in the days of the Terror, had been used as a bearer of secret
despatches between Josephine in prison and the governess of her
children outside the grille. Henceforward Josephine would never be
parted from it. One day in June 1797 the dog was lying on the same
couch as its mistress, and Bonaparte, accosting Arnault and pointing
to the dog with his finger, said, "You see that dog there. He is my
rival. He was in possession of Madame's bed when I married her. I
wished to make him get out--vain hope! I was told I must resign
myself to sleep elsewhere, or consent to share with him. That was
sufficiently exasperating, but it was a question of taking or
leaving, and I resigned myself. The favourite was less accommodating
than I. I bear the proof of it in this leg."
Not content with barking at every one, he bit not only men but other
dogs, and was finally killed by a mastiff, much to Bonaparte's secret
satisfaction; for, as St. Amand adds, "he could easily win battles,
accomplish miracles, make or unmake principalities, but could not show
a dog the door."
No. 3.
"_The village of Virgil._"--Michelet (Jusqu'au 18 _Brumaire_) thinks
that here he got the idea of the Fete of Virgil, established a few
months later. In engravings of the hero of Italy we see him near the
tomb of Virgil, his brows shaded by a laurel crown.
No. 4.
_Achille._--Murat. He had been appointed one of Bonaparte's
aides-de-camp February 29th, made General of Brigade after the Battle
of Lodi (May 10th); is sent to Paris after Junot with nine trophies,
and arrives there first. He flirts there outrageously with Josephine,
but does not escort her back to her husband.
No. 5.
'_Will o' the wisp_,' _i.e._ _l'ardent_.--This word, according to
Menage, was given by the Sieur de St. Germain to those lively young
sparks who, about the year 1634, used to meet at the house of Mr.
Marsh (M. de Marest), who was one of them.
No. 6.
_The needs of the army._--Difficulties were accumulating, and Napoleon
was, as he admits at St. Helena, seriously alarmed. Wurmser's force
proves to be large, Piedmont is angry with the Republic and ready to
rise, and Venice and Rome would willingly follow its example; the
English have taken Porto-Ferrajo, and their skilful minister, Windham,
is sowing the seeds of discord at Naples. Although on July 20th he has
written a friend in Corsica that "all smiles on the Republic," he
writes Saliceti, another brother Corsican, very differently on August
1st. "Fortune appears to oppose us at present.... I have raised the
siege of Mantua; I am at Brescia with nearly all my army. I shall take
the first opportunity of fighting a battle with the enemy which will
decide the fate of Italy--if I'm beaten, I shall retire on the Adda;
if I win, I shall not stop in the marshes of Mantua.... Let the
citadels of Milan, Tortona, Alessandria, and Pavia be provisioned....
We are all very tired; I have ridden five horses to death." Reading
between the lines of this letter to Josephine, it is evident that he
thinks she will be safer with him than at Milan--Wurmser having the
option of advancing _via_ Brescia on Milan, and cutting off the French
communications. The Marshal's fatal mistake was in using only half his
army for the purpose. This raising of the siege of Mantua (July 31st)
was heart-rending work for Bonaparte, but, as Jomini shows, he had no
artillery horses, and it was better to lose the siege train,
consisting of guns taken from the enemy, than to jeopardise the whole
army. Wurmser had begun his campaign successfully by defeating
Massena, and pushing back Sauret at Salo. "The Austrians," wrote
Massena, "are drunk with brandy, and fight furiously," while his men
are famished and can only hang on by their teeth. Bonaparte calls his
first war council, and thinks for a moment of retreat, but Augereau
insists on fighting, which is successfully accomplished while Wurmser
is basking himself among the captured artillery outside Mantua.
Bonaparte had been perfectly honest in telling the Directory his
difficulties, and sends his brother Louis to the Directory for that
purpose on the eve of battle. He is complimented in a letter from the
Directory dated August 12th--a letter probably the more genuine as
they had just received a further despatch announcing a victory. On
August 3rd Bonaparte won a battle at Lonato, and the next day Augereau
gained great laurels at Castiglione; in later years the Emperor often
incited Augereau by referring to those "fine days of Castiglione."
