READING HALL

THE DOORS OF WISDOM

A HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE : A.D. 1453-1900

CHAPTER LXVI.

THE PENINSULA WAR AND THE MOSCOW EXPEDITION

WE have alluded to a diversion which the Austrians expected in North Germany, as well as from an English expedition to the Scheldt. In both these quarters something was done, but not of a nature to be of any service to the Austrian cause.

A feeling of degradation, a desire to revenge their wrongs upon their French oppressors, had sprung up in Prussia and Northern Germany. In Prussia it was encouraged by the Baron von Stein, whom the King had placed at the head of the administration in 1807. Stein, however, was not the founder of the society called the Tugendbund or League of Virtue. On the contrary, he disapproved of it, considering it unpractical. The League in question was founded by one Badebeben in 1808, and consisted originally of a society of some literary and scientific men, under the name of a Moral and Scientific Union, and ostensibly without any political object; but it soon became a rallying point for Prussian patriots. The society, however, hardly fulfilled the intentions of its founders. It occupied itself with pedantic objects of reform, and by adopting an inquisitorial system of espionnage towards those whom it chose to consider as unpatriotic, became more intolerable than the old Prussian régime.

At the same time William, Duke of Brunswick-Oels, third son of Duke Ferdinand, but, his elder brothers having r­nounced their rights, his destined successor, had conceived the project of bringing together a number of bold spirits who should undertake to reestablish him, as well as the Elector of Hesse-Cassel, in their dominions, to overthrow the Confederation of the Rhine, and expel the French from Germany. This society, formed by the Duke at Oels, his residence in Silesia, was joined by many Prussian officers, several of whom also belonged to the Tugendbund. When the Cabinet of Vienna was preparing for war it concluded a convention with Duke William, who engaged to raise at his own expense a corps of 2,000 horse. Such was the origin of the famous Black Brunswickers or Death’s-head Corps, so called from their black uniform and the silver image of a skull worn in the cap of the troopers.

Before the Duke took the field, several attempts had been made by German partisans, some even before the Austrian war broke out, against the King of Westphalia. The most remarkable of these was the expedition of Major Schill. Leaving Berlin with his regiment, Schill entered Halle, Halberstadt, and Domitz, carrying off the military chests belonging to King Jerome. Being pursued by a Dutch and Danish corps, as well as by the King of Westphalia’s troops, Schill threw himself into Stralsund, and was mortally wounded in a battle in that town, May 31st, 1809. Napoleon caused many of Schill’s officers captured at Stralsund to be shot; the private soldiers were sent to the galleys at Toulon and Brest. The Duke of Brunswick took the field with his Black Brunswickers about the middle of May. He entered Dresden June 11th, where he was soon after joined by 10,000 Austrians commanded by General Am Ende. The Duke penetrated to Leipsic, but was unable to maintain himself against the superior forces of King Jerome. After the armistice of Znaym he cut his way through to the coast, and embarked with his legion of 1800 men on vessels furnished by an English squadron at Cuxhaven. The British Parliament assigned him a pension of £7,000.

Austria and the German patriots reckoned on a formidable expedition that was preparing in England, which, had it been dispatched to the Elbe or Weser, would no doubt have produced an electrical effect in Germany. But the views of the English Ministry were directed towards Antwerp and Flushing, which Napoleon was endeavoring to convert into great naval depots. A fleet under Sir Richard Strachan, consisting of thirty-nine ships of the line, twenty-two frigates, a number of smaller vessels, and about two hundred transports, conveying an army of near 40,000 men, commanded by the Earl of Chatham, Pitt’s elder brother, sailed from Portsmouth towards the end of July. Instead of striking the first blow at Antwerp, then comparatively disarmed, Earl Chatham spent a fortnight in besieging Flushing. This part of the enterprise succeeded. Flushing capitulated August 15th, and the Isles of Walcheren, South Beveland, and Schouwen were occupied. But meanwhile, a large French army, under Bernadotte, had entered Antwerp, and the town was made so strong as to render any enterprise against it impracticable. The occupation of Walcheren, the only place retained, was deemed of no use after the Treaty of Vienna (1809), and as the English army suffered terribly from the fevers and ague which prevail in that island, it was reembarked early in December. The partial destruction of the fortifications, arsenal, and magazines of Flushing was the only result of an expedition said to have cost twenty millions.

The epoch of the Austrian war and humiliation of the Emperor was also marked by the deposition of the Pope. We have already described how Pius VII, early in 1808, was made a prisoner in his own capital, and deprived of his provinces of Urbino, Ancona, and Macerata. Negotiations were then entered into for his abdication, in return for which he was offered a considerable pension, and a residence at Avignon. To these offers Pius refused to listen, and on May 17th, 1809, appeared an Imperial Decree from the camp at Vienna, uniting the Roman States to the French Empire, and declaring Rome a free and Imperial city. In justification of this violence, Napoleon claimed the right, as the successor of Charles the Great, to recall the donation of that Emperor to the Holy See. The change of government was announced to the Roman citizens on June 10th, when the Papal flag was struck on the Castle of St. Angelo, and the French colors hoisted in its place, amidst a salute from the guns of the fortress. The new Government, or Consulta, issued a proclamation, promising that Rome should remain the seat of the visible head of the Church, that the Vatican, richly endowed, and elevated above all worldly interests, should present to the universe the spectacle of a purer and more splendid religion. But Pius VII was by no means tempted with this prospect of his altered position. After having in vain protested against the sacrilege committed on his rights, he published, on June 11th, 1809, the Ball Quum Memoranda, excommunicating Napoleon and all his coadjutors engaged in the violences committed at Rome and in the States of the Church, since February 2nd, 1808. After this misplaced act of vigor, Pius shut himself up in the Quirinal, surrounded by his Swiss guards. On the night of July 4th the walls of his palace were escaladed by the gendarmerie, his apartments broken open, he himself seized, and conducted first to Grenoble, then to Savona. As he remained intractable, and as it was feared that he might be carried off by the English cruisers from Savona, he was brought, in the month of June, 1812, to Fontainebleau, and retained there in captivity. Na­poleon’s decree from Vienna was confirmed by a Senatus-consulte of February 17th, 1810, providing for the government of the States of the Church. Rome was declared the second city of the Empire; it was to give the title of King to the Prince Imperial, and the future Emperors of the French, after their coronation in Notre Dame, were also to be crowned in St. Peter's at Rome, before the tenth year of their reign.

By a decree of March 3rd, 1809, Napoleon bestowed the Grand Duchy of Tuscany on his sister, Eliza Bacciocchi, already the Sovereign of Lucca and Piombino. The mild and beneficent government of this Princess, and her patronage of art and literature, made her beloved by her subjects. In southern Italy, King Joachim of Naples (Murat), soon after his accession, succeeded in driving Sir Hudson Lowe and the English from the Isle of Capri, which they had occupied (October, 1808). In 1809 Sir John Stuart got possession of Ischia and Procida, and an English squadron appeared before Naples; but the citizens, mindful of what they had suffered in 1799, rallied round King Joachim, and rendered the success of a descent too hopeless to be attempted. In the same year, Murat made great preparations for the conquest of Sicily, and assembled a large force in the neighborhood of Reggio. General Cavaignac’s division actually landed between Messina and La Scaletta; but not being supported by the rest of the army, was exterminated (September 18th). In 1811 a revolution was effected in Sicily by Lord William Bentinck. Queen Caroline opposed the British influence in this island; and after the death of Acton, who had pursued a policy of conciliation, the Queen became more violent. The Sicilian barons having declared for the English, four of them were arrested by order of King Ferdinand; and the Court required that the British troops should evacuate the island. But Lord Bentinck’s vigorous acts disabled the Court party. Ferdinand resigned the Government in favor of his son; Lord Bentinck was proclaimed Generalissimo of the Sicilian troops, a Parliament which assembled in July, 1812, decreed a constitution modeled on that of Great Britain, and Queen Caroline was compelled to fly the island.

