart till our subject of complaint should be

removed. But in his manner of receiving us there was a certain tact

which disarmed us in a moment; nor could we utter one word of what we

had intended to say. He talked to us for a length of time, with an

eloquence peculiarly his own, explaining with the utmost clearness and

precision, the necessity of steadily pursuing the line of conduct he had

adopted, and, without contradicting us in direct terms, controverted our

opinions so ably, that we had not a word to offer in reply, we therefore

retired, having done nothing but listen to, instead of expostulating

with him, fully convinced, at least for the moment, that he was right,

and that we were altogether in the wrong!"

Towards the close of the year 1802 it became evident that the peace of

Amiens was based on a hollow foundation, and was destined at no distant

period to be overthrown. At an interview held with Lord Whitworth, an

ambassador from England, Napoleon said: "No consideration on earth shall

make me consent to your retention of Malta; I would as soon agree to put

you in possession of the Faubourg St. Antoine. Every wind that blows

from England brings nothing but hatred and hostility towards me. An

invasion is the only means of offense that I can take against her, and I

am determined to put myself at the head of the expedition. There are a

hundred chances to one against my success; but I am not the less

determined to attempt the descent, if war must be the consequence of the

present discussion." He now quickly brought matters to a crisis. He

attacked the ambassador in vigorous language at a diplomatic meeting at

the Tuileries which ended in an abrupt termination of the conference by

Napoleon leaving the room.

The armistice lasted until March 18th, 1803, when England again declared

war upon France. All commerce of the French nation was ordered seized,

wherever found, and two hundred vessels, containing at least $15,000,000

worth of property fell into the hands of England. Napoleon retaliated by

arresting upwards of ten thousand Englishmen then in France. The tocsin

of war was sounded in every part of Europe, and 160,000 French soldiers

were marshaled on the coasts of France, again threatening an invasion of

England. France at this time was totally unprepared for war; a proof

sufficient to show that the First Consul had not desired the termination

of peace. The army was completely on a peace establishment; great

numbers of the troops were disbanded and the parks of artillery were

broken up. New plans for re-casting the artillery had been proposed, and

they had already begun to break up the cannon to throw them into the

furnaces. The navy was in a still less serviceable condition. In an

address to the Senate Napoleon said: "The negotiations are ended and we

are attacked; let us at least fight to maintain the faith of treaties

and the honor of the French name." The nation responded with enthusiasm

to the call; sums of money were voted by the large towns for building

ships and the army was rapidly recruited.

The first hostile movement of Napoleon was upon the continental domains

of George III. General Mortier invaded the Electorate of Hanover with

15,000 men and the Hanoverian army laid down its arms. The second

movement of the First Consul was the occupation of Naples. No resistance

was attempted. These measures, besides enabling Napoleon to maintain his

army by levies on the foreign states he occupied, also crippled the

commerce of England by shutting up all communication with many of the

best markets on the Continent. The First Consul now visited the

principal towns, accompanied by Josephine, where he made observations

and gave orders respecting the fortifications. These measures were all

preparatory on the part of Napoleon to his determined plan to attempt

the invasion of England. Funds were secured in part by the sale of

Louisiana to the United States.

Assassination was now again resorted to that Napoleon might be

overthrown; but every attempt, as heretofore, proved futile. Conspiracy

after conspiracy was detected--all traced to Napoleon's political

enemies. The First Consul resolved on retaliation and ordered the arrest

of the Duke d'Enghien at his castle in the Duchy of Baden. Three days

afterwards the duke was conveyed to Paris, and after a few hours'

imprisonment, was taken to the old State Prison of France, where he was

tried by court martial, and in a most summary and hasty manner

pronounced guilty of having fought against the Republic and condemned to

death. He was led down a winding stairway by torchlight, and shot in a

ditch in the castle at six o'clock in the morning. All Europe shuddered

at the deed, but it produced exactly the result Napoleon intended by it;

he was safe from attempts on his life forever afterwards.

Before the discovery of this plot the French Senate had sent an address

to Napoleon congratulating him on his escape from a former conspiracy in

which one hundred persons had schemed to take his life. In answer he

said: "I have long since renounced the hope of enjoying the pleasures of

a private life; all my days are employed in fulfilling the duties which

my fate and the will of the French people have imposed upon me. Heaven

will watch over France, and defeat the plots of the wicked. The citizens

may be without alarm; my life will last as long as it will be useful to

the nation; but I wish the French people to understand that existence,

without their confidence and affection, would be to me without

consolation, and would for them have no object."

