Chapter 4
Part 4
Eugène is in Hungary with his army. I am well, the weather very fine. I note with pleasure that Hortense and the Duke of Berg are in France.
Adieu, dear.--Yours ever,
NAPOLEON.
* * * * *
_June 10th._--Union of the Papal States to France promulgated in Rome.
_June 11th.--Napoleon and all his abettors excommunicated._
_June 14th._--Eugène, aided by Macdonald and Lauriston, defeats Archduke Ferdinand at Raab.
No. 9.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT PLOMBIÈRES.
_Schoenbrunn, June 16, 1809._
I despatch a page to tell you that, on the 14th, the anniversary of Marengo, Eugène won a battle against the Archduke John and the Archduke Palatine, at Raab, in Hungary; that he has taken 3000 men, many pieces of cannon, 4 flags, and pursued them a long way on the road to Buda-Pesth.
NAPOLEON.
* * * * *
_June 18th._--Combat of Belchite. Blake defeated by Suchet near Saragossa.
No. 10.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT PLOMBIÈRES.
_Schoenbrunn, June 19, 1809, Noon._
I have your letter, which tells me of your departure for Plombières. I am glad you are making this journey, because I trust it may do you good.
Eugène is in Hungary, and is well. My health is very good, and the army in fighting trim.
I am very glad to know that the Grand Duke of Berg is with you.
Adieu, dear. You know my affection for my Josephine; it never varies.--Yours ever,
NAPOLEON.
* * * * *
_July 4th-5th._--French cross Danube, and win battle of Enzersdorff.
_July 5th-6th._--Pope Pius VII. carried off from Rome by order of Murat; eventually kept at Savona.
_July 6th.--Battle of Wagram._ The most formidable artillery battle ever fought up to this date (900 guns in action). The Austrians had 120,000 men, with more guns and of larger calibre than those of the French.
No. 11.
_July 7th._--St. Domingo surrenders to the English.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT PLOMBIÈRES.
_Ebersdorf_, _July 7, 1809_, 5 A.M.
I am despatching a page to bring you the good tidings of the victory of Enzersdorf, which I won on the 5th, and that of Wagram, which I won on the 6th.
The enemy's army flies in disorder, and all goes according to my prayers (_voeux_).
Eugène is well. Prince Aldobrandini is wounded, but slightly.
Bessières has been shot through the fleshy part of his thigh; the wound is very slight. Lasalle was killed. My losses are full heavy, but the victory is decisive and complete. We have taken more than 100 pieces of cannon, 12 flags, many prisoners.
I am sunburnt.
Adieu, dear. I send you a kiss. Kind regards to Hortense.
NAPOLEON.
No. 12.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT PLOMBIÈRES.
_Wolkersdorf_, _July 9, 1809_, 2 A.M.
_My Dear_,--All goes here as I wish. My enemies are defeated, beaten, utterly routed. They were in great numbers; I have wiped them out. To-day my health is good; yesterday I was rather ill with a surfeit of bile, occasioned by so many hardships, but it has done me much good.
Adieu, dear. I am in excellent health.
NAPOLEON.
* * * * *
_July 12th._--Armistice of Znaim. Archduke Charles resigns his command.
No. 13.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT PLOMBIÈRES.
_In the Camp, before Znaim, July 13, 1809._
I send you the suspension of arms concluded yesterday with the Austrian General. Eugène is on the Hungary side, and is well. Send a copy of the suspension of arms to Cambacérès, in case he has not yet received one.
I send you a kiss, and am very well.
NAPOLEON.
You may cause this suspension of arms to be printed at Nancy.
* * * * *
_July 14th._--English seize Senegal. Oudinot, Marmont, Macdonald made Marshals.
No. 14.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT PLOMBIÈRES.
_Schoenbrunn, July 17, 1809._
_My Dear_,--I have sent you one of my pages. You will have learnt the result of the battle of Wagram, and, later, of the suspension of arms of Znaim.
My health is good. Eugène is well, and I long to know that you, as well as Hortense, are the same.
Give a kiss for me to Monsieur, the Grand Duke of Berg.
NAPOLEON.
No. 15.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT PLOMBIÈRES.
_Schoenbrunn, July 24, 1809._
I have just received yours of July 18th. I note with pleasure that the waters are doing you good. I see no objection to you going back to Malmaison after you have finished your treatment.
It is hot enough here in all conscience. My health is excellent.
Adieu, dear. Eugène is at Vienna, in the best of health.--Yours ever,
NAPOLEON.
* * * * *
_July 28th.--Battle of Talavera._ Wellington repulses Victor, who attacks by King Joseph's order, without waiting for the arrival of Soult with the main army. Wellington retires on Portugal.
_July 29th-31st._--Walcheren Expedition; 17,000 English land in Belgium.
No. 16.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT PLOMBIÈRES.
_Schoenbrunn, August 7, 1809._
I see from your letter that you are at Plombières, and intend to stay there. You do well; the waters and the fine climate can only do you good.
I remain here. My health and my affairs follow my wishes.
Please give my kind regards to Hortense and the Napoleons.--Yours ever,
NAPOLEON.
* * * * *
_August 8th._--Combat of Arzobispo. Soult defeats the Spaniards.
_August 15th._--Flushing surrenders to the English.
No. 17.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT PARIS.
_Schoenbrunn, August 21, 1809._
I have received your letter of August 14th, from Plombières; I see from it that by the 18th you will be either at Paris or Malmaison. The heat, which is very great here, will have upset you. Malmaison must be very dry and parched at this time of year.
My health is good. The heat, however, has brought on a slight catarrh.
Adieu, dear.
NAPOLEON.
No. 18.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_Schoenbrunn, August 26, 1809._
I have your letter from Malmaison. They bring me word that you are plump, florid, and in the best of health, I assure you Vienna is not an amusing city. I would very much rather be back again in Paris.
Adieu, dear. Twice a week I listen to the comedians (_bouffons_); they are but very middling; it, however, passes the evenings. There are fifty or sixty women of Vienna, but outsiders (_au parterre_), as not having been presented.
NAPOLEON.
No. 19.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_Schoenbrunn, August 31, 1809._
I have had no letter from you for several days; the pleasures of Malmaison, the beautiful greenhouses, the beautiful gardens, cause the absent to be forgotten. It is, they say, the rule of your sex. Every one speaks only of your good health; all this is very suspicious.
To-morrow I am off with Eugène for two days in Hungary.
My health is fairly good.
Adieu, dear.--Yours ever,
NAPOLEON.
No. 20.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_Krems, September 9, 1809._
_My Dear_,--I arrived here yesterday at 2 A.M.; I have come here to see my troops. My health has never been better. I know that you are very well.
I shall be in Paris at a moment when nobody will expect me. Everything here goes excellently and to my satisfaction.
Adieu, dear.
NAPOLEON.
No. 21.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_Schoenbrunn, September 23, 1809._
I have received your letter of the 16th, and note that you are well. The old maid's house is only worth 120,000[34] francs; they will never get more for it. Still, I leave you mistress to do what you like, since it amuses you; only, once purchased, don't pull it down to put a rockery there.
Adieu, dear.
NAPOLEON.
No. 22.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_Schoenbrunn, September 25, 1809._
I have received your letter. Be careful, and I advise you to be vigilant, for one of these nights you will hear a loud knocking.
My health is good. I know nothing about the rumours; I have never been better for many a long year. Corvisart was no use to me.
Adieu, dear; everything here prospers.--Yours ever,
NAPOLEON.
* * * * *
_September 26th._--Battle of Silistria; Turks defeat Russians.
No. 23.
_October 14th._--Treaty of Vienna, between France and Austria.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_Schoenbrunn, October 14, 1809._
_My Dear_,--I write to advise you that Peace was signed two hours ago between Champagny and Prince Metternich.
Adieu, dear.
NAPOLEON.
* * * * *
_October 19th._--Mortier routs Spaniards at Oçana.
No. 24.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_Nymphenburg, near Munich, October 21, 1809._
I arrived here yesterday in the best of health, but shall not start till to-morrow. I shall spend a day at Stuttgard. You will be advised twenty-four hours in advance of my arrival at Fontainebleau.
I look forward with pleasure to seeing you again, and I await that moment impatiently.
I send you a kiss.--Yours ever,
NAPOLEON.
No. 25.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_Munich, October 22, 1809._
_My Dear_,--I start in an hour. I shall be at Fontainebleau from the 26th to 27th; you may meet me there with some of your ladies.
NAPOLEON.
* * * * *
_November 25th._--Disappearance of Benjamin Bathurst, erroneously thought to have been murdered by the French, really by robbers.
_December 1st._--Capture of Gerona and 200 cannon by Augereau.
_December 16th.--French Senate pronounce the divorce of Napoleon and Josephine._
_December 24th._--English re-embark from Flushing.
