Military Career of Napoleon the Great Part 30

During the last days of the Congress of Vienna, Murat's possession of the throne of Naples was under discussion, and Talleyrand was endeavoring to dethrone him and place thereon the King of the Sicilies.

When Napoleon landed on the sh.o.r.es of France, Murat resolved to rival his brother-in-law's daring and without further pause marched to Rome, at the head of 50,000 men, the Pope and cardinals fleeing at his approach. Murat then advanced into the north of Italy, inviting "all true Italians" to rally round him, and a.s.sist in the erection of their country into one free and independent state, with himself at their head.

The Austrian commander in Lombardy put his troops in motion at once to meet Murat, and the latter's followers fleeing in confusion, their leader sought personal safety in flight. On quitting his wretched remnant of an army he returned incognito to his capital on the evening of the 18th of May. As he embraced his queen,--Napoleon's sister,--he exclaimed, with emotion, "All is lost, Caroline, except my own life, and that I have been unable to throw away!"

He departed in a fishing vessel which landed him near Toulon about the end of May. Here he lingered for some time, entreating Napoleon to receive him at Paris, and being unsuccessful, after a series of extraordinary hardships, relanded on the coast of Naples after the King of the Two Sicilies had been re-established on that throne.

Murat hoped to invite an insurrection and recover what he had lost; but was seized, tried, and executed, meeting his fate with heroic fort.i.tude.

To those who took his life he said at the last moment, "Save my face; aim at my heart!" At St. Helena, Napoleon often said that the fortune of the world might have been changed had there been a Murat to head the French cavalry at Waterloo.

Austria was now concentrating all her Italian forces for the meditated re-invasion of France; the Spanish army began to muster towards the pa.s.ses of the Pyrenees, the Russians, Swedes and Danes were already advancing from the north, while the main armies of Austria, Bavaria and the Rhenish princes were rapidly consolidating themselves along the Upper Rhine. Blucher was once more in command of the Prussians in the Netherlands; and Wellington, commanding in chief the British, Hanoverians and Belgians, had also established his headquarters at Brussels by the end of May. It was very evident to Napoleon that the clouds were thickening fast and he at once began preparations to defend himself ere his frontier had been crossed on all sides.

Among other preparations, the Emperor had now strongly fortified Paris and all the positions in advance of it on the Seine, the Marne, and the Aube, and among the pa.s.ses of the Vosgesian hills. Lyons, also, had been guarded by very formidable outworks. Ma.s.sena, at Metz, and Suchet, on the Swiss frontier, commanded divisions which the Emperor judged sufficient to restrain Schwartzenberg for some time on the Upper Rhine.

Should he drive them, in the fortresses behind could hardly fail to detain him much longer.

Meanwhile Napoleon had resolved to himself attack the most alert of his enemies, the Prussians and the English, beyond the Sambre,--while the Austrians were thus held in check on the Upper Rhine; and ere the armies of the North could debouch upon Manheim, to co-operate by their right with Wellington and Blucher, and by their left with Schwartzenberg.

On the 14th of May, previously appointed as the day of procession and solemn festival of the "Federates,"--operatives and artisans of Paris--the Emperor rode along their ranks, received their acclamations, and harangued them in his usual strain of eloquence. In the meantime, however, Fouche, Minister of Police, had already begun to hold traitorous communications with the Austrian government. In one instance Napoleon had discovered this fact, and had nearly caused him to be arrested; but he abstained, apparently from apprehension of the Republican party, amongst whom Fouche was a busy pretender.

The ceremony of the "Champ-de-Mai" took place on the 1st of June, in the open s.p.a.ce facing the Military School. The Imperial and National Guards and troops of the line, amounting in all to 15,000 soldiers, were drawn up in squares in the Champ-de-Mars and an immense concourse of spectators thronged every vacant s.p.a.ce from which a view of the scene could be gained. After a religious solemnity, a patriotic address was delivered to the Emperor by the electors of the departments, to which he replied: "Emperor, Consul, Soldier--I hold all from the people. In prosperity, in adversity, in the field of battle, in council, on the throne, in exile, France has been the sole object of all my thoughts and actions."

