collect, sufficient means, to oppose a forcible entry?--_Ans._ No
general can answer for the consequences of a battle.
"5th. Is there sufficient ammunition for several battles?--_Ans._ Yes.
"6th. In fine, can you answer for the fate of the capital? and for how
long a time?--_Ans._ We can warrant nothing on this head.
(Signed) "The Marshal Minister at War,
"The Prince of ECKMUHL.
"July the 2d, 3 o'clock in the morning."
The answer of the council of war was transmitted immediately to the
Tuileries, and there became the subject of a long and profound
deliberation.
In fine, after having weighed the advantages and dangers of a
protracted defence; after having considered, that Paris, without hope
of succour, and surrounded on all sides, would either be taken by
assault, or forced to surrender at discretion that the army, without
any means of retreat, would find themselves perhaps reduced to choose
between the disgrace of surrendering themselves prisoners, and the
necessity of burying themselves under the ruins of the capital; the
committee decided unanimously, that Paris should not be defended, and
that they would submit to deliver it into the hands of the allies,
since the allies would not suspend hostilities at any other price.
General Ziethen, who commanded Prince Blucher's advanced guard, was
informed of this determination by the Prince of Eckmuhl. He returned
him the following answer:
"_To the Prince of Eckmuhl._
"July the 2d.
"Monsieur General,
"General Revest has communicated to me verbally, that you demand an
armistice, to treat of the surrender of Paris.
"In consequence, M. General, I have to inform you, that I am in no way
authorized to accept an armistice. I dare not even announce this
demand to his Highness Marshal Prince Blucher: but however, if the
deputies of the government declare to my aide-de-camp, Count
Westphalen, that they will surrender the city, _and that the French
army will surrender itself also_, I will accept a suspension of
hostilities.
"I will then communicate it to his highness Prince Blucher, to treat
of the other articles.
(Signed) "ZIETHEN."
When Brennus, abusing his victory, offered an insult to the
vanquished, the Romans ran to arms. We, less sensible, and less proud,
heard, without shuddering, the insult offered to our eighty thousand
brave soldiers, and accepted, without blushing, the disgrace thus
inflicted upon them and us!
Our only revenge was to despatch MM. de Tromeling and Macirone, the
former to Prince Blucher, the latter to Lord Wellington.
The Duke of Otranto, without the knowledge of the committee, delivered
to M. Macirone a confidential note in the following terms:
"The army is dissatisfied, because it is unhappy; encourage it: it
will become faithful and devoted.
"The chambers are indocile for the same reason; encourage every body,
and every body will be on your side.
"Let the army be sent away: the chambers will consent to it, on a
promise to add to the charter the guarantees specified by the King. In
order to come to a good understanding, it is necessary, that
explanations should take place: do not enter Paris, therefore, in less
than three days; in this interval every thing will be settled. _The
chambers will be gained; they will fancy themselves independent, and
will sanction every thing._ It is not force that must be employed with
them, but persuasion."
I know not whether M. de Tromeling were also furnished with a similar
note, or whether Lord Wellington interposed his authority; but Prince
Blucher, become on a sudden more tractable, consented to treat of the
surrender of Paris.
On the 3d of July, General Ziethen announced on his part to the Prince
of Eckmuhl, "that the deputies of the government might present
themselves: that they would be conducted to St. Cloud, where they
would find deputies from the English and Prussian generals."
Baron Bignon, Count de Bondy, and General Guilleminot, provided with
powers from the Prince of Eckmuhl (Blucher having declared, that he
would have nothing to do with any person but the chief of the French
army), repaired to the Prussian advanced posts, and were conducted to
St. Cloud; _where, without any regard to the laws of nations, they
were deprived of all means of communicating with the government, and
kept in a private prison, during the whole continuance of the
negotiations._
Baron Bignon, the principal negotiator, and his two colleagues,
defended the political rights, the private interests, the
inviolability of persons and property, national and individual, with
inestimable firmness and zeal. They were far from foreseeing, that
the following convention, which they considered as sacred, would
subsequently open such a fatal!! door to the interpretations of
vengeance and bad faith.