FOOTNOTES
[32] Napoleon Louis, Prince Royal of Holland, and Grand Duke of Berg from March 3, 1809.
[33] Her two grandsons, who, with Hortense, their mother, were at Baden.
[34] Boispréau, belonging to Mademoiselle Julien.
SERIES M
"Josephine, my excellent Josephine, thou knowest if I have loved thee! To thee, to thee alone do I owe the only moments of happiness which I have enjoyed in this world. Josephine, my destiny overmasters my will. My dearest affections must be silent before the interests of France."--BOURRIENNE'S _Napoleon_.[35]
FOOTNOTES
[35] Also MEME'S _Memoirs of Josephine_, p. 333.
SERIES M
(For subjoined Notes to this Series see pages 295-304.)
LETTER PAGE
No. 1. A Family Council 295
No. 2. _Savary_ 297 _Queen of Naples_ 298 _The hunt_ 298
No. 4. _The weather is very damp_ 298
No. 5. _King of Bavaria_ 299
No. 6. Their last dinner together 299
No. 7. _Tuileries_ 299
No. 8. _A house vacant in Paris_ 299
No. 9. _Hortense_ 300
No. 10. A visit to Josephine 300
No. 11. _What charms your society has_ 300
No. 12. _King of Westphalia_ 301
No. 13. _Sensible_ 301
No. 14. _D'Audenarde_ 302
No. 16. The choosing of a bride 302
No. 17. Date 302
Nos. 18 & 19. _L'Élysée_ 302-3
No. 20. _Bessières' country-house_ 303
No. 21. _Rambouillet_ 303 _Adieu_ 303
LETTERS OF THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON TO THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE AFTER THE DIVORCE AND BEFORE HIS MARRIAGE WITH MARIE LOUISE.
DECEMBER, 1809, TO APRIL 2, 1810.
No. 1.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_December 1809_, 8 P.M.
_My Dear_,--I found you to-day weaker than you ought to be. You have shown courage; it is necessary that you should maintain it and not give way to a doleful melancholy. You must be contented and take special care of your health, which is so precious to me.
If you are attached to me and if you love me, you should show strength of mind and force yourself to be happy. You cannot question my constant and tender friendship, and you would know very imperfectly all the affection I have for you if you imagined that I can be happy if you are unhappy, and contented if you are ill at ease.
Adieu, dear. Sleep well; dream that I wish it.
NAPOLEON.
No. 2.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_Tuesday, 6 o'clock._
The Queen of Naples, whom I saw at the hunt in the Bois de Boulogne, where I rode down a stag, told me that she left you yesterday at 1 P.M. in the best of health.
Please tell me what you are doing to-day. As for me, I am very well. Yesterday, when I saw you, I was ill. I expect you will have been for a drive.
Adieu, dear.
NAPOLEON.
No. 3.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_Trianon_, 7 P.M.
_My Dear_,--I have just received your letter. Savary tells me that you are always crying; that is not well. I trust that you have been for a drive to-day. I sent you my quarry. I shall come to see you when you tell me you are reasonable, and that your courage has the upper hand.
To-morrow, the whole day, I am receiving Ministers.
Adieu, dear. I also am sad to-day; I need to know that you are satisfied and to learn that your equilibrium (_aplomb_) is restored. Sleep well.
NAPOLEON.
No. 4.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_Thursday, Noon, 1809._
_My Dear_,--I wished to come and see you to-day, but I was very busy and rather unwell. Still, I am just off to the Council.
Please tell me how you are.
This weather is very damp, and not at all healthy.
NAPOLEON.
No. 5.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_Trianon._
I should have come to see you to-day if I had not been obliged to come to see the King of Bavaria, who has just arrived in Paris. I shall come to see you to-night at eight o'clock, and return at ten.
I hope to see you to-morrow, and to see you cheerful and placid.
Adieu, dear.
NAPOLEON.
No. 6.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_Trianon, Tuesday._
_My Dear_,--I lay down after you left me yesterday;[36] I am going to Paris. I wish to hear that you are cheerful. I shall come to see you during the week.
I have received your letters, which I am going to read in the carriage.
NAPOLEON.
No. 7.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_Paris, Wednesday, Noon, 27th December 1809._
Eugène told me that you were very miserable all yesterday. That is not well, my dear; it is contrary to what you promised me.
I have been thoroughly tired in revisiting the Tuileries; that great palace seemed empty to me, and I felt lost in it.
Adieu, dear. Keep well.
NAPOLEON.
No. 8.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_Paris, Sunday, December 31_, 10 A.M., 1809.
_My Dear_,--To-day I have a grand parade; I shall see all my Old Guard and more than sixty artillery trains.
The King of Westphalia is returning home, which will leave a house vacant in Paris. I am sad not to see you. If the parade finishes before 3 o'clock, I will come; otherwise, to-morrow.
Adieu, dear.
NAPOLEON.
No. 9.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_Thursday Evening_, 1810.
_My Dear_,--Hortense, whom I saw this afternoon, has given me news of you. I trust that you will have been able to see your plants to-day, the weather having been fine. I have only been out for a few minutes at three o'clock to shoot some hares.
Adieu, dear; sleep well.
NAPOLEON.
No. 10.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_Friday_, 8 P.M., 1810.
I wished to come and see you to-day, but I cannot; it will be, I hope, in the morning. It is a long time since I heard from you. I learnt with pleasure that you take walks in your garden these cold days.
Adieu, dear; keep well, and never doubt my affection.
NAPOLEON.
No. 11.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_Sunday_, 8 P.M., 1810.
I was very glad to see you yesterday; I feel what charms your society has for me.
To-day I walked with Estève.[37] I have allowed £4000 for 1810, for the extraordinary expenses at Malmaison. You can therefore do as much planting as you like; you will distribute that sum as you may require. I have instructed Estève to send £8000 the moment the contract for the Maison Julien shall be made. I have ordered them to pay for your _parure_ of rubies, which will be valued by the Department, for I do not wish to be robbed by jewellers. So, there goes the £16,000 that this may cost me.
I have ordered them to hold the million which the Civil List owes you for 1810 at the disposal of your man of business, in order to pay your debts.
You should find in the coffers of Malmaison twenty to twenty-five thousand pounds; you can take them to buy your plate and linen.
I have instructed them to make you a very fine porcelain service; they will take your commands in order that it may be a very fine one.
NAPOLEON.
No. 12.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_Wednesday_, 6 P.M., 1810.
_My Dear_,--I see no objection to your receiving the King of Westphalia whenever you wish. The King and Queen of Bavaria will probably come to see you on Friday.
I long to come to Malmaison, but you must really show fortitude and self-restraint; the page on duty this morning told me that he saw you weeping.
I am going to dine quite alone.
Adieu, dear. Never doubt the depth of my feelings for you; you would be unjust and unfair if you did.
NAPOLEON.
No. 13.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_Saturday_, 1 P.M., 1810.
_My Dear_,--Yesterday I saw Eugène, who told me that you gave a reception to the kings. I was at the concert till eight o'clock, and only dined, quite alone, at that hour.
I long to see you. If I do not come to-day, I will come after mass.
Adieu, dear. I hope to find you sensible and in good health. This weather should indeed make you put on flesh.
NAPOLEON.
* * * * *
_January 9.--The clergy of Paris annul the religious marriage of Napoleon with Josephine_ (so _Biographie Universelle_, Michaud; Montgaillard gives January 18). _Confirmed by the Metropolitan Officialité, January 12_ (Pasquier).
No. 14.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_Trianon, January 17, 1810._
_My Dear_,--D'Audenarde, whom I sent to you this morning, tells me that since you have been at Malmaison you have no longer any courage. Yet that place is full of our happy memories, which can and ought never to change, at least on my side.
I want badly to see you, but I must have some assurance that you are strong and not weak; I too am rather like you, and it makes me frightfully wretched.
Adieu, Josephine; good-night. If you doubted me, you would be very ungrateful.
NAPOLEON.
No. 15.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_January 20, 1810._
_My Dear_,--I send you the box that I promised you the day before yesterday--representing the Island of Lobau. I was rather tired yesterday. I work much, and do not go out.
Adieu, dear.
NAPOLEON.
No. 16.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_Noon, Tuesday, 1810._
I hear that you are making yourself miserable; this is too bad. You have no confidence in me, and all the rumours that are being spread strike you; this is not knowing me, Josephine. I am much annoyed, and if I do not find you cheerful and contented, I shall scold you right well.
Adieu, dear.
NAPOLEON.
No. 17.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_Sunday_, 9 P.M., 1810.
_My Dear_,--I was very glad to see you the day before yesterday.
I hope to go to Malmaison during the week. I have had all your affairs looked after here, and ordered that everything be brought to the Elysée-Napoléon.