Between July 29th and August 12th the French army took 15,000
prisoners, 70 guns, and wounded or killed 25,000, with little more
than half the forces of the Austrians. Bonaparte gives his losses at
7000, exclusive of the 15,000 sick he has in hospital; from July 31st
to August 6th he never changed his boots, or lay down in a bed.
Nevertheless, Jomini thinks that he showed less vigour in the
execution of his plans than in the earlier part of the campaign; but,
as an opinion _per contra_, we may note that the French grenadiers
made their "little Corporal" _Sergeant_ at Castiglione. Doubtless the
proximity of his wife at the commencement (July 31st) made him more
careful, and therefore less intrepid. On August 18th he wrote
Kellermann with an urgent request for troops. On August 17th Colonel
Graham, after hinting at the frightful excesses committed by the
Austrians in their retreat, adds in a postscript--"From generals to
subalterns the universal language of the army is that we must make
peace, as we do not know how to make war."[46]
On August 13th Bonaparte sent to the Directory his opinion of most of
his generals, in order to show that he required some better ones. Some
of his criticisms are interesting:--
Berthier--"Talents, activity, courage, character; he has them
all."
Augereau--"Much character, courage, firmness, activity; is
accustomed to war, beloved by the soldiers, lucky in his
operations."
Massena--"Active, indefatigable, has boldness, grasp, and
promptitude in making his decisions."
Serrurier--"Fights like a soldier, takes no responsibility;
determined, has not much opinion of his troops, is often ailing."
Despinois--"Flabby, inactive, slack, has not the genius for war,
is not liked by the soldiers, does not fight with his head; has
nevertheless good, sound political principles: would do well to
command in the interior."
Sauret--"A good, very good soldier, not sufficiently enlightened
to be a general; unlucky."
Of eight more he has little good to say, but the Directory in
acknowledging his letter of August 23rd remarks that he has forgotten
several officers, and especially the Irish general Kilmaine.
About the same time Colonel Graham (Lord Lynedoch) was writing to the
British Government from Trent that the Austrians, despite their
defeats, were "undoubtedly brave fine troops, and an able chief would
put all to rights in a little time."[47] On August 18th he adds--"When
the wonderful activity, energy, and attention that prevail in the
French service, from the commander-in-chief downward, are compared to
the indecision, indifference, and indolence universal here, the
success of their rash but skilful manoeuvres is not surprising."
No. 7.
_Brescia._--Napoleon was here on July 27th, meeting Josephine about
the date arranged (July 25th), and she returned with him. On July 29th
they were nearly captured by an Austrian ambuscade near Ceronione, and
Josephine wept with fright. "Wurmser," said Napoleon, embracing her,
"shall pay dearly for those tears." She accompanies him to Castel
Nova, and sees a skirmish at Verona; but the sight of wounded men
makes her leave the army, and, finding it impossible to reach Brescia,
she flees _via_ Ferrara and Bologna to Lucca. She leaves the French
army in dire straits and awaits news anxiously, while the Senate of
Lucca presents her with the oil kept exclusively for royalty. Thence
she goes _via_ Florence to Milan. By August 7th the Austrian army was
broken and in full retreat, and Bonaparte conducts his correspondence
from Brescia from August 11th to 18th. On the 25th he is at Milan,
where he meets his wife after her long pilgrimage, and spends four
days. By August 30th he is again at Brescia, and reminds her that he
left her "vexed, annoyed, and not well." From a letter to her aunt,
Madame de Renaudin, at this time, quoted by Aubenas, we can see her
real feelings: "I am feted wherever I go; all the princes of Italy
give me fetes, even the Grand Duke of Tuscany, brother of the Emperor.
Ah, well, I prefer being a private individual in France. I care not
for honours bestowed in this country. I get sadly bored. My health has
undoubtedly a great deal to do with making me unhappy; I am often out
of sorts. If happiness could assure health, I ought to be in the best
of health. I have the most amiable husband imaginable. I have no time
to long for anything. My wishes are his. He is all day long in
adoration before me, as if I were a divinity; there could not possibly
be a better husband. M. Serbelloni will tell you how he loves me. He
often writes to my children; he loves them dearly. He is sending
Hortense, by M. Serbelloni, a lovely repeater, jewelled and enamelled;
to Eugene a splendid gold watch."