After the Peace of Vienna, which seemed to have consolidated his power, Napoleon resolved to strengthen and perpetuate his dynasty by a marriage with the daughter of some Royal house. He no longer entertained the hope of having any issue by Josephine, and on this ground he ordained the dissolution of his marriage with her. His proposals for the hand of a Russian Grand Duchess were coldly received; and his choice then wavered between a daughter of the King of Saxony and an Austrian Archduchess. He at length decided for the latter, and his overtures being accepted by the Emperor Francis, Napoleon was affianced to his daughter, the Archduchess Maria Louisa, February 7, 1810. The marriage was celebrated at Vienna March 9th, by procuration, on which occasion the Archduke Charles, the uncle of the bride, represented the French Emperor. Maria Louisa arrived at Compiegne on the 28th. The nuptials, though brilliant, yet somewhat sad, were celebrated at St. Cloud, April 1st. Not a single member of the Austrian family had accompanied Maria Louisa to Paris!

At this period the affairs of Spain and Holland became the chief objects of Napoleon’s attention.

Holland, like Spain, groaned under the weight of the French alliance. She had been obliged to support a numerous French army, to provide a large fleet for the service of France, and to enter into a war with England by which she had gradually lost all her colonies and all her trade. Since the entry of the French into Holland in 1795, the public debt, already large, had been increased by nearly half. Agriculture, commerce, manufactures, were almost destroyed, and universal distress prevailed. After thus ruining Holland, Napoleon imposed upon it a King, hoping to find in his brother Louis an instrument that would blindly execute all his orders. But in this he was deceived. Compelled to wear a crown which he had not sought, Louis identified his interests with those of the nation which he was called to govern. To put an end to this state of things, Napoleon, after the peace of Vienna, compelled Louis to sign a treaty, or rather capitulation, at Paris, March 16th, 1810, by the sixth article of which, that “according to the constitutional principle in France, the valley of the Rhine is the limit of the French Empire”, the King of Holland ceded to the Emperor of the French Dutch Brabant, all Zealand, with the Isle of Schouwen, and the part of Gelderland on the left bank of the Waal.

King Louis returned into Holland at the beginning of April; but it was evident that he could no longer preserve even the shadow of independence. The English expedition to Zea­land, and the so-called treaty of March 16th, served as pretences for introducing a large body of French troops into the Kingdom. On the 20th of May, 1810, Napoleon ad­dressed from Ostend a threatening letter to his brother, in which he harshly explained to him the situation which he occupied.

It was evident after this letter that all hope of conciliation was at an end. The Dutch laws, the national uniform, cockade, and flag were set at nought and insulted by the French military authorities; and towards the end of June the French insisted on occupying Amsterdam, though a solemn assurance to the contrary had been given only a little before. Louis at first thought of defending his capital, but as he was not supported in this project by the chief civil and military authorities, there was no alternative but to resign his crown. On the 1st of July, 1810, he signed at Haarlem his Act of abdication, in favour of his eldest son Napoleon Louis, and in his default, of his second son Charles Louis Napoleon. Holland was annexed to France by a decree of July 10th. Amsterdam was declared the third city of the Empire. All naval and military officers were retained in their posts. Colonial merchandise actually in Holland might be retained by the proprietors on paying an ad valorem duty of fifty per cent. The Duke of Piacenza, as Napoleon’s lieutenant-general, was to assume at Amsterdam the administration of affairs till January 1st, 1811, when a French Government was to be formed.

It was not till December 10th, 1810, that Holland was united to France by a formal Senatus-consulte. By the first article of the same law, the Hanse Towns, the Duchy of Lauenburg, and the countries situated between the North Sea and a line drawn from the confluence of the Lippe with the Rhine to Haltern, from Haltern to the Ems above Telgte, from the Ems to the confluence of the Werra with the Weser, and from Stolzenau, on that river, to the Elbe, above the confluence of the Stecknitz, were at the same time incorporated with the French Empire. The Duke of Oldenburg having appealed to the Emperor of Russia, the head of his house, against this spoliation, Napoleon offered to compensate him with the town and territory of Erfurt and the Lordship of Blankenheim, which had remained under French administration since the Peace of Tilsit. But this offer was at once rejected, and Alexander reserved, by a formal protest, the rights of his kinsman. This annexation was only the comple­ment of other incorporations with the French Empire during the year 1810. Early in that year, the Electorate of Hanover had been annexed to the Kingdom of Westphalia. On February 16th Napoleon had erected a Grand Duchy of Frankfurt, and presented it to the Prince Primate of the Confederation of the Rhine, with reversion in favour of Eugene Beauharnais. On November 12th the Valais in Switzerland was also annexed to France, with the view of securing the road over the Simplon. Of all these annexations, that of the Hanse Towns and the districts on the North Sea was the most important, and one of the principal causes of the war that ensued between France and Russia. By means of a canal from Lübeck to Hamburg, thence to the Weser, and from the Weser to the Ems, Napoleon proposed ultimately to connect the Baltic with the Seine.

Siege of Saragossa, 1809

The Peace of Vienna enabled Napoleon to devote all his efforts to the subjugation of Spain. The French were then in the following positions: Gouvion St. Cyr was established in Catalonia; Lannes had been engaged, since the end of December, in the second siege of Saragossa, and was afterwards to reduce Aragon; Marshal Bessières occupied Old Castile, securing the communications with France; Marshal Lefebvre was to operate in La Mancha; Marshal Victor, after maneuvering on the frontiers of Estremadura, with the view of supporting Marshal Soult in the reduction of Portugal, was to march upon Andalusia, while Marshal Ney was to undertake the conquest of Galicia. Each Marshal acted independently, obeying only the commands of Napoleon, who was afraid to trust any of his lieutenants with the supreme direction of affairs, and deemed his brother Joseph not competent to that office. Joseph had, however, returned to Madrid, January 22nd, 1809. Saragossa sur­rendered February 20th, after an heroic defence, which might recall the sieges of Numantia or Saguntum. Every street, almost every house, had been warmly contested; the monks, and even the women, had taken a conspicuous share in the defence; more than 40,000 bodies of each sex and every age testified the obstinate courage of the besieged.

Soult, after the battle of Corunna, had entered Portugal, towards the end of March, and was preparing to march upon Lisbon. Victor had defeated the Spanish general Cuesta at Medellin, March 28th. In spite of this defeat, however, Cuesta again raised his army, by reinforcements, to near 40,000 men, and proceeded to form a junction with the English and Portuguese under Sir Arthur Wellesley. That commander landed at Oporto, April 22nd, with considerable reinforcements, which, with the Portuguese under Lord Beresford, brought up the army to more than 25,000 men. A decree of the Prince Regent, December 11th, 1808, had ordered all the men of Portugal, from the age of fifteen to sixty, to take arms, on pain of being shot. Twenty-four Portuguese regiments were taken into English pay, and Lord Beresford was appointed by the Regent field-marshal of all the Portuguese troops. In 1809 Portugal obtained from England a subsidy of £600,000.

Sir Arthur Wellesley immediately advanced against Soult, whom he speedily compelled to evacuate Portugal, and to seek repose under the walls of Lugo. Wellesley then entered Spain, and formed a junction with Cuesta at Oropesa. The British general’s army now numbered about 60,000 men, and it was determined to march upon Madrid. King Joseph advanced to meet him, accompanied by Marshals Victor and Jourdan, who in reality commanded the French army. The hostile forces met at Talavera de la Reyna, seventy or eighty miles south-west of Madrid, July 27th. Here an obstinate battle took place on that and the following day, in which the French were defeated and compelled to retreat over the Alberche with the loss of 10,000 men and twenty guns. Jourdan, indeed, claimed the victory in his official dispatch, which, however, was dated from Toledo, showing a retrograde march of sixty miles! For this victory Sir Arthur was rewarded with the title of Viscount Wellington of Talavera. But he was not in a condition to pursue his success. Provisions began to fail; Soult, Ney, and Mortier were advancing from the north; he did not repose much confidence in his Spanish allies; and he therefore deemed it prudent to fall back upon Badajoz.