Please take care of yourself.
Adieu, dear.
NAPOLEON.
No. 18.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_January 30, 1810._
_My Dear_,--Your letter to hand. I hope the walk you had yesterday, in order to show people your conservatories, has done you good.
I will gladly see you at the Elysée, and shall be very glad to see you oftener, for you know how I love you.
NAPOLEON.
No. 19.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_Saturday_, 6 P.M., 1810.
I told Eugène that you would rather give ear to the vulgar gossip of a great city than to what I told you; yet people should not be allowed to invent fictions to make you miserable.
I have had all your effects moved to the Elysée. You shall come to Paris at once; but be at ease and contented, and have full confidence in me.
NAPOLEON.
* * * * *
_February 2._--Soult occupies Seville. The Junta takes refuge at Cadiz.
_February 6._--Guadeloupe surrenders to the English.
_February 7.--Convention of marriage between the Emperor Napoleon and the Archduchess Marie Louise._
No. 20.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT THE ELYSÉE-NAPOLEON.
_February 19, 1810._
_My Dear_,--I have received your letter. I long to see you, but the reflections that you make may be true. It is, perhaps, not desirable that we should be under the same roof for the first year. Yet Bessières' country-house is too far off to go and return in one day; moreover I have rather a cold, and am not sure of being able to go there.
Adieu, dear.
NAPOLEON.
No. 21.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT THE ELYSÉE-NAPOLEON.
_Friday_, 6 P.M., 1810.
Savary, as soon as he arrived, brought me your letter; I am sorry to see you are unhappy. I am very glad that you saw nothing of the fire.
I had fine weather at Rambouillet.
Hortense told me that you had some idea of coming to a dinner at Bessières, and of returning to Paris to sleep. I am sorry that you have not been able to manage it.
Adieu, dear. Be cheerful, and consider how much you please me thereby.
NAPOLEON.
No. 22.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_March 12, 1810._
_My Dear_,--I trust that you will be pleased with what I have done for Navarre. You must see from that how anxious I am to make myself agreeable to you.
Get ready to take possession of Navarre; you will go there on March 25, to pass the month of April.
Adieu, dear.
NAPOLEON.
* * * * *
_April 1.--Civil marriage of Napoleon and Marie Louise._ (_Religious marriage, April 2._)
FOOTNOTES
[36] The Empress, with Hortense, had been to dine at Trianon.
[37] General Treasurer of the Crown.
SERIES N
1810
APRIL 2ND--DECEMBER 31ST
(_after the Marriage with Marie Louise_).
"Bella gerant alii, tu, felix Austria! nube."
SERIES N
(For subjoined Notes to this Series see pages 304-310.)
LETTER PAGE
No. 1. _Navarre_ 304 _To Malmaison_ 305
No. 1_a_. _It is written in a bad style_ 305
No. 2. Josephine's wishes 305
No. 2_a_. _Two letters_ 306
No. 3. The northern tour of 1810 306 _I will come to see you_ 307
No. 4. _July 8th_ 308 _You will have seen Eugène_ 308 _That unfortunate daughter_ 308
No. 5. _The conduct of the King of Holland_ 308
No. 6. _To die in a lake_ 309
No. 8. _Paris, this Friday_ 309
No. 9. _The only suitable places_ 310
No. 10. Malmaison 310 _The Empress progresses satisfactorily_ 310
No. 1.
LETTER OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE TO THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON.
_Navarre, April 19, 1810._
_Sire_,-I have received, by my son, the assurance that your Majesty consents to my return to Malmaison, and grants to me the advances asked for in order to make the château of Navarre habitable. This double favour, Sire, dispels to a great extent the uneasiness, nay, even the fears which your Majesty's long silence had inspired. I was afraid that I might be entirely banished from your memory; I see that I am not. I am therefore less wretched to-day, and even as happy as henceforward it will be possible for me to be.
I shall go at the end of the month to Malmaison, since your Majesty sees no objection to it. But I ought to tell you, Sire, that I should not so soon have taken advantage of the latitude which your Majesty left me in this respect had the house of Navarre not required, for my health's sake and for that of my household, repairs which are urgent. My idea is to stay at Malmaison a very short time; I shall soon leave it in order to go to the waters. But while I am at Malmaison, your Majesty may be sure that I shall live there as if I were a thousand leagues from Paris. I have made a great sacrifice, Sire, and every day I realise more its full extent. Yet that sacrifice will be, as it ought to be, a complete one on my part. Your Highness, amid your happiness, shall be troubled by no expression of my regret.
I shall pray unceasingly for your Majesty's happiness, perhaps even I shall pray that I may see you again; but your Majesty may be assured that I shall always respect our new relationship. I shall respect it in silence, relying on the attachment that you had to me formerly; I shall call for no new proof; I shall trust to everything from your justice and your heart.
I limit myself to asking from you one favour: it is, that you will deign to find a way of sometimes convincing both myself and my _entourage_ that I have still a small place in your memory and a great place in your esteem and friendship. By this means, whatever happens, my sorrows will be mitigated without, as it seems to me, compromising that which is of permanent importance to me, the happiness of your Majesty.
JOSEPHINE.
No. 1A.
(_Reply of the Emperor Napoleon to the preceding._)
TO THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, AT NAVARRE.
_Compiègne, April 21, 1810._
_My Dear_,--I have yours of April 18th; it is written in a bad style. I am always the same; people like me do not change. I know not what Eugène has told you. I have not written to you because you have not written to me, and my sole desire is to fulfil your slightest inclination.
I see with pleasure that you are going to Malmaison and that you are contented; as for me, I shall be so likewise on hearing news from you and in giving you mine. I say no more about it until you have compared this letter with yours, and after that I will leave you to judge which of us two is the better friend.
Adieu, dear; keep well, and be just for your sake and mine.
NAPOLEON.
* * * * *
_April 23rd._--Battle of Lerida. Suchet defeats Spaniards.
No. 2.
REPLY OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE.
A thousand, thousand loving thanks for not having forgotten me. My son has just brought me your letter. With what impetuosity I read it, and yet I took a long time over it, for there was not a word which did not make me weep; but these tears were very pleasant ones. I have found my whole heart again--such as it will always be; there are affections which are life itself, and which can only end with it.
I was in despair to find my letter of the 19th had displeased you; I do not remember the exact expressions, but I know what torture I felt in writing it--the grief at having no news from you.
I wrote you on my departure from Malmaison, and since then how often have I wished to write you! but I appreciated the causes of your silence and feared to be importunate with a letter. Yours has been the true balm for me. Be happy, be as much so as you deserve; it is my whole heart which speaks to you. You have also just given me my share of happiness, and a share which I value the most, for nothing can equal in my estimation a proof that you still remember me.
Adieu, dear; I again thank you as affectionately as I shall always love you.
JOSEPHINE.
No. 2A.
TO THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, AT THE CHÂTEAU NAVARRE.
_Compiègne, April 28, 1810._
_My Dear_,--I have just received two letters from you. I am writing to Eugène. I have ordered that the marriage of Tascher with the Princess de la Leyen shall take place.
To-morrow I shall go to Antwerp to see my fleet and to give orders about the works. I shall return on May 15th.
Eugène tells me that you wish to go to the waters; trouble yourself about nothing. Do not listen to the gossip of Paris; it is idle and far from knowing the real state of things. My affection for you does not change, and I long to know that you are happy and contented.
NAPOLEON.
No. 3.
TO THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, AT MALMAISON.
_My Dear_,--I have your letter. Eugène will give you tidings of my journey and of the Empress. I am very glad that you are going to the waters. I trust they may do you good.
I wish very much to see you. If you are at Malmaison at the end of the month, I will come to see you. I expect to be at St. Cloud on the 30th of the month. My health is very good ... it only needs to hear that you are contented and well. Let me know in what name you intend to travel.
Never doubt the whole truth of my affection for you; it will last as long as I. You would be very unjust if you doubted it.
NAPOLEON.
* * * * *
_July 1st.--Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland, abdicates in favour of his son._
No. 4.
TO THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, AT THE WATERS OF AIX, IN SAVOY.
_Rambouillet, July 8, 1810._
_My Dear_,--I have your letter of July 8th. You will have seen Eugène, and his presence will have done you good. I learn with pleasure that the waters are beneficial to you. The King of Holland has just abdicated the throne, while leaving the Regency, according to the Constitution, in the hands of the Queen. He has quitted Amsterdam and left the Grand Duke of Berg behind.
I have reunited Holland to France, which has, however, the advantage of setting the Queen at liberty, and that[38] unfortunate girl is coming to Paris with her son the Grand Duke of Berg--that will make her perfectly happy.
