Napoleon's men and methods

Contents

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Preface, by Oscar Browning .... 7

Chapter I 19 II 66

Preface

The history of Napoleon is of inexhaustible interest. When the English government decided to send him to St. Helena, after the battle of Waterloo, Lord Liverpool wrote to the Duke of Wellington, that in that island he would soon be forgotten ; he even repeated this remark in another letter. ' Yes,' he said, ' he will soon be forgotten.' Yet at the present time there is no individual about whom more is written in all languages and in all branches of literature. Histories, novels, plays, are never tired of his story, and a serious student finds that there is no personality about whom more discoveries are constantly being made and with regard to whom it is more necessary to reconsider his judgment. At the dawn of the XlXth century, two great names, one in literature and one in the world of action arrest the attention of mankind : Goethe and Napoleon. Their careers have been so minutely studied that we are acquainted with what they did every day, almost every hour of their lives. Yet subjected to this fierce light of publicity, which few could endure, they both gain by it, and Napoleon not the less. The more we know about him the more we admire him, the more reasonable do his actions appear, the less well founded the stories which are told to his discredit.

Napoleon was born a French subject, in Corsica, of a noble family of Italian descent. He received an excellent education in military colleges, distinguished himself by his diligence and regularity, entered the artillery, and was made a general at the age of twenty-three. During this time he had been the prop and guardian of his family, which had been left in a sad condition by the early death of his father. He had gained the highest credit for his conduct at the siege of Toulon, where he had been the means of driving the English fleet out of the harbour, and delivering the town into the hands of the French. His next service of importance was in Italy, where, by a strategy which is still a model to soldiers, he defeated the allied armies of Piedmont and Austria, and subdued the whole of the Lombard plain. In this he was acting as general of the Directory. It was not he, but they, who plundered the museums and libraries of the conquered country. But when the Directory wished to annex Italy to France, he withstood them, making Italy into a self-governing Republic, and giving to Austria the rotten oligarchy of Venice, a government so degenerate that it could neither endure its maladies nor the remedies which were necessary to cure them. To receive Belgium and Lombardy from Austria in exchange for Venice was a good bargain, although it cost Napoleon much to make the sacrifice. After this the young general was sent to Egypt, where he conducted a notable campaign, which, however, led to no permanent result.

The Directory was the worst government with which France was ever cursed. It had no dignity, authority, or power, it could not preserve order at home, and it lost abroad what more energetic rulers had acquired. Napoleon was justified in saying, when he returned from Egypt : ' What have you done with the country which I left so powerful ?' The French people were tired of the Directory, and they were tired of themselves. Bonaparte became First Consul by the wish of the nation, the fittest man, indeed, the only man, to repair the errors of the past and to restore France to its proper place in the family of nations. His first act was to offer peace to England and Austria, offers which were insultingly refused. He compelled Austria to make peace by the battle of Marengo, and England was soon obliged to follow her example. The Peace of Amiens ensued and Englishmen could again visit Paris, from which they had been excluded for a decade.

The Peace of Amiens was broken in May, 1803, and there can be no doubt but that it was broken by England. Such is the verdict of independent authorities, who are not favourable to Napoleon. It was the interest of England to make war, whereas peace was essential for the furtherance of Napoleon's plans. Then began for Napoleon the war with England, which did not cease till his defeat at Waterloo. We need not repeat, even in a summary, the well-known tale of the Emperor's victorious career, but the statement that he was insatiable of blood, and that peace was impossible for him will not bear examination. He made peace with his enemies when he could, forcing them on their knees and claiming the spoils of victory ; but England was always implacable, always on the watch, and war was again stirred up and supported by English millions. It is customary to condemn his action with regard to Spain and Russia, but Spain was a dependency of France, which it was absolutely necessary to preserve in a condition of tolerable government and of loyalty to the French alliance. To place Joseph on the throne of Spain was certainly not more reprehensible than to give the crown of that country to the Duke of Anjou. The expedition to Russia, which Napoleon afterwards regarded as a fatal mistake, has not yet been completely elucidated. We do not precisely know the causes of it, the plans of Napoleon in respect of it, or the proper apportionment of blame between Alexander and Napoleon for its having taken place. At any rate, it broke the power of Napoleon, which no other country in Europe had been able to destroy. It was fated that he should only be conquered by himself.

In his misfortunes, friends and enemies rose against him, Saxony alone remaining faithful. Austria made the great mistake of joining the coalition, and entered upon a course which delivered her, at a later period, an easy prey to Germany. It is commonly said that at this time Napoleon ought to have made peace, but historical research has shown that he could not have done so, and that every offer submitted to him was a trap which it was wisdom to avoid. He fell on the plains of France before his converging enemies. He abdicated at Fontainebleau and retired to Elba. It was impossible that he should stay there.

