"The Supper of Beaucaire".
Revolutionary Madness -- Uprising of the Girondists --
Convention Forces Before Avignon -- Bonaparte's First
Success in Arms -- Its Effect upon His Career -- His
Political Pamphlet -- The Genius it Displays -- Accepted and
Published by Authority -- Seizure of Toulon by the Allies.
[Sidenote: 1793.]
It was a tempestuous time in Provence when on June thirteenth the
Buonapartes arrived at Toulon. Their movements during the first few
months cannot be determined; we only know that, after a very short
residence there, the family fled to Marseilles.[35] Much, too, is
obscure in regard even to Napoleon, soldier as he was. It seems as if
this period of their history had been wilfully confused to conceal how
intimate were the connections of the entire family with the Jacobins.
But the obscurity may also be due to the character of the times.
Fleeing before the storms of Corsican revolution, they were caught in
the whirlwind of French anarchy. The Girondists, after involving the
country in a desperate foreign warfare, had shown themselves
incompetent to carry it on. In Paris, therefore, they had to give way
before the Jacobins, who, by the exercise of a reckless despotism,
were able to display an unparalleled energy in its prosecution.
Against their tyranny the moderate republicans and the royalists
outside of Paris now made common cause, and civil war broke out in
many places, including Vendée, the Rhone valley, and the southeast of
France. Montesquieu declares that honor is the distinguishing
characteristic of aristocracy: the emigrant aristocrats had been the
first in France to throw honor and patriotism to the winds; many of
their class who remained went further, displaying in Vendée and
elsewhere a satanic vindictiveness. This shameful policy colored the
entire civil war, and the bitterness in attack and retaliation that
was shown in Marseilles, Lyons, Toulon, and elsewhere would have
disgraced savages in a prehistoric age.
[Footnote 35: The memoirs of Joseph and Lucien,
supported by Coston and the anonymous local historian of
Marseilles, all unite in declaring that the Buonaparte
family landed there; on the other hand, Louis, in the
Documents historiques sur la Hollande, I, 34, asserts
categorically in detail that they took up their abode in
La Valette, a suburb of Toulon, where they had landed.]
The westward slopes of the Alps were occupied by a French army under
the command of Kellermann, designated by the name of its situation;
farther south and east lay the Army of Italy, under Brunet. Both these
armies were expected to draw their supplies from the fertile country
behind them, and to coöperate against the troops of Savoy and Austria,
which had occupied the passes of lower Piedmont, and blocked the way
into Lombardy. By this time the law for compulsory enlistment had been
enacted, but the general excitement and topsy-turvy management
incident to such rapid changes in government and society, having
caused the failure of the Sardinian expedition, had also prevented
recruiting or equipment in either of these two divisions of the army.
The outbreak of open hostilities in all the lands immediately to the
westward momentarily paralyzed their operations; and when, shortly
afterward, the Girondists overpowered the Jacobins in Marseilles, the
defection of that city made it difficult for the so-called regulars,
the soldiers of the Convention, even to obtain subsistence and hold
the territory they already occupied.
The next move of the insurgent Girondists of Marseilles was in the
direction of Paris, and by the first week of July they had reached
Avignon on their way to join forces with their equally successful
friends at Lyons. With characteristic zeal, the Convention had created
an army to meet them. The new force was put under the command of
Carteaux, a civilian, but a man of energy. According to directions
received from Paris, he quickly advanced to cut the enemy in two by
occupying the strategic point of Valence. This move was successfully
made, Lyons was left to fight its own battle, and by the middle of
July the general of the Convention was encamped before the walls of
Avignon.
Napoleon Buonaparte had hastened to Nice, where five companies of his
regiment were stationed, and rejoining the French army, never faltered
again in his allegiance to the tricolor. Jean Duteil, brother of the
young man's former patron, was in the Savoy capital, high in command.