My health is good. I have come here to hunt for a few days. I shall see you this autumn with pleasure. Never doubt my friendship; I never change.
Keep well, be cheerful, and believe in the truth of my attachment.
NAPOLEON.
* * * * *
_July 9th._--Holland incorporated with the French Empire.
_July 10th._--Ney takes Ciudad Rodrigo, after twenty-five days open trenches.
No. 5.
TO THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, AT THE WATERS OF AIX, IN SAVOY.
_St. Cloud, July 20, 1810._
_My Dear_,--I have received your letter of July 14th, and note with pleasure that the waters are doing you good, and that you like Geneva. I think that you are doing well to go there for a few weeks.
My health is fairly good. The conduct of the King of Holland has worried me.
Hortense is shortly coming to Paris. The Grand Duke of Berg is on his way; I expect him to-morrow.
Adieu, dear.
NAPOLEON.
No. 6.
TO THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, AT THE WATERS OF AIX, IN SAVOY.
_Trianon, August 10, 1810._
Your letter to hand. I was pained to see what a risk you had run. For an inhabitant of the isles of the ocean to die in a lake would have been a fatality indeed!
The Queen is better, and I hope her health will be re-established. Her husband is in Bohemia, apparently not knowing what to do.
I am fairly well, and beg you to believe in my sincere attachment.
NAPOLEON.
* * * * *
_August 21st._--Swedes elect Marshal Bernadotte Crown Prince of Sweden.
_August 27th._--Massena takes Almeida.
No. 7.
TO THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, AT THE WATERS OF AIX, IN SAVOY.
_St. Cloud, September 14, 1810._
_My Dear_,--I have your letter of September 9th. I learn with pleasure that you keep well. There is no longer the slightest doubt that the Empress has entered on the fourth month of her pregnancy; she is well, and is much attached to me. The young Princes Napoleon are very well; they are in the Pavillon d'Italie, in the Park of St. Cloud.
My health is fairly good. I wish to learn that you are happy and contented. I hear that one of your _entourage_ has broken a leg while going on the glacier.
Adieu, dear. Never doubt the interest I take in you and the affection that I bear towards you.
NAPOLEON.
* * * * *
_September 27th.--Battle of Busaco._ Like Ebersburg, another of Massena's expensive and unnecessary frontal attacks. He loses 5000 men, but next day turns the position of Wellington, who continues to retire.
No. 8.
TO THE EMPRESS, AT MALMAISON.
_Paris, this Friday._
_My Dear_,--Yours to hand. I am sorry to see that you have been ill; I fear it must be this bad weather.
Madame de la T---- is one of the most foolish women of the Faubourg. I have borne her cackle for a very long time; I am sick of it, and have ordered that she does not come again to Paris. There are five or six other old women that I equally wish to send away from Paris; they are spoiling the young ones by their follies.
I will name Madame de Makau Baroness since you wish it, and carry out your other commissions.
My health is pretty good. The conduct of B---- appears to me very ridiculous. I trust to hear that you are better.
Adieu, dear.
NAPOLEON.
No. 9.
TO THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, AT GENEVA.
_Fontainebleau, October 1, 1810._
I have received your letter. Hortense, whom I have seen, will have told you what I think. Go to see your son this winter; come back to the waters of Aix next year, or, still better, wait for the spring at Navarre. I would advise you to go to Navarre at once, if I did not fear you would get tired of it. In my view, the only suitable places for you this winter are either Milan or Navarre; after that, I approve of whatever you may do, for I do not wish to vex you in anything.
Adieu, dear. The Empress is as I told you in my last letter. I am naming Madame de Montesquiou governess of the Children of France. Be contented, and do not get excited; never doubt my affection for you.
NAPOLEON.
* * * * *
_October 6th._--Wellington reaches the lines of Torres Vedras.
_November 9th._--Opening of St. Quentin Canal at Paris.
No. 10.
TO THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, AT NAVARRE.
_Fontainebleau, November 14, 1810._
_My Dear_,--I have received your letter. Hortense has spoken to me about it. I note with pleasure that you are contented. I hope that you are not very tired of Navarre.
My health is very good. The Empress progresses satisfactorily. I will do the various things you ask regarding your household. Take care of your health, and never doubt my affection for you.
NAPOLEON.
No. 11.
TO THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, AT NAVARRE.
I have your letter. I see no objection to the marriage of Mackau with Wattier, if he wishes it; this general is a very brave man. I am in good health. I hope to have a son; I shall let you know immediately.
Adieu, dear. I am very glad that Madame d'Arberg[39] has told you things which please you. When you see me, you will find me with my old affection for you.
NAPOLEON.
* * * * *
_December 3rd._--English take Mauritius.
FOOTNOTES
[38] So _Collection Didot_, followed by Aubenas. St. Amand has "ton infortunée fille."
[39] Josephine's chief maid-of-honour.
SERIES O
1811
"Nun steht das Reich gesichert, wie gegründet, Nun fühlt er froh im Sohne sich gegründet.
* * * * *
Und sei durch Sie dies letzte Glück beschieden-- Der alles wollen kann, will auch den Frieden."
--GOETHE (_Ihro der Kaiserin von Frankreich Majestät_).
SERIES O
(For subjoined Notes to this Series see pages 311-312.)
LETTER PAGE
No. 1. _The New Year_ 311 _More women than men_ 311 _Keep well_ 311
No. 2. Birth of the King of Rome 311 _Eugène_ 311
No. 4. _As fat as a good Normandy farmeress_ 312
No. 1.
TO THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, AT NAVARRE.
_Paris, January 8th, 1811._
I have your New Year's letter. I thank you for its contents. I note with pleasure that you are well and happy. I hear that there are more women than men at Navarre.
My health is excellent, though I have not been out for a fortnight. Eugène appears to have no fears about his wife; he gives you a grandson.
Adieu, dear; keep well.
NAPOLEON.
* * * * *
_February 19th._--Soult defeats Spaniards at the Gébora, near Badajoz.
_February 28th._--French occupy Duchy of Oldenburg, to complete the line of the North Sea blockade against England. This occupation embitters the Emperor of Russia and his family.
_March 10th._--Mortier captures Badajoz after a siege of 54 days.
_March 20th._--Birth of the _King of Rome_--"a pompous title buried in the tomb of the Ostrogoths."
No. 2.
TO THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, AT NAVARRE.
_Paris, March 22nd, 1811._
_My Dear_,--I have your letter. I thank you for it.
My son is fat, and in excellent health. I trust he may continue to improve. He has my chest, my mouth, and my eyes. I hope he may fulfil his destiny. I am always well pleased with Eugène; he has never given me the least anxiety.
NAPOLEON.
_April 4th._--Battle of Fuentes d'Onoro. Massena attacks English, and is repulsed.
_June 18th._--Wellington raises siege of Badajoz, and retires on Portugal.
_June 29th._--French storm Tarragona, whereupon Suchet created Marshal.
No. 3.
TO THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, AT MALMAISON.
_Trianon, August 25th, 1811._
I have your letter. I see with pleasure that you are in good health. I have been for some days at Trianon. I expect to go to Compiègne. My health is very good.
Put some order into your affairs. Spend only £60,000, and save as much every year; that will make a reserve of £600,000 in ten years for your grandchildren. It is pleasant to be able to give them something, and be helpful to them. Instead of that, I hear you have debts, which would be really too bad. Look after your affairs, and don't give to every one who wants to help himself. If you wish to please me, let me hear that you have accumulated a large fortune. Consider how ill I must think of you, if I know that you, with £125,000 a year, are in debt.
Adieu, dear; keep well.
NAPOLEON.
No. 4.
TO THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, AT MALMAISON.
_Friday_, 8 A.M., 1811.
I send to know how you are, for Hortense tells me you were in bed yesterday. I was annoyed with you about your debts. I do not wish you to have any; on the contrary, I wish you to put a million aside every year, to give to your grandchildren when they get married.
Nevertheless, never doubt my affection for you, and don't worry any more about the present embarrassment.
Adieu, dear. Send me word that you are well. They say that you are as fat as a good Normandy farmeress.
NAPOLEON.
* * * * *
_October 25th-26th._--Battle of Murviedro and capture of Sagunto: Blake and O'Donnell heavily defeated by Suchet.
_December 20th._--Senatus Consultus puts 120,000 conscripts (born in 1792) at disposal of Government for 1812.
_December 26th._--Suchet defeats Spanish, and crosses Guadalaviar.
SERIES P
1812
"'Tis the same landscape which the modern Mars saw Who march'd to Moscow, led by Fame, the siren! To lose by one month's frost, some twenty years Of conquest, and his guard of grenadiers."
--BYRON (_Don Juan_, canto x. stanza 58).
SERIES P
(For subjoined Notes to this Series see pages 312-315.)