The title of First Consul, by which Napoleon had been distinguished for

more than four years, was exchanged on the 18th of May 1804 for that of

Emperor by the advice of the Senate, where it was first publicly

broached, and by the universal assent of the French nation. Upwards

of 3,500,000 voted for the measure and about 2,000 against it. The

debates in the Senate were somewhat protracted and so great was the

impatience of the military that the garrison of Paris had resolved to

proclaim their chief as Emperor, at the first review; and Murat,

governor of the city, was obliged to assemble the officers at his house,

and bind them by a promise to restrain the troops. The spirit of the

army at Boulogne was soon manifested, by their voting the erection of a

colossal statue of Napoleon, in bronze, to be placed in the midst of the

camp. Every soldier subscribed a portion of his pay for the purpose; but

there was a want of bronze. Soult, who presided over the completion of

the undertaking, went, at the head of a deputation to Napoleon, and

said: "Sire, lend me the bronze, and I will repay it in enemy's cannon

at the first battle," and he kept his word.

[Illustration: From a Painting by J. L. David

ALLEGORIAL REPRESENTATION OF NAPOLEON CROSSING THE ALPS]

On the 27th of May Napoleon received the oath of the Senate, the

constituted bodies, the learned corporations and the troops of the

garrison of Paris. Louis XVIII. immediately addressed a protest to all

the sovereigns of Europe against the usurpation of Napoleon. Fouché, who

was the first who heard of this document, immediately communicated the

intelligence to the Emperor, with a view to prepare the necessary orders

to watch over those who might attempt its circulation; but great was his

surprise, on receiving directions to have the whole inserted in "The

Moniteur" the following morning, where it actually appeared. This was

all the notice taken of the matter by Napoleon.

On December 1st of the same year, the lists of votes in favor of the

establishment of the hereditary succession of the Empire in his family

were publicly presented by the Senate to Napoleon, and on the following

day, in the midst of one of the most imposing and brilliant scenes ever

enacted in France, Napoleon and Josephine were crowned Emperor and

Empress of France by Pius VII., the Pontiff of Rome, in the Cathedral of

Notre Dame.

The Emperor took his coronation oath as usual on such occasions, with

his hand upon the Scripture, and in the form repeated to him by the

Pope; but in the act of coronation itself there was a marked deviation

from the universal custom. The crown having been blessed by the Pope,

Napoleon took it from the altar with his own hands and placed it on his

brow. He then put the diadem on the head of Josephine. The heralds

proclaimed that "the thrice glorious and thrice august Napoleon, Emperor

of the French, was crowned and installed;" and so ended the pageant.

"Those who remember having beheld it," says Sir Walter Scott, "must now

doubt whether they were waking, or whether fancy had formed a vision so

dazzling in its appearance, so extraordinary in its origin and progress,

and so ephemeral in its endurance."

The senators of the Italian Republic soon afterwards requested that

Napoleon be crowned as their king, and on the following May 1805, in the

ancient cathedral of Milan, he assumed the Iron Crown of the Lombard

kings, saying as he did so, "God has given it to me; let him beware who

would touch it!"

The new order of knighthood, that of the Iron Crown, with these words

for its motto, arose out of this ceremony.

On the 8th of May, while on the road to Milan, Napoleon expressed a wish

to visit the battlefield of Marengo, on which he had reconquered Italy

five years before. All the French troops in that part of Italy were

therefore mustered there, to the number of 30,000. Covered with the hat

and uniform which he wore on the day of that memorable conflict--the

Emperor passed the army in review on horseback, and distributed crosses

of the Legion of Honor, with the same ceremonies which had been observed

on the Champ de Mars and the same return of enthusiastic devotion on the

parts of the troops. "It was remarked," says Bourrienne, "that the

worms, who spare neither the costumes of living kings, nor the bodies of

deceased heroes, had been busy with the trophies of Marengo, which,

nevertheless, Bonaparte wore at the review." Napoleon did not continue

his journey until after he had laid the first stone of the monument

consecrated to those who had been slain on the battlefield, and on the

same day he made his entry into Milan. Meanwhile the activity in France

continued unabated, and scarcely a day passed without some trifling

engagement, brought on by the rigorous pursuit of the squadrons of the

French fleet, as they advanced to Boulogne.