He promptly set the young artillerist at the work of completing the
shore batteries. On July third and eighth, respectively, the new
captain made written reports to the secretary for war at Paris, and to
the director of artillery in the arsenal of Toulon. Both these papers
are succinct and well written. Almost immediately Buonaparte was
intrusted with a mission, probably confidential, since its exact
nature is unknown, and set out for Avignon. He reached his destination
almost in the moment when Carteaux began the investment of the city.
It was about July sixteenth when he entered the republican camp,
having arrived by devious ways, and after narrow escapes from the
enemy's hands. This time he was absent from his post on duty. The
works and guns at Nice being inadequate and almost worthless, he was
probably sent to secure supplies from the stores of Avignon when it
should be conquered. Such were the straits of the needy republican
general that he immediately appointed his visitor to the command of a
strong body of flying artillery. In the first attack on the town
Carteaux received a check. But the insurgents were raw volunteers and
seem to have felt more and more dismayed by the menacing attitude of
the surrounding population: on the twenty-fifth, in the very hour of
victory, they began their retreat.[36] The road to Marseilles was thus
clear, and the commander unwisely opened his lines to occupy the
evacuated towns on his front. Carteaux entered Avignon on the
twenty-sixth; on the twenty-seventh he collected his force and
departed, reaching Tarascon on the twenty-eighth, and on the
twenty-ninth Beaucaire. Buonaparte, whose battery had done excellent
service, advanced for some distance with the main army, but was
ordered back to protect the rear by reorganizing and reconstructing
the artillery park which had been dismantled in the assault on
Avignon.
[Footnote 36: These are the most probable reasons for
the retreat. Several local chroniclers, Soullier, Audri,
and Joudou, writing all three about 1844, declare each
and all that Buonaparte with his battery followed the
right bank of the Rhone as far as the Rocher de Justice
where he mounted his guns and opened fire on the walls
of the city. His fire was so accurate that he destroyed
one cannon and killed several gunners. The besieged
garrison of federalists were thrown into panic and
decamped. Neither the contemporary authorities nor
Napoleon himself ever mentioned any such remarkable
circumstances. In fact, a passage of the "Souper de
Beaucaire" attributes the retreat to the inability of
any except veteran troops to withstand a siege. Finally,
Buonaparte would surely have been promoted for such an
exploit. Dommartin, a comrade, was thus rewarded for a
much smaller service.]
This first successful feat of arms made a profound impression on
Buonaparte's mind, and led to the decision which settled his career.
His spirits were still low, for he was suffering from a return of his
old malarial trouble. Moreover, his family seems already to have been
driven from Toulon by the uprising of the hostile party: in any case
they were now dependent on charity; the Corsican revolt against the
Convention was virtually successful, and it was said that in the
island the name of Buonaparte was considered as little less execrable
than that of Buttafuoco. What must he do to get a decisive share in
the surging, rolling tumult about him? The visionary boy was transformed
into the practical man. Frenchmen were fighting and winning glory
everywhere, and among the men who were reaping laurels were some whom
he had known and even despised at Brienne--Sergeant Pichegru, for
instance. Ideas which he had momentarily entertained,--enlistment in
the Russian army,[37] service with England, a career in the Indies,
the return of the nabob,--all such visions were set aside forever, and
an application was sent for a transfer from the Army of Italy to that
of the Rhine. The suppression of the southern revolt would soon be
accomplished, and inactivity ensue; but on the frontier of the north
there was a warfare worthy of his powers, in which, if he could only
attract the attention of the authorities, long service, rapid
advancement, and lasting glory might all be secured.
[Footnote 37: The Archive Russe for 1866 states that in
1788 Napoleon Buonaparte applied for an engagement to
Zaborowski, Potemkin's lieutenant, who was then with a
Russian fleet in the Mediterranean. The statement may be
true, and probably is, but there is no corroborative
evidence to sustain it.]
