MARENGO: LUNÉVILLE
Reserving for the next chapter a description of the new civil
institutions of France, it will be convenient now to turn to foreign
affairs. Having arranged the most urgent of domestic questions, the
First Consul was ready to encounter the forces of the Second
Coalition. He had already won golden opinions in France by
endeavouring peacefully to dissolve it. On the 25th of December, 1799,
he sent two courteous letters, one to George III., the other to the
Emperor Francis, proposing an immediate end to the war. The close of
the letter to George III. has been deservedly admired: "France and
England by the abuse of their strength may, for the misfortune of all
nations, be long in exhausting it: but I venture to declare that the
fate of all civilized nations is concerned in the termination of a war
which kindles a conflagration over the whole world." This noble
sentiment touched the imagination of France and of friends of peace
everywhere.
And yet, if the circumstances of the time be considered, the first
agreeable impressions aroused by the perusal of this letter must be
clouded over by doubts. The First Consul had just seized on power by
illegal and forcible means, and there was as yet little to convince
foreign States that he would hold it longer than the men whom he had
displaced. Moreover, France was in a difficult position. Her treasury
was empty; her army in Italy was being edged into the narrow
coast-line near Genoa; and her oriental forces were shut up in their
new conquest. Were not the appeals to Austria and England merely a
skillful device to gain time? Did his past power in Italy and Egypt
warrant the belief that he would abandon the peninsula and the new
colony? Could the man who had bartered away Venetia and seized Malta
and Egypt be fitly looked upon as the sacred'r peacemaker? In
diplomacy men's words are interpreted by their past conduct and
present circumstances, neither of which tended to produce confidence
in Bonaparte's pacific overtures; and neither Francis nor George III.
looked on the present attempt as anything but a skilful means of
weakening the Coalition.
Indeed, that league was, for various reasons, all but dissolved by
internal dissensions. Austria was resolved to keep all the eastern
part of Piedmont and the greater part of the Genoese Republic. While
welcoming the latter half of this demand, George III.'s Ministers
protested against the absorption of so great a part of Piedmont as an
act of cruel injustice to the King of Sardinia. Austria was annoyed at
the British remonstrances and was indignant at the designs of the Czar
on Corsica. Accordingly no time could have been better chosen by
Bonaparte for seeking to dissolve the Coalition, as he certainly hoped
to do by these two letters. Only the staunch support of legitimist
claims by England then prevented the Coalition from degenerating into
a scramble for Italian territories.[137] And, if we may trust the
verdict of contemporaries and his own confession at St. Helena,
Bonaparte never expected any other result from these letters than an
increase of his popularity in France. This was enhanced by the British
reply, which declared that His Majesty could not place his reliance on
"general professions of pacific dispositions": France had waged
aggressive war, levied exactions, and overthrown institutions in
neighbouring States; and the British Government could not as yet
discern any abandonment of this system: something more was required
for a durable peace: "The best and most natural pledge of its reality
and permanence would be the restoration of that line of princes which
for so many centuries maintained the French nation in prosperity at
home and in consideration and respect abroad." This answer has been
sharply criticised, and justly so, if its influence on public opinion
be alone considered. But a perusal of the British Foreign Office
Records reveals the reason for the use of these stiffly legitimist
claims. Legitimacy alone promised to stop the endless shiftings of the
political kaleidoscope, whether by France, Austria, or Russia. Our
ambassador at Vienna was requested to inform the Government of Vienna
of the exact wording of the British reply:
"As a proof of the zeal and steadiness with which His Majesty
adheres to the principles of the Confederacy, and as a testimony of
the confidence with which he anticipates a similar answer from His
Imperial Majesty, to whom an overture of a similar nature has
without doubt been made."
But this correct conduct, while admirably adapted to prop up the
tottering Coalition, was equally favourable to the consolidation of
Bonaparte's power. It helped to band together the French people to
resist the imposition of their exiled royal house by external force.
Even George III. thought it "much too strong," though he suggested no
alteration. At once Bonaparte retorted in a masterly note; he
ironically presumed that His Britannic Majesty admitted the right of
nations to choose their form of government, since only by that right
did he wear the British crown; and he invited him not to apply to
other peoples a principle which would recall the Stuarts to the throne
of Great Britain.
Bonaparte's diplomatic game was completely won during the debates on
the King's speech at Westminster at the close of January, 1800. Lord
Grenville laboriously proved that peace was impossible with a nation
whose war was against all order, religion, and morality; and he cited
examples of French lawlessness from Holland and Switzerland to Malta
and Egypt. Pitt declared that the French Revolution was the severest
trial which Providence had ever yet inflicted on the nations of the
earth; and, claiming that there was no security in negotiating with
France, owing to her instability, he summed up his case in the
Ciceronian phrase: _Pacem nolo quia infida_. Ministers carried the day
by 260 votes to 64; but they ranged nearly the whole of France on the
side of the First Consul. No triumph in the field was worth more to
him than these Philippics, which seemed to challenge France to build
up a strong Government in order that the Court of St. James might find
some firm foundation for future negotiations.