LETTER PAGE
No. 1. Konigsberg 312
No. 2. _Gumbinnen_ 313
1812.
Montgaillard sums up his tirade against Napoleon for the Russian campaign by noting that it took the Romans _ten_ years to conquer Gaul, while Napoleon "would not give _two_ to the conquest of that vast desert of Scythia which forced Darius to flee, Alexander to draw back, Crassus to perish; where Julian terminated his career, where Valerian covered himself with shame, and which saw the disasters of Charles XII."
_January 9th._--Suchet captures Valencia, 18,000 Spanish troops, and 400 cannon. The marshal is made Duke of Albuféra.
_January 15th._--Imperial decree ordains 100,000 acres to be put under cultivation of beetroot, for the manufacture of indigenous sugar.
_January 19th._--Taking of Ciudad Rodrigo by Wellington.
_January 26th._--French, under General Friand, occupy Stralsund and Swedish Pomerania.
_February 24th._--Treaty of alliance between France and Prussia; the latter to support France in case of a war with Russia.
_March 13th._--Senatus Consultus divides the National Guards into three bans, to include all capable men not already in military service. They are not to serve outside France. A hundred cohorts, each 970 strong, of the first ban (men between 20 and 26), put at disposal of Government.
_March 14th._--Treaty between France and Austria; reciprocal help, in need, of 30,000 men and 60 guns. The integrity of European Turkey mutually guaranteed.
_March 26th._--Treaty between Russia and Sweden. Bernadotte is promised Norway by Alexander.
_April 7th._--The English take Badajoz by assault. "The French General, Philippon, with but 3000 men, has been besieged thrice within thirteen months by armies of 50,000 men" (_Montgaillard_).
_April 24th._--Alexander leaves St. Petersburg, to take command of his Grand Army.
_May 9th.--Napoleon leaves Paris for Germany._
_May 11th._--Assassination of English Prime Minister, Perceval.
_May 17th-28th.--Napoleon at Dresden; joined there by the Emperor and Empress of Austria, and a fresh_ "parterre _of kings"._
_May 28th._---Treaty of Bucharest, between Turkey and Russia. The Pruth as boundary, and Servia restored to Turkey. This treaty, so fatal to Napoleon, and of which he only heard in October, was mainly the work of Stratford de Redcliffe, then aged twenty-five. Wellington, thinking the treaty his brother's work, speaks of it as "the most important service that ever fell to the lot of any individual to perform."
No. 1.
_June 12th._--Suchet defeats an Anglo-Spanish army outside Tarragona.
TO THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, AT MALMAISON.
_June 12th, 1812._
_My Dear_,--I shall always receive news from you with great interest.
The waters will, I hope, do you good, and I shall see you with much pleasure on your return.
Never doubt the interest I feel in you. I will arrange all the matters of which you speak.
NAPOLEON.
* * * * *
_June 16th._--Lord Liverpool Prime Minister of England.
_June 18th._--United States declares war against England concerning rights of neutrals.
_June 19th._--The captive Pope (Pius VII.) brought to Fontainebleau.
No. 2.
TO THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, AT MALMAISON.
_Gumbinnen, June 20th, 1812._
I have your letter of June 10th. I see no obstacle to your going to Milan, to be near the Vice-Reine. You will do well to go _incognito_. You will find it very hot.
My health is very good. Eugène is well, and is doing good work. Never doubt the interest I have in you, and my friendship.
NAPOLEON.
* * * * *
_June 22nd.--Napoleon from his headquarters, Wilkowyszki, declares war against Russia. His army comprised 550,000 men and 1200 cannon, and he held sway at this epoch over 85,000,000 souls--half the then population of Europe._
_June 24th._--French cross the Niemen, over 450,000 strong.[40] Of these 20,000 are Italians, 80,000 from Confederation of the Rhine, 30,000 Poles, 30,000 Austrians, and 20,000 Prussians. The Russian army numbers 360,000.
_June 28th._--French enter Wilna, the old capital of Lithuania. _Napoleon remains here till July 16th, establishing a provisional government, and leaving his Foreign Minister, Maret, there._
_July 12th._--Americans invade Canada.
_July 18th._--Treaty of peace between England and Sweden; and between Russia and the Spanish Regency at Cadiz.
_July 22nd._--_Battle of Salamanca_ (Arapiles). Marmont defeated by Wellington, and badly wounded. French lose nearly 8000 men and 5000 prisoners; English loss, 5200. The Spanish Regency had decided to submit to Joseph Bonaparte, but this battle deters them. French retire behind the Douro.
_July 23rd._--Combat of Mohilow, on the Dneiper. Davoust defeats Bagration.
_July 28th._--French enter Witepsk.
_August 1st._--Treaty of alliance between Great Britain and Russia. English fleet henceforward guards the Gulf of Riga. Combat of Obaiarzma, on the bank of the Drissa. Marshal Oudinot defeats Wittgenstein. Russians lose 5000 men and 14 guns.
_August 9th._--Battle of Brownstown (near Toronto). Americans defeated; surrender August 16th with 2500 men and 33 guns to General Brock.
_August 12th._--Wellington enters Madrid.
_August 17th-18th.--Battle and capture of Smolensk. Napoleon defeats Barclay de Tolly; Russians lose 12,000, French less than half._
_August 18th._--Battle of Polotsk, fifty miles from Witepsk, down the Dwina. St. Cyr defeats Wittgenstein's much larger army, and takes 20 guns. (St. Cyr made marshal for this battle, August 27th.)
_August 19th._--Combat of Volontino-Cova, beyond Smolensk. Ney defeats Russians.
_August 27th._--Norway guaranteed Sweden in lieu of Finland by Russia.
_August 28th._--Interview at Abo, in Finland, between Alexander, Bernadotte, and Lord Cathcart (English ambassador). Decided that Sweden shall join the crusade against France, and that Moreau be imported from U.S.A. to command another army.
_August 29th._--Viazma, burnt by Russians, entered by the French.
_September 7th._--Battle of Borodino (_La Moskowa_). Nearly all the Russian generals are present: Barclay de Tolly, Beningsen, Bagration (who is killed), all under Kutusoff. Russians lose 30,000 men, French 20,000, including many generals who had survived all the campaigns of the Revolution. The French, hungry and soaked in rain, have no energy to pursue.
_September 14th._--Occupation of Moscow; fired by emissaries of Rostopchin, its late governor. Of 4000 stone houses only 200 remain, of 8000 wooden ones 500. Over 20,000 sick and wounded burnt in their beds. Fire lasts till September 20th.
_September 18th._--Russian Army of the Danube under Admiral Tschitchagow joins the Army of Reserve.
_September 26th._--Russian troops from Finland disembark at Riga.
_September 30th.--Napoleon finds a copy of Treaty of Bucharest at Moscow._
_October 11th._--Admiral Tschitchagow with 36,000 men reaches Bresc, on the Bug, threatening the French communications with Warsaw.
_October 17th-19th._--Second combat of Polotsk. Wittgenstein again defeated by St. Cyr, who is wounded.
_October 18th._--Combat of Winkowo; Kutusoff defeats Murat. Americans defeated at Queenston Heights, on the Niagara, and lose 900 men.
_October 19th._--Commencement of the Retreat from Moscow.
_October 22nd._--Burgos captured by Wellington.
_October 23rd._--Conspiracy of Malet at Paris; Cambacérès to the rescue. Evacuation of Moscow by Mortier after forty days' occupation. The French army now retreating has only half its original strength, and the best cavalry regiments boast only 100 horses.
_October 24th.--Battle of Malo-Jaroslavitz. Eugène with 17,000_ _men defeats Kutusoff with 60,000; but Napoleon finds the enemy too strong and too tenacious to risk the fertile Kaluga route._
_November 3rd._--Battle of Wiazma. Rearguard action, in which Ney and Eugène are distinguished.
_November 9th.--Napoleon reaches Smolensk and hears of Malet conspiracy._
_November 14th._--Evacuation of Smolensk.
_November 16th._--Russian Army (of the Danube) takes Minsk, and cuts off the French from the Niemen.
_November 16th-19th._--Combat of Krasnoi, twenty-five miles west of Smolensk. Kutusoff with 30,000 horse and 70,000 foot tries to stop the French, who have only 25,000 effective combatants. Magnificent fighting by Ney with his rearguard of 6000.
_November 21st._--Russians seize at Borizow the bridges over the Beresina, which are
_November 23rd._--Retaken by Oudinot.
_November 26th-28th._--French cross the Beresina, but lose 20,000 prisoners and nearly all their cannon (150).
_November 29th.--Napoleon writes Maret he has heard nothing of France or Spain for fifteen days._
_December 3rd._--Twenty-ninth bulletin dated Malodeczna, fifty miles west of Borisow.