The Emperor then proceeded to the altar and took an oath to observe the new const.i.tution, which had been adopted by upwards of a million and a half votes, and in which he was followed by his ministers and the electoral deputations. The ceremony concluded with the distribution of the eagles to the troops, and with loud and repeated acclamations, and cries of "Vive l'Empereur!" from the soldiers and mult.i.tude a.s.sembled.

On the following day the Emperor gave a grand fete, in the gallery of the Louvre, to the deputies of the army and the electors, on which occasion he was again greeted with every manifestation of devotion and fidelity. On the 4th of June, Napoleon attended in person the opening of the Chambers and delivered addresses which were both firm, open and sensible.

By this time the Emperor had made most extraordinary progress in his preparations for war. The effective strength of the army had been raised to 365,000 men, of whom 117,000 were under arms, clothed, disciplined and ready to take the field. They were formed into seven grand corps, besides several corps of observation stationed along the whole line of the frontiers, which were then threatened on every side. What Napoleon now required was time to prepare the means of defense; but this his enemies were far from intending to allow.

Their immense armaments were already pa.s.sing on towards the frontiers of France, in different lines, and at considerable intervals, for the convenience of subsistence. The Emperors of Russia and Austria, and the King of Prussia, had once more placed themselves at the head of their respective armies. The Austrians, amounting to 300,000 men, commanded in chief by Schwartzenberg, were divided into two bodies, one of which was to enter France by Switzerland, the other by the Upper Rhine. Two hundred thousand Russians were marching towards Alsace, under the Archduke Constantine. The Prussian army amounted to two hundred and thirty-six thousand men; of whom one half were already in the field. The minor states of Germany had furnished one hundred and fifty thousand; the Netherlands, fifty thousand; England, eighty thousand, including the king's German legion, and other troops in British pay, under the command of the Duke of Wellington;--in all 1,016,000 soldiers!

Among these hosts it was the army commanded by the Duke of Wellington, and the Prussians under Blucher, which were first in the field. They occupied Belgium and amounted to upwards of two hundred thousand men, of whom rather less than one half were ranged under the English commander-in-chief.

[Ill.u.s.tration: RETURN OF NAPOLEON FROM ELBA]

Two plans of campaign presented themselves to the mind of Napoleon. One was to remain entirely on the defensive, leaving to the Allies the odium of striking the first blow against the liberties of nations. He believed that as they would not begin the invasion until the middle of July, it would be the middle of August before they could make their way through the fortresses, and appear in force before Lyons and Paris. Large armies, could, before that time, be concentrated by him under the walls of these two cities, and there the battles must be fought and decided.

The second plan was to a.s.sume the offensive before the Allies had completed their operations, by marching into Belgium and attacking the armies of Wellington and Blucher. His numbers would be inferior, but his tactics would aim at preventing the junction of the two armies opposed to him and beating them separately, in which event Belgium would to a certainty rise and join his cause. He finally resolved on the latter plan of campaign. His calculations, were, in part, disturbed by a serious insurrection in La Vendee, which obliged him to send 20,000 men into that province, in order to quell it, and reduced his disposable forces to one hundred and twenty thousand men; but did not alter his determination. The army was put in motion, and every preparation made for the approaching struggle.

The Emperor left Paris on the night between the 11th and 12th of June, as some writers declare "to measure himself against Wellington." The Imperial Guard had commenced its march on the 8th, and all the different corps of the army were in motion towards Maubeuge and Phillipville. When he had made known his intention of commencing the war, Caulaincourt solicited the favor of attending him. "If I do not leave you at Paris" answered Napoleon, "on whom can I depend?" Even then he felt that it was not the Allies alone that he had to contend against; and when he had left Paris he seemed less apprehensive of the enemies before, than those he had left behind him. To Bertrand's wife he said, as he took her hand at departing, "Let us hope, Madame Bertrand, that we may not soon have to regret the Island of Elba."