Scarcely had the Emperor entered Paris after his return from the

coronation in Italy, before he learned that a new coalition had been

formed against him, and that England, Russia, Austria and Sweden, with

half a million men, were preparing once more for war. The objects

proposed were, briefly, the independence of Holland and Switzerland; the

evacuation of Hanover, and the north of Germany by the French troops;

the restoration of Piedmont to the King of Sardinia; and the complete

evacuation of Italy by France. Great Britain, besides affording the

assistance of her forces by sea and land, was to pay large subsidies for

supporting the armies of the coalition. Napoleon had, in a great degree,

penetrated the schemes of the allied powers, but was not prepared for

the sudden assumption of arms by Austria without any declaration of war;

a measure which Austria justified by referring to the increasing

encroachments of France in Italy.

As the Emperor desired leisure to prosecute and perfect the great public

works he had begun, or projected, he most earnestly wished for peace,

and he again addressed a letter to the King of England, and which was

treated with contempt. An envoy was sent to Frankfort-on-the-Main to

ascertain definitely whether Austria really intended to trample another

treaty in the dirt, and so soon after the fatal day at Marengo. The

messenger soon returned with the best maps of the German Empire, and

opening them on the council table of the Tuileries, said: "The Austrian

general is advancing on Munich: the Russian army is in motion, and

Prussia will join them."

The Emperor of Russia had pushed on to Berlin to win over the Prussian

monarch to the great Bourbon coalition, and to make the compact more

impressive, he asked his royal brother to visit with him the tomb of

Frederick the Great. They descended by torchlight to the vault, and

there, over the honored dust of Frederick, Francis, his heir, took a

solemn oath, as he pointed to the sword of his ancestor as it lay on the

coffin, to join the European coalition. Some weeks afterwards Napoleon

visited the tomb as a conqueror, and said to his attendant, as he seized

the precious relics: "These orders and sword shall witness no other such

scene of perjury over the ashes of Frederick!"

The young Emperor of France now gathered his eagles to lead them toward

the Danube. To the French Senate, whom Napoleon informed of the hostile

conduct of Russia and Austria, the Emperor said: "I am about to quit my

capital to place myself at the head of my army in order that I may

render prompt assistance to my allies, and defend the dearest interests

of my people.... I groan for the blood which it will cost Europe; but

it will be the means of adding new lustre to the French name." Another

campaign against the kings of Europe was inevitable, and he proceeded to

achieve the destruction of Mack's army, not as at Marengo by one general

battle, but by a series of grand manoeuvres, and a train of partial

actions necessary to execute them, which rendered assistance and retreat

alike impossible.

The great army that had been assembled on the coast of France to invade

England was now relieved from its inactivity and directed to march upon

the German frontiers. The Count de Ségur, who had command of the

detachment of the Guard at the Tuileries, and accompanied Napoleon on

this campaign, relates in his "Memoirs" a remarkable scene in the

Emperor's private quarters at Boulogne before Napoleon started for the

frontier. The Emperor had just received news that Admiral Villeneuve had

taken the French fleet to Ferrol and left the channel. On learning this

the Emperor at once decided that the contemplated invasion of England

was then impossible. Ségur then says: "Sit there," Napoleon said to M.

Daru, then acting as intendant-general of the army "and write." And

then, without a transition, without any apparent meditation, with his

brief and imperious accent, he dictated to him, without hesitation, the

plan of the campaign of Ulm as far as Vienna! The army of the coast,

fronting the ocean for more than two hundred leagues, was at the first

signal to turn round and march on the Danube, in several columns! The

order of the marches, their duration, points of concentration, of

reunion of the columns, surprises, attacks, various movements, the

enemy's mistakes--all was foreseen.... The battlefields, the victories,

even the dates on which we were to enter Munich and Vienna--all was then

written just as it happened, and this two months in advance, at this

very hour of the 13th of August, and from this quarter-general on the

coast. Daru, however accustomed to the inspirations of his chief,

remained dumfounded, and he was even more surprised when afterwards he

saw these oracles realized. The Emperor returned to Paris without delay,

and there laid before the Senate the state of the army and announced the

commencement of hostilities.

It was five years since the soldiers had been in battle; and for two and

a half years they had been waiting in vain for an opportunity to cross

over into England. It would be difficult to form any conception then of

their joy or of their ardor when they learned they were going to be

employed in a great war. Old and young ardently longed for battles,

dangers, distant expeditions. They had conquered the Austrians, the

Prussians, the Russians; they despised all the soldiers of Europe and

did not imagine there was an army in the world capable of resisting

them. They set off singing, and shouting, "Vive l'Empereur!"

