World's Best Histories Part 18

The emperor had correctly judged the precarious condition of the French power in Spain; he had reckoned, and he still reckoned, on the success of his arms. The military counsellor whom he had left near his brother possessed neither his esteem nor his confidence. Marshal Jourdan was a cold and prudent spirit, always imbued with the military habits of the French Revolution, and had never courted the favor of Napoleon; King Joseph was attached to him, and had brought him with him to Naples. The lieutenants of the emperor showed him no deference; it was, however, by his agency that the orders of the minister of war pa.s.sed to the staff- officers at Madrid. Already, and by the express instructions of the emperor, Marshal Soult was on march for Portugal. His rapid triumphs did not appear doubtful; and the operations of Marshal Victor in the south of Spain were to be dependent on the succors that were to reach him when Lisbon was conquered. The difficulties everywhere opposed to Marshal Soult by the pa.s.sionate insurrection of the Portuguese population, however, r.e.t.a.r.ded his march. He only arrived on the banks of the Minho on the 15th of February; the peasants had taken away the boats. An attempted pa.s.sage near the mouth of the river having failed, the _corps d'armee_ was compelled to reascend its course, after a series of partial combats against the forces of the Marquis of Romana, who had given his support to the Portuguese insurrection. When he had at length succeeded in crossing the Minho at Orense, Soult seized successively the towns of Chaves and Braga, which were scarcely defended. The chiefs of the insurgents had been constrained by their soldiers to this useless show of resistance, General Frere having been ma.s.sacred by the militia whom he ordered to evacuate Braga. At Oporto the disorder was extreme; the population fought under the orders of the bishop. The attack had been cleverly arranged. At the moment when the bewildered crowd was pressing tumultuously over the bridge of boats across the Douro, the cables broke; men, women, and children were engulfed in the waves. In spite of the efforts of the general, the city was sacked. The long wars, the rude life of the camps, the daily habit of subsisting by pillage, had little by little relaxed the bonds of discipline. Marshal Soult established himself at Oporto, incapable of advancing even to Lisbon with his forces reduced by garrisoning towns, in presence of the English troops, who had not ceased to occupy the capital.

He could not, or he would not make known at Madrid the position in which he found himself. Behind him the insurrection had closed every pa.s.sage. He found himself isolated in Portugal, and conceived the thought of submitting the environs of Oporto to a regular and pacific government, re- establis.h.i.+ng order all round, and constantly attentive to gain the favor of important persons. Perhaps the marshal raised his hopes even to the foundation of an independent and personal power, more durable than imperial conquests. It was with his consent that the draft of a popular p.r.o.nunciamento was circulated in the provinces of Minho and Oporto, praying "his Excellency the Duke of Dalmatia to take the reins of government, to represent the sovereign, and to invest himself with all the attributes of supreme authority, until the emperor might designate a prince of his house or of his choice to reign over Portugal."

The sentiments of the army were divided, and an opposition was preparing to the schemes of the marshal, when the latter learned that an enemy more redoubtable than the Portuguese insurrection was threatening him in this province, where he had dreamed of founding a kingdom. Sir Arthur Wellesley had arrived at Lisbon on the 22nd of April, with reinforcements which swelled the English _corps d'armee_ to 25,000 men; fifteen or twenty thousand Portuguese soldiers marched under his orders; a crowd of insurgents impeded rather than aided his operations. He advanced immediately against Marshal Soult, now for five weeks immovable at Oporto.

On the 2nd of May he was at Coimbra. Well informed of the plots which were preparing at Oporto, to which a French officer named Argentan had been engaged to lend a hand, he resolved upon attacking as speedily as possible the positions of the marshal. When the latter was informed of the projects of the English general, retreat was already cut off in the valley of the Tamega by a strong a.s.semblage of the insurgents, and in the valley of the Douro by the English general Beresford. Only one route remained still open to Marshal Soult--by Braga and the provinces of the north. Retreat was resolved upon, the powder saturated, the field artillery horsed; the departure was ordered for twelve at noon, and a part of the army was already defiling on the road to Amarante.

In the night between the 11th and 12th two English battalions had crossed the Douro at Avinto, three leagues above Oporto, collecting all the vessels which were to be found on the river, and descending the course of the stream under cover of the darkness. The army of Sir Arthur Wellesley had meanwhile occupied the suburbs of the left bank, concealing his movements behind the heights of La Sarca. Marshal Soult was ignorant of that operation. At daybreak a small body of picked men, boldly crossing the river within sight of our soldiers, took possession of an enclosure called the Seminary. Entrenching themselves there, and constantly receiving new reinforcements, the English made a desperate defence against the attempts of General Delaborde. The main body of the enemy's army beginning to fill all the streets of Oporto, the marshal at once sounded retreat, and the wounded and sick were left to the care of the English.

