Napoleon's Letters to Josephine, 1796-1812
rival. He was in possession of Madame's bed when I married her. I
wished to make him get out--vain hope! I was told I must resign
myself to sleep elsewhere, or consent to share with him. That was
sufficiently exasperating, but it was a question of taking or
leaving, and I resigned myself. The favourite was less accommodating
than I. I bear the proof of it in this leg."
Not content with barking at every one, he bit not only men but other
dogs, and was finally killed by a mastiff, much to Bonaparte's secret
satisfaction; for, as St. Amand adds, "he could easily win battles,
accomplish miracles, make or unmake principalities, but could not show
a dog the door."
No. 3.
"_The village of Virgil._"--Michelet (Jusqu'au 18 _Brumaire_) thinks
that here he got the idea of the Fete of Virgil, established a few
months later. In engravings of the hero of Italy we see him near the
tomb of Virgil, his brows shaded by a laurel crown.
No. 4.
_Achille._--Murat. He had been appointed one of Bonaparte's
aides-de-camp February 29th, made General of Brigade after the Battle
of Lodi (May 10th); is sent to Paris after Junot with nine trophies,
and arrives there first. He flirts there outrageously with Josephine,
but does not escort her back to her husband.
No. 5.
'_Will o' the wisp_,' _i.e._ _l'ardent_.--This word, according to
Menage, was given by the Sieur de St. Germain to those lively young
sparks who, about the year 1634, used to meet at the house of Mr.
Marsh (M. de Marest), who was one of them.
No. 6.
_The needs of the army._--Difficulties were accumulating, and Napoleon
was, as he admits at St. Helena, seriously alarmed. Wurmser's force
proves to be large, Piedmont is angry with the Republic and ready to
rise, and Venice and Rome would willingly follow its example; the
English have taken Porto-Ferrajo, and their skilful minister, Windham,
is sowing the seeds of discord at Naples. Although on July 20th he has
written a friend in Corsica that "all smiles on the Republic," he
writes Saliceti, another brother Corsican, very differently on August
1st. "Fortune appears to oppose us at present.... I have raised the
siege of Mantua; I am at Brescia with nearly all my army. I shall take
the first opportunity of fighting a battle with the enemy which will
decide the fate of Italy--if I'm beaten, I shall retire on the Adda;
if I win, I shall not stop in the marshes of Mantua.... Let the
citadels of Milan, Tortona, Alessandria, and Pavia be provisioned....
We are all very tired; I have ridden five horses to death." Reading
between the lines of this letter to Josephine, it is evident that he
thinks she will be safer with him than at Milan--Wurmser having the
option of advancing _via_ Brescia on Milan, and cutting off the French
communications. The Marshal's fatal mistake was in using only half his
army for the purpose. This raising of the siege of Mantua (July 31st)
was heart-rending work for Bonaparte, but, as Jomini shows, he had no
artillery horses, and it was better to lose the siege train,
consisting of guns taken from the enemy, than to jeopardise the whole
army. Wurmser had begun his campaign successfully by defeating
Massena, and pushing back Sauret at Salo. "The Austrians," wrote
Massena, "are drunk with brandy, and fight furiously," while his men
are famished and can only hang on by their teeth. Bonaparte calls his
first war council, and thinks for a moment of retreat, but Augereau
insists on fighting, which is successfully accomplished while Wurmser
is basking himself among the captured artillery outside Mantua.
Bonaparte had been perfectly honest in telling the Directory his
difficulties, and sends his brother Louis to the Directory for that
purpose on the eve of battle. He is complimented in a letter from the
Directory dated August 12th--a letter probably the more genuine as
they had just received a further despatch announcing a victory. On
August 3rd Bonaparte won a battle at Lonato, and the next day Augereau
gained great laurels at Castiglione; in later years the Emperor often
incited Augereau by referring to those "fine days of Castiglione."
Between July 29th and August 12th the French army took 15,000
prisoners, 70 guns, and wounded or killed 25,000, with little more
than half the forces of the Austrians. Bonaparte gives his losses at
7000, exclusive of the 15,000 sick he has in hospital; from July 31st
to August 6th he never changed his boots, or lay down in a bed.
Nevertheless, Jomini thinks that he showed less vigour in the
execution of his plans than in the earlier part of the campaign; but,
as an opinion _per contra_, we may note that the French grenadiers
made their "little Corporal" _Sergeant_ at Castiglione. Doubtless the
proximity of his wife at the commencement (July 31st) made him more
careful, and therefore less intrepid. On August 18th he wrote
Kellermann with an urgent request for troops. On August 17th Colonel
Graham, after hinting at the frightful excesses committed by the
Austrians in their retreat, adds in a postscript--"From generals to
subalterns the universal language of the army is that we must make
peace, as we do not know how to make war."[46]
On August 13th Bonaparte sent to the Directory his opinion of most of
his generals, in order to show that he required some better ones. Some
of his criticisms are interesting:--
Berthier--"Talents, activity, courage, character; he has them
all."
Augereau--"Much character, courage, firmness, activity; is
accustomed to war, beloved by the soldiers, lucky in his
operations."
Massena--"Active, indefatigable, has boldness, grasp, and
promptitude in making his decisions."
Serrurier--"Fights like a soldier, takes no responsibility;
determined, has not much opinion of his troops, is often ailing."
