Europe in the Grasp of the Iron Hand.
[=England Declares War=]
The peace of Amiens, which for an interval left France without an open
enemy in Europe, did not long continue. England failed to carry out
one of the main provisions of this treaty, holding on to the island
of Malta in despite of the French protests. The feeling between the
two nations soon grew bitter, and in 1803 England again declared war
against France. William Pitt, the unyielding foe of Napoleon, came
again to the head of the ministry in 1804, and displayed all his old
activity in organizing coalitions against the hated Corsican. The war
thus declared was to last, so far as England was concerned, until
Napoleon was driven from his throne. It was conducted by the English
mainly through the aid of money paid to their European allies, and the
activity of their fleet. The British Channel remained an insuperable
obstacle to Napoleon in his conflict with his island foe, and the
utmost he could do in the way of revenge was to launch his armies
against the allies of Great Britain, and to occupy Hanover, the domain
of the English king on the continent. This he hastened to do.
[=Great Preparations for the Invasion of England=]
The immunity of his persistent enemy was more than the proud conqueror
felt disposed to endure. Hitherto he had triumphed over all his foes in
the field. Should these haughty islanders contemn his power and defy
his armies? He determined to play the role of William of Normandy,
centuries before, and attack them on their own shores. This design he
had long entertained, and began actively to prepare for as soon as war
was declared. An army was encamped at Boulogne, and a great flotilla
prepared to convey it across the narrow sea. The war material gathered
was enormous in quantity; the army numbered 120,000 men, with 10,000
horses; 1,800 gunboats of various kinds were ready; only the support of
the fleet was awaited to enable the crossing to be achieved in safety.
We need not dwell further upon this great enterprise, since it failed
to yield any result. The French admiral whose concurrence was depended
upon took sick and died, and the great expedition was necessarily
postponed. Before new plans could be laid the indefatigable Pitt had
succeeded in organizing a fresh coalition in Europe, and Napoleon found
full employment for his army on the continent.
In April, 1805, a treaty of alliance was made between England and
Russia. On the 9th of August, Austria joined this alliance. Sweden
subsequently gave in her adhesion, and Prussia alone remained neutral
among the great powers. But the allies were mistaken if they expected
to take the astute Napoleon unawares. He had foreseen this combination,
and, while keeping the eyes of all Europe fixed upon his great
preparations at Boulogne, he was quietly but effectively laying his
plans for the expected campaign.
[=Rapid March on Austria=]
The Austrians had hastened to take the field, marching an army into
Bavaria and forcing the Elector, the ally of Napoleon, to fly from
his capital. The French emperor was seemingly taken by surprise, and
apparently was in no haste, the Austrians having made much progress
before he left his palace at Saint Cloud. But meanwhile his troops
were quietly but rapidly in motion, converging from all points towards
the Rhine, and by the end of September seven divisions of the army,
commanded by Napoleon's ablest Generals,--Ney, Murat, Lannes, Soult
and others,--were across that stream and marching rapidly upon the
enemy. Bernadotte led his troops across Prussian territory in disdain
of the neutrality of that power, and thereby gave such offence to King
Frederick William as to turn his mind decidedly in favor of joining the
coalition.
[=The Surrender of General Mack=]
Early in October the French held both banks of the Danube, and before
the month's end they had gained a notable triumph. Mack, one of the
Austrian commanders, with remarkable lack of judgment, held his
army in the fortress of Ulm while the swiftly advancing French were
cutting off every avenue of retreat, and surrounding his troops. An
extraordinary result followed. Ney, on the 14th, defeated the Austrians
at Elchingen, cutting off Mack from the main army and shutting him up
hopelessly in Ulm. Five days afterwards the despairing and incapable
general surrendered his army as prisoners of war. Twenty-three thousand
soldiers laid their weapons and banners at Napoleon's feet and eighteen
generals remained as prisoners in his hands. It was a triumph which
in its way atoned for a great naval disaster which took place on
the succeeding day, when Nelson, the English admiral, attacked and
destroyed the whole French fleet at Trafalgar.
The succeeding events, to the great battle that closed the campaign,
may be epitomized. An Austrian army had been dispatched to Italy under
the brave and able Archduke Charles. Here Marshal Massena commanded
the French and a battle took place near Caldiero on October 30th. The
Austrians fought stubbornly, but could not withstand the impetuosity of
the French, and were forced to retreat and abandon northern Italy to
Massena and his men.
[Illustration: DEATH OF LORD NELSON--BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR, OCTOBER 21,
1805
The greatest sea fight in history is represented by the above
engraving. It was off Cape Trafalgar, southern coast of Spain, that
Lord Nelson met and defeated the combined French and Spanish fleets,
vastly his superior in number of vessels and men. This victory sounded
the key note in the decline of Napoleon's power and changed the destiny
of Europe. "It is glorious to die in the moment of victory." Nelson
fell and died as he heard the words telling him that the naval power of
France and Spain were destroyed and he gained at once the double honor
of victory and Westminster Abbey.]
[Illustration: MURAT AT BATTLE OF JENA
General Murat was the Sheridan of France, the most
dashing and daring cavalry leader in Napoleon's
armies. Napoleon said of him: "It was really a
magnificent sight to see him in battle, heading the
cavalry." At Jena he played an efficient part in
breaking the ranks of the Prussians.]
In the north the king of Prussia, furious at the violation of his
neutral territory by the French under Bernadotte, gave free passage
to the Russian and Swedish troops, and formed a league of friendship
with the Czar Alexander. He then dispatched his minister Haugwitz to
Napoleon, with a demand that concealed a threat, requiring him, as a
basis of peace, to restore the former treaties in Germany, Switzerland,
Italy and Holland.
With utter disregard of this demand Napoleon advanced along the Danube
towards the Austrian states, meeting and defeating the Austrians and
Russians in a series of sanguinary conflicts. The Russian army was
the most ably commanded, and its leader Kutusoff led it backward in
slow but resolute retreat, fighting only when attacked. The French
under Mortier were caught isolated on the left bank of the Danube, and
fiercely assailed by the Russians, losing heavily before they could be
reinforced.