Napoleon arrived at Vervins on the 12th of June and a.s.sembled and reviewed at Beaumont on the 14th, the whole of the army which had been prepared to act immediately under his own orders. They had been most carefully selected, and formed, and it was, perhaps, the most perfect force, though far from the most numerous, with which he had ever taken the field. The returns showed that his army amounted to one hundred and twenty-two thousand four hundred men, with three hundred and fifty pieces of cannon. These included 25,000 of his Imperial Guard, 25,000 cavalry in the highest condition, and artillery admirably served. "The whole army was superb and full of ardor;" says Count Labedoyere, "but the Emperor, more a slave than could have been credited to recollections and old habits, committed the great fault of replacing his army under the command of its former chiefs, most of whom, notwithstanding their previous addresses to the King, did not cease to pray for the triumph of the Imperial cause; yet were not disposed to serve it with that ardor and devotion demanded by imperious circ.u.mstances. They were no longer men full of youth and ambition, generously prodigal of their lives to acquire rank and fame; but veterans, weary of warfare, who, having attained the summit of promotion, and being enriched by the spoils of the enemy, or the bounty of Napoleon, indulged no other wish, than the peaceable enjoyment of their good fortune under the shade of those laurels, they had so dearly acquired."

The Emperor reminded his soldiers, in a fiery proclamation issued on the 14th of June, that the day was the anniversary of the battle of Marengo and of Friedland. "Then, as after Austerlitz and Wagram" he said "we were too generous. We gave credit to the protestations and oaths of the princes whom we suffered to remain on their thrones. Now, however, having coalesced among themselves, they aim at the independence and the most sacred rights of France. They have commenced the most unjust of aggressions. Are we no longer the same men? Fools that they are! A moment of prosperity blinds them. The oppression and the humiliation of the French people are out of their power. If they enter France, there will they find their tomb. Soldiers! We have forced marches to make; battles to wage; perils to encounter; but with constancy the victory will be ours. The rights--the honor of the country--will be honored. For every Frenchman who has a heart, the moment has now arrived either to conquer or perish!"

The army of Blucher numbered at this time about 120,000 men. They communicated on their right with the left of the Anglo-Belgian army, under Wellington, whose headquarters were at Brussels. Blucher's forces extended along the line of the Sambre and the Meuse, occupied Charleroi, Namur, Givet, and Liege. The Duke of Wellington's host amounted in all to 75,000 men; his first division occupied Enghien, Brain-le-Compte and Nivelles, communicating with the Prussian right at Charleroi. The second division,--Lord Hills',--was cantoned in Halle, Oudenard and Gramont, together with the greater part of the cavalry. The reserve, under Sir Thomas Picton, was quartered at Brussels and Ghent. The English and Prussian commanders had thus arranged their troops with the view of being able to support each other, wherever the French might hazard their a.s.sault.

In the night between the 14th and 15th, scouts returned to the headquarters of the French, reporting that there was no movement among the invaders at Charleroi, Namur or Brussels, thus verifying the Emperor's belief that the plans for concealing the movements of his army during the last few days were successful. The Duke of Wellington, in a letter to Lord Bathurst, on the 13th, declared his disbelief in the report that Napoleon had joined the army, and it was not until the afternoon of the 15th that he possessed any knowledge of the position and intentions of Napoleon. On that day, an officer of high rank arrived at Wellington's headquarters in Brussels with the intelligence of Napoleon's decisive operations.

General Bourmont, a protege of Ney, with Colonels Clouet and Villoutreys, and two other officers, had gone over to the enemy with all the Emperor's plans. Napoleon knew from Marshal Ney that Bourmont had shown some hesitation, and he had been backward in employing him.

Bourmont, however, having given General Gerard his word of honor to serve the Emperor faithfully; and the general in question, whom Napoleon valued highly, having answered for his integrity, the Emperor consented to admit him into the service. He had covered himself with glory in 1814, and it was not to be expected that he would in 1815 go over to the enemy on the eve of a battle. A drum-major, who deserted from the French ranks some hours before General Bourmont and his two companions, was conducted under an escort to the headquarters of Blucher, at Namur, where he gave the first intelligence of Napoleon's intended attack. This was confirmed by Bourmont, Clouet and Villoutreys who added details with which the drum-major could not possibly have been acquainted.

