Opening
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Transcriber’s Note:
This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects. Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character as italic. Superscripted characters are preceed with ‘^’.
Unusual fractions (usually fractions of a year) are shown as, for example, ‘2-4/12’.
Footnotes have been moved to follow the paragraphs in which they are referenced.
There was a short list of corrections to certain dates provided by the printer. This version retains that table, but has made the suggested corrections.
A HISTORY OF THE COLDSTREAM GUARDS.
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THIS HISTORY
OF HER MAJESTY'S COLDSTREAM REGIMENT OF FOOT GUARDS, FROM THE YEAR 1815 TO 1885, IS, BY MOST GRACIOUS PERMISSION, HUMBLY DEDICATED TO =HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN-EMPRESS=
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Preface
The following pages are a continuation of Colonel MacKinnon’s Origin and Services of the Coldstream Guards, from the victory of Waterloo down to the year 1885. They have been compiled with great care and much labour, and the reader will, I trust, feel justified in adding, with accuracy and marked ability.
The first few chapters deal with events that took place in France, after Waterloo, including the military occupation of the North-Eastern frontier by the Allies, up to the year 1818.
The period onwards to the Crimean War, although containing but few accounts of interest concerning the career of the Regiment, is valuable as continuing, to a considerable extent, the history of events in Europe so far as that is consistent with the subject of the present volume.
There is reference, nevertheless, to the part taken by the Regiment in the suppression of the Canadian rebellion.
From the date, however, of 1854, the subject assumes a different character, and is of absorbing interest to every Officer and man associated with the Coldstream Guards.
The events connected with that campaign have been carefully selected from thoroughly authentic sources; they are recorded in no spirit of vainglory or self-sufficiency, but as a true and faithful tale of the share which the Regiment took in that eventful war,—illustrating, as it does, acts of gallantry, a noble and uncomplaining endurance of difficulties and hardships, and a strict performance of duty under very trying circumstances.
The accuracy of the record of the more recent Egyptian campaigns is of special value, from the fact of the author of this work having himself taken an active part in one of them.
The perusal of these records will be accompanied by the conviction which exists in the minds of all of us, that those who replace their gallant predecessors will, when their turn comes, deserve equally well of their country.
FRED^K. STEPHENSON, _General, Colonel, Coldstream Guards_.
1896.
AUTHOR'S NOTE.
I beg to return sincere thanks to the many members of the Coldstream Guards, past and present, who have helped me to compile the volume I now venture to issue to the public; and to assure them that, but for their assistance, it would have been far less worthy of their acceptance than even it is at the present time. It is not possible for me, in the short space at my disposal, to mention all by name to whom I am indebted in this respect. But I should fail in my duty did I not, at least, express my gratitude to General Sir Frederick Stephenson, G.C.B., and to General Hon. Sir Percy Feilding, K.C.B., for the interest they have shown in my work, and for the trouble they have taken to enable me to carry it out.
Major Vesey Dawson was indefatigable in compiling all that concerns the Nulli Secundus Club. Captain Shute prepared an Appendix on the Coldstream Hospital. Mr. Sutton spared no pains in supplying information which the Regimental Orderly Room affords; and Mr. Studd arranged materials that required considerable labour. Major Goulburn, Grenadier Guards, moreover, lent me the interesting Crimean Diary of the late Colonel Tower; and Colonel Malleson kindly looked through the proofs, and made many valuable suggestions.
I also offer my acknowledgments to Messrs. Blackwood and Sons, and to Messrs. Seeley and Co., for their courteous permission to use the maps in Mr. Kinglake’s Invasion of the Crimea and in Sir E. Hamley’s War in the Crimea .
Lastly, I must express the pleasure it gives me that my work is illustrated by so able and accomplished an artist as Mr. Wilkinson.
It only now remains for me to explain that as Colonel MacKinnon’s Origin and Services of the Coldstream Guards does not contain illustrations of uniforms worn by the Regiment during the many generations of its existence, we preferred to give representations, not of the familiar figures of this century, but of those that are less known. Thus, though the following pages only describe events from the year 1815 to 1885, the plates generally refer to a more remote period of the history of the Regiment.
JOHN ROSS-OF-BLADENSBURG, Lt.-Colonel.
October, 1896.
I. THE CAPITULATION OF PARIS
PAGE
Flight of Napoleon from the field of Waterloo—Reaction in Paris—Napoleon’s abdication—Surrender to Captain Maitland—Provisional Government set up in France—Advance of the Allies from Waterloo—Operations of Marshal Grouchy—Allies hope to cut the enemy off from Paris—Blücher’s energy to secure that object—Unsuccessful efforts of the Provisional Government to obtain a suspension of hostilities—The Allies before Paris—The Prussians move round to the south of the city—Co-operation of Wellington—Capitulation of the capital, July 3rd—Advance of Austrians and Russians—“Waterloo men”—The “Wellington pension”—Rank of Lieutenant granted to Ensigns of the Brigade of Guards—The soldier’s small account-book introduced into the British army 1
II. MILITARY OCCUPATION OF FRANCE
Termination of the war—Difficulties of the situation—The Allies occupy Paris—Dissolution of the Provisional Government—Entry of Louis XVIII. into the capital—New French Government formed—Blücher and the Pont de Jena—Arrival of the Allied Sovereigns—Reviews in France—Paris in the hands of the Allies—Treatment of the French by the Prussians; by the British—The wreck of the French Imperial forces disbanded—Life in Paris—The Louvre stripped of its treasures of art—Prosecution of Imperialist leaders—Labedoyère, Ney, Lavalette—Peace of Paris, November 20th 24
III. OCCUPATION OF FRENCH FORTRESSES
Organization of the Allied army of occupation, under the supreme command of the Duke of Wellington—Return of the remainder to their respective countries—Instructions of the Allied Courts to Wellington—Convention relating to the occupation, attached to the Treaty of Paris—Positions assigned to each contingent on the north-eastern frontier of France—March from Paris to Cambrai—Military precautions—Camps of instruction and field exercises—Reduction of the army of occupation—Difficulties with the French—Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle—Evacuation of France—The Guards Brigade leave Cambrai, after nearly three years' stay there, and embark at Calais—Valedictory Orders—The Coldstream sent to Chatham—Conclusion of military service in French territory 48
IV. FIRST PART OF THE LONG EUROPEAN PEACE
Distress in England after the war—Reductions in the Army and Navy—Stations of the Brigade—French Eagles captured, deposited in the Chapel Royal, Whitehall—Reforms in interior economy—Death of George III., and Accession of George IV.—Cato Street Conspiracy—Trial of Queen Caroline—Coronation of George IV.—Guards in Dublin—Distress in 1826—Death of the Duke of York—Changes in uniform—Death of George IV.; succeeded by William IV.—Political agitation at home, revolution abroad; the Reform Act—Coronation of William IV.—First appearance of cholera—Death of the King, and Accession of Her Majesty Queen Victoria—Changes and reforms introduced during the reign of William IV. 72
V. SECOND PART OF THE LONG EUROPEAN PEACE
Beginning of the reign of Queen Victoria—Troops during Parliamentary elections—Coronation of the Queen—Fire at the Tower of London, 1841—Rebellion in Canada—Two Guards Battalions sent there, 1838, of which one the 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards—Return home, 1842—Visit of the Russian Tsar Nicholas I. to England—European revolution—Bi-centenary celebration of the formation of the Coldstream Guards, 1850—Death of the Colonel of the Regiment, H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge; succeeded by General the Earl of Strafford—Exhibition in London—Death of the Duke of Wellington—Changes and reforms up to 1854—Camp at Chobham 103
VI. BEGINNING OF THE WAR IN THE EAST
Position of Russia in Europe—State of the Continent in 1853—British alliance with France—The Tsar’s quarrel with Turkey—Commencement of hostilities on the Danube—-The affair of Sinope—How it drew England and France into the war—Three Battalions of the Brigade of Guards ordered on foreign service—Concentration of the Allies in the Mediterranean—Guards Brigade at Malta—Thence to Scutari—Want of transport—The Allies moved to Varna—Good feeling between the British and French troops—Course of the war on the Danube—Siege of Silistria—Retreat of the Russians into Bessarabia—Intervention of Austria—The Allies in Bulgaria-Sickness among the troops—Return to Varna—Preparations for the invasion of the Crimea—The organization and strength of the Allies 130
VII. THE INVASION OF THE CRIMEA
Small results gained by the Allies—Sudden determination to attack Sevastopol—Russian position in the Trans-Caucasian provinces—Conditions under which the Crimea was invaded—The allied Armada sails from Varna to Eupatoria—Landing effected at “Old Fort”—The move to Sevastopol; the order of march—The enemy on the Alma river, opposes the advance of the Allies—Description of the field of battle; strength and position of the enemy—Commencement of the battle of the Alma—Advance of the Light and the Second Divisions—Deployment of the First Division—Advance of the Guards and Highland Brigades—Defeat of the Russians—No pursuit—Losses—Bravery and steadiness of the British troops—The Allies lose valuable time after the battle—Arriving at last before their objective, Sevastopol, they refuse to attack it—General description of Sevastopol 156
VIII. BEFORE SEVASTOPOL
Predicament in which the Allies found themselves—Flank march round Sevastopol—Occupation of Balaklava by the British and of Kamiesh Bay by the French—The Allies refuse to assault Sevastopol; they prefer to bombard it—Depression of the Russians, who fear a prompt assault—Description of the defences round the south side of Sevastopol; successful efforts of the enemy to strengthen them—Description of the upland of the Chersonese, occupied by the Allies; their position and labours—First bombardment and its results—No attack; a regular siege inevitable—Draft of Officers and men to the Coldstream arrive in the Crimea—Establishment of the Regiment—Russian reinforcements begin to arrive—Battle of Balaklava; Cavalry charges—Sortie of the Russians against the British right flank; its failure 180
IX. THE BATTLE OF INKERMAN
Large Russian reinforcements reach the Crimea—Position and strength of the enemy; of the Allies—Description of the field of Inkerman—Commencement of the battle, 5th of November—The progress of the first part of the fight—The Guards Brigade advance to the scene of action—The struggle round the Sandbag battery—Arrival of the Fourth Division under General Cathcart—The manœuvre of the latter, and its failure—The arrival of the French—Successes of the British artillery—Repulse of the Russian attack; the retreat of the enemy; there is no pursuit—Operations of the garrison of Sevastopol and of the Russian force in the Tchernaya Valley during the day—Great losses incurred on both sides—Reaction among the soldiery after the battle 204
X. THE WINTER OF 1854-55 IN THE CRIMEA
Prostration of both sides after the battle of Inkerman—Sevastopol not to be taken in 1854—Tardy arrangements to enable the army to remain in the Crimea during the winter—Violent hurricane of the 14th of November; stores scattered and destroyed—The winter begins in earnest—How the Government at home attended to the wants of the army at the seat of war—Absence of a road between the base at Balaklava and the front—Miserable plight to which the army was reduced—Indignation in England, and the measures taken to relieve the troops—Admirable manner in which the misfortunes were borne by the British soldiers—Operations on both sides during the winter—The Turks occupy Eupatoria; successful action fought there—The Guards Brigade sent to Balaklava 231
XI. THE FALL OF SEVASTOPOL
Stay of the Brigade at Balaklava—Improvement in the condition of the men—Return of the Guards to the front, June 16th—Changed aspect of affairs before Sevastopol—Review of events during the time spent at Balaklava—Second bombardment—Interference by Napoleon III. in the course of the war; operations paralysed—General Canrobert resigns, and is succeeded by General Pélissier—Energy displayed by the latter—Third bombardment—Fourth bombardment; assault of Sevastopol—Its failure—Death of Lord Raglan; succeeded by General Simpson—Siege operations continued—Battle of the Tchernaya—Fifth bombardment—Sixth bombardment; second assault—The Malakoff is captured—Fall of the south side of Sevastopol—The Russians evacuate the town, and retreat to the north side—State in which the Allies found Sevastopol 249
XII. THE END OF THE RUSSIAN WAR
Home events during the war—Sympathy of Her Majesty with her Crimean soldiers—Badges of distinction added to the Colours—Inactivity of the Allies after the fall of Sevastopol—Expeditions against the Russian coast—Sir W. Codrington succeeds Sir J. Simpson as Commander of the Forces—The winter of 1855-56—Negotiations for a peace, which is concluded, March 30th—Events after the cessation of hostilities—A British cemetery in the Crimea—Embarkation and return home—The Crimean Guards Brigade at Aldershot; visit of Her Majesty the Queen—Move to London, and cordial reception there—Distribution of the Victoria Cross—Summary of events connected with the war—Losses—Appointment of H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge as Commander-in-Chief, and of Major-General Lord Rokeby to command the Brigade of Guards 267
XIII. A PERIOD OF WAR, 1856-1871
Reductions after the war—Comparison between the situations in Europe, in 1815 and in 1856—Fresh troubles and complications imminent—Many wars and disturbances—Scientific instruction introduced into the army—Practical training of the troops carried out—The material comfort of the soldier attended to—Military activity in England in 1859—The Earl of Strafford succeeded by General Lord Clyde—Death of H.R.H. the Prince Consort—Misunderstanding with the United States of America—Chelsea barracks completed—Marriage of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales—Death of Lord Clyde; succeeded by General Sir W. Gomm—The Brigade of Guards Recruit Establishment—Public duties in London—Fenian troubles in Ireland; the 1st and 2nd Battalions succeed each other there; the Clerkenwell outrage—Reforms in the armament of the British infantry 292
XIV. ARMY REFORM, 1871-85
Effect produced in England by the military successes of Prussia—Short service and the reserve system introduced—Abolition of army purchase—Abolition of the double rank in the Foot Guards—Substitution of the rank of Sub-Lieutenant for that of Ensign or Cornet—Manœuvres and summer drills—Changes in the drill-book—Illness and recovery of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales—Death of Surgeon-Major Wyatt, and of Field-Marshal Sir W. Gomm—General Sir W. Codrington appointed Colonel of the Coldstream Guards—Death of Captains Hon. R. Campbell and R. Barton—Company training—Pirbright Camp established—Medical service in the Brigade—Change in the establishment of the Regiment—Death of Sir W. Codrington, and appointment of General Sir Thomas Steele as Colonel—Troubles in Ireland—Alarm in London—The Royal Military Chapel 319
XV. THE WAR IN EGYPT, 1882
Origin of the war—Emancipation of Egypt from Turkish rule; introduction of European control—Deposition of Ismail Pasha—Tewfik becomes Khedive—Military revolts—Disorganization of the country—Joint action of the English and French; its failure—Naval demonstration—Bombardment of the forts of Alexandria—The French withdraw and leave Great Britain to act alone—British troops sent to Egypt—The Suez Canal seized—Base of operations established at Ismailia—Action of Tel el-Makhuta—Clearing the communications—Actions at Kassassin, August 28th and September 7th—Character of the Egyptian army—Night march on Tel el-Kebir—The enemy is overwhelmed, September 13th—Pursuit; losses—End of the war—Return of the Coldstream to England 350
Chapter XVI
FIRST PART OF THE WAR IN THE SUDAN, 1884-85—EXPEDITION UP THE NILE.
General description of the possessions of the Khedive in 1882—Rebellion in the Sudan; rapid rise of the Mahdi—Policy of the British Government—General Gordon sent to Khartum; he is cut off and besieged there—General Lord Wolseley goes to Egypt—Formation of a Camel Corps, of which the Guards compose a Regiment—Problem how to effect the rescue of Gordon—The Nile route selected—Advance to Korti—News from General Gordon—Two columns advance from Korti: one across the Bayuda Desert, the other up the river—Battles of Abu Klea and Abu Kru—The Nile reached near Metemmeh—Sir C. Wilson’s effort to proceed to Khartum—Death of General Gordon—Change of plan entailed by this event—Battle of Kirbekan—Retrograde movement of both columns—Troops placed in summer quarters 372
Chapter XVII
SECOND PART OF THE WAR IN THE SUDAN, 1884-85—SUAKIN CAMPAIGN.
