Germany from the Earliest Period Part 13

[Footnote 13: The king of Wurtemberg, who had fifteen hundred men close at hand, did not send them to the aid of the Bavarians, nor did he go over to the allies until the 2d of November.]

[Footnote 14: In November, one hundred and forty thousand French prisoners and seven hundred and ninety-one guns were in the hands of the allies.]

[Footnote 15: Dantzig had formerly sixty thousand inhabitants, the population was now reduced to thirteen thousand. Numbers died of hunger, Rapp having merely stored the magazines for his troops.

Fifteen thousand of the French garrison died, and yet fourteen generals, upward of a thousand officers, and about as many comptrollers belonging to the grand army, who had taken refuge in that city, were, on the capitulation of the fortress, made prisoners of war.]

[Footnote 16: The injustice thus favored by the first peace was loudly complained of.--_Manso._]

CCLXII. Napoleon's Fall

Napoleon was no sooner driven across the Rhine, than the defection of the whole of the Rhenish confederation, of Holland, Switzerland, and Italy ensued. The whole of the confederated German princes followed the example of Bavaria and united their troops with those of the allies. Jerome had fled; the kingdom of Westphalia had ceased to exist, and the exiled princes of Hesse, Brunswick, and Oldenburg returned to their respective territories. The Rhenish provinces were instantly occupied by Prussian troops and placed under the patriotic administration of Justus Gruner, who was joined by Gorres of Coblentz, whose Rhenish Mercury so powerfully influenced public opinion that Napoleon termed him the fifth great European power.[1] The Dutch revolted and took the few French still remaining in the country prisoner. Hogendorp was placed at the head of a provisional government in the name of William of Orange.[2] The Prussians under Bulow entered the country and were received with great acclamation. The whole of the Dutch fortresses surrendered, the French garrisons flying panic-stricken.

The Swiss remained faithful to Napoleon until the arrival of Schwarzenberg with the allied army on their frontiers.[3] Napoleon would gladly have beheld the Swiss sacrifice themselves for him for the purpose of keeping the allies in check, but Reinhard of Zurich, who was at that time _Landammnann_, prudently resolved not to persevere in the demand for neutrality, to lay aside every manifestation of opposition, and to permit, it being impossible to prevent, the entrance of the troops into the country, by which he, moreover, ingratiated himself with the allies. The majority of his countrymen thanked Heaven for their deliverance from French oppression, and if, in their ancient spirit of egotism, they neglected to aid the great popular movement throughout Germany, they, at all events, sympathized in the general hatred toward France.[4] The ancient aristocrats now naturally reappeared and attempted to re-establish the oligarchical governments of the foregoing century. A Count Senfft von Pilsach, a pretended Austrian envoy, who was speedily disavowed, a.s.sumed the authority at Berne with so much a.s.surance as to succeed in deposing the existing government and reinstating the ancient oligarchy. In Zurich, the const.i.tution was also revised and the citizens rea.s.sumed their authority over the peasantry. The whole of Switzerland was in a state of ferment. Ancient claims of the most varied description were a.s.serted. The people of the Grisons took up arms and invaded the Valtelline in order to retake their ancient possession. Pancratius, abbot of St. Gall, demanded the restoration of his princely abbey.--Italy, also, deserted Napoleon. Murat, king of Naples, in order not to lose his crown, joined the allies. Eugene Beauharnais, viceroy of Italy, alone remained true to his imperial stepfather and gallantly opposed the Austrians under Hiller, who, nevertheless, rapidly reduced the whole of Upper Italy to submission.

The allies, when on the point of entering the French territory, solemnly declared that their enmity was directed not against the French nation, but solely against Napoleon. By this generosity they hoped at once to prove the beneficence of their intentions to every nation of Europe and to prejudice the French, more particularly, against their tyrant; but that people, notwithstanding their immense misfortunes, still remained true to Napoleon nor hesitated to sacrifice themselves for the man who had raised them to the highest rank among the nations of the earth, and thousands flocked anew beneath the imperial eagle for the defence of their native soil.