The pension promised to himself and his family was not paid, his wife and child were withheld from him, plans were formed for deporting him to the Azores. He took an heroic course, he landed.on the coast of Provence with a thousand men, marched to Paris without firing a shot, and entered the Tuileries, decorated and crowded for his reception. Never in history was there a more emphatic plebiscite, never a clearer announcement of a nation's will. Deaf to this appeal and blind to the consequences of their action, the diplomats of Vienna, led by Talleyrand, and followed, alas ! by the Duke of Wellington, made ruthless war against him, and in the battle of Waterloo he suffered irreparable defeat. What followed is not pleasant for an Englishman to relate. We denied him the hospitality he asked for, and sent him to perish by a slow but inevitable death on the rock of St. Helena.

Such was, in brief, his marvellous history. How are we to judge his character and his career ? The dominant passion of Napoleon was that nothing within his grasp should be done badly if it might be done well. There were two principles at work in the French Revolution, often mingled, sometimes undistinguishable, reform and anarchy, Napoleon was a friend of reform, but he was a bitter enemy of anarchy. No man living ever possessed a better ordered mind, and he desired that everywhere should reign the order which he felt within himself. England made the great mistake of regarding him as the continuator of the Revolution. He was the negation of the

Revolution, the repairer of its errors, the rebuilder of its ruins. Consequently the most enlightened men of Europe were on his side. Italy owes to him its creation, Bavaria her civilization. Examine where you will, the Napoleonic governments were everywhere good, until they were spoilt by the exigencies of the war which was forced upon him by the hostility of England. If Prance does not admire him to-day, she is supremely ungrateful. Without him, she would not exist. When ten years of anarchy had destroyed in that country not only all government, but all the elements out of which a Government could be formed, Napoleon appeared as the great restorer, and the most stable elements in France at this moment owe their origin to him.

This is the story which you are about to study in the present volume. It is written by a Norwegian, and is therefore more impartial than if it had been written by an Englishman, a Frenchman, or a German. It has had a large circulation on the Continent. It is brilliantly composed, and will doubtless have many readers in this country who will be induced by its perusal to explore, from a less insular point of view, the most marvellous, the most fascinating, the most instruct! re, career of any individual of modern times.

OSCAR BROWNING

King's College

Cambridge

Introduction

The following study of Napoleon is an incidental outcome of research that I undertook for a different theme. I had an idea of mastering the reaction which, as I believe, settled over the whole of Europe, after a brief period of advanoe, at the close of the eighteenth century. For this purpose I proposed to make a thorough study of the Congress of Vienna, and this occupied me from 1895 to 1898.

But as the inquiry proceeded I found it more and more difficult to interpret the story of the reaction from the Congress of Vienna to our own time. It seemed as if everything turned on a point that lay further back. I could not advance a single step, but was drawn, against my will, into the circle in which men and ideas moved. I made every effort to advance from the standpoint I had chosen, but I was forced to turn my eyes in the direction in which they all looked. Then I caught sight of the little man with the folded arms and the hat set crosswise on his head.

I flung everything else aside and fastened on Napoleon, whom, at first, I had deliberately excluded from my historical inquiry.

In thinking of the Congress of Vienna, I am always reminded of two caricatures of the time. The first represents all the sovereigns of Europe as children, sitting, with paper crowns on their heads, at a long table and playing with guns and tin soldiers. Then enters the officer with the announcement from the Consul at Livorno that Napoleon has left Elba. He brings a new toy, a box, which he flings on the table amongst the eagerly expectant children.

Suddenly a little man with folded arms and crossed hat leaps out of the box ; and the seoond caricature shows all the sovereigns scrambling to get under the table, and the little man standing alone amongst the scattered toys. I have such a vivid impression of these caricatures that I cannot really say whether I saw them, or only read of them, or, in fact, invented the whole thing myself. But that was what actually took place.

They were so pitifully small, these princes and courtiers, parading in the venerable chambers at Vienna, and strutting about before each other and the ladies, much like the cocks in the barn-yard when the hawk has flown away. The most brazen of them all is Metternich's private secretary, Gentz. He has all the refined vices of the time together with an unblushing vulgarity that shrinks from nothing. He crawls in the dust, and is ready to lend himself to any petty manoeuvre.