Reasons for the expedition to Suakin—Departure of the Coldstream—Orders to Lieut.-General Sir G. Graham—Position of the enemy—Advance against Hashin—Engagement at Tofrek—Attack on a convoy, escorted by the Coldstream and Royal Marines—Advance to Tamai—Construction of the railway—Attack on T'Hakul—Abrupt end of the campaign—The Coldstream proceed to Alexandria, and thence to Cyprus—Evacuation of the Sudan; how the Mahdi took advantage of it; how the Dongolese were treated—Position taken up south of Wady Halfa—Defeat of the Arabs at Ginnis—Return of the Guards Camel regiment—Return of the Coldstream from Cyprus—Honourable distinctions added to the Colours—Officers of the Regiment in December, 1885 393
APPENDIX I.
1. DESPATCH OF M.-GEN. SIR JOHN BYNG TO H.R.H. THE DUKE OF YORK, ON THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO, NIVELLES, JUNE 19, 1815 413
2. GENERAL ORDERS, NIVELLES, JUNE 20, 1815 414
3. PROCLAMATION OF THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON TO THE FRENCH PEOPLE, MALPLAQUET, JUNE 22, 1815 415
APPENDIX II.
1. GENERAL ORDER, PARIS, OCTOBER 28, 1815 416
2. ORDERS FOR BILLETING THE BRITISH TROOPS IN FRANCE, OCTOBER 29, 1815 416
3. ALARM POSTS OF BRITISH DIVISIONS IN FRANCE, OCTOBER 30, 1815 418
APPENDIX III.
ORDERS FOR A BRITISH CONTINGENT TO OCCUPY FRENCH FORTRESSES, NOVEMBER 9, 1815 418
APPENDIX IV.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE BRITISH CONTINGENT IN FRANCE, APRIL 10, 1816 421
APPENDIX V.
SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE BAND OF THE COLDSTREAM GUARDS 424
APPENDIX VI.
1. FAREWELL ORDER TO THE ALLIED ARMY OF OCCUPATION IN FRANCE, NOVEMBER 10, 1818 426
2. FAREWELL ORDER TO THE BRITISH CONTINGENT, CAMBRAI, NOVEMBER 10, 1818 427
3. GENERAL ORDER, PARIS, DECEMBER 1, 1818 427
APPENDIX VII.
COLDSTREAM GUARDS HOSPITAL 428
APPENDIX VIII.
THE NULLI SECUNDUS CLUB; AND LIST OF MEMBERS FROM ITS FORMATION, 1783, TO 1896 429
APPENDIX IX.
GENERAL ORDER, CONSTANTINOPLE, APRIL 30, 1854 436
APPENDIX X.
DEATH OF FIELD-MARSHAL LORD RAGLAN, G.C.B. 437
APPENDIX XI.
AGES AND PREVIOUS OCCUPATIONS OF THE NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE 1ST BATTALION COLDSTREAM GUARDS, AND DRAFTS SENT TO THE EAST, ENGAGED IN THE WAR WITH RUSSIA 439
APPENDIX XII.
1. RETURN OF THE NUMBERS KILLED IN THE CRIMEA 440
2. RETURN OF THE NUMBERS WOUNDED IN THE CRIMEA, DEAD, INVALIDED, ETC. 440
3. DEATHS IN THE 1ST BATTALION COLDSTREAM GUARDS BY MONTHS DURING THE WAR WITH RUSSIA 441
APPENDIX XIII.
THE VICTORIA CROSS 442
APPENDIX XIV.
1. THE BRITISH FORCES EMPLOYED IN THE EGYPTIAN CAMPAIGN, 1882 444
2. EXTRACTS FROM GENERAL ORDERS ISSUED AFTER THE BATTLE OF TEL EL-KEBIR 446
3. EXTRACT OF REPORT ON ARMY SIGNALLING IN EGYPT, 1882 447
APPENDIX XV.
STATIONS OCCUPIED BY THE COLDSTREAM GUARDS, 1833-1885[1] 448
APPENDIX XVI.
1. COLDSTREAM ROLL[2] 458
2. COMMANDING OFFICERS OF THE COLDSTREAM GUARDS, FROM 1650 TO 1896 478
3. REGIMENTAL STAFF OFFICERS[2] 482
4. WARRANT OFFICERS 485
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Footnote 1:
Continued from Appendix 273 of Mackinnon’s Origin and Services of the Coldstream Guards.
Footnote 2:
Continued from Appendix 285 of Mackinnon’s Origin, etc.
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
FIELD-MARSHAL H.R.H. ADOLPHUS FREDERICK DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE, K.G. Frontispiece
PIKEMAN, 1669; DRUM MAJOR, 1670; GRENADIER COMPANY, 1670 To face 18
SERGEANT, 1658; DRUMMER, 1658 ” 36
MUSQUETEER, 1650 ” 66
MUSKETEER, 1669 ” 86
OFFICER temp. JAMES II. ” 102
MUSKETS AND RIFLES FROM 1830 TO 1890 ” 126
PRIVATE, 1742 ” 230
COLOURS, 1669, 1684, 1685 ” 248
COLOURS OF THE COLONEL, LIEUT-COLONEL, AND MAJORS, 1750, AND THE QUEEN’S COLOUR, 1893 ” 266
DRUMMER, 1745 ” 286
SERGEANT, 1775; OFFICER, 1795 ” 300
OFFICER, 1839; OFFICER, 1849 ” 318
OFFICER, 1849; PRIVATE’S UNDRESS CAP, 1850 ” 342
SERGEANT DRUMMER, 1895 ” 392
MAPS.
PAGE
1. SKETCH MAP TO ILLUSTRATE THE BRITISH OCCUPATION OF FRANCE FROM 1815 TO 1810 To face 54
2. BLACK SEA AND SURROUNDING COUNTRY ” 149
3. COUNTRY BETWEEN EUPATORIA AND SEVASTOPOL ” 165
4. BATTLE OF THE ALMA ” 174
5. SKETCH MAP OF COUNTRY NEAR SEVASTOPOL ” 182
6. SEVASTOPOL ” 194
7. BATTLE OF INKERMAN ” 216
8. THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF TEL EL-KEBIR FROM THE SUEZ CANAL TO ZAGAZIG AND THE COUNTRY ROUND SUAKIN ” 360
9. SKETCH MAPS TO ILLUSTRATE EGYPTIAN AND SUDAN EXPEDITIONS, 1882-1885 ” 379
CORRIGENDA.
Page 86, line 31, for “May 25th” read “May 27th.” ” 90, ” 13, for “May 15, 1829” read “May 16, 1829.” ” 118, ” 12, for “November 13th” read “November 9th.”
Introduction
The central figure in Europe, during the first fifteen years of this century, was the Emperor Napoleon, the great military leader, who, having restored order in France—violently disturbed by the terror, anarchy, and confusion of the Revolution that broke out in 1789,—succeeded in ruling that country, and in imposing his arbitrary will upon its people. A master of the science of war, and gifted with the genius that makes a man supreme in the field of battle, he organized the military qualities of his subjects, who, under his guidance, invaded their neighbours, destroyed their institutions, and overran Europe from one end to the other. One opponent only remained unsubdued, and that was England; and so strong was her resistance to this modern Attila, that she succeeded not only in breaking his power, but in adding also to her own importance and influence in the world.
Napoleon, though a General of the first order,—whose campaigns will always commend themselves to the student of the art of war,—was less remarkable for his knowledge of that other science which makes a man a statesman. He lived by the sword, and he perished by the sword. He destroyed the prosperity of the people he subdued, but he could not cement a friendship with them. His object was war and only war, and he reaped its reward—military fame; but he did not use the absolute power he wielded, for the advantage of France, nor was he able to establish his name among the greatest and most enlightened rulers of mankind.
After a period of victory, he exhausted the resources of his country, and then there was formed against him a coalition of European Princes, who gradually closed their forces around him with ever tightening grasp, and pursued him to the heart of his Empire. At last, he was defeated and undone, and acknowledged his impotence to carry on any longer the mighty struggle in which he had been engaged (1814). Europe then restored the Bourbons as Kings of France, and determined that Napoleon should be expelled therefrom, and interned in the island of Elba,—an Emperor of a very narrow dominion, and a Monarch only in name. But scarcely had he been there a year, when he broke loose. Landing in France, he made the King (Louis XVIII.) fly from Paris; and, amid the acclamations of the people, he once more re-established himself upon the throne (March, 1815).
The Allied Sovereigns now combined to drive this disturber of the peace from France, and took immediate steps to invade that country again. In June, two of the Powers had their forces in Belgium,—the British and their immediate allies (the Dutch, Hanoverians, etc.), under the Duke of Wellington; and the Prussians, under Marshal Blücher. The rest were still east of the Rhine. Perceiving that his antagonists were not yet able to move forward together against him, the French Emperor resolved to strike the first blow, by advancing northwards and by attacking Wellington and Blücher. Accordingly, he left Paris on the 12th of June, and on the 16th he fought the battles of Ligny, where he defeated the Prussians and drove them off the field, and of Quatre-Bras, from which place the British, though they held their ground, eventually fell back slowly towards Waterloo. Giving orders to Marshal Grouchy, who was placed at the head of a considerable force, to pursue Blücher, and to prevent him from forming a junction with Wellington, Napoleon advanced, and attacked the British at Waterloo (June 18th). Here the most decisive battle of the present age took place. Stubbornly did the British troops maintain their position; while Blücher, rallying his forces, and leaving behind only a small corps to contain Grouchy, marched with the remainder to the field of Waterloo. The French were now enveloped, and completely and irretrievably defeated.
There was a Guards Division at the battle of Waterloo, commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir George Cooke, formed of two Brigades. The 1st Guards Brigade (Major-General P. Maitland) was composed of the 2nd and 3rd First (now Grenadier) Guards; and the 2nd Guards Brigade (Major-General Sir John Byng) of the 2nd Coldstream and the 2nd Third (now Scots) Guards. Sir George Cooke being severely wounded during the course of the day, the command of the Guards Division devolved upon Sir John Byng.
THE HISTORY OF THE COLDSTREAM GUARDS. 1815-1885.
I. THE CAPITULATION OF PARIS
Flight of Napoleon from the field of Waterloo—Reaction in Paris—Napoleon’s abdication—Surrender to Captain Maitland—Provisional Government set up in France—Advance of the Allies from Waterloo—Operations of Marshal Grouchy—Allies hope to cut the enemy off from Paris—Blücher’s energy to secure that object—Unsuccessful efforts of the Provisional Government to obtain a suspension of hostilities—The Allies before Paris—The Prussians move round to the south of the city—Cooperation of Wellington—Capitulation of the capital, July 3rd—Advance of Austrians and Russians—“Waterloo men”—The “Wellington pension”—Rank of Lieutenant granted to Ensigns of the Brigade of Guards—The soldier’s small account-book introduced into the British army.
The battle of Waterloo broke the power of Napoleon for ever. So confident of victory had that great soldier been, that he did not even make any preparations for retreat, and hence, when he was defeated, a terrible rout ensued. The wreck of the French army, blocking the only road which was available, hurried from the scene of disaster in a confused mass of fugitives. The Prussians, who were comparatively fresh, took up the pursuit, and relentlessly they pressed it home, driving the enemy back, increasing his panic, and completing his misfortunes. Through the whole night of the 18th-19th of June, a fierce and active pursuit was maintained; while the British troops, exhausted by the labours and anxieties of the day, bivouacked as they stood, on the bloody but glorious field of victory.
Napoleon, stupefied by the unexpected result of the battle, forced his way through the surging mass of his now disorganized troops to Quatre-Bras, and as he went along, he had ever increasing evidence of the catastrophe that had overwhelmed him. He sent a message to Grouchy, announced his defeat, but gave the Marshal no orders. He then rode to Charleroi, and, almost unattended, pushed on to Philippeville, where he made his first effort to repair his broken fortunes. He ordered Marshal Soult to rally the débris of his forces at Laon; he despatched a letter to General Rapp, who was in command on the German frontier, and to General Lamarque, engaged in La Vendée, with orders to march to Paris; and he was sanguine enough to declare that he could reorganize a sufficient force to cover the capital, and to give time for the concentration of a much larger army, wherewith to renew the war and to save France from the invasion that threatened her.[3] But he was far from being reassured. He could scarcely deny even to himself that the end of his career had at last come in earnest, and that the stupendous ascendency which he exercised over his countrymen had disappeared now and for ever. Once before had he been obliged to acknowledge himself vanquished, and the glamour of invincibility no longer surrounded his person. He had engaged in a desperate undertaking. The whole of Europe was arming against him, and was determined to put him down. His first bold venture to try and beat the Allies in detail had signally failed. The armies of Great Britain and of Prussia had hopelessly crushed the flower of his forces. He had henceforward to reckon with Austria and Russia, and with a formidable coalition flushed with victory. His countrymen never forgave a military leader who had suffered a disaster in the field. He knew that his prestige was weakened, that the influence which his name inspired was shaken, that his resources were at an end, and that his enemies were gathering about him from every quarter.
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Footnote 3:
George Hooper, Waterloo: the Downfall of the First Napoleon , pp. 239, 263 (London, 1862).
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Tormented by these gloomy thoughts, he pursued his journey, and reached Philippeville; and there he snatched a few hours repose. But the fear of the Prussians haunted his followers, and he was hurried on, still in a state of indecision.[4] The momentous question had now to be faced, and immediately decided. What was Napoleon to do? Should he remain in the field in command of his troops, rally the shattered remnants of the grand army, and cover Paris, or should he fly to the capital, assert his authority there, and trust to the magic of his name to retain his supremacy over France? His own desire was to stay among his men, and to abide the result at the head of an army, devoted to his person and to his interests. Had he done so, his fate would have been less humiliating than it eventually proved to be. But his failing health, and the shock he had experienced, paralysed the active energies of the man, and, dreading a revolution in the seat of government, he agreed, against his better judgment, to start at once for Paris. He reached his destination early on the 21st, exhausted and shaken both in body and mind.
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Footnote 4:
Alphonse de Lamartine, The History of the Restoration of the Monarchy in France , ii. 443 (London, 1852).
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Paris was struck dumb by this event. On the 18th, the guns of the Invalides thundered a salute in honour of the battle of Ligny, and on the two following days the details of the French victory over the Prussians were published in glowing colours; but towards the evening of the 20th, the news of trouble began to leak out, and on the morrow the Emperor arrived at the Elysée palace attended only by a few of his personal Staff. “Dans le premier moment on refusa à croire; ce fut ensuite une anxiété cruelle; puis une morne stupeur.”[5] And now at length the fatal news was fully realized, and spread like wildfire through the excited people, and all knew for certain that the army of Napoleon had been annihilated, that his military genius had played him false, and that the catastrophe was at once complete and irretrievable.
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Footnote 5:
Hooper, p. 265.
