French generals.—Desaix.—Ney.—Lasnes.—Soult.—Suchet.—Augereau.—
Berthier.—Rapp.—Macdonald.—Beauharnois.—Maret.—Jourdan.—Grouchey.—
Vandamme.—Bertrand.—Gourgaud.—Junot.—Massena.—Davoust.—Moreau.—
Lefebre.—Marmont.—Mortier.—Dupont.—Victor.—Oudinot.—Bernadotte.—
Murat.—Soldiers of the army of Italy.—Battle of Marengo.—The
Napoleon Pillar.
“What say you, boys, shall I give you a few anecdotes of French
generals, as France has long been considered the first nation in the
world in a military point of view? Not that French soldiers are superior
to English soldiers, for he who would say that, must altogether mistake
the matter; but they have had so much to do in warfare with the
countries around them, and their armies have been so successful, that
their fame has spread all over the world. The battle of Waterloo sadly
humbled their pride, but for all that we must not undervalue the
intrepidity of a brave people.”
“The more anecdotes you give us the better. Tell us of all the generals
that you can remember.”
“I have spent much of my time in reading of military characters, and
could, therefore, tell you of a great number. Many a day has passed
since I slept in the camp, and mingled in the stormy fight, but old
habits cling to us closely, and there is hardly a day of my life but I
take up a book on naval or military subjects. I read of admirals and sea
captains, of generals and distinguished commanders, and then I think of
my earlier days, and of the wild scenes of war. Many of my old comrades,
though living, are dead to me, for they are scattered about the world,
and many who are really dead are alive in my remembrance. You shall have
a few anecdotes of some of the French generals. Whatever may have been
their failings, no one can call in question their personal bravery; and
a true soldier will never cover the name of an enemy with the slime of
slander, but rather speak the truth, be it good or evil.”
“Please to begin about the French generals.”
“General Desaix was called by the Germans, ‘The good Desaix,’ for though
he was among them as a conqueror, he treated them with humanity. The
Arabs called him the ‘Just Sultan.’ He feared no danger when in the
field, and met the death of a soldier bravely. At the battle of Marengo
he was fatally struck by a ball, at the first charge of his division.
‘Tell the first consul,’ said he, ‘that I only regret having done
nothing for posterity.’ The day before the battle, he observed to one of
his aides-de-camp, ‘It is a long while since I fought in Europe,
something will happen, for the bullets will not know me again.’
Buonaparte, though in the hottest of the engagement, when he heard of
his death was much affected, and one of his earliest commands after the
fight was, that a splendid monument should be erected on the top of Mont
St. Bernard to the memory of his fallen general.”
“Poor Desaix! He was not so cruel as many conquerors have been. Who was
the very bravest of Buonaparte’s generals?”
“Marshal Ney was one of the most daring of Buonaparte’s generals, and
indeed, the Emperor called him ‘The bravest of the brave.’ When
retreating from Smolensko, under the most disastrous circumstances, he
found himself almost on the edge of a ravine manned by Russians, with a
line of batteries on the opposite bank, before he was aware of his
situation. It was almost a hopeless position, and a Russian officer
appeared and summoned him to capitulate, when his answer was, ‘A
Mareschal of France never surrenders.’ Though the batteries opened on
him a tremendous fire, he fearlessly plunged into the ravine, cleared a
passage over the stream in spite of all opposition, and attacked his
enemies at their guns. None but a soldier can estimate his danger and
his daring. Again and again he was beaten back, but all in vain, for in
the face of the whole army of his foes he maintained his position,
disdaining to surrender or retire.”
“If Buonaparte had not had such generals he could never have won so many
victories.”
“That is very true. The French general Lasnes, Duke of Montebello,
distinguished himself much in fighting against the Austrians. He headed
the storming party in the attack on Ratisbonne, crying out, ‘Soldiers,
your general has not forgotten that he was once a grenadier.’ At the
battle of Asperge a cannon shot took away both his legs, and when the
surgeons told him his wounds were mortal, he broke out into furious
imprecations, crying out for the Emperor. When Buonaparte came to him,
it was only to hear him blaspheme heaven and earth, because he could not
live to see the end of the campaign. He was called the Roland of the
camp, on account of his enthusiastic valour.”
“He might be brave, but he must have been a very bad man to blaspheme in
that manner.”