[=The Advance on Vienna=]
Despite all resistance, the French continued to advance, Murat soon
reaching and occupying Vienna, the Austrian capital, from which
the emperor had hastily withdrawn. Still the retreat and pursuit
continued, the allies retiring to Moravia, whither the French, laden
with an immense booty from their victories, rapidly followed. Futile
negotiations for peace succeeded, and on the 1st of December, the two
armies, both concentrated in their fullest strength (92,000 of the
allies to 70,000 French) came face to face on the field of Austerlitz,
where on the following day was to be fought one of the memorable
battles in the history of the world.
[=The Eve Before Austerlitz=]
The Emperor Alexander had joined Francis of Austria, and the two
monarchs, with their staff officers, occupied the castle and village
of Austerlitz. Their troops hastened to occupy the plateau of Pratzen,
which Napoleon had designedly left free. His plans of battle was
already fully made. He had, with the intuition of genius, foreseen
the probable manoeuvers of the enemy, and had left open for them
the position which he wished them to occupy. He even announced their
movement in a proclamation to his troops.
"The positions that we occupy are formidable," he said, "and while the
enemy march to turn my right they will present to me their flank."
This movement to the right was indeed the one that had been decided
upon by the allies, with the purpose of cutting off the road to Vienna
by isolating numerous corps dispersed in Austria and Styria. It had
been shrewdly divined by Napoleon in choosing his ground.
The fact that the 2d of December was the anniversary of the coronation
of their emperor filled the French troops with ardor. They celebrated
it by making great torches of the straw which formed their beds and
illuminating their camp. Early the next morning the allies began
their projected movement. To the joy of Napoleon his prediction was
fulfilled, they were advancing towards his right. He felt sure that the
victory was in his hands.
[=The Greatest of Napoleon's Victories=]
He held his own men in readiness while the line of the enemy deployed.
The sun was rising, its rays gleaming through a mist, which dispersed
as it rose higher. It now poured its brilliant beams across the field,
the afterward famous "sun of Austerlitz." The movement of the allies
had the effect of partly withdrawing their troops from the plateau of
Pratzen. At a signal from the emperor the strongly concentrated centre
of the French army moved forward in a dense mass, directing their march
towards the plateau, which they made all haste to occupy. They had
reached the foot of the hill before the rising mist revealed them to
the enemy.
The two emperors watched the movement without divining its intent. "See
how the French climb the height without staying to reply to our fire,"
said Prince Czartoryski, who stood near them.
The emperors were soon to learn why their fire was disdained. Their
marching columns, thrown out one after another on the slope, found
themselves suddenly checked in their movement, and cut off from the two
wings of the army. The allied force had been pierced in its centre,
which was flung back in disorder, in spite of the efforts of Kutusoff
to send it aid. At the same time Davout faced the Russians on the
right, and Murat and Lannes attacked the Russian and Austrian squadrons
on the left, while Kellermann's light cavalry dispersed the squadrons
of the Uhlans.
The Russian guard, checked in its movement, turned towards Pratzen,
in a desperate effort to retrieve the fortune of the day. It was
incautiously pursued by a French battalion, which soon found itself
isolated and in danger. Napoleon perceived its peril and hastily sent
Rapp to its support, with the Mamelukes and the chasseurs of the guard.
They rushed forward with energy and quickly drove back the enemy,
Prince Repnin remaining a prisoner in their hands.
The day was lost to the allies. Everywhere disorder prevailed and their
troops were in retreat. An isolated Russian division threw down its
arms and surrendered. Two columns were forced back beyond the marshes.
The soldiers rushed in their flight upon the ice of the lake, which the
intense cold had made thick enough to bear their weight.
[=The Dreadful Lake Horror=]
And now a terrible scene was witnessed. War is merciless; death is
its aim; the slaughter of an enemy by any means is looked upon as
admissible. By Napoleon's order the French cannon were turned upon the
lake. Their plunging balls rent and splintered the ice under the feet
of the crowd of fugitives. Soon it broke with a crash, and the unhappy
soldiers, with shrill cries of despair, sunk to death in the chilling
waters beneath, thousands of them perishing. It was a frightful
expedient--one that would be deemed a crime in any other code than the
merciless one of war.
A portion of the allied army made a perilous retreat along a narrow
embankment which separated the two lakes of Melnitz and Falnitz, their
exposed causeway swept by the fire of the French batteries. Of the
whole army, the corps of Prince Bagration alone withdrew in order of
battle.
All that dreadful day the roar of battle had resounded. At its close
the victorious French occupied the field; the allied army was pouring
back in disordered flight, the dismayed emperors in its midst;
thousands of dead covered the fatal field, the groans of thousands
of wounded men filled the air. More than 30,000 prisoners, including
twenty generals, remained in Napoleon's hands, and with them a hundred
and twenty pieces of cannon and forty flags, including the standards of
the Imperial Guard of Russia.
[=Treaty of Peace with Austria=]
The defeat was a crushing one. Napoleon had won the most famous of
his battles. The Emperor Francis, in deep depression, asked for an
interview and an armistice. Two days afterward the emperors,--the
conqueror and the conquered,--met and an armistice was granted. While
the negotiations for peace continued Napoleon shrewdly disposed of
the hostility of Prussia by offering the state of Hanover to that
power and signing a treaty with the king. On December 26th a treaty of
peace between France and Austria was signed at Presburg. The Emperor
Francis yielded all his remaining possessions in Italy, and also the
Tyrol, the Black Forest, and other districts in Germany, which Napoleon
presented to his allies, Bavaria, Wurtemberg, and Baden; whose monarchs
were still more closely united to Napoleon by marriages between their
children and relatives of himself and his wife Josephine. Bavaria
and Wurtemberg were made kingdoms, and Baden was raised in rank to a
grand-duchy. The three months' war was at an end. Austria had paid
dearly for her subserviency to England. Of the several late enemies
of France, only two remained in arms, Russia and England. And in the
latter Pitt, Napoleon's greatest enemy, died during the next month,
leaving the power in the hands of Fox, an admirer of the Corsican.