The allies invaded France simultaneously on four sides, Bulow from Holland, Blucher, on New Year's eve, 1814, from Coblentz, and the main body of the allied army under Schwarzenberg, which was also accompanied by the allied sovereigns. A fourth army, consisting of English and Spaniards, had already crossed the Pyrenees and marched up the country. The great wars in Russia and Germany having compelled Napoleon to draw off a considerable number of his forces from Spain, Soult had been consequently unable to keep the field against Wellington, whose army had been gradually increased. King Joseph fled from Madrid. The French hazarded a last engagement at Vittoria, in June, 1813, but suffered a terrible defeat. One of the two Na.s.sau regiments under Colonel Kruse and the Frankfort battalion deserted with their arms and baggage to the English. The other Na.s.sau regiment and that of Baden were disarmed by the French and dragged in chains to France in reward for their long and severe service.[5] The Hanoverians in Wellington's army (the German Legion), particularly the corps of Victor von Alten (Charles's brother), brilliantly distinguished themselves at Vittoria and again at Bayonne, but were forgotten in the despatches, an omission that was loudly complained of by their general, Hinuber. Other divisions of Hanoverians, up to this period stationed in Sicily, had been sent to garrison Leghorn and Genoa.[6]--The crown prince of Sweden followed the Prussian northern army, but merely went as far as Liege, whence he turned back in order to devote his whole attention to the conquest of Norway.

In the midst of the contest a fresh congress was a.s.sembled at Chatillon, for the purpose of devising measures for the conclusion of the war without further bloodshed. The whole of ancient France was offered to Napoleon on condition of his restraining his ambition within her limits and of keeping peace, but he refused to cede a foot of land, and resolved to lose all or nothing. This congress was in so far disadvantageous on account of the rapid movements of the armies being checked by its fluctuating diplomacy. Schwarzenberg, for instance, pursued a system of procrastination, separated his _corps d'armee_ at long intervals, advanced with extreme slowness, or remained entirely stationary. Napoleon took advantage of this dilatoriness on the part of his opponents to make an unexpected attack on Blucher's corps at Brienne on the 29th of January, in which Blucher narrowly escaped being made prisoner. The flames of the city, in which Napoleon had received his first military lessons, facilitated Blucher's retreat. Napoleon, however, neglecting to pursue him on the 30th of January, Blucher, reinforced by the crown prince of Wurtemberg and by Wrede, attacked him at La Rothiere with such superior forces as to put him completely to the rout. The French left seventy-three guns sticking in the mud. Schwarzenberg, nevertheless, instead of pursuing the retreating enemy with the whole of his forces, again delayed his advance and divided the troops. Blucher, who had meanwhile rapidly pushed forward upon Paris, was again unexpectedly attacked by the main body of the French army, and the whole of his corps were, as they separately advanced, repulsed with considerable loss, the Russians under Olsufief at Champeaubert, those under Sacken at Montmirail, the Prussians under York at Chateau-Thierry, and, finally, Blucher himself at Beaux-champ, between the 10th and 14th of February. With characteristic rapidity, Napoleon instantly fell upon the scattered corps of the allied army and inflicted a severe punishment upon Schwarzenberg, for the folly of his system. He successively repulsed the Russians under Pahlen at Mormant, Wrede at Villeneuve le Comte, the crown prince of Wurtemberg, who offered the most obstinate resistance, at Montereau, on the 17th and 18th of February.[7]

Augereau had meantime, with an army levied in the south of France, driven the Austrians, under Bubna, into Switzerland; and, although the decisive moment had arrived, and Schwarzenberg had simply to form a junction with Blucher in order to bring an overwhelming force against Napoleon, the allied sovereigns and Schwarzenberg resolved, in a council of war held at Troyes, upon a general retreat.

Blucher, upon this, magnanimously resolved to obviate at all hazards the disastrous consequences of the retreat of the allied army, and, in defiance of all commands, pushed forward alone.[8] This movement, far from being rash, was coolly calculated, Blucher being sufficiently reinforced on the Marne by Winzingerode and Bulow, by whose aid he, on the 9th March, defeated the emperor Napoleon at Laon. The victory was still undecided at fall of night. Napoleon allowed his troops to rest, but Blucher remained under arms and sent York to surprise him during the night. The French were completely dispersed and lost forty-six guns. Napoleon, after this miserable defeat, again tried his fortune against Schwarzenberg (who, put to shame by Blucher's brilliant success, had again halted), and, on the 20th of March, maintained his position at Arcis sur Aube, although the crown prince of Wurtemberg gallantly led his troops five times to the a.s.sault. Neither side was victorious.

Napoleon now resorted to a bold _ruse de guerre_. The peasantry, more particularly in Lorraine, exasperated by the devastation unavoidable during war time, and by the vengeance here and there taken by the foreign soldiery, had risen to the rear of the allied army.