CONVENTION.
This day, July the 3d, 1815, the commissioners named by the commanders
in chief of the respective armies, namely:
M. Baron Bignon, having in charge the portfolio of foreign affairs; M.
Count Guilleminot, chief of the staff of the French army; M. Count de
Bondy, prefect of the department of the Seine; furnished with full
powers by Marshal the Prince of Eckmuhl, commander in chief of the
French army, on the one part;
And M. Major-General Baron de Muffling, furnished with powers by his
Highness Marshal Prince Blucher, commander-in-chief of the Prussian
army; and M. Colonel Hervey, furnished with full powers by his
excellency the Duke of Wellington, commander-in-chief of the English
army, on the other;
Have agreed on the following articles:
ART. I.
There shall be a suspension of hostilities between the allied armies
commanded by his highness Prince Blucher, his excellency the Duke of
Wellington, and the French army, under the walls of Paris.
ART. II.
To-morrow the French army shall commence its march, to retire behind
the Loire. The total evacuation of Paris shall be effected in three
days, and its movement of retiring behind the Loire shall be finished
in eight days.
ART. III.
The French army shall take with it its stores, field artillery,
military convoys, horses, and property of the regiments, without any
exception. This shall equally apply to what belongs to (_le personnel
des_) the dépôts, and the different branches of administration,
belonging to the army.
ART. IV.
The sick and wounded, as well as the medical officers, whom it may be
necessary to leave with them, are under the particular protection of
MM. the commissaries in chief of the English and Prussian armies.
ART. V.
The military and non-military persons, mentioned in the preceding
article, may rejoin the corps to which they belong, as soon as they
are recovered.
ART. VI.
The women and children of all persons belonging to the French army
shall be at liberty to remain in Paris.
These women shall meet with no obstruction to their quitting Paris, to
rejoin the army, or to taking with them their own property or that of
their husbands.
ART. VII.
The officers of the line employed with the federates, or with the
sharpshooters of the national guard, may either rejoin the army, or
return to their place of residence, or to the place where they were
born.
ART. VIII.
To-morrow, July the 4th, at noon, St. Denis, St. Ouen, Clichy, and
Neuilly, shall be delivered up; the next day, July the 5th, at the
same hour, Montmartre shall be delivered; and on the 3d day, July 6,
all the barriers shall be delivered.
ART. IX.
The interior duty of Paris shall continue to be performed by the
national guard, and by the corps of municipal gendarmerie.
ART. X.
The commanders in chief of the English and Prussian armies _engage to
respect, and to make those under them respect, the present
authorities, as long as they subsist_.
ART. XI.
_Public property_, except what relates to war, whether it belong to
the government, or depend on the municipal authority, _shall be
respected_, and the allied powers will not interfere in any manner in
its management, or in its conduct.
ART. XII.
The persons and property of individuals shall be equally respected:
the inhabitants, and all persons in general, who happen to be in the
capital, shall continue to enjoy their rights and liberties, _without
being molested, or any inquiry being made into the functions they
occupy or may have occupied, their conduct, or their political
opinions_.
ART. XIII.
The foreign troops shall oppose no obstacle to the supply of the
capital with provision; and on the contrary shall protect the arrival
and free circulation of articles intended for it.
ART. XIV.
The present convention shall be observed, and serve as a rule for the
mutual conduct of the parties, till a peace is concluded.
In case of a rupture, it shall be announced in the usual forms at
least ten days beforehand.
ART. XV.
_If any difficulties arise_, respecting the execution of some of the
articles of the present convention, _the interpretation shall be in
favour of the French army_, and of the city of Paris.
ART. XVI.
The present convention is declared common to all the allied armies,
saving the ratification of the powers, to which those armies belong.
ART. XVII.
The ratifications shall be exchanged to-morrow, at six o'clock in the
morning, at the bridge of Neuilly.
ART. XVIII.
Commissioners shall be named by the respective parties, to superintend
the execution of the present convention.
Done and signed at St. Cloud, in triplicate, by the commissioners
undernamed, the day and year above mentioned,
(Signed) Baron BIGNON.