Far more dextrous was the conduct of the Austrian diplomatists.
Affecting to believe in the sincerity of the First Consul's proposal
for peace, they so worded their note as to draw from him a reply that
he was prepared to discuss terms of peace on the basis of the Treaty
of Campo Formio.[138] As Austria had since then conquered the greater
part of Italy, Bonaparte's reply immediately revealed his
determination to reassert French supremacy in Italy and the Rhineland.
The action of the Courts of Vienna and London was not unlike that of
the sun and the wind in the proverbial saw. Viennese suavity induced
Bonaparte to take off his coat and show himself as he really was:
while the conscientious bluster of Grenville and Pitt made the First
Consul button up his coat, and pose as the buffeted peacemaker.
The allies had good grounds for confidence. Though Russia had
withdrawn from the Second Coalition yet the Austrians continued their
victorious advance in Italy. In April, 1800, they severed the French
forces near Savona, driving back Suchet's corps towards Nice, while
the other was gradually hemmed in behind the redoubts of Genoa. There
the Imperialist advance was stoutly stayed. Masséna, ably seconded by
Oudinot and Soult, who now gained their first laurels as generals,
maintained a most obstinate resistance, defying alike the assaults of
the white-coats, the bombs hurled by the English squadron, and the
deadlier inroads of famine and sickness. The garrison dwindled by
degrees to less than 10,000 effectives, but they kept double the
number of Austrians there, while Bonaparte was about to strike a
terrible blow against their rear and that of Melas further west. It
was for this that the First Consul urged Masséna to hold out at Genoa
to the last extremity, and nobly was the order obeyed.
Suchet meanwhile defended the line of the River Var against Melas. In
Germany, Moreau with his larger forces slowly edged back the chief
Austrian army, that of General Kray, from the defiles of the Black
Forest, compelling it to fall back on the intrenched camp at Ulm.
On their side, the Austrians strove to compel Masséna to a speedy
surrender, and then with a large force to press on into Nice,
Provence, and possibly Savoy, surrounding Suchet's force, and rousing
the French royalists of the south to a general insurrection. They also
had the promise of the help of a British force, which was to be landed
at some point on the coast and take Suchet in the flank or rear.[139]
Such was the plan, daring in outline and promising great things,
provided that everything went well. If Masséna surrendered, if the
British War Office and Admiralty worked up to time, if the winds were
favourable, and if the French royalists again ventured on a revolt,
then France would be crippled, perhaps conquered. As for the French
occupation of Switzerland and Moreau's advance into Swabia, that was
not to prevent the prosecution of the original Austrian plan of
advancing against Provence and wresting Nice and Savoy from the French
grasp. This scheme has been criticised as if it were based solely on
military considerations; but it was rather dictated by schemes of
political aggrandizement. The conquest of Nice and Savoy was necessary
to complete the ambitious schemes of the Hapsburgs, who sought to gain
a large part of Piedmont at the expense of the King of Sardinia, and
after conquering Savoy and Nice, to thrust that unfortunate king to
the utmost verge of the peninsula, which the prowess of his
descendants has ultimately united under the Italian tricolour.
The allied plan sinned against one of the elementary rules of
strategy; it exposed a large force to a blow from the rear, namely,
from Switzerland. The importance of this immensely strong central
position early attracted Bonaparte's attention. On the 17th of March
he called his secretary, Bourrienne (so the latter states), and lay
down with him on a map of Piedmont: then, placing pins tipped, some
with red, others with black wax, so as to denote the positions of the
troops, he asked him to guess where the French would beat their foes:
"How the devil should I know?" said Bourrienne. "Why, look here,
you fool," said the First Consul: "Melas is at Alessandria with his
headquarters. There he will remain until Genoa surrenders. He has
at Alessandria his magazines, his hospitals, his artillery, his
reserves. Crossing the Alps here (at the Great St. Bernard), I
shall fall upon Melas, cut off his communications with Austria, and
meet him here in the plains of the River Scrivia at San Giuliano."
I quote this passage as showing how readily such stories of ready-made
plans gain credence, until they come to be tested by Napoleon's
correspondence. There we find no strategic soothsaying, but only a
close watching of events as they develop day by day. In March and
April he kept urging on Moreau the need of an early advance, while he
considered the advantages offered by the St. Gotthard, Simplon, and
Great St. Bernard passes for his own army. On April 27th he decided
against the first (except for a detachment), because Moreau's advance
was too slow to safeguard his rear on that route. He now preferred the
Great St. Bernard, but still doubted whether, after crossing, he
should make for Milan, or strike at Masséna's besiegers, in case that
general should be very hard pressed. Like all great commanders, he
started with a general plan, but he arranged the details as the
situation required. In his letter of May 19th, he poured scorn on
Parisian editors who said he prophesied that in a month he would be at
Milan. "That is not in my character. Very often I do _not_ say what I
know: but never do I say what will be."