But what must be the first step to secure notoriety here and now? How
could that end be gained? The old instinct of authorship returned
irresistibly, and in the long intervals of easy duty at Avignon,
where, as is most probable, he remained to complete the task assigned
to him, Buonaparte wrote the "Supper of Beaucaire," his first literary
work of real ability. As if by magic his style is utterly changed,
being now concise, correct, and lucid. The reader would be tempted to
think it had enjoyed a thorough revision from some capable hand. But
this is improbable when we note that it is the permanent style of the
future. Moreover, the opinions expressed are quite as thoroughly
transformed, and display not only a clear political judgment, but an
almost startling military insight. The setting of this notable repast
is possibly, though by no means certainly, based on an actual
experience, and is as follows: Five wayfarers--a native of Nîmes, a
manufacturer from Montpellier, two merchants of Marseilles, and a
soldier from Avignon--find themselves accidentally thrown together as
table companions at an inn of Beaucaire, a little city round about
which the civil war is raging. The conversation at supper turns on the
events occurring in the neighborhood. The soldier explains the
circumstances connected with the recent capture of Avignon,
attributing the flight of the insurgents to the inability of any
except veteran troops to endure the uncertainties of a siege. One of
the travelers from Marseilles thinks the success but temporary, and
recapitulates the resources of the moderates. The soldier retorts in a
long refutation of that opinion. As a politician he shows how the
insurgents have placed themselves in a false position by adopting
extreme measures and alienating republican sympathy, being cautious
and diplomatic in not censuring their persons nor their principles; on
the other side there is a marked effort to emphasize the professional
attitude; as a military man he explains the strategic weakness of
their position, and the futility of their operations, uttering many
sententious phrases: "Self-conceit is the worst adviser"; "Good
four-and eight-pound cannon are as effective for field work as pieces
of larger caliber, and are in many respects preferable to them"; "It
is an axiom of military science that the army which remains behind
its intrenchments is beaten: experience and theory agree on this
point."
The conclusion of the conversation is a triumphant demonstration that
the cause of the insurgents is already lost, an argument convicting
them of really desiring not moderation, but a counter-revolution in
their own interest, and of displaying a willingness to imitate the
Vendeans, and call in foreign aid if necessary. In one remarkable
passage the soldier grants that the Girondists may have been outlawed,
imprisoned, and calumniated by the Mountain in its own selfish
interest, but adds that the former "were lost without a civil war by
means of which they could lay down the law to their enemies. It was
for them your war was really useful. Had they merited their early
reputation, they would have thrown down their arms before the
constitution and sacrificed their own interests to the public welfare.
It is easier to cite Decius than to imitate him. To-day they have
shown themselves guilty of the worst possible crimes; have, by their
behavior, justified their proscription. The blood they have caused to
flow has effaced the true services they had rendered." The Montpellier
manufacturer is of opinion that, whether this be true or no, the
Convention now represents the nation, and to refuse obedience to it is
rebellion and counter-revolution. History knows no plainer statement
than this of the "de facto, de jure" principle, the conviction that
"might makes right."
At last, then, the leader had shown himself in seizing the salient
elements of a complicated situation, and the man of affairs had found
a style in which to express his clear-cut ideas. When the tide turns
it rises without interruption. Buonaparte's pamphlet was scarcely
written before its value was discerned; for at that moment arrived
one of those legations now representing the sovereignty of the
Convention in every field of operations. This one was a most
influential committee of three--Escudier, Ricord, and the younger
brother of Robespierre. Accompanying them was a commission charged to
renew the commissary stores in Corsica for the few troops still
holding out in that island. Salicetti was at its head; the other
member was Gasparin. Buonaparte, we may infer, found easy access to
the favor of his compatriot Salicetti, and "The Supper of Beaucaire"
was heard by the plenipotentiaries with attention. Its merit was
immediately recognized, as is said, both by Gasparin and by the
younger Robespierre; in a few days the pamphlet was published at the
expense of the state.[38] Of Buonaparte's life between July
twenty-ninth and September twelfth, 1793, there are the most
conflicting accounts. Some say he was at Marseilles, others deny it.