When, on the evening of the 12th, the army reached the town of Baltar, Soult learned that the roads by Braga had been intercepted, as well as by the valley of the Douro. General Loison, unable to force the pa.s.sage of the Tamega, had evacuated Amarante. The roads from the north would bring the army back to the suburbs of Oporto. The marshal, not wis.h.i.+ng to risk a fresh encounter with the enemy, at once made up his mind to sacrifice without hesitation his baggage, ammunition, artillery, and even the greater part of the treasure of the army, to enter the mountain pa.s.ses, and join at Guimaraens the divisions which had preceded him. When at last the army reached Orense, after seven days' marching, varied by small skirmishes, the soldiers were exhausted and depressed. Portugal was for the second time lost to us. Marshal Soult immediately marched towards Galicia, which had for two months been the theatre of Ney's operations, and freed Lugo, while that marshal was making a brilliant expedition in the Asturias along with General Kellermann. The two chiefs made an arrangement as to the measures to be taken against the insurgents who had a.s.sembled at St. Jago under the orders of the Marquis Romana; after which Soult was to march upon Old Castile as far as Zamora, to be near the English, who were said to be threatening the south of Portugal. Ney proposed to attack Vigo, where General Noriena had fortified himself, supported by the crews of several English vessels. From the very first, since the junction of the two armies, both officers and soldiers had exchanged keen and bitter recrimination. A better feeling, however, had reappeared, and the mutual good-will of the chiefs for each other silenced the ill-disposed. After their separation, Ney freed St. Jago; but after advancing to the suburbs of Vigo, and seeing its strong position, he waited for the result of Soult's movement against Romana.

Several days having elapsed, he learned that, after driving Romana back to Orense without fighting, and staying several days at Montforte, the marshal had taken the road to Zamora, without replying to the letters of his companion-in-arms. From information received from Lugo, Ney was persuaded that Soult's project had long been premeditated, and that he had of deliberate purpose broken the bargain stipulated between them. His anger burst forth with a violence proportioned to the frankness he had shown when treating with Soult, and this anger was shared by the officers and soldiers of his army. He at once determined to evacuate Galicia, which was threatened both by the English and the Spanish insurgents. Leaving a strong garrison at Ferrol, Ney slowly advanced towards Lugo, where he collected the sick and wounded left by Soult, and then returned to Astorga, in the beginning of July. He wrote to King Joseph: "If I had wished to resolve to leave Galicia without artillery, I could have remained there longer, at the risk of being hemmed in; but, avoiding such a mode of departure, I have retreated, bringing with me my sick and wounded, as well as those of Marshal Soult, left in my charge. I inform your Majesty that I have decided not to serve again in company with Marshal Soult."

King Joseph now had a most troublesome complication, and a position that daily became more serious. At one time, in April, he was in hopes of seeing his affairs right themselves again, in spite of the absence of all news of Soult's operations in Portugal. Marshal Victor, urged by the King of Spain and by his staff to obey the emperor's instructions and invade Andalusia, had crossed the Tagus in three columns, and, reforming again on the Guadiana, had, after pa.s.sing that river, joined near Medellin Don Gregorio de la Cuesta, who retreated for several days before him. A severe battle having dispersed those large forces of the Spanish insurgents, on the 28th March, the marshal took up his position on the banks of the Guadiana, at the very time when General Sebastiani, at the head of two divisions, was defeating the army of Estremadura at Ciudad Real, and driving it back to the entrance of the Sierra Morena. There they awaited the movement ordered in the instructions given to Soult, the pivot of the whole campaign, projected by Napoleon before his departure for Paris. It was in Germany, just after the battle of Essling, that the emperor learned of the check caused to all his combinations by Soult's immobility at Oporto. Obstinate in directing himself the operations of armies at a distance, without the power of taking into account the state of public opinion, and without any knowledge of all that had occurred between the departure of the couriers and the arrival of peremptory orders no longer suitable to the situation, the emperor conceived the idea of concentrating three armies under one man. Making all personal considerations bend to the order of seniority, he entrusted the command to Marshal Soult, thus investing him with supreme authority over Marshals Mortier and Ney. The order reached Madrid at the moment when the leaders of the armies were most keenly antagonistic. "You will send a staff-officer to Spain,"

Napoleon had written to the minister of war, "with the orders that the forces of the Duke of Elchingen, the Duke of Trevisa, and the Duke of Dalmatia will form only one army, under the command of the Duke of Dalmatia. These forces must only move together, to march against the English, pursue them incessantly, defeat them, and throw them into the sea. Putting all considerations aside, I give the command to the Duke of Dalmatia, as being senior in rank. These forces ought to form from 50,000 to 60,000 men, and if the junction is promptly effected, the English will be destroyed, and the affairs of Spain arranged finally. But they must keep together, and not march in small parties. That principle applies to every country, but especially to a country where there can be no communication. I cannot appoint a place for the armies to meet, because I do not know what events have taken place. Forward this order to the king, to the Duke of Dalmatia, and to the two other marshals, by four different roads."

Whilst thus writing, constantly and justly apprehensive of the danger caused by the English army, Napoleon was still ignorant of the evacuation of Portugal. "Let your instructions to them be, to attack the enemy wherever they meet him," he said three days previously to General Clarke, "to renew their communications with the Duke of Dalmatia, and support him on the Minho. The English alone are to be feared; alone, if the army is not directed differently, they will in a few months lead it to a catastrophe."

The order sent by the emperor necessarily a.s.sisted in bringing about the catastrophe of which he was afraid. Marshal Soult, being deceived as to the plan of the English, and meditating an attack upon Portugal by Ciudad Rodrigo, wished to concentrate large forces for this purpose. He sent for Marshal Mortier, who was posted at Villacastin, where he covered Madrid, and demanded reinforcements from Aragon and Catalonia. The latter troops were refused him, and Generals Suchet and St. Cyr had great difficulty in keeping those two provinces in respect. Marshal Jourdan had foreseen the attack of the English on the Tagus, and was anxious about the position of Marshal Victor, isolated in Andalusia. Like the other leaders, the marshal acted independently, without attending to the orders from Madrid: he found himself compelled to fall back upon Talavera.