During this period the Spanish general, Blake, who commanded the armies of Aragon and Valencia, made an attempt to recover Saragossa. But he was completely defeated by Suchet at Belchite, June 18th, and compelled to evacuate Aragon. During Wellington’s advance upon Madrid, the army of La Mancha, under Venegas, was also marching upon that capital, which it had reached within a few miles. But the retrograde movement of the British compelled Venegas also to retreat, He was overtaken and defeated by Sebastiani at Almonacid, August 11th, and driven in disorder into the defiles of the Sierra Morena. The news of the armistice of Znaym induced Wellington to cast his eyes on the celebrated position of Torres Vedras, near Lisbon. As he neither approved the plans of the Central Junta, nor received from it the aid which he required, he determined henceforth to undertake no enterprise in conjunction with the Spanish armies. The Spaniards, not discouraged by this determination, continued their operations. The Duke del Parque obtained possession of Salamanca, October 25th. The Junta had succeeded in assembling in La Mancha an army of more than 50,000 men, with 55 guns, which was directed on the capital by way of Toledo. But its commander, Areizaga, who had neither talents nor experience, was completely beaten by Soult at Ocana, November 19th, with a loss of 5,000 men, and compelled to abandon all his artillery, colors, baggage, and 30,000 prisoners. This was the last pitched battle fought by the Spaniards. The year was concluded by the capture of Gerona by the French, December 10th. The defence of this place, the rampart of Catalonia, by Alvarez, may be paralleled with that of Saragossa by Palafox. After enduring a siege of half a year, and repulsing numerous assaults, it yielded at length only to famine, after a vain attempt to relieve it by Blake.

In 1810, Napoleon, released from every other continental campaign war, employed all his efforts for the reduction of Spain. All the nations subjected to his influence were obliged to furnish contingents for this purpose; and besides the flower of the French troops, many Swiss, Italian, Neapolitan, Polish, and German regiments contributed to enrich with their blood the soil of the Peninsula. The number of troops thus united amounted to near 370,000 men, of which about 280,000 were able to take the field. An expedition into Portugal was to form the main object of the campaign. But before this could be prepared, King Joseph resolved to attempt the conquest of the southern provinces of Spain. Here lay the chief power of the Spanish insurrection. From Andalusia were drawn the principal resources for the war; the central Junta sat at Seville, and the Cortes had been convoked in that city early in March. Joseph started on this expedition, with 50,000 men; Mortier, Victor, Dessoles, and Sebastian served as his lieutenants. To oppose this force, the Spaniards had only 25,000 men under Areizaga, and 12,000 under the Duke of Albuquerque. The army of Areizaga was soon dispersed. Joseph entered Cordova, January 27th, 1810; Seville, February 1st. Sebastiani occupied Granada, January 29th; early in February he had penetrated to Malaga. Soult also crossed the Sierra Morena, and laid siege to Cadiz, which town was defended by a garrison of 22,000 English, Spanish, and Portuguese, under the command of General Graham. Albuquerque had thrown himself into it with his little army, and after the capture of Seville, Cadiz became the seat of the Spanish Government. Soult ultimately relinquished the conduct of the siege to Victor. The French lines extended from Rota to Chiclana, thus including the two bays of Cadiz, the Isle of Leon, and an adjacent isle on which the city stands.

Wellington having prepared the lines of Torres Vedras, obtained the consent of the English Government to defend them to the last; but at the same time he made arrangements with Admiral Berkeley for evacuating the Peninsula in case of need. The outermost of these celebrated lines, which were three in number, ran from the sea by Torres Vedras to Alhandra on the Tagus, where the river is no longer fordable. Thus the peninsula on which Lisbon stands was completely enclosed, while to the north the whole country was laid waste as far as the river Mondego; the roads, bridges, mills, crops were destroyed, so as to deprive an invading army of the means of subsistence. Each of the three lines was protected by numerous forts and redouts, and they bristled altogether with near 400 pieces of artillery. Wellington’s retreat to these lines from a position which he had taken up on the Coa, in the province of Beira, had been secured by fortifying all the positions both on the road along the Tagus by Abrantes, and that on the sea-coast by Coimbra; both of which unite at the defile of Santarem.

Massena took the command of the French army at Salamanca, towards the end of May, to make a third attempt at the conquest of Portugal. His army consisted of 70,000 veteran troops, and a reserve of about 18,000 at Valladolid under Drouet. Wellington had about 24,000 British troops and 50,000 Portuguese, but part of this force had been detached beyond the Tagus to observe Soult. Massena began the campaign by the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, June 25th, which capitulated July 12th. It formed part of Wellington’s plans not to quit his position in order to relieve this city. Almeida was next attacked, when the explosion of the principal powder-magazine, August 27th, having destroyed great part of the city and ramparts, and many of the garrison, compelled the commandant to surrender. Wellington now retreated by the valley of the Mondego, defending one position after another, and destroying at each attack a great many of the French. In October Wellington entered the impregnable lines of Torres Vedras. After seeking in vain for a vulnerable point, Massena took up a position between Santarem and Alcanede towards the middle of November. Here he remained with little alteration several months, till at last the absolute want of provisions compelled him to retreat, March 1st, 1811. He was pursued by Wellington, who, on the 7th of April, invested Almeida. To relieve this place, Massena delivered two battles at Fuentes d'Onoro, May 3rd and 5th, in which he was defeated. The French then evac­uated Almeida.

General Graham having made an attempt to raise the blockade of Cadiz, Soult quitted Estremadura to march to Victor’s assistance. But Beresford and Castanos having taken advantage of this movement to cross the Guadiana, invest Badajos, and march upon Seville, Soult retraced his steps, and gave them battle at Albuera, May 16th. Victory remained with Beresford and Soult abandoned the field of battle, and retreated southwards. Wellington, leaving Sir B. Spencer and Crawford to watch the French army under Marmont, by whom Massena had been superseded, came to superintend in person the siege of Badajos. But Soult, with reinforcements, having again advanced from the Sierra Morena and formed a junction with Marmont at Merida, Wellington raised the siege, and retired to Portalegre in the Alemteijo. Hence he subsequently crossed the Tagus, and during the remainder of the year remained on the defensive. Suchet, commander of the French division on the Ebro, made several important conquests in the course of 1811. Tortosa surrendered to him January 2nd, Tarragona on the 28th of June, after a seven weeks’ siege, which, for the obstinacy of the defence, might almost vie with those of Saragossa and Gerona. This victory procured for Suchet the baton of marshal. Suchet, after taking Montserrat by assault, July 25th, applied himself to the reduction of the province of Valencia. The central Junta, now sitting at Cadiz, entrusted the defence of this province to General Blake. Suchet entered Valencia in the middle of September, and laid siege to Murviedro, the ancient Saguntum. Blake, who made an attempt to relieve the place, was defeated by Suchet, October 25th, and compelled to retire into the town of Valencia. Murviedro surrendered two days after. Suchet then besieged Blake in Valencia, who was reduced to capitulate, January 9th, 1812.

Wellington began the campaign of 1812 by suddenly passing the Agueda, surprising in the night of January 9th some of the outworks of Ciudad Rodrigo, and taking that town on the 19th. Then, after leaving a Spanish garrison in the town, he retreated into Portugal. In March, he resumed the offensive; Badajos was taken by assault, after a siege of three weeks, April 6th. Wellington then advanced to the Tormes. He appeared before Salamanca on the 16th of June, which place surrendered on the 28th. The French now retired awhile behind the Douro, but recrossed that river about the middle of July, and gave Wellington battle in the environs of Salamanca on the 22nd. In this engagement, Marmont was wounded and completely defeated. The consequences of Wellington’s victory were highly important. The French were compelled to evacuate New Castile and Andalusia, thus raising the lengthened blockade of Cadiz, and leaving behind them their artillery. Soult, with the army of Andalusia, was ordered to form a junction with King Joseph, who was pre­paring to retire to Valencia. The absurd and obstinate pride of the General Ballasteros, who refused to cooperate with the British, is said to have prevented Wellington from inter­cepting Soult’s northward march. After its defeat at Salamanca, Marmont’s army, now commanded by Clauset, fled precipitately to Valladolid. Wellington now marched upon Madrid, which he entered, August 12th. The French garrison in the Retiro surrendered on the 14th, when 180 guns and a large quantity of arms and ammunition were captured; Wellington was named by the Cortes Generalissimo of all the Spanish armies, September 25th. But as it was impossible to hold a large and open town like Madrid, in face of the French armies, which surrounded it on all sides, Wellington retired to Salamanca, and thence took up his winter quarters at Ciudad Rodrigo. The French reentered Madrid in November.

