Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte — Complete
was not engaged, in the contest; it had been stationed on the left at
Mohrungen, whence it menaced Dantzic. The issue of the battle would have
been very different had the four, divisions of infantry and the two of
cavalry composing Bernadotte's corps arrived in time; but unfortunately
the officer instructed to convey orders to Bernadotte to march without
delay on Preussich-Eylau was taken by a body of Cossacks; Bernadotte,
therefore, did not arrive. Bonaparte, who always liked to throw blame on
some one if things did not turn out exactly as he wished, attributed the
doubtful success of the day to the absence of Bernadotte; in this he was
right; but to make his absence a reproach to that Marshal was a gross
injustice. Bernadotte was accused of not having been willing to march
on Preussich-Eylau, though, as it was alleged, General d'Hautpoult had
informed him of the necessity of his presence. But how can that fact be
ascertained, since General d'Hautpoult was killed on that same day? Who
can assure us that that General had been able to communicate with the
Marshal?
Those who knew Bonaparte, his cunning, and the artful advantage he would
sometimes take of words which he attributed to the dead, will easily
solve the enigma. The battle of Eylau was terrible. Night came
on--Bernadotte's corps was instantly, but in vain, expected; and after
a great loss the French army had the melancholy honour of passing the
night on the field of battle. Bernadotte at length arrived, but too
late. He met the enemy, who were retreating without the fear of being
molested towards Konigsberg, the only capital remaining to Prussia. The
King of Prussia was then at Memel, a small port on the Baltic, thirty
leagues from Konigsberg.
After the battle of Eylau both sides remained stationary, and several
days elapsed without anything remarkable taking place. The offers of
peace made by the Emperor, with very little earnestness it is true, were
disdainfully rejected, as if a victory disputed with Napoleon was to be
regarded as a triumph. The battle of Eylau seemed to turn the heads of
the Russians, who chanted Te Deum on the occasion. But while the Emperor
was making preparations to advance, his diplomacy was taking effect in
a distant quarter, and raising up against Russia an old and formidable
enemy. Turkey declared war against her. This was a powerful diversion,
and obliged Russia to strip her western frontiers to secure a line of
defence on the south.
Some time after General Gardanne set out on the famous embassy to
Persia; for which the way had been paved by the success of the mission
of my friend, Amedee Jaubert. This embassy was not merely one of those
pompous legations such as Charlemagne, Louis XIV., and Louis XVI.
received from the Empress Irene, the King of Siam, and Tippoo Saib. It
was connected with ideas which Bonaparte had conceived at the very dawn
of his power. It was, indeed, the light from the East which fast enabled
him to see his greatness in perspective; and that light never ceased
to fix his attention and dazzle his imagination. I know well that
Gardanne's embassy was at first conceived on a much grander scale than
that on which it was executed. Napoleon had resolved to send to the Shah
of Persia 4000 infantry, commanded by chosen and experienced officers,
10,000 muskets, and 50 pieces, of cannon; and I also know that orders
were given for the execution of this design. The avowed object of the
Emperor was to enable the Shah of Persia to make an important diversion,
with 80,000 men, in, the eastern provinces of Russia. But there
was likewise another, an old and constant object, which was always,
uppermost in Napoleon's mind, namely the wish to strike at England in
the very heart of her Asiatic possessions. Such was the principal motive
of Gardanne's mission, but circumstances did not permit the Emperor,
to, give, it, all the importance he desired. He contented himself with
sending a few officers of engineers and artillery, to Persia, who,
on their arrival, were astonished at the number of English they found
there.
CHAPTER XI.
1807
Abuse of military power--Defence of diplomatic rights--Marshal Brune
--Army supplies--English cloth and leather--Arrest on a charge of
libel--Dispatch from M. Talleyrand--A page of Napoleon's glory--
Interview between the two Emperors at Tilsit,--Silesia restored to
the Queen of Prussia--Unfortunate situation in Prussia--
Impossibility of reestablishing Poland in 1807--Foundation of the
Kingdom of Westphalia--The Duchy of Warsaw and the King of Saxony.
Meanwhile the internal affairs of the towns over which my diplomatic
jurisdiction extended soon gave me more employment than ever. The
greatest misfortune of the Empire was, perhaps, the abuse of the
right arrogated by the wearers of epaulettes. My situation gave me
an opportunity of observing all the odious character of a military
government. Another in my place could not have done all that I did. I
say this confidently, for my situation was a distinct and independent
one, as Bonaparte had told me: Being authorised to correspond directly
with the Emperor; the military chiefs feared, if they did not yield
to my just representations, that I would made private reports; this
apprehension was wonderfully useful in enabling me to maintain the
rights of the towns, which had adopted me as their first citizen.
A circumstance occurred in which I had to defend the rights of the
diplomatic and commercial agents against the pretensions of military
power. Marshal Brune during his government at Hamburg, went to Bremman.
to watch the strict execution of the illusive blockade against England.
The Marshal acting no doubt, in conformity with the instructions of
Clarke, then Minister of War and Governor of Berlin, wished to arrogate
the right of deciding on the captures made by our cruisers.