He was not to hold that post long. In spite of the extreme difficulty experienced by Sir Arthur Wellesley in maintaining a good understanding with his Spanish allies, he had marched to attack Marshal Victor, to whom King Joseph was sending reinforcements as quickly as he could. About 22,000 English soldiers were now on the field, reduced to such scarcity of provisions and money as to cause pillage and disorder, in spite of their commander's anger. Don Cuesta, with about 40,000 men under his orders, had been appointed, much against his will, to occupy the mountain pa.s.ses. A Spanish army of 30,000 men, collected by General Venegas, was expected to join the two princ.i.p.al armies. On leaving Madrid, with the forces at his disposal, King Joseph had impressed upon Soult the necessity of attacking the enemy's rear, so that the Anglo-Spanish army might be crushed between superior forces. The marshal announced his departure.

Victor had had time to fall back upon Vargas, behind the Guadarama. Sir Arthur Wellesley crossed the Alberche, a tributary of the Tagus, and as soon as he found himself in presence of the enemy, wished to offer battle, urging Cuesta to join him in attacking Victor before the arrival of the enemy's reinforcements. The Spanish general declared that his honor was at stake in holding his positions, and absolutely refused to fight. The English alone, had not men enough at their disposal to contend with the French troops. Scarcely had the latter commenced their retreat when the Spanish, suddenly seized with the ardor of battle, rushed in pursuit, complaining that the "rascals withdrew so fast," wrote Cuesta to Wellesley, "that one cannot follow them in their flight." "If you run like that, you will get beaten," replied the English general, scornfully, annoyed at seeing himself perpetually thwarted in his able plans.

In fact when the Spaniards, a few days afterwards, at last engaged with the French, Marshal Victor's advance-guard were sufficient to drive Cuesta back as far as the English battalions, which had been prudently told off to support him. The fighting was gallant on the part of our troops, and helped to excite their ardor. King Joseph was urged to join battle: he feared an attack on Madrid, which he had been compelled to leave undefended, and reckoned upon the rapid movements of Soult, who had received orders to advance with all haste from Salamanca to Placentia. He had no experience of war, and neglected to take into account the chances of delay and the loss of troops during the march. Marshal Victor was daring, full of contempt for the Spanish troops, and ignorant of the qualities of the English army, which had not for a long time been seen on the continent. The French army advanced upon Talavera, which was strongly held by Sir Arthur. Hampered by the obstinacy and want of discipline of his Spanish allies, the English general had relinquished all attempts at daring, entrenching himself on the defensive. Marshal Soult had not arrived, being unable, he wrote, to effect his operation on the enemy's rear before the beginning of August. On the 27th of July, however, on occupying the ground before the English positions at Talavera, Victor gave orders to attack a height which was badly defended, and was driven back with heavy loss. Marshal Jourdan insisted on a delay of a few days, to allow Soult time to arrive; but the anxiety of King Joseph, and Victor's impatience, gained the day, and on the 28th, at daybreak, they attacked the mamelon, already threatened on the 27th.

Our troops gained the top under the English fire, but Sir Arthur had doubled the ranks of those in defence, and a terrible charge under General Hill compelled the French again to abandon the position.

The check was serious, and the soldiers began to be discouraged. By common consent, and without orders given by the leaders, the fight ceased. The English and French crowded on the two banks of a small brook which separated the two armies, and all quenched their thirst, without suspicion of treason or perfidy, and without a single shot being fired on either side. The French generals again discussed the question of resuming hostilities. "If this mamelon is not taken," exclaimed Victor, impetuously, "we should not take any part in a campaign." King Joseph, deficient in authority both of position and character, gave way. Sir Arthur Wellesley, seated on the gra.s.s at the top of a hill, surveyed the enemy's lines, and the defences, which he had just strengthened by a division, and a battery of artillery obtained with great difficulty from Cuesta. Till then the English had borne the brunt of the fighting; on General Donkin coming to tell Sir Arthur that the Spanish were betraying him, the general-in-chief quietly said, "Go back to your division." The attack was again begun, and this time directed against the whole line of the English positions, while Village's brigade turned the mamelon to a.s.sail them in flank.

At this moment a charge of the enemy's cavalry poured upon our columns. A German regiment followed Seymour's dragoons, but were stopped by a watercourse, and pulled up: the English hors.e.m.e.n alone, boldly crossing the obstacle, made a furious attack on the French ranks, which opened to let them pa.s.s. In their daring impetuosity the dragoons went as far as our rear-guard, where they were stopped by new forces, and finally brought back with great loss to the foot of the mamelon. They stopped the flank movement however; and the centre of the English army, shaken for a moment, formed again round Colonel Donellan after a brilliant charge, and our soldiers were again driven back towards their position. The losses were great on both sides. The English did not attempt to pursue their advantages, and when the fight had ceased were satisfied with encamping on the heights of Talavera. Next day the French army withdrew beyond the Alberche without being disturbed by the enemy, and waited finally for Marshal Soult's arrival.