Thus, on the whole, the “Spanish ulcer” was fast eating height of Napoleon’s power. And now was to be added to it a war with Russia, which gave an impulse to his downfall. At this period of the fullest development of his Empire, the countries over which he ruled, either immediately or by his Viceroys and tributary Princes, were France with the annexations of Holland, the Hanse Towns, the Duchy of Oldenburg, the Valais, etc., containing a population computed at 42,000,000 souls; Italy, including Naples, etc., 10,600,000; the Illyrian Provinces, 1,000,000; the Confederation of the Rhine, 11,000,000; the Kingdom of Westphalia, 2,100,000; the Duchy of Warsaw, 3,600,000; Switzerland, 1,600,000; form­ing a total of nearly 72,000,000 souls.

But these successes, so far from satisfying, had only whetted Napoleon’s ambition. He aspired to be the master of the world. On his return from Holland in 1810, he had been heard to exclaim that in five years he should attain that object. Russia was the only obstacle, but Russia should be crushed. Paris should extend to St. Cloud. He would build fifteen ships every year, but launch none till he had 150. Then he should be master of the sea as well as the land. Russia, the only Power which could impede these projects, became by that circumstance alone his principal enemy; while the refusal of the hand of the Grand Duchess Anne piqued his pride, and stimulated to revenge. His marriage with Maria Louisa entitled him to reckon on Austria, and from that event must be dated his schemes against Russia.

It did not long escape the penetration of the Emperor Alexander, that Napoleon had begun to regard the arrangement made at Erfurt as a dead letter. The Tsar had several well-grounded causes of complaint. The establishment of the Duchy of Warsaw, especially after its aggrandizement by the Treaty of Schonbrunn, was a standing menace. The deprivation of English commerce had inflicted a severe blow upon the prosperity of Russia. The annexation of Oldenburg to the French Empire was felt by Alexander as an insult and injury to his family. But all these minor grievances sunk into insignificance in comparison with the great question whether Napoleon was to be the absolute Dictator of Europe. Napoleon, on his side, complained that the Emperor of Russia, contrary to the faith of treaties, had been of no service to him whatever in his war with Austria; that, instead of marching 150,000 men, as it was in his power, to second the French army, he had only sent 15,000, and even these so late that the war had been decided before they crossed the frontier.

Alarmed at the additions made to the Duchy of Warsaw by the Treaty of Vienna, Alexander had procured, January 5th, 1810, the signature of the French Ambassador at St. Petersburg to a Convention, stipulating that the Kingdom of Poland should never be reestablished, that the names of Poland and the Poles should be used in no public act, and that no part of the ancient Kingdom of Poland should be annexed to the Duchy of Warsaw. This act Napoleon refused to ratify on the pretext that it was incompatible with his dignity; though he offered to sign a different and much less explicit engagement. Alexander considered this refusal as the first positive indication of Napoleon’s altered views. Before the end of the year (December 31st, 1810) appeared a ukase for a new tariff of customs, by which French goods were either prohibited or charged with higher duties, while colonial merchandise was permitted to enter under a neutral flag. In other words, Russia modified the Continental System, and consequently the intimate alliance with Napoleon of which it was the pledge. The ukase was also made a political measure by organizing, for the enforcement of these measures, an army of 90,000 men, under the name of frontier guards, commanded by officers of the regular army. Napoleon complained bitterly of this proceeding, and made it the pretext for a new conscription. Besides this measure, the arming of the Poles of the Duchy of Warsaw, and the gradual reinforcement of the French army in Germany, whose headquarters were trans­ferred from Ratisbon to Hamburg, gave unequivocal proof of the French Emperor’s hostile disposition. Alexander, to obviate the consequences, directed the greater part of his military force towards the western frontier of his Empire. Napoleon, however, embarrassed by the affairs of Spain, was not yet prepared to strike the meditated blow. He found it prudent to dissemble for the present, and the year 1811 was spent in negotiations.      

Russo-Turkish War, 1809-1812

In connection with a war between France and Russia, the disposition of Turkey and Sweden was of the highest importance. Russia was at this time engaged in a war with the Porte. It will be recollected that in the conferences at Erfurt in the autumn of 1808, Napoleon had conceded to Alexander the annexation of Moldavia and Wallachia. Immediately on his return to St. Petersburg, the Tsar directed that the Porte should be informed of this arrangement, and a congress was assembled at Jassy to carry it into execution. But when the Russian plenipotentiaries required, as preliminary bases, the cession of the two provinces and the expulsion of the English Ambassador from Constantinople, the Porte at once broke off the conferences, and hostilities immediately ensued. The chief operation of the campaign of 1809 was the capture of Ismail by the Russians, September 26th, who were at first commanded by Posorovski and then by Prince Bagration. A battle at Tartaritza, November 3rd, remained undecided. In 1810, Kamenskoï II. who had succeeded Bagration, cap­tured Silistria, June 23rd. He then assaulted the entrenched camp of the Vizier, Yusuf Pasha, on the heights of Shumla, July 5th and 6th, without success. The Russians were also repulsed with great loss in an attack upon Rustchuk, de­fended by Ali Pasha and Boznak Aga, August 16th. But on September 19th, the Turks under Achmet Pasha were sig­nally defeated at Batyne; a victory which put the Russians in possession of Sistova and the Turkish flotilla at that place. Gladova, Rustchuk, Ghiurgevo, Widdin, Nikopolis, Turna, now surrendered in quick succession. At the end of the year the Russians found themselves masters of the right bank of the Danube; but the Grand Vizier still held out in his for­midable camp at Shumla. A great many places in Servia were also wrested from the Turks by the insurgents of that province, assisted by a Russian force. The Turks were discouraged; a Congress assembled at Bucharest, and everything seemed to promise a speedy peace, when, by a sudden revolution, Yusuf Pasha was superseded, and the command given to Achmet Aga, an active and enterprising general. Under his auspices the Turkish cause revived. At this time the Russian army, apparently in the confident anticipation of a peace with the Porte through the mediation of England, had been weakened by the removal of five divisions to the frontiers of the Duchy of Warsaw in anticipation of the French war; from the same cause the Turkish artillery was now directed by French officers, and did formidable execution. Kutusov, who had succeeded Kamenskoï in command of the Russians, was compelled to abandon all his posts on the left bank of the Danube, and Achmet Aga crossed that river and carried the war into Wallachia. But this advance proved his destruction. General Markov, crossing the Danube above Rutschuk, surprised the Turkish reserve before that place and compelled it to enter the town. The army of Achmet was thus cut off, and, as a Russian flotilla had gained the command of the river, it was compelled to capitulate to Kutusov December 20th. The Porte now sued for peace; a Congress was opened at Bucharest, and a treaty was signed at that place, May 28th, 1812, in spite of all Napoleon’s attempt to dissuade the Sultan from entering into it. The Pruth was now to form the boundary between the two empires; an arrangement by which the Porte abandoned all Bessarabia with Ismail and Kilia, the fortresses of Chotzin and Bender, and about a third part of Moldavia. But the impending hostilities between France and Russia had probably saved Turkey from dismemberment, or, at all events, from the loss of all Moldavia and Wallachia. An armistice was granted to the Serbians.

Crown Prince of Sweden.

Both Emperors had courted the aid of Sweden in the approaching struggle; Napoleon by compulsion and threats, Alexander by representations and promises. A sort of revolution had taken place in that country. Charles XIII having no issue, nor hopes of any, the Swedes had, in August, 1809, elected as their Crown Prince Christian Augustus of Schleswig-Holstein-Augustenburg, the nearest kinsman of the King of Denmark. The choice was popular with the greater part of the nation. Christian Augustus was received with enthusiasm on his arrival in Sweden in January, 1810, except by the higher aristocracy, and especially the families of Piper and Fersen. But he enjoyed his new dignity only a few months. At a review held in Schonen, May 23rd, he fell from his horse and suddenly expired. Popular suspicion was directed against Count Fersen and his sister the Countess Piper, of having poisoned him, and on the funeral day of the Crown Prince the Count was maltreated and murdered by the mob, the Palace of his sister stormed and sacked. Frederick VI, King of Denmark, who had succeeded to that throne on the death of Christian VII in March, 1808, became a candidate for that of Sweden. But the Swedes had turned their views on Marshal Bernadotte, Prince of Ponte Corvo, who had acquired the esteem of the Swedes during his administration of Hanover and the Hanse Towns, as well as the affection of Count Morner and other Swedish officers, by his conduct after capturing them at Travemimde in 1806. Morner, who had great influence among the elective nobility, took up the cause of Bernadotte, whose name had been already mentioned at the time of the first vacancy. Bernadotte had also acquired other partizans among the Swedish nobles at the time when he commanded in North Germany and Jutland. Morner sent his nephew to Paris, with an offer to Bernadotte to support his election, on condition that he should abandon his French citizenship and openly adopt the Lutheran Confession. The offer was accepted, subject to the approbation of Napoleon, which was accorded; and on the 25th of August, 1810, Charles John Bernadotte was unanimously elected Crown Prince of Sweden by the four orders of the States assembled at Orebro. Napoleon absolved Bernadotte from his allegiance, presented him with 2,000,000 francs, appointed a splendid suite to accompany him into Sweden, defrayed the expenses of his inauguration, and allowed him to retain the possessions which he had purchased in France. The new Crown Prince arrived in Sweden in October, 1810. He was immediately adopted by Charles XIII as his son, appointed Generalissimo of the forces, and initiated in all the affairs of State, in which he henceforth took a leading part.