But at the same time he sees the threads of the intrigues and plots better than any other, and he jots down in his diary for his own edification :

* As I have nothing in the least to reproach myself with, I am far from being depressed by my intimate knowledge of the miserable business that was done here and of the mean creatures who rule the world. On the contrary, it amuses me, and I enjoy the whole thing as a sort of play that is enacted for my express entertainment.'

With this eel-like slipperiness he came in the end to attain an enormous influence, although his official position in so important an assembly was inconsiderable. But he was not duped. After one of the dinners that he gave, he writes in his diary :

1 1 took hardly any part in the conversation.

The talk was all between Metternich and

Talleyrand, on the usual lines. But I felt

more keenly than ever how vapid life is, and

how frail the men are who have the fate of

the world in their hands ; while I enjoyed

my ascendancy without pressing it. The

frivolous chatter of the princes had drawn a

sort of mist over my mind.'

There was little to choose between them.

After all the years of anxiety and humiliation,

when everything in Europe had been turned upside

down, they had lost all feeling of restraint. All

the leading families in Europe had suffered

heavily, in the loss of wealth and property, and in sorrow over the bright young generation that had fallen in the field, or returned from it wounded and crippled, with no result but defeat and humiliation. And the most frightful circumstance of all was that they had had to entertain in their castles the man whose name they could not bring themselves to utter, or had been forced to come and do him homage. Then there was all the deception that had been practised when the ladies at the older courts crowded about the dustcovered adjutants who brought the first news from the field of battle in the usual terms :

'The French, with 20,000 men, attacked a Russian corps of 5,000 under Prince Bagration. Bonaparte himself was present. The Russians bore down on them, cut down the French like mushrooms, killed Marshal Soult, and after a brilliant fight, reached the main body.' And, after two or three dances, there is a rush to the stairs, shrieking and consternation, and a general flight down the corridors and to the back doors. The French have reached the city. Marshal Soult, Duke of Dalmatia, may be at the castle before the sun goes down.

That was all over when they came together again at Vienna — kings and emperors and great nobles, Metternich, Schwartzenberg, Hardenberg, Castlereagh, Nesselrode, and, above all, Talleyrand with the lame foot and the thirteen oaths of loyalty. Which of them could fling the first stone at him ? Even we, to-day, despise rather the prince who received his thirteenth oath, and the contemporaries who looked on all his successive promises of allegiance with complacency.

The ability of Talleyrand, in its cold falseness, scattered the politics of his time to right and left like heaps of snow, and marked out the way for them all with such grace and amenity, such clearness and acuteness, that it has the air of the most rigorous probity. After the second restoration a distinguished French emigre came to Talleyrand and asked for his influence in securing a suitable position in the new court.

' Certainly. But what services do you rely on in pleading your case V

' I went with the king to Ghent during the Hundred Days.'

1 Are you quite sure ? Did you really go with him to Ghent, or were you only one of those who came back with him ? Because, you see, there were only seven or eight hundred that went with him to Ghent, but when we reached France we numbered about five thousand.'

In his shrewdness he overlooked no current of feeling. But in whatever direction the new current set, it always ended in the direction that Talleyrand wished. In 1807, when he signed the Peace of Tilsit, after the battle of Friedland, and when Napoleon's star seemed to be at the first magnitude, Talleyrand said to himself : c There is nothing decisive in the victory of Jena, in all the blood that has been spilt at Eylau, or in the triumph of Friedland. Poland has not been restored. Prussia, bleeding and bruised, is still alive and thinking of revenge. The Tsar, who has been beaten and has lost his army, has received a million fresh subjects in Finland.' Talleyrand saw from this moment that Napoleon was really sinking. He turned to other masters, and at once set afoot his intrigues with the Bourbons.

At the Congress of Vienna he had so great an ascendancy that no one dared even to hint his astonishment at seeing him there at all, to say nothing of his being the first envoy of the Bourbons. His presence harmonised with the general feeling of security. When they heard his lame foot trailing over the floor of the Viennese palace, they felt that it was all over with the muddy boots that used to break in at the middle of a ball. But in spite of all came the sudden shock that ran through the city. He was here again. Napoleon had left Elba. All the old terror broke out afresh, and they scrambled under the table, or hurried home — each one thinking only of himself and his own.

I too left the Vienna Congress and began at the beginning. Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15th, 1769. As I read the story of his life, I noticed numbers of small traits that I now present in my own fashion.

CHAPTER I

Napoleon did not enter the service of any of the political sections in Prance, and it was not until the later years of the Republic that he began, purely in his capacity as officer, to take any notice of politics. After the re-taking of Toulon under his direction, his talent was so far recognised in military circles, that the war in Italy was really conducted according to his plans, though he was then only a general of a division. In 1796 he was appointed to the supreme command of the Republican troops in Italy. He was then in his twenty-seventh year, and it was in the same year that he married Josephine.