Napoleon was at the summit of his glory and success.
[=Napoleon Awards Kingdoms to His Brothers and Adherents=]
Napoleon's political changes did not end with the partial dismemberment
of Austria. His ambition to become supreme in Europe and to rule
everywhere lord paramount, inspired him to exalt his family, raising
his relatives to the rank of kings, but keeping them the servants of
his imperious will. Holland lost its independence, Louis Bonaparte
being named its king. Joachim Murat, brother-in-law of the emperor, was
given a kingdom on the lower Rhine, with Düsseldorf as its capital.
A stroke of Napoleon's pen ended the Bourbon monarchy in Naples,
and Joseph Bonaparte was sent thither as king, with a French army
to support him. Italy was divided into dukedoms, ruled over by the
marshals and adherents of the emperor, whose hand began to move the
powers of Europe as a chess-player moves the pieces upon his board.
The story of his political transformations extends farther still. By
raising the electors of Bavaria and Wurtemberg to the rank of kings,
he had practically brought to an end the antique German Empire--which
indeed had long been little more than a name. In July, 1806, he
completed this work. The states of South and West Germany were
organized into a league named the Confederation of the Rhine, under the
protection of Napoleon. Many small principalities were suppressed and
their territories added to the larger ones, increasing the power of the
latter, and winning the gratitude of their rulers for their benefactor.
The empire of France was in this manner practically extended over
Italy, the Netherlands, and the west and south of Germany. Francis
II., lord of the "Holy Roman Empire," now renounced the title which
these radical changes had made a mockery, withdrew his states from the
imperial confederation of Germany, and assumed the title of Francis
I. of Austria. The Empire of Germany, once powerful, but long since
reduced to a shadowy pretence, finally ceased to exist.
[=The Hostile Irritation of Prussia=]
These autocratic changes could not fail to arouse the indignation of
the monarchs of Europe and imperil the prevailing peace. Austria was in
no condition to resume hostilities, but Prussia, which had maintained
a doubtful neutrality during the recent wars grew more and more
exasperated as these high-handed proceedings went on. A league which
the king of Prussia sought to form with Saxony and Hesse-Cassel was
thwarted by Napoleon; who also, in negotiating for peace with England,
offered to return Hanover to that country, without consulting the
Prussian King, to whom this electorate had been ceded. Other causes of
resentment existed, and finally Frederick William of Prussia, irritated
beyond control, sent a so-called "ultimatum" to Napoleon, demanding the
evacuation of South Germany by the French. As might have been expected,
this proposal was rejected with scorn, whereupon Prussia broke off all
communication with France and began preparations for war.
[=The Prussian Armies in the Field=]
The Prussians did not know the man with whom they had to deal. It
was an idle hope that this state could cope alone with the power
of Napoleon and his allies, and while Frederick William was slowly
preparing for the war which he had long sought to avoid, the French
troops were on the march and rapidly approaching the borders of his
kingdom. Saxony had allied itself with Prussia under compulsion, and
had added 20,000 men to its armies. The elector of Hesse-Cassel had
also joined the Prussians, and furnished them a contingent of troops.
But this hastily levied army, composed of men few of whom had ever seen
a battle, seemed hopeless as matched with the great army of war-worn
veterans which Napoleon was marching with his accustomed rapidity
against them. Austria, whom the Prussian King had failed to aid, now
looked no passively at his peril. The Russians, who still maintained
hostile relations with France, held their troops immovable upon the
Vistula. Frederick William was left to face the power of Napoleon alone.
[=March of the French Upon Prussia=]
The fate of the campaign was quickly decided. Through the mountain
passes of Franconia Napoleon led his forces against the Prussian
army, which was divided into two corps, under the command of the Duke
of Brunswick and the Prince of Hohenlohe. The troops of the latter
occupied the road from Weimar to Jena. The heights which commanded the
latter town were seized by Marshal Lannes on his arrival. A second
French corps, under Marshals Davout and Bernadotte, marched against the
Duke of Brunswick and established themselves upon the left bank of the
Saale.
On the morning of the 4th of October, 1806, the conflict at Jena, upon
which hung the destiny of the Prussian kingdom, began. The troops under
the Prince of Hohenlohe surpassed in number those of Napoleon, but
were unfitted to sustain the impetuosity of the French assault. Soult
and Augereau, in command of the wings of the French army, advanced
rapidly, enveloping the Prussian forces and driving them back by the
vigor of their attack. Then on the Prussian center the guard and the
reserves fell in a compact mass whose tremendous impact the enemy
found it impossible to endure. The retreat became a rout. The Prussian
army broke into a mob of fugitives, flying in terror before Napoleon's
irresistible veterans.
[=Defeat of the Prussians at Jena and Auerstadt=]
They were met by Marshal Biechel with an army of 20,000 men, advancing
in all haste to the aid of the Prince of Hohenlohe. Throwing his
men across the line of flight, he did his utmost to rally the
fugitives. His effort was a vain one. His men were swept away by the
panic-stricken mass and pushed back by the triumphant pursuers. Weimar
was reached by the French and the Germans simultaneously, the former
seizing prisoners in such numbers as seriously to hinder their pursuit.
While this battle was going on, another was in progress near Auerstadt,
where Marshal Davout had encountered the forces of the Duke of
Brunswick, with whom was Frederick William, the king. Bernadotte,
ordered by the emperor to occupy Hamburg, had withdrawn his troops,
leaving Davout much outnumbered by the foe. But heedless of this,
he threw himself across their road in the defile of Koesen, and
sustained alone the furious attack made upon him by the duke. Throwing
his regiments into squares, he poured a murderous fire on the charging
troops, hurling them back from his immovable lines. The old duke fell
with a mortal wound. The king and his son led their troops to a second,
but equally fruitless, attack. Davout, taking advantage of their
repulse, advanced and seized the heights of Eckartsberga, where he
defended himself with his artillery. Frederick William, discouraged by
this vigorous resistance, retired towards Weimar with the purpose of
joining his forces with those of the Prince of Hohenlohe and renewing
the attack.
