Military Career of Napoleon the Great Part 5

The Austrians having evacuated Milan, when the French prepared to enter it, a deputation of the inhabitants laid the keys of its gates at their feet. A few days later, although the archduke had fled from his capital, overwhelmed with sorrow and mortification, the people collected in vast mult.i.tudes to witness the entry of the French, whom they hailed as their deliverers. The imperial arms were taken down from the public buildings and at the ducal palace this humorous advertis.e.m.e.nt was posted up:

"A HOUSE TO RENT.

Inquire for the keys at

CITIZEN SALICETTI'S, The French Commissioner."

The entry of Bonaparte into Milan under a triumphal arch and surrounded by the grenadiers of Lodi, among whom some generals were conspicuous, was eminently brilliant. The splendid carriages of the n.o.bility and aristocracy of the capital went out to meet and salute him as the "Deliverer of Italy," and returned in an immense cavalcade, amidst the shouts and acclamations of an innumerable mult.i.tude, and accompanied by several bands playing patriotic marches, the procession stopping at the palace of the archduke, where Bonaparte was to take up his headquarters.

The ceremonies of the day were concluded by a splendid ball at which the ladies showed their Republican feeling by wearing the French national colors in every part of their dress. On the same day Bonaparte entered Milan the treaty with the king of Sardinia and the Directory was signed at Paris.

Napoleon now addressed himself again to his soldiers, reminding them of their victories and responsibilities yet to come. "To you, soldiers," he said, "will belong the immortal honor of redeeming the fairest portion of Europe. The French people, free and respected by the whole world, shall give to Europe a glorious peace, which shall indemnify it for all the sacrifices it has borne the last six years. Then by your own firesides you shall repose, and your fellow-citizens, when they point out any one of you, shall say: 'HE BELONGED TO THE ARMY OF ITALY!'"

From that period the Army of Italy was no longer a tax upon France, but on the contrary was a great source of revenue to her, and a.s.sisted in paying her other armies. Six weeks after the opening of the campaign, independent of ten million of francs placed at the disposal of the Directory, Bonaparte sent upwards of two hundred thousand francs to the Army of the Alps, and a million to the Army of the Rhine, thereby paving the way to his future greatness.

Bonaparte remained but six days in Milan; he then proceeded to pursue Beaulieu, who had planted the remains of his army behind the Mincio. The Austrian general had placed his left on the great and strong city of Mantua, which had been termed "the citadel of Italy," and his right at Peschiera, a well-known Venetian fortress. The Austrian veteran occupied one of the strongest positions that it is possible to imagine, and Bonaparte hastened once more to dislodge him.

The French Directory, meanwhile, had begun to entertain suspicion as to the ultimate designs of their young general, whose success and rising fame had already reached so astonishing a height. That they were exceedingly jealous of him there seems to be no doubt, and they determined to check, if they could, the career of a man of whom they seemed to be in fear. Bonaparte was therefore ordered to take half his army and lead it against the pope and the king of Naples, and leave the other half to terminate the conquest with Beaulieu at Mantua, under the orders of Kellerman. He answered by offering to resign his command. "One half of the Army of Italy cannot suffice to finish the matter with the Austrians," said he. "It is only by keeping my force entire that I have been able to gain so many battles and to be now in Milan. You had better have one bad general than two good ones!"

The Directory did not dare to persist in displacing the chief whose name was considered as the pledge of victory, and he continued to a.s.sume the entire command of the Army of Italy.

Another unlooked-for occurrence delayed for a few days the march upon Mantua. The success of the French and their exactions where victorious, had fostered the ire of a portion of the populace throughout Lombardy.

Reports of new Austrian levies being poured down the pa.s.ses of Tyrol were spread and believed. Insurrections against the conqueror now took place in various districts, placing thirty thousand men in arms. At Pavia the insurgents were entirely triumphant; they seized the town and compelled the French garrison to surrender. This flame, had it been suffered to spread, threatened immeasurable evil to the French cause.

Lannes instantly marched to Binasco, stormed the place, burnt it and put many of the insurgents to the sword. Napoleon appeared before Pavia, blew the gates open, took possession and later caused the leaders to be executed. At Lugo, where another insurrection took place, the leaders were tried by court martial and condemned.

These examples quelled the insurrectionists, and the French advanced on the Mincio. Bonaparte made such disposition of his troops that Beaulieu believed he meant to cross that river, if he could, at Peschiera.

