Buonaparte.—His principal plaything.—Napoleon’s Grotto.—Buonaparte’s
gratitude to his mother.—He goes to the Military School at Paris.—
Made a lieutenant.—His first military service.—His address to the
men under his command.—His conduct to poor tradesmen.—Reproof to his
generals.—The Jaffa massacre.—Murder of the Duke d’Enghein.—Legion
of honour.—Buonaparte threatens to invade England.—French
invincibles.—An instance of generosity.—Napoleon’s bravery.—Battle
of the Pyramids.—The battle of Lodi.—Napoleon’s return from Elba.—
Campaign in Russia.—Allusion to Waterloo.—Buonaparte dies at St
Helena.—The 18th of October a remarkable day.
“Now please to tell us all that you know about Buonaparte, for he was as
fond of fighting as any man.”
“That is true. The history of Buonaparte, and that of the Duke of
Wellington, would be the history of almost all great battles fought
since the French Revolution, fifty years ago; but you shall have a
sprinkling of such things as I can remember of Buonaparte. Every soldier
is pretty well acquainted with the fame of the Emperor Napoleon.”
“They say, that he was not a Frenchman: was he?”
“He was a Corsican; but as the island of Corsica became, by law, a
French department two or three months before his birth, so he may be
called a Frenchman. Napoleon Buonaparte was one of the greatest warriors
of modern times. For many years before his death he became Emperor of
the French.”
“Great as he was, Wellington beat him! Please to tell us something about
him.”
“When a boy, his principal plaything was a brass cannon; and so fond was
he of being alone, that when he could do so, he retired to a solitary
summer-house among the rocks. The place is now called ‘Napoleon’s
Grotto.’ In after-life he has been heard to say, that in childhood he
was remarkable for obstinacy, and curiosity. Others say that he was
high-spirited, quarrelsome, imperious, fond of solitude, and a sloven in
his dress. One good thing I will tell you of him. He always spoke
gratefully of the kindness of his mother. It was a saying of his, ‘The
future good or bad conduct of a child depends entirely on his mother.’
From Brienne, where he was for a time educated, he was sent to the Royal
Military School of Paris.”
“Ay! There he would learn everything about war.”
“At sixteen years of age he was made second lieutenant in a regiment of
artillery, and seven years after he became a captain. During the French
Revolution he took the command of a battalion of national guards; and
the first military service he performed was against his own country,
Corsica.”
“That was a bad beginning, to fight against his country.”
“I shall tell you about some of the battles in which he was afterwards
engaged, but will now only give you a few anecdotes about him. Some of
them are against him, and some in his favour.”
“That is the fairest way, to let us know both sides of the question.”
“At the age of twenty-six Buonaparte assumed the command of the army of
Italy! ‘You are too young,’ said one of the directors, who hesitated
about his appointment as general. ‘In a year,’ replied Napoleon, ‘I
shall be either old or dead.’”
“He seems to have had a great deal of spirit.”
“‘Soldiers!’ said he, to the army under his command, ‘you are hungry and
naked: the Republic owes you much, but she has not the means to pay her
debts: I am come to lead you into the most fertile plains that the sun
beholds. Rich provinces, opulent towns, all shall be at your disposal.
Soldiers! with such a prospect before you, can you fail in courage and
constancy?’ This was the first address he made to his army, and it ran
like lightning from rank to rank. The men, who before were downhearted,
became animated with hope and confidence, and the most distinguished
officers of France, from that moment, determined to follow their
youthful leader, as one who would assuredly lead them to victory and
renown. Massena, Joubert, Augereau, Serrurier, and Lannes, were among
them; though their well-tried courage and experience might have
justified them in seeking the supreme command, yet they cheerfully
followed one whom they were fully convinced, would be successful in his
daring enterprise.”
“He was just the man for the French, then, for he knew how to call up
their courage. But six-and-twenty must have been a young age for a
general?”
