_Discussion concerning the alleged Poisoning of the Sick in the
Hospitals at Jaffa--Napoleon acquitted of the charge--French
Army re-enter Cairo on the 14th June--Retrospect of what had
taken place in Upper and Lower Egypt during Napoleon's
Absence--Incursion of Murad Bey--18,000 Turks occupy
Aboukir--Attacked and defeated--This Victory terminates
Napoleon's Career in Egypt--Admiral Gantheaume receives Orders
to make ready for Sea--On the 22d August Napoleon embarks for
France--Arrives in Ajaccio on the 30th September--and lands at
Frejus on the 9th October._
[Sidenote: POISONING OF THE SICK AT JAFFA.]
The retreat from before Acre was conducted with equal skill and secrecy,
though Buonaparte was compelled to leave behind his heavy cannon, which
he either buried or threw into the sea. But, by a rumour which long
prevailed in the French army, he was alleged to have taken a far more
extraordinary measure of preparation for retreat, by destroying with
opium the sick in the hospitals, who could not march along with the
army.
This transaction is said to have taken place under the following
circumstances. The siege of Acre being raised on the 21st of May, 1799,
the French army retreated to Jaffa, where their military hospitals had
been established during the siege. Upon the 27th, Buonaparte was under
the necessity of continuing his retreat, and in the meantime such of the
patients as were convalescent were sent forward on the road to Egypt,
under the necessary precautions for their safety. There remained an
indefinite number, reaching at the greatest computation to betwixt
twenty and thirty, but stated by Buonaparte himself to be only seven,
whose condition was desperate. Their disease was the plague, and to
carry them onward, seemed to threaten the army with infection; while to
leave them behind, was abandoning them to the cruelty of the Turks, by
whom all stragglers and prisoners were cruelly murdered, often with
protracted torture. It was on this occasion that Buonaparte submitted to
Desgenettes, chief of the medical staff, the propriety of ending the
victims' misery by a dose of opium. The physician answered, with the
heroism belonging to his profession, that his art taught him how to cure
men, not to kill them.[411]
The proposal was agreeable to Buonaparte's principles, who advocating
the legality of suicide, naturally might believe, that if a man has a
right to relieve himself of intolerable evils by depriving himself of
life, a general or a monarch may deal forth that measure to his soldiers
or subjects, which he would think it advisable to act upon in his own
case. It was consistent, also, with his character, rather to look at
results than at the measures which were to produce them, and to consider
in many cases the end as an excuse for the means. "I would have desired
such a relief for myself in the same circumstances," he said to Mr.
Warden.[412] To O'Meara he affirmed, "that he would have taken such a
step even with respect to his own son."[413] The fallacy of this
reasoning is demonstrable; but Buonaparte was saved from acting on it by
the resistance of Desgenettes. A rear-guard was left to protect these
unhappy men; and the English found some of them alive, who, if
Desgenettes had been more compliant, would have been poisoned by their
physician. If Buonaparte was guilty of entertaining such a purpose,
whether entertained from indifference to human life, or from wild and
misdirected ideas of humanity, he met an appropriate punishment in the
general belief which long subsisted, that the deed had been actually
carried into execution, not in the persons of a few expiring wretches
only, but upon several hundred men. Miot says the report was current in
the French army,--Sir Robert Wilson found it credited among their
officers, when they became the English prisoners,--and Count Las Cases
admits it was generally believed by the soldiers. But though popular
credulity eagerly receives whatever stories are marked by the horrible
and wonderful, history, on the contrary, demands direct evidence, and
the existence of powerful motives,[414] for whatever is beyond the
ordinary bounds of credibility. The poisoning of five or six hundred men
is neither easily managed nor easily concealed; and why should the
French leader have had recourse to it, since, like many a retreating
general before him, he had only to leave the patients for whom he had
not the means of transportation? To poison the sick and helpless, must
have destroyed his interest with the remainder of his soldiers; whereas,
to have left them to their fate, was a matter too customary, and too
much considered as a point of necessity, to create any discontent[415]
among those, whose interest, as well as that of their general, consisted
in moving on as fast as possible. Again, had such a horrible expedient
been had recourse to, it could not have escaped the knowledge of Sir
Sidney Smith, who would not have failed to give the horrid fact
publicity, were it only to retaliate upon Buonaparte for the scandalous
accusations which he had circulated against the English. But though he
mentions various complaints which the prisoners made against their
general, and though he states himself to have found seven men alive in
the hospitals at Jaffa, (being apparently the very persons whom it had
been proposed to despatch by opium,) he says not a word of what he would
doubtless have told not unwillingly, had there been ground for believing
it. Neither, among the numerous persons to whom the truth must be known,
has any one come forward since Buonaparte's fall, who could give the
least evidence to authenticate the report otherwise than as a rumour,
that had sprung out of the unjustifiable proposal which had indeed been
made by Buonaparte to Desgenettes, but never acted upon. The same
patient and impartial investigation, therefore, which compels us to
record that the massacre of the Turkish prisoners in cold blood is fully
proved, induces us to declare, that the poisoning of the sick at Jaffa
has been affirmed without sufficient evidence.[416]
Buonaparte continued his retreat from Syria, annoyed by the natives, who
harassed his march, and retaliating the injuries which he received, by
plundering and burning the villages which lay in the course of his
march. He left Jaffa on the 28th May, and upon the 14th June re-entered
Cairo, with a reputation not so much increased by the victory at Mount
Tabor, as diminished and sullied, for the time, by the retreat from
Acre.