Meanwhile the French had been preparing to cross at another point, and on the 30th of May actually forced the pa.s.sage of the Mincio, not at Peschiera, but further down at Borghetto. The Austrian garrison at this point in vain destroyed one arch of the bridge. Bonaparte quickly supplied the breach with planks, and his men, flushed with so many victories, charged with a fury not to be resisted. While the French were laboring to repair the bridge, under the fire of the enemy's batteries, impatient of delay, fifty grenadiers threw themselves into the river, holding their muskets over their heads with the water up to their chins, General Gardanne, a grenadier in courage as well as in stature, being at their head. The Austrians who were nearest, recollecting the terrible column at Lodi, fled. When the bridge was repaired the French entered Vallegio, where Beaulieu's headquarters had been stationed a short time previous. The latter was obliged to abandon the Mincio as he had the Adda and the Po, and to take up the new line of the Adige.

The left line of the Austrian force, learning from the cannonade that the French were at Borghetto, hastened to ascend the Mincio with a view of a.s.sisting in the defense of the division engaged with the enemy. They arrived too late, however, to be of a.s.sistance, as the commander at Borghetto had retreated before they arrived. They came, however, unexpectedly, and at a moment when Bonaparte and a few friends, believing the work of the day to be over and the village safe from the enemy, were about to sit down to dinner, as they thought, in security.

Sebetendorff, who commanded the division, came up rapidly into the village, but with no idea what a prize was within his grasp. Bonaparte's attendants had barely time to shut the gates of the inn, and alarm their chief by the cry, "To arms!" They defended the house with obstinate courage while Bonaparte threw himself on horseback and galloping out by a back pa.s.sage, effected the narrowest of escapes, proceeding at full speed to join Ma.s.sena's forces.

It was shortly after this that Bonaparte met with an experience that gave him the idea of the "Imperial Guard of Napoleon" and which throughout his military career he ever afterwards maintained as a personal guard. It was the duty of this body, consisting of veterans who should number at least ten years of active service, to remain always near the person of the commander-in-chief, and who were only brought into action when important movements or desperate emergencies required their utmost energies. They were placed under the command of Bessieres at this time, and were known as "Le Corps de Guides."

During the same campaign Bonaparte again narrowly escaped being taken a prisoner. Wurmser, who had been compelled to throw himself into Mantua, having suddenly debouched on an open plain, learned from an old woman that not many minutes before the French general, with only a few followers, had stopped at her door and fled at the sight of the Austrians. Wurmser immediately dispatched parties of cavalry in all directions to whom he gave orders that if they came up with Napoleon he should not be killed or harmed; fortunately, however, for the French commander, destiny and the swiftness of his horse saved him.

In their different engagements, the grenadiers had learned to laugh and sport at death; they despised the Austrian cavalry and nothing could equal their intrepidity but the gaiety with which they performed their forced marches, singing alternately songs in praise of their country and of love. Instead of sleeping they amused themselves during most of the night, each telling a tale, or forming his own plans of operation for the following day.

Sebetendorff was soon a.s.saulted by a French column and retreated, after Beaulieu's example, on the line of the Adige. The Austrian commander had, in effect, abandoned for a time the open country of Italy. He now lay on the frontier, between the vast tract of rich province, which Napoleon had conquered, and the Tyrol. Mantua, which possessed immense natural advantages, and into which the retreating general had flung a garrison of full fourteen thousand men, was, in truth, the last and only Italian possession of the imperial crown, which, as it seemed, there might be a possibility of saving.

Beaulieu anxiously awaited the approach of new troops from Germany, to attempt the relief of this great city; and Bonaparte, eager to antic.i.p.ate the efforts of the imperial government, sat down immediately before it.

Mantua lies on an island, being cut off on all sides from the main land by the branches of the Mincio, and approachable only by five narrow causeways of which three were now defended by strong and regular fortresses or intrenched camps; the other two by gates, drawbridge and batteries. The garrison was prepared to maintain the position, was well-nigh impregnable and the occupants awaited the hour to discover whether Napoleon possessed any new system of attack capable of shortening the usual operations of a siege as effectually as he had already done by the march and the battle.