No. 9.
"_I hope we shall get into Trent by the 5th._"--He entered the city on
that day. In his pursuit of Wurmser, he and his army cover sixty miles
in two days, through the terrific Val Saguna and Brenta gorges,
brushing aside opposition by the way.
No. 12.
"_One of these nights the doors will be burst open with a
bang._"--Apparently within two or three days, for Bonaparte is at
Milan on September 21st, and stays with his wife till October 12th.
On October 1st he writes to the Directory that his total forces are
only 27,900; and that the Austrians, within six weeks, will have
50,000. He asks for 26,000 more men to end the war satisfactorily: "If
the preservation of Italy is dear to you, citizen directors, send me
help." On the 8th they reply with the promise of 10,000 to 12,000, to
which he replies (October 11th) that if 10,000 have started only 5000
will reach him. The Directory at this time are very poverty stricken,
and ask him once more to pay Kellermann's Army of the Alps, as being
"to some extent part of that which you command." This must have been
"nuts and wine" for the general who was to have been superseded by
Kellermann a few months earlier. On October 1st they advise him that
Wurmser's name is on the list of emigrants, and that if the Marshal
will surrender Mantua at once he need not be sent to Paris for trial.
If, however, Bonaparte thinks that this knowledge will make the old
Marshal more desperate, he is not to be told. Bonaparte, of course,
does not send the message. For some time these letters had been signed
by the President Lareveillere Lepeaux, but on September 19th there was
a charming letter from Carnot: "Although accustomed to unprecedented
deeds on your part, our hopes have been surpassed by the victory of
Bassano. What glory is yours, immortal Bonaparte! Moreau was about to
effect a juncture with you when that wretched _reculade_ of Jourdan
upset all our plans. Do not forget that immediately the armies go into
winter quarters on the Rhine the Austrians will have forces available
to help Wurmser." At Milan Bonaparte advises the Directory that he is
dealing with unpunished "fripponeries" in the commissariat department.
Here he receives from young Kellermann, afterwards the hero of
Marengo, a _precis_ of the condition of the Brescia fever-hospitals,
dated October 6th: "A wretched mattress, dirty and full of vermin, a
coarse sheet to each bed, rarely washed, no counterpanes, much
dilatoriness, such is the spectacle that the fever-hospitals of
Brescia present; it is heart-rending. The soldiers justly complain
that, having conquered opulent Italy at the cost of their life-blood,
they might, without enjoying comforts, at least find the help and
attention which their situation demands. Bread and rice are the only
passable foods, but the meat is hard. I beg that the general-in-chief
will immediately give attention to his companions in glory, who wish
for restored health only that they may gather fresh laurels." Thus
Bonaparte had his Bloemfontein, and perhaps his Burdett-Coutts.
On October 12th he tells the Directory that Mantua will not fall till
February--the exact date of its capitulation. One is tempted to wonder
if Napoleon was human enough to have inserted one little paragraph of
his despatch of October 12th from Milan with one eye on its perusal by
his wife, as it contains a veiled sneer at Hoche's exploits: "Send me
rather generals of brigade than generals of division. All that comes
to us from La Vendee is unaccustomed to war on a large scale; we have
the same reproach against the troops, but they are well-hardened." On
the same day he shows them that all the marvels of his six months'
campaign have cost the French Government only L440,000 (eleven million
francs). He pleads, however, for special auditors to have charge of
the accounts. Napoleon had not only made war support war, but had sent
twenty million francs requisitioned in Italy to the Republic. On
October 12th he leaves Milan for Modena, where he remains from the
14th to the 18th, is at Bologna on the 19th, and Ferrara from the 19th
to the 22nd, reaching Verona on the 24th.
Jomini has well pointed out that Napoleon's conception of making two
or three large Italian republics in place of many small ones minimised
the power of the Pope, and also that of Austria, by abolishing its
feudal rigours.
By this time Bonaparte is heartily sick of the war. On October 2nd he
writes direct to the Emperor of Germany: "Europe wants peace. This
disastrous war has lasted too long;" and on the 16th to Marshal
Wurmser: "The siege of Mantua, sir, is more disastrous than two
campaigns." His weariness is tempered with policy, as Alvinzi was _en
route_, and the French reinforcements had not arrived, not even the
10,000 promised in May.