Count GUILLEMINOT.
Count DE BONDY.
Baron DE MUFFLING.
B. HERVEY, Colonel.
Approved and ratified,
(Signed) Marshal Prince ECKMUHL.
The title of capitulation was originally given to this treaty: but the
Duke of Otranto, aware of the power of words, and dreading the
impression this would produce, hastened to recall the copies already
distributed, and to substitute the milder title of convention. This
precaution, however, fascinated the eyes only of a few friendly
deputies. Numerous groups were formed: the government and Prince
Eckmuhl were openly charged with having a second time delivered up and
sold Paris to the allies and the Bourbons. The patriots, the
sharpshooters, the federates, who had offered to defend the city with
their lives, were equally indignant, that the city had been given up
without firing a single shot. They resolved, to seize on the heights
of Montmartre, join the army, and sell dearly to the enemy the last
sighs of liberty and of France. But their threatening clamours were
not unheard by the government. It called out the national guards; and
these at length appeased the malecontents, by opposing to them the
example of their own resignation.
The publication of the convention produced an effervescence not less
formidable in the camps. The generals assembled, to protest against
this impious act, and oppose its accomplishment. They declared, that
the Prince of Eckmuhl, _in whose house they had frequently caught M.
de Vitrolles_, had forfeited the esteem of the army, and was no longer
worthy to command it. They repaired to General Vandamme, and offered
him the command. But this officer, who had made one of the council of
war, which they did not know, and approved its sentiments, refused his
consent to their wishes. The soldiers, who had been made to swear by
the representatives of the people, that they would never suffer the
enemy to penetrate into the capital, spontaneously shared the
indignation of their leaders; and declared, like them, that they would
never consent, to surrender Paris. Some broke their arms, others
brandished them in the air with curses and threats; all swore, to die
on the spot, rather than desert it. A general insurrection appeared
inevitable and at hand; when the General, alarmed at the calamities it
might occasion, harangued the soldiers, and at length calmed their
irritation. The imperial guard, yielding to the ascendancy the brave
and loyal Drouot possessed over it, gave the first example of
submission, and every thing was restored to order.
The government, to justify its conduct, and prevent similar
insurrections in the other armies, and in the departments, published
the following proclamation, a pompous tissue of eloquent impostures,
and of fallacious promises[86].
[Footnote 86: It was the performance of the Duke of
Otranto.]
"_The Committee of Government to the French._
"Frenchmen,
"Under the difficult circumstances, in which the reins of government
were entrusted to us, it was not in our power, to master the course of
events, and repel every danger: but it was our duty, to protect the
interests of the people, and of the army, equally compromised in the
cause of a prince, abandoned by fortune and by the national will.
"It was our duty, _to preserve_ to our country the precious remains of
those brave legions, whose courage is superior to misfortune, and who
have been the victims of a devotion, which their country now claims.
"It was our duty, to save the capital from the horrors of a siege, or
the chances of a battle to maintain the public tranquillity amid the
tumults and agitations of war, _to support the hopes of the friends of
liberty_, amid the fears and anxieties of a suspicious foresight. It
was above all our duty, to stop the useless effusion of blood. We had
to choose _between a secure national existence_, or run the risk of
exposing our country and its citizens to a general convulsion, that
would leave behind it neither hope, nor a future.
"_None of the means of defence_, that time and our resources
permitted, nothing that the service of the camps or of the city
required, have we neglected.
"While the pacification of the West was concluding, plenipotentiaries
went to meet the allied powers; and all the papers relative to this
negotiation have been laid before our representatives.
"The fate of the capital is regulated by a convention: its
inhabitants, whose firmness, courage, and perseverance, are above all
praise, will retain the guarding of it. _The declarations of the
sovereigns of Europe must inspire too great confidence, their promises
have been too solemn, for us to entertain any fears of our liberties,
and of our dearest interests, being sacrificed to victory._
"_At length we shall receive guarantees_, that will prevent the
alternate and transient triumphs of the factions, by which we have
been agitated these five and twenty years; that will terminate our
revolutions, and _melt down under one common protection_ all the
parties, to which they have given rise, and all those, against which
they have contended.