“When Buonaparte was in his prosperity he employed, it is said, the same
trades-people who supplied him in his former days. A silversmith, who
had given him credit, when he set out for Italy, for a dressing-case,
worth fifty pounds, was rewarded with all the business which his
recommendations could bring to him; and being clever in his trade, he
became, under the patronage of the emperor, one of the wealthiest
citizens of Paris. A little hatter, and a cobler, who had served
Buonaparte when a subaltern, might have risen in the same manner, had
their skill equalled that of the silversmith. Napoleon’s example,
however, could not persuade the good people of Paris to wear ill-shaped
hats and clumsy boots; but he, in his own person, adhered to the last to
his original connexion with these poor trades-people.”
“That is very much to his credit, whatever might be his faults.”
“It is, and we should act honestly when speaking of the character of an
enemy. The British army and navy have furnished instances of this kind.
Courage and fidelity frequently go together, so that the soldier or
sailor, who is the _first_ to _face_ the cannon’s mouth, is often the
_last_ to _turn his back_ on a friend. Buonaparte, once apprehensive
that his generals were on the point of breaking into open mutiny, threw
himself suddenly among them, and addressing the tallest of them in a
threatening vehement tone, said, ‘You have been talking sedition: take
care lest I fulfil my duty: your five feet ten inches would not hinder
you from being shot within two hours.’”
“That was enough to make the general that he spoke to tremble.”
“One of the blackest stains on the reputation of Buonaparte, is the
massacre at Jaffa. Twelve hundred, some say nearly three thousand Turks,
a part of the garrison of the place, surrendered. These were marched to
some sand-hills, at a little distance from the town, and there, being
divided into small parties, every man was shot or bayonetted. Not all
the waters of the green ocean would ever wash that dark blot from
Napoleon’s brow.”
“Shocking! shocking! That is a black mark on his brow indeed. There are
quite enough soldiers fall in battle, but to shoot men when the battle
is over is dreadful.”
“He is no true soldier who covers the name of an enemy with the slime of
slander, but the truth must be spoken when it condemns as well as when
it approves. The murder of the Duke d’Enghein, for murder it may
properly be called, was another of the black acts of Buonaparte. The
duke was surprised in his castle, hurried off to the citadel of
Strasburgh, called up at midnight three days after, taken to Paris, and
then to the Castle of Vincennes, hastily tried, and condemned, and
afterwards shot in the ditch of the castle by torchlight. The seizure,
trial, and condemnation, were all contrary to the laws of France.”
“Poor Duke d’Enghein!”
“Buonaparte was a man of great parts and much energy, but self was the
centre of all he did, though many of his acts appear to manifest a love
of his country. He instituted the famous legion of honour: every
Frenchman is proud of it. The decoration of the legion of honour was
given to those who performed any meritorious service, whether in the
army or out of it. A common soldier could obtain it as well as a
general. It entitles the wearer to certain precedence, and a pension.
Napoleon, when made First Consul, was much thinner than in his after
life. I have seen a picture of him, wherein he appeared to be taller and
altogether a different kind of man to what he was when he became
somewhat corpulent. Buonaparte threatened to invade England, but the
attempt was never made, though he assembled one hundred thousand troops,
and an immense flotilla of flat-bottomed boats, to bear them across the
channel. If war can be justified at one time more than another, it is
when a country is invaded. The British spirit rose at once, so that,
besides the regular troops, and militia of the country, three hundred
and fifty thousand volunteers were soon in arms. On this occasion Sir
Walter Scott wrote his song to the Edinburgh volunteers. One of the
verses runs thus:—
‘If ever breath of British gale
Shall fan the tri-colour,
Or footsteps of invader rude,
With rapine foul, and red with blood,
Pollute our happy shores—
Then farewell home, and farewell friends!
Adieu each tender tie!
Resolved, we mingle in the tide
Where charging squadrons furious ride,
To conquer or to die!’
“Sheridan said, that the first vision of Buonaparte in the morning, was
the destruction of England, and that his last prayer at night, whether
he addressed it to Jupiter, or to Mahomet, to the goddess of battle, or
the goddess of reason, was to bring about the same end.”
“It was a good thing the French gave it up. There would have been sad
work of it. Do you think they would have conquered us?”