He attempted to prevent the Consul Lagau from selling the confiscated
ships in order to sell them himself. Of this M. Lagau complained to
me. The more I observed a disposition to encroach on the part of the
military authorities, the more I conceived it necessary to maintain the
rights of the consuls, and to favour their influence, without which they
would have lost their consideration. To the complaints of M. Lagau I
replied, "That to him alone belonged the right of deciding, in the first
instance, on the fate of the ships; that he could not be deprived
of that right without changing the law; that he was free to sell the
confiscated Prussian ships; that Marshall Brune was at Bremen only for
the execution of the decree respecting the blockade of England, and that
he ought not to interfere in business unconnected with that decree."
Lagau showed this letter to Brune, who then allowed him to do as he
wished; but it was an affair of profit, and the Marshal for a long time
owed me a grudge.
Bernadotte was exceedingly disinterested, but he loved to be talked
about. The more the Emperor endeavoured to throw accusations upon him,
the more he was anxious to give publicity to all his actions. He sent to
me an account of the brilliant affair of Braunsburg, in which a division
of the first corps had been particularly distinguished. Along with this
narrative he sent me a note in the following terms:--"I send you,
my dear. Minister, an account of the affair of Braunsburg. You will,
perhaps, think proper to publish it. In that case I shall be obliged
by your getting it inserted in the Hamburg journals," I did so.
The injustice of the Emperor, and the bad way in which he spoke of
Bernadotte, obliged the latter,--for the sake of his own credit, to make
the truth known to the world.
I have already mentioned that I received an order from the Emperor to
supply 50,000 cloaks for the army. With this order, which was not the
only one I received of the same kind, some circumstances were connected
which I may take the present opportunity of explaining.
The Emperor gave me so many orders for army clothing that all that could
be supplied by the cities of Hamburg, Bremen, and Lübeck would have been
insufficient for executing the commissions. I entered into a treaty with
a house in Hamburg, which I authorised, in spite of the Berlin decree,
to bring cloth and leather from England. Thus I procured these articles
in a sure and cheap way. Our troops might have perished of cold had the
Continental system and the absurd mass of inexecutable decrees relative
to English merchandise been observed.
The Director of the Customs at Hamburg got angry, but I held firm: my
cloths and my leather arrived; cloaks, coats; boots, all were promptly
made, and our soldiers thus were sheltered from the severity of the
season. To preserve peace with the Imperial Custom-house I wrote to M.
Collie, then Director-General, that M. Eudel having wished to put in
execution the law of the 10th Brumaire and complaints had been made on
every side. Marshal Brune asked for my opinion on this matter, and I
gave it to him. I declared to M. Collie that the full execution of the
decree of 31st October 1796 was impracticable, injurious to France, and
to the Hanseatic Towns, without doing harm to England. Indeed, what
said article 5 of this law? "All goods imported from foreign countries,
whatever may be their origin, are to be considered as coming from
English manufacturers." According to this article France was a foreign
country for the Hanseatic Towns, and none of the objects enumerated in
this article ought to enter Hamburg! But the town received from England
a large quantity of fine cloths, buttons; ironmongery, toys, china; and
from France only clocks, bronzes, jewellery, ribbons, bonnets, gauzes
and gloves. "Let," said I to M. Eudel, "the Paris Duane be asked what
that town alone exports in matters of this sort and it will be seen how
important it is not to stop a trade all the more profitable to France,
as the workmanship forms the greatest part of the price of the goods
which make up this trade. What would happen if the importation of these
goods were absolutely prohibited in Hamburg? The consignments would
cease, and one of the most productive sources of trade for France, and
especially for Paris would be cut off."
At this time neither Hamburg nor its territory had any manufacture of
cloth. All woollen stuffs were prohibited, according to M. Eudel, and
still my duty was to furnish, and I had furnished, 50,000 cloaks for the
Grand Army. In compliance with a recent Imperial decree I had to have
made without delay 16,000 coats, 37,000 waistcoats, and the Emperor
required of me 200,000 pairs of boots, besides the 40,000 pairs I had
sent in. Yet M. Eudel said that tanned and worked leather ought not to
enter Hamburg! If such a ridiculous application of the law of 1796 had
been made it would have turned the decree of 21st November 1796 against
France, without fulfilling its object.
These reflections, to which I added other details, made the Government
conclude that I was right, and I traded with England to the great
advantage of the armies, which were well clothed and shod. What in the
world can be more ridiculous than commercial laws carried out to one's
own detriment?
At the beginning of 1807 my occupations at Hamburg were divided between
the furnishing of supplies for the army and the inspection of the
emigrants, whom Fouché pretended to dread in order to give greater
importance to his office.
I never let slip an opportunity of mitigating the rigour of Fouché's
orders, which, indeed, were sometimes so absurd that I did not attempt
to execute them. Of this an instance occurs to my recollection. A
printer at Hamburg had been arrested on the charge of having printed a
libel in the German language. The man was detained in prison because,