The week after the National Guard of the city of Paris had been called

into service, the chiefs of the twelve legions and the general staff were

admitted to take the oath of fidelity at the Emperor's hands. The

National Guard had already been organized into legions; but the want of

arms was keenly felt, and many citizens could procure only lances, and

those who could not obtain guns or buy them found themselves thereby

chilled in their ardor to equip themselves. Nevertheless, the Citizen

Guard soon enrolled the desired number of thirty thousand men, and by

degrees it occupied the different posts of the capital; and whilst

fathers of families and citizens employed in domestic work were enrolled

without difficulty, those who had already paid their debts to their

country on the battlefield also demanded to be allowed to serve her

again, and to shed for her the last drop of their blood. Invalided

soldiers begged to resume their service. Hundreds of these brave

soldiers forgot their sufferings, and covered with honorable wounds went

forth again to confront the enemy. Alas! very few of those who then

left the Hotel des Invalides were fortunate enough to return.

Meanwhile the moment of the Emperor's departure approached; but before

setting out he bade a touching adieu to the National Guard, as we shall

see in the next chapter, and confided the regency to the Empress as he

had formerly intrusted it to her during the campaign in Dresden. Alas

this time it was not necessary to make a long journey before the Emperor

was at the head of his army.

CHAPTER XXII.

We are now about to begin the campaign of miracles; but before relating

the events which I witnessed on this campaign, during which I, so to

speak, never left the Emperor, it is necessary that I here inscribe some

souvenirs which may be considered as a necessary introduction. It is

well known that the Swiss cantons had solemnly declared to the Emperor

that they would not allow their territory to be violated, and that they

would do everything possible to oppose the passage of the allied armies

who were marching on the frontiers of France by way of the Breisgau. The

Emperor, in order to stop them on their march, relied upon the

destruction of the bridge of Bale; but this bridge was not destroyed,

and Switzerland, instead of maintaining her promised neutrality, entered

into the coalition against France. The foreign armies passed the Rhine

at Bale, at Schaffhausen, and at Mannheim. Capitulations made with the

generals of the confederated troops in regard to the French garrisons of

Dantzic, Dresden, and other strong towns had been, as we have seen,

openly violated. Thus Marshal Gouvion Saint-Cyr and his army corps had

been, contrary to the stipulations contained in the treaties, surrounded

by superior forces, disarmed, and conducted as prisoners to Austria; and

twenty thousand men, the remains of the garrison of Dantzic, were thus

arrested by order of the Emperor Alexander, and conveyed to the Russian

deserts. Geneva opened its gates to the enemy in the following January.

Vesoul, Epinal, Nancy, Langres, Dijon, Chalons-sur-Saone, and

Bar-sur-Aube were occupied by the allies.

The Emperor, in proportion as the danger became more pressing, displayed

still more his energy and indefatigable activity. He urged the

organization of new levies, and in order to pay the most urgent expenses

drew thirty millions from his secret treasury in the vaults of the

pavilion Marsan. The levies of conscripts were, however, made with

difficulty; for in the course of the year 1813 alone, one million forty

thousand soldiers had been summoned to the field, and France could no

longer sustain such enormous drains. Meanwhile veterans came from all

parts to be enrolled; and General Carnot offered his services to the

Emperor, who was much touched by this proceeding, and confided to him the

defense of Antwerp. The zeal and courage with which the general

acquitted himself of this important mission is well known. Movable

columns and corps of partisans placed themselves under arms in the

departments of the east, and a few rich proprietors levied and organized

companies of volunteers, while select cavalry formed themselves into

corps, the cavaliers of which equipped themselves at their own expense.

In the midst of these preparations the Emperor received news which moved

him deeply,--the King of Naples had just joined the enemies of the

French. On a previous occasion, when his Majesty had seen the Prince

Royal of Sweden, after having been marshal and prince of the Empire,

enter into a coalition against his native country, I heard him break

forth into reproaches and exclamations of indignation, although the King

of Sweden had more than one reason to offer in his own defense, being

alone in the north, and shut in by powerful enemies against whom he was

entirely unable to struggle, even had the interests of his new country

been inseparable from those of France. By refusing to enter into the

coalition he would have drawn on Sweden the anger of her formidable

neighbors, and with the throne he would have sacrificed and fruitlessly

ruined the nation which had adopted him. It was not to the Emperor he

owed his elevation. But King Joachim, on the contrary, owed everything

to the Emperor; for it was he who had given him one of his sisters as a

wife, who had given him a throne, and had treated him as well as, and

even better than, if he had been a brother. It was consequently the duty

of the King of Naples as well as his interest not to separate his cause

from that of France; for if the Emperor fell, how could the kings of his

own family, whom he had made, hope to stand? Both King Joseph and Jerome

had well understood this, and also the brave and loyal Prince Eugene, who

supported courageously in Italy the cause of his adopted father. If the

King of Naples had united with him they could together have marched on

Vienna, and this audacious but at the same time perfectly practicable

movement would have infallibly saved France.

These are some of the reflections I heard the Emperor make in speaking of

the treachery of the King of Naples, though in the first moments,

however, he did not reason so calmly. His anger was extreme, and with it

was mingled grief and emotions near akin to pity: "Murat!" cried he,

"Murat betray me! Murat sell himself to the English! The poor creature!

He imagines that if the allies succeed in overthrowing me they would

leave him the throne on which I have seated him. Poor fool! The worst

fate that can befall him is that his treachery should succeed; for he

would have less pity to expect from his new allies than from me."

The evening before his departure for the army, the Emperor received the

corps of officers of the National Parisian Guard, and the reception was

held in the great hall of the Tuileries. This ceremony was sad and

imposing. His Majesty presented himself before the assembly with her

Majesty the Empress, who held by the hand the King of Rome, aged three

years lacking two months. Although his speech on this occasion is

doubtless already well known, I repeat it here, as I do not wish that

these beautiful and solemn words of my former master should be wanting in

my Memoirs:

"GENTLEMEN, Officers of the National Guard,--It is with much

pleasure I see you assembled around me. I leave to-night to place

myself at the head of the army. On leaving the capital I place with

confidence in your care my wife and my son on whom rests so many

hopes. I owe you this proof of my confidence, in return for all the

innumerable proofs you have repeatedly given me in the important

events of my life. I shall depart with my mind free from anxiety,

since they will be under your faithful protection. I leave with you

what is dearest to me in the world, next to France, and I freely

commit it to your care.

"It may occur that in consequence of the maneuvers I am about to

make, the enemy may find the opportunity of approaching your walls.

If this should take place, remember that it will be an affair of

only a few days, and I will soon come to your assistance. I

recommend to you to preserve unity among yourselves, and to resist

all the insinuations by which efforts will be made to divide you.

There will not be wanting endeavors to shake your fidelity to duty,

but I rely upon you to repel these perfidious attempts."

At the end of this discourse, the Emperor bent his looks on the Empress

and the King of Rome, whom his august mother held in her arms, and

presenting both by his looks and gestures to the assembly this child

whose expressive countenance seemed to reflect the solemnity of the

occasion, he added in an agitated voice, "I confide him to you,

Messieurs; I confide him to the love of my faithful city of Paris!" At

these words of his Majesty innumerable shouts were heard, and innumerable

arms were raised swearing to defend this priceless trust. The Empress,

bathed in tears and pale with the emotion by which she was agitated,

would have fallen if the Emperor had not supported her in his arms. At

this sight the enthusiasm reached its height, tears flowed from all eyes,

and there was not one present who did not seem willing as he retired to

shed his blood for the Imperial family. On this occasion I again saw for

the first time M. de Bourrienne at the palace; he wore, if I am not

mistaken, the uniform of captain in the National Guard.

On the 25th of January the Emperor set out for the army, after conferring

the regency on her Majesty the Empress; and that night we reached

Chalons-sur-Marne. His arrival stopped the progress of the enemy's army

and the retreat of our troops. Two days after he, in his turn, attacked

the allies at Saint-Dizier. His Majesty's entrance into this town was

marked by most touching manifestations of enthusiasm and devotion. The

very moment the Emperor alighted, a former colonel, M. Bouland, an old

man more than seventy years old, threw himself at his Majesty's feet,

expressing to him the deep grief which the sight of foreign bayonets had

caused him, and his confidence that the Emperor would drive them from the

soil of France. His Majesty assisted the old veteran to rise, and said

to him cheerfully that he would spare nothing to accomplish such a

favorable prediction. The allies conducted themselves in the most

inhuman manner at Saint-Dizier: women and old men died or were made ill

under the cruel treatment which they received; and it may be imagined

what a cause of rejoicing his Majesty's arrival was to the country.

The enemy having been repulsed at Saint-Dizier, the Emperor learned that

the army of Silesia was being concentrated on Brienne, and immediately

set out on the march through the forest of Deo, the brave soldiers who

followed him appearing as indefatigable as he. He halted at the village

of Eclaron, where his Majesty paid a certain sum to the inhabitants to

repair their church, which the enemy had destroyed. The surgeon of this

town advanced to thank the Emperor; and his Majesty examining him

attentively said to him, "You have served in the army, Monsieur?"--"Yes,

Sire; I was in the army of Egypt."--"Why have you no cross?"--"Sire,

because I have never asked for it."--"Monsieur, you are only the more

worthy of it. I hope you will wear the one I shall give you." And in a

few moments his certificate was signed by the Emperor, and handed to the

new chevalier, whom the Emperor recommended to give the most careful

attention to the sick and wounded of our army who might be committed to

his care.

[It is known that the Emperor was not lavish in the distribution

of the Cross of Honor. Of this fact I here give an additional

proof. He was much pleased with the services of M. Veyrat,

inspector general of police, and he desired the Cross. I presented

petitions to this effect to his Majesty, who said to me one day,

"I am well satisfied with Veyrat. He serves me well, and I will

give him as much money as he wishes; but the Cross, never!"

--CONSTANT.]

On entering Mezieres his Majesty was received by the authorities of the

city, the clergy, and the National Guard. "Messieurs," said the Emperor

to the National Guard who pressed around him, "we fight to day for our

firesides; let us defend them in such a manner that the Cossacks may not

come to warm themselves beside them. They are bad guests, who will leave

no place for you. Let us show them that every Frenchman is born a

soldier, and a brave one!" His Majesty on receiving the homage of the

curate, perceiving that this ecclesiastic regarded him with extreme

interest and agitation, consequently considered the good priest more

attentively, and soon recognized in him one of the former regents of the

college of Brienne. "What! is it you, my dear master?" cried the

Emperor. "You have, then, never left your retirement! So much the

better, since for that reason you will be only the better able to serve

the cause of your native land. I need not ask if you know the country

around here."--"Sire," replied the curate, "I could find my way with my

eyes shut."--"Come with us, then; you will be our guide, and we will

converse." The worthy priest immediately saddled his well-broken horse,

and placed himself in the center of the Imperial staff.

The same day we arrived before Brienne. The Emperor's march had been so

secret and so rapid that the Prussians had heard nothing of it until he

suddenly appeared before their eyes. A few general officers were made

prisoners; and Blucher himself, who was quietly coming out of the

chateau, had only time to turn and fly as quickly as he could, under a

shower of balls from our advance guard. The Emperor thought for a moment

that the Prussian general had been taken, and exclaimed, "We have got

that old swash-buckler. Now the campaign will not be long." The

Russians who were established in the village set it on fire, and an

engagement took place in the midst of the flames. Night arrived, but the

combat still continued; and in the space of twelve hours the village was

taken and retaken many times. The Emperor was furious that Blucher

should have escaped. As he returned to headquarters, which had been

established at Mezieres, his Majesty narrowly escaped being pierced

through with the lance of a Cossack; but before the Emperor perceived the

movement of the wretch, the brave Colonel Gourgaud, who was marching

behind his Majesty, shot the Cossack dead with his pistol.