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Then the weakness of the Emperor’s power began to show itself, and the instability of the foundation upon which he had constructed his Imperial system became apparent. France, who drained her resources freely to serve her passion for glory, now spurned the defeated hero who had made her glorious. His rule, though it pandered to her vanity, did not rest upon the true affections of the people; and his want of success at the critical moment was an unpardonable offence, to be atoned only by abdication. Enemies created everywhere by his arbitrary will, by his reckless policy, and by the jealousy his brilliant genius inspired, now saw their opportunity to revenge themselves, and they arose to crush him. Alone in Paris, without an army, he was almost a prisoner in the hands of his foes, where he could not hope to recover from the disaster which had overwhelmed him, or employ his talents for the military protection of the country. The Chambers took the control of public affairs; and Napoleon, prostrated by recent events, and unable to resolve upon any definite course of action, acquiesced sullenly in allowing the reins of government to be snatched from his hands. He was forced to await the decision of a special Council of State that was summoned to settle the future of the Emperor and the policy to be pursued by the nation. Lafayette, who was named member of the Council, and was its leading spirit, insisted that the defence of the country should not be the only question discussed, but that negotiations for the restoration of peace should be also proceeded with; and he succeeded in carrying a resolution, to the effect that, as the Allies had signified their determination not to treat with Napoleon, the two Chambers should themselves nominate negotiators, who were, under their authority alone, to come to terms with the conquerors.[6] It was a revolution; and it was nearly complete on the morning of the 22nd. In the divided councils of the Emperor, Lafayette gained a great advantage, and giving voice to the one thought that filled all minds in that moment of anguish, he resolved that Napoleon’s deposition should forthwith, and at all hazards, be carried into immediate execution.
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Footnote 6:
Hooper, 275; Lamartine, ii. 480.
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A struggle—a one-sided struggle—took place between the Emperor and the Chambers. The former could only rely upon his previous military prestige and upon the halo of influence that still might be supposed to surround his name; but he did nothing to rouse himself out of the lethargy that oppressed his moral faculties. The latter, representing the reactionary and Republican parties, were tired of Napoleon and of his greatness. They regarded him as the sole obstacle to peace, and as a fallen leader who must be swept away in the interests of the country. So fickle were the French to the man they received as their ruler in defiance of Europe four months before, and who had been their unquestioned master for nearly fifteen years, and so intent were they to be rid of him, that they only granted him—and that with difficulty—but one short hour to make up his mind to vacate his throne; in default, he was to be discrowned by force. Napoleon was indignant, but he did not resist. “I have not returned from Elba,” he said, “to deluge Paris with blood;”[7] and, fearing to provoke a civil war, he accepted the inevitable, and abdicated in favour of his son within thirty-six hours of his arrival in the capital.
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Footnote 7:
Lamartine, ii. 478.
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And yet his overweening pride was still thirsting for power, and this act of renunciation was neither tendered nor accepted in good faith. Napoleon II., as he was called, was a child, and was in Austria, and the Emperor still clung to the delusive hope that he might be re-installed in the power he had lost, though he could only wield it in the name of his son. On the other hand, the Chambers, fearing to drive their antagonist to extremes, and dreading above all things a revival of his wonted energy, agreed to an equivocal recognition of Napoleon II. In this way they also satisfied the cravings of the army for Imperialism; but the assent was a mere fictitious one, which was intended to have no meaning and which had no result. The Empire was indeed doomed, its founder dishonoured, and his dynasty destroyed. It was a wretched end to a glorious career, not even redeemed by that fortitude and personal dignity which mark the fall of the truly great. This final downfall is without parallel in history, and the weakness of human nature and the vanity of man’s personal ambition stand out prominently, as the main features of the drama. The last scene was approaching, and may be described in a few words.
The moment Napoleon abdicated, he ceased to be a factor in the great events that followed. He was even an obstacle in the way of those who had usurped his place, and was treated with a contumely he had little deserved at the hands of flatterers, who, having basked in his smiles, had now constituted themselves the arbiters of his lot. Driven almost with indignity to the suburban retreat of La Malmaison, where his personality could not affect the Parisians, he still dreamt of power, but did nothing to grasp it. At last he was obliged to fly to the coast before the Allies, who were approaching the capital. Despairing of making good his escape, and feeling keenly the humiliation of his position, should capture await him in the land where for so long he had been the idol, he yielded himself a prisoner to Captain Maitland, who commanded H.M.S. Bellerophon—stationed near Rochfort to intercept the Imperial fugitive,—as to the representative of “the most powerful, the most constant, and the most generous” of his enemies (July 15th). This is the last of Napoleon, and henceforward he lived and died a captive in the island of St. Helena, hated by his gaolers, forgotten by his country, and forsaken by his kindred.
“But where is he, the modern, mightier far, Who, born no king, made monarchs draw his car; The new Sesostris, whose unharness’d kings, Freed from the bit, believe themselves with wings, And spurn the dust o’er which they crawl’d of late, Chain’d to the chariot of the chieftain’s state? Yes! where is he, the champion and the child Of all that’s great or little, wise or wild? Whose game was empires, and whose stake was thrones? Whose table earth—whose dice were human bones? Behold the grand result in yon lone isle, And as thy nature urges, weep or smile.”[8]
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Footnote 8:
Byron, Age of Bronze, iii.
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The overthrow of her great military hero brought no satisfaction or relief to France. She needed a chief to direct, and a policy to shape her actions; but at the most critical moment, when the Allies were thundering at her gates, she deliberately deprived herself of the one, and had not thought of the other. Napoleon was rejected; but who was to take his place, and who was to safeguard her interests? The noisy demagogues had effectively stirred up a revolution, and had deposed the only soldier who could have stood between her and the victorious enemy. Their momentary success was complete; but they left nothing except chaos behind them, and their work was folly because it was destructive. It is true, they did conceive some hope that they could rear up a Republic or a Constitutional Monarchy upon the ruins of the Imperial system, and none for a moment believed that the unconditional restoration of the Royal Family was imminent. The “obstacle to peace” was removed; but the peace that France desired was denied her, and she was not to be allowed to have a voice in shaping her own destinies. The Allies were masters of the situation; and they were as intent upon taking ample securities against the people who had for so long scourged Europe, as against the man who had led them on to plunder Christendom. The man was gone, but the people remained; and in their eagerness to repudiate him, they forgot that they too had some account to render to the conquerors.[9]
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Footnote 9:
Hooper, Waterloo , pp. 280, 285.
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A Provisional Government was set up in Paris on the evening of the 22nd of June, composed of five persons, among whom was Fouché, Duc d'Otranto, late Minister of Police under Napoleon, and one of his bitterest enemies. He had the address to be named President, and in the anarchy produced by the panic which the crisis created, he alone preserved his faculties unimpaired. Seizing the supreme control of the State during the moment of interregnum, he became dictator, and the sole and irresponsible advocate of his country’s cause. A Republican by conviction, a regicide, and holding to the extravagant tenets which were enunciated in 1789, he was far more keenly alive to his own immediate interests than to his avowed principles; and perceiving clearly that his credit and reward could best be secured by obliging France to accept—even against her will—a Bourbon régime, he devoted his great talents and his incomparable powers of intrigue to bring about the unconditional restoration of King Louis. His treachery was deeply resented by the nation, but what could they do? Napoleon had been abandoned, and there was no one to replace him,—none to form a patriotic administration, none to give effect to the national aspirations of the people, none to cope with the difficulties that had arisen, none to secure those terms which a proud and vigorous race had a right to expect, even when overwhelmed by adversity. In the universal prostration which succeeded the battle of Waterloo, Fouché, “one of the most hateful among the hateful tribunes of the Terror,”[10] reigned in France, an autocrat, hated by all, feared by all, and obeyed by all.[11]
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Footnote 10:
B: M. Guizot, History of France, 1789-1848 , edited by Madame de Witt, née Guizot, viii. 231 (London, 1881).
Footnote 11:
Hooper, p. 286, etc.
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While these events were taking place in Paris, the victorious Allies were advancing towards that city, there to reap the fruits of their success, to restore the peace of Europe, and to impose their will upon the now distracted country that lay at their mercy. After the battle there was a meeting between the Duke of Wellington and Marshal Blücher, at which operations for the immediate future were decided. The former engaged to advance the following day, and returned for the night to his head-quarters at Waterloo; the latter agreed to pursue the enemy without delay, and to endeavour to cut off Grouchy. He then went to Genappe, and, on the 20th, his advanced troops were in French territory. Early on the 19th, the army commanded by Wellington left their bivouacs, the 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards starting from the farm of Hougomont, which they had held—in conjunction with the 2nd Battalion of the Third Guards, and with the light companies of the First Guards (2nd and 3rd Battalions)—with such credit to themselves. They reached Nivelles that evening, where Major-General Sir John Byng wrote his despatch on the battle, and on the stubborn contest that centred round Hougomont.[12]
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Footnote 12:
Appendix No. I. 1.
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On the 20th, the Guards Division reached Binche, and on that day the Duke of Wellington issued a General Order, which not only conveyed his thanks to the army under his command, for their conduct in the decisive action on the 18th, but which also warned the troops of the absolute necessity of treating the inhabitants of France as a friendly people.[13] This admonition of the rules which prevail in war time among civilized nations, was not indeed needed by the seasoned troops of British origin, who had been trained in the humane usages invariably adopted by England, to respect the liberties and the property of the people over whose lands war has to be waged. It was rather addressed to the Anglo-allies (Dutch, Belgians, and Germans), to enforce the maxim that hostilities are not conducted against the population, and that ill treatment of peasants only exasperates the enemy, and does nothing to secure his final subjugation. It is to be remarked that this policy was not followed by the Prussians, with the result that the latter never gained the good will of the French, while the British, on the contrary, were looked upon by that proud and sensitive people with respect, and almost without distrust.
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Footnote 13:
Appendix I. 2.
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On the morning of the 22nd of June, Wellington was at Malplaquet, the scene of one of Marlborough’s greatest triumphs over the same enemy. Before leaving, he issued a proclamation in French to the people whose territories were then entered by the
British troops, to the effect that the invaders had come to deliver them from the iron yoke that oppressed them; and that the population would be well treated by the army, provided they did not join the cause of the “Usurper” (Napoleon), who had been “pronounced to be the enemy of the human race, with whom neither peace nor truce could be made.”[14] Neither in this effort to conciliate the population did Prince Blücher follow the example of his colleague; on the contrary he displayed resentment against the natives of a country whose military genius had, in the past, humbled in the dust the pride of his own nation. It was perhaps natural that he should assume this attitude when the provocation which the Prussians received is taken into account, but it was not calculated to reassure the French in their despair, nor to reconcile them to the restoration of the Royal Family.
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Footnote 14:
Appendix I. 3.
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In order to give a general view of the whole military situation, it will now be necessary to refer briefly to the incidents of the war that took place close to Waterloo, on the day of the battle, where Marshal Grouchy was struggling with Blücher’s rear-guard. On the 18th he was at Wavre, with 32,000 men, of whom 5000 were cavalry; and there he was held in check during the whole day by Thieleman’s Prussian Corps, only 15,000 strong. It was not until evening that he turned the right of the Prussians, when at length he opened a road for his troops, whereon to advance to the main body of the French army, known to be somewhere near Waterloo. As it was then too late to continue the action, Grouchy hoped next day to complete the victory he had achieved, ere he pushed forward to join his chief. On the morning of the 19th he received no tidings from the Emperor, and he believed that all was well; but Thieleman, though he was not informed of the full details of the disaster to which the French had been subjected, heard that a great battle had been fought, and that they were defeated; so he, too, determined to attack Grouchy in the morning. A battle consequently took place on the 19th, in which the Prussians, though they contested the ground inch by inch, were forced to fall back towards Louvain by the superiority of the masses they engaged. At the very moment of victory, Grouchy received the message which Napoleon had sent him from Quatre-Bras, announcing the total destruction of the French army, and thus revealing to him the full extent of the danger in which he was placed. Perceiving at once the necessity that his corps should be saved from the general wreck, he determined to retreat through Namur upon Givet, and began to move without delay. General Pirch I., having been detached from the main Prussian army on the evening of the 18th to intercept him, joined Thieleman, who also advanced as soon as he perceived that he was no longer being pursued by the corps which had defeated him. Both Prussian Generals endeavoured to arrest the enemy, but they failed to do so; and Grouchy, who marched with great rapidity and resolution, ably seconded by the valour of his subordinate Generals, reached Givet on the 21st, and entered French territory in safety. He was then ordered to join Marshal Soult, who was attempting to rally the broken fragments of the main army at Laon. This occurred on the fatal 22nd, the same day that Napoleon, coerced by the political leaders in Paris, closed his public career, and signed his abdication of the French throne in favour of his son.
Grouchy’s corps was the only one that, having taken part in the campaign in Belgium, remained intact. The main French army had been panic-stricken at Waterloo, and a large mass of those who survived the battle fled straight to Paris, or deserted their standards, and were nowhere to be found; many flung away their arms, and dispersed to their homes. The disruption of the great army was complete, and the defeat signal and decided beyond all former precedent. The co-operation of the greater bulk of Napoleon's forces in subsequent military events was impossible, and little resistance was to be apprehended from these men. But there was a remnant of true soldiers still available, who, seeking their Colours, concentrated some 20,000 strong near Philippeville. On the 22nd they were at Laon, and about that time the French could dispose of some 50,000 men for the defence of the northern frontier. The situation was a desperate one, and would have been fatal even to Napoleon himself in the full vigour of his military genius; but the position was all the more impossible, since the Saxons, the Austrians, and the Russians were by this time upon the eastern frontier of France, and were ready to advance in a concentrated and concentric march upon the capital.
On the 22nd of June, Wellington reached Le Cateau Cambresis. He had three divisions at Bavay, and four echeloned along the road to Le Cateau—the Guards Division being at Gommignie. Besides this, other troops were employed against Le Quesnoi and Valenciennes, which were occupied by men of the Garde Nationale. Blücher was at Catillon-sur-Sambre with his troops in the vicinity, including Thieleman, who had returned from the pursuit of Grouchy, but excluding Pirch I., who was ordered to remain in rear for the purpose of reducing the fortresses which defended the French frontier. The Prussians were also at that time blockading Landrecies and Maubeuge—also garrisoned by local levies, from whom little resistance was to be expected. The Anglo-Prussian Allies halted on the 23rd, for the purpose of collecting their stragglers, and of bringing up ammunition; and thereby a much-needed rest was afforded to men who, for more than eight days, had been constantly and actively occupied in the arduous labours of the war. During the halt the two Generals, Wellington and Blücher, met to decide how a united advance could best be made upon Paris. As a result of this conference, it was agreed that the Allies should not pursue the enemy directly, but, covered by the Oise, push along the right bank of that river, upon Compiègne and Creil, so as to turn his left, and if possible, cut him off from Paris,—the movement to be masked by the Prussian cavalry, whose presence, it was hoped, would induce the French to retard their retreat.[15] Wellington, moreover, anxious that the moral effect of the battle of Waterloo should be fully reaped, and that Napoleon should have no time to recover from the disaster, hastened the arrival of King Louis into French territory, offering to secure Cambrai as his residence until Paris should be captured. Hearing, also, that that fortress was imperfectly guarded, he sent Sir Charles Colville forward with a detachment to seize it (June 23rd). The attack was successful, in so far that the town was taken with little loss; but the citadel held out until the 25th, when the Governor capitulated to the King. His Majesty by this time reached the British head-quarters, and he temporarily established his Court in Cambrai.
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Footnote 15:
Capt. Siborne, History of the War in France and Belgium in 1815, ii. 370 (2nd edit., London, 1844). See Map No. 1, p. 54.
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On the 24th the combined armies continued their advance. The British pushed on two brigades towards Cambrai, but otherwise only altered their position slightly, as they were waiting for their pontoon train. The Prussians, however, moved forward, taking Guise and St. Ouentin. During the day, intelligence was received of Napoleon’s abdication, but the news was at first discredited. Later, it became confirmed; but both Commanders determined that terms of peace could only be signed at Paris, and they rejected all overtures made to them by the Provisional Government to arrest their march upon the capital. On the 25th of June, the British head-quarters were at Joncourt, the Coldstream Guards being at Le Cateau.