The better to hide his purpose, he chose as his first base of
operations the city of Dijon, whence he seemed to threaten either the
Swabian or the Italian army of his foes. But this was not enough. At
the old Burgundian capital he assembled his staff and a few regiments
of conscripts in order to mislead the English and Austrian spies;
while the fighting battalions were drafted by diverse routes to Geneva
or Lausanne. So skilful were these preparations that, in the early
days of May, the greater part of his men and stores were near the lake
of Geneva, whence they were easily transferred to the upper valley of
the Rhone. In order that he might have a methodical, hard-working
coadjutor he sent Berthier from the office of the Ministry of War,
where he had displayed less ability than Bernadotte, to be
commander-in-chief of the "army of reserve." In reality Berthier was,
as before in Italy and Egypt, chief of the staff; but he had the
titular dignity of commander which the constitution of 1800 forbade
the First Consul to assume.
On May 6th Bonaparte left Paris for Geneva, where he felt the pulse of
every movement in both campaigns. At that city, on hearing the report
of his general of engineers, he decided to take the Great St. Bernard
route into Italy, as against the Simplon. With redoubled energy, he
now supervised the thousands of details that were needed to insure
success: for, while prone to indulging in grandiose schemes, he
revelled in the work which alone could bring them within his grasp:
or, as Wellington once remarked, "Nothing was too great or too small
for his proboscis." The difficulties of sending a large army over the
Great St. Bernard were indeed immense. That pass was chosen because it
presented only five leagues of ground impracticable for carriages. But
those five leagues tested the utmost powers of the army and of its
chiefs. Marmont, who commanded the artillery, had devised the
ingenious plan of taking the cannon from their carriages and placing
them in the hollowed-out trunks of pine, so that the trunnions fitting
into large notches kept them steady during the ascent over the snow
and the still more difficult descent.[140] The labour of dragging the
guns wore out the peasants; then the troops were invited--a hundred at
a time--to take a turn at the ropes, and were exhilarated by martial
airs played by the bands, or by bugles and drums sounding the charge
at the worst places of the ascent.
The track sometimes ran along narrow ledges where a false step meant
death, or where avalanches were to be feared. The elements, however,
were propitious, and the losses insignificant. This was due to many
causes: the ardour of the troops in an enterprise which appealed to
French imagination and roused all their activities; the friendliness
of the mountaineers; and the organizing powers of Bonaparte and of his
staff; all these may be cited as elements of success. They present a
striking contrast to the march of Hannibal's army over one of the
western passes of the Alps. His motley host struggled over a long
stretch of mountains in the short days of October over unknown paths,
in one part swept away by a fall of the cliff, and ever and anon beset
by clouds of treacherous Gauls. Seeing that the great Carthaginian's
difficulties began long before he reached the Alps, that he was
encumbered by elephants, and that his army was composed of diverse
races held together only by trust in the prowess of their chief, his
exploit was far more wonderful than that of Bonaparte, which, indeed,
more nearly resembles the crossing of the St. Bernard by Francis I. in
1515. The difference between the conditions of Hannibal's and
Bonaparte's enterprises may partly be measured by the time which they
occupied. Whereas Hannibal's march across the Alps lasted fifteen
days, three of which were spent in the miseries of a forced halt
amidst the snow, the First Consul's forces took but seven days.
Whereas the Carthaginian army was weakened by hunger, the French
carried their full rations of biscuit; and at the head of the pass the
monks of the Hospice of St. Bernard served out the rations of bread,
cheese, and wine which the First Consul had forwarded, and which their
own generosity now doubled. The hospitable fathers themselves served
at the tables set up in front of the Hospice.
After insuring the regular succession of troops and stores, Bonaparte
himself began the ascent on May 20th. He wore the gray overcoat which
had already become famous; and his features were fixed in that
expression of calm self-possession which he ever maintained in face of
difficulty. The melodramatic attitudes of horse and rider, which David
has immortalized in his great painting, are, of course, merely
symbolical of the genius of militant democracy prancing over natural
obstacles and wafted onwards and upwards by the breath of victory. The
living figure was remarkable only for stern self-restraint and
suppressed excitement; instead of the prancing war-horse limned by
David, his beast of burden was a mule, led by a peasant; and, in place
of victory, he had heard that Lannes with the vanguard had found an
unexpected obstacle to his descent into Italy. The narrow valley of
the Dora Baltea, by which alone they could advance, was wellnigh
blocked by the fort of Bard, which was firmly held by a small Austrian
garrison and defied all the efforts of Lannes and Berthier. This was
the news that met the First Consul during his ascent, and again at the
Hospice. After accepting the hospitality of the monks, and spending a
short time in the library and chapel, he resumed his journey; and on
the southern slopes he and his staff now and again amused themselves
by sliding down the tracks which the passage of thousands of men had
rendered slippery. After halting at Aosta, he proceeded down the
valley to the fort of Bard.
