_Amount and distribution of the French Army at the resumption of
Hostilities--of the Armies of the Allies--Plan of the Campaign on
both sides--Return of Moreau from America, to join the
Allies--Attack on Dresden by the Allies on 26th August--Napoleon
arrives to its succour--Battle continued on the 27th--Death of
General Moreau--Defeat and Retreat of the Allies, with great
loss--Napoleon returns from the pursuit to Dresden,
indisposed--Vandamme attacks the Allies at Culm--is driven back
towards Peterswald--Conflict on the heights of Peterswald--Vandamme
is Defeated and made prisoner--Effects of the victory of Culm, on
the Allies--and on Napoleon._
At no period during the armistice had the hopes of peace been so
probable, as to suspend for a moment the most active preparations for
war.
Napoleon, determined, as we have already seen, to render Dresden the
centre of his operations, had exerted the utmost industry in converting
that beautiful capital into a species of citadel. All the trees in the
neighbourhood, including those which so much adorned the public gardens
and walks, had been cut down, and employed in the construction of a
chain of redoubts and field-works, secured by fosses and palisades,
which were calculated to render the city very defensible. But, besides
Dresden itself, with the neighbouring mountain-fortresses, the French
Emperor possessed as strongly fortified places, Torgau, Wittenberg,
Magdeburg, and others on the Elbe, which secured him the possession of
the rich and beautiful valley of that river. He had established an
intrenched camp at the celebrated position of Pirna, and thrown a bridge
of boats over the Elbe, near Koenigstein, for the purpose of
maintaining a communication betwixt that mountain-fortress and the fort
of Stolpen. This showed Napoleon's apprehension of an attack from the
mountains of Bohemia, behind which the Austrians had been assembling
their army. In this destined battle-ground, Napoleon assembled the young
conscripts, who continued to pour from the French frontier; and who, by
a singularly ingenious species of combination, were learning the duties
of their new condition, even while, with arms in their hands for the
first time, they were marching to the field of action.[273]
[Sidenote: DISTRIBUTION OF THE ARMY.]
In the beginning of August, Napoleon had assembled about 250,000 men in
Saxony and Silesia. This great force was stationed so as best to
confront the enemy on the points where they had assembled their troops.
At Leipsic, there were collected 60,000 men, under command of Oudinot.
At Loewenberg, Goldberg, Bantzlau, and other towns on the borders of
Silesia, were 100,000 men, commanded by Macdonald. Another army of
50,000 were quartered in Lusatia, near Zittau. St. Cyr, with 20,000, was
stationed near Pirna, to observe the mountains of Bohemia, and the
passes through which the Elbe discharges its waters upon Saxony. In
Dresden the Emperor himself lay with his guard, amounting to 25,000 men,
the flower of his army. Besides these hosts, Buonaparte had a
considerable army in Italy under the Viceroy Eugene; and 25,000
Bavarians were assembled as an army of reserve, under General Wrede.
Almost all his old lieutenants, who had fought, and won so often in his
cause, were summoned to attend this important war; and even Murat, who
had been on indifferent terms with his relative, came anew from his
beautiful capital of Naples, to enjoy the pleasure of wielding his sabre
against his old friends the Cossacks.
The preparations of the allies were upon a scale equally ample. The
accession of the Austrians had placed at disposal in Bohemia 120,000
men, to whom the allies joined 80,000 Russians and Prussians, which
brought the whole force to 200,000 men. Schwartzenberg had been selected
to command this, which was called the grand army of the allies--a
judicious choice, not only as a fitting compliment to the Emperor of
Austria, who had joined the confederacy at so critical a moment, but on
account of Schwartzenberg's military talents, his excellent sound sense,
penetration, good-humour, and placidity of temper; qualities essential
in every general, but especially in him upon whom reposes the delicate
duty of commanding an army composed of different nations. This large
host lay in and about Prague, and, concealed by the chain of hills
called the Erzgebirge, was ready to rush into Saxony as soon as an
opportunity should offer of surprising Dresden.