We have already related that Sweden, as the price of peace with France had been compelled to accede to the Continental System by the Treaty of Paris, January 6th, 1810. But this engagement was eluded by an active contraband trade, which was extremely facilitated by the conformation of the Swedish coasts. Hence violent remonstrances on the part of Napoleon, who accused the Swedish Government of conniving at this evasion of the treaty, and becoming a useful ally of England. In November, 1810, the French Minister at Stockholm demanded that Sweden should declare war against England, should cause all English vessels in her ports to be seized, all English and colonial goods to be confiscated, under whatever flag imported. If these demands were not accorded in five days, the French Ambassador was immediately to take his departure. Charles XIII had no alternative, and declared war against Great Britain November 17th, 1810; a step, however, which that country seemed to ignore. Napoleon, having thus, as he imagined, compromised Sweden, began to develop his further plans. Though he had implicated that country in a maritime war with the English, he demanded 6,000 Swedish sailors to complete the crews of his fleet at Brest; a requisition which Charles XIII refused by pleading the constitutional laws of his kingdom. The French Govern­ment then required the adoption of the tariff of Trianon in Sweden, and the establishment at Gothenburg of a French custom-house staff. Presently Napoleon began to develop his project against Russia by demanding the formation of a Northern Confederation, on the plan of that of the Rhine, to be composed of Denmark, Sweden, and the Duchy of Warsaw, under himself as Protector. As this proposal was not accepted, it was altered for an intimate alliance with France. But Napoleon, perceiving that he could not rely on the friendship of a Power which he had placed in a position contrary to its interests, began to change his tone and conduct. French privateers were allowed to capture Swedish vessels, on pretense that they were not provided with licences. Presently they began to attack Swedish coasters in the Sound, laden with the produce or manufactures of Sweden, on the allegation that their cargoes were destined for Great Britain. Napoleon also caused all Swedish ships in German harbors to be seized, treated their crews as prisoners of war, placed them in irons, and dispatched them to serve in the French fleets at Antwerp and Toulon.

These hostile measures were rendered still more insupportable by the overbearing tone adopted by M. Alquier, the French Ambassador. At length the seal was put to them by the seizure of Pomerania. Marshal Davoust, Prince d'Eckmuhl, who ruled in North Germany with a rod of iron, and whose zeal, perhaps, was further stimulated by the personal enmity which he felt for Bernadotte, dispatched, in January, 1812, General Friant, with 15,000 or 20,000 men, into Pomerania. The General, who was accompanied by a whole legion of custom-house officers, announced himself as a friend, and the Swedish Governor of the Province, who had only a few thousand men at his disposal, could make no resistance. No sooner had the French troops entered, than all the Swedish officers employed in the public service were carried off and imprisoned at Hamburg, and their posts filled up with French­men. Enormous contributions were imposed upon the inhabitants, all Swedish vessels were seized and armed as privateers. At the beginning of March, the Swedish troops, which till then had acted with the French, were disarmed, and sent into France as prisoners of war.

Bernadotte, as Crown Prince, had sincerely embraced the interests of his adoptive country. There is reason to believe that before the end of 1810, and consequently only a few months after his arrival in Sweden, he had come to an under­standing with the Russian Emperor with regard to an alliance against France. At that period Alexander had virtually annulled the Treaty of Tilsit, by rejecting the Continental System. At the beginning of 1811, Russia and England were already preparing the events of the following year; and Alexander reckoned so securely on Sweden that he could venture to withdraw a great part of his troops from Finland, in order to send them to Poland. The Crown Prince had the sole conduct of Swedish affairs during the greater part of the year 1811, Charles XIII having withdrawn from business on account of ill-health. The acquisition of Norway formed at this time a main object of Swedish policy. As France was in strict alliance with Denmark, it could hardly be expected that she would assist Sweden in wresting Norway from the Danes; while such a service might be anticipated from Russia and England, the enemies of Denmark. Here, then, was another motive with the Crown Prince, besides the insults and oppressions of Napoleon, for preferring the alliance with Russia. The French invasion of Pomerania drove the Swedes completely into the arms of Russia. In March, 1812, Napoleon, who had now matured his projects against Russia, made an attempt to conciliate Sweden by offering to restore Pomerania, on condition that she should make a fresh declaration of war against England, should fire on all English vessels passing the Sound, and should put on foot an army of 30,000 or 40,000 men to attack Russia when Napoleon should commence hostilities with that Power; in return for which services Napoleon also engaged to procure for Sweden the restitution of Finland. The Crown Prince, who was, in fact, now negotiating a treaty with Russia, replied in general terms, attributing the alienation of the Swedes to the conduct of the French Government, and especially of their Ambassador, M. Alquier; he invoked, in the name of humanity, and of Napoleon’s own glory, that an end should be put to a slaughter that had desolated the earth during twenty years, and offered the services of Sweden for a reconciliation between Napoleon and Alexander. But of this communication no notice appears to have been taken.

Treaty between Russia and Sweden, 1812.

On April 5th, 1812, a secret treaty was concluded at St. Petersburg between Russia and Sweden, which is important as having founded the existing system of the north of Europe. Alexander engaged to unite Norway with Sweden, either by means of negotiations with Denmark, or by furnishing an army of 35,000 men. After the annexation of Norway, Sweden was to assist Russia in her war with France by throwing some 30,000 men on any point of the German coast that might be selected. On July 18th, when hostilities had already broken out between France and Russia, a treaty of peace between Great Britain and Sweden was signed at Orebro; which was immediately followed by an ordinance of Charles XIII, opening the Swedish ports to vessels of all nations. On the same day a treaty was also signed at the same place between Great Britain and Russia; and by an Imperial ukase of August 16th, the ports of the Russian Empire were opened to British commerce before the treaty had been ratified. Such was the need which the Russians felt for peace. No hostili­ties, however, actually ensued between France and Sweden till the beginning of 1813.

Position of Austria and Prussia.

Both Turkey and Sweden might be valuable auxiliaries either to France or Russia in the grand “world’s debate” which was about to open; yet there was nothing in their geo­graphical position to prevent them from remaining neutral. Such was not the case with Austria and Prussia. These Powers were too near the scene of action to remain mere passive spectators of it; a remark, however, which applies with more force to Prussia than to Austria. The Prussian territories could hardly fail to become the actual field of battle; large bodies of French troops were already cantoned in Prussia, and occupied some of her principal fortresses. Both Austria and Prussia adopted the policy of an alliance with France. The Cabinet of Vienna excused this step on the ground that Napoleon would recognize no other neutrality than a complete disarming, which would have reduced Austria to a political nullity. The Emperor Francis, therefore, resolved to take part in the war, but only with a portion of his troops; an arrangement which would permit him to strike a decisive blow when the proper moment should arrive. In pursuance of this policy, a treaty was concluded between the Emperors Francis and Napoleon at Paris, March 14th, 1812; in a separate article of which it was expressly stipulated that Austria should assist France in her war with Russia.