Meanwhile some of his foot-soldiers had worked their way round this
obstacle by a goat-track among the hills and had already reached Ivrea
lower down the valley. Still the fort held out against the cannonade
of the French. Its commanding position seemed to preclude all hope of
getting the artillery past it; and without artillery the First Consul
could not hope for success in the plains of Piedmont. Unable to
capture the fort, he bethought him of hurrying by night the now
remounted guns under the cover of the houses of the village. For this
purpose he caused the main street to be strewn with straw and dung,
while the wheels of the cannon were covered over so as to make little
noise. They were then dragged quietly through the village almost
within pistol shot of the garrison: nevertheless, the defenders took
alarm, and, firing with musketry and grenades, exploded some
ammunition wagons and inflicted other losses; yet 40 guns and 100
wagons were got past the fort.
How this unfailing resource contrasts with the heedless behaviour of
the enemy! Had they speedily reinforced their detachment at Bard,
there can be little doubt that Bonaparte's movements could have been
seriously hampered. But, up to May 21st, Melas was ignorant that his
distant rear was being assailed, and the 3,000 Austrians who guarded
the vale of the Dora Baltea were divided, part being at Bard and
others at Ivrea. The latter place was taken by a rush of Lannes'
troops on May 22nd, and Bard was blockaded by part of the French
rearguard.
Bonaparte's army, if the rearguard be included, numbered 41,000 men.
Meanwhile, farther east, a French force of 15,000 men, drawn partly
from Moreau's army and led by Moncey, was crossing the St. Gotthard
pass and began to drive back the Austrian outposts in the upper valley
of the Ticino; and 5,000 men, marching over the Mont Cenis pass,
threatened Turin from the west. The First Consul's aim now was to
unite the two chief forces, seize the enemy's magazines, and compel
him to a complete surrender. This daring resolve took shape at Aosta
on the 24th, when he heard that Melas was, on the 19th, still at Nice,
unconscious of his doom. The chance of ending the war at one blow was
not to be missed, even if Masséna had to shift for himself.
But already Melas' dream of triumph had vanished. On the 21st, hearing
the astonishing news that a large force had crossed the St. Bernard,
he left 18,000 men to oppose Suchet on the Var, and hurried back with
the remainder to Turin. At the Piedmontese capital he heard that he
had to deal with the First Consul; but not until the last day of May
did he know that Moncey was forcing the St. Gotthard and threatening
Milan. Then, realizing the full extent of his danger, he hastily
called in all the available troops in order to fight his way through
to Mantua. He even sent an express to the besiegers of Genoa to retire
on Alessandria; but negotiations had been opened with Masséna for the
surrender of that stronghold, and the opinion of Lord Keith, the
English admiral, decided the Austrian commander there to press the
siege to the very end. The city was in the direst straits. Horses,
dogs, cats, and rats were at last eagerly sought as food: and at
every sortie crowds of the starving inhabitants followed the French in
order to cut down grass, nettles, and leaves, which they then boiled
with salt.[141] A revolt threatened by the wretched townsfolk was
averted by Masséna ordering his troops to fire on every gathering of
more than four men. At last, on June 4th, with 8,000 half-starved
soldiers he marched through the Austrian posts with the honours of
war. The stern warrior would not hear of the word surrender or
capitulation. He merely stated to the allied commanders that on June
4th his troops would evacuate Genoa or clear their path by the
bayonet.
Bonaparte has been reproached for not marching at once to succour
Masséna: the charge of desertion was brought by Masséna and Thiébault,
and has been driven home by Lanfrey with his usual skill. It will,
however, scarcely bear a close examination. The Austrians, at the
first trustworthy news of the French inroads into Piedmont and
Lombardy, were certain to concentrate either at Turin or Alessandria.
Indeed, Melas was already near Turin, and would have fallen on the
First Consul's flank had the latter marched due south towards
Genoa.[142] Such a march, with only 40,000 men, would have been
perilous: and it could at most only have rescued a now reduced and
almost famishing garrison. Besides, he very naturally expected the
besiegers of Genoa to retreat now that their rear was threatened.
Sound policy and a desire to deal a dramatic stroke spurred on the
First Consul to a more daring and effective plan; to clear Lombardy of
the Imperialists and seize their stores; then, after uniting with
Moncey's 15,000 troops, to cut off the retreat of all the Austrian
forces west of Milan.
On entering Milan he was greeted with wild acclaim by the partisans of
France (June 2nd); they extolled the energy and foresight that brought
two armies, as it were down from the clouds, to confound their
oppressors. Numbers of men connected with the Cisalpine Republic had
been proscribed, banished, or imprisoned by the Austrians; and their
friends now hailed him as the restorer of their republic. The First
Consul spent seven days in selecting the men who were to rebuild the
Cisalpine State, in beating back the eastern forces of Austria beyond
the River Adda, and in organizing his troops and those of Moncey for
the final blow. The military problems, indeed, demanded great care and
judgment. His position was curiously the reverse of that which he had
occupied in 1796. Then the French held Tortona, Alessandria, and
Valenza, and sought to drive back the Austrians to the walls of
Mantua. Now the Imperialists, holding nearly the same positions, were
striving to break through the French lines which cut them off from
that city of refuge; and Bonaparte, having forces slightly inferior to
his opponents, felt the difficulty of frustrating their escape.