At the same time Massena received orders to assume the offensive in

Italy, and force his way, if possible, into the hereditary States of

Austria. The two French armies, one crossing the Rhine and the other

pushing through the Tyrolese, looked forward to a junction before the

walls of Vienna. After appointing Joseph Bonaparte to superintend the

government in his absence Napoleon quitted Paris on the 24th of

September 1805, accompanied as far as Strasbourg by Josephine: here they

separated. The Emperor put himself at the head of his army and crossed

the Rhine on the 1st of October. He now begun a series of grand

manoeuvres and partial actions, requiring consummate skill, with a view

to the destruction of the great Austrian army under General Mack.

Mack, at the head of the Austrian forces, established his headquarters

on the western frontier of Bavaria, at Ulm. Prudence would have

suggested that he occupy the line of the river Inn, which, extending

from the Tyrol to the Danube at Passau, affords a strong defense to the

Austrian territory, and on which he might have awaited, in comparative

safety, the arrival of the Russian forces, then on the march to aid

Austria in the campaign.

Napoleon hastened to profit by Mack's error, and by a combination of

manoeuvres with his different divisions, the great body of the French

army advanced into the heart of Germany by the left of the Danube, and

then throwing himself across the river, took ground in the Austrian

general's rear, when he expected to be assaulted in front of Ulm. As it

was, Mack's communication with Vienna was interrupted, and he was

completely isolated.

Never was astonishment equal to that which filled all Europe on the

unexpected arrival of the French army. It was supposed to be on the

shores of the ocean, and in twenty days, scarcely time enough for the

report of its march to spread to this point, it appeared on the Rhine.

Napoleon did not effect his purpose of taking up a position in the rear

of Mack without resistance, but in the various engagements with the

different divisions of the Austrian army at Wertingen, Gunzburgh,

Memingen and Elchingen, the French were uniformly successful. At

Memingen General Spangenburg was forced to capitulate, and 5,000 men

laid down their arms. Not less than 20,000 prisoners fell into the hands

of the French between the 26th of September and the 13th of October.

The Emperor passed in review the dragoons of the village of Zumershausen

when he ordered to be brought before him a dragoon named Marente, of the

4th regiment, one of the gallant soldiers who, at the passage of the

Lech, had saved his captain, by whom he had, a few days before, been

cashiered from his rank. Napoleon then bestowed upon him the eagle of

the Legion of Honor.

"I have only done my duty," observed the soldier, "my captain degraded

me on account of some violation of discipline but he knows I have always

proved a good soldier."

The Emperor expressed his satisfaction to the dragoons for the bravery

they had displayed at the battle of Wertingen and ordered each regiment

to present a dragoon, on whom he also bestowed the decoration of the

Legion of Honor.

Napoleon looked upon the battle of Elchingen which followed the actions

at Wertingen and Gunzburgh as one of the finest feats of arms that his

army had ever accomplished. From this field of battle he sent the Senate

forty standards taken by the French army in the various battles which

had succeeded that of Wertingen. "Since my entry on this campaign," he

wrote, "I have disposed of an army of 100,000 men. I have taken nearly

half of them prisoners; the rest have either deserted, are killed,

wounded, or reduced to the greatest consternation ... Assisted by Divine

Providence I hope in a short time to triumph over all my enemies."

By the 13th of October General Mack found himself completely surrounded

at Ulm with a garrison of fully 20,000 good troops. On this day Napoleon

made an exciting address to his soldiers on the bridge of the Lech, amid

the most intense cold, the ground being covered with snow, and the

troops sunk to the knees in mud. He warned them to expect a great

battle, and explained the desperate condition of the enemy. He was

answered with acclamations and repeated shouts of, "Vive l' Empereur!"

In listening to his exciting words, the soldiers forgot their fatigues

and privations and were impatient to rush into the fight.

As Napoleon passed through a crowd of prisoners, an Austrian colonel

expressed his astonishment on beholding the Emperor of the French

drenched with rain, covered with dirt, and as much, or even more

fatigued than the meanest drummer in his army. An aide-de-camp present

having explained to him what the Austrian officer said, the Emperor

ordered this answer to be given: "Your master wished me to recollect

that I was a soldier; I hope that he will allow that the throne and the

imperial purple have not made me forget my original profession."

From the height of the Abbey of Elchingen Napoleon now beheld the city

of Ulm at his feet, commanded on every side by his cannon; his

victorious troops ready for the assault, and the great Austrian army

cooped up within the walls. Four days later a flag of truce came from

General Mack.