On April 12th he fought the battle of Montenotte, one of the first in the series of eighteen great pitched battles that he won before the peace of Campo Formio in 1797, and the names of which still reflect his early glory — Millesimo, Mondovi, Lodi, Arcole, Rivoli, etc,

The day after the battle of Montenotte, as the different divisions of the French army, which had hitherto fought independently and had seen little of each other, marched all together over the plain in the bright sunshine, and took their places along the shimmering Bormida, without any confusion or disorder, it flashed on the old soldiers at once that a new spirit had taken the lead. On that day were born the confidence in and enthusiasm for the young commander that grew stronger and stronger. All of them, generals and soldiers, devoted themselves to him for life and death. From that came the blind unwavering obedience and trust that brought success to Bonaparte's carefully planned and able combinations.

While, not merely the whole of France, but the whole of fighting Europe, now began to listen to his name, it was not less remarkable how quickly the veterans of the Republic discovered the great leader. They were accustomed to having their commanders sent down by each succeeding government at Paris, sometimes genuine officers, at others men who had pushed their way to the front in the troublous times of the Revolution. After the battle of Lodi a deputation of old grenadiers came to Napoleon's tent and told him that he had been appointed corporal by the army ! After Castiglione he was made sergeant. Bonaparte was shrewd enough to understand and appreciate these things ; and ever afterwards, in all his campaigns, even in the days of misfortune, a smile passed over his features when some old grenadier in the ranks called him * the little corporal.'

The love and regard of the army for this leader who never spared himself led in 1797, when he barely escaped falling into the hands of the Austrians, to the formation of a guard of honour for him. Napoleon afterwards made his corps of Guards out of this famous troop of guides, and the uniform of an officer of the Guards — green with red facings — was his favourite one. Bessie res, head of a squadron, who had taken two Austrian cannon at Roveredo with six men, was entrusted with the command of the bodyguard and made responsible for the life of the general. As Marshal and Count of Istria, he commanded the Guard until 1812.

At once the men came into prominence who were to share Napoleon's glory afterwards. But not one of his later wars has so much brilliancy — one might almost say, so much festive cheerfulness— about it as the first two campaigns in Italy. It was, of course, a matter of life and death ; the balls were as merciless as ever, when they did strike. But the operations went on more smoothly there. One saw the enemy working away with his ramrods, biting off the end of his cartridges, shaking his powder on the pan, and then the long aim and the shot so often miscarrying, especially in bad weather. The artillery did not hold off at a distance ; you were not apt to be scattered with a hail of shells as happens to-day.

During a fight near Frankfort in 1791, Frederic William sat on his horse and watched a republican grenadier holding a small bridge alone against the troops. The king had him taken alive, and said to him : ' You are a brave lad, it's a pity you fight for a bad cause.' ' Citizen William,' the soldier answered, ' we should not agree on that point. We had better change the subject.'

It was especially in Italy that the war had peculiar features, because the French officers were young and fearless. They bewildered and bluffed the methodical Austrians, and frightened the more timid Italians to death. Bonaparte himself, the chief general, set them an example. Once, accompanied by only a few soldiers, in addition to his general staff and a number of officers, he rode through a small town named Lonato, on the day before the battle of Castiglione. The town was suddenly surrounded by a strong division of the Austrians, whose leader sent an officer to demand the surrender of the French.

Bonaparte had the man blindfolded, as was customary, and brought into the circle of high officers. When the bandage was taken from his eyes, and he looked round on the brilliant company, Bonaparte thundered at him : ' Ride back to your chief, and tell him that I give him eight minutes to lay down his arms ! He has got into the midst of the French army, and he may give up all hope once that time is up.' The officer hurried away, and the Austrian general was so terrified that he surrendered with 2,000 men and four guns.

Another time, in the year 1796, Lannes, then a young chief of a battalion, came upon a division of the papal cavalry, 300 strong, in the course of a reconnaisance. Lannes himself had only two or three officers and a dozen orderlies with him. Lannes rode at once to the papal officer, who had already ordered his men to fire and attack.

' What are you doing ?' Lannes shouted. ' Put up your sabre at once.'

' Certainly,' said the officer.

1 Tell your men to dismount and lead their horses to my headquarters.'

c Quite so,' answered the officer, and he obeyed.