Lower Egypt, during the absence of Buonaparte, had remained undisturbed,
unless by partial insurrections. In one of these an impostor personated
that mysterious individual, the Imaum Mohadi, of whom the Orientals
believe that he is not dead, but is destined to return and combat
Antichrist, before the consummation of all things takes place. This
pretender to supernatural power, as well as others who placed themselves
at the head of insurrections without such high pretensions, was
completely defeated; and the French showed the greatest severity in
punishing their followers, and the country which had furnished them with
partisans.[417]
In Upper Egypt there had been more obstinate contention. Murad Bey,
already mentioned as the ablest chief of the Mamelukes, had maintained
himself in that country with a degree of boldness and sagacity, which
gave the French much trouble. His fine force of cavalry enabled him to
advance or retreat at pleasure, and his perfect acquaintance with the
country added much to his advantage.
Desaix, sent against Murad after the battle of the Pyramids, had again
defeated the Mameluke chief at Sedinan, where was once more made evident
the superiority of European discipline over the valour of the irregular
cavalry of the East. Still the destruction of the enterprising bey was
far from complete. Reinforced by a body of cavalry, Desaix,[418] in the
month of December, 1798, again attacked him, and, after a number of
encounters, terminating generally to the advantage of the French, the
remaining Mamelukes, with their allies the Arabs, were at length
compelled to take shelter in the Desert. Egypt seemed entirely at the
command of the French; and Cosseir, a seaport on the Red Sea, had been
taken possession of by a flotilla, fitted out to command that gulf.[419]
Three or four weeks after Buonaparte's return from Syria, this
flattering state of tranquillity seemed on the point of being disturbed.
Murad Bey, re-entering Upper Egypt with his Mamelukes and allies,
descended the Nile in two bodies, one occupying each bank of the river.
Ibrahim Bey, formerly his partner in the government of Egypt, made a
corresponding movement towards the frontiers of Syria, as if to
communicate with the right-hand division of Murad's army. La Grange was
despatched against the Mamelukes who occupied the right bank, while
Murat marched against those who, under the bey himself, were descending
the Nile. The French were entertained at the idea of the two Murats, as
they termed them, from the similarity of their names, meeting and
encountering each other; but the Mameluke Murad retreated before _Le
Beau Sabreur_--the handsome swordsman--of the French army.[420]
[Sidenote: THE TURKISH ARMY AT ABOUKIR.]
Meantime, the cause of this incursion was explained by the appearance of
a Turkish fleet off Alexandria, who disembarked eighteen thousand men at
Aboukir. This Turkish army possessed themselves of the fort, and
proceeded to fortify themselves, expecting the arrival of the Mamelukes,
according to the plan which had previously been adjusted for expelling
the French from Egypt. This news reached Buonaparte near the Pyramids,
to which he had advanced, in order to ensure the destruction of Murad
Bey. The arrival of the Turks instantly recalled him to Alexandria,
whence he marched to Aboukir to repel the invaders. He joined his army,
which had assembled from all points within a short distance of the
Turkish camp, and was employed late in the night making preparations for
the battle on the next morning. Murat was alone with Buonaparte, when
the last suddenly made the oracular declaration, "Go how it will, this
battle will decide the fate of the world."