No. 13.
"_Corsica is ours._"--At St. Helena he told his generals, "The King of
England wore the Corsican crown only two years. This whim cost the
British treasury five millions sterling. John Bull's riches could not
have been worse employed." He writes to the Directory on the same day:
"The expulsion of the English from the Mediterranean has considerable
influence on the success of our military operations in Italy. We can
exact more onerous conditions from Naples, which will have the
greatest moral effect on the minds of the Italians, assures our
communications, and makes Naples tremble as far as Sicily." On October
25th he writes: "Wurmser is at his last gasp; he is short of wine,
meat, and forage; he is eating his horses, and has 15,000 sick. In
fifty days Mantua will either be taken or delivered."
No. 14.
_Verona._--Bonaparte had made a long stay at Verona, to November 4th,
waiting reinforcements which never came. On November 5th he writes to
the Directory: "All the troops of the Directory arrive post-haste at
an alarming rate, and we--we are left to ourselves. Fine promises and
a few driblets of men are all we have received;" and on November 13th
he writes again: "Perchance we are on the eve of losing Italy. None of
the expected reinforcements have arrived.... I am doing my duty, the
officers and men are doing theirs; my heart is breaking, but my
conscience is at rest. Help--send me help!... I despair of preventing
the relief of Mantua, which in a week would have been ours. The
wounded are the pick of the army; all our superior officers, all our
picked generals are _hors de combat_; those who have come to me are so
incompetent, and they have not the soldiers' confidence. The army of
Italy, reduced to a handful of men, is exhausted. The heroes of Lodi,
Millesimo, Castiglione, and Bassano have died for their country, or
are in hospital;[48] to the corps remain only their reputation and
their glory. Joubert, Lannes, Lanusse, Victor, Murat, Chabot, Dupuy,
Rampon, Pijon, Menard, Chabran, and St. Hilaire are wounded.... In a
few days we shall make a last effort. Had I received the 83rd, 3500
strong, and of good repute in the army, I would have answered for
everything. Perhaps in a few days 40,000 will not suffice." The reason
for this unwonted pessimism was the state of his troops. His brother
Louis reported that Vaubois' men had no shoes and were almost naked,
in the midst of snow and mountains; that desertions were taking place
of soldiers with bare and bleeding feet, who told the enemy the plans
and conditions of their army. Finally Vaubois bungles, through not
knowing the ground, and is put under the orders of Massena, while two
of his half-brigades are severely censured by Napoleon in person for
their cowardice.
No. 15.
"_Once more I breathe freely._"--Thrice had Napoleon been foiled, as
much by the weather and his shoeless soldiers as by numbers (40,000
Austrians to his 28,000), and his position was well-nigh hopeless on
November 14th. He trusts Verona to 3000 men, and the blockade of
Mantua to Kilmaine, and the defence of Rivoli to Vaubois--the weakest
link in the chain--and determines to manoeuvre by the Lower Adige upon
the Austrian communications. He gets forty-eight hours' start, and
wins Arcola; in 1814 he deserved equal success, but bad luck and
treachery turned the scale. The battle of Arcola lasted seventy-two
hours, and for forty-eight hours was in favour of the Austrians.
Pending the arrival of the promised reinforcements, the battle was
bought too dear, and weakened Bonaparte more than the Austrians, who
received new troops almost daily. He replaced Vaubois by Joubert.
No. 18.
"_The 29th._"--But he is at Milan from November 27th to December 16th.
Most people know, from some print or other, the picture by Gros of
Bonaparte, flag in hand, leading his men across the murderous bridge
of Arcola. It was during this visit to Milan that his portrait was
taken, and Lavalette has preserved for us the domestic rather than the
dignified manner of the sitting accorded. He refused to give a fixed
time, and the artist was in despair, until Josephine came to his aid
by taking her husband on her knees every morning after breakfast, and
keeping him there a short time. Lavalette assisted at three of these
sittings--apparently to remove the bashful embarrassment of the young
painter. St. Amand suggests that Gros taking the portrait of Bonaparte
at Milan, just after Arcola, would, especially under such novel
conditions, prove a fitting theme for our artists to-day! From
December 16th to 21st Bonaparte is at Verona, whence he returns to
Milan. There is perhaps a veiled innuendo in Barras' letter of
December 30th. Clarke had advised the Directory that Alvinzi was
planning an attack, which Barras mentions, but adds: "Your return to
Milan shows that you consider another attack in favour of Wurmser
unlikely, or, at least, not imminent." He is at Milan till January
7th, whence he goes to Bologna, the city which, he says, "of all the
Italian cities has constantly shown the greatest energy and the most
considerable share of real information."