It was a matter of high importance that Napoleon should reduce this place quickly, for a large army under Field-Marshal Wurmser, one of the most able and experienced of the Austrian generals, was about to enter Italy. His commencement gave cause for much alarm to those within the fortress. Of the five causeways, by sudden and overwhelming a.s.saults, he obtained four; the garrison was cut off from the main land except at the fifth causeway, the strongest of them all, named from a palace near it, "La Favorita." It seemed necessary, however, in order that this blockade might be complete, that the Venetian territory, lying immediately behind Mantua, should be occupied by the French, and the claim of neutrality was not allowed to interfere with Napoleon's plans.

"You are too weak," said Bonaparte, when a Venetian envoy reached his headquarters, "to enforce neutrality on hostile nations such as France and Austria. Beaulieu did not respect your territory when his interest bade him violate it; nor shall I hesitate to occupy whatever falls within the line of the Adige."

Garrisons were placed forthwith in Verona and all the strong places of that domain. Napoleon now returned to Milan to transact important business, leaving Serrurier and Vaubois to blockade Mantua.

The king of Naples, utterly confounded by the success of the French, was now anxious to secure peace on whatever terms proposed, and Bonaparte, knowing that it would result in a withdrawal of some valuable divisions from the army of Beaulieu, arranged an armistice which was soon followed by a formal peace, and the Neapolitan troops, abandoning the Austrian general, began their march to the south of Italy. This was followed by peace arrangements with the Pope of whom Napoleon demanded, and obtained, as a price of the brief respite from invasion, a million sterling, one hundred of the finest pictures and statues in the papal gallery, a large supply of military stores and the cession of Ancona, Ferrara and Bologna, with their respective domains. The siege of the citadel of Milan, rigorously pressed, was at length successful. The garrison capitulated on the 29th of June, and by the 18th of July, one hundred and forty pieces of cannon were before Mantua.

The French general had stripped Austria of all her Italian possessions except Mantua, and the tri-color was waving from the Tyrol to the Mediterranean. Napoleon was now, in effect, master of Italy. Future success seemed to him to be a.s.sured, although the French Directory was with difficulty persuaded to let him follow the course he had adopted for himself.

The cabinet of Vienna at last resolved upon sending stronger reinforcements to the Italian frontier, and Bonaparte was now recalled from Milan to the seat of war to defend himself against them. What the Austrian court now feared was that Napoleon, who had already annihilated her Italian army, and had wrested from her the Italian domains, would soon march into the heart of her Empire and dictate a peace under the walls of her capital. All Italy was now subdued or in alliance with the French Republic except Mantua.

Beaulieu, who had been so thoroughly routed by Napoleon, was to be no longer trusted. Finding himself incompetent to withstand a general "whose mistress was glory and whose companion was Plutarch" while traversing the Tyrol with the wrecks of his army, forwarded a letter to Vienna which fully displayed the irritated feelings of the veteran commander at this time. He said: "I hereby make known to you that I have only 20,000 men remaining, while the enemy's forces exceed 60,000. I further apprise you, that it is my intention to retreat to-morrow,--the next day--the day following--nay, every day,--even to Siberia, should they pursue me so far. My age accords me liberty to be thus explicit.

Hasten to ratify peace, be the conditions what they may!" Wurmser, whose reputation was of the best, and who was older than Beaulieu but not less obstinate, was sent to replace him, and 30,000 men were drafted from the armies on the Rhine charged with restoring the fortunes of Austria beyond the Alps. Wurmser's orders, too, were to strengthen himself, on his march, by whatever recruits he could raise among the warlike and loyal population of the Tyrol.

When he fixed his headquarters at Trent, Wurmser mustered in all 80,000 men, while Napoleon had but 30,000--not 60,000 as Beaulieu had stated--to hold a wide country in which abhorrence of the French cause was now prevalent, to keep the blockade of Mantua, and to oppose this fearful odds of numbers in the field. The French commander was now, moreover, to act on the defensive, while his adversary a.s.sumed the more inspiriting character of the invader.

Wurmser was unwise enough to divide his magnificent army into three separate columns, which, united, Napoleon never could have met; but each of which was soon successively broken and captured. Melas with the left wing was to march down the Adige and expel the French from Verona; Quasdonowich with the right wing followed the valley of the Chiese towards Brescia, to cut off Napoleon's retreat on Milan; Wurmser himself led the centre down the left sh.o.r.e of Lake Guarda towards the besieged castle of Mantua.