Unfortunately, no one had dreamed of treating the German Alsatians and Lothringians as brother Germans. They were treated as French. Long unaccustomed to invasion and to the calamities incidental to war, they made a spirited but ineffectual resistance to the rapine of the soldiery. Whole villages were burned down. The peasantry gathered into troops and ma.s.sacred the foreign soldiery when not in sufficient numbers to keep them in check. Napoleon confidently expected that his diminished armies would be supported by a general rising _en ma.s.se_, and that Augereau, who was at that time guarding Lyons, would form a junction with him; and, in this expectation, threw himself to the rear of the allied forces and took up a position at Troyes with a view of cutting them off, perhaps of surrounding them by means of the general rising, or, at all events, of drawing them back to the Rhine. But, on the self-same day, the 19th of March, Lyons had fallen and Augereau had retreated southward. The people did not rise _en ma.s.se_, and the allies took advantage of Napoleon's absence to form a grand junction, and, with flying banners, to march unopposed upon Paris, convinced that the possession of the capital of the French empire must inevitably bring the war to a favorable conclusion. In Paris, there were numerous individuals who already regarded Napoleon's fall as _un fait accompli_, and who, ambitious of influencing the future prospects of France, were ready to offer their services to the victors. Both parties speedily came to an understanding. The _corps d'armee_ under Marshals Mortier and Marmont, which were encountered midway, were repulsed, and that under Generals Pacthod and Amey captured, together with seventy pieces of artillery, at La Fere Ohampenoise. On the 29th of March, the dark columns of the allied army defiled within sight of Paris. On the 30th, they met with a spirited resistance on the heights of Belleville and Montmartre; but the city, in order to escape bombardment, capitulated during the night, and, on the 31st, the allied sovereigns made a peaceful entry. The empress, accompanied by the king of Rome, by Joseph, ex-king of Spain, and by innumerable wagons, laden with the spoil of Europe, had already fled to the south of France.

Napoleon, completely deceived by Winzingerode and Tettenborn, who had remained behind with merely a weak rearguard, first learned the advance of the main body upon Paris when too late to overtake it.

After almost annihilating his weak opponents at St. Dizier, he reached Fontainebleau, where he learned the capitulation of Paris, and, giving way to the whole fury of his Corsican temperament, offered to yield the city for two days to the license of his soldiery would they but follow him to the a.s.sault. But his own marshals, even his hero, Ney, deserted him, and, on the 10th of April, he was compelled to resign the imperial crown of France and to withdraw to the island of Elba on the coast of Italy, which was placed beneath his sovereignty and a.s.signed to him as a residence. The kingdom of France was re-established on its former footing; and, on the 4th of May, Louis XVIII. entered Paris and mounted the throne of his ancestors.

Davoust was the last to offer resistance. The Russians under Bennigsen besieged him in Hamburg, and, on his final surrender, treated him with the greatest moderation.[9]

On the 30th of May, 1814, peace was concluded at Paris.[10] France was reduced to her limits as in 1792, and consequently retained the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, of which she had, at an earlier period, deprived Germany. Not a farthing was paid by way of compensation for the ravages suffered by Germany, nay, the French prisoners of war were, on their release, maintained on their way home at the expense of the German population. None of the _chefs-d'oeuvres_ of which Europe had been plundered were restored, with the sole exception of the group of horses, taken by Napoleon from the Brandenburg gate at Berlin. The allied troops instantly evacuated the country. France was allowed to regulate her internal affairs without the interference of any of the foreign powers, while paragraphs concerning the internal economy of Germany were not only admitted into the treaty of Paris, and France was on that account not only called upon to guarantee and to partic.i.p.ate in the internal affairs of Germany, but also afterward sent to the great Congress of Vienna an amba.s.sador destined to play an important part in the definitive settlement of the affairs of Europe, and, more particularly, of those of Germany.

