Military Career of Napoleon the Great Part 28

The form of abdication submitted by the marshals was to the following purport:

1st. The imperial t.i.tle to be preserved by Napoleon, with the free sovereignty of Elba, guards, and a navy suitable to the extent of that island; a pension, from France, of six millions of francs annually.

2d. The Duchies of Parma, Placentia and Guastalla to be granted in sovereignty to Marie Louise and her heirs, and

3d. Two millions and a half of francs annually to be paid, by the French government, in pensions to Josephine and other members of the Bonaparte family.

Napoleon hesitated when he received the formal ultimatum of the invading powers. He thought seriously of continuing the war, but the group of his personal followers had been rapidly thinned by desertion.

On the 11th of April he at length abandoned all hope and the next day executed an instrument called the treaty of Fontainebleau formally "renouncing for himself and his heirs, the thrones of France and Italy."

Concerning the act Napoleon said, "I blush for it; what avails a treaty, since they will not settle the interests of France with me. If only my personal interests are concerned, there is no need of a treaty. I am conquered; I yield to the fate of arms. All I ask is, not to be accounted a prisoner of war." To all suggestions referring to his providing for his future wants he replied, "What matters it? A horse and a crown a day are all I want!"

"Napoleon, when he affixed his name to the abdication" says Baron Fain, his secretary, "made two or three scratches, and a dent, with the stump of his pen, or back of a knife, on the little, round, claw-footed, yellow table, on which it was signed. After the resignation of the Empire, he spent his time either in conversation in his apartment, or in a small English garden at the back of the palace.... Napoleon, during those days of distress, was seated alone for hours and amused himself by kicking a hole, a foot deep, with his heel, in the gravel beneath.... At the moment of Bonaparte's abdication, he remarked that instruments of destruction had been left in his way; he seemed to think that they were placed there purposely, in order that he might attempt his own life; and with a sardonic smile, said, 'Self-murder is sometimes committed for love--what folly! Sometimes for the loss of fortune--there it is _cowardice_! Another cannot live after he has been disgraced--_what weakness_! But to survive the loss of Empire, to be exposed to the results of one's contemporaries,--_that is true courage_!'"

XV

EXILE TO ELBA

The armies of the Allies had gradually pushed forward from Paris and now nearly surrounded Fontainebleau. When the last of the marshals had quitted Napoleon's presence for the night, after imperiously demanding his resignation, he revolted at the humiliations he had to undergo and disgusted at their cowardice, exclaimed: "These men have neither hearts nor entrails. I am conquered less by fortune than by the selfishness and ingrat.i.tude of my brothers-in-arms!" The same night, in a fit of despair he swallowed a weak poison contained in a bag that he had worn around his neck since 1808. The palace was aroused by his cries and Dr. Yvan hastily summoned by his valet. An antidote was given him and his life saved. To Caulaincourt he said an hour later: "G.o.d would not allow it. I could not die. Why did they not let me die? It is not the loss of my throne that makes existence insupportable to me. My military career is enough glory for one man. Do you know what is more difficult to bear than reverses of fortune? It is the baseness, the horrible ingrat.i.tude of men. I turned my head away with horror from the sight of their meanness and their contemptible selfishness, and I am disgusted with life. What I have suffered during the last three weeks, no one can tell."

Some months later, while at Elba, Napoleon ascribed his ruin entirely to Marmont, to whom he had confided some of his best troops, and a post of the greatest importance, as a person on whose devotion to him he could most depend. "For how could I expect to be betrayed," he said, "by a man whom I had loaded with kindness from the time he was fifteen years of age? Had he stood firm, I could have driven the Allies out of Paris, and the people there,--as well as throughout France,--would have risen, in spite of the Senate, if they had had a few troops to support them."

The Emperor remained long enough at Fontainebleau to hear of the restoration of the Bourbon Monarchy, and on the 20th of April, the commissioners of the Allied Sovereigns having arrived, he once more called his loyal officers about him and signified that they were summoned to receive his last adieu. A few of the marshals and others who had sworn fealty to the new monarch were also present. "Louis" (the King), Napoleon said, "has talents and means: he is old and infirm; and will not, I think, choose to give a bad name to his reign. If he is wise, he will occupy my bed, and only change the sheets. He must treat the army well, and take care not to look back on the past, or his time will be brief. For you, gentlemen, I am no longer to be with you;--you have another government; and it will become you to attach yourselves to it frankly, and serve it faithfully as you have served me."