He appeared on the 2nd of August at Placentia, too late for his glory as well as for the success of the French arms, though in time to modify Wellesley's plans. The latter had commenced to advance towards him, thinking he should meet forces inferior to his own; but Mortier had already followed Soult, Ney's troops were advancing by Salamanca, and King Joseph was preparing to put under him all his regiments, except those accompanying General Sebastiani in his march towards Madrid. Sir Arthur Wellesley understood the dangers of his position: his troops were tired, and badly fed; and not wis.h.i.+ng to risk again the lot of arms, he hurriedly re-crossed the Tagus, taking care to blow the bridges up, and fell back upon Truxillo, by the rugged mountain pa.s.ses. The want of a proper understanding, and the mutual distrust which during the whole campaign had reigned between the English and Spanish, had borne their fruits.

Wellesley's soldiers, deprived of the resources to which they had been accustomed, and which they had a right to expect from their allies, died in great numbers in their encampments on the bank of the Guadiana: their wounded had been abandoned at Talavera, when Cuesta evacuated that position. Sir Arthur gave vent to his bitter complaints in writing to Frere, the English _charge d'affaires_ at the insurgents' head-quarters: "I wish the members of the Junta, before blaming me for not doing more, and charging me beforehand with the probable results of the faults and imprudence of others, would be good enough to come here, or send somebody to supply the wants of our army dying of hunger, and actually after fighting two days, and defeating in the service of Spain an enemy of twice their number, without bread to eat. It is a positive fact that for the last seven days the English army has not received a third of its provisions, that at this moment there are 4000 wounded soldiers dying for want of the care and necessaries which any other country in the world would have supplied, even to its enemies, and that I can derive a.s.sistance of no kind from the country. I cannot even get leave to bury the dead bodies in the neighborhood. We are told that the Spanish troops sometimes behave well: I confess that I have never seen them behave otherwise than badly."

The emperor's anger was extreme on learning the check our troops had received at Talavera. He wrote to Marshal Jourdan, indignantly recapitulating all the blunders made during the campaign, without at all considering the difficulties everywhere caused by orders sent from a distance, in ignorance of the actual facts of the situation. "When at last they decided to give battle," Napoleon summed up, "it was done without energy, since my arms were disgraced. Battle should not be given, unless seventy chances in one's favor can be counted upon beforehand: even then, one should not offer battle unless there are no more chances to be hoped for, since the lot of battle is from its nature always doubtful: but once the resolution is taken, one must conquer or perish, and the French eagles must not withdraw till all have equally put forth every effort. There must have been a combination of all these faults before an army like my army of Spain could have been beaten by 30,000 English: but so long as they will attack good troops, like the English ones, in good positions, without reconnoitring these positions, without being certain of carrying them, they will lead my men to death, and for nothing at all."

The Spanish armies were, after the battle scattered everywhere, according to their custom, to appear again in a short time like swarms of wasps to hara.s.s our soldiers. Sir Arthur Wellesley entrenched himself at Badajoz, ready to fall back upon Portugal. No definitive result had crowned the b.l.o.o.d.y campaign just completed, but it had an influence upon the negotiations then being carried on in Spain. An attempt, long prepared by the English, and to which they attached a great importance, now occupied the Emperor Napoleon's mind still more than the affairs of Spain.

For several weeks it was believed that the great maritime expedition organized on the coasts of England was for the purpose of carrying overwhelming reinforcements to Spain. A first attempt, of less importance, was directed against our fleets collected at the island of Aix, near Rochefort. Admiral Willaumez, in charge of an expedition to the Antilles, had to rally the squadrons of Lorient and Rochefort, and being unavoidably delayed at the latter place, it was there that Admiral Gambier came to attack our vessels. Vice-Admiral Allemand carefully fortified the isle of Aix against an attack, the nature of which he had foreseen, though not the extent. During the night of the 11th and 12th April, conducted by several divisions, composed of frigates and brigs, thirty large fire-s.h.i.+ps were suddenly launched against our vessels, exploding in all directions, breaking the wooden bars by the weight of their burning ma.s.ses, adhering to the sides of the s.h.i.+ps and compelling even those which they did not set on fire to go aside to avoid dangers which were more to be dreaded. Thanks to the skill and bravery of our sailors, none of the vessels perished by fire; but four of them ran aground at the mouth of the Charente, and were attacked by the English. The _Calcutta_ surrendered after several hours'

fighting--her commander, Captain Lafon, having to pay with his life for the weak resistance he is said to have made. The English blew up the _Aquilon_ and _Varsovie_, and Captain Ronciere himself set fire to the _Tonnerre_, after landing all his crew. Napoleon's continued efforts to form a rival navy in France const.i.tuted a standing menace to England.

After the cruel expedition of the isle of Aix, the princ.i.p.al effort was to be directed against Antwerp, always an object of English jealousy and dissatisfaction, as a commercial port, or as a place of war. The works which the emperor had been carrying on there increased their anxiety, and on the 29th July forty vessels of the line and thirty frigates appeared in sight of the island of Walcheren. From 700 to 800 transport-s.h.i.+ps brought an army to be landed, under the orders of Lord Chatham, Pitt's elder brother, and containing about 40,000 men, with much artillery. The emperor was at once informed, and M. Decres, minister of the marine, proposed to station at Flus.h.i.+ng the fleet of Admiral Missiessy. The latter refused, saying that he would not let himself be taken, and did not wish to see his crews decimated by the Walcheren fever. That was the auxiliary upon which Napoleon reckoned against the English expedition; and rightly, too.

Walcheren was slightly and badly fortified; the emperor considering Flus.h.i.+ng to be quite impregnable. "You say that the bombardment of Flus.h.i.+ng makes you apprehensive of its surrender," he wrote on the 22nd August. "You are wrong to have any such fear. Flus.h.i.+ng is impregnable so long as there is bread in it, and they have enough for six months.