Three routes were open to Melas. The most direct was by way of Tortona
and Piacenza along the southern bank of the Po, through the difficult
defile of Stradella: or he might retire towards Genoa, across the
Apennines, and regain Mantua by a dash across the Modenese: or he
might cross the Po at Valenza and the Ticino near Pavia. All these
roads had to be watched by the French as they cautiously drew towards
their quarry. Bonaparte's first move was to send Murat with a
considerable body of troops to seize Piacenza and to occupy the defile
of Stradella. These important posts were wrested from the Austrian
vanguard; and this success was crowned on June 9th by General Lannes'
brilliant victory at Montebello over a superior Austrian force
marching from Genoa towards Piacenza, which he drove back towards
Alessandria. Smaller bodies of French were meanwhile watching the
course of the Ticino, and others seized the magazines of the enemy at
Cremona.
After gaining precious news as to Melas' movements from an intercepted
despatch, Bonaparte left Milan on June 9th, and proceeded to
Stradella. There he waited for news of Suchet and Masséna from the
side of Savona and Ceva; for their forces, if united, might
complete the circle which he was drawing around the Imperialists.[143]
He hoped that Masséna would have joined Suchet near Savona; but owing
to various circumstances, for which Masséna was in no wise to blame,
their junction was delayed; and Suchet, though pressing on towards
Acqui, was unable to cut off the Austrian retreat on Genoa. Yet he so
harassed the corps opposed to him in its retreat from Nice that only
about 8,000 Austrians joined Melas from that quarter.[144]
Doubtless, Melas' best course would still have been to make a dash for
Genoa and trust to the English ships. But this plan galled the pride
of the general, who had culled plenteous laurels in Italy until the
approach of Bonaparte threatened to snatch the whole chaplet from his
brow. He and his staff sought to restore their drooping fortunes by a
bold rush against the ring of foes that were closing around. Never has
an effort of this kind so nearly succeeded and yet so wholly failed.
The First Consul, believing that the Austrians were bent solely on
flight, advanced from Stradella, where success would have been
certain, into the plains of Tortona, whence he could check any move of
theirs southwards on Genoa. But now the space which he occupied was so
great as to weaken his line at any one point; while his foes had the
advantage of the central position.
Bonaparte was also forced to those enveloping tactics which had so
often proved fatal to the Austrians four years previously; and this
curious reversal of his usual tactics may account for the anxiety
which he betrayed as he moved towards Marengo. He had, however,
recently been encouraged by the arrival of Desaix from Paris after his
return from Egypt. This dashing officer and noble man inspired him
with a sincere affection, as was seen by the three hours of eager
converse which he held with him on his arrival, as also by his words
to Bourrienne: "He is quite an antique character." Desaix with 5,300
troops was now despatched on the night of June 13th towards Genoa to
stop the escape of the Austrians in that direction. This eccentric
move has been severely criticised: but the facts, as then known by
Bonaparte, seemed to show that Melas was about to march on Genoa. The
French vanguard under Gardane had in the afternoon easily driven the
enemy's front from the village of Marengo; and Gardane had even
reported that there was no bridge over the River Bormida by which the
enemy could debouch into the plain of Marengo. Marmont, pushing on
later in the evening, had discovered that there was at least one
well-defended bridge; and when early next morning Gardane's error was
known, the First Consul, with a blaze of passion against the offender,
sent a courier in hot haste to recall Desaix. Long before he could
arrive, the battle of Marengo had begun: and for the greater part of
that eventful day, June the 14th, the French had only 18000 men
wherewith to oppose the onset of 31,000 Austrians.[145]
As will be seen by the accompanying map, the village of Marengo lies
in the plain that stretches eastwards from the banks of the River
Bormida towards the hilly country of Stradella. The village lies on
the high-road leading eastwards from the fortress of Alessandria, the
chief stronghold of north-western Italy.
[Illustration: BATTLE OF MARENGO TO ILLUSTRATE KELLERMAN'S CHARGE]
The plain is cut up by numerous obstacles. Through Marengo runs a
stream called the Fontanone. The deep curves of the Bormida, the steep
banks of the Fontanone, along with the villages, farmsteads, and
vineyards scattered over the plain, all helped to render an advance
exceedingly difficult in face of a determined enemy; and these natural
features had no small share in deciding the fortunes of the day.
Shortly after dawn Melas began to pour his troops across the Bormida,
and drove in the French outposts on Marengo: but there they met with a
tough resistance from the soldiers of Victor's division, while
Kellermann, the son of the hero of Valmy, performed his first great
exploit by hurling back some venturesome Austrian horsemen into the
deep bed of the Fontanone. This gave time to Lannes to bring up his
division, 5,000 strong, into line between Marengo and Castel Ceriolo.