The patriots, of whom the governments had made use both before and after the war, unable to comprehend that the result of such immense exertions and of such a complete triumph should be to bring greater profit and glory to France than to Germany, and that their patriotism was, on the conclusion of the war, to be renounced, were loud in their complaints.[11] But the revival of the German empire, with which the individual interests of so many princely houses were plainly incompatible, was far from entering into the plans of the allied powers. An attempt made by any one among the princes to place himself at the head of the whole of Germany would have been frustrated by the rest. The policy of the foreign allies was moreover antipathetic to such a scheme. England opposed and sought to hinder unity in Germany, not only for the sake of retaining possession of Hanover and of exercising an influence over the disunited German princes similar to that exercised by her over the princes of India, but more particularly for that of ruling the commerce of Germany. Russia reverted to her Erfurt policy. Her interests, like those of France, led her to promote disunion among the German powers, whose weakness, the result of want of combination, placed them at the mercy of France, and left Poland, Sweden, and the East open to the ambition of Russia. A close alliance was in consequence instantly formed between the emperor Alexander and Louis XVIII., the former negotiating, as the first condition of peace, the continuance of Lorraine and Alsace beneath the sovereignty of France.

Austria a.s.sented on condition of Italy being placed exclusively beneath her control. Austria united too many and too diverse nations beneath her sceptre to be able to pursue a policy pre-eminently German, and found it more convenient to round off her territories by the annexation of Upper Italy than by that of distant Lorraine, at all times a possession difficult to maintain. Prussia was too closely connected with Russia, and Hardenberg, unlike Blucher at the head of the Prussian army, was powerless at the head of Prussian diplomacy.

The lesser states also exercised no influence upon Germany as a whole, and were merely intent upon preserving their individual integrity or upon gaining some petty advantage. The Germans, some few discontented patriots alone excepted, were more than ever devoted to their ancient princes, both to those who had retained their station and to those who returned to their respective territories on the fall of Napoleon; and the victorious soldiery, adorned with ribbons, medals, and orders (the Prussians, for instance, with the iron cross), evinced the same unreserved attachment to their prince and zeal for his individual interest. This complication of circ.u.mstances can alone explain the fact of Germany, although triumphant, having made greater concessions to France by the treaty of Paris than, when humbled, by that of Westphalia.

[Footnote 1: His princ.i.p.al thesis consisted of "We are not Prussians, Westphalians, Saxons, etc., but Germans."]

[Footnote 2: This prince took the t.i.tle not of stadtholder, but of king, to which he had no claim, but in which he was supported by England and Russia, who unwillingly beheld Prussia aggrandized by the possession of Holland.]

[Footnote 3: Even in the May of 1813, an ode given in No. 270 of the Allgemeine Zeitung, appeared in Switzerland, in which it was said, "The brave warriors of Switzerland hasten to reap fresh laurels. With their heroic blood have they dyed the distant sh.o.r.es of barbarous Haiti, the waters of the Ister and Tagus, etc. The deserts of Sarmatia have witnessed the martial glories of the Helvetic legion."]

[Footnote 4: Shortly before this, a report had been spread of the nomination of Marshal Berthier, prince of Neufchatel, as perpetual Landammann of Switzerland.--_Muralt's Reinhard_.]

[Footnote 5: Out of two thousand six hundred and fifty-four Badeners but five hundred and six returned from Spain.]

[Footnote 6: Beamisch, History of the Legion.]

[Footnote 7: Several regiments sacrificed themselves in order to cover the retreat of the rest. Napoleon ordered a twelve-pounder to be loaded and twice directed the gun with his own hand upon the crown prince.--_Campaigns of the Wurterribergers._]

[Footnote 8: Blucher's conduct simply proceeded from his impatience to obtain by force of arms the most honorable terms of peace for Prussia, while the other allied powers, who were far more indulgently disposed toward France and who began to view the victories gained by Prussia with an apprehension which was further strengthened by the increasing popularity of that power throughout Germany, were more inclined to diplomatize than to fight. Blucher was well aware of these reasons for diplomacy and more than once cut the negotiations short with his sabre. A well-known diplomatist attempting on one occasion to prove to him that Napoleon must, even without the war being continued, "descend from his throne," a league having been formed within France herself for the restoration of the Bourbons--he answered him to his face, "The rascality of the French is no revenge for us. It is we who must pull him down--we. You will no doubt do wonders in your wisdom!--Patience!

You will be led as usual by the nose, and will still go on fawning and diplomatizing until we have the nation again upon us, and the storm bursts over our heads." He went so far as to set the diplomatists actually at defiance. On being, to Napoleon's extreme delight, ordered to retreat, he treated the order with contempt and instantly advanced.--_Rauschnick's Life of Blucher_. "This second disjunction on Blucher's part," observes Clausewitz, the Prussian general, the best commentator on this war, "was of infinite consequence, for it checked and gave a fresh turn to the whole course of political affairs."]