"The fate of this army, at least," replied Murat, who did not comprehend
Buonaparte's secret meaning. "But the Turks are without horse, and if
ever infantry were charged to the teeth by cavalry, they shall be so
charged to-morrow by mine."[421]
Napoleon's meaning, however, referred not to Egypt alone, but to Europe;
to which he probably already meditated an unexpected return, which must
have been prevented had he not succeeded in obtaining the most complete
triumph over the Turks. The leaving his Egyptian army, a dubious step at
best, would have been altogether indefensible had there remained an
enemy in their front.
Next morning, being the 25th July, Buonaparte commenced an attack on the
advanced posts of the enemy, and succeeded in driving them in upon the
main body, which was commanded by Seid Mustapha Pacha. In their first
attack the French were eminently successful, and pursued the fugitive
Turks to their intrenchments, doing great execution. But when the
batteries opened upon them from the trenches, while they were at the
same time exposed to the fire from the gun-boats in the bay, their
impetuosity was checked, and the Turks, sallying out upon them with
their muskets slung at their backs, made such havoc among the French
with their sabres, poniards, and pistols, as compelled them to retreat
in their turn.[422] The advantage was lost by the eagerness of the
barbarians to possess themselves of the heads of their fallen enemies,
for which they received a certain reward. They threw themselves
confusedly out of the intrenchments to obtain these bloody testimonials,
and were in considerable disorder, when the French suddenly rallied,
charged them with great fury, drove them back into the works, and scaled
the ramparts along with them.
[Sidenote: TURKS DEFEATED AT ABOUKIR.]
Murat had made good his promise of the preceding evening, and had been
ever in the front of the battle. When the French had surmounted the
intrenchments, he formed a column which reversed the position of the
Turks, and pressing them with the bayonet, threw them into utter and
inextricable confusion. Fired upon and attacked on every point, they
became, instead of an army, a confused rabble, who, in the impetuosity
of animal terror, threw themselves by hundreds and by thousands into the
sea, which at once seemed covered with turbans.[423] It was no longer a
battle, but a massacre; and it was only when wearied with slaughter that
quarter was given to about six thousand men; the rest of the Turkish
army, originally consisting of eighteen thousand, perished on the field
or in the waves. Mustapha Pacha was taken, and carried in triumph before
Buonaparte. The haughty Turk had not lost his pride with his fortunes.
"I will take care to inform the Sultan," said the victor, meaning to be
courteous, "of the courage you displayed in this battle, though it has
been your mishap to lose it."--"Thou mayest save thyself the trouble,"
answered the prisoner haughtily; "my master knows me better than thou
canst."
Buonaparte returned in triumph to Cairo on the 9th August; having,
however, as he continued to represent himself friendly to the Porte,
previously set on foot a negotiation for liberation of the Turkish
prisoners.
This splendid and most decisive victory of Aboukir[424] concluded
Napoleon's career in the East. It was imperiously necessary, ere he
could have ventured to quit the command of his army, with the hope of
preserving his credit with the public; and it enabled him to plead that
he left Egypt for the time in absolute security. His military views had,
indeed, been uniformly successful; and Egypt was under the dominion of
France as completely as the sword could subject it. For two years
afterwards, like the strong man in the parable, they kept the house
which they had won, until in there came a stronger, by whom they were
finally and forcibly expelled.
[Sidenote: SITUATION AND PROSPECTS.]
But, though the victory over the Turks afforded the French for the time
undisturbed possession of Egypt, the situation of Buonaparte no longer
permitted him those brilliant and immense prospects, in which his
imagination loved to luxuriate. His troops were considerably weakened,
and the miscarriage at Acre dwelt on the recollection of the survivors.
The march upon Constantinople was now an impossibility,--that to India
an empty dream. To establish a French colony in Egypt, of which
Buonaparte sometimes talked, and to restore the Indian traffic to the
shores of the Red Sea, thus sapping the sources of British prosperity in
India, was a work for the time of peace, when the necessary
communication was not impeded by the naval superiority of England. The
French general had established, indeed, a chamber of commerce; but what
commerce could take place from a closely blockaded harbour? Indeed, even
in a more propitious season, the establishment of a pacific colony was
no task for the ardent and warlike Napoleon; who, although his active
spirit was prompt in striking out commercial schemes, was not possessed
of the patience or steadiness necessary to carry them to success. It
follows, that if he remained in Egypt, his residence there must have
resembled the situation of a governor in a large city, threatened
indeed, but as yet in no danger of being besieged, where the only fame
which can be acquired is that due to prudent and patient vigilance. This
would be a post which no young or ambitious soldier would covet,
providing he had the choice of being engaged in more active service. On
the other hand, from events which we shall endeavour to trace in the
next chapter, there opened a scene of ambition in France, which
permitted an almost boundless extent of hopes and wishes. Thus, Napoleon
had the choice either of becoming a candidate for one of the greatest
prizes which the world afforded--the supreme authority in that fine
country--or of remaining the governor of a defensive army in Egypt,
waiting the arrival of some new invaders--English, Russians, or Turks,
to dispute his conquest with him. Had he chosen this latter line of
conduct, he might have soon found himself the vassal of Moreau, or some
other military adventurer, (perhaps from his own Italian army,) who,
venturing on the course from which he had himself withdrawn, had
attained to the government of France, and might soon have been issuing
orders from the Luxembourg or the Tuileries to General Buonaparte, in
the style of a sovereign to his subject.