As he pa.s.sed along he beheld all that now remained of the most brilliant and numerous courts in Europe, reduced to about sixteen individuals, who thus waited to manifest their regard and respect for the fallen Emperor.

Junot, had died the year before, and Caulaincourt and General Flahault were absent on missions. Napoleon shook hands with them all; then hastily pa.s.sing the range of carriages, he advanced towards the relics of the Imperial Guard which he had desired to be drawn up in the courtyard of the castle. He advanced to them on horseback and tears dropped from his eyes as he dismounted in their midst. "Soldiers of the Old Guard," said he, "I bid you farewell! During twenty years you have been my constant companions in the path of honor and glory. In our last disasters, as well as in the days of our prosperity, you invariably proved yourselves models of courage and fidelity. With such men as you, our cause could not have been lost; but a protracted civil war would have ensued, and the miseries of France would thereby have been augmented. I have, therefore, sacrificed all our interests to those of the country. I depart: you, my friends, will continue to serve France, whose happiness has ever been the only object of my thoughts, and still will be the sole object of my wishes. Do not deplore my fate. If I consent to live, it is that I may still contribute to your glory. I will record the great achievements we have performed together. Farewell, my comrades! I should wish to press you all to my bosom. Let me at least embrace your standard."

[Ill.u.s.tration: From a Painting by E. Meissonier

RETREAT FROM MOSCOW--"1814"]

At these words, General Pet.i.t took the eagle and came forward. Napoleon received the general in his arms, and kissed the flag. The silence of this affecting scene was only interrupted by the occasional sobs of the soldiers. Having kissed the flag, Napoleon said with great emotion, "Farewell once more my old comrades! Let this kiss be impressed on all your hearts!"

On this occasion the English commissioner who stood near him, and had previously been his inveterate enemy, was so deeply moved that he was affected in the same degree as Napoleon's attendants. When leaving Napoleon called for Rustan, his Mameluke servant, but the latter had concealed himself, though on the preceding day he had received from his master, at Fontainebleau, a present of 30,000 francs to provide for his wife and family during his absence. The Emperor, in speaking afterwards of this man who nightly slept across his doorway, said, "I am by no means astonished at his conduct, as he was imbued with the sentiments of a slave; and, finding me no longer master, he imagined his services might be dispensed with."

Napoleon now hurried through the group that surrounded him--stepped into his carriage, and instantly drove off. The carriages took the road to Lyons.

Four commissioners, one each from the great Allied Powers, Austria, Russia, Prussia and England, accompanied him on his journey. He was attended by the ever faithful Bertrand, Grand Master of the Palace, and some other attached friends and servants. While fourteen carriages were conveying him and his immediate suite towards Elba, 700 infantry and about 150 cavalry of the Imperial Guard,--all picked men and volunteers,--marched in the same direction to take on them the military duties of the exiled court.

Not far from Lyons Napoleon met Augereau, general-in-chief of the Army of the East, whose conduct during the late campaign had been that of a traitor. When Augereau had taken his leave from his ex-chief one of the commissioners ventured to express surprise that Napoleon should have treated him with such a show of affection. "Why should I not?" he asked.

"Your Majesty is perhaps unacquainted with his conduct. Sire, he entered into an understanding with us several weeks ago!"

The Emperor afterwards confirmed this anecdote, adding: "The conqueror of Castiglione might have left behind him a name dear to his country; but France will execrate the memory of the traitor of Lyons."

During the early part of his progress the Exile was received respectfully by the civil functionaries of the different towns and departments, and many tokens of sympathy on the part of the people were expressed. As he increased the distance between himself and his capital, and was carried into provinces wherein his name had never been extremely popular, he was once or twice subjected to personal insult, and danger of violence, when the horses were changing. At Lyons, an old woman in mourning, and with a countenance full of enthusiasm, rushed forward to the door of the carriage. "Sire" said she, with an air of solemnity, "may the blessing of heaven attend your endeavor to make yourself happy.

They tear you from us; but our hearts are with you, wheresoever you go."

The Austrian commissioner, quite disconcerted, said to his companion, "Let us go; I have no patience with this mad woman!"