The other moiety of the original invading army amounting to 80,000,
consisting of Russians and Prussians, called the army of Silesia, and
commanded by Blucher, defended the frontier of that country, and the
road to Breslau. Nearer the gates of Berlin was the Crown Prince of
Sweden, with an army consisting of 30,000 Swedes, and about 60,000
Prussians and Russians; the former being the corps of Bulow and
Tauenzein, the latter those of Winzengerode and Woronzoff. Besides these
armies, Walmoden, with a force consisting of 30,000 Russians, Prussians,
and insurgent Germans, was at Schwerin, in the duchy of Mecklenberg;
Hiller, with 40,000 Austrians, watched the Italian army of the Viceroy;
and the Prince of Reuss confronted the Bavarian troops with an army
equal in strength to Wrede's own.
The allies had agreed upon a plan of operations equally cautious and
effective. It is believed to have been originally sketched by the Crown
Prince of Sweden, and afterwards revised and approved by the celebrated
Moreau. That renowned French general had been induced, by the complexion
of matters in Europe, and the invitation of Russia, to leave America,
join the camp of the allies, and bring all the knowledge of the art of
war, for which he was so famous, to enlighten their military councils.
His conduct in thus passing over to the camp of France's enemies, has
been ably defended by some as the act of a patriot who desired to
destroy the despotism which had been established in his country, while
others have censured him for arming against his native land, in revenge
for unworthy usage which he had received from its ruler. Much of the
justice of the case must rest upon what we cannot know--the purpose,
namely, of Moreau, in case of ultimate success. He certainly had not, as
Bernadotte might plead, acquired such rights in, and such obligations to
another country, as to supersede the natural claims of his birth-place.
Yet he might be justified in the eye of patriotism, if his ultimate
object really was to restore France to a rational degree of liberty,
under a regulated government; and such it is stated to have been. Any
purpose short of this must leave him guilty of the charge of having
sacrificed his duty to his country to his private revenge. He was,
however, highly honoured by the Emperor of Russia in particular; and his
presence was justly considered as a great accession to the council of
war of the allies.
So many men of talent, and two of them masters of the French tactics,
had no difficulty in divining the mode in which Buonaparte meant to
conduct the present campaign. They easily saw that he intended to join
his strong and effective reserve of the Guard to any of the armies
placed on the frontier of Saxony, where a point of attack presented
itself; and thus advance upon, overpower, and destroy the enemy whom he
should find in front, as the hunted tiger springs upon the victim which
he has selected out of the circle of hunters, who surround him with
protended spears. To meet this mode of attack, which might otherwise
have been the means of the allied armies being defeated successively and
in detail, it was resolved that the general against whom Buonaparte's
first effort should be directed, should on no account accept of the
proffered battle, but, withdrawing his troops before the Emperor, should
decoy him as far as possible in pursuit, while at the same time the
other armies of the allies should advance upon his rear, destroy his
communications, and finally effect their purpose of closing round him in
every direction.
[Sidenote: DRESDEN.]
The grand army, commanded by Schwartzenberg, was particularly directed
to this latter task, because, while it would have been dangerous in
Napoleon on that point to have sought them out by storming the
mountain-passes of Bohemia, nothing could be more easy for
Schwartzenberg than to rush down upon Dresden when Buonaparte should
leave that city uncovered, for however short an interval.
Blucher was the first who, advancing from Silesia, and menacing the
armies of Macdonald and Ney, induced Buonaparte to march to join them
with his Guard, and with a great body of cavalry commanded by Latour
Maubourg. He left Dresden on the 15th August; he threw bridges over the
Bober, and advanced with rapidity, bringing forward Macdonald's division
in aid of his own force. But the Prussian general was faithful to the
plan laid down. He made an admirable retreat across the Katzbach,
admitting the French to nothing but skirmishes, in which the allies had
some advantage. Finally, he established himself in a position on the
river Niesse, near Jauer, so as to cover Silesia and its capital.