No. 20.
_General Brune._--This incident fixes the date of this letter to be 23
_Nivose_ (January 12), and not 23 _Messidor_ (July 11), as hitherto
published in the French editions of this letter. On January 12, 1797,
he wrote General Clarke from Verona (No. 1375 of the _Correspondence_)
almost an exact duplicate of this letter--a very rare coincidence in
the epistles of Napoleon. "Scarcely set out from Roverbella, I learnt
that the enemy had appeared at Verona. Massena made his dispositions,
which have been very successful; we have made 600 prisoners, and we
have taken three pieces of cannon. General Brune has had seven bullets
in his clothes, without having been touched by one of them; this is
what it is to be lucky. We have had only ten men killed, and a hundred
wounded." Bonaparte had left Bologna on January 10, reaching Verona
_via_ Roverbella on the 12th.
No. 21.
_February 3rd._--"_I wrote you this morning._"--This and probably
other letters describing Rivoli, La Favorite, and the imminent fall
of Mantua, are missing. In summing up the campaign Thiers declares
that in ten months 55,000 French (all told, including reinforcements)
had beaten more than 200,000 Austrians, taken 80,000 of them
prisoners, killed and wounded 20,000. They had fought twelve pitched
battles, and sixty actions. These figures are probably as much above
the mark as those of Napoleon's detractors are below it.
One does not know which to admire most, Bonaparte's absence from
Marshal Wurmser's humiliation, or his abstention from entering Rome as
a conqueror. The first was the act of a perfect gentleman, worthy of
the best traditions of chivalry, the second was the very quintessence
of far-seeing sagacity, not "baulking the end half-won, for an instant
dole of praise." As he told Mdme. de Remusat at Passeriano, "I
conquered the Pope better by not going to Rome than if I had burnt his
capital." Scott has compared his treatment of Wurmser to that of the
Black Prince with his royal prisoner, King John of France. Wurmser was
an Alsatian on the list of _emigres_, and Bonaparte gave the Marshal
his life by sending him back to Austria, a fact which Wurmser requited
by warning Bonaparte of a conspiracy to poison him[49] in Romagna,
which Napoleon thinks would otherwise have been successful.
No. 24.
"_Perhaps I shall make peace with the Pope._"--On February 12th the
Pope had written to "his dear son, General Bonaparte," to depute
plenipotentiaries for a peace, and ends by assuring him "of our
highest esteem," and concluding with the paternal apostolic
benediction. Meanwhile Napoleon, instead of sacking Faenza, has just
invoked the monks and priests to follow the precepts of the Gospel.
No. 25.
"_The unlimited power you hold over me._"--There seems no question
that during the Italian campaigns he was absolutely faithful to
Josephine, although there was scarcely a beauty in Milan who did not
aspire to please him and to conquer him. In his fidelity there was,
says St. Amand, much love and a little calculation. As Napoleon has
said himself, his position was delicate in the extreme; he commanded
old generals; every one of his movements was jealously watched; his
circumspection was extreme. His fortune lay in his wisdom. He would
have to forget himself for one hour, and how many of his victories
depended upon no more! The celebrated singer, La Grassini, who had all
Italy at her feet, cared only for the young general who would not at
that time vouchsafe her a glance.
FOOTNOTES
[45] Murat, says Marmont, who hated him, was the culprit here.
[46] J. H. Rose in _Eng. Hist. Review_, January 1899.
[47] See Essay by J. H. Rose in _Eng. Hist. Review_, January 1899.
[48] With fevers caught in the rice-swamps of Lombardy.
[49] With aqua tofana, says Marmont.
SERIES C
_THE CAMPAIGN OF MARENGO_, 1800