The eye of Napoleon, who had hitherto been watching with the intensity of an eagle's gaze all the movements of his antagonist, now saw the division of Quasdonowich separated from the centre and left wing, and he flew to the encounter, although he was obliged to draw off his army from the siege of Mantua, something which very few generals would have done.

On the night of July 31st, he buried his cannon in the trenches and intentionally marked his retreat with every sign of precipitation and alarm. Before morning the whole French army had disappeared from Mantua and by a forced march regained possession of Brescia. Napoleon was hurrying forward to attack the right wing of the Austrian army before it could effect a junction with the central body of Wurmser.

A courier could hardly have borne to Quasdonowich the news of his raising the siege of Mantua before Napoleon had attacked and overwhelmed him, and he was glad to save his shattered forces by falling back on the Tyrol.

This ill-omened beginning aroused the ire, and quickened the evolutions of Wurmser, and falling on the rear-guard of Ma.s.sena under Pigeon, and Augereau under Vallette, the one abandoned Castiglione and the other retired on Lonato. These inconsiderable Austrian successes were obtained by good generalship, and Wurmser now attempted to open a communication with his defeated lieutenant. His columns were weakened by extending the line, and Ma.s.sena at once hurled two strong columns on Lonato, retaking it, and throwing the Austrian forces into utter confusion.

The battle of Lonato occurred on the 3d of August (1796). At daybreak the whole of the French army was in motion, Augereau moving with the right wing towards Castiglione. General Pigeon, who commanded the French advance guard, was taken prisoner with three pieces of cannon; when, at the moment the Austrians were extending their line, Napoleon sent forward in close columns the 18th and 32d demi-brigades, which being supported by a strong reserve, broke the enemy's line of battle. The artillery and prisoners made under General Pigeon, were thus retaken, and the French entered Lonato.

At Castiglione a firm stand was again taken by the fleeing Austrians, but Augereau forced the position against a defense double in numbers and for which he was afterward created Duke of Castiglione in memory of his exploit.

On that day the Austrians lost twenty pieces of cannon, from three to four thousand men killed and wounded, and four thousand prisoners, among whom were three generals. Before this engagement Napoleon suddenly found himself placed between two armies each of which was more numerous than his own. In this situation of affairs, no one of his generals entertained the least hope; but what was the astonishment of the soldiers, when they first a.s.sembled in presence of their chief, to observe no alteration in his countenance. "Fear nothing," said the commander to them, "show that you remain unchanged; preserve your valor, your just pride, and the remembrance of your triumphs; in three days we shall retake all that we have lost. Rely on me! You know whether or not I am in the habit of keeping my word."

[Ill.u.s.tration: From a Drawing by F. Grenier

BONAPARTE AND THE SLEEPING SENTINEL]

In this memorable battle Napoleon raised himself to an equality with the greatest generals. Although the position in which he was placed was critical to an eminent degree, he contrived to turn all the success gained by Wurmser to the advantage of the French army, and that by the mere strength of his genius alone. Junot distinguished himself by extraordinary efforts of courage in these actions. He was thus mentioned in the dispatch sent by Napoleon to the Directory after the victory: "I ordered my aide-de-camp, General-of-Brigade Junot, to put himself at the head of my company of Guides to pursue the enemy and overtake him by great speed at Dezenzano. He encountered Colonel Bender with a party of his regiment of hussars, whom he charged; but Junot, not wishing to waste his time by charging the rear, made a detour on the right, took the regiment in front,--wounded the colonel whom he attempted to take prisoner when he was himself surrounded,--and after having killed six of the enemy with his own hand, was cut down and thrown into a ditch."

The Austrians, still able to collect 25,000 men and a numerous cavalry, now fled again in all directions upon the Mincio where Wurmser himself, meanwhile, had been employed in revictualling Mantua. When Wurmser reached this point he was utterly astounded to find the trenches abandoned and no enemy to oppose. One of the defeated Austrian divisions wandering about without method in anxiety to find their commander or any part of his army that was still in the field, came suddenly on Lonato, the scene of the recent battle, and at a moment when Napoleon was there with only his staff and Guard about him. He was not aware that any considerable body of the enemy remained in the neighborhood, and but for his great presence of mind must have been taken prisoner. As it was, he turned his critical position into an advantage. The officer who had been sent to demand the surrender of the town was brought blindfolded, according to custom on such occasions, to his headquarters. Bonaparte, by a secret sign, caused his whole staff to draw up around him, and when the bandage was removed from the messenger's eyes, exclaimed to him: "What means this insolence? Do you beard the French general in the very centre of his army? Go and tell your general that I give him eight minutes to lay down his arms; he is in the midst of the French army, and if a single gun is fired, I will cause every man to be shot." The officer, appalled at discovering in whose presence he stood, returned to his comrades with Napoleon's message.