His brother Joseph thought he was occupied in collecting munitions and
supplies for the Army of Italy. His earliest biographer declares that
he traveled by way of Lyons and Auxonne to Paris, returning by the
same route to Avignon, and thence journeying to Ollioules near Toulon.
From the army headquarters before that city Salicetti wrote on
September twenty-sixth that while Buonaparte was passing on his way to
rejoin the Army of Italy, the authorities in charge of the siege
changed his destination and put him in command of the heavy artillery
to replace Dommartin, incapacitated for service by a wound. It has
been hinted by both the suspicious and the credulous writers on the
period that the young man was employed on some secret mission. This
might be expected from those who attribute demonic qualities to the
child of destiny from earliest infancy, but there is no slightest
evidence to sustain the claim. Quite possibly the lad relapsed into
the queer restless ways of earlier life. It is evident he was thwarted
in his hope of transfer to the Army of the Rhine. Unwilling as he was
to serve in Italy, he finally turned his lagging footsteps thither.
Perhaps, as high authorities declare, it was at Marseilles that his
compatriot Cervoni persuaded him to go as far at least as Toulon,
though Salicetti and Buonaparte himself declared later that they met
and arranged the matter at Nice.
[Footnote 38: The very first impression appears to have
been a reprint from the Courier d'Avignon: it was a
cheap pamphlet of sixteen pages in the same type and on
the paper as that used by the journal. The second
impression was in twenty pages, printed by the public
printer as a tract for the times, to be distributed
throughout the near and remote neighborhood.]
In this interval, while Buonaparte remained, according to the best
authority, within reach of Avignon, securing artillery supplies and
writing a political pamphlet in support of the Jacobins, Carteaux had,
on August twenty-fifth, 1793, taken Marseilles. The capture was
celebrated by one of the bloodiest orgies of that horrible year. The
Girondists of Toulon saw in the fate of those at Marseilles the lot
apportioned to themselves. If the high contracting powers now banded
against France had shown a sincere desire to quell Jacobin bestiality,
they could on the first formation of the coalition easily have seized
Paris. Instead, Austria and Prussia had shown the most selfish apathy
in that respect, bargaining with each other and with Russia for their
respective shares of Poland, the booty they were about to seize. The
intensity of the Jacobin movement did not rouse them until the
majority of the French people, vaguely grasping the elements of
permanent value in the Revolution, and stung by foreign interference,
rallied around the only standard which was firmly upheld,--that of the
Convention,--and enabled that body within an incredibly short space
of time to put forth tremendous energy. Then England, terrified into
panic, drove Pitt to take effective measures, and displayed her
resources in raising subsidies for her Continental allies, in goading
the German powers to activity, in scouring every sea with her fleets.
One of these was cruising off the French coast in the Mediterranean,
and it was easy for the Girondists of Toulon to induce its commander
to seize not only their splendid arsenals, but the fleet in their
harbor as well--the only effective one, in fact, which at that time
the French possessed. Without delay or hesitation, Hood, the English
admiral, grasped the easy prize, and before long war-ships of the
Spaniards, Neapolitans, and Sardinians were gathered to share in the
defense of the town against the Convention forces. Soon the Girondist
fugitives from Marseilles arrived, and were received with kindness.
The place was provisioned, the gates were shut, and every preparation
for desperate resistance was completed. The fate of the republic was
at stake. The crisis was acute. No wonder that in view of his
wonderful career, Napoleon long after, and his friends in accord,
declared that in the hour appeared the man. There, said the inspired
memorialist of St. Helena, history found him, never to leave him;
there began his immortality. Though this language is truer ideally
than in sober reality, yet the Emperor had a certain justification for
his claim.