The Emperor had with him only fifteen thousand men, and they had waged an

equal struggle with eighty thousand foreign soldiers. At the close of

the combat the Prussians retreated to Bar-sur-Aube; and his Majesty

established himself in the chateau of Brienne, where he passed two

nights. I recalled during this stay the one that I had made ten years

before in this same chateau of Brienne, when the Emperor was on his way

to Milan with the intention of adding the title of King of Italy to that

of Emperor of the French. "To-day," I said to myself, "not only is Italy

lost to him, but here in the center of the French Empire, and a few

leagues from his capital, the Emperor is defending himself against

innumerable enemies!" The first time I saw Brienne, the Emperor was

received as a sovereign by a noble family who fifteen years before had

welcomed him as a protege. He had there revived the happiest

remembrances of his childhood and youth; and in comparing himself in 1805

with what he had been at the Ecole Militaire had spoken with pride of the

path he had trod. In 1814, on the 31st of January, the end to which this

path was tending began to be seen. It is not that I wish to announce

myself as having foreseen the Emperor's fall, for I did not go so far as

that. Accustomed to see him trust to his star, the greater part of those

who surrounded him trusted it no less than he; but nevertheless we could

not conceal from ourselves that great changes had taken place. To delude

ourselves in this respect it would have been necessary to close our eyes

that we might neither see nor hear this multitude of foreigners, whom we

had until now seen only in their own country, and who, in their turn,

were now in our midst.

At each step, in fact, we found terrible proofs of the enemy's presence.

After taking possession of the towns and villages, they had arrested the

inhabitants, maltreated them with saber-strokes and the butt ends of

their guns, stripping them of their clothing, and compelling those to

follow them whom they thought capable of serving as guides on their

march; and if they were not guided as they expected they killed with the

sword or shot their unfortunate prisoners. Everywhere the inhabitants

were made to furnish provisions, drink, cattle, forage, in a word,

everything that could be useful to an army making enormous requisitions;

and when they had exhausted all the resources of their victims, they

finished their work of destruction by pillage and burning. The

Prussians, and above all the Cossacks, were remarkable for their brutal

ferocity. Sometimes these hideous savages entered the houses by main

force, shared among themselves everything that fell into their hands,

loaded their horses with the plunder, and broke to pieces what they could

not carry away. Sometimes, not finding sufficient to satisfy their

greed, they broke down the doors and windows, demolished the ceiling in

order to tear out the beams, and made of these pieces and the furniture,

which was too heavy to be carried away, a fire, which being communicated

to the roofs of neighboring houses consumed in a moment the dwellings of

the unhappy inhabitants, and forced them to take refuge in the woods.

Sometimes the more wealthy inhabitants gave them what they demanded,

especially brandy, of which they drank eagerly, thinking by this

compliance to escape their ferocity; but these barbarians, heated by

drink, then carried their excesses to the last degree. They seized

girls, women, and servants, and beat them unmercifully, in order to

compel them to drink brandy until they fell in a complete state of

intoxication. Many women and young girls had courage and strength to

defend themselves against these brigands; but they united three or four

against one, and often to avenge themselves for the resistance of these

poor creatures mutilated and slew them, after having first violated them,

or threw them into the midst of the bivouac fires. Farms were burned up,

and families recently opulent or in comfortable circumstances were

reduced in an instant to despair and poverty. Husbands and old men were

slain with the sword while attempting to defend the honor of their wives

and daughters; and when poor mothers attempted to approach the fires to

warm the children at their breasts, they were burned or killed by the

explosion of packages of cartridges, which the Cossacks threw

intentionally into the fire; and the cries of pain and agony were stifled

by the bursts of laughter from these monsters.

I should never end if I attempted to relate all the atrocities committed

by these foreign hordes. It was the custom at the time of the

Restoration to say that the complaints and narrations of those who were

exposed to these excesses were exaggerated by fear or hatred. I have

even heard very dignified persons jest pleasantly over the pretty ways of

the Cossacks. But these wits always kept themselves at a distance from

the theater of war, and had the good fortune to inhabit departments which

suffered neither from the first nor second invasion. I would not advise

them to address their pleasantries to the unfortunate inhabitants of

Champagne, or of the departments of the east in general. It has been

maintained also that the allied sovereigns and the general officers of

the Russian and Prussian army severely forbade all violence in their

regular troops, and that the atrocities were committed by undisciplined

and ungovernable bands of Cossacks. I have been in a position to learn,

on many occasions, especially at Troves, proofs to the contrary. This

town has not forgotten, doubtless, how the Princes of Wurtemberg and

Hohenlohe and the Emperor Alexander himself justified the burnings,

pillage, violations, and numerous assassinations committed under their

very eyes, not only by the Cossacks, but also by regularly enlisted and

disciplined soldiers. No measures were taken by the sovereigns or by

their generals to put an end to such atrocities, and nevertheless when

they left a town there was needed only an order from them to remove at

once the hordes of Cossacks who devastated the country.

The field of the La Rothiere was, as I have said, the rendezvous of the

pupils of the military school of Brienne. It was there that the Emperor,

when a child, had foreshadowed in his engagement with the scholars his

gigantic combats. The engagement at La Rothiere was hotly contested; and

the enemy obtained, only at the price of much blood, an advantage which

they owed entirely to their numerical superiority. In the night which

followed this unequal struggle, the Emperor ordered the retreat from

Troves. On returning to the chateau after the battle, his Majesty

narrowly escaped an imminent danger. He found himself surrounded by a

troop of uhlans, and drew his sword to defend himself. M. Jardin,

junior, his equerry, who followed the Emperor closely, received a ball in

his arm. Several chasseurs of the escort were wounded, but they at last

succeeded in extricating his Majesty. I can assert that his Majesty

showed the greatest self-possession in all encounters of this kind. On

that day, as I unbuckled his sword-belt, he drew it half out of the

scabbard, saying, "Do you know, Constant, the wretches have made me cut

the wind with this? The rascals are too impudent. It is necessary to

teach them a lesson, that they may learn to hold themselves at a

respectful distance."

It is not my intention to write the history of this campaign in France,

in which the Emperor displayed an activity and energy which excited to

the highest point the admiration of those who surrounded him.

Unfortunately, the advantages which he had obtained gradually exhausted

his own troops, while only creating losses in the enemy's, which they

easily repaired. It was, as M. Bourrienne has well said, a combat of an

Alpine eagle with a flock of ravens: "The eagle may kill them by

hundreds. Each blow of his beak is the death of an enemy; but the ravens

return in still greater numbers, and continue their attack on the eagle

until they at last overcome him." At Champ-Aubert, at Montmirail, at

Nangis, at Montereau, and at Arcis, and in twenty other engagements, the

Emperor obtained the advantage by his genius and by the courage of our

army; but it was all in vain. Hardly had these masses of the enemy been

scattered, before fresh ones were formed again in front of our soldiers,

exhausted by continuous battles and forced marches. The army, especially

that which Blucher commanded, seemed to revive of itself, and whenever

beaten reappeared with forces equal, if not superior, to those which had

been destroyed or dispersed. How can such an immense superiority of

numbers be indefinitely resisted?

CHAPTER XXIII.

The Emperor had never shown himself so worthy of admiration as during

this fatal campaign in France, when, struggling against misfortunes, he

performed over again the prodigies of his first wars in Italy, when

fortune smiled on him. His career had begun with an attack, and the end

was marked by the most magnificent defense recorded in the annals of war.

And it may be said with truth that at all times and everywhere his

Majesty showed himself both the perfect general and the soldier, under

all circumstances furnishing an example of personal courage to such an

extent, indeed, that all those who surrounded him, and whose existence

was dependent on his own, were seriously alarmed. For instance, as is

well known, the Emperor, at the battle of Montereau, pointed the pieces

of artillery himself, recklessly exposed himself to the enemy's fire, and

said to his soldiers, who were much alarmed at his danger and attempted

to remove him, "Let me alone, my friends; the bullet which is to kill me

has not yet been molded."

At Arcis the Emperor again fought as a common soldier, and more than once

drew his sword in order to cut his way through the midst of the enemy who

surrounded him. A shell fell a few steps from his horse. The animal,

frightened, jumped to one side, and nearly unhorsed the Emperor, who,

with his field-glass in his hand, was at the moment occupied in examining

the battlefield. His Majesty settled himself again firmly in his saddle,

stuck his spurs in the horse's sides, forced him to approach and put his

nose to it. Just then the shell burst, and, by an almost incredible

chance, neither the Emperor nor his horse was even wounded.

In more than one similar circumstance the Emperor seemed, during this

campaign, to put his life at a venture; and yet it was only in the last

extremity that he abandoned the hope of preserving his throne. It was a

painful sacrifice to him to treat with the enemy so long as they occupied

French territory; for he wished to purge the soil of France of the

presence of foreigners before entering into any agreement with them

whatever. And this feeling was the reason of his hesitation and refusal

to accept the peace which was offered him on various occasions.

On the 8th of February, the Emperor, at the end of a long discussion with

two or three of his intimate advisers, retired very late, and in a state

of extreme preoccupation. He woke me often during the night, complaining

of being unable to sleep, and made me extinguish and relight his lamp

again and again. About five o'clock in the morning I was called again.

I was almost fainting with fatigue, which his Majesty noticed, and said

to me kindly, "You are worn out, my poor Constant; we are making a

severe campaign, are we not? But hold out only a little longer; you will

soon rest."

Encouraged by the sympathizing tones of his Majesty, I took the liberty

of replying that no one could think of complaining of the fatigue or

privations he endured, since they were shared by his Majesty; but that,

nevertheless, the desire and hope of every one were for peace. "Ah,

yes," replied the Emperor, with a kind of subdued violence, "they will

have peace; they will realize what a dishonorable peace is!" I kept

silence; his Majesty's chagrin distressed me deeply; and I wished at this

moment that his army could have been composed of men of iron like

himself, then he would have made peace only on the frontiers of France.

The tone of kindness and familiarity in which the Emperor spoke to me on

this occasion recalls another circumstance which I neglected to relate in

its proper place, and which I must not pass over in silence, since it

furnishes such a fine example of his Majesty's conduct towards the

persons of his service, and especially myself. Roustan witnessed the

occurrence, and it was from him I learned the opening details.

In one of his campaigns beyond the Rhine (I do not remember which), I had

passed several nights in succession without sleep, and was exhausted.

The Emperor went out at eleven o'clock, and remained three or four hours;

and I seated myself in his armchair, near his table, to await his return,

intending to rise and retire as soon as I heard him enter, but was so

exhausted with fatigue that sleep suddenly overtook me, and I dropped

into a deep slumber, my head resting on my arm, and my arm on his

Majesty's table. The Emperor returned at last with Marshal Berthier, and

followed by Roustan. I heard nothing. The Prince de Neuchatel wished to

approach and shake me that I might awake and resign to his Majesty his

seat and table; but the Emperor stopped him, saying, "Let the poor fellow

sleep; he has passed many nights with none." Then, as there was no other

chair in the apartment, the Emperor seated himself on the edge of the

bed, made the marshal also seat himself there, and they held a long

conversation while I continued to sleep. At length, needing one of the

maps from the table on which my arm rested, his Majesty, although he drew

it out most cautiously, awoke me; and I immediately sprang to my feet,

overwhelmed with confusion, and excusing myself for the liberty I had so

involuntarily taken. "Monsieur Constant," the Emperor then said with an

exceedingly kind smile, "I am distressed to have disturbed you. Pray,

excuse me." I trust that this, in addition to what I have already

related of the same nature, may serve as an answer to those who have

accused him of harshness to his servants. I resume my recital of the

events of 1814.