At length Napoleon disguised himself and sometimes appearing in an Austrian uniform, at others riding on before the carriages in the garb of a courier, reached in safety the place of embarkation. A French vessel had been sent round from Toulon to Cannes, for the purpose of conveying him to Elba; but there happened to be an English frigate also in the roads and he preferred sailing under any flag rather than the Bourbon. The voyage to Elba was uneventful. Napoleon succeeded in making a favorable impression on the English crew and when, on finally leaving the "Undaunted," he caused some two hundred napoleons ($800) to be distributed among the sailors, the boatswain undertook to return thanks in the name of the crew by "wishing him a long life--_and better luck next time_!" As he left the vessel a royal salute was fired.

The Emperor of the little island of Elba came in view of his new dominions on the afternoon of May 4th, 1814, and went ash.o.r.e in disguise the same evening, in order to ascertain for himself whether the feelings of the Elbans were favorable or otherwise. He found the people considered his residence as likely to increase in every way the importance and prosperity of their island, and returned on board the ship; at noon the day following he made his public entry into the town of Porto-Ferrajo amidst many popular demonstrations of welcome and respect. The English and Austrian commissioners landed with him, those from Russia and Prussia having departed at the coast of Provence. When the Exile climbed to the hill above Ferrajo, and looked down upon the whole of his territory, as upon a map, he remarked to Sir Neil Campbell, the English commissioner, "It must be confessed that my island is very small."

The island, however, mountainous and rocky, for the most part barren, and of a circ.u.mference not exceeding sixty miles, was his. He forthwith devoted to it the same anxious care and industry that had sufficed for the whole affairs of France, and a large portion of Europe besides. In less than three weeks he had thorougly acquainted himself with its history, resources and the character of its people, had explored every corner of the island "and projected more improvements of all sorts"

according to one historian, "than would have occupied a life-time to complete." He even extended his "Empire" by sending some soldiers to take possession of a small adjacent islet, hitherto unoccupied for fear of Corsairs. He established residences in four different corners of Elba and was continually in motion from one to the other. All the etiquette of the Tuileries was adhered to as far as possible, and Napoleon's eight or nine hundred veterans were reviewed as frequently and formally as if they had been the army of Austerlitz or Friedland, and over which hung the flag of Elba which the Emperor had adopted, and which was that of the island,--white, striped with purple and studded with stars. Sometime later he adopted a new flag as King of Elba; silver with a red band, the latter having bees of gold on it. The Emperor wore the uniform of the Colonel of the Horse Cha.s.seurs of the Guard. He had subst.i.tuted on his chapeau the red and white c.o.c.kade of the island for the tri-colored c.o.c.kade. His presence gave a new stimulus to the trade and industry of the island and the port of Ferrajo was crowded with vessels from the opposite coast of Italy.

Napoleon received no money whatever from the Bourbon court, his pension having been entirely forgotten by his successors at the capital. His complaints on this head were not even considered, and the exchequer of the Exile being rapidly depleted by his generous expenditures, he soon became in need of many necessities. These new troubles imbittered the spirit of the fallen Chief and but for the course of events at Paris, of which he was kept fully advised, would have become overpowered by a listlessness which at one time affected him seriously.

While on the island the Emperor observed that his new flag had become the first in the Mediterranean. It was held sacred, he said, by the Algerians, who usually made presents to the Elban captains, telling them they were paying the debt of Moscow. Some Algerian ships once anchoring off the island, great alarm was caused among the inhabitants, who questioned the pirates, and asked them plainly whether they came with any hostile views. "Against the Great Napoleon;" they replied, "Oh!

never; we do not wage war on G.o.d!"

Louis XVIII. had made his public entry into Paris on the 21st of April.

He was advanced in years, gross and infirm in person, yet he was, perhaps, less unpopular than the rest of his family; but it was his fatal misfortune to continue to increase day by day the bitterness of those who had never been sincerely his friends. The King had been called to the throne by the French Senate in a decree which provided that he should preserve the political system "which Napoleon had violated," and which declared the legislative const.i.tution as composed of a hereditary sovereign and two houses of a.s.sembly; to be fixed and unchangeable.

Louis, however, though he proceeded to France on this invitation, did not hesitate to date his first act in the twentieth year of his reign.