Napoleon had called upon the commander to surrender, and unlike the

brave Wurmser, who held Mantua to extremity during the campaign of

Alvinzi, he capitulated without hazarding a blow. On the previous day

Mack had published a proclamation urging his troops to prepare for the

"utmost pertinacity of defense" and forbidding, on the pain of death,

the very word "surrender" to be breathed within the walls of Ulm. He

announced the arrival of two powerful armies, one of Austrians, the

other of Russians, whose appearance "would presently raise the

blockade." He even declared his intention of eating horseflesh rather

than listen to any terms of capitulation!

On the morning of October 15th Napoleon finally resolved to bring the

affair to a close, and gave orders to Marshal Ney to storm the heights

of Michaelsberg. All at once a battery unmasked by the Austrians, poured

its grape-shot upon the imperial group. Lannes, who was to flank Ney,

abruptly seized Napoleon's horse to lead him out of the galling fire.

The latter had taken up a position to watch Ney, who had set his columns

in motion. Changing to a safe position, the Emperor saw this intrepid

leader climb the intrenchments raised on Michaelsberg, and carry them

with the bayonet. Lannes secured another point of attack a moment later.

Napoleon then suspended the combat until the next day, when he ordered a

few shells to be thrown into Ulm, and in the evening sent Ségur to

General Mack summoning him to surrender. The envoy had great difficulty

in getting into the place. He was led blindfold before Mack, who,

striving to conceal his anxiety, was nevertheless unable to dissemble

his surprise and grief on learning the extent of his disaster and

hopeless position.

On the 17th Mack signed articles by which hostilities were immediately

ceased and he with all his men agreed to surrender(!) themselves as

prisoners of war within ten days, unless some Austrian or Russian force

should appear and attempt to raise the blockade. On the 19th, after a

personal visit to Napoleon's camp, Mack submitted to a "revision" of the

treaty, and on the 20th a formal evacuation of Ulm took place.

Thirty-six thousand soldiers filed off and laid down their arms before

Napoleon and his staff. A large watchfire had been made, near which the

Emperor posted himself to witness the ceremony. General Mack came

forward and delivered his sword, exclaiming, with grief: "Here is the

unfortunate Mack!" Napoleon received him and his officers with the

greatest courtesy. Eighteen generals were dismissed on parole, an

immense quantity of ammunition of all sorts fell into the hands of the

victor, and a wagonful of Austrian standards was sent to Paris.

Napoleon enforced the strictest silence on his troops while this

ceremony, so painful to their enemies continued. In one instance he

instantly ordered out of his presence one of his own generals from whom

his quick ear caught some witticism passed on the occasion.

All the Austrian officers were allowed to return home, on giving their

word of honor not to serve against France until a general exchange of

prisoners should take place.

This campaign is perhaps unexampled in the history of warfare for the

greatness of its results in comparison with the smallness of the expense

at which they were obtained. Of the French army, scarcely fifteen

hundred men were killed and wounded; while the Austrian army of almost

ninety thousand men was nearly annihilated; all, with the exception of

15,000 who escaped, being killed, wounded, or prisoners; and having lost

also, 200 pieces of cannon and ninety flags. It was a common remark

among the troops, "The Emperor has found a new method of carrying on

war; he makes us use our legs instead of our bayonets." Five-sixths of

the French army never fired a shot, at which the troops were much

mortified!

Massena was also successful in his advance from Lombardy, the Archduke

Charles, who commanded an army of 80,000 men for Austria, being forced

to abandon Italy, and Marshal Ney whom Napoleon had detached from his

own main army with orders to advance in the Tyrol, was no less

successful. The number of prisoners taken in this campaign was so great

that Napoleon distributed them amongst the agriculturists that their

work in the fields might make up for the absence of the conscripts, whom

he had withdrawn from such labor.

Rumors of the approach of the Russians, headed by the Emperor Alexander

in person, came fast and frequent. The divisions of Massena and Ney were

now at the disposal of Napoleon, who was concentrating his forces for

the purpose of attacking Vienna, and, with the main body, now moved on

the capital of the Austrian Emperor. The Emperor Francis, perceiving

that Vienna was incapable of defense, quitted his palace on the 7th of

November, and proceeded to the headquarters of Alexander at Brunn.

While Napoleon was riding on horseback on the Vienna road, he perceived

an open carriage approaching, in which were seated a priest, and a lady

bathed in tears. The Emperor was dressed, as usual, in the uniform of a

colonel of the chasseurs of the guard. The lady did not recognize him.

He inquired the cause of her distress and where she was going.

"Sir," said she, "I have been robbed, about two leagues hence, by a

party of soldiers, who have killed my gardener. I am going to request

that your emperor will grant me a guard; he once knew my family well,

and lay under obligations to them."