There remained to be separated those strong ties, which were formed
betwixt Napoleon and the army which he had so often led to victory, and
who unquestionably thought he had cast his lot to live or die with them.
But, undoubtedly, he might palliate his departure by the consideration,
that he left them victorious over their boastful enemy, and without the
chance of being speedily summoned to the field; and we can see no reason
for supposing, as has been alleged, that any thing like fear had an
influence in inducing Napoleon's desertion, as it has been termed, of
his army. We cannot, indeed, give him credit for the absolute and pure
desire of serving and saving France, which is claimed by his more
devoted adherents, as the sole motive of his return to Europe; but we
have no doubt that some feelings of this kind--to which, as we are
powerful in deceiving ourselves, he himself might afford more weight
than they deserved--mingled with his more selfish hopes, and that he
took this important step with the desire of serving his country, as
well as of advancing his own interest. Nor should it be forgotten, that
the welfare even of the Egyptian army, as well as his own ambitious
views, required that he should try his fortune at Paris. If he did not
personally exert himself there, it seemed highly probable some
revolution might take place, in which one of the consequences might be,
that the victors of Egypt, deserted by their countrymen, should be
compelled to lay down their arms.
The circumstances in which Buonaparte's resolution is said to have
originated, as related by himself, were singularly fortuitous. Some
intercourse took place with the Turkish fleet, in consequence of his
sending the wounded Turks on board, and Sir Sidney Smith,[425] by way of
taunting the French general with the successes of the Russians in Italy,
sent him a set of newspapers containing an account of Suwarrow's
victories, and a deplorable view of the French affairs on the
continent.[426] If we may trust other authorities, however, to be quoted
in their proper place, he already knew the state of affairs, both in
Italy and France, by his own secret correspondence with Paris,[427]
informing him, not only of the military reverses which the armies of the
latter country had sustained, but of the state of parties, and of the
public mind,--intelligence of greater utility and accuracy than could
have been communicated by the English newspapers.
However his information was derived, Buonaparte lost no time in acting
upon it, with all the secrecy which a matter of such importance
required. Admiral Gantheaume, who had been with the army ever since the
destruction of the fleet, received the general's orders to make ready
for sea, with all possible despatch, two frigates then lying in the
harbour of Alexandria.
Meantime, determined to preserve his credit with the Institute, and to
bring evidence of what he had done for the cause of science, Buonaparte
commanded Monge, who is said to have suggested the expedition, and the
accomplished Denon, who became its historian, with Berthollet, to
prepare to accompany him to Alexandria. Of military chiefs, he selected
the Generals Berthier, Murat, Lannes, Marmont, Desaix, Andréossy, and
Bessières, the best and most attached of his officers. He left Cairo as
soon as he heard the frigates were ready and the sea open, making a
visit to the Delta the pretext of his tour. Kleber and Menou, whom he
meant to leave first and second in command, were appointed to meet him
at Alexandria. But he had an interview with the latter only.