“You are right. The bravery of a soldier will never excuse his
blasphemies. Soult was a very brave and able soldier; he is held in high
estimation in France at the present time by King Louis Philippe. Suchet,
Augereau, Berthier, Rapp, Macdonald, and Beauharnois, were all generals
of high reputation, as well as Maret, Jourdan, Grouchey, and Vandamme.
Generals Bertrand and Gourgaud accompanied Buonaparte when he was exiled
to St. Helena.”
“Well, they did right in not forsaking him in his misfortunes.”
“Junot was one of the generals in the French army under Buonaparte.
During the siege of Toulon, Junot was only a sergeant. Buonaparte, while
constructing a battery under the enemy’s fire, had occasion to prepare a
dispatch, and called aloud for some one who could use his pen. Junot
leaped forward; but while he was leaning on the breastwork, writing down
what Buonaparte dictated, a shot struck the ground and scattered the
dust all over him. ‘Good!’ said Junot, laughing, ‘this time we shall
spare our sand?’ Buonaparte was so much pleased by the cool intrepidity
and gaiety of the sergeant that he kept his eye on him afterwards. In
course of time Junot became Marshal of France and Duke of Abrantes.”
“A bold man was sure to be taken notice of by Buonaparte.”
“Massena and Davoust were able generals, but very, very cruel: it would
be hard to say which were the greater, the atrocities practised by Junot
and Massena in Portugal, or those perpetrated by Davoust on the banks of
the Elbe. Courage is a noble quality, but it will never atone for cold-
hearted cruelty.”
“If they had come over to England they would have served us in just the
same manner.”
“The celebrated Moreau, who fought on the side of the Russians against
his countrymen the French, was wounded amid a group of reconnoitring
officers. Buonaparte seeing these officers together, ordered half-a-
dozen cannons to be fired at them, when a commotion took place as though
one had been wounded. In the evening a peasant brought a greyhound and a
bloody boot to the camp; on the collar of the greyhound was graven the
name of Moreau. They belonged, he said, to a great man, who had fallen.”
“Ah! no doubt it was Moreau!”
“Yes it was. A shot had taken away both his legs; yet such was his
firmness that he smoked a cigar while undergoing amputation, in the
presence of the Emperor Alexander. He died shortly after.”
“What dreadful things soldiers go through, and yet they hardly seem to
care for them.”
“When General Lefebre besieged Saragossa, the place was defended by Don
Jose Palafox, a young nobleman of moderate talents. But men and women
fought side by side among the Spaniards, and became irresistible.”
“How they must have hated the French, for the women to fight.”
“They must indeed! The old Moorish walls and monastic buildings in the
suburbs of the place, were manned with determined men. Disease came and
famine came among them, but for all this, when the French general, who
had taken the convent St. Engracia, sent to Palafox this short summons,
‘Head-quarters, Santa Engracia—capitulation,’ he received this short
answer: ‘Head-quarters, Saragossa—war to the knife.’ The French were
compelled to retreat.”
“The boasting of the French general did no good, after all.”
“Marmont, Mortier, Dupont, Victor, and Oudinot, were all famous
generals, as well as Bernadotte and Murat. Victor, having failed to
dislodge the enemy at Montereau, fell under the displeasure of
Buonaparte, who broke out into a furious passion, and dismissed him the
service. Victor then declared, while the tears streamed down his face,
that though he had ceased to be an officer he would still be a soldier,
and that, as he had risen from the ranks, he would again enter them as a
private soldier. This melted Buonaparte, who gave him his hand, and told
him that, though he could not give him the command of his corps, for it
had been assigned to another, he was welcome to place himself at the
head of a brigade of the guard.”
“Then, he did not serve as a common soldier?”
“No. His determination to do so rather than to quit the army, softened
the heart of Buonaparte, and made him relent. It is related, that on one
occasion, when a desperate attack was led on by Soult, there occurred a
circumstance, as honourable as it was characteristic of the spirit which
animated the French. The soldiers of two regiments, or demi-brigades of
the army of Italy, namely, the twenty-fifth, light, and the twenty-
fourth of the line, had sworn eternal enmity against one another,
because that previously to the opening of the campaign, when desertion,
and all the evils of insubordination prevailed in that army,
disorganized by suffering, the former, in which discipline had been
maintained, was employed to disarm the latter. The utmost care had been
taken to keep them separate; but it happened that these two corps found
themselves one day made rivals, as it were, in valour, the one before
the eyes of the other. The same dangers, the same thirst of glory, the
same eagerness to maintain themselves, at once renewed in all hearts
generous sentiments; the soldiers became instantly intermingled; they
embraced in the midst of the fire, and one half of the one corps passing
into the ranks of the other, they renewed the combat after the exchange,
with double ardour.”