Despinois--"Flabby, inactive, slack, has not the genius for war,
is not liked by the soldiers, does not fight with his head; has
nevertheless good, sound political principles: would do well to
command in the interior."
Sauret--"A good, very good soldier, not sufficiently enlightened
to be a general; unlucky."
Of eight more he has little good to say, but the Directory in
acknowledging his letter of August 23rd remarks that he has forgotten
several officers, and especially the Irish general Kilmaine.
About the same time Colonel Graham (Lord Lynedoch) was writing to the
British Government from Trent that the Austrians, despite their
defeats, were "undoubtedly brave fine troops, and an able chief would
put all to rights in a little time."[47] On August 18th he adds--"When
the wonderful activity, energy, and attention that prevail in the
French service, from the commander-in-chief downward, are compared to
the indecision, indifference, and indolence universal here, the
success of their rash but skilful manoeuvres is not surprising."
No. 7.
_Brescia._--Napoleon was here on July 27th, meeting Josephine about
the date arranged (July 25th), and she returned with him. On July 29th
they were nearly captured by an Austrian ambuscade near Ceronione, and
Josephine wept with fright. "Wurmser," said Napoleon, embracing her,
"shall pay dearly for those tears." She accompanies him to Castel
Nova, and sees a skirmish at Verona; but the sight of wounded men
makes her leave the army, and, finding it impossible to reach Brescia,
she flees _via_ Ferrara and Bologna to Lucca. She leaves the French
army in dire straits and awaits news anxiously, while the Senate of
Lucca presents her with the oil kept exclusively for royalty. Thence
she goes _via_ Florence to Milan. By August 7th the Austrian army was
broken and in full retreat, and Bonaparte conducts his correspondence
from Brescia from August 11th to 18th. On the 25th he is at Milan,
where he meets his wife after her long pilgrimage, and spends four
days. By August 30th he is again at Brescia, and reminds her that he
left her "vexed, annoyed, and not well." From a letter to her aunt,
Madame de Renaudin, at this time, quoted by Aubenas, we can see her
real feelings: "I am feted wherever I go; all the princes of Italy
give me fetes, even the Grand Duke of Tuscany, brother of the Emperor.
Ah, well, I prefer being a private individual in France. I care not
for honours bestowed in this country. I get sadly bored. My health has
undoubtedly a great deal to do with making me unhappy; I am often out
of sorts. If happiness could assure health, I ought to be in the best
of health. I have the most amiable husband imaginable. I have no time
to long for anything. My wishes are his. He is all day long in
adoration before me, as if I were a divinity; there could not possibly
be a better husband. M. Serbelloni will tell you how he loves me. He
often writes to my children; he loves them dearly. He is sending
Hortense, by M. Serbelloni, a lovely repeater, jewelled and enamelled;
to Eugene a splendid gold watch."
No. 9.
"_I hope we shall get into Trent by the 5th._"--He entered the city on
that day. In his pursuit of Wurmser, he and his army cover sixty miles
in two days, through the terrific Val Saguna and Brenta gorges,
brushing aside opposition by the way.
No. 12.
"_One of these nights the doors will be burst open with a
bang._"--Apparently within two or three days, for Bonaparte is at
Milan on September 21st, and stays with his wife till October 12th.
On October 1st he writes to the Directory that his total forces are
only 27,900; and that the Austrians, within six weeks, will have
50,000. He asks for 26,000 more men to end the war satisfactorily: "If
the preservation of Italy is dear to you, citizen directors, send me
help." On the 8th they reply with the promise of 10,000 to 12,000, to
which he replies (October 11th) that if 10,000 have started only 5000
will reach him. The Directory at this time are very poverty stricken,
and ask him once more to pay Kellermann's Army of the Alps, as being
"to some extent part of that which you command." This must have been
"nuts and wine" for the general who was to have been superseded by
Kellermann a few months earlier. On October 1st they advise him that
Wurmser's name is on the list of emigrants, and that if the Marshal
will surrender Mantua at once he need not be sent to Paris for trial.
If, however, Bonaparte thinks that this knowledge will make the old
Marshal more desperate, he is not to be told. Bonaparte, of course,
does not send the message. For some time these letters had been signed
by the President Lareveillere Lepeaux, but on September 19th there was
a charming letter from Carnot: "Although accustomed to unprecedented
deeds on your part, our hopes have been surpassed by the victory of
Bassano. What glory is yours, immortal Bonaparte! Moreau was about to
effect a juncture with you when that wretched _reculade_ of Jourdan
upset all our plans. Do not forget that immediately the armies go into
winter quarters on the Rhine the Austrians will have forces available
to help Wurmser." At Milan Bonaparte advises the Directory that he is
dealing with unpunished "fripponeries" in the commissariat department.
Here he receives from young Kellermann, afterwards the hero of
Marengo, a _precis_ of the condition of the Brescia fever-hospitals,
dated October 6th: "A wretched mattress, dirty and full of vermin, a
coarse sheet to each bed, rarely washed, no counterpanes, much
dilatoriness, such is the spectacle that the fever-hospitals of
Brescia present; it is heart-rending. The soldiers justly complain
that, having conquered opulent Italy at the cost of their life-blood,
they might, without enjoying comforts, at least find the help and
attention which their situation demands. Bread and rice are the only
passable foods, but the meat is hard. I beg that the general-in-chief