On the 21st August, Napoleon learned the interesting news, that while he
was pressing forward on the retreating Prussians, Dresden was in the
utmost danger of being taken. His guards had instant orders to return to
Saxony. He himself set out early on the 23d. It was full time; for
Schwartzenberg, with whom came the Sovereigns of Russia and Prussia, as
well as General Moreau, had descended from Bohemia, and, concentrating
their grand army on the left bank of the Elbe, were already approaching
the walls of Dresden, Napoleon's point of support, and the pivot of his
operations. Leaving, therefore, to Macdonald the task of controlling
Blucher, the Emperor set out with the élite of his army; yet, with all
the speed he could exert, very nearly came too late to save the object
of his solicitude.
General St. Cyr, who had been left with about 20,000 men to observe the
Bohemian passes, was in no condition to make a stand, when they poured
out upon him six or seven times his own number. He threw himself with
his troops into Dresden, in hopes, by means of its recent
fortifications, to defend it until the arrival of Napoleon. The allies
having found little resistance on their march, displayed their huge army
before the city, divided into four columns, about four o'clock on the
25th August, and instantly commenced the assault. If they should be able
to take Dresden before it could be relieved by Buonaparte, the war might
be considered as nearly ended, since they would in that case obtain
complete command of his line of communication with France, and had at
their mercy his recruits and supplies of every kind.
The scheme of attack was excellently laid, but the allied generals did
not pursue it with the necessary activity. The signal for onset should
have been given instantly, yet they paused for the arrival of Klenau,
with an additional corps d'armée, and the assault was postponed until
next morning.
On the 26th, at break of day, the allies advanced in six columns, under
a tremendous fire. They carried a great redoubt near the city-gate of
Dippoldiswalde, and soon after another; they closed on the French on
every point; the bombs and balls began to fall thick on the streets and
houses of the terrified city; and in engaging all his reserves, St. Cyr,
whose conduct was heroical, felt he had yet too few men to defend works
of such extent. It was at this crisis, while all thought a surrender was
inevitable, that columns, rushing forward with the rapidity of a
torrent, were seen advancing on Dresden from the right side of the Elbe,
sweeping over its magnificent bridges, and pressing through the streets,
to engage in the defence of the almost overpowered city. The Child of
Destiny himself was beheld amidst his soldiers, who, far from exhibiting
fatigue, notwithstanding a severe forced march from the frontiers of
Silesia, demanded, with loud cries, to be led into immediate battle.
Napoleon halted to reassure the King of Saxony, who was apprehensive of
the destruction of his capital, while his troops, marching through the
city, halted on the western side, at those avenues, from which it was
designed they should debouche upon the enemy.
Two sallies were then made under Napoleon's eye, by Ney and Mortier. The
one column, pouring from the gate of Plauen, attacked the allies on the
left flank; the others, issuing from that of Pirna, assailed their
right. The Prussians were dislodged from an open space, called the Great
Garden, which covered their advance upon the ramparts; and the war began
already to change its face, the allies drawing off from the points they
had attacked so fiercely, where they found them secured by these
unexpected defenders. They remained, however, in front of each other,
the sentinels on each side being in close vicinity, until next morning.
On the 27th of August, the battle was renewed under torrents of rain,
and amid a tempest of wind. Napoleon, manœuvring with excellence
altogether his own, caused his troops, now increased by concentration to
nearly 200,000 men, to file out from the city upon different points, the
several columns diverging from each other like the sticks of a fan when
it is expanded; and thus directed them upon such points as seemed most
assailable along the allies' whole position, which occupied the heights
from Plauen to Strehlen. In this manner, his plan assisted by the
stormy weather, which served to conceal his movements, he commenced an
attack upon both flanks of the enemy. On the left he obtained an
advantage, from a large interval left in the allied line, to receive the
division of Klenau, who were in the act of coming up, but exhausted with
fatigue and bad weather, and their muskets rendered almost
unserviceable. In the meanwhile, as a heavy cannonade was continued on
both sides, Napoleon observed one of the batteries of the Young Guard
slacken its fire. General Gourgaud, sent to inquire the cause, brought
information that the guns were placed too low to reply with advantage to
the enemy's fire from the high ground, and that the balls from the
French battery were most of them lost in the earth. "Fire on,
nevertheless," was the Emperor's reply; "we must occupy the attention of
the enemy on that point."