Kleber, an excellent soldier, and a man of considerable parts, was much
displeased at the hasty and disordered manner in which the command of an
important province and a diminished army were thrust upon him, and
remonstrated in a letter to the Directory, upon the several points of
the public service, which, by his conduct on this occasion, Buonaparte
had neglected or endangered.[428] Napoleon afterwards laboured hard to
answer the accusations which these remonstrances implied, and to prove,
that, in leaving the Egyptian army, he had no intention of abandoning
it; on the contrary, that he intended either to return in person, or to
send powerful succours. He blamed Gantheaume, at a later period, for not
having made his way from Toulon to Alexandria, with reinforcements and
supplies. But Buonaparte, slow to see what contradicted a favourite
project, could never be made to believe, unless when in the very act of
experiencing it, that the superiority of the British naval power depends
upon circumstances totally different from those which can be removed by
equal courage, or even equal skill, on the part of the French naval
officers; and that, until it be removed, it will be at great hazard that
France shall ever attempt to retain a province so distant as Egypt.[429]
Napoleon left behind him a short proclamation,[430] apprising the army,
that news of importance from France had recalled him to Europe, but that
they should soon hear tidings of him. He exhorted them, in the meantime,
to have confidence in their new commander; who possessed, he said, his
good opinion, and that of the government; and in these terms he bade
them farewell. Two frigates, La Muiron and La Carére, being ready for
sea, the general embarked, from an unfrequented part of the beach, on
the 22d August. Menou, who had met him there, came to Denon and others,
who had attended the rendezvous without knowing exactly its purpose, as
they were gazing in surprise at the unusual sight of two French frigates
ready to put to sea, and informed them with agitation, that Buonaparte
waited for them. They followed, as in a dream; but Denon had already
secured that mass of measurements, drawings, manuscripts, and objects of
antiquarian and scientific curiosity, which afterwards enabled him to
complete the splendid work, which now contains almost the only permanent
or useful fruits of the memorable expedition to Egypt.
Ere the frigates were far from land, they were reconnoitred by an
English corvette--a circumstance which seemed of evil augury. Buonaparte
assured his companions, by his usual allusions to his own destiny. "We
will arrive safe," he said; "Fortune will never abandon us--we will
arrive safe in despite of the enemy."
[Sidenote: AJACCIO.]
To avoid the English cruizers, the vessels coasted the shores of Africa,
and the wind was so contrary, that they made but a hundred leagues in
twenty days. During this time, Buonaparte studied alternately the Bible
and the Koran;[431] more solicitous, it seemed, about the history of the
countries which he had left behind, than the part which he was to play
in that to which he was hastening. At length, they ventured to stand
northward, and on the 30th September, they entered, by singular chance,
the port of Ajaccio in Corsica, and Buonaparte found himself in his
native city.[432] On the 7th October, they again put to sea, but, upon
approaching the French coast, they found themselves in the neighbourhood
of a squadron of English men-of-war. The admiral would have tacked
about, to return to Corsica. "To do so," said Buonaparte, "would be to
take the road to England--I am seeking that to France." He probably
meant that the manœuvre would attract the attention of the English.
They kept on their course; but the peril of being captured seemed so
imminent, that, though still several leagues from the shore, Gantheaume
proposed to man his long-boat, in order that the general might attempt
his escape in her. Buonaparte observed, that that measure might be
deferred till the case was more desperate.[433]
At length, they passed, unsuspected and unquestioned, through the
hostile squadron, and on the 9th October, at ten in the morning, he on
whose fate the world so long seemed to depend, landed at St. Rapheau,
near Frejus. He had departed at the head of a powerful fleet, and a
victorious army, on an expedition designed to alter the destinies of the
most ancient nations of the world. The result had been far from
commensurate to the means employed. The fleet had perished--the army was
blockaded in a distant province, when their arms were most necessary at
home. He returned clandestinely, and almost alone; yet Providence
designed that, in this apparently deserted condition, he should be the
instrument of more extensive and more astonishing changes, than the
efforts of the greatest conquerors had ever before been able to effect
upon the civilized world.
FOOTNOTES:
[411] O'Meara, vol. i., p. 331.
[412] Warden's Letters, p. 156.
[413] Voice from St. Helena, vol. ii., p. 333.
[414] History of the British Expedition to Egypt, vol. i., p. 127.
[415] Miot gives a melancholy, but too true a picture, of the
indifference with which soldiers, when on a retreat, regard the
sufferings of those whose strength does not enable them to keep up with
the march. He describes a man, affected by the fear of being left to the
cruelties of the Turks, snatching up his knapsack, and staggering after
the column to which he belonged, while his glazed eye, uncertain motion,
and stumbling pace, excited the fear of some, and the ridicule of
others. "His account is made up," said one of his comrades, as he reeled
about amongst them like a drunkard. "He will not make a long march of
it," said another. And when, after more than one fall, he at length
became unable to rise, the observation that "he had taken up his
quarters," was all the moan which it was thought necessary to make. It
is in these cases, as Miot justly observes, that indifference and
selfishness become universal; and he that would be comfortable must
manage to rely on his own exertions, and, above all to remain in good
health.--S.