“What a very odd thing! It shows that soldiers can forgive one another,
however!”
“The battle of Marengo, fought between the French and the Austrians,
shows us, that without good tactics a field may be lost almost in the
moment of victory. The Austrians, under Melas, were full forty thousand
strong, while the French, under Buonaparte, in the absence of their
reserve, could hardly be more than half that number.”
“Two to one—that was a terrible difference.”
“The French advance-troops were under Gardanne. Victor led on the first
line; Lannes the second; and Napoleon Buonaparte the third. The Austrian
heavy infantry were formed into two lines; the first was commanded by
General Haddick, the second by Melas, who had also General Zach with
him, while General Elsnitz commanded the light infantry and cavalry.”
“What a trampling and clashing there must be when one army meets another
in battle!”
“On came the Austrians, and back fell Gardanne, to strengthen Victor. A
furious cannonading took place along the whole front of that position,
on the edge of a ravine, the muskets of either party almost touching
each other. Marengo was taken and retaken several times. The French, at
last, were beaten back, for General Elsnitz, with his splendid cavalry,
had outflanked them on the right, and the retreating columns of Lannes
had to sustain the squadrons that were poured upon him. The retreat
became general.”
“What did Buonaparte think of it then? He could not much like to fly
before the Austrians.”
“Just as the Austrian cavalry were rushing on, Desaix, the French
general, with the reserve, appeared on the field. ‘I think this is a
lost battle,’ said he to Buonaparte. ‘And I think it is a battle won,’
replied Napoleon. ‘Push on, and I will rally behind you.’”
“Buonaparte never gives up while there is any hope of obtaining a
victory.”
“Now, had General Melas pursued his advantage there can be little doubt
that he would have obtained a complete victory. He drew back, however,
to the rear, making sure of the battle, and left General Zach to pursue
the fugitives. This was an error, for which he dearly paid.”
“Why did he not go on, when he was conquering? That was the worst time
in the world to fall back to the rear.”
“The old general was then eighty-four years old, and therefore we can
hardly wonder at it. Desaix led on his troops, and fell dead at the
first fire, but General Kellerman, with the French cavalry, made such a
desperate charge that the Austrians could not sustain it. Post after
post was taken by the French, and the Austrians by whole troops
surrendered, being unable to cross the river. Kellerman and Desaix, no
doubt, won the victory, but the battle was lost by the error committed
by General Melas, and by the rashness with which the Austrians advanced
in all the confidence of success. The way to go through life, boys, is
neither to be too much cast down by adversity nor too much elated with
prosperity. When Mr. Pitt, the British minister, read the bulletin of
Marengo, he had so little hope of withstanding the French, on the
continent, that he said, ‘Fold up that map,’ the map of Europe, ‘it will
not be wanted for these twenty years.’ Buonaparte prided himself much on
the battle of Marengo, it is one of the victories commemorated on the
Napoleon Pillar in Paris.”
“Please to tell us of the Napoleon Pillar?”
“This Pillar stands in the Place Vendome. It is a hundred and thirty
feet high, and entirely covered with brass, furnished by the pieces of
cannon taken in many victories from the Austrians. It is one of the most
beautiful works of art, of the kind, to be seen anywhere. The different
victories gained by Buonaparte are represented in spiral compartments,
after the manner of the famous Trajan’s Pillar, at Rome. The figure of
Buonaparte some years ago was placed at the top of the Napoleon Pillar.”
“There is one battle in which Buonaparte fought that will never be
represented on the Napoleon Pillar.”
“And what battle is that, boys?”
“Why, Waterloo! If that was put at the top or bottom of all the rest, it
would take away a great deal of the glory of Napoleon.”
“There is but little danger of Waterloo being added to the battles on
the pillar in the Place Vendome; but let us not give our minds to
boasting. The French are a brave nation, though they have too frequently
forgotten, in their successes, that mercy and magnanimity which ought to
be extended to the conquered. Some people say ‘the French _will_ win,
the English _cannot_ lose,’—meaning thereby that the French are intrepid
in their attacks, but that the cool courage and persevering fortitude of
the English are not to be overcome.”
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