On the night of the 8th the Emperor seemed to have decided on making

peace; and the whole night was spent in preparing dispatches, which on

the morning of the 9th at nine o'clock were brought to him to sign; but

he had changed his mind. At seven o'clock he had received news from the

Russian and Prussian army; and when the Duke of Bassano entered, holding

in his hand the dispatches to be signed, his Majesty was asleep over the

maps where he had stuck his pens. "Ah, it is you," said he to his

minister; "we will no longer need those. We are now laying plans to

attack Blucher; he has taken the road from Montmirail. I am about to

start. To-morrow I will fight, and again the next day. The aspect of

affairs is on the point of changing, as we shall see. Let us not be

precipitate; there is time enough to make such a peace as they propose."

An hour after we were on the road to Sezanne.

For several days in succession after this, the heroic efforts of the

Emperor and his brave soldiers were crowned with brilliant success.

Immediately on their arrival at Champ-Aubert, the army, finding itself in

presence of the Russian army corps, against which they had already fought

at Brienne, fell on it without even waiting to take repose, separated it

from the Prussian army, and took the general-in-chief and several general

officers prisoners. His Majesty, whose conduct towards his conquered

foes was always honorable and generous, made them dine at his table, and

treated them with the greatest consideration.

The enemy were again beaten at the Farm des Frenaux by Marshals Ney and

Mortier, and by the Duke of Ragusa at Vaux-Champs, where Blucher again

narrowly escaped being made prisoner. At Nangis the Emperor dispersed

one hundred and fifty thousand men commanded by the Prince von

Schwarzenberg, and ordered in pursuit of them Marshals Oudinot,

Kellermann, Macdonald, and Generals Treilhard and Gerard.

The eve of the battle of Wry, the Emperor inspected all the surroundings

of this little town; and his observing glasses rested on an immense

extent of marshy ground in the midst of which is the village of Bagneux,

and at a short distance the village of Anglure, past which the Aube

flows. After rapidly passing over the unsafe ground of these dangerous

marshes, he set foot on solid ground, and seated himself on a bundle of

reeds, and there, leaning against the wall of a night-hunter's hut, he

unrolled his map of the campaign; and, after examining it a few moments,

remounted his horse and set off at a gallop.

At this moment a flock of teal and snipe flew up before his Majesty; and

he exclaimed laughingly: "Go, go, my beauties; make room for other game."

His Majesty said to those around him, "This time we have them!"

The Emperor was galloping towards Anglure, in order to see if the hill of

Baudemont, which is near this village, was occupied by the artillery,

when the noise of cannon heard in the direction of Wry compelled him to

retrace his steps; and he accordingly returned to Wry, saying to the

officers who accompanied him, "Let us gallop, gentlemen, our enemies are

in a hurry; we should not keep them waiting." A half hour after he was

on the battlefield. Enormous clouds of smoke from the burning of Wry

were driven in the faces of the Russian and Prussian columns, and partly

hid the maneuvers of the French army. At that moment everything

indicated the success of the plans the Emperor had formed that morning in

the marshes of Bagneux, for all went well. His Majesty foresaw the

defeat of the allies, and France saved, while at Anglure all were given

up to despair. The population of many villages shuddered at the approach

of the enemy; for not a piece of cannon was there to cut off their

retreat, not a soldier to prevent them from crossing the river.

The position of the allies was so exceedingly critical that the whole

French army believed them destroyed, as they had plunged with all their

artillery into the marshes, and would have been mowed down by the shower

of balls from our cannon if they had remained there. But suddenly they

were seen to make a new effort, place themselves in line of battle, and

prepare to pass the Aube. The Emperor, who could pursue them no farther

without exposing his army to the danger of being swallowed up in the

marshes, arrested the impetuosity of his soldiers, believing that the

heights of Baudemont were covered with artillery ready to overwhelm the

enemy; but hearing not a single shot in this direction, he hurried to

Sezanne to hasten the advance of the troops, only to learn that those he

expected to find there had been sent toward Fere Champenoise.

During this interval, a man named Ansart, a land owner at Anglure,

mounted his horse, and hurried at the utmost speed to Sezanne in order to

inform the marshal that the enemy were pursued by the Emperor, and about

to cross the Aube. Having reached the Duke, and seeing that the corps he

commanded was not taking the road to Anglure, he hastened to speak.

Apparently the Emperor's, orders had not been received; for the marshal

would not listen to him, treated him as a spy, and it was with much

difficulty this brave man escaped being shot.

While this scene was taking place, his Majesty had already reached

Sezanne; and seeing many inhabitants of this village around him, he

requested some one to guide him to Fere Champenoise, whereupon a bailiff

presented himself. The Emperor immediately set out, escorted by the

officers who had accompanied him to Sezanne, and left the town, saying to

his guide, "Go in front, monsieur, and take the shortest road." Arrived

at a short distance from the battlefield of Fere Champenoise, his Majesty

saw that every report of the artillery made the poor bailiff start. "You

are afraid," said the Emperor to him. "No, Sire."--"Then, what makes you

dodge your head?"--"It is because I am not accustomed like your Majesty

to hearing all this uproar."--"One should accustom himself to everything.

Fear nothing; keep on." But the guide, more dead than alive, reined in

his horse, and trembled in every limb. "Come, come; I see you are really

afraid. Go behind me." He obeyed, turned his horse's head, and galloped

as far as Sezanne without stopping, promising himself most faithfully

never again to serve as guide to the Emperor on such an occasion.

At the battle of Mery, the Emperor, under the very fire of the enemy, had

a little bridge thrown over the river which flows near the town. This

bridge was constructed in an hour by means of ladders fastened together,

and supported by wooden beams; but as this was not sufficient, it was

necessary that planks should be placed on this. None could be found,

however; for those who might have been able to procure them did not dare

to approach the exposed spot his Majesty occupied at this moment.

Impatient, and even angry, because he could not obtain the planks for

this bridge, his Majesty had the shutters of several large houses a short

distance from the river taken down, and had them placed and nailed down

under his own eyes. During this work he was tormented by intense thirst,

and was about to dip water up in his hand to slake it, when a young girl,

who had braved danger in order to draw near the Emperor, ran to a

neighboring house, and brought him a glass of water and some wine, which

he eagerly drank.

Astonished to see this young girl in so perilous a place, the Emperor

said to her, smiling, "You would make a brave soldier, Mademoiselle;

and if you are willing to wear epaulets you shall be one of my

aides-de-camp." The young girl blushed, and made a courtesy to the

Emperor, and was going away, when he held out his hand to her, and she

kissed it. "Later," he said, "come to Paris, and remind me of the

service you have rendered me to-day. You will be satisfied of my

gratitude." She thanked the Emperor and withdrew, very proud of his

words of commendation.

The day of the battle of Nangis an Austrian officer came in the evening

to headquarters, and had a long, secret conference with his Majesty.

Forty-eight hours after, at the close of the engagement at Mery, appeared

a new envoy from the Prince von Schwarzenberg, with a reply from the

Emperor of Austria to the confidential letter which his Majesty had

written two days before to his father-in-law. We had left Mery in

flames; and in the little hammock of Chatres, where headquarters had been

established, there could no shelter be found for his Majesty except in

the shop of a wheelwright; and the Emperor passed the night there,

working, or lying on the bed all dressed, without sleeping. It was there

also he received the Austrian envoy, the Prince of Lichtenstein. The

prince long remained in conversation with his Majesty; and though nothing

was known of the subject of their conversation, no one doubted that it

related to peace. After the departure of the prince, the Emperor was in

extraordinarily high spirits, which affected all those around him.

Our army had taken from the enemy thousands of prisoners; Paris had just

received the Russian and Prussian banners taken at Nangis and Montereau;

the Emperor had put to flight the foreign sovereigns, who even feared for

a time that they might not be able to regain the frontiers; and the

effect of so much success had been to restore to his Majesty his former

confidence in his good fortune, though this was unfortunately only a

dangerous illusion.

The Prince of Lichtenstein had hardly left headquarters when M. de

Saint-Aignan, the brother-in-law of the Duke of Vicenza, and equerry

of the Emperor, arrived. M. de Saint-Aignan went, I think, to his

brother-in-law, who was at the Congress of Chatillon, or at least had

been; for the sessions of this congress had been suspended for several

days. It seems that before leaving Paris M. de Saint-Aignan held an

interview with the Duke of Rovigo and another, minister, and they had

given him a verbal message to the Emperor. This mission was both

delicate and difficult. He would have much preferred that these

gentlemen should have sent in writing the communications which they

insisted he should bear to his Majesty, but they refused; and as a

faithful servant M. de Saint-Aignan performed his duty, and prepared to

speak the whole truth, whatever danger he might incur by so doing.

When he arrived at the wheelwright's shop at Chatres, the Emperor, as we

have just seen, was abandoning himself to most brilliant dreams; which

circumstance was most unfortunate for M. de Saint-Aignan, since he was

the bearer of disagreeable news. He came, as we have learned since, to

announce to his Majesty that he should not count upon the public mind at

the capital, since they were murmuring at the prolongation of the war,

and desired that the Emperor should seize the occasion of making peace.

It has even been stated that the word disaffection was uttered during this

secret conference by the sincere and truthful lips of M. de Saint-Aignan.

I cannot assert that this is true; for the door was closely shut, and M.

de Saint-Aignan spoke in a low tone. It is certain, however, that his

report and his candor excited his Majesty's anger to the highest degree;

and in dismissing him with an abruptness he had certainly not merited,

the Emperor raised his voice to such a pitch as to be heard outside.

When M. de Saint-Aignan withdrew, and his Majesty summoned me to my

duties near him, I found him much agitated, and pale with anger. A few

hours after this scene the Emperor ordered his horse, and M. de

Saint-Aignan, who had resumed his duties as equerry, approached to hold

his stirrup; but as soon as the Emperor perceived him he threw on him an

angry glance, made him a sign to withdraw, exclaiming loudly,

"Mesgrigny!" This was Baron de Mesgrigny, another of his Majesty's

squires. In compliance with his Majesty's wishes, M. de Mesgrigny

performed the duties of M. de Saint-Aignan, who withdrew to the rear of

the army to wait till the storm should be past. At the end of a few

days his disgrace was ended, and all who knew him rejoiced; for the

Baron de Saint-Aignan was beloved by all for his affability and loyalty.

From Chatres the Emperor marched on Troyes. The enemy who occupied this

town seemed at first disposed to defend themselves there, but soon

yielded, and evacuated it at the close of a capitulation. During the

short time the, allies passed at Troyes, the Royalists had publicly

announced their hatred to the Emperor, and their adherence to the allied

powers, who came, they said, only to establish the Bourbons on the

throne, and even had the imprudence to display the white flag and white

cockade; and the foreign troops had consequently protected them, while

exercising extreme harshness and severity towards those inhabitants who

held contrary opinions.

Unfortunately for the Royalists they were in a very feeble minority, and

the favor shown to them by the Russians and Prussians led the populace

oppressed by the latter to hate the proteges as much as their protectors.

Even before the entrance of the Emperor into Troyes, Royalist

proclamations addressed to the officers of his household or the army had

fallen into his hands. He had showed no anger, but had urged those who

had received, or who might receive, communications of this nature, to

destroy them, and to inform no one of the contents. On his arrival at

Troyes his Majesty rendered a decree proclaiming penalty of death against

all Frenchmen in the service of the enemy, and those who wore the emblems

and decorations of the ancient dynasty. An unfortunate emigre, accused

before a council of war, was convicted of having worn the cross of St.

Louis and the white cockade during the stay of the allies at Troyes, and

of having furnished to the foreign generals all the information in his

power.

The council pronounced sentence of death, for the proofs were positive,

and the law not less so; and Chevalier Gonault fell a victim to his

ill-judged devotion to a cause which was still far from appearing

national, especially in the departments occupied by the allied armies,

and was executed according to military usage.

CHAPTER XXIV.

After the brilliant successes obtained by the Emperor in such a short

time, and with forces so exceedingly inferior to the great masses of the

enemy, his Majesty, realizing the necessity of allowing his troops to

take a rest of some days at Troyes, entered into negotiations for an

armistice with the Prince von Schwarzenberg.