Flus.h.i.+ng is impregnable, because there is a moat full of water, which must be crossed; and finally, because by cutting the d.y.k.es they can inundate the whole island. Write and tell everywhere that Flus.h.i.+ng cannot be taken, unless by the cowardice of the commandants; and also that I am certain of it, and that the English will go off without having it. The bombs are nothing--absolutely nothing; they will destroy a few houses, but that has no effect upon the surrender of a place."

General Monnet, who commanded at Flus.h.i.+ng, was an old officer of the revolution wars, brave and daring and he did his best in opposing the landing of the English, with a part of his forces, and in gallantly defending the place; but the inundation did not succeed, on account of the elevation of the ground and the wind being contrary. Therefore when Napoleon wrote to Fouche, Flus.h.i.+ng had already capitulated, under the efforts of the most formidable siege artillery. The Dutch commandant surrendered the forts Denhaak and Terwecre at the same time as Middelburg.

The feeling of the Dutch nation, formerly favorable to republican France, had been modified since the imperial decrees ruined all the transit trade, the source of Holland's wealth. King Louis alone hastened to the a.s.sistance of the French army, advancing with his little army between Santvliet and Antwerp. Four Dutch regiments were fighting in Germany, and a small corps had been sent into Spain. Thus, while extending his enterprises in remote parts, the unbounded ambition of Napoleon left unprotected the very centre of his empire.

General Rousseau, however, succeeded in protecting the island of Cadsand, and Admiral Strachan and Lord Chatham recalled to the eastern Scheldt the forces which had been intended for the attack on that island. The English forces began to land upon the islands of North and South Beveland, in order to attack Fort Batz at the junction of the two Scheldts, and thus outflank the French fleet lying in the western Scheldt. Fortunately, Admiral Missiessy had the advantage over the English commanders in speed, and sailing up into the higher Scheldt, formed by the two branches of the river, he arranged his vessels under forts Lillo and Liefkenshoek which by their cross-fires protected the river from bank to bank. Antwerp was thus safe from attack by sea; at Paris there was great anxiety as to attacks by land.

A few provisional demi-brigades, the gendarmes, and picked national guards, about 30,000 men altogether--such were the forces at the disposal of the war minister. He durst not--n.o.body durst, change the destination of the troops already marching to Germany. The minister of marine and Fouche at once proposed a general levy of the national guard, under the orders of Bernadotte--one being daring and dissatisfied, the other fostering discontent of every kind openly or secretly, and still remembering the revolutionary procedure. The Council, presided over by the Arch-chancellor Cambaceres, refused to authorize the calling out of the national guards without the emperor's express order; but Fouche, without waiting for orders, wrote on his own authority to all the prefects, and stirred up everywhere a patriotic zeal. At first Napoleon approved of the ardor of his minister of police, and severely rated the arch-chancellor and minister of war for their prudence. "I cannot conceive what you are about in Paris," he wrote to General Clarke on the 10th August; "you must be waiting for the English to come and take you in your beds. When 25,000 English are attacking our dockyards and threatening our provinces, is the ministry doing nothing? What trouble is there in raising 60,000 of the national guard? What trouble is there in sending the Prince of Pontecorvo to take the command there, where there is n.o.body? What trouble is there in putting my strongholds, Antwerp, Ostend, and Lille, in a state of siege?

It is inconceivable. There is none but Fouche who appears to me to have done what he could, and to have felt the inconvenience of remaining in a dangerous and dishonorable position:--dangerous, because the English, seeing that France is not in movement, and that no impulse is given to public opinion, will have nothing to fear, and will not hurry to leave our territory; dishonorable, because it shows fear of opinion, and allows 25,000 English to burn our dockyards without defending them. The slur thus cast upon France is a perpetual disgrace. Circ.u.mstances vary from moment to moment. It is impossible for me to give orders to arrive within a fortnight. The ministers have the same power as I, since they can hold a council and pa.s.s decisions. Make use of the Prince of Pontecorvo--make use of General Moncey. I send you besides Marshal Bessieres, to remain in Paris in reserve. I have ordered a levy of 30,000 men of the national guard. If the English make progress, make a second levy of 30,000 in the same or other departments. It is evident that the enemy, feeling the difficulty of taking Flus.h.i.+ng, intend marching straight to Antwerp, to make a sudden attempt upon the squadron."

Flus.h.i.+ng had succ.u.mbed, but the operations of the English were delayed by their indecisive generals.h.i.+p. Hope's division easily took possession of Fort Batz, but the main body of the army remained behind. The fortifications of Antwerp were daily increased and strengthened. The engineers, under Decaux, who checked the warlike ardor of King Louis, rendered the forts impregnable to sudden a.s.sault, inundated the country all round, and erected the old dams on the Scheldt; and troops also began to arrive, rapidly concentrating upon the threatened spot. According to the emperor's order the Prince of Pontecorvo had set out for Antwerp, and took the command there. While the army was being formed round the town, the English with great difficulty got their fleet into the Scheldt as far as Fort Batz. Their forces being already considerably reduced by the fever, and the preparations made at Antwerp to receive them causing Lord Chatham some uneasiness, he held a council of war on the 26th, and sent their decision to London, where it was approved by the ministry. It was too late now to attack Antwerp, the opportunity having been lost; and the huge army, collected with so much display, fell back upon the island of Walcheren, and a large number of the vessels sailed for the Downs. Every day 800 casks of fresh water were brought from the Downs to the garrison still occupying Flus.h.i.+ng, Middelburg, and the forts. The English were completely checked; and there were already signs that they might evacuate the island of Walcheren altogether.