[Footnote 9: Gorres said in the Rhenish Mercury, "It is easy to see how all are inclined to conceal beneath the wide mantle of love the horrors there perpetrated. The Germans have from time immemorial been subjected to this sort of treatment, because ever ready to forgive and forget the past." Davoust was arrested merely for form's sake and then honorably released. He was allowed to retain the booty he had seized.

The citizens of Hamburg vainly implored the re-establishment of their bank.]

[Footnote 10: Blucher took no part in these affairs. "I have," said he to the diplomatists, "done my duty, now do yours! You will be responsible both to G.o.d and man should your work be done in vain and have to be done over again. I have nothing further to do with the business!"--Experience had, however, taught him not to expect much good from "quill-drivers."]

[Footnote 11: The Rhenish Mercury more than all. It was opposed by the Messenger of the Tyrol, which declared that the victory was gained, not by the "people," as they were termed, but by the princes and their armies.--_July, 1814_.]

CCLXIII. The Congress of Vienna--Napoleon's Return and End

From Paris the sovereigns of Prussia[1] and Russia and the victorious field-marshals proceeded, in June, to London, where they, Blucher most particularly, were received with every demonstration of delight and respect by the English, their oldest and most faithful allies.[2]

Toward autumn, a great European congress, to which the settlement of every point in dispute and the restoration of order throughout Europe were to be committed, was convoked at Vienna. At this congress, which, in the November of 1814, was opened at Vienna, the emperors of Austria and Russia, the kings of Prussia, Denmark, Bavaria, Wurtemberg, and the greater part of the petty princes of Germany, were present in person; the other powers were represented by amba.s.sadors extraordinary. The greatest statesmen of that period were here a.s.sembled; among others, Metternich, the Austrian minister, Hardenberg and Humboldt, the Prussian ministers, Castlereagh, the English plenipotentiary, Nesselrode, the Russian envoy, Talleyrand and Dalberg, Gagern, Bernstorff, and Wrede, the amba.s.sadors of France, Holland, Denmark, and Bavaria, etc. The negotiations were of the utmost importance, for, although one of the most difficult points, the new regulation of affairs in France, was already settled, many extremely difficult questions still remained to be solved. Talleyrand, who had served under every government, under the republic, under the usurper, Napoleon; who had retaken office under the Bourbons and the Jesuits who had returned in their train, and who, on this occasion, was the representative of the criminal and humbled French nation, ventured, nevertheless, to offer his perfidious advice to the victors, and, with diabolical art, to sow the seed of discord among them. This conduct was the more striking on account of its glaring incongruity with the proclamation of Calisch, which expressly declared that the internal affairs of Germany were wholly and solely to be arranged by the princes and nations of Germany, without foreign, and naturally, least of all, without French interference.[3] Talleyrand's first object was to suppress the popular spirit of liberty throughout Germany, and to rouse against it the jealous apprehensions of the princes. He therefore said, "You wish for const.i.tutions; guard against them. In France, desire for a const.i.tution produced a revolution, and the same will happen to you." He it was who gave to the congress that catchword, legitimacy. The object of the past struggle was not the restoration of the liberties of the people but that of the ancient legitimate dynasties and their absolute sovereignty. The war had been directed, not against Napoleon, but against the Revolution, against the usurpation of the people. By means of this legitimacy the king of Saxony was to be re-established on his throne, and Prussia was on no account to be permitted to incorporate Saxony with her dominions.

Prussia appealed to her services toward Germany, to her enormous sacrifices, to the support given to her by public opinion; but the power of public opinion was itself questioned. The seeds of discord quickly sprang up, and, on the 3d of January, 1815, a secret league against Prussia was already formed for the purpose of again humbling the state that had sacrificed all for the honor of Germany, of frustrating her schemes of aggrandizement, and of quenching the patriotic spirit of German idealists and enthusiasts.[4]

The want of unanimity amid the members of the congress had at the same time a bad effect upon the ancient Rhenish confederated states. In Na.s.sau, the _Landwehr_ was, on its return home after the campaign, received with marks of dissatisfaction. In Baden and Hesse, many of the officers belonging to the army openly espoused Napoleon's cause.