But when the full force of the Austrian attack was developed about 10
a.m., the Imperialists not only gained Marengo, but threw a heavy
column, led by General Ott, against Lannes, who was constrained to
retire, contesting every inch of the ground. Thus, when, an hour
later, Bonaparte rode up from the distant rear, hurrying along his
Consular Guard, his eye fell upon his battalions overpowered in front
and outflanked on both wings. At once he launched his Consular Guard,
1,000 strong, against Ott's triumphant ranks. Drawn up in square near
Castel Ceriolo, it checked them for a brief space, until, plied by
cannon and charged by the enemy's horse, these chosen troops also
began to give ground. But at this crisis Monnier's division of 3,600
men arrived, threw itself into the fight, held up the flood of
white-coats around the hamlet of Li Poggi, while Carra St. Cyr
fastened his grip on Castel Ceriolo. Under cover of this welcome
screen, Victor and Lannes restored some order to their divisions and
checked for a time the onsets of the enemy. Slowly but surely,
however, the impact of the Austrian main column, advancing along the
highroad, made them draw back on San Giuliano.
By 2 p.m. the battle seemed to be lost for the French; except on the
north of their line they were in full retreat, and all but five of
their cannon were silenced. Melas, oppressed by his weight of years,
by the terrific heat, and by two slight wounds, retired to
Alessandria, leaving his chief of the staff, Zach, to direct the
pursuit. But, unfortunately, Melas had sent back 2,200 horsemen to
watch the district between Alessandria and Acqui, to which latter
place Suchet's force was advancing. To guard against this remoter
danger, he weakened his attacking force at the critical time and
place; and now, when the Austrians approached the hill of San Giuliano
with bands playing and colours flying, their horse was not strong
enough to complete the French defeat. Still, such was the strength of
their onset that all resistance seemed unavailing, until about 5 p.m.
the approach of Desaix breathed new life and hope into the defence. At
once he rode up to the First Consul; and if vague rumours may be
credited, he was met by the eager question: "Well, what do you think
of it?" To which he replied: "The battle is lost, but there is time to
gain another." Marmont, who heard the conversation, denies that these
words were uttered; and they presume a boldness of which even Desaix
would scarcely have been guilty to his chief. What he unquestionably
did urge was the immediate use of artillery to check the Austrian
advance: and Marmont, hastily reinforcing his own five guns with
thirteen others, took a strong position and riddled the serried ranks
of the enemy as, swathed in clouds of smoke and dust, they pressed
blindly forward. The First Consul disposed the troops of Desaix behind
the village and a neighbouring hill; while at a little distance on the
French left, Kellermann was ready to charge with his heavy cavalry as
opportunity offered.
It came quickly. Marmont's guns unsteadied Zach's grenadiers: Desaix's
men plied them with musketry; and while they were preparing for a last
effort, Kellermann's heavy cavalry charged full on their flank. Never
was surprise more complete. The column was cut in twain by this onset;
and veterans, who but now seemed about to overbear all obstacles, were
lying mangled by grapeshot, hacked by sabres, flying helplessly amidst
the vineyards, or surrendering by hundreds. A panic spread to their
comrades; and they gave way on all sides before the fiercely rallying
French. The retreat became a rout as the recoiling columns neared the
bridges of the Bormida: and night closed over a scene of wild
confusion, as the defeated army, thrust out from the shelter of
Marengo, flung itself over the river into the stronghold of
Alessandria.
Such was the victory of Marengo. It was dearly bought; for, apart from
the heavy losses, amounting on either side to about one-third of the
number engaged, the victors sustained an irreparable loss in the death
of Desaix, who fell in the moment when his skill and vigour snatched
victory from defeat. The victory was immediately due to Kellermann's
brilliant charge; and there can be no doubt, in spite of Savary's
statements, that this young officer made the charge on his own
initiative. Yet his onset could have had little effect, had not Desaix
shaken the enemy and left him liable to a panic like that which
brought disaster to the Imperialists at Rivoli. Bonaparte's
dispositions at the crisis were undoubtedly skilful; but in the first
part of the fight his conduct was below his reputation. We do not hear
of him electrifying his disordered troops by any deed comparable with
that of Cæsar, when, shield in hand, he flung himself among the
legionaries to stem the torrent of the Nervii. At the climax of the
fight he uttered the words "Soldiers, remember it is my custom to
bivouac on the field of battle"--tame and egotistical words
considering the gravity of the crisis.
On the evening of the great day, while paying an exaggerated
compliment to Bessières and the cavalry of the Consular Guard, he
merely remarked to Kellermann: "You made a very good charge"; to which
that officer is said to have replied: "I am glad you are satisfied,
general: for it has placed the crown on your head." Such pettiness was
unworthy of the great captain who could design and carry through the
memorable campaign of Marengo. If the climax was not worthy of the
inception, yet the campaign as a whole must be pronounced a
masterpiece. Since the days of Hannibal no design so daring and
original had startled the world. A great Austrian army was stopped in
its victorious career, was compelled to turn on its shattered
communications, and to fight for its existence some 120 miles to the
rear of the territory which it seemed to have conquered. In fact, the
allied victories of the past year were effaced by this march of
Bonaparte's army, which, in less than a month after the ascent of the
Alps, regained Nice, Piedmont, and Lombardy, and reduced the
Imperialists to the direst straits.