The emperor triumphed at Schonbrunn. Advising his generals not to attack the English, but to leave them to be killed by ague, he congratulated himself on the unexpected reinforcement thus gained by his army. "It is a continuation of the good fortune attending our present circ.u.mstances," he wrote, "that this expedition, which has reduced to nothing England's greatest effort, gives us an army of 24,000 men, which otherwise we should have been unable to get." He at once made use of it to organize the new army of the north, suddenly called out by the country's danger. At the same time, by a strong instinct of government, he severely blamed the revolutionary movement which Fouche had excited in the departments. On the 26th September he wrote to him: "I have your letter informing me that the 'cadres' of the regiment for the national guard are formed everywhere. I know it, but am not pleased at it. Such a measure cannot be taken without my order. There has been too great haste; all that has been done will not hasten by a single hour the arming of the national guard, if they are needed. That causes fermentation, whereas it would have been sufficient to put in movement the national guards of the military divisions which I have indicated. Then you call out the national guards of Flanders to a.s.sist on the frontiers by which the enemy intend invading Flanders; the reason is obvious. But when there is a levy in Languedoc, Piedmont, Burgundy, people think there is an agitation, though there is none. My intentions are not fulfilled, and I am put to unnecessary expense."

The command, accordingly, was withdrawing from the Prince of Pontecorvo, who, though always called to serve at the moment of danger, was considered fickle and suspicious by the emperor. "You will let him know," wrote Napoleon to his minister of war, "that I am displeased with his 'order of the day;' that it is not true that he had only 15,000 men, when, with the soldiers of the Duke of Conegliano and Istria, I have on the Scheldt more than 60,000 men; but that even if he only had 15,000, his duty was to give the enemy no hint of it. It is the first time that a general, from excess of vanity, has been seen to betray the secret of his position. He at the same time eulogized the national guards, who know very well themselves that they have had no opportunity of doing anything. You will also express to him my dissatisfaction with his Paris correspondence, and insist upon his ceasing to receive mischievous letters from the wretches whom he encourages by such conduct. The third point as to which you will indicate to him my intentions is, that he should go to the army or to the waters."

The useless attempt of the English at Walcheren, and their prudent retreat from Antwerp, was made use of by the French diplomatists who were still discussing the terms of peace at Altenburg. The Emperor Napoleon, however, was tired of the delays of their negotiations. Being now certain that Austria could have no more support, he received Bubna and Prince John of Lichtenstein, who had been sent to him directly by the Emperor Francis.

Napoleon haughtily dwelt upon the value of the concessions which he had already granted. "What!" said he to the envoys, "I had not yet relinquished the principle of the _uti possidetis_, and now I relinquish it at your emperor's request! I claimed 400,000 souls of the population of Bohemia, now I cease to demand them! I wished 800,000 souls in Upper Austria, and I am satisfied with 400,000! I asked for 1,400,000 souls in Carinthia and Carniola, and I give up Klagenfurth, which is a further sacrifice of 200,000 souls. I therefore restore to your master a population of a million of subjects, and he says I have made no concession! I have only kept what is necessary to keep the enemy away from Pa.s.sau and the Inn--what is necessary to connect the territories of Italy and Dalmatia; yet they persuade him that I have not modified any of my demands! It is thus that they have led on the Emperor Francis to war; it is thus that they will finally bring him to ruin!" He refrained, however, from replying to the Emperor Francis's letter. "It were undignified for me to say to a prince, 'You don't know what you say;' but that is what I find myself compelled to say, since his letter is founded upon an error."

"Leave vain repet.i.tions and silliness to the Austrians," he wrote to Champagny. At the same time he reviewed his troops, and hurried the movements of the reinforcements which were arriving. The Emperor Alexander had received Austria's promise to make a speedy settlement, refusing to take part in the negotiations, and trusting that Napoleon would look after his interests. The only point which he reserved was the Polish question: he was afraid of the increase of the grand duchy of Warsaw. "Your Majesty can give me a certain pledge of your friends.h.i.+p towards me," he wrote to Napoleon on the 31st August, "by recalling what I frequently said at Tilsit and Erfurt, as to the interests of Russia with reference to the affairs of Poland (lately so-called), and what I have since instructed your amba.s.sador to repeat to you."

It was precisely upon Galicia that the ambitious views of Napoleon were at that moment directed. Being repeatedly pressed by the Austrian envoys to explain his definitive intentions, he at last declared that he wished Carniola, the circle of Wilbach, and the right bank of the Save as far as Bosnia; ceding Linz, and keeping Salzburg. He thus became master of 1,500,000 souls in Austria. In Galicia he claimed all the territory which Austria had obtained at the second part.i.tion of Poland, as well as the circles of Solkiew and Zeloczow, which he intended to cede to Russia, in order to restrain her displeasure. The population of these territories amounted to 2,000,000 souls. To these conditions Napoleon added a war contribution of 100,000,000, and the obligation of Austria reducing her army to 150,000 men. The Austrian diplomatists succeeded in getting off 15,000,000 from the military contribution. That was the only favor granted. "I have given Austria the most advantageous peace she could expect," wrote Napoleon to the Emperor Alexander, on the 10th October, 1809. "She only cedes Salzburg and a small district on the Inn; she cedes nothing in Bohemia; and on the Italian side she only cedes what is indispensable to me for communication with Dalmatia. The monarchy therefore remains entire. It is a second experiment which I wished to make, and I have shown towards her a moderation which she had no right to expect. In doing so I trust to have pleased your Majesty. You will see that, in accordance with your desires, the greater part of Galicia does not change masters, and that I have been as careful of your interests as you could have been yourself, by reconciling everything with what honor demands from me. For the prosperity and well-being of the duchy of Warsaw, it is necessary that it should be in your Majesty's good graces; and the subjects of your Majesty may be a.s.sured that in no case, on no contingency, ought they to expect any protection from me."