At this period Hardenberg was again at the head of the Prussian Government, having accepted, in June, 1810, the office of State-Chancellor. Under the appearance of inclining to France, Hardenberg concealed his prosecution of German interests. Neutrality and an alliance with Russia being equally out of the question, a treaty with Napoleon remained the only alternative. Already in the spring of 1811, at the first indications of a war, Frederick William III made over­tures to Napoleon for an alliance in a tone which showed Prussia no longer one of the great European Powers, but almost as much a satellite of France as the Confederates of the Rhine. The proposal was rejected by Napoleon on the ground of its being premature; but on February 24th, 1812, an alliance, offensive and defensive, was contracted between France and Prussia, which by a secret article was expressly directed against Russia. Frederick William III, in the event of a war between that country and France, agreed to furnish 20,000 men, with sixty guns, for active service, with the necessary baggage trains, besides large garrisons to be placed in different towns of the kingdom. He also engaged to make no levy of troops, nor any military movement, ex­cept in concert with France and for the benefit of the alliance, so long as the French army should be on Prussian territory, or on that of the enemy. In case of a prosperous termination of the war, Prussia was to be indemnified for her expenses by an addition of territory. But in spite of this alliance, Prussia was treated by the French like the country of an enemy. Up to September, 1812, 77,920 horses and 13,349 carriages were taken by force from the province of Prussia, and from the eight circles alone of Eastern Prussia 22,722 oxen.

Before embarking in the Russian war, Napoleon made, or pretended to make, some conciliatory overtures to England. On April 17th, 1812, the Duke of Bassano, the French Foreign Minister, addressed a communication to Lord Castlereagh, in which he proposed the following bases of negotiation: The guarantee of the integrity of Spain; the renunciation by France of all extension of territory on the side of the Pyrenees; the declaration of the independence of the actual dynasty, and the government of Spain by the national constitution of the Cortes. Also, the guarantee of the independence and integrity of Portugal, where the House of Braganza was to reign; the Kingdom of Naples to remain in possession of the present King of Naples; the Kingdom of Sicily to be guaranteed to the actual House of Sicily; Spain, Portugal, and Sicily to be evacuated both by the French and English forces.

The whole tenour of the French communication evidently shows that Napoleon’s intention only was to attempt to set himself right with European opinion; for he could not have seriously thought that England would consent to evacuate the Peninsula and Sicily, leaving his brother and his brother-in-law masters of Spain and Naples, and himself in possession of Holland and the coasts of Northern Germany. Lord Castlereagh, in reply, observed that if by the actual dynasty of Spain was meant the brother of the head of the French Government, and not the legitimate Sovereign Ferdinand VII and his heirs, the Prince Regent had directed him frankly to declare that no proposition founded on such a base could be accepted. He was also instructed not to enter into recriminations on the other subjects of the French Minister’s letter. The correspondence which had taken place at the previous epochs alluded to, and the judgment which the world had long since pronounced upon it, sufficed for the justification of Great Britain. Thus the peace of Europe, it has been remarked, remained compromised because Napoleon was resolved to maintain his brother on the Spanish throne.

Some threatening correspondence had taken place between the Courts of the Tuileries and St. Petersburg in the course of 1811, and, on August 15th, one of those violent scenes had taken place between Napoleon and Prince Kurakin, the Russian ambassador, before the whole diplomatic circle at the Tuileries, which the French Emperor was accustomed to get up when he contemplated a war, and which served as a manifesto to the different European Courts. Napoleon terminated it by demanding that Russia should withdraw the troops which she had placed on the frontiers of Poland, and should disavow her protest against the incorporation of Oldenburg; though he had acknowledged in the course of the conversation that he had been ignorant of the nature of the relations between that Duchy and Russia, and that, had he been acquainted with them, he should not have annexed it. Alexander refused to give up Oldenburg; but he offered to place his forces on the footing of peace, if Napoleon would do the same. He had no intention, however, to make the affair of Oldenburg a cause of war; and all the military preparations which he had made were purely defensive. Prince Kurakin delivered to the French Government, April 30th, 1812, a note which may be regarded as the Russian ultimatum. It demanded the conservation of Prussia, and its independence of any political alliance directed against Russia, a formal engagement for the entire evacuation of the Prussian States and fortresses, a diminution of the garrison of Dantzic, the evacuation of Swedish Pomerania, and an arrangement with the King of Sweden. Alexander, on his side, promised to make no change in the prohibitive measures he had adopted against direct commerce with England, and to come to an understanding with France about a system of licenses. He also engaged to negotiate with France a commercial treaty, and to persuade the Duke of Oldenburg to accept a suitable equivalent for his Duchy. This note remained unanswered, and after a little mere formal correspondence the rupture was complete.

The marriage of Napoleon with an Austrian Princess, the apparent consolidation of his dynasty the following year by the birth of a son (March 20th, 1811), who received the title of King of Rome, had lulled the French nation with false hopes of peace; nor was it till the last moment that they were undeceived. The real object of the Emperor’s vast preparations was disguised under the most various and sometimes the most absurd pretences. Napoleon himself seems to have entertained till the very last a hope that Alexander would not suffer matters to come to extremities, but that, dismayed by the mighty force arrayed against him, he would yield to the demands of France. Napoleon had made all his arrangements by the end of February, 1812. Germany bore the appearance of a vast camp. The official state of Napoleon’s army gave a total of 678,080 men, of whom considerably more than half were French. The remainder was composed of Germans, Austrians, Poles, Italians, and other foreigners. Making the usual deductions, the effective force may be estimated at considerably more than half a million men; having with them 1,372 guns, and followed by more than 20,000 wagons and other carriages.

On the 9th of May, after providing for the conduct of affairs during his absence, Napoleon, accompanied by the Empress, left St. Cloud for Dresden. The principal Sove­reigns of Germany had been invited to meet him in that city; a Congress designed, not merely for the gratification of Napoleon’s pride, but to draw more closely his alliance with its members, as well as to dazzle the eyes of Russia, and to inspire it, perhaps, even at the eleventh hour, with a desire for peace. He arrived in Dresden, May 16th, and took up his residence in the royal palace. On the following day appeared the Emperor and Empress of Austria, with the Archdukes, the Queen of Westphalia, the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg, and, successively, most of the Princes of the Confederation of the Rhine, with their principal Ministers. The King of Prussia arrived a few days later, having, according to a previous arrangement, at first expected to receive Napoleon in Berlin.

In the midst of all the fetes and splendor of his residence at Dresden, Napoleon employed himself in making the last arrangements for the campaign. The arrival of Count de Narbonne at Dresden, May 28th, who had been dispatched to St. Petersburg to make a last attempt to conciliate the Emperor of Russia, put an end to all hopes of that description. Alexander was inflexible. His last words to the French am­bassador were, that Napoleon might cross the Niemen, but that he would never sign a peace dictated on Russian territory. The very next day Napoleon left Dresden to join his army. After arranging at Thorn the affairs of the Duchy of Warsaw, he appeared at Dantzic, June 6th, and declared that town united to the French Empire. Thence he arrived at the headquarters at Konigsberg, June 12th. At Gumbinnen, the frontier town of East Prussia, the rupture was finally declared, June 21st. The declaration of war of the Emperor of Russia was published, July 6th, at Vilna, where he had fixed his headquarters; since the French operations having for their bases the fortresses of the Lower Vistula and the Pregel, the attack would necessarily be made in this quarter.

The Russian line of defence was formed by three armies. The first of these, occupying the Niemen, and consisting of 140,000 men under Barclay de Tolly, was supported by Riga and Dünaburg, and a vast entrenched camp at Drissa. The advanced guard occupied Kovno; the center, under the Grand Duke Constantine, was posted at Vilna and the environs; the right wing, commanded by Wittgenstein, secured, at Rossieny and Keydany, the roads to St. Petersburg; the left, under Doctorov, was stationed between Grodno and Lida, covering the by-roads towards Moscow. The second army of about 50,000 men, under Prince Bagration, was concentrated more to the south, between Bialystok and Wolkowisk, threatening the flank of the invaders. The third army, still further south, was assembled at Lutzk, on the road between Vienna and Kief; it consisted of about 45,000 men, under Tormassov, and was destined, like the army of Bagration, to act on the offensive. The Russians had besides about 40,000 men in different garrisons; to which must be added the army of Moldavia of 60,000 men, ultimately released by the Peace of Bucharest, as well as some regiments withdrawn from Finland, and the militia and volunteers of Moscow and St. Petersburg, 120,000 men.