The fire was resumed, and from an extraordinary movement amongst the
troops on the hill, the French became aware that some person of high
rank had been struck down. Napoleon supposed that the sufferer must be
Schwartzenberg. He paid him a tribute of regret, and added, with the
sort of superstition peculiar to his mind, "_He_, then, was the victim
whom the fatal fire at the ball indicated?[274] I always regarded it as
a presage--it is now plain whom it concerned."
[Sidenote: DEATH OF MOREAU.]
Next morning, however, a peasant brought to Napoleon more precise
accounts. The officer of distinction had both legs shattered by the
fatal bullet--he was transported from the field on a bier composed of
lances--the Emperor of Russia and King of Prussia had expressed the
greatest sorrow and solicitude. The man ended this account by bringing
the fallen officer's dog, a greyhound, whose collar bore the name of
Moreau. This great general died a few days afterwards, having suffered
amputation of the wounded limbs, which he bore with great fortitude. His
talents and personal worth were undisputed, and those who, more bold
than we are, shall decide that his conduct in one instance too much
resembled that of Coriolanus and the Constable of Bourbon, must yet
allow that the fault, like that of those great men, was atoned for by an
early and a violent death.
Moreau is said to have formed the plan on which the attack on Dresden
was conducted. His death must therefore have disconcerted it. But
besides this, the allies had calculated upon Buonaparte's absence, and
upon the place being slightly defended. They were disappointed in both
respects; and his sudden arrival at the head of a choice, if not a
numerous army, had entirely changed the nature of the combat. They had
become defenders at the very time when they reckoned on being
assailants; and their troops, particularly the Austrians, who had in
former wars received such dreadful cause to recollect the name of
Napoleon, were discouraged. Even if they repelled the French into
Dresden, they had provided no magazines of support in front of it,
should the allied army be designed to remain there. Jomini, the
celebrated Swiss engineer, who had exchanged, some short time before,
the service of Napoleon for that of the Emperor Alexander, proposed the
daring plan of changing the front of the army during the action, and
attacking in force the left of the French, which might have turned the
fortune of the day. But the experiment was thought, with some justice,
too perilous to be attempted, with a discouraged and disordered army. A
retreat was, therefore, resolved upon, and, owing to the weather, the
state of the roads, and the close pursuit of the French, it was a
disastrous one. The successful operations of the French had established
the King of Naples on the western road to Bohemia, by Freyberg; and
Vandamme, with a strong division, blocked up that which led directly
southward up the Elbe, by Pirna.
The two principal roads being thus closed against Schwartzenberg and his
army, nothing remained for them but to retreat through the interval
between these highways by such country paths as they could find, which,
bad in themselves, had been rendered almost impassable by the weather.
They were pursued by the French in every direction, and lost, what had
of late been unusual, a great number of prisoners. Seven or eight
thousand of the French were killed and wounded; but the loss of the
allies was as great, while their prisoners, almost all Austrians,
amounted to from 13,000 to 15,000. This is admitted by Boutourlin. The
French carry the loss to 50,000, which is an obvious exaggeration; but
half the number does not probably exceed the real extent of the loss. It
is singular, however, that in such roads as have been described, the
allies, out of more than one hundred guns which they brought into
position, should have lost only twenty-six. It was, notwithstanding, a
battle with important consequences, such as had not of late resulted
from any of Napoleon's great victories.[275] It proved, indeed, the last
favour of an unmixed character which Fortune reserved for her ancient
favourite, and it had all the dazzling rapidity and resistless strength
of an unexpected thunderbolt.