So many protestations and flattering a.s.surances could not destroy the effect of the development of the grand duchy of Warsaw, and the constant menace created for Russia by that partial resuscitation of a Poland submitted to French influence. The Emperor Alexander made Caulaincourt sensible of this by a few sharp words. The secret discord was now increasing between the two allies, in proportion as the divergence of their interests made itself felt. The unreasonable pa.s.sions of Napoleon were soon to open between them the gulf into which he was to drag France.

The Tyrol was not included in the negotiations of peace, any more than in the armistice. When at last the treaty was signed at Vienna, on the 20th October, a few days after the discovery of a plot to a.s.sa.s.sinate Napoleon, the fighting was still continued in the mountains with the keen determination of despair. In vain did Prince Eugene offer the insurgents a general pardon, confirming the subservience of their country; the peasants proudly rejected the conditions offered them. Crushed by the combined French and Bavarian forces, the Tyrolese succ.u.mbed with glory: their popular leader, Andrew Hofer, was taken in a remote mountain retreat where he had taken refuge, brought to Mantua on the 19th January, 1810, and there shot on the 25th February, by Napoleon's express order. "I gave you instructions to have Hofer brought to Paris," wrote Napoleon to the Viceroy of Italy; "but since he is at Mantua, send an order to have him tried at once by court-martial, and shot on the spot. Let it be an affair of twenty-four hours." Hofer underwent his fate with an heroic and pious simplicity. It was only in 1824 that Austria paid to this humble patriot the honors due to his memory, his body being then transported to Innsbruck, and buried there with pomp in the cathedral. A statue was placed on his tomb.

CHAPTER XII.

THE DIVORCE (1809-1810).

On his return to France, after the peace of Vienna, the Emperor Napoleon, though triumphant and all-powerful to those who looked only on the surface, felt secretly conscious that his supreme prestige had been shaken. He experienced the necessity of strengthening and consolidating his conquests by some startling act, and of finally founding upon immovable bases that empire which he had raised by his victorious hands without ever believing it really permanent. The advances made at Erfurt towards a family alliance with the Emperor of Russia remained without any result, in spite of the friendly protestations of the Emperor Alexander; and since Napoleon's return to Paris those admitted to his closest intimacy detected a perceptible change in his manner. "He seemed to be walking in the midst of his glory," wrote the Arch-chancellor Cambaceres.

It was to him that Napoleon first broached the project of divorce, which was soon to become a settled determination. The loving tone in which he wrote to her as his wife might well deceive the Empress Josephine; for Napoleon still retained some love for her, though it was powerless in hindering his ambitious resolutions. The rumor of the great event was already spreading in Paris and Europe, though Josephine was still unaware of it. She was uneasy, however, and numerous indications daily increased her anxiety: her children shared her apprehension. The whole of the imperial family were a.s.sembled about their renowned head, divided as they were in their inclinations and interests; and Napoleon had himself summoned Prince Eugene to Paris.

Under the emperor's order, Champagny had already written to Caulaincourt: "You will wait upon the Emperor Alexander, and speak to him in these terms: 'Sire, I have reason to believe that the emperor, at the request of the whole of France, is making arrangements for a divorce. May I write to say that they can reckon on your sister? Let your Majesty take two days to consider it, and give me frankly your reply, not as French amba.s.sador, but as a man warmly devoted to both families. It is not a formal request that I now make; it is a confidential expression of your intentions that I beg from you. I am too much accustomed to tell your Majesty all my thoughts to be afraid of ever being compromised by you.'"

Caulaincourt was greatly perplexed. The peace of Vienna had been badly received at St. Petersburg, and had caused so many complaints and recriminations that the French amba.s.sador found himself compelled to appease the irritation which threatened to break the alliance, by translating Napoleon's promises into official engagements. The terms of the convention were agreed upon by the diplomatists, and it was about to be signed. Napoleon engaged never to re-establish the kingdom of Poland; the names Poland and Polish were to disappear in all the acts; the grand duchy could not for the future be increased by annexing any part of the old Polish monarchy: the conditions of the convention were binding upon the King of Saxony, Grand Duke of Warsaw. At the same time that he was begged to accept this unsuitable engagement, Napoleon had harshly reminded his ally of the inaction of his forces during the war. "I wish," said he, "that in the discussions which take place, the Duke of Vicentia should make the following remarks to Romanzoff: 'You are sensible that there is nothing of the past that the emperor has laid hold of: in the affairs of Austria you made no sign. How has the emperor acted? He has given you a province which more than repays all the expense you have incurred for the war; and openly declares that you have joined to your empire Finland, Moldavia, and Wallachia.'"