"Those guarantees, which have hitherto existed only in our principles
and in our courage, _we shall find_ in our laws, in our constitution,
in our representative system. For whatever may be the intelligence,
the virtues, the personal qualities of a monarch, these can never
suffice, to render the people secure against the oppressions of power,
the prejudices of pride, the injustice of courts, and the ambition of
courtiers.
"Frenchmen, peace is necessary to your commerce, to your arts, to the
improvement of your morals, to the development of the resources
remaining to you: be united, _and you are at the end of your
calamities_. The repose of Europe is inseparable from yours. Europe is
interested in your tranquillity, and in your happiness.
"Given at Paris, July the 5th, 1815.
(Signed) "The president of the committee,
"The Duke of OTRANTO."
By the terms of the convention, the first column of the French was to
commence its march on the 4th. The soldiers, still irritated, declared
they would not set out, till they received their arrears of pay. The
treasury was empty, credit extinguished, the government at bay. The
Prince of Eckmuhl proposed, to seize the funds of the bank: but this
attempt struck the committee with horror. One resource alone, one only
hope, remained: this was to invoke the support of a banker, at that
time celebrated for his wealth, now celebrated for his public virtues.
M. Lafitte was applied to: the chances of the future did not deter
him; he listened only to the interest of his country; and several
millions, distributed by his assistance through the ranks of the army,
disarmed the mutineers, and crushed the seeds of a civil war.
The army began its march. Amid the despair, into which it had been
plunged by the capitulation, it had frequently called on Napoleon! The
committee, apprehensive that the Emperor, having no longer any
measures to keep, would come and put himself in a state of desperation
at the head of the patriots and soldiers, sent orders by a courier to
General Beker, "to effect the arrival of Napoleon at Rochefort without
delay; _and, without departing from the respect due to him, to employ
all the means necessary, to get him embarked_; as his stay in France
compromised the safety of the state, and was detrimental to the
negotiations."
The retreat of the army, the occupation of Paris by the foreigners,
and the presence of the King at Arnouville, unveiled the future; and
those men who were not blinded by incurable illusions, prepared to
fall again under the sway of the Bourbons.
Their partisans, their emissaries, their known agents (M. de Vitrolles
and others) had asserted, that the King, ascribing the revolution of
the 20th of March to the faults of his ministry, would shut his eyes
to all that had passed; and that a general absolution would be the
pledge of his return, and of his reconciliation with the French. This
consolatory assertion had already surmounted the repugnance of many;
when the proclamations of the 25th and 28th of June, issued at
Cambray, made their appearance[87]. These in fact acknowledged, that
the ministers of the King had committed faults; but, far from
promising a complete oblivion of those committed by his subjects, one
of them, the work of the Duke of Feltre, on the contrary announced,
"that the King, whose potent allies had cleared the way for him to his
dominions, by dispersing _the satellites of the tyrant_, was hastening
to return to them, to carry the existing laws into execution against
the guilty."
[Footnote 87: They were published by order of the
chamber.]
Information was soon brought by the commissioners, returned from the
head quarters of the allies, and confirmed by the reports of MM.
Tromeling and Macirone, that Blucher and Wellington, already taking
advantage of our weakness, openly declared, that the authority of the
chambers and of the committee was illegal; and that the best thing
they could do would be, to give in their resignations, and proclaim
Louis XVIII.
All the good effected by the cajolery of M. Fouché, and the hope of a
happy reconciliation, now disappeared. Consternation seized the
weak-minded; indignation, men of a generous spirit. The committee,
disappointed of the hope of obtaining Napoleon II., or the Duke of
Orleans; who, according to the expression of the Duke of Wellington,
would have been only an usurper of a good family; could no longer
disguise from itself, that it was the intention of the foreign powers,
to restore Louis XVIII. to the throne; but it had imagined, that his
re-establishment would be the subject of an agreement between the
nation, the allied monarchs, and Louis.