“Conquered us! no, boys. Thousands, and tens of thousands might have
been slain, but they could never have crushed the spirit of liberty out
of British hearts. If Englishmen can fight as they do out of their
country, what would they not do in it rather than be conquered. It was,
as you say, a good thing that the invasion was given up; but, if the
French had persevered, our blue-jackets in the British Channel, and our
red-coats on the coasts, would have found them enough to do both by
water and land. The one and the other would have joined in the chorus,
‘Rule, Britannia!
Britannia rules the waves!
Britons never shall be slaves!’
“But we are forgetting Buonaparte. He styled a part of his troops the
Invincibles; but they were no more invincible than the Spanish Armada,
which had the same name. British soldiers, under General Abercrombie in
Egypt, first defeated the French Invincibles, and Wellington afterwards,
scattered them like a flock of sheep.”
“You must tell us about the battle of Waterloo; and then we shall hear
how his Invincibles met British men.”
“I ought not to forget a proof of the generous conduct of Buonaparte on
one occasion. It was when he had taken Berlin, the Prussian capital. The
Prince of Hatzsfeld, while under his protection, corresponded with the
Prussian general, sending him an account of the movements of the French.
One of his letters being intercepted, the prince was arrested; when his
wife, thinking her husband not guilty, gained access to the emperor, and
boldly asserted his innocence. Napoleon handed to her the prince’s
letter: when she fell, in silence and despair, on her knees. ‘Put the
paper in the fire,’ said Napoleon, ‘and there will then be no proof of
guilt.’”
“Ah! that was a noble action. What a pity that he did not perform more
such actions!”
“In taking the bridge and town of Montereau, Buonaparte was seen
pointing cannon with his own hand, under the heaviest of the fire. But
though this delighted the artillery-men, they expressed great
apprehension at his personal danger. ‘My children,’ said he, still
persisting in his employment, ‘the bullet that shall kill me is not yet
cast.’”
“He was, no doubt, a very bold man, but it was very presumptuous to talk
in that way.”
“Most likely his object was to encourage his soldiers. The famous battle
of the Pyramids was one in which Buonaparte obtained much reputation as
a soldier. He had a strong frame, and could endure much. While other
generals put on light clothing, and were bathed in perspiration, beneath
the burning sun of Egypt, he wore his uniform, as usual, buttoned up to
the chin. He was the last at night to fling his body, wrapt in his war-
cloak, on the ground, and the first in the morning to spring up from
slumber. When he came within sight of the pyramids he cried out,
‘Soldiers! from the summit of yonder pyramids forty ages behold you!’
The rage of the battle then broke loose.
“On came the Mamelukes, with their fiery steeds. Strong and rapid in
their movements, they raised a wild cry, and rushed on the bristling
bayonets of the French, who were drawn up in squares. They tried to
force a passage, urged their horses on, and then backed them against
their enemies. But the French would not give way. The Mamelukes were
almost mad with rage; they dashed their carbines and pistols in the
faces of the French soldiers, and, when wounded on the ground, cut at
their legs, but it was all in vain. The French cannon and musketry mowed
them down;—they fell back! The carnage was dreadful! The battle was won
by Napoleon. Cairo soon surrendered to him, and he became the conqueror
of Lower Egypt.
“The taking of the bridge of Lodi, in Italy, was one of the most daring
achievements of Buonaparte. This bridge was a wooden one; and a battery
of thirty cannon was so placed as to sweep it completely. The whole
Austrian army was drawn up behind it.
“Napoleon Buonaparte was not to be intimidated by danger, he advanced,
and a furious cannonade broke forth. Buonaparte rushed on in the middle
of the fire, and pointed two guns with his own hands, so as to prevent
the Austrians approaching the bridge to blow it up. His soldiers were
delighted at his bravery, and called him ‘_The Little Corporal_.’
“Napoleon gave the word, and a column of grenadiers rushed to the
bridge, shouting ‘Vive la Republique!’ The grape-shot swept them down
terribly. They hesitated,—Buonaparte hurried to their head, with Lannes,
Berthier, and Lallemaque, and cheered them onward. The cannon raged, a
tempest of shot was around them, but they dashed on. The artillery-men
were bayonetted at their guns; the bridge of Lodi was taken, and the
Austrian army scattered in confusion.”