At this juncture it was announced to the Emperor that General Blucher,

who had been wounded at Mery, was descending along both banks of the

Maine, at the head of an army of fresh troops, estimated at not less than

one hundred thousand men, and that he was marching on Meaux. The Prince

von Schwarzenberg, having been informed of this movement of Blucher's,

immediately cut short the negotiations, and assumed the offensive at

Bar-sur-Seine. The Emperor, whose genius followed by a single glance

all the marches and, operations of the enemy, though he could not be

everywhere at once, resolved to confront Blucher in person, while by

means of a stratagem he made it appear that he was present opposite

Schwarzenberg; and two army corps, commanded, one by Marshal Oudinot,

the other by Marshal Macdonald, were then sent to meet the Austrians.

As soon as the troops approached the enemy's camp they made the air

resound with the shouts of confidence and cheers with which they usually

announced the presence of his Majesty, though at this very moment he was

repairing in all haste to meet General Blucher.

We halted at the little village of Herbisse, where we passed the night in

the manse; and the curate, seeing the Emperor arrive with his marshals,

aides-de-camp, ordnance officers, service of honor, and the other

services, almost lost his wits. His Majesty on alighting said to him,

"Monsieur le Cure, we come to ask your hospitality for a night. Do not

be frightened by this visit; we shall disturb you as little as possible."

The Emperor, conducted by the good curate, beside himself with eagerness

and embarrassment, established himself in the only apartment the house

contained, which served at the same time as kitchen, diningroom, bedroom,

cabinet, and reception-room. In an instant his Majesty had his maps and

papers spread out before him, and prepared himself for work with as much

ease as in his cabinet at the Tuileries. But the persons of his suite

needed somewhat more time to install themselves, for it was no easy thing

for so many persons to find a place in a bakehouse which, with the room

occupied by his Majesty, composed the entire manse of Herbisse; but these

gentlemen, although there were among them more than one dignitary and

prince of the Empire, were uncomplaining, and readily disposed to

accommodate themselves to circumstances. The gay good humor of these

gallant soldiers, in spite of all the combats they had to sustain each

day, while events every instant took a more alarming turn, was most

noteworthy, and depicts well the French character.

The youngest officers formed a circle around the curate's niece, who sang

to them the songs of the country. The good curate, in the midst of

continual comings and goings, and the efforts he made to play worthily

his role of master of the mansion, found himself attacked on his own

territory, that is to say, on his breviary, by Marshal Lefebvre, who had

studied in his youth to be a priest, and said that he had preserved

nothing from his first vocation except the shaven head, because it was so

easy to comb. The worthy marshal intermingled his Latin quotations with

those military expressions he so freely used, causing those present to

indulge in bursts of laughter, in which even the curate himself joined,

and said, "Monseigneur, if you had continued your studies for the

priesthood you would have become a cardinal at least."--"Very likely,"

observed one of the officers; "and if the Abbe Maury had been a

sergeant-major in '89, he might to-day be marshal of France."--"Or

dead," added the Duke of Dantzic, using a much more energetic

expression; "and so much the better for him, since in that case he would

not see the Cossacks twenty leagues from Paris."--"Oh, bah! Monseigneur,

we will drive them away," said the same officer. "Yes," the marshal

muttered between his clinched teeth; "we shall see what we shall see."

At this moment the mule arrived bearing the sutler's supplies, which had

been long and impatiently expected. There was no table; but one was made

of a door placed on casks, and seats were improvised with planks. The

chief officers seated themselves, and the others ate standing. The

curate took his place at this military table on which he had himself

placed his best bottles of wine, and with his native bonhomie continued

to entertain the guests. At length the conversation turned on Herbisse

and its surroundings, and the host was overcome with astonishment on

finding that his guests knew the country so thoroughly.

"Ah, I have it!" exclaimed he, considering them attentively one after the

other; "you are Champenois!" And in order to complete his surprise these

gentlemen drew from their pockets plans on which they made him read the

names of the very smallest localities. Then his astonishment only

changed its object, for he had never dreamed that military science

required such exact study. "What labor!" replied the good curate, "what

pains! and all this in order the better to shoot cannon-balls at each

other!" The supper over, the next thought was the arrangements for

sleeping; and for this purpose we found in the neighboring barns a

shelter and some straw. There remained outside, and near the door of the

room occupied by the Emperor, only the officers on duty, Roustan and

myself, each of whom had a bundle of straw for his bed. Our worthy host,

having given up his bed to his Majesty, remained with us, and rested like

us from the fatigues of the day, and was still sleeping soundly when the

staff left the manse; for the Emperor arose, and set off at break of day.

The curate when he awoke expressed the deepest chagrin that he had not

been able to make his adieux to his Majesty. A purse was handed him

containing the sum the Emperor was accustomed to leave private

individuals of limited means at whose residences he halted as indemnity

for their expense and trouble; and we resumed our march in the steps of

the Emperor, who hastened to meet the Prussians.

The Emperor wished to reach Soissons before the allies; but although they

had been obliged to traverse roads which were practically impassable,

they had arrived before our troops, and as he entered La Ferte his

Majesty saw them retiring to Soissons. The Emperor was rejoiced at this

sight. Soissons was defended by a formidable garrison, and could delay

the enemy, while Marshals Marmont and Mortier and his Majesty in person

attacked Blucher in the rear and on both flanks, and would have inclosed

him as in a net. But this time again the enemy escaped from the snare

the Emperor had laid for him at the very moment he thought he had seized

him, for Blucher had hardly presented himself in front of Soissons before

the gates were opened. General Moreau, commandant of the place, had

already surrendered the town to Billow, and thus assured to the allies

the passage of the Aisne. On receiving this depressing news the Emperor

exclaimed, "The name of Moreau has always been fatal to me!"

Meanwhile his Majesty, continuing his pursuit of the Prussians, was

occupied in delaying the passage of the Aisne. On the 5th of March he

sent General Nansouty in advance, who with his cavalry took the bridge,

drove the enemy back as far as Corbeny, and made a Russian colonel

prisoner. After passing the night at Bery-au-Bac, the Emperor was

marching towards Laon when it was announced to him that the enemy was

coming to meet us; these were not Prussians, but an army corps of

Russians commanded by Sacken. On advancing farther, we found the

Russians established on the heights of Craonne, and covering the road to

Laon in what appeared to be an impregnable position; but nevertheless the

advance guard of our army, commanded by Marshal Ney, rushed forward and

succeeded in taking Craonne. That was enough glory for this time, and

both sides then passed the night preparing for the battle of next day.

The Emperor spent it at the village of Corbeny, but without sleeping,

as inhabitants of the neighboring villages arrived at all hours to give

information as to the position of the enemy and the geography of the

country. His Majesty questioned them himself, praised them or

recompensed their zeal, and profited by their information and services.

Thus, having recognized in the mayor of one of the communes in the

suburbs of Craonne one of his former comrades in the regiment of La Fere,

he placed him in the number of his aides-de-camp, and arranged that he

should serve as guide through this country, which no one knew better than

he. M. de Bussy (that was the officer's name) had left France during the

reign of terror, and on his return had not re-entered the army, but lived

in retirement on his estates.

The Emperor met again this same night one of his old companions in arms

in the regiment of La Fere, an Alsatian named Wolff, who had been a

sergeant of artillery in the regiment in which the Emperor and M. de

Bussy had been his superior officers. He came from Strasburg, and

testified to the good disposition of the inhabitants through the whole

extent of the country he had traversed. The dismay caused in the allied

armies by the first attacks of the Emperor made itself felt even to the

frontiers; and on each road the peasants rose, armed themselves, and cut

off the retreat, and killed many, of the enemy. Corps of the Emperor's

adherents were formed in the Vosges, with officers of well-proved bravery

at their head, who were accustomed to this species of warfare. The

garrisons of the cities and fortified places of the east were full of

courage and resolution; and it would have well suited the wishes of the

population of this part of the Empire had France become, according to the

wish expressed by the Emperor, the tomb of the foreign armies. The brave

Wolff, after having given this information to the Emperor, repeated it

before many other persons, myself among the number. He took only a few

hours' repose, and set out again immediately; but the Emperor did not

dismiss him until he had been decorated with the cross of honor, as the

reward of his devotion.

The battle of Craonne commenced, or I should say recommenced,

on the 7th at break of day, the infantry commanded by the Prince of

Moskwa--[Marshall Ney] and the Duke of Belluno, who was wounded on this

day. Generals Grouchy and Nansouty, the first commanding the cavalry of

the army, the second at the head of the cavalry of the guard, also

received severe wounds. The difficulty was not so much to take the

heights, as to hold them when taken. Meanwhile the French artillery,

directed by the modest and skillful General Drouot, forced the enemy's

artillery to yield their ground foot by foot. This was a terribly

bloody struggle; for the sides of the heights were too steep to allow of

attacking the Russians on the flank, and the retreat was consequently

slow and murderous. They fell back at length, however, and abandoned

the field of battle to our troops, who pursued them as far as the inn of

the Guardian Angel, situated on the highroad from Soissons to Laon, when

they wheeled about, and held their position in this spot for several

hours.

The Emperor, who in this battle as in every other of this campaign, had

exposed his person and incurred as many dangers as the most daring

soldiers, now transferred his headquarters to the village of Bray. As

soon as he entered the room which served as his cabinet, he had me

summoned, and I pulled off his boots, while he leaned on my shoulder

without uttering a word, threw his hat and sword on the table, and threw

himself on his bed, uttering a deep sigh, or rather one of those

exclamations which we cannot tell whether they arise from discouragement

or simply from fatigue. His Majesty's countenance was sad and careworn,

nevertheless he slept from sheer weariness for many hours. I awoke him

to announce the arrival of M. de Rumigny, who was the bearer of

dispatches from Chatillon. In the condition of the Emperor's mind at

this moment he seemed ready to accept any reasonable conditions which

might be offered him; therefore I admit I hoped (in which many joined me)

that we were approaching the moment when we should obtain the peace which

we so ardently desired. The Emperor received M. de Rumigny without

witnesses, and the interview lasted a long while. Nothing transpired of

what had been said, and it occurred to me that this mystery argued

nothing good. The next day early M. de Rumigny returned to Chatillon,

where the Duke of Vicenza awaited him; and from the few words his Majesty

uttered as he mounted his horse to return to his advance posts, it was

easy to see that he had not yet resigned himself to the idea of making a

peace which he regarded as dishonorable.

While the Duke of Vicenza was at Chatillon or Lusigny for the purpose of

treating for a peace, the orders of the Emperor delayed or hastened the

conclusion of the treaty according to his successes or repulses. On the

appearance of a ray of hope he demanded more than they were willing to

grant, imitating in this respect the example which the allied sovereigns

had set him, whose requirements since the armistice of Dresden increased

in proportion as they advanced towards France. At last everything was

finally broken off, and the Duke of Vicenza rejoined his Majesty at

Saint-Dizier. I was in a small room so near his sleeping-room that I

could not avoid hearing their conversation. The Duke of Vicenza

earnestly besought the Emperor to accede to the proposed conditions,

saying that they were reasonable now, but later would no longer be so.

As the Duke of Vicenza still returned to the charge, arguing against the

Emperor's postponing his positive decision, his Majesty burst out

vehemently, "You are a Russian, Caulaincourt!"--"No, Sire," replied the

duke with spirit, "no; I am a Frenchman! I think that I have proved this

by urging your Majesty to make peace."

The discussion thus continued with much warmth in terms which

unfortunately I cannot recall. But I remember well that every time the

Duke of Vicenza insisted and endeavored to make his Majesty appreciate

the reasons on account of which peace had become indispensable, the

Emperor replied, "If I gain a battle, as I am sure of doing, I will be in

a situation to exact the most favorable conditions. The grave of the

Russians is under the walls of Paris! My measures are all taken, and

victory cannot fail."