Staggered by this terrific blow, Melas and his staff were ready to
accept any terms that were not deeply humiliating; and Bonaparte on
his side was not loth to end the campaign in a blaze of glory. He
consented that the Imperial troops should retire to the east of the
Mincio, except at Peschiera and Mantua, which they were still to
occupy. These terms have been variously criticised: Melas has been
blamed for cowardice in surrendering the many strongholds, including
Genoa, which his men firmly held. Yet it must be remembered that he
now had at Alessandria less than 20,000 effectives, and that 30,000
Austrians in isolated bodies were practically at the mercy of the
French between Savona and Brescia. One and all they could now retire
to the Mincio and there resume the defence of the Imperial
territories. The political designs of the Court of Vienna on Piedmont
were of course shattered; but it now recovered the army which it had
heedlessly sacrificed to territorial greed. Bonaparte has also been
blamed for the lenience of his terms. Severer conditions could
doubtless have been extorted; but he now merged the soldier in the
statesman. He desired peace for the sake of France and for his own
sake. After this brilliant stroke peace would be doubly grateful to a
people that longed for glory but also yearned to heal the wounds of
eight years' warfare. His own position as First Consul was as yet
ill-established; and he desired to be back at Paris so as to curb the
restive Tribunate, overawe Jacobins and royalists, and rebuild the
institutions of France.
Impelled by these motives, he penned to the Emperor Francis an
eloquent appeal for peace, renewing his offer of treating with Austria
on the basis of the treaty of Campo Formio.[146] But Austria was not
as yet so far humbled as to accept such terms; and it needed the
master-stroke of Moreau at the great battle of Hohenlinden (December
2nd, 1800), and the turning of her fortresses on the Mincio by the
brilliant passage of the Splügen in the depths of winter by
Macdonald--a feat far transcending that of Bonaparte at the St.
Bernard--to compel her to a peace. A description of these events would
be beyond the scope of this work; and we now return to consider the
career of Bonaparte as a statesman.
After a brief stay at Milan and Turin, where he was received as the
liberator of Italy, the First Consul crossed the Alps by the Mont
Cenis pass and was received with rapturous acclaim at Lyons and Paris.
He had been absent from the capital less than two calendar months.
He now sent a letter to the Czar Paul, offering that, if the French
garrison of Malta were compelled by famine to evacuate that island, he
would place it in the hands of the Czar, as Grand Master of the
Knights of St. John. Rarely has a "Greek gift" been more skilfully
tendered. In the first place, Valetta was so closely blockaded by
Nelson's cruisers and invested by the native Maltese that its
surrender might be expected in a few weeks; and the First Consul was
well aware how anxiously the Czar had been seeking to gain a foothold
at Malta, whence he could menace Turkey from the south-east. In his
wish completely to gain over Russia, Bonaparte also sent back,
well-clad and well-armed, the prisoners taken from the Russian armies
in 1799, a step which was doubly appreciated at Petersburg because the
Russian troops which had campaigned with the Duke of York in Holland
were somewhat shabbily treated by the British Government in the
Channel Islands, where they took up their winter quarters. Accordingly
the Czar now sent Kalicheff to Paris, for the formation of a
Franco-Russian alliance. He was warmly received. Bonaparte promised in
general terms to restore the King of Sardinia to his former realm and
the Pope to his States. On his side, the Czar sent the alluring advice
to Bonaparte to found a dynasty and thereby put an end to the
revolutionary principles which had armed Europe against France. He
also offered to recognize the natural frontiers of France, the Rhine
and the Maritime Alps, and claimed that German affairs should be
regulated under his own mediation. When both parties were so
complaisant, a bargain was easily arranged. France and Russia
accordingly joined hands in order to secure predominance in the
affairs of Central and Southern Europe, and to counterbalance
England's supremacy at sea.
