Military Career of Napoleon the Great Part 27

ARRIVAL OF THE GRAND ARMY AT MOSCOW]

In this extreme situation, the gravity and peril of which he measured with a glance, the Emperor felt that he could only escape by a striking and decisive action, and he did not hesitate to direct the intended blow towards Schwartzenberg, whose approach already spread alarm throughout the capital. The Emperor Alexander, on learning the successes of Napoleon at Craonne and Rheims, had feared that Schwartzenberg, by approaching the capital alone, would be again beaten separately, and that all these daily and isolated defeats would end by discouraging the troops of the Coalition, already filled with apprehension and alarm. The Czar, therefore, insisted in that council of war held at Troyes, that the two grand allied armies should forthwith manoeuvre so as to effect their junction in the environs of Chalons, in order to march thence on Paris, and crush everything which might be opposed to their pa.s.sage.

This advice had prevailed and Napoleon met, on the 20th, before Arcis, the entire army of Schwartzenberg, which was bearing in a ma.s.s for this town, in order to cross the Aube, and rapidly gain the plains of Champagne where the junction was to be effected.

This sudden change of system in the military operations of the Allies completely disarranged all the plans of Napoleon, who quickly perceived the difficult and perilous position in which he was placed, by encountering an army three times as strong as his own, where he had only thought to find a rear-guard. However, he quickly decided to take the chance by casting into the struggle the weight of his own example, and reckoning his personal dangers for nothing. His cavalry had orders to attack the Austrian light troops while the infantry debouched from Arcis; but they were repulsed by the overpowering numbers opposed to them and driven back upon the town. In this extremity, Napoleon evinced the same heroic and almost reckless courage which he had shown at Lodi and Arcola, and on other occasions. He threw himself, sword in hand, among the broken cavalry, called on them to remember their former victories, and checked the enemy by an impetuous charge in which he and his staff-officers fought hand to hand with the invaders. "Surrounded in the crowd by the charges of cavalry," says Baron Fain, in a volume called "The Ma.n.u.script of 1814," giving an account of the engagement at Arcis, "he freed himself only by making use of his sword. On divers occasions, he fought at the head of his escort, and, far from avoiding the dangers, he seemed, on the contrary, to brave them. A sh.e.l.l fell at his feet; he awaited its bursting, and disappeared in a cloud of dust and smoke; he was believed to be lost; presently he arose, flung himself upon another horse, and again went to place himself beneath the fire of the batteries! * * * Death would have nothing to do with him!"

In spite of the prodigious efforts of the French army, and the unchangeable heroism of its chief, the battle of Arcis could not hinder the pa.s.sage of the Aube, by the Austrians. The Emperor retired in good order, on the 21st, after having done the enemy much harm, and held him in check for a whole day; but Schwartzenberg ended by gaining the road which was to conduct him to Blucher.

Napoleon now decided on throwing himself upon the rear of the Allies.

They were for some time quite uncertain of his movements after he quitted Rheims, until an intercepted letter to Marie Louise informed them that he was at St. Dizier, where Napoleon had slept on the 23d. He continued to manoeuvre on the country beyond this point for several days. Having seized the roads by which the Allies had advanced, he took many prisoners of distinction on their way to headquarters and at one time the Emperor of Austria himself escaped narrowly a party of French hussars. At St. Dizier, Caulaincourt rejoined the Emperor and announced to him the definite rupture of the negotiations with the Allies. This, however, was no surprise; but was expected. The only real discomfiture it caused was among the malcontents in the army, whose chief regret was at being from Paris, and who asked each other, barely out of hearing of the Emperor, "Where are we going? What is to become of us? If he falls, shall we fall with him?"

On the 26th of March the distant roaring of artillery was heard at intervals on the boulevards of Paris and the alarm began to be violent.

On Sunday the 27th, Joseph Bonaparte held a review in the Place Carrousel. That same evening the allies pa.s.sed the Marne at various points and at 3 o'clock in the morning they took Meaux. The regular troops now marched out of the capital, leaving all the barriers in charge of the National Guard. On the 29th the Empress, her son, and most of the members of the Council of State, set off attended by 700 soldiers, for Rambouillet from which they continued their journey to Blois. Queen Hortense, afflicted at seeing the Empress-Regent and her son abandon the capital to intriguers and conspirators, strongly pressed her to remain, and said with a prophetic conviction: "If you leave the Tuileries, you will never see them again!"