Davout's men were too exhausted to pursue, but Bernadotte was
encountered and barred the way, and the disaster at Jena was soon
made evident by the panic-stricken mass of fugitives, whose flying
multitude, hotly pursued by the French, sought safety in the ranks of
the king's corps, which they threw into confusion by their impact.
It was apparent that the battle was irretrievably lost. Night was
approaching. The king marched hastily away, the disorder in his ranks
increasing as the darkness fell. In that one fatal day he had lost his
army and placed his kingdom itself in jeopardy. "They can do nothing
but gather up the _débris_," said Napoleon.
[=The Demoralization of the Prussian Forces=]
The French lost no time in following up the defeated army, which had
broken into several divisions in its retreat. On the 17th, Duke Eugene
of Wurtemberg and the reserves under his command were scattered in
defeat. On the 28th, the Prince of Hohenlohe, with the 12,000 men whom
he still held together, was forced to surrender. Blucher, who had
seized the free city of Lübeck, was obliged to follow his example. On
all sides the scattered _débris_ of the army was destroyed, and on
October 27th Napoleon entered in triumph the city of Berlin, his first
entry into an enemy's capital.
[=Napoleon Divides the Spoils of Victory=]
The battle ended, the country occupied, the work of revenge of the
victor began. The Elector of Hesse was driven from his throne and his
country stricken from the list of the powers of Europe. Hanover and the
Hanseatic towns were occupied by the French. The English merchandise
found in ports and warehouses was seized and confiscated. A heavy war
contribution was laid upon the defeated state. Severe taxes were laid
upon Hamburg, Bremen and Leipzig, and from all the leading cities the
treasures of art and science were carried away to enrich the museums
and galleries of France.
Saxony, whose alliance with Prussia had been a forced one, was alone
spared. The Saxon prisoners were sent back free to their sovereign, and
the elector was granted a favorable peace and honored with the title
of king. In return for these favors he joined the Confederation of the
Rhine, and such was his gratitude to Napoleon that he remained his
friend and ally in the trying days when he had no other friend among
the powers of Europe.
The harsh measures of which we have spoken were not the only ones taken
by Napoleon against his enemies. England, the most implacable of his
foes, remained beyond his reach, mistress of the seas as he was lord
of the land. He could only meet the islanders upon their favorite
element, and in November 21, 1806, he sent from Berlin to Talleyrand,
his Minister of Foreign Affairs, a decree establishing a continental
embargo against Great Britain.
[=The Embargo on British Commerce=]
"The British Islanders," said this famous edict of reprisal, "are
declared in a state of blockade. All commerce and all correspondence
with them are forbidden." All letters or packets addressed to an
Englishman or written in English were to be seized; every English
subject found in any country controlled by France was to be made a
prisoner of war; all commerce in English merchandise was forbidden,
and all ships coming from England or her colonies were to be refused
admittance to any port.
It is hardly necessary to speak here of the distress caused, alike in
Europe and elsewhere, by this war upon commerce, in which England did
not fail to meet the harsh decrees of her opponent by others equally
severe. The effect of these edicts upon American commerce is well
known. The commerce of neutral nations was almost swept from the seas.
One result was the American war of 1812, which for a time seemed as
likely to be directed against France as Great Britain.
[=Frederick William a Fugitive in the Russian Camp=]
Meanwhile Frederick William of Prussia was a fugitive king. He refused
to accept the harsh terms of the armistice offered by Napoleon, and in
despair resolved to seek, with the remnant of his army, some 25,000 in
number, the Russian camp, and join his forces with those of Alexander
of Russia, still in arms against France.
Napoleon, not content while an enemy remained in arms, with inflexible
resolution resolved to make an end of all his adversaries, and meet in
battle the great empire of the north. The Russian armies then occupied
Poland, whose people, burning under the oppression and injustice to
which they had been subjected, gladly welcomed Napoleon's specious
offers to bring them back their lost liberties, and rose in his aid
when he marched his armies into their country.
Here the French found themselves exposed to unlooked-for privations.
They had dreamed of abundant stores of food, but discovered that the
country they had invaded was, in this wintry season, a desert; a series
of frozen solitudes incapable of feeding an army, and holding no reward
for them other than that of battle with and victory over the hardy
Russians.
[=The French in the Dreary Plains of Poland=]
Napoleon advanced to Warsaw, the Polish capital. The Russians were
entrenched behind the Narew and the Ukra. The French continued to
advance. The Russians were beaten and forced back in every battle,
several furious encounters took place, and Alexander's army fell
back upon the Pregel, intact and powerful still, despite the French
successes. The wintry chill and the character of the country seriously
interfered with Napoleon's plans, the troops being forced to make their
way through thick and rain-soaked forests, and march over desolate
and marshy plains. The winter of the north fought against them like
a strong army and many of them fell dead without a battle. Warlike
movements became almost impossible to the troops of the south, though
the hardy northerners, accustomed to the climate, continued their
military operations.
By the end of January the Russian army was evidently approaching in
force, and immediate action became necessary. The cold increased. The
mud was converted into ice. On January 30, 1807, Napoleon left Warsaw
and marched in search of the enemy. General Bennigsen retreated,
avoiding battle, and on the 7th of February entered the small town of
Eylau, from which his troops were pushed by the approaching French. He
encamped outside the town, the French in and about it; it was evident
that a great battle was at hand.
The weather was cold. Snow lay thick upon the ground and still fell in
great flakes. A sheet of ice covering some small lakes formed part of
the country upon which the armies were encamped, but was thick enough
to bear their weight. It was a chill, inhospitable country to which the
demon of war had come.