For it was not enough to break up the Second Coalition and recover
Northern Italy. Bonaparte's policy was more than European; it was
oceanic. England must be beaten on her own element: then and then only
could the young warrior secure his grasp on Egypt and return to his
oriental schemes. His correspondence before and after the Marengo
campaign reveals his eagerness for a peace with Austria and an
alliance with Russia. His thoughts constantly turn to Egypt. He
bargains with Britain that his army there may be revictualled, and so
words his claim that troops can easily be sent also. Lord Grenville
refuses (September 10th); whereupon Bonaparte throws himself eagerly
into further plans for the destruction of the islanders. He seeks to
inflame the Czar's wrath against the English maritime code. His
success for the time is complete. At the close of 1800 the Russian
Emperor marshals the Baltic Powers for the overthrow of England's
navy, and outstrips Bonaparte's wildest hopes by proposing a
Franco-Russian invasion of India with a view to "dealing his enemy a
mortal blow." This plan, as drawn up at the close of 1800, arranged
for the mustering of 35,000 Russians at Astrakan; while as many French
were to fight their way to the mouth of the Danube, set sail on
Russian ships for the Sea of Azov, join their allies on the Caspian
Sea, sail to its southern extremity, and, rousing the Persians and
Afghans by the hope of plunder, sweep the British from India. The
scheme received from Bonaparte a courteous perusal; but he subjected
it to several criticisms, which led to less patient rejoinders from
the irascible potentate. Nevertheless, Paul began to march his troops
towards the lower Volga, and several polks of Cossacks had crossed
that river on the ice, when the news of his assassination cut short
the scheme.[147]
The grandiose schemes of Paul vanished with their fantastic contriver;
but the _rapprochement_ of Russia to revolutionary France was
ultimately to prove an event of far-reaching importance; for the
eastern power thereby began to exert on the democracy of western
Europe that subtle, semi-Asiatic influence which has so powerfully
warped its original character.
The dawn of the nineteenth century witnessed some startling
rearrangements on the political chess-board.
While Bonaparte brought Russia and France to sudden amity, the
unbending maritime policy of Great Britain leagued the Baltic Powers
against the mistress of the seas. In the autumn of 1800 the Czar Paul,
after hearing of our capture of Malta, forthwith revived the Armed
Neutrality League of 1780 and opposed the forces of Russia, Prussia,
Sweden, and Denmark to the might of England's navy. But Nelson's
brilliant success at Copenhagen and the murder of the Czar by a palace
conspiracy shattered this league only four months after its formation,
and the new Czar, Alexander, reverted for a time to friendship with
England.[148] This sudden ending to the first Franco-Russia alliance
so enraged Bonaparte that he caused a paragraph to be inserted in the
official "Moniteur," charging the British Government with procuring
the assassination of Paul, an insinuation that only proclaimed his
rage at this sudden rebuff to his hitherto successful diplomacy.
Though foiled for a time, he never lost sight of the hoped-for
alliance, which, with a deft commixture of force and persuasion, he
gained seven years later after the crushing blow of Friedland.
Dread of a Franco-Russian alliance undoubtedly helped to compel
Austria to a peace. Humbled by Moreau at the great battle of
Hohenlinden, the Emperor Francis opened negotiations at Lunéville in
Lorraine. The subtle obstinacy of Cobenzl there found its match in the
firm yet suave diplomacy of Joseph Bonaparte, who wearied out Cobenzl
himself, until the march of Moreau towards Vienna compelled Francis to
accept the River Adige as his boundary in Italy. The other terms of
the treaty (February 9th, 1801) were practically the same as those of
the treaty of Campo Formio, save that the Hapsburg Grand Duke of
Tuscany was compelled to surrender his State to a son of the Bourbon
Duke of Parma. He himself was to receive "compensation" in Germany,
where also the unfortunate Duke of Modena was to find consolation in
the district of the Breisgau on the Upper Rhine. The helplessness of
the old Holy Roman Empire was, indeed, glaringly displayed; for
Francis now admitted the right of the French to interfere in the
rearrangement of that medley of States. He also recognized the
Cisalpine, Ligurian, Helvetic, and Batavian Republics, as at present
constituted; but their independence, and the liberty of their peoples
to choose what form of government they thought fit, were expressly
stipulated.
The Court of Naples also made peace with France by the treaty of
Florence (March, 1801), whereby it withdrew its troops from the States
of the Church, and closed its ports to British and Turkish ships; it
also renounced in favour of the French Republic all its claims over a
maritime district of Tuscany known as the Présidii, the little
principality of Piombino, and a port in the Isle of Elba. These
cessions fitted in well with Napoleon's schemes for the proposed
elevation of the heir of the Duchy of Parma to the rank of King of
Tuscany or Etruria. The King of Naples also pledged himself to admit
and support a French corps in his dominions. Soult with 10,000 troops
thereupon occupied Otranto, Taranto, and Brindisi, in order to hold
the Neapolitan Government to its engagements, and to facilitate French
intercourse with Egypt.
In his relations with the New World Bonaparte had also prospered.
Certain disputes between France and the United States had led to
hostilities in the year 1798. Negotiations for peace were opened in
March, 1800, and led to the treaty of Morfontaine, which enabled
Bonaparte to press on the Court of Madrid the scheme of the
Parma-Louisiana exchange, that promised him a magnificent empire on
the banks of the Mississippi.
These and other grandiose designs were confided only to Talleyrand and
other intimate counsellors. But, even to the mass of mankind, the
transformation scene ushered in by the nineteenth century was one of
bewildering brilliance. Italy from the Alps to her heel controlled by
the French; Austria compelled to forego all her Italian plans;
Switzerland and Holland dominated by the First Consul's influence;
Spain following submissively his imperious lead; England, despite all
her naval triumphs, helpless on land; and France rapidly regaining
more than all her old prestige and stability under the new
institutions which form the most enduring tribute to the First
Consul's glory.
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