When it was acquainted with the language held by the enemy's generals,
it foresaw, that the independence of the powers of the state,
stipulated by the convention, would not be respected; and it
deliberated, whether it would not be proper for it and the chambers,
to retire behind the Loire with the army. This measure, worthy of the
firmness of M. Carnot, who proposed it, was strongly combated by the
Duke of Otranto. He declared, that this step would ruin France; "that
the greater part of the generals would not assent to it, and that he
himself would be the first, to refuse to quit Paris. That it was at
Paris the whole must be decided: and that it was the duty of the
committee to remain there, to protect the high interests confided to
it, and contend for them to the last extremity."
The committee gave up the idea; not out of deference to the
observations of M. Fouché, for he had lost all his empire over it; but
because it was convinced on reflection, that things had gone too far,
for any benefit to be expected from this desperate step. It would
probably have rekindled the foreign war, and a civil war; and, though
the soldiers might be depended on, their leaders could no longer be
so, with the same security. Some, as General Sénéchal, had been
stopped at the advanced posts, when going over to the Bourbons. Others
had openly declared themselves in favour of Louis. The greater number
appeared inflexible: but this difference of opinion had brought on
distrust and dissensions; and in political wars all is lost, when
there is a divergency of wills and opinions. Besides it would have
been necessary, since the committee persisted in rejecting Napoleon,
to place at the head of the army some other chief, whose name, sacred
to glory, might serve as a stay and rallying point: and on whom could
the choice of the committee fall[88]?
[Footnote 88: Events have justified the prudence of the
marshals; but I am not judging of events, I am relating
them.]
Marshal Ney had been the first, to give the alarm, and despair of the
safety of the country[89].
[Footnote 89: On the 23d of June, M. Carnot, after
having delivered to the chamber of peers Napoleon's act
of abdication, entered into some details of the state of
the army. Marshal Ney rose, and said ... "What you have
just heard is false, entirely false; Marshal Grouchy and
the Duke of Dalmatia cannot assemble sixty thousand
men.... Marshal Grouchy has been unable to rally more
than seven or eight thousand; Marshal Soult could not
maintain his post at Rocroy; you have no longer _any
means_ of saving the country, but by negotiations." M.
Carnot and General Flahaut immediately refuted this
imprudent negation. General Drouot completely refuted
the marshal in the following sitting.... "I have heard
with regret," said he, "what had been said to diminish
the glory of our armies, exaggerate our disasters, or
depreciate our resources. I will say what I think, what
I fear, and what I hope. On my frankness you may depend.
My attachment to the Emperor cannot be doubted: but
before all things, and above all things, I love my
country." The general then gave a true and authenticated
account of the battles of Ligny and Mont St. Jean; and,
after having justified the Emperor from the faults,
indirectly attempted to be imputed to him, continued:
"Such are the particulars of this fatal day. It ought to
have crowned the glory of the French army, destroyed all
the vain hopes of the enemy, and perhaps soon given a
peace to France.... But heaven decided otherwise....
Though our losses are considerable, still our situation
is not desperate: the resources yet left us are great,
if we will employ them with energy ... such a
catastrophe should not discourage a nation great and
noble like ours.... After the battle of Cannæ, the Roman
senate voted thanks to their vanquished general, because
he had not despaired of the safety of the republic; and
laboured incessantly, to furnish him with the means of
repairing the disasters of which he had been the
cause.... On an occasion less critical, would the
representatives of the nation suffer themselves to be
depressed? Or would they forget the dangers of their
country, and waste their hours in ill-timed debates,
instead of having recourse to a remedy, that should
ensure the safety of France?"]
Marshal Soult had relinquished his command.
Marshal Massena, worn out by victories, had no longer the bodily
strength, that circumstances required.
Marshal Macdonald, deaf to the shout of war raised by his old
companions in arms, had suffered his sword, to remain peaceably in its
scabbard.
Marshal Jourdan was on the Rhine.
Marshal Mortier had been seized with the gout at Beaumont.
Marshal Suchet had displayed irresolution and repugnance from the
beginning.
In fine, Marshals Davoust and Grouchy no longer possessed the
confidence of the army.