Such was the line of defence, against which Napoleon divided his army into five columns of attack. Macdonald, with the extreme left, was to advance from Tilsit, and hold Wittgenstein in check. The Emperor himself, with Davoust, Oudinot, Ney, Murat, and the Imperial Guard, marched to attack the Russian advanced guard and center at Kovno and Vilna. Prince Eugene, with the third column, was to throw himself between Barclay de Tolly and Doctorov. The Ring of Westphalia, with the fourth, was to debouch by Grodno, and advance upon Bagration. Finally, Prince Schwarzenberg, with the fifth column, on the extreme right, was directed to hold Tormassov in check and to cover the Duchy of Warsaw.

Napoleon, with 250,000 men, crossed the Niemen on the night of June 23rd. His object was to gain the elevated plateau forming the watershed which separates the sources of the Dwina and the Dnieper; the first of which, running northwards, falls into the Baltic, while the other, taking a southerly course, discharges itself into the Black Sea. On the northern side of this plateau, on the banks of the Dwina, stands the town of Vitebsk; on the southern, upon the Dnieper, Smolensk; thus forming a position which, by a decisive battle, would open to Napoleon the road either to St. Petersburg or to Moscow. At his approach the Russians abandoned Kovno and Vilna, which latter place he entered, June 28th. Eugene and Jerome had delayed their advance not to alarm Bagration prematurely. It was not till the 30th that they passed the Niemen; Eugene at Pilony, Jerome at Grodno. The evening before, a terrible storm had burst over Lithuania, succeeded by a hurricane, inundations, and excessive cold. In that and the two following days, 10,000 horses are said to have perished; the roads having become impracticable, the march of the troops was suspended, 100 guns were abandoned, and an immense quantity of provisions and ammunition was sacrificed for want of transport. Jerome was detained at Grodno till July 4th, and Napoleon also was compelled to suspend his operations.

The Bishop of Mechlin (De Pradt), who had been sent as ambassador to Warsaw, convoked in that city an extra­ordinary Diet, which having assembled, June 26th, immediately constituted itself a General Confederation for Poland, and declared the reestablishment of the Polish Kingdom and nation. The King of Saxony signed his adherence to the Confederation, July 12th. But Napoleon, though such a reestablishment entered ultimately into his views, hesitated at present to alienate his Austrian and Prussian allies by sanctioning such a step, and gave only an evasive answer to the deputation which had been dispatched to solicit his consent. Napoleon established at Vilna a section of the Imperial Cabinet, with the Duke of Bassano at the head; so that foreign envoys, who at present followed his movements, might transact their business there with his Foreign Minister. He also instituted a provincial government of Lithuania, and caused proclamations to be published, exhorting the inhabitants to throw off the Russian yoke. But these appeals met with little or no response. The Lithuanians, assimilated to the Russians by a common language and religion, had experienced at the hands of the Imperial Government a far more considerate treatment than Prussia had adopted towards her Polish subjects.

Barclay de Tolly had retired to the entrenched camp at Drissa, on the Dwina, whither he was followed by Ney and Oudinot. On their approach, the Russian General retreated upon Vitebsk and Smolensk, and at the latter place he formed a junction with Bagration. That General had also retreated before Davoust, who had now superseded the King of Westphalia in the command of the French right wing. Davoust had endeavored to intercept Bagration’s march, but, by a battle which the Russians offered him at Mohilev, July 23rd, was frustrated in that design. On July 25th, and two following days, Murat and Eugene fought some battles at Ostrowno with the rear-guard of Barclay de Toll’s army, in which they lost a great many men. At the approach of the French, Vitebsk was burnt and abandoned by the Russians, who con­centrated their forces at Smolensk. During these events, Tormassov, with the Russian left, had succeeded in holding in check the extreme right of the French, composed of Austrians and Saxons under Prince Schwarzenberg.

The extreme heat of the weather and the privations endured by the French army—for the Russians as they retreated had destroyed their magazines at Vilna and other places—induced Napoleon to rest his men for the space of a fortnight at Vitebsk (July 28th—August 10th). Napoleon had previously lost seventeen days at Vilna : a delay considered by military critics as the greatest error he ever committed. On August 10th, the French army began to move upon Smolensk. On the 14th, a serious engagement took place at Krasnoi, in which Murat and Ney were victorious. On the 16th the French army appeared before Smolensk. This place was regarded as the key of Moscow, and Napoleon resolved to take it by assault. The attack lasted the whole of the 17th, and in the evening he was master of the town. But the victory had cost him 12,000 men, and he found only a heap of smoking ruins. The Russians, as usual, had fired the town before abandoning it. Ney crossed the Dnieper in pursuit of the Russians, who had taken up a strong position at Valutina, from which they were only dislodged after destroying 6,000 or 7,000 of their assailants (August 19th). Gouvion St. Cyr, who had succeeded Oudinot, disabled by a wound, gained a decisive victory over Wittgenstein at Polotsk, August 18th, which procured for him the baton of Marshal.

Many of Napoleon’s generals were of opinion that the campaign should now be terminated, that winter quarters should be established on the Dnieper, and operations resumed on the return of spring. But on the 24th, the order was given to march on Moscow. The Russians made a stand at Dorogobush, but abandoned it as soon as they had set fire to the town and the magazines. Viazma and Gjatsk shared the same fate. A constant rain, a desolate country, and sometimes an entire want of water, added to the embarrassment and distress of the French. The loss both of men and horses was enormous; nevertheless, Napoleon was determined to proceed. Gjatsk was left September 4th, and Mojaisk was now the only town before arriving at Moscow. At this time the command-in-chief of the Russian armies was transferred from Barclay de Tolly to Count Kutusov; for though the military talents of the former general were undisputed, Alexander, in appointing Kutusov, complied with the general wish of the nation that the forces should be commanded by a Russian.

Between Gjatsk and Mojaisk, the main road is crossed by the little river Kologa, which at a short distance falls into the Moskva. On the further side of the stream, encircling the village of Borodino, rises an amphitheater of well-wooded hills, cleft by ravines, forming an admirable defensive position. In this place, strong by nature, and rendered still stronger by forts and redans, Kutusov had entrenched his army. Napoleon recognized at a glance the strength of the position, but at the same time discovered a weak point, and resolved on the attack. The assault began on the morning of September 7th, and lasted all day. The Russians were ultimately driven from their position, but the morning of the 8th discovered at what expense. The field of battle was strewn with 80,000 killed or wounded men, considerably more than half of whom were Russians. Among the wounded was Prince Bagration, who died a few days after. The French loss amounted to 28,000 men, including 12 general officers killed and 39 wounded.

Although the French had gained no very decisive victory, Kutusov, in consideration of his terrible loss, resolved to retire upon Moscow, and he took up a position in front of that city. But as his army consisted of only 90,000 men, of whom a great part were new levies and badly armed, there was no chance of successfully opposing Napoleon. On the approach of the French, the Russians defiling through Moscow, soon vanished in the vast plains to the east, and on the 18th of September, Murat and Eugene presented them­selves at the gates of the ancient capital of the Tsars. At the sight of its towers, its palaces, and gilded domes, the French soldiery were filled with hope and joy, imagining that they had at length reached the term of all their labors and privations. But these anticipations were soon dissipated. On entering the city, it was discovered that all that remained of its vast population were some 12,000 or 15,000 persons, either foreigners or the dregs of the people. The rest of the inhabitants had taken flight; the houses were all shut up, and silence reigned in the deserted streets. Napoleon entered the city on the 15th, and took up his residence in the Kremlin. Never before had he fought with a people who thus defended themselves. All around was desolation, and famine stared him in the face.

A new horror suddenly presented itself. The night was well advanced, when from the windows of the Kremlin the whole horizon seemed to glow with innumerable fires. Some had been observed the day before, which had been attributed to accident; but now there could be no doubt that the destruction of Moscow had been systematically organized. It had, indeed, been planned and executed by Count Rostoptchin, the governor of the city. Combustible materials had been placed in many houses, which were fired by a troop of paid incendiaries, under the directions of the police. The flames baffled all the exertions of the French to extinguish them. On the third day a strong north-west wind spread the fire over the whole city. During five days nothing was to be seen but an ocean of flame, which at length began to encom­pass the Kremlin, and compelled Napoleon to fly to the chateau of Petrofskoie, about three miles from the town. But in a few days he returned to the Kremlin. That palace, the churches, and about a tenth part of the houses, had escaped destruction. All Napoleon’s plans, however, were completely overthrown. In occupying Moscow, he had fancied that he should conquer the Russian Empire; but he found to his dismay that the Russians regarded that capital only as a heap of stones.