The Senate saw in such a.s.sumptions the traces of those old doctrines of "the divine right of kings," of which Louis was a shining example, and which they, who though not originally of his party, had consented to his recall--although they had through life abhorred and combatted such principles; and they asked themselves, why, if all their privileges were but the gifts of the King, they might not, on any tempting opportunity, be withdrawn by the same authority. They, whose t.i.tles had all been won since the death of Louis XVI., were startled when they found, that, according to the royal doctrine, _there had been no legitimate government all that time in France_!

The first tumult of the Restoration being over, and the troops of the Allies withdrawn, things began to so shape themselves that there were many elements of discontent amongst all cla.s.ses, one of the most powerful of which was in the army itself. The Allies had restored, without stipulation, the whole of the prisoners who had fallen into their hands during the war. At least 150,000 veteran soldiers, all of whom had fought under Napoleon on many battlefields, were thus poured into France ere Louis was well seated on the throne; men, too, who had witnessed nothing of the last disastrous campaigns; who had sustained themselves in their exile by recounting their earlier victories; and who now, returning fresh and vigorous to their native soil, had but one answer to every tale of misfortune which met them: "These things could never have happened had we been here!"

The Empress Marie was at Blois at the time Napoleon signed his abdication, and Savary has described her grief as very great, but her own reverses were sufficiently severe to account for this, without any strong feeling for Napoleon. By direction of Napoleon she applied for protection to the Emperor of Austria and went to Rambouillet to meet him, where he explained to her that she was to be separated from her husband "for a time." The Emperor Alexander visited her also, very much against her will, and a few days afterwards she departed for Vienna.

Alexander also visited Josephine, and found her distress at Napoleon's abdication very great. She appears never to have recovered from the shock for she survived it only about six weeks. She died on the 29th of May, 1814, at Malmaison, and was buried in the church of Ruel. Her funeral was attended by several generals of the allied armies, and marshals and generals of France. The body was afterwards placed in a magnificent tomb of white marble, erected by her two children, and bearing the simple inscription: "Eugene and Hortense to Josephine."

Napoleon's mother, and sister Pauline, as well as a number of ancient and attached servants of his civil government and his army, visited him during the summer of 1814. Not the least of these was Pauline, who made repeated voyages to Italy, and returned again as mysteriously. In the circles of Ferrajo new and busy faces now appeared and disappeared--no one knew whence they had come or whither they went and an air of bustle and mystery pervaded the atmosphere of the place. The Emperor continued to review his handful of veteran soldiers with as much pride as if they had been the innumerable hosts he had led to victory on the Continent, and seemed to be fairly well contented with his situation notwithstanding he had fallen from an eminence that had been reached by no other man in modern times. The only notable change observed in his habits was that he became grave, and reserved, and seemed no longer to take any interest in the improvements he had effected on the island.

It was evident, however, that something was preparing; but the commissioners who watched over Napoleon were unable to fathom it. They repeatedly remarked on the absurdity of the Allied Powers in withholding his pension, which they had solemnly pledged should be paid every quarter, thereby tempting him to release himself; but their reports were left unnoticed by those in whose hands they fell. This obliged the Emperor to sell every luxury and comfort around him to raise the means of paying his current expenses. Then it was that he began to forecast the future and to contemplate a bold stroke, not only for liberty, but to regain his lost throne before he could be transported to St. Helena which he had been informed privately was being discussed at Vienna.

In this he was aided by a nation which was far from satisfied with the man whose possession of the royal sceptre had only been made possible by the force of foreign armies, and it was apparent to nearly everyone that Louis XVIII. could not long rule France tranquilly, even though Napoleon did not return.

Ere autumn closed Napoleon granted furloughs on various pretexts to about two hundred of his Guard, and these at once scattered themselves over France singing his praises. It now began to be whispered that the Exile would return to the soil of France in the spring of the coming year. Among the soldiery and elsewhere he was toasted under the _sobriquet_ of "Corporal Violet," a flower or a ribbon of its color being the symbol of rebellion, and worn openly in the sight of the unsuspecting Bourbons. It was by this secret symbol that Napoleon's friends knew each other. Rings of a violet color with the device, "It will re-appear in the spring," became fashionable; women wore violet-colored silks and the men displayed watch-strings of the same color; while the mutual question when these friends met was generally, "Are you fond of the violet?" to which the answer of a confederate was, "Ah! well."