_December 5th.--Napoleon reaches Smorgoni, and starts for France._
_December 10th._--Murat, left in command, evacuates Wilna. French retreat in utter rout; "It is not General Kutusoff who routed the French, it is General Morosow" (the frost), said the Russians.
_December 14th.--Napoleon reaches Dresden, and_
_December 18th.--Paris._
_December 19th._--Evacuation of Kovno and passage of the Niemen.
_December 20th.--Napoleon welcomed by the Senate in a speech by the naturalist Lacépède: "The absence of your Majesty, sire, is always a national calamity."_
_December 30th._--Defection of the Prussian General York and Convention of Taurogen, near Tilsit, between Russia and Prussia. This defection is the signal for the uprising of Germany from the Oder to the Rhine, from the Baltic to the Julienne Alps.
1813.
_January 5th._--Konigsberg occupied by the Russians.
_January 13th._--Senatus Consultus calls up 250,000 conscripts.
_January 22nd._--Americans defeated at Frenchtown, near Detroit, and lose 1200 men.
_January 25th.--Concordat at Fontainebleau between Napoleon and Pope Pius VII., with advantageous terms for the Papacy. The Pope, however, soon breaks faith._
_January 28th.--Murat deserts the French army for Naples, and leaves Posen. "Your husband is very brave on the battlefield, but he is weaker than a woman or a monk when he is not face to face with an enemy. He has no moral courage"_ (_Napoleon to his sister Caroline, January 24, 1813._ Brotonne, 1032). _Replaced by Eugène (Napoleon's letter dated January 22nd)._
_February 1st._--Proclamation of Louis XVIII. to the French people (dated London).
_February 8th._--Warsaw surrenders to Russia.
_February 10th._--Proclamation of Emperor Alexander calling on the people of Germany to shake off the yoke of "one man."
_February 28th._--Sixth Continental Coalition against France. Treaty signed between Russia and Prussia at Kalisch.
_March 3rd._--New treaty between England and Sweden at Stockholm: Sweden to receive a subsidy of a million sterling and the island of Guadaloupe in return for supporting the Coalition with 30,000 men.
_March 4th._--Cossacks occupy Berlin. Madison inaugurated President U.S.A.
_March 9th._--Eugène removes his headquarters to Leipsic.
_March 12th._--French evacuate Hamburg.
_March 21st._--Russians and Prussians take new town of Dresden.
_April 1st._--France declares war on Prussia.
_April 10th._--_Death of Lagrange, mathematician_; _greatly bemoaned by Napoleon, who considered his death as a "presentiment"_ (D'Abrantès).
_April 14th._--Swedish army lands in Germany.
_April 15th.--Napoleon leaves Paris; arrives Erfurt (April 25th)._ Americans take Mobile.
_April 16th._--Thorn (garrisoned by 900 Bavarians) surrenders to the Russians. Fort York (now Toronto) and
_April 27th._--Upper Canada taken by the Americans.
_May 1st._--Death of the Abbé Delille, poet. Opening of campaign. French forces scattered in Germany, 166,000 men; Allies' forces ready for action, 225,000 men. Marshal Bessières killed by a cannon-ball at Poserna.
_May 2nd.--Napoleon with 90,000 men defeats Prussians and Russians at Lutzen (Gross-Goerschen) with 110,000; French loss, 10,000. Battle won_ _chiefly by French artillery. Emperor of Russia and King of Prussia present._
_May 8th.--Napoleon and the French reoccupy Dresden._
_May 18th._--Eugène reaches Milan, and enrols an Italian army 47,000 strong.
_May 19th-21st.--Combats of Konigswartha, Bautzen, Hochkirch, Würschen. Napoleon defeats Prussians and Russians; French loss, 12,000; Allies, 20,000._
_May 23rd.--Duroc (shot on May 22nd) dies. "Duroc," said the Emperor, "there is another life. It is there you will go to await me, and there we shall meet again some day."_
_May 27th._--Americans capture Fort George (Lake Ontario) and
_May 29th._--Defeat English at Sackett's Harbour.
_May 30th._--French re-enter Hamburg and
_June 1st._--Occupy Breslau. British frigate _Shannon_ captures _Chesapeake_ in fifteen minutes outside Boston harbour.
_June 4th.--Armistice of Plesswitz, between Napoleon and the Allies._
_June 6th._--Americans (3500) surprised at Burlington Heights by 700 British.
_June 15th.--Siege of Tarragona raised by Suchet; English re-embark, leaving their artillery. "If I had had two marshals such as Suchet, I should not only have conquered Spain, but I should have kept it"_ (_Napoleon in_ Campan's Memoirs).
_June 21st._--Battle of Vittoria; total rout of the French under Marshal Jourdan and King Joseph. In retreat the army is much more harassed by the guerillas than by the English.
_June 23rd._--Admiral Cockburn defeated at Craney Island by Americans.
_June 24th._--Five hundred Americans surrender to two hundred Canadians at Beaver's Dams.
_June 25th._--Combat of Tolosa. Foy stops the advance of the English right wing.
_June 30th.--Convention at Dresden. Napoleon accepts the mediation of Austria; armistice prolonged to August 10th._
_July 1st._--Soult sent to take chief command in Spain.
_July 10th._--Alliance between France and Denmark.
_July 12th.--Congress of Prague. Austria, Prussia, and Russia decide that Germany must be independent, and the French Empire bounded by the Rhine and the Alps; "but to reign over 36,000,000 men did not appear to Napoleon a sufficiently great destiny"_ (Montgaillard). _Congress breaks up July 28th._
_July 26th._--Moreau arrives from U.S., and lands at Gothenburg.
_July 31st._--Soult attacks Anglo-Spanish army near Roncesvalles in order to succour Pampeluna. Is repulsed, with loss of 8000 men.
_August 12th._--Austria notifies its adhesion to the Allies.
_August 15th.--Jomini, the Swiss tactician, turns traitor and escapes to the Allies. He advises them of Napoleon's plans to seize Berlin and relieve Dantzic [see letter to Ney, No. 19,714, 20,006, and especially 20,360 (August 12th) in_ Correspondence]. _On August 16th Napoleon writes to Cambacérès: "Jomini, Ney's chief of staff, has deserted. It is he who published some volumes on the campaigns and who has been in the pay of Russia for a long time. He has yielded to corruption. He is a soldier of little value, yet he is a writer who has grasped some of the sound principles of war."_
_August 17th.--Renewal of hostilities in Germany. Napoleon's army, 280,000, of whom half recruits who had never seen a battle; the Allies 520,000, excluding militia. In his counter-manifesto to Austria, dated Bautzen, Napoleon declares "Austria, the enemy of France, and cloaking her ambition under the mask of a mediation, complicated everything.... But Austria, our avowed foe, is in a truer guise, and one perfectly obvious. Europe is therefore much nearer peace; there is one complication the less."_
_August 18th._--Suchet, having blown up fortifications of Tarragona, evacuates Valentia.
_August 21st._--Opening of the campaign in Italy. Eugène, with 50,000 men, commands the Franco-Italian army.
_August 23rd._--Combats of Gross-Beeren and Ahrensdorf, near Berlin. Bernadotte defeats Oudinot with loss of 1500 men and 20 guns. Berlin is preserved to the Allies. Oudinot replaced by Ney. Lauriston defeats Army of Silesia at Goldberg with heavy loss.
_August 26th-27th.--Battle of Dresden.--Napoleon marches a hundred miles in seventy hours to the rescue. With less than 100,000 men he defeats the Allied Army of 180,000 under Schwartzenberg, Wittgenstein, and Kleist. Austrians lose 20,000 prisoners and 60 guns. Moreau is mortally wounded (dies September 1st)._ Combat of the Katzbach, in Silesia. Blucher defeats Macdonald with heavy loss, who loses 10,000 to 12,000 men in his retreat.
_August 30th._--Combat of Kulm. Vandamme enveloped in Bohemia, and surrenders with 12,000 men.
_August 31st._--Combat of Irun. Soult attacks Wellington to save San Sebastian, but is repulsed. Graham storms San Sebastian.
_September 6th._--Combat of Dennewitz (near Berlin). Ney routed by Bulow and Bernadotte; loses his artillery, baggage, and 12,000 men.
_September 10th_--Americans capture the English flotilla on Lake Erie.
_September 12th._--Combat of Villafranca (near Barcelona). Suchet defeats English General Bentinck.
_October 7th._--Wellington crosses the Bidassoa into France. "It is on the frontier of France itself that ends the enterprise of Napoleon on Spain. The Spaniards have given the first conception of a people's war versus a war of professionals. For it would be a mistake to think that the battles of Salamanca (July 22nd, 1812) and Vittoria (June 21st, 1813) forced the French to abandon the Peninsula.... It was the daily losses, the destruction of man by man, the drops of French blood falling one by one, which in five years aggregated a death-roll of 150,000 men. As to the English, they appeared in this war only as they do in every world-crisis, to gather, in the midst of general desolation, the fruits of their policy, and to consolidate their plans of maritime despotism, of exclusive commerce" (Montgaillard).