Later on, in speaking of these traitors, Napoleon said, "Their names will be held in execration so long as the French people form a nation.

This desertion increased the anxiety of the soldiers."

The Emperor immediately made those alterations in his plan of attack, as such unexpected treason rendered necessary, and then proceeded to carry out the details of his campaign. He had determined on first attacking the Prussians, as he believed Blucher would give him battle at once, in order to allow the English time to collect their forces. He believed also, that if the English army were attacked first, Blucher would more rapidly arrive to the support of the English than the latter were likely to do if the Prussians were first attacked.

Ney had been placed in command of 43,000 men, with orders to advance on the road to Brussels and make himself master of the position of Quatre-Bras, at all points, so as to prevent Wellington from supporting the Prussians. He was to march at daybreak, on the 16th, occupy the position and intrench himself.

On Thursday, the 15th of June, the French drove in all the outposts on the west bank of the Sambre at daybreak and at length a.s.saulted Charleroi, it being the intention of the Emperor to crush Blucher ere he could concentrate all his own forces,--far less be supported by the advance of Wellington,--and then rush on Brussels. Zietten held out with severe loss at Charleroi; but long enough for the alarm to spread along the whole Prussian line and then fell back on a position between Ligny and Amand, where Blucher now awaited Napoleon's attack at the head of his whole army, except the division of Bulow, which had not yet come up from Liege.

The design of beating the Prussians in detail was not a success but the second part of the plan--that of separating them wholly from Wellington, might still succeed. With this view, while Blucher was concentrating his force about Ligny, the French held the main road to Brussels from Charleroi, beating some Na.s.sau troops at Frasnes, and following them as far as Quatre-Bras, a farm-house, so-called because it is there that the roads from Charleroi to Brussels, and from Nivelles to Namur cross each other.

On Thursday a Prussian officer arrived at Wellington's headquarters in Brussels, with the intelligence of Napoleon's decisive operations. It is still an open question just what hour this news was received by the Duke, the time being variously stated at from 1 to 6 o'clock p.m. This news was to the effect that the attack had commenced and the outposts of the Allies had been driven back--much to Wellington's surprise, as he was not wholly prepared for the news. There was to be a ball in Brussels on Thursday evening, at the d.u.c.h.ess of Richmond's hotel, attended by the Duke of Wellington and most of his general officers. Notwithstanding the intelligence, they all went; but a second dispatch arrived at 11 o'clock, announcing that "the French had entered Charleroi that morning, and continued to march in order of battle on Brussels; that there were one hundred and fifty thousand strong; and that the Emperor was at their head!" It was now but too clear that no more time should be lost and the Duke and all of his officers hurried out of the ball-room.

Wellington, now fully aware of his situation, at once issued orders for the breaking up of his cantonments, and the concentration of the forces, which were spread over a very great extent. He rode off at an early hour on the 16th, to Quatre-Bras, to visit the position, and thence to Bry, where he had an interview with Blucher.

Napoleon, whose manoeuvres had thus far succeeded to his wish, on coming up from Charleroi about noon on the 16th, was undecided whether Blucher at Ligny, or Wellington at Quatre-Bras, ought to form the main object of his attack. He at length determined to give his own personal attention to Blucher.

The advanced guards met at the village of Fleurus, and those belonging to the Prussians having retreated, their army now appeared drawn up in battle array;--their left on Sombref; their centre on Ligny; their right on St. Amand. The reserves were on the heights of Bry. Upon the summit of this high ground the mill of Bry was conspicuous, and behind the mill, in a depression, stood the village of Bry, whose steeple only was visible.

The Prussian forces occupied a line nearly four miles in extent. The French army, not including Ney's division, amounting to 60,000 men, halted and formed. The Emperor now rode to some windmills on the chain of outposts on the heights, and reconnoitred the enemy.