"One of the most astonishing circ.u.mstances of the moment," says Pons de L' Herault, a historian of the period, "is undeniably, the obstinacy with which the King of Rome refused to depart. This obstinacy was so great, that it became necessary to use violence in order to remove the young prince. The cries of the infant-king were heart-rending. He repeated several times: 'My father told me not to go away!' All the spectators shed tears." The young prince had declared again and again that "his papa was betrayed" and his declaration has never been satisfactorily accounted for and can only be explained by the supposition that he had heard the subject discussed among those who considered that all was lost in abandoning the capital.

Joseph now published the following proclamation: "Citizens of Paris! A hostile column has descended on Meaux. It advances; but the Emperor follows close behind, at the head of a victorious army. The Council of Regency has provided for the safety of the Empress and the King of Rome.

I remain with you. Let us arm ourselves to defend this city, its monuments, its riches, our wives, our children--all that is dear to us.

Let this vast capital become a camp for some moments; and let the enemy find his shame under the walls which he hopes to overleap in triumph.

The Emperor marches to our succor. Second him by a short and vigorous resistance, and preserve the honor of France."

The appeal did not produce the results hoped for. Some officers urged Savary to have the streets unpaved and persuade the people to arm themselves with stones and prepare for a defense such as Saragossa. He answered, shaking his head, "the thing cannot be done."

On the 30th the Allies fought and won the final battle. The French occupied the whole of the range of heights from the Marne at Charenton, to the Seine beyond St. Denis; the Austrians beginning the attack about 11 o'clock towards the former of these points, while nearly in the midst between them, a charge was made by the Russians on Pantin and Belleville. The French troops of the line were commanded by Marmont and Mortier; those battalions of the National Guard, whose spirit could be trusted, and who were adequately armed, took their orders from Marshal Moncey and formed a second line of defense. The scholars of the Polytechnic School volunteered to serve at the great guns, and the artillery though weak in numbers, was well arranged. At the barrier of Clichy, in particular, the Allies met with a spirited resistance. The pattern of the French soldiers, the brave Moncey, was there, with his son, and with him Allent, the leader of his staff; celebrated artists and distinguished writers surrounded him and shared his perils. Among the former was Horace Vernet whose Napoleonic pictures have since become famous in two continents. The defense of the city, while brave and determined was ineffectual, and courage was at length compelled to yield to numbers.

By 2 o'clock the Allies were victorious at all points except Montmartre.

Marmont then sent several aides-de-camp to request an armistice and offer a capitulation in order to save the capital. The Czar and the King of Prussia professed their willingness to spare the city, provided the regular troops would evacuate it.

Blucher meanwhile continued pressing on at Montmartre and shortly after 4 o'clock, the victory being completed in that direction, the French cannon were turned on the city and shot and sh.e.l.ls began to spread destruction within its walls. The capitulation was drawn up at 5 o'clock, close to the barrier St. Denis.

It was not until the 27th that Napoleon distinctly ascertained the fact of both the allied armies having marched directly on Paris. He instantly resolved to hasten after them, in hopes of arriving on their rear ere they had mastered the heights of Montmartre. Arriving at Doulevent on the 29th he received a message from Lavalette, his Post-Master General, who wrote: "The partisans of the Stranger are making head, aided by secret intrigues. The presence of the Emperor is indispensable--if he desires to prevent his capital from being delivered to the enemy. There is not a moment to be lost!"

Urging his advance accordingly, Napoleon reached Troyes on the night of the 29th, his men having marched fifteen leagues since daybreak. General Dejean, his aide-de-camp, rode on before him bound for Paris to announce to the Parisians that the Emperor flew to succor them.

On the 30th Macdonald attempted to convince him that the fate of Paris must have been decided ere he could reach it, and advised him to march, without further delay, so as to form a conjunction with Augereau. "In that case," said the marshal, "we may unite and repose our troops, and yet give the enemy battle on a chosen field. If Providence has decreed our last hour, we shall at least die with honor, instead of being dispersed, pillaged and slaughtered by Cossacks."

The Emperor was unwilling to abide by the counsel of his marshal, but continued to advance; finding the road beyond Troyes clear he threw himself into a postchaise and traveled on before his army at full speed.