"Your name?" inquired Napoleon.

"De Brunny" answered the lady. "I am the daughter of M. de Marbeuf,

formerly governor of Corsica."

"I am delighted to meet with you madame" exclaimed Napoleon with the

most charming frankness, "and to have an opportunity of serving you,--I

am the Emperor."

The lady expressed much surprise and passed on agreeing to wait for the

commander at headquarters. Here she was furnished a piquet of chasseurs.

On the 13th the French entered Vienna, and Napoleon took up his

residence in the Imperial Palace of Schoenbrunn, the home of the

Austrian Cæsars. While at this point Napoleon learned of the success of

the English at Trafalgar on October 19th,--the day after Mack

surrendered at Ulm. It was a battle sternly contested and resulted in

the final annihilation of the French fleet. Great as the triumph was for

England, it was dearly purchased--for Nelson fell, mortally wounded,

early in the action. He lived just long enough to hear the cheers of

victory, and as he passed away, said, "Thank God! I have done my duty!"

The tidings of Trafalgar served but as a new stimulus to Napoleon's

energy. "Heaven has given the empire of the sea to England," he said,

"but to us has fate decreed the dominion of the land." But though such

signal success had crowned the commencement of the campaign, it was

necessary to defeat the haughty Russians before the object of the war

could be considered as attained. The broken and shattered remnant of the

Austrian forces had rallied from different quarters around the yet

untouched army of Alexander; Napoleon had therefore waited until the

result of his skillful combinations had drawn around him the greatest

force he could expect to collect, ere venturing upon a general battle.

He then quitted Vienna and put himself at the head of his columns which

soon found themselves within reach of the Russian and Austrian forces,

at length combined and ready for action, and under the eye of their

emperors.

Now it was to be a battle of three emperors,--France, Russia and

Austria. Napoleon fixed his headquarters at Brunn, where he arrived on

the 20th of November, and riding over the plain between this point and

Austerlitz, a village about two miles from Brunn, said to his generals:

"Study this field well,--we shall, ere long, have to contest it."

Napoleon, on learning that the Emperor Alexander was personally in the

hostile camp, sent Savary to present his compliments to that sovereign,

and of course "incidentally to observe as much as he could of the

numbers and condition of the enemy's troops." The messenger reported

that the Russians labored under a belief that the reverses of the

previous campaign were the result of unpardonable cowardice among the

Austrians, and the first general battle would show the sort of warriors

the Russians were. Savary said that from the conversations he had for

three days with nearly thirty coxcombs about the person of Alexander,

that presumption, inconsiderateness, and imprudence, reigned in the

decisions of the military as much as in the political cabinet, and that

an army so conducted must of necessity commit great faults.

The Czar sent a young aide-de-camp to return the compliment carried by

Savary, and he found the French soldiery engaged in fortifying their

position--a position which Napoleon had some time before determined to

occupy; but the negotiations were of no avail: Napoleon wanted either an

overwhelming battle or peace. The aide-de-camp sent by Alexander was

impressed with what appeared to him to be evidence of fear and

apprehension on the part of the French. The placing of strong guards and

fortifications, thrown up with such haste, appeared to him like the

precautions of an army half beaten. The Russian prince discussed every

point with an air of impertinence difficult to be conceived. He spoke to

Napoleon as if he had been conversing with a Russian officer; but the

Emperor repressed his indignation, and the young man returned under a

full conviction that the French army was on the brink of ruin. Several

old Austrian generals, who had made campaigns against Napoleon, are said

to have warned the Russian council against too much confidence as they

were to march against old soldiers and able officers. They said they had

seen Napoleon, when reduced to a handful of men, repossess himself of

victory, under the most difficult circumstances, by rapid and unforseen

operations, in which manner he had destroyed numerous armies. The

presumptuous young man declared that the presence of the Russian Emperor

would inspire the troops to victory especially as they would be aided by

the picked troops of the imperial guard of Russia.