Having seen this brilliant day to a close, Napoleon returned to Dresden
on horseback, his grey capote and slouched hat streaming with water,
while the indifferent appearance of his horse and furniture, his awkward
seat and carriage, made a singular contrast with those of Murat, whose
bearing as a horseman was inimitable, and whose battle-dress was always
distinguished by its theatrical finery.[276]
The venerable King of Saxony received his deliverer with rapture, for to
him, personally, Buonaparte certainly was such, though considered by
many of his subjects in a very different light. Napoleon behaved
generously after the action, distributing money among the citizens of
Dresden, who had suffered from the cannonade, and causing the greatest
care to be taken of the wounded and prisoners belonging to the allies.
The next morning this ever-vigilant spirit was again on horseback,
directing his victorious troops in pursuit of the enemy. They were
despatched in different columns, to pursue the allies on the broken
roads by which they were compelled to retreat, and to allow them no rest
nor refuge. No frame, even of iron, could have supported the fatigues of
both mind and body to which Napoleon had subjected himself within the
last three or four days. He was perpetually exposed to the storm, and
had rarely taken rest or refreshment. He is also stated to have suffered
from having eaten hastily some food of a coarse and indigestible
quality.[277] Through one or other, or the whole of these causes
combined, Napoleon became very much indisposed, and was prevailed upon
to return in his carriage to Dresden, instead of remaining at Pirna,
more close in the rear of his pursuing battalions, to direct their
motions. The French officers, at least some of them, ascribe to this
circumstance, as the primary cause, a great, critical, and most
unexpected misfortune, which befell his arms at this time.
[Sidenote: VANDAMME.]
On the 29th of August, the French still continued to push their
advantages. The King of Naples, Marmont, and St. Cyr, were each pressing
upon the pursuit of the columns of the allies, to which they had been
severally attached. A corps d'armée, of about 30,000 men, had been
intrusted to the conduct of Vandamme, whose character as a general, for
skill, determined bravery, and activity, was respected, while he was
detested by the Germans on account of his rudeness and rapacity, and
disliked by his comrades because of the ferocious obstinacy of his
disposition.[278] With this man, who, not without some of the good
qualities which distinguished Buonaparte's officers, presented even a
caricature of the vices ascribed to them, the misfortunes of his master
in this campaign were destined to commence.
Vandamme had advanced as far as Peterswald, a small town in the
Erzgebirge, or Bohemian mountains, forcing before him a column of
Russians, feeble in number, but excellent in point of character and
discipline, commanded by Count Ostermann, who were retreating upon
Toplitz. This town was the point on which all the retiring, some of
which might be almost termed the fugitive, divisions of the allies were
directing their course. If Vandamme could have defeated Ostermann, and
carried this place, he might have established himself, with his corps of
30,000 men, on the only road practicable for artillery, by which the
allies could march to Prague; so that they must either have remained
enclosed between his corps d'armée, and those of the other French
generals who pressed on their rear, or else they must have abandoned
their guns and baggage, and endeavoured to cross the mountains by such
wild tracks as were used only by shepherds and peasants.
It was on the 29th, in the morning, that, acting under so strong a
temptation as we have mentioned, Vandamme had the temerity to descend
the hill from Peterswald to the village of Culm, which is situated in a
very deep valley betwixt that town and Toplitz. As he advanced towards
Toplitz, it appeared that his plan was about to be crowned with success.
The persons of the Emperor of Russia and the King of Prussia, the
members of their Cabinet, and the whole depôt of the headquarters of the
allies, seemed now within his clutch, and, already alarmed, his expected
prey were beginning to attempt their escape in different directions.