In Baden, the volunteer corps was deprived of its horses and sent home on foot.[5] In Wurtemberg, King Frederick refused to allow the foreign troops and convoys a pa.s.sage along the highroad through Cannstadt and Ludwigsburg, and forbade the attendance of civil surgeons upon the wounded belonging to the allied army. In Wurtemberg and Bavaria, the Rhenish Mercury was suppressed on account of its patriotic and German tendency. At Stuttgard, the festival in commemoration of the battle of Leipzig was disallowed; and in Frankfort on the Maine, the editor of a French journal ventured, unreprimanded, to turn this festival into ridicule.

Switzerland was in a high state of ferment. The people of the Grisons, who had taken possession of the Valtelline, and the people of Uri, who had seized the Livinenthal, had been respectively driven out of those territories by the Austrians. The Valais, Geneva, Neufchatel, and Pruntrut were, on the other hand, desirous of joining the confederation. The democratic peasantry were almost everywhere at war with the aristocratic burghers. Berne revived her claim upon Vaud and Aargau, which armed in self-defence.[6] Reinhard of Zurich, the Swiss _Landammann_, went, meanwhile, at the head of an emba.s.sy to Vienna, for the purpose of settling in the congress the future destinies of Switzerland by means of the intervention of the great powers.

Talleyrand, with unparalleled impudence, also interfered in this affair, threatened to refuse his recognition to every measure pa.s.sed without his concurrence, and compelled the Swiss to entreat him to honor the deliberations with his presence. On Austria's demanding a right of conscription in the Grisons alone, France having enjoyed that right throughout the whole of Switzerland at an earlier period, Talleyrand advised the Swiss to make a most violent opposition against an attempt that placed their independence at stake. "Cry out," he exclaimed, "cry out, as loud as you can!"[7]

The disputes in the congress raised Napoleon's hopes. In France, his party was still powerful, almost the whole of the population being blindly devoted to him, and an extensive conspiracy for his restoration to the imperial throne was secretly set on foot. Several thousands of his veteran soldiery had been released from foreign durance; the whole of the military stores, the spoil of Europe, still remained in the possession of France; the fortresses were solely garrisoned with French troops; Elba was close at hand, and the emperor was guarded with criminal negligence. Heavy, indeed, is the responsibility of those who, by thus neglecting their charge, once more let loose this scourge upon the earth![8] Napoleon quitted his island, and, on the 1st of March, 1815, again set foot on the coast of France. He was merely accompanied by one thousand five hundred men, but the whole of the troops sent against him by Louis XVIII. ranged themselves beneath his eagle. He pa.s.sed, as if in triumph, through his former empire. The whole nation received him with acclamations of delight. Not a single Frenchman shed a drop of blood for the Bourbon, who fled hastily to Ghent; and, on the 20th of March, Napoleon entered Paris unopposed. His brother-in-law, Murat, at the same time revolted at Naples and advanced into Upper Italy against the Austrians. But all the rest of Napoleon's ancient allies, persuaded that he must again fall, either remained tranquil or formed a close alliance with the combined powers. The Swiss, in particular, showed excessive zeal on this occasion, and took up arms against France, in the hope of rendering the allied sovereigns favorable to their new const.i.tution, The Swiss regiments, which had pa.s.sed from Napoleon's service to that of Louis XVIII., also remained unmoved by Napoleon's blandishments, were deprived of their arms and returned separately to Switzerland.

The allied sovereigns were still a.s.sembled at Vienna, and at once allowed every dispute to drop in order to form a fresh and closer coalition. They declared Napoleon an outlaw, a robber, proscribed by all Europe, and bound themselves to bring a force more than a million strong into the field against him. All Napoleon's cunning attempts to bribe and set them at variance were treated with scorn, and the combined powers speedily came to an understanding on the points. .h.i.therto so strongly contested. Saxony was part.i.tioned between her ancient sovereign and Prussia, and a revolt that broke out in Liege among the Saxon troops, who were by command of Prussia to be divided before they had been released from their oath of allegiance to their king, is easily explained by the hurry and pressure of the times, which caused all minor considerations to be forgotten.[9] Napoleon exclusively occupied the mind of every diplomatist, and all agreed in the necessity, at all hazards, of his utter annihilation. The lion, thus driven at bay, turned upon his pursuers for a last and desperate struggle. The French were still faithful to Napoleon, who, with a view of reinspiring them with the enthusiastic spirit that had rendered them invincible in the first days of the republic, again called forth the old republicans, nominated them to the highest appointments, re-established several republican inst.i.tutions, and, on the 1st of June, presented to his dazzled subjects the magnificent spectacle of a field of May, as in the times of Charlemagne and in the commencement of the Revolution, and then led a numerous and spirited army to the Dutch frontiers against the enemy.