Many plans of operation were now suggested by Napoleon’s generals. He himself had from the first decided for a retreat, but this could not be effected all at once. He had to collect provisions and ammunition, to take care of the sick and wounded, to provide and organize the means of transport. He employed this interval in attempting to open negotiations with the Russian Emperor; but without effect. Alexander had resolved not to treat while a Frenchman remained in his dominions; and all Napoleon’s overtures were left unanswered. The defeat of Murat, October 18th, hastened Napoleon's departure. The Russians had assaulted the cantonments of the King of Naples, and captured 2,000 men and 12 guns. Moscow would not much longer be safe, and the order of de­parture was given for the following day.

The retreat of the French.

Before leaving, Napoleon directed the Kremlin to be blown up—an act of barbarous malice which might have disgraced a Genseric. Fortunately, the explosion caused only partial damage. Napoleon’s plan of retreat does not show his usual decision. Kutusov had got into his front, intercepting the road to Smolensk. Napoleon had first determined to march on Kaluga, form a junction with Murat, and take a more southern route than that by which he had advanced, through the valley of the Ugra, which had not been exhausted of provisions. But at Malo-Jaroslavetz the Russians fought an obstinate battle, October 24th; and though the French remained victorious, Napoleon decided on regaining the former road, by Gjatsk and Viazma. Thus, after ten days’ march, the army found itself again only thirty or forty miles from Moscow. The temperature, moreover, began to fall, the Cossacks to appear. Kutusov hovered round the French, but avoided an engagement, unwilling to risk his men in securing a prey which he knew must fall by cold, hunger, and fatigue. The French, however, arrived in tolerable safety at Dorogobush, November 5th; but after this point all the horrors of the retreat began. On the night of November 6th the temperature suddenly fell to that of the most rigorous winter. In that dreadful night thousands of men perished, and nearly all the horses, which compelled the abandonment of the greater part of the convoys. All was now confusion and disorder; discipline was no longer observed except by the Guard, in the center of which proceeded the carriage containing the Emperor and the King of Naples. The French van entered Smolensk November 9th. Kutusov had fallen upon Baraguay d'Hilliers at Liakhovo, and destroyed the whole brigade of Augereau. Eugene, who had struck to the right to reach Vitebsk, hearing that that place was occupied by Wittgenstein, had been forced to retrace his steps towards Smolensk, cross­ing the Vop on the ice, penetrating through almost imprac­ticable marshes, and exposed at the same time to the attacks of the Cossacks. He at length rejoined the main army, but with the loss of all his artillery, convoys, wounded, and stragglers.

At Smolensk there were still 40,000 men under arms, but ill provided with ammunition and provisions. Here Napoleon divided his army into four corps. He himself with the Imperial Guard left Smolensk November 14th, directing Eugene to follow him in a few hours. Davoust was to march on the 15th, while Ney, who commanded the rear-guard, was not to leave the town till the 17th, after blowing up the walls. In this order they were to march upon Krasnoi, the defile at which place presents a sort of natural ambuscade. These arrangements have been censured by military critics. The Russians, who were marching parallel to, and at a short dis­tance from, the French, arrived at Krasnoi before them, and had thus the opportunity to attack each division separately. Napoleon, it is said, should have advanced with all his columns abreast by the roads which run parallel with the high road— a disposition by which they would not only have arrived simultaneously at Krasnoi, but which would also have better enabled them to find subsistence. The Russians suffered Napoleon to pass; but Eugene with the second column was attacked, and in order to reach Krasnoi was compelled to make a long detour in the night. Davoust was also attacked, but was released from his dangerous situation by a diversion caused by Napoleon attacking the Russian corps nearest Krasnoi. Ney, with the rear-guard of 6,000 men, suffered most severely. Napoleon could not wait for him without delivering a general engagement, and he had therefore to cut his way through the Russian army. This he effected with consummate gallantry, and reached the general quarters of Orsha; but with only 800 or 900 men!

The arrival at Orsha on the Dnieper terminates the first act of this drama. Napoleon had left Moscow with upwards of 100,000 combatants and more than 550 guns. He had now about 30,000 men and 25 pieces of artillery; his cavalry was almost annihilated. The remainder of the march seemed to promise fewer hardships and dangers. The Russians had been outmarched; a new park of artillery had been obtained, and it was hoped that the army would soon be strengthened by a junction with the divisions of Dombrowski and Oudinot. But on the other hand, Wittgenstein, advancing from the north, had defeated St. Cyr, October 18th and 20th, at Polotsk, occupied Vitebsk, November 7th, and was marching to join Tchitchagov, who, with the Russian troops from Moldavia, had seized Borissov, November 21st, destroyed the bridge, and thus intercepted the passage of the Beresina. The Emperor arrived at Borissov on the 25th, and finding the bridge destroyed, resolved to cross at Studianka, twelve miles higher up the stream, where Oudinot was directed to construct bridges. Here the Emperor and a considerable part of the army effected their passage, November 27th. But in the night the most frightful disorder ensued. Both ends of the bridge had become choked with carriages in inextricable confusion, when Wittgenstein, coming up early in the morning, directed a terrible cannonade upon the bridge. Many endeavored to save themselves by fording or swimming the river, but for the most part perished in the attempt. Among the victims were many women and children who had accompanied the army. An obstinate battle was also delivered here between Victor and Wittgenstein. At length, on the 29th, Victor, by order of Napoleon, after burning all the carriages which encumbered the bridges and their avenues, and finally the bridges themselves, hastened to join the main army, which had preceded him, still leaving on the left bank a small rear-guard and upwards of 12,000 non-combatants.

The march was now pursued towards Vilna, the frosts of each night carrying off numerous victims. At Smorgoni, Napoleon, appointing the King of Naples to the command-in-chief, took leave of his principal officers, and set off in all haste for Paris (December 5th). His departure has perhaps been too severely censured. He could no longer be of much service to the army, while his presence in Paris was absolutely necessary. An event which had occurred in Paris showed how precarious was his hold of power, and that while he was dreaming of conquering the world, even the scepter of France might be wrested from his grasp. On October 23rd, General Malet, a man of republican principles, and a few coadjutors, by spreading a report of Napoleon’s death, and forging some pretended orders, obtained the command of a considerable military force, and remained for a few hours master of Paris. The imposture was, however, soon discovered, and was ex­piated not only by the death of Malet and his confederates, but also of the military officers whom he had deceived.

Napoleon, travelling rapidly by way of Vilna, Warsaw, and Dresden, arrived unexpectedly in Paris on the night of December 18th. His departure caused great dissatisfaction among the troops, and increased their disorganization. Curses rose on all sides against the betrayer, who, as in Egypt, had first sacrificed his men, and then abandoned them. The march was resumed under the most gloomy auspices, the cold increasing in intensity. General Gratien, with a corps of 12,000 men, principally Germans, had left Vilna to meet the retreating army, and formed a junction with them at Ochmiana; but only half Gratien’s men had survived the march; the rest perished in the night of December 6th! Vilna was reached on the 8th, but the French could make no stay there—the Russians were at their heels. On leaving the town they had to surmount a hill, the road over which had become a sheet of ice, rendering it entirely impracticable for horses. All the carriages and wagons were left at the bottom, and it became necessary to burn them, to prevent them becoming the prey of Platov and his Cossacks. Among them was the military chest, which was abandoned to pillage. At length the small remains of that brilliant army, which six months before had entered Kovno, regained that town, and crossed the Niemen. At Gumbinnen, a man in a brown great coat, with a long beard, inflamed eyes, and a face all scorched and blackened, presented himself before General Dumas. “Here I am at last”, he exclaimed. “What! don't you know me, Dumas?”.  “No; who are you?”. “I am Marshal Ney, the rear-guard of the grand army. I fired the last shot on the bridge of Kovno, I threw the last of our arms into the Niemen, and found my way hither through the woods!”

Ney, “the bravest of the brave”, is the hero of the retreat from Moscow.

CHAPTER LXVII.

THE WAR OF LIBERATION AND THE FALL OF NAPOLEON