At Villeneuve L'Archereque he mounted on horseback and galloping without a pause, reached Fontainebleau late at night. Here he ordered a carriage, and taking Caulaincourt and Berthier, drove on towards Paris.

He was still of the belief that he was yet in time--until, while he was changing horses at an inn called "La Cour de France," but a few miles from Paris, General Belliard came up, at the head of a weary column of cavalry marching towards Fontainebleau, in consequence of the provisions of Marmont's treaty with the Allies. He was too late! Paris had capitulated!

Leaping from his carriage as the words reached his ears, the Emperor exclaimed, "What means this? Why here with your cavalry, Belliard? And where are the enemy? Where are my wife and boy? Where Marmont? Where Mortier?"

Belliard, walking by his side, told him of the events of the day. Still the Emperor insisted on continuing his journey although again informed there was no longer an army in Paris; that the regulars were all coming behind, and that neither they nor he himself, having left the city in consequence of a convention, could possibly return to it. It seemed impossible for him to comprehend the astounding intelligence of Belliard who said; "Paris is surrounded by one hundred and thirty thousand enemies."

Napoleon bade Belliard turn with his cavalry and follow him. "Come" said he "we must return to Paris,--nothing goes aright when I am away--they do nothing but blunder!" As he progressed he continued, "You should have held out longer--you should have raised Paris--they cannot like the Cossacks--they would surely have defended their walls. Go! Go! I see everyone has lost his senses. This comes of employing fools and cowards."

The Emperor and Belliard continued Paris-ward, until they were met, a mile beyond the post-house, by the first column of the retreating infantry. Their commander, General Curial, reiterated what Belliard had said. "In proceeding to Paris," he said, "you rush on to death or captivity." The Emperor then became at once perfectly composed and abandoned his design, gave orders that the troops, as they arrived, should draw up behind the little river Essonne, and dispatched Caulaincourt to Paris to ascertain if it were yet possible for him to interpose in the treaty. Having taken this measure he turned back towards Fontainebleau.

Caulaincourt reached the Czar's quarters at Pantin early in the morning of the 31st of March where he found a deputation from the munic.i.p.ality of Paris waiting to present the keys of the city and invoke the protection of the conqueror. The Czar received them immediately on arriving and promised that the capital, and all within it, should be treated with perfect consideration.

Caulaincourt then found his way to Alexander; but he was dismissed immediately. The Allies had practically agreed in favoring the restoration of the Bourbons, ere any part of their forces entered the capital, and a proclamation signed, "Schwartzenberg, Commander of the Chief of the Allied Armies" was distributed throughout Paris in which there were many phrases not to be reconciled with any other position.

The royalists welcomed with exultation the dawn of the 31st and issued proclamations of their own appealing for restoration, besides parading the streets without interruption from either the civil authorities or of the National Guard, although decorated with the symbols of their cause.

At noon the first of the Allied troops began to pa.s.s the barrier and enter the city, and the triumphal procession lasted for several hours.

Fifty thousand troops, horse, foot and artillery, marched along the boulevards and in their midst appeared the youthful Czar and the King of Prussia, followed by a dazzling suite of princes, amba.s.sadors and generals.

The Czar repaired to the hotel of Talleyrand where a council was convened. Alexander and Frederick were urged to re-establish the House of Bourbon. They hesitated: "It is but a few days ago" said the Czar, "since a column of five or six thousand troops suffered themselves to be cut in pieces before my eyes, when a single cry of '_Vive le Roi!_'

would have saved them." One of those present answered "Such things will go on as long as you continue to treat with Bonaparte even although at this moment he has a halter round his neck." The Czar did not understand this allusion until it was explained to him that the Parisians were busy pulling down Napoleon's statue from the top of the great pillar in the Place Vendome.

Alexander now signed a proclamation a.s.serting the resolution of the Allies "to treat no more with Napoleon Bonaparte, or any of his family."

That same evening the Czar, by his minister, declared that "Louis XVIII will immediately ascend the throne." A few days later myriads of hands were busy in every corner of the city pulling down the statues and pictures and effacing the arms of Napoleon.