[Illustration: BATTLE OF EYLAU
The battle fought at Eylau, in East Prussia, February
8, 1807, between the Russians and French, was the most
indecisive engagement in Napoleon's career. Both sides
claimed victory, but the Russians retreated in the
night. A dense snowfall occurred during the battle,
and nearly led to the defeat of the French.]
[Illustration: BATTLE OF FRIEDLAND
The sanguinary engagement at Friedland, a small town
in East Prussia, fought on June 14, 1807, ended in the
defeat of the Russians under Bennigsen by Napoleon's
army. It lead to the Peace of Tilsit, and the end of
a long and desperate war.]
[=The Frightful Struggle at Eylau=]
Before daybreak on the 8th Napoleon was in the streets of Eylau,
forming his line of battle for the coming engagement. Soon the
artillery of both armies opened, and a rain of cannon balls began to
decimate the opposing ranks. The Russian fire was concentrated on the
town, which was soon in flames. That of the French was directed
against a hill which the emperor deemed it important to occupy. The
two armies, nearly equal in numbers,--the French having 75,000 to the
Russian 70,000,--were but a short distance apart, and the slaughter
from the fierce cannonade was terrible.
A series of movements on both sides began, Davout marching upon
the Russian flank and Augereau upon the centre, while the Russians
manoeuvred as if with a purpose to outflank the French on the left.
At this interval an unlooked-for obstacle interfered with the French
movements, a snow-fall beginning, which grew so dense that the armies
lost sight of each other, and vision was restricted to a few feet. In
this semi-darkness the French columns lost their way, and wandered
about uncertainly. For half an hour the snow continued to fall. When
it ceased the French army was in a critical position. Its cohesion was
lost; its columns were straggling about and incapable of supporting
one another; many of its superior officers were wounded. The Russians,
on the contrary, were on the point of executing a vigorous turning
movement, with 20,000 infantry, supported by cavalry and artillery.
"Are you going to let me be devoured by these people?" cried Napoleon
to Murat, his eagle eye discerning the danger.
[=Murat's Mighty Charge=]
He ordered a grand charge of all the cavalry of the army, consisting
of eighty squadrons. With Murat at their head, they rushed like an
avalanche on the Russian lines, breaking through the infantry and
dispersing the cavalry who came to its support. The Russian infantry
suffered severely from this charge, its two massive lines being rent
asunder, while the third fell back upon a wood in the rear. Finally
Davout, whose movement had been hindered by the weather, reached the
Russian rear, and in an impetuous charge drove them from the hilly
ground which Napoleon wished to occupy.
The battle seemed lost to the Russians. They began a retreat, leaving
the ground strewn thickly with their dead and wounded. But at this
critical moment a Prussian force, some 8,000 strong, which was being
pursued by Marshal Ney, arrived on the field and checked the French
advance and the Russian retreat. Benningsen regained sufficient
confidence to prepare for final attack, when he was advised of the
approach of Ney, who was two or three hours behind the Prussians. At
this discouraging news a final retreat was ordered.
[=The Cost of Victory Frightful=]
The French were left masters of the field, though little attempt was
made to pursue the menacing columns of the enemy, who withdrew in
military array. It was a victory that came near being a defeat, and
which, indeed, both sides claimed. Never before had Napoleon been so
stubbornly withstood. His success had been bought at a frightful cost,
and Königsberg, the old Prussian capital, the goal of his march, was
still covered by the compact columns of the allies. The men were in no
condition to pursue. Food was wanting, and they were without shelter
from the wintry chill. Ney surveyed the terrible scene with eyes of
gloom. "What a massacre," he exclaimed; "and without result."
So severe was the exhaustion on both sides from this great battle that
it was four months before hostilities were resumed. Meanwhile Danzig,
which had been strongly besieged, surrendered, and more than 30,000 men
were released to reinforce the French army. Negotiations for peace went
slowly on, without result, and it was June before hostilities again
became imminent.
Eylau, which now became Napoleon's headquarters, presented a very
different aspect at this season from that of four months before. Then
all was wintry desolation; now the country presented a beautiful scene
of green woodland, shining lakes, and attractive villages. The light
corps of the army were in motion in various directions, their object
being to get between the Russians and their magazines and cut off
retreat to Königsberg. On June 13th Napoleon, with the main body of
his army, marched towards Friedland, a town on the River Alle, in the
vicinity of Königsberg, towards which the Russians were marching. Here,
crossing the Alle, Benningsen drove from the town a regiment of French
hussars which had occupied it, and fell with all his force on the corps
of Marshal Lannes, which alone had reached the field.
[=Napoleon on the Field of Friedland=]
Lannes held his ground with his usual heroic fortitude, while sending
successive messengers for aid to the emperor. Noon had passed when
Napoleon and his staff reached the field at full gallop, far in advance
of the troops. He surveyed the field with eyes of hope. "It is the 14th
of June, the anniversary of Marengo," he said; "it is a lucky day for
us."
"Give me only a reinforcement," cried Oudinot, "and we will cast all
the Russians into the water."
This seemed possible. Bennigsen's troops were perilously concentrated
within a bend of the river. Some of the French generals advised
deferring the battle till the next day, as the hour was late, but
Napoleon was too shrewd to let an advantage escape him.
"No," he said, "one does not surprise the enemy twice in such a
blunder." He swept with his field-glass the masses of the enemy before
him, then seized the arm of Marshal Ney. "You see the Russians and the
town of Friedland," he said. "March straight forward; seize the town;
take the bridges, whatever it may cost. Do not trouble yourself with
what is taking place around you. Leave that to me and the army."
The troops were coming in rapidly, and marching to the places assigned
them. The hours moved on. It was half-past five in the afternoon when
the cannon sounded the signal of the coming fray.
[=The Assault of the Indomitable Ney=]
Meanwhile Ney's march upon Friedland had begun. A terrible fire from
the Russians swept his ranks as he advanced. Aided by cavalry and
artillery, he reached a stream defended by the Russian Imperial Guard.
Before those picked troops the French recoiled in temporary disorder;
but the division of General Dupont, marching briskly up, broke the
Russian guard, and the pursuing French rushed into the town. In a short
time it was in flames and the fugitive Russians were cut off from the
bridges, which were seized and set on fire.