After this conversation, which lasted more than an hour, and in which the

Duke of Vicenza was entirely unsuccessful, he left his Majesty's room,

and rapidly crossed the saloon where I was; and I remarked as he passed

that his countenance showed marks of agitation, and that, overcome by his

deep emotion, great tears rolled from his eyes. Doubtless he was deeply

wounded by what the Emperor had said to him of his partiality for Russia;

and whatever may have been the cause, from that day I never saw the Duke

of Vicenza except at Fontainebleau.

The Emperor, meanwhile, marched with the advance guard, and wished to

reach Laon on the evening of the 8th; but in order to gain this town it

was necessary to pass on a narrow causeway through marshy land. The

enemy was in possession of this road, and opposed our passage. After a

few cannon-shots were exchanged his Majesty deferred till next day the

attempt to force a passage, and returned, not to sleep (for at this

critical time he rarely slept), but to pass the night in the village of

Chavignon.

In the middle of this night General Flahaut

[Count Auguste Charles Joseph Flahaut de la Billarderie, born in

Paris, 1785; colonel in 1809; aide-de-camp to the Emperor, 1812; and

made a general of division for conduct at Leipzig; was at Waterloo.

Ambassador to Vienna, 1841-1848, and senator, 1853; died 1870. He

was one of the lovers of Queen Hortense, and father by her of the

late Duc de Morny.--TRANS.]

came to announce to the Emperor that the commissioners of the allied

powers had broken the conferences at Lusigny. The army was not informed

of this, although the news would probably have surprised no one. Before

daylight General Gourgaud set out at the head of a detachment selected

from the bravest soldiers of the army, and following a cross road which

turned to the left through the marshes, fell unexpectedly on the enemy,

slew many of them in the darkness, and drew the attention and efforts of

the allied generals upon himself, while Marshal Ney, still at the head of

the advance guard, profited by this bold maneuver to force a passage of

the causeway. The whole army hastened to follow this movement, and on

the evening of the 9th was in sight of Laon, and ranged in line of battle

before the enemy who occupied the town and its heights. The army corps

of the Duke of Ragusa had arrived by another road, and also formed in

line of battle before the Russian and Prussian armies. His Majesty

passed the night expediting his orders, and preparing everything for the

grand attack which was to take place next morning at daylight.

The appointed hour having arrived, I had just finished in haste the

toilet of the Emperor, which was very short, and he had already put his

foot in the stirrup, when we saw running towards us on foot, with the

utmost speed and all out of breath, some cavalrymen belonging to the army

corps of the Duke of Ragusa. His Majesty had them brought before him,

and inquired angrily the meaning of this disorder. They replied that

their bivouacs had been attacked unexpectedly by the enemy; that they and

their comrades had resisted to the utmost these overwhelming forces,

although they had barely time to seize their arms; that they had at last

been compelled to yield to numbers, and it was only by a miracle they had

escaped the massacre. "Yes," said the Emperor knitting his brow, "by a

miracle of agility, as we have just seen. What has become of the

marshal?" One of the soldiers replied that he saw the Duke of Ragusa

fall dead, another that he had been taken prisoner. His Majesty sent his

aide-de-camp and orderly officers to ascertain, and found that the report

of the cavalrymen was only too true. The enemy had not waited to be

attacked, but had fallen on the army corps of the Duke of Ragusa,

surrounded it, and taken a part of his artillery. The marshal, however,

had been neither wounded nor taken prisoner, but was on the road to

Rheims, endeavoring to arrest and bring back the remains of his army

corps.

The news of this disaster greatly increased his Majesty's chagrin; but

nevertheless the enemy was driven back to the gates of Laon, though the

recapture of the city was impossible. After a few fruitless attempts, or

rather after some false attacks, the object of which was to conceal his

retreat from the enemy, the Emperor returned to Chavignon and passed the

night. The next day, the 11th, we left this village, and the army fell

back to Soissons. His Majesty alighted at the bishopric, and immediately

commanded Marshal Mortier, together with the principal officials of the

place, to take measures to put the town in a state of defense. For two

days the Emperor shut himself up at work in his cabinet, and left it only

to examine the locality, visit the fortifications, and everywhere give

orders and see that they were executed. In the midst of these

preparations for defense, his Majesty learned that the town of Rheims had

been taken by the Russian general, Saint-Priest, notwithstanding the

vigorous resistance of General Corbineau, of whose fate we were

ignorant, but it was believed that he was dead or had fallen into the

hands of the Russians. His Majesty confided the defense of Soissons to

the Marshal Duke of Treviso, and himself set out for Rheims by forced

marches; and we arrived the same evening at the gates of the city, where

the Russians were not expecting his Majesty. Our soldiers entered this

battle without having taken any repose, but fought with the resolution

which the presence and example of the Emperor never failed to inspire.

The combat lasted the whole evening, and was prolonged far into the

night; but after General Saint-Priest had been grievously wounded the

resistance of his troops became less vigorous, and at two o'clock in the

morning they abandoned the town. The Emperor and his army entered by one

gate while the Russians were emerging from the other; and as the

inhabitants pressed in crowds around his Majesty, he inquired before

alighting from his horse what havoc the enemy was supposed to have made.

It was answered that the town had suffered only the amount of injury

which was the inevitable result of a bloody nocturnal struggle, and that

moreover the enemy had maintained severe discipline among the troops

during their stay and up to the moment of retreat. Among those who

pressed around his Majesty at this moment was the brave General

Corbineau. He wore a citizen's coat, and had remained disguised and

concealed in a private house of the town. On the morning of the next day

he again presented himself before the Emperor, who welcomed him

cordially, and complimented him on the courage he had displayed under

such trying circumstances. The Duke of Ragusa had rejoined his Majesty

under the walls of Rheims, and had contributed with his army corps to the

capture of the town. When he appeared before the Emperor, the latter

burst out in harsh and severe reproaches regarding the affair at Laon;

but his anger was not of long duration, and his Majesty soon resumed

towards the marshal the tone of friendship with which he habitually

honored him. They held a long conference, and the Duke of Ragusa

remained to dine with the Emperor.

His Majesty spent three days at Rheims in order to give his troops time

to rest and recuperate before continuing this arduous campaign. They

were in sore need of this; for even old soldiers would have had great

difficulty in enduring such continued forced marches, which often ended

only in a bloody battle; nevertheless, the greater part of the brave men

who obeyed with such unwearied ardor the Emperor's orders, and who never

refused to endure any fatigue or any danger, were conscripts who had been

levied in haste, and fought against the most warlike and best disciplined

troops in Europe. The greater part had not had even sufficient time to

learn the drill, and took their first lessons in the presence of the

enemy, brave young fellows who sacrificed themselves without a murmur,

and to whom the Emperor once only did injustice,--in the circumstance

which I have formerly related, and in which M. Larrey played such a

heroic part. It is a well-known fact that the wonderful campaign of 1814

was made almost entirely with conscripts newly levied.

During the halt of three days which we made at Rheims, the Emperor saw

with intense joy, which he openly manifested, the arrival of an army

corps of six thousand men, whom the brave Dutch General Janssens brought

to his aid. This re-enforcement of experienced troops could not have

come more opportunely. While our soldiers were taking breath before

recommencing a desperate struggle, his Majesty was giving himself up to

the most varied labors with his accustomed ardor. In the midst of the

cares and dangers of war the Emperor neglected none of the affairs of the

Empire, but worked for several hours each day with the Duke of Bassano,

received couriers from Paris, dictated his replies, and fatigued his

secretaries almost as much as his generals and soldiers. As for himself,

he was indefatigable as of yore.

CHAPTER XXV.

Affairs had reached a point where the great question of triumph or defeat

could not long remain undecided. According to one of the habitual

expressions of the Emperor, the pear was ripe; but who was to gather it?

The Emperor while at Rheims appeared to have no doubt that the result

would be in his favor. By one of those bold combinations which astonish

the world, and change in a single battle the face of affairs, although

the enemy had approached the capital, his Majesty being unable to prevent

it, he nevertheless resolved to attack them in the rear, compel them to

wheel about, and place themselves in opposition to the army which he

commanded in person, and thus save Paris from their invasion. With the

intention of executing this bold combination the Emperor left Rheims.

Meanwhile, being anxious concerning his wife and son, the Emperor, before

attempting this great enterprise, wrote in the greatest secrecy to his

brother, Prince Joseph, lieutenant-general of the Empire, to have them

conveyed to a place of safety in case the danger became imminent. I knew

nothing of this order the day it was sent, as the Emperor kept it a

secret from every one; but when I learned afterwards that it was from

Rheims that this command had been addressed to Prince Joseph, I thought

that I could without fear of being mistaken fix the date at March 15th.

That evening, in fact, his Majesty had talked to me as he retired of the

Empress and the King of Rome; and as usual, whenever he had during the

day been deeply impressed with any idea, it always recurred to him in the

evening; and for that reason I conclude that this was the day on which

his mind had been occupied with putting in a place of shelter from the

dangers of the war the two objects of his most devoted affection.

From Rheims we directed our course to Epernay, the garrison and

inhabitants of which had just repulsed the enemy, who the evening before

had attempted to capture it. There the Emperor learned of the arrival at

Troyes of the Emperor Alexander and the King of Prussia. His Majesty, in

order to testify to the inhabitants of Epernay his satisfaction with

their admirable conduct, rewarded them in the person of their mayor by

giving him the cross of the Legion of Honor. This was M. Moet, whose

reputation has become almost as European as that of Champagne wine.

During this campaign, without being too lavish of the cross of honor, his

Majesty presented it on several occasions to those of the inhabitants who

were foremost in resisting the enemy. Thus, for example, I remember that

before leaving Rheims he gave one to a simple farmer of the village of

Selles whose name I have forgotten. This brave man, on learning that a

detachment of Prussians was approaching his commune, put himself at the

head of the National Guard, whom he encouraged both by word and example;

and the result of his enterprise was forty-five prisoners, among them

three officers, whom he brought into the town.

How many deeds similar to this occurred which it is impossible to

remember! However all that may be, the Emperor on leaving Epernay

marched towards Fere-Champenoise, I will not say in all haste, for that

is a term which might be used concerning all his Majesty's movements, who

sprang with the rapidity of an eagle on the point where his presence

seemed most necessary. Nevertheless, the enemy's army, which had crossed

the Seine at Pont and Nogent, having learned of the re-occupation of

Rheims by the Emperor, and understanding the movement he wished to make

on their rear, began their retreat on the 17th, and retook successively

the bridges which he had constructed at Pont, Nogent, and Arcis-sur-Aube.

On the 18th occurred the battle of Fere-Champenoise, which his Majesty

fought to clear the road intervening between him and Arcis-sur-Aube,

where were the Emperor Alexander and the King of Prussia, who, on

learning of this new success of the Emperor, quickly fell back to Troyes.

The pronounced intention of his Majesty was then to go as far as

Bar-sur-Aube. We had already passed the Aube at Plancy, and the Seine

at Mery, but it was necessary to return to Plancy. This was on the

19th, the same day on which the Count d'Artois arrived at Nancy, and on

which the rupture of the Congress of Chatillon occurred, which I

mentioned in the preceding chapter, following the order in which my

souvenirs recurred to my mind.

The 20th March was, as I have said, an eventful date in the Emperor's

life, and was to become still more so one year later. The 20th March,

1814, the King of Rome completed his third year, while the Emperor was

exposing himself, if it were possible, even more than was his usual

custom. At the battle of Arcis-sur-Aube, which took place on that day,

his Majesty saw that at last he would have new enemies to encounter. The

Austrians themselves entered the line of battle; and an immense army,

under the command of the Prince von Schwarzenberg, spread itself out

before him, when he supposed he had only an advance guard to resist. The

coincidence may not perhaps appear unimportant that the Austrian army did

not begin to fight seriously or attack the Emperor in person until the

day after the rupture of the Congress of Chatillon. Was this the result

of chance, or did the Emperor of Austria indeed prefer to remain in the

second line, and spare the person of his son-in-law, so long as peace

appeared possible to him? This is a question which it is not my province

to answer.