The general of the enemy's column now made his appearance, stating his willingness to surrender and capitulate. "No" replied Bonaparte with energy, "you are all prisoners of war." Seeing the Austrian officers consulting together Napoleon instantly gave orders that the artillery should advance and commence the attack. On observing this the general of the enemy's forces exclaimed, "We all surrender at discretion!" The shortness of time allowed prevented the truth from being discovered, and they gave in to a force about one-fourth of their own. They believed that Lonato was occupied by the French in numbers that made resistance impossible. When the four thousand men had laid down their arms they discovered that if they had used them nothing could have prevented Napoleon from being taken as their prize!

Wurmser, whose fine army was thus being destroyed in detail, now collected together the whole of his remaining force, and advanced to meet the Conqueror. He had determined on an a.s.sault and was hastening to the encounter. They met between Lonato and Castiglione, and Wurmser was totally defeated, besides narrowly escaping being himself taken a prisoner. He was pursued into Trent and Roveredo, the positions from which he had so lately issued confident of victory. In this disastrous campaign he had now lost forty thousand soldiers--half his army--and all his artillery and stores, while Bonaparte placed his own loss at seven thousand. The French soldiers have called this succession of victories "the campaign of five days." The rapid marches and incessant fighting had exhausted the troops, and they now absolutely required rest.

During the exciting days while the campaign with Wurmser lasted, Napoleon never took off his clothes, nor did he take the time to sleep except at brief intervals of less than an hour. His exertions, which were followed by such signal triumphs, were such as to demand some repose, yet he did not pause until he saw Mantua once more completely invested. The reinforcement and revictualling of the garrison were all that Wurmser could show in requital of his lost artillery, stores and forty thousand men.

While Napoleon was giving some respite to his wearied army and rendering the subjugation of Italy complete, Austria was hurrying a new army to the relief of its aged but not disheartened marshal. The reinforcements of twenty thousand fresh troops at last arrived, and Wurmser was again in the field with fifty thousand men--an army vastly larger than Napoleon's. But once more he divided his forces and again each division was to be cut to pieces. He marched thirty thousand men to the relief of Mantua, and left Davidowich at Roveredo with twenty thousand men to protect the pa.s.ses of the Tyrol. The two Austrian divisions were now separated and their fate was sealed.

On September 4, by the most rapid marches Europe had ever seen, Napoleon, having penetrated the designs of the Austrian general, reached Roveredo where Davidowich was intrenched in a strong position before the city, covered by the guns of the Calliano castle overhanging the town.

The camp was yielded on the same day before the terrific charge of General Dubois and his hussars. The latter, though mortally wounded, cheered his men on with his dying words, and as he fell pressing the hand of the general-in-chief, said: "Let me hear the shout of victory for the Republic before I die." These words fired his troops with deep ardor, and they drove the Austrians through the town and carried the frowning heights of the castle at the point of the bayonet, as they had carried the batteries of Lodi. The French pursued the fleeing Austrians throughout the night and Wurmser was cut off from the Tyrol.

Scarcely had the Austrian commander recovered from his surprise at hearing of the overthrow of his lieutenant at Roveredo before Napoleon, by a march of sixty miles in two days, descended in front of his vanguard at Primolano and cut it to pieces, taking four thousand prisoners. The same night Napoleon's army advanced on Ba.s.sano where on Sept. 8 Wurmser made his last stand with the main body of his army.

While Augereau penetrated the town on his left, Ma.s.sena entered it on his right, seizing the cannon that defended the bridge on the Bretna and overthrowing the old grenadiers who attempted to cover the retreat of their general. Five thousand prisoners, five standards, thirty-five pieces of cannon with their caissons fell into the hands of the French, and Wurmser himself narrowly escaped being taken. Lannes seized one of the standards with his own hands; and, in consequence, Bonaparte demanded for him the rank of general of brigade. "He was," he said, "the first who put the enemy to rout at Dego, who pa.s.sed the Po at Plaisance, the Adda at Lodi, and the first to enter Ba.s.sano."