Here stood a Prussian army under Blucher, and an Anglo-German one under Wellington, comprehending the Dutch under the Prince of Orange, the Brunswickers under their duke, the recruited Hanoverian Legion under Wallmoden. These _corps d'armee_ most imminently threatened Paris. The main body of the allied army, under Schwarzenberg, then advancing from the south, was still distant. Napoleon consequently directed his first attack against the two former. His army had gained immensely in strength and spirit by the return of his veteran troops from foreign imprisonment. Wellington, ignorant at what point Napoleon might cross the frontier, had followed the old and ill-judged plan of dividing his forces; an incredible error, the allies having simply to unite their forces and to take up a firm position in order to draw Napoleon to any given spot. Wellington, moreover, never imagined that Napoleon was so near at hand, and was amusing himself at a ball at Brussels, when Blucher, who was stationed in and around Namur, was attacked on the 14th of June, 1815.[10] Napoleon afterward observed in his memoirs that he had attacked Blucher first because he well knew that Blucher would not be supported by the over-prudent and egotistical English commander, but that Wellington, had he been first attacked, would have received every aid from his high-spirited and faithful ally. Wellington, after being repeatedly urged by Blucher, collected his scattered corps, but neither completely nor with sufficient rapidity; and on Blucher's announcement of Napoleon's arrival, exerted himself on the following morning so far as to make a _reconnaissance_. The duke of Brunswick, with impatience equalling that of Blucher, was the only one who had quitted the ball during the night and had hurried forward against the enemy. Napoleon, owing to Wellington's negligence, gained time to throw himself between him and Blucher and to prevent their junction; for he knew the spirit of his opponents. He consequently opposed merely a small division of his army under Ney to the English and turned with the whole of his main body against the Prussians. The veteran Blucher perceived his intentions[11] and in consequence urgently demanded aid from the Duke of Wellington, who promised to send him a reinforcement of twenty thousand men by four o'clock on the 16th. But this aid never arrived, Wellington, although Ney was too weak to obstruct the movement, making no attempt to perform his promise. Wellington retired with superior forces before Ney at Quatre Bras, and allowed the gallant and unfortunate Duke William of Brunswick to fall a futile sacrifice.

Blucher meanwhile yielded to the overwhelming force brought against him by Napoleon at Ligny, also on the 16th of June. Vainly did the Prussians rush to the attack beneath the murderous fire of the French, vainly did Blucher in person head the a.s.sault and for five hours continue the combat hand to hand in the village of Ligny. Numbers prevailed, and Wellington sent no relief. The infantry being at length driven back, Blucher led the cavalry once more to the charge, but was repulsed and fell senseless beneath his horse, which was shot dead.

His adjutant, Count Nost.i.tz, alone remained at his side. The French cavalry pa.s.sed close by without perceiving them, twilight and a misty rain having begun to fall. The Prussians fortunately missed their leader, repulsed the French cavalry, which again galloped past him as he lay on the ground, and he was at length drawn from beneath his horse. He still lived, but only to behold the complete defeat of his army.

Blucher, although a veteran of seventy-three, and wounded and shattered by his fall, was not for a moment discouraged.[12] Ever vigilant, he a.s.sembled his scattered troops with wonderful rapidity, inspirited them by his cheerful words, and had the generosity to promise aid, by the afternoon of the 18th of June, to Wellington, who was now in his turn attacked by the main body of the French under Napoleon. What Wellington on the 16th, with a fresh army, could not perform, Blucher now effected with troops dejected by defeat, and put the English leader to the deepest shame by--keeping his word.[13] He consequently fell back upon Wavre in order to remain as close as possible in Wellington's vicinity, and also sent orders to Bulow's corps, that was then on the advance, to join the English army, while Napoleon, in the idea that Blucher was falling back upon the Meuse, sent Grouchy in pursuit with a body of thirty-five thousand men.[14]

Napoleon, far from imagining that the Prussians, after having been, as he supposed, completely annihilated or panic-stricken by Grouchy, could aid the British, wasted the precious moments, and, instead of hastily attacking Wellington, spent the whole of the morning of the 18th in uselessly parading his troops, possibly with a view of intimidating his opponents and of inducing them to retreat without hazarding an engagement. His well-dressed lines glittered in the sunbeams; the infantry raised their tschakos on their bayonet points, the cavalry their helmets on their sabres, and gave a general cheer for their emperor. The English, however, preserved an undaunted aspect. At length, about midday, Napoleon gave orders for the attack, and, furiously charging the British left wing, drove it from the village of Hougumont. He then sent orders to Ney to charge the British centre. At that moment a dark spot was seen in the direction of St.