[416] See Thibaudeau, tom. ii., p. 272; Martin, tom. i., p. 315;
Desgenettes, _Hist. Médicale de l'Armée d'Orient_, p. 97; Larrey,
_Relation Chirurgicale de l'Armée d'Orient_, p. 117; Lacretelle, tom.
xiv., p. 299. "I feel ashamed," says Savary, "to advert to the atrocious
calumny; but the man whose simple assertion was found sufficient to give
it currency, has not been able to stifle it by his subsequent disavowal.
The necessity to which we were reduced of using roots as a substitute
for opium, is a fact known to the whole army. Supposing, however, that
opium had been as plentiful as it was scarce, and that General
Buonaparte could have contemplated the expedient attributed to him,
where could there be found a man sufficiently determined in mind, or so
lost to the feelings of human nature, as to force open the jaws of fifty
wretched men on the point of death, and thrust a deadly preparation down
their throats? The most intrepid soldier turned pale at the sight of an
infected person; the warmest heart dared not relieve a friend afflicted
with the plague; and is it to be credited that brutal ferocity could
execute what the noblest feelings recoiled at? or that there should have
been a creature savage or mad enough to sacrifice his own life, in order
to enjoy the satisfaction of hastening the death of fifty dying men,
wholly unknown to him?"--_Memoirs_, tom. ii., p. 106.
[417] Gourgaud, tom. ii., p. 323.
[418] "Brave Desaix! He would have conquered any where. He was skilful,
vigilant, daring--little regarding fatigue, and death still less. He
would have gone to the end of the world in quest of victory."--NAPOLEON,
_Antommarchi_, vol. i., p. 376.
[419] Jomini, tom. xi., p. 420; Thibaudeau, tom. ii., p. 297; Gourgaud,
tom. ii., p. 320.
[420] Gourgaud, tom. iii., p. 328.
[421] Miot, p. 249.
[422] "Les Turcs maintenaient le combat avec succes; mais Murat, par un
mouvement _rapide comme la pensée_, dirigea sa gauche sur les derrières
de leur droit," &c.--BUONAPARTE _to the Directory_.
[423] Gourgaud states, that from three to four thousand Turks were
driven into the sea. Berthier calculates the number at ten thousand:
"L'ennemi ne croit avoir de ressource que dans la mer; dix mille hommes
s'y précipitent; ils y sont fusilés et mitraillés. Jamais spectacle
aussi terrible ne s'est presenté."
[424] "This is probably the only instance, in the history of warfare, in
which an army has been entirely destroyed. It was upon this occasion
that Kleber, clasping Buonaparte round the waist, exclaimed, '_General,
vous étés grand comme le monde!_'"--THIERS, tom. x., p. 323.
[425] "Notwithstanding his unheard-of destiny, Napoleon has often been
heard to say, in speaking of Sir Sidney Smith, 'Cet homme m'a fait
manquer ma fortune.'"--THIERS, tom. x., p. 314.
[426] See Las Cases, vol. iii., p. 11; Savary's Memoirs, vol. i., p.
112; and Miot, p. 265.
[427] "There existed no secret correspondence, whether private or
official. Ten months had already elapsed, and we were still without news
from Egypt."--BOURRIENNE, tom. ii., p. 309.
[428] Intercepted Letters, part iii., p. 38.
[429] General Menou was the last person to whom Napoleon spoke on shore.
He said to him, "My dear general, you must take care of yourselves here.
If I have the happiness to reach France, the reign of ranting shall be
at an end."--LAS CASES, tom. iii., p. 13.
[430] "In consequence of the news from Europe, I have determined to
return to France. I leave the command of the army to General Kleber. The
army will soon hear news of me: I cannot explain more fully. It grieves
me to the heart to separate myself from the soldiers, to whom I am so
tenderly attached: but the separation shall be but for a moment; and the
general whom I leave at your head possesses the confidence of the
government, and mine."
[431] Las Cases, tom. iii., p. 13.
[432] "Gantheaume informed me, that he saw, at Ajaccio, the house that
was occupied by Napoleon's family, the patrimonial abode. The arrival of
their celebrated countryman immediately set all the inhabitants of the
island in motion. A crowd of cousins came to welcome him, and the
streets were thronged with people."--LAS CASES, tom. iii., p. 14.
[433] Bourrienne, tom. iii., p. 4; Miot, p. 269.