Blücher, on the other hand, hearing that the French had not been deceived by the cavalry demonstration made in the direction of Laon, now came to the conclusion that they were hastening towards Paris; he therefore determined to secure the passages over the Oise, and he pushed on to these points with the utmost rapidity. A squadron entered Compiègne in the evening of the 26th, and early the following day a Prussian brigade supported it, just in time to prevent this place from falling into the hands of the enemy; for Grouchy, who had superseded Soult, ordered D'Erlon to occupy the bridge with the remnants of his Corps, about 4000 strong. D'Erlon, finding the Prussians in position, cannonaded it, and very soon afterwards retired, unpursued by the Prussians, who were too much exhausted to advance; so that it was mid-day before the advantage gained could be pressed home. These operations were connected with the movements of other Prussian columns, one of which also succeeded in capturing the bridge of Creil just before the French arrived there. Brushing the enemy away, the invaders continued to march to Senlis, where D'Erlon was met and driven off the straight line of his retreat. The bridge of St. Maxence was found partially destroyed, and the river had to be crossed in boats, but that of Verberie was taken. By the evening of the 27th, Blücher’s advanced troops were on the left of Grouchy, intercepting the road to Paris, and with every hope of being able to prevent him from reaching the capital before the Prussians.[16] At dawn of the 28th, a small force under Pirch II. came into collision with the enemy near Villers-Cotterets, and, being greatly outnumbered at that point, they were in some danger of being overpowered. The French, however, were in no condition to fight; they had lost heart, and many were deserting their Colours. Being disorganized by their reverses, and by the fear that Blücher’s energy inspired, they now allowed Pirch to get away unhurt. The latter had succeeded by his manœuvre to delay them, so that during the day they were repeatedly attacked with considerable loss, and most of them were forced to turn to their left to cross the river Marne, and so reach Paris by a circuitous route. By the evening of the 28th, the Prussians had not only captured sixteen guns and four thousand prisoners, forced the French from their true line of retreat, and increased the terror and confusion which prevailed among them, but they also succeeded in following some few detachments of the enemy, who had been enabled to fly straight to Paris. In this manner their advanced posts were within five miles of the capital, near Le Bourget and Stains, where they carried panic and dismay into the heart of the city.[17] Blücher established his head-quarters at Senlis.
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Footnote 16:
Siborne, ii. p. 403.
Footnote 17:
Siborne, ii. 415.
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During this vigorous pursuit, the Anglo-allies were also advancing southwards. On the 26th, Sir John Byng assaulted the fortress of Peronne with the 1st Guards Brigade, who carried the outworks by storm with little loss, soon after which the town capitulated. The British head-quarters were at Vermand and the army in the vicinity, advanced cavalry patrols having penetrated as far as Roye. The Coldstream Guards halted at Coulaincourt. Next day the army crossed the river Somme at Willecourt; the Duke was at Nesle, and Roye was occupied. On the 28th, the British right was near St. Just, and Montdidier was occupied; the left was in rear of La Tulle, where the roads meet that run from Compiègne and Roye; the reserve reached the latter place, and the Guards Division was at Conchy, where the rest of the First Army-Corps was posted.
The rapid approach of the invaders upon Paris made it plain to the Provisional Government that they had no power to arrest the progress of the Allies for a single moment; and although the north side of the city was secured by a line of fortified works, sufficiently strong to resist a coup de main, yet the wreck of Napoleon’s army had not reached the capital, and time was imperatively required to bring them there and to organize some defence. An armistice was once more sought on the 27th, and again on the 28th, in the despairing hope that the Government might be allowed some breathing-time in which to consider their position, and make some show of resistance, in order to save France the humiliation which was clearly in store for her. But the allied Commanders were inexorable, and, refusing all such negotiations, they pursued their operations with the same activity as in the past. Wellington indeed frankly told the Commissioners who approached him on behalf of the Provisional Government, that he—
“must see some steps taken to re-establish a government in France which should afford the Allies some chance of peace” before he could sanction a suspension of hostilities; that he personally “conceived the best security for Europe was the restoration of the King, and that the establishment of any other government than the King’s in France must inevitably lead to new and endless wars;” and he concluded by these words: “That, in my opinion, Europe had no hope of peace if any person excepting the King were called to the throne of France; that any person so called must be considered an usurper, whatever his rank and quality; that he must act as an usurper, and must endeavour to turn the attention of the country from the defects of his title towards war and foreign conquests; that the Powers of Europe must, in such a case, guard themselves against this evil; and that I could only assure them” (the Commissioners) “that, unless otherwise ordered by my Government, I would exert any influence I might possess over the Allied Sovereigns to induce them to insist upon securities for the preservation of peace, besides the treaty itself, if such an arrangement as they had stated were adopted”—viz., any arrangement whereby a prince, other than the King, were called to the throne of France.[18]
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Footnote 18:
Siborne, ii. 427, etc.
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On the 29th, Blücher pressed on towards Paris, and reconnoitred the defences thrown round the northern side of the city. The remnants of the great army which had been shattered at Waterloo also entered the capital on that day, and the French mustered some 80,000 to 90,000 men there—troops from the provincial depôts and from the country having been called for the defence of the seat of government, and as many discharged veterans as could be collected having been assembled in a special corps some 17,000 strong. Besides this, there was plenty of artillery available, and about 30,000 of the Garde Nationale; but on the latter no great reliance could be placed. Marshal Davoût, Prince d'Eckmühl, was appointed Commander-in-chief. The British forces were still in rear, and occupied positions between Gournay and St. Maxence, the Guards Division being near St. Martin Longeau. At dawn, on the 30th of June, the advanced French post at Aubervilliers was attacked by the 4th Prussian Corps under Bülow, and the enemy was driven back, and pursued as far as the canal in rear of that village; but it became evident that to dislodge him from that line, a more serious effort would be necessary.
The Duke of Wellington having proceeded to Blücher’s head-quarters during the night of the 29th-30th, a conference was held as to the future operations to be pursued. It was then agreed to move the Prussians to their right, to take advantage of the capture of the bridge of St. Germains which had already been effected, and to extend the investment of the capital round the west and south of the city, threatening to cut it off from those provinces that furnished it with supplies. The British army at the same time was to move into the posts which their allies had taken up north of the city, and to mask the defences which the enemy had erected there. During the night of the 29th-30th and the following day, these operations were carried out, the 4th Prussian Corps covering the movement until the British arrived. In the evening, the latter were about Louvres, twelve miles away from Paris; the Guards Division being at La Chapelle. The two Prussian Corps, under Thieleman and Ziethen, were close to St. Germain; while two regiments of Hussars, under Lieut.-Colonel von Sohr, having been thrown forward, bivouacked at Marley, on the road to Versailles. During the day, Bülow’s Corps had been engaged, as we have seen. On the 1st of July he began to move off, and in the afternoon he was relieved by the advanced British forces, who took his place; the Guards Division were at Le Bourget and the forest of Bondy, five miles from the capital.
On this day the enemy gained an advantage over the Prussians—the only one of the campaign, except the delusive victory at Ligny,—for the cavalry brigade under von Sohr, ordered to reconnoitre round the southern suburbs, proceeding too far away from its supports, was attacked, and, though the men defended themselves bravely, they were cut to pieces. This transient success, however, produced no effect upon the main result, and was but a passing incident in the drama now soon to close. Next day, the 2nd, Blücher continued his march round Paris; and his troops, under Ziethen, came into collision with the enemy near Sèvres, who was driven back to Issy, and, later in the evening, into the town. Thieleman pushed forward advanced troops to Chatillon; and the reserve, under Bülow, was near Versailles. The British remained in the positions on the north front of the capital, sending detachments across the Seine, which occupied the villages of Asnières, Courbevoie, and Suresnes, to keep up communications with the Prussians. On the 3rd, Vandamme made an attempt to drive Ziethen’s troops out of Issy, and a battle took place, which, lasting about four hours, ended disastrously for the French, who were repulsed, and forced to take refuge within the barriers of the city. This effort was the end of the operations, and no more fighting took place, for the Provisional Government, holding that the defence of Paris was not practicable against the victorious Allies, now agreed to treat for a capitulation.
A great change had by this time come over public feeling in Paris, and this was mainly the work of Fouché. France, left without a chief in the moment of her abasement, fell into the hands of Napoleon’s ex-Minister of Police. Once installed in power, he issued a proclamation to the people he was deliberately deluding (June 24th). It held out extravagant hopes that, under his guidance, France would at last be contented with an honourable peace. It was a dishonest proclamation, for it made impossible promises; and yet, in the national degradation which marked the crisis, the people had perforce to obey the man, who, while in secret correspondence with the Allies for the restoration of the King, told them—
“After twenty-five years of political tempests, the moment has arrived when everything wise and sublime that has been conceived respecting social institutions may be perfected in yours. Let reason and genius speak, and from whatever side their voices may proceed, they shall be heard.... Who is the man, that, born on the soil of France, whatever may be his party or political opinions, will not range himself under the national standard, to defend the independence of his country! Armies may be in part destroyed, but the experience of all ages and of all nations proves that a brave people, combating for justice and liberty, cannot be vanquished. The Emperor, in abdicating, has offered himself a sacrifice. The members of the Government devote themselves to the due execution of the authority with which they have been invested by your representatives.”[19]
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Footnote 19:
Siborne, ii. 378.
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Nor was it long before Fouché gained sufficient influence over Davoût to make it clear to him that the Empire had come to an end, and that the only solution possible out of the impasse in which France had become involved, was submission to the will of the conquerors and the restoration of the Bourbons. Once gained over, the Marshal did not hesitate to obey, and efforts to ensure the defence of the capital were undertaken with deliberate half-hearted vigour.[20] The Parisians were rapidly becoming indifferent to their fate; they cared not who was to rule them, provided they were allowed to live in peace. The era of glory had afforded them some satisfaction, but it had its drawbacks, and late events had brought these to a crisis; therefore they were glad to welcome the strongest, and to have done with conquests. The Chambers, also, had exhausted all their energies in destroying the man whose military genius might have served the country at this terrible juncture. They succeeded admirably in their design; and now they devoted themselves to academical studies, and busied themselves in discussing a new constitution, quite oblivious of the fact that their labours must be fruitless. All sections of the nation were easily dealt with by Fouché; and even the army, devoted to their late incomparable leader, soon submitted to his will.
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Footnote 20:
Hooper, Waterloo , p. 286.
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Besides the efforts already made to obtain a suspension of hostilities from the allied Commanders, Marshal Davoût approached them on the 30th of June, but again unsuccessfully. On the same day, he also joined in a protest addressed to the Chambers against the return of the Bourbons—a protest intended, perhaps, rather to satisfy the susceptibilities of the army than for any other purpose. The Chambers, in their reply, alluded to their proposed constitution; and stated that, while they were prepared to accept whatever dynasty the Allies might insist on fixing upon the throne, they were convinced that the accession of the new Monarch could only become an accomplished fact, when he had agreed to the conditions they meant to impose upon his prerogative. They “will never,” they said, “acknowledge as legitimate Chief of the State him who, on ascending the throne, shall refuse to acknowledge the rights of the nation, and to consecrate them by a solemn compact.”[21]
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Footnote 21:
Siborne, ii. 450.
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But neither the Chambers nor the army were to determine the fate of the country; for Fouché, alone among Frenchmen, was possessed of power, and he only had any voice in shaping its policy in this crisis. Wellington, anxious above all things that Paris should submit without further bloodshed, consented, on the 2nd of July, to a suspension of hostilities, on the basis of the evacuation of the capital by the army. But he was not altogether master of the situation, for Marshal Blücher, to whom he was so greatly indebted for his victory over the enemy, had different ideas, and wished to humble the French in a manner that would have been impolitic as well as hostile to the best interests of a stable peace. It required, therefore, all the Duke’s tact to make him understand, that the best way to end the war, was to accept a capitulation, and to give up all ideas of incurring the responsibility of taking so large a city as Paris by force of arms. Blücher, fortunately, had some respect for the good sense of his colleague, and agreed to these views, and, on the 3rd, he consented to treat. Thereupon hostilities ceased abruptly, while Vandamme was being driven back, in the manner that has been already described, near Issy.[22]
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Footnote 22:
Hooper, 296.
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Commissioners met on the 3rd, at the Palace of Saint-Cloud, and speedily agreed to a Military Convention, which stipulated the following conditions:—
(1) The army to evacuate Paris within three days, and to take up a position in rear of the Loire, the movement to be complete within eight days; (2) St. Denis, St. Ouen, Clichy, and Neuilly to be given up to the Allies on the 4th, Montmartre on the 5th, and, on the 6th, all barriers, giving access into the city, to be placed in the power of the Allies; (3) Order to be maintained in Paris by the Garde Nationale, and by the municipal Gens d’armerie; (4) The actual authorities to be respected “so long as they shall exist;” (5) Private and public property, except that which relates to war, to be respected, and all individuals to enjoy their rights and liberties, “without being disturbed or called to account, either as to the situations which they hold, or may have held, or as to their conduct or political opinions;” (6) The capital to be furnished with supplies.[23]
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Footnote 23:
Siborne, ii. 470, where the text of the Convention is given in full.
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These stipulations, ratified by the British and Prussian Commanders, were carried out by the French with scrupulous fidelity. In spite of the violence of the troops, whose enthusiasm for the Imperial system had scarcely abated, the army, 70,000 men and 200 guns, marched towards the Loire on the 4th, under Marshal Davoût.[24] The Chambers continued their sittings, still intent upon their proposed constitution. On the 7th, the Allies determined to enter Paris, heralding the re-instatement of Louis XVIII., the Bourbon king.
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Footnote 24:
Davoût told Marshal Macdonald that the effective of the army going beyond the Loire amounted to 150,000 men, 30,000 horses, and 750 guns (Souvenirs du Maréchal Macdonald, p. 393).
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During this time the Germans, Austrians, and Russians were advancing to the capital, and, although the war was practically concluded by the Military Convention just signed, yet it languished for a few months longer in some of the provinces. The North-German Corps (26,000 men), formed of contingents brought together by the petty Princes, was occupied in the beginning of July, in reducing some of the French fortresses on the north-east frontier. The Austrian army, under Prince Schwartzenburg, including Saxons and South Germans, and amounting to more than 250,000 men, had its advanced troops between the Seine and the Marne, near La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, on the 10th of July. The Russians, under Marshal Barclay de Tolly (nearly 170,000 men), were at Paris and in its vicinity by the middle of July. A combined Austro-Sardinian army (60,000) was in the south-east of France, and completed, during that month, the subjugation of the districts in that quarter.[25]
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Footnote 25:
Siborne, ii. 481, etc.
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Besides the various expressions of thanks to the gallant army that destroyed the power of Napoleon at Waterloo, to which allusion has already been made, letters were published in General Orders, July 2nd, from the Commander-in-Chief, H.R.H. the Duke of York, and from the Secretary of State for the Colonies and for War, Earl Bathurst, conveying the admiration felt at the conduct of the troops.[26] On the 5th, the resolutions of thanks passed by the House of Lords and by the House of Commons were published in General Orders;[27] and, on the 17th, those of the Common Council of the City of London (dated July 7th) were communicated to the troops in the same manner.
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Footnote 26:
_The Despatches of Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington during his Various Campaigns, etc._ , compiled by Colonel Gurwood, viii. 186 (London, 1847).
Footnote 27:
Ibid. , viii. 198.