Caulaincourt returned to Fontainebleau in the night between the 2d and 3d of April and informed Napoleon that the monarchs he had so often spared, and whose royal destinies he could have closed after Austerlitz, Jena, and Wagram, refused to treat with him,--and demanded his abdication. He added that the Allies had not yet, in his opinion, made up their minds to resist the scheme of a regency, but that he was commissioned to say that nothing could be arranged as to ulterior questions, until he, the Emperor, had formally abdicated.

Napoleon was not yet prepared to give up his throne; the news both irritated him and made him indignant. He again wished to try the lot of arms; but his old companions-in-arms declared they would take no further part in the war. The next day, the 4th of April, he reviewed some of his troops, addressed them on "the treasonable proceedings in the capital,"

and announced his intention of instantly marching thither, being answered by shouts of "Paris! Paris!" Nearly 50,000 men were now stationed around Fontainebleau. On parade, Napoleon looked pale and thoughtful, while his convulsive motions manifested his internal struggles, and he did not stop many minutes. On retiring to the chateau, after the review, the Emperor was followed by his marshals, who informed him that if he refused to negotiate on the basis of his personal abdication, and persisted in risking an attack on Paris, they would not accompany him. He paused for a moment in silence--then a long debate ensued, ending in his drawing up and signing the following: _The Allied Powers having proclaimed that the Emperor Napoleon was the sole obstacle to the re-establishment of peace in Europe, he, faithful to his oath, declares that he is ready to descend from the throne, to quit France, and even to relinquish life, for the good of his country; which is inseparable from the rights of his Son, from those of the Regency in the person of the Empress, and from the maintenance of the laws of the Empire._

_Done at our Palace of Fontainebleau, April the 4th, 1814._

NAPOLEON.

Caulaincourt was appointed to bear this doc.u.ment to Paris and the marshals proposed that Ney should accompany him. It was suggested that Marmont should also form a part of the deputation but he being in command at Essonne, Macdonald was named in his stead. The officers now desired to know on what stipulations, as concerned the Emperor personally, they were to insist. "On none," he answered; "obtain the best terms you can for France--for myself I ask nothing." They then departed.

Shortly afterwards Napoleon asked Oudinot if the troops would follow him. "No, Sire" answered the marshal, "you have abdicated."

"Yes, upon certain conditions."

"The soldiers" resumed Oudinot, "do not comprehend the difference; they think you have no more any right to command them."

"Well then," said Napoleon, "it is no more to be thought of; let us wait for accounts from Paris."

Marmont, whom he had loaded with favors, had in the meantime joined the Allies, and by a nocturnal march of his army pa.s.sed over into the midst of the enemy, enabling them to appear more exacting than ever, and which caused Napoleon to denounce his treason to the army by an order of the day in which he scanned the conduct of the Senate who had also, on April 2d, declared Napoleon Bonaparte and his family expelled from the throne of France. "Marshal Marmont's desertion was a mortal blow to the Imperial cause," says Meneval. "It decided the Emperor Alexander, who till then had appeared to hesitate on the question of a regency, to exact in the name of the Allied Powers, the unconditional abdication of the Emperor." Talleyrand said dryly, when someone called Marmont a traitor, "his watch only went a little faster than the others," and in this he spoke truthfully, for officers of all ranks now rapidly abandoned the camp at Fontainebleau, and presented themselves to swear allegiance to the new government, impatient to enjoy in peace the honors and riches with which Napoleon had loaded them.

Caulaincourt, Ney and Macdonald, on being admitted to the presence of the Czar, the act of abdication was produced. Alexander was surprised that it should have contained no stipulations for Napoleon personally; "but I have been his friend" said he "and I will willingly be his advocate. I propose that he shall retain his imperial t.i.tle, with the sovereignty of Elba, or some other island."

When Napoleon's envoys retired from the presence of the Czar it still remained doubtful whether the abdication would be accepted in its present form, or the Allies would insist on an unconditional surrender.

At length they signified their intention to accept of nothing but an unconditional abdication. These terms were finally borne by the marshals to their waiting chief. The marshals returned in the night about twelve.

Ney entered first: "Well, have you succeeded?", said Napoleon.

"Revolutions do not retrograde," answered the veteran marshal, "this has begun its course; it was too late: tomorrow the Senate will recognize the Bourbons."

"Where shall I be able to live with my family?"

"Where your Majesty pleases; for example, in the isle of Elba, with a revenue of six millions."

"Six millions! that is a great deal for a soldier as I am. I see very well I must submit."