Vandamme seemed within a hand's grasp of the prize, for his operation,
if complete, must have totally disorganised the allied army, and the
French might perhaps have pursued them to the very gates of Prague, nay,
of Vienna. The French advanced-guard was within half a league of
Toplitz, when of a sudden Count Ostermann, who had hitherto retreated
slowly, halted, like a wild-boar brought to bay, and commenced the most
obstinate and inflexible resistance. His troops were few, but, as
already said, of excellent quality, being a part of the Imperial Russian
Guard, whom their commander gave to understand, that the safety of their
father (as the Russians affectionately term the Emperor) depended upon
their maintaining their ground. Never was the saying of Frederick II.,
that the Russians might be slain but not routed, more completely
verified. They stood firm as a grove of pines opposed to the tempest,
while Vandamme led down corps after corps, to support his furious and
repeated attacks, until at length he had brought his very last reserves
from the commanding ground of Peterswald, and accumulated them in the
deep valley between Culm and Toplitz. The brave Ostermann had lost an
arm in the action, and his grenadiers had suffered severely; but they
had gained the time necessary. Barclay de Tolly, who now approached the
scene of action, brought up the first columns of the Russians to their
support; Schwartzenberg sent other succours; and Vandamme, in his turn,
overpowered by numbers, retreated to Culm as night closed.
Prudence would have recommended to the French to have continued their
retreat during the night to the heights of Peterswald; but, expecting
probably the appearance of some of the French columns of pursuit,
morning found Vandamme in the valley of Culm, where night had set upon
him. In the meantime, still greater numbers of the allied corps, which
were wandering through these mountain regions, repaired to the banners
of Schwartzenberg and Barclay, and the attack was renewed upon the
French column at break of day on the 30th, with a superiority of force
with which it was fruitless to contend. Vandamme therefore disposed
himself to retreat towards the heights of Peterswald, from which he had
descended. But at this moment took place one of the most singular
accidents which distinguished this eventful war.
Among other corps d'armée of the allies, which were making their way
through the mountains, to rally to the main body as they best could, was
that of the Prussian General Kleist, who had evaded the pursuit of St.
Cyr, by throwing himself into the wood of Schoenwald, out of which he
debouched on the position of Peterswald, towards which Vandamme was
making his retreat. While, therefore, Vandamme's retreating columns were
ascending the heights, the ridge which they proposed to gain was seen
suddenly occupied by the troops of Kleist, in such a state of disorder
as announced they were escaped from some pressing scene of danger, or
hurrying on to some hasty attack.
When the Prussians came in sight of the French, they conceived that the
latter were there for the purpose of cutting them off; and, instead of
taking a position on the heights to intercept Vandamme, they determined,
it would seem, to precipitate themselves down, break their way through
his troops, and force themselves on to Toplitz. On the other hand, the
French, seeing their way interrupted, formed the same conclusion with
regard to Kleist's corps, which the Prussians had done concerning them;
and each army being bent on making its way through that opposed to them,
the Prussians rushed down the hill, while the French ascended it with a
bravery of despair, that supplied the advantage of ground.
[Sidenote: SURRENDER OF VANDAMME.]
The two armies were thus hurled on each other like two conflicting mobs,
enclosed in a deep and narrow road, forming the descent along the side
of a mountain. The onset of the French horse, under Corbineau, was so
desperate, that many or most of them broke through, although the
acclivity against which they advanced would not, in other circumstances,
have permitted them to ascend at a trot; and the guns of the Prussians
were for a moment in the hands of the French, who slew many of the
artillerymen. The Prussians, however, soon rallied, and the two
struggling bodies again mixing together, fought less for the purpose of
victory or slaughter, than to force their way through each other's
ranks, and escape in opposite directions. All became for a time a mass
of confusion, the Prussian generals finding themselves in the middle of
the French--the French officers in the centre of the Prussians. But the
army of the Russians, who were in pursuit of Vandamme, appearing in his
rear, put an end to this singular conflict. Generals Vandamme, Haxo, and
Guyot, were made prisoners, with two eagles and 7000 prisoners, besides
a great loss in killed and wounded, and the total dispersion of the
army, many of whom, however, afterwards rejoined their eagles.[279]
The victory of Culm, an event so unexpected and important in a military
view, was beyond appreciation in the consequences which it produced upon
the moral feelings of the allied troops. Before this most propitious
event, they were retiring as a routed army, the officers and soldiers
complaining of their generals, and their generals of each other. But now
their note was entirely altered, and they could sing songs of triumph,
and appeal to the train of guns and long columns of prisoners, in
support of the victory which they claimed. The spirits of all were
reconciled to the eager prosecution of the war, and the hopes of
liberation spread wider and wider through Germany. The other French
corps d'armée, on the contrary, fearful of committing themselves as
Vandamme had done, paused on arriving at the verge of the Bohemian
mountains, and followed no farther the advantages of the battle of
Dresden. The King of Naples halted at Sayda, Marmont at Zinnwalde, and
St. Cyr at Liebenau. The headquarters of the Emperor Alexander remained
at Toplitz.