[=The Total Defeat of the Russians=]
The Russians made a vigorous effort to recover their lost ground,
General Gortschakoff endeavoring to drive the French from the town, and
other corps making repeated attacks on the French centre. All their
efforts were in vain. The French columns continued to advance. By ten
o'clock the battle was at an end. Many of the Russians had been drowned
in the stream, and the field was covered with their dead, whose numbers
were estimated by the boastful French bulletins at 15,000 or 18,000
men, while they made the improbable claim of having lost no more than
500 dead. Königsberg, the prize of victory, was quickly occupied by
Marshal Soult, and yielded the French a vast quantity of food, and a
large store of military supplies which had been sent from England for
Russian use. The King of Prussia had lost the whole of his possessions
with the exception of the single town of Memel.
[=The Emperors at Tilsit and the Fate of Prussia=]
Victorious as Napoleon had been, he had found the Russians no
contemptible foes. At Eylau he had come nearer defeat than ever before
in his career. He was quite ready, therefore, to listen to overtures
for peace, and early in July a notable interview took place between
him and the Czar of Russia at Tilsit, on the Niemen, the two emperors
meeting on a raft in the centre of the stream. What passed between them
is not known. Some think that they arranged for a division of Europe
between their respective empires, Alexander taking all the east and
Napoleon all the west. However that was, the treaty of peace, signed
July 8th, was a disastrous one for the defeated Prussian king, who
was punished for his temerity in seeking to fight Napoleon alone by
the loss of more than half his kingdom, while in addition a heavy war
indemnity was laid upon his depleted realms.
He was forced to yield all the countries between the Rhine and the
Elbe, to consent to the establishment of a dukedom of Warsaw, under
the supremacy of the king of Saxony, and to the loss of Danzig and the
surrounding territory, which were converted into a free State. A new
kingdom, named Westphalia, was founded by Napoleon, made up of the
territory taken from Prussia and the states of Hesse, Brunswick and
South Hanover. His youngest brother, Jerome Bonaparte, was made its
king. It was a further step in his policy of founding a western empire.
Louisa, the beautiful and charming queen of Frederick William, sought
Tilsit, hoping by the seduction of her beauty and grace of address to
induce Napoleon to mitigate his harsh terms. But in vain she brought
to bear upon him all the resources of her intellect and her attractive
charm of manner. He continued cold and obdurate, and she left Tilsit
deeply mortified and humiliated.
[=Denmark and Sweden=]
In northern Europe only one enemy of Napoleon remained. Sweden retained
its hostility to France, under the fanatical enmity of Gustavus
IV., who believed himself the instrument appointed by Providence to
reinstate the Bourbon monarchs upon their thrones. Denmark, which
refused to ally itself with England, was visited by a British fleet,
which bombarded Copenhagen and carried off all the Danish ships of war,
an outrage which brought this kingdom into close alliance with France.
The war in Sweden must have ended in the conquest of that country, had
not the people revolted and dethroned their obstinate king. Charles
XIII., his uncle, was placed on the throne, but was induced to adopt
Napoleon's marshal Bernadotte as his son. The latter, as crown prince,
practically succeeded the incapable king in 1810.
[=The Pope a Captive at Fontainebleau=]
Events followed each other rapidly. Napoleon, in his desire to add
kingdom after kingdom to his throne, invaded Portugal and interfered
in the affairs of Spain, from whose throne he removed the last of
the Bourbon kings, replacing him by his brother, Joseph Bonaparte.
The result was a revolt of the Spanish people which all his efforts
proved unable to quell, aided, as they were eventually, by the
power of England. In Italy his intrigues continued. Marshal Murat
succeeded Joseph Bonaparte on the throne of Naples. Eliza, Napoleon's
sister, was made queen of Tuscany. The temporal sovereignty of the
Pope was seriously interfered with and finally, in 1809, the pontiff
was forcibly removed from Rome and the states of the Church were
added to the French territory, Pius VII., the pope, was eventually
brought to France and obliged to reside at Fontainebleau, where he
persistently refused to yield to Napoleon's wishes or perform any act
of ecclesiastical authority while held in captivity.
These various arbitrary acts had their natural result, that of active
hostility. The Austrians beheld them with growing indignation, and
at length grew so exasperated that, despite their many defeats, they
decided again to dare the power and genius of the conqueror. In April,
1809, the Vienna Cabinet once more declared war against France and
made all haste to put its armies in the field. Stimulated by this, a
revolt broke out in the Tyrol, the simple-minded but brave and sturdy
mountaineers gathering under the leadership of Andreas Hofer, a man of
authority among them, and welcoming the Austrian troops sent to their
aid.
[=Andreas Hofer and the War in the Tyrol=]
As regards this war in the Tyrol, there is no need here to go into
details. It must suffice to say that the bold peasantry, aided by the
natural advantages of their mountain land, for a time freed themselves
from French dominion, to the astonishment and admiration of Europe.
But their freedom was of brief duration, fresh troops were poured into
the country, and though the mountaineers won more than one victory,
they proved no match for the power of their foes. Their country was
conquered, and Hofer, their brave leader, was taken by the French and
remorselessly put to death by the order of Napoleon.
[=The Army of Napoleon Marches Upon Austria=]
The struggle in the Tyrol was merely a side issue in the new war with
Austria, which was conducted on Napoleon's side with his usual celerity
of movement. The days when soldiers are whisked forward at locomotive
speed had not yet dawned, yet the French troops made extraordinary
progress on foot, and war was barely declared before the army of
Napoleon covered Austria. This army was no longer made up solely of
Frenchmen. The Confederation of the Rhine practically formed part of
Napoleon's empire, and Germans now fought side by side with Frenchmen;
Marshal Lefebvre leading the Bavarians, Bernadotte the Saxons, Augereau
the men of Baden, Wurtemberg, and Hesse. On the other hand, the
Austrians were early in motion, and by the 10th of April the Archduke
Charles had crossed the Inn with his army and the King of Bavaria,
Napoleon's ally, was in flight from his capital.