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Towards the end of July it was determined, in recognition of the “conspicuous valour” displayed by the army “in the late glorious victory,” to grant: (1) increase to the pensions allowed to Officers for wounds, according as they might be promoted in the service; (2) to all Subalterns in the Infantry of the Line and in the Cavalry, and to all Ensigns of the Guards, at Waterloo, two years' service, so as to qualify them for extra pay after five, instead of seven, years' service; (3) to every Non-commissioned officer, private, etc., present at the battle, the distinction of being called a “Waterloo man,” and to every “Waterloo man” two years' service in reckoning his service for increase of pay or for pension, when discharged,—but this indulgence was not otherwise to affect the conditions of his original enlistment. These arrangements were notified on the 5th of August.[28]
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Footnote 28:
Supplementary Despatches, etc., of Field-Marshal Arthur Duke of Wellington , compiled by his son, xi. 98 (London, 1864).
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The Reverend John Norcross, Framlingham Rectory, Suffolk, having promised to settle an annuity of ten pounds—to be called the “Wellington Pension”—upon one of his “brave countrymen who fought in the late tremendous but glorious conflict,” to be selected by the Duke, the latter chose Lance-Sergeant Graham, Coldstream Guards, for that honour. The record shows that Sergeant Graham “assisted Lieut.-Colonel Macdonell in closing the gate” (at Hougomont) “which had been left open for the communication, and which the enemy was in the act of forcing; he shot the leading man. His brother, a corporal in the same company, was lying wounded in a barn on fire; Sergeant Graham removed him a short distance secure from the fire, and returned again to his duty. Three years and two months in the Regiment.” Another man, also recommended to the Duke, was Private John Lister, Third Guards, whose conduct was noted for particular bravery during the whole day.[29]
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Footnote 29:
Ibid. , xi. 35, 121. Wellington Despatches (Gurwood), viii. 249.
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On the 29th of July, H.R.H. the Prince Regent granted to all Ensigns of the three Regiments of Foot Guards then serving, and afterwards to be appointed, the rank of Lieutenant, as a mark of Royal approbation of the distinguished gallantry of the Brigade of Guards in the important battle which had just taken place. Thereby was completed the system of the “double rank” which had existed in the Household Infantry for many years. Captains of the First and Coldstream Guards had been given the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in 1687, and four years later, in 1691, Captains of the Scots Guards received the same privilege; while all Lieutenants of the three Regiments of Foot Guards were upon that occasion given commissions of Captains in the army.[30]
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Footnote 30:
Colonel MacKinnon, Origin and Services of the Coldstream Guards , i. 190, 211, and ii. 368 (London, 1833). The Prince Regent also conferred upon the First Guards the title of Grenadier Guards, “in commemoration of their having defeated the Grenadiers of the French Imperial Guard upon this memorable occasion” (ibid., ii. 368).
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During the halt which was made at Le Cateau on the 23rd of June, a return was ordered, giving the number of killed, wounded, and missing, casualties of the fighting that took place between the 16th and 18th inclusive.[31]
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Footnote 31:
A return, dated Adjutant-General’s Office, April 13, 1816, was transmitted to the Duke of Wellington from the Horse-Guards on July 16th of that year, showing the number of sergeants, trumpeters, drummers, farriers, and rank and file of the British army, who were killed, wounded, or missing in the actions fought in Flanders on the 15th, 16th, and 18th of June, 1815. The following concerns the Division of Guards:—
┌────────────────────────────┬─────────┬───────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ Wounded. │ ├────────────────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┬───────────┬───────────┬─────────────┤ │ │ │ Died of │ Suffered │ │ Transferred │ │ │ Killed│ Wounds. │Amputation.│Discharged.│ to Vet. or │ │ │ │ │ │ │Garr. Battns.│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├────────────────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────────┼───────────┼─────────────┤ │Grenadier Guards, 2nd Battn.│ 61 │ 29 │ 6 │ 44 │ —— │ │ ” ” 3rd ” │ 71 │ 30 │ 14 │ 48 │ —— │ │Coldstream ” 2nd ” │ 47 │ 26 │ 6 │ — │ —— │ │Third ” ” ” │ 39 │ 47 │ 12 │ 21 │ —— │ ├────────────────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────────┼───────────┼─────────────┤ │Total Guards Division │ 218 │ 132 │ 38 │ 113 │ —— │ ├────────────────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────────┼───────────┼─────────────┤ │Total British Army │ 1715 │ 856 │ 236 │ 506 │ 167 │ ├────────────────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────────┼───────────┼─────────────┤ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├────────────────────────────┼─────────┴─────────┴───────────┴───────────┴─────────────┤ │ │ Wounded (cont’d). │ ├────────────────────────────┼─────────┬─────────┬───────────┬───────────┬─────────────┤ │ │Rejoined │ Remain │ │ Rejoined │ Not since │ │ │Regiment.│ in │ Total. │ Regiment.│ heard of; │ │ │ │Hospital.│ │ │ supposed │ │ │ │ │ │ │ dead. │ ├────────────────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────────┼───────────┼─────────────┤ │Grenadier Guards, 2nd Battn.│ 197 │ 26 │ 302 │ 10 │ 38 │ │ ” ” 3rd ” │ 361 │ 33 │ 486 │ 3 │ 32 │ │Coldstream ” 2nd ” │ 208 │ 1 │ 241 │ 4 │ —— │ │Third ” ” ” │ 96 │ 19 │ 195 │ 17 │ 2 │ ├────────────────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────────┼───────────┼─────────────┤ │Total Guards Division │ 862 │ 79 │ 1224 │ 34 │ 72 │ ├────────────────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────────┼───────────┼─────────────┤ │Total British Army │ 5068 │ 854 │ 7687 │ 482 │ 353 │ └────────────────────────────┴─────────┴─────────┴───────────┴───────────┴─────────────┘
Supplementary Despatches, etc. , xiv. 632, 633.
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Some changes took place in the army during the six months that followed the battle of Waterloo.
The Prince of Orange, having to return to Holland, on the 22nd of June, Major-General Sir John Byng assumed temporarily the command of the First Army-Corps until the 12th of July, when he reverted to his position of Commander of the Division of Guards until the 23rd; he was then replaced by Major-General Sir Kenneth Howard (late Coldstream Guards), and he re-assumed the command of the 2nd Guards Brigade, the 1st being still under Major-General Maitland. Owing to the absence of the Prince of Orange, the command of the First Army-Corps devolved upon Sir Kenneth Howard on the 22nd of August, when Sir J. Byng again reverted to the Guards Division, and remained at their head till further orders; thereupon Colonel Hepburn (Third Guards) became Brigadier of the 2nd Guards Brigade. On the 2nd of October, Sir J. Byng having obtained leave of absence to proceed to England, Major-General Maitland took command of the Division until his return.
On the 20th of June, Captain Walton, Coldstream Guards, was temporarily appointed Brigade-Major of the 2nd Guards Brigade, vice Stothert, Third Guards, who was severely wounded, and who subsequently died. On the 6th of November, Captain Prince was appointed Adjutant of the 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards vice Major C. Bentinck, who, upon the death of Captain Lascelles, was posted to the 1st Battalion as Senior Adjutant.[32]
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Footnote 32:
The Junior Adjutant was invariably posted to the 2nd Battalion at that time, and on becoming Senior Adjutant he was transferred to the 1st Battalion. This custom prevailed until about 1840. Major C. Bentinck, while Junior Adjutant, served at the battle of Waterloo as Deputy Assistant-Adjutant-General, his place in the Battalion having been taken by Captain Walton.
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The following Officers, belonging to the 1st Battalion, were ordered, on the 22nd of June, to hold themselves in readiness for foreign service, viz. Colonel Sir. H. Bouverie, Captains Shirley and Girardot, and Ensigns Clifton and Salwey; next day Captain Sandilands received a similar order. With the exception of Sir H. Bouverie and Ensign Clifton, these Officers were posted to the 2nd Battalion on the 27th till further orders, and at the head of a detachment of two hundred men, they reached Paris on the 19th of July. Previous to this date, on the 1st, a redistribution of Subaltern Officers of the Battalion in France had been made, by which: Captain Anstruther was posted to the Grenadier company, Captain Sowerby and Ensign Short to the 1st, Ensign Hon. J. Forbes to the 2nd, Captain Cowell and Ensign Hon. W. Forbes to the 3rd, Ensign Gordon to the 4th, Ensign Douglas to the 5th, Captain Lord Hotham to the 6th, Ensign Buckley to the 7th, Ensign Hervey to the 8th, Captain Bowles and Ensigns Gooch and Buller to the Light-infantry companies.
It was about this time that the present soldier’s small account-book was introduced into the British army. By a letter from Lord Palmerston, the Secretary-at-War, to the Duke of Wellington, dated War Office, August 31, 1815, “in order to remedy the inconvenience and delay experienced in the adjustment of the claims of the soldiers,” it was determined that “a book should be kept by every Non-commissioned officer, trumpeter, drummer, fifer, and private man of His Majesty’s regular forces, calculated to show the actual state of his accounts.”[33] This book was introduced by Horse Guards letter on the 6th of October following, and regulations were made to ensure that the accounts should be correctly made up to the 24th of each month, and to oblige the men to keep their small books in their own possession, and in good order.
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Footnote 33:
Supplementary Despatches, etc. , xi. 151.
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The Coldstream Guards contained the following Officers, in November, 1815:—
Colonel.—Field-Marshal H.R.H. Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, K.G.
Lieut.-Colonel.—Colonel Hon. H. Brand, C.B.
Majors.—First Major—Colonel Sir R. D. Jackson, K.C.B.
Second ” —Colonel A. Woodford, C.B.
Captains.—Colonel Sir H. Bouverie, K.C.B.; Lieut.-Colonels James Macdonell, C.B.; J. Hamilton; and L. Adams (Mounted).
Lieut.-Colonels H. Loftus; W. H. Raikes; F. Sutton; F. Milman; T. Gore; T. Barrow; D. MacKinnon; Hon. J. Walpole; H. Dawkins; Colonels Hon. A. Abercromby, C.B.; Sir C. Campbell, K.C.B.; Lieut.-Colonel Hon. E. Acheson, C.B.; Colonel Sir R. Arbuthnot, K.C.B.; Lieut.-Colonels Sir W. Gomm, K.C.B.; Hon. H. Pakenham, C.B.; and H. Wyndham.
Lieutenants.—Lieut.-Colonel T. Steele; Major G. Bowles; Captains T. Sowerby; P. Sandilands; Lieut.-Colonel J. Fremantle, C.B.; Captains J. Prince (Adjutant); J. V. Harvey; W. Walton (Brigade-Major in France); A. Wedderburn; C. White; T. Bligh; C. Shawe; Major C. Bentinck (Adjutant); Captains J. Talbot; W. Baynes; W. Stothert; J. S. Cowell; W. Grimstead; Lord Hotham; W. Anstruther; Hon. J. Rous; C. Shirley; J. Drummond; Hon. R. Moore; C. Girardot; T. Chaplin; E. Clifton; H. Salwey; G. G. Morgan.
Ensigns.—Lieutenants T. Duncombe; Hon. J. Forbes; T. Powys; H. Gooch; A. Cuyler; M. Beaufoy; W. Kortright; H. Armytage; Hon. W. Rous; H. Bentinck; F. Shawe; H. St. J. Mildmay; F. Buller; H. Griffiths; J. Buller; J. Montagu; J. Hervey; H. Vane; F. Douglas; R. Bowen; F. FitzClarence; A. Gordon; Hon. W. Forbes; C. Short; H. Serjeantson; R. Beamish; Lord Wallscourt; Jasper Hall; J. Jenkinson; W. Cornwall; H. Murray; and E. Duke.
Quartermasters.—T. Dwelly; and B. Selway.
Surgeon-Major.—J. Simpson. Battalion Surgeons.—J. Rose; and W. Whymper. Assistant Surgeons.—T. Maynard; G. Smith; S. Worrell; and W. Hunter.
Solicitor.—J. Wilkinson, Esq.
II. MILITARY OCCUPATION OF FRANCE
Termination of the war—Difficulties of the situation—The Allies occupy Paris—Dissolution of the Provisional Government—Entry of Louis XVIII. into the capital—New French Government formed—Blücher and the Pont de Jena—Arrival of the Allied Sovereigns—Reviews in France—Paris in the hands of the Allies—Treatment of the French by the Prussians; by the British—The wreck of the French Imperial forces disbanded—Life in Paris—The Louvre stripped of its treasures of art—Prosecution of Imperialist leaders—Labedoyère, Ney, Lavalette—Peace of Paris, November 20th.
The long period of the wars of the French Revolution, which devastated the continent of Europe for more than twenty years, had now definitely come to an end, and another era was about to dawn upon the civilized world. France, who had provoked the struggle and prolonged the strife to satisfy the craving of a restless ambition, was at last crushed; and the military chief, whose genius had called into activity the warlike character of her inhabitants, was captured. The common enemy was no longer to be feared; but the balance of power in Europe had been rudely shaken, and new ideas had taken deep root in France into the political and social life of the people. A government had to be established in Paris, of a nature calculated to repress disorder, to calm the natural turbulence of the nation, and to give the Allies pledges for future good behaviour. In short, the French were to be invited to re-enter into the European comity of nations, and to conform to the re-settlement which was rendered necessary after the general disturbance that had taken place. But, in effecting this, the interests of the enemy could not be taken into account. Once before, France had been subdued, and, in 1814, the Allies had expelled Napoleon, and sought to restore a general peace without unduly oppressing the people who had been the aggressors. The attempt failed, for the Emperor returned to Paris, and thereby he re-kindled the torch of war, and revived the baneful policy which threatened his neighbours with destruction. France had participated in Napoleon’s act, and had received him once more as her ruler; and, being defeated, she had little to expect from the forbearance of the victors. She was thus treated as a conquered country, and was subjected to some of the indignities which her soldiery had, in their turn, inflicted for so long a time upon her present masters.
And yet the task of a French reconstruction was by no means an easy one. The vitality of the nation, homogeneous and patriotic, at once forbade the Allies from any attempt to dismember it, even if their mutual jealousies had allowed them to adopt such a proposal. The only feasible plan was to give the people a ruler who could and would control the explosive forces which existed among them, and put an end to the dangers that menaced Europe by reason of the warlike and unscrupulous character they had displayed in the past. But the Allies, in carrying out this policy, forgot that it was of the first consequence to the future wellbeing of the Monarchy, to place Louis in an independent position, and, instead of restoring him to his kingdom by force of hostile bayonets only, to attain to the same end, by fostering the movement towards Royalism, which France began to develop after the battle of Waterloo. The downfall of Napoleon and the rejection of his dynasty had left three solutions, and only three, for the future government of the country. A Republic might have been formed; a popular King might be set up in the person of an Orleanist prince, who would accept the tricolor flag; and, lastly, the legitimate rule of Louis could be established. The first two solutions were contrary to the spirit of the age, they gave no security for future tranquillity, and the Allies set their faces firmly against either of them. There remained the third, which was the avowed object of the conquerors, and it was obvious that it could best be reached by causing the people to recall their King of their own accord. This had been the proposition of Marshal Davoût and of others; and, while their views were possibly more in advance than could have been agreed to without modification, yet, had the matter been left in English hands, there is little doubt that the King’s restoration would have been effected, with the least shock possible to French susceptibilities, and the new order based on a firmer foundation than was given to it. But the British Government had others to consult, and the Allies, smarting under the injuries to which they had been subjected for more than twenty years, were not inclined to be too conciliatory.
Nor was this the only difficulty; for the French themselves, hopelessly divided into two hostile camps, were unable to come to any satisfactory agreement. On the one hand, there were the followers of the King, reactionary in feeling, who remembered with bitterness the cruelties they had experienced during revolutionary times, and who, now that they were supported by victorious armies, demanded the revival pure and simple of the ancien régime. On the other hand, there was Imperial and Revolutionary France—the nation itself,—who, having irrevocably adopted new canons of social and political existence, endeavoured to make terms with the party in power for the protection of the people. There was little sympathy between the two; but the latter had no leader, and had placed themselves unreservedly in the unworthy hands of Fouché, who, having gauged the situation, deserted those he was bound to support, and sought his own personal aggrandisement by joining the party that attached itself to the King.