The representatives of all the European princes had met in Vienna to settle finally a number of questions left undecided at the termination of the war, including a division of the "spoils." Talleyrand was there for France, Wellington for England, Metternich for Austria. On the 11th of March these representatives, who were then discussing among other things "how to get rid of the Man of Elba," were thrown into a panic by the news that Napoleon Bonaparte had reared his standard once more in France and was marching on Paris!

Of the state of affairs in France Napoleon had been fully advised as well as of the sessions of the ministers at the Congress of Vienna, who had suggested that, as the French government would not honestly pay his pension, he should be taken to some place of greater safety, and St.

Helena was even mentioned at this time. This determined Napoleon to act, especially as he was fully convinced that he had a good chance of being well received by the twenty or thirty millions of people who were being treated with contempt by Louis XVIII. and his followers. The arrival also of M. Fleury de Chaboulon, with secret messages from Maret, (Duke of Ba.s.sano) then at Paris, had much to do with the hasty determination of Napoleon to quit Elba at the earliest moment possible. Reserved as the Exile was with others he told his mother of his plans. "I cannot die on this island," he said to her, "and terminate my career in a repose unworthy of me. Besides, want of money would soon leave me here alone, exposed to the attack of my enemies." His mother reflected for some time in silence and then replied, "Go, my son--go and fulfill your destiny!

You will fail perhaps, and your failure will soon be followed by your death. But I see with sorrow that you cannot remain here; let us hope that G.o.d, who has protected you amid so many battles, will save you once more!"

Bertrand, who was sharing Napoleon's exile, was now informed of the Emperor's decision as was also Druot who at once commenced secret preparations for the approaching expedition. Eleven hundred soldiers were collected of whom 800 belonged to the Guard and 300 to the 35th light infantry that Napoleon had found in the island. None of these men had any idea of the projected enterprise. Colonel Campbell, who was watching proceedings in Elba for the English, had left Ferrajo and gone to Leghorn. There remained then only the cruisers that were easily deceived or avoided. In order to keep his preparations a profound secret, Napoleon, two days before embarking, laid an embargo on the vessels in the harbors of Elba, and cut off all communication with the sea. He then ordered his ordnance officer, Vantini, to seize one of the large vessels lying in the port, which, with the "Inconstant" of twenty-six cannon, and six other smaller craft, making in all seven vessels, he secured the means of embarking his eleven hundred men and four pieces of field artillery. He had decided to commence his romantic enterprise on the 26th of February, 1815. On this day he allowed his soldiers to remain at their usual employment until the middle of the day. They were suddenly summoned in the afternoon and after being lightly fed, were a.s.sembled with arms and baggage on the pier where they were informed that they were to go on board the vessels. The inhabitants of the island regretted the Exile's departure as they feared its prosperity would go with him. Napoleon's staff and about three hundred men embarked on board the "Inconstant," the others being distributed in the other vessels of the flotilla.

The discharge of a single cannon at about 7 o'clock in the evening was the signal agreed upon for weighing anchor, and when the sails were unfurled, and the little fleet steered its course, reiterated cries of "Paris or death!" were heard from the exultant troops. The Emperor had said to them, "Grenadiers! we are going to France; we must march to Paris!"

The English commissioner immediately attempted to get Napoleon's mother and sister to betray his destination and being unsuccessful, at once pursued; but was unable to overtake his charge. On the voyage a French ship-of-war crossed his path; but the Emperor made all his soldiers and those persons who could be suspected descend under the deck, and the steersman of the "Inconstant," who happened to be well acquainted with the commanding officer, had received and answered the usual challenge without exciting any suspicion. In reply to the question of how they left the Emperor at Elba, Napoleon himself made answer by signal that, "He was very well."

During the voyage he dictated two proclamations which were copied by almost all his soldiers and attendants who could write. These were to be duplicated on landing and distributed throughout France.

The Emperor, having left Elba on the 26th of February, arrived off Cannes, near Frejus, on March 1st,--the very spot he had touched when he arrived from Egypt, and from which he had embarked ten months before. He landed without opposition, and his handful of men,--500 grenadiers of the Guard, 200 dragoons and 100 Polish lancers, these last without horses and carrying their saddles on their backs, were reviewed and immediately began their march on Paris. He bivouacked that night in a plantation of olives, with all his men about him. As soon as the moon rose, the reveille sounded. A laborer who was going thus early to work in the fields recognized the Emperor's person, and uttering a cry of joy, said he had served in the Army of Italy and would join the ranks.