The quick advance of the Austrians had placed the French army in
danger. Spread out over an extent of twenty-five leagues, it ran
serious risk of being cut in two by the rapidly marching troops of
the Archduke. Napoleon, who reached the front on the 17th, was not
slow to perceive the peril and to take steps of prevention. A hasty
concentration of his forces was ordered and vigorously begun.
"Never was there need for more rapidity of movement than now," he wrote
to Massena. "Activity, activity, speed!"
[=A Grave Peril Overcome=]
Speed was the order of the day. The French generals ably seconded the
anxious activity of their chief. The soldiers fairly rushed together. A
brief hesitation robbed the Austrians of the advantage which they had
hoped to gain. The Archduke Charles, one of the ablest tacticians ever
opposed to Napoleon, had the weakness of over-prudence, and caution
robbed him of the opportunity given him by the wide dispersion of the
French.
[=The Battle of Eckmühl and the Capture of Ratisbon=]
He was soon and severely punished for his slowness. On the 19th
Davout defeated the Austrians at Fangen and made a junction with the
Bavarians. On the 20th and 21st Napoleon met and defeated them in a
series of engagements. Meanwhile the Archduke Charles fell on Ratisbon,
held by a single French regiment, occupied that important place, and
attacked Davout at Eckmühl. Here a furious battle took place. Davout,
outnumbered, maintained his position for three days. Napoleon, warned
of the peril of his marshal, bade him to hold on to the death, as
he was hastening to his relief with 40,000 men. The day was well
advanced when the emperor came up and fell with his fresh troops on
the Austrians, who, still bravely fighting, were forced back upon
Ratisbon. During the night the Archduke wisely withdrew and marched for
Bohemia, where a large reinforcement awaited him. On the 23d Napoleon
attacked the town, and carried it in spite of a vigorous defence. His
proclamation to his soldiers perhaps overestimated the prizes of this
brief but active campaign, which he declared to be a hundred cannon,
forty flags, all the enemy's artillery, 50,000 prisoners, a large
number of wagons, etc. Half this loss would have fully justified the
Archduke's retreat.
[=The Campaign In Italy=]
In Italy affairs went differently. Prince Eugene Beauharnais, for
the first time in command of a French army, found himself opposed by
the Archduke John, and met with a defeat. On April 16th, seeking to
retrieve his disaster, he attacked the Archduke, but the Austrians
bravely held their positions, and the French were again obliged to
retreat. General Macdonald, an officer of tried ability, now joined
the prince, who took up a defensive position on the Adige, whither the
Austrians marched. On the 1st of May Macdonald perceived among them
indications of withdrawal from their position.
"Victory in Germany!" he shouted to the prince. "Now is our time for a
forward march!"
He was correct, the Archduke John had been recalled in haste to aid his
brother in the defence of Vienna, on which the French were advancing in
force.
The campaign now became a race for the capital of Austria. During its
progress several conflicts took place, in each of which the French
won. The city was defended by the Archduke Maximilian with an army of
over 15,000 men, but he found it expedient to withdraw, and on the
13th the troops of Napoleon occupied the place. Meanwhile Charles had
concentrated his troops and was marching hastily towards the opposite
side of the Danube, whither his brother John was advancing from Italy.
It was important for Napoleon to strike a blow before this junction
could be made. He resolved to cross the Danube in the suburbs of the
capital itself, and attack the Austrians before they were reinforced.
In the vicinity of Vienna the channel of the river is broken by many
islets. At the island of Lobau, the point chosen for the attempt, the
river is broad and deep, but Lobau is separated from the opposite bank
by only a narrow branch, while two smaller islets offered themselves as
aids in the construction of bridges, there being four channels, over
each of which a bridge was thrown.
[=The Bridges over the Danube=]
The work was a difficult one. The Danube, swollen by the melting
snows, imperilled the bridges, erected with difficulty and braced by
insufficient cordage. But despite this peril the crossing began, and on
May 20th Marshal Massena reached the other side and posted his troops
in the two villages of Aspern and Essling, and along a deep ditch that
connected them.
As yet only the vanguard of the Austrians had arrived. Other corps soon
appeared, and by the afternoon of the 21st the entire army, from 70,000
to 80,000 strong, faced the French, still only half their number, and
in a position of extreme peril, for the bridge over the main channel of
the river had broken during the night, and the crossing was cut off in
its midst.
Napoleon, however, was straining every nerve to repair the bridge, and
Massena and Lannes, in command of the advance, fought like men fighting
for their lives. The Archduke Charles, the ablest soldier Napoleon had
yet encountered, hurled his troops in masses upon Aspern, which covered
the bridge to Lobau. Several times it was taken and retaken, but the
French held on with a death grip, all the strength of the Austrians
seeming insufficient to break the hold of Lannes upon Essling. An
advance in force, which nearly cut the communication between the two
villages, was checked by an impetuous cavalry charge, and night fell,
leaving the situation unchanged.
At dawn of the next day more than 70,000 French had crossed the stream;
Marshal Davout's corps, with part of the artillery and most of the
ammunition, being still on the right bank. At this critical moment the
large bridge, against which the Austrians had sent fireships, boats
laden with stone and other floating missiles, broke for the third time,
and the engineers of the French army were again forced to the most
strenuous and hasty exertions for its repair.