The keen anxiety of Louis XVIII. to save France from the humiliations that were to be imposed upon her was undoubted; so also was his earnest desire to reign in accordance with the liberal spirit which the times required. He hoped to reconcile all sections of the population, and to prove himself their deliverer, not only from internal disorder, but also from foreign oppression. But though his good will and generosity were unquestioned, his prejudices remained, and were not to be eradicated even by misfortune, and his followers and intimate counsellors were not endowed with a similar noble spirit of forgetfulness for past ill-treatment. France, therefore, by the will of the Allies and with the full consent of the Royalist faction, was again to be unconditionally placed in the King’s hands, his prerogative was to be unfettered, and his power was to be absolute. Nor were his first proclamations, issued to his subjects and dated the 25th and 28th of June, calculated to give much satisfaction to a people who dreaded his rule. The King’s party, in short, had not the wisdom to perceive that a stable Restoration must be accompanied by a complete amnesty in favour of those, at least, who had no further power to resist—and resistance to the old French Monarchy had entirely ceased in the country. Hence, although Louis repudiated all intentions of restoring feudal rights, or of dispossessing those who had illegally acquired lands during the Revolution, yet he did not hesitate to threaten with punishment the men by whose assistance he imagined Napoleon had been able to install himself once again as Emperor.[34]
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Footnote 34:
The vengeance against Napoleon’s adherents was thus announced in the Royal proclamation of the 28th of June, which was countersigned by Prince Talleyrand, at one time a revolutionist, and afterwards Foreign Minister of the Emperor: “I wish to exclude from my presence none but those whose celebrity is a matter of grief to France and of horror to Europe. In the plot which they hatched, I perceive many of my subjects misled and some guilty. I promise—I who never promised in vain (all Europe knows)—to pardon to misled Frenchmen, all that has passed since the day when I quitted Lille, amidst so many tears, up to the day when I re-entered Cambrai, amidst so many acclamations. But the blood of my people has flowed, in consequence of a treason of which the annals of the world present no example. That treason has summoned foreigners into the heart of France. Every day reveals to me a fresh disaster. I owe it then to the dignity of my Crown, to the interest of my people, to the repose of Europe, to except from pardon the instigators and authors of this horrible plot. They shall be designated to the vengeance of the laws by the two Chambers, which I propose forthwith to assemble” (Annual Register , 1815; State Papers , p. 393).
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“Up to the moment of the capitulation of Paris,” says a contemporary writer, “the Chambers continued their deliberations, and on the day when the humiliation of the country seemed complete, the national representatives issued a declaration of the rights of Frenchmen, resembling in its spirit and in its principal features the Bill of Rights claimed by the Parliament of England from William III., and it is surely a tribute of no ordinary value offered to the Constitution of England, that, at the very time when her army was at the gates of the French capital, our national institutions were the objects of the perpetual eulogy, and the subjects of the imitation, of the statesmen of the hostile nation. The constancy of the Chambers was put to a severe trial. The King had arrived at Compiègne, and nearly a million of foreign troops were hastening from every quarter to re-instate him on the throne, and yet not one member in either House thought proper to propose his restoration.... The national representatives also addressed the people with a firmness of tone, and in a spirit of independence, that will entitle them to the admiration of future ages:—'A Monarch,' say they, in language similar to that held by the Convention Parliament of England, 'cannot offer any guarantee, if he does not swear to observe the Constitution framed by the national representation, and accepted by the people; it hence follows, that any government which shall have no other title than the acclamation and the will of a party, or which shall be imposed by force, and every government which shall not guarantee the rights and liberties of a people claiming the privileges of freemen, will have only an ephemeral existence, and will neither secure the tranquillity of France nor of Europe.'”[35]
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Footnote 35:
Edward Baines, History of the Wars of the French Revolution, from the Breaking-out of the War in 1792, to the Restoration of a General Peace in 1815 , ii. 488 (London, 1818).
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How little the arrangements made in 1815 secured the permanent tranquillity of France, is shown by the history of that country during the last eighty years; but to these events it is not our intention to revert, for our object is only to give as faithful a picture as possible of what did occur at this crisis, to describe the part which was taken in these events by the Regiment whose annals we are engaged in recording, and to explain the condition of affairs which presented itself to both Officers and men during this moment of victory and of anxiety.
The barriers of Paris were placed in the hands of the Allies in the afternoon of the 6th—in accordance with the terms of the Military Convention—amid persistent cries from the populace of: “No Bourbons!” “The Representative Government for ever!” intermingled with some in favour of the fallen Emperor. On the 7th, the Prussians under Blücher marched into the town in force, and took possession of the Luxembourg and of other places. The Duke of Wellington, with the tact which distinguished his conduct during this moment of triumph, contented himself with taking part in this demonstration by despatching one brigade only into the city, “with orders to camp in the Champs Elysées, and near to the Place Louis Quinze, where the Duke of Wellington will have his head-quarters to-day.”[36] The main body of the British army were encamped in the Bois de Boulogne, to which place the Guards Division were also brought, without any display.
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Footnote 36:
Supplementary Despatches, etc. , xi. 2.
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As soon as Paris was occupied by foreign troops, the Provisional Government dissolved itself, on the plea that the country had been deceived by the conquerors! The message of dissolution communicated to the Chambers, written by Fouché himself, asserted that up to the 6th it had been believed that “the Allied Sovereigns were not unanimous upon the choice of a prince who was to reign in France;” that it was only then declared that “all the Sovereigns had engaged to place Louis XVIII. upon the throne.” The message went on to say that, as foreign troops had just occupied the Tuileries, where the Government was sitting, “we can only breathe wishes for our country; and, our deliberations being no longer free, we think it our duty to separate.” Upon receiving this news, the Chamber of Peers immediately followed the example given, and also dissolved. The Deputies, however, determined to show a bolder front; and proclaiming that they were at their posts by the will of the people, and that bayonets only could disperse them, they continued their deliberations upon the proposed Constitution, which they determined to offer to the King for his acceptance, as if there was still a government in the country, and as if nothing had happened to disturb their equanimity. But the following day (July 8th), the farce came to an end, and they were excluded from their place of meeting by the bayonet; the gates were locked, a body of the Garde Nationale warned them off and made them retire, and thus they too were obliged to dissolve.[37]
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Footnote 37:
Baines, Wars of the French Revolution , ii. 490.
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Paris was now ready to receive Louis, and his public entry took place on the 8th. The tricolor flag was everywhere replaced by the white standard of the Bourbons, and the people, who had vociferously welcomed Napoleon on his return from Elba, not four months before, now came in immense crowds to greet the King, and acclaimed his restoration with enthusiastic joy. The scene was gay, and the sight that presented itself to the inhabitants such as they loved to behold; but, beneath the surface of these outward appearances, the minds of those who had any power of reflection were filled with depression and sadness. “Even the Royalists were downcast: their patriotic feelings were deeply wounded by the defeat of France; they augured ill of the restoration of the King in the rear of the English bayonets.”[38]
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Footnote 38:
Archibald Alison, History of Europe from the Commencement of the French Revolution in 1789 to the Restoration of the Bourbons in 1815 , x. 964 (2nd edit., 1844). “No one who has not witnessed it, or who has not been convinced of it by the accounts of others, could form an idea of the rapidity with which the public cry can be changed in France. At nine in the morning of the day on which the King last returned to Paris, a man was torn to pieces in the Place Vendôme for wearing the white cockade; at one, a Marshal of France (Moncey or Mortier), riding into Paris with the white cockade, was pursued by the populace, and with difficulty saved himself; and, at three, the King entered the capital, accompanied by shouts of acclamation far greater than those which greeted him the year before. All those who in an adverse sense were clamorous in the morning, had changed or disappeared” (Mr. Arbuthnot to Lord Liverpool, October 30, 1815: Supplementary Despatches, etc. , xi. 220).
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Next day, the new Government was formed, and announced to the public, at the head of which was Prince Talleyrand, who also became Minister for Foreign Affairs. It included, besides, men belonging to different parties, for Louis was anxious to get the confidence of all; and lastly, it contained the name of Fouché, who, having succeeded in shaping the anarchy, which followed the fatal 18th of June, to the benefit of the Royal cause, received, much against the King’s inclination, the portfolio of Minister of Police!
“Louis XVIII. was thus once more seated upon the throne of his fathers, but he reigned only in the Tuileries. To the foreign troops by which he was surrounded he was solely indebted for his elevation. The national will had not been consulted; and the same potent agency which placed him on the throne could alone maintain him in his present position. Indebted to the enemies of his country for his elevation, surrounded by a discordant ministry, compelled to impose heavy burdens upon his people as the price of his restoration, and forced to subscribe to conditions humiliating to the glory of France, the opening of his second reign was inauspicious in the extreme; but it was not utterly hopeless. Whatever might have been the errors of his former government, or however unpromising his present circumstances, he enjoyed personally the respect of the French nation. The people were wearied with revolutions. Their military passion, which, before the return of Napoleon, constituted the great danger of the French Monarchy, was subdued; and the nation wished for peace and a moderate share of freedom, both of which the King possessed the power and the inclination to confer.”[39]
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Footnote 39:
Baines, Wars of the French Revolution , ii. 491.
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The difficulties of the situation were not lightened by the extraordinary conduct of Marshal Blücher at this juncture. That brave Commander could never forget the sufferings which the Imperial armies had caused in Prussia, nor the indignities imposed upon his country by the intolerance and the arrogance of Napoleon, when at the zenith of his power, in Berlin. He regarded the French nation as responsible for the outrages which had been inflicted, and, now that he was able to have his revenge, he determined to take it. He refused to hold any communications with the King, or with the new authorities who had been re-introduced into office by the co-operation of his own Government; and he desired Baron Müffling, appointed Military Governor of Paris, to levy a contribution of 100,000,000 francs on the town, as well as clothing sufficient for 110,000 men.[40] But not content, he went still further, and insisted that one of the bridges over the Seine, known as the bridge of Jena, should be destroyed, because it bore the name of the battle which had been so disastrous to Prussia. Wellington, informed of this mad project, endeavoured to intervene; but so blinded was his impetuous and hot-headed colleague, that he declined to listen to any remonstrance, and began forthwith to undermine the arches. The Duke thereupon placed a guard of British soldiers on the threatened bridge, with orders to drive away by force any one who should attempt to damage it; and he intimated his determination to prevent this senseless destruction by arms if necessary.[41] Blücher now at last was brought to reason, and gave way; and thus an act of vandalism was prevented which was not only a distinct infraction of the Convention of July 3rd, stipulating that all property was to be respected, but would also have cast a deep and lasting stain on the honour and good name of the Allies.
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Footnote 40:
Supplementary Despatches, etc. , xi. 3.
Footnote 41:
It appears that a Battalion of the Grenadier Guards were employed upon this duty (The Reminiscences and Recollections of Captain Gronow , i. 129, and ii. 39; London, 1892).
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Shortly after this (July 11th), the Emperors of Austria and Russia and the King of Prussia arrived in Paris, when Guards of Honour were found by the Brigade of Guards.[42]
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Footnote 42:
His Majesty, Alexander I. of Russia, expressly requested that he should be escorted and guarded by British troops (Supplementary Despatches, etc. , xi. 25).
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About the same time, Lord Castlereagh and the other statesmen of the allied Powers reached the capital, to negotiate the terms of peace to which France was to be obliged to subscribe. The conclusions agreed to, and the incidents which took place during the occupation of Paris, will be noticed presently, but, meanwhile, we must make a short allusion to certain military displays made by the Allies during this period. On the 24th of July a celebrated review of the Anglo-allied army, which had just been reinforced by several regiments who had come to France from America—where peace had been concluded—took place near Paris, before the Emperor of Russia and the other Allied Sovereigns. There were as many as 60,000 British soldiers present, the whole of the troops being under the command of the Duke of Wellington.[43] The demonstration was more of a pageant than anything else, and as correct a representation as possible was given of the battle of Salamanca. It is perhaps worth remarking that, in the General Orders issued, dated July 22nd, these words occur, “The Field Marshal begs that Officers may be dressed uniformly, and, if possible, according to the King’s orders;”[44] while the following was also published in Battalion Orders of the 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards: “Officers are to appear in plain grey overalls, jackets hooked and buttoned regimentally, sashes to be tied on the left side.” On the 10th of September, a great review, which seems to have created a considerable impression at the time, also took place of all the Russian troops that were in France, near Chalons, where 160,000 men (including 28,000 cavalry) and 540 guns were brought together.[45]
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Footnote 43:
So critical was the situation in France considered to be, that the British Government sent large reinforcements to Wellington during the summer of 1815, with the intention of making him stronger at Paris than he had been at Waterloo. After that battle more than 20,000 English troops were sent to the Continent (Lord Liverpool to Lord Castlereagh, Aug. 11, 1815; see Correspondence, etc., of Viscount Castlereagh , third series, ii. 477: London, 1853).]
Footnote 44:
Supplementary Despatches, etc., xi. 51.
Footnote 45:
Alison, History of Europe, from 1789 to 1815 , x. 973. Captain Gronow mentions a curious incident that occurred at one of the reviews held by the Russian Emperor of his own troops. The British Foot Guards found a Guard for Alexander I., at which a dinner was provided, similar to that at St. James’s. On one occasion the Captain of the Emperor’s Guard was informed that there were four Russian General Officers in his custody. The latter were asked to dinner, and as their health was drunk, they were invited to reveal the nature of their offence, which called for such a punishment to men of their military rank. In reply, they said that the Emperor had not been satisfied with the manner in which they had marched past that day; whereupon one of the British Officers present, filling his glass, drank “Confusion to all tyrants—Vive Napoleon!” “The poor Russians appeared thunderstruck, and observed that if they drank the toast proposed, it would cost them their heads.” It seems, this story came to the ears of Alexander, and the Duke had to explain it, for he sent for the Officers of the Guard, and begged them to repress their jokes for the future (Gronow, Reminiscences, etc. , ii. 19).
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These displays, having as much for object an easy demonstration to the inhabitants that they were completely in the power of Europe, as an exhibition made for the purpose of satisfying the national vanity of the different armies concerned, were perhaps not necessary to prove to the French that their new Government rested only upon alien arms for support. Everywhere, except south of the Loire,—where the last remnants of Napoleon’s army had collected under Marshal Davoût,—was the country in the military occupation of foreigners; and in Paris especially, there were no regular troops to be seen, other than those of Great Britain, of Prussia, and of their allies. They guarded the King and the Royal palaces; they stood at the barriers of the town, and they performed all the military duties of the capital. They were to be seen at all the public buildings, at the various and numerous hôtels where the Allied Sovereigns and their Counsellors and principal Officers lodged, and even at the places of entertainment where the people flocked during the balmy weather of a French summer. Nor were these duties of a ceremonial character; for guard-houses were placed in nearly all the principal thoroughfares, the bridges were held by troops, there were chains of sentries everywhere, patrols were constantly on the move and on the alert, and guns were kept loaded and ready for any serious emergency.