The battle of Arcis-sur-Aube was terrible, and ended only with the close

of day. The Emperor still occupied the city in spite of the combined

efforts of an army of one hundred and thirty thousand fresh troops, who

attacked thirty thousand worn out by fatigue. The battle still continued

during the night, while the fire of the faubourgs lighted our defenses

and the works of the besieging-party. It was at last found impossible to

hold our position longer, and only one bridge remained by which the army

could effect its retreat. The Emperor had another constructed; and the

retreat commenced, but in good order, in spite of the numerous masses

which closely threatened us. This unfortunate affair was the most

disastrous his Majesty had experienced during the whole campaign, since

the roads leading to the capital had been left uncovered; and the

prodigies of his genius and valor were unavailing against such

overwhelming numbers. An instance which furnishes an excellent proof of

the presence of mind which the Emperor preserved in the most critical

positions was, that before evacuating Arcis he committed to the Sisters

of Charity a sum sufficient for the first needs of the wounded.

On the evening of the 21st we arrived at Sommepuis, where the Emperor

passed the night. There I heard him for the first time pronounce the

name of the Bourbons. His Majesty was extremely agitated, and spoke in

such broken tones that I understood only these words, which he repeated

many times: "Recall them myself--recall the Bourbons! What would the

enemy say? No, no? it is impossible! Never!" These words which

escaped the Emperor in one of those attacks of preoccupation to which he

was subject whenever his soul was deeply moved astonished me

inexpressibly; for the idea had never once entered my mind that there

could be any other government in France than that of his Majesty.

Besides, it may be easily understood that in the position I then occupied

I had scarcely heard the Bourbons mentioned, except to the Empress

Josephine in the early days of the Consulate, while I was still in her

service.

The various divisions of the French army and the masses of the enemy were

then so closely pressed against each other, that the enemy occupied each

point the moment we were compelled to abandon it; thus, on the 22d the

allies seized Epernay, and, in order to punish this faithful town for the

heroic defense it had previously made, orders were given that it should

be pillaged. Pillage? The Emperor called it the crime of war; and I

heard him often express in most vehement terms the horror with which it

inspired him, which was so extreme that at no time did he authorize it

during his long series of triumphs. Pillage! And yet every proclamation

of our devastators declared boldly that they made war only on the

Emperor; they had the audacity to repeat this statement, and some were

foolish enough to believe them. On this point I saw too plainly what

actually occurred to have ever believed in the ideal magnanimity which

has since been so much vaunted.

On the 23d we were at Saint-Dizier, where the Emperor returned to his

first plan of attacking the enemy's rear. The next day, just as his

Majesty mounted his horse to go to Doulevent, a general officer of the

Austrians was brought to him, whose arrival caused a great sensation at

headquarters, as it delayed the Emperor's departure for a few moments.

I soon learned that it was Baron de Weissemberg, ambassador from Austria

to London, who was returning from England. The Emperor ordered that he

should follow him to Doulevent, where his Majesty gave him a verbal

message to the Emperor of Austria, while Colonel Galbois was charged with

a letter which the Emperor had the Duke of Vicenza write. But after a

movement by the French army towards Chaumont, by the road of Langres, the

Emperor of Austria, finding himself separated from the Emperor Alexander,

was forced to fall back as far as Dijon. I remember that on his arrival

at Doulevent his Majesty received secret information from his faithful

director-general of the post, M. de Lavalette. This information, the

purport of which I did not know, appeared to produce the deepest

impression on the Emperor; but he soon resumed before the eyes of those

around his accustomed serenity, though for some time past I had seen that

this was only assumed. I have learned since that M. de Lavalette

informed the Emperor that there was not a moment to lose if he would save

the capital. Such an opinion from such a man could only be an expression

of the real truth, and it was this conviction which contributed to

increase the Emperor's anxiety. Until then the news from Paris had been

favorable; and much had been said of the zeal and devotion of the

National Guard, which nothing could dismay. At the various theaters

patriotic pieces had been played, and notably the 'Oriflamme' at the

Opera, a very trivial circumstance apparently, but which nevertheless

acted very powerfully on the minds of enthusiasts, and for this reason

was not to be disdained. Indeed, the small amount of news that we had

received represented Paris as entirely devoted to his Majesty, and ready

to defend itself against any attacks. And in fact, this news was not

untrue; and the handsome conduct of the National Guard under the orders,

of Marshal Moncey, the enthusiasm of the different schools, and the

bravery of the pupils of the polytechnic schools, soon furnished proof of

this. But events were stronger than men. Meanwhile, time passed on, and

we were approaching the fatal conclusion; each day, each moment, saw

those immense masses collecting from the extremities of Europe, inclosing

Paris, and pressing it with a thousand arms, and during these last days

it might well be said that the battle raged incessantly. On the 26th the

Emperor, led by the noise of a fierce cannonade, again repaired to

Saint-Dizier, where his rear-guard was attacked by very superior forces,

and compelled to evacuate the town; but General Milhaud and General

Sebastiani repulsed the enemy on the Marne at the ford of Valcourt; the

presence of the Emperor produced its accustomed effect, and we re-entered

Saint-Dizier, while the enemy fled in the greatest disorder over the road

to Vitry-le-Francais and that of Bar-sur-Ornain. The Emperor moved

towards the latter town, thinking that he now had the Prince of

Schwarzenberg in his power; but just as he arrived there learned that it

was not the Austrian general-in-chief whom he had fought, but only one of

his lieutenants, Count Witzingerode. Schwarzenberg had deceived him; on

the 23d he had made a junction with General Blucher, and these two

generals at the head of the coalition had rushed with their masses of

soldiers upon the capital.

However disastrous might be the news brought to headquarters, the Emperor

wished to verify its truth in person, and on his return from Saint-Dizier

made a detour to Vitry, in order to assure himself of the march of the

allies on Paris; and all his doubts were dissipated by what he saw.

Could Paris hold out long enough for him to crush the enemy against its

walls? Thereafter this was his sole and engrossing thought. He

immediately placed himself at the head of his army, and we marched on

Paris by the road to Troyes. At Doulencourt he received a courier from

King Joseph, who announced to him the march of the allies on Paris. That

very moment he sent General Dejean in haste to his brother to inform him

of his speedy arrival. If he could defend himself for two days, only two

days, the allied armies would enter Paris, only to find there a tomb.

In what a state of anxiety the Emperor then was! He set out with his

headquarters squadrons. I accompanied him, and left him for the first

time at Troyes, on the morning of the 30th, as will be seen in the

following chapter.

CHAPTER XXVI.

What a time was this! How sad the period and events of which I have now

to recall the sad memory! I have now arrived at the fatal day when the

combined armies of Europe were to sully the soil of Paris, of that

capital, free for so many years from the presence of the invader. What a

blow to the Emperor! And what cruel expiation his great soul now made

for his triumphant entries into Vienna and Berlin! It was, then, all in

vain that he had displayed such incredible activity during the admirable

campaign of France, in which his genius had displayed itself as

brilliantly as during his Italian campaign. The first time I saw him on

the day after a battle was at Marengo; and what a contrast his attitude

of dejection presented when I saw him again on the 31st of March at

Fontainebleau.

Having accompanied His Majesty everywhere, I was near him at Troyes on

the morning of the 30th of March.

The Emperor set out at ten o'clock, accompanied only by the grand marshal

and the Duke of Vicenza. It was then known at headquarters that the

allied troops were advancing on Paris; but we were far from suspecting

that at the very moment of the Emperor's hurried departure the battle

before Paris was being most bitterly waged. At least I had heard nothing

to lead me to believe it. I received an order to move to Essonne, and,

as means of transportation had become scarce and hard to obtain, did not

arrive there until the morning of the 31st, and had been there only a

short time when the courier brought me an order to repair to

Fontainebleau, which I immediately did. It was then I learned that the

Emperor had gone from Troyes to Montereau in two hours, having made the

journey of ten leagues in that short space of time. I also learned that

the Emperor and his small suite had been obliged to make use of a chaise

on the road to Paris, between Essonne and Villejuif. He advanced as far

as the Cour de France with the intention of marching on Paris; but there,

verifying the news and the cruel certainty of the surrender of Paris, had

sent to me the courier whom I mentioned above.

I had been at Fontainebleau only a short while when the Emperor arrived.

His countenance was pale and harassed to a greater degree than I had ever

seen it; and he who knew so well how to control all the emotions of his

soul did not seem to attempt to conceal the dejection which was so

manifest both in his attitude and in his countenance. It was evident how

greatly he was suffering from all the disastrous events which had

accumulated one after the other in terrible progression. The Emperor

said nothing to any one, and closeted himself immediately in his cabinet,

with the Dukes of Bassano and Vicenza and the Prince of Neuchatel. These

generals remained a long while with the Emperor, who afterwards received

some general officers. His Majesty retired very late, and appeared to me

entirely crushed. From time to time I heard stifled sighs escape from

his breast, with which were mingled the name of Marmont, which I could

not then understand, as I had heard nothing of the terms of the

surrender, and knew that the Duke of Ragusa was a marshal to whom the

Emperor seemed always deeply attached. I saw that evening, at

Fontainebleau, Marshal Moncey, who the evening before had bravely

commanded the national guard at the barricade of Clichy, and also the

Duke of Dantzic.

A gloomy and silent sadness which is perfectly indescribable reigned at

Fontainebleau during the two days which followed. Overcome by so many

repeated blows, the Emperor seldom entered his cabinet, where he usually

passed so many hours engaged in work. He was so absorbed in his

conflicting thoughts, that often he did not notice the arrival of persons

whom he had summoned, looked at them, so to speak, without seeing them,

and sometimes remained nearly half an hour without addressing them; then,

as if awaking from this state of stupefaction, asked them questions

without seeming to hear the reply; and even the presence of the Duke of

Bassano and the Duke of Vicenza, whom he summoned more frequently, did

not interrupt this condition of preoccupation or lethargy, so to speak.

The hours for meals were the same, and they were served as usual; but all

took place amid complete silence, broken only by the necessary noise of

the service. At the Emperor's toilet the same silence; not a word issued

from his lips; and if in the morning I suggested to him one of the drinks

that he usually took, he not only did not reply, but nothing in his

countenance which I attentively observed could make me believe that he

had heard me. This situation was terrible for all the persons attached

to his Majesty.

Was the Emperor really so overwhelmed by his evil fortune? Was his

genius as benumbed as his body? I must admit, in all candor, that seeing

him so different from what he appeared after the disasters of Moscow, and

even when I had left him at Troyes a few days before, I strongly believed

it. But this was by no means the case; his soul was a prey to one fixed

idea that of taking the offensive and marching on Paris. And though,

indeed, he remained overwhelmed with consternation in his intimate

intercourse with his most faithful ministers and most skillful generals,

he revived at sight of his soldiers, thinking, doubtless, that the one

would suggest only prudent counsels while the others would never reply

aught but in shouts of "Vive l'Empereur!" to the most daring orders he

might give. For instance, on the 2d of April he momentarily, so to

speak, shook off his dejection, and in the court of the palace held a

review of his guard, who had just rejoined him at Fontainebleau. He

addressed his soldiers in a firm voice, saying:

"Soldiers! the enemy has stolen three marches on us, and has taken

possession of Paris; we must drive them out. Unworthy Frenchmen,

emigres to whom we have extended pardon, have donned the white

cockade, and gone over to our enemies. The cowards! They will reap

the reward of this new treason. Let us swear to conquer or to die,

and to have respect shown to this tricolored cockade, which for

twenty-five years we have borne on the road to glory and honor."