“Buonaparte was a brave man, no doubt, for he seemed to delight in war.
He must have seen the death of many in his time.”
“That will hardly bear thinking of. It is said, that during his wars,
four millions of men, must have fallen.”
“Four millions of men! It is very well there are not many Buonapartes in
the world.”
“He was too fond of fighting; and after all his victories he got no good
by them. If half the world had been his, he would never have been
contented till he had obtained the other half. Ambition was the ruin of
him:—
“He saw, though visible to him alone,
Ambition, seated on a shining throne:—
‘Cut through yon glittering host,’ she loudly cries.
‘Behold me here, ordained the victor’s prize!’”
“There was never a braver man than Buonaparte in the world. He cared no
more for cannon-shot than we do for snow-balls.”
“Napoleon showed a daring and invincible spirit in crossing the Alps,
and in numberless battles, but, perhaps, never did he manifest more true
courage than in throwing himself fearlessly into the arms, as it were,
of the French army, on his return from Elba, where, after his
abdication, he had been a prisoner. A battalion was sent against him. He
dismounted from his horse, and advanced alone, opening his surtout so as
to show the star of the legion of honour; and crying out, ‘If there be
among you a soldier who desires to kill his general—his Emperor—let him
do it now! Here I am!’ The whole battalion shouted ‘Vive l’Empereur!’
and instantly joined him.”
“Why, if he had had as many lives as some people say a cat has, he
seemed to take the very way to lose them all, and yet he always
escaped.”
“A celebrated writer has said, ‘It is impossible to survey the rapid
energy of Napoleon, his alert transitions from enemy to enemy, his
fearless assaults on vastly superior numbers, his unwearied resolution
and exhaustless invention, without the highest admiration which can
attend on a master of warfare. But it is equally impossible to suppress
astonishment and indignation, in following, or rather attempting to
follow, the threads of obstinacy, duplicity, pride, and perfidy, which
during the same period complicated, without strengthening, the tissue of
his negotiations.’ It is only when we fix our eyes on the battles and
marches of his wonderful campaigns, that we can hesitate to echo the
adage: ‘Whom God hath doomed to destruction he first deprives of
reason.’”
“Well! he is dead now, and that is a good thing. If he were Emperor of
France now, we should be sure to have as much war as ever.”
“Buonaparte’s campaign in Russia was a most disastrous one, and led the
way to his abdication; but it was the battle of Waterloo that deprived
him of his throne for ever. This hurled him headlong from the pinnacle
of his glory, proclaiming, as with the voice of a mighty trumpet,
through the world, that the minion of ambition shall be trampled in the
dust, and that the splendour of temporary triumph shall only increase
the greatness of his fall. He was exiled to St. Helena, where, after
living near six years, he expired, and was buried. His body was,
however, a short time ago, removed to France, and interred, with great
splendour, in the Church of the Invalids, at Paris.”
“Oh! more or less than man. In high or low,
Battling with nations, flying from the field!
Now making monarchs’ necks thy footstool! now,
More than thy meanest soldier, taught to yield.
An empire thou would’st crush, command, rebuild,
But govern not thy pettiest passion; nor,
However deeply in men’s spirits skilled,
Look through thine own; nor curb the lust of war;
Nor learn, that tempted Fate will leave the loftiest star.”
“The 18th of October is a remarkable day, as connected with Napoleon
Buonaparte.”
“In what way is it remarkable?”
“It was on the 18th of October that the revolution took place which made
him consul. It was on the 18th of October that he fought the battle of
Torlina, on the Berezina. It was on the 18th of October that he fought
the battle of Leipsic. It was on the 18th of October that he arrived off
St. Helena; and it was on the 18th of October that the French ship La
Belle Poole left St. Helena, with his body on board, for France. And
now, I think, that I have told you quite enough, for the present, of
Napoleon Buonaparte.
“His courage, ambition, and power,
Will long be recorded in story,
But defeat and the gloom of the grave,
Have beclouded the sun of his glory.”
[Illustration]