The Prussians displayed to him a force of about 80,000 men. Their front was protected by a deep ravine; but their right was exposed, and had Ney's division at Quatre-Bras, as the Emperor supposed, in the rear. A staff officer now arrived from Ney, to inform Napoleon that he had not yet occupied Quatre-Bras, in consequence of reports which made him apprehensive of being turned by the enemy; but that he would advance, if the Emperor still required it. Napoleon blamed him for having lost eight hours, repeated the order, and added that, as soon as Ney had made good that position, he (Ney) was to send a detachment by the causeway of Namur and the village of Marchais, whence it should attack the heights of Bry in the Prussian rear. Ney received this order at 12 o'clock, noon; his detachment might reach Marchais by about 2 o'clock.

At this latter hour, therefore, the Emperor having descended from the heights whence he had formed a correct view of his position, gave orders for an immediate attack by a change of the whole front, divided into several columns, on Fleurus. The attack extended all along the line of the enemy, and which would be enclosed between two fires on the arrival of the detachment from Ney's division in the rear of the Prussians. "The fate of the war," said Napoleon, in answer to a question from Count Gerard, "may be decided in three hours. If Ney executes his orders well, not a gun of the Prussian army will escape." The soldiers had hardly advanced a few paces, amid vociferous cries of "Vive l'Empereur!" when terrible ravages were made in their ranks by the chain-shot from the village and the b.a.l.l.s from the batteries above. A single ball killed eight men in one of the columns. But the enthusiasm of the troops, all eager for battle, was too great to cause them to waver and they advanced almost without firing, drove the Prussians at the point of the bayonet from their positions in the gardens and orchards, and entered the village after a stout resistance, only to retire a short time later being unable to conquer the ma.s.ses of infantry drawn up in a semi-circle on a slope which surmounted the hill of Bry. The action at Ligny had commenced a little later but not less aggressively. As Gerard's three columns approached the village of Ligny they were received with such a volley that they were obliged to fall back. A large body of artillery was then thrown forward and riddled the village of Ligny and Gerard's columns again advanced, finally taking possession of the place. This was followed by a series of combats, exceedingly ferocious, as the French gave no quarter nor did they receive any from the Prussians.

Blucher now advanced at the head of his soldiers and made a vigorous attempt upon the three St. Amands; but with only partial success for a time. At length, by a series of skillful attacks and manoeuvres, the French became masters of these three points, but had not been able to cross the sinuous stream of Ligny. It was now 5:30 o'clock and Napoleon was directing the Imperial Guard upon Ligny in support of the advantages already gained by Count Gerard at the head of 5,000 men, at St. Amand, when he was informed that an army of 30,000 was advancing upon Fleurus.

The Emperor suspended the movement of his Guard in order to meet this new force; but the alarm was unfounded. It proved to be the first corps,--Count d'Erlon's,--which formed part of Ney's division, at last complying with Napoleon's repeated orders, and had come up to take the enemy in the rear:--their unexpected appearance had occasioned the loss of two hours.

The Old Guard now resumed its suspended movements upon Ligny: the ravine was pa.s.sed by General Pecheux, at the head of his division, supported by the infantry, cavalry, artillery and Milhaud's cuira.s.siers. The reserves of the Prussians were driven back with the bayonet, and the centre of the line broken and routed. A b.l.o.o.d.y conflict ensued in which the French were victorious. The slaughter among the Prussians, was most remarkable.

They, however, divided into two parts, effected a retreat, favored by the night and by the failure of that attack in the rear which Ney had been so expressly ordered to make by a detachment from his force. Their loss amounted to the prodigious number of 18,000 men, killed, wounded or prisoners; forty pieces of cannon and eight stands of colors, while the French loss was between 8,000 and 9,000.

For five hours, two hundred pieces of ordnance deluged the field with slaughter, blood and death, during which period the French and Prussians, alternately vanquished and victors, disputed that ensanguined post hand to hand and foot to foot, so that no less than seven times in succession Ligny was taken and lost.