However delicate the circ.u.mstances and question were which Caulaincourt had to propose, he obeyed. The Emperor Alexander was not disinclined to listen to the proposals, but would have preferred first to make sure of the signature to the convention relative to Poland as the price of his acceptance. The empress mother, dissatisfied and spiteful, suggested religious objections. The kind considerations of Napoleon seemed boundless. The Emperor Alexander and his advisers asked time to consider.

Meantime the projected divorce had become known in Paris, even in the bosom of the imperial family. Napoleon could not longer keep his secret.

In presence of the vague uneasiness of the empress his mind was burdened with some feeling of remorse for the act which he was secretly meditating, and he at last gave her some hint of his intention, as well as of the reasons for his decision, and the pain it had caused him. The unhappy Josephine screamed, and fell fainting. When she recovered consciousness, she was supported by her daughter the Queen of Holland, who was also in tears, and proudly offended at the harshness which Napoleon had shown her in the first moment of his anger at the sight of Josephine's sufferings.

Soon moved by the return of better and truer sentiments which still exercised a certain influence upon him, the emperor shared the sorrows of the mother and daughter, without for a moment relaxing by word or thought the determination which he had formed. Prince Eugene, as well as Queen Hortense, had declared their intentions of following their mother in her retirement; Napoleon opposed it, and overwhelmed with presents and favors the wife whom he was forsaking for reasons of state. Two days after solemnly breaking the tie by which they were united, he wrote to her at Malmaison, with much genuine affection in spite of his strange and imperious style:--"My dear, you seem to me to-day weaker than you ought to be. You showed courage, and you will do so again in order to support yourself. You must not let yourself sink into a fatal melancholy. You must be happy, and, before everything, take care of your health, which is so precious to me. If you are fond of me and love me, you ought to show some energy, and make yourself happy. You understand my sentiments towards you very imperfectly, if you imagine that I can be happy when you are not so, and satisfied when you are still anxious. Good-bye, darling; pleasant dreams! Be a.s.sured that I am sincere."

The Empress Josephine had often shown a fickle character and frivolous mind; but being kind, obliging, and gifted with a grace that had gained her many friends before her greatness had surrounded her with courtiers and flatterers, she was popular; and the public, who were not in favor of the divorce, sympathized with her sorrow. On the 15th December, 1809, in a formally summoned meeting of the imperial family, with the arch-chancellor and Count Regnault d'Angely also present, Napoleon himself openly announced the resolution which he had taken. "The policy of my monarchy, the interest and wants of my peoples which have invariably guided all my actions, require," said he, "that I should leave this throne on which Providence has placed me, to children inheriting my love for my peoples.

For several years, however, I have lost hopes of having children by my marriage with my well-beloved spouse the Empress Josephine, which urges me to sacrifice the dearest affections of my heart, to consider only the well-being of the State, and to will the dissolution of our marriage. G.o.d knows how much such a resolution has cost my heart; but there is no sacrifice which is beyond my courage, if proved to be useful to the well- being of France."

The Empress Josephine wished to speak, but her voice was choked by her tears; she handed to Count Regnault the paper evidencing her a.s.sent to the emperor's wishes. A few words spoken by Prince Eugene, as he took his place in the Senate, confirmed the sacrifice; and by a "senatus-consulte"

the civil marriage was formally dissolved. The religious marriage gave rise to greater difficulty. The absence of the proper cure and of the witnesses required by the rules of the Church served as a pretext, in spite of the protestations of Cardinal Fesch, who had celebrated the marriage, and declared that the Pope had granted him full dispensation.

There was no intention of consulting the pontiff on this occasion. The emperor sent an address to the magistracy of Paris, like the meanest of his subjects, declaring that his consent had not been complete; he had only agreed to a useless formality with the object of tranquillising the conscience of the empress and that of the holy father, feeling certain since then that he must have recourse to a divorce. The scruples of the ecclesiastics were overcome; and the religious marriage declared null by the diocesan and metropolitan authorities. The news was inserted in the Moniteur, together with the decree settling upon the repudiated empress a magnificent dowry.

The reply from St. Petersburg, however, was still forthcoming, and the emperor began to feel very angry. The King of Saxony had already made overtures, offering the hand of his daughter to his ill.u.s.trious ally; and soon still more flattering hopes were aroused. The peace party ruled in Vienna, Metternich having replaced Stadion in power; and some words of Swartzenburg, the new amba.s.sador at Paris, seemed to imply matrimonial advances. The Archd.u.c.h.ess Marie-Louise was eighteen years of age, amiable and gentle in disposition: the alliance was a brilliant one, and would permanently establish a good understanding between Austria and France.

Many intrigues were now started: those of the politicians or courtiers who held to the old regime by tradition or taste were in favor of the Austrian marriage; they were supported by Prince Eugene, Queen Hortense, and even by the Empress Josephine herself, though not avowedly. The imperial family and councillors, sprung from the French Revolution, had a repugnance to alliance with the house of Austria, as a return towards the past, which was still present to the minds of all: they dwelt upon the dangers of a rupture with Russia, who would be indignant at seeing herself scorned after being sought for. There were fewer objections on the side of Austria, already beaten and humiliated. The emperor hesitated, and twice consulted his most intimate council. At the second sitting his mind was made up. The delay of Russia had stirred up his anger, and, according to his custom, he listened only to his haughty and implacable will. Orders were given to Caulaincourt to overthrow the negotiations respecting the Grand d.u.c.h.ess Catherine. Marriage with the Archd.u.c.h.ess Marie-Louise was resolved upon.