The troops were roused to enthusiasm at the sound of their chief's voice,

and shouted in unison, "Paris! Paris!" But the Emperor, nevertheless,

resumed his former dejection on crossing the threshold of the palace,

which arose no doubt from the fear, only too well founded, of seeing his

desire to march on Paris thwarted by his lieutenants. It is only since,

that reflecting on the events of that time, I am enabled to conjecture as

to the struggles which passed in the soul of the Emperor; for then, as

during my entire period of service, I would not have dared to think of

going outside the limits of my ordinary duties and functions.

Meanwhile, the situation became more and more unfavorable to the wishes

and plans of the Emperor. The Duke of Vicenza had been sent to Paris,

where a provisional government had been formed under the presidency of

the Prince of Benevento, without having succeeded in his mission to the

Emperor Alexander; and each day his Majesty with deep grief witnessed the

adhesion of the marshals and a large number of generals to the new

government. He felt the Prince de Neuchatel's desertion deeply; and I

must say that, unaccustomed as we were to political combinations, we were

overcome with astonishment.

Here I find that I am compelled to speak of myself, which I have done as

little as possible in the course of these memoirs, and I think this is a

justice which all my readers will do me; but what I have to say is too

intimately connected with the last days I passed with the Emperor, and

concerns my personal honor too nearly, for me to suppose that I can be

reproached for so doing. I was, as may well be supposed, very anxious as

to the fate of my family, of whom I had received no news for a long

while; and, at the same time, the cruel disease from which I had long

suffered had made frightful progress, owing to the fatigue of the last

campaign. Nevertheless, the mental suffering to which I saw the Emperor

a victim so entirely absorbed all my thoughts, that I took no precautions

against the physical suffering which I endured; and I had not even

thought of asking for a safeguard for the country-house I possessed in

the environs of Fontainebleau. A free corps having seized it, had

established themselves there, after having pillaged and destroyed

everything, even the little flock of merino sheep which I owed to the

kindness of the Empress Josephine. The Emperor, having been informed of

it by others than myself, said to me one morning at his toilet,

"Constant, I owe you indemnity."--"Sire?"--"Yes, my child, I know that

your place has been pillaged, I know that you have incurred considerable

losses in the Russian campaign; I have given an order that fifty thousand

francs should be handed you to cover the whole." I thanked his Majesty,

who more than indemnified me for my losses.

This occurred during the first days of our last stay at Fontainebleau.

At the same period the Emperor's removal to the Island of Elba having

been already discussed, the grand marshal of the palace asked me if I

would follow his Majesty to this residence. God is my witness that I had

no other wish than to consecrate all my life to the service of the

Emperor; therefore I did not need a moment's reflection to reply that

this could not be a matter of doubt; and I occupied myself almost

immediately with preparations for the sojourn, which proved to be not a

long one, but the duration of which no human intelligence could then have

been able to foretell.

Meanwhile, in the retirement of his chamber, the Emperor became each day

more sad and careworn; and when I saw him alone, which often occurred,

for I tried to be near him as much as possible, I remarked the extreme

agitation which the reading of the dispatches he received from Paris

caused him; this agitation was many times so great that I noticed he had

torn his leg with his nails until the blood flowed, without being aware

of it. I then took the liberty of informing him of the fact as gently as

possible, with the hope of putting an end to this intense preoccupation,

which cut me to the heart. Several times also the Emperor asked Roustan

for his pistols; fortunately I had taken the precaution, seeing his

Majesty so unnerved, to recommend him not to give them to him, however

much the Emperor might insist. I thought it my duty to give an account

of all this to the Duke of Vicenza, who entirely approved of my conduct.

One morning, I do not recall whether it was the 10th or 11th of April,

but it was certainly on one of those days, the Emperor, who had said

nothing to me in the morning, had me called during the day. I had hardly

entered his room when he said to me, in a tone of most winning kindness,

"My dear Constant, there is a hundred thousand francs waiting for you at

Peyrache's; if your wife arrives before our departure, you will give them

to her; if she should not, put them in the corner of your country-place,

note the exact location of the spot, which you will send to her by some

safe person. When one has served me well he should not be in want. Your

wife will build a farm, in which she will invest this money; she will

live with your mother and sister, and you will not have the fear of

leaving her in need." Even more moved by the provident kindness of the

Emperor, who thus deigned to consider the interests of my family affairs,

than delighted with the great value of the present he had made me, I

could hardly find words to express to him my gratitude; and such was,

besides, my carelessness of the future, so far from me had been the

thought that this great Empire could come to an end, that this was the

first time I had really considered the embarrassed condition in which I

would have left my family, if the Emperor had not thus generously

provided for them. I had, in fact, no fortune, and possessed in all the

world only my pillaged house, and the fifty thousand francs destined to

repair it.

Under these circumstances, not knowing when I should see my wife again, I

made arrangements to follow the advice his Majesty had been kind enough

to give me; converted my hundred thousand francs into gold, which I put

into five bags; and taking with me the wardrobe boy Denis, whose honesty

was above suspicion, we followed the road through the forest to avoid

being seen by any of the persons who occupied my house. We cautiously

entered a little inclosure belonging to me, the gate of which could not

be seen on account of the trees, although they were now without foliage;

and with the aid of Denis I succeeded in burying my treasure, after

taking an exact note of the place, and then returned to the palace, being

certainly very far from foreseeing how much chagrin and tribulation those

hundred thousand francs would cause me, as we shall see in the succeeding

chapters.

CHAPTER XXVII.

Here more than ever I must beg the indulgence of my readers as to the

order in which I relate the events I witnessed during the Emperor's stay

at Fontainebleau, and those connected with them which did not come to my

knowledge until later. I must also apologize for any inaccuracy in dates

of which I may be guilty, though I remember collectively, so to speak,

all that occurred during the unhappy twenty days which ensued between the

occupation of Paris and the departure of his Majesty for the Island of

Elba; for I was so completely absorbed in the unhappy condition of my

good master that all my faculties hardly sufficed for the sensations I

experienced every moment. We suffered in the Emperor's sufferings; it

occurred to none of us to imprint on his memory the recollection of so

much agony, for we lived, so to speak, only provisionally.

During the first days of our stay at Fontainebleau the idea that the

Emperor would soon cease to reign over France was very far from entering

the minds of any of those around him, for every one was possessed with

the conviction that the Emperor of Austria would not consent that his

son-in-law, daughter, and grandson should be dethroned; in this they were

strangely mistaken. I remarked during these first days that even more

petitions than usual were addressed to his Majesty; but I am ignorant

whether he responded favorably, or even if he replied at all. The

Emperor often took up the daily papers, but after casting his eyes over

them threw them down angrily; and if we recall the shameless abuse in

which those writers indulged who had so often lavished fulsome praises on

him, it may well be understood that such a transition would naturally

excite his Majesty's disgust. The Emperor usually remained alone; and

the person whom he saw most frequently was the Duke of Bassano, the only

one of his ministers then at Fontainebleau; for the Duke of Vicenza,

being charged continually with missions, was, so to speak, constantly on

the wing, especially as long as his Majesty retained the hope of seeing a

regency in favor of his son succeed him in the government. In seeking to

recall the varied feelings whose impress I remarked on his Majesty's

countenance, I think I may affirm that he was even more deeply affected

by being compelled to renounce the throne for his son than in resigning

it for himself. When the marshals or the Duke of Vicenza spoke to his

Majesty of arrangements relating to his person, it was easy to see that

he forced himself to listen to them only with the greatest repugnance.

One day when they spoke of the Island of Elba, and I do not know what sum

per year, I heard his Majesty reply vehemently: "That is too much, much

too much for me. If I am no longer anything more than a common soldier,

I do not need more than one louis per day."

Nevertheless, the time arrived when, pressed on every side, his Majesty

submitted to sign the act of abdication pure and simple, which was

demanded of him. This memorable act was conceived in these terms:

"The allied powers having proclaimed that the Emperor Napoleon is

the only obstacle to the re-establishment of peace in Europe, the

Emperor Napoleon, faithful to his oath, declares that he renounces

for himself and his heirs the thrones of France and Italy, and that

there is no personal sacrifice, even his life, which he is not

willing to make for the interests of France.

"Done at the palace of Fontainebleau, 11th of April, 1814.

"NAPOLEON."

I do not need to say that I then had no knowledge of the act of

abdication above given; it was one of those state secrets which emanated

from the cabinet, and hardly entered into the confidence of the bedroom.

I only recall that there was some discussion of the matter, though very

vague, that same day in the household; and, besides, it was evident that

something extraordinary was taking place, and the whole day his Majesty

seemed more depressed than at any previous time; but, nevertheless, I was

far from anticipating the agony which followed this fatal day!

I beg the reader in advance to give earnest attention to the event which

I shall now relate. I now become a historian, since I inscribe the

painful remembrance of a striking act in the career of the Emperor; of an

event which has been the subject of innumerable controversies, though it

has been necessarily only a matter of surmise, since I alone knew all the

painful details. I refer to the poisoning of the Emperor at

Fontainebleau. I trust I do not need to protest my perfect truthfulness;

I feel too keenly the great importance of such a revelation to allow

myself to omit or add the least circumstance to the truth. I shall

therefore relate events just as they occurred, just as I saw them, and as

memory, has engraved the painful details indelibly on my mind.

On the 11th of April I undressed the Emperor as usual, I think rather

earlier than usual; for, if I remember aright, it was not quite half-past

ten. As he retired he appeared to me better than during the day, and in

nearly the same condition he had been on previous evenings. I slept in a

room on the next floor, situated behind the Emperor's room, with which it

communicated by a small, dark staircase. For some time past I had slept

in my clothes, in order to attend the Emperor more promptly if he should

call me; and I was sleeping soundly, when at midnight I was awaked by

M. Pelard, who was on duty. He told me that the Emperor had asked for

me, and on opening my eyes I saw on his face an expression of alarm which

astounded me. I threw myself out of the bed, and rapidly descended the

staircase, as M. Pelard added, "The Emperor has poured something in a

glass and drunk it." I entered his Majesty's room, a prey to

indescribable anxiety. The Emperor had lain down; but in advancing

towards his bed I saw on the floor between the fireplace and the bed the

little bag of black silk and skin, of which I spoke some time since. It

was the same he had worn on his neck since the campaign in Spain, and

which I had guarded so carefully from one campaign to another. Ah! if I

had suspected what it contained. In this terrible moment the truth was

suddenly revealed to me!

Meanwhile, I was at the head of the Emperor's bed. "Constant," said he,

in a voice painfully weak and broken, "Constant, I am dying! I cannot

endure the agony I suffer, above all the humiliation of seeing myself

surrounded by foreign emissaries! My eagles have been trailed in the

dust! I have not been understood! My poor Constant, they will regret me

when I am no more! Marmont dealt me the finishing stroke. The wretch!

I loved him! Berthier's desertion has ruined me! My old friends, my old

companions in arms!" The Emperor said to me many other things which I

fear I might not repeat correctly; and it may well be understood that,

overwhelmed as I was with despair, I did not attempt to engrave in my

memory the words which at intervals escaped the Emperor's lips; for he

did not speak continuously, and the complaints I have related were

uttered only between intervals of repose, or rather of stupor. While my

eyes were fastened on the Emperor's countenance, I noticed on it a sudden

contraction, which was the premonition of a convulsion which frightened

me terribly; fortunately this convulsion brought on a slight attack of

vomiting, which gave me some hope. The Emperor, amidst his complicated

physical and mental sufferings, maintained perfect selfpossession, and

said to me, after the first vomiting spell, "Constant, call M. Yvan and

Caulaincourt." I half opened the door, and gave the order to M. Pelard,

without leaving the Emperor's room, and returning to his bed, besought

and entreated him to take a soothing potion; but all my efforts were in

vain, so strong was his determination to die, even when in the presence

of death.