Paris was placed under the command of Baron Müffling; his orders, dated July 23rd, for the preservation of order, were thus conceived:—
“The Garde Nationale will perform police duties, and the garrison, composed of the Allied troops, occupying the great centres of the town, will remain in reserve. In case the latter have to act, for the Garde Nationale may refuse to quell disturbances, guns will be fired, when the regular forces will assemble at their alarm posts. The British brigade will form up in the Avenue de Neuilly, one battalion in Place Beauveau, and another at the junction of the Boulevard de la Madeleine and Rue St. Honoré. The Austrian brigade will have two battalions and a battery in Place Vendôme, a battalion guarding the Emperor, and a fourth battalion in Rue du Montblanc, near the Boulevards des Capucins and des Italiens; the cavalry to be in the Boulevard de la Madeleine. The brigade of Prussian Guards will occupy the Esplanade des Invalides with two battalions; they will have a third battalion at the Quay d'Orsay, a fourth on the Pont Royal, a fifth on the Pont Neuf, a sixth in the Luxembourg, and a seventh, together with the cavalry and the artillery, in the Champs de Mars. The Prussian Grenadier brigade will occupy the Place de la Bastille, the Pont du Jardin des Plantes, and the Place du Panthéon, with a battalion each; and the Quai de la Tournelle and l'Ile du Palais with two battalions each; the cavalry and artillery to be posted in the Place Walhubert. Guards in the town and at the barriers to remain at their posts. The Governor’s head-quarters are in Place Vendôme; the Commandants of the north and south of the city, in Place Louis XV. and on Pont Neuf, respectively. Patrols to keep up communication between the different stations.”[46]
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Footnote 46:
Supplementary Despatches, etc. , xi. 53.]
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An English traveller who, having visited France in 1814, returned in 1815, thus describes some of his experiences:—
“The state of things had entirely altered, and plain indications were given on the road to Paris, and at its entrance, that the visitor in 1815 would find it placed in circumstances very different from those which it held in the preceding year. The time for the real humiliation and severe punishment of the nation had now arrived; there was no longer a disposition to save it from drinking out the bitter contents of the cup of defeat; in short, Paris, as representing France, was now in the condition of one that is beaten and bound, previously to being mulcted in a heavy forfeiture.... I found Paris in a state of very discomposed feeling and opinion. Every Frenchman seemed acutely alive to the calamity that had fallen upon France, and all diversities of political sentiment met in one point of union, namely that of indignation against those who acted as the conquerors of the country. A Royalist would say, 'Ah, it is very impolitic in the Allies to think of taking any territory or money from France, for good Frenchmen, united under the Bourbons, will become more formidable than the nation ever was under Bonaparte, and woe to Europe, in the course of a year or two, for what she now inflicts on us.' A military man would gurgle a sacré out of his throat, and anticipate the day of revenge, under some new leader, when France would show that she had not been beaten, although she had been betrayed.... Going round, late in the evening, by one of the more unfrequented walks, running through the woods of Saint-Cloud, I came suddenly upon a strong column of British infantry, posted in silence and order among the trees, on the hill immediately above the amusements, that jingled upon the ear from below. The regiment was in complete order for action, the Officers were all at their posts; and as I passed them by in the deep shadow, I heard not a word or even a breath, though I was close to five or six hundred men. The Allied Sovereigns were seldom seen except at reviews, for they did not now, as at a former time, go about to public places to scrape acquaintance with the Parisians and keep them in good spirits. The aspect of the alliance, as it was now settled on the inhabitants of Paris, was clouded and severe; and a very considerable degree of reserve was maintained by the representatives of the various Powers. Even the Court of the Tuileries was not frequently visited by them; there were few or no courtly entertainments and ceremonies. However friendly the Allied Sovereigns might feel towards Louis personally, their determination to make France know that the consequences of war are sometimes serious, occasioned a sense of restraint, and an appearance of coolness, as between them and the Royal Family of the Bourbons.”[47]
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Footnote 47:
John Scott, Paris revisited in 1815 , pp. 264, etc. (2nd edit.: London, 1816).
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The military occupation of France, painful as it was to the inordinate pride of the people—especially after their armies had run riot in every capital of the Continent,—was rendered still more unbearable by the excesses which the Prussians indulged in. Following the example set by their gallant, but irrational, Commander, both Officers and men exercised their authority in a harsh and often in a brutal manner. Forgetful of what they owed to Louis XVIII., whose restoration absolved the French from past offences, and mindful only of the grievous tyranny which they had experienced, they made the unfortunate inhabitants feel the full measure of their revenge, by their arrogance and exactions.
“Blücher’s troops were billeted in every house; he obliged the inhabitants to feed and clothe them; and he issued an order (which I well recollect seeing), commanding the authorities to supply each soldier with a bedstead containing a bolster, a woollen mattress, two new blankets, and a pair of linen sheets. The rations per day, for each man, were two pounds of butcher’s meat, a bottle of wine, a quarter of a pound of butter, ditto rice, a glass of brandy, and some tobacco[48].... Blücher’s Generals occupied all the best hôtels in the Faubourg St. Germain; General Thieleman that of Marshal Ney, where he forcibly took possession of the plate, carriages, and horses. Other Prussian Generals acted in a similar manner. The Russian and Austrian armies with the two Emperors entered Paris soon after our arrival. The Emperors imitated Blücher in some respects; they refused to quarter their soldiers in the large and wholesome barracks which were in readiness to receive them; they preferred billeting them with the peaceable merchants and tradespeople, whom they plundered and bullied in the most outrageous manner.”[49]
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Footnote 48:
It is said that the Prussians cost the French not less than three francs per day for each man (Paris revisited in 1815 , p. 361).
Footnote 49:
Gronow, Reminiscences , i. 206.
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It is pleasant to record that the Duke of Wellington adopted an entirely different system in his relations with the inhabitants; everything was paid for regularly, property was respected, and the people were unmolested. In short, the British army set an example of humanity, generosity, and forbearance, which not only did honour to their country and to their noble profession, but which also (notwithstanding national antipathies), gained them the respect and almost the affection of the French themselves.[50]
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Footnote 50:
“The Prussians, who were in bivouac near us” (in the Bois de Boulogne, early in July), “amused themselves by doing as much damage as they could, without any aim or object; they cut down the finest trees and set the wood on fire at several points. There were about 3000 of the Guards there, encamped in the wood, and I should think about 10,000 Prussians. Our camp was not remarkable for its courtesy towards them; in fact, our intercourse was confined to the most ordinary demands of duty, as allies, in an enemy’s country” (Gronow, Reminiscences , i. 81).
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In this connection, a quaint conversation between the English traveller (already quoted) and some Highlanders he came across in Peronne, may be noticed here. The latter, bivouacked, not billeted,—they said they seldom troubled the inhabitants for billets,—had only one thing to regret, viz. that they did not get the liberty “that ither sogers get—the Prussians and them,” for “there’s nae use in our being mealy-mou’d, if the ithers are to tak' what they like, the d—d Prussians ken better what they’re about,” and although, “ilka body praises us, but very few gie us ony thing.” In reply to the question, whether the Duke of Wellington took severe measures to enforce his principles regarding the lives and property of the inhabitants at the seat of war, they said: “Na, sir, no here, for the men ken him gailies now; but in Spain we aften had ugly jobs. He hung fifteen men in ae day there, after he had been ordering about it God knows how long. And d—n me if he didna ance gar the Provost-Marshal flog mare than a dizen of the wimen; for the wimen thought themselves safe, and so they were war’ than the men. They got sax and therty lashes a piece on the bare doup, and it was lang afore it was forgotten on ’em. Ane o’ ’em was Meg Donaldson, the best woman in our regiment, for whatever she might tak’ she didna keep it a’ to hersel’.”[51]
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Footnote 51:
Paris revisited in 1815 , p. 253.
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The demeanour of the British troops was friendly to the French, and few brawls took place between them; this contrasted with what occurred to the Prussians, who had frequent and fierce encounters with the populace. The English soldiers were usually to be seen on the Boulevard du Temple, which at that time was an open space (but has since then been built over), and there they used to amuse themselves by watching jugglers, mountebanks, rope-dancers and other shows. A certain number of men of the armies of occupation were admitted free into the theatres; and we are told that a party of Guardsmen, headed by a sergeant, saw a piece admirably put on the stage, entitled Les Anglaises pour rire, in which Englishwomen were grotesquely caricatured. Not understanding the language, nor the acting, and being indignant at the insults they supposed were levelled against their countrywomen, the honest fellows stormed the stage, and drove off, not only the actors, but the police who attempted to arrest them. “It must be remembered that the only revenge which the Parisians were able to take upon their conquerors, was to ridicule them; and the English generally took it in good humour, and laughed at the extravagant drollery of the burlesque.” Notwithstanding these minor disputes, good feeling existed; and although numerous Prussians were assassinated in Paris and in the country, there was only one soldier of British nationality found dead in the streets of the capital, and, in his case, there were no signs of violence upon him.[52]
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Footnote 52:
Gronow, Reminiscences , i. 92.
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That Wellington should be appealed to, to lighten the burden placed on the miserable people who groaned under the invader’s despotism, is natural enough; and there are petitions recorded on the part of the inhabitants of Le Cateau and Roye, asking that British troops might continue to garrison those towns, so that they might be placed under their protection.[53] But it was not always that he could do anything for them. We find, for instance, M. de Breteuil, who, according to himself, was “one of the most faithful subjects of Louis XVIII.” and who had “given the King proofs of devotion,” complaining bitterly that not only was his house and property, situated at three leagues distant from St. Quentin, pillaged, but that the town itself was mulcted in a sum of 1,200,000 francs, of which he had to pay 20,000 (£800), because he had a single house there, “which brings in nothing, and is, on the contrary, full of soldiers.” To this complaint, Wellington could only reply, “I have no troops in St. Quentin, and never had any in that town. I think you ought to address yourself to Marshal Prince Blücher.”[54]
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Footnote 53:
Supplementary Despatches, etc. , xi. 85, 101.
Footnote 54:
Ibid. , xi. 19.
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Nor was the King unmindful of what he owed to the British army for their discipline; for, having invited the principal Officers to the Tuileries, and having formed them in a circle about him, he told them, in broken English, in the presence of the Emperor of Austria, “I congratulate you, gentlemen, upon the result of your valour and conduct; but I am most grateful to you for your generosity and humanity towards my poor misguided people; the father and the family will for ever hold it remembrance.”[55]
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Footnote 55:
Letter of Lieut.-Colonel Sir W. Gomm, who was present upon that occasion, to his Aunt, July 16, 1815, Letters and Journals of Field-Marshal Sir W. Gomm, G.C.B. , p. 376 (London, 1881). See also Alison’s History of Europe , 1789-1815, x. 968. The Duc de Richelieu (Foreign Minister) wrote on this subject to the Duke of Wellington, January 19, 1816, “Sa Majesté m’a spécialement recommandé de saisir cette occasion pour faire connaître à Votre Excellence combien elle a été satisfaite de la conduite des troupes Anglaises dans la capitale, et du soin qui a été mis par les chefs à alléger les charges indispensablement attachées à la présence de ces troupes. Sa Majesté sait à cet égard tout ce qu’elle vous doit, My Lord; et elle a voulu que je vous donasse de nouveau l’assurance qu’elle ne perdrait jamais le souvenir des témoignages de déférence et d’affection qu’elle a reçus de vous” (Supplementary Despatches, etc., xi. 282).
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In order to give employment to the men under his command, and to help the French peasants, at a time when labour was very scarce, the Duke of Wellington allowed British soldiers to reap the harvest. The owners of the harvest were to make their own bargains with the men direct, but application for labourers were to be made by the mayors of districts, and not by private individuals. Commanding Officers also were to know exactly where each soldier was employed; and the men were to return to their regiments every night, if possible, or at all events twice a week.[56]
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Footnote 56:
Supplementary Despatches, etc. , xi. 73.
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Towards the end of October, the Division of Guards, hitherto in the Bois de Boulogne, marched into Paris, and occupied on the 30th, the Casernes Rue Verte, Montblanc, and Rue Temple, the Palais Louis XV., and the Abbatoire de Roule. The 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards were thus lodged in barracks in the capital; and the general alarm post for the Division was the Palais Louis XV.[57] At the same time, a general change of quarters took place among the whole of the British troops, and camps were abandoned for houses. Wellington issued on the 28th of October, strict orders for the protection of the inhabitants, to apply whenever men were to be billeted, or when they were marching through the country.[58]
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Footnote 57:
Orders for the Piquet : “In the event of any disturbance in the neighbourhood, the Piquet will fall in in front of the barrack gate, and detach a sergeant’s party to the right and left, if necessary, to observe what is going on. The Lieutenant on this duty will send an immediate Report to the Officer Commanding the Battalion. The Lieutenant inspecting the messes, at one o’clock, and the Ensign will inspect the barrack rooms at half-past twelve, and will take care to enforce the barrack regulations. The same to be mentioned in the report of the senior Officer at dismounting. The Battalion will assemble in the barrack yard, in case of any riots of a serious nature, and will wait the orders of a Field-Officer, who will cause it to move to the Place Louis XV., if it appears expedient. Officers on detached duties will, in case of serious disturbance, likewise move to the Place Louis XV.” (Battalion Order , Paris, Nov. 3, 1815). The public duties in Paris, found by the two Guards Brigades and by the King’s German Legion on the 5th of November, amounted to 1 Captain, 12 Subalterns, 38 sergeants, 55 corporals, 13 drummers, and 587 privates.
Footnote 58:
Appendix No. II.
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We left the wreck of Napoleon’s beaten army south of the Loire, where they were under the command of Marshal Davoût. There was nothing more for them now to hope, and their Commander soon persuaded them to conform to the circumstances of the hour, and, throwing aside their Eagles, to hoist the white flag of the Bourbons, and to adopt the white cockade. This they did, and shortly after, by Royal decree, dated the 23rd of July, they were disbanded. At the same time, a new army was forthwith to be formed, to consist of eighty Legions of infantry (103 officers and 1,687 men each), one to be raised in every Department, and to bear its name; forty-seven regiments of cavalry, and twelve regiments of artillery,—or a military force of some 200,000 regular troops. Disbanded Imperialists were allowed to engage after proper examination.[59] The command was entrusted to Marshal Macdonald, who had remained firm in his allegiance to the King, during the whole of the Hundred Days of the second French Empire; and he replaced Davoût, who resigned.
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Footnote 59:
Baines, Wars of the French Revolution , ii. 519.
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Immediately hostilities came to an end by the Convention of the 3rd, a large number of English people went over to Paris, on business or pleasure, and settled in that gay capital, almost as if it had been their own. Coaches were soon brought over, and horse-racing introduced, contrasting very much in the disfavour of the native sport, which the King endeavoured to encourage, but which was then quite in its infancy. In short, the English made themselves thoroughly at home.
“Going along the Rue du Faubourg St. Denis, we saw many of the British privates sauntering with a lazy air of enjoyment, looking at the print stalls where they were caricatured, cheapening grapes with the fruit girls, or treating themselves to a glass of lemonade. Our Officers, too, swarmed about, mounted—some well, some very badly; for those who could not procure a decent animal, put up with almost any creature that had four legs. Contrasting remarkably with the heavy cabriolets and clumsy dirty coaches—the awkward calèches and grotesque voitures—English equipages, complete, light, and genteel, glanced rapidly by, spattering, as foreigners, mortification from their wheels on the vehicles of the country. To estimate this exhibition properly, it is necessary to fancy its counterpart displayed by Frenchmen in London; to imagine a Frenchman of fashion, vested with magnificent amplitude of box-coat and commanding longitude of whip, spanking his four blood greys down Bond Street and St. James’s Street, or drawing up smartly, in a knowing style of driving, to talk over the topics of the morning with the Officer of the French Guards, on duty at the Palace of the King of England!”[60]
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Footnote 60:
Paris revisited in 1815 , p. 265.