On the 1st of December, on seeing the Russians begin to descend from a

chain of heights on which they might have received an attack with great

advantage to themselves, and have remained in safety until the Archduke

Charles could come up with the 80,000 men in Bohemia and Hungary,

Napoleon exclaimed rapturously, as he witnessed the rash manoeuvre: "In

twenty-four hours that army will be mine!" In the meantime, withdrawing

his outposts and concentrating his forces, he continued to imitate a

conscious inferiority, which was far from existing. In the order of the

day (December 1) before the battle of Austerlitz, Napoleon inserted the

following proclamation:

"Soldiers, the Russians are before you, to avenge the Austrian army at

Ulm. They consist of the same battalions you beat at Hollenbrun and have

constantly pursued. The positions we occupy are formidable; and, while

they march to my right, they shall present me their flank.--Soldiers, I

will direct myself all your battalions. I shall keep at a distance from

the firing, if, with your accustomed bravery, you carry confusion and

disorder into the enemy's ranks; but, should victory appear for a moment

doubtful, you shall see your Emperor expose himself to the first blows;

for victory cannot hesitate on this day, in which the honor of the

French infantry, of so much importance to the whole army, is concerned.

Suffer not the ranks to be thinned, under pretense of carrying off the

wounded; but let each man be well persuaded that we must conquer the

hirelings of England, who are animated with so deep a hatred of our

nation. This victory must terminate our campaign; when we shall resume

our winter quarters, and be joined by the new armies forming in France.

The peace which I make will be worthy of my people, of you and myself.

(Signed)

NAPOLEON."

[Illustration: From a Drawing by Raffet

FRENCH TROOPS CROSSING THE GREAT ST. BERNARD]

At one o'clock on the morning of the 2nd of December, Napoleon, having

slept for an hour by a watchfire, got on horseback and proceeded to

reconnoitre the front of his position. He wished to do so without being

recognized, but the soldiers penetrated the secret, and, lighting great

fires of straw along the line, 80,000 men received him from post to post

with great enthusiasm. They reminded him that it was the anniversary of

his coronation, and declared that they would celebrate the day in a

manner worthy of his glory.

"Only promise us," cried one old grenadier, "that you will keep yourself

out of the fire: I promise you in the name of the grenadiers of the army

that you will have to fight only with your eyes, and we will bring you

the flags and artillery of the Russian army to celebrate the anniversary

of your coronation."

"I will do so," answered the Emperor, "but I shall be with the reserve

_until you need us_." This promise Napoleon soon repeated in his

proclamation. As he threw down his pen after signing this document, he

exclaimed: "This is the noblest evening of my life; but I shall lose too

many of these brave fellows to-morrow. The anguish which I experience at

this idea makes me feel they are really my children; and truly I am

vexed with myself for these sensations, as I fear they will unman me on

the field of battle."

In his preparations for this decisive contest which he made immediately,

ten battalions of the Imperial Guard, with ten of Oudinot's division,

were to be kept in reserve in the rear of the line, under the eyes of

Napoleon himself, who destined them, with forty field-pieces, to act

wherever the fate of battle should render their services most

necessary.

"The battle was planned by Napoleon in every detail," says Ségur, "just

as he had planned the strategic movements of the army. In the early

morning he sent for all his aides-de-camp to come to the small house

where he had spent the night. We had a slight repast, which, like

himself, we ate standing; after which, putting on his sword, he said,

'Now gentlemen, let us go and begin a great day.' We all ran to our

horses. A moment afterwards we saw, on the top of the hill which the

soldiers called 'the Emperor's hill,' arriving from the various points

of our line, followed each by their aides-de-camp, all the chiefs of our

army corps, Murat, Lannes, Bernadotte, Soult, Davoust,--all coming to

receive final orders. If I were to live as long as the world shall last,

I would never forget that scene."

After a hazy, misty daybreak, the sun at last arose with uncommon

brilliancy, so bright in fact that "the sun of Austerlitz" afterwards

fell into a proverb with the French soldiery, who hailed similar dawns

with exultation and as a sure omen of victory. The Emperor said, as he

passed in front of several regiments: "Soldiers, we must finish this

campaign by a thunderbolt which shall confound the pride of our

enemies." Immediately they raised their hats on the bayonets' points and

cries of, "Live the Emperor!" formed the actual signal for battle. A

moment afterwards the horizon cleared up and as the sun darted forth its

glistening rays the cannonading was heard at the extremity of the right

line. The great battle of Austerlitz had begun.

At the opening of the engagement, Kutusoff, the Russian

general-in-chief, fell into a snare laid for him by Napoleon, and sent a

large division of his army to turn the right of the French. His troops,

detached for this purpose, met with unexpected resistance from Davoust,

and were held in check. Napoleon at once seized the opportunity given

him by the enemy in leaving a deep gap in their line, and upon that

space Soult forthwith poured a force which entirely cut off all

communication between the Russian centre and left.