In spite of the obstinate refusal of the Emperor, I was still entreating

him when M. de Caulaincourt and M. Yvan entered the room. His Majesty

made a sign to the Duke of Vicenza to approach his bed, and said to him,

"Caulaincourt, I recommend to you my wife and child; serve them as you

have served me. I have not long to live!" At this moment the Emperor

was interrupted by another fit of vomiting, but slighter than the first,

during which I tried to tell the duke that the Emperor had taken poison;

he understood rather than heard me, for sobs stifled my voice to such an

extent that I could not pronounce a word distinctly. M. Yvan drew near,

and the Emperor said to him, "Do you believe the dose was strong enough?"

These words were really an enigma to M. Yvan; for he was not aware of the

existence of this sachet, at least not to my knowledge, and therefore

answered, "I do not know what your Majesty means;" to which his Majesty

made no reply.

The Duke of Vicenza, M. Yvan, and I, having united our entreaties to the

Emperor, were so fortunate at length as to induce him, though not without

much difficulty, to drink a cup of tea, which he had refused when I had

made it in much haste and presented it to him, saying, "Let me alone,

Constant; let me alone." But, as a result of our redoubled efforts, he

drank it at last, and the vomiting ceased. Soon after taking the tea the

Emperor appeared calmer and fell asleep. These gentlemen quietly

retired; and I remained alone in his room, where I awaited until he woke.

After a sleep of a few hours the Emperor awoke, seeming almost as usual,

although his face still bore traces of what he had suffered, and while I

assisted him in his morning toilet did not utter a word relating in the

most indirect manner to the frightful night he had just passed. He

breakfasted as usual, only a little later than ordinary. His appearance

had resumed its usual calm, and he seemed more cheerful than for a long

time past. Was it the result of his satisfaction at having escaped

death, which a momentary despair had made him desire? Or did it not

rather arise from the certainty of no longer fearing it in his bed more

than on the battlefield? However that may be, I attribute the remarkable

preservation of the Emperor's life to the fact that the poison contained

in the bag had lost its efficacy.

When everything had returned to its usual order, without any one in the

palace except those I have named suspecting what had occurred, I learned

that M. Yvan had left Fontainebleau. Overwhelmed by the question the

Emperor had addressed to him in the presence of the Duke of Vicenza, and

fearing that he might suspect that he had given his Majesty the means of

attempting his life, this skillful physician, so long and so faithfully

attached to the Emperor's person, had, so to speak, lost his head in

thinking of the responsibility resting on him. Hastily descending the

stairs from the Emperor's apartments, and finding a horse ready saddled

and bridled in one of the courts of the palace, he threw himself upon it,

and hastily took the road to Paris. This was the morning of the same day

that Roustan left Fontainebleau.

On the 12th of April, the Emperor also received the last adieux of

Marshal Macdonald. When he was introduced, the Emperor was still feeling

the effects of the events of the preceding night; and I am sure the Duke

of Tarentum perceived, without divining the cause, that his Majesty was

not in his usual condition. He was accompanied by the Duke of Vicenza;

and at this moment the Emperor was still so much depressed, and seemed so

entirely absorbed in thought, that he did not at first perceive these

gentlemen, although he was perfectly wide awake. The Duke of Tarentum

brought to the Emperor the treaty with the allies, and I left the room as

he was preparing to sign it. A few moments after the Duke of Vicenza

summoned me; and his Majesty said, "Constant, bring me the saber which

Mourad-Bey presented to me in Egypt. You know which it is?"--"Yes,

Sire." I went out, and immediately returned with this magnificent sword,

which the Emperor had worn at the battle of Mount Tabor, as I have heard

many times. I handed it to the Duke of Vicenza, from whose hands the

Emperor took it, and presented it to Marshal Macdonald; and as I retired

heard the Emperor speaking to him most affectionately, and calling him

his worthy friend.

These gentlemen, according to my recollection, were present at the

Emperor's breakfast, where he appeared calmer and more cheerful than for

a long time past; and we were all surprised to see him converse

familiarly and in the most amiable manner with persons to whom for some

time past he had usually addressed very brief and distant remarks.

However, this gayety was only momentary; and, indeed, the manner in which

the Emperor's mood varied from one moment to another during the whole

time of our stay at Fontainebleau was perfectly indescribable. I have

seen him on the same day plunged for several hours into the most terrible

depression; then, a moment after, walking with great strides up and down

his room, whistling or humming La Monaco; after which he suddenly fell

into a kind of stupor, seeing nothing around him, and forgetting even the

orders he had given. A fact which impressed me forcibly was the

remarkable effect produced on him by letters addressed to him from Paris.

As soon as he perceived them his agitation became extreme,--I might say

convulsive, without fear of being taxed with exaggeration.

In support of what I have said of the incredible preoccupation of the

Emperor, I will mention an occurrence which comes to my memory. During

our sojourn at Fontainebleau the Countess Walewska, of whom I have

heretofore spoken, came, and having summoned me, told me how anxious she

was to see the Emperor. Thinking that this would be sure to distract his

Majesty, I mentioned it to him that very evening, and received orders to

have her come at ten o'clock. Madame Walewska was, as may well be

believed, promptly on hand at the appointed hour, and I entered the

Emperor's room to announce her arrival. He was lying on his bed, and

plunged so deeply in meditation that it was only on a second reminder

from me he replied, "Ask her to wait." She then waited in the apartment

in front of his Majesty's, and I remained to keep her company. Meanwhile

the night passed on, and the hours seemed long to the beautiful visitor;

and her distress that the Emperor did not summon her became so evident

that I took pity on her, and reentered the Emperor's room to remind him

again. He was not asleep, but was so deeply absorbed in thought that he

made no reply. At last day began to break; and the countess, fearing to

be seen by the people of the household, withdrew in despair at not having

bidden adieu to the object of her affections; and she had been gone more

than an hour when the Emperor remembered that she was waiting, and asked

for her. I told his Majesty how it was, and did not conceal the state of

despair in which the countess took her departure. The Emperor was much

affected. "Poor woman, she thinks herself humiliated! Constant, I am

really grieved. If you see her again, tell her so. But I have so many

things there!" added he in a, very energetic tone, striking his brow with

his hand.

The visit of this lady to Fontainebleau recalls another of almost the

same kind, but to describe which it is necessary that I take up the

thread of events a little further back.

[I have learned since that the Countess de Walewska went with her

son to visit the Emperor on the Island of Elba. This child

resembled his Majesty so greatly that the report was started that

the King of Rome had visited his father. Madame de Walewska

remained only a short time at the Island of Elba.--CONSTANT.]

A short time after his marriage with the Archduchess Marie Louise,

although she was a young and beautiful woman, and although he really

loved her devotedly, the Emperor was no more careful than in the time of

the Empress Josephine to scrupulously observe conjugal fidelity. During

one of our stays at Saint-Cloud he took a fancy to Madamoiselle L----,

whose mother's second husband was a chief of squadron. These ladies then

stayed at Bourg-la-Reine, where they were discovered by M. de ----, one

of the most zealous protectors of the pretty women who were presented to

his Majesty, and who spoke to him of this young person, then seventeen

years old. She was a brunette of ordinary height, but with a beautiful

figure, and pretty feet and hands, her whole person full of grace, and

was indeed perfectly charming in all respects, and, besides, united with

most enticing coquetry every accomplishment, danced with much grace,

played on several instruments, and was full of intelligence; in fact, she

had received that kind of showy education which forms the most charming

mistresses and the worst wives. The Emperor told me one day, at eight

o'clock in the evening, to seek her at her mother's, to bring her and

return at eleven o'clock at latest. My visit caused no surprise; and I

saw that these ladies had been forewarned, no doubt by their obliging

patron, for they awaited me with an impatience they did not seek to

conceal. The young person was dazzling with ornaments and beauty, and

the mother radiant with joy at the idea of the honor destined for her

daughter. I saw well that she imagined the Emperor could not fail to be

captivated by so many charms, and that he would be seized with a great

passion; but all this was only a dream, for the Emperor was amorous only

when all things suited. However, we arrived at Saint-Cloud at eleven

o'clock, and entered the chateau by the orangery, for fear of indiscreet

eyes. As I had a pass-key to all the gates of the chateau, I conducted

her into the Emperor's apartments without being seen by any one, where

she remained about three hours. At the end of this time I escorted her

to her home, taking the same precautions on leaving the chateau.

This young person, whom the Emperor had since seen three or four times at

most, also came to Fontainebleau, accompanied by her mother; but, being

unable to see his Majesty, this lady, like the Countess Walewska,

determined to make the voyage to the Island of Elba, where it is said the

Emperor married Mademoiselle L---- to a colonel of artillery.

What I have just written has carried me back almost unconsciously to

happier times. It is necessary, however, to return to the sad stay at

Fontainebleau; and, after what I have said of the dejection in which the

Emperor lived, it is not surprising that, overwhelmed by such crushing

blows, his mind was not disposed to gallantry. It seems to me I can

still see the evidences of the gloomy melancholy which devoured him; and

in the midst of so many sorrows the kindness of heart of the man seemed

to increase in proportion to the sufferings of the dethroned sovereign.

With what amenity he spoke to us in these last days! He then frequently

deigned to question me as to what was said of recent events. With my

usual artless candor I related to him exactly what I had heard; and I

remember that one day, having told him I had heard many persons remark

that the continuation of the last wars which had been so fatal to us was

generally attributed to the Duke of Bassano, "They do poor Maret gross

injustice," said he. "They accuse him wrongfully. He has never done

anything but execute orders which I gave." Then, according to his usual

habit, when he had spoken to me a moment of these serious affairs, he

added, "What a shame! what humiliation! To think that I should have in

my very palace itself a lot of foreign emissaries!"

CHAPTER XXVIII.

After the 12th of April there remained with the Emperor, of all the great

personages who usually surrounded him, only the grand marshal of the

palace and Count Drouot. The destination reserved for the Emperor, and

the fact that he had accepted it, was not long a secret in the palace.

On the 16th we witnessed the arrival of the commissioners of the allies

deputed to accompany his Majesty to the place of his embarkment for the

Island of Elba. These were Count Schuwaloff, aide-de-camp of the Emperor

Alexander from Russia; Colonel Neil Campbell from England; General

Kohler from Austria; and finally Count of Waldburg-Truchsess for Prussia.

Although his Majesty had himself demanded that he should be accompanied

by these four commissioners, their presence at Fontainebleau seemed to

make a most disagreeable impression on him. However, each of these

gentlemen received from the Emperor a different welcome; and after a few

words that I heard his Majesty say, I was convinced on this, as on many

previous occasions, that he esteemed the English far more than all his

other enemies, and Colonel Campbell was, therefore, welcomed with more

distinction than the other ministers; while the ill-humor of the Emperor

vented itself especially on the commissioner of the King of Prussia, who

took no notice of it, and put on the best possible countenance.

With the exception of the very slight apparent change made at

Fontainebleau by the presence of these gentlemen, no remarkable incident,

none at least in my knowledge, came to disturb the sad and monotonous

life of the Emperor in the palace. Everything remained gloomy and silent

among the inhabitants of this last imperial residence; but, nevertheless,

the Emperor personally seemed to me more calm since he had come to a

definite conclusion than at the time he was wavering in painful

indecision. He spoke sometimes in my presence of the Empress and his

son, but not as often as might have been expected. But one thing which

struck me deeply was, that never a single time did a a word escape his

lips which could recall the act of desperation of the night of the 11th,

which fortunately, as we have seen, had not the fatal results we feared.

What a night! What a night! In my whole life since I have never been

able to think of it without shuddering.

After the arrival of the commissioners of the allied powers, the Emperor

seemed by degrees to acclimate himself, so to speak, to their presence;

and the chief occupation of the whole household consisted of duties

relating to our preparations for departure. One day, as I was dressing

his Majesty, he said to me smiling, "Ah, well, my son, prepare your cart;

we will go and plant our cabbages." Alas! I was very far from thinking,

as I heard these familiar words of his Majesty, that by an inconceivable

concurrence of events, I should be forced to yield to an inexplicable

fatality, which did not will that in spite of my ardent desire I should

accompany the Emperor to his place of exile.