_October 15th._--Bavarian army secedes and joins the Austrians.
_October 16th-19th.--Battles of Leipsic._ _Allied army_ 330,000 men (_Schwartzenberg_, _Bernadotte_, _Blucher_, _Beningsen_), _Napoleon_ 175,000. _Twenty-six battalions and ten squadrons of Saxon and Wurtemberg men leave Napoleon and turn their guns against the French. Napoleon is not defeated, but determines to retreat. The rearguard (20,000 men) and 200 cannon taken. Poniatowski drowned; Reynier and Lauriston captured._
_October 20th._--Blucher made Field-Marshal.
_October 23rd._--French army reach Erfurt.
_October 30th.--Combat of Hanau. Napoleon defeats Wrede with heavy loss._
_October 31st._--Combat and capture of Bassano by Eugène. English capture Pampeluna.
_November 2nd.--Napoleon arrives at Mayence (where typhus carries off 40,000 French), and is_
_November 9th.--At St. Cloud._
_November 10th._--Wellington defeats Soult at St. Jean de Luz.
_November 11th._--Surrender of Dresden by Gouvion St. Cyr; its French soldiers to return under parole to France. Austrians refuse to ratify the convention, and 1700 officers and 23,000 men remain prisoners of war.
_November 14th.--Napoleon addresses the Senate: "All Europe marched with us a year ago; all Europe marches against us to-day. That is because the world's opinion is directed either by France or England."_
_November 15th._--Eugène defeats Austrians at Caldiero. Senatus-Consultus puts 300,000 conscripts at disposal of government.
_November 24th._--Capture of Amsterdam by Prussian General Bulow.
_December 1st._--Allies declare at Frankfort that they are at war with the Emperor and not with France.
_December 2nd._--Bulow occupies Utrecht. Holland secedes from the French Empire.
_December 5th._--Capture of Lubeck by the Swedes, and surrender of Stettin (7000 prisoners), Zamosk (December 22nd), Modlin (December 25th), and Torgau (December 26th, with 10,000 men).
_December 8th-13th._--Soult defends the passage of the Nive--costly to both sides. Murat (now hostile to Napoleon) enters Ancona.
_December 9th-10th._--French evacuate Breda.
_December 11th.--Treaty of Valençay between Napoleon and his prisoner Ferdinand VII., who is to reign over Spain, but not to cede Minorca or Ceuta (now in their power} to the English._
_December 15th._--Denmark secedes from French alliance.
_December 21st._--Allies, 100,000 strong, cross the Rhine in ten divisions (Bâle to Schaffhausen). Jomini is said to have contributed to this violation of Swiss territory.
_December 24th._--Final evacuation of Holland by the French.
_December 28th._--Austrians capture Ragusa.
_December 31st.--Napoleon, having trouble with his Commons, dissolves the Corps Législatif._ Austrians capture Geneva. Blucher crosses the Rhine at Mannheim and Coblentz. Exclusive of Landwehr and levies en masse, there are now a million trained men in arms against Napoleon.
* * * * *
1814.
"The Allied Powers having proclaimed that the Emperor Napoleon was the sole obstacle to the re-establishment of the Peace of Europe, the Emperor Napoleon, faithful to his oath, declares that he renounces, for himself and his heirs, the thrones of France and Italy, and that there is no personal sacrifice, even that of life itself, that he will not be ready to make for the sake of France."--(_Act of Abdication._)
* * * * *
_January 1st._--Capitulation of Danzic, which General Rapp had defended for nearly a year, having lost 20,000 (out of 30,000) men by fever. Russians, who had promised to send the French home, break faith, following the example of Schwartzenberg at Dresden.
_January 2nd._--Russians take Fort Louis (Lower Rhine); and
_January 3rd._--Austrians Montbéliard; and Bavarians Colmar.
_January 6th._--General York occupies Trèves. Convention between Murat and England and (January 11th) with Austria. Murat is to join Allies with 30,000 men.
_January 7th._--Austrians occupy Vesoul.
_January 8th._--French Rentes 5 per cents. at 47.50. Wurtemberg troops occupy Epinal.
_January 10th._--General York reaches Forbach (on the Moselle).
_January 15th._--Cossacks occupy Cologne.
_January 16th._--Russians occupy Nancy.
_January 19th._--Austrians occupy Dijon; Bavarians, Neufchâteau. Murat's troops occupy Rome.
_January 20th._--Capture of Toul by the Russians; and of Chambéry by the Austrians.
_January 21st._--Austrians occupy Châlons-sur-Saône. General York crosses the Meuse.
_January 23rd._--Pope Pius VII. returns to Rome.
_January 25th._--General York and Army of Silesia established at St. Dizier and Joinville on the Marne. Austrians occupy Bar-sur-Aube. _Napoleon leaves Paris; and_
_January 26th.--Reaches Châlons-sur-Marne; and_
_January 27th.--Retakes St. Dizier in person._
_January 29th.--Combat of Brienne. Napoleon defeats Blucher._
_February 1st._--Battle of La Rothière, six miles north of Brienne. French, 40,000; Allies, 110,000. Drawn battle, but French retreat on Troyes; French evacuate Brussels.
_February 4th._--Eugène retires upon the Mincio.
_February 5th.--Cortes disavow Napoleon's treaty of Valençay with Ferdinand VII._ Opening of Congress of Châtillon. General York occupies Châlons-sur-Marne.
_February 7th._--Allies seize Troyes.
_February 8th._--Battle of the Mincio. Eugène with 30,000 conscripts defeats Austrians under Bellegarde with 50,000 veterans.
_February 10th.--Combat of Champaubert. Napoleon defeats Russians._
_February 11th.--Combat of Montmirail. Napoleon defeats Sacken. Russians occupy Nogent-sur-Seine; and_
_February 12th.--Laon._
_February 14th.--Napoleon routs Blucher at Vauchamp. His losses, 10,000 men; French loss, 600 men. In five days Napoleon has wiped out the five corps of the Army of Silesia, inflicting a loss of 25,000 men._
_February 17th.--Combat near Nangis. Napoleon defeats Austro-Russians with loss of 10,000 men and 12 cannon._
_February 18th._--Combat of Montereau. Prince Royal of Wurtemberg defeated with loss of 7000.
_February 21st._--Comte d'Artois arrives at Vesoul.
_February 22nd._--Combat of Méry-sur-Seine. Sacken defeated by Boyer's Division, who fight in masks--it being Shrove Tuesday.
_February 24th._--French re-enter Troyes.
_February 27th._--Bulow captures La Fère with large stores. Battle of Orthes (Pyrenees), Wellington with 70,000 defeats Soult entrenched with 38,000. Foy badly wounded.
_February 27th-28th._--Combats of Bar and Ferté-sur-Aube. Marshals Oudinot and Macdonald forced to retire on the Seine.
_March 1st._--Treaty of Chaumont--Allies against Napoleon.
_March 2nd._--Bulow takes Soissons.
_March 4th._--Macdonald evacuates Troyes.
_March 7th.--Battle of Craonne between Napoleon (30,000 men) and Sacken (100,000)._ Indecisive.
_March 9th._--English driven from Berg-op-Zoom.
_March 9th-10th.--Combat under Laon: depôt of Allied army. Napoleon fails to capture it._
_March 12th._--Duc d'Angoulême arrives at Bordeaux. This town is the first to declare for the Bourbons, and to welcome him as Louis XVIII.
_March 13th._--Ferdinand VII. set at liberty.
_March 14th.--Napoleon retakes Rheims from the Russians._
_March 19th._--Rupture of Treaty of Châtillon.
_March 20th._--Battle of Tarbes. Wellington defeats French.
_March 20th-21st._--Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube. Indecisive.
_March 21st._--Austrians enter Lyons. Augereau retires on Valence. Had Eugène joined him with his 40,000 men he might have saved France after Vauchamp.
_March 25th._--Combat of Fère-Champenoise. Marmont and Mortier defeated with loss of 9000 men.
_March 26th.--Combat of St. Dizier. Napoleon defeats Russians, and starts to save Paris._
_March 29th.--Allies outside Paris. Napoleon at Troyes (125 miles off)._
_March 30th.--Battle of Paris._ The Emperor's orders disobeyed. Heavy cannon from Cherbourg left outside Paris, also 20,000 men. Clarke deserts to the Allies. Joseph runs away, leaving Marmont permission to capitulate. After losing 5000 men (and Allies 8000) Marmont evacuates Paris and retires. _Napoleon reaches Fontainebleau in the evening, and hears the bad news._
_March 31st._--Emperor of Russia, King of Prussia, and 36,000 men enter Paris. Stocks and shares advance. Emperor Alexander states, "The Allied Sovereigns will treat no longer with Napoleon Bonaparte, nor any of his family."