It reminds one of Tordenskjold, when he was tired of lying before Marstrand and waiting for the Swedish fleet to come out. At last he went into the town and reached the house where the Swedish admirals were chatting and drinking.

1 What the devil are you waiting for ?' he shouted through the window.

So the Swedish fleet came out and received its punishment.

The Duke of Montebello resembled Tordenskjold in many ways. He was recklessly brave, always in the line of fire, yet a cool and diligent commander, and kept his head in the most desperate situations. It was in the first Italian campaign that Bonaparte noticed how Lannes, who was then chief of a battalion, led his men into action at Dego. From that day they were never separated until Lannes fell in 1809 at Esslingen, a marshal of France and Duke of Montebello. He was the last of all generals to maintain the old terms of intercourse with the Emperor, and addressed him as ' thou ' to the end. He died in the height of his and Napoleon's glory, and escaped the evil days that tried so many of his comrades and found them wanting, or at least leave a good deal of obscurity about Napoleon in the end.

Lannes was one of the officers who were always wounded, which is hardly surprising when we remember the boldness with which he exposed himself. There were others equally daring, however, who were said by the soldiers to be invulnerable, such as Massena. It was said of Lannes that balls flattened themselves against his bones. During the campaign in Syria he received a ball in the temple and fell to the ground. They thought he was dead. But it was found that the bullet had passed round the skull and remained under the skin at the back of the head, so that it was easily extracted. During the battle of Aboukir, where he still suffered from the wound in his head, he got a bullet at short range in the shin. It was flattened, and ran round the leg and buried itself in the calf. He received many other wounds in the course of time, until a cannon ball smashed both his knees at Esslingen in 1809.

Lannes was also one of those who were wounded when they ran on the bridge with the general at Lodi, and covered him. The brave cfficer, Muiron, fell dead at Napoleon's feet on the bridge. Muiron was one of ( the officers that Bonaparte had discovered, and who was likely to accomplish great things under him. To the end :he only way of advancement in Napoleon's army, however large it became, was for the general himself to pick out the best officers ; and of that they were well aware. His knowledge of men, extending over all his armies, was so great and accurate that he was as well acquainted with his officers as the leader of a small troop usually is with his men. He had, moreover, an eye for the characteristics of each individual, and he was rarely wrong in his estimate.

During one of the Italian oampaigns, on the eve of a great battle, a common soldier stepped out of the line, as they often did, with the old republican liberty, and said : ' Citizen general, I know how you will beat them to-morrow,' and he began to describe a plan of operations. Napoleon swiftly interrupted him : ' Be quiet, you scoundrel.' The soldier was describing, word for word, Napoleon's own plan of battle, which he thought was utterly unsuspected by anybody else. The day after the battle he sent for the soldier — he had noted his regiment — but found that the great talent had perished in the simple uniform of a soldier, and he had probably lost a marshal.

When the supreme command was entrusted to the twenty-seven year old officer there were old and experienced generals and officers who had little disposition to bow to their new leader. Augereau, who was twelve years older, made a great noise, and said he was not going to have this raw lad from Corsica put over him. He soon changed his mind, and, although Augereau was never anything else in Napoleon's opinion than a brave and noisy swaggerer and incorrigible plunderer, he became a marshal and Duke of Castiglione, and was always with Napoleon until he finally deserted him.

Napoleon never had favourites that he would put in high positions in spite of their incompetence ; and he was just as careful to appreciate and use men he did not like and whose treachery was fully known to him through his spies.

Others of Napoleon's men came into promi-; nence in 1796. Berthier, who had been in America and Jamaica with Lafayette, and had received a command under the aged Kellermann, the victor of Valmy, was one of Napoleon's generals, and a particularly intimate friend. He was with Napoleon in the Egyptian campaign, but was allowed to return home on the ground of illness ; though the real reason was his infatuation for Mme. Visconti. The indefatigable and fearless | Oudinot, also, who lived until 1847, was with him in Italy. Under Napoleon he became marshal r and Duke of Reggio. He always led the grenadiers i who marched close to the Emperor ; and he led the infantry in the early bayonet fights. The* soldiers were accustomed to seeing him amongst them. He was one of those who were always wounded ; he had in the end, I believe, twenty-three wounds.

Besides the unfortunate Muiron, General La Harpe also fell in the first Italian campaign, being shot in mistake by his own men. Another loss was that of General Steingel, an Alsatian, whom Bonaparte always quoted afterwards as an incomparable leader of the advanced posts. Steingel was short-sighted, and rushed into the fight at Mondovi so furiously with his hussars that he was slain by a sabre-cut, fighting in the front line like a common soldier.