Lambert. Was it Grouchy? A reconnoitring party was despatched and returned with the news of its being the Prussians under Bulow. The attack upon the British centre was consequently remanded, and Ney was despatched with a considerable portion of his troops against Bulow.

Wellington now ventured to charge the enemy with his right wing, but was repulsed and lost the farm of La Haye Sainte, which commanded his position on this side as Hougumont did on his right. His centre, however, remained unattacked, the French exerting their utmost strength to keep Bulow's gallant troops back at the village of Planchenoit, where the battle raged with the greatest fury, and a dreadful conflict of some hours' duration ensued hand to hand. But about five o'clock, the left wing of the British being completely thrown into confusion by a fresh attack on the enemy's side, the whole of the French cavalry, twelve thousand strong, made a furious charge upon the British centre, bore down all before them, and took a great number of guns. The Prince of Orange was wounded. The road to Brussels was already thronged with the fugitive English troops, and Wellington, scarcely able to keep his weakened lines together,[15] was apparently on the brink of destruction, when the thunder of artillery was suddenly heard in the direction of Wavre. "It is Grouchy!" joyfully exclaimed Napoleon, who had repeatedly sent orders to that general to push forward with all possible speed. But it was not Grouchy, it was Blucher.

The faithful troops of the veteran marshal (the old Silesian army) were completely worn out by the battle, by their retreat in the heavy rain over deep roads, and by the want of food. The distance from Wavre, whence they had been driven, to Waterloo, where Wellington was then in action, was not great, but was rendered arduous owing to these circ.u.mstances. The men sometimes fell down from extreme weariness, and the guns stuck fast in the deep mud. But Blucher was everywhere present, and notwithstanding his bodily pain ever cheered his men forward, with "indescribable pathos," saying to his disheartened soldiers, "My children, we must advance; I have promised it, do not cause me to break my word!" While still distant from the scene of action, he ordered the guns to be fired in order to keep up the courage of the English, and at length, between six and seven in the evening, the first Prussian corps in advance, that of Ziethen, fell furiously upon the enemy: "Bravo!" cried Blucher, "I know you, my Silesians; to-day we shall see the backs of these French rascals!"

Ziethen filled up the s.p.a.ce still intervening between Wellington and Bulow. Exactly at that moment, Napoleon had sent his old guard forward in four ma.s.sive squares in order to make a last attempt to break the British lines, when Ziethen fell upon their flank and dealt fearful havoc among their close ma.s.ses with his artillery. Bulow's troops, inspirited by this success, now pressed gallantly forward and finally regained the long-contested village of Planchenoit from the enemy. The whole of the Prussian army, advancing at the double and with drums beating, had already driven back the right wing of the French, when the English, regaining courage, advanced, Napoleon was surrounded on two sides, and the whole of his troops, the old guard under General Cambronne alone excepted, were totally dispersed and fled in complete disorder. The old guard, surrounded by Bulow's cavalry, n.o.bly replied, when challenged to surrender, "La garde ne se rend pas"; and in a few minutes the veteran conquerors of Europe fell beneath the righteous and avenging blows of their antagonists. At the farm of La Belle Alliance, Blucher offered his hand to Wellington. "I will sleep to-night in Bonaparte's last night's quarters," said Wellington. "And I will drive him out of his present ones!" replied Blucher. The Prussians, fired by enthusiasm, forgot the fatigue they had for four days endured, and, favored by a moonlight night, so zealously pursued the French that an immense number of prisoners and a vast amount of booty fell into their hands and Napoleon narrowly escaped being taken prisoner. At Genappe, where the bridge was blocked by fugitives, the pursuit was so close that he was compelled to abandon his carriage leaving his sword and hat behind him. Blucher, who reached the spot a moment afterward, took possession of the booty, sent Napoleon's hat, sword, and star to the king of Prussia, retained his cloak, telescope, and carriage for his own use, and gave up everything else, including a quant.i.ty of the most valuable jewelry, gold, and money, to his brave soldiery. The whole of the army stores, two hundred and forty guns, and an innumerable quant.i.ty of arms thrown away by the fugitives, fell into his hands.