Napoleon received the news of this calamity, however unexpected, with
the imperturbable calmness which was one of his distinguishing
qualities. General Corbineau, who commanded in the singular charge of
the cavalry up the hill of Peterswald, presented himself before the
Emperor in the condition in which he escaped from the field, covered
with his own blood and that of the enemy, and holding in his hand a
Prussian sabre, which, in the thick of the mêlée, he had exchanged for
his own. Napoleon listened composedly to the details he had to give.
"One should make a bridge of gold for a flying enemy," he said, "where
it is impossible, as in Vandamme's case, to oppose to him a bulwark of
steel." He then anxiously examined the instructions to Vandamme, to
discover if any thing had inadvertently slipped in to them, to encourage
the false step which that general had taken. But nothing was found which
could justify or authorise his advancing beyond Peterswald, although the
chance of possessing himself of Toplitz must have been acknowledged as a
strong temptation.
"This is the fate of war," said Buonaparte, turning to Murat. "Exalted
in the morning, low enough before night. There is but one step between
triumph and ruin." He then fixed his eyes on the map which lay before
him, took his compass, and repeated in a reverie, the following
verses:--
"J'ai servi, commandé, vaincu quarante années;
Du monde, entre mes mains, j'ai vu les destinées,
Et j'ai toujours connu qu'en chaque événement
Le destin des états dependait d'un moment."
FOOTNOTES:
[273] According to orders accurately calculated, the little bands of
recruits, setting off from different points, or depôts on the frontier,
met together at places assigned, and, as their numbers increased by each
successive junction, were formed first into companies, next into
battalions, and last into regiments; learning, of course, to practise
successively the duties belonging to these various bodies. When they
joined the army, these combinations, which had but been adopted
temporarily, were laid aside, the union of the marching battalion
dissolved, and the conscripts distributed among old regiments, whose
example might complete the discipline which they had thus learned in a
general way.--S.
[274] Given on account of the marriage of Napoleon and Maria
Louisa.--See _ante_, p. 26.
[275] Jomini, tom. iv., p. 390; Savary, tom. iii., p. 106; Military
Reports to the Empress; Baron Fain, tom. ii., p. 309.
[276] Baron d'Odeleben, Relation Circonstanciée, tom. i., p. 198.
[277] To be precise--a shoulder of mutton, stuffed with garlic, was the
only dinner which his attendants could procure for him on the 27th.
Mahomet, who was a favourite of Napoleon, suffered by indulging in
similar viands. But the shoulder of mutton, in the case of the Arabian
prophet, had the condescension to give its consumer warning of its
deleterious qualities, though not till he had eaten too much for his
health.--S.
[278] The Abbé de Pradt represents Vandamme at Warsaw, as beating with
his own hand a priest, the secretary of a Polish bishop, for not having
furnished him with a supply of Tokay, although the poor man had to plead
in excuse that King Jerome had the day before carried off all that was
in the cellar. A saying was ascribed to Buonaparte, "that if he had had
two Vandammes in his service, he must have made the one hang the
other."--S.
[279] Jomini, tom. iv., p. 339; Baron Fain, tom. ii., p. 321.