_April 1st._--Senate, with Talleyrand as President, institute a Provisional Government.
_April 2nd._--Provisional Government address the army: "You are no longer the soldiers of Napoleon; the Senate and the whole of France absolve you from your oaths." They also declare Napoleon deposed from the throne, and his family from the succession.
_April 4th.--Napoleon signs a declaration of abdication in favour of his son, but after two days' deliberation, and Marmont's defection, Alexander insists on an absolute abdication._
_April 5th._--Convention of Chevilly. Marmont agrees to join the Provisional Government, and disband his army under promise that Allies will guarantee life and liberty to Napoleon Bonaparte. Funds on March 29th at 45, now at 63.75.
_April 6th._--New Constitution decreed by the Senate. The National Guard ordered to wear the White Cockade in lieu of the Tricolor.
_April 10th._--Battle of Toulouse. Hotly contested; almost a defeat for Wellington.
_April 11th.--Treaty of Paris between Napoleon and Allies (Austria, Russia, and Prussia). Isle of Elba reserved for Napoleon and his family, with a revenue of £200,000; the Duchies of Parma and Placentia for Marie Louise and her son. England accedes to this Treaty. Act of Abdication of the Emperor Napoleon._
_April 12th._--Count d'Artois enters Paris.
_April 16th._--Convention between Eugène and Austrian General Bellegarde. Emperor of Austria sees Marie Louise at the little Trianon, and decides upon his daughter's return to Vienna.
_April 18th._--Armistice of Soult and Wellington.
_April 20th.--Napoleon leaves Fontainebleau, and bids adieu to his Old Guard: "Do not mourn over my fate; if I have determined to survive, it is in order still to dedicate myself to your glory; I wish to write about the great things we have done together."_
_April 24th._--Louis XVIII. lands at Calais, and
_May 3rd._---Enters Paris.
_May 4th.---Napoleon reaches Elba._
_May 29th.--Death of Josephine, aged 51._
_May 30th.--Peace of Paris._
FOOTNOTES
[40] Averaged from early historians of the campaigns. Marbot gives the numbers 155,400 French and 175,000 Allies. Allowing for the secession of the Austrian and Prussian contingents and for 30,000 prisoners, he gives the actual French death-roll by February 1813 at 65,000. This is a minimum estimate.
NOTES
_THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGNS, 1796-97_
SERIES A
(_The numbers correspond to the numbers of the Letters._)
No. 1.
_Bonaparte made Commander-in-Chief of the Army of Italy._--Marmont's account of how this came to pass is probably substantially correct, as he has less interest in distorting the facts than any other writer as well fitted for the task. The winter had rolled by in the midst of pleasures--soirées at the Luxembourg, dinners of Madame Tallien, "nor," he adds, "were we hard to please." "The Directory often conversed with General Bonaparte about the army of Italy, whose general--Schérer--was always representing the position as difficult, and never ceasing to ask for help in men, victuals, and money. General Bonaparte showed, in many concise observations, that all that was superfluous. He strongly blamed the little advantage taken from the victory at Loano, and asserted that, even yet, all that could be put right. Thus a sort of controversy was maintained between Schérer and the Directory, counselled and inspired by Bonaparte." At last when Bonaparte drew up plans--afterwards followed--for the invasion of Piedmont, Schérer replied roughly that he who had drawn up the plan of campaign had better come and execute it. They took him at his word, and Bonaparte was named General-in-Chief of the army of Italy (vol. i. 93).
"_7 A.M._"--Probably written early in March. Leaving Paris on March 11th, Napoleon writes Letourneur, President of the Directory, of his marriage with the "citoyenne Tascher Beauharnais," and tells him that he has already asked Barras to inform them of the fact. "The confidence which the Directory has shown me under all circumstances makes it my duty to keep it advised of all my actions. It is a new link which binds me to the fatherland; it is one more proof of my fixed determination to find safety only in the Republic."[41]
No. 2.
"_Our good Ossian._"--The Italian translation of Ossian by Cesarotti was a masterpiece; better, in fact, than the original. He was a friend of Macpherson, and had learnt English in order to translate his work. Cesarotti lived till an advanced age, and was sought out in his retirement in order to receive honours and pensions from the Emperor Napoleon.
"Our good Ossian" speaks, like Homer, of the joy of grief.
No. 4.
"_Chauvet is dead._"--Chauvet is first mentioned in Napoleon's correspondence in a letter to his brother Joseph, August 9, 1795. Mdme. Junot, _Memoirs_, i. 138, tells us that Bonaparte was very fond of him, and that he was a man of gentle manners and very ordinary conversation. She declares that Bonaparte had been a suitor for the hand of her mother shortly before his marriage with Josephine, and that because the former rejected him, the general had refused a favour to her son; this had caused a quarrel which Chauvet had in vain tried to settle. On March 27th Bonaparte had written Chauvet from Nice that every day that he delayed joining him, "takes away from my operations one chance of probability for their success."
No. 5.
St. Amand notes that Bonaparte begins to suspect his wife in this letter, while the previous ones, especially that of April 3rd, show perfect confidence. Napoleon is on the eve of a serious battle, and has only just put his forces into fighting trim. On the previous day (April 6th) he wrote to the Directory that the movement against Genoa, of which he does not approve, has brought the enemy out of their winter quarters almost before he has had time to make ready. "The army is in a state of alarming destitution; I have still great difficulties to surmount, but they are surmountable: misery has excused want of discipline, and without discipline never a victory. I hope to have all in good trim shortly--there are signs already; in a few days we shall be fighting. The Sardinian army consists of 50,000 foot, and 5000 horse; I have only 45,000 men at my disposal, all told. Chauvet, the commissary-general, died at Genoa: it is a heavy loss to the army, he was active and enterprising."
Two days later Napoleon, still at Albenga, reports that he has found Royalist traitors in the army, and complains that the Treasury had not sent the promised pay for the men, "but in spite of all, we shall advance." Massena, eleven years older than his new commander-in-chief, had received him coldly, but soon became his right-hand man, always genial, and full of good ideas. Massena's men are ill with too much salt meat, they have hardly any shoes, but, as in 1800,[42] he has never a doubt that Bonaparte will make a good campaign, and determines to loyally support him. Poor Laharpe, so soon to die, is a man of a different stamp--one of those, doubtless, of whom Bonaparte thinks when he writes to Josephine, "Men worry me." The Swiss, in fact, was a chronic grumbler, but a first-rate fighting man, even when his men were using their last cartridges.
"_The lovers of nineteen._"--The allusion is lost. Aubenas, who reproduces two or three of these letters, makes a comment to this sentence, "Nous n'avons pu trouver un nom à mettre sous cette fantasque imagination" (vol. i. 317).
"_My brother_," viz. Joseph.--He and Junot reached Paris in five days, and had a great ovation. Carnot, at a dinner-party, showed Napoleon's portrait next to his heart, because "I foresee he will be the saviour of France, and I wish him to know that he has at the Directory only admirers and friends."
No. 6.
_Unalterably good._--"C'est Joseph peint d'un seul trait."--Aubenas (vol. i. 320).
"_If you want a place for any one, you can send him here. I will give him one._"--Bonaparte was beginning to feel firm in the saddle, while at Paris Josephine was treated like a princess. Under date April 25th, Letourneur, as one of the Directory, writes him, "A vast career opens itself before you; the Directory has measured the whole extent of it." They little knew! The letter concludes by expressing confidence that their general will never be reproached with the shameful repose of Capua. In a further letter, bearing the same date, Letourneur insists on a full and accurate account of the battles being sent, as they will be necessary "for the history of the triumphs of the Republic." In a private letter to the Directory (No. 220, vol. i. of the _Correspondence_, 1858), dated Carru, April 24th, Bonaparte tells them that when he returns to camp, worn-out, he has to work all night to put matters straight, and repress pillage. "Soldiery without bread work themselves into an excess of frenzy which makes one blush to be a man."[43]... "I intend to make terrible examples. I shall restore order, or cease to command these brigands. The campaign is not yet decided. The enemy is desperate, numerous, and fights well. He knows I am in want of everything, and trusts entirely to time; but I trust entirely to the good genius of the Republic, to the bravery of the soldiers, to the harmony of the officers, and even to the confidence they repose in me."
No. 7.
Aubenas goes into ecstasies over this letter, "the longest, most eloquent, and most impassioned of the whole series" (vol. i. 322).
Facsimile of Letter dated April 24, 1796.