The Emperor had repeatedly sent to Ney saying "that the destiny of France rested in his hands" but the veteran marshal failed to appreciate the importance of the orders and did not act promptly.

Many of the Prussian generals were killed or wounded; and Blucher himself was overthrown, man and horse, by a charge of cuira.s.siers, and galloped over by friends and foes. Night was coming on and the marshal, who was much battered and bruised, effected his escape. He joined a body of his troops, directed the retreat upon Wavres, and continued to mask his movements so skilfully, that Napoleon knew not until noon on the 17th what way he had taken.

The total loss of the French amounted to no more than nine thousand, killed or wounded--the extraordinary disproportion being occasioned by the more skillful disposition of the French troops, whereby all their shots took effect, while more than half of those of the enemy were wasted.

On the same day as the battle of Ligny,--June 16th,--was also fought the battle of Quatre-Bras, and at about the same time. Ney, with 45,000 men, began an attack on the position of Wellington at Quatre-Bras. At this point the French were posted among growing corn as high as the tallest man's shoulder, and which enabled them to draw up a strong body of cuira.s.siers close to the English, and yet entirely out of their view.

The 49th and 42d regiments of Highlanders were thus taken by surprise, and the latter would have been destroyed but for the coming up of the former. The 42d, formed into a square, was repeatedly broken, and as often recovered, though with terrible loss of life, for out of 800 that went into action, only ninety-six privates and four officers remained unhurt.

The pressing orders of Napoleon not allowing the marshal time for reflection, and doubtless anxious to repair the precious time lost in which he might have taken possession of Quatre-Bras, he did not sufficiently reconnoitre but entered into the contest without being wholly prepared. The first successful attack was soon suspended by the arrival of fresh reinforcements, led by the Duke of Wellington, and the shining bravery of the Scotch, Belgians and the Prince of Orange suspended the success of the French. They were repulsed by a shower of bullets from the British infantry added to a battery of two guns which strewed the causeway with men and horses.

Ney was desirous of making the first corps, which he had left in the rear, advance; but Napoleon had dispatched positive orders to Count d'Erlon, at the head of that body, to join him, for which purpose the latter had commenced his march. Ney, when made acquainted with this fact, was stationed amidst a cross-fire from the enemies' batteries. "Do you see those bullets?" cried the marshal, his brow clouded by despair; "would that they would all pa.s.s through my body!" and he instantly sent General Delcambre with all speed after Count d'Erlon, directing that whatsoever might have been his orders, although received from the Emperor himself, he must return. This he did, but when he arrived in the evening, Ney, dispirited by the checks already received, and dissatisfied with himself and others, had discontinued the engagement.

D'Erlon had spent the day in useless marches, his valor wasted by a fatality over which he had no control. Between 5 and 6 o'clock General Delcambre had overtaken the first corps on its march to Bry and brought it back towards Quatre-Bras!

Night found the English, after a severe and b.l.o.o.d.y day, in possession of Quatre-Bras, the French being obliged to retreat. The gallant Duke of Brunswick, fighting in front of the line, fell almost in the beginning of the battle. The killed and wounded on the side of the French was 4,000 and the Allies' loss was nearly 6,000, in consequence of their having scarcely any artillery. As at Ligny, little quarter was either asked or given, there being much hatred between the French and Prussians. The French were next driven out from the Bois de Bossu by the Belgians, and the English divisions of Alten, Halket, Maitland, Cooke, and Byng, successively arrived.

By neglecting to move the whole of his division upon Quatre-Bras early in the morning, Ney failed to cut off the means of junction between the Prussian and English armies; and by not sending the detachment to attack the Prussians in the rear at Ligny, it now appears that the whole Prussian army was saved from being destroyed, or made prisoners, before it could receive the full support which had been promised by the Duke of Wellington. The latter intended to advance on Quatre-Bras at 2 o'clock, and debouch on St. Amand at 4 p. m. Ney, however, did an important act in checking the advance of five or six divisions of the main army during the rest of the day while the battle of Ligny was decided, and in this repaired, in a measure, his various faults committed on the 16th.