[=The Great Struggle of Essling and Aspern=]
[=Napoleon Forced to his First Retreat=]
The struggle of the day that had just begun was one of extraordinary
valor and obstinacy. Men went down in multitudes; now the Austrians,
now the French, were repulsed; the Austrians, impetuously assailed,
slowly fell back; and Lannes was preparing for a vigorous movement
designed to pierce their centre, when word was brought Napoleon that
the great bridge had again yielded to the floating _débris_, carrying
with it a regiment of cuirassiers, and cutting off the supply of
ammunition. Lannes was at once ordered to fall back upon the villages,
and simultaneously the Austrians made a powerful assault on the French
centre, which was checked with great difficulty. Five times the charge
was renewed, and though the enemy was finally repelled, it became
evident that Napoleon, for the first time in his career, had met with a
decided check. Night fell at length, and reluctantly he gave the order
to retreat. He had lost more than a battle, he had lost the brilliant
soldier Lannes, who fell with a mortal wound. Back to the island
of Lobau marched the French; Massena, in charge of the rear-guard,
bringing over the last regiments in safety. More than 40,000 men lay
dead and wounded on that fatal field, which remained in Austrian
hands. Napoleon, at last, was obliged to acknowledge a repulse, if not
a defeat, and the nations of Europe held up their heads with renewed
hope. It had been proved that the Corsican was not invincible.
Some of Napoleon's generals, deeply disheartened, advised an immediate
retreat, but the emperor had no thought of such a movement. It would
have brought a thousand disasters in its train. On the contrary, he
held the island of Lobau with a strong force, and brought all his
resources to bear on the construction of a bridge that would defy the
current of the stream. At the same time reinforcements were hurried
forward, until by the 1st of July, he had around Vienna an army of
150,000 men. The Austrians had probably from 135,000 to 140,000. The
archduke had, moreover, strongly fortified the positions of the recent
battle, expecting the attack upon them to be resumed.
[Illustration: THE ORDER TO CHARGE AT FRIEDLAND
At the decisive battle of Friedland, the Russian army
was incautiously drawn up within a loop of the river.
Napoleon was quick to perceive their mistake, and in
a terrible charge he carried the town, burned the
bridges, and then used his whole army to drive the
Russians into the stream.]
[Illustration: NAPOLEON AND THE QUEEN OF PRUSSIA AT TILSIT
(FROM THE PAINTING BY GROS)
Tilsit is a city of about 25,000 inhabitants in Eastern
Prussia. Here the Treaty of Peace between the French
and Russian Emperors and also between France and
Prussia was signed in July, 1807.]
[=The Second Crossing of the Danube=]
Napoleon had no such intention. He had selected the heights ranging
from Neusiedl to Wagram, strongly occupied by the Austrians, but not
fortified, as his point of attack, and on the night of July 4th bridges
were thrown from the island of Lobau to the mainland, and the army
which had been gathering for several days on the island began its
advance. It moved as a whole against the heights of Wagram, occupying
Aspern and Essling in its advance.
[=The Victory at Wagram=]
The great battle began on the succeeding day. It was hotly contested
at all points, but attention may be confined to the movement against
the plateau of Wagram, which had been entrusted to Marshal Davout.
The height was gained after a desperate struggle; the key of the
battlefield was held by the French; the Austrians, impetuously assailed
at every point, and driven from every point of vantage, began a
retreat. The Archduke Charles had anxiously looked for the coming of
his brother John, with the army under his command. He waited in vain,
the laggard prince failed to appear, and retreat became inevitable. The
battle had already lasted ten hours, and the French held all the strong
points of the field; but the Austrians withdrew slowly and in battle
array, presenting a front that discouraged any effort to pursue. There
was nothing resembling a rout.
The Archduke Charles retreated to Bohemia. His forces were dispersed
during the march, but he had 70,000 men with him when Napoleon reached
his front at Znaim, on the road to Prague, on the 11th of July. Further
hostilities were checked by a request for a truce, preliminary to a
peace. The battle, already begun, was stopped, and during the night
an armistice was signed. The vigor of the Austrian resistance and the
doubtful attitude of the other powers made Napoleon willing enough to
treat for terms.
[=The Peace of Vienna=]
The peace, which was finally signed at Vienna, October 14, 1809,
took from Austria 50,000 square miles of territory and 3,000,000
inhabitants, together with a war contribution of $85,000,000, while
her army was restricted to 150,000 men. The overthrow of the several
outbreaks which had taken place in north Germany, the defeat of a
British expedition against Antwerp, and the suppression of the revolt
in the Tyrol, ended all organized opposition to Napoleon, who was once
more master of the European situation.
Raised by this signal success to the summit of his power, lord
paramount of Western Europe, only one thing remained to trouble the
mind of the victorious emperor. His wife, Josephine, was childless; his
throne threatened to be left without an heir. Much as he had seemed
to love his wife, the companion of his early days, when he was an
unknown and unconsidered subaltern, seeking humbly enough for military
employment in Paris, yet ambition and the thirst for glory were always
the ruling passions in his nature, and had now grown so dominant as to
throw love and wifely devotion utterly into the shade. He resolved to
set aside his wife and seek a new bride among the princesses of Europe,
hoping in this way to leave an heir of his own blood as successor to
his imperial throne.
Negotiations were entered into with the courts of Europe to obtain a
daughter of one of the proud royal houses as the spouse of the plebeian
emperor of France. No maiden of less exalted rank than a princess of
the imperial families of Russia or Austria was high enough to meet
the ambitious aims of this proud lord of battles, and negotiations
were entered into with both, ending in the selection of Maria Louisa,
daughter of the Emperor Francis of Austria, who did not venture to
refuse a demand for his daughter's hand from the master of half his
dominions.
[=The Divorce of Josephine and Marriages of Maria
Louisa=]
Napoleon was not long in finding a plea for setting aside the wife
of his days of poverty and obscurity. A defect in the marriage was
alleged, and the transparent farce went on. The divorce of Josephine
has awakened the sympathy of a century. It was, indeed, a piteous
example of state-craft, and there can be no doubt that Napoleon
suffered in his heart while yielding to the dictates of his unbridled
ambition. The marriage with Maria Louisa, on the 2d of April, 1810, was
conducted with all possible pomp and display, no less than five queens
carrying the train of the bride in the august ceremony. The purpose of
the marriage did not fail; the next year a son was born to Napoleon.
But this imperial youth, who was dignified with the title of King of
Rome, was destined to an inglorious life, as an unconsidered tenant of
the gilded halls of his imperial grandfather of Austria.