The Czar quickly perceived the fatal consequences of the movement, and

ordered his guards to rush to the eminence called the hill of Pratzen,

where the encounter was taking place, and beat back Soult. The Russians

succeeded in driving the French before them, when Napoleon ordered

Bessieres to their rescue with the Imperial Guards. The Russians had

become somewhat disordered from the impatience of their temporary

victory, and although they resisted Bessieres sternly, they were finally

broken and fled. The regiment of the Grand Duke Constantine, who

gallantly led the Russians, was now annihilated and the duke only

escaped by the fleetness of his horse.

The French centre now advanced, and the charges of Murat's cavalry were

most decisive, while the left wing, under the command of Lannes, marched

forward, _en echelons_, by regiments, in the same manner as if they had

been exercising by divisions. A tremendous cannonade then took place

along the whole line; two hundred and three pieces of cannon, and nearly

two hundred thousand men, being engaged, so that it was indeed a giant

combat. Success could not be doubtful: in a moment the Russians were all

but routed, their colonel, artillery, standards and everything being

already captured. At 1 o'clock the victory was decided; it had never

been doubtful for a moment; and not a man of the reserves was required.

From the heights of Austerlitz the Emperors of Russia and Austria beheld

the total ruin of their centre as they had already of their left. The

right wing only remained unbroken, it having contested well the

impetuous charge of Lannes; but Napoleon could now gather round them on

all sides, and, his artillery plunging incessant fire on them from the

heights, they at length found it impossible to hold their ground and

were driven from position to position. They were at last forced down

into a hollow where some frozen lakes offered them the only means of

escape from the closing cannonade. As they did so the French broke the

ice about them by a storm of shot from 200 heavy cannon, and nearly

2,000 men died on the spot, some swept away by artillery, but the

greater part being drowned beneath the broken ice.

The cries of the dying Russians, as they sank beneath the waters, were

drowned, however, by the victorious shouts of the French, who were

pursuing the scattering remnants of the enemy in every direction. In the

bulletin of the engagement Napoleon compared the scene to that at

Aboukir, "when the sea was covered with turbans."

The Emperor had addressed his soldiers on the evening preceding the

battle to heighten their courage, and presage to them the victory; he

did not forget to address himself to them again after the fight, and

felicitate them upon having so nobly contributed to verify his

prediction. "Soldiers," he said to them, "You have on this day of

Austerlitz justified all that which I expected from your intrepidity.

You have decorated your eagles with immortal glory. When all that is

necessary to assure the happiness and prosperity of our country is

accomplished, I will lead you back to France. There you will be the

objects of my tenderest solicitude. My people will joyously greet you

again, and it will suffice for you to say: 'I was at the battle of

Austerlitz,' and for them to reply, 'Behold a brave man!'"

In later years Napoleon said of this engagement: "I have fought thirty

battles like that, but I have never seen so decisive a victory, or one

where the chances were so unevenly balanced." At another time while at

St. Helena he said, "If I had not conquered at Austerlitz I should have

had all Prussia on me."

It was with great difficulty that the Emperors of Russia and

Austria rallied some fragments of their armies around them, and,

terror-stricken, effected their retreat. With the conqueror there

remained 20,000 prisoners, 40 pieces of artillery, and all the standards

of the Imperial Guard of Russia. Such was the battle of Austerlitz, or

as the French soldiers delighted to call it, "The Battle of the

Emperors"; and thus did Napoleon's army fulfill its pledge to celebrate

the anniversary of his coronation.

The fleeing Emperors halted at midnight for council, and decided to send

a messenger to Napoleon at daylight with proposals for peace. The envoy

was courteously received, and arrangements were at once made for a

meeting of the Austrian and French Emperors at ten o'clock the next day.

They met about three leagues from Austerlitz, near a mill. Napoleon was

the first to arrive on the ground; he at once ordered that two fires be

made, and with a squadron of his Guard drawn up at a distance of about

two hundred paces, awaited the arrival of Francis and his personal

suite. When Francis came in sight, accompanied by several princes and

generals, and an escort of Hungarian cavalry, Napoleon advanced to his

carriage, and embraced him. The two Emperors, each with an attendant,

then went to one of the fires near the entrance to a military hut, while

the suites of the two sovereigns drew around the other fire, a few paces

distant.

"Such are the palaces you have compelled me to occupy for these three

months," said Napoleon, pointing to his modest quarters.

"You have made such good use of them," answered Francis, "that you ought

not to complain of their accommodation."

The defeated Emperor is represented as having thrown the blame of the

war upon the English. "They are a set of merchants," he said, "who would

set the continent on fire, in order to secure themselves the commerce of

the world."