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All eyes were turned to Paris at that time. Many Sovereigns were living there—the Monarchs of Austria, Russia, Prussia, Holland, Bavaria, Wurtemburg, and France, and several independent Princes of Germany. They were accompanied by some of the most distinguished statesmen and diplomatists of the age; and military leaders were also present who enjoyed a European reputation for their achievements in the field. Events of transcendent importance were taking place in this capital; and the fate of a great and gallant nation, outlawed for a quarter of a century, and now reduced to submission, was being decided. Curiosity urged many to go to France, from all parts of Europe, at this historic juncture; the pleasures of society moved others, and duty took a still larger number there. “All the world’s in Paris,”[61] was indeed true, and crowds flocked to that city; while the discordant elements to be found there, and the strange medley of Frenchmen, Englishmen, and foreigners of almost every nationality, brought together and kept together, at such a time and at such a place, presented at once a scene that was both unique and remarkable.
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Footnote 61:
Popular song of the day.
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Paris was gay and dissolute, and the Palais Royal might be called the centre of dissipation.
“Mingled together, and moving about the area of this oblong square block of buildings, might be seen, about seven o’clock p.m., a crowd of English, Russian, Prussian, Austrian, and other Officers of the Allied armies, together with countless foreigners from all parts of the world. Here, too, might have been seen the present King of Prussia” (the late Emperor William I. of Germany), “with his father and brother, the Dukes of Nassau, Baden, and a host of Continental Princes, who entered familiarly into the amusements of ordinary mortals, dining incog. at the most renowned restaurants, and flirting with painted female frailty.”[62]
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Footnote 62:
Gronow, Reminiscences , i. 90.
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The Palais Royal contained the principal, but by no means the only, gambling hell in Paris, and these constituted the “very fountains of immorality.” “There were tables for all classes; the workman might play with twenty sous, or the gentleman with ten thousand francs. The law did not prevent any class from indulging in a vice that assisted to fill the coffers of the municipality of Paris.”[63]
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Footnote 63:
Ibid. , i. 87.
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In such a society it was only natural that constant disputes should arise between men who gave way to dissipation, and who, full of life and spirits and of national prejudices, had little to occupy them beyond the mere routine of military duty. Men’s minds were in a state of excitement, and all were engaged in defending interests which frequently conflicted with those of their temporary companions. These disputes could only be settled at that time by the sword or pistol. Numerous duels accordingly took place, sometimes between Royalists and Imperialists, and often between Frenchmen and the representatives of the invaders. It is stated that in almost every case the aggressors were the French; and while the English Officers had sometimes to defend themselves against the insolence of the natives, it appears that the Prussians, who used to congregate at the Café Foy in the Palais Royal, were the principal victims of Gallic fury, and were assailed more pertinaciously than the rest by half-pay French Officers, who went on purpose to pick quarrels with them.
“Swords were quickly drawn, and frequently the most bloody frays took place; these originated, not in any personal hatred, but from national jealousy on the part of the French, who could not bear the sight of foreign soldiers in the capital.... On one occasion our Guards, who were on duty at the Palais Royal, were called out to put an end to one of these encounters, in which fourteen Prussians and ten Frenchmen were either killed or wounded.”[64]
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Footnote 64:
Gronow, Reminiscences , i. 106.
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France was the possessor of the most extensive collection of works of art ever before known; acquired, not by the genius of her people, but by the grasping policy of her Imperial master. Napoleon, having taken possession of every large city in continental Europe, during the plenitude of his power, had systematically seized all that was remarkable therein, and had transferred his plunder to Paris. The French were inordinately proud of this vast and unique collection, which served to flatter their vanity and to form a lasting monument of their extraordinary military successes. It had been untouched by the Allies in 1814, but in 1815 the disturbers of Europe were to be severely punished, and the stolen property was to be restored to its former owners. Attempts having failed to effect a restoration amicably, owing to the opposition of Talleyrand, forcible possession of the Louvre was taken on the 23rd of September, by a body of British troops, and with the assistance of Austrians and Prussians, the splendid galleries of that palace were stripped of those treasures of art, which belonged principally to Italy and to the Netherlands. Out of fifteen hundred celebrated pictures, it is said that only seventy-four were left in Paris. The restoration of the statuary was not less complete; and the well-known antique Corinthian bronze horses, taken from Venice, to form, in the Place Carrousel, the supporters of the great monument, designed—but not finished—to perpetuate Napoleon’s fame, were taken down and conveyed back to that city. Nothing affected the Parisians so much as this act of strict justice; for it showed them their own absolute weakness and humiliation, and it wounded their pride in the most sensitive point.[65]
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Footnote 65:
Paris revisited in 1815 , p. 312, etc.; Alison, History of Europe, from 1789-1815, x. 969.
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The policy of revenge and proscription against persons who aided and abetted Napoleon in the early part of 1815, which had been announced in the proclamations issued by Louis at Cambrai before he entered Paris (June 25th and 28th), was not to remain a dead letter; and we have now to mention some of the saddest incidents which took place at this crisis in French history, and which were witnessed by the British army. Fouché had become Minister of Police. He justified his acceptance of that post by declaring that he wished to save the men who were threatened with vengeance.[66] Upon him it devolved to carry out this policy, and though he did so with outward reluctance, and told the King that there had been no conspiracy to dethrone him in favour of Napoleon—which appears to have been quite true, for all acted on the wild impulse of the moment,—yet still he was not ashamed to come forward in the odious light of an accuser against his former friends. On the 24th of July, two ordinances, countersigned by himself, were published, by which thirty-two Peers who had joined Napoleon’s Upper House, established since the 20th of March, were declared to have forfeited their rights to the French Peerage; twenty Officers and other Officials were at the same time ordered to be arrested, and brought to trial before a court-martial; and thirty-nine more were desired to quit Paris in three days, to places pointed out by the Minister of Police, and to remain there under his supervision, until the new Chambers should decide whether they were to be banished, or delivered over for trial to the tribunals.[67]
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Footnote 66:
Thiers, Histoire du Consulat et l'Empire, xx. 516 (Paris, 1862).
Footnote 67:
Baines, Wars of the French Revolution , ii. 517. It appears that these ordinances did not evoke dissatisfaction from the British Government, for Lord Liverpool, writing to Mr. Canning on the 4th of August, says, “One can never feel that the King is secure upon his throne till he has dared to spill traitor’s blood: it is not that many examples would be necessary; but the daring to make a few will alone manifest any strength in the Government” (Supplementary Despatches, etc. , xi. 95). On the other hand, they raised much indignation on the part of the friends of the incriminated persons, and several letters were written to the Duke of Wellington, to implore his powerful intercession in their distress. Apparently he could do nothing for them, except in the case of General Lobau (ibid., xi. 59, 101, 273). Marshal Davoût was not included in the list of proscribed persons, but he wrote to the War-Minister, Marshal Gouvion St. Cyr (July 27th), to protest energetically against the injustice, which he alleged had been done to such men as Gilly, Grouchy, Clausel, Laborde, and others, whose only fault was that they had carried out orders, which he had given them as Minister of War. He maintained that his own name ought to be substituted for theirs, and he drew attention to the assurances given by the King, that if the army made its simple and unconditional submission, His Majesty would show clemency and do more than was desired (ibid., xi. 70). Davoût was then near a somewhat exasperated and only partially converted force of Imperialists, south of the Loire, and, had his arrest been contemplated, the attempt to carry it out might have been accompanied by unpleasant consequences to the ultra-Royalists. Among the proscribed, there appeared the name of Carnot, colleague of Fouché in the Provisional Government, and like him a regicide and a man of the Revolution. Upon what principle Carnot should have been banished, and Fouché should have been made a Minister under Louis XVIII. is difficult to determine; but such was the policy of the reactionary party. Carnot, naturally indignant that he should have been marked out for vengeance by his colleague, wrote to him, “Où veux tu que je me retire, traître?” while the latter replied with equal brevity, “Où tu voudras, imbécile.” Fouché did not long survive the fate of those he had betrayed; driven from power in September, he was appointed minister at Dresden, but shortly afterwards he was exiled by a decree which was fulminated against all who had voted for the death of the unfortunate Louis XVI., and thus fittingly terminated his career of intrigue and treachery.
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The first victim put upon his trial was General Labedoyère, who commanded the regiment at Grenoble that deserted its post and joined Napoleon in his famous march from Cannes to Paris. His defection had given the first signal to the universal revolt against the King’s authority that followed, and was one of the causes of the Emperor’s success; the partisans of the King were therefore more than ordinarily embittered against him. He admitted the facts of his treachery; he contented himself by defending his honour by declaring that, though he might have been misled by illusions, by recollections of his former master, and by a false idea of honour and of what was due to his country, he was no traitor or conspirator, and hoped that his death might atone his error. He was shot on the 19th of August.
Next day Marshal Ney, who had been previously apprehended in the Department of Lot, was examined at the Conciergerie; but his case was adjourned till later in the year. Meanwhile the King’s Government was overthrown, in September, and an ultra-Royalist Ministry established, with the avowed intention of showing no clemency to the proscribed. Ney’s trial accordingly took place early in November, and he was at first arraigned before a court-martial of four Marshals.[68] But the latter decided that the prisoner, being a Peer, was entitled to be judged by his peers, and it devolved upon the Upper House to do so. His guilt was clearly established, and it was rendered all the more heinous by the protestations of loyalty with which he quitted Louis when he left Paris to arrest the progress of Napoleon, promising to bring the latter back in an iron cage. For some days he remained true to his duty, but, though a brave man, he was singularly impulsive, and was not endowed with much discretion or judgment. A frenzy of delirium had seized hold of the Royal troops, who were flocking to Napoleon’s standards, and Ney began to fear that he had not sufficient force to resist his former master; his moral courage began to fail. Dreading, above all things, a civil war, he resolved that no step of his should precipitate such a calamity; believing that the cause of the Bourbons was irretrievably lost, and, carried away by the violent excitement of the moment, he forgot his promises and the trust reposed in him, and wildly threw in his lot with the Emperor.[69] Thereby he dealt a final blow to the fortunes of the King. For his defence, it was pleaded that the Military Convention of the 3rd, had guaranteed that no person in the capital should be disturbed or called to account, for his conduct or political opinions; but the Chamber refused to entertain the plea, and he was condemned to death by one hundred and thirty-nine votes against seventeen (December 6th). Strenuous efforts were made to obtain the prisoner’s release on account of the Convention, and applications were addressed to the Duke of Wellington, Lord Liverpool, and even to the Prince Regent on the subject. But these high authorities declined to do anything for him, on the ground that the Convention related only to the military occupation of Paris, and that, while the article in question prevented the Allies from adopting measures of severity towards persons in the capital, yet it did not, and could not, prevent the French Government from acting in this respect, as they might deem fit.[70]
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Footnote 68:
Marshals Jourdain, Massena, Augereau, and Mortier (Baines, Wars, etc. , ii. 525).
Footnote 69:
1815. Henry Houssaye, La Première Restauration, le Retour de l'Ile d'Elbe, les Cent Jours, pp. 301-315 (3me edit.: Paris, 1893).
Footnote 70:
Supplementary Despatches, etc. , xi. 235.
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The execution took place in the gardens of the Luxembourg palace, at nine o’clock in the morning of December 7th, when Ney met his death with calmness and courage. It shed a deep gloom over Paris, and did little, as might have been expected, to serve the King. Had Louis shown clemency to the man who had deeply wronged him, and whose reputation had thereby become sullied, instead of proceeding to extremities by violating the Convention of July 3rd, his credit would have been raised. While the justice of such action becomes all the more clear, since it was stipulated that, in the case of difficulties arising, a favourable interpretation was to be given to the claims of the French army and of the city of Paris. Further, as foreign armies have no right to punish the inhabitants of a conquered State for political opinions or conduct, the Convention either bound Louis, on whose behalf the capital was taken, or else it had no value whatsoever.[71]
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Footnote 71:
Baines, Wars of the French Revolution , ii. 527.
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The third and last victim selected for vengeance by the ultra-Royal party was General Lavalette, a relation by marriage of the Emperor, and Director of Posts, who was convicted of having misused his power in favour of Napoleon, when the latter reached Fontainebleau in March. Having been in civil employ, he was condemned to death by the guillotine; and the sentence, in spite of appeals to the mercy of the King, was to be carried out on December 21st. In this case, however, the Government were baulked of their prey, and the prisoner made good his escape by the courage and devotion of his wife, with the assistance of three Englishmen. His wife having exchanged dresses with him, Lavalette got out of prison; but he remained in hiding in Paris for more than twelve days, not being able to leave the closely guarded city until the 8th of January; when, by the co-operation of Mr. Bruce, and Captain Hutchinson, Grenadier Guards (afterwards Earl of Donoughmore), he drove to Compiègne in an open carriage, disguised as a British Officer, and accompanied by General Sir Robert Wilson. It was with difficulty that the latter piloted him out of France, but this was at last managed successfully. Sir Robert then returned to Paris on the 10th, and the police, having received information of the facts of the case, he, Captain Hutchinson, and Mr. Bruce were immediately arrested and confined, awaiting trial, till the 22nd of April, 1816, when they were condemned to be imprisoned for three months. That a distinguished Officer of high rank in the British army, and well known in Europe for his personal animosity against Napoleon, should have actively interfered to save the life of one of the latter’s best friends, was a sufficient reason to put a stop to further acts of the bloodshed, which cast so unnecessary a shadow over the first months of the restoration of King Louis.[72]
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Footnote 72:
Ibid. , ii. 527; Gronow, Reminiscences , i. 100. See also Supplementary Despatches , etc., xi. 275, 279, 333, 341; and Annual Register , 1816, “Appendix to Chronicle,” p. 329.
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The negotiations which had been going on continually between the Allied Sovereigns and Louis XVIII., ever since they and their counsellors arrived in Paris, terminated at last by a treaty of peace, dated November 20th. There were matters of considerable difficulty to be discussed, before a general agreement could be arrived at between so many independent nations, whose interests were not all identical. The situation, moreover, was somewhat complex, and this is shown by Lord Liverpool who, writing to Mr. Canning, on the 4th of August, says:—
“By demanding considerable sacrifices from France for the security of Europe, we unavoidably lower the character of the Government, which it is our wish to uphold; on the other hand, the stability of that Government, after the Allies shall have evacuated France, is so very problematical, that we should not do our duty to Europe if we looked to no other security than that which the legitimate government of the King of France could in itself hold out to us.”[73]
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Footnote 73:
Supplementary Despatches, etc. , xi. 95.
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By the Treaty, the eastern frontier, from the North Sea to the Mediterranean, was restricted generally, to the line that existed in 1790; and thus the French lost a strip of territory which, in 1814, had been ceded to them, including the fortresses of Landau, Sarre-Louis, Philippeville, and Marienburg. France had moreover to pay a war indemnity of 700,000,000 francs, for the expenses of the war. Further, an army of not more than 150,000 men, formed of British, Russian, Austrian, Prussian, and German troops, in about equal proportions, and under a Commander-in-chief appointed by the Allied Sovereigns, was to occupy seventeen fortresses along the northern frontier, from Condé, Valenciennes, Bouchain, and Cambrai, to the tête de pont of Fort Louis on the Rhine. The occupation was to continue for three years certain, and might last for another two years. This mixed army was placed under the supreme command of the Duke of Wellington, and all the expenses incurred by it were to be defrayed by the French. It was understood that the primary object of these latter stipulations was to preserve Louis on the throne, and to give time for the consolidation of his government. Lastly, a sum of 835,000,000 francs was exacted by way of compensation to the Powers, for the spoliations and losses which they suffered during the Revolution, and to indemnify the minor States for their recent expenses. Thus, the French had to submit to the payment of more than sixty-one million sterling, as the result of their defeat; and this sum did not include the vast amounts which were otherwise taken from them, under the head of contributions for the armies that invaded their country, or that were to be maintained there, for the purpose of inducing them to conform to the new order which had just been established.[74]
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Footnote 74:
Baines, Wars of the French Revolution , ii. 529, 530, where the text of the Treaty is given; Alison, History of Europe, 1789-1815 , x. 972.
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